"That's not the problem. What are these?" Misty wondered.
The original rocky slope gradually crumbled, revealing what appeared to be ruins from an ancient civilization period in front of Ash's trio. On the stone platform ahead was placed a peculiar bronze bell, as if it was used to worship some deity from the ancient civilization period.
"It seems to be ancient ruins from some period," Brock analyzed, going up to brush away the fallen rubble from the small stone platform in front. On the small stone platform, he discovered a golden relic with dark stripes, with a blue slot in the middle, seemingly requiring some item to unseal it.
"So beautiful!" Misty said in surprise.
"Could it be... that we've discovered treasure?" Ash said with slight excitement.
Just as Ash's trio was about to discuss how to handle this treasure, a jade hand wearing white gloves quickly snatched the treasure from Brock's hand.
Ash's trio simultaneously looked in surprise at the suddenly appearing blue-haired woman. The short-haired woman in archaeological uniform ignored their surprise and excitedly examined the treasure in her hands with a magnifying glass.
"This... there's no mistake!" the woman said excitedly, ignoring the awkward gazes of Ash and Misty nearby, waving for her archaeological team to hurry over.
"Captain, it's the Golden Eye!"
As for Brock, he was already kneeling in worship before the woman's beauty, standing there blushing foolishly, unable to speak.
"Finally found it? Well done!"
The archaeological team's captain walked over, took the Golden Eye from the woman's hands, and praised her.
Seeing this scene, Brock immediately approached seeking praise, wanting to get the short-haired woman's contact information.
"I was the first to discover it. My name is Brock. Today is an auspicious day, so perhaps we could..."
Before Brock could finish speaking, the short-haired woman in front excitedly grasped Brock's hand. Without waiting for Brock to blush shyly, she vigorously shook hands back and forth, giving Brock enthusiastic gratitude.
"Thank you so much! My name is Hokuto, pleased to meet you!"
After speaking, the short-haired woman, Hokuto, decisively turned to continue sharing her inner joy with her archaeological team, instantly ignoring Brock, who wanted to express his feelings.
But Brock had no dissatisfaction with this; instead, he was still savoring the handshake with Hokuto, his face still blushing red.
"But I didn't expect to find it so quickly. I can't believe it!" Hokuto said excitedly.
"Well done, Doctor. This proves your hypothesis was correct," the captain celebrated.
"Let's move the camp here. I want to thoroughly investigate this area," Hokuto suggested.
"Haha, I've already arranged it."
With that, the captain pointed to the nearby camp that had just been set up, along with the RV for storing relics and providing Hokuto's accommodation.
"I smell it, I smell it. I smell the scent of getting rich!" Jessie said.
Today was a rare day when Red wasn't present. Although they reminisced about their pleasant vacation time, Team Rocket's trio chose to return to their old profession to show their performance.
At this moment, they were secretly hiding in the grass above, using binoculars to monitor Ash and the others.
Initially, their target was still Ash's Pikachu, but now they had obtained other intelligence: that there were priceless ancient relic treasures here.
To make a fortune, to pay back debts, and to have money to buy one or two vacation islands, Team Rocket's trio had no reason to miss this operation.
Meanwhile, on Red's side, after the enhancement of the Competitive ability, Milotic's Special Attack had significantly increased. Milotic's continuous Water Pulse attacks made it difficult for Sylveon to handle, only able to frantically keep jumping on the rocks crossing the stream to avoid the Water Pulse attacks.
'Does this guy need to be so serious in battle?!'
The panicked Sylveon couldn't help but complain inwardly, nearly getting hit by an incoming Water Pulse. Fortunately, it reacted in time and barely avoided the attack.
But during Sylveon's moment of distraction, Milotic immediately seized the opportunity. The Milotic ahead suddenly released cold air from its mouth, then used Ice Beam to hit Sylveon's front paws, instantly freezing them.
'This is bad!'
Seeing its mobility restricted, Sylveon immediately realized the danger.
In an instant, Milotic commanded the stream water, shaping it into a towering wave. The serpentine Pokémon gracefully leaped onto the wave and executed Surf, directing the attack straight at Sylveon.
The anxious Sylveon, seeing Red's approving gaze, immediately regained its composure.
Sylveon spat out scorching Mystical Fire from its mouth, melting the ice blocks freezing its front paws, then released Moonblast.
A moon pattern suddenly appeared above Sylveon, condensing a compressed pink light orb in front of it. The Moonblast released by Sylveon collided with the incoming wave.
Unfortunately, after Moonblast consumed part of Surf's power, it dissipated. Sylveon was swallowed by the incoming wave, looking like a drowned cat within moments.
"..."
Sylveon looked speechlessly at Milotic, then shook its body, trying to shake the water off its fur.
Seeing this scene, Red silently used his psychic powers to separate the water from Sylveon's body, transforming it into a water orb that fell to the ground within moments.
After Sylveon finished grooming its fur, it joyfully jumped into Red's embrace, continuously nuzzling Red's chest with its cheek, not forgetting to give a provocative glance at the victorious Milotic.
"???"
Milotic's heart was confused. It had clearly won, so why couldn't it feel happy? Instead, it was being provoked by Sylveon.
"Stop looking. Your training isn't over yet."
The distant thousand-year-old Gengar said leisurely, telling Alakazam and Dratini not to get too distracted.
Currently, the thousand-year-old Gengar was mainly training Alakazam's psychic powers, since psychic abilities were Alakazam's heavily relied-upon attack method and a key training target.
The thousand-year-old Gengar immediately used Psychic, sending powerful telekinetic force to attack Alakazam, draining Alakazam's stamina.
Meanwhile, Dratini was being swept by the thousand-year-old Gengar's Icy Wind to train its evasion abilities.
While training Dratini, the thousand-year-old Gengar didn't forget to remind Dratini to try counterattacking instead of instinctively choosing to dodge every time it saw Ice-type moves.
Dratini looked speechlessly at the thousand-year-old Gengar. Although Dratini had such thoughts, the thousand-year-old Gengar was purely talking nicely but showed no mercy when attacking, giving Dratini no opportunity to counterattack.
'This guy is clearly venting his inner anger!'
Dratini thought indignantly.
Alakazam on the side performed much better, since Alakazam's own mental power far exceeded its species. Otherwise it wouldn't have been abandoned like a freak.
For a time, the Psychic released by the thousand-year-old Gengar couldn't threaten Alakazam either, instead giving Alakazam buffer time to gradually adapt.
'This strange kid's mental power really is abnormally strong!'
Although there were signs of holding back, the thousand-year-old Gengar hadn't expected its Psychic to be temporarily adapted to by Alakazam.