John's Team

Tyrant - Slaking

Vordt - Ursaluna

Smough - Snorlax

Klee - Blissey

Port - Mantine

Zephyr - Pidgeot

Klaus - Wyrdeer

Luna - Clefable

Pixel - Porygon-Z

Euphie - Sylveon

Ornstein - Obstagoon

Wraith - H-Zoroark

Winston - Lickilicky (Shiny)

The New Normal – 13-10 – Intermission

The next few days passed with a tense feeling of anticipation. Despite fears that Cyrus was going to immediately use the Lake Trio to enact his plans, it became clear that he wasn't ready to take that final step just yet.

I supposed I should have expected this; I doubted that the forging of the Red Chain like he did in canon was a process that you could just complete with a snap of your fingers. I didn't know how many scientists he still had left in his employ, but that was still going to take some time.

Therefore, the fact that Cyrus didn't intend to attack immediately seemed to settle a few nerves as the shock from the initial attack began to wane, and now the atmosphere had shifted into one of alert patience.

Back in Indigo, while the meetings had died down, as everyone already knew what they were meant to do if it ever came to the worst case scenario, there were many, many interviews that replaced them. Some of them were deliberately held by us to reassure the public that we had things well in hand, but many of them were by overly curious reporters trying to find content for their next headlines.

Those attention seekers targeted anyone that even had an iota of fame – and as an Elite Four member I was certainly not excluded.

So time flew by just like that, but on a more personal level, I was doing everything I can to prepare for the fight that I knew was coming up. Just like how Koga taught us to, I was making sure to prioritise my own protection in a fight, ensuring that my Pokémon knew how best to cover me while in the heat of battle.

Furthermore, we also managed to get glimpses of Cyrus' personal Pokémon, thanks to the psychic interrogations that we had performed. We compared those to the reports that had been dug up about his personal team ever since the manhunt was announced. What we found that while Cyrus was a formidable trainer – certainly far more than you would expect from a wealthy CEO that wasn't Steven – it was nothing that an Elite Four member could not reasonably handle.

That matched what I knew from meta-knowledge. Cyrus was someone you fought before you headed into the Elite Four. Therefore, I had nothing to reasonably fear from Cyrus' team as I trusted my team to be able to overwhelm his. Instead, I dedicated some time to thinking about countermeasures for dealing with the worst case scenario – a scenario where Cyrus managed to summon one of the Creation Trio.

Once upon a time, I believed that it would have been impossible for me to take on a Legendary and win. That thought hadn't exactly changed now, but knowing the stakes behind the upcoming battle, I understood it wasn't a matter if I could logically defeat a Legendary or not. I knew that I had to, no matter what.

Because defeat was not an option. Defeat meant allowing Cyrus to achieve his nihilistic ambitions and destroy the world – dooming all life within it.

Problem was, I didn't have any frame of reference to refer to. There had never been any reliable documented encounter of a battle against a Legendary outside of rumours and legends, and my meta-knowledge didn't help either.

All that I knew was that I was probably safe to assume that none of my Pokémon, not even Tyrant, would be able to comfortably tank a Legendary's attack.

But that didn't mean I couldn't try to prepare my Pokémon for the worst. Thus, I felt that the best thing to do in preparation was to make them aware of their limits, and to try to educate them on what to expect.

I knew that my Pokémon were all brave and determined, but there was a very fine line between bravery and stupidity. And charging a Legendary while it's attacking, even with a Type advantage, is just asking for trouble.

For example, if Palkia was unleashing a Dragon Pulse, I would not be surprised if it could partially ignore the Fairy Type's usual immunity to Dragon moves. Again, I didn't know how powerful a Legendary was, and there was a very real possibility that their attacks just functioned differently to the norm. So I did my best to grill it into my team's minds that dodging and throwing up the strongest Protect shield you could muster was probably the only 'reliable' way of defending against an attack from one of the Creation Trio.

