POKEMON HEART SOUL ADVENTURES

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Chapter 46 - Stark Contrasts on Stark Mountain

"Mudkip, Ralts... use Water Gun and Confusion together!"

"Treecko, Mothim, fight back with Quick Attack and Protect!"

Max and Hilde gave their order to their Pokemon, now on the battlefield to practice with each other, almost at the same time. The two sides appeared to be evenly matched, and both trainers' strategies were effective... however, there was a clear difference in their execution: while Max seemed to have planned everything in advance, and gave commands to his Pokemon according to precise schemes he had in mind already... Hilde did not seem to have a plan, and simply reacted to what Max was trying to do. May, along with her Blaziken and her Glaceon, was watching the battle unfold with clear interest, thinking back of the days where she, her brother and Hilde were in the clutches of Team Vicious. Just by seeing how effective the two children's strategies were even now that they were beginners, May couldn't help but shiver at the thought of what dreadful criminals they might have turned out to be hadn't she, Drew, Harley and Solidad saved them from the evil organization's clutches. It was a scary thought indeed... but luckily, everything had turned out okay, even though it would still take some time before May could rest easy. Even now, she had become more paranoid, and was glancing around herself warily.

At least things appeared to have settled down for now, and two of her strongest Pokemon were there standing guard upon them. And after the crushing defeat they had received in their own hideout, Team Vicious would probably have waited a long time before attempting a comeback. Enough time to get ready for them, and the chestnut-haired girl was absolutely sure she hadn't seen the last of them.

"Blaz?" her Blaziken clucked a second later, placing one of his large hands on his trainer's shoulder and causing her to jump up a little in surprise. As May turned to him, the Fire / Fighting Pokemon slightly lowered his hooked beak, as if saying that she could always count on him, and he'd always give her his support. That put May in a better mood and she winked to her starter Pokemon, as she stroked Glaceon's back with one hand.

"Thanks, Blaziken... Glaceon... I know you always have my back, but there is another problem..." the young girl said, the sole of her shoes rustling the grass in an absent-minded way. "I know I did it for Max and Hilde, but that doesn't change the fact that I committed some crimes while I was in Team Vicious, and I'm surprised the police didn't decide to haul me in for safety."

"Eon...?" Glaceon moved his ears a little, as if saying that he understood his trainer. He had done things like enclosing Harley into a block of ice in order to have him taken to the Team Vicious HQ without problems. Still, he didn't seem to be about to get down, and he was already thinking of a way to make up for that. "Glaceoooon? Eon, eon!"

"What? What do you mean, Glaceon?" a surprised May asked, as she looked into the deep eyes of the icy critter. Blaziken scratched his chin with one of his claws, then turned to May and acted as a translator.

"Blaz, blaz! Blaziken!" the Fire / Fighting type said, a few crimson flames licking the surface of his plumage. May stopped to think about that, thinking that the idea might have its merits... and it was also a good way to ask for forgiveness for what she had done previously.

"I see. Chasing after Team Vicious and expose their hideouts wherever they might be. It surely would help the police..." a more serene May affirmed. "Well, it is worth a try, at this point. It's not like we have much to lose... aside from our lives, that is."

"Blaziken!" her starter exclaimed, nodding with a deadly serious expression! May combed her hair out of her face and sighed, thinking that what simply started out as a way to help Max move his first steps in the world of Pokemon was now turning into something much more complicated...

Luckily, a far less serious problem presented itself in front of her a few seconds later as Max and Hilde continued their battle, and their Pokemon rushed each other! A Water Gun attack combined with Ralts' Confusion attack, and split up into countless sprays of water that the small Psychic-type's telecinetic powers kept compact before flinging towards Hilde's Mothim, causing him to lose his balance! The moth screeched and landed, flapping his wings clumsily, but Hilde's Treecko responded in kind, attacking Max's Mudkip with an Absorb attack. The small mud-fish whimpered a little and flopped to the ground in a daze, as his energy was drained in the form of countless wisps of green light that went from his body to Treecko's...

"Not a bad move, Max." Hilde said, always in her neutral, aloof way. "I'm betting you had prepared that beforehand."

Max adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose, somewhat proudly. "Well, I guess you could say so!" he affirmed. "My Pokemon and I spend a chunk of our spare time preparing a few strategies to use in battle... and we haven't had any problem until now! That's how we managed to get the better of Roxanne!"

Hilde nodded. "Yeah, I kinda noticed that. And you weren't half bad at it, I must admit." the young girl answered, playing with the rebellious curl on top of her head. "I prefer a more spontaneous approach, if you catch my drift. Planning is good and all, but I hope you realize one must be able to improvise too."

