Once Aerodactyl saw that it no longer needed to fight, it quietly edged over to the nearby Omastar.
It sniffed Omastar hard, catching that familiar aroma.
An expectant look immediately spread across Aerodactyl's face, and thin trails of drool involuntarily trickled from its mouth.
Meanwhile, Omastar stiffened all over when it saw Aerodactyl quietly approach.
Looking at the rocky Aerodactyl before it, drool still hanging from its mouth, it felt so much pressure that it dared not move a single tentacle.
It feared Aerodactyl would eat it as a snack the very next second.
Elsewhere, the Team Rocket Trio huddled in a corner, whispering.
"That guy's mysterious Pokémon is terrifyingly strong!"
"But if we could catch that mysterious Pokémon, couldn't we rule the world?"
"But... can we really catch that mysterious Pokémon? Meow."
Meowth trembled as he watched the Aerodactyl that had made Omastar drool.
"Looking at it scares me, meow. It feels like it could eat me too if I'm not careful."
"Why are you such a coward?"
"Exactly! Meowth, show some backbone!"
Meowth tucked his tail in, inwardly grumbling furiously.
The pressure this mysterious Pokémon exerted on him was even more terrifying than that of the Elite Four, Champions, or even Giovanni.
It wasn't like the fear of seeing someone powerful... it was more like... more like a mouse seeing a cat, a fear that came from his very genes.
While the Team Rocket Trio discussed how to steal Aerodactyl, Aerodactyl turned to glance at the Poké Balls on the ground.
It remembered what Lu Chen had just said.
These fellows had said they would submit to it. They were already its underlings.
Wouldn't eating my own underlings be a little rude?
After thinking for a while, Aerodactyl decided not to eat these Omanyte for now.
After all, not only were these Omanyte its underlings now, but there were also too few of them, barely enough for a single meal.
If they bred later and their numbers grew, then it could have something delicious every day.
Aerodactyl tilted its head in thought, then immediately gave itself a thumbs-up for its wise and mighty decision.
But Aerodactyl still craved a bite. Just then, it noticed the Omastar tentacle it had severed lying on the ground off to the side.
Aerodactyl swept its wings hard, and a small hurricane blew the severed Omastar tentacles over in front of it.
Aerodactyl held back no longer. Opening its enormous maw, it swallowed the tentacles in one mouthful!
It chewed in great, hungry bites.
Crunch, crunch.
Getting a rare taste of fresh flesh, Aerodactyl narrowed its eyes in excitement as red juices trickled from its mouth.
The Team Rocket Trio's faces instantly went white at the sight.
Although Pokémon could, in theory, attack and even devour one another.
In this age of increasingly abundant Berries and greatly reduced competition between Pokémon, such scenes had become rarer and rarer.
Hearing the crunching from Aerodactyl's mouth and watching the red blood seep from its lips, Jessie, James, and Meowth all gulped.
Even Jessie, their usually tough leader, silently lowered her head, no longer daring to mention catching Aerodactyl.
While Aerodactyl sneaked its little snack, Lu Chen had already walked up to Charmeleon.
Under Ash's shocked gaze, he beckoned Charmeleon with a finger.
"Didn't you want to challenge me? Come on, then."
"What?!" Ash was dumbfounded.
"Roar!" Charmeleon extended a claw and pointed at Aerodactyl, indicating that it wanted to challenge that Pokémon, not a fragile human!
Lu Chen loosened up his body and smiled at Charmeleon. "If you beat me, I'll have Aerodactyl be your sparring partner for as long as you want."
With that, Lu Chen took off his shirt.
He revealed a lean, muscular body covered in scars.
Crisscrossing scars covered every inch of his skin: burn marks, old scars left by sharp blades, and twisted patterns whose causes were impossible to identify.
Each scar seemed like a story, recounting his experiences of crawling out of hell.
Ash stood rooted to the spot, opening his mouth but unable to say a word.
Lu Chen beckoned Charmeleon again. "Or do you think you can't beat me?"
"Roar!"
Charmeleon was enraged.
It roared and charged at Lu Chen.
Its claws slashed down with full force, whistling through the air.
Unhurried, Lu Chen sidestepped, caught Charmeleon's outstretched arm, and drove through his waist and abdomen, slamming it hard into the ground with a clean shoulder throw.
Before Charmeleon could react, Lu Chen's fist had already struck its most vulnerable spot, its abdomen.
Thud!
Charmeleon let out a muffled grunt of pain.
Several crisp exchanges followed.
Every time, Lu Chen precisely anticipated Charmeleon's moves, blocked, and counterattacked.
Lu Chen's movements were clean and efficient, without a single wasted motion. Every attack landed precisely where it hurt Charmeleon most.
"Thud!"
After Lu Chen kicked Charmeleon to the ground once more, it lay there panting, without even the strength to stand.
Lu Chen rolled his neck and flexed his wrists. "Looks like I haven't gotten rusty."
