"Gyarados, are you all right?"
Caster's heart tightened with worry, and he hurriedly ordered Dragonair to fly over.
By now, Gyarados had completely lost consciousness. It floated on the surface like a heap of limp mud, its expression peaceful and its emotions remarkably stable.
Although Gyarados had caused an enormous commotion after Mega Evolving and had even nearly attacked its own Trainer, Caster did not blame it. Instead, he felt guilty.
He had been too reckless. Without making absolutely certain that everything was ready, he had rushed into activating Mega Evolution. That was the true cause of Gyarados's rampage.
"Gyarados, eat this Revive first."
Caster took a diamond-shaped medicinal tablet from his fishing space and slipped it into Gyarados's enormous mouth.
As the tablet dissolved and its effects began to take hold, Gyarados's brow twitched slightly.
However, its injuries were simply too severe this time. Mega Evolution and the rampage that followed had both consumed an enormous amount of its energy, so it would not wake up immediately.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Just then, Caster felt a gust of wind brush across his face.
He looked up and saw that Lugia had somehow flown up beside him. It was calmly examining Gyarados with curiosity.
"Lugia, thank you for helping me subdue Gyarados."
Caster hurriedly expressed his gratitude, his manner respectful.
This was Lugia, the God of the Sea. Even Mega Gyarados, for all its extraordinary power, was as helpless before it as a toddler taking its first steps. It could not pose any meaningful threat at all.
Only at the very beginning had Gyarados managed to catch Lugia off guard by calling down lightning.
But that was because Lugia had never expected a Gyarados to know Thunder.
Once Lugia was prepared, Mega Gyarados stood no chance. Lugia dominated it from beginning to end.
Lugia ordinarily disdained interacting with humans, but it had sensed a faint trace of sacred power within both Gyarados and Slowpoke, one that shared the same origin as Lugia's own power.
It was Manaphy!
After sensing it more carefully, Lugia recognized the source of that sacred aura.
Manaphy was the Prince of the Sea, while Lugia was the God of the Sea. Both of their authorities originated from the ocean.
No wonder Lugia felt a sense of kinship with Gyarados and Slowpoke.
"It appears this human has already earned Manaphy's recognition."
As Lugia hovered in midair and beat its wings, its eyes flickered thoughtfully.
Faced with the colossal Lugia, all four of the little Pokémon, including Pikachu, were completely intimidated. None of them dared to move. They could only stand rigidly and stare.
For Manaphy's sake, Lugia finally decided to speak. Its voice reached Caster through telepathy.
"This Gyarados's sense of self is still not strong enough. It cannot control the power it wielded just now."
Lugia's deep, powerful voice exploded inside Caster's mind, startling him.
"Telepathy! It really is Lugia, the God of the Sea!"
This made Caster even more certain that the Lugia before him was no ordinary Lugia. It was the God of the Sea itself.
"I understand. This was all my fault. I was too impatient!"
Caster nodded solemnly, taking all the blame upon himself.
At the same time, he understood what Lugia meant.
Although Gyarados was extremely powerful, much of its strength came from the Royal Authority of the Sea and the enhancements it received in rainy weather.
Under ordinary conditions, Gyarados was not nearly that powerful.
However, the enhancements provided by rain and the Royal Authority of the Sea flowed naturally and smoothly, placing no strain on its body.
Mega Evolution was different. That power contained tremendous destructive force. If a Pokémon could not control that power, the Pokémon could easily fall into a berserk state.
Seeing Caster readily admit his mistake without blaming his Pokémon in the slightest, Lugia could not help developing a favorable impression of him.
Then it remembered his connection to Manaphy.
A thought stirred within Lugia. As its enormous wings beat, a silver feather wrapped in a hazy glow drifted down from above.
"Lugia, is this...?"
Caster's eyes widened as he stared at the pure white feather floating down before him, his heart surging with excitement.
A feather from Lugia was also known as the Silver Wing.
It was a treasure on the same level as Ho-Oh's Rainbow Wing.
