Chapter 946: Breakthrough
Chapter 946: Breakthrough
There were many Moon Stones here, and Yuga couldn't take them all. He could only dig with his Pokémon and prioritize those Moon Stones with green light spots inside.
Because hatching Kartana had consumed a lot of green light spots, the Moon Stones on the walls were not as impressive as when they first entered. The brightness in the dome space had decreased significantly due to the reduced number of green light spots.
Worried that his Pokémon might dig too vigorously and collapse the dome space, Yuga instructed them to use their moves as gently as possible while digging the stones.
So, Charizard used basic moves to pry the Moon Stones off the wall one by one. With its wings, it had no trouble reaching both high and low Moon Stones.
Lapras used small water guns to hit the rocks. When the Moon Stones and rocks fell together, Gardevoir used its psychic powers to pick up the Moon Stones. After all, Lapras couldn't pick them up.
Bellossom held a green leaf blade formed from its leaves and sliced the Moon Stones firmly embedded in the wall one by one. It found the task much easier than the others, but being shorter in height, it could only reach the ones near the bottom of the wall.
Florges, Venusaur, and Serperior, using their Vine Whips, hit the rocks and picked up the Moon Stones at the same time. It was very convenient, and even the flying Charizard couldn't do much better.
Torterra had limited mobility due to its size, so it used its Razor Leaf move to split the rocks, and then the smaller Vivillon crawled up to pick the stones. The two worked together seamlessly.
Breloom swung its palms and used its Brick Break move to strike the wall, working diligently. It was taller than Bellossom but shorter than Venusaur.
Sawsbuck shot seed bombs one by one. Despite controlling the move's power as much as possible, it still made a booming sound. It couldn't pick up the Moon Stones itself, so Yuga had to follow behind.
Due to the decrease in the number of green light spots, the light in the dome space had dimmed considerably. Therefore, Arcanine and Growlithe, father and son, were responsible for providing illumination to Yuga and the Pokémon.
Rowlet and Snover, on the other hand, were simply there for moral support. They picked up Moon Stones while discussing something quietly in the corner.
What surprised Yuga the most was Kartana's efficiency. Its arms were like swords, incredibly sharp. With a gentle swipe on a rock, it would immediately split in two, and each cut was extremely smooth.
With the combined efforts of Yuga and his Pokémon, the collection of Moon Stones proceeded quickly. As the special Moon Stones decreased, the light in the dome space grew dimmer.
While collecting the special Moon Stones, Yuga instructed his Pokémon to prioritize those with larger green light spots.
Revival Grass also had different grades. Depending on the years of growth, Revival Grass could be classified as Three-Leaf Revival Grass, Five-Leaf Revival Grass, Seven-Leaf Revival Grass, and the highest-grade Nine-Leaf Revival Grass.
Typically, Revival Grass would sprout with three leaves, and once those three leaves matured, the plant could be used for medicinal purposes. The two Revival Grass seeds Yuga had previously grown were of the lowest grade, Three-Leaf Revival Grass.
The growth of Three-Leaf Revival Grass doesn't require too much time; typically, it matures within six to ten months. However, its unique growth environment means that without suitable conditions, the seeds of Revival Grass won't even sprout, let alone mature. This is why Revival Grass is so rare.
Growing Five-Leaf Revival Grass is much more challenging. To go from Three-Leaf to Five-Leaf and then to maturity, it takes at least five to ten years, depending on the quality of their growth environment.
In extremely poor conditions, a Three-Leaf Revival Grass might wither before reaching Five-Leaf stage.
If making a Max Revive requires using the entire plant of Three-Leaf Revival Grass, then the medicinal properties contained in just one leaf of Five-Leaf Revival Grass can be used to make a Max Revive. A single Five-Leaf Revival Grass can produce up to five Max Revive.
Once Revival Grass reaches Five-Leaf stage, it will produce seeds. A single Five-Leaf Revival Grass plant only produces one seed during each flowering season.
Fortunately, once the seeds of Five-Leaf Revival Grass mature, the plant itself doesn't wither. Instead, it continues to grow towards becoming a Seven-Leaf Revival Grass. Before reaching Seven-Leaf stage, it has a flowering season every year, producing a seed each time.
