At the pier, the weather had finally calmed enough to allow travel to New Island.
However, the Kanto League had already issued an emergency order.
No one was permitted to approach New Island by any means.
Even as the skies cleared and the sea gradually settled, not a single ship was allowed to depart. The entire pier was under lockdown.
To prevent anyone from sneaking across, the League had dispatched two nearby Gym Leaders, from Vermilion City and Celadon City, to personally oversee the blockade.
With two Gym Leaders present, most people with ulterior motives abandoned the idea entirely and chose to remain at the pier, waiting to see how things unfolded.
After all, if the League had gone so far as to forbid access entirely, something serious must have happened on New Island. The so-called Strongest Trainer Tournament reaching the League's ears was already an embarrassment.
Many assumed the League had sent forces to arrest the organizers, and that once it was over, those people would surely pass through the pier.
They were waiting for a show.
But what they saw instead was something far worse.
A massive explosion erupted in the distance.
A towering mushroom cloud rose from the sea.
New Island itself was barely visible from the pier, a tiny speck on the horizon, but the mushroom cloud dwarfed it completely, stretching into the sky like a silent judgment.
Almost immediately, the previously calm ocean turned violent.
Terrifying waves surged toward the pier.
The Trainers watching hurriedly retreated, faces paling, but they were too slow. The waves slammed into the pier, drenching everyone from head to toe.
"What the hell?! Why are the waves rising again?!"
"Didn't the storm already pass?! These are even worse than before!"
"Did you see that just now? That mushroom cloud, was that from New Island?!"
"Don't be ridiculous! If an explosion on New Island caused waves like this, how big would it have to be?!"
"Unless the island itself was destroyed."
"Wait."
The chatter abruptly died down.
Lt. Surge and Erika exchanged a silent glance.
As League representatives, they knew fragments of the truth.
There was something on New Island, something even the League feared. The Elite Four had already been dispatched.
If it was merely a Champion-level conflict, then at its peak, destroying part of an island might be possible.
But a mushroom cloud of that scale?
A chill crept up their spines.
Could it be…
A God Level existence?
On New Island.
No.
There was no longer a New Island.
Only open sea remained.
Fragments of land floated on the surface like shattered bones, the final remnants of what had once been an island. Everything else had been annihilated by the collision moments earlier.
At the center of the devastation, a massive iceberg slowly melted.
As it cracked apart, the figures inside were revealed.
Misty. Brock. Gary.
Lance. Bruno. Agatha. Lorelei.
Every single one of them looked shaken, even Lance.
If Lance hadn't ordered all of his Pokémon to use Protect simultaneously, and if Lorelei hadn't had her Pokémon erect layered ice barriers, culminating in Lapras's Sheer Cold as the final shield, they would have been erased along with the island.
Even so, it had been terrifyingly close.
Layer after layer of defense had shattered until only Sheer Cold remained.
The instant it began to crack, the aftershock finally dissipated.
Survival had come down to pure luck.
Lance recalled his Pokémon one by one, each of them heavily injured. Had he delayed even a moment, they would have fallen into the sea.
Lorelei's Pokémon weren't much better.
Agatha and Bruno exchanged grim looks.
Neither of them had even released their Pokémon.
Agatha had relied on Gengar's shadow.
Bruno had done nothing at all.
If fortune hadn't favored them, they would already be gone.
"Where's Ash?"
Lorelei's voice was the first to break the silence.
"And Mewtwo?"
Those two had been at the epicenter.
With no protection.
If even a God Level Pokémon could be injured by that blast, what chance did a human have?
And if they'd fallen into the sea amid those violent aftershocks, the thought alone made Misty's hands tremble.
"I'll have Starmie search immediately!"
She pulled out a Poké Ball, panic rising. Even if it was hopeless, they had to try.
"No need."
A familiar voice sounded from behind her.
Everyone froze.
They turned.
Ash stood barefoot on the surface of the sea.
His clothes were almost completely destroyed, his shirt reduced to hanging threads, his jeans torn into ragged shorts.
Yet his hat sat perfectly on his head.
Mewtwo lay unconscious over his shoulder.
"Ash!!"
"You little brat, do you have any idea how worried we were?!"
"When did you get behind us?!"
There was nowhere to run to him. Only the narrow ice platform Lorelei had preserved remained. Ash simply stood there, balanced on the sea itself.
"Relax," Ash said, smiling faintly.
"It wasn't anything special."
Everyone stared.
"I still had a bit of Aura left," he continued calmly.
"So I put up a barrier during the explosion, then carried Mewtwo around behind you."
"And borrowed your defenses to block the aftershocks."
Ash explained everything with a smile. In truth, the situation had not been as dangerous as everyone imagined.
Although the entire island had been destroyed, he still retained a small reserve of energy, more than enough to protect himself.
During the explosion, Mewtwo had been struck directly by the destructive force and knocked unconscious. That Psystrike had been the last of her internal power, leaving her unable to maintain any form of protective barrier.
If anyone had been in the worst condition during the blast, it was her.
If Ash had not pulled her out in time, she would have been annihilated by the explosion. Even if she had somehow survived, she would almost certainly have been swept away by the violent waves and swallowed by the sea.
