Chapter 35: Artifact: Ancient Statue

Do people buy spirit-infused cloth? I only put up these spirit cloths to fill out the inventory—their spiritual power is ordinary, and they probably aren’t useful to most spirit mediums.

Guang Tai originally thought these spirit cloths would sell well, but after thinking harder, he realized spirit mediums likely had better sources of material; his own cloths were merely average, and they might not even catch their eye.

Yet somehow, they sold.

So the shipping method still needs to go through Yanmo City; the one coming to collect this time should still be Charizard.

The delivery locations are Unova Ripple Town, Johto Ecruteak City, Kanto Pallet Town, and… Hoenn Mount Coronet?

“Oh? There’s an order from Hoenn too? Another customer refreshed in a distant region.”

“But if the address is Mount Coronet, there’s no way to receive a parcel—it’s where the spirits of deceased Pokémon are laid to rest. Does that place even have a delivery point?”

Without a Pokémon Center, you can’t receive parcels.

Guang Tai gritted his teeth—normally, cross-region shipping shouldn’t be free, but since he had no customers in Hoenn, this wild customer, no matter where they came from, was a golden opportunity! He couldn’t let it slip away.

Fine, free shipping it is—consider it self-funded market expansion.

Just like last time when he offered free shipping to the Unova customer!

Mount Coronet is operated by an elderly couple, and Guang Tai remembered they were apparently the grandparents of Fushigibana, one of Hoenn’s Elite Four.

Could these talismans have been purchased by Fushigibana?

Or perhaps by some psychic.

Many spirit mediums and psychics train on Mount Coronet.

Guang Tai quickly processed the orders and waited quietly for Charizard to arrive, but for the Hoenn deliveries, he selected express priority to make a good impression on the new customer.

If it’s express, it probably won’t be Charizard delivering—it might be Dragonite picking it up, then shipping it to Saffron City before sending it by sea to Hoenn.

Compared to Unova, Hoenn is much closer to Johto.

Northwest of Johto lie ruins left by ancient Hoenn migrants who built the Buried Relic to worship Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza.

The delivery point obviously can’t be Mount Coronet—it must be nearby Waterfall City or Lavaridge Town.

Guang Tai added a note and sent an email to the customer, then stepped away from the computer and began his day’s work.

All day, Guang Tai crafted artifacts.

The stones he’d gathered while clearing the land proved useful—he could use ancient carving techniques to turn them into sellable antiques. These new “imitation antiques” were indistinguishable from real relics in appearance and essence; if Guang Tai didn’t label them as fakes, few would detect the difference.

Of course, to become a true “relic,” they had to be inlaid with relic fragments. Fortunately, he still had half a piece—he had Double-Edge cut it in two, kept one half, and chopped the other into smaller shards.

Actually, ancient sculptures could also be made using “ancient rock,” but Guang Tai didn’t yet know its source or any leads.

Double-Edge was also honing its stone-cutting skills; after mastering the move Smash Rock, it could now deliver furious strikes against these damn stones.

What need for shattered rock? What need for shattered rock!

And unexpectedly, because it had split into two blades, its efficiency improved—not just because there were two blades, but because its two consciousnesses were competing, each trying to prove its own version was the true one through “stone-working skill.”

“(⊙╰X╯⊙)!!!”

“Yowoo, Yopu!!!”

“Now it’s real versus fake Double-Edge,” Guang Tai said, watching the two swords fight again, helplessly shrugging.

In the loose soil, berries were planted—just as the flower shop sister in Hoenn had said, planting berries was simple: bury the seed or even the whole fruit, and let the berry grow on its own. They grew incredibly fast.

Not to mention the care from Lillipup.

Still, some materials were starting to run low.

Pidgey Fern—a fern whose leaves, when uncurled, became natural wrapping paper. It was used as a material for throwing items, but neither in Village nor in Mauville had this material.

It was one of the ingredients used to make Nián wán.

Even if Pidgey Fern could be replaced with other ferns, Nián wán still required Mud Ball and Wormadam Ball.

Mud Ball was a compact clump of earth—easy enough to obtain—but Wormadam Ball was a natural ball fruit whose flesh had been eaten away, and ball fruits weren’t berries.

Ball fruits were special fruits used to make Poké Balls, scattered widely across Johto, but only sparsely; on this ancient land, they were even harder to find.

Behind the house of the Johto Poké Ball craftsman, Mr. Iron, grew a vast forest of ball fruits.

“I only have one White Ball Fruit brought by Lillipup.”

It was now clear that Lillipup’s habitat had ball fruits. But entering the Sacred Grove required thorough preparation, and one couldn’t venture too deep.

Meanwhile, Guang Tai was pondering the clues about the three crystals.

