Although Wailmer's injuries were serious, most were surface wounds, mainly from Sharpedo's sharp teeth.
Unlike ordinary scratches, treating Wailmer required more careful application of medicine.
"Wail~"
Wailmer woke up during treatment. At first, seeing Lucas—especially the intimidating Dragonite—made Wailmer nervous.
But Pokémon are simple creatures. Not only did Lucas and Dragonite show no hostility, but they also used expensive and highly effective medicine on Wailmer.
The body never lies.
Knowing that Lucas and Dragonite were treating it and had driven away the Sharpedo, Wailmer visibly warmed up to Lucas.
Its tiny, beady eyes looked at Lucas with gratitude. If it weren't unable to move much, it might have tried to snuggle closer to him.
When Lucas finished treating Wailmer's wounds, Swampert had already returned with Finizen.
Wiping the sweat from his brow, Lucas let out a long sigh. Stretching, he caught sight of Swampert swimming back, accompanied by a strangely excited Finizen.
"They're fine, they don't mean any harm."
Noticing that Wailmer seemed a bit tense with Swampert and Finizen approaching, Lucas gently patted its springy body.
The soft, bouncy feeling distracted Lucas for a moment. It was just like a squishy rubber ball—no wonder Wailmer liked bouncing around on the beach for fun.
As Swampert and Finizen drew near, Lucas noticed a few wounds on Finizen. There was no need to ask about the Sharpedo—the answer was obvious.
Swampert floated calmly at the surface, while Finizen circled it a few times, then, seeing Wailmer had woken up, excitedly swam around it.
Watching the inexplicably hyper Finizen, Lucas glanced at Swampert.
"What happened?"
Swampert, understanding Lucas's signal, made a strange face and shrugged helplessly. It opened its mouth, mimicking Sharpedo's jaws, then used its arm to imitate Finizen and snapped its mouth shut.
Swampert's performance was quite abstract, as the confused looks on Dragonite and Wailmer showed.
But Lucas somehow understood. He blurted, "Its brain got bitten by a Sharpedo?"
If it now thinks it's Falafin Hero, there's probably something wrong. Swampert nodded in agreement.
Lucas's expression turned odd. He could treat physical wounds with medicine, but a brain injury—well, that was another matter.
While Lucas and Swampert exchanged looks, Finizen, circling Wailmer, suddenly felt offended for some reason, but no matter how much it thought, it couldn't figure out why.
But Finizen was determined to become the hero of the sea—Falafin Hero! Such trivial things weren't worth worrying about!
Finizen continued to swim around happily, like a dog let loose at sea.
Once Finizen finally calmed down, Lucas treated its wounds as well. During the process, he noticed Finizen gazing at Swampert with starry-eyed admiration.
How to describe it?
Lucas felt Finizen looked at Swampert like it was an idol.
Probably because Swampert, descending like a god, had saved it. Lucas didn't think too much about it. The most urgent matter was at hand.
Lucas quietly watched the obedient Wailmer and the restless Finizen, his expression momentarily deadpan, as if wondering why he had to play babysitter during his vacation.
But the priority was finding Wailmer's and Finizen's groups and returning them.
Both Finizen and Wailmer were social Pokémon, rarely alone. Since Lucas had saved them, he couldn't just leave them behind—he had to return them to their guardians.
So, finding Wailmer's group became Lucas's current problem. He thought for a moment. For finding Pokémon, people, or things, the system was always the most reliable, so he planned to ask for a hint.
But just then, Swampert, floating quietly at the surface, suddenly raised its head, gazing far off into the distance.
Swampert's fins could sense the tides and wind, predicting the weather—it had very sensitive senses. Right now, it sensed a massive creature speeding toward them.
The other Pokémon was probably more than ten times bigger than Swampert!
Swampert's eyes turned serious, and it gave a warning cry.
Dragonite, who was carefully watching over Lucas riding on Wailmer's back, reacted instantly, grabbing Lucas to fly away.
Dragonite's defensive posture confused Lucas, but Wailmer seemed to sense something, too, excitedly letting out a whale song.
Even Finizen stopped playing.
After the initial confusion, Lucas quickly understood why Swampert and Dragonite were so tense.
The noisy cries of seabirds overhead suddenly fell silent. The calm surface of the distant sea began to ripple, as if signaling an oncoming tsunami. An ancient, deep whale call echoed in Lucas's mind.
In the blink of an eye, a giant burst through the sea, spouting a massive column of water from an organ on its back. Its immense blue body nearly took Lucas's breath away.
It was just too huge.
Dozens of meters? Twenty? Lucas couldn't tell—he only knew this was the biggest Pokémon he'd ever seen, both in length and width. It was overwhelming.
No wonder even the normally unflappable Swampert was flustered.
Even knowing he was far stronger than it, that kind of sheer mass was intimidating. A giant body was a weapon all its own.
Lucas recognized this Pokémon. Wailord: Wailmer's evolved form, said in the Pokédex to be the largest known Pokémon in the world.
At least, if you didn't count Gigantamax or Eternamax forms.
Wailord surfaced and swam purposefully toward them. Lucas guessed it was here for the young Wailmer below.
It must be Wailmer's parent, separated from the pod and searching for its child.
Speaking of children, Lucas remembered: Wailord could breed with Skitty, right?
Lucas's face turned odd at that thought.