Ursaring, still somewhat skeptical, grabbed the Pokémon food from the ground and chewed it. Suddenly, its eyes lit up. It nodded and gestured toward Eichi.
"Roar, roar! (Exchange... food... I give you thing.)"
It turned and entered the tree hollow. After a moment, Ursaring emerged and opened its palm. Held within its paw was a Key Stone.
Eichi's eyes sparkled. He took the Key Stone and handed the large bag of Pokémon food to Ursaring. Furthermore, he pulled another large bag from his backpack and gave it to the Pokémon.
"Here, this is for you."
Ursaring took the food, and its fierce face immediately softened into a silly, honest expression. It turned back into the cave, and Eichi sensed it was likely going to share the meal with the other Ursaring inside.
Having obtained the Key Stone, Eichi quickly left the area and found a quiet spot. He looked at the orb in his hand; at a glance, it displayed three colors: pink, blue, and green.
So beautiful.
He now had one Key Stone. Now, he needed to continue; there were four left. He took out a box and carefully placed the orb inside. Within this box, there was already another bead, though the pattern and colors inside were completely different.
Putting the box back into his backpack, Eichi released his Bug Force again to continue the search.
Half an hour later, Eichi found the second Key Stone. However, there was a bit of trouble: this Key Stone was located within a Beedrill swarm. Eichi tried to communicate himself, but they were unwilling. Consequently, he sent out his own Beedrill to communicate.
Naturally, this "communication" involved fighting a duel with every Beedrill in the swarm. One by one, Eichi's Beedrill fought them off. Finally, after it defeated their leader, the swarm recognized its strength. They agreed to give him the Key Stone. Of course, while Eichi obtained the orb, he had to provide a significant amount of Pokémon food in return.
The second Key Stone was secured.
Three hours later, Eichi found the third Key Stone in a river. This one was held by a Quagsire. Quagsire, as a species, tend to love round objects. Therefore, Eichi traded a Poké Ball with it. Just like that, the third Key Stone was obtained.
Four hours after that, as the sun was nearly setting, Eichi found the fourth Key Stone in a cave inhabited by a pack of Houndoom. Relying on his natural affinity and the temptation of Pokémon food, Eichi successfully traded for it.
The fourth Key Stone was now in his possession.
At night, by the campfire, Eichi looked at the day's harvest. Four Key Stones were arranged neatly in the box. Next to them lay the bead similar to them. This bead was a Mega Stone, which Eichi had traded for with a Beedrill swarm leader back in Viridian Forest.
This Mega Stone was yellow on the outside, with a leaf pattern in brown and orange. Eichi didn't know which Pokémon this stone belonged to, as Professor Sycamore had not yet published his research on Mega Evolution. He knew it didn't belong to Beedrill, Scizor, or Heracross, as he had tested it privately and there was no reaction.
The next day, Eichi woke up and continued his search for the fifth Key Stone.
While Eichi and the others were searching for Key Stones, something major occurred among the third-year students far away from them.
In a forest, a middle-aged man in his thirties or forties was riding atop a Skarmory. Suddenly, his communicator rang. He picked up.
"Hello, what is it?"
A frantic voice came through the other end. "Director, things are bad! You need to bring people to help immediately! The Pokémon in Mount Silver are rioting, and the students are in danger. Get here fast!"
"What exactly happened?" the Director shouted.
"No time to explain! Director, just hurry!"
Beep, beep.
The line went dead. The Director looked at the device, realizing the urgency. He turned to the teachers behind him. "Let's go!"
He rode his Skarmory toward Mount Silver, and the other teachers followed suit.
An hour later, Director Yanagi, who was resting under a giant tree, heard his communicator.
Beep, beep.
"Who is it?" He answered the call.
A minute later, Director Yanagi hung up with a heavy expression. Miss Lin was curious about his reaction.
"Director Yanagi, what's wrong? What happened?"
Director Yanagi turned to the surrounding teachers. "A few third-year students saw a wild Togepi and tried to catch it directly. They didn't realize they had provoked the Togepi's parent—an Elite Four rank Togetic."
"That Togetic is the leader of that entire area. Now, all the Pokémon there are rioting. Their grade director went to help, but it's not enough. He's asking me and the second-year director for assistance. I knew which rascals it would be the moment I heard. They really are nothing but trouble."
Director Yanagi turned to Teacher Yamashita. "Yamashita, you stay here and keep an eye on Eichi and the others. The rest of you, come with me to help."
"Understood," the teachers replied.
Director Yanagi released his Flygon and mounted it. The other teachers also released their Pokémon. Flygon beat its wings and soared toward Mount Silver.
At this time, Eichi and the others had no idea what was happening.
Currently, in a forest a few kilometers away from Eichi, there were several small hills. The area was surrounded by grass, but it was far from quiet; it was filled with the noise of engines and vehicles.
At the foot of a small hill near the trees, a hole had been bored. The engine noise was coming from inside. Trucks constantly moved in and out, transporting cargo. Judging by the sound, they were mining carts. The carts were loaded with a brownish-silver iron ore.
Inside the cave, it was pitch black at first, but further in, bright lights illuminated a large area. The engine noise grew louder. Deep inside, over a dozen machines were continuously excavating ore and loading it into carts.
A man in a black uniform directed the work. "Hurry up! Faster! We only have two days. Don't be lazy! You there, move it!"
A man in a leather jacket approached the supervisor. "Boss, someone has entered the vicinity."
The supervisor frowned. "What's the situation?"
"I don't know. Probably just travelers."
The supervisor snapped angrily, "Then go and deal with them."