Chapter Nineteen: The Dragon's Tablet
In the game where he appears, Wang Luo, as a member of the Ginkgo Trading Company, sells the protagonist some supplies at certain fixed locations. However, from what he inadvertently revealed, it seems he often slacks off at the company to investigate various ruins.
Wang Luo both shirks work and constantly complains, leaving the company boss quite troubled.
Nonetheless, in the game, he guides the protagonist to obtain various "slates," through which he tries to realize his ambitions. Of course, this ultimately ends with the protagonist easily breaking his defenses.
Guang Tai recognized the attribute of that slate. The deep red slate—it was a Dragon Slate!
“Do you recognize this slate?” Wang Luo wondered, watching Guang Tai's expression carefully.
He had a nagging feeling that he had met Guang Tai somewhere before, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t recall where. And as time passed, this feeling only grew stronger.
In the past, only the right individuals could obtain the “slates.” But in the present era, these slates were often taken by strange individuals and passed around in their hands. Moreover, the number of slates was no longer the same as before.
It was said that similar slates appeared in every region, and in the underground caves of the Sinnoh region, the same kind of slates were occasionally excavated.
Compared to Wang Luo’s thoughts, Guang Tai considered something else.
In the game, the Dragon Slate was placed in Veilstone City in the Sinnoh region, right behind the large statue of Dialga and Palkia in the outskirts—a truly “picked up just by wandering by” kind of item!
The original owner naturally wouldn’t know this, so they never looked under that statue. Guang Tai didn’t know if the Veilstone City in this world actually had a Dragon Slate, but he never expected to see another one here...
Wait a moment—rather than being a slate from Sinnoh, this should be a slate from Johto.
In the Johto region, there were no scattered slates; they had to be obtained from the captain of the SS Aqua. When the captain talked about the slates in the game, he said they were “strange things obtained from the Sinnoh region,” which were then given to the Johto protagonist.
So if the slates originally scattered were from Sinnoh, not Johto...
And considering that these items were incredibly difficult to collect, they certainly held great appeal for a craftsman.
"Mythical Artifact: Dragon Slate (Not Obtained)"
"Description: A slate with the Dragon attribute; when carried, it enhances the power of Dragon-type moves."
"Grants unique crafting skills and clues for crafting mysterious artifacts."
The flood of thoughts in his mind caused Guang Tai to pause briefly before resolving himself—
“Hmm, twenty thousand, could you give me a discount?”
Guang Tai suddenly responded to Wang Luo, pulling him out of his contemplation. Hearing the request for a further discount, Wang Luo scratched his face, showing an embarrassed expression:
“...Huh? This is a special item, you know. No matter what, an item that can enhance the power of moves corresponding to a Pokémon’s attribute usually sells at this price.”
Guang Tai naturally shrugged, “If you give a bigger discount, next time I can give you some items, how about that? Guaranteed to be very effective, so you can sell them at a higher price!”
“I’m a craftsman, so a little discount should be fine, right?”
Hmm... Wang Luo began to ponder, weighing the options. But he didn’t think too long before agreeing to Guang Tai’s request:
“You’re right. As a merchant, I do have a close relationship with craftsmen. Fine, I’ll give you a 20% discount. Making friends with one more craftsman means one more sales outlet for my materials. But if you have something good, please prioritize me.”
“Then I’ll give you an 80% price!”
Guang Tai successfully obtained the Dragon Slate, and Wang Luo started pulling out other goods from his bag.
Sharp Claws, Bug-Off Grass, Citron Fruit, even Silent Spray, some topical medicines, and materials from Pokémon...
Evolution stones—the Ice Stone and Leaf Stone.
Guang Tai’s eyes immediately narrowed; he realized why the Leaf Stone was marked in the Sinnoh ruins.
Also, there was a blue-white beach radish...
“Hmm, that radish is really good. It grows well in tundra,” the mountain elder suddenly spoke, pointing at the blue-white radish. “He said it originally grew as a root vegetable on beaches. After improvement, it can be cultivated in tundra, with a sweet and spicy flavor. Quite remarkable.”
“He was trying to sell it to me, so I bought some and am currently planting them.”
The beach radish, though visually similar to the Ice Radish, was actually a different crop altogether.
“Ah, this is an important supply that can survive in northern Sinnoh. It’s a specialty crop of Sinnoh. Sinnoh doesn’t have this crop because it was only improved about a hundred years ago.”
“But since few people live in cold areas, and most regions seem quite warm, it’s hard to promote this radish. I’m happy it can be sold in Sinnoh.”
Wang Luo raised a finger, looking very pleased. When discussing merchandise, his joy seemed genuine.
Guang Tai also thought this radish could be a very useful food. He remembered it could be used to make Double Pickles, which, when eaten, boost a Pokémon’s damage dealt by 1.5 times for five turns!
Equivalent to raising both physical and special attack by one level.
