Hello, my peeps! Here's the second book in the series. But this time, the chapters are going to be called "episodes" and treated as such. This segment is all about the training and practice matches, as well as other events that happen worldwide. But this time, we're starting things off with a different perspective…
Episode 1 – Mysteries at Sea
North Atlantic Ocean
Coordinates 41 46 North, 50 14 West
The waves lapped at the sides of the ship as it chugged along, the propellers thrashing the water behind it. The old vessel was nearing the end of its service life, but it served the purpose for the scientists conducting research, one of which was the very respected Pokemon Professor, Samuel J. Oak.
At age seventy, he was slightly stooped over, but he still possessed a passion for learning and studying Pokemon. His grey hair was frizzed a bit from the breeze and his skin was tanned from working outside amongst the Pokemon for most of his life. His eyes were a bright grey color and he wore his usual uniform of a lab coat, a red T-shirt, and a pair of blue jeans with sneakers. His hands were calloused from working outdoors, and his body was well built, a testament to how much time he spent studying the habits of the creatures inhabiting the Earth with humans.
"Harold, how's the preparation coming?" he asked, turning to face one of the aides accompanying him on the trip.
"The preparations are going smoothly, Professor," Harold Jenkins replied. He straightened out his hat and adjusted his sweatshirt. "With any luck, we should begin the study shortly."
"Excellent." Professor Oak smiled. "Finally, we may be able to see just how Wailord can survive so deep."
"But why did you have to pick this location?" a female aide asked. "I mean, sure there's a lot of Wailord in this part of the ocean, but…" She trailed off.
Professor Oak seemed to sense her distress and walked over, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Amy, this is a key part of my research. If we do find data on the Wailord, we'll never come back here. I promise."
Amy Washington nodded. "Yeah. All right."
The professor squeezed her shoulder reassuringly before he let go and walked over to where the two submersibles were being prepped. The first of the two was none other than the plucky little Alvin, the sub famous for discovering the wreck in 1985. The second was a newer, more modern submersible known as the Professor, an ironic honor for the man who was to be the passenger.
Oak glanced back at one of the other scientists on the team, an old friend known as Scott Elm. "Scott, are you sure you'll be okay up here?" he asked.
Professor Elm nodded. "Yes, I'll be fine." He flashed the thumbs up. "You can count on it."
The older professor smiled. "All right. We'll see you in several hours."
He turned and walked over to the ladder of the Professor before clambering up. Once on the top of the submersible, he wriggled his way down the hatch and into the cramped interior. He made his way back to the seat and got strapped in. The pilot and sonar operator followed after. An aide squirmed and wiggled her way into her own seat. Once all four were strapped in, the submersible was lowered into the water on the crane. The water lapped around the portholes on both sides and at the cockpit glass. The pilot checked the vital systems needed for such a deep dive and smirked. He turned back and gave the thumbs up.
A diver outside returned the gesture and disengaged the clamps from the top of the craft. The pilot flooded the ballast tanks a second later and the sub began its journey down to the depths of the sea floor.
Deep beneath the water
A black object glided through the water smoothly, not even disturbing the life that lurked down here. A few curious Relicanth swam up, but as the mystery intruder came into their territory, they swam off for safer waters. One Pokemon stayed long enough to glimpse a red R on the side of the black vessel, but it failed to register the significance of such a symbol. It swam off to rejoin its kind in safer waters.
The black submarine swept over the site, its radar pinging, tracking the four creatures outside the vessel. The captain smirked as he watched the four as they circled the sub smoothly before performing acrobatics underwater.
"How are things going with the project?" a male voice asked over the comm.
"Things are going smoothly, sir. They're performing at depths that a human can't survive at," the captain said. "This means that the project is having more benefits for us than anticipated."
"By which you mean…?" The man's voice trailed off.
"By which I mean they can attack at depths that normal submarines cannot perform at." The captain had a smirk on his face as he turned back to monitor the vitals of the creatures outside his vessel. "We've been studying their performance down here for three days now, and they still work as flawlessly as your men have promised."
"Excellent. As soon as the testing is completed, return to base at once to give me a full report."
The captain nodded. "As you wish." The comm shut down and he turned to face one of his officers. "We have our orders. We are to finish the testing and return to base for a full debriefing."
The officer nodded. "I'll relay the orders at once, sir."
The Professor and Alvin descended down past the twelve thousand foot mark on the depth gauge, finally nearing the location of the Wailord. Professor Oak peered through the porthole, his eyes struggling to penetrate through the gloom outside the window.
"Turn on exterior lights," he ordered.
