Episode 3: Flaricia

[Sunflora Azumarill]

FLARICIA
Description: "A place known as the land of ice and fire. While this happens to be a frigid country, there are also lots of volcanoes and earthquakes to be found along the glacial landscape as well."

Music Notes: An original day-based Icelandic track plays throughout the hub during the daytime. An original night-based Icelandic track plays throughout the hub during the nighttime.

We've made it to Flaricia, as the description states, is the Land of Ice and Fire! Unlike the Aquamuda and San Diales hubs, Flaricia's hub is much smaller and doesn't have as many people to talk to. The town happens to be of Icelandic architecture and in the far distance is a smoldering volcano. There are a few floating TV's here, but far fewer than in previous hubs. You enter on the southern end of the hub in a place known as Lookout Square. If you look south here, you can see the ocean, which has several ice formations floating in it. You can talk to the Nordic man (Gordon) here if you want, but he only talks about the ocean. Also in this area is a woman (Reichene) who is looking towards the volcano. She's worried that it might erupt.

Ice Hotel: Located in the northeast quadrant on the hub happens to be an unusual hotel called the Ice Hotel. As it turns out, this large hotel is carved out of a block of ice and as a result, it's a bit slippery on the inside. However, while such things as the doors, front counter, and stairs are composed of ice, things such as the furniture in each hotel room is normal. You'll be able to go to Room 21 whenever you need to go change the time of day.

Here's a list of what you'll now be able to buy at any Upgrade Shop:

Upgrade Shop
Red Program: 1500p; increases the amount of damage you do to enemies while homing attacking by 10%.
Yellow Program: 1500p; increases the amount of damage you do to enemies with slide attacks by 10%.
Green Program: 1500p; increases the amount of damage you do to enemies in Mach Speed Mode by 10%.
Blue Program: 1500p; increases the amount of damage you do to enemies while hydroplaning (skating along water) by 10%.
In addition to this, any character-exclusive items belonging to any character you've unlocked so far are also available.

Hub Missions: Here's a list of the missions for the Flaricia Hub:

Paris's Exhibition: Once you've cleared the Paris's Exhibition mission in Aquamuda, you'll find Paris and her Lopunny out at Lookout Square. Paris happens to be wearing a pink-and-blue parka and Lopunny is wearing a Weavile-style outfit. Paris says that her next line of Pokémon and human fashion is the Weavile Skier, which consists of a Weavile-style skiing suit. If you're playing as a female character whose listed age is between 14 and 28, then you'll be able to partake in another mission where you and your Pokémon wear the Weavile Skier. This mission puts you in the Frozen Slopes stage where you must clear the stage without defeating any enemies. Once you've cleared this mission, Paris will consider the Weavile Skier a success and then depart for the next part of her World Exhibition tour.

BOSS BATTLE: Brock
When fighting Brock, the Vs. Character boss theme from Sonic the Hedgehog '06 plays. When Brock is defeated, the Town Mission Clear music theme from Sonic the Hedgehog '06 plays.

BOSS BATTLE: Erika
When fighting Erika, the Vs. Character boss theme from Sonic the Hedgehog '06 plays. When Erika is defeated, the Town Mission Clear music theme from Sonic the Hedgehog '06 plays.

[Sunflora Azumarill]

Frozen Slopes

Description: "The massive ice sheets of Flaricia. Despite the frigid conditions, it's Team Magma you're facing here and there's also a massive chemical pipeline built by Team Rocket you need to shut down."
Objectives:
-Cross the Flaricia ice sheet
-Defeat the Team Magma guards
-Escape the Rocket Plow
-Shut down Team Rocket's pipeline
-Evade the Moltres Scorcher
-Reach the entrance to the valley

Voice Notes: Prof. Oak uses his voice from the anime. The Team Magma guards use generic voices.
Background Music: The Holoska Cool Edge day theme from Sonic Unleashed plays throughout the stage.

