There was nothing of him now.
He was just a shell of the captain he used to be.
A rank he had dishonored.
Chapter 7: Our Own Little War.
I stirred awake unnaturally. Not tired or rested, just sudden. Out in the brush, something made itself known. Looking down, I saw the figure that still slept with me. My hands still rested on her warm fur, and a rhythmical breath fell on my neck every few seconds. I don't know how, but I couldn't face this the same way. What felt like passion before had switched to regret overnight, but at the same time I yearned for this physical attention. Needless to say, I was just confused.
The sound dragged me out of thought once again. A figure showed itself from the bushes. Its shadowed figure watched me, it seemed to need my attention. I couldn't make out just who the figure was, but I knew it was friendly. If I was going to die he would have attacked a lot sooner. I rolled Skoro's body gently away from me, setting her down next to the tree. I hated to leave them both like this, but one way or another, one crisis or the next, duty called. In one final moment, I turned back to watch them before I left. Timburr still leaned against the tree, and Skoro rolled herself into a ball. They both remained so peaceful, a sight that I didn't even see on The Crouse. Whatever the shadow wanted, it would once again drag me away from where I wanted to stay. With that thought still etched in my mind, I made my way through the bush.
Borat stood no more than a few more feet ahead, with a pipe in his mouth and a morbid disposition. The pipe was something I hadn't seen in ages, I tried to remember if he used to smoke at all. I'm sure anyone would need something to relieve themselves, especially in a position like his. Maybe this was that one little moment, that thing at least once a year where you're absolutely alone. This was the chance for him to vent I suppose, to relive a year's worth of stress. Yet it manifested itself evermore on his face. Long, droopy eyelids and bloodshot eyes told a decent enough story. He hadn't slept for a while, probably less than me. I could tell with every little nervous shake he would make. Something had kept him up the entire night, maybe just a thought or whatever military drama had been going on around the island. He didn't make any noise outside of his heavy puffs, not even a grunt or a murmur. He started to walk, expecting me to follow. We retreated towards his hideout, which was a good number of minutes away.
"I hope I didn't disturb you guys," he finally spoke. "Especially you and…I won't approve of it, but it's your thing." He paused before saying, "Something has come up, I'll explain it at the camp."
Nothing else was spoken on the way there. Was he mad, disappointed? What irked him about me and Skoro? I doubted he understood the situation decently enough. Then again, neither did I. Yet either in awkwardness or respect, we continued through the forest. Not a sound emerged from the nature around us, no chirping of bugs or birds. Only the wind made its presence known on the island. It was awfully eerie just how unnatural the place was. Yet I didn't linger long with that, my mind drew blanks as I blurred out every so often. Had I gotten enough sleep? I recounted the night. If I had gone to bed with her three hours before midnight, then I only had four hours of sleep. Four hours, not even enough to walk properly.
Simply thinking about it made me tired as I entered his small encampment. His maps were still strewn about, albeit with different marks and plans than before. It seemed as if he almost went mad overnight, planning out every little opportunity we could afford.
"I doubt either of us slept much, but you can blame this little ordeal for it. I'll make you some coffee."
"Coffee?" I didn't know what that was. In fact, outside of our voyages, I had never even heard of the word before.
"Yes, coffee. You've never heard of it?" He brought out a small container, a canteen of sorts. "Long ago, when humans were more…prevalent I suppose, my parents learned how to make it." He took a few Chesto berries and squeezed the juice into the container. "It was a drink they made using a certain nut, one that doesn't even exist in our world. Yet just like everything else they told, we tried to make it ourselves."
He was right in some ways. The pipe he smoked, the granulate drink he just made, and the muskets that we carried had all stemmed from ideas passed on from common myths. The tobacco he smoked, for example, wasn't the same plant talked about in legend. No such plant grew anywhere in the world. Yet through these stories, Pokémon tried to recreate what little they knew from human 'history.' No one truly knows whether any of this is real, or just as they are, myths.
"Normally I'd give you the choice on what kind of seeds you want, but I'm giving you something a bit specific for what you're about to do." With that he took out a small bowl and a few seeds, and began to mash them into as fine of a powder he could make them. I could only sit and watch as he meticulously put the shavings into the canteen, shaking the bottle as quickly as he could. The concoction fizzed violently in the bottle, the noise muffled by the heavy metal that contained the liquid. He poured the mixture into a small cup, and handed it to me.
"This is coffee?" I asked.
"Well, as best as we can replicate it."
I took a sip of the cold drink, almost wanting to spit it out instantly. It was tremendously bitter, but I found myself chugging it down forcefully. Within minutes I started to feel alert, and my vision seemed to adjust to the darkness a lot better than it had before.
"What was in that?" I pondered. The drink had now given me some sort of anxiety.
"Chesto berries as you saw, and some Eyedrop seeds. It will help you see in the dark, see things you wouldn't normally pay attention to. Explorers use it all the time, although it's hard to get your hands on sometimes." He took a long sigh, hesitant to continue whatever plan he had thought up. "That's where you come in. This is our only chance to take back the ship." He got up, and motioned for me to walk with him.
"The holes you dug yesterday helped a lot," he continued. "As did the others the rest of the crew dug. We've been using them for ambushes all night, and they've worked to a great effect. We've taken their numbers down by at least twenty now."
"Is that a big number?"
"For a ship's crew, yes. That's about how many would operate a row of cannons. We've caught someone though, a prisoner who's at the right place at the right time. That's what the drink was for, and the waking up in the middle of the night. I want you to impersonate him."
"Wait, I'm sorry what? You want me to impersonate one of their guards?"
"Even better, a Grovyle. He was with a squad of them on the west side. Unlike the others, these guys surrendered immediately. You'll impersonate him as best you can, then get aboard their ship."
"The ship? How would I go about sneaking into that rat's nest?"
"There are two ships that have been circling the island, a large capital ship and a battalion one that's half the size. They have The Crouse as well of course, so we can't just go running in after it. The smaller ship has docked to the shoreline though, and it took The Crouse with it. So this is the perfect chance to get everything back, maybe even their ship too."
"Why would they dock to the shore?"
"Well to get more men ashore, to come after us. But I know for a fact that they're still preparing. So this is our only chance. You need to talk to the Captain. We need some sort of communication, what they're planning, their equipment, strategy, anything! He's a smart guy, he'll have overheard everything! But Sid there's no choice in this matter. I know you're an equal on this field for now, but I am ordering you to do this."
My heart was pumping as hard as it could, but I was still able to speak. "Okay, I'll do it." Something in my head persuaded me to accept the offer, even if I was being forced or not.
"I'm going to go get the other two, and get them to the south patrol. You meet up with Doc, he'll be in charge of the situation."
I gulped as I continued to the north, my stomach leaping in all directions. I knew I would eventually be meeting up with the Doc, but not now. My mind raced as I cleared distance. What would I say, how would I speak? Would they find me out instantly? I couldn't piece together once bit of sanity, and the closer I got to the northern patrol the worse I got. Until it finally all exploded, as I saw the group aim at me through the bushes.
