Mt. Chimney is a famous dormant volcano in the northern part of the Hoenn region, and its scenery is magnificent!
Since they were already there, it was only natural to take the cable car to see the view from the mountaintop! Just before the cable car departed, Ash and his friends managed to make it on board!
"I'm so exhausted!" May and Max sat down, panting, and even Brock was out of breath. It was clear how desperate they were to catch the cable car. Ash just shook his head helplessly beside them. After being modified by the power of Aura and with his super Pallet Towner physique, he was not someone that ordinary people could compare to!
(???) "Wow, what a beautiful view! It's so refreshing!" May pressed her face against the window, admiring the scenery outside the car. Her exhaustion vanished!
Ash and the others were having fun with their Pokémon when suddenly, "Pika~" Pikachu seemed to sense something and looked to the right. Ash and the others followed its gaze and saw a red helicopter fly by!
Then, "Eevee~" Eevee also made a sound and pointed to the left. Ash and the others turned and saw a blue helicopter fly by!
Ash frowned. Were Team Magma and Team Aqua starting to act again?
At that moment, on the top of Mt. Chimney, a man was using a detector to search for a meteorite he had heard about a few days ago. He had finally found it, but was cornered by Team Magma. Team Aqua had also taken control of the operations room, and the running cable car came to a halt, suspended in midair!!
"Ah! Why did it stop? This is so scary!" May and Max panicked, looking at Ash, not knowing what to do!
Ash stood up and said, "It must be Team Magma or Team Aqua. I'll go check out the operations room. You all wait here!"
"Wait, Ash..." Before Brock could finish his sentence, Ash had already opened a cabinet under the seat. Inside was an emergency rope with a grappling hook!
Then, Ash, Pikachu, and Eevee climbed out of the skylight on the roof of the cable car!
May said worriedly, "Be careful! It's so high up here!"
Ash gave her an "OK" sign, spun the rope a few times, and threw it toward the tower, making sure the hook was tightly secured. He then tied the other end to the cable car!
"I'm going ahead! Wait for me inside, and I'll go find someone to rescue you!" Ash said, then, with Pikachu and Eevee, he climbed along the rope toward the tower!
"Got it! Be careful!"
"Go, Ash!" "We're counting on you!"
After reaching the tower, Ash, Pikachu, and Eevee climbed down to the ground and ran toward the mountaintop, where they ran into a man running down the slope, hugging a rock!
"Ah~ I-I can't stop, I can't stop..."
Ash reached out and stopped the man, bringing him to a halt!
"Phew~ I'm saved, thank you!" the man said gratefully, then said nervously, "Oh no, those bad guys are chasing me! Run!"
Just then, three people in red uniforms came running down the slope. The man quickly took Ash and hid behind a rock. "It's Team Magma!"
"You know them!" the man asked, surprised.
Ash nodded and explained, "Yes! They're bad guys who use Pokémon to do evil things! Hello, my name is Ash!"
"What! Hello, my name is Cozmo, I'm a professor. I'm a scholar who studies meteorites!" Professor Cozmo introduced himself, then showed Ash the rock in his hand. "It's this, see! They're chasing me because of it, so I can't let it fall into their hands!"
"This must be the meteorite, right?"
Professor Cozmo nodded and explained, "That's right, this is a meteorite I found near the crater up there. They suddenly appeared and tried to steal it!"
Just then, a Golbat flew in to ambush them and tried to snatch the meteorite. "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Pikachu's golden-yellow electricity knocked out the Golbat!
"Watch out, Team Magma is here!"
"The meteorite is here! Hand it over now, or you'll regret it!" one of the Team Magma members threatened.
Then, a Tabitha and the rest of the Team Magma members rushed over. Upon seeing Ash, Tabitha instinctively took a step back. "You again, kid! You dare to interfere with Team Magma! Let's get him, all of you!" At the same time, he sent out a Mightyena!
The other Team Magma members also sent out Mightyena and Golbat of varying levels!
"Then let's do it! Come on out! Torchic, Ralts, Mudkip, Corphish, Electrike, and Beautifly!"
The great battle was about to begin! Pikachu took on Tabitha's Mightyena one-on-one, and the other Pokémon dealt with the rest of the grunts!
The first battlefield to finish was Pikachu's. Pikachu took out the Mightyena with a single Electro Ball! "How is that possible? You've improved so much!" Tabitha said in shock. This Pikachu had improved a lot since their last meeting!
The other grunts were quickly dealt with by Ash's Pokémon!
Seeing the situation, Tabitha knew there was no hope. "Damn it, retreat! Kid, I'll get you next time!"
"Yes!" Team Magma immediately left!
"Hmph, don't run if you're so tough!" Ash looked at his Pokémon and saw that after the group battle, Ralts and Mudkip had advanced to the Normal - Peak Stage. Ash smiled and nodded. "You all worked hard. Come back and rest!"
Professor Cozmo walked up to Ash. "Thank you so much, Ash! You're amazing!"
"It was nothing..." Ash rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed by the praise. Then he suddenly remembered, "Oh, right! My friends are still stuck on the cable car!"
"Ah! In that case, come with me! I'll take you to the operations room!"
At the same time, from behind a rock in the volcano's crater, Team Aqua saw Ash's strength and Shelly ordered a retreat!!
Afterward, Ash and Professor Cozmo went to the cable car operations room, untied the staff, and got the cable car running again. Brock and the others were successfully rescued!
"Yay! We're saved! I knew Ash was the best! Thank you so much!" ?(′?`)? May cheered.
Brock pondered, "What did Team Magma want with that meteorite?! It doesn't seem to have anything to do with Groudon!"
"Who knows!" Ash said, shrugging his hands.
"Wow, so this is a meteorite!" Max said, examining the meteorite in Professor Cozmo's hands.
Then, Ash and the others said their goodbyes to Professor Cozmo. The professor pointed in a direction and said, "If you head down from here, you can reach Lavaridge Town. Ash, I believe you can win the Gym Badge! Goodbye, everyone!"
"Goodbye!" x4
Ash and his friends set off on their journey again, leaving the dormant Mt. Chimney, and soon arrived at Lavaridge Town in the evening! Ash was really looking forward to the upcoming Gym battle!