A Dragonite Mega Stone...?
Kawaki stared in disbelief at the stone in Steven's hand.
As far as he knew, Dragonite didn't have a Mega Evolution, did it?
But the stone didn't look fake either.
He furrowed his brows, confused. Turning to Steven, he asked, "This is...?"
Steven replied politely, "A rather rare and precious stone I collected some years ago."
According to his research, this type of stone was extremely scarce and non-renewable. No one knew their exact origin.
At first, Steven had assumed it was some kind of evolution stone, like a Fire Stone or Thunder Stone. He had even invited researchers to study it.
But despite extensive analysis, they made no progress. The stones couldn't trigger any kind of Pokémon evolution either.
Still, the mere fact that they were non-renewable made them valuable. Who knew when they might run out completely?
And they clearly contained some kind of energy. They had to serve a purpose; it just hadn't been discovered yet.
So Steven began collecting them. The only notable difference between each one was the slight variation in the internal patterns.
Listening to Steven's explanation, Kawaki felt conflicted.
It was indeed a rare treasure…
Because this was a Mega Stone, a stone capable of allowing Pokémon to break past their natural limits and transcend evolution itself!
But judging from Steven's expression, and given the current time period, Mega Evolution likely hadn't been discovered yet.
"You're really giving this to me?" Kawaki asked. The gift felt too valuable; he wasn't sure he could accept it.
Steven nodded sincerely, an elegant smile on his face. "Consider it a thank you for helping me and Beldum develop the move Gravity."
Kawaki was genuinely tempted.
He really liked Dragonite, those charmingly clumsy, round-bodied, yet incredibly powerful Pokémon. If he ever got the chance, he definitely wanted to catch one.
"In that case, I won't be polite. I really like this stone," Kawaki said, finally accepting it.
After all, he had crossed over from another world; he knew everything about how Mega Evolution worked.
Worst case, he could help Steven and Metagross achieve Mega Evolution early, giving Steven a head start on this groundbreaking discovery.
Seeing Kawaki accept the gift, Steven beamed.
But in the very next moment, he watched in astonishment as Kawaki turned around, entered a room, and returned carrying five meteorites, each glowing with shimmering light.
Steven: "!!!"
"They're no use to me anyway. If you like them, I'll give them all to you," Kawaki said casually.
Steven had been on the verge of excitement, but hearing that, he abruptly calmed down.
His upbringing didn't allow him to accept such valuable gifts for free.
"I can't accept these without giving something in return," Steven said, shaking his head. "But if you're willing, we can trade."
He said this because he'd noticed something: Kawaki seemed particularly interested in the type of stone he'd just given him.
"Trade?" Kawaki echoed, a bit surprised.
"Yes. Whether it's Moon Stones or the stone I just gave you, anything is fair game." Steven nodded firmly.
If Kawaki refused, then Steven would refuse the meteorites, too.
Kawaki understood his intent and felt a little conflicted.
After a moment's thought, he asked, "Do you have more of those stones?"
Steven thought of the stone wall at home and nodded. "Yes. Do you like them?"
With a straight face, Kawaki began weaving a story. "To be honest, they remind me of something. Something I've seen in dreams. But I'm not sure yet. If I had more of them, I could verify it."
"Dreams?"
Kawaki nodded, his voice calm. "For the past three years, I've had these recurring dreams. I seem to become another person in them. There are Pokémon in that world, too, and there, they can use certain items to surpass their own evolution."
Steven was stunned.
At just ten years old, he didn't fully grasp the meaning behind Kawaki's words, but his deep knowledge led him to speculate.
Parallel dimensions? Dream projections?
He knew some Pokémon could manipulate or enter dreams.
But Pokémon evolving even further after their final stage...
He imagined his Beldum evolving into Metagross, then evolving again.
Was something like that even possible?
It sounded unbelievable.
Steven looked at Kawaki.
"It's just a dream," Kawaki said, as if dismissing it. "I don't know if it's real or not. Seeing your stone today just brought it to mind. If you don't believe me, forget it."
Steven opened his mouth, then instinctively shook his head. "No... It's not that."
It wasn't that he didn't believe it.
It was just... hard to believe.
He had never heard of anything like this.
But Kawaki had no reason to lie.
"What should I do?" Steven asked.
"I need more of those stones," Kawaki replied.
Steven didn't hesitate. "I'll head back and bring them all."
Just as he was about to leave, Kawaki called out, "Wait!"
Steven turned, confused.
"That stone alone isn't enough," Kawaki said thoughtfully. "There needs to be another type of stone to work with it."
Steven's family had a huge variety of stones; he was confident they had something.
"What does it look like?" he asked.
Kawaki grabbed some paper and sketched out the shape of a Key Stone.
"It has rainbow coloring. Do you have one like this?"
Steven thought hard, then shook his head. "Nothing this small... but we do have a very large, colorful stone."
A raw Key Stone? Kawaki wondered. "Does it have any markings?"
"No. Nothing like this," Steven said, studying the drawing.
Kawaki fell into thought.
Maybe the markings weren't inherent. Maybe they appeared only when the Key Stone resonated with the Mega Stone, when the trainer and Pokémon were in sync.
"If possible, could you bring that one too?" Kawaki asked.
"Of course," Steven agreed immediately. "I'll be right back."
With that, he turned and left the Day Care, forgetting entirely about the five glowing meteorites still sitting there.
Kawaki: "…"