Chapter 189: Ore in the Great Canyon

"It's been too quiet lately, I haven't encountered anything interesting all the way."

Huo La was riding on the back of a sturdy Tauros, moving slowly along the small path in the Safari Zone.

Beside him, Bilan was riding a fiery red Ponyta, and Brock was straddling the broad back of a Rhydon—these three Pokémon were all captured by them in the Safari Zone, just right to be used as transport.

"Hahahaha, I still can't help but laugh when I see you riding a Tauros now!" Bilan covered her mouth, smiling with her eyes curved. "Before you said you would never ride a cow, but in the end, you chose it!"

Huo La helplessly supported his forehead, looking resigned: "It's not because you two snatched the Ponyta and Rhydon, I couldn't walk, right."

"Beep! Beep!"

A sharp car horn sound suddenly came from behind, breaking the chat of the three.

The three of Huo La hurriedly moved to the side of the road, a silver-gray sports car roared past them, raising a cloud of dust, and then reversed back, stopping in front of them.

"Yo, isn't this Huo La?" The passenger window lowered, revealing Gary's teasing smile. "Really didn't expect you to ride a Tauros, this look is quite unique!"

Huo La glanced at him, his tone unceremonious: "Hehe, if you have nothing to do, hurry up and get lost... don't block our way."

Gary raised his eyebrows, not caring about his attitude at all, but pointed to his sports car: "Why? Still slowly riding Pokémon? Do you want me to give you a ride?"

"No need." Brock refused with a smile, patted the Rhydon under him. "Riding your own Pokémon is more interesting than sitting in a sports car."

Bilan also nodded, driving the Ponyta forward a bit: "That's right, who wants to sit in your car, maybe you'll show off all the way."

Gary shrugged, not forcing it: "Fine, then you guys sway slowly." He changed the subject, his eyes carrying a bit more seriousness: "By the way, you guys are also going to the Great Canyon, right? Hurry up, if you go late, the Pokémon fossils inside won't be your share!"

As the words fell, the silver sports car accelerated again, raising a cloud of dust and driving away.

"Wow! Huo La, there are Pokémon fossils in the Great Canyon ahead!" Bilan's eyes lit up, and she immediately leaned over to suggest, "Let's go take a look, okay? Maybe we can dig up rare fossils!"

Huo La nodded, took out the Rotom Phone: "Rotom, mark the detailed map nearby."

"Rotom~ Received!" The phone screen lit up, and a clear map instantly unfolded. "Current location is at the entrance of the Great Canyon, go straight for 2 kilometers to reach the canyon entrance. After crossing the Great Canyon, you can reach Okura Town, which has no official gym."

Huo La stared at the map and pondered for a moment, asking: "How far is it from here to Cinnabar Island?"

"Rotom~ The whole journey to Cinnabar Island is 70 kilometers, need to cross the Great Canyon, Okura Town, Okura Forest in turn..."

"Huo La, are you planning to challenge the Cinnabar Gym?" Brock reacted immediately.

"Yeah, since it's on the way, it's a pity not to challenge it." Huo La smiled. "My badge is missing the last one, the Cinnabar Gym badge can just make up for it."

He changed the subject, looked at Brock, his tone carrying teasing: "However, right now, I care more about the fossils in the Great Canyon. Maybe there are dormant ancient Pokémon hidden inside, or precious fossil specimens? Rock-type Pokémon and fossils, Brock, this is your home field!"

Brock was energized when he heard it, patted the Rhydon under him: "You're right! Rock-type Pokémon and fossil research, I won't lose! Let's set off immediately, if we go late, it will really be dug up by others as Gary said!"

"Yay! Let's go dig fossils!" Bilan excitedly patted the neck of the Ponyta, the fiery red mount instantly raised its front hooves, looking particularly excited.

Huo La urged the Tauros under him and walked toward the entrance of the Great Canyon: "Then speed up! Go to the Great Canyon to try your luck first, it's best to dig up good things, and it won't delay going to Cinnabar Island if you don't dig it up."

The three rode Pokémon and walked quickly along the small path.

The distance of 2 kilometers arrived in an instant, and the full view of the Great Canyon gradually emerged before their eyes—steep rock cliffs on both sides, a winding small path passing through the canyon in the middle, and bare rock layers could be vaguely seen on the cliffs, which seemed to hide many traces of fossils.

"It seems that this place really hides many fossils, just don't know which Pokémon or plant traces they are." Brock leaned to the cliff, his fingertips rubbing the patterns on the rock, his eyes focused.

As a Trainer specializing in Rock-types, his sensitivity to fossils and minerals was far from what Huo La and Bilan could compare to.

"Hey! So many people in front! It seems Ash and the others are also there!" Bilan suddenly pointed to the crowd in the depths of the canyon, her tone carrying surprise.

Huo La looked in the direction she pointed, and sure enough, he saw familiar figures—Ash was squatting on the ground, Pikachu beside him was swinging its tail and looking around, Misty and Lilian were standing on the side, seemingly discussing something.

And not far from them, there were two men wearing professional exploration suits and holding shovels, one of them was Gary they met just now, and the other was a bald old man.

"Pika Pika~!" Pikachu heard the movement first, turned its head and saw the three of Huo La rushing over on Tauros, Rhydon, and Ponyta, and instantly jumped up excitedly, waving at them.

Ash also turned his head, and saw Huo La riding a Tauros, Brock straddling a Rhydon, and Bilan riding a Ponyta rushing over, his eyes instantly lit up: "Wow! Huo La, you actually used a Tauros to travel! This idea is too cool! I'll release my Tauros and try it later!"

Huo La's mouth twitched, decisively skipped this topic, and asked directly: "Why are you guys here too? How is the fossil situation here?"

"We heard that there are Pokémon fossils in the Great Canyon, so we came over to take a look!" Ash stood up, pointed to the man in the exploration suit beside him. "This is Mr. Sato from the archaeology team, he said that in the rock layers nearby, there might be Omanyte and Kabuto fossils!"

Gary put down the shovel in his hand, glanced at Huo La, his tone carrying a bit of pride: "I arrived half an hour earlier than you guys, and have already found a few suspected fossil fragments. Mr. Sato said, go deeper into the canyon, there are bigger discoveries."

Huo La didn't pay much attention to everyone's discussion, his gaze swept back and forth among the crowd digging fossils in the canyon, as if searching for some target.

"Hey, Huo La, what are you looking at?" Ash leaned over, looking in the direction of his gaze, but only saw dense explorers and Trainers.

Huo La didn't speak, just pointed to the corner on the other side of the canyon.

Everyone looked in the direction of his finger, and were instantly stunned—only to see Musashi, Kojiro, and Meowth wearing ill-fitting exploration suits, holding crude tools in their hands, pretending to dig fossils, but their eyes were scanning around from time to time, clearly plotting something. ===== CHAPTER 190 =====