Chapter 174: Swarm It!
BZZZT.
The electric shock left Heatran's head ringing, and it was momentarily dazed. If it had been Will or Meowscarada, they would have immediately pressed the advantage and launched a fierce attack during this opening. But it was Regice, and it had no desire to continue the fight. It had only used the move to try and scare Heatran away.
But Regice had misjudged the situation. Its [Charge Beam] hadn't scared Heatran at all; it had only enraged it.
"ROAR!!"
[Eruption].
With a furious roar, flames burst from Heatran's body in all directions. The surrounding snowfield instantly melted, revealing the dark, wet earth beneath. Regice was hit by the wave of heat and stumbled back two steps, crashing into the half-melted igloo behind it.
"Regi..." Regice's lights flickered. It had decided to fight! Will had told it: only an idiot lets themselves get beaten up!
Although it was a bit clumsy, Regice raised its arms in front of itself. An ice-blue energy gathered and then shot out as an [Ice Beam].
Heatran didn't even bother to dodge, letting the beam hit it squarely. From its reaction, the move had done almost no damage. Then, it was Heatran's turn to attack.
[Ancient Power].
A grayish-yellow energy glowed above its head, and one after another, giant rocks materialized out of thin air and crashed down on Regice. It just stood there, taking the full force of the impacts. It hurts, it thought. Is this how those other Pokémon felt when I froze them?
Heatran's assault wasn't over. [Flamethrower]. It opened its mouth again, and a giant pillar of fire shot towards Regice.
BOOM!
The burning flames and the force of the impact made Regice stumble back again. The igloo behind it collapsed, and chunks of ice fell to the ground. An unnatural red glow appeared on its ice-blue body. It had been inflicted with a 'Burn'.
It struggled to fight back. A fierce [Blizzard] began to gather behind it, a torrent of raging cold wind and snow that blasted towards Heatran.
"ROAR!"
[Fire Spin].
Heatran opened its mouth and spat out rings of spiraling flames. The fiery vortex coalesced, becoming like a Whirlpool, and formed a shield of fire in front of it. The raging blizzard hit the shield and was instantly extinguished.
Then, Heatran charged forward and slammed its steel-hard head into Regice.
CLANG!
Hit by the Steel-type [Iron Head] move, Regice stumbled back and fell to the ground. Its lights dimmed. It lay there for a long time. I'm so useless.
Seeing that it was down, Heatran assumed it had given up and would leave on its own when it recovered. It turned and started to head back towards Mt. Coronet.
But... I have to rebuild the igloo before they get back. Otherwise, they'll worry.
Regice's lights flickered back on. With a great effort, it pushed itself up from the ground.
"ROAR!"
Seeing that it was still standing, Heatran turned, opened its mouth, and prepared to unleash another Flamethrower.
Just then, a giant green figure descended from the sky.
[Earthquake].
Two feet, glowing with an earthy-yellow light, stomped down hard on Heatran's head.
BOOM!
The ground instantly caved in, creating a huge crater several meters deep. The green figure flipped out of the pit. In mid-air, it casually formed a golden, spiraling ball of energy and threw it into the hole.
KABOOM!
An explosion roared as the [Focus Blast] landed a direct hit.
"Regi!" Regice cried out, its emotions surging at the sight of its suddenly-appeared friend.
"We'll talk later. This guy isn't easy. We'll team up," Will said, his eyes fixed on the crater.
While they were getting the clothes, they had been delayed. As he and Meowscarada were approaching, he had immediately sensed the commotion. He had told her to follow slowly while he rushed ahead with Extreme Speed, only to arrive just in time to see the Heatran about to attack. Without a second thought, he had gone straight for an Earthquake.
"Heatran... another lesser legendary. This Alabaster Icelands really is a treasure trove," Will muttered.
Including the sleeping Regigigas, the Regice he had just befriended, this Heatran, and the "God of Knowledge," Uxie, that lived in Lake Acuity near Snowpoint City... that was four legendary Pokémon in this one snowfield.
But right now, his focus was on the one in front of him. The only Fire/Steel-type Pokémon in existence. Its stats and ability were excellent. But its typing was its most outstanding feature. With four 2x resistances, five 4x resistances, and one immunity (plus another if it had Flash Fire), it was only weak to Fighting (2x), Water (2x), and Ground (4x). It was a monster.
He could just imagine the battle that had taken place before he arrived. Regice, with no battle experience, had probably been using ineffective moves the whole time.
"Regi."
"Follow my lead," Will said, his mind racing as he recalled Heatran's movepool.
"ROAR!!"
An enraged roar erupted from the crater, and a four-meter-tall beast climbed out.
"Regice, use Lock-On," Will commanded, then dove underground with [Dig].
"Roar?" Heatran shook its head and looked around. Besides the Regice, there were no other creatures. Who attacked me? Was it this stupid ice pillar?
BOOM!
Will burst from the ground beneath Heatran. The 4x super-effective Ground-type move sent it flying into the air, roaring in pain.
"It's not over yet!"
[Focus Energy]. [Focus Blast].
Will did a 360-degree spin and slammed another golden, spiraling orb into Heatran's back, sending it flying towards Regice.
"Regice, use Hammer Arm! Meowscarada, use Brick Break!" Will shouted. He hadn't seen her, but he could feel she was nearby.
"REGI!" Regice raised its arms high.
"MEOW!" At the same time, Meowscarada leaped over Regice's head, her own paw raised.
They timed their attack perfectly, bringing their Fighting-type moves down on the flying Heatran's head.
CRASH!
The two super-effective moves slammed into it, driving it headfirst into the ground. But a god is a god. Heatran's front half was buried, but its two hind legs were still kicking wildly.
"Now! Swarm it!"
Will rushed over with Extreme Speed and delivered an Earthquake right to Heatran's rear end. Regice and Meowscarada immediately followed his lead. Hammer Arm, Brick Break, Low Kick, Focus Blast... they unleashed a flurry of super-effective moves on its exposed backside.
While Heatran was getting a beating, Will was lost in nostalgia. The feeling of ganging up on an enemy... it had been a long time. Come to think of it, he hadn't done this once in this life. And for his first time to be a lesser legendary... that was a small achievement in itself.
"Alright, that's enough. Pull it out and toss it to the side," Will said, stopping them.
They dug Heatran out and threw it into a snowbank to cool its head. Will looked at it and noticed that its rear end seemed a little... swollen. It was definitely a lot fatter than its front half. This was a real detriment to its divine image.
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