Due to the considerable distance from Su Chuan's residence to the Pokémon Center, even riding on Pidgeot, he arrived to find a group already gathered there.
"Old Su's here." A sharp-eyed trainer recognized Su Chuan's Pidgeot at a glance, and a crowd came forward to greet him.
Jumping down from Pidgeot and recalling it into a Poké Ball, Su Chuan cupped his fists in greeting to the trainers who had come to welcome him. He then asked a middle-aged man with a beer belly, "Wang Qing, what's going on now?"
The person in charge of Yundu City's Pokémon Center was Wang Qing, a master-level trainer more focused on passing time. The sweat pouring down his forehead revealed his frustration.
As soon as the surveying personnel detected abnormalities in the Southern Suburbs, they immediately notified Wang Qing, and the police's notice nearly followed right after.
After learning the situation, Wang Qing felt utterly overwhelmed. With only four years left until retirement, his son had already started his own family, and all he needed to do was coast through until retirement to enjoy his golden years.
But now, one careless mistake, and he might end up failing this last challenge.
Having been in charge for so many years, Wang Qing retained his composure and quickly issued a Special Dispatch Order.
He seized Su Chuan's hand and pulled him into the Pokémon Center, as if grasping onto a lifeline: "Su Guanzhu, come in!"
Then he shouted to the surrounding trainers, "Everyone, please come inside; time is of the essence."
Upon entering the Pokémon Center, the original hall had been temporarily transformed into a command center. When all eleven gym leader-level trainers from Yundu City arrived, Wang Qing led everyone to a large screen.
"Everyone, please look; this is footage obtained by the advance team." Wang Qing pointed at the screen.
On the screen, what should have been the lush greenery of the Southern Suburbs now appeared to be enveloped in a water-like mist, with peaks and valleys rising from within it, interspersed with trees and flowers not native to the Southern Suburbs.
Drawing on years of experience wandering Mystery Dungeons, Su Chuan spoke up: "It's almost at the initial stage of fusion!"
Mystery Dungeons were supposed to possess their own distinct space. However, if a Mystery Dungeon fused with the main world, it would stabilize within it and most likely be marked as a forbidden area.
Wang Qing's expression turned grave: "Su Guanzhu is right. According to the research institute's assessment, in about 186 hours, the Mystery Dungeon will stabilize and merge with the main world."
186 hours, just under eight days! Everyone present was taken aback.
One gym leader-level trainer exclaimed, "Impossible! A Mystery Dungeon of this size would take at least two months to completely merge with the main world!"
The other trainers nodded in agreement; this was common knowledge. It was absolutely impossible for the space to stabilize in less than eight days.
But something flashed through Su Chuan's mind, and he hurriedly said, "Could it be related to the Salamence from a few years ago?"
Everyone remembered the Salamence that had appeared out of nowhere and then vanished just as quickly.
Wang Qing sighed bitterly: "Indeed, according to the analysis, that Salamence might have come from this Mystery Dungeon. Since then, the stability of the Dungeon's space has likely been declining, starting to merge with the main world."
With no time to regret, Wang Qing quickly introduced the situation and divided the eleven gym leader-level trainers into five teams, each leading several master-level trainers on tasks.
"Everyone, our primary objective this time is to rescue the trapped civilians. Secondly, we need to find and gather intelligence on Elite Four-level Pokémon. Lastly, if any Pokémon attempt to breach the barrier into the main world, please ensure they are stopped. The safety of Yundu City rests on your shoulders!"
Wang Qing performed a deep bow to all the trainers present.
Led by Su Chuan, the trainers thumped their chests with their right hands: "It's our duty."
Subsequently, each team entered the Mystery Dungeon through various junctions where the space stability had reached acceptable levels.
Su Chuan, as the most powerful trainer, took the lead and was responsible for the central route to provide support to the other teams at any moment.
"What rich Dragon- and Fire-type energy!" As soon as he entered the Mystery Dungeon, Su Chuan noticed the readings on his wrist monitor skyrocketing.
In such an environment, it wouldn't be surprising for an Elite Four-level Salamence to be born.
All the master-level trainers had already scattered with their respective small teams to conduct rescues, while Su Chuan surveyed the area from the air on Pidgeot.
Mystery Dungeons were viewed as a dire threat because the Pokémon within them might have never encountered humans, making them far more feral than those from the main world.
Releasing Pokémon from a Mystery Dungeon into the main world could easily lead to numerous incidents of Pokémon attacking humans.
However, as long as the Pokémon had been in contact with humans for a while, most highly intelligent Pokémon would usually form a relative peace with humans, keeping to their own paths.
"C3 area, three distressed individuals found, one injured, returning to base."
"B5 area, rare Berry discovered, under attack by five-tier Primeape! Requesting support! Requesting support!"
The risks of the Mystery Dungeon were evident, but the resources it held were equally bountiful.
In the current situation, no one was actively searching for resources, but they certainly wouldn't pass up any they encountered along the way.
Most of these resources would be used to cover the expenses of this operation and as rewards for the Special Dispatch Order.
....
Meanwhile, as the rescue operation was in full swing, Su Wen had just woken up from a deep sleep.
Upon waking, Su Wen noticed that Charmander had somehow crawled from the little bed he had prepared for it to curl up beside him, sleeping soundly while hugging its tail.
After getting up and washing up, Su Wen prepared breakfast for the small Pokémon at home, including a serving for Charmander, and then called it up.
"Mom, has there been any news from the Pokémon Center?" Su Wen stirred the steaming rice porridge in his bowl.
Wang Xuan, busy discussing lunch menus with Indeedee, didn't look up as she replied, "Wang Qing sent word. He reported to the league center that an Elite Four trainer is on the way. Your dad should be back in two or three days."
"An Elite Four?" Su Wen was genuinely surprised.
Originally, Su Wen had expected at most one Elite Four-level trainer; he never imagined they would send an actual member of the Elite Four.
In all of Xia Country, which had nearly two billion people, there were only about three hundred Elite Four-level trainers.
Among those three hundred, only eighteen were actual members of the Elite Four, corresponding to eighteen types: Normal, Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Ice, Bug, Flying, Ground, Rock, Fighting, Psychic, Ghost, Poison, Dark, Steel, Dragon, and Fairy.
In a sense, these represented the strongest eighteen individuals in Xia Country.
The qualifications to obtain the title of Elite Four were extremely stringent. If Su Wen wanted to apply for the title of Fire-type Elite Four in the future, he would first need to win the 1v1 championship in the Elite Four Challenge held every three years using a Fire-type Pokémon.
Then, Su Wen would need to defeat the previous Fire-type Elite Four in both a 1v1 match with a Fire-type Pokémon and a full-type 6v6 battle to replace the former and become the new Fire-type Elite Four.
Therefore, every change in the Elite Four was an event that could shake the entire Xia Country, or even the world.
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