The first of the cable cars began its journey from the base of the mountain, trundling slowly through the morning sky and inching up the mountainside on its way to the summit. Packed tightly within the car was Archie along with a full score of Team Aqua grunts, their pokéballs clutched tightly in their hands. None of them spoké a word. They all knew what was at stake.
Meanwhile, Seth held on tightly to the talons of Winona's Altaria that were clamped painfully tight on his shoulders, the claws pressing through the fabric to scratch at his skin. He did his best to stay calm, forcing himself not to look down at the sea of rocky ridges and spiky trees far below his free-hanging feet. Instead, he kept his eyes on Archie's car, watching its painstakingly slow progress along the thick steel cable.
All around him, Seth heard the rushing of the wind and the flapping of wings. He couldn't see them well in the dim light, but he was surrounded by a small group of flying-type pokémon, such as Pidgeot, Fearow, and Skarmory, that also carried people with them on their backs or in their talons. They flew as one, using the darkness as cover from unwanted eyes.
The sun began to rise, its light shining upon the mountainside. The cable car station at the summit was a simple landing zone for approaching cars, where they would briefly dock and allow passengers to exit before making the return trip along the second cable, as well as a mooring point for the cable. There was a large tower attached to the building that served as a support for the cables. During normal operation, passengers would dock at the top of the tower, disembark, and descend the stairs inside to the ground.
At the base of the tower was a wide-open area where tourists could congregate at the various viewing vistas, each bounded by safety railings and dotted with various informational panels. On the southern edge of the area was a set of stairs leading down the mountainside to Jagged Pass, and ultimately Lavaridge Town. There were three paths up to the lip of the volcano on the northern end of the area, each consisting of a wide staircase carved into the rock, paved with concrete, and arranged in such a way that they all led to the same relative location.
The whole area was swarming with Team Magma grunts. A score of them stood in orderly ranks at the base of the northern stairwells while additional clumps of three or four grunts patrolled around the base of the cable car station. The main force was accompanied by a great deal of Poochyena and Mightyena, broken up by Numel. At the very top of the stairs, a crowd of Team Magma grunts stood guard with a variety of pokémon, even including rarer sights such as Magcargo and Flareon in addition to their usual packs of dogs. Behind them bristled a line of Numel led by a Magmar, flames licking up its burly form.
Without warning, Winona dove, and Seth felt his stomach drop as the ground rushed up to meet him. The Altaria let him go once they reached a safe distance from the ground. Seth plummeted down to the plateau and landed roughly several meters away from the tower, inches away from an informational stall. The moment he landed, Seth dashed to the stall and took cover behind it.
Not far behind him, three more people landed and took cover as well. Among them was Shelly and two members of the SAT team respectively named Anders and Riley. Shelly slid into cover beside Seth and peeked over the side, stilling her breathing as much as possible. She glanced back and made eye contact with Seth and the SAT troopers, Then, she raised three fingers as she pointed towards the tower, tracing a path towards the right.
Anders nodded and moved forward from cover to cover, advancing across the plateau towards the tower. He took cover behind a concession stand, looked around, and then beckoned to the rest of them. Seth took a breath and broke from cover with Shelly.
Ahead, the three Team Magma grunts Shelly had indicated patrolled in front of the entrance to the station. Before they could be noticed, the four would-be infiltrators found new cover behind concession stands or benches.
Anders waved just enough to get the attention of Seth and Shelly, who were hidden within a flavored ice stall. Anders indicated the grunts and drew a finger across his throat. Shelly scanned the stall briefly. Upon spotting the ice machine, she reached up and tipped it over, spilling cubes of ice across the ground.
"Did you hear that?" The three patrolling grunts noticed the noise. One of them turned to the other two. "Go check it out. I'll stay here."
"It's probably just another wild pokémon." The other two moved to investigate, their hands reaching to their belts.
"I thought we gathered up all the wild pokémon around here."
"There's always more. It's probably just a lost Taillow looking for food."
"Up here? I didn't think Taillow ever flew this h—" The moment the two grunts passed within reach, Shelly leaped up, grabbed the nearest grunt by the arm, and pulled him behind the counter. She subjected him to a vicious headlock and covered his mouth to keep him from screaming. The second grunt's mouth dropped open in shock and he reached for his belt.
From behind a bench, Riley popped up, aiming at the second grunt with a tiny silver dart gun. Seth heard a thwip, and the grunt winced and clapped a hand to his neck. An instant later, his eyes rolled up in his head and he collapsed, unconscious.
"What the hell are you guys…" the third grunt noticed the commotion, but Anders produced a similar dart gun and pulled the trigger. Just like the previous grunt, the third felt a tiny dart sink into his flesh and knock him out within seconds.
With the coast temporarily clear, Anders and Riley advanced to the entrance of the station. When the grunt fell unconscious in her arms, Shelly released him and tapped Seth on the shoulder. Seth nodded, and then the two of them broke cover as well.
The four of them entered the cable car station through the automatic doors. Almost instantly, the SAT troopers found what they were looking for: several blocks of plastic explosives planted at the base of the station's support structure.
"So, we were right to expect a trap after all," Shelly stated with a triumphant smirk. As she drew closer to the explosives, her smirk faded. "These explosives are military grade. I don't even want to know how Team Magma got their filthy hands on these."
"This probably isn't the only one. We'll need to cover more ground. Seth?" Anders glanced towards him expectantly. Seth nodded and released Kyra from her pokéball beside them. The trooper produced a small pair of pliers and passed it to her. "Kirlia, when you find a bomb, this is what I need you to do..."
