Pokemon: With Title System

Chapter 26: A Trade with Clefairy

Following the Clefable, Asahi and Mew emerged into an open-air cavern.

By then, night had fallen.

"Wow, dealing with Team Rocket took this long."

Under the starry sky and a full moon, Asahi let out a breath.

Lowering his gaze, he noticed a massive Moon Stone placed at the center of the cavern. Bathed in moonlight, it radiated a soft, white glow.

"So that's the giant Moon Stone?"

Even though he'd heard rumors about it, seeing it in person still left Asahi amazed.

Due to high demand and low supply, evolution stones were always expensive. Among them, the Moon Stone was particularly rare, with a single standard-sized piece selling for around 200,000 Pokédollars.

The massive Moon Stone before him could easily be cut into over a thousand smaller stones.

That was at least two billion Pokédollars' worth.

"Phew…"

He shook his head, banishing any tempting thoughts. Even someone as morally upright as him wasn't immune to the allure of such wealth.

Turning his attention to the Clefairy, Asahi watched as they, led by the Clefable, joined hands and danced around the Moon Stone in a mysterious ritual.

Under the moonlight, some Clefairy began to glow with evolution energy.

As the light faded, they transformed into Clefable, prompting the group to gather in celebration.

"Mew!"

Mew, ever the social butterfly, enthusiastically joined the Clefairy in their dance and even invited Asahi to join.

Asahi shook his head. Dancing wasn't exactly his strong suit.

Dratini and Bagon, however, seemed interested.

Noticing their eager expressions, Asahi waved them off, allowing the two Pokémon to join the Clefairy.

Meanwhile, Asahi approached one of the Clefable, holding up an energy cube as he asked, "Want to try it?"

The Clefable sniffed the cube, its eyes lighting up before snatching it and popping it into its mouth.

"Clefable!"

Its face lit up with joy—it had never tasted something so delicious.

Of course, one cube wasn't enough. As soon as it finished, the Clefable eagerly looked at Asahi for more.

This time, Asahi held the cube just out of reach and said, "I'll give you more if you have any rare stones you're willing to trade!"

Indeed, Asahi had turned his attention to the Clefairy and Clefable.

Brock had marked several locations on the map, but if Asahi were to visit each one, it would take days, and he'd have to play miner and dig everything up himself.

Rather than wasting time and effort, why not just ask the "locals" of Mt. Moon?

"Clefable...?"

The Clefable stared intently at the energy cube in Asahi's hand, scratching its head as it pondered the offer. After a moment, it called over a few companions, and they whispered among themselves.

Finally, they sent one Clefable forward as a representative to communicate.

Asahi interpreted its gestures:

"You're saying you have the stones I'm looking for, but you want 100 of these energy cubes for one stone?"

"Clefable!"

The Clefable nodded, though it looked a bit sheepish.

Clearly, even it felt like trading useless rocks for delicious food was a bit unfair.

"Fine… 100 cubes it is."

Asahi hesitated for a moment, not because he thought it was a bad deal, but because he felt a bit guilty—like he was tricking children with candy.

After all…

These energy cubes were made from regular berries, which he'd sourced directly from the Alliance's storage, costing him practically nothing. The only thing remotely valuable was the recipe.

Without hesitation, Asahi handed over a box of energy cubes as a deposit.

The Clefable, being straightforward and not harboring any ill intentions, quickly called out to its companions.

To Asahi's amazement, the Clefable and Clefairy brought out a large pile of rocks from who knows where and laid them before him.

Among their collection were not only oddly-shaped rocks but also quite a few evolution stones.

Asahi couldn't help but imagine these Clefairy spending years combing Mt. Moon to gather such a collection of unique minerals.

He ignored the evolution stones—they weren't what Steven Stone would appreciate.

If Asahi himself needed them, he could easily request them from the Alliance through Lance.

After carefully inspecting the oddly-shaped rocks, Asahi ultimately selected two items:

A strangely-shaped meteorite of unknown composition.

A fossil that appeared to come from an ancient Pokémon.

Then, after some thought, he negotiated with the Clefairy to purchase more evolution stones at a rate of 100 energy cubes per stone. He acquired:

Two Fire Stones.

One Leaf Stone.

One Shiny Stone.

Even though he could request these from the Alliance, evolution stones were always useful, and you could never have too many.

Besides, the Clefairy had no use for these stones. It was better to let them serve a greater purpose.

The Clefairy were overjoyed at receiving so many energy cubes, planning to use them as emergency food reserves.

However, the leading Clefable seemed a bit embarrassed, feeling like they had taken advantage of Asahi. After some discussion, it presented him with a Moon Stone as a gift.

Holding the Moon Stone that had been forcibly given to him, Asahi couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed himself.

"What wonderful Pokémon!"

Even among wild Pokémon, ones with such kind and generous natures as Clefairy were rare. Perhaps this was why so many trainers loved them.

---

The Clefairy celebration lasted all night.

As the sun rose, Asahi crawled out of his sleeping bag. Seeing the Clefairy still snuggled together, sleeping soundly, he decided not to disturb them.

After bidding farewell to the Clefable guarding the area, Asahi packed up his belongings and left the Clefairy's secret gathering spot.

"Mew~"

Mew landed on Asahi's shoulder, greeting him cheerfully.

Despite playing all night, Mew showed no signs of exhaustion—a testament to its mythical Pokémon status.

"I'm heading to Cerulean City. Are you planning to stick with me?" Asahi asked.

"Mew…"

Mew hesitated for a moment before shaking its head.

It decided to continue its journey to find its companion, which it could sense was lost and needed its help.

***

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