Whoops

Chapter 14: Organdie

Stark Mountain had always been a curious case. Being a burning, fully active volcano would usually cause quite a bit of fuss and concerns. However, not having erupted for some odd fifty years was enough for people to forget about the risk it posed. Pokemons of all kinds populate the deepest trenches underneath layers of ash, and just like that trainers followed suit. No perceived danger could be seen, and that was good enough for people.

Looker pushed aside the heavy, rocky gate fixture. The place was unofficially sealed during Charon's arrest all those years ago, and nothing indicated it had been moved since then. It was not the only entrance to the deeper parts of the mountain, but certainly the most convenient. The rough, burning inner texture of the caves, flaming, open pits of molten lava, and maze-like structure of paths was just as Dawn had remembered. Still she didn't really like coming back here, regardless of how many hours she had spent on this never-ending trail. Memories of days lost trying to find her way around the place was hardly pleasant.

Looker, on the other hand, seemed quite comfortable with the interior and navigation. She figured it was because he was intimately familiar with the inner workings of this carving system, and wouldn't be surprised if her guess were true. Even then, she still had a general idea of where they were headed. The hard part was not the climbing to the top, but to get to the deepest reaches. For whatever reason, they faced no wandering trainers along the way, and the concentration of wild pokemon seemed quite a bit more lax as well. She didn't know what to make of it, but signs usually don't point to positives.

"Here it is." Said Looker. Using all his strength, more than a matter of pride than anything else, he removed the big boulder blocking a two metre high entrance into the dark. Dawn took one of the nearby torches from the wall and carried it with her as they both stepped inside. "Or was."

Naturally, this chamber was then empty. The peculiar rock arrangement in the middle end of the room was still there, warping into a circular pattern with a bow-like extension close to the entrance. There was nothing of note, and that was exactly what was worrying them.

"So no Heatran, as expected. No Magma Stone either." Looker cupped his chin, and delved into his own thoughts. Dawn, torch still in hand, did a quick look around the walls, but unable to find anything that could constitute a clue. For a place that housed the molten storm pokemon for so long, it looked very much un-burnt, and perhaps even prosperous, as much as the core of volcano could be. One may say that it had been this way for a while now.

"What do we do?" She asked.

"Someone had to have come here to get Heatran, maybe he was seen. Witnesses are probably best."

They both exited the chamber and peered about. The place had always been sparse regarding population, but this was an entirely new level of deserted. Something must have happened here without them knowing, they thought.

"The Survival Area is not far from here." Dawn's focus was greatly divided. Although nothing she had seen here was too unexpected, it reminded her of how much things had really changed since the last time she was on the road. Perhaps it was the off-season that brought about the lack of activities, but something just didn't sit quite right with her.

With nothing else on hand, they left the inner mountain in silence. It was not until they were back out on the wet grass fields that Dawn spotted another human. Buck stood there with his ridiculous bundled hen-end hairdo and flaming split-neck T-shirt. The smug smirk sat squarely on his face as he sat on top the trunk of Looker's car.

"You're back!" He said, hands vigorously rubbing against each other in anticipation. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"I have so many questions." Dawn wore a sardonic frown. "First, what are you doing here?"

"What do you mean? I come here all the time." Buck pads his chest in pride. "It's practically my second home."

"Right." Those words came out of her long and drawn.

"Buck?" Looker only now managed to escape the inner mountains. He was surprised, understandably. He also didn't seem to be too appreciative of someone sitting on his car, but kept quiet on that front.

"Hey Looker, you're here too." Buck greeted him just a little less fondly, and gave the vehicle beneath him a few knocks. "Guess that explains the car."

"What do you want, Buck?" She crossed her arms in annoyance.

"I challenge you to a battle." Buck, with raging, metaphorical fire in his eyes, sparked up a match. It burst into real, concentrated flames contained within his palms. This came as no surprise as he descended from a family of fire manipulators, but he always gave people cause to question his too liberal usage of it.

"I don't have time for this." Dawn snarled with annoyance. It was hard to say she was ever fond of the boy. Perhaps it was his yellow-striped orange hair, or that he was Flint's brother. Either way, she didn't view him as someone pleasant to look at nor talk to, and this turn of events only hoped to reinforce that prejudice.

"I see you have the trainer belt on you, it makes you a trainer!" Buck was not backing off a single step. "You have to accept."

"Hold up here a bit you two." Looker stepped in the middle of them right when it seemed like Dawn was about to utter very nasty words in reaction. "Buck, do you know what happened to the Magma Stone? I gave it to you the last time so that you could put it back."

"Yeah, I did just that." This deviation of the topic had the boy interested. After all, it reminded him of a very bitter defeat under the hands of Charon all those years back. "Heatran is gone, and someone has the Magma Stone." This news seemed to have completely caught Buck off guard. "Whoever did it had recently caused quite a disaster, and we're here looking for clues."

"I guess that would explain the strange changes ecosystem that had been taking place around the mountains lately." Buck subtly confirmed Dawn's previous observations. If she were more correct, it'd mean that the pokemons here aren't used to it, which would explain the limited population of them. Buck seemed even more concerned than she was. "This can't be good."

"When did you start noticing the changes?" Looker continued.

"A month or two back, I say." Said Buck. "I didn't think too much of it at first, but I knew something was off when the pokemons stopped being as active, and then the trainers stopped coming."

"Do you have an idea of who could've been responsible?"

Buck took a long breath and started thinking. It was a mystery what went on in his head, but the kind of expression he gave off trying to exercise mental prowess was definitely something he was not personally aware of, else he would have never let others see it.

"I think I may." He said, after some minutes of self-deliberation. At this point Dawn had calmed down sufficiently, and was simply awaiting an answer. She had to surrender to the fact that all things considered Buck was an incredibly active person around these parts, and he could be of immense help given the chance. "But I want something in return."

"Are you serious?" Not another moment passed before Dawn's patience was tested yet again.

"Wait, hear me out, give me a battle." He said, arms on his biceps. Even the flames on his hand had snuffed out at this point. "If you win, I'll tell you, no questions asked."

"And if not?" Dawn crossed her arms. A part of her already knew that it was going to get to this point. The purpose, however, escapes her.

"I'll tell you anyway." She craned an eyebrow. "In return, you'll have to be my Battle Frontier partner!"

"Is that it?" Dawn asked. Buck responded with a proud nod. "This isn't an elaborate attempt to ask me on a date, is it?"

"Maybe!" He responded again, just as quickly and just as proudly.

"Should have asked me half a year ago." Dawn reached for her belt as the two took to the side, taking the forest clearing in front of the mountain's south east entrance as the battle ground. "I would have probably just said yes out of self-pity."

"Never too late I bet." Dawn had to concede that he had the right attitude. She wasn't interested, but at least the whole thing won't be as awkward as it could have been, and that's a plus enough for her.

"You'd lose that bet."