With Steelix's help, the mining speed increased significantly. Although Steelix was weaker, its mining expertise was superior to Metagross.
Steelix's long body, with a flick of its tail and a bump of its head, dug up countless rough diamonds.
Aron was exhausted by this time. Its body, wrapped in Oreburgh, looked like a ball, bulging.
Ashborn returned Aron to its Poké Ball to rest and digest its food.
With hundreds of tons of rough diamonds in hand, Ashborn could support not only Aggron's evolution but, or perhaps even more.
After half a day, all the rough diamonds were dug up, leaving behind a crater three to four kilometers long and five to six hundred meters deep.
Steelix approached Ashborn, staring at him intently.
"Here," Ashborn said, placing the two boxes of high-grade steel energy cubes on the ground.
Steelix ate five energy cubes in one bite. Its tail wagged happily, and its eyes were half-closed, filled with joy.
"You can't eat too much at once," Ashborn said, stopping Steelix from continuing to eat. "You have to eat sparingly."
High-level energy cubes were usually eaten three or four pieces at a time by Metagross. Consuming too much could waste the energy.
There were only two boxes, twenty energy cubes in total. If Steelix ate at its current rate, it would finish them in a week.
"Metagross, let's go," Ashborn said, jumping onto Metagross's back.
A red dot flashed on the Dowsing Machine, indicating a relatively large treasure in the nearby rock area.
Following Ashborn's command, Metagross flew away quickly.
"Boom!"
A sound came from behind, making Ashborn turn his head. Steelix was following them, with countless puffs of smoke rising behind it.
"Exercising after meals. It seems you really ate enough," Ashborn commented.
He didn't think much of it and didn't let Metagross stop.
After flying for more than 30 kilometers and reaching the red dot, Steelix had long since disappeared. It should have returned to its original place.
"Metagross, dig," Ashborn instructed.
After driving away some Ground-type and Rock-type Pokémon, Ashborn pointed to a place.
"I don't know if there will still be rough diamonds," he said.
Although they had already dug up rough diamonds, there might be more in the chlorite mine.
Soon, Metagross dug up something and brought it to Ashborn.
"Soft sand," Ashborn said, recognizing the basketball-sized, khaki-yellow, jelly-like substance.
Soft sand was a Ground-series treasure that could improve the Potential of Ground-series Pokémon and enhance their Ground-series moves.
The soft sand Ashborn found was only the size of a basketball, making it considered mid-to-low quality. The Dowsing Machine's red dot wasn't very big.
Even so, this size wasn't available on the market.
The ones available were only the size of a fist, and a piece was worth more than 10 million pokes.
Only top shopping malls sold them, and you had to be a VIP customer to purchase them.
Ashborn didn't currently have a Ground-type Pokémon, so he couldn't use the soft sand. He could only trade it or wait for a Ground-type Pokémon.
"Boom!"
The familiar sound came again. Looking for the source, Ashborn saw Steelix approaching from not far away.
Seeing Steelix panting, Ashborn said, "Do you want to follow me?"
He had initially thought Steelix was following him for food, but now it seemed the Pokémon wanted to follow him.
Steelix nodded, its eyes filled with anticipation.
After a full meal, Steelix knew that if Ashborn left, it wouldn't be able to eat such delicious food again.
Moreover, Ashborn had also taken away all of its treasures.
If it followed Ashborn, it wouldn't have to worry about treasures, and Ashborn would also support it.
Steelix was a smart Pokémon.
Feeling Steelix's proud Aura, Ashborn understood what the Pokémon was thinking.
Some wild Pokémon were cruel and cunning, but Steelix had a very active mind.
Looking at Steelix wagging its tail and the soft sand in Metagross's hand, Ashborn fell into deep thought.
He had just dug up a Ground-series treasure, and there was a Ground-series pseudo-Elite Steelix to train.
Was it fate taking care of him or Steelix?
Steelix: You are a wealthy person.
Pokémon: Steelix (Steel/Ground)
Level: 66
Potential: Green
Ability: Sturdy
Items: none
Gender: Male
Moves: Thunder Fang, Ice Fang, Fire Fang, Iron Tail, Dragon's Breath, Earthquake, Crunch, Harden, Smack Down, Sand Tomb, Stealth Rock, Slam, Sandstorm, Dig, Stone Edge.
Move CD: none
Genetic Moves: Defense Curl, Double-Edged Headbutt, Dragon Tail
Although the Potential is only green, half of the green is cyan.
Of course, if there is no special adventure, this Potential will be like this for a lifetime.
Steelix looked at the soft sand in Metagross's hand with a covetous expression.
"Okay, here it is," Ashborn said, giving the soft fine sand to Steelix.
With Ashborn's approval, Steelix swallowed the soft sand in one bite, more like a canine animal.
After eating, the cyan portion of Steelix's green Potential increased, but it got stuck at 90%.
Although Steelix didn't know what was happening, it felt that if it couldn't break this bottleneck, its future achievements would be limited, and it couldn't help but feel anxious.
"Come on, eat this," Ashborn said, taking out a small cyan Potential potion that could improve the cyan Potential to a certain extent and enhance the Pokémon's Potential.
After taking a sip from the bottle, the last bit of green in Steelix's Potential was finally replaced by cyan.
A cyan-potential Steelix was officially born.
"Roar!" Steelix roared with excitement, its tail pounding the ground.
After a while, it stopped, and Ashborn didn't stop it. Steelix then looked straight at Ashborn.
It was clear that the human in front of him had helped it break the bottleneck.
"Bring it on," Ashborn said, taking out a Poké Ball and pointing it at Steelix.
Steelix didn't hesitate. Its big head lightly touched the Poké Ball, and the Poké Ball shook a few times before stopping quickly.
Steelix had officially joined Ashborn's team.
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Ara ara ~~ Sayo nara ~~