Not only that, but I tried to make them aware of the Legendary's presence. In the games, both Dialga and Palkia had the ability Pressure, and I imagined that would mean that even staring at a Legendary would fill you with some kind of submissive awe. That wasn't something that I could imitate, but I just wanted to make sure that my Pokémon would know to expect this and to be able to fight despite such feelings.

Overall, I recognised that it was a pretty big stab in the dark, but I was determined to be as prepared as possible. I even shared some of my thoughts with my colleagues, though I didn't insist that my thoughts were right. I just reminded them that they should be practicing in case we faced down a Legendary.

I feared that we might need it.

(Steven POV)

Now that he was seeing it in person, he could understand why Roark was so suspicious about the true nature of this place. He had done his fair share of cave diving in the past due to his interest in geology, but he had never come across an iron deposit quite like this before.

Usually with your normal iron deposits, you could still see bits of the underlying stone behind it, as the iron would not be so densely packed together as to not leave any gaps. But the iron in front of him was definitely not like this. It was as if the entire cave opening was custom built from iron. And it wasn't any standard iron either, as the team from Devon Corp that he had brought into assist was currently demonstrating by failing to melt through a slab of the wall with a Flamethrower from a Blaziken.

It was pretty clear why Roark felt that he needed to request for Devon Corp's assistance with iron this dense.

Obviously, they held to their side of the agreement, and a ship full of specialised drilling equipment had promptly arrived in Sinnoh and were transported to these very caves in order to actually break through all of this super dense iron.

Fortunately, the special equipment was doing its job, and they were managing to slowly but steadily break through the reinforced iron. Of course, they weren't all just sitting back and relying solely on the drill, and the stronger among them tried to assist with their own Pokémon. Bruno especially was particularly adamant at using the reinforced iron as a training opportunity for his Pokémon to test themselves against by unleashing their full strength, and his Fighting types were managing to smash several sizeable dents in the walls with each of their blows.

His own team wasn't far behind, though he admitted that Bruno was his superior in this respect. Unlike Bruno, only a few of his Steel types possessed sufficient strength to leave a dent in the iron, whereas Bruno's entire team managed the feat. Though his Metagross was reliably able to punch through the hardened iron with each of its strikes.

Unfortunately, the same feat could not be replicated by neither Byron or Roark, nor the other explorers that were also accompanying them today.

Still, even with their Pokémon's assistance, there was still a lot of waiting around to do. There was a lot of iron to drill through, especially because they didn't exactly know where they were going. According to the reports when the Celestic expedition team went and found the Icicle Plate, they did so by heading downwards. So they were doing the same, having no better option for the time being.

They did that for what felt like an hour, slowly following the drills and their Pokémon as they did their work. Until suddenly they managed to break into a huge cave opening that was filled with the same dense iron that currently surrounded them.

Carefully stepping close to the edge, he peered over to see what was inside, with Bruno's strong arm on his shoulder making sure that he didn't accidentally fall in – and saw that the entire cave opening was practically empty of Pokémon.

This differed heavily to what they were expecting. From the Icicle Plate expedition, they had expected the caves to be filled with Steel types, just like the Snowpoint caves were filled to the brim with Ice types, so seeing none was a little strange.

"Perhaps the Pokémon are merely elsewhere." Roark suggested when Steven expressed his thoughts out loud, "But there's nothing to worry about. We're clearly on the right path. Let's keep heading down."

So that was what they did, first sending down their Pokémon to make sure that there wasn't an ambush waiting for them, before slowly descending down a reinforced rope that they had brought. As the strongest physically amongst them, Bruno was the first trainer that went down so he could help catch anyone that fell.

After they all descended, they continued to slowly explore and made their way further down the new cave. They managed to cover a lot of ground – far more than they would have if they had to dig through all of this. Otherwise, it likely would have taken them over a day to dig through all of this hardened iron.

As they continued to descend, a few of their members took out some kind of equipment that analysed the density of the iron to see if they were going the right way or not, as its density should increase as they got closer to their objective. However, this was when they started to face a few difficulties in their journey – in that it was beginning to become hard to breathe.