I whistled the same tune the Quartermaster had been using, screwing up the notes as I shivered. The group lowered their muskets as I approached.
"Good to see a familiar face out here. Don't worry about the nerves we've all been strung up for days." He was a Marowak, with his signature bone huddled under his arm and cracks along the skull he wore. "I was told to take you to the prisoners. While we're here though, what was it like? The dungeon I mean." He was awfully curious for someone who barely knew me. Even in a place like this, word spread around the crew fast.
"The dungeon, it was…interesting."
"I'm glad to see at least some of us got some excitement from something a little less…risky." He seemed all too eager to speak, solitude could do that to you. Maybe it was the same for both of us, but I found a bit of peace in letting out a few words.
"Here he is," he announced.
Seeing the Grovyle was like looking through a mirror.
"I think the Doc has the armor," the Marowak spoke.
Just the thought of wearing it made me sick. Not that I hated it, it just felt too wrong. I couldn't just walk into that ship like this. I needed to know something, anything! Just to focus on that and blend in.
"Alright kid," I spoke nervously. "What's your name?"
"V-Vern," he stuttered. Luckily his voice was very similar to mine. His hands remained tied behind his back, making him twitch around every so often to get comfortable.
"Alright Vern, I want to know a few things about you." I sighed as softly as I could. He had a scar above his left eyebrow, and the leaves that cradled my head were almost nonexistent on him. "What happened to your head?"
"I cut it off, it got in the way." He had willpower, no doubt about that. He was in a situation that he couldn't bargain with though, the water was far above his head and he was probably watching his life flash by. If anyone was more nervous than our gang, it was him.
"That ship you came in on," I pointed. "What's it's name?"
"The Gallant."
"Alright, does the Gallant have anything on board that could be a little…difficult for us to overcome? Like a trap or a device, a weapon or something?"
"I-I don't know! I couldn't tell you anyway, t-they'll fire me and-"
"Alright, easy! No one is going to hurt you over anything here." I turned around to my crewmates to confirm that, but their sly little motions made it difficult to tell whether they were truthful or not. There was something missing though, I still couldn't just walk right in there. I shook like a hurricane, I would get spotted instantly. I needed something personal, something I could attach to in there.
"So Vern," I quaked. "What is…I don't know." I took a second to readjust myself. "What is your favorite color, what do you want to do, and…what are you doing here?"
My questions just made him more nervous. "Well…green I guess. I want to leave sailing now. I don't know what I'm doing though."
"What?"
"I mean what do you want from me? I don't know what I'm doing here, I took a contract and I'm doing it now. I have no idea where I'm being lead to."
"No dreams or aspirations, no one to go back to?"
"N-no, that's why I took it in the first place. Why do you care anyway? Y-you're not going to shoot me are you?"
"No, I'm gonna be you for a while."
I didn't dare to speak with him anymore. I could have told him it was okay, or that he would be safe, but who was I kidding? Even I didn't know that. Speaking to him revealed something to me, just how similar our two crews were. We were all just sailors, trying to make a living doing the most dangerous crap in the world. And now we had turned our work against each other. Our own little war had sprung to life in the middle of the sea.
"You ready?" the Marowak asked.
"Not yet, a few things we need to take care of. The missing leaf can be hidden with the helmet, but the scar…" My crewmate knew exactly what I was thinking of, and took off his bayonet. "Do it," I declared. After a few seconds of hesitation, I reassured him. He ran the blade above my eyelid, making a quick but painful cut. We waited for it to clot, and washed away the blood that had trickled down. It would probably be a permanent mark, but that didn't matter now.
The Marowak lead me to the tree-line right at the edge of the beach. It wasn't necessarily a beach, they had anchored the ship next to a set of rock that connected them to the shore. It was a massive ship, but behind it was The Crouse, which was equal in size. Although darkness protruded throughout the night, I could still see the feint flow of lanterns from the ship. I didn't think they were planning on sleeping anytime soon.
"Doc's just up the hill," the Marowak said. "He'll fill you in on the plan." He turned back around to the camp, wishing me good luck. I was now alone in the forest, watching the two ships as I crept carefully to the hill.
I didn't want to meet up with the Doc. He was probably fuming mad, and rightly so. I had gone against his wishes, to keep Timburr safe. Yet how was I supposed to do it to that extent? He was really the only other Pokémon I had truly known, outside of Doc that is. I came to him in a time of crisis, and we both came out of it alive. For as much as I tried reasoning it with myself, I just couldn't shake away that shame.
Even with the guilt that assaulted my thoughts, I still wondered why the Doctor would cling to the young guy so much. They weren't related in any way, and in any other situation they wouldn't get along. Yet for some reason he treated Timburr like family. Nevertheless, I picked up the pace to get the meetup over with.
Doc stayed hidden behind a set of trees, keeping is tail as low as possible. The bright fire that coincided with his pulse would have easily given him away. He was clever though, and kept it underneath a set of bushes. He was watching the enemy patrols as best as he could from a distance.
"Welcome back," he grumbled. Already, there was something off-putting about him. He was mad but he kept his cool, which made it even worse to talk to him. "The armor is in the bushes, go put it on." There was nothing friendly to his voice. It seemed to me that I was no more but an average crewmember to him now.
The armor fit snugly, as it would seeing as we were the same species and all. I made an effort to fold my leaves into the helmet, and I double checked to make sure the wound was dry.
"If you fake charisma, it'll come naturally. Just keep yourself upright and moving, talking to them is just like talking to anyone else. Hell, you could picture them as us." I could sense a little bit of sympathy still in his voice. He made sure to cover that up again. "There's a catch to this though."
"Which is what?"
He took a small seed out of his pocket. "We've decided to assault the ship as soon as the operation is over. This is a stun seed. If you can't make it out in time, break it and throw it out a window. That's our signal to move in. If you can get out though, get back here as fast as possible and tell us what's in store." There was an awkward moment of silence between us, before a very slight hint of a smirk appeared on his face. "Wait, you'll need a cover story." He took a stick and whacked it against my ankle. It took my entire brute force just to keep myself from screaming.
"Damnit! What was that for?"
"That's for what we'll talk about later!"
"Well you're pissed off anyway, so why not now?"
"Yes, I'm mad as hell, but it's not the right time to be arguing. I'm not gonna be petty, so go! You have a job to do and so do I, personal crap can wait." With that, he pushed me out of the bushes.
It was almost automatic, how I started to walk to the ship. If it had to continue like this than so be it, I'd earn back my trust with him through this mission. My veins felt like they would burst, yet I kept my cool. The armor shook and rattled with each footstep, giving away my position fast. Was it really necessary for them to use this in the middle of nowhere, with a bunch of criminals chasing after them in the jungle?
"Halt!" A voice cried out. I froze, my eyeballs practically popping from my sockets. "Who's there?" I looked ahead to see a shaded figure with a lantern. There was no going back now, the act had to carry on.
