As Lionel approached the cave entrance with Metang, a heat wave several times stronger than the outside air rushed towards them, a mixture of pungent sulfur and acrid charcoal smells that almost scorched their breath.
The cave entrance was dark and gloomy, with the inner rock walls faintly visible, glowing a dark red from the intense heat.
Considering the unknown conditions inside the cave, and that Metang alone might not be enough, Lionel immediately took out Milotic's Poké Ball: "Milotic, come out! I'll need you and Metang to help me explore the cave from now on. Thank you for your hard work."
A flash of white light, and Milotic instantly appeared beside Lionel.
Lionel gently stroked Milotic's head, and Milotic obediently rubbed against his palm, then murmured softly, instantly condensing a transparent water ball around itself.
This time, Milotic didn't conserve its energy by manipulating the air's moisture as usual.
Instead, it directly consumed its water-type energy to create a water sphere, completely enveloping its body.
Simultaneously, ripples spread within the sphere, and the Water Ring skill quietly activated, continuously replenishing the sphere's energy.
Then, Milotic turned to Lionel.
With a gentle flick of its tail fin, a clear stream of water meandered along the ground, slowly swirling around it before condensing into a suitably sized water sphere.
The cool touch instantly shielded it from the external heat, making even breathing easier.
"Thanks, Milotic."
Milotic simply nodded slightly, then Metang nodded slightly in acknowledgment before hovering and flying towards the cave entrance.
Its red eyes warily scanned the cave's interior, its pale blue psychic energy spreading out like an invisible radar, sensing every anomaly within the cave.
Lionel followed closely behind, entering the cave with the two Pokémon.
The cave's interior was far more complex and winding than imagined. Irregular holes of varying sizes filled the rock walls, from which white, hot steam hissed intermittently .
The ground was a deep red, a color that hinted at the intense heat. Fortunately, Milotic's water spheres allowed Lionel to move steadily.
The deeper they went, the higher the temperature became, and the deeper the red of the rock walls intensified.
More Pokémon appeared around them: several Magcargo, carrying thick, dark gray shells with flowing lava clearly visible at the edges, crawled slowly across the ground with smaller Slugma. They stopped upon seeing Lionel and his companions, their black eyes fixed on them, but without any apparent aggression.
Thankfully, they moved slowly and were relatively docile, allowing Lionel to carefully navigate around them without incident.
Lionel walked along a relatively wide passage. The rocks beneath his feet grew increasingly hot, and tiny bubbles even began to appear on the surface of the water sphere. As he reached the depths of the cave, he suddenly heard a series of cracking sounds ahead, exceptionally clear in the empty cave.
He signaled the metal monster to slow down, while he hid behind a protruding rock and cautiously peeked out.
At the end of the passage was a lava pool, and beside it, on a relatively flat clearing, lay a small, turtle-like sprite.
It was surrounded by grayish-white smoke, and its shell resembled a burning furnace, its surface covered with honeycomb-like holes.
A dazzling red light emanated from these holes, and one could vaguely see the flickering crimson flames inside.
Lionel's system panel immediately displayed the following information:
[Pokémon: Torkoal]
[Type: Fire]
[Category: Torkoal Pokémon]
[Ability: Drought (When it appears in battle, the weather becomes sunny, increasing the power of Fire-type moves and decreasing the power of Water-type moves)]
[Moves: Ember, Mist, Retreat, Rapid Spin, Smoke Screen, Clear Smoke, Flame Wheel, Protect, Smoke Blast, Body Slam, Iron Defense]
"It's Torkoal—"
A hint of disappointment flashed through Lionel's mind.
If only this Torkoal was Drought ability Vulpix, he would have tried to catch it without hesitation. But Torkoal wasn't his target for this trip.
Nevertheless, Lionel took out his phone and took several photos of Torkoal and its surroundings, accurately marking the location on the map.
After all, it was a Pokémon with a powerful Drought ability; marking it was a good idea.
Lionel planned to retreat.
Because in the lava lake behind the Torkoal, two smaller Torkoal were poking their heads out, clearly part of a Torkoal family.
Since they had already occupied this area, there was probably no other Pokémon inhabiting it, so there was no point in staying any longer.
Just as Lionel was about to quietly leave, the Torkoal seemed to sense the movement and suddenly raised its head.
Its eyes were fixed on the front, and two thick white wisps of smoke came out of its nostrils, just enough to cover the rock where Lionel was hiding.
He had been discovered!
Lionel's heart skipped a beat, and he was about to speak to indicate that it meant no harm when the Torkoal let out a low growl, clearly regarding them as intruders.
"Mildano, Metang, be on guard!"
Lionel made a decisive move.
Milotic immediately pushed the water sphere enveloping Lionel back several meters, while it itself stood in front, the water rings on the surface of the sphere suddenly accelerating.
Metang hovered to the side, its red eyes locked on the Torkoal, pale blue psychic energy surging around it, ready to attack at any moment.
The Torkoal was clearly offended by its territory and appeared very dissatisfied. It angrily opened its mouth and spewed a string of sparks towards Lionel.
Image
"Milotic, use Water Pulse!"
Lionel shouted.
Milotic flicked its tail fin, and a stream of water split off the surface of the water sphere, condensing into a rippled water ring in the air, flying precisely towards Mars.
This Water Pulse was much weaker than usual; given Torkoal's abilities and the environment of the volcanic cave, Water-type moves were significantly less powerful.
Water and fire collided violently in mid-air, bursting forth with a "sizzle" and releasing a large amount of white steam, instantly enveloping half of the passage and drastically reducing visibility.
Torkoal, its vision obscured by the steam, let out an even more dissatisfied roar, the flames inside its shell flickering even more intensely.
Just then, Metang moved.
Seizing the moment when the steam was spreading, it suddenly unleashed its psychic power, an invisible force like a giant hand, forcefully lifting Torkoal's body into the air.
Torkoal clearly hadn't expected its opponent to possess such a bizarre ability.
It flailing its limbs in mid-air in vain, the flames inside its shell flickering violently, but it could not break free from the psychic's restraint.
Metang used its psychic powers to gently fling Torkoal's body towards the open space on the other side of the passage.
A muffled thud followed.
Torkoal landed on the ground, not seriously injured, but thrown off balance by the sudden attack, momentarily stunned.
It got up, its eyes fixed on Metang and Milotic, a threatening growl escaping its throat.
But the recent exchange made it realize these two opponents were not easy to deal with, especially the Metang, whose strange power made it wary.
Torkoal hesitated for a moment, slowly taking a few steps back, shrinking its neck, seemingly weighing the pros and cons.
Seeing this, Lionel signaled to Milotic and Metang not to pursue.
"Let's go."
Lionel led the two Pokémon slowly backward, remaining vigilant until they were out of Torkoal's range, only then letting out a slight sigh of relief.
Since this area was already occupied by Torkoal, and there were no Pokémon it wanted, there was no need for a pointless battle.