Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game.

After thinking for a moment, she said, "I've never seen this kind of stone before, but I think we can ask the mandible ants. Maybe the stone you're looking for is hidden underground."

Senbu, standing nearby, nodded in agreement, "Bu-ee! (I also think it's more likely to be underground!)"

Xia Chen wasn't the kind of person who was stubborn and self-willed. Rather than wandering around aimlessly like a headless fly, he should listen to the advice of Xijiana and Xianbu.

After all, one of them was a local expert familiar with the terrain, and the other possessed some mysterious information that was previously unknown.

With Xijiana, the local expert, by his side, Xia Chen continued forward, asking the giant mandible ant for directions to the meteorite.

Because they needed to both find the mandible ants and communicate with them, the group's journey was exceptionally slow.

After a morning, they had only closed the distance to Meteor Falls by a third, and the enormous Meteor Caverns were not limited to just Meteor Falls.

If the meteorite cannot be found, it is conservatively estimated that it will take at least a week to explore the area.

Xia Chen himself was fine. He was used to living outdoors and just needed to get out before the Grand Contest started.

But Xijiana is different. A minor girl following a strange man outside—even Xia Chen, putting himself in her shoes, thinks it's unreliable.

The best solution is to go back every night and come back the next day. Although it is a bit troublesome, it is safer.

Xiao Xi felt it wasn't necessary to go through all that trouble, but Xia Chen insisted, so she agreed.

After lunch, the two continued their search for meteorites, but still without success.

Xia Chen wasn't in a hurry. Seeing that the sunlight shining in from outside the cave was becoming increasingly dim, he had dinner with Xijiana on the spot before flying back to the village.

The nights in the countryside are always the same.

After being pestered by the Xi Jia and her sister for another hour or so to tell them their travel adventure stories, Xia Chen spent his second night in Meteor Village.

…………

The night remained silent, but just a few kilometers away from the entrance of Meteor Cave, a group of figures dressed in matching crimson uniforms and wearing the same color hoods were making their move under the cover of darkness.

With the moon and stars shining brightly, Zubat flapped its wings, emitting sharp sonic waves as it swept low overhead, acting as a guard for the trainers below.

On the ground, a fire-breathing camel, as steady as a small mountain, stood out conspicuously. Its two humps, like volcanic craters, were hissing and spewing lava, illuminating the deep night around it.

A woman with short purple hair leaned against a fire-breathing camel, her toes tapping the ground repeatedly, revealing her impatience. She kept blowing and popping bubble gum in her mouth.

She seemed to be waiting for something.

Not far below, a pit, clearly dug by human hands and large enough to accommodate several people, suddenly lit up.

Immediately afterwards, a man wearing the same uniform and an Abomination emerged.

"Fire Goose cadre, the tunnel leading to Meteor Falls is expected to be completed tomorrow!"

The man bowed respectfully to the purple-haired woman to report the information.

With her crimson hood slightly raised, half of her pretty face emerged from the shadows in the dim firelight.

The bubblegum, which had swelled to almost half her face, burst open, and the woman codenamed Fire Goose parted her red lips slightly.

"Where's Solans? Bring him over; it's time for him to get to work."

The man nodded, "Understood!"

He strode towards the heavily armed pickup truck not far away and took a sleepy-eyed, bespectacled middle-aged man out of it.

Clearly, he was forcibly awakened from a dream.

Fire Goose showed no embarrassment at disturbing her sleep. She slightly raised her chin and said, "Doctor, we can infiltrate Meteor Falls tomorrow. Could you please double-check the information?"

Although the wording was quite polite, the cold, condescending gaze, as if looking at trash, revealed that the relationship between the two parties was not one of equal cooperation.

Once on board, Solans had no choice but to swallow his anger and repeat the same thing he had said a thousand times.

“That’s right. I’ve been working with Dr. Jaeger from Kanaz City University for several years, and we can confirm that the meteorite is buried underground in front of Meteor Falls. We can find it by testing it with instruments when we get there.”

"Very good, go back to sleep and recover your energy. We'll be very busy tomorrow. If we can really find that meteorite to awaken Groudon, you'll definitely have a ticket to the wonderful new world we create."

A bubble gum bubble was blown, and the night fell silent once more.

…………

On the third day after arriving in Meteor Village, Xia Chen still got up very early.

Just like yesterday, they did their morning exercise and had breakfast. Afterwards, Xia Chen and Xi Jiana went to Meteor Cave again.

After spending some time finding the spot where they left yesterday, the two headed towards Meteor Falls again.

As for why this direction was chosen, it was Xianbu's suggestion.

If we delve deeper, why would Xianbu suggest going this way?

Don't ask, just ask.

To be fair, Cindy's intuition, which has never been wrong, must have some merit.

Xia Chen could clearly sense that as they got closer to Meteor Falls, the Pokémon living nearby were becoming increasingly powerful.

This phenomenon suggests that either something here is attracting powerful elves, or the resources here are more abundant, making the elves living here stronger.

In short, something must be hidden near Meteor Falls.

