~ Chapter 23 ~
Fuego Ironworks
"The foothills of Route 205 are filled with natural iron deposits. Floaroma Town makes good use of these deposits and has them refined by the Fuego Ironworks; even Oreburgh City uses Fuego Ironworks too. I never thought that a place like this existed; it would've been perfect for a day of training. I learned something that day—NEVER, and I mean NEVER, trust an Ambipom. They're crafty little things—and they're all devils I tell you! Anyway, enough of that, I don't want to spend too much time on the unimportant things, but I'll say one last thing about our travels to the Fuego Ironworks. The only thing that burned hotter than the flames that day, was the dedication we all showed while trying to get back our Pokédexes."
Sam ran down the path, the others close behind him. He could see the two Ambipom running down towards the river ahead, and Sam dashed as fast as he could to try and catch the two Pokémon.
Earlier today two Ambipom who had tried to steal their Pokédexes had woken the group up.
Sam managed to stop them from getting Jeremy's, and Niya kept hers safe, but his and Alyssandra's were now in the hands of the two, thieving monkey Pokémon.
"Come back here!" shouted Jeremy, still tugging his jacket on.
"Pika, Pika!" cried Pikachu.
The small mouse Pokémon had spent the past few days in its Poké Ball, having been tired out from the fray with Team Galactic at the Windworks. It was still a young Pikachu after all.
The group stopped at the river and watched as the two Ambipom ran across a narrow log, crossing the river, and headed towards a large, redbrick building with smoke rising from large smokestacks.
"Woah hold up," said Sam, raising his hand as the group stopped by the river.
"Why are you stopping?" asked Alyssandra frantically, "We need to catch them!"
"The river's too wide to cross, and probably too deep. No point rushing across the log, it's too narrow for us and we'll just fall in," said Sam simply, looking down at the river, scanning it from left to right.
Alyssandra skidded to a halt but refused to give up there. "Go Cherubi!" she cried, tossing the Poké Ball up into the air.
The Pokémon shot out in a burst of red light and materialized beside its Trainer. "Use Magical Leaf, Cherubi! Get those Ambipom!" cried Alyssandra in a flurry.
Cherubi prepared its attack but stopped midway. Instead it glowed a bright white, and before Alyssandra could understand what was going on, it had evolved into a Cherrim. Alyssandra looked down in awe at her Pokémon. Shock covered her face; though she was proud and happy, she had not expected her Pokémon to evolve after her first command.
"Wow…" said Alyssandra slowly.
Her Cherrim looked up at her, though most of its face was hidden beneath deep purple leaves, and a curved green stem. The Pokémon looked like a purple bell with a mouth and legs sticking out from beneath.
The mouth smiled up at Alyssandra. "Cherrim!" it cried happily.
Remembering her pride for her Pokémon, Alyssandra picked it up and hugged it close to her. "I never expected you to evolve, Cherrim!" she said happily,
"Congratulations!" Niya watched the scene with disbelief, but soon regained her collected composure, "It seems all of the work you put into Cherrim over the past few days and during the contest paid off."
"The only thing I don't get," said Alyssandra as she held her Cherrim out to look at it, "Is why my Cherrim looks so different from the others I've seen? It has no pink flowers or red little berry-things on it."
"I read somewhere that Cherrim change form depending on the weather—though it's not the only Pokémon that does so," replied Niya as she examined the Cherrim closely, "From what I saw in the book, depending on the amount of sunlight available, the Cherrim either looks like this—known as the Overcast Form—and the form you were expecting—known as the Sunshine Form. It would appear that there's not enough sunlight yet for this Cherrim to reach Sunshine Form."
"Oh," said Alyssandra as she pulled her Cherrim close to her again, "Well I'm still proud of you anyway, Cherrim."
"I'm all proud for you guys," said Jeremy suddenly, "But those two Ambipom escaped; just thought I'd mention that."
"Jeremy's right," added Sam, "They headed towards that building."
Sam pointed towards the red building with the smoking chimneys. "So, what do we do? Chase after them?" asked Alyssandra, her Cherrim wriggling happily in her arms.
"No, the river's too wide and deep here, and we can't make it across that log, Like I said, we're too big," said Sam analytically.
"We also can't leave the camp alone like that," said Jeremy, "Otherwise more of our things might go missing."
"How about Jeremy and I head back to camp?" suggested Niya, "It was your Pokédexes they stole, not ours. You should go after them; call us if you need us though."
