Bidoof, Anorith, and Heatran

All eyes were on him as he walked to the front of the classroom. Why did it have to be him? He would have liked one of the smaller challenges of the school competition, just to get his new classmates acceptance. But no, the teachers had put him in one worth a lot of homeroom points, and straddle him with such a decision. He could go with one of the sets that his classmates would approve of. Or, he could go with the one he felt confident in winning with.

"I'll... go with the Bidoof and Anorith pair, please."

Of course, they didn't like it. Why was he going with the bad pair? One was a common lazy pest of a Pokemon, the other was strange looking and none of them were sure what to do with it. The other pairs, any of them, had cooler or stronger Pokemon in them. This competition was going to be a loss and the reason their homeroom would fail was because of the new kid's dumb decision for this one challenge. Because of this antagonism, he found it easier to check in with the teach as quickly as possible on the challenge day, then head out with Pokemon to complete his task.

Because of the challenge, he was allowed to head out by train into the countryside, to where an old volcano sat. It was a weary old thing, worn down by age to an unimpressive shortness and heaving ash clouds in a halfhearted fashion. But it was the closest volcano and the competition committee of the private school really wanted a big fire challenge to go with their elemental theme. And their challenge here? A photo scavenger hunt which used pairs of the school's Pokemon to accomplish specific tasks. The fire was all in the location, which wasn't all that fiery on the outside. Or inside, if talk around town was true.

He put the camera on its strap on his shoulder securely, then called out the two Pokemon he'd chosen. Bidoofs were indeed very common, but he'd used this particular one and others before. Named Boris, this Bidoof had always been agreeable to work with and had a decent set of moves. Boris looked up at him and waved a paw on recognizing him. As for the other, Anoriths were ancient Pokemon risen from fossils, little guys who used their wings to fly through the water or flutter just above the ground. Ace the Anorith had been donated to the school and was used by one of the science teachers for lectures. While Ace wouldn't recognize him, or anyone save maybe that teacher, he always seemed obedient.

Walking along the paths, he spoke to the two Pokemon, explaining what they were doing and wondering aloud what to do about the scavenger hunt prompts. One of them wanted 'a flurry of fists and ashes'. That was easily solved by getting into a battle with one of the wild Machops and taking some pictures while directing Ace to use Fury Swipes, stirring up the gray ash lying on the ground with his white and red wings. Less easily solved was winning that battle; he had to use one of the given potions to heal up Ace afterward, so that he was okay with continuing.

Another prompt was 'signs of Pokemon', which he got by snapping a shot of Boris sniffing around a metallic feather and fresh footprints in a thick layer of ash; they were all avian in nature, which neither of his Pokemon could make. Boris also helped with 'a special old structure' when he helped clear rocks from an old shrine they found, tucked away on a side path. The student was quite interested in it, as it seemed to be to a local volcano spirit, one he didn't know of. Making a reminder in his notebook to ask about it, he called the two Pokemon to continue on. It seemed like a forlorn forgotten thing; they spent a few minutes picking up bits of trash to at least make it look nicer for when one of the other students came by.

One of the last prompts he found was 'opposed elements'. He had heard about a natural hot spring being located on this mountain, but having recently moved to this place, he hadn't heard where exactly. On the other hand, the local students would know where to find this probably easy location. He managed to find it by asking Boris to find some water, figuring that as a native dwellers of rivers and ponds, the Bidoof could do so. And it turned out to be the perfect time to catch the prompt. Within the steams from the small ponds, he could see flame spouts coming out of chimney-like structures poking out of the water. Maybe this volcano wasn't as lazy as people thought. He got a nice picture of the fire and water, but he would need one of the Pokemon in the shot for it to count as part of the hunt.

Kneeling down, he spoke to Ace, trying to coax the Anorith into swimming close to the fire spout. He was an opposed element himself, being formed of rocks of the earth, but made to live within the seas. Or even being an ancient creature living thanks to modern technology. Boris leapt into the water first, making a happy barking sound and splashing around. Since he was covered in fur, it seemed the water wasn't that hot. The student touched it with his fingers, then rolled up his pants legs to step into the pool himself. With this, Ace went into the steaming water as well. Directing him to swim near the fire spout and keeping Boris from joining in took several more minutes, but he eventually got a great shot.

