Magma Catacombs

As he watched, Nathan gritted his teeth. Unless called upon, there was nothing he could do, not truely. Sure, he could step in if things got out of hand, but he wanted Valorie to better herself out of the respect he held for her. He hoped Groudon wouldn't kill her, and that's all he could do: hope. In his head were any number of scenarios where Valorie would get overwhelmed and he'd have to save her, but in his heart he knew he wouldn't have to step in, right?

Either way, he stood in the same place, not moving in the slightest as Groudon started to move towards Valorie with a Fire Punch. Nathan watched everything; from how Groudon moved, to how Valorie herself moved, not wanting to miss a single detail. After all; fighting Groudon was usually his job. But oh well, it was time for the girl he was proud to call his trainer take on Groudon, and he felt happy in a way; knowing that she wanted this for herself, and without him having to nag her or give her a pep-talk to try and save her self-confidence.

His lips were pulled into a smile, and his jaw relaxed.

Groudon was frustrated with the fact that his Fire Punch was so skillfully blocked. The ancient Pokemon had underestimated the girl. Now with the girl was targeting his head. Groudon was ready for this. A fire lit deep within the Continent Pokemon's gut. The fire burned to extreme temperature. Groudon turned it's massive head towards Valorie as she ran up his arm. Groudon's gaping maw opened wide and out came a wall of fire, it was a Fire Blast heading straight for the girl/legendary pokemon, a surely devastating attack if it connected, but if somehow avoided, Groudon would be surely be hit with some sort of attack.

Valorie's charge was abruptly halted when, unable to dodge as a consequence of her current unstable position, Valorie was met head on with a torrent of fire! Her blades crossed to intercept the blast, but the flames consumed Valorie in an instance. All of the minds making up this symbiotic warrior were rocked with heat and horror as they were faced with the legendary pokemon's overwhelming strength.

...It's so hot...
...Hang in there...
...I can't...
...I'm burning...
...Together, we can...
Together, we are strong enough!

As the flames dissipated, the roar of a small girl pierced the crackling flames. A blade swept through the air, flames trailing from it's body. Valorie and her pokemon stood intact, though how Doublade had not fainted was unclear. The blade pokemon's bodies glew a white hot color, flames licking at her edges. Valorie herself was singed, having suffered minor burns all over her hands and arms.

The small girl raised her twin swords into the air, the blades growing several times their size as she brought them both down upon Groudon's neck with all of their power. The blades hit with such intensity that they would throw the tiny girl off balance with their own force, knocking the girl off Groudon. Valorie would land nearby, a purple aura forming around her body.

She knew her pokemon couldn't take this beating for one moment longer. She would have to risk everything if she wanted even the slightest shot of leaving an impression upon her opponent... She could only hope that Nathan would be ready if she fell. Her life might just depend on it.

Nathan's eyes widened as the blast hit Valorie; his voice raised to a horrified yell: "Valorie!" His body glowed brightly as the air around him purified; spreading out throughout the area. He was just about to attack Groudon with all of his might when Valorie emerged from the flames and swung towards the neck of Groudon.

Sensing his Trainer was weak, his body glowed more; the air purifying so that, in case Shu fainted, Valorie would not die from the inhalation of the poisonous gasses emitted from the magma. He seethed with anger at the moment; his eyes glowing brightly

Groudon let out a deafening roar as an attack hit his armored form. That hurt, a lot. Groudon had not felt pain in a long time. The 'sun' in the room intensified. Groudon had had enough of the trivial battle now that he had taken a hit. Groudon unleashed a wave of raw power through the room. Groudon had to remember not to kill the girl, he needed her in order to reach his full power. "Now, you will feel the sting of an Earthquake!" Groudon rose his mighty arms in the air, made fists, and puched the ground as hard as he could. The room began to tremble and the ground shook violently. Anything in the room would surely feel the sting, even those off the ground would most likely get hit by debris falling from the ceiling. Groudon regretted his decision, now if the cavern collapsed, he would have to save the girl so as to go with her and find the mystical Red Orb.

...Groudon may have regretted his decision then, but he'd probably be regretting it much moreso in but a moment. The first hint that something was wrong would be that, as the powerful shockwave rocketed towards Valorie at lightning speeds, the small girl seemed to accept her fate.

...We did it...
...What have we done...
...We found our limits...
And we pushed them

The shockwave plowed into Valorie's body, violently throwing her backwards. Her mask, and Shu, were violently separated from her. Yet, the moment this happened the purple aura from before seemed to lunge out, forming a torrent of feedback that rushed into Groudon.

Groudon had accidentally triggered Shu's Destiny Bond. The feedback would burn away at his energy, sapping his strength with the raw force of his attack and then some.

Meanwhile, Valorie collapsed on a nearby wall, immediately unconscious and helpless. Luckily for her, she hadn't come alone! The damsel was now in distress, her lungs exposed to the toxic smoke in the area.

"Valorie!" Nathan cried out again; the fact that he was a Flying Type still meant that he was immune to Earthquake's power, so he ran over to Valorie, the air around his body pure, and non-toxic as he knelt to tend to her. "Valorie...hold on....." He called, quickly making sure none of the smoke in the area came towards her while he slipped his arms under her body and legs, lifting her up bridal-style.

