The hammer came down, and the jar split apart with a sharp crack. From inside, a small red-and-white sphere tumbled out onto the ground.
Hyozo picked it up and turned it over in his hands, running his fingers across the smooth surface. It was about the size of two thumbs pressed together, and no matter how long he stared at it, he couldn't make heads or tails of what it was. He glanced toward Amon. Of everyone here, Amon was the only one who could tell him anything useful.
"Let me see."
Truthfully, Amon had already had a fairly good idea the moment the thing rolled out of the jar. The shape was unmistakable. Red and white, perfectly round. A Poké Ball, without a doubt. Whether there was something already inside it or it simply was the ball itself, he couldn't say yet, but it was definitely connected to that world.
Nearby, Lily's large eyes lit up the instant she spotted it. She'd recognized it too.
When Amon pulled up the item's description, his suspicion was confirmed.
[Pokémon Random Selection Ball]: Originating from the world of Pokémon, this ball allows the holder to draw any one Pokémon at random. Legendary Pokémon are included in the possible draws.
A Random Selection Ball. Any Pokémon, even a legendary.
Amon nodded slowly. That matched what he'd expected. The catch, of course, was that it still came down to luck. A good draw could land something extraordinary. A bad one could just as easily produce a Metapod or a Caterpie. The ball was essentially asking Hyozo to roll the dice one more time.
"Amon! What is it? What did he get?" Franky had already pushed his way forward, unable to contain himself.
"Heh. Your senior's luck is great. He pulled something pretty special." Amon held up the Poké Ball. "It's called a Pokémon Random Selection Ball. Inside could be any kind of creature, from the completely ordinary to something strong enough to go toe-to-toe with a Vice Admiral. It all depends on what fate decides to hand him."
That wasn't an exaggeration. If the draw landed on something like Palkia or another top-tier legendary, the combat potential alone would be staggering.
"Something at the level of a Vice Admiral?" Hyozo went still. "Just... from that little ball?"
The idea had clearly landed somewhere deep. Vice Admiral was the ceiling of power most people in this world ever had to worry about. The thought that a creature of that caliber could be sitting inside a ball the size of his fist made something stir in him.
"That's the best case scenario," Amon said. "Great luck, great draw. Average luck, somewhere in the middle. If the stars aren't on your side, you might end up with something a little more modest."
Win or lose, it all came down to which side of fortune Hyozo happened to be standing on.
"Understood." Hyozo looked down at the ball, now having grown to roughly the size of a fist. "How do I open it?"
"Simple. Press the red button on the front. That's all it takes."
Hyozo stared at the small red circle at the center of the ball for a moment. Then he pressed it.
The ball snapped open instantly, and a beam of red light shot out, expanding as it hit the air. What materialized before them had a shape unmistakably close to a human being, yet clearly was not one. Its skin and muscular structure mirrored human anatomy in unsettling detail. It wore a golden belt around its waist, with black markings that resembled shorts. Its eyes were a deep reddish-brown with black pupils. Its lips were thick and pale. It had no ears, no nose, and four arms.
Machamp.
Amon recognized it. Those four arms made it impossible to mistake for anything else.
The moment it appeared, its full profile surfaced in Amon's vision.
[Name: Machamp
Gender: Male
Type: Fighting
Level: 35
Ability: Guts.
When afflicted with a status condition other than fainting, Attack increases by 50%. The reduced Attack from burns is negated. If frozen, thawing moves do not trigger the Attack boost.
Notes: A Pokémon of immense physical power. When performing delicate tasks, its four arms tend to work against each other, as its body often moves faster than its mind can catch up. In two seconds, it can deliver a thousand punches. A single arm alone carries enough force to move a small mountain. Its Fighting-type moves cannot be stopped by ordinary means.]
Machamp. What a great draw.
Among Fighting-types, Machamp sat near the top. Hyozo was lucky. Beyond combat, the Pokémon was built for heavy labor, which in Hyozo's line of work meant it would earn its keep twice over. In its own world, Machamp was practically synonymous with manual work. Shipbuilding was all heavy lifting, all the time. Hauling planks, moving timber, bracing hulls. There wasn't a better fit.
Hyozo, for his part, had gone completely still.
He stared at the enormous creature that had simply appeared out of thin air from a ball no bigger than his fist. The bulging muscle, the four arms, the knuckles that looked like they could crack stone. Every instinct in him was telling him not to move.
"Maa..."
Machamp let out a low, rumbling sound from its throat, glancing around with a blank expression before its gaze settled on Hyozo. Slowly, it lowered itself into a bow, head dipping forward in unmistakable deference.
A Pokémon drawn from the ball would always recognize the one who released it as its trainer.
Hyozo still hadn't moved.
Amon gave him a nudge. "Hyozo. Your Pokémon is greeting you. Say something back."
That finally broke through. Hyozo exhaled shakily, still not quite daring to breathe normally. "Um... is this... what is this thing?"
Amon nodded. "That's Machamp. A pokemon. It belongs to you now. It has excellent combat ability, and it'll be one of the most loyal partners you'll ever have. As for the other stuff," he added with a grin, "let's just say it won't have any trouble keeping up on the worksite either."