On January 1st, the long-awaited Grampa Canyon Nature Reserve was finally open. Many people from Kanto, Johto and even the distant Hoenn region came to watch the ancient Pokemon.
Although it was already late in the evening, there were still many people queuing to buy the tickets. From the morning till now, tourists kept coming non-stop. Even the long queue could not stop their enthusiasm.
A fat, juicy cow was slowly being lowered into the open space outside the caged railings. Then, under everyone's exclamation, a behemoth with nearly five meters long wingspan swooped down from the sky and ate the whole cow in just a few bites.
Some people even fainted after seeing how savage it tore the cow with its teeth. Without a doubt, ancient Pokemon was more terrifying than the current wild Pokemon.
Compared with a month ago, the Aerodactyl obviously looked much better now. Its body had mostly filled up with some strong muscles faintly seen underneath its skin. What everyone had not expected was certain parts of its body had turned into stone.
Professor Oak, Professor Ivy, and Professor Bill discussed many theories about the strange phenomenon until they finally came to the conclusion that Aerodactyl was gradually returning to its original appearance before fossilization.
That was to say, Aerodactyle current appearance was not the same as it was millions of years ago. Perhaps it was only after a long time before everyone could see its true appearance.
Since the nature reserve fell under Dark City's management, many people began to trickle into the city. The number of people coming increased day by day.
Mayor Chris had also repaired the surrounding roads of Dark City using the fund allocated by the League. Even the old storefronts had been renovated by him.
Most important of all, Dark City had a brand new Pokemon Center.
The local residents were in high spirits. After years of living in hardship, they finally had the opportunity to improve their living standards.
A trainer is the most popular and respected career in the world. Which parents don't want their children to become one. Even if they couldn't pay for the League's training fees, they were still many good selections among the common Pokemon, such as Pidgey and Geodude.
Before, their low income made them unable to pay for their children's training expenses. But now, they finally could.
As the official gym of Dark City, with the increase in the flow of people, many trainers started to challenge the gym. In the past few days, Hisoka was busy accepting the challenge. He had even had to use his Weavile to battle due to the Poochyena being overworked. Luckily, the leader of the Poochyena pack managed to evolve into a Mightyena, sharing some of Weavile's pressure.
'Should I get more Dark-type Pokemon?' he thought, seeing his tired Pokemon.
During the gym competition a few days ago, Koga conceded the match after his Crobat was defeated by Gardevoir. It was a bit strange, in his opinion.
Crobat shouldn't be Koga's strongest Pokemon. He was even ready to send out his Milotic for a hard fight. Then, he suddenly remembered Koga's Elite Four challenge. In all likelihood, that must be the reason he gave up the match. He didn't want to expose his trump card for the challenge next year.
...
Hisoka was walking into the gym with a spring in his steps while carrying a small box.
A few days ago, he went to a jeweler to make a custom order as a present for Gardevoir's successful evolution. While he was browsing through the auction sites, he found that a Twisted Spoon and a Psychic Gem were up for sale. He suddenly had an idea and quickly bought them both. After they were delivered, he brought them to a jeweler in Celadon City to turn them into a custom-made bracelet.
After receiving a call from the jeweler today, he quickly rushed out of his gym to take the finished bracelet.
"Perfect!"
Hisoka took the bracelet into his hand after opening the box. The special bracelet boosted the energy recovery of a Psychic-type Pokemon as well as their attacking power. And it looked much better than the previous Twisted Spoon. There was no way he would let Gardevoir carry that stupid-looking spoon like an idiot. She wasn't an Alakazam, for god's sakes.
He quickly found Gardevoir in the garden and went to give the bracelet to her.
"Is this for me?" she looked at him happily.
Inside the box was a silver bracelet adorned with several small-cut pink diamonds along the side.
"It's your gift," he smiled at her warmly.
"Thank you," she said sincerely.
Hisoka shook his head at that and said, "No. Thank you for being my Pokemon.
AN: Friendzoned. (T_T)
...
Cinnabar Island is a large island located off the southern coast of the Kanto region, named after the famous volcano on the island. It is famous in Kanto and Johto for its natural hot springs.
The volcano had given birth to a large number of open-air hot springs on Cinnabar Island. Naturally, it became a hotspot for many tourists. Besides that, many trainers also came here for the gym challenge.
