Chapter 99: Granite Cave

"The match just now was exciting. Your strength has earned my recognition. Here's the Knuckle Badge for you!"

After retrieving his Fighting-type Pokémon, Brawly approached Rex and handed over a badge that looked like a boxing glove.

"Thank you, Gym Leader Brawly, I appreciate it!"

Rex accepted the badge graciously.

Having completed the Gym challenge, Rex didn't rush to leave. Instead, he joined the audience, as they had come together and he wanted to watch the rest of the matches.

"Congratulations, Rex!"

Seeing Rex join them, Luna and the others congratulated him one after another.

Later, when Drake stepped onto the battle arena, he seemed much more confident than when he first entered the Dewford Gym.

Having observed the previous match, he felt he had grasped some of the Gym Trainer Brawly's battle style.

Subsequently, the battle between the two began officially. As a Gym Trainer, Brawly sent out his first Pokémon, Meditite, also known as the Yoga Pokémon, a rare Pokémon with Fighting and Psychic types.

For Meditite, daily meditation was essential, enhancing its mental strength. It meditated for several hours each day, floating in the air after attaining heightened spiritual power.

However, its meditation was often interrupted, prolonging its training. It ate only one Sitrus Berry a day, as enduring hunger was part of its training, tempering its willpower.

Aside from its Psychic type, its ability Calm Mind could boost its special attack and special defense. It was quite formidable.

Drake's first Pokémon was Ledian, a Flying and Bug type. Obviously, he intended to win using type advantages.

After an intense battle, Meditite was eventually defeated by Ledian. However, Ledian was left with only a sliver of health.

Brawly's second Pokémon was Hitmontop. Drake sacrificed Ledian's ability to battle, allowing Hitmontop's body to become paralyzed with Stun Spore.

For his second Pokémon, Drake sent out his ace Pokémon, Mudkip. Despite Hitmontop being hindered by the paralysis cause by Ledian's Stun Spore, Mudkip eventually defeated it at the cost of its own injuries, claiming victory in the Dewford Gym challenge and earning the Knuckle Badge.

Seeing both companions successfully earn their Gym Badges, all the pressure fell on Kai, who was already at a disadvantage due to type matchups.

After the Gym challenge, Rex looked at the somewhat dejected Kai and didn't say much, just patting his shoulder, a gesture of encouragement.

Although Rex had completed the Dewford Gym challenge, Mr. Briney would only arrive on the island in two days. He needed to figure out how to spend these two days.

Subsequently, Rex thought of a place—the Granite Cave—a gathering place for stone enthusiasts collecting rare stones.

Legend has it that Dewford Island was initially established because of this cave. However, subsequent excavations depleted most of the rare stones, making it difficult for later people to find valuable stones. As a result, they gradually left for other places, and Dewford Island declined.

Only with the establishment of the Dewford Gym did the island regain some popularity. However, most of those who came here now were for the Gym challenge and wouldn't stay long.

It was already afternoon today. Rex planned to buy some exploration tools in town and set off tomorrow morning.

On the way back, Rex shared his plans for tomorrow with the others. Except for Kai, the others weren't very interested. Unfortunately, Kai wanted to train his Pokémon specially and then challenge the Dewford Gym again, so he had to regretfully give up.

Although he didn't have any companions, Rex wasn't discouraged. After all, disappearing on this small island wasn't a good idea, so he politely extended an invitation.

Early the next morning, Rex packed up and set off directly for the Granite Cave. After walking for more than twenty minutes in the northwest direction of Dewford Island, he finally found the cave entrance.

After entering the cave, Rex couldn't see the surroundings clearly and felt everything was dim.

Fortunately, this was the real world; he didn't need Pokémon to use Flash to see his surroundings like in the games. He took out the mining lamp he had purchased and wore it on his head, illuminating the path ahead.

In this dim cave, Rex released his Sandslash, Heracross, and Machop to guard him. Of course, Haunter had been in his shadow, ready to come out at any time to protect him.

Of course, in this dark cave environment, Sandslash was the most effective, as its eyes could see in the dark. If they got lost or encountered a collapse, he could direct it to dig a way out.

After walking a distance, Rex arrived at a relatively spacious area. Looking around, he saw traces of shovel excavation, indicating there used to be a vein here, but it must have been dug out.

"Drip!"

Rex suddenly heard something dripping from above to the ground. He quickly looked up and saw many Zubat clinging to the top of the stone wall. The thing that had just fallen was probably Zubat dung.

Fortunately, these Zubat didn't show any signs of attacking him. Nevertheless, for safety's sake, Rex didn't plan to linger here. He hurried forward, trying to leave this territory of Zubat as quickly as possible.

After walking a distance, there were no more Zubat on the ceiling of the cave, which relieved Rex. However, knowing that this dark cave was not as peaceful as it seemed, his vigilance level increased.

The farther he went, the more forks appeared. Some forks were connected, which was fine, but others were independent, making it easy to get lost.

Before delving further, Rex asked Sandslash if it could remember the route they had taken. After getting an affirmative answer, he dared to continue his exploration.

(End of Chapter)