The seven young trainers were had went from Los Pegasus to the San Palomino desert. After they had beaten the Team Chaos members, they found out that several strong Pokemon had been stolen behind their backs, and the owner of the Pyroar was still unknown, not to mention its whereabouts. They had also parted ways with Octavia and Vinyl, who had gone separate ways from them after they spent the night in the city.
"Ugh, this heat is simply unbearable!" Rarity whined.
"Ah don't know what yer complainin' about." Applejack said, as she was barely affected by the heat at all. "Ah feel fine."
"Well don't get comfy." Twilight warned. "Sandstorms are common here, and can pop up out of nowhere."
"Yeah well, we'll be careful." Rainbow dismissed the warning and kept walking along carelessly. "Say, what can you catch here? Is there anything fast?"
"Well you can find rock, ground and the occasional steel- types here, since those are the only ones who can handle living in conditions like these." She informed. "…But there are still Pokemon who don't have any of those types that live here like Cacnea, Maractus and Darumaka."
"Ooh, what if I catch a Gible or a Trapinch or something?" Spike wondered. "That would be so cool!" Twilight smiled at her little brothers daydreaming about having a strong dragon Pokemon.
"Well they can be found in deep beds of sand, like that one." She pointed as some sand that was a darker shade than the other sand.
"Well then, let's see if we can catch any." Rainbow grinned as she ran into the sand. "Go Nincada!" She threw the ball and her ground and bug- type came out. In the sand, a Cacnea jumped out and launched a Pin Missile, where some of the spikes covering its body shot out and hit Nincada, who had not been expecting the sudden attack.
"Alright then, use Leech Life!" It quickly recovered from the special attack and jumped onto Cacneas back, biting it and draining its health, while it was desperately trying to shake the insect off, and Nincada held tightly until It launched Pin Missile, then Nincada jumped off and the attack hit Cacnea.
"Now Fury Swipes!" Nincada raced forward, but Cacnea used Sand attack and Nincada fell and tried to get the sand out of its eyes while the others just watched Rainbow battle.
"Alright, I'll just register that Cacnea in the Pokedex and... done." Twilight said.
"Maybe ah'll look for somethin' mahself." Applejack said.
"Alright!" Rainbow shouted. "I beat it and- wait; I forgot to catch it, now it's in the sand somewhere!" She groaned. "Fine then, any other wild Pokemon want to battle? We're on a roll!" As if to answer her question, she found herself in a horde battle against five Baltoy, which Twilight also registered as she hadn't done it when she was against Sunset.
"You okay Nincada?" Rainbow asked as she went up to her panting Pokemon, standing in front of five ground- types with spirals in their eyes. "You up for one more or do you want to rest?" Nincada looked at her then walked forward towards the sand and Rainbow smiled. "Alright then, who's next?!" As if answering her question, something began to rise out of the sand, and it was bigger than any Baltoy or Cacnea. Its back was a tough silver metal that began at the head, and ended at its tail. It stepped fully out of the sand with its four short legs showing its stocky, armoured body. It glared at the bug- type with its angry sky blue eyes and roared.
"Ron!!!"
"What's that?" Rainbow asked.
"It's a Lairon." Twilight said as she got out her Pokedex.
Lairon: The Iron Armour Pokemon.
It habitually shows off its strength with the size of sparks it creates by ramming its steel body into boulders.
"Well then, let's go Nincada, use Fury Swipes!" The bug- type began to scratch Lairon vigorously, but it wasn't fazed I the slightest and stayed out where it was, while its body glowed and shone.
"It's using Iron Defence." Twilight informed Rainbow.
"Fine then, use Dig!" Nincada burrowed underground, while Lairon simply stood there with its defences up. When Nincada finally jumped up from the ground and hit Lairon, who was visibly effected by the ground- type attack, but responded by charging forward and hit Nincada a couple of metres away. Just as Nincada was getting up, the steel- type began charging again.
"Use Dig again!" Nincada buried underground just before Lairon could deliver the final blow. After a while, Nincada quickly jumped up from the ground and attempted to hit Lairon in the face, but is get it tried to move away the steel- types jaws clamped down on the Pokemon, preventing it from escaping. It then threw the but- type into the air another few metres away, but instead of a Take Down its entire body became a bright white; as if using silver Aqua Jet and ran towards where Nincada was landing.
