Aggron felt the pressure bearing down on him, the same kind of pressure he only ever felt when sparring with his elder brother, Metagross.
"Eeyah!"
Heatran let out a hot breath that twisted into a screeching, scorching Heat Wave. The wind became so fierce that, for a moment, it was almost visible to the naked eye — a red, fiery gale rolling forward like a living thing.
"Rock Tomb!"
"Kaa-ow!"
Aggron threw up a single arm, and five stone pillars burst from the ground around him, sealing him inside in an instant. As the burning gale rushed past, the outer surfaces of the pillars began to glow and soften, showing the first signs of melting.
Empoleon stared at the reddening stone, worry plain in his eyes as he strained to see through the rock for some sign of his friend. The chill gathering in his flippers grew sharper, an instinctive attempt to fight back against the heat radiating from Heatran.
Standing beside Empoleon, Steven felt a measure of relief, though he couldn't help wondering how Aggron was faring inside that stone shell.
"Earthquake!" Steven called, his brow furrowing as he made his decision. Better to let Aggron cut loose now than to let Heat Wave slowly grind down his stamina from a distance. If the deadlock was going to break, Steven wanted to be the one to break it.
A deep rumble rose from within the pillars. The ground shook, and all five columns shattered at once, fragments hurtling outward like shrapnel from a grenade, some even chipping the surrounding rock walls.
Boom!
The ground beneath Heatran flared with a dull, earthy yellow light — and then it erupted. Most of the shockwave converged directly under him, and his massive frame was far too slow to dodge it cleanly. Even if he'd reacted the instant it began, he couldn't have escaped in time.
Earthquake struck true.
But Heatran's last Heat Wave had already scorched Aggron in turn, so the exchange left both of them worse for wear. Heatran's huge body slammed into the ground, though since the Earthquake hadn't been boosted by a same-type advantage, the damage — however heavy — was still limited. Heatran no longer seemed to care that rock-type attacks should have troubled him; his flames alone were fierce enough that type match-ups barely mattered anymore.
Steven's fingers brushed the silver ring on his left hand, and a brooch set with a Key Stone appeared in his right.
"Aggron, Mega Evolve!"
"Kaa-ow!"
Threads of light — the visible bond between Trainer and partner — wove together in the air, and Aggron's body flared with blinding white light. Heatran's crimson eyes narrowed as he watched the transformation unfold. A low, muffled roar rolled out from within the glow.
Mega Aggron stood revealed.
His strength had climbed sharply with the Mega Evolution, though he was still plainly outmatched compared to Heatran. Still, it might be enough — if Aggron could fight to the very edge of his potential. If his true strength could reach Champion Level, then against a Heatran who had thrown caution to the wind and abandoned all defense for pure offense, Aggron still had a real chance of winning.
"Eeyah!"
Heatran roared, and a fiery storm whipped up around his body, dragging burning chunks of rock into its spinning mass. A heartbeat later, that swirling inferno — Lava Plume — surged straight for Aggron.
Their power was closer now than it had been, and Aggron's ability would blunt a quarter of Lava Plume's force. Knowing that, Steven made his choice.
"Take it!" he shouted.
Aggron's eyes gleamed as he spread both arms wide, as if to welcome the terrifying wave of fire.
Boom!
Lava Plume swallowed him whole. Even a body built from solid steel could feel helpless before flames of that searing intensity.
"Now — Metal Burst!"
Before Steven had even finished the command, Aggron's whole body blazed with a silvery-white light. Metal Burst was no ordinary move: so long as the target wasn't somehow shielded from Steel-type attacks, it would strike home without fail, hitting back with force drawn directly from the damage just endured — though it wouldn't benefit from Aggron's own Steel-type boost.
Wrapped in that silver light, Aggron broke free of the flames and charged, unstoppable, straight at Heatran.
Heatran drove his forearms into the ground and hauled himself upright, then swung both arms hard to meet the charging Aggron.
Boom!
The silver light detonated on impact. Heatran's body was hurled backward into the ceremonial stone steps, smashing most of them to rubble. The grand staircase, the kind meant to lead to some sacred hall, was now a field of cracks, and the stone beneath where Heatran landed spread into a web of fractures.
Thud.
Aggron dropped to one knee, suddenly overcome with exhaustion, breathing hard. That Lava Plume had clearly taken a heavy toll on him — otherwise, Metal Burst wouldn't have struck Heatran with such devastating force.
"Awoo!" Empoleon called out from behind Steven.
Aggron turned to look back at his companion and felt a wave of icy-blue chill spreading outward, dragging the surrounding temperature sharply down. His condition visibly steadied.
Steven glanced at Empoleon, showing off his bold, Brave nature, and couldn't help a helpless smile. Outside help, technically — but it hardly mattered in an unsanctioned match. Empoleon's power was simply making the battlefield more bearable for Aggron.
As the air cooled, Aggron's frenzied nerves settled. The sudden chill felt almost soothing. A fresh surge of energy rolled through his body, as though most of his strength had returned all at once. He'd gone from agitated and burning with fury to calm and steady in the space of a breath — and that shift alone seemed to be exactly what let him take this next step. Maybe it was the warmth of Empoleon's concern that reached him. Whatever the cause, one thing was certain: when the spirit is strong, the body follows.
Steven raised his arm and pointed it straight at Heatran.
"Earthquake!"
Even if Heatran tried to leap clear, his heavy, clumsy body gave him no real chance of escaping — in truth, he couldn't have dodged it at all.
Aggron's tail slammed into the earth, releasing the hidden force gathered beneath it. The cave shook violently. Broken rock rained down without pause. The last traces of the Lava Plume still howled through the air, scattering flecks of molten stone. Chunks of ceiling cracked loose and crashed down, throwing up thick clouds of dust.
Only once the tremors faded did Steven turn his gaze toward the settling dust — just as a pair of crimson eyes flared within it, and a furious, scorching blast of flame tore straight through the haze.