Crash—rumble rumble—!
The moment Liam stepped into the entrance of Meteor Falls, the sound of surging water filled his ears.
Following the rocky passage forward, after walking several dozen meters, Liam arrived at a vast underground cavern.
Rumble—rumble—!
Standing at the end of the passage, Liam looked out over the enormous space before him. Massive waterfalls poured down from all directions, crashing violently against the rock walls and echoing throughout the cavern.
The space was astonishingly large. The lighting, however, was dim—only a few scattered crystals embedded in the surroundings emitted faint glows, barely illuminating the darkness.
The origins of Meteor Falls were impossible to trace, but it was clearly ancient. At the same time, signs of human activity were present. The most obvious one—
A wooden suspension bridge extended from the end of the passage down to a lower platform.
Liam stepped onto the bridge.
Immediately, his guard went up. It wasn't because the bridge swayed slightly beneath his feet…. It was because he realized:
This bridge had been built very recently.
It looked completely new, as if it had just been installed not long ago. Liam knew that Team Magma had come here months earlier and taken a meteorite fragment—but those people were definitely not the type to kindly build a bridge, and the timing didn't match either.
So now, Liam was puzzled.
Who had gone to such trouble to build this bridge here?
While thinking, he unconsciously reached the end of the bridge and stepped onto the platform. But just as he was about to leave…
"Stop right there!!"
Suddenly, a figure stepped out from behind a massive rock beside the platform, shouting in a low voice to halt him.
"Hm? Who are you?"
Liam frowned slightly as he looked at the person who had appeared, asking calmly.
The man wore a gray work uniform and a matching cap—he looked like an ordinary employee. In his hand, he held a PokeBall, staring at Liam with caution.
"Hmph! You don't need to know who I am. What you need to do right now is turn around and leave. If you behave, nothing will happen to you. Otherwise… don't blame me for making you suffer."
The gray-clothed man tightened his grip on the PokeBall and threatened him.
"Heh. Threatening me? Making me suffer? Fine—come on then. I'd like to see what you're capable of."
A spark of irritation rose in Liam's chest. Anyone would be annoyed after being threatened for no reason—and Liam was no exception.
"You—! Hmph! You asked for it! Come out, Graveler! Show him what you've got!"
"Grrr!"
The man, now angered by Liam's refusal, stopped wasting words. He threw his PokeBall, releasing a round, boulder-like Graveler in front of Liam.
"Heh, now that's more like it. Since we're both trainers, there's no need for all that nonsense."
"Come out, Prinplup! Use Brine!"
"Prinplup!!"
As soon as Graveler appeared, Liam immediately sent out Prinplup.
The moment Prinplup emerged, it opened its beak and blasted out a deep-blue stream of water. The torrent struck Graveler directly, the powerful force blasting it backward instantly!
"Grrr…"
"Ah! Graveler! Damn it! How shameless! Using a Water-type Pokémon! Despicable! Just you wait—I'll be back!"
The gray-clothed man hastily recalled Graveler into its PokeBall. After throwing out a bitter threat, he turned and fled at full speed.
Liam: "…"
Watching the man disappear in an instant, Liam was left speechless.
"…Whatever. I'll let him go this time. Prinplup, let's move on and explore ahead."
"Prinplup~"
With a helpless shrug, Liam decided not to bother with the man anymore. He had no idea what that person was doing in Meteor Falls—but as long as he didn't cause trouble again, there was no need to care.
...…
Meteor Falls lived up to its name.
Where there were waterfalls… there were also meteorites.
Across the many platforms inside the cavern were numerous impact marks from fallen meteorites. Yet even after exploring multiple platforms and inspecting several craters of various sizes—
Liam hadn't found a single meteorite fragment.
At this moment, Liam was holding Deoxys's core crystal in his arms. The yellow gemstone, about the size of a melon, emitted a faint glow.
Although he hadn't found any meteorites yet, Meteor Falls clearly contained abundant cosmic energy. The air itself was rich with it—and the reaction of the core crystal proved it.
Previously, the crystal showed almost no response in normal environments. But here, it continuously emitted a soft radiance—clearly absorbing cosmic energy from the surroundings to restore itself.
"Seriously… this is ridiculous. Not a single meteorite? I can ignore the fact that the mountain above is intact while the inside is full of craters—but every crater being empty? That's just too much."
Liam couldn't help but complain aloud. After searching for so long without results, his mood had turned sour.
"Huh… wait. That guy from earlier—he's probably been here for a while. Maybe he knows something. I'll go find him and see if I can get any clues."
A sudden idea struck Liam. Thinking of the gray-clothed man, he immediately picked up the glowing core crystal like a makeshift flashlight and prepared to head back the way he came.
But just then—
"ROAR!!"
A thunderous roar echoed through the cavern!
Liam's expression sharpened instantly as he looked up into the air.
"Prinplup!"
Prinplup quickly moved in front of Liam, equally alert as it stared upward.
"ROAR!!"
Another roar followed—then the sound of beating wings!
The next moment… a massive shadow descended from above!
BOOM!!
The figure crashed heavily onto the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.
Liam covered his mouth and nose as he stepped back, Prinplup staying close. As the dust settled, Liam finally saw the figure clearly....
A Dragonite.
A flicker of surprise crossed Liam's eyes. Was this a wild Pokémon… or someone's partner?
But just then—
"Cough—cough! I've told you so many times! Can you land a little more gently?! You're choking me here!"
A steady male voice came from behind Dragonite.
And immediately after… a sharp female voice snapped:
"Stop whining and get down already!"
"Hey—!"