The pilot nodded. "Turning on exterior lights." He flipped a switch and two lights blared on, their beams penetrating the inky blackness with ease. A few Kingler scuttled out of the way, leaving tracks in the sand beneath the submersible.
"Wow… Check out the Kingler!" the aide breathed.
"I know, Sandy, I know," Oak remarked. "They can live at pressures that humans can't. It's quite remarkable."
Sandy Wilson turned to him. "Are they a part of the study as well?"
The professor shook his head. "No. A study concerning them was done two years ago, remember? Professor Ivy led that one."
Sandy hung her head a bit. "Oh."
"But the bright side is we'll be able to see the Wailord and study how they can survive so deep in the ocean, especially since there is no real life down here," Oak pointed out.
A grin brightened Sandy's face. "All right!"
Professor Oak couldn't help but smile. She had passion, just like he did, and she would no doubt become a successful researcher just like he had.
"Now, let's begin, shall we?"
The two submersibles set out on a course that took them in the direction of the Wailord mating grounds.
The shipwreck lay silent, its decaying shape looming over the ocean bottom like a silent sentinel of the deep, guarding its secrets for all time from prying hands and eyes. By the bow of the wreck, a slight current stirred, a rust-covered nameplate drifting back up against it, making a soft clang as it touched the metal side of the vessel.
A misty glow formed near the plate before it drifted up, taking a shape as it did so.
The same mystery woman from before hovered near the edge of the bow before she touched down and faded away…
Pier 84
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
March 31st, 2011
10:35 Local time
A loud roar resonated over the docks as the sand blasted away at the paint, scraping it back and exposing the gleaming metal of the hull plating once again. The entire vessel was placed in a dry dock that had been hastily constructed, but it was holding so far.
Then again, considering the light weight of the vessel, it wasn't much of a surprise.
The leading engineer shifted and reached up, wiping at her forehead with her hand and turning back to study the work going on all around her.
Scaffolding erected over the last few weeks completely encased the vessel from top to bottom, and spare parts lay in piles near the areas where they were needed the most. Sparks from welder's torches flew through the air as the men and women worked to get her ready for war. The entire inside of the ship had been stripped right down to the bare structure. Even the engines had been removed.
Assorted armaments requisitioned from the Navy and Army lay scattered about the dock, but in neat piles. Five inch guns, ammunition, and the parts needed for the new engines were already stacked and ready to install.
"How's the project going?"
The engineer turned to face Clay as he approached. "Senator Clay! I didn't expect you to be back so soon," she remarked.
"I had a few things done ahead of time," he explained with a wave of the hand. "Now, I can see things are going quite well."
"Yes, sir. We managed to get a few things replaced, but until the interior has been completely gutted, we can't take any chances on replacing things," she replied. She turned and looked at the blueprints gathered from the archives. "It looks as if we're moving ahead of schedule."
"That's good," the senator said. He was actually impressed at how fast the project was moving. "How did you manage to do it, Amanda?"
"All we did was set up shifts for specific parts," Amanda Olsen explained. "We set up work gangs according to the segments of the refit they need to do. Some for instance are assigned with gutting the ship, and others are tasked with getting the armaments ready for installation. We're also removing the old engines to install the new ones."
"I see." Clay nodded. "Well, I'm impressed. When can we begin?"
"As soon as the engines are installed, we'll do a test run. We'll finish the refit afterwards," Amanda stated.
"Good." He turned back to the SS United States. "The sooner we can get her moving, the better. I fear that Team Rocket won't remain still for very long."
"What about that other ship?" Amanda asked, noting the slip in his pocket.
Clay took it out and opened it. "Oh, that old warhorse? She's being refitted down in San Diego. All that's really needed is more up-to-date firing equipment and newer boilers. Anything else is already in place."
"Did you get the plans for the gun?" a man asked as he walked up.
"Yes, I did, Greg." Clay reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a set of folded up papers. He handed them off to Greg Hutchins, the chief armorer for the project.
Greg took them and opened them. He studied them for a moment before nodding. "Good. Now we can get to work." He turned to face the ship and raised a walkie-talkie to his mouth. "We've got the plans! Remove the funnel!"
The device crackled as a man's voice came over the speaker. "We hear you loud and clear, Greg!"
Up near the first funnel, blowtorches flared into life as the men positioned on her superstructure began to cut through the metal and piping holding the funnel in place. Sparks flew from it as the flames bit into the aged metal.
Down on the docks, Clay turned to face Amanda for a second time. "Since things are moving smoothly, we should be ready within how long, do you think?"
