"Heh heh heh~"
Gengar emerged from Lu Chen's shadow, deftly picked up the teapot, and replaced his tea with a hot cup.
Gengar still wore that usual mischievous grin.
As far as Gengar was concerned, Lu Chen was simply someone with a cold exterior and a warm heart.
Gabite stood at the edge of the deep pit, looking down at the huge crater Gabite had smashed into the ground.
With a gentle flick of the tail, Gabite turned and headed toward the Starf Berry orchard.
Gabite still had to go back and water it.
Beside them, Professor Oak stroked his chin as he watched Ash stumble away, roughly guessing what Lu Chen had in mind.
Professor Oak did not point it out. Watching Ash simply made him suddenly think of his grandson, Gary.
"I wonder where that boy Gary has traveled to now?"
Lu Chen looked up at Professor Oak and asked, a little puzzled, "Ash already has eight Badges. Hasn't Gary gotten eight yet?"
Lu Chen remembered Professor Oak mentioning during their chats that Gary was collecting Badges much faster than Ash.
A proud expression appeared on Professor Oak's face.
"Gary collected eight Badges a long time ago, but lately, that boy has wanted to challenge more Gyms, so he went to challenge the Viridian Gym."
"The Viridian Gym?"
Lu Chen frowned slightly.
The name sounded familiar, but he could not recall the specific plot details right away.
There was nothing he could do about that, though. After all, Lu Chen had spent over twenty years in the super-ancient era, and the details of the anime from his previous life had long since grown hazy, as if hidden behind a veil.
"Professor Oak, who was the Viridian Gym's Leader again?"
"Well... I think his name is Giovanni? In any case, he's a very mysterious person. I don't know much about him either. There are quite a few Gym Leaders in Kanto, after all."
Professor Oak scratched the back of his head as well.
Lu Chen did not ask any further.
It was just a Gym, anyway. How strong could it possibly be? Surely it would not send out a Legendary Pokémon and seriously injure Gary?
Meanwhile, aboard a cruise ship traveling from the Hoenn Region to the Kanto Region.
A boy wearing a blue-and-black cloak stood at the bow, the sea breeze making his cloak snap in the wind.
He looked no older than fifteen or sixteen, with delicate features, but his gaze was far steadier than that of others his age.
Accompanying him was an exceptionally rare Aura Pokémon, Lucario.
Lucario stood ramrod straight, hands behind its back, with an expression even more serious than its Trainer's.
"Lucario, can you sense the Aura fluctuations from that day?"
The boy's name was Aaron. He gazed at the horizon in Kanto's direction, his voice carrying anticipation he could not suppress.
Lucario closed its eyes, remained silent for a moment, then nodded.
"Just as I thought." Aaron tightened his grip on the railing.
"Another Aura Guardian must have been born."
"But according to the village's rules, there should only be one Aura Guardian in each generation. How could an Aura Guardian appear all the way over in the Kanto Region?"
Aaron turned to Lucario, his face full of anticipation.
"What kind of person do you think he'll be?"
Lucario gave him an expressionless look.
"What do you mean, you don't know either? Honestly." Aaron sighed helplessly.
The ship cut through the waves. At their current pace, Aaron would reach the Kanto Region in another week at most.
Elsewhere, after defeating Ash, Lu Chen had headed out with Gengar.
Pallet Town had beautiful surroundings and pleasant scenery, but it also had a drawback.
In terms of size, Pallet Town was really no more than a small village.
Shopping for anything was inconvenient, and the little store only ever stocked the same few things.
So every three to five days, Lu Chen would visit the nearest town to buy some daily necessities.
"Lu Chen, the usual again this time?"
The supermarket owner was a very down-to-earth middle-aged man who greeted Lu Chen warmly as soon as he entered.
Since Lu Chen always bought in bulk, purchasing as much as ten other people combined, the owner's eyes narrowed into smiling slits whenever he saw him.
"Pack up ten cases of cola and twenty portions of Pokémon Food for me."
"Sure thing! Just a moment!"