Get ready for a cool ride here! You'll start the stage by shooting off an ice cliff on a snowboard while holding a parasail. You'll go right into the frigid sea, which is filled with ice packs of various shapes and sizes. Here, you have to navigate the wavy route as you head towards a large wall in the distance. Making things a bit tougher are several floating mines and also a Rocket Submarine. About halfway down the run, you'll notice a slope going up an ice pack. Head up it to get yourself 500p and an X Defend. You'll soon reach the cliff, and the parasail will point straight up and you'll go flying up the side of the ice wall. Upon clearing the wall, you can see the volcano in the distance. You'll be deposited along a path going along the snow and will now snowboard. While it's Team Magma you're facing here, you instead got Team Rocket's ice Pokémon-based robots to contend with here, mainly Snover Units and Sneasel Skaters. Dodge all as you head towards a Jump Ramp and boost over a frozen river. Now you're on foot and will have to defeat every Team Magma guard you come across. For some reason, they're wearing ice blue uniforms as opposed to the usual red. Eventually, you'll make a right turn and the screen will shift to a 2D view with the volcano in the distance. Here, more of Team Rocket's ice robots (you won't see any Team Magma robots in this particular stage aside from one at the end) will attack you. You'll also contend with several Glices and Roturrets as well as have to be careful not to fall down icy chasms. When prompted to perform a QTE, doing it correctly will boost you into a Secret Item. Towards the end of the 2D run, don't jump due to a few Tracking Bombs floating over you. Once you exit the mode, you'll hit Dash Panels hidden in the snow and go right for a wall of snow, but go through it and into an ice tunnel. Here, you'll skate and slide your way down the tunnel and through more Magma guards. At one point in the tunnel, you'll notice the top half of the tunnel composed of transparent ice. Prof. Oak brings up that you're under a river at that point. Once you exit the tunnel, the screen will shift to facing your chosen character as a large vehicle bearing the Team Rocket symbol bursts out of the snow. This is called a Rocket Plow and it will attempt to catch you in the snow pile it's creating with its massive plow. It also fires missiles from the sides at you. Once you outrun the Rocket Plow and go back to normal view, you'll make your way onto a gigantic metallic pipe. Prof. Oak will bring up that this is a massive pipeline built by Team Rocket that's transferring chemicals along a route through the country. It's rumored that the Rocket Pipeline also goes through Holoska and a country known as Articalea. Anyway, near any pipes tend to be chemical-based Team Rocket robots as well as the usual enemies. When you reach a large structure with a floating TV indicating which control station it is, press A/1 and B/2 while in midair to break through the grating to enter a room with a console you need to destroy, then use a spring to bounce back out. After doing so, keep going along the pipeline until it dives beneath the ice and keep going. You'll eventually enter a second tunnel that has an area of transparent ice where a large ice lake is above. If you attack weak points of the ice, it'll break and water will start pouring in, so be careful. You'll enter a large ice cavern where you'll notice in the pool to your left the pipeline continues. Here, be careful of giant ice pieces that are shot towards you and run along a rope bridge where two Hover Turrets will teleport in. You'll hit springs and land back on the pipe and near another control structure. Do the same as with the first and continue into another tunnel. Be careful not to break any transparent ice here as well and you'll go into a 2D view as you enter a series of caverns and tunnels beneath the lake. At one point, you'll land along the pipeline again and will now have to be careful of chemical geysers along the path as well as several Glices and Sneasel Skaters. When you reach another control station, defeat the enemies locking the Magma Cage over the grate and jump in. Shortly after the pipeline turns into the foreground, you'll head into a tunnel that slopes upward and back outside. You'll notice you're above the surface of the ice lake, where several ice packs float in it. The water is freezing to the point that falling in means instant death. You can see the volcano in the distance again and it's a little closer than before. Here, you'll have to contend with constant Auroros in addition to other enemies. You'll find rails above the water you can grind on until you're able to get back on the pipeline. In addition to some more chemical geysers, what look like chemical blocks are shot along the pipe from ports placed along it. Eventually, you'll hit springs just as the pipeline dives beneath the water and go back to normal view. Make your way across more land pieces and ice packs (some of the ice packs bob and tip in the water) until the pipeline surfaces and you reach another control station. Do the same here, but also check to your left to find a grate that only Explosion can destroy. Behind it is a small room with the Full Restore for the stage. You'll soon reach solid ground again as you keep along the pipeline. When the pipe starts to rise upward, don't fall off and keep going until you reach the final control station. Destroying this console shuts off the chemical flow from going beyond Flaricia and you'll boost down the pipe past more chemical geysers, blocks, and robots. After the pipe goes beneath the ice, a large robot resembling a Moltres comes down as you enter Mach Speed mode. This is called a Moltres Scorcher and it attacks by firing molten flames that leave lava paths along the ground, fireballs, and firebombs. At one point, you'll enter an ice tunnel and the Moltres Scorcher's body illuminates the tunnel in a red color. Eventually, you'll exit the tunnel and be closer to the volcano. After the Moltres Scorcher leaves, you'll hit a Jump Ramp and go over a large ravine to a tunnel with a red glow where the Goal Gate resides. Head right through to clear this long (but pretty fast) stage.

[Sunflora Azumarill]

Flarice Valley

Description: "A pathway consisting of both volcanic and frigid environments. Making it to Team Magma's base isn't going to be easy."
Objectives:
-Survive the two-tone valley

-Defeat the Team Magma guards
-Shut down the Magma Barrier
-Incapacitate the Steelix Subterranean
-Defeat Hank (if he appears)
-Reach the entrance to the volcano

Voice Notes: Prof. Oak uses his voice from the anime. The Team Magma guards use generic voices. Hank uses an original casting for his voice.
Background Music: The Flame Core: Volcano theme from Sonic the Hedgehog '06 plays throughout the fire side of the stage. The Flame Core: Cavern theme from Sonic the Hedgehog '06 plays throughout the ice side of the stage. The music transition in between sections is like the music transition used in Hang Castle in Sonic Heroes. When fighting Hank, a remix of boss music from Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia plays.

