It was a bright morning on the coast.
"One, two! One, two!" Ash and his friends were exercising with their Pokémon along the beach. With the sea breeze in their faces and the sound of crashing waves in their ears, everyone trained in high spirits.
May, of course, kept grumbling that she was tired—but even so, she kept going, refusing to give up.
After the workout, they walked back along the beach when—
"Wait a sec!" Brock suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"What's wrong, Brock?" Ash asked, puzzled.
Brock pointed toward the cliff at the edge of the beach. "Look! There's someone up there!"
Everyone turned to look. Perched precariously on the cliff was a man in flip-flops, wearing a white lab coat over shorts. His hair looked like it had lost a fight with a Wingull, and his beard didn't help much either.
"That messy hair… Isn't that Professor Birch?!" May exclaimed.
"What the heck is he doing up there?" Max added.
"Let's go check it out!" Ash said.
Everyone ran toward the base of the cliff to get a closer look.
As one of the more hands-on researchers, Professor Birch never spent much time locked away in a lab. He preferred fieldwork—especially studying the natural habitats of wild Pokémon. That was his research specialty.
At the moment, however, Professor Birch was in dangerous fieldwork mode—leaning off the cliff to observe a wild Wingull nest.
"Oh~ fascinating stuff!" he muttered as he peeked inside the nest, jotting notes and occasionally poking around inside—oblivious to just how close he was to falling to his doom.
Unfortunately, the Wingull that owned the nest had just returned.
It spotted the intruder.
And it was not happy.
The Wingull immediately dive-bombed Birch and started pecking at his unkempt hair.
"Wahhh!" Professor Birch panicked, lost his balance—and fell from the cliff.
"NO—!"
Ash didn't hesitate. "Noctowl! Use Confusion! Croconaw, Water Gun to drive the Wingull away!"
Noctowl caught Professor Birch mid-fall, gently levitating him to safety while Croconaw's water blasts scared the angry Wingull off.
The group finally reached him just as he was lowered to the ground.
"Thanks, Noctowl. Croconaw, you can take a rest now," Ash said.
"Professor Birch! Are you okay?! You scared us half to death!" Ash asked, worried.
"Haha! Don't worry, I'm fine. Just a little misstep." Birch waved it off with a smile. "Didn't expect you to save me again, Ash!"
Once the excitement settled, everyone sat on a big rock to catch up.
"It's been a while since we parted. Feels great to see all of you again—and I'm glad Brock was able to meet up with you safely," Birch said.
"Thanks for your help back then," Brock said respectfully.
"Oh, right! Professor, what are you doing out here on Dewford Island?" Ash asked.
Professor Birch explained, "Actually, I've always wanted to study the Pokémon here. See those Wingull? They build their nests high up on the cliffs—fascinating behavior!"
"Yeah, but scaling cliffs like that? That's way too dangerous!" May sighed.
Max cut in, starry-eyed, "What are you talking about, May?! In the world of wild Pokémon research, Professor Birch is a legend! He's not afraid of danger and will go anywhere for Pokémon!"
"R-Really?" May scratched her cheek awkwardly. "Still seems like a reckless way to do it…"
Birch laughed. "Well, I appreciate the compliment!"
"By the way, Ash—how come you're all the way out here? I thought you'd be in Slateport by now."
Ash rubbed the back of his head. "Well… the environment here is great for training, so we decided to stay and do some extra practice."
Birch nodded. "Makes sense. I'm glad to hear you're training hard. And May—working toward those Pokémon Contests, right?"
"Yep!" May nodded enthusiastically.
"What about you, Professor? What are you planning to do next?" Ash asked.
"I want to continue exploring this island—there's still a lot to study," Birch replied honestly.
"Can we come with you?" Max asked eagerly, practically bouncing with excitement.
"Sure, I don't see why not," Professor Birch agreed.
"Yes!" Max fist-pumped the air.
Ash smiled. "Sounds like it could be fun. You never know what kind of adventure we'll run into!"
"Wait a minute!" Brock interrupted, holding up a clipboard. "Didn't we just make a detailed training schedule? Are we tossing that already?"
Ash grinned. "Plans change, Brock!"
"Yay! No more training!" May cheered, clearly happy about the sudden change of plans.
Brock sighed and tucked away his clipboard. "Fine, fine…"
Just as Ash and the others followed Professor Birch into a cave on the island...
A red-colored helicopter slowly descended onto the cliffs above. Emerging from it was a squad of uniformed individuals wearing red—Team Magma, one of the notorious criminal organizations.
Meanwhile, beneath the calm sea, the water suddenly surged. A massive blue submarine broke the surface, emblazoned with a skull-and-fangs insignia—Team Aqua had arrived.
One after another, five Team Aqua grunts in sleek, blue diving suits leapt into the water. Leading them was a striking woman with long, wavy red hair and a commanding presence.
The group swam toward Dewford Island's cliffs—clearly, something was brewing.
Unaware of the danger approaching, Ash and his friends continued into the quiet cave with Professor Birch.
"There might be wild Golbat in this cave," Birch said, analyzing the surroundings.
Max's eyes lit up. "Yes! I really hope we see one!"
"Alright, let's head deeper," Professor Birch said, leading the way.
Fortunately, even though the cave was deep, the lighting was decent, and they were able to explore easily.
"Wow, look at this place!" May gasped, scanning the cave walls.
Max was still praying for a Golbat encounter. "C'mon, where are you guys?"
"I bet they're deeper in," Brock said, stroking his chin.
Then Ash paused and squinted ahead. "Wait… is it just me, or is it getting brighter up ahead?"
He pointed. "Hey, look! Lights—and a door?"
Sure enough, tucked away in the rock face was a wooden door illuminated by two small lights.
"That looks like… a secret base!" Ash exclaimed.
Without waiting, Max stepped forward and knocked. "Hello? Anyone in there?"
Click.The door swung open on its own.
Max turned to the others sheepishly. "Uh… I didn't mean to open it. I just wanted to knock! It was already unlocked, I swear!"
"To be continued…"