Trials of Sarah Vol 5: Pokemon Horizions

by Snow Nadder

(Takes place during the Summer of Paldea Adventure) While being a guest speaker at the Indigo Academy in Kanto, Sarah and Race suddenly get sucked into another world trotting adventure when they meet Liko and her Sprigatito. When the Explorers target the three of them for their Terapagos, they suddenly meet Professor Friede and the Rising Volt Tacklers.

22. Charge! Galarian Mine

Liko - While Sarah and her family and friends spent some time in Ballonea, Kabu gave us a big lead on Lucius' Rayquaza so we decided to follow it. On our way to Galar Mine, while we stayed at Sarah's Galar castle for a spell, we found a female Hatenna that wasn't doing well; she's a unique Pokémon that can pick up the feelings of others just like Sarah's pair of Ralts. I brought her back to the Brave Olivine for treatment, and thankfully, she was feeling much better in the morning. Sprigatito and I formed a bond with her, and much to my surprise, she became my second Pokémon. But, now, we had to keep looking for Rayquaza and the next stop on our little search was Galar Mine.

Following Liko's official capture of Hatenna as her second Pokémon (who was now sleeping peacefully in her jacket hoodie), the heroes finally arrived at Galar Mine after departing from Sarah's Galar castle and making their way in between Routes 2 and 3 before reaching the giant mineral and crystal cavern.

"Whoa...!" Fuecoco and Sprigatito gasped in awe at the sight of the mine.

"So, this is Galar Mine?"

"It's huge!" Roy and Liko added, sharing their partners' awestruck amazement.

"Believe us, it's quite a large mine and it can be pretty easy to get lost in if you're not careful and don't plan how to get out the moment you get in," Victor said.

"This place certainly brings back memories; we nearly got our asses kicked by Bede when we came across him during our journey here after getting lost ourselves."

"You're telling me, Hop; he was insufferable back then, and even though he was a good trainer at that time, he didn't put up much of a fight back then. But, that was nothing compared to us trying to find our way out after," Hop and Gloria remarked in reminiscing.

"Yeah, it sure is, I wouldn't want to get lost in that now that you told us," Friede put in before he then asked, "Ready to go check it out?"

"You got it, pal," Cap nodded, feeling ready to go inside Galar Mine.

However, before the heroes could begin to enter Galar Mine, Gladion noticed a glow coming from Sarah's primary satchel.

"Sarah?" he called, getting her attention.

"What?" she asked, turning to Lillie's brother curiously before he gestured to her satchel, allowing her to notice the glow coming from it.

Having an odd feeling about the glow, the little princess took off her satchel and dug inside to find it coming from her Pokémon Gem case, bringing it out and opening it to reveal the Pokémon Gem she got from the Galarian Moltres at the Crown Tundra. But, what sent a chill down her spine about the gem as she pulled it out was that it was pulsating with a dark energy of sorts.

"Sarah, why is your Galarian Moltres Gem glowing like that?" Lana asked.

"Don't know, I've never known anything like that happening to it. The Galarian Moltres from the Crown Tundra's doing okay so there's no way he could be here in Galar Mine," the little princess replied worriedly just as Roy came over, amazed by the sight of the Pokémon Gems with starstruck eyes.

"Wow! What are those things?" he gushed as he tried to touch one of them only for Sarah to snap the case shut.

"Let's just say they're trinkets of mine from Alola that are as powerful as me and Race. And, for the record, I want the topic about them as far away from the Explorers as much as possible," she replied as she put the case away and stuffed the Galarian Moltres Gem in one of her pockets, still feeling uneasy it.

"Oh, okay," Roy frowned.

"But, there's one thing I do know; whatever's inside may be a powerful Pokémon but Lucius' Rayquaza may not be in there."

Roy, however, wasn't convinced as he held Rayquaza's Pokeball and firmly rebutted, "How can you be so sure? I can feel it, Rayquaza must be in there..."

"Oh, yeah," Friede concurred.

"I doubt it, you guys. I mean, didn't it fly from Paldea to Galar earlier? It's probably still roaming around and it wouldn't like living in enclosed spaces," Rotom-Dex retorted.

Roy looked unconvinced as he snorted at Rotom-Dex but everybody heard Hatenna whimpering and saw her shivering with fright from Liko's jacket hoodie. And, she wasn't the only one feeling uneasy; they also noticed Tony and Jessie looking weary at Galar Mine and whatever was inside it along with Romeo and Juliet, and even the dragons couldn't help but hiss at whatever was within the mine beyond its tracks.

"Hatenna, Tony, Jessie, guys? Hey, what's the matter?" Liko asked carefully.

"Uh... M-Maybe she's feeling my hype and I made her nervous," Roy fretted, worried that he may be stressing Hatenna out.

Friede wasn't so sure as he replied, "No, if it was that, then Hatenna would've acted a lot sooner. The same can be said for Romeo, Juliet, Tony, Jessie, and the dragons if they were acting like this after we got here. You've been in really high spirits now."

"Friede's right; she would've hightailed it back to the Brave Olivine and the Dragon Craft at that point had she really freaked out. They must know something's in there but we don't know if Rayquaza's truly in there. I'm sure it can't be the first of the Six Heroes and it can't be Arboliva since we still have her with us," Sarah added, trusting the instincts of her dragons.

"Then, what are they sensing? Could they have been sensing...Rayquaza's emotions?" Liko pondered as everyone continued to look at the mine entrance while Sarah carefully pulled out her Galarian Moltres Gem, now feeling very uneasy as she continued to look at its dark pulsing glow and the dark energy crackling around it even if it was currently safe for her to hold.

---

(Theme Song - Pokémon Horizons Jap. Opening 1 (Heart-Pounding Diary))

I'm starting to take a ride on this heart-pounding wave, I'll go far~

(Our opening begins with the sight of Liko and Sprigatito joined by Sarah, Blitz, Curly, her Alcremie, Silvally, and her two Terapagos enjoying the daytime breeze from the Brave Olivine's observation deck with the airship and the Dragon Craft flying together to parts unknown in the world before we pan to the heavens above and the main titles appear)

There're a lot of things I can't really put into words

Things that make me sad, always troubling my heart

But, somehow, I'll know I'll shine on today

Look at the flowers blooming, now it's time to play~

(We then see several members of Sarah's family and friends on the Dragon Craft from the right side of the screen in addition to shots of the Brave Olivine's crew, the Rising Volt Tacklers, with the first ones shown being Freide, Cap, and Charizard on the Brave Olivine's bridge and the little princess' blood family overlooking the horizon before them, Mischief, Persian, and the Tomoe Squad on the Dragon Craft's sunroof. Orla, Carkol, Slugma, and Elekid were working in the Brave Olivine's engine room while Sarah, Race, and Asha's Paldean classmates were having fun battling in the Dragon Craft's training room. Murdock and his Ruby Swirl Alcremie were cooking in the airship's kitchen with Rockruff eagerly awaiting a culinary masterpiece from them while Asha and her family were helping Sarah's Rainbow Swirl Alcremie in the Dragon Craft's kitchen as they and Sarah work on a new dish. And, Mollie and her Chansey were overseeing medical examinations for the wild Pokémon traveling with them and their friends from the Brave Olivine's medical room while Race looked out from one of the windows while he and his team kicked back in the Dragon Craft's spa room and his Terapagos watched with him from his left shoulder)

I'm running through a white fog every day

I can't even find what I'm looking for (uh)

It's this super-duper energetic-looking diary

But I said, "What's this?" and then I threw it away

No way, no way, no way, no way, no...

My heart was so dark and empty then~

(Roy and Fuecoco were seen strolling happily along a forest together while Dot and Quaxly make a Nidothing video and Ludlow was fishing from the stern at dusk before we see Liko with Sprigatito and Sarah and her two Terapagos in their respective bedrooms later that night)

Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

(We see different shots of Liko, Sarah, Roy, and Race with Sprigatito, Blitz, Koraidon, Fuecoco, Robbie, and Miraidon)

But now I know I can change "No way" to "It's possible"
Floating around on this feel-good wind
Even if it's gonna be really super tough
I'll try my best to fly~

(While Liko clutches her pendant, Sarah unsheathes her Cosmic Grace as its Rayquaza Gem shone brightly with the pendant and her two Terapagos appeared in a glow they shared with the young girl's pendant. Liko, Roy, Sarah, and Race plop down on the Brave Olivine's Wing Deck and the Dragon Craft's sun deck before Sprigatito, Fuecoco, Blitz, Silvally, Tou-Tou, and Bella checked on them before the four friends laughed before we see the Brave Olivine and the Dragon Craft flying proudly in the skies together before we see something akin to a shooting star zip by)

And so, I'm riding on this heart-pounding wave!
But I'm sure that, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
I won't let stories I don't get scare me

(Liko and Roy are then shown with Sarah battling together with the young trainers using Fuecoco and Sprigatito while they shoot Flamethrower and Leafage against Arcanine and Tundra with everybody else watching on happily for them before Roy, holding an Ancient Pokeball, looks on in astonishment at the sight of Lucius' Rayquaza as it appeared from a break in a distant storm)

In my sparkling daydreams, the world starts to dance!
So let's smile, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Because there's no time to be afraid, yeah

(Amethio and his Ceruledge battle against Lazuli as she, Pantherra, and Galaxagus unleash their rage towards two of those in the Explorers who were responsible for ruining the swordswoman's old life. Everybody from the Brave Olivine and the Dragon Craft was now shown in the latter's dining room as Murdock and Sarah finish cooking and bring out some completed dishes, planning to enjoy a meal together)

I just want to know myself!

