CHAPTER 4: Gathering
”Where...where am I?”
Matt opened his eyes, only to find himself floating in a black void, seemingly alone. That changed, however, when a single giant green eye opened in the void alongside a shock of white that covered the theoretical other eye. Matt gasped in horror, as he’d recognize that face anywhere. Seconds later he was silenced when the face suddenly grew a serpentine body and tentacles, then used one of said tentacles to pull him towards its mouth and devour him.
The sound of steady rain greeted him when he awoke in a shock. He was the first among the group to awaken, and immediately, a musty smell from the mixture of rock and rain overwhelmed his senses.
It took a few moments for his thoughts to adjust and remind him where he was. He stumbled up, nearly knocking over the lamp nearby, which awoke the others. They looked up at him with a mixture of frustration from being woken and relief that he was still there.
“Thanks for the wake up call, Matt,” Eleanor remarked, smirking momentarily.
Ross rubbed the back of his head and yawned. “Not now, Eleanor. Matt, see if your computer found anything.”
Jumping up with a start after being reminded of this important task, Matt immediately went to the computer, which was still hooked up to ROB. It took a moment, but the computer quickly deactivated its sleep mode.
”Welcome back, sir.”
Matt began entering a command into the keyboard. “HR-E mainframe, bring up results of search.”
”Search for: search results.... Search results found.” Several windows full of data appeared on the computer’s screen before it continued to speak. ”Search result number one: the La Ciudad Dorada Train Station is a well-known landmark in the city. One train runs from Passho City at regular intervals. Its traditional steam engine, the Golden Express 4491....”
Suddenly, the screen began crackling with static and the voice halted. Matt frantically attempted to fix the problem by entering commands, but nevertheless, the computer defied his efforts and completely crashed.
“Great, just great,” Matt fumed. “Just when we needed it.”
Eleanor stepped forth. “Hold on. It’s not a big loss – didn’t you hear what it said? ‘The Golden Express 4491’ is the name and number of the engine at the train station! The ‘house of the 4491’ in the clue must be the train station!”
“Brilliant deduction!” Ross complimented with a smile. “Matt, forget about the computer issues for now. Let’s go get Registeel’s power.”
“Right, right.”
Matt stood. He turned to the ROB and disconnected it completely from the computer, then returned the computer to its bag and strapped the robot on like a backpack. Checking once more to make sure that Rosalita, Shaymin and everyone else was with him, Matt led the group out of the cave and into the rain.....
....and right into a trap. The four palace guards had surrounded the entrance, their Pokémon – Gardevoir, Feraligatr, Torkoal and Drapion respectively – and all of them appeared to be under hypnosis, their eyes dull and lifeless.
“It’s a trap!” Ross cried out, his mind racing. “What do you lot want?!”
Shaymin cringed in Rosalita’s arms. “They want to eat poor Shaymin, yes!”
“You are under arrest...” one of the guards droned as she extended her staff. “Surrender now or face horrible consequences.”
“My brother has you all under hypnosis... we won’t surrender.”
Another one of the guards stepped forward. “Then you will be destroyed...”
At the same time, all four guards extended their staves. The four Pokémon reacted to this, instictively stepping forward with the same dull look in their eyes.
The next part happened in a blur. Matt and the others instinctively cringed, knowing and fearing what the Pokémon were capable of. On cue all four launched their attacks – Gardevoir and the purple, jagged-bodied Drapion used the same red blast called Hyper Beam, while Torkoal released a jet of fire from its mouth and Feraligatr loosed the massive water assault known as Hydro Cannon.
The group waited for the impact, but that impact never came. Just before they were hit, the man in the yellow cape suddenly lept from seemingly nowhere. He got in between the attacks and their target, then raised his left arm, allowing a blue, rapier-like blade to emerge from his sleeve. As if it was a magnet, the blade drew in the attacks and absorbed them, removing the threat they posed.
“Are you guys alright?” the man asked, keeping himself focused on the threat.
Matt split two of his fingers on the hand covering his right eye and peered out. As soon as he looked up and saw who was standing before him, he gasped. “You’re...!!”
“If you four have somewhere to go, get going! I’ll fight off these soldiers.”
Slowly standing, Eleanor whisped, “But...”
“GET GOING!!” the man roared. The sheer force of his voice was enough to rouse Matt’s group, getting them up on their feet. Matt and Eleanor were actually fearing him at this point, so without hesitation they took off toward the city with Ross, Rosalita and Shaymin in tow. Seeing them safely away, the man turned back to his four enemies. “Now it’s my turn. Probopass, Mamoswine, Lickilicky, come to me!”
The man pulled three unusual, blue-colored Poké Balls from his cape and threw them, releasing the block-like, large-nosed Probopass, the brown mammoth Mamoswine, and Lickilicky, a Pokémon that appeared much like a big pink blob with a long tongue.
This didn’t seem to faze the hypnotized guards, and one of them stepped forth. “You have let them escape...you have disobeyed. Therefore you will be destroyed...”