The engineer shrugged. "I honestly don't know, sir. We'll see as time goes on."
Clay nodded. "I understand. Just don't mess up. She could very well be the salvation that the world needs in its darkest hours…"
North Atlantic Ocean
The Alvin was the first sub to pick up the pod of Wailord as they swam through the inky blackness of the ocean depths. Her radar flashed as large objects appeared on the monitor. The pilot turned to face one of the scientists on the sub. "Tell Oak that we have a pod of Wailord on radar," she instructed.
The scientist nodded and activated a communications system recently installed in the plucky little sub. He dialed in the frequency for the Professor. A few seconds later, Oak's voice echoed over the speakers. "Yeah?"
"Professor, we've picked up a large pod of Wailord not too far from our present position," the other man said. "We can begin the study now, if you wish."
On board the other submersible, Professor Oak nodded. "Very well. Begin observation at once. We'll start from our end and work our way to the front of the pod. You work your way back."
"All right. Alvin out." Professor Oak closed down the communications and turned to face the pilot of the submersible. "We're beginning the study now. So get ready."
The pilot nodded. "You got it, Prof!" he remarked. He flipped a few switches on the dash and the camera on the exterior of the submersible activated, the lens adjusting for the darkness of the sea floor.
The blue and white vehicle curved gracefully to the left and glided past a large Wailord. Oak gazed out the porthole at the Water-Type Pokemon as it beat its majestic tail with slow, measured strokes. The great whale's mouth opened and took in a gulp of water. Oak was fascinated by the sight. "It appears that they're taking in plankton or something," he mused.
"But, Professor, plankton exist more towards the surface," Sandy pointed out.
"True, but who knows? Perhaps they've developed other ways of getting the nutrients they need from the water this far down," Professor Oak explained.
"Such as eating bacteria, maybe?" the pilot asked.
Professor Oak chuckled. "Maybe so, Bryce. But who knows? That's why we're here to conduct this very study."
Bryce Williams nodded with a smirk. "Yeah, I get it, Oak. I get it." He chuckled as he turned back and adjusted the Professor's course. The submersible came up alongside the massive Pokemon and glided up closer to its face.
The Wailord noticed the submersible, and as if to acknowledge its prescence, belted out its call to them. The teams on board recorded it, but they were also in awe. These powerful, yet majestic creatures acknowledged them and let them be. Professor Oak turned to Sandy. "Are you taking notes?" he asked.
She nodded, jotting down what she saw and heard in a small notebook she carried with her. "Yes, Professor."
The powerful Pokemon suddenly banked and did a curve to the right, joining with the others of its pod. The two submersibles were now smack dab in the middle, enabling them to take video and still footage of them in motion.
Professor Oak took down a few notes on his portable laptop before glancing up to look back out at the school of young as they swam past. A smile crossed his lips as he turned back to his computer.
What surprised him though was a large crash as something slammed into the submersible. The loud noise startled the crew and Oak, causing him to drop his computer on the floor. "Damn! What's going on out there?" he muttered.
He leaned down to pick up his laptop and once he had it, he shifted in his seat and glanced out the window, only to see the Alvin as it came up alongside. The submersible was now trying to get their attention through the strobes on the exterior of the hull. Oak glanced at the pilot who brought up the communications in a flash.
"Did you guys see that?!" the scientists on the other sub asked.
"See what?" Oak asked.
"See for yourself! Here it comes again!" the pilot called.
The Alvin suddenly banked away and turned to the right, swooping down low to the ocean floor and, using its props, churned up a smokescreen to cover their escape. The Professor, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky.
Whatever startled the crew of the plucky sub came up alongside them, and Oak actually gasped as he came face-to-face with a male human with the features of a Relicanth. His eyes widened and he staggered back, falling out of his chair and staring in shock.
"What…What is that thing?" he cried as it swam away.
"I have no idea, but whatever it is, it's not natural!" Bryce remarked. "I suggest we call the study off, Professor. I don't want to get caught down here by that thing again."
But the Pokemon researcher had other ideas. "I don't think so, Bryce. Something's going on here, and it warrants our investigation. We'll call the study off until further notice, but we're not surfacing just yet."
"What if it attacks us though!?" Bryce exclaimed as he turned to face the professor. "There's no way we'd be able to survive an attack by that thing, let alone at these depths if our hull were to be breached!"
"I agree with the professor on this one," Sandy said softly. "That thing just wasn't natural, so it does have merit for us to call off the study."
"Fine! But if we die, then I'll hunt you down in the afterlife, Professor," Bryce said.
Oak nodded. "Thanks."
