Okay, chapter 9 was a bit too gory with the blood and all that. Therefore, I'm changing the rating to T. But it's only for the blood, not for any cussing, or suggestive themes or any other bad stuff. Only slight, little, gory blood.

RS: Voidmoon: Haha. The fluffiness was cool. But I prefer nonfluffiness. Fluffiness is hard to write. Thanks for the review! (changed the rating)

nanC: lol, then I hope you get bored more often! Thanks for the review!

Nonreviewersofmystory: review or die! But read it first…

Now someone finally gets a third Pokemon…


Hard Cold Steel

"Finish it with Thundershock!" A small yellow blur flew up into the air and sent a bolt of lightning at a white and brown raccoon. It fell down with sparks flying out from its fur.

The Pikachu jumped into a young girl's arms. She laughed and petted it. "Good job Flash!" The electric mouse said its name with satisfaction.

"You toasted that Zigzagoon pretty fast." Brian said. "Flash is getting better."

"He's right." Andy agreed. "Flash is gaining a lot of experience battling these wild Pokemon."

The three continued on the road. Flash was still in Celia's arms.

"Only about a day's worth of traveling and we'll be at Rivet Town." Brian was looking at a map he just found in his pack. "Hey, why can't we just cut across from here to here? Why does the road curve around this big brown dot?"

"Idiot, that's a mountain! So if you brought your mountain climbing gear, then YOU can cut across!" Andy stated.

"Hey, should we stop for lun… What… is … that?" Celia was staring up into the sky. A blue bird with cloud-like wings flew over them. The wings were colored purple, and they looked like they were on fire. Two lines of purple fire trailed off the top of its head.

"Whoa, that's one freaky Altaria." Brian said with fear in his voice. The Altaria spotted him and it didn't look friendly.

Brian tapped his Pokedex and a Pokeball appeared in his hand. He threw it and Zeck appeared. Andy did the same and in a flash of light a Nidoran materialized. Celia threw Flash in the air and the three took battle stances.

Brian started. "Zeck, shoot it down with Bullet Seed!" A stream of glowing seeds flew at the Altaria. It easily dodged and dashed above their heads, bringing a rush of wind flying behind it.

"Poison Sting!" "Thundershock!" "Bullet Seed!" A small bolt of lightning flew behind flashing white needles, quickly followed by a stream of seeds. The Altaria shot out green colored flames and burned the attack to a crisp.

"Dragonbreath…" Andy muttered. "Poison Sting again!" Brian tried another tactic. "Zeck, launch Flash at the Altaria with Pound!" Nidor again blasted a storm of needles at the dragonlike Pokemon. While the Altaria flew out of the way, it was met by a speeding yellow blur that held its position on the Altaria's back. The Altaria screeched and tried shaking the Pikachu off but to no avail. It was too busy whirling around to dodge the Poison Stings and the Bullet Seeds.

"Flash, use Thunderbolt now!" "Pi…ka…CHU!" Lightning bolts flew everywhere as the Altaria was being overcooked. One bolt hit Brian and fried his hair.

Altaria's Point of View

The yellow menace on my back refused to let go. It's weak yet consistent attacks were slowly taking me out. My constant twisting and turning allowed the other threats to land attacks on me. I had to find a way out. I then thought of the superpowerful attack as a spark jolted up my back. I charged energy in my mouth then released the-

Normal

HYPER BEAM!" Brian yelled as he ran. The huge beam struck the ground and debris flew everywhere. After the dust cleared, the only thing left was a big hole where the 3 had been. Flash was still trying to cling on but let go when he saw the hole. Seemingly, his friends had all been destroyed. He was too downfallen to resist the Altaria swooping down and capturing him with its claws then fly to Rivet Town.


Brian stirred as something bumped against his face. He opened his eyes then slowly got up. The thing moved around him and poked its head in his backpack. It was small enough to fit inside. Brian took off his backpack and reached in. When he pulled his hands back out he saw a happy looking Pokemon looking at him.

