Ash and his friends looked up to see a Skarmory flying overhead. Beneath it, three Magnemite were using blue electromagnetic waves to suspend a Torkoal in the air, causing the Fire-type Pokémon great distress as it struggled fiercely!
Torkoal desperately spat fire, trying to hit its attackers and escape the predicament, but unfortunately, it missed every shot. Instead, it was struck by Skarmory's Swift, causing it significant pain!
Suddenly, the Magnemite stopped emitting their electromagnetic waves, causing Torkoal to drop from a great height!
"Oh no!" Ash immediately ran towards Torkoal, but the Magnemite, seeing Ash intrude into the valley, immediately fired a yellow bolt of electricity at him!
"Ash! Watch out!" Brock and the others cried out in alarm.
"You're up, Electrike!" "Woof!" The electricity was completely absorbed by Electrike, thanks to its Lightning Rod ability! Ash used the distraction to catch Torkoal!
"Alright, time to deal with them! Pikachu, Electrike, Thunderbolt! Eevee, Shadow Ball!"
"Pika Chu" "Woof" "Eevee"
Pikachu and Electrike's combined gold and blue Thunderbolts defeated the Magnemite, and Skarmory was hit by Eevee's Shadow Ball and unable to battle! Meanwhile, Brock and the others rushed over.
"Are you okay, Torkoal?" Ash asked, setting Torkoal down, while recalling Electrike into its Poké Ball!
Torkoal immediately burst into tears of gratitude, thick plumes of black smoke pouring from its nostrils, instantly blackening the faces of all four trainers!
"Cough, cough..." Ash and his friends coughed uncontrollably!
Just then, a roar came from the depths of the valley. While everyone was still wondering about the sound, Torkoal suddenly bolted toward the source of the noise!
"It's fast!" Ash's eyes lit up. He quickly motioned for the others to follow Torkoal!
As they ventured deeper into the valley, Ash, guided by his Aura, stayed close behind Torkoal. Boom! Hearing a loud crash, Ash and the others hurried their pace. They found Torkoal engaged in battle with a Skarmory and several Magnemite again!
Torkoal was tied up battling three Magnemite, while the Skarmory was circling above, ready to launch a sneak attack. Ash immediately jumped down and threw two Poké Balls. "Electrike, Discharge! Come on out, Quilava, Smokescreen!"
"Woof!" Electrike's blue electricity interrupted Skarmory's attack! "Boka~" Quilava's area-of-effect Smokescreen enveloped and defeated the Magnemite!
"Kohtan~" Torkoal seized the chance to hit Skarmory with a Flamethrower, defeating it!
?(′?｀)人(′?｀)? May and Max immediately cheered! May asked curiously, "Why are there so many Magnemite and Skarmory here?"
Brock pondered. "If I'm not mistaken, we must have accidentally wandered into the Valley of Steel!"
Max suddenly remembered. "That's right! The Valley of Steel is the place Nurse Joy told us never to go near before we entered the forest!"
"Exactly. She said the Steel-type Pokémon living here are extremely territorial, and it would be very dangerous if we intruded," Brock nodded, analyzing the current situation. "Given that, this Torkoal must have also wandered in here and was being attacked by them!"
Torkoal nodded in agreement with the analysis!
"What should we do, Ash? Should we turn back and take a safer route?" Max asked.
"Now that we're here, of course we're going to push through!" "Pika" "Eevee" "Woof" "Boka"
"Torkoal, come with us and break out of this valley!" Ash invited. "With you, we're sure to succeed!"
Torkoal was instantly moved to tears again, thick plumes of black smoke jetting from its nostrils. This time, Ash quickly deployed an Aura Defense and avoided being blackened!
No one objected, and they prepared to traverse the Valley of Steel!
Just then, "Roar~" The ground began to shake, and a massive Steelix appeared before them!
[Steelix]
[Strength: Gym Leader - Early Stage]
Clearly, this Steelix was the boss of the Valley of Steel!
"Kohtan~" Torkoal looked at Steelix with fierce determination. "Torkoal, want to listen to my commands and defeat this Steelix together?" Ash invited.
"Kohtan~" Torkoal nodded seriously!
[Torkoal]
[Gender: Male]
[Type: Fire]
[Ability: Drought (Upon entering battle, the weather changes to sunny)]
[Strength: Elite - Peak Stage]
[Moves: Flamethrower, Overheat, Smokescreen, Withdraw...]
[Tera Type: Fire]
"Roar~" Steelix fired a green Dragon Pulse at them! "Torkoal, Withdraw!" Torkoal immediately pulled its body into its shell. Dragon Pulse hit the shell but failed to inflict any damage!
Ash smiled faintly. Finally, I'm not the one confounded by this shell! "Torkoal, Flamethrower!" "Kohtan~" A huge pillar of fire shot toward Steelix. Steelix didn't dodge, enduring the hit, and then slammed Torkoal with an Iron Tail!
"The attack is too strong! Torkoal, Flame Wheel!" This time, Steelix used Dig and burrowed underground. Too bad Torkoal doesn't know Earthquake, or Steelix would be in trouble!
"Torkoal, get ready for Overheat! Finish Steelix the moment it comes out!" "Kohtan~"
Ash used his Aura to locate Steelix's position and shouted, "Torkoal, jump up, and then blast down with Overheat!"
"Kohtan~" Torkoal jumped without hesitation, dodging Steelix's attack. At the same time, it unleashed its full power, hitting Steelix with a blazing white Overheat!
"Roar~" Steelix twisted its steel body in the face of the powerful Fire-type attack, bang! It collapsed, unable to battle!
"Kohtan~" Torkoal excitedly started puffing out smoke!
"Torkoal, if you don't mind, would you like to travel with me?" Ash invited, holding out a Poké Ball!
"Kohtan~" Torkoal, once again moved to tears, nodded and puffed out a huge amount of black smoke, tackling Ash to the ground. Its head bumped the Poké Ball, and with a pop, the capture was successful!
"Torkoal is so easily moved!" Max quipped, hitting the nail on the head.
"Alright! I caught Torkoal!" Ash held up the Poké Ball. "Pika" "Eevee" Then, the Poké Ball shrunk and was sent to Professor Oak's lab!
"That's incredible! I didn't know there was a way to catch a Pokémon like that!" (???) May was completely awestruck today. This was the first time she had ever seen a capture method like this!
The defeated Steelix, along with the Magnemite and Skarmory, had already left, tacitly accepting that Ash's group had successfully passed through the Valley of Steel!
After traversing the Valley of Steel, Ash and his friends successfully found the correct path, realizing that Mauville City was now close by!
With Petalburg City as their goal, Ash and his friends had returned to Mauville City after a few days!