POKEMON HEART SOUL ADVENTURES

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Chapter 50 - Roaring Heatran

"This is perfect... I think we're almost there! It shouldn't be long before Heatran comes up!" Saturn exclaimed in satisfaction, intently staring at the crimson pool of bubbling magma above which Charon's instruments were carrying out the final operations. His Toxicroak and his Bronzong were close, and further away stood Mars and Jupiter, with Purugly and Skuntank respectively at their sides. Even without the suffocating heat of the place, the atmosphere was tense, and nobody had any idea of what was going to happen. Only Charon seemed to be calm and collected, who had placed himself apart from the other Galactic members, and was using a remote-controlled crane of sorts to move a strange device above the lava. From time to time, the contraption emitted some concentric circles of light that struck the magma, causing it to bubble more and more violently. The cave resonated with a few cavernous roars, which were probably the sign of Heatran beginning to resurface... and a few miniature quakes shook the ground and the walls! It was only a matter of time before the Legendary Pokemon of Stark Mountain emerged completely!

"Yes, it's about to show itself!" Charon said, smiling nastily at the sight of the magma bubbling more and more violently. "And with that, a new chapter in the history of Team Galactic will begin!"

Mars sighed in annoyance. A new chapter, huh? As far as she was concerned, the one she was in was not the Team Galactic she had signed up for, its purpouse corrupted and twisted under its new leader. Still, Charon had a point that the team needed money... and even though he might have been a materialistic jerk, he was the person who could best resurrect Team Galactic. Jupiter and Saturn seemed to be unconcerned about their new leader's attitude, and were just waiting eagerly for the appearence of the Pokemon that was going to be worth their fortune...

"Now, stand ready, everyone." Charon advised. "Heatran will be here any moment now. At this point, there is nothing that can stop us!"

"Really? Someone here begs to differ, old man! Empoleon, use Aqua Het!"

Charon and the other Galactic Admins jumped up in surprise when Barry's voice gave an order to his penguin-like Pokemon, who launched himself at one of the machines with incredible speed, surrounded in a barrier of water! Empoleon impacted on the nearest console, short-circuiting it as the Pokemom of the three Admins turned in the direction of the coming threat! And just as they expected, Barry was there, striking a heroic pose, while Empoleon quickly returned to his side and struck a fighting pose. Just behind them came Conway and his Lickylicky, Angie and her Luxio, Mira and her Porygon2... and even Bucky with his odd-looking Claydol, all of them looking determined and ready to fight! Even though, once again, Conway wasn't happy with Barry's 'shoot-first-think-later' attitude...

"What? How did you get here?" Saturn exclaimed, his calm attitude slipping away for a moment. "We knew you had escaped... but how did you find your Pokemon?"

"Less talking, more fighting, Saturn!" Jupiter exclaimed. "And don't just stand there like idiots! Stop those brats before they can interfere in our capture of Heatran! Mars, you and I will handle the two kids..."

"I think the purple-haired lady is talking about taking us on, Barry!" Angie stated. "Why don't we do just that and give her a fight?"

"We are in agreement for once! I think I can overlook your next fine!" Barry exclaimed. Empoleon and Luxio were facing Mars' Purugly and Jupiter's Skuntank, while Mira, another Pokeball in her hand, was ready to take on Saturn. The Team Galactic grunts were sending out their Pokemon to take on Conway and Bucky... and within seconds, a small army of Pokemon had materialized in front of them!

"Well, you're the strategist here." the red-and-blonde haired young man joked. "I guess you already have half an idea on how to take on a group of bad guys, right?"

Conway adjusted his glasses, which shone threateningly as the younger trainer smiled. "No worries, I already thoughtit could have happened. Lickylicky, use Defense Curl!" he exclaimed. The long-tongued Pokemon smirked and immediately curled into a ball, just before an enemy Bibarel could hit him with an Hyper Fang attack. Conway waited a little, as several other enemy Pokemon began to swarm around his Normal-type...

"They fell for it, hook, line and sinker!" Conway exclaimed. "Now, use Rollout!"

With a warlike yell, Lickylicky launched himself at the enemy, rolling like a bowling ball! Thanks to the Defense Curl he had used, Rollout had become much more powerful, and several enemy Pokemon were hit and knocked down like pins!

"EXcellent! And now, Claydol... pick them off with Psybeam!" Bucky instructed. The odd-looking Ground / Psychic type lifted itself off the battlefield and began bombarding the opponents with beam-like bursts of psychic energy, as the battle with the Galactic Admins raged on!

"Your turn, Magnezone!" Mira exclaimed, sending another Pokemon to assist her Porygon2: it was the latest Magnemite evolution, a Steel / Electric Pokemon that looked like three Magnemites had been welded together: the central Magnemite was larger and oval-shaped, with a single red eye in the center of its body and a yellow antenna on top of it, while the other two Magnemites were of their usual size, fused to the main body. Its color was a deeper gray than its pre-evolved forms, wrapped in a chrome cloaking, and it has two horseshoe-shaped magnets in the lower part of its body, acting like hands.