The air, which was already stagnant, only continued to grow thinner and thinner as they kept heading down. Worse, because of the heavy levels of iron present, the experienced explorers with them had warned that there was a very real risk of contracting iron oxide poisoning.

Fortunately for all of them, Steven and his team had the presence of mind to bring in many gas masks with plenty of spare air filters for this exact purpose. That did mean that they were on a tighter time limit than if they didn't have to use the gas masks, but they should hopefully locate the Iron Plate before then.

Eventually, they started to stumble across a few Pokémon, all of which were Steel type. They encountered a few Probopass, Bronzong, and Magnezone, which they noted were actually pretty strong compared to the wild Pokémon you were used to seeing, but they weren't a threat to their large group as they easily managed to dispatch them without taking any injuries.

However, it was during these fights against the wild Pokémon that Steven realised something.

"Be careful with your Electric and Fire attacks." He warned everyone, "Iron is a great conductor of both heat and electricity, and we are literally surrounded by it. If you carelessly order your Pokémon to attack with Thunderbolts or Flamethrowers, you might accidentally shock or burn yourself. Stay vigilant, we aren't fighting in usual conditions, and we can scarcely risk taking on injuries ourselves while we're all the way down here."

Luckily, they didn't have that many wild Pokémon to deal with, so Bruno's Fighting types were usually enough to deal with any that they encountered single-handedly. The others helped out as well, and Steven did briefly consider using this opportunity to try to train up some of his newer fossil Pokémon that he had recently added to his team, but that was probably taking too large of a risk.

If he was exploring alone, or just with Bruno, then he would be okay with using weaker Pokémon to defend himself with. But since he was responsible for more than just himself, he didn't want others to get hurt because of his recklessness.

Not wanting to risk getting mobbed by wild Pokémon, they continued their exploration slowly and carefully, even while mindful of the time limits of their gas masks. But there were no great battles to be had, unlike what they all expected, as the wild Pokémon hanging around here were far fewer in number to the caves below Snowpoint.

Therefore, they continued like this for what felt like a few hours, until suddenly he felt a familiar meaty hand tap his shoulder. He quickly turned around to see Bruno pointing ahead of him.

"…Stay quiet." His friend whispered to him, "But that is a new Pokémon."

Steven's head whipped around to where his friend was pointing at, and what he saw caused his eyebrows to jump.

In front of them, just hanging about by itself, was a strange slug-like Pokémon that had its tiny pink head peeking out of a large steel shell. It didn't seem to notice them, as it seemed content to remain slumped over as it rested its head lazily on its shell.

Based on its appearance alone, Steven could confidently say that it was definitely a Steel type of some sort, and his gut told him that it was probably a dual type. But for the life of him he couldn't guess what that other type was. Perhaps Bug? Or Ground? Or even Poison? Considering its coloration?

At this point, the other expedition members had also taken note of this new Pokémon, and they all reacted with similar levels of shock. As per their agreement with Byron, in exchange for the equipment provided and a guarantee that the Iron Plate would remain within Byron's and Roark's hands, Devon Corp would have first priority over any new Pokémon that they found.

But just as they spotted it, the new Pokémon also spotted them. It sported a surprised look on its face before it let out a snarl and hurled a Sludge Bomb at them.

"Machamp, go!"

Bruno's starter instantly intercepted the attack, brushing it off with a Protect shield before slamming into the unknown Pokémon with a heavy Cross Chop.

"Sliggoo?!" The new Steel type let out a cry of pain before a second Brick Break knocked it out. So that was its name.

As it laid there unconscious, Steven captured it with an Ultra Ball. He smiled as he held the ball in his hands; the trainer inside of him wanted to immediately investigate and analyse this new capture and see what Type it was and how it fought, but this was definitely not the time for it. So, with great reluctance, he forced the Sliggoo out of his mind for the time being.

