Chapter 289: Personally Seeing the Sea God

"Doctor, how confident are you in the signal stabilization system?"

"Not confident at all!"

"Then I'll choose to go down myself!"

Faced with Dr. Akihabara's matter-of-fact reply, All Baimu decided to give up on the idea of the mini-sub. If something like last time happened—going down after coming back up, only to find the undersea cave gone—that would be less than ideal.

Of course.

Going down personally to investigate was undoubtedly somewhat dangerous, but considering that Lugia's temperament was relatively gentler and more亲近 to humans than other Pokémon, he figured there would be danger—just not anything extreme.

Even if a fight really broke out, the technical capabilities of Team Aqua's submarine should at least be able to guarantee their safety.

Thinking this, led by Izumi, he arrived at the simple dock at the very bottom of the big ship, where a small submarine resembling a Sharpedo sat quietly.

It looked fierce and cool.

"The Sharpedo-class submarine can hold up to ten people. Based on the mini-sub's measurements of the entrance's width and length, it should definitely squeeze in."

Izumi pulled open the submarine's hatch and was the first to climb inside.

All Baimu followed close behind. The first thing to greet his eyes was a narrow corridor, but after taking two steps forward he could see a slightly more spacious interior.

Apart from the pilot's seat at the very front, the rest was filled with soft seats like those on a sightseeing tour bus. Around the edges were semi-transparent glass through which the outside environment could be seen—no, wait, large screens transmitting camera footage inside?

He recalled the Sharpedo-shaped steel plating he'd seen before entering, and figured that the black technology of the Pokémon world probably hadn't reached the point of being able to see through metal.

"Prepare!"

Izumi gave the order to the Team Aqua member at the helm.

Immediately.

A hum sounded, a slight tremor suddenly transmitted through the floor, the waterline around them gradually rose to completely envelop the submarine, and the bright environment grew more and more distant.

"Feeling a little nervous?"

Izumi, sitting beside him, asked with a smile.

"A little." All Baimu nodded. After all, Lugia was one of the objectives of his journey; if he confirmed it was the one from Ohre, the mission would be half complete.

Izumi continued: "If that Lugia really did come from Ohre, would you try to capture it?"

"Capture? Of course not."

He denied it without hesitation: "Setting aside whether I even have that kind of strength, forcibly taking it back against its will—even if the出发点 is good, in practice it's no different from doing something bad."

"I see…"

"As long as I can communicate with it smoothly, I'll do my best to persuade it. Even if in the end Lugia is unwilling, I'll still be able to face myself with a clear conscience."

All Baimu had long considered this aspect.

Perhaps after Yamabuki spread the word, there might be people pinning their hopes on him, hoping he could bring back the legendary Pokémon and thereby improve the environment of the Ohre region.

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But in reality, both he himself and Yamabuki actually preferred to let the Ohre people themselves, slowly, generation by generation, build up the Ohre region, creating a homeland through humanity's own strength.

The Ohre people's sense of belonging to the land beneath their feet at that time would be something no words could describe.

It would no longer be a cage imprisoning the Ohre people constructed by Team Shadow, but a true homeland of the soul—the place the Ohre people dreamed of and longed for.

The aid of a legendary Pokémon could exist, but it should not give the Ohre people the mentality of gaining something without working for it.

Izumi looked at the quietly composed All Baimu. Although she had long felt this big boy was extraordinary, looking at him now she somehow felt he shone like a bright lamp.

Just like the Archie she had seen in her youth.

Izumi understood that those with great ideals and great ambitions always radiated a dazzling and warm light, guiding all the lost to draw near.

But what she didn't know was.

In a distant region called Ohre, there had once been such a night—flowers of fire, stars across the land.

Countless idealists with great ambitions stepped into the darkness without hesitation, illuminating a light symbolizing hope and the future, seeking out a better path for everyone.

And the light on All Baimu was merely one beam among them.

——

The submarine headed into the depths.

Before long.

Diving into the trench, they found the mini-sub that had stopped before the undersea cave.

"Destination reached."

The Team Aqua member at the helm signaled.

"Continue forward!" Seeing All Baimu nod, Izumi waved her hand.

The Sharpedo-class submarine moved on, plunging into the pitch-black cave. After traveling a certain distance, the surrounding silver screens suddenly flickered, as if the video signal was unstable.

"We've lost contact with the Walrein-class!" the Team Aqua member controlling the signal immediately warned.

"Expected! Don't stop, keep going!"

Izumi's voice remained steady.

Clearly, in an unknown environment the leader's mindset was extremely important. Especially for someone like Izumi, who possessed tremendous authority in the Operations Division—as long as she remained calm, the Team Aqua members present would not be nervous.

They drove inward for two minutes.

The Sharpedo-class submarine encountered a "dead end," but without a doubt there was an additional passable path above them; sonar detected a very wide space overhead.

The submarine quickly surfaced, breaking through the water level as expected, and arrived in a pitch-black cavern.

"Oxygen levels sufficient!"

"No toxic substances detected!"

A Team Aqua member loudly reported the results of the system scan.

"We've arrived—the cavern where Lugia dwells."

Izumi was still the first to rise and head outside.

This battle squadron leader was fierce and brave in every respect; she had once infiltrated a Magma Team ship alone to destroy the shackles binding Kyogre — truly daring and meticulous.

All Baimu followed behind her, leaping up onto the land in a single bound.

Even with the lights ahead, everything ahead was pitch-black; the surroundings were vast and silent, water dripped continuously from the stone above, producing a drip-drip sound, and standing in place one felt an inexplicable strange aura.

Buzz-buzz-buzz—

The low hum by his ear made All Baimu turn his head, and he saw that the mini-sub had switched to land-cruise mode — clearly it intended to follow them in as well.

Remembering that this thing carried a low-frequency sonic horn for driving Pokémon away, he felt an inexplicable trace of reassurance.

Under Ahizumi's direction, of the ten-person squad four stayed behind to guard the Sharpedo, and the remaining six, including herself, advanced together to explore.

They each opened their Poké Balls.

Bang-bang-bang!

A series of Bai Guang flashes, and several massive, rather intimidating-looking Crawdaunt landed.

Seeing this, All Baimu released his Galarian Corsola as well, tapped its shell twice to wake it, and then let it perch on his shoulder.

"……"

Galarian Corsola silently surveyed the surroundings, then glanced at those rather intimidating-looking Crawdaunt nearby — it knew it was time to work.

The group headed deeper into the pitch-black cavern.

However.

The path was shorter than expected; at the end of this enormous stone cavern was a cave mouth emitting a faint blue glow, and judging by its size, it could easily accommodate a Lugia.

All Baimu and Ahizumi exchanged a glance and stepped forward together.

In an instant.

The moment they stepped into the cavern, a cool sensation, like passing through a film of water, washed over his hands and face, and at the end of his gaze appeared a… massive waterfall?

The pale blue glow was emanating from that waterfall, yet for some reason the waterfall made no rumbling sound at all — instead it was utterly silent.

And as they entered, a silver phantom slowly emerged from within the waterfall.

"Chirp—"

A long, drawn-out whale cry rang out.

Everyone's eyes went wide, unwilling to miss that beautiful figure — All Baimu alone wore a strange expression.

"……Huh?"