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It had been five hours since Chris began exploring the desert terrain of Route 111.
Midway through, he had eaten a packed meal, prepared an exquisite dinner for his Pokémon, and watched three movies, nearly reaching the time for a break.
The desert map wasn't extensive, yet Chris had still spent a considerable amount of time exploring it.
Now, two new items had appeared on his search map. One was the Dowsing Machine for treasure hunting, and the other was using Smeargle's Sweet Scent to see if it could attract rare Pokémon.
Using the Dowsing Machine, he discovered two Rare Candies scattered across the vast desert.
In total, Chris had collected four Rare Candies.
However, Sweet Scent hadn't attracted any rare Pokémon, only common ones.
Only a few Pokémon inhabit the Route 111 Desert Region, including Sandshrew, Trapinch, Baltoy, and Cacnea.
Of these, Trapinch shows more potential. Its final evolution is Flygon, a Ground/Dragon-type with the Levitate ability.
A Ground-type that can fly… definitely an intriguing contradiction.
But Chris wasn't very interested in Flygon. He already had Gabite, another dragon, and Flygon wasn't the best fit for a Sandstorm team.
After covering the entire desert region, Chris locked onto the spot where he could retrieve the fossils.
In the middle of the desert, there was a towering stone tower that stood two stories high.
Glancing at his watch, he noted it was 11 p.m.
"Once I grab the fossil, it's time to rest!"
Chris guided his character toward the stone tower, and as he reached the entrance, a prompt appeared on his handheld.
[Enter the dungeon "Mirage Tower"? Yes/No]
[Recommended entry level: 35]
"Another dungeon?!" Chris raised his eyebrows.
He hadn't encountered dungeons before and assumed they only appeared in specific storylines.
But with the recommended level being fairly low, there was no reason not to explore.
Without hesitation, Chris clicked "Yes."
The scene around him shifted, and Chris found himself inside the stone tower.
Behind him, the faint rustling of sand from the desert could be heard. It was nighttime, and the cold wind outside hinted at the chilly desert air. If he wanted to leave, a prompt would appear, asking if he wanted to exit the dungeon.
Ahead of him was a hall about the size of a basketball court, with torches burning brightly along the walls. A winding stone staircase led upwards, directly in front of Chris.
Standing at the center of the hall was a Rhydon, its eyes locked onto Chris, brimming with vigilance.
"A level 37 Rhydon?" Chris murmured, slightly surprised.
Since this was a dungeon, encountering a Pokémon guarding the path wasn't unexpected. Still, seeing a Pokémon that didn't typically appear in this region caught him off guard.
His first thought wasn't how to defeat it but rather if he could capture it.
"Roar!!" Rhydon, noticing Chris hadn't moved, decided to strike first, lowering its head. Its sharp horn pointed toward him as it began its charge.
The massive creature moved like a tank, each step sending tremors through the ground as it barreled forward.
"Water Shuriken!" Chris said casually, tossing a Poké Ball.
Greninja leapt out of the open Poké Ball, forming several shuriken made of water as it landed.
Rhydon ignored Greninja's appearance, focusing solely on its charge toward Chris, intent on ramming him with its horn, but… it never got that far.
As a Rock/Ground-type, Rhydon was four times weak to Water-type moves, and its level was lower than Greninja's. Against Water Shuriken, it stood no chance.
One of the shuriken struck Rhydon's rocky hide, detonating on impact.
Rhydon fell to the ground, defeated and unable to fight.
Chris threw a Poké Ball, capturing Rhydon in a flash of red light. The ball shook slightly, but soon fell still.
Rhydon was captured.
"Can it really be caught?" Chris picked up the Poké Ball to inspect it.
This Rhydon was fairly average, with only a single IV in Special Defense—not worth training.
He decided it would be best to let Professor Birch handle it.
Chris moved through the hall, climbed the staircase, and arrived on the second floor.
The layout was similar to the first—a hall about the size of a basketball court. This time, there was no staircase leading up, only a stone platform in the center.
Two fossils lay on the stone platform.
"Is this the end?" Chris thought. From the outside, Mirage Tower had appeared to have four floors, yet inside, it seemed shorter than expected.
He stepped closer to examine the fossils.
One had a faint carapace pattern, while the other resembled a root.
Carapace? Root?
"Anorith and Lileep?" he mused, though he remembered Anorith's fossil looking like a claw.
Chris chose the first fossil without hesitation—Dome Fossil. Lileep and its evolution, Cradily, always looked a bit odd to him. Even though he didn't plan to raise Anorith, it might still be of interest to Professor Birch for research.
The moment Chris picked up the Dome Fossil, he was immediately teleported back to his viewing room.
"That was fast," Chris muttered, a little taken aback.
On his screen, his character stood in a sandy field, surrounded by Sandstorm. The Mirage Tower had vanished.
A prompt appeared:
[The moment you picked up the Dome Fossil, Mirage Tower collapsed, and the remaining fossil was forever buried in the desert.]
Just as expected.
The Emerald game always forced players to choose one fossil, leaving the other lost forever.
"Alright, time to get this revived!" Chris recalled that the fossil revival lab was in Devon, Rustboro City. Without Fly on hand, the quickest route was to head west from Mauville City, pass through the Verdanturf Town Gym, and enter Rusturf Tunnel.
His thoughts abruptly halted.
In front of him, he saw a familiar sight.
Right outside the desert region's entrance, the Mirage Tower stood tall once more, this time with three floors.
As he approached, a prompt appeared:
[Yes/No to enter the dungeon "The Mirage Tower"]
[Recommended entry level: 40].