The Rain of Fire
Within an hour, with May's Pokèballs on his belt for the time-being, Brendan and Gwen were flying Avery and Drake respectively, and they were flying back toward Mt. Chimney.
Hey, Brendan I'm a bit confused. Why are we going to Mt. Chimney? Gwen asked.
"We're looking for Team Magma, and they're trying to reawaken Groudon. So, I get the feeling that the best place to search for them would be a volcano. Where else would a behemoth, continent-forming Pokèmon be? It would most likely be somewhere with magma, since that's what expands the land," Brendan said.
So, that's the most likely place for a group of eco-terrorists who want to expand the land to be hiding out, Gwen said. But why are we going after Team Magma when it was Team Aqua that took May? As soon as she said that, she could sense the anger within Brendan getting stronger.
"Team Magma and Team Aqua are enemies. It stands to reason that they will know where Team Aqua will be. We're going to get that information, even if we need to beat it out of them." He said that last part in a tone that sent a chill down Gwen's spine.
Just…don't do anything that would drive May from you, she said quietly as they landed at the peak of the volcano. They got off Avery and Brendan recalled her as they walked over to the entrance of the Jagged Pass.
"Even Team Magma wouldn't be dumb enough to put the entrance to their hideout out in the open on the peak of a mountain," Brendan said. "We should go down the pass."
Brendan and Gwen were almost to the base of the mountain when the Magma Emblem in his pocket began to glow. "What the?" he said as he took out the coin and held it out. As he did that, there was a deep rumbling like a massive stone rolling.
Brendan, over there! Gwen said. He turned to where she was pointing and saw a cavern opening in the side of the mountain. If that's not the Magma Hideout, then I don't know what is.
Brendan nodded. "Let's go, we need to be quick, and as a bonus, we could also get back that Red Orb that Team Magma took from Mt. Pyre. That might prevent Groudon from waking up," he said as he led the way into the cavern.
The first thing both he and Gwen noticed was the unbelievable heat. Wow, they really took the "magma" part too far.
Yeah, this should be interesting, Brendan said, deciding to keep conversations telepathic so they wouldn't alert the patrolling grunts. We may need to be stealthy here. One wrong move, and we'll be captured. Then we won't be able to help May.
That was when Gwen got a worried look. Brendan, I don't know how, but I think my teleporting abilities are being blocked. We won't be able to make a quick getaway if we need to.
I understand, Brendan said. We'll just have to improvise should the need arise.
The duo walked through the cavern's passageway, which was bordered by two cliffs. There were little steam eruptions coming from small cracks in the rock floor around them, but they were mostly harmless. That was when Brendan spotted the first Grunt, who was sitting on his own, leaning against the wall. Wait here, he said to his Gardevoir as he snuck closer to the Grunt, who seemed to be oblivious to Brendan being there. It wasn't until Brendan heard light snoring coming from the grunt. This would be easy. He tossed the only radio he could find on the grunt to Gwen, who simply crushed it, then pulled the man up and slammed him into the wall of the cave and put his arm in a chicken-wing hold.
"What the hell? Who are – AAGH!" the grunt cried out as Brendan pushed his arm up.
"You don't ask the questions, understood?" Brendan said in an intimidating voice. The grunt nodded. "Now, first thing's first, do you have a map of the base?"
"No, only those who are in Team Magma come here, and we all know the layout," the Grunt said through gritted teeth.
"I thought as much. Next question: where is Maxie?" Brendan asked threateningly.
"He's much farther down in the base. I don't know where exactly," the Grunt said.
"Well, you've been no help at all," he said as he glared at the Grunt before pulling him around and punching him hard, knocking the grunt out cold, then letting the man collapse.
They were climbing the stairs leading into the next, larger cavern. And they saw the four grunts patrolling, so Brendan looked to Gwen. Do you want to battle all these guys, or do you want to try and sneak by them?
They're grunts, so it won't be hard. Let's battle them quickly and quietly, Gwen said.
Brendan nodded and they went into the open, getting the attention of the grunts, making short work of their Pokèmon. Gwen, bind them. I have some questions for them. The four of the grunts were surrounded by the blue aura of Gwen's psychic power. Brendan stepped up to one of them.
