This secret realm gate was located in a mountain hollow within the Flame Mountain. Its position was extremely well-hidden—unless people from the Hearth family searched inch by inch after entering, it would be very difficult to discover.
"Could that reckless woman really have gone in just like that?"
Julian looked at this secret realm gate. Judging by its size and the patterns on it, it wasn't an ordinary secret realm—it was a Top-tier secret realm.
Top-tier secret realms were different from other secret realms. Their entrance and exit gates were not the same; the exit gate would be hidden somewhere within the secret realm.
The first batch of people entering a Top-tier secret realm could very likely fail to find the exit and end up being death inside.
In Julian's view, Ember was not that kind of brainless woman.
After discovering that a Top-tier secret realm gate had appeared within the Flame Mountain, choosing to enter it instead of reporting it immediately—wasn't that just asking for death?
But now she had indeed gone in. Otherwise, Deoxys wouldn't have failed to find her—only if she had entered this secret realm would Deoxys's psychic scan be unable to locate her.
Julian did not rashly enter.
"Let's go back first," he said to Deoxys.
Immediately, Deoxys brought him back to the location of the exit gate of the Flame Mountain.
Julian stepped through and left the secret realm.
After Julian entered the secret realm, Travis and Rose had left, planning to wait for news from him at home.
But they had just arrived home when they suddenly saw Julian and Deoxys appear in front of them.
"Champion Walker, why did you come out?" Travis looked at Julian in surprise—he had just gone in, so why was he already out?
"Did you find Ember?" Rose asked anxiously.
"I didn't find her, but I have a lead."
Julian then told the two of them about discovering the Top-tier secret realm gate inside the Flame Mountain.
Now the two of them finally understood why they couldn't find Ember, yet the Bloodline Crystal still showed that she was alive.
But even though they now had information about Ember, their expressions became even more worried.
This was a Top-tier secret realm—if one couldn't find the exit gate, they would die inside.
Moreover, the level of danger in a Top-tier secret realm was even higher. Not only could there be Champion-level Pokémon, but if things went wrong, there might even be a First-class Legendary inside.
"Don't worry too much. I came out just to inform you. I'll be entering that secret realm to look for Ember shortly."
After all, once he entered the Top-tier secret realm, he would disappear from the Flame Mountain secret realm, and there was no telling when he would come out.
If his grandfather discovered that he had also gone missing in the Flame Mountain, it would definitely lead to a major conflict with the Hearth family. At that point, only other families would benefit, and even other countries might take advantage of the situation.
Julian decided to call his grandfather to inform him of what he had discovered.
John was a bit puzzled—Julian had just said he was going to enter the Flame Mountain secret realm, so why was he suddenly calling again?
But after hearing Julian's explanation, John frowned slightly. "A secret realm within a secret realm… That girl from the Hearth family doesn't seem like the brainless type though."
"Why would she enter a Top-tier secret realm alone without informing the outside world?"
"Grandpa, that's also the part I can't figure out," Julian nodded.
This was exactly what puzzled him.
Someone like Ember, born into a major family, enjoying the best resources since birth, and already designated as the Hearth family's successor—
under these circumstances, she had absolutely no need to take such risks.
Moreover, for those who entered a Top-tier secret realm in the first batch, their mortality rate exceeded ninety percent. Even with such a high death rate, the returns weren't necessarily high.
Ember wasn't from a civilian background. Having always enjoyed the best resources, would she really have the mindset of an ordinary person gambling everything for a chance to turn things around?
So Julian couldn't simply understand why she chose to enter the Top-tier secret realm.
"My dear grandson, you decide this matter yourself. Grandpa won't stop you," John said.
"Alright, Grandpa. I'll go in shortly then," Julian replied.
Julian's answer was also within John's expectations.
Before long, Julian returned to the Flame Mountain secret realm and stood in front of that Top-tier secret realm gate.
"Let's go."
As the light of the realm gate flickered slightly—the next instant, Julian had already appeared inside the secret realm.
"Meta~"
Metagross: "Such dense Fairy-type energy."
Right after entering this Top-tier secret realm, Metagross immediately sensed a strong concentration of Fairy-type energy.
"Could this be a Special Fairy-type secret realm?" Julian asked.
He could also perceive external energy, but not as keenly as Pokémon. However, the Fairy-type energy here was so dense that even he could easily sense it.
"Meta~"
Metagross: "It's not—there are other energies as well, just weaker compared to the Fairy-type energy."
Julian couldn't sense the other energies. The Fairy-type energy was simply too dense, and his perception wasn't as strong as Metagross's, so he could only rely on it.
"Char—!"
Suddenly, a sound came from above.
Looking up, Julian saw a Charizard above him, and it was diving straight down.
Its roar seemed to carry a hint of joy.
"Meta~"
Metagross: "It's Ember's Charizard."
Julian hadn't recognized this Charizard as Ember's. To him, all Charizard looked more or less the same. Aside from a Pokémon's own trainer, other trainers could rarely distinguish between Pokémon.
Charizard stopped about three to four meters away from Julian.
"Char, Char—"
It kept gesturing toward Julian, its voice clearly filled with urgency.
"Lead the way."
Julian jumped onto Metagross's back and said to Charizard.
Charizard nodded and immediately flew off in a certain direction.
It didn't fly very far—probably about seventy to eighty kilometers—before stopping at an enormous tree.
Next to this large tree were Ember's other Pokémon.
Seeing that Charizard had returned and even brought someone with him—they immediately showed expressions of great excitement and relief once they realized this was Julian.
They were quite familiar with Julian. After all, Ember had previously explored Top-tier secret realms together with him, so their Pokémon were naturally acquainted.
At the same time, Ember's Pokémon were also well aware of Julian's strength.
"Where is Ember?"
Julian jumped down from Metagross and asked the surrounding Pokémon.
But instead of saying something, they all just moved aside, revealing a tree hollow—clearly, Ember was inside it.
Julian quickly strode into the tree hollow and saw Ember lying on the ground. Beneath her was a thick layer of leaves—and she was clearly unconscious.
All four of her limbs showed signs of burns, and the burns were severe—some flesh had already been carbonized, and parts of her feet had even disappeared.
Her aura was also extremely weak.
*****
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