Sam nodded. "Sounds good," he said, "I'll page Jeremy with the Pager App if we need you guys."
"All right, good luck you two," said Jeremy, "Come on Niya."
With that, Jeremy and Niya ran back up the hill towards camp, while Sam looked left and right, down either end of the river, looking for a place to cross.
"When did you guys get a Pager App?" asked Alyssandra, returning her Cherrim to its Poké Ball, "I didn't even know they made those."
"Jeremy and I picked it up back in Jubilife City when we were there," answered Sam, motioning for Alyssandra to follow him down the river to the right, "We figured they'd come in handy. Mr. Rockford gifted them to us as prototypes when we went back to go see him."
"Where were Niya and I when we were getting these freebies?" asked Alyssandra, slightly affronted by being left out.
"You two were getting facials," said Sam, smiling for the first time all day, "Besides there were only two prototypes, and we got them first."
"Jeez, hurtful," joked Alyssandra, smiling sarcastically as she did.
The rest of the trip went silently, and as they kept going down the river, the large building on the other side grew closer and closer.
Finally, the two stopped near a small fork in the river. Sam could see a log draped across the river, and the rocks that sat at the bottom of what was now a creek.
"Here, this is the shallowest point," said Sam, "We can cross the log if you don't want to get your feet wet, or just walk across these stones here. The water's only an inch or two deep; at the most."
Alyssandra looked between the creek and the log, and firmly walked towards the log. "I'll take my chances with this overgrown stick here," she said, "You can have your creek."
Sam laughed and shrugged, then simply walked across the shallow water to the other side and waited patiently as Alyssandra fumbled her way across the log. Half way across however, she stumbled, and fell over into the creek, becoming soaked by the water than ran there.
Sam instinctively ran in after her, and though the water was shallow, he rushed to her aid, knowing full well that if she hit her head on a rock it could be dangerous.
"Are you okay?" asked Sam as he pulled Alyssandra up out of the water. Alyssandra threw her hair behind her shoulders and looked down at her soaked clothes.
"I think so," she said, "A little bruised on my left knee from the rocks, but I'll be fine. Thank goodness none of my Poké Balls fell loose or broke—and I can't even imagine how disappointed I'd be if my bag or anything in it got wet. I'm glad I left it back at the camp."
Sam nodded. "Yeah, that would be disastrous," he said looking at Alyssandra. It was then that Sam realized he was holding her hand, and she was holding his.
Sam looked down at their two hands, interlocked, as did Alyssandra, and then back up at Alyssandra. Then, realizing that they had been holding on a bit too long,
Sam and Alyssandra quickly let go and turned away from each other. "Come on, let's go," said Sam, trying to get over the awkwardness of the situation passed.
Alyssandra nodded silently and followed, also trying to forget the moment. As they walked towards the large building, Sam noticed Alyssandra shivering as a breeze began to blow over the field.
"Here," said Sam, being as chivalrous as he could, "Take my jacket."
Sam removed his jacket and placed it on Alyssandra's shoulders. "Don't even bother arguing," said Sam quickly, smiling at Alyssandra as he walked past her, "I'm stubborn—too stubborn to take no for an answer."
Alyssandra opened her mouth, but quickly shut it again, smiling as Sam and her kept walking towards what Alyssandra now thought was a factory.
The two young Trainers stopped when they reached the large iron door.
"Should we go in?" asked Alyssandra timidly, "I don't know what to expect."
Sam placed his hand up on the door. "There's only one way to know," he said, "Come on."
Sam pushed open the large door and came face to face with a blast of heat. All he could see was thick copper pipes, large loud machinery, and assembly lines that glowed orange with molten metal.
Hammers, both mechanical and manpowered, hammered into the metal as it moved along the line. Several men in jumpsuits and hardhats with heavy boots walked the factory.
Sam had no idea what this place was, but it was loud, and it was definitely a factory.
"Hey!" cried a loud, deep voice to Sam's left, "What are you two doing here?"
A large man with a round belly and thick muscled arms ran towards Sam and Alyssandra. His grey moustache twitched as his upper lip moved with his speech, and his cheeks were adorned with stubble that looked like salt and pepper mixed together.
He had long grey hair and thick grey eyebrows, the former of which was slicked back and tucked beneath his yellow hard hat.
