Recaps

After Lu Chen let the gigantic Dragonite leave, he reflected on his ancient past and wondered how his old companions’ lives had ended. The wounded Dragonite’s appearance stirred speculation across the region, while the Pokémon League and Team Rocket watched Lu Chen; more than two months then passed.

• Lu Chen let the gigantic Dragonite go after asking it for a reverse scale, which he planned to use to teach Gabite Dragon Dance, and accepted Professor Oak’s offer to be a third author on a fossil research paper.
• Unable to sleep, Lu Chen told his Pokémon that Dragonite’s search for its companions had made him wonder about his ancient friends, including a queen and Aaron, and said he wanted to learn how their stories had ended.
• Reporters photographed the wounded Dragonite, prompting the public to speculate that Professor Oak had defeated it after it visited Pallet Town.
• Agatha and Lorelei concluded that Lu Chen had wounded Dragonite, and Lorelei proposed monitoring his situation herself.
• Giovanni dismissed a proposed investigation into Dragonite and said Team Rocket would wait for the Ultimate Weapon to be completed.
• More than two months passed after Dragonite’s attack, while Lu Chen tended Starf Berry saplings on his farm in Pallet Town.

Two months later, Lu Chen’s farm thrived as Professor Oak’s paper about living Kabuto brought him unexpected attention from researchers. Ash collected all eight Kanto Badges and headed for Pallet Town, eager to show Lu Chen how much stronger he had become.

• Lu Chen’s Starf Berry saplings flourished, Gabite reached peak Gym Level, and the Aerodactyl he caught in the Grand Canyon received the nickname Scout No. 1.
• Professor Oak published a paper on living Kabuto and Ancient Pokémon ecology, listing Lu Chen as its third author and sparking widespread discussion.
• A researcher at Pokémon League headquarters read Professor Oak’s paper and resolved to visit Kanto to seek living fossil Pokémon specimens for a revival project.
• Ash earned his eighth Kanto Badge at the Viridian Gym, with Misty and Brock celebrating alongside him.
• Ash credited his more serious training partly to Lu Chen’s example and set off for Pallet Town to show him his progress.

Lu Chen told Ash, Misty, Brock, and Gary the story behind Cameran Palace, its queen, the warrior, and the legend of the hero. He revealed how Aura and the Tree of Beginning were involved, then ended the tale with the warrior leaving and the Aura Guardian starting a family.

• Ash returned to Pallet Town with all eight Badges and rushed to Lu Chen’s farm to ask about his promised gift.
• Lu Chen told how a princess and the kingdom’s only warrior climbed a legendary mountain, then returned to defend their home and founded Cameran Palace.
• Lu Chen explained that the queen and warrior later found an Aura Guardian, whose power let him and his Lucario protect their homeland.
• Lu Chen revealed that the Tree of Beginning had answered late because it only noticed Cameran Palace after many years, while the queen and warrior had already saved their people.
• Lu Chen said the warrior left Cameran Palace to grow stronger, while the Aura Guardian married his girlfriend and had a son; Ash and his friends were left stunned by the abrupt ending.

Lu Chen revealed that Ash was an Aura Guardian after the goddess statue responded to him and he awakened his Aura. After Delia dragged Ash home, Lu Chen reflected on Cameran Palace and a clumsy princess from the past.

• Brock guessed that Ash might be connected to the Aura Guardian from Lu Chen’s story, and Lu Chen confirmed it.
• Lu Chen had Gengar bring out the goddess statue and told Ash to pick it up.
• Ash awakened his Aura, sensing the world around him with his eyes closed, and asked Lu Chen to teach him how to use it.
• Lu Chen took back the statue and sent Ash to visit his family, but Delia arrived and dragged Ash away by the ear.
• Misty, Brock, and Gary left, while Lu Chen wondered whether Cameran Palace and the princess he remembered had disappeared into history.

Ash tested his new Aura by navigating and catching balls with his eyes closed, then foolishly asked Pikachu to use Thunderbolt on him and was shocked. After Misty and Brock speculated about Lu Chen’s connection to the ancient era, Ash visited Lu Chen the next morning and challenged him to a battle.

• Ash used Aura to move around the living room and catch balls with his eyes closed.
• Ash asked Pikachu to use Thunderbolt on him, and the blast left him charred and smoking.
• Misty and Brock wondered whether Lu Chen’s story about the ancient era was based on his own memories, while Ash suggested Lu Chen might be an ancient person who had lived until the present.
• Delia kept Lu Chen’s time-traveler secret and thanked Misty and Brock for traveling with Ash.
• Ash brought Delia to Lu Chen’s farm the next morning and challenged Lu Chen to a battle, which Lu Chen accepted.

