Early the next morning.
The sunlight was as brilliant as ever.
On the private beach, Delia and Misty, dressed in refreshing summer clothes, were enjoying breakfast under a sunshade.
"Roy, do you really not want us to go with you?" Misty asked with a hint of worry, biting into her toast.
Delia also looked at Roy, her eyes full of concern.
Roy finished the last sip of his coffee and set down the cup.
"No need." He stood up. "It's just a small matter. You two stay here and enjoy your vacation."
He walked over to them and ruffled their hair respectively.
"If there are any fun places, I'll take you there when I get back."
Roy didn't tell them what he was going to do; because the dangers were unknown, he left the two of them to enjoy the beach.
After a few more instructions, Roy left the private beach... and headed to the Lampurchi City pier.
Roy rented a small speedboat.
"Go near the construction site of the offshore Paradise Resort," he told the boatman.
The boatman was a dark-skinned, middle-aged man who hesitated upon hearing this: "Young man, that area hasn't been peaceful lately. I heard something happened at the construction site, and all work has stopped."
"I know," Roy said calmly. "Just take a look around nearby; I won't enter the restricted area."
The boatman looked at Roy, then at the Poké Ball at his waist, and said no more.
"Alright then, sit tight."
The speedboat started up, cutting through the azure sea and heading northeast.
The sea breeze blew against his face, carrying a salty, damp scent.
About twenty minutes later, a massive complex of offshore structures appeared in his field of vision.
Those were platforms and scaffolds built in the shallow sea area, originally intended to be an offshore amusement park. But now, the construction site was silent, without any sound of machinery operating.
"Stop! No entry ahead!"
Several patrol boats blocked the way forward.
On the boats sat several men in security uniforms, as well as two people in blue work clothes who looked like they were from the engineering side.
Roy signaled the boatman to stop.
"Young man, this is a restricted area now," a security guard shouted. "Construction zone, no unauthorized entry."
Roy stood up and pointed at the silent construction site in the distance: "It looks like work has stopped?"
One of the men in work clothes looked a bit grim: "Temporary suspension. There are some... technical issues to handle."
"What issues?" Roy asked. "I heard it has something to do with jellyfish?"
The expressions of those men changed.
"What do you do? How did you know?" The man in work clothes looked at Roy warily.
"Heard it from the people at the pier." Roy's expression remained unchanged: "So it really is Tentacool causing trouble?"
The security guards looked at each other.
The one who spoke first sighed: "Don't know, don't know. Leave quickly, leave quickly."
Roy nodded.
It seemed the situation was more serious than imagined.
"Fine, I won't go in," he said. "I'll just take a look at the perimeter."
"The perimeter is also dangerous," the man in work clothes shook his head. "You'd better go back quickly."
Roy didn't persist.
He signaled to the boatman: "Return."
The speedboat turned around and headed back the way it came... After traveling about one nautical mile, Roy had the boatman stop.
"Wait for me here for a moment," he said.
The boatman was puzzled: "Young man, what are you going to do?"
Roy didn't answer and directly took out two Poké Balls.
"Come out, Pidgeotto, Squirtle!"
A white light flashed.
A Pidgeotto of considerable size appeared above the speedboat, its wings flapping and creating a gust of wind.
Squirtle landed on the deck of the speedboat and patted its shell: "Squirtle!" (Leave it to me, Master!)
The boatman was startled: "This, this is..."
"Do me a favor," Roy said to Pidgeotto and Squirtle. "Go investigate that construction site. Pidgeotto, observe from the air; Squirtle, you dive over and see what the situation is underwater."
He paused.
"The focus is on the number and distribution of Tentacool, and what they are doing. Be careful, and retreat immediately if there's danger."
Pidgeotto gave a long cry, flapped its wings, and soared high, soon becoming a small dot in the sky.
Squirtle gave a salute: "Squirtle Squirtle!" (Mission guaranteed!)
With that, it jumped into the sea with a splash and dove down nimbly.
The boatman watched dumbfounded: "Young man, are you a League Investigator?"
Roy sat on the edge of the speedboat, his eyes fixed on the distant complex of buildings.
"Something like that."
...Twenty minutes later.
Pidgeotto was the first to return.
It landed on the edge of the speedboat, chirping at Roy while gesturing with its wings.
Through the sensing of Aura Power and long-term rapport, Roy roughly understood.
"Construction has completely stopped."
"There aren't many workers on the site, but there are over a dozen small boats on the sea. The people on the boats are holding fishing nets, long poles, and other tools, as if they are trying to catch something..."
"There are a lot of Tentacool, distributed around the building supports. Those small boats don't dare to get close and are only active on the perimeter..."
Roy rubbed his chin.
It seemed the engineering side wanted to clear out the jellyfish, but the results were poor.
Tentacool are social Pokémon; once they form a large group, their combat power is not to be underestimated. Moreover, this was the ocean, their home turf.
"Squirtle hasn't returned yet?" Roy looked at the sea surface.
Another ten minutes passed.
There was still no sign of that blue shell.
Roy frowned.
Something was wrong.
Although Squirtle had a bit of a boastful personality, it was very serious when performing missions. It said it would return after investigating and wouldn't delay without reason.