"A Magnezone and a Porygon2, huh?" Saturn resumed. "Well, you aren't impressing the heck outta me, kiddo! Toxicroak, Bronzong! Show this moppet what's what!"

"I'll take you on, Mars!" Angie exclaimed, turning to the red-haired female Admin. "Your Purugly against my Luxio. That is what I would gladly call a catfight!"

Angie's electric feline squared off against Mars' obese cat, both hissing and growling at each other while waiting for the right moment to attack... and Mars shook her head, as if to tell Angie that her joke had fallen flat. "If that was supposed to be a taunt, little girl... you can do better than this! Purugly, use Shadow Claw!"

"Luxio, use Spark!" Angie ordered. Both felines attacked, Purugly slashing with his claws coated in a smoky purple aura, and Luxio charging up a sphere of electricity around himself and throwing himself at his opponent. Both Pokemon clashed in midair, the contrast lighting up the area in purple and yellow beams for a couple seconds, before the sheer power of the impact forced them to break off and land one in front of the other. They resumed glaring at each other, their tails convulsing like a pair of angry snakes...

Barry's Empoleon was squaring off against Jupiter's Skuntank, and was doing a rather good job thanks to his Water / Steel typing's immunity to Poison. A powerful Metal Claw attack hit the giant skunk, but a second one fell short because of her agility, and Skuntank backed away from Empoleon just enough to be able to aim better. Jupiter smirked and nodded to Skuntank, who quickly turned her back to Empoleon, raised one of her hind legs and, with a sounds that was as loud as it was unseemly, shot out a Flamethrower attack from beneath her tail, striking Barry's Empoleon and causing Barry's face to scrunch in disgust! The penguin-like Pokemon tried to block the attack with his wings, but he was still forced to step back, his metallic skin signed with black soot!

"Yuuuuck! What the heck... what does that Pokemon eat, chili pepper beans? It ought to be fined for indecency!" Barry exclaimed in disgust. As Skuntank charged up for another attack, the blond cheered his starter Pokemon on as it recovered and started to counterattack. "Alright then, the kiddie gloves are off! Empoleon, use Blizzard!"

"Stop that, Skuntank! Don't let it hit you!" Jupiter exclaimed, and the stinky Pokemon quickly raised her guard and braced herself for the powerful blast of wind and snow that Empoleon breathed against her half a second later. The battle was seemingly going nowhere, and as the volcano was acting up more and more violently, chaos surrounded the young trainers while Conway and Bucky instructed their Pokemon with an impressive sense of teamwork.

"Darn, this isn't good..." Charon exclaimed as he frantically typed on his console. "I must hurry up... but it's not easy to concentrate, with all this noise... Alrght, where was it? Where?"

Mira's Magnezone and Porygon2 were giving Saturn a hard time. While Toxicroak's Poison / Fighting type meant an advantage against Porygon2's Normal typing, the latter's unorthodox way of fighting and its great variety of moves meant that Saturn had a hard time predicting its moves. The toad-like Pokemon used a Brick Break attack, hitting his opponent with a karate chop and making it stagger... but only to realize he had left himself open to a counterattack. The virtual Pokemon unleashed a Thunder Wave attack, shocking Toxicroak with a low-power discharge and paralyzing him, then fired a powerful Psychic attack that lifted the Poison / Fighting Pokemon off the ground through sheer telecynethic force and tossed him against a stone wall, before letting him slide down in a daze!

The battle between Magnezone and Bronzong wasn't quite as predictable. Mira had the common sense to have Magnezone use a Magnet Rise attack, in order to avoid a possible Earthquake attack... but Bronzong was making use of Calm Mind to strengthen both its defense and its attack power. The iron bell Pokemon floated sideways in order to get a better sight... but it was greeted by its opponent's Thunderbolt attack, when Magnezone pointed its magnet hands at it, and unleashed a powerful electrical shock! Bronzong's answer was quick and decisive, unleashing a powerful Psychic attack that tossed the hapless Magnezone towards the ceiling! The magnetic Pokemon recovered quickly, and flew towards Bronzong, apparently trying for a direct attack... but Saturn was too savvy to fall for the trick.

"Get away from that thing, Bronzong!" he exclaimed. "Don't let it get close!"

Bronzong dodged sideways, just in time not to get caught in Magnezone's magnetic field, and Mira grit her teeth in frustration. The cauldron was rumbling now, and danger seemed closer and closer by the minute... Something had to be done, and fast!

"Alright, Magnezone! Come back and use Lock-On!" the pink-haired girl exclaimed. The magnetic Pokemon turned around with surprising speed, and narrowed its central eye at Bronzong, who was now using another Calm Mind attack to protect itself...

"Be careful, Bronzong! Next one will be a sure hit!" Saturn warned it. "Use Flash Cannon to fight back!"

