I'm sorry!
Those three words rang out clear and loud, sincere as you could ask for.
Silas was actually stumped for how to respond to Officer Jenny. He'd meant to tease her a bit before stepping in, but he never expected that she'd apologize so directly and earnestly!
As Silas stood there silently, Officer Jenny could feel her nerves kicking up. She'd really underestimated Silas's strength. If she'd known, no way would she have ever messed with him before—having a friend like this would always be better than making another enemy, especially when that friend was a powerhouse top Trainer. But life didn't come with a rewind button…
Seeing Silas still keeping quiet, Officer Jenny grew more anxious. "I know I was wrong before, but please—I hope you can let it go, at least for now. Help this city, help the hundreds of thousands of innocent people here survive this disaster. If you want to settle accounts afterward, I'll accept whatever punishment you see fit!"
Hearing how tense she sounded, Silas couldn't help a wry smile. He hopped off Dragonite, and under Jenny's wary gaze, tossed out two more Master Balls: "Charizard!"
"ROAR!!!"
Charizard roared into being before Silas, who pointed, deadly serious, at the giant Tentacruel. "That thing is your enemy. If it takes even one more step forward, you two go a whole week without food!"
"Rooooar~"
"Raaawr~"
Charizard and Dragonite both responded and immediately shot toward the giant Tentacruel!
Forget missing a meal—what really got them moving was how seriously Silas was taking this. Rarely did they see that side of him, so they knew this battle was critical, and they couldn't afford to mess it up!
The giant Tentacruel, seeing Charizard and Dragonite barreling down from above, glanced at them warily—then blasted out a massive Water Gun right at the incoming pair!
That torrent was big enough to engulf both of them. Quick as lightning, Dragonite twisted out of the way, while Charizard unleashed a golden blaze from its maw, spewing sacred fire directly at the Water Gun. The instant the golden flames hit the water, a furious "sssssZZZZZZ" echoed through the sky as fire and water clashed. But Charizard's fire was so intense, it completely overwhelmed the Water Gun, vaporizing it in moments and surging on toward the giant Tentacruel!
"Woooooo!" The flames landed, and the moment they touched, the giant Tentacruel shrieked in pain, its massive body shuddering and retreating.
"RAWR~!"
"KABOOM!"
Right then, Dragonite struck—a massive Thunderbolt crashed down, shaped like a thundering dragon, enveloping tentacruel and forcing it back even farther!
"Wooooooo!" Hit with two consecutive attacks, the giant Tentacruel lost any sense of restraint. It howled madly, sending dozens of tentacles whipping through the air, lashing out at Dragonite and Charizard!
"Charizard!"
Charizard bellowed and Dragonite instantly swooped next to him. Charizard conjured a ring of fire around them, the burning barrier keeping the tentacles at bay. Tentacruel felt the threat, but couldn't stop its furious attack—all its tentacles slammed right into the blazing shield!
"Woooooo!"
The second they made contact, another howl ripped from Tentacruel. No kidding—Charizard was now at Legendary Pokémon level, a true master of flame. Even Moltres would be outclassed, unless the Phoenix itself showed up. For Tentacruel, taking that fire head-on was a nightmare—of course it was screaming!
"So strong!!!"
Watching Silas's Charizard and Dragonite manhandle the giant Tentacruel, Officer Jenny couldn't help but marvel. "And they work together so well!"
Heh…
Silas just smiled quietly to himself at Jenny's amazement.
Of course Charizard and Dragonite had great teamwork. He rarely set official training tasks for those guys, but he wasn't dumb—they'd sparred plenty of times on their own. Like a certain saying goes: it's not yourself who knows you best, it's your rival! That fit Charizard and Dragonite perfectly right now.
Plus, both were true Legendary Pokémon level—against a Champion-tier Tentacruel, whose only real strength was its massive, mutated body and had almost zero elemental mastery, they were simply in another league. There was no way Tentacruel could match them, especially not two-on-one.