With a shrill of nervousness, I called out as calmly as I could. "It's Vern!"
There was silence, a cold, mysterious silence for a few seconds. "Oh," the voice said. I took it as a sign to move forward, and I hoped I was correct. The hooded figure became more apparent, and his body became visible. A Bisharp stood in front of me, although his demeanor was sluggish and rugged. "Sorry," he continued. "I haven't slept in ages, but what are you doing back here without your squad?"
"Uh…I twisted my ankle, so they sent me back."
He stayed still, watching me. Did he see through my disguise? Was I that apparent? He couldn't have, the old bastard had almost broke my leg to get me out here. Damnit, why didn't he speak?
"Oh," he repeated. Drowsiness had done terrible things to this Pokémon. "Well as long as you're here," he sluggishly murmured. He stopped mid-sentence and thought it over again. "Well as long as you're here, you can tell the captain how well the brigade is doing."
"What brigade?" Asking that felt like the biggest mistake of my life.
"The brigade you were with! Was it you who didn't sleep or me?"
"Right, sorry."
"Aw hell who am I kidding, sorry man. Just go see him, I'm too tired to talk anymore."
The ship was about the same size as The Crouse, and I could confirm this with the image of our ship just across the deck. I wished it was this simple, that we could just walk back on our craft and sail away from all of this. Deep down I knew it would never be this easy.
The floors were made of a fine wood. While our ship's floors were smooth and refurbished, this was rough and coarse. It had not been sanded down, and there was nothing added to make the wood silky. This ship was made for a military, so it was made quickly. It was better than nothing for these Pokémon I suppose. There was no quarterdeck, and no doors that lead to an elongated captain's quarters. The deck was absolutely clear of everything except for a few cannons and the pieces of wood that jutted upward for cover.
This ship was not build for one on one confrontations. Sure, it had cannons and all, but it's main purpose was transporting Pokémon. Each floor had long corridors of sleeping compartments, at least a hundred crewmembers slept here. A nervousness crept through me. If we had only seen thirty or forty soldiers on the island, including the ones that were now in the dungeon, then who knows how many were going to be detached from here?
I walked down the corridor, easing myself through the rows. I couldn't ask anything, not a single question. They would know I wasn't the real Vern straight away. Yet I couldn't just walk around aimlessly. What if the guard upstairs had told someone else about me? I needed to find the ship's cells before any of this escalated. Otherwise I'd have to talk to another one of the Pokémon on the ship.
"Hey Vern! Long time no see!" someone called. I turned around to a Wartortle who was running down the hall to greet me. My mind raced in a desperate panic as he ran. "Why are you back so early, twisted your ankle huh? I saw you limping there, did you get in a fight?"
"N-no not really, just tripped on a root or something."
"Aw, you probably missed out on some action out there! I wish I could've gone with ya, I'm stuck on cleaning duty till the end of-" He stopped halfway through his sentence and gave me the most suspicious look I have ever seen. "Say, you look…different."
"W-what do you mean?" I stammered.
"Well the colors gone from your skin, and you're slouched a bit too much. You okay?"
"Y-yea, I'm just t-tired is all. Yea, tired!"
He was still off putting, and I could sense something boiling up just waiting to happen. I slowly moved my hand into a fist, I awaited whatever would come next. Would this guy rush me? I was ready for the bastard!
He turned around, "Well alright, have a good night. Get some rest."
I should have let him leave, but in desperation I spoke. "H-hey wait a minute!" He turned around to face me, and suddenly it became a bit harder to speak. "You…you remember where we kept that captain?"
"Who?"
"The one we captured from that ship."
"Yea, he's down below. Why wouldn't you remember a thing like that?" he smirked.
"I don't know, I'm still drowsy is all."
"Yea well, get some rest then. Whatever it is you got against the guy can wait, we're sending the rest of the guys out tomorrow?"
"What, the rest of the crew?" I nervously asked.
"Yea, the captain made that clear an hour ago. We take off in the morning." He left me with an ache in my soul. We only had a few more hours before the bastards would take us out. Whatever we were planning had better work.
I snuck around the busy Pokémon. He was still on latrine duty, so no surprise that he was too preoccupied to see me walking to the lower floors of the hold. Heavens above, what a shock that was. Any weariness or worry manifested itself tenfold. I was on the second floor down, and in front of me lay even more sleeping pokemon. There had to be a hundred, no, two hundred down there. A city's worth of them were sleeping right under our noses. Whatever battles we were planning for tomorrow felt more like surrenders. I could only shiver as I snuck through the corridor. Down this hallway sat fifty of them on either side, just how many would have to die to deescalate this predicament?
I whispered to myself in desperation, the adrenaline had gotten to my head. "My name is Vern, I like green, I don't know what I'm doing. My name is Vern…"
Nothing, there was nothing at the end of that hallway, just a room for supplies like food and ammunition. The door adjacent to it revealed a multitude of muskets and flint-locks. Thousands upon thousands of guns were in here. A thought came to mind, a clever little plot to ease our battle. Yet as I heard more of them stir awake, I knew I had to let it go for the time being.
This time I ran down the corridor. I didn't care who heard me, or who awoke. If my disguise had worked once it could work again. I made it to the stairs, and descended to the third floor. There were just more troops. Another row of the sleeping crew found itself down here. Although this was only half the amount of troops as before, it was still a large enough number to take us all out on their own. Just how many were sleeping here total? We had thought them to be like us, just a ragtag group of about fifty Pokémon. It was apparent that they anticipated our numbers before they had even left their ports. What I would give to see the kind of wanted list we were on now.
The halfway point of the ship was marked with a wooden wall. A wooden door stood before me, it remained locked. I knew the moment I went through that door, it'd be impossible to keep my cover. It didn't matter at that point, I was dead either way.
So I made the only logical decision I had all day, I broke the door. It was particularly easy. All I had to do was form a leaf-blade, and cut around the lock. It opened gently, as if nothing had ever happened. Slowly I crept in, still remaining in the shadows. No guards were present, but there was still a multitude of Pokémon in here. I was in the holding cells, with at least fifty captives in here.
Immediately, one of them sprang up. "Hey it's a guard!" In a twinkling of an eye the entire room was practically standing up. I could've sworn they were going to make a ruckus.
"Easy, easy! I'm not a guard!"
"Aye, but ye' look just like one," a prisoner chirped.
I threw the armor off my body. "I don't care what you think of me, just don't give me away." It was clear that none of them were from around here. Thick accents and different looks reassured this. Still, I had to stop focusing on these minute details and cut to the chase. "Look," I spoke calmly. "Is there a Sceptile here? I need to speak to him."
A humbly quiet voice spoke from beyond my vision. "Sid?" Yet the prisoners remained in their spots, protecting the voice that was so familiar.
"Do you know who this guy is?" one of the prisoners asked.
