The entire coral sea fell into silence.
Every Horsea and Seadra stared at Chen Mo as though he were an idiot.
"Sea?"
Kingdra looked equally confused.
But more than confusion...
There was disgust.
To Pokémon that lived in the ocean...
Seawater was life itself.
Its importance could hardly be overstated.
Yet...
The very thing they cherished most was constantly being ruined by humans.
Whether in their original world...
Or this new one...
Ocean Pokémon were forever cleaning up the messes humanity left behind.
Under those circumstances...
How could Kingdra possibly have a favorable opinion of humans?
Normally...
If a human dared trespass into its territory so arrogantly...
Kingdra would attack without hesitation.
Showing absolutely no mercy.
But today...
With the Tentacruel tribe still watching from nearby...
Kingdra chose to suppress its anger—for now.
"Kingdra!"
It let out a warning cry toward the young man riding Lapras...
Ordering him and his Pokémon to leave the coral sea immediately.
As for what the human had said—
"I've come to end this conflict."
Hah.
Do you really think it can still be stopped?
Kingdra hated the Tentacruel tribe to the bone.
And it knew...
The feeling was mutual.
A hatred that deep...
Wasn't going to disappear because of one stranger's words.
What a joke.
After only a brief distraction...
Kingdra shifted its attention back to the Tentacruel tribe.
Preparing for the next round of battle.
But then...
It suddenly noticed something strange.
The Tentacruel were acting... oddly.
The ruby-like gem atop their heads had begun glowing.
Having fought them for so long...
The two tribes could practically be called mortal enemies.
Kingdra had gradually learned several of Tentacruel's habits.
For example...
Whenever those ruby-like organs lit up...
It meant the Tentacruel were communicating in a secret language unique to their species.
If it happened during battle...
Kingdra would immediately become more vigilant...
To avoid walking into one of their silent traps.
But now...
Watching the Tentacruel gather together...
Seemingly ignoring Kingdra's entire clan...
Kingdra found the scene absurd.
It was almost as though...
They were seriously considering that human's warning.
Roughly half a minute later...
The Tentacool...
Along with most of the Tentacruel...
Slowly sank into the depths.
Vanishing from the coral sea.
"..."
This time...
Even Chen Mo was stunned.
He had indeed come to stop the conflict.
But honestly...
He had never imagined a single sentence would be enough to end a war between two Pokémon tribes.
In fact...
He had already prepared himself to be attacked by both sides simultaneously.
He had even negotiated the price for Marshadow's intervention beforehand.
Yet...
To his complete surprise...
The so-called "Ocean Bullies," the Tentacruel tribe...
Had obediently withdrawn without hesitation.
They were even more cooperative than his own Gengar.
Chen Mo was speechless.
Since when was my reputation this impressive?
Of course...
He understood his own unique circumstances.
Being the Hero of Ideals had earned him the friendship of many Pokémon.
But...
That title had disappeared from history for far too long.
Outside a handful of special Pokémon...
Its influence over ordinary wild tribes was extremely limited.
Especially here...
In the ocean.
Among marine Pokémon...
The title of Hero of Ideals was probably less meaningful than simply being one of the Water People.
Just as Chen Mo struggled to understand what had happened...
He noticed something.
Not far away...
Kingdra had turned around.
Its eyes were locked squarely on him.
A bad feeling welled up inside him.
"It looks like..."
Marshadow's voice echoed in his mind.
"...Kingdra thinks you're working together with the Tentacruel."
At the same moment...
Kingdra reached its own conclusion.
So that's why those Tentacruel suddenly invaded our territory.
Humans.
Those despicable humans!
Only creatures as vile as humans...
Would resort to such underhanded tricks.
Kingdra glared at Chen Mo.
Rage boiled inside it like a volcano.
"KINGDRA!!!"
With a furious roar...
The crimson glow in its eyes deepened into a terrifying scarlet.
