Lapis and his group arrived on Mossdeep Island after getting a Pokémon who would help them on their diving expeditions to find Seafloor Cavern. The Nuzlocker then challenged the Mossdeep City Gym for his seventh Gym Badge and was able to deal with the Psychic types and double battles until he fought the twin Gym Leaders, Tate and Liza. Onyx, the Pokémon best suited for the Gym, almost fainted due to a critical hit Earthquake. Her Trainer returned her, despite her protests, and was able to win with Zuli and Celestite. Lapis then tried to repair his relationship with Onyx but was interrupted by Steven, informing the group of an emergency. What is this emergency and will Lapis and Onyx be able to reconcile?
Lapis' Pokémon:
Zuli (Lvl. 45 Swampert, male; Item: Soft Sand): Impish Nature, Torrent Ability, moves: Tackle, Strength, Mud Shot, Surf
Bixbite (Lvl. 44 Camerupt, male): Bold Nature, Oblivious Ability, moves: Rock Slide, Tackle, Ember, Earthquake
Onyx (Lvl. 45 Mightyena, female; Item: King's Rock): Mild Nature, Intimidate Ability, moves: Take Down, Rock Smash, Sand Attack, Bite
Pearl (Lvl. 45 Grumpig, female): Lax Nature, Thick Fat Ability, moves: Psychic, Psybeam, Shock Wave, Confuse Ray
Celestite (Lvl. 44 Altaria, female): Gentle Nature, Natural Cure Ability, moves: Fly, Safeguard, Take Down, Dragonbreath
Amethyst (Lvl. 44 Gloom, female; Item: Miracle Seed): Quiet Nature, Chlorophyll Ability, moves: Petal Dance, Acid, Poisonpowder, Moonlight
Pokémon sent to the PLA: Tiger Eyes (Linoone, male), Citrine (Makuhita, female), Kyanite (Electrike, female), Moonstone (Swellow, female), SmokyQuarz (Numel, male)
Chapter 38: Blocking a Second Eruption
Lapis' group ran behind Steven Stone, who sprinted towards the east.
"What's going on, Steven?" Weldon asked.
"It's Team Magma," he replied. "It looks like they're trying to steal the Mossdeep City Space Center's rocket fuel supply."
Seriously?! I thought they've given up on that after the Mt. Chimney incident.
Trinity then jumped onto her recently let out Charizard. "Munin and I will go ahead and assist from the air. Anyone who wants to join me better get their Pokémon ready now!"
Weldon and Samir followed her lead, letting out their Fearow and Pidgeot respectively. After wishing each other luck, they separated.
Steven, Lapis, and Harry ran through the Space Center entrance, where they saw a group of Team Magma Grunts corralling scared visitors and scientists.
One of the grunts saw the newcomers and smirked. "It's those people the Boss warned us about! Stop them!"
The Grunts sent out various Pokémon, which charged at the three people. Knowing Harry and Steven had stronger Pokémon, Lapis focused on the lower level ones.
"Get them, Zuli, Onyx, and Amethyst!"
The Swampert and Mightyena, flanked by the Vileplume, charged at their attackers. Zuli easily took out a Zubat and Poochyena with Surf, then a Numel with Mud Shot. Amethyst poisoned a Mightyena with her purple powder before knocking him out with a Petal Dance. Onyx used Bite to knock out a Baltoy before turning to face another Mightyena and Numel.
After defeating the Fire type with another Bite, the opposing Mightyena sneered. "You may have dispatched my comrades, but you're nothing compared to me."
"Hah!" she retorted. "I'm ten times better than you!"
Her aggressive response worried her Trainer. She defeated the fellow Dark type with Rock Smash and Take Down with relative ease, but she didn't seem proud of her victory.
Steven and Harry then finished defeating the other Grunts' Pokémon, causing the men to flee the building.
The rare stone enthusiast looked at the stairs. "There's likely more people in danger. Let's hurry."
Harry was about to follow when he saw Lapis hesitate. "Lapis, you okay?"
"Yeah… Go on ahead. I need to fix somethin' first."
The surfer was confused, but the man understood what the Nuzlocker meant. The Hoenn natives ran upstairs, leaving the teen with a frustrated Onyx.
She muttered to herself, "How did it take me three turns to knock him out? Even with the sand in my eyes, the Take Down should've been enough…"
"Onyx? You all right?" the teenager asked.
"I told you, Lapis, I'm fine!" she snarled at her Trainer.
Lapis clenched his fist. "No, you're not. And I know why."
She turned away. "That's not important right now. We need to keep going before more people get hurt."
The Mightyena dashed upstairs, leaving her distraught owner behind.
This is all my fault… But what can I do to change her mind?
A familiar yelp made him jump. He finally went to the next floor and saw Onyx struggling to fight off her confusion against another Mightyena's Swagger.
A Team Magma Grunt laughed. "You may have defeated my co-workers' Zubat and Baltoy easily, but my Mightyena is the strongest out of all of them!"
"Just give up," the opposing Dark type taunted. "You're the weakest one I faced."
"N-No…" she uttered. "You're wrong!"
