The enormous Torkoal

That left Charmander as the only Pokémon capable of protecting them. Fortunately, the environment here felt very comfortable to Charmander, and even the flame on its tail had grown stronger, reassuring them somewhat.

"Whoosh..." The wind howled from time to time, carrying a faintly unsettling note.

"Why does this wind sound so much like snoring?" Shen Yue whispered with a frown. The sound made her scalp prickle.

"No way. Who could snore loudly enough for it to carry this far through a cave? We've been walking for five minutes, haven't we?" Jiang Cheng replied.

"It really is snoring!" Ye Ling suddenly spoke, startling them both.

"That's right. It's getting louder, and it's very regular. It might not be snoring, but it certainly sounds like some creature breathing in its sleep," Xiao Ran said after a moment's thought.

"No way! Isn't that way too loud? We can't even see the end of the cave yet. What kind of Pokémon could snore that loudly?" Shen Yue asked incredulously.

"Maybe it's another Giant Pokémon. A Giant Tentacruel already appeared in this Secret Realm, so another one wouldn't be strange," Xiao Ran said gravely.

"You're kidding! Another one? Did we just escape the tiger's jaws only to land in a wolf's den?" Jiang Cheng's eyes widened with despair.

"Huh? Wait, it's so hot here. If it really is a Giant Pokémon, could it be a Fire-type?" Shen Yue suddenly exclaimed in excitement. She was a trainer who specialized in Fire-types. If she could catch the giant Fire-type Pokémon in this cave, her overall strength would undergo a complete transformation.

"That's very possible, but can you catch it? We don't even have a Giant Poké Ball," Xiao Ran said irritably.

"Take a look at this." As they spoke, Ye Ling, who was walking ahead, suddenly picked up a gemstone glowing purplish red from the ground and handed it to Xiao Ran.

"Oh! What a beautiful gemstone! Is it Amethyst?" Shen Yue asked curiously. Girls always had an innate desire for jewelry.

"What is this?" Xiao Ran raised his head in puzzlement and looked deeper into the cave. At some point, faint light had begun to appear in the once pitch-black mine tunnel. It seemed that once their eyes adjusted, they could make out the path even without the flame on Charmander's tail.

"This doesn't look like Amethyst. Amethyst should be deep purple. Both the color and the luster are far too different. I've never seen this kind of crystal before," Jiang Cheng said, studying the gemstone in confusion. Coming from a merchant background, he knew something about luxury goods such as jewelry, but he was certain he had never seen this kind of crystal.

"This isn't Amethyst. Ordinary crystals shouldn't glow on their own. Yueyue, put Charmander away for now. Then everyone look ahead." Xiao Ran shook his head and had Shen Yue recall Charmander.

As Charmander returned to its Poké Ball, everything immediately went pitch-black before their eyes because of the abrupt change in brightness. But as their eyes gradually adjusted, they were all stunned by the sight before them. Specks of purplish-red light shone from the cave walls—crystals that had yet to be mined. The farther into the cave they looked, the more pronounced the glow became.

"What on earth is going on? Is this a crystal mine?" Shen Yue asked in confusion.

"No. Crystals don't glow on their own, and there's no mistaking the searing heat coming from inside this cave. Crystals shouldn't exist in temperatures this high," Xiao Ran said, shaking his head.

"That's right. Crystals form at high temperatures, but that doesn't mean they form in Magma. Besides, they need a large amount of groundwater to form. It's so dry here—where would the groundwater come from?" Jiang Cheng nodded. Just as Xiao Ran had said, the scene before them was far too strange.

"We'll find out if we keep going. But if there really is a Pokémon in there, we'll have to be careful." After putting the crystal into a backpack, they continued deeper into the cave.

The heat steadily intensified, and the temperature had already surpassed that of the hottest summer day. All of them were drenched in sweat. The snoring grew clearer too, as though it were sounding right beside their ears. They were now certain that a powerful Pokémon was sleeping inside the cave.

They moved ever more carefully, avoiding any loud noise that might wake the Pokémon. Charmander was also summoned again. Although they no longer needed its light, it was still the only combatant they could currently rely on.

"I think I know why the Hall's people were willing to pay such a huge price to capture the Giant Tentacruel. It wasn't just about one Giant Pokémon, but two," Xiao Ran said as they walked.

"Whoa. That does make sense. Once they had the Water-type Giant Tentacruel, dealing with this Fire-type Pokémon would be much easier." Jiang Cheng nodded, finally understanding the Hall's plan.

