There was disappointment in Lucario's tone. He had thought he would meet their Trainer this time.
Seeing that Lucario was in such a low mood, Salamence wanted to comfort him but didn't know where to start.
He had no choice but to treat himself as an ordinary flying mount and continue on.
However, the white fur of the Lycanroc on the ground looked pretty, though it seemed he had rolled somewhere and gotten dirty.
The Lycanroc had appeared out of nowhere. With only one living creature around him, he was quite conspicuous, allowing Lucario to spot him easily.
The Lycanroc patted the dirt off his mane in disgust, thinking to himself.
"Ugh, I really don't like climbing through this tunnel. It gets dirty every single time, and those Pokémon by the sea are so aggressive..."
While grumbling, he walked toward the camp, completely oblivious to the fact that there were two other Pokémon in the sky—Salamence and Lucario—who were just as frustrated as he was.
"Let's go..." Lucario said, feeling somewhat disheartened.
He wanted to find Caroline.
At least he should complete one of the tasks their Trainer had given them, right?
But before he could finish speaking, Lucario was so shocked by the scene that suddenly appeared on the ground that he became speechless.
On the ordinary sandy ground, after the first Midday Form Lycanroc left, suddenly one after another began emerging—like mushrooms after a spring rain—more and more Lycanroc appeared.
The fur colors of these Lycanroc could be roughly divided into two types: the white-furred Midday Form Lycanroc and the red-furred Midnight Form Lycanroc.
The second one to emerge was a red-furred Midnight Form Lycanroc, making him even more conspicuous against the bare sandy soil.
The Midnight Form Lycanroc stood upright on its hind legs, with flexible front paws that could manipulate things with ease.
So when it came out of the ground, the red-furred Lycanroc emerged very quickly.
There were all kinds of dust and soil stains on his paws, and he kept muttering complaints.
"Really lacking in manners. If you can't win, you play dirty tricks. Now I have to take a bath later, and I'll get scolded if I don't bathe..."
Then, one after another, Lycanroc kept emerging from the ground continuously, leaving Salamence and Lucario stunned.
Salamence shook his head, feeling almost dizzy in the sky, and only understood one truth.
The Lycanroc really didn't like taking baths.
"Salamence, pinch me to see if this is real?" Lucario said.
Lucario, who never said things like this, had started talking nonsense.
Salamence gave Lucario a strange look, then gently pushed him with his claws.
"Ouch!"
Salamence thought: I think you're testing me...
Lucario gritted his teeth in pain, trying to maintain his dignified image—it was truly embarrassing.
"It's real..." he concluded.
Coincidentally, Lucario's pained cry startled the leader of the Lycanroc, who was about to emerge from the tunnel.
The Lycanroc leader and the Lycanroc beside him immediately perked up when they heard this strange cry and assumed an attacking stance.
However, the misunderstanding was quickly cleared up, precisely because Lucario had fought alongside the Lycanroc leader back in Vast Poni Canyon.
"So it was you. Did you come to find that human?" the leader asked through gestures.
The friendly atmosphere released by the Lycanroc made Lucario and Salamence gradually relax.
Some other Lycanroc put away their aggressive postures after identifying Lucario.
This couldn't be blamed on them—after all, they hadn't seen Salamence at the time.
Having just fought with the flying Murkrow, they were naturally wary when they suddenly saw a Flying-type Pokémon.
Seeing that both parties knew each other, Salamence flapped his wings slowly and descended from mid-air.
When approaching the ground, Lucario jumped off Salamence's back and had a friendly exchange with the Lycanroc leader.
Through his Aura, Lucario didn't sense any malice from the Lycanroc leader, only a hint of caution.
So Lucario was able to treat the Lycanroc leader calmly.
Besides, they weren't invincible.
Even if they couldn't win, they still had this big guy with them, didn't they?
At worst, he could hop on Salamence and fly away.
He thought this in his heart but dared not say it aloud.
Now Lucario was even more eager to ask him another question.
"It's been a while. Just now you said..." Lucario began.
Lycanroc Leader: Not that long—you fought beside me yesterday...
The Lycanroc leader nodded as a greeting and continued the previous topic.
"If you're looking for the human, they've already exited through the canyon exit."
Hearing this news, both Salamence and Lucario breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's great! Thank you for telling us the news."
As he spoke, Lucario was about to jump on Salamence's back—he wanted to find Roy quickly!
But the Lycanroc leader looked at him with a somewhat troubled expression, which made Lucario pause.
"What's wrong? Is there something else?" he asked.
The Lycanroc stepped forward a few paces and whispered something to Lucario, then glanced cautiously at Salamence.
Salamence: ?
Why are you looking at me? I can't hear you from this close anyway?
However, Salamence pretended to be aloof with a blank expression, acting as if he were deaf.
After listening, Lucario showed a rare embarrassed expression on his face, and the Lycanroc leader looked so anxious he was about to lose his temper.
Still, Lucario managed to put the Lycanroc leader at ease.
"I'm not sure about this, but I'll pass it on to my Trainer for you."
As soon as these words were spoken, the Lycanroc leader was obviously relieved.
"That's wonderful, thank you," he said gratefully.
Lucario shook his head while sitting on Salamence's back, and they disappeared in an instant.
Only the Lycanroc leader was left on the ground, his paws clasped together as he muttered to himself.
"Please don't let my people's injuries be in vain..."
On the other side, Salamence, who was flying through the sky, still couldn't help but ask.
"Roar?"
Are you really going to relay that message for him?
Lucario nodded, his eyes constantly searching for Caroline.
Knowing their Trainer had left the canyon safely meant they were very close to Solgaleo, and their safety was basically assured.
He would take Caroline and Gardevoir to meet up with them.
Lucario nodded when he heard Salamence's question.
"I already promised him, and he helped us so much."
Salamence nodded, only half-understanding. He hadn't fully grasped what "mutual help" meant exactly.
But it wasn't a bad thing.