Lu Chen used Zorua’s transformation into Gouging Fire to defeat Ash’s Bulbasaur in a battle at the farm. Ash recalled Bulbasaur and sent out Squirtle for the next match.

• Aerodactyl watched from a tree while Team Rocket spotted it and fled into the thicket.
• Lu Chen chose Zorua to battle Ash’s unevolved Bulbasaur, and Professor Oak explained that Zorua could transform.
• Zorua dodged Bulbasaur’s Vine Whip and transformed into Gouging Fire.
• Gouging Fire dodged Bulbasaur’s Seed Bomb and Solar Beam, then defeated it with Dragon Claw.
• Brock declared Zorua the winner, and Ash sent out Squirtle for the next battle.

Ash’s Squirtle and Charizard battled Lu Chen’s Pokémon, but both were overwhelmed by their opponents’ strength. After Charizard was badly injured, Lu Chen urged Ash to take it to the Pokémon Center, then reflected on how he had gotten involved.

• Lu Chen’s Zorua transformed into Venusaur and defeated Ash’s Squirtle with its superior stats.
• Ash sent out Charizard, which ignored his commands and blasted him with Flamethrower; sparks from the fire set the Starf Berry orchard’s fence alight.
• Gabite rushed in to confront Charizard over the burning fence, and Lu Chen agreed to let them battle.
• Charizard’s Flamethrower clashed with Gabite’s Dragon Pulse, but Gabite knocked Charizard into a crater with Dragon Claw.
• Gabite pinned Charizard beneath Rock Slide, and Ash burned his hands moving the rocks before recalling Charizard.
• Lu Chen sternly told Ash to take Charizard to the Pokémon Center, then sat down and sighed over getting involved.

Lu Chen learned that an archaeology team was excavating super-ancient ruins near town and joined them as a Trainer, hoping their discoveries might reveal more about the ancient war he had witnessed. Meanwhile, Aaron traveled toward Kanto after sensing the presence of another Aura Guardian, and Gary headed to challenge the Viridian Gym.

• Professor Oak told Lu Chen that Gary had collected eight Badges and gone to challenge the Viridian Gym, whose Leader was Giovanni.
• Aboard a ship bound for Kanto, Aaron asked Lucario about Aura fluctuations and concluded that another Aura Guardian had appeared.
• Lu Chen went to town for supplies and heard from the supermarket owner that archaeologists were studying nearby super-ancient ruins.
• Lu Chen found the archaeology team's recruitment notice at the Viridian Hotel and showed Wang Yi his Gym Level Trainer Card.
• Wang Yi hired Lu Chen to protect the team and offered to show him their recent excavation finds.

Lu Chen joined Wang Yi’s archaeological team and found that the super-ancient ruins they were excavating looked familiar. He and Gengar realized the site was likely one of Lu Chen’s former homes, leaving him to face the strange prospect of excavating his own house.

• Hokuto challenged Lu Chen when he called the unearthed artifacts ordinary furniture, then apologized after Wang Yi explained her enthusiasm for the super-ancient civilization.
• Lu Chen agreed to protect the archaeological team and brought out Gengar, whose unusual markings caught Hokuto’s attention.
• Gengar’s presence frightened away an Ekans and other wild Pokémon along the team’s route to the ruins.
• At the excavation pit, Lu Chen and Gengar recognized the layout as a likely former temporary base and home of Lu Chen’s from the super-ancient era.

Lu Chen secretly collapsed his old home to keep the archaeologists from turning it into a tourist attraction, but the earthquake exposed a larger, unfamiliar super-ancient ruin beneath it. The archaeologists celebrated the discovery, while Lu Chen wondered what lay inside.

• Hokuto explained that the household objects from Lu Chen's old home were valuable historical artifacts, and Lu Chen worried the site would become a tourist attraction.
• At midnight, Gengar used Hypnosis to put the night watch staff to sleep, and Lu Chen returned to his old home with Aerodactyl.
• Lu Chen ordered Aerodactyl to use Earthquake, collapsing the house and revealing the ruins of a grander building beneath it.
• The earthquake woke some archaeologists, and Lu Chen pretended to have just come from his tent as the team discovered the newly exposed ruins.
• Hokuto and the archaeologists celebrated the larger, more intact super-ancient ruin, while Lu Chen wondered what it contained.

