The sea breeze swept along Vermilion's shoreline, warm afternoon sunlight baking the sand comfortably hot.
But the waves were getting rougher and rougher.
It felt like the currents near the coast were starting to behave strangely.
Ash and his friends happened to be at the beach.
They weren't in a hurry to leave Vermilion anyway.
Travel wasn't about suffering for its own sake—
and it wasn't purely about pleasure either.
But there was nothing wrong with enjoying the journey.
They were travelers, not ascetic monks.
There was no need to force misery on themselves.
"Come on out, everyone!"
Ash tossed his Poké Balls. Red light flashed, and his enormous golden Gyarados and proud Pidgeotto appeared in the shallow water.
"Gyarados, try to work on it," Ash said. "You should be able to fly."
Gyarados can actually fly—
a fun little obscure fact.
The problem was…
It wasn't easy for a Gyarados to get off the ground.
Because it was unfamiliar and uncomfortable, most Gyarados simply never bothered learning how.
They much preferred swimming.
It was a skill that required deliberate training to develop.
Gyarados let out a deep, not-quite-ferocious roar.
Its huge body gleamed in the sunlight, drawing gasps of awe from tourists further down the beach—
who, unsurprisingly, didn't dare come any closer.
Pidgeotto chirped brightly, flapping its wings and soaring higher into the sky, savoring the wide open sea and sky.
Misty stood barefoot where the cool seawater washed over the sand.
Watching the golden Gyarados trying to float just a bit higher above the surface, she couldn't help but laugh.
"For a guy that looks this scary most of the time, he's actually being pretty well-behaved right now."
She reached out and patted the huge scaled cheek that Gyarados had lowered toward shore.
Gyarados rumbled contentedly, like some gigantic cat purring.
Its golden eyes narrowed slightly, surprisingly gentle.
Then it nudged its snout against Misty's palm, making her giggle.
Gyarados actually had a pretty high opinion of Misty.
It was still thinking about the massive feast she'd treated it to back at Cerulean Gym.
It had no idea when it might get to eat like that again.
With that on its mind, it tried even harder to get on Misty's good side.
Most Pokémon were simple at heart.
Eat well, drink well, and live happily day by day—that was enough.
For a battle-mad species like Gyarados, though, the ideal life was:
Eat well. Drink well.
And then—fight to its heart's content.
Fighting was fun.
It didn't mind pain.
"Pika pi!"
Pikachu hopped up onto Gyarados's head, ears perked, curiously surveying the sea from its new vantage point.
Just then—
Out of the corner of her eye, Misty noticed something twitching weakly behind a nearby rock.
She walked over, parting some seaweed—and found an injured Horsea.
Its tiny body was curled up, a clear scrape marring the fin along its back.
Its energy was low, but what stood out most was the raw terror in its big eyes.
It was staring fixedly at the giant golden shadow in the water—
Gyarados.
Yeah… Gyarados didn't exactly have a great reputation.
Especially among wild Water-types.
To them, these huge monsters were walking natural disasters—charging around smashing things up with immense power.
Most of the time, you couldn't provoke them.
You could only run.
"Easy, easy…" Misty immediately crouched down, voice soft and gentle as she slowly reached out a hand.
"See? He's being really good. He's not going to hurt you."
She glanced back at Gyarados, giving it a meaningful look.
Gyarados very cooperatively lowered its enormous head.
It worked hard to squeeze its expression into what it thought was a friendly look.
Honestly, it was still kind of terrifying, but it was trying.
It even puffed out a small breath of warm mist, letting it fall over Horsea like a clumsy attempt at comfort.
Horsea was completely stunned by this sudden "kindness."
Its little body went stiff as a board.
Like:
Friendly?
Buddy, have you looked at your face? And those teeth?
Gyarados's appearance was inherently imposing, and on top of that it had the Intimidate ability.
Only Ash's group, who interacted with it daily, thought of it as having a "decent temper."
Misty took advantage of the moment, taking out a potion from her bag and very gently tending to Horsea's back fin.
Her hands were practiced and careful, and her voice never stopped soothing it.
"There we go, there we go. It'll stop hurting soon."
With her steady comfort—and Gyarados's "very hard" attempt at friendliness—Horsea finally started to relax.
It nuzzled Misty's fingers gratefully.
Then suddenly it became agitated again.
Horsea hopped out of Misty's hands onto the wet sand.
It started flailing with its tiny mouth and fins, gesturing frantically—
sometimes toward the sea, sometimes imitating rolling and crashing motions.
It was clearly upset.
At last it stilled.
Its little body turned toward a specific direction.
Its gaze hardened—fearful but determined—as it stared toward a section of far coastline.
There, faintly visible, were cranes and construction fencing—
Granny Kin's stalled offshore resort project.
"What's it trying to say?" Brock rubbed his chin, baffled by Horsea's extremely abstract pantomime.
"I… don't really get it either," Misty admitted. "But it's definitely trying to tell us something."
Neither Brock nor Misty had brought any Psychic-types along.
When they traveled, it was to train—
not to parade their full arsenals and enjoy life like nobles.
Of course, that was because they were Gym Trainers.
They had the luxury of a deep bench at home.
For an ordinary Trainer, if they had a Psychic-type, they'd absolutely bring it if they could.
Ash followed the direction Horsea was pointing.
The construction site sat on the horizon, jutting out of the water in a stark, unnatural silhouette.
He thought back to Lt. Surge's hardline stance at the club, and the look in Granny Kin's eyes as she left.
Then he looked at this terrified, injured Horsea, and the way it kept pointing—
In the anime, this is where the giant Tentacruel shows up…
So there should be a swarm of Tentacool out there.
But the Rocket trio went to Saffron in this world. If they never came to Vermilion, will that giant Tentacruel still appear?
He could only use the original story as a reference.
He couldn't treat it as a guaranteed prophecy.
The Rocket trio hadn't been to Vermilion at all, after all.
"I'm pretty sure whatever it's trying to tell us has to do with that construction site," Ash said, his tone turning serious.
"And I doubt it's anything good."
His relaxed expression faded. He looked to his friends.
"Let's go have a look."
"Pika!" Pikachu jumped back onto his shoulder, cheeks sparking faintly.
It seemed to sense something was wrong too.
Gyarados rumbled, turning its huge body in the shallows to face the site.
A flicker of wariness passed through its golden eyes.
High above, Pidgeotto circled once, then dropped lower, its sharp gaze fixing on the same spot.
As the air unit, Pidgeotto was the quickest mover and had the widest view.
Once it understood Ash's intentions, it immediately flew ahead to scout.
Misty carefully picked up Horsea, who was still frantically gesturing.
"Don't worry, we'll go check it out."
"We'll see what's happening."
The group followed the shoreline at a brisk pace toward the silent construction platform.
The sea breeze seemed to pick up, waves crashing harder against the rocks with a louder, more restless roar.
"Pidgeot—!"
Pidgeotto swooped down in front of Ash, beating its wings as it mimed jellyfish-like shapes and human activity.
With their long-built bond, Ash quickly caught the gist.
Pidgeotto's report, translated:
There are a bunch of limp-looking Tentacool all over the construction area.
And lots of humans nearby, doing… bad things.
"…That doesn't sound good at all. We'd better hurry," Ash said, his voice losing the last trace of warmth.
In a capitalist's eyes, there was only profit—no risk.
With a 300% profit, someone would happily sell the rope used to hang them.
"This time, I might need you two to go all out," he said quietly.
"Brock. Misty."
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