Indigo League Headquarters.
Speaker of Parliament's Office.
Shingen Oak was buried in paperwork.
Bang!
Suddenly, the door was flung open. In walked one of the Elite Four—Lance—with a grim face. His first words left Shingen Oak utterly stunned: "Shingen, you'd better brace yourself. Something's happened to Silas!"
"What do you mean?" Shingen Oak's face changed instantly.
"It's like this…" Lance took a breath and spoke quickly, "I just received word about the S.S. Anne disaster. The missing persons list includes Silas and his travel companions. Sinnoh Champion Cynthia is also among the missing!"
Boom!
Lance's words hit like an explosive. Shingen Oak went completely silent.
After a moment, his voice was flat and calm as he asked, "Did you send out a search party?"
"Yeah." Lance nodded, his expression solemn. "I already called Vermilion City, told them to get 300 people searching the sea—"
"Three hundred isn't enough," Shingen Oak cut Lance off with an icy voice. "I want every League member in Vermilion City heading out to sea. And get the nearby cities to send everyone as backup. I want Silas found—dead or alive. If I don't get news within a day, they're all fired. Every last one."
"Got it." Lance nodded, even though Shingen Oak's instructions sounded excessive. He knew his old friend was right on the edge; if anyone pushed him further, he'd explode for real. Lance said, "I'll start the arrangements right now!"
Shingen Oak nodded, saying nothing more.
As soon as Lance left, Shingen picked up the phone and called his secretary. "Prep the jet. I'm going to Vermilion City now."
"But, sir, this afternoon—"
"Prep the plane!"
"…Understood. You'll depart in thirty minutes."
Hanging up, Shingen Oak didn't even pause. He immediately dialed another number. It rang once, then a hearty voice picked up: "Hahaha! Shingen, what brings you calling me?"
"S.S. Anne." Shingen Oak forced the words out, then said coldly, "Silas apparently disappeared along with that hunk of junk. Giovanni, care to explain yourself?"
"You're joking, right?" The voice on the line instantly turned panicked. The other Trainer stammered, "I never gave your son the ticket, I swear!"
"I know." Shingen Oak's voice was eerily calm, but then went ice-cold: "Giovanni, you're my brother, and I've turned a blind eye to your 'business' for years. But if Silas really dies out there, I swear I'll wipe the Rocket family off the map. Don't say I didn't warn you."
Click!
Without another word, Shingen Oak ended the call.
...
Viridian City.
A luxurious office.
Giovanni stared dumbfounded at his phone, seething.
But he wasn't angry at Shingen's threats; he understood exactly what Silas meant to the Oak family. If the family names were reversed—if Silas were Giovanni's blood, and that happened—he'd go even crazier than Shingen. What truly pissed him off were his own idiot subordinates!
"Get in here!"
Giovanni slammed the phone down and roared toward the door.
It swung open and in slipped a flamboyant female secretary, her voice sultry: "Boss, what's wrong? Missing me already? Because right now—"
"Cut the crap!" Giovanni cut her off with a curse. He exploded, "Are you and the other idiots brain-dead or what? You hit the S.S. Anne without double-checking its Trainer list—do you idiots think Team Rocket's invincible or something?!"
"What's the big deal?" Caught off guard, the secretary pouted. "I was just trying to finish your orders sooner, you know, make you happy. What's so wrong? Is there some bigwig's kid on that ship? If so, just pay some compensation. It's not like we came away empty-handed."
"Compensation?!" Giovanni nearly had a stroke. "The chosen successor of the Oak family, grandson of Professor Oak, son of the Kanto Speaker of Parliament, my own nephew, the kid everyone's calling Kanto's first homegrown Champion—Silas Oak—was caught up in this mess on the S.S. Anne! Tell me—what kind of compensation covers that?!"
"…Oh." The secretary froze on the spot.
She'd been Giovanni's mistress for years and knew perfectly well that Team Rocket's rapid rise was thanks in huge part to the Oak family. Without their help, Team Rocket never would've dominated Kanto. Now the Oak heir was missing, and it was Team Rocket's fault—she instantly understood why Giovanni was furious.
"Boss," she stammered, her face pale, "S-So… what do we do now?"
"What do we do?!" Giovanni rolled his eyes and roared, "What do you think? Mobilize everyone. Find them! If we can't, we're all finished!!"
"Understood!" The secretary nodded hastily and rushed out.
Dear god…
Kid, please let nothing happen to you…
If you die, I'm done for…
After she left, Giovanni could only stew in bitter regret.
...
Over the ocean.
Silas had already swapped out for Dragonite.
