Key Stone Ore Fragment

After leaving Axew's nest, Hu Yang headed straight to Fossil Maniac's home.

He planned to leave Fallarbor Town today and take the cable car from Mt. Chimney to Lavaridge Town.

The sun was already close to setting. If he moved quickly, he could still catch the last bus to the Mt. Chimney cable car station.

Fossil Maniac's home was a detached house standing in front of a cave.

From outside, Hu Yang could hear the clang-clang-clang of stone being chiseled inside the cave.

Hu Yang knocked on the door, but no one came to answer after a long while. He went around the house and entered the cave, where he unsurprisingly found Fossil Maniac, fully geared up and drenched in sweat.

The once-normal cave had been dug deeper and deeper downward by Fossil Maniac, with small mining lamps hanging along the rock walls on both sides.

The sight gave Hu Yang a strong sense of mining iron ore in Minecraft's survival mode.

"You're finally here!" Fossil Maniac finally noticed the visitor behind him while taking a break for water and cried out in delight.

He took off his hard hat, climbed back to the surface, and led Hu Yang through the front door into a pitch-black underground storage room.

Click!

Fossil Maniac turned on the lights, and bright incandescent bulbs instantly illuminated everything around them.

Large skeletal fossils and stones displayed in glass cases filled the room. The weighty atmosphere made Hu Yang feel as though he had entered a museum.

"Is this... an Aerodactyl skeleton?" Hu Yang asked as he looked at the enormous skeleton before him.

Appraisal activated, and the item's information immediately surfaced in his mind.

[Aerodactyl Skeleton Fossil: Very fortunately, it remained exceptionally well preserved despite being buried underground.]

Fossil Maniac said, "Mm-hm, didn't expect you to know your stuff!"

He walked forward and looked at the skeleton with the burning gaze of a man ogling a naked goddess as he introduced it.

"This skeleton was something I bought in Kanto for a high price back then! Beautiful, isn't it? Witnessing traces of ancient life through fossils—that's the charm of fossils!"

Hu Yang was focused on something else. "How much did you pay for it?"

Based on the game's setting, Fossil Maniac seemed to have some connection with Devon Corporation and the Hoenn League. His identity was far less simple than he appeared.

Could ordinary people afford to play around with fossils?

Of course not.

Sure enough, Fossil Maniac's next words proved Hu Yang right. "Not expensive, only fifty million!"

Listen to that—was that even something a human should say?!

Still, this guy really was quite simple. He liked fossils purely because he liked fossils.

He also knew that Devon Corporation possessed technology capable of reviving fossils, yet he had no intention of bringing them back to life.

That alone made him worthy of the word "Maniac."

Hu Yang had no interest in Aerodactyl's skeleton and instead began wandering around the collection room.

He remembered that in Pokémon Emerald, after the player entered the Hall of Fame, the cave Fossil Maniac had dug would collapse and reveal the Desert Underpass.

Inside was the second fossil that had previously vanished when Mirage Tower collapsed.

Would the cave Fossil Maniac had dug in this real world also connect to the Desert Underpass?

Hu Yang couldn't be sure, because this underpass only appeared in Pokémon Emerald. Other versions of the game had no such setting.

"That's an Ancient Golem body fossil. Ancient Pokémon were always a size larger than modern Pokémon."

"That's a fossilized Pokémon Egg from a thousand years ago that never hatched."

"Those are things I dug up underground..."

Fossil Maniac followed beside Hu Yang, introducing them one after another.

"What is that?" Hu Yang slowed to a stop and pointed at a stone about the size of two adult fists.

The stone was colorful, but perhaps because it had not been polished, its colors appeared very dull.

Fossil Maniac glanced at it and scratched his head. "That... I can't remember either. I think I dug it up in some underground cave whose name I don't know."

Later, he had asked a friend to study it for a while, but they had found nothing. So he brought it back and left it here as a decoration.

"I want this one," Hu Yang said.

"Huh?" Fossil Maniac froze, then fell into wild delight. "Are you sure?" As long as Hu Yang didn't want that complete Aerodactyl skeleton!

Hu Yang said, "Yeah. Unlike you, I'm not interested in fossils. I'm more interested in stones useful to Pokémon, like Fire Stones and Dawn Stones."

Because it was a raw Key Stone Ore Fragment.

[Key Stone Ore Fragment: A stone containing unknown power. After being polished and forged, it can be worn by a Trainer and possesses the miraculous ability to make a Pokémon holding a Mega Stone evolve.]

"But that stone can't make Pokémon evolve." Though Fossil Maniac was happy that Hu Yang did not want his Aerodactyl fossil, the stone really had no use for Trainers.

Hu Yang said, "..."

This guy was pretty honest. It made Hu Yang feel embarrassed about taking advantage of the information gap.

He deliberately said, "You're right. Then I'll take that Aerodactyl fossil instead."

Fossil Maniac's expression changed. He opened his mouth, but did not know what to say.

Seeing that, Hu Yang almost laughed. "I'm kidding. I just think its color is pretty and want to take it back to make a ring for my girlfriend."

Only then did Fossil Maniac let out a sigh of relief, though he also felt like crying.

Were kids these days all this mature?

He was so young, yet he already had a girlfriend. Meanwhile, Fossil Maniac was nearly thirty and still single.

But to him, a girlfriend truly was not as important as fossils.

Thinking of it that way, Fossil Maniac immediately felt much better.

Hu Yang looked around. Most of the other items were ordinary fossils, and he did not want any of them. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Do you have a Shiny Stone here?"

His Roserade needed a Shiny Stone to evolve into Roserade.

"Yes. I once dug up a Shiny Stone vein." As he spoke, Fossil Maniac went to a corner and took out a stone emitting a faint glow.

"There's one more thing," Fossil Maniac reminded him.

Hu Yang thought for a moment. "I haven't decided yet. Once I bring the fossil back, I'll tell you."

Fossil Maniac naturally had no objection. "Sure. Then take this stone as a deposit."

As he spoke, he handed over the Key Stone Ore Fragment. "Take it first and make a ring for your girlfriend. When you come back, I'll give you the rest."

Hu Yang said, "..."

What girlfriend? It was just an excuse he had made up.

Compared to this Key Stone, those things were not even worthy of carrying its shoes.

Could a girlfriend compare to the super-cool Mega Evolution?

Obviously not.

Hu Yang took the Key Stone and said, "Pleasure doing business."

Fossil Maniac also said, "Pleasure doing business."

Key Stone + Mega Stone

Everything was ready; all he needed was the final push.

If he could get a Gardevoir too, it would truly be a perfect start.