This is the second of four chapters today.


"They're really after that Manaphy?" Ship asked. "Why's that?"

"I think they want the Crown of the Sea," May replied, cradling Manaphy – remembering the last time they'd gone through something very like this.

She looked out the window, back at the pursuing war machines.

"They've stopped shooting," she mused. "Okay, so they want Manaphy at least to be safe – but they're probably going to try and stop us up ahead."

"What do we do about that?" Jackie said. "I'm used to criminals coming after me with Pokémon, not with guns."

"I know, right?" Ash said. "Normally it's either Pokémon, giant flying machines, or giant flying machines which try to catch Pokémon."

There was a spuunnnng, and Jirachi yelped.

"What happened?" Max asked, looking concerned, and held on to the nearest handhold as the van went around a bend. "Are you okay?"

"They're firing things at the shield, lots of them all at once!" Jirachi told him. "It surprised me!"

"...wait, hold on," May said, thinking. "I… might know how we can solve this."


"Stick to the harpoon guns for now," Captain Phantom ordered, as the vehicle they were chasing bounced down a hillside road. "Don't fire anything else at the vehicle."

He lowered the radio, then tapped the gunner on the shoulder. "You. Fire the guns, but behind that trailer – make sure you're hitting close enough that shield reacts, but not close enough to actually hit it."

The machine gun whirred back into life, and bullets flashed through the air – bouncing off the psychic shield, making it shimmer and gradually weakening it.

"Third squadron, go out in front," Captain Phantom added. "Knock down some trees, get in their way."

Four of the helicopters accelerated, pulling away to either side, and powered ahead.

Then there was a flicker of movement, and Phantom checked his binoculars.

"They're opening a window!" he called. "Unless it's Manaphy, shoot whatever comes out – but do not hit the van!"

Something red and green and gold came out, bursting out on the side of the road away from the hill, and dozens of weapons opened fire. Heavy guns, rockets, and a couple of large missiles all collided with the moving form at once, the smoke from the blasts obscuring it for a couple of seconds.

Then there was a huge wash of rose-coloured flame, burning away the smoke, and the stately form of Ho-Oh flew into position to block the Pirates – unwounded, immaculate.

Someone fired another harpoon, and Sacred Fire flashed out. The metal spike was caught in the blast almost instantly, melting away as Ho-Oh poured on his strength, and hit the road as a softening splash of cooling steel.

"Don't just stand there!" Phantom shouted. "Get him!"

Another rocket – this one much bigger – screamed off the racks, catching Ho-Oh in the small of the back. Phantom saw this one hit, saw it explode into a shower of jagged shards before the smoke hid Ho-Oh for a moment, and then when the Legendary emerged he seemed completely unharmed.

Then Ho-Oh pulled up into a wingover, accelerating for a moment, so that he hovered directly in front of the whole squadron of helicopters. Almost unconsciously, they slowed – moving to hover in front of him, as he regarded them coolly.

Then he spoke.

"I have decided that you qualify as a storm," he stated, fire flashing around his wings. "I would suggest you land, or I will end you – as is my duty."

"Fire!" Phantom ordered.

Ho-Oh dodged aside, avoiding most of the storm of metal unleashed by the pirate helicopters. One of them, however, he approached directly, ignoring the guns as they hit him and made patches of fire burn for a second. Reaching an appropriate distance he fired a spike of flame into it, destroying the engine intakes and making them shut down in a plume of smoke.

The targeted vehicle wobbled as it dropped towards the ground, autorotating down the hillside towards a clear area of field, and Ho-Oh turned his attention to another vehicle.


"I… actually did forget about that," Ash admitted, as they heard the whoom of an explosion in the distance. "It's kind of funny he'd managed to be asleep at the time he'd been waiting for, though."

"...what?" Jackie asked, his attempt at equanimity badly damaged. "Ho-Oh was with you just waiting for this?"