Because there's still a lot, a lot, a lot I don't know, know, know, know

I just want to find myself!

If I can find it in myself to say "I'm off now"

Then I guess I'll know I've grown up a bit~

(As the opening ends, we see Liko and Sarah standing together with Sprigatito, the princess' Terapagos and Rainbow Swirl Alcremie, Silvally, Curly, and Blitz standing together as the clouds fly past them. They then noticed their friends, Lazuli, and the latter's family passing by them as they were on a dock, preparing to leave for their next adventure before they turned back and grinned at them. Roy and Race look back and stretch out their hands, prompting them to join, getting a smile out of the pair before they join in and we see them together one last time (but with the long-awaited addition of Dot following the events of "Quaxly, we can do it!"))

(End Theme Song)

---

Back at the Brave Olivine, Dot and Quaxly had just finished their new Nidothing video using the Swirlicious Cotton Candy Murdock had gotten for her from the Battle Cafe and completed the edits for it to go viral. However, after uploading the completed video and with Quaxly sleeping in bed soon after, the young recluse was starting to grow bored.

She sighed as she mused to herself, "I think I can call it a day now, doing these foodie reviews is kind of a pain... Those guys have probably made it to the mine by now."

Meanwhile, Orla and Mollie were with Chansey, Elekid, Rockruff, and Pawmi in the dining/briefing room having tea (with the mechanic polishing some new spares she got from Motostoke and the traveling doctor checking something out on her Rotom Phone) when Murdock and Alcremie cheerfully came in from the kitchen with some fresh donuts, "Look alive, people! Snack Time!"

"Been looking forward to it all day," Orla grinned as Murdock and Alcremie served the finished donuts.

"That must be one of the new spare parts you bought from Motostoke. It looks so shiny, it hurts my eyes," the friendly cook joked with a grin as Orla examined the piece she was buffing out and he served a donut plate to an excited Rockruff and Pawmi.

"I know! Isn't it the most absolutely beautiful thing you've ever seen in your whole life? Word has it you could only get this in Motostoke, nowhere else! Oh, I just live for the luster of it! I'll install it later when I'm done; girl's gonna be psyched, I know it!"

With Mollie, she was getting a post from Liko on the Rising Volt Tacklers app regarding her and Sprigatito's time with Hatenna and she smiled warmly as she remarked, "What do you know? It says here, 'The three of us have become traveling buddies'."

"So, she actually caught Hatenna? That's great!"

"Hatenna can be a real handful sometimes but I'm sure with Sarah's expertise on her, she'll be alright."

"Don't worry, they'll do just fine. Especially since they got her friends from here in Galar and Alola along with Ash and Goh from Kanto, too."

"You're right," Murdock smiled before he turned to Alcremie, "Alright, Alcremie, you're up."

"You got it! Survey says, 'Cream away'!" Alcremie grinned as she served her whipped cream on top of a cup of tea and Murdock took a sip only to cough at the weird taste.

"Hey, Mollie, don't take it too personally but there is definitely something wrong with this coffee," he told the traveling doctor.

At this, Mollie couldn't help but deadpan at him as she told him, "That's because it's actually Black Tea."

Murdock balked at his mistake, "HUH?! Black Tea, I thought it was coffee!"

Orla just laughed as she remarked, "That's what you get for making assumptions about something! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

Even Ludlow couldn't help but chuckle in amusement at Murdock's mistake when he heard what was going on as he wisely recalled (while catching a boot as he was fishing on the stern as usual), "Assumptions are dangerous things; they can blind you to the reality of what you may seek. To find something that you're looking for, you must also be willing to be found. Therefore, we can truly know who the finder is or who is the founded."

Returning to Sarah, Liko, Roy, Friede, and their party, they finally entered Galar Mine, following the mine tracks to the heart of the mine where they could assume Rayquaza or whatever it is Hatenna, Romeo, Juliet, the dragons, Tony, and Jessie were sensing.

"So, this is what the inside of a mine looks like," Roy quipped before he turned to the Postwick Trio. "Is this place really where you guys found Bede while you were on your journey?"

"Of course, it was during one of our other encounters while he was looking for Wishing Stars which were used to make Dynamax Bands for whatever Chairman Rose had in mind before he was eventually found out for his scheme involving Eternatus and his power sometime later," Victor nodded.

"He sure was quite the trainer even though he didn't put up much of a fight back then," Hop concurred.

Just then, a Carkol appeared from further down the mine as it frantically passed by, "Gangway, gangway! Excuse me, pardon me! Coming through!"

"Hey! Where're you going?"

"Where's the fire?!" Pikachu and Goh's Cinderace shouted, getting no answer as the Carkol left.

"Whoa, that Carkol must be really frightened about something."

"Wonder what that was about," Kiawe and Ash pondered in surprise.

"Do you think we scared it or something?" Roy questioned.

Friede denied this as the unconventional professor replied, "No, miners come down here all the time. The Pokémon living here like that Carkol should be used to people by now."

"They are. I've come here time and time again and the Pokémon living in the mine are usually very friendly and a big help to the miners, something must've scared them badly and forced them to clear out," Leon confirmed.

"Scared them/Clear out?" Roy and Liko echoed, now feeling worried.

Pulling out her Galarian Moltres Gem, Sarah couldn't help getting more and more worried as she eyed it blinking a little faster and the dark energy from it growing stronger the further they went down to the heart of Galar Mine.

Lazuli noticed this and nudged the little princess as she snipped, "Hey, kid, you with us?"

"Huh? O-Oh... Sorry, it's just, my Pokémon Gem," she replied as quietly as she could, showing the swordswoman the Galarian Moltres Gem in its current state as it continued to crackle with dark energy. "I think, it's a warning... Hatenna, Tony, Jessie, Romeo, and Juliet along with the dragons must know that it's not Rayquaza we're dealing with here."

"You think it might not be the Rayquaza belonging to Lucius but a Galarian Moltres that we'll find living in this rock maze? Like, one of the other Six Heroes you and our pallies told us about?"

Sarah just nodded as Raven (Demon Wolf) came over and carefully shared her thoughts, "I agree; if the gem she got from the Galarian Moltres at the Crown Tundra is pulsating with a dark energy, then we must be dealing with a different Galarian Moltres this time."

Then, the Poms and Tsukumaro joined in as Tot whispered, "A different Galarian Moltres? You think the Gem is sensing a second Galarian Moltres here and that it belonged to this Lucius guy we heard about?"

"If the story we heard about him is true, it is possible which shows that we must continue to trust the power of the gems. The gems are still a vast array of mysteries that even I don't know about but they can sense the bonds between them and their owners," Tsukumaro agreed thoughtfully so Friede, Liko, and Roy wouldn't hear him speak.

"WAH!" Sprigatito yelped as a wild Drilbur popped up and noticed her while Sarah looked at the gem in her right hand before she noticed the Drilbur in front of Liko's partner.

"Hey, what are you doing?! It's not safe right now! Get out of here! Quickly!" the Drilbur warned frantically as it disappeared and continued to burrow its way out of the mine.

"GAH-OOF!" Fuecoco yelped in pain as he happily rushed towards another mound of dirt moving towards the wall to the group's right and smacked into it, face-first.

"Oops, sorry!" a wild Diglett apologized as it popped out before it too made a quick exit, looking just as terrified as the wild Drilbur.

"Well, Leon, looks like you were right."

"Something inside the mine is definitely scaring the Pokémon living here."

"Could it really be Rayquaza or something else entirely that's forcing the Pokémon to leave the mine, Bro?" the Postwick Trio asked Leon.

The Pokémon Monarch nodded and grimly replied, "I don't know but I think we'll find out what we're looking for if we go further down. The situation seemed to be worse than I imagined as far as we could tell."

---

Minutes later, the group came across a chamber filled with glowing gems leading to the heart of the mine, causing Liko and Roy to admire their beauty as they shimmered in the light, "Wow, look at all these glowing crystals!"

"They're all so pretty, they shine like gems!"

"Interesting... If Rayquaza really is here, then this might have something to do with its biology. It's been said that Rayquaza can eat airborne dust and sometimes even meteorites that fall from the sky," Freide theorized thoughtfully.

"You may be right there but you're not; they actually feed on the sparkles of Minior on starlit nights whenever they're around. That was a phenomenon Sarah, Race, and I and our friends and their family witnessed one time when we were at Mount Hokulani during a Minior Meteor Shower," Rotom-Dex corrected.

Of course, Roy and Liko balked in shocked amazement, "You did?!"

Sophocles smirked (now having fully come to terms with the short lives of the Minior and no longer feeling sad about them) proudly as he noted, "Sure did, we saw another Rayquaza in its normal colors feasting on the Minior that turned to stardust."

"Aww, man!" Roy moaned, feeling jealous.

"And, another thing about Rayquaza you might notice, Roy; because it lives in the Ozone Layer in Outer Space, we should warn you that it can be very territorial and it wouldn't take too kindly to what it sees as intruders threatening its personal space. The Rayquaza my friends and I knew back then knows all too well as he got into a few territorial disputes with a Pokémon named Deoxys from time to time, and what's more, he was-huh?"