After Anders' whispered explanation, Kyra nodded solemnly and winked out of existence, on her way to find the other explosives. Shelly took a position by the front door and the troopers got to work disarming the various explosives littered throughout the building. Seth took up a position by a staircase leading to the second floor. He glanced out the window.
"Archie's car is almost here," Seth alerted them.
"That means we're about to have company," Shelly expressed. She grabbed a pokéball from her belt and released her Sharpedo before her, the torpedo-shaped shark gnashing its teeth in preparation for battle. "They'll be trying to blow the tower soon, and when that doesn't work, they'll be all over us."
Sure enough, Team Magma soon spotted the approaching form of the cable car and raised the alarm, shouts rising from their ranks.
"Damn, that's too soon. Are you two done back there!?" Shelly demands. Anders cursed and snipped through the wiring connecting the explosives to the detonator.
"We're clear," Riley announced as she emerged from deeper inside. "There were two in the waiting area. I've disarmed them both."
Kirlia reappeared, her satisfaction from a job well done flowing into Seth's mind. She dusted off her arms and then crossed them, smirking. "We're good on the upper levels. Kyra came through," Seth relayed to the others.
Outside, three Team Magma grunts dashed around the corner and stormed inside the station, followed by a small pack of six Poochyena. "Why's this blasted thing not…" the grunts skidded to a halt when they noticed Shelly and her Sharpedo standing just a few feet away from them. Their jaws dropped in horror. "But you're...Shelly!"
"Hello boys," Shelly greeted them sweetly, and then she tapped her Sharpedo. Moments later, all three grunts, as well as all of their dogs, were sent careening out of the station by a torrential wave of water.
Through the window, Seth saw the cable car dock with the station, its brakes hissing as they engaged. Moments later, he spotted a burst of water rising into the sky, shining with a strange light. After a few meters, the water burst and lit up the sky like a flare. "That's the signal!" Seth immediately alerted the rest of them.
"Then let's get this party started! Let's go, Sharpedo!" Shelly thrust her fist into the air excitedly, and then she ran out the front entrance. "Everyone, follow me!"
Anders and Riley nodded, and their pokéballs flew to the ground, releasing a sturdy Lairon and burly Machop. Seth picked up Kyra and followed the three of them out of the station and right into another pack of Team Magma coming to investigate, accompanied by a crowd of Poochyena, Mightyena, and Numel.
"Team Aqua Administrator spotted!"
"That's the trainer from Meteor Falls!"
"How did they know about our bombs!?"
"Come now, as if we wouldn't see something so obvious! Who do you take us for?" Shelly retorted indignantly.
At that moment, Winona made her return from the skies. Altaria let out a piercing cry and flared her wings. A series of cloudy tufts hailed down among the enemy grunts and their pokémon, each resulting in a concussive blast of cloudy mist that knocked flat anyone hit by them.
All around them, SAT troopers and Team Aqua grunts dropped from the sky like paratroopers and entered the battle hot, releasing their pokémon into the fray. Blazing Arcanine, deadly Scyther, leafy Shiftry, and other powerful pokémon emerged from the troopers' pokéballs, accompanied by Team Aqua's Poochyena and Carvanha.
Roxanne landed just in front of Seth, the girl throwing down two pokéballs mid-flight to release her Nosepass and Geodude. "Everyone, prepare to rendezvous with Archie on the right flank! Charge!"
The allied lines met the Magma lines at the base of the cable car station. Claw met fang, water meeting fire, and seed bombs hurtling through the sky like cannon shots.
"Let's go, Seth!" Shelly ordered.
"We'll hold them here!" Riley affirmed. She and Anders moved to join Roxanne's forces, while Shelly and Seth cut around to the right, hugging the walls of the station.
The two of them made their way to the center of the plateau, walking into a much larger battle. At the base of the staircases, Archie's forces, who had leaped out from their cable cars, had engaged with Team Magma's main force. Opposing lines Poochyena and Mightyena clashed, neither side giving way. Numel and Carvanha wove their way into the battle, tearing up the battle with sharp teeth, blistering fire, and pressurized water.
In the skies, any attempts by Team Magma to assist the ground forces with their Zubat and Golbat were dashed by Winona and the remainder of the SAT squad. As the two air forces met, the skies soon became pure chaos, the screeching of birds and the clashing of talons.
At the top of the stairs, the Magma grunt standing by the Magmar and the lines of Numel shouted something and chopped his arm forward towards the allied forces. The Magmar raised its head, and spat a thick spiraling stream of flames from its mouth, accompanied by a volley of fireballs from each hand. The Numel surrounding it opened fire all at once, releasing bursts of flame into the air alongside the Magmar's assault. The sky lit up with the arcs of their coming attacks.
Flannery, accompanied by her Torkoal, made her appearance at the southern end of the plateau by the stairs to Jagged pass. Behind her was a number of other grunts accompanied by a horde of Carvanha, the vicious piranha pokémon snapping at the air, hungry for battle.
"Here it comes! Anti-Artillery team, let's do this!" Flannery thrust her fist into the air. In response to the coming attacks, the Carvanha angled their mouths and spat globs of water in an upwards arc. Fire met water high in the air, resulting in bursts of steam at the points of contact.
Flannery's Torkoal stepped forward, emitting smoke from its nostrils and from the top of its shell at such speeds that it sounded like a train's horn. With a stomp of its feet, the earth tore itself apart in front of it to form a stream of rock that solidified into a shield just in time to intercept the incoming flames from Magmar's attack.
