Who needs a girlfriend when you have Pokémon?

Chapter 168 Have I heard the same conversation somewhere before?

"?!"

Crimson Pine took a step back, and behind him lay the crater of Chimney Mountain...

Luo Wei naturally rushed forward, while simultaneously having Gardevoir use Instant Transmission to try and see what was going on...

However, as they approached, they discovered that there was no one in sight below the crater, leaving Luo Wei and his group extremely puzzled...

"……what's the situation?"

"...Did they escape using teleportation?"

Indeed, Crimson Pine carried two Dream Eaters with him as tools to escape in critical moments, but the opponent's teleportation should not be able to last for too long, especially since Lowe also arranged for Gardevoir to go forward immediately.

If the opponent really used teleportation to escape, then there should have been no way to stop them. But the fact is that they didn't see any such movement at all, and Crimson Flame Pine had already disappeared from Luo Wei and the others' sight.

"Could a perfectly healthy person have just vanished like that? It couldn't have really jumped into a volcano..."

Xiaoyao glanced into the crater but couldn't see anything specific. All she could see was thick smoke billowing out. If someone had actually fallen in, they would probably be cooked by now.

“…There’s another possibility,” Luo Wei glanced around and gestured towards the interior of the crater, “Perhaps there’s a secret passage or hidden chamber inside the mountain. In that case, we could simply use a flying Pokémon or short-range teleportation to instantly move to our landing spot and hide inside.”

"..."

Indeed, this possibility sounds plausible, but if that's the case, wouldn't it mean that there are secret passages prepared in advance by the Lava Team even inside Chimney Mountain?

However, considering that Team Lava might have already been researching ways to awaken the Earth God in Chimney Mountain, this guess is indeed the most likely scenario.

After all, Luo Wei had spoiled the plot based on the script, so he was naturally able to guess correctly every time. In the current situation, it was obviously unrealistic to jump down and track them down, since who knows where they had already escaped to.

However, there was also good news. After all, the other party had run away, but had not taken the device and the meteorite. Luo Wei gave a wink to the masked cat beside him, who understood and stepped forward to kick the booming device.

At that moment, a large amount of sparks flew out of the device, and as the sparks continued to explode, the originally roaring device gradually quieted down.

At the same time, Masked Cat raised his hand and shattered the glass above the device, taking out the meteorite that emitted a bluish-white light.

Luo Wei reached out and took it, but as soon as the meteorite touched Luo Wei's fingers, the light on it immediately dimmed, and in a short while, it returned to its original, unremarkable appearance.

"...Alright, now it's been safely retrieved."

After all, the main purpose of this mission was to determine the anomaly at Chimney Mountain and at the same time recover the stolen meteorite. Now, both of these tasks can be considered completed. The only problem is that Crimson Pine, who caused all of this, has escaped.

It's just not the right time to bring the other party to justice yet; let's get the items back first.

"In short..." Xiaoyao patted Luo Wei on the shoulder, her tone becoming more relaxed, "It's come to an end for now, right?"

"Hmm, I guess so..."

Although things are likely to get worse, at least for now, things have come to a close on Chimney Hill.

"Then, let's go down the mountain first~"

As he spoke, Rowe glanced at Aysa, who was looking up at the sky in a daze. She turned her head when she heard Rowe's voice.

"How are you, Miss Asha? Are you alright now?"

Upon hearing Rowe's question, Asha was taken aback at first, then responded with a bright smile.

"Yes, everything's fine now. Thanks, Rowe!"

………………

…………

……

After that, Luo Wei and his group went down the mountain and followed the concave-convex mountain path to Fuyan Town. They had only heard of it before, but now they had finally arrived at this famous hot spring town.

After arriving in Fuyan Town, the group finally had a chance to relax. As for Asha, this was, after all, her own territory. And since the cable car was broken, the town's hot spring inns were completely empty of guests.

So Asha simply waved her hand and booked the entire hot spring inn. After all, this was the only group of guests in the inn right now, including their own dojo master. The entire inn staff, including the proprietress, were out and about, so the room service was no less than that of any high-end hotel.

"Haha, you've worked hard..."

At dinner, both Luo Wei and Xiao Yao were a little overwhelmed by the sight of seven or eight maids surrounding them. Lillie, on the other hand, was fine. After all, what kind of situation hadn't this young lady seen? This scene was just a minor one for her.

"Hehe, there are only a few guests right now, and Lady Asha is here too, so we're all pretty free~"

Just as the maids said, because the mountain cable car was broken and there were no tourists, these idle hotel maids became more motivated when they saw guests.

Luo Wei, however, couldn't handle the enthusiasm and politely declined some of the overly warm hospitality. The enthusiastic young ladies seemed to understand, and after smiling and bowing, they all withdrew.

Afterwards, Luo Wei contacted the Alliance... or rather, Daigo, and explained the specifics of what had happened.

"That's roughly the situation. We've recovered the meteorite. Now, what should we do with it?"

Currently, the meteorite is in Aysa's possession. Logically, it would be most appropriate to hand it over to Daigo and have the League keep it safe.

However, after pondering for a few seconds, Daigo suddenly spoke...

"...Then, if possible, I would like to have Rowe keep this meteorite."

"what?!"

This sudden statement left Luo Wei somewhat bewildered. "No, you're entrusting me with the safekeeping of such an important plot item?"

"...If our alliance were to keep them, it seems more likely they would become targets. For now, it's better to have Rowe keep them; neither Team Lava nor Team Ocean should have considered this."

Speaking of this, Luo Wei couldn't help but subconsciously look towards Lillie, and the young lady also turned her gaze away rather guiltily.

