Chapter One
Come Sail Away
In the warm, steady waters of Hoenn's Route 122, Pokémon Breeder Sarah was riding her prized Floatzel towards Mount Pyre. The name left little to the imagination, a locale where trainers and other Pokémon lovers would come to visit their perished partners. Sarah had her own charity, where she would breed all kinds of cute Pokémon pets for the sick people of various regions to adopt. The first Pokémon she ever caught in Hoenn, a young Poochyena she never named, had died of natural causes last year. Once a month, Sarah would sail across the lake to the graveyard mountain. It was a rather large body of water that went on for miles. It was a full moon that night, and the lake was brighter than she was used to it being. Another thing that was new to her was the faint blue glow illuminating the depths of the lake. The light seemed to be moving around in certain parts, but Sarah assumed that was just her mind playing tricks on her. She was maybe halfway to the mountain, and that was the point where she'd reminisce of the day she met her Poochyena.
When she was twelve years old, Sarah was on her way back from the Mauville Day Care Center. It always fascinated her how two Pokémon would produce so many eggs together, and the mystery of where they came from only fueled her desire to become a Pokémon Breeder. Waving to the trainers who littered the route to her home in Verdanturf, she saw a grey lump laying on the ground in a patch of grass. Curious, she walked over to it and let out a gasp. It was a Poochyena, bleeding from its right hind leg! Her mother worked as the town's Nurse Joy and learned some first aid as a result. She pulled out her medical kit, spraying the wound with disinfectant. A soft howl of pain escaped the young canine's muzzle, but he knew she was there to help. Sarah took out a bandage and wrapped it around the leg. Looking up, she had noticed she was yards away from the town gate and looked back at the Poochyena. She scooped it up in her arms, gave it a gentle kiss on the cheek and giggled. "Hi there, I'm Sarah!"
She was brought back to the present by the sound of a low humming noise. Everywhere around her was open water, and the skies were clear of any Bug or Flying Pokémon. She looked down at the glowing blue mass and wagered a guess that it was the source of the humming. It wasn't unheard of for Lumineon to find their way into Hoenn waters, but they never made audible noises since they were deep-water dwellers. An odd thought entered her mind; she could dive down there and find the source that way! She shook her head almost immediately. She didn't have access to the Hidden Move Dive, and her air supply would run out before she was even an eighth of the way to the bottom. She was usually a rational person, so why would such an idea cross her mind? The humming grew louder and louder with each passing minute. She blocked it out, and continued to remember her loyal pet. It had been seven years since that fateful meeting…
The Poochyena had wandered pretty far from Oldale and she assumed that he was part of a nomadic pack. The bite mark looked like it belonged to an Electrike, which were local to the area. After a week of recovery, the creature was fighting fit again. Sarah had planned on entering one of the contests with him, but she never found the motivation. His time was often spent in the Daycare, with many different mates. The total egg count that he had fathered in his lifetime was close to 1,200. Each of those eggs found a loving home across the various regions of the world, hatching young pups that would grow up to protect their masters. When Poochyena evolved into Mightyena a year after she found him, Sarah decided that maybe he would enjoy the battling scene. His first battle was against a wild Manectric, the evolution of Electrike. After a few minutes of struggle, Mightyena found an opening in its foe's battle pattern and finished the fight with a lunge for the neck. The pride (and slight disgust) she felt after this victory was a moment she'd never forget.
The humming stopped. Sarah's Floatzel was looking into the depths of the water, staring at the light. Its tails were spinning less vigorously, as though it was losing the will to swim any longer. The weasel's heart would start to lower its beats per second. Sarah looked down at it, with a frown. She knew that Floatzels could swim for a very long time, and this particular one walked up to her with an eagerness to ferry her. The Floatzel looked back at the girl as the life in its eyes began to fade. She let out a loud gasp as she saw it: A long, blue tentacle attached to the weasel's neck, pulling out a red liquid. She had never been to Unova, but she'd heard plenty of legends about the Pokémon that resided there. The blue light was dotted with brown and black, and she knew that Jellicent had made their home in the waters of Mount Pyre. She cursed at herself, realizing she had left her Poke Balls at the shore line. Fear set in as the tentacle moved up the Floatzel's body and wrapped around her waist. Confusion followed as the appendage seemed to expand around her, and encapsulated her body. She was pulled off of the weasel corpse and into the lake. She gasped as she realized this was the end for her, and gasped once more when she noticed she was gasping. The tentacle was protecting her from taking in the water and she was being dragged down to the bottom of the lake, to the source of the blue light. Sarah watched as the Jellicent was swimming to its herd, humming merrily. The humming began to surround her as the jellyfish Pokémon crowded around her, connecting their tentacles to the girl's body. The last coherent thought she had was of her Mightyena, and her hopes that she would meet him in the afterlife.
The fate of the ships and crew that wander into Jellicent's habitat: all sunken, all lost, all vanished. – Black Version
Their favorite food is life energy. – White Version