"How annoying! If that's the case, I'll definitely dig up a Pokémon fossil faster than that guy Gary and show him what I've got!" Ash clenched his fists and said angrily.
"But I feel like doing that is basically deliberately waking up ancient Pokémon that turned into fossils and have been sleeping underground," Brock said thoughtfully.
"But isn't it romantic to search for Pokémon fossils that went extinct tens of thousands of years ago?" Misty said with a smile.
(Actually, those guys are sleeping peacefully right beneath our feet…)
Perhaps by chance escaping an extinction-level disaster, some ancient Pokémon managed to survive, choosing to sleep for the sake of survival. This allowed them to avoid disasters while also minimizing their energy consumption.
"By the way, brother, how many badges do you have now?"
After speaking, Ash smugly took out the latest League badge he had obtained from his clothes.
"This is the Black Badge I got in Dark City. Although it hasn't been officially recognized by the League yet, it's still something worth commemorating."
Ash showed the Black Badge he had obtained to Red. He originally thought he could match the number of official Gym badges Red had, but unexpectedly, Red also slowly took out his own Black Badge.
"How is that possible?! The Kaya Gym clearly said I was their first challenger!" Ash said in shock. He had wanted to show off to Red, but ended up being slapped in the face instead.
"Could it be that the 'master' Kaya Gym mentioned was Red?!"
Brock stroked his chin, recalling their experience in Dark City, and finally understood why Red also had a Black Badge.
"So the master who settled the conflict in Dark City was you, brother!" Ash suddenly realized.
"That makes sense. A boy wearing a red hat—that description really fits Red," Misty agreed.
"I didn't expect both your Onix and Scyther to evolve, Red. I thought a new powerhouse had appeared in the Kanto Region, but it turns out it was you all along," Brock said helplessly. He had even been thinking of reminding Red, only to realize that the mysterious master was Red himself.
"Ash, how were your gains in the Safari Zone?" Red asked.
"Don't even mention it, brother…" Ash said dejectedly, squatting on the ground and drawing circles, clearly having failed to catch any Pokémon he was satisfied with.
"What happened that day was really strange. The Tauros living in the Safari Zone rushed over as if enchanted when they saw Ash, but not to attack us—they voluntarily entered Ash's Safari Balls," Brock explained.
"We hadn't even stayed in the Safari Zone for an hour before all thirty of Ash's Safari Balls were used up capturing the Tauros that kept charging at him," Misty said speechlessly, still unable to understand why the Tauros were so obsessed with Ash's arrival.
"…"
Red slowly lowered his hat without saying a word.
Although in the original story Ash comically caught thirty Tauros, given the current situation, it was likely that the Tauros herd mistook Ash for their leader. In order to follow their leader again, they crazily jumped into Ash's Safari Balls and were willingly sent to Professor Oak's Laboratory.
While chatting, Red and Ash's group arrived at the central area where fossils could be excavated.
The moment Red and the others left, a Jigglypuff holding what looked like a microphone marker popped out. It had wanted to show off its wonderful singing voice to them, but they had already ignored it and left. Its face flushed red in anger as it puffed up its cheeks in frustration.
"I did it! I got a fossil of an extinct Pokémon!"
Gary shouted excitedly after digging up a fossil. He held up the fossil he found and made a peace sign toward his cheerleading girls, showing off proudly.
"Yay! Go Gary! Go Gary! Gary is the best!" the cheerleaders cheered with pom-poms in hand, fully satisfying Gary's desire to show off.
The news that Gary had dug up a fossil quickly attracted attention. An elderly balding archaeologist approached and carefully examined the fossil in Gary's hand with a magnifying glass.
"Well? I found it right away! By the way, do you know what kind of Pokémon fossil this is?" Gary asked smugly.
"This is…" the archaeologist muttered.
"This is?!" Gary said excitedly, waiting for an explanation.
"This is a fossilized piece of Pokémon poop!" the archaeologist explained, looking at Gary speechlessly. After all the anticipation, it turned out to be nothing but fossilized feces.
"Huh?"
Gary froze for a moment, then collapsed to the ground in despair. He had hoped to become a star for discovering Pokémon fossils in the Great Canyon, but instead became a joke.
"Eww, poop!" the cheerleaders cried.
"Hahahaha! I can't believe Gary actually dug up fossilized Pokémon poop—this is hilarious!"
Ash, who had just arrived, burst out laughing. Rarely did he get such a chance to mock Gary, so there was no way he would let it go.
"The rumor about fossils really has drawn quite a crowd," Red said helplessly, standing on higher ground and looking at the sea of people. Everyone was desperately swinging pickaxes, afraid someone else would uncover the fossils first.
"If we don't act quickly, all the fossils will be dug up!" Misty said anxiously.
"But with so many people digging and still finding nothing, maybe the rumor about Pokémon fossils is just a mistake," Brock said thoughtfully, stroking his chin.
"That may not necessarily be true. It's possible that some ancient Pokémon have survived to this day…" Red said leisurely, then suddenly turned his head after noticing something amusing.
"Ash, isn't that your old rivals, Team Rocket?" Red joked, pointing at Meowth, who was muttering to itself not far away.
"I wonder if things are going smoothly for them. Judging from their past record, can they even be relied on, meow?" Meowth complained, anxiously stomping its feet.
Team Rocket had arrived at the Great Canyon even earlier than Red and the others. In order to get rich quickly by digging up fossils, the trio had worked day and night—but ended up with absolutely nothing.
Furious, Jessie and James decided to use explosives to bomb the central area of the Great Canyon, believing that this way they would surely obtain fossils.
"Since you asked so sincerely, meow!
We shall answer you with great mercy, meow!
To prevent the world from being destroyed!
To protect the peace of the world!
To unite all peoples within our nation!
To denounce the evils of truth and love!
The adorable and charming villains!
Jessie!
James!
We are Team Rocket, blasting off at the speed of light!
A white hole! A white future is waiting for us—"
"I'll hit! I'll hit! Saying all that nonsense is useless—have you finished setting up the bombs or not?!"
Before Jessie and James could finish their motto, the furious Meowth picked up an inflatable hammer and repeatedly smacked their heads.
"What are you doing?!"
Enraged by the pain, Jessie snatched the hammer from Meowth and slammed it down on Meowth, instantly sending it flying. The powerful impact embedded Meowth's entire body into the rock wall.
"Gulp!"
James stared in horror at what had just happened. Meowth's body slid down from the rock wall, leaving a perfect imprint behind. Then rocks began to fall from above, burying the motionless Meowth underneath.