Archie stood at the head of his grunts, his eyes darkened with determination. His hulking Sharpedo hovered beside him, not yet entering the battle. When Shelly and Seth finally reached him, he gave them a firm nod. "Good, you're here. As it stands, we're evenly matched, but it's obvious they're buying time. Prepare to charge! We must break their lines!"
"Get 'em, Maku!" Suddenly, a two-meter tall wall of flesh descended from the skies. Maku, once a simple Makuhita, was now a hulking Hariyama, a sumo wrestler-esque pokémon with large hands. It slammed into the middle of the enemy lines, the impact sending Numel and Poochyena flying. One of its hands slammed right into a Mightyena's face, bearing it into the ground with a mighty crash. Brawly leaped off of the top of the Hariyama and landed with the rest of the Team Aqua grunts, kicking a Magma Poochyena as he did so. He removed another ball from his belt and released Arthur towards the west. Arthur landed in a group of Numel, grabbed them both with each of his hands, and then slammed them together with a roar before tossing them at the grunts by the stairs who yelped and ducked for cover.
Maku straightened up, standing above the unconscious body of the Mightyena with fury in his eyes. He let out a battle cry filled with bloodlust and spread out its hands in a combat stance just in time to meet two more Mightyena. Maku stomped on the ground hard and thrust his arm right into the lunge of the first Mightyena, knocking it away from him. He knocked the second Mightyena out cold with a direct hit from a merciless palm thrust and then stomped upon the first canine's head, taking it out of the fight as well. Despite being surrounded, it tore through the Magma pokémon, even as the enemy grunts shouted orders frantically in an attempt to outmaneuver it.
"That's our cue! Seth, Shelly, let them have it!" Archie gave the signal, chopping his hand forward.
Seth looked at Kyra, who nodded. He grabbed her arms tightly and spun in place to build up momentum. After two revolutions, he let go, tossing Kyra high in the air. As she soared towards the enemy lines, Seth released Cairo into the air above the front line. Cairo summoned up the churned-up dirt, the loose rocks, and the fallen ashes from the battle and decomposed them into sand. Cairo whipped at the enemy pokémon with streams of sand and blinded them, clearing a landing spot for Kyra just as she landed.
Kyra blasted away two Numel around her landing zone, then swiftly teleported to Maku's side to avoid the retaliation of the psychic-immune Poochyena. With Maku beside her, Kyra was untouchable. Whenever any Poochyena or Mightyena threatened her, Kyra simply teleported to the other side of Maku, who then tore through them; none of them could withstand even a single palm strike due to their type-disadvantage. Then Kyra would be free to thrash about any Numel she encountered. All the while Cairo harassed their lines from above, staying low enough to avoid the sky melee above her.
Shelly sent her Sharpedo barreling into the east side of the Magma lines, its whole body engulfed with a swiftly rotating sheath of water that lashed out at any pokémon or grunt unlucky enough to be in its path. It was an engine of pure destruction, its gnashing teeth and vicious water strikes rendering all helpless before it.
Soon Roxanne's squad on the other side of the plateau dealt with their attackers and struck Team Magma's main force on the west, forming a three-pronged assault that their enemy could not withstand. Their lines began to crumble and fall back up the stairs, leaving a line of fainted pokémon and grunts behind.
From his position in the back, Archie surveyed their advancing lines with satisfaction. He had yet to join the battle himself, as he was wisely saving his energy for his confrontation with Maxie.
"Everyone, charge!" Archie gave the command when the allied forces had solidified their advantage.
Maku, Kyra, and Cairo fought their way up the center staircase, backed up by Carvanha and Poochyena. Nothing seemed to be able to stop them. On the west, Arthur and the SAT's powerful pokémon led the charge, backed up by artillery fire from Shiftry and Roxanne's Nosepass, who after being supplied rocks by her Geodude, would magnetically propel them at the enemy lines like cannonballs. Shelly dominated the east by herself, easily carving a path for the allied force pokémon to follow.
Droplets of water, stray feathers, and burning cinders fell from the sky like rain all around Seth as he charged up the center stairs towards the summit along with Brawly and a group of Team Aqua grunts.
As they advanced, the enemy Magcargo finally made their move. They slid towards the top of the stairs, their helix shells lighting up with fury. From nowhere, the snails produced a wave of fast-moving lava that cascaded down each staircase like a waterfall, promising death or serious injury to anything that touched it. Two Flareon flanking each Magcargo opened their mouths and spat streams of flame that tracked their targets, bypassing the defending pokémon and heading directly for human targets.
Seth doubted that Kyra's barrier could handle that, so he slowed his run and reached for his belt with his free hand. He hurled the pokéball forward, releasing Princess in front of Maku and Kyra, all twenty feet of her taking up the entire width of the stairs, "Princess! I need you to stop the lava flow!" Seth ordered her. Princess summons a wave of cold water equal in size to the incoming lava and sends it forward. As the two opposing waves meet, a scalding hiss ensues, followed by a thick cloud of steam that obscures the way forward.
Brawly spotted the flame heading through the steam, making directly for him and Seth. "We've got incoming!"
"Cairo!" Upon Seth's command, Cairo manipulated the sand and debris in the air to form barriers in front of the two of them. A particularly smart Team Aqua grunt behind them directs his Carvanha to reinforce the barriers by soaking them with water spat from its mouth. The scalding flame meets the damp sandy barrier and bursts harmlessly against it, fragments of hot sand and wisps of flame raining down on the stairs.