Once again, the four Pokémon owned by the guards lashed out, using the same attacks as before. The man didn’t flinch, he just raised his arm and let his wrist blade absorb everything, with little more resulting than just gusts of wind blowing his cape around.
“Counterattack! Lickilicky, Power Whip! Probopass, Flash Cannon! Mamoswine, Blizzard!”
Lickilicky, Probopass and Mamoswine counterattacked in a methodical fashion. Mamoswine went first, blasting gusts of icy wind from its mouth; this attack particularly struck Gardevoir and Drapion, making them move closer to their counterparts.
Next, Probopass floated forward by a few feet and took a significant amount of light energy into its big red nose, then released it in a concentrated blast. On impact, the flash of light exploded.
Finally, Lickilicky simply extended and raised its huge tongue into the air, then brought it down like a club on the group of four Pokémon.
Surprisingly, though, in the aftermath of this brutal attack, not one of the guards’ Pokémon appeared injured, fazed or even affected at all.
“That steely determination... could it be...”
The man edged his head forward, lowering rectractable visors from his mask over his eyes. These visors allowed him to see something he couldn’t before – the gray aura surrounding the guards and their Pokémon.
“As I thought, you lot are all under hypnosis. I’ll have to do something about that.”
Focusing his mind, the man leaned over a bit, and light began to flow into both the visors on his mask and the shells on his shoulders. As the light got brighter and brighter, he growled lowly as well, stopping only when the light got overwhelming enough to become a flash, then fade.
As a result of the light’s influence, it became obvious that the hypnosis on the guards and their Pokémon. Their eyes were no longer dull, and they seemed unaware of where they were or how they got there.
“What’s going on?” one of them wondered aloud, confused. “I don’t remember anything to explain this...”
The guards all looked at each other, then at the man who had confronted them. Instantly recognizing him, three of them began to panic.
“That’s that guy in the legend!” another guard screamed to the one who had last spoken. “You know, I thought he was a fairy tale!”
One guard tried to remain calm. “There must be a logical explanation for this. The Azure Angel lived five hundred years ago, so this guy obviously cannot be him. It’s just a usurper looking to take up his mantle.”
“No, uh.... that’s him. He looks perfectly like the statue... I say, we flee and see what Count Fernando says about it!”
With that, the guards fled, dragging along the naysayer with them. Alone, the man just sighed and recalled his Pokémon.
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The train station was deserted and silent, to the point where one could possibly hear a pin drop. Matt looked around the corner carefully, making extra effort to not be seen, and crept around to the door when he saw that the coast was clear. When he gestured to the others, they joined him.
He put his finger to his lips and pushed the door open slowly. While he expected to immediately be captured...
...the room was empty.
“What?!” Matt shouted, startled. “Where is everyone?”
“In their homes...” said Rosalita listlessly. “His presentation...”
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Meanwhile, in Fernando’s throne room, the evil king sat firmly on his golden, ornate seat, holding the rod that contained the Griseous Orb. Two Bronzong floated next to him, one on each side of the throne, while attendants readied a video camera in front of the group.
“Going live in...” the operator held up three fingers and began counting off, “three, two...”
Smiling broadly, Fernando boomed, “A good morning to all residents of La Ciudad Dorada! As your new king, I am pleased to announce that the drought has been negated due to heavy rains since last night.
That’s not what I’m here to announce right now, though. As you know, every king needs a queen and I am not any exception. Therefore, to aid me in ruling the newly formed Dorada Empire, I introduce to you the next queen...”
Fernando paused for a moment, allowing Cassy – dressed in ridiculously gaudy but obviously expensive royal blue garb of a cape and gown – to enter the shot.
“...Cassy Natsuka, Queen Cassandra II! As she will be ruling the Dorada Empire by my side, I hereby give her the title ‘Queen of Steel.’
Now, with that announcement out of the way, I bid you good day until the next time I see you all!”
“...And cut!”
The attendant shut off the camera and took it away. Immediately, Fernando relaxed and sighed.
“This whole thing better blow over soon. Inviting Chiaki was a necessary step, but he’s since gone off the rails on me.”
“Should I see about getting rid of them?” Cassy asked. Surprisingly, her eyes reflected an attitude of total sincerity – she was actually willing to do it. “I’ve seen myself how he can get in places he shouldn’t be. It might be wise to eliminate that threat now.”
“No, not yet. For the sake of the Heatran Elegy, he must live until he fufills...his purpose. His grandfather was no help, so I got rid of him, but Matt Chiaki must live for now.”
At that moment, the four guards, three of them looking horribly disheveled, rushed into the throne room. Fernando jumped up in surprise at the sight of them, while the guards themselves didn’t calm down at all.
“What’s with you all?!” he asked. This was the last thing he had expected to see, for he was eagerly anticipating their return with his targets held captive. “What the hell happened out there?”
