The sun rose.
The terrain here was relatively high.
The silhouette of Vermilion City gradually sharpened against the horizon, its steel and neon lights sketching the bold lines of the port city.
"Goodbye, Professor~"
"We'll come visit again next time."
"Maybe we can even bring something of research value."
Ash and his two companions bid farewell to Professor Bill, who stood at the lighthouse entrance, and continued along the coastal highway.
Pikachu, perched on Ash's shoulder, glanced back at the white lighthouse. In its tiny paws, it clutched a special Pokéblock that Gardevoir had secretly slipped it—hush money... oh, no, a friendship fee.
[Gardevoir: As my friend, you surely don't have that kind of memory, right?]
[Pikachu: ...You're right... Pika...]
Er.
This Gardevoir was actually quite concerned about its image.
Gardevoir felt that how humans saw it didn't matter. But its image in the eyes of other Pokémon absolutely could not be tarnished.
At the lighthouse entrance, Professor Bill watched their figures disappear around a bend in the road.
He turned and went back into the cold, empty main hall.
Under the glow of the eerie blue conduit lights, the carved patterns on the ancient stone tablets seemed to howl silently.
This world held many mysteries.
And yet, he currently knew only a fraction of them.
—He wanted more knowledge.
—He wanted to solve more puzzles.
His dream was to uncover all the secrets of the world.
Professor Bill had just sat down at the control console. He was about to turn and resume his analysis of the precious seawater sample when a communication request silently lit up on the main console.
He accepted it casually.
The screen instantly displayed the view of another busy, modern laboratory, along with a middle-aged man in a neat lab coat with a gentle and composed demeanor—Professor Cerise of Vermilion City.
The two lived quite close to each other and were old friends.
"Professor Bill, sir." Professor Cerise said, pushing up his glasses, his tone respectful as a junior to a senior.
"The Energy Fluctuation Monitoring Center was on red alert all last night."
"There was... quite a commotion on your end."
"The monitoring network showed an extremely strong, unknown energy reaction from your location last night. The peak value even briefly interfered with Vermilion City's public energy monitoring... Was it 'that'?"
Professor Cerise's gaze swept over the still-active data streams on the screen behind Bill and the frozen, blurry image of a distant behemoth. The answer seemed obvious.
Although he was anxious, he had waited a full night before sending the communication request.
...These matters were his responsibility, and he couldn't keep a lid on them any longer.
"Ah, Cerise," Bill said, his face a mixture of exhaustion and excitement.
He rubbed his bloodshot eyes, but his voice carried a note of satisfaction.
A slight smile touched Professor Bill's lips as his fingers danced across the keyboard, packaging and sending over some of the non-essential observation data on the Giant Dragonite from last night.
He had to give his friend some data to get through any official inquiries.
"Just a 'little' academic exchange."
"An ancient being answered my call."
"That's right, one of the 'Messengers of the Sea'."
"A successful contact."
"A groundbreaking dialogue!"
He briefly described the events of the previous night, his tone filled with the unique fanaticism of a researcher.
The current research data wasn't fully compiled yet.
Once it was organized, he would copy and send it to the other professors.
But he didn't mind sharing a bit of it now.
Unlike other fields where competition was fierce, in the scholarly profession of Pokémon Professors, sharing a copy of data incurred no loss to oneself.
If a colleague could make a breakthrough with the research, that would be even better.
Professor Cerise listened intently, his eyes widening behind his glasses, especially when he heard the description of the Giant Dragonite as "neither living nor dead." He fell into a brief, deep thought.
He looked at the silhouette analysis and energy readings of the behemoth on the screen, feeling the awe-inspiring power even from a distance.
Professor Cerise took a deep breath. "Is this the 'Sea King' class being that the Professor mentioned before?"
"Since you were actually able to converse with it..."
"Incredible... to communicate directly with such a being..."
"Speaking of which, of the three young people who just left, one of them seemed to be carrying the Professor's—Professor Oak's—Pokédex?"
The "Professor" he spoke of was indeed Professor Oak.
As a student of Professor Oak, Professor Cerise naturally had the authority to view Pokédex registration information.
The system log of Ash and his companions leaving the lighthouse's vicinity had caught his attention.
"Good eye, Cerise," Professor Bill said with a smile, leaning against the console.
"That boy, Ash, is very interesting."
"His courage, his character, and that... exceptionally special Pikachu by his side are all extraordinary."
"Professor Oak might have truly found an incredible prospect this time."
He recalled Ash's composure in the face of the behemoth and that Pikachu's remarkably intelligent reactions.
"Oh?" Professor Cerise's expression grew interested. "To receive such high praise from you, Professor, he must truly be remarkable."
He nodded slightly, his tone calm but with a faint hint of comparison. "The Professor has always had a keen eye for people."
"However, we have a few new trainers here in Vermilion City this year as well."
"They shouldn't be too far behind... I'm really looking forward to the competition between them."
Professor Cerise said this, but in truth, he had chosen this year's batch of new trainers rather carelessly.
He couldn't help it; he simply didn't have the time.
The Cerise Laboratory had only just been established, and the list of things he had to do was practically endless.
Hearing this, Professor Bill laughed heartily. "It's good for the young ones to clash a bit!"
His gaze turned back to the spot on the screen where the Dragonite had vanished, adding pointedly, "After all, the secrets and challenges hidden in this world are far greater than we imagine, and we need more outstanding young people to face them."
"Then let's wait and see," Professor Cerise said, ending the call with a smile. "I look forward to their performance in Vermilion City."
"Gardevoir said that kid is very strong, far beyond the level of a new trainer." Bill sounded a bit wistful as he said this.
"Especially that Pikachu. I have no idea how Professor Oak raised it."
On the other end of the screen.
Professor Cerise was silent for a moment, then a knowing smile appeared on his face. "I'm looking forward to meeting this rookie more and more."
"I'll be in Vermilion City." Professor Cerise pushed up his glasses, a glint of light flashing across the lenses.
"I want to get a good look at the person the Professor chose and see just what kind of spectacular performance he can deliver."
"I hope the kids on my end don't get too discouraged."
The communication screen went dark.
Professor Bill gazed out the window at the seamless join of sea and sky. The clouds were thickening, heralding a potential storm in the direction of Vermilion City.
He murmured to himself as if foreseeing something, "A storm is coming... Don't get caught in the downpour, kid."
As a Pokémon Professor, Bill was of course aware of Team Rocket.
All he could say was that everyone had their own ideas, and he, for one, didn't particularly want to get involved.
Because this wasn't a simple matter of good versus evil.
The Pokémon League was a rather loose organization.
And even Bill felt the entire organization needed a strong core to unify it.
But as for who was the right person for the job, that was another matter entirely.
The Elite Four and Giovanni, or other Gym Trainers, or perhaps Professor Oak coming out of retirement... Who was truly the most suitable?
He didn't know.
So it was best not to get involved.
His laboratory was built in the wilderness; it was enough to just do his own experiments.
_____
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