He smiled on getting that. There were only two prompts left: 'a light within the dark' and 'looking from the volcano's peak'. With the photos he had gotten, he felt that he should get a good score for his homeroom (hopefully to his classmate's approval). But he could get some extra points for this challenge with non-prompt photos of the Pokemon he had as his exploring partners. So he let them play in the water, getting some fun shots like Ace clamping gently with his large mandibles to Boris' wide tail to ride after him.

They got to the other side of the shallow pool and found an entrance to the interior of the volcano. With that one prompt and a lantern in his equipment, he had expected that there would be caves around. He called the two Pokemon out of the water and headed inside with them, using the lantern to see where they were going. On the way, he spotted some black lumps of soft-looking black rock on the ground. When he held his hand over one of them, drips of water immediately turned to steam, hinting that it was incredibly hot. He instructed the two Pokemon to carefully avoid those seeing that. The tunnel was smaller than the hallways in school, but tall enough for him to walk without bumping his head in most places. Before long, it came to a natural set of stairs, heading deeper into the volcano. The lumps of cooling magma continued along the pathway.

At first, he thought he'd get the 'a light within the dark' by giving one of the Pokemon the lantern to pose in the tunnel. But then his mind was soon drawn away from the challenge by what he found on the wall. Unown script, accompanied by various illustrations of some volcano god. He checked through the camera's memory and noticed that some of the illustrations matched what had been on the shrine outside. Interested in this, he took some pictures for reference of what to ask about or research for. He could make out some of the Unown script on sight; if he was right, then the god was named Heatran. Boris and Ace kept close to him, waiting for him to be done so they could continue.

He began to wonder how long they had taken going down this tunnel. He had to be back to the school dorms by dark, to turn in the photos and Pokemon. Perhaps when they found a dead end, or the an exit to the volcano... but the stairway kept going.

Eventually, a fiery light appeared at the end of the dark tunnel. Excited to come across that, he encouraged Boris and Ace to go ahead so he could catch at least their silhouettes in the light. But shortly after he took two photos of them, a deep roar filled the tunnel, one strong enough to feel in his bones. Ace got spooked, fluttering back for a moment, then circling around in uncertainty. On the other hand, Boris stepped closer to the light, ears perked forward. The student hurried ahead to where they were, finding an entrance into a much larger chamber. He thought briefly of not going in, but curiosity got the better of him. Besides, he trusted these two Pokemon to stick by him, whether they had to fight something or run from it. They went into the large chamber.

The light was coming from both fire and magma, burning in circular moats at the edge of the room. There was a single pathway that led to a larger version of the shrine outside. While less weathered by age, the stones of the shrine were scorched black by the fires around it. Within the shrine, there was the volcano god that the pictures in the tunnel depicted. It was larger than all three of them together, the student, the Bidoof, and the Anorith. Its back was like a black shell similar to the crust of the volcano's outside. But its underside and four massive legs were glowing red in parts, reminding him of pictures of steel being formed. There was a crack on the right side of its back, with a bubble of red magma forming. Drips of the superheated rock lay near that wound.

Heatran looked over them, wary. It put a foot down gingerly and started to roar again, only to break off into a fit of coughing. Maybe it was old and worn like the volcano itself. The student took a picture of it and its shrine from near the tunnel, then wondered if he could get close enough to use one of the potions on it. Taking out an apple, he said to Ace and Boris, "Try to tell it that we mean no harm, and we can help if it lets us." Then he tossed the apple towards Heatran.

By the time it stopped bouncing and rolling, it was by the large Pokemon and starting to turn brown from the heat. Heatran snatched it up anyhow, eating it quickly. Ace was still nervous, still fluttering around close to the student's feet. But Boris went ahead fearlessly, calling out a friendly greeting like he gave the other school Pokemon when outside of battle. Heatran looked down at the Bidoof, given some softer sounds in a rough voice. While it looked at the student as he started to approach, it made no aggressive turns or warnings.

