บท 27: Background Check!
The group awaited the Alliance's arrival outside, which occurred shortly thereafter. Leon spotted Larry from afar almost immediately, aided by his enhanced vision.
Surrounding him were several individuals, there appeared to be around 30 people altogether. The people with Leon couldn't see from so far, so the group of people was somewhat vague to them.
Eventually, they came into view for all to see. The Mayor's residence was in a secluded area within the town, so anyone taking this road destination could only be the Mayor's Manor.
"Well, if it isn't Mayor Keith. It's nice to see you after all these years." Larry was a muscular man, but despite his physique; his height was average.
He stood around 177-178 centimeters, which wasn't much taller than Lars and Leon. Both had seen a bit of a growth spurt over the past couple of weeks.
"Nothing much, just barely hanging on at my old age." Both men shook hands while greeting one another.
"Misters and Miss Brinster, I won't beat around the bush. It's nice to see you in person, but the ladies and gentlemen are extremely eager. Do you mind leading us to the destination right away, we can talk on the way."
Larry was referring to the people he had brought with him. Apparently, they were eager to explore this mine and appraise it.
"Of course! Let's head over there right now." Leon was eager himself and naturally led the way.
The Mayor was stunned, he had already been told about the mine by Larry briefly. According to Leon, it was a Mother Lode and contained many rich ores and gems.
Leon had even shown them the ores he had found. Larry almost passed from joy when he saw the Arcesium and Glaskorium. Team Aqua and Magma had just robbed Devon Corporation's caravan.
It was almost as if Leon was god sent; he had come at the right time. Even the Mayor's eyes almost popped out when he saw the ores.
This large piece of ore alone was worth millions!
Leon had detected that the people following Larry had sighed in deep relief. He didn't know what was going on, but he could see the relief and joy in their expressions.
Under Leon's guidance, the large group of people from the Alliance left town. Naturally, this alerted the residents and many others. Leona and Lars naturally followed behind Leon with the rest.
"Oh, the mountains..." Larry whispered to himself as he knew this made the most sense.
Leon cut through the forest once he was around mountains. This was the usual route to the mine he discovered with the Virtual map.
"Here's the entrance." Leon turned and said.
"This place is so well hidden. No wonder it hadn't been discovered this whole time." Larry checked the surroundings and gave his thoughts.
"Looks like this brat was telling the truth so far; he's even shown us proof." One of the trainers that came with Larry said bluntly.
"If you have Pokémon, you better take them out to defend yourselves. This part of the cave is usually filled with Zubat, and they will attack once they've detected you."
Leon ignored the man's remark and warned the group.
"Zubat? As expected when exploring a cave, you're bound to run into this particular species." The group didn't take Leon's warning lightly, they knew people were prone to being attacked by this Pokémon when it came to caves.
Many of them were going to summon their Pokemon for defense anyway. When exploring caves this was the best course of action.
"Come forth, Aggron."
"Go! Probopass!"
"You're up, Golem!"
Many Pokémon were summoned onto the scene, which startled Leon and his siblings. Leon had never seen so many final staged Pokémon in one go.
"We're ready now, let's enter," Larry said with a smile.
Leon nodded slowly before entering the cave, and as you would expect; they were attacked. He began to wonder if this cave replenished with Zubat overnight every night.
They swiftly navigated the cave while handling the Zubat. They ultimately moved past the spot where he first met Nosepass, the location of his initial encounter with Carvanha, his first meeting with Sableye, and finally, the area where their confrontation with Onix took place.
Upon entering the cave, they saw a small mountain of Gold ore, gems, a few evolution stones, ultra-rare ores, and 1 special evolutionary item.
"What? My gosh!"
Once everyone saw that small mountain of gold, they were shocked. This wasn't it, the walls were glowing with all sorts of gems and ores.
"Down this way is where the gold is located. My Onix has been digging up gold for a time, so this small mountain of gold formed."
As soon as Leon spoke, Onix appeared from the depths of the cave. Right in front of everyone, it dropped more gold, silver, and other precious gems onto the ground.
"Not a bad idea kid, you're using your Onix to excavate the mine. This method is more efficient than any mining tool or machine."