As they were talking and Rotom-Dex was, Fuecoco and Sprigatito suddenly noticed two more figures moving from underground, getting the attention of their partners as they ran off after them. But, they didn't go unnoticed as Sarah saw the four of them and Hatenna leaving without warning through the central tunnel and immediately summoned Mittens in her Wood Form. She hopped onto her staff and flew after them but not without leaving everyone else a clue in the central tunnel mouth as to where she, Liko, Roy, Sprigatito, and Fuecoco had gone, their disappearance prompting Rotom-Dex to stop as he looked around for the young trainers, their partners, and Sarah.

"Uh, Liko, Roy? Sarah? Where'd you guys go?" he buzzed, causing everybody else to look around.

"Baby!"

"Pumpkin!"

"Liko!"

"Roy!" Delilah, David, Ash, and Lillie called out before Lana pointed at the central tunnel mouth, "Look!"

Ash and the Pokémon School Gang rushed over to the object Sarah left behind to show everyone where she and the young trainers had gone and they immediately recognized it as one of Sarah's Pokémon Gems (the one they found specifically being her Ho-Oh Gem).

"Uh, Friede, everybody, I think we know where they went," Mallow informed as she showed everyone the Ho-Oh gem while Kiawe and Sophocles pointed to the central tunnel they were in front of.

"Oh, boy," Friede groaned on everyone's behalf, knowing that they would have to find the trio in question and Sprigatito and Fuecoco now before they would find Lucius' Rayquaza or anybody else in it that was frightening all of the wild Pokémon from Galar Mine.

"We'll find them!" Silvally offered as he, Blitz, Curly, Race, Bella, and Robbie joined by Lazuli, Galaxagus, Pantherra, Mistral, and Mr. Hu went down the central tunnel to find the runaways.

"...And, they're gone."

"Here we go again," Gloria and Hop sighed as they and Victor shrugged knowingly.

---

Meanwhile, with the aforementioned quintet, both Sprigatito and Fuecoco were still cheerfully chasing after whatever was burrowing across the mine, unknowingly leading their partners and Sarah to trouble as the three friends tried to catch them.

"Wait up!"

"Fuecoco!"

"Guys!" they screamed as they came to another shaft with Fuecoco running into a cavern wall one of the figures led him to and smacking it face-first before he was promptly scooped up by the little princess.

Sprigatito pounced at the second figure she was trying and failing to catch which was a second wild Drilbur that either didn't know about or was not fazed by the danger supposedly present in the mine before she was also grabbed from behind by Sarah.

"Hey!" she snapped in annoyance.

"Sprigatito, honestly! When are you and Fuecoco going to learn? Now, you two got us lost! Are you happy now?!" Sarah snapped back.

"She's right, Sprigatito! You two should know better," Liko agreed in disappointment.

"Sorry," Sprigatito pouted as she flattened her ears and was handed over to Liko.

"Thanks, Sarah. Are you hurt? Are you okay, Fuecoco?" Roy asked worriedly as he took back Fuecoco and rubbed his hurt Paldea Starter.

"Just my pride and fun," the Fire Croc Pokémon moaned as he winced from his bruised head.

"Come on, let's go back and find Friede and the others," Liko smiled before she turned and immediately grew concerned, not knowing which tunnel they had gone through during their chase. "Uh, which tunnel did we go through?"

"You should count your lucky stars we were able to find you so fast even if we ended up lost ourselves," snorted Silvally as everybody in their small group turned to find the Synthetic Pokémon and his group arriving from the other end of the central tunnel they went through, not looking at all pleased with what Sprigatito and Fuecoco did that got them in such a mess in the first place.

"Liko! Roy! Sarah!"

"You there, kids?" called Friede and Cap as they and the others looked around the mine.

"Oh, where could they have gone?" Delilah gulped, deeply worried for her daughter.

"We've just got to find them; we know they went down this tunnel thanks to one of Sarah's Pokémon Gems."

"They're around here somewhere, we've got to keep looking and keep our eyes and ears open for them," Ash and Gloria said just before Friede's Rotom Phone rang up and he quickly answered, seeing that the call was from Sarah via Rotoscope.

"Hey, Friede, I'm guessing you guys got my lead before I left?" the little princess quizzed.

Friede nodded but then he asked, unamused and disappointed by what had happened earlier, "So, where did you, Liko, and Roy run off to?"

"Sorry, we got kind of lost until Race and his party with him found us," Liko apologized sheepishly.

"Okay, so apart from what Sarah left for us earlier to denote where you all ran off, do any of you see any distinctive features nearby to clue us in on your current location?"

"Fat chance, Friede; everything looks the same down to the tunnels before us, no guarantee of finding us faster than the speed of light since it all comes down to luck on finding where you are without a map of the place. And, since none of us have one downloaded onto Rotom-Dex's systems nor our Rotom Phones and Rotoscope, we'll all be running blind trying to find each other let alone a way out."

"We told you guys you could get lost easily as we did," Victor mentioned to the little princess.

"Hmm... That doesn't sound very helpful."

"It's best if we split into groups and take our chances; one group will zip down the tunnel to the left and the other will make tracks to the right," suggested Cap, knowing what they should do as he pointed to the two tunnels in front of his and Freide's party.

"Hey, not a bad idea!" Pikachu grinned.

"I get it; if we split up, we'll be able to cover more ground in the mine and find you all faster!"

"Yeah, we'll look through every square inch of the mine this way and one of our groups will find you!" Goh and Ash realized.

Friede nodded in approval as he told Sarah, "We're coming to find you after we split up. Stay put and stick together as best you can."

"Not gonna be easy since Roy will do anything to get a lead on Rayquaza being here but we'll try. And, if all else fails, we'll be out of here to find you instead," Sarah replied.

"Okay, Sarah, but just be careful. There are a lot of twists and turns in the mine, and if your Galarian Moltres Gem is glowing strangely as we saw earlier, someone else might be inside and not Rayquaza," Mallow warned.

"I will. Stay safe on your end," Sarah nodded as she and Rotoscope ended the call.

"Are we really okay?" Sprigatito asked her human partner and friend.

"Don't worry, they'll be here soon and we'll be fine," Liko reassured just as Sarah felt her Galarian Moltres Gem pulsating again and pulled it out, causing it to float before her and fly down a small tunnel nearby.

Unsure of what the gem was doing, while everyone else tried to wait for the others to arrive, she instinctively decided to trust it and its power and follow it down the tunnel, getting the others' attention as they noticed her following the gem.

"Island Girl?"

"Hey, where are you going?"

"Mother, you heard Mr. Unconventional. He told us to stay here and wait for them," Race, Lazuli, and Silvally remarked as they and the others followed her into the tunnel.

"Sarah, wait up!" Liko called as she and Roy along with Fuecoco, Sprigatito, and Hatenna (who was still asleep in the former's hoodie jacket) chased after them.

Moments later, Friede and his group arrived at their original spot but were too late to see Sarah and her party following her Galarian Moltres Gem entering the crevice tunnel, "They aren't here..."

"Nothing yet on our end, pal," Cap informed as he and his team arrived from the tunnel adjacent to the one the former group took.

"Nothing on your end, either? Come on, where on earth could they be?" the unconventional professor sighed as everybody gathered continued their search with some of them including Cap noticing the crevice tunnel ahead of them.

---

At another part of the mine, however, the heroes had no idea that they were about to have the first run-in with Amethio, Onia, and Zirc in a while; with the aforementioned trio from the Explorers, with their sights firmly set on Lucius' Rayquaza, they too found their way into Galar Mine and were going through some of the other shafts to look for it.

"Why do you think Rayquaza would want to come to a place like this, Sir?" Onia questioned.

"Maybe it likes giant mines with glowing crystals or something," Zirc suggested.

"Well, we might just be able to catch it while it's asleep."

"Don't underestimate it; we're facing a Rayquaza and odds are the princess and her family and the Rising Volt Tacklers are here. And, with her old allies and Lazuli on deck, this could complicate things," Amethio replied.

"And, you made sure to track her down with our disposable you-know-what, right, Amethio?"

"I did, Zirc; our assassin will comb the mine for them, and should our temporary agent find Rayquaza and the princess and her group with it, they'll alert us and draw us to it. If we do end up having to fight it, you two, stay sharp and be ready at all times."

"Yes, Sir."

---

"Rayquaza! Are you there?" Roy yelled in the tunnel as he kept his eyes and ears open for Lucius' Rayquaza while he and his group were still in the crevice tunnel. "I know we heard you while we were wandering around in here!"

"Where are you?" called Fuecoco as his hair tufts glowed, acting like a night light in the darkness of the mine's tunnel before they ended up in another section.

"Roy, I'm telling you; something's wrong with this picture, I can feel it. Why would a Rayquaza like the first of Lucius' Six Heroes be here in Galar Mine when it preferred roaming around in the open skies? And, that noise we just heard, what if it's a different Pokémon entirely?" Sarah insisted to Roy, unsure if he was on the mark regarding Rayquaza as she stayed close to her Galarian Moltres Gem.

"But, it's got to be here! I know I heard it down here, I just know it!" Roy denied firmly as he tried to look around for another path to find out where Rayquaza was despite Sarah's growing skepticism on the matter until he saw a large tunnel opening and pointed to it, "U-Uh, maybe he's up there!"

"Well, I guess it won't hurt to look if it'll make you happy. Hey, big guy, mind giving me a lift to that tunnel mouth?" Blitz sighed before he turned to Silvally.

