Davin and Ros had rode through the south and were currently going in the left direction.

Davin put the side of his hand to his head to see what was coming into view. "Yep! There it is: Sootopolis City!" He shouted with joy. "Ros, full speed ahead!"

"Swampert!" Ros nodded and increased his speed upon his trainer's command.


Later, Davin arrived on the city's shore and recalled Ros to his ball. He then proceeded to go to the Pokemon Center and ask Nurse Joy to heal his Pokemon.

While Davin sat down to wait, he began to think. "This is it. If I win here, I'll have all the badges I need to compete in the Hoenn League." He turned his gaze towards the center's doors. "I could ask Nurse Joy what kind of Pokemon the gym leader uses, but I think I'll just wait to see for myself. Which means I need to do some training before I go in there." He rested his chin on his hand. "The question is: Where can I find a good place to train?"

At that moment, Nurse Joy called him over to pick up his Pokemon.

"Excuse me, Nurse Joy, but is there a place around here that's good for Pokemon training?" he asked.

"Of course," she pointed towards the window that was in the east. "Just past that direction, there's a place called the Cave of Origin. Most trainers go there to train when they visit here."

Davin smiled. "Really? That's great! Thank you so much."

"No problem," her smile turned into a frown. "But you must be careful. There's a Pokemon inside there that's extremely dangerous. Try to avoid it at all cost."

The boy nodded. "Got ya."


After he exited the Pokemon Center, Davin quickly went to the direction he was told to go. Soon, he arrived at the entrance of an enormous looking cave.

"This must be it." Davin took out his Poke balls and let out every single one of his Pokemon. "Okay, guys. We're aiming to win our last badge to enter the Hoenn League, but before we do that, we're going to have to train hard so we can be positive about our victory. You all ready?" They all nodded in unison with determination in their eyes. "Then, let's go!"

They all entered the cave to find that it was slightly dark and that rocks and large boulders made up most of the area. "Remember to keep a sharp eye out for any wild Pokemon." Davin reminded his team. After maybe 7 or 8 steps, they were stopped by a loud screeching sound that made them cover their ears or flinch. "Not this again!" he shouted over the noise.

As he had expected, the screeching came from Golbat. But not just one. A whole colony of Golbat and Zubat flew right above them, looking very angry.

"Looks like we got what we wanted. Everyone, get ready!" Davin said as the Pokemon got into their fighting positions. 5 Golbat swooped down towards them with Wing Attack. "Ros, use Muddy Water!" The said Pokemon raised his arms into the air, a giant tidal wave of brown water along with it. By thrusting his hands forward, the wave crashed down on the attacking Golbat.

2 Zubat and 2 Golbat came at them with Poison Fang.

"Luck, stun them with Uproar!" Davin ordered. The Vigoroth shouted loudly, releasing piercing sound waves that stopped the attacking Pokemon in their tracks.

"Now, Halo! Use Aerial Ace!" Flattening her wings, Halo flew towards the stunned bats and struck them all at once in one glide.

Deciding to take a non-physical approach, 3 Golbat came out from the flock and used Air Slash.

"Halo, use Energy Ball! Kalis, join in with Icy Wind!" The Beautifly fired her green sphere as the Snorunt blew its chilling breeze, both canceling out the oncoming Air Slash.

"Ira, use Aqua Jet! Luck, Fury Swipes!" Engulfing itself in water, the Carvanha shot towards the three and struck them while Luck slashed away like crazy upon there faces.

"Ferro, use Stone Edge on the rest of them!" Sharp rocks formed around the Lairon and they were shot towards the bats, causing super effective damage.

"Yes! You guys are doing great!" Davin cheered. He didn't notice when one of the Zubat fired a Sludge Bomb towards Halo. Almost at the last minute, he cried, "Halo! Watch out!"

"Beau?" Halo turned around and freaked out at the oncoming attack.

"Lair!" Ferro jumped in front of her and took the Sludge Bomb, the attack having no effect due to his type. He then fired another Stone Edge towards the Zubat and Golbat, finally making them go away as they flew off.

Davin grinned. "Wow, Ferro, that was great! You saved Halo from a nasty sneak attack."

"Beauti~fly!" She smiled and thanked him.

"Lair..." To everyone's shock, Ferro started to glow with white light.

Davin gasped with excitement. "It's starting to evolve!" The Lairon began to grow, starting to rise on its hind legs and his physical features changing. The light died and a huge and powerful new Ferro stood in everyone's eyes.

"AGGROOOOOOONN!" It roared, its cry echoing throughout the cave.

"Awesome!" Davin smiled as he looked info up the big creature.

"Aggron, the Iron Armor Pokemon. Aggron is the evolved form of Lairon. It's iron horns grow longer a bit at a time to determine its age. Mementos of its battles are symbolized in the gouges of its armor."

"This is great, Ferro! Your power is now at its highest!" Davin stated.

"Gron." It nodded.


They ventured further into cave, entering the 2nd floor. Taking a few steps into it, they encountered 4 Sableye.

"All right! Ros, Muddy Water!" The tidal wave of mud rose for the second time, but the Sableye dodged it with ease.

"Sableye!" One of them cried as it fired a Shadow Ball.

"Counter it with Energy Ball!" Halo complied and shot the attack, an explosion occurring upon collision with Shadow Ball. Sableye took this chance and slashed Halo with Shadow Claw.

"Don't take that! Use Gust!" Halo flapped her wings to send Sableye flying into the cave ceiling with a strong gust of wind. Unknown to Halo, two of the Sableye got behind her and were preparing their Shadow balls. "Behind you!"

Halo reacted fast and flew upward to avoid the attacks. Then, Halo's wings started to glow red and a loud siren-like noise came from its antennae, making the two Sableye flinch as they were knocked down towards the ground.

"Hey, that's..." Davin thought. "Halo, did you just use Bug Buzz?"

"Beau~tifly!" She smiled and nodded.

All 4 Sableye came at her with Shadow Claw. "All right! Use Bug Buzz one more time!" The red shock waves escaped from its antennae again to blast them into the cave walls. Afterwards, they fled.

"Excellent, Halo! You did great!" Davin cheered. "Okay. Let's go further. We're bound to find more Pokemon to battle."

As the group progressed through the cave, they failed to hear a low and deep growling sound coming from the ground.