Lu Chen led the archaeological team into the ruins, where they identified the site as the Pokémopolis Empire and found a tablet describing a world-splitting conflict. After Lu Chen translated it fluently, Hokuto noticed Gengar’s sacred markings and began to suspect Lu Chen’s true connection to the civilization; the team then discovered something else.

• Lu Chen led the team into the enormous ruins, where they saw giant statues of super-gigantic Pokémon.
• Wang Yi identified an inscription as writing from the Pokémopolis Empire, while Lu Chen suspected it had inherited the Ten Thousand Beasts Empire’s legacy.
• Hokuto began translating the tablet, but Lu Chen recited the full passage about a conflict, a gate to another world, and a power that calmed everything.
• Hokuto recognized Gengar’s markings as sacred symbols reserved for deities and privately questioned Lu Chen’s background.
• A team member called everyone over after finding something new.

Lu Chen and Hokuto discovered artifacts in the ruins, but the black dumbbell released an enormous Gengar and the golden spoon awakened a giant Alakazam. As the ancient Pokémon’s battle spread beyond the ruins and threatened the world, Hokuto urged Lu Chen to find the power said to stop them.

• Hokuto questioned Lu Chen about his fluent reading of the Pokémopolis Language and Gengar’s sacred markings.
• The ruins shook, and the black dumbbell opened a vortex that swallowed the archaeological team, including Wang Yi.
• The dumbbell transformed into an enormous Ancient Gengar, while the golden spoon became a colossal Alakazam.
• Ancient Gengar and Alakazam fought, tearing apart the ruins as their battle’s energy became visible across the surrounding region.
• Hokuto recalled the tablet’s prophecy about two world-destroying powers and begged Lu Chen to find the power that could stop them.

With the tablet buried and her companions missing, Hokuto feared the Ancient Pokémon would destroy the world, but Lu Chen dismissed the inscription as exaggeration and revealed his Gengar’s immense power. The chapter ended with Lu Chen ordering Gengar to use Hypnosis on the two Ancient Pokémon.

• Hokuto panicked over her missing companions, the buried tablet, and the possibility that the world would be destroyed.
• Lu Chen suggested the inscription’s historian had exaggerated and said the Ancient Pokémon were only around average Champion strength.
• Lu Chen told Gengar to handle the fighting Ancient Pokémon, and Gengar grew larger than both of them combined.
• Hokuto wondered whether Lu Chen’s Gengar was the true original behind the Ancient Pokémon imitations.
• Lu Chen ordered Gengar to use Hypnosis.

Lu Chen’s Gengar overwhelmed the Ancient Gengar and Ancient Alakazam in a battle visible across Kanto, while Hokuto guessed at Lu Chen’s connection to the super-ancient era. As Lu Chen began trapping the two Pokémon in another dimension, Hokuto warned him that the archaeological team was still inside Gengar.

• Lu Chen ordered Gengar to use Hypnosis, but the Ancient Gengar and Ancient Alakazam woke themselves by striking their own heads and faces.
• The Ancient Pokémon teamed up against Lu Chen’s Gengar, which sent them crashing into the mountains with a single Shadow Ball.
• Hokuto questioned Lu Chen about his knowledge of the super-ancient era and his powerful Gengar, then guessed that he was a researcher from another region.
• The giant Pokémon battle shook the area and drew the attention of Professor Oak, Delia, Ash, Misty, Brock, and people across Kanto.
• Lu Chen’s Gengar opened a fissure to another dimension and began pulling the Ancient Pokémon inside, but Hokuto warned that the archaeological team remained inside Gengar.

Lu Chen and Gengar rescued the archaeological team and defeated the Ancient Gengar and Ancient Alakazam, sealing them back into the black dumbbell and golden spoon. After leaving the ruins, Lu Chen doubled back to retrieve the great bell and headed home to Pallet Town with Gengar.

• Lu Chen's Gengar pulled the unconscious archaeological team from the Ancient Gengar's alternate space, then defeated both Ancient Pokémon and returned them to their artifact forms.
• Hokuto thanked Gengar and fed it, while Lu Chen picked up the black dumbbell and golden spoon and explained their connection to ancient Pokémon technology.
• The archaeological team woke up and credited the inscription's world-saving power with rescuing them, while Hokuto invited Lu Chen to join the team.
• Lu Chen declined to join but told Hokuto she could seek him out in Pallet Town if she found unusual super-ancient ruins.
• Lu Chen quietly returned to the Pokémopolis Ruins, had Gengar swallow the great bell, and left for Pallet Town.

Lu Chen questioned the Ancient Gengar and Ancient Alakazam about their past and the fall of ancient civilizations, then stored them and the sleeping Pokémon in the stone bell in his shed. Professor Oak suspected Lu Chen’s Gengar had fought the giant Pokémon, while Delia and the Pokémon enjoyed a peaceful day on the flourishing farm.

