The enraged Charizard flew swiftly to Aerodactyl's front, using Dragon Claw to cruelly knock back Aerodactyl, then opened its mouth to use scorching Flamethrower, releasing a thick pillar of fire that surrounded Aerodactyl completely.
Four hard rocks floated around Aerodactyl, blocking the fire pillar's damage for Aerodactyl. Under Aerodactyl's control, they were released forward, approaching Charizard's direction.
"It actually triggered the boost effect of Ancient Power. This Aerodactyl has pretty good luck," Red said with a slight smile.
After Aerodactyl used Ancient Power, it coincidentally triggered the 10% probability boost, raising its Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed by 1 level each.
Seeing Aerodactyl about to use Supersonic again, Charizard immediately spread its massive wings to use Steel Wing, landing a critical hit on Aerodactyl's vital spot, making Aerodactyl glare at Charizard with gritted teeth in pain.
Aerodactyl's claws became covered in emerald light, preparing to use Dragon Claw to attack Charizard again.
This time Charizard learned its lesson, not immediately using Dragon Rush to attack, but first observing Aerodactyl's movements to avoid being unable to effectively attack Aerodactyl due to terrain constraints.
Spreading its massive wings, countless wind blades were released from Charizard's wings, immediately striking toward the Aerodactyl ahead.
Seeing this, Aerodactyl decisively used Stone Edge to neutralize the wind blade attacks, but a purple-gold figure crashed into Aerodactyl's line of sight, leaving Aerodactyl stunned.
The Charizard using Dragon Rush appeared before Aerodactyl, and the purple-gold energy dragon opened its massive maw to devour the Aerodactyl before it.
"Bang—"
Just as Aerodactyl was about to crash to the ground, it struggled to use Stone Edge to strike the ground, managing to cushion the pain from the fall.
'How about it? Do you submit now!' Charizard taunted, taking several deep breaths to adjust its stamina.
'Hmph! It's just that this battle arena is too restrictive for my speed!' Aerodactyl mocked back, believing Charizard had only barely defeated it by taking advantage.
Seeing Aerodactyl refuse to admit defeat, Charizard roared at Red several times, pointing upward to indicate it wanted to duel Aerodactyl in the sky outside so it could completely crush Aerodactyl's pride.
After two battles, the trainers wandering in the central area of the Grand Canyon had long been dispersed by Officer Jenny who had arrived. The police Officer Jenny brought sealed off the Grand Canyon, investigating whether Team Rocket had left any other bombs.
Through his Aura sensing, Red detected that Ash and Team Rocket were still on the surface above, engaged in fierce battle. Fortunately, Ash and Pikachu had the upper hand, though this was also a common occurrence.
Red prepared to use his psychic powers to bring Charizard and Aerodactyl out from underground so the two Pokémon could have a true duel.
Seeing Red could take it away from underground, Aerodactyl excitedly bounced a few times, then suddenly turned its head, remembering something important. After urgently roaring at Red and Charizard, it flew to its private resting area and brought back a gem covered in amber.
Aerodactyl gently placed the amber it had brought into Red's hand. Aerodactyl could sense a powerful force within this amber, as if this power had once belonged to itself, so Aerodactyl had always treasured this amber as its protective charm.
Having already acknowledged Red in its heart, Aerodactyl decided to entrust the amber it had treasured for so long to Red, indirectly proving Aerodactyl's desire to follow Red.
"Could this amber have a Mega Stone sealed inside?!" Red said in surprise, carefully examining the amber in his hand from all angles, discovering a gray and purple intersecting evolution stone sealed within.
Based on the color patterns of the evolution stone, Red was certain this was definitely Aerodactyl's Mega Stone, otherwise Aerodactyl wouldn't have sensed the powerful force hidden within.
"What a great find," Red said with slight excitement, not expecting to obtain another Mega Stone here. This way his team would have three Pokémon capable of Mega Evolution.
(I wonder when I'll be able to collect all the Mega Stones...)
Red couldn't help but think eagerly, since Mega Stones weren't common in the Kanto region, mostly being concentrated in the Kalos and Hoenn regions.
(If only I could achieve free Mega Evolution through the bond connection...)
Thinking this far, Red smiled and shook his head. Why think so much? Better to let Charizard and Aerodactyl finish their duel first.
Red turned and used Teleport, taking Charizard and Aerodactyl away from underground.
Instantly arriving at the surface, Red looked around and found Ash and Pikachu had already defeated Team Rocket, though there was also a dozing Charmeleon nearby—clearly Ash's disobedient Charmeleon.
"This Charmeleon's talent is indeed good; it's just too proud right now," Red said helplessly, shaking his head.
Given Ash's current reckless battle style, he indeed couldn't gain Charmeleon's recognition. After all, besides Pikachu, Charmeleon could be considered Ash's strongest Pokémon.
Violent sounds echoed above the Grand Canyon as Charizard and Aerodactyl engaged in their duel.
"What's that Pokémon?!" Ash exclaimed in surprise, quickly taking out his Pokédex to scan it, wanting to check Aerodactyl's data. "Aerodactyl, because of its sharp fangs, it's believed to be a carnivorous Pokémon. It's imagined that it used its sharp claws to capture prey."
"How can this be? Isn't this an ancient Pokémon that went extinct long ago?" Ash asked in confusion, looking puzzledly at his big brother.
Seeing this, Red, already accustomed to providing explanations to Ash, said leisurely: "These are ancient Pokémon that have managed to survive until now. They're purely carnivorous Pokémon, extremely sensitive to fresh meat, so they're also more ferociously brutal than contemporary Pokémon."
After hearing Red's explanation, Pikachu looked up at Aerodactyl's sharp fangs and couldn't help but tremble all over. It definitely didn't want to battle this Sky King above, afraid its tender flesh would be torn apart by Aerodactyl's fangs.
"It looks so scary..." Ash murmured.
"How about it, Ash? Want to capture an ancient Pokémon too?" Red asked, looking at Ash and pointing toward the underground area. "If you want to capture one, now's the time. Soon the Kanto League will seal off the Grand Canyon and establish it as an ancient Pokémon preservation area."
"Never mind, I don't want to capture these sleeping ancient Pokémon. I prefer to capture Pokémon that I truly like," Ash said, shaking his head.
"Pika pi!"
The frightened Pikachu nearby quickly nodded in agreement, afraid Ash would agree to capture these carnivorous ancient Pokémon as companions.
"Fair enough, since these guys are all rather troublesome to train."
After speaking, Red couldn't help but glance at the still-dozing Charmeleon nearby, thinking that Ash currently couldn't even handle Charmeleon, so he shouldn't add more unnecessary trouble.
After all, if he captured ancient Pokémon now, they would later be forcibly confiscated by the League officials, under the pretense that they were regional assets of the Kanto League and couldn't be captured by randomly passing trainers.
Of course, Red didn't need such concerns. He was both the discoverer of the ancient Pokémon and an honorary doctor of the Kanto League. The League officials wouldn't risk offending Red over just three ancient Pokémon.
[Chapter Complete]
***
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