The next day.
Vermilion City Harbor.
With their invitation in hand, Silas and the others boarded the S.S. Anne.
They had barely set foot on deck when a sharp female voice cut through the air: "Milotic, finish it with Water Bubble!"
Milotic?
That name made Silas pause for a second, and he turned to see where the voice was coming from.
A small crowd had gathered around a makeshift ring in the middle of the deck. Inside the ring, a tall blonde woman was battling a younger boy in a Pokémon match. Well, "battle" was putting it mildly—Silas could tell this was a complete one-sided slaughter.
The boy was just an average Trainer, but the aura radiating from the woman was on another level. And her Milotic was a peak Elite Four Pokémon. So honestly, this wasn't a match—it was target practice.
"Interested?" Suzie noticed Silas's attention shift to the commotion. She smiled and explained, "It's an official S.S. Anne event for the maiden voyage. First, two random participants are chosen for a match. Then, the winner becomes the champion of the ring—anyone can challenge the champion, and if they win, they become the new champ. Whoever's left standing at the end gets an official Pokémon egg from the organizers—rumor is it's a pseudo-legendary. So, if you're interested..."
"Not really." Silas shook his head. "I'm more interested in that woman."
"That woman?!" Suzie's eyes flicked to the blonde in the ring, then she grinned. "She's definitely gorgeous. Figures you'd notice her."
"Ahem." Silas cleared his throat, half-laughing, half-exasperated. "Not that. I'm just wondering who she is. Her Milotic's at peak Elite Four level—if she can handle that kind of power so smoothly, she's got to be someone important."
"Yeah right," Giselle rolled her eyes, then shouted at Silas, "Just admit you've got a crush."
"…" Silas had nothing to say to that.
As they bantered, the blonde in the ring took down four or five more challengers. The crowd broke into whispers: "She's too strong. That's her seventeenth win in a row, right?"
"Yeah, and every match is a single move KO. She and those challengers aren't even in the same league!"
"But she's not from Kanto. I'm starting to feel embarrassed for us—where are all of Kanto's top Trainers?"
All the regional pride in the air made Silas want to laugh. Wasn't this just a little shipboard event? Did it really need to turn into some giant regional rivalry? But the best part was Giselle, who clearly couldn't take the insults. She turned to Silas, palm out: "Silas, let me borrow Tyranitar!"
"What for?" Silas sighed.
"What do you mean what for?" Giselle was fuming. She pointed to the ring. "That woman's making us look bad! If I tell you to fight, you'll just be lazy, so I'll do it myself. I'm gonna put her in her place—she needs to learn not to show off on somebody else's turf!"
"Fine, whatever." Seeing how riled up Giselle was, Silas had no choice but to hand over Tyranitar's Master Ball.
"I'm going!" Giselle beamed as she grabbed the Poké Ball and hurried up to the ring.
"Silas…" As Giselle vanished into the crowd, Suzie asked uncertainly, "Isn't this all a bit much?"
"Doesn't matter." Silas shrugged, still eyeing the blonde woman. "Honestly, yeah, it's overkill. But I want to see what that woman's real limit is. If she's been letting Milotic sweep through this many fights, you can bet she's got other monsters in reserve. So let Giselle stir things up a bit—it'll be a good test."
"How devious," Suzie muttered, shaking her head with a half-smile.
...
Up at the ring.
The blonde woman had just knocked out another challenger.
The announcer shouted, "Wow! Miss Cynthia has now crushed twenty challengers in a row. Who's got what it takes to defeat her? Or are we Kanto folks all talk?"
It was his job to heat things up, and he was a pro. His words made every Trainer in the crowd ball their fists in anticipation. "I'm next! I'll show her what a real Kanto Trainer can do!"
"Like you could do it. Move aside! If anyone's going to show her, it's gonna be me!"
"Please, you're not even top fifty on the ship! Let a real Trainer step up!"
The rising tension made the blonde woman sigh.
She'd meant to sign up as a lark, just for fun. She never expected the host to hype her up as a foreign invader and stir the pot over "Kanto pride." If she'd known it'd turn into this, she never would've entered in the first place.
But whatever. Looking at the sea of determined faces, she knew there was no way they'd let her off easy—not unless she crushed their hope with a real show of force.
Just then, a girl darted out of the jostling crowd, climbed onto the ring, and introduced herself: "Hi! I'm Giselle, second-year at Pokémon Tech's advanced division!"
The blonde woman's eyes widened. Finally, someone who could at least hold a proper conversation. She smiled and replied, "You can call me Cynthia."
"Whoa!" As soon as they finished introductions, the MC yelled, "Our newest challenger is Giselle, a student at Pokémon Tech advanced division! Can she finally be the one to bring down Ms. Cynthia?"
The announcer slid out of the ring, leaving Giselle and Cynthia face to face.
"Here's the deal," Giselle declared, presenting the Master Ball. "I'm not trying to bully you, so here's my rule: if you can defeat my Pokémon, nobody else will challenge you for the rest of the day!"
Bullying me?
No one will challenge me?
