Icarus remained lying on the ground, completely naked, for nearly half a day before he finally regained enough strength to move freely.
The medicine of the Pokémon world truly lived up to its reputation.
As expensive as it was, there was a reason for that.
If such miraculous medicine had existed in his previous life, it would have been priceless.
After all, this was a world filled with extraordinary powers. Producing supernatural medicine was hardly surprising.
During those hours, he directed his Pokémon to drive away several wild Pokémon that had been attracted by the scent of blood.
Fortunately, most of them weren't particularly strong. With favorable type matchups, they were easily driven off.
As for the stronger ones, Icarus simply offered them a few Pokémon corpses. Satisfied with the free meal, they left peacefully.
After all, Pokémon corpses were the least valuable resource here, so there was no reason to feel bad about it.
"Alright, let's start collecting everything that got scattered."
Once he was able to move, Icarus changed into a fresh set of high-grade protective clothing and set out with his Pokémon to gather the materials scattered across the area.
"Squirtle! Squirtle!"
There's a piece of Cold Iron Ore here!
"Woof! Woof!"
I found a Rock-type energy-rich ore!
"Pidgeotto! Pidgeotto!"
Pidgeotto flew over carrying the corpse of a Nidorino.
Seeing this, Icarus couldn't help feeling awkward. He tossed the corpse aside and explained to the confused Pidgeotto.
"Pidgeotto, these Pokémon corpses aren't worth much anymore. Most of their energy has already dissipated.
"The meat still contains some energy, but it won't sell for a high price.
"Let's prioritize valuable materials first. We can deal with the corpses later."
"Pidgeotto…"
Understanding its mistake, Pidgeotto awkwardly scratched its head with a wing before quickly flying off to search for more valuable items.
However, none of the others were as efficient as Weepinbell.
With several vines working at once, Weepinbell had already found numerous valuable materials for Icarus, including a completely intact medium-sized spatial backpack.
Although the zipper had been torn open and most of the contents had spilled out, the backpack itself was undamaged.
That meant he now had extra storage space.
Suddenly, Weepinbell excitedly called out.
"Bellsprout! Bellsprout!"
Its voice was filled with excitement as it beckoned him over.
Apparently, it had found something even more valuable than everything they had recovered so far combined.
"Coming, coming! Let me see what you've found."
Setting aside the backpack he was organizing, Icarus hurried over.
"What is it, Weepinbell?"
With a swish of its vines, Weepinbell mysteriously revealed the item hidden behind its back.
At first glance, it looked like an ordinary stone—rough, pitted, and unremarkable.
But even Icarus, whose energy perception was mediocre compared to a Pokémon's, could sense the immense power contained within it.
That alone was enough to prove how extraordinary it was.
"This… this is…"
His eyes widened.
"A fragment of the Giant Lunatone!"
Excitedly, he grabbed the stone.
The quality of this fragment far surpassed that of a top-grade Moon Stone.
He remembered that a top-grade Moon Stone had once sold for several million at an auction in Pewter City.
As for this fragment?
Calling it "Saint-grade" would not be an exaggeration.
Purely in terms of monetary value, it might be worth ten to twenty million.
But that calculation was meaningless.
Items like this simply couldn't be bought with money.
For the Wu Neng Family, perhaps it still had a measurable value.
For outsiders, however, obtaining a fragment of the Giant Lunatone was nearly impossible.
The only way to acquire one would be through an exchange involving treasures of equal rarity.
If Icarus wished, he could probably trade this fragment for several top-grade Leaf Stones.
"Still…"
His excitement gradually faded.
"It doesn't seem very useful in my hands.
"I can't possibly use something like this to evolve Luna's Clefairy. That would be far too wasteful."
Looking at the fist-sized fragment, he fell into deep thought.
The problem wasn't its value.
The problem was that he couldn't use it.
A treasure that couldn't be exchanged or converted into practical resources was little more than a burden.
First, there was the Alliance.
As an ordinary Trainer, taking such an item to a Pokémon Center for exchange would be practically asking for trouble.
Even if he exchanged it in another city, the Wu Neng Family would likely place him on a wanted list to make an example out of him.
At that point, he would have no choice but to fully commit himself to Team Rocket.
The second option was returning it to the Wu Neng Family and claiming he found it after the explosion.
That would certainly be the safest choice.
But it would also be the biggest loss.
At most, the Wu Neng Family might reward him with a high-quality Pokémon or recruit him into the Gym under favorable conditions.
No matter what they offered, it would never match the true value of a Saint-grade Moon Stone.
Then there was Team Rocket.
He had previously used Team Rocket channels to dispose of questionable loot.
But this fragment was one of the very treasures Team Rocket had risked everything to obtain.
As a mere squad leader, the only sensible choice would be to hand it over voluntarily.
As for the reward?
It would likely be similar to what the Pewter Gym offered—perhaps some contribution points or organizational rewards.
Whether he was satisfied or not didn't matter.
He would be expected to be satisfied.
Otherwise, the organization might question his loyalty and conclude that he wasn't worth cultivating.
In other words, even Team Rocket wasn't a viable option.
"Or…"
A thought suddenly surfaced in his mind.
"Should I raise another Nidoking?"
The backup plan he had reluctantly abandoned resurfaced.
The image of that Elite Four-level Nidoking from the battle outside Mt. Moon was still firmly etched into his memory.
"Squirtle! Squirtle!"
At that moment, Squirtle ran over carrying another ore and proudly placed it before him.
Icarus smiled and patted its head.
"Good job, Squirtle. Keep it up."
Looking at Squirtle, he eventually shook his head and dismissed the idea.
At present, all of his Pokémon required large amounts of resources for training.
Even if the Saint-grade Moon Stone could dramatically improve a Nidoran's potential, what would be the point if he lacked the funds to raise it properly?
It would simply become another burden.
After all, even Stone's Kangaskhan—despite possessing an extremely concentrated Dragon bloodline—was already beginning to outgrow the resources Stone could provide.
A high potential alone wasn't enough.
Furthermore, Icarus had learned quite a bit about Nidoking.
To truly become a powerhouse, Nidoking required a powerful Ability, a Life Orb, and a collection of high-level moves working together.
Otherwise, it would end up like the Ordinary High-Rank Nidoking he had fought before.
It possessed an impressive appearance and tremendous physical strength, but its actual combat power fell far short of expectations.
In the end, several mid-stage Pokémon had surrounded and killed it.
It hadn't even put up much resistance.
And a treasure like a Life Orb wasn't something that could be mass-produced like Poison-type sludge or bird beaks using common materials.
Items of that level were genuinely rare treasures.