It was the calm guard that spoke. “Someone appearing to be the Azure Angel interfered with us, and we had to withdraw.”
“The Azure Angel?!! You four better not be lying!” Surprisingly, Fernando seemed to believe the claim. He pointed to one of the other guards and shouted, “You! Report!”
“Well...well...uh....” The guard was barely able to overcome her trauma. “He... there was this guy, and he was really tall... he had a cape, shoulder armor, and two swords, one of which was a retractable rapier on his wrist...”
“Fernando!”
The king turned to his queen. “What?”
“If that Azure Angel is who I think it is...” Cassy lowered her head. “...then they’re not lying. I’ve met that guy, and if it’s him, our plan is in serious trouble.”
Fernando gritted his teeth in frustration. “I guess Chiaki’s little troop got away then. They must have headed to find Registeel... Cassy!”
“Yeah?”
“Escort these four useless....women...” the hatred in Fernando’s voice was easily apparent. “...escort them to the dungeon and lock them up with Carter and Howard, then stay put here and make sure things don’t go any further off the rails. I have to go recalibrate my plans.”
With that, Fernando swept out of the hall. Before the four guards could react, the king’s two Bronzong had them restrained using psychic power, and the Steel Pokémon and Cassy marched them straight for the hall leading to the dungeon.
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Back at the abandoned train station, Matt and his group had seen the presentation on his laptop, and they were all in various states of shock. Matt himself was in the worst way of the lot, though, as he could only stare blankly and silently at the screen with tears welling up in his eyes.
“That was awful, yet at the same time, I could see how it’d rile up a resident of this place,” Ross observed quietly. “What was that ‘Dorada Empire’ he was speaking of though?”
Rosalita’s face was grim with a mix of fear and anger. “I was afraid of this. He’s planning to expand the city – to take over at least all of Oceannia.”
“Well we should have known that he’d have insane ambitions like that!” Ross turned to Matt and yelled, “Well, where’s Registeel?”
No response. Matt made no effort to even move his head in acknowledgment of Ross’s question. He just stared dead ahead at the screen of his computer.
“Did you hear me? Where’s Registeel?”
Still no answer.
Now Ross was beginning to become angry, and he raised the tone of his voice to match this. “Where is Registeel?!”
Matt put his computer down and rose to his full height of a bit over six feet. He turned slowly to face Ross and began to gradually approach the Ranger; however, something was clearly wrong, as he was dragging his feet and wearing a completely empty look devoid of any emotion.
Seconds later, once he’d ambled up close enough to Ross, Matt simply and quickly pulled his arm back and punched Ross square in the face with enough force to down him. The Ranger’s Riolu immediately snarled and jumped to its master’s defense while Eleanor and Rosalita both gasped, but then things got even more bizarre – Matt just ignored his companions, dragged himself to the nearby ticket window, and began attempting to dislodge one of the window’s metal bars.
Almost immediately, Eleanor realized what he was doing, especially when she noticed the bars had sharp tips. “Get him away from there!”
She along with Rosalita took the action of grabbing Matt’s arms and pulling him away from the potential weapons. Instantly, he turned and collapsed as an emotional mess into their arms.
“I can’t go on like this anymore...” Matt had tears flooding down his face, and his words were an incoherent, barely intelligible jumble. “I can’t... everything I ever wanted is... she was....” He then stood. “I’m surrendering. Whatever Fernando wants to do... let him do it. This world is worthless anyway.”
“You can’t surrender!” Eleanor cried out, now tearing up as well. She grabbed his face with both of her hands and forced him to look into her eyes. “Listen to me. I’ve only known you for a couple of days but I can tell one thing right away – you’re one who’s passionate about what he likes. If Fernando wins, what happens to all the archeological adventures you could go on? He’d probably bulldoze the Golden City to build a new castle for himself. If that happened, he’d be happy and Cassy would be happy, but you know who wouldn’t be? Your grandfather. Sutter gave his life to protect whatever secrets that treasure holds, and are you really going to just let that all go to waste?!”
“I...” It took a moment for the full impact of Eleanor’s words to reach Matt. When he finally absorbed it all, though, something clicked in his mind, and his expression became resolute. “You’re right. If I just let him get his way, what of the hundreds of years of history that’s gone into this place? That’s one thing my grandfather always believed throughout his long life – that history is something to be fought for and protected!”
“That’s the spirit!” Ross beamed with a great smile, which was accompanied by a somewhat prominent bruise next to his mouth. “How’s about we get down to it and finish the job now?”
“Let’s get it done.” Matt picked up his computer and opened the window containing the clue. “We already figured out that the ‘house of the 4491’ is the train station, where we now are. We have to find a 217, which has a 312516 behind it that will lead us to Registeel. Any idea on what that is?”
The answer came quickly when Rosalita’s voice sounded from a nearby hall. “214... 215... you guys, the rooms in this depot are numbered! Come over here!”
Matt tucked his computer under his remaining flesh arm and followed Rosalita’s instructions, with Ross and Eleanor behind him.
