Chapter Twenty Six: King of the Volcano
"Finally! Appleburn City!" Haley Kent exclaimed as she shook dust out of her long, reddish blonde hair, overjoyed to have finally left the Great Corei Desert behind them. "Onsen, here I come!"
"You mean, 'Appleburn Gym, here we come!" Sapph Manson replied, lowering the hood of his green and tan cloak and looking around, his blue eyes alight with the prospect of winning another Corei League badge. "Though it does seem to be a bad choice to build a town, though…"
Appleburn City had been set into the foot of the volcanic Mount Appleburn. Rock gardens seemed to be the ideal lawn ornaments of choice for as many houses as Sapph's blue eyes could see. Natural steam seemed to issue from the ground under their feet, creating a humid atmosphere that many a tropical plant seemed to thrive on. The red rooftops of the many slate grey buildings seemed to blend in with the red soil on which they stood.
"Relax, Sapph," Sky assured him, also pulling off her white and black hooded cloak and stretching; Drago, her Charmeleon, imitating her at her heels. "Appleburn's an extinct volcano."
'at's right, mate, Drago agreed in his Aussie accent.
"Just where do Pokémon pick up their accents anyways?" Sapph wondered as the trio made their plans.
"Who knows?" Haley said, shrugging. "Well, let's hit the hot springs first and then…"
"No way, mate," Sky said brusquely. "We're hitting the gym first!"
"Hot springs!" Haley said back angrily.
"No…Gym!" Sky retorted loudly.
Not again… Sapph thought dejectedly. Pointedly avoiding joining the eighty-seventh 'discussion', he turned his attention to the League Constitution so as not to run afoul of any more clauses of Clyff Endlethorn.
"HOT SPRINGS!"
"GYM!"
"HOT SPRINGS!"
"GYM!"
"HOT SPRINGS!"
"GYM!"
"HOT SPRINGS!"
"GYM!"
"HOT SPRINGS!"
"HOT SPRINGS!" Sky yelled, with a devilish glint in her eye.
"GYM!" Haley yelled back, hell-bent on disagreeing.
"Right! It's settled!" Sky said triumphantly, turning towards the gym and marching off quickly before Haley worked out what had happened.
***
"CLOSED?!" Sapph and Sky yelled in indignation, staring at the small sign on the red brick gym's double glass door.
"Told you we should have done the hot springs first!" Haley said in a smugly superior voice.
"Shut up, Haley," Sky growled.
"Why'd you want to come here first anyway, Sky?" Sapph asked curiously. It was no secret that the Chinooka City local wanted to replace her older brother Ricon Wingams as the new Gym Leader. "Do you need badges to become a Gym Leader?"
"Not really," Sky replied glumly, as they tailed Haley up the busy commercial area's streets towards the spa. "I just thought the best place to train a fire type like Drago would be…"
"…a fire type gym?" Sapph guessed slyly.
Startled, Sky nodded. "How'd you guess?"
"Oh, I dunno… volcano, hot springs?" Sapph replied with a grin. "Kind of a give away, no?"
Sky smirked back.
"How about we lose Haley and go find somewhere to train then?" Sapph muttered to the younger girl behind Haley's back, the latter of who was in full flow about the wonders of steam baths. "Arcana and Lavender could do with a little bit of training before the match, if we won't be able to do it today."
Grinning widely, Sky nodded and the two trainers slowed to a stop allowing Haley to walk on ahead, oblivious to the fact that she was now rambling to nobody in particular.
***
"OK, ready for a workout, Drago?" Sky cheered as Drago yawned and stomped into the practice field that was about a quarter mile from the back wall of the outdoor hot baths.
Sure thing, Sheila! Drago quipped, stretching his scaly fingers open to reveal foot long claws.
"Then let's start with your Scratch attack!" Sky grinned, pointing at a large boulder that sat near the edge of the field.
"OK, Lavender, Arcana," Sapph cried, releasing his Pokémon onto the field. "Practice time!"
In two bursts of white light, the Eevee and Growlithe took shape on the field and ruffling their manes and exchanging pleasantries with each other, crouched into battle stances.
"Not against Drago, guys," Sapph corrected them, and both straightened up looking at Sapph (and a tree, in Lavender's case) in some surprise.
"Arcana, you'll be working on your accuracy training. Lavender, you're on evasion training," Sapph went on.
Whilst Arcana looked nonplussed, Lavender's ears perked as she turned to Sapph and exclaimed, But I've only ever done evasion training with Anii before! Why the change? No offense, Arcana…
None taken, girl, Arcana replied. But I don' understan' whut ah'm meant ta be doin' and all that…
"Oh, it's fairly simple," Sapph explained. "Arcana, you'll be shooting Ember at Lavender. Lavender will be doing her best to evade them."
