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"Come on, I won't separate you two. If you don't want to battle, I'll send you to Professor Oak's Laboratory," Eddie said gently to the Dragon-type Pokemon.
No way. If we don't battle, Dratini will stay with me for now, Eddie thought to himself. He would never let these pseudo-legendary Pokemon go back.
After all, in a short while, Team Rocket would capture everyone and all the Pokemon in Pallet Town. If Eddie teleported Dratini and Dragonair back now, these two pseudo-legendary Pokemon would be in serious danger.
In the manga, all the Pokemon that Ash and Gary had teleported back were captured by Team Rocket, though they were eventually rescued after Team Rocket's defeat in the end.
But Eddie didn't want to take that risk. It didn't matter much with other Pokemon - he was collecting data for his Pokedex anyway, so their physical presence wasn't crucial. If it weren't for the Pokedex completion rewards, he wouldn't bother catching other Pokemon besides his main team members.
Eddie was planning to use these Dratini and Dragonair as members of his secret third team. He intended to keep them as a pair and had no plans to let Dragonair evolve into Dragonite.
Not evolving Dragonair was meant to preserve its various special abilities. Whether it was controlling the weather or manipulating the trajectory of energy attacks at will, these special abilities belonged only to Dragonair and would be lost upon evolution into Dragonite.
Eddie already had dragons known for their raw power, such as Garchomp and Charizard, so he didn't need more of that type, even if these two Dragon-type Pokemon would only be part of his hidden third team.
As for what he had said in front of Green about sending these two Pokemon back, it was just a cover story for his third team's existence.
At this moment, Eddie was also secretly instructing Dragonair and Dratini, telling them that regardless of whether they wanted to battle or not, they should act as if they were unwilling to fight and wanted to return to Pallet Town.
"Fuwu~~~" Dratini cooed softly.
"Mmmmm~~~" Dragonair hummed in agreement.
Dratini and Dragonair didn't understand why Eddie wanted them to act this way, but they were willing to follow him now, so they followed his instructions and nodded to show they wanted to go to Pallet Town when Eddie mentioned sending them there.
Of course, that wasn't how they truly felt.
"Hey~~~ Eddie, you really do love Pokemon. You're even willing to give up pseudo-legendary Pokemon so easily," Green said with slight surprise, looking at Eddie with newfound respect.
The "giving up" she mentioned didn't mean not catching them, but rather that Eddie was actually willing to sacrifice such powerful battling potential by letting the pseudo-legendary Pokemon return to live peacefully in Pallet Town.
Of course, if she knew what Eddie was really thinking, she wouldn't feel this way.
"All the Pokemon I have are willing to battle alongside me. That's how I train them. If I force Pokemon who are unwilling to fight into battles, they won't be able to perform at their full potential," Eddie explained to Green, though he wasn't lying about this principle.
The difference between Pokemon who are willing to battle and those who are unwilling can be enormous.
To give a simple comparison, think about the difference between voluntarily learning a skill versus being forced to learn one.
Even if someone with poor learning ability volunteers to learn, they will study seriously and eventually master the skills.
Even if someone who can understand things at first glance is forced to learn, they won't put in their best effort. Even if they do learn the skills, they might not master them as well as the willing learner.
Of course, these examples assume normal individuals without huge differences in ability. If you want to argue using examples of geniuses versus ordinary people, Eddie wouldn't bother debating that.
Getting back to the point: if Eddie's Pokemon were unwilling to battle, no matter how good their potential or how great their advantages, Eddie would never force them to fight.
After all, in battles like these, if you can't give it your all, not only the Pokemon but also Eddie himself would be in danger.
Fortunately, so far none of Eddie's Pokemon were unwilling to battle, so there was no need for him to give up on any of them.
The same was true for the Dragonair and Dratini before them.
Dragonair had said it didn't matter whether it battled or not, while listening to Eddie's words. Meanwhile, Dratini was actually eager to start its battling career and was full of fighting spirit deep in its heart.
However, they couldn't show their true feelings for now, since Eddie had given them specific instructions.
"...That's right. Forcing others, whether with good intentions or bad, is an arrogant act that ignores their feelings," Green said, her expression changing slightly as she remembered her own experiences.
