"That's… true."
Buck felt a little embarrassed, but when he thought about it carefully, Fire-type Pokémon really weren't afraid of magma. He had probably overreacted.
Still, there was no helping it. Anyone who saw a creature fall into magma would worry at first.
Puff!
"Hii-duo!"
The next second, Heatran rose out of the magma. It was standing on top of a stone pillar—one it had likely created using Stone Edge.
When Stone Edge was used to its extreme, it could directly form stone pillars more than ten meters high, which could be used as steps.
After making such a long pillar, Heatran climbed onto the wall and quickly scaled it toward the volcano's mouth.
"Heatran's coming," Buck said worriedly.
"Let's go, let's run farther out. It's too narrow here, not suitable for battling," Gary said, snapping back to focus.
Gary just wanted to lure Heatran out. Fighting inside the volcano would be too much trouble.
With that, Gary walked toward the outside, and Buck followed.
"Hii-duo!"
Heatran wasn't slow either, and soon rushed out of the volcano's mouth.
"Woof!"
Come hit me, you overgrown crab.
Arcanine taunted it, then quickly ran back.
Heatran: (?_?)!
"Hii-duo!"
Heatran was furious. Being mocked by a dog, it immediately fired off a Stone Edge.
Seeing this, Arcanine hurried away, deliberately slowing down. Heatran immediately gave chase. After chasing it for a stretch, Arcanine stopped.
"Hii-duo!"
Heatran was delighted. Its iron palm slammed the ground, and rock blades burst out of the earth, extending toward where Arcanine stood. Just as the rock blades were about to reach Arcanine, a red beam of light swept over it, and Arcanine vanished along with the beam.
The rock blades erupted from where Arcanine had been, but Arcanine was already gone.
"Hii-duo."
Heatran was stunned. Looking closely, it spotted Gary and Buck standing not far away.
"Come and fight. Blastoise, I'll leave it to you." Gary threw out a Poké Ball.
A flash of light appeared.
[LV73 Blastoise – Legend]
"Kami!"
Blastoise appeared.
"Rain Dance!" Gary ordered immediately.
Blastoise fired two water balls into the sky. The water balls rose dozens of meters before bursting, and a cloud of rain spread over the peaks of Stark Mountain. It began to pour.
The flame mouth was nearby, and the ground temperature was extremely high. As the raindrops fell, the air immediately turned muggy.
"Hii-duo!"
Heatran didn't like the humid environment. Its body spat out a burst of red smoke that spread in all directions.
"Hydro Pump!" Gary ordered.
Blastoise lowered its cannons and aimed straight ahead.
Bang! Bang!
Two columns of water shot out, blasting a huge hole through the hot smoke. The two streams broke through and struck Heatran.
"Hii-duo!"
Heatran grabbed the rock wall below with its four claws to keep from being knocked back.
"Wave Crash!"
Blastoise's body was wrapped in a layer of flowing water as it charged forward.
Heatran saw the charging Blastoise and, covered in silver steel energy, rushed out to meet it.
Bang!
The two Pokémon collided, and the force bounced them apart.
"Earthquake!" Gary ordered.
"Kami!"
Blastoise punched the ground, and a wave of Earthquake spread outward.
"Hii-duo!"
Because Heatran was used to gripping the ground, it didn't have time to jump up and dodge. It took the full force of the tremors. Ground-type moves dealt four times the damage to Heatran.
Seeing it was hurt, Gary pressed the attack. "It's over. Hydro Cannon!"
"Kami!"
Blastoise steadied itself, and its shoulder cannons spat out two thick blasts of water.
Whoosh!
The Hydro Cannon flew incredibly fast and hit Heatran in an instant. Heatran still clung tightly to the ground, but it couldn't withstand the impact.
There was a loud bang.
The ground Heatran was gripping shattered. Its body was overturned, four rocks still clutched in its four claws, and it was all washed away together.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Heatran smashed through three boulders before finally coming to a stop.
Bang!
Heatran fell to the ground. Its condition was extremely poor at this point, but it still hadn't fainted.
"Huh, it didn't go down," Gary thought.
He had figured the Hydro Cannon was enough to defeat Heatran, but it had endured and held on well. Even so, Heatran could no longer put up much of a fight.
"Heatran, if you don't plan to give up, then come at me," Gary said.
"Hii-duo!"
Heatran gathered all its strength. Red heat radiated from its body like a bursting fire. Pushing its ability to the limit, it spat out a powerful beam of flame.
Boom!
Blastoise, unable to move, took Heatran's full blow.
"What move is that? The power's incredible," Buck said.
"That should be Overheat," Gary replied.
"Then is Blastoise okay?" Buck asked worriedly.
Gary didn't answer, only watching the smoke calmly.
When the smoke cleared, Blastoise's figure emerged. Aside from some burn marks, it wasn't seriously hurt.
"Hii…!"
Heatran showed a look of surprise. Even with its full-power blow, it hadn't defeated Blastoise—it hadn't even dealt heavy damage.
"Heatran, come in." Gary didn't bother battling until Heatran lost its ability to fight. He took out an Ultra Ball and threw it.
Heatran didn't resist.
The Ultra Ball landed on Heatran precisely.
Bang!
The Ultra Ball opened and pulled Heatran inside.
Buck stared with wide eyes, his breathing tense, watching the Ultra Ball land on the ground.
The Ultra Ball wobbled slightly. After a moment, it stopped shaking.
"This… it's captured…" Buck said in disbelief.
Coming to Stark Mountain and actually seeing someone subdue a Legendary Pokémon—it was surely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
[Ding! Mission triggered: Conquer the Volcano Pokémon Heatran. Reward: Master Rare Candy ×1, Gold Bottle Cap ×1, Ability Enhancement Stone ×1, Ability Expansion Stone ×1.]
[Ding! Mission completed. Rewards placed in your Space Backpack.]
"Hm…? System, why only one Master Rare Candy?" Gary asked, confused.
[Heatran is not classified as a Mythical Pokémon, only an ordinary Legendary Pokémon.]