On the one hundred and thirtieth day after leaving the Orange Islands, evening.
As evening fell, the red sun on the horizon gradually sank westward, its lingering glow dyeing the sky orange-red. The scorching sunlight still baked the earth, and they had already trudged through this vast, boundless desert for four difficult days.
These four days had been like a long, grueling marathon. The blazing sun showed them no mercy, tanning their skin several shades darker until they looked as though they had just crawled out of a coal mine.
Every step beneath their feet came with unbearable heat and exhaustion. The scorching sand felt as if it could melt the soles of their shoes, rubbing their feet raw with pain.
After great difficulty, the two of them finally reached the edge of the Desert Gobi. They were finally about to leave this torturous desert when the sound of babbling water reached their ears like heavenly music.
The moment they saw the crystal-clear river before them, their eyes lit up. They forgot about everything else, pushed off hard with their feet, and leaped straight in with two splashes, sending water flying everywhere.
The cool river water wrapped around their bodies, driving away the exhaustion and heat that had built up over the past several days. The feeling was indescribably refreshing. They eagerly released all their Pokémon to enjoy the mountain spring water beneath the blazing sun with them.
In an instant, the once-calm river became lively. Everyone happily played in the water together, splashing about and sending layer after layer of spray into the air.
These past few days of traveling through the desert had felt somewhat similar to traveling through a forest. The difference was that the desert ecosystem was relatively simple, and its Pokémon species were far less