The moment Derren appeared, Janis felt all thoughts of the Sea God's Breath vanish from her mind.
Only one thought remained — run. Run as fast as she could.
She didn't know why he was here, and she didn't care. All she knew was that if she didn't leave right now, it would all be over for her.
Without sparing David another glance, she recalled her Pokémon and turned her Gyarados toward the open sea.
"Faster, Gyarados!"
Under her frantic urging, the lead Gyarados beneath her surged forward at full speed, cutting through the water with powerful strokes. Within moments, it had already covered several kilometers, leaving the bewildered grunts of the Supreme Organization far behind.
"Lord Sea Pillar, don't leave us behind...!"
The desperate cries faded behind her, but Janis paid them no mind. If she couldn't escape, every Supreme Organization member present would be captured or worse. As long as she got away, she could find a way to recover a few of her core subordinates later. Most of the people she'd brought were branch recruits anyway — cannon fodder, nothing more.
But it was already too late.
Before she could reach the safety of the open sea, an Altaria swooped down and cut off her escape route. At the same moment, the Dragonite that had been hovering in place launched itself forward at blinding speed, appearing directly in front of her in an instant.
This... this is real despair.
Staring at the two Pokémon blocking her path, Janis ground her teeth.
David blinked in surprise — then immediately relaxed. He had been wondering why his father hadn't shown up yet. So that was it. The old man had been lurking in the shadows this whole time, waiting to reel in the big catch. Typical of the older generation of trainers — their instincts were always sharp.
It made sense, really. If his father had revealed himself from the start, Janis wouldn't have dared to make a move, and there would have been no chance to catch someone this significant.
Relieved, David leaned against the warship's railing and watched the distant Dragonite and Altaria with quiet amusement. Two Champion-level Pokémon. This woman was in serious trouble.
With his father on the scene, David no longer needed to get involved. He slipped the Poké Ball containing Dragapult back into his pocket and settled in to watch.
"Gyarados, Blizzard on that Altaria!"
"Drednaw, Rock Tomb! Dragalge, Gunk Shot! The rest of you — hold off Dragonite!"
Seeing that escape was no longer an option, Janis abandoned all pretense and launched a direct assault. Her target was clearly Altaria — the one that appeared weaker compared to the Dragonite beside it.
To have risen to the rank of one of the Ten Pillars in an organization like the Supreme Organization, Janis had relied on far more than just her standing as the heir of the Sea Clan. She had the ruthlessness and cold calculation that came with years in the dark world.
Her plan was straightforward: send three of her Pokémon to stall Dragonite for a moment, then bring her three strongest to hit Altaria hard and fast.
David noticed that she had stopped trying to flee and was now fighting to the last. Even the Gyarados she had been riding had joined the battle.
A Champion-level trainer. One of Cloudspire's former Golden Generation. A Gym Leader of a Special Gym. So what? Janis thought fiercely. Even a Champion would have to lose a few teeth trying to take me down.
But she had clearly underestimated what Derren's Pokémon were capable of. Yes, Altaria was slightly weaker than Dragonite — but weakness is always relative.
Dragonite was Derren's undisputed ace, his strongest partner, one who had long since pulled ahead of the others. It stood at the very edge of breaking through Champion-level to reach the Legendary threshold. Of course Altaria trailed behind — that was simply how things had always been. Dragonite's growth never waited for anyone.
But that did not make Altaria easy prey.
The sudden attack had clearly irritated it. Altaria beat its soft, cloud-like wings — a gentle motion, almost elegant — and in an instant, a massive storm erupted across the surface of the sea, completely at odds with its delicate appearance.
The moment the storm formed, even the warship several kilometers away began to shudder.
Before Mega Evolution, Altaria was a Dragon and Flying-type Pokémon, and this kind of sweeping tempest was its domain. The raw force on display left no room for doubt.
Janis felt the roaring winds close in and her expression changed sharply. She had not expected Altaria — clearly weaker than the Dragonite beside it — to possess this level of power when fully unleashed. This was the strength of a high-tier Champion-level Pokémon.
Then a cold thought crept in, and her pupils tightened. If the weaker one is this strong... then what is Dragonite?
But the moment to pull back had already passed. Her commands had been given, her Pokémon were already committed. She had no choice but to push forward.
It was a futile effort.
Gyarados's Blizzard was scattered the instant it made contact with the storm. Rock Tomb and Gunk Shot never even came close — the surging winds caught them and tossed them aside as if they were nothing.
The storm pressed on with barely any loss of force, crashing into its targets at full power.
In a single exchange, Janis's three main Pokémon were swept off the field.
On Dragonite's side, the situation was even more one-sided. The three Pokémon sent to hold it back were already outmatched — a couple of them had only recently broken through to Elite-level. They stood no chance against a Pokémon that had already entered the quasi-Legendary realm.
Dragonite moved at full throttle, activating Extreme Speed, and dispatched all three with a handful of Thunder Punches. Clean, precise, and completely effortless. The opposing Pokémon went down and didn't get back up.
In a matter of moments, every last bit of the Sea Pillar's resistance had been wiped away. Janis had no path to escape, and no strength left for a final desperate stand.
Yet Derren didn't move to apprehend her. Instead, he turned his gaze toward a spot on the water nearby, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"You've had a nice long look at the show. Time to step in, don't you think? If you wait much longer, I'll go ahead and take your junior off your hands."
The words had barely left his mouth when the sea itself began to shake.
Sharp intakes of breath spread across the deck of the warship.
Beneath the trembling surface, an enormous shadow began to rise.
As the vibrations peaked, a massive silhouette — far larger than the entire warship — erupted from beneath the waves.
David went quiet for a moment. These older-generation trainers really were something else. If he had to guess, the person behind this was probably another one who had been lurking silently in the dark, just like his father — a master of waiting for exactly the right moment to strike.
The only difference was that the catch this time was a little too big. It had nearly snapped the line.
Though, as David quietly thought about all of this, it didn't occur to him even once that he himself was no different. He, too, had been a hunter tonight.