As the tremors shook the chamber, rocks of varying sizes rained down on them with the dislodged crystals becoming translucent shimmering daggers. Their trajectory then changed from falling straight down to curving to the side despite the absence of wind. A simple application of Confusion which mitigated the accuracy of all projectiles.

  The Abra then ceased emanating psychic waves and stared off into the distance with closed eyes.

  Harrison reluctantly ended the call as the other side was overwhelmed by what sounded like a series of explosions and a deafening roar which translated into sound glitches as the volume exceeded what the software deemed safe to the ears.

  Maestro then relayed an approaching presence detected by its collision with the scattered debris. It was approaching fast and -

  Another tremor then resounded as a deep impact crater had been made as a huge but incredibly heavy object landed right next to them. Instinctively, Harrison leapt back and braced himself as he narrowly avoided being crushed but had been pelted by a barrage of dense rock fragments.

  From the deep crater, a huge silhouette with glowing red eyes then emerged. Its gaze was malicious as it eyed him like prey. It then bellowed an earsplitting screech which sounded like the harsh scraping of metal against metal.

  “The Predator!”, Ralts then exclaimed in fear.

  The evacuating Pokemon which had crossed a decent distance then began to panic and soon their run turned into a stampede. Without Absol which had left to confront the Titan, there was no one to calm them and soon the Pokemon began to collide into each other as they ran with abandon. The Baltoys toppled as the other Pokemon rushed past them, disrupting their levitation. Mawile screeched as a Bronzor had been knocked right into its open maw and it clamped down out of instinct. Nidoking struggled to keep the peace as more and more Pokemon rushed forward, nearly impaling themselves on his poison horns.

  Harrison grimaced as the Predator emerged from below and towered above them at full height. It was an Aggron with long iron horns and riddled all over with wounds that manifested as dents and craters all over its metal body. Some were recent but others had been scabbed over and indicated its experience in battle as well as the belligerent nature of the metal beast.

  The height was quite astounding though as it was well above 4 meters and its red glaring eyes which should have been blue informed him of its peculiarity. An Alpha Pokemon.

  Harrison quickly went through his roster in his mind and decided against all of them. Nova could tolerate a few blows but wouldn’t last against a full-fledged Pokemon that was adjacent to Ground. Stratus was good at evasion but it only had physical moves which were worthless against proper Steel.

  The Aggron then rushed forward with enlarged Metal Claws and slashed downwards.

  In that moment, Harrison’s hesitation vanished and an ominous pressure afflicted Aggron, causing it to struggle when going through even the most basic of motions.

  Harrison then snapped his fingers and immediately, he swapped positions with a large boulder which Aggron cleanly cleaved through. The pressure then immediately alleviated which made Aggron regard Harrison with great wariness.

  “Alphas do go after Trainers”, Harrison stated with concern.

  Despite having set up many rock formations beforehand to gain a field advantage, Colin did not feel assured at all. They were really just piles of boulders that were placed to stall for time but wouldn’t last if tested. In a way, that was also what Onix was as it was only there to stall for time and would likely buckle after being hit by Steelix a few times.

  With Onix positioned right at the choke point, the Steelix was forced to halt. However what should have been an advantage, instead became a point of comparison as his regular Onix stood tall at a height of 9 meters but still couldn’t compare as its opponent soared far above 10 meters without even utilizing the entirety of its length.

  Colin then shouted at the top of his lungs, “Steelix! If you continue, the mine might collapse!”

  The damage the two had caused in their territorial war had definitely compromised the structural integrity of the tunnels to a significant extent but wouldn’t result in a total collapse. They at Oreburgh prioritized safety though and the maintenance needed to reverse the damage would already be quite costly.

  Whether Steelix knew better or was indifferent, Colin was unsure but the Steelix responded with a Flash Cannon. The released beam of light then struck harshly against the barrier Onix put up with Protect, causing the barrier to fracture immediately.

  Amidst the commotion, they did not hear as a creature leaped across the rock pillars to reach the battlefield. The form cloaked in white fur then revealed itself while perched atop an elevation level to Steelix’s skull.

  Steelix halted its assault as a powerful dark orb slammed directly against its face, causing it to reel back from the impact.

  The Titan then observed the assailant as a proper opponent despite their puny size, noting the dent the move had left.

  With heavy breaths and a wavering will, Ralts reached out psychically.

  They had to calm down. Even though the Predator-

  A deluge of dread then consumed her meager will and once again, panic surged. Instead of calming the stampede, the psychic waves furthered the chaos. Even the Pokemon with the ability of flight, began crashing into each other despite there being sufficient space above the crowd.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Ralts promptly collapsed but before she fell onto the hard ground, Christine caught the empath.

  To the side, Gavin rushed forward to catch a Cubone caught in the rampage.

  If only Seedot knew Vine Whip, he thought as he rolled out of the way.

  Witnessing the extent of the stampede, Christine couldn’t disguise her concern. Some of the Pokemon had already reached the tunnels which would only exacerbate the issue as the tight corridors would create choke points and get many Pokemon stuck, leading to even greater injuries as they collided.

  She then felt the Ralts shiver uncontrollably and empathized.