"Waiting for something like this," Ash explained. "He's been wanting to help out with a situation like this – one of those times the world's in danger – for a long time. That's why he's been one of my on-hand Pokémon for weeks."

"Hey!" Kyle called, getting their attention from the drivers' seat. "Where are we going to? I've been kind of focused on the from side of things!"

"Samiya," May replied. "And that means we need to get to the water, so Manaphy can tell which way it is."

"Beach it is," Kyle agreed, then looked in front. "Uh… some of those helicopters just went around the bend in front of us."

"Blaziken, go see what's going on!" May called.

Blaziken jumped out of the trailer, skidded for a moment as he tried to get traction, then signalled to overtake with his arm and pulled out ahead of Kyle.

Another explosion came from behind them, along with a flicker of rose-tinted fire, and they saw a heavy-lift helicopter dropping precipitously towards the valley floor to their left.

"I think Ho-Oh's definitely getting some exercise," Max said.

Then a Chatot flew in the window, looked around for a moment, and launched itself at Jackie.

"You're a Pokémon Ranger, you have to help me!" he said, hovering in Jackie's face for a moment before trying to hide under his arm.

"Wha – hey!" Jackie protested. "What's going on?"

"Good question," Lizabeth said. "This morning I thought we were just going to do some cool water tricks!"

"It's still morning," Brock pointed out. "I know a lot's happened, but it's still morning."

"My trainer's gone nuts!" Chatot tried to explain, glancing over his shoulder out the window. "There was a Legendary facing him and he just ordered everyone to shoot it!"

"Hold on, I can't follow you properly," Ash said. "Can you say that again?"

Chatot's eyes flicked to Ash, and he nodded a little hysterically before taking a long, deep breath and calming down somewhat. "Okay. Okay. So my trainer's Captain Phantom, and, well… he's always been kind of a jerk, but now I think he might actually have gone mad."

He looked up at Jackie. "So I claim parley! Or sanctuary, or whatever will mean I don't have to deal with an angry Ho-Oh!"

Ash supplied the translation, and Jackie looked vaguely uncertain. "Uh… I'm not actually sure what to do in a situation quite like this… normally I use my styler if I'm in doubt, but there's not really the room to do that in here."

"When we stop, then?" Lizabeth suggested. "May said we're going to the beach."

"That would work," Jackie agreed.

"...actually, I just realized," Ash said. "Do you have a Pokéball, Chatot?"

Chatot shook his head.

"That probably makes things easier," Brock said.


"All right, that's done!" said the leader of the Phantom Pirates' third squadron. "They're not getting that tree out of the way!"

A moment later, the tree exploded in a shower of flaming splinters.

"...that's not really sporting," the leader complained. "What was that?"

"A Blaziken, I think," his pilot volunteered, as the vehicle they were chasing drove through the gap.

"Shut up and get us out in front of them again!"


"There's a beach coming up on the left," Kyle called. "That do us?"

May looked down at Manaphy, who nodded a confirmation.

"That'll be fine," she called back. "Any beach should do!"

"Must have been stormy last night," Kyle added. "Lots of fallen logs and branches by the side of the road."

"I didn't notice anything," Ash said. "That sheet I got for my birthday must have been better than I thought."

"It doesn't stop wind," Max corrected him. "Maybe we were just in a place that was out of the wind."

"Probably,"

Blaziken swung back aboard, looking pleased with himself.

"Nice run?" Brock asked.

Blaziken nodded to him, then flashed red and returned to his Pokéball.

The trailer jounced slightly as they left the road and went down a rocky track, then Kyle braked them to a halt at the edge of a sandy beach.

"This is pretty good looking beach," Max said. "I'd have expected this to be a lot… well, busier."

"It's pretty out of the way, that's probably part of it," Kyle said, getting out of the driver's seat. He waited for everyone else to get out, then shut the doors and locked them.

He caught up with the others as they reached the surf, and as Lucario raised a paw.

