Pokémon Heroes of Hoenn

Stopping A Camerupt-ion

My eyes shakily began to open, noticing the oddly bright lighting through my blurry vision. I glanced around as best I could, recognizing the location as a Pokémon Center. I groaned, attempting to sit up a bit, though my tired muscles weren't playing along.
"Hey, he's waking up. Ruby, hey Ruby, you alright?" Silver called softly, hovering over me on the side of the couch I was lying on. My vision returned to normal from the slight blurriness, letting me finally spot the rest of my friends. Silver and Leaf were beside me, Gold, Sapphire, and Crystal were sitting on the opposite couch, and Fire and Emerald were standing behind them. When my strength returned to me I pushed myself into a sitting position, slinging one leg off the side of the couch to sit more comfortably.
"Alright... somebody update me on what's happening." I muttered, glancing between everyone as I waited for a response.
"Well, after those Magma Grunts pushed you into that water and Sapphire got you out, these Team Aqua people showed up and chased after them. Their boss told us not to get in his way before following after his Grunts." Fire explained calmly.
"Yeah, and somewhere between then you passed out." Sapphire added to the explanation. I nodded in response, processing the information as I received it.
"Random question, but is white hair common in Johto?" Emerald asked casually.
"What...?" I muttered, raising a hand to my head only to realize my hat wasn't there. I yelped, running my fingers through my hair frantically. I stared at them in shock, worried that they would laugh at my abnormal hair color.
"Hey, hey! Relax, dude, it suits you!" Emerald exclaimed, holding her hands up as if to say she meant no harm. I stared at her skeptically, loosening my grip on my hair.
"Do you really mean that or are you just trying to make fun of me?" I muttered.
"No, seriously! It really does suit you." Emerald assured, lowering her hands a bit as I lowered my own.
"Why would you think we were gonna make fun of you, Ruby?" Crys asked with a tone of concern.
"I don't know... I guess it's because the kids back in Goldenrod used to do it..." I muttered, scratching the back of my neck in embarrassment.
"Oh Ruby, the kids in Goldenrod City make fun of everybody!" Crys chuckled, earning a puzzled look from me.
"Yeah, besides, we're your friends! It doesn't matter if you're hair is a rainbow, we're still gonna be here for ya!" Leaf exclaimed cheerfully. I smiled softly up at them as they assured me of their loyalty.
“Granted it would still be pretty weird if your hair was a rainbow, but yeah, we'd definitely stick by you.” Emerald joked.
I really am lucky to have such sympathetic friends.
A sudden thought hit me, causing me to freeze.
"Where's Professor Cosmo?!" I blurted out.
"He's at home, still in shock though." Fire muttered sadly.
"Then let's go! We've gotta get that Meteorite back from Team Magma! Who knows what they're gonna do with it!" I exclaimed, jumping to my feet as I spoke.
"That's right! They said they were going back to Mt. Chimney, right?" Emerald questioned.
"Right, so we'd better move fast. We've already wasted a lot of time here, so we gotta get moving." Silver stated with a serious tone, plucking out a Pokéball as he spoke. Gold tossed me my hat, which had finally dried, and I pulled it over my white hair, leaving it just above where it shaded to black. Sometimes I do have to question how I was born with hair that was naturally black and white, but now's not the time to ponder over it.
We raced to Mt. Chimney on our Pokémon once more, making a beeline for the cable cars as they came into view. Lucky for us, the Magma Grunts from before were nowhere in sight, but that also means that the other two must've already gotten here. We hopped into a car to the peak of the mountain, an unpleasant surprise waiting for us there.
"This is volcano?!" I yelped in shock.
"Duh, why do you think it's called Mt. Chimney?" Emerald stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"That's not the point! Why do they have a cable car that takes you to the peak of a volcano?!" I snapped, all the possible safety hazards refusing to leave my mind.
"I don't know, ask the people who built the darn thing!" Emerald snapped back, sparks seeming to fly between us as we bickered about the volcano we stood on.
"I've got an even better question, what does Team Magma plan on doing on this volcano anyway?" Leaf asked, crossing his arms as he considered the thought.
"I think Team Aqua wants to find out too. Take a look at this..." Fire murmured, signalling out to where crowds of battling Team Aqua and Team Magma Grunts fought.
"Look, there's that Archie guy we met before!" Gold exclaimed, pointing out to where said boss was battling three Team Magma Grunts.
"Talk about an unfair fight..." Emerald muttered, shifting her gaze to me as she spoke.
"Come on, let's go get Professor Cosmo's Meteorite back so we can hurry up and get to Lavaridge Town." I stated firmly, moving ahead towards a row of Team Magma Grunts. I hid behind a large rock, eyeing them from behind my cover.
