Heatran!

BOOM!!

The ground split open with a deafening crack, sending rocks flying in all directions. A massive chasm appeared, as if the earth itself had opened its mouth, threatening to swallow everything.

Camerupt's "Fissure" had landed.

In a situation like this, where there wasn't an overwhelming difference in strength, no one would let their Pokémon stand still and get hit by such a devastating move.

The sheer force of the attack made Johan feel as if the entire mountain was shaking violently.

The only silver lining was that despite the power of the Fissure, Johan's and Steven's Pokémon were unharmed.

Johan and Steven released their grip on Metagross, landing back on solid ground.

The fact was, the enraged Camerupt, with its vision obscured, couldn't properly target Gastly and the others.

But things couldn't continue like this.

Who knew if Camerupt's next Fissure wouldn't cause a further collapse, worsening the lava flow from Mt. Chimney.

The problem was that even though both Johan and Steven wanted to speed things up and subdue Camerupt, it wasn't that simple.

With Camerupt in its current state, combined with the power gap between it and Gastly, Johan knew that status-altering moves likely wouldn't have much effect.

Still, he had to try.

"Gastly, use Haze!"

If they were lucky and could poison Camerupt, combined with the Curse already in place and Steven's Pokémon, the tide of the battle could shift.

"Ka-kah…"

Gastly sighed inwardly.

This was tough.

This Camerupt was clearly way out of Gastly's league. Relying on it to wear down Camerupt was a long shot.

But Gastly wasn't one to back down from a challenge. "Why not try? There doesn't seem to be a better plan."

"Johan, try this."

Steven tossed something toward Johan—a dark, purplish-black sphere, encased in a thin layer of transparent material.

Huh?

Johan caught it and glanced down.

A Toxic Orb?!

A Steel-type specialist carrying around a Toxic Orb?

This thing wasn't cheap, either.

[Toxic Orb: A ball filled with potent poison gas. Holding it puts the user in a "badly poisoned" state (WARNING: Do not consume!)

But now wasn't the time to dwell on such details.

Clutching the Toxic Orb tightly, Johan formed a bold idea in his mind.

"Ka-kah?"

Gastly, also noticing the Toxic Orb, had its eyes light up, clearly intrigued.

"Ka-kah!!"

Johan threw the orb toward Gastly, but before Gastly could celebrate, Johan said, "Hold on to it for now. Our goal is to get it to Camerupt!"

"Ka-kah?!" Gastly's voice rose in surprise.

"Don't worry, we'll take it back after Camerupt goes down," Johan reassured.

Steven, overhearing, seemed to realize Johan's plan.

"Of course!" he muttered under his breath.

"Steven, keep it distracted. Gastly and I will make our move," Johan ordered.

"Got it!"

Meanwhile, Camerupt showed no signs of calming down. Its back-mounted volcano continued to erupt with lava, and flames began to build in its mouth.

It was readying another attack!

Johan and Steven both thought the same thing.

Camerupt suddenly lifted its head and launched a fiery blast upward. The flames formed a glowing fireball in the air before exploding, sending smaller bursts of flame flying in every direction!

Lava Plume!

Now's our chance!

Metagross and Claydol quickly activated their psychic barriers, doing their best to block the incoming fire.

Meanwhile, Skarmory flapped its wings in midair, causing a sharp, ear-piercing screech with its Metal Sound, drawing Camerupt's attention.

Lairon, having been resummoned, stomped the ground, sending two rocky chains shooting up, wrapping around Camerupt and temporarily restraining its movement.

"Gastly!" Johan shouted.

"Ka-kah!"

Suddenly, from below the ground, Gastly emerged right in front of Camerupt's face, hurling the Toxic Orb straight into Camerupt's mouth.

Gulp!

Camerupt swallowed it with a loud gulp.

Before it could even register what had happened, a purple glow began to spread across its body.

Camerupt is now badly poisoned!

Its body wobbled, its vision becoming blurry, and its limbs felt weak.

The frenzied state that had been pushing its body to the limit caused the poison to spread even faster.

On top of that, Camerupt had already been fighting for some time, its body nearing exhaustion. The poison was only accelerating that process.

Camerupt shook its head in an attempt to clear its vision, but the purple hue only deepened, and it began to stagger.

It tried to mount one final attack.

But its efforts were in vain.

At last, in front of Johan and Steven, Camerupt collapsed heavily onto the ground.

Johan and Steven exchanged glances, both letting out a sigh of relief.

Now they could focus on finding a way to seal the lava fissure.

Under Johan's direction, Gastly began scouting the rock layers, searching for the optimal spot to reinforce and block the lava flow.

But just when they thought the situation was under control, an unexpected development occurred.

Boom, boom, boom—

Heavy footsteps echoed from a different tunnel, followed by an intense wave of heat, as if a surge of molten lava was rushing toward them.

Johan and Steven's faces both darkened as they turned toward the tunnel, which was now glowing with an ominous red light.

When Johan's eyes adjusted, his pupils constricted.

Emerging from the shadows was a hulking figure, its reddish-brown body appearing as though it was forged from molten lava and steel. Its powerful limbs, glinting with a metallic sheen, allowed it to cling to the cave walls almost as if it were walking upside down.

Its fiery, molten eyes locked onto Johan and Steven.

An even bigger threat?

Sensing the danger, Steven's Pokémon immediately gathered to defend him.

"Wait!" Johan quickly stopped Steven, his voice low.

"Don't move."

Steven understood the gravity of the situation, calming his Pokémon as he quietly asked, "Is that...?"

The pressure emanating from the creature was overwhelming, like a tidal wave of molten rock bearing down on them. Steven knew immediately that this was no ordinary opponent.

This wasn't just a matter of a difference in strength.

Johan's voice dropped to almost a whisper as he replied, "The legendary beast born from magma..."

"Heatran, the guardian of volcanoes."

"Heatran... the legendary beast?" Steven was taken aback, his eyes glimmering with awe.

As a fan of Steel-type Pokémon, Steven knew all too well what it meant to face a Fire/Steel Pokémon like Heatran.

With five 4x resistances and four 2x resistances, Heatran was a fortress of defense!

Johan, for his part, was quite familiar with Heatran as well.

Before Pokémon Sword and Shield was released, Heatran had been a staple in competitive battling. Its Fire/Steel typing gave it incredible resistances, and while it had a glaring 4x weakness to Ground, items like Air Balloon could help mitigate that issue.

And both of Heatran's abilities—Flash Fire and Flame Body—were top-notch.

But as more powerful Fire-type Pokémon were introduced, Heatran gradually faded from prominence, especially with the advent of moves like Scorching Sands, which pushed it out of the top tier.

Still, that was the Heatran from Johan's previous life in the games.

What stood before them now was the very real and very imposing Heatran, a mythical creature with immense power.

However...

After staring them down for a while, Heatran made no move to attack.

In fact...

Heatran waved a claw at them.

"Is it... telling us to leave?" Steven looked at Johan, unsure.

Is Heatran protecting Mt. Chimney? Johan wondered.

Because after Heatran's appearance, the lava flow seemed to be stabilizing.

"Gastly," Johan called out, "let's go!"

"Ka-kah!" Gastly's voice echoed from the lava fissure.

"There's a weird red stone here!"

Peering through the crack, Johan could just make out Gastly flying in circles above the lava, as if it had discovered something.

Steven's eyes lit up.

A stone?

But both Johan and Heatran's eyes widened in alarm.

"Get away from that stone, now!"

"Ka-kah?"