Pokémon: Chronicles of Freedom

Upon hearing Cain's words, Meyer was momentarily stunned.

Then he replied, "If you ask around other appliance shops in Lumiose City, you probably won't find it, because this kind of thing is already beyond the scope of electrical devices. But in my store... I don't have it either!"

Cain stumbled slightly, almost losing his balance.

After all that speech, you don't have it? Then why say so much?

Cain felt a slight headache coming on.

"Hahaha! Although I don't have one right now, if you need it, I can make it for you," Meyer said, laughing, patting Cain's shoulder with complete confidence.

Cain felt as though a few black lines should have appeared on his forehead.

No wonder Clemont barely returned home after becoming Gym Leader.

This father was truly eccentric.

When his son was still under ten, he was already helping him look for a wife and constantly encouraging him to surround himself with pretty girls.

"I better get straight to the point before I end up as weird as him," Cain thought.

"If possible, I do need it quite a bit," Cain nodded, then continued, "By the way, one of the reasons I came today was for that, but I also wanted to ask—Mr. Meyer, have you come across any strange stones lately?"

"Maybe the question's a bit sudden, but my friend Steven has an obsession with stone collecting. I heard your shop has some peculiar things, so I thought I'd ask."

It was a rather forced excuse, but it all depended on who he said it to.

If it were someone like Lance, who's extremely meticulous, he'd probably get suspicious.

But someone like Meyer... he was unlikely to notice anything strange.

Sure enough, after hearing Cain's question, Meyer wore a knowing expression.

People with that kind of personality—no matter what world they're in—always seem like protagonists. Without that "main character" aura, they probably wouldn't last long.

"Strange stones? My shop's full of weird electrical gadgets, but strange stones..." Meyer frowned, thinking.

Suddenly, he slapped his forehead.

He immediately began rummaging through his chaotic workbench.

Tools and parts flew to the floor as he enthusiastically dug around.

After a while, he managed to pull out a crushed metal box from under a pile of junk.

"Found it!"

He blew the dust off the box.

It was a metal tin, resembling a candy case. When he opened it, it revealed its contents.

There were some candy-like spheres and, among them, a stone that looked very much like the sweets.

Cain instinctively narrowed his eyes but quickly returned to normal.

Since his head was lowered, his expression wasn't visible.

"If we're talking strange stones, I guess I only have this one," Meyer said. "My son Clemont found it while playing on the floor. Thought it was candy and nearly cracked a tooth on it—hahaha!"

Cain forced a smile. "Heh... how curious."

"I've really never seen a stone like this." He took the Mega Stone in his hand and pretended to examine it carefully.

Whap!

Suddenly, a strong hand smacked Cain's shoulder with such force it nearly made him stagger again, despite his good physical condition.

"If you've never seen one like it, then it's yours! I don't know what it's for anyway."

Meyer smiled generously.

But he didn't notice Cain was still rubbing his shoulder from the hit.

No wonder he could leap across rooftops with his Blaziken—his physique was on par with that of Fighting-type trainers.

Cain thought about this while massaging his shoulder, observing the Mega Stone in his hand. Its core, with a leaf-like pattern, was predominantly red.

It had to be the Blazikenite.

If it really was Blaziken's Mega Stone, then the shoulder hit was worth it.

"I can't accept your stone without offering something in return, sir. These kinds of things are quite rare. I'll pay you for it," said Cain.

Meyer, busy adjusting a machine on his workbench, waved his hand nonchalantly. "It's just a stone, not worth that much. Hold on a sec."

Then he refocused on his work.

The device Cain had asked him to repair was already fully fixed and placed off to the side without him even noticing.

No wonder Meyer was the owner of Lumiose City's best appliance shop.

His technical skill was impressive.

It wasn't surprising his son Clemont could build so many odd devices.

"All done!" Ten minutes later, Meyer shouted with excitement.

His sudden voice startled Cain, who had been examining gadgets on a shelf.

No wonder his son and daughter were so jumpy. They probably grew up with constant shocks like this.

"Cain, here's the portable Pokémon transfer device you asked for. It needs a separate signal receiver, so you'll have to buy that yourself. Just insert it into this slot."

Meyer looked at him, expecting praise.

"..."

Cain gave a thumbs-up.

He had no words to describe it, but at least he could give a gesture.

After all, building such a device in just ten minutes was impressive.

Satisfied with the reaction, Meyer also gave a thumbs-up, flashing a brilliant smile, his teeth so white they nearly reflected light.

Finally, Cain took the device and the Mega Stone and left the shop. If he stayed any longer, he feared his intelligence might suffer damage.

He left an anonymous bank card as payment.

Meyer had only asked for a symbolic price, but Cain left five million Pokédollars in the account.

It wasn't an outrageous amount, but it wasn't small either.

Though it didn't match the real value of a Mega Stone, at this moment, no one knew their true worth. For a shop owner, selling a simple stone for that price was more than generous.

Meyer watched Cain walk away, his expression turning more serious.

He was carefree, but not stupid.

He understood that the real reason for Cain's visit wasn't the device—it was the stone.

What he couldn't figure out was what made that stone so special, or how Cain knew he had it.

If he hadn't strained his memory, he probably would've forgotten it.

But he didn't sense any ill intentions from Cain, so he decided not to press him.

After all, Cain was also part of the Pokémon League.

"Maybe he has a device that detects these stones, but won't say anything because he's a League researcher," he told himself.

Meyer swiped the bank card through a reader.

"One, two, three... five million! Wow, how generous!"

That was equal to his annual salary.

"Since I left my post as Gym Leader, I haven't seen that much money all at once. Time to celebrate with Blaziken Mask!"

He pulled a mask out from somewhere and put it over his face.

Too dramatic.

But after all, Meyer had been the Lumiose City Gym Leader, and his Pokémon had been trained ever since.

His Blaziken and Ampharos were no joke.

(End of Chapter)