• Lu Chen learned that Ancient Gengar and Ancient Alakazam could grow giant for only a short time and needed a long recovery, and he revealed that the Ten Thousand Beasts Empire had once used Pokémon like them as single-use weapons.
• Ancient Gengar and Ancient Alakazam admitted they knew nothing about how the Pokémopolis Civilization or the Ten Thousand Beasts Empire had fallen, so Lu Chen put them and the sleeping Pokémon in the storage shed.
• Professor Oak asked whether Lu Chen was involved in the giant Pokémon battle, but Lu Chen denied knowing anything about it, and Oak suspected Gengar had been the giant Pokémon.
• Delia fed Zorua and the other Pokémon as they relaxed around the farm, where the Starf Berry trees had begun to form flower buds.

Lu Chen discovered that his Fossil Pokémon had begun breeding in the farm’s river and considered raising them as a business. Ash arrived with Charizard, announcing that it had finally accepted him, and revealed he had found a Pokémon Egg.

• Lapras led Lu Chen, Delia, and Professor Oak to a weakened Kabutops holding a Pokémon Egg, astonishing them with the Fossil Pokémon’s reproduction.
• Lu Chen fed Kabutops special Pokémon Food and encouraged the river’s Fossil Pokémon to breed, promising that their young could explore the wider world.
• Ash arrived with Charizard following obediently and told Lu Chen that Charizard had finally accepted him.
• Lu Chen wondered how Ash’s improved bond with Charizard and awakened Aura might affect his League performance.
• Ash told Lu Chen that he had also found something on the way, and Lu Chen guessed it was a Pokémon Egg.

Ash showed Lu Chen and the others the Pokémon Egg he had found, then Professor Oak learned that Ash had awakened his Aura. The gathering was interrupted when Oak received news that Gary had been gravely injured challenging the Viridian Gym Leader and was unconscious in the hospital.

• Ash showed Lu Chen the pale cyan Pokémon Egg he had found beside a river and said he felt connected to it.
• Lu Chen explained that an Aura Guardian’s first Pokémon Egg matched their talent, but Ash said he would raise whichever Pokémon hatched from his egg.
• Professor Oak realized Ash had become an Aura Guardian, heard how Lu Chen had helped him awaken his Aura, and urged him to learn from Lu Chen.
• Misty and Brock recognized Lu Chen’s Gengar as the gigantic Gengar they had seen during the earlier disturbance.
• Professor Oak received a call reporting that Gary had been severely injured while challenging the Viridian Gym Leader and was unconscious in the hospital.

Gary told Professor Oak, Ash, and Lu Chen that an armored Pokémon defeated his team at the Viridian Gym, while Lu Chen recognized it as Mewtwo and the Gym Leader as Giovanni. After the Pokémon League discovered Team Rocket’s secret laboratory and exposed Mewtwo, Professor Juniper called Professor Oak to ask about buying fossil Pokémon specimens, and he refused.

• Gary told Professor Oak that an armored Pokémon defeated his Blastoise, Arcanine, and Nidoking with Confusion, leaving him hospitalized.
• Lu Chen recognized the armored Pokémon as Mewtwo and the Viridian Gym Leader as Giovanni, but said the Pokémon League should handle the matter.
• Pokémon League investigators found the Viridian Gym abandoned and uncovered a Team Rocket laboratory beneath it.
• The Pokémon League revealed that Mewtwo was an artificial Legendary Pokémon created using an eyelash from Mew, shocking the Kanto Region.
• Lu Chen told Professor Oak about an ancient empire destroyed by a Legendary Pokémon avatar it had created, and Professor Oak recalled similar human folly.
• Professor Juniper called Professor Oak to ask about buying fossil Pokémon specimens, and he refused.

Professor Oak rejected Professor Juniper’s request to buy Kabuto, while Lu Chen considered using her fossil research to investigate the ancient battlefield. After watching Aaron’s Lucario defeat Blaine’s team, Lu Chen recognized the Aura techniques as part of an old lineage and decided to enter the Kanto League Conference, leaving Ash, Gary, and Professor Oak worried about the competition.

