Chapter 170: Steelix Super Evolution Stone, Beedrill Super Evolution Stone

"So what about those injuries…?" Huo La asked again, his eyes landing on the scratches on Bilan's arm.

For him, a time‑traveler, the Masked Man's identity wasn't a secret—just needing later verification; it was the obvious chase‑kill scar on Bilan that caught his attention even more.

Bilan looked down at the wound on her arm, sighed after a moment of silence: "With your brain, you probably guessed it too—this was caused by someone chasing me."

Huo La nodded; he had already figured it out, but didn't know the exact reason.

Bilan stood up, rummaged beside the pile of tattered clothes for a moment, clutched something in her palm, walked back, and placed it on the table with both hands open.

Huo La narrowed his eyes and blurted, "Super Evolution Stone!"

Hearing the name, Bilan was a bit surprised: "Do you know this thing?"

"Hmm." Huo La nodded, his gaze never leaving the stone, "Do you know who the people chasing you are?"

"I don't know, I don't recognize them." Bilan shook her head, "I only know they call themselves the Flash Flame Team, wearing flashy orange‑red outfits. This stone was taken from them."

"From their hands? Took it?" Huo La was startled, then muttered softly, "You didn't… steal it, did you…"

"Cough cough!" Bilan cleared her throat twice, defending, "Stealing? How vulgar! It's called taking it opportunistically; they don't look like good people."

Huo La placed a hand on his forehead and sighed, "They really aren't good people, and you're pretty much the same."

"You!" Bilan's temper flared instantly, about to explode, but she forced herself to hold back.

She changed tack, pointing at the Super Evolution Stone on the table: "Since you know this thing, is it valuable? Can it cover the Water Stone I owe you?"

Huo La gave her a look and said helplessly, "It is indeed valuable, but there's no standard price on the market now; it's definitely much pricier than an Ordinary Evolution Stone."

"Oh~ then the stone is yours, and you don't have to ask for the Water Stone money anymore!" Bilan immediately spread her hands, wearing a "I'm being generous" expression.

Huo La shook his head decisively, "No."

"Hey hey hey, that's over the line!" Bilan slapped the table and stood up, "You already said it's worth more than an Evolution Stone, you clearly profited, so why is it still not okay?"

"Sigh, it's simple: it was enough before, now it's not enough," Huo La said with a look of resignation.

"What does that mean?" Bilan frowned.

"It's all because of you!" Huo La raised his voice, deliberately sharpening his tone, "You told the Masked Man about Moltres, which led to Moltres being captured; Marshadow and the Three Sacred Beasts went into a rage! I had no choice but to agree to pay Marshadow 200,000 League Coins per year, and also help rescue Moltres, to calm their fury; otherwise you wouldn't be able to see me now!"

"What? 200,000 a year? Why does a Pokémon need money!" Bilan was shocked again, then realized, "That's not my business!"

"How is it not your business!" Huo La kept up his angry act—he wasn't really expecting Bilan to hand over 200,000, just wanted this troublemaker to feel a sense of debt crisis.

He pointed at the Super Evolution Stone on the table: "This stone can cover at most a year's fee; doing the math, you still owe me 50,000."

Seeing Huo La "seething", Bilan instantly wilted and muttered softly, "Got it…"

"Alright, I won't argue. Your Wartortle, Pipi, and Kou Dai Hua all need to have their power boosted. Stay here this week; after I finish tomorrow's Gym challenge, we'll do special training together—after all, rescuing Moltres, you have to pitch in."

"I'll open another room; you sleep here." Huo La said, picking up the Super Evolution Stone and his backpack from the table, and fled the room as if escaping.

In the newly opened room, the lighting was soft.

He placed the Super Evolution Stone on the table, Gastly floated beside him, its eyes like his, staring intently at the faintly glowing stone, face full of curiosity.

"Little ghost, what on earth is this?" Gastly circled the stone twice, its tone full of doubt.

"It's like an upgraded version of an Evolution Stone," Huo La said, picking up the Super Evolution Stone, "Unlike an Ordinary Evolution Stone, its energy is less stable; it can only temporarily boost the power of a Pokémon's final form, essentially a 'Temporary Enhancement.'"

"Then my…" As soon as the words left his mouth, Gastly suddenly stuck out his tongue, and a Super Evolution Stone perched on the tip.

Huo La glanced aside: "That's a Gengar Super Evolution Stone! As long as you find a Trainer to cooperate with you, your power can skyrocket, and even ordinary Legendary Pokémon might not be your match!"

He then picked up the one on the table, sighing, "What a pity, this is a Steelix Super Evolution Stone; if it were a Venusaur or Beedrill, I could use it right now."

He had already had the system appraise this stone, and the result left him with mixed feelings—bad news: he couldn't use it; good news: his peer Xiao Gang has an Onix, which after evolution could make use of it.

But more than the stone, what concerned him was the Flash Flame Team's appearance: the fact that they could gather Super Evolution Stones in Kanto shows that Dr. BuLaTaNuo in the Kalos Region has already made breakthrough progress in Super Evolution research, meaning future trouble could be greater.

"Ugh, so annoying! System, when are you going to give me a task that rewards a usable Super Evolution Stone!" Huo La slumped on the table, venting at the air.

"Beep beep beep! Host negative emotion detected, system is matching a task…"

A cold mechanical voice suddenly rang out, and Huo La jerked his head up as a system panel, visible only to him, popped up before his eyes:

【Task Released:】

-Task Type: Temporary Task

-Task Content: Defeat A Ke Bi to obtain the Super Evolution Stone in her hand

-Task Time Limit: 7 days

-Task Reward: Beedrill Super Evolution Stone

"What the—!" Huo La sprang up from his chair, eyes wide, staring fixedly at the "Beedrill Super Evolution Stone" on the panel, his face full of disbelief.

Gastly saw him jump up, stared blankly at the air, floated curiously to his side, baring its teeth in a ghostly grin. Seeing Huo La unmoved, it gave a bored smirk, turned into a wisp of black smoke and slipped into Huo La's shadow.

"A Ke Bi… I didn't expect her to come to Kanto," Huo La sat back down, his fingers unconsciously tapping the tabletop, murmuring softly.

The system‑issued task made him realize instantly—combined with Bilan's mention of the Flash Flame Team's chase, the Flash Flame Team executive who came to Kanto this time was most likely A Ke Bi, one of the team's five chief scientists.

Even more coincidentally, the task required completion within seven days, indicating that A Ke Bi was currently near Shuangye Town, extremely close to him.

Huo La looked at the system panel again, his gaze turning solemn as he fell into deep contemplation.

At first, he thought Bilan being chased by the Flash Flame Team was an accident, and the system's sudden task to face A Ke Bi was a coincidence.

But now, thinking carefully, the coincidences add up, and it's no longer a coincidence.

The Flash Flame Team suddenly appearing in Kanto to collect Super Evolution Stones, A Ke Bi happening to be near Shuangye Town at that moment, and the system coincidentally issuing a task to battle her just as he was venting about wanting a Super Evolution Stone—behind all this, it might truly be, as he suspected, an unseen hand orchestrating something.