Lionel sat atop Skarmory's broad back, overlooking the endless forests and canyons below.
The wind whistled past his ears, and for a fleeting moment, he felt a sense of nostalgia, recalling the time he flew with Steven on Skarmory. Upon arriving in Fallarbor Town, Lionel headed straight for the Pokémon Supplies store.
He bought a large quantity of beginner and intermediate Energy Cubes, various flavors of Pokémon food, and some sprays and ointments for treating external injuries.
He even contacted Devon Corporation to request some high-purity ores and metals specifically for Steelix. After all, since they accompanied his Pokémon during training, some "benefits" were expected.
Steelix was quite "generous."
Seeing Lionel's generosity towards him and his Pokémon, it frequently used its powerful "Dig" skill to burrow into the deepest parts of the canyon.
Searching for rare ores and metals hidden within the rock strata. The Steel Canyon's underground is rich with peculiar metals.
Each time it returns, the Steelix carries a pile of oddly shaped stones with its tail.
Some are dark red, some gleam silver, and some are icy cold to the touch, which it presents to Lionel one by one.
Most of these ores are indeed of lower quality than the iron ore and rare metals provided by Devon Corporation.
But to Metang, they are like a variety of novel snacks.
The taste of different metals varies greatly, and Metang enjoys these "snacks" in different ways every day, its red eyes always shining with satisfaction.
When Lionel returned from Fallarbor Town, he not only brought supplies but also the high-purity ore prepared for his Metang by Devon Corporation's personnel, as well as his monthly supply of high-grade Pokémon Energy Cubes.
Upon returning to the Steel Canyon camp, he was spotted by the Steelix.
It stared at the exquisitely packaged high-grade energy cubes, a hint of curiosity flashing in its enormous eyes.
The Steelix gently nudged Lionel with its tail, then turned and led him deeper into the canyon.
Lionel hesitated for a moment, then quickly followed with the Metang.
The Steelix crawled along, occasionally looking back, as if saying, "Follow me."
After crossing a rocky area, the Steelix led Lionel to a hidden cave surrounded by massive rocks.
This was its "secret base."
Deep inside the cave was a layer of soft, fine sand, piled high with treasures:
there were shimmering crystals, hard black ore fragments, and some colorful stones radiating strange energy.
The Steelix pointed with its tail to the pile of treasures in front of it, then pointed to the high-grade energy cubes in Lionel's backpack.
The meaning was clear: it wanted to exchange these treasures for energy cubes. Lionel's gaze swept over the Steelix's collection of "treasures," finally settling on a pale blue, glass-like bead.
The bead's overall quality resembled the purest sapphire.
However, a leaf-shaped mark was embedded in its center.
Two yellow veins are interspersed with a deep blue stripe.
It looked exceptionally peculiar.
The moment he looked at the bead, a message automatically popped up on the system panel:
[Mega Stone: Swampert]
Swampert's Mega Stone!
Lionel never expected to find a Swampert's Mega Stone in Steelix's collection.
Steelix, seeing him staring intently at the bead, let out a low hiss.
With Metang's "translation," Lionel understood:
This stone was found by Steelix a long time ago, deep underground.
It sensed something special there.
The dense Ground-type energy deeply attracted it.
However, digging in that place was extremely difficult; the surrounding area was filled with stagnant water like silt. It took it a tremendous amount of effort to dig it out.
It had always treasured it as one of its most prized possessions.
"Can I trade these energy cubes for this stone?"
Lionel asked Steelix.
At the same time, he took out all the high-grade Pokémon energy cubes he had received this month from the Devon Corporation transport personnel in Fallarbor Town.
He piled them in front of Steelix.
These were different from the previous low-grade and mid-grade energy cubes; they emitted a much purer and richer energy aura.
Steelix looked at the pile of high-grade Pokémon energy cubes, then at the Mega Stone, and hesitated for a moment.
It stared intently at the Mega Stone, as if bidding it farewell with its eyes.
Finally, it used its tail to curl up the energy cube, leaving the Mega Stone in front of Lionel, thus agreeing to the deal.
Lionel carefully picked up the Swampert Mega Stone; it was slightly cool to the touch. He carefully put it into his backpack, intending to treasure it for now.
In fact, Lionel had already planned his future Pokémon teams.
He wanted to train many, many Pokémon.
However, the resources of the live-streaming system couldn't support so many Pokémon, so he could only focus on the Pokémon he already had.
Swampert, as a powerful Water/Ground-type Pokémon, would see its strength increase dramatically if it could Mega Evolve.
Paired with Milotic, it could serve as the core of a rain team, one a melee attacker, the other a ranged attacker and healer.
And once Larvesta evolved into a Volcanora, it could lead an incredibly powerful Sunny Day team. As for Tyrantrum, needless to say, it's definitely a member of Team Sandstorm.
Lionel had previously messaged Steven.
Pupitar was spotted in the desert of Route 111.
Steven had replied to Lionel at the time, saying that he would set off for the desert after finishing his exploration of the Shallow Cave.
Now, Steven's exploration of the Shallow Cave in Mossdeep City is almost over, and he will next head to the desert to search for Pupitar's whereabouts.
Steven also told Lionel that if he successfully found Pupitar and captured it, he would place the Pupitar at Devon Corporation for further training and future reference. This clarified Lionel's future team structure:
A Sunny Day team centered around Milotic and Swampert;
A Sunny Day team led by Volacanora;
Plus a Sandstorm team centered around Tyranitar and Tyrantrum.
Of course, these are all long-term plans.
The resources required to train these Pokémon are considerable, and his livestream system's popularity is currently insufficient; he can only accumulate them slowly, step by step.
Right now, the most important thing is to train the Pokémon he already possesses.
After exchanging the Mega Stone for Swampert with Steelix, Lionel continued to advance the Pokémon's training plan in Steel Canyon.
Metang, while consolidating its Magnet Rise skill, will also be subjected to the rain created by Milotic and the sandstorms unleashed by Tyrantrum and Steelix. The purpose was to teach it the skills of sandstorms and rainmaking.
Learning these weather skills wasn't just to enrich Metang's tactics; it had a deeper meaning.
It concerned the grand festival in Lilycove City.
Lionel had incredibly high expectations for the future Metagross.
Only Metagross's supercomputer-like brain, combined with its Psychic-type telekinetic control, could perfectly realize the magnificent combination attack he envisioned.