Chapter 394

Qiao Ran had Yveltal lower his body, gradually approaching the huge reef on the shore.

"... Everyone, please be careful."

To ensure that no uncontrollable accidents would occur during the subsequent operations, Qiao Ran decided to clear out the surrounding Ultra Beast first. There weren't too many Ultra Beasts in this area of the beach, and given their team's efficiency, it wouldn't take too long.

However, the crisp and clean movements and dazzling coordination did open Hapu's eyes.

"Wow... that's amazing..."

Yesterday, although Qiao Ran and the others introduced themselves as Trainer, they didn't talk much about their strength. This time, Cynthia also learned her lesson and didn't reveal her status as the Sinnoh Champion. She only said that she was a Trainer from the Sinnoh Region to avoid a situation like the one on the other two islands. She doesn't want to receive too much unnecessary attention now, and keeping a low profile is fine.

It's fair to say that Hapu already had an expectation of Qiao Ran and the others' strength. Although they didn't say it, judging from their ability to come to the island and resolve issues on other islands, they must all be extremely powerful Trainer. However, what they didn't expect was... these people all seem a bit too strong???

This level of strength seems to be almost comparable to that of her deceased maternal grandfather...

Even Acerola, whom Hapu hadn't seen for a while, seemed to have made a leap in strength, as if she had suddenly become enlightened overnight. Could it be that she also wants to become the Island Kahuna?

After quickly dealing with the surrounding Ultra Beast, Qiao Ran and the others began to approach the entrance of the Ruins.

Hold my hand.

Cynthia immediately made the same move as before. She already knew that Qiao Ran was the key to the operation. She and the others might not be able to access the core information, but Qiao Ran could.

Cynthia guessed that this was likely related to Qiao Ran's ability to travel between two worlds. After all, this ability was very special and magical. Perhaps when Qiao Ran came into contact with that mist, a similar ability was generated, allowing him to enter that Torn World.

In short, his special status is undeniable, and what Cynthia needs to do is keep a close eye on Qiao Ran and prevent any accidents from happening to him.

The entrance to the Afterlife Ruins wasn't small, but it was rather dark and damp, enough to instill fear in anyone who looked at it. However, Hapu reassured everyone that there was no need to worry, as she was extremely familiar with the area and there wouldn't be any alarming traps on the ground.

However, Qiao Ran and the others remained very cautious. During this process, Qiao Ran also sent Mew, Latias, and Dianxi to accompany him, and had Mew use the Flash skill to illuminate the entire cave environment.

Watching Qiao Ran send out one Pokémon after another that he'd never seen before, Hapu, who was following behind, was getting a little numb. Although she was just a farmer on an island who usually enjoyed training Pokémon and growing her own vegetables, she wasn't completely ignorant. Could these Pokémon be the legendary ones?

Hapu was clearly quite startled, but now was not the time to ask questions. She could only quietly follow behind, observing the familiar yet somewhat strange surroundings.

Strange and eerie mist swirled around the surrounding rock walls—the very thing Qiao Ran and the others had told her about. Staring at it sent chills down her spine, and a nameless fear crept into her heart. Nevertheless, she followed behind Qiao Ran and the others, taking steps toward the final destination.

Her dream is to become the island of this island.

Queen of the Isles, these fears and setbacks are not enough to directly break her will. As a Ground-type Pokémon Trainer, a calm mindset and a tenacious spirit are her strongest weapons.

At the very front of the group, Qiao Ran and Cynthia were advancing with bated breath. Cynthia's Pokémon were also eager to avenge their previous defeat, their focused expressions almost frightening. If any Ultra Beast suddenly rushed out at this moment, they would probably be pinned to the ground in less than a second and instantly lose their ability to battle.

The other girls were in the same boat. They hadn't entered the Ruins on Melemele Island, but they also harbored a desire for revenge. Since Cynthia had been able to appear in that world with Qiao Ran before, could they perhaps do the same if they found a way?

Each person harbored their own thoughts, and as they moved through the utterly silent cave, these thoughts became even more chaotic. Finally, after traveling for quite some distance, they reached the end of the long passage, where faint glowing lights appeared in the central hall.

Each of the four Ruins in Alola has its own unique lighting system to ensure that the central Altar is always illuminated. However, the central Altar is now shrouded in a dark purple mist, and the entire interior presents a scene that Qiao Ran and the others are extremely familiar with.

--The mist was slowly creeping forward.

"..."

Hapu, seeing this for the first time, was so astonished that she was speechless. The Ritual site she was familiar with seemed to be desecrated by something horrifying. Qiao Ran and the others, however, did not stop what they were doing. The moment they saw the thing, Qiao Ran looked at Cynthia and nodded.