If not for this, Revival Grass would have gone extinct long ago.
When Five-Leaf Revival Grass grows into Seven-Leaf stage, it becomes a true treasure of nature. Its effects go beyond being just a healing medicine. It's said that a Pokémon that consumes an entire Seven-Leaf Revival Grass plant undergoes a mutation, becoming significantly more powerful than others of its species.
Yuga believed that the champion level Nidoking, two Kangaskhan, and the incredibly strong Nidoqueen they encountered earlier also had all consumed an entire Seven-Leaf Revival Grass plant.
Pokémon mutations aren't always in a positive direction. A misstep, and a naturally gifted Pokémon could become a waste of potential.
However, the mutations brought about by Seven-Leaf Revival Grass are always positive, not only optimizing various bodily functions but also enhancing innate potentials.
But getting Five-Leaf Revival Grass to grow into Seven-Leaf is even more challenging.
Firstly, the growth environment is a significant challenge. Without exceptionally favorable conditions, Five-Leaf Revival Grass won't grow towards Seven-Leaf stage.
Secondly, there's the issue of growth years. The minimum maturity period for Seven-Leaf Revival Grass is fifty years, and under unfavorable conditions, it can extend to a hundred years. Compared to this, the time it takes to grow from Three-Leaf to Five-Leaf seems much shorter.
Treasures like Revival Grass are already highly coveted by wild Pokémon. Most Pokémon would find it challenging to protect them until they reach Five-Leaf stage, let alone patiently wait for them to reach Seven-Leaf. Devouring them in one go is often the most practical choice.
Once Seven-Leaf Revival Grass reaches its mature stage, it no longer flowers or reproduces; it simply exists in its beauty.
As for Nine-Leaf Revival Grass, it's more of a legendary entity; hardly anyone has seen it.
Yuga's extensive knowledge about Revival Grass is largely thanks to the Joy family. After Joyka informed him of their visit to the Nameless Island, she showed him numerous medical texts about Revival Grass collected by the Joy family.
The Joy family only had fragmentary records about Nine-Leaf Revival Grass, with little useful information.
However, according to Joyka, their ancestors had once obtained a Nine-Leaf Revival Grass plant. Unfortunately, due to the passage of time and various events in their family's history, detailed records about the Nine-Leaf Revival Grass were lost long ago.
According to the system's information, the green light spots within Moon Stones are all formed by Five-Leaf Revival Grass. Three-Leaf Revival Grass probably doesn't generate these green light spots; it likely fades away on its own.
The green light spots formed by Five-Leaf Revival Grass are noticeably smaller than those formed by Seven-Leaf Revival Grass. The Five-Leaf ones are about the size of a little fingernail, while the Seven-Leaf ones are as large as a thumbnail.
However, most of the green light spots here are formed by Five-Leaf Revival Grass. When Yuga counted them, there were fewer than ten formed by Seven-Leaf Revival Grass.
Seeing that they were close to finishing collecting the special Moon Stones, Yuga urged everyone to work quickly and prepare to leave. Even the usually lazy Rowlet and Snover were now working diligently to speed things up.
Rowlet used its Leafage move to shave off pieces of rock, while Snover was responsible for picking up the fallen Moon Stones.
Just then, while Snover was diligently picking stones, it suddenly noticed a conspicuously bright green light coming from a crack in one of the stones. It couldn't resist walking over to investigate.
After digging out what was inside the crack, Snover found an unusually eye-catching Moon Stone with an extremely conspicuous green light spot, almost entirely filling the entire Moon Stone.
Looking at the Moon Stone in its hand, Snover suddenly found it extremely attractive.
Snover swallowing it saliva nervously, and said: This looks like it might be really delicious!
It was strange because when Snover looked at other Moon Stones, it didn't have any special feelings. However, the Moon Stone in its hand seemed to be tempting it, urging it to eat: Eat me, eat me.
In the end, Snover's curiosity got the better of it, and it shoved the entire Moon Stone into its mouth.
