Shiro and the others waited for what felt like an eternity at the edge of the vast desert. At last, they spotted Drakloak emerging from the swirling sandstorm, gliding swiftly toward them.
Almost at the same time, Allister's Mimikyu poked its ragged head out from a hole in the ground.
"Did you see the company's forces?" Shiro asked, gently stroking Drakloak's neck.
"Draaak!"
The Pokémon raised one claw and pointed in a specific direction.
"Over there?" Shiro followed its gesture.
"Kloak!"
Drakloak nodded, then twisted around and slipped into his shadow. Even though Drakloak was powerful, flying through the sandstorm was still far too uncomfortable. It was much better hiding in Shiro's shadow where it was cool and quiet.
Meanwhile, Allister continued questioning his Mimikyu. After a moment, he took out a Poké Ball and recalled it.
Marvin was the first to speak. "Hey, Allister, did that little thing of yours find anything?"
Allister turned slowly, his hollow white mask offering no expression. Without a word, he raised his hand and pointed to the small hole where Mimikyu had emerged.
Inside the dark hole, the sand was slowly writhing, almost like it was sinking.
"Quicksand?" Shiro was surprised. He moved closer to take a better look.
If the area they were in was full of quicksand, then getting across to reach the company's outpost would be extremely difficult.
"No... it's sinking too slowly," Shiro said as he scooped up a handful of sand and examined it carefully. "This looks more like something happened deep underground that's affecting the surface. But..."
He frowned, uncertain. It looked like they could still walk through, but if they hit a spot where the ground had collapsed more severely, it could get dangerous fast.
Just then, Nessa stepped up beside him and said, "Let's just go the way Drakloak pointed."
She then called over her Drednaw and gave its rocky, jagged head a confident pat. "Drednaw can tunnel underground and scout the way ahead."
"My Mr. Mime can freeze the sand instantly if it turns dangerous," Marvin added, walking over with his arms behind his head. He gestured to his wobbling Mr. Mime beside him.
As they spoke, Drednaw had already plunged into the ground, leaving behind a raised trail of sand that stretched forward—just wide enough for two people to walk side by side.
"We'll follow the trail," Nessa explained. "If the path stops rising, it probably means Drednaw got caught in quicksand."
Shiro didn't waste time anymore. He stepped forward and recalled his Rhyperior, which had been standing silently near the rocky stairs.
"Let's go," he said in a low voice.
Seeing that Drednaw was moving quickly underground, he picked up his pace.
Marvin and Mr. Mime followed closely behind. The four of them didn't speak as they moved forward. Their only goal now was to cross the sandstorm and reach Macro Cosmos's outpost as quickly as possible.
...
Elsewhere, somewhere deeper in the desert, behind a crumbling section of a wall, several tall, yellow-green tents stood tightly packed together, connected to the worn-down wall to keep them from being blown away by the strong winds.
Visibility was low in the storm, but the dark shapes of Macro Cosmos off-road vehicles were faintly visible in neat rows.
To the west of the encampment, a massive stone statue rose from the desert floor.
Years of wind and sand had worn it down so much that its original form was nearly impossible to make out. Only the faint outline of a four-legged creature could be seen, resembling a blurred sphinx.
The base beneath the statue stood three meters high. A deep, shadowy crack had split open near its bottom, just wide enough for a person to pass through.
This opening led into the ancient ruins that the Macro Cosmos forces were currently exploring.
No one had returned from the ruins for an entire day.
...
Inside one of the tents.
Leon paced back and forth, his nerves clearly on edge. Suddenly, he turned and shouted, "Any updates at all?! Are the detection devices Team B5 brought still working or not?!"
The researchers in white coats continued clacking at their keyboards, eyes fixed on their monitors. No one responded.
Irritated, Leon stormed past them toward the communications station at the back of the tent. There, a staff member in a gray uniform sat slumped in his chair, pretending to work. The blinking red lights on the console were completely ignored.
"What are you doing?" Leon snapped, voice sharp. "Have you contacted the special mission squad yet?"
The man jolted upright, startled. He fumbled with the console, tapping at the buttons in a feeble attempt to look productive.
But Leon wasn't fooled. The man's fingers weren't even touching the buttons. He was faking it.
Bang!
Leon slapped the console and walked away in frustration. He was sick of this. These people were driving him mad.
Ever since Chairman Rose had assigned him here, things had been nothing like he expected.
They had claimed that a wild Pokémon riot or some unexpected incident might occur, and that he was there to ensure safety. But after all these days, all he'd seen were growing sandstorms and vanishing company teams. Not a single trace of any wild Pokémon.
Leon slumped into a one-person sofa next to the researchers, hands clutching his head as he tried to figure out what to do next.
Right now, the most serious problem was the sandstorm.
It had already cut off travel and daily life between two major towns. If this went on, tens of thousands of people could be in danger.
Assuming Team B5 and the special mission squad had already perished in the storm, Leon knew that protecting the scientists in this tent was now his top priority.
Aside from the sandstorm and the wild Pokémon lurking in them, he had to be even more wary of the criminals hiding in Stow-on-Side.
Those outlaws would do anything for money.
"But I have to find a way to stop the sandstorm…" Leon muttered to himself, forming a plan in his mind.
The source of the storm was still that damned ruin.
He could leave his strongest Pokémon behind to guard the tent, then head into the nearby underground ruins himself. On the way, he could search for Team B5 and try to figure out how to stop the storm.
"That's it," Leon said under his breath, already standing. He turned to the obsessed researchers and asked, "Do you still have any data on Team B5?"
"Of course, Leon, but please don't be hasty," replied Hagrid, the bespectacled man nearest to him, turning to calm him. "I'm afraid we'll need more—"
He stopped mid-sentence, hands frozen above the keyboard.
At the same time, every researcher stopped what they were doing. All of them looked around at each other in silence.
"What happened?" Leon asked, more confused than ever.
"Team B5 is completely out of contact," said a woman with short hair as she stood up from her chair. "Every detection device has been destroyed. No signal at all." She gestured toward the now-dark monitor. "We're going to need someone to go into the ruins."
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