This place was vast. Even with so many people digging here, the exploration of the very first canyon had only just barely been completed.
Silas knew very well that among the eight canyons, only the last one—Grampa Canyon—truly contained fossils. In fact, deep beneath it there was even a cave where Fossil Pokémon were still alive.
The earlier canyons might hold a few, but only scattered fossil fragments.
If they waited for people to eventually reach that spot, judging from Ash's age in the timeline, it would still take quite a long time.
Progress-wise, it didn't match what he remembered, but that wasn't hard to understand.
Human enthusiasm has its limits—if no fossils are found early on, the deeper people go, the less effort they put into digging. As a result, the time it takes to reach the end would be greatly extended.
However, since Silas was already here, those Fossil Pokémon were destined to return to the surface ahead of schedule—a decision he had made just last night.
Standing on a high ledge for a quick survey, he turned his bike toward the more distant valleys.
He could see that while the later valleys weren't as crowded as the second canyon, there were still small clusters of diggers scattered among the next six valleys.
When he finally reached Grampa Canyon, there were barely any people—just a few groups lazily chipping away at the rock.
Compared to the gorge's vast size, they were like ants in an open field.
Slipping quietly into a secluded corner, Silas put away his bike and released his Gigalith.
"See if you can sense whether there's a cave underground," he instructed.
Gigalith nodded, its body glowing faintly yellow.
Silas waited patiently.
"Gigalith!"
Several minutes later, Gigalith finally responded, with a note of surprise in its voice.
According to its detection, there was indeed a cave nearly 200 meters below them. And it couldn't help wondering—how did its trainer already know that?
Silas's lips curled into a satisfied smile.
It wasn't that other Trainers didn't have Ground- or Rock-type Pokémon that could sense underground structures.
But from a normal perspective, no one would have their Pokémon constantly probing deep underground just to see if a cave existed. And even if they did, they wouldn't dig as deep as 200 meters—that was exhausting work.
Moreover, aside from the fossil found here half a year ago, this was an utterly ordinary and barren place.
Just looking at the mountain path said enough—the League's road here was narrow and chaotic.
Before that discovery, very few people ever passed through this area.
Common Kanto species like Golem, Sandslash, and Onix weren't ideal here either. The first two didn't have senses as sharp as Gigalith's when it came to detecting deep underground. Finding a cave that far down would be nearly impossible for them.
As for Onix, the artificially bred ones were unlikely to appear here. They loved tunneling underground, and who knew if they might crush fossils by accident? To them, a fossil was no different from any other rock.
And people hoping to make a fortune from fossil hunting wouldn't risk destroying their own source of income.
When Gigalith confirmed that the cave not only existed but also contained traces of multiple unfamiliar Pokémon moving about, Silas's eyes lit up completely.
Reward? League? Oh, I'll take that, thank you.
Changing into a digging outfit, Silas spent over an hour chipping away at the surrounding rock walls, leaving them looking rugged and pitted—like the work of a simple fossil enthusiast.
A glance at Gigalith earned a small nod of confirmation. Silas relaxed.
Then he raised his hand and used his wrist device to call Professor Oak's private number.
"Hello, this is Professor Oak. What's the matter?"
From the sound of it, the Professor was still a fair distance from the phone, his voice faint.
"Professor Oak, it's me—Silas," he replied cheerfully.
"Ah, Silas. What is it this time? Weren't you in Yuanqing City? Did you get into the Mysterious Garden?" Oak asked curiously. This kid seemed to be calling him every few days now—something he definitely didn't use to do.
As for entering the Mysterious Garden, Oak had only tossed it out casually. Surely this boy couldn't have been that lucky.
"Yes, I went in. I even saw Venusaur's festival," Silas said with an easy smile.
Professor Oak was baffled.
After a moment of silence, he said, "Don't joke with me. You really saw it?"
"Of course. It was easy enough to get in."
Oak rolled his eyes. That place was not easy to enter.
"Any gains from it?" he asked casually.
"A Miracle Seed with a fifteen-percent boost, and Snivy's aptitude seems to have improved a bit—though I'm not sure if it reached the next tier," Silas explained.
"Fifteen percent, huh. Not bad," Oak replied with a tone as casual as if he were commenting on his breakfast. "As for the aptitude—did you use a Leaf Stone during its evolution? That would explain the boost. I'd say it's quasi–Champion level now. Not bad."
It didn't take Oak long to deduce that Snivy had evolved into Servine there.
After all, back at James's birthday celebration, Snivy hadn't shown any signs of evolving yet.
"Alright, I understand. If it's just Venusaur's festival, it's not like nobody's seen it before—so don't think you can trade Mysterious Garden intel for credit," Oak teased.
