Chapter 7

Our goal had changed; we were no longer trying to catch any possible Pokémon. Now, we had a specific Pokémon in mind that we sought to add to our team. While I wasn’t insane—if we ran into an Excadrill or another strong Steel type, I’d still try to catch it—my entire focus and energy was spent searching for that one Metang. In a way, doing so was a form of training in itself.

Every day, we’d pay the “toll” needed to pass through the Tangela’s territory, dipping into the funds earned by battling the previous night. From there, we’d search the crater, hunting down all potential signs of this Metang. And we did find some signs. It just took effort.

Rotom was unable to help—the magnetic fields were throwing off his internal compass, and while it wasn’t an issue for him to follow along, he’d often struggle to identify previously used paths. Valiant, meanwhile, was our stalwart defender against any would-be attackers. Therefore, it was Liepard who took the lead.

He was not a hound, and he did not have a nose trained for following scents. However, Liepard was a big cat, a feline, a predator that all but stood at the top of the pack. His instincts and senses were primed for searching out prey. And, sure, his prey this time around might have been a big chunk of floating metal, but he was adept at locating and pointing out the equivalent of tracks.

Paths of broken branches. Trees with grooves carved into them by rending claws. Shadows cast into the ground where floating Pokémon hovered by, the rare glint of blue metal serving as a hint toward the magnetic field’s most frequently used routes.

Because of Liepard, the uncommon Beldum became common. I supposed I could have caught one of those, but that specific Metang never left my mind.

We did happen upon other Pokémon in this crater, as expected, but any battles always ended up in our win—or our calculated retreat. However, there was at least one surprise; we ended up finding that same group of Sneasel from the other day. Liepard accidentally led us to the base of an ancient, evergreen tree while following familiar claw marks. When we emerged into the space beneath the tree’s branches, countless red eyes surrounded by dark fur all stared down at us.

Faced with this gang of Sneasel, we were prepared to go on a fighting retreat, but any potential violence was put on hold as a pudgy, pink Pokémon all but stomped our way.

“Alright, alright!” I shouted quickly as its tiny fists uselessly battered my side. “We’ll go! Sorry!”

Because of that Pokémon’s influence, no battle was entertained.

The group of Sneasel used the towering tree’s heavy branches as their base, and they had retreated here after getting injured in a completely unrelated fight. This pink Pokémon had arrived to assist with that recovery, completely unbothered by Sneasel’s mischievous presence, and when my team and I walked away, I could already see the Pokémon’s hands begin to glow for the start of a Heal Pulse.

Audino were naturally kind Pokémon like that, wild or not, and the species’s willingness to heal any injuries was likely why they had become so widespread in Unova. No wild Pokémon ever wanted to prevent an Audino from entering its territory. They were instinctual healers, and having access to such common healing by roaming Audino was probably why the wild Pokémon in Unova were a bit tougher than the wild Pokémon in other regions.

That level of “easy” healing was likely another reason why the Pokémon in the Giant Chasm were so willing to fight. However, as we walked away from the Sneasel’s tree, a certain detail about what we saw stuck out to me.

“The Metang was already injured when it attacked us,” I said quietly to my team. “Except, an Audino should have been able to heal it. There’s no reason for it to have entered a fight so damaged, unless...”

I frowned, remembering just how Valiant and I used to take things back when I was still adapting to this world.

“Unless it’s so focused on battling, the Metang isn’t caring about its wellbeing,” I said softly, absentmindedly rubbing some faded marks on the back of my hand. “To it, Audino might just be yet another species to attack.”

At my side, Valiant uncomfortably rolled their shoulders. The glow in their eyes dimmed at the reminder of how we used to act.

Liepard continued to lead our group from there. His strategy changed somewhat—he now looked for familiar details while also hunting down active battles.

A Solrock crashed against a half-asleep Lunatone. A Mamoswine led a group of Piloswine in a territory dispute against a Weavile and its Sneasel. A lone Excadrill dug through the earth to slip out and steal some berries from a tree that a few Taillow nested in.

I almost wanted to catch the Excadrill we saw, but once again, that wild species took one look at us, grunted, and then dove straight back into the earth.

I’d only ever been so offended one other time in my life.

Spending days in the Giant Chasm did lead to a noticeable increase in strength. The battles became easier, and the freezing environment became more tolerable. Charges from Mamoswine that Valiant would be forced to avoid became moves that Valiant could now deflect. The Psychic-type attacks of Solrock and Lunatone became less of an overwhelming threat and more of a technique Rotom could disrupt with Shadow Balls. The straggler species, the lone individuals searching for loose items to take, were dealt with quickly and efficiently by Liepard’s Night Slash. With those improvements came added time in each day. The less energy we spent in battle, the more energy we had to continue our search.

And then, over two weeks since our initial steps into the crater, we finally found exactly what we were looking for.

Increasing the radius of his search, Liepard brought us to the very edge of the Giant Chasm. There, a cliff extended far above us, and at its base, a cave opened up.

“Shh,” I said, crouching and lowering my voice. “The Metang is right there. Finally. But... It’s just floating. It’s doing... something. What’s it waiting for?”

We had found the Metang, but I couldn’t bring myself to approach; my curiosity was getting the best of me. This Metang looked worse now than it did even just a few days ago—even its magnetic levitation saw it hovering closer to the earth. Scrapes and dents littered what should have been its nearly impervious body. The darkness around its eyes made them seem even more sunken than before. And, on its right arm, one of its metal claws had a noticeable chip.

But yet, even with all of that building damage, this Pokémon had not given up.

