Pokémon, Ash is going to become a perfect man from now on.

"I really want to try something different!" After a long silence, Hikari said firmly, "Whether it's the Contests or Gym Battles, they all have something that attracts me... I participate in these competitions to hone my skills and have fun with my partner, so I won't stick to any particular format. As long as I can keep getting stronger, that's all that matters!"

Xiao Wang's questioning helped Xiao Guang make up his mind completely.

This time, she's determined to try a different path and see all the sights in Sinnoh!

She will never waver in this belief!

"You still like saying these cute things, huh? Well then, keep up the good work." Perhaps because she acknowledged Hikaru's strength, Nozomi wasn't particularly insistent. "Anyway, you said you'd keep getting stronger. If you lose the next tournament because you're distracted, I'll be disappointed."

"I will definitely keep winning! Even if I face Xiaowang again, I will still win!"

Two girls clasped hands tightly, smiled at each other, and made a silent promise.

Next time, let's fight with all our might!

Chapter 1190 Does everyone like stones that much?

Blackgold City, a vital energy city in central Sinnoh.

This is a major coal-producing town with abundant natural resources. To the south of the city lies the Black Gold Coal Mine, operated by the official dojo, which continuously produces high-quality coal and other minerals.

Meanwhile, the city also boasts the renowned Black Gold Coal Pit Museum, a professional fossil research institution on par with the Nibi City Science Museum.

“Black Gold City… I’ve wanted to come and see it for a long time.” Walking on the streets where mines and air exchangers were everywhere, Xiao Gang couldn’t help but show a longing expression.

As a Rock-type expert, fossils are definitely Brock's greatest passion... and if he had followed his original growth trajectory, his main Pokémon should have included all the fossil Pokémon from Kanto.

Of course, things are pretty good for him as they are now.

After all, just one Loke has already made a fortune!

Even so, he was still very curious about the fossils in Sinnoh and suggested that he find an opportunity to visit the museums there.

"What's the connection between the coal produced in Blackgold City and peat blocks?" Hikari was more curious about the item-type stones. "It seems like you can't find those kinds of things in Sinnoh these days."

"Peat blocks are actually a special kind of coal with more energy, similar to how there is unmelting ice mixed in with eternal ice," Ash explained. "With the rapid development of the Sinnoh region, a large amount of resources have been mined and utilized in a short period of time, making coal blocks increasingly difficult to find."

To put it bluntly, special 'coal blocks' can be used to evolve into Moonbear, but once you get carried away with it, who will carefully check whether this thing can be used for evolution? They will all be used as fuel and fed into the furnace.

Of course, in Ash's opinion, Ursaring has only temporarily disappeared in Sinnoh, not that it has really become completely extinct.

In many mineral-rich areas—such as the Black Gold Coal Mine—there must still be many peat blocks, but modern people simply cannot recognize them.

Ash was also considering whether he should cooperate with Puffy and his family. If they could let Umbreon dig around here, they would definitely find a lot of good stuff, including peat moss.

This was actually a personal request from Professor Yamanashi, who specializes in Pokémon evolution and has always been particularly curious about the green forms of certain Pokémon.

He was especially excited after learning that Ash had caught Ursaring and other Pokémon unique to the Greenery, and he couldn't wait to borrow Ash's friends to study them.

Ash's partners are mostly quite special, so lending them out for research is obviously inconvenient. However, he can help the professor recreate several of the former regional forms of the Greenery by finding items and teaching him special moves, which can be considered as a way of thanking the professor for providing him with information.

With that in mind, on his way to the Black Gold Gym, Ash decided to stop by the Coal Mine... but when he arrived, he found that the Coal Mine was temporarily closed.

The entire area around the coal pit was cordoned off. Officer Jenny was leading a large number of police officers on an investigation and patrol. The miners who had temporarily stopped working were gathered in twos and threes, and some were being questioned by the police.

"Xiao Gang, go ask him what happened," Xiao Zhi instructed Uncle Gang.

"Leave this to me! Beautiful Officer Jenny, please have a loving interrogation with me... Oh, Mommy!"

Uncle Gang is online, Uncle Gang is offline, the naughty frog keeps its deeds hidden...

"Hey, do you really think he can get anything useful out of him like this?" Xiao Guang rolled his eyes with great skepticism.

"Of course! Xiao Gang is very reliable," Xiao Zhi said with a smile.

“That’s right, I’ve already found out!” Xiao Gang suddenly jumped back to his companion’s side, his expression as serious as could be. “The reason the Black Gold Coal Pit was sealed off is because it was attacked by Team Galactic before!”

"Team Galaxy?" *2

Zhiguang and the other person were both taken aback.

Ash had previously captured all of Team Galactic's executives, but while at the Yamanashi Research Institute, he heard news of their imprisonment. He never expected to encounter a related incident here.

“After I identified myself, Officer Jenny told me that Team Galactic seemed to be looking for a special stone,” Brock continued to explain. “It’s said that the earthquake on Mount Harsh was caused by them, also for that stone.”

"Another rock?" Xiao Guang asked, guessing. "If it's Mount Yanku... could it be related to Sidranne?"