"An Aron!" Brian exclaimed. This woke up Celia and Andy. Andy said while rubbing his head, "Wow, did you look in your Pokedex or did you guess?" Brian replied, "For your information, Aron is one of the few Pokemon that I actually know the name of!" The Aron was really small, had steel skin, and walked on all four. His head was large. Holes were all across his body. The little creature happily gnawed on a berry Brian fished out of his pack. It then went to Brian and nuzzled his head on Brian's hand. Brian laughed then petted it.

Celia grinned. "Aww, how sweet!" She looked around her. They were in a cavelike place. It was dark and there were several tunnel entrances on the sides of their "room". Kroc popped out of her Pokeball and looked at the steel Pokemon. She went up to it and tapped it on the back. A clinking noise was made. Kroc was amused, then pretended to play some song on Aron's back. The racket aroused Nidor and Zeck and they examined the Aron too. It seemed so happy and cheerful.

(Pokenese)

"Cool skin! Tink, Tink!" "You must have a high defense, being the rock and steel type you are!" "So shiny…" "Hi! I'm Kroc!"

The Aron giggled. "Heeheehee! That's funny! Hey, how'd you guys get in our home?"

Blaze curiously asked, "Our?" "Yeah, my family's along with the rest of the Aron here! There is one Lairon that rules us all! We have a tunnel system throughout and under the mountain!" Blaze then thought Maybe we can take a shortcut… He was interrupted by Celia screaming, "WHERE IS FLASH?"

(Normal)

Andy looked at the hole up 15 feet above. "My guess is, the Altaria took him…or worse…" Celia winced, then started to cry. "Christina…asked me…to take…care of him!" Brian tried consoling her.

"It'll be fine! Flash can take care of himself! If he gets in trouble, one bolt of lightning will fry everything around him!" Celia stopped at this. She stared up at the hole for a moment. "Thanks Brian." "Anytime!"

The Aron conversed with Blaze, then pointed to a tunnel entrance. It was big enough for the humans to go through. The gang walked along for a moment, then saw another Aron. It froze when it saw the humans.

"Aron! Aron Ar Aron! Ron!" It scurried off.

"That can't be good…" They continued to follow the Aron who was looking a bit nervous and concerned.

(Pokenese)

"… Most of the Aron here are peaceful. But the Ragar family is known for its violence. The ruling Lairon is the leader of that family and oversees the rest of the families. If we just carry on our lives normally without causing unnecessary disturbances, then we're fine. But I remember what they did to a Zigzagoon that accidentally fell in one day…ugh… they aren't too friendly with intruders. And that was a scout Aron from the Ragar family. You guys should prepare yourselves for some fighting…"

Claws snickered. "Aw, come on! How hard can these little guys be?" Zeck answered, "In case you haven't noticed, your attacks will only do one fourth the damage because Aron are part rock and part steel. Your normal attacks are not very effective to both of those types." "So? I'll still take them. Besides, I've been practicing a new move." Zeck raised his eyebrow. (do Treecko have eyebrows? Oh well, it's just an expression.) "What new move?" "You'll see."


An Aron scurried through the other busy Aron with their chores. It walked up a crude stairway into a separate room. It went up to a massive grey and black lump. The lump opened its eyes. Spiny steel ridges went down its back to its somewhat short tail. It had four feet that had a grey ring on each. Its armored head raised and looked at the tiny Aron.

"Oh great Megraton Ragar the fourth! I humbly ask permission to speak, your steelness."

The Lairon got up and lumbered in front of the Aron. "What is it now?" "A patrol has spotted intruders. 3 humans and 5 Pokemon. There was an Aron with them." Megraton roared. "HOW DID THEY GET IN?" "That still has to be investigated." "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? GET SOME TROOPS AND DESTROY THEM!" The Lairon then slowly walked back to its cushiony dirt and immediately fell asleep.

The Aron muttered to himself, "He's as lazy as a Snorlax…" Then a huge armored head rammed into him and sent him flying.

"I HEARD THAT!"


Kroc was walking alongside the Aron. "So, do you have a name or anything? You know ours now." "No one calls me by my name. It's Mozzarockastecker." "…strange name…" "Yeah…that's why no one calls me that…" "I can tell why…"

Before they could continue with their conversation, an Aron dug up from the ground. Several Aron fell from the ceiling and landed on their feet. Three more surfaced and they surrounded the gang.

