It was, of course, impossible for Aerodactyl to have died. Although Ash's strength was tremendous, Aerodactyl had lived for countless years and possessed Gym-level power with S-tier stamina, its physical durability was guaranteed.
However, that punch had knocked Aerodactyl completely unconscious. Before blacking out, the only thought in Aerodactyl's mind was bewilderment, where in the world had this human freak come from?
He had been prepared to trade blows, to go down fighting, yet his opponent had reacted even in that close-quarters exchange, countered with a strange blue energy orb that shattered his Dragon Claw outright.
Once his Dragon Claw was destroyed, Aerodactyl had no way to attack, and in the end, he was sent crashing into the ceiling by Ash's single devastating punch.
A few seconds later, Aerodactyl's limp body fell from above, and Ash quickly had Charizard catch it.
After checking that Aerodactyl wasn't in any life-threatening condition, Ash took out a Poké Ball, ready to capture it, just then, footsteps echoed from the tunnel behind him.
Ash turned toward the sound and saw Gary and the others rushing over.
"Ash, are you alright?" Misty, leading the group, quickened her pace the moment she saw the flicker of firelight ahead. When she spotted Ash crouched near the ground, she instinctively asked out of concern.
"What could be wrong with me?" Ash replied, glancing down at himself. Aside from a bit of dust, he looked perfectly fine.
"What was that noise just now? It felt like the whole cave was going to collapse," Brock asked, scanning their surroundings, until his gaze stopped on the massive creature lying beside Ash.
"That… that Pokémon is!!"
"The ancient ruler of the skies… Aerodactyl," Gary said slowly, his expression filled with disbelief.
It was shocking enough to find Kabuto and Omanyte here, but Aerodactyl?!
Even among Fossil Pokémon, Aerodactyl fossils were the rarest of all. In the entire world, the only known Aerodactyl was the one owned by the Kanto Elite, Lance. No one else had ever captured one.
And now, one was lying here in the Grand Canyon, clearly defeated by Ash and about to be caught by him.
Was this the luck of a divine idiot?
"You didn't already know Aerodactyl was down here, make us distract the Pokémon outside, and then sneak off to monopolize it yourself, did you?" Gary asked sarcastically.
"What are you talking about!" Ash rolled his eyes. "This Aerodactyl's strength is Champion level. How about I let him recover and have him fight you instead? If you can beat him and earn his acknowledgment, then you can have him."
Gary froze.
Champion-level?!
Even if he sent out all six of his Pokémon at once, he wouldn't stand a chance!
Ash had once defeated Koga, the Fuchsia Gym Leader, even taking down three Champion-level Pokémon during that battle, but that fight had been long and hard-fought. And yet now, he'd subdued an Aerodactyl of the same caliber in such a short time?
Had this guy gotten even stronger again?!
Seeing Gary speechless, Ash didn't waste any more time. He tossed the Poké Ball in his hand, striking Aerodactyl cleanly. The ball absorbed the unconscious Pokémon and gave a single crisp click, no shaking, no resistance.
Aerodactyl was completely out cold. If it had still managed to struggle, that would've been absurd.
"I caught Aerodactyl!" Ash shouted excitedly, holding the Poké Ball high.
"Pika! Pikachu!" Pikachu cheered from below, his little face full of pride.
Though he hadn't done anything in this battle, he still considered himself part of the team effort, his eyes had assisted plenty!
Besides, when Ash personally stepped in, all anyone else needed to do was stand back and watch.
So far, the only Pokémon Ash had personally captured with his own hands were Gengar, Aerodactyl… and Pikachu himself.
When Pikachu had first become Ash's partner, he'd been stubborn and rebellious, until Ash fought him head-on and subdued him. After that, Pikachu had no complaints. When a human could fight like that, what was there left to argue?
Normally, Ash still preferred letting his Pokémon handle battles. But if they truly couldn't handle a fight, or if a situation demanded his direct involvement, the opponent would learn firsthand what it meant for the Trainer to be the true final boss.
