Chapter Summaries

Gongping’s Sandstorm Team battled the Yin-Yang-Faced Freak’s Pokémon across Seafoam Islands while the Pokémon League monitored the growing crisis. The satellite anomaly vanished, revealing a vast desert battlefield, and Agatha learned that the League had not yet responded to the masked King-level criminal.

• The Yin-Yang-Faced Freak Mega Evolved Gardevoir, which used Confusion to swap allied Pokémon and help Drapion withstand Mega Salamence’s sound attacks.
• Gongping’s Pokémon traded attacks with Lucario, Scizor, and Mega Salamence as sand and Ability exchanges supported their tactics.
• Swampert tricked Greninja with Substitute, strengthened itself with Curse, and countered Greninja’s attacks with boiling water and steam.
• At Pokémon League headquarters, Agatha heard that the anomaly might have been a passage to the Reverse World and learned that it had disappeared from satellite images.
• Lorelei suspected Gongping’s Sandstorm Team was fighting a King, while Agatha said the League had no response yet to the masked criminal.

Gongping’s battle against the Yin-Yang-Faced Freak worsened as the Freak sacrificed a young Alolan Vulpix to give Muk the Snow Warning Ability and disrupt the sandstorm. Enraged by Vulpix’s death, Gongping attacked the Freak personally while Greninja was left vulnerable to Swampert.

• Scizor and Lucario fought Pangoro and Drapion while Mega Salamence’s Hyper Voice was sealed by Muk’s Disable.
• Mega Salamence unleashed an Aerilate-enhanced Hyper Beam that knocked Drapion out, but Drapion confused Mega Salamence with a parting Confuse Ray.
• Greninja fought Swampert, which used its speed and Ice Balls to create an opening and begin strengthening itself with Curse for a third time.
• The Yin-Yang-Faced Freak released a young Alolan Vulpix, then killed it and used Muk’s Power of Alchemy to give Muk its Snow Warning Ability.
• Muk’s toxic snowfall spread across Seafoam Islands, while Tyranitar and Lileep formed a sand shield that carried Gongping toward the Freak.
• Gongping attacked the Yin-Yang-Faced Freak with a short blade, and Swampert struck Greninja while Vulpix’s death disrupted its assault.

Gongping and his Pokémon defeated the Yin-Yang-Faced Freak in a battle that destroyed the Seafoam Islands' main peak. After the man was rescued, Greninja killed him and freed himself, then walked across the sea as the weather cleared.

• Gongping and his Pokémon battled the Yin-Yang-Faced Freak and his team as the Seafoam Islands' main peak began to collapse.
• Swampert completed six Curses and struck with a second Stomping Tantrum, flattening the peak and knocking out Pangoro and Muk.
• Greninja rescued the Yin-Yang-Faced Freak from the rubble, and the man planned to recover his Pokémon after the Pokémon League arrived.
• Greninja slit the Yin-Yang-Faced Freak's throat, then the dying man released Greninja from his Poké Ball.
• Greninja walked across the sea as the weather around the Seafoam Islands returned to normal.

Gongping tried to stop the Seafoam Islands from collapsing and helped evacuate its residents, but Articuno ultimately rescued him from the mudslide. After the Yin-Yang-Faced Freak’s death was reported, a blue-haired boy arrived in Vermilion City and wondered how Gongping was doing.

• Gongping and his Pokémon struggled to hold back the collapsing eastern island while Gary rallied local trainers to help.
• Gongping ordered the residents to evacuate to the Western Island and stayed behind to cover their retreat.
• After the sand wall collapsed and the mudslide rushed toward Gongping, Articuno froze it, rescued him, and carried him to the Western Island.
• Gary checked on Gongping as residents reported finding the Yin-Yang-Faced Freak’s bloodied corpse on the shore.
• A blue-haired boy arrived in Vermilion City aboard a cruise ship and wondered how Gongping was doing.

The Pokémon League handled the Seafoam Islands aftermath as political tensions grew over the dead criminal’s identity and the documents in his base. Gongping woke from a nightmare determined to become stronger, but his attempt to seek Blaine’s guidance led to an unexpected Gym assessment.