"Go ahead," Ash told him.

Lucario took a run up, then ran out onto the water without the slightest change in speed. He did have to take longer strides to get over the small, long waves, but within a few seconds he was far enough out to turn and start surfing back in.

"Show off," Pikachu muttered.

Manaphy used his hydrokinesis to gather up a ball of water around himself, and then waved his flippers again – using the water to push him forwards, producing a glittering arc of spray which ended twenty feet out in the water.

May waded out to join him, going up to her knees, and as she did Lucario came past her in the other direction looking very disappointed.

"I don't think I like these waves," he said, as one deposited him gently on the sand.

"They can't all be great for surfing," Brock shrugged.

A glow began to build up from Manaphy, soft and blue, and Meredith gasped.

"That's amazing… so he's really able to feel Samiya from all the way over here?"

"He says he can, and I believe him," May answered. "How are you doing?"

"Um… I know the direction," Manaphy replied. "And sort of how far, but I don't know where that means it is… do you have a map?"

I am a map.


Houndoom looked up, watching as the rainbow-winged shape of Ho-Oh came in to land.

"Hiya!" he said, tail waving back and forth, and loped up to the other Fire-type. "What brings you here today?"

"I made a minor miscalculation," Ho-Oh replied. "I spent some considerable time defeating a group of pirates, and then some more time making sure the police knew where to round them up, and by the time I was done I realized I had no idea where Ash and his group were going."

He furled his wings. "So I suppose my point is a simple one – I need to borrow the phone."

Houndoom nodded, understanding where Ho-Oh was coming from. "Got it!"

The two began to move towards the lab, Ho-Oh hovering and Houndoom moving quickly to keep up.

"So, how was it?" Houndoom asked.

"Not bad," Ho-Oh replied. "It was a pleasure to be able to demonstrate my power against the kind of people who stand for pain and violence and theft."

Houndoom waved a paw. "Hey, steady on, I'm a Dark-type too."

"You know full well what I mean," Ho-Oh said severely. "Anyway, I put a lot of effort into learning the Aura translation trick over the last month or two, and I think it paid off."

"How's that?" Houndoom asked.

"Well… I spoke to them," Ho-Oh answered. "I told them that they now qualified as storms."

Houndoom sniggered, and nearly tripped over a hummock in the grass.


"Okay, that's that line," May said, as the golden ray pulsed steadily on Ethan's map function. "You're sure you don't know any better how close it is?"

Manaphy shook his head. "Sorry, mama..."

"It's fine, Manaphy, I didn't mean to make you feel bad," May assured him. "Okay, now…"

She looked up. "Jirachi? Can you come over here a moment?"

"Sure!" Jirachi agreed, floating across the water. "What do you need?"

"I know you said you had trouble doing teleports with a lot of passengers," May said. "Can you teleport just Manaphy and I somewhere, and then back here?"

"I think so," Jirachi said, thinking, then nodded. "Yeah, that's fine!"

"Good," May replied. "We just need to go… here."

Jirachi's tags jangled as he looked closer, then began to glow as he built up energy. The teleport took them, and the landscape seemed to stutter – going from a beach in Kanto to a sun-drenched cove somewhere further south.

"Okay, Manaphy, let's see which direction Samiya is from here," May told him. "Then we just see where the lines cross – it's called triangulation!"

"That's smart, mama!" Manaphy said, smiling happily, then dove into the water.


"Okay, here we go," Jackie said, activating his Styler.

"What do I do?" Chatot asked nervously. "I've never seen one of these before."

"I think you just have to stay in one place," Ash replied, to see whether Jackie was going to disagree. When the Ranger didn't, he gave Chatot a thumbs-up.

The Capture Disc zipped out, spinning around Chatot four times in quick succession, then retreated to the holster.

"That feels kind of odd..." the Chatot said, wings flaring for a moment before he furled them again. "And… wow. I… never really realized how it would feel for someone to-"

He cut himself off. "Is it okay?"

