Chapter 52: Sootopolis City

After pressing the distress button, Zhao Fang discovered a serious problem: for some reason, the button had no effect when pressed, which left him somewhat puzzled.

"Rotom, what is wrong with this distress button?" Zhao Fang asked, looking at the device in his hand with confusion. Logically speaking, pressing it should trigger a distress signal, but no matter how long he pressed it, the Pokédex showed no response at all.

"It seems the distress button has malfunctioned, Roto. It is recommended that you go back and have Professor Birch repair it," Rotom said after performing a self-diagnosis, looking rather apologetic.

Zhao Fang scratched his head. This thing really picked a terrible time to break down, though it was likely related to having just been carried up into the sky by Rayquaza. However, since the distress button was unusable, Zhao Fang had no choice but to rely on Gyarados to carry him away.

"Still, without learning Surf, things are going to be a bit troublesome," Zhao Fang thought with a headache. When he first emerged and saw the vast ocean, he had considered whether to travel by riding Gyarados. But if a Water-type Pokémon cannot use the Surf move, traveling through water becomes an extremely exhausting task for the Pokémon's stamina.

This was also the reason why Zhao Fang had hesitated so much when he heard how long it would take to reach Pacifidlog Town.

"Forget it, there are no other options right now anyway," Zhao Fang shook his head, then pulled out a Poké Ball and tossed it into the water. Gyarados emerged within the waves.

At first, Gyarados felt a bit unaccustomed, but it quickly became cheerful. Aquatic environments were essentially Gyarados's home turf, and it was thoroughly pleased with being surrounded by water. It let out an excited roar, occasionally slapping the surface with its tail.

"Gyarados, can you carry me along?" Zhao Fang asked softly, looking at the Pokémon.

"Roar!" Gyarados nodded excitedly, feeling a surge of strength throughout its entire body.

Zhao Fang cautiously mounted Gyarados, and the Pokémon steadily supported his weight. The only slightly troublesome part was that while resting on Gyarados, Zhao Fang's legs inevitably had to trail in the water to maintain a stable seat; otherwise, lying flat across Gyarados's back would risk him sliding off.

Fortunately, though sitting this way felt somewhat awkward, they were still able to move forward. Zhao Fang instructed Gyarados to head toward the exit of this water region. According to Rotom's Pokédex, a busy shipping lane lay about five nautical miles ahead. If everything went smoothly, Zhao Fang could catch a boat heading toward either Pacifidlog Town or Sootopolis City.

"Come to think of it, I remember there is an underwater cavern on the other side of Pacifidlog Town, right? It seems to hold clues about the Regi trio," Zhao Fang thought to himself, gripping Gyarados's body tightly.

Gyarados moved through the water at quite a high speed. As it swam swiftly forward, it let out occasional roars to frighten away any wild Pokémon along the route. Zhao Fang remained on edge the entire journey, terrified of encountering a powerful pack of wild Pokémon, but fortunately, nothing of the sort happened. Once they reached the shipping lane, Zhao Fang spotted a cruise ship not far away and hurriedly waved to flag it down, managing to board the vessel.

Although he was boarding midway, Zhao Fang still paid the full ticket price. However, he didn't mind; for him right now, finding a place to settle down and rest was more than enough.

The ship's crew informed Zhao Fang of the vessel's destination: Sootopolis City.

"Sootopolis City... I remember there's a Water-type Gym there, and the Gym Leader should be Wallace," Zhao Fang sat in his cabin, having changed into a fresh set of clothes while soaking his feet in a basin of hot water.

Sootopolis City was the final major city visited in the games, where one could obtain the Rain Badge. The Gym Leader was typically Wallace or his mentor, Juan. Although Zhao Fang had Wallace as a contact on WeChat, they rarely interacted, so they weren't particularly close.

The cruise ship, departing from Pacifidlog Town, would arrive at Sootopolis City in two days, which brought a sense of relief to Zhao Fang. He still held quite a bit of interest in Sootopolis City, and wandering around there would be a nice experience.

"Dear passengers, look over there! It's a school of Luvdisc! Rumor has it that the direction the Luvdisc are heading can lead you to encounter extremely rare Water-type Pokémon, such as Lapras. There are even rumors that someone once spotted Lugia in the path of a Luvdisc migration!" It seemed every cruise ship came with a tour guide. This time, when Zhao Fang stepped onto the deck, he spotted a guide in League staff uniform enthusiastically introducing the scenery ahead to the crowd.

Curious, Zhao Fang looked over. Beneath the water, a school of Luvdisc was indeed swimming along, heading in the direction of Pacifidlog Town. They certainly looked adorable; no wonder Zhao Fang had occasionally seen people keeping Luvdisc as pets.

None of the tourists present threw Poké Balls to capture the Luvdisc, and Zhao Fang had little interest in Pokémon without an evolutionary stage either. After glancing at them for a moment, he planned to return to his cabin to rest.

Just as Zhao Fang turned away, however, he involuntarily paused. Then, turning back in confusion, he saw a white-haired man leaning against the railing, smiling gently as he watched the Luvdisc in the water.

He was a remarkably poised and extremely handsome man, but that was not what caught Zhao Fang's attention—after all, Zhao Fang had no great interest in members of the same sex. What made Zhao Fang freeze was the man's face. He had seen it before.

Zhao Fang confirmed the thought in his mind. No matter how he looked at it, the white-haired man before him was identical to the man he had seen within the memories of the Unown—the jerk who had looked right through Charizard with indifference and stepped right over the dying dragon!

Zhao Fang quickly turned his head away, choosing not to look at the man any longer as he retreated to his cabin, feeling a growing sense of confusion.

The memories of the Unown dated back thousands, if not tens of thousands of years. Yet why on earth was Zhao Fang seeing an exact duplicate of that man aboard a modern cruise ship? This left Zhao Fang deeply baffled.

Nevertheless, Zhao Fang retained a strong impression of the white-haired man. Both his facial features and his height told Zhao Fang unmistakably that this was the very same man he had witnessed in the Unown's memories.

"How on earth has this man lived until now?" Zhao Fang felt a creeping sense of bewilderment. If this man truly was the fellow from the Unown's memories, then he was likely an ancient monster.