"Roar!!"
Looking at Lu Chen before it, Charmeleon grew angrier and angrier, angry, even furious!
As a great Dragon-type Pokémon, how could he possibly lose to a human?
The more Charmeleon thought about it, the angrier it became!
Even its originally dark red skin turned bright red with anger!
Then, fueled by this anger, Charmeleon's body began to glow.
Charmeleon evolved!
Seeing this, Lu Chen rubbed his chin and said,
"Forcing yourself to evolve because you're angry?"
Driven by extreme anger and unwillingness to accept defeat, Charmeleon's body rapidly swelled, wings spread, and the flame on its tail grew several times larger.
Charmeleon evolved into Charizard.
After evolving, Charizard finally felt it could get back up!
And now Charizard felt terrifyingly strong, absolutely capable of easily defeating the human before it!
Charizard opened its mouth wide and spat a stream of scorching flames at Lu Chen!
"Watch out, Lu Chen!" Ash cried.
Then.
The next second.
A black shape shot out of Lu Chen's shadow.
Gengar.
It charged out several times faster than Charizard, its little fist wrapped in terrifying Ghost-type energy, and punched Charizard in the abdomen.
Boom!
Charizard's enormous body flew backward and smashed heavily into the tunnel wall, sending shattered rocks flying.
Charizard slid down the wall, its eyes spiraling, completely unable to battle.
"Keh heh heh~"
Gengar cackled, waved a claw at Lu Chen, and leisurely slipped back into his shadow.
"Charizard!"
Ash rushed over immediately to check Charizard's injuries.
After confirming that it wasn't seriously hurt, Ash walked up to Lu Chen, his face full of shock.
"Th-this is way too strong! Lu Chen, how did you do that?!"
"Just some very simple martial arts." Lu Chen pulled his shirt back on, his tone casual.
"Any ordinary person could do it if they exercised more."
Ash's mouth gaped wide enough to fit an apple.
An ordinary person?
What ordinary person could knock Charmeleon down with one punch?!
"Ash! Are you okay?"
A shout came from the tunnel entrance.
Misty, Gary, and Brock had finally arrived, with quite a few reporters following behind them.
Misty spotted Lu Chen at once.
She froze, then suddenly blushed and instinctively covered her eyes with her hands.
Gary and Brock also saw Lu Chen. They exchanged a look, the same thought crossing both their minds.
This guy was definitely no ordinary person.
The reporters began getting ready to take pictures.
Lu Chen looked at the growing crowd and put away his Poké Balls. "Looks like it's about time I left."
He took out his Poké Balls and caught all the Fossil Pokémon that had already been scared out of their wits.
Omastar, Omanyte, Kabuto, Kabutops, and that unconscious wild Aerodactyl.
He was thoroughly satisfied.
Before leaving, Lu Chen looked at Ash. "Come back to Pallet Town when you have time. There are a few things I want to confirm with you."
"Oh, okay, Lu Chen."
Ash nodded.
Lu Chen swung himself onto Aerodactyl and was just about to leave when he suddenly remembered something. Looking down at Ash and the others, he added,
"By the way, if Aerodactyl sensed it correctly, this tunnel is about to collapse."
"If you don't want to be buried alive, get out now."
"Huh?"
Ash, Gary, Brock, and Misty cried out in unison.
Then everyone scrambled madly out of the cave.
Sure enough.
The instant they rushed out of the tunnel entrance, the entire canyon began shaking violently.
A small earthquake swept through, and great masses of rubble cascaded down, completely burying the tunnel.
Ash and Gary slumped to the ground, gasping for breath.
"W-we're saved..."
"Thank goodness Lu Chen warned us..."
Standing nearby, Misty kept replaying the sight of Lu Chen's scar-covered body in her mind and murmured,
"Those scars on his body are just so manly..."
While Misty was swooning a little, Ash and Gary, who had just escaped with their lives, started arguing again over some trivial matter.
"My mom must've asked Lu Chen to come!"
"What a joke! A Trainer that strong must've been invited by my grandpa!"
"He's a neighbor my mom knows!"
"He's a friend my grandpa knows!"
Watching the two argue until their faces were red over something like this, Misty helplessly slapped her forehead.
"Ugh, Ash really is a kid who never grows up."
She was about to break up the fight when she suddenly caught sight of something among the shattered rocks out of the corner of her eye.
Something was glowing there.
Misty walked over and brushed aside the rubble.
A Pokémon Egg.
Its shell bore unusual patterns and gleamed softly in the sunlight.
"This is..."
Ash and Gary stopped arguing too and came over.
Meanwhile, far away in the sky.
Lu Chen was riding Aerodactyl on his way back to Pallet Town.
He glanced back at the now-buried canyon behind him, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
"Quite a haul this time. This trip wasn't wasted."
"When there's time, I'll have to get Ash to come back to Pallet Town. I need to confirm that matter about Aura."