He hoped they would encounter more in the future.

Fortunately, it didn't take long for his wish to come true. As they continued exploring, further Sliggoo continued to be found. They were always too distracted to notice their approach and weren't too hard to take down, so they managed to catch a few extra.

The discovery of Sliggoo already made this expedition a success in Steven's mind, and considering that it had already been several hours since they began this expedition, which didn't even include the waiting around that they had to do when they first began drilling through the tough iron, Steven was willing to call it quits for today and return to the surface.

However, his proposal was rejected by both Byron and Roark. "No. We've already made it down this far, and our readings tells us that the iron density here is thicker than ever." Byron stated, "We have to be close to locating the Iron Plate. We shouldn't go back up now, especially since we still have time on our gas masks."

Personally, he felt that the two were being a little too stubborn, but a quick look at Bruno showed that he didn't disagree with the Gym Leaders' assessment, so he withdrew his proposal and continued onwards. His team from Devon Corp did grumble a bit, but ultimately acquiesced to his judgment. Besides, Bryon did have a point – they should be close to finding the Iron Plate now. Yet before they could continue on, Bruno spoke up.

"We will explore for another two hours. If we do not locate the Iron Plate before then, we will be returning to the surface." His friend asserted commandingly, as if daring someone to refuse, "It is not wise to continue with our dwindling supplies of gas masks and energy. This is not a matter to remain stubborn on. Do I make myself clear?"

None dared to challenge his statement, only nodding obediently in reply. Steven had to fight back the urge to smirk; Bruno didn't seem to think so, but his friend had a naturally commanding presence that even he couldn't replace easily. When it came to being intimidating or making demands, there was hardly anyone better than Bruno.

It was just another reason why he knew Bruno would be an excellent fit for the Elite Four.

After what was probably almost half an hour of uneventful walking, they ended up stumbling across another large drop into yet another big cave opening. However, unlike what they've seen so far, this clearing was completely packed to the brim with all sorts of Steel types. Though he wasn't intimidated by the sight; even despite their large numbers they weren't as numerous as he feared.

But there were two other things that had caught his attention.

The first and most obvious was the steel monument that seemed to have been erected in the centre of the opening that rose all the way to the ceiling. The pillar wasn't even rectangular like normal pillars were, but instead was a twisting mass of iron with several tendrils jutting out from all sides that attached itself to many of its surroundings.

If he were a betting man, then he was willing to state that the source of all this unnatural iron was coming from this very pillar. In the corner of his eye, he could see the excited gleam in Roark's eyes, which confirmed to him that this was probably where the Iron Plate was located.

The other interesting thing of note was what was likely the evolved version of Sliggoo. It was massive, towering over much of the other Steel types hanging around the pillar, and despite its strange depressed and melancholic expression, there was no hiding the strength that it unconsciously exuded.

Now that was a Steel type that he wanted on his team. But first, they needed to clear out the area.

He turned to the rest of the expedition group, "Bruno. You and I are the strongest here, so we'll head down first to create a safe landing spot. Between the two of us, we should be able to fight back their numbers and allow the rest to follow up. However, I'm wary that there are other openings that we aren't able to see from here, and I don't want us to suddenly be swarmed by a wave of reinforcements. So make sure to keep an eye on such openings and shut them down before we get swarmed."

"Also, remember not to use Fire or Electric attacks if at all possible." He reminded, "Let's try to avoid any unnecessary collateral damage yes? And again, make sure to keep a close eye on our flanks. Everyone agree with the plan?"

Seeing that no one did, they put their plan into action. Bruno sent his team down first before jumping down with them, completely fearless at the horde that now surrounded him. And, in typical Bruno fashion, the man wasn't content to just land on his feet. No, he did a full mid-air punch that slugged a Bronzong right in its face, somehow not shattering his own fist on Bronzong's steel frame, before Bruno's Machamp followed up and smashed the Bronzong into the ground with a Brick Break.

That signalled the start of the fight.

