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Lucario directed Salamence to fly straight forward in the direction he indicated.
If this were the previous Salamence, he would definitely have raised his own doubts.
Why do I need to fly straight forward?
Why should I keep flying in this direction?
But now, because of his familiarity with the airflow patterns in Alola's environment, Salamence had roughly grasped the direction of air currents.
He could gradually distinguish the chaotic airflow directions and adjust to a more suitable flying posture to increase his speed and change angles in time.
In general, his mastery of airflow direction had improved significantly.
With an enthusiastic roar from Salamence, the Dragon-type led Lucario and Roy through the fog.
At the moment of takeoff, Salamence's wings dispersed a large portion of the fog around them.
This made Roy feel like his field of vision had suddenly become much clearer.
What was particularly noticeable was that on the water's surface not far away, like boiling water, white vapor was slowly rising.
Because the mist had been temporarily blown away, the dozen or so streaks of white smoke rising above the water were clearly visible.
In just a split second, the mist enveloped the water again.
Additionally, since Salamence's speed wasn't too slow, and the sight had passed in a flash, Roy didn't pay too much attention to it.
Maybe I was seeing things?
After all, the most important thing right now was rescuing Caroline.
If they missed this opportunity, who knew where they'd have to search for her—it could take forever.
Roy regained his focus, feeling the mist continuously splashing water vapor on his face, as if he'd just washed it.
Roy wiped the water off his face, wondering why the Pokemon didn't seem to need to do the same.
Was it because of their thick skin?
The more they chased, the more Salamence felt that the speed of this Water-type Pokemon shouldn't be underestimated.
If it weren't for the huge boulder on its back, that Pokemon would probably be even faster.
Thinking about this, Salamence's competitive spirit was instantly ignited.
Taking a deep breath, he flapped his massive blood-red wings, wanting to compete with the Pokemon in the water.
Roy felt Salamence's speed suddenly increase, which meant he had to wipe his face more frequently.
Looking up again, Lucario stood like a stone sculpture, staring down at the thick fog below without moving.
Roy craned his neck to look, but could only see a mass of mist.
"But... the fog seems to have thinned out a bit here."
Lucario blinked rapidly but didn't dare relax his vigilance for fear the target would slip away.
"Yes, there seems to be some kind of underwater channel beneath Brooklet Hill."
"We're almost approaching Poni Island now."
"Poni Island?"
Lucario didn't respond to Roy anymore because he'd discovered that the target carrying Caroline had suddenly accelerated many times faster.
"Not good, he's spotted us!"
"Salamence, speed up!"
Lucario's urgent tone also stimulated the Dragon-type's tense nerves.
Salamence couldn't see the path ahead at all, but he listened to Lucario's directional commands, coupled with his own grasp of airflow direction, and accurately followed the Pokemon advancing at high speed.
For a moment, both Lucario and Salamence seemed to feel a profound understanding flowing between them from the depths of their souls.
Could this sense of coordination also be related to Aura power?
But at this moment, they didn't have time to contemplate such matters.
This high-speed chase lasted for about thirty seconds before gradually settling into a steady speed after the acceleration.
At this point, Roy also understood—they'd caught up with that Pokemon!
"Excellent work!"
Salamence grinned, feeling genuinely happy from the bottom of his heart.
But before he could savor the moment for long, Lucario delivered more bad news.
"Ms. Caroline's condition doesn't look very good."
"Just now, the Pokemon dove underwater multiple times to avoid us, and Ms. Caroline hasn't moved for a while now."
Because of the distance, Lucario couldn't clearly see Caroline's exact condition.
He could only observe her body movements.
Even so, Lucario still instinctively felt something was wrong.
Looking more closely, he could see several black shadows following behind them in the sea.
"There are pursuers behind us."
Roy didn't look back either, because he knew he wouldn't see anything even if he did.
Fortunately, they were getting closer to Poni Island now. Since the distance between this island and Poni Island wasn't too close, the mist was naturally much thinner here.
It was just that Roy's naked eyes still couldn't see through it.
From Lucario's perspective, he could only see the agile shadows moving beneath the sea's surface, but couldn't determine what Pokemon species they were.
"What exactly are they?"
Lucario couldn't help but wonder what kind of Pokemon was capable of maintaining such high-speed movement for such a long duration.
This made Lucario, who excelled at burst speed, quite envious.
Of course, it made Salamence even more envious.
"They're Sharpedo."
Roy thought back to the flash of that distinctive yellow scar when the shadow had attacked at Brooklet Hill.
It was very similar to the Sharpedo that Blastoise had battled before.
However, most Pokemon of the same species looked alike, with only very subtle differences that could be distinguished by their pod members.
"Sharpedo?"
Obviously, Lucario also recalled the Pokemon that had fought Blastoise, which should indeed be Sharpedo.
"Could they have come here seeking revenge?"
Roy nodded to himself, thinking it was very possible.
But if they were seeking revenge, it was understandable that they'd gathered such a large number of siblings from the same species.
What was the reason for kidnapping Caroline, though?
This was what truly puzzled Roy.
What's more, what kind of threat could mere Sharpedo pose in front of an Elite-level Pokemon like Gardevoir?
Speaking of which, he hadn't seen Caroline's Gardevoir at all.
At first, he'd assumed Caroline had recalled her into a Poke Ball, so he hadn't thought much about it.
Until Lucario glanced back and indicated that Gardevoir was unconscious, being carried on the back of another Sharpedo, following behind Salamence.
Looking at those Sharpedo in the water, they moved as if visiting the back garden of their own home, completely unbothered by the toxic fog.
Roy guessed that this mist was probably also created by the Sharpedo.
Roy recalled all the moves that a wild Sharpedo could learn, but he couldn't think of how a Sharpedo could produce such extensive mist.
The move Haze just covered the user's body—how could it release such a massive fog?
But after much deliberation, at present, only this move corresponded to the current situation of Alola's heavy fog.