"Hold up. What about the Alvin?" the sonar operator asked.
"Forget the Alvin for now," Oak instructed him. "That plucky little sub can hold her own down here. After all, she found the wreck amid a swarm of hostile Relicanth, didn't she?"
"Still…" Bryce's voice trailed off. "I don't like the idea of her being down here with that thing swimming around."
"I don't either, but right now we have something more pressing to worry about," Oak remarked. He turned back to the porthole. "It seemed to come from that direction." He pointed out the porthole with his finger.
Bryce blanched as he realized where it was coming from. "Hold on! You don't mean…"
Oak nodded. "Yes."
The pilot slumped in his seat, placing his head in his hands. "Oh man… Just when things couldn't get any worse…"
"Hey, get a grip, Bryce!" Sandy snapped. "Unless you'd rather abandon the Alvin to that menace!"
The younger man nodded as he sat up. "All right. Let's go." Despite his misgivings about this entire venture, he turned the larger submersible in the direction of the wreck site.
The black submarine came to a stop above the wreck, the crew not even paying attention to the shattered hulk lying beneath their hull plating. The creatures circled the wreck once before ascending and coming to a stop in a line in front of the submarine's bow.
Four Relicanth morphs hovered in front of the vessel, two male and two female. Their clothing was the same as the other Pokemorphs: a grey T-shirt and shorts. They all had webbing between their fingers and toes, large eyes for seeing underwater, gills for breathing underwater, and tough skin for surviving in the harsh depths of the ocean. Their hair was sort of a pale grey color and their skin was light blue with scales. Their mouths were filled with sharp teeth, and their fingers had claws extending from them.
The captain smiled as he studied them. "That's it. They performed the tests perfectly."
"Yes, sir. But there's another matter that you should know of," one of the officers said.
"What?" the captain barked. He turned to face the officer. "If it's about the tests, then I do not wish to hear it."
She shook her head. "It's not that, sir. Our radar recently picked up a large pod of Wailord.."
"So? They come through here all the time," the captain remarked.
"It's not the Wailord that concern me, sir. It's the two submersibles that are down here with them." At the officer's words, the captain's face hardened.
"Two? Might why they be down here?" he asked.
"Last I heard on the news there's a study going on to see how Wailord can survive at these depths," the officer relayed. She opened the report. "The two submersibles are the Alvin and the Professor. Alvin, as you know, was the sub that discovered the wreck, and the Professor is a newer vessel designed for research at these depths."
"Hmm." The captain turned and paced the bridge for a moment. "If they're down here, then they may have seen us."
"Negative, sir. Our sources indicate that nothing has been detected from them. No movement to the surface, nothing. If anything, they're staying down here, and moving towards the wreck to probably study Wailord mating patterns," she replied.
"Still, it's best to be cautious," the captain said. "Inform the men that we are going to Level 2 Stage Alert."
"Yes, sir." The officer turned and left the bridge.
The captain turned and walked over to the main monitor showing the images through the exterior cameras.
Alvin crept along the bottom of the sea floor, barely fifteen inches above the silt. The plucky little sub so far evaded all sight and sound of that creature. As the pilot guided the small vessel along, her eyes widened as someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned and noticed one of the scientists leaning against the porthole, his eyes wide in shock.
"Hank? What is it?" she asked.
"I…I don't…What in the world is that?" he rasped.
The pilot put the sub on auto and got out of the seat, wriggling her way over to the porthole and peering out. Her eyes also widened.
Not too far off the portside was a menacing black shape. The Alvin's lights failed to fully illuminate the object, but from a distance it looked like a submarine. Was it one of the Ohio-class subs?
She squirmed and made her way back to the seat, adjusting the exterior cameras and turning the submersible to face in that direction. "Are you guys getting this?" she asked.
"Yeah, we got it, Becky. We're getting it five by five," the second scientist said.
Becky Green adjusted the angle of the cameras a bit more before moving the submersible closer to the spot over which the black submarine was hovering.
The wreck came into view, but she didn't pay much attention to it. She brought the submersible up to the very bow and settled it down, careful to not disturb the wreck any further. With Alvin now below the other ship, they could see that it was indeed a submarine, but not one of the Ohio-class. Instead, it had a sleeker, more bulbous shape to allow it to descend to these depths. It lacked propellers, instead possessing a set of drive tubes on the back of the stern. The other difference was a large red R on the side of the craft.
Becky blinked in shock as the second scientist (a man named Arnold von Enrich) snatched a remote control and adjusted the angle of the joystick as something stirred on the exterior of the sub.
