Solaceon Town, a town where life moved at its own leisurely pace.
From the moment he stepped into the town’s limits, Sinshi could feel the peaceful, laid-back atmosphere.
Nearby were several small pastures enclosed by wooden fences.
A middle-aged rancher wearing a cowboy hat and overalls, holding a pitchfork, and a young woman in denim were milking a few Miltank in the pasture.
“Next, I’m going to head to the Pokémon Center first to get Snover and my other two Pokémon checked up and healed.
What about you?” Candice asked from beside him.
“I need to find a place to sell off these Oran Berries first, and then buy some daily necessities.”
Sinshi pointed at the bark backpack slung over his shoulder.
“Then we can go together.”
“Does the Pokémon Center buy Berries too?”
“Yes, and their prices are actually a little higher than most places.
Of course, their quality standards are also a bit stricter.”
Sinshi was slightly surprised, but then he realized that a place like this definitely had a massive demand for Berries.
Buying them directly would indeed relieve a lot of their supply pressure.
As for the quality requirements for the Oran Berries, Sinshi wasn’t worried at all.
Plump and perfectly colored, these Oran Berries were the best he had seen.
Even after trekking through the forest for a week, he hadn’t found any better than the ones currently in his backpack.
The Pokémon Center was located in the very heart of Solaceon Town.
Led by Candice, Sinshi walked straight ahead.
Candice eventually came to a halt in front of a certain building.
Sinshi looked up, taking in the full view of the structure.
It was a giant gray stone tower divided into five floors.
The first four floors each had an arched window, while the top floor was tightly sealed, its window replaced by an intricately carved cross pattern.
“What is this?”
“The Lost Tower.
It’s as famous as the Pokémon Tower in the Kanto region, Mt.
Pyre in the Hoenn region, and the Celestial Tower in the Unova region.
Many Pokémon were buried here in the past.
With so much negative energy gathering, over time, it became a nesting ground for Ghost-type Pokémon,” Candice explained.
“Simply put, it’s a graveyard, right?”
Sinshi then opened his interface panel and began scanning the Lost Tower.
“Looks like it isn’t an ancient structure, but a modern creation,” he muttered.
Seeing that the progress bar remained completely unresponsive, Sinshi regretfully canceled the scan.
“If it’s a graveyard, why are there so many people?
Are they all here to bury their Pokémon?
A Pokémon’s lifespan isn’t that short, is it?”
Sinshi noticed a crowd of over a dozen people gathered at the base of the Lost Tower, making quite a bit of noise.
Candice shook her head.
“It used to be a graveyard.
Later, because the number of Ghost-type Pokémon kept increasing, the mayor simply converted the Lost Tower into a trial ground to prevent them from bothering the townspeople.
They welcome passing Trainers within a certain age limit to pay an entry fee and battle the Ghost-type Pokémon inside.
For every floor you clear, you receive a corresponding reward.”
“…”
Hearing Candice’s explanation, Sinshi couldn’t help but marvel at the mayor’s business acumen.
It was common knowledge that most Ghost-type Pokémon had some degree of negative influence on humans.
Especially as their numbers swelled over time, it was only a matter of time before problems arose.
But by turning the graveyard into a battleground, they not only collected ticket revenue but also used the battles to drain the Ghost-type Pokémon’s stamina, leaving them with no energy to cause trouble in town.
It was killing two birds with one stone.
‘Still, since there are rewards, maybe I should give it a try.’
“By the way, is the entry fee expensive?”
“Not really.
After all, if it were expensive, fewer people would go.”
Candice turned to look at Sinshi and lowered her voice.
“Are you interested?
With your and Agumon’s strength, you definitely have a chance to clear the first floor and challenge the second.”
Hearing this, Sinshi asked in surprise, “I can only clear the first floor?”
Candice nodded.
“Don’t think it’s easy.
The Pokémon on the first floor alone are around level 17, and the levels get higher the further up you go.
Rumor has it that there are even Pokémon close to level 30 on the fifth floor.
“Most importantly, rather than fighting one-on-one, they prefer ganging up on you and launching sneak attacks.
When I challenged it before, I could only hold out for a little while.
I was still a long way from reaching the second floor.”
Sinshi didn’t say anything, merely staring at the Lost Tower before him.
He didn’t think clearing all five floors would be easy.
After all, whoever came up with this brilliant idea to turn a liability into a profit wouldn’t be foolish enough to run a losing business.
The fact that they dared to offer rewards and had maintained this system for so long spoke volumes about the difficulty.
Thinking of this, Sinshi couldn’t help but ask, “Has anyone ever successfully cleared it?”
“There definitely have been, but those were just older people pretending to be young to scam the prize money.
As for those who strictly met the age requirements, there wasn’t a single one before.
But now…
there probably is.”
“What do you mean?”
Candice raised her fair arm and pointed forward.
Sinshi followed her gaze.
She was pointing exactly at the crowd gathered in front of the Lost Tower.
Sinshi squinted and saw a group of young Trainers surrounding someone.
White camera flashes blinked continuously, as if they were taking photos.
In the center of the crowd, a somewhat plump middle-aged man was holding a gift box and handing it to a young woman beside him.
The young woman reached out and accepted it.
The two completed the handover of the gift box under the flashing cameras.
“I didn’t expect to run into her here.
She’s truly amazing.
With her strength, collecting eight Badges and winning the Lily of the Valley Conference would be a breeze for her.”
Even the usually energetic Candice seemed somewhat defeated in this moment.
As for the reason behind her frustration, it was obvious that she recognized the young woman and knew full well that the other party’s strength far exceeded her own.
Sinshi originally just wanted to see what she looked like, gauge her age, and assess this “Lily of the Valley Conference winner level” Candice mentioned, just to give himself a general point of reference.
But when his eyes landed on the young woman’s face, he was surprised to find that she looked incredibly familiar.
Unlike when he first met Candice and thought she looked somewhat familiar, this was the kind of familiarity that hit him the moment he laid eyes on her.
Especially after seeing the long blonde hair cascading down her back, the unique black teardrop-shaped hair ornaments on her head, and that delicate, petite face that perfectly blended youthful innocence with a mature, commanding aura—a name instantly popped into his mind.
Combined with Candice’s age, he had deduced that his current timeline was about three or four years before the main Sinnoh storyline began, which meant her age matched up perfectly as well.
Sinshi truly never expected to run into her here.
The future Champion of the Sinnoh region, and one of the Pokémon League’s strongest Masters Eight—Cynthia!