Silvally nodded as he allowed Blitz to climb aboard his back and place himself on the wall below the tunnel mouth, allowing the younger male Pikachu to enter the tunnel but came up fruitless as he turned back and shook his head at everyone below.

"He's not in here, gang. No trace," he said.

"I knew it; there's no way Rayquaza could be in here," Sarah sighed.

"Yeah, I'm starting to think it couldn't be hiding in here at all," Liko sighed in agreement.

"Thanks for checking, Blitz! Let's go check further in," Roy thanked Blitz before he turned to his partner, undeterred as he still wanted to find Rayquaza.

"Right!" Fuecoco grinned as they looked down another tunnel and he stood on his partner's head and lit it with his hair tuffs to give them more light.

"Rayquaza! Oh... Where could it be hiding?"

"Ugh! You really won't stop for anything, anything at all, until you finally fulfill your wish to find Rayquaza even if there's a one-in-a-million chance of us finding him in places like this, do you, Roy?" groaned the little princess as she facepalmed at the young adventurer.

With Sprigatito, she decided to look around the area herself. But, as she turned around a nearby box of mining materials/supplies, she came across a wild Woobat and they let out panicked shrieks as they saw each other. Everyone was startled by the shrieks and whirled around until they saw the frightened Woobat flying off to a place where it could hide from whatever was terrorizing the other wild Pokémon in the mine.

"Hey! Was that a Woobat that flew by just now?" Robbie gasped.

"It is! Oh, the poor thing!" Bella nodded, whimpering worriedly for the terrified Unova Bat Pokémon.

"Another one that ran away," blinked Roy.

"I wonder what made the little one so afraid; come to think of it, I've not seen a single wild Pokémon in here since we saw the wild Drilbur and Diglett from earlier making their escape," Mr. Hu pondered, gravely concerned.

"Mommy!" Curly called, getting everybody's attention as she pointed them to where Woobat went, having found out where it flew off to.

"You see something over there, Curly?" Sarah quizzed, allowing Blitz's mate to lead them to a small cave.

Sarah and Race looked inside and to their surprise, they found the wild Woobat along with a Roggenrola and a Timburr, all of them shivering in sheer terror.

"Whoa, there's the Woobat!"

"And, there's a Timburr along with a Roggenrola. They're all frightened out of their wits."

Roy, curious about the Timburr since he hadn't seen it before, brought out his Rotom Phone and scanned the small Fighting Type as it said, "Timburr, the Muscular Pokémon. A Fighting Type, it is always carrying square logs and it impulsively shows up at construction sites so it can help with the work there."

"Oh, man... Are you all okay? It's okay, you can trust us," Liko reassured as she tried to reach her hand out to them, only succeeding in making the three wild Unova Pokémon more terrified as they flinched in fear and huddled closer together. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Easy, Liko, I wouldn't get close to them if I were you. They think we're the ones making the wild Pokémon flee so it'd be natural to be scared of us," Sarah warned as she gently nudged the young girl back.

Seeing how scared beyond belief the wild Pokémon were, Lazuli wondered what she could do to help them and not be on the sidelines until she suddenly remembered her Pokeblock case and pulled it out. After looking at it and thinking about the Pokeblock she and her Pokémon once ate before meeting up with the heroes she eavesdropped on, she suddenly got a brain blast that showed her how everybody in her group can get the wild Timburr, Woobat, and Roggenrola to trust them.

"Hey, kid, where's that cinch bag you got from Kitakami?" the swordswoman asked Sarah as she approached.

Sarah turned back to Lazuli and replied, "Uh, sure, but why would you wan-?"

"Just pull it out, I know how we can help them."

Put off by the order and wanting to know what she had in mind, the little princess brought her Kitakami cinch bag and handed it to Lazuli. The swordswoman then proceeded to open it up and dig inside before she found and brought out the Old Gateau, her Jubilife Muffins, the Bean Cake, the Honey Cake, the Grain Cake, the Mushroom Cake, and the Salt Cake.

"What are you doing?"

"You mind casting a spell on each of them so we can have several of the sweets on us for them?"

Soon, Sarah realized what Lazuli was thinking and she brought out her wand, casting Geminio on the sweets in front of her until they had a small hill's worth of treats on them which the swordswoman placed at the cave mouth for the frightened Timburr, Roggenrola, and Woobat. Once she was done, she placed the original sweets back in the cinch bag and returned the bag to her former target before she showed herself to the three Unova Pokémon to coax them into eating the treats she laid out for them.

"Come on, come on out. It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you," she soothed with a warm smile as she laid out a Jubilife Muffin for one of them to eat, getting Timburr's attention while Roggenrola and Woobat remained where they were. "It's called a Jubilife Muffin; I heard it's supposed to be good for you, there are more out here along with some cakes and some Old Gateaus if you want any."

"Uh... Hmm... It sure does look good," Timburr replied as it took the muffin and looked at it before it finally took a bite.

The little Muscular Pokémon was intrigued as ate away at its Jubilife Muffin and finished it in two bites, surprising Roggenrola and Woobat as they didn't know what to think. A few happy calls from Fuecoco, Sprigatito, and a sweet neigh from Stardust soon got their attention with Liko and Roy's partners and Lazuli's Palisman (in her Live Form) urging them to try the sweets that had been laid out for them with Lazuli nodding at them, silently encouraging them to eat as much as they please so they would feel better after enduring whatever scared them to death.

Wanting to show its gratitude towards her, Timburr came out first with Woobat and Roggenrola following shortly after before they helped themselves to the treats given to them. Immediately after they started eating, they felt better and smiled as they all let out a hearty thanks to Lazuli.

The others smiled warmly at Lazuli's genius and Spigatito, Curly, Bella, Blitz, Robbie, Galaxagus, Pantherra, Silvally, and Fuecoco joined in the small feast as Roy complimented, "Wow! Good thinking, Lazuli."

"Oh, it's nothing, really. I was sure a little snack or two could help them take their minds off of whatever spooked them and the other Pokémon here," the swordswoman replied modestly.

Liko continued to smile until she remembered Hatenna riding in her jacket hoodie and urged her to join the other Pokémon, "Hey, you wanna join them? Go on."

Hatenna woke up and looked at the Pokémon enjoying their small hill of snacks and having fun during their brief moment of reprieve. Intrigued by this and feeling their shared happiness, the Calm Pokémon slowly leaped out of her human mother's hood and landed near the snack hill, getting Sprigatito's attention.

"Go ahead," she offered.

Taking a Honey Cake, Hatenna took a small bite out of it and after chewing on it, she happily cried, "Delicious!"

"Yeah, that's it!" Liko smiled, feeling happy for Hatenna.

Suddenly, Hatenna heard the strange roaring sound Roy heard but as they were further down the mine, everybody could hear it very clearly now. Nobody could tell who or what the roar belonged to but a chill ran down her spine as the roar sounded off once more and her Galarian Moltres Gem came back to her, blinking and shimmering like mad while it pulsated and crackled with more dark energy.

"What's that?"

"That voice again!" Liko and Roy noted, surprised.

"It's still here/Hurry!" Timburr and Roggenrola fearfully cried as they now hid behind Lazuli while Woobat remained in front of the group to tell them who or what was responsible for the roar frightening their fellow Pokémon.

"Wait a minute, slow down! It's okay! Now, would you mind telling us what's going on?" Lazuli soothed.

"Ms. Lady, it's terrible!"

"A Big Galarian Moltres, in the mine!" Roggenrola and Timburr frantically spoke first.

"We didn't know where it came from or why it's here but it's at the heart of the mine! It did something to the miners we've been helping to excavate crystals at after it appeared and they're hurt badly! Please help them!" Woobat begged.

Despite not understanding the three Pokémon fluently (even though Sarah and Race, the other Pokémon, Mistral, and Mr. Hu were staggered by what they fluently heard), Lazuli gasped in horror as she faced the Unova Bat Pokémon.

"What, there's trouble in this mine? Somebody's been hurt, miners?" she echoed, getting frantic nods from the three Unova Pokémon. "Where are the miners you three mentioned?"

"They're this way; the tunnel over there will lead us to their mining camp and a few other friends! Follow us!" Woobat informed before it, Timburr, and Roggenrola rushed inside the tunnel it mentioned and waved them over, going down a path they obviously knew while Hatenna started to shiver with fright.

"This way!"

---

Minutes later, Woobat, Timburr, and Roggenrola led everybody with Sarah, Race, and Lazuli to the mining camp where the miners they mentioned were. Nearby, there was a giant crevice with a seemingly bottomless pit and Roy went over to it with Fuecoco, hoping to spot Rayquaza and still keeping his hopes up for a possible reunion.

"RAYQUAZA!" Roy screamed in the abyss as Fuecoco yelped, unable to see the bottom and seeing no sign of Rayquaza as Sarah knew all too well. "He's not down there either?"

"Still convinced that Rayquaza's living here or are you still going on blind faith?" Race called over to the young adventurer, shrugging expectantly.

"Over here!" Woobat squeaked, leading Lazuli, Sarah, and the rest of their party to where the miners and the other Pokémon helping them excavate and dig were.

When they finally saw the miners and the other Pokémon, there was trouble; there were two miners along with a Carkol, another Timburr, and a Machamp looking lethargic and weak as they lay on the ground.

