After completing the trade, Lu Chen casually asked:
"By the way, do you know a Trainer named Ash?"
Erika paused, seemingly not expecting Lu Chen to ask that out of the blue.
Although the change of subject was rather abrupt, Erika still answered every question Lu Chen asked.
"Ash? The Trainer with the Pikachu, right? I remember him."
"He just earned the Rainbow Badge a little while ago."
"You and Ash are..."
Erika was about to ask more, but when her gaze met Lu Chen's smiling face, which somehow sent a chill down her back, she swallowed the rest of her question.
Forget it. Better not ask.
Lu Chen offered no further explanation. He picked up the large box of seeds and tools, said goodbye to Erika, and left the Celadon Gym.
Watching his figure disappear through the doorway, Erika let out a long breath and slumped in her chair.
"He's finally gone..."
Erika murmured.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Ash, Misty, and Brock arrived at a bustling canyon.
There were reportedly traces of legendary fossil Pokémon here.
Ash's eyes shone with excitement as he charged into the canyon with a shovel over his shoulder.
Misty followed behind, unable to resist complaining, "Ash, you idiot! Do you even know what fossils look like? Why are you running so fast?"
"Of course I do! They're those hard things buried in the dirt!"
"That tells us nothing!"
Brock stood behind them, watching helplessly as the two bickered the moment they came together.
"Say... could you two start digging before you argue?"
Ash and Misty exchanged a look and declared in unison:
"I'm going to dig up more fossils than you!"
With that, both lunged at the ground, beginning a rather unusual digging contest.
Elsewhere, Lu Chen had already returned to his little farm.
He stood in the middle of the wasteland and rubbed his chin.
Although Lapras's Rain Dance had restored quite a bit of vitality to the land.
And a patch of weeds had sprouted, it was still barren wasteland at the end of the day.
It might just barely suffice for growing ordinary crops.
But it was nowhere near enough to grow Starf Berries, the king of Berries.
Even with Jirachi's meteorite fragment, that remained the case.
That was because Jirachi's meteorite fragment was only a catalyst, helping the Starf Berry take root, sprout, and flower.
The Starf Berry itself did not grow by absorbing the power of wishes.
"If only I had Tapu Bulu, or Landorus, the god of farmland," Lu Chen muttered, rubbing his chin.
"With their power, this wasteland could become the finest fertile soil in an instant."
"What's Tapu Bulu?"
A voice suddenly sounded behind him.
Lu Chen jumped in fright.
Quite literally.
His muscles tensed instantly, and his feet shifted as his body almost instinctively moved to counterattack.
Fortunately, at the last second, Lu Chen suddenly remembered something and stopped himself from making his next move through sheer willpower.
He forcibly lowered his half-raised hand, turning the motion into a scratch of his head:
"Sorry, sorry. I overreacted."
Delia stood behind him, holding a cloth-covered plate, her face still showing a little of the fright Lu Chen's exaggerated reaction had given her.
But Delia soon smiled again. "I came to bring you some apple pie."
Clearly, Delia still remembered what Lu Chen had said.
And upon hearing the words "apple pie"-
Gengar charged out of Lu Chen's shadow ahead of everyone else.
His huge mouth stretched into an ear-to-ear grin as both short little hands reached straight for the plate Delia held.
Next, the Poké Ball at Lu Chen's waist blazed with red light. Lapras shot out with a whoosh, stretching its head forward to secure its spot with precision.
On a nearby hilltop, Gouging Fire opened its eyes, pushed off with all four feet, and came racing over with a wave of heat.
Finally, a shrill whistle cut through the sky.
Aerodactyl dived at supersonic speed, hurtling toward the ground like a gray missile. The fierce wind it stirred up flattened the surrounding weeds.
Lu Chen squinted against the wind and couldn't help shouting:
"Weren't you patrolling the perimeter? Why didn't you warn me someone was coming? You gave me a fright!"
"Roar-"
Aerodactyl gave a low growl and charged straight into the scramble for food without looking back.
Understanding its words, Lu Chen's mouth twitched:
"What do you mean, you didn't tell me because I said Delia was a good person? Are you even a competent scout?"
Aerodactyl completely ignored him and kept fighting for apple pie.
Watching the four Pokémon jostle for food, Delia said quietly:
"Mr. Lu Chen, how about I make four apple pies next time? Then they won't have to fight over it."
Lu Chen shook his head and smiled:
"No need. This is fine."
Lu Chen paused, his gaze settling on the apple pie surrounded so tightly by the four Pokémon that not a gap remained:
"Good food tastes best when you have to fight for it."
With that, Lu Chen charged over too.
When he squeezed into the circle and saw how little apple pie remained on the plate, he immediately grew frantic:
"Wait for me! Who starts eating before their Trainer even gets here?"
"Where's your respect for your Trainer? Your admiration? And where's the apple pie?!"
But his only answer was the sound of the four Pokémon fighting for food even more fiercely.
