"I can't… believe we… missed the boat," Ash said between breaths as he collapsed dejectedly on the dock of Hutber Port, panting after running from the other side of Acapulco for a good portion of it. Pikachu came to a stop next to him and did the same.

It had been a few days since their initial, impromptu vacation in Porta Vista. At his mother and Professor Oak's suggestion, they had used the free time they had to relax, even as the other trainers had departed once the questioning was done. However, they'd gotten too lax in leaving and so they missed the ship heading to Fuchsia City by mere minutes.

"I told you…we should have left…out earlier," Gina grumbled as her legs gave out, leaving her to sit down and watch the large passenger ship in the distance from the dock. "Now we have to…wait for the next… one."

Brock went over towards the nearest booth where they had the schedule to figure out when that would be. He came back with somewhat somber news. "It seems the next boat for Fuchsia won't be departing until late evening."

That elicited disparaging groans from the Pallet Town pair, who were eager to get their next badge so they could hit the halfway mark on their journey. But there was nothing they could do about it, as none of them had pokémon suitable for long-distance sea or air travel. So they took a seat on the edge of the dock to catch their breath, heads hanging down for the moment.

"It's not so bad," Misty told them as she took a seat next to them and gestured out to the sea. "It's a sunny day and the sea is sparkling. We can just take it easy for a little while longer."

"The ocean is nice and all, but I want my next badge," Ash said.

"Pi?" Pikachu's ears perked up for a moment, moving back and forth. Then he rose onto his hind legs and tugged on Ash's jacket in a bid for his attention. "Pikapi. Pika."

"What's up, Pikachu?" Ash followed his gesture out to the sea and spotted a pokémon sticking out of the water, slowly moving. It had red eyes that were drooping slightly and a long tube where most pokémon had mouths. "I don't think I've seen that pokémon before."

"It's a Horsea~" Misty practically cooed upon seeing it. But as her eyes focused on it, her brows folded inwards. "Wait… something is wrong with it…"

"Really?" Gina popped open her pokédex and the image of it came up, which she used as a comparison. "Huh, you're right. The scales look a lot duller, and there's some discoloration."

"It's not just that," Misty said, pulling the bag she kept on her back off and reaching into the opening for a canister of flakes meant for aquatic pokémon. She lightly scattered some into the water. "Here you go, Horsea."

Those drooping red eyes looked up upon hearing its name. Then they settled on the brightly colored flakes drifting on the top of the water closer to it. Horsea made inquiring noises before seawater was pulled into its mouth along with the food. It then began moving to do the same to the other flakes with a lot more zeal than one would expect. "Sea. Sea."

"That's it, come here…" Misty poured a bit more into her hand. Then she repositioned herself so that she was lying on the dock, letting her cupped hand slightly dip into the water. Just enough to get them wet but keep them in her palm so Horsea would have to come to her.

"You know you shouldn't feed wild pokémon like that," Gina told her as the Dragon Pokémon drifted closer to her hand and began to suck it in. "It'll be bad if it becomes dependent on humans while it's still wild."

"Look at the base of these fins," Misty said, gesturing to the bony-like protrusions on the side of its head. A courtesy glance showed that there were little slits that were a sickly green color around them. "Not to mention it's clearly starving when a pokémon that filter feeds shouldn't be."

Brock grabbed his chin in thought as he watched how it began to suck water in and spit it out while looking up to her pleadingly when the food was all gone. "…You might have a point. You think something might be wrong with it?"

"I think so, but there's no Pokémon Center here to take it to…" Misty trailed off before bringing her hand to her nose. She frowned until she heard the soft begging noises coming from the Horsea and went back to feeding it. "Brock, can you grab an empty ball from my bag?"

The former Gym Leader kneeled and reached into her bag to do as she set down the canister and then held her empty hand palm up. The moment he set it down into her grasp she wrapped her fingers around it, enlarged it behind her back, and smiled softly at the Dragon Pokémon that was too busy eating from her other hand to notice as she slowly brought it from behind. "Let's get you looked after, okay?"

"Sea…?" It looked up once it was done only for her to gently tap it with the ball, just enough to trigger the capture function. The ball opened and the Horsea vanished inside of it before sealing shut. The ball only shook once, weakly at that, before the capture registered as being complete.

Misty minimized the ball and then pulled herself back up onto her knees, frowning as she looked to her hand that was in the water. Then she held it closer to Pikachu. "Pikachu, how does it smell to you?"

The Electric Mouse Pokémon leaned on all fours and his nose wriggled as he smelled it. Then Pikachu pulled back, nose scrunched up. "Pi!"