"Don't worry about that, Hilde, and worry about defending, because all of my Pokemon are well trained!" Max answered, getting ready to use another one of his strategies. "Okay, Mudkip! You can return now! Your turn, Zigzagoon!"

The Water-type nodded as Max recalled him in his Pokeball, and a second later, the small raccoon-like Pokemon appeared on the battlefield, his fur standing on end so as to appear larger, while Ralts floated down and placed himself at his side. The two Pokemon looked at each other in a gesture of understanding, and then got ready to hold up against yet another attack from Hilde's Pokemon, who were just then positioning themselves for another attack. "Very well... get ready, guys, we'll use another one of our formations!"

"Formations? I never figured you for the coordinating type." a sarcastic Hilde affirmed. "Treecko, Mothim... we'll keep this nice and simple."

As the two children continued giving orders, and their Pokemon clashed with ever greater determination, May and her Pokemon relaxed and sat on the fresh grass, enjoying that sparring match. Seeing her brother and his friend giving it their all and doing their best to surpass each other made her think that as long as she could watch over them, everything would turn out okay.

"Blaziken, Glaceon... I think we can be looking forward to some very intense days!" she stated. "So... get ready, we'll have to get back to training very soon!"

The two Pokemon nodded in determination, and a bright light lit up in the Fire / Fighting Pokemon's eyes. The idea that he was soon going to be back at the top of his game sounded exciting...

oooooooooo

In northern Sinnoh, among the still uncharted mountains of a newly-discovered island, where several strong and powerful Pokemon lived free, was a place known as Stark Mountain... an active volcano whose name was a dead giveaway of the inhospitable nature of the place: a pungent smell of volcanic ash was ever present in the air, and clouds of black smoke were periodically belched out of the volcano's mouth, which made the climate warmer than the average for the Sinnoh region. The heights were harsh, composed of sharp black rock, and few plants could grow in such an hostile environment... but that was not a reason for human beings not to try and explore it, and for Pokemon not to live in it. In fact, several Sinnoh legends spoke of a Legendary Pokemon living in the magmatic pools under Stark Mountain, that until now had managed to evade capture from everyone bold enough to explore the natural maze. Until now, only a few speculations had been done about the nature of such a mysterious Pokemon...

However, this was just the perfect attraction for anyone with less than savory ambitions. Because of the impervious nature of that place, it was hard for anyone to go poke their nose there... and a group of people who had threatened the peace on Sinnoh only a short time before had chosen Stark Mountain as their new base of operations, and was plotting to catch the mysterious Pokemon living in the volcano!

A young woman with short red hair, wearing a futuristic-looking black and white uniform, the same type Team Galactic used, sighed anxiously as she sat on a bench carved into the bare rock, in front of a natural cavern from which a faint sulphureous smell could be felt. With one of her hands, she absent-mindedly petted a Purugly, a Pokemon looking like an overlarge, obese tomcat with an arrogant tilt to his face, huge triangular ears, long zigzagging whiskers and grey fur with white spots, with a spring-like tail that bifurcated itself towards its tip. That was, without a doubt, Mars, one of the three Team Galactic enforcers that reported directly to their leader Cyrus, and that had fought Ash, Cynthia and heir friends when they had tried to stop the criminal organization's mad plans. Her Purugly nd her Bronzor had been dangerous opponents... but in the end, they had been no match for Ash, Brock, Dawn and especially Cynthia and their Pokemon. Now that Team Galactic was officially disbanded, Mars felt like she had nothing to look forward to... especially since she did have an undeniable crush on Cyrus, despite knowing that it would always remain one-way. The fact that now several of those who had been part of Team Galactic's master plan had reunited in that hostile place, after the organization's lead scientist Charon had broken them out of prison, felt somewhat strange to her. as if she couldn't accept that someone else was trying to tread on the great Cyrus' same steps. Especially since the new commander of Team Galactic hardly had a small fraction of Cyrus' charisma and vision...

"Well, Purugly..." the redhead murmured, scratching the spoiled feline behind one of his enormous ears, and earning an affectionate purr as reward. "Here we are, serving someone who will never hold a candle to our true leader... how the mighty have fallen inded. The time where Team Galactic was making everyone in this continent cringe in fear are long gone now. And if you want my opinion... Charon has no right to claim merit for the work Lord Cyrus has sacrificed everything for. That man is only interested in money..."

Purugly scratched himxelf with one of his paws, just to shrug off the volcanic dust that had gotten in its fur, then his ears perked up as he caught the sound of someone getting closer. Mars, for her part, did not even deign the newcomer of a glance - it was a person she had worked alongside of for such a long time, that she knew her like the palm of her own hand.