Ash relayed the question, and Jackie nodded.

"Yep, no problem here," Jackie confirmed. "The Styler registered a strong connection, which doesn't happen with Pokémon who are trying to be dishonest or deceptive."

He put the Styler back into sleep mode, then replaced it on his hip.

"I guess that means he can stay," Ash said. "Nice to have you!"


"What do we do now?" one of the pirates asked. "They've stopped moving, and the Manaphy vanished?"

"Do?" the commander replied. "What do we do? Of course we do exactly what we should do – we follow orders!"

"But-"

"Do you want to be the one who explains to Captain Phantom that we just gave up following orders – because of one Blaziken?" the commander said rhetorically. "Because if you do then that's your lookout – I'm staying."

He spread his hands. "Besides, if those kids catch us, at worst we're going to prison. If the Captain catches us..."

He didn't need to elaborate, as the rest of the group winced.

"Good," he added, slightly less forcefully. "Now, get that Stantler of yours ready. We might need to follow them over the water, and that means stealth."

"He gets headaches if the blades are going," the pirate protested.

"Tough luck!"


With a little flash, Jirachi deposited May and Manaphy back on the beach.

"How did it go?" Kyle asked. "Do you have your answer?"

"We do," May agreed, holding up Ethan's projector. It flashed, and then an image of the area around Kanto and Johto appeared as seen from space.

A line extended east from their current location, and another north from the Orange Islands. They closed in towards one another at a steep angle, and intersected about fifty miles off Cerulean Cape.

"Huh," Brock said. "That's… actually pretty close. It wouldn't take very long to get there by ship."

"Or we could fly," Ash pointed out. "I can see if Latias or Latios are available, so we can carry more people. And… I think Lugia's supposed to be doing something with his son, so Pidgeot's available."

"That's a good idea," May agreed. "Okay, I'll get Altaria set up with his harness."

"What's that about flying?" Ship said. "We're the People of the Water, not the People of the Air."

"It's quicker, though," Max said. "Besides, Latias and Latios can swim, and so can Delta."

"That reminds me..." Brock said. "If we're going past Cerulean Cape, should we stop by Cerulean and pick up Misty?"

He paused, frowning. "No, I forgot, she doesn't live there any more."

"I'll call her," Ash said. "After I call Latias and Latios."

I'll do it, Dexter volunteered. Both of them. At once. I'd call Professor Oak's Lab as well but there's an incoming call for you from there already.

His holo-projector flashed on, showing most of Ho-Oh – the Legendary wedged a trifle awkwardly into Oak's sitting room.

"Uh… hi?" Ash asked.

Ho-Oh began speaking, and Dexter's translation software provided what the Fire-type was actually saying – knowing Ash's Aura trick wouldn't work over a phone call. "Where are you? I forgot to ask where you were going."

"We're at a beach now," Ash replied. "Can you – oh, wait."

He looked down at his belt, with Ho-Oh's empty Pokéball on it. "Yeah, you need your Pokéball to use the transfer system… we're going to fly to Cerulean Cape, will that do? Meet us in front of the lighthouse."

"All right," Ho-Oh agreed. "At least this means I get to use my jet boost today."

He moved towards the door, and Ash raised a hand. "Wait!"

When the Legendary turned back, Ash went on. "Can you check if Pidgeot's available? We're trying to make sure we can take a lot of people."

Ho-Oh nodded, waited for a moment to see if there was any more, then headed for the exit.

"I'm just impressed he fit in the house," Pikachu observed.

Okay, sorted out, Dexter said, as the hologram vanished. Misty is very annoyed that it took you this long to think of her, but fortunately she's getting a lift from Latios so she shouldn't be too angry.

"Wait, do you mean that Misty?" Lizabeth asked. "How many awesome people do you guys know?"

"...actually, it is quite a high number," Max said.

