Chapter 132: Steven's Matchmaking Ball

Moon stones come from space. While not as rare as Mega Stones, they are still quite scarce compared to Fire Stones and the like.

On the open market, every Moon Stone sold is one less available, but that only applies to ordinary people.

In a family like Steven's, if he wanted one, he would only need to post a commission, and plenty of people would immediately deliver it to his doorstep.

However, given Steven's personality, he would probably rather die than do such a thing.

As for why Steven still held such an attitude toward Moon Stones, it could perhaps be credited to his passionate love for stones.

Much like a fossil maniac whose home is filled with fossils, who would ever think they have too much of what they love, right?

Huyang put away his phone, preparing to head to Pewter City and take the tram to Lavender Town, send Cubone back home, and then make a trip to the Power Plant.

But just as he slid his phone into his pocket, he heard another notification chime ring out.

Pulling it out to check, it was another message from Steven.

[Steven: You aren't in the Hoenn region right now?]

[Huyang: Traveling ing]

He thought for a moment and added: [I might return to the Hoenn region in a week. Send me your address, and I'll mail it to you.]

There was a Pelipper Express branch right in Littleroot Town.

In the Pokémon world, certain Pokémon also held jobs within human society.

For instance, Machop in moving companies, Squirtle in the fire department, Growlithe in the police station, and so on.

Pokémon like Pelipper possessed excellent stamina and fast flight speeds, frequently serving the roles of couriers and mount Pokémon.

He had heard that someone in the Kanto region had even opened a Dragonite Express, using the pseudo-legendary Pokémon Dragonite to deliver mail.

After the message was sent, Steven on the other end seemed to be pondering. After quite a while, he made his choice.

[Steven: I'll come over and pick it up myself. I'm not home right now. Where are you staying currently?]

Huyang: "..."

He replied: [Don't you have to work?]

He did not think his charm was enough to make Steven make a special trip, and if it were merely because of a single Moon Stone, that was even less likely.

Seeing this message, Steven on the other end fell silent as well.

He rubbed his temples with a headache as he looked out the window. After some thought, he typed out a few words, only to delete them all in the end.

It wasn't that he didn't want to use the courier service, but rather that he was currently traveling outside.

If he were to have the stone mailed to his house, President Stone, who was already dissatisfied with his obsession with stones, might just say to him, "You might as well spend the rest of your life living with stones."

Out of excessive worry, President Stone had even arranged several match-making banquets for him.

Steven desperately wanted to say that he was only sixteen and didn't need any of that.

Therefore, after barely enduring a few banquets, he had left his hometown under the pretext of urgent League business.

There hadn't been any real emergencies at the League lately, granting Steven a rare moment of leisure.

He had originally intended to visit his friend Wallace in Sootopolis City, but Wallace seemed to be holding a Pokémon Contest Grand Festival and had no time.

Bored, Steven had gone to Meteor Falls to dig for stones for a few days, only his luck wasn't very good; for three whole days, he hadn't found a single thing.

Right at that moment, he received Huyang's text.

Steven figured he had nothing to do anyway, so he could just go and pick up the Moon Stone himself.

He never expected to be met with such a message right off the bat.

[Don't you have to work?]

Steven: "..."

Staring at those eight characters, Steven suddenly didn't know what to say.

He didn't think the other person was being rude; on the contrary, he knew very well that the reason behind the question was sheer surprise and bewilderment.

Steven was in the middle of phrasing his reply when he received another text.

[Huyang: I'm currently staying in Littleroot Town.]

Littleroot Town...

Professor Birch's laboratory seemed to be over there.

Steven thought for a moment and quickly replied:

[Coincidentally, I was planning to visit Professor Birch who lives there. I can drop by and pick it up along the way.]

The message was sent, and a reply came back very quickly.

[Huyang: Sounds good.]

Steven let out an inexplicable sigh of relief, silently exited the messaging interface, scrolled for a moment, and dug out Professor Birch's contact information.

...

Pewter City Station.

As the tram started moving, everything in Pewter City gradually faded from Huyang's line of sight.

The old-fashioned train rolled along the tracks, emitting a rhythmic clacking sound.

The fields and woods flashing past outside the window shimmered brilliantly under the sunlight.

Watching this scene, Huyang took out the group photo with Clefairy from his backpack and penned a line of text on the back.

"Huyang and the Pokémon, Mt. Moon Square, September 29th, Year 209 of the League Calendar."

...

Littleroot Town, inside the ecological park.

Slowking sat under the sunlight, wearing glasses and quietly reading a book in its hands.

In the pond populated by Magikarp and Relicanth, two Squirtle were engaged in a fast-paced swimming competition.

Because they were overly energetic, the Magikarp and Relicanth living here were not very fond of the pair.

The Slackers Faction dispatched a young Relicanth to negotiate with them.

Relicanth: "Hey, I'm telling you two, living here means you shouldn't be causing trouble for others."

The Squirtle stopped swimming and looked over: "Squirt!" (We are not!)

Relicanth: "Everyone here is getting a free ride with food and lodging, so you should keep it down too. If you keep making such a ruckus, you might end up getting kicked out of this place."

Hearing this, the two Squirtle froze for a moment. They exchanged glances and sheepishly scratched their heads:

"Squirt?" (Will we really cause trouble for Huyang?)

The other Squirtle looked somewhat worried as well:

"Squirt..." (I don't want to be kicked out...)

"Squirt." (Me neither.)

The two Squirtle fell silent for a moment, recalling what those Pokémon working in the cities had said before they were captured.

They had said: Helping humans work can earn you food and money, and when you give that money to your Trainer, they will be very happy.

The two Squirtle thought of this in unison, and they looked at each other, saying:

"Squirt?" (Should we go out to work too? And then give the money we earn to Huyang?)

Huyang had saved them and let them live here for free with food and lodging; without doing something in return, they always felt rather embarrassed.

The other Squirtle agreed with the proposal and nodded: "Squirt!"

Both Squirtle possessed adventurous, lively, and active personalities.

Therefore, the moment this idea popped into their heads, they took action.

Taking advantage of the moment when Slowking wasn't paying attention, they sneaked out of the ecological park and stealthily entered the human city.

Wild Pokémon living in the city had their own information network.

Thus, very soon, the two Squirtle learned from them that a fire department was currently recruiting Water-type Pokémon for work.

They looked at each other, a bright gleam flashing in their eyes.

Mm! That job, they had to get it!

They would earn piles and piles of money and give it to Huyang!

When he received that money, he would definitely be very happy, right?

Thinking of that scene, the Squirtle immediately bounded off in high spirits straight toward the fire department.