A Moon Stone of that size should have been difficult to swallow, but Snover didn't seem to notice as it swallowed the stone.
As soon as the Moon Stone went down, Snover suddenly regained its senses. It stared blankly at its now-empty right hand and exclaimed: What did I just do? Did I swallow a Moon Stone?
Meanwhile, Rowlet, who was busy cutting stones, suddenly noticed that its little buddy had disappeared, and no one was picking up the fallen Moon Stones. It then saw Snover standing not far away in a daze.
Rowlet quickly landed on Snover's head and asked with concern, "What's wrong? Are you tired?"
Snover, looking bewildered, replied: I think I just ate a Moon Stone!
Hearing this, Rowlet immediately started panicking and making distressed noises.
"Rowlet, Rowlet, Rowlet, Rowlet..."
Oh no, Yuga, something terrible has happened! Snover ate a Moon Stone!
Even though Rowlet was young and not very knowledgeable, it knew that Evolution Stones shouldn't be eaten, especially not Moon Stones, which had nothing to do with Snover's evolution.
Snover ate a Moon Stone?
Upon hearing Rowlet's words, Yuga immediately dropped what he was doing and ran over with Nana.
"What's going on? How did you start eating a Moon Stone out of nowhere?" Yuga asked Snover with a serious expression.
Snover didn't know what happened either, so it could only reply in a bewildered manner: I don't know what happened. I just felt that the Moon Stone looked delicious, and then I ate it.
Seeing Snover looking clueless, Yuga and Nana examined its body, but Yuga wasn't a Pokémon doctor, and after a while of checking, they couldn't find anything unusual about Snover's body.
"Rowlet, Rowlet, Rowlet!"
How is Snover? Is it okay?
After Yuga and Nana finished their examination, Rowlet nervously asked about their little buddy's condition.
Yuga shook his head and said, "I didn't find anything obvious. When we get back, I'll have Nurse Joy check on it."
In Yuga's team this time, besides Joyna, there was another Nurse Joy. While she was a battling Joy, she was also reputed to have good medical moves as well.
Since they couldn't find anything abnormal, Yuga and his team reluctantly left Snover, who had swallowed the Moon Stone, aside and continued to collect stones.
After digging for a while longer, Yuga checked the time on his phone and decided it was time to leave. There were too many Moon Stones here, and they couldn't possibly dig them all up. Yuga had to reluctantly give up.
As they prepared to leave, Arcanine looked back at the flames that had been their companions for many years with a reluctant gaze, and then followed Yuga along with his son.
In addition to the original entrance, Arcanine had dug an escape route for himself and his wife, Ninetales, later on, just in case. It was to prevent a situation where one day the Nidoran clan discovered this place, and their family would use this escape route to flee.
This escape route had been dug by Arcanine and Ninetales for a very long distance, and the exit wasn't on their territory, nor was it close to the Nidoran clan. By the time Yuga emerged from the exit with Arcanine's guidance, it was already dark outside.
If they didn't hurry back, they would have to spend the night in the wilderness!
Yuga recalled Kartana and then took out a Poké Ball, saying to Arcanine, "You can also go into the Poké Ball as well."
Arcanine nodded and pressed the button on the Poké Ball, allowing himself to be captured.
After capturing Arcanine and Kartana, Yuga had completed the system's mission and obtained the Pokéblock formula.
Because when Yuga first came out of the tunnel, he couldn't identify his exact location, it took him quite some time to get back to the beach, and by then, it was completely dark.
Seeing Yuga safely return, Joyna breathed a sigh of relief and said, "You're back! I was worried that you might have encountered some danger out there."
The others who had gone out had already returned before it got dark, so Joyna started to worry when Yuga hadn't come back after dark.
They hadn't collected any Revival Herbs, and Latias was seriously injured. If anything happened to Yuga, she would really be in a difficult situation. Explaining it to Mr. Kuni'o when they returned would be a big problem.
Yuga waved his hand and replied, "I'm fine, just went a bit further and took some extra time to come back. By the way, where's Miss Joycelyn? My Snover accidentally ate a Moon Stone, and I'd like her to take a look."
