As Hakuya predicted, the wild Pokémon in the forest had already started a wave of riots.
Beedrill raised their Twin Needles, gleaming with a chilling light, swarming out densely from the shade of the trees. Fearow, perched on the giant cedars, screeched to the sky. With their naturally irritable temperaments, they flapped their wings, covering the sky overwhelmingly.
"Roar..."
Smashing a big tree blocking its path with a punch, an Ursaring roared loudly, its already fierce eyes dyed with a bloodthirsty crimson.
Stimulated by the explosions and fueled by the jammers, the wild Pokémon, believing humans were seriously threatening their home, gathered spontaneously and began charging toward the edge of the forest, intending to flatten and crush the surroundings completely.
"I am Officer Jenny. It's very dangerous here; please leave the Hiyori Forest as soon as possible."
Commanding Growlithe to repel an attacking Pinsir, Officer Jenny looked at a Trainer sitting paralyzed on the ground.
"Yes..."
Originally wanting to say something, but seeing a group of Primeape already pouncing from the shade, the rookie Trainer wearing a Pokémon cap hugged the unconscious Eevee in his arms and ran in the direction Jenny pointed.
At this moment, Trainers still lingering in the forest were all under attack by these crazy wild Pokémon. Although the righteous Officer Jenny was anxious, she could only order Growlithe to block them as much as possible.
Watching Miss Gardevoir point her slender hand lightly, causing a solidified moon wheel to descend from the sky and knock a group of tyrannical Nidoking unconscious, Hakuya began to ponder.
Although Gardevoir and the others were far stronger than these wild Pokémon, there were simply too many of them. Eroded by rage, some naturally aggressive wild Pokémon became much more aggressive than usual.
Under the offensive of the beast tide, they were undoubtedly at a disadvantage.
Another piece of bad news was that Articuno couldn't extinguish the forest fire as quickly as he initially judged—the amount of explosives planted by the poaching group was clearly extraordinary, and the fire had spread too widely.
After all, compared to Kyogre in the Hoenn region, the snowy weather Articuno could induce was limited.
However, if he used the Icicle Plate to boost the power of Articuno's Ice-type moves by 200%, it should solve the problem perfectly.
Thinking of this, Hakuya looked at the sky.
"Piplup-piplup~"
On the side, having repelled an Arbok charging from the shade with Water Gun, Piplup finally breathed a sigh of relief.
These tyrannical wild Pokémon seemed omnipresent. Whenever one was defeated, another with red eyes would attack them from the dim shade.
If this went on much longer, it would run out of strength too.
"Piplup?!"
Seeming to sense something, as a Water-type Pokémon abnormally sensitive to water molecules in the air, it looked up subconsciously. It saw a huge figure wrapped in snow flying towards them.
"Piplup, what's wrong?"
Just about to command her Pokémon to use Water Gun again, Dawn clearly noticed the dazed Piplup beside her.
She looked up in confusion, following Piplup's gaze to the sky not far away, and also froze on the spot.
The raised Pokédex paused for a moment before broadcasting:
"Articuno, the legendary bird Pokémon. It can freeze moisture in the air to create blizzards."
"This is Sinnoh League TV 1. I am field reporter Ling Fang."
Above the soaring firelight, the roar of a helicopter door opening grew louder. A young woman in professional black attire held a microphone, while the accompanying crew member pointed the camera at the forest speeding by below.
As a field reporter for the TV station, Ling Fang's job was on-site investigation, reporting in real-time from the core areas of various emergencies.
"We are currently above the Hiyori Forest. Due to the destruction by a poaching group, this place is engulfed in a sea of flames..."
Ling Fang held the handle of the cabin door, leaning out boldly to report.
The camera zoomed in slowly. Thick smoke in the forest rolled like a giant beast, carrying flames and ash straight into the sky.
Greedy fire pythons slithered through the pine and cypress forest, their tongues flickering. Scorched tree trunks curled into carbonized statues under the erosion of high temperatures. Even though fine snow continued to fall, it seemed like a drop in the bucket.
As the aerial camera dived, the truly terrifying thing wasn't the monstrous fire, but the figures with blood-red eyes gradually gathering in the shade. Like knights on horseback, they were charging towards the edge of the Hiyori Forest.
Even though she wasn't a rookie reporter, seeing this scene below, Ling Fang couldn't help but feel palpitations in her heart.