In every sense, Ash had saved Mewtwo's life.
"Either way, the important thing is that you're safe," Lance said sincerely, emotion clear on his face. "This time, it was all thanks to you, Ash. Otherwise, even if we managed to restrain Mewtwo, once things escalated to that point, we would probably all have died here."
Judging from the attack Mewtwo unleashed at the end, even if all of the Elite Four's Pokémon had fought at full strength, they might barely have withstood the direct impact, but they would have been helpless against the aftershocks.
Unlike Ash and Mewtwo, they did not possess terrifying physical resilience. Being caught in the aftermath would have meant certain death.
No one had expected Mewtwo to fight in such a self-destructive manner. That final attack clearly disregarded her own safety, intended to drag everyone down with her.
"I'm really not that amazing, Mr. Lance," Ash said modestly, though the smile on his face betrayed him, almost stretching to his ears.
Being praised by Lance, the head of the Elite Four and Champion of Johto, filled him with satisfaction. The only regret was that Lance was praising Ash himself rather than his Pokémon.
If one day his Pokémon could earn such praise, that would truly be something.
After a moment, Ash's smile faded, and his expression grew serious.
"Mr. Lance, everyone… I have a favor to ask."
"What favor?" Bruno laughed heartily. "After what you've done, even if you asked for the stars in the sky, Lance would probably try to get them for you."
Lance rolled his eyes. Plucking stars was clearly Bruno talking nonsense.
Still, Bruno was not wrong. Ash's contribution this time was enough for the League to grant almost any reasonable request.
"I want to take Mewtwo back to Pallet Town," Ash said earnestly. "I want to talk to her properly. And once her heart's knot is untied, I want to let her go free. Is that possible?"
The request stunned the Elite Four.
They had expected Ash to ask for recognition, resources, or authority.
They had not expected him to ask for Mewtwo.
Talk to her. Then release her.
Did this boy truly have no greed at all?
Mewtwo's defeat did not mean she was weak. Her power was terrifying. Any single Elite Four member would be powerless against her. Even fighting together, victory was uncertain.
That was precisely why Giovanni had feared her and coveted her in equal measure.
And yet, Ash wanted nothing from that power.
"Alright," Lance finally said. "I will agree to this on behalf of the League."
"Lance, wait…" Bruno started.
"I'll take full responsibility if anything goes wrong," Lance interrupted calmly.
He knew the risks of releasing Mewtwo. He knew how many people within the League desired her power.
By all logic, he should have taken her back.
But after witnessing Ash's actions and understanding his character, Lance could not refuse.
If a fifteen-year-old could willingly abandon power within his grasp, then as an Elite Four member and Champion, he had no excuse to hesitate.
"Really?" Ash's eyes lit up. "Thank you, Mr. Lance!"
He bowed deeply, gratitude written plainly on his face.
What he did not notice was the slight tremor in Mewtwo's arm resting over his shoulder.
It lasted only an instant.
No one noticed.
No one except Gardevoir, whose eyes narrowed slightly as she fell into thought.
Thus, the incident of the Strongest Trainer came to an end.
Though it had begun as a misunderstanding and a false competition, every participant present agreed on one thing.
The title of "Strongest Trainer" belonged to Ash, beyond any doubt.
Here, the word "strongest" did not refer to Pokémon battles alone, but to the Trainer in the most practical sense.
To be honest, if the discussion were about hand-to-hand combat between Trainers, then if Ash claimed second place, no one in the world would dare claim first. By that definition alone, wasn't he already the strongest Trainer?
Corey, Fergus, and Neesha were strictly forbidden from speaking about the New Island incident. Before Lance and the others, the three solemnly swore that they would never reveal a single word about what had happened there.
In truth, they had no intention of breaking that vow.
At this moment, their hearts were filled only with gratitude. Gratitude for having survived such a catastrophic battle. Gratitude for still being alive.
They knew very well that it was only because of Ash and the combined protection of the Elite Four that they had lived to see another day. Naturally, they would obey the League's instructions without question.
Deep down, the three of them also made a silent oath to themselves: they would never again involve themselves in unknown or unofficial competitions driven by empty titles.
This time, they had been lucky. Ash and Lorelei had come.
If they had not, New Island would likely have become their grave.
Even if they somehow survived, their Pokémon would probably have been taken.
It was also worth mentioning that the three cloned Pokémon created by Mewtwo had not perished in the great battle.
Perhaps acting on Mewtwo's command, at the very beginning of the conflict, the cloned Charizard had immediately flown away. Meanwhile, the cloned Blastoise carried the cloned Venusaur and escaped by sea.
After everything had settled, the three returned and saw Ash carrying the unconscious Mewtwo. In their rage, they launched an attack on him.
Lance dealt with them swiftly.
No matter how powerful those cloned Pokémon were, they were no match for him.
In the end, all three Pokémon were sealed into Poké Balls and handed over to Ash. Strictly speaking, these Pokémon belonged to Mewtwo.
Once Ash helped Mewtwo resolve her inner conflict, these three Pokémon would also be returned to her.
Only Mewtwo had the right to decide their fate.