Jackie raised his hand. "Uh, do I need to go find a Pokémon to give me a lift?"

"We might be okay without," Brock replied, counting under his breath. "Okay, so there's nine of us, and when Misty arrives there'll be ten of us. Altaria, Flygon, Latios, Ho-Oh, Pidgeot, Delta… is Latias coming?"

Yes.

"Then… I think that means we've got enough," Brock decided. "In an emergency Zorua can turn into another Flygon or something."

"What about the Legendary Beasts?" May said.

Damos has informed me that they are all busy.


A dull thumping boom echoed through the building.

"All right, all right!" called Mavis, running downstairs. "The door's unlocked!"

As she said that, the knocking ceased. There was a short pause, and then the door slowly swung open.

A Raikou slammed back to the floor, having reared up to work the handle with his paws, and grinned. "At last!"

Mavis did a double-take. "...why are you here? Is something wrong? And why can I understand you?"

"Well, it's a long story," the Raikou told her, brushing past and inspecting the entry hall. "I like the columns. Very imposing."

He slapped a paw on the flagstones. "Now! To business! I challenge your gym!"

Mavis stared at him.

"...why?"

"Because otherwise I'll fall behind," Raikou explained, patiently. "I'm not letting my dashed non-identical younger twin beat me in this!"

The gym leader took that in for a moment, then shrugged. "Okay, sure. What kind of challenge do you want?"

"What kind of challenge do you have?" Raikou riposted. "I don't want to see anyone taking me any less seriously than I deserve!"

Mavis nodded. "Right, then."

She cupped her hands around her mouth. "Gray! Erza! Lucy! We've got a challenger!"

Less than a second later, a Gardevoir and an Alolan Ninetales appeared in front of her. It took a little longer for the Klefki to show up, but show up she did – zipping down the stairs to arrive next to her teammates.

"You wanted a challenge?" Mavis asked. "We'll be glad to give it to you. Fairy Gym doesn't give up!"

"Now this is the kind of thing I was after!" Raikou laughed. "All right, what are the rules?"

Three a side, obviously, Erza stated. It's your fault you didn't bring more than one Pokémon.

Raikou nodded, accepting that. "This should be a wonderful bit of fun!"


"They're moving!" hissed the guard, waving back at his commander. "They've got some flying Pokémon out – they're leaving the car!"

"Right," the commander replied, checking with his binoculars. "Okay, they've got an Altaria… two Flygon… a Mantine… and some kind of Pokémon which I think is a Latias or Latios, though it looks weird. Nine passengers total."

He watched them carefully, until they passed over a low hill.

"Okay," he said, calculating mentally. "I think that means they're headed for Cerulean Cape. We can follow them – your Stantler can cloak sound too, right?"

"Yeah, but it's harder," the other pirate agreed, as the helicopter engines spooled up. "Anyway, aren't we getting backup?"

The lieutenant shook his head. "No word from the others," he reported. "Anyway, get that Stantler to work."

The Normal-type focused, antlers seeming to warp slightly, and then nodded.

"Good. Now, get after those Pokémon."

Both helicopters rose into the air, swivelled, and began to race towards the east.


In a hidden dockyard, in an out-of-the-way cove in Kanto, a predatory shape slipped its moorings and sunk below the water.


"This is pretty tiring, you know," panted one Flygon.

"You're flapping too hard," the other said. "It's the same mistake you made last time, you're forgetting that a lot of flying is actually gliding."

"Right, but it's still tiring," the first shot back.

"Do you need a break, Zorua?" Brock asked. "There's some fields down there."

"I'll be fine for now," answered the transformed Zorua, sliding sideways in the air a little. "How much further is it to Cerulean?"

"Not too far," May called over from Altaria.

She looked back at Meredith, who was wearing the second set of straps on Altaria's harness. "Handling everything okay?"

"Yes, thank you," Meredith replied. "Your Altaria is a treat to ride."

Altaria hummed, and May smiled. "He says thank you," she reported.