"Now, I have some questions for you," Brendan said. "The first one, I don't expect you to know, but I'll ask it anyway. Where is the Team Aqua Hideout?"
The first grunt in line, a man with a military cut under his hood laughed. "We're Team Magma, why would we know where the Aqua hideout is?" he said, earning a kick to his kneecap from Brendan. The kick bent the man's leg back too far to be natural and the man shrieked in pain.
"I have no time for smart ass comments!" Brendan said with gritted teeth. "Now, for my second question. Where is Maxie?"
"He's much deeper. In fact, he's about to fulfill his dream," the woman said almost fanatically.
Brendan looked at Gwen. Shit, that must mean he's close to waking up Groudon.
We need to hurry, Gwen said. If we don't, then the world could be destroyed.
"Which way is it?" Brendan asked.
Go straight forward, down the stairs, you'll find the cavern easily," one of the more compliant grunts said.
"Well, thank you for the information. Gwen, knock them out," he said. Gwen nodded and used a Hypnosis attack on the grunts, putting them to sleep before dropping them to the floor. Great, now let's go get what we came for.
The two of them went down the stairs to the farthest exit of the cavern they were in, leading them to a cavern filled with lava, which had two separated grunts. Brendan looked to Gwen. More battles? He asked.
More battles, Gwen said enthusiastically. Luckily, these two didn't take too long, Brendan using Jack and Turk to beat both with ease. They kept going to the next cavern, this one significantly bigger than the last one, and there was a single massive pool of magma, but all they could see was the red glow emanating from behind a massive rock formation. There were three more grunts to battle before Brendan saw the first real problem in this raid.
"Tabitha," he whispered as he saw the lieutenant of Team Magma seemingly waiting for something.
"Well, Brendan's your name, right? It seems that you got careless. If you were trying to sneak through our base properly, you should have killed the grunts you battled. See, they woke up and contacted me over the radio to tell me you were coming," he said with a sadistic smile on his face. Brendan didn't hesitate as he ran forward and punched Tabitha in the stomach before punching him across the face. Tabitha spat at the ground. "You hit like a desperate man. Perhaps because of your lost woman." Brendan's scowl deepened. "Thought so. And now you think that Team Magma has intel on where Team Aqua is. We do have that information, but it will never be for you."
And if we beat you to the curb, will that change your answer? Gwen asked.
Tabitha just laughed loudly. "No! Arceus, no!" he said through hearty laughs. "Why the hell would I give up precious intel to a stupid teenager?"
"How many times has this 'stupid teenager' beaten both Team Magma and Team Aqua?" Brendan said.
"Good point, so I'll make you a deal. If you win this, then you may go on ahead, and see just what we're up to," he said in a confident tone, as if he knew he already had this won. He then sent out a Golbat, not using any names, for his first Pokèmon in this battle.
"Erza, come out!" Brendan said as he sent out May's Lairon.
"Wait, isn't that the girl's Pokèmon?" Tabitha said, clearly confused.
"Yeah, she didn't have them when Team Aqua took her. But that isn't your concern. Now, Erza, use Rock Tomb!" Brendan said. Erza roared as she launched four rocks from the ground. They all flew at the Golbat.
"Dodge and use Confuse Ray," Tabitha said. Golbat's eyes let out four multi-colored orbs, which spun around Erza and disoriented her. Unfortunately for the Golbat, he didn't dodge and the Rock Tomb attack hit hard, sending him to the ground, knocking him out. Tabitha grimaced and recalled his Golbat. "Alright, I'll use my Camerupt now!" The fire yak came out and bellowed loudly.
Brendan recalled Erza, glaring at Tabitha as he pulled out Turk's Pokèball. "Come on out Turk!" he said with rage in his voice. The Crawdaunt appeared with a grunt, clicking his claws together.
"Start with Flamethrower," Tabitha said. His Camerupt let loose a stream of fire, letting it fly at Turk.
"Bubblebeam to counter, then use Crabhammer!" Brendan said. Turk launched a stream of bubbles at the incoming fire, stopping it before the flames could reach their intended target. He then leapt through the resulting steam, his claw raised and glowing before he slammed into Camerupt. The fire Pokèmon bellowed in slight pain before passing out.
