Chapter 24: New Ores!
There was nothing Leon could do regarding Onix, as all his commands were disregarded. This was the first occasion where a Pokémon, despite feeling some animosity towards him, completely ignored him.
Leon could only shake his head before recalling Onix to continue their exploration.
"Wow, it actually didn't listen to you." Leona was stunned at how Onix simply ignored their presence.
"It's probably just butthurt about losing to us earlier. Wasn't this place supposed to be its territory, it's definitely still sulking." Lars sneered. He couldn't care less about stony feelings, this was their treasure trove now.
The group continued onward, the cave was filled with gems such as emeralds, sapphires, rubies, etc.
They had come across several tumble stone clusters within this cave system. These were commonly used to craft Pokéballs, so they went for a fair price on the market when sold in bulk.
"Oh, there's something new here." As they were walking, Leon spotted some strange white ores on the wall.
There wasn't much of it, at least when compared to the ores they had seen previously.
"What kinda ore is this?" Lars subconsciously asked.
Not even Leon could identify what type of ore it was at first sight. After trying to figure it out on his own, Leon just decided to analyze this strange ore with his ability.
Leon wasn't even sure if it was an ore or not; they were calling anything that didn't look like gems, ores by default at this point.
Before Leon could analyze the ore, he spotted a translucent mineral of some sort next to it.
"What? I could barely see it!" Leon was stunned.
If someone wasn't paying close attention; they wouldn't have noticed this strange material. He didn't wait any longer, Leon decided to scan both of these unknown sources.
"Let's see..." Leon's eyes shimmered with a brief flash of blue and red light—marking the moment his ability was activated.
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𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐮𝐦 𝐎𝐫𝐞: This Ore is exceptional; it is lightweight, scarce, and greatly desired. It possesses the capacity to trap aura and various foreign energies.
𝐆𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐮𝐦: A rare translucent mineral that absorbs energy and emits a certain glow when heated at high temperatures. This Ore will glow when it absorbs energy, and depending on said energy intake, it will glow accordingly.
• It is often used to store energy before release.
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'What kind of ores are these? I've never seen them in the games, manga, the show, or any continuity from Pokémon.'
Leon was in deep thought for a moment, these ores had some pretty interesting abilities. This Arcesium was the most notable due to its name and effects.
Leon took out his Pokédex to see if he could still access its online settings despite being underground.
"Perfect!" Leon sighed in relief after discovering he could still access the internet.
"Guys, I'm going to check the internet to see if I can find any clue about these ores. So let's set up here for the time being."
After hearing Leon's suggestion, they nodded In agreeance. Lars and Leona began putting up torches and lamps around the cave. They would use a Geodude to punch a small enough hole in the wall to set up torches.
Leon didn't bring every Geodude with him. He brought one and left the rest to guard the gold ores.
"Alright, let's check the internet for answers." Leon sat down on a folding chair and began his search.
Leon quickly looked up Arcesium and received immediate results, grasping its significance right away. Team Magma and Team Aqua had recently targeted Devon Corporation for this valuable ore.
So what could motivate them to specifically target a caravan carrying this ore? For the first time, both Teams had come together solely to pilfer these ores. Additionally, it wasn't limited to just this ore—they also took some Glaskorium, which wasn't as significant as Arcesium but still rare.
'My gosh, Arcesium is an important component for the construction of the Masterball!' Leon almost fell out of his seat when saw this piece of information.
Team Magma and Team Aqua had snatched it away.
Naturally, Devon Corp. had suffered heavy losses due to this. Devon Corp's Ceo turned to the Pokemon Alliance for help, this loss was too heavy. Arcesium was simply too rare and the price was astronomical, to say the least.
They had no choice but to turn to the Pokémon Alliance's Bounty Guild for help. Devon Corp wanted to shut down both teams for good. Team Magma and Team Aqua weren't without allies, they had several gangs and pirates working for them.
Now, their hands encompassed the sea and land within Hoenn.
"Yikes, they even hired some fairly decent trainers to guard the caravan." Unfortunately, these trainers weren't enough; they were likely ambushed, thus taken off guard.
Leon knew one thing for certain, and that was the fact that they were rich now. This would make journeying around the region much easier.
Leon clenched his fist due to excitement upon realizing this. It was like hitting the lottery in his previous world, but he didn't jump around in excitement like most would.
"This is some really rare ore. We need to mine this stuff immediately." Leon turned to his siblings and explained a few things.
He didn't mention the ore's name or capabilities but its rarity, which was higher than gold.
