Chapter 211: Lugia and the Sudden Storm
At Asahi's cue, Green repeated the explanation she had given to Kurt and Morty, emphasizing how the Masked Man had attempted to capture Ho-Oh.
Upon hearing that Ho-Oh had nearly been captured, Jasmine realized the gravity of the situation.
"I'm in!" she declared.
"Should I help contact Misty from Cerulean Gym?"
As a neighboring Gym Leader, Jasmine was well-acquainted with Misty.
"If you're willing to help, that would be great..." Asahi smiled.
At that moment, his gaze shifted slightly toward Jasmine's Ampharos, Sparkle.
If he remembered correctly, Jasmine's Ampharos had fallen ill at some point.
Using his Aura abilities, he scanned Sparkle's energy—he hadn't noticed it before, but once he focused, he discovered something was indeed off.
The Ampharos, which appeared normal on the surface, actually had an unstable aura—an early sign of illness.
Asahi turned to Jasmine. "May I examine your Ampharos? It doesn't seem to be feeling well."
"Not feeling well...?"
Jasmine looked at Sparkle, who seemed perfectly fine.
"May I touch it?" Asahi asked.
Jasmine nodded.
Asahi placed his hand on Sparkle's body.
The texture was similar to Pikachu's—short fur, with a faint tingling sensation unique to Electric-type Pokémon.
He channeled his Viridian Power.
Almost immediately, tiny beads of sweat appeared on Sparkle's body.
Its face briefly contorted in discomfort.
"Sparkle!?"
Jasmine was startled, just about to stop Asahi—
But the next moment, Sparkle's expression shifted to one of relief.
"This is...?"
After a short while, Asahi withdrew his hand.
"Good thing we caught it early—if left untreated, a minor issue could have worsened."
Asahi explained, "It's likely overworked and caught a cold. I just used my ability to help it recover. Make sure it gets some rest over the next few days."
"Thank you so much..."
Jasmine stroked Sparkle's head. "The automated lighthouse has been under maintenance lately, so Sparkle insisted on manually guiding ships every night. I should have realized it was pushing itself too hard."
She turned to Sparkle. "No more overworking yourself, okay? The repairs will be done soon—just focus on resting!"
Sparkle, like a guilty child, nodded obediently.
With that settled, Asahi checked his watch.
"It's getting late. Let's head to Cerulean City tomorrow."
After an entire day of traveling from Mahogany to Ecruteak and then to Olivine, even Asahi—despite his enhanced endurance—felt some fatigue.
But just as they were about to leave for their hotel—
CRACK!
A sudden bolt of lightning split the sky over the distant sea.
The three of them instinctively turned their gaze toward the ocean.
The next second—
The winds howled, waves surged, and dark clouds rapidly swallowed the blue sky.
But the most shocking sight of all—
A massive, swirling weather vortex appeared on the horizon.
"What's happening?" Green asked instinctively.
Moments ago, the sky had been clear—and now, a storm was suddenly brewing?
Jasmine, equally stunned, quickly identified the direction.
"That's... Whirl Islands!"
Whirl Islands...?
Hearing the name and recognizing the eerie weather patterns, Asahi instantly realized—
"If I'm not mistaken… Lugia resides in Whirl Islands, doesn't it?"
Asahi had long known that Lugia might inhabit the Whirl Islands and that Pryce might come here to capture it.
But what he hadn't expected was that Pryce would act so quickly.
The plan to capture Ho-Oh had just been foiled, the ice sculpture substitute of the "Masked Man" had been shattered, and without even taking a moment to rest, Pryce had rushed straight to the Whirl Islands to capture Lugia?
Damn, this is getting intense.
Feeling the urgency of the situation, Asahi turned to Jasmine and said, "This could very well be the Masked Army capturing Lugia. I need to head there immediately... I'm counting on you to take care of Asagi City."
Then he looked at Green, "Green, stay here and help Jasmine evacuate the residents..."
The earlier skirmish was unavoidable, but now that he was preparing for a real interception, Asahi naturally wouldn't put Green in danger.
Green knew this was an emergency. She grabbed Asahi's hand tightly.
"Be careful."
"Don't worry..." Asahi patted the back of Green's hand.
Then, without hesitation, he leaped from the top of the lighthouse, releasing his Salamence mid-air. As he landed on its back, he leaned forward, flying straight toward the center of the storm.
