The discovery of this fossil left me contemplative because unlike the other three I already handed over to Stone I could see myself actually training this one. At the same time it wasn't a fatal temptation by any means as while the pokemon itself would undoubtedly be a powerful pokemon with the right training I didn't exactly need it to fill a role and I already had one pokemon too many to train which meant that someone needed to get left behind temporarily while I trained the rest of the team.-

League regulations on the amount of active use pokemon a trainer could have was crystal clear at six so while I could skirt the edges of that rule with the little one not being technically active use but still a project in the works I definitely couldn't make the same call with a new pokemon like this. 'I'll try and find another fossil to put up as a prize while holding onto this one for now. If I can't then I'll just shuffle the prize order a bit to set it as the second place prize.' I thought with a sigh as I stored the large stone piece away.-

I didn't manage to find another viable fossil before it was time for me to make my way back and handed the ancient Tropius fossil to Stone to revive while making a change to the reward pool. It was rather funny the sheer amount of people that called me in hopes that I would directly sell the variant to them instead of using it as a prize. All of them were alchemist which was no surprise at all considering the value that the pokemon held just from the fruit it produced from it's neck alone.-

Add on the power that it could achieve with it's typings and it was understandable that there was a bit of a craze over it. Birch and both of the Stones even asked me why I hadn't kept since I myself could definitely utilize the pokemon to it's fullest as both a trainer and alchemist. I explained to them that if I was going to stay in a single region then I wouldn't have given it away but since I was going to be traveling my current team was the max I could have at the moment.-

If one of my team felt like they had hit their limit then I might retire them and get a new pokemon but at this moment we were still going strong. The last members of my team were just now starting to reach their final forms with the exception little one that was growing to maturity. Yani was the only older member of my team that still needed to hit her final form and I imagined she'd accomplish that in a month or so. If I'm being honest I was actually rather excited to leave Hoenn for Orre since the place presented a whole new challenge for me.-

I didn't mean in the form of battles or shady criminal organizations but rather the mystery of why the fuck nothing wanted to live there. That whole thing just screamed "legendary" to me and I had a feeling that I might figure it out if I looked hard enough. That said there were rumors that the region had some shady groups operating out of it. Funnily enough I had already been given the green light by the league to exterminate any criminals I found there so that an up and coming professor fresh out of school could move in safely.-

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

There was one small caveat to this green light though in the form of monetary revitalization for the region. Basically the league asked that I spend some money to improve the region in some way while I was there. It didn't have to be a lot either just enough that it would improve things noticeably. The place was a backwater dump to put it mildly as even the nicest town there Phenac was basically just a sandy stone place with an abundance of water. I did my research on the region and knew that there were only four towns in the entire place with each being far away from the last.-

Gateon port was the town that held nearly exclusive access to the region as all other entry ways and exits to the region were hostile or impassable for most people. It was also the most modern of all the towns as a result. Phenac came in second as it wasn't modern but was well designed. Then there was Agate village which was a retirement home for elderly trainers and easily the most beautiful place in the region due to being right at the edge of the Relic forest that was protected by a Celebi supposedly though that was just a rumor without any proof to back it up.-

Finally was Pyrite town which was apparently a cesspool of roughnecks and shady folks that was basically a rusted scrap heap of a town. According to the information I could get my hands on the whole place was rundown and less than intact due to the lack of funds to import or hire people to repair it. In case it wasn't obvious i was going to be spending the money to fix or at least repair some of the town while cleaning it up.-

The biggest thing in the region was Mt. Battle though that was an active volcano that had been built around as a sort of challenge for trainers to overcome. One hundred battles before a challenger could claim to be the best in the whole region with each being harder than the last ever so slightly. Supposedly there was even a Ho oh in the region that was VERY rarely seen around the volcano. Yes I can say that I was looking forward to seeing the region myself in the not so distant future.-

Anyways the time I spent in around Mt. Grey wasn't entirely without gains as i found a few different ingredients and even some evolution stones. I had also used the five exp tickets from the quest to boost Tank up to level ninety seven which didn't surprise me all that much considering he was a bug type. I had explained previously but bug types grow more in a shorter time span due to their much shorter lifespans than other pokemon. From what I knew Tank would only live fifteen years at most before old age or sickness would claim his life.-

As a result I wanted to put more effort into maximizing his skill and power over the others before letting him retire in glory with a harem of Butterfree once serious battling became too much for him. The other rewards for the quests completion hadn't been touched yet since I figured I aught to wait until I am on my way to Orre first. I felt like I should probably work on my current skills before getting new ones and the item tickets were nearly useless for me with how much money I had. The evolution token though had me cautious as I didn't want to waste it and as a result was hesitant to use it.