Chapter 197: Crystal Onix
"Ah, hello, Mr. Natsume. My name is Mateo, and I'm a glass artisan."
The man with the headscarf hurried forward and introduced himself. He opened his mouth to say more, but Natsume cut him off.
"You came to me for the Crystal Onix?"
"How did you know that, Natsume?" Ash Ketchum poked his head in from the edge of the screen, shocked.
"Glass craftsmanship, and you're in the Orange Islands. That narrows it to Sunburst Island. I've studied the legend there," Natsume spoke calmly.
Back when he had just become Professor Oak's student, Natsume felt the Crystal Onix would definitely trigger a system assignment. So he tagged along with various survey teams heading to the Orange Islands to ask around locally, but he found nothing. Maybe its trail was simply too mysterious, and he wasn't fated to meet it. Of course, it might also have been that his own knowledge back then wasn't enough.
For a system assignment to trigger, not only must the Pokémon meet special conditions; he himself must also have the knowledge base to solve the problem. Otherwise, even if the Crystal Onix stood right in front of you, the system assignment still wouldn't trigger.
"Mr. Natsume, please, help me!" Mateo suddenly pleaded. "I have to see the Crystal Onix with my own eyes. Only then can my craft reach the next level!"
Mateo stared at him.
"See it?" Natsume blinked. "That's easy."
The next second, a message arrived on Ash's Pokédex. Natsume had sent over a video. Tracey opened it curiously.
The video wasn't long—only a minute or two. The place looked like a volcanic crater. You could see heat rippling into the air, as if space itself were warping.
"Isn't that Mouri Gym?" Ash craned his neck, curious.
"That's it!" Tracey gasped, pointing at a spot above the magma.
There, something glittered. A lithe silhouette darted back and forth within it.
"Crystal Onix!"
An Onix, clear like crystal, wove through molten, roiling lava. Its glassy facets refracted variegated light. The red current billowed with steam, casting the crystal scales in flashes like molten rubies, brightening and dimming.
"This…!" Mateo's breathing quickened on the spot.
"Wait. Mateo, didn't you say the Crystal Onix lives in a lake?" Misty suddenly remembered. "And, Natsume, didn't you fail?" Misty looked at Natsume, face a little odd.
"Right, Natsume. Could there be Crystal Onix living somewhere else too?" Ash added.
"Mr. Natsume, please, you must tell me. This is very important to me!" Mateo's nose stung. His hands trembled slightly. His face showed unbridled excitement. This iron-willed man was shaking all over with emotion.
"Special effects. I made it with special effects," Natsume accepted the apple Honora had washed and handed him, took a loud, crunchy bite, and stated it as a matter of course.
Mainly, he hadn't found the Crystal Onix back then and really couldn't accept it. So he wondered if he could transform an ordinary Onix into a Crystal Onix. Unfortunately, he failed. To placate the Pokémon League for the moment, he made that video.
Luckily, Cinnabar Island had a blessing in disguise. He blew open a bunch of hot springs, and it turned into a tourist hotspot. While organizing the data, he accidentally discovered a rearing method for Onix involving a water-plating film, which at least gave him something to show for it.
"All right, Mr. Mateo, your wish is granted!" Natsume clapped his hands. Everyone happy, everyone satisfied!
"Uh?" Mateo froze where he stood. Tracey's mouth fell open. The atmosphere slipped into an eerie silence.
"I knew it," Misty facepalmed.
"But Natsume, aren't you really into special Pokémon?" Ash looked at Natsume, puzzled.
"How about this." Natsume thought for a moment and sent over a document. "After you find the Crystal Onix, see if you can persuade it to let you run tests my way and provide a bit of data."
"What is this? I can't understand any of it." Holding the Pokédex, Ash peered left and right, sharing a confused look with Pikachu on his shoulder.
"Tracey!" Natsume suddenly raised his voice.
"Mr. Natsume, I'm here!" Tracey snapped to attention and stepped in front of Ash.
"Want to see whether you have the potential to become a researcher?"
"I do!" Tracey answered without hesitation.
"I've got a task for you." Natsume's expression suddenly turned serious.
Seeing that, Tracey caught his breath and nodded firmly. "Please tell me, Mr. Natsume."
"What I sent is a research guide. If you read it through, I can guarantee you'll be able to investigate and discover the cause of the Crystal Onix on your own. Well? Confident you can complete it independently?" Natsume's voice lifted a degree.
"Of course I can, Mr. Natsume!" Tracey trembled all over with excitement. It had to be. Absolutely had to be. Mr. Natsume thought very highly of him!
"Good. In that case, give it your best." Natsume waved and hung up the call.
On the other end, Tracey, full of hope, imported the file from Ash's Pokédex into his own. He opened the first few pages to find data packed tightly line by line. These were Natsume's experimental data from Cinnabar Island's volcanic crater.
Tracey had read a lot of papers in the past, so at a glance he understood. Regarding the Crystal Onix, Natsume himself had already done research. He had even gotten about 70% to 80% of the way there. All that remained was to find the actual Crystal Onix and verify a few hypotheses.
Tracey instantly felt a heavy responsibility settle on his shoulders. Overjoyed, he flipped to the next page. The first part was all results Natsume had produced himself. Only the later section was what he needed to do—the true, guided roadmap Natsume had prepared for him.
"With Mr. Natsume's level, this will definitely be professional!" Tracey turned the page in delight.
Sure enough, Natsume's long discourse cut off abruptly, and the text became extremely concise. Except…
"Why are these all websites?" Misty looked baffled.
"Let me see." Ash stuck his head in and read the tiny bit Natsume had written at the top, word by word.
"You might be my student, or a new student of Professor Oak, or a student's student. Whoever you are, lucky you. The project you're taking over—if it succeeds—will either add a new Pokémon to the Kanto region or add a new regional form. Your chance to get your name into textbooks is right in front of you!"
A chance to be in textbooks!?
Tracey's eyes were instantly filled with those words. Mr. Natsume was as professional as ever—handing a chance like this to someone else. Tracey looked down at the sites, thrilled.
"You'll need familiarity with micro-regional distributions of Pokémon. Click to view 'Regional Form Distribution—Kanto Edition.'"
"You'll need complete body metrics for Onix. Click to—"
"You'll need the League's records on extreme individuals of Onix. Click to—"
Looking at the hundreds of links packed together—each leading to mini-lectures where old-timers droned on—Tracey felt a headache coming on.
This was a little too professional, wasn't it?
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