Route 121: A path of great shores. Due to the Safari Zone's permanent closure, invasive Pokémon species wreck havoc however they please. While Pokémon researchers adore this route for its diversity, most trainers make a beeline for Lilycove City.

Absol stopped at a small clearing, kneeling down to let Aries climb off. The mouse Pokémon chirped as she ran back to her trainer. Kidd picked up his Pokémon, letting her crawl into his peacoat.

"Pi-kachu!" Aries chirped as she rubbed her face into her trainer's scarf, humming to herself from the soft fabric.

"Hey, Absol?" Tank asked as he pulled out a Poké Ball. "Since you helped us get away from that volcano….do you wanna join us?"

Absol turned around, his white bangs blowing away from his face. Protecting Route 121 was in his destiny, and the idea of leaving home wouldn't allow him to keep his fellow Pokémon safe. The disaster Pokémon shook his head no. The other Absol needed him by their side.

"That's okay," Tank smiled as he assured the wild Pokémon. "You probably want to stay here in the first place."

Absol nodded in confirmation, before his eyes glowed fuchsia pink. Another vision plagued him: a group of blue alien Pokémon surrounded by vicious bug types, trembling for their lives as enemies inched closer. White foam dropped from the bug Pokémon, joined by pained hissing. He ran off into the woods, leaving behind only footprints.

Tank wrote some notes on his phone, then stashed it back in his pocket. Aw man, still no cell service. Well, at least he had friends to travel with.

The gang marched forward, on the lookout for anyone suspicious. One of the bushes rustled in its spot, but was quiet enough for nobody to notice.

A pair of Team Cottage grunts, one buck and one doe, whispered to each other.

"Should we commence with our trappings?"
"Don't be preposterous. Master Dobie asked that we reserve them for Mt. Pyre's feat. We were ordered to only use them on those Pastel hooligans."
"You're right. It'd be a waste of resources to utilize them on Apollo's gathering of misfits"
"But what about the Pokémon trappings?"
"They're not worth the time, and Master Dobie would dispose of us if we carelessly wasted company materials."

Meanwhile, back on the road...

Golden gingko leaves fell from the trees, lightly dusting the old trails. The group were silent as they continued walking, disaster still looming upon them all.

"Say, I was wondering," Frank asked, trying to lighten the mood. "If, for some weird as hell reason, we start a band, what member do you think you'd be?"

"Well, first we'd need a band name," Apollo pointed out. Sure, he'd done his share of karaoke as a teenager, but a band was rather ambitious idea. "But to answer that, Frank? Obviously, I'd be the lead singer."

Frank raised an eyebrow, his flat face doing nothing to hide his lack of impression.

"What?" Apollo said. "I'm already known as the Champion, and when most animals think of a band, the first member they think of is the lead singer."

Kidd crossed his arms and tisked. "No way. Not every band has a lead singer; some bands have members take turns singing depending on who wrote the song! Anyways, Apollo, you'd be the lead guitarist, while Frank's the rhythm guitarist."

"What?" Frank gasped as he shook a fist at him. "Why am I only the rhythm guitarist!"

"Because some bands have a pair of brothers as the guitarists," Kidd explained, carefully stepping over a pile of red and yellow mushrooms. "That way, I'd shine as the lead singer. I'm a coordinator, so dressing up and being in the spotlight is more, hmmmm, lead singer energy, non?"

Tank tilted his head from the weird conversation, but figured it'd be fun to join in. He pulled a few gingko leaves out of his hair. "Kidd, I think being the keyboardist fits you better. Apollo, you'd be the lead singer and guitarist!"

"Keyboardist?!" Kidd yelled. "I don't even have fingers, how am I supposed to play a piano with hooves?!"

"Thank you, Tank," Apollo smiled.

"Oh, so we can have two roles now?" Frank snarked. "Then I need to be backing vocals and rhythm guitar... This is stupid, did we even decide what music we're playing? Rock and roll? Stadium? Punk? Prog? Metal?"

"New wave, obviously," Apollo suggested. "Most new wave bands have five members after all, and that way we wouldn't all be playing two instruments. Also, Tank, you'd be the bassist since you're pretty reliable."

"That's fair," Tank shrugged his shoulders. "Bassists deserve more credit anyways, and if we're new wave, I'd stand out somehow! I was gonna say Frank should play bass, but I like the lead/rhythm guitar duo better."