The little rover's engines engaged and whirred to life. The small monitor camera on the exterior of the underwater vehicle adjusted and angled upwards as it crept out of its housing. The tether provided the craft with its lifeline to the mother ship, so to speak. And it would give them an idea of where the little craft was.
Jason Jr., or JJ as it was affectionately nicknamed, crawled upwards slowly to as to not be detected by the larger vessel above them. The rover's lights flared on and the beams crept along the sleek black hull of the other vessel. They could see torpedo housings on the bottom, as well as depth charges and mines. This thing was clearly armed for war.
Becky shivered as she thought about the kind of destruction this unknown submarine might cause.
However, it was the red R that invoked the most fear. The way it was colored gave that away. Although it was a standard Roman R, it was colored a blood red, invoking menace and fear into any who laid their eyes upon it.
And it was so for the crew of the Alvin as JJ made its way up the side of the sub to the limits of its tether.
Near the bridge of the wreck, a small glow resonated…
Becky glanced at Arnold. "Arnie, pull JJ back at once! We might get caught if we linger here!" she snapped.
Arnold turned the little rover around and as it headed back, he looked at her. "So, what do you want us to do? Hide someplace?"
Becky nodded. "Yes. And we're right near a good spot."
Hank Birmingham blanched. "You're joking, right? I mean, that thing could collapse on us at any time!"
"It doesn't matter! We need to hide and right now that very wreck offers us our only means of salvation! So which would you rather have happen: us getting caught, or hiding and escaping alive?!" Becky shouted.
Hank hesitated, but finally relented. "Fine. We'll do it…"
Arnold by now had finished reeling in the rover and once it was safely stashed away, the plucky little sub hovered off the bow and made its way back to the tear in the middle of the ship. Alvin slipped in through the tear, hovering beneath a few twisted floors and beams. And it was not a moment too soon. A powerful searchlight flashed on above them, the beam penetrating through the darkness, searching them out.
The three were silent as ghosts, their hearts beating rapidly as they held their breath. The light swept back and forth, probing closer to the wreck with each passing sweep. Becky held her breath as she backed up against the front of the submersible on instinct. She pressed the controls forward a bit and the little vessel snuck in further, right past a tangle of beams that became illuminated in the light.
Those beams saved their lives, and perhaps allowed them to remain unseen long enough to fool the people on board that submarine into thinking that they had fled. The beam suddenly shut down, throwing the ocean back into inky blackness. Only silence resonated for a few minutes.
Before the crew could let out their breath, however, a low, steady rumble began to build outside the wreck. Confused, Becky sat back in the seat and turned the little sub in the direction of the tear so that the porthole was facing sideways. "Can you guys see anything?" she asked.
Hank pressed his face to the glass. "My God…"
"What? What is it, Hank?" Arnold drawled.
"I…I think…" He tried to speak, but he couldn't. He was too shocked.
"What is it?" Becky demanded.
Her answer came not even a second later as a low rumble began to become more noticeable with each passing minute. Becky turned and looked out the front of the submersible, noticing bubbles forming as the water began to swirl ever tighter around them…
"Damn! We're smack dab in the middle of a whirlpool!" she cried.
Arnold paled as soon as she said those words. "What?! We're stuck?!"
Becky nodded. "Yeah. And we can't leave."
"So that means we're stuck here in this old wreck until it dies down?" Hank asked.
Again the pilot nodded. "Yeah."
"But what if this old thing collapses on top of us?" the German researcher asked.
Their answer didn't come. The roar of the burgeoning whirlpool steadily grew, becoming louder and louder with the passing seconds. The entire wreck began to shudder as the water threatened to tear it free from the muck that was its only lifeline to the bottom of the sea floor. The submersible was trapped within, so all they could do was hope that a miracle would happen.
Up near the bridge, the glow became more noticeable, becoming clearer as a feminine shape appeared. Her hands were gripping the bridge as if clinging to the very ground itself, her golden eyes narrowed as she struggled to keep a firm grip on the surface of the sea floor. She felt the presence of those within her damaged structure, and she needed to stay in place if she was to save them…
The very structure of the ship itself shuddered as cables made of rust suddenly shot off the hull plating and fused with the ground, becoming makeshift tethers that kept the vessel's shattered hulk glued to the sea floor. The same thing happened with the mangled stern, cables of rust fusing to the sea floor to become lifelines. There was no way she was letting those people die!
Her eyes flashed with blue light…
And cables of rust shot out of the walls within the vessel, latching onto the plucky little Alvin and forming a makeshift net to keep the sub from rattling about like a pinball in a pinball machine. As soon as the first cable latched onto the little vessel, Hank yelped and fell back from the porthole. Becky glanced up. "Is something wrong, Hank?" she asked.
