Vermilion City, makeshift rescue command center.
The command post was pretty bare-bones—just a few tents thrown up in a hurry. But right now, all the people in those tents were big shots. Among them: the Johto Champion and Dragon Master Lance, Kanto's highest authority and Speaker of Parliament Shingen Oak, and the world-renowned Pokémon Professor himself, Professor Oak!
Besides those heavyweights, there were officers from Vermilion City's police and border security as well as squads from neighboring departments.
Everyone was here for just one reason—to find Silas, who was "lost at sea."
"What's taking so long?" Professor Oak paced anxiously back and forth inside the main tent, stopping every couple of seconds to hassle the techs. "Any news from the sonar or the visual feeds?"
"Nothing yet." The tech immediately shook his head, forcing a smile. "We do have Water-types who can get down pretty deep, but that doesn't mean our equipment can. The sea pressure gets too high down there—the gear only works within a certain range. If we force it deeper, it'll break for sure!"
"If it breaks, it breaks!" Professor Oak barked, not hesitating for even a moment, "If it breaks, replace it. Keep replacing it until it doesn't!"
Until it doesn't…
The tech could only force a bitter smile.
Honestly, he wanted to say, "If our equipment can't reach the deep sea, how could a human possibly survive down there?" But he wasn't stupid enough to say that out loud—any of these three people could ruin his life with a word.
"Hmph!" Of course, an old fox like Professor Oak could tell exactly what the tech was thinking, but now wasn't the time to care. His face turned cold as he said, "You'd better make yourself useful, or your job won't be worth squat after this!"
"Yes, sir!" The tech went pale as a sheet.
"Dad," Shingen Oak, sidelined, tried to intervene, a little helpless. "Calm down. He's the best we've got—if anyone can do it, it's him."
"Calm down?!" Professor Oak snapped, instantly furious again. He pointed a trembling finger at Shingen's nose and yelled, "Shingen Oak, is Silas still your son or not? And if you hadn't let Team Rocket run wild, would any of this have happened? I'm telling you—if anything happens to Silas, don't even think about stepping foot in my house ever again!"
"...Got it." Shingen Oak swallowed hard.
Lance saw all this go down and could only offer a silent prayer for his old friend. Normally, he'd be loving the drama, but not today. Just glancing at Professor Oak's stormy face made it clear: if anything happened to Silas, the old man might go nuclear.
And Lance knew Shingen Oak all too well. On the surface, the guy looked calm enough, but if Silas really got hurt, Shingen would probably start a bloodbath in Kanto—he wouldn't rest until Team Rocket had paid with their lives. Which meant right now, more than ever, nothing could be allowed to happen to Silas!
The tense standoff was broken when a middle-aged man in a police uniform rushed into the tent, panic written all over his face. The moment he burst in he shouted, "Something bad's happened! Really bad!"
"What is it?!" Professor Oak and Shingen Oak both paled. Lance jumped in, "Did you get news about Silas?"
"N-no," the cop shook his head.
That let Professor and Shingen Oak relax a little, but Lance just frowned. "If not, why the shouting? What happened?"
"It's huge." The police captain gave a wry smile and said, "I just got a call for help from Officer Jenny—there's a super top-tier Trainer in Acapulco, and he's kicked off a massive fight with the police. Now he's wiped out almost every single police officer and auxiliary Trainer in the area, and Officer Jenny's calling for backup!"
"One guy?" Lance frowned. He personally assigned Acapulco's police chief—if something happened to the city, he'd be on the hook.
"One guy, sir!" The cop nodded emphatically. "One person took down nearly 300 Pokémon!"
Getting that confirmation, Lance's frown deepened.
If that report was true, Acapulco really did have an S-tier powerhouse in town. Knocking out 300 Pokémon on your own wasn't something just anyone could do.
After a moment's thought, Lance told the captain, "Understood. You keep your teams focused on searching the sea for Silas."
"Uh…" The officer looked dumbfounded, then put on a miserable face. "But Lord Lance, what should we do about Acapulco? Are we really supposed to just let that guy rampage around the city?!"
"No." Lance shook his head, got up from his seat, and stretched hard, "Acapulco's my problem now. Your one and only job is to find Silas. Got it?"
"Got it!"
The second Lance said it, the police captain instantly let out a relieved sigh.
After all, Lance was the Champion. If a guy like him couldn't handle it, then nobody could!
Acapulco outskirts.
Right now, an insane scene was playing out.
Tyranitar was practically toying with the police and auxiliary Trainers—firing off Hyper Beams and shaking the earth with Earthquake, keeping his enemies trapped well within his attack radius. Luckily, neither Silas nor Tyranitar were killers, so no lives were actually in danger—the most anyone suffered was a few minor injuries!
The chaos wasn't just on the ground, either—the sky was absolute mayhem.
No way was Silas letting those aerial squads off the hook! Dragonite and Pikachu took to the air, launching Thunderbolt after Thunderbolt, scattering Pidgeot and police officers in all directions. They tried to run for it, but facing Dragonite, those Pidgeot were way too slow.
