Professor Bill glanced back at the three kids. "You three should stay here. Safety first."
But Ash stepped forward, eyes burning as he stared at the gigantic Dragonite on the screen. "We're coming too."
"Pikachu and I need to see it up close."
If things really went bad, they wouldn't be able to run anyway.
And if they couldn't run—
What was there to be afraid of?
"Pika!" Pikachu nodded earnestly. Tiny arcs crackled in his cheek pouches—part wariness, part… excitement.
Gardevoir looked at Bill, saw him draw a deep breath and give a heavy nod.
[Stay close to me.]
A soft Psychic glow wrapped around them all as Gardevoir's voice rang in their minds.
The next instant—
The world lurched.
They were standing on the open-air observation deck at the top of the lighthouse.
The sea wind hit them like a wall—thick with salt, and carrying an indescribable, ancient pressure that made their skin prickle.
Seeing the monster up close was on a whole different level than watching it on a screen.
Even just standing there, perfectly still, the Dragonite cast a shadow that swallowed almost the entire lighthouse.
Every breath it took stirred the air into a low, rumbling gale, like the prelude to a storm.
Misty and Brock had gone pale, unconsciously edging closer to Gardevoir.
Ash, however, kept his head tilted back, eyes under his cap locked onto the giant dragon's face, searching for the tiniest shift in its expression.
Pikachu clung tight to his shoulder, fur puffed out.
He wasn't just scared.
This was the instinctive awe of a small creature in front of something truly vast.
Bill stood at the front, forcing his racing heart to slow as he shouted up with all his strength:
"Hello!"
"Great one!"
"I'm Bill!"
"I'm the researcher of this lighthouse!"
"Thank you for answering my call!"
His voice sounded small against the wind, but he trusted the dragon would hear it.
Silence.
Only the crash of waves against the rocks.
Just as everyone started to think the attempt had failed—
A voice rose directly in the depths of their minds.
Ancient. Deep. Heavy with the weight of tides and years, echoing like some old sea-song:
[…An amusing little device… an amusing voice…]
The Dragonite's gaze seemed to settle on Bill.
[You… sought… me?]
He'd said he was a researcher.
And a researcher seeking knowledge was only natural.
"Yes!" Bill blurted, barely containing himself, words tripping over one another. "I want to understand the ocean's past, the history and secrets guarded by beings like you!"
"Anything you're willing to share would be priceless to me!"
A pure researcher through and through.
No one else would take a risk like this for "just" information.
[History…]
The dragon's voice stretched out, distant and calm, as if reaching across an unfathomable length of time.
[Waves… foam… even memory… is worn away…]
[What I know… is not all…]
It didn't seem opposed to talking.
It had come here at his invitation—answering that call was only natural.
Otherwise, why come all this way?
With that direct mental link, it began to answer Bill's questions.
Not with cold numbers or rigid dates, but in slow, simple images and phrases—about ancient sea climates, shifting regions, half-remembered ruins of drowned civilizations.
Its answers were often wrapped in metaphor, the kind of perspective only something that had watched the centuries roll by could have.
Bill was spellbound, gasping in realization every few sentences, scribbling notes like a man possessed.
Off to the side, Ash, Misty, and Brock simply listened.
It was like sitting in on a living epic.
This… was what "having an elder at home is like having a treasure" actually meant.
It really had seen and remembered more history than most humans ever would.
Watching that impossibly peaceful exchange, Misty felt her thoughts drift back to her parents' disappearance.
Fear was still there.
But slowly—
Courage began to rise above it.
She sucked in a breath and clenched her fists, then turned to look at Bill, eyes full of silent pleading.
He caught her gaze and understood at once.
He hesitated—
Then straightened, lifting his head to call out to the dragon again, voice unusually formal.
"Great one, forgive me for intruding on our discussion."
"The girl beside me—her parents were Water-type trainers who loved the sea. Years ago, they vanished while pursuing the ocean's mysteries…"
"Do you happen to know anything of their trail?"
"Or… of their fate?"
He gestured to Misty, who was so tense she could barely breathe.
When he was focused, Bill could be very reliable.
At the very least, he didn't say something suicidal like "Her parents tried to challenge a Sea King like you."
"Pursuing the ocean's mysteries" was a lot safer.
The Dragonite's massive head turned slightly.
Its searchlight-bright eyes focused on Misty.
They weren't sharp or hostile—but it felt like they pierced right down into her soul, sensing some familiar echo in her blood.
The platform fell silent again.
Only wind.
Only waves.
Misty felt her heart hammering so hard it hurt.
After a long, long moment—
That voice rolled through their minds once more.
This time with the faintest shade of… pity?
[Those who seek the ocean's secrets… are many…]
[Those who fall… are many…]
[Yet… I have not sensed the ending… of your blood's kin…]
[Nor have I encountered their souls… within my domain…]
[The one they challenged… was not I…]
Bill's wording had been polite.
But the dragon still knew what they were really asking.
For it, this was a trivial detail.
To Pokémon, conflict was simple.
And to Pokémon, humans were simply… another kind of strange Pokémon.
Especially Dragonite—as a species, they were gentle by nature.
Most of them were kind-hearted.
Misty's head snapped up.
Hope burst into her eyes, her voice shaking and thick with almost-tears.
"Y-you mean… there's a chance they're still alive?"
The Dragonite's gaze seemed to soften.
[The ocean… is vast… far beyond your imagining…]
[Existence… is not bound to only life… or death…]
[I… do not know…]
It was like listening to a riddle.
It wasn't a clear answer.
But it carved a ray of light through the heavy, suffocating fog that had hung in Misty's heart for years.
At the very least—
There was no confirmed death.
At the very least—
Her parents hadn't tried to fight this overwhelming titan.
She clapped a hand over her mouth as tears spilled out, her shoulders shaking.
Relief.
Hope.
Pain and joy tangled together until she could hardly breathe.
The Dragonite slowly turned its head away from her, back to Bill.
[Our talk… was pleasing…]
[But… the tides will soon turn… and I must return…]
Its mountain-like body began to ease backwards, sinking into the sea.
The waves it displaced made the lighthouse tremble.
Soon, only a huge, slowly widening whirlpool remained on the surface.
And hanging in their minds, the fading echo of that old voice, smelling faintly of salt and storm.
The crushing pressure that had pinned the whole area down lifted with the dragon's departure.
Night returned to its original quiet.
Stars spilled across the sky as if nothing had happened.
But the racing hearts, the tear tracks on Misty's face, and the pen Bill still clenched desperately in his hand…
Those made it clear how real the encounter had been.
Bill stared out at the empty sea and murmured to himself.
"A state beyond life and death… a sea wider than we can imagine…"
"Looks like… the research is only just beginning."
His eyes burned brighter than ever.
Ash reached out and patted Misty's shoulder, where she stood crying and smiling at the same time.
Then he tilted his head back to the stars, a small curve tugging at his lips.
"Pika…"
Pikachu quieted down, brushing his cheek against Ash's.
A chance brush with myth—
Had ended just like that.
Almost ordinary, in a way.
Just like meeting Ho-Oh that day.
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