The hallway itself was actually quite dull and unremarkable, with its gray walls and brown doors forming a space that could not be said to have any kind of personality. Matt and the others joined the princess at a door marked, quite clearly, ‘Rm. 217.’
“So this is it, huh?” Immediately, Ross depressed the door’s silver handle and pushed – only to find it locked. He grimaced briefly, then turned to his Riolu, which was following at his heels. “We may as well. Force Palm!”
Ross’s Riolu jumped up and pressed its right paw against the door, releasing a burst of energy that literally eviscerated it. The smoke from the blast cleared to reveal a room filled with old telegraph equipment.
“Nice one, Ross,” Matt deadpanned. “Ever heard of going overboard? Still, let’s see...”
The group stepped forward into the room. It was easy to tell that the old equipment had not been used in a long time, as it was all covered in a thick layer of dust. On the left side of the room was a large bank of what appeared to be safe-deposit boxes, while the station’s telegraph device itself sat to the right.
“Okay, so this room is the 217. Now where’s 312516?”
Eleanor stepped over to the telegraph device and tapped its button several times. “Matt, I bet you that the key is this. Enter that combination here.”
“Good idea!” Smiling, Matt sat down on the old, creaking metal chair before the telegraph device and began entering the digits. “Dot, dot, dot, dash, dash.... dot, dash, dash, dash, dash.... dot, dot, dash, dash, dash... dot, dot, dot, dot, dot.... dot, dash, dash, dash, dash.... dash, dot, dot, dot, dot.”
The eager look on Matt’s face faded, though, when nothing happened. Even after several awkward minutes passed, absolutely nothing happened.
“That wasn’t it!” he finally spat, standing up angrily. “Now what? We’ve got no other leads!”
“Yeah, actually, we do,” Ross said from behind Matt, prompting him to turn around. The Ranger was standing at the bank of safe-deposit boxes and examing them, and evidently had found something. “All of these boxes are locked with keys except for this one.” He motioned to one of the boxes, which had, amazingly enough, a combination lock on its front.
“It was right in front of us the whole time,” Matt sighed, entering the combination into the lock.
Sure enough, the moment he turned the lock’s dial to the final part of the combination, it clicked, and a huge, concealed door next to the safe deposit boxes creaked open.
Without hesitation Ross produced several flashlights and distributed them to the others. He was the one to lead the way into the tunnel, his mind set on solving the problems that awaited.
“Well, here goes nothing.”
----------------------------------------------------
Sutter, back in his Dusknoir guise, had been watching these events unfold from a space-time portal he’d opened while alone in the Magma Stone’s chamber.
He was distracted, though, by a sudden slamming sound nearby. He panicked and quickly closed the portal, which was a good thing, as Fernando came sweeping into the room. A feeling of relief fell over his ghostly figure.
“Dominar.”
“Dusknoir, the Heatran Elegy must now begin. There is no more time.”
Though Sutter understood why Fernando said this, he feigned surprise. “W-what? Why?”
“My attempt to capture Chiaki’s group failed due to some unexpected interference. There’s no other choice but to activate the Magma Stone fully and unleash Heatran’s full power.”
“What if that fails?” Sutter hadn’t anticipated Fernando’s haste.
“Then... then we will use this machine to its full potential! We’ll enslave every Pokémon in this city and use them as our servants!” Fernando then reached into his cape and extracted a small microphone. Speaking into it, he said, “Cassy, listen to me. Force Carter to activate Regirock and sic it on Chiaki’s group. After you see to that, bring the Griseous Orb here.”
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“I see. Got it.”
Cassy, Griseous Orb staff in hand, was actually already standing in the dungeon in front of the cell holding Carter, his father and the guards. With two Bronzong alongisde her, she stowed the microphone and turned to her captives.
“You heard the man, Carter. Matt and Zero enhanced you with all their experiments back when we were in school and gave you those powers. You’re coming with me and using them for a purpose.”
“I’ll never do it!” Carter snapped, slamming his fists against the cell’s iron bars. “The abilities I have come with the responsibility to not use them for the wrong reasons! Why are you even doing this, siding with Fernando?!!” Another thought then jumped into Carter’s mind, prompting him to take a step back. “And how... do you even know Zero?! You weren’t in Dr. Graceland’s robotics class with us!”
Cassy ignored the question, and tapped the bottom of the staff on the ground twice. This prompted the two Bronzong to float forward, and as they did so, a wicked smile crept onto the girl’s face. “I’m not going to do this to you, Carter, oh no... I’m going to do something worse.”
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Beneath the train station lay a dark, dank cave. The only source of light here was the flashlights being carried by Matt and his group, but these only served to provide a small area of vision for them.
As the group pressed on, Rosalita continually looked around nervously, as if anticipating something. She stopped when something caught her eye.
“Look over there,” she said, pointing off to her right.
