Chapter 1
My eyes flutter open slowly. The first thing I am aware of is the darkness around me. Total darkness. I can't see anything in front of me. I try to move my paw in front of my face to confirm I haven't gone blind, but I find my arms and legs still bound by thick ropes. I start to panic, afraid that my eyes have failed me and I can no longer see. I shift around, then bump into a warm, soft shape next to me. I recoil at first, until I realize that it is another Pokemon.
"Hello?" I call out hesitantly, quietly, to the darkness.
No answer. Immediately I'm afraid that the Pokemon next to me is dead, then realize that it's still warm, so it can't be dead. I try to push the blob with my body a few times, assuming they're asleep.
The Pokemon groans. "Mmmmmmmmm...what? What's going on...?"
"Feri?!" I exclaim, recognizing the voice of my best friend.
"Hmmmmm?" He responds sluggishly.
"Feri! Wake up! You have to wake up!" I prod him harder.
"Mmmmmm...Cody? Heh, I can't see anything...What time is it? Why-" I feel him start to squirm next to me.
"Uh-oh. Where are we Cody? What's going on? And why can't I see?" He says, starting to panic. "Oh God! Pirates! The last thing I remember-"
"Yeah. We're...probably captured by pirates." I reply dryly.
He groans. "Why us? We aren't important members of the crew! This isn't what I thought would happen from a job as a simple deckhand."
I murmur my agreement. I try to shift around and figure out our surroundings, but the darkness ensures that there is nothing I can do short of feeling around with my tail.
"Is there anyone else down here with us?" Feri asks me.
"Not that I can tell." I yawn.
I realize the last thing that I should have been doing before we were captured was sleep. I am exhausted. I shift around a bit, trying to get comfortable and rest my eyes for a moment.
"Cody...what are we going to do?" Feri whimpers to me.
"Well...there's nothing we can do, right now at least, except for wait." I sigh back.
I allow my mind to wander back to the moment where Feri and I were separated on the ship. I tell myself there was nothing that we could've done, over and over, to prevent me from blaming myself. I am extremely anxious normally, about the dumbest things, when I allow my mind to wander. I know that I'll start blaming myself for us getting captured, so I have to keep reminding myself that there was nothing I could've done. I hear Feri sigh next to me. I know that no matter what, I'll try to protect Feri. He is the only friend I've ever had, and I'm not ready to lose that quite yet.
Suddenly, I see a light. It is small at first, but instantly widens into a large shape. Not understanding why I still can't see, I try to wrap my mind around why my vision is so blurry. Finally I realize- Feri and I were blindfolded. I hear multiple sets of quiet footsteps walk into the room that Feri and I are in, the wooden floor creaking. I decide to stay quiet, and pretend I'm still asleep. I can only hope that Feri is as sensible. Heavy breath makes a loud rasping noise, getting nearer and nearer, until I hear the sound of a sword being unsheathed. Realizing what is about to happen, Feri and I start to panic.
"No! No please don't hurt us!" Feri cries.
I start trying to move backwards, but my bonds are too tight. The figure is right next to me. I can see the glint of the sword through my blurry vision, and I brace myself for death. I feel the sword fall next to me, barely brushing my arms and legs. My arms and legs fall apart. I can move. The Pokemon cut my bonds. I sigh in relief, then hear the swish of the sword again as it cuts Feri's bonds. One of the figures bends down by me. Finally, I feel a rough tugging sensation at the back of my head. A blindfold. That's why my vision was blurry. I curse my stupidity. The blindfold falls, to reveal a Wartortle of medium build, flanked by two Squirtles and a Poliwhirl. I turn to stare at Feri, and the fear in his eyes is apparent.
"Come with us." The Wartortle announces in a deep voice, immediately snapping my attention back to him. He beckons.
Feri and I rise, and the two Squirtles move on either side of us, with the Poliwhirl flanking us. The Wartortle sets forward, moving out of the open doorway and down a hallway made of wood. Fear is filling my head as we walk, and I do not know what is going to happen to us, but what I do know is that death is a possibility. We walk through multiple hallways, and through an open doorway along the way I see Squirtles and Wartortles playing cards at a table, Poliwhirls fistfighting through another door, and Oshawotts and Dewotts fighting with long, curved swords in another. Sweat drips down my nose as we walk. I turn to glance at Feri, but he is stoically facing forwards, not moving anything other than his feet. He is sweating heavily as well. Our four captors do not turn to look at us once during the walk. At last, we arrive at a large door at the end of a hallway. The Wartortle walks up to the door and knocks. No answer.
"Captain?" He says, knocking again.
"Enter." A deep gravelly voice responds.
The Wartortle grips the doorknob and opens the door, gesturing for Feri and I to enter. He motions for the Squirtles and Wartortle to wait outside. As I enter the first thing I notice is the large windows opposite us. They cover the entire back wall of the room, revealing a view of the vast ocean before us. A massive Blastoise stands with his back to us. The walls are adorned with rusty swords, muskets, and old treasure maps, or so I assume. A large bed sits in the corner, with multiple tables with maps on them sitting haphazardly throughout the room. The Wartortle closes the door behind us.
"Here are the prisoners Cap'n. One Eevee and one Poliwag." He announces.
The Blastoise slowly turns around. His gaze fixes me first, then Feri. I gasp in shock, as does Feri. One of his eyes is covered by an eyepatch. He turns back to the window.
"You've never seen a pirate before have you?" He asks aloud.
"No sir- I mean Captain, I mean, er-" I stumble.
"Quiet." He rumbles.
I start to sweat profusely, afraid that I have made a bad impression already. I assume that this captain is going to decide our fate and we need to not make him angry, or dislike us, or anything really that would make him want to kill us. Feri is staying silent.
"Listen to what I'm about to say cuz I won't repeat it." He says to us, his back still to the window.
I prepare to listen closely.
"I have two options for what I could do with you. Option 1, is I could execute you."
"No, no you can't!" Feri cries. "I promise we aren't bad. We won't, uh do anything bad or-"
"Give me one good reason why I should let you live, and I will. I'm a Pokemon of my word." He states.
I panic, realizing that Feri and I have none. We are simple deckhands on a merchant ship that went down to pirates. We have no goods to offer, no knowledge that he could want, no skills he could put to use. I cannot think of a way out of this. Unless...
"Because-" I start.
The door behind us slams open. A squirtle rushes in.
"Not now Deir! This is important!" The other Wartortle says urgently. The Blastoise has anger in his glare now as he turns to look at the newcomer.
"Captain Bluebeard! Another ship approaches!" The Squirtle announces, in a panicky tone.
"And that's a good enough reason to interrupt this meeting?" Bluebeard says angrily.
"Captain, it's Redbeard." The Squirtle says, gulping.
Bluebeard's eye widens. He seems to be thinking for a moment, but then a dark gaze affixes his face. "Liow, stay with the prisoners." He says, motioning to the Wartortle. Liow nods. "Deir-" He turns back to the Squirtle. "Tell the crew to man their battle stations."
The Squirtle nods and sprints out of the room. Bluebeard turns back to us. "I will resume this meetings afterwards." He glances at Liow before stepping out the door and closing it behind him.