But, Sapph… Lavender protested. What if she hits me? Anii always warned me when he'd attack during training…
"Yeah, well… not every opponent will be that giving, Lavender," Sapph said with a faint frown. Kneeling down next to his Evolution Pokémon, he added in a whisper, "You may be blind… but you aren't deaf, are you?"
Lavender's eyes widened as the hint hit home.
Right! Lavender cheered. Arcana- nuo, don't hold anything back!
Still looking unsure, Arcana nodded and readied a large fireball in her fanged mouth. Opening and closing her mouth rapidly, she sent several smaller fireballs careening towards Lavender, who had her eyes shut tight and her muscles tense.
Lavender leapt backwards to avoid the first fireball, which hit the ground were her forepaws stood moments ago. Back flipping again, she avoided another two fireballs which had greater range, before rolling to the left to avoid the fourth projectile. The fifth however struck her square in between the eyes, warranting a yell of pain form the smaller quadruped Pokémon and a flash of orange red light as she evolved into Flareon.
The hell, girl… don'tcha need one've 'em dang Fire Stones to do that shit? Arcana exclaimed as she reverted back to her Eevee staged and rubbed a paw over the spot of singed fur where she'd been hit.
"It's Lavender's ability," Sapph explained. "Each evolution isn't permanent, though. How're you feeling, Lavender?"He added, looking over at the Normal type in some concern.
Just peachy, Sapph, Lavender reassured him. Well, let's carry on, Arcana-nuo…
"Hey, Sapph!" Sky called over. "Drago needs someone to train with! Reckon you can help?"
"Sure thing, Sky! Go, Zen!"Sapph replied, releasing the furry Fighting type into the fray.
Flexing his metallic arm, Zen said to Drago, Hope your worth all the pain I'm about to put you through, Lizard Head.
Stretching out his claws further, Drago chuckled and replied, I believe that's my line, cobber.
"Alright, Zen, let's get 'em!" Sapph yelled, getting into the training program.
Whatever, Kid, Zen growled, readying an Aura Sphere.
"OK, Drago! Let's rock!" Sky yelled.
Right on! Drago replied, his claws glowing scarlet as he dropped into a battle stance.
Before either Pokémon could move a muscle, a distinct scream of "THIEF!"rent the air. All six heads swiveled in the direction of the noise and saw a shady character that Sapph recognized with a pang of annoyance. Running towards them with a brown purse clutched in his grubby hands was the 'renowned' Pokémon salesman known simply as Shade, who had, barely a month ago attempted to sell Sapph stolen Pokémon, just before an attempt to lift Anuvi off him.
Not him again! Sapph thought in frustration as Shade seeing where he was going stopped five feet short of the training Pokémon and their trainers.
Recognizing Sapph from their run-in back in EverWood Forest, Shade blanched and screamed, "Not you again!"
"Hunh?" Sky said, totally lost. "Have you two met?"
"Regrettably," Shade spat, his eyes darting around looking for an escape route.
"That's my line!" Sapph roared back, ticked off at the felon's tone of voice. "Zen, get 'im!"
I'm busy, Zen said contemptuously, turning back to face Drago.
Sapph face-faulted. Hard.
Before he could utter a frustrated yell at his Combatant Pokémon, a loud yell that sounded like it came straight from a comic book exclaimed, "Stop right there, hombire!"
Sapph was sure all their necks would twist off with all the twisting they were doing, as for the second time that day, they turned sharply to see a young man in an elaborately tattooed hoodie ride around the corner on the back of a palomino unicorn which possessed a flaming mane and tail. As Sapph, Sky and Shade watched, the man leapt from the back of his elegant Rapidash right on top of the thief, slamming him and into the concrete.
"That will be the last purse you will steal, perpetrator!" He then said to Shade's undeniably unconscious form as the policewoman on patrol rushed up to the scene followed by a distressed young woman whom Sapph guessed the purse belonged to.
"Oh, Fuego! Thank you, thank you!" The young woman said, evidently overjoyed and starry-eyed at the identity of her hero.
"It was my pleasure, amare mia," the man replied, false modesty in his voice, getting off Shade's prone form to allow the police take the thief into custody.
"Sorry to trouble you on your day off, Mr. Fuego," the policewoman said, yanking Shade to his feet and cuffing him.
"Think nothing of it, marieta," Fuego said in a detached voice. "I was bored."
Sapph stole a glance at Sky and saw she was regarding the mystery man with a look of disgust. Marching up to the trio, Sky tapped the man in the small of his back, it being the highest part of his body she could reach.
The man turned around to face Sapph and Sky, who looked like she was in a towering temper, revealing vermillion brown eyes and jet black hair which fell elegantly into his eyes and said in his magnanimous voice, "I'm sorry, marieta, but you'll have to wait for an… OOOF!"
