Waiting was always the hardest part.
During these days, Gary would occasionally come over to Sam just to show off his daily gains, which made Sam seriously consider slapping him more than once.
Fortunately, those days finally came to an end.
Sam eventually ran into Ash, Misty, and Brock, who had arrived much later than expected.
After enduring countless hardships, the trio had finally crossed the harsh desert and reached Dasha Valley.
The condition of the three of them looked terrible. Misty, who was in the worst shape, looked as if she might faint at any moment.
Judging from their cracked lips, they had clearly been dehydrated for quite some time.
Realizing this, Sam immediately grabbed several bottles of drinking water and hurried over to them.
Seeing someone approach with water, the three of them—still in a dazed state—didn't hesitate. They grabbed the bottles and gulped them down.
Each bottle was emptied almost instantly. It was obvious just how thirsty they had been.
After drinking plenty of water, their condition improved visibly, and color slowly returned to their faces.
"I'm saved…" Misty sighed happily, the cool mineral water bringing her back to life.
Only after they had mostly recovered did they realize the person standing in front of them was Sam.
"Sam? Why are you here?" the three asked in surprise.
"Same reason as you," Sam replied. "I came to Dasha Valley to try my luck and see if I can dig up some ancient Pokémon fossils."
The moment Pokémon were mentioned, Ash sprang back to life.
"Sam, have you heard? Silph Co. has developed technology that can resurrect Pokémon from fossils! If we dig up the right ones, we might be able to revive powerful fossil Pokémon!"
Sam had known about this already. If Silph Co. hadn't publicly announced their breakthrough in fossil resurrection technology, Trainers wouldn't have rushed here in such a frenzy.
After all, while fossils were interesting, they weren't particularly attractive to most Trainers.
But fossil Pokémon were different.
Any qualified Trainer's eyes would light up at the mention of rare ancient Pokémon—just like Ash's did now.
After recovering a bit more, Ash eagerly asked, "Sam, do you know where we can dig up Pokémon fossils?"
Ash truly was something else. Just moments ago he'd looked half-dead, and now he was bursting with energy again.
But—
"It's better to start digging tomorrow," Sam said, pointing at Misty and Brock, who were still sitting weakly on the ground. "They don't recover as fast as you do."
"Oh! Right!" Ash scratched his head awkwardly and agreed.
---
As night fell, Gary returned to the camp carrying his mining tools.
When Ash and Gary—eternal rivals—met again, an argument was inevitable.
"Gary, how many Badges do you have now?" Ash asked proudly, taking out his Badge case and showing it off. "I have six!"
"Hmph." Gary curled his lip. "Probably just luck. The Gym Leaders must have taken pity on you."
"Don't talk nonsense!" Ash shot back, his face turning red.
"I don't believe you could defeat Sabrina and earn the Saffron Gym Badge," Gary said bluntly.
Even Gary himself had struggled greatly at the Saffron Gym. Sabrina's psychic powers were still intimidating to him.
And he knew Ash well.
Sure, Ash had grown during his journey and was becoming a capable Trainer—but compared to Sabrina, he was still far behind.
Gary's words left Ash speechless.
After all, the main reason he'd earned the Saffron Gym Badge was because Haunter had made Sabrina laugh.
But Ash wouldn't be Ash if he backed down so easily.
Maybe he couldn't out-talk Gary—but Trainers didn't settle things with words.
They battled.
"Then let's duel!" Ash declared. "I'll prove that I've gotten stronger!"
Gary had originally intended to refuse, but seeing the seriousness in Ash's eyes, he changed his mind.
He wanted to see how much his best friend had grown.
Smiling, Gary stood up.
"Fine. Let's see who's stronger."
The two stood opposite each other, leaving a wide, flat area between them as the battlefield.
Hearing about the battle, Brock immediately jumped up to act as referee. He clearly enjoyed the role.
"The moon is bright tonight, Ash," Gary said confidently.
Ash blinked in confusion.
Gary didn't explain further. Instead, he tossed out a Poké Ball.
"I mean that fighting under moonlight is my home field advantage. Go—Umbreon!"
A sleek, jet-black Pokémon appeared. Golden ring-shaped markings covered its body, glowing brilliantly under the moonlight.
"Gary's Eevee evolved into Umbreon…" Misty and Brock murmured.
This was Ash's first time seeing an Umbreon. As far as he knew, Eevee could evolve into Vaporeon, Jolteon, or Flareon. Quickly, he pulled out his Pokédex.
The mechanical voice announced:
"Umbreon, the Moonlight Pokémon. When exposed to the moon's energy, the rings on its body glow, and it gains mysterious power."
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