"Hmph... what is it, Jupiter? What's with our "boss" now?" Mars asked in annoyance. For being friends, Mars could never stand Jupiter's attitude at times, and after Cyrus' disappearence, this had only gotten worse.

Jupiter, the second of Team Falactic's lieutenants, a tall and slender woman with purple hair tied in an odd ponytail right on top of her head, and another ponytail flowing down her back, her lips tinted red and wearing a tight uniform that bore little resemblance to the feminine uniform worn by her colleague - complete with skirt -, stifled a short laugh. "You ought to know that by this point, Mars..." she affirmed. "You know that our new boss wants everything under control, and will ask for a report on what we saw during our scouting of the lower levels. We cannot afford any meddling kids like the last ones to risk ruining our plans, that's why we hid in a place where hardly anyone ever comes. But one can never be too careful."

"Skunktank!" Jupiter's signature Pokemon answered. In Jupiter's case, her favorite Pokemon was a huge skunk with long purple fur that turned white on its chest, chin and paws, as well as a graceful tuft of white hair on the tip of his tail. Despite his rather cute appearence, the smell that always accompanied the Dark / Poison type Pokemon was such that Mars wondered how Jupiter could stand hanging around that Pokemon for so long without wearing a gas mask all day long.

Mars shook her head, gently stroking her Purugly on the back and head. "I haven't seen anything that might become a danger to us... really, Jupiter, who is supposed to come looking for us in this place? Aside from those two busybodies we have already caught." she affirmed.

Jupiter chuckled and shook her head. "And that, Mars, is why you're still the lowest-ranked Team Galactic executive. You are not meticulous enough in your line of work." she said in a mocking way. "For you see... while you were twiddling your thumbs here, Saturn had the good idea of sending a patrol around here, and they have reported the presence of three rather notable Pokemon trainers in one of the run-down houses near the main road. I wouldn't be surprised if they were coming to Stark Mountain to train. They could be some rather unwelcome guests, do you not agree? It wouldn't do if they discovered that the remnants of Team Galactic are here and are trying to get their hands on Heatran, the Legendary Pokemon associated with this place. You aren't going to tell me that this particular had flown over your head, are you?"

Mars frowned. She was hardly in the mood to hear her colleague and rival underscore her failures... and she had more important things to think about anyway. "What? You mean three trainers are coming here? And... does Saturn already know who they are?"

"Of course! He just confirmed their identities to Lord Charon..." Jupiter answered with an haughty nod. "To be exact, two of them have taken part in the Sinnoh Grand Tournament, earning themselves a place within the Top 16... while the other one is a rather unknown female trainer. But that's no reason to dismiss her as an inconsequential threat, is it?"

Mars picked up her Purugly - not an easy feat, considering the sheer weight of the catlike Pokemon - and dusted her skirt, with a noticeably more determined expression on her face. "Fine then, let's do this. Should those brats come here, we'll make sure they won't pose a problem to us." she affirmed. "I'm not going to let the result of so many months of work and sacrifice be squandered like that!"

"We are in agreement of something, at least..." Jupiter answered, while her Skuntank grinned and waved his bushy tail around, spreading a repulsive smell all around and forcing Mars to turn away...

oooooooooo

"A trainer's way is filled with obstacles..." said to himself the young trainer walking along the main road that climbed the sheer cliffs of Stark Mountain, his two companions walking along with him. "A trainer will meet many dangers, and inorder to overcome them, he or she must be quick-witted, able to come up with clever strategies and must know his or her own Pokemon as well as possible. And above all, he or she must always have a plan, for every possible situation. If a trainer doesn't think... then he must predict! It's all very simple, actually..."

Panting a little because of the thinned atmosphere, the young trainer named Conway, one of the top 16 trainers in the latest Sinnoh Pokemon Tournament, and a skilled tactician with a glaring inability to think up a strategy on the fly, adjusted his thick glasses, whose lenses shone for a moment in a disquieting way... and after a moment, he continued talking to himself. "With that said... one might ask what is someone like me, one who believes in strategy above all else, doing teaming up with these two..."

"Hahahaaaa! Betcha ya can't race me up to that hilltop!"

"Wanna bet, blondie? You're talking to the strongest female trainer of the Pokemon summer school! I could kick your butt with my eyes closed!"

"Hah! You wish, kiddo! Show me what you've got! And if you can't catch up with me, I'm gonna fine ya good!"

"Suuuure you are! Getready to fork over the money!"

