"Uh..."
Shiro was not sure.
Comparing the moving ship to an arrow leaving the bow did not feel right. Even if an arrow had already been shot, it could still be pulled back with psychic power.
But right now, the S.S. Anne was still not setting sail.
'Did you team up with Mesprit and use psychic power to force the ship to stay here?'
'Am I that kind of Unown?' Unown A shook its body wildly. 'Look at the sea!'
Still full of doubt, Shiro walked to the railing and looked down.
Gurgle...
Beneath the sea beside the S.S. Anne, clusters of Tentacool with deep blue heads were gathering nonstop. The red jewel crystals on their heads looked like dark crimson eyes, heavy and gloomy under the water.
"Tentacool..."
The Tentacool Pirates!
Shiro immediately realized the problem. He looked ahead, but the pirate ship he had seen earlier on Octillery Mountain was no longer there.
At that moment, a violent jolt slammed into the side of the S.S. Anne and spread through the entire cruise ship. The huge vessel tilted slightly.
The Tentacool pirate ship was dark brown all over and shimmered with a metallic sheen, as if coated with some special metal. It looked extremely tough. Even though it was one third smaller than the S.S. Anne, it seemed strong enough to smash a dent into it.
At the bow stood a striking female pirate with wheat-colored skin. She stood at the edge of the deck and showed no fear of the rising waves.
Behind her, aside from more than a dozen noisy pirate lackeys scattered across the deck, there was also a strange figure in a black cloak. Even the head was tightly hidden beneath a dark hood.
"Ayla, the one at the bow is Ayla! The leader of the Tentacool Pirates..."
Dale pushed his glasses and spoke with a shaky tone.
"Dr. Corviknight, she is a famous pirate in the Triangle Sea. It looks like she is attacking us."
Shiro nodded slightly and observed her.
Her skin was dark but smooth. Her nose was high, her eyes deep, and her figure tall and full. She clearly matched the kind of woman many pirates admired.
The black-cloaked person behind her felt even stranger.
His gaze lingered on that figure, and Koga's words about hunters surfaced in his mind.
"Ayla is known in nearby waters for being crazy and ruthless." Dale lowered his voice. "If her captives are useless, she kills them right away and feeds them to the fish. Even Team Rocket does not want to provoke her."
Shiro's brows tightened after hearing that. Just then, several pitch-black ghostly shadows surged out along the edge of the ship.
Agatha's ghost army.
Right as the Tentacool Pirates' ship rammed forward again, the ghosts slipped between its bow and the side of the S.S. Anne.
It was like crashing into thick, sticky slime. The pirate ship stopped dead. Its bow pressed against the S.S. Anne's hull, and no matter how the crew tried to maneuver, they could not break free.
Agatha stood at the edge of the cabin corridor with her cane and said coldly, "Where did you filthy bugs come from? Are you tired of living?"
At the bow, Ayla looked up at the old woman not far away. She casually spread her legs and stepped onto the railing. A mocking smile appeared on her sharp-featured face.
"Old hag!" She lowered her voice and replied slowly. "I am standing right here. Do you dare kill anyone?"
Agatha's expression darkened.
She did not need to think to know that this female pirate had ties to certain high-level figures in Sinnoh.
Ayla chuckled softly and said, "My luck is really good… You must have finished negotiating with that one-eyed Octopus. Since I ran into you, I want a toll of one hundred million Pokédollars. That is not too much, right?"
Veins bulged on the back of Agatha's hand as she gripped her cane.
Just as she was about to order Gengar to seize the woman, a furious roar burst from the lower deck.
"Ayla! I will kill you!"
Tobias looked crazed as he lunged at the railing. He ended up staring directly at the female pirate.
Only then did Ayla glance at the boy being pulled back. Recognition flickered, and she suddenly laughed.
"Oh. You are that kid from that day… The one shouting about his grandpa being a vice chairman, hahahahaha..."
Covering her mouth, she laughed a few more times, then spoke to the black-cloaked figure behind her.
"Jona, look at this kid. For a moment I almost thought this was Kanto territory."
Jona nodded silently and said nothing.
Ayla laughed until she leaned forward, then suddenly lowered the long right leg that had been resting on the railing. She bent toward him, her expression turning vicious.
"Tobias! If that damn guy had not taken you away that day, I would have made you die together with that little girl!"
"..."
Tobias's face turned pale. Memories surged through his mind as his hands clenched the railing tightly.
Beside him, Cairo and his wife kept urging him to calm down and tried to pull him away.
Ayla smiled and continued probing Agatha, "If you just traded with Red Devil and do not have enough cash, handing over the Sea Shard Rock you have can also settle the debt."
"Sea Shard Rock?" Agatha was confused. "What Sea Shard Rock?"
Ayla knitted her brows and turned to the black-cloaked figure behind her, asking in a low voice, "Jona, are you sure they have Sea Shard Rock?"
Jona nodded slightly and met Ayla's gaze without hesitation.
Her features were delicate. A strand of silver short hair extended from beneath her chin, visible outside the black cloak.
"Alright..." Ayla glanced at her again with suspicion, then shouted at Agatha. "You have Sea Shard Rock! Hand it over!"
Agatha had no idea what it was and had no intention of giving anything. She stayed calm and asked hoarsely instead, "Ayla, what about the passengers you captured? I can decide to pay now and redeem them."
"Passengers?"
Ayla pretended to think, then waved to a few pirates behind her. They immediately went into a dark chamber below the deck and dragged out a person wrapped in black cloth.
The figure was skin and bones and covered in black mud. The gender was impossible to tell, and the face could not be seen.
"Only this one is left." Ayla stretched out her hand as if demanding payment. "One hundred million Pokédollars, or Sea Shard Rock."
Agatha frowned slightly. "What about the others? You had dozens of passengers."
"Anyone who could leave was redeemed." Ayla toyed with a Poké Ball. "The ones who could not were all killed... This one lied to me and said someone would come for him. He is stubborn enough to still be alive."
Agatha stared closely at the lone "person" and stayed quiet.
"Elite Agatha!" Tobias suddenly shouted. "Help me kill this pirate. Once we reach Kanto, whatever you want, I will have my grandpa agree to it!"
His eyes were bloodshot. He clutched the stone pendant on his chest and breathed heavily, waiting for her answer.
Right now, nothing else mattered to Tobias. As long as this pirate died, he was willing to give anything.
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