Ross trained his flashlight in the direction Rosalita pointed, revealing a crumbling wall with some kind of ruined painting on it. “It looks like... some kind of ruins?” He flashed the light in other places around himself, revealing more structure, lending the area the appearance of a ruined temple. “A ruined temple down underneath the train station? This makes no sense.”
“It doesn’t make any sense.” Matt had walked to where the crumbling wall was and now was examining it with his hand. A look of confusion was plastered on his face. “This wall looks too neatly crumbled. It looks like it was built this way... whoever put this here did it not too long ago, and did it to intentionally look like this.”
“Here’s a lamp!” called Eleanor from the other side of the chamber. “Hang on, I’ll light it... Teddiursa, Fire Punch!”
The sound of Eleanor’s Teddiursa crying out as it used Fire Punch could be heard, and moments later, a small fire-fed light appeared nearby. However, this wasn’t the end – the flame spread from the lamp through a channel connected to it that was filled with oil, and soon, a whole network of flame-fueled light had appeared on all sides of the chamber.
This quite plainly shocked the entire group, with the exception of perhaps Rosalita, whose reaction was more one of indifference. The light revealed a number of seemingly broken pillars surrounding a slightly raised pedestal, on which sat the inactive stone Registeel. Three of the pillars immediately behind the golem’s body bore imprints that looked like Bronzor near their tops.
“Well hello there, Registeel,” Matt said smugly, taking several steps toward where the statue stood. “I believe you and I have a previous date.”
Ross quickly put his hand on Matt’s shoulder to stop him. “Be careful. This place looks like it might have traps...”
This warning came too late. The Registeel statue’s influence connected with the puzzle cube in Matt’s bag, and just like in Regice’s cave, it levitated out on its own. Powerless to stop it, Matt, Ross and the two women could only watch as the glowing box levitated before the statue and then seemingly vanished in a bright flash of light. When this light faded, the statue was gone, and Registeel – a bulbous-bodied Pokémon of teal color, sporting seven red dots arranged in a hexagon pattern on the black stripe in its middle – stood in its place.
“Registeel, the Iron Pokémon. Type is Steel. Its body is harder than any other kind of metal. The body metal is composed of a mysterious substance. Not only is it hard, it shrinks and stretches flexibly. Tempered by pressure underground over tens of thousands of years, its body cannot be scratched. This specimen is alternately colored.”
“Cannot be scratched, huh?” Matt began to reach for one of his Poké Balls.
He didn’t act quickly enough, however, and Registeel got the first move. It raised its arms into the air and let out a robotic cry, “REGIIIIIISTEEEELLLLLLLL.” The three Bronzor shapes on the pillars instantly responded to this, and materialized into actual Bronzor.
“Watch out!” Eleanor cried.
The Bronzor weren’t interested in Matt, though. They flew over to Ross, Eleanor and Rosalita, then Registeel erected a barrier of light between the two groups by flashing its dots three times.
“REGI....REGI....STEEEEEEL!!”
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Pkmn Trainer Matt --vs.--- Seal Guardian Registeel
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[Registeel crosses its arms in front of itself then forcefully uncrosses them, showing off its glowing dots.]
“So you want a challenge, Registeel? I didn’t want to resort to this, but... Rotom, make your mark!”
To battle Registeel, Matt brought out his Rotom, a small, plasma-bodied Electric type with lightning bolt shaped appendages. Unlike most Rotom, however, this one wore a simple, blank look.
“Rotom, I need you to use Thunder Wave!”
Strangely, though, Rotom didn’t respond, instead simply staying in the air nearly still. This afforded Registeel an opening, and it fired a Flash Cannon attack from its dots. The burst of light struck Rotom, but owing to the natural resistance Electric type Pokémon possess against Steel type moves, it didn’t do much.
By this time, Matt had his small, two-screened computer out and was analyzing Rotom’s moves. “I forgot that being a Shadow Pokémon limits its possible moves. Let’s see then... looks like I’ll go with Shadow Bolt!”
Rotom responded to this command, absorbing a great deal of dark energy into its body. Moments later it pointed its appendages at Registeel, releasing a blast of shadowy electricity with a shrill cry. Registeel was jolted by this, groaning in response to its injuries.
Though it had lurched back, however, Registeel quickly recovered and again crossed its arms in front of its face, but this time, when it uncrossed them, the pull of gravity intensified greatly, bringing Rotom to the floor.
Registeel then raised its right arm up, allowing a shadowy aura to surround it. Matt’s hesitation caused him to fail to recognize this as Shadow Claw immediately, and by the time he managed to spit out a command for another Shadow Bolt, Registeel was right on top of his Pokémon.
Rotom, practically stuck to the floor, could only release its attack as a blast of energy in Registeel’s face, producing an explosion. While Registeel was still standing as the smoke cleared, Rotom was still on the floor, and was now still.
Matt immediately recalled Rotom without even seeing if it was really knocked out. Holding another Poké Ball in his hand, Matt said to himself, “If I’m to have any hope of winning, I need to end this now. Crusher, make your mark! Swords Dance!”
