Because Larry and the others looked human-like, Ging had assumed they were from the Bone Race, which only deepened his surprise and confusion.
No matter how much he thought about it, he never imagined they could come from the other side of the ocean.
Most of them seemed weak, but only a few were strong, and their leader was on par with Ging himself.
On the surface, Ging remained calm, staring directly at Larry without a hint of fear, though inside he was growing uneasy.
Fortunately, he had some hidden tricks up his sleeve, making these intruders manageable.
After a few intense moments of eye
After contact, Larry got a rough idea of the golden giant's strength but didn't rush to attack.
He wanted to try one more thing.
Taking a leaf-shaped device handed to him by Meowth, Larry switched it on and addressed Ging.
"You're the leader of the stone giants, right?"
Although Larry spoke in their language, the device transformed his voice into strange sound waves.
No one else reacted, but Ging's expression shifted dramatically.
That sound wave was their language!
How could this creature speak it?
Shock rippled through Ging's heart like a storm.
Over time, he had learned that only beings born from minerals or underground could communicate using these unique sound waves.
This was the first time he had encountered another creature capable of emitting them.
At that moment, Ging's expression was surprisingly human, shifting through a range of emotions in just seconds.
After a brief pause, he asked in a low voice, "How do you understand our language?"
The sound waves from Ging's voice were captured by the device in Larry's hand, which then produced a clear, perfectly translated version in human speech.
The voice was so crisp and natural that it could easily be mistaken for a professional newscaster on television.
Everyone's attention immediately turned to the device in Larry's hand, eyes wide with surprise.
Could this really be a translation machine?
Like the other gadgets they had seen before, this so-called translator was actually created by Meowth through telepathic tools.
Its core was a natural leaf, one of the three mental tools Larry had borrowed from the Hunter Association.
The leaf's power was quite unique: when held, it allowed communication with other living beings.
That's why Larry had chosen it.
After all, once they reached the Dark Continent, they'd inevitably encounter all sorts of creatures, many with intelligence of their own, making communication crucial.
While some Pokemon abilities could achieve similar results, this telepathic tool was especially impressive.
The downside was that it consumed a lot of aura and prolonged use could make the user's own speech awkward and disjointed.
But thanks to Meowth's improvements, the device had evolved from a simple leaf into a fully functional machine.
It now directly translated languages and significantly reduced aura consumption, eliminating the previous issue of messing up the user's own language skills.
In other words, as long as Larry held the translator, he could convert any creature's language into the common tongue of the six continents, and vice versa.
Today's situation was the perfect example of its usefulness.
Larry stayed calm, meeting Ging's surprised gaze, and said slowly, "This is my ability."
Ging froze for a moment, then fell silent again.
After a short pause, he finally said, "Yes, I'm the leader."
A greedy gleam appeared in his eyes as he asked, "Can you give me what you're holding? I can let you go."
Ging grinned, clenched his fist, and made a sharp, powerful clicking sound with a sinister smile.
It was clear, the sound waves had detected something.
The creature's ability to communicate with its kind depended entirely on that mysterious iron box.
If he could get his hands on something like that, it would help him expand his territory and enslave other creatures!
What a surprise.
He had thought this was just a training exercise, but it turned out to be far more valuable than expected.
Ging's cold eyes sparked with excitement as he looked forward to gaining even more from Larry and the others.
That snake-shaped creature was unusual too.
No one in his race had ever grown that large.
Ging's gaze dropped to the massive golden steel snake, and he was taken aback.
The creature shared many traits with his own kind.
First, its golden color resembled the highest-ranking members of their tribe.
Second, its body seemed to be made of rock, metal, and other hard materials visible to the naked eye.
Could it be a branch of their tribe?
Ging was puzzled.
From everything he'd seen so far, this giant beast was the closest to his people, even more so than those smaller diamond-like creatures.
His heart stirred with interest.
Before Larry or anyone else could respond, Ging spoke again.
"The giant beast beneath you is impressive. Give it to me, and you can go."
He was instantly captivated by the steel snake and wanted to claim it as his own.
From every angle, the giant steel snake fit perfectly with the stone giants' aesthetic, it could be a pet, a powerful fighter, and even a mount.
Ging couldn't wait to ride it and roam the outside world.
This was a mount only he was worthy to ride!
He felt quite proud.
Meanwhile, Larry shifted his focus from his thoughts back to the proud stone giant leader.
Just as they arrived, another gestation bar appeared in his mind.
This time, he couldn't figure out what kind of Pokemon it represented.
If the Shining Steelix corresponded to the Stone Giant, and Diancie related to the ore in this area, then what was this new gestation bar connected to?
Larry thought carefully, the gestation bar hadn't appeared before, nor after, but precisely when they arrived here.
That meant one thing: it was connected to this cave, or something inside it.
For some reason, Larry's mind drifted to the remains of the Bone Tribe.
Maybe this Pokemon wasn't tied to rock or ground attributes at all.
In this rocky land, three things stood out most to Larry: the ore, the Stone Giant, and the Bone Tribe.
Focusing his thoughts, he looked at Ging with calm but firm resolve and said, "What if I don't give it to you?"
A heavy silence fell over the area.
Everyone behind Larry grew tense, their expressions serious as they readied themselves, knowing a fight was about to break out.
This was the critical moment, a showdown between two sides.
After a while, Ging's face shifted from greed to gloom, then to fury.
His eyes burned with rage, fists clenched tight, body taut with power.
Every inch of his rock-hard form seemed charged with infinite strength.
A deep, almost human-like breath escaped him, spreading an invisible aura throughout the cave.
Suddenly, a sharp gust of wind swept through, the whistle piercing the quiet so intensely it could be heard in the still cave.
The breeze shook the plants hanging above, making the light flicker, though nothing fell.
In that strange atmosphere, Ging stood out clearly, his eyes blazing with anger.