"Mightyena!" Tabitha said as he both recalled his Camerupt and sent out a dark wolf. Brendan rolled his eyes and recalled Turk before sending out Miranda.
"Mightyena, use Crunch!" Tabitha said. Mightyena ran at Miranda with its teeth glowing black.
"Alright, let's make this quick. Miranda use Double Kick," Brendan said. Miranda leapt at the Mightyena, lashing out and delivering two powerful kicks to Mightyena's body, launching it into a nearby wall.
"NO, DAMN IT!" Tabitha shouted. He had his Mightyena return to its Pokèball. He then looked at Brendan with a scowl. "Fine, go talk to Maxie. He'll teach you why Team Magma is to be feared."
Brendan glared at Tabitha before bringing his foot forcefully into the man's crotch, dropping him to his knees. "Consider that payment for kidnapping May in Meteor Falls," he said as Gwen just began to walk forward, past the lieutenant of Team Magma, who was now writhing on the ground, groaning in pain.
Nice kick, it looked painful, Gwen said.
He deserved… Brendan trailed off as they went around the corner and were able to barely see over the rock formation, and Brendan saw the ridged head and slightly curved back of what looked like a massive Pokèmon made of stone. Is that what I think it is? He pulled out his Pokèdex and held it up to scan the Pokèmon.
The Pokèdex came up with the image Brendan feared it would, the one that he remembered from the research he and May did at the Weather Institute. The voice then spoke. Groudon, the Continent Pokèmon. Not much is known about this Pokèmon outside of legends, but it is said to be the personification of the land itself. After this Pokèmon had a titanic clash with Kyogre, it fell into a deep slumber.
Shit, we need to get over there, Gwen said, starting to run around the next corner, Brendan right beside her, and they saw Maxie standing in front of the lava pool. He held a red gemstone much like the Blue Orb that Archie stole from Mt. Pyre. Aesir, his Camerupt, was already sitting beside him.
"MAXIE!" Brendan called, catching the Magma leader's attention.
"Ah, two of the three who have nearly thwarted my plans. However, I will no longer allow you to stop me from my success. Aesir, keep these fools occupied while I finish my preparations," Maxie said, touching his Keystone and causing streams of light to connect between it and the Cameruptite around Aesir's neck, transforming the Pokèmon into his mega form.
Brendan touched his keystone and Gwen went through her own Mega Evolution process. "Maxie, you may want to pay attention. If you remember, Gwen was just a Kirlia when we beat you on Mt. Chimney. We've only grown stronger since that battle!"
Maxie barely acknowledged him. "That won't matter," he said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Now, Aesir, take her out."
Gwen looked to Brendan. Let's make this one quick too.
Use Calm Mind, then Psychic. If that doesn't end this, then use Hyper Voice. Try to destroy the machinery Maxie's using in the process if you can.
Gwen smirked as she was surrounded by a green aura. That was when Aesir's volcano erupted and unleashed a Lava Plume attack. Gwen simply raised her hand and stopped the incoming attack with a Psychic attack, throwing it at the machines by Maxie. The lava splattered on the sides and melted through, frying the insides and disabling it. Maxie cursed loudly and walked over, still holding the Red Orb in his left hand. "Fuck! Alright kid, now you've pissed me off. Aesir, use Rock Slide! Crush that prissy Gardevoir!"
EXCUSE ME! Gwen said loudly before using a Hyper Voice to throw Aesir off his feet and making him crash into Maxie.
Use another Psychic to finish this, but don't knock out Maxie. I still have questions for him, Brendan said.
Got it, but can I still hurt him a bit? Gwen asked.
Go for it, he said. Gwen raised her hand and gripped Aesir with psychic energy. She brought him into the air before throwing him back into the ground, feeling the anger within Brendan going from a simmer to a boil. That anger spilled into her, making the attack more powerful and knocking the Camerupt out completely and reverting him to his regular form.
Gwen returned to her normal form as well, while Brendan ran over to Maxie, who was groaning and struggling to get up after Aesir had slammed into him. Brendan delivered a powerful kick to Maxie's face, breaking his glasses with the hit. He grabbed Maxie by his coat and pulled him up, and slamming him into the machine. "Alright Maxie, it's time that you answered a just a single question for me. Tell me, where is the Team Aqua Hideout?"
