Master Craftsman of the Elven World

Chapter 322 The Legendary Armor of Molten Steel

When Lightmoy saw Sidora appear, she stood there stunned for a moment.

The main problem is that the way this guy appeared was too ridiculous. This dignified mythical beast came running over quickly in a cockroach-like crawling manner, and then fell to the ground with a thud from the sky!

Heatran is a Pokémon that resembles a turtle. It has orange-red eyes, a head that looks like it's covered in a metal mask, and a reddish-brown body with brown and orange spots. It has metal bracelet-like structures on its legs and can crawl freely, attaching itself to rock walls.

It is also a legendary Pokémon in the Sinnoh region, but it also exists as a legend in other regions. Basically, there is a Heatran near every crater.

Legend has it that they are Pokémon formed from fragments of spacetime that fell from the outer spacetime when the two dragons of spacetime were fighting.

Although Heatran often becomes a stepping stone for other legendary Pokémon or is controlled by villains and turned into a vanguard general and suffers persecution in the anime and manga, Heatran is an excellent type when it comes to its strength on the battlefield, and is one of the evergreen types in battle.

"Humph!"

Heatran shook its big head, falling off the ceiling was just one of its basic maneuvers!

What, you've never seen a flying giant reptile before?
Now you've seen it.

I don't want to appear before humans unless absolutely necessary! You humans are always thinking of subduing me!

"This... this guy... could he be the King of Reversible Mountains?!"

Feng Lu stared incredulously at the "Fire Steel Giant Crawler" before him.

She frequently travels to and from Mountain Town and knows the legend of the King of Revertor that circulates there. She guesses that it is probably a special Pokémon, but she has never seen it before!

Now, perhaps it's because of the powerful heat emanating from Heatran, its fierce aura, and even its unique appearance—all three conditions prove that the creature before us is an extremely rare and powerful Pokémon!
"Sidran. This guy isn't in the Unova region's Pokédex yet, is he?"

Lightmoss acted as a human-shaped Pokédex, and incidentally took out the Pokédex that Professor Taxo had given him.

The Pokédex already lists Regigigas and Darkrai. Now, it has added Heatran to the list.

"The Heatrans exist in volcanoes all over the world. Legend has it that they are Pokémon formed from fragments of time and space. There is also a legend that the Heatrans were born from the molten lava inside the volcanoes and reigned supreme in each one. Their type is Fire and Steel!"

"It's a legendary Pokémon!"

Wanlong, one hand on his hip, exclaimed, "I've spotted another legendary Pokémon! Legendary Pokémon here are practically sold in bulk!"

Of course, when a legendary Pokémon appears, the necessary vigilance is still required, even if Heatran in front of us doesn't seem to have any aggressive intent.

"Enough already!" Heatran opened his molten steel mouth, disdainful of the trainers' wariness.

Its eyes were fixed on the volcanic stone next to the moss!
Hey! Human, I came here for all that good stuff! I'm going to eat, eat, eat!

You actually know how to make volcanic stone?!
Is this something that humans can actually make?
Xiduolan's expression was strange, and he kept complaining.

"What is it saying?" Feng Lu asked curiously. "It seems different from Darkrai; it can't communicate with us telepathically."

Sidora: "."

I'm so sorry I can't speak properly, but you have to consider that our body structures are different!
Lightmoss read Heatran's thoughts, and when humans and Pokémon connected, even the King of Rumble was startled.

What is this thing that can communicate directly with my mind?!

"Geothermal energy, minerals, and volcanoes combine to form the power of the earth. But you're saying the volcanic stone is lost?"

The moss sensed Sidora's thoughts, and the latter widened its eyes and nodded vigorously—even though it had no neck at all.

Wanlong: "The volcanic stone is missing? Was there originally a volcanic stone here?"

Feng Lu: "The volcanic stone is a secret treasure of the volcano, and indeed some explorers come here to explore in order to obtain it."

“But…” Feng Lu glanced at the volcanic stone that Guang Tai had “wholesale”.

"This is practically a treasure trove wholesale!" she thought to herself. These volcanic stones, processed with superpowers, might actually be of higher quality than naturally formed ones.

I see. Lightmoy recalled the situation at Reverse Mountain in the game. Although this place would later be connected as part of the "Ripple Town and Mountain Road Town Tourism Project" and would attract many people looking for the Volcanic Town Stone, there was no Volcanic Town Stone here.