"It's using Iron Head!" Twilight said. "If that hits then Nincada will lose!"
"Uuh, use Dig one more time to avoid it!" Nincada straightened its body so it was facing the ground, but before it could even touch the ground, it made contact with the steel- type move and hit a nearby rock. When the smoke, cleared, Nincada was shown to have fainted.
"Wowee!" Applejack was impressed and curious. "Ah think that ah'll have a go at battlin' that thing." She turned to face the Lairon. "If you're up for it, that is." It responded with a growl and a determined look.
"Alrightey then, go Phanpy!" She threw her Pokeball and out came the Long Nose Pokemon.
"Use Rollout!" Phanpy curled up in a ball and began to roll in the direction of Lairon, increasing speed every second as it got closer and closer. In response, Lairon used Iron a Defence and hardened its body while it charged at Phanpy itself, trying to beat it with sheer force. Their sides clashed and they ran in opposite directions before turning around and repeating the process, with Phanpy getting faster and stronger with Rollout and Lairon becoming more and more durable with Iron Defence. Eventually the two stopped and locked eyes with each other until Lairon went in for a Take Down.
"Defence Curl!" Just before Lairon hit Phanpy, it rolled up into a ball as if it were about to use Rollout, but it stayed in place as the steel- type hit it and it was instantly in the air, still curled up in a ball.
"Bulldoze!" After the mention of the ground- type move, Phanpy ceased its Defence Curl and came down twice as fast as it had come up, with its front feet glowing as it got closer to Lairon, who roared and let out an ear- piercing screech that sounded like scraping metal, and Phanpy stopped using its attack to cover its ears, and Lairon hit it with an Iron Head.
"Wow, it used Metal Sound Phanpy off guard so it could attack." Twilight was amazed.
"Well it won't last long!" Applejack insisted. "Take Down!" Phanpy got up and quickly charged at Lairon, who simply stood there and took it.
"It's still strong from Iron Defence." Twilight exclaimed.
"Now Bulldoze!" Since Phanpy was close, Lairon couldn't stop it in time and the attack hit it directly. Lairon fell to the ground and Phanpy jumped away.
"Double Edge!" Phanpy's entire body lit up with a bright white and charged towards Lairon, who responded with an Iron Head. The two quickly got closer and closer to each other, both running at their opponent with their strongest attack until they collided and there was a huge flash of light which blinded everyone. Soon the light cleared and he two Pokemon were both panting, and struggling to stand up. Lairon had taken more damage than Phanpy; by the ground- type was suffering from recoil damage. However, it seemed that Phanpy was standing a bit more upright, while the opposing Pokemon wobbled a bit more but refused to fall as it turned around to face the small blue elephant. It appeared to be readying another attack as its body began to change from black and silver to a blue colour.
"Wait a minute..." Twilight began before her eyes widened. "That's Head Smash!" As she spoke, Lairon began to charge towards Phanpy with the incredibly powerful attackunately, Lairon went from blue to black and silver again when the attack was halted before it could reach Phanpy and Lairon fell to the ground. It got back up and tried to do the attack again, but got the same result. It got angrier, and kept on trying the attack, while Phanpy kept dodging whenever it came close.
"Bulldoze!" When Lairon got close again, Phanpy slammed its feet down on the steel- type and it fell down again, but still refused to faint.
"It really doesn't want to lose, does it?" Twilight commented.
"One more Bulldoze!" Phanpy was tired, so Applejack decided to finish it with the super effective attack, and Lairon fell back in the sand.
The seven found some cabins for use in the desert, as it was known how brutal the sandy grounds could be, as well as the Pokemon in them.
"That was an interesting Lairon wasn't it?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah." Applejack replied. "Ah hope to see it again."
"Um, excuse me?" Someone knocked on the door.
"Come in?" Applejack answered hesitantly, and a man entered.
"Hello." He said. "We're y'all talking about a Lairon?"
"Why do ya ask sir?" Applejack questioned. "And who are ya?"