"Guys," Frank brought up. "Aren't we forgetting about someone?"

Holly turned around. "What the hell are y'all talkin' about?" she asked.

"What instrument would we play if we were in a band," Apollo told her. "You'd be the drummer, by the way."

The guys looked at each other, then nodded. They could see it now: Holly pulling off a complicated drum solo, tossing drumsticks to the cheering crowd, and trashing entire hotel rooms.

"Is this 'cause I leap into action an' am super reckless?" Holly pointed out. "Well, at least it's less demeanin' than bein' the lead singer who ends up in lads' mags."

Apollo's cheeks glowed pink as he glared back at her. Why did she have to bring those up!

At some point, maroon maple replaced golden gingko. Cool winds whistled through the air, pushing various items in carefree tandem. A beige flyer slapped into Kidd's face, pushing him back several steps.

"Sacre bleu!" Kidd gasped as he grabbed the flyer. The scribbled writing read, "Pokémon Safari Zone: Grand Opening Coming Soon! Catch Pokémon not seen in the Hoenn region! Wow your friends! Try not to get eaten!" Was this even a thing in the Kalos region, he wondered to himself.

"Hey, let's go check out this building!" Tank waved as he led the group through one of the paths. A broken white fence lined the dirt trail, planks of wood broken into tiny shards.

An abandoned grey building stood in front of the quintet, moss and vines trailing up its side. The ceiling caved in its spot, joined by the sound of squawking Murkrow. Green and white shards of glass scattered in front of the building. An old faded billboard, depicting a cheerful Pikachu, creaked before falling flat on the ground.

Kidd jumped up as he stepped away from the building.

Tank turned around, sighing in relief. "Oh good, nobody's following us...yet. I still wanna stay in here!"

Apollo yelled, "We are not hiding in an abandoned building. Do you have any idea who or what might be inside?!"

"Well it's either that or we potentially deal with those damned grunts trying to kill us," Frank snarked as he started smoking another cigarette, blowing a smoke cloud in the air.

"Frank, watch your fucking language," Apollo warned him.

Holly snorted in laughter before stopping. "I'm goin' in!"

The group crept into the building, looking around at its atrocious conditions.

The floor was ripped to shreds, with ceramic tiles pulled out and scattered across like confetti. Claw marks lined the faded grey walls, with questionable red stains splattered on the wall. Blue and green paint chips fell from the ceiling like winter snow. Several magazine racks were flipped on their side, with crusty beige pamphlets scattered above the tiles. A green bottle of cheap grain alcohol laid on its side, with the cap still on.

Sickened but curious, Tank walked to a table and picked up an old journal. He led the group to hide behind a large sofa, quiet as he skimmed through the journal. While the dates were impossible to read, at least the writing was clear enough to be read.

"Project Safari Zone: founded by Tarou Nakamura.

Construction's been slow, but we finally have a building ready. It's amazing: some loser from Greater Mauville Holdings sold it to me for just two-hundred Poké Dollars! I wonder what Pokémon I should put in here. I know I want something more exotic, hard to get. Perhaps Lucario or Lapras. Snorlax would be fun too. Things you can't get in boring old Hoenn.

My consultant can screw off; I don't want to pander to shallow coordinators from Lilycove City. Pikachu and Phanpy are very cute, yes, but it wouldn't be a Safari Zone, it'd be a petting zoo like in the Johto region. Not very fun.

I fired him of course. Sometimes foxes are not to be trusted..."

Loud banging echoed from the building's exterior. Tank handed the journal to Frank, who stuffed it away in his hiking bag. Holly grabbed Kidd's hoof as they both stood up, glaring in determination.

Apollo stood up, holding Ultra Balls in each hand as he looked around.

A large orange claw broke through the door. Pieces of wood fell to the ground, as something let out a harsh warbling cry.

"If you're with Cottage or Pastel," Apollo yelled. "Then run back to your base already!"

Two more orange claws broke the door, a large cloud of dust blowing from the ground.

A colony of orange hermit crab Pokémon scuttled through the empty doorway, their massive claws clicking against the tiled floor. Glassy eyes scanned the room, as their red mushrooms throbbed. The insectoid Pokémon scattered across the abandoned building, several of them hanging from the ceiling. Yellow and purple spores fell from the ceiling, lightly dusting every piece of furniture.

