Bang!!
Xia Yan seemed to see a cloud of smoke burst apart before his eyes.
Then his vision rapidly blurred. Every color seemed to deepen—red, blue, black—all the blocks of color intertwined and twisted together, becoming a rope thick at both ends and thin in the middle.
At that moment, although Xia Yan's vision was blurry, his consciousness was exceptionally clear.
Gradually, he saw his surroundings clearly. All the dazzling colors seemed to be fading away, while emerald green filled his vision.
Suddenly.
An intense sensation of falling surged through him, and his entire body uncontrollably plummeted toward that green ocean.
Just as Xia Yan felt he was about to crash into it.
He jolted violently.
And sat straight up from the ground.
His wide eyes were filled with shock, fine sweat covered his forehead, and his chest heaved fiercely, as though he had just woken from an extremely terrifying nightmare.
He looked around.
It was still the dense vegetation and leafy forest of the Silver Mountain Range.
But strangely, he had clearly been inside a cave before. How had he suddenly appeared in this unknown forest?
"Where are Volcarona and the others?"
Unable to see Volcarona, Sirfetch'd, Shelgon, or Sliggoo, Xia Yan showed a trace of panic.
But after checking his Poké Balls, he discovered that they had all somehow been recalled.
"Darkrai?"
Xia Yan asked softly.
Within the shadow behind him, a mass of Haze slowly writhed.
Since Darkrai was there, the other little ones would not be in any danger either.
Only after checking the Pokémon's conditions did Xia Yan finally begin properly examining his surroundings and confirming what exactly had happened.
As he habitually rested his chin on his hand, Xia Yan suddenly noticed that a pitch-black hollow ring had somehow appeared on his index finger.