"Visitors are allowed by appointment only," he said, "We can't just let you guys in here during work hours to train—it's dangerous!"
Sam looked up at the large man. "I'm Sam Accardi, sir," he said, "And this is Alyssandra De Rossi. We're travelling Trainers, and we're camped nearby, but this morning two wild Ambipom stole my and Lyss's Pokédexes, and now we need to get them back."
"They ran over this way, towards the building here," added Alyssandra slowly, "We were hoping to find them in here—we actually had no idea what this place was."
The tall man eyed the two with his hard eyes, the finally let out a smile. "An Accardi huh?" he said, "I know your Uncles. They supply me with the Pokémon from their Ranch for use in our factory! Welcome the Fuego Ironworks!"
"The Fuego Ironworks?" asked Alyssandra, "What's that?"
"I've heard of you guys," said Sam pensively, "I remember seeing your name on an order once. You guys refine the metal from Oreburgh City and the nearby hills around Floaroma Town and Route 205, right?"
"That we do," nodded the man, "Your uncles mentioned you once actually, and said you were smart as a whip, glad to see they were right."
The man held out his gloved hand for Sam and Alyssandra to shake. "Name's Rort," said the man as Sam and Alyssandra shook his hand in response.
His grip was firm, and rough from the worn leather of the glove, but Sam knew he meant no harm. The man dabbed at his forehead with a dirtied handkerchief and then looked at the two kids.
"Come up to my office," he said, "It's hot down here, we'll get somewhere cool and quiet, then we can discuss your little Ambipom problem."
Sam and Alyssandra followed Rort along the edge of the factory and up a set of stairs to a sheet metal room that stood on stilts high above the factory, looking down on the workers below.
Sam noticed that as they walked through the heat filled factory, Alyssandra's clothes began to dry much more quickly, and her hair was almost completely dry again as well.
When the two of them finally reached the office, the thick heat was replaced by a wall of cool air, pumped in by vents in the ceiling.
Rort sat the two kids down across from his desk, in two worn out pleather seats that looked like they had been there for decades. "Now," said Rort as he sat himself down in his chair and threw his helmet on the desk with a thud, "You say your personal effects were taken by a pair of Ambipom right?"
Rort threw his gloves off into the helmet and kicked his feet up on the desk.
Sam nodded, but Alyssandra answered. "We were woken up because these two Ambipom snuck into our camp and stole our stuff," said Alyssandra.
"I managed to stop them from taking our two friends' Pokédexes, but in doing so I was unable to stop them from taking mine and Lyss's," added Sam, sighing a bit as he did.
"I tried to chase them down, but they brought us to a river and we had to pause and cross at a narrower, shallower area," said Sam, almost sadly even, "It held us up, but all we remember is seeing those two Pokémon running towards this building."
Rort scratched his chin and thought for a moment. Just as fast as he had sat down, he shot back up. "I think I've seen these two Ambipom you're looking for," he said, "They usually come by here around midday, every day. We feed them the scraps of our lunches and let them play out back in the scrap yard."
"Scrap yard?" asked Alyssandra, "Why does a metal factory need a scrap yard?"
"When we're unhappy with something we make, and we're in no particular rush to make it, we'll throw it out back," explained Rort, "We waist no metal here! Anything that we don't like eventually gets scrapped; then we we're short on metal ore we melt that scrap down and reuse it. Genius no?"
The recycling factor of this factory didn't matter to Sam, but he nodded politely, trying to help the situation by getting friendly with Rort.
"Do you think you could show us the scrap yard?" asked Sam, "Maybe the two Pokémon are there."
Rort nodded, and without another word, threw on his gloves and helmet and walked Sam and Alyssandra down the stairs and through the heart of the factory.
Sam could see moulds of every kind, forming all sorts of shapes, from pipes to tools; to something that Sam didn't even know what they were.
As Rort neared the back of the factory, a loud shout—louder than the machinery—sounded from the scrap yard out back.
Sam and Alyssandra ran towards the back, with Rort following close behind.
Exiting the factory, Rort, Sam and Alyssandra saw Jeremy chasing around the two Ambipom, while avoiding metal scrap piles everywhere.
"Sam, catch!" cried Jeremy as he threw something in his direction.
Sam raised his hands, and his Pokédex fell into his hands. "Hey, this is mine!" cried Sam, "Wait, what are you doing here?"
"And where's Niya?" asked Alyssandra.