"What the heck is goin' on?!" Holly yelled as she looked around, shuddering from the glassy eyes zooming in on her.

Tank grabbed one of her wrists, pulling her close to his side. "They're Parasect! A Pokémon imported from Kanto for the old Safari Zone!"

Frank spotted something from the corner of his eyes: a half-empty green bottle! He scrambled to grab it before the wild Pokémon could spot him.

Apollo raised an eyebrow. "Frank, what do you think you're doing?"

"I'll explain it when we get outta here," Frank whispered. He flicked open his lighter, opened the bottle, set the contents ablaze, stuffed an old cloth in the bottle and tossed it at one of the walls. Glass shattered as fire trickled up the insulation-covered walls, engulfing it like a Wailord swallowing its prey.

"Come with me if you wanna live!"

He yelled as he rushed the group out of the building, leading them to hide behind a large log.

The group peered over the log, watching as brilliant orange flames engulfed the entire building. Dozens of Parasect scuttled out of the building, some of them throwing themselves into a small pool of murky green water. Others curled into compact balls and rolled on the ground, dousing their own flames.

"And what exactly was the point of that?" Kidd raised an eyebrow.

"Well it scared the Parasect off, didn't it?" Frank said as he pointed at the crumbling settlement.

Holly's eyes lit up as she watched the flames flicker in the sky, grey smoke trailing into large wisps. "Frank, can y'all teach me to do that?" she squealed.

"A kaenbin's pretty simple to make," Frank explained. "All you need is–"

Apollo cut him off. "Please don't teach her how to make one. The last thing we need is for you to turn her into a pyromaniac. Or else–"

A dozen Parasect hissed as they surrounded the quintet, eyes glowing red in fury as they aggressively clicked at future prey.

Apollo sighed, "Good freakin' grief…"

The group posed like sentai heroes before each of them pulled out a Poke Ball. A large gust of wind blew behind the quintet, coats and hair and feathers billowing as they released their Pokémon.

"Rico, wings out!"

"Coffret, let's go!"

"Cavendish, I choose you!"

"Scorpio, spotlight!"

"Servo, your time is now!"

Rico and Scorpio descended to the ground, while their allies hovered in the air. Cavendish dived down to pick up Scorpio, placing her on the back of his neck.

Several wild Parasect blasted clouds of yellow spores, the pollen dissolving into electric sparks. The quintet backed away slightly, backs almost pressed against each other. Whoever imported these hell bugs to the Hoenn region was one sick son of a Granbull.

Apollo pointed to the skies and commanded, "Servo, use Meteor Mash!"

"Metaaaaa!" Servo roared. Its fists glowed electric blue as it threw five Parasect into the air, uppercutting them at a breakneck pace. Yellow stars exploded behind its body, as the mushroom Pokémon flew back into the woods.

Just as the first five Parasect disappeared, seven more scuttled out of the woods, with small flames flickering around their mushrooms and ominous eyes glowing lunar red.

Frank hollered, "Rico! Flying Press and throw it around!"

"HawluCHA!" Rico trilled. He crossed his arms in an X before soaring into the air. With a nimble flip, he spread his wings and dived into his opponent, squashing the Parasect against the ground. He grabbed it by the mushroom, throwing it over his head. His eyes went dark as he tossed Parasect through the air, flashing a maniacal grin as six other Parasect were knocked down like bowling pins.

Unfortunately, while the seven Parasect scuttled away in fear, eight more climbed down from the treetops.

"Guys!" Holly suggested. "We'd get rid of 'em faster if we combined our Pokémon's moves!"

Tank yelled, "Great idea! Hey, Cavendish, use Air Slash!"

Cavendish threw his head back and howled, "Piuuuuuu!" His wings glowed light blue as he started forming a flurry of razor-sharp energy blades.

Kidd flipped his hair back and shouted, "Scorpio, use Flamethrower on Cavendish's Air Slash!"

"ShelGON!" Scorpio barked before she inched to the right and spewed an intense blast of blue flames. The fire engulfed each energy blade.

Holly snapped her fingers, "Coffret, this is where y'all come in. Fly through the attacks an' use Aerial Ace!"

