Who needs a girlfriend when you have Pokémon?

After saying that, his tone carried a hint of embarrassment...

"I'm at the meteorological research institute on Route 119. The institute is monitoring some strange changes in the environment near Chimney Hill, and we plan to observe it further. So, could I trouble you for now?"

"Haha, of course, no problem!"

"This is a huge help. Yes, the alliance will also send people over to help handle this. We can discuss the specifics with them..."

"Oh, who is that helper?"

Luo Wei inquired curiously, and then received a not-too-unexpected answer...

The Gym Leader of LavaCity...

"...Aysa"

Chapter 132 Meteor Waterfall

"So, it's decided then, we'll head to Autumnleaf Town next..."

Rowe hung up the call and gave Lillie a thumbs up.

"...Haha, as expected of Luo Wei!"

The fact that the champion would take the initiative to entrust him with such a task and trust him so much suggests that they have a full affirmation of Lowe's abilities.

Of course, the League also sent a cooperating person, namely Aysa, the Gym Leader of Lavatown. As for the other personnel, it is estimated that they will not be able to arrive for a while, or like Steven, they may be held up by other matters.

According to Daigo, he is currently at the Meteorological Institute on Route 119, which is not too far from here. However, the Meteorological Institute has observed abnormal environmental conditions near Mt. Chimney and is currently monitoring the situation.

As for what exactly was going on at Chimney Mountain, Rowe had a general idea. In any case, he accepted Daigo's request and went to Meteor Falls near Akiba Town to find out.

"So, to get to Autumnleaf Town... we need to go through the Fiery Path below Chimney Mountain first~"

This is a tunnel dug from the foot of Chimney Mountain. It seems that it was originally intended to reach Fuma Town, but Fuma Town has a rich underground hot spring system, which makes it inconvenient to dig a tunnel. After planning for a long time, they couldn't come up with a suitable route, so they simply changed course and dug it to the nearby Akihabara Town.

Like Furnace Town, Autumnleaf Town is a rather secluded town, but fortunately the terrain is not as bad as Furnace Town, although the environment is slightly harsher.

Because of the terrain of Autumn Leaf Town, volcanic ash falling from Chimney Mountain constantly lands near the town, so the surrounding area is covered by volcanic ash year-round.

While Qiuye Town has specialized equipment to purify the falling volcanic ash and air, the surrounding areas lack such equipment. As a result, the area is shrouded in smog year-round, and few pedestrians pass by.

As for Autumn Leaf Town itself, it doesn't have any special products. If it weren't for "that," the town's presence would probably be even weaker than that of Fuyan Town before its development.

The key to making Qiuye Town a household name lies in "that," which is actually Luo Wei's target this time... Meteor Falls.

As mentioned before, the ancient myth of the Hoenn region tells of a conflict between the Earth God and the Ocean God that nearly destroyed the land. The prayers of the ancient people summoned the Sky God, who descended to quell the anger of the two gods and caused them to fall into a slumber beneath the land.

The God of the Sky descended with the meteorites, most of which were shattered, but the largest piece crashed down and created a huge crater in the land.

Over the years, the water system inside the cave formed a huge waterfall, concealing the deepest part of the cave. This is the so-called... "Meteor Waterfall"...

This meteorite is said to still be preserved at the deepest part of Meteor Falls.

Crossing the waterfall isn't particularly difficult for Pokémon, but the problem is that there's no need to move the meteorite under normal circumstances. Moreover, since the meteorite is said to be a "suppressing stone" to appease the wrath of the gods, it naturally shouldn't be moved casually.

There was more than one meteorite that fell, but this one was the best preserved. The Alliance didn't touch it, but they collected most of the other meteorite fragments that were preserved. According to the results of subsequent analysis, there was nothing special about them.

Therefore, the alliance didn't touch this largest piece; there was no need to risk conflict with local beliefs by touching something like that.

Just like the famous Bell Tower in the Johto region, legend has it that a fire killed three Pokémon that accidentally wandered into it, and then Ho-Oh descended and revived those three Pokémon, which is the famous legend of the three legendary beasts in the Johto region.

The top of the Bell Tower still houses the Rainbow Feather left behind by Ho-Oh after reviving the three legendary beasts. The League knows that the Rainbow Feather is genuine, but no one dares to take it away for research.

This thing is the embodiment of local beliefs; if you dare to touch it, the locals are truly ready to fight you to the death…

The meteorite at Meteor Falls is considered by the people of the Hoenn region to be a talisman used to suppress the wrath of the two gods. Regardless of whether it is real or not, this stone has been here for thousands of years. Even if it is just an ordinary meteorite, its cultural value is considered a national treasure, so naturally no one has the right to touch it casually.

Unless the original Meteorites come in person to claim ownership of this thing, and they can actually make the meteorite react, no one can easily move it...

However, according to the interrogation of Marine Corps officer Haichao, it seems that Marine Corps actually had designs on this meteorite!

This naturally shocked the league. These people really dared to do anything, so they immediately prepared to take action to stop the Ocean Team's actions.

The League immediately informed the Gym Leader of LavaCover Town about this, since she was the closest Gym Leader to the town and could be dispatched immediately.

In addition, this matter was also told to Dr. Solans of Autumnleaf Town, a fervent enthusiast of ancient legends and a leading figure in geology who had spent many years surveying and investigating Meteor Falls, single-mindedly trying to unravel the secrets of that meteorite.

—Hoenn Region—Meteor Falls—

A girl with deep red, flame-like hair arrived at the valley at the end of Route 114. She saw a steep rock wall in the valley, and along the narrow mountain path, there were entrances to natural caves of various sizes.

