"How could it be an Aron? And how did it get stuck on Onix's tail?"
Aron was already a very rare Pokémon, and now it not only appeared before Ryan's eyes but also in such a peculiar way.
Ryan had many doubts in his mind, but he didn't have time to think too much.
The immediate priority was how to get the Aron off Onix's body.
"Steenee, try releasing your aroma."
Ryan tried to calm Onix down with Steenee's fragrance.
But the intense pain couldn't be soothed by mere fragrance. Even though Steenee released all the aroma it could, Onix still couldn't calm down.
"You've worked hard, take a rest for a while."
Looking at Steenee in his arms, whose body had become somewhat withered, Ryan knew it had really done its best.
"Mongi mong~"
Steenee's cry had become weak; it truly had nothing left.
"It's impossible to calm Onix down. Is there any way to restrict its movements? Huh? I think I actually have something like that."
Ryan suddenly remembered an item he had obtained from the lottery yesterday—the Sticky Ball.
Wasn't that thing used to restrict Pokémon's movements?
Thinking of this, Ryan quickly took out a Sticky Ball. Fortunately, he hadn't claimed all his rewards at once.
According to the panel's rules, rewards obtained from tasks and lotteries could be stored in the panel indefinitely, and could be claimed anytime, anywhere, with the user deciding the quantity to claim.
However, once taken out, they couldn't be put back into the panel. Therefore, Ryan only took out rewards when he needed them, effectively using the panel as a storage space.
Looking at the Sticky Ball in his hand, Ryan wasn't sure if it could restrain Onix's movements, but he had no other options.
He picked up the Sticky Ball and threw it forcefully at Onix.
The Sticky Ball drew a beautiful arc in the air and then accurately hit Onix.
Seeing that he had hit his target, Ryan excitedly waved his hand. It seemed his childhood days of playing with beanbags hadn't been in vain.
After hitting Onix, the Sticky Ball quickly burst open, and streaks of white, viscous substance covered its body.
Onix's movements visibly slowed down a lot.
Ryan seized this opportunity to approach its tail and found the Aron stuck in the crevice.
He grabbed Aron's body with both hands and pulled outwards with all his might, but it wasn't very effective. Aron remained motionless.
It made sense. Onix had thrashed its tail so desperately and still couldn't get it out. For Ryan's small build, it would be a miracle if he could pull it out.
Scyther and Steenee also wanted to step forward to help, but together they couldn't even make up one proper hand, so they could only anxiously watch from the side.
Just as Onix was about to break free from the restraints, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck Ryan's mind.
"How could I be so dumb? Did that player called Last Night's West Wind infect me?"
Ryan directly took out a Poké Ball and slammed it against Aron's rear end.
With a flash of red light, Aron was drawn into the Poké Ball. It fell to the ground and barely shook a few times before making a "ding~" sound.
"Huh? It was caught directly?"
This was somewhat beyond Ryan's expectations. His original idea was to get Aron into the Poké Ball.
Then the Poké Ball would fall to the ground, and Aron would break free, thus getting out automatically without him having to exert so much effort.
As a result, Ryan had even prepared to waste a Poké Ball, but unexpectedly, he had succeeded in catching it.
It seemed that being stuck in the crevice for so long had exhausted Aron's stamina, making it so easy to catch.
The Onix on the side, no longer feeling the pain in its tail, also realized that the human in front of it had helped it.
It lowered its body and let out a soft growl towards Ryan, seemingly expressing its gratitude.
"Just a verbal thank you? No practical action?" Ryan joked with a smile.
But Onix seemed to take it seriously. It gestured for Ryan to wait in place for a moment, then turned and left.
Not long after, it crawled back, spitting out several stones it had been holding in its mouth.
"This is... gold nugget? And a Moon Stone and a Dusk Stone, it even has a Grass Gem?" Ryan looked at the pile of stones on the ground in astonishment. He really hadn't expected this Onix to have so many good things.
Seeing that Ryan hadn't reacted for a long time, Onix used its head to push the stones on the ground forward.
These stones were all found by it when it was digging tunnels. Although it didn't know what they were for, they looked quite pretty, so it had collected them.
Now it wanted to give all these stones to the human in front of it, not knowing if he would like them.
Ryan certainly liked these "stones," but his conscience really wouldn't allow it. Onix didn't know the value of these "stones," but he did.
"I was just joking. I didn't help you to get anything. Take all these stones back."
Ryan refused sincerely.
But Onix didn't listen to him and instead blocked the path with its body.
The meaning was clear: if you don't take them, you won't be going down the mountain.
Faced with this situation, Ryan didn't know what to do. This Onix was too stubborn.
Ryan really had no choice but to compromise:
"How about this, let's each take a step back. I'll accept your thanks, but there are really too many of these things. I'll only pick one."
"Nod if you think that's okay. If not, then I'll just stay here with you."
Onix looked at Ryan's resolute face and had no choice but to nod in agreement.
"That's the way! Let me see what to choose~"
Before he could even pick, Steenee in his arms had already darted out, rubbing its little face against the Grass Gem repeatedly, its eyes full of longing.
"Mongi!"
"You're quite cunning, knowing to choose something useful for yourself."
Looking at Steenee's expectant eyes, Ryan shook his head helplessly. What else could he do? It was so cute, he could only agree.
"I'll choose this one then." Ryan picked up the Grass Gem.
Seeing that Ryan had finished choosing, Onix knew he wouldn't take any other stones. It had no choice but to carry the remaining stones in its mouth. After bowing again to express its gratitude, it dug a hole and left.
"As expected, good deeds are rewarded," Ryan couldn't help but sigh.
"Next, it's time to deal with you, little guy."
He released Aron, only to find that the little guy was already fast asleep.
"You're really carefree, aren't you? Well, if you weren't so carefree, you wouldn't have run headfirst into an Onix."
Aron groggily opened its eyes. When it saw Ryan squatting in front of it, it was so scared that it turned around to run.
"What are you running for? I'm the one who saved you, okay?"
Hearing the familiar voice, Aron stopped in its tracks.
Although its head had been stuck in the crevice and it couldn't see anything, it could still hear sounds. It seemed that the human who made this sound had indeed saved it.
So Aron cautiously walked back.
"You've been trapped for so long, you must be hungry."
Aron wanted to shake its head, but its stomach inconveniently rumbled.
"Goo~ goo goo~"
It had no choice but to nod bashfully.
"Sigh, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. But I don't have any iron ore here, so let's just make do with some Pokémon food for now."
The Pokémon food from the quest reward was a basic type that all Pokémon could eat.
Although the taste might not be as good as the things they usually liked to eat, it was generally acceptable.
In any case, this Aron ate quite happily. After it finished eating, Ryan asked it why it had gotten stuck on Onix's tail.
After Aron gestured for a while, he roughly understood what had happened.