Master Craftsman of the Pokémon World

Chapter 149 - 149

Rumble—

A bright green glow began to radiate from around the Black Steel Temple. The earth vein energy was being visualized — the energy that once lingered vaguely around the temple now flowed in clear currents along the engraved ground patterns, as if those lines had drawn arrows for the energy to follow.

With the help of Secret Power and Hidden Power, combined with the Ruin Craft, the Black Steel Temple was transformed into a movable "zone"!

Hikaru now understood the unique nature of the Mysterious Ground Craft.

It was like a type of area-based teleportation.

Of course, even in the games, similar regions exist — not only in the Mystery Dungeon series but also in the main world.

For instance, in Unova, there was a location known as the Cave of Being, a mystical place that linked Unova and Sinnoh. Both the interior and structure of the cave bore striking resemblance to the sanctuaries of the Lake Trio in Sinnoh — Lake Verity, Lake Valor, and Lake Acuity.

In fact, the Lake Trio themselves would sometimes appear in the Cave of Being, creating a connection between two distant regions as if the cave was a pocket dimension.

"Next, I just need to designate a new location. Then the earth veins will connect the two zones, adjusting their positions and creating a shortcut, or even directly linking this patch of land to a new area on the same plane."

"In that process, the Orb Crafting skill plays a major role — by creating mysterious jade orbs to fine-tune the status of each zone. These orbs could also serve as powerful energy sources for the zones. In short, all of this is a grand craft meant to forge settlements."

With the miniature model of the Black Steel Temple left behind, the group followed Bloodmoon Ursaluna. Flying, of course, was much faster. Steven was practically in a frenzy at this point — though they hadn't gone mining today, the haul they'd gotten was worth more than a week in the tunnels!

"Metagross, use Psychic!"

Steven gave the order, and his Metagross activated its telekinetic powers. He also released two Beldum, and he and Hikaru each mounted one.

Hikaru returned the rest of his Pokémon to their Poké Balls. With Regirock staying at the Black Steel Temple to chat with Registeel, Metagross didn't have to carry too much. All it had to do was support Ursaluna.

"Gagacha?!"

As a Ground-type, Ursaluna had never flown before! The sensation was absolutely terrifying!

Feet off the ground?! The sheer tension left it flailing — Metagross had to use a great deal of effort to stabilize it. It let out an annoyed snarl:

"Metaaa!"

Stop squirming! You're gonna crash us!

In the end, they had no choice but to let Ursaluna lie flat across Metagross' back while holding it down with Psychic to reduce its weight. Finally, it relaxed a bit — still floating, but at least resting on something!

"There's the valley," Steven called, eyes scanning the horizon. Mountains loomed ahead — the rear of the Shinto Forest stretched into a vast mountain range, linking to the ancient Spirit Peak and eventually reaching an unnamed plateau to the west.

Even from afar, they could spot a wide, barren land within the valley. Pale gray sandstone covered the ground, surrounded by withered ancient trees. No Pokémon. No life.

"Gacha!" Ursaluna scrambled down awkwardly from Metagross and stomped its feet. This was home.

"Valley of Light..." Hikaru murmured. From the sky, the valley's shape looked oddly familiar — though in the world of Pokémon, such valleys weren't rare. The sky above was clear, with not a single cloud in sight.

"So barren," Steven observed. He picked up a rock and examined it — there was no trace of rock-type energy, and the texture was poor. Useless stone from poor soil.

It was strange. The outer forest was lush with towering trees, yet here, deep in its heart, the land was dead and lifeless. This place should've been fertile.

Hikaru activated his knowledge as a Child of the Earth, sensing the earth veins beneath.

The flow of energy was extremely faint.

It was as if the valley's underground was hollow, its life force dwindling — neither humans, Pokémon, nor plants could thrive here.

He paused in thought.

No earth veins meant no life force — hence the soil degradation. He'd suspected it was just a soil problem, but now realized the issue was systemic. Without intervention, the land would be abandoned completely.

Likely, the decay had started long ago. Only now had the life force dwindled so much that not even the plants could endure it.

Fortunately, the veins hadn't vanished entirely.

"By rerouting the earth veins and improving the soil, we can bring this place back to life."

Even if the soil was degraded, it couldn't be worse than the ruined soil in the Reverse World's floating isles. That place didn't even have earth veins, and yet they'd revived it.

Hikaru already had a plan — and better yet, the Mysterious Ground Craft he'd just obtained could help him guide the veins!

With that, the land could recover quickly.

And he even had the Symbolic Plate with him — perhaps he could borrow the power of the legendary Pokémon tied to the earth!

Ursaluna, meanwhile, was searching for its old den — not far away was a massive cave filled with dead leaves and broken branches, collected from the ancient dead trees. It entered the cave and soon came out, huffing and puffing, carrying a massive stone.

Hikaru's eyes were drawn to the cave — many eyes were watching them from within.

Those must be the local Pokémon.

Ursaluna had mentioned before that it was once called a Mountain God by the weaker Pokémon here. So that cave must be a shelter for them?

"Gacha..." Ursaluna placed the massive stone down and told Hikaru this was the special rock it had mentioned.

"Huh, I've never seen anything like this," Steven muttered, his eyes locked on the stone. He'd come all this way just to see it. Though now, it seemed more like a sculpture than an actual mineral.

It didn't look like any natural ore. Slightly disappointed, Steven furrowed his brow.

But Hikaru's expression turned solemn.

The shape... Steven wouldn't know it — he was from Hoenn, after all. But before Sinnoh Champion Cynthia had studied the ancient ruins of Hisui, no one knew of Arceus. Naturally, they wouldn't recognize this stone.

"So that's what this is..."

"What is it now?" Steven looked exasperated.

You know again? You're making me look bad as a gem collector!

Hikaru could only respond with a sheepish but polite smile.

Its appearance matched Ursaluna's description — but more precisely, it resembled the Thousand-Arms Cross of Arceus: that golden, wheel-like cross-shaped structure on its body. In Kalos, there was a place called the Valley of Creation, where people once crafted similar ornaments as charms, believed to grant divine protection.

In the ancient Hisui era, there existed a stone naturally shaped like this, capable of crafting the three sacred charms.

[Craft Item (?): Guardian Stone]

[Description: A mysterious stone shaped exactly like Arceus' Thousand Arms. Origin unknown, it's believed to have a deep connection with Arceus. It grants divine protection to humans and Pokémon. This stone is indestructible.]

[Effect 1: Wishing upon the Guardian Stone with gratitude can imbue charms with unique effects.]

[Effect 2: Enhances the potential limit of humans and Pokémon, causing mysterious transformations.]

[Effect 3: Power of Creation (Locked) — Grants the rightful bearer the power of creation. Not yet time. If mastered, can craft items related to Arceus (requires Plates).]

(End of Chapter)

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