"I'll get you outta here...." he said, looking to Shu. "Shu! Let's go, we need to leave now!" He called out before turning and running from the collapsing cavern as fast as this human body could carry him.

"Clever Girl," Groudon managed the best smile he could as he was hit with the Destiny Bond. Groudon tried to stay up but his strength had been sapped. He hit the ground with a thud. Groudon was quit satisfied with how the battle ended, defeated by his own might. Then Groudon saw something treacherous.

"Rayquaza!" roared Groudon, "Where do you think you are going? Your trainer must hold up her end of the bargain. By taking her away from here before capturing me, you will be breaking our deal. So before you leave, I imagine you would want to put me in one of those balls."

Valorie laid still where she had hit the wall, an extraordinary amount of pain overloading her senses. She could not move. She could not breathe in spite of Nathan's valiant's efforts. Her eyes grew heavy...

But then of course, her survival instincts kicked in and a rush of adrenaline came to remind her that she needed to breath. She was greeted with the blurry image of Nathan shifting to pick her up, a little gasp escaping her lips as her body protested being moved. It was difficult to make out the conversation going on, but she managed to overhear the word 'ball'. Suddenly she remembered her original purpose--Well... This was awkward!

As Shu retreated to Valorie's shadow and Doublade struggled to pursue the two, Valorie began to fish in her satchel. At first she cringed as pain shot up one of her arms. It became clear she wouldn't be moving it any time soon. Luckily, her other arm was only scorched and somewhat cut up. She delved into her satchel, awkwardly fishing out a single ultra ball and pressing it to Nathan's chest in such a manner as to grab his attention.

In her current state she could not speak, and throwing that ball with any semblance of accuracy or strength would be ... risky at best. It was Nathan's turn to act as an extension of Valorie, by giving the legendary continent pokemon what it so desired. She could only hope that Nathan understood what was being asked of him, though in her heart she had faith that her bond with the sky high pokemon was more than strong enough for these purposes.

Nathan stopped as Groudon called out his name, gritting his teeth. He didn't want to put Valorie in any more danger, yet she had to uphold her end of the bargain. He looked down to his weakened trainer as she pressed the ball to his chest; and with a heavy breath nodded to her.

Using his Extreme Speed, he exited the Cavern with Valorie in his arms still. "Shu...keep her safe." He said calmly, taking the ball from her weak hand and nodding to her. "I'll be back in a flash." With that, he used his Extreme speed again to appear before Groudon, Ultra Ball in his hand.

"In the name of my trainer, your request is granted, Groudon!" He said, throwing the ball straight at the Continent Pokemon's head as hard as he could; he didn't want to be there any longer than he had to with the cavern collapsing.

The Ultra ball struck Groudon in the head and then Groudon experienced a feeling that was odd to him, he felt as if his very form was being torn to pieces as he was sucked into the ball. Every instinct told Groudon to fight his way out of the spherical prison, but if he did he would be left in the cavern, never to find the Red Orb. Groudon supressed his insticts and calmed himself to the point where he felt the fire in his gut go from a roaring flame to that of a lit candle.

The Ultra Ball shook once, twice... Click, Groudon was captured. Valorie was now the trainer of the Legendary Continent Pokemon.

Nathan moved quickly then, retrieving the Ultra ball and booking it out of that cavern just as the rocks collapsed behind him, diving to safety in front of Valorie, looking up to her with a smile as he held the ball in his hand. He got on his hands and knees and knelt next to Valorie, placing the ball in one of her weakened hands.

"You did it...." he said softly to her, smiling.

Valorie laid upon the ground where she'd been set down, staring blankly up at the sky. At some point she had tried to sit up, only for a wave of nausea to convince her otherwise. What had she just done..? Had she fought down a legendary pokemon on her own? No, that was absurd--Yet, she had played just as large a part as the rest of her team in that battle. Her, a little human girl...

Oooh--Her body was going to kick her ass for this later. She could already feel it; the burns on her hands, the aching in her muscles, one or more broken bones... She was not getting up anytime soon. The brief idea of being stranded here to die crossed her mind, but she quickly passed it. Nathan was strong. He wouldn't fail her.

...Her eyes closed.

And thus they remained, at least until the thunderous sound of a cave collapsing shook her from her rest. She craned her neck to see a cloud of toxic black gas rising into the sky, a familiar figure approaching. A ball, placed in her withered hand, brought a smile to her face. "No... We did it." she corrected weakly, clutching the ball with what strength she had left. "Without you, and my friends, I--" she began, only for a painful convulsion to cut her short of her no doubt heroic speech. She twisted onto her side. "Ow. Ow... Please, Nathan. Take me to a pokemon center." she requested.

On second thought, the cheesy speech could wait.

Nathan smiled and nodded, lightly taking the ball from her hand and placing it in her bag before slipping his arms gently under her, picking up his trainer bridal style as he slowly stood, letting her lean against him so she wasn't in so much pain. "As you wish, Valorie." His tone was gentle and soothing, and he radiated with pure air to help Valorie's body begin to funnel out any toxins in her lungs, blood, and muscles.

He lifted from the ground as he began to levitate towards the nearest town, moving quickly but gently through the skies. He'd make sure she was safe and sound; whatever the cost.