Listening to Captain Gao's answer, Xinhai's brows furrowed slightly.
The area was sealed off for three years every twenty years. The latest lockdown had begun a year ago, and even only a handful of rangers were allowed inside...
Captain Gao's words gave rise to a faint suspicion in Xinhai's heart—there were usually only two possibilities for a place that warranted this level of protection:
A Legendary Pokémon habitat, or the birthplace of some extraordinarily rare Legendary-level resource.
Before he could think any further—
"Boom—!!!"
A world-shaking explosion thundered in the distance!
The sound was so terrifying that even from dozens of kilometers away, it still made their eardrums ache. Xinhai instinctively looked up, his pupils suddenly contracting—
A blinding beam of light shot into the distant sky, illuminating half the night like day!
Immediately afterward, a massive mushroom cloud slowly rose. Its color was neither the crimson of flames nor the ash-gray of an explosion, but an eerie blend of deep purple and emerald green energy!
The two colors tangled and tore at each other within the mushroom cloud, like two giant dragons rolling through the clouds in a deadly battle!
Even from so far away, the terrifying energy shockwave made the Flying-type energy around Tropius tremble violently. It let out an uneasy cry, its wingbeats noticeably quickening.
Captain Gao's expression turned extremely grim in that instant.
He whirled around. Under the moonlight, the gleam in his weathered face's eyes was as sharp as an unsheathed blade!
"Everyone—full speed ahead!!!"
Before his words had even faded, the Altaria beneath him let out a piercing cry, and the sky-blue glow surrounding it abruptly surged!
The light was so dense it nearly solidified, like a flowing shield that completely enveloped Altaria and Captain Gao on its back!
"Chirp—!!!"
The four Pidgeot and