Session 33, VP2

The party was rattled by their run-in with these two ancient beings. Though Heatran and Solgaleo may not be gods, they were some of the closest living things to that title. Heatran was safely asleep, and didn’t appear likely to wake anytime soon. But Solgaleo… 

At least they now had what felt like all the pieces to this puzzle. The bombs in Frigga’s Womb had woken Solgaleo decades ahead of the next rematch with Heatran. Enraged, the lion now prowled the warren surrounding its well-defended foe. Given its powers as a creature of the Sun, Solgaleo had been warping the reality of the caves, causing spicy Berries to grow where they otherwise couldn’t. Spicy Berries, which attracted a swarm of Gulpin, whose very sweat was toxic. As the Pokémon gorged, evolved, and mutated, that sweat began to filter out of the carbonized trees in Sindri’s Kiln, leading to the current problems that Forgerun was facing. 

Knowing the shape of the problem was a major step forward, but a solution still needed to be found. Once the sounds of Solgaleo’s growls had faded, the party decided to return to the first small cave they had seen the Gulpin and Swalot in. As the rest of the trainers debated how to proceed, Sylvie’s face was scrunched up in thought. Eplina had taught her how to test and develop new medicines: maybe there was a way to create an antidote for this lingering poison. To do so, she would need a sample of each Berry the Pokémon were feasting on, as well as some of their sweat in its pure form. 

Bronze, always eager to flex her skills, managed to quickly add one of the Spicy Gulpins to her team. After a quick game of noses, Reinhold obtained a sample of its sweat, while the others surreptitiously grabbed one of the Cheri Berries. Sylvie placed both the sweat and the Cheri Juice into some glass vials in her pack. 

With this step completed, our heroes moved deeper into the caverns. Unfortunately, the way forward appeared to be blocked by a pair of gigantic Spicy Pokémon, snoozing away after a meal. Using a combination of food, and the Alluring qualities of Herleif’s Sprigatito, the Pokémon were led back to the cave with the Cheri Berries. The way forward now clear, the group found their way to a fork in the path. 

Choosing the southwest branch, the path diverged yet again, opening up to another small tunnel and a larger cavern. Seeing that the cavern was fogged with the poison mist, they decided to check the tunnel first. The heat grew more oppressive as they descended. At the end of the tunnel, they found the culprit: a small bed of magma, occupied by more Spicy Pokémon. A group of the Swalots appeared to be surrounding something of interest, their bulk hiding it from view. Bronze’s Salazzle, Sal, was able to slink through the magma. She deftly nabbed shiny object, and the group booked it back up the tunnel. 

After a bit of haggling, Bronze was able to convince Sal to give up the item, a Fire Stone. Before entering the large cavern, our heroes decided to investigate the northwest tunnel first. Their travel was quickly rewarded, as they could see the Spicy Pokémon in this cave were eating a different type of Berry. Unfortunately, all of the bushes appeared to be growing in another pool of magma, surrounded by hungry Pokémon. So far, the only time they had seen any of the Spicy Pokémon grow aggressive was when someone attempted to separate them from their food. Perhaps discretion would be useful here… 

Lauren released their Salandit, Cole. His beady little eyes went wide at the sight of Sal. Using Cole’s clear crush to their advantage, Lauren asked the Salandit to steal some of the Berries from the feasting Pokémon. Nearly shaking with eagerness, Cole climbed his way to the ceiling and padded off in the direction of the bushes. A few moments later, the intrepid little lizard hobbled his way back along the roof, laden down with as many Leppa Berries as he could manage. Sal seemed unimpressed, but Cole was proud of himself regardless. Sylvie added some Leppa Juice to her supply, and the party made their way back to the entrance to the larger cavern. 

The air in the cavern was tinged deeply purple from the Spicy sweat and rippled with intense heat. Knowing there must be more molten earth nearby, and with limited vision, our heroes decided to move forward with caution. Ariela and Herleif began moving slowly to the south with wary steps. Sure enough, they caught sight of a small “river” of magma crossing the cave floor. 

Ariela turned to her friends to call them forward, when disaster struck without warning. There was barely enough time to register the pounding footfalls of something incredibly heavy, and no time at all to react. Solgaleo burst from the mist, slamming its body into Ariela and Herleif. The pair were sent flying into the cave wall by the rest of the group. Ariela slumped over, unconscious, and Herleif seemed barely able to stand. 

The beast before them bristled across its metallic, white fur. A deep, rumbling growl emanated from its powerful chest, as our heroes girded themselves for battle. Some of the group focuses on getting their injured friends back up, while the others launched a few blows at the Legendary Pokémon. 

Fear may have quickened their actions and empowered their attacks, but Solgaleo seemed completely unphased. When it lashed out in turn, several more members of the party were injured. The power set against them was on a scale they had no experience with. Recalling the tales told of the great monster in the desert, our heroes realized they may have no option but to retreat for the time being. 

At least half of the group was injured, some dangerously so. Even escaping would prove to be a gamble. It was Bronze who realized this first. She turned to her friends, telling them to get to safety, before jetting off towards Solgaleo as a distraction. With no time to argue, the rest of the party began hobbling northeast. Bronze ran harder than she ever had before. If her mental map was correct, the other entrance to Heatran’s chamber should be just behind the enraged lion. All she needed to do was reach it. 

Seeing the small entrance dimly through the haze, Bronze dared taking a glance in Solgaleo’s direction. The lion was getting ready to pounce…in the direction the bulk of the group had just gone. Desperate, Bronze shouted to get the Legendary’s attention on her. A tactic which worked, leaving the Capture Specialist with only a second to realize its ramifications. She spun back to the tunnel, already knowing she was too far away. One of her feet came up from the ground, as she felt, more than heard, the great leap Solgaleo took. And before she could finish the step she had just taken, everything faded to black.