A deep blue sea, a clear, open sky.
Kashiwagi leaned against the ship's railing, watching the bustling scene of activity nearby, and fell into a deep silence.
"..."
How on earth did I end up on this ship?
His mind drifted back to yesterday afternoon at the Neo Team Aqua Research Institute.
"Why not let Neo Team Aqua help you?" Shelly's words had been a total curveball.
"...I'm sorry, Miss Shelly, but I really can't join Neo Team Aqua. I'm already part of another organization,"
Kashiwagi had said, assuming she was trying to recruit him.
Shelly had simply laughed.
"I understand. But first of all, we're heading back to that stretch of sea anyway. The exploration won't end until we can confirm whether Lugia has actually left. The data from the black box will speed up our next mission—bringing you along is just a courtesy."
"Secondly, this is a golden opportunity to shift the public's perception of Neo Team Aqua."
"Uh, what do you mean by that?"
"Do you need a corporate sponsor?"
As Shelly said this, her eyes and mouth devious curved like a moon.
"..."
Following that, it was a blur of negotiations.
Kashiwagi talked to Yamamino, Yamamino talked to Shelly, and finally, it was confirmed: Neo Team Aqua would sponsor his upcoming Contest career.
In exchange, he had to add the Neo Team Aqua logo to his custom-tailored suits.
If he won a Ribbon and gave a victory speech, he'd have to include the line: "I'd like to thank Neo Team Aqua for their generous support."
As long as the organization didn't implode in some scandalous way, it was a fantastic deal—they were incredibly willing to shell out the cash.
Even Yamamino was tempted, wishing he could swap places with Kashiwagi.
Where does Neo Team Aqua get all this funding?
That was a question Kashiwagi still couldn't figure out.
...
...
Back on the ship, Kashiwagi stared at the ocean.
He never imagined his first corporate sponsor would be Neo Team Aqua... or Team Aqua, since both were the same and the difference only existed by just adding a prefix.
Things had spiraled far beyond his expectations.
Still, having their help was better than wandering around trying to find Hiromi on his own and wasting time.
"They really are efficient," he muttered, watching the maintenance crew calibrate a micro-submarine nearby.
Having recovered the black box, Dr. Akihabara had shaken off his depression over the drone failure.
He had worked through the night to build a Porygon-integrated "Micro-Sub Unit 01" for a second undersea probe.
The one that had exploded previously was now obviosly dubbed "Unit 00"—a clear reference to computer programming.
It fit the Doctor's naming habits perfectly.
The big question was whether they could still find that undersea cavern...
"Ah, there you are." Shelly's voice came from behind.
"We're about to deploy the sub. Come to the control room."
"Right."
Kashiwagi followed her to the command center, where he found an electrified Dr. Akihabara.
"Kashiwagi! Perfect timing!" The Doctor was practically dancing with excitement.
"Look at this! The Land Cruise System! Now we don't have to worry about hitting the seafloor; we can just drive right up onto it!"
He pointed to a monitor showing a bizarre machine that looked like a cross between a submarine and a tank. It seemed the Doctor had been planning this for a while.
"Since you've got sea and land covered, why didn't you add a Maglev system and a propulsion drive for flight?"
"Sea, Land, and Air sounds much cooler"
Kashiwagi couldn't help but joke.
To his surprise, the Doctor froze, then burst into a roar of laughter.
His eyes sparkled as he slapped Kashiwagi hard on the shoulder.
"Of course!
Why didn't I think of that!
You're right!
You're a genius!"
.
Uh... Kashiwagi winced, unsure of what to say.
By the logic of his previous world, building such a complex mechanical structure was a waste of resources—the complicated transformation systems and efficiency issues would be massive hurdles.
But in the Pokémon anime world?
Please...
Lawrence III's flying fortress was more nonsensical than anything—it looked like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and its propellers spun slower than a household fan, yet it flew perfectly fine.
Logic didn't live here.
...
In the middle of their banter, a crew member signaled,
"Micro-Sub Unit 01 is ready for deployment!"
A massive screen at the front of the room flickered to life, showing the feed from Unit 01's cameras.
"Launch!" Shelly commanded.
The sub was dropped into the water by the crew outside.
Glug, glug...
Accompanied by a stream of bubbles, the sub began its descent.
As the light faded into the depths, the sub switched on its headlights.
Click!
A Mantyke suddenly filled the screen. It seemed startled by the sudden light, swimming up to slap the sub with its antenna before huffing and swimming away.
The sub wobbled.
"All readings normal!" a crew member reported.
"All systems functional!"
"External armor scan clear!"
Dr. Akihabara chuckled, explaining to Kashiwagi that he had installed a shock-absorption system to prevent the internal damage they suffered last time from the Sharpedo swarm.
He added that if the sub weren't already packed with gear, he would have loved to add a protective barrier system—but that tech wasn't small enough to fit into a waist-high machine just yet.
The sub continued down. Even though Kashiwagi knew the anime world blurred the lines between freshwater and saltwater fish, seeing Goldeen and Seaking swimming around in the ocean still left him speechless.
"..."
Maybe they were "Saltwater Goldeen"?
Before long, the familiar trench appeared on the monitors.
Everyone held their breath.
Whether they would see Lugia again depended entirely on finding that cavern.
Shelly ordered the searchlights turned off, switching the feed to night-vision mode and cranking up the audio sensors.
The deep-sea trench was silent and cold.
The sub crept toward the coordinates stored in the black box, its scanners searching for any deviation in the rock.
Finally, they reached the spot. Kashiwagi clenched his fists, staring at the screen.
When he saw a pitch-black void instead of the wall they had previously drilled through, he turned to Shelly.
"Found it!" she whispered, her voice tinged with excitement.
The undersea cavern was right in front of them, but the sub stopped at the entrance.
"Last time we reached this point, the signal became intermittent. We didn't know what it looked like inside until we recovered the Porygon data",
Shelly explained.
"The Doctor added a signal stabilizer this time, but honestly, no one can guarantee it'll work. So, here's the question:
"Do we take the prepared manned submarine and go in ourselves right now?"
"Or"
"Do we play it safe and send the micro-sub first?"
"The latter might lose signal—or worse, it might alert the target and scare it off."