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"What a pity, there really isn't even an orange-Quality Slugma," Qingwu exclaimed, breaking into a sweat.
The Pokémon on Trial Island already had significantly higher quality than wild Pokémon in the Pokémon world. However, red-quality Pokémon still accounted for ninety-nine percent of them. One could say that out of a hundred Slugma, only one might be orange-quality.
Qingwu's Pokémon were well-trained. Even Aron, which was weak to Fire-types, performed very actively. Aron would stomp its feet, and an endless supply of rocks would surge from the ground, like Antaeus, the Earth God; as long as its feet touched the ground, it would never admit defeat.
{PS: Antaeus, son of Poseidon and Gaia in Greek mythology, gained endless strength as long as his feet touched the ground.}
Qingwu simply let his Pokémon battle the Slugma. The Slugma army retreated steadily. Gradually, what appeared before Qingwu's eyes were not Slugma, but their evolved form, Magcargo.
Magcargo and Slugma were very similar. The difference was that Magcargo had a shell made of cooled volcanic rock. The shell flickered with flames, and Magcargo's body was also larger.
However, limited by quality, not many Slugma could evolve into Magcargo. So, the Magcargo were sparsely scattered on the ground, sound asleep. Magcargo were unlike Slugma; after evolving, they became very lazy.
Magcargo usually liked to lie on the ground and sleep for several months. Apart from hatching their offspring, Magcargo spent most of their time in slumber.
Qingwu randomly used the system to scan a sleeping Magcargo's quality.
Pokémon: Magcargo (Orange)
Gender: Male
Level: 38
Type: Fire + Rock
Ability: Flame Body
Basic Moves: Ember, Rock Throw, Smog, Yawn, Harden, Ancient Power, Amnesia, Rock Slide, Body Slam.
Learned Moves: Flamethrower.
Overall, the learned moves were quite good, especially Flamethrower, which was a learned move. This indicated that other Magcargo or other Fire-type Pokémon had specifically mastered the essence of Flamethrower.
Qingwu cautiously tested whether this sleeping orange-quality Magcargo could be caught. He casually threw a normal Poké Ball. The Poké Ball hit Magcargo's shell, directly sucking Magcargo inside. The Poké Ball glowed red, flashing once, twice, thrice, then the light went out.
Qingwu stood dumbfounded the entire time, looking at his scrawny hands. These must be the hands of a one-ball hero, right?
The capture did not alarm the surrounding sleeping Magcargo. Qingwu looked around. Indeed, Magcargo lay sleeping all around, and Qingwu could hear their loud snoring.
Qingwu also saw a Arcanine with several Growlithe, if the system hadn't detected they were all red quality. Qingwu would definitely capture a Growlithe to raise as his main Fire-type Pokémon.
Qingwu regretfully picked up Magcargo's Poké Ball. This Magcargo had a good level and knew quite a few moves. Qingwu planned to extract all the moves Magcargo knew, then trade it to other trial-takers or exchange it for Team Rocket points at the exchange counter.
Zubat hovered above Qingwu, using the wind it fanned to help Aron and Qingwu dissipate heat. Squirtle, held in Qingwu's arms, occasionally spat out small water droplets to cool Qingwu down.
Qingwu, whose head was originally groggy from the volcano's heat, suddenly felt his mind clear significantly under the moisturizing effect of Squirtle's small water droplets.
As Qingwu continued to walk forward, the number of Magcargo appearing increased, but most of them were in a state of deep sleep. Only a few Magcargo, seeing someone approaching, calmly watched Qingwu walk forward, moving slowly, no different from sloths.
The path on the volcano was not easy to traverse. To be precise, there wasn't even a small path. Qingwu could only rely on Aron's Rock Tomb ability. Qingwu used the rocks surging from the ground as footholds to climb upwards. The higher he went, the stronger the smell of sulfur became, and occasionally, magma would overflow.
