A yellow-and-white Ultra Ball dropped from the air and landed on the beach, the white button in the center beginning to flash with a rhythmic red light.
Beep... beep... click!
The sound signaled a successful capture.
"Nice!" Seeing the Poké Ball settle without further resistance, Siso pumped his fist in excitement. He had successfully captured the Giant Rhydon. It was a crucial additiona powerhouse tank that could both take a hit and dish one out. From this day forward, the core of his team had finally begun to take shape.
But before Siso could celebrate for long, the quieted Ultra Ball suddenly began to shake violently. Then, with a crisp pop, the high-grade ball actually burst into fragments...
"Roar...?"
The Rhydon sat on the sand with a look of utter innocence, scratching the back of its head as it stared at the pieces of the Ultra Ball scattered across the ground.
Siso's smile froze. He gave his forehead a bitter smack; he had been so caught up in the excitement that he'd forgotten this wasn't an ordinary Rhydon. The big guy was more than twice the size of its kin and weighed a staggering 1,200kg. The quality of a standard Ultra Ball simply couldn't withstand the sheer mass of a Giant Rhydon. It was only natural for it to shatter after the capture.
Fortunately, he had come prepared. Siso immediately opened his backpack and pulled out the case where he kept his special Poké Balls. Aside from three more yellow-and-white Ultra Balls, there were two camouflaged Safari Balls, intended for use in forests, wetlands, and marshes.
Additionally, there was a ball with a grid-like patterna Net Balland one final ball that was black and white, with two grey stone beads set into the top of its dark half.
Siso picked up that unique black-and-white ball. This was a Heavy Ball, specifically designed for capturing large or exceptionally heavy Pokémon.
The Heavy Ball traced an arc through the air and lightly tapped the Rhydon on the head.
With a pop, the ball clicked open, and a red beam of light shot out, enveloping the Rhydon's massive frame...
Thud!
Siso retrieved the now-still Heavy Ball from the sand and tossed it idly in his palm. These specialized balls were quite expensive because they couldn't be mass-produced by machines; they had to be handcrafted, bit by bit, by old masters who had spent decades honing the craft.
It was lucky he was a cautious man who liked to have several backup plans. If it weren't for this one Heavy Ball, he would have had a real headache today, as he wouldn't have been able to take the Rhydon with him.
The wooden boat they had built could never have supported the Rhydon's terrifying weight. Siso would have had to leave the island first, return to human society to buy a Heavy Ball, and then come all the way back to recapture itan tedious process prone to accidents.
"It's time to leave!"
Siso looked back at the beach one last time. It had been five days since the S.S. Anne sank and he was swept to this uninhabited island by a group of Gyarados using a collective Dragon Rage. During those five days, he had reaped a harvest that could only be described as a windfall. In a way, it was a blessing in disguise.
As the small wooden boat drifted across the ocean, Siso kept his laptop open while deploying his Falconer Drone to scout ahead. Once the laptop could connect to the internet, it would prove they were close to civilization.
The technology of this world was highly advanced, yet in two specific areas, it lagged far behind the Earth of his past life: satellite and aerospace technology. There were no satellites in orbit around this planet, and the primary modes of air travel were airships and propeller planestechnologies that had long been obsolete on Earth.
It wasn't that the people of this world weren't smart enough to build satellites or jet engines. Rather, it was because a terrifying monster lived in the ozone layer, twenty thousand meters above the ground. It attacked anything that entered its domain, whether living or inanimate.
Research institutes across the globe had tried to launch satellites, but without exception, every single one was destroyed the moment it reached the ozone. Breaking through to outer space was even more of a pipe dream.
Siso, possessing memories of his previous life, knew something of this terrifying lifeform. Its name was Rayquaza, though the people of this world preferred to call it the God of the Skies.
Rayquaza was one of the planet's guardians. While it protected the world from massive meteors and alien invasions, it also severely hindered the development of human aerospace technology.
It was a double-edged sword. Rayquaza was notoriously aggressive, but because it remained tens of thousands of meters high in the ozone, feeding on water vapor and energy particles in the atmosphere, it rarely descended to the surface. Consequently, legends about it were scarce.
Ping! Ping!
After drifting for a day and a night, just as Siso began to wonder if he had misjudged his direction, a notification popped up in the bottom right corner of his screen.
"Dear Visitor! Welcome to the resort paradise of Porta Vista! We wish you a pleasant stay in our beautiful seaside city!"
It was a standard greeting message sent by the city's network. Siso let out a long sigh of relief. It seemed his chosen direction had been correct; getting lost in the vast, trackless ocean was a thought that made his skin crawl.
Moments later, the Falconer Drone, which had been gone for quite some time, also sent back data. A coastal city sat just fifteen nautical miles southeast of the wooden boat. The drone's intelligent camera transmitted a panoramic snapshot of the city to his terminal.
Porta Vista was the most famous seaside resort in Kanto, even more renowned worldwide than Cerulean City. The S.S. Anne's original destination had been Porta Vista, until that unfortunate accident...
Thinking of this, Siso wasn't sure if he should hate Team Rocket. If not for their attack, he would probably be in some city right now taking on mundane commissions for money, and he never would have had this extraordinary encounter. One could only say that everything happened for a reasoncause and effect. Since it had already happened, there was no point in dwelling on it.
It was better to keep a level head and move forward. A man of his generation should strive for progress, not waste time on self-pity.
At the great docks of Porta Vista, cruise ships and cargo vessels of all sizes were moored in the harbor. These docks were the first attraction visitors saw upon arriving; every day, cruise liners from every corner of Kanto docked here.
Although the recent sinking of the S.S. Anne had impacted the local tourism industry, the effect was minimal. Tourists still flocked to the city in endless streams.
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