Ash and his friends were among the Trainers who received the invitation relatively late.
Leafport City, Old Shore Wharf.
Dozens of Trainers had already gathered here, but at this moment they were all trapped inside the Pokémon Center.
The massive rainstorm outside Leafport City had forced the ferries to halt service, leaving them unable to reach New Island.
All of these Trainers had been invited by Mewtwo to attend the so-called "Banquet of the Strongest Trainers."
Ash and his group, drenched from the rainstorm, also ran into the Pokémon Center at this time.
"The weather was perfectly fine just now, how could it…" Misty looked distressed.
"Coastal climates are the most fickle," Brock said despairingly.
"This isn't a natural change." As Ash and the other two were shaking off and wringing out their clothes, a familiar voice came from behind them, making them turn around in surprise.
Who else could this smiling young man be but Terrance?
"Terrance, why are you here? Could it be that you were invited too?" Brock asked in astonishment. Then he quickly realized, if even Ash had been invited, there was no reason Terrance wouldn't be.
Terrance didn't answer. In fact, he hadn't been invited. Mewtwo's way of inviting Trainers was by selecting from video footage recorded with cameras mounted on Fearow. Since Terrance had never been captured on film, naturally he hadn't received an invitation.
At this time, Mewtwo, having only just been born, had very little experience. It didn't understand Trainer titles like "Elite Four" or "Champion," nor did it know about regional conferences or the Champion League. It was simply inviting Trainers it found by its own standards.
This resulted in the banquet it was hosting being a very low level of competition, even less valuable than a regional conference.
"What you just said…" Misty, being a Water-type Trainer, was puzzled by Terrance's words.
This rainstorm wasn't a natural change?
"It's Confusion." Terrance activated the meditative technique, his eyes glimmering faintly as he looked out the window. The clouds above were being manipulated by a powerful psychic force. This rainstorm—far more terrifying than any Castform-made Rainstorm—was being created forcibly by psychic power alone.
What a terrifying power…
Ash, Misty, and Brock listened blankly to Terrance's explanation. Then Terrance pointed ahead: "Officer Jenny and the piermaster are here. Weren't you all planning to go to New Island? Go listen to what they have to say."
Leafport City's Officer Jenny and Miss Miranda, the piermaster were at that moment explaining the situation to the Trainers.
"Even I, someone who grew up on the docks, have never seen a hurricane this strong. I absolutely cannot just watch you risk your lives," said the blue-haired woman Miranda.
Her words of caution, along with Officer Jenny's persuasion, still failed to change the Trainers' minds.
"No problem, I have Pokémon. My Pokémon are great swimmers. We'll definitely find a way to cross the sea," a slightly chubby Trainer stepped forward.
"No. Even I, who know the sea so well, am telling you it's impossible," Miranda said sternly, hands clasped behind her back.
"You can't. If your Pokémon get injured, you won't be able to have them treated at the Pokémon Center during this time," Officer Jenny warned.
At that moment, Ash squeezed out of the crowd: "Why not?"
Officer Jenny's face darkened. She glanced at the missing-person poster on the wall and said, "Because Nurse Joy of the Pokémon Center has disappeared, and a new nurse hasn't been assigned yet."
"It's fine, I'm going to that banquet no matter what." By now, some Trainers were getting impatient. Seeing that the time for the banquet was almost upon them, someone couldn't wait any longer and rushed straight out of the Pokémon Center.
"Me too. I have a Flying-type Pokémon."
"We've already come all this way; it would be such a waste not to go."
"Let's go together then. We can watch each other's backs."
As one person dashed out of the Pokémon Center, the crowd surged after them. Officer Jenny and Miss Miranda simply couldn't hold them back.
At the edge of the dock, a Fearow was released, and its Trainer mounted it, flying toward New Island into the torrential rain. Out at sea, a Gyarados was released, its Trainer climbing onto its back as well.
"Everyone's showing off their skills…" Terrance shook his head. These people are really arrogant. If they got into trouble in the storm, the ones injured would be themselves and their Pokémon.