The voice replied again, just as silent and cracked as before. "Yes, just let me see him." At his command, the crowd around him dissipated, and the Captain stumbled over to the bars.
"C-Captain!" I almost shouted. He was weak and bruised. Long, thick lashes embodied every inch of his skin. His bandages were muddy and full of grit, not from anything sterile to be sure. Although he was standing in pain and humility, it was merely a show. I could see it in his eyes, that angry passion that drove him onward. If anything could give me hope, it was those eyes.
I tried to place my hands on the bars, but it was impossible. There was an invisible energy that kept them in place, some sort of psychic block. They burned my skin, worse than any fire or heat could on the entire planet. Yet my skin remained clean, the power behind this cage was enough to challenge my own mind.
He finally spoke, his voice quiet yet still demanding the role he had put on himself. "What's going on?"
"Borat has a plan to get you out of here, but I needed to scout the ship first. More importantly, we needed to make sure you were ok."
He chuckled, "That bastard still has a few tricks in his bag, I'll give him that."
I looked him over, his body wobbling from several days of unrelenting stress. "My god, look what they've done to you."
"I didn't give in!" he spat. Rage began to flow through his lungs. "I kept my mouth shut with those bastards! They've done something Sid, something they'll regret when I'm out of here."
"That has to wait, I need to get back to the crew. Now, do you know anything about this ship?"
"They…cycle the guards every few hours, but they never patrol at night. If you strike fast you could take this thing over in less than a minute!" He lunged his head out from the bars. If his hands weren't tied behind his back, he would have lunged for my shoulders. "But Sid, Sid! Did you get the cymbals? That's all I need to know." A quick nod sent relief down his spine, but that ended quickly. His body shot up with dread, something had scarred his mind while he was still captive. "Sid, you have to understand something. I need you to relay this back to Borat, he's-"
The Captain shut himself up as footsteps resonated from above. He motioned to be quiet, and we could faintly hear what was going on above.
"That Pokémon that came through here, it's not him!"
"An imposter?"
"Where could he be?"
"That bastard we have in the cells, he has to be there!"
Before the Captain could speak I had already rushed through the door. My legs had a mind of their own, and I rushed for the stairs. Damn, they were already coming down! I rushed back into the shadows, creeping to the end of the room.
"Let's keep this low," one of them whispered. "I don't wanna wake the others up." They knew who I was, because of my species it was impossible to sneak right by their ranks anymore. Yet they made one critical error, having a conscience. They wouldn't wake their crewmembers up. The bastards were trying to get me in a corner. I could hear them, feel them. They walked slowly down the hallway. I remained hidden behind the wall of sleeping Pokémon. Peering around the corner with a single eye, I could see them halfway across the room. Their only light was the lanterns they held tightly.
I saw it in an instant. One of them motioned to his left, and two of them sprang to the other side of the room. Their intent was clear. They still thought I was inside the cell block. They were going to corner me between the doors, or so they thought. I searched for a break in their formation. To my left was the group of three, but on the right was the group that had splintered off. Only two Pokémon stood before me on the right.
I couldn't keep my head poking out any longer. Their light was reaching my position, and they would've spotted me in no time flat. I panicked, I really was cornered in! They approached from both sides, their footsteps grew louder and heavier. Their footsteps! I had found my salvation! I took a long breath, and held it. All that remained was me, the blood that rushed through my veins, and the vibrations that trembled through the wood below. If I couldn't see it, and if I couldn't trust myself to hear it, then I would feel it.
Fifty yards. They were still far enough to see me. I was going to wait for the perfect moment. Forty yards. My mind kept going, kept visualizing every single outcome. Thirty yards. Damnit, I needed to think straight. Twenty yards. No more beating around the bush, concentrate! Ten yards, eight, five. This was it, do or die. Three, two…
I swiped right where I wanted to. My body lurched to the left, my claws swinging faster than I could see. I hit right where I expected their hands to be. My hands clashed against their only lantern. For a split second, glass shimmered like diamonds, and the blood from my hands sparkled. I felt flesh rip in an instant, and a burn resonate deep in my palm. Nevertheless, I had done it. I had broken their only light source.
His shoulder was mine for the taking. I lunged for it, pushing him into the corner I once cowered behind. His buddy was too shocked to react. The corridor ahead of me was clear, I was free! I ran harder than I think I ever had before. The screams and yells from behind me faded into a blur, until one final sound resonated with me. There was a bang, and the entire crew was awake.
They had no chance of catching me. As they stirred and shook themselves awake, I was already climbing my way to the deck. The Bisharp still stood at the entrance. It was as if the gunshot hadn't even registered with him yet. I almost ran back across the Cliffside. Hell, I could've stopped and thanked him for the wonderful help he had given me in raiding his own ship, but a squadron stood in front of the drowsy Pokémon. They had tried to send another group of soldiers out into the wilderness. No wonder I had been found out, the place almost felt empty if not for the janitor and the sleeping army. They took one look at me and aimed down their barrels. The Bisharp didn't even flinch, if they actually fired he would've taken it like a true hero.
The flash seed! I had completely forgotten my mission in the haze of escaping. I ran to the other end of the ship, foraging through my bag for the foreign object. Once I had it, I looked up. They were right there, just five seconds away and charging fast. I cracked it, split the seed in half like a twig. A second passed, and I met the guards eye to eye. I could practically feel his breath steam up against me. Then, a flash, a bright light encaptivated us all. I fell to my knees. I couldn't see, it was all too bright. I had failed to look away, but there was no time to loose. They would've taken the same amount of time as me to get over the effect. So I made my choice, and I embraced a little bit of death. Lunging to my left, I charged into absolute blindness. My legs hit the railing, and my body tumbled forward. I fell towards the water, and prayed nothing would kill me.
There was a splash, and then an unbearable frost. I barely stopped myself from gasping. I would have drowned right there, the bright lights still haunting me to my death. I slowly sank. I had to wait for my vision to come back, just a few more moments. Just don't drown. I focused on the sounds from above, or wherever they came from. Beyond the white noise of the water, I could sense something was starting on the surface. A few more seconds passed, still just bright lights. I could feel my ears pop, still just flashing colors. My lungs begged for mercy, still just white noise. I felt my bottom touch the ocean floor, and my vision came back.
The surface was right above me, at least thirty feet away. I pushed away, breaking for the surface as fast as I could. I could feel this energy burst out of my chest, as my body was being pushed to its very limits. My mouth opened, i was automatically gasping for air. Water nearly touched my windpipe before I broke the surface.
I gasped for air as musket fire flared in my ears. The shoreline was littered with bright flashes every few seconds. The alarm had been raised, and the entirety of both crews had met at this one point. I couldn't stop now. Even if my body gave up I would still push on in spirit. I had to swim to shore, what little of it there was. I ran for the tree line, as the enemy aimed and fired straight at me. Just a few more feet, that's all I asked of myself. I tripped, and tumbled into the bushes for cover. My right shoulder littered itself with cuts and splinters, but I laid there peacefully. I coughed up what little water had entered me, and surrendered.