As if in response to her statement, the entire submersible shuddered as more and more of the mysterious objects latched onto the sub. Becky fell back out of her seat and staggered to her knees, rubbing her head. "What's going on?" she murmured.
She didn't even get an answer. The whirlpool was now nearing maximum strength, and anything that wasn't connected to the wreck or close by was being sucked upwards. The debris from the sinking was somehow staying in place…
The four Relicanth morphs swam around in circles at top speed, using their powerful fins and legs to generate the currents needed to dislodge objects from the sea floor. The only problem was that one of the submersibles was missing. The captain frowned. If they had escaped to the surface, then no doubt they would report what they just saw.
If that were the case, then it would be destroyed.
The other submersible, the Professor, he thought it was, was caught in the powerful currents, tossed about like a ball in a pinball machine. The occupants were no doubt either becoming very dizzy or were pleading to their God for mercy.
The captain smirked at the thought. How foolish of them to be begging a nonexistent deity for mercy. Allah was the only true God the world needed.
The loud roar of the powerful vortex was enough to drown out their voices, and even with their little makeshift cocoon, they could feel the Alvin shuddering violently as if it were about to be dislodged from whatever benevolent entity decided to spare their lives. Becky clutched her seat with all her strength, her eyes squeezed closed as she gritted her teeth and begged for mercy from God.
Behind her, Hank and Arnold were holding onto each other tightly and whatever they managed to grab a hold of. Arnold was shouting in his native German, no doubt praying to God for mercy as well. Hank's lips were moving as he mouthed a silent prayer.
'Please…God…Grant us mercy!' all three shouted in their minds…
Her eyes were narrowed as she grit her teeth, her hands clenching the metal of the bridge tightly as she struggled to keep a firm grip on them and the terrain…
The Professor continued to tumble and jostle through the vortex, nearing the submarine with increasing speed…
The captain sneered. This was going to be good. He ordered a torpedo prepped…
The submersible drew closer and closer…
The torpedo fired…
The explosion resonated across the area, rocking the entire battered shipwreck and the little sub encased within a cocoon of rust-cables. The crew of the Alvin was jolted from their seats and they fell to the floor, dazed but alive.
The shockwaves continued unabated for a while before they died down, silence settling over the area once more.
Then, one by one, the rust-cables unfurled from around the submersible, fading back into the wreck's walls, ceiling, and floors. Becky staggered into her seat and sat down, checking the readouts on the sub's stats.
Everything was still functional.
Hank seemed to sense what she was thinking in regards to the hull plating and already had JJ out and about in a few minutes. He sent the little rover around the submersible as Arnold viewed the data on a portable computer. The camera footage showed no rust on the exterior of the vessel.
"What…What just happened?" Becky rasped.
"I have no idea…" Hank whispered. "But…it appears somebody saved our lives."
"Yeah. But who?" Arnold murmured.
"We can speculate on that later. Right now we have to see if Oak and the others are still alive," Becky remarked.
"I agree. We can talk about this later. Let's go." Hank pulled in the rover and shortly afterwards the little Alvin made its way out of the wreck and into the open sea.
The black sub was nowhere to be seen, let alone any sign of the Professor and her crew.
All that remained of the other submersible was debris.
The crew of the Alvin fell silent at the sight. Becky placed a hand on her mouth while Hank and Arnold stared in silent horror and shock.
"No…" Hank whispered.
The unbelievable had happened.
Professor Oak was dead…
Pier 84
April 1st
10:45 Local Time
Clay ran a hand through his hair as he watched the workers hauling off the funnel on a flatbed truck. He turned to look back at the ship, a smile crossing his face as he studied a few engineers placing metal on top of the hole. Inside he guessed that they were working on reinforcing the area with extra metal and lacing electrical wiring throughout the former ventilation shaft.
He sat back down in his chair, relaxing and reaching for a small soda.
Before his hand closed around the drink, however, his phone chimed and he grabbed it. "Yeah? What is it, Samantha?"
The message she relayed sent him into overdrive. The senator sat up abruptly, his soda flying from the table and landing on the dock.
"What? Are you serious?" he blurted. "Oak's dead?!"
The response he got was enough to confirm the sinking feeling he got in his stomach. Clay slumped back, his eyes drifting up to the sky. "Damn… Any idea as to who did it?"
Samantha's words must've been grim because he frowned and ran a hand down his face. "Them again… First Japan, then this. If I didn't know any better, I'd say they were making their move now."
