The hot-air balloon carried Xia You and his companions steadily upward.
Only a short while into their flight, however, they spotted Ash through the tower windows, still climbing his way up inside.
But where was the enthusiasm he had shown just a few minutes earlier?
Both he and Pikachu had abandoned all dignity, clinging and crawling as they slowly inched upward, one step at a time!
Clearly, they had completely exhausted their stamina.
For Ash, the Super Newbie, this was an extremely rare sight.
Seeing May beside him about to call out to Ash, Xia You stopped her with a smile.
"Let's not call him just yet." He shook his head. "Ash can't jump out the window and get into the balloon anyway, so let's sneak up first and give him a 'surprise' when he gets there!"
Hearing this, the others recalled how Ash had insisted on racing them earlier and exchanged knowing smiles.
"Exactly!" Dawn laughed. "Let's give him a real shock!"
Compared to Ash's arduous climb, going up by hot-air balloon really was relaxing. Especially as they rose higher and higher, and the entire town shrank beneath their feet, it gave them an altogether different feeling.
They covered the remaining twenty-odd stories in no time.
By the time they reached the rooftop platform and got out of the balloon, Ash was still nowhere near reaching them.
Back inside the tower, the first thing they saw was an enormous apparatus. Judging by its appearance, it was electrically powered. Through the gaps in its metal casing, they could see various embedded circuits interspersed with gears of different sizes, all turning slowly.
Besides this enormous machine, many bird Pokémon also used this place as a nesting ground, and numerous wild Pokémon could be seen roosting there. Perhaps someone cleaned it regularly,