Heatran!

Heatran!

BOOM!! The ground split apart like torn silk, violently exploding as countless stones flew through the air. A massive chasm appeared, as though the earth had opened its mouth to swallow everything.

Camerupt's Fissure had still landed.

After all, unless there was an absolute gap in strength, who would let their Pokémon get caught in a Fissure? The tremendous commotion even made Jing He feel as though the entire mountain were shaking violently.

The only fortunate thing was that although Camerupt's Fissure had been spectacular, it had not harmed Jing He's or Steven Stone's Pokémon.

Jing He and Steven Stone released their grips on Metang and landed on the ground once more.

In truth, Camerupt, already frenzied and with its vision obscured, had no way of locking onto Gastly and the others.

But this couldn't go on.

Who knew whether several more Fissures from Camerupt would worsen the lava leakage from Mt. Chimney?

Yet the current situation was that even if Jing He and Steven Stone wanted to deal with Camerupt quickly, it was not something they could simply do by willing it.

Furthermore, given Camerupt's condition and the gap in strength between both sides, Gastly's debuff moves would probably have little effect on it.

Still, Jing He wanted to give it another try.

"Gastly, Toxic Mist!"

If they were lucky enough to poison Camerupt, then together with Curse and Steven Stone's Pokémon, the results should be better.

"Koujie."

Gastly sighed inwardly.

This was too hard.

This Camerupt was clearly far stronger than it. Trying to wear it down to death was just making things difficult for a ghost, wasn't it?

Still, Gastly did not hesitate. A try was a try. There really did not seem to be a better option.

"Teacher Jing He, try this."

Noticing Jing He's move, Steven Stone suddenly tossed him a purplish-black orb, seemingly wrapped in a special transparent insulating film.

Huh? Jing He caught the orb and froze slightly.

A Toxic Orb?! You're a Steel-type Trainer, and you carry a Toxic Orb around with you? This thing was not cheap at all.

Toxic Orb: An orb filled with violent toxic mist. Holding it causes the bearer to enter the "badly poisoned" state. (Remember: Do not ingest! Do not ingest!)

But this was not the time to dwell on that.

Jing He tightened his grip on the Toxic Orb, a bold idea forming in his mind.

"Koujie?"

Gastly's eyes lit up when it saw the Toxic Orb, its longing practically overflowing.

"Koujie!"

Jing He tossed the orb to Gastly, but before it could celebrate, he said, "Gastly, hold onto it for now. We'll find a way to give it to Camerupt later!"

"Koujie?!"

Gastly's voice rose several pitches.

"Don't worry. We'll take it back after Camerupt goes down," Jing He reassured it.

Steven Stone, standing nearby, naturally heard him and showed a look of realization.

So it could be used like that.

"Steven Stone, try to hold it back. Gastly and I will look for an opening," Jing He said.

"Alright!"

At the same time.

The Camerupt across from them showed no less anger after using Fissure. The volcano on its back continued erupting as flames brewed in its mouth.

It's coming!

Jing He and Steven Stone thought almost simultaneously.

Camerupt suddenly raised its head and fired a blast of flame upward. It formed an orange-red fireball in the air before exploding, scattering streams of fire in every direction!

Lava Plume!

Now!

Metang and Baltoy's eyes glowed with psychic blue light at the same time, doing their best to block the scattered flames.

Skarmory rubbed its wings together in midair, producing a shrill, teeth-grating Metal Sound that drew Camerupt's attention.

Lairon, summoned once more, stomped the ground hard. A great number of rocks shot into the air and became two chains of stone, binding themselves around Camerupt's body and briefly restricting its movements!

"Gastly!" Jing He shouted in a low voice.

"Koujie!"

Gastly, which had slipped underground long ago, somehow appeared before Camerupt. Facing Camerupt's mouth, it spat violently.

"Ptooey!"

"Eat my big... big ball!"

Gulp—

Camerupt swallowed it with a gulp.

Before it could even react, a purple tint spread across its face.

It had entered the "badly poisoned" state! Its body swayed uncontrollably as its vision blurred and its limbs weakened.