Silence broken only by the sound of the refit in progress resonated as he listened to her report. "Yeah, I know. So only the Alvin survived, huh? Did they say how?"
He blinked in shock as she told him. His eyes widened as he stuck a finger in his ear and rubbed it before replacing the phone against it. "Did you say that right? Cables made of rust encased the sub and kept it safe during a whirlpool?"
Her words confirmed it. Clay shook his head in disbelief. "Looks like someone was watching out for them…" he mused. "And I'm not talking about others on their ship, either. Such an act can only be paramount to that of God Himself…"
The agent's explanation was more than enough to tell him otherwise. "I understand. Just try and keep them safe. We can't have them finding out about this."
The senator closed his phone and waved over the leading engineer. He had something to ask her…
Word spread across the world soon after the death of Oak. People from all the countries were shocked at his demise under the sea right near the wreck. News of the mysterious black sub also leaked out, shocking people even more. The death of a well-respected Pokemon researcher was always something to mourn over, but one as abrupt as this left an impact on the planet.
Reporters turned out to talk to the crew of the Alvin, the only submersible to have survived the whirlpool that tore the Professor to shreds. The crew kept their comments simple and straight to the point. Clearly it pained them to talk about it. However, on the matter of the black sub, they were more than willing to talk, and they even relayed the story of how they survived.
When the news got out, it reached even Tampa, where Team USA was clearly getting ready for their first practice match of the season against China.
Terra was doing sit-ups in her room when she heard the report come on via CNN. She stopped doing her exercise long enough to turn up the TV and got into doing some kata as she listened. "…with the demise of Professor Oak?" the reporter said.
"The entire thing was a shock to me and my crewmates on board the Alvin," the pilot of the submersible said softly. "Just seeing the debris left over sent me into shock and disbelief. I…I miss seeing him. He…He always was a good man to work with…" Tears streamed down her cheeks as she hugged herself.
"I understand. And I'm sorry for the loss," the reporter said reassuringly.
"It's just…seeing that black sub, I wondered if Oak had any enemies. But everything I know about him points to the opposite conclusion." The pilot's eyes were now shimmering as she shook her head.
"On the matter of that mystery black sub, can you tell us anything about it? Such as if it were from the Navy or not?" the reporter asked.
"No. It wasn't from the navy at all. It was slightly larger than any of the subs we've got in use today and it was entirely ink black. Not to mention the red R on the side…" Terra shut off the TV seconds later and after getting showered and dressed in her uniform, she left her room.
Surge had to be told about this for sure!
Surge was doing weights in the underground training facility by the time the naval officer burst in. She was panting from her running, but it wasn't that which caught his attention.
It was the look in her eyes.
"Surge, we've got a problem!" she exclaimed.
The entire team assembled less than half an hour later and as soon as Terra told them the news, each of them fell silent in shock and disbelief. The former lieutenant was also shocked. Finally, he found his voice.
"Why…Why would anyone murder the most respected Pokemon researcher in the entire world?!" he blurted. "It just doesn't make any sense!"
"I know," Terra whispered. "But the evidence is right there in front of us. He was killed by someone."
"Any idea as to who did it?" TK asked.
Before Terra could speak, Asuka beat her to it. The bluenette's brown eyes hardened as she said only two words. "Team Rocket."
The shock struck all of them. "Hold on just a minute!" Ezekiel cried. "Why would that damn terrorist group murder Professor Oak?! Wouldn't it be better if they just captured the guy?"
"Maybe they didn't need him, but rather they killed him because of the fact that he studied Pokemon for a living, and that would give him an edge in figuring out how they are making those abominations," Colette said softly. Her eyes held a glazed look to them as she thought about this. "It…It makes sense, actually… And that's what scares me."
"I hate to admit it, but the girl might be right," Surge said seriously. "Add that to the fact that this organization is up to something and we've got a potential tinderbox on our hands."
"The very fact that Oak is dead would also cause a great drop in the entire researching community's morale, and perhaps that of the entire world to some extent," Ezekiel remarked.
"True, but the rest of the world may or may not actually care," Colette pointed out.
"Still, there has to be some possible leads as to who in that organization did it," Surge mused.
"Hold on. I just remembered something!" TK suddenly exclaimed. He darted over to where the TV was located and flipped it on, turning it to MSNBC.
The reporters were still interviewing the crew of the Alvin, but now they were talking about something else that happened.
"…were protected by?" a reporter asked.
The pilot of the submersible shrugged. "I really have no idea," she said.
