Cave Exploration (2)

After noticing Feebas's warning, Lin Mo raised a hand to touch the headlamp on his head, turned up the brightness, and swept the beam ahead.

When the light fell on those two glittering "points," revealing the appearance of the "monster" ahead, he instantly relaxed his tense nerves and called out tentatively:

"Sableye?"

"Yamii?"

Sableye slowly raised its head. Its gem-like eyes, as though polished, were full of confusion, as if asking, "Why are you calling me?"

Lin Mo finally relaxed completely and lowered his voice, speaking as gently as possible:

"Could you move over a little and let me pass?"

"Yamii?"

Sableye blinked its gemstone eyes and looked at Lin Mo as if it had not understood him.

Seeing Sableye's innocent expression, Lin Mo pointed at the gap beside it and repeated himself more emphatically:

"Move over there a little and let me through, okay?"

But Sableye merely tilted its head. At some point, a dull gray stone had appeared in its arms, and it was laboriously picking at the crystals on it with its claws, completely ignoring Lin Mo.

The tunnel was already narrow, and with it blocking the way, there was almost no room to pass.

"Looks like I'll have to pressure it a little." Lin Mo helplessly gave Feebas, hanging at his chest, a look. "Feebas, prepare to attack. Go easy—just chase it away."

Feebas immediately understood and leaped out of the inflatable fish tank, ready to strike.

The livestream chat instantly became excited:

"Are they fighting? That Sableye scared the hell out of me when it showed up!"

"Same here! I thought they'd run into something unclean!"

"..."

Lin Mo took a deep breath and gave the order softly:

"Feebas, use Water Pulse!"

Feebas fiercely flicked its tail fin, sending a soft ring of water ripples from its mouth toward Sableye.

Water Pulse hit, knocking Sableye stumbling. The stone in its arms fell to the ground with a clang, and it finally stopped picking at it. Its gem-like eyes glared at Feebas, filled with anger at being interrupted.

"Yamii!" it shrieked, suddenly turning into a black shadow and instantly appearing before Feebas as it launched an attack.

Feebas simply slapped its tail against the ground, using the rebound to spring away and dodge Sableye's attack.

"Pretty fierce." Lin Mo frowned. "Feebas, use Icy Wind. Freeze its claws so it can't keep swiping around."

Feebas immediately opened its mouth and breathed out a cold gust, which landed precisely on Sableye's claws.

The chill instantly condensed into a thin layer of ice. Caught off guard, Sableye hissed from the cold, hurriedly pulled its claws back, and shook them hard in an attempt to break the ice.

Taking advantage of its distraction, Lin Mo quickly squeezed sideways through the passage and shouted to Feebas at the same time, "Ease up!"

Feebas immediately stopped using Icy Wind, and only then did Sableye break free from the ice.

But when it saw Lin Mo had already moved ahead, it seemed to grow irritated. It picked up the stone from the ground and was about to throw it at him;

but the moment Lin Mo turned back, it stopped. Instead, it hugged the stone and let out a dissatisfied growl at his retreating back.

After walking a few steps, Lin Mo looked back and suddenly noticed a clear indentation in the rock wall where Sableye had been standing. Several fragmented crystals were embedded inside it, and the stone Sableye had been holding had clearly been pried from that indentation.

"So it wasn't deliberately blocking the way. It was digging for crystals."

Lin Mo suddenly understood. He had thought Sableye was deliberately making things difficult for him, but it turned out that he had interrupted its "work."

Lin Mo stopped, took out a small bag of Pokémon Food from his backpack, walked back to Sableye, set the bag on the ground, and said softly:

"I'm sorry about earlier. I interrupted you while you were digging. Take this as an apology."

Sableye watched Lin Mo warily, then looked at the bag of food on the ground. A hesitant rumble came from its throat.

It was clearly interested in the fragrant bag, but it remembered being frozen earlier and did not dare approach rashly.

Seeing that, Lin Mo stepped back two paces to show he meant no harm:

"Don't worry, there's no ulterior motive. Take your time eating."

Only after seeing him retreat to a safe distance did Sableye carefully shuffle over to the food bag. It first poked the bag with a claw, then, after confirming there was no reaction, swiftly tore open the package and stuffed a handful of food into its mouth.

The crunching sounds echoed through the tunnel. Sableye's eyes instantly lit up, surprise sparkling in its gem-like pupils, and its anger at being interrupted was immediately forgotten.

"Looks like it suits its taste."

Lin Mo smiled and turned to continue onward.

The livestream chat also breathed a sigh of relief:

"So it was a misunderstanding. Sableye was just a little cutie focused on digging stones."

"Look how happily it's eating! Its eyes are glowing, hahaha!"

"Its eyes are so pretty. I kind of want to raise one."

After finishing the food, Sableye looked up at Lin Mo's departing back, a trace of conflict flashing through its gem-like eyes.

It looked at the crystals in the rock wall, then at Lin Mo's backpack. Its gem-like eyes rolled around as it hesitated for a few seconds before quickly following him.

Lin Mo had only walked a few steps when he heard a faint sound behind him, like light, scattered footsteps.

He looked back and could not help laughing—

That Sableye was following close behind, still holding the empty Pokémon Food wrapper in its arms. Its gem-like eyes were fixed on his backpack, as if assessing how much "stock" remained inside.

"This little guy certainly doesn't stand on ceremony."

Lin Mo stopped and turned to look at Sableye.

