Chapter 27: Symbolic Stone Slab in the Ruins

The Pokémon he encountered were not very good in terms of personality and ability.

Dou Jianqiao's Hasty personality was actually not good, and as for abilities, there was no way to choose; it only had one ability.

Petilil was the same. If her stubborn personality could evolve into a Hisuian Lilligant, that would be fine, but she couldn't evolve right now, and her Own Tempo ability was far inferior to the first ability, Chlorophyll.

He didn't have any "Mints" that could change personality stats, and among all the plants he grew, Mints were also harder to obtain. The Kanto and Johto regions didn't have this plant, which meant that even if he went to a department store in a big city, he might not be able to buy one.

The Battle Frontier had them, but those were prizes exchanged for points, which had too low a cost-performance ratio for him, and he didn't have the ability to win in the Battle Frontier right now.

He vaguely remembered that she should be able to learn Sunny Day and Encore, as well as Helping Hand and Pollen Puff. In the Unova region of the fifth generation, she could also learn Toxic.

Toxic and Pollen Puff were both moves that could effectively strike Grass-type Pokémon.

"If she evolved into a Hisuian Lilligant, it would be convenient. Victory Dance, Triple Axel, and Swords Dance, Close Combat. Sunny Day and Weather Ball could also unleash Fire-type moves."

"It requires a Sun Stone, and at the same time, she needs to evolve in the Hisuian environment."

"Ancient poems say that the land of Hisui has similarities to the land of the Divine River. This is probably why Hisuian Pokémon appear in the forest."

After observing Petilil, she also happened to fall into a state of exhaustion. Xiang Guangtai prepared Pokémon food for her and began to work on processing the ruin stone slabs.

If he had Petilil's help with the planting, he wouldn't have to worry too much.

A ruin stone was placed on the workbench, and knowledge and content about how to carve them, "Ruin Carving Craft," gradually emerged in Xiang Guangtai's mind.

The ruin stone itself carried the baptism of time, containing ancient history and an incredible sense of mystery.

Following the teachings of the craft and the relief style of the Divine River ruins imprinted in his mind, Xiang Guangtai began to cut and process these three stones.

At the same time, Dou Jianqiao floated over, while Petilil curiously jumped onto the workbench, looking at those stones that had weathered the ages.

"Do you want to help too? That's perfect. Show your skills to Petilil."

Xiang Guangtai smiled, brought over a piece of ordinary stone, and then used chalk to draw a tic-tac-toe division line on it.

"Come on, cut it according to your ideas... Of course, try it with this ordinary stone first."

Dou Jianqiao used its blue ribbon to touch its hilt, and its attention gradually focused.

"Yo."

That's right, he must make the new companion realize what a powerful combination they are!

Invisible mental threads appeared under Dou Jianqiao's gaze, performing an even division of the ruin stone. Dou Jianqiao woke up from this moment of concentration; that feeling just now was the same as when releasing "Psycho Cut"!

The mental threads gradually overlapped with the chalk path on the stone, and Dou Jianqiao drew its blade!

Psycho Cut!

Use the materialized blade of the heart to split the opponent!

But this time, Dou Jianqiao did not swing the Psycho Cut out, but maintained the state of concentrated Psycho Cut energy, performing the cutting on the stone itself! The tip of the blade traced the chalk marks on the stone, cutting precisely, which even drew praise from Xiang Guangtai.

"Amazing precision!"

There was almost no deviation; it cut exactly according to the chalk marks. The stone scattered all over the ground, turning into a pile of square small stone blocks. The power of the Psycho Cut even penetrated into the interior of the stone, separating the indestructible rock and cutting out smooth surfaces.

In a sense, could this also be considered... "Rock Smash"?

No, in terms of processing, this was much more useful than Rock Smash. Now, he wouldn't need things like cutting machines to process large stones!

"You did a great job, Dou Jianqiao!"

"Yo!"

Dou Jianqiao also breathed a sigh of relief. Although it didn't have a mouth, its expression was also one of relaxation. Clearly, in the state of focused attention just now, all its will was concentrated on the thought of cutting the stone. Now that it relaxed, its mind was suddenly filled with various lingering fears.

"The first time you process stone is like this. You won't need to be afraid after practicing more. Practice makes perfect, that's the truth!"

Xiang Guangtai happily comforted it and encouraged it. The lingering fear in Dou Jianqiao's heart quickly dissipated, and its single eye fixed on the remaining four ruin stones.

And Petilil was already excited from watching!

The three leaves on her head swayed back and forth!

"Wawa!"

From her cry, one could tell her mood right now. Clearly, Dou Jianqiao's "little show" had indeed made Petilil see the hope of becoming stronger!

"Petil~ Wawa!" Petilil curiously asked Dou Jianqiao why it could perform such accurate cutting, and Dou Jianqiao's single eye closed, revealing an expression of "Pretty amazing, right?"

"Yo! Yo yo pu~"

That's because I helped Xiang Guangtai with work and realized a new move, "Psycho Cut," so I could cut these stones so precisely! As long as you work hard too, you will definitely be able to realize more powerful moves!

"Petil!" Petilil rolled up her small skirt on both sides, cheering herself on!

That's right, she would become stronger soon!

