"Dad, could you tell me about the disaster that happened twenty years ago?"
Only silence came from the other end of the call. Cheng Tian's father froze.
"Why are you suddenly asking about that?"
"No... I just wanted to ask. This is the first time in my life I've heard about what happened twenty years ago. Is there something you can't talk about?"
Sitting in his office with his phone in hand, Cheng Tian's father sighed softly.
"There's nothing we can't talk about. But that disaster has become a shadow that won't leave the hearts of anyone from Bingzhou. Too many people died. Everyone has always kept their lips sealed about something so tragic... do you really want to know?"
"Yes." Cheng Tian nodded hard on the other end of the call.
"All right..." Cheng Tian's father narrowed his eyes slightly, his thoughts drawn back to that gloomy afternoon.
Twenty years earlier, Bingzhou.
"Ring, ring, ring..."
Driving along, Cheng Qiuyu slowed down while reaching into his pocket for his phone. In the back seat, a young Li Nawei had already fallen asleep. Nestled in the swaddling clothes in her arms lay the recently born Cheng Tian.
"Hello? Dad? What's wrong?"
"Son! Where are you right now?!"
The urgency in his voice startled Cheng Qiuyu. "What happened?"
"The city's in complete chaos! Who knows where all these Pokémon came from, but they've lost their minds and are attacking people indiscriminately! A lot of people have already died! Make sure you hide somewhere safe!"
Cheng Qiuyu immediately slammed on the brakes on the highway. "My wife and I just took Xiao Tian to another province for a checkup. We haven't reached the city yet!"
"Good thing you're not back... good thing you're not back..." Just then, a piercing blast suddenly rang