"That's just amazing," Meredith said. "When you're able to understand a Pokémon like that..."

To their right, near Zorua, Ship and Lizabeth both flew on top of Mega Latias – the Psychic-type being the most qualified to catch someone who fell, and with Ash on Zorua's back as he was the one who was most qualified to shrug off a fall from a great height.

"Hey!" Max called, from Delta. "It looks like Pidgeot's here!"

"Thank goodness," Zorua said. "I think I'll take that break now."

"Sure thing," Ash replied. "Pidgeot, can you come and fly under us?"

Pidgeot duly did so, rising towards them, and Ash slipped off Zorua's faux-dragonback to drop ten feet and land on Pidgeot.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Zorua promptly returned herself, and Ash caught Pikachu a moment later.

"Thanks, girl," he said, patting Pidgeot's back. "Okay, I… think that's Cerulean City down there."

He looked aside to Mega Latias. "How's your brother doing?"

"Catching up," she squeaked back. "He's not Mega so he can't go as fast as he'd like, but he's on the way."

"Uh… guys?" Jackie called, from the Mantine he was sharing with Max. "Should there be a giant flaming comet coming up behind?"

"That's probably Ho-Oh!" Ash called back. "He'll slow down once he's caught up!"

Pidgeot began to descend, smoothly heading towards Cerulean Gym, and the others followed in a loose formation.


"Hey, Daisy?" Lily called.

Daisy looked up from cleaning the water drain in the main pool. "What? You know I hate this job..."

"Well, uh… we've got visitors," Lily answered.

"Really?" Violet said, leaning around the doorpost. "Who?"

Lily pointed out the window, and her sisters took a look.

"...huh," Daisy said, watching as three Legendary Pokémon, two other dragons, a Mantine and a Pidgeot landed on the lawn outside. "Wait, is that Misty getting off the Latios?"

"What exactly is going on?" Violet asked. "I hope this isn't another of those things like the Mirage Pokémon incident."

"We're about to find out," Lily said, as Daisy stripped off her gloves and put them to the side for now. "Go wash up, D, I'll handle this."

"Thanks," Daisy said with a sigh of relief, then looked more closely at the visitors. "Wait, who's the beefcake?"

"I saw him first!" Violet tried.

"Shower!" Lily said firmly.

The door opened a moment later, admitting Misty.

"Hey, Mist," Violet waved. "What's up?"

"Hi, girls," Misty replied. "There's a thing going on with a Manaphy, and Ash nearly forgot to invite me again… anyway, we need some rebreathers."

"How many?" asked Lily, as Daisy disappeared into the showers.

"About..." Misty began, then paused. She looked out the window, counting under her breath, then resumed. "Let's just say all of them, just in case."

"What, like, eighty?" Lily asked, taken aback.

"...maybe not that many," Misty corrected herself. "Let's say about thirty, though. And do you have any that will fit Ho-Oh or some of the other Pokémon out there?"

"We've never needed them," Lily shrugged.

"Hey, uh… who's that guy out there with the red jacket?" Violet asked, as Lily unlocked the rebreather case and began passing them to Misty. "He looks kind of hot."

"All I really know is that he's a Pokémon Ranger," Misty shrugged. "Sorry."

"...twenty-seven, twenty-eight… there we go," Lily said. "Okay, that's the lot."

"Thanks," Misty said with a smile. "Okay, see you girls later, once we're done with this!"

They watched their sister leave, and start handing out the underwater breathing devices to the others.

"So, world saving stuff?" Violet said.

"Probably," Lily agreed. "By the way, what happened to that swimmer you were dating before? Chad?"

"Ugh, don't even get me started..."


"Okay, everyone got their rebreathers?" Misty asked. "You should all have at least one spare with you, in case one runs out without warning – if that happens underwater, you'll need the second one to decompress properly on the way back up to the surface."

"Right," Kyle said. "Understand, Lizzie?"