"Pardon mah rudeness." He apologised. "Mah name is Silverstar, ah live in the next town from here." He said and they all introduced themselves to him. "Yeah, did the Lairon by any chance know the move Head Smash?"
"Yes actually." The smart young girl answered. "Well, sort- of; it didn't seem like it had fully learned it yet..."
"Yup, Head Smash is one of its egg moves, but it always had trouble perfectin' it, even after it evolved it could never get that move right. It'd be its strongest move if it could."
"Do ya know where it usually hangs around?"
"Yeah, though it usually keeps to itself when doin' somethin', it ain't a fan of askin' for help."
The next day Silverstar introduced them to a friend of his who was more familiar with the desert and its Pokemon, a boy named Sandy Dune who was about five years older than them but shorter than Silverstar, took them to the place in the desert where he said that Lairon trained. It was a lot like a secret spot, which was full of sandy hills and rugged rocks, as well as a few cacti. There wasn't much else to it than that, other than the go- goggles he gave them all in case a sandstorm whipped up. Unfortunately, Silverstar had to leave that day due to some sort of tension going on in his home town. They could hear grunting and smashing sounds the came from the other side of the area.
"That noise is probably Lairon trainin'." Sandy exclaimed. They made their way further through the small desert valley and it was exactly what he had said. The same steel- type that Applejack and Rainbow had battled yesterday was ramming its body into rocks, trying once again to use Head Smash, but each time ended the same way it had in the battle yesterday, with Lairon falling and crashing. It kept doing this until it smashed the rock, but not because it got the move right. It moved on to the next stone, and did the same thing. They were about to go over and reveal themselves, but as they did they saw another Pokemon fly down.
"A Vibrava!" Spike smiled. It hovered towards, then a couple metres away from Lairon.
"What's it doing?" Twilight wondered.
"It's probably challengin' Lairon." Sandy told them. "Lairon currently holds the title for bein' the strongest Pokemon in the desert, and there are others who want to challenge him ah suppose." After he was finished they watched the battle. The dragon- type vibrated its wings to use Sonic Boom, but Lairon countered with Metal Sound and the two attacks cancelled each other out. Vibrava then flew down, slamming into the sand and making the ground erupt with Earth Power, of which Lairon took a significant amount of damage compared to Sonic Boom, but Lairon charged at it with Iron Head when it was on the ground. It hit directly and knocked Vibrava back in the air, to which it responded with a Dragonbreath that didn't do much. Lairon hardened its body with Iron Defence when its opponent went in and used Feint Attack, which left it open for another Iron Head. As it was blown back Lairon noticed the seven trainers from yesterday and went in for the final attack, and once its body became a light blue. It was holding the attack longer than it had before, but it ended the same; it fell down and crashed into Vibrava, knocking it out as they both slammed into a nearby rock. Lairon stood up and saw that it had beaten its opponent, but it merely grunted in frustration and went back to training with the rocks.
"Howdy." Applejack walked up to it, while it stared at her for a second, then put its focuses back on its training. "Yer really puttin' a lot of work into this attack." She whistled. "How about a sparrin' partner?" She offered. Lairon thought for a moment and walked a couple of metres away before stopping and turning around.
"Huh, it ain't often that Lairon accepts help." Sandy commented.
"Go Phanpy!" She called out her ground- type again, who saw Lairon and got ready for battle.
"Phanpy will use Rollout on ya and ya have to endure it." Applejack explained. "Anything confuse either of ya? Neither of ya mind?" She smiled as both Pokemon shook their heads. "Alrightey then, use Rollout!" Phanpy rolled towards Lairon, who braced itself for the impact. The first couple were fine, and it easily took them, but as it went with that attack it got stronger every turn, and it got more difficult for Lairon to take the attack.
"Y'all wanna stop?" Applejack asked, and Lairon shook its head. "Okay then, keep going Phanpy!" Soon Lairon was getting pushed back after another several Rollouts. "Stop Phanpy." Her Pokemon stopped using the attack.
