Finding Caroline wasn't difficult. She was still near the entrance of Vast Poni Canyon, tending to her Gardevoir.
The spiritual realm of Alola didn't have as many medical supplies as the regular world, so after providing some basic first aid, Caroline recalled Gardevoir into its Poké Ball.
Caroline glanced back toward the canyon. She really wanted to confront whoever was behind all of this, but Gardevoir's condition wasn't good. She had to prioritize her Pokémon's wellbeing.
Caroline decided to head to Akala Island first and seek out Tapu Lele to treat Gardevoir properly.
She focused the psychic energy within her body, preparing to use Teleport.
"Roar!"
Salamence's growl interrupted Caroline just in time. The Dragon-type flapped its powerful wings in the sky, kicking up clouds of dust that polluted the air around them.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Caroline had nearly drowned earlier, which had left her respiratory system weakened. Now the dust stirred up by Salamence made things worse, and she couldn't stop coughing.
Lucario was able to communicate with Caroline through its aura powers.
"Are you alright?" Lucario's voice was full of concern, though it remembered its trainer's instructions and didn't touch Caroline.
Caroline waved her hand dismissively. "I'm fine, really."
Lucario then explained why they had come looking for her.
"We're going to search for our trainer next. Would you like to come with us?"
Caroline hesitated for a moment before shaking her head in refusal.
"No, Gardevoir is badly injured. I need to find Tapu Lele first."
Lucario didn't try to persuade her further. It had only asked out of a sense of responsibility, following its trainer's instructions.
Caroline was strong enough on her own, and Gardevoir wasn't her only Pokémon. To be honest, Lucario and Salamence might be the ones in more danger than she was.
After a brief farewell, Caroline used her psychic powers to Teleport away from Poni Island, while Lucario and Salamence continued their journey to find their trainer.
Lucario patted Salamence's large head gently.
"We'll be back with him soon."
Salamence didn't respond with words. It simply focused on its flying, occasionally giving a small acknowledgment to show it understood.
That's good enough.
Meanwhile, Roy, Ninetales, Mimikyu, and the others had been driven out of the canyon by Murkrow's powerful Dark Pulse attack. Now they found themselves in quite an awkward situation.
Roy had been protected at the front by his other Pokémon throughout the escape, so he was the cleanest one among them.
Mimikyu had hidden itself in the shadows when the canyon started to shake and collapse, so while it wasn't exactly clean, it didn't have much debris on its disguise.
Ninetales, however, was the unluckiest of them all. Unlike Mimikyu, Ninetales was much larger, and its entire body was covered in fluffy fur. Nearly every strand was coated with dust from the canyon.
Ninetales shook its head in disgust, making repeated sounds of disapproval.
With Roy's gentle reassurance, Ninetales gradually calmed down.
Looking back, they could see that the exit of Vast Poni Canyon had been completely blocked by fallen rocks and dust. It wasn't surprising, really. The original exit had been a narrow passage that could only fit one adult walking sideways. With all the chaos inside Vast Poni Canyon, it was bound to collapse.
Vast Poni Canyon wasn't far from the black tower structure, though the tower stood at a higher elevation. Still, the massive disturbance in the canyon had been enough to alert Tapu Koko, who had been overseeing the construction work.
Solgaleo and Lunala had been channeling their light energy into the tower's prison system when they sensed the commotion. Solgaleo paused its work and, after exchanging a look with Lunala, left the interior of the black tower to investigate.
Tapu Koko happened to be holding its construction plans, wanting to see what had caused such a disturbance. Its surveillance network had informed it earlier that Murkrow was fighting against a Midnight Lycanroc, Roy, and others, but there had been no information about the final outcome or why such events were happening inside the canyon.
This situation alarmed Tapu Koko greatly. It meant that parts of its surveillance network had been destroyed by something without anyone noticing.
Usually, battles in Vast Poni Canyon were nothing more than territorial disputes between Murkrow and the Lycanroc, which was just natural selection at work. Tapu Koko normally didn't pay much attention to such things.
But this time was different. Not only was Roy involved, but parts of the surveillance network had been compromised. This was definitely a major security breach.
Just then, Solgaleo emerged from the black tower. After Tapu Koko explained the situation, it could see how anxious Solgaleo appeared. If the black tower didn't require Lunala to maintain it as well, Tapu Koko felt certain that Solgaleo would have rushed off to find Roy immediately.
However, Solgaleo understood that the mission came first. After entrusting this matter to Tapu Koko, it reluctantly returned to the black tower, though not without looking back several times.
Tapu Koko watched Solgaleo turn around every few steps, seeing that "I'm counting on you" look in its eyes.
"I suddenly feel like I've been given a huge responsibility..." Tapu Koko thought to itself.
Without further delay, Tapu Koko set aside its supervisor role and took off to investigate what had happened, using one of the smaller paths.
"Koko koko!"
"At the very least, I need to find out who destroyed my surveillance network!"
With righteous indignation, Tapu Koko began its journey to locate Roy.
Meanwhile, Roy, who was being worried about by all these Pokémon, released Blastoise from its Poké Ball.
As the designated worker, Blastoise kept using its Water-type moves to clean Ninetales and Mimikyu.
Blastoise looked at Roy, who was acting like nothing had happened, with tearful eyes.
"In the end, the turtle is the one who suffers, huh?" Blastoise seemed to think.
Roy deliberately avoided Blastoise's gaze and pretended to be calm while whistling casually.
Soon, with Blastoise's help, the appearance-conscious Princess Ninetales finished her bath and grooming session.
During this time, Salamence and Lucario successfully reunited with the group and reported everything they had encountered to Roy.
"The Lycanroc pack leader told you something?" Roy asked.
"They helped us a lot. If they hadn't helped keep Murkrow occupied, we probably would have been buried in Vast Poni Canyon."
Lucario hadn't expected things to turn out this way and felt genuinely grateful in its heart.
"A request? Go ahead and tell me."