"Hm?"
Auron Vale blinked. Jace Rowan had a point.
"But… you can't exactly ship a Pokémon by courier," Tim Wynn ventured, voice small.
"Hmm??"
(Ultraman head-tilt.jpg)
Auron's head started to ache again. "Then how are we supposed to do this?"
"What if you put it in a Poké Ball and transmit it?" Serena Elm suggested.
Her words made everyone's eyes light up. Right—so convenient. The only question was how Manaphy would feel about it.
All eyes turned to Manaphy, who was happily munching on a Pokéblock.
Snorlax flinched, then shuffled its huge head closer, peering intently at the Pokéblock in Manaphy's hands. After a moment, Snorlax cast Auron a wounded look, then trudged off to sit on the beach with its back to everyone, face tilted up at the slowly sinking sun.
Auron felt a little guilty. He walked over and whispered into Snorlax's ear.
"I'll make extra for you when we get back. And when I've got time in a few days, I'll make an even tastier batch."
Snorlax's expression brightened at once, but it forced itself to stay miffed. After arranging its face back into pitiful indignation, it turned and held out its pinky.
"Haha, okay. Pinky promise."
Auron couldn't help laughing as he hooked his pinky with Snorlax's.
"Pinky swear, hang it high—may it hold for a hundred years. Break it and you're a Poochyena."
With the pinky-promise sealed, Snorlax's smile returned. It waddled back with Auron to rejoin the others by the beach chairs.
Auron looked at Manaphy. "Manaphy, do you know what a Poké Ball is?"
Manaphy nodded.
"Okay, here's the problem," Auron said. "I can't leave right now, so we've got two options. One: you go inside a Poké Ball, I transmit you over, and you can see Victini today."
"Option two: I have someone come pick you up and take you there—but you won't be able to see Victini until tomorrow."
Manaphy chewed another bite of Pokéblock, thinking. After a moment, it bobbed its head at Auron.
"The first one?" Auron blinked. He'd thought Manaphy would pick the second—after all, it was only the difference of a single night.
Manaphy nodded again. It tucked the rest of the Pokéblock into its mouth and looked Auron in the eye, gaze steady.
"I believe you're not someone who wants to enslave me."
The voice resonated directly in Auron's mind, and he was moved despite himself. He took out an Ultra Ball and held it out to Manaphy.
"Don't worry. I'll prove you're right to trust me."
Manaphy floated up, reached out, and tapped the button. A beam of red light arced out and drew Manaphy inside.
"Manaphy? A Mythical? Auron just… caught it??!"
Jace Rowan's jaw hung open. Just like that, the legendary Prince of the Sea had gone into a Poké Ball?
"Bang!"
While everyone was still reeling, the Ultra Ball exploded in midair. Manaphy popped back out, beady-eyed and blinking.
"Eh?"
Auron and the others all went dot-eyed too. Clearly, even an Ultra Ball couldn't withstand the power of a Mythical—that's why it blew.
Chagrined and a little heartsore, Auron dug into his bag and produced a Luxury Ball.
"Here—try this one. This should do it, right?"
Manaphy bobbed an apologetic nod, then floated up before Auron again. The Mythical tapped the Luxury Ball's switch.
Red light flashed—but instead of wrapping around Manaphy, it gathered on the sand and slowly condensed into another Pokémon.
"Eh??"
Another wave of shock swept the group. It felt like they'd had more surprises today than in the entire last month.
[Pokémon Info]
Species: Corphish
Gender: Male
Type: Water
Ability: Adaptability (Same-type attack bonus increased from 50% to 100%)
Aptitude: Purple
Level-Up Moves: Water Gun, Harden, Leer, Taunt, Bubble Beam, Knock Off, Double Hit, Protect, Night Slash
Egg Moves: Superpower, Aqua Jet, Dragon Dance
Auron stared. Huh? Dragon Dance? So this was the origin of that joke—"I'm just a crawfish; it's not too much if I know Dragon Dance," wasn't it?
The others gaped at the Corphish that had just popped out of Auron's Poké Ball, scissoring its big claws with gusto.
Manaphy floated closer, curious, and used the special power that let it communicate mind-to-mind with other Pokémon. Only then did it figure out why this Corphish had appeared from Auron's Poké Ball.
As it turned out, it had something to do with Manaphy itself. The huge wave it had just raised had swept Corphish up by accident. When the wave fell, Corphish tumbled onto the beach, rolled twice, and—purely by chance—bumped the button of a Luxury Ball that had been knocked from Auron's bag by the same wave.
And just like that, it had been captured. Corphish took a feel of the inside and thought, Huh? Isn't this nicer than living in the sea? It promptly decided to settle down and make a home inside the Luxury Ball.
Manaphy understood. Auron did not. He was still baffled—how had this Corphish ended up in his Luxury Ball?
Then he shook his head. "Whatever. If it's in my Poké Ball, it's my Pokémon. No need to overthink it."
With that settled, and under Snorlax's tearful, tragic gaze, Auron gritted his teeth and took out two of his stash—precious, hoarded Pokéblocks—and handed one each to Manaphy and Corphish.
Corphish eyed Auron warily. Then, seeing how happily Manaphy was eating, it tentatively clipped off a tiny corner of the Pokéblock from Auron's hand and popped it into its mouth.
No Pokémon could resist the taste of a Pokéblock from Snorlax's secret cache.
Sure enough, a spark lit in Corphish's dull gaze. It quickly snipped the entire block back to itself and began nibbling in quick little bites.
(See? I wasn't lying. Delicious, right? Stick with this human and you can eat like this every day.)
Corphish nodded, still a little dazed, and the look it gave Auron gradually softened. The wariness from moments ago melted away.
Auron had no idea Manaphy had just put in a glowing character reference for him. Seeing Corphish eating so cheerfully, he pulled out another Luxury Ball and offered it to Manaphy.
"The police look about done over there. We should get moving too. Hop inside for now—once we're back at the hotel, I'll transmit you so you can meet Victini."
Manaphy nodded, hurried the rest of the Pokéblock into its mouth, tapped the Luxury Ball, and slipped back into the Poké Ball.
Under everyone's nervous gaze, the ball gave a single wobble and then settled, resting quietly in Auron's palm.
"Yesss!"
When the ball didn't explode this time, a cheer went up. Auron's grin was irrepressible.
Whatever you called it, this was still the first time any of them had seen someone catch a Mythical with their own eyes. Well—"catch" rather than "tame," perhaps—but it was a huge rush all the same.
"Let's go. Back to the hotel—first thing is getting it transmitted to my dad."
Smiling, Auron set off with long strides toward the hotel.
He was already imagining the look on Ashen Vale's face when he saw Manaphy.
(End of this chapter)