At the end of the mountain path, on a cliff... a cascading waterfall plunges straight down, the rushing water carrying immense force into the deep ravine below, the roar of the waterfall can be heard from a great distance.

Behind the waterfall, the entrance to a cave can be faintly seen. Legend has it that the cave contains a stone used to suppress the wrath of the gods...

The girl with fiery red hair composed herself and was about to take a step when she heard a middle-aged man's angry voice from afar.

"Oh no, something big happened!"

"..."

Following the direction of the sound, the girl looked over and saw a middle-aged man with a flushed face rushing towards her, gesturing wildly.

The girl felt a chill run down her spine upon seeing this and quickly stepped forward to ask, "Dr. Solans, what's wrong?"

Upon hearing her voice, the middle-aged man rushed forward. "Miss Asha, you've come at the right time! There was a sudden earthquake inside, and the cave collapsed, blocking the way!"

"?!"

Chapter 133 How fast did the fire burn?

"what?"

The sudden turn of events left the red-haired girl named Aysa momentarily stunned.

She hadn't expected to encounter something like this so soon after arriving at Meteor Falls. However, as someone assigned by the Alliance to handle matters related to Meteor Falls, she didn't hesitate and immediately set off.

"...What exactly is going on? An earthquake? I didn't feel it at all when I was outside."

"This way……"

The middle-aged man beside him walked quickly toward a cave on the mountainside. Although the mountainside was narrow and steep, he moved about on it as if it were flat ground.

Even Aysa, who was following behind him, was not as fast as him. As they moved, Aysa couldn't help but sigh.

As expected of Dr. Solans... This doctor has been surveying and researching Meteor Falls for many years and knows the terrain of this area like the back of his hand. That's why the Alliance arranged for him to assist Asha's work.

Since the interrogation revealed that Team Ocean was after the meteorite in Meteor Falls, the League immediately sent people to deal with it.

The first to receive the order was naturally Aysa, the Gym Leader of Lavatown, which is closest to Meteor Falls. The League also considered that Aysa alone might not be enough, so they arranged two helpers for her.

One of the collaborators is Dr. Solans, while the other collaborator has not yet arrived. Asha originally planned to wait for the other party to arrive before making arrangements for the next action, but she did not expect to encounter this situation.

In short, Dr. Solans and Asha ran one after the other along the rugged mountain path into a cave. The cave was a maze of twists and turns, with three or five forks in the road every few steps.

Dr. Solans was able to accurately find the correct location among these forks in the road. It can only be said that he is a scholar who has studied Meteor Falls for many years. Without this helper, Asha estimated that she would definitely have gotten lost in this complicated terrain.

"right here……"

Dr. Solans stopped at a road intersection filled with rubble. He gestured to the road ahead, which was completely blocked by rocks, and said helplessly...

"...Originally, this path led directly to the large cave behind the waterfall, which was the shortest route to the cave without having to cross the waterfall. However, this path was blocked by the earthquake just now."

As he said this, he whistled, and a rustling sound was heard. Suddenly, a small head popped out from beside his feet.

It was a Pokémon with most of its body hidden underground, only its oval-shaped brown head sticking out...

"Diglett? Is that Dr. Solans's Pokémon?"

"...Yes, I sent this child to scout the area."

As he spoke, Dr. Solans squatted down and gestured to the groundhog, which then shook its oval head back and forth.

"Hmm, I see, then..."

"!@＃￥"

"..."

Aysa watched with admiration. To her, the mole's movements seemed completely erratic, and she couldn't understand Dr. Solans's gestures at all. Yet, it seemed that the mole and the doctor could communicate fluently through this method.

As expected, every trainer has their own unique way of communicating with their Pokémon. As the Gym Leader, Aysa naturally understood this, so she didn't interrupt and quietly waited for the trainer and their Pokémon to quickly complete their communication.

"……How about it?"

Seeing Dr. Solans's rather grim expression, Asha immediately shook her head helplessly. "No, all the roads nearby are blocked. It must have been deliberate. Such precise movements couldn't have been a coincidence!"

"...Hmm, that's a bit troublesome."

Aysa nodded, confirming Dr. Solans's judgment. The sudden small earthquake did not cause extensive damage to the internal structure of the cave; it simply caused a collapse that blocked all the passages leading to the large cave behind the waterfall. It was such a coincidence that no one would believe it.

If it's not a coincidence, then it can only be something deliberately done. At this time and in this place, the only thing that can be thought of is the Ocean Team causing trouble.

However, this raises a question...

"...If it was done by the Ocean Team, they seem quite familiar with the internal structure of Meteor Falls."

Dr. Solans was taken aback by Aysa's words. Indeed, he had studied this place for many years and knew it like the back of his hand, but it was different for someone else.

The terrain here is so complex that it would be impossible to block all the important passages so accurately without a thorough understanding of the area.

It's as if the Marines had a complete understanding of the environment inside Meteor Falls from the very beginning.

"...However, now is not the time to consider that."

As she said this, Aysa took two steps back and reached down to take the Poké Ball from her waist.

"In short, let's figure out how to clear the road first..."

"Oh, then I'll have the groundhog come..."

Dr. Solans was about to have his gophers dig out all the stones blocking the road, but Asha simply shook her head.

"No, no, no, that's too slow. If you ask me, it's better to do it this way..."

As she spoke, a burst of light erupted from the Poké Ball in her hand, revealing a snail covered in a rock-like shell, its entire body resembling flowing, deep red lava.

This is Aysa's Pokémon... Granipr...

Legend has it that this Pokémon has a body temperature of 10,000 degrees Celsius, can turn rainwater into steam instantly, and can move freely through lava!