Qingwu personally witnessed a volcanic rock, taller than a person and burning fiercely, erupting from the crater and landing on a unlucky Slugma. The Slugma was hit directly and completely turned into a puddle of magma.
Besides Arcanine, Qingwu also discovered traces of a Flareon family. Flareon had fluffy, thick fur that could withstand temperatures of a thousand degrees Celsius. They were chewing on the few berries on the volcano — Flare Berries. Flare Berries were berries that could heal burns. Pokémon with severe burns would usually find these berries to treat their injuries. These berries were also a favorite of Fire-type Pokémon.
Unfortunately, this Flareon family were all red-quality Pokémon.
Qingwu finally managed to climb onto a protruding section of volcanic rock. The Flareon, upon seeing Qingwu, immediately bared their teeth and, while protecting their young, orderly retreated. The Flareon gave Qingwu one last look, then disappeared from Qingwu's sight with three leaps.
"It's really hot." Qingwu took out a water bottle from his spatial backpack, took a big gulp, and gave water to Zubat and Squirtle. Squirtle seemed a bit wilted in the increasingly volcanic area, so Qingwu recalled Squirtle into its Poké Ball.
"Squeak squeak!" Zubat seemed to have made a great discovery and urgently called out to Qingwu.
"What did you find?" Qingwu was pulled by Zubat into a cave. The smell of sulfur in this cave was even stronger, as if the depths of the cave were a lava zone. This was not uncommon in volcanic areas.
"What is this?" After Qingwu entered the cave and walked for about ten minutes, the scene before him suddenly opened up. It was about the size of a standard stadium.
Countless Magcargo gathered together, either conversing or lying down, but most were curled up in their shells, like they were in hibernation. Below the Magcargo flowed countless rivers of magma. Countless magma bubbles emerged from them, emitting a sulfuric odor.
Above the center of the magma was a giant stone pillar made of volcanic rock, densely covered with countless almost identical Pokémon eggs. Although the patterns on individual Pokémon eggs were slightly different, it was certain that most of them were Slugma eggs. These Fire-type Pokémon eggs were hatching by relying on the heat of the magma.
Qingwu's eyes widened. With so many Slugma eggs, he was sure to find a suitable quality Slugma to hatch. Even if Qingwu didn't use it himself, handing it over to Team Rocket would be an excellent choice.
Qingwu's current consideration was how to fly to this lava pillar. Although most of the vast number of Magcargo were asleep, the remaining awake Magcargo would surely guard these Pokémon eggs tightly.
Planning before acting, this was Qingwu's principle. As long as he got a chance to get close, Qingwu could rely on the system to quickly identify Pokémon of suitable quality. Qingwu looked at Aron's and Zubat's move lists, and thought of a plan. Although it was a bit risky, nothing ventured, nothing gained. He wasn't like other trial-takers who had backers and various resources. Qingwu's previous Elite Four resources were also obtained through courage.
"Zubat, Aron, you two do this and this," Qingwu whispered to Zubat and Aron, then began to act.
Qingwu was actually interested in Zubat's Hypnosis, which had a 40% chance of failure. Qingwu had Aron use Rock Tomb to raise countless rocks, hiding himself and Aron. After getting ready, Qingwu nodded to Zubat. Zubat flapped its wings and charged towards the nearest Magcargo.
Magcargo was just about to fall asleep, but its companions' snoring was too loud, keeping it awake. Magcargo felt dark circles growing under its eyes. Normally, it would comfortably drift off to sleep at this hour, dreaming of comfortable activities with its chosen Magcargo partner. However, all that was ruined. The Magcargo next to it snored too loudly, and it didn't want to move, too lazy to change its spot.
The anxious Magcargo saw a strange Pokémon descending from the sky, flapping its wings and emitting blue light waves. Magcargo watched the blue light waves, its eyelids drooping, falling into a deep sleep.
"I'm finally asleep," was the last thought that lingered in its mind as it drifted off.
Magcargo comfortably emitted three hoarse sounds. Without one or two months, or without a violent external collision, Magcargo would not wake up.