My Pokémon Story of Seasons

Chapter 265 The Great Ore Mining Operation

"Oh ho ho."

Tong Hua quickly brought up his job panel. He had completely forgotten that he hadn't unlocked the miner job yet.

Gardeners, fishermen, and miners.

Now, all three gathering professions are finally unlocked.

Before Tong Hua could even take a closer look at the career panel, another achievement popped up.

[A Beginner's Guide to Full-Scale Gathering!]

[Unlock Achievement: Earth Messenger - Beginner]

[Collection Guide Unlocked!]

Tong Hua glanced at this "Gathering Guide" and it seemed to have a similar function to the guides for skilled craftsmen such as cooks, carvers, and alchemists.

It can record all the collected materials, as well as the largest size and highest quality of the collected materials.

Overall, it doesn't seem to be of much use, and its value is far less than the [List of Symbols] that was unlocked last time.

Speaking of credit cards, Tong Hua has already accumulated four credit card credits.

He plans to save up again and see when he can level up his Alchemist class to the maximum level!

"Hmph hmph hmph~"

The thought of eventually becoming a level 100 alchemy master made Tong Hua hum softly.

"Bree—Bree!"

The sound of Tibrim calling in her ear finally brought Tong Hua's thoughts back to reality.

"Bri! Stop grinning like an idiot, look at this rock!" Tibrim patted Tong Hua's cheek with her little paws, her curly hair swaying slightly with excitement.

Tong Hua then came to her senses and carefully examined the malachite in her hand.

Malachite: Quality E, a common secondary copper ore, with a vibrant green color resembling peacock tail feathers, but too small in size. Recommended processing methods (refining, gold carving).

"Quality E—" Tong Hua was a little disappointed, but quickly cheered up again, "It must be because the size is too small. If the size is a little bigger, the quality will definitely be higher!"

Big is good, and good is big!

"Oh my~"

Just then, Queen Sweet Cold Beauty came over, holding a larger piece of malachite in her hands.

Tong Hua took the malachite, which was noticeably larger, and symbolically chipped off a small piece of rock with a pickaxe. The information panel immediately updated.

Malachite: Quality D, emerald green color, clear texture, recommended processing methods (refining, carving).

"Just as I thought!" Tong Hua excitedly held up the ore. "The quality has improved! Sweet & Cold Beauty made a really great job!"

"Oh my~"

The sweet and aloof queen gracefully tossed her beautiful hair, her crown gleaming in the sunlight.

After being praised by Tong Hua, the old her would have been spinning around with joy. But the evolved her simply nodded slightly, maintaining her queenly elegance, though the gleam of joy in her eyes betrayed her true feelings.

A sweet fragrance seemed to form a visible pink realm, enveloping everyone. Wild Pokémon nearby unconsciously drew closer, captivated by the enchanting aroma.

"Beep beep————"

Several Geodude in Alolan form staggered closer, clearly attracted by the sweet, cool fragrance of the Queen of Paprika.

However, the Queen of Sweet Cold Beauty's eyes instantly turned sharp, and she gracefully raised her long legs, her toes gleaming with a cold light.

"Ah!" she issued a stern warning, emanating a powerful sense of oppression.

The little geodudes immediately stopped in their tracks, tumbling backward in terror as they fled. Queen Sweet Cold snorted coldly, gracefully retracting her long legs, her crown gleaming in the sunlight.

Back when she was just Sweet Bamboo, she dared to personally chase away those Muke who wanted to peck at her body.

Now evolved into Sweetie, her strength and authority have grown even more pronounced. Any wild Pokémon that dares to be disrespectful will be crushed under her feet and given a good beating—

Seeing this, Tong Hua couldn't help but laugh: "It seems that even after evolving, she's still the same mischievous Tian Wu Ni."

"Oh my~" Upon hearing this, the sweet and cold queen turned around gracefully, winked at Tong Hua, and revealed a playful smile.

After that, Tong Hua and others began mining ore in this area.

After unlocking the miner profession, Tong Hua had even more energy to dig stones.

He casually ate a biscuit he carried with him, giving himself a boost to his experience. With the help of his class skill [Environmental Detection], he could spot almost any ore deposits nearby.