Conway sighed in frustration and shook his head as his partners - a blond young boy with messy hair and an hyperactive attitude, and a young girl with short, boyish blue-green hair - began racing each other up the closest hilltop. "That's what I meant..." he murmured to himself. "Here I am, acting as a babysitter for these stubborn kids who have a habit of acting before they think... not exactly what I was expecting from a training journey on Stark Mountain! Who knows what Ash and his friends... especially Dawn... are doing right now. I'm sure they're having fun... each one of them on their own, trying to train for their next battle, just like I am doing right now..."

It all had started the day before, when Conway had arrived at the small town at the foot of Stark Mountain, searching for a place where he could train his Pokemon and practice a few new strategies he had thought up. He had heard it was quite a difficult place to travel, and that a lot of powerful Pokemon lived there... it was the perfect place to practice against worthy opponents and to force him to come up with more effective counters on the fly.

But Cinway had found himself tripped up by some unpredictable factors... namely, a pair of busybodies who seemed to think they were on a school trip or something! He had met them at the isolated village's Pokemon Center... and as soon as one of them had recognized Conway, they had practically forced themselves in his training journey!

Of course, it was something of an exaggeration to say that Barry (because, yes, that was who he was) had recognized Conway. The two Sinnoh finalists had simply bumped into each other because, as usual, Barry was not paying attention to where he was going! And after a few moments of confusion, and Barry threatening to give Conway the biggest fine ever, the second unpredicted and uninvited element had come: a young girl calling herself Angie, whom Barry had somehow met during his own journey after the end of the Sinnoh Tournament, and one of Conway's own comrades at the summer school. In fact, Conway had to admit that Barry and Angie were eerily alike, the difference being that Angie seemed to be somewhat better in terms of brain power.

And since fate could really have a warped sense of humour when it wanted, it turned out that Angie had already met Ash at the summer camp! According to Barry's odd brand of logic, that was a valid motivation for the three of them to travel together, and Angie had been okay with that, for reasons that Conway couldn't reall understand...

"And here's the result..." Conway murmured, shaking his head. "Now, I have to travel with these two, and kiss all my chances to do a decent amount of training goodbye... geez, the things one has to do..." In front of him, the more active trainers has reached the top of the hill at about the same time... and each one of them was rubbing his or her supposed victory in the other's face!

"It is pointless to insist, my dear! I won, live with it!"

"Whaaaat? Look, blond, I saw it with my own eyes! I had at least one inch on you!"

"Then you'd better get a pair of looking glasses, myopic girl! Why I ought to fine you for that!"

Understanding that this was going to be quite the long trip, Conway adjusted his glasses again, and tried to recall to order his more exhuberant companions. "Guys, I wouldn't want to be a wet blanket here... but aren't you forgetting the reason why we're here? We... were going to train our Pokemon, not quarreling among us..."

"We know that, four-eyes, we didn't come here just for kicks..." Angie answered, fanning herself with her green shirt. The climate of Stark Mountain really was every match with the name. "Nothing wrong with having a little fun every now and then, right?"

"Okay, okay... I guess you've got a point here..." Conway admitted, recognizing that he was only a few years her senior, after all. "But, the fact remains that you two have tagged along without even having a plan, or a timetable to respect. I mean, Pokemon training is no game, everything should be planned in time... you should take lessons from me, since I never charge head-on into a situation without having a precise strategy!"

"Your strategy didn't really help you against Ash, now did it?" the hyperactive Barry answered, remembering one of the first battles in the Sinnoh Tournament finals, where Conway had been defeated by the young trainer from Pallet Town. "I mean, why don't you take example from Paul? He does know how to train Pokemon and how to face a battle! He adapts himself to his opponent's strategy, and always has a counter ready! He wouldn't have placed second at the tournament if not for that! That's why he's my idol!"

"Dude, your so-called idol lost to Ash as well!" Angie reminded him.

Barry was unfazed. "So what? Why should that mean anything? Ash is a great trainer too, there is no shame in losing to someone that strong!" he countered.

Angie sighed and shook her head, finding it very ironic that they were the ones now bickering... sure, it couldn't be said that they were a very well-assorted trio... she really had to wonder how they would have faced the training period together...

oooooooooo

"Alright, according to my map, we shoul be close to the volcano's cauldron right now..." Conway affirmed as, a few hours later, the three trainers were walking along a battered road surrounded with robust-looking vegetation and small pools of sulphureous water that emitted a repulsive smell. "Sure, it might not be the most pleasant place in the world, but in any case, it will be a nice training ground for our Pokemon..."

"Slow..." Conway's Slowking, one of his most powerful Pokemon, answered. The odd-looking alternate evolved form of Slowpoke was keeping close to his trainer, spraying some water from time to time in order to keep himself and his travelling companions - consisting of the three trainers, Barry's Hitmonlee and Angie's newly-evolved Luxio - cooled down. Still, the heat was almost suffocating, and the clouds of vapor hanging in the air made it hard to see what was around them.