"Dragonite! Charizard!" Silas called out loudly, "Don't kill it! Just give it a good beating, then bring it back here!"
"Dragonite!"
"Charizard!"
Acapulco.
The ocean had swallowed the land and buildings.
People clustered together on the city's surviving high ground, watching the epic battle unfold, eyes full of hope.
They still didn't really understand why such a disaster had befallen them. But when they finally snapped out of it, the crisis was already raging, their city underwater, and all they could do was run, run, run—then wait and pray for a top Trainer to save the day.
No one expected the giant Tentacruel to be this powerful; even the city's pride—Acapulco's elite defenses—couldn't even scratch it, much less slow it down. Despair quickly set in.
And just when hope was gone, a Dragonite and Charizard suddenly descended from the sky and showed off overwhelming power, subduing and pushing back the giant Tentacruel within moments. The crowd's hope reignited as they watched and silently prayed that Charizard and Dragonite could win this battle.
Under their watchful gaze, Charizard and Dragonite drove the Tentacruel back again and again, making it shriek in agony.
"Don't go too far," Dragonite reminded Charizard as the Tentacruel neared defeat. "Trainer said not to finish it off—just subdue it so we can bring it back."
"Charizard?"
Charizard paused, scratching its head in confusion, not really getting how it could be any gentler. It thought it already was holding back, so it didn't get why Dragonite was warning it. What's "holding back" supposed to mean at their level?
Honestly, you couldn't blame Charizard for looking so lost. It had only recently reached Legendary Pokémon level and didn't yet have perfect control over its new strength. What Charizard thought of as "holding back" was still absolute devastation for any normal Champion-tier Pokémon. The gap was just that huge.
Plus, this Tentacruel only became Champion-tier by virtue of its freakish mutant body and hadn't even touched real elemental power. Even Charizard going "easy" was way more than Tentacruel could take.
"Sigh." Seeing the confusion on Charizard's face, Dragonite looked a bit helpless. "Alright then—you attack, I'll guide you."
"Charizard!"
Charizard prepped a Sacred Fire, heat gathering at its jaws, ready to launch at Tentacruel—until Dragonite called out:
"No no, that's Sacred Fire! Even a Legendary Pokémon would be roasted by that, let alone this guy. If you let loose with another one of those, we're gonna be fasting for a week!"
Charizard immediately cancelled the divine fire, switching to a black flame, watching Dragonite for confirmation. How about this?
"Nope." Dragonite shook its head again. "Even though Tentacruel got here with raw muscle, it already took more divine fire than most Champions could survive. Now it's badly wounded. Black flames would still be too much. Lower the power—again!"
Charizard did as told, turning down the heat until the flames burned a deep purple.
Now Dragonite nodded. "That's pretty close—give it a shot!"
The purple flame shot out, streaking toward Tentacruel.
BOOM!
Seeing the oncoming purple fire, the giant Tentacruel's eyes filled with terror and hopelessness. Its massive tentacles slammed down, raising a towering wall of water in a desperate defense.
At this point, Tentacruel was totally spent—barely able to move, let alone muster a real Water-type move. The only thing keeping it conscious was its mutated form; otherwise, it would've fainted ages ago. This water barrier was all it had left!
SPLASH!
But it was hopeless—the purple fire blasted a hole in the water wall instantly, then crashed into Tentacruel's body, burning it fiercely, roasting it alive, making it wail in agony. Weak and desperate, Tentacruel collapsed, barely managing to douse the flames in seawater.
The second it finally got the fire off, it tried to surrender. But before it could even speak, Dragonite's voice rang out, "Still too strong—you need to dial it down even more!"
"Charizard…"
Charizard let out a reluctant whine and spat a much fainter, lavender flame.
Seeing another wave of (mercifully weaker) fire coming at it, the giant Tentacruel's vision faded to black, its only thought: I just wanted to protect my home from humans… Did it really have to go this far?