Sapph, Arcana and Drago winced emphatically as Sky laid into his groin with a left jab that was sure to hurt. As he sank to his knees in pain, Zen whistled and said, Nice…shot!
What happened, Sapph? Lavender asked Arcana.
Arcana and Sapph sweat dropped as Sapph answered, "Fuego took a shot to his winky."
Left jab, Arcana added in a shocked voice.
Really?
Yeah, Arcana said.
Ouch.
"Ah… Sky… nice to see you again," Fuego said in a squeaky voice as everyone stared transfixed at the scene of brutality.
"You flirtin' sonuva…" Sky snarled, staring down at Fuego with disgust. "You'll never change."
Looks like looking for a place to train Drago wasn't the only thing on Sky's mind, Sapph thought feebly.
After Fuego regained his ability to stand and speak coherently, he stood up and acknowledged his assailant.
"Ah… amare mia Sky. What a pleasure… still as feisty as ever…" Fuego said in his flamboyantly flippant voice.
"Gimme a baseball bat and I'll show you feisty," Sky muttered darkly.
Sapph was seriously wondering how the hell the guy could remain smiling when Sky was shooting him looks of bloody murder.
"Charmed… and you are?"
It took a minute for Sapph to register that Fuego had directed his question at him. Pointing at himself, he said, "Who, me? Sapph Manson. From Cherry-"
"Yes, yes, that's nice," Fuego said dismissively, waving off Sapph's introduction early.
"H-hey! I was talking here!" Sapph spluttered, reddening.
"Yes, I'm sure you were," Fuego said in a bored voice. "Now, Sky… how may I help you, marieta mia?"
"Other than dropping dead? I dunno…" Sky said in a deliberately slow voice. "How about telling us where the hell you've been today!"
"Well, uhm… as hero of the… well, the thing is… the emergency… at the… uh, Pokémon Mart… the uhhh… ummm, robber… yeah! Well, anyway, heeee…uuhh…" Fuego muttered sheepishly.
"Yeah, right."
"You don't believe me, do you?"
"Yeaaaaaa…no," Sapph and Sky said in unison.
"Didn't think so," Fuego said drily.
Just as the words escaped his lips, the communicator on the belt of his shorts beeped and a crackly voice came over the intercom. "Gym Leader! Gym Leader! We have an emergency here!"
Sighing at the tone of the man's voice, he unclipped it and said with an ostentatious yawn, "You are a man, are you not? Settle it yourself then!"
A lady's voice suddenly came over the radio, all panicky and exclaimed, "Fuego-hame! The natural gas lines in the volcano are cracking all over Sector Two!"
At the sound of the lady's voice, however, Fuego's whole aspect changed at once. Adopting his bold, daring voice, he declared knowledgeably, "There must be some disturbance in the mountain then. Stay strong," he announced leaping atop his Rapidash. "I'll be there!"
"Hurry!" The voice yelled again.
With a flick of his hair, Fuego wheeled his steed to face the mountain and said, "My deepest apologies, marieta… and, errm… Raph?"
"Sapph," Sapph corrected him through gritted teeth.
"Whatever," Fuego said dismissively. "I must go save my people. I will return to the gym afterwards. We may talk then."
With a heroic yell, he urged the Rapidash on at top speed, racing towards the scene of trouble.
"So…" Sapph said in a long, drawn out breath. "That's Fuego."
"Yep," Sky said listlessly.
"The Gym Leader."
"Uh… huh," Sky agreed.
"Do you think he'll really be back?"
"Nope," Sky said in the same voice, recalling Drago.
"Didn't think so," Sapph said wistfully, copying her actions and running off after her and Fuego.
***
"Well, honestly," Haley scowled, pouting as she stood akimbo in a large white towel. "Sapph could have done with a hot bath, too… with his body not totally recovered and all."
She looked at the steamed up glass doors that lead to the bathing area and sighed.
"Oh well, here's beauty treatment in your eye!" she said with a smirk, running to the bath's edge and leaping in, towel and all.
You didn't need very good hearing to know what she went through next. All of Appleburn could hear Haley's scream of pain, from the most astute Pokémon to the most deaf of old men.
"EEEEEEEEYAAAAAAAGH! COOOOOOLD!"
***
"This is pointless," Sapph said dejectedly after running for a quarter of an hour. "We'll never catch him at this rate!"
Sky didn't respond. She'd suddenly stopped running, staring at a department store's large glass windows.
Sapph looked back and watched Sky with a twinge of annoyance.
"Hey, Sky! We don't have time to window shop!" He said irritably, marching towards the girl with the air of pulling her away, until he stole a glance at the window, which displayed bicycles.
