The contestants were ready, Ash and Misty among them.
On the shore, Brock and Lorze squeezed into the dense crowd to cheer them on—even though... their voices would undoubtedly be drowned out by the tourists.
"Misty, Ash, you can do it!"
"Go, go, go—"
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Alto Mare annual Water Race! And now, the race begins—"
From top to bottom, two Xatu and a Natu extended their wings one by one, signaling a three-second countdown. The contestants, pulled by Water-type Pokémon, flew out on their surfboards!
Pikachu, who was left in Brock's care by Ash, stood on the railing cheering for him, but lost his balance and fell off!
Fortunately, perhaps due to their bond, he landed right on Ash's face...
Misty, pulled by Corsola, and Ross, pulled by Wailmer, took the lead, leaving the other contestants far behind!
Ohoho, as expected of the defending champion and the Cerulean City Water-type Gym Leader, their strength was truly formidable!
Misty even had a slight lead at the first corner, but the situation of the race changed abruptly afterward!
The speed of Misty and Corsola dropped sharply, and Ross easily overtook her to take first place!
"Huh! We can see that the currently leading contestant Misty's situation has taken a sharp downturn. What is going on!?"
The director very effectively switched the close-up on the big screen to Misty. Misty was...
S-Sleeping!?
The whole crowd was in an uproar. Only Lorze covered his forehead and twitched his mouth.
Ah! I'm so sorry, Sis Misty!
Fortunately, after Ash steadied himself, Totodile suddenly exploded with energy, quickly catching up to Misty—
"Hey! Misty, wake up!"
Yelled at by the boy, Misty abruptly opened her eyes. In her field of vision were the houses on both banks rapidly retreating.
I... actually fell asleep during the race!?
Phew, that was a really dangerous situation... I really have to thank Ash for this.
When she came back to her senses, Ash and Totodile had already surpassed her Corsola and taken second place!
Wah wah wah, I have to hurry and catch up!
Lorze and Brock watched intently. After a fierce competition, the race unknowingly entered its latter half. Although Misty had woken up, her condition was simply too poor... She had already lost the chance to win the championship or runner-up.
Seeing that the championship was about to be bagged by the defending champion Ross, the boy from Pallet Town suddenly shouted as if pumped with adrenaline—
"Raaaaargh Totodile, show them our highest level!"
"Toto-dile!"
Ash's Totodile was like it had activated Torrent. Its speed increased abruptly, carving huge waves on the water surface as it bravely surged forward!
The concept-level Lord Ash from the movies, I've finally seen it.
Ash—overtakes Ross!
Ross: I don't know man, they just shouted something about friendship and bonds and charged up...
As long as he could maintain this momentum for two minutes, the championship would undoubtedly belong to Ash.
Unfortunately, Lorze couldn't continue watching.
"Lorze."
Called by Mewtwo, the young man's heart skipped a beat. He quickly picked up Kirlia and squeezed out of the crowd.
That pair of thief sisters... they made their move after all? How troublesome.
"Ready, Big Sister Mewtwo. I'm counting on you!"
He had no intention of playing tug-of-war with the thieves. Right here... he would crush them in one fell swoop!
At that time, the red-haired girl was originally strolling leisurely with her hands behind her back, enjoying the empty, quiet alleyways.
Everyone went to watch the race, so there's no one here~
Two Pokémon walked towards her—an Ariados and an Espeon.
A strong sense of unease rose in Latias's heart. She felt that these two... came with ill intentions?
After the Espeon let out a cry, it and the Ariados beside it charged towards her!
Oh no!
She pumped her small arms and ran all the way to the arched bridge over the waterway, but the agile Espeon and Ariados surrounded her tightly!
Fear welled up in her heart. The girl subconsciously let out a telepathic cry for help—
"Can anyone help me... Brother..."
A strong fluctuation of energy came over, but the one who appeared before the girl wasn't that familiar blue figure.
Just as the Ariados was about to spit out silk to bind the girl, Mewtwo, bringing Lorze and Kirlia, arrived instantly using Teleport!
Under her astonished gaze, the reliable back of the person she had parted with less than two hours ago shielded her—
"I absolutely won't let you hurt this girl! Big Sister Mewtwo, Kirlia—Psystrike! Moonblast!"
Pink-purple energy fluctuations erupted violently from Mewtwo's body, pouring entirely into the Ariados. Just one strike defeated it!
The colorful spider lay with its four legs kicking the air, its eyes having already turned into swirls as it fainted!
