Reiji looked at the Hard Stone's panel and then back at the skeleton. So this Aerodactyl had once been a Mega Aerodactyl.
Only a dead Mega Aerodactyl would leave behind jagged stone plates like these after the rocks covering its body broke away. Considering Mega Aerodactyl's stones were said to be harder than diamond, it made sense for them to become Hard Stones after years underground.
Once he realized how large a Mega Aerodactyl's body would have been, Reiji immediately widened the digging area and released his Pokémon to help. Before long, they unearthed even more Hard Stones.
After sorting through them, he found only two Elite Four–tier Hard Stones. The rest ranged from quasi–Elite Four tier to Advanced tier, with a few degraded all the way down to Elite tier.
He didn't mind. He collected everything. Once he got out, he could organize them properly. The lower-grade items could be sold if he needed money, or kept as food for Hanhan if he didn't. The Elite Four–tier items were staying with him.
"Poliwhirl, Water Gun. Wash my hands."
Reiji had Poliwhirl rinse his hands, then looked at the Aerodactyl skeleton, now stripped almost beyond recognition. He had his Pokémon spray down the bones and the ground with Water Gun as well, washing away the fresh marks and making the damage look older.
Once Poliwhirl finished washing away their footprints and other traces, Reiji took it with him and prepared to keep exploring.
This was only the haul from one Elite Four–tier Aerodactyl skeleton. There was no way this cavern held only one. If he could find a few more skeletons like this, he might really gather enough to reach ten hundred million.
And if there were that many, ten hundred million might be thinking too small. Then again, who ever complained about having too much money?
One skeleton had given him five Elite Four–tier items. Five skeletons would be twenty-five. Ten skeletons would be…
He didn't know the exact value of Elite Four–tier items. That kind of thing had to go through an auction to get a real price. Still, even a rough guess put each one at tens of millions, maybe even over a hundred million—especially Dragon-type items.
While he was thinking about how to turn the haul into money, the ground suddenly shook. A section of the cavern ceiling burst open, creating a massive skylight. A shaft of harsh daylight poured down into the open space in the middle of the cavern, along with several people who fell in screaming.
Reiji was near the edge of the cavern. He immediately ducked behind a rock and switched off his flashlight, planning to watch what these unexpected intruders would do.
Before he could make out what they were doing, a round of shrieking erupted in the cavern. The pitch was so high that he instinctively clamped his hands over his ears. Before he covered them completely, he heard a very familiar voice.
Reiji sighed. He didn't even need to look anymore. If Ash and Team Rocket had fallen in, then this exploration was probably over. The League would be involved soon, and Grampa Canyon would be sealed off.
Then, in the darkness, a slow breathing sound began.
"Careful. Something woke up," Darkrai warned at once. "It's terrifying."
"What?" Reiji didn't turn on his flashlight, so he had no idea what had awakened. He couldn't even tell where the breathing was coming from.
In the darkness, a pair of bloodshot scarlet eyes opened. The creature stared hard at the intruders who had disturbed its sleep, slowly rose from the ground, and began walking toward them.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Reiji swallowed quietly and stayed completely still as the heavy footsteps moved away. Only after the sound receded did he realize he had just brushed past death.
When the shadow reached Ash and the others, Reiji finally saw what it was.
Aerodactyl.
A living Aerodactyl had been sleeping not far from the skeleton.
And Reiji had been hiding behind it.
What had blocked him wasn't a rock at all. It had been Aerodactyl.
He let out a slow breath, his back cold. That thing had been curled up with its head tucked in, and in the dark it really had looked like stone. If the noise hadn't drawn its attention away, it might have bitten his head off before he even knew what happened.
For now, the danger had moved elsewhere. While Aerodactyl chased the intruders, Reiji slipped along the cavern wall and retreated in silence.
Catching Aerodactyl was out of the question. Just the pressure rolling off that ancient predator told him it was not something he could handle. An Elite Four–tier Aerodactyl was too much for him.
As for Ash? That kid always survived somehow. Reiji didn't need to worry about him.
