At the foot of Mt. Moon, the original trio was leisurely making their way.

“Mt. Moon is a peaceful and leisurely place with simple folk customs, where a large number of tourists come to visit every year at this time. It also hides the Moon Stone, making it a great place for treasure hunting.”

As a man whose hometown was backed by Mt. Moon, Brock was explaining, “Crossing this mountain road, you can reach Cerulean City. Ash, aren't you going to challenge a Gym? There's a Cerulean Gym there.”

Ash nodded, wishing he could sprout wings and fly over to challenge the Gym right now.

However, as he walked, Ash felt a chill wind, and it was very eerie. Looking around, he hadn't seen a single person even when they were almost at the cave entrance. Is this a tourist destination?

At this moment, the three of them noticed a warning sign.

“Warning: A large number of Zubat have recently appeared. Please climb carefully.”

“Zubat?”

The three were stunned, especially Brock and Misty. Their lairs were both backed by Mt. Moon, and Pokémon like Zubat were indeed common in caves, but it was rare for them to be so numerous that a warning sign was needed.

“We just need to be careful. Zubat generally don't actively attack humans,” Brock said.

“Indeed.” “That makes sense.”

The trio continued on their way.

...

Entering the Mt. Moon cave, to fully leverage its tourism advantages, large light bulbs were lit every few meters in the cave, saving the need for the Flash TM. However, this artificial lighting undoubtedly disrupted the original ecosystem, especially for Pokémon adapted to darkness, which were clearly hit hard.

“Perhaps this is why there's a Zubat riot…” Brock analyzed.

Hearing this, Ash also nodded: “You make sense.”

As the three walked through the cave, they suddenly heard screams and the chaotic flapping of wings from ahead, which sounded very harsh in the quiet cave. Ash immediately ran ahead.

In a corner of the cave, a young man in a white lab coat was being attacked by several Zubat, and the situation was very critical. Seeing someone approaching, the man in the white lab coat quickly called for help: “Oh, righteous passersby, please save me!”

Hearing this, Ash's body trembled. He was touched by the word “righteous.”

“Since you have sincerely requested, I will mercifully save you! Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!”

Pikachu leaped from his shoulder, transforming into a nimble bolt of lightning and charging forward, unleashing a Thunderbolt on the rampaging group of Zubat.

A low-power Thunderbolt.

The Zubat swarm was thoroughly shocked.

“Zzzzz…”

Of course, the man in the white lab coat also enjoyed a session of electrotherapy.

After the electric light, the Zubat instantly wilted, their bodies scorched, and they prepared to flap their wings and flee.

“Now's the time, Poké Ball!”

Suddenly, a cold glint flashed in the corner of Brock's narrowed eyes. With quick hands, he threw a Poké Ball, directly hitting the Zubat with the largest eyes.

“Whoosh!”

A red light flashed, and the big-eyed Zubat was successfully captured!

“Good heavens!”

Seeing this, Ash grew anxious and quickly reached for his waist, preparing to catch a Zubat with narrowed eyes as well, but he accidentally touched his Pokédex nearby.

“Beep beep. Zubat, the Bat Pokémon. Danger Warning!! Danger Warning!!”

The Pokédex also flashed a red warning light, as if a major crisis had occurred.

Ash: “???”

Due to being interrupted by the Pokédex, by the time Ash pulled out his Poké Ball, the Zubat swarm had already disappeared.

“Darn it!”

He could only put away his Poké Ball dejectedly, looking at Brock, who was showing his white teeth, and feeling annoyed.

“Is this your Rock Will? To secretly catch a Zubat, that's truly hilarious,” Ash couldn't help but mock.

Brock also smiled and replied:

“Oh, oh, the Rock Will is an ancestral tradition, it doesn't matter. I have plenty of younger brothers who can inherit the Rock Will. Being a breeder is my true will!”

“Oh, oh, then the misunderstanding is cleared.” “Mm-hmm, we're all brothers.”

Misty: “...”

