Following the Clefable through the tunnel, August and Mew eventually arrived at an open-air cavern.

  Only then did he realize how te it had gotten.

  "It actually took this long to deal with Team Rocket," he murmured, exhaling as he gazed up at the starry sky and the full moon hanging high above.

  Lowering his gaze, he took in the scene before him—at the center of the cavern stood a massive Moon Stone, bathed in soft moonlight that refracted into a gentle white glow.

  "So this is the legendary giant Moon Stone?"

  Even though he had heard of it before, seeing it in person still left him astonished.

  Due to high demand and limited supply, evolution stones were perpetually expensive on the market.

  The Moon Stone was one of the most valuable, with a standard-sized stone that could trigger evolution selling for around 200,000 Pokédolrs.

  And this enormous Moon Stone in front of him? If cut down into smaller pieces, August estimated it could yield at least a thousand evolution stones.

  In other words, he was looking at a rock worth over two hundred million.

  Damn…

  He quickly shook off the thought. If he let himself dwell on it any longer, even a morally upright trainer like himself might start feeling tempted.

  Diverting his attention, he focused on the Clefairy.

  Under the guidance of the Clefable, the Clefairy formed a circle around the Moon Stone, holding hands as they performed a mysterious dance.

  As the moonlight bathed them, several Clefairy began to glow with evolutionary light.

  When the glow faded, the newly evolved Clefable were immediately surrounded by their companions, celebrating their transformation.

  "Mew…!"

  Mew eagerly joined in on the celebration, and in turn, gestured for August to join as well.

  He shook his head.

  Dancing? Not his thing. Not even a little.

  However, Dratini and Bagon were clearly interested.

  Seeing their eager expressions, August waved his hand, letting them go.

  And so, his two Pokémon excitedly squeezed into the circle of Clefairy, happily dancing around the giant Moon Stone.

  Meanwhile, August walked over to a Clefable, pulled out an energy cube, and waved it in front of it.

  "Want to try one?"

  Clefable's small nose twitched. Its eyes sparkled as it eagerly grabbed the energy cube and popped it into its mouth.

  "Clefable!"

  The moment it tasted the cube, its entire expression lit up in delight. It had never eaten anything this delicious before!

  But one cube was nowhere near enough. Within seconds, Clefable finished it and turned to August with hopeful eyes.

  August took out another energy cube—but this time, he didn't hand it over right away.

  "By the way, do you guys have any special rocks around here?" he asked.

  "If you have something I'm looking for, I can trade you these energy cubes for it."

  That's right—he was targeting the Clefairy for his trade.

  Brock had marked several locations on the map, but if August searched for rare stones himself, it would take days, and he'd have to py miner on top of it.

  Rather than go through all that trouble, why not ask the local residents of Mt. Moon?

  "Clefable…?"

  Clefable's eyes locked onto the energy cube in August's hand.

  It scratched its head, thought for a moment, then called over a few companions to whisper among themselves.

  After a brief discussion, one of them stepped forward and gestured at August.

  "So… you're saying you do have the kind of rocks I'm looking for, but you want a hundred energy cubes per rock?"

  "Clefable!"

  Clefable nodded, looking a little embarrassed.

  Clearly, even they felt guilty about trading some random rocks for such delicious food.

  "Alright… one hundred per rock it is."

  August hesitated—not because he felt like he was getting ripped off, but because he had an odd sense of guilt.

  After all…

  The energy cubes he had were made from basic berries—berries that he had taken from the League's storage. The cost was practically zero. The only valuable thing was the recipe itself.

  Without hesitation, he handed Clefable a box of energy cubes as a down payment.

  Clefable, being simple-hearted creatures, had no ulterior motives. As soon as they got their payment, they called out to their companions.

  And then—

  August watched as a pile of rocks was dumped in front of him from who-knows-where.

  Among the collection, there weren't just oddly shaped stones but also quite a few evolution stones.

  Seeing this, he could almost picture the Clefairy wandering Mt. Moon, carefully collecting various unique minerals over time.

  Ignoring the evolution stones, he carefully examined the peculiar-looking rocks.

  Steven definitely didn't ck evolution stones.

  And if August ever needed them himself, as an International Police agent, he could just file a request with Lance and receive them directly from the League.

  After sifting through the pile, he selected two stones—

  One was an irregurly shaped meteorite of unknown composition.

  The other was a fossil, likely from an ancient Pokémon.

  Then, after a moment of thought, he decided to trade for a few evolution stones anyway—two Fire Stones, one Leaf Stone, and one Shiny Stone, all at the agreed-upon rate of one hundred energy cubes per stone.

  Evolution stones were always useful, and the Clefairy had no need for them. It was better to put them to good use.

  With a sudden windfall of energy cubes, the Clefairy looked absolutely delighted, treating them as emergency rations.

  Meanwhile, the leading Clefable, feeling like they had taken too much advantage of August, whispered among themselves before offering him an additional Moon Stone as a gift.

  August, holding the Moon Stone that had been shoved into his hands, suddenly felt guilty.

  "These Clefairy… are so wholesome."

  Even among wild Pokémon, ones with such a kind nature were rare.

  Perhaps this was why so many Trainers loved Clefairy.

  …

  The Clefairy's celebration sted all night.

  When the sun rose, August crawled out of his sleeping bag.

  Seeing the Clefairy huddled together in their sleep, he quietly packed his things, careful not to wake them.

  After giving a nod of thanks to the Clefable standing guard, he left their secret gathering site.

  "Mew~"

  Mew nded on his shoulder with a cheerful chirp.

  Despite having pyed the entire night, it showed no signs of exhaustion—a true Mythical Pokémon, through and through.

  "I'm heading to Cerulean City next. Are you still pnning to follow me?" August asked.

  "Mew…"

  Mew hesitated for a moment before shaking its head.

  It was going to continue its search.

  It could feel that its companion was lost, confused, and in need of its help.

  ---

  T/N: Clefairy are so cuteeee!