Long before trainers carved paths through Hoenn's wilderness, before the Alliance mapped its routes and named its cities, something fell from the sky.
It did not burn away. It did not shatter harmlessly. It struck the mountains and split them open.
The impact carved a wound into the earth so deep that even centuries later, the stone had not finished closing.
That wound became Meteor Falls.
From the outside, it looked like nothing more than a mountain cavern—mist spilling from its mouth, water cascading down fractured cliffs. Travelers admired the waterfalls. Young trainers challenged the outer tunnels.
They saw beauty. They did not see the layers beneath. Meteor Falls was not a single cave. It was a system.
Upper chambers flooded with mineral-rich water. Mid-level tunnels where Rock- and Dragon-types claimed territory. Hidden fault lines that shifted without warning. Vertical shafts plunging into darkness where ancient Pokémon nested undisturbed.
The deeper one went, the older the stone felt. And the older the stone, the stranger it became.
Fragments of the original meteorite were still embedded in the cavern walls. Some pulsed faintly with energy. Others had long since dissolved into the surrounding rock, altering it in subtle ways.
Evolution stones formed here more frequently than elsewhere in Hoenn. Rare Pokémon appeared without explanation and in the lowest recorded chambers—Dragons ruled.
The Alliance marked certain deep sectors as red zones. Not because they were impossible to clear—but because clearing them would cost more lives than the resources were worth.
Standing before its entrance, Alex felt none of the awe that younger trainers often felt.
This wasn't his first time here.
Alex still had the Team Rocket map of Meteor Falls. He had bought it months ago for half a million.
Now, standing before the cavern entrance again, he briefly considered how absurd that price would sound to an ordinary trainer.
Half a million wasn't little money. For most trainers, it was life saving money. But Meteor Falls wasn't a beginner's route.
It was layered—upper caverns for the careless and the lucky, deeper veins where rare Pokémon nested, and hidden chambers where resources formed over decades undisturbed. Evolution stones. High-grade minerals. Psychic-enhancing crystals. And, occasionally, creatures strong enough to kill an unprepared elite level trainer in seconds.
Information in a place like this wasn't for Rookie trainers.
Anyone strong enough to survive the profitable layers of Meteor Falls shouldn't struggle to pay half a million. If they did, they weren't strong enough to be there in the first place.
The price filtered the weak before the cave ever had to.
Alex tapped the side of his wrist lightly. The map appeared.
Half a million was nothing compared to what a Top evolve stone could yield.
His gaze moved toward the darker interior tunnels. "Eastern fracture path, Area 25" he said calmly. "We'll start there."
---
Area 5
Danger level: Green
Pokémon leader: Low Elite Solrock
Rare Pokémon: None
Rare items: None
---
Area 25
Danger level: Red
Pokémon leader: High Elite Salamence
Rare Pokémon: Bagon
Rare items: Evolution Stones
---
Area 26
Danger level: Red
Pokémon leaders: ???
Rare Pokémon: ???
Rare items: ???
---
Last time, Area 25 had been beyond him.
A High Elite Salamence was not something a cautious trainer provoked without preparation.
But that was then.
Now he had multiple late-Elite Pokémon at his side. The balance of power had shifted.
They moved through the tunnels in controlled formation. Crobat scouted ahead. Scizor guarded the front line. Banette remained in Alex's shadow. Every encounter was assessed, not rushed.
Alex inspected each wild Pokémon carefully, as not to miss any that might have high potential.
--------------
Pokémon: Golem
LV: 45
Type: Rock / Ground
Abilities: Sturdy
Gender: Male
Potential: Silver (87%)
Move:
- Defense Curl [E], Tackle, Sand Attack, Bide, Rock Throw, Stealth Rock, Take Down [E], Self-Destruct, Rock Slide [E], Double-Edge
- (Innate Talent) Substitute [E]
---------------
Alex's eyes narrowed slightly.
He looked at Scizor.
"Stop it. No need to attack if it's intelligent enough to cooperate."
The Golem had already begun retreating the moment it sensed their presence.
Scizor blurred forward, cutting off its escape with precise positioning rather than aggression. After a brief standoff—and some restrained intimidation—the Golem stopped fleeing.
Alex tapped his wrist.
"Ditto. Transform into this Golem."
The watch did not move.
Ditto replied telepathically. 'No, Who protects you if I leave your side?'
Alex smiled faintly. "Banette is still in my shadow. And after you transform, you can remain close."
There was a brief pause.
Then the watch liquefied, slipping from Alex's wrist and reforming into a second Golem beside the original.
But this Golem was different. Heavier presence. Sharper perception.
Ditto retained his own level and combat strength even while mimicking the species.
Alex observed carefully.
Graveler and Golem were known mineral specialists. They consumed enormous quantities of stone daily, especially moss-covered rock, and had a natural instinct for locating gem concentrations.
Larvitar was also Rock/Ground—but far lower level. His sensory range and efficiency were limited.
Ditto, however, retained high-level perception while gaining the species' mineral-detection instincts.
Alex decided to test something else.
"Ditto," he asked calmly, "can you now perceive the underground more clearly?"
The transformed Ditto stood still. Then—
"Yes. I can sense different mineral densities. Underground veins. Surface stones. Variations in composition."
Alex's eyes sharpened. So the Master-Rank Transform allowed inheritance of passive biological traits as well. Not just appearance. Not just active abilities. Everything.
Ridiculous, he thought.
And incredibly profitable.
Once they reached a deeper, stable section of the cave system, Alex removed the Mega Stones and Key Stones from his spatial storage and placed them before Ditto.
Alex said seriously, "These, are Mega Stones and Key Stones. Can you detect others like them?"
Ditto examined them carefully. After a moment—
"No. They don't feel distinct from other stones."
Alex frowned slightly. "Can you filter by size and shape?"
Ditto laughed. "Yes. I can flag stones with highly similar shape and dimensions. But there will be false positives."
"That's fine," Alex replied immediately. "If I don't have to manually inspect every single stone in Meteor Falls, that's already a success."
Ditto hesitated slightly. "Leader… sustained scanning will consume significant energy. I can not contribute much to combat if I focus on this."
Alex nodded. "That's ok. Scizor and the others are enough."
Ditto's ability wasn't merely combat-oriented. Exploration. Resource detection. Tactical scouting. Biological mimicry. Out of battle, it might be even more broken than during one.
Apart from that, Ditto was also ridiculously strong in a fight.
If all his Pokémon were at equal level, then Scizor with Mega Evolution and Ditto stood clearly at the top.
And compared to the beginning?
Ditto had changed the most.
From shallow Silver potential— To nearly Diamond.
*******
if the story gets 100 powerstones in 24 hours, I will upload 1 bonus chapter tomorrow.
-----
If you want to see the next chapters (30+ chapters) earlier or just want to support me
https://www.--patreon.com/alex02373