A shrill call ringed through my ears. Its long, narrow pitch and its deafening roar sent waves through a mind that no longer wished to be awake. "C'mon!" it yelled. It didn't feel like a demand, nor a suggestion. "Get on your feet, we're pushing in!" The voice pulled me up, a rush of spirit that overflowed within me. I woke up from my trance. Although I wished for slumber, this wouldn't be my chance. The forest was already alit with thunderous sounds. Alongside the muskets that fired away at the ship, a multitude of moves and abilities flew through the air. Fireballs and pieces of rock, orbs of aura or psychic ability, they shot from all directions from either side of the battle.
"Get up my friend!" the voice called again. This time I knew who it was. The sudden embrace of the Marowak enveloped my shoulders. "You okay?"
"Yea," was all I could muster. Skoro, that was the only word that echoed through my head. "W-where's Skoro?"
"Somewhere on the left flank, opposite side of the cliff my friend." He handed me the musket in his hands. "Once again, you have to hold this. I gotta get you back to the Doctor!"
We took off through the brush. This time iron and fire cascaded the night sky. We ducked every few feet, waiting for the hellfire to end, moving up during the pauses in their attack. A deafening yell overshadowed the musket fire, a battle cry that sparked morale through the crewmembers. The right flank was overflowing with spirit, as each sailor independently shot and reloaded their weapons. Every so often one of them would throw away their weapon, and continue battling with a long ranged attack. The few dragon-types we had fired away with their brimstone, and the only fire based attack came from where I knew Skoro had set herself down. Meanwhile, the enemy had the advantage when it came to their types. For a job that involved a lot of water, their crew had tons of fire-types. The shrill cry of gas came from the deck of their ship as they fired away in succession. A rain of fire and lava poured down into the tree line, sparking flames that set the forest alit. A few of our own water-types sprinted to dowse the flames.
Without even noticing it, I had splintered away from the Marowak. I was making my way to Skoro. I knew where she was, the flames that came from the south had to have been hers. I sprinted through the flora, the pain in my shoulder was practically nonexistent. There she was, and there was her piece of cover! A rock that protruded from the soil, that's where she threw her flames from! I rushed into the embrace of the rock, just nearly avoiding the pellets that flew at me.
"Are you okay?" I wheezed. My lungs were still not prepared for all this exercise.
"Yea of course, but what happened to you? You left all of a sudden."
I smiled, "I had a job to do. In fact, I just cheated death." I put my hands on her cheeks, grateful to know she was unharmed. I wanted to stay there, to sit like this forever. Not once did a thought of the past, or of regret run through me. I just wanted to hold her again. This little war could wait.
"Remorse later my friend!" The Marowak shouted. Within an instant he had caught up with me again, his hands pushing me away from her and further to my right. "I spoke to the Doctor, and he said to send you straight to the Quartermaster. Hurry friend!"
I didn't even have a chance to say goodbye. The Pokémon who had cared so much for me had dragged me out into the open, pulling me towards the Quartermaster's group. Borat stood alongside a line of ten Pokémon, who fired in equal timing at the ship ahead. He seemed truly alive, a stark contrast from the somber moments before the attack. This was him at his prime, his chance to redeem all of the crew's honor!
"Sir!" I yelled over the gunfire.
He turned to see me stand a few feet away, hesitant to go stand next to him in the open. He was in no position to speak himself, with the shrapnel of cannons missing him by mere inches. He backed off into the set of rocks I cowered behind. "Did you speak with Jonah?"
"Yes, the Captain is fine. They tortured him Borat, but he didn't break."
"Bastards! I'll cut them to shreds!" His loyalty was never yielding.
"We have to move quickly sir! There's at least three hundred men in that hold!"
His eyes shot up in fear, we had all estimated the crew to be no more than the size of our own. The twenty minutes or so I had spent on their ship signified just how well equipped they were.
"W-we can't just back away," he murmured. "We just got here damnit, this is our only chance!"
"Then what do you suppose we do sir?"
His thoughts were prevalent through his eyes, as they darted back and forth, piecing together a split second decision that would either be our winning move or our doom. "If this really is our only chance, then we take it!"
He stood up, and called to the line of Pokémon he commanded. "To me, on me!" They huddled around him, making a 'v' shape with him in the center. "First to enter and last to exit, let's go!" He called to our comrades in the brush, "Wait for their pauses and push up on my command!" The call was echoed throughout the forest, as the crew relayed it amongst themselves. We all made our way to the cliff that separated us from both the enemy and The Crouse. The Doc was still standing there, taking potshots at the enemy whenever he could.
"What's going on Sid?" he called.
"We're pushing when they stop firing, on the Quartermaster's signal."
"This is all too quick," he shook.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean this is all too surreal, there hasn't been one crewmember who's needed my help. Not a single one!"
There was no time to think it through. The order was given, and in the moments that passed after Doc's revelation, the enemy went silent. For a moment I thought the world had become absolutely still. The only sound I could hear was my own heart beating. But slowly, ever so slowly, my hearing adjusted, and I could faintly hear the noises that whispered from ahead. A collective set of silent cracks and clicks is what it was, the reloading of a musket.
"Charge 'em boys! Charge 'em!"
All fifty of us, both the injured and the well alive ran into the clearing. In three seconds we were all behind the Quartermaster, in five we were just a few feet away from the boarding ramp. We moved like cavalry, taking advantage of their panicked reloads. We overthrew them in a matter of moments, the deck had become our domain. When suddenly, an ambush! They crawled out of every space. The stairs to the hold, the mast and the mainsail, the very floor below us, if the deck was our domain than the rest of the ship was their booby trap and we had just walked right into it. The sound of a thousand guns rang out, along with countless moves and attacks that had been prepared in advanced. I saw our own boys in the front start to fall one by one. The line of troops that backed up the Quartermaster was almost nonexistent now.
"We can't hold out here!" he cried out. "Push for The Crouse!" With the order, our voices multiplied into the shrill yell that we called our own. Fifty voices sounded like a hundred as we passed the enemy lines as quickly as we could, still holding what little formation we had left.
"Kid, help me out!" Doc called. I saw him rushing for the sailors that had fallen to the first wave. I hesitated to help him, staying still would be death. "They won't shoot a medic, so come here!"
"Why do you say that?" I asked quickly as I dropped to his side.
"Pokémon are more moral than you think Sid. Now help me turn him over!" If I was in the middle of the formation, I was now near the back. The Doctor and I had only moments to check for any signs of life. "What the hell?" he quivered. He motioned me to feel the pulse, "You feelin' this? He was shot point blank and no wounds, just a bruis-"
His eyes shot wide open. With as much strength as an old Pokémon could pull from his lungs, he cried out with a crackle, "Fall back! They're hitting us with blanks, it's an ambush!"