Ash's brows folded in. "What's wrong—"

"AGH!" Whatever Pikachu was going to mime was cut off when screams came from a smaller motorboat that took off from what seemed to be a construction site. The engine was smoking violently and what seemed to be three people had fallen into the water. "AHHHH! HELP!"

Misty quickly put away the ball she had and pulled out two others. "Staryu, Starmie! Get them out of the water!"

"Geodude, you help as well!" Brock added, tossing his own out as well. The Rock Pokémon floated over the surface of the water along with Misty's pokémon, grabbing one of the men by his flailing arms and lifting him up as the Starfish Pokémon and its evolved form dove into the water and then lifted the other two out. "I'll go see if I can find a boat!"

The ferry booth fortunately had a boat available and a driver who escorted them out towards the sunken ship with their pokémon being the only thing keeping the men out of the water. They managed to get them aboard only to find the men's bodies were locking up. And there were deep, red lash marks around their exposed skin.

"They must've been stung by a bloom of wild Tentacool," Misty said, recognizing the symptoms before looking over to the boat-driver. "This many stings means they'll be envenomed. We need to get them to the hospital before their hearts and lungs get paralyzed as well."

"Be-Be…" One of the men struggled to get the words out, abdomen struggling to breathe. "Belt! Hrk!"

Brock caught the cue and looked to see that attached to the man's belt was a holder with plastic tube. He pulled it off and caught on. "They've got antivenin for stings. Grab them and give them the injection!"

They did as they were told. Brock and Misty applied one injection each while Ash held one still so Gina could administer her shot. If there was one thing that came with the advancement in pokémon technology, it was the medical applications. Just like how a generic Antidote could purge a pokémon of the effects of Poison relatively quickly, the antivenin specifically catered to a specific kind of sting would be effective on humans—but they still needed to get the hospital quickly.

So off they went.

[-oOo-]

For the second time Ash found himself being questioned about a sinking boat. Though, since this time he had relatively little to do with it, it only took a few minutes to give his report when the men were rushed into the emergency room. Merely neutralizing the venom wouldn't be enough to get them back on their feet when they suffered so many stings—they were going to be there for some time.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Ash emerged from the hospital with Brock and let out a yawn. "I don't get why we have to stick around for a while."

"The boat's owner wants to verify what we saw in person," Brock said. "Those men were working at the construction site out on the water. I doubt it'll take long for their boss to get here and we should see it through to the end at the very least."

"Yeah, I guess…" He mumbled until they entered the courtyard of the hospital. It was surprisingly big, with glazed stones making up the stonework. Between two stone benches there was a small, inflatable pool meant for small pokémon that had been filled up with water. Misty normally kept the deflated vessel in her bag and only took it out for when she needed to feed Goldeen if there wasn't a larger body of water around, but at the moment Horsea was inside of it. "How's Horsea doing now?"

"Thankfully, he's a little more energetic now that he's had more food," Misty noted, looking over to Ash while still crouched next to it. True to her words, the Dragon Pokémon's dorsal fin was fluttering as it circled the pool. Adding a pinch of food flakes into the water immediately drew his attention as he went over and began to suck it up with a happy noise, unbothered as Misty rubbed the top of his head with her fore and index fingers. "I think with enough time and care he might get back to full health."

"That's good news," Brock mused. "Still, we won't know for sure what was wrong with him until we get him to a Pokémon Center."

Misty's brows folded inwards as she looked up to him and provided her own answer. "I think the reason might be because of the water around here."

"Why's that?" Gina asked, sitting on the bench across from the pool. She was accompanied by two of her pokémon—Wartortle and Abra. The former was out of her ball and holding onto the rim of the pool, looking on at the Horsea with inquisitive eyes alongside Pikachu. The latter was sitting next to his trainer, focused on bending the spoon in his grasp back and forth at a glacial pace.

"Horsea normally stay in deeper water and curl around the base of corals and kelp on the seabed with their tails, where they spend the day filter feeding. They don't have a reason to come up to the surface outside of playing or getting fished up by an expensive rod, unless something tampered with their food source. And then there's this build-up here—"

Misty paused in her explanation to gently reach further into the water and turn Horsea around with both her hands. The Dragon Pokémon briefly floundered but became steady as his tail curled around her fingers, holding fast against her as she exposed the back of his head. Specifically, the base of the fins she pointed out earlier.

"They expel the water their gills take in through these slits," she continued. "That isn't a normal sign of illness but likely some kind of pollutant that's passed through his gills. There must be something in the water that's causing it."

Brock brought his hand to his chin at that. "You think there might have been a spillage of some kind then?"