Cinnabar Gym is known as the strongest gym in Kanto. Many aspiring trainers wanted to get that Volcano Badge to prove their strength to the masses.
Hisoka was currently in O-Hina Town, a seaside town near Fuchsia City. Cinnabar Island was faintly visible in the distance. To get there, he would have to take a passenger ferry from this town. The tourism industry in Cinnabar Island has also boosted the economy of this town.
His main goal was to get to the volcano and see if he could find a Protector for Rhydon. Hopefully, he was lucky enough to find one.
Cinnabar City was located in the southern area of the island. The volcano eruption mainly affected the eastern region of the island, where the magma would flow out into the sea.
Except for the rare occasion where the ashes might affect the island's inhabitants, the active volcano didn't bring any danger whatsoever.
After getting off the ferry, he tightened his backpack and walked toward the city center alone.
"Star Piece for sale!"
"Rawst Berry!"
Walking along the street, all kinds of things came into view. There were many people selling the local specialties.
"Hehe!"
A faint laugh suddenly rang in his ear.
"What?" he asked as if he was talking to someone.
Who else could it if wasn't Misdreavus? He was quite used to this by now.
The corner of his shirt was tugged in the direction of a shop that was selling many kinds of snacks.
"Alright, alright. I'll get you something," he sighed as he went into the shop.
"Hehe!"
"Hello, do you want to buy anything? We have many kinds of snacks here. Lava Cake, Fire Candy, Berry Tart, Spicy Pokeblocks..."
A man welcomed Hisoka into his shop.
'I should get some for the others,' Hisoka thought as he looked at the snacks on display.
"Can I get some of that, that, that, oh, and that too, please?" he pointed one by one.
"Certainly. Just a sec, sir," the man nodded happily.
...
Finding the Protector was not an easy job. He must be fully prepared. And since he was already here, he might as well try the hot springs of Cinnabar Island. It was quite good to let his Pokemon have some rest once in a while. He could also take some time to relax from the tiring journey.
He quickly found a nice place and booked a hot spring for himself. Then, after he paid the money, he quickly went into his room to have some rest.
...
"Please, sir. This way."
A man held the door open for Hisoka.
When he went inside, there was a hot spring with tall walls around the side. This is one of the best hot springs on Cinnabar Island. The privacy was quite good too. Just perfect for him and his Pokemon to relax.
"Enjoy your time, sir," the man said and backed out of the door.
After that, Hisoka quickly changed into a pair of shorts and took his Pokeballs from his belt. Then, he released all of his Pokemon.
Gardevoir, Weavile, Milotic, Rhydon, Chansey, and Misdreavus appeared in the hot spring.
"Hehe!"
After revealing herself, Misreavus flew around the place a few times before lying down on Rhydon's head.
???
Rhydon scratched the back of its head, puzzled. It was his first time seeing Misdreavus. Initially, he wanted to push her off his head, but after seeing Hisoka's shaking head, he just let her do as she wished.
"Enjoy, guys!" he smiled at his Pokemon before walking into the hot spring.
Phew!
He sighed in relief as he soaked himself in the hot spring.
...
Two hours later,
His Pokemon had already fallen asleep. Only he was still awake at this time.
He was sitting on the sofa with his laptop, making a plan for their expedition tomorrow. Cinnabar Volcano is a dangerous place. He had to make a thorough preparation first.
There were four peaks around the volcano, namely Izu, Kazu, Mazu, and Hazu.
AN: Lol. I don't even know what they mean.
Hazu's Peak was the most dangerous out of all four. While Mazu often had overflowing magma. So there were only two peaks left. And seeing Kazu was covered with ashes all the year-round, that only left Izu's Peak safe for travel.
The most recent volcanic eruption happened 65 years ago. It was a large-scale volcanic eruption. Some volcanic ashes even fell in Saffron City. Fortunately, it didn't cause much impact on Cinnabar City due to the strong northern wind at that time.
Although large-scale eruptions rarely happened, there were still some small eruptions that occurred from time to time. And the last one happened half a month ago.
"Hmmm," Hisoka put a hand on his chin, deep in thought.
'It should be safe, right? I hope I didn't jinx just now,' he thought worriedly.
...
(AN: Sorry for the filler chapter.)