Princess advances up the stairs, the hardened lava proving no obstacle to her. With a cry, she bombards the Flareon and the Magcargo with streams of water conjured from midair. The three fire pokémon are hard-pressed to defend against the disadvantageous attacks; the two Flareon leap from side to side to avoid the water, but as a result, the Poochyena and some of the Numel artillery line take casualties. The Magcargo fares better, conjuring up licks of lava to fend them off, each impact resulting in hissing steam.
On the west stairs, Roxanne's Nosepass raises a barrier of stones from the staircase, blocking the lava flow from reaching them. With the help of the Carvanha behind her, the western Flareon's attacks meet with bursts of water, protecting Roxanne and the Aqua grunts from harm.
With an order from Roxanne, her Geodude picks up some of Team Aqua's Poochyena and hurls them clear over the lava and into the enemy lines, causing chaos and forcing the Flareon to break off their bombardment and the Magcargo to watch its rear. The distraction gave Nosepass enough time to formulate a walkway of stone over the bubbling lava.
On the east stairs, nothing can stop Shelly's advance. The lava flow is repulsed instantly just by the water released by her Sharpedo tearing its way up the stairs. To combat the Flareon's attacks, Shelly releases a secondary Carvanha, which repulses both streams of flame with two streams of water of equal intensity.
The Magcargo on the east has enough time to lift a barrier of lava before Shelly's Sharpedo reaches it, but it proves to be about as effective as a leaf in a storm. The Sharpedo hisses and chomps down right on the Magcargo's shell, suffusing the pokémon with so much water that it is rendered unconscious within seconds. The two Flareon yelp in fright, but are each extinguished by arcs of pressurized water originating from the Sharpedo's horn.
Back on the center stairs, Maku bounds forward and leaps onto Princess's tail. Princess whips her tail forward, sending the sumo pokémon hurtling clear over the Magcargo blocking their way and into the line of artillery Numel. With a sweep of its arms, it knocks Numel flying every which way, disrupting their bombardment on the plateau far below. With just this, Flannery's anti-artillery fire begins to breakthrough, water splashing down on the enemy artillery lines with great effect.
"We can't hold them! Fall back!" a Team Magma grunt calls out in alarm. As their artillery team falls back towards the lip of the volcanic crater, the Magmar that had led the team, at last, joins the fight. With a grunt, the pokémon erupts with a burning aura, scorching the earth around it and producing so much heat that Seth could feel it despite his distance well behind the front lines. The Magmar charges directly towards the center staircase, its fist coated with flame.
Maku meets the Magmar head-on, catching its fist on its palm. The Magmar isn't dissuaded and it assaults Maku with a flurry of blistering blows, its fists becoming a flaming blur almost impossible to track. Although Maku easily blocks each strike, the flames coating Magmar's fists leave their mark, leaving angry burns on its palms.
Kyra teleports behind the Magmar and focuses its psychic energy towards it, pelting the foe with rocks, magical leaves all the while. The Magmar barely pays attention to her; it slaps its tail down hard on the rocky ground, which causes a wave of burning energy to erupt from the point of impact. Kyra yelps and twirls backward just in time to avoid it.
It looked as though the Magmar was going to overpower Maku, but a telltale glow had begun to appear around the latter's body. "Give it to 'im, Maku!" Brawly ordered. Maku planted its foot into the ground. Then, with a single palm strike, it completely knocked Magmar off-balance. Before Magmar could comprehend Maku's sudden increase in power, the latter stepped circles around it, bombarding it with palm-strike after palm-strike. Then, while the Magmar was struggling to recover, Maku wound up one hand, its fingers curling up into a fist that burned with energy.
With one last cry, Maku punched the Magmar directly into its chest. The energy around Maku's fist detonated with the energy of its fighting spirit, sending the Magmar reeling backward...and directly into Shelly's Sharpedo, who had easily conquered the eastern stairs and made its way to the top. The Sharpedo executed a vertical spin and summoned a torrential waterfall from mid-air that completely engulfed the Magmar, extinguishing its flames and taking it out of the fight.
The allied forces had conquered Team Magma's main force and were now making their way up to the crater. Marveling at their triumph, Seth followed Princess up to the lip of the mountain, followed by Brawly.
A fiery red glow emanated from the depths of the volcanic crater before him, along with the everpresent cloud of ash and smoke that constantly colored the skies of all of Hoenn. As awe-inspiring as it was to behold, it was dampened by the presence of a gigantic hulking machine on the western lip of the crater. Constructed of an unknown metal, the machine towered high into the sky. Its length extended over the open air of the crater before terminating in an odd sturdy strut tipped with a menacing drill point. At the very base of the machine was the meteor stolen from the falls, where it had been hooked up into an apparatus by various cords and other strange means that Seth couldn't quite make out. He knew full well what the machine's purpose was: to force the supervolcano to erupt and end all life in Hoenn.
Archie joined the rest of the allied forces on the summit. "Everyone, regroup with your squad leaders!" In response, the allied forces once again formed into three distinct teams, led by Roxanne, Brawly, and Shelly. Flannery had also joined them, leaving her artillery team in the rear in order to join Seth and Brawly in the center.
"Team Magma reserve squad, form up on me!" On the opposing side of the crater, surrounding the allied forces on all sides, were the remaining members of Team Magma, who were led by the smug Tabitha. The administrator's eyes hardened. "You've come far enough, Archie. We will not allow you to interfere with the great Maxie's plans!"