While the two Pokémon were communicating, Xiang Guangtai had already devoted himself to his work again with full concentration. He used three of the five ruin stones and carved different textures on them. At the same time... the craft knowledge in his mind gradually guided him toward the carving content of the "Symbolic Stone Slab."

Xiang Guangtai's movements paused slightly, and his expression changed slightly, but he quickly calmed down again.

The content of the carving was related to Unown.

But this was also within expectations.

"I should have thought of it earlier. Unown are classified as Symbol Pokémon, and the stone slabs that record ancient characters appearing in various ruins are all written in the shape of Unown. The so-called Symbolic Stone Slab is a small stone slab that records the shapes of Unown and can piece them together into ancient words."

The carving work lasted for a long time, and what made Xiang Guangtai happy was that because the craft style was "Divine River Ruin Style," the craft effect of this style could slightly enhance the mental strength of humans and Pokémon, eliminating accumulated fatigue.

This made him feel more and more relaxed even though he was working with full concentration; the fatigue in his mind and body was gradually dissipating.

Xiang Guangtai didn't know how long he had been carving. The three ruin stones were not large, but carving the shapes of Unown and the unique textures around them consumed a certain amount of energy, so it took quite a bit of time.

"The appearance is somewhat like the stone slabs of the Ruins of Alph... Is it because of the influence of ancient Johto people?"

Time had passed five hours unknowingly. Xiang Guangtai ate some instant food simply and then continued to work.

Dou Jianqiao and Petilil also stared intently. They also felt that their mental state was at its peak at this time, which was quite incredible, and they muttered and communicated again.

"Finished, Symbolic Stone Slab, start cutting..."

Zzzzt!

Accompanied by Xiang Guangtai's call, Dou Jianqiao immediately stopped whispering and turned to apply Psycho Cut to cutting the stone blocks. Its state was excellent, and every cut was extremely precise. As for elegance, stone sculptors don't care about these external things; only the work is the only way to interpret elegance!

The three ruin stones were not only cut on the front but also divided into thin slices in the middle. Since they were characters, there couldn't be just one set. Almost all three stones were divided to form at least five sets of character combinations to spell out normal short sentences.

Clatter... The cut stone slabs separated automatically, and equal intervals appeared in the middle. This wonderful scene made Xiang Guangtai stare tightly, unwilling to miss any moment. At the same time, the images of these stone slabs also made a certain scene gradually emerge in Xiang Guangtai's memory.

Right, this style is...

Absorbed the style of the Alph stone slabs, and it is very similar to the batch of wooden boards carried by Professor Howl in the theatrical version "The King of the Crystal Tower"!

Those were wooden boards, not stones, but in terms of style, they were somewhat similar to the Divine River. The ruin cultures of different regions once merged, and what was born were various similar yet different Unown boards. And all these boards can actually be called "Symbolic Stone Slabs"!

Xiang Guangtai picked up a stone slab from the workbench. After cutting, this stone slab became very small. Forming a circle with his thumb and index finger could accommodate a stone slab. This thing was like a puzzle.

At the same time, various thoughts began to gather in his mind:

'Completed a piece of work, obtained "Symbolic Stone Slab"!'

'Description: Symbolic characters created based on Unown in ancient ruins. These characters are engraved on stone slabs, becoming Symbolic Stone Slabs. It is said that these characters can give birth to all things.'

'Craft effect: Enhance the creator's mental strength. At the same time, using characters to form words will create a special connection with the Pokémon represented by the words, thereby borrowing the Pokémon's abilities; the stone slabs will also predict special events that may happen regarding certain Pokémon.'

'Obtained Knowledge: 1'

'Ancient Inscriptions: These are some knowledge and inscriptions from ancient times. Your understanding of all ruin knowledge increases by 25%.'

'Dou Jianqiao helped you complete a craft production, gaining experience and growth!'

'Realized the move: Brick Break!'

'Dou Jianqiao obtained Knowledge: 1.'

'Precision Cutting: Can accurately cut stone/wood materials, not easy to make mistakes.'

"Yo~?"

Dou Jianqiao felt that it had realized a new move and couldn't help but feel happy! Then it immediately jumped out and slashed at the air!

An invisible momentum surged from the blade!

"Hey! Don't smash the floor!"

Xiang Guangtai's shout made Dou Jianqiao hurriedly stop the downward slash, then squinted its eyes somewhat awkwardly, holding the hilt with its blue ribbon.

"Yo∑（⊙）!"

Just got excited, just got excited!

"Petil!" Petilil widened her small eyes. She had seen the whole process of Dou Jianqiao becoming stronger with her own eyes this time. By getting new moves through precise cutting work... then she could do it too!

She wanted to go out and take care of those herbs and crops now!

Petilil thought and did it. She rolled up her small skirt at Xiang Guangtai, indicating that she wanted to go to the field now!

"Going now... It's still raining outside." Xiang Guangtai mentioned, but quickly slapped his forehead. Petilil is a Grass-type Pokémon; rain is a good thing for her.

Petilil was also explaining that as a Grass-type Pokémon inseparable from the soil, she felt more comfortable staying in the soil than in the house.

So she jumped off the workbench, hopped to open the door, and went out!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 28 =====