Steam, firelight, a veil of water, and distorted space.
The strange phenomena filling the battlefield made Yong and Lysandre overlook the changes beneath their feet.
The potent poison that had previously escaped from the summit had eaten into and corroded the earth. But during the battle between the three Pokémon, the immense energy field had finally halted its spread...
That should have been a good thing.
Yet the dancing subterranean flames and boiling steam had silently begun affecting somewhere else.
Fakola Island lay at the boundary between the waters of the Kalos Region and the Alola Islands. Although both regions shared ownership, its remoteness and scarcity of important resources meant that neither devoted much effort to managing it.
That lax management and oversight had instead allowed the Poison Black Yi Family to take control.
Under the pretext of releasing Pokémon to live freely, they had used "others" to introduce different species to the island in batches.
Ultimately, this once-neglected island had become their testing ground for raising poisonous creatures.
Far beneath the highlands at the center of Fakola Island, deep underground, lay an enormous chamber.
The surrounding cavern walls bore clear signs of human excavation, and a large number of bluestone pillars supported the vast hollow!
The chamber was filled with purplish-brown gas so thick it seemed almost solid!
Muddy poison swamps and swelling bubbles covered the ground. Countless dead branches and rotting leaves lay scattered throughout the chamber, lending the place an eerie, ominous air.
"Creak..."
"Creak..."
Within the poison swamps, countless indistinct figures moved through the haze of mingled swamp gas and poisonous fumes.
Closer to the center, shattered remains and split, hollow shells could be seen everywhere.
This was the "testing ground" hidden beneath the highlands!
The slowly escaping poisonous gas had begun seeping outside through cracks