Archie shook his head and sighed. He reached out a hand. "Surrender, Tabitha. There's still time for you to stop this madness. Whatever your goals are, it's not worth this many lives!"
"Save your breath, Archie," Tabitha spat venomously. He raised his hand and clicked his fingers. "Courtney!"
Tiny points of orange light winked into existence all throughout the allied forces, each one emanating intense heat. Terror overcame Seth as he recognized them.
Archie's eyes widened with panic. "Everyone, scatter!" That was all he had time to say. Seth threw himself to the ground beside Princess just as each point of light expanded into a violent explosion. The explosions rippled throughout the lines of the allied forces even as they ran or dove for cover, dealing grievous injuries and knocking several pokémon out at once.
Blistering displaced air and flame hurtled over Seth's head as he clung and whimpered against Princess, who took the full brunt of the nearby explosions for him. Kyra appeared next to him, looking unhurt despite the devastation occurring around them. She transmitted waves of comforting emotions into Seth, helping him calm down and get to his senses.
When the air cleared, Seth stood to survey the damage. He found himself staring into a pitched battle between the remaining members of the allied forces, who had taken a noticeable dent in their numbers from Courtney's surprise attack. Team Aqua grunts and SAT troopers who hadn't been fast enough to evade the blasts lay burned and unconscious on the ground. IN the east, a large number of Magma grunts accompanied by strong pokemon had banded together to surround Shelly, halting her advance and pinning her down with a constant rain of flame and claw. In the west, Flannery and Roxanne tried to reach the taciturn Courtney, who stood behind the remaining grunts beside her Camerupt while wearing a completely emotionless expression.
"Seth, you all good?" Brawly appeared beside him, helping to steady him. The gym leader's shirt was partially burned off and spots of his skin were raw, yet he was still on his feet, with Maku and Arthur standing beside him.
"I'm alright, but…" Seth looked to Princess, only to see the extensive burns she'd taken already regenerating. "Yes, we're alright. We can't let Courtney fire off any more of those, or we're all doomed."
"No kidding. Remember the plan. You and I need to spearhead the attack and take the fight to her. Your Milotic and my Maku can handle her, I'm sure of it!" Brawly encouraged him with a light slap on the back. Seth nodded breathlessly. "Come on, let's join up with Roxanne and Flannery!"
With that, Seth gathered up Kyra, Princess, and Cairo, and then together with Brawly, he directed his pokémon to join the western melee, the five of them ripping into the enemy lines alongside Roxanne's Nosepass and Flannery's Torkoal.
"I'm glad to see you're both okay," Roxanne expressed to them without looking at them. Her eyes widened as she saw a Magmar making its way through Team Magma's seemingly endless Poochyena and Mightyena. "We've got incoming heavy firepower!"
"Leave it to me! Let me show you what real heat is like!" Flannery's Torkoal moved to intercept it, a burst of flame emanating from each of its footsteps to deter any hostile canines seeking an easy bite.
"Maku, help them out! Arty, make sure they're not interrupted!"
"Princess, provide water support! Cairo, attack from the air!"
With the three gym leaders and Seth together, they began to push their way through the enemy lines to where Courtney was waiting. Her eyes alighted upon Seth instantly, and her stony expression cracked ever so slightly. Her eyes narrowed, and her lips curved into an unsettling smile.
Back on the center front, Archie had finally entered the battle, battling Tabitha in a destructive battle between Sharpedo and Camerupt. Nobody dared to get close to that whirling melee of water and fire, the very air distorting around their battle. Despite the heat, Archie stood tall, his arms crossed and confidence stamped on his face.
"You've gotten pretty big for your breeches, wouldn't you say, Tabitha?" Archie taunted the Magma administrator as the latter's Camerupt struggled to defend against the former's Sharpedo, who bombarded it with an overwhelming barrage of water blasts and waves from all directions. "You're strong, but you'll need another twenty years before a boy like you could hope to match me."
"Don't get cocky, you blasted sea-pirate! Don't think this is all I have to offer!" Tabitha snapped back. He snapped out an order, and his Camerupt's back erupted with plumes of searing hot lava that spiraled through the air in an attempt to bypass the Sharpedo's attacks and strike directly at it, but the Sharpedo simply summoned up a whirling wall of water that rendered its assault ineffective, giving him only a wall of concealing steam in return for his efforts. "Damn you!"
"I sincerely hope you have something else up your sleeve, or you'll never prove to be even a slight challenge," Archie extended his hands in a shrug, a smirk on his face. As Tabitha gritted his teeth angrily, Archie jingled his anchor necklace, flashing the administrator a clear view of the gem embedded in it. The color of the gem seemed to shift between the many colors of the rainbow as the light refracted through it, revealing an odd swirl in its depths. "You won't even force me to use my trump card at this rate."
Tabitha's eyes widened in horror at the sight. Yet not even further prodding of his Camerupt caused him to gain any ground. Archie's Sharpedo grew ever closer, forcing both the Camerupt and Tabitha back closer to the edge of the crater. Eventually, Tabitha stumbled as he nearly stepped back into the abyss. Tabitha gulped and steadied himself.
Archie's eyes darkened, his smirk fading. "I'll tell you again, Tabitha. Surrender. I don't want to kill you, but I will if you insist on this foolish plan." Tabitha opened his mouth as if to reply, but Archie raised his hand sharply. "Choose your words carefully, worm. If I don't like what I hear, I'll sweep you off the edge of the crater. There's nowhere you can run."