Sapph gasped and plunged his hand into his bag. Pulling out a white envelope, he pulled out a slip of paper and stared at it, the memory of the slip returning to him…
-Flashback-
"Sapph! Hello!" Mrs. Kent greeted jovially. "You left in quite a hurry the other day! Where have you been then? Haley and Kamren both left yesterday!"
"At the Centre." Sapph replied. "This is Mongle, by the way," he added as Mongle chose that moment to come spiralling out of his pokéball onto the grass, causing Mrs. Kent's Pidgeot to take flight in mild alarm.
Hi, you're really pretty! Mongle piped.
"Well, isn't he lovely? By the way, Sapph you left something…"
"Erm, I did?" Sapph asked, puzzled as Mongle jumped onto the table as scooped up an armful of cinnamon chocolate chip cookies and proceeded to stuff himself silly.
Mrs. Kent nodded and called for a maid. Lucinda came out, carrying a book and an envelope. Leaving them on the table, she nodded to Sapph and Mrs. Kent and left.
"But, Mrs. Kent, isn't that…" Sapph started, staring at the green trainers' manual.
"Yes, but I'd like you to have it. Haley and I already know it off by heart and Kamren would never read it if I gave it to him…" Mrs. Kent said matter-of-factly. "What's in the envelope is yours, too. Don't lose it now!"
Mongle, after stashing a small horde of the cinnamon goodies for later, jumped onto Sapph's shoulder to see as Sapph pulled a slip of paper out from the envelope. "Wow, a Bike Voucher! Thanks, Mrs. Kent!"
"You're quite welcome, dear. Well, I suppose you'd better run along now. Good luck and take care!" Mrs. Kent said with a graceful smile.
"Bye! And thanks again!" Sapph said, turning to leave.
-End Flashback-
"Good idea, Sky!" Sapph cheered, slapping the girl on the back. "On bikes we can get there much faster!"
"One problem, Sapph mate," Sky said mournfully. "I haven't got enough for a bike."
Sapph face faulted.
"Then why the heck did you stop?!" Sapph yelled, losing patience with the female's pathological desire to window shop at the worst possible time.
"Cause I thought I should get a pair of roller blades," Sky replied. "They're much cheaper."
Sapph slapped his face with his left hand and dragged it down his face slowly.
"Well, that's better than nothing I suppose," Sapph said with a groan as he led Sky into the store.
Bicycle parts hung on every available wall surface. Complete bikes stood in neat rows throughout the store in many different hues and shades. On the wall behind the cashier's desk stood a shelf laden with roller blades, skateboards and riding gear. Sapph, glancing at the voucher once more, turned to the counter and saw that the clerk was attending to someone else.
Sapph's eyes widened as he saw a familiar purple haired boy paying for a mountain bike, an old-looking humanoid Pokémon at his heels. Boulders adorned the Pokémon's shoulders like epaulettes, and as the boy's purple eyes looked out the window straight into Sapph's eyes, a mutual flash of understanding shot between them.
"Slate! How's it going?"Sapph greeted, walking forward to grasp the older teen's hand in a firm handshake. "Clyff was in a right state when you resurrected Aerodactyl 'without prior permission'," Sapph informed the Orebourgh-born trainer, mimicking the Dinocanyon City Gym Leader as he uttered the last three words.
"Sapph! Ol' buddy, ol' pal!" Slate replied, grinning from ear to ear at the news of his uncle. "How's the league campaign going?"
"Not bad," Sapph said cheerfully. "I beat Ricon about a week ago… oh, this is Sky, by the way… his little sister."
"Hey there, mate," Sky greeted cheerfully.
"How do you do?"Slate replied. "So, I'd wager you're going to challenge Appleburn's leader next… Fuego, was it?"
"Well, he's got a bit of a priority issue…" Sapph began with an irritable wince and within ten minutes the story was told.
"Well, that's bad," Slate said worriedly. "If the natural gas lines are clogged, a major eruption could occur, swamping Appleburn City with lava!"
"L-la-LAVA?!" Sapph shrieked, breaking out in a feverishly cold sweat. Rounding on Sky, he yelled frantically, "D-didn't you say Appleburn's extinct?!"
"It should have been," Sky mused, scratching her chin thoughtfully. "Curious…"
"Well, it's decided," Slate said in a take charge kind of voice. "Sapph and Sky, grab some gear. We've got to save Appleburn!"
"Who died and left you in charge?" Sky pouted, pooling her money for a pair of roller blades as Sapph picked out a BMX.
Thinking hard, Sapph said, "Hey, Sky… wanna trade?"
Sky eyes widened. "Say what, mate?"
"Trust me, you'll get to the mountain faster with these," Sapph said quickly, grabbing the skating apparatus and wheeling the bicycle into Sky's hands.
"Well, if you insist," Sky said slowly, taking the riding helmet and wheeling her bicycle out after the boys.
