In the dark-screen world—
Ash felt that the fossils he'd dug up were all more or less the same,
so he simply sold them directly to Gary.
Gary's family was old-money rich.
Professor Oak's influence was enormous all over the world—
any paper he published could earn a massive research bonus,
and on top of that he received research grants every year.
It was safe to say: the Oak family was loaded.
So Gary accepted the fossils without hesitation.
For him—and for his grandfather—this amount of money was pocket change.
Of course, Ash still knew how to keep things fair.
Gary transferred the payment to him on the spot,
and in return Ash pointed to one side of the dig site
and told Gary to dig in that direction—
there were plenty of fossils buried over there.
Gary immediately got fired up, grabbed his shovel,
and dug in with his Pokémon like a man possessed.
After selling the fossils, Ash led Misty and Brock to a flat stretch of ground.
"Ash, why are we here?" Misty asked.
"I can sense several large Aura signatures beneath this spot," Ash said calmly.
"And they're not the faint, broken Aura you get from dead fossils. These feel like real, living Pokémon. I'm thinking… there might be actual fossil Pokémon down there."
Misty & Brock: !!
Did they hear that right?
Real fossil Pokémon?
That shouldn't be possible—weren't those species supposed to be extinct since ancient times?
"It's almost certain," Ash continued. "When I probe with Aura, I can faintly see the outlines of the Pokémon below. They match the fossil Pokémon I know from Professor Oak's data. So… let's go down and see for ourselves."
"Go down? How exactly are we doing that?"
While Misty and Brock still looked puzzled, Ash turned to Pikachu with a mischievous smile.
Pikachu shivered.
"Pi… Pikapi?"
Don't tell me you want me to drill a hole with Iron Tail…
"How sharp, Pikachu! You read my mind!"
"Pika–pi!!"
This is child labor!!
In the end, Pikachu's protest was ignored, and it could only obediently start digging,
using Iron Tail to carve a tunnel into the ground.
Right on cue—
Team Rocket arrived.
They proudly took out their bomb and were about to brag about their plan,
but Ash just looked at them like they were complete idiots.
"Have you thought about whether you would survive if you actually blew this place up?"
"Uh…"
"And if what you're after is fossils, what happens if the explosion blows them all to pieces?"
"Uh…"
"So, here's an idea: how about we cooperate? I can feel fossil Pokémon under here. You help us dig down to them, and we split it half-and-half. Deal?"
"Huh? There's a deal like that?!"
In an instant, the Team Rocket trio joined the digging squad.
Normally they were enemies,
but with a common goal in mind,
they could work together—briefly.
Misty and Brock watched Ash closely.
They noticed there was a sly little curve at the corner of his mouth
that he wasn't even trying to hide.
"Ash, do you really want them to catch the fossil Pokémon down there?"
"That depends," Ash said. "If they catch something and keep it for themselves, I don't actually mind. For all their nonsense, those two really do care about their Pokémon."
"Of course, if they try to hand the fossil Pokémon over to Team Rocket headquarters… then I'll have to apologize to them—with force."
"Pika-pika~"
Pikachu, standing beside Ash, let a faint spark flicker between its cheeks.
Thanks to the three new "volunteers," Pikachu had been freed from digging duty.
The trio hadn't realized that from start to finish,
the only ones actually doing the tunneling—were them.
[Bruno: Man, the Team Rocket trio got played hard.]
[Lance: Free labor, and Pikachu gets a break!]
[Cynthia: Heh… Black Ash really is a little schemer, isn't he~]
[Caitlin: The Rocket trio's IQ is really too low. Even White Ash can toy with them—never mind Black Ash.]
[James: Who are you saying is being toyed with!!]
[Jessie: Look down on Team Rocket, do you?! If you've got the guts, tell us where you are right now and we'll come deal with you!]
[Caitlin: Sure, I'm at the Unova League headquarters. Come on over. Right now.]
[Alder: Ahem, friendly reminder: Caitlin's psychic powers are on par with Sabrina's, and she's one of Unova's Elite Four. You two… good luck.]
[James: Uh, right, I just remembered I left some laundry out. We'll… settle this next time!]
And just like that, they vanished.
Psychic plus Elite Four?
Going there would be volunteering for execution.
In the dark-screen world—
Thanks to Team Rocket's enthusiastic digging,
a passage downward was finally opened.
As seasoned thieves, the trio had ropes and climbing gear ready,
so they slid down first,
with Ash, Misty, and Brock following.
Just as Ash's Aura had sensed, there was a huge open space underground—
a massive cavern beneath Grampa Canyon.
If not for Aura, Ash would never have imagined such a space existed down here.
"Over this way."