As soon as the shining Rhyperior burst from its ball, it smashed its hands together and began growling in order to raise its focus and power.
Registeel immediately seized this apparent opening by firing a Flash Cannon, however, despite hitting Crusher with explosive force, the Rock and Ground type’s concentration was unbroken.
“The Solid Rock ability reduces the power of super-effective strikes... should give me time to get this done. Keep using Swords Dance!”
Crusher responded by continuing what it had been doing, tensing itself up even more. Even under its skin of rock, it was easy to see how tightened its muscles were becoming.
For a golem made out of metal, Registeel actually displayed some kind of intelligence, showing that it understood Matt was trying to end the fight in one strike. Acting on that, it also became still, seemingly doing nothing.
“So you’re giving up? Crusher, use Swords Dance one more time and get ready!”
Unfortunately, Matt totally misinterpreted Registeel’s actions. As soon as Crusher increased the amount of its focus even more, Registeel’s dots suddenly began flashing pink.
When Registeel’s body briefly flashed, followed by it charging towards Crusher with its right arm prepared to use a Metal Claw attack, Matt realized what had happened.
“Of course! Why didn’t I realize...PSYCH UP! Crusher, hurry and use Earthquake!”
Seemingly, though, it was too late. Registeel was already within mere feet of Crusher by the time the Rhyperior raised its arm, yet, somehow it managed to bring it smashing down to the ground with miraculous speed. The impact created a great fissure in the floor, and when it hit underneath Registeel, the golem was flung all the way up to the ceiling by the quake’s power.
It then crashed to the floor and collapsed.
“That’s it! It worked!”
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Matt gasped for breath as he returned Crusher to its ball following the battle. As he did this, the fallen Registeel’s body glowed with a soft light before reforming the puzzle cube, which fell to the ground with several sharp strikes.
Immediately, Matt walked over to it and picked it up. He only needed to examine it for a moment to discover that two sides of the cube were now glowing, the side inscribed with Registeel’s pattern added to it. The lights reflected in his glasses as he stared thoughtfully at it.
“Obviously, this cube contains the power of the Regi trio... but what is its connection to this place...?”
Suddenly, Matt gasped, as he’d forgotten about his friends. He turned abruptly, only to find that their situation was already resolved long before his own. The barrier was gone, and it was apparent that they had fought off the Bronzor by using Riolu along with a strange Pokémon in Eleanor’s employ that was unlike anything Matt had seen before. It was about her height, around five feet six inches, and had a lithe blue body, and a pair of prominent breasts covered with silver armor, along with long black hair and a spear made of ice in its right hand. Surprisingly enough, in its left hand, it held a Bronzor in a manner similar to that of a shield.
Eleanor saw Matt open his mouth to ask about it and spoke first. “Yeah, I know, I don’t get it completely either, but I guess it’s a new Pokémon. My Jynx evolved when it came into contact with one of the Bronzor.”
“Does your database have anything on it?” Ross asked, thoughtfully.
“I don’t know. That’s a good idea...”
The young scientist took out his handheld computer, opened it, and allowed its camera to scan the creature. A photo image of it appeared on the top screen of the computer immediately, while “SCANNING DATABASES FOR KNOWN MATCHES...” appeared on the bottom.
Several seconds later, the words “DATABASE SCAN > POKéDEX DATABASES > KNOWN POKéMON > UNSORTED” and “MATCHES FOUND: 1” appeared, followed by the computer’s robotic voice.
“Pokémon identified as Minnaara, the Ice Queen Pokémon. First known identification reported in Route 44, Johto. This Pokémon evolved from Jynx when exposed to the presence of a Bronzor. Behavior is largely unknown at present, however, ritualistic mating tendencies that contradict its unusual social behaviors have been observed.”
“...well, there you go,” Matt said with a slight chuckle. “Guess we’re making inroads right now, aren’t we?”
“I guess I have a new partner!” Eleanor’s mind lingered on her many future experiences with Minnaara, but not for long, as it soon settled on something else. “Shouldn’t there be another clue around here, though?”
Before anyone else could even suggest searching for the clue, Rosalita finally spoke up. “I know where Regirock is already.”
“You what?!” All the others simultaneously turned to the princess and said this.
“Regirock is in the worst possible place... the throne room of the palace.” Rosalita’s face remained blank as she delivered this news. “If you want to get its power, you’ll have to go right into the mouth of this evil...”
There was silence for several moments, several moments where the tension in the air was palpable, like a cup of thick pea soup. It was broken, however, when Matt slamming his foot to the ground and spoke, his fist clenched.
“We have to do it,” he said firmly. “There’s no other way to stop him.”
Of course, there was another reason entirely why Matt was so eager to rush off into life-threatening danger... he had to know the truth about Cassy.
