Age of Elves: I started flashing with my handheld.

Nanfeng controlled the character to walk into the stone tower. As soon as he arrived at the entrance, a notification appeared on the handheld console.

[Enter the dungeon "The Decaying Phantom Tower"?]

Recommended entry level for this dungeon: 35

"Another instance?!" Nanfeng raised an eyebrow.

He hadn't encountered any dungeons before, and he thought they only appeared during specific storylines.

However, the recommended level for this dungeon is not high!

Shouldn't we go in and take a look?

Nanfeng clicked "Yes" without hesitation.

A flash of light and shadow appeared before his eyes, and Nanfeng appeared inside the stone tower.

Behind him came the rustling sound of sandstorms swirling in the desert. It was nighttime, and the cold outside could be felt from the noisy wind. However, if Nanfeng wanted to go outside to take a look, a prompt would appear in front of him asking whether he wanted to leave the instance.

Before me was a large hall the size of a basketball court, brightly lit by torches burning all around. A stone staircase meandered up directly opposite Nanfeng (bhah).

A rhinoceros with a horned horn stood in the center of the hall, its eyes fixed on Nanfeng, full of vigilance.

"A level 37 rhinoceros?" Nanfeng was slightly surprised.

Since it's a dungeon, it's not surprising that a spirit would try to stop you from completing it, but the spirit that appeared was one that didn't exist in this area.

Nanfeng's first thought wasn't how to defeat it, but rather, could it be captured?

"Roar!!" Seeing that Nanfeng hadn't moved, the rhinoceros decided to strike first. It lowered its head, and its long horn locked onto Nanfeng. It then took a step forward.

Its massive body was like a tank starting up, slamming its feet into the ground with a rumbling sound.

"Water Shuriken" Nanfeng casually tossed out a Poké Ball.

Greninja leaped out of the opened Poké Ball, along with several shurikens made of water!

The charging rhinoceros ignored Greninja's attack and continued charging forward, looking as if it was going to smash Nanfeng's head through, and then... and then nothing happened.

Rhyhorn, a Rock/Ground type, is four times weak to Water types and its level is lower than Greninja. Does it have any chance of survival against a Water Shuriken?

One after another, water shuriken pierced its rock-like body, then immediately exploded.

He lost his fighting ability on the spot and collapsed helplessly to the ground.

Nanfeng tried throwing a Poké Ball over.

The Poké Ball took Rhyhorn into its container, and the red light in the center flickered slightly before it stopped resisting.

The rhinoceros with the horned horn has been tamed.

"It really can be caught?" Nanfeng picked up the Poké Ball to examine it.

This rhinoceros is unremarkable, with only one special defense stat (V), and is not worth training.

So, let Dr. Birch raise it.

After walking through the lobby, Nanfeng stepped up the stairs to the second floor.

The second floor is similar to the first floor, a hall the size of a basketball, but there are no stairs leading up. There is a stone platform in the very center of the hall.

Two fossils are displayed on the stone platform.

"Is that all?" Nanfeng remembered that it wasn't that simple in the game. The Phantom Tower had four floors from the outside, but it was a bit wrinkled inside.

Step up the stairs to examine the fossils.

These two fossils look somewhat decayed. One of them has shell-like patterns, while the other looks like a root.

Shell? Rhizome?

Ancient feathered insects and tentacle lilies?

Nanfeng somehow remembered that the fossils of ancient feathered insects were claws.

I must have remembered it wrong.

Between the two spirits, Ancient Feathered Insect and Tentacle Lily, Nanfeng chose the former without hesitation.

Both Tentacle Lily and its evolved form Cradle Lily look a bit strange. Although I don't plan to cultivate the Ancient Feathered Insect myself, I'll just give it to Professor Birch for research at most.

When Nanfeng chose to pick up the fossilized shell, he was immediately teleported back to his viewing room.

"This dungeon runs a bit fast," Nanfeng exclaimed in surprise.

In the handheld console, the character representing Nanfeng stands in a sandy area, surrounded by a constant sandstorm, and the Phantom Tower in front of them has completely disappeared.

Only one prompt appears.

The moment you picked up the fossilized shell, the Tower of Illusions collapsed, and another fossil was buried forever in this desert.

Expected.

That's how the Emerald game is set up: you have to choose one of two fossils from the Tower of Mirage.

If you choose to take one fossil, the other fossil will disappear.

"Let's go revive them first!" Nanfeng remembered that the revival location for fossil Pokémon was at Devon Manufacturing Company in Laminaria City. Since he couldn't fly, the fastest route would be from Mauville City west through Autumn Leaf Town, then into the Kelp Tunnel...

Nanfeng's thoughts suddenly stopped.

Because a familiar building appeared before his eyes.

Right at the entrance to the desert region, a three-story phantom tower stands!

As soon as you get close, it gives you a notification.

[Enter the dungeon "The Dilapidated Phantom Tower"?]

[Recommended entry level for this instance: 40]

104. Rogue Crocodile

Another Phantom Tower?

Furthermore, Nanfeng noticed that the name and recommended entry level of this Phantom Tower were different from the previous one.

The previous Phantom Tower was decaying; this Phantom Tower is dilapidated.

The previous Phantom Tower required level 35, but this one requires level 40.

The previous Phantom Tower had two floors, but this one has three!

"Let's go in and take a look!" Nanfeng chose to go in again.

With a flash of light and shadow, Nanfeng entered the game from reality.

The environment was exactly the same as before, with the howling sandstorm of the desert in my ears and a hall filled with warm light in front of me, and the same stairs leading to the second floor.

The only difference is the elf in front of me.

This time, the elf guarding the first floor of the Phantom Tower is a Nidoking!

