Do you know the feeling of despair?
It's like being submerged at the bottom of a cold, dark ocean, surrounded by pitch black with no sign of life.
You want to save yourself, but there's nothing you can do.
You want to die, but you don't have the courage.
You want to run—but where could you possibly run to?
"Hurry up! Move it!" shouted John Kim to the boatman, Ralph.
Especially after seeing the ship behind them torn apart by monstrous tentacles and dragged to the seafloor, a cold fear surged through his whole body.
His hands and feet went numb.
"This is as fast as we can go, sir!" the boatman cried with tears in his eyes.
"Damn it! Dock on that island ahead—we can't stay at sea any longer!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Damn monster!"
John rushed to the back and opened a window, his pale face frozen in horror as he saw the massive shadow approaching.
It looked like something straight out of a sea monster movie.
He had assumed that as long as he avoided Wishiwashi, he'd escape the fate that befell Sakura Island. But instead, he had provoked something far worse.
He still didn't know exactly what this creature was, but its massive tentacles and looming shadow were enough to confirm its terror.
"Damn those Daxia bastards!" he cursed. "There's a monster like this in the East China Sea and you never said a word?"
John spat venom. The Daxia people kept magical Pokémon to themselves, refusing to share them. They even banned others from entering Magic City!
What was wrong with them trying to catch Pokémon too?
And yet those damned people—knowing there was a sea monster like this—kept it a secret.
It was practically murder!
Four ships! Four whole ships of Bangzi warriors, lost beneath the waves!
Suddenly, the boat shook violently.
"Sir! Bad news! We can't move!"
Before John could yell, the terrified voice of the boatman froze him in place.
He looked down and saw it—dark shadows wrapping around the bottom of the boat.
Tentacles. Enormous ones.
"Get to the lifeboats! Now!" John shouted in panic.
Chaos erupted on the ship.
Meanwhile, on a distant island...
"Auntie, what are you looking at?"
As Lacey Chu smiled, watching Swablu and Bagon play, she suddenly froze and glanced at a ship far out at sea.
"That's not one of ours," said Scott Chen, narrowing his eyes. "Magic City banned large ships from coming this deep into the East China Sea."
The area they were in was treacherous. Few dared come here, especially not in large vessels. Sharpedo schools could shred ships like paper.
Scott and his group had arrived by helicopter. Edward had piloted a speedboat for training missions, but even that stayed near the island shore.
"Sakura or Bangzi... gotta be them," Leah Long said with disdain. As elites from the capital city of Dragonridge, she and Scott had no love for Sakura Island, the Bangzi Kingdom, or the Lighthouse Nation.
Those three had a long history of conflict with Daxia—and their recent actions only made it worse.
"Damn thieves never learn," muttered Nathan Lin, pushing up his glasses. "Wait... what's that?!"
All of them stared in horror.
"Dear God..." Edward was speechless.
From the water, massive brown tentacles rose and wrapped around the 15-meter ship.
"What the hell is that?!" gasped Trey, the group's poison-type trainer.
"That tentacle... it looks like Tentacruel's!" Scott said, stunned.
There was no doubt—another terrifying Pokémon had been provoked, just like the Wishiwashi Totem before it.
A low, rumbling growl echoed from the deep. The massive tentacles surged—and tore the ship into four pieces.
Wreckage sank beneath the waves as a new storm churned above it.
"A real sea monster..." Lacey breathed.
"I take it back. Compared to this, Sharpedos are adorable," Edward said, patting his chest in relief. "Thank God I didn't run into that thing."
"It looked like Tentacruel's tentacles," said Scott. "But the size was insane!"
"Look—survivors," said Rae Ruan, pointing to lifeboats heading toward the island.
"Sh*t, they're bringing that thing here?!" Nathan panicked.
As they watched, Tentacools spilled from the sunken ship.
No doubt—they were poachers.
"Let's get to higher ground," Scott ordered. "This picnic just turned into a nightmare."
They had no boats, and calling for a helicopter would take time.
"If it comes to it, we'll rely on our water-types..."
Everyone scrambled to the highest point of the island.
Meanwhile, on the lifeboat...
"Sht! Sht! Sh*t!!" John Kim was losing his mind. Only five or six people had survived.
The Tentacools they captured—gone. The ships—gone. And now...
Whooosh!
Waves roared behind them. A colossal wall of water blocked out the sun.
"Hurry up!!" John screamed.
But the small boat couldn't outrun a thirty-meter wave.
The wave crashed—not directly on them, but its force capsized the boat.
Everyone was tossed into the sea.
And the sun still didn't shine.
Because it had appeared.
John choked on seawater. He turned around—then froze.
Scott and the others also stood dumbstruck.
"Beep~ Tentacruel, Water/Poison Type, Jellyfish Pokémon.
Ability: Eternal Purity
Moves: Hydro Pump, Sludge Wave, Surf, Poison Jab, Hex, Bubble Beam, Poison Barb, Blizzard...
When the red gem on its head glows, it emits a powerful ultrasonic wave and causes giant sea swells."
"Holy... Is that Tentacruel?" Edward stared at the Pokédex.
Chen Yun was equally shocked. He'd trained against wild Tentacruel before—they maxed out at 2.5 meters.
This?
This thing was 20 meters at least, and that was just the part above the water.
It dwarfed even Wailord—the biggest known Pokémon in the world.
This wasn't just a Totem Pokémon anymore.
It was a nightmare.
The gigantic Tentacruel's white eyes glowed coldly as it looked at the survivors.
Did they think it would do nothing while they captured its kin?
Did they think Tentacool were pushovers?
Were they so bold to catch Tentacool rather than Wishiwashi?
Disgusting, filthy humans.
Suddenly, Tentacruel's tentacles surged from below.
Whoooosh!
A monstrous wave rose again, 30 to 40 meters high.
"F**k!" Nathan shouted. "That's Surf?! That's a damn tsunami!"
"Oh my God, this isn't safe at all," Edward said.
"We're totally screwed! Run!"
"But behind us is the sea!"
"Xiu'er! Get Gyarados, let's ride out!"
"Are you nuts? Gyarados can't carry all of us!"
"Less talking, more running! Unless you wanna get wiped out!"
"F**k! Edward, wait for us!!"
Advance chapter in PATREON
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