-----------------------------------------------------
‘Dusknoir’ and Fernando had been in their hideout watching all this unfold, so they knew that the palace was the group’s next destination. Of course, taking his true identity into account, Dusknoir’s overwhelming sense of dread was understandable - just as understandable as the mad glee now taking over Fernando.
“They’re going right into my trap!” the king raved to his companion, rubbing his hands together and making no effort to conceal how much the madness in him exaggerated his facial expressions. “Perfect, perfect, just perfect! We’ll have Heatran kill him, and then even if he survives that, then Cassy will destroy him!”
“Are you so sure, Dominar? So far he’s beaten everything we’ve thrown at him.”
“This is the endgame, Dusknoir, are you unable to see?! We are inches from victory now! You know what, fine... you go to the palace and fetch Cassy so that the Griseous Orb is brought here. I’ll activate the Magma Stone and bring this to an end!”
“If you insist.”
Dusknoir opened a portal, then dove into it and disappeared. Fernando waited for several minutes before doing anything else, as he wanted to make sure he was alone.
Finally walking towards the machine with the Magma Stone, he said aloud to himself, “That rotten ghost doesn’t know his time is almost up. I’ll dispose of him, Cassy, those soldiers, anyone I have to.” By entering a code into the keyboard of the machine, the gyroscopes around the Magma Stone began spinning. He then hissed in sadistic glee, “Dance, my little puppet. Dance...”
----------------------------------------------------
Faint rumbles of thunder could be heard from the square outside the palace, but other than that, it was silent. The square was completely empty, too, giving the area an ominous feeling. This peace was interrupted by footsteps when Matt and his group appeared in an alley nearby, slinking through the town to avoid notice.
“There it is,” he whispered quietly to Ross, who was right behind him with Riolu on his shoulder. “Let’s move. Quick.”
Matt and Ross slipped out into the square, but Eleanor hesitated, and squealed quietly, “I have a really bad feeling about this...”
“Hurry!” Ross hissed back. “If we dawdle they’ll spot us!”
Suddenly, while Eleanor and Rosalita quietly shuffled to their male companions, Riolu’s head shot up. It looked around nervously, then jumped off Ross’s shoulder, shut its eyes and extended its arms.
“Riooooo...”
“What’s up, Riolu?”
Riolu remained steadfastly silent, using its Aura to scan the area. It was when a slight quake came through the earth that its concentration turned to fear, and when that slight quake quickly became a much larger one, Riolu barely had enough time to lunge and tackle Matt and Ross away from the explosion that erupted from the ground.
“Aaaaaah!!”
“Ack...!! Ri...Riolu, what was that?!”
There was no need for Riolu to respond to Ross’s question, as the answer stood right in front of them – there, bearing down from its four cross-shaped feet which were planted in ruptured, smoldering dirt, was the Pokémon they all feared, Heatran. The great magma and iron beast roared powerfully before the four, striking terror into their hearts.
“He knew we were coming...” the princess uttered listlessly, realizing the truth. “He knew we were going to come here and sent Heatran ahead to intercept us...”
Matt thrust his now-mechanical left arm in front of his companions to shield them, and held one of his Poké Balls in the other. “Then we’ll just have to fight and take control of this place back! Tony, make your mark!”
As Tony, Matt’s Aggron, appeared from the Poké Ball it was contained in, Ross’s Riolu immediately ran to its side, and Eleanor sent in her Staraptor as well. Together, the three Pokémon faced the ominous threat of battling Heatran as best they could.
“Tony, Brick Break now!”
After letting out a short, low growl, Tony cocked its right arm and rushed Heatran. Its feet made multiple loud smashing sounds on the ground as it did so.
Heatran responded quickly. It opened its great mouth wide, charged a blast of light inside, and fired off a fierce Flash Cannon attack, which hit Tony with explosive force and neutralized its attempt to strike.
“Close Combat!”
From the smoke of the explosion left behind by Flash Cannon, Staraptor suddenly emerged, lunging straight for Heatran’s silver faceplate with its talons. Once it was within range it began striking many times, and this was actually effective - Heatran stepped back slightly, and the blows began leaving scratches and chips in its armor.
A growl escaped Heatran’s mouth, but soon enough, it managed to counter with a brief blast of dark energy that repelled Staraptor.
Backing Staraptor, Riolu got into position, and Ross began to order, “Aura Sphe...”
However, he was cut off when Heatran began preparing another attack. It became apparent that it intended to wipe them all out with the immense Flash Cannon it was charging in its mouth, and for all their strength, there was nothing they could do to stop such a mighty attack.
Together, the group prepared mentally for the end. Even if they survived, they would be captured by Fernando’s forces easily, and no doubt tortured and killed, probably by the evil king himself. Maybe in that regard it would be better if Heatran killed them here and now.
There was a strange, almost fitting silence as the light in Heatran’s mouth reached a blinding degree. There were only a few words spoken, all from Matt. “Cassy, why have you done this...” escaped his mouth as he shut his eyes and resigned himself to his fate.