As for the Garden's existence, that was long confirmed. Silas wasn't surprised.
Nurse Joy in city had practically stated outright that it was the Mysterious Garden, and she had done so with complete confidence. Silas wasn't stupid—if she dared to say it so plainly, she must have had solid proof.
Why the information still wasn't officially confirmed in public? Probably just a case of rumors distorting the truth over time.
"Of course that's not why I'm calling," Silas said, not bothering to be mysterious. "Here's the deal, Professor—I'm at Grampa Canyon in the Great Ravine. Gigalith has detected a cave 200 meters underground with traces of multiple unknown Pokémon living there.
From what we can tell, they're not from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, or Sinnoh—Gigalith is very familiar with the movement patterns of those Pokémon."
"…You mean…?" Oak's sharp mind caught on instantly.
"Exactly. No matter which possibility it is, the research community is going to have its hands full," Silas replied plainly.
Such a discovery meant one of three things:
Pokémon from faraway regions were living in Kanto, which would touch on ecology and history.
Like Leafeon, entirely new species of Pokémon had been discovered and not just one—which would shake the very foundations of Pokémon biology.
Or, the most dramatic possibility of all—long-lost Fossil Pokémon had survived and were about to return to the world.
Silas knew in his heart that, of all these scenarios, the last one was ironically the least probable.
Even saying the research community would "get busy" would be an understatement—this would be on the scale of an 8.0 earthquake in the academic world.
"Alright, stay there," Professor Oak said decisively. "I'll notify the League to send people to secure the site, and I'll come right away myself."
As Kanto's regional professor and the foremost authority on Pokémon studies, no matter which possibility this turned out to be, he had to be there in person.
More importantly, he had complete trust in Silas.
Less than half an hour after Silas hung up the phone, the rumble of engines echoed through the valley as a convoy of vehicles pulled up in the middle of the Grampa Canyon.
"Attention all Trainers and League members: in accordance with Article 156 of the Pokémon League Protection Act, please vacate the area immediately!"
"Attention all Trainers and League members: in accordance with Article 156 of the Pokémon League Protection Act, please vacate the area immediately!"
The same announcement blared over and over, seven or eight times in total, from loudspeakers mounted on top of the vehicles, echoing throughout the canyon.
At the same time, several Officer Jennys dismounted from their vehicles, riding their Arcanine as they patrolled the area.
"Hello, Officer Jenny, I'm Silas Alaric," Silas said, taking out his Pokédex and walking up to the lead Officer Jenny.
Snap!
Officer Jenny saluted Silas with firm precision.
"Hello, Trainer Silas. Professor Oak and the League have already informed me—until he and the main team arrive, we're under your direction."
"Officer Jenny, there's no need for formalities. Just maintain order as you normally would. Once Professor Oak gets here, we'll proceed."
Silas wasn't about to tell professionals how to do their jobs. In truth, he was still a newcomer, and the Jennys had far more experience than he did.
"Understood. Please wait nearby," Officer Jenny said crisply, showing no change in her professional demeanor before turning to assign tasks to her colleagues.
Soon, from the inside of the canyon outward, layer after layer of barricades were set up, with Officer Jennys patrolling and standing guard at intervals.
"Roooaar!"
From above came the familiar cry of a Dragonite.
The Officer Jennys who had instinctively reached for their Poké Balls quickly relaxed their stances.
"Thank you for your hard work, Officer Jenny," Professor Oak said to the nearby officers.
"Just doing our duty!" Officer Jenny replied, saluting again.
"Alright, Silas—where's the vertical projection point? Let's take a look," Professor Oak said, his tone brisk. Time was of the essence. His gaze turned expectantly toward Silas.
"Just follow Gigalith," Silas replied, looking at his Pokémon. "It's all yours."
Gigalith gave a quiet nod and took the lead.
Before long, the group arrived at a massive boulder about two-thirds of the way into the Grampa's Canyon.
Silas nodded toward Professor Oak.
At his signal, Professor Oak waved, and the technicians stepped forward, setting up an array of instruments to take measurements.
"Depth confirmed: 194.2 meters. Bearing: 1.3 degrees north-northeast. Rock hardness: coefficient 2.5…"
One figure after another was called out, while the demolition team calculated the amount and placement of explosives needed.
Before long, preparations were complete.
"Ready for detonation, Professor Oak," the lead technician reported. Everyone had already moved a safe distance away.
"Alright—proceed," Professor Oak ordered.
The League had carried out operations like this many times before; these were seasoned veterans at work.
"Fire!"
BOOM!!!!!
...
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