"Oh, shit!" Lazuli gasped as she and Sarah immediately went over to the miners and the Pokémon with them. "Sir! Are you okay, what happened? Are you guys alright?"

"Who did this to you?" Sarah inquired as they checked one of the miners over.

"(?!), ugh... All of our strength had been sapped," the worker coughed weakly.

"What happened here?" Liko puzzled.

"Earlier this morning, this giant Pokémon appeared, without warning... And, just as we tried to figure out what it was, it sent out a dark wave. We lost the will to fight the moment it subdued us and left us with very little energy..."

The worker weakly breathed, letting out purple smoke from his mouth which shocked everybody.

"They've been like this since that Galarian Moltres appeared; we couldn't do anything and we barely escaped with our lives," the Timburr Lazuli comforted spoke up.

"We didn't even have a chance, it was too good!"

"It was too powerful for us to handle so we were forced to run and hide in that cave you found us in. It was a warning to all of us but we were too scared to understand what that warning meant," Roggenrola and Woobat whimpered in agreement.

"A huge Pokémon?" Roy echoed.

"I knew it, this is not good," Sarah gulped while her Galarian Moltres Gem blinked at a rapid-fire pace and crackled and sparked with dark energy at its source, activating her new Dino/Cosmic Fury Wrist Com to call the rest of the heroes' party. "Guys, Friede, Mom, Dad, anybody, where are you guys?"

With the rest of the heroes, they were still looking for the rest of their group until the gang and Ash's Wrist Coms went off and Ash decided to answer the call, knowing that it was Sarah on the other side of the line.

"Hey, Sarah, we're on our way to a larger shaft and we think it's close to your current location. What's going on?" Ash puzzled.

"Trouble; we found two miners and a few Pokémon with them with their energy sapped. I suspect that whatever's responsible is mainly a Galarian Moltres."

"Wait, a Galarian Moltres? Like the Galarian Moltres from the Crown Tundra two years ago?"

"The one Lillie, Mallow, Lana, and I fought along with the other two Galarian Legendary Birds and caught?" Sophocles and Gloria gasped in astonishment.

"Yeah, thinking back to the story of Lucius, I think the Moltres we're looking for is another one of his Six Heroes. It's what my gem's been sensing based on the dark energy it's been giving off; this proves that Rayquaza's not even in Galar Mine, to begin with. What's worse, after one of the workers told how they and the Pokémon with them had been attacked, he breathed out a puff of black smoke. Lana, Lillie, Gloria, Mallow, did any of you or the others notice a dark aura above you as you tried to get closer to us?"

"Yeah, we just noticed it and felt its energy while we were heading your way," Lillie informed (despite her and everyone else's shock over the revelation of who or what Pokémon was actually in the mine terrorizing everybody inside) before she turned to Cap and pointed him toward the dark wispy substance floating above them. "Excuse me, Cap, do you notice something sinister and dark about that plume above us?"

Cap looked up as he felt the dark energy of the plume and saw it hovering before him and his party, breathing, "Strange... Something is definitely not right here."

"That's definitely the work of a Galarian Moltres," Mallow mused thoughtfully as she firmly looked at the plume.

"We know that attack anywhere since it was used on us before at the Crown Tundra," Gloria nodded.

"Fiery Wrath," Lana deducted.

"Sarah, Burnet and I will alert Nurse Joy at the Motostoke Pokémon Center. She'll have a rescue team on standby at the mine entrance when we're done and we meet up with them," Kukui offered.

"Right. While you're doing that, Race, Liko, Roy, Lazuli, and I will load the miners and the downed Pokémon in the mine carts they have with them and roll them over to you and the rescue team outside."

"Be careful," the Alolan Professor prayed as Sarah ended the call and he and his wife turned to the others. "We'll be back with the rescue team and Nurse Joy."

"Leon, Friede, will you two and everyone else be alright while we're gone?" Burnet asked the unconventional professor and the Pokémon World Monarch.

"Absolutely, you be ready for when the downed workers affected by Moltres' Fiery Wrath are safely brought out."

"We'll find the others and join you soon, hopefully," they replied, getting appreciative nods from the Alolan couple before they activated their Wrist Coms and teleported out of the mine back to Motostoke, leaving everyone else to find Sarah and her party alone.

---

Back at the mining camp, Sarah, Liko, Roy, Race, and Lazuli had managed to find two mine carts and load the downed workers and Pokémon onto them with Woobat, Roggenrola, and Timburr joining them so they can be looked after as well.

"I'll see you three later once we're out, okay?" the swordswoman reassured as the three Pokémon she befriended nodded, holding her to her word.

"My old teacher and his wife will be speaking to Nurse Joy at Motostoke; they'll have a rescue team ready to pick you all up outside and take you to the Pokémon Center there," Sarah informed the workers and Pokémon in the mine carts.

"Thank you for everything," the miner that spoke thanked in greatness and relief.

Sarah nodded as she turned to the wild Carkol she helped to recover who was hitched up to the carts, "Okay, buddy, you're all clear to depart."

"Thank you, Princess, much obliged. Okay, everybody, all aboard!" thanked Carkol as it pulled the mine carts and their fellow Pokémon and the downed miners to the mine entrance with Woobat flapping behind them.

"Get well soon!" Fuecoco squeaked.

"Do you think...Rayquaza could've done all of this?" Roy asked, still hoping to meet Rayquaza.

"No. Right now, we need to get you out of here before Lucius' Moltres shows up," Sarah replied despite Roy's denial.

---

With Friede and his party, they ended up coming into another giant shaft somewhere in the mine until they came across some large gashes found on the cavern walls that consisted of four claw marks and not three from Lucius' Rayquaza.

"Amazing, so Sarah was right about Lucius' Moltres being here and not his Rayquaza. Some of the walls here have so many gashes and Rayquaza only has three claws so he couldn't have made them," the unconventional professor mused thoughtfully.

"It must be pretty powerful to have made them and the cuts look pretty big," Charizard agreed.

"Ms. Lillie and the other girls told us about them, they mentioned that the Moltres they fought left these same marks on the ground when they came across it along with Galarian Zapdos and Galarian Articuno at Dyna Tree Hill."

"It also left those marks on the ground as they were fighting it before they were able to catch it," Tsukumaro and Ash informed.

"So, it's true... We found ourselves the first signs of Lucius' Galarian Moltres," Leon grumbled, quietly gritting his teeth as he and everyone else feared for the safety of Sarah, Race, Lazuli, Roy, Liko, Mr. Hu, and Mistral.

"But, what would it be doing here in the mine?" Victor wondered.

Suddenly, Toothless and the other dragons whirled around to one of the other tunnels and snarled viciously, seeing Amethio entering the shaft from one of the tunnels he was in (since he, Onia, and Zirc also decided it'd be best to split up if they were to find Rayquaza faster or so they thought).

"(?!) ...It's you!" gasped Diane.

"Amethio... Never thought we'd meet again in a place like this," Friede added, not expecting to see the disgraced Explorers agent again. "Haven't seen you since that island."

"That guy's Amethio?"

"The top Explorers agent who tried and failed to get Liko's pendant and Sarah and Race's Terapagos days ago?" Ash and Kiawe whispered to Johnathan who simply nodded.

Amethio just brought out his partner as he called out, "Go, Ceruledge!"

"Ready, Master," Ceruledge spoke as he got himself in a battle stance.

"Holy cow! That's a powerful Ceruledge, I've never seen anything like it in my entire life!" Rotom-Dex yelped in amazement as he quickly scanned the Fire Blades Pokémon out of nervousness for his power. "Ceruledge, the Fire Blades Pokemon. A Fire and Ghost Type, an old set of armor steeped in grudges created this Pokémon's evolution, allowing it to cut its enemies to pieces without mercy."

Friede couldn't help but scoff in amusement as Charizard came up to fight his old foe with a knowing smirk while he remarked, "Oh, come on, pal, it's been so long since any of us apart from Sarah's old friends and her, Race, and Asha's classmates from Paldea had seen you! You don't even give us a 'hello, how are you?'?"

"Why waste any time?" the top Explorers agent replied, not in the mood for idle chat or banter with his new self-employed mission at hand. "Besides, I've no interest in battling the rest of your party right now; let us begin, Friede."

"You always love rushing into things, don't you?" chuckled Friede, knowing what Amethio wanted right now as he looked at Charizard. "Okay, Charizard, let's go!"

"Let's rumble!" Charizard agreed.

"But, Friede, we can fight him, too!"

"Let us help you and Charizard!" Sophocles and Arven called out.

"You can help us by keeping an eye on things around us so nobody gets the drop on Charizard and I. Amethio's interested in us alone, I don't want to risk your lives as well."

"But, Friede!" Carmine replied before she held the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "Oh! Why are people like you sometimes god-damn thick-headed?"

---

And, things weren't any better on Sarah's side of the spectrum; as she and her party prepared to make their way out of the mining camp and back to the others or the mine entrance to wait for them, they were suddenly found and cornered by Zirc and Onia who had their Rhydon and Golduck out with them, ready to finish what they started.

"I thought you might be down here," Onia sneered.

"Ugh! It's the Explorers!" Roy grunted as Liko clutched her pendant, still hanging around her neck while it was hidden underneath her shirt.

"Looks like you got your pendant on you so the princess and her husband's three Pokémon can't be too far behind," Zirc added in satisfaction before he glared at Lazuli who drew her sword at him and Onia. "I see you're still alive and kicking after our assassin failed to find and kill you all this time, Battousai."