The Steel / Psychic type floated a few feet off the ground and got ready for the attack, while Magnezone charged up an enormous amount of energy and created a crackling sphere of electricity all around itself, before Mira gave what she hoped would be the final order!

"Now, Magnezone! Use Zap Cannon!" she yelled. With an infernal crackle, Magnezone fired a huge globular bolt at its opponent, while Bronzong charged up and shot a glowing silver white sphere of energy... and Charon widened his eyes in horror, realizing that things were getting out of hand faster than he could expect!

"Wha...? No! Hold on a moment! Don't do this!" he exclaimed, but it was far too late already. The two powerful attacks roared against each other with a deafening noise, lighting up the cavern as if a miniature sun had lit up in its middle! Screaming in horror, Charon his behind a nearby rock, covering his head with his hands... and all the other Pokemon and Galactic grunts hit the floor, trying to protect themselves somehow!

There was a truly apocalyptic explosion when Magnezone's Zap Cannon and Bronzong's Flash Cannon collided, and both Mira and Saturn were forced to step backwards not to get pushed down by the massive shockwave resulting! A sinister crackling noise filled the cave as the two mighty attacks pushed against each other, and several electrical discharges blasted the wall and the ceiling, breaking away a few chunks of stone and causing them to fall in the red-hot lava.

The stalemate went on for several seconds, at least until the two attacks eradicated each other in a blinding flash, causing yet another deafening boom that reverberated through the whole secret hideout for several seconds! When the light finally died out, everyone could see Magnezone and Bronzong still floating around each other, mostly unharmed...

Saturn breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, little girl... I was worried for a moment there, I'll give you that! I was afraid that attack was going to knock out my Bronzong... but as you can see, it takes more than that to defeat it!" he exclaimed. "Anyway, congratulations... I had never seen such a small girl with such strong Pokemon, I have to admit you surprised me!"

"Darn... what does it take to defeat that overgrown bell?" Bucky murmured to himself as his Claydol took care of a few enemies without excessive fanfare. "We have to wrap this up quickly, unless we want to..."

A powerful and sudden shockwave struck the cavern, causing many to lose their footing as the lava in the cauldron begin spraying upwards, towards the ceiling! Beams of yellow and red light erupted from the molten red-hot rock, and those closest to the lava pit backed away in fear! The Team Galactic machines, left close to the cauldron, were hit by splashes of magma, which melted their parts and irreparably damaged the delicate machinery!

"What?" Conway exclaimed. "What... what's going on now? What's the meaning of this?"

Charon seemed frantic. "You bunch of fools! Blasted idiots! You have no idea what you've done!" he exclaimed, his previous calm replaced by rage and panic. "Heatran is awakening... before we were ready to contain it! It is going to emerge now, and it will be furious! We have no way to control or weaken it without our machines!"

"What?" Angie exclaimed as her Luxio broke away from Mars' Purugly and was rejoining his trainer. "What do you mean by that, old man? What were you going to do with Heatran?"

"We wanted to capture Heatran while it was still weakened by its long sleep, you little frump!" Mars exclaimed, holding her Purugly in her arms. "We could have kept it under control with our machines! But now you just had to wake up Heatran earlier than planned, and our machines are too damaged by the lava to function now! Nice job, heroes!"

"You... you mean we have just awakened a... Legendary Pokemon?" Barry exclaimed, his face funnily decorated with several blue lines of fear! "Oh boy... I'm afraid we REALLY loused this one up!"

"If Mira had known, she'd never have used such an attack..." the pink-haired little girl affirmed, while her Magnezone floated down a little and touched the tips of its own magnets in embarassment!

Charon decided that there was nothing more to do, except trash the plan and save his own skin. "We would have gotten away with it, if it wasn't for you meddling kids!" he snarled. "Let's get out of here, men! Let them deal with the enraged Heatran by themselves!"

"Hey, hold on a sec! You can't just..." Conway started to say, only to be interrupted by a Flamethrower attack from Jupiter's Skuntank - executed in the same disgusting way as before... - striking the ground in front of himself and his Lickylicky, and forcing the two to hop backwards. As the wall of flames shielded Team Galactic, the grunts and the Admins recalled their Pokemon and ran away through a corridor excavated in the stone.

"Darn!" Bucky exclaimed. "Just what we didn't need! I'm afraid we'll have to deal with whatever nice critter will climb out of that lava pool! And it won't be very pleased!"

"A Legendary Pokemon... darn, I'm afraid we're in over our heads this time!" Angie commented. Several chunks of stone broke away from the border of the cauldron, causing what was left of Team Galactic's machines to fall in the molten rock and be liquefied, and soon after, a bulky and menacing figure rose up from the lava, walking upon it like it was the most natural thing in the world!

"That's it... Heatran!" Conway murmured, feeling a cold chill in spite of the suffcating heat, while Heatran stepped forward with slow, calculated movements in order to cause as much dread as possible...