Onyx tried to attack, but she hit herself against an exhibit case, making her opponent laugh.
"Onyx, stop!" Lapis shouted as he ran over to her.
In between pants, she responded, "I…told…you, I'm…fine…"
"And I told you. No, you're not."
The Grunt and his Pokémon tried to finish her but ended up being chased by Harry and his Swampert. This allowed Lapis to carry her to a safe spot. He took a deep breath and told her what he wasn't able to say at the Pokémon Center earlier.
"Onyx, you are not weak. You are the strongest Mightyena I know." He stroked her fur as he healed her with a Super Potion. "You're the first Pokémon I caught in this challenge, and you've worked the hardest out of all of our teammates. I was too hard on you at the beginning because I was only focused on getting the challenge over with. But now, I just want all of you to survive at the end… That's why I returned you during the Gym challenge. I know it was for a good reason, and I…I didn't expect you to react that way. I'm-I'm…"
A tear rolled down his face, surprising both of them. But Lapis was able to finish his sentence.
"I'm sorry, Onyx. Please don't force yourself to win for my sake; you'll always be an important member of the team, no matter what."
"Lapis…" The sincerity cleared her mind of Swagger's effects. She licked his tears and replied, "Thank you."
She turned to the Team Magma pair, who shook off the surfer.
"There you are! Mightyena, Scary Face!"
He glared at Onyx with dark blue eyes, severely lowering her speed. But the Nuzlocke challenge pair knew that wouldn't help one bit.
"Onyx, Rock Smash!"
She charged at her opponent and smashed him into the floor with incredible power. The Grunt was shocked by his partner's demise.
"N-No! You will regret this!" he shouted as he fled.
Onyx shook her fur and smiled at Lapis. "That was a great stress reliever."
He chuckled. "It certainly was. Why don't you take a break, Onyx? You definitely deserve it."
After giving him an affectionate nudge, she returned to her ball.
Harry came over and asked, "Everything all good, Lapis?"
"Yeah, just ironin' out some issues. Where's Stone?"
"Upstairs. I'll help with the evacuation while you help Steven."
The teens separated, and Lapis headed upstairs. There, Steven and the Team Magma Leader Maxie were staring each other down. Tabitha was on the side, glaring at the steel blue-haired man.
"Maxie!" Steven exclaimed. "Why is your organization here?"
The villainous man scoffed. "That is none of your business, Mr. Stone."
"Let me guess," Lapis said as he stepped forward. "Groudon, right?"
"Quiet, aquaphile!" Tabitha snapped.
Maxie motioned his Admin to stop talking. "So you are here as well, aquaphile. You cannot stop our last resort plan, no matter how hard you try."
Tabitha smirked. "That's right! Get them, Camerupt!"
His boss sighed as the Level 36 Fire type appeared. "You were supposed to wait until I gave the signal, Tabitha, but it seems we have no choice. Go, Eardwulf."
The stronger Level 42 Mightyena appeared, making Lapis slightly regret not training more.
But as he decided which two Pokémon to choose, Steven stood next to teen.
"Allow me to assist you, Lapis."
"No offense, but don't you only have Steel types? You know, the ones weak to Ground and Fire types?"
The man clasped the teen's shoulder. "Isn't that where you come in?"
Chuckling, Lapis replied, "Guess so. Go, Zuli!"
"Go, Hammer!"
The Swampert was joined by a Level 42 Metang. Eardwulf's Intimidate lowered Zuli's attack, but it didn't work on Hammer due to its Clear Body Ability.
"Wait, don't you have a Metagross?" The Nuzlocker inquired.
Steven smirked. "That'd be a little excessive, I feel…"
"Enough talk," Maxie interrupted. "Eardwulf, Scary Face."
"Zuli, use Surf!"
The Water type made a wave so powerful, it stopped the blue glaring eyes and knocked out Tabitha's Camerupt simultaneously. Eardwulf was still standing, but he was panting. Lapis thought Hammer would finish off the Dark type but its Trainer had it set up a Light Screen instead.
That's actually pretty smart, Lapis thought as Tabitha sent out his Mightyena, lowering Zuli's attack again.
Maxie crossed his arms. "Eardwulf, use Taunt on that aquaphile."
The Bite Pokémon sneered, waving his paw at Zuli. "Give me the best you got, big boy."
The Swampert chuckled. "That won't be necessary."
Steven shouted, "Hammer, Metal Claw on Eardwulf!"
The Steel type slashed the Mightyena with its silver claws, knocking him out easily.
"Tch," Maxie said as he returned his Pokémon. "You two are as meddlesome as always."
Lapis raised an eyebrow. Stone has also been interfering with Team Magma?
Steven grinned. "Just doing my job, Maxie."
"I'll wipe that smile off your face!" Tabitha roared as he sent out his Mightyena. After Maxie sent out his Camerupt, Garland, the Admin commanded, "Mightyena, use Swagger on that aquaphile!"
"Quick, Zuli! Surf!"
"With pleasure!"
