He had to admit, this Charizard Hotpot tasted really good. Although the price was much higher than normal hotpot restaurants, the flavor was undeniably excellent.
"The genius who thought of giving out membership cards for Gym challenges must have hired a top-tier consultant," David mused. A significant portion of the people who came to challenge the Blazing Gym were from out of town, and after completing their challenge, most would take the opportunity to explore the area.
Naturally, they wouldn't miss out on trying local delicacies, and that's when the membership card came in handy.
When undecided about what to eat, seeing the membership card in hand—unless someone couldn't eat spicy food at all—they would almost certainly choose to try it.
Wasn't that precisely why David came here just now?
As for Charizard Hotpot's higher prices, that was even less of an issue.
Trainers capable of challenging the Blazing Gym were not weak, and it's well known that being a Trainer is both an expensive and highly profitable profession.
These Trainers might lack funds for raising Pokémon, but they certainly wouldn't be short on the small amount of money needed for a few hotpot meals with their Pokémon.
It was precise targeting of the customer demographic.
After enjoying a delicious hotpot meal with his Pokémon, David leisurely returned to the Eevee Hotel he had booked earlier.
Inside the hotel, David picked up the pre-prepared travel brochure and began planning his next itinerary.
He had eaten hotpot and challenged the Blazing Gym. Since his goals were achieved, there was nothing essential he needed to do today. It was a rare holiday for travel, and David didn't want to push himself too hard.
So, for the rest of the day, he planned to explore Treasure City with his Pokémon and then depart tomorrow.
"Zorua, Lucario, Kirlia, is there anywhere you'd like to go?" David turned his head, flipped the travel brochure to the Treasure City page, placed it in front of the Pokémon, and asked.
"Lio~" "Kirlia~" Lucario and Kirlia both shook their heads after looking, indicating they had no particular place in mind.
Then David and the others turned their gaze to Zorua, who hadn't spoken yet.
"Zorua? Zor, zor!" The little fox, seeing everyone's eyes on him, didn't hesitate. He raised his small paw and pointed to the upper-left corner of the brochure.
"The ancient ruins of the Burned Tower? Zorua, why would you want to go there?" David asked, somewhat puzzled, looking at the little fox's chosen destination.
Looking at the familiar photo and then carefully examining the accompanying notes, David confirmed that the little fox's chosen destination was indeed the Burned Tower from the game.
By the way, was this originally in Treasure City? That's right, it is an ancient building of the Johto Region, after all.
He had initially thought that if this building actually existed on Blue Star, it should be in the Sakura Alliance, shouldn't it?
After all, the Burned Tower's prototype was the Kinkaku-ji Temple.
David scratched his head, thinking.
Since the appearance of numerous extraterrestrial Secret Realms over a thousand years ago, many shattered Secret Realms had directly merged into their Blue Star.
This not only greatly expanded the area of Blue Star but also brought many mysterious ruins and buildings to their world.
The Burned Tower chosen by Zorua was one such example, appearing near Treasure City several hundred years ago with the integration of a small Secret Realm.
Later, archaeologists, based on the surviving information found in the Burned Tower and the excavation of data from surrounding ruins, compared the two and reconstructed the origin and history of this ancient tower.
According to the excavated data, this ancient tower was built in a place called the Johto Region, in a city named Ecruteak City.
The people of ancient Ecruteak City revered and worshipped legendary Pokémon, so they built two tall towers standing on the east and west sides of the city.
The tower on the east side was used to awaken Pokémon, while the tower on the west side was for Pokémon to rest. It is said that the legendary Pokémon Ho-Oh resided at the top of the Bell Tower on the east side. And the Burned Tower—originally called the Brass Tower—on the west side was said to be where Lugia resided.
Then, one day, a lightning bolt struck the west tower, and the Brass Tower instantly became a sea of fire.
The fire burned for three days and three nights, finally extinguished by a heavy rain, but by then, little of the tower remained.
In this great fire, three unknown Pokémon perished in the flames, and finally, Ho-Oh descended from the heavens and resurrected them.
This led to the later creation of Ho-Oh's guardians, and those three resurrected Pokémon were Entei, Raikou, and Suicune.
And the story ends here.
According to records, ever since that great fire, Ho-Oh and Lugia never returned to this place.
Because it was related to legendary Pokémon, this ancient tower ruin naturally became a tourist attraction in Treasure City.
"The Burned Tower is here, but I wonder where the Bell Tower is?" David pondered, knowing that legend had it that after passing the trials of Ho-Oh's guardians and carrying the Rainbow Wing, one could summon Ho-Oh's appearance at the top of the Bell Tower.
If possible, he, David, wouldn't mind experimenting to see if it was truly real.
"Speaking of which, if I can summon Ho-Oh at the Bell Tower with the Rainbow Wing, then if I get the Silver Wing, can I summon Lugia at the Burned Tower?" David suddenly thought. If he could get the Silver Wing in the future, he would definitely try it.
However, this had nothing to do with Zorua, and he still didn't understand why the little fox would choose this place.
The little fox didn't seem to be interested in cultural relics, and the Burned Tower was so desolate it was almost like a ruin.
Because of its connection to the story of legendary Pokémon, it was preserved in its original state and had not undergone any restoration.
Coupled with its location in the suburbs, near the wilderness, even though it was a tourist attraction, few people visited, and the Burned Tower remained exceptionally desolate.
Inside, besides some Ghost-type Pokémon, there was probably nothing else.
Surely the little fox wasn't thinking of going in to make friends with the Ghost-type Pokémon inside!
"Zorua~ Zorua!"
"You mean, this is one of the filming locations for 'Treasure Hunt Cat' starring Magical Mask Cat, which you watched before, so you want to visit the site in person?"
"Zorua~" The little fox nodded vigorously.
Seeing that Lucario and Kirlia had no other opinions, David simply agreed.
"Alright! It's decided—we're going to the Burned Tower." He was actually a bit curious about this building, which he had only seen in games.
Since they had chosen their destination, David and the others quickly got moving.
It was already almost two in the afternoon, and the Burned Tower was located in the outskirts of Treasure City. They needed to hurry—he didn't want to spend the night in the wilderness just for sightseeing.