Hong Meiling Sleepwalks Through the Heavens

Hong Meiling wasn’t sure how to convey to Cynthia that she came to Stark Mountain due to a recently bestowed ability of hers.

“I was… walking, yeah!” Meiling answered. “I was on a walk, and I somehow ended up all the way here. Silly me!”

Cynthia immediately squinted her eyes and frowned, feeling that Meiling was slightly suspicious.

The strange woman before her seemed to dodge her question, and she didn’t know how to become a Pokémon Trainer either.

Meiling knew that her answer was unconvincing, and opted to turn the tables, “Well, what are you doing here, then?”

“There were rumors that a Heatran resides in the depths of Stark Mountain’s cave,” Cynthia explained. “So, I wanted to try and capture it. Other Pokémon Trainers come here just to capture it.”

Despite how suspicious Meiling was, Cynthia’s gut feeling told her that she is a trustworthy person. Hence, she didn’t try to hide any information in her answer.

Of course, if she made a mistake in judgement, she could simply summon her four Pokémon: Garbite, Eevee, Roserade, and Gastrodon to fight her. Even though she was able to defeat an Onix in a one-on-one battle, surely, she couldn’t beat a four-on-one situation.

In reality, Meiling could easily subdue all of them, but you couldn’t blame Cynthia for being confident. After all, you don’t see a magical person in the world of Pokémon everyday.

A Heatran. Meiling wondered. The Heatran is a Legendary Fire/Steel-type Pokémon, and it prefers to reside within the caves of volcanoes.

Of course, as a Legendary Pokémon, it is undoubtedly powerful. Even in the distance, Meiling could see several Trainers looking for caves in an attempt to locate the Heatran.

“I’m interested in the Heatran too,” Meiling said as she looked into the distance. “Could I follow you, Cynthia? I just want to look – I will not try to capture it.”

She was telling the truth – she simply wanted Cynthia to accompany her.

After all, this is the fearsome Cynthia. Feared and revered by all. She wouldn’t pass on the opportunity to try and become her friend.

In the original game, Cynthia never summoned a Heatran in battle, so her trip must have been in vain. If she goes with her, she might be able to help.

Cynthia hesitated in silence, but agreed nonetheless.

Cynthia could see that this peculiar girl-in-green had no Pokémon on her. If she lets her wander around with no Pokémon in this treacherous mountain, the guilt might just overtake her.

Although it seemed that Meiling was able to subdue an Onix with her own strength, there were plenty more dangerous, wild Pokémons in Stark Mountain. Meiling’s fist may have opened Cynthia’s eyes, but it still wouldn’t be right to leave her alone here.

Yes, Cynthia is still wary of Meiling, but at the same time, she is worried for her. Meiling’s safety would be guaranteed with her around.

The two then wandered around the mountain in search of the Heatran.

The two ran into a couple of other Pokémon Trainers, but nobody seemed to ask for battles. It would be unrealistic for every Trainer to request a battle, unlike in the original game.

Everyone was here for one thing only – Heatran. If their Pokémon is weakened due to battle, then they would not have Pokémon to deal with Heatran.

Plus, there are wild Pokémon abound here.

Meiling and Cynthia would also come across wild Pokémon, but they aren’t threats, at least to Cynthia. Meiling originally stepped forward to give them the taste of a rainbow, but Cynthia held her back. Cynthia still felt that Pokémon should be defeated by Pokémon, and sent out her Roserade to deal with the wild Pokémon.

…

“A cave!” Cynthia called out to Meiling as quietly as she could. “Do you think Heatran is inside?” she asked as she diverged from the path.

“Well, doesn’t hurt to explore.”

The two walked into the inconspicuous cave, and it was indeed very large. The ceiling was more than four meters above them, and the cave itself was incredibly wide. Looking deeper, its maw extended deep into the unseen void.

