Within the mountain range where Meteor Falls is located, there were once fortunate Trainers who managed to capture Bagon.
When that news first spread, it caused a sensation, drawing countless Trainers who longed for powerful Dragon-type Pokémon to flock toward this mountainous region surrounding Meteor Falls.
However, as more and more people came to explore the area, sightings of Bagon became increasingly rare.
It seemed that they had grown wary of the frequent intrusion of humans, gradually retreating deeper into the mountains, hiding within more secluded and inaccessible canyons.
In recent years, it had become almost impossible for any Trainer to catch even a glimpse of a Bagon.
Instead, there were occasional reports of Trainers accidentally provoking territorial Salamence while searching, only to end up severely injured.
As a result, Meteor Falls had now become more of a sightseeing destination for most Trainers.
People would admire the grandeur of the waterfall from afar, experiencing its mysterious atmosphere without venturing too deep.
Only a small number of Trainers who were confident in their strength would dare to explore the depths of the mountain caverns, hoping to find traces of Bagon.
But more often than not, their efforts ended in disappointment.
Theo himself was filled with anticipation for Meteor Falls.
He planned that after participating in the Contest in Fallarbor Town, he would spend some time in the mountain range where Meteor Falls was located.
To be honest, he did not have high expectations of actually finding a Bagon.
However, he did hold a faint sense of anticipation toward its evolved form, Shelgon.
After Bagon evolves into Shelgon, it enters a unique stage of growth.
Inside its hard shell, the cells within Shelgon's body undergo explosive transformation, continuously accumulating energy in preparation for its evolution into Salamence.
During this period, Shelgon hides itself extremely well, often remaining completely still in the most concealed locations, focusing entirely on gathering power.
Only when the energy within its body reaches its peak and its cells complete their final transformation does it break free from the shell.
At that point, it becomes Salamence, one of the most powerful Dragon-type Pokémon.
It was precisely this stage of "accumulating energy" that reminded Theo of his experience capturing Larvesta.
Back on Mt Chimney, he had used an Advanced Energy Orb to attract the Larvesta, which was eager to grow stronger.
So he wondered whether Shelgon, which was also in a state of energy accumulation, might be similarly drawn out by such pure and concentrated energy.
Of course, this was merely a hypothesis.
Whether it would work or not could only be determined after he personally explored the caverns of Meteor Falls.
While Theo was immersed in his thoughts about Meteor Falls, the path beneath his feet had already come to an end.
A clear fork in the road appeared ahead.
According to the ranger's earlier directions, the winding path to the right, where the greenery gradually faded and the vegetation thinned out, led toward the Steel Gorge.
At this fork, the terrain suddenly opened up.
The surrounding trees became sparse, revealing grayish-brown rocky ground beneath.
This was the entrance to the Steel Gorge.
Theo glanced at both paths and ultimately decided to stick with his original plan of going through the Steel Gorge first. There was still some time before the Fallarbor Contest began, and he could use the opportunity to train inside the gorge.
Looking at the wide, open terrain ahead, Theo took out two Poké Balls and pressed them lightly.
"Come out, Tyrantrum, Larvesta."
Two flashes of red light appeared, and the figures of the two Pokémon landed on the ground.
As soon as Tyrantrum appeared, it let out an excited low roar, swinging its thick tail as it spun in place.
Larvesta happily shook its head, and flames burst out from its five small horns, clearly thrilled to be out and active again.
These two little troublemakers were practically born to cause chaos.
Thinking back to what had happened yesterday, Theo could not help but feel both amused and exasperated.
In fact, as early as when they had just left the Mt Chimney trail and entered the forest area, Larvesta and Tyrantrum had already started causing mischief.
Yesterday, when Theo had just entered the edge of the forest, Larvesta, who had been riding on Tyrantrum's back, suddenly shot a stream of fire toward the nearby bushes without warning, causing Theo's eyes to widen in shock.
If that fire had ignited the forest, it would have been a huge problem.
But unexpectedly, just before the flames could reach the trees, Larvesta withdrew them on its own.
Then it tilted its head and looked at him with its round, innocent eyes, clearly having done it on purpose just to tease him.
Seeing Theo's panicked reaction, Tyrantrum immediately found it hilarious and decided to join in the mischief.
It shook its massive head and pretended to charge toward a nearby tree, even stomping its powerful hind legs against the ground, producing a heavy thudding sound.
But just before colliding with the tree, it abruptly stopped, turned its head toward Theo, and let out a couple of low roars while shaking its large head.
It looked exactly like a child who had successfully pulled off a prank.
Ever since Theo had captured Larvesta, the moment it and Tyrantrum got together, the two had become completely unrestrained, almost as if they were going wild.
Originally, after Beldum evolved into Metang, its personality had become much calmer, and Tyrantrum no longer had a partner to play recklessly with.
Now that it had found a like-minded companion in Larvesta, the mischievous nature buried deep within Tyrantrum had been fully unleashed.
Together, they pushed their playful antics to the extreme.
Watching Tyrantrum and Larvesta, Theo saw that they were only pretending to cause trouble and had no real intention of creating problems.
So instead of stopping them, he decided to play along, deliberately putting on exaggerated expressions of shock.
At one moment, he would shout, "Larvesta, stop, don't burn the trees!"
At another, he would yell, "Tyrantrum, be careful, don't knock the tree down!"
He accompanied their antics, letting them have their fun.
Eventually, when Tyrantrum was fully immersed in the excitement, it lowered its head and gently nudged Theo, signaling for him to climb onto its back.
With a smile, Theo mounted it and sat firmly in place. Tyrantrum then carried him as it ran wildly through the forest clearing together with Larvesta.
Sometimes it would suddenly accelerate, other times it would make sharp turns, causing Larvesta on its back to squeal with excitement, letting out a continuous stream of cheerful cries.
Even Milotic, who had become much more gentle after evolving, could not resist joining in. It popped out of its Poké Ball and, together with Metang, joined the playful chaos created by Tyrantrum and Larvesta.
However, Milotic and Metang took on roles similar to what Theo had been doing earlier.
Whenever Larvesta shot out flames, Milotic would immediately spray water to extinguish them.
Metang, on the other hand, had a much harder task.
Tyrantrum was not good at controlling its strength, and seeing that Metang was there as a safety net, it would charge at trees with full force every time.
Metang had no choice but to use both Telekinesis and Zen Headbutt-like psychic force together to control Tyrantrum's body, preventing it from actually knocking trees over.
(End of Chapter)