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After obtaining the Lopunny Mega Evolution Stone, Sato carefully scanned the underground space in front of him several more times. When he found nothing else of value, he had Kadabra use Teleport to take him out of the area.
Sato had no reason to doubt Steven's claim that he had already explored other underground spaces containing statues and found nothing left behind by the League. After returning to the outer entrance of the cave, Sato took out his map and headed toward the remaining two underground areas that Steven had not yet explored.
The facts proved that the League was still quite considerate toward civilian Trainers like Sato, who were not yet official League members.
The two remaining underground spaces with statues posed very little danger along the way. Sato found them easily and, in the last underground chamber, discovered the League's mission item hidden behind one of the statues.
That "mission item" was simply a short message left by the League behind the statue. Its meaning was roughly that Sato had found the correct answer, and all he needed to do was report the contents of the message upon returning.
In less than three days, Sato had successfully completed the promotion mission—yet he still had four days left before the deadline to submit it.
Because he had tasted sweet rewards in the previous underground space, and since he still had plenty of time, Sato decided to finish exploring the remaining statue-bearing underground areas. He hoped to gain something more, while also continuing to train Wartortle and Kadabra.
It was worth mentioning that after battling large numbers of wild Pokémon in the cave, Wartortle and Kadabra had reached levels 34 and 28 respectively.
Unfortunately, Sato's luck seemed to have run out after his unexpected gain of the Lopunny Mega Evolution Stone. The remaining underground spaces yielded nothing at all.
It wasn't until evening that Sato reluctantly left the cave and rode his off-road bicycle back to Verdanturf Town.
After having dinner with his Pokémon, Sato went to the bank of a small river near Verdanturf Town and released Wartortle—now level 36—into the water.
"Wartortle, you received Captain Reggie's careful training from the moment you were born, and then nearly two months of intense training from me. Your foundation is extremely solid now. The power you've accumulated has reached the critical point for evolution. You can try evolving."
Sato crouched down, gently patting Wartortle's head as he spoke with a smile.
In fact, Wartortle had already shown signs of evolution when he reached level 36 in the cave. However, perhaps due to exhaustion from battle or unsuitable surroundings, the evolution hadn't completed successfully at the time.
Now, having eaten his fill, the tail that symbolized Wartortle's longevity began to emit a soft, aqua-blue glow—a clear sign of evolution. Once Wartortle entered the river, the glow from his tail became even brighter.
"Wartortle~"
Hearing Sato's words, Wartortle immediately nodded, letting out an excited cry.
He quickly swam to the center of the river, calmed his mind, and began mobilizing the restless energy within his body.
Before long, under the astonished gazes of people nearby, Wartortle suddenly erupted in dazzling white evolutionary light. A massive whirlpool formed at the river's center, encircling him completely.
"Wow! That Pokémon is evolving—let's go take a look!"
"It's evolving! Pokémon really are incredible creatures."
"That's amazing. So this is Pokémon evolution… I've raised my Slowpoke for so long, and it still hasn't evolved. I'm so jealous."
Jealous +1.
Jealous +2.
Jealous +3.
As soon as Wartortle's evolution began, both banks of the river quickly filled with people. They whispered among themselves, most of them watching with unmistakable envy.
At the critical moment of the evolution, a towering column of water shot up from the center of the whirlpool, completely engulfing Wartortle. Bathed in the brilliant evolutionary light, the entire water pillar shimmered.
After a few seconds, the water column lost its momentum and exploded midair, scattering countless droplets.
At that moment, Wartortle's body rapidly transformed. In just a few seconds, he grew from a small turtle about 1.2 meters tall into a massive turtle nearly 2.2 meters in height, his body expanding several times over.
"Blas—!"
After completing his evolution, Blastoise let out an excited roar. He swiftly extended two water cannons from his shell and fired two massive water spheres into the sky in celebration. Then, he unleashed two powerful Dragon Pulse attacks.
For a moment, two dragon-shaped energy waves circled the water spheres in midair, creating a spectacular scene reminiscent of twin dragons playing with a pearl.
Finally, Blastoise released two volleyball-sized Aura Sphere attacks, shattering the swirling dragon waves and water spheres. The three moves collided and exploded, sending glittering energy particles raining down from the sky.
"Water Pulse, Dragon Pulse, Aura Sphere… Just missing Dark Pulse and a Blastoise Mega Evolution Stone, and Blastoise would truly become a terrifying mobile turret."
"Hmm… maybe I could even add Origin Pulse later."
Watching Blastoise freely and fluidly perform three different wave-based moves in the river, Sato broke into a wide smile, his heart surging with excitement.
In fact, he had already nearly figured out how to obtain a Blastoise Mega Stone—through Professor Oak.
As a highly respected Pokémon Professor and a Champion-level Trainer, it was impossible for Professor Oak not to know about Mega Evolution Stones, or to lack at least one or two himself.
Since every generation of new Trainers from Pallet Town started with Bulbasaur, Squirtle, or Charmander, the Mega Evolution Stones in Professor Oak's possession were very likely related to those three starter Pokémon.
"I remember Daisy has a Lopunny she absolutely dotes on. She'll probably be very interested in the Lopunny Mega Stone I just got. The question is whether she can obtain a Blastoise Mega Stone from Professor Oak."
"And if I could also get a Swampert Mega Stone from him through her, that would be even more perfect."
"I'm just a tiny step away from becoming an Elite-Four level Trainer. If I can obtain a suitable Mega Evolution Stone soon to further strengthen my Pokémon, then even as a newly promoted Elite-Four trainer, I wouldn't be considered weak among them."
"Now that my promotion mission as an outer League member under the identity 'Tyler' is complete, the next step is to collect the Gym Badges across the Hoenn region and then participate in next year's Hoenn League Conference."
"My road to becoming an Elite-Four trainer has finally truly begun. I'm really looking forward to it."
Sato recalled Blastoise into his PokeBall and turned toward the inn. Along the way, gazing at the stars filling the night sky, his face was full of anticipation.