On the azure sea, a massive ship was riding the wind and waves.
This was the SS Rapidash, a passenger ship departing from Vermilion City port for the Sevii Islands, capable of carrying nearly a thousand passengers at once.
Of course, the Sevii Islands were only a stopover for the SS Rapidash; the ship's final destination was the Orange Archipelago, located further south of the Sevii Islands.
On the ship's deck, Adrian was with Pikachu, enjoying the breeze and taking in the ocean view.
Although Adrian had previously toured coastal waters in a small boat, traveling to the deep sea on a large ship was another matter entirely, so initially, both Adrian and Pikachu were very excited.
However, to be honest, the scenery of the sea was basically the same; unless passing by some small islands, it was just a vast, endless ocean with no discernable difference.
Over time, Adrian and Pikachu lost interest in the sea view; they now just wanted to reach their destination as soon as possible.
After all, on a large ship, Adrian had no way to go fishing.
By now, his hands were already itching with impatience!
"When I have money, I must buy my own boat and go fishing everywhere."
Adrian made a great vow in his heart.
But thinking that even the smallest boat's price started in the millions, Adrian wilted again.
Afterward, he checked the location displayed on his rotom phone and smiled as he patted Pikachu's head: "Pikachu, we should be arriving at the Sevii Islands soon!"
The Sevii Islands are an archipelago located south of the Kanto mainland, consisting of nine large islands and several surrounding small islands, all belonging to the Kanto region.
Each of the seven main large islands of the Sevii Islands has a settlement, and these settlements are numbered.
According to the Pokémon World Travelogue, the Sevii Islands have a warm climate and beautiful natural scenery, making them a popular tourist destination, so many tourists come for vacations every year.
Pikachu scratched his cheek: "Pika~"
"If we're lucky, we might even see Moltres!"
After rubbing Pikachu's head, Adrian's gaze drifted far away.
Adrian was always full of yearning for Legendary pokémon, even if they didn't fit into a Rain team.
This might be a common ailment among pokémon game players—always having a mysterious urge to collect them all.
In the pokémon side story 'Legend of Thunder—Ritchie and Moltres!', the little brat Ritchie also took this ship to One Island of the Sevii Islands, then saw the Moltres that had come to Mt. Ember to heal its wounds; they even fought side-by-side to repel Team Rockets members Cassidy and Butch, who planned to capture Moltres.
This was the only time the Sevii Islands appeared in the pokémon anime.
In the games, the Sevii Islands were even more impressive, as Deoxys, Ho-Oh, and Lugia all resided there.
"Roar~ Roar~ Roar~"
Just as Adrian was feeling bored, bursts of angry roars suddenly echoed from not far away.
Visibly, the nearby waves also grew larger, and the SS Rapidash began to rock.
"What's the situation?"
Adrian quickly grabbed the deck railing to avoid falling into the sea.
Pikachu on his shoulder was equally shaken, nearly having been thrown into the ocean.
"A swarm of wild Gyarados has been spotted gathering one nautical mile ahead. All passengers please return to the cabins; do not stay on the deck to avoid accidents."
The ship's loudspeaker sounded, announcing the sudden situation encountered.
"What? Such bad luck to encounter a wild Gyarados swarm? It won't affect our voyage, will it?"
"I don't know! It depends on whether those Gyarados block our route. If they do, it will indeed be troublesome. After all, a Gyarados is powerful on its own, let alone a whole swarm?"
"Then will we be in danger?"
"It won't come to danger! As long as we don't actively provoke the Gyarados swarm, wild pokémon shouldn't want to provoke us either. Besides, we have capable escort Trainers on board, don't be afraid!"
Under the guidance of the sailors, the tourists on deck reluctantly returned to the cabins.
Most of them were muttering, clearly hating the disruptive Gyarados swarm for affecting their vacation and sightseeing.
"A wild Gyarados swarm?"
Only Adrian's eyes flashed; not only was he not unhappy, he was even somewhat excited.
pokémon like Gyarados are mostly solitary, each occupying its own territory.
A swarm of Gyarados was truly rare to see.
In the eyes of the crew and tourists, a swarm of Gyarados was a disaster and a nuisance.
But in Adrian's eyes, this was all a damn reward!
So after returning to the cabin, Adrian didn't obediently sit in his seat but instead walked toward the bridge at the top.
He wanted to first understand the number and situation of the Gyarados swarm before making arrangements.
At the entrance of the bridge, a sailor was standing guard and blocked Adrian's path: "Hello passenger, this is the ship's bridge, a restricted area. No entry without invitation."
"I am a pokémon Trainer; perhaps I can help you resolve the wild Gyarados swarm."
Adrian explained his intention.
"You have a way to resolve the Gyarados swarm?"
The sailor on guard glanced at Adrian, clearly not quite believing him.
Because Adrian was simply too young!
However, having worked on large ships for many years, he also knew not to judge a book by its cover, so he didn't dare be negligent and reported it to the captain.
Before long, Adrian was invited into the bridge.
The captain of the SS Rapidash was a burly man with a bushy beard, bronze skin, and bulging muscles.
He first reached out to shake Adrian's hand before introducing himself: "Hello, I am Captain Saji."
"Hello, Captain Saji, I am Adrian, a Trainer from Cerulean City."
After introducing himself, Adrian quickly asked: "I want to know the situation of the Gyarados swarm."
"There are about twenty or thirty Gyarados; they are swimming and fighting on the ship's route. The key is that the conditions in this stretch of water are very complex, and we don't dare to change course randomly."
Captain Saji explained the situation while handing a pair of binoculars to Adrian.
Raising the binoculars, Adrian immediately saw the scene in the distance clearly.
A large swarm of Gyarados formed a large circle, inside which were two massive Gyarados fighting and wrestling, their dragon roars echoing as waves crashed skyward.
"It looks like they are competing for the position of swarm leader, and we just happened to run into it."
The captain said worriedly: "This kind of situation is hard to call; if there's a powerful individual in the swarm, the winner could be decided quickly. But if their strengths are similar, it often takes several days to determine the leader."
"Leader competition?"
Adrian raised an eyebrow, and an idea couldn't help but pop into his head.
Could his own Gyarados participate in the leader competition?
If it won, could he gain a swarm of underling lackeys?
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