141. The Lighthouse

"This lighthouse is so strange! I've never seen a Pokémon on a door before," Misty said suspiciously as she examined the entrance.

This wasn't like any ordinary lighthouse. The gate had square tiles, each one looking like a separate stone slab, with various Pokémon patterns carved into them. Misty gazed at the carvings, her confusion deepening.

"These are ultra-ancient Pokémon," Ash explained, looking at the gate. "They lived a long time ago and are now extinct. Only a few survived, while others were resurrected from fossils."

Ancient Pokémon were creatures that existed on the planet long ago, much like Earth's dinosaurs, and they, too, went extinct.

However, not all of them disappeared. Some survived and are extremely rare, while the rest exist only as fossils. Fortunately, the world is advanced in Pokémon research, and they've developed technology to revive these fossils, bringing them back into the world, even though their era is long gone.

"So that's how it is!" Misty nodded, finally understanding.

Since she had never encountered ancient Pokémon, it made sense she wouldn't know much about them.

"You know about the ultra-ancient Pokémon? It seems you're more than just a typical Trainer! Who are you?" A sudden voice echoed.

"Ah??"

Startled, Misty saw the doorbell beside the entrance ringing. It seemed someone inside the lighthouse had been listening to their conversation.

"We're travelers passing by, and it's already dark. We were hoping to stay here for the night. Is that alright?" Brock asked, leaning toward the doorbell.

"That's fine, but you'll have to do me a favor first."

"Please, tell us!" Brock responded. Since they'd been offered shelter, it was only fair to help out in return.

"Then come in first!" The voice answered quickly, and the heavy door began to creak open.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The lighthouse door was large and made a deep, heavy sound as it slowly opened, flooding the area with light from inside.

"Excuse us!" The three of them stepped into the lighthouse, and as soon as they were inside, the door automatically began to close behind them. Despite the bright lights within, the closing door gave off an eerie feeling.

They found themselves on the first floor of the lighthouse, a vast, spacious area. The walls on either side mirrored the design of the gate, also engraved with ancient Pokémon patterns.

"Where are you?" Brock called out as they walked further in.

"I'm right in front of you."

Following the voice, the group looked up toward the stairs and saw a figure at the top.

In front of them stood a strange creature. Its eyes were large and round, its fists clenched, and an eerie red light flickered from it.

"Ah!! A talking Pokémon!" Misty exclaimed in fear, staring at the figure.

"It's not that surprising! Remember the talking Meowth we met?" Brock whispered to Misty, trying to calm her.

"Look closely; that's not a Pokémon. Kabuto isn't that big—it's a human!" Ash pointed out, turning to them.

Though Pokémon come in various sizes, with some being larger or smaller than usual—like the Krabby Ash had just caught—he was certain that what they were looking at wasn't a Pokémon, but a person.

Hearing Ash say it was a human, Misty breathed a sigh of relief. At that moment, the "Kabuto" figure spoke again.

"It seems you've done some research on ultra-ancient Pokémon. You're definitely not an ordinary Trainer," the voice praised Ash, impressed by his ability to distinguish between the real and the fake.

"However, Pokémon are not always distinguished by their size," the voice continued, as though recalling an encounter with an unusually large Pokémon.

Ash also knew that the owner of the lighthouse was Professor Bill, whose research focused on extinct and undiscovered Pokémon. Bill lived in the lighthouse to wait for a mysterious Pokémon, one of unusual size—hence the remark about size.

"I'm aware of that! So, what do you need us to do?" Ash responded. He wasn't offended, understanding that the mention of size was just to emphasize the point.

"Oh! Right, could you press the button here for me? Kabuto's hands are too short to reach it!" the voice replied, a bit embarrassed, pointing to his waist where the short arms of the costume couldn't reach the button.

Seeing this, Ash walked forward to help, and Misty couldn't help but say, "So it's just a costume!"

Ash, without much comment, pressed the button. The costume automatically untied itself, falling apart into several pieces on the ground. Ash stood there, speechless, thinking to himself, *If you couldn't get out, how did you even get into the costume? I'd love to see him do that again.*

Soon, a young man with green hair, dressed in a red suit, emerged from the costume.

"Phew... finally out. Hello, my name is Bill. Do you want to spend the night here with me?" Bill greeted them and then asked.

"Yes, if it's convenient!" Misty replied quickly. Though Bill was a bit eccentric, staying here was definitely better than sleeping outside.

"It's no problem, but I don't have much to offer in terms of entertainment," Bill admitted. He was friendly, but lived alone in the lighthouse with a simple lifestyle. There were rooms, but little else to keep guests occupied.

"That's fine. If you don't mind, I can borrow the kitchen and cook for us. Consider it a way of thanking you for letting us stay," Brock chimed in, offering to help.

"Since that's the case, stay as long as you like! If it's alright, I'd love some fried noodles and pancakes!" Bill said, not shy about requesting a meal.

"No problem!" Brock agreed without hesitation.