This speculation gave Xia Chen a lot more motivation to move forward.

After walking several dozen steps, when he could faintly hear the sound of water coming from Meteor Falls, he finally obtained a useful clue from the mandible ant.

"Big Jaw~ (You mean the glowing, multicolored stone? I think I saw one underground near the pool.)"

Xia Chen was overjoyed and quickly took out a can of energy cubes from his pocket and poured them into the mandible ant's mouth, then pressed for details, "Tell me more."

After chewing twice with its round head closed, the mandible-like ant swallowed it whole and said, "Mandible~ (I found this while digging my hole. It hurt my head so much, really, I'm just a silly black-eyed crocodile if I'm lying!)"

Crocodile is the most hated Pokémon by Trapinch, and since they've sworn this oath, the credibility of this information is quite high.

Xia Chen quickly continued, "Then can you take us there?"

The mandible ant didn't reply, but just stared at Xia Chen with starry eyes. At this moment, silence spoke louder than words. Xia Chen smiled knowingly, then took out another box from his pocket and poured it into the ant's wide-open mouth.

Stroking its round, hard head, Xia Chen added, "After it's done, I'll give you three more big boxes."

The mandible-ant's eyes nearly squinted shut with delight. "Mandible~ (It's a deal!)"

Xia Chen smiled slightly: "Of course!"

The deal was done, and the mandible-ant began to lead the way.

It slowly turned around, then slowly moved forward, its movements as slow as a sloth from Zootopia.

Xia Chen then remembered that this guy was an oddball in the game with a base attack stat of 100 and a speed stat of only 10.

"Xianbu, lend it a hand."

Two ribbons extended, and the top-heavy mandible ant immediately lifted it high into the air.

The mandible-ant struggled futilely, its four short legs flailing about, and it protested, "Mandibles~ (I have legs, put me down and walk by yourself!)"

Xia Chen rolled her eyes. "Just give me directions when it's almost dark."

These words struck a nerve with the mandible ant, so it had no choice but to accept its fate and obediently become an ant-type navigator.

…………

"Brother Xia Chen, you speak Elvish too?"

As they walked toward the pool, Higana asked curiously.

Although they had previously inquired about information from Trapinch, the response they received was always a shake of the head, and Xia Chen was not allowed to demonstrate his Elvish ability.

The seamless communication between the two, one human and one ant, deepened Xijiana's understanding of Xia Chen.

Xia Chen chuckled, "Want to learn?"

The same move couldn't defeat the Saint Seiya twice. The clever Higanbana gave a soft snort and didn't reply.

Seeing that the girl hadn't fallen for his trick, Xia Chen shook his head with disinterest and muttered, "What a pity."

Xijiana frowned slightly, her expression conflicted. After hesitating for several seconds, she finally said, "I want to learn."

Xia Chenmei said for the second time, "The power of waveguides cannot be taught."

Higana gritted her teeth, "If I ever trust you again, I'm a coyote!"

While they were playing, they arrived at Meteor Waterfall. When they reached the pool, Fairy Cloth loosened the silk and released the mandible ant.

Before asking it to do the work, Xia Chen fed it half a box of energy cubes as encouragement.

Seeing how capable this human was, the mandible ant naturally couldn't be left behind and immediately began digging a hole according to the route it remembered.

Sylveon won't help with digging; Ground-type Pokémon may be slow at walking, but they're definitely fast at digging.

After leaving a hole in the ground, the mandible ant disappears from sight.

After waiting for several minutes, until Xia Chen even began to suspect that it had run away with several boxes of energy cubes for free, a long, faint, almost inaudible sound finally came from below.

"Big Jaw~ (Found it!)"

Xia Chen was overjoyed and quickly called out, "Could you help me dig one up? Three boxes of energy cubes!"

He certainly wouldn't be stingy at a time like this.

The mandible ant didn't reply, and Xia Chen guessed that it was having trouble because it had a stone in its mouth, so he patiently waited.

Another long wait passed, and just when Xia Chen was about to ask Gu Leton to dig a hole to fetch it, that familiar brownish-red round head finally emerged from the hole.

But because it had something in its mouth, after half of its head popped out, it seemed to get stuck and couldn't climb out no matter what it did.

Xia Chen sighed and rubbed his forehead in exasperation. "Xianbu, give it a hand."

"Buyi~"

Xianbu nodded in agreement and ran to the cave entrance in a few quick steps. The silk ribbon flew out and firmly bound the large head of the mandible ant. With a slight exertion, like pulling up a radish, the mandible ant flew out of the cave entrance and finally landed on the ground.

Under Xia Chen's tense yet expectant gaze, the mandible ant opened its mouth and spat out the stone it had carried up from the ground—

A colorful stone that shines with a mysterious luster.

…………

Keystone!

Xia Chen was all too familiar with the appearance of this stone. It was one of his ultimate goals for this trip to Hoenn, an essential item for achieving Mega Evolution: the Key Stone!

Suppressing his excitement and joy, Xia Chen picked up what might be the world's first keystone to see the light of day again.