The Brass Tower after Midnight

Leo's wild and unrestrained heart was fully exposed after Yan left. He quickly briefed Cain and Raikou on some gym affairs and then ran off.

"Shall we start?" Raikou asked.

"Let Gastly and Duskull guard the entrance. If there are any challengers, they can come in and notify us," Cain said.

"Let them come, who cares," Raikou replied with a dismissive look.

Cain glanced at Raikou, too lazy to explain, "Ha, as if you could handle it. Not only do we have to deal with them, but we also have to accept their challenges."

"Isn't that a waste of our time? Have you lost your mind?" exclaimed Raikou.

Cain glared at Raikou, thinking that if it wasn't for their current situation, he would make him pay the price.

Seeing Cain's stern gaze, Raikou couldn't help but swallow, feeling that his previous words riled Cain.

"You don't have a brain. It's fine to refuse one or two challengers, but if there are too many, we'll naturally receive complaints. By then, Yan will know that the gym is a mess, and he might come back before our plan is completed. Moreover, he won't trust the three of us with the gym again, and our chances will become even slimmer," Cain said sarcastically, making Raikou's face turn red.

Cain snorted coldly, thinking how careless Raikou was, not considering the bigger picture. Could it be that Yan's branch family had really run out of people, resulting in sending someone like Raikou, who was entirely lacking in terms of intelligence?

Gastly and Duskull guarded the gym's main entrance while Cain and Raikou headed to the inner hall.

"The door is locked," Raikou stopped.

Cain didn't respond, as it would be abnormal if the door wasn't locked.

"Ditto, it's up to you," Cain said.

When it came to lock picking, Ditto was the expert. Ditto's entire body plunged onto the lock, its body cells squeezed into the keyhole, and with a twist, the lock naturally fell off.

Raikou was surprised.

Upon entering Yan's study, Raikou began to browse the books on the shelves.

Cain didn't bother with him. With the way Raikou was browsing, he wouldn't finish looking through the thousands of books here before Yan returned, especially if he had to be careful not to leave any traces.

Cain started at the doorway, searching the entire room for any abnormalities in its structure.

After a whole day and dealing with four challengers, they hadn't even explored half of Yan's study. When Leo returned in the evening, they had to give up.

Having wasted the day on training, they naturally had to make up for it at night.

Below the Brass Tower.

Cain commanded Gastly to repeatedly use Embargo on Ditto, who served as a training partner. Although Gastly had successfully grasped the concept of the move, Ditto didn't become paralyzed after being hit by it.

The power was still insufficient.

Noticing Gastly's slight slackening, Cain shouted, "Give it your all, and don't stop."

Gastly regained its focus.

...

They continued training until ten o'clock, and Cain showed no signs of wanting to rest, his attention still concentrated on Gastly and Ditto.

Suddenly, a dark figure darted into the Brass Tower.

Although it moved quickly, Cain could see it clearly. It was a sharply angular figure covered in spikes, with a purple-red lower half.

Mega Gengar.

It was unmistakably a Mega Gengar. Cain was sure, but it seemed impossible. What era was this? The Mega Evolution of some Pokémon would only gradually appear in people's view at least twenty years later. Moreover, the conditions for Mega Evolution were quite strict.

A strong bond between the Trainer and the Pokémon was a must, and a Mega Stone that could match the Mega Evolving Pokémon was an invaluable treasure. Even in his sixties, Mega Stones would only appear in major auction markets. Only a handful of people in a region would have Mega Evolving Pokémon, usually concentrated among the Elite Four Champions and some prominent families.

In his previous life, Cain had become a Gym Leader, and his Beedrill had the ability to Mega Evolve, but he never found a Mega Stone. He never owned a Mega Evolving Pokémon.

The value of a Mega Stone was immense. Rare Mega Stones were priceless. Mega Stones for Tyranitar, Garchomp, Salamence, and Metagross could only be seen in championship battles, and those who possessed them had the double support of the Pokémon League and prominent families.

However, there were many inexplicable things in this world. Ash, a man with a protagonist's halo, didn't need a Mega Stone. He had the only Mega Evolving Greninja in the world. After finishing his journey through various regions and returning to Pallet Town for a few years, he quickly rose to prominence in the Kanto region with the support of Professor Oak, eventually becoming a Champion.

In his previous life, Cain had tried to snatch some of Ash's opportunities, but every time he returned empty-handed. Ash seemed to have divine assistance, never losing any of the opportunities meant for him. Perhaps this was what people called being favored by the heavens.

As for Cain, he wasn't favored by the heavens, but he didn't need it. He was a man who would fight against fate and the heavens.

In his previous life, the Mega Stone for Koga's Mega Gengar had cost Koga a fortune at an auction. He had only seen a few Mega Gengar in his entire life.

However, here, in this era, a Mega Gengar appeared.

Unbelievable, simply unbelievable.

A strong sense of curiosity drove Cain to rush into the Brass Tower to investigate.

Having lurked in the Brass Tower for over half a month, Cain found that the Ghost-type Pokémon no longer used their illusions on him.

Holding a flashlight, Cain searched inside the Brass Tower, with Gastly following closely behind. The Ditto had transformed into a wrist guard and wrapped around Cain's right hand.

As Cain was about to climb up, he suddenly felt an overwhelming force weighing him down. Red waves of light pressed down from above, causing his eyelids to grow heavy and his head to spin. He nearly fell, his Gastly wobbled in the air.

"This isn't good; it's Hypnosis. How can it be so powerful?"

Sensing the danger, Cain quickly recalled Gastly and slapped himself hard across the face, leaving five bloody marks.

Finally regaining full consciousness, Cain hurriedly rushed out of the Brass Tower.

However, Cain did not give up and continued to loiter around the tower.

If the Pokémon that had just entered was a Mega Gengar, then it would definitely come out again. A small temple like Brass Tower was not a place that such a noble Pokémon would fancy.

Time passed, minute by minute.

Although it was already past midnight, Cain was still fully alert.