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On the vast blue sea, Anabel stood on the deck of an International Police vessel, binoculars raised as she scanned the horizon.
Before long, a shark-shaped submarine broke through the surface and sped straight toward them.
Lowering her binoculars, she turned and called out, "They're here, Prepare to hoist it!"
There was no need to guess whose submarine it was Kai and Shelly were inside.
As for how Kai had convinced Shelly to change course and rendezvous with Anabel instead of continuing on her own path, it was simple: he had asserted himself decisively, making it unmistakably clear who was in control.
The submarine slowed, then came to a complete stop before the police ship. Well-trained officers moved swiftly, securing it with grappling lines and lifting it onto the deck.
Through the viewing window, Kai caught sight of another submarine far in the distance belonging to Archie and Matt. It lingered at the edge of the area, not daring to approach.
Even having lost his composure, Archie clearly lacked the courage to confront the International Police head-on.
Compared to Team Rocket, Team Aqua still fell short.
And yet, the real crisis was far from over.
Because although Archie had failed to capture Kyogre or trigger its Primal Reversion, he had succeeded in enraging it. Upon awakening, Kyogre had left its underwater cavern and unleashed a massive whirlpool across the surrounding seas.
The ocean was merciless, and so was its sovereign.
The vortex swallowed the surrounding archipelago within its vast radius. Water surged inward toward its center with crushing force, submerging low-lying islands and reshaping the terrain in mere moments. Countless weaker Water-type Pokémon were swept away without resistance.
Fortunately, Kyogre had not undergone Primal Reversion. Sea levels had not risen catastrophically as Shelly once predicted otherwise, the disaster would have been far worse.
Within seconds, the submarine was level with the deck. Kai opened the hatch and leapt out first. Anabel, ready to greet him, froze when she saw his Team Aqua uniform.
"You're dressed like that?" she asked.
"Just for convenience," Kai replied lightly.
He turned and helped Misty onto the deck. When Shelly emerged last, Anabel's hand instinctively moved toward the Poké Ball at her waist.
"Relax," Kai said, raising a hand to stop her. "She's defected. She's not our enemy anymore."
"Defected?" Anabel stared in disbelief. Shelly was Team Aqua's second-in-command how could she possibly be turned?
Yet the evidence stood before her.
Anabel considered ordering her officers to detain Shelly, but Kai stepped in front of her once more.
"I'll need her for now," he said calmly. "So I can't hand her over yet."
The implication was clear he intended to protect her.
Ordinarily, no one would dare speak so assertively to the International Police. But Kai was different.
From the time of his cooperation with Looker onward, their alliance had been built on mutual trust and respect. Anabel had no desire to damage that relationship.
"You misunderstand," she said with a faint smile. "We only need to ask her a few questions and formally register her status, It's for her own sake as well."
Kai nodded. "I understand But not yet, Let this matter settle first."
Anabel relented, After all, once someone had defected, timing made little difference.
Throughout their exchange, Shelly remained silent, as though they were discussing someone else entirely, Anyone from Team Aqua would have been stunned to see her so subdued.
Her gaze drifted to the distant whirlpool. In her mind replayed the moment inside the submarine, when she had refused to alter course and Kai had shown an unyielding side of himself.
It wasn't crude aggression like Archie's explosive temper. Kai's dominance was composed, restrained… yet impossible to defy. When anger flickered in his eyes, it was every bit as intimidating.
For the first time, she realized that in certain ways, he was even more formidable than Archie.
And, to her own surprise, she had obeyed without resistance.
As if she had been under his command.
---
The police vessel pursued Archie's submarine, but once it submerged, it vanished from sight, As so many times before, Archie slipped away.
After returning empty-handed, Anabel was forced to focus once more on the raging whirlpool, Though Kyogre had departed, its lingering power continued to churn the sea for hours.
Fortunately, Kai had warned her in advance, allowing her to issue evacuation alerts to nearby ships, The losses, though real, were limited.
At the railing, Kai, Misty, and Shelly watched the maelstrom in silence.
After a long pause, Shelly asked quietly, "Aren't you going to do something? Don't you have Suicune? Calming water like this should be easy for it."
Kai shook his head. "Why assume I would intervene?"
She frowned. "You've worked with them for years from Kanto to Johto to Hoenn. You've stopped countless disasters."
"You're mistaken," Kai said with a faint smile. "Most of the time, I only act when asked And in cases like this one, I stepped in because Primal Kyogre's power would have engulfed all of Hoenn. I couldn't afford to ignore that. But now?"
She looked again at the whirlpool.
Terrifying as it appeared, its scope was limited confined to this stretch of sea, perhaps affecting Sootopolis City at most. Humanity could handle the aftermath.
"I see," she murmured. "So you're not as overly compassionate as I thought."
"Blind compassion isn't virtue," Kai replied. "At best, I'd call myself selectively concerned."
---
After more than two hours, the whirlpool gradually subsided. No distress signals were received. The sea returned to uneasy calm.
Kai bid Anabel farewell and re-entered the submarine with Misty and Shelly.
Though there had been no tangible reward this time, preventing Archie's ambition was victory enough. More than that he had gained an ally.
Once free of Team Aqua, Shelly had nowhere else to turn, Though she hadn't admitted it, Kai knew she would eventually seek him out again.
People like her rarely fade quietly into ordinary life.
Back in Sootopolis City, they returned to Shelly's hidden base.
When they disembarked, Kai finally voiced a lingering question.
"You brought us back here. Aren't you worried Archie might have laid a trap?"
Shelly shook her head. "I built and maintain this facility myself. No one else knows it exists—not even the other admins. Archie doesn't even know how many members Team Aqua truly has. He'd never find this place."
She then produced the Blue Orb and handed it to Kai.
Even now, it radiated brilliant light, its faceted surface casting prismatic reflections across the warehouse.
Kai didn't take it.
"Keep it," he said simply.
Shelly blinked. "Keep it? Shouldn't you return it to Mt. Pyre?"
"And let it be stolen again?" Kai replied coolly. "If Archie took it once, he can take it twice."
"You trust me with it?" she asked softly.
"I do," he answered, meeting her gaze. "You proved you can distinguish right from wrong when it matters."
After a long silence, she withdrew the Orb.
"What should I do with it?"
"For now, safeguard it," Kai said. "This isn't over. There's still the Red Orb the key to another ancient Pokémon. One day, we may need it to counterbalance Kyogre."
The storm had passed.
But the sea was never truly at rest.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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For early access to advanced chapters on P-atreon:
P-atreon/iamxeno
(Just remove the - hyphen to access normally)
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