"I get it, Dad," Lizabeth agreed. "What about the other ones?"

"Those are for any non-Water-type Pokémon we need to use while we're at Samiya," Misty explained. "They don't need a spare to decompress, but it's best to make sure we don't have too many Pokémon out at once in case we use up all the air in the rebreathers."

"Don't they last for hours?" Ash asked.

"We don't know how long we'll be down there," Misty countered. "Right, then. Everyone ready?"

She looked around for their transport Pokémon, and spotted that they were all posed together for a tourist.

"Thanks," the man smiled, as his son and daughter ran back over from posing with the Pokémon. "They'll remember this for years."

"A distinct pleasure," Ho-Oh informed him, furling his wings. "And may I congratulate you on two fine children."

"Now, now, you haven't seen them at bedtime..."


Deep below the surface of the ocean, far below the influence of wind and wave, two pale white shapes moved in the dark.

Their wings pushed at the water like great scoops, moving tons of water at a time, and their tails moved to steer their under-sea flight as they wound their way north.

"Everything all right?" Lugia asked, his voice an ethereal song overlaid with psychic meaning.

"Yes, Dad," Silver replied, beating his wings again. "Okay, I think this current is going in the right direction."

He looked back. "Um… is it?"

"You tell me," Lugia advised. "This is partly a test, though I'm here to make sure you don't get hurt."

"Right," Silver said, accepting that.

He reached out with his mind, feeling the water around them both. Without his father's control, he was unable to prevent a bit of leakage – and some deep-sea Pokémon swam away from the sudden pulse of mental pressure.

"Sorry," Silver winced, sculling his wings to stay in place, then reached out more carefully. The undersea current he'd detected earlier was still there, surging along northwards, and he felt it to be sure it was able to carry them both.

Then he nodded. "Okay, let's go with this one."

Lugia merely nodded, and the two swam into the fast-flowing water.

"What's Samiya like?" Silver added, resting now as the current ferried them along. "I've never seen it before."

"It's quite a sight," Lugia replied. "You'll like it, I think."

"And how long until we get there?"

"That's up to you," Lugia said.


"This is actually a pretty incredible sight," Jackie mused. "There's three Legendary Pokémon here just flying in formation, two more with their trainers on dragons…"

"It's quite a sight, yes," agreed Ho-Oh, wings trimming slightly to control their travel. "Incidentally, how is the trip? I hope it's quite acceptable."

"Yes, thank you," Kyle agreed. "You've been very helpful."

"It's my pleasure," Ho-Oh replied. "I've wanted to help out in one of these for the longest time, and that doesn't just mean the bits about setting rude people on fire."

Down on Altaria, at the front of the formation, May waved her hand.

"Looks like we need to head down," Jackie observed. "No, wait, I think that means we circle here for now."

They watched as Altaria flared his wings, shedding most of his speed, and dropped towards the water.

"Does this mean we're nearly there?" Jackie asked. "I can't see anything..."


"Can you hover just off the water surface?" May asked.

Altaria trilled an affirmative, and May smiled. "Thanks."

She checked Ethan's map, seeing they were pretty much in the middle of the area he'd circled for where Samiya would be, then watched as they got closer and closer to the water.

Backwinging, Altaria slid lower and lower. Then he began to beat his cloud-stuff wings harder, turning his flight into a hover, with his legs just above the tops of the waves.

"Okay, that's great!" May said. "Manaphy, is this good enough?"

"Sure is!" Manaphy confirmed, and dove off Altaria's back.

He hit the water with barely a splash, going in as smooth as silk, and was under for several seconds before splashing back up onto the surface.

"It's not far," he reported, then waved his flippers and produced a water bubble to carry him up to May. "It's not far, about… a mile and a half, I think. That way!"

"Okay, you head that way and we'll follow you," May said.

Manaphy beamed at her, then splashed back into the water and shot off in a plume of bubbles.