Cynthia nearly burst out laughing. How long had it been since anyone talked to her like that? But then Giselle tossed the Master Ball—and a seven-meter-tall Tyranitar appeared right in front of her!
"Bang!"
The S.S. Anne rocked as the huge Tyranitar landed...
"T-t-Tyranitar?!"
"He's huge... Kanto finally sent out the big guns!"
"No wonder she's from Pokémon Tech advanced division—she just dropped a bomb on us!"
All previous complaints about Giselle dried up in an instant. When she unleashed Tyranitar, every Trainer who was ready to complain about her "representing Kanto" instead started heaping her with praise.
While the Trainers buzzed, Tyranitar noticed that Giselle was holding its ball—a lazy look turned serious, and its voice came out urgent: "Hey, little girl. Why are you here? Where's Silas? Did something happen to him?"
"Nope." Sensing Tyranitar's intensity, Giselle hurried to explain. "I just wanted to enter the match and was out of Pokémon, so I borrowed you from Silas. Can you help me out?"
"Sure." Relieved to learn Silas was fine, Tyranitar relaxed. It already knew Giselle well, so helping her out was no big deal.
Champion tier?
And it talks?
The aura Tyranitar gave off left Cynthia absolutely stunned. What kind of lunatic just hands out a Champion-level Pokémon for someone else to use? And it wasn't just her—every Trainer on deck was in shock too. It was the first talking Tyranitar any of them had ever seen.
"Heh!" Now that she'd secured Tyranitar's help, Giselle turned a smug grin on Cynthia: "Scared yet?"
"Scared?" Cynthia calmly smiled as she recalled Milotic. Fishing out another Poké Ball, she replied, "I'll admit, I didn't expect you to bring out something this strong. If its Trainer were here, I'd just walk away. But since he's not, why should I be scared?"
"Garchomp!" Cynthia tossed her Poké Ball, her voice ringing clear: "Show everyone what you can do!"
Bang!
"Garchomp!" With a burst of light, Garchomp materialized in the ring.
"Tch." Giselle scoffed at the sight. "Just a Garchomp? There's no w—"
"Quiet!" Tyranitar cut her off, eyes narrowed as it regarded Garchomp with deep seriousness. "That Garchomp is just as strong as I am. When the fight starts, watch yourself!"
Just as strong as me...
Tyranitar's comment left Giselle momentarily petrified.
She knew all about Tyranitar's power and background. If this Garchomp could stand on equal footing with it, that meant it too was at the very peak of Champion power. Anyone who could train a Pokémon like that… how terrifying were they?
While Giselle processed that shocking realization, the MC piped up: "Incredible! Both Giselle and Cynthia have sent out pseudo-legendary Pokémon from Johto and Sinnoh. Who's going to take this high-level duel? Battle… begin!"
But neither Tyranitar nor Garchomp moved right away. Instead, Cynthia addressed Tyranitar directly: "Tyranitar, I know you understand human speech. This ship's too small—if you and Garchomp go all out, you'll destroy it. So how about we settle this in a single decisive blow?"
"Works for me." Tyranitar agreed.
"Good." Satisfied, Cynthia pointed at Garchomp and gave her command: "Garchomp! Dragon Rush!"
"Garchomp!" Garchomp let out a piercing roar, leapt skyward, and charged straight at Tyranitar. As it descended, golden energy enveloped its body, making it look like a meteor hurtling toward earth.
"Bang!"
As Garchomp's Dragon Rush closed in, Tyranitar raised its right fist, which instantly glowed with earthy light, and threw a punch to meet the attack head-on.
Boom!
Dragon Rush versus Mega Punch!
A massive explosion erupted midair, instantly shrouding Tyranitar and Garchomp in smoke. The shockwave rocked the S.S. Anne, sending people tumbling all over the deck.
...
"Silas…" Suzie clung to Silas's arm, a little anxious. "Is this going to be a problem?"
"Nope." Silas shook his head, keeping Suzie close. "Yeah, it's the collision of peak Champion power, but neither Tyranitar nor Garchomp went all out. There's no danger."
"Peak Champion power!" Suzie's eyes widened. She'd figured from what Cynthia and Tyranitar said that Garchomp was Champion-level, but it never occurred to her that it was at the absolute pinnacle. "Why would someone with that kind of powerhouse Pokémon bother with a shipboard contest?"
"Honestly? She's probably just bored." Silas smiled slyly. He'd already figured out the blonde woman's identity. "It's not like she needs a Pokémon egg—if she wanted one, she'd just ask. She's just here for fun."
"Who is she?" Suzie asked, clearly intrigued.
"Cynthia," Silas said, his tone turning slightly sour, "Sinnoh's Champion. Really, who else would be this over the top?"
As Silas and Suzie talked, the smoke began to clear.
Tyranitar stood calm and steady before Giselle, while Garchomp had returned to Cynthia's side.
"A draw," Tyranitar said flatly to Cynthia.
"Agreed." Cynthia nodded, smiling graciously. "Next time, I'd love a proper match with you and your actual Trainer."