"I'd agree with that... of course, that is provided we get to see where the heck we're going!" Angie answered, futilely trying to wave the vapor away from herself. Her Luxio was emitting a faint light around himself, trying to be a beacon to his companions... and a moment later, feeling there was something strange about it, the feline Pokemon raised his head and looked around in alarm. "Hm? What's the matter, Luxio? Is anything wrong?"

Angie's words caused the other two trainers to stop in their tracks as well... and Barry's Hitmonlee raised both his arms in a guarding position, and positioned his right leg ready to strike. "Wha? What's going on here? Is there an earthquake coming? Is the volcano about to explode?" Barry asked. Angie didn't know if he was either excited or alarmed...

"Slowwwww..." Conway's Slowking murmured, frowning and glaring at a pair of high rocky cliffs that rose from the ground, a few meters away from them. Feeling rather alarmed, his trainer turned in the direction Slowking was referring to... and was able to see a pair of human figures standing in the mist. With a slight shiver of fear, he reached for another Pokeball, asking himself who those two people were. Stark Mountain wasn't exactly a place where one could meet a lot of people...

"Hey! Who are you two? And what's the big idea of standing there and scaring the heck out of any trainers coming here minding their own business?" Barry imprudently exclaimed. "You'd deserve one mighty fine for that!"

"Can you even string two sentences together without mentioning fines?" Angie snarked.

The two unknowns didn't seem to be very impressed... and just as Conway was about to ask more questions, something unpredicted happened! A multicolored mote of light floated out of the mist and reached his Slowking, circling around him before disappearing, and leaving the Water / Psychic Pokemon with a goofy expression on his face! It was too late to do anything, much to Conway's annoyance: the Confuse Ray had taken effect on Slowking, whose eyes seemed to roll in their orbits for a moment, before he launched himself against a rock and painfully slammed himself upon it!

"Be careful, Slowking..." Conway tried to warn his Pokemon, to no avail. Luxio and Hitmonlee placed themselves close to their respective trainers, while a short, boorish laugh resonated in theair, and the mists began to part, revealing several individuals surrounding the three trainers! "What? Darn... who are these guys? They had surrounded us all along, taking advantage of the cover?"

"Darn... I'm afraid I have a hunch on who they are..." an alarmed Barry murmured. In fact, the futuristic-looking black and white uniforms left little doubt about where those guys came from: they were a bunch of grunts of Team Galactic, the criminal team that had been active in Sinnoh until a few months ago... but Barry had also heard that they disbanded after their leader Cyrus had disappeared in mysterious circumstances, and after his three lieutenents had been arrested. So... what were those guys doing there? "Hey! What's the big deal, guys? You haven't heard the news? Team Galactic has been history for a while now!"

"Sure, kiddo, that's what you have been told..." the person who had laughed before answered, revealing himself. He was a rather young man wearing the uniform of a Team Galactic executive, with a sharp and cunning gleam in his eyes, with short blue hair combed backwards on his head, in a way that reminded of a pair of short curved horns! Accompanying him were a large Bronzong, a Psychic / Steel type Pokemon looking like a huge Japanese-style iron bell, with two arms jutting out of its top... and a Toxicroak, a Poison / Fighting type Pokemon similar to a huge toad standing just a little shorter than a human being, with a slimy blue skin that turned red on his vocal sacs and on each hand's middle finger, yellow eyes with slit-like pupils and an impish smile plastered on his face. It didn't take much in the way of imagination to understand that it was the evolvedversion of a Croagunk. "But the truth is, some of us still haven't gotten over our leader Cyrus' disappearence, and at the moment, we're working to make his dream of a new world come true, and find him again! And the Pokemon living in this place will surely be worth a lot of money, and will aid us nicely towards those ends! Hehee... but where are my manners? My name is Saturn, and I'm one of Team Galactic's three lieutenants. I have had the honor of being Lord Cyrus' right-hand man."

"What? Team Galactic?" Angiie exclaimed, backing up one step as her Luxio growled, and electric sparkles crackled out of his short blue-and-black fur. Conway's Slowking was still under the influence of the Confuse Ray he had taken earlier, quite probably from Saturn's Bronzong. "But... but who's calling the shots, now that your boss has disappeared?"

"Well, let's just say we weren't the only ones who wanted Lord Cyrus' vision to come true." Saturn answered calmly. His Toxicroak grinned sinisterly and glared at Barry's Hitmonlee, selecting him as an opponent... and Barry, quickly noticing that, glared back at Saturn. "See... our former lead scientist, Charon, managed to bail us out of prison, and then issued a recalling to all those who hasn't stopped believing in Lord Cyrys' dream, so that Team Galactic could have a second chance! And you brats just happen to be a potential threat to our plan, so... regrettably, we'll have to ask you to hang around here juuuust a little longer..."

