As the hatch opened, an old man with a thick handlebar mustache, small round glasses, and dark skin poked his head out of the submarine under everyone's gaze.
Though he was rather short and looked at least sixty or seventy, he was remarkably sprightly, and his eyes in particular shone with wisdom.
After climbing out of the submarine, he produced all sorts of strange little gadgets as if by magic, busily measuring the wind direction and receiving signals with a miniature satellite dish.
Only when he happened to glance over did he notice the others nearby.
"Hm? You boys and girls over there, you'd better be careful!"
The warning came out of nowhere, leaving Xia You and the others utterly bewildered.
"Huh? Careful of what?" Ash asked in surprise.
But the old man paid them no further attention. Instead, he stood up and muttered to himself, "Wind conditions good, water temperature OK, no change in the ocean currents, solar spectrum all normal. They'll be here soon!"
His words were so baffling that Xia You and the others could only exchange looks, completely at a loss.
"Here? What's coming? Who even is this man?" Misty turned and asked quietly.
Tracey looked equally puzzled. "No idea, but judging by what he's doing, he must be conducting some kind of scientific research, right?"
While they were still puzzling over this, the sea around them suddenly seemed to boil, throwing up a mass of splashes and bubbles. Before they could work out what was happening, the waves churned more violently, and tens of thousands of Magikarp suddenly surged up from beneath the sea!
"M-Magikarp!?"
"What's going on? Why did so many Magikarp suddenly appear!?"
Ash and the others were aghast. Amid their shock, they noticed that after surfacing, the Magikarp showed no interest in