But it was already too late. Calls from the front of the line revealed that the enemy had been preparing on our own ship. A line of cannons fired from our deck. Within the moment, those who were stuck in the front of the charge fell faster than before. The larger ship had already wrapped around the island and was making its way towards us. The enemy crew knew this before we had. Echoes from the back resonated as well. The enemy squadron that had descended into the island's dungeon was already out, and running towards our back flank. Anyone who was still stuck in the forest had surrendered by now, and we were sitting in the midst of one of the largest ambushes in history. A hundred soldiers appeared from both sides of the ship. They darted up from the stairs and the floorboards. They enveloped us, breaking our right flank. They charged at our internal ranks with the intent to stun rather than kill. All the while Doc and I could just sit and watch.
"Accepted it boy," he murmured. "It'll be over quick." A large brute of a Pokémon tackled him to the ground, and the butt of a rifle knocked me down cold.
Hundreds of years can go by in an instant, yet a week could feel like a millennium. Once again time held no meaning, and I found myself in the world of worlds, the place where all futures met. My unconscious mind couldn't understand why I kept going back there, and when I was awake I forgot about it in a matter of minutes. Yet the time I spent in here lasted an eternity, and only ended when I was satisfied with it. The Captain, the fights and the battles, the Quartermaster's pride-driven dilemma, they all seemed so insignificant compared to my own problems. There were two questions that revealed their nature in this place. Where was I, and who was I? And when I couldn't answer either, I woke up.
I awoke in a dark, wet room. A place that felt so familiar, but I couldn't remember why. I sat amongst a multitude of Pokémon, my crewmates and strangers, all of them tied up with their hands to their backs. Thick metal bars separated us from the outside world. I realized all too soon where I remained captive, in the hold of the very ship we had tried to commandeer.
Everyone in the cell ached with bruises and broken bones. Not a single comrade of mine was killed in the attack, but we had not gone unscathed. I peered around to see the room divided. On one side sat The Crouse's crew, and the other held the strangers that inhabited the cells before us. Our breaths were the first thing to notice, the air was thick from just how many Pokémon were trapped inside. There were no windows, and hardly any light was given to us. I felt like I would nearly choke from the lack of any real air, but it was clear that no such event would occur.
I scrambled around on my knees, looking for someone I knew in the dark. Had all of us made it on board, had they left some of us behind? I finally brushed up against the Quartermaster, his thick white coat was the first hint of his presence.
"Sir," I humbly spoke. "What's happened, how long has it been?"
"I don't know," he replied. Throughout all of our voyages, he was always so keen to speak. He never shied away from conversation, a quality that made him who he was today. Yet as we sat there with our hands behind our backs, it was clear that he had been silenced. The last of his pride was gone, he must have thought there was no hope to regain the trust of his own crew. For all of his broken valor though, they stood by him. Maybe it was something that was absolutely blind to him.
The only thing he spoke to me again was, "You've been out for about twelve hours."
It was enough time for anything to happen. Enough time for whatever shut the Quartermaster up to reveal itself. Something had happened in the morning that had stirred hopelessness into all our hearts. No one really knew what it was though, and I all too soon realized that whatever it was hadn't even visited us yet. It was the Captain. This entire time, he had remained seated with his head slouched on his shoulders. Not a word came from him. If he was as depressed as I suspected, then no wonder the crew had followed suit.
"Captain," I begged, dragging myself over to his side. "Captain you have to tell me what's happened."
"What do you mean?" he choked. There was hardly a voice to him anymore. It crackled and groaned to the point where his voice was unrecognizable.
"What happened on this ship? Who did this to you, and to us?"
He had gone mad. His silent giggles were uncontrollable. "You wanna know something funny? It's-"
The door would answer his own question. As several figures emerged, the Captain's expression turned to pure hatred as he glared down whoever had just entered. I couldn't make out who exactly it was, not a single trace of them was visible on the other side of the cell. An unknown number of footsteps found their way into the room, joining whoever had just entered.
Yet no one spoke, there was an unearthly silence in the room for a while. It seemed as if they had come just to view us, like we were some sort of commodity to be observed and watched. Before too long, they made their intentions known.
"Lieutenant Vernon," the voice began, almost immediately stopping. Lieutenant, no one had told me the other Grovyle was a lieutenant! Just how much trouble had I gotten myself into?
"Lieutenant," the voice restated. "You've stated that the Grovyle in the cell had attempted to impersonate you, yes? Now before you begin, could one of the privates please put on a light over there?" The Pokémon seemingly obeyed. A lantern shot up with a single flame, and the lieutenant was now observable. Although their side of the room was lit, the Pokémon asking the question was still cast in shadow.
"Yes sir," Vern replied. "He cut himself to take my appearance, but before that, he asked me several questions."
"What kind of questions lieutenant?"
"Well, personal questions. Like who I was and what I did on the ship. I never told him of my rank, but he never forced me to say anything else."
"Did they attempt to torture you?"
He took a while to answer, trying to find one that wouldn't come off as defending us. "Well…no. They were a very quiet group, didn't demand anything of us when we were captured. The Grovyle, he just asked me very politely and I replied."
"Why did you?"
"Well, I feared for my life."
"And did they threaten your life?"
"Never, not even when the Grovyle left."
"I see." The voice had begun to sound ever so slighting sarcastic, almost mocking us with this courtroom setup. "Lieutenant, you may return to your bunk. Your crewmates are worried about you."
"Thank you, but how do you know that sir?"
"…Just leave us please."
There was something off about the hidden Pokémon. It was clear now, that he had cast himself into the shadows on purpose. The lantern was a ruse to keep us guessing, no, not all of us. I turned to look at the quartermaster, who began to share the same look the Captain held. His shock ridden face revealed that he had heard the voice before, that it was someone who wanted to make themselves known. Keeping themselves in the shadows was just a plot to strike fear into the sailors who knew him the most.
"Captain Monroe, would you please step into the light?"
A tall, prideful Typhlosion stepped forward. His back sparked a little, revealing his tenacity for a mere second.
"Captain, how many of your sailors were lost in this endeavor?"
The fiery captain scoffed, "Twenty-two on the island, fifteen during the raid. That's thirty-seven dead in total." There was no mistaking it. The voice was the same as the one on the larger ship. It was the voice that started this bet in the first place.
"You…" I heard Borat mutter.
"'Ello blinky, miss me yet?" He had just finished listing his own crew's losses, yet he remained as sly as ever. With a wink to us, he stepped back into the shadows.
"Thank you captain, all of you may leave now."
A decently sized group of footsteps left the room. All that was left was us, the lantern, and the voice.
"My, my, I never realized what a business you had going for yourself Jonah." Confusion sparked through all of us. Borat's expression twisted for the worse, realizing something I hadn't yet. "I have to say, the speech you made in my honor was a little touching, if not for the indifference of course. But where are my manners? Let me turn on a light for you."
The mysterious voice became footsteps, moving towards the left-hand side of the room. A match was struck, and his figure became known. He was fully visible now, a lantern now illuminating the rest of the area. A Hypno stood before us, his cold demeanor glared over each one of us.
