Because he was in such a hurry, Masato Shirai was sweating all over. The thick fog made it nearly impossible to see the road, and he had expended quite a bit of effort just to reach YoYo Day Care.
By the time Masato Shirai arrived on his Arcanine and came to his side, Yuga asked, "Is it about the fog?"
Masato Shirai said with a serious expression, "It's not just that—there's more…"
It turned out that after Masato Shirai woke up this morning and discovered the unusual heavy fog, he rushed to the police station. When he arrived, there were already quite a few citizens waiting at the entrance to file reports.
For some unknown reason, Verdanturf City had been sealed off. No matter who tried to leave, no one could get out. Everyone who attempted to leave the city that morning was sent back into the dense fog.
After hearing Masato Shirai's account, Yuga thought to himself: It seems this fog is indeed no ordinary fog.
"Have there been any other unusual occurrences?" Yuga asked again.
Masato Shirai shook his head and said, "Nothing else has been discovered for now. I've already dispatched officers from the station to spread out and investigate the city."
Yuga thought for a moment and said, "Let's go to the highway and take a look." As he spoke, he released his Absol and mounted it.
"Alright."
And so the two of them rode off—Yuga on Absol and Masato on Arcanine—and sped away. Before long, they arrived at the end of Verdanturf City's main road, one of the primary entry and exit points to the city.
When they arrived, a large number of people had already gathered along the edge of the road. Some were travelers, some were merchants, some were drivers... all of them were people who had intended to leave Verdanturf City early that morning.
Most of the people there recognized Yuga or Masato Shirai. When they saw the two arrive, it was as if they had found their pillar of support.
"Gym Leader Shimizu, thank goodness you're here…"
"Director Shirai, has the reason for the fog been found? Why can't we leave Verdanturf City…"
"Yeah, we're all in a hurry to get out…"
The crowd chattered loudly, voices overlapping in a flurry of anxious discussion.
"Alright everyone, quiet down," Masato Shirai said loudly. "We are still investigating the reason for the heavy fog and why we can't leave Verdanturf City. Please remain calm for now."
"Then hurry up, we all have things to do!"
"Yeah, exactly…"
While Masato Shirai was calming the crowd, Yuga rode Absol forward, deeper into the fog. The farther he went, the thicker the fog became. It wasn't long before he realized he could barely see anything beyond the length of his own arm.
Unbothered by the increasingly dense fog, Yuga pressed forward on Absol. He didn't know how long he had been riding when the fog ahead finally began to thin out a little. But just as he was starting to make out the surroundings, he realized that in front of him—still at a short distance—was Masato Shirai, still in the midst of calming the crowd.
Seeing Yuga emerge from the dense fog, Masato Shirai hurried over and asked, "Gym Leader Shimizu, how did it go? Did you find anything?"
Yuga shook his head and said, "I didn't find anything. I just kept walking and somehow ended up back here again." He hadn't even realized how he'd gotten back to the same place.
Upon hearing this, Masato Shirai's face darkened immediately. "If even you can't find the cause, what are we supposed to do!"
Yuga pointed up at the sky and asked, "Have you tried checking from above?"
Masato Shirai nodded. "We've looked into that."
Not only had he sent people and Pokémon to investigate, but he had also deployed machines. The results: the people and Pokémon encountered similar conditions as those on the ground—and the machines, once airborne, were immediately rendered useless.
"I'll go up and take another look."
With that, Yuga retracted Absol and instead released Dragonite. Mounting it, he soared into the sky.
The thick fog in the sky was just like on the ground—the higher they went, the denser it became. It was unclear how long they had been flying when Dragonite suddenly seemed to crash into something, nearly throwing Yuga off.
Once they had stabilized themselves again, Dragonite made another attempt, this time slowing its speed. However, it was still blocked by an invisible and untouchable barrier.
Yuga said, "Dragonite, try attacking this barrier."
"Dragonite~"
Dragonite nodded, opened its mouth, and fired a Dragon Pulse. The bluish-purple wave of energy struck the barrier with a dull sound, then dispersed in all directions before vanishing in the blink of an eye.
The barrier remained completely intact.
Seeing the attack had no effect, Yuga said again, "Let's fly a little farther and see."
"Dragonite~"
Dragonite cried out and flew in a parallel direction with Yuga on its back, soon disappearing into the thick fog.
It was unclear how long they flew, but eventually, Yuga and Dragonite found themselves right back where they had started. Looking around at the dense white fog, Yuga had no choice but to ask Dragonite to take him back.
