Hoenn Desert, outside a ruin.
A rock was fixed to the ground, while countless grains of sand swirled around it, forming a small vortex.
Nearby, a Pokémon with vibrant wings flapped continuously, controlling this mini dust storm, gradually making it larger.
As more sand from the surrounding terrain joined in, the air currents intensified, and this mini dust storm slowly grew into a small-scale sandstorm.
Underneath this miniature sandstorm, a gray, droplet-like Pokémon was straining itself, seemingly trying hard to sense something. It occasionally looked up but immediately got a mouthful of dirt, its body getting dirty, and its expression shifted uncomfortably.
After cooperating for a long time, a small dot of light slowly appeared in front of the gray Pokémon. This yellowish dot, visible to Terrance, gradually grew larger, from a minuscule dot to the size of a grain of sand, and then to the size of a fingernail. Finally, with a small burst, the yellowish sphere exploded, leaving the two Pokémon and Terrance staring at each other in surprise.
"Did it succeed?"
Terrance looked at Castform, surprised.
The current weather wasn't exactly a sandstorm, but somehow, with the help of Smooth Rock, some sand, and Beautifly's Gust, Castform actually managed to unleash a Rock-type Weather Ball...
"From Castform's understanding…the mini-environment created by the Gust and the sand match the definition of 'abnormal weather'…"
"But what does the Weather Ball rely on to judge, and where does it absorb the energy from?"
Terrance glanced at the Smooth Rock and frowned. In previous experiments with Beautifly and Castform, the pseudo-sandstorm Beautifly created could not help Castform produce a Rock-type Weather Ball without the Smooth Rock.
"Temperature? Humidity? No… that's not it."
"Looks like we'll need to run another test."
After the second test, while Terrance was deep in thought, he was suddenly interrupted by Mismagius.
"You found signs of excavation?"
This ruin wasn't the first place Terrance had visited. After training at the previous location for a while, they had moved on to the next destination.
In addition to having Mismagius observe the surroundings, Terrance had given it another command: to search for signs of excavation or digging.
According to Terrance's knowledge, Smooth Rock originated from this desert. Since it was found here, it was worth investigating the environment that nurtured it.
"Lead the way."
Nodding toward Mismagius, the Pokémon let out an incantation-like cry and displayed an image to Terrance.
It roughly showed that there were several Pokémon habitats ahead, warning Terrance to tread carefully.
After stowing the Smooth Rock in his backpack and recalling Castform and Beautifly into their Poké Balls, Terrance began following Mismagius in the direction of what could be Smooth Rock's place of origin.
...
...
Countless grains of sand fell from the cracks of the ruins. Due to the frequent sandstorms, most areas inside the ruins were filled with sand and dust.
Looking at a small covered pit in front of him, Terrance immediately noticed signs of human excavation.
He released Beautifly once more to clear away the surrounding sand, revealing a tiny pit in front of him.
"Just one?"
Looking around, it seemed there was only this one pit. Taking out the Smooth Rock and comparing it, he found that the size didn't quite match.
But the shape of the pit was very similar to the base of the Smooth Rock. Terrance felt that there was a more than 60% chance that the Smooth Rock had been dug out from here.
"So hard..."
He poked the ground forcefully and grimaced in pain. It seemed this spot wasn't much different from the rest of the ruins.
However...there is still a need to further verify.
"Come out, Castform."
Although Castform hasn't yet learned to create a sandstorm, this doesn't affect its Weather Ball from sensing the surrounding environment and thus granting it a different type.
"Beautifly."
After Terrance gave a series of commands, Beautifly, just like before, started using the limited amount of sand in the area to simulate a sandstorm as much as possible.
Meanwhile, Terrance wrapped up the Smooth Rock, retreated to a distance, and watched Castform's changes.
At Terrance's signal, Castform burrowed into the spot where the Smooth Rock might have been excavated. Its entire body sank into the ground, entering a state of deep concentration.
A moment passed.
"No... way!"
Terrance had approached this experiment with a trial-and-error mindset, but as Castform began gathering small yellowish-brown light spots, he lost his calm.
"It worked?"
Quickly pulling the Smooth Rock from his backpack, Terrance confirmed that, at this distance, the Smooth Rock should not have had any effect. He had already tested this!
"What is going on?"
Watching the Weather Ball grow larger and larger, it didn't reach the size it would have under the influence of Smooth Rock, but its unique type confirmed that Castform recognized this place as a sandstorm environment.
How was this even possible?
Terrance shook his head vigorously at the low-quality, simulated sandstorm Beautifly had created.
In his previous experiments, the results were as follows:
In the first test, with Beautifly simulating a sandstorm alone, Castform failed to produce a Rock-type Weather Ball.
In the second test, when close to the Smooth Rock, Castform successfully created a Rock-type Weather Ball.
In the third test, from a distance with the Smooth Rock, Castform failed again to produce a Rock-type Weather Ball.
And now, in this latest test, with Castform burrowed into the spot where the Smooth Rock was likely excavated—a location that might have nurtured the Smooth Rock—Castform successfully created a Rock-type Weather Ball once more!
"Even though the control variables aren't perfect…" Terrance muttered to himself.
Still, this place, which may have nurtured a rare item like Smooth Rock, clearly hides something incredible! After all, the Smooth Rock is no less extraordinary than evolutionary stones. It stands to reason that a place capable of producing such treasures wouldn't be ordinary.
"Haven't those researchers or Professors considered this angle?" Terrance stroked his chin. Even though he got the clue due to Castform's move, he found it hard to believe that the people who excavated the Smooth Rock hadn't conducted a thorough investigation.
However, apart from the signs of digging, there didn't seem to be any significant damage to the area.
"Maybe it's because of the environment… This ruin might not be suitable for large-scale excavation, or maybe they didn't have enough information about the environment that can nurture the Smooth Rock to act recklessly. Or perhaps they have already fully investigated other areas but found nothing of value."
"But regardless of the outcome, I want to find out the reason why the place that produced these four magical stones—Smooth Rock, Damp Rock, Heat Rock, and Icy Rock—is able to do so. If I can figure that out, it might help Castform in its training..."
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