2

Hector was awoken by a loud thud.

It was back...

He threw the netting off him and stumbled wearily to the edge of the boat. There it was. A big beady eye peering at him, the wailords huge body stretching away beyond the end of the boat. There was a glint in the beasts eye, not of the morning suns reflection, but of something quite unexplainable. It was almost... Inviting.

Hector cautiously stretched his hand out over the side of the boat and left it a few feet above the surface. The wailord raised its massive head out the water and brushed its slimy skin across Hector's palm, clumsily rocking the boat at the same time.

He felt a massive surge or excitement, and an urge to dive into the water with it. He realised, however, that there would be no way back onto The Mantine if he did; the sides were too tall to climb back up and there was no ladder.

It was a ridiculous idea, crazy. Another ship must pass by soon and see The Mantine floating here.

But he had nothing. No food, no water, no energy, no shelter. Despite his youth, Hector knew that he wasn't going to make it. Who knows how far out to sea he may be...

Still the urge nagged and nagged at him, to jump, to plunge into the cold ocean. He was a strong swimmer, sure, but he was exhausted, with no land in sight. And what about the wailord itself, it could easily turn round and devour him whole...

But despite all this, he found himself creeping towards the edge.

He found himself lifting a leg over the side.

He was sat there, feet dangling above a fifty-foot wailord and an endless ocean. The beasts eyes were still fixed on him, coaxing him, inviting him in.

Bracing himself for the extreme cold of the water, as well as the possibility of being eaten alive, Hector took one long breathe, and pushed himself away from the side of The Mantine.

He splashed into the water, shocked by the temperature and the realisation of what he had just done. He frantically clawed his way through the water towards the wailord, which now looked impossibly enormous now they were on the same level.

Much to Hector's surprise, it stayed calm, still floating next to the boat and not even flinching as he grabbed hold of it to keep himself afloat.

Shaking uncontrollably, he shuffled his way down towards the head, and now looked into a deep black eye from inches away, stroking the top of its head as he did so. It still gave him that almost friendly stare.

In desperation to escape the freezing water, Hector clambered up the wailord to sit on its back and get most of his body above the surface. He didn't know how it would react... But it let out a huge jet of water from it's blow-hole and began to swim away.

Hector's heart raced; he was riding the biggest creature in the sea, with a warm sun thawing out his upper body. He let out a small cry of excitement and a smile crept across his face. For a moment he forgot he was hungry, forgot he was exhausted, forgot he was alone.

He turned back to see the wrecked boat that his family treasured so much. It's rusty and flaked red paint around the bow and the faded black lettering of The Mantine. He wished so much that his parents were here to see this.

But on this incredible Pokemon, steadily swimming towards the horizon, Hector felt the slightest pang of hope.

For hours, Hector glided through the water on top of the majestic creature, weary and starting to burn from the strong sunlight. He started to regret his decision to dive into the water... He had seen nothing. No land, no boats, no sign of anything on the horizon.

He was also becoming more and more anxious that the calm wailord would soon decide to dive down into the depths, either leaving him stranded or taking him down with it.

Another loud release of water from the wailord's blow-hole startled Hector, and felt it slowly arcing round to the right. It hadn't changed direction for hours, so why now?, he thought.

Then in the distance, he spotted a small, hazy speck. The wailord changed course straight for it.

Hector began to breath heavily with excitement. It had to be land...

As they approached, he could see that it was exactly that; three tiny islets bunched together, completely alone in the middle of the ocean. He noticed a couple of trees spiking up from the sand and a lot of rocks. The tiny islands were probably no bigger than a football field each, and it was unlikely anyone would be there, but it was land. It was shade. It was possibly food.

The wailord edged Hector as close as it could without beaching itself in the shallow waters around the islands. This massive Pokemon had saved him... It had swam for miles, keeping him afloat, and took him straight to land. Sure it wasn't the mainland, but it still amazed Hector.

He braced himself for a short but icy swim to the islands and slid off the wailord's back into the water. He took one last look into its massive beady eye, ran his hand along the top of its head, and frantically splashed his way to shore.

He clawed his way onto the warm, grainy sand and heavily collapsed on to his back. He lifted his head and looked out to sea. He watched as the wailord let out a huge jet of water, then plunged itself down into the depths.

"Thank you!" Hector yelled after it, with relief and sadness in his heart.

The wailord had saved him from the boat, but he knew as he looked around at the small islands, he was far from safe here.