Yushu immediately activated his Eye of Detection to confirm.
[Steelix Evolution Stone] [Category: Mega Stone] [Effect: When held, allows Steelix to Mega Evolve in battle] [Metagross Evolution Stone] [Category: Mega Stone] [Effect: When held, allows Metagross to Mega Evolve in battle]
Yushu's heart began to race.
A Mega Stone for Steelix! A Mega Stone for Metagross!
And both were Mega Stones for Steel types!
That meant if he caught a Steelix or Metagross in the future and built a strong enough bond with them, he could let them Mega Evolve!
After Mega Evolution, a Pokémon's strength would shoot up an entire tier, even allowing it to overcome a gap in levels!
The Kalos Region had yet to officially open up exchanges, so that information gap was still there. By the time Kalos's Mega Evolution system reached Sinnoh, he would already have two Mega Stones in hand.
What a massive haul!!
Uxie looked suspicious.
Why had this human's expression suddenly turned so sleazy? His grin was practically reaching his ears.
Yushu quietly put the two stones away, then continued searching as though nothing had happened.
It wasn't that he wouldn't share. Riley had looked at them too, and he was the one who hadn't wanted them.
These treasures were destined to be his!
Yushu rummaged around a little longer, trying to find a Key Stone, the other essential item needed for Mega Evolution, but unfortunately found none.
That made sense. The odds of finding both a Crouching Dragon and a Young Phoenix in the same place were far too low. Getting these two Mega Stones was already his biggest haul of the day.
A person couldn't be too greedy.
The two continued along the passage, defeating several more groups of wild Pokémon along the way.
There was no denying that Iron Island had a truly enormous number of wild Pokémon, each more hot-tempered than the last.
You could be walking along minding your own business, only for an Onix to suddenly burst out of a crack in the rocks, jaws open to bite you.
Or a Golbat would drop from overhead and fire a Supersonic straight at your face.
Were they playing Resident Evil here?
But Yushu wasn't annoyed. Instead, he cheerfully sent out different Pokémon in turn, letting them all gain some actual combat experience.
After all, chances to get free sparring partners like this were rare. Outside, if you wanted this many Pokémon to practice against, you would have to pay to use a training facility.
Even Ralts was brought out by Yushu for some practice, using Confusion to control a Geodude.
"Ralts! Ralts!"
It tilted its head up at Yushu, its big eyes sparkling.
Yushu smiled and stroked its little head. "Not bad. Keep it up."
Ralts happily nuzzled his hand, leaving Riley beside them feeling envious.
This was a Ralts, a Pokémon that could evolve into Gardevoir, the Pokémon so many people dreamed of having.
Yet Yushu was raising one right by his side, and it stuck to him like a little shadow.
Standing beside Riley, Lucario saw the "I want one too" look on its trainer's face and couldn't help rolling its eyes.
What was that supposed to mean? Had he taken a fancy to someone else's Pokémon?
It was the mighty Lucario, the Aura Pokémon. Could it really not measure up to a little runt that hadn't even evolved?
It snorted coldly and turned away, deciding to ignore Riley for the rest of the day.
The two continued deeper inside, but Riley suddenly stopped.
His brows furrowed slightly, and his wary gaze swept their surroundings.
Yushu stopped as well, looking at him in confusion. "What's wrong?"
Riley kept his voice very low, a hint of gravity in it. "Something's wrong. Take a good look around."
At that, Yushu looked around.
Then he noticed the problem too.
There were no signs of wild Pokémon on the passage floor, nor any traces of battle.
That wasn't normal.
Before this, they had seen a wild Pokémon poking its head out every few meters.
Yet this stretch of passage seemed to have been cleared out by something. There wasn't so much as a shadow.
Yushu's expression grew serious too. "You mean..."
Riley didn't answer. Instead, he placed a hand over his chest, closed his eyes, and silently recited.
The power of Aura dwells within my heart!
Hum!
A faint blue ripple seemed to spread outward from Riley's body, like the ripples stirred up by a stone tossed into water.
A few seconds later, Riley opened his eyes, his expression turning very grave. "There are people ahead. More than one."
So this was the power of Aura? He was practically a walking radar. How useful.
Yushu marveled inwardly. If this ability were used to find people, it would work even better than GPS.
If Riley became a police dog, even Arcanine would probably be out of a job.
Riley's brow twitched. "I get the feeling you're thinking something very rude."
"No, no, absolutely not." Yushu hurriedly waved his hands, looking perfectly upright. "What I mean is, so what if there are people? Maybe they're just here to explore, like us."
They were all just here to loot the place. Surely they wouldn't start robbing fellow looters.
Iron Island wasn't anyone's private property. Anyone could explore it.
Riley shook his head. "With that many people, they don't seem like ordinary explorers. It feels more like a planned operation. Let's take a look first."
The two softened their footsteps and carefully crept forward.
They rounded a bend, revealing a massive underground cavern ahead.
Natural luminous ores were embedded in the cavern walls, giving off an eerie blue glow.
A camp had been set up in the center of the cavern.
Several silver-gray tents stood in neat rows, with instruments and equipment placed between them that looked like some sort of communication or detection devices.
Several people in silver-gray outfits resembling space uniforms were setting something up below.
Yushu's pupils abruptly constricted.
Outfits like that in Sinnoh... that could only mean...
Team Galactic!
"Why are they here?"
Yushu asked in a low voice.
Team Galactic was Sinnoh's largest criminal organization, with influence throughout the entire region. Its central ideology was to destroy the old world filled with love and hatred, creating a brand-new universe without emotion, where only order existed.
Simply put... a bunch of lunatics.
And they were lunatics with ideals, education, and technology.
Unlike Team Rocket, which only wanted to catch Pokémon to make money, these idealistic madmen were often harder to deal with than ordinary villains.
Riley's brows were tightly furrowed, a trace of wariness in his eyes. "I don't know, but a criminal gang like them showing up here can't mean anything good. Something deep inside Iron Island must have drawn them here."
Yushu made an immediate decision. "Let's pull back first. This is already beyond what you and I can handle. We need to notify Officer Jenny."
Team Galactic was different from wild Pokémon. An organized criminal group like this wasn't something two ordinary trainers like them could deal with.
Besides... they were only running a dungeon. Was it really worth risking their lives over something so minor?
He wasn't some hot-blooded manga protagonist who charged in at the sight of a villain. Backing down when it was time to back down-that was an adult's wisdom for survival.