Geodes?
That sounded a bit familiar.
Sailor scratched its head and thought for a moment, remembering the things it had dug out of the trash cans before.
Because the seaweed foraging work had been paused for a while, the Geodes it had collected previously hadn't been cracked open yet.
"Rattata?"
The Prismatic Shards it needs come out of those things?
While Sailor was pondering this, Emily added, "Do you know how low the drop rate for a Prismatic Shard is?"
"..."
"Alright." Sandy looked down at Sailor with a bit of regret, only to see its eyes light up as it patted its own arm, signaling her to let it down.
As soon as its paws touched the ground, Sailor scampered off like a streak of smoke toward Meowth. Before Meowth could even ask what it wanted, Sailor grabbed it and dragged it over to Penny.
"What are you doing, meow?!" Meowth still had the free food it just got in its mouth. It struggled to swallow the last few bites, then pricked up its ears to listen to Sailor's "Rattata, rattata" explanation.
"Ah, I see, meow." Meowth looked up at an equally confused Penny. "It wants you to help it crack open some Geodes, meow."
"Geodes?"
Because she spent a lot of time in the library, she actually knew from Gunther what Geodes were used for.
"Rattata."
"It wants Prismatic Shards, meow." Meowth listened to Sailor's addition and relayed it to Penny. "It has a lot of them, meow. If you can crack out a bunch, it can treat you to a super delicious popsicle, meow."
"Huh?" Penny looked at Sailor in confusion, but after a moment, she nodded and agreed.
Under Sailor's impatient urging, Penny followed Meowth onto the bus and headed to the farm.
Sailor immediately called over a Geodude, and then brought out all the Geodes it had hoarded over time.
"Rattata!"
Meanwhile, after wandering around the desert, Ron got on the return bus to the farm, holding a Froakie that couldn't walk because it had eaten too much.
"I think you'd digest it faster if you ran around a bit yourself." Ron poked Froakie's bloated belly and said, "Besides, you should have saved the popsicle for tomorrow."
—
"Froakie—"
Froakie shot a resentful glance at Bellossom, who was nodding frantically on Ron's shoulder, and cried out again.
I only did it to get rid of that weird taste!
"..." Bellossom guiltily looked away.
"But at least you got stronger. I checked earlier, and you're noticeably more powerful now."
Even though drinking Mr. Qi's Iridium Snake Milk didn't increase its stamina, after downing two cups, Froakie now faintly gave off an invincible vibe.
"Froakie." Froakie poked its own belly, not quite believing it.
As soon as they arrived at the farm, Ron saw a group of Pokémon gathered in one spot, along with the occasional commotion coming from over there.
"Rattata!!!!"
"It cracked another one, meow!"
"Wow, it really worked! I never thought this thing could be used for that."
"?" Ron approached with a face full of question marks. He saw Penny still in full "Trainer" mode, commanding her Geodude to operate like an assembly line—taking out Geodes one by one and rapidly smashing them open.
With a loud CLANG, a Prismatic Shard was smashed out of a Geode under Geodude's fist.
"—What are you guys doing?"
Amidst the cheers, Ron couldn't help but ask.
"Ah!" Penny was startled by Ron. She had gotten into a state similar to being high on gambling. Seeing Ron approach, the flush of excitement on her face slowly faded away.
Penny awkwardly smoothed her hair and quietly explained to Ron the little bit of context she knew.
Meowth chimed in with additions.
"You're cracking Geodes for Prismatic Shards just to trade for Magic Rock Candy?"
Ron was at a loss for words. He looked at Sailor, who was clearly acting like a gambling addict, and the Geodude that had gathered around after being promised a Prismatic Shard for a snack later. After a while, he said, "But the Magic Rock Candy in the desert is limited to one per purchase, and they only sell one every Thursday."
"Rattata?" Sailor's eyes widened in shock. "Rattata!"
"Really, meow?" Meowth frowned. "But it promised there would be one for Meowth too, meow."
"..." Ron then asked, "How many have you cracked open so far?"
"If you mean Prismatic Shards," Penny said softly, "that pile right there is."
Ron turned his head and saw a mountain of Prismatic Shards.
Ron, who originally thought the whole situation was a bit absurd, fell silent for a moment before walking straight over to his chests.
"Is he mad?" Penny asked softly.
"Doesn't look like it, meow." Meowth said, looking at Ron's back. "Just my intuition, but Meowth thinks he's actually pretty happy."
"Hmm?" Penny paused, and then saw Ron walk over carrying a massive stack of Geodes. "Might as well do it together. I'll go make some food for you guys."
"Rattata?"
Ron added, "If you crack all of them, I'll treat you guys to Stardrop Tea."
The tea was secondary. Penny was just very happy that she could help Ron out with something, so she turned back around with a bit of secret delight and continued commanding the Geodude.
Because the number of Geodes was so massive, every Geodude on the farm started working under Penny's command.
For a moment, the entire farm echoed with the strange sounds of clanging and crashing.
Ron, meanwhile, was in the kitchen cooking while pondering the applications of Prismatic Shards.
Aside from trading for popsicles and that sword in the desert, the biggest use for Prismatic Shards was enchanting weapons.
Tools could be enchanted too, bringing about many unexpected effects.
For example, you could enchant a watering can to have infinite water, and things like that.
Setting that aside, Prismatic Shards were practically the favorite item of everyone in town—Haley being the exception, of course.
Therefore, using them as gifts at certain times was also a great option.
It was just that his previous stock of Prismatic Shards had always been low, so Ron had never really thought about it.
As he pondered this, a dinner to reward everyone was finished.
Coincidentally, the Geodes over there were all cracked open by then. Ron called out to everyone and, just as Sailor had promised the Geodudes, handed out one Prismatic Shard to each of them.
Only then did he lead everyone into the cabin to eat.
"As for the Candy," Ron thought for a moment and looked at Sailor, who had a pleading expression on its face. "You can go trade for one every Thursday. How you split it up is for you guys to decide."
Sailor's eyes immediately lit up. It turned to Meowth and patted its chest loudly.
"Are we splitting it fifty-fifty, meow?" Meowth excitedly rubbed its cheeks. "Thank you, meow."
Penny, on the other hand, sat down next to Ron. Hearing him thank her, she just shook her head gently and said, "Don't mention it. I'm just glad I could help you out."
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