Ariel retracted his thoughts.
As for this item, the Life Orb, Ariel planned to use it only when the time was right.
In other words, Ariel would decide who needed it and then give it to them to wear.
After all, Pokémon items weren't single-use, nor were they impossible to take off once equipped; it all depended on his judgment in the moment.
The next destination: Fortree City.
He could reach it by passing through the forest ahead and Route 119.
Just as Ariel pulled back his thoughts and prepared to set off, the pokédex in his pocket vibrated abruptly.
Buzz—
It wasn't a call, but an encrypted message.
He pulled out the pokédex, and the sender's name popping up on the screen made his eyebrows twitch involuntarily.
Soro.
The owner of the Fallarbor Town underground casino, a stray dog who had narrowly escaped the Team Rockets' suppression.
This guy actually dared to contact him?
A hint of amusement flashed in Ariel's eyes.
He wanted to see what kind of tricks this rat, who had been pushed to a dead end, could still play.
With a light tap of his fingertip, the message content popped up.
The content was very brief, with no nonsense—only a trade location and two words.
"ore."
Ariel's breathing hitched for a moment.
The purplish-red ore.
That strange stone he had risked being hunted by Team Magma to steal from the volcanic crater.
The coordinates Soro provided were in the forest not far ahead of him.
Interesting.
Was he trying to set a trap for a double-cross?
Or was he truly at his wit's end and could only come to beg him?
An imperceptible curve tugged at the corner of Ariel's mouth.
No matter what it was, he had to go.
If for nothing else, then for the secret hidden behind that ore... Leaving the vicinity of Lavaridge Town, the dry heat in the air was gradually replaced by the damp cold of the forest.
Tall trees blotted out the sky, and the sunlight was sliced into countless tiny fragments of light, sparsely scattered over the thick fallen leaves.
The forest was very quiet, with only the occasional sound of Bug Buzz and the rustling of wind through the leaves.
Ariel didn't release any Pokémon, walking alone on the rugged path; his pace wasn't fast, but every step was steady.
His senses were alert to the extreme, and any slight movement in the surroundings was clearly reflected in his mind.
The deeper he went into the forest, the dimmer the light became, and the air grew increasingly cold and damp.
Finally, following the coordinates on the pokédex, he arrived at a small clearing in the forest.
In the center of the clearing, under a dead, crooked-necked tree, a person sat leaning against it.
The moment he saw that person, Ariel's footsteps stopped.
If the information on the pokédex hadn't been confirmed as correct, he would have hardly recognized the haggard man before him as the same Soro who had been so high-spirited and far-sighted in the underground casino.
His once meticulously groomed hair was now stuck to his scalp like a clump of dry grass, incredibly greasy.
His expensive clothes were torn to shreds, covered in dirt and unknown stains.
That face once filled with shrewdness and arrogance now only had sunken eye sockets and ashen skin; a few days of unshaven stubble made him look like a vagrant.
The only thing that hadn't changed was perhaps the bone-deep greed in his eyes, though now, that greed was covered by a thicker layer of despair and madness.
Hearing footsteps, Soro's bloodshot eyes suddenly lit up. He struggled to climb up from the ground and stumbled toward Ariel.
"You're here! You're finally here!"
His voice was as hoarse as two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together, carrying a kind of ecstasy as if he were grasping at a life-saving straw.
Ariel stood in place, motionless, looking with an indifferent expression at this former tycoon of the underground world, now as wretched as a dog.
He didn't speak, just watched quietly.
This silent scrutiny was more oppressive than any words.
Soro's ecstasy quickly cooled under Ariel's icy gaze. The muscles on his face twitched, as if he wanted to force out one of his old, all-controlling smiles, but he failed.
Panting heavily, he reached out a hand as thin as a chicken claw and said urgently:
"Where's the stuff? The ore I commissioned you for, give it to me quickly!"
Ariel's gaze slowly moved from his face to that hand stretched out in mid-air, then he lifted his eyelids again to look at him.
"Where's the money?"
Ariel finally spoke. His voice wasn't loud, but it was like a block of ice crashing into Soro's heart.
"Payment upon delivery, those are the rules."
Soro had completely lost it.
His usually decent face was now twisted together, and the whites of his eyes were bloodshot, making him look like a trapped beast driven into a corner.
Saliva flew as his arms waved wildly in the air, trying to grasp at something invisible.
"Ariel! Brother! Listen to me!"
His voice was hoarse, carrying a scorching intensity.
"What is money? Money is nothing! You can't take it with you when you die! But opportunity! Opportunity only comes once!"
"As long as you give me that ore, just a little bit! I guarantee that within half a year—no! Three months! I can make a comeback! When that time comes, the entire underground world of Hoenn will have to answer to me! Those bastards who pushed me to this point, I'll make them kneel and lick my shoes!"
He leaned forward a step, the smell of sour sweat and blood wafting from him.
"What do you want? Money? What's three million? By then, you won't be my employee, you'll be my partner! Together, we'll monopolize the entire underground ore trade in the Hoenn region! Do you understand what that means? We'll be the ones making the rules!"
Soro's performance was full of passion; he had even convinced himself.
In his view, this young man before him was nothing more than a mercenary who only cared about money. As long as the promise was big enough, there was no way he wouldn't take the bait.
He was penniless now; every word was an attempt to get something for nothing, betting on Ariel's youth and greed.
However, Ariel just watched him quietly, his eyes showing not a single ripple.
That gaze was like watching a clown, so calm that it made Soro feel uneasy deep down.
Ariel's gaze slowly slid from Soro's flushed face to that hand trembling constantly from excitement, and finally, he lifted his eyes again to meet Soro's.
"Where's the money?"
Two words, neither light nor heavy, like two cold, hard stones, accurately struck Soro's feverish heart, causing all his passion and words to freeze instantly.