The sun hit Nathan like a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.
After days under Mt. Moon's layered dark, Route 4 opened up in full colour, soft wind, wildflowers swaying along the rocky path, distant Pidgey cries echoing through the cliffs.
He stood still at the edge of the cave mouth, eyes squinting into morning light, letting the world settle around him.
Squirtle yawned loudly beside him and flopped down on a sunny patch of grass. Nidoran sniffed at a cluster of yellow blooms. Zorua, normally aloof, padded to the edge of the ridge and sat quietly.
Even Mankey stood still for once, gazing up at the clouds.
Nathan finally exhaled.
"We made it."
They walked for an hour before reaching the Route 4 checkpoint, a rest station built just before the descent into Cerulean's valley. Small buildings, portable solar panels, a Pokémon healing terminal, and a few trainers recovering near the benches.
Nathan checked in with the station attendant—a sharp-eyed woman in ranger uniform.
"Came from Mt. Moon?" she asked.
"Straight through."
Nathan didn't reply. He sat beneath the shade of a canopy and opened the System.
It pulsed warmly, awaiting review.
𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐔𝐩 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 – 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝟔
𝐔𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞: 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐲𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞 (𝐓𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐈)
𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐰-𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐲𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐬
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐬 (𝐧𝐨𝐧-𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞)
𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞: 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐭
+𝟏𝟎% 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐨𝐤é𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐔𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐓𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐬, 𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬
𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲
𝐄𝐗𝐏 𝐭𝐨 𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥: 𝟎 / 𝟕𝟎𝟎
Nathan swiped to the team overview.
𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐲 – 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝟏𝟏 | 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥: 𝐁+
𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐝: 𝟏𝟔/𝟏𝟎𝟎 → 𝟐𝟔/𝟏𝟎𝟎 (𝐓𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 → 𝐔𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭)
𝐒𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞: 𝐀𝐠𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐫
𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬: 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞-𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞
𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞: 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲
𝐙𝐨𝐫𝐮𝐚 – 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝟏𝟎 | 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥: 𝐒
𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐝: 𝟒𝟔/𝟏𝟎𝟎 → 𝟓𝟐/𝟏𝟎𝟎 (𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭)
𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬: 𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭, 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠
𝐈𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥: 𝐓𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝟐 (𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐩𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞)
𝐍𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧♂ – 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝟏𝟎 | 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥: 𝐁
𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐝: 𝟖𝟏/𝟏𝟎𝟎 (𝐋𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥)
𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐭: 𝐌𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐫
𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞: 𝐍𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝
𝐒𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐞 – 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝟏𝟏 | 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥: 𝐀-
𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐝: 𝟖𝟖/𝟏𝟎𝟎 (𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝)
𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐭: 𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫
𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞: 𝐑𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐝 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐧 (𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧)
Nathan's eyes lingered on the Decryption Module.
He could go back to the ruin now. That sealed doorway beneath Mt. Moon, it wasn't just decoration. The System had recognized it. And now he could read it.
But not yet.
He glanced toward the faint trail snaking into the Cerulean hills. Misty was next.
He needed to keep pace, keep progressing.
Still…
𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐡: 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐭. 𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐮𝐢𝐧 𝐍𝐨𝐰 – 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐲𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞
𝐄𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧: 𝟐–𝟑 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬
𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐤: 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞
𝐑𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝: ??? (𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐄𝐜𝐡𝐨 𝐔𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤, 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐑𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐈𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐨𝐫 𝐄𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫)
He saved the option but didn't select it.
Not yet.
He let his team roam around the checkpoint for a while.
Squirtle chased wind-blown leaves. Nidoran practiced agility drills along a broken stone path. Zorua vanished into the grass and flickered in and out of view like mist. Mankey climbed a rocky wall, pausing only to look back once—to see if Nathan was watching.
He was.
Later that afternoon, a young hiker approached while Nathan sat sketching field layouts in his notebook.
"You the one who beat Brock and cleared the mountain?"
Nathan looked up.
"Yeah."
"Mind a quick battle?" the hiker asked. "Nothing serious. Just to get a feel for what a real tactician looks like."
Nathan considered.
Then smiled.
"Alright. One-on-one. Pick your best."
𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝: 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐯𝐬. 𝐇𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐉𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐡 – 𝟏𝐯𝟏
𝐎𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭: 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐩 – 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝟏𝟎 | 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥: 𝐁-
𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧: 𝐔𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐭, 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐬
𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐏𝐢𝐜𝐤: 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐲
The two fighting-types faced off, Machop steady and disciplined, Mankey twitchy but focused.
"Mankey, Feint and pace."
Machop struck first, Low Sweep but Mankey leapt clear.
"Now, Low Kick, front ankle!"
Mankey slid in, struck low. The Machop stumbled.
The hiker blinked. "You trained him to think?"
"No," Nathan said. "I helped him focus."
They traded blows, Karate Chop, Fury Swipes, another Quick Guard. Then Mankey dropped low, waited for the swing…
…And countered with perfect timing.
Machop fell.
𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲: 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝟕𝟑 𝐄𝐗𝐏 | 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐝: 𝟑𝟐/𝟏𝟎𝟎 (𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭)
𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐄𝐗𝐏: 𝟖𝟔 / 𝟕𝟎𝟎
The hiker gave a low whistle. "I get it now. You don't overpower. You navigate the fight."
Nathan offered a quiet nod.
And for the first time, Mankey didn't growl or boast.
He simply stood beside him, eyes calm.
That night, as the checkpoint lights dimmed and the moon rose over Route 4, Nathan stood at the ledge overlooking the valley below.
In the distance, the lights of Cerulean City shimmered like water.
He could almost see the Gym from here.
But what lay ahead wasn't just a battle.
Misty's team. Her tactics. A shift in pace. Water-type synergy. The kind of fight that demanded control not just counters.
He opened the System one last time.
𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐎𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞: 𝐂𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐆𝐲𝐦 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 – 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐲
𝐄𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞: 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝟏𝟒–𝟏𝟔 | 𝐓𝐲𝐩𝐞: 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 | 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲: 𝐙𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 + 𝐌𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐦 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞
𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 | 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 | 𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥: 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲
Nathan closed it.
Tomorrow, he'd begin the descent into the valley.
Tonight, the mountain finally felt behind him.
And the path forward was wide open.