The house smelled faintly of old paper, soldering flux, and sea breeze — the official scent of the King household. Cyrus sat cross-legged on the floor of his room, surrounded by gear in neatly sorted clusters: reinforced rope, hydro-scanners, nutrient rations, a portable typing analyzer, and an uncomfortable number of antivenom kits.
Ditto oozed lazily across a labeled pile and Cyrus flicked a pen at it."That goes in the survival bag, not the miscellaneous goo bag."
Ditto responded by turning into a lumpy version of Cyrus, eyebrows exaggerated into dramatic arcs.
"Flattering," Cyrus said dryly. "But you're still going in the survival bag."
Across the room, Charcadet was staring into a fireproof container filled with glossy stones — Flint, Coal, and what looked suspiciously like a piece of melted streetlamp. The small armor-clad ember Pokémon tapped each item, then shook its head like a jeweler rejecting inferior gems.
"Yeah, yeah," Cyrus muttered. "We'll find you the shiny armor upgrade later… assuming we don't become shark food."
Gengar's red eyes blinked from the shadow beneath the desk.A slow, toothy grin appeared.
"Oh, don't give me that look," Cyrus said, pointing at him. "Yes, there will probably be danger. No, you can't possess the danger and make it worse."
Gengar melted deeper into the shadow with a smug rumble.
Finally, Meltan waddled forward and plunked itself down on the typing analyzer, the metal around its body humming faintly. Cyrus reached over and scratched the bolt around its head.
"You're the real MVP, you know. Most Valuable… Physics experiment."
Meltan jingled proudly, metal bits rattling like loose coins.
He checked his datapad — open on "Fossil Lineage Divergence: Tyrunt & Amaura." He'd spent three nights memorizing everything from jaw structure to the exact roar frequency that indicated "I'm hungry" versus "I'm hungry and you look bite-sized."
"Extinct Pokémon with giant teeth," he recited to himself. "Totally fine. Nothing to stress about."
A knock came from the doorway.
His mother leaned in, hair frazzled in a way only high-stress science could produce.
"Your father and I uploaded the latest seismic readings," she said. "Spikes near the island's central ridge. Something's moving there — something big."
Cyrus's pulse jumped — excitement and dread in equal parts."Let me guess. A friendly local welcoming committee?"
She sighed, though a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth."Just… be careful."
He waved it off. "I have a Ditto. What's the worst that could happen?"
At that exact moment, Ditto attempted to morph into a Tyrantrum and instead became a collapsing meat-balloon of limbs.
His mother stared.
"…Confidence inspiring," she said flatly.
Cyrus clapped his hands. "Progress!"
She pulled him into a hug — unexpectedly tight."You're doing this alone. That's new. But you're ready."
He didn't say it out loud, but the warmth in his chest agreed.
By sunrise, Cyrus stood on the deck of the research vessel Odyssey. The ocean stretched endlessly around them — dark teal and whispering secrets.
A crew of engineers and biologists worked around him, prepping equipment. No parents. No Kina. Just him — and a mission that felt too large and too thrilling to process all at once.
Ditto had taken the form of a seagull and was tormenting the real ones.Meltan happily clung to a railing bolt, absorbing the rust like a snack.
Charcadet paced, flames flickering brighter with the sea breeze.Gengar had already vanished into someone's shadow — hopefully someone unimportant.
The captain, a stern man with a voice like gravel, approached."We'll reach the island by tomorrow morning," he said. "Sensors are already picking up… anomalies."
Right on cue, Cyrus's wrist device pinged — the radar sweep distorted, then glitched, static swallowing the image.
He tapped it. "Well, that's fun. Tech breakdown before reaching the danger zone. Classic."
The captain narrowed his eyes at the churning horizon."These waters aren't normal."
A sudden plume of mist erupted far ahead, like a geyser — followed by the unmistakable echo of a roar rolling across the waves. The entire deck fell still.
Cyrus's grin spread slowly, adrenaline sparking through him.
"Oh yeah," he whispered. "This is going to be interesting."