Chapter 110: Steven

"That is?" Xiang Guangtai was still studying the black cloud when he suddenly saw a huge black shadow appear on the horizon, flying rapidly towards his workshop under the sunlight. In a short while, he could see its true face!

It's "Metagross"!

Metagross is cyan-blue all over, with a disc-shaped body, and sturdy legs extending from the four directions of its body. Its two eyes are red, and there is an "X"-shaped silver metal cross on its face.

Then, without a doubt, the young noble riding on Metagross is the Champion of the Hoenn region, the young master of the Devon Corporation, the rock enthusiast and gem collector, Steven Stone!

"Steven is here!"

Xiang Guangtai said, Lilligant looked up curiously, while Doublade suddenly realized something!

Wait, that rich rock client is here?

Doesn't this mean...

Metagross's speed gradually decreased, and finally landed steadily on the ground. Steven jumped off Metagross, his expression full of curiosity and excitement:

"This place is really remote; I never thought that anyone would actually live here!"

Although Xiang Guangtai sent the location, Celestic is in the northernmost part of Johto. Steven asked many people, and they all said they had never heard of this place, so it took quite a bit of effort to find the correct path!

But Steven is currently riding a blue Metagross, not his signature shiny silver Metagross. Is this because that silver Metagross hasn't been caught by Steven yet?

This blue Metagross is a partner Steven has had for a long time.

Metagross landed on the ground, and Steven first looked at the surrounding environment.

Completely unfamiliar land, a slightly cold climate, the item craftsman in front of him, and...

Steven straightened his clothes, and Xiang Guangtai was also a bit excited to see him.

After all, when playing games since childhood, Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald were Xiang Guangtai's entry masterpieces, and Steven was also the first Champion he fought in the game. Whether in terms of character design, temperament, or the Pokémon he possessed, his image and strength were second to none.

It's just an interesting point that because his team has many Rock-type Pokémon, and his positioning is a Steel-type Champion, many people joke that he is actually a Rock-type Champion.

This kind of teasing also appears on Lance, the dual Champion of Kanto and Johto, because Dragon-type Pokémon were rare in the first few generations, leading to more than half of Lance's team being Flying-type pseudo-dragons, so he was called the Flying-type Elite Four.

The most critical thing is that it also made Lance say the famous quote "Not only Dragon-type Pokémon are Dragon Pokémon" in subsequent works, which can be considered a powerful vindication for the history of the Flying-type master back then.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Xiang Guangtai. I am a gem collector from the Hoenn region, Steven Stone!"

Steven shook hands with Xiang Guangtai enthusiastically, and the next moment, his gaze locked onto Doublade.

Doublade was covered with various purple charms. Although it was full of Ghost energy, Steven still saw Doublade's Steel type at a glance!

"This Pokémon is cultivated... quite impressively!" With Steven's discernment, he could see Doublade's growth state at a glance. Although Doublade's body was hidden in the scabbard, making it difficult to judge the cultivation state through conventional Steel-type luster, Steven is an expert on the Steel type!

Just as Steven was preparing to observe Doublade carefully, his gaze suddenly captured the pale purple stone embedded in Doublade's shield!

【!】

An exclamation mark seemed to appear above Steven's head, and then he looked at Xiang Guangtai in disbelief.

And at this moment, Doublade's inner thought was—Plan successful!

That was deliberately shown to you; now your desire has been aroused!

"That is an Eviolite, the second Eviolite found not long ago."

Xiang Guangtai followed up: "Of course, I have already polished this one, and the effect is the same as the first one!"

Anyway, this stone was planned to be sold to Steven from the beginning, and Steven would offer a high price himself!

"Thank you so much!"

Sure enough, Steven's spirit was quite excited, and his smile expressed his inner excitement:

"Sorry, I just can't stop being excited when I see rare stones... I didn't expect you to have results so quickly!"

"Before this, when I heard about this kind of magical stone, I couldn't suppress my curiosity and went to the Azalea Gym in Azalea Town. I am very interested in rare stones, so I often travel around to collect them."

"At the same time, I also asked a friend to excavate underground in Sinnoh. I originally thought that if neither you nor I could find it, I would go to the Sinnoh region personally..."

"Go to Sinnoh? Why go to Sinnoh?" Xiang Guangtai was slightly startled.

Steven was also a bit strange: "... I heard that you worked in Sinnoh before, so that previous stone..."

So that's how it is!

Xiang Guangtai couldn't help but laugh and cry, and quickly explained:

"I did work in the Sinnoh region, but the Eviolite was not obtained from the Sinnoh region, but excavated from a ruin before I came to Celestic."

"The one carrying that stone at the time was this Pokémon of mine. At that time, it was still a sleeping ancient sword."

Xiang Guangtai pointed to Doublade, and the latter also raised its ribbon to greet Steven.

"Yoomoo~"

After greeting, Doublade began to communicate with Metagross.

Both are Steel-type Pokémon, so of course they will have topics! That's what Doublade thought, while circling around Metagross, thinking about whether it could scrape some iron material from Metagross.

Metagross looked at Doublade circling around it speechlessly.

I always feel that this Pokémon... has ill intentions towards me!

"Metag!"

Metagross began to communicate with Doublade, trying to figure out what this guy was doing!

If you have anything to say, why not just say it straight!

Steven: "Haha, it seems they get along very well."

Xiang Guangtai wiped his sweat: "No... it doesn't seem to be the case."

"Ahem!" Before Steven could be suspicious, Xiang Guangtai quickly turned the topic back:

"In short, Eviolite exists in many places, but it is very rare, and the Hoenn region should also have Eviolite, so there is no need to go to the Sinnoh region specifically."

"This kind of stone will appear in places where a large number of Pokémon gather and live for a long time. Whether on land or in water, there is a chance to get it, such as forests, lakes, rocky mountains, caves, etc. And maybe those fishermen, mountaineering men, they found this kind of stone but didn't recognize it, just selling or keeping it as a gem is also possible."

"In some ancient kingdoms, this kind of stone was also used as a natural gem and embedded in utensils, perhaps it can also be found in ruins."

"I heard that the soil near where the Berry Master lives in the Hoenn region is fertile, and there are high mountains and lakes, with a large number of Magikarp gathering there. Maybe Eviolite exists there."

"Of course, the Lake of Rage in the Johto region also meets this condition."

"Eviolite may be related to the evolution of Pokémon. In places where a large number of Pokémon gather, a large amount of evolution will also occur. The overflowing evolutionary energy penetrates into the surrounding environment and fuses with certain minerals, which will become Eviolite. Of course, this is just my guess."

Steven pondered for a moment.

"Indeed, when it comes to the diversity of stones, the Hoenn region will not lose to other regions."

"You also have a lot of insights into excavating minerals. Sure enough, you are a person similar to me! Oh, by the way, there is also the price of this Eviolite we talked about before, and... this is what you need!"

Steven took a stone from his waist bag.

The color is dark, as black as the night.

That is exactly... "Dusk Stone"!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 111 =====