The only Volcanic Rock in the game is on the cliff of the South Sea Island on Route 18, which can only be found by crossing the sea from Deer Town.

There were only a few trainers exercising at the place where the volcanic rock was found, and they had no idea why it was there.

Perhaps a trainer found it here and took it away? But why would it be abandoned on a cliff on a deserted island?

Although Reverse Mountain and Harsh Mountain are the same type of volcano, they are described differently in the black and white versions. In the black version, Reverse Mountain is filled with water but erupts frequently; in the white version, Reverse Mountain is filled with lava but erupts only once in a long while.

Moreover, the loss of the volcanic stone in the harsh mountain would cause huge changes, but nothing happened in the reverse mountain.

"So that's how it is! The recent frequent activity at Mount Reversal is because Heatran is creating a volcanic stone!"

Wanlong raised a finger and suddenly understood what Granny Feng had said earlier:
"The volcanic stone is missing, but it is a very important treasure for Heatran. Since it can be formed in a volcano, it means that Heatran has the ability to create it!"

Xiduolanen glanced at Wanlong.

"Enough kisses."

Wow, you're pretty smart!

However, I don't have the skill to make a stone slab, because I can't "breath fire"!
“It says it doesn’t have that ability.” Lightmoy translates: “The volcanic stone is a creation of the forces of volcano and earth. It triggered the volcano to see if it could form this kind of stone naturally again.”

"Making the stoker requires a volcanic eruption, and for Pokémon, fire breath can simulate that environment. But a regular Heatran doesn't use fire breath; it says it's generated by the power of the earth."

Sidora nodded slightly.

That's right, that's it.

"The ordinary ones don't breathe fire? Are there different ones?" Feng Lu and Wan Long looked at each other in bewilderment: "This is the first time we've seen a legendary Pokémon like this. How do you know so much about its ecology?"

Lightmoy chuckled: "I've seen Fire-Breathing Heatrans in other regions before."

Oblibia's special Sidora can breathe fire, although it's unclear how he learned it. The Ranger storyline mentioned that he learned it by chance.

"Do you want a town-suppressing stone? I can trade with you. I'll keep a few from this batch."

Lightmoss recalled Mt. Cruel in Sinnoh. In the game, the volcanic rocks in Mt. Cruel could be arranged into a formation, although players could only pick up the central one. But there were almost none in Mt. Reversal. The caverns of Heatran were empty. Even though Mt. Reversal was much larger than Mt. Cruel, it had far fewer rocks. That was a kind of "reversal" in itself.

A thoughtful expression appeared in Sidora's eyes.

Hmm. Let's exchange.

You're not going to suggest anything like subduing or researching it, are you?
Heatran's big head knows a lot of things because many strange people come to Turn Point. Although Turn Point is difficult to enter, it is indeed one of the tourist attractions in Unova.

Sidora refused without even thinking.

Are you kidding me? There are buffets everywhere inside the volcano. It would be so boring to go out. I just want to stay here. I have no intention of going out to explore!
If you can give me more town-suppressing stones, I can also give you a batch of precious volcanic minerals! Anyway, those things are just food I dug out myself.

"Isn't this great? But besides the minerals, I also want the steel from your body!"

The moss made a request.

The steel on Shedrann's body is quite special. Boiling blood, like molten lava, flows through its body. Of course, despite its hard steel body, it is gradually melting due to the high temperature it emits.

However, it is not visible under normal circumstances. In other words, the speed of steel regeneration exceeds the speed of melting. This steel is probably formed by the combination of various ores. After being eaten by Heatran, it melted and combined in its body, and then regenerated and covered its body surface.

In the anime, Heatran also exhibited the behavior of absorbing energy from volcanoes to feed, using its fire-igniting properties to bathe in the heat of magma in order to accumulate energy.

If he leaves the crater, Heatran's strength will decrease, since he will no longer be able to accumulate lava power at any time.

Sidora thought for a moment.

This deal is quite a good one.

Those melted iron armor pieces were nothing more than their own... well, not exactly excrement, but rather like "molting," just the outer skin that had fallen off.

"Okay, okay! (I agree!)"