Whether in the games or the anime, both of these miraculous feathers appeared to possess the ability to summon their owners.
In one of the movies, Ash used the Rainbow Wing to summon Ho-Oh, then even sent Pikachu into battle against it.
That lovable idiot's thought process truly was something else.
"This is one of my feathers. It contains my power. Perhaps it can help your Gyarados control that strength and suppress its destructive urges."
After saying this, Lugia began climbing into the sky with powerful beats of its wings, giving Caster no opportunity to ask any more questions or continue the conversation.
Before long, Lugia plunged headfirst from the sky into the sea and vanished, as though it had never appeared at all.
Only the miraculous feather in Caster's hand, shining with silver light, proved that everything had truly happened and was not merely a dream.
"Thank you, Lugia, God of the Sea!"
Caster pressed his lips together as he looked toward the place where Lugia had disappeared, sincerely grateful for its help.
"Rooar..."
At that moment, Gyarados finally awakened after swallowing the Revive, though it was still in great discomfort.
"Slowpoke, Heal Pulse!"
"Shellder, Life Dew!"
Caster hurriedly ordered the two little Pokémon to begin treating it.
"Yaaawn..."
"Shwaa..."
Under Slowpoke and Shellder's treatment, most of the injuries on Gyarados's body quickly healed.
However, it had depleted too much energy and suffered considerable damage as a result. Those internal injuries could not be cured in a short time.
Caster gently stroked its forehead, then removed the Mega Stone from its horn and said with a smile, "Gyarados, we still haven't trained enough. We'll have to keep working hard from now on. As for Mega Evolution, we shouldn't attempt it again for the time being."
"Rooar..."
Gyarados raised its head and let out a cry, then nodded solemnly. It quietly watched as Caster returned the Mega Stone and Key Stone to his backpack.
It longed for power, but it also understood that power had to be brought under its control. It could not allow itself to become a puppet of that power.
After glancing once more toward the place where Lugia had disappeared, Caster smiled and began filling his Pokémon's heads with grand promises.
"Lugia really is powerful, but all of you have incredible potential too. As long as we work hard, we may even surpass Lugia someday."
"Pika?"
"Rooar..."
At those words, Gyarados, Pikachu, and the others all stared at him with wide eyes.
Trainer, are you serious?
"Of course I am!"
Caster smiled, unable to keep himself from recalling the plot of Pokémon the Movie 2000: The Power of One.
"Besides, I have a feeling it won't be long before we meet Lugia again. When that happens, Lugia may find itself in grave danger. That will be our chance to step in and repay its help."
"Especially you, Gyarados. When the time comes, you must repay Lugia properly and show it just how much you've changed!"
Caster tapped Gyarados on the forehead. At once, determination surged through its entire body.
It silently swore that the next time they met, it would be far stronger. It would also completely master the power of Mega Evolution.
Caster looked down at the Silver Wing in his hand, placed it inside his backpack, then returned Gyarados, Slowpoke, and Shellder to their Poké Balls.
Dragonair, meanwhile, would temporarily serve as his flying mount.
"I've heard that the hot springs on Cinnabar Island are particularly effective at helping Pokémon recover from injuries."
Gyarados's condition immediately brought Cinnabar Island to mind.
And when Cinnabar Island came to mind, so did Blaine, the Gym Leader of Cinnabar Gym.
In Pokémon Adventures, he was another remarkable figure.
When Blaine was young, he once became stranded while climbing a mountain. Moltres later appeared and illuminated the darkened mountain path, saving his life. That experience inspired him to become a Fire-type Trainer.
Blaine also founded the Cinnabar Laboratory. He and his former colleague, Mr. Fuji, were close friends, and together they created Mewtwo.
In addition, Blaine was on excellent personal terms with Entei and was a Trainer Entei had acknowledged.
"Let's go, Dragonair."
Caster's heart surged with excitement at the thought.
"We're heading to Cinnabar Island!"
Meanwhile, at the docks of Fuchsia City, Ash and his companions also boarded a passenger ferry bound for Cinnabar Island.