Now it's out of the freezer and into the oven when it comes to this unusual stage! If you remember Hailfire Peaks from Banjo Tooie, Sword & Shield Maze from Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons, and Freezeflame Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy, then you're going to be given a whole new lesson of fire & ice fusion in this stage, as this stage consists of both such extremes! Anyway, you start in the fire section of the stage, which is similar to Flame Core from Sonic '06 as you run down a winding path over the lava below. You'll soon hit a Jump Ramp and land on a solid piece of land where you'll start to contend with Team Magma guards, this time with their red outfits. You'll also now start to contend with Team Magma robots of various kinds as well. Anyway, the fire half of this stage consists of such hazards as lava geysers, lava spurts from walls, and even solar flare-like lava arches. You'll also notice some pillars with lava flowing out of them rise and fall in the magma. Not too long after braving the heat will you find a tunnel that leads into the ice half of the valley, which is similar to White Acropolis from Sonic '06. On this side, the Magma guards wear ice blue outfits and you contend with ice-based Team Rocket robots instead of Magma ones. Instead of lava, there are pools of frozen water that unlike lava, which causes damage, will instantly kill you. Other hazards include ice jets in walls (the fire side has fire jets), slippery surfaces, and ice twisters (the fire side has fire twisters). You will also contend with Glices here (the fire side has Glires). Towards the end of this section, you'll have to fight an Abomasnow Titan to open a Rocket Cage that holds a spring that will boost you to a tunnel back into the fire side of the stage. Shortly after arriving back, you'll have to wait for a lava fall to come down the side of the wall before running across before another one happens. After making your way along a series of pillars that rise and fall, you'll go into 2D view as you near the magma, which contains several Camerupt Tanks. Here, large tanks bearing the Team Rocket symbol will surface in the lava and launch molten flame streams at you. You'll be able to run on top of them, so do so. After reaching an upward slope, be careful of lava arches that shoot over the slope as well as a Hover Turret at the top. You'll enter a Barrel Cannon sequence involving spinning barrels. Here, time your blasts to avoid lava geysers and arches until you reach solid ground above. You'll soon reach another tunnel that leads back into the ice half of the valley. Be careful as you enter a cavern with frozen water at the bottom as you need to land on an island in the middle and defeat a number of Snover Units to open the Rocket Cage with a spring to bounce you out of the cavern. Next up, you'll need to get through a small series of launchers correctly to reach the other side. If you fail, you'll fall onto an ice floor with Glices that keep teleporting in and will have to bounce up a spring and try again. After getting past here, be careful going up the slope as Pilo Speeders are launched from a bay at the top. You'll now have to homing attack over a bottomless abyss to the other side as normal view returns and you make a right turn. You'll watch a quick cutscene of a Magma Barrier (the same thing as the Aqua and Go-Rock Barriers, except red and with the Team Magma symbol) teleporting in front of a tunnel leading out. You need to collect 3 Magma Emblems to deactivate the barrier, and the first is in a low area with an ice floor and an automated watchtower built by Team Rocket with a searchlight. If caught in it, an alarm will go off and several Rocket robots, including Hover Turrets and Roturrets, will teleport in. Bounce out using the spring on the other end and keep going until you head down a steep slope to a pool covered in ice. Here, there are two holes in the ice where you can dive in. This water is swimmable, but you can only stay under for half as long. In addition to a couple other items is the second Emblem. Use a pulley on the other side to ascend up to another path and you may notice an outcropping behind you with an ice wall. If you have Explosion, blast it open to uncover a Secret Item. After a right turn, you'll notice a low area with a Rocket Plow moving back and forth. You need to jump onto it and ride it to the other end. There are springs on both sides of the pit that will bounce you back to the start if you fall in. On the other side is the Final Emblem and also the Magma Barrier, which should deactivate. Head through the tunnel and go back into the fire half of the stage where you'll have to time your fall down a shaft due to two lava streams shooting through the walls. At the bottom, head forward and you'll go under some sort of Team Magma machine that will activate, firing what looks like intense flames onto the ground. It's actually lava, which starts to flow down the tunnel towards you, making this area reminiscent of a part of Marble Zone from the first Sonic game, including spikes that extend and retract. At the end is a Mechcargo guarding a Magma Cage, do defeat it quick to open it and use the spring to bounce upward to the exit to the tunnel where you need to defeat two Magma guards to shut down a flame barrier and run down the slope to the magma below. There's a switch that will cause a series of fan-propelled platforms to teleport in for a limited time to cross over the lava and past several Camerupt Tanks. Once you reach solid ground, another Rocket Lavadiver will surface to the right and launch firebombs at you. Next up, grind a few rails to the left and up to a spire and you'll have to homing attack your way to more rails that go down to the lava and grind them past Ground Turrets that surface in the magma. Along your ride, the screen will shift to facing your chosen character as a gigantic Steelix robot bearing the Team Rocket symbol surfaces in the lava behind you. It'll launch large hyperlasers from its mouth along the rails, so you'll have to keep jumping along rails, especially since the robot is destroying them as it advances towards you. It'll also dive and jump up during the ordeal. Once you reach solid ground, you'll grab a rocket and launch to your left just before the Steelix Subterranean crashes into the ground and destroys it. You'll go rocketing right up to a path leading into another tunnel that goes back into the ice half of the stage (the screen goes back to normal view upon you landing) As soon as you come out on the tunnel, you'll notice something similar to the lava geysers on the fire side of the valley, ice geysers, which can freeze you, so be careful. Once you make your way down a slope and to a frozen pool, you'll have to dive through a hole in the ice and swim your way under it and into a series of underwater tunnels. There are a lot of air bubbles here, so don’t worry too much. You'll then surface inside a small cavern where a few more Magma guards await you and go out into a section with an ice floor and searchlight tower. If this one catches you, among the robots teleported in are Hover and Ground Turrets and Glices. After making your way onto the upper part past more ice geysers, another Rocket Plow section, and then homing attack across a series of robots over a bottomless chasm, you'll hear a rumbling sound as the Steelix Subterranean from earlier bursts out of the ice and attacks you with hyperlasers and large missiles. You now have to fight the head, and it's a tough fight. Once it's defeated, it'll explode, but still remain motionless and scorched, so get past it and the last of the ice geysers on your way to the Goal Gate at the tunnel leading into the volcano.

