Fallarbor Town.
Ariel was making his final checks.
The curtains were drawn tightly, leaving only a sliver of dim light.
With a light tap of his fingertip, a faint glimmer flashed on his space ring, and several items materialized out of thin air onto the bed.
A specially formulated Burn-Healing Spray, a small bottle costing as much as a mid-range pokédex.
A High-Efficiency Respiratory Filter Mask, capable of blocking most toxic gases and volcanic ash.
And several tubes of High-Energy Nutritional Supplements, enough to sustain him and his Pokémon for three days in extreme conditions.
The moment Soro provided the coordinates for Mt. Chimney, Ariel had anticipated the extreme environment he might face—high temperatures, toxic gases, and Fire-type Pokémon.
These items had exhausted all his remaining savings.
But he hadn't even batted an eye.
Money was for preserving one's life; if you died, it was all meaningless.
He stored all the items back into his space ring, and the room returned to its original state.
He pulled open the curtains and gazed at the distant, perpetually smoke-shrouded massive mountain range—Mt. Chimney.
There lay the Special Ore that Soro, the Underground Casino Boss, dreamed of obtaining.
Danger and opportunity coexisted.
He spun a Poké Ball on his fingertip, feeling the power contained within.
In this world where human life was as cheap as grass, only the strength held in one's own hands was real... The foot of Mt. Chimney was starkly different from the lush greenery of other parts of the Hoenn region.
The air was thick with a dry, hot scent mixing vegetation and charcoal, while fine volcanic ash, like never-ending black snowflakes, drifted slowly down from the gray sky, covering the ground and sparse vegetation with a layer of deathly pale gray.
At the mountain's base, nourished by the volcanic ash, some tenacious, thick-leaved plants still grew.
But venturing less than a hundred meters up the rugged mountain path, perhaps due to the perpetual high temperatures, vegetation disappeared entirely.
It was replaced by cracked, dark-reddish rocky ground.
Stepping on it, one could clearly feel waves of heat rising from deep underground, as if treading on a colossal, slumbering beast.
The air grew increasingly scorching, each breath like swallowing a mouthful of scalding sand.
Ariel put on his filter mask. The cool metal pressed against his skin, and the filtered air slightly relaxed his tense nerves.
No tourists were visible around anymore, only some Trainers with clear objectives, moving in small groups, hurried and alert. Most were well-equipped and watchful, clearly not here for a picnic.
Ariel had no intention of interacting with anyone. He simply adjusted his pace silently, maintaining a not-too-close, not-too-far distance, observing everyone.
"Rumble—"
A muffled roar echoed from deep underground, followed by a slight tremor beneath their feet.
Some inexperienced Trainers gasped in surprise, instinctively looking for cover.
Ariel merely glanced up toward the mountaintop, where the plume of smoke seemed denser than before.
He knew this was just the beginning.
The higher he went, the harsher the environment. The air was distorted by heat waves, making everything in sight blurry.
Cracks began to appear on the ground, occasionally spewing forth blasts of searing steam with a "hiss."
The surroundings were eerily quiet, with only the wind and occasional low, thunderous rumbles from beneath the earth.
His focus was razor-sharp, observing every crevice in the rocks around him that might conceal danger.
Suddenly, he halted his steps.
Ahead on the ground, a dozen fist-sized stones, resembling lava, shifted.
Then, flames ignited within the cracks of those stones, and pairs of round, beady eyes opened from within the semi-solid magma bodies, locking onto Ariel, the intruder.
Slugma.
And an entire swarm of them.
Almost the instant their eyes opened, Ariel had already reacted.
"Krokorok."
His voice was low but exceptionally clear.
A flash of red-and-white light, and the burly Krokorok appeared before him. Its eyes beneath black markings gleamed with ferocity as it let out a provocative growl toward the Slugma swarm.
"Grrroar!"
"Sand Attack."
The command was concise, devoid of any emotion.
Krokorok understood perfectly. Its forepaws dug into the ground, sending a massive cloud of sand mixed with volcanic ash hurtling toward the Slugma swarm like a gray curtain.
Caught off guard, the Slugma's vision was completely obscured, and they let out irritated shrieks.
They instinctively spewed tiny sparks, but their aim was wild, shooting randomly into the dust cloud.
Now was the moment.
"Fire Fang."
Krokorok's mouth twisted into a ferocious grin, flames igniting within its jaws. Under the cover of the swirling dust, it charged into the Slugma swarm like a predator on the hunt.
"Crack!"
A sickening crunch sounded.
The leading Slugma was caught in Krokorok's Bite.
Its soft body was instantly severed in two!
Although Fire-type attacks were largely ineffective against these Fire-type Pokémon, under Krokorok's immense Bite force, it was still an instant kill!
Flames and high-temperature magma collided with a "sizzle," white smoke rising.
That Slugma didn't even have time to scream before its body was bitten in half, its core flame extinguishing instantly, turning into a pool of sparse magma.
One-hit knockout!
This bloody scene enraged the entire swarm and snapped them out of the sand's interference.
Over a dozen Slugma opened their mouths simultaneously, weaving a net of "Embers" that blocked all of Krokorok's escape routes.
Ariel's gaze remained calm.
"Protect."
At the critical moment, a pale green energy barrier instantly materialized before Krokorok.
Dense Embers crashed against the barrier, exploding like fireworks, but failed to harm it in the slightest.
"Now, charge through."
Krokorok let out a low roar. As the barrier vanished in its final second, it pushed off with its limbs. Its bulky body, with agility belying its size, forcefully broke through a gap in the fiery net and returned to Ariel's side.
The Slugma swarm wanted to give chase but found that this human and his ferocious Pokémon merely cast them a cold glance before turning and continuing up the mountain, with no intention of wiping them out.
As if the earlier conflict was just a trivial post-meal diversion.
The Slugma swarm stirred restlessly for a moment but ultimately didn't dare to pursue.
The terrifying Bite force Krokorok had just displayed made them instinctively fearful.
"Well done."
Ariel patted Krokorok's rough skin, pulling a pokéblock from his pocket and tossing it over.
Krokorok caught it in one Bite, crunching it loudly, its eyes behind its sunglasses gleaming with satisfaction and pride.
That "Fire Fang" earlier was a move it had only recently mastered, and judging by Krokorok's demeanor, it had grasped it well.
Although these Slugma were weak, it was highly likely their swarm included evolved Magcargo.
Magcargo evolved at level 38. Getting entangled with them would be troublesome.
Therefore, Ariel chose to avoid the fight.
Ariel didn't stop, continuing his ascent.
The higher he climbed, the more frequent the ground tremors became, the heat waves in the air almost scorching the skin.
He could even see wisps of black smoke rising from rock crevices in the distance.
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