As soon as Asahi left, Jasmine decisively pulled the lighthouse alarm.
The sharp blaring siren echoed throughout Asagi City. Combined with the sudden drastic change in weather, it sent all the city's residents into a state of alarm.
---
Any experienced sailor knew that the sea was unpredictable.
But no matter how unpredictable it was, drastic weather changes always left some warning signs, allowing ships at sea to prepare.
Yet today, they were witnessing something beyond anything they'd ever seen!
"Two hundred meters ahead, a massive wave! Turn the rudder!"
The lookout shouted.
With a rapid turn, the cruise ship barely brushed past the enormous wave.
But before the sailors could even catch their breath, another towering wave broke through the rain curtain, appearing directly in front of them.
It was coming so fast that by the time the lookout spotted it, the wave was already within a hundred meters...
There was no way to avoid it!
"It's too late!"
As despair filled the sailors' eyes, the monstrous wave was about to capsize the cruise ship.
Then suddenly, a white figure descended from the sky, placing itself between the ship and the incoming wave.
"That is..."
"It's Lugia! The Guardian of the Seas!"
As one of the legendary Pokémon of both the Kanto and Johto regions, Lugia was deeply revered by all.
Though the Lugia before them appeared smaller than the one in legend, there was no doubt—it was still the Guardian of the Seas!
Amidst the gasps of astonishment, the small Lugia, glowing with a soft light, suddenly flapped its wings. Several arc-shaped blades of energy, each over ten meters long, sliced through the massive wave, shattering it into pieces.
Then, with another wingbeat, it summoned a gust of wind, pushing the cruise ship away from the center of the storm.
After ensuring the ship was safe, the small Lugia raised its head, gazing toward the eye of the storm. It could sense a familiar presence there.
It hesitated for only a brief moment before soaring toward the storm's center, leaving behind a group of sailors who wore expressions of both relief and awe.
In the captain's quarters, the captain collapsed into his chair, his body weak from the aftermath of their close brush with death.
Beyond his excitement, his keen eyes had noticed something peculiar—if he wasn't mistaken, that Lugia just now... had a tag hanging around its neck?
---
Riding atop Salamence, Asahi nodded at the small Lugia that had caught up to him from behind and recalled it into its Poké Ball.
His expression grew heavy.
"The third ship..."
This was already the third vessel he'd rescued along the way. Fortunately, the storm's center wasn't in a major shipping route, so the number of ships caught in this chaos was limited. Otherwise, even if Asahi could be in multiple places at once, he wouldn't have been able to save them all.
At this moment, memories of the battle between Ho-Oh and Pryce resurfaced in Asahi's mind, finally providing answers to some of his earlier doubts.
Why had Ho-Oh held back so much when facing Pryce's attacks?
It was because Ecruteak City was right below them at the time. If Ho-Oh had unleashed its full power, perhaps Pryce wouldn't have had such an easy time, but the entire city would have been reduced to ruins.
But here, near the Whirl Islands, far from densely populated areas, Lugia clearly had no such concerns.
As Asahi pondered, he and his Salamence, along with the small Lugia, had already arrived at the heart of the storm.
From a distance, two figures—one large, one small—were locked in aerial combat.
The larger one was Lugia, its mouth open as it fired a series of water spheres.
Asahi recognized the move—Weather Ball.
The small Lugia could use it too.
However, the Weather Balls unleashed by this Lugia were several times larger than those powered by the Flight Plate-enhanced small Lugia. It was on a completely different level!
Facing Lugia was a Delibird and a masked figure whose form had changed—none other than the same "Masked Man" he had battled back in Ecruteak City. As the Weather Balls flew toward them, Delibird countered with an Icy Wind, freezing the water spheres into solid chunks of ice.
Then, controlling these frozen spheres, Delibird turned them into icicle spears, launching them at Lugia as weapons.
But with a mere gust of wind, Lugia effortlessly shattered them all.
The battle was fierce.
As Asahi observed the fight unfolding in the sky, both sides quickly took notice of him.
Lugia's eyes flashed with confusion—it could sense a familiar presence from Asahi, so it did not immediately regard him as an enemy allied with the Masked Man.
Meanwhile, hiding inside his substitute, Pryce frowned deeply upon seeing Asahi.
Why is this guy everywhere?!
Like a ghost that just won't go away!