A stormless calm settled over the sea that afternoon, but it was the kind of calm that made seasoned sailors uneasy. The air was too still. The waves too even. Even the Wingull circled farther off the coast, their cries muted as though the island were holding its breath.
Alex walked along the eastern shoreline with a hand lightly touching Infernape's shoulder. The sand was warm underfoot, dotted with bits of obsidian washed down from the cliffs. Behind them, the Cinnabar Gym stood tall against the sky, radiant in the late-day sun.
After the encounter on the cliffs, Sariah had dispatched units to cover the northern ridge. Lila and Kai were gathering additional intel at the outpost. But Alex needed to walk the shore—needed a moment to feel the island under him, to clear his thoughts before the next move.
He wasn't distressed. He rarely let anything shake him outwardly. But even he couldn't deny the weight of what he'd seen.
The operatives weren't probing anymore.They were positioning.
Infernape matched his pace perfectly, not saying a word—though it didn't need to. Its quiet presence was grounding in a way nothing else could be. They had grown up side by side, shaping each other into the fighters they were now.
Gyarados surfaced in the shallows with a low, rumbling call. The water parted around its serpentine body, sun casting a shimmer across its blue scales.
Alex nodded. "You sensed it too?"
Gyarados responded with a deeper rumble that vibrated through the sand beneath Alex's feet.
"Yeah," Alex murmured. "Something's wrong under the water."
Without speaking, he removed a Poké Ball from his belt and recalled it to release Hydreigon beside him. The dark dragon unfolded its wings and hovered low, three heads tasting the air.
Hydreigon frowned—if dragons could frown—its central head looking toward the deeper waters.
Alex stepped closer to the edge of the surf and crouched. The tide lapped at his boots, warm from volcanic currents. But beneath the warmth was something else—a subtle rhythm in the vibration. Not natural. Not from the volcano.
A pattern.
A pulse.
Repeated in nearly perfect intervals.
Infernape crouched beside him, flames lowering in response to the shift. Roserade, observing from a higher dune, let out a concerned, soft cry.
Alex touched the sand. "This is coordinated too."
Hydreigon growled in agreement.
He looked up at Gyarados. "Take us down."
Gyarados lowered its head, and Alex climbed onto its back with practiced ease while Infernape leapt aboard beside him, gripping Gyarados' spines confidently. Alex recalled Roserade and Hydreigon temporarily; they weren't suited for immediate underwater entry. He'd deploy them again when needed.
With a powerful sweep of its tail, Gyarados propelled them smoothly out into the deeper, darker blue.
The water grew cooler as they moved farther from the shore. Cinnabar's underwater ridges cut long shadows beneath them, volcanic rock stretching out like submerged mountain ranges. Alex leaned low against Gyarados' neck, letting the dragon lead the descent.
The further they went, the quieter everything became. The only sounds were the rhythmic push of water and the faint crackle of Infernape's dampened flames.
Then Alex saw it.
Movement.But not from Pokémon.
Shapes.Angular, unnatural shapes—wedged into a deep crevice between two ridges.
Gyarados slowed, hovering above the break in the rock. Alex slid into the water without hesitation, the heat of his insulated gear adjusting as he sank down. Infernape followed, encased in a thin barrier of heat it generated only underwater—a technique they trained and perfected years ago.
Alex approached the nearest device.
A shard.Just like the ones in the cliffs.But these were bigger, anchored deeper, glowing a faint, eerie red.And the pulse… now that he was close to it, he could feel it vibrating in his bones.
Infernape grimaced, flames flickering in the water like electric sparks.
Alex hovered in front of the device.Then he saw the second one.Then the third.Then dozens more—embedded across the ridge line in a long, precise arc.
A net.A grid.
This wasn't just surveillance.It was infrastructure.
Someone was building something under Cinnabar.
Alex touched his communicator. "Lila, Kai, I found another array. Underwater. At least three dozen shards, maybe more."
Static crackled for a moment before Lila's voice cut in. "We're on our way. Roserade caught the location ping. Rangers are prepping a dive unit."
Kai's voice followed quickly. "Alex, don't move anything. We don't know what triggers them."
