Out on the distant sea, Zhongli Kong wore a bitter look. At this point he didn't care whether Team Splash had succeeded or not. Aside from two officers, most of them were just outer-ring grunts anyway. Right now, all he wanted was to get away.
"Um, Elite Four Yue, sir—terribly sorry, but I really have to go home. The kid's waiting on me to cook."
Zhonghua Yue's face showed open disdain. "Cut it out. You were the one who said you wanted a quick spar with me. What, backing out now?"
Zhongli Kong's expression grew even uglier, but he still forced a smile.
"Brother, I'm down to just a Gyarados. If I spar with you now, I won't be making it home."
Zhonghua Yue blinked. "No way. That your second squad's Pokémon or something?"
Zhongli Kong blinked too—then flared. "Zhonghua Yue, losing to you is one thing, but if you're going to insult me we're going to have a problem, you hear?!"
"Go on then. Show me your 'problem.'"
Zhonghua Yue narrowed his eyes; the small eyes locked tight on Zhongli Kong.
"Heh, just kidding, just kidding—what are you taking me for? I'm not a dog; I don't just bare my teeth because you said a word."
Seeing the danger flash in Zhonghua Yue's gaze, Zhongli Kong changed tune immediately.
"All right. If we're done catching up, head on back. Go cook for your kid."
"Ah—great. Bye-bye~"
Delighted, Zhongli Kong tossed back a reply and turned to leave.
"Your country has a lot of faith in you. Do some proper work out there, got it?"
Zhongli Kong's eyes flashed with hate at the words behind his back, but he quickly pushed it down. He waved over his shoulder and said mildly,
"Relax. I know my limits."
Zhonghua Yue watched him go and let out a helpless sigh.
In truth, Zhongli Kong hadn't lied. The two of them really were old friends who hadn't seen each other in years—but in the end, their paths had split.
A moment later a harsh gale screamed across the waves. Without turning, Zhonghua Yue spoke.
"Can't tell whether letting him run loose like this is good or bad."
"Don't overthink it. His choices are his own, aren't they?"
"You're not wrong."
Zhonghua Yue turned to the handsome man lounging lazily atop Pidgeot's back.
"How's it over there?"
The handsome man smiled faintly. "The kids were surprisingly capable. And you'll never guess how they wiped Team Splash in the end."
Zhonghua Yue froze. "You didn't intervene and they still wiped Team Splash?"
"Yup. Saw plenty of familiar faces in there too: Brother Lu's Lucario and Gengar, that guy from the You family with a Golurk and a Decidueye, Professor Sui's Ampharos…"
He ticked them off on his fingers, one by one.
"Oh, right—there was also Manaphy."
"Oh, Manaphy. Whose—"
"Manaphy!!!? The one from the Sea Temple?!"
Zhonghua Yue blurted it out. For a small-time incident like this, he'd thought having two Elite Four show up was already extravagant—he hadn't expected a Legendary to make an appearance.
"Where's Manaphy now? Take me to see it, hurry."
The poor man—堂堂 the Poison-type Elite Four—actually had no Poison-type that could fly. Specialization had its drawbacks. (In Zhonghua Yue's view, hanging from a Crobat's feet to fly through the sky would utterly ruin his Poison-type Elite Four image, so he'd refused to catch one no matter what anyone said.)
"Too late. That kid from the Lu family seems to have promised Manaphy something, so now they're going to transmit Manaphy over to Brother Lu."
The handsome man caught Zhonghua Yue by the arm and managed to get him seated on Pidgeot as well.
"Transmit? Manaphy's inside a Poké Ball?" Zhonghua Yue asked, face odd.
"Mm-hm."
With that confirmation, Zhonghua Yue turned to stone.
Some people go decades without ever seeing a Legendary. Some kids, barely grown, are putting one inside a Poké Ball.
Grinding his teeth, Zhonghua Yue said to the handsome man,
"Quick, take me to the airport!"
The handsome man blinked. "Airport? Didn't you say you wanted to meet Brother Lu's son?"
"I want to see the Legendary! I can meet Auron Vale anytime. This is the closest I've been to one in years. Help me meet Auron—and help me thank him while you're at it."
"Fine, then. Hold on—taking off~"
…
At the hotel, Auron Vale was on a video call with his dad. If you want to see Ashen Vale's reaction properly, video is the only way.
"Dad, hang on—I'm going to transmit a Pokémon to you. Could you send it to a place for me?"
"Sure. Where to?"
"I'll send it over first, then tell you."
"Okay."
Ashen stood, stretched, and walked phone in hand to the Pokémon transfer machine.
"Did Team Splash show up today?"
"They did. We netted the lot."
Seeing Auron's proud look, Ashen chuckled.
"Not bad."
Auron's face fell. "Huh? That's it?"
Ashen's smile deepened. "What else did you expect? You want me to gush about how my Gengar and Lucario stole the show? When you do that with your own Pokémon, I'll shower you with praise."
"Fineee…"
"All right, I'm here. Ready when you are."
Once Ashen had powered up the machine, he nodded at Auron.
"Got it."
Auron keyed in the commands. A Luxury Ball blinked out on his end and reappeared on Ashen's.
Ashen started. "Well now, a Luxury Ball. Looks like whatever's inside isn't ordinary."
Auron snickered twice. "Dad, could you send it over to the Guanyin Zen Monastery? Just hand it to Victini."
At the mention of Victini, Ashen perked up. "Nice. Another chance to see Victini. Hey, don't tell me this is a playmate you picked out for it?"
"Yup, a playmate for Victini. Want to pop it open and see?"
Auron looked at his dad with the face of a man about to enjoy a show.
"Maybe I shouldn't. You want me to take it over right now?"
Auron smiled mysteriously. "You sure? If you don't take a look, you're absolutely going to regret it later."
"Heh. Since you put it that way, I'll force myself to take a peek."
Ashen grinned too. He truly couldn't imagine what kind of Pokémon would make him regret not looking. It's not like this kid Auron could have found a second Victini.
Casually, Ashen released the Pokémon from the Luxury Ball.
"I really want to see which Pokémon could make me—oh, come o—WHAT?!"
Ashen yelped the moment the red light congealed into a shape.
"Where did you steal Manaphy from? You even stuffed it in a Poké Ball?!"
Auron's face went black. "What are you even saying? Where would I steal a Myth—"
Ashen frowned. "Mythical?"
Auron's heart skipped. Great. Habit. He'd forgotten that in this world there wasn't a split between 'Legendary' and 'Mythical'; everything got lumped together as Legendaries.
"Uh, that… I'll explain when I get back. It's a bit complicated."
Ashen gave Auron a long, suspicious look.
"Fine."
He hung up right after. Manaphy—delivered to his doorstep. How could he not give it a thorough look?
Auron stared at the cleanly ended call, stunned, then gave a wry smile and sent a message.
"Dad, observing it is fine, but remember to get it to Victini early, okay? I promised it I would."
(End of this chapter)