25 Chapter 24 : Hard Stone

Orion looked at Rhyhorn and wondered, 'Rhyhorn can eat Hard Stone? Now that I think about it, high-quality Hard Stones can be used as a resource for Rock type Pokemons. Apart from enhancing Rock type moves, it is also helpful in improving their talent.'

Orion observed as Rhyhorn ate a couple of bites more before stopping. He looked very satisfied and pleased as if he had found a new delicacy. Orion chuckled and asked, "How is it, Rhyhorn?"

Rhyhorn responded in an excited tone, "Rhy Rhyhorn!"

Orion chuckled again and said, "Good. Have a feast then."

He thought, 'Looks like this Hard Stone can be very beneficial for Rhyhorn. If that's the case, then selling it will be beyond stupid. That said, he got full after taking three bites. It will take a long time until this Hard Stone is completely consumed. Fortunately, I still have 2 more years until I can leave for my journey.'

Since Rhyhorn couldn't eat the entire Hard Stone, Orion had him seal the entrance to the tunnel he built to reach the Hard Stone. He could see that Rhyhorn was a bit reluctant to leave. He said. "Don't worry, we will come here on a daily basis."

Rhyhorn immediately became excited. The two of them returned back to the city. Orion recalled Rhyhorn to the Pokeball while he walked towards the Gym. En route, he saw several large crowds gathered around the city.

He thought, 'Looks like a new batch of kids are getting their starter from the League. A shame that I caught my Rhyhorn after the previous batch had all left the city. These new trainers could have been a good and safe way to harvest experience points for Rhyhorn.

Fighting them now will be a waste as I'll just be bullying them with my Rhyhorn. Though if I catch a second Pokemon, then I can use them to grind it.'

Over the last year, Orion had collected slightly more than 27 thousand Pokecoins. If he caught a Pokemon with just a single type, then he could feed it for close to 3 months. Hence, Orion had begun looking for his second Pokemon.

Unfortunately, no Pokemon caught his eye. Unlike his first Pokemon, when he was desperate enough to catch anything he could, Orion could afford to be more choosy. He still didn't dare to risk checking talents in case he captured a Platinum talent Pokemon. As a result, he had to choose a different criteria. The criteria Orion decided on were grit and hunger!

Orion thought, 'Unless I come across a Psychic Pokemon, my second Pokemon has to be someone who is extremely gritty and has a hunger to grow stronger. Such a Pokemon will grow to be a powerhouse even if it has low talent and I won't feel bad to spend money on it later. Unfortunately, finding such a Pokemon is harder than I expected.'

Orion returned to the Gym. As soon as he did, Emma rushed towards him and said, "Let's compete once again!"

Orion looked at her and noticed that she was extremely confident for some reason. He wondered, 'Why did she suddenly become overconfident? That's unlike her. Did she have a great breakthrough or something? Also, why is she competing with me in this manner?'

Over the last 8 months, this was the 5th time Emma had challenged Orion. Since Orion couldn't focus entirely on training his Psychic Powers, the distance between them became smaller each time. While Emma was always obsessed with being the best, Orion didn't understand why she suddenly began challenging him after finding out that Orion already had a Pokemon.

Orion said, "Sure."

The two walked towards a room that allowed students to test their Psychic powers. Both sat in front of a couple of small boxes that had several small blocks, each weighing 10 grams.

Psychic training has several steps. The first step was of course awakening the Psychic powers. The second step was improving control. Both Orion and Emma had long passed these two steps. Several other students had also completed these two steps. The next couple of steps were increasing power. The third step involved controlling 100 10-gram blocks at the same time, while the fourth step was controlling 100 1-kg blocks at the same time.

Traditionally, a Psychic's powers grew exponentially once they completed the third step. After the fourth step, there were two things that a Psychic could focus on. One, which was very rarely explored, was increasing the Psychic power to such a level that the Psychic could lift 1000 kg. And the second was replicating Pokemon moves beyond just telekinesis. Teleport, for instance, was one of the moves most Psychics dreamt of having due to how much it increased their survivability in the wild.

Orion was still stuck on the third step. His eyes glowed blue as he focused on the blocks. In an instant, over 50 blocks began floating in the air. Orion rapidly added a few more. Within seconds, 91 blocks were floating in front of him. He increased his focus further and managed to make four more blocks float in the air.

Orion thought, 'Just five more…'

His eyes landed on another block and made it float as well. He did it twice more and in total, 98 blocks were floating at the same time! However, Orion had reached his limit. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't raise any more blocks.

He sighed and used his psychic powers to place the blocks in front of him. He made 9 small towers each having 10 blocks and the last one having 8 blocks. He turned around to see how Emma was doing.

She had just started laying the blocks down as well. Soon, she constructed 9 small towers. Orion's eyes widened as he noticed that 11 blocks were still floating! Emma had managed to control 101 blocks at the same time!

Emma arranged the blocks and looked over at Orion's blocks. She quickly counted them. Her face lit up in an instant as she realized that she had surpassed Orion for the first time. Involuntarily, a smile bloomed on her lips, replacing the usual cold and distant look on her face. Her hazel eyes couldn't hide the joy she was experiencing.

Orion watched as her cold expression melted away and a warm smile radiated from her like a sudden burst of sunlight. He couldn't help but think, 'Hey, how does someone's mood change so quickly? How freaking competitive is she to become so happy in an instant?'

Orion didn't know what Cedric had told Emma. So he could only assume that Emma's competitive spirit had become much more fierce.

Emma said softly, "I have finally won!"

Her eyes moved towards Orion with eyes full of pride but was confused upon seeing his expression. Orion was staring at her with a deadpan expression. She couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"

The two were sitting very close to each other. Orion's hands moved towards Emma. Emma, who rarely interacted with others didn't understand what he was up to. Suddenly, Orion caught both her cheeks between his thumbs and index fingers and pinched her cheeks, pulling them slightly and catching Emma completely off-guard! She immediately caught his hands and said in an alarming voice, "What are you doing? Let me go!"

Unfortunately, unlike Emma who spent all her time meditating, Orion had spent an equal amount of time training his body. The two weren't even comparable in this regard. She couldn't stop Orion as he squeezed her cheeks for a few seconds before letting go. Emma immediately held her cheeks which had turned slightly red at this point.

She looked at Orion and asked, "You meanie! Why did you do that?"

Orion smiled and raised two fingers. He said in a mysterious tone, "As your dear friend, let me give you two pieces of advice that you should remember for your life."