His own Metagross immediately took control of the battle, suppressing everything with a powerful Gravity that hindered the wild Pokémon's ability to move. Then, with all of the Steel types forcefully pinned to the ground, that allowed both him and Bruno to easily follow up with a pair of massive Earthquakes that actually managed to cause cracks into the super dense iron.

To his slight surprise, the new evolved form of Sliggoo actually managed to tank through their opening salvo of attacks very effectively, and began to charge up a Flamethrower in its mouth. However, before it could fire it off, Bruno's Primeape came swinging down from above, slamming the evolved Sliggoo's head against the metallic floor before pinning it to the ground while pummelling it in a flurry of Close Combats.

In the meanwhile, one of the Magnezone that was further away had recovered quickly and prepared to fire off a Zap Cannon, but that was when one of his allies' Blaziken crashed down with a High Jump Kick, smashing the Magnezone against a wall and cancelling its attack. In the meanwhile, his own Aggron had thrown up a wall of razor sharp steel around their flanks, violently shredding through a Probopass that had been trying to flank around for a Head Smash.

A bombardment of Focus Blasts then came down on the wild Pokémon, taking out many as they were unprepared and too distracted by the opponents in front of them. All the while Bruno's Fighting types were wreaking havoc amidst their ranks as they tore through their supposedly sturdy Steel type foes like they were nothing more than tinfoil.

His own Metagross was not far behind either, moving around the battlefield like a tank as it crushed and smashed any in its way while also managing to simultaneously support their teammates with well-placed Psychics to either take down or disrupt ranged threats or to move teammates out of bad situations.

In the end, the wild Pokémon were forced to either flee or be knocked unconscious by their Pokémon. Their combined might was too much for them, and their sudden yet overwhelming assault had completely shattered their fighting spirit.

With the battle over, everyone quickly spread out to ensure that no other surprises would be awaiting them, and he swiftly made his way over to where the new Steel type had fallen before capturing it with another Ultra Ball.

He didn't manage to catch its name in the heat of battle.

With his newest capture safely secured on his belt and the area now deemed secure, he moved to where Byron, Roark, and Bruno were standing as the trio stared at the large pillar in the centre of the clearing. They had already placed down one of the drills to try to access whatever was in the middle, but for the first time, the drill was actually incapable of penetrating through the incredibly tough iron. In fact, the drill head actually snapped during the attempt.

Luckily, the drills weren't their only option for breaking through the iron, and when tools failed, you always had Pokémon to back you up.

The four of them ordered their Pokémon forwards, and his Metagross, Bruno's Machamp, Byron's Steelix, and Roark's Golem all smashed into the same part of the pillar simultaneously. With their combined strength, they were able to create a small hole in the iron pillar, and subsequent blows from their powerful Pokémon only continued to widen that hole.

After a few rounds of pummelling, they were able to break through to the core of the pillar. Where the exact item that they were hoping to find was residing at.

The Iron Plate was suspended in the air, in a groove of its own making.

The expedition all let out wide smiles and cheers as they took in the sight of this Legendary artifact, the second of the Plates to be found. Roark and Byron seemed especially excited as they finally had a discovery to rival the many that the Celestic Town Research Centre had been uncovering.

However, unbeknownst to them, as Roark gently placed his hands on the Iron Plate, a pair of familiar grey gemstones attached to a large statue began to light up once more.

Two out of three.

A.N. AND THE IRON PLATE HAS BEEN FOUND! Now it's two out of three! Just one to go! And yes, H-Sliggoo and H-Goodra found! You can bet that Steven's very happy about this find.

As for the expedition part, I wanted to make sure that the expedition would be slightly different from the journey to find the Icicle Plate, with different challenges needing to be overcome. Though I also felt that having two chapters dedicated to it like last time would be too much of a repeat, so I shortened it significantly. Hope you enjoyed!

And to anyone who wants to support me, please check out my p atreon at CartecTNN where you can read 8 advanced chapters! Thanks to those who have supported me already!