"I think I have a pretty good idea. They're probably looking for the Volcanic Stone—the key item to awaken Heatran." Ash's eyes darted around, and he quickly came up with an idea.

The Galaxy team only had their officers escape this time; Akatsuki is still in jail... This situation is actually not quite normal.

No matter what, Zhenxing and the others should have tried to save their former boss, but they completely ignored them.

Based on their current actions, Ash has reason to believe that Pluton, whom they had been searching for, has reappeared and is now eyeing Heatran!

Unfortunately, their plan was destined to fail.

Heatran has now merged with Mt. Frost, and its power crystal, the volcanic rock, is now lying quietly in Ash's backpack.

It's quite a coincidence, though, that Team Galactic was also looking for stones.

Ash had previously received a report indirectly from Professor Yamanashi, in which he learned that Team Darkness was currently active on some islands with strong magnetic fields outside Canal City, seemingly in search of a special stone.

Similarly, Gary, who arrived in Sinnoh earlier, also encountered an organization in the eastern part of the region that was pursuing various legends.

Xiao Mao learned that one of the tasks of the so-called trackers in that organization was to find a special white stone.

Incidentally, Shigeru has already secretly passed the message on to the main trio, so that they can better get involved in that inexplicable plan.

Meanwhile, Ash's friends also sent back messages that Blastoise and his friends had indeed made some gains in the northern waters of Hoenn... The kidnapping team was extremely active there, hiring a large number of pirates, but their real purpose was to blockade the sea area.

Their real plan was to take advantage of the absence of interference to secretly salvage some special stones from the seabed...

It was all stones.

Recently, several organizations active in Sinnoh have all gotten into trouble with Rock, which is quite a coincidence.

If some rock-obsessed guy found out about this, he'd probably give up his salary and come all the way to Sinnoh to provide support, even if it meant paying for it himself...

Drop~

While lost in thought, Xiao Zhi's phone suddenly rang.

As if on cue, the message was sent by Daigo via encrypted means…

"Huh?" Ash was taken aback after reading the details.

"What happened?" Seeing Ash's troubled expression, Dawn asked with concern.

"It's nothing, just rocks again..." Ash was somewhat amused and exasperated. "Why do these people like rocks so much?"

Daigo sent me news about Lionhead's movements!

The boulders in the Hoenn Sea have been largely located, and Fladali is about to set off for Hoenn to work with Daigo on a salvage mission!

The legendary boulder—this thing finally managed to fish out the lion's head!

Chapter 1191 Black Gold Dojo, Victory is assured!

While temporarily staying in Black Gold City, Ash reviewed the flood of information and couldn't help but feel a sense of impending chaos in the world.

So you see how powerful his influence is. He's only been missing for a few months, and these villains are already jumping out again.

If Ash were to prioritize, he would actually pay more attention to villains unrelated to Sinnoh.

It seems highly likely that all of this within Sinnoh is a self-directed and self-acted performance, and it doesn't matter how much they dance around.

Those outside are different; they might all be preparing something big.

For example, that Dream Project... Yes, in Ash's opinion, the gang led by Hodaka is no good.

You can say that Ash is biased and maliciously speculates about them because of Gou Gou... But using the search for Mew as an excuse and the pretext of testing to spread rumors about Pokémon, who can say what his true intentions are?

The white stone they are looking for should be the white rock located on Route 224 of the game, which can only be encountered when you have Professor Oak's letter, and it is also the key to unlocking the Path of the Sea.

In other words, the real target of these guys is the Flower Paradise hidden in the sea, and the Shemi who lives there!

This is quite intriguing. Shaymin, being a Mythical Pokémon, is indeed rare, but it is commonly seen near Gracie Flower Fields... Sinnoh does have several Gracie Flower Fields, and Shaymin has been spotted there from time to time.

Instead of pursuing these lone creatures, they want to find the legendary Flower Paradise... It's hard not to suspect that these guys might want to buy up all the Shemi.

Of course, no matter what their plans were, they were doomed to fail... because they simply couldn't find the stone!

But don't forget, Lila's Origin Sphere also contains a God of Space.

As long as Palkia sets up a barrier to hide the white rocks, the Path of the Sea, and the Flower Paradise, those guys won't be able to find it even if they work themselves to death!

Besides this sycophantic planning group, Ash is also keeping an eye on Lydal's movements.

Every move Lionhead makes is definitely a preparation for destroying the world, and Ash certainly can't let it go unchecked.

He will also get involved in the dispute over the giant rocks in the Hoenn Sea, since he is quite interested in those things as well.

The fact that the giant rock could trigger Primal Reversion and Mega Evolution simultaneously in the Hoenn land, sea, and air demonstrates its immense power... Coincidentally, Ash gained some insights while absorbing the energy of the Nightfall Meteorite, and he can certainly make use of it.

Then let Steven help stall for time. By holding a few more meetings and discussing action plans and allocation strategies, Ash will probably have already made it back to Hoenn from Sinnoh.

For now, let's wait for the girl to complete her first official gym battle during her trip.

...

Black Gold Dojo.

"Great, finally a challenger has come to our door. Let's have a full-fledged battle!" On the dojo's battle field, Piao Tai, wearing a miner's helmet, exchanged blows with his palms, looking full of fighting spirit.