When Masato Shirai saw Yuga return, he rushed over anxiously and asked, "How did it go?"
Yuga shook his head.
"What do we do now?" Masato Shirai scratched his head in frustration, feeling like if this continued, he was going to go bald.
After thinking for a moment, Yuga said, "How about this—you and your department continue investigating within the city. I'll also look around and see if I can find any clues."
"That's all we can do for now," Masato Shirai replied with a sigh. He still had to go back to the police station to assign people to maintain order within the city. This thick fog was making everyone uneasy—he couldn't afford to let things go unchecked.
After they parted ways, Yuga first visited Mayor Ishida and asked him to find a way to help calm the citizens.
Mayor Ishida had already prepared in advance. Through television, radio, and the internet, he briefly informed the citizens about the current situation in Verdanturf City and urged everyone to stay indoors for the time being and avoid wandering around aimlessly.
At the same time, he reported Verdanturf City's situation to the Pokémon League. The League had already acknowledged the situation and was dispatching people to investigate the matter in Verdanturf.
Fortunately, communication signals with the outside world were still functioning.
After leaving Mayor Ishida's place, Yuga returned home. He released his Zubat, Golbat, and Crobat, sending them out to spread across different parts of Verdanturf City to investigate and see if they could find any clues.
In this kind of heavy fog, most Pokémon wouldn't be of much use, but bat Pokémon like Zubat, Golbat, and Crobat, who could freely use sound waves, would absolutely be able to move through the fog without issue.
After that, Yuga also made a trip to Verdanturf University, where he met with Mr. Gasai and the others. From them, he learned that due to the unusual fog, the exchange tournament had been temporarily suspended. Some of the students had already volunteered to help the police maintain order and investigate the cause of the fog.
In the blink of an eye, two days had passed. Whether it was Yuga, the police department, or the volunteer trainers, none of them had been able to identify the cause of the thick fog. No one had been able to leave Verdanturf City, and no one from outside could get in.
The Hoenn League Headquarters was very efficient. By yesterday, they had already dispatched a team outside Verdanturf City to investigate. Unfortunately, they too had not been able to uncover the cause of the city being sealed off by the fog.
At this moment, outside Verdanturf City, Professor Birch was fiddling with a strangely-shaped machine. Steven walked over and asked, "So, Professor? Any progress?"
Steven and Professor Birch were the leaders of the team the League had dispatched to investigate the anomaly in Verdanturf City. In fact, Steven had personally requested to come.
Not long ago, he had just received a gift from Yuga. Now that Verdanturf City was in trouble, of course he had to come take a look.
Previously, Steven and Professor Birch had already used several machines to investigate the mysterious fog, but without exception, all of those machines had ended up breaking down. The one Professor Birch was currently working on was a new device that had just been delivered by the League today.
Professor Birch was fully focused, not even lifting his head as he waved a hand at Steven and said, "Don't disturb me, I'm busy!"
Steven could only shut his mouth helplessly.
After a while, a giant Volcarona descended from the sky, and a figure leaped down from its back.
Seeing who it was, Steven asked, "How did it go?"
"Sigh…" the person sighed and shook his head. "Still no idea what's going on in Verdanturf City…"
"Don't worry, didn't Yuga say on the phone that everything in Verdanturf is fine for now?" Steven patted the person on the shoulder to comfort him.
"Let's hope so."
At that moment, Volcarona flew over and rubbed its head against the person, as if trying to comfort him.
The person patted the large head of Volcarona and said, "You don't worry either. I'm sure your mom and dad are fine. Yuga is so strong—he'll protect them."
This person and Pokémon were Robert and his Volcarona. Volcarona was the child of the Vivillon pair, so of course it was concerned about its parents' safety.
Robert hadn't been sent by the League—he had come on his own after hearing about what happened in Verdanturf City. Worried for his friend, he rushed over overnight.
Even though Yuga had told Robert over the phone that everything in Verdanturf was currently safe, Robert couldn't help but come anyway, which made Yuga feel a little helpless.
In truth, Robert's presence wasn't really of much help—after all, so many people had already investigated without finding any clues. Still, Yuga was deeply moved by Robert's thoughtfulness.
He really was the first friend Yuga had made since arriving in the Pokémon world!
Just now, Robert and Volcarona had flown into the fog to investigate again, but they were once more pushed back out by it.
Actually, Verdanturf City wasn't nearly as calm as Yuga had said on the phone to Steven and the others. After being trapped in heavy fog for two days straight and still unable to determine the cause, the citizens had already become agitated and uneasy.