"Now let's try that Head Smash again!" Lairon stepped back, before it faced a rock and began to charge. It got faster and faster, when the attack began to activate, and it was surrounded by that same colour. As it got closer to the rock, it held the move, but it was taking more and more effort with each passing second. As it was still running, it couldn't take it anymore and collapsed on the ground. They were all stunned for a moment, before Applejack ran over to check if it was alright. It slowly got up and grunted. Fluttershy ran over hand gave it a sitrus berry.
"Wow." Sandy whistled. "You two have made a lot of progress together; Lairon's really gotten stronger. This'll be excellent for my research and-" He stopped as he saw the sunset. "We had better get going, some dangerous Pokemon come out at night."
"Alright." Applejack sighed. "See ya tomorra." They all left, unaware that they were being watched.
They all went back to Lairons spot the next day. When they entered, they saw a battle between the steel- type that Applejack had trained yesterday, and a Krokorok. Despite the disadvantage, Lairon was leading the battle. As the Desert Croc Pokemon trapped it in a Sand Tomb, Lairon remained un-fazed, even when its opponent followed it up by running in for a Bite, but as it was close enough to sink its teeth in; it was blocked by Lairons tail, which began to light up. The next thing Krokorok knew it had been slammed to the ground then thrown back.
"Wow, it learned Iron Tail." Applejack was amazed.
"And it forgot Metal Sound." Twilight said as she scanned Lairon with Her Pokedex to check its new move. Lairon noticed Applejack began to charge towards it to deliver the final blow, and they all knew what it was trying to do. The attack began and ended as it had the previous times. It grunted as it crashed into Krokorok, and used Iron Head to finish it.
"Wowee!" Applejack cheered. "Lairon's doin' great!"
"I know!" Sandy piped up. "It's defeated some strong Pokemon so far. It's a shame Silverstar isn't here to see this, but he had to go back to his home town due to some dispute."
"Well ah reckon when he's done, maybe we can do some more training..." She stopped as all the people and Pokemon turned their heads to look at something coming their way. The Pokemon backed away in fear while the people simply stared at the grass- type that walked towards them with an ominous smile on its face. Its body was a grassy green and was covered in spikes. Twilight got out her Pokedex.
Cacturne: The Scarecrow Pokemon.
It becomes active at night, seeking prey that is exhausted from the day's desert heat.
"Well that's odd, Cacturne are nocturnal so they shouldn't be out here in broad daylight." Sandy wondered while the Cacturne kept walking, but stopped when it was a close to the steel- type.
"It looks like it's challenging Lairon." Spike inferred, clutching the case that held his Pokemon egg. The two desert Pokemon stared each other down, before Cacturne's spikes lit up as it used Pin Missile. The giant spikes were launched towards Lairon, who took the attack, but it was stronger than expected and the steel- type stumbled backwards slightly. Lairon then ran forward with Iron Tail, but Cacturne didn't move, and simply stood there as its opponent got closer and closer. Once Cacturne was within hitting distance, it used Needle Arm when Lairon swung its tail, and quickly overpowered it. The Iron Armour Pokemon slid towards one of the rocks and crashed into it, breaking the large piece of stone. Lairon got back up, only to be greeted wih another Pin Missile. Meanwhile, everyone else was in pure awe.
"Wow..." Sandy began. "I don't think I've ever even seen a Cacturne that's anywhere near that strong. I... Don't think Lairon will win this." Lairon recovered and ran forward using Iron Head, while Cacturne simply grinned. When it was mere centimetres away, dozens of spikes extended from Cacturnes body, protecting Cacturne and hurting Lairon.
"It used Spiky Shield!" Twilight gasped. When Lairon jumped back it hardened its body wih Iron Defence, while the grass- type laughed and stared its foe down, when sand began to rise and spin around it. "Now Sandstorm!" The attack got larger and larger until it covered the whole battlefield. Lairon looked around before it saw its target, and quickly ran forward with Iron Head, but it disappeared.Cacturne kept on reappearing and disappearing around it.
"Why is it suddenly so fast?" Applejack questioned.
"It must have the ability Sand Veil!" Twilight exclaimed. "It's able to evade attacks more easily now, which isn't good for Lairon." It didn't even notice the Needle Arm behind it before it struck.