However, if you hear the words "What do you like more? Hot or cold?" shouted in an unfamiliar voice upon approaching the Goal Gate, that means you've triggered the small chance Team Magma Admin Hank is waiting! If he appears (he doesn't always appear), you're going to have to fight and defeat him to continue on. Hank is tougher than the guards, but one who knows what they're doing can get past him easily.

[Sunflora Azumarill]

Magma Lavacraft

Description: "A mobile base that's built by Team Magma floating in a magma pool beneath Mt. Valhalla. The defense systems of this complex are hot enough to melt down almost anything."
Objectives:

-Defeat the Team Magma Grunts

-Defeat Tabitha

-Defeat Courtney
-Shut down the magma engines

-Defeat Harland
-Locate and retrieve the Blaze Plate?
-Escape the base

Voice Notes: Prof. Oak and Harland use their voices from the anime. The Team Magma Grunts use generic voices. Tabitha uses the voice that was (incorrectly?) given to Hun in the anime. Courtney uses an original casting for her voice.

Background Music: The Mattrex stage theme from Mega Man X5 plays throughout the stage. When fighting a group of enemies, the night battle theme from Sonic Unleashed plays. When fighting a Magma Soldier, the night midboss theme from Sonic Unleashed plays. When fighting Tabitha, Courtney, or Harland, a remix of the music that plays when facing a team Admin from Pokémon R/S/E plays.

Cutscene: We see the chosen character having entered an area beneath Mt. Valhalla, where a gigantic lava lake sits below and in the center of it, the chosen character can spot Team Magma's base. The chosen character wastes no time and jumps down towards the base, sliding down various slopes along the walls on the long way down. The chosen character eventually lands at the entrance to the base.

