Chapter 96: The Sudden Appearance of Alakazam

On the deep blue sea, a vast white mist shrouded the horizon in all directions, with only the sun shining in the center, providing some clarity to the direction.

"Ahem!" Yang Yan coughed loudly, expelling large amounts of seawater from his lungs as he sat up.

After a few moments, he began to feel a bit better.

"Thank you, Starmie. I really thought I was done for!"

It was thanks to Starmie, who had been slapping Yang Yan's back with its arms, that his airways had cleared. Without its help, he might have drowned.

"But... where is this place?"

Yang Yan stood up and looked around. He realized he was on a deserted island.

However, calling it an island seemed inaccurate, as the thick white fog surrounding him was so dense that he could only see about 20 meters ahead. Yang Yan couldn't tell if the land extended further behind him or if the sea stretched beyond the mist.

"Even though I didn't drown, I have no idea where I am or how to get back," Yang Yan muttered, rubbing his head in frustration.

Luckily, he still had his space backpack. It hadn't been swept away by the waves. He quickly pulled out his phone to see if he could contact the outside world.

As expected, there was no signal.

"No good. I have no idea where I am in the middle of the sea. How am I going to find land? And with this fog, I could get completely lost…"

While Yang Yan was feeling helpless, Staryu tapped his arm with one of its limbs and pointed in a specific direction.

"You know the way?" Yang Yan asked in surprise.

Staryu nodded and floated forward, motioning for Yang Yan to follow.

"Alright, Butterfree, come out!"

Yang Yan summoned Butterfree, who immediately looked at him with concern.

Yang Yan smiled and reassured his Pokémon, "I'm fine, Butterfree. Let's follow Starmie for now."

Though Starmir had strong abilities, it wasn't Yang Yan's Pokémon, and he felt more at ease having Butterfree, his own trusted companion, by his side.

Butterfree finally relaxed after confirming Yang Yan was okay and followed along as they ventured into the fog.

After walking for a while, Yang Yan noticed that Butterfree seemed to be looking around constantly. This was strange, as the surroundings were nothing but white mist.

"What's the matter, Butterfree?"

Butterfree flew over to Yang Yan and gestured, but Yang Yan couldn't quite understand what it was trying to say.

Noticing Butterfree's behavior, Staryu stopped and seemed to communicate with it. Butterfree nodded in understanding, as if everything made sense now.

"You two understand what's going on here, don't you?" Yang Yan asked, confused by how his Pokémon seemed to know something he didn't.

Could there be a special force here affecting the Pokémon?

"Never mind, Starmie, let's keep going."

Yang Yan decided the answer might lie ahead, wherever starmie was leading them. Since neither Pokémon showed any signs of worry, he felt more reassured.

After about half an hour of walking, the thick fog began to clear, revealing a stunning natural landscape. Lush green trees covered the area, with water flowing down a cliff into a clear stream. From time to time, Yang Yan caught glimpses of Pokémon darting between the trees. The area had an ethereal, almost magical, quality to it, as if touched by some ancient force.

"This place is beautiful—like a hidden paradise!" Yang Yan took a deep breath, feeling more at ease.

Staryu suddenly tugged on Yang Yan's arm, pointing ahead.

Yang Yan looked and saw a meditite standing in front of a large tree, repeatedly punching it with its fists.

It seemed to hear Starmie and Yang Yan approaching because it turned around. After a quick glance at them, meditite bolted into the forest.

"Wait...!" Yang Yan tried to call out, but meditite disappeared before he could finish his sentence.

"Looks like it's not too happy to see us," Yang Yan muttered, shaking his head. "Well, at least it didn't attack."

Starmie signaled Yang Yan to keep following.

They walked a little farther, but surprisingly, they didn't see any other Pokémon along the way.

"Starmie, let's take a break."

Yang Yan was beginning to feel tired, and his stomach growled. He planned to take out some food and share a meal with his Pokémon.

Just as he was about to retrieve some snacks from his bag, a deep, raspy voice suddenly echoed in his mind:

"Human!"

"Who's there?!" Yang Yan jumped and looked around in alarm.

"Who's speaking?!"

Before he could react, a yellow figure materialized in front of him.

It was an Alakazam!

"Human!" the voice came again.

Yang Yan was surprised. "Alakazam, are you talking to me?" But Yang Yan quickly realized the voice wasn't coming through his ears—it was resonating directly in his mind.

"Telepathy?!"

"You know a lot, human."

Yang Yan was taken aback. "It really is telepathy!" Alakazam's ability to use telepathy was rare, and Yang Yan knew it wasn't something most Pokémon could easily learn.

He couldn't gauge Alakazam's strength, but he knew one thing for certain: it could easily defeat both him and his Pokémon if it wanted to.

However, Alakazam hadn't attacked—it was communicating instead. This meant Yang Yan had the opportunity to get some answers, as long as he didn't anger Alakazam.

At that moment, meditite reappeared, leaping down from a tree to land behind Alakazam.

Yang Yan thought, *So that meditite went to get Alakazam?*

"Human, why are you here?" Alakazam asked, ignoring Machop.

Yang Yan knew his next words would determine how Alakazam treated him.

But he genuinely didn't know how he'd ended up here. He could only truthfully recount his encounter with Zapdos.

"I was sinking into the sea, and I blacked out. All I remember is clinging tightly to Starmie. The last thing I saw was a white shadow moving in the water before everything went dark."

"A white shadow?"

Alakazam turned to Butterfree and Starmie. Starmie began to communicate with Alakazam, likely explaining what it knew.

Staryu must have seen more than Yang Yan did, given that it wasn't unconscious during the whirlpool incident. After Starmie's explanation, Alakazam seemed to have pieced together the situation.

When starmie stopped speaking, Alakazam fell silent, deep in thought.

Eager to learn what was going on, Yang Yan asked, "Alakazam, can you tell me what Starmie said? Where am I? And how did I get here?"