Her shoulders rose and fell as she loosened her grasp on Horsea. He dove into the clear water, using his single fin to move while remaining upright. His eyes settled onto her again and she smiled. "I'll bring you with me just to be safe. That okay with you, Horsea?"

The Dragon Pokémon chirped softly from beneath the water, accompanied by a small nod. "Sea~"

That settled the group continued to sit around for a bit to discuss their plans when, all of a sudden, there was the sound of metal clinking off stone. Their eyes were drawn to Abra as he dropped his precious spoon on the ground and began to tremble in place. "Ab…abb…"

"Abra, what's wrong?" Gina asked, gently sitting the Psi Pokémon on her lap as he continued to shake. "You shouldn't be hungry, and I don't think you're in pain. Did something scare you?"

He nodded his head slightly. "Ab."

"It'll be okay," she said in as soothing a tone as she could, bobbing her legs up and down to calm him a little while thinking happy thoughts for him to read. Wartortle picked the spoon off the ground and handed it to her, and she tried to use it to settle him down. But when it became clear he was still rattled she asked, "Would you feel safer in your ball for a bit?"

When Abra bobbed his head in agreement, she pulled out his ball and used the Return function to seal him back inside, keeping the ball enlarged but closed. A sigh escaped her mouth and it was clear that the whole situation was perplexing to her. "What's got you so scared?"

The question went unanswered as the doors to the hospital opened once more and someone came out. It was a short woman in her later ages, with red hair that was set off to the right and left by Pearl String scrunches. Her bright-yellow dress was accompanied by fur-tippet that looked to be made from Ninetales Fur and a necklace strung together from Star Pieces.

She came to a stop in front of them and asked, "You were the ones who helped my men attacked by the Tentacool, weren't you?"

"Yes, we were," Brock said on the group's behalf. "You must be their employer, Miss…"

"Nastina," she answered. "I'll get right to the point, what did you see?"

"What do you mean?" Ash asked.

Her voice came out a little brusquer. "When you pulled my men out of the water by the construction site, what did you see?"

"I'm afraid we don't follow," Gina answered, her brows folding in slighter in response to the woman's tone. "We were on the docks when we heard them cry for help and ship's engine was smoking badly, so we figured they were in trouble. Since we're traveling trainers and a few of us had pokémon that could reach them, we sent them out to keep the men from drowning until we could get a boat there. By the time we made it the boat they were on had already sunken."

Her beady eyes looked them all over for a moment before nodding to herself. "Very well. I apologize if I came off as rather abrupt, but all this Tentacool business has been terribly upsetting. They're interfering with the construction of the resort that I'm building and it's starting to get frustrating."

"A resort like the one in Porta Vista?" Ash asked.

She shook her head while reaching down into a purse and pulling out a checkbook and pen. "Bigger than that. It'll be a grand resort with hundreds of suites, going all the way down to the sea floor. You'll be able to sit down with the finest of drinks, a view of the world's most beautiful coral reefs, and a school of Goldfish Pokémon swimming about them… once those pests are no more, that is."

Misty frowned but it went unnoticed as the woman wrote on the check with quick, practiced strokes and held it up for them all to see when she was done. "Take this for helping out my men."

It was… not a small sum. In fact, Ash had never seen that many zeroes in his life and nearly tipped his hat off as he rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Even Gina sat up from her seat to get a better look and make sure that she had it right.

"A million? Seriously?"

The woman's lips pulled up into a crooked smile. "I'm quite generous, and it's a small drop in the bucket for me."

Brock held his hands up apologetically and shook his head. "Ma'am, we really can't take such a large reward for something like that."

The crooked smile turned into a frown. "Now, didn't anyone tell you that you shouldn't look a gift Ponyta in the mouth? Or is it that you're holding out for more?"

"Okay, okay, I'll take it," Ash said, begrudgingly reaching out for the check. "Thanks."

The moment it was in his hand the woman's smile returned. "That's better. You'd do well to remember my generosity in the future."

The woman then turned back and entered into the hospital without so much as giving them second look, leaving Ash feeling more confused than anything. "Man, she sure was persistent. Still, I'm having trouble believing she really gave us a million dollars just like that."

"Let me see that check," Brock said, somewhat firmly. When Ash did give it to him, he looked it over a few times before turning to Misty. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yep," she answered him promptly. "Better to be safe than sorry."

"Right then." The affirmation was followed by the sound of paper being torn as Brock, much to the confusion of Ash and Gina, ripped it in half. He then tore it into smaller pieces before dumping the paper into the nearest trash bin.

Ash's mouth opened and closed for a few moments, as if he was struggling to find the proper words. Then he settled on a simple, if perplexed, "Why?"