It looked like nothing the trainers had seen before - sure, it had the general shape of a tortoise crossed with a ram, and its reddish-brown body was dotted with orange and grey spots that almost seemed to float along its skin. Its legs were thin and almost fluid-looking, with metal plates protecting their lower part and four clawed toes each, placed in a cross formation. The Pokemon's lower body was grey, and its head was protected by a steel helmet of sorts, showing its steely lower jaw and its fierce reddish-orange eyes. Because of its intense body heat, it almost looked like some parts of its body were melting, but that didn't make Heatran look any less threatening! It was angry for having had its slumber disturbed, and it looked like it was going to vent its rage on the trainers in front of it! With a chopped-off groan, Conway grabbed one of his Pokeballs, frantically trying to think a way out of this unpredicted situation...

Heatran stepped forward, molten lava dripping around its body while the five trainers and their Pokemon stepped back. Every second they gained could mean the difference between life or death... and more time to get an idea that could get them out of this bind!

"A Legendary Pokemon... Heatran... well, I do remember that my brother Flint told me something about it..." Bucky murmured to himself. The young man widened his eyes, remembering an important issue just as Heatran's body was covered in a red aura, a sign that it was readying one of its best attacks! The semi-liquid skin covering its body began to boil, squirting lava all around him...

"Quickly, Claydol!" Bucky ordered. "Use a Light Screen attack! You need to stop that attack right now!"

The floating Ground / Psychic type emitted a keening screech and raised a barrier of pure energy in front of itself, just a second before Heatran fired its Lava Plume attack, shooting several bursts of red-hot lava that rained down on its opponents... but luckily for the young trainers, the Light Screen had been put up in time, and the lethal liquid splashed on the invisible barrier and sloughed down harmlessly. Bucky nodded, and had his Claydol use an attack against the opponent... "Okay, nicely done! Quick, before it can attack again! Hit it with an Earth Power attack!"

A red aura surrounded Claydol for a moment, and the strange statue-like Pokemon touched the ground, sending an energy pulse against Heatran! The annoyed Legendary Pokemon tried to dodge, but it was rather slow in doing so, and was struck by several waves of energy, flinching and dropping to the ground in pain!

"Yeah! Heatran seems to have felt that!" Angie exclaimed. "You knew that creature's weak point, Bucky?"

"Something like that." the older trainer answered. "My brother Flint, who is one of the Sinnoh Elite Four I mught add, told me something about Heatran, among which the fact that it is a Fire / Steel type. This unusual combination makes it resistant to many attacks, but extremely vulnerable to Ground-type attacks."

"Not vulnerable enough, I fear..." Conway pointed out, as Heatran climbed back to its feet, grabbed some magma from the pool it was walking onto, and threw it on its back. There was a sibilant noise as the lava was absorbed by Heatran's body, healing its injury.

"Hey! No fair! Just when it seemed we had a shot!" Barry lamented. "This cheater throws lava on its back, and suddenly it's as good as new!"

"Well... now that I think of it, my brother might have told me about Heatran's ability to absord Fire-type attacks too..." Bucky murmured, rubbing the back on his head. "As long as that thing is in the pool, there's not much we can do against it..."

Just to drive the point home, Heatran concentrated for a split second and used an Earth Power attack himself, launching a wave of energy along the floor and creating a shockwave of sorts! All the non-flying Pokemon (Mira's Magnezone was luckily syill under the effects of Magnet Rise...) were hit by the Earth Power attack and tossed around in disarray, especially Barry's Empoleon and Angie's Luxio...

"Luxio!" the short-haired tomboy exclaimed as her leonine Pokemon fell... but he was still in the game, and quickly stood up again. Even Barry's Empoleon was able to get up again, thanks to his natural bulk... but it was clearly just a question of time before Heatran overwhelmed them all, in spite of their advantage in numbers.

"Alright... it's a Fire / Steel type... and its ability allows it to recover when hit by a Fire-type attack... and it's rather slow, from what I can see... Or at least, not fast enough to avoid an attack with a wide nough area of effect... okay, let's see what we can do with what we have!" he said, before turning to his companions. "Okay, guys, it's do or die! Barry, Angie! Try to cool that lava pit down!"

"My Empoleon is an authority on cooling things down!" Barry answered. "Empoleon, use Blizzard! Try to freeze it in place!"

The penguin-like Pokemon took a deep breath and, before Heatran had time to aim a new attack, he fired a powerful blast of ice-cold air and snow, hitting both Heatran and the red-hot lava under its feet! The magmatic Pokemon seemed not to take a great deal of damage... but much to its disappointment, it saw that the magma it was walking on was cooling down dramatically, turning into a crust of black stone that kept the mighty Pokemon from reaching the lava it needed to reenergize itself. With an annoyed gesture, Heatran stamped one of its feet on the black crust in order to try and break through it, but Conway and Angie had other ideas!

"Now, Angie! You and your Luxio, stop it with Thunder Wave!" the bespetacled young man exclaimed. "It will be your turn next, Mira! Can your Magnezone still float?"

"Yes, of course! Mira trained it herself!" the little girl answered. "But Mira doesn't think it can take another Fire attack..."