If Trainers were allowed to battle alongside their Pokémon in official League matches, Ash would probably already be a Champion by now.
After capturing Aerodactyl, Ash turned to Gary and asked, "So, how about you guys? What'd you catch?"
"I caught an Omanyte," Misty said, gently shaking the Poké Ball in her hand with a proud smile.
"I caught a Kabuto," Brock said.
"Same here," Gary added.
Men, it seemed, couldn't resist Pokémon with blades. Though Kabuto didn't yet wield dual scythes, its evolution would. Compared to the shell-like Omastar, both of them preferred the more aggressive and straightforward Kabutops.
What surprised Ash, though, was that none of them had captured any of the already evolved Fossil Pokémon, even though he remembered seeing both Omastar and Kabutops among the group earlier.
"You didn't catch Omastar or Kabutops, was it because you couldn't beat them?" Ash asked teasingly.
"Nonsense!" Gary shot back with irritation. "Those Fossil Pokémon just woke up. Their current strength is less than one-tenth of what it should be. Even a so-called 'Professional Level' one now is weaker than a true Elite. What's so hard about defeating them? We just wanted to train them from scratch!"
For ordinary Trainers, catching a Pokémon that was already at Professional Level would have been more than enough to make them ecstatic. But Gary and the others weren't ordinary people, they were confident in their own training abilities.
After all, a Pokémon's power isn't just determined by its level; the bond it shares with its Trainer is equally important. That's why they chose to start with unevolved Fossil Pokémon. By training them from the ground up, when those Pokémon eventually reached Professional Level, they would be far stronger than any that were simply captured at that rank.
Ash knew this perfectly well, he'd only said that to get under Gary's skin.
"Alright, I was just joking. Don't get so serious," Ash said with a smirk. "Anyway, you guys came at the right time. Come with me, let's head deeper in. I can still feel something further ahead."
The guidance from the MEGA system in his mind hadn't faded yet, which meant there were still items connected to MEGA Evolution deeper inside. The "A-rank guidance" mentioned by the big shots in the group was supposed to yield at least two items, and he had only found one so far.
"Something else? Seriously? Is your Aura Power that amazing? How can it detect everything?" Gary asked, half-jealous and half-doubtful.
"Of course," Ash replied casually, already striding further into the tunnel.
The group followed him, moving deeper and deeper underground until they reached the lowest chamber of the cavern. There, sitting on what looked like a natural stone pedestal, were two objects.
One was a Pokémon Egg covered in strange, intricate patterns. The other was a large, gleaming gem.
Gary stared at the scene as if he were seeing a ghost. There really was something here.
He had honestly thought Ash was bluffing, just making an excuse to drag them along to explore the cave.
After all, since this place was home to living Fossil Pokémon, going deeper might yield some ancient fossils worth selling or trading. That alone would have been worthwhile.
But now, not only had they actually found something, they had found a Pokémon Egg and a mysterious gem.
In a place like this, a Pokémon Egg definitely wouldn't be ordinary! And even though Gary had never seen a gem like that before, his instincts told him that it was something extraordinary.
Anything that could exist in this kind of ancient Pokémon habitat couldn't possibly be common.
Ash's expression brightened the moment his eyes fell on the smooth, radiant gem. It looked entirely different from the Key Stone he had found earlier.
That meant this one was the MEGA Stone.
As for the Pokémon Egg beside it, Ash didn't pay it much attention. His main objective here was obtaining a complete MEGA Evolution set.
Whether or not this particular MEGA Stone matched any of his Pokémon didn't matter, he now had both key items.
Once he got back, he could ask Professor Oak to keep an eye out for more stones like these. Even if MEGA Evolution was later discovered and this Stone turned out to be incompatible, it could still be traded at high value for another.
In any case, it was all gain and no loss.
"Ash, do you know what that thing is?" Misty asked curiously as she watched Ash smiling happily while holding the gem.