If you've noticed so far during your trek through Flaricia, we've gone through an entirely ice stage and a fire/ice stage, meaning next up happens to be an entirely fire stage! Team Magma's latest base is a scorcher and if you want to get back the Plate Team Magma has, you're going to have to brave the heat. Your main objective will be to defeat any Team Magma Grunts you come across. The stage hazards are not to be taken lightly, as they consist of more intense flame jets than those in Flarice Valley, lava geysers, horizontal lava streams, and you'll also contend with magma beams similar to those in Magma Man's stage in Mega Man 9 (unlike those ones, the magma beams here don't instantly kill you). Not too long after you've started the stage, you'll enter a large, octagonal room with a massive cylinder in the center that moves up and down in the lava. You'll quickly discover that the giant shaft itself also moves up and down at a slower pace than the cylinder. You'll need to make your way up a few levels until you reach a launcher sequence that will send you to the doorway leading out, but if you enter while the shaft is up, you'll enter a dead-end room containing a brawl (there's no human enemies in this brawl), so wait until the room is down before entering. The next area you enter is a bit similar to the first part of the Goron Mines in Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, in which you first have to jump across small platforms while avoiding lava geysers than make your way through a fenced area where you need to hit a switch to turn off a magma vent and pass it before it reactivates. At one point, you'll head onto the outside of the base, which isn't any cooler than the inside. Here, be careful of horizontal lava lasers and also Camerupt Tanks, plus a Hover Turret at a pulley leading up. Shortly after you head back inside, you will run into Tabitha, the first of Team Magma's Admins. She's tough, but once defeated, you'll be able to continue with the stage. When you enter the next part of the stage, the screen will go to a 2D view as you enter a large hall with magma below and a long bridge held up by lava geysers. The geysers go on and off at regular intervals and Glires and laser fences make things a little difficult. After this is a series of corridors reminiscent of areas of Magma Man's stage where magma beams fire from the ceiling over lava pools and more Hover Turrets and a few Team Magma robots don't make things any easier. Once you reach a set of doors, you'll go into a small room where you go back to normal view and another set of doors awaits. It leads into another cylinder room and depending on when you go through it, you'll either end up going through the lower entrance and have an easy path across a bridge to the cylinder or you'll enter through the upper entrance and have to navigate a glass tube maze to get to the same area. Near the lava below, you'll have to fight a Magma Soldier, so be ready. Once you defeat it, you'll be faced with another door timing deal. If you wait until the room goes down and enter the door, you'll enter a room with a Secret Item. Once you enter the next hall, you'll watch a small cutscene of a Magma Barrier teleporting onto a ledge in another room. The hall you just entered is a small maze containing the first Magma Emblem you need. You'll then head back onto the exterior of the fortress where more lava pools, including a few geysers, await you. Making things a bit more difficult are Team Rocket saws that move along the floor and walls where you have to grab grates and shimmy over the lava. Be careful at the final grate, as a lava fall drops down at regular intervals. After the final grate, you'll hit a switch that teleports in floating platforms that move back and forth and lead upward for a limited time, so quickly get up there and to an area where Courtney is waiting for you. She is a little tougher than Tabitha, but will drop the second Magma Emblem upon defeat. After heading inside, you'll go through a hall lined with flame jets before entering a room with two magma beams and where a brawl awaits. After the brawl, you'll head into another hall that leads into the area with the Magma Barrier. The final Magma Emblem is locked in a Magma Cage, and you're going to have to defeat four Magmar Blower robots to deactivate it. A floating platform will also teleport in over the lava chasm next to the Magma Barrier for you to use to jump cross and deactivate the barrier. The next door leads into another cylinder room, but if you enter it at the right time, you'll come onto a balcony where you can homing attack a series of Claydol Drones to reach a floating platform with the stage's Full Restore. The main path is from the door when the shaft is down, and you'll head towards the cylinder itself where you'll find a large console that you need to destroy to shut down the cylinder, which is referred to as a magma engine. Once you do so, the room will stop moving up and down and you'll be able to take a path that leads into a series of halls that lead into a large chamber with a maze bridge supported by lava geysers, making this like the lava bridge earlier, but this time it's trickier as you need to find and press a switch to temporarily drop a flame wall and get to it without being blocked by laser walls. There's also a brawl at one point of the maze that's made trickier by two laser fences in the area. Later, you'll head back outside where you go to a 2D view and make your way over lava pools and other hazards, including more saws, Hover Turrets, and Roturrets, as well as several other Team Rocket robots and a couple Tracking Bombs. At one point, you need to grab a pulley and ride it up before a magma beam below shoots upward. Once you go back inside, you'll go back to normal view and navigate a long hall of lava geysers and lava streams from the walls. Eventually, you'll enter a massive room with an arena hoisted over a giant lava pool. Here, you'll fight Harland, who attacks in a giant Arcanine-shaped mech similar to the Egg Cerberus from Sonic '06. Harland runs around the arena before stopping to fire a massive stream of molten flames, lava bubbles, or launch a fiery shockwave. Attack the legs of the mech to bring it down and do damage and eventually, Harland will be defeated. After exiting the room, you'll enter a shaft where you have to homing attack a few robots while watching out for a couple horizontal magma beams. You'll then come into an area of the second cylinder shaft. If you go through the door at the wrong time, you'll enter a glass-walled room overlooking the chamber where a brawl awaits, but you can also grab 400p while you're at it. In the main chamber, you have to do a small platform puzzle like the one back in Go-Rock Mountain to reach the cylinder. Once you reach the area with the console, which is locked in a Magma Cage, you'll be thrust into a brawl that ends with a Magma Soldier fight. Destroy this console to shut off the second magma engine and take a lava geyser supported bridge to the exit to the chamber. Note that if you go to the door while the room is still moving up and down, you can go through the door while the room is up to enter a room with both a Secret Item and 500p. After exiting the chamber, you're going to have to find three switches to open the door containing what should be the Blaze Plate. However, upon entering the chamber, you'll discover the Plate to be gone and instead, you're thrown into a brawl. Pressing the switches also open the door leading to the Goal Gate inside a large elevator room. Simply pass through the Goal Gate to clear this long and tough stage once and for all.

[Sunflora Azumarill]

Note: During this cutscene and the boss, it's always nighttime (even though you're deep beneath a volcano, where you can't see the sky), regardless of the time of day when you cleared Magma Lavacraft.

Cutscene: We go to the roof of the base, where a room rises up onto the top; it's the elevator containing the chosen character, which opens and he or she steps out as the elevator goes back down. The chosen character sees Maxie in the distance holding the Blaze Plate and runs towards him. Maxie congratulates the chosen character for making it this far, but tells him or her that this is the end of the line. We watch as a room similar to the elevator rises up, the top slides open, and the walls go down to reveal a large Rocket Cage without the symbols on the sides. The cube-shaped cage opens up the usual way, with the mirrored squares on top sliding inward in a spiral fashion, then the squares making up the sides sliding downward to reveal a Heatran inside the cage. Maxie tells the chosen character he'll now show him or her the power of the Blaze Plate as he goes up to Heatran and puts the Blaze Plate right up to it. The Plate and Heatran both glow in a bright red color and the two bond and Heatran easily triples in size. The result is Heatran bonded with the Blaze Plate and glowing in a fiery red color. Maxie commands Heatran to destroy the chosen character and he or she knows what may need to be done. As Heatran roars loudly, the cutscene fades out.