Using his Aura as a guide, Ash led everyone deeper into the cave
toward the fossil Pokémon.
"We're here…"
He stopped. Ahead of them was nothing but pitch-black darkness.
"Pikachu, give us some light."
"Pika~"
Pikachu used a small Flash,
and under the glow, everyone finally saw the scene in front of them clearly.
Fossil Pokémon—
a lot of fossil Pokémon.
Kabuto, Kabutops, Omanyte, Omastar… and more than one of each.
"We're rich! If we bring these back to headquarters, we'll definitely get promoted straight to executive rank!"
Jessie rubbed her hands together, already seeing her glorious future.
Ash raised an eyebrow, but before he could say anything,
Jessie and James sent out Weezing and Arbok
and launched an attack on the fossil Pokémon group.
Ash immediately motioned for Pikachu to extinguish the light,
then grabbed Misty and Brock and ran.
Originally, he'd been planning to drive Team Rocket away himself, especially after hearing Jessie loudly declare their intentions.
But now?
Looked like he wouldn't have to lift a finger.
Did those two seriously think they could take on a whole squad of Kabutops and Omastar with that lineup?
Sure enough, a few moments later,
screams echoed from not far away.
Only then did Jessie, James, and Meowth realize that Ash and the others were gone.
They yelled for help, but Ash and his friends pretended not to hear.
Come on—
these three had been blasted by Pikachu more than a dozen times and were still alive.
A few fossil Pokémon weren't going to kill them.
Soon enough, Ash heard Jessie, James, and Meowth scrambling away,
climbing back up the rope as fast as they could.
Once they were gone, it was finally Ash's turn.
He led Misty and Brock back to the fossil chamber.
There, they ran straight into the fossil herd returning from chasing Team Rocket.
The fossil Pokémon were already furious,
and when they saw Ash and the others, their anger flared up again,
and they charged.
"Aaand…"
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"
"Pika–CHUU!!"
Golden thunder roared through the underground cavern,
lighting up the entire space and blasting the fossil Pokémon into stillness.
"Misty, Brock—the rest is up to you. Whether you can catch anything depends on your own skill."
"Friendly reminder: they're strong, but they've been asleep for who knows how many years. Right now, they're probably starving. A little food might go a long way."
Misty and Brock were stunned.
"Wait—you want us to catch them? What about you?"
"I…" Ash smiled. "I'm going after a big guy. That roar from earlier should've woken it up by now."
He had Pikachu go with them for backup,
then released Charmeleon to use its tail flame as a torch
and headed deeper into the cave alone.
Misty and Brock looked at each other,
but didn't try to stop him.
After all this traveling, they knew Ash pretty well by now.
He never did something reckless without confidence.
So they let him go.
Compared to that, catching a fossil Pokémon of their own was the more immediate priority.
Both Kabuto and Omanyte were Water/Rock-types—
exactly the kind of Pokémon they liked.
It was like fate had placed perfect partners right in front of them.
Following Ash's advice,
they offered some food,
and with Pikachu silently looming in the background as deterrence,
a few juvenile fossil Pokémon quickly surrendered.
Sticking to their principle of "don't be greedy,"
Brock caught a Kabuto,
and Misty caught an Omanyte.
Afterward, Brock left behind a generous pile of Pokémon rations
as thanks to the fossil Pokémon for not tearing them apart.
[Misty: Huh?! That… That's how I caught a fossil Pokémon?! And it's my favorite Omanyte!! Aaaah! My Omanyte! Ash, you owe me one!]
[Ash: Huh?! How is this my fault?! I didn't even catch a fossil Pokémon there—you two just didn't take your chances in our world!]
[Misty: That's because you weren't as reliable as Black Ash back then! If you'd been like this Ash, I'd be raising a cute Omanyte right now!]
[Lorelei: Cute… So in Misty's eyes, Water-type Pokémon are all "cute"?]
[Misty: Of course!]
[Lorelei: Well, that explains a lot…]
[James: Hey! You brats! How are you going to compensate us?!]
[Jessie: Yeah! You tricked us into digging a tunnel and then snuck in behind our backs! Where's your sense of honor?!]
[James: If you apologize right now and send Pikachu over, I might be willing to forgive you!]
[Ash: ?]
[Misty: ?]
[Brock: ?]
When we put a question mark there, it's not that we're confused.
It's that we're wondering what's wrong with you.
[Ash: Only Team Rocket could say something that shameless with a straight face.]
[White Ash: And for the record, that was Black Ash, not me! Even if we're kind of the same person, don't even dream that I'd hand Pikachu over!]
Giovanni watched the chat, deep in thought.
The Pikachu those three idiots had been chasing all this time…
Could it really be an extremely rare, one-in-a-million Pokémon?