***
Ten minutes later, the smoking peak of Mount Appleburn loomed overhead as the trio raced towards the scene, Sapph popping some incredible leaps and tricks on the roller blades as he managed to keep abreast with Slate and Sky, who were pedaling for all they were worth.
"I didn't know you can roller blade, Sapph," Sky called from atop a second-hand BMX bike as the three of them raced towards the mountain.
"Had a bit of practice a few years back," Sapph replied, referring to the free lessons he'd won learning how from Derek Hesnon, four year local inline skating champion.
"Look at that crowd!" Slate called as they neared the foot of the mountain. "I don't reckon we'll be allowed to climb the mountain from there…"
"Go figure, Einstein," Sky scowled, a little short on breath as they neared the throng.
"We'd better take a diversion," Sapph called to the others.
"Leave that to me!" Slate called, releasing a Pokémon from his belt which formed the middle sized Pokémon with large boulders Sapph had seen in the store with Slate. "Grandpa, clear the way with Land Power!"
The Rock Man Pokémon nodded once and slammed the ground with terrific force with his arms crossed. Opening them sharply, he caused a path to appear between the innumerable boulders with a loud rumbling noise and a slight tremor. Bringing his hands down from his chest level to his navel palms down, the path smoothened swiftly with one last tremor and silence reigned.
"So that's where Zen learned that stance!" Sapph said in jubilant wonderment.
"Amazing," Sky said faintly.
"Thank you," Slate said pompously, returning Grandpa the Geome with a flamboyant flair. "Shall we go?"
***
As the trio made their way up the mountain, Haley was at the hot springs' manager's office, trying to figure out what was going on… or find someone to blame.
"What do you mean, 'circumstances beyond your control'?" Haley yelled at the manager who was cowering behind his office chair, almost as though attempting to shield himself from Haley's horrible fury.
"Please, try to understand," the manager squeaked in fright. "The natural gas lines are suffering damage… our leader will be able to sort it out soon…"
"Soon? SOON?!" Haley bellowed hysterically, causing the manager to squeal like a frightened little child. "I don't want soon… I WANT NOW!"
Storming away from the office, she added in a growling voice, "And what I want, I make sure I get!"
***
"OK, so now what?" Sapph asked frantically, staring around for a sign of the elusive Gym Leader.
"My reasoning dictates that he'd be under the ground," Slate said, also looking around. "But I don't see anyway under the tough igneous shell of the mountain… not even my Anorith's Dig attack can penetrate it…"
"As we say in Dunedé: 'Az terruchi redento mikst sundé persevira hamate'… 'Even the toughest earth is packed sand to the man who perseveres'," Sky said sagely, enlarging a red and white capture sphere of her own. "Stand clear!"
A flash of white light and steely claws later, Drago's flaming tail disappeared into the ground as he hacked away at the rock with Metal Claw, hewing a hole in the mountain with groundbreaking force and astonishing speed.
"Well, cloaks out, Sapph," Sky said briskly, fishing out her own and draping it around her shoulders.
"Won't you feel hotter down there with that thing on?" Sapph asked carefully, not willing to tick her off in case he sounded arrogant.
"Not really," Sky replied leading the way into the mountain. "They're fire-proof."
"Sweet!" Sapph cried, pulling out his cloak and throwing it over his back as made to follow.
Slate made to follow when a round of large fireballs scorched the ground at his feet. Looking up, he saw a huddle of strange creatures with smooth, yet slightly cracked shells. Each stood at around two foot seven inches and were bearing down on him slowly yet steadily, fireballs issuing from their mouths.
Larvle! They must be trying to break us up! Slate thought, ducking and swaying as he evaded the Ember attacks. "Looks like I'll have to handle these guys first," Slate called down the makeshift shaft to Sapph and Sky. "Go on ahead, I'll catch up!"
"OK, be careful!" Sapph called as he watched Slate release Geome and another large winged beast to combat the multitude of Fire types.
Drago kept up his vicious slashing and hacking at the rock for about a quarter of an hour, before they emerged in a cavernous space littered with rocky pillars formed from conjoined stalagmites and stalactites. A permanent heat haze hung in the air, making the air swim before the youths' eyes. Streams of molten lava which ran along the floor and crisscrossed all over the cave gave the cavern the appearance and lighting of a photography dark room.
"OK… so now which way?" Sapph said loudly, fighting to overcome the dizziness the heat of the volcano's interior was imposing on him.
"I dunno… SAPPH, WATCH IT!" Sky yelled knocking him out of the way of an incoming boulder. The huge mass of stone hurtled towards the Chinooka local before it was shattered to rubble by Drago's Metal Claw.