"This ore is high on the cave wall, so we need something to stand on to reach it." Leona analyzed and said.
"If that rock snake were to cooperate with us—then we could get many things done. From the looks of it; it seems to tail hurt to even help us." Lars shook his head.
Once a Pokémon was defeated, it should just shut up and listen to orders. How could a loser dare resist after being beaten?
"That's normal, really. Every Pokémon has a different personality, and we did gang up on it. So it really wasn't a fair fight once you get down to it."
Leon thought he would have to compromise with this Onix, so it could cooperate with them. If Leon could get Onix to listen, their progress would increase tens of times faster than just them alone.
Onix could excavate this cave fast and reel in tons of gold. This included other rare gems and possible ores they may have not discovered.
"Hmm, you're right." He had noticed some time ago that these Pokémon were extremely intelligent. It was evident when they followed orders or interacted with humans.
Even Geodude, who wasn't praised for their intelligence could perform at a high level. Lars couldn't imagine how smart some Psychic Pokémon might be.
"Onix, come out! We need to talk!" Leon summoned Onix again and explained what he would do for it.
He explained that he promised to give him a Metal Coat. Leon stated that this Gold was enough to buy a Metal Coat for it, so it could evolve.
Onix eyes brightened. It knew what a Metal Coat was due to inherit memories. Most Onixes would never come across such a rich resource in their lives.
"This resource can help you evolve into a Steelix. I plan to help you with that in any way, but Metal Coat costs a lot of money."
Leon would be fortunate if someone wanted to sell one, much less find one. He could only rely on the Alliance to find such an item, or perhaps they may already have one.
"The Gold in the cave, these precious gems would be enough to buy this Metal Coat. The Metal Coat that you want only works for you and one other Pokémon. So there won't be many people trying to use it."
If anything, they would only use the Metal Coat to feed to their Steel type. The Metal Coat was rich in energy and could upgrade a Steel-type Pokémon's aptitude.
Onix seemed to be thinking to itself—whether it should trust this human or not.
"Do you agree? Because, if don't then you can forget about the Metal Coat. You didn't do anything to help us earn it; so why should we just give it to you?"
Leon shrugged and said, as he stared into Onix's eyes. This Pokemon was massive, so it wasn't something a human could face. Even if Leon were to become a superhuman, he wouldn't be a match for an Onix.
Onix eyes flashed with an unknown light before it began to nod vigorously. Seeing this, Leon secretly sighed in relief.
"With this, we don't need to mine anything. Onix I need you to carefully retrieve the ore at the top of the cave." Leon pointed to the ceiling and said.
Onix turned and quickly got to work. It opened its mouth to excavate a chunk out of the cave ceiling. Some debris fell from the ceil but Leon and company were away from the scene before then.
"Haha, great! This will make retrieving these precious ores easier and faster!" Lars rubbed his hands together before preparing his pickaxe.
Onix came forward and opened its mouth, dropping Ores mixed with rock onto the ground. Leon told Onix it needed to retrieve plenty of Gold, Silver, and other valuables in a similar fashion.
Leon placed the large chunk of Arcesium and Glaskorium into his inventory. Of course, under the guise that he was placing them into his bag.
Nodding, Onix turned and left to get to work. Leon, Lars, and Leona didn't slack either. They went back and started retrieving a bit of gold for themselves.
Geodude!
Geodude, Beldum, and Aron began to break down parts of the wall. Aron and Beldum's eyes were filled with greed. This worried Leon, would he have to recall these two?
"Aye! Don't eat any of these ores; they can be used in exchange for better quality food." Leon frowned, it didn't take a genius to see what these two were scheming.
Bel!
Ron!
Both turned and gave Leon their assurance that they wouldn't eat anything. Everyone continued to work; they placed the gold and rare gems into one pile.
The group even found Firestones, Thunderstones, Waterstones, and mostly Leafstones. Onix returned with a large pile of gold. It didn't just have gold, but it had other items Leon didn't expect.
The first item was a brown rock that had red gems protruding from its surface. The next item was a long purple scarf, which resembled hands at each end.
The third item looked to be armor of some sort, it had some weight to it. Its shape resembled a typical modern house, it was orange and brown.
The fourth item was a CD, it was obviously a TM from its appearance. The CD was green with a shimmer of white blending into it.
The last item resembled flint, but it was bigger and sharper in comparison. Leon almost overlooked this item because of this, but he decided to check it anyway.
"Let's see." After checking, Leon was stunned that such an item could appear like this.