"It's funny you say that…" Tabitha says softly. Archie watches him suspiciously as the administrator reaches his hand into his jacket and produces a small metal stick. "You think I lured you here for nothing? There'll be no more running for you, either!"
"You wouldn't!" Archie's eyes widened in horror, and he swept his hand forward. "Sharpedo, stop him!" His Sharpedo roared and summoned up its water, but it was too late. Tabitha jammed his finger on the button of the detonator.
All around the area where the two of them stood, explosions tore through the rock. An entire section of the crater tore free and tumbled down into the crater, carrying Tabitha, Archie, and their pokémon plummeting down into the crater.
"Everyone, get down!" Roxanne shouted as Courtney raised her arm. Once again, pinpricks of light swept through the allied forces and detonated.
Seth hurled himself to the ground just as an explosion of flame burst into being above him, singing his clothes and hair. Kyra teleported in front of Brawly and his pokémon, shielding them from the flame with her barrier, while Princess did the same for several grunts with water. Flannery and Roxanne were able to defend themselves with barriers of rock, but the rest of the allied forces on the western front didn't fare so well.
Seth clapped his hands to his ears as the explosions tore through Team Aqua's numbers, screams and shouts of pain filling the air as both grunt and pokémon were knocked to the ground in smoking heaps.
"You...will not survive...the coming storm…" Courtney emitted, lowering her arm. She stared at the remains of the allied forces without a hint of mercy in her cold pink eyes. Her Camerupt released a puff of smoke and stomped its hooves, the humps on its back once again charging up another assault.
"All gym leaders, and Seth, with me!" Roxanne ordered. She cast her gaze back around to the struggling Team Aqua behind her. "Everyone else who can still fight; we're going to break through their lines! I need you to keep Team Magma from surrounding us!"
"Easier said than done…" Eric panted, the Team Aqua grunt limping forward. He cut a sorry shape, his clothes half burned away and his hair singed. His Poochyena was in bad shape, its fur partly burned away. Anya was there as well, in similar shape with her Carvanha. The other grunts hadn't fared much better. "Damn...that psycho's power is no joke."
Seth gathered up his pokémon and moved to join the gym leaders. He glanced ahead to see the remaining Team Magma grunts forming a wall between them and Courtney. Some of their strongest pokémon were still held in reserve, with two Magmar at the back of their lines, accompanied by two Magcargo and a line of Slugma.
"Team Aqua, forward!" Roxanne commands. Once again, the allied forces rally together and slam into the Magma lines, battle cries filling the air. Seth and the gym leaders stay behind as ordered.
"We don't have very long before Courtney attacks again. Do you have a plan?" Brawly asked breathlessly.
"I do. It is a simple one, but it is our only option at this juncture," Roxanne answers grimly. "We are to focus our attacks on a single point and force our way through to Courtney. Then, Flannery and I shall engage her, while Brawly and Seth will confront Maxie and bring an end to this. We cannot wait for Archie to arrive."
"Me?" Seth stammered. reassuringly.
Brawly walked beside him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "We've got this. Maku, Arty, and I have been training hard for this. Plus, you've got your Milotic, right? I bet you can counter anything Maxie sends at you."
"I get the picture. Let's give them a hot fight!" Flannery cracks her knuckles, her Torkoal trundling up beside her. "Let's take down those Magmar!"
Roxanne nods approvingly. "An excellent idea. If we do not, we will never get through." She raises her hand. "On my command. All together now!"
When Roxanne's hand falls, Flannery's Torkoal is the first to act. Smoke gushes out of its shell and nostrils, and then it stomps its feet and summons a blistering wave of rock and fire in the shape of a forward arc. With a sweep of its head, the wave zooms forth directly into the Team Magma lines. Poochyena and Mightyena are tossed aside like ragdolls, the flames searing their flesh and the rock battering their bodies. Any Team Magma grunts in their path promptly throw themselves aside. The wave came to a halt as both Magmar lifted their hands and caught it head-on, the flames proving completely ineffective and the rocks proving little more than an annoyance.
Arthur and Maku broke into a run down the path left by the wave, with Kyra clinging to the former's back and Cairo flying high above the latter, raining down spikes of solidified sand to keep the path from closing. Princess brought up the rear, the serpent sliding along a conjured stream of water to protect her body from the hot ground.
The two Magmar burst into terrible flames and hurled blistering fireballs through the air in an attempt to slow their advance. However, Arthur charges right through them, the fireballs colliding with Kyra's barrier harmlessly. Maku receives support from Cairo and Princess, who countered the fireballs with shields of mixed sand and water.
"Hold them back! Hold them back, dammit!" a Team Magma grunt behind the two Magmar says, his expression filling with panic seconds before the two fighting pokémon reached the Magmar.
Arthur used all its momentum to deliver an earth-shattering right hook to the first Magmar. It managed to raise its arms to defend itself, but the impact caused it to cry out and the ground to crack beneath its feet. Then with his left arm, Arthur produced one of the SAT's stun batons and hurled it at the Magmar, who easily ducked its head beneath it.
Kyra suddenly appeared behind the Magmar, caught the stun baton with her telekinesis, and swung it right into the Magmar's back and pulled the trigger. The Magmar let out a cry as tens of thousands of volts surged through its body. Although it was little more than a nuisance, it was enough to disorient it long enough for Arthur to lever the Magmar into the ground with a tremendous elbow drop.