A bald tall muscular man wearing a black and yellow outfit stepped forward. His outfit had an UltraBall theme going for it.
Perhaps he was some Ultraball tournament champion?
"Yeah, there was no way me and siblings were going to mine this alone. Well, you guys can conduct your evaluation by exploring for yourselves."
Leon turned to Larry because he was also ready for his evaluation.
"Ah, right, Lian; come over and evaluate these three." Larry turned and called a woman over.
This woman donned a chic ensemble in a soft lavender hue, complemented by matching lipstick. Her attire resembled a white sundress, paired with low-heeled shoes. Leon had observed her in the crowd for quite some time, as she stood out noticeably.
Silently, the woman emerged from the crowd of individuals and called forth her Pokémon. She had called upon a Gardevoir to assess Leon and his siblings.
"I'll ask you guys some questions, and you can answer them. Gardevoir will assess if you're lying or not." Lian turned to the three and spoke with a fond smile.
"Okay." All three spoke in unison.
The first question she asked was their age, which they stated honestly. The next question was if they had found this cave on their own. The third question was if they had done any criminal activity in the past.
They asked if they had taken anything from the mine, which they had done. She was doing a full background check on them. After 10 minutes of questioning, they were finally done with the background check.
"Larry, these three are clean and honest about their answers." Gardevoir had already told her that they had spoken the truth.
Leona was mesmerized by the beauty of Gardevoir, she really wanted this Pokémon. If Pokémon came to mind, this was always the first one Leona thought of—followed by the Milotic.
Gardevoir had long noticed Leona's deep stare for some time. How could Gardevoir not understand Leona's thoughts? Gardevoir chuckled and felt flattered about Leona's feelings of longing and awe.
"Perfect! You guys are clear. The team has already ventured into the cave to evaluate it." Larry had already sent these professionals to explore, but Leon had already noticed this.
"How do you guys evaluate a mine and how long does it usually take?" Leon wanted to know; he had no qualms in selling the mine, but he wouldn't allow himself to be scammed.
"They used Psychic, Rock, Steel, and Ground Pokemon to scout to cave and evaluate it. This usually takes about a day or two to complete. The worth of the mine would depend on the size and minerals within."
Hearing this, Leon rubbed his chin and pondered.
"How much would you be willing to buy a top-tier mine for? At least, what is the highest the Alliance has bought a mine for?" Leon was only willing to sell this mine because he didn't want to stick around and manage it.
"The highest we've sold a mine for has been for 12 billion. That mine was loaded with rare items, ore, gems, evolutionary stones, etc. This was 25 years ago when I was still a youngster, so I wasn't in charge of such a transaction."
Though Larry wasn't in charge of that transaction, there were still records of it. In fact, this mine is still very much relevant to this day.
"T-T-Twelve B-Billion?" Lars suddenly found himself stuttering. His knees weakened and shivered after hearing such an astronomical figure.
Leona was stunned into shock, she couldn't even speak as her hand shook and her eyes dilated. Leon on the other hand, his heart rate sped from such a number.
"Hehe, you don't have to worry about being scammed. These appraisers don't mess around when it comes to these things. The Alliance will never do you anyone like this."
Larry assured the three that they could rest easy knowing this much. Naturally, this was nice to hear; this allowed them to relax much better.
Leon and his siblings were escorted back to town. Larry said he'd contact them once the appraisal was complete.
They continued their days as usual, but Lars was constantly anxious. Leon received updates via email about the mine from Larry, he stated that it was indeed a Mother Lode.
Alakazam was used to scan the whole mountain range. The other Pokémon such as Ground, Steel, and Rock type followed its directions. They found many hidden paths that led to bigger mines.
Most importantly, they had found what they had hoped for, Arcesium! It wasn't a small amount either, this cave had already broken through the billion sometime ago.
Surprisingly, the appraisal took them three whole days to complete. Afterward, Larry contacted the Alliance to hear their thoughts. After all, Larry had reported these things before handling any settlements.
Prior to connecting with Leon and his siblings, Larry had been participating in meetings with Alliance before finalizing matters. On the fifth day, Larry reached out to Leon and his siblings to check if they were available for a meeting.
The chosen meet-up location was a cafe in town.
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