"I'm really planning to try it myself, to touch it and see... Do you want to do some experiments first?"

"I..."

Cynthia didn't know how to answer. Qiao Ran's decision sounded far too dangerous, but it was true that without making some slightly risky attempts, there was no way to obtain any other information.

Seeing the determination in Qiao Ran's eyes, she nodded.

"I don't need to try anything else. If you're in danger, I'll pull you out immediately."

Cynthia was ready, and the other girls stepped forward together, taking Qiao Ran's hand.

We're here too.

Although they may not be able to offer much help, they will do their best.

"..." Only Hapu, standing to the side, was still staring blankly at this scene.

Wait, what are you guys suddenly trying to do??

Not only her new friends, but even Acerola joined in, giving the impression of setting a flag before a major battle.

And... aren't you two getting a little too close?

Touching it with one's own body might sound dangerous at first glance, but Qiao Ran had a vague sense of confidence in the matter. After all, being swallowed by the mist had happened three times already, and if anything were to happen, it would have already occurred.

However, seeing how serious everyone else was, Qiao Ran became a little nervous, and a bead of cold sweat even trickled down her forehead.

No, with you all so tense, I really can't relax!

There really won't be any problems, okay? He's already been in there three times! Three times already!

"... I'll try it now. I'll let you know if there are any problems."

Qiao Ran glanced at everyone, then nodded heavily.

After exchanging a few words and having Cynthia and several Pokémon follow him, Qiao Ran approached the dark purple mist step by step.

As planned, Qiao Ran intended to touch it with one finger first—and with Cynthia's reminder, he planned to use his ring finger this time.

He felt that what Cynthia said made a lot of sense.

"..."

Step by step, he approached the mist, and the discomfort it caused grew stronger. Qiao Ran's consciousness kept reminding him to retreat, but he still followed his previous plan and gently reached out his hand towards the mist.

Qiao Ran's outstretched hand moved neither quickly nor slowly, but as he got closer, he became increasingly nervous.

However—before Qiao Ran could get any closer, the other party reacted first—the dark purple mist seemed to sense something and Earthquake. Then—to Qiao Ran's astonished gaze, it instantly expanded, enveloping not only himself but everyone present.

This fog seems to be thicker than any before.

"Wake up, wake up!"

"What are you doing? Now is not the time to Rest."

In a daze, Qiao Ran heard a familiar voice.

He slowly opened his eyes, and sure enough—just as he had predicted.

He arrived at a place that was all too familiar to him.

The Light Orb floated leisurely in front of him, swaying up and down.

"This... is..."

Qiao Ran looked around somewhat blankly. He was indeed very familiar with the scenery here; this was the fourth time he had come to this place recently.

Torn World, broken Floating Island, and that terrifying blackish-purple hue.

However, unlike the previous three times, this time a misty fog spread out in front of him, obstructing his vision and making it difficult for him to see things in the distance.

"Do you even need to ask about this? Have you forgotten where you came in from? You've forgotten something as simple as this?"

Upon hearing this, the Light Orb immediately launched into its sarcastic remark; however, judging from her tone, Qiao Ran always felt that she was being very deliberate.

"Where did I come from?"

Qiao Ran stood up, touched his head, and tried to clear his head a little.

Earlier at the Altar, he had thought about making contact with the other party himself, but unexpectedly, he didn't have to do anything at all; the dark purple mist had already taken action on its own.

And now, all this fog here...

"... You mean... this situation is because of Tapu Fini?"

Tapu Fini – the Island Guardian of the Water/ Fairy type, and also possesses a very unique Battle Court move – Misty Surge.

Wherever it appears, it is shrouded in a thick fog. However, this fog does not provide any substantial enhancement to its abilities. Instead, it produces other effects. The Misty Terrain created by the Misty Surge will prevent all Pokémon on the Battle Court from falling into status conditions and will also reduce the damage of Dragon-type moves.

In certain situations, this ability to avoid falling into abnormal states is quite powerful; for example, Qiao Ran really likes this effect.

If neither side will fall into an abnormal state, then he himself doesn't need to stack any resistances.

"... Was I the only one who came in this time? What about the others...?"

After observing his surroundings, Qiao Ran thought of his other companions who had come with him. However, just like before, none of them were there. Moreover, apart from his basic clothes, all his Poké Ball and other items had disappeared. No matter how Qiao Ran searched, he couldn't find any trace of the Poké Ball.

"Okay, anyway, this time it'll probably be the same as before, right?... Where am I supposed to go?"

