Alex gave no outward sign of his thoughts. Instead, with a slight smile on his face, he calmly said, "The female Flygon must have described me and my Pokémon to you, so you really shouldn't have any trouble identifying me. Besides, who else even knows about this deal?"
The Flygon wore a thoughtful expression for a few moments before finally replying, "The Horned Desert King's mate did indeed describe a human and his Pokémon, and you certainly fit the description. But who's to say this isn't some kind of trick?"
Alex suppressed the urge to clutch his head in frustration after hearing such a ridiculous response and instead replied as calmly as possible, "What kind of trick could this possibly be? I came here alone, and I'm obviously not strong enough to pose any real threat to your leader. Can you please stop with this nonsense and just take me to him already?"
The Flygon hesitated for a brief moment, still appearing somewhat suspicious, but eventually nodded in agreement and began leading Alex's group directly toward their living area.
Alex quietly breathed a sigh of relief after seeing that the situation had finally been resolved without unnecessary trouble.
He then slowly turned his gaze toward the Sandslash, who had remained completely silent during the entire exchange.
The Sandslash immediately became visibly nervous the moment he noticed Alex looking at him.
Alex calmly regarded him for a few seconds before saying in a cold tone, "I'm going to let you go, but listen carefully to me. You are not to tell anyone... absolutely no one, that you ever saw me or my Pokémon here. If I find out that you spoke even a single word about this, I will personally hunt you down and kill you."
The Sandslash immediately nodded frantically, his entire body trembling slightly from fear. Without saying another word, he quickly turned around and fled as fast as possible, not daring to look back even once.
Alex silently watched him disappear into the desert before shifting his attention elsewhere.
He knew perfectly well that the safest option would have been to simply kill the Sandslash right there and completely eliminate any possibility that information about his entering into the mutated Flygon's territory could find somebody.
However, he didn't actually want to kill the Pokémon, so he had instead chosen what he considered the second safest option.
Besides, Alex truly didn't believe that such an extremely cowardly Sandslash would ever dare to betray his warning.
And even beyond that, the chances of something like that Sandslash would encounter a human capable of doing anything with this information were already very small to begin with.
Alex's group then followed behind the Flygon, continuing deeper into the desert.
After some time passed, a massive mountain range slowly became visible in the distance, rising prominently out of the endless sea of sand.
As Alex's group continued deeper into the desert, the mountain range in the distance gradually became clearer and more imposing.
At first, it had only looked like a dark silhouette rising from the endless sea of sand, but the closer they came, the more enormous it appeared.
The mountains were massive and jagged, with steep cliffs and sharp stone formations that looked as though they had been carved apart by countless sandstorms over hundreds of years. Most of the rock had a dark reddish-brown color, though parts of it were almost black from constant exposure to heat and wind.
Large cracks ran through many of the cliffs, creating countless tunnels, caves, and narrow pathways between the rocks.
Strong desert winds continuously swept through the mountain range, carrying sand through the air and creating a constant low whistling sound that echoed between the stone walls.
Compared to the empty desert outside, this place felt far more alive.
Alex quickly noticed movement almost everywhere.
Ground-type Pokémon crawled between cracks in the rocks, while Flying-type Pokémon circled high above the mountains.
Several Trapinch hid beneath the sand near the lower slopes, and groups of Vibrava occasionally flew overhead before quickly disappearing deeper into the mountain range.
Alex could no longer move easily through the increasingly dense mountain terrain on foot, or rather with Luxray carrying him, so he recalled all of his Pokémon except for Crobat back into their Poké Balls.
Afterward, Crobat carried Alex and continued following the Flygon as it flew deeper toward a special Mountain.
The further they traveled, the more difficult the terrain became. After traveling through several narrow rocky paths and flying past countless jagged cliffs, the Flygon leading them finally brought Alex's group toward the center of the mountain range.
There, hidden between enormous cliffs and protected from the harsh desert winds on almost all sides, was a massive open area.
Compared to the burning desert outside, the temperature here felt surprisingly comfortable.
Alex immediately noticed that this place was far more suitable for living than the endless sea of sand outside the mountains.
A small underground water source flowed quietly through the center of the area, forming a shallow pool surrounded by stone formations and sparse vegetation that somehow managed to survive in this harsh environment.
Several wild Pokémon could be seen near the water.
Alex also noticed many large caves naturally built into the surrounding cliffs.
Some were small and narrow, while others were enormous and clearly large enough for giant Pokémon to comfortably enter and leave without difficulty.
The largest cave stood near the very center of the open area and immediately drew Alex's attention.
It was easily more than fifteen meters tall, with a massive entrance wide enough for even an extremely large Pokemon to enter without needing to lower its body.
The Flygon flew directly toward the cave and waited for Alex at the entrance.
Crobat landed near the cave entrance and immediately used his echolocation to determine how many Pokémon lived inside the cave.
He was slightly surprised when he discovered that only two Pokémon were living there despite the cave's enormous size.
Crobat quickly shared this information with Alex through their psychic connection.
Alex didn't enter the cave immediately. Instead, he first summoned all of his Pokémon from their Poké Balls.
One after another, his Pokémon appeared around him and silently observed their surroundings.
As soon as they were fully out of their Poké Balls, Alex telepathically said to all of them, "Be prepared to use Protect immediately if you notice something wrong. Ditto, transform into Gardevoir, and be ready to use Teleport together with Gardevoir at any moment."
Ditto instantly transformed into Gardevoir without hesitation, while the other Pokémon quietly became more alert.
The Flygon looked at Alex with confusion and wondered why he had suddenly stopped following him.
Alex noticed the Flygon's expression and replied with a slight smile, "It's very rude to just enter someone's residential area without receiving explicit permission first. I'll wait here."
The Flygon, who had been suspicious the entire time, immediately believed Alex after hearing that explanation and felt that his words made sense.
Without saying anything else, he turned around and entered the cave alone first.
Alex noticed the Flygon's reaction and couldn't help but smile slightly.
He silently thought to himself, 'Why is it that he doesn't believe me whenever I tell the truth, but the moment I lie, he immediately accepts it without question?'
*******
if the story total of 100 powerstones in 24 hours, I will upload 1 bonus chapter tomorrow.
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