"Hmm… not yet," Ash admitted, "but I'll definitely find out soon. There's a mysterious energy inside this stone. Maybe it can help Pokémon unleash hidden power when they carry it."
Because of his Aura Power, his words carried a natural credibility.
Misty didn't doubt him at all. She simply assumed that Ash had sensed the strange energy within the gem through his Aura, which explained why he had led them this far.
And so, the MEGA Stone naturally became Ash's.
Brock and Misty naturally couldn't compete with Ash for the find.As for Gary, how could he, someone who had just been saved by Ash and even got the chance to capture a Fossil Pokémon thanks to him, have the face to fight over it?
If this had been Team Rocket, they might have started a fight on the spot. But Gary and Ash were childhood friends.
After Ash picked up the Stone, everyone's attention turned to the other item, a Pokémon Egg covered in red and blue markings. Just by looking at it, Gary and the others couldn't tell what kind of Pokémon Egg it was.
But Ash's Insight Eye had already revealed everything about it.
Name: Togepi (Egg)
Gender: Female
Type: Fairy
Level: None
Ability: Super Luck
Moves: Growl, Pound, Follow Me, Metronome, Skill Swap (Egg Move), Morning Sun (Egg Move)
Six-Dimensional Abilities:
Physical Attack E (B), Special Attack E (A), Defense E (S), Special Defense E (S), Stamina E (A), Speed A (A)**
Ash: ???
After Aerodactyl, this was another truly heaven-defying Pokémon, or rather, a Pokémon Egg.
Double S and triple A with one B, no matter the species, that was an absurdly strong potential spread.
A single S-tier Pokémon appears maybe once in a million… and today, Ash had run into two double-S Pokémon back-to-back.
Even Ash himself was starting to wonder if he was actually blessed by some divine luck.
Had that "Chosen One's Radiance" skill turned into a permanent effect or something?
"Ash, can you tell what kind of Pokémon Egg that is?" Brock asked, seeing Ash staring at it for a long moment.
Ash paused, then shook his head. "How would I know? Pokémon Eggs all look pretty similar. But any Egg that shows up in a place like this can't belong to an ordinary Pokémon. Let's just take it with us."
Saying that, he carefully picked up the Pokémon Egg and placed it into his spatial backpack.
It was unclaimed anyway, so taking it wasn't an issue.
By now, all the treasures in the underground cave had been collected by Ash. The group turned around and began heading back toward the surface of the Grand Canyon.
On the way, Ash asked about the other Fossil Pokémon. Gary explained that Gardevoir had used Hypnosis to put them all back to sleep.
However, since this was forced sleep and not natural hibernation, they might wake up again before long.
Brock had left behind plenty of food for them, so that when they did wake up, they would have something to eat. That could be considered compensation for disturbing their rest… and for beating them up earlier.
At some point during the walk, Gary once again brought up Gardevoir.
After all, it was Gardevoir, the Pokémon countless Trainers, especially men, dreamed of having. How did Ash even get one, and not just any Gardevoir, but a shiny one-in-ten-thousand variant?
Ash didn't hide anything and recounted how he'd obtained her.
Gary's expression turned into the look of someone seeing a ghost for the hundredth time.
A shiny Ralts falling from the sky in a Pokémon Egg?
If anyone else told that story, no one would believe it, it would sound completely made up.
But the thing was… this was all true.
With luck like that, how could he possibly compare to Ash? He couldn't!
And so, the trip to the Grand Canyon came to an end.
Ash and Gary went their separate ways, with Gary saying that they'd settle who was stronger at the Indigo Plateau Conference.
Though, realistically speaking, it was hard to imagine how he'd close the gap in time.
Right now, the difference between them was already vast. By the time of the Indigo Conference three months later, Gary's main team might only be able to spar evenly with Ash's second team.
It sounded harsh, but that was the truth, unless Gary somehow stumbled upon a cheat of his own.