The New Aqua Gang

Five in the afternoon.

Baimu finished teaching Dragon Rush.

He looked at Deino's Poké Ball, his expression a little complicated.

Could the gap between Pokémon really be this wide? He had planned to teach Aggron first, then have Aggron help Deino learn it.

Instead, after accompanying the wild Aggron through drill after drill, Deino had progressed in just a few hours to the point where it could gather Dragon-type energy around its head.

It was only one step away from unleashing the move.

Sure, as a Dragon-type Pokémon, it had an advantage when learning Dragon-type moves, but surely it shouldn't be this fast?

It had never learned moves particularly quickly before. Why had its progress suddenly shot up?

It was baffling.

Aggron, its fellow student, was already a little resentful of the newcomer. Even Baimu, its trainer, felt a twinge of envy at the little dragon's talent. The thumb-sucking brat—

But Deino was his kid, after all, and the thought passed as quickly as it came.

The sky had yet to darken.

The beach was already bustling. All sorts of stages and fireworks launchers were being set up, rows of barbecue grills stood ready, and carts of fresh ingredients rolled toward the shore.

Plenty of vendors had arrived to set up stalls, too.

Most of the people, though, were visitors attending the beach bonfire party. They stood in groups at the edge of the beach, peering in, waiting for it to open so they could enjoy themselves.

"Hey! I've had my eye on you for a while! Let's have a Pokémon battle!"

"I'd love to!"

Conversations like that were common among trainers with time to kill.

Baimu was no exception. He was battling a girl who looked nervous but had worked up the courage to challenge him.

Judging by her