Gina backed him. "Yeah, what was that about?"

"That was most likely a bribe," Misty explained, looking over to Brock. "That was why she was so insistent that we take her generosity and got angry when we didn't at first. She was trying to pay us off."

He nodded in agreement. "She didn't even bother to get our names and wasn't really trying to hide it either, so I don't think it had anything to do with you or me. But that offer was a little too generous for just helping her men out—drop in the bucket or not."

"Geez, you make it sound like you two got offers all the time…" Gina trailed off when she remembered his former career and her senses caught up. "Have people tried to bribe you for a badge before?"

"Not just badges," Brock answered. "But that's part of why that rule we talked about was gradually being phased out, so it can't be abused like that. I know that it was a lot of money but accepting a bribe like could severely damage your future and reputation."

"He's right," Misty added, her tone undercut with a touch of bitterness as if recalling a memory. "Sometimes it's a gift or favor too. It's an easy trap to fall into if you don't catch on quick enough. Even if there's a little leeway for younger or inexperienced trainers, it can really make things harder in the long run."

"And since we're accompanying the both of you, it would look bad if we had accepted that offer?" Gina guessed.

Brock might not be working as an active Gym Leader, but he was still recognized as one to a lot of people like on the S.S. Anne. And Misty had admitted she intended to become the Gym Leader of Cerulean City in the future when they battled for her badge. They probably would have gotten scrutinized for taking it if it came up at some point.

"I suppose things are different when you're Gym Leader," Ash mused looking over to the trash can. It was still a lot of money to have literally just thrown away.

"Professional trainers too," Brock told them. "It's a good lesson you both should keep in mind when you end up in the Indigo Conference. You're on the younger end so you'll be seen as easy marks if you don't keep your eyes open."

"…Brock," Misty began anew as she stared at the hospital entrance. "Isn't it awfully convenient that those men had antivenin specifically for Tentacool stings after hearing what she said?"

The former Gym Leader raised an eyebrow at that. "What makes you say that?"

"Tentacool don't actively attack people to the extent of sinking a ship," Misty continued. "Usually stings are from brushing against their tentacles because they can be hard to notice in the water. But those men individually had antivenin and several marks, almost like they were all expecting it."

"What, you think that they were being targeted for some reason?" Gina asked. "That's a bit of a stretch, isn't it?"

"Not if you consider why Horsea's sick," Misty said, looking down to the Dragon Pokémon. "That offer makes a lot more sense if she was trying to pay us to keep quiet on the suspicion that we saw something. I think she's attempting to get rid of the Tentacool around there by poisoning the water over time and they attacked those men because they were doing the dumping. She's trying to exterminate them."

"…Misty, that's a very serious accusation," Brock said slowly, his tone firm. "You'd need absolute proof before we could bring it to the proper authorities as anything more than a suspicion—evidence and witnesses."

"Those men aren't going to talk," Misty pointed out. "She was rich enough to offer a million just to keep quiet on the off-chance we might have seen something, so buying their silence wouldn't be a problem. She can probably stall long enough to clean up any evidence and get away with it unless we use the channels you or my sisters have."

"Hold on, hold on," Ash said. "She doesn't seem like a nice person, but why would she even poison them?"

"The resort she wants to build," Gina said. "Building in a pokémon-inhabited place like that means you'll need a lot of different permissions. Not to mention there are a lot of costs and time involved with relocating pokémon in massive numbers. You remember that time that Gramps had a bunch of Tauros when we were kids that were segmented off?"

Ash's face scrunched up for a moment in thought before it came back to him. "Oh yeah, right before the training camp. There were Rhyhorn there too."

"They were there because his ranch was big enough to hold them all and make sure they were cared for until they could be set free to another suitable location close to Fuchsia, I think. Even then you'd need Pokémon Rangers to make sure they adapt to the new location, don't have conflict with existing species, and a bunch of other stuff to avoid another Gyarados incident. All of that adds up and permission for the construction would probably be more expensive for a non-essential business like a resort —if not outright refused."

"That's more than enough for motive," Misty said. "The Tentacool don't fit with the image she has in her mind and if she goes to get them removed legally then they might not approve it."

"No hard evidence," Brock repeated in an apologetic tone. "It'd be an abuse of power going off suspicion alone without evidence and witnesses to back it. The best we can do while we have time here is look into it and then send that off through normal channels. If the water has been contaminated then the local pokémon and seafood supply will also have been affected, so I'll start looking there."

That said, Ash watched as Brock walked off to do just that while Misty bit down on her lower lip and clenched her fist in frustration. Then her entire body went rigid as something came to her mind. She wheeled around to the pair of them and there was a look of determination in her eyes.

