"You guys didn't capture the Omastar and Kabutops, is it because you couldn't beat them?" Ash asked a soul-searching question.
"Nonsense, those Fossil Pokemon just woke up, their combat power is not even a tenth of what it used to be. Even Professional Level Pokemon are not as strong as Elite Level ones. There's nothing difficult about defeating them, we just wanted to start training them from scratch!" Gary retorted with dissatisfaction.
For normal people, being able to capture Professional Level Pokemon would be a source of great joy. Gary and his friends are not ordinary people, they have great confidence in their training capabilities.
The strength of Pokemon depends not only on their level but also greatly on their bond with their trainers. Therefore, they chose relatively low-level Fossil Pokemon to train from the ground up. By the time they reach the Professional Level, they will definitely be much stronger than Pokemon captured at that level.
Ash actually understood this, and his earlier remark was just a bit of teasing towards Gary.
"Alright, I was just kidding, and you took it seriously. You're just in time, join me as we go further inside. I feel there might be something else in there," Ash could sense that the MEGA guidance in his mind hadn't concluded yet.
Deeper inside, there were still items related to MEGA Evolution, just as the experts in the group said, an A-Level guidance should at least lead to two items.
"Something else? Is this Aura Power of yours really that strong? Can it detect everything?" Gary pouted, speaking somewhat sourly.
"Of course," Ash replied nonchalantly, then continued heading deeper in.
As they ventured deeper and deeper, they finally reached the very bottom of the underground cave where they saw two objects placed on something akin to a pedestal.
One was a Pokemon egg with strange patterns, and the other was a huge gem-like object.
Gary looked at Ash with a ghostly expression; there really was something here. He thought Ash was just bragging to get them to explore the cave together.
After all, with living Fossil Pokemon here, there might be fossils or something deeper inside. Even if they didn't revive them, they could sell them for travel funds.
But it turned out there were indeed items here, a Pokemon egg, and something that looked like a gemstone.
This place was an ancient habitat for Fossil Pokemon; any Pokemon egg found here definitely wasn't ordinary!
As for the gemstone, although it was something they'd never seen before, Gary's intuition told him it was definitely something valuable!
After all, how bad could something found in this cave be?
When Ash saw the smooth Treasure Pearl, he was delighted too, as it looked completely different from the Key Stone he had.
Which meant that the item was a MEGA Evolution Stone. As for the Pokemon egg, Ash wasn't as interested in it.
His main purpose for coming here was to obtain a MEGA Evolution Suit. Whether or not this MEGA Evolution Stone matched the Pokemon he had was something he would deal with later. At least he now had two stones.
Later, he could ask Professor Oak to keep an eye out for matching stones. Even if MEGA Evolution were discovered and the MEGA Evolution Stone he had weren't useful, he could use it for an equivalent exchange with someone else.
In any case, he wouldn't lose out.
"Ash, do you know what this is?" Misty asked, curious, seeing Ash grinning while holding the MEGA Evolution Stone.
"Um... I don't know yet, but I'll definitely find out later. There's a mysterious power within this stone that might help a Pokemon unleash extraordinary powers." Since he had Aura Power, Ash speaking like this wasn't suspicious.
Misty had no doubts, assuming Ash used his Aura Power to detect the energy within the gem in the cave, thus leading them here.
This MEGA Evolution Stone was naturally taken by Ash.
Brock and Misty had no intention of competing with Ash for it, and Gary... well, he was someone brought along by Ash who even benefited from capturing a Fossil Pokemon. How could he have the face to compete with Ash for things?
If it were Team Rocket, they might have broken ties on the spot, but Gary and Ash were childhood buddies.
After Ash took the Evolution Stone, everyone's attention turned to the other object, a Pokemon egg with red and blue patterns. Just by its appearance, neither Gary nor the others could determine what type of Pokemon egg it was.
But Ash's Eye of Insight had already captured all the information about the Pokemon egg.
[Name: Togepi (Egg)]
[Gender: Female]
[Attribute: Fairy]
[Level: None]
[Ability: Super Luck]
[Moves: Growl, Pound, Follow Me, Metronome, Psycho Shift (Egg Move), Morning Sun (Egg Move)]
[Six-dimensional Ability: Physical Attack E (B) Special Attack E (A) Defense E (S) Special Defense E (S) Physical Strength E (A) Speed A (A)]
Ash: ???
After Aerodactyl, this was yet another Pokemon—or rather a Pokemon egg—with extraordinary potential.
A mix of double S, triple A, and one B; regardless of the Pokemon's type, this was downright extraordinary.
Single S-rank Pokemon were already a rarity, emerging perhaps once in a million. But today, Ash had encountered two double S Pokemon.
Forget other people's skepticism, even Ash himself wondered if he was blessed with some chosen luck.
Could the once-in-a-lifetime Chosen Radiance ability have turned into a permanent effect attached to him?
"Ash, can you tell what kind of Pokemon egg this is?" Brock asked as he saw Ash staring intently at the egg.
Ash paused and shook his head, "How would I know what kind of Pokemon egg it is? Pokemon eggs look similar, hard to tell apart. But since it appeared here, it shouldn't be an ordinary Pokemon. Let's take it with us."
As Ash spoke, he took the Pokemon egg and slipped it into his Space Backpack.
Since it was unclaimed, there was no issue with him taking it.
At this point, Ash had cleared out all the treasures in this underground cave. They turned back, preparing to return to the surface above Boulderville.
On the way, Ash asked about the other Fossil Pokemon. Gary said Gardevoir hypnotized them back to sleep.
But such forced Hypnosis was different from natural slumber; they might wake up soon.
So Brock left some food there, so if they wake up again, they could have something to eat. It was also a way to make up for disturbing their rest and even battling them.
Gary then inquired about Ash's Gardevoir.
After all, Gardevoir was one of the most sought-after Pokemon among many men, and Ash's was the unique Shiny version!
Ash didn't hold back and told Gary how he got Gardevoir. Gary showed a familiar ghostly expression for perhaps the umpteenth time, exclaiming at Ash's outrageously good luck!
A Shiny Ralts emerging from a Poke Egg that fell from the sky... if someone told that story, it would sound like something poorly made up, but it was true.
With luck like that, how was anyone supposed to compete with Ash? They couldn't!!
...
With their journey to Boulderville over, Ash and Gary parted ways, the latter stating they'd meet at the Quartz Conference.
However, the gap between Gary and Ash in the Quartz Conference was quite uncertain.
Even now, it was enormous; three months from now at the Quartz Conference, Gary's main Pokemon might only keep up with Ash's second team. As sad as it sounded, that was reality unless Gary found his own special advantage...