He sent a strong tidal wave at the pair of Team Magma Pokémon. The Water type move knocked out Garland and then Tabitha's Mightyena due to a critical hit. The two elite members sent out their final Pokémon: the Level 43 Crobat and Level 40 Golbat.
"Forbes, use Wing Attack on that floating piece of metal."
The Poison type landed the move, but it barely did anything to Hammer. Lapis wondered why Maxie did that until Tabitha made his command.
"Golbat, use Confuse Ray on the aquaphile!"
The white rings of light struck Zuli, making the Swampert confused.
This again!
Steven shouted, "Hammer, use Psychic on Forbes!"
The Iron Claw Pokémon surrounded the Bat Pokémon with a magenta aura and slammed him into the ground. The move was super effective, but it didn't knock Forbes out.
"Zuli, Surf!"
The Water type broke through the confusion, and the wave hit the two Flying types for decent damage.
"Tch, the confusion is not enough," Maxie grumbled.
"Don't worry, Boss!" Tabitha pointed at Hammer. "Confuse Ray!"
The Metang also became confused, but its Trainer remained calm. After Forbes landed a Wing Attack on Zuli, Lapis and Steven made their potentially final moves.
"Hammer, use Metal Claw on Forbes!"
"Zuli, Surf!"
The Metang slashed at the fully evolved Pokémon, knocking him out. A second round of Surf then knocked out the Golbat.
Maxie gritted his teeth. He was about to speak when Tabitha growled. "Why are you always causing trouble for us?!"
"Tabitha, control yourself!"
But his Admin refused to comply. He charged at the teen, right fist cocked. Lapis froze, unsure of what to do. But at the last minute, he raised his arms to protect himself. However, the impact didn't come, and he curiously lowered his guard.
Steven stood in front of him, blocking Tabitha's punch. "You just made a big mistake."
He pushed the arm back, forcing the Team Magma member back to his leader.
As Tabitha rubbed his arm, Maxie rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I apologize for my subordinate's behavior."
"So why are you here, Maxie?" Steven questioned.
"Our goal." The leader looked at the rocket resting at the launch deck. "I just want to expand the land mass by stealing the rocket fuel from the Space Center and using it to force Mt. Chimney to erupt this time."
Lapis was flabbergasted. "Why the hell would you do that?!"
"That slag heap of a mountain is no longer of use to us with Groudon no longer slumbering there."
"So you still wanna cause a man-made eruption? Destroyin' the land where there's already land? Don't you realize how stupid that is?"
"When you put it that way, I…do now…"
The Nuzlocker face palmed.
Maxie sighed, staring at their former hideout from a broken window. "Has my goal of expanding the land been misguided?"
"Boss?"
The Team Magma Leader gave his subordinate a soft smile. "Tabitha, if I told you we should disband our current version of Team Magma, what would you do?"
The Admin was speechless. Then he answered, "I…would like an explanation before I make my decision."
His leader smirked. "Thinking with your head for once? Good, I will make an official announcement once we return to base." Maxie turned to Steven and Lapis, his face serious. "Your consistent interference must be a sign. And since you are doing the same with that aquaphile, Archie, he must be contemplating the same thing I am. You two better stop him, for everyone's sake."
The men revived their Flying types and flew out the window they broke through earlier.
Magma and Harry bolted up the stairs.
"Damn it, they got away!" the agent hissed.
"Don't worry, Magma," Steven reassured. "It seems your 'former team' is reconsidering the motives."
"Wait, you know Magma?"
"Of course. I've been very involved with the handling the Team Magma and Aqua incidents since the beginning."
Magma tapped Steven's shoulder. "In that case, can I get everyone's statements about this incident? I already got Trinity, Weldon, and Samir's statements."
Oh great. Another slowdown…
Steven turned to the teens. "They'll likely question me the longest, so once they're done with you two, you should regroup with your friends. Oh, before I forget." He gave Lapis a blue CD with the words "HM08" on them.
"Wait, you had the HM for Dive this whole time?!"
Steven chuckled. "It took a little convincing from the PLA for me to give it to you, but with Trinity's assistance, it made the processing easier. I'll give you a call when I'm done."
After exchanging PokéNav numbers, the Nuzlocker and Harry left. Lapis wondered who to temporarily substitute with Larimar, but after thinking about the remaining routes he had to go, it was an obvious decision.
After taking Lapis and Harry's statements, Magma guided Steven to the International Police office in Lilycove City for his.
Once he was sure no one was listening, the agent whispered, "So, you received the invitation too?"
The man flashed the envelope he received from the PLA. "She hid it in the HM case. Good thing I checked it before giving it to Lapis."
"Will you be helping him then?"
"Will you?"
The agent nodded. "Of course. What happened to him back then, and with his parents' accident…it's suspicious."
Steven became stone-faced. "Yes, I've heard. I'll do my best to give you and Detective Kei any information you need. After all, it's the least I could do for my mentor, Esmeralda Eurig…"
Questions for the Chapter:
What did you think of Team Magma's takeover of the Mossdeep City Space Center?
What did you think of Lapis' talk with Onyx?
Who else did Kyushi Hōfu recruit to help Lapis?