"Magnezone!" the Steel / Electric type agreed in its disquieting metallic voice. Mira's Porygon2 was trying to stay as far away as possible from Heatran, looking for an opening...

"No problem, kiddo... we just need your Magnezone to take Heatran where we want it!" Conway exclaimed. "Alright, do it now!"

"Luxio, use Thunder Wave!" Angie ordered, and her leonine Pokemon raised his tail, firing a small electrical discharge that hit Heatran between the eyes, before it could aim another attack! The Legendary Pokemon roared in anger as the shock locked its joints in place, paralyzing it! Angie smiled to herself: sure, it wasn't going to last forever, but it did give them time to strike the iron while it was hot. No pun intended, of course.

"Okay, I get it! Magnezone, approach Heatran and catch it in your magnetic field!" Mira ordered. "Porygon2, distract it with Tri Attack!"

The two inorganic Pokemon gladly obeyed: Porygon2 created three spheres of energy, one blue, one yellow and one red, around its body, before launching them against its opponent, trying to take advantage of its slowness. The Tri Attack struck true, even though it didn't do too much damage because of Heatran's steely skin... but it did stop Heatran from attacking Magnezone as the latter approached, its central eye glowing fiercely! Annoyed, Heatran tried to raise its head and use a Flamethrower attack, but Magnezone's unexpected reaction left the Legendary Pokemon stumped!

With a speed few would have thought possible in a Magnezone, the Steel / Electric type floated up and swept down, almost landing on its opponent's back, and using its Magnet Pull ability to lock Heatran in place! Heatran roared in rage, but it couldn't easily reach Magnezone where it was, and it had no choice but to thrash about in a futile attempt to break free!

"Well done, Magnezone!" Mira cheered. "Now, get it out of there, before it can break through the crust and reach the lava!"

"ZONE!" Magnezone exclaimed, concentrating to float up and pull its opponent along. Heatran roared again, as it tried to grab the ground with its claws in order not to get pulled away, but the other Pokemon came to Magnezone's aid before that could happen.

"Empoleon! Use Aqua Jet to keep it still!" Barry ordered. Empoleon quickly shot towards Heatran in a burst of water, hitting the opponent on the side and solidifying a fragment of the lava that composed its body! Then, Angie's Luxio fired a Discharge attack, while Conway's Lickylicky attacked with a Rollout, and Bucky's Claydol used a Psybeam that forced the magma Pokemon on the defensive! Finally, with a quick movement of its body, Magnezone tossed the Legendary Pokemon on the stony floor, where it landed with a loud crash!

"Yay! It's working!" Barry exclaimed. "Let's keep it up, we're doing a number on this thing!"

"Don't drop your guard, anything might happen still..." Conway warned. "It's still a Legendary Pokemon, and even now that it has lost its advantage... it can still be a dangerous and unpredictable foe!"

Annoyed by that ephemeral defeat, Heatran stood on guard once again, and Bucky motioned for his friends to stay back, thinking that the Legendary Pokemon was going to use another, incredibly dangerous attack. Mira's Porygon2 and Bucky's Claydol placed themselves in front of the tean, trying to act as a shield for their comrades... and just then, Heatran threw its head back and let out a tremendous roar, shaking the walls once again! Angie and Barry covered their ears, as bursts of lava departed from Heatran's superheated body and began raining around the team. However, it was clear thatit wasn't a Lava Plume attack - it took a much longer time to charge it up, and Heatran's glowing red eyes immediately tipped everyone off that it was something completely different...

And in fact, Bucky's eyes widened in horror as he remembered what else his brother had told him!

"Oh no..." the young man with dual-colored hair murmured. "This is bad... everyone, get behind something! It's about to use a Magma Storm attack!"

"What?" Barry exclaimed in wonder, as the red aura blanketed Heatran's body. "Magma Storm? What kind of move is that? I've never even heard about it!"

"It's a move only Heatran, out of all Pokemon in the world, can use!" Bucky answered. "This move only leaves burned earth behind it... literally! We need to find a way to repair ourselves!"

"I'm afraid we won't make it in time!" Mira exclaimed, pointing at Heatran. The ferocious Legendary Pokemon had now completely charged up... and with a terrifying noise of rock scraping upon rock, it opened its mouth and breathed out an enormous blast of lava and jagged pieces of rock, targetting the young trainers and their Pokemon! Bucky's Claydol widened all of its eyes in panic and raised the most powerful Light Screen it could manage, just a moment before everyone's sight was obscured by the massive wave of magma Heatran had fired! Several of the trainers screamed in fright as they scampered around for a way not to get buried in magma... but luckily, Claydol's Light Screen activated just in time, and the tide of molten rock impacted upon it, pushing upon it in an attempt to overwhelm it! Porygon2 floated alongside Claydol and used a Light Screen itself, but Heatran renewed its efforts, and soon, both Pokemon were forced back by the Magma Storm's sheer power!