"Assassin?!" Liko and Roy gawked at Lazuli in shocked horror.

"Hello, Zirc, Onia, I should've known you and Amethio would be prowling around after you bailed on us when a certain Terastallized Shiny Sky High Pokémon left you running with your tails between your legs like the running dogs you and the Explorers are. I recognized your foul and cowardly stench the moment we prepared to leave for the outside world given the danger we're in," the Female Battousai snarked back, still keeping her sword pointed at them.

"Charmed but you also know that since you swore fealty to your 'friends' here, that makes you our enemy and a major thorn in our side since you know everything about the Explorers including our weaknesses. We're sure Master Gibeon and the others won't mind if we and Amethio take a load off their hands by killing you first."

"You'll have to prove it to me if you want me wiped out of the picture and leave my friends ripe for the picking. Your assassin met his end when he ran into me so I hope you won't mind if I make you join him, too."

"Good. Since you put it that way, we'll kill two birds with one stone in that regard," Onia agreed as she made the first move. "Now, Golduck! Go, use Scratch, take the girl and Himura the Battousai down!"

"Yes! Say 'GOODBYE'!" hissed Golduck as it readied a Scratch attack and then charged at Liko and Lazuli.

"Sprigatito/Kiddo!" Liko and Mr. Hu shouted as Spigatito readied herself and Lazuli raised her sword.

However, before Golduck could land a hit on either of them, Cap and his party appeared in the nick of time as the Brave Olivine's captain socked it from behind with a Thunderpunch attack, sending it skidding to the edge of the abyss.

"CAPPY/CAP/CAP/YOU!" everybody on Sarah's side cried in elation.

"Golduck!" Onia shouted to her partner, seeing her partner barely stopping at the edge before it could fall over and gritting her teeth from the unexpected interruption.

"Sarah/Race!" Lillie and Lana shouted as they, Mallow, Gloria, and the rest of Cap's party arrived just in time.

"Lillie, Lana, Mallow, Gloria, guys!" Sarah smiled.

"Are you guys alright?" Gloria asked as they met up with Sarah and her party.

"Never better now that you're all here!"

"You and your posse took your time getting here, Cappy," chuckled Lazuli at Cap, shaking her head at him.

"Better late than never! Nice save, BTW," smirked Race, giving Cap a thumbs-up.

"Thanks, Cap, good job!"

"Your timing couldn't have been more perfect!" Liko and Roy grinned broadly as Sprigatito smiled and Fuecoco did a happy dance, looking just as relieved to see a familiar face again as Cap smirked at everyone behind him.

But, the reunion was immediately cut short as a giant roar was heard once more, rocking the mine and causing everybody to stop what they were doing.

"What was that?!" gasped Lana.

"That roar! You think it might be...?" Mallow replied, trailing off as she and her best friends along with Gloria dreaded what they would say next.

Sarah was now feeling more uneasy as the chill running down her spine grew and her Galarian Moltres Gem floated before her again, the crackling and pulsating of dark energy now at its strongest and most lethal. Liko also noticed something off as she noticed her pendant glowing and resonating without warning, telling her that one of Lucius' Six Heroes (supposedly, the Galarian Moltres the other girls knew about) is living in the mine and closer than they thought.

"Wait, my pendant! What's going on?!" she spluttered worriedly.

"Rayquaza!" Roy suggested.

"I don't think Rayquaza had a roar like that, Roy, do you see this mine being big enough to fit a life-size dragon that's over 100 meters long in length and who enjoys roaming freely around the open skies?" Race retorted, bracing himself for a fight with whatever was inside the mine.

"Is it just me or was that roar we heard earlier louder than before?" gulped Blitz as the noise finally died down, the mine stopped shaking, and all was still for a brief moment.

"...Well, whatever it was, it's gone now. But, I'm afraid this might only be the beginning of it," Gloria began as carefully as she could.

"And, what is this 'it' you're speaking of, Young Lady?" puzzled Mistral, sounding nervous.

"Whatever it is, we can't stay here. So, I think it's best if we take our leave down the tunnel we sent the miners through, and hopefully, we'll meet up with-" Mr. Hu began, suggesting that everybody leave Galar Mine now.

But, the Tiger Zodiac was immediately cut off by a giant plume of fiery red and black energy shooting out from the abyss Golduck was close to as it was knocked forward by the shockwave it left in its wake, forcing everybody else to shield themselves until the plume of energy revealed itself to be a Galarian Moltres as Sarah, Lana, Lillie, Mallow, and Gloria feared. But, it was not just a Galarian Moltres; it was the third of Lucius' Six Heroes living in Galar Mine as denoted by the Ancient Pokeball it held in its right talons.

"WHO DARES TO DISTURB THE SUBTERRANEAN SANCTUARY THAT IS MY HOME?"

Roy gulped as he realized his mistake, "Okay, that is not Rayquaza... I've never seen a Pokémon like that before."

"Oh, and you only just noticed that now, Mr. Let's Meet Rayquaza Again?" Lazuli snorted in annoyance at Roy who flinched and smiled sheepishly under her unamused glare.

"It's...resonating?" Liko breathed, seeing her pendant reacting to Lucius' Moltres.

"That's just like what happened with Arboliva..." Sarah breathed as she noticed and looked back at Moltres, sensing great anger resonating from the Galarian Legendary Bird of Fire (which Hatenna noticed as she shivered again from Liko's jacket hood). "I knew it; this Moltres here, it's one of Lucius' Six Heroes! But, why is it here in Galar Mine of all places?"

Lucius' Galarian Moltres, still lost in its anger, roared at the ones it sees as its enemies, its roar echoing through the mine and reaching the others and Amethio as they heard it during Friede and Amethio's battle. It was clear to the heroes that Sarah and her group had found the source of the wild Pokémon in the mine being terrified out of their wits and they had to meet up with them as well as deal with Amethio if they wanted to get them out of trouble.

"Prepare yourself, Ceruledge! Use Phantom Force!" barked the top Explorers agent, allowing his partner to vanish and prepare to take Charizard and Friede by surprise.

"Playing Hide and Seek again, aren't you?" Friede grunted as he and Charizard tried to find out where Ceruledge could be hiding.

"Friede, Charizard! You have to find our baby and her friends with her!"

"Let us deal with Amethio and Ceruledge, go!" Diane and Johnathan shouted, only for their cries to be ignored as Friede and his Charizard were still determined to keep Amethio and Ceruledge off their backs and those of their family and friends.

"Oh, man, it's not in the Pokedex!" Roy griped as he tried and failed to scan Lucius' partner with his Rotom Phone's Pokedex.

"Not surprised on that front, Roy! There's not much data on the Galarian Legendary Birds despite my best friends and Gloria finding out more about it as well as Galarian Zapdos and Galarian Articuno and we don't have any statistics on Lucius' partner so, as far as we're concerned, we're running blind!" Sarah gulped.

"Lucius' partner...? Wait! Roy, look, isn't that-?!" Liko gasped, noticing Moltres' Ancient Pokeball.

Roy gawked in shock as he also noticed the Ancient Pokeball in Moltres' talons, "Yes! It's an Ancient Pokeball!"

Without warning, Lucius' Moltres readied itself to attack its supposed enemies with a powerful Air Slash move that would take them all out with ease.

"Here comes an Air Slash attack!" Lillie screamed, recognizing Moltres' movements.

"Island Girl!" barked Race to his wife who nodded in agreement while he brought Tou-Tou out from his Premier Ball. "Tou-Tou, Protect!"

"Silvally, use your Air Slash to defend!" Sarah shouted to her Synthetic Pokémon, the two Normal Type brothers using Protect and Air Slash to defend themselves and the rest of their party while Cap used Thunderpunch to safeguard Sprigatito and Fuecoco.

Unfortunately, Zirc and Onia's Rhydon and Golduck weren't as lucky as the heroes were as they were left wide open and they had no time to dodge or counter before they were immediately taken out of the running, forcing their respective trainers to return them to their Pokeballs.

"Rhydon!"

"Return, Golduck!"

"Forget it, Zirc. This giant birdbrain's a real powerhouse, let's retreat for now," Onia suggested to Zirc.

"Good call!" Zirc agreed as the pair scrambled back the way they came.

"I get it now, so this must be one of Lucius' Pokémon," breathed Roy in stunned awe as the Galarian Moltres prepared to unleash its signature move.

"Here it comes, Fiery Wrath!" Mallow cried.

"Liko, Roy, Cap, Sprigatito, Fuecoco, get out of the way or you'll be subjected to its power!" Sarah screamed at the Brave Olivine quintet.

"FEEL MY POWER, MORTALS! FIERY WRATH!" Lucius' Moltres cawed as it unleashed Fiery Wrath until the little princess brought out her wand.

"Protegopikus!"

Swiftly conjuring a shimmering barrier around herself, her best friends, Race, Gloria, their Pokemon, Lazuli, Mr. Hu, and Mistral, Sarah was able to absorb and nullify Fiery Wrath but the other five weren't as lucky as they all had a majority of their energy sapped.

"Liko, Roy!"

"Fuecoco, Sprigatito!"

"Cap!" Mallow, Lana, and Lillie cried in horror, seeing the quintet in question now weak and lethargic thanks to Moltres' Fiery Wrath.

"...I'm so weak, I can barely move..."

