After finishing the gym challenge, Ethan stayed at the gym for a while longer, chatting with Leader Riyán about how to train coordination between Pokémon.
It wasn't until his phone notified him that his research application as an investigator had been approved that he said goodbye to Leader Riyán and headed to the Pokémon Researchers' Guild.
The approval process went very smoothly. After completing the handover procedures, Ethan arrived at the Ancient Ruins Research Laboratory and successfully obtained the Magmarizer.
However, when it came to researching the ancient texts, Professor Brands still hadn't made any significant progress. Apparently, fully deciphering those ancient characters was no easy task.
After copying another version of the ancient texts, Ethan left the Ancient Ruins Laboratory carrying the Magmarizer with him.
"Now that I have the Magmarizer, the next thing I need to do is catch a Magmar and then have it enter the magma with the amplifier to complete its evolution," Ethan murmured.
He took out the map and began to examine it. The first thing he needed to do next was to catch a Magmar.
"Emberfall City... it's here."
Very soon, Ethan confirmed the destination of his next stop.
Emberfall City lived up to its name: the entire city remained under sweltering heat all year round, like a true furnace.
The cause of these high temperatures was a volcanic mountain range located not far from the city. It was said that deep within these mountains, volcanic Secret Kingdoms would appear from time to time, and this was the main reason for the extreme heat in the area.
However, these volcanic Secret Kingdoms only opened for extremely short periods, so encountering one at just the right time was no easy task.
Even so, countless adventurers came here every year to try their luck. Especially trainers with Fire-type Pokémon—even if they didn't find a volcanic Secret Kingdom, this place, so rich in Fire-type energy, was ideal for special training.
Although the opening of volcanic Secret Kingdoms followed no pattern and was usually difficult to find, most of them were inhabited by Magmar, which was Ethan's main objective in coming here.
"Phew, it's so hot..."
Ethan arrived riding Charizard at the Volcanic Mountain Range and immediately felt a wave of heat envelop him. When he landed, even the ground beneath his feet was hot.
The forest of Greenfield City, due to its dense vegetation, was much cooler by comparison. In contrast, this mountainous area had very sparse vegetation, was directly exposed to the sun, and its temperature was extremely high; sometimes, touching the rocks would even burn.
"Charrzz!"
Charizard, on the other hand, seemed to greatly enjoy this environment and roared toward the sky.
"Charizard, in theory, if you can control the temperature to raise it, then you should be able to lower it as well, right?" Ethan said after taking a sip of juice, looking at Charizard.
Charizard seemed to understand immediately, tilting its head back slightly with an expression of sudden realization.
Next, a faint red glow appeared over its body, and the surrounding heat was suddenly absorbed into it.
"Does it really work?!"
Ethan slapped his forehead. This absent-minded dragon had forgotten that it had such an ability, making him suffer the heat for so long!
Nevertheless, it was clear that although Charizard could reduce the temperature by absorbing ambient heat, this cooling was quite limited and difficult to apply in combat, which was why even Charizard itself had overlooked this capability.
"With this method of lowering the temperature, exploring places like deserts will be much easier in the future," Ethan said, taking a deep breath and smiling.
"Let's go deeper."
"Charizard, sense the temperature around you and look for the areas where it's higher."
"Meltan, focus carefully and see if you can detect traces of a channel for a Secret Kingdom."
Ethan's spirits lifted considerably. He had Vibrava cling to his back and quickly advanced among the pillars of rock.
...
Meanwhile, while Ethan was exploring the Volcanic Mountain Range, a meeting was taking place at the Emberfall City Gym. More than a dozen people were seated around, the atmosphere tense.
"Is it confirmed?"
"That legendary Pokémon is in the Volcanic Mountain Range?"
The Gym Leader of Emberfall City, Brandon Jones, was the first to break the silence.
"Basically confirmed. We've been tracking that Pokémon for a long time. It did indeed arrive at the Volcanic Mountain Range and has hidden itself in one of the volcanic Secret Kingdoms," replied a young man dressed in red, suppressing the excitement inside him.
"We've finally found it. This time, we must capture it."
...
In the Volcanic Mountain Range, Ethan searched for three days.
"Zzzt!"
That day, Meltan suddenly detected something and carried Ethan flying rapidly toward a specific area of the mountain range.
"Just as I expected, it's a volcanic Secret Kingdom."
Ethan stopped in front of the Secret Kingdom portal opened by Meltan, feeling the astonishing heat emanating from inside, his expression serious.
Behind him, Gengar also sensed the extreme heat coming from the Secret Kingdom, manifested itself, and floated in front of Ethan with a solemn expression.
"Charizard, stay alert and use your temperature control ability to reduce the heat."
Riding on Charizard and protected by his Pokémon, Ethan headed toward the Secret Kingdom portal.
Fuuuushhh!
Upon entering the Secret Kingdom, the first thing he felt was a wave of heat rushing toward him from the front.
Vibrava reacted immediately, flying behind Ethan. With a light flap of its wings, it directly blocked the incoming heat wave and created a windless zone around Ethan.
At the same time, Charizard used its temperature control, absorbing all the surrounding heat and causing the scorching sensation to disappear instantly.
"Good job."
Ethan stretched his body slightly, then turned his gaze toward the distance.
Before his eyes lay a blackened, scorched land, and in the distance he could see a mountain spewing thick columns of smoke.
"It's a volcano. Charizard, let's take a look."
Upon seeing the volcano, Ethan's heart filled with joy.
"Charrzz!"
Charizard was also excited and, flapping its wings, quickly flew toward the volcano.
"ROAR!"
However, as Ethan approached the volcano and before he had even landed, a pillar of fire shot out from the crater, directly attacking Charizard in midair.
Gengar, who had been constantly watching the surroundings, raised its hand and immediately launched the move Shadow Ball, which whistled through the air and collided with the pillar of fire.
BOOM!
This was the first time Ethan had seen Gengar attack.
Instantly, he was stunned by the power of Gengar's Shadow Ball.
Despite its seemingly small size, the Shadow Ball completely suppressed the pillar of fire and pushed it back into the volcano's crater.
"No wonder... a Quasi-Elite–level Pokémon."
Ethan clicked his tongue. Gengar's strength was truly terrifying!
(End of chapter)