In the thick fog →
They continued on foot.
Bonnie looked at the unconscious Amaura on Volcanion's back, her cheeks puffing with indignation. "That's awful!"
Kimia replied grimly, "To Pokémon hunters, Pokémon are just tools for making money."
The young princess clearly couldn't stand it.
"Does something like that happen often?" Ash asked sadly.
"Yes. That's why I put up a wall of fog around here—to drive those people away." Volcanion walked as smoothly as it could so Amaura wouldn't be jostled.
Blissey's expert treatment had improved Amaura's condition considerably.
Its breathing was steady now, and it had fallen asleep to recover.
Volcanion kept glancing at Blissey walking beside it. Something about her felt familiar, and Volcanion couldn't help thinking how much simpler many things would be if she were one of its companions.
"Happy?"
"It's nothing."
Volcanion looked back. It found itself thinking of Baimu, who had borrowed the flying device again. The serious look on his face when he confronted the Pokémon hunters was still vivid in its mind.
It had to admit that humans were complicated, strange creatures.
But as that guy had said, a few bad people didn't make all humans bad, just as a few good people didn't make them all good.
For Pokémon, though, the cost of finding out was too high.
"Hmph."
Volcanion gave a little snort.
The fog ahead began to thin.
A lush, secluded paradise appeared before them. Most striking of all was a huge archway formed by the overlapping crowns of two trees.
"This is the Nebel Plateau. Our home," Volcanion told them.
"Wow! So many Pokémon!"
Bonnie gazed excitedly at the wild Pokémon gathering to greet Volcanion.
But the moment they saw humans, some turned and fled while others struck threatening poses. Their hostility and distrust were unmistakable.
Ash