Creeping around to get a better look at it, I managed to catch a glimpse of the Metang’s expression from where I crouched behind the trees. Its species had a metal, almost emotionless face like an Iron Valiant’s, but its eyes revealed everything.

It might have just been floating there, but this Metang was staring straight into the depths of the cave with undeniable determination.

Then, the Metang vibrated. A shout echoed out from deep inside the Pokémon’s body.

“It’s... calling out its name,” I whispered as the Pokémon’s call echoed around us. “By the sound of it, it’s like... it’s challenging something to a fight?”

Behind me, Valiant suddenly snapped their hand up to better grip their blade. At my side, all of Liepard’s fur suddenly stood on its ends.

Something shifted from inside the darkness of the cave. Lumbering out was a brand new Pokémon; where Metang was two-limbed and floating, this Pokémon walked across the earth with four independent legs. Its body was made out of that same, silvery blue, and a metal cross covered its face.

The newcomer’s red eyes were completely emotionless as it brought its gaze over toward the challenger that floated outside its home.

“A Metagross.” My words were so quiet that they could barely be described as a whisper. “The evolution of Metang. A pseudo-Legendary Pokéemon. Finding one is difficult. Evolution is a struggle for even the most experienced of trainers. A Metang was already a rare species, but to see a Metagross that managed to fully evolve in the wild?”

There was no doubting it; for a trainerless Pokémon, this thing had to be strong.

To the Metang, however, the Metagross was another opponent, but calling it “just” another opponent would have been wrong. Based on the look in the Metang’s eyes, this Metagross was the opponent. It was the challenge that the Metang had been striving for. There was such dogged determination, such a drive to this mid-stage Pokémon’s eyes that it was almost a wonder that it didn’t immediately throw itself forward.

The Metang vibrated once again as it let out another cry, and the Metagross didn’t react at all to the repeated challenge. The fully evolved Pokémon’s red gaze simply flicked over the Metang, and the Metang floated higher in expectation.

But if the Metagross noticed the excitement, it didn’t show it. Rather, the first emotion it had displayed across this entire encounter finally crossed its face:

Disappointment.

Turning around in a silent dismissal, the heavy legs of the Metagross shook the earth as it moved to return to its cave. Behind it, the Metang started to shake, and I could see how its own eyes shifted to display so many different emotions at once—but, primarily, rage.

It happened almost faster than I could process; the Metang flung itself through the air. It used the Giant Chasm’s magnetic field to accelerate to an incredible speed.

But, even faster than it had moved, the Metang hit the earth. Blue, telekinetic energy held it down as it struggled to free itself from the Metagross’s distant grip.

Now properly annoyed, the Metagross finally looked back. Perhaps to deal with an ongoing annoyance, or perhaps just to settle the Metang’s persistent challenges, the metal of the fully evolved Pokémon’s lower body creaked open.

A glow built in the Metagross’s mouth.

“That’s—”

Valiant lunged, grabbing me and pulling me away to hide behind a tree. Briefly, this entire space beneath the cliffside became solely defined by heat and light. Dirt entered the air, and I didn’t get to see the attack. Yet, I could tell what it was.

A Hyper Beam.

A laser attack.

The ultimate Normal-type move.

Given that Metang was a Steel type, it should have resisted this attack. However, the Metagross possessed such an insane level of power that this resisted move had utterly taken the Metang out. From where it had been pinned by Psychic energy, there was now a small crater in the earth. The Metang was utterly unconscious, half-buried in the dirt.

But the Metagross was still there.

Standing outside its cave.

Its deep red eyes flicked our way, and I felt my breath catch in my throat.

When it came to obtaining true power, that power could only come from countless moments of personal experience. Here, this Metagross stood at the very peak of what the average wild Pokémon could become. My team and I didn’t just recognize that—we could feel that.

However, all the Metagross did was flick its eyes over us and express its disinterest. The moment its gaze fell away, I felt as though I could breathe once more.

As the Metagross disappeared back into its darkened, stony home, Rotom’s washing machine hit the dirt with a thump as he abandoned it to hide within my smart watch. Meanwhile, I had never seen Liepard stand with a back so arched or a tail so puffed up. Valiant was my team member most in control, but they had still drawn their blade just in case.

As we stood now, we could only maybe beat that Metagross in a fight. Valiant could likely keep it occupied, but we would also need to heavily rely on Liepard’s tricks. However, following that strategy would just force Liepard to become our weakest link. One well-placed move, and our entire side of the battle would collapse.

“But it’s pretty neat, right?” I said to my team. “To see something that strong and know that you have so much farther to go.”

Liepard sat down and began to lick a paw, acting casually as if to suggest that he had understood that from the start. Next to me, Valiant carefully lowered their blade, but I had a feeling that their alertness would be at its max for the next several days.

However, in all honesty, that Metagross didn’t matter. It was a chance encounter at best—no capture attempt aimed at it would ever work.

As I collected Rotom’s fallen washing machine, my gaze flicked back over to the newly formed crater in the center of this clearing. There, our target lay unconscious, but I didn’t grab one of my spare Ultra Balls.

No.

As much as I wanted to catch this Metang, we weren’t here to force it to fight for us. Capturing it now would only go against everything my Pokémon and I stood for. Instead, we would wait. We would fight it properly. We would give it a pitch.

By the end of the day, this Metang would be part of our team.

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Author Note:

Pokémon mentioned in this chapter:
Audino
Excadrill
Metang / Metagross
Sneasel

Nick’s Team:
Iron Valiant
Liepard
Rotom

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