"Beep beep~"
"Hey, big bro, what's up?"
On his way back to the Pokémon Center, Paul heard his phone ring. Taking it out, he answered the call.
"Hey, Paul, there's something I need to check with you. Do you have any plans to evolve your Electabuzz?"
Reggie's calm voice came through the receiver.
"It's still a bit short of my requirements for evolution. I have a Power Booster with me, so once it meets the conditions, I'll evolve it."
Paul had always kept his training goals for Electabuzz simple.
He wanted Electabuzz to master the ability to freely levitate using Electromagnetic Levitation—without relying on any stat-boosting moves—even under Ninetales' Gravity.
Of course, that was no easy feat. As Ninetales' power continued to grow, so too did the intensity of its Gravity.
Paul's standard for Electabuzz's evolution was achieving complete flight under Ninetales' normal Gravity conditions.
Electabuzz had been working tirelessly toward this goal. Among all of Paul's Pokémon, it endured the most grueling training. At present, it could fly—but not freely. A little more progress was needed before it could evolve.
"It's like this—Sunyshore City recently developed a more advanced Power Booster made from a special metal."
"Through testing, Electabuzz that evolved using this amplifier showed significantly greater physical endurance and electrical output than those evolved with standard Power Boosters."
Reggie explained the situation before asking:
"I managed to get one for you. Where can I send it?"
"Either Pastoria Town or Canalave City is fine. Just go with whatever's most convenient for you."
Pastoria Town was right across the sea from Canalave City, while Sunyshore City was a port town. Whether the package was shipped to the coastal town of Pastoria or all the way to Canalave, the delivery would be relatively straightforward. Otherwise, air transport would be the only option.
"Let's go with Pastoria Town, then. If it doesn't arrive on time, be sure to wait a bit longer."
"Got it."
Paul responded but then remembered something and asked:
"Oh, right, Reggie. Lend me your Gyarados for a while. I heard there's a pretty interesting Pokémon out at sea—I want to go check it out."
In this world, Reggie had caught and raised an exceptionally powerful "ferocious beast" Gyarados, which had since become the dominant force in the Pokemon Center.
"Alright, I'll send it over later."
"…"
Was there really some rare Pokémon appearing near Canalave City?
Of course not.
But according to his memories of the anime, Canalave City was practically a "land blessed by the gods."
Every year, at a certain time, the "Lover Pokémon"—Cresselia and Darkrai—would emerge from Fullmoon Island and Newmoon Island to reunite.
Between Canalave City and Pastoria Town, there was also an infamous area known as "The Devil's Sea".
In the anime, a Deoxys was once struck by lightning and crashed onto an island within the Devil's Sea, where it was rescued by a Crawdaunt.
Voyage to the Devil's Sea
Paul had no intention of seeking out Cresselia or Darkrai.
Both were incredibly strong in this world and had exceptional evasive abilities. Every year, countless trainers attempted to track them down, only to either find nothing or get utterly defeated.
Paul wasn't the type to rely on luck, so he had no interest in looking for them.
However, the Devil's Sea was still worth investigating. If Deoxys wasn't there, he could still use the isolated environment for solo training.
That evening, after receiving Gyarados' Poké Ball from Reggie, Paul set off the next day, riding Gyarados toward the Devil's Sea.
The reason this area was called the Devil's Sea was due to the presence of mysterious meteorites emitting strange energy waves, which often disrupted navigation systems and caused ships to go off course or break down.
As Paul entered the Devil's Sea zone, he noticed his phone signal flickering, intermittently cutting in and out.
Clearly, the energy waves here were even stronger than he had expected.
"Gyarados, speed up! There should be an island up ahead."
After glancing at his map, Paul gave the order.
"ROOAARR!"
Gyarados immediately picked up speed, heading toward their destination.
"You guys, keep up!"
"Buzz-Buzz~!"
"Chaa~!"
"Gaaaa~!"
"Ursaaa!"
"Raaah~!"
Behind Gyarados, Paul's Pokémon followed.
Gabite, being a Dragon Shark Pokémon, naturally had no trouble swimming.
Ninetales, who loathed water, relied on psychic energy to float above the waves rather than swimming.
