"So, Hakuya, you all came here for that cave as well~"
After a moment, following Hakuya's explanation, the gentle beauty with the emerald side-ponytail nodded in realization, her exquisite snowy face unable to hide her delight.
She had thought they were just ordinary Trainers lost in the forest, but finding out they were after the same treasure made it feel like fate!
Instantly, Cheryl felt much closer to him; her deep green eyes, naturally soft as water, became misted with a thin haze, and her way of addressing him became more intimate.
"Mmm... since that's the case, once we reach the Mt. Coronet cave, we'll split the treasure fifty-fifty."
After their introductions, Hakuya pondered for a moment before speaking to the gentle older sister.
"No, no, no, that's... it should be..."
Cheryl's face flushed slightly, and she instinctively began to shake her head in refusal.
Initially, she had sought this cave only to find the item needed to evolve her Happiny into Chansey.
Moreover, the condition she had agreed upon when asking for Hakuya's help was that she would only take one Oval Stone.
How... how could she go back on her word the moment it left her mouth?
But in the next second, before the refusal could escape her lips, a large, warm hand gently pressed down on her head, stopping her from shaking it.
Suddenly, the flush on the gentle sister's cheeks deepened, and steam almost seemed to rise from her head.
Even though she was older than the black-haired youth before her, Cheryl didn't have the air of a "big sister" at all; instead, she was being handled like a petite little sister.
"Don't be so quick to refuse; I'm not finished yet—"
"In exchange, if you ever come across another treasure map I'm interested in, please make sure to let me join you."
After a pause, Hakuya stated his condition.
On one hand, without Cheryl's map, they likely would never have found the cave full of precious Evolution Stones; in all fairness, taking only an Oval Stone would be ungenerous.
On the other hand, Hakuya was genuinely interested in the profession of Treasure Hunting.
If he remembered correctly, when this "dangerous hairstyle" beauty first appeared in the anime, she was searching for a treasure called the Enchanted Honey.
Unlike regular Honey, this was mass-produced by special Vespiquen and Combee swarms and was tens of thousands of times sweeter.
If processed into various food products for sale, it would complement the farm's Moomoo Milk perfectly, further expanding the farm's influence and earning much more money.
While the Evolution Stones here were precious, they were rare one-time resources that couldn't be reproduced. In the end, it was just a high-priced, non-renewable asset.
Comparing the two, Hakuya felt this was clearly a bargain.
"Okay~ no problem at all!~"
Cheryl's feather-like eyelashes trembled; she seemed to sigh in relief as she nodded her response.
For this gentle and seductive older sister, she was naturally an easy person to talk to.
Her previous attempt to refuse was only to keep her promise and avoid taking advantage of Hakuya.
"..."
Just as the scene grew quiet, a faint sound echoed.
It wasn't loud, but it was very distinct.
Gurgle~
Seeing the side-ponytail beauty lower her head, her slender hand shyly covering her stomach, Hakuya couldn't help but smile and invite her.
"Come and eat with us; it won't be too late to head out afterward."
"Th-thank you so much!!!~"
After eating and drinking their fill, the cave treasure hunt officially began.
"Gardevoir, I'll leave the rest to you."
"Sa~"
Taking the map from her Trainer, Gardevoir gently closed her beautiful eyes.
A wave of pinkish-purple psychic energy centered on her, spreading out like ripples on a lake.
A moment later, withdrawing her psychic pulses, she pinpointed the exact location of the cave.
"Cheryl, hold on tight."
Seeing this, Hakuya lightly tugged the gentle older sister beside him.
"W-wait a minute?!"
Likely because it was her first time experiencing [Teleport], Cheryl was clearly terrified by the sudden weightless feeling of her feet leaving the ground.
Instinctively, she squeezed her eyes shut, reaching out her snowy, tender arms to tightly hug the black-haired youth beside her.
"Sa~"
As Gardevoir's cold chant ended, in just a few seconds, the lush, endless Hiyori Forest was instantly replaced by a dark, deep cavern.
"Nai~"
The cute Alcremie hopped out of her Poké Ball, curiously looking around.
