Steven fumbled around for a moment, then pulled a plain-looking but sturdy-looking box out of his bag.
As Rope and Whitley watched, Steven opened the box with a smile and fossil after fossil appeared in front of everyone's eyes.
Steven picked and picked and picked then found a fossil then put the box away. He got up and took the fossil and handed it to Whitley, "This is a Jaw Fossil, using the fossil resurrection machine can resurrect a Tyrunt. But since it's a fossil resurrection, it's not very certain about qualifications or anything."
Rope and Whitley both looked at the near-complete jawbone and tsked as well. Although there was no such thing as completeness of a fossilized jaw, everyone actually favored the more complete the fossil's character, the better.
If a complete fossilized Pokémon fossil could really be pieced together, it might have better results.
Whitley received the fossil, then smiled sweetly and said to Steven, "Thank you Mr. Steven!"
Steven didn't dwell too much on Whitley's words, he looked at Rope, then pulled out two delicately wrapped boxes from the bag on his side: "This is for you, one is the Perfect Fire Stone, and there is another piece that is a gift for you."
Rope said with a flurry of embarrassment, "Look, why are you still bringing gifts when you've come, how embarrassing!"
Then quickly took the things. The hand was so fast that the long-tailed monster hand sighed to itself.
Steven smiled and said, "It's not a small thing after all, it's better to give you a gift."
Rope put the gift into his backpack, then said, "Don't stand here and chat, let's go, go to the inn and chat. Take a relaxing dip in the hot springs."
Steven nodded, "That's fine."
With that, the two hooked shoulders and walked towards the inn in the back.
Whitley looked at these two guys as if they weren't any good.
Men...
Whitley shook his head, then followed in their footsteps.
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In the hot springs, Rope and Steven meet naked, then drink from their respective cups, the one in Rope's cup is still tree fruit juice. He has a true love for the stuff.
Steven, on the other hand, has a bottle of sake. Sort of a Kanto specialty.
"You couldn't have come this time simply to give me something, could you." Rope said as she took a sip of the juice then looked Steven in the eye.
Steven laughed then said, "Sure enough, I still can't hide it from you."
Rope said, "Just tell me if you have something to say, why are you still so slow?"
"I didn't think of how to mention this to you..." Hearing Rope's complaint, Steven said with a bitter smile.
"What is it exactly? Your family's old man urging you to get married?"
"Bullshit, how can that be!"
Steven said without a trace of anger.
He wasn't a second-generation dude who had nothing to do but think about eating and waiting for death all day long, so naturally he wouldn't face such a thing as being urged to get married. After all, he was not too old. More importantly... Steven's family's old man was also unable to control Steven's marriage.
"Then what exactly is going on? It can't be about unseating the champion. Isn't that something you've been planning for a while?"
Rope asked suspiciously.
"Kind of related but not exactly." Steven continued to, and after being interrupted in his thoughts by Rope, he simply got right to it.
"I met the three gods of Hoenn earlier."
Rope's face became serious, "Rayquaza, Kyogre, and Groudon?"
Steven nodded, "That time they all suddenly appeared in one place. I rushed over there, worried that the two creators, Ocean and Land, were engaged in another great battle."
"It won't happen, with Rayquaza around, those two can't fight." Rope said firmly.
Steven nodded rather agreeably, "Indeed, I can see those two actually wanted to fight. But it was stopped."
"Isn't that good?"
"My concern is... I'm still sure I can suppress and stall against any of those three. But if it's Kyogre and Groudon fighting, then odds are I won't be able to stop them..."
Steven said with a somewhat stony face.
The corner of Rope's mouth twitched slightly as he said mercilessly, "Actually, I don't really think you'll be able to beat either of them. Stalling is okay...suppression...they are capable of Primal Reversion."
"Primal Reversion?"
"Similar to Mega Evolution..."
Hearing Rope's words, Steven's face froze for a moment, and abruptly smiled bitterly: "The world is also a little too unfair. Such a powerful god can still mega evolve..."
"The world isn't fair to speak of..."
Rope said with a shrug.