Finding himself at a loss, Qiao Ran could only turn his attention back to the Light Orb. After all, it was the ball of light that had helped him solve problems on previous occasions. Although some strange problems had occurred at Tapu Koko's Altar last time, those were probably due to his own mistakes, and he couldn't blame the ball of light for them.

This Light Orb... I guess we can still trust it, right?

Gradually, Qiao Ran began to accept the other person, starting from initial doubt and distrust. Each Qiao Ran deepened his trust in them, and even—the moment he opened his eyes and saw that single ray of light in this Torn World —he felt somewhat relieved.

"Just follow me. It's quite foggy now, so be careful."

Seeing that Qiao Ran had become much more obedient, the Light Orb seemed quite satisfied, and its tone became somewhat lighter.

"By the way, I have a question. With that Pokémon Poké Ball you transformed into, can I summon any Pokémon I want?"

Following behind the Light Orb, Qiao Ran asked various questions. Although the other party might not answer most of the time, Qiao Ran would try his best to extract some information from it.

"You guess?"

As expected, the Light Orb did not give a direct answer to this question. Instead, it aroused Qiao Ran's urge to grab her from the air and rub her on the ground.

Why does talking to this guy make my blood pressure rise so easily?

Qiao Ran was already extremely familiar with crossing obstacles between various Floating Island and leaping and tumbling between Floating Island. He had accumulated a lot of experience during his first three visits here. His strengthened and continuously trained body was capable of doing this. The reason he hadn't done it well before was simply because he wasn't familiar with these things.

Who would have thought that a Trainer would have to go through fire and water themselves?

Aren't Trainer supposed to be the ones cheering and encouraging from the sidelines during Competition?

In the past, Qiao Ran seemed to have had similar thoughts, but now, those thoughts have completely disappeared. Along the way, he has endured hardships that other Trainer have never experienced in their entire lives. Apart from directly going into the arena to Competition, Qiao Ran feels that he has nothing to be afraid of anymore.

However, this movement between the Floating Island wasn't as smooth as he'd imagined. Thick fog obscured Qiao Ran's vision, forcing him to Sheer Force on his Aura Power to sense the distance between himself and the other Floating Island. However, in this...

In this strange world, the Aura Power is not as effective as imagined. So, to be on the safe side, Qiao Ran makes sufficient preparations every time he jumps. But even so, the feeling of not being able to see what's ahead is enough to make him nervous.

"Don't you have anything else you can tell me? For example, can we come here to other places, similar to the Alola Ruins?"

Of course, along the way, no matter how dangerous it was, Qiao Ran could still steal moments to try and get information out of the Light Orb. He could now sense that no matter how much he and Cynthia explored, it was extremely difficult for a human to directly understand the principles of a certain power like Pokémon. Instead of spending time doing that, it would be better to communicate directly with Pokémon knew, or with other beings that knew.

For example, this large Light Orb in front of you could be one.

"Why don't you give it a try? There are so many problems, why don't you just give it a shot?"

Faced with Qiao Ran's question, the Light Orb decisively adopted a counter-attack strategy of asking a question in return, trying to infuriate Qiao Ran on the spot. However, how could Qiao Ran, who had been trained by her, be defeated by such shallow words? He just smiled lightly.

"What if I don't give it a try? If I don't go..."

"Then... then you're not going? You..."

This was the first time Qiao Ran had ever refuted someone like this, and the Light Orb seemed determined to continue being stubborn. However, to Qiao Ran's surprise, it seemed genuinely caught off guard and appeared somewhat flustered.

Are you afraid I won't go?

"No, I didn't."

"Real?"

"..."

Qiao Ran kept asking questions until finally, the Light Orb simply shut its mouth. Qiao Ran could sense that it seemed genuinely angry.

Although she was just a Light Orb, her pride was much stronger than Qiao Ran had imagined, a feeling even more pronounced than when she faced Sabrina.

Simply put, she really doesn't want to reveal her thoughts to others, especially if they find out and say it out loud; she will refute them without hesitation.

--But...

A smile appeared on Qiao Ran's face.

"I know, I know, I'll go, okay?"

He took the initiative to apologize to the other party, not because he suddenly had a change of heart, but because his goal had already been achieved the moment the other party reacted.

--The other party is concerned that he doesn't go to other similar places, which means that if he did go to other similar places, it would definitely be meaningful. Further deduction leads to the obvious conclusion: he could also reach this world from similar fog in other regions!

Now that he had the answer, Qiao Ran naturally didn't need to Infestation anymore. Instead, he should consider how to appease the Light Orb. At least with Sabrina, she seemed to respond well to this approach.

"Snort."