You're not allowed to play Pokémon!

Chapter 245 You can encounter Steven anywhere outside the Hoenn League
Saturday, October 1.

On her long-awaited day off, Qingyu did not stay at the Sunshine Dojo to enjoy her leisure time.

As the gym leader, in addition to assessing the students of Orange Academy, maintaining the safety and stability of the surrounding environment is also part of his daily work.

Because the Padian League's structural system is highly efficient, it generally doesn't have any major problems.

However, sometimes wild Pokémon that accidentally wander into Area Zero and master crystallization will appear, requiring regular cleanup.

Even though the main entrance to Sector Zero is closed, it is still a path for humans. Pokémon mostly have various ways of scaling walls and escaping into the sky and underground, making it easy for them to enter Sector Zero and seize energy.

Wild Pokémon from the outside world are no match for the fierce Pokémon in Zone 0, so they quickly leave after obtaining enough Crystal Energy.

These Pokémon are far more powerful than their counterparts, making them difficult for ordinary trainers to handle, but ignoring them would negatively impact the ecosystem.

The League didn't have enough manpower to deal with them, so this part of the cleanup work was entrusted to the gym leaders in various regions.

The solution is also very simple—

The problem can be temporarily solved by defeating a Pokémon that has mastered crystallization and breaking or collecting all the crystal fragments attached to it.

Pokémon themselves do not have the ability to generate crystal armor; they must rely on the energy crystals created by these Talebages to temporarily gain the power of crystallization.

In reality, this is the Crystal Pit in the game.

However, in the not-too-distant future, this part of the task will be solved by a "helpful student".

Of course, Qingyu doesn't actually need to do these tasks right now...

Since evolving, Lucario's "hunting range" has expanded to a radius of dozens of miles, basically ensuring that any nearby Crystal Pokémon that shows up will be instantly killed.

Thanks to his feat of hunting down the crystallized Pokémon, the situation that Qingyu originally thought would happen, where "Lucario destroyed the local ecosystem," did not occur. On the contrary, it got along very well with the local wild Pokémon population.

From being a "fearsome figure" at the beginning to now being a "gentleman" for wild Pokémon...

That's quite amazing.

As Qingyu rode Milton toward the Third District of the East, he silently pondered the situation while gesturing for Milton's direction.

"I never expected that I'd have to work overtime on holidays..."

Qingyu sighed and shook her head to herself.

The Eastern Third District is the main mining area of ​​Padiya, located near the town of Sueza, a major industrial area.

Because the surrounding area is mostly rocky mountains and natural mines, you can see many mines and man-made steel supports along the way, making it easy for trainers who come here for the first time to get lost.

Of course, the League's official description of the Eastern Third District is obviously outdated. Because of the existence of Rotom Phones, unless you have a conceptual-level ability to get lost like Leon, it's really hard to get stuck in one area and not be able to get out.

The reason why Qingyu would appear here is also very simple.

Recently, a very troublesome Pokémon has appeared near the East Third District. It has been drilling holes all over the nearby mining area, causing changes to the structure of the mine and even seriously endangering the personal safety of the miners.

And coincidentally...

In the vicinity of East Third District, only Nimbus City has a League-certified Gym.

As a newcomer, Qishu is likely to be facing Ground-type Pokémon that he doesn't know how to handle, so it's obviously not a good idea for him to take on this task.

Therefore, Chairman Yeci entrusted him to conduct the investigation.

Although Qingyu, like Qishu and Gurusha, is a newcomer who only officially became a gym leader last year, there are still differences among newcomers.

Qingyu's trip to Beishang Township at the end of the year made him a big name in the alliance.

He single-handedly solved the problem of the troublesome "Beishang Township" that was a major headache for the entire alliance, which also significantly boosted his status within the alliance.

In addition, he has an excellent reputation in the Padia region. Although Qingyu is still a newcomer, his influence has already subtly surpassed that of the Gym Leaders and can be compared with the Elite Four.

What does it mean to be a pillar of strength?! (Hands on hips)

Therefore, President Ye Ci has always been very confident in Qing Yu.

Qingyu's purpose in coming here was certainly not just to complete the Alliance's mission; in fact, he had some understanding of what was happening here.

Because in the game, there is a very special treasure owner hidden in the East Third District.

Although the battle may be very troublesome, once you defeat it, you can obtain the secret seasoning, just like before, which will allow Milton to regain some of his power.

Suddenly I feel like I'm collecting all seven Dragon Balls to summon Shenron, what's up with that...?

"boom--!"

After traveling deep into the mining area, a violent shaking suddenly came from not far away, as well as a muffled thud that seemed to be the sound of some heavy object falling to the ground.

Even the ground began to tremble slightly.

"Gah?"

