Blizzards raged across the sea. In front of Tentacruel, the ocean's surface froze at an alarming speed, the ice spreading rapidly toward the distant waves—so fast that even the crashing seawater was frozen solid in mid-air!
"Lilli!"
Lilligant narrowed her eyes as she stared downward with a grave expression.
A moment later, countless vines burst from her body, rapidly extending downward into the seawater.
She still couldn't see the figure moving beneath the waves, but by sensing the fluctuations of life energy, she locked perfectly onto the source of the sound. The vines stretched forth like ropes, pursuing their target!
It didn't take long for these vines to catch up with the presence below, instantly wrapping around it and binding it completely. Then, with a powerful surge, the vines lifted the entire figure out of the ocean!
Dozens of vines floated in mid-air, and at this moment, the figure trapped within the coils was clearly visible—its purple body wrapped in layers of dried seaweed, vaguely resembling a seahorse-like Pokémon.
Seeing the creature's form, Aven and all the Pokémon froze. Their gazes involuntarily shifted toward Skrelp nearby. The creature looked way too similar to it.
"It's a Dragalge!" Aven immediately recognized and called out its name.
"DRAAA!"
Suspended in mid-air, the Dragalge let out a draconic roar.
It struggled fiercely, faint purple light glowing from its body as the poison energy quickly seeped into the vines binding it.
Sizzling corrosion sounded out as the vines were melted away, allowing Dragalge to break free from its restraints.
But at that moment, Lilligant suddenly lifted her hand and pointed toward Dragalge. Intense green light flared from her body.
Dragalge had already begun to fall, dropping back into her range, when the green light fully enveloped it, wrapping its entire form!
Countless motes of green light shimmered, draining Dragalge's stamina at high speed. The green glow around its body grew thicker and thicker.
This was Lilligant's Giga Drain, her ultimate draining movie. After her recent breakthrough, she had gained the ability to freely manipulate the life force and grass energy within her surroudings, allowing her to cast Giga Drain at a distance, with no need for physical contact at all.
"DRAAAAA—!"
Sensing its strength rapidly slipping away, Dragalge roared even louder.
But before a King-level Lilligant, what resistance could it possibly offer? In mere moments, all of Dragalge's stamina was completely sucked away, condensed into a glowing energy orb that floated mid-air.
With its vitality drained, Dragalge now floated in the water like a piece of lifeless seaweed, motionless and limp.
"Kir… lia…"
Watching how easily Lilligant subdued Dragalge, Kirlia stiffened.
It could clearly sense that this Dragalge was an advanced-level Pokémon, nearly at the threshold of quasi-king level.
And yet Lilligant had captured it the instant they made contact, draining all its stamina from afar with absolute control. The gap in strength was overwhelming.
Within this domain flooded with natural life and grass energy, escape from her lock-on seemed utterly impossible. Her mastery over the surrounding natural energies was truly terrifying.
Kirlia realized that even if it relied on Teleport, it still wouldn't be able to dodge Lilligant's attacks. A faint sense of helplessness rose in its heart.
Without noticing it, Lilligant had grown far, far too strong. Even though Kirlia trained every day, even while sleeping—the distance between them was still widening.
No—I must evolve as soon as possible!
Only by evolving into Gardevoir and mastering spatial and emotional energies could it hope to keep pace with its companions!
On the other side, Aven also marveled at Lilligant's current strength. Then he took out a Poké Ball and threw it. A flash of red light, and Dragalge was pulled inside and vanished.
This Dragalge was quite powerful. Poison- and Dragon-type combined—if left in the open sea, it would pose a threat to surrounding Pokémon.
From what Aven knew about Dragalge, it was a violent Pokémon often hiding within seaweed beds, ambushing prey with toxic sprays. Ships drifting into its habitat seldom returned safely.
Especially since this region was close to the Black Coast. If Dragalge traveled near that area, it would endanger the Pokémon living there.
With a wave of his hand, Aven used telekinesis to pull the Poké Ball back to him. He studied it with a frown.
"Why is a Dragalge here?"
He had a strong feeling its presence was no coincidence.
The poisonous waters beneath them were likely Dragalge's doing. And if the ocean had turned toxic to this degree, there was no way only a single Dragalge was involved.
"Skrelp~"
At that moment, Skrelp swam up beside Aven.
After this period of training, Skrelp fully recognized Aven as its trainer.