Suzie's injury couldn't wait any longer—the longer they delayed, the worse it'd get.
"Silas…" Shivering from the wind behind him, Giselle hugged Suzie tightly and tried to shield her, but she was freezing. "H-How much further… d-do we have… to the hospital…?"
"We're here," Silas replied calmly.
"Here?" Giselle blinked, then saw the faint outline of a city ahead. She cheered, "Finally! We made it!"
Dragonite was blazing fast—Silas's Dragonite even more so. As Giselle exulted, they were already close to the city. Just as Dragonite was about to dive in, warning sirens blared from below: "Attention, Dragonite and Trainer overhead—Acapulco is a no-fly zone. Descend immediately!"
"Attention, Dragonite and Trainer—Acapulco is a no-fly zone. Descend immediately!"
"Attention, Dragonite and Trainer—Acapulco is a no-fly zone. Descend immediately!"
The message blasted out three times. Dragonite slowed, glancing back for Silas's instructions.
Normally, Silas would have played by the rules—but not today. Not when Suzie's life was on the line. He ordered, voice like ice, "Break through. Go!"
"Dragonite~!"
Dragonite let out a sharp cry and shot straight into Acapulco City.
Dragonite's sudden dive was like tossing a stick in a hornet's nest—over a dozen police officers, each riding a Pidgeot, swarmed Silas at once.
"Hmph!" Silas sneered, and a Master Ball slipped into his hand as if by magic. "Charizard! Handle it!"
ROAR!!!
Silas's command barely left his lips when Charizard burst forth from the Master Ball, roaring a challenge as it flew to intercept the oncoming police.
"Circle around," Silas told Dragonite, "and find this city's best hospital—fast!"
"Understood!"
...
Police Station.
"Officer Jenny!"
A frantic voice rang out in the station, making Officer Jenny lift her weary head. She asked, "Now what? Didn't you all just go after that Dragonite and its Trainer? I mean, powerful as Dragonite is, the city flight squad had almost twenty officers—how could you possibly fail?"
"We failed, all right."
The agitated male officer who rushed in was pale as a ghost. "Forget arresting them, we couldn't even get close. The guy's Charizard took our whole squad out in one go!"
What?!
Officer Jenny's eyes went wide.
She knew all about the Acapulco flight squad—the only ones admitted were elite Trainers. But twenty elite-level officers going down to one Charizard? Just how strong was that Charizard—wanna-be Elite Four? True Elite Four?
And if someone that dangerous was flouting city rules… Bad news.
Normally, they could handle rules-breakers, as long as they weren't League Elite Four, or maybe just one regular Elite Four at most. But today was different. Some genius at the League had summoned every top Trainer in Acapulco away for the day. If this troublemaker was really a top-tier Trainer, there was no way Acapulco could handle it now.
"Where is the Trainer?" Officer Jenny pressed, frowning.
"Hospital! Surveillance says he just arrived at Acapulco Hospital."
The hospital, huh…
That answer instantly calmed Officer Jenny. At least now she could guess what was going on. She cleaned off her desk and headed out, calling back, "I'm checking the hospital. Bring the injured with you—right now!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
...
Acapulco Hospital.
"Doctor!" Silas burst in, carrying Suzie, yelling, "Help! Someone—over here!"
His cry brought out four or five nurses at once. One of them, seeing Silas clutching an unconscious woman, immediately rolled a stretcher over and said, "We'll call a doctor for this young lady right away. In the meantime, please head to the payment counter and bring us the receipt so we can start treatment."
"Surgery! Now!" Silas snapped, slapping down the Elite Four badge Professor Oak had given him. His voice turned cold. "If the patient survives, you'll get every penny you're owed. If anything happens to her, though, you'd better start job hunting."
"Y-yes, sir!" At the sight of the Elite Four badge, the nurses nodded frantically and rushed Suzie inside.
Silas followed as the nurses wheeled Suzie away. Giselle, keeping up, couldn't help but say, "Silas, shouldn't you get that wound checked out too?"
"My wound?" Silas blinked. "What wound?"
"…" Giselle rolled her eyes and jabbed a finger at his cheek.
Ow!
That really hurt!
Like, a lot!
With the poke, Silas felt a burning pain on his face and instantly understood. All that time flying at high speed, shielding Suzie and Giselle from the wind, the gusts had ripped open his skin in several places.
"Get it treated, will you?" Giselle sighed, worry written across her face. "I really don't want Sister Suzie to pull through, only for you to end up with a ruined face."
"I'll get it checked out in a bit," Silas replied quietly, shaking his head. "I just need to be sure Suzie's okay first."
"Okay."