Don't look at Jigglypuff as usually being unserious; she is a being blessed by many Legendary Pokémon, which makes her perception of the natural environment extremely keen.
Especially due to Suicune's blessing and Manaphy's blessing, Jigglypuff's perception of water quality is also very sensitive.
When Jigglypuff slightly sensed the water in Yunmeng Lake, she immediately detected that the water quality in some areas nearby had problems.
The first thing everyone thought of was illegal discharge.
Goodness, discharging sewage right in front of Suicune? Wouldn't Suicune directly come knocking?
Moreover, if it really was a discharge, discharging in such a large Yunmeng Marsh area would surely have backend support.
Otherwise, there would have been relevant news reports from local residents and online media long ago.
However, Mu Li did not find any relevant reports in the latest local columns and online media; of course, it's also possible that they were deleted before being published.
But since Jigglypuff has already detected a water quality issue, Suicune couldn't possibly not have noticed.
In other words, Suicune might have already gone there, but for some reason, Suicune was unable to solve the problem.
Mu Li frowned, “Let’s hurry over and take a look; Suicune might be in a bit of trouble.”
Everyone was still full of questions: “Wasn’t it fine just now? How did it suddenly become a problem?”
Everyone followed Jigglypuff to a large tributary that flowed into Yunmeng Lake. The water quality here also looked fine, just as clear and transparent.
However, Jigglypuff's brows furrowed tighter and tighter.
Following Jigglypuff upstream for about an hour, they arrived at a smaller tributary.
Although it was a smaller tributary, it was still ten meters wide, but upon reaching here, everyone's expressions turned very grim.
“Everyone, please diligently record the surrounding environment,” Mu Li instructed the cameramen.
The water quality here was no longer as clear as Yunmeng Lake; dead fish with white bellies floated on the turbid surface, the aquatic plants on the banks had turned withered and scorched black, and even more strangely, the edges of certain water areas were covered with a layer of grayish-white translucent crystalline formations.
Those crystals shimmered in the sunlight, looking extremely bizarre.
“What exactly is this?” Li Muhua's expression turned very grim; clearly, everything before them could absolutely not be caused by any natural phenomenon.
“This is an energy residue…” Gardevoir’s figure suddenly appeared, explaining, “This should be traces left by humans.”
Just as everyone was about to inquire, an Oinkologne suddenly entered their field of vision. The Oinkologne was facing the water area Mu Li had just investigated, letting out anxious grunts.
Mu Li immediately saw the scarf around Oinkologne’s neck: it was an Oinkologne with a Trainer.
Sure enough, a female voice came from the nearby bushes: “Oinkologne, slow down.”
The next moment, a young woman wearing khaki work clothes and with a neat ponytail appeared before everyone.
“Are you the owner of this Oinkologne?” Mu Li asked.
The girl nodded and said, “My name is Xu Aili, and I am an ecological researcher. I am currently focusing on the issue of pollution spread in this water area.”
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief after hearing that the other party was not a fan.
Li Muhua also informed the other party that they were filming a program.
Xu Aili's eyes immediately lit up after hearing this: “That’s great! I was worried that this investigation would run into problems again, but with you all here, it should go much smoother.”
Mu Li frowned; he understood the meaning in Xu Aili’s words: “So, this isn’t your first investigation?”
Xu Aili nodded and said, “That’s right. Previous seniors have investigated this issue, but due to many factors, they were unable to continue. The most frustrating part was that we couldn't go deep into the polluted core area to investigate.”
“My Oinkologne has an extraordinary tracking ability for abnormal pollutants,” Xu Aili continued to explain, “The crystals in this river water, which are what we are currently tracking, are the residue of an unknown pollutant. This substance causes water bodies to rapidly crystallize.”
“Crystallization?” Mu Li couldn't help but frown, “That sounds very troublesome… Let’s find Suicune first.”
“Suicune?” Xu Aili’s eyes widened instantly, “You’re looking for Suicune, the legendary Guardian of Pure Water? I thought legends were just legends; I didn’t expect Suicune to actually appear here!”
Mu Li nodded and said, “That’s right, Suicune has always resided in this area. However, judging by the current situation, if this problem has persisted for a long time, then Suicune is very likely already in trouble.”
With Xu Aili joining them, the group followed the polluted area and arrived at a small lake.
The lake water here was already close to drying up, with muddy wetlands everywhere.
Oinkologne, however, appeared unusually wary. It paced anxiously back and forth near several seemingly normal water edges, emitting short warning sounds.
“The pollution has already infiltrated here.” Xu Aili's expression was grim. She put on gloves and carefully scraped a sample of moist soil from the edge of a puddle with a tool.
Mu Li also observed carefully and found some clues—at the base of several rocks, there was a layer of extremely fine grayish-white film, which felt hard and brittle to the touch, like a thin layer of glass candy coating.
“Is this the early stage of crystallization?” Mu Li gently scraped it with his fingernail. The film shattered, but the rock beneath it also fractured.
“Yes. It’s very stubborn, difficult to remove, and it will continuously ‘Growth,’ eventually completely sealing off the water body and cutting off oxygen.” Xu Aili exclaimed after putting the sample into a sealed tube, “Look over there!”
Following the direction she pointed, Mu Li saw a small group of Marill and Wooper huddled in the tall grass away from the water's edge.
Several Wooper were covered in mud, looking very disheveled.
They stared warily at the water's surface, their eyes filled with unease and fear, as if a deadly monster was hidden beneath the calm water.
“The pollution here doesn’t seem as severe as over there just now…” Mu Li analyzed.
“No, that’s not the case.” Xu Aili denied, “The lake water here, even the structure of the lakebed, has already been affected by that substance. Otherwise, the lake wouldn’t be dried up like this at this time of year.”
Just then, a voice came over: “Are you here to report these anomalies?”
A middle-aged man in faded work clothes with some gray in his hair emerged from behind a large tree.
Beside him, a Magneton floated, emitting a regular humming sound, seemingly scanning something.
He approached somewhat cautiously, his gaze fixed on the camera.
“Who are you?” Xu Aili asked.
“Liu Feng, I used to be a technician in the environmental monitoring department of ‘Bohai Energy’ company.” The man gave a bitter smile, “But I’ve already resigned, because… I can’t tolerate these things anymore.”
He walked to the rock with the film on it, pointed at it, his voice filled with suppressed anger and fear: “It’s this thing! We call it ‘Crystal Dust,’ and its source is Bohai Energy Company.”