Sapph pushed himself to his feet and stared at where the boulder had appeared from to see a second ball of stone roll down the hill towards Sky and Drago, who, standing behind a stalagmite, could not see it coming.
"Sky! Watch out!" Sapph yelled as the boulder sprang alive, sprouting arms and legs as it landed, revealing the cross facial expression of a ticked off Graveler. Apparently, whatever was hurling the rocks around wasn't paying attention to what it threw. A clear sign of a huffy Pokémon…
"Sky!" Sapph yelled again as the Graveler brought down a powerful Hammer Arm attack, causing a powerful stream of lava to gush out of the rock, separating Drago and Sky from Sapph, who the Graveler had seemed to have ignored.
"Leave this to us, Sapph!" Sky called as she ordered her Charmeleon to leap aside and prepared an Ember attack which hit its mark as Drago flipped away adroitly smashing a couple more smaller boulders with Metal Claw. "Keep going!"
With one last, desperate look at the pair, Sapph nodded and scrambled up the side of the cavern to the large hole in the rock wall from which the Graveler had been thrown from, keeping vigilant for more falling rock.
Alright, cobber…get ready fer a clobber! Drago rhymed and he bounced on the balls of his clawed, scaly feet, metallic claws at the ready.
Sapph clambered through the cave opening and found himself in the heart of the volcano. The room here seemed dimmer than the last one and although there was a lot more steam, it felt oddly cooler too as though the walls were blocking off the heat that should have been present. Fuego was there, hiding behind another stone pillar, and sweating profusely as a large behemoth of a Pokémon bore down on him, punching boulders left and right out of its way.
The Pokémon resembled a red Blastoise except it had a diamond-hard shell and no pressure cannons. Several black plates plated the back of its arms as its blue eyes scanned the area for the Gym Leader who had aggravated it by obviously interfering with its plans. Crude looking claws grew from its stout, powerful arms as it roared again, almost as though trying to spew fire, but failing.
Conburn, the Fire Conch Pokémon, the Pokédex beeped. In battle, Conburn release heat into the earth to create mini-eruptions. It makes its homes in the heart of volcanoes.
Sapph dived for cover as a couple more boulders soared straight for where he stood, one or two flying through the hole. Sapph thought he'd seen another Graveler soar through and thought, Looks like Sky's gonna be busy for a while longer, before turning back towards the Pokémon as it let loose an anguished yell and rushed Fuego.
"Zen, get 'im!" Sapph yelled, hoping beyond hope that Zen would listen this time as he threw Zen's pokéball forwards, cracking open as it flew through the air.
The Taebrawl landed lightly and rushed the rampaging Fire type, nailing it in the side with a forceful tackle that sent the Conburn skidding across the rocky ground. Digging in his feet, the Fire type swiped at Zen violently catching Sapph's Pokémon in the face and flinging him away forcefully across the room into another rocky column.
"Zen! You OK?" Sapph called to his Pokémon as his rose to his feet and spat something small and white from his mouth and smiled arrogantly.
Finally! An opponent who can take a hit! Zen said softly, wiping a fleck of dark red blood from the corner of his mouth. Let's play…
"Zen, don't rush him! He'll just…" Sapph began to command, before Zen got knocked into another monolithic pillar by another fierce swing thrown by the giant Conburn.
"Sapph! What are you doing here?!" Fuego yelled in surprise, staring at the Johton trainer.
"Saving your rear," Sapph said in a disgruntled voice. "I take it that this guy's responsible for the trouble?"He added as Zen laid into the firebrand's face with a mean Rolling Kick.
Fuego nodded and stared back at the battling Pokémon.
"Any idea why it's doing all this?" Sapph asked swiftly.
"It is because it cannot breathe fire."
"Get out! For real?" Sapph gasped as Zen stomped the ground, lifting several boulders of his own into the air. His feet flashed through the air as he sent the rocks racing towards the wild Pokémon. Each projectile hit its mark as the Conburn grunted with each hit it took, retaliating by pounding the ground hard, causing a ridge of sharp stalagmites to explode from the ground straight for Zen, who replied by slamming his bandaged feet into the ground and raising his hands quickly, creating a wall of rock which stopped the Conburn's attack cold.
"Afraid so," Fuego said quickly as the feeling returned to his legs. "Unfortunately, the only way to stop him is to capture him. And I can't get close enough to do that now."
"What the hell?" Sapph yelled as Zen unleashed a vicious Tae Kwon Do kata upon the Conburn's face causing it to roar in rage again, hurling more stones around, which Zen deflected with weak blasts of Confusion. "What kind of Gym Leader are you?"
"One without a usable Pokémon," Fuego replied drily. "The Conburn may be unable to use Fire attacks, but its physical power and Rock type techniques prove to be a handful for a Fire type specialist like myself."
