Lance rode his trusted partner, Charizard, toward Mount Chimney at top speed.
But Aoki and Steven didn't know.
Even if they had known, they wouldn't have stopped.
The sight of a wild Pokémon's corpse along the way had completely enraged Steven, who was usually so gentle.
After another half-hour of advancing through the cave, the passage gradually widened.
"There are excavation marks here," Aoki noted, examining the walls.
"Let's go in and check it out. Be careful," Steven said.
"Yeah."
The two walked through the last corridor and entered the interior of Mount Chimney.
Fiery red rocks were everywhere, making Team Magma's uniforms surprisingly effective as camouflage.
Aoki and Steven, wary of being discovered, had yet to encounter a single soul.
It was as if… Team Magma wasn't even here.
But judging from the freshly excavated cave, it was obvious that soone had been.
After carefully maneuvering past a slow-flowing stream of molten magma and heading deeper, they finally found the Team Magma mbers they were looking for.
Aoki signaled Slowking and tang to stay hidden.
In such a scorching environnt, both the Water-type Slowking and the Steel-type tang were clearly uncomfortable.
An altar stood before them, seemingly man-made, with strange stones placed upon it.
The central stone was about the size of a palm, glowing a fiery red, as if it had been forged from magma itself.
On either side of it were gray stones etched with mysterious patterns. From this distance, their significance was unclear, but anything placed on an altar like this was bound to be important.
Three figures stood before the altar. Two of them wore uniforms similar to the Team Magma grunts they had encountered outside, but the man in the center wore a darker, crimson outfit.
Butler!
Why were there only three of them here?
Given that at least twenty or thirty mbers had entered, it was strange that only these three remained.
Even though Butler was the strongest among them, sothing felt off.
They were too far away to hear what was being said.
This ti, Aoki didn't dare to move in recklessly.
The Mightyena beside Butler was clearly in a different league than the ones belonging to the weaker grunts outside.
A single misstep would surely alert them.
Aoki connected to Steven via telepathy, asking if they should engage.
Steven was still furious. The Pokémon corpses they had seen earlier had undoubtedly been the work of Team Magma.
He nodded in agreent and pulled out another Poké Ball from his waist.
Sotis, battles weren't about using as many Pokémon as possible.
Rather, they were about control. The fact that Steven was preparing another Pokémon ant he was going all out.
Aoki understood and pulled out the Poké Ball of his Skorupi.
This ti, he had only brought Slowking, Skorupi, and Haunter, who was lurking in the shadows. But it should be enough to deal with the Team Magma mbers ahead.
Slowking's mastery of Water-type moves wasn't bad, after all.
"I'll give the signal. If things go wrong, bring your Pokémon to . Slowking's Teleport can get us out of here," Aoki conveyed to Steven via telepathy.
Steven acknowledged the plan.
Aoki then connected to Slowking's mind, instructing it to use support moves.
At the sa ti, Steven had tang use similar buffing moves. This was going to be a tough fight, and they needed to prepare.
"Wait a mont. You hold off Butler while I deal with the other two. I don't know why there are only two of them left, but this is an opportunity. If we can't hold Butler, we retreat imdiately!" Aoki instructed.
Among the three, Butler was clearly the greatest threat, but the other two couldn't be underestimated. To avoid being overwheld in a three-on-two fight, Aoki took on the challenge of handling two opponents alone, despite the pressure.
He could only hope they weren't too strong.
Taking a deep breath, he steadied himself.
"Slowking, Teleport! Try to appear behind them."
At Aoki's command, Slowking's Psychic energy surged. tang, another Psychic-type Pokémon, amplified the precision of its teleportation.
"Roar!!"
However, just as Slowking initiated the teleport, Butler's Mightyena shot up from its resting position, snarling in rage.
As a pure Dark-type Pokémon, it could still sense and react to the Psychic energy it loathed.
Slowking was just about to teleport behind them.
Butler's expression darkened. He swiftly pulled a Poké Ball from his waist and hurled it forward.
A Carupt erged before him.
The other two Team Magma mbers, however, weren't as fast. Their lack of battle experience was instantly exposed.
Aoki and Steven, having teleported in front of them, wasted no ti releasing their Pokémon.
Aoki sent out Skorupi, while Steven called upon another tang!
Two tangs!
Steven's strongest battle stance!
He was taking this seriously!
Aoki recognized this second tang—it was the one he had seen before. But now it had grown to an elite level, and its potential had even increased.
Aoki hadn't expected this at all.
How many resources would it take to raise a Dark Cyan Pokémon to Light Blue? The resource cost was far greater than simply acquiring a naturally Light Blue Pokémon.
And this was a tang—a pseudo-legendary Pokémon! The difficulty of improving its potential was even greater.
Pokémon: Shiny tang (Light Blue)
Gender: None
Level: 44
Type: Steel/Psychic
Ability: Clear Body
Held Item: Chople Berry
Egg Moves: None
Basic Moves: Psychic, tal Claw, Magnet Rise, Take Down, Pursuit, Bullet Punch, Miracle Eye, Zen Headbutt, Scary Face, Confusion, Agility, teor Mash
Learnt Moves: Gravity, Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, Psychic Terrain, Magnet Rise, Signal Beam, Trick Room
TM Moves: Protect, Psychic, Hidden Power (Rock), Hyper Beam, Earthquake, Calm Mind, Shadow Ball, Brick Break, Rock Slide, Substitute, Flash Cannon, Grass Knot
Was this the potential of the most gifted Trainer in Hoenn? The future Steel-type Champion?
Aoki realized he needed to redefine what it ant to be a genius.
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