"It's about to hatch."
Aven and all the Pokémon present fixed their gazes on the Pokémon Egg.
As the cracks on the surface of the egg multiplied, a surge of white light suddenly burst forth. It flowed and pulsed continuously, just like an evolution in progress, and as the light kept shifting and transforming, it finally condensed into a small, delicate figure.
Manaphy's entire body was blue. Two long antennae extended from the top of its head, each ending in a spherical tip. Its irises were deep blue, its sclera yellow, and from the "eyelash" area of its eyes extended two thin lines that connected to two yellow circular markings. On its chest was a red gemstone, beneath which sat a yellow dot. Its arms were longer than its body, while its legs were thick and short. Nearly eighty percent of its body consisted of water, making it extremely sensitive to changes in the surrounding environment.
After emerging, Manaphy happily fluttered about in the air, and at the same time, its consciousness was transmitted directly into the minds of everyone and every Pokémon present through telepathy. "Hello."
"It's very nice to meet you, Manaphy."
Aven extended his hand, letting the little one settle on it, while his other hand gently stroked its body.
Seeing this, the other Pokémon all gathered around, curiously observing the small creature before them. Lilligant directly offered it a stream of life energy.
"Thank you."
Manaphy politely expressed its gratitude and fluttered over to Lilligant's side.
It particularly loved the life energy radiating from Lilligant. In fact, it was precisely by absorbing this life energy that it had grown so eager to break free from the Pokémon Egg earlier.
"It's really great that you like Lilligant's life energy," Aven said with a smile.
Now, relying on natural energy, Lilligant could fully integrate Water-type energy into life energy, transforming it into a special kind of Life Water. This Life Water itself was a top-tier nutritional substance, even more nourishing than the Pokémon food Aven personally concocted. It was undoubtedly very suitable as Manaphy's nourishment.
"Your Majesty Aven, this is…" The High Priestess standing nearby stared at Manaphy, who had just hatched from the egg, utterly shocked.
"This is the Prince of the Sea, Manaphy," Aven said calmly.
"As long as it is here, we will face no obstacles upon the ocean."
Hearing Aven's words, Manaphy quickly flew up and patted its small chest with its short little hands, signaling that everything could be left to it!
"Then does that mean we can depart for Kalos now?" The High Priestess's eyes lit up.
Aven nodded. "Yes. All preparations have been completed. It's time to set off." The Demon God Hoopa was an enormous threat to the entire world and had to be sealed as soon as possible!
Several days later, a massive ship was sailing across the sea.
This vessel, named the Spirit by Aven, departed from Azure Town and followed the coastline toward Kalos. Surrounding the ship were numerous Water-type Pokémon acting as escorts. The maritime guard stood along the deck, each with several Poké Balls attached at their waists.
For these sea guards, all of them had already passed the official Trainer assessments and earned the qualification to obtain Poké Balls.
In fact, across the entire Sinnoh Region, the number of official Trainers was no longer small. Poké Balls had essentially entered mass production and had become indispensable tools for Trainers to capture and command Pokémon.
Mado stood at the bow of the ship, constantly scanning the surroundings. However, what puzzled him was that after sailing for such a long time, they hadn't encountered a single Water-type Pokémon tribe. This was truly strange.
"Everyone, don't lower your guard," Mado frowned as he instructed the Trainers beside him.
Based on his experience, such a situation often meant that there was an extremely powerful Pokémon nearby, one so formidable that ordinary Water-type Pokémon dared not approach.
After some thought, he glanced toward the cabins, recalling that His Majesty Aven was also on board. He couldn't help but sigh inwardly— with Aven present, it would be difficult for the maritime guard to truly be of use.
Even so, he didn't relax his vigilance. After all, Aven had said that unless absolutely necessary, he would not intervene. This voyage was an excellent opportunity for practical training.
But just as these thoughts crossed his mind, the entire ship suddenly began to tremble. Dark clouds rapidly gathered in the sky, clearly signaling the brewing of a storm.
"Lord Daly, we've encountered a storm ahead. Should we detour?" a young sailor asked the helmsman, Mayor Daly.
"Call me Captain Daly," Daly said with displeasure, then looked toward the darkened sky in the distance. "Under normal circumstances, we would indeed need to go around it."
"But…" He suddenly changed his tone and laughed. "This is a Trainer's ship. So we'll use a Trainer's method to deal with it. Have Captain Mado help disperse the storm!"
Hearing this, the sailor immediately ran off. Soon after, he saw the Trainers pulling out Poké Balls from behind them. As the balls opened, streams of white light burst forth.
Beautiful Bellossom, Vileplume, Gloom, and Cherrim, Grass-type Pokémon—appeared one after another. Under their Trainers' commands, they used the move Sunny Day, causing the dark clouds that had gathered in the sky to rapidly dissipate.
"So this is the power of Trainers! That's incredible!" Witnessing this scene, the sailors stared in astonishment, their faces filled with excitement.
All of the sailors present were seasoned veterans, yet this was the first time they had ever seen a storm avoided in such a way. Their eyes shone with anticipation—clearly, a new era of ocean voyages was about to begin.
After successfully dispersing the storm, the Trainers recalled their Grass-type Pokémon, then released Flying-type Pokémon to scout the surroundings from above. Everything proceeded in an orderly and methodical manner.
In this way, more than half a month passed.
Inside the cabin, Aven was teasing Manaphy. The little one had grown remarkably fast since its appearance and was now comfortably soaking in Life Water.
During this time, aside from eating, drinking, and sleeping, Aven had already begun training it, especially its ability to communicate with living beings. Under Gardevoir's guidance, this power had improved rapidly, and faint, invisible psychic fluctuations could now be seen constantly emanating from it.
"Manaphy, use Confusion," Aven instructed. Confusion could be considered the foundation of psychic techniques for all Pokémon and could also strengthen mental abilities.
However, at that very moment, Manaphy's expression suddenly stiffened. Its gaze snapped toward the direction the ship was heading, confusion flashing in its eyes as its body slowly floated upward.
"What's wrong, Manaphy?" Aven asked, puzzled.
He walked over and looked out through the cabin window, where he could see the sea beginning to churn violently once more.
"Another storm?" He frowned, faintly sensing that this sudden storm felt distinctly unnatural.
"Lilli—gant!"
At that moment, Lilligant's pupils suddenly contracted.
Through its sensitivity to life energy, it could feel an extremely powerful life-energy fluctuation rapidly approaching!
"Powerful…?" Aven's expression changed slightly.
Anything Lilligant described as powerful had to be at least Guardian Deity-level strength!
Could it be that a Guardian Deity -level Pokémon had set its sights on them? If so, this was certainly not good news.
With these thoughts in mind, he immediately had Gardevoir teleport him to the deck. There, he saw many Trainers already assembled.
They released their Grass-type Pokémon, attempting once again to use Sunny Day to disperse the storm, but this time, their tried-and-true method failed!
"Lilli—gant!"
Seeing this, Lilligant also joined in, surging with solar energy.
When the Trainers saw Lilligant step in, they all breathed a sigh of relief. Yet just as they believed the storm would soon subside, they were shocked to find rain beginning to fall.
Even Lilligant was unable to disperse the forming storm, instantly making all the Trainers realize something was terribly wrong.
"It seems something powerful truly has appeared," Aven exhaled deeply.
He then stepped forward, holding Manaphy, intending to have it use its special abilities to communicate with the being lurking in the sea.
(End of Chapter)