At the bottom of a gray-brown rocky valley.
Baimu watched the compass spin wildly on his phone, then looked up and murmured, "A Special Magnetic Field..."
A Special Magnetic Field was a peculiar environment that allowed Magneton, Nosepass, and Charjabug to evolve. In Hoenn, the one he knew of was in New Mauville. He hadn't expected to find one here too.
"So this is Steel Valley."
He looked at the name marked on his phone's map and recalled the story that had taken place here in the animated series—
Ash and his friends had helped a wild Torkoal defeat Steel Valley's leader, Steelix, then caught Torkoal. Just another little adventure.
But had this place always had a Special Magnetic Field? As he recalled, the only Pokémon that had appeared here were Magneton and Magnemite. Surely the field hadn't been created later.
Could New Mauville have expanded beneath his feet?
It was close to Mauville City, after all.
Baimu glanced at the ground, then remembered that Steelix led the wild Pokémon here. Unless someone had caught it, nobody would have expanded New Mauville this far.
Come to think of it...
He remembered the wild Steel-type Pokémon here being fiercely hostile to outsiders. They drove off any trainer who wandered in. So why hadn't he seen a single one after walking for so long?
They couldn't all have been caught by passing trainers, could they?
Baimu turned to Porygon, whose legs had transformed into fine-toothed gears, and asked, "Do you sense anything? Radio waves from a Magnezone, for example?"
"Pory!"
Porygon shook its head.
It lacked the keen senses that Gible and Hydreigon possessed. Even if a Magnezone were transmitting radio waves, Porygon wouldn't be able to pick them up.
Just then, as if in answer to Baimu's question, countless bright yellow