Hyper Beam—a move with a whopping base power of 150.
Extremely powerful.
One of the strongest Normal-type moves in existence.
But it came with one fatal flaw: after using it, the user would be unable to move for a short time.
Nathan's lips curled slightly. Faced with Hyper Beam, he showed no signs of worry. In fact, it seemed like he had anticipated this.
"As expected, it used Hyper Beam. Volcarona, break through the rock seal and dodge it."
"Vol!"
Volcarona let out a cry. Its wings flapped, and instantly, golden flames erupted behind it, blasting the surrounding rocks into dust.
Boom!
A terrifying beam of light shot forth from the distance.
Volcarona immediately evaded.
"Volcarona, Fire Blast!" Nathan commanded in a deep voice.
The Ursaring that had just fired Hyper Beam was now incapable of further combat. With Volcarona's strength and destructive power, it could easily defeat Ursaring before it could recover.
But the next moment—
"What?"
A look of surprise flashed in Nathan's eyes.
The Ursaring on the battlefield was still on alert, carefully watching Volcarona. It didn't show any signs of being incapacitated after using Hyper Beam.
"My Ursaring has a special ability," Victor said with a loud laugh. "While it can't completely negate Hyper Beam's aftereffects, it can use the move twice before the drawback kicks in. Don't underestimate me, rookie Trainer."
Without any hesitation, he gave another command:
"Ursaring, take the Fire Blast and launch one final Hyper Beam!"
"…I really underestimated it."
Nathan sighed.
He had to admit, this Ursaring had surprised him.
But even so, he wouldn't lose.
"Volcarona, Protect!" Nathan commanded quickly.
His Volcarona wasn't just good at offense—it could defend, too.
It just didn't bother unless necessary.
Boom!
The second Hyper Beam shot forth.
But in front of Volcarona, an invisible barrier appeared just in time, completely blocking the attack.
Seeing this, Victor was stunned. He clearly hadn't expected Volcarona to know Protect.
Moments later, he gave a bitter smile.
"Looks like this old man is about to be defeated by a rookie…" he muttered.
Ursaring had just used Hyper Beam twice in a row—an impressive feat. But now, the move's recoil kicked in. It was completely unable to move.
Nathan, of course, wouldn't miss this golden opportunity.
"Volcarona, Fire Blast, followed by your strongest Flare Blitz!"
"Voool!!"
Hearing its trainer's command, Volcarona let out a loud cry. A massive golden fire blast in the shape of the kanji for "big" (大) formed and shot toward Ursaring.
At the same time, Volcarona wrapped itself in golden flames and charged forward.
The scorching flames rapidly raised the air temperature.
Surrounded by that fire, Volcarona looked like a mini golden sun crashing down.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion echoed. Ursaring, already weakened by the first Fire Blast, took the hit head-on. Then came the full-force Flare Blitz.
Ursaring was sent flying, its body covered in burn marks.
The burly Pokémon collapsed to the ground, completely unable to battle.
Even though it was Elite-level, Volcarona's special attack power was no joke.
[Your Pokémon "Volcarona" has won the battle. Gained [ ] EXP. Level increased to 52!]
The system prompt rang out in Nathan's mind.
He smiled.
At the same time, Tyson widened his eyes and announced in shock,
"This match is over! The challenger, Nathan, is the winner!"
"Tyson, take Ursaring to get treated," Victor said as he returned Ursaring to its Poké Ball and handed it to Tyson.
Tyson nodded and immediately left.
Nathan also returned Volcarona to its Poké Ball.
"Your Volcarona is terrifyingly strong. This badge is yours." Victor walked over with a grayish-white badge shaped like a Tauros's head. It was intricately designed and quite collectible.
"Just got lucky," Nathan replied modestly as he accepted the badge, feeling a twinge of joy inside.
After all, this was his first badge.
"Lucky or not, as your opponent, I know better than anyone," Victor said with a wry smile. "I'm really looking forward to your performance at the national tournament. With your strength, you might not win it all, but you'll definitely place well."
"I hope so. Becoming champion is still a bit out of reach for me," Nathan replied with a sheepish smile. It was true—too many people entered the tournament.
As long as you were under 25, you could join. And many of them were strong Trainers. Even Nathan wasn't confident he could win it all.
"Don't sell yourself short. You're strong—much stronger than I was at your age," Victor said encouragingly.
