And when the moment came to strike Roy, Honchkrow attacked again.
Displaying his sharp talons, he flapped his wings and rushed toward Roy immediately.
There wasn't enough time to build up power, so he could only use Sucker Punch.
Roy had already been on guard in his heart and was fully prepared the moment Honchkrow stirred.
Even so, Roy's arm was still torn and bloodied by Honchkrow's claws.
Zorua appeared beside Honchkrow in an instant, stomping the Big Boss Pokémon under her feet. A burst of Fairy-type energy kept attacking until Honchkrow finally lost consciousness.
"Caw!"
Honchkrow's voice was harsh but powerful, making Roy and the others wince.
The abnormal movement appeared again. The strength of the Murkrow exploded instantly, obviously under Honchkrow's command.
Looking down at Honchkrow again, even though his feathers were battered and missing in patches, his eyes were still bright and fierce.
"None of you will leave here," his gaze seemed to say.
Roy's instincts screamed danger. Sensing something terrible was about to happen, he hurriedly led his Pokémon toward the exit.
"Run!" he shouted.
As wild Pokémon, the Lycanroc were obviously much better at predicting danger than ordinary people.
Almost at the same moment, both Roy and the leader of the Lycanroc were ordering the other Pokémon to leave this place quickly.
But the native Lycanroc didn't have to worry about finding the exit like Roy and his team did.
The Lycanroc extended their sharp claws, firmly gripping the rocks on both sides, and quickly climbed up the canyon walls.
This time, Roy finally saw clearly how the Lycanroc had reached the bottom of the canyon without anyone noticing.
On the rock walls, relying on the natural terrain and the interplay of light and shadow, more than a dozen holes were hidden from view.
And those holes happened to be on one rock wall, positioned within a certain range, and perfectly sized so that the Lycanroc could crawl through them smoothly.
Roy felt a touch of respect.
"It seems I can't underestimate you wild Pokémon," he muttered.
Wild Pokémon naturally possessed their own unique wisdom.
The Lycanroc leader, as the last one to enter the cave, turned his head and took one deep look at Roy.
Their eyes met for just a moment.
The rock wall began to shake violently, and both of them understood that this was no place to linger.
The Lycanroc turned around, leaving Roy with a view of his retreating form, and Roy's hand had already touched the rocks near the exit.
In the next second, energy extracted from the Murkrow's wings formed black ripples around their bodies.
Quickly centering on themselves, the waves spread outward.
Wherever they went, rocks shattered and sand flew through the air.
Dark Pulse.
The final destination of the energy circles glowing with black light was the rock walls on both sides at the bottom of the canyon, shaking loose gravel and earth.
The Murkrow didn't seem to feel any pain and remained motionless.
The ground shaking at the bottom of the canyon didn't seem to affect them at all, until Honchkrow's screeching cry rang out again and the Murkrow's red eyes slowly began to show signs of life.
But Dark Pulse's effects still lingered. The Murkrow flapped their wings one by one and flew from the gaps in the canyon up into the sky, each one more agile than the last.
Some of Honchkrow's closest followers brought Honchkrow into the sky as well, and they escaped from this place temporarily.
But Honchkrow's eyes were filled with unstoppable hatred.
"Next time, I will kill you all," he seemed to vow.
Salamence and Lucario, who had already flown to the entrance of Vast Poni Canyon, felt the earthquake from inside the canyon the moment they approached.
Salamence slammed on the brakes quickly, stopping at the edge of the entrance, and looked at Lucario in confusion.
"Did you touch anything?" Salamence seemed to ask.
Salamence shook his head, indicating he was innocent.
"Roar?"
And you?
Lucario shook his head as well.
"Coincidentally, me neither."
The two Pokémon stared at each other, not knowing whether to go in or not.
Lucario saw the dust clouds billowing inside and thought it would be hard to find anyone after entering, so he decided not to go in for the time being and assess the situation first.
Just when Salamence looked up in boredom, he saw that a large number of Murkrow in the sky had suddenly disappeared.
Together, the two partners decided to go by air.
So Salamence changed direction, heading straight for the top of the canyon.
Through the gaps between the strange rock formations, even though Salamence had flapped his wings vigorously, trying to blow the sand away, it was still useless.
"Roar!"
Look around—why can't I see anything?
"Okay."
Lucario poked his head down from above, but was hit in the face by a large swarm of Murkrow that suddenly burst out.
Startled, Lucario immediately pulled back.
Salamence was taken aback too, but still had the presence of mind to ask if his partner was alright.
After getting a negative answer from Lucario, who felt he had lost face, Salamence nodded and circled around the top of Vast Poni Canyon twice.
Has our Trainer left the canyon? Where should we go now?
Lucario also couldn't figure out what their Trainer was thinking. He wanted to find Roy, but was also worried about what problems Caroline might encounter.
After all, before their Trainer left, the task of rescuing Gardevoir had been entrusted to the two of them.
But their Trainer and the others had taken Caroline into the canyon—so why had Caroline come back alone?
Why was the ground shaking now?
Should they go in and take a look?
What if there was danger inside?
Lucario's mind had never been so overloaded. He felt like little stars were about to pop up in front of his eyes.
Salamence's trusting gaze seemed to give Lucario a shot of confidence, rescuing him from the many problems that had been tangling him up all at once.
Salamence hovered in the air silently, waiting for Lucario's answer.
"I seem to... smell a familiar presence?" Lucario thought.
Lucario felt that what he was sensing was strange, but it was true.
Salamence kept quiet and said nothing.
Lucario suddenly opened his eyes wide and pointed toward the ledges on either side of Vast Poni Canyon.
The platform above was on a completely different level from the Altar of the Sunne, but the geology was exactly the same.
"Go there!"
It was rare to see Lucario so determined. Salamence let out a soft growl, his voice becoming much lighter.
His wings beat steadily, and he flew in the direction Lucario pointed with careful precision.
The distance wasn't too far, and before they had flown very long, they spotted a familiar figure.