On the other side, the second Magmar suddenly found itself surrounded by blinding sand erupting from the ground. It shook its head and wiped its eyes, focusing on where it knew Maku was coming from, despite the earth-shaking beneath its feet. Maku's silhouette loomed through the sand before it leaped into the air. The Magmar jumped with a blast of fire around its feet, a thunderous roar escaping its mouth. As it cleared the sandy veil surrounding it, it cloaked a fist in flame and thrust up to meet Maku in midair…
...only for Cairo to zoom up from beneath the Magmar's feet and slash at its underside with vicious claws fashioned from sand. The Magmar's battle cry dies in its throat as it's knocked off course such that its fist zooms past Maku, who then slams a palm directly into the Magmar's head with all of its might. Cairo swiftly retreats to avoid the Magmar hurtling into the ground, chittering smugly.
The two Magma Grunts who controlled the Magmar, despite their defeat, bravely stepped in front of Arthur and Maku, only to be knocked out cold with a single hit from each of them respectively. Seizing the moment, Seth sprinted through the path behind his pokémon, followed by the other three gym leaders. Now there was nothing standing between them and Courtney.
"Fall…" Courtney spread out her hand, and the points of light spread through the clearing mercilessly. Kyra teleported into Seth's arms moments before they detonated, bringing up a barrier to protect his front from the ensuing explosion. Regardless, it knocked him to the ground, showering him with dust and rocky debris.
When the explosions cleared, Seth looked up to find Courtney's gaze fixed upon him and him alone, even as she released a Mightyena in front of her to defend against Roxanne's Geodude and Flannery's Torkoal. He shuddered under her gaze.
The Mightyena lunged into the fray, its body shimmering with darkness. It raked its darkened claws along Geodude's body before leaping back to avoid the latter's retaliating punches. Torkoal stomped the ground angrily and summoned a cloud of rocks, which Nosepass commandeered with its magnetism and had them all converge upon the Mightyena in Roxanne's signature maneuver. The Mightyena reared up on its hind legs and repulsed the rocks away with a wave of darkness, howling in rage.
"You...will order your pokémon to stand down...and surrender that one to me," Courtney said softly, raising a finger to point at Seth, hardly paying attention to the pitched battle going on before her. Camerupt then joined the fight. Instead of covering the entire field with explosions, the Camerupt focused its firepower on a single place, resulting in a tumultuous explosion focused entirely on Torkoal and Geodude. When the smoke cleared, Geodude was out of the fight, but Torkoal had withstood the blast by covering itself with a barrier of rocks.
"Fat chance of that, girlie!" Flannery shot back hotly with a grin as Roxanne's Nosepass took its position beside her Torkoal. "Also would it kill you to enjoy this fight a little? I can't tell what's stonier, the ground or your face!"
"Don't let her slow you down! Let's go, Seth!" Brawly urged. Seth recalled Princess to her pokéball, scooped up Kyra in his arms, and broke into a run alongside Brawly and his pokémon. With Courtney focused on the two gym leaders, now was their best chance to reach the machine to shut it down.
A pokéball fell from the sky and landed on the path directly in front of them. Upon opening, it released a second Camerupt onto the ground. Time felt as though it slowed down. Seth's mouth opened with horror and he frantically tried to halt his momentum. The Camerupt's eyes narrowed, the ground heated up beneath Seth's feet. Despite his kicking and scrambling, all Seth managed to do was stumble and fall forward. Time seemed to slow down as the ground rushed up to meet him, the rock glowing with a menacing orange glow and emitting intense heat.
Seth's world suddenly went white for an instant, and then he found himself several feet away, falling flat on his face. The next instant, the ground where he'd just been standing erupted with a pillar of destructive lava so hot he could feel it scorching his back. He blinked, suddenly realizing that he wasn't dead after all.
"What just…?" Seth started to say, but then Brawly was in his face, offering him a hand. He took it and rose to his feet. "What happened?"
"I thought you were a goner, but then Kyra teleported with you!" Brawly revealed in awe. Seth turned to see Kyra on the ground next to him, panting somewhat but smiling at him with relief and dwindling panic flowing over to him through their link. Seth glanced back to where the second Camerupt stood, the plume of lava still spurting from a hole in the ground. He gulped and his sweat grew cold as he realized just how close he'd come to dying.
"You teleported me? I had no idea you could do that!" Seth marveled. He kissed her head briefly and then rose to his feet just in time to see the portly form of Tabitha drop from the sky, two Golbat flapping in the air above him.
"Not so fast, gentlemen," Tabitha said, holding out a hand as if to stop them. Despite his smug tone, the administrator had clearly been through a lot. He was drenched with sweat and his outfit had been scorched. "I suppose you thought you could slip by Courtney while I was dealing with Archie. Such a shame; underestimating me will prove to be your downfall."
"How did you get past Archie?" Brawly demanded in shock. "There's no way he'd lose to someone like you!"
"Someone like me? Precisely who do you think I am, gym leader?" Tabitha straightened up indignantly, pressing a hand against his chest. "Do you think me some common grunt, unable to tie my own shoes, much less battle? I am Tabitha, Administrator of Team Magma and overseer over the Western Reaches of Hoenn!"
"You want the truth?" Tabitha's round face stretched into a maniacal grin. "I killed him! Strong as he may be, Archie is just like anyone else: human! And like any human, he can be outwitted! His carelessness led him to a fiery fate at the bottom of Mt. Chimney, and took your last hope of victory along with him!"
"Killed him!?" Brawly gasped.
