David casually strolled among the surrounding stalls.
This place wasn't like typical markets, filled with various shouts and sales pitches.
Stall after stall, a dazzling array of stone products were neatly displayed, waiting for customers to choose.
Although it seemed a bit quiet without the hawking, there were quite a few people browsing.
"How about this one? Do you like it, Zorua?"
After browsing for half a lap, David found a less crowded spot. This area seemed to be the largest in the market, and it even had its own storefront.
At a glance, David noticed that the items here appeared more exquisite than those at other stalls.
However, perhaps due to the price, several people had inquired but ultimately shook their heads and left.
With sharp eyes, David picked up a collar from the stall. Its silver metal outer ring was adorned with seven pink diamonds—one large and six small.
"Zorua..."
Seeing the gift David had chosen for him, Zorua, perched on David's shoulder, smiled, rubbed his small face against David, and chirped softly.
David knew that the little fox meant he would like anything David bought for him.
Looking at the collar in his hand, the light pink diamonds indeed matched the little fox's coloring perfectly.
"Boss, how much is this?"
Hearing David's voice, the shop owner, who had been lazily reclining in a lounge chair nearby, turned his head, glanced at the item in David's hand, and said indifferently.
"12,888. If you want it, I'll give it to you for 12,000. No haggling."
After speaking, he turned his head back and lay down again. Seeing this, David couldn't help but show a knowing expression.
No wonder there weren't many customers!
Aside from the price of the goods, just this attitude toward doing business would likely deter a large number of people.
However, David didn't mind. After all, compared to those who pretended to be enthusiastic, constantly pestering you to promote their so-called quality items—when in reality they just wanted to sell their inferior products at inflated prices—David preferred this method of simply stating a price and letting you choose.
After carefully examining the collar in his hand again, David said nothing more and simply handed it to the shop owner, asking him to package it.
The craftsmanship of this collar was indeed quite good, and with these few pink diamonds, the price wasn't too exaggerated. Or rather, the quality of this item didn't really seem like a souvenir that should be found in an ordinary market.
If it were placed in one of those specialty stores, the price would probably be several times higher.
With David's current family background, he naturally possessed the ability to appraise such items. He wasn't some ignorant buyer.
It was worth mentioning that in the Pokémon world, ordinary gems without special effects didn't command much of a premium.
Gems with various colors were one thing, but diamonds, which could be mass-produced, were almost dirt cheap in the Pokémon world.
The reason David chose this collar was that these few pink diamonds contained a hint of Fairy-type energy, capable of emitting a faint pink glow, and their size, shape, and appearance were all quite good, which was why it could sell for this price.
Then, under the shop owner's somewhat surprised gaze, David also picked out a necklace with a sky-blue gem for Kirlia and bought a bracelet made of several special metals, encrusted with small diamonds, for Lucario.
He then selected several more accessories. When traveling, one always had to bring back some local specialties for family and close friends.
After handing all these items to the shop owner for packaging, just as David was about to pay and leave, he was suddenly captivated by an inconspicuous item at the stall.
It was an ordinary brooch, looking far less glamorous than the items David had purchased earlier.
If there was anything special about it, perhaps it was the somewhat unusual stone set in the brooch!
A transparent stone casing, with colorful, DNA-like spiral patterns shimmering inside.
But David's gaze was now firmly fixed on this item, unable to look away.
To avoid revealing that he recognized the item, David casually picked up the brooch, feigning indifference.
David slightly raised the brooch to his eye. When the sunlight shone on the gem embedded in it, the colorful patterns inside were so beautiful and vibrant.
That's right—the brooch David was holding at this moment was embedded with the Mega Stone he had been searching for so long but had yet to find.
"I can't believe I've been searching for so long, only to unexpectedly find it here," David thought to himself. He just didn't know which Pokémon's Mega Stone it was.
Different Mega Stones were distinguished by the different colors of the patterns within them.
Looking at the patterns, which were primarily pink and green...
Although David recognized it as a Mega Stone, he couldn't tell which Pokémon it belonged to.
"System, are you there? Help me identify this! Which Pokémon's Mega Stone is this?"
Following his habit of asking the System when he had a problem, David directly called out to it deep within his mind.
[Ding~ Detecting host's current request. Identifying...]
Finally, the System, which had been offline for a long time, at last proved its usefulness at this moment.
A moment later, an identification report that filled David with ecstasy appeared before him.
[Gardevoirite: A miraculous Mega Stone that allows Gardevoir to Mega Evolve during battle when held.]
It was Gardevoir's Mega Stone! David's excitement was palpable. He knew that there were at least nearly a hundred known Mega Stones, and among David's Pokémon, both Lucario and Kirlia—after evolving into Gardevoir—had Mega Evolution forms.
He just didn't expect to get so lucky and actually encounter a Gardevoirite.
"All your items are packaged. The total is 194,000. I'll round it down to 190,000 for you. This brooch is a gift—consider it a little bonus!"
The shop owner, seeing David pick up another inconspicuous brooch to examine, spoke directly.
It wasn't anything valuable anyway, and seeing that David had bought so many things from him, he simply offered the brooch as a gift.
David suppressed his excitement, picked up the brooch in his hand, and asked the shop owner.
"Boss, the stone inside looks very special. Where did you find it? I'm quite interested."
The shop owner waved his hand.
"Hey, where would I find so many things? These were all acquired from a mine in the West District—unified purchases. Hmm... I think it was called Profound Mining."
"This thing, I've also seen for the first time. I was curious at the time, so I bought it along with the others and made it into a small trinket."
After firmly remembering the name the shop owner mentioned, David paid and left.
"Profound Mining, huh! I'll go check it out after challenging the Umbra Gym."