Chapter 44: The Yaya Tribe

Fossil Maniac wore a look of agony on his face. He struggled for a long while before he finally said, “Fine! As long as you can bring back those two fossils, I’ll let you pick one yourself!”

“Three,” Hu Yang replied. “And a Pokédex to go with them.”

“Impossible!” Fossil Maniac’s face turned pale as a sheet. Three? Those treasures had taken him years of painstaking digging to unearth. “Don’t even think about it. One is the absolute limit!”

Hu Yang: …I really don’t understand people who treat stones like their wives and collect them.

“That’s up to you,” Hu Yang shrugged indifferently and turned to leave.

Did Fossil Maniac really think he didn’t know how difficult this commission would be?

The Tower of Mirage—just as the name implied—was a high tower with no fixed location. “Mirage” meant it appeared and vanished like an illusion, unpredictable and elusive. If luck wasn’t on your side, you’d never find it in your lifetime.

And that wasn’t even the worst of it. The wild Pokémon inhabiting the desert posed enough danger to overwhelm an ordinary trainer.

This wasn’t a game. Besides wild Pokémon, the desert was plagued with deadly sandstorms and shifting quicksands. Without a professional guide, even an Elite Four could get lost in the depths and end up buried beneath the golden dunes.

Thinking of this, Hu Yang suddenly felt that even asking for three fossils was too modest. If it were someone else, they’d probably demand at least five.

Mega Stones were indeed precious, but compared to one’s life, their worth was trivial.

Moreover, Hu Yang was still considered a rookie trainer. For someone like him, that place was simply too perilous.

“Wait!” Fossil Maniac weighed the value in his heart. Out with the old, in with the new—he clenched his teeth and said, “Alright! Three it is!”

“Deal.” Hu Yang accepted the commission.

Fossil Maniac asked, “Should I take you to my house now?”

Hu Yang shook his head. “I have something else to take care of. How far is your place from here?”

Fossil Maniac pointed in a direction. “Just over there. Go through those bushes and you’ll see it—about five hundred meters away.”

“Alright, I’ll come find you after I’m done,” Hu Yang said.

Fossil Maniac grunted his assent and indicated he’d be waiting at home.

Hu Yang continued to follow Axew, heading toward the Axews’ lair.

Because he’d twisted his ankle, his walking speed had slowed considerably.

“I really need to find a rideable Pokémon,” Hu Yang thought, images of various Pokémon flashing through his mind.

Speaking of mounts, he couldn’t help but recall the Machamp from Ultra Sun and Moon. You could ride most Pokémon on their backs, but only Machamp carried the trainer in its arms like a princess—which was… unsettling.

Hu Yang quickly shook off that disturbing image and instead imagined other Pokémon: the majestic Arcanine, the famously bulky Dragonite, Charizard, Pidgeot, and so on.

But among those, apart from Pidgeot, the rest would be difficult for him to obtain. The Growlithe line was under the control of the Officer Jenny family, Dragonite belonged to the Dragon Masters of Johto, and Charizard was distributed as a starter by the Kanto League to trainers just beginning their journey. Wild ones existed, but finding them was about as likely as winning the lottery.

“Axew!”

Just then, Axew cried out with delight and darted into the undergrowth, disappearing from sight, but soon poked its little head back out and beckoned to Hu Yang.

“Are we here?” Hu Yang looked around and saw, just as the books described, many marks carved into the trees with teeth—Axew’s way of marking its territory.

“Axew!” Axew nodded enthusiastically.

They had reached the deepest part of the forest. Because few people ever ventured this far, the grass on the ground grew unchecked, and the trees were taller and denser than those on the outskirts.

Led by Axew, Hu Yang bent low and passed through a tall thicket. As soon as he raised his head, he saw a broad clearing before him.

“Axew!”

Axew called out, summoning its companions. Soon, similar cries echoed from the treetops all around.

One by one, small heads peeked out from the trees, the grass, and behind the slopes.

So many Axew!

At least twenty, by rough count.

Hu Yang was dumbfounded.

His Axew dashed forward and tumbled joyfully with the others, playing and roughhousing.

Just then, calls distinctly different from Axew’s sounded from deeper within.

Moments later, several Fraxure and Haxorus emerged from behind the trees.

Like real-world animals, Pokémon were either solitary or lived in groups. The Haxorus line belonged to the latter.

Those two Haxorus had naturally noticed the lone human present, and their eyes immediately grew wary.

“Axew!”

Hu Yang’s Axew noticed this, stopped playing, and hopped over to the two Haxorus, chattering animatedly. It seemed to be explaining something.

“It’s telling them it wants to go on a journey with you,” Gengar said quietly, drifting over from somewhere.

“How are they responding?” Hu Yang whispered back.

Gengar nodded toward the scene. “Look!”

Hu Yang looked up to see his Axew rubbing cheeks and teeth with the other Axews and Fraxure—a gesture of friendship and also of farewell among Axews.

“Axew!”

After touching noses with each of its friends, Axew ran a few steps toward Hu Yang, then turned and waved at the others.

Goodbye!

The forest rang with a chorus of “Axew! Axew!” in response.

Axew ran to Hu Yang’s side and looked up at him.

Hu Yang felt he should say something. He picked up Axew and promised the Axew and Haxorus across from him, “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of it!”

“Axew!” Axew waved its claws at its friends.

…

“Well then, I’m going to catch you now,” Hu Yang said, holding out an empty Poké Ball.

“Axew!” Axew nodded its little head.

Hu Yang smiled softly, and the Poké Ball released a beam of red light, pulling Axew inside.

It shook gently twice and then stilled.

At the same time, Axew’s information appeared in Hu Yang’s mind.

[Name: Axew]
Type: Dragon
Original Trainer: Hu Yang
Held Item: Thunder Stone
Note: Has a tenacious and ambitious nature
January 18, 209
Seems to have met it at Meteor Falls
Very curious, loves adventure and sharpening its teeth
Badges earned: None