"I'll take your word for it then," Nathan said with a smile, pocketing the badge before bidding farewell.
"If you ever need help in this city, come find me."
Victor offered kindly.
Nathan nodded and hung his Poké Ball back around his neck before leaving.
Watching Nathan walk away, Victor shook his head with a smile.
"The younger generation really is something else…"
…
"First badge… acquired."
Outside the Gym, Nathan took a picture of the badge in one hand, holding his phone in the other, and posted it on his friend circle.
Before long, a bunch of likes and comments rolled in.
Nathan grinned and replied to each of them, then began walking in a certain direction.
He was heading to the Silverpeak Mountains, but there was no rush. He needed to make some preparations first—like buying a tent.
He also planned to explore the city a bit. After all, it wasn't every day he traveled. He might as well enjoy the local culture.
The Ancient City had plenty of famous spots.
But for Trainers, the most renowned was probably the Battle Street Zone.
Just like the name implied, it was a place for street battles—Trainers battling in public areas.
Before each match, the Trainers would place bets—usually money—and the winner took it all.
It was a roundabout way to make some cash.
Nathan wasn't particularly interested in money, but he did consider training his Trapinch there.
However, just as he stepped into the Battle Street Zone…
A twin-tailed delinquent girl in a leather jacket spotted him, her eyes lighting up.
"N-Nathan?!" she cried in excitement.
"Oh my god, it really is Nathan! What are you doing here? Challenging the Gym?"
The girl was actually pretty cute. She ran over while squealing in excitement, leaving Nathan a little dazed.
"Uh, hi… do I know you?" Nathan asked in confusion.
"You don't know me, but I know you!" she said excitedly. "I'm your fan! I've been following you ever since the Trial Tournament. I even joined your fan club!"
"Is that really Nathan?"
"Nathan? The Trial Tournament Champion?"
"It is him! He's even more handsome in person—I'm going over for a photo!"
Other people in the area started noticing him too, especially a lot of girls, who rushed over.
Apparently, he had a lot of looks-based fans.
And just like that, Nathan found himself in a crisis—surrounded by fangirls asking for photos.
Off to the side, a group of guys looked on in jealousy, their envy plain as day.
The place was full of girls who loved Pokémon battles and idolized powerful Trainers.
And as the Trial Tournament Champion, Nathan was practically a hero to them.
Some of the girls got a little too handsy, and Nathan had to quickly agree to photos just to get out of there.
Once the photos were taken, he used the opportunity to slip away.
…
"Damn… after touching me so much, not a single one left their contact info?"
Having escaped the crowd of girls, Nathan wiped off a lipstick mark from his face.
He checked his pockets—no note, no phone number.
His heart ached.
How could they take advantage of him and not even leave a number?
At least leave a note or something. If not today, maybe tomorrow!
Once he cleaned up the lipstick, Nathan finally got a good look at the Battle Street Zone.
It was set up a lot like basketball courts, with multiple battlefields and stands around for spectators.
Every day, tons of Trainers and regular people gathered here.
It was incredibly lively.
Just then, a figure approached Nathan.
"Trainer Nathan, hello."
Hearing the voice, Nathan looked up.
It was a fellow Trainer about his age with a gentle, clean-cut face.
"Hi. Can I help you?" Nathan asked curiously.
"Let me introduce myself. I'm John Bates. I assume you're new to the Ancient City?" John asked with a smile.
"That's right," Nathan nodded.
"There are lots of plains and mountain ranges around here. This city is pretty remote, and some nearby areas are extremely dangerous for us. Since you're a Trainer, I'm guessing you plan to go train your Pokémon nearby, right?" John continued.
"Yeah," Nathan nodded, now curious what the guy wanted.
"Let's battle!" John said enthusiastically. "I've really wanted to fight the Trial Tournament Champion. If you beat me, I'll give you a map I drew myself. It shows safe routes to a bunch of places around here. Lots of Trainers have tried to buy it, but I've never sold it."
"Oh?"
Nathan looked surprised, then asked, "Does it include the route to the Silverpeak Mountains?"
"The Silverpeak Mountains?" John raised his eyebrows, then nodded. "Didn't expect you'd want to go there. That place is really dangerous. But yeah, the map includes a route to the outskirts. I've only been there once and didn't go in too deep—it's too risky. I'm not strong enough for that yet."
"So? Want to battle?"