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During the night training, Li Xiang personally confirmed the existence of the geyser site once more.
On the lake surface where countless Illumise and Volbeat danced, three water dragons would suddenly surge up, rushing violently towards the sky. Purple light waves swirled around the water currents, and amidst the shimmering reflections, there was a sense of the sacred.
It compelled Li Xiang to capture it with his camera.
Riolu and Corviknight also mentioned that the daytime geysers and the nighttime geysers were completely different phenomena.
Afterwards, almost as if driven by some impulse, he went to challenge Mo Ye to a battle.
Mo Ye agreed, using a slow-moving Clamperl equipped with a Deep Sea Tooth, which sharply boosted its Special Attack. It thoroughly thrashed Li Xiang's Pokémon.
If its durability weren't so terrifyingly low, to the point where its Aqua Ring could not keep up later on, Li Xiang suspected it could have defeated all his Pokémon without taking any damage.
Well, the gap in strength compared to the top Elite Four member was, as expected, still far too great.
Facing the dejected Incineroar and the others, Li Xiang smiled and said that sooner or later, they would win it back.
Only then did Incineroar and the others relax.
....
The next day, the frequency of the geysers increased.
Around Wisdom City, one could basically be seen every hour.
This phenomenon signified that Phantom Island was about to appear. Space was becoming unstable, while time would become more stable and unchanging.
The principle behind it was unclear.
At least, that is what the native resident, Mismagius, said.
This Mismagius had planned to enter Li Xiang's dreams the previous night, coming over late at night and saying it wanted to weave a beautiful dream for him.
It could be personalized, the script was negotiable.
But Li Xiang refused without mercy. He did not care about any good dreams. He had too many secrets. How could he casually let someone see his dreams?
Mismagius had no choice but to leave regretfully. One of the few joys in its long life was weaving dreams for all kinds of beings.
And it stood from an observer's perspective, appreciating these beings' dreams.
Among them, human dreams intrigued it the most, because they contained many things it could not see on Mist Island. To it, this was knowledge.
Unfortunately, Li Xiang would not allow it.
As the Sage of Dreams, it naturally would not casually enter someone else's dreams without permission.
On the other side, after obtaining Mo Ye's permission, Li Xiang changed into swimming trunks and, along with Greninja and Starmie, headed to the bottom of the lake.
Starmie's Flash technique allowed him to search for sparkling Type Gems on the lakebed.
But perhaps he had arrived too late, and all the wild Pokémon had already picked them clean.
After working hard all morning, he only found about a dozen.
A mix of Water, Electric, and Ground types.
"Phew, picking up items is exhausting." Li Xiang surfaced from the water, successfully startling two Wingull floating on the surface.
"Sorry, sorry."
He smiled apologetically and held the small diamond in his hand up to the sunlight for examination.
Diamonds that should have been artificially cut now appeared as masterpieces of nature's craftsmanship.
It was as wondrous as concrete originating from Conkeldurr, or magnets and screws tracing back to Magnemite.
"Regardless, I have hit the jackpot."
Li Xiang gripped the Type Gems tightly. These were rare sights in the outside world, perhaps not even seen in the Youth Tournament.
He did not know if they had been used up by ancient humans or if someone had restricted them.
Below, the rumbling of the geyser began.
Li Xiang had no desire to be launched skyward. Clinging to Starmie's slippery body, he and Greninja returned to the shore.
They would go back down after the geyser finished erupting.
By the lakeside, there were a few Corphish with dull expressions. Li Xiang did not provoke them, as they were quite aggressive.
They would try to pinch your nose off at the slightest disagreement.
In contrast, on the shallow banks overgrown with water plants, countless plump water mice were incredibly cute.
Azumarill, Marill, Azurill, each one rounder than the last.
Unfortunately, after he had petted them yesterday, today they looked at him as if he were a criminal.
Extremely wary.
Li Xiang found it strange. He had not freeloaded yesterday! He had given them Pokéblocks!
Pokémon these days were getting harder and harder to understand.
He could not help but shake his head.
Of course, Li Xiang did not know the reason Azumarill and the others were wary of him was fear that their whole family would become completely addicted, turning into useless creatures that could only survive through his massages and feedings.
His technique was too terrifying. Skill bordering on supernatural!
How could the wise followers of the Sage of Wisdom become useless?
And so, the geyser erupted all day long.
Li Xiang also took this opportunity to fish for diamonds all day.
Finally, he managed to break the hundred mark.
Looking at the bulging pouch full of Type Gems bobbing on the water's surface, Li Xiang felt a great sense of accomplishment.
Boom!!!
A sudden explosion!
The earth shook and mountains quaked!
The lake surface rocked violently, churning up waves that pushed him to the shore.
The sky darkened in an instant, as if the sun had vanished.
Li Xiang looked up and saw thick, heavy storm clouds gathering, merging into one continuous mass, like a pitch-black wall, suffocatingly oppressive.
As far as the eye could see, there were only storm clouds!
The source of the explosion was not within his line of sight. Something was wrong!
His heart skipped a beat. He quickly gathered his things and hurried ashore.
The wild Pokémon around him stared blankly at the sky, completely unaware of what was happening.
Returning to the base, Zhong Hai and Mo Ye stood at the entrance, their faces solemn as they gazed at the dark clouds in the sky. Seeing Li Xiang, they quickly told him to go inside and change clothes.
Entering Mirage Island was naturally not done in ordinary clothes.
There was specialized combat attire, designed to effectively reduce impact force or damage from Type Energy attacks.