"Is that so, you jester? That's what we're going to see right now!" Barry challenged. "C'mon, Hitmonlee! Let's show him that we haven't gotten to the Sinnoh Tournament Top 16 by chance!"

"Hit! Mon! Lee!" the kickboxing Pokemon answered, quickly kicking the air. Angie's Luxio was already charging up with electricity, with Saturn's Bronzong eerily floating in midair towards him. The other Galactic grunts sent their own Pokemon out and got ready to fight, causing Conway to realize that they were quite outmatched...

"Darn..." Conway murmured to himself, finding himself in the exact sort of situation he hated - the one for which he hadn't planned. "If only Slowking wasn't confused, then we might stand a chance..."

A Team Galactic Bibarel attacked first, rolling into a ball and then launching himself at Luxio in a Rollout attack, but the electric feline, at a simple command from his trainer, jumped up and over the beaver-like Pokemon, descending upon him and landing right on his back while he was getting back on guard! "Well done, Luxio! Now, attack with Thunder Fang!" Angie exclaimed... and a second later, Luxio's teeth, crackling with electricity, closed upon the enemy Bibarel, sending a powerful electric shock in the Normal / Water type Pokemon's body! Bibarel screeched in pain and violently jerked his own body around in order to escape Luxio's electric grasp, but he soon gave up and dropped to the ground with a sigh, thin trails of smoke coming from his fur, and his eyes turning into swirls.

"One down! Well done, Luxio!" Angie cheered.

Unfortunately, Conway wasn't quite as optimistic about their chances. "I would wait to cheer until we're actually out of the woods..." he said, letting out his Lickylicky, a strange, chubby pink Pokemon with a short tail and an overly long tongue that almost surpassed its body in length! In fact, it was the newly-discovered evolved form of a Lickitung, and for Angie, it was a Pokemon that jogged her memories of when she, together with Ash, had tried to hide one from her parents. "There's just three of us, and a lot of them..."

"Croak!" Saturn's Toxicroak exclaimed, in a mocking tone that almost seemed to agree with the bespectacled young man's analysis, before leaping to attack Barry's Hitmonlee. The blond boy realized he was in danger, and called out to his Fighting-type just in time...

"Quickly, Hitmonlee!" he exclaimed. "Counter with a nice Blaze Kick!"

"HIT!" the Kicking Pokemon readily answered. As the giant toad was looming upon him, Hitmonlee jumped up, spinning his right leg around in a tornado-like move and surrounding it in vivid crimson flames. Hitmonlee shot towards Toxicroak to intercept him... but just as it seemed that the Poison / Fighting type was going to fall to Hitmonlee's counter, something that Barry was not expecting happened!

"Toxicroak, use Sludge Bomb." Saturn calmly ordered. The toad-like Pokemon, after taking a good breath, inflated his sound sacs... and suddenly opened his mouth, firing a huge projectile of purplish slime that struck Hitmonlee before his flaming kick could connect! The kickboxing Pokemon groaned as he was swamped in toxic sludge and knocked out of the air, landing in a heap close to Barry!

"Oh, no! Hitmonlee!" Barry exclaimed. Saturn's Bronzong, for its part, was having an easy time against Angie's Luxio, who had admittedly started out well by hitting the Psychic / Steel type with a Charge Beam... but who had found himself helpless when Bronzong had slammed itself on the ground with all of its weight, using an Earthquake attack that had quickly knocked out the electric feline. Conway was the only one left standing now... and he was quickly realizing that the day was lost, since he was surrounded with enemies, and his Lickylicky was not going to be enough to take down all of them.

"Darn, we're in deep trouble here!" Angie exclaimed as she recalled her Luxio. "Whatdo we do now, brainy? Do you have another one of your brilliant ideas?"

The bespectacled young man narrowed his eyes and grit his teeth. How he hated having no idea what to do, especially in a tight spot such as the one he was in now! His Lickylicky was giving it all he had, and had managed to down a fair number of foes... but Team Galactic's sheer numbers made it clear that it was only a matter of time before he was defeated. Using a powerful Rollout attack, Lickylicky hit a couple of Staravias who were flapping around him in a threatening way, and managed to knock them out, but he was quickly intercepted by a Poliwrath, a Water / Fighting type Pokemon that looked like a huge, tailless dark blue tadpole with muscular arms and legs and a black spiral on its white belly. The enemy Pokemon executed a Brick Break attack, hitting Lickylicky on the back with an overhead hand chop as he was coming out of his Rollout attack. The unfortunate Normal-type's tongue shot out of his mouth, and his eyes widened wildly before he fell to the ground in pain.