Milerton, which was traversing mountains and valleys, quickly slowed down and let out a low, warning growl.

Upon seeing this, Qingyu immediately patted its head.

"It's alright, Millerton. Once we find the source of the danger, I'll take care of the rest of the trouble."

Because of its psychological trauma, Milton is now incredibly timid, so Qingyu won't let it participate in battles and further provoke it. Some things require a trigger to resolve, and until then, he doesn't have any good solutions.

After avoiding the surrounding wild Pokémon, Milton quickly carried Qingyu to a mine that seemed to have lights inside.

If all goes well, we should be able to find the treasure owner's hiding place once we go inside.

As promised, after returning Milton to its ball, Qingyu thought for a moment and then took out another Poké Ball.

"Bonnieyo~"

Wearing a green grass mask, Egui Peng immediately appeared and stepped in front of Qing Yu.

As the team's strongest fighter, Qingyu rarely uses it in battles because that would prevent Sylveon and Lucario from growing stronger.

As for Baby Dragon...

It's too early to strive now. Let's be good-for-nothings with Milton for now!
“Egui Peng, let’s go down and take a look. If a battle breaks out, we must change into the Fire Stove Mask immediately.”

If nothing unexpected happens, the culprit behind this mining accident is none other than the treasure-owning worm, Tuotuo.

(Trollworm)

Worm is a very special Pokémon. Although it looks like a large earthworm, its body is almost entirely made of metal, so it needs to eat a lot of iron to maintain its strength.

This is probably the main reason why it considers this area as its territory.

As a Steel-type Pokémon with amazing defensive capabilities, Dreddragoo can also launch attacks using the fist-shaped body hairs that are usually dormant inside its body. In close combat, it can suddenly unleash eight pairs of iron fists, with a suppressive force far exceeding that of Machamp, which is known for its love of fists...

(It looks something like this? Quite bizarre.)
Therefore, the best way for Qingyu to deal with it is to make Egui Peng wear the Fire Stove Mask, and then start with the Thorn Vine Staff to let it experience the beauty of numerical damage.

"Boni!"

After nodding, Ergui Peng took the lead in pulling out the thorny vine club from under his cloak and charged downwards on his short legs.

Qingyu followed closely behind.

however……

After emerging from the mine, the scene below was somewhat unexpected for Qingyu.

Contrary to her expectations that stepping outside would lead to a fierce battle, the treasure master, Tuotuo Yin, who was even larger than Qingyu remembered and clearly overnourished, was lying on the ground with obvious circles in his eyes.

Clearly, a major battle had just taken place.

The "culprit" that caused the treasure master to faint was squatting on the ground with his back to Qingyu, seemingly reaching out to observe the body structure of the treasure master's worm.

"A peculiar Pokémon, besides its powerful defense formed by its body of steel, actually uses its main offensive method to launch iron fists hidden inside its body?"

"Judging from the structure of these fists, they should be the body hair of this Pokémon? Why did they evolve into a function that is normally completely useless? Pokémon are truly amazing!"

"However, when it comes to close combat, Metagross and I aren't afraid of any Pokémon."

"Kang Jin!"

The Metagross floating beside him emitted a metallic sound.

The man in the suit, with his back to Qingyu, muttered to himself as he ran his hands over Tuotuo Yin's body before letting out a regretful sigh.

"What a pity. It seems that it consumed some kind of special herb earlier, which made its body energy too active, so it cannot be captured for the time being?"

"However, seeing some interesting Steel-type Pokémon makes the trip worthwhile."

"Am i right?"

Qingyu was standing at the edge of the cave entrance observing when she saw the man in the suit say something, then quickly stand up and turn around with a confident and cheerful smile.

However, when he saw Qingyu, the smile on his face suddenly froze, and his expression quickly became strange, with his originally friendly smile now carrying a hint of inexplicable mockery.

"Oh? I never expected to run into Teacher Yu in a place like this."

"Daigo...the champion?"

At the same time that the man in the suit recognized him, Qingyu was equally bewildered.

He never expected to meet this well-known fossil enthusiast from Hoenn under such circumstances.

Steven is currently the undisputed champion of the Hoenn League.

Although he is not very old, his strength is definitely among the top three of all the champions in the region.

Although he didn't know why he, as the Hoenn Champion, would suddenly appear in the Patia mining area, Aoba found it surprisingly reasonable...

Is it really true that "you can run into Daigo anywhere outside the Hoenn League"?
"No need to be so formal, just call me Daigo."

Seeing that Qingyu recognized him immediately, Daigo's smile widened, and he quickly took the initiative to greet her.

"Nice to meet you, Teacher Yu. I never expected to run into you in a place like this."

"What a fateful encounter!"

(End of this chapter)