"Sharpedo, use Crunch!"
The moment Milotic fell into the water, Shelly's voice rang out once again.
In the next instant, a prehistoric shark burst out from the sea, its bloodthirsty jaws wide open as it lunged at Milotic.
"Milotic, use Aqua Dragon Assault!"
Standing atop Gyarados' head, Wallace commanded his Milotic in the water below.
With a graceful twist of its body, Milotic charged toward the monstrous shark without a hint of fear.
The surrounding seawater seemed to come alive, rapidly coalescing around Milotic's form.
First, a skeletal structure took shape, followed by muscle, skin, and finally, gleaming azure scales and flowing dragon whiskers.
In less than a second, the formation of the water dragon appeared almost instantaneous.
The moment the water dragon collided with Sharpedo, the shark chomped down ferociously on its underbelly. However, it failed to bite clean through, instead giving the water dragon an opportunity to counterattack.
Its powerful tail lashed out, striking Sharpedo with such force that the entire shark's body trembled violently, as if on the verge of shattering.
"ROAR!"
A sound akin to a dragon's roar echoed as the water dragon clamped its jaws onto Sharpedo, dragging it down into the sea.
The crashing water erupted, and the massive shark dissolved into countless streams of water, dispersing back into the ocean.
A figure was flung backward, landing heavily on the water's surface.
With some effort, Sharpedo quickly regained its ability to move.
A Pokémon of Champion-level strength possessed incredible endurance—such an attack alone wasn't enough to render it unable to fight.
"Wallace, if you launch another attack, I can't guarantee the safety of the people on that ship."
Now floating on the sea's surface, Shelly stood atop the submarine, holding what looked like a detonator as she addressed Wallace.
The next moment, numerous bombs surfaced around the ship, even two appearing directly behind Wallace.
Shelly had originally planned to use this trick to eliminate the people on the ship along with the police reinforcements. But now, it had unexpectedly become her means of escape.
"The ship has members of Team Aqua on board. Do you not care about their lives?"
Wallace's smile disappeared as he fixed Shelly with a cold glare.
Sensing its Trainer's emotions, Milotic prepared for battle once again.
"I'd love to save them, but wouldn't it be unreasonable for me to make such a request?"
"Make your decision quickly, or else I can't promise I won't press this button."
Shelly smirked, as if she had the upper hand.
And in reality, she did. With a Champion-level Sharpedo at her disposal, Wallace couldn't capture her instantly.
If this stand-off continued, the final result would be that the entire ship—and everyone on it—would be obliterated in the explosion, while Shelly would escape, losing only a few Pokémon in the process.
On the surface, exchanging a ship full of people for one Champion-level Pokémon, along with several Elite Four-tier Pokémon and Team Aqua members, seemed like a fair trade.
But the real cost wasn't that simple—otherwise, Team Aqua wouldn't have remained so rampant for so long.
"How can I be sure you won't detonate the bombs after you escape?"
Wallace took a deep breath and questioned her.
"It's simple. Have your Milotic gather all the bombs together. That way, even if I set them off, your Milotic and the others won't be harmed."
Seeing Wallace hesitate, Shelly didn't push further but instead made a 'reasonable' suggestion.
"Milotic, use Dragon Vortex!"
"Return, Sharpedo."
The commands were given almost simultaneously—Milotic activated Dragon Vortex, pulling all the bombs toward it.
Sharpedo, remaining on high alert, was prepared to strike at any moment.
"Go!"
With a sharp command, Shelly swiftly recalled Sharpedo into its Poké Ball and jumped back into the submarine, pressing the detonator as she did.
"Milotic, use Aqua Barrier!"
"Gyarados, chase them down with Aqua Dragon Assault!"
Leaping off Gyarados' back, Wallace released another Sharpedo to break his fall before landing in the water.
With a furious roar, Gyarados charged toward the submarine.
Only then did Wallace realize—this Gyarados, too, had Champion-level strength.
This meant Wallace himself was already on the verge of reaching Champion status.
Dozens of bombs exploded simultaneously, their force strong enough to obliterate the entire ship.
However, under Milotic's control, the devastation was contained.
A massive sphere of water formed on the ocean's surface. The detonations erupted from within, but each blast was suppressed, sealed away by Milotic's mastery over water.
Even Gyarados' charge failed to achieve much, allowing Sharpedo to escort the submarine to safety.
...
While battle raged on at the docks, deep in a remote forest, Ron stood frozen in place.
At some point, the small box in his hands had opened.
Inside, a blue orb lay quietly, emitting a mysterious glow.
Simply gazing upon it, he could feel an overwhelming power surging forth, as if he were submerged in the vast ocean itself.
Ron hurriedly closed the box, a wave of nervousness washing over him. The last thing he wanted was for Kyogre to come storming into Sootopolis City and unleash its fury.
However, after calming down, Ron realized that this wasn't the Indigo Orb—the one capable of awakening Kyogre's Primal Reversion.
Or rather, while this orb did contain traces of Kyogre's power, it was only a fraction of it, the kind of energy that could slowly replenish itself after being depleted.
For such a minor source of power, Kyogre likely wouldn't go on a rampage just to retrieve it.
Even so, just to be safe, Ron decided to hold off for now. He would wait until his Frogadier had grown stronger before attempting to see if it could absorb the energy within.
More importantly, Ron needed to figure out whether absorbing Kyogre's power would have any unintended effects on other Water-type Pokémon.
After all, he had taken this orb from Team Aqua. Who knew what they had originally intended to use its energy for?
Carefully stowing the box away, Ron resumed his usual disguise and made his way back toward Sootopolis City.
As for uncovering the secrets of Kyogre's power, he decided to take things slow. Once the situation had settled down, he would try to extract some intel from Drake of the Elite Four.
What Ron didn't know was that Team Aqua had already decided to let this matter go.
"It seems the Blue Orb has fallen into the League's hands. If that's the case, we'll abandon it. Our goal has always been Kyogre itself!"
After listening to Shelly's report, Archie spoke indifferently.
The Blue Orb had merely been an experimental tool. Losing it was insignificant in the grand scheme of things. However, the loss of two Elite Four-level executives was something Archie wouldn't take lightly.
Suffering repeated setbacks at the hands of the League, he was nearing the limit of his patience.
Meanwhile, on the ship's deck, after a thorough investigation of all the passengers, the League had taken notice of a certain individual—someone named Garus.
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