The Ripple Water Crystal had somehow been brought out of the dream world for unknown reasons, but the other two—the Brilliant Crystal—indicated an embodiment of Terastallization energy. Guang Tai knew this was the “Terastal Crater” from the game: a cluster of massive columnar crystals.

There were none here—only in Paldea and atop the northern mountain pool.

And the Ancient Crystal—linked to the Three Pillars.

The Three Pillars: Regirock, Regice, Registeel.

Guang Tai knew of such a thing—it was a card from the Pokémon TCG: a square, ancient, semi-translucent crystal etched with strange patterns, its effect closely tied to the Three Pillars.

Perhaps this crystal was the source of the Three Pillars’ “Eternal Purity” trait.

If the hypothesis was correct—that it was tied to “Eternal Purity”—could this Ancient Crystal be used to craft a “Purifying Pendant”?

“Transparent Bells, Purifying Pendants—there are quite a few items this crystal can be worked into.”

The carving work lasted all day, and Guang Tai produced many artifacts.

Information on the artifacts began to appear, and they were authenticated.

“Completed a crafting task!”

“Artifact: Small [Ancient Statue]—Style of Sacred City Ruins.”

“Description: A statue carved in ancient style, shaped like a Snorlax, with carving and antiquing so lifelike it’s indistinguishable from the real thing. Its carving style is said to originate from the ancient Sacred City Ruins. Inlaid with relic fragments, it has become an inexplicable relic, sought after by collectors at high prices.”

“Artifact Effect: Calm—slightly dampens external disturbances and soothes the mind.”

“Gained Knowledge: 1.”

“Ancient Carver: Your creations radiate ancient essence—Carving Skill +25%!”

“Different ‘antique artifacts’ yield different effects, varying by carving style and other craftsmanship.”

Then, a new random material clue appeared:

Clue:

【Rare Material: Hardrock Ore.】

【Acquisition Locations: Near the foothills of the Ancient Spirit Peak, the unnamed plateau to the northwest, the Quartz Plateau Caves, mountain paths, Sacred City Forest, Rock Ruins, outer unnamed forest, southern forest, eastern hillside woods.】

【Corresponding Craft: Bait Ball Food Craft.】

Hardrock Ore!

Though not rare in material tier, Hardrock Ore was exactly what he needed! If he couldn’t find its source, he’d have to buy it from Mauville—it was a mineral beneficial to the body, essentially rock salt.

Now that he knew where to find Hardrock Ore, Guang Tai nodded in satisfaction.

As for the sculpture’s shape—why Snorlax instead of the common Sudowoodo? Because Guang Tai felt his artifacts needed some uniqueness.

Ancient people carved Sudowoodo too, and modern trainers placed Sudowoodo statues at Gym entrances—everywhere was Sudowoodo. What made his artifacts stand out?

Besides, Snorlax was far easier to carve!

Perhaps as his carving skill improved, he could try sculpting human figures into stone figurines?

Those would sell far better than ordinary stone carvings!

“For example, after getting authorization, make stone figurines of regional Champions—the sales would surely… no, I doubt I’d ever get such authorization.”

Guang Tai shook his head. To earn the Champions’ authorization, he’d need to befriend them—something that was currently out of reach.

But if he sold Arceus statues, Mauville would become a major client!

“By the way, I promised him artifacts last time—so I’ll make a few Arceus statues.”

Time passed, and night arrived.

The first Arceus statue was completed, radiating a strong ancient aura.

For some reason, Guang Tai felt this statue carried an even heavier relic essence than the previous Snorlax statue.

Was it because Arceus’s image was inherently inseparable from antiquity?

“Artifact: Small [Classical Ancient Statue] (Premium)—Style of Sacred City Ruins.”

“Description: A ‘Premium’ sculpture. A statue carved in ancient style, shaped like Arceus, revered as the Legendary Creator God of Sinnoh. Perhaps because its very form embodies myth, this statue’s relic status has been elevated—collectors will pay enormous sums for it.”

“Artifact Effect 1: Powerful Awakening (once per Pokémon)—A faint echo of ancient Sacred City music can be heard within the statue. When a Pokémon listens, it randomly learns a powerful move only obtainable after evolution; the stronger the Pokémon before evolution, the stronger the move it learns.”

“Artifact Effect 2: Shiny Birth—Pokémon hatched under the statue’s influence gain enhanced individual stats and have a chance to hatch or encounter a differently colored new life.”

“Strange Epigraph: Life born from an egg will one day perish, only to be reborn as a new life.”

“This phrase… is an ancient Johto legend about eggs.”

“And… differently colored?” Guang Tai muttered, then suddenly had an epiphany.

So this was a “Shiny Egg” item?

(End of Chapter)