"What's it like?" Altaria asked, as he duly followed Manaphy. "The Temple of the Sea, I mean."

"It looks amazing," May answered quickly. "It's like… a palace, underwater, is the best way I can describe it. Or… not entirely underwater."

"I'd have thought we'd be able to see it by now, then," the Dragon-type said.

"Yeah, if it's that close-" May said, then stopped and looked up.

"Oh," she realized. "I just remembered that last time, Samiya appeared during a lunar eclipse, and it's days until there's a lunar eclipse this time because we moved so much faster and it was nearby."

"You mean the whole thing's invisible?" Altaria asked. "That's going to make it a bit harder to deal with..."

"Yeah," May agreed.

She thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't think this is something Mewtwo could sort out."

"Actually, that is kind of funny," Altaria giggled. "I'm imagining him trying to be a villain again, and announcing that he will Steal The Moon!"

May smiled as well, then glanced back to make sure the rest were following her.

"Can you tell them we're nearly there?" she asked Ethan.

I can tell Ash and Max, and I'm sure they can tell the rest.

A few seconds later, Manaphy used his aquakinesis to make a giant waving hand. It beckoned them towards him, then slapped at something invisible and collapsed in a surging wash of water.

"Well, that's the Temple of the Sea," May said.

She frowned. "It's going to be a real pain to not get all our clothes wet… and to get changed, come to think of it."

Reaching onto her belt, she produced Wartortle's Pokéball, then sent the Water-type out. "Can you shape a kind of boat shape made out of water?"

"Well, yes," Wartortle agreed, already doing it. "Why?"

"You'll see," May replied. "Okay, Glaceon! Freeze that water sculpture!"

Glaceon's Ice Beam flicked out, turning Wartortle's boat shape into ice, and it rocked about for a moment before bobbing serenely up and down on the water.

"Great!" May smiled. "Okay, now we just need to make a changing room and get Ash to use his groundsheet to cover it, so we don't get too cold..."


"Are you ready, Lizzy?" Meredith asked.

"I'm ready, Mom!" Lizabeth replied, coming out of the impromptu changing room. "It's really cold in there!"

"That's because it's made out of ice," Wartortle said, mainly for her own benefit. "Did you expect it to be warm?"

"Wartortle," May chuckled. "Okay, is that everyone?"

She looked around, getting several nods.

"Okay, then," she added. "You can get rid of it, Wartortle."

The Water-type gestured, and her ice-boat disappeared.

"Right," Misty said, taking charge again. "How many Pokémon do we have who can tow someone underwater?"

"Latias and Latios can," Ash volunteered. "I think Buizel can as well."

"I've got Delta, he can take more than one," Max said. "If we need him to, anyway."

"I'll bring Mama!" Manaphy jumped in quickly.

"And I've got Marshtomp," Brock said.

Chatot raised a wing. "Uh… what about me?"

"You can come with me," Latias suggested. "I can keep an air bubble going, and that's how Pikachu's travelling down anyway."

"Are we just going to swim down until we find the entrance?" Ship asked. "I knew we should have taken my submarine..."

"Your submarine's a lot slower than flying Pokémon," Kyle said, not for the first time. "How do we do this, then? I count six Pokémon, or seven if Lizzie's Buizel can take her."

Misty's reply was to hold up three Pokéballs, and send out all their contents at once. Gyarados, Milotic and Corsola all splashed into the water at once, and Kyle nodded in response.

"That should do," he agreed.

"All right, let's go," Misty added. "Everyone make sure you have your rebreathers in."

She checked for a moment to be sure they had, then nodded to May. "You'd better go first."

Manaphy saluted, then took May's hand and pulled her into the water.

Wartortle dove after them, and over the next few seconds the others followed.


AN:


The process of getting to the Temple of the Sea is a bit easier when it's done this way.

Also, of course, Ho-Oh finally gets to do what he's been waiting to do for weeks.