"Our Pokemon are about to be overwhelmed!" Angie stated in alarm. "We must think of a way to defend ourselves from this attack, or this will be it for us!"

Conway placed a hand on his forehead, trying to think of a way to counter Heatran's signature move before he and his friends were overrun... but surprisingly enough, it was Barry who had the right idea at the right moment! The blond boy and his Empoleon stepped forward, the penguin-like Pokemon concentrating hard as he prepared one of his best attacks!

"Alright, Empoleon... wait for it... wait for it..." Barry instructed him. The Magma Storm, hitting the Light Screen, had been split in two streams of lava, creating a strange effect, like a vortex of scarlet flames, all around them! It was like standing in the midst of an inferno... and it was getting closer and closer, threatening to trap them in the roaring flames! Worse yet, Claydol and Porygon2 were getting tired, and they would soon be unable to keep the Light Screen up...

"Whatever you have in mind, you should do it quickly!" Bucky exclaimed, keeping a Pokeball on hand and getting ready to recall Claydol. "As soon as the Light Screen shatters, nothing more will keep the Magma Storm away from us!"

Barry smiled, seemingly in control of the whole situation. "No worries, pal... I know what I am doing... more or less." he said, not managing to completely reassure his teammates! "Well... here goes, Empoleon! Use your Hydro Pump attack!"

"EOOOOON!" the Water / Steel type screeched, opening his beak and shooting a tremendous blast of water towards the center of the Magma Storm - the onslaught of lava and rock was so thick now that it was impossible to see Heatran in the midst of it! Claydol and Porygon2 collapsed, too tired to keep the Light Screen up... but luckily, Heatran's deadly attack went no further: Empoleon's Hydro Pump collided with it at the same moment and started to push it back! Heatran widened its eyes in surprise and outrage... then, it began putting more and more oomph into its finishing move, opposing the pressure of the water and keeping the situation a dangerous stalemate! Empoleon frowned, giving it all he had gotten in that decisive blow. While he had the type advantage over Heatran, his opponent was far from an ordinary Pokemon...

For several seconds, the Magma Storm continued to rage around Barry, Empoleon and their comrades... but luckily, just as the huge penguin-like Pokemon started to tire out, the flame vortex lost power and began vanishing around the team... and finally, it dissolved, only leaving behind an heavy stench of sulphur and basalt. Empoleon, Claydon and Porygon2 sighed and laid on the ground to catch their breath again... but luckily, Heatran had used up a lot of its own energies as well, in order to unleash its ultimate attack. Combined with the paralysis from Luxio's earlier Thunder Wave, the guardian of Stark Mountain was starting to buckle. It raised its head, trying to attack again...

But just then, something unexpected happened: a sound of something speeding through the air was heard from one of the galleries leading into the room... and a sphere of azure energy came out of it and struck the unprepared Heatran with pinpoint precision, allowing it only a split second to grunt in surprise before it was hit and engulfed in a huge explosion! Stunned, the Legendary Pokemon slid down with a grunt and remained there for a few seconds before standing up again, while its attacker confidently strode out of the tunnel - a proud and elegant Lucario, the palms of his hands still pointed at Heatran, closely followed by a majestic Arcanine and a huge, placid-looking Miltank. Right after them came three trainers Bucky and Mira were able to immediately recognize: an elegant man wearing a blue suit, with a matching hat, black shoes and hair, and a serious expression on his face; a pretty young woman with long emerald green haired tied in a long pigtail, wearing a green dress and a pair of working shoes; and a teenage girl with a black Gothic Lolita style dress, a white ribbon decorating her raven black hair, with black socks and shoes, a neutral and impassive expression on her face.

"Looks like you might use our help, friends." the man dressed in blue stated, adjusting his hat on his head.

Mira jumped up in joy. "Riley! Cheryl, Marley! We're so very glad to see you!" the little girl exclaimed happily, running to give the black-haired teenager a hug. While Conway, Barry and Angie looked on, wondering who those people were, Bucky sighed in relief, glad to see his companions.

"Heh... You sure arrived at the right time, guys. We were starting to feel the heat!" the red-and-blond haired young man answered. Then, he turned to Conway's group to explain. "The ones you see here are my friends Riley, Cheryl and Marley." he said, every trainer bowing slightly as his or her name was spoken. "You can say that they, along with Mira and I, form a team of trainers of sorts... or adventurers, to use a less cliche term. Although in this case, well, I guess you could say that adventure found us first."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance." said Cheryl, the emerald-haired young woman. "I am afraid presentations will have to wait until later, though. That Legendary Pokemon is still quite powerful, and we need to find a way to calm it somehow."

"Then, let us get to work and contain it." Marley answered, not being one for wasting time. Her Arcanine stood beside her and fiercely growled at Heatran, actually managing to make the guardian of Stark Mountain step back, unsure of what to do. Riley's Lucario placed his hands together, getting ready to shoot as soon as he had another shot, and Cheryl's Miltank placed herself in the midst of the team, ready to defend them from whatever move Heatran was going to use. Angie and Mira recalled their weakened Luxio and Porygon2 respectively, and stood in the back of the group, while the Pokemon who could still fight took their positions in front of their opponent.