Perhaps startled by their intrusion, a swarm of Zubat living there was disturbed, flying out from the depths of the cave in small groups.
Walking down the initial rocky corridor, countless mottled scratches resembling ancient characters were carved into the uneven stone walls.
It didn't look like an ordinary cave; it seemed more like some kind of ancient ruin.
Hakuya set down the blushing Cheryl, who had been clinging to him. He briefly marveled in his heart at how "moist" the older sister felt, then called Gardevoir and the others to start gathering treasure.
Since there were many paths behind the cave, he and Cheryl decided to split up for now and meet back at the entrance once they had collected everything.
"Tinka!~"
A few minutes later, Tinkaton discovered a precious Evolution Stone hidden in a crevice. Heart full of joy, she ran toward her Trainer.
"Good job, this is a Dusk Stone~"
Looking at the stone as black as the night sky, Hakuya smiled and rubbed the little one's head, explaining its nature.
Unlike what he had expected, common stones like Fire, Water, and Thunder Stones were rare here; instead, items like Dusk Stones and Shiny Stones were more plentiful.
"After this trip, I estimate we can sell these for two or three million League Coins."
Taking another Evolution Stone from Alcremie, Hakuya couldn't suppress his excitement.
Although such opportunities were rare, it was certainly more satisfying than planting Wang-Wang Grain at the farm!
"Meow-meow~"
Meanwhile, Skitty found an uneven, glowing, and shimmering stone.
Perhaps because it was her first time seeing one, she leaned in curiously and pressed her paw against it.
In the next second, the dazzling light of evolution completely surrounded her.
[Name: Delcatty] [Type: Normal] [Level: 35] [Gender: Female] [Ability: Normalize (All of the Pokémon's moves become Normal-type and have their power boosted by 20%)] [Moves: Fake Out, Disarming Voice, Double Slap, Water Pulse, Rain Dance, Facade, Covet, Double-Edge, Play Rough] [Egg Moves: Wish, Sucker Punch] [Equipped Traits: Combat Suppression (Blue), Fast as Lightning (Purple)]
The white light dissipated, and Delcatty, now in her human-girl form, looked down at her body, feeling quite satisfied.
She was bigger, taller, and enhanced in every way—transforming instantly from a cat-girl loli into a cat-girl older sister.
However, the price was...
"Mmm... I seem to be hungry again~"
Perhaps because she had evolved using a Moon Stone, Delcatty felt an empty void in her stomach.
If she didn't eat something soon, she would go crazy—
She looked around, observing carefully several times, and confirmed there were no other people or wild Pokémon in sight. The cat-girl beauty followed behind the Trainer, who was focused on finding stones, and seized the moment to pounce.
On the other side, having finished her search, Cheryl looked at her backpack stuffed with over ten Evolution Stones and nodded with satisfaction.
Besides the haul, her Happiny had successfully evolved into Chansey after absorbing the Oval Stone.
"But why is Hakuya taking so long?"
After walking several laps and still not seeing Hakuya, the gentle sister bit her lip in worry.
Facing this situation, she could only wait patiently and began to wander along the long stone corridor.
"When was there a secret room here?"
Passing through a corridor with a faint light, she saw a room at the end carved with strange patterns and tilted her head in confusion.
Pushing open the rotating stone door and entering, a massive mural came into view.
Winding, dragon-like scratches covered the entire wall before her; even after ages, they were still clearly visible.
"Mmm... I've never seen a Pokémon that looks like this before..."
Just as Cheryl stepped forward to examine the mural closely, she happened to trip over a vine blocking her path. Her two arms, wrapped in silken sleeves, instinctively slipped into the curved loops of the vines.
"Eh?"
The gentle older sister dizzily shook her arms, not realizing that doing so only tightened the vines.
As she twisted her waist, the vines also tangled around her long boots. Consequently, she ended up suspended in mid-air in a spread-eagle "da-ji" shape.
Cheryl kicked her dangling legs, her eyes filling with tears.
"It's over~"
"Wuuu-wuuu, Hakuya, help me!—"