BOSS STAGE: Fused Heatran
When fighting the Fused Heatran, the Dark Gaia's Spawn boss theme from Sonic Unleashed plays. When the Fused Heatran is defeated, the Clear Fanfare 2 music from Sonic Unleashed plays.

Now this is quite a contrast to the two previous bosses of the game, as we're fighting Heatran fused with the Blaze Plate with Maxie on the sidelines! The arena happens to be similar to the area where Sonic fought the Dark Moray in Sonic Unleashed, instead it's a circular arena in the middle of a lava pool with a fire shield protecting the upper tier where the Fused Heatran is. First up, you need to attack four blue capsules along the side of the upper tier while dodging explosive magma launched by the Fused Heatran. Once all four capsules have been broken, the flames will drop and you'll be able to jump up to where the Fused Heatran is. The Fused Heatran sits in a small lava pool and in addition to bursts of magma will also launch a giant Flamethrower while turning in a circle. You need to grab an object called a Freeze Capsule and throw it at Heatran to immobilize it, then you can attack the head. Once a quarter of its health is gone, Heatran will send out a huge swirl of flame (this doesn't damage you at all) that blows you back onto the lower tier and the shield flares up again. You now have to repeat the process for another chance at attacking Heatran, where you now have to throw two Freeze Capsules at it. Once half its health is gone, whenever you're on the upper tier, Heatran adds a new attack to its arsenal, where it'll stomp the ground and cause lava geysers to erupt along the ground. At this point, it takes three Freeze Capsules to stop it. When only a fourth of its health is left, Heatran will cause lava geysers to erupt along the lower tier as well. When on the upper tier during this phase, Heatran will also use Magma Storm, which immobilizes you and it takes four Freeze Capsules to immobilize it. Once you've dealt enough damage to Heatran, it'll collapse, signaling the end of the battle.


Cutscene: We watch as the Fused Heatran roars loudly as the bond it has with the Blaze Plate is broken and the two separate, causing Heatran to return to normal. We zoom out to see that Giovanni is watching the event on the hologram screen in his orbiting satellite base. Giovanni is once again furious that the chosen character has gotten another one of the Plates and decides to take action. Giovanni tells ONNA to activate signal satellite array 3X and to point signal satellite 17-G in the direction of Team Magma's base, sending a self-destruct signal towards the base. ONNA starts to explain the casualties of blowing up the complex as well as that it may cause the volcano to erupt, but Giovanni interrupts her saying he's aware of the repercussions and doesn't care if an eruption occurs. ONNA has no choice but to say yes to Giovanni's command before disappearing. We go to somewhere in space where a satellite containing a glowing cylindrical transmitter and a small transmitting chip activates. A computerized voice states that the satellite is launching a self-destruct signal to the location of Team Magma's base. We watch as the satellite's computer then brings up an image of the earth and then zooms in several times as we can see Flaricia, then Mt. Valhalla, then the lava-filled crater at the top, then under the volcano where the enormous cavern containing Team Magma's complex is, then the base itself in the giant lava lake it's in.

Cutscene: We go back to where the chosen character, Maxie, and Heatran are as the base's computer indicates that the self-destruct sequence has activated and that there's only one minute until detonation. The chosen character asks just how crazy Maxie is, but Maxie explains that he didn't activate such a self-destruct sequence. The computerized voice alerts everyone to evacuate and another room rises up onto the roof. This room opens up to contain Team Magma's helicopter, which Maxie quickly runs to, telling the chosen character to have fun with Heatran. The chosen character quickly tells Heatran that it's free, seeing that Heatran doesn't have to worry about the magma, grabs the Blaze Plate, and runs towards the helicopter before it takes off. The chosen character grabs one of the wings before it takes off and flies upward towards the top of the cavern. Near the top is a gigantic set of metal doors bearing the Team Magma symbol, which extend outward then open up, allowing the helicopter to fly through an upward sloping passage.

Cutscene: We go the base of the volcano, where a similar set of doors open up and the helicopter flies out of the volcano while still carrying the chosen character. Shortly after getting away from the volcano, we hear a large explosion that sends out shockwaves that rattle the helicopter and cause the chosen character to lose his or her grip and fall into an icy ravine on the ground. We watch as reddish smoke comes out of the top of Mt. Valhalla and everyone back in Flaricia's hub watches in fear as it the tremors reach all the way to where they are. While it looks like the end, it turns out the explosion wasn't powerful enough to set off the volcano as it starts simmering down. We watch as the sun starts to rise as everyone in the hub breathes a collective sigh of relief.