• Professor Oak refused Professor Juniper’s offer to buy the loaned Kabuto and ended their call.
• Lu Chen considered whether Professor Juniper’s memory-preserving fossil revival research could reveal what happened on the ancient battlefield.
• Aaron’s Lucario defeated Blaine’s Magmar and swept all three of Blaine’s Pokémon at the Cinnabar Gym.
• Aaron planned to compete in the Kanto League Conference to draw the newly emerged Aura Guardian to him.
• Lu Chen recognized Aaron’s battle techniques as a continuation of the skills he had taught the first Aura Guardian and announced that he might enter the Conference.
• Ash, Gary, and Professor Oak worried that Lu Chen’s powerful Pokémon would make the championship difficult to contest.

With only three days left to register for the Pokémon League Conference, Lu Chen began racing through the Gyms and won his first badge in minutes. He headed toward the next city, while Forrest wondered whether Lu Chen could collect all eight badges in time.

• Brock told Lu Chen that registration closed in three days, and Lu Chen said that was more than enough time to collect eight badges.
• Lu Chen flew to Pewter City with Aerodactyl, Gouging Fire, and Gabite, leaving Lapras and Gengar to watch the farm.
• At Pewter Gym, Lu Chen sent out Gabite, which knocked out Forrest's Onix with one Dragon Claw.
• Gabite defeated Forrest's remaining Pokémon, earning Lu Chen the Boulder Badge and a badge case.
• Lu Chen left for the next city, and Forrest wondered whether he was trying to speedrun all eight Gyms in three days.

Lu Chen earned all eight Kanto Gym Badges in a single day, and news of his feat spread ahead of the League Conference. A week later, Brock and Professor Oak recognized the strange fruit growing on Lu Chen’s farm as Starf Berries.

• Lu Chen defeated the Cerulean, Vermilion, Cinnabar, and Saffron Gym Leaders, while Erika and Viridian Gym’s acting Leader conceded, completing his eight Badges in one day.
• Online discussions erupted over Lu Chen’s speedrun, and fans anticipated a Kanto League Conference featuring him, Gary, and Aura Guardian Aaron.
• A week later, Ash and Gary practiced battling at Lu Chen’s farm while Brock noticed the unusual fruit on its trees.
• Brock identified the fruit as Starf Berries, and Professor Oak arrived and realized the trees he had watched growing were Starf Berry trees.

Lu Chen harvested his first crop of Starf Berries and negotiated sales with Brock and Professor Oak. He planned to sell the remaining berries to former Hoenn Champion Steven after the Pokémon League Conference.

• Professor Oak was astonished to find that Lu Chen had cultivated thirty Starf Berry trees, while Brock asked to buy some.
• Lu Chen and Gabite harvested the trees, gathering about a hundred Starf Berries in the first batch.
• Lu Chen realized that three harvests could yield roughly three hundred berries and imagined the profits from selling them.
• Brock explained that flooding the market would lower prices, so Lu Chen agreed to sell each berry for five hundred thousand.
• Brock bought ten berries and Professor Oak bought three, paying Lu Chen seven million five hundred thousand in total.
• Lu Chen considered selling the remaining berries to Steven and decided to approach him in Hoenn after the Pokémon League Conference.

Lu Chen prepared a secret medicine from Dragonite’s reverse scale and other ingredients as a promised gift for Gabite. After Gabite swallowed the foul-smelling pellet, he began to evolve, and Lu Chen expected the medicine to help him surpass other Garchomp.

• Gengar stored the Starf Berries in his alternate dimension, while Misty corrected Ash’s mistaken belief that he had eaten them.
• Gabite quietly started to leave the farm after the harvest, but Lu Chen stopped him and reminded him of his promised surprise gift.
• Lu Chen used Dragonite’s reverse scale, strange ingredients, and one of Gabite’s scales to make a blackish-gray medicine pellet.
• Gabite swallowed the pellet despite its awful taste, and his body began to glow as he started to evolve.
• Ash reacted in astonishment, while Lu Chen said Gabite’s evolution and secret medicine would help him leap ahead of other Garchomp.

Gabite evolved into an Elite Four-level Garchomp at Lu Chen's farm, and Lu Chen challenged Ash and Gary to battle. Gary declined to protect his recovering Pokémon, while Ash accepted and sent out Charizard after Lu Chen promised Garchomp would not use attacking moves.

• Gabite evolved into a powerful Garchomp and broke through to Elite Four level.
• Professor Oak, Ash, and Gary reacted to Garchomp's strength, while Lu Chen recognized that the Secret Medicine had awakened its ability to use Dragon Dance.
• Lu Chen invited Ash and Gary to battle, but Gary declined because his Pokémon were still recovering and the Pokémon League tournament was near.
• Ash accepted Lu Chen's challenge, and Lu Chen said Garchomp would refrain from attacking moves.
• Ash sent out Charizard to face Garchomp.