Maxie coughed a bit, some blood in his mouth. "Is that really the only reason you're here? Heh, you were in Lilycove already. You were right next door to my brother's little pirate cove." Maxie cackled, but Brendan cut him off by pulling him forward and kneeing him in the stomach. What neither Brendan nor Gwen noticed was that Maxie dropped the Red Orb at that moment, and it was now rolling toward the pool of magma where Groudon was resting!
"You know, I may have beaten you on Mt. Chimney, but that was just a battle. It's really time for my payback for what you assholes did to May," Brendan said. He whipped around, throwing Maxie to the dirt before dropping a knee on the man's chest. Gwen started to shrink back, worried about what Brendan was about to do. She proceeded to walk around to the nearby exit tunnel, since she felt a very ominous sense that they would need to make a fast escape. She watched as Brendan kept punching Maxie, turning the man's face into a swollen mess, but her attention was drawn to something else.
Wait, is that…BRENDAN! she said, getting her trainer's attention. The Red Orb! She pointed to the rolling stone. Brendan whipped around, only to watch helplessly as it fell into the magma pool.
"That can't be good," Brendan said. As if to prove his point, the magma began to glow white, sending a beacon of light up. Then, the stone casing around Groudon's feet began to crack, releasing more light. The cracks continued to spread and web through the behemoth's body. The shell shattered, and revealed the red and grey monster, which was glaring down at Brendan with its massive, piercing blue eyes. Brendan was frozen in place with fear. Please don't turn primal, please don't turn primal! Brendan silently pleaded. Unfortunately, it seemed Arceus was flipping him off today, because a gigantic omega symbol appeared in the magma and it swirled around the massive Pokèmon, seeming to infuse with the giant Pokèmon.
"Wh-what's happening?" Maxie struggled to say. "This isn't supposed to happen!"
Brendan glared at Maxie. "You're telling me that you, the one who was dreaming of waking Groudon, didn't do the research to find out what happens when the Red Orb is united with the damned thing?" he shouted. "Let me inform you. The Red Orb not only awakens Groudon, it reverts it to its Primal form. Your efforts, and Archie's, may have just doomed the entire world!"
Brendan, we need to leave! Gwen said frantically. The mountain began to quake and small rocks dust to fall from above.
"Yeah, I know!" he said, grabbing Gwen's hand as they ran for the exit. Just as they were about to get there, Groudon burst from the magma, his body even taller, and now the lines of his body, along with his eyes, all seemed to have lava swirling through the Pokèmon's body. He looked back at Maxie. He may be a terrorist, but he doesn't deserve to die. Not like this. I have to- his thoughts were cut off as Groudon began to step out of his magma pool, sending a wave of molten rock over the edge and toward Maxie. There was no way for him to get there before Maxie was engulfed, even if Gwen could teleport him. He turned back to the tunnel that Gwen was waiting for him in, and continued to run to her. "Come on, we need to go now!"
Maxie gazed up at the Pokèmon as it took a step, completely unable to move from the beating Brendan had given him. So, in the end my ambitions wind up killing me. He looked to Aesir, recalling his Camerupt and tossing the Pokèball as hard as he could, getting it well over the walls to his right. The ball, thankfully landed at Tabitha's feet, and the lieutenant picked it up. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he wouldn't let any Pokèmon suffer if he could help it. And hopefully, he would be able to get out of the hideout too.
a—a—a—a—a—a
May sat in her cell, wringing her dress, waiting from the grunt to bring her meal. It had been a day, and the guards had already been keeping a very fixed schedule for when they brought her the meager meal of just bread, and water, neither of which were good by any stretch of the imagination.
She looked at the clock within her cell, and like clockwork, the guard opened her cell at exactly 1:00 with her lunch. May, however, had different plans. Just as the man was placing the food on the bench beside her, she grabbed his head and slammed it into the metal wall as hard as she could. The man slumped over and passed out. Alright, time for me to move.