• League staff cremated and buried the Yin-Yang-Faced Freak, found his Western Island base, and sent its documents to supreme Pokémon League headquarters.
• Lorelei told Gongping that the dead man had been a Regional King, and Gongping refused to let Lu’s pardon be used as a bargaining chip.
• Lance revealed that another region’s King-level Trainer had tried to keep him at Cinnabar Island, while Lorelei agreed to look after Gongping.
• Gary told Professor Oak he wanted to enroll at the Kanto Branch, and Oak offered to speak with Agatha.
• Gongping woke from a nightmare about Vulpix and went looking for Blaine, but Blaine dismissed the Cinnabar Gym assessment and said he might stop running the Gym.

Gongping sought Blaine’s advice on becoming stronger, but Blaine left him a notebook about advanced battle tactics instead of meeting him. After returning to Cinnabar Island, Gongping prepared for the school opening and reunited with Trip, who reassured him about losing an arm.

• Gongping waited in the Cinnabar Gym’s lava area for Blaine, then received Blaine’s notebook after deciding to leave.
• Gongping read Blaine’s account of a Champion-level defector whose six Pokémon used three seamlessly coordinated tactics, and considered how to build a second system compatible with his Sandstorm Team.
• Agatha prepared to travel to Cinnabar Island for the opening ceremony, while the League’s leaders prepared for the new school and Pokémon Center.
• Gongping reviewed the finalized student list and textbooks at a mobilization meeting, then left the school after finishing the edits.
• Trip arrived on Cinnabar Island and told Gongping he was heading to Johto for its Regional Tournament.
• Trip put an arm around Gongping and reassured him that losing an arm for his brother was nothing to apologize for.

Gongping and Trip battled with Delphox and Mega Blastoise, whose courtship antics continued throughout the fight. Elsewhere, a young man used Incineroar’s reconnaissance footage to pressure King Koga into joining a mission, with three Hunter Association Commissioners set to assist him.

• Gongping sent out his Shiny Delphox, and Trip answered with Blastoise, who immediately became infatuated with her.
• Trip Mega Evolved Blastoise, but the Pokémon resumed trying to impress Delphox instead of fighting.
• Gongping and Delphox used Ally Switch and Mystical Fire to evade Blastoise’s attacks and reduce his Special Attack.
• In an office in the Johto Region, a young man recalled Incineroar after it recorded the battle between the Yin-Yang-Faced Freak and Gongping at the Seafoam Islands.
• The young man threatened King Koga with a scandal from his time in Fuchsia City and demanded that he join the mission.
• The young man said three Hunter Association Commissioners would accompany Koga as assistants.

Trip and Gongping reunited over a drink in Vermilion City, where Gongping's Pokémon clashed over Florges. Meanwhile, Koga accepted the Pikachu Mask and orders to continue his predecessor's work collecting Platinum Shards and finding a passage in Kanto.

• Trip and Gongping called off their battle between Delphox and Mega Blastoise and went to an iced-drink shop in Vermilion City.
• Gongping summoned Delphox, and Florges took Delphox's drink before using Aromatherapy to ease Gongping's headache.
• Delphox and Blastoise nearly fought over Florges, but Gongping stopped Delphox and promised to order her another drink.
• A young man gave Koga the Pikachu Mask and ordered him to collect the remaining Platinum Shards and find a more suitable passage in Kanto.
• Koga received information and an offer of help from core members of the Hunter's Guild, then silently stared at the mask.

After Trip left for Johto, Gongping attended a memorial for the Cinnabar Island victims, accepted Silph Co.’s donation, and discussed his progress toward developing a second core. In Johto, Koga hosted a tense banquet, while a masked youth attacked a departing merchant and stabbed him repeatedly.

• Gongping gave Trip a modified data watch before Trip departed for the Johto Region to compete in the Silver Conference.
• Gongping, Agatha, Blaine, Giovanni, and other guests attended a memorial ceremony for the Cinnabar Lab staff who died in the disaster.
• Giovanni gave Gongping Silph Co.’s funding for new Pokémon Centers and schools, and Gongping told Blaine he had ideas for a second core.
• Koga hosted a banquet in Johto as the Kamiya Foundation’s new head for the Kanto Region, and a merchant stormed out after arguing with him over the food and the Foundation’s policies.
• After Koga learned that someone had stolen his safe, a youth wearing a Pikachu Mask blinded the merchant with golden electricity and stabbed him dozens of times.