"Lairon!" Applejack called. "boost yer defences!" Lairon heard Applejack and took her advice by using Iron Defence. When Cacturne rushed in for its attack, it did a fair amount less, and Lairon took the opportunity to use Iron Tail, which knocked Cacturne back. It got angry and disappeared into the Sandstorm. Lairon then saw a series of Pin Missiles heading straight for it, and responded with an Iron Head, running in the direction of the Pin Missiles and taking each and everyone, but not stopping at all. Cacturne was surprised and it got hit and fell down. In that moment Lairon began to glow in a familiar colour while the Sandstorm subsided.
"Is that..?" Applejack began.
"Let's hope." Sandy replied as they all watched. The two Pokemon readied their attacks and ran towards ran other. Lairon with Head Smash and Cacturne with a Needle Arm in both arms. They got closer and closer, and hey we're all amazed at Lairon holding the attack this well. The both kept running until hey were right in front of each other but something crashed down between them, forming smoke and causing the both of them to cancel their attacks. The smoke cleared and what emerged was a large blue water- type, floating in the air.
"What's that?" Twilight wondered as she got out her Pokedex.
Jellicent: The Floating Pokemon.
The fate of the ships and crew that wander into Jellicent's habitat: all sunken, all lost, all vanished.
After reading the entry Twilight felt a bit uneasy. Cacturne on the other hand rushed at the new challenger, who responded with a Sludge Bomb. Cacturne used Needle Arm while Jellicent dodged and hit it with a Shadow Ball from behind. As it got up Cacturne felt something else hit its back, but it wasn't an attack, it was an Ultra Ball. It disappeared into the ball, which shook a couple of times before stopping. Everyone was silent. Everyone stood in pure silence at what had just happened, and were even more surprised when a cloaked figure walked straight past them. The Jellicent floated towards the figure and got returned to its ball. The mysterious person then stepped towards the Ultra Ball and picked it up. They turned and gave a glance to the seven trainers, and walked away.
"...Wow..." Was all Rainbow could say..
A couple of hours later, they had gotten ready to head out. It seemed like there were a lot of strong Pokemon appearing, like the two they had seen today. One of which had strength comparable to the Pyroar that they had seen in Los Pegasus, but they had one more thing to do.
"Well." Applejack smiled. "Bye Lairon, it's been fun." The steel- type nodded in agreement and smiled cheerfully at Applejack. "Ah hope that y'all get stronger and someday perfect that attack." Lairon nodded, then Applejack got an idea.
"Lairon, what if you come with us?" Lairons eyes widened, shocked at the offer given to it. It stood there thinking for a small moment, before turning around and walking away and stopped after a few metres.
"Okay." Applejack could see the challenge, and got out another Pokeball. "Come on out Herdier!" The canine Pokemon emerged from the ball and jumped to the ground. "Dig!" Herdier tunneled underground, while Lairon hardened its body. Herdier burst up from the ground and landed a direct hit, but the steel- type retaliated with an Iron Tail. "Leer." Herdier gave Lairon an intimidating stare to lower its defences. "Now Bite!" Her Pokemons teeth sunk into the metal body of its opponent, not doing much damage at all, while Lairon used Iron Tail.
"Take Down!" Herdier charged into Lairon and knocked it back. She then threw a Pokeball at it and it began to shake. She simply looked at the ball, waiting to see what would happen before it broke and Lairon came out.
"Guess ah need to battle ya a bit longer." Applejack said."Use Take Down again!" Herdier used Take Down while Lairon activated Iron Head. The two attacks collided and both Pokemon ended up on opposite ends of the field. "Now Dig!" The normal- type went underground again, and Lairon used Iron Defence. When it burst up, Lairon attacked with Iron Head.
"Get under it!" Herdier ducked when Lairon used Iron Head, waiting until the armoured Pokemon was directly above it. "Now Take Down!" Herdier jumped up and used the attack on its belly, causing it to fall on its side.
"Now let's try this again!" She said as she threw another Pokeball at Lairon. The ball shook and shook, with the farm trainer watching patiently waiting for the result, until it stopped and the ball beeped. Applejack gave the ball a warm smile as she picked it up. They all began to walk further through the desert, with their new friend.