Even after being discovered, it did not try to hide. Instead, it scampered up to him, raised a claw to point at his backpack, then pointed deeper into the tunnel, chirping "Yamii, yamii" while nodding its little head furiously.

"You mean there are good things if I follow you?"

Lin Mo raised an eyebrow, intrigued. He spoke to the camera:

"Looks like our little guide wants to take us somewhere good. Everyone, guess what it might be?"

The livestream chat immediately erupted with comments:

"It must be where it hides its treasures!"

"Don't Sableye like collecting shiny things? Maybe there are rare ores!"

"..."

Lin Mo followed Sableye deeper into the tunnel for around ten minutes when a hidden stone chamber suddenly appeared ahead. In the center was a messy pile of things—

There were half-chewed crystal clusters, iron ore polished bright, and even several smooth pearls. They were clearly Sableye's collection from over the years.

Sableye ran to the pile excitedly and rummaged through it with its claws, as if showing off its wealth.

It dug out a gray stone from beneath the pile. The stone's surface was smooth and covered in countless tiny black spots, making it seem utterly ordinary.

"What's this?"

Lin Mo picked up the stone and weighed it in his hand. It felt cold and hard. A flash of blue light passed through his eyes, and the screen in his mind displayed its information:

"Everstone. A Pokémon holding this stone will not evolve."

"It's actually an Everstone!" Lin Mo was somewhat surprised.

He knew this sort of stone was extremely valuable to some Trainers, especially those who liked small Pokémon and did not want their partners to evolve;

for example, wealthy ladies who kept cute pets were often willing to pay high prices for Everstones so their Buneary, Skitty, Eevee, and other Pokémon could retain their adorable appearances.

Sableye seemed to notice Lin Mo's interest in the stone. It immediately cried "Yamii," patted the Everstone with its claw, then pointed at Lin Mo's backpack. Its meaning could not have been clearer—it wanted to trade the stone for food.

Lin Mo calculated silently. He had no immediate use for an Everstone, but it was worth quite a lot. Trading food for it would be a huge profit.

He took three bags of Pokémon Food from his backpack and placed them before Sableye:

"How about these in exchange for your little stone?"

At the sight of the three bags of food, Sableye's eyes instantly shone like two lightbulbs. Without a second thought, it nodded, swiftly tucked the food into its arms, then pushed the Everstone toward him to indicate that Lin Mo could take it.

"Not a bad deal!" Lin Mo put the Everstone into his backpack and explained to the viewers in the camera with a smile:

"I didn't expect such an unexpected gain. Judging from this stone's appearance, there's a high chance it's an Everstone!"

Lin Mo did not directly tell the viewers the appraisal result from the panel in his mind. He merely gave them a rough guess, giving the audience something to discuss and letting them seek out the answer themselves.

The moment Lin Mo finished speaking, comments flooded the livestream chat like a tide, and the screen filled with viewers teasing him:

"I think it looks like an Everstone too. If it really is one, streamer, you've hit the jackpot!"

"It is an Everstone. My Meowth wears one!"

"Does the rich lady upstairs need another Meowth? I can be your Meowth too!"

"Get lost! I'm a guy..."

After bidding Sableye farewell, Lin Mo continued exploring deeper into the cave.

Before long, several Zubat dove down from the cave ceiling, screeching sharply as they descended.

"Feebas, use Icy Wind!" Lin Mo shouted.

Feebas immediately released an icy breath. Feeling the energy that countered them, the Zubat scattered and fled.

After walking farther ahead, a Geodude jumped out from behind a rock, waving its fists as it blocked the way.

Feebas easily knocked it back with Water Pulse, ending the battle cleanly and decisively.

After stopping and starting like that, fighting several small battles, Lin Mo gradually became a little lost.

There were more and more forks in the cave.

"This place is way too winding." Lin Mo looked at the crossroads before him, feeling troubled.

Just then, he heard a familiar "Yamii" from the fork on the left.

He quickly walked over and peeked inside, then immediately burst out laughing—it was actually the same Sableye he had encountered in the tunnel earlier!

Then, an even more astonishing sight came into view:

Several round, plump Aron stood in line. Each one stepped forward and spat out a glittering gem or a translucent crystal onto the ground;

while Sableye stood guard nearby, grabbed a handful of Pokémon Food to offer each Aron, then, after taking the gem, happily moved one step aside to make room for the next Aron to trade.

"Yamii?"

Sableye had just handed over some food when it looked up and spotted Lin Mo.

It first froze, then followed Lin Mo's gaze downward toward the small pile of gems and crystals beside it. Its gem-like eyes filled with embarrassment, and even its ears quietly drooped, looking exceptionally awkward.

"You... you little rascal!"

Feebas, inside the inflatable fish tank on Lin Mo's chest, tilted its head as it watched the scene. Its little tail fin gently swayed, clearly unable to understand Sableye's actions—

It had obviously loved Pokémon Food so much before, so why was it giving the food to other Pokémon now?

It then lifted its face, its round eyes fixed on Lin Mo with confusion, as if asking, Why is it doing that?

Meanwhile, the livestream viewers were already laughing themselves silly, and the chat instantly flooded the screen:

"I'm dying! Sableye has become a 'middleman'!"

"It upgraded the streamer's idea—now it trades food for gems. So clever!"

"I understand Feebas's confusion! Who would've thought the little guy that loved food would become a 'trading expert' in the blink of an eye?"

"Sableye has lived in this cave for so long. How could it not have some special tricks..."