Verdanturf City was currently considered a tourist-oriented major city. Many people in town weren't locals, and being locked inside the city for days made them increasingly dissatisfied.
Some people had already begun to ignore the police and government's advice, wandering the streets aimlessly. Some even attempted to break through the fog to escape.
But not a single person succeeded.
Over the past two days, Yuga, Masato Shirai, and others had noticed that the fog was getting thicker and thicker—to the point where even someone standing right in front of you might not be clearly visible. This brought great difficulties to their investigation.
Because of the fog, Yuga didn't go out today. He had delegated all investigation tasks to his Pokémon. He stood at the window of his bedroom, blankly staring out at the layers of mist outside.
At that moment, his communicator rang. When he answered, the anxious voice of Mayor Ishida came through.
"Yuga, something's wrong—several citizens have suddenly collapsed, and we're still investigating the cause."
Yuga's brows immediately furrowed. "How are the unconscious people being handled?"
Mayor Ishida responded, "They've all been sent to the Pokémon Center. Nurse Joy is examining them right now."
Yuga said, "Alright, got it. I'll head to the Pokémon Center right away."
After ending the call with Mayor Ishida, Yuga immediately headed out. Ninetales happened to see him and quickly caught up. "I'll go with you!"
The damp air in the fog had made Ninetales very uncomfortable, so it had stayed inside the volcano sub-garden for the past two days. Today was the first time it had come out.
Yuga asked curiously, "Why are you willing to come out today?"
Ninetales replied, "Staying inside for too long is just too boring."
Yuga said nothing more and, bringing Ninetales with him, headed to the Pokémon Center. Because the fog was too thick, he specifically had a Zubat guide the way. After quite a bit of effort, they finally arrived at the Pokémon Center.
The busy Joyka was surprised when she saw Yuga arrive and said, "With fog this thick, how did you even get here?"
Yuga replied helplessly, "I came to check on the people who fainted. How is it? Have you figured out what caused them to pass out?"
Joyka answered, "If I'm not mistaken, they likely fainted due to an invasion by a powerful psychic force."
Yuga immediately frowned upon hearing this: "Is there any way to wake them up?"
Joyka shook her head and said, "I can't do it."
At that moment, Ninetales suddenly said, "Why don't you let me try?" Psychic energy was one of its strong suits.
Upon hearing that, Yuga asked, "Are you reliable?"
Ninetales glared at him: "What do you think?"
"Then let's give it a try."
At the same time, outside Verdanturf City, Professor Birch suddenly exclaimed, "Quick, come look! We've got something!"
Steven, Robert, and several investigators immediately gathered around, but as they looked at the images, waveforms, and symbols on the machine, all of them were completely baffled.
"This… what does this mean?" Steven looked at Professor Birch helplessly and asked.
"You don't understand it?" Professor Birch smacked his own forehead and immediately began explaining to everyone.
After he finished explaining, Steven said, "So what you're saying is, within this heavy fog, there's a powerful Psychic-type Pokémon manipulating everything?"
Professor Birch replied, "Exactly, an extremely powerful Psychic-type Pokémon. It's very likely to be a legendary…"
"But what in the world does Verdanturf City have that's worth such a Pokémon doing all this?" Robert asked, utterly confused.
Professor Birch shook his head and said, "I don't know either. We'd better tell Yuga about this right away. Maybe he can discover something from inside."
Robert quickly pulled out his communicator and said, "I'll contact him right now."
Back at the Pokémon Center, the people who had fainted finally woke up under Ninetales's efforts. However, due to the powerful psychic energy that had invaded their minds, all of them felt splitting headaches upon waking.
Yuga scolded them sternly, "I told you to stay at home and not wander around, but you didn't listen. Now look what's happened!"
The ones who had fainted were all out-of-town trainers who had ignored the warnings from the police and government and gone wandering around outside.
"I know you're worried about the situation outside and want to leave as soon as possible, but right now everything is unclear. It's all thick fog out there. If we hadn't found you in time…"
The group looked utterly ashamed under Yuga's words.
But just as these few people had woken up, several more unconscious individuals were brought in.
While Ninetales was working to awaken them, Yuga received a phone call from Robert. Just after he hung up with Robert, two long and sorrowful cries echoed one after the other across the skies above Verdanturf City.
Those two cries were filled with sadness—so much so that even Yuga couldn't help but be emotionally affected upon hearing them.
Not only Yuga and Joyka heard them, but everyone in Verdanturf City heard the sorrowful wails.