"No way…I can't believe it." Seth slumped down, his energy seeming to leave him. When he thought of Archie, all he could see was the man's strong form fighting for his ideals and laughing uproariously with his team members. He couldn't fathom how someone like Archie could die so easily.
Tabitha cackled aloud, outstretching his arms and contorting his hands into claw-like shapes. "You lose, Team Aqua! You lose, Gym Leaders! Bow before us now, and perhaps Groudon will see fit to spare you from the inferno that is to come!"
"Maku, Arty! Show him a thing or two!" Brawly ordered without missing a beat. Maku and Arthur roared out their challenge and broke into a sprint, heading directly for Tabitha and his Camerupt.
"So be it! You gym leaders don't know when you're beaten!" Just like Courtney, Tabitha released a Mightyena onto the field alongside his Camerupt, the canine appearing much stronger than those used by the grunts. Arthur charged directly at the Mightyena, who weaved in and out of his punches like smoke in the wind, retaliating with swift darkness-coated slashes and vicious bites. Maku dodged around another pillar of fire erupting from the ground and attempted to close in on the Camerupt.
"Brawly…" Seth looked up at the gym leader in awe. "But Archie is…"
"I know, dude. But we can't stop here. Just because Archie is gone doesn't mean we can stop fighting." Despite his grim expression, Brawly still sounded calm and assured. He turned and placed a hand on Seth's shoulder. "Seth. Tabitha doesn't know about you. For all he knows, you're just another trainer. I'll keep him busy. You push through and reach Maxie."
"Are you crazy? I could never beat him!" Seth protested instantly. "Archie even said that the only one who stood a chance in a one-on-one fight is him!"
"I know. It's not ideal, but Shelly is tied down by Team Magma's aces, who know where Winona is, and Archie is gone. You're the only one who can do it," Brawly insisted. "You don't have to win. All you need to do is make sure that the machine doesn't activate. If you can do that, run away as fast as you can. You hear me?"
"I…" Seth gulped, his heart seizing up in his chest. His breathing became faster until he began to hyperventilate, the gravity of the situation crashing down on him all at once. The fate of the entire region rested securely on his shoulders.
Brawly grabbed his face with both hands, forcing Seth to look at him in the eyes. "Hey! Stay with me, buddy. Calm down...breathe. You don't have time to panic. Remember what you told me back in Dewford? Remember what you're fighting for!"
When Brawly released him, Seth turned his head slowly to Kyra, who remained as elegant and stalwart as ever. Her piercing eyes bored into him. Then, he remembered, and his breathing slowed back down to normal.
Seth straightened up and cast his gaze across the field in front of him. Roxanne and Flannery were locked in combat with Courtney, whose Camerupt and Mightyena were doing an excellent job of keeping them at bay. Maku and Arthur were hard-pressed to keep away from the Mightyena's swift attacks and the second Camerupt's constant pillars of fire.
"Cairo! Sandstorm!" Seth ordered, shooting up his arm. Cairo chittered in confirmation and swept across the entire field, picking up as much sand and dust as it could. It hovered high above the battlefield and flapped its wings, stirring up a powerful whirlwind that picked up all the sand it had gathered and engulfed both administrators in a thick veil of whipping sand.
The moment he had cover, Seth grabbed Kyra in one arm and broke into a run, pushing his body to the limit to cover as much distance as possible. Yet, despite the cover of the sandstorm, Courtney's sharp eyes spotted him the moment he drew close to her.
"You will...not escape me...Seth!" Courtney swept out her hand towards Seth without turning her body. Her Camerupt turned its head, and before Seth knew it, the air in front of him filled with pinpricks of light promising imminent explosions.
Adrenaline spiked through Seth's body as he strained his eyes to their limit. He thrust his body to the left to avoid an explosion that would have taken out his ribs in a single blast, and then he ducked and slid between three more pinpricks that detonated the moment he was past them. Rolling across the ground, he threw himself to his feet and into the air to avoid an explosion at ground level, the blast causing him to careen forward and wheel one arm wildly to keep from losing balance. As he fell towards the ground, six pinpricks of light began to converge upon him, such that no matter what he didn't he couldn't escape them.
"Kyra!" With that one word, Kyra acted. Seth's world flashed white for an instant once more, and then he reappeared on the other side of the six explosions, the blasts burning away the back of his shirt, causing the tatters to fall to the ground.
"NO!" Courtney's resulting screech of rage followed Seth all the way to the western side of the crater as he passed out of her range. Seth continued to run until his strength gave out and he was forced to kneel down, panting hard in order to catch his breath. Several meters before him was the base of the great machine, the meteorite humming faintly in the morning light.
A single man stood in front of it with his back to Seth, his hands clasped behind him. When he became aware of Seth's presence, he turned to face him, giving Seth his first look at the leader of Team Magma.
Author's Note:
Hello everyone! Thank you so much for the attention you gave my previous chapter! Here is the second chapter of the battle for Mt. Chimney. I'm so sorry I had to cut it off right before Maxie, but that fight alone is another 8000 words, which is a full chapter all by itself!
I'll have you know I spent this entire chapter wondering why I was putting so much effort into this battle. There's just so much to think about and keep track of in my head, and even now I'm willing to bet that some of you will find holes in my logic or ask "Why was this character doing this?" or "why didn't they just do this?" I ask only for your suspension of disbelief when you run into these inevitable breaks in my logic!
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please leave me some reviews telling me what you think, good or bad! I'll see you again next week for the climax of Mt. Chimney!