An overwhelming pressure exploded outward.
Outrage activated!
Driven by pure battle instinct...
Dragon-type energy surged throughout Kingdra's body.
The next instant...
A savage Dragon Pulse tore across the sea.
Its tremendous force split the waves apart...
Sending towering walls of water crashing skyward.
The ocean instantly became violent.
Facing the incoming Dragon Pulse...
Chen Mo's black hair whipped wildly in the wind.
His expression carried only a trace of helplessness.
Not a hint of fear.
Just before the Dragon Pulse engulfed him...
A tiny figure wrapped in blue and golden lightning descended from the heavens.
Landing directly between Chen Mo and the attack.
"PIKAAAAAA—CHUUUUUU!!!"
A blinding Thunderbolt erupted from Pikachu's body.
The blue-and-gold lightning collided head-on with Dragon Pulse.
The two overwhelming forces ground violently against one another.
Before exploding simultaneously.
Riding the shockwave...
Pikachu flipped gracefully through the air.
At precisely the right moment...
Gengar quickly pulled a small surfboard from inside its body...
And threw it beneath Pikachu.
"Pika~"
The next second...
Pikachu landed perfectly on the board.
Watching this...
Kingdra finally realized.
The Pokémon that had interrupted both tribes' battle...
Was this Pikachu.
There wasn't the slightest fear on Kingdra's face.
Ordinary Water-type Pokémon naturally feared Electric-types.
But Kingdra...
Was noble dragonkind.
One of the greatest gifts granted by its Dragon typing...
Was that it no longer shared the usual Water-type weakness.
"KINGDRA!!!"
Kingdra raised its head toward the heavens.
Soft white light began radiating from its body.
At the same time...
Strong winds gathered.
Dark storm clouds rolled back over the sea.
Blocking out the moonlight once more.
Rain began falling again.
Chen Mo calmly watched.
He made no move to ask Jirachi to reclaim the weather with Sunny Day.
After all...
The rain Kingdra summoned alone was far weaker and much smaller than before.
It was obvious...
Kingdra simply wanted to activate its Swift Swim Ability.
Smart.
And powerful.
Chen Mo silently judged.
In the games...
Outrage was simply an incredibly powerful physical attack.
Reality...
Was very different.
According to investigations conducted by the Bureau into the Haxorus line...
Outrage functioned more like a temporary enhancement technique.
While under Outrage...
A Pokémon's overall physical abilities increased dramatically.
However...
The backlash was equally severe.
Most Pokémon were completely consumed by the battle instincts awakened by Outrage.
Take Haxorus for example.
Many members of the species knew the move.
Yet among those currently studied...
Only Axew Village's mature Haxorus—
The father of Mo Yu's Fraxure...
And the tribe's unofficial leader—
Could still retain a reasonable degree of rationality while using it.
Maintaining sanity during Outrage...
Was itself proof of overwhelming strength.
The Kingdra before him...
Not only remained rational...
But had the presence of mind to summon rain before attacking.
Without question...
It ranked among the strongest wild Pokémon Chen Mo had ever encountered.
"...Looks like there's no helping it."
Chen Mo sighed softly.
His hand gripped the crystal hanging from his chest.
Kingdra still possessed reason during battle.
But Chen Mo wasn't naïve enough to believe...
That reason would extend to calmly listening to explanations.
Only one path remained.
Battle.
"Go all out, Pikachu."
"Show Kingdra the strength we've built together!"
"Pika!"
Azure lightning continuously flowed from Chen Mo's body.
Connecting him to Pikachu atop the surfboard.
The Overclock Drive Mode...
Which had once astonished everyone during the Pikachu Cup finals...
Returned once more.
Kingdra stared at the glowing blue markings spreading across Pikachu's body.
For some reason...
A faint sense of unease stirred inside it.
But...
Battle instinct still dominated nearly all of its thoughts.
Splash.
As a true marine Pokémon...
