The Fire Core wasn't actually very helpful for Arcanine—it probably only boosted its Fire-type moves by about 2%.
It wasn't that the core itself was weak—on the contrary, its value was just below that of an Ultimate Fire-type treasure.
The real reason it didn’t have a big effect was because Arcanine had already consumed two Ultimate Fire-type treasures, along with various other Fire-type treasures, giving it an incredibly formidable foundation.
So for it, this Fire Core wasn’t really a gamechanger—it was just the cherry on top.
Moltres: 'This dumb dog gets to eat good stuff while I don’t? Am I really worse than this mutt?'
Moltres's Poké Ball was shaking with clear dissatisfaction—obviously jealous.
And to make things worse, it noticed that Arcanine was staring at it smugly—which only irritated it further.
Arcanine: 'Stupid bird, as long as I’m around, you’ll always be the sidekick.'
"Alright, that’s enough."
Julian helplessly patted Arcanine on the head—couldn’t it see that Moltres's Poké Ball was shaking like a sieve? If it kept gloating, Moltres might just burst out and peck it to death.
If a real fight broke out, Arcanine definitely wouldn’t be a match for Moltres, which was at the pseudo-Champion level.
When Julian first captured Moltres, Arcanine could still put up a fight. But after traveling with Julian and being fed high-quality resources, Moltres's foundation grew deeper. Combined with its level advantage, Arcanine was now outclassed.
To stop this overexcited "Husky" from showing off any further, Julian recalled it into its Poké Ball.
"I’ll give you something good next time," Julian reassured, patting Moltres’s Poké Ball.
Among the pile of items, the Fire Core was the most valuable. Of course, there were still other Fire-type items, but Moltres didn’t care for them.
If Julian really gave those to Moltres, it would probably only get angrier. It would probably say something like:
Moltres: "Oh, I see. So my food’s always going to be worse than that dumb dog’s? New birds can’t beat old dogs, huh?"
Metagross: "I also found a group of Pokémon that I have never seen before."
Metagross's supercomputer contained records of every currently known Pokémon species. If it said it had never seen them before, then they were an entirely undiscovered species.
"Oh? What type?" Julian perked up.
New Pokémon species always represented a major opportunity. If they turned out to be rare and powerful, the person who discovered them could skyrocket to fame.
Metagross: "Most likely Steel-type."
"New Steel-type Pokémon?!"
Now Julian was even more interested—after all, he was a Steel-type specialist, with Steel as his primary attribute and Dragon as his secondary.
"You marked them, right?" Julian asked.
Metagross nodded. It had left a psychic imprint on the leader of the group, allowing it to track the Pokémon as long as they remained within a certain range.
"Take me to see them."
By this time, Slowking had already packed everything up. Julian returned it to its Poké Ball, and Metagross used Teleport to take Julian and Celebi away from the hotel room.
They reappeared in a rocky area surrounded by factory buildings—likely ore-processing plants.
And there, Julian finally saw the new Pokémon species Metagross had mentioned.
They stood upright on two legs, and their bodies appeared to be made entirely of aluminum-like metal. Their heads and torsos were distinctly connected, with a streamlined, segmented structure.
On their backs, what looked like a "tail" was actually a single raised segment, and their metallic forms were etched with curved patterns. Their hands, lower abdomens, and feet were composed of differently colored metal.
Right now, they were busy chewing on piles of raw ore scattered across the ground.
There were about fifty of them in total.
The leader was at mid-stage Elite-level, with about twenty others at the pseudo-Elite level—including five or six at the peak of pseudo-Elite. The rest were at the Advanced-level.
Julian used his Probing Eyes on the mid-stage Elite leader:
Pokémon: Duraludon (Steel/Dragon)
Moves: Metal Claw, Leer, Rock Smash, Hone Claws, Metal Sound, Breaking Swipe, Dragon Tail, Iron Defense, Focus Energy, Dragon Claw, Flash Cannon, Metal Burst, Hyper Beam
Egg Moves: Slash, Night Slash, Mirror Coat, Dragon Pulse
Steel/Dragon dual typing.
Julian was pleasantly surprised—this combination fit perfectly with him—his primary specialty was Steel, and his secondary was Dragon. Duraludon just happened to be both.
He quickly scanned the rest of the Duraludon with his Probing Eyes.
The exact count was fifty-five.
Aside from the leader, there were three other with Cyan-grade potential—all at the peak of pseudo-Elite level.
He had to admit, Pokémon in the Ruins had much higher potential than those in typical secret realms. There were fewer in number, but they were far more dangerous.
At this moment, the Duraludon also noticed Julian, this unexpected guest, and stopped eating.
The leader stared warily at him.
Its instincts were screaming—this guy was looking at it 'weird'. That look… was the same look it gave its mate—full of possessiveness.
Without wasting time, Julian sent out Aggron.
The seven-meter-tall steel behemoth materialized with a thunderous stomp, its massive frame blocking the sun. Its terrifying appearance and the horn atop its head, sharp enough to pierce the sky, immediately threw the Duraludon group into panic.
The Duraludon leader bellowed, its authoritative presence calming the restless group.
Pokémon: Aggron (Steel/Rock)
Held Item: Metal Coat
Moves: Roar, Tackle, Harden, Headbutt, Protect, Iron Head, Metal Burst, Rock Tomb, Metal Claw, Earth Power, Take Down, Iron Defense, Double-Edge, Metal Sound, Autotomize
TMs: Earthquake, Sandstorm, Dig, Shock Wave, Rock Slide, Rock Smash, Water Pulse, Dragon Claw, Focus Punch, Iron Tail, Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Mega Punch, Mega Kick, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch, Stone Edge, Wide Guard, Reckless, Hyper Beam, Giga Impact, Sand Tomb, Bulldoze, Hydro Pump, Stomping Tantrum, Body Press, High Horsepower
Egg Moves: Stomp, Heavy Slam, Endeavor, Dragon Rush
Note: Has become a Totem Pokémon after absorbing the Soul of Totem.
Note: After absorbing the Blacklight Core, the Pokémon continuously absorbs sunlight to restore its stamina (limited to Steel- and Rock-types)
Note: Consumed Diamond Core, increasing the power of Rock and Ground-type moves by 20%.
The average Duraludon stood at 1.8 meters tall, with the leader slightly taller at around 2 meters.
Aggron, however, loomed at a staggering 7 meters, a towering wall of steel and rock.
Between the difference in level, aura, and sheer size, the pressure was overwhelming.
The leader of the Duraludon group, even with its back straight and courage mustered, still faltered beneath that crushing presence.
But it knew—if it didn’t defeat this monstrous opponent, neither it nor its tribe would be allowed to leave.
"Defeat it, and I’ll let you go," Julian said calmly.
Then he turned to Aggron:
"If you don’t finish them off in five minutes, you’re skipping dinner tonight."
"Metagross, start the timer."
Aggron: "You could at least say "begin"! I wasn’t even ready yet."
Upto 30 chapters ahead on :-