"In the end, everything comes down to interests."
Ethan shook his head and left the treasury with the Life Orb and the Mega Stone.
...
Once he finished taking care of everything at the Pokémon Researchers Guild, Ethan said goodbye to President Beckett and returned to Stonefield Town.
Professor Harris and Professor Reynolds did not go with him because they still had pending matters to handle.
When the review of the research center was approved and its construction officially began, both elderly professors would also travel to Stonefield Town.
As for Alex, he had indeed left the Guild headquarters together with Ethan, but then he returned home, because he also had some matters to take care of.
When he returned to Stonefield Town, Ethan did not go directly home, but first headed to the old village chief's house.
He intended to build a research center in Stonefield Town, as well as cultivate a sea of Gracidea flowers and regreen the entire town.
He felt he should discuss all of it with the old chief, although he was completely sure that he would end up accepting.
"Really?"
"Ethan, you're planning to develop the town?!"
Just as expected, the old chief immediately became excited.
From Ethan's proposal, it was evident that all of it could only bring benefits and no harm to the town.
In exchange for giving up an abandoned quarry, they could promote the town's development. It was a completely advantageous deal.
In the end, the old chief told Ethan to go ahead without worries, because he himself would take care of convincing the villagers.
After obtaining the old chief's answer, Ethan could rest easy.
With that, the last possible problem surrounding the construction of the research center was also resolved.
From that moment on, he could calmly begin his plan to transform Stonefield Town.
"Ethan, you came back just in time. This time I prepared your favorite dish, braised pork."
When Ethan returned home, his mother came out of the kitchen with a big smile, carrying the food.
Ethan's heart felt warm, and he responded right away. The whole family shared a happy and harmonious atmosphere.
At that moment, Ethan felt even more strongly how correct his decision had been.
After building the research center in Stonefield Town, he would have much more time to accompany his parents.
"By the way, where is that little Sandslash?"
While they ate, his mother asked about Sandslash.
That little one especially loved the braised pork Ethan's mother prepared.
"Right now they're excavating a mine. After so much time, I suppose they should almost be done."
Ethan smiled as he replied, remembering Sandslash, Tyranitar, Vibrava, and Rhyperior in the mobile Secret Kingdom.
After so much time, it was already time to go bring them back.
...
Half a day later, Ethan rode Charizard and arrived at the Tarkaan Desert.
After releasing Meltan, he successfully found the entrance to the mobile Secret Kingdom.
Now, after absorbing nine of Meltan's nuts, Meltan's strength had already reached the Quasi-Elite level.
The range of its spatial magnetic field had expanded tremendously, so finding the entrance to the mobile Secret Kingdom was very easy for it.
"I wonder how the excavation of the Smooth Rock vein is going."
With his feet on the yellow sand, Ethan remembered the mission he had left to Sandslash and the others.
After many years of excavation by Tyranitar, in reality, the amount of Smooth Rock remaining was already not too great.
Upon learning that, Ethan had ordered Sandslash, Tyranitar, and the others to completely empty that Smooth Rock vein.
Now that both Sandslash and Tyranitar already possessed Quasi-Elite-level strength, extracting that vein, which had previously been very difficult to exploit, had become much simpler.
In reality, Ethan never planned to leave Sandslash, Tyranitar, and the others permanently in the mobile Secret Kingdom; from the beginning, he had planned to leave while taking all that Smooth Rock with him.
And now, with all that rock, he could also completely condition Sandslash's Secret Kingdom, so the plan to relocate the mobile Secret Kingdom was officially added to his agenda.
When Ethan arrived at the place where the mobile Secret Kingdom was located, he discovered that the ruins had disappeared completely.
In the place they had previously occupied, there was now a huge crater, and inside it, a large number of Pokémon were working hard at excavating.
When Ethan decided to move that Smooth Rock vein, Tyranitar directly mobilized all the Pokémon of the Secret Kingdom to work together.
Now, in only a few weeks, the ruins had been completely emptied. Piles of Smooth Rock were stacked in enormous quantities, forming a rather striking sight.
"Wait... what is that?"
Suddenly, Ethan's gaze was attracted by a stone stele standing upright in the center of the great crater.
Riding Charizard, he descended to the bottom of the pit, and then discovered that the stele was precisely the ancient stone door.
Now, after completely emptying the ruins, the stone door had been fully exposed.
Originally, Ethan had thought that behind that door there would be a stone chamber, but apparently that was not the case.
"Behind the stone door, there should have been a room..."
"Wait... could it be a dimensional space? And this stone door actually connects to another space?"
Suddenly, a possibility occurred to Ethan, and his entire body froze in surprise.
Until now, he had believed that that chamber had been able to trap Regirock because it was sealed and because the material of the chamber was extraordinarily sturdy.
After all, not even Mega Lucario, together with the combined attacks of all the other Pokémon, had managed to destroy that stone door, which fully demonstrated how special its material was.
However, with Regirock being a Rock-type Mythical Pokémon, Ethan could not imagine what kind of stone would be capable of imprisoning such a Pokémon.
Thinking of it that way, the explanation that Regirock was sealed inside a dimensional space fit completely!
(End of chapter)