Cutscene: Back in Giovanni's satellite station, he's again watching the events in Flaricia unfold on the hologram screen. ONNA reappears and says that the magma engines in Team Magma's complex that allowed them to make the volcano erupt were shut down, preventing an eruption from occurring with the base's destruction. As the hologram screen closes back up, Giovanni says that the chosen character had to have made it out of the volcano before the explosion, saying that he knows the Squad well, especially since he once served with them in order to get Team Rocket back in his hands. He then brings up that he's already sent two special agents in the Dark Raven to Flaricia to get the Blaze Plate back from the chosen character at all costs. Giovanni explains that the Squad is now his enemy and is now in the way of his master plan, something that will shake existence as we know it.

Cutscene: We now go to blackness as we see someone's eyes open up from his or her point of view. It's the chosen character, who has just regained consciousness from falling into the ravine and notices he or she's in a pile of snow. It's now daytime and the chosen character wonders how he or she is going to get out. As if on cue, Tails comes flying by in the Tornado and files down into the ravine. Upon seeing the chosen character, he asks him or her if he or she is all right. The chosen character replies that he or she will make it and Tails offers him or her a ride back to town. The chosen character agrees and gets on the Tornado.

Cutscene: We watch as Tails and the chosen character make it back to the hub… only to see everyone in the town frozen! We also see a quick closeup of Olaf as one of the victims of what has happened here. As the chosen character disbands the Tornado upon it landing, Tails wonders what has just happened here, but as it turns out, the chosen character already has an idea when he or she spots someone in Lookout Square wearing a Team Rocket uniform. As it turns out, it's Mondo, who's wearing a sort of pack on his back with two guns on top of his wrists and metal bracelets holding the guns in place. Two smaller guns are on the sides of the bracelets and all guns are connected to the pack by metal hoses. Upon reaching Lookout Square, the chosen character asks Mondo just what he has done. Mondo explains that with his "Freeze Solution" pack, he's frozen the populace of the town and demands that the chosen character surrender the Blaze Plate to him or else the Dark Raven will fire a blast from its fusion cannon into Mt. Valhalla's crater and set off an eruption that will shatter this entire place! From up in the sky near the volcano, we see a very high-tech stealth-like jet similar to the Night Raven from G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and inside it happens to be Tyson, who's being given orders by Giovanni that if Mondo doesn't get the Blaze Plate to set the volcano off and flee the scene, leaving Mondo to go down with the town. Back in town, Tails overhears the conversation between the chosen character and Mondo and decides to go check out the Dark Raven. As it turns out, while the chosen character doesn't understand the fusion cannon or the Dark Raven too much, he or she can't take any chances and decides to take Mondo on. In short, we got ourselves a battle.

BOSS BATTLE: Mondo
When fighting Mondo, the Vs. Character boss theme from Sonic the Hedgehog '06 plays. When Mondo is defeated, the Town Mission Clear music theme from Sonic the Hedgehog '06 plays.

Now this is unexpected! We got ourselves a battle with Mondo, who attacks with whatever the "Freeze Solution" system is. The arena happens to be Lookout Square, so there aren't any obstructions. Mondo's method of attacking is to first blast you with the gun on his right arm, which sends out a stream of blue liquid that if it hits you will halve your Speed and Jump, then blast you with his left gun, which launches a stream of teal liquid that if it hits and you got hit with the blue liquid, will freeze you instantly. If you get hit by the teal liquid but weren't hit by the blue liquid, you'll then only suffer damage. You'll also discover it's tricky to attack him as he'll put his arm in front of him and a large blue glass shield will come up and block your attacks, meaning it's best to attack him from behind. Mondo has a few more tactics involving his Freeze Solution, such as spraying a stream of blue liquid along the ground (which halves your Speed and Jump while you're in it), then firing a stream of teal liquid at the area of blue liquid, causing it to create a large freeze clump that you have to be careful not to touch. The smaller guns fire opposite types of liquid that are smaller streams but are harder to dodge. Later on in the battle, Mondo will merge the small stream of liquid with the large stream (ex: small blue steam with large teal stream) to create an instant freeze solution that causes large ice clumps to form along the ground. There are special emitters on the bottom of each of the bracelets that emit either a blue or teal scanner that if caught in, will lock on that set of guns to you and they will home in on you when fired. Mondo also from time to time will detach the bracelets and fire the guns handheld style. When two-thirds of his health is depleted, Mondo will have the top of the Freeze Solution pack open up and fire bombs that consist of both liquids combined, which instantly freeze whatever is in range of the explosion. Keep up your tactics and Mondo will be defeated.