Unless... "Pidgeotto, fly a bit higher and see where Squirtle is," Roy ordered.
Pidgeotto took to the sky again.
It circled in the air a few times and suddenly let out a sharp, urgent cry!
At the same time, Roy's Aura Power sensed chaotic fluctuations in the distance!
"Boatman, head over there! Fast!" Roy pointed to the southeast.
Although the boatman didn't know why, he still started the speedboat.
After several minutes of full speed, the scene on the sea ahead came into view.
"Squirtle—!!"
Squirtle was swimming for its life!
Behind it, seven or eight purple, jellyfish-like Pokémon with red agate-like crowns were in hot pursuit!
Tentacool!
Their tentacles waved, constantly shooting out fine streams of Water Gun and Poison Sting!
Squirtle dodged by using Withdraw while fleeing, but its shell was already stained with some purple venom, and its movements were clearly a bit sluggish.
"So many!" The boatman's face turned pale with fright. "Young man, let's run!"
Roy ignored him.
He stood up and ordered Pidgeotto: "Disperse them!"
Pidgeotto dove down, its wings vibrating, and several transparent blades of air shot out.
Puff, puff, puff!
The sea surface was sliced open as the Air Slashes accurately hit the water in front of the group of Tentacool, kicking up large sprays of water!
The pursuing Tentacool were startled, and their movements faltered.
Squirtle took this opportunity to swim desperately to the side of the speedboat, and Roy hauled it up.
"Squirtle... Squirtle..." Squirtle slumped on the deck, panting heavily, with venom still corroding its shell.
Roy immediately took out an Antidote spray and sprayed it several times on the shell.
The purple venom was neutralized, and Squirtle finally recovered its strength.
As for those few Tentacool, they were currently floating on the sea surface, staring fixedly at the speedboat with their red eyes.
Especially after seeing the human Roy, they became even more irritable, waving their tentacles more violently.
But they seemed to have some wariness towards Pidgeotto.
This Pidgeotto was much larger than its peers and had a powerful Aura; the Air Slashes just now had also demonstrated its might.
After a few seconds of standoff, one of the larger Tentacool let out a low cry.
The rest of the jellyfish slowly sank and disappeared beneath the sea surface.
But they didn't go far.
Roy's Aura could perceive that they were still lingering in the nearby waters, full of hostility.
"Squirtle! Squirtle Squirtle!!"
Squirtle jumped up at this moment, pointing in the direction where the jellyfish had disappeared, shouting angrily.
The meaning was probably: If only my subordinates weren't away! With just you smelly jellyfish, I'd call my brothers to gang up on you in a heartbeat!
Roy rubbed its head with amusement: "Alright, alright, I know you're powerful. Tell me, what happened? Why were you being chased and beaten?"
Squirtle then calmed down and explained with animated gestures.
Through the sensing of Aura Power, Roy understood what had happened.
It turned out that after Squirtle dove under the water in the construction area, it found that at least hundreds of Tentacool had gathered there.
They had their tentacles wrapped around the building supports, as if they were protecting something.
Squirtle tried to communicate with them; after all, it was a Water-type Pokémon and could transmit simple information through water vibrations underwater.
Initially, those Tentacool were just wary but did not attack.
But when Squirtle accidentally revealed that it was a "human Trainer's Pokémon," the situation changed.
Those jellyfish instantly became enraged and attacked directly!
Squirtle hurriedly fled, but it was still pursued all the way by seven or eight of them.
"Squirtle... Squirtle Squirtle!" (I was originally chatting just fine! It's all because they have such explosive tempers! If my subordinates were here, it wouldn't be their turn to be so arrogant!)
Squirtle was still indignant.
Roy, however, fell into deep thought.
It seemed these Tentacool hated humans to the extreme.
Even Water-type Pokémon captured by humans were regarded as enemies.
This made things difficult.
Originally, he wanted to see if he could communicate and understand the reason for the jellyfish riot, then find a way to solve it.
But now it seemed the other party wouldn't give him a chance to communicate at all.
"Young man, let's leave quickly!" The boatman's voice trembled: "Those jellyfish might even call more of their companions..."
Roy nodded.
It was indeed time to Withdraw.
However, just as the speedboat was about to turn around.
On the sea surface nearby, a small dark blue head suddenly popped up.
It was a Horsea.
But its condition was terrible.
There were multiple abrasions on its body, the fin on its tail had signs of tearing, and even its signature trumpet-shaped mouth was chipped.
After it surfaced, it gurgled a few sentences.
If it weren't for Roy's Aura Power, he really wouldn't have known it was a plea for help.
Then it seemed to have exhausted its strength; its eyes half-closed, and its body began to sink.
Roy's gaze narrowed.
This Horsea... in the original plot, didn't Misty seem to have captured an injured Horsea in Lanpuerqi?
Could it be this one?
"Squirtle, rescue it!" Roy immediately ordered.
It jumped into the water with a splash and soon brought up the unconscious Horsea.
Roy checked the Horsea's injuries.
"They are all superficial wounds, but it has lost quite a bit of blood and needs treatment as soon as possible."
He looked up and said to the boatman: "Increase the speed."
"O-okay!"
The speedboat sped at full throttle towards the Lampurchi City coastline.