Adrain reopened the map, swiping his finger across the screen to select another cave marker located to the north.
As he turned, Adrain subconsciously glanced back in the direction where the Coalossal had been.
The steam had dissipated, and the Coalossal's figure had vanished into the depths of the passage, leaving only a few embers still flickering in the heat.
With Milotic and Metang in tow, Adrain retraced his steps out of the cave.
When the sunlight returned to his body, he realized his back was soaked with sweat; the high temperature inside the cave was far more challenging than he had imagined.
"Let's rest and replenish our fluids."
Adrain took out his water bottle, drank a few sips, and then fed Milotic and Metang some medicine to replenish their energy.
"Thank you for your hard work. There are still other caves to explore."
Milotic had already dissipated its water sphere and nuzzled Adrain's palm, as if to say, "It's alright."
Metang hovered in the air, its red eyes scanning the surroundings, ready for action.
After a short rest, Adrain put away Milotic and headed towards the next cave while training Metang in Magnet Rise.
For the next two days, Adrain's exploration route consistently revolved around the cave areas in the higher reaches of Mt. Chimney.
As the altitude increased, the temperature became increasingly scorching.
The air was thick with the smell of sulfur, the rocks beneath his feet grew darker, and occasionally, lava could be seen seeping from exposed rock crevices.
Over these two days, Adrain ventured into dozens of caves of varying sizes, but his target Pokémon remained elusive.
Most of the time, the Pokémon deep within the caves were not the Magmar or Vulpix he had anticipated.
In the lava lake at the deepest part of the caves, he mostly encountered Magmortar, but these were much more docile than Torkoal.
They merely watched Adrain and his group warily with their beady black eyes, rarely launching an attack.
Compared to the highly territorial Torkoal, they were much gentler.
Adrain didn't disturb them and retreated with Metang and Milotic.
Yesterday, Adrain had ventured into an unusually hot and humid cave.
The cave was filled with white smoke, visibility was less than five meters, and the air temperature was astonishingly high; even Milotic's water spheres were constantly evaporating, their surfaces covered in fine bubbles.
He had initially thought that such an extreme environment might be the lair of a Magmar, and a sense of anticipation rose within him.
However, the sight that came into view after rounding a rock wall instantly extinguished that hope.
An exceptionally large Torkoal was resting by the central lava pool.
Its body was more than twice the size of the Torkoal he had encountered before, and it was shrouded in persistent white smoke.
The system panel indicated differently than before; the white smoke in the cave was due to its ability:
[Ability: White Smoke (Covered in white smoke, its stats are not reduced by the opponent's moves or abilities)].
Besides being significantly larger than the Torkoal he had encountered before, it also possessed many more moves, and one of its moves particularly shocked Adrain.
[Earthquake: Shakes the earth, causing the opponent to fall into a fissure for attack; a hit will stun them instantly.]
Adrain glanced at it briefly before immediately signaling Metang to act.
Metang understood, its psychic power exploding instantly, carrying Adrain and Milotic backward as if pulled by an invisible hand, quickly retreating from the cave.
This was inside a cave; if they really angered this Torkoal, the battle would be quite dangerous.
Having experienced the previous conflict, Adrain knew all too well Torkoal's territoriality.
Since it wasn't the target Pokémon, there was no need to risk provoking this behemoth that controlled "Earthquake."
The only change these past two days had been the occasional encounter with Camerupt.
This massive creature stomped across scorching rocks with its thick limbs, spewing hot, sparking breath from its nostrils, and bubbling from the small volcano on its back.
But it wasn't Adrain's target; each time they met, Adrain chose to lead Metang to a safe distance to avoid unnecessary conflict.
What Adrain cared about most was the whereabouts of Vulpix.
He had seen two in the past two days.
The first was at the entrance of a cave covered in black volcanic ash. The Vulpix was entirely orange-red, its six tails fluffy like cotton, and it was perched on a sun-warmed rock, licking its paws, looking exceptionally cute.
Adrain's heart skipped a beat, but the system panel displayed its ability as "Flash Fire."
Adrain paused, only gazing at it from afar for a moment before quietly leaving with Metang.
The second Vulpix appeared near a steaming sulfur spring.
This Vulpix's fur was slightly duller, as if it had just played in the spring, shaking off water droplets from its tail, with a few wisps of white steam still clinging to its nose.
Adrain held his breath, observing, and the system again displayed the "Flash Fire" ability. He sighed softly, again not approaching to disturb it.
Adrain was looking for a Vulpix with the hidden ability Solar Dawn, not the ordinary Flash Fire.
As for the Magmar, there hasn't been a single trace of it in the past two days.
Adrain even went to several "potential Magmar habitats" marked in the Devon Corporation's data.
Those lava areas only contained solidified magma and charred rocks; there was no sign of the Magmar at all.
Actually, Adrain had a suspicion that he had encountered a Magmar a few days ago.
It was when Beldum evolved into Metang that a Magmar might have been hiding at the bottom of that crater.
Milotic and Metang both sensed something unusual at the bottom of the magma, but unfortunately, when the two Pokémon attacked the cave, the Magmar never appeared.
These past few days, while traveling, Adrain had deliberately chosen to camp in areas with lava.
He intentionally or unintentionally let the aroma of cooking food drift into the lava pits, trying to lure any potential Magmar, but to no avail.
"This is too hard to find,"
Adrain muttered to Metang on the morning of the third day, sitting under a relatively cool rock, munching on compressed biscuits.
Metang hovered in front of him, its red eyes blinking as if in response to his distress.
It then let out a short, low growl and gently nuzzled his hand with its head, a soothing gesture.
"Never mind, let's keep going up. Maybe we'll find something near the summit,"
Adrain said, patting Metang's shell and standing up.
After two days of climbing, they were not far from the summit of Chimney Mountain.
Looking up, one could vaguely see thick smoke swirling around the mountaintop—the iconic sight of the lava lake at the summit.
Adrain packed his backpack and set off again. The closer he got to the top, the steeper the mountain path became. Fortunately, with the help of the metal monster's telekinesis, it could not only easily lift Adrain across narrow rock crevices but also sense in advance whether there were any dangerous geothermal eruptions ahead.