Pokemon: Skybound Chapter 212: 212. The Ethereal Voice

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BOOM...

The airship skidded forward, crashing through the frozen terrain before finally coming to a halt at the crater of the volcano.

Even with Sabrina's psychic barrier, everyone still felt dizzy and disoriented from the impact.

Kai steadied Sabrina, rubbing his temples before checking on the others.

"Everyone okay?"

"I'm fine!" Misty was the first to respond.

" too!" lody added.

Ash, Tracey, and even Team Rocket seed to be in one piece.

Kai gestured toward the damaged hull.

"We fell from pretty high up. I have no idea if this airship is going to explode, so let's get out of here."

Before anyone could even move, Jessie, Jas, and owth were already gone.

Like well-trained professionals, they bolted toward the exit at full speed.

Jas even turned back to stick out his tongue.

"Nyah-nyah~! Our Pokémon might not be as strong as yours, but when it cos to escaping, we're the best!"

Kai chuckled at their childish behaviour but didn't bother stopping them.

Instead, he followed Ash and the others out of the wreckage.

Stepping out of the airship's broken hull, they finally got a sense of just how massive the vessel was.

Its structure, lined with wind turbines and thrusters, stretched over 500 ters in diater.

Compared to such a colossal machine, humans were as small as insects.

And if this thing exploded, they'd be gone in an instant.

Without wasting ti, they ran along the ship's outer hull, pushing forward as fast as possible.

By the ti they finally set foot on land, everyone was gasping for breath, Except for Sabrina, of course, who had simply levitated over the terrain with psychic energy.

Just then—

A frigid gust of wind swept past them.

The mont it touched their skin, They shivered.

lody's eyes widened as she scanned the surroundings.

Sothing was very wrong.

"…Why is everything frozen!?"

What was once a lush, green island was now a barren wasteland of ice.

The trees, the cliffs, the shoreline—

Even the ocean itself was frozen solid.

In the distance, Shamouti Island was completely covered in ice.

Everything—

The entire sea within a hundred-mile radius was frozen solid.

It was like the world was on the brink of destruction.

"It's just like Zapdos did before," Kai muttered, exhaling a misty breath. "It must be Articuno. It sensed the other two were missing and decided to claim all four islands as its territory."

lody turned pale.

"…But it's not supposed to be like this. The balance has been kept for centuries…"

"We can talk about this later," Kai urged. "Right now, we need to—"

BOOM.

Before he could finish—

The airship groaned as it slid further down the crater.

Loose debris and huge tal panels began falling from the wreckage.

CRASH!

A giant wind turbine blade smashed into the shrine, sending rubble everywhere.

Amidst the destruction—

A golden sphere rolled toward Ash's feet.

"That's the treasure of Thunder Island!" lody gasped.

It looked just like the one from Fire Island, except golden instead of red.

Ash reached down to grab it—

ZAP!!

A sudden lightning bolt struck, shattering the ice beneath his feet.

The orb was blasted away, rolling further into the distance.

Looking up—

Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno had engaged in a full-scale battle.

Having destroyed the airship, they now turned their fury on each other.

Their attacks rained down indiscriminately, tearing apart the island's terrain.

"No ti to think!" Ash lunged forward, grabbing the golden orb just before it could fall into the abyss.

That was two down.

"Look!" Misty pointed toward the wreckage of their ship.

Their small sailboat, which had been trapped aboard the airship—

Had fallen into a nearby lake.

Miraculously—

It was still intact.

"Yes!!"

Team Rocket wasted no ti, scrambling into the boat like rats fleeing a sinking ship.

Seeing their only way off the island, Kai and the others rushed after them.

Just as they jumped aboard—

BOOM!

A flaming fireball crashed into the water beside them, sending a wave of scalding steam over the deck.

Misty wiped the condensation from her face.

"lody! Get us out of here, NOW!"

"Stop yelling! I know!!"

lody's hands moved like lightning, adjusting the sails.

The engine roared to life, and the boat lurched forward.

Blocked Off..? But just as they neared the lake's exit.

A thick wall of ice sealed the way forward.

Articuno had frozen the entire path to the sea.

"Dammit, we're trapped!!"

lody gritted her teeth.

Kai was about to send out Haunter to blast through the ice But...

BOOM!!

A bolt of lightning from Zapdos obliterated the ice in an instant.

The explosion was so powerful that It shattered the surrounding glacier, sending the lake rushing toward the sea.

The current caught their boat, sweeping them forward like a tidal wave.

"AAAAAHHH!!"

Misty and lody scread as the boat flew off the waterfall, tumbling into the open ocean!

Just as they were about to crash, A massive waterspout erupted from the sea.

Like a giant hand, it caught the boat mid-air and gently lowered them into the water.

Everyone was stunned.

"…What just happened?"

Kai's eyes narrowed.

He stepped to the edge of the boat, looking down into the sea.

Beneath the thick ice, the ocean depths were hidden in shadow.

But then—

A deep, echoing cry resonated through the air.

A voice—

Lonely. Powerful. Ethereal.

"…Ooooooohhhh…"

It wasn't just any sound.

It was a song.

A song that sent chills through their bodies.

lody's breath hitched.

"That voice…"

She gripped the sides of the boat, her eyes widening.

"That's Lugia."

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