"From the 'Reverse Gravity' move just now, it was clear that Kawaki had a remarkable talent for move development.
If he became an official trainer, he could really put this talent to good use."
In the future, if he became Champion, he could earn money through competitions and endorsements.
Even if he didn't become Champion, he could use his years of travel experience to work in industries related to trainers or Pokémon.
Seeing Steven's expression, Kawaki suddenly felt like laughing.
Steven was empathizing with him!
However, Kawaki currently didn't need Devon Corporation's sponsorship. Now that the daycare was officially on track, those sponsorship slots should be left for trainers who truly needed them!
"I wasn't finished with what I was saying earlier," Kawaki shook his head. "I didn't have any particular goals at first—I just wanted to earn some money to support Bewear and myself, but now..."
"What about now?" Steven pressed.
Kawaki looked at Bewear and the Clefairy, and replied:
"Now I just want to run this daycare with everyone, care for more Pokémon, and bring all the Pokémon I like to raise in the backyard. This is also my dream."
"Now, I just want to run this daycare with everyone, take care of more Pokémon, and fill the backyard with all the ones I love to raise. It's my dream.
"That's a wonderful dream," Steven praised softly.
Kawaki smiled, then asked in return, "What about you, Steven? What's your dream? To become League Champion?"
Steven nodded and said, "That's just one goal on my training journey."
"Then is there anything you truly want to do?" Kawaki asked again.
Steven suddenly became somewhat embarrassed.
Kawaki: "?"
"To be honest, I really love stones—whether they're ancient fossils, meteorites that fall from the sky, or precious stones from deep in mine shafts."
"Although it might seem strange to others, in my view, they're very charming existences."
When talking about stones, Steven became animated, his eyes filled with elegance and confidence.
Kawaki: "..."
This was indeed the Steven he was familiar with.
"Speaking of which... I happen to have a few stones that are hard to find on this planet."
With that, Kawaki stood up and retrieved the meteorites the Clefairy had given him from his warehouse.
Seeing this radiant and extraordinary stone, Steven's eyes immediately went wide.
It was a beautiful stone he'd never seen before!
Then Steven looked up at Kawaki, his eyes full of longing, his face clearly displaying two words:
Want it!
"How is it?" Kawaki asked.
Steven immediately felt the urge to spend a fortune to buy this stone.
"Extremely precious," he said softly, eyes fixed on the stone. "It doesn't look like it's from this planet. Judging by its appearance and luster, it seems to come from outer space."
Kawaki nodded. As expected of the stone enthusiast Steven, his guess was completely correct.
"Kawaki, would you be willing to sell this stone to me?" Steven finally couldn't help but ask.
"Sorry, this stone isn't for sale," Kawaki shook his head.
Under Steven's disappointed and regretful gaze, Kawaki continued, "However, it can be traded."
Steven's eyes, which had dimmed the previous second, immediately lit up.
He straightened his expression and asked, "What do you need?"
Kawaki glanced at the Clefairy who had somehow gathered around to watch, and said, "Moon Stones."
Moon Stones?
Steven was slightly stunned, and his gaze also noticed the nearby Clefairy.
From what he knew, Clefairy needed Moon Stones to evolve into their final form, Clefable.
Kawaki needed Moon Stones, presumably to help the daycare's group of Clefairy evolve into Clefable, right?
Although Moon Stones weren't common, they were still products of this planet.
Whether Fire Stones, Water Stones, Thunder Stones, or Moon Stones, none of them were rare to Steven.
Years ago, when he was seven or eight and had just begun developing an interest in stones, he'd already spent quite a bit of money on them.
Now his stone warehouse had the most evolution stones of all.
Moreover, Moon Stones could be bought, but this kind of rare meteorite was priceless!
"I can do that," Steven agreed without hesitation.
But he was somewhat hesitant because he didn't have those stones with him now.
If he went home to get them, it would take a very long time...
Because the house where he kept his stones wasn't in Rustboro City, but in Mossdeep City on the eastern side of the Hoenn region.
After a moment of silence, Steven explained his situation.
Just when he thought Kawaki would ask him to go home and get them first, then come back for the exchange, he heard Kawaki say:
"In that case, you can take this stone with you on your way. I'll wait here for you to return with the Moon Stones."
Steven was slightly stunned. Kawaki trusted him this much?
This made Steven's heart surge with the touching feeling of being trusted.
He nodded earnestly, took the stone, left only the words "Please wait here for my return," then departed the daycare with his three Pokémon.
This left Kawaki looking at the information before him with mixed feelings.
[Name: Steven Stone]
[Age: 10]
[Gender: Male]
[Special Ability: Money Power]
[Status: Healthy]
[Mood: ️️️Excited]
[Joy Value: 80]
[Affection: 50 (He considers you a trustworthy partner)]
[Description: I'm first place after all, strong and amazing! —Steven]
Kawaki, who had accidentally used his ability while focusing on Steven: "..."
Did he get the wrong system? Why could he even see human data...
What the heck was "Money Power"?!
And why did Steven's affection for him jump straight to 50?
Was he really that easy to win over?
Kawaki wasn't worried about giving Steven the meteorite in advance, because as someone who had crossed over, he knew very well what kind of person Steven was.
This was the hero who could step forward without hesitation to protect the Hoenn region even when facing the conflict between Groudon and Kyogre.
However, what surprised Kawaki was that his ability could even see human data.
So humans really were a type of Pokémon, right?
Steven's special ability was Money Power. If it were Lance, would it become Dragon Master Power?
"I wonder if I'll have a chance to meet Lance in the future," Kawaki murmured.
Lance, Cynthia, Ash, Misty—he'd quite like to meet all these people.
*
To bring back the Moon Stones as quickly as possible for Kawaki, Steven didn't linger on the road.
He rode on Skarmory and began flying toward Mossdeep City.
After a day and night of flying, they finally arrived safely in Mossdeep City.
Pushing open the door, Steven carefully placed this precious meteorite in his treasure vault.
Then he turned and went to where he stored his evolution stones.
Over the years, he'd collected quite a few evolution stones.
And now, they could finally be put to good use.
After packing Moon Stones into his backpack, Steven turned his gaze to the stones he'd treasured over the years on the other side.
Then he stood up and took down a round stone that was crystal clear like a marble but had orange patterns inside.
Regarding Kawaki, Steven very much looked forward to becoming friends with him.
The Moon Stones were just for the exchange, but this rare stone would serve as a token of their friendship!