"What are you guys doing?" "You're a Ragar, you know what the rule is for intruders!" "But they got in here by accident!" Kroc spoke up. "You're from the Ragar family?"

He smiled nervously. "I guess I forgot that detail… but anyways, don't harm them, please!" "No! They are intruders, and intruders will be exterminated! Attack!" All the Aron shot out mud from their mouths, hitting the group's Pokemon.

(Normal)

"Holy! We are going to have to fight our way out! Zeck, Iron Tail! Claws, use Double Team!" Zeck's tail grew luminously white. He spun and slammed it into an Aron, sending it flying into the tunnel wall. Copies of Claws flew throughout the tunnel.

"Good Brian! Blaze, torch as many as you can with Ember! Nidor, Double Kick!" Blaze burned a Mud Slap to ashes then fired Ember at an Aron. It collapsed from the heat. Two Aron used Headbutt on Nidor. He crashed into another Aron. The three surrounded him. Nidor was in a bad situation when he heard his trainer call. He lifted his hind legs then pushed out with all his might. Two knocked out Aron fell to the ground. The third charged again, only to get shot by an Ember. Blaze smiled, then fired another Ember at another Aron.

"What better to wash mud than water? Kroc, Water Gun! Flash use…oh…right…Kroc! Good job! Water Gun again!" After pushing an Aron to the ceiling with a Water Gun, Kroc ducked from a Mud Slap and blasted another Aron. She jumped over the injured Pokemon then slammed her tail into its face, taking him out. An Aron that Zeck catapulted with Pound flew over Kroc's head and into the wall. But then, a Mud Slap hit Kroc in the face. She was unable to dodge due to the fact she was blinded. She was rammed again and again. When she wiped the mud off, she saw the oncoming Aron in the air. It's left foreleg grew gray, then enlarged in the shape of a claw. The claw grew until it was slightly smaller than its head. The Metal Claw would have connected if it weren't for another Metal Claw that knocked it out of the way.

(Pokenese)

"Mozzrocks-whatever! Thanks for saving me!" "You're welco-oof!" The Aron had rammed into him. Both of them used Metal Claw and fought. But then Mozzarockastecker dug into the ground, reappeared behind the Aron, and spat mud at him, slowing him down. The now cumbersome Aron was repeatedly rammed until it fainted. Only one Aron was left. All the group's Pokemon (except Flash) surrounded it. It took a look around then quickly dug underground and disappeared.

"OH YEAH! WE ROCKED THE HOUSE!" Brian was happily celebrating by grabbing Zeck's tail and flinging him around and around. Claws was laughing really hard.

"HAHAAHAHAH! You loser!" "If…I…wasn't…so…dizzy…I'd…kill…you…!" "HAHAHAHAHAH! Too dizzy? HAHAHAHAHH!"


"Your great steelness! The intruders are quite powerful! They have taken out a whole troop of Aron!" "THEN SEND SOME MORE!"


"I've always been the outsider." The Aron stated. "My family never cared for me. I was the loner… I never had a real friend before." Kroc thought for a moment. Then her face lit up.

"How about you join us? After this is all over, you can travel with us!" He looked at her in surprise.

"Really? You mean it? Wow! I'd love to! Assuming we get out of this mess…I wonder if Brian would take me… "

The group walked for a while. They came into a large room with other Aron. Most were sleeping. The others were tending to baby Aron. They all woke up and looked at the intruders. They hurriedly went into the ground and separate tunnels.

"Well, at least we get a more roomy battleground." Zeck said. Blaze looked up and saw about 15 Aron appear from the roof of the ceiling and fall down on the floor. Several more surfaced.

(Normal)

"Let's do this! Bullet Seed!" Zeck fired a wave of energized seeds that blew through the Aron's armor.

"Water Gun!" "Flamethrower!" Streams of water and fire rose the percentage of defeated Aron.

The Aron organized themselves and fired mud all at the same time. Then all of their forelegs went Metal Claw and they lunged in.

(Pokenese)

Kroc washed the mud off everyone's faces and bodies while Claws distracted the Aron with his copies. Nidor Double Kicked Aron out of the way to go to his trainer and hide behind his legs. But more Aron kept coming and coming.

"Die!" Zeck slammed an Iron Tail on an Aron. That Aron hit another Aron, toppling them both. Claws jumped over him and landed behind another Aron.

"Time for my new move!" Claws' paw turned a brownish color. He then slammed it down on the Aron. A cracking noise was heard as it fell over in defeat. Zeck stared at Claws dumbfounded.

"It's called Rock Smash…"

Kroc had successfully launched a Surf attack that took out a lot of Aron and tired her out in the process. A Headbutt connected and she fell out of exhaustion and pain. Celia returned her.

(Normal)

The group had been backed up against a wall. The Aron formed a semicircle around them and continuously spat out mud. Without Kroc, it was much harder retaliate against the Mud Slaps.

"Blaze, use Ember on the ceiling!" Blaze looked confused, but blasted fireballs at the top of the room. It melted the dirt ceiling and globs of heated mud dripped down on the Aron, heavily damaging them. With a couple of Bullet Seeds, Rock Smashes, and Flamethrowers, the Aron were repelled.

"We gotta find a way out of here, quick!" Celia spoke with panic. Andy crossed his arms and thought.

"Our best chance is to follow that Aron that's been helping us." It had been Metal Clawed in the battle and his side was cracked. Brian was nursing his wounds with a towel and washed him with some water in his canteen.

"Brian sure has taken a liking to that Aron." Celia stated. She watched as the Aron laughed when a chunk of heated mud fell and landed on Brian, frying him instantly.

Andy then said, "We should be on our way. The sooner we are out of here, the better."


(Pokenese)

"A WHOLE SQUAD WAS TAKEN OUT? Do I have to do everything here?"

The messenger Aron muttered under his breath, "No, we do it all for you!" He was then hit by a boulder that the Lairon threw at him.


A large boulder was shoved out of the way to reveal a hole in which 3 humans and their Pokemon climbed out of.

"Neat secret entrance!" Blaze commented. "Where are we?"

"We are in the Tranquil Cave. It's moderately big. The exit right over there will lead you to the right entrance of the town place."

"Hey! That's just where we are headed!"

But before the gang could celebrate, a mob of Aron crashed through the wall. They were lead by a monstrous Lairon.

Zeck muttered, "Some tranquil cave…"

"EEK! WHAT IS THAT THING?" Celia screamed.

Andy replied, "It's the evolved form of Aron. They are pretty high leveled, although this one looks like it's been so lazy it's weaker than normal Lairon."

The Lairon snorted. "Weak, am I? I'll show you weak! Take them out!" The mob of Aron rushed at the teams Pokemon. Wave after wave they fell to Bullet Seeds, Flamethrowers, and Rock Smashes. Nidor was in his usual spot behind Andy. The Aron on their side was helping with Mud Slap.

But Zeck, Blaze, and Claws were getting tired. The mob got nearer and nearer.

"Brian, Celia, RUN!" The three along with the Pokemon ran off in the direction of the entrance.

Now, I do not swear. I am writing this fanfiction knowing that there isn't swearing in it. Therefore, I will translate the statement the Lairon makes into a nice, clean, statement.

"PLEASE RETURN SO I CAN PUNISH YOUR REAR END YOU UNPLEASANT PORTION OF NATURAL WASTE!"

The Lairon reared up on its hind legs, and slammed down on the ground. The ground rippled with shockwaves from the Earthquake attack. The shockwaves knocked out all the Aron due to supereffectiveness. It had also knocked out Blaze and sent the whole gang sprawling on the ground. They hastily got up and ran out into the sunlight.

"SUNLIGHT!" Brian knelt down and kissed the ground.

"We aren't done yet!" The Lairon charged out from the cave. With one sweep of its head, it knocked Zeck off his feet and into the air. He landed with a thump which knocked him into unconsciousness.

"Claws! Rock Smash!" Claws' paw grew brown and he slammed it at the Lairon. It knocked him back a little bit.

