"It's Nemona and the others!"
On the red Gyarados's back, the three people still immersed in the joy of surviving waved desperately at Nemona's group.
They were Brock, May, and Max—the trio who had left Larousse City not long ago and, as expected, gotten dragged into another incident.
After confirming their identities, Paul—who had just raised his head—frowned. His attitude toward them was noticeably warmer than toward Ash. "How did you spot us? We're on a Wailord's back…"
The size difference should have made it impossible for people on a Gyarados floating on the surface to see them—especially since they had covered themselves with blue cloth matching the Wailord's color for camouflage.
When asked, May and Max faltered, their eyes darting guiltily.
Before they could come up with an excuse, Brock—who had been sitting on the red Gyarados—suddenly vanished.
Don't misunderstand; he hadn't fallen into the sea.
With astonishing physical ability, he had leaped directly from the Gyarados onto the Wailord's back. He dropped to one knee in front of the helpless-looking Shizuka, flashing a dazzling (in his opinion) smile with his perfect white teeth.
"Miss Shizuka, I've fallen in love with you at first sight again—"
Everyone: "…"
Okay, we were stupid for even worrying about that.
Watching Brock praise the Paldea Joy who possessed a unique charm absent in Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn, they understood.
With Brock's "big-sister radar," he could probably distinguish even the slightest differences between identical-looking Joy or Jenny officers. The man was practically superhuman.
A short while later.
After exchanging information, Nemona's group had originally wanted to ask where Ash had gone and whether the red Gyarados was a new capture.
But after a brief slump and quick revival, Brock's explanation revealed far more outrageous details.
Not only was Team Aqua active, Team Magma was secretly operating as well.
Both organizations were plotting to control the power of ancient Pokémon and had sent spies against each other.
However, Team Aqua's spy, Shelly, had been anonymously reported by an unknown source. She was captured before she could free the imprisoned Kyogre, intensifying the conflict between the two evil teams.
As a result of their mutual attacks, they had been accidentally separated from Ash and Pikachu.
Ash and Pikachu remained on Team Magma's submarine, while Brock's group had fallen into the sea and been rescued by the sudden appearance of the red Gyarados.
Brock said gravely, "This Gyarados belongs to Mr. Lance. He must be on the submarine too!"
Wild Gyarados wouldn't proactively rescue people, and a red one this rare could only belong to Lance in Brock's knowledge.
He repeated the story he had told May and Max to Nemona's group.
The Lake of Rage, an ordinary Magikarp, Team Rocket's forced evolution experiment, the residual color different from shiny Pokémon…
Listening to Brock recount the red Gyarados's tragic past, Nemona and the others—who lived in the relatively safe Paldea region—fell silent.
Their gazes toward the red Gyarados gained layers of complicated emotion.
The red Gyarados stared straight ahead, completely unbothered by any pity or offense.
During the time since it had been caught, Lance's meticulous care had already helped it move past its anger and hatred.
The things they discussed felt like stories about some unrelated dragon.
Right now, it only knew one thing:
Complete the task Lance had given it before releasing it from its Poké Ball—rescue these children, then reunite with him.
Lance had only taken himself and the senior Dragonite. It needed to protect him as soon as possible.
"Roaaar—!"
Thinking of this, the Gyarados let out an impatient roar.
What are you still chatting about? What if they're already fighting over there while you're dawdling on the sea?!
Brock's group also remembered the forgotten Ash and Pikachu. Urgency appeared on their faces.
"Even with Mr. Lance there, we still need to find Ash!"
"Then I'll go with you too! The more people, the more power!"
Understanding the current situation, Nemona immediately decided to join them in landing on the island.
Though Paul and Shizuka wanted to stop her, since the famous Pokémon Ranger and Dragon Master Lance was on the island, the police likely already knew about the situation. At worst, Lance himself represented the League's security forces.
In the end, they abandoned the plan to leave the jamming zone and contact Officer Jenny. Instead, they asked the Wailord to carry them together with the red Gyarados and Brock's group to land and rescue people!
…
On the other side, at the center of the uninhabited volcanic island called Monsu Island.
At the central altar of the shrine, two groups faced each other.
Thick "gunpowder" filled the air.
After quarreling for so long, it wouldn't be strange for either side to start fighting at any moment.
The leaders were Maxie (middle-aged man with red-tipped hair and black-rimmed glasses) and Archie (sturdy, bearded middle-aged man in a diving suit and blue headband).
Each held an orb whose color completely clashed with their organization's theme, refusing to yield verbally.
Archie held the vermilion orb and signaled his subordinates to bring forward a petite female Team Magma grunt in uniform.
"Heh. You were the ones who proposed the deal, yet you still sent a spy. I don't see even a shred of sincerity from you."
Archie, who usually displayed a bold and generous front, now wore a cold expression.
It had been dangerously close!
If not for a recent recruit who discovered the spy's actions, the imprisoned Groudon would have been freed.
They had even been forced to risk exposure by surfacing the submarine and the holding site for repairs.
"Courtney?!"
When he saw the person being brought forward, Maxie—who held the indigo orb and was usually calm—couldn't help but cry out in disbelief.
His gaze locked onto the girl hiding her delicate face under a hood, head lowered, and on the muscular, shirtless Team Aqua admin Matt who was holding her.
Veins bulged on Maxie's forehead.
He never imagined Courtney would fail her mission, get exposed, and even be captured.
But he quickly calmed down. With an expressionless face, he gave a look to his admin, Tabitha.