Kingdra knew exactly how to use the ocean to its advantage.
It dove beneath the turbulent waves.
Using the dark depths as cover...
It silently closed in beneath Pikachu's shadow.
To Kingdra...
Pikachu...
Standing awkwardly atop a surfboard...
Was nothing more than prey awaiting execution.
Just like now.
"Kingdra!"
Its crimson eyes flashed.
A Dragon Pulse shot straight upward.
Its target was precise.
Its speed astonishing.
Kingdra eagerly anticipated watching Pikachu get blasted into the sea.
Yet...
The Pikachu above...
Seemed to possess eyes beneath the ocean itself.
Riding the waves...
It leapt lightly with its surfboard...
Effortlessly avoiding the Dragon Pulse.
"...?!"
Kingdra stared in disbelief.
Unwilling to accept it...
It fired several more attacks from completely different angles.
Every single one...
Missed.
Far away...
A faint smile appeared on Chen Mo's face.
Pikachu couldn't see attacks coming from beneath the sea.
But he could.
With Aura...
Tracking Kingdra's movements was effortless.
And thanks to Overclock Drive...
Pikachu and Chen Mo shared perfect mutual understanding.
What I can see...
Pikachu can see as well.
Kingdra.
This...
Is the greatest strength humans and Pokémon can achieve together.
"KINGDRA!"
Kingdra was naturally hot-tempered.
Outrage only amplified that fury.
Its body began spinning rapidly beneath the sea.
From Chen Mo's perspective...
An enormous waterspout quickly expanded toward Pikachu.
"Pika!"
Although Pikachu had learned Surf after spending so much time playing near Crescent Moon Town...
Its technique was still far from refined.
Against a storm of this magnitude...
Its inexperience immediately became apparent.
Soon...
Dragged upward by the roaring winds...
Pikachu began losing control.
The surfboard—and Pikachu—were pulled toward the massive waterspout.
At that exact moment...
Kingdra's eyes gleamed.
With the waterspout exploding apart...
Kingdra accelerated through the curtain of rain.
Swift Swim pushed its speed to the limit.
It dove straight toward the airborne Pikachu.
"KINGDRAAA!!!"
Dense Dragon-type energy condensed around its fully extended tail.
Breaking Swipe!
From Kingdra's perspective...
Pikachu was suspended helplessly in midair.
There was nowhere to dodge.
And yet...
At that very moment...
Kingdra saw it.
Brilliant blue-and-gold lightning erupted from Pikachu's tail.
The crackling electricity screamed through the howling wind.
An alarm rang within Kingdra's instincts.
Outrage urged it forward.
Don't hesitate.
Charge!
But the fragment of reason still remaining...
Warned it.
Run.
Avoid that attack.
Caught between instinct and reason...
Its rational side barely gained the upper hand.
Kingdra immediately tried to retreat.
Using the heavy rain as cover...
It attempted to flee from the glowing yellow mouse.
But...
"It's too late, Kingdra."
Chen Mo's voice drifted through the storm.
With his soul synchronized to Pikachu's...
A single thought was enough to issue a command.
Now.
Staring upward at Kingdra...
"Pika!"
"Electroweb!"
The electric sphere flung from Pikachu's tail spun rapidly through the air.
Then...
Like fireworks...
It burst apart.
Against the backdrop of countless falling raindrops...
It unfolded into a gigantic blue-and-gold web.
Completely sealing every escape route above Kingdra.
The next instant—
The web contracted.
"KINGDRAAA!!!"
The moment Kingdra became trapped...
Countless streams of electricity surged through the net.
Its agonized scream echoed across the coral sea.
Throughout the reef...
Every Horsea and Seadra watched in panic.
Meanwhile...
The few Tentacruel still lingering nearby communicated rapidly through the glowing gems on their heads.
A moment later...
Fear spread across every one of their faces.
Almost instinctively...
They began sinking deeper...
Toward the dark ocean below.
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