All the Ice-type Pokémon surrounded the egg in a circle.
Empoleon looked again in the direction of Mu Li and the others, and after seemingly confirming that they would not approach, it began to let out Growls.
As if in response to Empoleon's Growl, the other Pokémon also began to Growl.
In a daze, Mu Li and the others seemed to hear a faint, ethereal sound begin to echo in their ears.
It was a strange wave, like a breeze or flowing water, gently caressing everyone's souls, constantly echoing in their minds.
Immediately after, the many Ice-type Pokémon began to dance according to the melody in everyone's minds.
Their dances had no similarities; it was as if they were dancing purely by instinct, but as they danced, a miraculous scene unfolded.
Inside the cave, the towering ice pillars, the hanging Icicle Spears, and the ice surfaces spread on the ground—these glacial crystals, accumulated for who knows how many years, seemed to be awakened by this magical rhythm.
Buzz...
Mu Li and the others seemed to hear a low and deep resonance, rising from the depths of the earth.
Immediately after, the tinkling sound of flowing water gradually rose, mixing with the buzzing, like a double concerto.
Within the deep blue ice wall, countless tiny points of light began to flicker, as if the starry river in the sky suddenly lit up.
This was like a resonance of souls.
At the center of the platform, the Pokémon egg that was the focus of all attention slowly floated up amidst the mist formed by these tiny blue lights.
Specks of light blue light gradually seeped into the Pokémon egg, and the ice patterns on the egg also flickered in response, as if breathing.
Mu Li and the others felt as if their bodies and souls had been cleansed; their physical fatigue and mental stress completely vanished before this holy song.
In its place was a long-lost sense of tranquility.
A very simple hum emanated from the mouths of the many Ice-type Pokémon.
There were no lyrics, no techniques, just simple chanting.
Accompanying this simple chanting, a crystalline ice flower began to appear in the mist.
More and more crystalline ice flowers appeared, as if to envelop the entire ice cave. Mu Li couldn't help but reach out and catch one; the ice crystal melted quickly in his hand.
"It's so beautiful!" everyone exclaimed, while the only photographer among them was frantically documenting everything.
The chanting grew louder, and the sound gradually became ethereal and distant.
The Pokémon egg in the center seemed to be responding to this chant, its light flickering even more frequently.
The song accompanied the Pokémon's dance; this scene was enough to shake anyone to their core.
Everyone was completely lost in this beautiful scene.
After an unknown amount of time, Mu Li, who was immersed in the dream, suddenly frowned, and his eyes snapped open.
The other five were also like this.
The voices of the Ice-type Pokémon, who had been chanting, seemed to weaken.
The prolonged dancing had also exhausted their stamina.
"Is it still not enough?" Fu Peiyao couldn't help but whisper.
Mu Li subconsciously looked at Gardevoir, and then, Gardevoir emitted faint green light, and waves of Heal Pulse spread like ripples to the many Pokémon.
The Pokémon, who were about to lose their strength, instantly regained their spirits.
However, even though the Pokémon regained their stamina, the energy around the Pokémon egg was continuously dissipating.
"The Ice-type energy is insufficient," Mu Li said calmly.
"Ice-type?" Everyone suddenly realized that there were no Ice-type Pokémon around them.
But before they could feel annoyed, a clear Growl suddenly came from behind their ears.
A chill accompanied by a strong wind whistled over their heads, and some ice crystals fell from the sky, landing on their hair.
A bird Pokémon, seemingly composed entirely of light blue ice crystals, flew over their heads.
Wherever it went, crystalline ice flowers began to scatter.
It was the messenger of ice and snow.
"Articuno!!!" Song Ling'er couldn't help but exclaim, and Mu Li felt Fu Peiyao's grip on his arm unconsciously tighten.
Articuno's appearance instantly attracted the attention of all the Pokémon, and the Pokémon egg also seemed to resonate with Articuno.
An extremely rich Ice-type energy gradually emanated from Articuno and converged into the Pokémon egg.
The Pokémon egg, which had been unable to continue emitting light due to lack of energy, completely quieted at this moment.
Perhaps a second passed, or perhaps a minute, including the Pokémon egg's energy dissipated.
The Pokémon egg seemed to pulsate once.
The next moment, a crack appeared on the Pokémon egg, and a ray of light emerged from the Pokémon egg, enveloping the entire eggshell.
After the light disappeared, a small purple bird appeared in the place of the Pokémon egg.
"Is that Articuno?" Fu Peiyao asked, somewhat uncertainly.
"That's right, that's Articuno, just in a different form," Mu Li explained, looking at the Galar form of Articuno, "This form of Articuno is more skilled in psychic attacks."
Unlike the Articuno flying in the sky, the Galar Articuno seemed to float in the air, not even needing to flap its wings.
The appearance of the Galar Articuno immediately excited all the Ice-type Pokémon, and they couldn't help but prostrate themselves on the ground.
At this point, the others finally reacted.
"Huh? Two Articuno? Then where did that Articuno come from?" Song Ling'er suddenly asked.
Mu Li shrugged, pointed behind him, and said, "It seems to have flown from behind us."
Everyone obviously didn't quite believe him.
"Perhaps it sensed the call of the other Articuno and came over," Mu Li explained.
"It should be," Zhang Ruoyun also nodded.
"But it's so amazing that Articuno can turn into an egg and revive, just like the legendary phoenix in myths," Song Ling'er's attention returned to Articuno.
"Indeed," Mu Li nodded, "But there's an even more serious problem: who hurt Articuno to that extent?"
The Pokémon also recovered from their joy and expressed their gratitude to Mu Li's Articuno.
Mu Li and the others also walked over, carefully examining this Galar form of Articuno.
"How were you hurt like this?" Mu Li asked with a frown.
Articuno, perhaps because it had just recovered from the egg, couldn't even use psychic communication properly, and its memories hadn't fully recovered.
Looking at the bewildered Articuno, Mu Li and the others felt quite uneasy.
These Pokémon clearly looked innocent and were not the type to cause trouble. It was obvious without thinking that this was definitely the fault of certain humans.
Mu Li stated that he absolutely could not forgive such behavior.