"Lickylicky!" an alarmed Conway exclaimed... just before seeing that several enemies had surrounded him and his friends, and that he wouldn't have had the time to reach another Pokeball and send another Pokemon out before he was pinned down. "I... I'm afraid I'm out of ideas her, guys! We can't do anything else than give up."

"Give up? Hey, what on Earth are you saying?" Barry exclaimed, his attempts to turn the situation around coming off as nothing but a cry against the inevitable. "We can still stop these scoundrels! We just have to..."

He was interrupted when Saturn's Toxicroak blitzed close to him and grabbed his right wrist before he could take another Pokeball, holding him with such force that Barry felt the blood flow to his fingers being cut off! Barry grit his teeth in sudden pain, while other Team Galactic grunts reached Conway and Angie and tied their hands behind their backs. Smiling in satisfaction, Saturn climbed down from the ledge he was standing on, and reached the trio of trainers.

"You have got guts, kids, that much I'm going to give you." the Team Galactic lieutenant affirmed, keeping close to his Bronzong just in case anyone tried something funny. "But still, we cannot afford to let you go. Sorry, but your little trip to Stark Mountain ends here. Escort them to our guestroom, men! They won't risk getting bored, with the guests we already have!"

"Guests? That means you already have..." Angie began to say, as the grunts began tying her hands behind her back. A sudden pull made her grunt in pain, while Barry and Conway were forced to walk in a line towards the Team Galactic hideout...

Saturn smiled in amusement. "Hehehee... I'll let you discover that for yourselves, but I'm sure you wuill have much to chat about with them! Take them away. We'll decide what to do with them later... after Heatran is in our hands, of course!"

Conway's ears perked up at the name. Sure, it wasn't a very well-known Legendary Pokemon... but it was a Legendary Pokemon still, and the fact that the remnants of Team Galactic were after him meant nothing good... the bespectacles young man and his companions wondered what Team Galactic's plans were, and what Heatran had to do with the disappeared Cyrus... but Conway felt they were going to get an answer soon, and they wouldn't have liked it one bit...

oooooooooo

Bent of a few papers filled with strange graphs and mathematics, Charon, the former leader of Team Galactic's scientific division and one of Cyrus' most trusted advisors, seemed intent in doing somne calculations, under the light of a lamp placed on his desk, in a room excavated in the volcano's raw stone. The heat was oppressive and hard to stand, but the aging scientist was still hard at work, indifferent to the heat and humidity as he continued his studies and calculations.

"Okay... let's see where we stand now..." he murmured to himself, adjusting his glasses on his wrinkled face. "Oh, yes, of course... according to my calculations, our target shouldn't be too far away... but we'd have to excavate a critical point, and if we don't take the right precautions, we'll end up buried in molten lava when it flows out of the crater. Better to be patient and wait until we have our escape routes ready."

In his focused state, Charon almost didn't notice Mars walking in his room... and in fact, he almost hopped up in surprise when the young woman cleared her voice to call for his attention. "Ehm... I apologize for the intrusion, Dr. Charon..." she started. "I have come to report the fact that we have intercepted and captured a few outsiders that were intruding in our territory."

"What?" Charon asked, his harsh voice made even more raucous by that secluded place's uncomfortable climate. "Who are they? Have you checked whether or not they are part of the Pokemon police?"

Mars shook her head. "We re positive they are just a group of independent trainers. They have come here by chance, and they had no idea that we were operating in this place. Still, they are a potential danger. Should they reveal our presence here, we would be in trouble. We need to keep them locked here, at least until we have caught Heatran and can abandon this temporary hideout."

"Fine... we'll have to speed up our operations then." Charon answered. A disquieting smile appeared on his face, and the light of the electrical lamp shone on the small lenses of his glasses. "After all, we cannot afford to waste the chance we have now... you see, Mars, one of the intruders we captured a couple days ago had a very peculiar Pokemon with her, and if we the time and the means, I would like to study it and try and discover something interesting about it. I left it apart from the other Pokemon we got from them... if you wish, you can take a look at it!"

Charon produced a small remote from a pocket of his labcoat, and pressed a button, causing a secret door hidden in a wall to slide open... and give access to what looked like a small laboratory, filled with great glass cylinders wrapped in a greenish-azure glow! As Mars followed Charon in the secret room, she saw that the cylinders were empty... all but one, in which a strange-looking Pokemon, whose odd appearence left the red-haired Galactic lieutenant speechless, was floating helplessly!