"What's the plan?" Leaf asked, kneeling beside me as he whispered. I turned to my friends as they each awaited a response, wondering why the responsibility always fell on me in this situation in the back of my head.
"Well, seeing how we already wasted plenty of time, I think we should strategize. There are eight of us, and six of them. So we can split up, Silver, Fire, you take the last two guys over there. Gold, Crystal, you take those two in the middle. Leaf, Emerald, the two closest to us right now. While you guys distract them, Sapphire and I will run to that weird platform thing and grab the Meteorite from whoever has it. Everybody good?" I asked, earning dumbfounded looks from everyone. "What?" I questioned, tilting my head in confusion.
"That has to be the most logical thing you've ever said, Ruby." Emerald stated with a light chuckle. Everyone smiled before getting to their feet, pairing up like I had said and exchanging nods of assurance before racing for the Team Magma Grunts.
Sapphire and I watched from the sidelines until all the Magma Grunts had their attention focused on battling. I turned to her and signaled with my head for her to follow. We raced towards the strange bridge-like walkway, a red haired man coming into view.
"Hold it right there, brats!" a voice called from behind. Sapphire and I froze, turning to see a woman with short raven hair glaring at us from a few feet away. "Where do you think you're going?!" she snapped, taking a step forward and plucking out a Pokéball.
"Uhhh, there?" I deadpanned, pointing back at the platform with my thumb.
"I don't think so! You'll have to go through me, Magma Admin Courtney, first! Go, Camerupt and Mightyena!!" she called, releasing her two bulky looking Pokémon.
"Looks like they still reached Ruby and Sapphire..." Fire called to Silver, glancing back in our directions as she spoke.
"Then let's give them a hand, shall we?" Silver asked with a smirk. Fire returned the look, plucking out a Pokéball and spinning it on her index finger before grasping it in her hand.
"With pleasure." she stated with a wide smirk.
Sapphire and I were having a hard time beating Courtney with Breloom and my own Mightyena, her Pokémon were just too defensive.
"Do you really think you can defeat me with those Pokémon?! Give me a break! Camerupt and Mightyena, Flamethrower and Bite!" Courtney ordered.
"Breloom, Mach Punch!" Sapphire commanded.
"Mightyena, use Dig!!" I called out. Mightyena managed to avoid the Flamethrower by using Dig while Breloom landed a powerful Mach Punch on Courtney's Mightyena.
"Rina, Sludge Bomb!!"
"Sneasel, Ice Beam!" Fire and Silver command in unison, their Pokémon jumping up from behind Courtney and attacking her Pokémon with a sneak attack.
"Fire, Silver!" Sapphire exclaimed joyfully.
"What about the-" I began, only to be interrupted by Silver pointing back to the two Magma Grunts they had battled and brutally beaten.
I guess it pays to win the Indigo League.
"We'll take it from here, you guys get the Meteorite back!" Fire called, shooting us a wink. I nodded, shooting Sapphire a quick glance before running towards the red haired man we saw before.
"Hey, wait!! You can't do that! Get back here!!" Courtney hissed. "I think you've got bigger problems, miss. Like dealing with the Johto Champion!" Fire exclaimed, pointing to herself with a prideful smirk. I smiled to myself as I heard Fire refer to herself by her title, knowing she'd keep Courtney busy for awhile.
"Finally, preparations are finally complete!" the man before us exclaimed.
"Hey, you!! What do you plan on doing with that Meteorite?!" I called out, startling the red haired man before us.
"What the- how did you get passed my Grunts?!" the man hissed.
"It's called strategy, now answer me!!" I demanded, taking a step forward as I spoke.
"You really want to know? Then I'll tell you, runt. I'm gonna make Mt. Chimney erupt with the power of this machine!" the man exclaimed with an evil smirk. Sapphire and I both gasped, our eyes wide in shock.
"Y-you're insane.... what about all the people in Lavaridge Town?! They live at the base of this volcano! If you make it erupt, they'll die!!" I exclaimed, glaring at the man as I took another step forward. The man relaxed his shoulders a bit, turning to face us completely with a menacing smirk on his face.
"So what?" he whispered just loud enough for us to hear, the carelessness in his tone sending shivers down my spine.
"You... you can't do that. I won't let you do that to those people! To the Pokémon! Come on and battle me!! We'll settle this right here!" I cried out, getting into a battle stance as I released Combusken and Manectric from their Pokéballs, Mightyena taking a battle stance beside me.
"You're going to regret challenging the great Maxie, fool!" the man exclaimed, releasing his own Mightyena, Camerupt, and Golbat. Our Pokémon charged at each other, attacks readied as we gave our commands. Sapphire watched in shock, too shaken up by his threat to move. I didn't mind, this battle against this Maxie guy was my own fight. It may have nothing to do with me, but, for some reason, battling this man hit me on a personal level.

And for the sake of Lavaridge Town and all the people and Pokémon who live on Mt. Chimney, I cannot lose this battle!