Chapter 190

As a rock collector.

Champion Dawu has an unusually sharp instinct for mineral veins, but occasionally encounters deadly dangers.

Eight hours ago, while searching for stones in an abandoned mine shaft, he unfortunately suffered a cave-in and was directly plunged into a narrow rock crevice.

Fortunately, his Pokémon were all nearby; after barely digging a passage downward, he discovered an underground cavern connected to an underground river.

After further effort and prolonged searching, he finally located a tunnel leading to the surface.

"Though arduous, this journey was worth it."

Dawu pulled from his pocket a semi-transparent yellow gem, its interior gradually darkening in hue, releasing a brilliant glow within the vehicle.

It glows!?

Baimu instinctively startled—he believed all glowing stones emitted radiation and easily caused cancer.

But then he realized this was a 【Light Stone】, a type of evolution stone.

"High-quality Light Stones are hard to come by."

Dawu sighed in awe, gazing at the Light Stone in his hand with rapt fascination.

"Uh, quality? Do evolution stones have different grades? Could that affect Pokémon evolution?"

Baimu asked curiously.

Dawu chuckled, "Stones naturally have quality—diamonds to jade, and these evolution stones vary in purity, luster, and so on. Whether they affect Pokémon evolution? That's outside my expertise."

"I see."

He nodded in understanding.

Dawu continued, "Back to the point—see that mountain range? Based on my experience, the underground cavern I passed through lies beneath it, and there are many metal veins hidden there. Mining is harder, but your goal isn't mining, is it?"

Champion Mr. pointed to a towering, kilometers-long mountain range nearby; the entire expanse, bathed in sunlight, was both desolate and majestic.

"That's true, but what we need isn't a mountain range…"

Baimu hesitated.

A mountain was one thing; a mountain range was another—there were too many.

At that moment, Bastiodon seemed to understand Dawu's words and roared, "Roar! Grrr! Roar!"

"Fine, fine, let's go take a look, let's go!"

He reluctantly agreed, fearing the creature might get excited and start shaking the vehicle—he'd nearly been flipped over before.

Dawu burst into laughter, "Hahaha, your partner is full of energy! That's good—energy means youth, means infinite possibility."

"It's certainly young… Is your Bastiodon also like this, fiercely territorial?"

Baimu asked while driving, while Dracozolt still clung stubbornly to his head, even with Dawu present.

"It used to be, but my situation is complicated—I have two Bastiodons and one Cofagrigus." Dawu said, pulling out three Poké Balls.

He chose to open one.

Pop!

After a flash of Bai Guang, a Cofagrigus landed in Dawu's arms.

"Repeated breeding…"

Baimu glanced over, unshocked—many trainers in the anime preferred repeated breeding, seeing each Pokémon and every evolutionary stage as possessing unique traits.

"It was one of my first Cofagrigus, always been a great help in my stone-hunting."

Dawu smiled, stroking Cofagrigus.

"Gudo!"

Cofagrigus returned the smile, then turned and saw Bastiodon and Gyarados, greeting them cheerfully.

The latter two responded with their own calls.

"When I was ten, its older brother evolved into Bastiodon and claimed my family's back mountain as its territory, driving away many Pokémon that originally lived there."

Dawu recounted a funny story, "Of course, my father scolded it, and then I and Cofagrigus got involved too—eventually, it was dropped."

"What about the other one?"

"The other one was caught already as a Bastiodon—perhaps because it's female, or maybe because it's older, its territorial drive isn't as strong."

Dawu chuckled, "Pokémon, like people, have different thoughts at different stages."

Baimu nodded in agreement.

Soon.

They arrived at the foot of the endless mountain range.

Dawu scanned the surroundings, pointing to a valley, "It should be this way—have your Bastiodon dig down. It should be about three to four hundred meters deep."

Three to four hundred meters…

Baimu turned to look at Bastiodon, "What do you think?"

"Roar!"

Bastiodon had no objections—it might find a mountain too short or too steep, but never too vast.

This was an entire mountain range!

Baimu stared at it blankly, then asked, "Should we get Steelix to help?"

For digging downward, Steelix was undoubtedly faster and more professional; a giant beast doing it manually would be slower.

"Roar!"

Bastiodon swung its arm dismissively, indicating no need to trouble the other.

Though it didn't mind sharing its territory with companions, it still wanted to uncover its own new domain, "Grrr…"

ahzww.

It looked around, as if observing something, its tail swaying happily, then let out a low growl and swung its claws to dig into the ground.

Dust flew everywhere.

"Widen the hole more!"

Baimu shouted, and immediately heard the roar of Bonsly.

In no time, a dark, slanting tunnel appeared before them, widened deliberately by Bonsly to accommodate two people walking inside.

Pokémon digging differs from machine digging: machines must haul out the soil, but Pokémon use their type energy to squeeze sand and earth sideways, carving out space.

"Tunnels dug by Pokémon are unstable and highly dangerous—they can collapse at any moment," Dawu said softly. "Normally, I'd never advise you to follow me down, but circumstances are exceptional now."

He opened a Poké Ball.

Boom.

A pitch-black Hypno appeared midair, slowly rotating, making its six eyes appear to blink in unison.

"Just this once."

Dawu spread his hands toward the tunnel and smiled: "You've experienced the underground world yourself—you won't recklessly imitate this."

A blue light flared.

The soil above the tunnel entrance, which had been collapsing, suddenly grew thick and solid under some mysterious force.

Baimu put on his prepped miner's multi-layer suit, switched on his headlamp, and followed Bonsly's tracks inward; Gulpin trailed behind him, while Singe had long been recalled into its Poké Ball.

Since they were digging downward, the tunnel's slope was extremely steep.

After walking only a short distance, Baimu had to hold Gulpin in his arms, using its electromagnetic levitation to descend further.

And then—

A deep, thunderous "Dong!" echoed from below.

Sand and stone on both sides trembled, cascading downward, jolting Baimu along with them.

"Looks like it hit a large rock stratum," Dawu warned. He was about to say more when suddenly—"Bo!"—a new sound came from below.

Then came a rumbling, rumbling vibration, as if something was surging out violently.

Dawu frowned. "It seems we didn't hit a cave system—we hit an underground river. Give me your Poké Ball; I'll retrieve Bonsly."

As he spoke—

"Roar!"

A roar rang out.

Baimu had been about to tell Dawu that his Bonsly knew Surf and had learned to hold its breath underwater—it wouldn't sink—but Bonsly was already surging upward.

Beneath it churned murky water, thick with silt and sand.

Seeing its trainer and the trainer's friend above, Bonsly sped up even more: "Roar!"

What are you standing there for?! Run!

"It's Surf…"

Dawu stared in astonishment at Bonsly riding the water, then turned to Baimu, his eyes filled with questions.

How did you get Bonsly to learn Surf in this dry, inland environment!?

Can you teach me?