Chapter 59: The Yuting Pier Incident

Yucho Pier is located between Vermilion City and Maiden's Peak. Until a few months ago, it was merely a sleepy little port town.

However, owing to its prime seaside location, a wealthy and generous investor set their sights on the area. The plan was to build a super-luxury resort hotel just off the coast, emulating neighboring Porta Vista and transforming this small town into a renowned holiday destination in the Kanto region.

After leaving Vermilion City, Xiayou traveled on foot through the town, heading toward Maiden's Peak. To his surprise, upon reaching the pier, he once again encountered Ash, Misty, and Brock!

The three of them were sitting lazily on the shore, gazing out at the endless expanse of the ocean, appearing thoroughly lost in thought.

"What are you three doing here?"

Xiayou asked suddenly from behind, giving them quite a start.

"Huh? It's Xiayou!" Misty sprang to her feet, shedding her previous listlessness as her youthful energy seemed to instantly return in a flash.

Brock also greeted Xiayou, then sighed helplessly, "We're waiting for the ferry. We planned to take a boat across the sea to Saffron City, but since we just missed the departure time, we have to wait at least another three hours for the next one."

Through conversation, Xiayou finally learned why they were still lingering here. After challenging the Celadon Gym, not only had they rested for a day in Porta Vista and caught a Mankey in the wild, but they had also resolved a missing children incident, and finally defeated Team Rocket in the shopping district to help Brock acquire a Vulpix!

In terms of travel experiences, their journey had been quite colorful and eventful.

More than anything else, Ash cared about badge counts. Upon learning that Xiayou had also obtained the Rainbow Badge, Ash invited him, "Would you like to come with us to challenge the Saffron Gym?"

"Not right now." Xiayou shook his head and politely declined, "I still have some personal matters to attend to. You guys go ahead."

Just then, Misty noticed a Pokémon suddenly breaking the surface of the distant water.

"Hey! Look over there! There's a Horsea! It's so cute!"

Xiayou and the others turned to look and saw a seahorse-like Pokémon poking its head halfway out of the water, watching them intently.

However, Brock, always observant of details, spotted something amiss right away.

"Strange, it looks injured!"

Since it was far away, prompted by Brock's observation, Xiayou narrowed his eyes to look closer, and only then did he notice a large bruise on the Horsea's face.

Such sharp vision!

Xiayou couldn't help glancing at Brock. Was he able to see things from so far away precisely because squinting helped his focus become so extraordinarily sharp?

Noticing the humans' gaze, the Horsea didn't swim away. Instead, it let out a few cries and spat a large cloud of black ink onto the water's surface, as if trying to convey some sort of message.

As it continued to spit ink, the dark patch ultimately took the shape of two jellyfish on the water!

Witnessing this familiar scene, Xiayou recalled the corresponding events from the plot. He looked up and, sure enough, vaguely spotted a luxurious building under construction in the distance out at sea.

"Is it drawing pictures?" Ash stared at the blob of black ink, puzzled. "What on earth does drawing those two jellyfish mean?"

Perhaps out of her fondness for Water-type Pokémon, Misty retrieved her Poké Ball and aimed it at the Horsea.

"Since it's injured, whatever the case, treatment should come first! Horsea! Get inside the Poké Ball!"

With that, she was about to capture the Horsea, but right before throwing the Poké Ball, a loud explosion echoed from afar, drawing everyone's attention once again.

They saw a small cargo ship that had just sailed past the offshore hotel being struck by something, bursting into flames. The vessel split into two halves and began sinking into the sea amidst billows of thick smoke!

The people on board were caught completely off guard and tumbled into the water.

"What's happening?" Seeing such a sight, Ash and Brock stood up in absolute shock.

"This is no time to ask questions!" Misty said anxiously, "People have fallen into the water over there! Let's hurry and save them!"

Whenever water-related matters were concerned, Misty always possessed an extraordinary surge of energy and resolve. She put away her empty Poké Ball, completely forgetting about the Horsea, and immediately released three of her own Pokémon in one breath.

"Goldeen, Staryu, Starmie, I'm counting on you all to help those people!"

At this moment, Xiayou also released his Wartortle to assist in the rescue. Ash and and Brock split up to search and quickly managed to borrow a speedboat, driving out toward the stranded crew members.

The speedboat had limited seating, and since the number of fallen crew members wasn't too large, Misty and the others were more than enough. Therefore, Xiayou didn't rush in to add to the chaos. Instead, he stood on the shore and peered toward the underside of the cargo ship, where he indeed vaguely caught sight of a group of glowing red creatures swimming rapidly away beneath the surface.

It appeared that, just like in the animated series, those Tentacool really were retaliating against humans!

In the distance, after a flurry of panicked rescue efforts, the crew members were swiftly brought ashore. However, their current condition was truly dire; their entire bodies were paralyzed and completely unresponsive.

"W-We were attacked by Pokémon..." One crew member grabbed Brock's arm and said laboriously, "Q-Quickly notify the president..."

Inside an office at a company building in Yucho Pier, Xiayou, Ash, and the others met the president mentioned by the crew member.

This was a short, oddly-featured elderly woman with her long red hair styled into braided bangs.

Standing beside her were four strikingly handsome young men clad only in underwear, serving her with submissive and ingratiating expressions.

"I heard you saved my company's crew members? Thank you so much, Granny!"

Through introductions, everyone learned her name was Madam Mucha. However, she possessed an eccentric and extremely long-winded personality, and she liked to append the word "Granny" to the end of every single sentence as a verbal tic.

"Strange..." Ash stared at her face and asked, "Haven't we seen you before in Porta Vista?"

To everyone's surprise, upon hearing these words, Madam Mucha's expression changed drastically.

"Idiot! Even though I am her cousin, don't lump me in with that woman! Granny!"

"Cousin?!"

Remembering the events that had transpired in Porta Vista, Xiayou shook his head with helpless amusement.

He had no idea what was wrong with this world. There was a Madam Mucha at Yucho Pier, and there was also a Madam Mucha in Porta Vista. It was hard to believe that two people who looked so identical were merely cousins.

Even Professor Oak had a cousin in the distant Alola region who looked remarkably like him.

Furthermore, all those dozens of Officer Jennys and Nurse Joys not only looked almost completely identical, but they also worked in the exact same professions. Sometimes Xiayou couldn't help suspecting whether they might be products manufactured in batches using some sort of cloning technology!

The thought was genuinely spine-chilling!

Madam Mucha then walked over to a physical model of Yucho Pier and explained to them, "I am going to build a tourist resort in this small town that will surpass Porta Vista, and construct a super-luxury paradise hotel right out on the sea! Granny!"

"However, those pesky Tentacool that popped up out of nowhere have been frequently attacking my employees lately, obstructing my construction and causing us massive headaches! Granny!"

"Since you kids know how to use Pokémon to save lives, why don't you help me chase those jellyfish away? If this matter is successfully resolved, I can reward you with one million! Granny!"