And so, after Lucario left, the four of them continued their journey.
Passing through a narrow rocky passage, a chillier and damper air than the upper floors rushed toward them; they had reached the third floor of Mt. Pyre.
The space here was much more open than the previous two floors, resembling a massive, hollowed-out mountain belly.
Unknown glowing ore was embedded in the surrounding rock walls, emitting a faint blue-green light that made the cave look like a realm of ghosts.
The light was dim and visibility was extremely low. Beneath their feet were gravel and soft soil; every step produced a subtle sound that was infinitely amplified in the empty environment, triggering layers of echoes.
The air was filled with a peculiar scent of mixed dust and decay. It was excessively quiet, with only the sounds of their breathing and footsteps audible.
Before they had gone far, several blurry figures appeared in the dim light and shadows ahead.
It was an exploration team of three. They also spotted Ariel's group, and almost instantly, those people stopped in their tracks, their hands instinctively moving to the Poké Balls at their waists, their eyes filled with vigilance and scrutiny.
The two sides faced off for a moment at a distance of about a dozen meters. No one spoke, and finally, they tacitly leaned against their respective sides of the rock wall and silently brushed past each other.
It wasn't until the backs of those people completely disappeared into the darkness that Ariel snorted in his mind.
Now this feels right.
In a place like this, anyone who greets you with a smile is either stupid or malicious; there's no telling what kind of bad intentions they're harboring.
Being wary of each other and keeping a distance like this is the most normal rule of survival.
"Let's continue."
Steven's voice was very flat; he had reached a point where he no longer trusted anyone.
Encountering two teams in a row, being deceived once and attacked once.
Even a fool would be on high alert now.
Steven focused on observing the structure of the surrounding rock walls, occasionally reaching out to touch them to feel the texture of the stone.
Ariel stopped overthinking and pointed at the stone wall beside them.
"Time to eat, little guy."
Larvitar's eyes lit up instantly. With a 'awoo' sound, it pounced onto the stone wall and began munching greedily on the ore.
"Crunch... crunch..."
The crisp sound of chewing was louder than a loudspeaker in this deathly silent environment, so abrupt it made one's scalp tingle.
Masaki and Tome both shifted their feet uncomfortably. This behavior was no different from lighting a torch in the dark and loudly announcing, 'We are here.'
Ariel, however, looked indifferent. He even stood with his hands on his hips with great interest, looking as if he were watching a good show.
This was exactly his purpose.
Instead of cautiously guarding against wild Pokémon that might pop out from any corner, it was better to take the initiative, lure them all out, and deal with them all at once.
Efficiency above all.
Sure enough, before long, pairs of crimson eyes began to emerge from the surrounding darkness. Accompanied by bursts of ghost-like shrieks, the air temperature dropped several degrees.
It was Haunter and Gastly!
There were quite a few of them; at a rough glance, there were at least a dozen.
Ariel treated these Pokémon as experience packs, taking turns to train his own Pokémon.
The entire battle process was smooth and fluid, almost a one-sided slaughter.
Even Deino was released by Ariel. It clumsily used Dragon Rage against a lone Gastly. Although the power wasn't great, it was rapidly accumulating experience in actual combat.
In less than five minutes, the battle was over.
But after only a short rest, another wave of Pokémon arrived.
Ariel followed the same procedure.
Two hours passed in this manner.
Ariel looked at the scene with satisfaction and recalled the Pokémon into their Poké Balls, leaving only Krookodile outside on guard.
He crouched down and patted the head of Larvitar, who was still happily eating with 'crunch crunch' sounds.
This little guy was truly a perfect bait—and one that could level itself up.
Thus, Ariel's group pushed forward in an extremely arrogant and efficient manner.
From the third floor to the fourth floor, it was almost a repetition of the same process.
Larvitar was responsible for eating and drinking heartily.
Then, Ariel's Pokémon dream team would use thunderous momentum to eliminate all the enemies that were lured in.
Steven didn't make a single move the entire time, just silently following behind and collecting oddly shaped stones.
Ariel's method was also a bit of an eye-opener for him.
Crude and direct, but exceptionally effective.
During this continuous high-intensity combat, the strength of Ariel's Pokémon also saw a leap-forward improvement.
Krookodile: LV54.
Malamar: LV53.
Greninja: LV51.
Weavile: LV49.
Deino: LV36.
The biggest surprise came from Larvitar. Under the catalysis of massive amounts of energy cubes and battle experience, this little foodie's level soared all the way to Level 25!
Ariel was quite satisfied with this.
Gyarados hadn't been released because its size was too large and the geological structure here was unstable; it could collapse and fall to the next floor at any time due to the massive weight.
What made Ariel even more cheerful was that while clearing the battlefield, he also conveniently captured five wild Pokémon with strength reaching the Gym Leader Level.
A cunning Dusclops, a Gliscor skilled in concealment, a physically strong Marowak, a rare Chandelure, and an exceptionally fast Crobat.
Adding the Seaking, Nidoking, Gengar, and Mismagius he caught outside earlier, the number of newly acquired Gym Leader Level Pokémon in his hands had reached nine.
Only one more was needed to make ten.
When the four of them reached the entrance from the fourth floor to the fifth floor, the surrounding environment changed once again.
The air was heavier than before, and a faint sense of pressure came from deeper within, making one's heart feel heavy.
The entrance was pitch black, like the mouth of a giant beast waiting to devour someone.
Steven, who had been silently observing, suddenly stopped. He looked at the deep entrance with an unprecedentedly solemn expression.
"Brother Ariel, let's end our exploration here for this trip."
He turned his head to look at Ariel, his tone very serious.
"According to League internal data, Quasi-Elite Four Level wild Pokémon will appear on the fifth and sixth floors of Mt. Pyre. That is not something our current team can handle."
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