Alex studied the nearest shard. It pulsed faintly, then briefly shifted color—like it was reacting to his proximity.
"I'm aware," he said calmly. "I'm just observing."
But he wasn't calm.
He was calculating.
Because the shard wasn't reacting to him.It was reacting to something deeper in the ridge.
He swam closer, motioning Infernape to cover him. The fire-type's protective heat bubble expanded, offering light and warmth in the dim depths. Alex pressed a hand against the rough rock wall.
That's when he felt it.
Heat—too consistent, too focused to be natural.
Not volcanic.
Manufactured.
Someone was drilling beneath Cinnabar.
Alex's heartbeat didn't spike, but his breath left him in a slow, steady exhale.
This wasn't just a probe or a test.This was phase one of something far bigger.
He pushed off the rock and rose to the surface, signaling Gyarados to ascend rapidly. As they broke into the open air, Alex pulled himself onto Gyarados' back, dripping water and tension.
Infernape climbed up behind him, shaking droplets from its fur.
The moment Alex grabbed his communicator again, Lila's voice came through urgently.
"Alex, you need to get back to the shore now. Rangers detected a heat spike—north ridge again."
Alex stiffened. "How strong?"
"Strong enough that Doc Kurogane nearly walked into the sea after seeing it."
Kai's voice overlapped. "Also… someone is jamming our aerial scans."
Alex straightened. "From the cliffs?"
"No," Kai said. "From somewhere closer."
Alex looked around slowly.
Cinnabar's ocean was still.Too still.
Then he noticed something behind them—small ripples that weren't coming from Gyarados.
When he turned, he saw it.
A figure standing on a black rock spire just past the surf line.Cloaked.Still.Mask glinting like obsidian, reflecting the dying sun.
Another operative.
Watching him.
Unmoving.
Unbothered.
As if it had been waiting for him to surface.
Alex didn't call out.Didn't threaten.Didn't posture.
He just stared back.
Gyarados released a deep, rumbling growl, waves vibrating under its body. Infernape stepped forward on the dragon's back, fire markings glowing hotter from its fists.
The operative finally spoke, voice entirely different from the cliff operative's—this one sharper, colder.
"You're quicker than we expected, Cinnabar's Guardian."
Alex didn't blink. "Get off my island."
"Not yet," the figure said, tone almost playful. "We haven't finished laying the foundation."
Alex's grip tightened on Gyarados' scales. "Foundation for what?"
The figure tilted their head, smile audible behind the mask. "A new beginning. One built on the ashes of your jewel."
"Try," Alex said. "And I'll bury you in those ashes."
A soft, metallic laugh floated across the water."You're spirited. No wonder the manipulator is so interested in you."
Infernape's flames roared instantly.Gyarados thrashed in warning.Even the sea around them recoiled.
Alex didn't show the surge of anger that hit him. He just spoke with lethal calm.
"You don't get to say that name."
The operative lifted a small device—not a shard, but a circular disk that hummed with thin currents of energy.
"Don't worry," they said, stepping backward toward the edge of the spire. "You'll understand soon enough. You'll see what the manipulator values most."
"And what's that?" Alex asked.
The operative's mask gleamed.
"Breaking unbreakable things."
Then they dropped the device into the sea.
Alex reacted instantly. "Gyarados—down!"
But the disk didn't explode.It didn't release toxins.Or electricity.Or anything harmful.
It just sent a pulse through the water.A gentle, echoing vibration.
A signal.
The underwater shards answered immediately—lighting up across the ridge beneath them, one after another in a cascade of red illumination.
Then—everything went dark.
Not the sea.Not the sky.
The shards.
Every single one.
Dark.Offline.Dead.
Kai burst over the communicator, frantic. "Alex! All shard readings vanished! Every single one! They cut us off!"
Lila added, "Alex, what happened?"
Alex stared at the empty spire where the operative had stood.Gone.No trace left.
He clenched the communicator, voice low and certain.
"They were sending a message."
"What message?" Lila asked softly.
Alex looked toward Cinnabar.Toward the Jewel of Kanto.Toward the island he'd sworn to protect.
"They're not hiding anymore."