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It was perfectly reasonable for Mirage Island to have phantom Pokémon guarding it.
But Li Xiang still couldn't help but realize that Misty Lake was indeed the Fogbound Lake.
In the Explorer series, the so-called phantom Pokémon were the phantom Groudon created by Uxie using some key item to protect the Fogbound Lake.
However, since this was a different world, some details had changed, turning the phantom Groudon into other types of phantom Pokémon.
If that was the case, then Uxie might truly be, just like in the games, the guardian of something.
Otherwise, there would be no reason to create phantom Pokémon.
Could it be that something had gone wrong with that very thing?
Standing behind Mo Ye, Li Xiang's heart pounded with unease, and he inexplicably felt that the mission had become much more dangerous.
However, there was no time for him to weigh his options. Once the mission objective was confirmed, the newly formed team immediately set out.
The Ninetales swayed one of its long golden tails, as if it were a signal receiver.
"There's a cave at the bottom on the southern side. We can enter from there."
It spoke.
There were many ways to enter Mirage Island. Even digging a tunnel from the bottom up was better than recklessly running into the phantom Pokémon.
Everyone used their own methods to fly.
Tyranitar's method was particularly conspicuous. It was being dragged up by four Honchkrow using ropes tied around it, like sitting on a swing.
It was hilarious.
Li Xiang didn't dare look too closely, afraid he might burst out laughing.
Besides, this guy was a typical example of a Pokémon wary of humans. It wouldn't attack him, but it definitely wouldn't show him any kindness.
For safety reasons, Li Xiang had switched to Aegislash this time, flying up in the form of a possessed sword. After all, when it came to close-quarters defense, this guy was the strongest on his team.
Inside the cave, its protection was also more reliable than the others.
Additionally, he had put the gems Aegislash could use into the small waist bag, ready to be taken out anytime.
Looking around from the sky, one could see countless flashes of light on the horizon, accompanied by constant rumbling sounds, as if a battle were raging.
Every direction was incredibly bright. The war between Mist Island and the phantoms seemed to have entered a critical stage.
But the problem was, it had been going on for so long without any signs of stopping; instead, it was intensifying.
Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of the Mist Island Pokémon, the front line hadn't expanded too much. If it weren't for Mirage Island's massive size, with phantoms descending everywhere, they wouldn't even be able to land on the ground.
They would be dealt with mid-air.
Given the sheer number of Mist Island Pokémon, even if only one-tenth were skilled in combat, that was enough.
Below, the City of Wisdom was completely silent. Most Pokémon were hiding in their homes.
This was the heart of Mist Island, probably the safest place.
If any phantom could break through to here, then the Pokémon of Mist Island might as well give up.
"Don't worry, the situation is still under control."
As if sensing his inner anxiety, the Lucario, its body shimmering with golden light, approached him.
"I can smell the scent of your kind on you."
This humanoid jackal sniffed.
"Yeah, I have a partner who's a Riolu." Li Xiang nodded, his eyes searching the surroundings.
So far, he hadn't found any trace of the Ho-Oh Guards.
Could they be on the front lines, helping to repel the phantoms?
It wasn't impossible.
Suddenly, Li Xiang's gaze locked onto a spot.
Lucario followed his line of sight and looked towards the southwest.
A blazing sun rose from the ground, emitting a dazzling light that dispelled the darkness, shooting straight towards the sky.
Countless flames danced around it, instantly turning into a storm of fire that scorched everything in the southwest.
At the center of the storm was that sun flying towards the dark clouds.
Undoubtedly, this was the work of a Pokémon. And the form of this move could only be produced by two Pokémon.
One was Magma Storm from Heatran, but Heatran couldn't fly.
So it could only be the second.
Fiery Dance from Volcarona.
Since Mist Island happened not to have any non-Zhu Xia Pokémon, the presence of Volcarona in the southwest could be confirmed.
Entei might be there too!
As if confirming his guess, from the due west direction, a towering pillar of cherry-red flame erupted, producing an explosive sound that shook the air. Shockwaves scattered, and thick smoke and fire formed a massive mushroom cloud.
Cherry-red flames were Entei's signature flames, appearing in the movie Spell of the Unown: Entei.
Unaffected by color temperature theory.
Eruption from the Volcano Pokémon.
Li Xiang quickly pulled out his camera to take a picture, and at the same time, thunder rang in his ears.
From the due east direction, countless thick bolts of lightning surged within the dark clouds. Rain poured down, shrouding that area in a misty haze.
Raikou's power. Legend said it carried storm clouds, capable of releasing terrifying lightning anytime, anywhere.
Click.
Li Xiang photographed the scene of lightning flashing in the distance, thinking that Suicune was the only one missing.
But in this pitch-black environment, Suicune couldn't create as much sound and light special effects as its two brothers.
Whether it was Crystal Walls or Blizzards.
