The rocky coast echoed with the crash of waves and roaring commands.
Skylar stood atop a flat rock outcropping, his Gyarados twisting in the ocean below, tail slicing the water with every tight turn.
"Again! Use Dragon Dance—tight coil, then launch!"
The red leviathan coiled into itself mid-spin, aura building in a ring of violent energy before launching forward with a controlled surge. The blast of water behind it tore white streaks through the ocean.
Skylar nodded. "Better. Keep it tight. We're not wrecking cliffs every time we move."
Off to the side, Misty stood waist-deep in the surf, her own Red Gyarados gliding just beneath the surface.
"Ready!" she called.
Her Gyarados spun, tail lifting.
"Aqua Tail—reverse sweep, no drag!"
The blow cracked like a whip, arcing around a floating log target and snapping it clean in half.
Misty grinned. "Nice. Now string it with Ice Fang."
Her partner dipped, snatched a second target from below, and froze it solid.
Their morning was a blur of coordination drills, timing work, and signature move unlocks.
Skylar focused on Hyper Beam control—limiting collateral damage and minimizing recoil.
Misty worked on ranged targeting with Dragon Pulse—training hers to fire at exact elevations from under the water.
Neither trainer spoke about their emotions.
They didn't have to.
This wasn't bonding time.
This was refinement.
As the sun climbed, both Gyarados were breathing hard, coiled beside each other in the shallows.
Skylar tossed berries soaked in Moo Moo Milk toward them.
"Recover and cool down. We're not done."
Misty nodded as Squirtle floated lazily on a board nearby, mimicking the tail whips with exaggerated gestures.
Even Riolu stood on the rocks, copying Skylar's balance and stepping in time with his breath—preparing for what was surely coming.
Indigo Plateau – League HQ Archive Division
Ash Ketchum walked through the high-level access wing of the League Archive like he belonged there.
Because he did.
A Champion's clearance opened every vault, every door.
The guards didn't stop him.
The analysts nodded respectfully.
But Ash didn't meet their eyes.
He had questions.
And too many people had stopped giving answers.
In the isolated central console room, Ash keyed into the master terminal. The lights dimmed automatically, reading his identity and voice.
"Champion-class access granted. Welcome, Ash Ketchum."
He wasted no time.
Pulled up the Shadow Division's black ops registry.
Dozens of file headers scrolled past.
Project Ember
Subject-Aura: Latent Manifestation
Operation Pulsegate
And then—
G.R.A.I.D. Incident Log - Status: Restricted (Encrypted)
Ash frowned.
He tapped the file.
Access Denied.
Not even he could open it.
That wasn't just unusual.
It was impossible.
He opened a hidden port on the terminal and whispered:
"Porygon, it's your turn."
From his customized wristband, a tiny flash emerged as Porygon-Z materialized in a flicker of color.
The digital Pokémon shimmered with command lines across its surface.
"Bypass and decrypt. No backups. Silent trace."
Porygon buzzed quietly, head twitching.
ACCESSINGLAYER ONE — UNLOCKEDLAYER TWO — DECRYPTEDLAYER THREE — WARNING: OBSERVER ACTIVE…
Ash narrowed his eyes.
"Cut the connection before it triggers."
Porygon pulsed a ping of compliance, dumped the data packet, and vanished in a flash.
Ash scanned the contents.
What he saw stopped his heart cold.
"Extraterrestrial lifeform identified. Crash site located—Johto, 8 years prior.""Initial contact: 1 unidentified structure embedded in crater basin.""Shadow agents recovered partial organisms and dormant spores.""Cover-up authorized. Containment level Omega.""Designation: Code BLACK VEIL"
Ash leaned back in the chair.
Eight years ago…
He was still traveling.
Still fighting for a world that had already been lied to.
He closed his eyes.
And saw flashes of Skylar.
Of Darkrai.
Of Riolu.
Of corruption in Lavender and Mt. Moon.
It hadn't started with them.
It had started before.
And the Shadow Division knew.
They had always known.
Ash stood.
And calmly erased the terminal's last access record.
As he walked out, Pikachu peeked from his shoulder, concerned.
Ash's jaw tightened.
"They're not protecting us."
He clenched his fists.
"They're hiding something."