Is this what conversations between tough men are like? She didn't understand it at all.

...

With the Zubat gone, the young man who had been electrocuted by Thunderbolt rubbed his head and groggily woke up. Seeing the three, he immediately expressed his gratitude.

“Thank you three for saving me. My Pokémon had all lost their ability to battle, and then I ran into rampaging Zubat. I almost lost my life here.”

“You lose the ability to battle just fighting a few Zubat? That's really something.”

It was unclear which of the three was whispering.

The young man in the white lab coat pretended not to hear and continued to introduce himself:

“Hello, my name is Rikawa, and I am a Fossil enthusiast.”

Mt. Moon not only has rare Moon Stones, but occasionally one can even dig up ancient Fossils. It truly is a tourist destination.

“Oh, so did you dig up any Fossils?” Ash asked curiously.

The Fossil man, Rikawa, nodded and said with a smile, “I've already dug up two ancient Fossils. To repay your life-saving kindness, I've decided to give one to you.”

As he spoke, he pulled out two Fossils from his backpack.

The three immediately became interested and gathered around. One was smooth like a stone, and the other was spiral-shaped, yellowish in color, clearly something ancient.

“Hey Brock, your Rock Will is gone, so why don't you stop looking? Be careful your ancestors visit you in your dreams tonight,” Ash couldn't help but say.

“It's fine. My younger brother isn't an adult yet. I am now a man with a dual will.”

Pewter City has a Fossil Museum, so he understood Fossils. He widened his eyes and, after careful observation, said:

“My blind guess is that these should be a Dome Fossil and a Helix Fossil, right?”

“Really? This one looks like a poop Fossil to me.” Ash pointed at the spiral-shaped Fossil.

Indeed, the spiral protrusions did look a bit like it, and even Brock became somewhat suspicious, unable to resist asking:

“Mr. Rikawa, you didn't really dig up a poop Fossil, did you?”

“Impossible! This is a genuine Helix Fossil! You can even revive ancient Pokémon from this Fossil at a large Museum!”

Rikawa displayed the two Fossils to Ash one by one.

“Choose, as my savior.”

Ash didn't hesitate. He picked up the Dome Fossil next to him, which had a decent shape.

“In that case, I'll take this one!”

He weighed it in his hand; it was quite heavy. It would be excellent to use as a hidden weapon to ambush Team Rocket in the future.

...

After some shady dealings, the Fossil man hurriedly left along the path they came from, intending to seize this opportunity to quickly send it to the Museum in Pewter City to see if an ancient Pokémon could be revived from it.

“Congratulations, Ash. Maybe you'll really get an ancient Pokémon in the future.”

Every ancient Pokémon is a rare species, and whether they still exist is not a certainty in academia. Moreover, due to carrying the savage bloodline passed down from ancient direct lineages, ancient Pokémon's power would also be considerably stronger than normal Pokémon.

“Good luck.”

The trio set off again, continuing deeper into the Mt. Moon cave.

...

Soon, when they were halfway, they suddenly discovered a hidden entrance nearby, with a wooden sign stuck in it.

“Clefairy Store, 50 meters ahead, welcome.”

The three were puzzled but also tired from walking, so they decided to go to this small store to rest.

...

Mt. Moon Square.

“So there's a clearing like this inside Mt. Moon…?” Misty couldn't help but exclaim.

Surrounded by steep rock walls, their location felt like an oasis, appearing remarkably isolated. It wasn't too large; apart from a grassland not far away, there was only a small store. The store's sign had a cute, innocent pink devil drawn on it.

“Is that the Clefairy Store? Let's go there and rest.”

The three didn't hesitate and quickly entered the store.

“Welcome~~ Everything in this store is free~~”

As soon as they entered, a weak cry came from the counter nearby. The voice was soft and sounded like a cute girl. It was a girl wearing a white sun hat with a Poké Ball icon on it. Her head was completely covered by the hat, and she was dozing on the counter. Next to her was a Bulbasaur, looking wilted as if it hadn't been fertilized enough.