The Draconids

The two of them waited around with nothing to do at the spot where Steven had been digging for stones.

"You just sent Drakloak out like that? Aren't you worried something might go wrong?"

Chen Shi rubbed his chin. "It'll be fine. Drakloak is very good at hiding."

"Unless they also have Ghost-type or Psychic-type Pokémon, there's very little chance of Drakloak being discovered."

Sure enough, the moment he finished speaking, Drakloak's cry rang out beside them.

"Kia~"

Clutching a Space Backpack, Drakloak excitedly ran up to Chen Shi to show off.

At last, the worry buried deep in Chen Shi's eyes faded.

"You did a great job!"

"Kia~"

Drakloak patted his chest. Of course I did.

With me on the job, how could anything go wrong?

Then Drakloak chattered away, leaving Steven utterly bewildered as he listened beside them.

Chen Shi, however, understood. "You're saying that person had three Poké Balls that felt really powerful, and another three with presences about as strong as yours?"

"And he said himself that he had five Bagon, four of which he was going to sell?"

"Kia~"

Drakloak nodded. Exactly. I heard it myself.

"That's strange!"

Chen Shi had heard Yoshino mention it before, too. That Firetree fellow had somehow gotten his hands on five Bagon.

He had originally thought Firetree was just bragging, dangling empty promises in front of his underlings. He hadn't expected it to be true.

But where could Firetree have found five Bagon?

Could it be...?

Just then, Steven interrupted Chen Shi's thoughts.

"Stop worrying about that. Hurry up and check the stones."

"They have so many people, and who knows how long they've been digging here? They must have collected quite a few."

The corner of Chen Shi's mouth twitched. He opened the backpack and tipped out all the stones inside.

The result took him completely by surprise. There were actually three Mega Stones.

And one of them was for Garchomp!

The other two were Mega Stones for Venusaur and Glalie.

Chen Shi quickly picked out those three stones. Drakloak had brought them back, so he wasn't going to stand on ceremony with Steven.

Steven didn't mind him taking those three stones and began examining the others.

Chen Shi glanced at them. They were all useless rocks.

Still, Team Magma had collected them for a reason. They were quite pretty, which suited Steven's tastes perfectly.

Sure enough.

Steven was practically drooling.

"You only want those three? You don't want any of these?"

Seeing the anticipation in Steven's eyes, Chen Shi said outright, "You can have all of them!"

"But you'll have to help me revive a Fossil Pokémon later."

Drakloak immediately grew excited at that and hurriedly turned to Steven, waiting for his answer.

"No problem." Steven didn't disappoint either of them and agreed without hesitation.

"But we'll have to wait until the machine has been rebuilt. You're not in a hurry, are you?"

The current machine had already exploded, and the new energy converter was still being made.

Even Steven couldn't do anything if they were in a hurry.

Chen Shi certainly wasn't. It was for Pheobe, after all. If anyone was in a hurry, it would be her.

Drakloak wasn't in a hurry either. He only needed to know that Dreepy could be revived; it didn't have to happen right away.

"Then I'm taking these. No changing your mind, okay?"

Steven spoke with the stones cradled in his arms.

"Take them, take them!"

"Pack them away already. It'll be bad if that admin notices. We're pretty close to their base."

"Let's get out of here first and have the Investigators handle it."

"We've already got what we came for, anyway. Let's get moving."

Startled, Steven quickly packed the stones away, and the two prepared to leave.

On the way, Drakloak suddenly turned toward a large boulder and stared fixedly at it.

Realizing something was wrong, Chen Shi released Swampert, Florges, and the others.

"Who's there?"

"Come out!"

Steven released his own Pokémon at the same time.

But even after a while, there was still no movement behind the boulder.

"Still not coming out?"

"Drakloak, Dragon Pulse!"

"Kia~"

Just as Drakloak was about to fire a Dragon Pulse, a voice came from behind the boulder.

"Don't attack! I mean no harm!"

Chen Shi narrowed his eyes. "If you mean no harm, why are you hiding?"

As his words fell, a young man slowly emerged from behind the boulder. He had dark skin and wore an ancient-style robe with a hemp rope tied around his waist.

"Friend, I really mean no harm!"

Seeing the man's antiquated clothing here in Meteor Falls, Chen Shi began to suspect something.

"Are you one of the Draconids?"

The man visibly froze for a moment, then nodded in acknowledgment.

The Draconids had stopped sealing off their village long ago and had interacted with some outsiders. It was only natural that people knew they existed.

Steven caught on as well. His father had told him about the Draconids. They had always lived in Meteor Falls and worshipped the legendary Dragon God.

Still, Elite King Drake had always been the one in contact with them. Steven hadn't expected to meet one himself today.

Chen Shi thought for a moment, then asked, "Did you lose five Bagon?"

The man immediately grew excited. "Friend, do you know where our missing dragon hatchlings are?"

"If you're willing to tell me, we'll reward you generously!"

The Draconids had lost five Bagon in an accident, throwing the entire village into an uproar. Many people had been sent out to search, and Ada was one of them.

During his search, Ada had encountered two strangers. He had intended to observe them from hiding to see whether they had anything to do with the missing Bagon.

He hadn't expected one of their Pokémon to be so perceptive that it immediately saw through his hiding place.

Left with no choice, Ada had declared that he meant no harm.

Who would have thought that the man would immediately recognize him as a Draconid? From what he said, he even had news of the missing Bagon.

Ada was beside himself with excitement. The village had sent out so many people and searched for so many days without finding any news. He hadn't expected this stroke of luck today.

Chen Shi said directly, "I know where those Bagon are. I can even take you there."

"But the person who has them is very strong. He has three Senior Elite King Pokémon and quite a few underlings. Can you handle him?"

Ada replied confidently, "Friend, don't worry. I'm a Senior Elite King-level Dragon Tamer. I can handle the person you're talking about."

"Sorry for the trouble, but please take me there."

Chen Shi asked quietly, "Steven, what do you think?"

"Should we take him there?"

Steven answered without hesitation. "I think we can go. It's not much trouble anyway, and we'll earn a favor from the Draconids."

Chen Shi nodded slightly, then said to Ada, "Come with us, then."

"You handle that Senior Elite King. If there's anyone else, leave them to us."

"No problem." Ada agreed immediately.

And so, the three of them headed straight for the Team Magma Base.

Pidgeot