Hearing Aoki's words, Limone was slightly stunned.
Then he said, "You know what, if you ask in other electrical appliance stores in Lumiose City, you probably won't be able to find it, because this kind of thing is beyond the scope of electrical appliances, but I don't have it here either!"
Aoki staggered and almost lost his balance.
After talking for so long, it turns out Limone didn't have it, so what else was he talking about?
Aoki felt a headache coming on.
"Hahaha, although I don't have it now, I can make it if you want." Limone grinned widely and patted Aoki's shoulder, as if it was no problem to leave it to him.
Aoki felt that there should be some black lines appearing on his forehead.
No wonder the future Clemont rarely went home after becoming the owner of the gym.
This dad looked really eccentric.
When his son was less than ten years old, he started helping him find a wife and always encouraged him to make more good-looking female friends.
Aoki decided to get straight to the point, lest he be misled further.
"If possible, I still need it."
Aoki nodded and continued, "By the way, one of the purposes of my visit this time is for this. I also want to ask, has Mr. Limone seen any strange stones recently?"
"It may be a little abrupt to ask this, but my friend Steven is a stone collector. I heard that you have some unusual things in your store, so I wanted to ask you about it."
This reason was a bit far-fetched, but it also depended on who he was facing.
Someone as sharp as Lance might find it a bit strange.
But someone like Limone probably wouldn't notice anything.
Sure enough, after hearing Aoki's question, Limone actually showed a look of understanding.
People with this kind of personality should be the protagonists no matter what world they were in. The protagonist's aura suited such people—otherwise, they'd probably die quickly.
"A strange stone? I have a lot of strange electrical appliances here, but a strange stone..." Limone fell into deep thought.
Suddenly, he slapped his forehead.
He immediately began rummaging through his cluttered workbench, throwing tools and parts onto the ground one by one.
After tinkering for a long time, he finally pulled out a metal box from beneath the mess.
"Found it!"
He blew away the dust on the box.
Inside the small metal container, which resembled a candy tin, were several spherical candies—and among them, a stone that looked almost identical to the sweets.
Aoki subconsciously narrowed his eyes slightly, then immediately returned to his usual expression.
With his head lowered, Limone couldn't see the change in Aoki's expression.
"If you're talking about strange stones, I guess this is the only one I have here. My son Clemont found it while playing outside. He thought it was his favorite candy and nearly broke his teeth trying to bite it. Hahahaha!" Limone burst into laughter again.
"Uh, hehe." Aoki forced a slight smile in response.
"I've never seen this kind of stone before." He picked up the Mega Stone and placed it in his palm, pretending to examine it carefully.
Thud!
Suddenly, a powerful hand slapped Aoki's shoulder. With Aoki's physical condition, he nearly lost his balance again.
"Since you've never seen it, I'll give it to you! I don't even know what it's for anyway."
Limone had a generous expression.
But he didn't notice the pain flashing across Aoki's face from the impact.
As expected of someone who can jump on rooftops with his Blaziken. His physical strength is no less than that of a Fighting-type Trainer.
Aoki rubbed his shoulder and looked at the Mega Stone in his hand. Most of the leaf-like pattern inside was red.
It was likely the Blazikenite.
If this really was the Mega Stone for Blaziken, then it was definitely worth acquiring.
"Then I can't take your stone for free, sir. This thing is quite rare. I'll pay for it." Aoki insisted.
Limone, now hunched over his workbench tinkering with some machine, waved him off. "It's just a rock. Not worth much. Give me a minute."
He had already repaired Aoki's device at some point and set it aside.
Truly worthy of being called the best electrician in Lumiose City.
His skills were undeniable.
No wonder his son Clemont was able to build all those strange gadgets.
"Done!" About ten minutes later, Limone shouted excitedly.
Aoki, who had been examining some odd instruments on a nearby shelf, was startled yet again.
His kids must have gotten their eccentric personalities from him.
"Aoki, this is the portable Pokémon transfer system you wanted. However, this device requires an independent signal receiver. You'll need to buy that separately. Once you have it, just plug it into this slot."
Limone grinned as if expecting praise.
"..."
Aoki gave a thumbs-up.
He couldn't bring himself to say it out loud, but the gesture sufficed.
After all, completing such a device in just over ten minutes was genuinely impressive.
Seeing the thumbs-up, Limone beamed, flashing his unnaturally white teeth.
Teeth so bright they practically reflected light.
Finally, Aoki took the device and the Mega Stone and left the electronics store. He was afraid staying any longer might affect his sanity.
He left an anonymous bank card with Limone, calling it payment for the service.
Limone had quoted a low price, but Aoki had specifically deposited five hundred thousand Pokédollars into the account.
Not an exorbitant amount, but certainly not insignificant.
While it wasn't enough to match the value of a Mega Stone—especially since Mega Evolution hadn't even been discovered yet—it showed Aoki's sincerity in paying for something rare.
As Aoki walked away, the smile on Limone's face slowly faded.
He had a bold personality and disliked overcomplicating things, but that didn't mean he was oblivious.
He had seen through Aoki's real motive—repairing the device and buying the portable transfer system were secondary. The true goal had always been that small stone.
But Limone couldn't figure out what the stone was for, nor how Aoki had known he even had it.
If he hadn't strained his memory earlier, he might have forgotten about the stone entirely.
Still, he sensed no ill intent from Aoki, so he hadn't called him out.
After all, Aoki was an official League member.
"Maybe some scanner detected the stone's presence in the store, but he couldn't reveal it. He is an investigator, after all." Limone rationalized.
He swiped the bank card on a reader.
"One, two, three, four, five… Five hundred thousand! That's generous." Seeing the amount, Limone quickly dismissed his earlier thoughts.
The sum was nearly a year's earnings for him.
"I haven't seen this much money since I stepped down as Gym Leader. Might as well celebrate tonight—Flame Chicken Mask style!"
With that, he pulled out a ridiculous mask from somewhere and put it on.
Utterly childish.
But Limone had indeed once been the Gym Leader of Lumiose City, and his Pokémon were remnants of that era.
Otherwise, as a mere electrician, no matter how skilled he was, he wouldn't have the resources to raise such powerful Pokémon.
Ampharos, Blaziken!