"Pilot, get a little closer down there."
Although the overflowing flames were gradually climbing up the tree trunks, and Ling Fang at the helicopter door could vaguely feel a heat wave, as a reporter, she felt the distance was still a bit far for filming the fire.
"Yes, Miss Ling Fang."
But just as the pilot responded and prepared to push the control stick down lightly, he saw the needles on the instrument panel start swinging frantically.
He froze subconsciously for a moment, shouting to the back.
"Hold on tight; a powerful cold airflow seems to be coming!"
As soon as the words fell, the helicopter tilted sharply.
The airspeed indicator needle began to climb rapidly, the green wing symbol overlapping with the yellow warning arc into a distorted spot of light.
Ling Fang grimaced in pain as the microphone cord whipped her cheek, trying hard to open her eyes in the sudden gale.
The camera equipment slammed against the cabin wall wasn't damaged and happened to focus on the originator of the biting cold wind before them.
"Investigator Lance, Hunter J has been successfully captured."
"But affected by the explosives and jammers planted by the poaching group, a large number of rioting wild Pokémon have appeared in the Hiyori Forest. The danger level is preliminarily determined to be five stars..."
"Understood."
Above the blue sky, a man wearing a cape black on the outside and red on the inside turned off the signal from his earpiece.
"Unexpectedly, this poaching group capture operation was resolved so quickly."
Sitting on Dragonite's back, Lance recalled the message just sent from League headquarters.
The original plan was to let the local Officer Jenny stall them, but unexpectedly, with the assistance of a farm owner named Hakuya, the leader of the poaching group was easily defeated and captured alive.
Lance looked at the seas of clouds drifting past him, pondering.
Hunter J, possessing a Salamence not inferior to the main Pokémon of the Elite Four, had once escaped the Sinnoh League's dragnet with her ruthless yet cautious style. Her danger level was extremely high.
To be able to defeat such an evil element alone, his ability could be said to be quite outstanding.
Just as he was considering whether to recruit that farm owner into the League's investigator organization, Lance frowned slightly. Remembering the more important and urgent matter at hand, he leaned forward and patted his old partner.
"Dragonite, a bit faster."
"Roar~"
Although Hunter J was successfully caught, the damage she caused was far from over—the forest was bombed repeatedly, and rioting Pokémon were constantly charging toward the periphery of the forest, forming a terrifying beast tide.
If measures weren't taken as soon as possible, the beast tide would soon rush out of the forest and attack the surrounding towns indiscriminately.
"Wait a minute, that is..."
Just as Dragonite flapped its small wings through the vast clouds, Lance, seeing the scene below, suddenly widened his eyes.
This man, hailed by the world as the Dragon Master, the Kanto Dragon-type Elite Four, and the Johto Champion, hadn't shown such huge emotional fluctuations even when he was defeated by the Ice-type Elite Four Lorelei and lost the Kanto Champion seat.
Hiyori Forest, snow filling the sky.
Flames climbed up from the scorched crowns of trees like thousands of orange-red snake tongues. The crisp crackle of bursting pine resin intertwined with the roar of toppling giant cedars.
Bursts of ash rose with the wind, dancing wildly in the sky like black butterflies, colliding with the falling fine snow—terrifying and eerie like a purgatory on earth.
The enraged wild Pokémon roared, rushing forward like a torrent of steel with the surging crimson tide in the forest, carrying the momentum to crush everything.
This was a purgatory.
Facing this scene, whether it was the Trainers in the forest, the reporter filming live from the helicopter, or Lance who had arrived above the forest with Dragonite, this thought couldn't help but emerge in their hearts.
However...
"Cooo-eee—"
A soul-stirring, clear bird cry resounded abruptly.
Flapping ice-blue wings dazzling and brilliant like ice crystals, Articuno's figure appeared under the canopy of the sky.
Biting cold winds rose from all directions. Initially, scattered ice shards vaporized upon hitting the scorching tree crowns, but flying fine snow followed one after another.
As ice mist turned into thousands of air blades slicing through the heat waves, the white snow visibly swallowed this surging sea of flames.
The almost irreversible forest fire was extinguished in an instant.
At this moment, everyone's gaze gathered on the black-haired youth standing beneath the ice-blue figure.
He raised the Icicle Plate, which was already flashing with light, like proclaiming a divine decree.
"Articuno, Blizzard."