Oddly enough, Lucario had said earlier that Sharpedo's destination was the geyser.
But in reality, Sharpedo had been hit by Salamence west of the geyser.
On the west coast, the entrance to Vast Poni Canyon was the closest landmark.
"It seems they had this planned all along."
It was rather pitiful for a Pokemon who was normally a hero in the water, like Sharpedo.
Roy hid sideways behind a huge boulder. The wall on the right side had a recessed area, and Roy carefully positioned the unconscious Caroline in that spot.
Who would have thought that coming here would require using corner-peeking tactics?
Roy complained silently to himself, though his hands kept moving. He took out a Poke Ball and gently placed it on the ground.
Opening the Poke Ball slightly, a Pokemon resembling Pikachu emerged.
Mimikyu had returned to her Poke Ball the moment Salamence took off, in order to avoid being blown off.
Although Roy had explained this to Mimikyu many times, perhaps this was just the peculiar mindset of Ghost-type Pokemon?
This time, Roy chose to summon Mimikyu largely because she was powerful yet relatively small in size.
Yes, rather than destroying the enemy outright, Roy would prefer to catch Sharpedo by surprise and question them about what scheme they were plotting.
Mimikyu and Roy were connected, and the moment she was summoned, she immediately concealed herself in the shadows.
Roy quietly gave Mimikyu a mental thumbs up.
Sharpedo wasn't slow in the water—in fact, he was one of the fastest Pokemon in the Alolan seas.
But ultimately limited by his Pokemon form, Sharpedo's speed on land was almost like a toddler's.
It was difficult to control his speed, which varied between fast and slow, but fortunately he could walk normally and wouldn't fall like an infant.
Roy waited for a while before seeing Sharpedo's shadow appear from the entrance of Vast Poni Canyon.
Sharpedo was half-suspended in the air, which looked rather unscientific.
But with Pokemon existing everywhere in this world, who really cared about scientific accuracy anymore?
Sharpedo's tail flicked back and forth, pushing against the air currents to keep himself moving.
In general, it was still relatively difficult for him to walk.
And Roy had been running from the coast to Vast Poni Canyon earlier, even while carrying Caroline, which was much faster than Sharpedo's current pace.
This had given Roy enough time to hide Caroline.
Sharpedo looked left and right, appearing very annoyed that he'd lost his target.
There was only one entrance and one exit in this canyon, and Sharpedo seemed aware of this fact, so he continued walking forward when he saw no sign of anyone nearby.
But he didn't notice that behind this huge boulder, a pair of small, watchful eyes were hiding.
Roy watched as Sharpedo slowly walked closer and closer to him, his heart pounding rapidly.
Roy sent the message of "get ready" to the hidden Mimikyu through their psychic connection.
Mimikyu was also quietly accumulating power in her shadowy form, prepared to rush over and beat Sharpedo unconscious at Roy's command.
Perhaps because he saw no sign of Roy and the others nearby, Sharpedo, who had originally been cautious, gradually relaxed his guard.
All he wanted was to stop Roy and Caroline at the exit.
The distance was getting closer and closer, and soon it would be within the range where Mimikyu could attack.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
The coughing sound wasn't too loud, but it was particularly obvious in the otherwise silent Vast Poni Canyon.
Sharpedo was startled by the coughing sound and instantly turned toward Roy's position, clearly on guard now.
Roy and Mimikyu had been completely focused on Sharpedo's position. They'd never anticipated trouble from their own backline, so they were naturally taken by surprise.
Roy glanced back instinctively but realized the timing was off and quickly ordered Mimikyu not to hesitate.
"Use Shadow Sneak!"
Shadow Sneak wasn't originally the move Roy had wanted to use for the first attack.
The attack power of this move wasn't particularly strong—compared to Mimikyu's other offensive moves, it didn't even reach half their power.
Its advantage was that it could quickly reach the enemy's side. If this were a game, the description would be "this move always goes first."
There was no such exaggerated mechanic in reality, but for the Sharpedo in front of them, the speed was still sufficient.
Mimikyu revealed herself from the darkness the moment she used her move.
A long black shadow extended from beneath the huge boulder, rushing quickly toward Sharpedo's position.
Before Sharpedo could react, his back was struck hard.
Sharpedo turned around quickly, but what he saw was a massive black sphere hurtling toward his face.
Shadow Ball.
Fortunately, Mimikyu had accumulated plenty of energy beforehand; otherwise, after using Shadow Sneak, she might have found herself in an awkward situation.
Sharpedo himself was a Dark-type Pokemon, which gave him half resistance to Mimikyu's Ghost-type moves.
So the Shadow Sneak attack hit him without causing much pain—it just diverted his attention.
Mimikyu had succeeded in doing exactly that, and the following Shadow Ball struck Sharpedo's vital point. Even with a certain resistance, the Shadow Ball still delivered its full offensive power.
Sharpedo was somewhat dazed by the successive attacks and didn't even think to fight back for a moment.
"Use Dazzling Gleam!"
The Fairy-type move continuously gathered brightly colored, dazzling rays of light.
And Sharpedo was doubly weak to Fairy-type moves.
The sense of crisis almost engraved in his DNA awakened Sharpedo instantly.
The distance between Mimikyu and Sharpedo was too close. Sharpedo hastily retreated but almost forgot that he was still on land, swimming very clumsily as if floundering.
Dazzling Gleam's light was so brilliant that Roy had to look away temporarily.
The moment Roy turned his head, he saw Caroline with a shameful expression on her face.
"..."
Dazzling Gleam struck Sharpedo, and the moment it exploded, it released an even more dazzling light, nearly illuminating the entire Vast Poni Canyon.
The sky above remained motionless, as if waiting for some tremendous change to occur.
Roy shook his head, indicating that Caroline shouldn't speak for now.
"Rest for a bit. We'll talk about everything else later."
Caroline nodded and gently touched her throat with her right hand.
The pain in her throat felt like swallowing ten thousand needles, making her feel tortured even when uttering a single word.
The light receded, and the canyon returned to its original state.