"Alright! Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" an enthusiastic Barry exclaimed. "So, you big lug, how about it? Not so tough now that we're together, huh?"

"You're not even going to fine it?" Angie joked, smiling mockingly at him. Barry hmmphed and glared at her to shut her up...

Despite some misgivings, Heatran was still determined to fight... and after shrugging off the effect of Arcanine's Intimidate ability, the mysterious Fire / Steel type started advancing, preparing a powerful Flamethrower attack. It quickly took the initiative and breathed out a powerful line of fire, covering a vast area and threatening to overwhelm the team...

But Cheryl's Miltank had other ideas, and quickly placed herself between the flames and her companions, raising her forelegs as if trying to stop the attack...

"Miltank, would you kindly use Protect, please?" Cheryl asked. Nothing easier for the cow Pokemon, who quickly put up a glittering barrier in front of herself, causing the flames to slide harmlessly and disperse upon it. Heatran frowned and backtracked a little, giving Riley's and Marley's Pokemon all the time they needed to counter.

"Thanks, Cheryl." the girl dressed in black answered. "Arcanine, attack with Thunder Fang."

"Let's wrap this up quickly, Lucario. Attack Heatran with Close Combat." Riley ordered, calmly yet firmly. Taking advantage of Heatran's temporary distraction, the two Pokemon literally leapt to attack, and the tiger-striped dog jumped up and over Heatran, spectacularly somersaulting through the air as he did, landed behind the Legendary Pokemon, and clamped his electrified jaws shut on its right hind leg! Heatran roared again and their to shake Arcanine off, but it was unable to do so before Riley's Lucario reached it and began raining a devastating array of blows upon it, denting its metallic parts! A powerful two-handed strike sent Heatran reeling, and Barry and his Empoleon took advantage of that to sneak another solid hit in!

"Go, Empoleon! Use Surf to take this guy out!" Barry excaimed. The penguin unleashed a powerful wave of water against the Fire/Steel type, which swamped Heatran before it had a chance to defend itself, and launched it against the wall! Ine second later, Heatran slid down the wall, significantly weakened but still unbowed!

"Darn it, I can't believe this... what does it take to bring down this beast?" a stupefied Angie asked.

"Don't worry, young one, I'm pretty sure he won't be able to keep up much longer." Riley warned, his Lucario getting back in a guarding position. "And if it has any common sense, it will retreat now."

However, what happened next left pretty much everyone at a loss for words: Heatran sighed, as if it had realized it was going to lose anyway, and its body was wreathed in a coccon of white light, which completely covered it in the span of a few seconds. Having no idea what it was, and whether or not it was dangerous, all the trainers stepped back, their Pokemon quickly placing themselves in front of their trainers in case anything happened. The light emitted by Heatran soon engulfed the whole room, and a few rays filtered outside, as the eruption slowly calmed down and the volcano ceased belching out clouds of black smoke. For a few seconds, the trainers were forced to cover their eyes as they were engulfed by the light... which luckily faded not long after, and Barry was the first to crack an eye open and look around.

"Woah... man, now this was something... and now... Huh? Hey, guys, where did it go?" the blond exclaimed. Cheryl rubbed her eyes... and was quite flabbergasted as she saw that, in the place where Heatran was standing a moment before, nothing was left but a bunch of charred stones. Heatran had simply... disappeared! Even Lucario could not feel its Aura any more, and was looking around in alarm, fearing that the volcanic beast was going to pop up from who-knows-where and catch them off guard!

"It... it just disappeared? How can this be?" Mira asked. Even the less emotional Riley and Marley looked alarmed as the black-haired girl's Arcanine sniffed the air around himself, trying to catch once again the scent of Stark Mountain's guardian. Nothing. It seemed it had just vanished, and that was it.

"Strange... I have no idea what this means..." Bucky affirmed. Still, the young man knew they shouldn't waste this chance. "Well, doesn't matter! It ran away, and the battle is over! The volcano is calming down already..."

"THat's true... the earth stopped shaking already." Riley noticed, as the disquieting noises coming from the awakening volcano faded gradually. It looked like danger had been averted at last: Team Galactic had been stopped, and the eruption that was threatening to swallow them and the villages around Stark Mountain was over. Once again, it seemed that all was well that ended well, as the old saying went.

Still, as much as things seemed to be under control once again,neither Riley nor his companions could shake the feeling that something didn't add up about all that...

oooooooooo

About half an hour later, the group of trainers had managed to make their way out of the maze of corridors and passages that was the inner part of Stark Mountain, encountering no resistance from Team Galactic, who seemed to have evacuated, or from the forces of nature. Which was a good thing, since none of them wanted to dace the mighty guardian of Stark Mountain once again. At the moment, Conway, Barry and Angie were standing in front of the mysterious quintet of trainers that had helped them stop Heatran, thanking them for the timely intervention.

