Pokémon: Dreams Come True Starting in Sinnoh

"Look, isn't that one over there...?"

After advancing some distance in the mine, Xiao Gang, who was walking at the front, pointed to a figure lying on the ground ahead and said this.

"It seems...it really is Mr. Hyota?"

Seeing this, Xiao Zhi also stepped forward, squinted at it for a while, and then answered as if he were certain but also uncertain.

It's no wonder that Ash and Brock were hesitant to recognize Piao Tai at first; his current state was simply too disheveled. His clothes and body were covered in dust, and he lay listlessly on the ground. Although he hadn't passed out, his eyes stared blankly at the sky. Piao Tai looked more like a homeless person than a gym leader. If there was any difference, it was probably that his clothes were somewhat more intact.

"Why... what's wrong with Black Gold City...?"

Lying on the ground, Hyota was completely unaware of Ash and the others' arrival. He kept muttering something to himself, which gave off an eerie feeling in the deep underground. It wasn't until Ash called out his name that Hyota finally snapped out of his daze with a tremor.

"Huh?! W-what? Who are you...?"

Upon realizing that someone was standing next to him, Hyota wanted to save face as much as possible. He quickly got up, brushed the dust off his clothes, and asked Ash and the others.

"My name is Ash, and I'm here to take on a gym challenge. Also, we just received a request from Nurse Joy at the Pokémon Center to tell you some news."

"A challenger... I'm sorry, a gym challenge can't be done right now, because Black Gold City is just like what you see... Wait? You said Nurse Joy has something to tell me?"

Piao Tai realized something halfway through his sentence, so he quickly pressed for details. He seemed to think that Miss Joey had received some good news. After all, apart from him, the other researchers were still searching for anomalies in various locations inside the mine. If there was any good news that wasn't coming from the researchers, it must have come from outside.

Unfortunately—

"Well, actually..."

Ash recounted the strange encounter they had in the mountains to Hyota, who then realized the problem.

"Have all the Pokémon in the mountains disappeared?"

This was something he never expected. After all, after such a big sandstorm hit Black Gold City, his instinct was to think about the situation inside the cave. He wondered if something had gone wrong inside the cave, causing the sand and gravel to flow away and affect the outside environment.

But now it seems that the situation is not as simple as I thought, otherwise so many professional researchers would not have gone deep into the mine for two whole days without finding anything out.

"I understand... I'll head to the mountains right away to check on things! Thank you so much for the information. That's all for now! I'll return to the gym as soon as things are resolved!"

After finishing his sentence, Piao Tai didn't even give Xiao Zhi and the others a chance to continue their conversation before running towards the depths of the mine. It seemed he was going to tell the people inside to go back. But how long would this situation last? Xiao Zhi and the others had no idea... They couldn't possibly stay in Blackrock City for a week, or even a month, could they?

......

After putting their masks back on, Ash and his friends strolled through the dusty streets. Only about an hour had passed, but the dust seemed to be getting even worse than before.

"What do we do now? Should we stay in Black Gold City?"

Xiao Guang shouted this through her mask and the sandstorm, afraid that the other two wouldn't be able to hear her.

"What else can we do..." Ash himself was also somewhat at a loss about the current situation. "Let's wait another day. If there's still no news, we'll have to head to the next city!"

Although skipping a city's gym without battling Ash feels like being crawled on by a million ants, there's nothing that can be done. After all, Dawn has to participate in the Contests, and if she stays in Oz City for too long, she'll definitely miss many Contests held in different places. Compared to a gym battle, Dawn's Contests are definitely more important.

"There's no other way, this is the only way. After all, the reason for this is still unclear... hmm?"

As Xiao Gang spoke, a hint of doubt suddenly flashed in his voice. Following Xiao Gang's gaze, they saw a figure slowly walking towards them from across the sand-filled street. When the person saw them, he seemed quite surprised.

Everyone was wearing masks, so it wasn't very clear what each other looked like. But their clothes and the cold demeanor of the people opposite them made it easy for Ash and the others to recognize each other even without them saying a word.

"Shinji?" Ash stepped forward and spoke first, "Are you here to challenge the Black Gold Gym as well? If so..."

"..."

Shinji remained silent, but quietly took out the badge box from his pocket, opened it, and showed it to Ash. The Black Gold Gym badge was clearly lying on it.

"..." Ash scratched his head, slightly embarrassed, and said, "So what you're doing is..."

"Going to Yuanzhi City, the sandstorms to the north are even worse than here, it's impossible to get through."

"The sandstorms up north are even worse than here...? Hey! Wait a minute!"

Ash wanted to ask Shinji more questions, but perhaps Shinji didn't want to stay in that environment any longer. Before Ash could ask any more questions, Shinji turned and left, clearly intending to find another way to the next city.

"Shinji said... the sandstorms are even worse to the north than here, is that right?"

Coming to their senses, Ash and his friends felt something was amiss. Why was the sandstorm stronger to the north? Logically, the stronger the sandstorm, the closer it should be to its source. If this logic held true, perhaps...

"Let's go take a look."

Ash was the first to voice the thoughts of the other two.

Instead of sitting here waiting to die, it would be better to take the initiative to investigate. Although it seems that the best option is to tell Hyota about this situation and let him, as the Gym Leader of Black Gold Gym, solve the problem, they only have guesses for now. If they are wrong, wouldn't it be a waste of Hyota's time?

.......