Coffret nodded to his trainer, a fiery determination gleaming in his eyes. He flew in front of both Pokemon, his wings picking up speed with each second.

Cavendish roared as he launched the attack. Fiery blades of energy darted through the skies, exploding as they pushed over a dozen Parasect back into the woods. Coffret's body glowed white as he made a sharp turn to tackle another Parasect, throwing it back through the forest.

The trio cheered as they high-fived each other, surprised that not a single Parasect came back after the combo attack.

Apollo turned to look at Frank. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"That we pull off a combo like that?" Frank suggested.

Apollo closed his eyes and nodded. "If we combine Servo's Meteor Mash with Rico's Flying Press-"

"Then we could throw even more back into the woods," Frank interrupted him. "It sounds risky, but it could work!"

The remaining twenty Parasect clicked their claws louder, all of them launching attacks of their own. Some blasted bombs of thick purple sludge, while others slammed a barrage of exploding brown seeds. Cavendish launched another Air Slash attack, while Scorpio and Coffret blasted streams of fire and ear-piercing screeching.

The two eagles nodded at each other.

"Servo! Meteor Mash, again!"

"Rico! Grab onto its arms and jump off with Flying Press!"

While Servo rapidly punched four more Parasect, Rico dove into the sky and slammed two more Parasect into the ground.

Frank and Apollo fistbumped each other, glad to see that even more mushroom Pokémon scuttled away in pathetic defeat. However, they would soon be cut off by the sound of screeching.

Coffret roared at the top of his lungs, scaring away some of the smaller Parasect. Indigo blue flames swirled around his wings and antennae as he pummeled the largest Parasect. With no mercy held back, he relentlessly pecked away at his opponent, pushing it back against a tree. Each time he pecked, his beak glowed blinding white. Purple sweat beaded from his head, rolling down and splattering on the ground.

The bug type Pokemon tried to swat him away, but was met with more violent pecking.

"Yeah, kick its ass Coffret!" Holly cheered. "Y'all can do it!"

Apollo and Frank turned around, surprised at how violent the cute fluffy bird could get. They joined the teenagers in cheering him on.

Coffret flew high above the Kantonian Pokémon, taunting it by sticking out his tongue. Just hearing how proud everyone was of him made him realize that he was more than just some wimp to be knocked around in Gym Battles. Here he was, taking down the largest enemy they've dealt with all day. The clouds of fate were smiling on him!

The wild Parasect roared as it lunged at its opponent, falling on its back when large blue and purple clouds of smoke pushed it away. It scuttled back on its feet, terrified enough to run back in the woods.

Trails of smoke swirled in their spot, engulfing Coffret whole as it formed into a fluffy white cloud. Cerulean sparks of electricity and purple embers flew from the cloud.

With a loud bang, the cloud exploded into a flurry of downy cotton balls. The cotton balls pushed away any wild Pokemon, but gently fell onto the trainers' shoulders like nothing.

Coffret hovered where the cloud stood, but with more elegance and poise. His antennae was longer and billowed in the wind, while his cloudy wings were thicker and swallowed his entire body whole.

"Tariaaaaa!" he sang at the top of his lungs.

Holly's eyes sparkled as she squealed from what happened. "Coffret!" she jumped in joy. "Y'all evolved!"

"Alta!" Coffret chirped. He hovered down to pull his trainer into a tight hug, humming gently as she planted her face in his fluffy crest. Holly's face glowed pink as she melted from pure joy. It always felt amazing to have a Pokémon evolve, but even she didn't expect him to be so fluffy!

Kidd and Tank snickered from how cute she was acting; to be fair, who wouldn't want to pet such a fluffy Pokemon?

Frank nudged Holly with his elbow. "It's great that your Pokémon evolved, but we do have to get going."

Holly groaned as she pulled herself away from her Pokémon. "Awwww, fine," she sighed, giving Coffret one last hug before returning him to his Poke Ball.

Twenty minutes later…

The quintet wandered down another trail, crisp leaves falling onto the ground. A colony of Aipom hung from the branches, some of them tossing berries to each other.

"You know, I was wondering," Kidd asked as he walked away from a large pile of red leaves. "How come Team Cottage only has deer working for them? Is it because Dobie thinks they're the best species or something weird like that?"