And Silas?
He was still chilling on Charizard's back, bored out of his mind, scrolling on his phone while he waited for a real opponent to show up.
He'd seen Officer Jenny's call for backup, of course—in fact, he let her send it on purpose. There was no way she could've dialed with Tyranitar pressing her otherwise.
It wasn't just him goofing off. He wanted the kind of opponent you could actually talk to—a real Trainer, not politics. Silas just wanted to battle and travel, not get locked into the League's drama. If this business didn't resolve cleanly, it could haunt him forever—so why not squash it in one go?
"Charizard…"
As Silas yawned with boredom, Charizard let out a low, nervous growl—filled with caution, excitement, and even a touch of fighting spirit.
Tyranitar and Dragonite picked up the vibe right away, instantly ending their attacks and swooping back to Silas's side, standing guard like loyal sentinels. Silas narrowed his eyes, immediately on alert—whoever was coming had to be serious: it took real power to rattle his Pokémon like this. Hell, there were barely a dozen Trainers like that in the whole League!
As Silas silently braced himself, a dark figure flickered through his view.
It moved so fast it was practically a blur, appearing before Silas in a blink. When he saw who it was, even Silas couldn't hold back a gasp.
"Lance the Outlaw?!"
"What the—!"
Lance, who'd just flown in on Aerodactyl, heard the nickname and stared, dumbfounded, at Silas, who was casually riding his Charizard. "Kid, weren't you supposed to have sunk with the S.S. Anne? Why are you sitting here?"
"Sunk with the ship, huh…"
Hearing that, Silas gave an awkward smirk. He hadn't realized the news had traveled so fast. "I made it out," he explained, simple as that.
"Hell!" For once, even the honorable Lance let out a curse. He glared at Silas. "If you got out, couldn't you have contacted us?! We practically emptied Vermilion City and every neighboring city, combing the ocean looking for you!"
"Sorry," Silas apologized, a bit sheepish. "My companions were all injured during the escape, so reporting in wasn't really on my mind."
"I see." Lance nodded, then pointed to the devastated force of police and auxiliary Trainers below. "So… wanna explain what happened with them?"
With that, Silas patiently walked Lance through everything, start to finish.
Lance listened, pondered for a moment, and then offered, "Just apologize. I'll act as your go-between. If you do that, I can sweep this whole thing under the rug."
"I refuse."
Silas rejected the suggestion instantly. Sure, Lance's plan was the easy way out—but Silas's sense of right and wrong was unshakeable. He wouldn't apologize for something he genuinely believed was justified.
"You…" Lance's eyes narrowed. "Do you have any idea what the League's politics are like right now? Do you know how many people are just itching for a reason to take you down?! If you take this stand, you're basically handing them a weapon."
"Nope." Silas shook his head, but his tone was unwavering. "Maybe a lot of people want to trip me up. But I'm me—I'm not changing to please them. If anyone wants to take me out, let them try. I'll just face them head-on."
Face them—head-on?!!
Silas's dead-serious attitude genuinely surprised Lance. He'd always known Silas was stubborn, but not this stubborn. His own tone grew colder. "And what if I insist you apologize?"
"Then we battle."
"Fine! Fine! Fine!" Silas's unwavering resolve made Lance laugh in frustration. "Don't think you're the only one who owns a guardian deity in Kanto. Today, I'll show you what real boundaries are, before your ego gets you in real trouble!"
With that, Lance tossed out a Poké Ball. "Dragonite, let's do this!"
Pop!
"Dragoniter!"
A flash of white light—and Lance's massive, golden Dragonite appeared in front of him.
This Dragonite was a beast, almost as big as Silas's Tyranitar. Unlike the usual dopey, good-natured Dragonite, this one exuded a wild edge—bristling with peak Champion-level power, even overshadowing Tyranitar! It glanced at the big dinosaur and said, "Old friend, long time no see. Didn't expect you to lose to anyone but a guardian deity…"
"Hmph!" Tyranitar responded coldly, refusing to back down. "There's always someone stronger out there—Pokémon or human. Win or lose, that's just life. But today, victory will be mine!"
Dragonite just grinned, unfazed. Turning to Lance, it rumbled, "So, Lance, who's my target?"
Lance pointed right at Silas. "Give the kid a lesson, but go easy—don't take his head off!"
"Sure thing." Dragonite flashed a smile, then cockily called out to Silas, "Alright, kid! Bring out whomever you want. I'll take you all on at once—this old dragon hasn't had exercise in ages!"
Lance's Dragonite was so over-the-top that even Silas was left speechless. Just then, Silas's own Dragonite spoke up, "Silas, will you let me handle this one?"
"Go for it," Silas nodded.
"Thank you," the giant Dragonite replied, then glided forward to face Lance's partner. Ice in his tone, he said, "Hey, runt—there's always a price to pay for arrogance. Are you ready?"