Hey all. This is my first fanfiction; a novelization of Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness. So, I guess, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.
Prologue
The sea shimmered with a reflection of the night sky; navy blue, studded with glittering stars and the half-slice of the moon hanging high above. A gentle ripple of waves distorted the image as the S.S. Libra plowed through the sea, leaving a trail of foamy bubbles in its wake.
At the helm of the cargo ship, Captain Ernest Lee expertly maneuvered the steering wheel. Nearby, the first mate checked the compass; satisfied that the ship was heading in the correct direction, he turned towards the captain, giving him a cheerful thumbs up. "We're on course," he confirmed, glancing out at the calm water. "And it's certainly a nice night for sailing."
The captain simply grinned in response, staring contentedly out at the water. "Indeed. It's nights like this that make you realize why you're a sailor in the first place." A moment of silence passed, broken only by the soft splash of waves against the formidable sides of the ship, before he spoke again. "Lucky we haven't had any big storms lately, huh?"
The first mate, however, wasn't paying attention to his words; instead, he was staring intently at something outside the window. "Did you see that?"
"See what?" the captain asked, furrowing his brow as he stared out the side window of the cabin. "There's nothing out there, not that I - woah!" he yelped, jumping as a helicopter buzzed by the window, continuing its path out into the open sea.
He recovered quickly, narrowing his eyes to watch the copter's progress as it turned into a mere speck in the distance and then turned to move towards them again, this time missing the ship by a large amount of space. Satisfied that the vehicle certainly wasn't openly targeting them, he shrugged. "Just the coastguard," he said, relieved it wasn't anything serious.
Another helicopter shot past the other side of the ship, and this time the first mate noticed the large red 'C' printed boldly on the side. "Do the coastguards have 'C's on the sides of their helicopters?" he asked, narrowing his eyes as the vehicle in question slowed down to hover close to the ship, blades humming lowly.
The captain turned to regard this second helicopter, noting the emblem on its side. "No," he said, haltingly, before he noticed who was piloting the aircraft. It wasn't the type of uniform you'd expect from the coastguard, anyways - white armor and a red bandanna-type thing tied around the person's neck - and suddenly, it hit him who the pilot was. He'd seen these types of uniforms before, on television broadcasts.
"It's Cipher!" he cried, releasing the steering wheel and bolting out of the cabin and onto the deck. A gentle night breeze threatened to blow his hat off, perched precariously on the crown of his head as it was, but he ignored it, glancing around. There was now a helicopter hovering on either side of the ship, and the hum of another rotor alerted him to a third vehicle above the vessel. He looked upwards, and immediately noticed the vehicle wasn't the only thing up there.
Far above the third helicopter, a massive purple and white shape was silhouetted against the darkened sky. It was descending rapidly, elegant wings spread to keep its speed in check as it moved towards the boat. The captain's mouth dropped open in an astonished 'o'. "What is that?" he asked as the first mate scurried out of the cabin behind him, following his gaze and quickly realizing what the captain was staring at.
The creature was nearly touching the ship now, and a violent flap of its wings sent it back up into the air, preventing its chest from smashing into the vessel. The action created a powerful gust of wind that buffeted the two sailors standing on the deck; the captain, still staring at the beast, was powerless to keep his hat from leaping off his head and descending towards the darkened water below. The first mate held onto his with both hands, preventing it from flying off. "Is that Lugia?" he asked.
"Lugia aren't that color, though…" the captain responded, finally regaining control of his muscles and promptly losing it again as the monster roared, spreading its wings out fully. The copters, their pilots noticing this action, zipped away from the creature like startled birds as its chest began to glow purple. The light grew stronger and darker until, with a sharp, high-pitched scream from the beast, a giant beam of energy exploded from its body and smashed into the ship.
Upon seeing this, both sailors braced for impact, but there was only a surprisingly mild jolt as the beam made contact with the top of the vessel. The creature arched its neck, violet feathers bristling with the movement, and gave a powerful beat of its wings. In response, the ship creaked alarmingly, nose angling ever so slightly upwards towards the sky. There was a moment of silence while the beast regained its strength, and then another powerful wingbeat sent it upwards into the sky, with the vessel in tow.
A violent shudder wracked the ship and, caught unprepared, the captain and first mate were knocked off their feet, sent tumbling into the waters below. The monster roared in pain as it lifted its cargo even higher into the air, gravity wrestling with the ship as it attempted to drag it back down to the water. But the creature was not to be deterred, and - perhaps realizing this - the copters swung around with a buzzing noise, zooming off in the opposite direction.
The beast turned to follow, spinning around with lazy movements of its wings. The captain caught a glance of one of its eyes glowing a bright, unnatural crimson, before it took off in pursuit of the copters, the beats of its wings turning from erratic to regular, a steady rhythm that carried the violet creature off into the distance.
In the water, the first mate fumbled for a Poke Ball, releasing a Staryu that he promptly clung on to in an attempt to keep himself afloat. After a pause, the captain did the same thing, sending out a Croconaw and grabbing onto its back as the copters and the violet creature disappeared into the distance, and the landscape was silent once more.
The waves lapped at their chests in the quiet before it was broken by a single word.
"Shit," said Captain Ernest Lee.
A/N: First of all, the prologue is short because…it's a prologue. The other chapters will be longer then this, I promise. The first chapter should be up tomorrow or the day after. Thanks for reading!