The moisture in the potion did hiss as it sprayed against Heatran's open wound. But it still did its job, sealing up the wound quicker and sterilizing away bad germs. As there was some left in the dose, he sprayed it on some rougher looking areas on Heatran's body. Although, what would be an injury and what would be a simple scrape was hard to tell on rougher Pokemon like this. Once that was done, he took out his camera again and got a few shots as Boris managed to convince Ace to come up and greet the old volcano god up close. That certainly had to be a worthy bonus.

"We should be leaving," he said gently, letting the camera hang off his shoulder again. "I'm sorry if we disturbed you, Heatran."

To his surprise, he got a response. "You were no bother," Heatran said. "This bug here is a peculiar creature. Very primitive, even more so than me." He chuckled, but then coughed again.

"He's from around 10 million years ago," the student said, recalling the science teacher's lectures. In his mind, his thoughts were all in excitement. How many people got to talk to a Pokemon others considered a god? What should he be asking, or saying? It wasn't an event he'd seriously considered happening to him.

"That explains it," Heatran said, looking at Ace. "And here I thought I was getting old. Hah, I was just considering how wild I was in my youth. Used to go to the village and demand they send the most beautiful maiden to me as my bride every decade or so. It was mostly to cause them panic and worry, plus see who would be brave enough to come down to face me in combat for her safe return. That was the exciting part; never did like it when nobody came for the girl. It's been a long time since I did that, though. I don't really care for all that these days. I'd be much happier if people simply took better care of the outer shrine."

"It was in a sorry state," he agreed.

It stepped closer to him, the glow on its legs dimming. "I did notice that you cleaned it up a little. And then you stumble into my inner shrine, being brave and kind enough to come heal me. With how little the other humans think of me these days, I appreciate even these small things."

He began to feel nervous again, like when his classmates had been watching him choose the Pokemon he'd take for this challenge. "It was only right. I was going to ask my teachers about the shrine anyhow. I could talk with them and the other students about coming back up there to clean the outer shrine up properly, if you want."

Bowing down, Heatran replied, "That would be all I want. Now what would you want for this?"

He rubbed his head. "I'm not sure. I, I'm here on a class assignment, and what I do will affect the honor of my classmates as well. Not only that, but I'm new around here too and only a few of them have accepted me as part of their group. At this point, all I need is a picture from the volcano's peak. If I can get out of here and back down the mountain in time to return."

It seemed amused at that. "That's as simple for me to help you as it was simple for you to help me. Give me a minute and I'll cool my back down enough for you to ride up with me."

"Wow, really? Thank you."

"If it gives your class honor and restores mine, it is nothing to do this." Before long, he was able to pick Ace up and let the Anorith grip Heatran's rocky back with his feet and mandibles. The student then got on with Boris, holding onto the Bidoof and Heatran so that none of them fell off.

And it was quite a ride. Perhaps it was some power Heatran had, but some kind of gravity help keep them on its back while the volcano god climbed straight up the walls of the inner chamber and through a tunnel in the roof. Once they got to a less steep passage, Heatran sped up, quickly passing through rock tunnels and picking passages with no hesitation. It was barely two minutes before they emerged into the open air, then another minute to when they were perched on a wide portion of the rim of the upper crater, at a place no human could reach alone. The student then took several photographs of the landscape, Boris, Ace, and Heatran before taking another fast ride down to the base of the volcano. It was the most thrilling adventure he'd ever had.

With the massive point lead the homeroom got from his part of the school competition, it was easy to convince his classmates and teacher to return to the volcano for a few weekends to restore Heatran's old shrine.

…

Bidoof Diamond entry: With nerves of steel, nothing can perturb it. It is more agile and active than it appears.

Anorith Emerald entry: It was resurrected from a fossil using the power of science. It swims by undulating the eight wings at its sides. They were feet that adapted to life in the sea.

Heatran HG/SS entry: Boiling blood, like magma, circulates through its body. It makes its dwelling place in volcanic caves.

A bit of a struggle to write this one, but I think it was worth it. I've got all the fossil Pokemon covered now!