Now, confusion appeared on its face. Just now, it felt that the Dragalge looked strangely familiar.
"Hm? You're saying you also came from that same group?" Aven blinked in surprise.
He had found Skrelp in the northern bay of Marina City, but they were now in the southern sea.
If Skrelp truly belonged to the same group as these Dragalge, did that mean the Dragalge population originally lived in the eastern sea and migrated to the south for some unknown reason?
"Skrelp~"
Skrelp nodded. Its group had indeed lived in the eastern sea.
It had only been newly hatched then. While drifting around, it accidentally got separated from the group.
Because of that, it didn't know much about the Dragalge population—only that there were many, many Dragalge in the group.
"So, there are a large number of Dragalge…" Aven murmured.
Tentacruel continued moving toward the location where the other Tentacruel had sent ultrasonic signals.
But soon, Lilligant sensed several more life signatures approaching rapidly.
In the distance, the water swirled suddenly, forming a massive whirlpool that rushed toward Tentacruel, pulling violently and shaking its body.
"Kirlia, Teleport!" Aven commanded.
"Kir!"
Kirlia had already been preparing. Its spatial energy surged, wrapping Tentacruel within its psychic field.
The next instant, everyone vanished from the whirlpool's range and reappeared high above their original position.
Kirlia once again used telekinesis to hold Tentacruel aloft.
Even though Tentacruel's body was massive, it was light work for Kirlia—its psychic power was strong enough to stop ocean waves for a moment.
Looking down, they saw the whirlpool dissipate. Then four Dragalge suddenly burst out of the water.
Their eyes cold and vicious, they fired multiple Hydro Pumps directly upward!
"Lass~"
Froslass floated gracefully in the air and raised her hand. A blizzard burst forth, instantly freezing the Hydro Pumps mid-flight!
The icy storm swept across the ocean surface, freezing the Dragalge and everything around them into solid ice!
"DRAA!"
The Dragalge froze in place, their faces twisted in shock.
But the next moment, the ice trembled violently. Several Dragalge broke free.
Only to see a giant energy ball falling from the sky—crashing heavily onto the frozen ocean, shattering the ice instantly!
The massive blast forced the water surface downward, creating towering waves on all sides. The four Dragalge were completely engulfed in the energy sphere.
Waves surged upward, bursting into the air before falling as torrential rain mixed with chunks of shattered ice.
When everything finally settled, the four Dragalge floated weakly on the surface, completely defeated. Lilligant had shown no mercy toward the Dragalge that ambushed them.
"What an insanely strong Energy Ball," Aven muttered in awe.
The sheer power of her attack was nearly comparable to that legion-level Energy Ball formed from the combined strength of countless Gloom!
But of course—Energy Ball was a move that drew upon the power from nature. It matched her perfectly.
By instantly gathering all the natural energy in the area, that attack was, in a way, a legion-class strike of nature itself!
After marveling for a moment, Aven took out four Poké Balls and captured each Dragalge.
"With so many Dragalge appearing one after another, we must be close to their habitat." He gazed toward the distant sea.
At this point, continuing to ride Tentacruel across the surface was no longer safe. Now that he understood the enemy favored underwater ambush tactics, traveling by air was clearly the better choice.
"Tentacruel, return for now," Aven said. "Once we find your group, I'll bring you back out."
Tentacruel swayed its tentacles in acknowledgment. It also understood it wasn't safe to continue underwater.
After recalling Tentacruel, Aven rode on Mothim as they flew toward their destination. Lady Lilligant and Skrelp were lifted through the air by Kirlia's telekinesis.
"Lilli~"
Lilligant looked down at the ocean, her eyes filled with curiosity.
Flying through the air felt surprisingly pleasant. But that brought up a new question—how could she use her own powers to fly?
While she pondered, an overwhelming surge of life energy suddenly washed over them—this time not from a few scattered beings, but from an entire massive presence filling the space below.
Clearly, a large group of Pokémon was gathered beneath the sea.
Aven also looked down. He immediately spotted several Tentacool drifting together, huddled closely.
"We found them. They're Tentacool." He breathed a sigh of relief.
He was just about to ask Lilligant to lift them out of the water when—
A sharp splash!
A Dragalge suddenly lunged out from beneath the waves, hurling itself directly at the Tentacool. A massive wave crashed down, swallowing both the Dragalge and the Tentacool together.
(End of Chapter)