In the southern sea off Pastoria City, the five of them were enjoying the sea breeze, leisurely watching as Manaphy and the wild marine Pokémon played freely without restraint.
From the commonly seen Magikarp to the extremely rare Milotic and Kingdra, all of them were surrounding Manaphy.
"This is truly the Prince of the Sea. I doubt even Kyogre is this popular among marine Pokémon," Meredith said from the deck, and as soon as she finished speaking, she couldn't hold back.
She took off her shoes, send out Floatzel, and did a vertical dive straight into the ocean.
"She's acting up again… Floatzel, keep an eye on Meredith!" Kyle shook his head helplessly, having no choice but to remind Floatzel to stay alert.
"Flooo~"
A response came from below. Floatzel suddenly leapt out of the water, with a beaming Meredith riding on its back.
The two of them seemed to be having such a great time, it was hard to tell if they even heard Kyle's reminder.
"I wanna go in… too" Mark said anxiously from the deck, but he didn't have any Water-type Pokémon now, and the thought of that made him fall silent.
Manaphy… could never truly belong to him. No matter how close they were right now, it wouldn't change that.
"I've got plenty of Water-types. Whiscash is great at Surf, if you don't mind, it can go with you," Kyle walked over and handed a Poké Ball to Sato.
"I'll pass."
"Mana! Mana!"
Mark shook his head and was about to refuse, but suddenly heard Manaphy calling out. He looked up and saw Meredith already riding Floatzel near Manaphy's side.
Seeing Meredith join in, Manaphy naturally wanted Mark to come down and play too.
"…Alright, I'll keep Manaphy company for a little while. Thank you, Mr. Kyle!" Mark finally accepted the Poké Ball and smiled gratefully.
After Mark entered the water, Kyle curiously looked at Sato and Joseph. "You two aren't going in? The sea's calm right now, it's really comfortable. Moments like these aren't common at sea."
"Someone's gotta stay on board to keep watch. And lunchtime's coming up, I've got to start cooking," Joseph said with a cheerful smile, "politely" declining Kyle's offer.
Sato just shook his head and said nothing more.
Kyle was about to try persuading them again, but realized they weren't that close to begin with. Pushing too hard might come off as suspicious, so he gave up and focused on navigating the ship.
More than ten minutes passed. Joseph had already gone back into the cabin to prepare lunch, and Manaphy and the others were completely immersed in play.
Sato suddenly stood up from his beach chair, eyes silently turning toward the rear of the ship.
"Kyle, call Mark and the others back, now" Sato said with unusual seriousness.
"What's going on-"
"NOW!"
Sato forcefully cut off Kyle's question, then sent out Sharpedo and Murkrow, running straight toward the rear deck.
Seeing how serious Sato was, Kyle didn't dare hesitate. He rushed to the railing and began shouting loudly toward Meredith and the others.
Hearing the commotion, Joseph also ran out from the cabin. Just as he reached the deck, a fierce gust of wind suddenly hit, whipping his apron wildly in the air.
"Sharpedo, Hydro Pump! Murkrow, Dark Pulse!"
Sato shouted against the wind, commanding both Pokémon to attack a certain spot in the sky.
Hydro Pump and Dark Pulse shot into the sky, but their speed slowed and their trajectories scattered. The strong winds completely blocked both Pokémon's attacks.
Seeing this, Joseph immediately thought of the recent ambush. He wanted to go help Sato but then remembered Mark and the others still in the water.
"Gallade, let's go for them first!" Joseph said as he turned and ran toward the front of the ship.
Out in the ocean, Meredith and the others had already noticed the disturbance. The wild marine Pokémon had all dived underwater, and the group was now desperately swimming back to the ship.
"Gallade, use Teleport and bring them back!" Joseph shouted loudly beside Kyle.
By now, the fierce wind had engulfed the entire deck, and the roar was so loud they could only yell to communicate.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Several blue air blades tore through the wind and slashed across the sky, exploding in a spot that seemed completely empty.
A moment later, a static-like flicker spread across the sky. Then a massive helicopter suddenly appeared above the ship.
Everyone was stunned. If it hadn't been for Sato's sensory abilities, the enemy might've fired at them from that range and they wouldn't even have noticed.
And even so… the fact that the enemy had gotten this close before being detected was terrifying enough.
A flash of white light streaked across the deck. Gallade had used Teleport to bring Mark, Meredith, and Manaphy back all at once. No matter what, everyone was now reunited.
Then, the helicopter overhead suddenly opened a hatch, and several red and white Poké Balls were thrown down, bursting open mid-air.
"Golem… They're trying to kill us…" Sato growled through clenched teeth. The enemy had actually launched a surprise attack like this, completely disregarding human lives.
"Ralts!"
"Leave it to me."
The reply to Sato didn't come from Ralts, but from a calm and chilling voice belonging to the Psychic Queen herself: Gardevoir.
With such a brutal method of attack, only she had the power to turn the tide and control all the Golem at once.
As for Gengar and the others… their psychic power was still a step behind.
A powerful blue psychic glow suddenly burst forth. The eight Golem, thrown down to unleash Explosion, were now all frozen midair.
The pitch-black Gardevoir had somehow already appeared at the highest point of the ship. With just a wave of her hands, she flung four Golem to each side, sending all of them plunging into the sea.
Each Golem weighed around 300 kilograms, and the force from their rapid descent should've been massive… but before Gardevoir, it was a complete joke.
"Sharpedo… Giga Impact"
From the deck, Sato's command rang out. The already Mega Evolved Sharpedo transformed into a swirl of orange and purple energy and shot straight toward the helicopter.
With a deafening crash, Sharpedo pierced through the helicopter from the center, then another massive explosion erupted.
"Protect!"
Murkrow, Gallade, Gardevoir, and the others all deployed protective shields, blocking the debris and shrapnel from the explosion for everyone onboard.
Manaphy curled up in Mark's arms, trembling nonstop. It had never seen such a terrifying scene before. In that moment of the explosion, it truly felt like the sky was falling.
"There, there… we're here. Everything's okay," Mark gently patted Manaphy, comforting it softly; but his eyes never left the center of the explosion.
In this situation… it was hard to believe anyone could've survived.
But more importantly.
Who would resort to such an extreme method just to capture Manaphy?