Johto waters.
Aboard the illegal fishing vessel near the coast, Caster continued mechanically fishing while muttering under his breath, "If only I could use these Energy Orbs myself..."
At the same time, as Chinchou after Chinchou was reeled up, notifications from his cheat ability kept appearing.
[Caught 'Chinchou', rewarded with 1 TM for 'Charge'.]
[Caught 'Chinchou', rewarded with 1 TM for 'Charge Beam'.]
[Caught 'Chinchou', rewarded with 1 'Revival Herb'.]
...
But for Caster at this point, ordinary rewards barely registered anymore.
However, when 'Revival Herb' appeared, he paused.
"Revival Herb? Could it be..."
Caster's heart stirred, and his movements slowed. His consciousness sank into the fishing space to examine the reward carefully.
[Revival Herb: A fragment containing miraculous energy that can instantly restore half the stamina of a Pokémon that has lost the ability to battle, reviving its fighting capability.]
"Just as I thought!"
Seeing the Revival Herb's description, Caster's face lit up with joy.
Its effects matched the item from the games, taking effect instantly.
This meant that when Caster faced life-threatening danger, the Revival Herb could work wonders alongside Power Boost and Full Restore.
After a brief moment of excitement, Caster continued fishing.
It took another half hour before he finally fished all the Chinchou out of the pool and released them into the ocean.
"Finally done grinding!"
Seeing the pool completely emptied of Chinchou, Caster stretched lazily.
"Pi~"
Pichu was exhausted too and quickly jumped into Caster's pocket.
"Pichu, it's not time to sleep yet. Hang in there a little longer."
Activating an Energy Orb and channeling it into Pichu, the little Pokémon immediately perked right back up.
"Gyaaa~"
On deck, Gyarados remained at its post, carefully monitoring the movements beneath the ocean surface.
Fortunately, nothing seemed amiss!
Just then, the eastern sky began showing hints of pale light.
Caster rubbed his sore, numb muscles and watched as the horizon gradually became outlined in gold, the clouds looking as if they'd been set ablaze.
Standing on deck with the salty sea breeze blowing against him, Caster felt the exhaustion from working all night being swept away.
"It's dawn!"
Caster glanced at the rising sun, then patted Gyarados's head in praise. "Gyarados, you worked hard tonight."
"Chin~Chin~Chin~"
Just then, bright, dazzling lights suddenly appeared on the ocean surface below the ship.
Caster's heart leaped.
He rushed to the railing and looked down to see a huge number of Chinchou calling out while waving their feelers, creating flashing, flickering lights.
Their movements were perfectly synchronized, making the sight spectacular.
If you didn't know better, you'd think they were cheering for their idol.
"Chinchou, why haven't you left yet?"
Caster was clearly surprised.
He'd assumed that after returning to the sea, the Chinchou would scatter in all directions. He never expected them to still be here.
"Pichu~"
Pichu called out and quickly acted as translator.
"You're saying the Chinchou are thanking us for rescuing them?"
At those words, Caster's nose tingled, and the wind seemed to blow something into his eyes at just the right moment.
This was what Pokémon were: the purest, most innocent creatures in the world.
Watching this scene, Caster felt that even if he'd gotten into a wild battle, it was all worth it.
"Chinchou, you need to get to Bluerock Island, right?"
Caster had Gyarados jump back into the sea. He climbed onto Gyarados's head himself, then pointed toward Bluerock Island. "Then let's go back together!"
"Chin~Chin~Chin~"
Hearing this, the Chinchou immediately nodded excitedly and gathered from all around, forming a path of light as they followed closely behind Gyarados.
However, before leaving, Caster glanced back at the fishing vessel and commanded coldly, "Gyarados, use Dragon Breath!"
BOOM!
The scorching Dragon Breath struck the fishing vessel, instantly blasting a massive hole in the hull.
SPLASH!
Seawater came flooding in, and the vessel immediately began to sink slowly until it was completely submerged beneath the cold ocean.
After finishing this, Caster finally grabbed the twin horns on Gyarados's head and said cheerfully, "Gyarados, let's go!"
Seeing this, little Pichu mimicked him, grabbing both of Caster's ears and calling out, "Pi~Pichu~"
"Chin~Chin~"
Gyarados began swimming, with the Chinchou following closely behind.
Just then, that familiar song rang out once more.
"Manaphy's song?!"
Caster looked all around, overjoyed. "Manaphy hasn't left yet!"
Unfortunately, Manaphy still seemed unwilling to meet with Caster. No matter how hard he searched, he couldn't find a single trace of it.
"Forget it! If it won't show itself, so be it! It's not like I could fish it up anyway..."
Caster shook his head, too lazy to think about it anymore, and simply immersed himself in Manaphy's song.
Bathing in the song, the many Pokémon listened in complete fascination, and even the fatigue in their bodies completely dissipated.
Many of the Chinchou's injuries showed noticeable improvement.
Feeling renewed vitality surging through him, Caster sighed in admiration. "Truly worthy of being a Mythical Pokémon. Its power really is miraculous!"
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Just then, three massive columns of water suddenly erupted from beneath the ocean surface, shooting skyward.
Not far away, three Pokémon with bodies as massive as mountains leaped out of the water. Their backs were primarily blue, their bellies and teeth white, with four white spots on their backs.
"It's Wailord!"
Caster's eyes went wide, his face full of excitement.
Wailord were the largest Pokémon in the world by body size.
Compared to them, Gyarados looked like a child.
As the Wailord appeared, more and more Pokémon began showing themselves, continuously leaping out of the ocean surface.
There were schools of tiny Remoraid, schools of Qwilfish covered in sharp spines, and clusters of Corsola that looked like pink coral reefs...
More and more Pokémon appeared. Caster's eyes sparkled as he watched, practically drooling, thinking to himself, "If only I could catch all these Pokémon. Then I'd be able to take the Indigo League championship this year, and getting through the Champion's Road wouldn't be completely hopeless..."
There were simply too many Pokémon in the ocean. They were on a completely different scale from the Pokémon in lakes and ponds.
Just within Caster's current field of vision, there had to be at least ten thousand Pokémon.
Especially the Remoraid schools, which were so densely packed they were impossible to count.
This scene made Caster's heart surge with excitement, and his fishing urge stirred restlessly.
Caster slapped his hand down hard and scolded himself, "Control yourself! Fishing at a time like this would be kind of rude!"
Suddenly, a figure popped into Caster's mind. He quickly scanned his surroundings again, searching.
"Where's Kyogre? Could Kyogre be here too?"
All these Pokémon leaping out of the water as if on cue, Caster knew this had to be Manaphy's doing.
Otherwise, relying on himself alone, he knew he didn't have that kind of ability.
And in the movie, Manaphy had summoned a Kyogre as backup. Could it be nearby too?