Once all the regular Evolution Stones had been divided, they cleared off another large table.
Ashen stretched lazily, dropped onto the sofa they'd just freed up, and sipped at his tea.
"Alright, the rest is up to you two. I'm taking a break."
"Okay. Uncle Dax, you want this one?"
Auron picked up a Metal Coat and held it up.
"Of course. Anything useful for Steel-types, I'll take. You don't even have a Steel-type Pokémon."
Dax snatched the Metal Coat from Auron's hand with a righteous look.
"Fine. Then you don't need this either, right?"
Auron picked up a Magnet and grinned.
"Why wouldn't I need that? My Magnezone is Electric-type too." Dax swiped that as well without hesitation.
Auron laughed, teasing, "With a face that thick, it's no wonder you can't find a girlfriend."
"Cut it out. It's not that I can't—I just don't want one."
"Sure, sure. Then I'll just take these, since you've no use for them."
Auron claimed a Life Orb, a Power Herb, and a Flame Orb, setting them aside in his pile. Then he lifted three fang-shaped items.
"What about these?"
"Nope. No use for me."
"Alright then, I'll take them."
The three fangs were a Deep Sea Tooth, a Dragon Fang, and a Razor Fang. The Deep Sea Tooth was easy enough to recognize, but the Dragon Fang and Razor Fang looked almost identical—it was nearly impossible to tell them apart.
Staring at the two nearly identical fangs in his hands, an idea struck Auron.
Information digitization… there's no reason it wouldn't work on items too, right?
He focused on the fang in his left hand.
Dragon Fang: A hard, sharp fang. When held, boosts the power of Dragon-type moves by 20%.
Auron grinned. It worked.
He turned his gaze to the fang in his right hand.
Razor Fang: A sharp fang. When held, gives a 10% chance to cause the opponent to flinch when landing damaging moves. At night, if a Gligar wins a battle while holding this, it evolves into Gliscor.
"Gliscor?"
Auron blinked. He had no memory of Gliscor ever appearing in this world.
Murmuring to himself, he frowned at the Razor Fang.
No way. We've got Generation VIII Pokémon, but no Generation IV Gliscor? Is it just that no one's discovered how it evolves yet? That doesn't make sense. Hasn't even a single wild Gliscor shown up all this time?
"Eh? Auron, what are you zoning out for? This King's Rock—do you want it? If not, I'm taking it."
Auron snapped back to himself.
"King's Rock? Wait—yeah, I'll take that."
"Fine, yours."
"Hurry up and split the loot already. What's with the daydreaming?"
Dax urged him on, and Auron shoved down his questions for now. He could always look things up later… or ask his dad. After all, the King's Rock reminded him: he had no recollection of Slowking or Politoed either.
"Here, these Amulet Coins are yours."
"These two Mystic Waters too."
"This Light Ball's useless to me—you take it."
"Miracle Seed's mine. I've got a Ferrothorn, and you don't have a Grass-type."
"And this… Thick Club? Yours too. Huh? Auron, why so distracted?"
Dax nudged him, pulling him back from his thoughts.
"Nothing, just spaced out."
Rubbing his face, Auron shook it off.
Suspicious, Dax narrowed his eyes.
"Your aura didn't tell you something about an item that suits me, did it? You're not trying to keep it for yourself, are you?"
Auron pushed him away.
"Don't overthink it. If it were good for you, I'd hand it over."
"…Fair enough."
They went back to sorting.
Eventually, they'd worked through all the Eggs and items. Auron picked up a Black Apricorn and waved it.
"Want this?"
Dax's eyes lit up, and he lunged forward.
"Of course I do!"
But Auron pulled his hand back and pointed at Dax's growing pile.
"Thing is, you've already got over twenty percent of the haul."
Counting only the rarer Apricorns, Eggs, and items, Dax had already taken more than his agreed share.
"Fine, fine! I'll give you all my Fire Stones and Water Stones if you let me have that Black Apricorn."
Auron snorted but tossed it to him.
"You could've offered me something good."
Dax caught it, grinning as he clapped Auron on the shoulder.
"Hey, it's normal for friends to gift each other things, right?"
"Yeah, yeah. Anything else you want?"
"Another Black Apricorn and a Green one. That'll do."
"Sure."
Auron handed them over, then packed the rest of the Apricorns into a crate.
Just then, Dax leaned in with a sly smile.
"Say, Auron… I don't have the skills to make Apricorn Balls myself. Why don't you hold onto these for me, and just send me the finished Poké Balls later, hmm?"
Auron dropped Dax's three Apricorns into his crate too, smiling back.
"Knew you wouldn't forget. You're quick on the uptake."
"Of course. I am an Elite-level Trainer, after all."
Ashen walked over, cutting in before their banter could spiral.
"Alright, enough chatter. Everything else divided?"
"Yeah, all done."
"Good. Then I'm taking these Prism Stones. I need them for my experiments."
"No problem." the two replied in unison.
Auron shot Dax a curious look.
"You're not even the least bit curious what kind of experiments Dad's planning?"
Dax slung an arm around him and grinned.
"What's there to be curious about? I already know they're full of evolutionary energy—probably Evolution Stones of some kind. And with our relationship, if I ever need one, your dad won't deny me. We're friends, after all."
Auron chuckled. Fair enough. He set to carefully packing their sorted loot into boxes, while Ashen carried the Mega Stones to his own workbench to sort them out. Among the pile were two Key Stones—plus the one Jace had picked up in the secret realm earlier. Three Key Stones in total now.
Once Auron and Dax finished packing, Auron's crates could go straight into the family shop's storage. Dax, on the other hand, had no such convenience—he had to call a courier to send everything back to his home in Skyspire.
Carrying a tub of Apricorns, Auron headed out too. He needed to send them to his mom's friend so she could craft Apricorn Balls. After getting her address and number from his mom, he packed the Apricorns together with Dax's goods and handed them off to the courier.
Only then did the two finally relax.
They flopped down on the shop's sofa without a care for appearances.
Auron sighed contentedly.
"Next time something like this comes up, count me in. Splitting loot feels amazing."
"Agreed. I've raided plenty of Church bases, but this was the biggest haul yet. Next time I'm asking for thirty percent. Twenty's not enough—I had to pass on several things I wanted."
"No way. Still twenty. You can always push harder when we're splitting—it's not like you didn't this time."
"Hmph. You're just like your dad. Overbearing."
(End of Chapter)
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