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The lighting inside Victory Road was poor, with visibility barely extending past five meters—and even within those five meters, everything looked hazy and indistinct.
Liam glanced around the pitch-black surroundings with a hint of confusion. He had no idea where he was exactly.
As soon as he entered, he activated his navigation map, so he wasn't worried about getting lost. But the map couldn't tell him where people or Pokémon were—he could only stumble along and explore at his own pace.
"Charizard! Flamethrower!"
"Roooar!"
As Liam continued exploring, just as he was about to turn a corner, a loud voice rang out from around the bend, followed by the glow of flames that lit up the entire cave.
"Hm? Someone's here! Let's go take a look!"
Liam had been walking through Victory Road for a while without seeing another soul. Now that he was about to meet a fellow trainer, a spark of anticipation lit up his face. He quickened his pace, and the moment he turned the corner, he saw a wide cavern up ahead.
In the middle of the space, a Charizard with blazing flames on its tail was locked in battle with a Machoke whose muscles bulged with raw power. Behind Charizard stood a boy wearing a blue cap, while there was nothing behind the Machoke—clearly, this was a capture attempt.
The boy in the cap noticed Liam's arrival. He frowned slightly, then quickly called out to his Charizard:
"Charizard! Wrap it up—use Wing Attack!"
"Roar!!"
Upon receiving the command, Charizard clenched its fists and stomped hard on the ground. Its fiery red body shot up into the air, gliding just above the rocky surface. Its large wings began to glow with a white light and, like a sudden flash, it slashed across Machoke's body.
"Raaagh!"
"Machoke!"
As Charizard landed and tucked in its wings, it let out a low growl while staring at Machoke. The Machoke gave a small nod of respect to Charizard with a grunt, then its eyes rolled back, and it collapsed to the ground, unable to battle any longer.
"Go! PokeBall!"
The boy in the cap wasted no time. The moment Machoke went down, he threw a PokeBall with precise aim. It struck Machoke and sucked it inside. The ball landed on the ground, wobbled three times, and with a final ping, it fell still.
Clap clap clap!
"Impressive, impressive! That Charizard's been trained extremely well—its strength is remarkable."
As the boy walked over to retrieve the PokeBall, Liam stepped forward and clapped, praising the Charizard with genuine admiration.
"Thanks for the compliment. Can I help you with something?"
The boy nodded politely at Liam and asked.
"Haha, nothing in particular. I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Liam, from Pallet Town. I'm here to compete in the League."
Liam walked up and extended his hand with a smile.
The boy with the cap hesitated briefly, then reached out and shook Liam's hand.
"My name's Anon. I'm from Blackthorn City in the Johto region. I'm also here in Kanto to take part in the League. Nice to meet you."
"Whoa, you're from another region? That's awesome! Traveling the world at such a young age, huh?"
Liam hadn't expected the boy before him to be from the Johto region. After all, Anon was using Charizard, one of Kanto's own starters. Their bond seemed like the kind forged over a long time.
But thinking deeper, it made sense—Charizard's true homeland was the Charicifc Valley in the Johto region, home to the largest population of wild Charizard in the world.
"Haha, Charizard and I grew up together. I was originally planning to enter the League in Johto, but unfortunately, our tournament starts a bit later. So I came to Kanto instead, to train and gain experience with Charizard."
Anon let go of Liam's hand and gave Charizard a fond pat, smiling as he spoke.
"Heh, no wonder you're so strong. In that case, Anon—how about a friendly battle with me? Just a practice match."
Liam's eyes gleamed with excitement as he looked at the proud Charizard behind Anon. The fire in his heart for battle had been lit.
"Hmm... sorry about that. We've been here all morning, and both of us are pretty tired. I was just about to head back. Maybe some other time."
Anon glanced at Charizard with a hint of guilt before turning down Liam's offer.
"Aw… alright. Next time, then. We're both competitors in the tournament, right? As long as we both keep winning, we're bound to face each other eventually. And when that day comes, we're going all out!"
Though Liam was initially disappointed, he perked up quickly, grinning as he issued the challenge.
"Yeah! That day's definitely coming!"
Anon's eyes sparkled with anticipation, the same battle fire starting to burn in his chest.
After that, the two parted ways. Anon headed toward the exit of the cave, while Liam ventured deeper inside.
Right now, Liam was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. He hated the dark—it creeped him out. He really regretted not catching a Pokémon that could use Flash. If he had one, he wouldn't have to worry about walking into who-knows-what in the darkness.
"Veno… Veno.."
At that moment… Liam heard a faint cry from above, accompanied by the rhythmic flapping of wings.
"!! Scyther! Aerial Slash!"
The moment he heard the sound, Liam instantly recognized it—it was a Venomoth! He got excited. He'd caught one before at the Safari Zone, but never thought much of it. Now though, he thought it could be incredibly useful in this cave because he could teach it Flash.
(Note: In the original, there was a mistake because he caught a Venomoth and said that Venomoth could learn Flash, which is incorrect, which is why I changed it to teaching it Flash through a TM)
"Scy!"
With a sharp command, a beam of light shot from Liam's belt. Scyther burst into the air, wings flapping furiously. After a piercing shriek, a grayish-purple Venomoth came crashing down from above and landed in front of Liam, eyes spinning.
"Go! PokeBall!"
Liam didn't hesitate—he immediately tossed a PokeBall at the fallen Venomoth.
....
"Alright, Venomoth! Let's see that Flash and wake this place up!"
"Veno~~~"
Half an hour later, Liam grinned at the Venomoth resting on his arm and gave the command. Venomoth chirped softly, and a brilliant light burst from its body, illuminating the entire cave… and blinding Liam in the process.
"Ahh! My eyes, my eyes! I can't see! Turn it down, turn it down!"
Liam had been staring at Venomoth when the Flash went off and now blinked through streaming tears, crying out in distress.
"Veno~~~"
Venomoth looked at its trainer helplessly, but eventually dimmed its glow to a soft, steady light, becoming a gentle, mobile lantern.
"Ahhh... much better. Well done, Venomoth. Once we get out of here, I'll make sure you get a nice reward!"
Now that Liam had adjusted to the light and could finally see the bright cave around him, joy filled his heart. No more stumbling in the dark—time to start steamrolling some battles. His next goal was to fight every trainer he met.
He was only 50 victories away from completing his "1000 Wins" achievement. Once it was done, he'd earn a ton of rewards—and even get a spin at the Pokémon prize draw. Just thinking about it filled him with excitement.