  “You’re scared and so am I... Everybody is. So we should focus on what we can do and leave the monster to Harrison and Abra”

  Ralts then looked up at Christine and agreed. She decided to reach out once more as the one who understood fear better than most. Leave the Predator to the other Titan to deal with, she thought.

  Rain soaked the cave floor as Maestro levitated far above, focusing on maintaining the dark clouds that covered the battlefield.

  “Whirlwind!”, Harrison shouted.

  Stratus immediately flew forward and let forth a cyclone of wind which combined with the rain to target Aggron. It was far too weak to end the battle forcefully and the elements were far too tame to damage but it hindered Aggron’s speed enough that Machoke managed to Detect and evade the Giga Impact in time.

  The Predator then rushed forward with significant force and impacted the cave wall hard enough to leave spiderweb fractures that reached the ceiling.

  “Now Nova!”

  A potent Thunder Shock then erupted from the little lion and split into numerous branches which converged upon the recovering Aggron. Another wave of electric barrages then landed but before Harrison could retrieve Nova, Aggron rushed forward with unprecedented speed and struck Nova directly with a Heavy Slam. The Luxio then flew back from the impact and was taken out of commission with just a single blow.

  The Aggron then glanced at Harrison and sported a menacing grin as if taunting him.

  Snap.

  Immediately Maestro teleported Nova to Harrison who inspected the fainted lion. He briefly looked at the Pokeball with a solemn expression before retiring the lion from battle.

  In a more typical reality, such an impact would have led to powdered bones or even a broken spine, he thought with a scowl.

  Machoke, which had slightly recovered with the help of a Super Potion then rejoined the battle and struck the Aggron with a Brick Break. The Aggron easily shrugged off the blow and swung its tail to the side. Harrison snapped and the Iron Tail demolished a large boulder instead of Machoke’s torso.

  He then sensed another presence approaching and he signaled for Machoke to launch another attack. Running forward, the bodybuilder went to the side of Aggron who already prepared a Metal Claw to counter but Machoke struck first with a Bullet Punch. With Aggron’s attention on Machoke, Harrison then pitched a large rock directly at Aggron’s face.

  Before the rock could strike, Harrison then snapped and the rock switched with the approaching Nidoking.

  With full force, the Nidoking then unleashed a devastating Brick Break that shattered the right side of the Aggron’s tarnished armor.

  He had returned for a rematch.

  “Rock Tomb!”, Colin shouted above all the commotion.

  Onix obliged, launching multiple boulders towards Steelix to cut off its path and movement.

  The Iron Snake swung back with an Iron Tail, smashing all the boulders into sizable fragments that were hurled at Absol.

  Halting its prepared attack, Absol responded with Swift and pulverized each and every shrapnel with volleys of stars.

  Enraged and sick of being stalled, Steelix stopped holding back. They then stared with shock as Steelix leapt upwards despite its massive weight.

  In a hurry, Absol readied a counterattack. Onix then roared in a panic and promptly set up a barrier with Protect.

  Far too late to escape, Colin hid under the barrier as the Steel Titan landed with the full force of a leviathan. A powerful shockwave resounded as the earth shattered, rock formations crumbled, and crystals the size of buildings pulverized. In a large area, it seemed as if a massive explosion had gone off but it was worse as the shattered earth became loose, initiating rockslides and sending waves of sand flowing like deadly rivers. Cracks then emerged on the cave floor, threatening to destabilize and even collapse the entire chamber.

  Caught in the impact, Onix completely fainted without an ounce of stamina left to resist. As for Colin, he had lost consciousness but his Poketch still functioned, sending its signal as instructed.

  Deeply bruised but still conscious, Absol struggled to lift itself from the floor which it had been sent towards when its perch crumbled like dust.

  And towering above them was Steelix which watched for a moment.

  The cave then shook. Again and again. In a steady rhythm without ceasing. Footsteps which shook the earth just from the motion.

  The Steelix frowned as it saw what was closing in. A gigantic sandstorm was approaching.

  At the forefront of the group, Christine continued upwards with Ralts in her arms. She was unfamiliar with the tunnels but with the assistance of the Pokemon that lived in the caves, she managed to find her way. Gavin stayed at the back to assist any stragglers and perhaps any additional threats even if he couldn’t provide much firepower.

  Turning the corner, she then saw a familiar face in the distance.

  A miner in uniform with a red mining helmet and glasses.

  “Gym Leader Roark?”, Christine asked in shock.

  Roark turned his head away from inspecting a crooked steel arch which signaled significant shifting of the earth. He then saw the crowd of Pokemon that she was leading and frowned.

  “It seems that it’s not just the Mine being compromised”, he stated with concern.

  She had a bunch of questions but she focused on the most important request at the moment.

  “They need your help down there”, Christine stated in a slight panic.

  “I got Colin’s message. He rarely sounds so concerned so I sent one of my best already”

  “Ralts!”, the Pokemon then exclaimed.

  Christine nodded in understanding and then said, “There’s two of them”

  Immediately, he let out two Pokemon and said, “Cranidos, lead them out of the Mine”

  The miniature Pachycephalosaurus nodded and began leading the way.

  “I better hurry then”, Roark muttered.