On the other side, Kirlia's Moonblast was nimbly dodged by the Espeon with a sideways flip. Just as it bared its fangs and prepared to counterattack, Mewtwo lightly pointed her finger, firing a Shadow Ball that smashed it against the stone wall, sending brick and tile fragments flying!
Boom!
Kirlia looked up admiringly at the tall figure floating in the air, praising her non-stop. The latter also smugly crossed her arms.
"Big Sister Mewtwo is so amazing!"
"Hmph, of course. I am the Big Sister, after all!"
Even Lorze has to call me Big Sister! Hehe...
Although the matter was settled... Lorze was dumbfounded because there were only two knocked-out Pokémon here.
Where are those thief sisters?
The water surface under the bridge was very calm. Even if they fled the scene at light speed, they should have left ripples. In other words, they didn't come at all...
To be able to track Latias's location, they must at least have monitoring tools.
The young man took a deep breath and let everything around him quiet down.
A bee-like "buzzing" sound brushed past his ear. Found it—
He turned around abruptly, using telekinesis to grab the monitor floating in the air and instantly crushing it!
Admittedly, he could try to use the monitor to reverse-track their location, but the difficulty was a bit high—because they were on guard.
Originally, they should have personally come out to capture Latias. Perhaps they became shrewd because of his previous warning. He had outsmarted himself this time.
Since the thief sisters are hiding, they will probably remotely control and destroy the small monitors when necessary. This way, not only will I be unable to grasp the enemy's location, but I will also give away a lot of information...
Let's ignore this for now. As long as their target is the Soul Dew, I can always wait for them to walk into the trap and catch them all.
Compared to that, there was a more important matter now—
"I was late because I was watching my friend's race, I'm really sorry... Everything is fine now."
In the girl's vision, the young man's turn and the smile he revealed seemed to be in slow motion.
That handsome face became increasingly hazy. Only the sound of the water and their slight breathing echoed in her ears.
A wisp of gentle breeze slipped into the alley, carrying the melody of an accordion. It teased not only her cute red bangs but also two inexperienced hearts.
The young man, who originally wanted to flirt, was instead flirted with. It was precisely because of that music drifting in the wind... The provocative melody of "The Mystery Girl, Again" felt as if it were engraved in his DNA.
The musical notes danced around the girl's figure. The dazed feeling and intense exotic flavor from when he first watched the Pokémon Heroes movie surged in his heart...
By a strange combination of circumstances, the girl and the young man stared at each other in a trance for a long time.
When they came back to their senses, the two suddenly realized—
Wait, wait, wait, this distance is t-too close!
The thump thump of their heartbeats was clearly audible. The girl suddenly shrank back two steps, widening the distance from the young man.
She pressed her hand against her chest: My cheeks are so hot, and my head is dizzy... This is v-very bad...
Lorze also quickly slapped his cheeks to wake himself up. I was spirited away by the accordion melody just now. How unseemly, how unseemly.
But it was an indisputable fact that he was mesmerized and hard-CC'd by Latias for a long time.
Lorze curled his lips: At least just now... I really fell for her.
But it seemed Latias wasn't ready yet. There was no rush.
After all, he had already completed the "hero saving the beauty" trope. Although cliché, it was undeniably effective, especially for innocent girls with little worldly experience like Latias and Ralts.
As for now, I should just say a cool goodbye. When chasing a girl, if the frequency is too high, it will make her annoyed.
The young man still wore that gentle, sunny smile on his face—
"Well, everything is fine now, so I'll be going then? See you around~"
Just as he was about to turn and leave, the girl suddenly took two quick steps and grabbed Lorze's hand!
!
"Wh-What's wrong?"
Realizing she had lost her composure, the girl immediately blushed and let go. She ran a few steps in the opposite direction, then turned around and looked at the young man eagerly.
"Do you want me to follow?"
After nodding vigorously, the girl with bright eyes and white teeth swung her arms lightly, marching in place, and then ran forward like the wind!
Lorze followed closely behind Latias, letting her lead him through the alleys of Alto Mare.
Actually, as long as he wanted to, he could catch up to Latias in an instant. But whether it was the colorful floor tiles, the interplay of light and shadow, or the sound of the accordion coming from the windows above, Lorze enjoyed it all very much.
Of course, the most beautiful scenery was still the agile red-haired girl in shorts in front of him.
Until she led him to a dead end. The girl in the sunlight showed him a sweet smile, then turned and walked into the wall.
But...
"Having fun playing, honey~"
"Big Brother Lorze looks like he really likes that big sister~"
Ugh, this isn't good!