"Me, too..." Roy and Fuecoco breathed weakly as they puffed out purple smoke.

"Neither can I."

"Same here," Liko and Sprigatito agreed, feeling just as weak as them and Cap and puffing out the same purple smoke from out of them which horrified the others.

"Oh, no...! Children!"

"So, this is the full extent of an attack such as Fiery Wrath used by a Galarian Moltres!" Mistral and Mr. Hu gasped, shocked by what they had seen.

"It's just like what happened to the miners and the Carkol, Machamp, and Timburr with them earlier!" Blitz observed in astonishment.

"All of them look so weak and lethargic and had this prolonged exposure to such an attack continued..." Curly added worriedly, seeing Liko, Roy, their partners, and Cap in such a terrible condition.

Liko was thinking the same thing as she now understood how the miners felt, musing to herself, "We must be going through the same thing the workers went through. It's Moltres' Fiery Wrath attack as Mallow said..."

"Ugh... Gh, gh, damn it," groaned Cap as he tried to fight through the effects of Fiery Wrath before he managed to dodge an oncoming Wing Attack from Lucius' Malevolent Pokémon.

But, the powerful Galarian Legendary Bird wasn't finished yet as it looped around and set its sights on Sprigatito (making Liko cry out for her) before she was knocked away by Cap, effectively taking the next Wing Attack for her as he was left battered and bruised and his cap was knocked off. Just before he could get his bearings, however, he suddenly saw a large flurry of Air Slash attacks being thrown at him and he was forced to take in the assault as he was pummeled to the ground.

"CAP!"

"Get up, Cap!" Sarah's best friends and Gloria wailed.

"No, it can't be..." Roy breathed in horror.

When the smoke plume cleared, everyone was shocked to see Cap in such a sorry state as he tried to find the strength within him to continue protecting his friends.

"Damn, I'm helpless," Fuecoco weakly groaned, unable to watch and wishing he could protect Cap from Lucius' partner.

---

"Charizard, above!" Friede barked in warning to Charizard, seeing Amethio's Ceruledge come up from behind his Kanto Starter on top and land a blow on him while doing his best to keep Amethio's attention on them and not on the others.

"Now, Phantom Force!" Amethio continued, allowing Ceruledge to disappear again with Phantom Force for another surprise attack which was beginning to grate on Friede and his Charizard.

"This one sure likes to play Hide and Seek!" the unconventional professor grumbled as he and Charizard kept their eyes and ears open for Ceruledge, deciding to wait for the Fire Blades Pokémon to come at them (keeping themselves as quiet as possible), until finally...

"Use Dragon Claw!"

This time, the pair was successful in landing a hit as Charizard attacked Ceruledge directly, unaware that they had triggered a familiar ability that allowed the latter to strike back faster than they had anticipated, something Amethio took advantage of as he shouted, "Use Night Slash!"

"FRIEDE!" screamed a shocked Johnathan and Diane as Ceruledge landed another hit on Charizard before he could react.

"That was Ceruledge's ability: Weak Armor, as you recall. Can you keep up or is it too fast for you?" Amethio taunted.

"Friede, wait! You got to let us take over and fight in your place; Charizard can't take another hit like that as long as Ceruledge has Weak Armor to overtake you two!" Rotom-Dex cried out as he joined the unconventional professor.

"I can't! I don't want you getting dragged into this mess we've gotten ourselves into!"

"You must! Let us help you! Together, we can smoke these Explorers creeps! You're not alone anymore and neither are the others wherever they are!"

"Rotom's right, Friede! We'll show Amethio and the Explorers what we're made of together! And, besides, knowing Sarah, she's already trained against a Ceruledge and she and her Pokémon know how to handle freaks like him!"

"And, how!" Ash and Pikachu agreed boldly as they and the others prepared to gang up on Amethio and his Ceruledge.

"Really? And, what exactly can you all do against Ceruledge and his Weak Armor ability and his attacks such as Phantom Force when you can't even save yourselves? Ceruledge!" Amethio scoffed, signaling his partner to attack again with Phantom Force.

"Not so fast! Nebula, Imprison, now!" Delilah countered, having Sarah's Lunala use Imprison to neutralize the Fire Blades Pokemon's Phantom Force attack until the end of the battle.

"What?! NO! My Phantom Force!" Ceruledge cried in shock, realizing that he couldn't use Phantom Force to surprise his foes again.

"¡Ahora!, Rosie! Use Worry Seed to cancel Ceruledge's Weak Armor!" Nemona shouted to Rosie.

"Yeah!" Sarah's Sprigatito grinned as she fired Worry Seed at the shocked Ceruledge, briefly changing his Weak Armor ability to Insomnia.

"Whoa..."

"Wild," Friede and his Charizard breathed in awe, seeing how well the others were ganging up on Amethio and Ceruledge.

"Wait! What's going on, how could you cancel Phantom Force and Weak Armor like that?!" Amethio cried, gritting his teeth.

"Not only does Imprison nullify your and Ceruledge's abuse of Phantom Force which is a move Nebula uses to take her opponents by surprise but Rosie's Worry Seed also changed Ceruledge's Weak Armor ability to a random one which, in your case, is now Insomnia until the battle ends! You can contribute that to Sarah since she studied your partner's power and ability and confided a way to get past them in us should we meet you! So, thanks for helping us set the stage for your latest fall from grace, Mr. Can-You-Beat-Me!" smirked Rotom-Dex as he sent Ceruledge and Amethio a taunting raspberry.

---

Back at the mining camp in the heart of the mine, the situation was extremely grim as Roy could see for himself; everywhere he looked, he saw his friends unable to do a thing as they couldn't even begin to hope to match the power Lucius' Moltres threw at them. And, with Liko and Sprigatito as well as Fuecoco downed by its Fiery Wrath attack along with Cap being battered and bruised following the assault thrown at him, they were sitting ducks at this point.

With Sarah and her party, he saw that they did their best to fight back along with the Pokémon they summoned to aid them including a stronger and faster Snowy, Tsareena, Shaymin, Sandy, Primarina, and Inteleon joined by Bella, Robbie, Silvally, Tou-Tou, Blitz, and Curly. Despite their best efforts, however, they and their human friends/family too were outmatched by Moltres and were just as battered and bruised as Cap was. At this point, all hope seemed lost and there was nothing they could do to counter the Malevolent Pokémon belonging to Lucius in its enraged state.

"Everyone's..." Roy began fearfully until he furiously gritted his teeth and steeled himself, trying his hardest to fight against Fiery Wrath's effects as he pushed himself to his feet. "...We, will not, lose this!"

"I'm, with, you... Partner...!" Fuecoco agreed, sharing Roy's determination as he pushed himself to his feet and combatted Fiery Wrath's effects until they let out a pair of defiant battle cries and broke free of Fiery Wrath.

"YEAH! Are you with me, Fuecoco?"

"Ready, pal! Let's rock and roll!"

"Yeah! This is what we trained for! Use Flamethrower!"

Sarah noticed this and she gasped in shocked horror, seeing Roy and Fuecoco using Flamethrower (which the Fire Croc Pokémon learned while he, Sprigatito, Liko, and Roy were training with Kabu), "NO, ROY! NOT IN A DIRECT ATTACK! FALL BACK!"

But, it was too late as Moltres responded by using Hurricane to create a giant twister that stopped Flamethrower and sucked Fuecoco in it.

"WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! HEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

"FUECOCO!"

Hearing Roy and Fuecoco's cries for help, Cap managed to push himself to his feet and break free of Fiery Wrath despite his wounds. Then, using whatever remained of his strength, he rushed forward and sprung off of the cavern wall closest to the twister, flying to Fuecoco and grabbing him just in time before he could be thrown about by the Flying Type attack even more.

"Fuecoco, GO!" he called as he threw Fuecoco over to Roy.

"Fuecoco, here!" the young adventurer shouted as he managed to grab Fuecoco just in time, falling to the ground again as he did so. "Oh, wow, are you okay?"

"ROY, LOOK OUT!" Race bellowed, seeing the now-furious Galarian Moltres firing another Air Slash attack with the intent of killing them, forcing Fuecoco and Roy to brace themselves for the kill shot.

However, Cap arrived just in time to save them again as he unleashed another Thunderpunch to intercept the attack. But, as his strength had drastically dwindled to a fraction of what it used to be because of Fiery Wrath and after taking such a heavy beating prior, he was unable to match Moltres and took the full brunt of the Malevolent Pokémon's latest assault.

"CAPPY!" screamed Lazuli.

"C-Cap, no!" breathed a horrified Roy as he and Fuecoco saw Cap land in front of them, now out cold unable to protect everyone.

"But, why...? Why are you so angry?" Liko mused, staring in horror at the third of Lucius' Six Heroes.

Seeing that there was no one left to oppose it, Moltres flew about and roared again as it emitted a dangerously dark aura. As it roared Hatenna and Sarah gasped and felt a twinge in their hearts regarding what the Malevolent Pokémon was feeling right now, supposedly buried underneath its anger (the latter being able to do so because of her enhanced empathy). The Calm Pokémon couldn't help but shed a bitter tear of sadness for it and even Sarah couldn't hold back a stray tear.

Hearing Hatenna whimper and starting to cry, Liko turned back in surprise and saw her tear, "Hatenna?"