After saying that, Sidora turned and ran away, clinging to the rock wall and scrambling around for a while. After a short while, he climbed back, opened his big mouth, and a large pile of ore and steel fell out with a clatter!
Feng Lu: "These are volcanic minerals treasured by Xidoran!"

Lightmoss: "No, these are just its food. Hmm. I can sense Sidson's thoughts; it's telling us which flavors are good and which are bad."

There are many Pokémon that eat minerals, and different minerals have different flavors.

[Material: Molten steel shell.]

[Description: The special steel that fell off Heatran's body can withstand certain high temperatures without melting, possesses strong fire resistance, can resonate with enormous energy, and has a faint spacetime fluctuation property. For ordinary craftsmen, it is a dream material.]

You possess smelting and flame forging skills, allowing you to process these special materials!

[Effect: Can be used to craft special items. Giving these items to Fire or Steel-type Pokémon will boost their power and help them grow better. Steel artifacts crafted from molten steel shells will not rust.]

[Craftable items: Heat-resistant luxury armor, smoke generator, heavy relay baton, seven repair tools, guardian fragment, locked container* (special), magic coin (requires gold jewel).]

[Additional: Upon acquiring more special materials, depending on the difficulty of the materials and crafting process, you can successively craft "Armored Warrior's Armor," "Armor that prolongs life - Eternity," "Sword that can deflect all attacks - Instant," and "Golden Armor for Immortality." For these items, molten steel shells are merely the basic material.]

The ores delivered by Seadrane were mostly fire gems and water gems.

The water gem doesn't taste good, while the fire gem is very hot. There are also fire orbs and poison orbs, red and blue fragments, small meteorite and star fragments, scattered gold beads, and a smoke ball.

Here, a special type of crystal was discovered in the light moss.

[Material: Crystal of Fire.]

[Description: A crystal formed from the convergence of powerful flames, high temperatures, lava, and geothermal energy! When given to a Fire-type Pokémon or one with Fire-type moves, it greatly increases their energy and the power of their corresponding moves! Fire Crystals are also an important material for crafting special items!]

[Craftable items: Metal Core Barrier, Flame Orb, Vulcan Orb, Memory Lighter.]

[Item: Smoke Ball]

[Description: The Pokémon carrying this item can definitely escape in battles against wild Pokémon.]

"Shtillan seems to have a lot of food supplies, and some of the items here are very expensive!"

Wearing gloves, Wanlong picked up a flaming orb. The flames inside seemed to possess life, still burning and leaping.

Sidora looked at the moss expectantly.

Although these things are of no use to me, just food and shed shells, they are very useful to you, right?
How many town stones can I exchange this for?
Lightmoss: "Um, could you bring over some more molted shells?"

"Enough kissing!"

What a greedy fellow!
Xidoran wanted to rebuke Guangmo, but when he saw the five town stones pushed in front of him, he swallowed back the insults he was about to say!
They gave us quite a lot!
Your animal identification is spot on!

I'll go back and get it for you right away!

Forget it, my efficiency in moving things back and forth is just too low. Elbow, come back to my hideout with me and let's talk inside!

"Oh, if I could subdue you, you could keep making these special steels for me. After all, this is just your molted skin, right?"

The moss was muttering to itself on the road, which startled Sidonia. It turned slightly to look at the human, but through its emotional connection, it realized that the moss was just talking and immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Although eating other foods wouldn't be a problem, staying near a volcano is definitely the most comfortable place to be, isn't it?

"Enough kisses."

If it wants to molt, it must stay near a volcano. If it doesn't absorb energy to make its blood boil, the steel on its surface won't melt; and if it doesn't eat a lot of minerals, new steel can't be generated.

“What you say is true! Only by staying in a place with abundant lava energy can you continuously molt and grow. The melting of your steel armor is also a manifestation of your growth. If it were for the purpose of collecting materials, subduing you would be a mistake.”

If you're going to play against other players, you won't have these concerns.

And if you need to eat a lot of ore to get the steel armor... you really need to be rich to afford to raise this guy.

Seadra was very generous. Perhaps worried that Lightmoss really wanted to take him away from his comfortable little nest, so he gave all the steel armor he had shed since birth to Lightmoss. The steel was piled up inside the nest, and even the rock walls of the nest were embedded with those semi-molten iron shells.

(End of this chapter)