She quickly removed her high-heeled shoes, which she had kept on since her date the night before, but now she carried them with her. She could see the guard had no weapons, and she wasn't about to try and use his Pokèmon, so she figured she would need some way to fight back. She also wasn't in the mood to break an ankle while escaping. She ran out of her cell fast, sprinting through the hall, making it up the stairs to the main levels without anybody catching her. May continued through the base, ducking behind walls when the patrols came by, until she got to the helicopter bay. Now, however, she was at a loss, because she had no clue where she was supposed to go from here. So, to improvise, the coordinator found the nearest lone grunt and clubbed her over the head with her shoe. The grunt crumpled to the ground, knocked out, and May began to search the woman until she found a map. Unfortunately, it was a poorly made map that looked like it was drawn by a toddler.
Arceus damn it, why the hell did I think that Team Aqua would be smart enough to make a good map of their base? She silently cursed herself before taking a chance. She stepped forward, only to realize too late that it was a warp tile. Why the hell does Team Aqua have warp tiles? I thought they were in prototype phase at Silph Company. As she asked herself that, she was teleported into the worst possible place: the grunt breakroom. There was a large window that looked west, and she could see Mt. Chimney clearly from where she stood. The fifteen grunts in the room all looked up as May entered.
"FUCKING DISTORTION WORLD! Somebody grab her and get her back to her cell before Archie finds out she got out!" That got four grunts on her, two of which stumbled away with bruises on their faces that were exactly the shape of the soles of May's shoes. The others restrained her before a fifth came forward, but they were all stopped when a massive earthquake was felt through the entire base.
"What the hell is going on?" one of the grunts yelled. May, however, saw the cause and she was terrified. The grunts noticed her gaze being fixed on the window, following it and all of them stumbling back. There was a massive cloud of smoke and multiple towering plumes of lava accompanying it from the mountain.
May was terrified to say the least, and her blistering heart rate was proof enough. Brendan, don't you dare be anywhere near that volcano.
a—a—a—a—a
Come on Brendan, the exit is just ahead, then I can teleport us a safe distance away! Gwen said. Brendan didn't need to be told twice as he sprinted ahead with Gwen, the light of the exit growing closer, but so too was the magma behind them. Gwen was floating fast, and Brendan was sprinting at top speed beside her, his adrenaline keeping him going. The magma was rising fast, and it was mere inches from Brendan's heels before they broke out onto Jagged Pass. Alright, now! Gwen grabbed Brendan, and they teleported away to the northern end of route 111. Brendan then let out Avery, and they began to fly. We're safe for now, Gwen said with a slight sigh. Unfortunately, fate had other plans.
As they were getting into the air, they both heard what sounded like the biggest explosion in history. Brendan whipped around to look at the source, and watched hopelessly as the south side Mt. Chimney exploded out, and the glowing form of Groudon was revealed to the world. What Brendan was more scared about, however, was that the stones and lava were now flying directly at Lavaridge Town, and there was enough of both to bury the town and leave no evidence that it was ever there in the first place "Gwen," Brendan said quietly, trying to comprehend what was happening. He watched helplessly as the rocks and lava rained down on the small town, destroying every building and likely killing the entire town's population. Even the gym was turned into nothing but glorified charcoal.
As the three of them ascended and flew away from the disaster, Brendan saw that a few lava-coated rocks were flying toward Fallarbor and Rustboro, and they had the speed to make it to those cities. "There's…nothing we can do." Gwen looked just as terrified and devastated as Brendan, watching Groudon as he seemed to breathe deeply of the cool air, which was suddenly growing hotter and hotter as the sunlight grew more intense. "Gwen," Brendan whispered.
What is it? she asked.
"We can't possibly fight something like that," he said with defeat slipping into his voice. Gwen didn't respond, nor could she. Brendan was right. They couldn't possibly fight a Pokèmon with that level of power. It would be like trying to fight nature itself.
Avery, not wanting to spend any more time near this catastrophe, decided to act quickly and get her friends away from this danger as she flew to the nearest temporary safe-haven: Slateport City.
Well, what a way to end a chapter. It was tough deciding to do that much destruction in one go, but when dealing with primal god-level power going on a rampage, there will to be more than a few casualties.
Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. As always, leave a review with some constructive critism. Next chapter, Brendan will get his next lead on Team Aqua, and try to find May.
Until next time – jmoul18