Pokémon: Just won the championship, the newbie growth system is here!

Team Rocket base, Tsukimiyama branch, ruins.

They intend to revive ancient Pokémon by excavating fossils from Mt. Tsukimi in order to create a powerful army of fossil Pokémon.

This is a very unique concept: a group of prehistoric Pokémon that may have even more ferocious destructive power than modern Pokémon.

This theory has been confirmed in Parthia.

However, the plan ultimately failed to proceed, and we were not stopped because the Rockets assessed their own plan and felt it was unreasonable.

While the ancient Pokémon of the Padia and Hoenn regions proved to possess ferocious and savage primal power, the fossil Pokémon of the Kanto region did not meet Team Rocket's expectations for strength.

It wasn't because they couldn't beat the inexperienced trainers; they just happened to catch us off guard and defeated us.

—This concludes the summary of the [Mount Tsukimi Conquest Plan]. This report will be forever buried in the base, and we will bury our regrets underground and look up at the stars.

The Rockets did not lose!!

"..."

Looking at the lengthy written report, Xiaozhi frowned slightly.

"Haha... The Rockets are really optimistic to be able to talk about defeat with such spirit."

I originally planned to head towards Cerulean City as soon as possible, but I got lost by some twist of fate and ended up in the depths of the caves at Mt. Tsukimi, where I ended up in this weird place.

The faded building is mostly buried in the ground, with only half of the "R" logo remaining outside. Huge boulders have damaged the building, making it a long-abandoned ruin.

With the spirit of "since I'm already here," Xiaozhi slid down the rocks from the roof that had been smashed open by the boulder.

They embarked on a grand adventure with Charmeleon in the Team Rocket ruins, where they found this report in a drawer in what appeared to be a private room.

At first, she didn't quite believe it, but after reading the report, she learned that this place used to be the Rockets' base.

But so what? Now the place is deserted and has become a ruin.

"Kids in the Kanto region all know that the Rockets are history."

Xiaozhi recalled that when she passed through Viridian City, she heard that Team Rocket had reappeared at the Pokémon Center, but the police quickly came forward to refute the rumor.

They were actually just Pokémon hunters using Team Rocket's name. Their theft was stopped by an honest trainer, and they have now been arrested and are on trial.

Charmeleon's tail flames illuminated the passageway, and the trainer followed closely behind.

The deserted Rockets ruins were dark and looked somewhat eerie and terrifying.

"Courage is the most important quality for a trainer!"

Xiaozhi dispelled her fear with her courageous words. Although she was only ten years old, she was prepared to take risks since she had become a trainer.

Now that she has a Charizard by her side, and is no longer alone, Xiaozhi is filled with determination.

"In this kind of environment, it would be great to catch a Ghost-type Pokémon."

Xiaozhi thought to herself that the environment here gave her the feeling that Ghost-type Pokémon might run out.

Xiao Zhi prepared Poké Balls from her pocket and threw them at anything that moved, seeing who could scare the other first.

"By the way, are you afraid of Charmeleon?"

"Holy crap!"

"Don't be so fierce. Well, I knew you weren't scared."

Charmeleon looked speechless. It wasn't that it wanted to be mean to its trainer; it was just that its eyes were sharper after evolving, and its voice was much louder than when it was a baby Charmander.

In addition, Xiaozhi is oblivious to such subtle differences and naturally couldn't understand what Charmeleon was saying.

Pokémon cannot communicate with humans, and most of the time they can only guess. Sometimes, even Xiaozhi guesses Charmeleon's thoughts wrong.

Charmeleon was actually reluctant when it heard that it was going to explore the ruins, but the trainer was running too fast and slid down in a flash, so Charmeleon couldn't just leave the trainer alone.

A rustling sound.

"roar!"

"What's ahead?"

Seeing Charmeleon stop and assume a fighting stance, Xiaozhi also looked ahead warily. A semicircle of a circular black shadow floating in the air swept past the corner of the corridor.

"Judging from its shape, it's very likely a Gastly. We need to be careful."

Xiaozhi also grabbed her Poké Ball, ready to call it over at any moment, and slowly followed behind with Charmeleon.

Gastly isn't strong, but it's not good to alert the enemy, as Ghost-type Pokémon can pass through solid objects.

"It would be a loss if it accidentally ran through the wall, so we need to slowly close the distance."

"roar."

Xiao Zhi followed the Charmeleon, keeping her center of gravity low and tiptoeing behind. Once they were close enough, she quickly gave the order.

"Charmeleon, use Dragon Breath!"

"roar!"

Charizard spewed out a beam of pale blue flame, which accurately struck the floating black sphere. In the light of the flame, the black sphere was shrouded in mist.

"Go, Poké Ball!"

A Poké Ball hit, and a red light captured the Pokémon, which then began to flash.

Bang! The Poké Ball was forcibly opened, and an enraged Pokémon jumped out.

Gas spewed from its vents, and it let out an unhappy cry. Xiao Zhi looked somewhat disappointed after seeing its true form.

"Why is it a gas bomb?"

It was round, with a faint mist floating around it, and the features matched up, so she immediately lost interest in grabbing it.

The raging gas bomb charged straight at Charizard, its body beginning to glow.

Because Xiaozhi was momentarily careless and failed to give the order in time, the gas bombs that were about to detonate were already rushing towards them.

"Damn it!"

A shadow flashed by like lightning, leaping up from the wall in a whirlwind, landing lightly on the gas bomb and turning around. The gas bomb was pushed away by the recoil and crashed to the ground, bouncing back and forth between the ground and the wall.

Koffing was knocked down by Umbreon's Quick Attack and fell to the ground, unable to fight.

Xiaozhi heard a familiar voice coming from behind.

"The command is too slow. Sometimes, startled Pokémon in the wild will try to take someone down with them even if it means their own death."

"Lord Ye Luo!"

Ye Luo, who came from behind, looked puzzled.

"Xiao Zhi, what are you doing here, treasure hunting?"

After defeating the Koffing, Umbreon jumped back onto Leaf's shoulder, its golden markings gleaming in the sunlight.

Xiaozhi was a little embarrassed, and said with a smile.

"I did have that plan, thinking I might be able to catch a Ghost-type Pokémon, but it turned out to be a Koffing."

Ye Luo glanced at the unconscious gas bomb on the ground. Luckily, he arrived in time. He had just seen the gas bomb's movements from a distance and guessed that it was preparing to self-destruct.

Even if the trainer and Pokémon don't suffer fatal injuries from the self-destruction in this decade-old ruin, it would still be very dangerous if they were buried inside in the event of a collapse.

"With unwavering courage and strong bonds, they completed a difficult battle and defeated Team Rocket's Pokémon."

Hidden Mission: Team Rocket at Mt. Tsukimi.

Team Rocket established an outpost at Mt. Tsukimi, extending their ambitions of conquest deep into the earth, excavating fossils and rare minerals. Their actions never cared about the impact on the natural ecosystem. Many wild Pokémon were displaced or captured for profit. Good trainer, you proved with your courage that justice will ultimately prevail over evil.

Hint: There's still a mystery gift to unlock; you'll need to continue exploring.