Sure enough, noticing Guang Tai staring at the beach radish, Wang Luo immediately began to promote it:
“You’re very interested in this radish! I’ll tell you a secret—most Sinnoh people don’t know this radish can be made into a special food. Just add Hard Stone, Roll Bean, and Royal Leaf, then pickle them to create a special food called 'Double Pickle.' Feeding it to Pokémon makes them very powerful!”
“I have some of those ingredients here too. The beach radish costs 1,000 Pokédollars per root, and if you want seeds, I can give you a 10% discount!”
“Also, you need two sets of Double Pickles to make one portion.”
1,000 Pokédollars... Guang Tai remembered the Ginkgo Trading Company used to sell radishes for about 800 each.
Everything else was also more expensive!
Times had changed, and prices had gone up.
“Silent Spray, medicines...” Guang Tai selected some items needed for outdoor work. But for Sharp Claws and the two evolution stones, Wang Luo’s prices were outrageously high.
Ice Stone at 12,000, Leaf Stone at 10,000, and Sharp Claws at 20,000.
After careful consideration, Guang Tai decided to only buy the two evolution stones.
“Thanks for your patronage!” Wang Luo happily sold the goods, his expression growing brighter and his smile beaming.
At this moment, Guang Tai put the purchased items into his backpack one by one.
The materials and artifacts he had acquired flooded his mind with information, causing a slight headache.
It was like a state of intense mental focus.
[Rare Material: Hard Stone]
[Effect: A translucent mineral resembling rock salt. Loved by Grass and Rock-type Pokémon, it attracts them to the area.]
[Knowledge Gained: 1]
[Mining Search: Easier to locate minerals already obtained.]
...
[Rare Material: Royal Leaf]
[Effect: A shining king of herbs that increases medicine effectiveness when added.]
[Knowledge Gained: 1]
[Medicine Amplification: Increases medicine healing by 5%.]
Adding to that, Guang Tai had purchased some strange Pokémon materials: “Fur of the Bidoof, feathers of the Rowlet, mane of the Litten, fruits of the Snover, hair of the Drifloon, scales of the Gible.”
The Lone Sword Sheath waved its blue ribbon, continuously stuffing these goods into Guang Tai’s large backpack.
The following information mostly concerned artifacts and rare materials. Among the artifacts, Silent Spray and topical medicine were bought from Wang Luo. Although unique items, they had no special events or clues—only the same effects as in the game.
“Just earned money and already spent it,” Guang Tai sighed helplessly.
[Rare Crop: Beach Radish]
[Description: A specially improved radish that thrives in icy and snowy environments. A plant adapted to harsh conditions.]
[Crafting Knowledge Gained: 1]
...
[Frozen Soil Cultivation Technique (C+): Plants grown are more cold-resistant.]
...
[Rare Material: Leaf Stone]
[Description: A mystical stone that can evolve certain Pokémon, patterned like a leaf.]
[Crafting Knowledge Gained: 1]
[Moss Cultivation Technique (D+): Has a chance to grow “Light Moss” in quality moss, which over time turns to “Moss Rock,” slightly boosting the energy of Grass-type Pokémon.]
...
[Rare Material: Ice Stone]
[Description: A mystical stone that can evolve certain Pokémon, patterned like a snowflake.]
[Crafting Knowledge Gained: 1]
[Unique Ice Carving Technique (C): A basic yet unique ice carving skill that slightly boosts Ice-type Pokémon’s energy. If an Ice-type Pokémon participates in carving, it can produce an artificial “Frozen Rock.”]
...
“Mythical Artifact: Dragon Slate”
“Description: A Dragon-type slate that enhances the power of Dragon-type moves when carried.”
“Professional Knowledge Gained: 1”
“Dragon Tamer: Increases affinity with Dragon-type Pokémon.”
“Unique Crafting Skill Gained: 1”
“Mysterious Artifact Crafting Clue Gained: 1”
Guang Tai was momentarily stunned.
Professional knowledge?
Dragon Tamer was indeed a common profession in the Pokémon world, present in every region, though their places of apprenticeship varied.
The latter was an important clue for crafting artifacts?
When receiving knowledge prompts, similar explanations appeared... obtaining rare and precious materials granted corresponding crafting techniques and unlocked unique crafting routes, sometimes revealing clues for crafting unique/valuable/mysterious artifacts.
Moreover, slates were considered artifacts rather than materials because they could no longer be further processed.
Thinking this, Guang Tai continued reading the subsequent information.
[Ancient Carving Technique (B)]
[Description: We... create Pokémon sculptures... for the outside world.]
[Crafting this technique yields the item “Ancient Statue.”]
[Effect: Artifacts carved with ancient techniques possess the special property “Antique.” Different ancient techniques allow crafting “Ancient Statue,” “Ancient Jar,” “Ancient Crown,” and “Ancient Bracelet.”]
[Requirements: Ruins Stone, Ancient Rock, Ancient Crystal. During crafting, at least some fragments of ruins stone must be embedded.]
...
[Mysterious Crafting Clue: [Transparent Bell]—Useful locations: Lumiose City, Mt. Couriway.]
[Required Materials: Rainbow Feather, Suicune’s Crystal/Rainbow Rock/Ancient Crystal.]