Lu Ze stared at the red stone in front of him, the strange yellow symbol etched into its surface, and information about it materialized automatically in his mind.
Item: Scarlet Orb
Effect: Can be used to awaken Groudon. When Groudon holds it, the Original Regression can be completed.
"Interested?"
"Yeah... a little."
Lu Ze snapped back to the present and nodded.
"This one's basically useless, you know. Sure, there's rich Fire-type energy inside, but nothing living can actually absorb it. It's just sitting here because of how unusual its origins are."
Zhuge Ziyu waved a hand at Lu Ze with a smile.
"This was one of the items France paid as reparations when Rayquaza attacked them back in the day."
Zhuge Ziyu couldn't help but chuckle lightly at that, and went on: "Because afterward, France decided having these reparation items on display in their museum was embarrassing for them. So they paid some additional price, and the item ended up here."
"I see, that's how it is."
Lu Ze nodded. But now he was torn — he wasn't sure whether to pick this one or not.
In theory, the Scarlet Orb could be used to summon Groudon. But then what? Groudon wasn't like other Pokémon — you summoned it, and it would just listen to whatever you had to say?
On the contrary. The moment you woke Groudon up, it might very well make you its first target.
"My advice? Don't pick this one. This is what my brother brought in to fill up the selection. If you chose it, he would literally laugh so hard he couldn't eat for two days."
Zhuge Ziyu walked over, as if sensing Lu Ze's inner conflict, and patted him on the shoulder.
Not that Zhuge Ziyu would have recognized the item anyway — to be fair, in this day and age, besides Lu Ze, nobody else in the world should even know what this was.
After all, the last time Groudon and Kyogre showed up was during China's Han Dynasty.
Neither of those two Pokémon had appeared within the country's borders, but the Dragon Kingdom's lands still felt the effects — the severe drought that came from Groudon being relatively nearby.
But back then, Groudon and Kyogre hadn't actually fought. On their way to have their battle, they happened to cross paths with Rayquaza. Both of them got a beating and went right back to sleep.
"Yeah, I'm not picking it. I'll just look."
Lu Ze said, resisting with great effort the urge to reach out and touch it.
Though honestly, he wanted to so badly. But he was even more afraid that touching it might somehow alert Groudon.
And sure enough — far outside the Dragon Kingdom, in a volcano, Groudon sensed it.
But Groudon only glanced in the direction of the Scarlet Orb before sinking back into the magma.
"Keep looking — there's a lot more inside."
Zhuge Ziyu flashed Lu Ze a thumbs up.
He really liked people who could take good advice.
"Mm, sure."
Lu Ze continued deeper. The items here were arranged in rows, each one under its own glass display case. Walking along and browsing was actually quite efficient.
"That Shiny Charm there — I think you should grab one. I know you've already got Mini Dragon and Charizard as your two alternate-colored Pokémon, but a pink Crobat would look really nice too, no?"
Zhuge Ziyu tapped the display case containing the Shiny Charm, then turned to Lu Ze with a grin. "Plus, isn't your Crobat female? Should be even more appealing to her."
"Uh, no need."
Lu Ze scratched his head awkwardly, then nervously glanced at the Poké Ball in his arms.
He already had a Shiny Charm — Mo Qiangcheng had given it to him last time.
He'd even asked Crobat if she wanted to change her appearance.
At first she was interested. But then she learned that her alternate color was pink.
She couldn't handle it. She immediately started flapping her wings frantically, shaking her head furiously. One clear message:
I don't want it!
Lu Ze didn't quite understand why Crobat had such an extreme reaction to pink, but he didn't push it. No change, no change — he liked Crobat just the way she was anyway.
Besides, the Shiny Charm didn't expire if you didn't use it. It was still sitting at home.
His next target was Corsola. But if he was going to use it on Corsola, he not only had to convince Corsola, he also had to convince Charizard. So Lu Ze hadn't mentioned it to either of them yet.
"Alright."
Zhuge Ziyu didn't know why Lu Ze turned it down, but he smiled and nodded, then continued leading Lu Ze deeper in.
Next came the Sacred Ash, Silver Crowns, an Ability Capsule, and an Ability Patch — Lu Ze browsed through them one by one.
The Silver Crowns came in pairs, meaning one selection chance could get him two of them.
That made sense too. After all, the National Vault also had Gold Crowns in stock, so the Silver Crowns had to match that value proportion.
Different point, though: Gold Crowns once in a while ran out of stock, while Silver Crowns had plenty of supply remaining.
"Hm? What's this?"
"Ancient Ball — it's a landmark find from when humans still existed in Mystery Zones. Well, that's what it was originally thought to be, at least. Now it's been proven that certain Mystery Zones actually did have human populations."
"Like the Pokémon Quality Detection Machine, for instance."
Zhuge Ziyu explained to Lu Ze: "This one actually has more sentimental and historical value than practical use. The National Museum has one with a more beautiful pattern, so this one got stashed here instead."
"Oh—"
Lu Ze nodded, then checked the info on the Ancient Ball.
Item: Ancient Ball
Effect: A Ultra-Ancient Nine-Tails sleeps inside it. Opening method: blood from someone of a specific bloodline touches the Poké Ball's release switch.
There's really a Pokémon in there?
Lu Ze froze. He only looked at it because it reminded him of the Poké Ball from the Pokémon anime that sealed the Ultra-Ancient Glalie and Sableye.
He didn't expect there to actually be a Pokémon inside — and it was a Nine-Tails, no less.
I wonder which Pokémon is sealed in the one at the museum. But opening method requires someone of a specific bloodline, right? If it came from a Mystery Zone, it probably also requires the blood of the people who once lived in that Mystery Zone.
Lu Ze rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Which means this thing is useless. Mystery Zones don't have any human inhabitants anymore, so besides ripping it open by force, there's probably no other way to open it.
"Nah, not worth it. Moving on."
Lu Ze shook his head at Zhuge Ziyu. No way to open it means no point.
"Right, next one — I think you'll really like this one."
As he said it, Zhuge Ziyu gave Lu Ze a mysterious smile.
"Check it out!"
Zhuge Ziyu stepped aside and extended a hand toward Lu Ze with a flourish.
"What do you think?"
(End of chapter)
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