Silence fell between the two, with only the sound of water flowing upwards and drops falling resounding.
All of the Pokémon, except for little Lugia, were placed in a separate pool.
As for why Little Lugia was left alone...it would enhance the spa experience after all.
"So you're worried that the others won't be able to pick up the slack after you leave?"
Rope spoke up.
Steven nodded without making a sound.
"You don't really have to worry about that, after all, you have to believe that Wallace will be weaker than you, but not by much. More to the point...even in the event that you take over as chairman of Devon, it's not as if you'd stand by and do nothing about something like this under the circumstances."
Rope slightly relaxed and said, "I do feel that this is quite good, after all, with your character then...if you really want to let you take on a big responsibility, you will exhaust yourself in this kind of situation..."
Steven thought for a moment, then the corner of his mouth twitched, really out of the question this kind of thing, one might really exhaust oneself to death...
"What you said... makes sense."
Steven said somewhat helplessly.
Rope laughed and said, "So Steven, you need to learn to trust other people's abilities more now too."
"More importantly, learn to trust me. It's my job to avoid any unresolvable conflicts and clashes between you."
Rope said this with a hint of pride and pride on his face.
Steven stroked his chin, then said thoughtfully, "That said, with all this going on, are you still considered a normal human?"
Heh! You're still cursing while chatting...
Rope responded with a slight twitch at the corners of his mouth, but also quite seriously, "I'm not considered a human in the strictest sense of the word, nor am I considered a Legendary Pokémon in the strictest sense of the word... My stance is absolutely neutral."
That was easy and simple to say.
Steven looked at Rope, and after a moment patted Rope's shoulder seriously and said, "Still talking about me...you're the one who don't get too tired, think about relying on others more often, and we'll all be there to support you."
Rope smiled and said, "I know, when I use you guys, I will never be polite."
Steven smiled back, "That's right."
"Rope! Mr. Steven! Dinner is ready, come eat."
Tonight's dinner was cooked by Whitley and her boss. It was also considered Whitley's first step in learning cooking.
"Got it! Going out right away!"
Rope shouted outside first, then turned to Steven.
"Alright, go out first. Heaven forbid it's time to eat."
Steven nodded, "Good."
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After dinner, Rope opened the two boxes Steven had given himself. In the first box was a crystal clear red like flame stone.
It looked like there was an orange-red flame burning inside the stone.
Whitley on the side looked at this stone that could be described as beautiful and sighed, "It's really beautiful, I feel like it's really great to use it as a necklace!"
Rope smiled faintly and said, "That would be too extravagant..."
After all, the so-called various gemstones weren't worth anything compared to the Evolution Stone. Let alone compared to this perfect grade evolution stone.
"What's in the other box?" Whitley asked curiously.
"Just open it and find out."
Rope was not ambiguous and opened the other box straight away.
Inside the box, a piece of mega stone was lying quietly, glittering with a translucent luster.
"What a big gesture...this is another piece of Charizard's mega stone, right?"
Whitley lamented.
"No, this Charizard guy is really lucky." Rope also lamented.
After all, we all know the preciousness of mega stone, plus Charizard, as one of the very few Pokémon with two MEGA forms, it's already rare for an ordinary person to obtain a mega stone.
And naturally these two forms have their own strengths going.
"In the future, you can choose the mega evolution is form according to the situation."
Rope looked at this mega stone twice before putting it away.
It was precious to say it was precious, and it was just that to Rope to say it wasn't.
"Tonight's focus... is still letting Growlithe evolve..."
With that, Rope pulled out Growlithe's Pokéball and released Growlithe.
Growlithe came out and sat obediently in front of Rope's eyes. Wagging his tail and sticking out his tongue, he raised his head and stared at Rope in a somewhat dumbfounded manner.
Rope stroked his head and then said, ''Are you ready? There's no such thing as a regret pill after evolution."
That was why Growlithe was using Fire Stone in order to evolve, otherwise Rope would have had to go and prepare Everstone for Growlithe a long time ago.
Growlithe looked at the stone in the box in Rope's hand that held no small attraction for him.