He heard Heatran actually fire the attack. It was what happened after that that caused him to slowly reopen his eyes – the sound of heavy footsteps rushing in front of him, a scraping, metallic noise, and finally, an explosion followed by a great gust of wind.
Standing in front of Matt and his friends was the man known as the Azure Angel, who had once again saved them. Relieved, Matt noticed quickly that he had a retractable sword of blue crystal extending from his right sleeve and was holding out both hands with palms open in order to restrain Heatran using some kind of mystical power.
“Are you guys okay?” the caped, masked man shouted without facing the group.
“We’re fine!” Eleanor replied. “But what did you do?”
“I don’t have time to talk! This blade on my arm blocked the attack! Just go in there and stop Fernando!” When they hesitated, the Angel finally turned his head and roared, “GO!!”
Matt nodded, regained his composure, and turned to his companions only briefly before rushing past the Azure Angel and the paralyzed Heatran, Ross, Eleanor and Rosalita following quickly thereafter. The Azure Angel said nothing until they were inside the palace, waiting for them before lowering the visors of his mask over his eyes.
“Heatran... your rage is not natural, your mind is being manipulated... but why...”
---------------------------------------------------
The palace seemed to be as empty as the town when Matt’s group entered it. Knowing where they needed to go, they rushed straight ahead into the throne room, where another scene entirely greeted them.
The first thing Matt saw was Dusknoir, with a portal in the wall next to him. Two of the guards were there too, as well as Fernando’s two Bronzong, and it was obvious by looking at their eyes that the Bronzong had the guards under hypnosis. Carter was held captive by them.
“Carter!” Matt cried out, losing all ill will he held towards his colleague.
“Matt, listen! Fernando and Cassy already left! Forget me, go after them!” When he saw Rosalita, Carter’s face twisted to one of panic. “You fools, you brought HER here?!”
“There is no hope for you...” droned one of the guards soullessly. “Surrender now and King Fernando may have mercy on you...”
“We will never surrender!” Rosalita, surprisingly, was the one saying this; she pushed herself to the forefront and confronted the villains bravely. “Fernando has ruined the very name of this kingdom, and in the name of my forefathers before me, I will take it open myself to stop him!”
“Fool... you cannot defeat King Fernando...”
Suddenly, Carter said, “Ordinarily I’d never hit a woman...”
The guard who was speaking out of nowhere got an elbow to the back of the head, knocking her down. Carter, who had seized upon the two guards being distracted, snapped up the staff held by that guard and quickly whipped around, hitting the other in the head with it. He turned to make a move and escape, but just as quickly was stopped – the other two guards had arrived, accompanied by two Bronzong that were aiming their Flash Cannons right at Howard.
“Professor McKenna?!” both Matt and Ross screamed, surprised to see the disheveled old man held captive.
“Father! Don’t... don’t you dare hurt my father!”
“Your father is the bargain, Carter!” Fernando’s voice, coming from the portal, came at such an unexpected time that all in the room except for the guards jumped. “If you want him to live, you must activate Regirock and destroy Chiaki with it! Act on all that bad blood between you two!”
“Carter, my son...” Howard’s voice was weak. After months upon months of captivity in Fernando’s jail, he was resigned to go to his grave protecting what he had sought. “Don’t fall for his tricks. He’s a vile man and will be defeated, but it’s up to you and Matt to do it...”
“Make your choice, Carter! Tick tock, the clock is counting down on your dear old dad’s life!”
Carter sighed. He wanted to disobey Fernando, but he knew that if he did so, the price he would pay would be unfathomable. Reluctantly, he raised his arms and began walking toward the throne itself.
“Carter, don’t do it...” the old man faintly mumbled in vain.
“Transcend the confines of time and space... awaken, Regirock...!!”
As Carter focused, allowing a glow to envelop both himself and the throne, Eleanor had finally heard enough and turned to Matt.
“What bad blood is Fernando talking about?”
“I...” Matt looked down, causing his hair to fall over his face and shadow over his eye. “Back when we were in school we were rivals. I think now that I took it too far...”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carter, in his Rustboro School uniform, was standing near a desk in the dormitory when the room’s entry door suddenly came smashing open, startling him. A clearly enraged Matt stood in the doorway, clutching a newspaper.
“Carter...” he snarled, “what is THIS?!”
“What are you talking about?” Carter was honestly puzzled.
“THIS!”
Matt held up the newspaper. Its headline read “Rustboro School Students Make Major Find – Newly Dubbed “Mirage Tower” Discovered by Archeologist’s Son” and a photograph was displayed. The photo showed Carter in expedition gear and goggles smiling broadly near a sand tower in a desert setting, while Matt could be seen half in the picture from the side.
“We worked evenly in this, Carter, and you take all the credit?!”
Carter sighed and turned from what he was doing. “I didn’t tell them to do that. They already thought I did it all and I couldn’t convince them otherwise.”
“I trusted you, Carter!” Matt flung the paper at his colleague, hitting him in the face, then stormed out.
