This was Glow Moss, a plant typically found growing deep underwater or in caves. Whenever it's discovered, the surrounding environment is almost always covered with Luminous Grass and Luminous Stones, making it extremely easy to spot.
Its function, when consumed long-term, is to improve a Pokémon's resistance to Water-type moves. While the effect is limited, it's still highly valuable for Rock-type, Ground-type, and Fire-type Pokémon.
At present, most Glow Moss comes from natural wild sources, and Trainers who acquire it generally choose to keep it for themselves rather than sell it.
Moreover, only one institution affiliated with Professor Oak's Research Lab is currently known to have the capability to cultivate it artificially. That makes its market price consistently high.
Silas had just finished a full sweep, and the Glow Moss he collected had already filled an entire bag.
He weighed it slightly in his hands. His Boldore didn't rely on this for resisting Water-type moves, so for now, only his Blaziken needed it. This amount would last him about two months, saving him a decent sum of Pokédollars.
Still, when people said long-term use, they didn't mean two or three months—they meant years. Luckily, the required daily dosage was small. Otherwise, it would be another gold-eating monster.
He tossed it into his backpack and started scouring the same area again, unwilling to give up.
"Where's the Clay? Normally, there should be Clay growing alongside it..."
He murmured to himself.
What Silas was currently looking for was Light Clay, a companion product to Glow Moss. Or rather, the two were known to be symbiotic.
Its function was to rapidly enhance a Pokémon's mastery of Light Screen and Reflect.
Typically, wherever Glow Moss was found, Light Clay would be nearby as well. Of course, with bad luck, it might be absent.
At last, in a small corner, Silas spotted a tiny piece of Light Clay. Fortunately, his luck wasn't terrible.
His eyes lit up. Though it was no larger than half a palm, Professor Oak's Lab offered a high purchase price for Light Clay.
Because of its symbiotic relationship with Glow Moss, the amount of Light Clay present also influenced Glow Moss yields. Artificial cultivation relied heavily on it.
Carefully placing the Light Clay into a small container, closing the lid, and tucking it into his backpack, he was clearly very satisfied. Just the materials he had picked up so far were worth over a million Pokédollars—and that wasn't even the end.
A gleam of excitement flashed through his eyes as he walked toward an open clearing that was clearly the home of a Nidoking and Nidoqueen pair. The area consisted of several rocks arranged as a resting zone.
As he got closer and peered inside, he saw two Moon Stones lying perfectly still beside the rocks.
Jackpot. Silas shouted internally without a sound.
Moon Stones had a wide range of uses. Currently, six Pokémon species were known to require it for evolution: the powerful Nidoking and Nidoqueen, the Psychic-type Musharna, the adorable Clefable and Wigglytuff, and the elegant Delcatty.
The first three were popular choices among competitive Trainers, while the latter three were favored by Coordinators and aristocratic women.
What made evolutionary stones even more valuable was that Pokémon who evolved with them typically didn't have level restrictions. Even though Moon Stones couldn't be absorbed to directly boost strength, their price remained high due to their rare functionality.
Picking them up, Silas began a basic inspection while also calling out Zero to analyze their energy concentration.
A quality rating of 76 and 77—about average. He wasn't disappointed. After all, he couldn't expect to find top-tier stones like that Fire Stone from earlier every time.
Besides, Nidoking and Nidoqueen had likely selected the stones with the highest energy concentration when they evolved.
Back then, the two of them somehow managed to obtain five Moon Stones. In human terms, that was equivalent to being billionaires.
Silas figured they had good luck—but his luck was even better.
Grinning from ear to ear, he packed the two Moon Stones into his backpack, glanced around the area to make sure he hadn't missed anything.
Good. Nothing else.
There were no Pokémon Eggs belonging to Nidoking or Nidoqueen inside the nest, which was completely normal.
According to research from Professor Oak's Lab, Nidoqueen and its devolved form Nidorina gave up their reproductive abilities in exchange for heightened combat abilities to protect their offspring. Hence, they were incapable of laying eggs.
This meant that if a Nidoqueen wanted to have offspring, it would have to do so while still in its Nidoran stage.
That's also why Nidoran♂ and Nidoran♀ are often seen cuddling together in the wild.
Fortunately, even when Nidoran♂ evolved into Nidorino, its body size wasn't too large. If it had been a Nidoking, that would have been a real eye-sore.
That was also why Silas had been somewhat startled when he previously saw a Nidoking and Nidoqueen "having fun" together.
Of course, it was their freedom—he couldn't interfere. Still, Nidoqueen's body was covered in hard, spike-like scales that would rise upright when she was excited. Silas honestly couldn't imagine how the process would even work.
He walked out of the cave with the three Pokémon. This time's haul was quite decent—mainly because of the Moon Stones. With Moon Stones, a lot of problems could be solved.
Inside the Pewter Gym, Brock looked at Silas with surprise. "Weren't you supposed to be over at the Pokémon Research Academy? Why are you back all of a sudden?"
"I only have classes in the morning or afternoon. The rest of the time is pretty free," Silas replied casually.
"I just made a trip to Mt. Moon. The gains were quite good this time," he added, unable to hide the joy in his tone.
"Oh?" Brock raised an eyebrow slightly.
Silas pulled out three Poké Balls from his belt and pointed to two of them. "These two are Nidoking and Nidoqueen. Their strength is at the Advance level. Since they were forced to evolve early with Moon Stones, their potential is probably capped. Help me take care of them, will you?"
"Then this one's a Rhydon. As for its potential, let's assess that later. If there's no issue, I'll keep it here at the gym as part of my second rotation team."
Naturally, he couldn't say that he already knew the potential of these three.
Brock nodded slightly. "Alright. These three can still be useful. But something like this... you only need to tell the support staff. No need to come to me personally."
Of course, he understood what Silas meant by "take care of" and "keep here," but things like that didn't require the attention of the acting Gym Leader.
"Of course not." Silas shot Brock a look of disdain. "Do you think I'd come all the way to you over such a small gain?"
He pulled two Moon Stones out of his backpack. "This is the real prize from the trip."
"Moon Stones, huh? But only two?" Brock's tone was full of contempt for Silas' luck.
Even so, his hands didn't slow down as he quickly took the two Moon Stones from Silas.
Even for a major hub like Pewter Gym, which sat right next to Mt. Moon, Moon Stones weren't exactly easy to come by.
After all, being products associated with meteorite impact sites, they were still quite rare. Up in the atmosphere, small meteors often couldn't escape Rayquaza's attacks—many were blasted to pieces before ever reaching the ground.
"So what are you planning to do with these two Moon Stones?" Brock asked, glancing at Silas.
.....
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