"Oh well, I have no right to tell others." Terrance's eyes flickered. He too knew New Island was dangerous yet still planned to go there willingly. In essence, he wasn't so different from these Trainers.
At the dockside, Officer Jenny chased after the Trainers to the seaside. She pressed down on her hat, which was nearly blown off by the wind, and called out anxiously, "Don't go! Otherwise, I'll have to start making arrests!!"
Unfortunately, the Trainers leaving the Pokémon Center had already made up their minds. No matter how much Officer Jenny tried to dissuade them, no one listened.
"There's no way to stop them," Miranda said calmly.
"After all, they're Trainers." Miranda and a male voice spoke the words in unison.
Trainers… They were adventurers. No mere wind or rain could stop them.
"You are…" Officer Jenny and Miss Miranda spoke in puzzlement as they looked at Terrance beside them, not knowing when he had arrived.
"I'm a Trainer as well. Officer Jenny, please focus on maintaining security and rescue operations in Leafport City from here on," Terrance said slowly, looking out at the violent storm.
Mismagius had discovered Team Rocket members hidden in Leafport City; it was likely they had already located Mewtwo's whereabouts and were planning to retrieve it.
Right now, if not for the rainstorm and the large number of Trainers here, Team Rocket probably would've acted already, but they dared not make a big move at such a sensitive time for fear of drawing the League's attention.
"Once the Mewtwo incident ends, that will probably be when Team Rocket makes their move to capture it. Hopefully nothing bad happens…" Terrance shook his head slightly.
Wait a second…
Just as Terrance was chatting with Officer Jenny and the others, the corner of his mouth twitched. He spotted Ash and his group running out onto the nearby dock and climbing onto a rickety little wooden boat.
A little wooden boat, seriously? In this weather? It was guaranteed to capsize!
Slapping his forehead, Terrance knew without thinking that it was most likely those three "immortals" from Team Rocket. Only they could come up with the idea of crossing the rainstorm in a paddle boat.
But that wasn't the key point; the key was that Ash and the others actually got on the boat. Ash maybe he could understand, but Misty and Brock? How could they be so careless?
"See you later." Terrance took a deep breath, said this without looking back to Officer Jenny and the others, and called out Altaria and Castform.
Altaria's Ability, Cloud Nine, might not be strong enough to dispel the rainstorm stirred up here by Mewtwo's Confusion, but with Castform's support, ensuring a safe and comfortable passage through this terrifying rainstorm was still quite easy.
Under the stunned gazes of Officer Jenny and Miss Miranda, Terrance mounted Altaria directly and, like the other Trainers, headed toward New Island.
"Castform, look after Ash and the others." Terrance still wasn't at ease about Ash's group, so he sent Castform out.
At the same time, he issued another command: while ensuring Ash and his group' safety, Castform should also try to help any other Trainers in danger as much as possible.
As for Terrance himself, he didn't rush toward the castle on New Island.
He had no invitation and wasn't one of the guests Mewtwo intended to receive, so Terrance planned to sneak in using Gallade.
"What a strong wind."
"At this rate, these dozens of Trainers will probably be wiped out. Fewer than a handful might actually succeed in crossing the sea." Terrance was startled.
At this moment, Trainers were already being overturned by the waves and blown down by the fierce winds one after another.
Terrance didn't worry about how he would cross the rainstorm; weather of this level wasn't enough to stop him.
But for Trainers at Ash's level, it was more than enough; most of the Trainers whose progress was halted by the storm were weaker even than Ash.
Facing the rainstorm, they had almost no power to resist.
Terrance's dispatched Castform, together with Terrance himself, wanted to lend these people a hand, but there were simply too many of them, leaving Terrance at a loss as to where to start. Yet precisely because of this moment of hesitation, Terrance suddenly noticed something odd.
He guessed Castform had probably noticed it too by now.
The Trainers and Pokémon overturned by waves and knocked down by winds weren't injured at all. They were being protected by a psychic power, preventing them from being swallowed by the rainstorm and still giving them enough strength to escape.
"Is it Mewtwo?" An inexplicable feeling welled up in Terrance's heart.
He hadn't expected Mewtwo to be paying attention to the safety of these Trainers.
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