"Other than the fact that we were shielded from being tossed around like a cork in a drain, we have no other information," one of the two male scientists remarked.
"He's right. The only explanation we can come up with ourselves is that someone was watching over us," the second scientist replied.
"The whole thing seems a bit strange. Can you explain as to how you were shielded, and from what, exactly?" the reporter wondered.
The pilot nodded. "Sure. But I don't think anyone's really gonna believe us."
"I can understand that, but please try your best. We'll try to back it up," the reporter told her.
"All right. I'll do my best," the pilot murmured. She clearly looked nervous about something, but she got over it as she began to speak.
"As we've already told you, we were down at the depth at which the wreck was discovered to conduct a study on Wailord to see how they can survive at such depths. Professor Oak was in the Professor, a new submersible designed to conduct studies done at those depths. We knew the Wailord bred somewhere close by, so using that as a guide, we tracked down a pod and began the study.
"But while down there, something crashed into the Professor and we had to break off the study. Not a moment later, we encountered what had to be the strangest creature in all our lives. It was half human, half Relicanth. Other than that, we couldn't get a good look. We broke off the study and were about to conduct an investigation when we ran across it again. This time, on a suggestion from Arnold, we created a smokescreen using silt from the sea floor and got out of there.
"Yet Hank wanted to go back to see where that thing came from, so we snuck around and crept up on the wreck. Nothing was visible from what we could see, but as we drew closer, we could see a black shape hovering over the ship.
"It was a submarine, but unlike anything that the Navy used. It was built solely for operating at the depths we were at, and it was armed for war. We were right beneath the sub, so we were able to deploy JJ to try and get a better look at it. We noticed torpedo racks, depth charges, and mines mounted on the hull, and that is what tipped us off that it was meant for war. As we observed it further, we discovered that the submarine was marked with a blood red R, right on the side.
"We pulled JJ back and retreated into hiding just before a powerful searchlight snapped on and began searching for us. Our hiding place turned out to be the bow section of the wreck at the tear. We slipped inside just as the beam swept over where we would've been had we remained outside." She stopped and rubbed at her eyes for a moment.
"So you hid inside the wreck? Wasn't that dangerous?" the reporter asked in disbelief.
"It was risky, yes, but considering the circumstances, we had no choice," one of the scientists said. His dark green eyes were filled with a hint of sadness at Oak's demise. "Believe it or not, that very wreck, which claimed so many lives all those years ago, actually saved our lives. We managed to evade detection long enough to consider going back out, but that was cut short as something began to stir outside. We didn't know it at the time, but whatever startled us prior was creating enough force to generate a whirlpool that would've torn both sections free if something unbelievable hadn't happened."
"What happened?" the reporter asked.
"As the whirlpool increased, the currents were growing stronger. We could see the Professor getting tossed about like a cork in a choppy sea. Then, when the currents reached their apex, the unthinkable happened." The German scientist shook his head a bit. "Rust in the form of cables actually shot out of the floor, walls, and ceiling, attaching themselves to the Alvin and fusing with it, creating a sort of cocoon to protect us."
"The whirlpool was now at its strongest point. The entire wreck was shuddering and threatened to dislodge from the sea floor, but for some reason, it didn't. The weird thing was that we could somehow sense that someone was watching over us," the pilot added. "The entire time the whirlpool was surging around us, we were kept safe by that rust-cable cocoon."
"Then the explosion happened…" the third scientist whispered. "It tore through the area, and then nothing but deadly silence as the shockwave passed over us. When it died down, the rust-cables de-fused from the sub and retracted back into the structure of the vessel. We did a check to see if there was any damage done, but there was none. After that, we headed back out, and it was there we saw the debris left from Oak's submersible…" He trailed off, his voice choking. He rubbed his eyes. "Sorry."
"It's all right. Still, what was it like witnessing the unthinkable?" the reporter asked them.
"Scary. That's all I can say," the pilot said softly.
TK turned off the TV a second later.
"Did you guys get that?" he asked.
"…Just how in God's name is that even possible?" Colette whispered. "I mean, sure there's been a lot of crazy things happening, but that really takes the cake!"
"Still, the fact that there was a black sub there indicates that Team Rocket is up to something," Surge murmured. "And whatever it is, we have to be ready, no matter what the cost."
The episode ends with him saying those words, a mysterious object silhouetted against the background.
Oak is dead, and the world mourns his loss. But what of the mysterious activity concerning the shipwreck? And how does Oak's death tie into the Pokemorphs themselves? Was there a reason for it? If so...
What was it?
Hope you read, review, and fave!
Jaa ne, till next time, my peeps~!