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Chapter 37

  “I see,” Blinking away the sunspot in his eyes from merely looking at the Moltres, Larry calmly walked away from the hole. Yet internally, he was panicking.

  ‘WHY THE HELL IS THERE A GODDAMN MOLTRES DEEP INSIDE OF MT. SILVER?!’

  He wanted to kick or punch at something, but he managed to get away by simply tapping at his chin thoughtfully. This was unprecedented. For whatever reason, a Moltres had made its home inside Mt. Silver and was heating up the entire mountain during its sleep.

  ‘And poor ol’ me has to be the one to find out about it…Just my luck…’ Larry pouted to himself, still walking away from the hole. His mother had turned back by now and looked, not quite as shocked as him, but still confused.

  She turned to the Magmar, who had been so gracious in explaining the situation to them, and pointed back at the hole, “What is that?”

  “It is one of the winged mirages,” The Magmar began, “a Pokemon of legend, undying and eternally burning-”

  “What do you know?” his mother interrupted the Magmar, clearly already expecting a long-winded explanation and waiting for it to get to the point.

  “I-It is one of the winged mirages-”

  “What. Do. You. Know?” She pressed.

  The Magmar looked back to its compatriots with a slight tinge of fear before turning back, “W-We found it roosting here and decided to use its warmth to our advantage.”

  “And?”

  “T-That is all…” Magmar bowed its head stiffly.

  Now that got his interest: “So this Pokemon is one of these winged mirages. What are the winged mirages?” Larry spoke up, walking to the two of them.

  “The winged mirages are a trio of legendary bird Pokemon. Each one represents a different type of energy. One bird harnassing the heat of fire, another controlling thunder, and a final bird representing the cold and ice.” The Magmar explained.

  “Alright, thank you for the explanation.” Larry spoke with a smile, his mind meanwhile was still preoccupied, ‘How do they know about Articuno and Zapdos? And what is with that name, the Winged Mirages?’

  He looked back at the hole with a slight wince before realizing what they were here to do, “Well…It is heating up the entire cave system from its roosting spot down here and we need to somehow make it stop.”

  An eager grin spread on his mother's face as her gaze fell back onto the hole, “It looks strong.”

  All the Magmars in the cavern seemed uncomfortable at the mention of making the Moltres stop its roosting, and the Magmar in front of them quickly spoke up.

  “E-Every single bird in the trio possesses a great deal of power! I’d discourage you from fighting it, I do not think it is a wise decision!”

  Larry nodded along quickly, “Yeah, Mom. It’s a legendary Pokemon, there are things we shouldn’t mess with.”

  She hummed thoughtfully and kept eyeing the hole, “Hmmh…Yeah,” she stepped back towards the hole, “but how strong can it be?”

  “Mom, no.” Larry felt himself panic internally as he shut her down calmly. He walked over to grab her quickly, “Look down there. That thing can melt stone into Magma by simply sleeping!”

  “So?” She pressed.

  “I don’t think you would win in a fight.” He answered back honestly.

  His mother stared into his eyes, searching to see if he was telling the truth. Larry held the stare, not wanting his mother to start anything. The Magmar in the cavern stared at them awkwardly, clearly expecting something to go wrong right about now.

  She turned away with a huff, “Fine”

  “Thanks,” Larry felt all the adrenaline leave his body, he almost dropped onto the ground, yet he held strong.

  …

  The two of them had decided to make camp a few paces outside of the cavern Moltres was roosting in, it was still quite hot out here, but Larry felt comfortable enough to rest here, instead of the feeling of standing inside of a convection oven he had gotten back inside the cavern.

  For now, the plan they had hatched was quite simple. Now that they had an idea of what was causing Mt. Silver to heat up, they would be forced to go and somehow inform Donphan and his friends in the second layer of the reason.

  They had once again cozied up into a self-made outcropping and Larry had been pulled into his mother's lap, he let himself be manhandled like a plush toy by his mom as he hashed out some sort of plan in his mind. Before he could come to any conclusion though, his mother spoke up.

  “I will escort you to the outside and we’ll train there until you evolve,” His mom said with finality, “I can deliver the news sometime later.”

  “But Mom, the Pokemon from the second layer need to know what's going on down here.” Larry complained, “I love spending time with you. Why don’t we go back up together and tell them?”

  If he was being honest, Larry wouldn’t want to spend another day back in the caves of Mt. Silver. If there wasn’t a giant body of water keeping him here, he would’ve already walked his way out by now, but he had made promises with his friends on the second layer he had to keep. Reporting back to them was integral, maybe they’d even be able to come up with some sort of plan once they met again.

  “You want out of the caves, I’ll get you out.” His mother announced. It was clear that she cared far more for him than any of the inhabitants of the second layer, “I’m not smart, but I know you’re uncomfortable here.”

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  “I-I’m fine!” Larry retorted far too quickly, “Alright, I don’t like the caves, but I’ve managed this far, I can hold out a bit more! Let’s go back together when we wake back up!”

  His mother frowned down at him and crossed her arms resolutely, “No.”

  “I don’t want us to stay here,” She spoke threateningly, “so I’ll just take care of the issue.”

  Larry jumped to his feet at the threat, “Mom! No! It’ll kill you!”

  “You’ve never seen me at my full strength.” She countered, “I’ll be fine.”

  “No, Mom! That Pokemon is legendary!” He hastily argued, “It has history and stories which have spread over it far and wide. We don’t even know how old it is!”

  She once again searched his eyes, until she turned to the cavern. Larry couldn’t discern her face, but when she looked back she looked far more confident.

  “I’m fighting it.”

  “Mom!” He yelled out again in panic, ‘Shit! This is so stupid! What is making her do this?!’