From its style, it seemed inspired by the combat suits of those otherworldly visitors, a newly developed product.
What bothered Li Xiang slightly was that this gear was custom-made, fitting perfectly against the body.
When had his measurements, including even the dimensions of private areas, been collected?
There was no time to dwell on it.
Li Xiang put on the combat suit, layered an insulating jacket over it, secured the Poké Balls firmly on his waist, and grabbed his space pack.
Inside were emergency rations, water, medicine, and Type Gems.
Due to the limited space in the pack, he had to cut back on each item, barely enough to last a week. But as long as he stayed close to Mo Ye, he might not even need to use them.
After changing, Li Xiang stepped outside again. The world had changed.
Yes, literally.
In the sky above, storm clouds were shattered by dirt, sunlight was blocked by a floating landmass, and countless grains of sand and mud rained down like raindrops.
In an instant, they seemed to be transported underground.
'Mirage Island?!'
Li Xiang's eyes widened. He had not expected Mirage Island to be a floating island!
And its area was even larger than the biggest island of Mist Island below. It blotted out the sun, obscuring all surrounding light!
Plunging Wisdom City into eternal darkness!
Only in the far distance, at the edge of Phantom Island, was there a faint glimmer of light.
Localized chaos began to erupt in Wisdom City.
If there had not been advance warning, the chaos would surely have been far worse because in times of danger, Pokémon run very fast.
Countless Chatot appeared in the sky, and together with Exploud on the streets, they roared out announcements.
Pokémon quickly retreated to their homes or nests.
The streets and alleys fell silent in an instant.
"Mirage Island has appeared early! The situation has changed!"
A voice rang out.
It came from a massive Steelix soaring through the sky. It shouted towards the base's location, "At the far end, something has come down! Organize your teams as quickly as possible! Gather at the museum!"
"Understood!"
Zhong Hai responded loudly, watching the Steelix depart.
He turned around. The others were already prepared. Mo Ye had also changed into a set of black protective gear, still holding his sword.
"Ji Xiang, if the situation becomes critical and you have to rush to provide support, remember to notify the outside world first."
Zhong Hai said seriously to Ji Xiang.
Ji Xiang nodded. "I understand. May fortune and victory be with you."
"May fortune and victory be with you!"
Zhong Hai and the other rangers pounded their chests. Everyone then mounted their respective Flying-type Pokémon. Those who could not fly rode on Mo Ye's Gyarados and headed for the museum.
An Elite Four's Gyarados was truly something else, massive in size, easily carrying three people without swaying.
Unlike before, this time flying over took the six of them less than five minutes.
The underside of Phantom Island in the sky began to glow.
Li Xiang, riding on Metagross, looked up and saw crystals similar to those in the Museum of Knowledge, scattered sporadically, each protruding slightly from the soil.
Only these were colorful and varied, looking rather gaudy.
Slowking stood at the museum entrance, its usual composure completely gone, anxiously watching the approaching group.
"You are finally here. The three Sages who were supposed to enter Mirage Island with you are inside. I must rush to provide support."
With that, Slowking manipulated its telekinesis and flew off into the distance.
The dirt from above continued to rain down, leaving everyone covered in grime.
Within just five minutes, the anomaly at Mirage Island's edge seemed to have been confirmed.
Zhong Hai and Mo Ye exchanged glances. The latter nodded. The six quickly entered the museum and made their way to the round table conference room.
Waiting there were three Pokémon.
They were the Aura Sage Lucario, the Evil Sage Tyranitar, and the Fox Sage Ninetales.
"Hmph! You are finally here!"
A cold snort came from the fierce-looking Tyranitar, who spoke through telepathy. "I thought you were scared!"
Ninetales wore an icy expression, its demeanor extremely proud. This Sage was said to have lived for over three hundred years, similar to the Ninetales from the anime that could transform into a human.
Only its attitude was even more arrogant.
The Aura Sage, Lucario, was the only one friendly towards the group, nodding at them.
It said, "Let's not waste any more time. The situation is urgent. Something has happened on the island.
"The Phantom guardians have been eroded by an unknown energy. They are proliferating infinitely and have begun invading Mist Island."
"Phantoms?"
Clearly, Zhong Hai was also unaware of this. For the outside world, Phantom Island had remained an enigma for decades.
"Yes. Just like Shadow Clone, they are beings devoid of self-awareness, born from wisdom and knowledge to guard Mirage Island."
Lucario took out a strange, spiraling flower bud from beside it.
The moment Li Xiang saw it, he knew it was a Time Flower, used to record images.
This had appeared in the Lucario-specific theatrical release.
"Do not get distracted. The Time Flower has a limited number of uses." The Aura Sage infused Aura into the flower bud.
The bud unfurled, and the images appeared before everyone.
The scene seemed to be at the edge of the floating Mirage Island.
Groups and groups of colorless Pokémon, their bodies wreathed in black aura and their eyes vacant, leaped off the island, attacking other innocent Pokémon.
Like robots, they rampaged, destroying everything in sight.
Many Pokémon rose to resist but were no match for them.
Steelix repeatedly charged back and forth through the black shadows, yet still could not completely eliminate the endless stream of Phantoms.
The Phantoms surged forth like a tide, continuously flowing down from the island.
No matter how they attacked, they were ceaseless.
"What we must do is to nip these Phantoms in the bud at their source, and figure out what happened on Mirage Island, why the incarnation of wisdom and knowledge has lost contact with us."
As Lucario spoke, the Time Flower reverted to its original state.
The atmosphere in the conference room grew heavy.