As recently as when Red defeated Team Rocket, it was believed that Magmar could not breed. Theories abounded as to why this was the case: perhaps their reproductive organs had been scorched away when they were reborn in the fire of volcanoes, perhaps their flame body which incubates the eggs of other pokemon so well was causing their own eggs to hatch prematurely. But the utter absence of any infant Magmar in the wild, and their refusal to breed in captivity, understandably led people to believe they were as sterile as Voltorb.

Recent advances in the science of pokemon breeding have led to many baby pokemon being bred for the first time in captivity, and seen others like Pichu reclassified from mere infants to their own evolutionary stage. Yet none of these discoveries have shocked the scientific world as much as the breeding of Magbee or Magby. (The latter transcription is favored, owing to its similarity to the word "baby", but a vocal minority continues to insist on the former one.) An elderly couple of pokemon breeders at a daycare in Johto have recently managed to induce a pair of Magmar to breed, and the method they used has since become as commonplace among breeders as Rattata in tall grass.

The resultant pokemon, Magby, has one striking difference from Magmar; its fire is contained internally, so it does not burn everything it touches, a fact which allows trainers to raise one without fear of committing arson. (One must use care when handling a Magby, however, for the lack of flames does not mean a safe body temperature.) Sadly, they do not get used to the sensation of burning from infancy, so once they evolve they are as pained by the heat as a Magmar born of a volcano.