"Whooo..." A ship's horn sounded in the distance as a large vessel entered the harbor. It was the Wave Rider, returning from the Orange Islands. Once it docked, a black-haired boy wearing a pale blue sleeveless coat stepped off.
"Wow! It's gorgeous!" Hibiki and his companions had arrived in Vermilion City, and their first order of business was to admire the harbor scenery.
"Haven't you seen the ocean already? When you were traveling in the Unova Region?" The ocean inevitably brought to mind Hibiki's homeland, the Unova Region, which he had mentioned while traveling with Yoru.
"Oh, every harbor has its own beauty. Besides, look! A big ship just came in." Hibiki pouted as he spoke, then hurried toward the harbor for a closer look at the vessel.
As they crossed the harbor, they happened to brush past the black-haired boy in the pale blue sleeveless coat. For an instant, Hibiki seemed to sense something and stopped.
"What's wrong?" Yoru asked, tilting their head when Ethan stopped moving.
"Ah... nothing," Ethan replied, thinking, Must have been my imagination, before heading toward the ship. The black-haired boy who had passed him stopped and turned to watch Hibiki run toward the Wave Rider.
Vermilion City was a port city in the Kanto region, an important harbor serving all kinds of ships and shipping routes. A black-haired boy wearing a blue cap was walking down the streets of this seaside city.
"I heard another ship's coming in this afternoon. It's called... what was it again?" Hibiki looked excited, but he had forgotten the ship's name.
"...The S.S. Anne." Unable to watch him struggle any longer, Yoru supplied the name.
"Right, right! The S.S. Anne." But his excitement gradually gave way to dejection.
"?"
"But I don't have a ticket to get aboard!" Hibiki