Frank snapped his fingers; when he snuck into Team Cottage's base, he managed to copy several classified documents and save them for himself. "It's a lot weirder than that," he said. "Look, when we settle down tonight, I'll tell you everything I found in their base."

Tank's ears perked up. While he wanted nothing more than to beat their leader to a bloody pulp, he never turned down the opportunity to learn something new.

A few hours passed before the skies faded to a calming shade of orange. The quintet rushed to set up camp, with no time left in the day to set up anything more than a simple tent. Everyone gathered in the tent, gathered in a circle as Frank laid out several documents. Apollo took a swig from his flask as he watched in curiosity.

"I know it's not much, but this was all I could get when I was in Jagged Pass," Frank explained as he pointed at one of the papers. "Spreadsheets for technology, more plans about Project Sinatra, yet nothing about who founded it. See, right here." He tapped his finger against the creased paper. "It says Dobie was only the co-owner, but the actual founder?" He shook his head in disapproval. "They erased their own damn name."

The trio looked at each other in silence.

The next morning...

Route 122: Solemn waterways of peace. On a typical day, there'll be sailors volunteering to sail trainers across the sea to access Mt. Pyre. But since this isn't a typical day…

A white speed boat bobbed in the lavender water, carefully attached to a stone dock. A brown rabbit stood next to the boat, scrubbing away some pesky barnacles attached to the hall. He stopped to roll up the sleeves of his blue Alolan shirt, then adjusted his beige straw hat. The rabbit whistled a joyful tune, blissfully unaware of the footsteps behind him.

The group of Pastel grunts jumped from the bushes, surrounding him on all sides.

"You! Hand us the boat!" Cookie barked as she kicked the sand below her.

The rabbit screamed as he jumped up, scrambling to keep his hat in place. "Goodness, don't scare me like that!" he gasped. "If you need a ride to Mt. Pyre– hey, what are you Pastel kids doing out here?!"

The squirrel yelled as he lunged forward, punting the poor rabbit right in the jewels. The rabbit fell into the sand and right on his knees, tenderly placing his paws over his crotch. Sand scraped against his cargo shorts, but it was nothing compared to literal assault.

The other rabbit yelled, "Marshal, you moron! Why'd you kick him in the nuts?!"

"Well he wasn't gonna give us a ride to Mt. Pyre, Sasha!" Marshal explained. "And you know Jude wasn't gonna give us any Pokemon that could fly!"

The brown rabbit groaned in agony as he stayed in his spot.

Cookie threw herself into the boat, rummaging through the compartment. Sunglasses, incense, a beefcake magazine with several centerfolds featuring Apollo…finally, there they were: the keys, and with a blue lightsaber keychain nonetheless!

"Marshal! Sasha!" she hollered. "Get in the boat!"

Without hesitation, the two guys climbed in the boat, sitting right on the bow.

"You know how to drive a boat?" Sasha asked. "I thought you needed things like a boating license, years of training, and a catchy disco song about falling in love!"

"Yeah, I can drive a boat!" Cookie bragged. "I watched every episode of Corsola & Friends!"

Sasha facepalmed. "Great idea, Cookie. Doesn't Corsola fail his boating test in every episode?"

"Yeah, but I'm the only one whose feet can reach the pedal," Cookie pointed out. "Marshal, keep your eyes peeled"

"Got it," Marshal said as he untethered the boat. He hopped back to the front. "Rabbit guy's still in pain. Go, go, go!"

"I'm goingggg!" Cookie groaned like a child. She shoved the key in the ignition, turned it on, and slammed the gas. The boat loudly whirred as it zipped through the water, trails of water splashing everything in sight.

Sasha screamed as he held onto Marshal for dear life.

Cookie pulled her foot off the gas, stomping on the brakes. The boat furiously slowed down through the water, coming to a stop near a small brown and green shore.

The three animals heaved as they climbed out of the boat, hurling the anchor into the mud with a heavy splatter.

"Now come on!" Marshal commanded. "We gotta make it to Pyre before the chumps at Cottage do!"

His friends trailed behind him, jumping into the large cavern and rushing up the stairs.

Meanwhile, back at the dock…

The group sprinted to the shore, covered in dirt and twigs. Leaves stuck out from their fur and feathers, some of them falling to the ground. As they stopped to catch their breath, the sound of weak groaning caught them off guard.

