Out on the boundless sea, a tiny figure was leisurely making its way along.
[Hmm, hmm, hmm∽] Its lovely voice hummed a pop song it had only recently learned from the human world. At that moment, Manaphy could not have been in a better mood.
About a week earlier, the Temple of the Sea had welcomed an important occasion: the anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations with the human world-in other words, with the Pokémon League!
Manaphy was incredibly excited. The Pokémon League had sent it a special invitation, conveyed with Nalu's help, asking it to visit Bakia Island in person.
This was a tremendous affair. After all, in all the years since the Temple of the Sea and the Pokémon League had established diplomatic relations, not a single Prince of the Sea had ever gone ashore!
And so, the Seventh Generation little royal menace, Manaphy, overrode all objections [mainly because nobody dared disobey anyway], happily packed its bags, and set off.
[Woohoo! I finally get to go to Bakia Island! And meet Miss Meloetta!] The more Manaphy thought about it, the more excited it became.
Behind it, far back across the sea, a huge red figure was following Manaphy in a furtive, doglike manner.
Nalu, riding on its head, was rather speechless.
"If you're really that worried, you should've just stopped it. Failing that, you could always escort it there."
Red Gyarados had grievances it could not voice. This little ancestor had personally declared that it wanted to travel discreetly. It could neither afford to offend it nor lecture it. Worse, it feared that if anything happened to this little ancestor along the way, the Sixth Generation would come straight back with an Impure World Reincarnation and pluck out its scales one by one...
All along the way, this little