The dream of becoming a Pokémon master

Walking through the forest beneath the volcano, no wild trainers jumped out to challenge him, and no temperamental Pokémon aimed for the ultimate move. Kyosuke, holding the Black Stone, actually quite liked this harmonious feeling.

The Pokémon knew of his presence but did not disturb him; they simply went about their own business.

Kyosuke was just doing his own thing and didn't deliberately get close to them.

Although Moltres shouldn't be in the forest, who can be sure it hasn't been here?

After all, Ho-Oh is going to Viridian Forest.

Kyosuke didn't necessarily need to find the location of the Firebird directly; finding the traces it left behind to prove that it really existed was already good enough.

He wasn't in a hurry at all; he had already prepared for a long-term battle and could stay on Crimson Lotus Island until a month before the tournament began.

Honglian Island may not look big, but that's because the volcano takes up too much space.

Kyosuke walked for a whole day, but he hadn't even finished exploring the forest beneath the volcano. Looking at the darkening sky, he had no choice but to go back.

First, they found Charizard and Assassin, who were still training. Without asking about their training progress, they recalled them and returned to the Pokémon Center.

Kyosuke had complete trust in the three of them and firmly believed that they would not let him down.

That evening, Kyosuke didn't watch any more anime or dramas. Instead, he recorded his itinerary for the day on the map of Crimson Island and planned his days after becoming famous.

Finally, I checked the forum for any new messages and then went to sleep.

Life became routine.

In just three days, Kyosuke had traversed the entire Crimson Island, but still found no trace of the Moltres.

The assassin's training has also improved significantly, and he can now barely use other moves while rolling.

But Kyosuke knew that wasn't enough.

Moltres is not so easy to deal with.

Kyosuke was unaware that someone had been secretly following him for several days, but he hadn't noticed because he was under a lot of pressure lately.

On the first day.

"I was wondering why this kid didn't come to my guesthouse to rest. I didn't expect him to be so lucky as to stay at the Pokémon Center. His Charizard is well-trained. Is he training that weird-looking Omanyte to prepare for the Cinnabar Gym? Not bad, not bad at all. He's a very good trainer."

On the second day.

"How could this Shiny Spearow possibly learn Flamethrower? Omastar's learning ability is too fast! But does this kid think he can just search around Cinnabar Island and find the hidden Cinnabar Gym? How naive."

On the third day.

"We're looking in the wrong direction! Shouldn't we give him a hint? Surely it wouldn't be a problem to offer some help to a trainer who is so strong and dedicated to training every day without seeking pleasure?"

So the tracker came to the tracker.

"You can see it, but you can't reach it; that's your goal." With that, he left.

Kyosuke stared blankly at the bald old man who had suddenly appeared, uttered a riddle, and then disappeared again, trying to disguise himself. He had no idea what the old man was up to.

"A character who provides information to the protagonist?" Kyosuke thought of various game settings.

"But how did he find out I was looking for the Moltres? Most people would just keep that kind of information hidden."

Kyosuke looked up at the top of the volcano and searched the entire island but found no trace of the firebird. Kyosuke also deduced the most likely location, and the old man's riddle proved his guess.

It was a complete misunderstanding of that old man. Kyosuke felt apologetic for his previous disrespectful thoughts.

But I'll try it tomorrow! I really hope I can capture it.

Neither side realized the other's true intentions; it was truly a beautiful misunderstanding.

The next day, Kyosuke led everyone through their daily training, then, carrying a large amount of drinking water in his belt, they set off for the volcano.

After a long trek, Kyosuke finally arrived at the crater at noon.

Despite it being the hottest time of day, and despite being in a high-temperature location like a volcano crater, Kyosuke didn't feel an overwhelming heat.

Gazing at the rolling lava below, Kyosuke stood atop the volcano, lost in thought: "Something feels off."

The temperature is not high enough.

The lava color is a bit too bright.

The distance from the top to the magma also seems a bit short.

Countless unscientific details flashed through Kyosuke's eyes.

"Could all the volcanoes be fake?" Kyosuke was startled by his own thought, but quickly dismissed the possibility.

We'll have to test it out to find out.

Kyosuke pulled out a Poké Ball: "Assassin, aim Water Gun at the lava."

The assassin landed steadily next to Kyosuke and fired a water gun at the lava below.

Contrary to expectations that water guns would instantly vaporize upon contact with lava, the slender water jet actually merged directly into the "lava"!

"So this lava was fake after all... But who has the audacity to deceive the world? Could it be that the molten bird he imprisoned is down there?" Kyosuke's imagination ran wild, and he even fantasized that after he rescued the molten bird, it was extremely grateful and decided to follow him.

So first, break the stone wall below this fake lava that's blocking the firebird!

Kyosuke has now assumed that Moltres is below, and the possibility that it cannot escape due to its four-fold advantage over Rock is still quite high.

"Assassin, use Rock Slide on the rock wall below the lava!"

The stone wall appeared to be undamaged.

"One more time, rockfall!"

There was still no movement.

"Aim at the same spot again, and try once more!"

"Rockfall!"

"come on!"

Finally, under repeated rockfalls, even the most solid rock could not withstand them.

Cracks appeared on the stone wall, gradually widening until they finally broke open and formed a hole!

The fake lava flowed down too!

Once the lava flowed out, Kyosuke recalled his assassin, summoned Charizard, jumped onto its back, and commanded, "Charizard, fly down that hole!"

"Wow!"

As they flew into the large hole formed by the rockfall, Kyosuke remained vigilant about his surroundings.

However, the scene was a little different from what he had imagined.

The first thing that catches the eye are four thick iron chains, which are extremely conspicuous in the vast cave space. Kyosuke is a little excited and immediately looks down...

The other end of the chain is a huge battleground above lava.

The above is fake lava, which just fell directly onto the ground. It's quite different from the real lava below.

Shifting the focus, Kyosuke also recognized the person who had previously revealed information...

"Bald old man? What are you doing here! Where's Moltres?!"

"You brat, if you're going to challenge the Crimson Lotus Gym, then do it properly! What, are you trying to tear this place down?"

As soon as they opened their mouths, they realized something seemed off.

"Crimson Lotus Dojo?"

"Moflame Bird? And how did you know I'm bald?!"