Chapter 35: The Artifact "Ancient Stone Statue"

"Do people actually buy occult fabrics? I only put them up to pad out my listings. Their occult power is quite ordinary, so they shouldn't be of much use to most psychics."

Guang Tai had initially thought these occult fabrics would sell well, but upon reflection, he realized that psychics likely had access to much better sources of materials. The quality of his fabric was merely average, and they probably didn't think much of it.

To his surprise, they had actually sold.

In that case, the shipping would have to be routed through Ecruteak City. The Charizard that came to collect the goods last time would likely be the one coming again...

The delivery locations were: Driftveil City in Unova, Ecruteak City in Johto, Pallet Town in Kanto... and wait, Mt. Pyre in Hoenn?

"Oh, how did an order from Hoenn get in here? Another customer spawning in a remote region."

"But if the address is Mt. Pyre, there's no way to receive a package there. That's a place for soothing the spirits of deceased Pokémon. Do they even have a post office?"

Without a Pokémon Center, there was no way to receive deliveries.

Guang Tai gritted his teeth. Normally, he wouldn't offer free shipping for inter-regional orders, but considering he had no other customers in Hoenn, this wild customer—whoever they were—was a golden opportunity! He couldn't give it up.

Fine, free shipping it is. Consider it a self-funded market expansion.

Just like when he offered free shipping to that Unova client!

Mt. Pyre was managed by an elderly couple, and Guang Tai recalled that they were the grandparents of Phoebe, one of the Hoenn Elite Four.

Could these charms have been bought by Phoebe?

Or perhaps by some other psychic.

There were many psychics and ESP users training on Mt. Pyre, after all.

Guang Tai quickly processed the orders and waited quietly for the Charizard to arrive. He chose express shipping for the Hoenn order to make a good impression on his new client.

If it were express, it probably wouldn't be a Charizard making the delivery; perhaps a Dragonite would pick it up, fly it to Olivine City, and then send it via sea freight to Hoenn.

Compared to the Unova region, Hoenn was much closer to Johto.

To the northwest of the Johto region lay ruins left behind by ancient Hoennese settlers. They had built the Embedded Tower to worship Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza.

The delivery point for the package certainly couldn't be Mt. Pyre; it would have to be the nearby Lilycove City or Fallarbor Town.

Guang Tai added a note, sent an email to the customer, and then stepped away from his computer to begin his day's work.

He spent the entire day crafting.

The stones he had collected while clearing the land finally came in handy. By using ancient carving techniques, he could create artifacts to sell. These brand-new "antique-style crafts" were, in terms of appearance and composition, indistinguishable from genuine artifacts. If Guang Tai didn't label them as replicas, he doubted many would be able to tell the difference.

Of course, to be considered an "artifact," they had to be inlaid with ruin shards. Fortunately, he still had half a piece left. He had his Doublade cut it in half, kept one side, and broke the other into smaller fragments.

Actually, he could also use "Ancient Rocks" to create these sculptures, but Guang Tai had no leads on where to find that material yet.

During this time, Doublade was also constantly refining its stone-cutting technique. Having mastered the move Brick Break, it could finally strike these cursed stones with real force.

Who needs Rock Smash? Who needs that!

Unexpectedly, because it had split into two swords, its efficiency increased—not just because there were two of them, but because its two consciousnesses were competing, each trying to prove that its "stone-processing technique" was the authentic one!

"(⊙╰X╯⊙)!!!"

"Yo-woo, yo-pu!!!"

"Now we have a real-life version of the two Doublades," Guang Tai muttered, spreading his hands in resignation.

In the soft soil, the berries had been planted. Just as the flower shop girl in Hoenn said in the games, growing berries was simple: you only needed to bury the seeds or even the whole fruit, and the rest took care of itself. They grew very quickly.

Not to mention the care provided by Petilil.

However, some things were starting to run low.

The Ball-and-Chain Fern, a type of fern used as a projectile material. When the spiral-shaped leaves were unfurled, they served as natural wrapping paper. Neither the village nor Volo had this material.

It was one of the components for making Sticky Globs.

While the fern could be replaced by other similar plants, the other components for Sticky Globs were Mud Balls and Spoiled Apricorns.

Mud Balls were solid clumps of dirt, which were easy to obtain, but a Spoiled Apricorn was a natural Apricorn with the pulp eaten away—and... Apricorns were not berries.

Apricorns were special fruits used to make Poké Balls. They were scattered across the Johto region, but only sparsely, and they were even harder to find in this ancient land.

In Johto, there was a large forest of Apricorn trees on the hill behind Kurt the Poké Ball smith's house.

"I only have one White Apricorn that Petilil brought me."

It was now basically confirmed that Petilil’s habitat had Apricorns. However, entering the Celestic Ruins forest would require careful preparation, and he couldn't venture too deep.

At the same time, Guang Tai pondered the clues regarding the three crystals.