Nidoking LV43.

“Nido!” King Nido roared a warning at the intruder, Southwind.

"I remember Nidoking doesn't seem to have an Emerald version..." Nanfeng pondered, throwing out a Poké Ball. "Water Shuriken!"

Greninja leaped out of its Poké Ball and unleashed a barrage of Water Shuriken, all of which shot towards Nidoking.

Nidoran opened his arms and used "Protect" to defend.

The defensive technique created an invisible barrier, but this barrier collapsed after withstanding only three Water Shuriken. Two more Water Shuriken pierced straight into Nidoking's body.

The next second, Greninja suddenly appeared in front of Nidoking, holding a sharp kunai in each hand, exuding a faint chill.

Before Nidoking could make another move, Greninja vanished into thin air right in front of Nidoking.

A deep bloodstain was left running from his left shoulder to his right waist.

"Thump!" King Nido collapsed, powerless and completely exhausted.

"You're getting better and better at battling wild Pokémon that haven't been trained by their trainers," Nanfeng praised, casually tossing over a Peach Berry. Greninja had been poisoned in the previous battle, and this Nidoking probably had the Toxic ability.

"Crunch!" Greninja caught Peach and put it in its mouth, crossed its arms, lowered its head and eyebrows, and looked completely indifferent. Since evolving into Greninja, its style of doing things has become more and more like that of a dashing ninja.

I threw a Poké Ball to catch Nidoking. In the Emerald version, I shouldn't have been able to encounter Nidoking, so it was a rare Pokémon for me. I decided to catch it and see what happens.

Nanfeng picked up the Poké Ball and glanced at its stats.

With both Attack and Special Attack stats at V, and the Poison Sting ability, emmm... not bad. Maybe he can be Professor Birch's bodyguard.

Go upstairs to the second floor.

There were no fossils, only the exact same scene as the first floor, the staircase leading to the third floor, and the elves guarding this floor.

The opponent on the second floor is a level 45 Rogue Crocodile.

"A rogue crocodile?" Nanfeng was astonished as he stared at the small, black-and-red crocodile in front of him.

Encountering Tyranitar and Nidoking was already unbelievable, but I never expected to run into Krookodile?

Rhyperior and Nidoking are Pokémon from the first two generations, so it's understandable that they appeared in the third generation, Emerald. But Krookodile is a fifth-generation Pokémon...

"Could it be that a spirit that doesn't belong to the Emerald version can appear in the Tower of Illusions?" Nanfeng raised an eyebrow; that would be a good thing.

I wonder if there will be a third or fourth Phantom Tower, if so.

You can then use the method of entering the Phantom Tower to farm some Pokémon that you can't encounter in the Emerald version.

However, so far, all the Pokémon I've encountered seem to be Ground-type. Does this mean that all the Pokémon in the Phantom Tower are Ground-type?

"Flying Water Shuriken!" Nanfeng commanded.

If every Pokémon that appears in the Tower of Illusion is a Ground-type, that would be great, as my Greninja could easily crush the opponent!

Greninja moves with incredible speed, scattering several water shuriken as it charges forward!

The Rogue Crocodile is much more ferocious than Nidoking. When faced with Water Shuriken, it turns its head and sweeps away all the Water Shuriken with a Dragon Tail, then faces the charging Greninja with a Dragon Claw.

It's clear this guy has Dragon-type talent, but I wonder what his IVs are? Krookodile has excellent base stats, and with the Intimidate or Overconfidence ability, it's fully qualified to be a member of the Sandstorm team!

· ······Requesting 0 flowers ·······

Just as the dragon's claw was about to strike Greninja, Greninja suddenly vanished into thin air.

The next second, a fierce Iai Slash landed on the chest of the Rogue Crocodile.

Remarkably, Crocodile seemed to have caught a glimpse of Greninja's form and immediately turned to retaliate, but a single Iai Slash was not enough to defeat it.

But as soon as the rogue crocodile turned around, it was greeted by a wave of azure water.

With a loud "thud," the rogue crocodile was struck squarely on the head.

Hearing that sound, even the south wind felt pain for the rogue crocodile.

......... ... 0

Feeling dizzy?

It collapsed to the ground, the rogue crocodile no longer capable of fighting.

South Wind throws out a Poké Ball.

While battling like this in real life is a bit slow, it has its advantages: you don't have to consciously control your strength; you can win the battle and then slowly throw the Poké Ball to catch the Pokémon.

When catching Pokémon in the game, Nanfeng also needs to calculate their HP to avoid accidentally killing them.

In my past life, when playing games, in order to make it easier to catch pets, I had to raise a Pokémon that knew how to "stop when you've hit it," and then combine it with skills like Mushroom Spore and Hypnosis before catching it.

As a result, quite a few Pokémon were defeated by mistake, or they committed suicide by using moves like Tackle.

Pick up the Poké Ball that's no longer resisting and check Krookodile's stats.

It has decent stats in Attack, Defense, and Speed, with the ability "Overconfidence." In a normal game, if Nanfeng had a Pokémon like this, he would use it. In the Black and White versions, Overconfidence-based Krookodile is quite popular.

Pair it with Earthquake, and once the first two Pokémon start fighting, the rest will sweep the team. (When I was making the black and white version of the Pokémon game, I used Krookodile to sweep through the entire storyline.)

However, 3V is not enough in Nanfeng's eyes right now.

"I'm sorry, it's not that you're not good enough, it's that my standards are too high."

Nanfeng still plans to give this rogue crocodile to Professor Birch. He should be very happy to be able to raise a Pokémon that can only be found in other regions.

Dr. Birch: I'm happy... my foot! VII.