The other nodded lightly, then went to the back and brought forward a curvaceous, mature, long-haired woman.
"Then how do you explain this woman, Archie?"
Maxie placed his hands behind his back and asked indifferently.
"Shelly?!"
This time it was Archie's turn to lose composure.
The person held by Tabitha was none other than their own Team Aqua admin Shelly.
With Shelly's abilities, how could she have been exposed and captured…?
Archie's mind ran through almost the exact same thoughts as Maxie's.
But unlike the quiet Courtney, Shelly suddenly raised her head and shouted through gritted teeth at Archie, "There's a traitor in Team Aqua, Lord Archie!"
"My movements were completely leaked! Before I could even act, I was caught by Team Magma—mmph!!"
Before she could finish, the anxious Tabitha covered her mouth.
She could only glare furiously at the man she usually looked down on.
"…Traitor?"
Archie, who had gained useful information, frowned. Only a few people knew about Shelly's operation. Had one of them been bought by Maxie?
His mind raced, but that didn't stop him from verbally attacking Maxie.
"You four-eyed bastard! I knew you were rotten inside! You even tried to turn my subordinates!"
"…Or maybe it's because you've accumulated too much resentment and no one likes you, so they made the right choice?"
Even though a trace of doubt appeared in Maxie's eyes behind his glasses, it didn't stop him from throwing the same rhetoric back at Archie.
He was also puzzled about who had specifically leaked Shelly's movements to Team Magma, but the leaker's identity didn't matter.
What mattered was that they had captured Shelly before she could secretly release Kyogre. That alone was enough.
As for who the traitor was… let Archie keep guessing!
Hostages, orbs, and the legendary Pokémon both sides desired.
Under the influence of unexpected factors, the one-sided situation from the anime had turned into a balanced standoff where conflict could erupt at any moment.
Mixed among the Team Magma grunts, Lance—whose sharp and upright expression remained—lowered his eyes.
He had been working undercover in Team Magma for nearly half a month.
During this time, he had personally witnessed Team Magma locate an underwater cave in Hoenn, capture the sleeping Kyogre, and restrain it.
He hadn't acted immediately because that alone couldn't fully stop their ambitions.
This morning, first the promising Kanto junior had accidentally boarded Team Magma's submarine, then the spy had been exposed. Even he, who had spent half a month in peaceful undercover work to gain Maxie's trust, felt somewhat helpless.
He was also surprised at where Maxie had gotten his information. Had he really sent an even deeper spy?
Or did Team Aqua also have an undercover agent like himself?
International Police? Or had the Hoenn Pokémon Ranger headquarters sent another ranger after commissioning him?
Both sides were now in a tense, sword-drawn atmosphere. Honestly, the standard move would be to immediately release Groudon and Kyogre.
But Lance could not do that.
The Champion who had personally commissioned him to go undercover and monitor their movements had explicitly said it would be best not to let Groudon and Kyogre meet.
Because that would trigger an even more terrifying disaster.
From the beginning, the best choice had been to suppress both factions and calmly return the still-restrained and slumbering ancient Pokémon to their original resting places.
But even as an Elite Four member, Lance had no confidence he could instantly suppress everyone present, let alone the members scattered across the island.
If anything slipped through and someone chose to release the legendaries regardless, the situation would become far more chaotic.
Ash and Pikachu should be safe for now. Although they were evil organization leaders, Maxie was surprisingly reasonable—or rather, quite gentlemanly.
When Team Magma grunts had captured Ash's group, Lance had been watching.
Maxie had not only treated the four courteously but had also promised that as long as they behaved while Team Magma achieved its goal, they would not be harmed and might even be released afterward.
This was a stark contrast to the crude Team Rocket of Kanto and Johto.
But thinking was one thing—when the time to act came, Lance would show no mercy.
In his eyes, these people were ultimately criminals who threatened regional peace and stability. Arresting them and reforming them was their proper fate.
Silently listening to the two sides' meaningless bickering, Lance waited for the right moment.
Fortunately, it seemed that moment was approaching soon.
The two organizations, each holding the other's goods hostage and unwilling to hand them over first, finally began to clash.
On Archie's side, Team Aqua grunts released their Pokémon one after another.
Aside from the land-unfriendly Carvanha and Sharpedo, countless Crawdaunt, Pelipper, and Walrein crowded half the shrine altar.
Team Magma refused to be outdone. Mightyena, Slugma, and Golbat occupied the other end.
Battle was about to erupt.
Lance, with his rich experience, smelled a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
While both sides were fighting, he would directly snatch the vermilion and indigo orbs from Archie and Maxie's hands.
That way, neither side—unable to control Groudon or Kyogre with the orbs—would release the legendaries immediately. Instead, they would focus all their attention on him.
The only problem was that the success rate of doing it alone wasn't high.
Because of his undercover role, he hadn't brought his full Dragon team.
His ace Dragonite and the newly caught, highly promising red Gyarados were all he could hide.
But to save the fallen Brock trio, he had sent the Gyarados out. The severe lack of combat power was another reason for the low success rate.
As leaders of evil organizations that had rampaged across Hoenn for so long, neither Maxie nor Archie was ordinary. The difficulty of snatching both orbs at once was obvious.
But amid the clamor, Lance suddenly picked out the distant roar of his own Gyarados from the noise.
"It's back?!"
Lance's eyes brightened beneath his Team Magma hood as he calculated carefully.
Once the Gyarados arrived, he should be able to launch a simultaneous attack on both Archie and Maxie!
…