Chapter 503: The Island Shrouded in Mist

On the high‑altitude helicopter, Kojiro couldn't help but ask, "Musashi, are we just going to leave like this?"

Musashi leisurely trimmed his nails, his tone carefree yet haughty: "Then what? A true villain should finish the deed, brush off his coat, and keep his merits and fame hidden."

Kojiro weakly retorted: "Musashi… you're basically describing a hero's style, aren't you?"

Musashi raised his hand and tapped him, saying irritably, "A villain can certainly do the same!"

Meow, to be honest, we only came to the Flash Flame Team to steal something, and who could have guessed that by sheer luck we'd actually rescue another genuine Lysandre."

Kojiro's eyes were full of envy as he murmured, "Rainbow Rocket Team… when we saw Banmu Laoda and Chi Ri's handiwork before, we knew how terrifying this organization was. I never expected them to be strong enough to control multiple Divine Beasts. If we could also capture a Divine Beast, could we easily dominate an entire region?"

"Stop daydreaming, Meow," Miao Miao poured a bucket of cold water over them, "Divine Beasts are things you can't chase; they're not something you can just capture. What we should think about now is waiting for the world situation to fully stabilize, assisting Banmu Laoda in revitalizing the Rocket Team, and letting us reclaim the summit to become the world's strongest villain organization."

"Exactly right!" Musashi's gaze hardened, and with full momentum he declared, "Upholding love and truth in evil—that's what our Rocket Team should do!"

The three, buoyant and talking about the future, suddenly had the helicopter plunge headfirst into a thick veil of mist.

The next second, the entire airframe shuddered violently, jolting so hard that nobody could stay seated.

"Miao Miao! How are you piloting this thing! Keep it steady!" Musashi's mind blew up from the jolt, and he shouted irately.

"Meow! I didn't touch anything! The plane went out of control on its own, Meow!" Miao Miao, frantic, scrambled at the controls, but it made no difference.

Kojiro's complexion turned ashen instantly, a foreboding feeling rising in his gut: "Could it be that …"

Before his speculation could finish, a sudden roar echoed in the sky!

The helicopter's rotors abruptly exploded and snapped, fragments scattering with the airflow.

Deprived of power, the helicopter went completely out of control, trailing a long black plume as it plummeted straight toward the ground.

Staring at the rapidly approaching ground, the three exchanged glances: "What an awful feeling…"

After an unknown amount of time, the unconscious Miao Miao was the first to awaken.

It swayed its head dizzily, body aching all over, eyes blank as it looked around.

"Meow… where did we fall, Meow?"

Hearing Miao Miao's voice, Musashi and Kojiro, who were pinned below, also gradually came to from their stupor.

"Uh… not sure, my head hurts like hell." Musashi rubbed his temples, looking disheveled.

Kojiro winced in pain, gritting his teeth, and complained, "Musashi! You're sitting on my lap, I feel like my legs are about to break!"

Just as the two were trading complaints, Miao Miao suddenly perked up his ears, his expression tightening instantly, and whispered urgently, "Meow! Keep it down, I heard something strange, Meow!"

The previously noisy two fell silent at once, hearts tightening, instinctively holding their breath, daring not to make any sound.

The three, supporting their aching bodies, staggered up from beside the helicopter wreckage.

The entire Lake Center Island was tightly shrouded in dense White Fog, moisture slapping their faces; ancient towering trees surrounded them, the terrain old and barren, completely outside their flight path before the crash, an eerie sight that made their hearts race.

From deep within the fog came low, heavy breaths, muffled and trembling with fatigue, unlike any ordinary Wild Pokemon's roar, instead exuding an aged, weak, weighty aura.

The three exchanged glances, suppressing their unease, and slowly followed the sound deeper into the island.

The farther they ventured inland, the older the surroundings became. Massive ancient trees tangled their roots, the ground was carpeted with millennia‑worn rocks, and thin ancient energy drifted in the air, as if it were a forgotten primordial sanctuary.

Passing through a dense mist forest, the view ahead suddenly opened.

When they saw the massive silhouette in the clearing's center, Musashi, Kojiro, and Miao Miao froze simultaneously.

"What is this…?" Kojiro's pupils narrowed slightly.

Without him saying more, Miao Miao instantly recognized it, his fur bristling: "Meow! Impossible! Isn't this the Super Ancient Dragonite from Dr. Zheng Hui's Lighthouse?!"

Indeed.

The massive Dragonite before them, far larger than modern ones, was the Ancient Pokemon that had emerged at the Lighthouse that night.

Back then at the Lighthouse, it was only thanks to Miao Miao's linguistic ability that Huo La's party could successfully communicate with it.

They clearly remembered that the Super Ancient Dragonite then was massive, its body even broader than the Lighthouse itself, exuding sheer dominance.

But now, reunited on this Misty Isolated Island, its appearance made their hearts sink.

The colossal body lay powerless on the ground, its once broad and majestic wings more than half torn, large patches of scales peeled away, the back and chest riddled with fierce wounds, faint energy veins coiling around the injuries, clearly bearing severe damage.

It drooped its massive head, even lifting its eyes required great effort; each breath came with a subtle tremor, its low wheeze intermittent, showing utter weakness and exhaustion.

"How could this happen…" Musashi lowered his voice instinctively, his face full of astonishment, "When we first saw it at the Lighthouse, it was so majestic. It's only been a few years, how did it end up gravely wounded and collapsed here?"

"The injuries don't look like they came from a normal fight, Meow." Miao Miao examined the Ancient Dragonite's wounds carefully, his tone solemn, "It seems to have been severely hit by an extremely powerful energy technique, draining its stamina to the point of collapse, which is why it's trapped here."

The Ancient Dragonite strained to lift its weary, vertical pupils, gazing at the three.

It remembered those few figures, remembered the brief encounter at the Lighthouse that night, remembered these strange humans and the talking Miao Miao.

There was no threatening roar, no hostile stance, only a hoarse, faint murmur, as if it were confiding or pleading.

Kojiro swallowed, "It still remembers us…?"

Musashi's gaze flickered, shedding his usual impulsive greed, adding a hint of hesitation: "This Lake Center Island has been shrouded in mist year after year, no wonder its trail was never found. So this Super Ancient Dragonite has been living in hiding here all along."

After the Lighthouse incident, the Rocket Team even dispatched people to scour the entire sea region for its trace, expending much effort, yet ultimately finding nothing.

Who would have thought that, in the end, they would reunite through such a ridiculous plane crash.

As the three's thoughts tangled, the Super Ancient Dragonite, still crawling on the ground, let out another hoarse murmur.

Miao Miao's ears twitched lightly, precisely catching the emotion it conveyed, and in a solemn tone he said, "Meow, it's calling for our help."

"Help?"

Musashi and Kojiro exchanged glances at the sound, their eyes filled with incredulous doubt.

Kojiro looked at its pitiful form, his voice tinged with panic, "What do we do now? We don't even know how to treat a Pokemon's injuries, we can't help at all."

Musashi pondered briefly, then decided resolutely, "Stop thinking about anything else; first contact Xiao Gui Tou and his crew. Only they have a chance to save this Super Ancient Dragonite."