Reiji, however, did not have an immortal body. He needed to worry about himself first and leave this place.
Because he was moving in complete darkness, he didn't dare go too fast. The noise on Ash's side was still drawing attention, so he only needed to guide Poliwhirl along the edge of the wall. Ideally, Ash and the others would smash into that skeleton and scatter it. As long as no one realized the key materials had been removed, no one would know he had touched it.
Before Reiji could reach his tunnel, the cavern shook again. The skylight above was sealed shut by falling rock.
He switched on his flashlight immediately, released Pelipper, recalled Poliwhirl, and flew straight toward the passage he had dug earlier.
They reached the tunnel near the cavern roof without incident. Reiji leaned against the wall and let out a breath. At least he had made it out.
Continuing the search was impossible now. The ancient Pokémon in the cavern had awakened. They probably wouldn't fall back into deep sleep anytime soon, and any disturbance could wake them again. He decided to get out first and see how things developed.
What he didn't know was that the Team Rocket trio had been trapped in the cavern, just like in the anime.
After waking from Jigglypuff's song, they discovered they were lying right beside Aerodactyl. The three of them nearly lost their souls from fright. They didn't dare speak loudly and could only creep away as quietly as possible.
Once they got some distance from Aerodactyl, they needed a way out. But before they started digging, they remembered the ancient Pokémon they had just seen. The three of them looked at each other, and all three pairs of eyes lit up at once.
The anime had rushed the ending and never explained how the Team Rocket trio got out after being trapped. Knowing those three, of course they would contact Giovanni.
They pulled out a satellite phone and dialed him.
"Boss, we found an Aerodactyl! Please send someone to save us! We're trapped inside a cavern under Grampa Canyon!"
"Aerodactyl? Not bad. I'll send someone to get you out. Don't worry."
Giovanni didn't react much to a rare Pokémon like Aerodactyl, but he still kept a smile and a look of approval on his face. The trio were comic relief, but every now and then they brought him a surprise. They made a decent diversion from boredom.
With a top-tier Legendary like Mewtwo already in his hands, Aerodactyl was only rare. Once someone possessed a Legendary, a rare Pokémon didn't carry the same weight.
"Matori, check who might be interested in Aerodactyl."
"Boss, the task was accepted as soon as it went out. Vicious took it."
"Vicious…" Giovanni had a strong impression of that top enforcer of his. Vicious had been hunting Celebi recently, and he was ruthless, vicious, strong, and utterly unrestrained. Among Elite Four–tier Trainers, he could move almost unchecked. To a Champion, he would still be passable.
He was a rare talent. He also had a large appetite for power and had his eye on Giovanni's seat.
"Yes, Boss. He's near Grampa Canyon right now, chasing Celebi. That's probably why he responded so quickly," Matori said, looking at the reply on her tablet.
"Send more people to assist him. Bring back every fossil Pokémon he doesn't want."
"Understood."
Matori turned and left to make the arrangements. The matter was urgent. Once the recovery team was assembled, they would take helicopters to Grampa Canyon.
By then, Reiji had already left the cavern and returned to the canyon. He had no idea the Team Rocket trio had a satellite phone. They had been put to sleep by Jigglypuff anyway, and by the time they woke up, it would be night.
He had Hanhan move another rock to block the tunnel entrance. As soon as he climbed up from the canyon floor, a broadcast echoed through the area.
"Grampa Canyon has suffered a collapse. Please evacuate immediately. Grampa Canyon has suffered a collapse. Please evacuate immediately."
"These people really know how to cause trouble," Reiji muttered.
He climbed onto Pelipper and flew higher. From above, he saw police cars gathered outside the canyon. Officers were evacuating treasure hunters and setting up warning lines to keep people from entering.
At the same time, tents were being raised at the bottom of the canyon, and people in white coats were moving in and out.
"So they sealed it after all."
Reiji sighed. There had to be more than one Aerodactyl skeleton underground. In ancient times, Grampa Canyon was probably Aerodactyl's hunting ground. Who knew how many dragon bones were buried down there? Every single one was money.