After the apple pie had been completely divided up, Delia looked at Lu Chen, who still wanted more, and suddenly asked:
"Mr. Lu Chen, are you worrying about how to make the soil fertile?"
Lu Chen nodded. "Yes. If this were ancient times, I'd have plenty of ways..."
"Perhaps you could ask Professor Oak," Delia suggested.
"I've heard plenty of ordinary Pokémon can make soil fertile too."
Lu Chen froze for a moment.
Right.
This wasn't ancient times, when information was hard to come by.
Given the number of modern Trainers and the depth of their research, there had to be ways to improve soil without relying on Legendary Pokémon.
"Thanks."
Lu Chen thanked Delia, swung himself onto Aerodactyl, and headed straight for Professor Oak's Laboratory.
Inside Professor Oak's Laboratory, Professor Oak stood in front of an induction cooker, eagerly waiting for his instant noodles.
Steam bubbled from the pot as the noodles rolled in the boiling water, giving off the enticing aroma unique to instant food.
Just then, the door was flung open with a bang.
Lu Chen burst in.
Professor Oak's hand shook, and he nearly dropped his chopsticks.
"Lu Chen? What brings you here?"
Without wasting words, Lu Chen went straight to the point and explained the problem of his soil not being fertile enough.
After listening, Professor Oak waved a hand:
"That's actually not difficult. You only need the help of a certain Pokémon."
"What Pokémon? Landorus? Tapu Bulu? Celebi? Don't tell me it's Xerneas?"
Hearing that string of names tumble out of Lu Chen's mouth, Professor Oak's mouth twitched violently.
"An ordinary Pokémon!"
Then, as though remembering something, Professor Oak adopted a mysterious expression:
"Hehe, and you definitely won't know this Pokémon, Lu Chen."
"It's-Dugtrio!"
"Dugtrio can learn a very unique move called Rototiller, which can make barren soil fertile."
"Of course, it's no surprise you don't know Dugtrio, Lu Chen. It's a Pokémon that only evolved recently, after all. There probably weren't any Dugtrio in ancient times."
"After all, according to my research and analysis of the strata where fossils appear, Dugtrio fossils are all found in very shallow rock layers, with the oldest dating back only tens of thousands of years..."
Professor Oak was about to launch into a lengthy explanation of Dugtrio's origins when he noticed that Lu Chen's eyes had already lit up.
"Right! There's Dugtrio!"
Lu Chen made a fist with his right hand and struck it against his left palm.
Lu Chen couldn't be blamed for forgetting Dugtrio.
During ancient times, Pokémon like Dugtrio had not yet appeared.
Just as Ancient Pokémon went extinct, new kinds of Pokémon would evolve to fill the vacant ecological niches.
Dugtrio was a Pokémon that had only evolved after ancient times ended.
As for which Ancient Pokémon it had evolved from, there was now no way to determine that.
But those details didn't matter.
What mattered was that Lu Chen had found a solution.
Professor Oak was still enthusiastically explaining:
"I know several companies in that line of work. If you need them, I can introduce you."
"They're inexpensive and efficient..."
"No need, Professor Oak."
Lu Chen had already stood up and was heading for the door. "I've thought of a way."
Somewhat puzzled, Professor Oak said:
"But... but you can't just catch a Dugtrio whenever you like! They live deep underground year-round. You'll need specialized equipment..."
"Don't worry."
Lu Chen looked back, flashing a smile that sent a chill down Professor Oak's back. "Finding things is something I know well."
With that, he strode out of the laboratory, mounted Aerodactyl, and soared into the sky.
Professor Oak stood where he was, looking in the direction Lu Chen had disappeared, and sighed regretfully.
I was hoping to use this chance to get a little closer to him.
But Professor Oak wasn't too discouraged.
After all, there were still plenty of days ahead.
Professor Oak turned and walked back to the induction cooker.
Then Professor Oak froze.
The instant noodles in the pot had cooked until they completely dissolved, becoming a pot of sticky noodle paste that was bubbling with despair.
Professor Oak let out an agonized wail.
Elsewhere.
Lu Chen was already riding Aerodactyl toward Viridian Forest, the nearest forest.
For most people, searching a wide area for a particular kind of Pokémon was quite a troublesome task.
But to Lu Chen, it was nothing at all.
It could even be called familiar territory.
"The target is Dugtrio, a Ground-type Pokémon that mainly lives deep inside mines."
Lu Chen lightly patted Aerodactyl's shoulder. "I'm leaving this to you. Don't disappoint me."
At Lu Chen's words, Aerodactyl grew so excited that the rocks all over its body trembled slightly.
A leisurely retirement was certainly nice.
But to Aerodactyl, such comfortable days had nearly rusted its bones.
It was time to raise some hell!
"Roar-!"
Aerodactyl threw back its head and roared, its voice thundering through the air and sending the wild Pokémon in the forest below fleeing in every direction.
Not far from Aerodactyl's position, the outline of an enormous mine was already clearly visible.
Inside was the target Lu Chen was looking for.