Following the mountain path back down, Yong heard a system notification the moment he left the Gym-for the first time outside a battle or training session!
"Ding! Congratulations on earning your first Badge! Host Talent mode has been unlocked. Your talents can only affect your own Pokémon! They have no effect on other Pokémon!" "Ding! Under the system's rules, the host may obtain a maximum of three talents. This is your first!" "Ding! Stone Badge obtained. Talent awarded: Rock Solid!" "Ding! Rock Solid: Rock-type and Ground-type Pokémon receive a substantial increase to physical defense and special defense. Damage from Water-, Fire-, and Grass-type moves is halved. The damage modifier for Fighting-type moves is adjusted to 1/1!"
Yong sucked in a breath!
For a long time, Yong had felt that his cheat wasn't all that useful. Although move proficiency rose rapidly, it was limited by his Pokémon's levels and evolution stages, so their actual strength hadn't improved that much! He had even felt a little disappointed.
But now, this sudden appearance of a host talent had given him a wonderful surprise!
"So I needed an official Gym battle to unlock new features? Is that it, system?"
"Ding! Under the system's rules, the host will receive special rewards upon achieving special accomplishments! Please explore the specifics yourself!"
Well, aren't you tight-lipped!
Yong grumbled inwardly. It looked like there would be plenty of surprises in store!
Nice, very nice!
He looked at his newly acquired talent, Rock Solid!
It was practically tailor-made to turn him into a master of Rock-type and Ground-type Pokémon!
Water-, Grass-, and Fire-type damage is halved. Does that mean four times becomes twice, and twice becomes normal damage?
And especially that 1/1 modifier for Fighting-type moves-what does that mean?
Both the damage Fighting-type moves deal and the damage taken from them are set to the minimum!
That's awesome! An entire weakness gone in one go! There'll still be damage, but it'll be well within what they can handle. With enough special training, they could even shrug it off!
He imagined an opponent's Water-, Fire-, or Grass-type move hitting Onix, only to fall short of its expected damage and effect. Then Onix could pretend to be hurt before smacking them right back!
Oh, this is going to be fun!
This actually changed the type weaknesses of Ground-type and Rock-type Pokémon. Even though people always said type matchups weren't important, now that this moment had arrived, Yong still had to admit-
Yeah! This is amazing!
"System, show me my information!"
"Host: Shiyan Yong Talent: Rock Solid Ability: None Pokémon: Onix Lv27, Marshtomp Lv20 Badge count: 1 Training Points: 1680"
Simple and easy to understand. Today really had been a rewarding day. Now it was time to think about the Metal Coat.
Closing the system, Yong hurried toward the Pokémon Center. With the battle over, he ought to treat Onix and Marshtomp to something good to eat first.
Upon reaching the Pokémon Center, he left both Pokémon in Nurse Joy's care as usual, then headed to the Video Phone Booth to ask his family about the Metal Coat.
In this world, Pokémon items and evolution items were extremely hard to come by. Most were under strict Pokémon League control and rarely made their way outside official channels. There weren't actually many Pokémon that needed special evolution methods, however, so demand for items like the Metal Coat wasn't particularly high. Supply could still just about keep up.
The application process was rather complicated, though, requiring multiple screenings to prevent infiltration by criminal organizations.
He dialed his home number, and an image soon appeared on the screen.
"Well, look who it is! What can I do for you, brat?"
Seeing his old man peering at him with his head tilted, Yong answered in an equally exaggerated tone.
"Hey, old man! Take a look at this!"
He took out the Stone Badge and showed it off, talking it up all the while.
"Well? Pretty impressive, huh? I got it without any trouble!"
His father's lips curved slightly. Seeing his son so happy made him happy too, but of course he wasn't about to show it.
"It took you this long to get your first Badge? Kid, you've got a long way to go before you catch up to your old man!"
"Tch, don't go bragging, old man! Where's Mom?"
That's odd. Mom usually answers the phone.
"She went into town. Hmph! So, what is it? Your ore should arrive today."
Hearing that, Yong scratched his head.
"Uh, old man, I wanted to ask whether we have any way to get a Metal Coat. I'm getting ready to evolve Onix."
His father looked surprised.
"Ready to evolve already? You must have raised Onix well! Is the ore for building up energy?"
"Yeah, Onix has been working really hard and is fully prepared. All we're missing now is the Metal Coat!"
"Hmm, let me think!"
Watching his father prop his chin on his hand in thought, Yong waited patiently. His family might not be fabulously wealthy, but they were firmly in the Pokémon League's camp. They paid their taxes on time every year and never fell behind, so it ought to be fine.
"Here's what we'll do."
After thinking it over, his father suddenly clapped his hands.
"I'll speak to President Stone, and then you can pay a visit to the Devon Corporation. He should have one on hand. We could apply for one ourselves, but that would take time."
Yong's eyes lit up as he asked,
"Will that work? Just going straight there like that?"
"Sure, it won't be a problem. He was my boss back in the day, after all, and we've worked together for years. Go ahead!"
That put Yong at ease. After trading a few more jokes with his old man, he hung up. He would eat first and wait for word from his father!
With the Metal Coat issue sorted out, Yong felt relaxed. He returned to the lobby to collect his Poké Balls, bought plenty of delicious food along the way, and excitedly headed back to his room. Then he let Onix and Marshtomp out.
"Roar!"
"Marsh!"
Looking at the two fully refreshed Pokémon, Yong set the Pokémon food he had bought in front of them.
"Let's have a feast to celebrate today's victory! Onix, Marshtomp, you both did great!"
"Roar!"
"Marsh!"
They were delighted by Yong's praise, and even happier when they saw the food.
Watching them eat happily, Yong took out his own meal and joined them, sharing in the cheerful atmosphere.
The boy and his two Pokémon enjoyed the joy of victory after their battle. To them, aside from victory, good food was the one thing they couldn't pass up!
The sea breeze drifted into the city, blowing gently through the bustling crowds and past the quiet little room.
After enjoying a lovely afternoon nap, the boy and his Pokémon woke up. Only then did he discover that his father's message had arrived on his pager some time ago.
"I've arranged a time for this afternoon. You can head straight over!"
Seeing the message, Yong knew it was settled!
Yong turned to Onix and said,
"You'll be able to evolve soon, Onix!"
"Roar!"
Onix nodded happily. It had been waiting a long time too!
Beside it, Marshtomp was happy for it as well, continuing to stuff food into its mouth-the leftovers from lunch.
Yong recalled both Pokémon, then went to the Pokémon Center's parcel counter to collect the minerals and rare stones his family had sent. They filled two whole spatial backpacks and weighed a full fifty kilograms!
He put them back in his room, then set out for a towering skyscraper in southwestern Rustboro City. Backed by the Petalburg Mountain Range, the vast building complex housed the Devon Corporation's headquarters, as well as the Stone family's headquarters in the Hoenn Region!
Steel Stone held sway over Rustboro City!