"Ash, Gina, I need to go do something for a bit," she said, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "Can you watch over Horsea?"

"I don't mind," Gina said, tilting her head. "But why?"

"Brock wants proof, so I'll go get it."

[-oOo-]

It took Misty about thirty minutes to get everything she needed once she made it back to the docks.

As someone who practically lived in the water since birth, Misty wasn't exactly shy about diving into water with most of her skin exposed. But this was a special occasion and so she had taken to wearing a dive suit that was black and hugged the curves of her body a little too tightly, along with a belt that compressed down to wrap around her waist with some Poké Balls and antivenin attached.

"I really do hate wearing these things," she said to her pokémon as they loitered in the water while waiting for her to finish putting the swim fins onto her feet. They had been released from their balls ahead of time to make sure the path ahead was clear. "But I don't much of a choice if I'm going to see this through."

"You aren't seriously going in there, are you?"

Her head spun around at the familiar voice. It was Ash. "You followed me."

"Misty, I get that you like Water Pokémon," Ash began. "But you saw what happened to those men who got stung and they weren't even in the water that long. If you dive down there and get attacked…"

"That's why I'm wearing all of this and have my pokémon out," Misty told him. "Dive suits are made with Jellyfish Pokémon in mind and my own pokémon are more than capable of making sure I get there and back. Besides, it's not like I'm going down there looking for a fight."

To emphasize the point, she held up camera that was covered in a thick plastic casing. "If we have it right and that woman was buying our silence because she thought we saw them dumping stuff in the water, then the shipwreck might have something that I can take a photo of and use to convince Brock or my sisters."

"Even so, why can't you just go with what Brock suggested?"

She could tell it was an honest question. Under normal circumstances she might even agree. But, after looking at him for a moment, Misty asked him a simple question. "…Ash, have you ever been close to a Tentacool before?"

He shook his head.

"When I was a little girl, one of the pokémon I used to play with in the Gym was a Tentacool. I remember staring into those spots that were on its head like they were rubies and wrapping my arms around its body. It was squishy, but warm and comfortable."

Ash held up a hand for her to pause. "Wait, how do you hug them if just brushing against their tentacles would leave you paralyzed from the stingers?"

"We used a special solution that inhibits their natural stingers from discharging," she explained off-handedly. "Since Tentacool absorb water into their bodies, letting them bathe in it long enough will cause it to last for a while. Pokémon Centers will also do it for trainers who capture them free of charge to prevent accidents."

"I… didn't know that…"

"A lot of people don't because they never personally had to take care of them or see how much depth they have," Misty said. "Tentacool and Tentacruel don't have a good reputation. They're seen as pest by some people and they're so common that no one would really blink if a bloom of them were wiped out by some hag with a huge bank account—that's why I have to do this, Ash."

As frustrated as she was with Brock's response, Misty knew very well that he hadn't been wrong. He was doing as much as he could without putting himself in a tough spot because there were so many rules and regulations involved with even his current status it could cause problems. His hands were tied unless there was legitimate evidence and it would be the same for her sisters.

But those pokémon needed someone to look out for them as well. It wasn't just a problem for the Tentacool considering the state she found Horsea in. Human interference required human intervention—and if no one else would do it, Misty would.

Ash looked to the ground with his brows folded in, fist clenched and throat straining. It was like he was trying to figure out what to say but couldn't. Eventually he settled on taking a seat on the docks next to her and pulled out a ball. "Squirtle, can you come out?"

Light speared out of the ball and took the shape of the Tiny Turtle Pokémon. The leader of the Squirtle Squad stretched for a bit before waving to the both of them. "Squirtle, Squirtle?"

"Squirtle, we think there's something in the water that's making some of the other pokémon sick," Ash said. "Can you go with Misty to check out a shipwreck and keep her safe?"

The Tiny Turtle Pokémon bobbed his head. "Squirt."

"Ash, you don't have to—" Misty began, only to go silent when he shook his head.

"I can't stop you, but that doesn't mean I can't at least help you out," Ash said. "I'll stay here until you're finished, so get the evidence you need and then hurry back."

"…Fair enough." She looked over to Squirtle. "I can't speak clearly while I have the rebreather in my mouth, so I can't give orders. My pokémon are trained to recognize hand signals, but I'll trust your judgement on the matter. Okay?"

He gave her a thumbs up. "Squirtle!"

Misty then finished putting a dive hood and googles on before lowering herself in the water. The materials stopped her from getting wet, but she could still feel the touch of the sea behind them. Last, she looked up to Ash and said, "Be back soon."

Then she put the rebreather in her mouth and dove into the depths of the water.