The owner turned and went to the storeroom to fetch the goods.
Lu Chen leaned against the counter and waited.
Most of those ten cases of cola were not for him.
For some reason, Gengar had suddenly become obsessed with drinking cola lately, downing several bottles at a time.
At one point, Lu Chen had even suspected that something strange had possessed his Gengar.
"Lu Chen, have you heard?" As the owner carried the goods over, he put the cases of cola into Gengar's belly.
While moving the goods, the owner also chatted with Lu Chen.
"A team of archaeology experts came to town recently. Apparently, they're here to study some mysterious super-ancient ruins?"
"I heard they've made quite a few discoveries lately. Seems they even dug up some antiques from the super-ancient era?"
"Super-ancient ruins?" Lu Chen's ears twitched slightly.
"Yeah, I don't understand any of that either. Say, do you think antiques from that super-ancient era are worth a lot? If I could dig up one or two, wouldn't I be rich?"
The owner chuckled good-naturedly, clearly just making an offhand remark.
But Lu Chen had already taken an interest.
Super-ancient ruins.
For Lu Chen, claiming he was not interested would certainly have been a lie.
Besides, perhaps these super-ancient ruins contained historical records of that great war back then?
He had spent over twenty years in the super-ancient era and personally experienced the war that had swept through the entire era.
But for many things, he only knew parts of the story, not the whole picture.
If there were historical records, he might be able to learn more about things he did not know.
"Where is this archaeological team staying?"
"I think they're at a hotel on the west side of town. What was it called... Oh, right, the Viridian Hotel."
Lu Chen thanked the owner and carried his purchases out of the supermarket, stuffed everything into Gengar's alternate space, then changed direction and headed toward the west side of town.
The Viridian Hotel was an old-fashioned three-story building, its exterior painted pale yellow, with a few old lanterns hanging at the entrance. It looked like it had been around for quite a while.
What caught Lu Chen's attention most, however, was a recruitment notice posted outside the hotel.
"High-paying temporary work for Trainers. Objective: protect archaeological team members in the wilderness."
But after taking a look, Lu Chen did not think the wages they offered could count as high pay.
Coupled with the very ordinary accommodations at their hotel, Lu Chen guessed that their funding might be rather limited.
Still, that was certainly a good thing for Lu Chen.
After all, Lu Chen did not care how much the pay was.
The hotel lobby had been converted into a temporary workspace, with maps, photographs, and measuring instruments covering several long tables.
Several researchers wearing glasses were gathered around a photograph, heatedly discussing something.
When Lu Chen walked in, a middle-aged woman wearing round-framed glasses stopped him and looked him up and down somewhat warily.
"What are you here for?"
"I'm a Trainer. I saw the recruitment notice outside, so I thought I'd come and give it a try," Lu Chen said directly.
Only after hearing Lu Chen's words did the middle-aged woman with round-framed glasses relax her guard and say,
"Oh, I see. Did you bring your Trainer Card, then?"
Judging by the way the middle-aged woman looked at Lu Chen's age, she was clearly somewhat worried that he had come to pass himself off as qualified.
Lu Chen took out the Trainer Card Professor Oak had arranged for him.
When she saw the official stamp on Lu Chen's Trainer Card and the words "Gym Level Trainer" clearly written in the rank field, the middle-aged woman's attitude changed instantly.
"Sorry, sorry. You're Lu Chen, right? My name is Wang Yi, and I'm in charge of this archaeological research project. Just call me Sister Wang."
Then Wang Yi looked at Lu Chen and said with some hesitation and embarrassment,
"But I'm a little embarrassed to say that the highest wage we can currently offer is two thousand a day. Would that work for you?"
Lu Chen smiled and waved a hand as he said,
"Two thousand a day is pretty good. I came because I'm interested in ruins from the super-ancient era, too."
"Oh~ I see. That's good, that's good!"
With that, Wang Yi smiled and led Lu Chen inside, saying,
"Then you've certainly come to the right place. Come on, I'll show you what we've excavated recently!"