The Walking Wake crystal had been brought out from the dream world for unknown reasons. As for the other two, the Brilliant Crystal was described as an entity of Terastal energy. Guang Tai knew that this was likely what the games called a "Tera Raid Den," which appeared as a cluster of massive, pillar-like crystals.

There were none here; they only existed in the Paldea region and the mountaintop pools of Kitakami.

And the Ancient Crystal... the one related to the Legendary Titans.

The Legendary Titans: Regirock, Regice, and Registeel.

Guang Tai knew of such an item; it was a card from the Pokémon Trading Card Game. It was square, ancient, and featured a semi-transparent crystal with strange etchings. Its effect was closely linked to the three titans.

Perhaps this crystal was the source of the "Clear Body" ability of the Legendary Titans.

Since it was hypothesized to be related to Clear Body, could he perhaps use this Ancient Crystal to craft a "Clear Amulet"?

"Clear Bell, Clear Amulet... there are quite a lot of items that can be crafted from crystals."

The carving work continued all day, and Guang Tai produced quite a few crafts.

Information about the crafts began to appear as they were appraised.

『Crafting task complete!』

『Craft: Small [Ancient Stone Statue]--Celestic Ruins style.』

『Description: A stone statue carved in an ancient style, shaped like a Snorlax. It features remarkably realistic carving and antique finishing, and it is said the style originates from the ancient Celestic Ruins. Because it is inlaid with ruin shards, it has become a miraculous artifact. Some collectors will pay a high price for it.』

『Craft Effect: Calmness—Can slightly soothe external forces and calm the heart.』

『Knowledge Gained: 1.』

『Ancient Sculptor: The items you carve will be imbued with an ancient aura. Carving skill +25%!』

『Different "Antique Crafts" will have different effects, changing based on the crafting style and other sculpting techniques.』

What followed were clues regarding new random materials:

...

Clues:

【Uncommon Material: Iron Chunk.】

【Location: Near the foot of the ancient Spirit Peak, near the nameless plateau in the northwest, the quartz plateau caves in the southwest, mountain paths, Celestic Ruins forest, rocky ruins, the periphery of the nameless forest, the southern forest, and the eastern hillside woods.】

【Corresponding Craft: Lure Ball/Bait Crafting.】

...

It's an Iron Chunk!

Although not rare in terms of material tier, it was exactly what he needed! If he couldn't find a source, he would have to buy it from Volo. It was a mineral beneficial to the body, essentially rock salt.

Now that he knew where to find Iron Chunks, Guang Tai nodded in satisfaction.

As for the sculpture... or rather, the shape of the figurine—the reason it was a Snorlax instead of the common Rhydon was that Guang Tai felt his crafts needed a bit of character.

The ancients used Rhydon carvings, and modern people put Rhydon statues at the entrances of Gyms. If there were Rhydons everywhere, what would make his crafts unique and attractive?

Besides, a Snorlax was... much easier to carve than a Rhydon!

Perhaps as his carving skills improved, he could try carving people and making stone figurines?

Those would definitely sell better than regular stone carvings!

"For example, if I got authorization to make stone figurines of the Champions from various regions, they would surely sell... no, I probably couldn't get that kind of authorization."

Guang Tai shook his head. To get authorization from the Champions, he would have to get to know them well, and for him, that was nowhere near happening yet.

However, if he sold stone carvings of Arceus, Volo would definitely become a major client!

"Right, I promised to provide him with crafts... I should really make a few Arceus stone carvings."

Time passed, and night fell.

The first Arceus stone carving was completed, carrying a thick ancient aura.

For some reason, Guang Tai felt that this statue had an even more profound "antique" feel to it than the previous Snorlax.

Was it because the image of Arceus was inherently inseparable from the ancient past?

『Craft: Small [Classic Ancient Stone Statue] (Premium Quality)--Celestic Ruins style.』

『Description: A "Premium Quality" sculpture. A stone statue carved in an ancient style, shaped like Arceus. Revered as the creator god of the Sinnoh region, perhaps because its very image represents myth, the "antique" level of this statue has been elevated. Some collectors will spend a fortune to acquire it.』

『Craft Effect 1: Powerful Insight (Limit once per Pokémon)—One can faintly hear the music of the ancient Celestic Ruins from the sculpture. After listening, a Pokémon will randomly learn a powerful move that can usually only be learned after evolution. The stronger the Pokémon is before evolution, the stronger the move it can learn.』

『Craft Effect 2: Radiant Birth—Pokémon born from eggs under the influence of this sculpture will have stronger individual potential, and there is a chance to hatch/encounter new life forms of different colors.』

『Strange Message: Life born from an egg will eventually exhaust itself, and then, be born again as a new life.』

"This phrase is... an ancient Johto legend about eggs."

"And... different colors?" Guang Tai muttered, a sudden flash of inspiration hitting him.

So this is an item for "Shiny Hunting"?