Notes: There's only one Heatran in the games, obviously, but this is funnier.
~.~.~
#6-8 Heatran
"Hmm..." Professor Birch drew out, staring closely at May's newest Pokemon. "Yup, this one's another girl!"
May opened her mouth, then hesitated for a long moment. This was the third time, but she still found it unbelievable. "...Are you sure? How can you even tell?"
It was a fair question. Nothing about the four legged mass of living molten metal that made up her third Heatran looked particularly female, or all that different from the male one she'd caught first.
"I'm a Pokemon Professor!" Professor Birch said cheerfully. "I can tell these things!"
This was the man that, on separate occasions, she'd saved from a Zigzagoon, a Poochyena, and a trained mover Machoke. And just last week, he'd mistaken his wife for a Pokemon. Nonetheless, May just nodded along.
"If they're male and female, does that mean they'll make an egg if I leave them at the daycare?" she asked instead.
It was Professor Birch's turn to hesitate to answer. "Well... I don't think so?" he offered, scratching at his beard. "There's no record of legendary Pokemon creating eggs, aside from Manaphy, and that is a rather complicate situation. But it's hard to tell. It's so rare to be able to study a legendary Pokemon, much less two of the same species!"
Probably because trainers generally stopped at catching just one. "There's an awful lot of Heatran in Hoenn," May agreed, ignoring that thought.
"They like to dwell in volcanoes, so ancient Hoenn would have been a perfect habitat for them. Then, when the volcanic activity lessened, they must have entered a state of hibernation and become buried under new layers of sediment," Professor Birch explained. He beamed at May. "You've done such a wonderful job finding them! You and Brendan have really helped advance my research — no, Pokemon research everywhere!"
Well, at least someone was happy...
~.~.~
In the name of science, May decided to go ahead and leave two of her Heatran — one male, one female — at the Daycare after all. If nothing else, it would free up some slots in her party. She'd gotten to the point where she had more legendary Pokemon than she could carry with her, but leaving them in the PC really was just a little too much even for her.
She had managed to fob Kyogre and Groudon off on the Weather Institute, also in the name of science, so that was something. Let those nerds deal with the constant rain or heat every time those ridiculous things were out of their Poke Balls. (It made using them in battle absolutely intolerable, and the Primal Reversions were even worse. The one time she tried them out on the Elite Four, Wallace called her immediately after to chew her out for almost two hours about the unstable weather they'd caused across every route between Evergrande and Lilycove. He was clearly still bitter about Groudon, or maybe the time Kyogre flooded his gym.)
...On second thought, she'd better leave those Heatran with the Battle Resort Daycare, not the one outside Mauville. At least all those hardcore trainers at Battle Maison would be nearby to keep them in line.
Too bad Flannery had refused to take the third Heatran off her hands — despite initially wandering around the scorched slab looking for it herself. ...Which was probably smart of her, since a traded, outsider legendary would be even harder to control than the normal lack of obedience. But still. Was she a Fire type specialist or not?
Maybe May could pawn it off on Steven. It was also a Steel type, after all...
~.~.~
Not that having too many Heatran was going to stop May from looking for more.
She could practically hear her father sighing at her, but at least half of her bullheadedness came from him. Now that she'd decided to find and catch all the legendary Pokemon in Hoenn, little things like having no idea what to do with them weren't going to stop her. She was a trainer, after all — gotta catch 'em all.
Also, she tended to stumble on those Heatran almost by accident, just poking around in old caves, and they were very aggressive when roused. The second one had chased her all the way outside, where it ended up setting the grass and bushes on fire just from the heat it gave off in its rage.
Returning to Fortree, May headed back out onto Route 120. The scorched slab where she had found Heatran stood empty now, but when she had been investigating the area before, she had noticed what looked like another old cave in the cliffs above.
It looked similar enough from the outside, but there was none of the stifling heat as she moved deeper in. So probably not another Heatran — thank goodness.
There was nothing, actually. No Zubats, no Geodudes, which was strange in its own way. Hoenn was teeming with Pokemon, even more so after Kyogre's awakening. Caves were almost notoriously full of life, to the point where you could barely go three steps without tripping over some Pokemon. Even the Cave of Origin and the Heatran's dwellings had been like that.
So what made them avoid this place in particular?
The cave was absolutely silent except for the quiet dripping of water from the ceiling and her own footsteps. It made a shiver crawl up her spine.
But May's Ability would probably have been Contrary, if she had one (to go with her Rash Nature), and she only squared her shoulder before forging onward.
At the end of the cave, there was... still nothing.
But didn't the back wall look a bit too smooth to be natural? Reaching out, May ran her fingers along the almost polished stone.
"...Huh."
There — she felt something under her fingertips. A series of raised dots, forming a pattern. This place... had been made by people.
A slow smile spread across May's face. Now things were getting interesting.
~.~.~
