At this moment, the ground around the edge of the lava lake was littered with defeated Slugma and Magcargo.
Since neither Swampert nor Pikachu had fought with lethal intent, most of the Slugma and Magcargo were only seriously injured rather than dead.
Whenever they were badly wounded, both species would generally resort to playing dead.
A Slugma's body would rapidly cool, disguising itself as a lump of solidified lava rock, while a Magcargo would retreat completely into its shell, pretending to be an ordinary stone.
After Sato spoke those words, some of the Slugma and Magcargo that had been feigning death immediately sprang up as though they had just been granted a pardon and fled toward the lava lake.
Once part of the Slugma managed to dive back into the lava, the remaining Slugma and Magcargo that had still been pretending to be dead all scrambled to their feet and raced one after another back into the lake.
To most Pokémon, lava was deadly.
But to the Slugma line, it was practically the Fountain of Life. A brief soak in the lava lake was enough for their injuries to heal rapidly.
Before long, nearly all the Slugma and Magcargo had returned to the lava lake.
Meanwhile, after retreating into the tunnel to drink some cool water, Sato returned to the edge of the lava lake to continue searching for Groudon's Blood.
Now that the Slugma and Magcargo living in the lake were no longer obstructing him, the search became much easier.
It wasn't long before the system's appraisal function located the Groudon's Blood he had been searching for in a corner of the cavern.
The stone, formed from Groudon's coagulated blood, was mixed in among a pile of broken rocks. Its appearance was completely indistinguishable from an ordinary stone, with no unusual aura or energy leaking from it whatsoever.
If Sato hadn't possessed the system's appraisal ability, he would probably have had to spend half a day splitting rocks before he had any chance of finding it.
"I really can't figure out how this piece of Groudon's Blood ended up here. Without the system's appraisal function, it looks exactly like an ordinary rock. Who would ever imagine it's actually a priceless treasure?"
Looking at the inconspicuous stone hidden among the rubble, Sato was filled with curiosity.
In reality, the reason this piece of Groudon's Blood had ended up here was closely related to a wild Graveler.
During the battle between the legendary Pokémon, a drop of Groudon's blood had coincidentally landed on that wild Graveler.
As a result, a stone formed from Groudon's Blood became embedded in its body.
Unfortunately, the Graveler simply wasn't blessed with good fortune.
Given enough time, it might have undergone a complete transformation thanks to Groudon's Blood.
Instead, the very next day after leaving its den, it happened to encounter the gigantic Steelix that had emerged from its cave in search of a meal.
"Forget it. However complicated the story behind it may be, it's mine now. With this, Swampert should finally have everything necessary to break through to the Elite level. I was still worrying about not being able to gather enough Energy Sand to make Soft Sand, but now this should be even better than Soft Sand."
Sato quickly stopped speculating about how Groudon's Blood had gotten here. After checking its information again with the system, he nodded in satisfaction.
...…
Item Information
Item: Groudon's Blood
Effect: Increases the power of the holder's Ground-type moves.
Restriction: Can only be used by Ground-type Pokémon.
Description: A stone formed from the coagulated blood of Groudon. Though it contains only an insignificant drop of Groudon's blood, it holds an enormous amount of pure Ground-type energy.
...…
Swampert had already reached the threshold required to advance to the Elite-Four level.
However, the desert had not been a suitable place for the energy infusion process. Furthermore, Sato hadn't yet gathered all the enhancement items needed to assist Swampert's breakthrough, delaying its promotion.
Now, with this piece of Groudon's Blood—which contained an immense quantity of pure Ground-type energy—in his possession, together with the high-quality Mystic Water he had previously purchased at great expense...
...Sato finally possessed everything necessary to perform the energy infusion whenever he wished.
Over the coming period, he had already decided to devote every resource at his disposal toward helping Swampert reach the Elite-Four level.
"Still, I'll need the right environment as well. Swampert is both a Water- and Ground-type Pokémon. A swamp would be the ideal place for its breakthrough. That should also speed up the process."
Sato pondered thoughtfully.
After obtaining Groudon's Blood, Sato didn't remain in the underground cavern any longer.
However, instead of retracing his steps, he chose to leave through another tunnel connected to the chamber.
Indeed, besides the tunnel Sato had used to enter, there was another passage on the opposite side of the underground cavern.
He guessed it had been dug by the gigantic Steelix while tunneling into other areas, though he had no idea where it ultimately led.
But wasn't traveling all about adventure?
He was quite curious to see where this underground tunnel would take him.
If it happened to pass through Mt. Chimney and lead directly to Fallarbor Town, that would be even better.
Unfortunately, reality rarely grants people exactly what they wish for.
Although this newly discovered tunnel was extremely long, requiring Sato to walk for more than half a day—and even camp overnight inside it—he eventually emerged.
By the time he finally exited the tunnel, it was already around noon the following day.
"Where is this? Which side of Mt. Chimney am I on?"
Stepping out of the cave and allowing his eyes to adjust to the sunlight, the first thing Sato saw was Mt. Chimney standing directly before him.
The question immediately arose in his mind.
Because they were close to Mt. Chimney, the sky was covered in a dull gray haze.
Ash-white volcanic ash continuously drifted down from above, blanketing the surrounding landscape beneath a thick gray-white layer.
Although Sato still didn't know exactly where he was, he wasn't particularly worried.
He simply took a compass out of his spatial backpack and began walking northwest.
His next destination was Fallarbor Town.
Since Fallarbor lay to the northwest of Mt. Chimney, he would eventually reach it as long as he continued in that direction.
There, Professor Cozmo was waiting for him to personally collect his reward.
Just yesterday, he had received good news from Flannery.
Professor Cozmo and his entire family had been rescued successfully. The price for that success had been letting Courtney escape.
Sato walked across ground that resembled a snowy field, except it was covered by thick layers of volcanic ash.
The surrounding terrain was rocky, but because the ash concealed everything beneath it, the footing was treacherous.
One careless step could easily send someone tumbling into a deep pit hidden beneath the ash.
At the same time, wild Pokémon were concealed beneath the thick volcanic ash.
For example, Geodude, which naturally lived in rocky environments.
If someone accidentally stepped on one, it could easily trigger a small explosion—and that was no exaggeration.
After slipping and falling once, then later being blasted into the air by an unexpected explosion, Sato was forced to proceed with extreme caution to avoid running into any more bizarre mishaps.
However, something soon happened that forced him to abandon that slow and careful pace.
Just moments earlier, a large lion-like Pokémon had suddenly appeared atop a nearby boulder.
After pausing briefly and giving Sato a single glance, the majestic-looking Pokémon turned and sprinted rapidly toward the northwest.