The others, on the other hand, couldn't understand fast enough why Moltres was so riled up all of a sudden despite feeling a similar twinge in their own hearts. But, Roy stiffened in pure shock and fear as he took in the Malevolent Pokémon's sheer strength and unrivaled power (while could could second to Rayquaza's or even match that on a whole new level). The only thing he couldn't understand was why; why is it that Moltres was eager to attack them in such a violent and vicious manner?

Just as Moltres unleashed another wave of Fiery Wrath (clutching the Ancient Pokeball by the talons on its right claw as it did so), slowly creating a cave-in as it did so, the young girl realized there was only one way to ensure that they all survive, knowing they have to protect everyone in danger and come back later when things had settled for them to deal with Moltres.

"If we don't do something... Everyone's going to..." she began before trailing off, eventually starting to fight Fiery Wrath's effects with Sprigatito. "Ugh, nngh! We, we have to...protect, everyone!"

Eventually, with a final battle cry, they broke free from Fiery Wrath and ran over to Roy, Fuecoco, and Cap to retrieve them so they could rejoin Sarah and her group and make their escape.

"Come on!" Sprigatito yelled as Liko picked up Cap and they prepared to move out with the others leading their battered and weary Pokemon to the mine carts to join them.

"Roy, come on! Roy! Let's move!" Liko called to her shell-shocked friend. "We have to go, now!"

"It's so amazing, wow..." Roy breathed in his stunned silence.

"ROY!"

That did the trick as Roy was snapped back into reality and he quickly rejoined the group but not without retrieving Cap's hat and placing it back on him after everybody found themselves some mine carts to ride on so they could wheel themselves out of the collapsing Galar Mine.

Lucius' Moltres saw its targets preparing to make their escape and it wasn't going to let them go that easily as it fired Dark Pulse at them only for the attack to be blocked and canceled out immediately as Sarah used her Cosmic Grace and had her blood mother's Moon Shield out with her (while also making sure to keep her Cosmic Morpher at the ready and use it once everyone's out of sight and danger so she could use her revitalized powers to subdue the Ancient Adventurer's Malevolent Pokémon).

"Go on, you guys! Get out of here, I'll take care of this hothead!" she barked at everybody in the mine carts.

"Island Girl, but you'll be destroyed!" Race cried in alarm, shocking everybody else as they looked at Sarah.

"Mom!"

"Mother!"

"Are you crazy, kid?!" Blitz, Silvally, and Mr. Hu added in stunned shock.

"I'm okay! You're more important to me right now, go! Lillie, Mallow, Lana, everybody here is your responsibility for now!"

"But, you-!" Roy stammered as Moltres roared in anger once more.

"GO!" Sarah screamed as she used her Lion's Strength to push the carts holding everybody in her group down the tracks before she turned back and sent out a golden energy slash toward the Malevolent Pokémon.

The carts rolled along the tracks at an incredible pace and managed to stay on the tracks but Moltres cried loudly at them as it gave chase while the cave-in continued with Sarah tailing it to stop it from chasing them and keep its attention on her alone.

"Not them!" Sarah roared defiantly at Moltres as she ran closer to it.

"Let's get out of here!" Blitz cried, screaming.

"Move the carts forward!" Curly added frantically.

"Hurry, dudes, he's catching up to us!"

"Come on, let's go! Forward!"

"What do you think we're-ugh!"

"Well, sprint!"

"How, Shaymin, darling?!"

"Run or push these jalopies faster!" Sandy, Primarina, Snowy, Tsareena, and Shaymin bantered as everybody inside the carts braced themselves for the bumpy ride ahead.

"...Ngh, ugh! Leave it to me, fellas!" barked Fuecoco reassuringly as he jumped onto the edge of the last cart he, Liko, Sprigatito, Hatenna, and Roy occupied and unleashed Flamethrower to give them a much-needed burst of speed. "Ha, beat that!"

---

"Pikachu, Iron Tail! Let's go!"

"Turtonator, use Dragon Tail!"

"Togedemaru, Vikavolt, use Discharge plus Zing Zap, now!" Ash, Kiawe, and Sophocles boomed, having Pikachu, Turtonator, Togedemaru, and Vikavolt make the next series of attacks against Amethio and Ceruledge who tried to dodge as they continued to gang up on him.

"First, it's Hide and Seek. Now, we're playing Tag, huh?" Friede chuckled, seeing what was going on with Amethio and Ceruledge.

"This will finish it before you know it, use Bitter Blade plus Night Slash!" Amethio roared, having Ceruledge clash with the four aforementioned Pokémon using Bitter Blade until another roar from Lucius' Moltres and the ongoing cave-in stopped the battle dead in its tracks, catching everyone off-guard.

"What's this?!" Amethio demanded.

"Master, something's wrong!" Ceruledge informed, standing ready to protect his master.

Eventually, the rest of the heroes turned to find Liko, Roy, Race, Lillie, Mallow, Lana, Lazuli, Hu, Mistral, and the Pokémon approaching them via their mine carts as they continued to rock and roll down the tracks, barely escaping Moltres' wrath each time it tried to make a move on them only to be foiled by Sarah with each counter she throws at it to keep the enraged Galarian Legendary Bird away from them.

"Liko, Roy, everyone!" Friede cried before he and everybody else with him gasped in total shock and horror at the sight of Lucius' Moltres as it flew above everyone.

"¡AY, CARAMBA!"

"¡SANTO GUACAMOLE! WHAT IS THAT?!"

"I'VE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE!"

"IS THAT A-?"

"IT IS!"

"IT'S A GALARIAN MOLTRES!"

"AND, IT'S HOPPING MAD!" Eri, Nemona, Arven, Kieran, Sophocles, Kiawe, and Ash squealed in horror at the sight of Lucius' Galarian Moltres.

"That's not just any Galarian Moltres, that's Lucius' Moltres! Look, the Ancient Pokeball in its talons!"

"It was in Galar Mine the whole time! How was that possible?!" Leon and Goh shrieked in shock, seeing the Ancient Pokeball Moltres was carrying.

"I don't know but I don't want to be on the receiving end of its power if the girls had to deal with a Pokémon like that back at Dyna Tree Hill!" gulped Hop.

"Charizard, use Flamethrower!" Friede commanded his Flame Pokémon, allowing his Charizard to do what they could to keep Lucius' enraged Malevolent Pokémon from targeting the others as well despite the Flamethrower not fazing it.

"Amber, Kaji, get Friede and Charizard out of here! Everybody, run!" Sarah boomed as she arrived and continued to do battle with the Galarian Moltres, jumping up and slashing it with her Cosmic Grace and getting its attention back on her.

"Sarah!"

"No!" Friede and Charizard screamed as they found themselves grabbed by Amber and Kaji and taken away to the mine entrance with the other heroes.

"Forget it, you two!"

"Let's move!" the royal Charizard pair cried.

"It's causing a cave-in with all that power it has on it!"

"What'll we do now?!" Astrid and Snotlout freaked, seeing Lucius' Moltres go aggro in the mine shaft.

"I say we get out of here!" Hiccup suggested.

"We're with you!" the rest of the heroes agreed as they all made a break for the exit.

"Come on, you stooges!" Lazuli snapped at Amethio and Ceruledge as she and Mr. Hu grabbed them by their collars and dragged them along while the cart they, Pantherra, Stardust, and Mistral were in rolled.

"SARAH, WATCH OUT!" Liko wailed, seeing Sarah going up against Moltres alone with no backup to help her.

"Just go, don't worry about me! I'll see you again soon! Make sure everybody else is taken care of! Cap, too; his life rests in your hands!" Sarah called to Liko as the other heroes vanished into the darkness of the tunnel they went through, leading them to the entrance.

The little princess nodded in satisfaction as she finally decided that the time had come for her to use her new and yet familiar ranger power for the first time while Moltres eyed her, its sights now firmly set on the Power Rangers Ultra Rescue leader now that she was the only one left to deal with. And, with everyone else including her family now safely out of harm's way, she can go all out without being compromised by the need to protect them as well.

"Well, someone's feeling a little touchy today. And, all this time, my Galarian Moltres Gem was warning us about you," Sarah snorted as she briefly looked at the Pokémon Gem she mentioned and stuffed it back in her pocket before she readied herself for a fight against the Malevolent Pokémon while it readied its next Fiery Wrath attack. "But, if you won't back down and listen to what I have to say, I wouldn't mind dressing you down the old-fashioned way to make you listen. It's Morphin' Time!"

She then slammed her hand down on her Wrist Com and brought out her Cosmic Morpher before revealing her Solgaleo Sphere to the powerful Galarian Legendary Bird (who stared in shock at her after she revealed her new items to it which were her new means of fighting back against it).

"Cosmic Orb: Solgaleo Sphere!" she roared as the Solgaleo Sphere glowed and showed Nebby roaring from it before she spun it on her thumb and flicked it up, moving her Morpher in front of her before it fell and landed snuggly on the hatch (closing it as she completed the first stage of her new transformation). "Let's see how you like this! Link to Morphin Grid!"

As everybody else made their escape and finally saw the mine entrance coming at them, they heard a loud explosion from behind them and the mine collapsed from behind them completely, leaving Liko with a horrifying feeling of dread that overwhelmed her.

"But, Sarah's still... No, Sarah! SARAAAAAAAAAH!" she screamed, unable to do anything as everybody filed out and Sarah was left on her own to face the deadly threat of Lucius' enraged and highly agressive Galarian Moltres..

To Be continued...