Farther east, the trees finally grew somewhat denser, but they were almost the same color as the earth. Their dark brown trunks no longer grew straight, instead twisting into all manner of strange shapes.
The mist still had not appeared.
But the air here was colder and more chilling, and the marsh underfoot had become an obstacle to Yong's progress.
By now, the scorching heat Larvesta gave off was no longer enough to fully deter the wild Pokémon.
Ghost-type Pokémon might choose to keep their distance from Yong out of distaste for Fire-type energy, but Ghost-types were not the only Pokémon in this swamp.
For instance, a massive Swalot was slowly sinking into the mud not far ahead of him...
This one was a full level 58!
Swalot!
To have reached such a high level in an environment like this, this Swalot had to be very difficult to deal with.
Mud churned in the swamp as several Grimer slowly swam along, dragging their sludge-like bodies.
Beneath a distant tree trunk, the earth trembled slightly. A Wooper poked its head out and cautiously surveyed its surroundings, only to vanish back into the soil the instant it spotted Swalot...
Yong changed course, skirted the patch of swamp where Swalot lurked, and continued northeast. The trees there seemed denser, and small fragments of broken stone lay scattered everywhere.
The sudden appearance of rubble caught Yong's attention and gave him a direction to follow.
Following the trail of broken stones, Yong kept searching until, at the farthest edge of his vision, a cluster of oddly shaped shadows finally appeared...
After walking a little farther, he could finally make them out. Those varied shadows were broken stone slabs and shattered stone pillars...
Dark gray paving stones were embedded in the earth, and the blue-gray stone