Session 34, VP2

The party ran as quickly as they could, hoping to reach a spot safe from Solgaleo’s wrath. Carried in Reinhold’s arm, Ariela was able to see as Lauren came to a sudden stop, before heading back towards the room they had encountered the lion. The bulk of the party managed to reach the far entrance to Heatran’s room, and quickly scurried inside. 

Meanwhile, Lauren slowly crept along a corner, trying to see Solgaleo or Bronze. A massive silhouette could be seen sniffing at and batting something on the ground. The shimmering heat waves and poison mist made it very difficult to see anything more clearly. Sylvie psychically reached out to Lauren, who tersely explained they were going to try to collect Bronze. The trainers within Heatran’s room made their way to the entrance connecting to the room of the attack, ready to help Lauren if needed. 

After a few moments, the shape of Solgaleo seemed to recede deeper into the mists and out of view. Lauren hesitated for a few seconds, in case the lion suddenly pounced back on the scene. When the coast looked clear, they crept forward along the wall. It didn’t take long to find the crumpled forms of both Bronze and her Salazzle. The Pokémon was easily recalled, but Lauren could tell Bronze was injured in some way. Unable to identify more in the roiling fog, they carefully carried Bronze to the small tunnel entrance. 

Reinhold took hold of the unconscious capture specialist, and gently set her down far from either bolthole- lest Solgaleo attempt to swat Heatran again. Sylvie set to examine their friend. Thankfully, Bronze was breathing, and didn’t show any signs of any internal damage. However, her left arm had clearly been badly broken when Solgaleo slammed her into the cave wall. To make matters worse, the legendary must have pawed at Bronze’s slumped figure—burnt into the skin of her likewise-broken shoulder, Bronze now bore an imprint of the beast’s paw, just like Ivar. 

Though she hadn’t set a bone before, Sylvie had taken notes on the process from both Bergie and Eplina. Doing her best to stay calm, she took charge of the situation. She quickly had the party gather the items needed for a sling and splint, while she ran through the procedure in her head. Thankfully, Sylvie was a quick study where healing was concerned. It would likely need some more serious medical attention, especially the shoulder, but Bronze’s arm was successfully wrapped against her chest in a sling. With this done, the group gave Bronze a bit of enriched water. Sylvie had gotten the damaged limb set before the risk of sepsis was a possibility, so now they just needed to give Bronze a bit of time to sleep. 

Fatigued and drained, the party decided that they should all take this opportunity to recover from their encounter with Solgaleo. While her friends napped or meditated, Ariela instead studied the room they were in more closely. From examining the sediment of Heatran’s “bed”, and the impossibly clean, geometric cut of the walls, she was able to determine a few new pieces of information. 

First, though it seemed peaceful and soothing while asleep, Heatran was clearly capable of putting out flames more powerful and damaging than Solgaleo. Second, the formation of the room indicated that it must be able to wield that terrifying power with a high degree of focus and fine control. Bronze awoke a few hours later in a panic, her last memories being of Solgaleo leaping directly towards her. The group was able to calm her and explain what had happened. She was shaken by the ordeal, but was well enough to help the group continue to search the caverns. 

After ensuring Solgaleo wasn’t waiting for them in the same room, our heroes began cautiously trekking through the caves to the south. The system of tunnels wrapped nearly in a full circle to the entrance, as best they could determine. Along the way, they managed to find the other three types of Berries the Spicy Pokémon had been eating. 

To give Sylvie time to work on an antidote, the party crept back to Heatran’s chamber once more. A bit of experimentation allowed Sylvie to craft 4 doses of an antidote to the poison mist. The effects would likely wear off after a few days, but at least the recipe for creating it was discovered. 

As Sylvie finished up her notes, Ariela asked if Lauren would be able to potentially contact Heatran via dreams. There was still no set plan of how to proceed, but the more information they had, the better. Once Lauren let down their vault, Ariela, Reinhold, and Bronze decided to pore over Ariela’s research on Of Sunder and Flame. Leaving their friends to it, Lauren lay down at the far side of the cavern. This skill was rusty- would it still answer the call of need? There was only one way to find out…