"What in the hell is going on here?" asked Rort lastly and loudly.
"These two came back to the camp," said Jeremy, pausing between dodges and sprints, "Niya's there now. I followed these little buggers here. Had to jump the fence to get in here. Got your Pokédex back, and now I'm trying to get mine."
"What about mine?" called Alyssandra.
"They've still got it!" retorted Jeremy as he dodged a flying pipe.
"Do you know this boy?" asked Rort, still confused about the situation.
"Yes," said Sam, "He's a friend of ours. We left him back at the camp but—well apparently he chased the Ambipom here."
"Hey!" cried Alyssandra suddenly.
Sam wheeled around and saw that an Ambipom had run by Alyssandra and stolen her Poké Ball belt.
"That's it!" roared Jeremy, "I'm going to battle these guys! Go Luxio!"
Jeremy's Luxio, now well fed and in its prime, was sent out from its Poké Ball, ready to battle one of the Ambipom.
Alyssandra instinctively reached for her Poké Balls but frowned as she remembered they had just been stolen.
Sam instantly thrust one of his Poké Balls into her hands. "Don't ask, just battle!" instructed Sam, "You can do it! Get your Pokémon back!"
Alyssandra froze, feeling naked without her Pokémon, almost like she couldn't battle. But the reassuring smile on Sam's face gave her courage, and she took the Poké Ball happily, and threw it.
Sam's Luxio appeared from the red light, and Alyssandra—remembering its attacks—was prepared.
Jeremy sent his Luxio onto a scrap pile beside his opponents, his Ambipom jumping back and forth on the spot, bouncing like a child on too much sugar. "Luxio, use Bite on Ambipom!" cried Jeremy.
His Luxio, sharp as ever, pounced lightly from its feet and leaped towards its opponent. But Ambipom was too fast and unleashed a Double Hit on Luxio without even moving.
Luxio was sent flying back, but landed on its feet and skidded backwards, glaring up at Ambipom as it still bounced back and forth.
"Try a Spark attack Luxio!" commanded Jeremy quickly.
Jeremy hoped to catch the Ambipom off guard and hit it with an attack that it couldn't counter, but the Ambipom jumped from the scrap pile it stood on to another one, causing the Electric attack to dissipate into the metal tubing and scrap.
Jeremy and his Luxio stood there still, watching as the Ambipom eyed them from its hopping position. Jeremy knew the Ambipom, foolish as it acted, was smart, and sought to tire out Luxio before it defeated him, but the last attack gave Jeremy an idea.
"Luxio, charge in at Ambipom and use your Bite attack again!" called Jeremy.
Luxio nodded and did as it was told without question. As the Luxio neared its mark, Ambipom prepared a Double Hit again, its two tails glowing a light blue colour, ready to strike.
Jeremy smile. "Luxio, stop and use your strongest Spark on the metal pile!" Luxio stopped, kicking up some dust as it did, and unleashed a powerful Electric attack into the metal; Ambipom, still in place from when it prepared to counterattack Luxio.
The electricity was amplified, carried, and extended by the metal that conducted it as easily as water would flow through a cloth. The Ambipom fell forward on its knee as the electricity wore off, and Jeremy took the opportunity to throw a Poké Ball at the Pokémon.
The Poké Ball absorbed Ambipom in a flash of red light and shook violently as the Pokémon fought hard for its freedom.
Meanwhile, Alyssandra began her fight with her Ambipom.
This Ambipom was much more active than the one Jeremy fought, moving around the scrap yard in order to avoid Sam's Luxio's attacks.
It stayed away from the metal, almost knowing that it would be dangerous for it, and it would hide behind rocks and other pieces of metal if Luxio came towards it with any kind of attack.
Even Luxio's Iron Tail was ineffective if it missed its mark, which it had several times already.
Alyssandra knew that if she didn't start striking at the Ambipom soon, and landing her attacks, Luxio would be too tired to keep battling and Ambipom would probably run off.
Gritting her teeth, Alyssandra prepared to plan out her strategy. "Luxio, run towards Ambipom, and use Tackle when you reach it!" shouted Alyssandra.
Sam watched with raised eyebrows as Alyssandra chose this manoeuvre. He had no idea what she was planning, but to him it seemed like it would only tire Luxio out more if she didn't land an attack.
"Luxio!" cried the Pokémon, and it dashed towards Ambipom at its top speed.
Ambipom laughed its Pokémon laugh, and ran around the yard, with Luxio close behind it. Ambipom finally ducked behind a large piece of metal that Sam thought was once a boiler.
"Luxio, use Iron Tail!" cried Alyssandra, "Hit the metal hard!"
Sam still couldn't figure out what Alyssandra was doing, but remained silent, knowing that the answer would appear soon.
The Iron Tail struck the hard metal boiler but failed to break through. Alyssandra smiled slyly and reacted quickly. "Now quickly, use Spark and channel it through your tail!" Luxio unleashed a mighty roar and a burst of electricity, sending it into its tail and then through the boiler.
The Ambipom, who was unfortunate enough to be inside during the attack was electrocuted and fell out of the boiler unconscious.
Alyssandra reached into Sam's pocket of the jacket she was still wearing and pulled out a Poké Ball. She pressed the middle button, and the Poké Ball grew to its regular size and filled her hand.
Alyssandra tossed the Poké Ball, and the Ambipom was absorbed by it.
The Poké Ball barely rocked before it beeped and signified that the Pokémon had been caught.
Alyssandra cheered and ran to pick up her Poké Ball, grabbing her Pokédex and Ball belt as she did. "I caught an Ambipom!" she cried, "And I think I was better with your Luxio than you are Sam, if I do say so myself."
Sam rolled his eyes and laughed. "In your dreams," he joked.
Jeremy cheered from somewhere over to Sam's left, and came bounding around a pile of scrap metal with a Poké Ball in his hand as well. "I got an Ambipom too!" he said happily, "And I got our Pokédexes back; it's a good day now."
The celebrations were cut short as the two Luxio began to glow softly. They shone a bright white, and when the light broke, two Luxray stood in their places.
"Luxray!" cried Jeremy's new Luxray.
"Ray! Luxray, Lux!" responded Sam's Luxray to no one in particular.
After congratulating their Pokémon on a job well done and giving them some moral support for and complimenting their evolution, Sam and Jeremy returned their Pokémon to their respective Poké Balls.
Rort looked down at the three kids and watched silently as Alyssandra returned Sam's jacket and Luxio—which had been returned to its Poké Ball—and smiled lightly as the three argued about Alyssandra's victory while using Sam's Luxio.
Rort let out a laugh like rolling thunder and slapped his stomach. "Look at you," he said beaming down on them, "I haven't seen a battle like that since my youth. I'll tell you, it brings back a lot of dear memories to me."
Sam slid his jacket on and smiled up at Rort. "Rort, thank you for helping us," he said, "I don't think we'd have been able to find these Pokémon without your help."
"Sure, we would!" protested Jeremy, "I would have followed these little buggers here—"
"—and we would've been arrested for trespassing," finished Alyssandra, her eyebrow raised and her hands on her hips.
Jeremy remained silent, and the conversation turned back to Rort.
"Well, the boy's got a point," laughed the large man, "But I take your thanks anyway! Look, you kids keep working hard; I want to see you all become Champion!"
"Actually, sir, I'm a Coordinator," replied Alyssandra sheepishly.
"And I want to be a Pokémon Ranger," said Jeremy, much more confidently than Alyssandra, "Sam's the only one who wants to be Champion."
Rort looked down at Sam with a bright smile. "Well then that goes for you, Sam!" said Rort, "I expect great things from you all though! Jeremy, boy, you better become a Pokémon Ranger, and a darn good one! And Alyssandra, I'll come watch you in the Grand Festival, I want you to become Top Coordinator!"
Alyssandra blushed nervously. "Thank you, Rort," she said, "I appreciate the support."
"Now, you had best be off," said Rort, "I can imagine your other friend who's watching the camp won't like being left out on the fun for much longer."
Sam laughed. "Niya? Fun?" asked Sam, "She's Queen of the Kill Joys."
"No, Sam," sighed Jeremy, patting Sam on the shoulder, "She's only the Queen of Killing Your Joy."
Sam groaned. "Don't I know it," he complained falsely, knowing full well it was a sarcastic joke.
Rort simply laughed again, and escorted the kids to the door, saying his goodbyes once more and watching while the three of them returned to the river and crossed back over—chuckling to his self as Alyssandra fell in again—and vowing to never forget these young children who showed such great promise as Trainer, Coordinator, and Ranger.
Today would be a day that no one forgot.
