Inside the Pewter City Gym, Brock's father handed Raj a Boulder Badge.
Both of the Gym Leader's Pokémon had been defeated.
As the leader, he had no choice but to present his challenger with the badge — the symbol of victory.
"You're the most outstanding new trainer I've seen in years," the man said, clearly impressed. "May I ask where you're from?"
After handing over the badge, curiosity gleamed in his eyes.
Over the years, he had seen countless young trainers, but few could command such a powerful Haunter with such calm precision.
"I'm from Pallet Town," Raj replied with a confident smile.
"Pallet Town?" the man echoed in surprise. "Then do you know Ash Ketchum?"
Raj nodded. "Of course I do. We grew up together. I even met him again in Viridian Forest."
The Gym Leader laughed warmly.
"Haha! The trainers from Pallet Town are really something special. How about it, Raj? Would you like to stay for dinner?"
Hearing that Raj was from Pallet Town immediately made the man more friendly, even affectionate.
But Raj politely declined. "Thanks, sir, but I've got somewhere else to be."
He didn't have time to rest.
Now that he had earned the Boulder Badge, his next target was Mt. Moon — where he planned to deal with the group of Clefairy and take their Moon Stones.
It sounded cruel, but as Raj often reminded himself: once you step into the world of villains, there's no turning back.
After leaving Pewter City, Raj headed straight for Mt. Moon.
Along the way, weak wild Pokémon appeared occasionally — Zubat, Paras, and Sandshrew — but he ignored them all. He had one goal in mind.
Eventually, he reached the mountain's summit, where a large cave entrance loomed in the center.
Raj grinned. "Bingo. This must be it."
He remembered this place from the original story — the Clefairy lived here, dancing under the glow of the Moon Stone.
Team Rocket had once targeted this place for that very same stone, though their plan was a total failure.
Raj, however, was not them. He was smarter — and far more dangerous.
After his victory at the Pewter Gym, the system had rewarded him with 3,000 points.
Combined with what he already had, that gave him a total of 10,000 points.
He immediately spent 8,000 points on two advanced tools from the System Mall — a Luring Smoke Machine and a Sleep Powder Blower.
That left him with only 2,000 points, but it was a worthy trade.
The Luring Smoke Machine released a special gas that could instantly knock out any Pokémon with a combat power below 200.
The Sleep Powder Blower weakened Pokémon under 500 power, reducing their battle strength drastically.
Only Pokémon above 500 power could resist the effects — and in the wilds of Kanto, such Pokémon were extremely rare.
Raj smiled to himself. "Perfect. With these, I'll clear this place out and walk away with every Moon Stone in sight."
By midnight, Raj reached the cave entrance at the top of Mt. Moon.
But he wasn't alone. Two figures stood nearby — both wearing lab coats and holding notebooks.
They looked like researchers studying the mountain's minerals.
"Oh right…" Raj recalled, "In the anime, there was a researcher from the Pewter City Science Museum stationed here to protect Mt. Moon from bad guys."
But there were two researchers here — and one of them was stunningly beautiful.
She had a flawless figure, long black hair tied neatly behind her, and round glasses that gave her a scholarly charm.
The white lab coat she wore only emphasized her curves.
She was carefully cataloguing rock samples when she turned around — her bright smile momentarily stealing Raj's breath away.
"Damn," he muttered under his breath. "A gorgeous woman alone on a mountain at midnight? That's dangerous… and tempting."
"Naomi, life on this mountain isn't easy," the older researcher said.
"You just graduated — you should be working at the city's research institute, not roughing it out here."
Naomi laughed softly. "It's fine. I won't be here long anyway. I just wanted to finish my report on Mt. Moon."
Their conversation was suddenly interrupted when a faint, sweet-smelling smoke drifted toward them.
Raj had already set up the Luring Smoke Machine from the shadows.
Within moments, both researchers began to sway — their eyes fluttering shut as they collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Raj stepped out from behind a boulder, his face half-covered by a scarf.
He moved quickly, setting up the Sleep Powder Blower near the cave entrance and activating it. A thin mist drifted inside.
"Haunter," Raj whispered, tossing out a Poké Ball. "Go scout the cave."
The ghost Pokémon floated silently into the darkness.
After a few minutes, Haunter returned with a mischievous grin and a nod. The operation was a success.
Raj released his second Pokémon — Beedrill, its Stingers glinting faintly in the moonlight.
"I'll leave the rest to you two," Raj said calmly.
"Clear the cave. Take down anything that moves. Bring me every Moon Stone and anything else of value."
Both Pokémon nodded and vanished into the cave.
Moments later, Raj could hear faint battle cries echoing from within — the sounds of Clefairy and Zubat being defeated one after another.
The system notifications soon followed:
[Ding! Haunter's combat power increased!]
[Beedrill combat power increased!]
Raj smirked. "Good work."
Then his gaze shifted to the unconscious researcher, Naomi.
Without hesitation, he picked her up gently and carried her toward his airship.
The moonlight bathed the mountain in silver as Raj's figure disappeared into the night sky.
What happened inside the airship after that… no one knows.
...
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