Immediately, Meiling could sense that there were two strangers in the cave. The two strangers were hiding behind a pillar of rock not far away, and she could pick up on their hasty, labored breaths.

Cynthia was still oblivious to this, and Meiling immediately pondered, They must’ve entered the cave, found Heatran, failed to capture it, and managed to run all the way here… but why hide?

The two walked deeper into the cave, passing by the pillar. Meiling could sense that the two men were following quietly behind, about fifteen meters away.

Oh, they want Cynthia to fight Heatran, and then jump in at the right time to capture it for themselves… how tasteless of them!

Meiling gritted her teeth silently to herself, As long as I am around, you’re not stealing anything!

The two continued walking further into the deep, dark maw of the cave, and yet, there was still no trace of Heatran. Along the way, a few Zubats came to harass them, but Cynthia’s Roserade dealt with them with swiftness.

Cynthia’s Gabite is not fully evolved, but it should be the strongest Pokémon in Cynthia’s arsenal. She seemed to be using her Roserade to deal with the small fry, and possibly, wear Heatran out before finishing it off with Gabite.

Meiling observed that Cynthia did not capture any Pokémon after defeating them. Perhaps she had her own requirements needed to capture them.

After walking for more than a hundred meters, the two’s vision widened.

The cave seemed to opened up into an unusually wide space of about three hundred square meters.

It was also extremely hot and humid, perhaps due to the fact that they were inside a volcano. Cynthia’s clothes were already drenched and sticky with sweat.

Meiling, however, was spick-and-span, with not a single drop of sweat on her.

In the space, they could see Heatran’s dormant figure.

Heatran was lying in the center of this large opening. Hearing footsteps, it raised its head to look at Meiling and Cynthia.

Heatran is a four-legged Pokémon with reddish-brown skin dotted with orange. Its head and abdomen are rock-like, and its claws were sturdy like stone. Its body seemed robust, and at the same time, emitted a dangerous heat, deterring Pokémon or humans from coming close to it.

“N-no way, it’s Heatran!” Cynthia called out excitedly.

Heatran was Cynthia’s ultimate goal in her expedition. Even though she is usually calm and collected, her hands and feet trembled with excitement at the thought of capturing this Legendary Pokémon.

A teenage girl with a Legendary Pokémon – just thinking about it tempts her with power.

Heatran seemed to have sensed Cynthia’s thoughts, and glared at her.

“Gabite, I choose you!” Cynthia, also sensing Heatran’s hostility, sent out her best Pokémon.

As Gabite flopped out of its Poké Ball, it directly locked its sight onto Heatran.

Despite its powerful, overbearing aura of heat, Cynthia’s Gabite stood tall with no fear.

“Gabite, use Bulldoze after getting closer to it!” Cynthia ordered.

Bulldoze is a Ground-type attack. In addition to dealing damage, it also reduces the enemy’s speed. Since Heatran is a Fire/Steel type, Ground-type attacks will deal four times more damage to it.

Immediately, her Gabite rushed towards Heatran, and slammed its foot heavily onto the ground.

Heavy vibrations radiated across the cave, and the intense waves hit Heatran’s body.

It groaned.

Cynthia’s eyes widened.

After all, it is a Legendary Pokémon. Even with effective attacks, it may deal little damage to it.

It was Heatran’s turn to attack. It opened its mouth towards Gabite, and bursts of fiery, scarlet flames spat out from its mouth.

Lava Plume! Meiling thought in astonishment. It deals heavy damage and has the chance to burn an opponent.

Although Fire-type attacks only deal half damage to Ground and Dragon-type Pokémon, Cynthia does not want her Gabite to tank its flames.

Likewise, even if its ineffective, it might deal considerable damage to Gabite.

“Gabite, avoid the flames!”

Cynthia’s Gabite hurriedly waddled over to the side, but Heatran simply followed its movements as it prepared itself to use Flamethrower, turning its head to spit out continuous barrages of fiery flames wherever the Gabite went.