The moment he got close to the middle and lower parts of the canyon, someone spotted him and warned him away. He had no choice but to turn toward the coast.
After passing the lower end of the canyon, he flew along the shoreline until he spotted Keith's campsite. Meowth was sitting outside the tent, so it had to be Keith's.
Reiji landed. Keith had been waiting for him by a campfire, and the moment he saw Reiji come down, he jumped to his feet.
"Boss, you're back!"
"Have you eaten?"
Reiji nodded lightly and sat down by the fire. Grampa Canyon was out of reach now. With the League involved, there was no place left for ordinary Trainers like them. They would have to leave tomorrow.
"Not yet," Keith said, scratching his head awkwardly. He had been waiting for Reiji, so of course he hadn't eaten.
"It's already past six."
Reiji checked his watch and saw that it was time for dinner. He took out the cookware, and Keith hurried over to help.
"Did you catch anything you wanted?" Reiji asked.
"I caught more than a thousand fish," Keith said. That afternoon, he had hired fishermen to take him out by boat. He had even bought several hundred more Poké Balls for the attempt. This time, surely there had to be at least one decent Magikarp.
"Not bad. Eat first. We'll check them later."
Once they finished cooking and the Pokémon had eaten, Reiji settled Eevee on his lap and stroked its fur while he began checking the Magikarp Keith had brought back.
It took quite a while to go through more than a thousand Magikarp. By the time he finished, the sky had gone dark. In the end, he found only one decent one, with 54 potential. Out of more than a thousand, only one made the cut. Keith's luck was actually pretty good.
Reiji tossed the Poké Ball to him.
"Keep this Magikarp. Release the rest and get up early tomorrow. We're traveling again."
"We're leaving tomorrow?"
Keith had only just gotten the Magikarp, so he was still happy. He hadn't expected to leave so soon.
"Grampa Canyon has been sealed off by the League. We can't go there anymore."
Reiji sighed again and lay back on the sand, still stroking Eevee in his arms. He couldn't do anything about it. His money route had been cut off.
"Alright."
Keith answered and went to the shore to release the Magikarp. If they couldn't go, then they couldn't go. He had wanted to take a look, so it was a shame.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
While Reiji was watching the stars, Keith was releasing Magikarp, and everyone else was busy with their own tasks, a series of violent explosions suddenly erupted from the direction Reiji had returned from.
"What the hell?"
Reiji had been close to falling asleep when the blasts jolted him awake. He sat up with Eevee in his arms and looked toward Grampa Canyon, where firelight flickered in the distance.
A gust of wind swept across the beach.
Reiji raised his hand to block the flying sand and narrowed his eyes at the distant flames. What kind of explosion could send shockwaves all the way here?
"Keith, stay here. Don't run around. I'm going to take a look."
Reiji gave the instruction, recalled Poliwhirl and the others, climbed onto Pelipper, and flew toward the battlefield.
When he reached Grampa Canyon, the fighting was still going. There were battles in the sky, battles on the ground, and battles down in the canyon itself. The entire place had become a battlefield, and Reiji didn't dare get too close.
He stayed on the outer edge, flying high above with binoculars in hand, trying to identify the people below.
Then he saw the red R on black uniforms.
Team Rocket.
And the other side was…
"Lance? That's Lance?"
Reiji spotted a man standing on a rocky ridge, red cape snapping behind him. A Charizard stood at his side while he commanded his Pokémon in battle.
Lance's opponent was a masked Team Rocket member wearing a red vest over black combat gear. Reiji didn't recognize him. The man's Pokémon was a pseudo-legendary: Tyranitar.
"Now that's a pseudo-legendary clash."
Reiji fixed his gaze on them. A fight between pseudo-legendaries was already rare. A fight between Elite Four–tier pseudo-legendaries was even rarer.
Tyranitar opened its mouth and fired a devastating Hyper Beam. The blast struck a rocky hill and blew the entire top clean off.
"That power is ridiculous…"
The shockwave swept outward, slamming across everyone on the ground. Some Team Rocket members on other battlefields were caught in the blast, and Reiji and Pelipper in the air fared no better. They nearly fell out of the sky.
Once Pelipper stabilized, it quickly carried Reiji to a nearby peak. Reiji didn't dare stand. He lay flat against the rock and watched the Elite Four battle through his binoculars.
Taking advantage of Tyranitar's brief immobility, Dragonite spread its arms. Green claw-shaped energy formed over both hands as it dived straight down and struck at Tyranitar.
The Dragon Claw landed, but Tyranitar caught it with both arms. The force of Dragonite's dive only drove Tyranitar backward step by heavy step. Each stomp shook the ground like a small quake, but Tyranitar took no real damage.
Then Tyranitar opened its mouth again, gathering another terrifying surge of energy.
Dragonite opened its mouth at the same time, building up a matching blast.
Boom.
The two attacks collided at point-blank range. A white point formed between the two Pokémon, slowly swelling into a brilliant sphere of light. When the sphere reached its brightest point, it detonated and swallowed both Pokémon in the blast.
The shockwave spread outward. Lance and Vicious, who stood closest to the impact, were both thrown from their ridges, only for their own Pokémon to catch them midair and shield them.
As the shockwave kept expanding, Team Rocket members and League Trainers on the outer battlefields were knocked off their feet. Only those fighting at the bottom of the canyon were spared the worst of it.
"Yeah, even watching from the sidelines is dangerous."
The moment Reiji saw the mushroom cloud rise, he ducked behind the ridge and covered his head until the shockwave passed.
Even from so far away, he could feel the mountain trembling beneath him. Only after the blast faded did he crawl back up and look through his binoculars again. Tyranitar and Dragonite had already slammed into each other once more, as if the explosion hadn't hurt them at all.
Elite Four–tier pseudo-legendaries really were built differently. Both of them were terrifyingly durable.
Since the main battlefield showed no signs of ending quickly, Reiji shifted his attention to the smaller battles. Lance and Vicious's other Pokémon were fighting too, and each one carried the force of an Elite Four–tier combatant. None of them could be underestimated.
Reiji thought the battle might drag on for a long time and kept watching, completely absorbed. Then the sound of helicopters approached from the sky.
Two people descended from the aircraft. One wore a ninja outfit and was brought down by Crobat. The other was a beautiful woman lowered safely by Slowbro's Confusion. Both were familiar faces.
Together with Lance, they formed a three-sided encirclement and trapped Vicious in the middle.
When Vicious saw that the League had brought in two more skilled Trainers, and both of them were people whose names he knew, he immediately realized the situation had turned bad. He had to leave.
Before coming here, he hadn't expected Lance to be guarding the area. He had run straight into one of the Elite Four, failed to catch Aerodactyl, and ended up fighting Lance instead. Now reinforcements had arrived. Staying any longer would be foolish.
Through his binoculars, Reiji saw Vicious throw out a cluster of smoke bombs. Then he escaped underground with Tyranitar. The remaining Team Rocket members felt their communicators vibrate, took the signal, and withdrew under cover of night, leaving the battlefield in ruins.
Once Team Rocket retreated, Reiji knew it was time for him to leave as well. He had no intention of staying behind to claim connections. In a situation like this, showing up would only get him treated like a possible spy and interrogated. Better not.
Seeing the Elite Four fight at full strength had already been enough.
He couldn't afford to get reckless. Elite Four–tier Trainers really were in another league. Their Pokémon hit hard, took hits, and reshaped the land with casual attacks. Reiji was still far from that level.
Poliwhirl had to push itself to the limit to launch one attack like that. These Elite Four Pokémon threw out that kind of force as part of a normal exchange. The gap was enormous.
When Reiji returned to the beach, he reassured Keith and went into the tent. Lying there with Eevee in his arms, he kept replaying the battle in his head.
Only after reaching Elite Four tier did a Trainer truly earn a seat at the table. That saying existed for a reason. A battle at that level could alter the terrain with every exchange. The destructive power was terrifying.
The Pidgeot back on the deserted island had been the same. One Hurricane had flattened part of the forest.
That was what Elite Four–tier power looked like.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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