The same conversation felt very familiar; Lillie had previously asked Rowe to keep the Flute of the Sun for her.

The flute is still safely stored in Rowe's backpack...

Daigo clearly shares the same sentiment; he hopes that... Rowe will temporarily safeguard the meteorite...

Chapter 169 The Goal of the First Phase

"They really know how to make things difficult for people..."

The meteorite from Meteor Falls is incredibly valuable, needless to say. Putting aside its inherent cultural significance, as a legendary stone that guards against the wrath of the two gods and a symbol of the Meteor People, it has been buried in Meteor Falls for thousands of years and can already be considered a national treasure.

Moreover, judging from the current situation, this meteorite is also involved in the power of Mega Evolution, making it an absolute treasure with incredible power. However, it is likely that without the correct means, it will be impossible to extract its power.

As a member of the Meteor Descent, Higana knows the correct way to unleash the power of meteors, and Crimson Pine seems to have obtained some relevant information from President Lusamine.

As for where President Lusamine obtained the relevant information, it must have come from the power of the Aether Foundation.

In short, the League currently has the least information about the Mega Evolution and the secrets of Meteor, which is naturally a bit unsettling.

After some consideration, Daigo decided to take a gamble on Rowe, so he decided to let Rowe temporarily keep this important meteorite.

Luo Wei pondered this carefully and finally came to a conclusion.

"Okay, then I'll keep it here for now. I'll take good care of this meteorite... Luckily, it's shrunk quite a bit in size now, otherwise it would be really inconvenient to carry it around..."

Originally, this meteorite was the size of a basketball, but now, after the outer part has been peeled off, the remaining part is only about the size of two adult fists, which is at least big enough to be carried in a backpack.

Luo Wei put the meteorite into his backpack, and at the same time, his gaze unconsciously lingered on something.

This is something he left behind six years ago when he and Xiaoyao were attacked in the mountains behind his hometown. The out-of-control Salamence was defeated by Qianli's Slaking.

At this moment, it is certain that this is the Keystone. Lowe picked up the Keystone and had always carried it with him as an ornament.

After all, this thing does look quite pretty, and it won't change anything special if it's not activated; it's just like a patterned glass bead.

Now, the keystone is placed together with the meteorite, and neither of them has changed.

To be honest, Rowe had some expectations, but now it seems that triggering the power of the Keystone is not so easy.

He was able to trigger the ultimate power because of the power and blessing given to him by Lillie's Nebula. That was equivalent to obtaining the ultimate power directly from the source, so naturally he could use it much more smoothly than ordinary people.

Looking at it this way, if there is a way to obtain the power of Mega Evolution in the future, Luo Wei can also try to fuse Mega Evolution with Ultimate Power. In this way, his strength will definitely increase a lot.

In this way, his success rate in challenging that person will also become higher...

...That's right, now Rowe has obtained three badges, and the holder of the fourth badge is right in front of him. As long as he defeats Asha, Rowe will be able to obtain all four badges.

This means that, as agreed, Luo Wei should challenge his father, Qianli.

Of course, this wasn't the first time Rowe had battled his father in a Pokémon contest. After all, as father and son, Rowe was trained by his father, and the two had clashed hundreds of times.

However, Luo Wei has never won a single time so far, and he is quite certain that his father has most likely never even used half of his strength.

This time, Luo Wei is going to challenge his father when he gets serious, and just thinking about it makes Luo Wei's fingers tremble with excitement.

This is one of Lowe's biggest goals since becoming a trainer. Another goal is to become a "master" and reach the top of the hall of fame. If possible, he also wants to try to challenge that legendary battle master.

Of course, the latter few issues are not problems to consider now, but the showdown with his father is no longer a distant future, but is just around the corner.

If they could discover the secret of Mega Evolution before then, Rowe would have a better chance of winning.

However, he had no clue how to master this power.

"Well then, see you tomorrow~ Please take care of me then, Miss Aysa!"

As darkness fell, Rowe got up and headed towards his room, not forgetting to wave goodbye to Asha, who of course understood what Rowe meant.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow, haha. I should be the one saying 'please take care of me'..."

And so, under the moonlight, Luo Wei arrived at his room. Asha had booked a hot spring room for Luo Wei and the others at a hot spring hotel. In other words, there was an open-air courtyard behind the room with a private hot spring.

This could be considered one of the highest-level receptions in the entire LavaCity, but after all, the Gym Leader was the host, so this level of pomp and circumstance was to be expected.

Moreover, since the mountain cable car in Fuyan Town was broken, there were hardly any guests to begin with, so it was natural for Luo Wei and his group to have the whole place to themselves.

"Hey, before going to bed, how about taking another bath?"

Looking at the steaming hot spring in the courtyard, Luo Wei immediately perked up. Without saying a word, he stripped naked, put on a bath towel, and headed towards the hot spring.

Naturally, Masked Cat and the others didn't shy away from it either. After all, Luo Wei had grown up with Masked Cat since he was a child, and they had taken baths together countless times. He had seen everything about Masked Cat, both what he should and shouldn't have seen.

Luo Wei, being a grown man in his thirties, had nothing to be ashamed of and promptly plunged into the hot spring.

As soon as he entered the water, the masked cat beside him naturally jumped over in a few steps and plunged into the water with a splash. At this moment, she didn't care at all about her dislike of water and waded all the way to Luo Wei's side.

"Come, come, come~"

With no "outsiders" around, Luo Wei felt quite at ease and reached out to let Masked Cat lean against his arm. Although the big cat had the standard size of a young girl, she was actually very light and agile.