Most of Rayquaza's scales were green. But what puzzled Nathan was—why did these scales carry faint traces of gray?
Could it be… because they had been lying inside these ruins for too long, losing their original luster?
"These scales aren't true Rayquaza scales."
Just as Nathan was still mulling it over, Xerneas opened its mouth and said those words.
Hearing that, Nathan lowered his head to carefully examine the scale in his hand, then lifted his gaze again to look at Xerneas.
Back and forth several times, he finally felt like spitting blood in frustration.
So, after all that effort, after tossing and toiling for so long, what he had managed to dig out turned out to be… something like this?
But then again, among Pokémon, aside from Rayquaza, who else could possibly shed such enormous green scales?
It didn't seem like there was any other candidate.
"I wasn't lying to you. This really is a Rayquaza scale."
At that moment, Yaya immediately stepped forward, retorting as soon as she heard what Xerneas said.
With her childish nature, she could clearly tell that Xerneas's words just now were essentially accusing her of lying.
Nathan suddenly felt even more conflicted—so who was actually telling the truth here?
Could it be that Xerneas coveted these scales for itself, and that's why it was denying them?
But that possibility seemed far too small.
"You're not wrong, but neither am I. These are indeed Rayquaza scales… but only its shed scales."
Xerneas's calm voice cut in once again.
This time, Nathan was completely dumbfounded. Shed scales?
A world-class Pokémon like Rayquaza… and it actually sheds its scales like a snake? Was Xerneas seriously not joking with him right now?
Knocking his knuckles lightly against the scale, Nathan heard a sound as crisp and solid as striking steel.
It was obvious—even if this was only Rayquaza's shed scale, its hardness and durability still far surpassed that of any ordinary metal.
"Xerneas, why didn't you say so earlier?"
Nathan sighed helplessly.
Now, as he looked at these scales, they felt like nothing more than chicken ribs—tasteless if eaten, yet a pity to throw away.
If he were a soldier, perhaps he could've used them to forge a shield or even an invulnerable tank.
But he was a Pokémon Trainer. What use did he have for scales that were only extremely hard?
Was he supposed to have his Pokémon each carry one into battle as a shield?
That was obviously impossible.
"It's not like I was holding back. Just earlier, I hadn't seen the scale clearly enough to tell."
Xerneas gave a wry response.
From just a two-centimeter-wide pit, what could it have judged?
Even if it had been another Pokémon, it would've been the same—no one could have discerned it.
"Seems I truly have no fate with this kind of treasure, huh…"
Nathan muttered with disappointment.
At first, he had imagined that he might acquire genuine Rayquaza scales in such quantity.
But who could've expected that after spending ten million Pokécoins, exhausting so much time and energy, what he ended up with were merely Rayquaza's shed scales?
There might only be one word of difference between "scales" and "shed scales"…
But the gap between them was vast—like heaven and earth.
Think about Ho-Oh. Its body wasn't that massive, yet the feathers covering it numbered in the tens of thousands at least.
So why were genuine Ho-Oh feathers so rarely seen in the world?
That was because among the many feathers Ho-Oh lost, most carried no trace of its aura, no power belonging to Ho-Oh itself.
Those feathers could only be softer and prettier than ordinary ones at best.
But aside from aesthetics, they had no real use for Pokémon.
A true Ho-Oh feather, however, was something else entirely.
It contained Ho-Oh's will and aura. Take Entei as an example—just by receiving a single genuine Ho-Oh feather from Nathan, it had been able to resolve a hidden danger in its body.
That was the difference. Rayquaza's scales were the same way.
Nathan had simply never thought that Rayquaza too would shed its scales.
"These may be mere shed scales, but they're still quite good. Even for me, destroying one would be extremely difficult—perhaps outright impossible."
Xerneas shook its head and admitted.
In its eyes, while these scales only offered extraordinary hardness and toughness, they were still valuable.
If fashioned into armor, they could increase defense by at least fifty percent.
And not ordinary defense, either—but Rayquaza-level defense.
As a Pokémon that lived in the ozone layer, Rayquaza's scales needed no explanation. Their durability was unmatched—some of the toughest in the entire world.
The only drawback was their sheer size. Each scale was nearly half a meter long, twenty to thirty centimeters wide, and almost two centimeters thick.
…
But Nathan couldn't make use of them. Not just him—even with human technology, forging these scales into equipment would be next to impossible.
"It doesn't matter. Keep going. Let's take all the scales out first. Maybe I can help you make a set of armor later."
Nathan instructed Mewtwo.
Even if they were only shed scales, since he had already paid such a heavy price, there was no way he would leave the rest behind.
They might not be on par with the ones sold in the System Shop, but they were still precious materials.
It took nearly an hour of effort, but in the end, Mewtwo had successfully extracted every scale embedded in the ground.
For Nathan, this trip could still be considered somewhat fruitful.
Counting them carefully—including the very first one—there were a total of seventy-six scales.
Though they weren't all identical in size, even the smallest among them was over thirty centimeters long and more than ten centimeters wide.
Looking at the pile before him, Nathan couldn't help but feel a pang of regret.
If these had all been genuine scales like those sold in the System Shop, he truly would have struck it rich.
Unfortunately, things hadn't gone his way.
"System, can you help me forge these into a suit of armor for Mewtwo?"
Nathan asked within his mind.
If they were to be made into armor, he had to rely on the System.
[Service fee: 20 million Pokécoins.]
The System had never once done anything for free. This time was no exception.
The labor cost alone was already twenty million.
Yet strangely enough, this time Nathan didn't feel it was expensive.
After all, these were Rayquaza's shed scales. Other than the System, who else could possibly forge them into armor?
"Fine, twenty million it is. How long will it take you to make it?"
Nathan agreed right away.
[One second.]
At that instant, Nathan suddenly felt cheated. Paying twenty million for a mere second's worth of work?
Although the System promised it could be done in an instant, he still chose not to have the armor forged immediately.
With both Yaya and Xerneas here, if the armor appeared out of nowhere, his secret would inevitably be exposed.
So instead, he put the scales away for now, intending to deal with it later.
With nothing else left in these ruins besides Rayquaza's shed scales—as Yaya had already explained—it was time to leave anyway.
He had been here long enough.
"Yaya, once I leave, many people might come here again. When that happens, you'll become the little guide of this place."
While waiting for the ruin's exit to appear, Nathan said to Yaya with a smile.
But Yaya, who had spent hundreds of years here, blinked in confusion. She had no idea what a "guide" was.
"What's a guide? Is it something delicious?"
She asked with a puzzled expression.
Only then did Nathan remember—the word "guide" was something that had only been invented in recent decades.
How could Yaya, who had been sealed away for centuries, possibly know what it meant?
So, he patiently explained the meaning of a tour guide to her.
Chatting idly, more than half an hour quickly passed. Eventually, the exit of the ruins reappeared.
Nathan waved to Yaya, bidding her farewell, before stepping out of the mystic realm.
Before leaving, he had left all the food he carried with him for Yaya.
When he returned to the village, he found the village chief and Manager Kerry both looking troubled. They were debating whether to send people in to search for him.
Nathan had been gone for so long already—they feared something unfortunate might have happened inside the ruins.
But the moment they saw him return safely, both their faces lit up with relief.
Noticing that Nathan bore no wounds or signs of injury, their joy grew even greater.
"How was it? Did you find any Pokémon inside the ruins?"
The old village chief hurried forward to ask as soon as Nathan appeared.
The state of the ruins was tied directly to the future development of Dream Valley.
As the village chief, of course he cared deeply about the answer.
(End of Chapter)