"Great," Sapph said sarcastically as the nearly six foot tall fire golem pounded the ground again, this time forcing Zen to evade quickly. "Just great! Zen, how're you holding up?" He directed to his Fighting type, who had rolled to his feet and was beginning to breathe heavily.
Badly, Zen replied, stumbling out of the way of another stony assault. The last Confusion attack fatigued me… and my arm had to jam up again. For a Fire type, he sure knows how to pack a punch!
"Well, we need to turn this around and fast!" Sapph commented worriedly. "Ready an Aura Sphere!"
"NO!" Fuego screamed.
Turning to the Gym Leader with a frown on his face, Sapph asked "Why the heck not?"
"Conburn's diverted all the lava channels of the volcano into this room!" Fuego said in horror. "If you miss, you'll cause a river of lava to gush out!"
Almost as though it understood Fuego's words, the Conburn slammed his fist into the wall behind him, a twisted smile on its face. Pulling his arm free sharply, it caused a high pressure jet of lava and natural gas spewing out towards the Combatant Pokémon.
"Great work, Fuego... give it ideas, why don't you," Sapph remarked acidly. "Zen, watch out!" Sapph bellowed as the Taebrawl rose to his feet slowly, his eyes and mind focused entirely on the fiery spout. Swinging his right arm in a clockwise circle as he pushed himself off the ground, he somehow managed to send the lava plume shooting upwards towards the ceiling, stunning Sapph, Fuego and the Conburn.
"Of course," Fuego exclaimed, his eyes popping. "Magma is molten rock. Therefore a Taebrawl with land affinity should be able to manipulate that too!"
With a loud grunt of effort, Zen flipped his palm downwards and brought his arm down towards the ground, sending the lava cascading upon the Conburn, which shielded its eyes from the searing heat.
Now's our chance! Sapph thought triumphantly. "Zen, rush 'im with Aura Sphere, now!"
Well, well, Zen thought, readying a sphere of blue Megacite energy as he ran in to end the match. Looks like the kid's gotten a few more good ideas up in that noggin'…
The Fire Conch Pokémon bellowed in rage as it peeled the cooling magma off its skin and fixed its wild eye upon the smaller Pokémon, who stood right before it, an orange sized orb of power resting in his right hand, which swung around sharply and slammed into the Conburn's body, its shell offering little protection against such a powerful attack at point blank range.
After making contact, the battle-loving Pokémon followed through lifting the larger Pokémon clean off its feet (an incredible feat, as the Fighting type gave away over two feet in height difference to the Conburn, not to mention over seven hundred and thirty kilos in weight) and driving it into the wall behind it with a tremendous roar and an earth-shaking slam.
"That has to end it!" Sapph yelled, pumping his fist as he and Fuego watched Zen draw his palm away from the Conburn's navel, leaving the firebrand free to all to the ground on its knees. Doubled over and wheezing, Zen stared daggers at the Conburn, who returned the glare with interest. Leaping up a few feet, Zen used one last Rolling Kick to knock the Conburn's jaw crooked, and causing the brute to keel over sideways, hitting the ground hard and struggling to stay conscious.
"Alright! Good job, Zen!" Sapph cheered, pulling out an empty pokéball. "Now it's time for a…eh?" Sapph stared as a black and gold pokéball whizzed past his ear and struck the Conburn on the back of its shell, drawing it in as a beam of golden light.
The Ultra Ball hit the ground and began to shake… once… twice… thrice…
Finally, the ball stopped vibrating with a dull metallic ping as the Conburn within gave up the fight and submitted to its new master.
"What…" Sapph spluttered as he spun around to watch Fuego step forward and retrieve his newest capture.
…the… Zen added.
The duo then screamed a nasty four-lettered word that rhymes with 'stuck' as Fuego turn to regard Sapph imperiously, the gold chain at his neck glinting as he regained his swagger.
"Well, thanks to your interference, the Conburn nearly succeeded to destroy Appleburn City," Fuego said, tutting Sapph softly. "As punishment, I decree that you shall have your Taebrawl rechannel the lava flow to its natural pathways." Suddenly smiling, he added, "Yet without your assistance, I wouldn't have been able to capture the Conburn at all. As your reward, you may challenge me to a four-on four Pokémon battle for my Inferno badge tomorrow. Now, I must dash," he went on, oblivious to the furious look on Sapph's face. "A hero cannot keep his adoring fans waiting…"
And with a condescending wink, Fuego strutted out of the cave, leaving Sapph and Zen speechless.
I dunno about you, Zen said furtively, staring longingly at Fuego's retreating backside as though struggling not to kick it into next year, but I really wanna kick his ass tomorrow.
Well, that's one thing we can agree on, Sapph thought furtively as he called out Anuvi to use his Yaiba no Hayashi to carve new trenches to divert the lava flow.