Camerupt's frenzied state accelerated the flow of blood throughout its body and increased its exertion, which also caused the poison to spread faster.

At the same time, its frenzy had already lasted for a while, leaving its body nearly exhausted. The severe poison further accelerated its internal depletion, so the effects appeared remarkably quickly.

Camerupt shook its head several times. The purple hue on its body became increasingly obvious, and its steps started to grow unsteady.

It still tried to attack.

But it was stopped every time.

In the end, under Jing He and Steven Stone's watchful eyes, Camerupt crashed heavily to the ground.

Seeing this, Jing He and Steven Stone looked at each other and let out long breaths almost at the same time.

Now they could figure out how to seal that lava fissure.

At Jing He's instruction, Gastly had already begun searching along the rock layers for the best position and angle to make repairs.

However, when you felt that things had finally settled down, unexpected changes often appeared.

Rumble rumble—

Heavy footsteps came from a tunnel in another direction.

Then a wave of heat washed over them, as though searing lava were surging out of that tunnel.

Looking toward the tunnel that was gradually filling with firelight, Jing He and Steven Stone's expressions changed at once.

When he saw the vague figure within the dim tunnel, Jing He's pupils contracted slightly.

A massive reddish-brown body appeared, as though forged from lava and steel. Its powerful limbs, covered in a metallic sheen, held it firmly against the rock wall, leaving it almost hanging upside down.

A pair of blazing eyes stared fixedly at Jing He and Steven Stone.

Another powerful opponent?

Sensing the threat, Steven Stone's Pokémon gathered around the two of them.

Jing He hurriedly stopped Steven Stone and said in a low voice, "Don't move!"

Steven Stone naturally understood. As he soothed Metang and the others, he asked, "This is...?"

He could clearly feel the pressure emanating from that creature. It was as though an overwhelming sea of lava were bearing down on them, and they likely had little chance to fight back.

This could no longer be described merely as a difference in strength.

Jing He smiled helplessly and lowered his voice. "A Mythical Pokémon said to have been born from lava..."

"The guardian of volcanoes, Heatran!"

"A legendary Mythical Pokémon, Fire... Steel?" Steven Stone paused, a faint gleam appearing in his eyes.

As a Steel-type Pokémon enthusiast, Steven Stone knew all too well what a Pokémon combining Fire and Steel-types represented.

It had five quadruple resistances and four double resistances! Jing He was even more familiar with Heatran.

Before Sword/Shield was released, Heatran could definitely be considered one of the most frequently used Pokémon in Pokémon Battle games.

Its greatest strength naturally lay in the type advantages brought by combining Fire and Steel-types. Although it was four times weak to Ground-type moves, holding an Air Balloon could alleviate that issue somewhat.

And whether it had Flash Fire or Flame Body, both were excellent Abilities.

But as more powerful Fire-type Pokémon appeared later on, Heatran gradually ceased to be the only choice. Especially after the move Scorching Sands appeared, it completely retreated to the second tier.

Whenever Heatran was mentioned, there would even be people joking, "Seriously, what kind of Volcano Pokémon can't breathe fire?"

But those had been the Heatran from games in Jing He's previous life. The one standing before them now was a legendary Mythical Pokémon with an overwhelming presence!

However.

After they stared at Heatran for a while, it did not seem to intend to attack.

In fact.

Heatran even waved a claw at them.

"It's... telling us to leave?" Steven Stone was uncertain and looked at Jing He.

Is Heatran protecting Mt. Chimney?

Jing He thought to himself.

After Heatran appeared, the leaking lava seemed to be showing signs of stopping.

"Gastly," Jing He called. "We're leaving!"

"Kou—jie—"

Gastly's voice came from within the crack where the lava was leaking.

There was a really strange red stone here.

Through the fissure, they could vaguely see Gastly circling above the lava, as though it had discovered something.

Steven Stone's eyes lit up.

A stone?

But Jing He and Heatran's pupils contracted at the same time.

"Get off that damned stone, now!"

"Koujie?"

Gastly: ()