  Larry wasn’t sure what was making his mother act this way if it was some kind of fighting instinct imprinted in their line or just her brand of brutishness. The one thing he was sure of though, was that this wouldn’t end well. Even if his mother somehow won the fight, Larry didn’t know what implications and ramifications it would have on the ecosystem. ‘Weren’t some of these legendary Pokemon responsible for how the world functioned?’ He just couldn’t be sure.

  “Please, don’t do this! I know this isn’t going to end well!” He urged her again.

  “I. am. fighting. it.” She spoke once again resolutely, enunciating every word individually as she stared into his eyes, “I can’t let such an opportunity go past.”

  “So you’re doing this just because you want to fight something strong?!” Larry argued incredulously, “Mom, once we're outside there will be so many new Pokemon you’ve never met. Why not try and start a fight with those?”

  Her gaze traveled over to the cavern entrance, “But this one is Legendary,” She spoke longingly.

  ‘What the hell is this?!’ Larry panicked in his mind, ‘How the hell do I get her off of this mindset?!’

  “Mom, please. I am begging you, don’t start a fight you won’t win!” He pleaded honestly.

  Her facade crumbled slightly, “Mmrgh…”

  Seeing the cracks form, he turned up the childish charms, “Please, I don’t want to lose you so quickly after meeting you, Mom.”

  More cracks in her facade started to show, “Hmm…”

  ‘Sorry, Phanpy and Donphan, but I need to do this! Please hold out a bit!’ He cried to himself mentally for his next argument.

  “The Legendary Pokemon won’t leave and Donphan himself said it will only become a problem by summer. I said I wanted to report it as quickly as possible, but we could also simply go back into the caves some other time! We can simply come back later with a plan to fight it, then we’ll have some real chances of winning.” Larry rattled off all of his points frantically, he slowly saw his mother's facade surely crumble until she finally shut her eyes and pulled in a big breath to let out a gigantic sigh.

  “Haah…Alright!” She ground out, “Let’s do it your way.”

  ‘Yes!’ Larry mentally fist-bumped himself, ‘Crisis averted!’

  “Thank you, Mom!” He plopped down in her lap again as he hugged himself to her, his legs giving out under him in relief, “Before we go when we wake up, I want to check the chamber to see if it is still sleeping so we can plan for the fight once we’re outside!”

  “Fine,” She waved him off grumpily, “Now let me sleep.”

  …

  It was a new day and the two of them once again found themselves in the cavern Moltres was roosting in. The ceiling was high and clear of any obstructions, with only the bright light given off by the Moltres shining onto it like a flashlight. Magmar families still huddled around the chamber, the Pokemon held each other and their children fearfully every time he and his mother had been in the room with them. Some Magby still ran around the room, chasing each other in a primitive form of tag.

  The room felt hotter than last time, but Larry wasn’t sure if it was because he had slept further away from here where the heat wasn’t as bad, or some other factor. He and his mother walked side to side as they entered and all eyes fell on them once again.

  “W-Welcome back, great mountain queen!” The same Magmar from last time hastily stumbled over to them before taking a knee before them, clearly not having to expect to meet them again, “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

  “We’re checking this place over once again and then we’ll be gone, so don’t panic,” Larry informed him casually, striding past him confidently.

  “U-Understood!” It happily returned, it breathed a sigh of relief as it turned away from them.

  As they closed in on the hole once again, the heat turned up and Larry felt his eyes dry out more with every step. He took another few steps close to the hole and then took another peek down quickly.

  The searing heat punched into his face as he gazed down and the artificial sun he’d seen before stared back at him once again. Like a camera flash, the brightness forced his eyes almost completely shut just a second or so after looking, the heat burned into his cheek like a stovetop on an unsuspecting child's hand and he immediately hopped back with a hiss.

  “Ack!” Larry yelled out as he nursed the side of his face with one of his arms, “That didn’t happen last time!”

  The side of his face felt rougher than normal, he’d definitely just been burned, even if just slightly, ‘That’s crazy! I wasn’t even hit by anything, just looking at its fiery roosting almost burned my face off and I’ve got that rocky skin!’

  “What happened?” His mother asked with concern as she closed in on the hole.

  “It burned my face just looking at it,” Larry said as he continued to step back, “that thing is powerful.”

  She looked at the hole with a frown, “It wasn’t like that last time.”

  “No, it wasn’t.” Larry replied, “Le-”

  Just for a second, the light inside the hole dimmed, like a lamp supplied with too little power, before it rapidly began to intensify.

  ‘Wha…’ Larry didn’t even have time to cry out before the room temperature suddenly raised itself by several degrees.

  His mother's head whirled back to the hole and she immediately took action. The previously clean and even roof of the cavern collapsed inwards with a swish of his mother's tail.

  Instead of crushing every occupant of the room including Larry and his mother, the falling rocks all redirected themselves into the hole in the middle of the cavern, burying the legendary bird under a literal shower of rocks, stemming the heat.

  Panic rose and all of the Magmar inside the cavern immediately took off, racing to be the first outside of the cavern's only entrance before it too was covered in a shower of rocks and debris. Between the mass of bodies and panicked cries of an entire colony of Magmar, smoke could be seen rising out of the hole his mother had just plugged. Beneath the cacophony of Pokemon cries droning into their ears, the loud cracks of stone could be made out from the hole. Moltres wasn’t dead.

  ‘Ohh noo…’ Larry practically turned white at the sight, the last of the Magmar just exited the cave behind him as he stared back at his mom and the hole behind her.

  His mother turned back to him, not with an excited grin or a fighter’s scowl, but the look of a troubled parent, she scooped him up as the two of them evacuated the chamber,

  “It woke up.”

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