Chapter 25: The Champion Appears, Steven the Miner!

Looking at the Aptitude Evolution Stones filling the entire mine, Zhang Feng was incredibly tempted.

The next moment, he released all the Pokémon from his system space, including Rayquaza, Pidgey, Treecko, and the entire Aron clan. He ordered them to carry the stones throughout the mine and bring them into his system space. Scattered across the deepest parts of the cavern, these stones looked like mere ordinary ore to the untrained eye. Only Zhang Feng, with the help of his system, could recognize the extraordinary nature of the Aron clan and convince them to be captured, thereby securing these treasures. Otherwise, who knows who might have stumbled upon them later?

Zhang Feng realized that with these stones, he might be able to elevate the aptitude of every single one of his Pokémon to Gold. Perhaps, even Gold wouldn't be the limit! The latest Aron he had captured definitely had the potential to challenge for Red aptitude. Not to mention, within the Aron clan, there were ten individuals with Purple aptitude; once they evolved into Aggron, several might naturally reach Gold status.

*Wait,* he thought, *have Gold-tier aptitudes suddenly become as common as dirt?*

He realized this was merely an illusion brought on by the sheer volume of stones before him. After an hour of hard work, he had collected over two thousand stones of standard size. There were also more than three hundred larger stones, roughly the size of basketballs, pulsing with even richer energy. The final mother-lode was over three meters long—it would have been impossible to move without the collective strength of three Lairon.

If these magical stones were auctioned off, countless trainers would swarm to claim them, and Zhang Feng could instantly become a billionaire. However, since the total supply was limited, he wasn't foolish enough to sell them all. Such treasures were meant for his own Pokémon.

To account for the three major groups in his system space, Zhang Feng divided the standard stones into five portions. The largest share went to the Aron clan, as he never would have found these mysterious stones without them. He kept the massive mother-lode with the Aron clan and ensured every single Aron was equipped with a stone.

He then distributed the remaining stones among the Treecko, Pidgey, and Pidgeotto groups, giving each tribe ten basketball-sized stones as a foundation for their future growth. Roughly calculating, he had 303 Aron and Lairon, 131 Treecko and Grovyle combined, and 515 Pidgey and Pidgeotto. With 950 Pokémon in total, he had used about half of the standard stones. With over 270 basketball-sized stones left, he had enough to support dozens more clans in the future.

Seeing that he had more than enough, Zhang Feng wasn't in a hurry. He instructed his main team to carry fist-sized stones during their training in the system space, and even to keep one with them in the real world to slowly absorb their energy. This way, they could steadily improve their aptitude over time.

Having secured the treasure—both the Pokémon and the stones—Zhang Feng, led by the Aron and Grovyle, exited the deep mine and returned to the mountainous mining area of Dewford Town. Once outside, he realized that what looked like a small area actually held a hidden world within. Soon, the rhythmic sound of a pickaxe striking ore echoed through the tunnel.

Curious, Zhang Feng followed the sound, only to be struck with surprise. The young man digging there had short blue hair, wore a formal tuxedo, and was swinging a pickaxe made of an unknown metal with great effort. The sight of such a refined individual doing manual labor felt completely illogical. It was none other than Steven Stone, the former Champion of the Hoenn region and heir to the Devon Corporation.

"Is it really okay for a wealthy young master like you to be doing a miner's job every day?" Zhang Feng mused, approaching with a sense of dissonance.

Sensing someone behind him, Steven stopped his pickaxe and turned around. "It seems another adventure-loving trainer has found their way to these mines."

Zhang Feng smiled. "If I am not mistaken, you are the former Hoenn League Champion, Mr. Steven Stone."

Recognizing his own name, Steven laughed heartily. "You've identified me, young man. Are you here to capture new Pokémon?"

Zhang Feng nodded. "That's right, and I've already found a reliable partner."

As he spoke, the shiny, golden Aron appeared behind him. Zhang Feng didn't worry about Steven coveting his Pokémon; Steven clearly lacked such ambition, having stepped down from the Champion title to pass it to his friend Wallace. Besides, while Zhang Feng had to rely on luck to find rare, high-aptitude Pokémon, someone like Steven could have them delivered to his doorstep with a single word. That was simply the gap between them.

Seeing the shiny Aron, Steven’s eyes lit up with genuine delight. "An Aron, and a shiny one at that! You are truly lucky, young man. By the way, why don't you introduce yourself? A trainer like you is unlikely to remain unknown for long; it wouldn't hurt to get acquainted."

"My name is Zhang Feng, from Littleroot Town," he replied. "I just received my starter, Treecko, from Professor Birch a month ago and began my journey."

Steven looked surprised. A novice trainer only a month into his journey, already traveling with a Grovyle that was nearly at its final evolution stage—that was a rare sight indeed.

"Impressive. I'll call you Xiao Feng, then. I rarely meet other trainers in the mines. Would you like to have a battle with me? I've been here so long, my hands are starting to get itchy."