Aron

Making rubbings of the murals was not difficult. With the machine the professor had given them, they only needed to scan everything. Once they had finished, the three of them took another good look at the three legendary Pokémon.

Zeno and Sapphire were both completely absorbed, feeling that the Pokémon possessed an indescribable charm. Just looking at those simple stone carvings filled them with longing.

"Have you seen enough? I'm calling out Gallade."

"No problem."

After staying in the cave for so long, all three of them felt uncomfortable from head to toe.

"Stay close to me, and remember to hold tightly onto my clothes."

"What happens if we don't hold on tight?" Zeno suddenly became curious.

"You'll probably get dropped somewhere along the way. What, Zeno, want to try it?"

"Forget it. Better not."

Gu Yan's answer successfully frightened the two of them. Rather than grabbing his clothes, they clung tightly to their senior brother from either side.

"Loosen up a little. I can't take out my Poké Ball." Although Gu Yan disliked physical contact with others, he was surprisingly indulgent toward this pair of junior disciples.

"Gallade, I'll have to trouble you. Use Teleport to take us out."

Zeno could not help glancing over. His senior brother's Gallade was genuinely handsome. Its gaze was especially resolute, the blade on its right elbow looked particularly sharp, and it had a distinctive bearing that resembled his senior brother's. Overall, it looked like a knight full of gentlemanly charm.

Gallade walked over and took its trainer's hand, just about to use Teleport.

"Wait, I have something!" Sapphire suddenly raised her hand.

"What is it?"

"Senior Brother, can you hear that? It sounds like a Pokémon crying."

"Did you hear anything?" Gu Yan looked at Zeno.

Zeno shook his head.

"Really, I'm not lying. It sounds like a baby crying." Sapphire looked utterly serious.

"If that's the case, can you tell roughly where it is? Let's go take a look first."

When it came to Pokémon, the three of them were surprisingly united in their attitude.

"Okay, follow me."

Gu Yan and Zeno followed Sapphire. Gradually, they too heard the sound of a Pokémon crying. Judging from the sound, it seemed very young.

After circling around for a while, they finally found the Pokémon. Its body was round, with four thick, stubby feet and a large round head. It had two pale blue eyes, much of its body was covered in steel armor, and a horn grew from its back.

It looked like a Pokémon that had only been born recently. It was somewhat frail, with several faint wounds on its body. It was currently surrounded by a group of Geodude, who appeared to be bullying it.

"What are you doing? Let that Aron go!" Sapphire shouted at the Geodude. Their behavior, ganging up on someone smaller and bullying a young Pokémon, disgusted her.

"Hey-cha! Hey-cha! Hey-chacha!"

Hearing her, the Geodude hurriedly tried to explain themselves. They were not a group of unreasonable rocks.

"What does that mean? I don't understand." Sapphire could not understand them at all, so she could only turn back toward her two senior brothers.

"They said Aron stole their food, so they were planning to teach it a lesson. They're not bad rocks who bully others for no reason." Zeno had been about to take out Carvanha, but Gu Yan had already translated.

"Senior Brother, you can communicate with Pokémon too?"

"Not exactly. Gallade told me through Telepathy."

"Ah, I didn't expect this Aron to be such a little troublemaker." Sapphire found it unbelievable. She had almost been fooled by its cute appearance.

"Coo coo... coo-woo..." Aron's voice was soft, as though it were trying to defend itself.

"It's still so young. How about we let it go? If you really mind, tell us what it stole, and we'll see if we can compensate you." Through his communication with Gallade, Gu Yan had roughly understood the situation.

The Geodude had only wanted to scare it and had not truly intended to bully Aron. Hearing Gu Yan's words, they decided not to pursue the matter.

"You're so young. How could you steal?" Although Sapphire sympathized with Aron, she could not help scolding it a little.

"It secretly took some of the Geodude's food. It hasn't eaten anything for several days."

"How could that be? Aron, where's your mother? Didn't she prepare food for you?"

"Coo-woo~~" At her question, Aron could not help bursting into tears.

"What's wrong?" Sapphire was at a loss and could only gently stroke its back to comfort it.

"Its mother was captured." Gu Yan was also somewhat surprised. He had not expected something like this to happen in such a remote place. "If nothing unexpected happened, it was probably poachers."

Upon hearing their eldest senior brother's words, Sapphire and Zeno both understood. No wonder Aron was so thin and covered in old injuries. No wonder it had risked stealing the Geodude's food. It was so small that its mother probably had not even had time to teach it how to survive in the wild.

"These poachers are too awful!"

"What a disgusting bunch."

Sapphire and Zeno both pitied Aron. It had lost its mother at such a young age. How was it supposed to survive alone in Granite Cave?

"That's why the Pokémon League cracks down so harshly on poachers. Those people are incredibly selfish. They'll do anything for money, completely ignoring the Pokémon's wishes. This little Aron was lucky. Otherwise, it would have been captured too."

With the Geodude gone, Aron relaxed slightly. Before long, it fell into a deep sleep.

"What should we do? We can't just leave it alone. This Aron is too pitiful." Sapphire truly could not feel at ease leaving it here.

"How about we take it out first? We can treat its injuries before deciding anything else. It's already severely malnourished."

Aron needed to eat metal minerals. Seeing its condition, Zeno knew it had not eaten any in a long time. The Geodude's food could at most fill its stomach.

"Alright, I'll carry it." Sapphire tried, only to discover that Aron did not budge at all. "It's too heavy. I can't do it."

"I remember Aron's average weight is sixty kilograms. This one is thinner and smaller, but it must still weigh around forty kilograms." Its tiny body carried a tremendous weight, which made Zeno curious.

"It's fine. Let Gallade carry it. Hold on tight, we're heading out."

As soon as Gu Yan finished speaking, he had Gallade pick up Aron. Then he held onto Gallade, and seeing this, Zeno and Sapphire immediately clung tightly to their senior brother again.

"Gallade, I'm really making things difficult for you. Use Teleport."