"You!" I gulped. "But you were dead! You had a hole in your head, there was blood everywhere!"
"Ah but don't forget the bloody paper," he reminded. "There was a paper drenched in my blood as well. Or have you forgotten?"
"Y-you were laying down in a pool of blood! I could feel it, smell it even!"
Hypno chuckled, "Even the greatest detectives in the world cannot detect what a psychic-type can create. Didn't you notice the most glaring issue? The paper was covered in my blood, lying in the puddle, yet it remained dry."
There was something wrong with this picture. What the Hypno suggested was absolutely insane, but if he was standing before us then it had to be true. We had hallucinated the entire event. The blood, the body, it was all in our heads. I think it affected the Captain the most, as he was the one who mourned for his friend's loss. To find out it was all a trap had to be a truly disgusting feeling.
"I have to say, I was touched by your reaction to my death, Jonah. Almost immediately, you wanted to find whoever did that to me. I admire that, it's one of your better qualities."
"Bastard!" the Captain roared. "You were my boss, my comrade! I trusted you, I trusted all of you!"
The Hypno became very somber, no longer wishing to keep up a sarcastic façade. "You had every right to…"
"How much," Jonah hissed. "How much did they pay you do drag me in here?"
"They didn't pay me at all. In fact, it cost us something. Two million poke in gold…" His face showed guilt, the kind one couldn't easily keep hidden.
The Captain growled with rage. Somehow he had unbound his arms, and he lunged for the Pokémon in front of him. There was murder in his voice, as he sobbed between breaths. He was encaptivated in an absolute rage, and the only thing that kept him from killing the Hypno right there, were the bars that held him hostage. The aura was nothing to him, he became an animal. The burns that should have encaptivated his body were nothing, his anger blocked off all his pain.
The Hypno stepped back, seemingly uninterested in how the Captain had unbound himself. Jonah continued to rage, probably unable to understand the Pokémon in front of him. Nevertheless, his somber explanation continued.
"They found out, Jonah. They found out about the gold, the ship you sank. The crew that you didn't already kill survived, and they repeated everything to the heads at the top." He chuckled morbidly. "They want my head, if I can't get back the gold. So what choice do I have? I'm sorry Jonah, I really am. I had no choice."
The captain stretched himself as far as he could, still intent on killing his former ally.
"The island," Borat spoke, taking the Hypno's attention. "Why did you lead us to the island then?"
"It seemed like a perfect spot. It was away from civilization, away from any bystanders or neutral parties. I already had intent to come here anyway." He pointed to Jonah, "And seeing his reaction here, he would have probably burned down anything in his way."
"But why make us get the cymbals? You left so many clues leading to it."
"What? No, I never intended for you 'mercs to get it. That's why I sent my own crew in there. Well, until I realized you had already stolen it." He took a piece of paper from his bag, and extended it for the bear to see. "We have a mission from the guild over on the Grass Continent. They wanted the object for research, and the duo who originally found it are too old to go hunting for it themselves."
"But why work for them? I thought the Coalburners were only interested in their own affairs."
For some reason, the Hypno still carried some sort of respect for our group. It was clear as he spoke to the Quartermaster, maybe it was why he revealed so much.
"We were," he began. "But it's clear now that not everyone trusts us, one of our biggest secrets is how we started the 'country.' We cannot afford a war though, it would cost too many lives on both sides. So that's where I got my job, managing a few groups to clean up our own messes, and forming a relationship with the Grass Continent. If we can get ourselves an ally, then maybe we'll survive long enough to truly call ourselves a country."
"Then why torture him? The spy I sent in here found him this way. If you really did know we would come here-"
"What? No, I'd never torture him. Trying to beat information out of him would be useless anyway." He looked down to the Captain, still straining to get himself out of the prison and cut the Hypno down to size. "As soon as he saw me, he couldn't contain himself. He killed three of my best crew with his bare hands, and even then it took a dozen of us to knock him out. I knew you'd pull a trick like that, but this…surprised me."
He still refused to speak to the Captain, I don't think there was any merit to do so anyway.
"Then what now?" Borat humbly asked.
"Well, we'll turn you into the Guild in Treasure Town. I think that's the only real option here, you are the ones who found the instrument and know how to use it. Your ship will probably be scrapped or sold, and you'll go one of their prisons. If they have one that is, crazy bastards over there are too nice." They both chuckled over that thought. They weren't really enemies I suppose.
"I'll arrange something though. Please understand Borat, this wasn't my intention, I had no choice. After ten years, I didn't want it to end like this." He took a long sigh, almost hesitant to go. "Goodbye…Jonah."
He walked out, closing the door behind himself. The room became morbidly silent, for such a long time too. The lanterns ran out of fuel, their light died in the unending silence. Captain Jonah had worn himself out. His body was draped over the bars, never ceasing to stretch up and down as he caught his breath. The Hypno had subdued the aura's effect, knowing full well the Captain couldn't move.
The first words spoken in over an hour were a quiet remorse. "Well," the Quartermaster sighed. "That's it then."
"No…" the Captain panted. "Not yet…I'll kill 'em all."
Borat wouldn't reply, nor would anyone else. The next day would pass like this, time almost nonexistent. One action alone revealed the crew's intentions, one desperation showed our true intent- a captain behind bars, longing for revenge.
News would spread through this ship like wildfire, echoes that carried weight, same as it had on ours. We could hear it from the other side of our cells, from the crew that spoke to each other through the hallways. Our ship remained intact, not a single piece of equipment stirred onboard. Yet the cargo we had carried for years on end was finally removed. The gold was taken away from our hold, and cast into the larger ship. The Gallant would remain steadfast, keeping its course towards Treasure Town's shore. The two of our ships would remain locked together, with guards patrolling the decks and holds of each. The larger ship still remained a mystery, its name lost in the battle we had endured. It did not wish to stay very long with us, and within the first day it had already set sail back to the island. Its crew and its cargo would never see us again.
One last thing would resonate in our own cell, one fleeting statement that kept me silent for the entire trip. The Gallant's crew had used nonlethal weaponry to subdue us, but our sailors still had one casualty. Although rubber, a stray pellet had struck the Marowak in the skull that molded to his face. It cracked in two, and he died instantly.
Three days had passed, three long and enduring days that never seemed to move. It was a time of reflection, or maybe even regret. During those last few days I huddled against Skoro. We rested, back to back, a subtle hint of affection. Yet neither the crew nor Timburr had realized the bond we secretly shared. It remained romantic to the both of us, seeing as how secretive it was. Although we couldn't sleep from the sickness that churned in our stomachs, she found the strength to whisper one last thing to me. One final set of words that, for what situation we were in, sparked a small bit of hope in my soul.
"I promise you, I'll find a way out of this for both of us."