When she was a child, she had lived a good life in Pallet Town, but was suddenly captured by a large Bird Pokemon and taken to an unknown place, where she was raised by the masked man who owned that Pokemon.
Even though the masked man never hurt her and taught Green a lot of knowledge, making her much stronger than her peers when she grew up, this kind of life wasn't what Green had wanted at all. Green had just been a simple child at the beginning, living a carefree life in Pallet Town. She had also wanted to go on adventures as a trainer like other people when she grew up.
The masked man's actions had directly destroyed the life she was supposed to have, leaving her homeless and unable to even find her family.
Regardless of whether the masked man had done this with good or bad intentions, to Green, it was just an arrogant act that ignored her own thoughts and wishes.
"Don't think too much about it. You're still young, so don't dwell on—" Eddie started to offer some simple comfort, but stopped mid-sentence when he noticed Green staring at him with a dangerous expression.
She had that 'just keep talking and see what happens' look on her face.
Well, for women of any age, topics about age and getting older were always taboo subjects.
"Ahem, anyway, please go into your Poke Balls first," Eddie said, taking out two Luxury Balls. For pseudo-legendary Pokemon, using Luxury Balls wasn't excessive at all.
Seeing this, Dragonair and Dratini proactively pressed the center buttons of the Luxury Balls and went inside very willingly.
"This is the first time I've seen such powerful Pokemon act so cooperative. Eddie, you really have a way with them," Green praised him.
She had seen Pokemon that willingly joined trainers before, but this was the first time she'd witnessed Pokemon with such great power and potential being so proactive about it.
"In the end, it all comes down to strength. Think about it - if we had been weaker and hadn't defeated Dragonair, would it have been so cooperative?" Eddie replied with a realistic observation, rolling his eyes slightly.
In Pokemon society, it was normal for the strong to command respect from the weak. Although not all Pokemon thought this way, most of them did.
Eddie had defeated Dragonair, so Dragonair surrendered willingly - it was that simple.
"Oh, Eddie, you know it's kind of awkward when you explain things so bluntly like that?" Green rolled her eyes at Eddie when she heard this. Of course she knew about this basic principle! She had just wanted to express her feelings and hint that Eddie was very powerful for having defeated Dragonair and earned its respect.
But instead, Eddie had directly explained this common knowledge to her, and now she didn't know how to continue the conversation naturally.
Eddie and Green had just caught Dragonair and Dratini, and now they were riding on Charizard again, flying toward Vermilion City.
At the same time, far away in Pallet Town, inside Professor Oak's Laboratory.
Professor Oak looked unusually serious as he studied the report in front of him, speaking slowly.
"What's happening recently? There are troubling signs appearing in various regions."
"The waterfall in the Johto region was mysteriously frozen solid. Hundreds of Fire-type Pokémon couldn't thaw it. Eventually, the frozen waterfall thawed by itself. It felt like someone was controlling it deliberately. Is this the ultimate power of Ice types? Could there actually be a Master-level trainer in the Johto region?"
"Who could be the Ice-type Master? Is it Lorelei from the Kanto region's Elite Four? Or maybe Glacia from the Hoenn region's Elite Four?"
After much consideration, Professor Oak felt that these two Ice-type Elite trainers were the most likely candidates, especially Lorelei, who was his primary suspect. After all, the Elite Four in the Kanto region were all at Champion level, which was incomparable to Elite Four members in other regions.
Since she was already at Champion level, even though breaking through to Master level was extremely difficult, the possibility was much greater than for others.
Of course, Professor Oak had also considered other Ice-type Gym Leaders, including his old friend Pryce, but the lack of complete information made him focus primarily on the two Ice-type Elite trainers.
For a trainer at Gym Leader level, reaching Elite level was already quite impressive. Becoming Champion level would be like a miracle, and reaching Master level was truly impossible—even a miracle couldn't make that happen.
It wasn't that Professor Oak looked down on Gym Leaders; that was simply how things worked in this world. He had basically never seen any Gym Leader break through to become a Master-level trainer—Elite level was the best they could typically achieve.
Gym Leaders had their own responsibilities and couldn't dedicate all their energy to training. This was the most critical reason, besides natural talent, that made it difficult for them to continue growing stronger.
However, Professor Oak felt it wasn't a major issue if he couldn't identify the culprit. After all, this Master hadn't openly caused trouble yet, so Professor Oak wouldn't rush into confrontation, especially since he couldn't locate them anyway.
