After sensing danger, Xinhai led his companions sideways along the mountainside. They were not moving quickly, but they were far more vigilant.
From time to time, Xinhai looked up toward the cloud-shrouded summit. The sky there seemed no different from anywhere else, yet the faint unease in his heart refused to fade.
That worry was soon proven right. Gardevoir suddenly let out a warning cry, her red eyes snapping toward a patch of rocky terrain diagonally above them as a pulse of psychic power conveyed a clear, urgent message.
"Gardevoir!"
Xinhai! About three hundred meters above us, behind the rock face, dozens of Fire-type Pokémon are moving rapidly in this direction! They're fast, and... their Qi is very hostile. They're intensely aggressive!
"What?!" Xinhai's heart tightened as he immediately asked, "How many exactly? Can you tell what kind of Pokémon they are?"
Gardevoir quickly sensed the situation. At least thirty. Medium-sized, with blazing life flames... a mixture of Fire-type and Rock-type Qi... They're most likely Slugma, or an even more troublesome group of Magcargo! And they seem to have been startled by something. They're extremely agitated!
"Startled? Agitated?" Xinhai immediately recalled the strange tremors and energy release from the summit earlier.
Could the disturbance at the summit really have alarmed—or even driven out—the Pokémon populations living higher up, sending them fleeing downhill in such an abnormal state?
Xinhai made his decision without hesitation.
He swiftly recalled Charmander, Sandile, and Zigzagoon into their Poké Balls, while sending out the strongest defensive member of his team, one who could effectively counter Fire- and Rock-type Pokémon—Alolan Golem!
"Golem!" The massive Alolan Golem, covered in hard magnets and black crystals, landed heavily on the ground with a steady growl.
Its unique Electric- and Rock-type combination gave it a natural advantage in resisting Fire-type and