"Hmph. Too bad they aren't getting either one. This Fire-type Pokémon is mine," Shen Yue said, wrinkling her nose. Although she still didn't know what it was, the prospect of such a powerful Pokémon already filled her with delight.

As they ventured farther in, more and more purplish-red crystals appeared on the walls. Not only that, but the Magma they had anticipated also began to appear here and there. The cave did indeed lead to a Lava Cave. The searing temperature made them so uncomfortable that Xiao Ran had to release the Power of the Moon to ease their discomfort. Meanwhile, the snoring inside the cave kept growing louder, becoming almost deafening.

When the four rounded the final corner, they finally entered the cave's innermost chamber: an enormous cavern filled with flowing Magma. Its ceiling rose dozens of meters overhead, making Xiao Ran and the others wonder whether they had been walking downhill all along. An unusual light illuminated the entire cavern. At the center of the Magma lay an enormous Torkoal, sleeping with its limbs tucked in and its head drooping.

"Heavens, that Torkoal is huge!" Shen Yue exclaimed, unable to contain the delight in her eyes. Torkoal was an essential Pokémon for a Fire-type Sunny Day team.

"Whoa. How much coal would it have to burn in a day? No wonder it can only lie in Magma," Jiang Cheng marveled. An ordinary Torkoal was only half a meter in size, but this one was nearly fifty meters—half the size of a football field.

Torkoal's main source of energy was the coal burning inside its shell. Once the coal burned out, it would become unable to move, and if its fire went out, it would die. But the amount of coal a fifty-meter Torkoal would need to burn each day was astronomical. Unless it stayed submerged in Magma, no one could afford to keep it alive.

"Well... I guess... I really couldn't afford to keep it! Ah! What do I do? What do I do?" Jiang Cheng's words brought Shen Yue to her senses, and she let out an anguished wail—quietly, of course. If she woke Torkoal, none of them would get out alive.

"It's actually real!" Unlike Jiang Cheng and Shen Yue, Xiao Ran stood rooted to the spot, almost dazed. His eyes were fixed on the purplish-red mist surrounding Torkoal. Others might have mistaken it for some special coal smoke expelled by the giant Torkoal, but with the crystal in his hand, Xiao Ran would never think that.

"What is it?" Sensing something unusual about Xiao Ran, Ye Ling looked at him and asked softly.

"I never thought Galar's dynamax would appear in China," Xiao Ran said quietly.

"What? Galar's dynamax? You mean this Torkoal? So this is the Galar Great Secret Realm?" Jiang Cheng turned back and asked Xiao Ran curiously.

"I don't know either, but this Torkoal's enlargement is different from that Tentacruel outside. Its enlargement is reversible, just like Mega Evolution. But this kind of evolution through dynamax should be a technique from the Galar Great Secret Realm, and the Galar Great Secret Realm should currently be on Great Britain," Xiao Ran explained.

The locations from the games in his previous life generally had corresponding Great Secret Realms in the real world, such as the Kanto Great Secret Realm in Japan, the Alola Great Secret Realm in Hawaii, and the Galar Great Secret Realm on Great Britain...

Each Secret Realm usually had its own native Pokémon and unique techniques. The core technique of the Galar Great Secret Realm was dynamax. Yet this technique had never spread beyond Great Britain, nor had anyone been seen using it. He had never expected a dynamaxed Pokémon to appear in a newly formed, small Secret Realm in China.

"Then... does this Secret Realm count as a branch of the Galar Great Secret Realm?" Jiang Cheng asked.

"Possibly. But that Giant Tentacruel isn't dynamaxed. It's a Giant Pokémon produced by an ordinary mutation, which makes this rather strange. And according to the texts recovered from Secret Realms, dynamax should be the core technique of the Galar Great Secret Realm. Why would it appear in a small Secret Realm like this?" Xiao Ran's face was full of bewilderment.

"Well..." Jiang Cheng was momentarily stunned too, unsure how to respond.

"Oh, come on, little Ran. You just said this Torkoal's evolution is reversible, right? Does that mean I can catch it once it changes back?" Scientific questions had nothing to do with Shen Yue. Right now, she only wanted to know whether this Torkoal's evolution really was reversible. Xiao Ran's words had greatly piqued her interest.

"Uh, that's true in theory, but even if it cancels its dynamax, are you sure you can catch it?" Xiao Ran paused, looking from Torkoal to Shen Yue, his tone full of uncertainty.

"Oh, that doesn't matter. It's fine if I can't beat it. I still have my dad! At worst, I'll just keep pestering him when we get back!" Shen Yue waved dismissively. Looking at Torkoal, she was practically drooling.

Fine, having a Gym Leader for a dad is impressive...