Heatran didn’t seem to stop its attack. After all, she was in the Pokémon world, and not the Pokémon game – that doesn’t mean that Pokémon have to wait their turn to attack.

“Gabite! Use Dragon Pulse!”

Although Dragon-type attacks deal half damage to Heatran, Cynthia still wanted to damage Heatran using long-ranged attacks. Even if it does miniscule amounts of damage, any damage is still damage.

Cynthia cursed herself for not training her Gabite with more long-ranged attacks. Even then, Bulldoze barely scratched at Heatran’s hide.

If only I let it learn Mud Shot, or Dig!

Moreover, her current Gabite couldn’t dig holes. If it could, this fight would be much easier.

And never in a million years would she to let her Gabite use Earthquake. She didn’t want to kill everyone in this cave.

Hearing Cynthia’s order, Gabite stepped backwards and swiftly dodged Heatran’s fiery breath, spitting a Dragon Pulse towards it as smoke was generated from the impact.

However, Heatran seemed to have the same idea of long-ranged combat. It emerged from the smoke with no wounds, and continued to spit its unrelenting flames.

Gabite continued shooting out Dragon Pulses, but they simply phased through the curtain of fire, causing Gabite to be hurt by the fire’s tongue.

Pain immediately washed over Gabite’s face, while Heatran didn’t even bothered to look hurt.

Cynthia gritted her teeth – her plan was not going well. Heatran is too strong for her!

Until now, her path as a Pokémon Trainer has been smooth sailing, but this battle is certainly threatening to sink her confident ship.

Cynthia gripped her Poké Ball in her hand with a troubled frown.

Looking at the situation, a one-on-one fight is no longer feasible. If she sends out her other Pokémon, she might still have a chance.

However, her ego as a righteous Pokémon Trainer nagged at her ear, but her brain was starting to knock down her walls in favor of getting the taste of victory on her tongue.

Finally, she tossed out her second Poké Ball, summoning her Gastrodon.

The Gastrodon resembled a turtle without a shell, and it has three eyes on its head with horn-like appendages on both sides of its head. The Gastrodon has two different forms – the West Sea Gastrodon, and East Sea Gastrodon, and this depends on where the Gastrodon was born. There are no differences in terms of abilities other than the color of its skin. West Sea Gastrodons are pink and brown, while East Sea Gastrodons are green and blue. Cynthia’s Gastrodon is a West Sea Gastrodon.

It is a Ground and Water-type Pokémon. On paper, its good against Heatran, but she already threw the thought of ‘on-paper’ out the window.

“Gastrodon, use Muddy Water! Gabite, use Dragon Pulse!”

The two immediately launched their attacks on Heatran on both of it’s sides – Gastrodon opened its mouth to spit out a stream of turbid water, which deals damage and has a chance of lowering its opponent’s accuracy; Gabite, too, opened its mouth to launch Dragon Pulses towards it.

Heatran’s eyes seemed to glow in the face of these attacks, and it opened its mouth, causing waves of orange heat to spurt out from its maw.

The waves of heat danced and twirled around its body, forming a fiery shield around itself.

Heat Wave! Meiling recognized. Is this not an offensive move…? Its using it defensively!

Gastrodon’s stream of water and Gabite’s Dragon Pulse were immediately blown away by the tornado, causing them to be deflected towards the walls of the cave, creating deep craters.

As the Heat Wave dissipated, Heatran opened its mouth again, causing large amounts of fire to spew out from its mouth, forming a gargantuan, overbearingly-hot whirlwind that swept Gabite and Gastrodon away.

M-Magma Storm!

Translator Comments:

Happy 20th Chapter! ^.^ Again, shameless plug of my Ko-Fi page here (https://ko-fi.com/slicedbreadsbakery). Thanks for sticking around, and feel free to tip or commission me to translate anything you’d like if you’ve been enjoying my translations! ଘ(∩^o^)⊃━☆:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧✯