After more than two weeks of traveling, Liu Qing finally reached Neon Town, the city that never slept, at the boundary between desert and forest one evening.
Although it was only evening, Neon Town's colorful neon lights were already blazing, illuminating almost the entire town as brightly as daylight. But they also kept the residents from getting proper rest, leaving them short-tempered. Even on the short trip to the Pokémon Center, Liu Qing saw several arguments and fistfights right on the streets. After handing his Pokémon to Nurse Joy, he wondered why, after so long in this world, he still hadn't heard anything about living fossil Pokémon being discovered in the Grand Canyon. He wanted to ask her about it, but her impatient expression made him swallow his questions. He decided to go and see for himself the next day.
Neon Town was known as the city that never slept, so there were naturally plenty of places to have fun. After dinner, Liu Qing retrieved his Poké Balls and left the Pokémon Center. He was wondering where to go first when singing suddenly drifted over from the distance. There was something magical about the voice, making his eyelids heavy like a lullaby. Something clicked, and Jigglypuff suddenly came to mind.
Could I have caught up with Ash and the others? As soon as the thought arose, Liu Qing fell to the ground with a thud and went to sleep. When he woke the next morning and wiped the scribbles from his face, he couldn't help smiling. With a plan in mind, he packed his things and headed for the Grand Canyon.
The Grand Canyon was famous worldwide for its magnificent canyon scenery. News of ancient fossils being discovered there had recently drawn large numbers of fossil enthusiasts to excavate them. Liu Qing, however, had no interest in those fossils, nor much interest in the fossil Pokémon that had slept underground for untold tens of thousands of years. They had been asleep far too long, unlike Haunter, who had remained active all that time, so their strength and prospects for growth had already stagnated. Pokémon revived from fossils, or eggs, undoubtedly held tremendous potential, though. As far as Liu Qing knew, fossil revival technology was currently under development but wasn't yet mature. His targets this time were therefore eggs—above all, a Togepi egg.
Perhaps Liu Qing had left Neon Town too late, but his arrival at the Grand Canyon was perfectly timed. A tremendous explosion sent a mushroom cloud rising into the sky, followed by a slight tremor throughout the canyon. Liu Qing took out a Poké Ball and threw it, then told the Haunter that emerged, "Haunter, search the rock layers or underground over there. See if you can find a white Pokémon Egg with blue and red triangular patterns. Hmm... focus on the rock layers first. If you don't find one, look for other kinds."
"You're not looking for fossil Pokémon eggs, are you? Even if there are any, they're probably fossils themselves by now." As Haunter spoke, Liu Qing wore an inscrutable expression. Curious about where his confidence came from, Haunter turned invisible and floated off. Liu Qing started walking in the same direction.
"Everyone, come help move these rocks! Ash and Pikachu fell down underneath!" When Liu Qing reached the site of the explosion, he found that quite a few people digging for fossils had already gathered under Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy's direction. The girl calling out was moving rocks in an irregularly rounded pit. Her yellow top and blue skirt matched Misty's appearance in the anime exactly. Beside her stood a slightly dark-skinned young man with narrow eyes: Brock. Seeing two of the finest supporting characters from the anime of his previous life stirred a surge of excitement in Liu Qing. Fortunately, he had spent long enough in this world to take unusual sights in stride, and the excitement soon subsided.
He glanced around but saw no sign of Haunter, who was presumably still searching. Watching everyone struggle to move the rocks, Liu Qing threw Chansey's Poké Ball. "Chansey, use Gravity Field to change the rocks' weight!"
"Chansey!" Chansey gave a soft cry and waved both hands. A square, transparent curtain of light, like a barrier, enveloped the space above the pit. The immensely heavy rocks suddenly became as light as stage props, allowing everyone to move them aside easily and expose a pitch-black hole. Immediately afterward, an enormous gray figure burst out with a thunderous roar.
"Aerodactyl!" Liu Qing's eyes flashed as he watched the Pokémon land on a stone pillar, stunned. This was an ancient Pokémon. It truly was unlike ordinary Pokémon, radiating an air of desolation and untamed wilderness.
Just as in the story, Aerodactyl had captured Ash and was about to eat him when Charmeleon evolved. In Liu Qing's eyes, however, this Charizard's evolution was downright malformed. Charizard didn't even reach the average height of the species, let alone measure up in other respects.
Having only just evolved, the Charizard chasing Aerodactyl was still unfamiliar with flying and had no hope of catching up. Instead, the flames Charizard breathed scorched Ash. Just then, the Jigglypuff that had sung in Neon Town appeared again. Seeing a glimmer of hope, Misty immediately ran over and asked Jigglypuff to sing.
The lilting, sleep-inducing song spread through the air. Not only did Aerodactyl's eyelids grow unbearably heavy, but everyone present began yawning incessantly. Just as Liu Qing was about to fall asleep, he caught sight of a purplish-black figure drifting unsteadily toward him. Haunter carried a white egg in each hand and another in his mouth. The red and blue triangular patterns were unmistakable. A jolt ran through Liu Qing, and even his drowsiness seemed to fade somewhat.
"Well done, Haunter!" Everyone was facing the direction Aerodactyl had flown, and they were all half-asleep, so no one noticed Haunter's arrival. Liu Qing forced himself to stay awake long enough to praise him.
Travel bags in this world already made use of spatial technology, which was why a single bag could hold so many things. They did have one drawback: living creatures couldn't be placed in the expanded space and had to fit within the bag's normal dimensions. Liu Qing had thought finding even one Pokémon Egg would be impressive, never expecting Haunter to bring back three. He hurriedly took one and placed it in his shoulder bag, then held the other two in his arms. Unable to resist his drowsiness any longer, he fell asleep against the rock wall. He didn't notice one egg slip from his arms and roll aside, ending up beneath Ash's arm as Ash rolled off Charizard.
Liu Qing was now at the Pokémon Center in Neon Town, talking to his father, Bofeng Yu, on the phone. Yes, Neon Town! It was already the evening of the fossil Pokémon incident at the Grand Canyon. All the major powers would eventually learn about it, but until then, the League would keep the secret tightly guarded. By the time the other factions found out, the League would have claimed countless benefits, leaving them nothing but scraps. As a member of the Golden Feather family—and the patriarch's son—Liu Qing naturally had to consider the interests of the entire family. He therefore told his father everything without reservation.
"You're saying it was a living Aerodactyl?" A sharp gleam flashed in Bofeng Yu's eyes. As patriarch of the Golden Feather family, he possessed strength at least on par with an Elite Four member and specialized in training Pokémon capable of flight. Naturally, he was deeply interested in such a powerful ancient Flying-type Pokémon. If they could obtain and train Aerodactyl, the species would become another important resource in the family's stock of Pokémon.
"That's right!" Liu Qing nodded. "I don't know whether there are any other ancient Pokémon sleeping down there, but I saw that Aerodactyl with my own eyes. Probably because it had only just woken up, its movements were still stiff, so it couldn't use its full strength. But that isn't the most important part. According to Haunter's search, there are quite a few Pokémon Eggs in the nearby rock layers and underground caves. Some have fossilized, but others are still viable. Haunter brought these two eggs out of the rock layers."
"Hmm..." After hearing this, Bofeng Yu already had a plan in mind. He praised the tremendous improvement Liu Qing had made during his months of travel, gave him some advice about his journey, then ended the call. Liu Qing found a shipping company owned by his family in Neon Town and sent the two Pokémon Eggs home. After resting for a day, he set off for the final Gym.
"Scyther, X-Scissor!"
"Haunter, Shadow Ball!"
"Shelgon, Dragon Claw!"
After more than two weeks of battling and traveling, Liu Qing finally reached the southernmost port in the Kanto Region and boarded a passenger ferry. In less than half a day, Cinnabar Island came into view in the distance.
Once the ferry docked, Liu Qing disembarked with the other passengers. Shops selling all sorts of goods filled his view, and business was booming.
The hot springs were the foremost pleasure to enjoy on Cinnabar Island. Liu Qing was only human, so naturally, he couldn't resist indulging. He luxuriated in the hot springs, thoroughly easing the fatigue throughout his body. Only three days later did he seek out the outwardly dilapidated Cinnabar Gym.
"What has a chilly head and a warm body?" A voice suddenly sounded behind Liu Qing, giving him quite a fright. Turning around, he saw an elderly man wearing a blond wig and glasses standing behind him.
"Uh, sir, you could scare someone to death doing that." Liu Qing immediately recognized Blaine, the Cinnabar Gym Leader, but pretended not to know him. "As for your question, the answer is an open-air hot spring."
"Hehe, correct. Here's another one, then. A balloon has air inside it. What does a life ring have inside it?"
"A person!"
"Here's another..."
"Wait, sir. Who are you? Why do you keep asking me questions?" Liu Qing asked, thoroughly exasperated.
"You're a Trainer, aren't you? I'm the man you're looking for: Blaine, the Cinnabar Gym Leader," the old man said.
"You're Blaine?" Liu Qing feigned surprise. "Hello, I'm Liu Qing from Saffron City. Will you accept my challenge?"
"Of course. You answered two of my exceptionally difficult questions, so I imagine you must be very strong as well. I'd be delighted to accept your challenge," Blaine said. "This Gym has been abandoned. Come with me to the new one."
"It's so hot." As the temperature continued to rise, Liu Qing couldn't help wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"Of course. This Gym was built on a volcano," Blaine said with a smile as he looked back. Seeing how calm and composed Liu Qing remained, however, he was momentarily taken aback. He chuckled inwardly. This challenge looked like it would be interesting.
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