The nights became long and tedious. I never knew the distance between ourselves and the ports of Treasure Town, but I counted down every minute of the journey. Anything could happen there, the past had seemingly caught up with me. A week would pass, maybe more. No one dared to speak, not the Captain nor the Quartermaster. Not a single question, or a plan to escape from this mess. The Captain kept his form against the bars, still lingering in his defeated state. No Pokémon had the nerves to comfort him, to talk him out of this depression. If anyone could plan their way out of this mess, it was him. Yet he remained in defeat, and if that was the case then the crew would follow him in their own defeat.
Borat had his own intentions though. As far as I knew him, he was the planner of the group. So in the absence of paper and pen, his eyes would dart back and forth for days on end. He seemed to wrap his head around it all, the betrayal, the plan Hypno so easily shared with him, our eventual fate in prison. Either he was trying to get the truth for himself, or he was finding a way out of there.
"Hey," a voice spoke up. It was thick in accent, from someone who hadn't learned to speak properly. Their words were ones that were learned from experience rather than schooling, showing the pronunciation of a true sailor. His voice rasped, and he spent more than a minute coughing. The voice showed signs of age, one that came from an age of myth and glory. A Pokémon finally stepped out of the way, having checked on the elder for what was wrong. The elder stood up, a Sawk in form, but one that had never trained in martial arts. He bore no robes that revealed that nature, instead taking the clothes of a common sailor. There was no need to bind him, the old man was too fragile to run as it were. Propping himself on his cane, he began to limp towards our crew.
"You," he began. "You are not like us. You do not bear the dirt 'n grime that we share."
"What…do you mean?" Borat intrigued.
"While we belong on this ship for our own deeds, the blood 'n our hands, you have none of that. Who are you really?"
"Privateers…"
The old Sawk chuckled. "Privateers eh? Takin' ransoms from the highest bidder, killin' a sailor for a contract, is that the life you chose? You're maybe half the type we are."
"And what would that be?"
"Thieves, murderers, pirates…" The Sawk circled back to his crew, inspecting ours as he did so. "What you do for a paycheck, we've been doin' out of obligation."
"No!" the Captain snapped. "You and I are much the same."
"Jonah-"
He motioned for the bear to keep quiet, kneeing his way over to the elder. "What we do is exactly alike, just two names that separate us from each other. We've stolen, and cheated and killed, all for a bidder yes. Just as you do the same for yourselves. Let me make something clear though. On our side of the book, what we do is legal. That's why we are called privateers, not because we kill for glory, but for money. We are the mercenaries of the sea!" His pride returned in his words. Talking to this stranger brought something back in him, whether it be through anger or not.
"Legally huh?" He sat back down among his crew. We were not as beaten and broken as they were, each of them was missing something of themselves. "I'm presuming that the psychic was your client before, right?" He took the captain's silence as a yes, "Do not think he cannot listen in on this room right now."
The captain huffed out words he took trouble in saying. "I have no more attachment with that Pokémon."
"I never knew what a privateer really was," the old Sawk continued, almost unaware of what the Captain had just said. "I just assumed that all the ships that came fer' us were of naval decent. So in that sense, thank you fer' removing my competition. But while it's in my head, you said 'legally' right?"
The Captain nodded.
"Then, if there was ever a chance of us leaving the prison we will of course be stayin' in, is there a chance of a little 'arrangement' between the both of us?"
Captain Jonah bore the most devilish grin I had ever seen in my life, stretching far beyond anything he usually showed. "I'll say it once, very clearly for you to hear. If you help us get out of this very cell, I will personally make you one of my own crew."
Something shifted in the Sawk. It was clear he wished to remain in secrecy, but the Captain was so forward, so outgoing, that the entire plot was clear for anyone in the vicinity. The elder almost seemed to bear the same grin as the Captain, taking to heart his tenacity and almost assaulting nature. "Well, I see-"
The door at the end of the room creaked to life, revealing an all too familiar face. Lieutenant Vernon stepped into the room, setting himself down on a bench that resided on the floor. "Alright, you have twenty minutes before we reach port."
The elder retreated back into a casual pose, his back settling into the wood he leaned on. With one swift motion, he looked to the Captain, and nodded in approval.
Something was up though, and both sides of the cell could see this. The Lieutenant stood up, nervously picking away at the palm of his right hand. He gulped several times, trying to conceive something in his head.
"You," he said, motioning to me. I dragged myself towards the bars, hoping the Grovyle wasn't wishing for revenge.
He spoke in a low voice, softly enough that most of the room couldn't hear. "Unbind yourself."
"What?"
"I'm not stupid. We're the same species, we have the same claws, so unbind yourself." After I did so, he demanded for me to put my hands outside of the bars. He looked around the room, most notably behind him, before continuing. "I've been demoted. They've put the entire responsibility of your capture on my head, when I wasn't even involved. I'm a private again, and even worse, I've been put on permanent guard duty."
"I thought the cells didn't need guarding."
"They were saving it for someone 'special'…" He shivered for a moment, "So I want a little payback, so why don't you Pokémon start that for me?"
Without a word of explanation, I felt a cold shock rush through my hand. Something metal had been placed in my palm, and looking down, I saw it was the key to the cell. Still without words, he moved backwards. For a moment I shook as much as he did, before getting a hold of myself and moving for the door. I turned the key slowly, still cautious if this was a trap. Yet he remained still, never moving outside of his nervous spasms.
"You know," I spoke softly. "You're not exactly lieutenant material."
"It seems like I was never supposed to be." He handed me his gun, assuring me that it was not loaded. "You need to knock me out, they'll be too suspicious in the investigation. My life is over as it is, but I want some leeway."
"Are you sure?" I asked. He nodded hesitantly. I looked him over one last time, before thanking him. I gripped the barrel in my hands, the butt of the stock as far away as possible. I gave him one good whack across the head, and he was out cold. I didn't care what the situation was, or that he had given me the permission to do it. In that moment, it felt like the most evil thing I had ever done.
I turned to see both crews still sitting in the cells, maybe too shocked to do anything about the open door. In a flash my crew began to bolt for it, making little room for the other occupants. The Captain was the last to exit, leaving the pirates in the cell to follow. Before they could though, he turned to face them. His mere presence stopped them in their tracks, and the elderly Sawk hobbled towards the front of the crowd.
"Does our agreement still stand?" the Captain asked.
The Sawk grinned once more, "Well, it was your crew that opened the door."
"Then it's settled," and the Captain moved out of the way.
The movements of the ship became awkward, a sign that we were mere minutes away from docking with land. The pirates stood at the door, waiting for the signal from their leader.
"My crew will lead the way, out of obligation for our escape. We just need some…information."
He needn't say more. "The armory is one floor above," I relayed.
"Excellent, you'll have to be patient with me though. I am an old Pokémon, although my crew will be far ahead of me, I'll have to go at my own pace."
"Stay behind me then, our side of the bargain," the Captain replied.
There was no need for planning, the pirates already knew of The Crouse and its location. If things went according to plan, we would have control of both ships before we even touched the port.
With that, the raid had begun.