Apollo strolled across the sand, stopping at a terrifying sight. He loudly cleared his throat, stopping the groaning.

The rabbit looked up from his spot, gasping in surprise. It was as if an angel was sent down to him. "Apollo?! Oh, thank Arceus you're here. You won't believe what happened to me!"

Apollo reached a wing out, helping the rabbit get back on his feet. "Where's the boat, O'Hare?"

"That's the thing," O'Hare shuddered, still on the edge of collapsing. "Some kids from Pastel jumped me, kicked me right in the nuggets, and took off with my boat! I need to go after them!"

Apollo looked down at O'Hare's worried face. "No, you need medical attention. We'll get the boat back, trust us."

O'Hare sighed in relief, wiping his eyes in happiness. "You're an angel, Apollo. I don't know how I can repay you."

"You don't need to," Apollo assured him. "It's a champion's job to look out for anyone in a crisis." He released Crow from one of his Ultra Balls, gently setting O'Hare on the Skarmory's back. "Crow, please head to Lotus Hills Hospital for me, and lead him to the best doctors"

"Skraaa!" Crow screeched as he saluted his trainer. The iron bird Pokémon took off for the skies, leaving behind a long trail of wind.

"So," Apollo said. "While we wait for Crow to return– Frank, what the hell are you doing?"

Frank stuck his tongue out, squinting as he carefully balanced a lit cigarette. He opened his beak, tossed the cigarette with his tongue and swallowed it whole, blowing smoke from his nostrils.

The trio clapped in approval, Tank whistling and hooting while Holly cheered like a hooligan.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Frank pointed to himself.

"No it's not cool!" Apollo yelled, before looking back at the teenagers. "Did you three set him up for this?"

Tank quickly shook his head, "He didn't ask us before he did it!"

Frank laughed as he pulled out another cigarette, lighting it up and taking a long drag. "Since we're just waiting here, Apollo. Why don't you show them your party trick?"

Apollo glared at him. This wasn't the time to be goofing off, but it was taking longer than usual for Crow to arrive. Perhaps there was another festival going on in Lilycove City, or some other weird shenanigans going on…

Frank smirked as he pulled out a cold can of Jubilife. "Need some help?"

Apollo sighed before he shook his head. He snatched the can of beer, pierced the side with his beak, covered the hole with his beak, and opened the can's top. He threw his head back as he gulped down all twenty-four ounces without breaking a sweat. Crushing the can in his wing, Apollo groaned in satisfaction.

"There? Are you happy?"

For several moments, Frank was completely silent. He blinked twice before taking a deep breath. "Now that's the Apollo I grew up with!" he cheered.

Apollo rolled his eyes. As he stashed the empty can in his duffel bag, Crow whistled as he flew back to his trainer.

"Skraaaaaa!"

"Oh, welcome back Crow," Apollo fondly smiled at his Pokemon. "I assume things went well?"

The steel type Pokemon nodded twice. He dropped something from his beak: a folded white letter with a red stamp on the back.

"Perfect. Thank you for helping out," Apollo said as he read the letter. Oh, good, O'Hare will be fine. Without any time to hesitate, he returned Crow to his Poké Ball.

Apollo walked away from the group, hiding behind a large row of boulders. He set his duffel bag down, kneeling down to pull something out: a black wetsuit with teal sleeves and a logo on the chest. After getting changed into his wetsuit, he walked back to his friends.

Frank crossed his arms and tisked, "Wouldn't it be easier to just fly to Mt. Pyre?"

"And ignore the stolen boat? Don't be ridiculous, Frank," Apollo scolded him. "Besides. It's been a while since Jonah and I went surfing" He pulled out a grey Poke Ball and released one of his Pokemon: a bipedal grey dinosaur with metal plating lining its body.

"Grrron?" Jonah growled as he looked around at his surroundings: everything for miles was sapphire blue. Oh well, being outside was nice at least.

Without any prompting whatsoever, Kenshiro released himself from his Poke Ball and ran to the other Pokemon.

Holly jumped up in surprise,
"Kenshiro! What are y'all doin'?"

Jonah growled, before kneeling down to pet Kenshiro on the head. The two steel types affectionately headbutted each other.

Apollo turned around and smiled. "Oh I think I know what's going on," he pointed out.