"It doesn't matter if you don't want to evolve, there's always a way to get stronger. it's Charizard's choice to evolve."
Rope said seriously.
Growlithe looked at Rope and didn't say anything, but silently walked over to the box and then placed his paw on the stone.
A moment later, a blazing white light lit up.
In the bright light, Growlithe's size grew and grew again. It eventually came to a stop at a considerable height.
Rope didn't avoid it, he kept a close eye on Growlithe. moments later, the white light dissipated. A tall, divinely handsome Pokémon appeared in front of Rope's eyes.
Growlithe, no, it should be called Arcanine now.
Rope looked at the Pokémon in front of him with a cold face and a haughty temperament, and reached out his hand to touch the big dog's head.
Arcanine lowered his head and actively rubbed against Rope's hand.
Rope smiled brightly, "Congratulations, Windspeed..."
Rope's words ended abruptly.
Because his head was bitten off by Arcanine...
Whitley's mouth twitches slightly as he looks at the eyes that have turned into pea eyes. And Rope whose head turned into flames.
She already predicted what would happen next.
"Tie! Stupid dog! Die for me !!!!"
"Ow, ow ow ow~"
On the other side, Steven, who was still busy with his work, smiled and said, "What energetic young people!"
Metagross, who was lying on his back in the corner of the room with his eyes closed, spoke up without opening his eyes, "Meta... (Your age isn't that old, is it?...)"
Steven thought about it then silently shook his head and said, "Maybe because of different personalities."
And so, the night passed with a lot of bickering.
————————
The following day, Rope and Whitley walked down to the beach to see Steven off.
"That's it, you guys don't have to see him off either."
Steven looked back at the duo and smiled, "You guys are going to continue on your journey as well."
Rope smiled, "Since you've said so, that's all."
Rope's face was solemn and he clasped his hands before saying, "See you later."
Steven first froze, then revealed a bright smile, and followed Rope's example with a fist-clasping salute, "I'll see you again."
Then he rolled over and sat on Metagross' back.
Metagross roared, then soared up and disappeared into the distance.
Rope watched Steven go, and whistled in a low, used voice.
The ditty was lilting and melodious, with a hint of sadness and dismay, but also this sincere wish.
"Rope."
"Eh?"
"What's song?"
Rope's gravely showed a look of remembrance.
"Dreaming of Home and Mother[1]..."
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A Day Later, Pallet Town
There it was again, the town entrance, where Daisy stood, waiting for someone to arrive.
And beside Daisy, is Professor Oak's newly recruited assistant, Crystal.
Crystal looked from afar, and then looked up at Daisy who always had a light smile on her face.
Although Daisy was always gentle. But it was obvious that this time, her smile took on a hint of something else.
Crystal, recognized that emotion.
When Gold was out adventuring, she would often unconsciously look into the distance with that kind of eyes.
That look is called hope and expectation.
It could also be called watchfulness.
"Sister Daisy, what kind of person is Professor Rope...?"
Daisy frowned in thought as she heard this question, and after a few moments, her brow relaxed and she revealed a somewhat proud smile.
"He's a very special person then."
The corners of Crystal's mouth twitched slightly...
Sis, isn't it so meaningless that you thought about it and then gave me such an answer...
Daisy continued, "I'm not kidding you, Crystal, he really is special, very special then! "
Yeah, just like I see Gold...
Crystal looked at the smile on Daisy's face and gave an equal one, "Yeah, very special."
Just as the atmosphere between the two was about to become awkward, the sound of flapping wings came from the sky.
Then came a cheerful voice.
"Sis Daisy! I'm back!!!"
Below, Crystal and Daisy looked up at the same time.
In the sky, a youth with a blue jacket and a gray t-shirt with light blue jeans laughed and smiled brightly on Charizard's back.
And in Daisy's eyes, the teenager, who was backlit, had turned into the sun.
[1] raw : "送别" (means "farewell") - a Chinese version of the song "Dreaming of Home and Mother" by John Pond Ordway (yes, it's an American song) written in 1851 during the American Civil War