Misty's footsteps stopped abruptly, her ears perking up.
"Something is making noise!"
Her first reaction wasn't fear, but excitement.
"Is it treasure?"
Misty shouted.
Then she let go of Roy's hand and dashed toward the direction the sound came from.
"Misty, slow down…"
Before Roy could finish his sentence, Misty had already sprinted several meters ahead.
Just then, in the darkness, a fist-sized rock flew through the air.
It headed straight for Misty's face.
It was moving so fast that Misty couldn't react.
She only saw something flying toward her in the dark and froze on the spot.
She didn't even have time to dodge.
At the very moment the rock was about to hit her face,
a transparent blue barrier appeared out of thin air in front of her.
The rock struck the barrier with a dull thud.
Then it bounced off and rolled onto the ground.
Roy's hand was raised in mid-air, his fingers slightly splayed.
A blue Psychic glow swirled between his palms.
Misty stood frozen, still in her forward-dashing posture.
Her heart was pounding wildly.
A moment ago, she really thought she was going to be disfigured.
Roy stepped forward and pulled her back with one hand.
"You,"
his tone carried helplessness and reproach.
"You really are bold."
"You just charge forward whenever you hear a sound, without caring what's in front of you."
Misty came to her senses, touched her face to make sure she wasn't hurt,
and then gave a cheeky smile, the danger from a moment ago completely forgotten.
"That's because I have a strong boyfriend~"
She looked up at Roy, her eyes curving into crescents.
"I knew you would Protect me, hee hee."
Seeing her cheeky expression, Roy couldn't bring himself to keep a straight face.
He reached out and flicked Misty on the forehead.
"Don't do that next time."
"Even with me here, you have to see the situation clearly before charging."
"Got it, got it~"
Misty rubbed the spot where she was flicked, agreeing quickly.
But judging by her expression, she would probably do it again next time.
Delia caught up at this moment and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Misty was fine.
"What was that just now?"
Delia asked cautiously, looking into the darkness.
Roy's gaze turned sharp again.
His Aura had already sensed the situation ahead.
Densely packed Aura reactions.
There were many of them.
And they were rapidly approaching.
"Something is coming."
As soon as Roy finished speaking,
a large swarm of figures crawled out from the darkness ahead.
Omanyte.
Kabuto.
They were swarming out from every crevice in the cave.
Their shells were covered in mud and rock debris, as if they had just awakened from a deep slumber.
Their movements were still stiff and slow, but their numbers grew, and in the blink of an eye, they covered the ground ahead.
The two leaders in front were significantly larger.
They were higher-level evolutions.
Kabutops waved its two sharp, sickle-like front limbs, emitting low hisses.
Omastar's tentacles extended from its shell, wriggling slowly in the air, its spiked shell gleaming coldly in the darkness.
Misty stared wide-eyed at these living Pokémon before her.
"Hey, this is… this is… the kind of Pokémon Bill was Role Playing!"
Her memory was suddenly ignited, and she pointed at the Omanyte and Kabuto, shouting.
"They're actually alive!"
"Shouldn't these be ancient fossils?"
Delia also covered her mouth in surprise.
"Oh my god… how can they be alive?"
"How long has this place been sealed?"
Roy didn't have time to explain this to them,
because the two Kabutops and the Omastar had already used Lock-On on them.
"Let's deal with the trouble in front of us first."
Roy pulled a Poké Ball from his waist and tossed it casually.
Red light flashed.
Venusaur's massive body appeared in the cave.
The giant flower on its back emitted a faint glow in the darkness, illuminating the surroundings.
The Gym-level Aura was released without reservation.
The low-level Omanyte and Kabuto felt this Aura and clearly became agitated.
A few even started to retreat.
The two Kabutops and the Omastar, however, did not retreat.
Their levels were around forty, a quasi-Gym-level standard.
With the two of them working together, they might just have the strength to fight.
The Kabutops launched the first attack.
It kicked off the ground, its entire body turning into a gray blur as it slashed down with its two scythes crossed.
Omastar followed closely, its tentacles suddenly extending and lashing out at Venusaur with spikes.
"Razor Leaf."
Roy's voice was calm and decisive.
The flower on Venusaur's back shook violently.
Dozens of sharp, blade-like leaves spun and flew out.
The dense Razor Leaf cut through the air with a sharp whistling sound.
Razor Leaf collided with the Kabutops' blades.
The Kabutops was knocked back several steps.
The Omastar's tentacles were also cut by several leaves, and it retracted them in pain.
"Vine Whip, bind its tentacles."
Two thick Vine Whips instantly extended from Venusaur's sides.
The Vine Whips nimbly bypassed the spikes and precisely bound several of the Omastar's tentacles.
Then, with a violent tug, the Omastar was pulled off the ground and smashed heavily against the cave wall.
Gravel came tumbling down.
The Kabutops took the opportunity to charge again.
This time it got smart; it no longer fought head-on, but used the cave terrain to Bounce and gain momentum on the rock walls.
Left, then right.
It was so fast it left afterimages.
Then it slashed down from Venusaur's blind spot.
"Protect."
Roy's command was concise and powerful.
A layer of green protective barrier instantly lit up on Venusaur.
The Kabutops' blades struck the barrier, making a harsh scraping sound, but the barrier didn't budge.
Although there were many of them, Venusaur was, after all, Gym-level, and it didn't take much effort to quell the disturbance.
Seeing the situation was bad, the Kabutops and Omastar just feinted once before running off into the depths of the darkness.
The remaining Kabuto and Omanyte heard the retreat signal and immediately flooded back into the depths of the cave like a tide.
In the blink of an eye, they disappeared into the darkness.
The cave became quiet again.
Only those Kabuto and Omanyte that had been knocked out were left lying scattered on the ground.
[Pokémon: Venusaur, Level: lv51 → lv52]
This large wave of fossil Pokémon provided Venusaur with quite a bit of experience, helping it level up.
Roy patted Venusaur on the side.
"Good work, go back and rest for now."
He recalled Venusaur into its Poké Ball and then walked forward.
There were quite a few knocked-out Kabuto and Omanyte lying on the ground.
Although these Pokémon weren't top-tier in combat power, their strength lay in their rarity.
After all, they were ancient Pokémon that couldn't be seen on the market at all.
Putting aside combat value, their collection value and pokédex value were extremely high.
Roy crouched down, expanded his Aura, and began to search for individuals with high potential among them.