This was Professor Oak's perspective. For him, the key was the information behind these events—which was the real reason for his serious concern.
"Someone has spotted Absol, the Pokémon that foretells disasters, appearing in the Johto region, and there have also been Absol sightings in the Hoenn region."
"The Johto region might be connected to that Master, but why Hoenn region as well?"
"Did Absol sense something? Are they telling us that disasters will strike the Hoenn and Johto regions?"
"Although there are no Absol sightings in other regions, criminal organizations everywhere are actually preparing to make their moves."
"Finally, the number of legendary Pokémon sightings in each region has increased significantly. Are they, like Absol, trying to convey some information to us?"
The further Professor Oak read, the more serious his expression became—so serious that it was almost grim.
"Grandpa, it's lunchtime now. Let's go eat. Huh? What are you looking at?"
Daisy approached Professor Oak and reminded him it was time for lunch, but when she saw his serious expression, she couldn't help but ask.
"It's nothing, just some reports from various locations."
"By the way, Daisy, I'll be conducting research in several other regions starting tomorrow. You and the others can help look after the Laboratory. Call me if you need anything."
"Of course, if there's an emergency, you can also call Gary, Ash, or Eddie. Those three will come to help. If they don't help, tell me later and I'll give them a piece of my mind."
At the beach in Vermilion City, a lively and charming young woman had just arrived.
"It took some time to handle the Gym's affairs. I'm a bit late now. I wonder if Eddie has arrived yet."
Yes, it was Misty who had come. She had just finished dealing with her gym's business and rushed here overnight.
After receiving advice from Erika, she had truly confronted her feelings for Eddie. As a result, she had canceled her previous plan to go on adventures and train with Eddie, because she felt too embarrassed to face him directly.
To put it simply, when she thought about seeing the person she cared about, she felt instinctively shy.
However, even though she felt too embarrassed to train with Eddie, she still wanted to see him now and planned to give him something she thought he needed.
"I just asked some coastal residents of Vermilion City, and they haven't seen anyone matching Eddie's description arrive here. So I guess Eddie hasn't made it yet. I'll wait a little longer."
"It wouldn't be a problem even if I had to wait a few days. I'll just treat it as a rare vacation and enjoy myself."
Misty looked at the bustling beach before her and couldn't help but smile warmly.
This was the southernmost tip of Vermilion City, which was also where the Southern Ocean met the land.
The sunshine here was bright, the sand was fine, and large waves were rare. It had become a famous beach destination in the Kanto region, attracting countless tourists every year.
Children were running around on the beach or building sandcastles, with laughter echoing everywhere. There were also beautiful young women playing beach volleyball, lying on beach chairs applying sunscreen, and laughing joyfully.
In the ocean, several yachts floated on the surface. People on the yachts were fishing with rods, while surfing enthusiasts cheered as they rode the waves.
Misty smiled, not only because she enjoyed these lively places, but also because she could savor this holiday comfort while looking forward to meeting Eddie.
These two feelings made Misty feel genuinely happy, and she naturally smiled with contentment.
However, Misty's smile quickly faded.
Because she spotted a Pokémon that seemed very wrong.
Of course, she wasn't the only one who noticed it—everyone on the beach saw it as well.
"ROAAAAR!!!!"
It was a Dragonite emanating a terrifying aura. It appeared in the ocean and let out a deafening dragon's roar toward the beach.
After all, Dragonite was the pseudo-legendary of the Kanto region, so being powerful was normal, and appearing near Vermilion City wasn't particularly strange.
Furthermore, Dragonite was different from other Dragon-type Pokémon known for their ferocity. It was a very rare Dragon-type with a gentle temperament and kind heart. Just don't do anything foolish like touching its reverse scale.
But this Dragonite's eyes were glowing red, and it kept roaring at the beach with murderous intent. No matter how you looked at it, something was clearly wrong.
"Everyone!! Run away!!"
Misty shouted to the people on the beach.
Because she could sense that this Dragonite was about to attack.
And its target was the beach! There were so many people currently playing and enjoying the sun there!
"ROAAAAR!!!"
Following Dragonite's roar, a Hyper Beam containing terrifying energy burst from its mouth and shot toward the beach at incredible speed.