It was a very peculiar creature that did not even look alive: a rounded, pink, and clearly digital Pokémon that showed similarities to a drinking bird. It had a relatively flat bill and large, round eyes. Its legs were simple ovoid growths along its sides, and its tail widened towards the middle. Its bill, legs, tail, and underside were blue, and it was, in fact, nothing more than a more polished, more refined version of a Porygon, the artificial Pokemon created by the Silph Company in Saffron City.

Curious about that strange being, Mars got closer and began looking at it from all angles. "Hmm... now this is a very interesting Pokemon, professor. Tell me, does it happen to be an as of yet unseen evolution of a Porygon?" she asked, secretly imagining what the answer was going to be. In fact, Charon slowly nodded, keeping his glance on the strange virtual Pokemon.

"You came close, my dear Mars! This is a Porygon-2, an intermediate evolution of a Porygon. And yes, I said intermediate, because it turns out, it has the potential to evolve again, into an even stronger form!" he affirmed. "As you can imagine, this is a rarely seen Pokemon... and most interesting thing of all, I have discovered quite a few bugs in its programming, which causes it to act in unpredictable ways from time to time. Such an unusual Pokemon... I'm sure that, were I to study it and understand the meaning of these anomalies, we would be able to find some very useful applications to it! To say nothing of the fact that such a rare and precious Pokemon will be worth quite a lot of money on the black market!"

Mars frowned. She had never liked Charon, especially since he didn't really care about Team Galactic's mission or Cyrus' vision, and was only out to line his own pockets with money. Still, as long as Cyrus was out of their reach, they had to put up with him, and do what he deemed more useful to the team...

"Alright, doctor... we'll see about interrogating those kids, maybe they will be able to tell us something more about that Pokemon..." she stated, hoping this was not going to be too difficult. "But our priority is and remains Heatran, I hope you haven't forgotten it."

"Worry not, my dear Mars..." Charon answered, in an half-exasperated, half-mocking tone. "I have everything under control, and we will soon be able to capture Heatran..."

oooooooooo

"There you go! Galactic Hotel gives you this cozy little room, with a nice vista of the Stark Mountain and the unforgiving cliffs below! I hope you'll like it, since you are going to spend quite a long time here!" Jupiter said mockingly as she closed the door of the cell Conway, Angie and Barry had been shown to, trapping them inside. "Please, make yourselves at home. You'll have plenty of time to get used to the place as we decide what to do with you! Have a good day! Or a bad one, I don't really care!"

"Ugh... we'll sure make ourselves at home... thanks for the five-star hotel treatment!" Conway snarked. The three young trainers had been deprived of their Pokeballs, which had been taken to another room... and could now do nothing but wait the moment when Team Galactic would decide their fate. With impotent anger, Barry and Angie glared at Jupiter and her minions as they walked away... then, they began looking around to understand what sort of place they were in. It was a rather large cell, furnished with some wooden benches, and a small window through which the smoky sky above Stark Mountain could be seen... but most important of all, there were two people in the cell already, who were now standing up to greet the newcomers. Nervous from their capture already, Barry and Angie stood on the defensive... but they immediately relaxed when they saw that one of them was a little girl, probably not even in her double digits.

"Who... who's there?" the short-haired tomboy asked. "Who are you?"

"You... you have just arrived at Stark Mountain, right?" the smaller figure answered with another question, stepping forward and revealing herself - a cute-looking little girl with bright pink hair tied in a pair of long pigtails, one of which looped around so as to form a ring of sorts, and wearing a white shirt with red ribbon and red shorts. She was also wearing a pair of rather dirty thigh-high socks and red shoes.

"Er... you could say that, and it wasn't our intention to end up here..." Conway affirmed. "But... who are you? And why are you here?"

The other inhabitant of the cell, a young man with red hair tied in a wild ponytail and a blond streak in the middle of his head, wearing a red shirt with black borders, a pair of dark grey shorts and black trekking shoes, stepped forward, raising a hand in a jaunty greeting. "Well... let's just say that Mira... my little friend you see here... and I have had a few misunderstandings with these people!" he said in a snarky tone. "The Team Galactic remnants have something nasty in mind... and we were in the wrong place at the wrong time!"

"Mira can confirm! It's just as Bucky says!" the pink-haired little girl answered...

oooooooooo

TO BE CONTINUED...

Author's note: Finally, I get this thing updated after a long hiatus. For a few chapters, we'll move away from Ash and his friends, and follow some side chapters... some of which you have already seen in this chapter! I hope this will allow for more variety, and I have projects for some of them later on in my saga!

I don't have much more to say, if not... well, read and review, and tell me if you liked it!