"It's gonna take MUCH more than that to stop me, pathetic Linoone!" He reared up on his hind legs for the Earthquake attack when Claws dashed in and delivered a solid Rock Smash that knocked it off its feet onto its back. Nidor repeatedly jabbed his horn into the softer belly of the Lairon while Claws repeatedly Slashed it. Aron fired mud into the Lairon's eyes.

"ROOOAAAARRRRR!" The Lairon roared and flipped himself up. He jumped and landed the Earthquake, knocking Claws and Nidor out.

"We have no more Pokemon!" "We got that Aron over there!" He walked up the the Lairon.

"Please, can't you just let them go?" "After what they did to my home? NO! And since you helped them fight AGAINST your own kind, you will be eliminated as well." With that, the Lairon rammed its head at him, sending him flying.

(Normal)

"Cmon Aron! You can do it!" Brian offered encouragement. "Take that bully out with Metal Claw!" He slowly got up and listened to Brian's commands.

Celia whispered to Andy. "Wow, Brian's controlling a wild Pokemon." "Yeah, he's improved."

His foreleg grew into a grey claw shape and slashed at the Lairon. He was barely fazed by the attack and launched a Metal Claw of his own. His claw was 3x as big. But Aron managed to dig underground in the nick of time.

"Unburrow underneath him!" He resurfaced under the Lairon, who was confused where he was. Aron then lashed out with two Metal Claws, severely hurting the Lairon. It cried out in pain. Getting on its hind legs it prepared for another Earthquake.

"Aron! Get out of the way!" Aron, however, looked the Lairon straight in the eye.

(Pokenese)

"Scared, little one?" The Aron smiled. "Nah, just savoring my victory moment." He sucked in a mouthful of air, then shot out a burst of mud at the ground in front of the Lairon. When he came down with his forelegs, he slipped on the mud and fell face first. Aron mustered all his energy for a final attack. His left foreleg grew larger into a Metal Claw. He leaped into the air and dove at the Lairon, slicing at his forehead. A cracking sound was heard as the Lairon's head got three huge scratch marks. It lay there, defeated.

(Normal)

"Good job Aron!" Brian cheerfully cried. "How'd your last Metal Claw get so strong?" Andy answered, "Metal Claw will occasionally boost the user's attack. That's how it busted through the Lairon's armored head."

Brian knelt down and looked at the Aron. "Thanks for helping us out. Without you, we'd be dead." He turned to the others. "We need to go rest our Pokemon in Rivet Town." "And find Flash." Celia added.

When they returned their injured Pokemon and started to leave, the Aron followed. He kept walking behind Brian. When Brian turned around and saw him, the Aron looked up at him hopefully.

Celia said to Brian, "I think he wants to join us." Brian laughed and looked at the Aron. "You want to join our team?" The Aron nodded and rubbed his head against Brian's leg. He smiled. "Okay then. I'll be your trainer from now on! Is it okay if I give you a nickname?" The Aron nodded.

"Hm… I know! I'll name you Dekor!" Celia and Andy had blank looks on their faces.

"Just stating the obvious, but how'd you get that name?"

Brian asked her, "You ever had those stuffed Pokemon dolls that say their name when you press its stomach?" Celia lit up. "OOH! I used to have 20 of them. But I stopped playing with them after my cousin's tenth birthday when he got a real Pokemon."

"Well, I had an Aron doll. A girl that had a crush on me gave it to me. I didn't like her and when she went away, I slammed the doll against a wall. It must have messed up the speaker thing, because when I pressed the stomach, the doll said, 'DEEEEEkkkoRRRRR!' Now, whenever I see Aron, I think about that doll. And that's why I'm naming this Aron Dekor."

"Ha! A girl got a crush on YOU? Oh my gosh!" Celia snickered. Brian took a mallet and chased her around while Andy and Dekor stared at them. Little did they know, the battle they just fought would be nothing compared to the one they were going to face the next day.


Author's notes: Sorry for not updating sooner. I did a lot of stuff over spring break and all of my teachers decided to launch a lot of tests right after the break. Review now!