***
"Sapph! There you are!" Slate exclaimed as the boy trainer tottered out of the cave three hours later with some of the engineers' Pokémon, all of them covered in soot.
"Where've you been, mate?" Sky asked briskly. "Fuego left hours ago…said something about saving the city single handed… the bloated egomaniac."
"Can't talk… must rest… think up ways… to… kill Fuego," Sapph muttered, ambling wearily towards the Pokémon Centre, muttering incoherently.
"What's his problem?" Slate asked Sky, totally nonplussed.
"If you don't know, then I won't tell you," Sky replied nastily.
"I rather don't appreciate your tone, miss!" Slate huffed. "Nor do I appreciate your notion that flying type Pokémon are the strongest in the world!"
"They are and you know it," Sky replied adamantly.
"Puh-lease," Slate scoffed as they made to follow Sapph to the Pokémon Center. "Anyone and everyone know that Rock types are the superior Pokémon!"
"Don't waste your breath!" Sky snapped back. "The only rock type worth my time is Aerodactyl… you can take the rest of your rock-headed theories and stuff it, jardo!"
"Hmph… this argument is pointless…" Slate said disdainfully. "And here I thought Sapph had better class that allowing an upstart to accompany him! Haley was much more dignified…"
"That water baby? Gimme a break!" Sky yelled back as they followed Sapph to the Centre for some food and rest, although their argument wouldn't end for many an hour to come.
***
What a day, Fuego thought tiredly as he returned to the gym to clear up the field for the next day's battle. What else could go wrong with my otherwise perfect day?
"HEY! ARE YOU THE GYM LEADER OR WHAT?" A loud, angry voice bellowed from the doors that lead to the reception area.
Looking up in surprise, Fuego saw a young girl with reddish blonde hair standing in the doorway, staring at the young man with fire in her eyes.
"That depends, marieta mia," Fuego replied charmingly. "May I… assist you?" he added, his eyes roving all over her eleven year old frame as she marched up to the leader, her fist clenched.
"Oh, yes," Haley said in a brittle voice, noticing his eye movements and masking her scowl with a sweet smile. "Yes, you can…"
A second loud crunching noise later had the Gym Leader slumped upon the floor, clutching some…erm, important goods and screaming in blinding pain.
"That's for denying me my hot spring adventure," Haley snarled, her right fist in her left hand. "As for you lecherous attitude…"
"What… the hell… woman, do you know I can have you arrested?" Fuego squeaked from the floor.
"…I think a battle's in order… unless you're afraid," Haley went on, ignoring Fuego's threat.
Fuego leapt to his feet and grinned a toothy grin. "Very well," he proclaimed proudly. "I shall battle you two on two. If you win, you shall receive an Inferno badge and my sincerest apologies. If I win," he said, shooting Haley another flirtatious look, "you will be my date for the evening!"
Haley smirked as they took their places on the field, knowing that the battle was as good as hers as they raised their pokéballs.
***
CHARACTER PERSONALITY OF THE WEEK
Name: Sky Wingams
Age: 10
Gender: Female
Date of Birth: May 17th, PA 2004
Eye Colour: Brown
Hair Colour: Brown
Theme: I'm Just a Kid by Simple Plan
Current Teammates: Drago (Charmeleon)
Pokémon at the Yew Observatory: None
Background: Sky is the younger sister of Ricon Wingams, Gym Leader for the Chinooka City Gym. Although young, she'd been raised by her older brother since before she had memories. Her dedication to raising Flying types is only superceded by her desire to take over the gym and free her brother from the responsibilities that go with it, leaving him free to pursue other interests.
Sky's pretty much a female Sapph: brash, eager to battle, determined to fulfill her goal regardless of the obstacles. As a girl, she can't go without being right and loves to argue with Haley, who fundamentally returns the feeling with mutual interest. Her love for Flying types pits her against Haley, who adores Water types and against Slate, who prefers the solidity of the Rock type.
And now… the Corei-Dex:
106 Conburn
Type: Fire
Species: Fire Conch
Pronunciation: con-BURN
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 783kg
Habitat: Cave
Evolution Line: LARVLE-(23)-INCINCHA-(Fire Stone)-CONBURN
Name Derivation: CONch + BURN
Notes: In battle, Conburn release heat into the earth to create mini-eruptions. It makes its homes in the heart of volcanoes.
206 Taebrawl
Type: Fighting/Psychic
Species: Combatant
Pronunciation: tie-BRALL
Height: 3'09"
Weight: 47kg
Habitat: Urban
Evolution Line: Taebrawl-(38)- Jutunkick
Name Derivation: TAE bo + BRAWL
Notes: Taebrawl are known to manipulate special attacks projected at it using its telekinetic powers, which it trains by hefting huge boulders and immensely heavy weights with.