NOVPUB"I knew it would be like this."
Julian looked helplessly at the volcano crater, several hundred meters wide. Below, the magma churned like boiling water, and the stinging sulfuric smell kept assaulting his nose.
The Dowsing Machine showed that the Ultimate treasure was located inside the magma.
When Julian first learned about the treasure near the volcano, he’d already suspected it might be hidden in the lava inside the crater.
After all, when he had found the Fire Crystal before, it had been retrieved from lava deep within a volcano too.
And the Ice Core had been located at the bottom of a freezing cold pool.
So now this treasure being inside volcanic magma? No surprise there.
The real problem was: how was Julian going to retrieve it?
Unlike last time, he didn’t see any Magmar group around here.
Due to their body structures, even among Fire-type Pokémon, only a few could withstand the extreme heat of magma.
Magmortar were one of them. Last time, Julian had "persuaded" a wild Magmortar to retrieve the Fire Crystal for him.
But now, with no Magmortar in sight, all he could see around the crater were some Fire-type Pokémon.
Because of the extreme heat at the crater, any rain that tried to fall here was instantly vaporized.
There were, however, four Fire-type Pokémon at the crater: Magcargo, Typhlosion, Centiskorch, and Incineroar. All of them were at the Elite-level.
These four had claimed the crater as their territory—it was the most concentrated Fire-type energy zone on the entire volcano.
But none of them could enter magma—their bodies simply weren’t built for it.
Arcanine’s Pokéball began to shake.
It was saying: "I can do it."
Julian’s face darkened. "You’d go in as a dog and come out as roast meat."
Sure, Arcanine was a Fire-type and could temporarily withstand the surface heat of magma. But the deeper you go, the hotter it gets—and it wouldn’t even be able to breathe down there.
It might go in alive, but it would come out well-done.
The four Fire-type Pokémon noticed an intruder near the crater. As if on cue, they launched an attack against Julian.
Normally, they were rivals, but when an outsider appeared, they would work together.
They had driven away plenty of humans like Julian before.
Four boosted Flamethrowers, amplified by the volcano’s energy, roared toward him like a tidal wave of fire.
Dragonite immediately pulled Julian back, while Metagross flew in to intercept.
With a flash of Teleport, it appeared right in front of Centiskorch. The centipede Pokémon barely had time to widen its eyes before a Meteor Mash smashed into its head.
Though all four Pokémon were at the early Elite stage, Centiskorch was the weakest—so naturally it was dealt with first.
Under the force of the Meteor Mash, Centiskorch was instantly knocked out.
"ROAR!"
Incineroar brought its Darkest Lariat down on Metagross with overwhelming force.
Incineroar: "This one’s in the bag."
Metagross: “What did you just say?”
Incineroar stared at the completely unharmed Metagross, thinking maybe the volcanic sulfur was making him hallucinate.
But the whistling sound of an incoming Bullet Punch and the instinctive sense of danger jolted Incineroar back to reality—it wasn’t a hallucination.
Unfortunately, it was already too late to dodge.
All it could do was cross its arms in front of itself to block Metagross’s Bullet Punch.
At the same time, Magcargo and Typhlosion launched their attacks. The former unleashed Fire Spin, and the latter fired Flamethrower—one from the left, one from the right, both targeting Metagross.
If Metagross continued attacking Incineroar, it would take both fire attacks head-on.
Under normal circumstances, it would be wiser to give up on the attack, especially since this was a one-against-three situation—and the opponent had a clear type advantage.
Even trainers like Ember or Pierce would likely choose to disengage and dodge in this scenario.
But—
“Meta!”
Metagross let out a disdainful snort. It allowed the two fire attacks to hit it directly, while at the same time landing a Bullet Punch squarely on Incineroar’s face.
BOOM!
Incineroar’s body was slammed into the crater wall, though it wasn’t completely knocked out yet.
In the very next second, a Psycho Cut sliced across its body, sending it to join Centiskorch in defeat.
“Meta~”
Metagross turned to look at Magcargo and Typhlosion-the two that had ambushed it.
Both Fire-types instinctively took a step back. Even the usually aggressive Typhlosion now showed signs of hesitation.
Four-on-one, and yet two of their teammates had already been taken down—brutally.
Now it was just two-on-one, and Metagross hadn’t even taken real damage yet. What were their chances?
Two minutes later, Magcargo and Typhlosion were also down.
Julian tossed out four Pokéballs and captured all of them. Once he left the secret realm, he could exchange them for resources—or give them to Ember if she needed them.
Four Elite-level Pokémon—especially Fire-types, which were in high demand—would be a waste not to catch and convert into value.
---
With the guards taken care of, it was time to think about how to retrieve the treasure from beneath the magma.
After pondering for a while, Julian muttered, “Guess I’ll have to go with the dumb method.”
Without a Pokémon like Magmortar that could swim in lava, how could he get the treasure out of the magma?
The dumb method was simple—just 'drain' the magma entirely.
“Kartana, carve an opening here."
Julian sent out Kartana and pointed to the eastern side of the crater. That side faced the ocean, so if the magma was drained into the sea, the damage to the island would be minimized.
Kartana sliced open a gap over ten meters wide, and then Metagross began using its psychic powers to lift magma—dozens of tons at a time—and throw it out through the opening.
Lava flowed down the newly opened channel and poured into the sea.
Julian could only hope that the treasure wasn’t too deep—if it was hidden at the very bottom of the magma, even Metagross wouldn’t be able to scoop it all out. 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘱𝘶𝑏.𝑐𝘰𝑚
Volcanoes were structured like inverted cones-narrower at the top and wider at the bottom.
This crater alone was several hundred meters wide, meaning the bottom was likely over ten thousand meters in size. The amount of magma inside was unimaginable.
That’s why this method was the "dumb way"-not only inefficient, but the chances of success were also low.
After hours of labor, the magma level had only dropped about ten meters, and Julian’s face had gone from hopeful to downright gloomy.
In ancient times, there was a man trying to move mountains. Now there’s Julian scooping magma.
Some called the man persistent. Others called him a fool who didn’t know how to adapt. But Julian? His case was pure, unfiltered stupidity.
Metagross: 'A lifetime of glory… ruined in a single day.'
"Alright, Metagross, let’s—"
Just as Julian was about to call it quits, a pillar of magma suddenly erupted into the air—followed by a cry that echoed across the skies.
As the magma splashed down, it revealed a crimson figure rising in its place.
With every flap of its wings, flames burst into the air. It looked like the incarnation of fire itself.
Moltres: "WHO DARES DISTURB MY SLUMBER?!"
Moltres was livid. It had been sleeping peacefully when faint, annoying noises (the battle) crept into its dreams.
Just as things quieted down, it started to feel its "blanket" growing thinner and thinner-the magma being scooped away.
When it finally woke up, it found some absolute lunatic draining its magma bed—and even 'cutting a hole in its home!'
*****
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