"Well, guess we have to hand this to you, guys..." Barry affirmed. "I mean, we would have thought of something to get out of that pinch, but... thanks for bailing us out!"

"But... who are you exactly? And what about these strange events?" Conway asked, turning to Riley. "We had only come here to train our Pokemon, but... well, let's just say we had a few problems on the way! We were captured by those Team Galactic guys, and... well, we met your two friends there, in that cell. We worked up an escape plan together, and... well, here we are!"

"Right..." Cheryl answered. "Unfortunately, I don't think things will end just like this, and we haven't seen the last of Team Galactic. And they aren't the only ones who threaten us... recently, several Legendary Pokemon have been disturbed by criminal activities in other continents... and we are afraid that a greater and more dangerous criminal machination is afoot."

"Even the other Pokemon Leagues are worried." Marley said, gently petting her Arcanine on the head. "Moltres showing up at Knot Island, a Deoxys appearing at Quest Island, and the Snowpoint City accident... there must be something huge behind all of this."

"We know we are asking much of you, and we apologize about that... but we would ask you to join us." Riley concluded. "You are clearly skilled trainers... and with your help, the battle against these criminal cartels will be a little bit easier. I won't hide the facts, it is going to be dangerous."

"Well, I'm certainly not one to stay still when exciting things are happening!" Barry readily answered, his fist clenched in front of him in determination. "So, for what concerns me, the answer is yes! Team Galactic or whatever they are, they won't get away with this!"

"I'm joining too!" Angie answered, not nneding to think too long about it. "I sure can't leave this ditzy blond alone, someone will have to put a leash on him, right?"

"Hey!" Barry protested, as a short collective laugh brightened everybody's spirits, and Conway adjusted his glasses.

"I'm in as well. This whole deal sounds pretty interesting." he answered. "So... count me in too! I think this whole training journey is going to give us a lot of surprises!"

"Right!" Mira answered... before she remembered what she had found in Team Galactic's hideout, and took a small object, one that looked like a floppy disk, from one of her pockets. "Oh, and by the way... Mira and her Porygon2 have found this in Team Galactic's hideout... we thought it might be interesting!"

Conway got closer, looking at the strange object in curiosity, just as Bucky, Cheryl and Angie did. "And... what is this supposed to be?" the glasses-wearing boy asked.

"Mira doesn't know..." the little girl answered. "She thinks we should get it analyzed, but it certainly has to do with her Porygon2..."

oooooooooo

From a nearby height, several people wearing the standard Team Galactic uniform were grinly staring at the now-inactive volcano, under a cinder-covered sky through which a few beams of sunlight were filtering. Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Charon, together with their Pokemon, were in front of them all, and were bitterly watching the result of their plan going up in a literal puff of smoke, all because of an unpredicted event...

But that was not going to be it. Team Galactic couldn't end like that. There were going to be more chances... and this time, Charon would make sure that no nosy kid would louse that up! This was a promise, Team Galactic was going to return to its former glory!

But now, it was time to split, before the authorities arrived...

oooooooooo

Neither the trainers nor Team Galactic had seen what Heatran had left behind... a plate the size of a large book, now lying forgotten on a group of rocks near the mountain's summit. However, someone had not forgotten about that particular... and in fact, now that all the other parties had gone away, a lone figure dressed in a Team Galactic uniform, joined by an evilly-glaring Togepi, walked up to the rocky formation and bent down, before picking up the plate and admiring it with wicked satisfaction.

"Hehehee... we did it, Togepi! Those Team Galactic fools fell for it... hook, line and sinker!" Damien exclaimed. "We had them and those trash trainers do the dirty work for us, and now we reap the benefits! We have to go back to our home base... the boss will be glad!"

"To-ge-pi!" Togepi chuckled herself... before her small body began glowing, being swallowed in a strange multicolored light and changing form under her trainer's amazed and satisfied eyes. Damien stepped away as his Togepi evolved... and as soon as the light faded, she had transformed into a speckled white Togetic, her face still frowning fiercely, and two small wings at the sides of her body! Clearly, Togepi was happy about the evil actions she had been able to commit in Team Vicious... which allowed her to reach her next evolutive stage!

"To-ge-tiiiic!" she chirped exultantly.

"Heheheheee... Hahahahaaaa! That was fantastic! You evolved!" Damien exclaimed. "Fantastic, just wonderful! That means... you and I will soon be unstoppable, and I will be able to get my revenge on Ash Ketchum and those pathetic little kids who insulted me! Oh, it's going to be a laugh and a half! Heheheheee..."

"Togetic!"

oooooooooo

TO BE CONTINUED...

Notes: Finally, I get to update this story, and I'll try to update faster next time. I have many ideas ready for my Pokemon saga, and I'm really eager to try them all! For now, I hope you enjoyed seeing a few secondary characters in action!

For now... Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my readers and my fellow writers... especially to my friends EmperorDraco7 and NEBSparky86! See you soon!