"Good morning, Professor Oak! How's my gemstone collection coming along?"
"Hey, I thought you came over early in the morning to show some concern for me. Turns out you're just after the gems. I'm heartbroken~"
"Alright, alright, I know you're sad. So, how many did you collect?" Ash didn't care about Professor Oak's crocodile tears at all.
Early in the morning, unless he had something to discuss with you, was he really bored enough to call just to ask if Professor Oak had breakfast?
"Tsk, you kid... Here, take a look." Professor Oak clicked his tongue and stepped away from the video call. After a short while, he returned, holding a rather large box in his hand.
When Professor Oak opened the box, the colorful MEGA Evolution Stones inside almost blinded Ash!
Inside the box were five large gems, identical in appearance to the ones Ash had previously passed to Professor Oak, except for the patterns in the center.
These gems were indeed MEGA Evolution Stones, and ones they didn't have before. Ash wondered how many of these Evolution Stones he could actually use.
Ash quietly memorized the patterns on the stones, then beamed and said to Professor Oak, "You're incredible, Professor Oak! Collecting so many ME... cough, so many gems in such a short time? I have to say I'm truly impressed!"
Professor Oak rolled his eyes, not taking Ash's praise to heart. He casually set aside the MEGA Evolution Stones and, somewhat curious, asked, "What are you planning to do with these stones? I checked them out. They do contain a unique power, but ordinary means can't activate it."
"Even if you could activate it, the power inside isn't particularly strong. It can't be used as a significant enhancement, even if you go to great lengths to extract it, it's not very useful."
Out of a researcher's curiosity, Professor Oak did investigate these stones Ash asked him to collect, yet discovered nothing. Though imbued with some power, they are essentially unusable.
Even if extracted, this power seems quite selective. Without a specific Pokémon, you can't use the power at all. And even with the right Pokémon, you wouldn't gain much.
Therefore, Professor Oak was very perplexed by Ash's interest in these trinkets. Was it just for aesthetics?
"Oh, don't worry about it. I have big plans for these. Just wait until the Quartz Conference—I'll give you a real surprise!"
"Oh ho~ Now I'm a bit intrigued. It's not easy to surprise me, you know."
"Rest assured... Speaking of which, Professor Oak, where did you manage to find so many M... I'll keep it to gems; they aren't easy to come by, right?"
Ash's repeated near-slip didn't arouse Professor Oak's suspicion, or perhaps he simply didn't care. As a seasoned scholar and the Kanto Champion of his time, he's seen it all.
Though Ash was somewhat secretive, it's nothing beyond the professor's expectations. If Ash indeed had something that could truly shock him, that would only delight him.
So, Professor Oak didn't mind Ash's secrecy and answered straightforwardly, "Where did they come from? Naturally, I got them from Steven. I even made a special trip to the Hoenn Region for you. Steven has quite the collection of stones. Of the stones you wanted, he had a lot—about ten or so, and I took almost half."
Professor Oak said nonchalantly.
When it comes to the biggest collector of gem-like items in the league, everyone's first thought is Hoenn Champion Steven, and Professor Oak is no exception.
Rather than search slowly, it's better to go directly to Steven. Though his relationship with Steven isn't particularly deep, they're on the same level. Asking for a few things wouldn't be denied—unless they were too valuable.
Moreover, favors are inherently reciprocal. Since Steven helped Professor Oak this time, there will be opportunities for Oak to return the favor in the future.
However, these items Professor Oak took were of little concern to Steven. To him, those gems are primarily collectible, with almost no practical use.
Thus, this favor wasn't significant, a sentiment shared on both sides...
Listening to this, bystanders like Ash couldn't help twitching at the corners of their mouths after hearing Oak took half of Steven's MEGA Evolution Stones.
My goodness, half of the MEGA Evolution Stones? You practically cleaned out Steven's home!
And Steven probably even smiled as he handed over those stones. If he finds out their true purpose in the future, he'd regret it immensely.
Especially if those stones included ones he could use, he'd probably want to ask Dialga to travel back in time and smack his past self on the head.
"Ahem, I'll stay on Cinnabar Island for a few days before heading back. After challenging the Viridian Gym, I'll come pick up the stones... By the way, Professor Oak, aside from those stones, did you manage to collect any other type of gem?"
The gem Ash mentioned was another key item required for MEGA Evolution—the Key Stone!
Compared to Key Stones, Evolution Stones are practically abundant. In other parallel worlds, many people have MEGA Evolution Stones but lack Key Stones, preventing MEGA Evolution.
Although MEGA Evolution Stones have species limitations, their numbers far exceed Key Stones. In those parallel worlds, the total number of people with Key Stones probably doesn't surpass a hundred.
Worldwide, there may not be tens of billions of Trainers, but certainly a billion. Among so many Trainers, fewer than a hundred possess Key Stones—a ratio of one in ten million.
So Ash didn't hold high hopes for Professor Oak securing Key Stones. Yet Professor Oak silently stepped away and returned shortly, holding two colorful stones.
Upon seeing the Key Stones in Professor Oak's hand, Ash's pupils contracted, and his hands trembled slightly.
Good grief, you're truly remarkable, Professor Oak; you even got two Key Stones. Is there anything you can't do?
"Here, these are the other gems you wanted. But Steven had relatively few of them, only about five. I took two. Not only are they visually appealing, but they also contain stronger power than the other gems."
"Within these two gems, there's intense life force. Steven said he once extracted the life force using special means, but it regenerated quickly afterwards. Quite miraculous, a tool that can continuously provide life force. If its extraction method and efficiency were better, it would be priceless."
Professor Oak shook his head with a sigh, seeming regretful he couldn't freely extract the life force within the gems.
Extracting the life force from these gems requires very specific methods, and even then, only about a tenth of the extracted life force remains. Thus, despite being able to regenerate the life force continuously, their practical value is limited.
That's also why Steven was willing to give Oak two such gems; despite their high rarity, their usefulness was marginal compared to the favor owed.
Listening to Professor Oak and Steven's peculiar analysis of the Key Stones, Ash couldn't hide the odd expression on his face.
So, in your eyes, the Key Stone is simply a gem with re-extractable life force? Aren't you curious why it regenerates after life force extraction? Aren't you curious what kind of item can perfectly harness the life force inside?
Perhaps they do ponder these questions, but Steven has probably held onto these stones for ages without any advancements, eventually giving up.
And that's why Ash was able to seize this opportunity through Professor Oak.
'Sorry, Mr. Steven, please don't hold a grudge against me in the future…'