Something strange?
Naoki stood up, followed the Diglett into the Salt House, and went down the underground staircase until he reached the Underground Cave where the Naclstack lived.
"Drip! Drip!"
At this time, the Naclstack were all playing on the ground, leaving the cave empty and particularly silent, so silent that the sound of dripping water could be heard clearly.
Naoki crossed the cave and, led by the Dugtrio, came to a rock wall.
He suddenly noticed that a section of the rock wall had a color that was so out of place with its surroundings.
"Squeak squeak squeak!" The Dugtrio shook its body, indicating that the strange stone it had found was right there.
Naoki took a closer look and saw marks on the stone as if something had been gnawing at it. To get a better view, he asked the Dugtrio to help dig out this stone.
The Dugtrio squeaked its agreement.
Then, Naoki watched as it used Dig to burrow into the soil, creating a small mound on the ground.
Then, the Dugtrio underground began to move, tunneling into the rock wall.
Soon, with a rumbling sound, the soil around the stone was dug out by the Dugtrio.
Without support, the stone clattered to the ground.
"Huh?"
Naoki squatted down to observe closely, and suddenly, he felt the stone looked very familiar.
The color and texture were somewhat like the Everstone that Teddiursa picked up and gave to him...
Not sure, better take another look.
Naoki returned to the living room, took out an Everstone from inside, and compared it with the big stone.
Quickly, he reached a conclusion.
The big stone in front of him was clearly an unpolished raw Everstone vein!
Looking at the gnawing marks on the large Everstone, an unbelievable thought suddenly popped into Naoki's mind.
Could it be that his Naclstack had gnawed on this thing?!
Naoki quickly found the Naclstack and brought them back underground, pointing to the stone and asking, "Have you eaten this thing?"
The Naclstack gathered around the Everstone and looked at it, then happily nodded, "Stack～"
Indeed! They had gnawed on it when they were bored, but the stone was not tasty at all; they only took one bite and never ate it again!
At that time, one Naclstack discovered this stone.
It knocked off a small piece with its head, then started eating it, only to find the taste terrible.
The other Naclstack saw this scene and crowded around to watch, asking if it was tasty.
The first Naclstack mischievously lied to them, saying it was tasty.
Then the second stone-gnawing Naclstack appeared.
Soon after, the third, fourth, and fifth Naclstack all got tricked into taking a bite.
Finally, upon discovering the truth, the Naclstack "angrily" chased and played around in the cave, and when they got tired, they huddled together for a nap, without anyone paying attention to the stone they just ate.
When Calyrex translated the truth for Naoki, he couldn't help but facepalm.
Well, now he knew why the Naclstack hadn't evolved into Garganacl!
"You guys! So, who was the first to discover this stone?" Naoki asked, feigning anger with a stern face.
The Naclstack, seeing Naoki angry, suddenly became flustered, all looking a bit at a loss, their heads drooping like a row of children who knew they had done wrong.
The Naclstack who had tricked its companions into eating the bad-tasting stone weakly spoke up: "Stack..." admitting it was its fault.
"You little rascal!" Naoki poked its forehead with his finger.
The Naclstack's eyes darted around, unsure where to look.
Naoki sighed helplessly, "Alright, I'm not angry, it's no big deal."
The Naclstack were stunned for a moment, then immediately became happy.
However, Naoki's next words once again threw them into a panic.
"If you eat this stone, you won't be able to evolve into Garganacl."
"Stack?!" The Naclstack asked in shock.
Naoki turned around and began to explain the stone to them:
"This is an Everstone, it has the effect of preventing Pokemon from evolving. As long as a Pokemon carries it, it can no longer evolve further."
Generally, when an Everstone vein like this is found in the wild, it is mined by professionals and transported to factories for processing into round, small Everstones that are easy to carry.
These Everstones are sent to major towns to be sold to Pokemon and Trainers who need them.
The Naclstack were very anxious, as they were supposed to evolve into Garganacl to protect Naoki and Alcremie!
They had all made a promise to Naoki that once they evolved into Garganacl, they would let Naoki sit on them and carry him around on the grass for fun.
And now, in this situation... does this mean they can no longer evolve?
The Naclstack looked hurriedly at the stone, then at each other, and finally cast their eyes on Naoki who knew everything.
"Stack?" trembled one Naclstack, asking with a shaky voice.
Even without Calyrex translating, Naoki could understand its meaning.
It was asking: Can they still evolve?
Naoki thought carefully for a moment, knowing that Garganacl is a Rock Type Pokemon.
This kind of Pokemon has a very special physique; although they usually like eating cured meats, they occasionally eat stones and ores too.
Like most Pokemon that eat stones and ores, their bodies can perfectly digest these stones and metal ores, breaking them down into energy and nutrients to supply their bodies.