Joycelyn was the other Nurse Joy in the group besides Joyna.
Joyna sighed and said, "How could you be so careless? I'll take you to find her."
It was indeed a problem when a Grass-type Pokémon accidentally ate a Moon Stone that didn't match with its type.
The cruise ship owned by the Joy family was equipped with various medical facilities, so Joycelyn quickly examined Snover's condition.
Looking at the examination results, Joycelyn asked in confusion, "Are you sure Snover ate a Moon Stone? According to the examination results, its body is perfectly healthy."
Yuga replied, "Really? Snover did tell me it accidentally ate a Moon Stone. How can there be no problem?"
Joycelyn shook her head and said, "Based on the examination results, your Snover doesn't seem to have any issues. Here's what we'll do: keep a close eye on Snover's condition when you return. If anything seems off, come and find me."
Yuga nodded and said, "Alright, that's the plan. Sorry for the trouble."
Joycelyn reassured him, "No problem at all. If there's any issue, just come to me anytime."
Back in his room, Yuga observed Snover for a while. Since it didn't seem to have any problems, he put this matter aside for now.
Before going to sleep that night, Yuga released Arcanine from his Poké Ball. He lay on the bed, and Arcanine settled down at the bedside. The two of them chatted before falling asleep.
Arcanine, being a neighbor of the Nidoran Clan, was a potential source of information for Yuga about the Nidoran Clan. After all, their primary purpose in coming to this island was to find Revival Herbs; they couldn't afford to return empty-handed.
...More than ten minutes later.
"You mentioned earlier that Nidoqueen had a conflict with another Pokémon and got injured?" Yuga asked curiously, while internally he was quite shocked that any Pokémon could harm Nidoqueen.
"Yes, it was an Aerodactyl from the deepest part of the island. It also because it frightened an Arbok that also lived deep within the island. That's why my wife, Ninetales, encountered the Arbok while running away," Arcanine explained.
After chatting with Arcanine for a while, Yuga learned about Ninetales' situation, and he felt regretful. If not for that, he would have had the whole family in his hands.
Yuga thought to himself: Oh, heavens! I got too greedy. My apologies!
However, he couldn't help but be amazed by this island. Even ancient Pokémon species like Aerodactyl still existed here, and they had the power to harm Nidoqueen. That implied that this island had existed for a very long time.
Arcanine knew all this because it had witnessed the battle firsthand. However, according to Arcanine, although Nidoqueen was injured, the Aerodactyl probably didn't come out unscathed either. There was no information on the severity of the injuries.
"But, for some reason, after getting injured, Nidoqueen didn't consume any Revival Herbs," Arcanine added casually. It had overheard a conversation between two Nidoking warriors about this matter, as they were Nidoqueen's trusted subordinates.
"Wait, did you say Nidoqueen's injuries haven't healed?" Yuga suddenly sat up in bed, looking surprised and concerned.
"Yes... that's right!" Arcanine was taken aback by Yuga's sudden reaction.
With this confirmation, Yuga started thinking. It shouldn't be like this; the Nidoran Clan possessed a considerable amount of Revival Herbs. Even if Nidoqueen was seriously injured, she shouldn't have delayed treatment.
However, Yuga quickly realized the reason behind this. Injured Pokémon consuming Revival Herbs had side effects; they would lose levels. While Arcanine might not be aware of this, Yuga was well aware. The Nidoran Clan, which had controlled the Revival Herbs for so long, should also knew it too.
If Nidoqueen dropped even one level, especially in the current situation where they faced the threat of the Aerodactyl, it would be disastrous. A drop in level could lead to eviction, and the Nidoqueen herself might even be killed. Level 99 and level 100 were not even close to being in the same league.
This information about Nidoqueen's injuries being unhealed suddenly gave Yuga a lot to think about. This might be the breakthrough they needed to secure the Revival Herbs.
After pondering for a while, Yuga decided that he would discuss this with Joyna the next day and come up with a practical plan.
As he continued to contemplate this, both Yuga and Arcanine gradually drifted back to sleep.
However, in the middle of the night, Yuga was awakened by Rowlet flapping its wings.