The presence of Sableye following Baimu felt strange to him.
Was it lured by the Pokéblock?
It couldn't possibly be that it inexplicably developed a fondness for him, right?
Anyway.
"Wait a moment, let me deal with this guy first and then talk to you," he told Sableye to wait for a bit, then threw a Pokeball at the wild Aggron.
Pa!
The Pokeball hit its target on the forehead, opening to release a red light that enveloped it, then fell to the ground, gently rocking with a flashing red light.
"Is there only one Aggron? Or are there more in other caves?"
Baimu looked at the sprawling interior of the waterfall cave, thinking it belonged to another wild Aggron, but this water-rich area was occupied by this one.
Ding!
With a soft click, the capture was complete.
He pulled out his phone and opened the possession section, where the wild Aggron appeared, and upon clicking the details, all the moves it knew came into view.
He scanned through them roughly.
"No Double-bladed Head Hammer... huh? It actually knows Dragon Dive? Is that true?"
Baimu raised an eyebrow, typically a wild Aggron shouldn't know Destructive Beam, let alone Dragon Attribute's Dragon Dive.
What has this wild Aggron's ancestor been through?
Although lacking Double-bladed Head Hammer was disappointing, Dragon Dive was also pretty good, as teaching it to Aggron might indirectly pass it on to Deino.
As expected, powerful Pokémon that thrive in the wild have extraordinary traits.
He was about to release it and explain the situation when he suddenly remembered that a Sableye was still waiting for him, and quickly turned around, "Sorry, sorry, got lost in thought."
Baimu approached Sableye, seeing that it hadn't run away, he crouched down to maintain eye level, "Is there anything you need help with, or do you want this?"
He pulled out a Pokéblock from his pocket.
Sableye's two diamond-shaped eyes sparkled significantly, raising its slightly sharp claws as if to snatch it, but after glancing at Aggron and Mawile, it shrank back its claws hesitantly.
Truly attracted by the Pokéblock...
Baimu felt a mix of relief and regret.
Even though Sableye wasn't his favorite Pokémon and didn't hit his adorable spot, knowing the reason it followed him still left him feeling a little down.
It seemed his personal charm wasn't yet great enough for wild Pokémon to fall at his feet.
"If you want it, it's yours."
He handed over the Pokéblock.
Sableye quickly took it and stuffed it into its mouth, munching it down, then looked at him with eyes gleaming once more.
"Hiss... sorry, I can only give you this much." Baimu shook his head. He brought quite a few Pokéblocks, but they were meant for soothing the wild Aggron.
He didn't have that many to spare for feeding other Pokémon.
Sableye seemed not to understand his words; seeing him not take out more Pokéblocks, it turned around and ran a few steps into the cave next to them, then turned back, beckoning him with its claw.
"Miam!"
"Hm? What do you mean? Do you want me to follow you?"
Baimu turned his head to ask Mawile and Aggron.
"Chi-do~" Mawile nodded.
He couldn't help but be curious about where Sableye wanted to take him.
Was it to lead him to search for other Pokémon, or had it set a trap to trick him for more Pokéblocks?
Driven by curiosity, he followed in Sableye's footsteps.
The deeper part of the Stone Cave was pitch black and chaotic.
The twisting tunnels left Baimu covered in dust, but fortunately, Sableye's destination wasn't too far, and after some twists and turns, they arrived —
It was its nest.
Appearance-wise, it was a narrow and simple cave that could only accommodate Sableye itself; it fiddled around inside for a while and brought out a big pile of things.
At first glance, they appeared gray and dusty, covered with a layer of grime, but wiping them clean and shining a flashlight on them revealed that they were colorful rocks, some having a crystalline appearance, albeit looking rather murky and rough.
Most were palm-sized, many even smaller than a thumb.
"Is this your stored food?"
Baimu fiddled with them, seeming to understand its intention, "You want to trade these for Pokéblocks?"
"Miam miam!"
Sableye nodded eagerly, showing its teeth capable of grinding gems to dust, rubbing its claws together, looking somewhat sly.
"I'm sorry, I don't really know their value, I can't trade."
Baimu replied helplessly.
Gems or jade, their value often depends on appearance and availability, and with his limited knowledge of these things, it was difficult to judge their worth in such a dim environment.
Uncertain of their value, how to trade?
Just give Sableye a little to brush it off? That didn't seem right... might as well give it a bit.
After all, it took the courage to follow, which was commendable.
Misunderstanding his hesitation, Sableye thought there weren't enough items to satisfy him, so it hurried back into its nest, digging for more items to present in front of Baimu.
"Oh, it's not that I don't want—huh?"
He initially intended to refuse, but suddenly paused, picking up a black cube with unnatural markings among the stones, "What's this? A metal box?"
"Miam~"
Sableye looked equally puzzled when seeing the black box, seemingly forgetting where it had gotten it from, and instinctively wanted to take a bite.
"Hey, hey, hey—don't bite, you might break it with a bite."
Baimu hastily stopped it, seeing it almost drooling with desire, he could only take out a large jar of Pokéblocks from his bag, "Let's trade for this then."
Although he wasn't sure what this thing was, he felt that if he didn't trade something, Sableye would keep pestering him. So, he treated it like getting a good deal at a street stall.
Sableye, seeing the large jar of Pokéblocks, froze in place, first incredulously glancing at Baimu, then at the Pokéblocks, "Miam?"
"Yes, it's for you."
He nodded.
"Miam! Miam!"
Sableye was overjoyed, holding the jar and dancing around, its excitement unmistakable.
Seeing this little treasure in delight, Baimu couldn't help but smile, "Alright then, goodbye."
He still needed to deal with teaching the newly captured Aggron new moves.
But when Sableye saw that he was leaving, it quickly blocked his path, holding up the crystals it had brought out earlier, "Miam! Miamla Miam!"
"No, I just want this."
Baimu initially assumed Sableye wanted to continue trading, so he waved to refuse. Only after Mawile's explanation did he realize Sableye actually wanted to give him the stones.
Because he had been so generous, and out of gratitude, Sableye wanted to make him a friend.
"Are you sure that's what it's saying?" Baimu gave Mawile a skeptical look.
"Chi-do~"
Mawile huffed and turned its head, as if to say, believe it or not.
How could he dare disbelieve? He said to Sableye, "Alright, I'll be your friend, but I really don't need these things, you can keep them to eat."
Seeing that he still refused to accept, Sableye grew anxious and burrowed back into its nest.
Baimu decided to leave.
But as soon as he took a step, Sableye dashed out of the cave, its hasty actions leaving it slightly out of breath, yet it still wore a smile, offering one of its treasured possessions to the human friend who had generously fed it.
A pitch-black rock.
"Thank you."
Unable to refuse, Baimu had no choice but to pat its head, accepting the rock of uncertain nature, and again took out a small jar of potent Pokéblocks for his Pokémon, "Consider this a return gift."
"Chi-do~"
Mawile helped him explain.
Sableye held the small jar of more aromatic Pokéblocks, its smile widening, "Miam!"