Most people didn't know this,
but his own ace Pokémon as Team Rocket's boss
wasn't a starter, nor some rare pseudo-legendary.
It was a Beedrill.
To train a Beedrill to that level took not just his own strength as a Trainer,
but also extraordinary talent from the Weedle line itself.
That Beedrill was likely a once-in-a-million prodigy among Weedle.
And Ash's Pikachu…
might be the same kind of monster.
In the dark-screen world—
Ash followed the Aura's guidance with Charmeleon lighting the way,
until a huge, vicious-looking figure slowly rose from a stone platform,
looming over the two of them.
In the orange glow of Charmeleon's tail flame,
its form came into view.
Its body was gray and rugged,
its wings and claws jagged and savage,
its long head shaped like that of a prehistoric predator.
Its eyes were full of ferocity.
"Aerodactyl… I knew it!"
When Ash had first scanned this place with Aura,
he'd sensed a massive presence here.
Even in ancient times, Aerodactyl had been an apex predator—
a brutal overlord in an era ruled by "eat or be eaten."
The moment he sensed it, a powerful desire flared in Ash's heart.
He wanted to catch it.
"Come on, Aerodactyl—fight me!"
The moment Black Ash shouted that,
the dark-screen image suddenly froze,
and a question prompt appeared on the screen:
How will Ash attempt to subdue Aerodactyl?
A: Let Charmeleon battle it, win, and catch it.
B: Let Ivysaur battle it, win, and catch it.
C: Try to talk things out and persuade Aerodactyl to surrender without fighting.
D: Fight Aerodactyl with his bare hands and subdue the dragon with his fists.
Time limit: 30 seconds. Timer start.
The abrupt quiz caught everyone off guard.
But once they saw the choices, most people froze.
Option D looked like the most ridiculous possibility on paper…
yet for Black Ash, it somehow didn't seem completely impossible.
His personal combat power was comparable to Sabrina's,
and Sabrina herself was on par with Elite-level Pokémon.
By extension, Black Ash himself was practically an Elite-level "Pokémon" in human form.
So the idea of him punching out a dragon was… not entirely far-fetched.
Thirty seconds flew by.
Everyone locked in their answers.
Respondents this time: Ash, Cynthia, Serena, Misty.
All four chose D.
Cynthia was the first to answer, and the remaining three were auto-assigned the other options.
[Ash: Argh!! I was one step too slow!]
[Cynthia: Looks like I was faster this time.]
[Serena: Huh? Everyone picked D? I thought I was the only one…]
[Saqi (Serena's mom): Are you serious? Everyone here has watched the whole story unfold. They all analyze Black Ash's behavior carefully. You're not the only one with a brain—actually, you don't even count in that group…]
[Serena: Mooooom!!]
Serena puffed up her cheeks, glaring at her mother with wide eyes.
Did she have to say that in front of the boy she liked?!
[Misty: Aww, I finally got to answer a question… but I was still half a second slower than Miss Cynthia…]
After a brief pause, the correct answer appeared.
Congratulations to Cynthia for answering correctly.
Reward: A Sinnoh-region historical text, recording most major events in Sinnoh's history from its creation to the present.
No surprise—Cynthia received the reward.
This time, it wasn't a held item or a power-up for her Pokémon,
but an ancient historical document.
And she was thrilled.
For her, this was more precious than any battle item.
In addition to being Sinnoh's Champion,
Cynthia was also a scholar of mythology.
Studying legends was her greatest passion.
With this text, she could learn countless new details about Sinnoh's ancient history.
It couldn't have been a more perfect reward.
With the quiz resolved, the image resumed.
In the dark-screen world—
Facing Aerodactyl's vicious glare, Charmeleon refused to back down,
meeting its gaze with a fierce stare of its own.
Both of them were Pokémon associated with dragons,
even if neither actually had the Dragon typing.
Neither side was willing to yield.
Ash patted Charmeleon's side, telling it not to be too tense,
then took a high-grade Pokémon ration can from his bag
and tossed it to Aerodactyl.
"Eat first. You just woke up—you must be starving."
This was Ash's usual tactic:
if you wanted to catch a Pokémon, you conquered its stomach first.
It was one of Brock's best universal recipes—
a top-quality Pokémon ration that almost any species would like.
Even a carnivorous ancient predator like Aerodactyl
would find it hard to resist.
PS :
Aerodactyl is a ferocious, prehistoric Rock/Flying-type Pokémon resurrected from genetic material found in amber.It is imagined to have been the king of the skies in ancient times and goes for the enemy's throat with its saw-like fangs.
Fossil pterosaur → Aerodactyl
Used as a powerful Flying/Rock attacker in Black World.
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