A Contest of Showing Off

When the sun sank completely below the horizon,

the party began.

Someone tossed a torch onto the bonfire platform built earlier. Flames leaped skyward, joining the streetlights and neon signs in lighting up the dark night.

People and Pokémon cheered, enjoying free-flowing drinks and all-you-can-eat barbecue.

Just then,

a group in striped sailor shirts and black headscarves walked onto the circular stage at the center of the beach. A woman with fluffy hair led them.

She held up a microphone and addressed everyone openly:

"We're the New Aqua Gang! An organization dedicated to protecting the ocean! We're also hosting tonight's party! If you share our ideals, come join the New Aqua Gang! Tonight, let's have fun together!"

"Woooo!"

"New Aqua Gang! New Aqua Gang!"

"Yeah! Yeah!"

Egged on by plants in the crowd, more and more people across the beach joined the chant: "New Aqua Gang!"

In a corner of the beach,

Baimu grilled skewers while glancing toward the stage. He never would have guessed the New Aqua Gang recruited through parties. Were they that desperate for people?

The identity of the red-haired woman leading them was obvious: Shelly from the anime.

Shelly's game model had received an HD redesign, turning her into a dark-skinned beauty with highlights in her hair, but the anime had kept her original appearance.

Pokémon Adventures had even introduced a title-inheritance setup to explain it, replacing the previous Shelly with a second-generation, dark-skinned Shelly. Unfortunately, she appeared only briefly.

"Eat up! It won't taste as good cold!"

Baimu called to Mawile and Deino, then popped a grilled mushroom into the mouth of Chansey, who was bustling about. "Stop working so hard. Eat while you cook."

"Lu, lucky~"

The heat left Chansey barely able to speak, but she couldn't bear to spit it out. Cumin and