Just as Metagross was about to use Steel Beam to finish off the Magmortar in front of it, Julian's voice cut through the air.
"Metagross, stop."
The condensed Steel Beam slowly disappeared, and Metagross looked back at Julian in confusion.
Magmortar, half-kneeling on the ground, looked up as two feet appeared in front of it. It was Julian, standing there, staring down at it.
Beside him, Metagross stood ready, Steelix was watching closely, and Dragonair hovered above. Magmortar felt the tension in the air and suppressed the urge to lash out.
"Do something for me, and I'll let you and your men go," Julian said calmly, holding out an object in his hand. "Plus, I'll give you this."
In Julian's hand was a Magmarizer—a rare item that could evolve a Magmar into a Magmortar.
This kind of item was incredibly rare in the wild, and even with the advanced technology humans had, making one was still a difficult task.
The Magmortar before him had been lucky enough to evolve with the help of a Magmarizer it had found in the secret realm, but none of the other Magmars had been that fortunate.
They were all strong, around level 50, but without a Magmarizer, they couldn't evolve.
Magmortar glanced at the Magmarizer. It remembered finding something similar deep in the magma long ago when it was still a Magmar, which had led to its evolution.
If it had this Magmarizer, one of its offspring could evolve into a new Magmortar.
Magmortar knew it was getting old, its strength fading over time. Soon, it wouldn't be able to protect its clan or its precious magma territory from rivals like the Magcargo clan.
Having another Magmortar to take its place was essential.
Magma was very important to the their clan, it was the key to increase the fire type energy in their bodies.
Therefore, now that he was old, he had to let one of the Magmar evolve into a Magmortar, so as to ensure that at least one of the magma sites belonged to them.
Magmortar looked at its unconscious clan members scattered around and then back at the Magmarizer. It nodded in agreement. Julian held all the cards—the clan was defeated, and without the Magmarizer, there wasn't much choice.
Magmortar growled: What do you need from me?
Julian didn't know exactly what the treasure inside the magma was, but the Dowsing Machine was showing a red dot so large it covered one-third of the screen, indicating that whatever it was, it had to be incredibly valuable.
In response to Magmortar's question, Julian said, "I need you to dive into the magma and retrieve something for me."
As they spoke, a few Magmars began to stir, slowly regaining consciousness. They stood, shaking off their dizziness, and upon seeing Julian, they prepared to attack again, ready to avenge their earlier defeat.
Magmortar: stop
Magmortar immediately stopped the few who wanted to attack.
The Magmar froze, confused by their leader's command. Why was their boss holding them back from fighting?
Ignoring their confusion, Magmortar gestured for Julian to follow it back to the edge of the volcano.
Along the way, none of the surrounding Fire-type Pokémon dared to attack, likely out of respect for Magmortar's authority.
It seemed that this Magmortar wasn't just the leader of its pack but also the ruler of the entire volcano area.
"Take this and it will tell you where the stuff that you need to retrieve is in the lava"
At the volcano's edge, Julian handed the Dowsing Machine to Magmortar. Dowsing Machine had the indestructible property, so there was no need to worry that it will be burnt to ashes by lava.
Magmortar took the device and, after giving orders to its remaining conscious clan members, dove into the bubbling magma without hesitation.
Julian and Metagross waited patiently at the edge, he used Probing eyes to look at the surrounding Magmar. They were all yellow, and only two were green.
The previous Magmortar also had green qualification, but it was half way up to cyan. But it was old and its strength was declining.
Julian also noticed eight Pokémon eggs nestled on a nearby rock. They must have been the offspring of the Magmar clan, but there were no Magby in sight.
"Why haven't I seen any Magby around?" Julian muttered to himself.
Curious, he asked one of the Magmar. The response was immediate and full of anger. The Magmar angrily gestured, telling Julian a story of recent tragedy. The other Magmar shared the same outraged expressions.
From the fragmented story, Julian gathered that the Magcargo clan, longtime rivals of the Magmortar family, had attacked recently in a brutal battle for control over the magma.
The clash had cost the lives of several Magmar and resulted in the death of over 20 Magby. Though the Magmortar clan had fought valiantly, they had suffered heavy losses, and the Magcargo clan had not fared much better.
Julian nodded to himself. It was a reminder that life in the wild and secret realms was far more brutal than what he was used to in human civilization. Battles over territory, food, and resources were frequent, and the law of the jungle ruled over everything.
After about twenty minutes of waiting, the magma began to bubble more violently. Magmortar finally emerged, cradling something in its hands as it approached Julian.
In Magmortar's hands was a beautiful, crystal-clear stone.
Julian's eyes lit up the moment he saw it, immediately recognizing what it was. He eagerly took the stone from Magmortar, surprised at how cool it felt, despite having just been submerged in molten lava.
The stone was about the size of a fist, completely transparent, with a deep red hue. As Julian shined his flashlight on it, he could see a faint flame flickering inside.
"A fire crystal…" Julian whispered in awe.
These stones, only found in ancient volcanoes or those thousands of years old, were incredibly rare.
Whenever one appeared, it would spark a frenzy among collectors and trainers alike, as they possessed immense fire energy.
The outer surface of this thing was covered with a layer of red crystal, and this crystal perfectly wrapped the flame inside it, and not even a trace of energy could be emitted.
So this thing had always been in the magma, but Magmortar was never able to find it, and even if he did find it, he might just toss it around as it didn't emit any energy and thus be considered useless.
This kind of fire crystal had first been discovered by accident years ago when a fire type trainer had found one during a volcano eruption and taken it home as a decoration.
By chance, his Flareon had eaten the crystal, and the trainer had gone on to become one of the fire-type Elite in his country.
*****
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