The upgrade efficiency was like a rocket launch! In just one hour, Tong Hua's mining level broke through level 10, unlocking a new skill, [Mineral Perception].

If [Environmental Detection] is like turning on a radar, then [Mineral Perception] is like opening the entire map. Even the specific types and sizes of minerals, and all sorts of information, will appear directly in his mind.

"Here! Here!"

Over here! Over here!

Tong Hua excitedly darted around the volcano park like a treasure-hunting groundhog, swinging his mining hammer with great force.

With the help of [Mineral Perception], he could find a piece of ore almost every three digs.

With their own professional assistance, using those gathering tools is effortless!

"This is so awesome! It's the perfect place to level up!"

I'm digging, I'm digging, I'm digging and digging!

Malachite, sulfur, pyroxene, agate — as they dug further, Tong Hua no longer cared what he had found.

Nothing is as important as experience!

"Bree!"

Just as Tong Hua was about to continue to the next collection point, Tibrim suddenly jumped in front of him, her curly hair slightly agitated with displeasure.

"Stop it, kid! You've been digging for three whole hours! Look at Bree behind you!"

Tong Hua then stopped swinging the mining hammer, turned around, and was immediately stunned.

Behind him was a small mountain of ore, stones of various colors and shapes piled together, glittering in the sunlight.

"Wow—" Tong Hua was startled herself. "Did I dig up this much?"

Jessica and Feng sat slumped on a nearby rock, both covered in sweat.

Although Queen Sweetie maintained her elegant posture, her crown was slightly tilted, and even the usually energetic Riolu and Forest Lizard were resting against the rock wall.

"Little Tong—" Jessica said weakly, "We can't dig any further—"

Nagi wiped the sweat from her forehead: "Besides, these ores aren't edible, so we can't take them with us at all—"

Tong Hua then realized the seriousness of the problem. He looked around at the mountain of ore, then at his tired companions, and scratched his head sheepishly.

"I'm sorry, everyone—I got too caught up in it—"

Tibrim jumped onto the pile of ore, hands on her hips, and said, "Tibri! Even if it's for collecting materials, there should be a limit! Besides, what's the point of mining so much low-quality ore?"

Tong Hua carefully examined the collected ore. The vast majority of them were ordinary ores of quality E, with only a few reaching grade D.

"You're right—" Tong Hua sighed, "I was too greedy."

C

Seeing that Tong Hua's attitude in admitting his mistake was sincere, Tibrim didn't say anything more and went to the pile of ore to start carefully selecting it.

But then, turning her head, Tong Hua muttered to herself, "I accidentally dug up something, but we haven't found the crucial lava yet. What are we going to do now?"

Last night, he specifically asked Shengyang about the location where he found the lava. If he wasn't mistaken, that lava was definitely a very high-quality and precious material, possibly even an S-quality material on par with the Gear of Time!

After all, there's an old saying that goes, "If you survive a fall off a cliff, you're bound to have a miraculous encounter!"

"However, compared to something so vague and intangible, real level-up is much more valuable."

Looking at his job panel, which had reached level 21, Tong Hua couldn't help but smile again.

Ultimately, on Tibrim's advice, Tong Hua selected only the highest quality pieces of each type of ore and put them in his backpack.

The remaining part was left to the management of the volcano park.

"Are you here on a treasure hunt?"

Kachi looked at the various ores piled up like a small mountain in front of him and couldn't help but feel ashamed.

-

"Uh—I guess so." Tong Hua scratched his head sheepishly.

"Fine, for Lucario and Night Demon's sake, I'll leave this to me."

Kachi laughed heartily and patted Tong Hua on the shoulder, "But if there's a next time, remember to watch your step."

Shortly after Tong Hua and the others left, Kachi called over a fire-breathing dragon to help move the ore.

"I'm just leaving for a little while, nothing should happen, right?"

After much deliberation, Kaki decided to prioritize moving the ore with Charizard.

During that ten-odd minutes of unguarded time, the Rockets' trio finally drove their beloved food truck into the Volcanoes National Park with an air of nonchalance.