"Ya do?" Holly asked as she tilted her head.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure Jonah and Kenshiro are related," Apollo said. "See, when an Aggron recognizes their child they tend to headbutt them."

"Oh, I just remembered. I got something for everyone," He kneeled down to pull something out of his bag pocket: four white sachets with teal aquatic logos. After feeling up the packages to make sure the sizing was correct, he handed one each to the group.

Frank ripped open the package first, yanking out the contents. With a confused look on his face, he held up the item in question: a black and grey wetsuit with a white crown on the chest.

The trio opened their gifts as well; yep, wetsuits for them too.

Tank smiled as he turned it around, looking at the wetsuit's peculiar pattern: tea green with bright tropical leaves. "Thank you so much, Apollo!"

"Seriously, this is really nice," Kidd thanked him. The pink and purple colors were just downright cute!

"It's no problem," Apollo bowed. "I figured these'd be useful in the future" he looked back at the ocean. "Or right now, actually. Yes, there's quite a lot of water in Hoenn. Some would say there's too much, but I don't think so at all,"

A few minutes later, the group changed into their wetsuits. Holly stuck her tongue out as she redid her pigtails, pinning her flower right back in place. While the teal color was nice on the eyes, the zipper pressed firmly against her feathers. Oh, right, because it was flipped inside. After flipping it back in place, she had an idea.

Kenshiro ran back to his trainer, affectionately nuzzling her leg.

Holly gently petted her Pokemon's head. "Y'all had a good time, huh?"

"Lairon, lai!" Kenshiro roared in joy as he bobbed his head to the side.

"Well, you can play with him later," she told him, before returning him to his Poke Ball. Now that was settled, Holly was ready to sail the seven seas.

"Asuka, let's gooooo!"
She ran to the shore, skidding through the sand as she hurled another Poke Ball in the air.

"Gyaaaaaaaa!" Asuka howled triumphantly as she popped out of her Poke Ball, throwing her head back in pride. Blue and white sparkles swirled around her body before dissolving in seconds.

Holly held out her wing, affectionately scratching Asuka's chin. "Hey Asuka," she chirped. "Y'all wanna take some of us to Mt. Pyre?"

Asuka thought for a minute; just carrying Holly and her partners was enough for her. The other two can just swim on their own Pokemon. "Gyara," she nodded, lowering her head to the shore.

Holly turned around, waving to the group. "Apollo!" She yelled. "Asuka said she can take some of us, is it cool if y'all an' Frank surf on another Pokemon?"

Apollo looked at Frank. "I think you can fit on Jonah's back with me," he said.

"Fine by me," Frank shrugged. "But seriously, how in the heck can an Aggron surf? I thought they were weak to water!"

Several minutes later, the group boarded their respective Pokémon. Holly, Kidd and Tank sat behind Asuka's head, while Frank and Apollo comfortably sat on Jonah's back.

The iron armor Pokemon took a deep breath in and roared, his tail spinning like a propeller as he paddled through the ocean waters.

"Race ya!"
Holly yelled as she tightly held onto her Pokemon's dorsal fin. "Come on Asuka, lead the way!"

Asuka roared as she darted through the ocean, turning around to stick her tongue out.

Jonah tucked his head as he paddled through the water, his metal plates gleaming under the afternoon sun. While most Aggron would be terrified of the water, he saw it as nothing more than a fun bonding experience with his trainer.

A smack of wild Frillish carelessly drifted through the treacherous waters. While the pink Frillish occasionally stopped to admire sea flora, the blue Frillish lunged through the sea and chased after a group of Tentacool. The jellyfish Pokémon hissed as they pushed themselves to swim faster.

Tank gasped in awe as he looked around at his surroundings, his eyes sparkling in delight. Even after the several water routes he already traveled, ocean life never ceased to amaze him.

Asuka poked her head out of the water, keeping her eyes peeled for any strange Pokémon. While there were several blue puppet Pokemon hovering in the air, they looked to be residents of Mt. Pyre. The puppet Pokemon minded their own business. She dove back into the water, pushing herself to traverse.

As the two Pokémon raced through the depths of Route 122, danger lurked just meters away. A loud boom echoed from the peak of Mt. Pyre, rattling the entire mountain. A trail of heavy black smoke billowed from the mountaintop, scaring away wild bird Pokémon.

←—To be continued—