This guy was the incarnation of the North Wind, not the incarnation of the polar regions, so it couldn't produce things like auroras.
Too bad the travel time was too short.
Before Li Xiang could search the ground for long, they were already nearing the bottom of Mirage Island. He had to put his camera away.
An invisible wall of air blocked their progress. Dirt could fall down, but people couldn't get in.
Well, Tyranitar and the others could get in.
'Intelligent recognition?'
Li Xiang silently teased, taking out the diamond known as the pass from his waist bag.
The diamond emitted a faint glow, allowing him and the Aegislash beneath him to pass smoothly through the air wall.
The others did the same.
One ranger held not only a diamond but also a double hourglass. After passing through the air wall, he carefully observed the hourglass, as if confirming something, and quickly reported to Zhong Hai.
"Captain! The time flow has changed again!"
This statement immediately drew everyone's attention.
"Faster or slower?"
Zhong Hai stared intently at the person. "Is it slower again?"
"Yes!"
The man nodded, observing the flow rate of the reference hourglass for a moment. "Visually estimated to be over five to one. It's unclear yet; we need time to study and confirm."
Over five to one.
That probably meant seven to one, no doubt about it.
Li Xiang knew this Mist Island was a mashup, incorporating a bit of everything.
A seven-to-one flow rate. Not too extreme, but very impressive. While others worked hard for one day, you could work for seven.
If he could train on Mirage Island, his growth rate might be even faster.
Too bad Mirage Island wasn't a place that appeared year-round. Its duration was also unclear.
Li Xiang probably couldn't take advantage of it.
The team followed the leading Ninetales to the entrance cave they needed to enter.
The so-called entrance was actually a vertical hole. Looking from the outside, it was deep and bottomless, with no wind blowing.
It seemed to be a hole with no outlet.
Tyranitar took the lead. It would dig the hole wider to allow the others to pass through. And if there was no exit inside the cave, it would create one.
Originally, Garchomp would have done this, but it had coldly refused.
"Xiao Li, put on your helmet and mask."
Zhong Hai's voice came from the side.
"Oh, okay."
Hearing this, Li Xiang quickly put on the helmet hanging behind his neck, along with a mask that looked like a gas mask.
The dark lenses blocked his vision, and then the light from his headlamp illuminated everything.
Humans were far more fragile than Pokémon.
If there were toxic gases inside the cave, Pokémon could use berries to recover quickly, but humans couldn't.
Tyranitar glanced at them, sneering disdainfully, and dug into the soil with its powerful claws, quickly burrowing inside.
The group filed in one by one.
The oxygen level inside the cave was noticeably low. As the fifth person to enter, Li Xiang felt his breathing become slightly short after less than three minutes.
Fortunately, this situation didn't last long. After Lucario used its Aura power to probe the path ahead and the Aura reactions in the surroundings, Tyranitar quickly connected their pit to another, larger cave.
The new cave was about four or five meters high, pitch black. Even with lights shining in, its depths were bottomless.
The group was about to set off when a commotion suddenly came from deep within.
"Those things are coming!"
Lucario gritted its teeth, and the four spindle-shaped objects near its ears floated up.
This was a sign of its Aura being activated.
As its voice fell, countless dark figures appeared from the end of the cave.
Densely packed, occupying every corner of their field of vision, they surged forward like a tidal wave.
They were wave after wave of phantom Raticate. Just like the ones in the Time Flowers, the phantom Pokémon had no color and were shrouded in black mist.
But the difference was that the phantom Pokémon in the footage had never given Li Xiang this deep, visceral feeling of revulsion.
Just seeing them made him sick, as if the phantoms before him were the embodiment of the world's deepest malice.
It made him feel deeply uncomfortable.
"These guys are similar to the Pokémon in the Star Island incident." Zhong Hai's tone was heavy.
Star Island was one of Zhu Xia's thirteen islands, a massive island with millions of people.
From Zhong Hai's implication, it seemed something had happened on Star Island.
No one answered. Even if they did, they wouldn't be heard because Tyranitar and the other Pokémon had already launched a fierce attack on the phantoms.
Rock Slide, Aura Sphere, Heat Wave, and so on.
A variety of moves blasted towards the oncoming phantom Raticate!
Inside the cave, the ground rumbled, and dirt constantly shook down from above.
But it didn't affect anyone.
Beside Li Xiang, Aegislash transformed into blade form, spinning horizontally. Its blade continuously shot out silver light, like sword energy, striking the phantom Raticate.
Countless phantom Raticate dissipated like smoke. These guys were pure energy bodies, without physical forms. If they were hit by overly fierce attacks, they would disappear.
Moreover, these guys weren't very strong. Few of them even knew long-range moves. Under the assault of Tyranitar and the others, they had little ability to fight back.
Their only advantage was numbers.
So many that after fighting for so long, there was no sign of decrease.
Instead, they were increasing.