Cutscene: After defeating Mondo, he'll explain that because of what you did, the town and everything around it is doomed when the Dark Raven fires the fusion cannon at the volcano. With that in mind, he activates freeze jets at the bottom of the pack that lift him into the air like a jetpack and decides to fly off towards the Dark Raven. Meanwhile, at the Dark Raven, Tyson has seen that Mondo has failed to get the Blaze Plate from the chosen character and we see an unusual space-age cannon slide out of the bottom of the jet and point itself towards the volcano. Tails has managed to make it to a bit near the Dark Raven from behind and discovers that the readings coming from the Tornado indicate that the fusion cannon is protected by a shield to prevent anyone from shooting it off. However, Tails had managed to find a Chaos Emerald somewhere and installed in into the nose of the tornado to use in a laser that should bypass the shield and hit the fusion cannon. Tyson just needs to press one button to fire the fusion cannon, then escape before the charge hits the volcano, setting it off in a way Team Magma's base never would have. Tails aims the laser right before Tyson fires the fusion cannon and it manages to go through the shield and hit the fusion cannon, detaching it from the jet. This shocks Tyson as he notices Tails then dive down in hopes of getting the fusion cannon. Tails manages to grab the fusion cannon (which is very heavy by the way) and escape the Dark Raven's laser fire. Giovanni comes in on a video screen on the jet's window and tells Tyson to retreat for now, but to leave Mondo behind. Tyson does as he's been ordered and turns the Dark Raven around and flies off. Along the way, we see Mondo flying with his freeze jetpack as the Dark Raven comes towards him. He manages to grab onto the bottom of the jet, where a panel slides open and he is pulled in. Tyson has decided to be a nice guy and let Mondo come back with him.

Cutscene: We go back to the town, where Tails has just returned with the fusion cannon. He goes on to explain to the chosen character that this weapon that Team Rocket has created is astounding, something that hasn't even be theorized. The chosen character brings up that he or she had seen something like this before used in the Rocket Armada 2. Tails explains that such a weapon is extremely destructive and could very well level a whole town or more with just a single blast. At this point, Prof. Oak comes in on the hand radio and brings up that Prof. Carolina from Sinnoh has gone to Mazuri after the discovery of another plate, the Shadow Plate, occurred there. The chosen character explains what Tails had brought back from Team Rocket's jet, the fusion cannon, and Prof. Oak is shocked at the discovery of such a weapon. He tells the chosen character to bring that weapon to Carolina and she can keep an eye on it until he himself can get it and research it. The chosen character explains that everyone in the town had been frozen by Mondo, so Prof. Oak brings up he'll send a special group to remedy the situation.

Cutscene: We go back to Giovanni's orbital complex, where on the hologram screen, Tyson is apologizing to Giovanni for the failure of getting the Blaze Plate back. Giovanni is angry with what has happened, but tells Tyson that they still have a shot at all the other Plates. As the hologram screen closes, Giovanni asks ONNA if the location of the next Plate has been found. ONNA replies that scanning satellites have picked up the locations of two more plates, the Shadow Plate in Mazuri and the Lime Plate in Apotos. Giovanni brings up that he'll use the assistance of a certain group they haven't really had the chance to use yet, Team Dim Sun, to go and secure the Shadow Plate while a Team Rocket regiment go and get the Lime Plate, explaining the Squad can't cover everywhere. At this point, Giovanni looks as the Peace Squad badge in his hand and explains that the Squad will be crushed if it's the last thing that he ever does, going as far as to crush the badge in his hand. At this time, ONNA has decided Giovanni needs some alone time and disappears.

Cutscene: We go to inside the Alpha Gate as the chosen character thinks he or she knows where the Blaze Plate goes. Going up to the Kyogre statue in front of the doors where you can enter the hub's stages, suddenly, the Kyogre statue glows an ice blue color and so does the Blaze Plate. The Kyogre statue sinks into the ground and the chosen character is in the area where the Blaze Plate should be placed, but the area seems like it's for another Plate. The chosen character takes the Blaze Plate up to the pedestal and places the Plate onto it, but the pedestal rejects the plate. Apparently, this Alpha Gate is meant to house the Freeze Plate. Knowing that they haven't found the Freeze Plate or the Alpha Gate where the Blaze Plate goes, the chosen character takes the Blaze Plate and goes back to the Kyogre statue and takes it back up to the surface, sealing the path leading into the chamber.

Cutscene: Back in the hub, the chosen character notices several Charizard, among them Ash's Charizard, are strewn about the town and are at work carefully thawing out each of the townspeople. Tails explains that Charizard from the Charicific Valley were brought in to thaw out everyone. Olaf comes up to the chosen character and thanks him or her for saving his town and tells him or her that he or she can stay as his guest for as long as he or she likes. The chosen character declines, saying that he or she has to get going. Tails has just finished hooking the fusion cannon to the Tornado to make transporting it much easier and explains that whenever the chosen character is ready, they can head to Mazuri.

Once you've regained control of the chosen character, you'll be at the door leading into Olaf's house. You can head back to Lookout Square and talk to Tails to head back to the World Map, but you should also stock up on whatever items you need for the road ahead. A number of people in the hub will thank you for saving them if you talk to them. Anyway, when you're ready, go to Tails, talk to him, and select "I'm all ready!" to go to the World Map.

Back at the World Map, you'll be pointed in the direction of a new location, Mazuri, which is the same location that it was in Sonic Unleashed. Since you're pointed there already, you can simply select Mazuri to head there.