The most surprising one was Ursaring.
Despite its bulky frame, it moved through the water with incredible agility—even faster than on land—as if some Snorlax had possessed it.
Freestyle, backstroke, butterfly stroke—Ursaring had mastered them all.
Among them, only Drapion, who wasn't skilled at swimming and was relatively slow in the water, lagged behind.
After an hour, Paul finally set foot on the central island of the Devil's Sea.
Search for the Meteorite
"Ninetales, Electabuzz—you two search from the air for any special purple meteorites on the island."
"Regardless of what you find, report back in an hour."
After a brief rest, Paul turned to the only two Pokémon in his team that could fly without wings.
"Wooo~!"
"Buzzz~!"
Understanding his instructions, both Pokémon ascended into the sky—one using psychic power, the other using electromagnetic levitation.
"Gyarados, Dewott—you two search the island's perimeter. See if there are any Crawdaunt nearby. I'll have my Pokémon find you later."
Crawdaunt were relatively rare in Sinnoh, and in the anime, it was a Crawdaunt that rescued Deoxys.
If Crawdaunt were present, it would increase the likelihood that Deoxys was somewhere in the area.
"Roooaaar!"
"Cha-cha~!"
With that, the two Pokémon set out, while Paul began his own exploration of the island.
After releasing Drapion, Paul and the rest of his Pokémon wandered through the terrain.
The island didn't seem to have many Pokémon.
The only notable ones he encountered were Nosepass and Probopass, but none had exceptional talent, so Paul didn't bother catching them.
Looking up, he noticed a tall mountain in the distance and decided to check it out.
At the peak, a hot spring flowed into a stream, forming a waterfall that cascaded into a mountain cove before joining the ocean.
As he descended into the cove, a strange feeling struck him—this was the place where Crawdaunt had "revived" Deoxys in his memories.
But in reality, there was no Crawdaunt—and no Deoxys.
Clearly, reality and memory were not entirely aligned.
Still, Paul wasn't disappointed. He had anticipated this. After all, he wasn't here solely to investigate Deoxys… He was also here to train—
Wait, what?
Suddenly, a flash of dull yellow flickered beneath the water's surface. Though it disappeared almost instantly, Paul's sharp eyes caught it right away.
Without hesitation, he gave the command.
"Gabite, Dragon Rush!"
"Gaaaa~"
Without a second thought, Gabite unleashed its bloodthirsty aura, directing it straight at the Pokémon hiding beneath the water. Its body shimmered with a blue glow as it dived like a savage dragon, plunging straight down.
"Splash—"
"Boom!"
Water erupted as Gabite crashed into the lake, shattering a rock into pieces. The Pokémon hiding behind it wasn't spared either, taking a direct hit.
Underwater, green light gleamed from Gabite's claws. With a single powerful Dragon Claw, it sent the ugly creature flying out of the water and onto the shore. Then, Gabite followed suit, landing smoothly on the ground.
It was only then that everyone got a proper look at the Pokémon that had just been attacked—and its sheer ugliness.
A dull yellow fish Pokémon with a body riddled with pits and scars, its tattered blue fins looked ragged and worn. Its dull, vacant eyes made it appear pitiful and miserable.
Feebas, a Water-type Pokémon. Its evolved form, Milotic, was known as one of the most beautiful Pokémon in the world.
If this were a novel, perhaps this Feebas would be destined to become one of the protagonist's key partners, destined to evolve into the most stunning Pokémon of them all…
But Paul was nothing if not pragmatic. Instead of indulging in sentimentality, he simply pulled out his Pokédex and aimed it at Feebas, initiating a scan.
While the Pokédex could scan Pokémon, it required them to stay still, and the process took a little longer than usual. This was precisely why Paul rarely used this method.
However, with his team slots already full, a quick scan would suffice.
"Mediocre growth, average coloration, only knows Splash and Tackle—nothing special."
After a thorough analysis, Paul confirmed that this was just an ordinary Feebas—nothing about it stood out.
"I'll leave it to my brother."
Deciding that the Pokémon at least had some breeding potential, Paul took out a Poké Ball and captured the Feebas. Without a second thought, he used the cross-region transfer system, sending it straight to the Pokemon Center.
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