Recap: After leaving Domino to rest in peace, May, Drew and the Captain begin to send people toward the back of the cruise, where the evacuation would take place. Also, Drew and May find out that Charlie is missing.

Drew POV.

"Go evacuate the others. It's not safe here," I said urgently to May, but as usual, she didn't budge. Why couldn't she understand how much her safety meant to me? I jerked my chin toward the back of the cruise. "Go, May. Quit being stubborn."

"Quit being stubborn?" May snorted, and placed her hands on her hips. "Like you of all people should be talking about being stubborn, Mister! I am not letting you go alone; it will be faster with the two of us, anyways."

I sighed in defeat. There was no way I could get through May's thick skull, especially not with the amount of time I had left. I glanced down at my pokegear and a chill ran down my spine. I turned to May. "Well if you're coming, let's go! We've only got three minutes till the bomb explodes!"

We looked for Charlie everywhere, literally. We yelled his name, looked under tables, anywhere he could possibly be. But he was nowhere in sight. My forehead was drenched in sweat, but I didn't care to wipe it off and fix my hair. With a bomb ticking and a very important child missing, appearance was not the issue.

"Charlie! Come out, we need to get you to safety!" yelled May beside me. It must have been the hundredth time we'd called his name by that point. "Oh Charlie! It's May and Drew!"

I kept glancing down at my pokegear, counting down the minutes and seconds we had left. 1:02... 1:01... 1:00... 0:59...

"How much longer Drew?" May asked hurriedly. We were sprinting down the hall towards the rooms near the captain's office, the only place we hadn't checked for Charlie. "Over a minute?"

"Just under a minute," I answered back, and she grimaced. Neither of us liked the situation we were in. May and I finally arrived where we'd left Domino, panting. Low on breath, I desperately called out the little boy's name again.

This time, we got a response.

"Doo? Doo!"

We heard his call from the room across the Captain's room. In the room were many gas tanks and gears ticking about. It was a wonder how he'd gotten there, but it definitely wasn't the moment to be thinking why he was there, rather than focussing on the fact that Charlie was there.

May's the first to run into the room, and she embraced Charlie with a hug. She was hugging him so tightly, and I had to force a little cough to end their reunion. May blushed when she realized that with barely any time left, hugging the boy was the not the best idea. She turned to him and said in a very stern tone, "Charlie, I need you to listen to me. We have to go. Drew and I will take you to your mommy and daddy. It's not safe here."

I wasn't sure if the youngster had any idea what May was saying, but judging by his nodding, I assumed that Charlie sensed the seriousness of her words. I scooped up the boy from the floor and jerked my head toward the door. I told May, "We have to leave now."

The three of us hurried out the door, Charlie tucked away in my arms. I could feel my arms shaking of fear. But the fear wasn't for me. It was for May. Losing her would be like losing my soul. And honestly, I'd rather be dead than soulless.

Just as we were about to make a turn leading to the staircase, I decided to glance down at my watch.

Shit.

0:05...

"May," I called out desperately. "The bomb! We need to get away!"

0:04...

My panic reflected in her eyes. "HOW MUCH LONGER?"

"Three seconds!"

0:02...

"GET DOWN!" I yelled. May did as I said and I put down Charlie next to her, covering them with my own body. There wasn't enough time for us to get away. My only hope was that somehow I would be able to shield them from the impact of the bomb, however large that would be. Under me, I could feel May's heart pounding as hard as mine was.

0:01...

And then it went off.

May POV.

I'm sorry I couldn't say goodbye, Drew.

Because I'm dead. The ringing my ears are a sign from heaven or hell, surely. Probably hell, considering the amount of heat I feel blazing around me.

"May, get up," someone whispered by my ear. So I'm not dead. I felt fingers clasp on my shoulders, shaking me roughly. "Damn it, get up!"

My eyes started to flutter open, and my eyes adjusted to the sight in front of me. Only an inch away from me was Drew, his eyes filled with the most worry and panic I had ever seen. I lifted my hand to caress a scrape on his cheek. He winced at my touch. I laughed so soft I could barely hear myself. "I'm not dead?"

"No, you're not. Neither is Charlie." Charlie. How had I not noticed that there was a toddler crying next to me? Drew tore his gaze away from me and picked Charlie up off the floor with one arm. "I know you're not too fit to run at the moment, but we have to get out of here!"

It only took a second for me to register why. The explosion of the bomb had not only wrecked a portion of the cruise, but had also caused the light the cruise on fire, something most likely to do with the gas tanks that were in the room Charlie was in. The fire licked anything it touched, and the blazing heat was getting to me. My heart pounded against my chest, and at that moment I was afraid. Afraid of dying. Afraid of losing Charlie and my Pokémon.

And afraid of losing Drew.

The thought of losing him drove me into motion.

We ran. Or tried to run at the very least. Pillars of fire engulfed us, scorching our skin. At first we had Wartortle aiding us, but there was too much fire for even my great water Pokémon to handle. But we pushed on forward, fighting flames and wreckage. We kept running toward the nearest exit till Drew raised a hand for us to stop. His shoulders were shaking, and it only took me a split second to figure out why.

We had reached a dead end.

We had two options. One was to go back the way we'd come from. It was possible, but risky considering the rate at which the fire was spreading. The second option was to continue on forward. The only problem was that there was a gigantic hole in the floor between where we stood and the other side.

"We've got to go back," I said. Glancing into the hole, I saw that if we fell, we would land on the first floor which was now covered in water. Not to mention the four meter distance between us and the surface of the water. I pulled at Drew's arm and repeated that we needed to go back. "Fire's spread all the way over here, Drew. It's cornered us. And we can't get down... especially not with Charlie here. We need to get back before it gets worse."

"But May, look. If we could only get past here, we'd be able to go straight to where everyone else is," he murmured. Drew's eyes flickered around, seeking a way to get over. "If the space were a touch bigger, Flygon or Blazekin could have gotten us over."

"Rose?"

I saw absolute terror flash across Drew's face before he turned to see Roserade. Neither of us had noticed her come out of her pokeball.

"Get back in your pokeball, Roserade. Please," Drew begged, but Roserade shook her head. She was determined; I could tell by the glint in her shiny eyes.

Roserade closed her eyes. When they opened, I was suddenly hit with such a powerful force of petals. Petal dance. Blinded by the pink petals storming around me, I wasn't conscious of the fact that she was lifting us to the other side until I got there.

"Roserade, why..." Drew was mumbling. It was unclear to me whether he was speaking to himself or said Pokémon, who smiled sadly from the other side. Fire had caught up to her and had begun seizing Roserade as its victim. She had clearly sacrificed herself for us. But Drew was not going to let that happen.

"Go Masqerain! Get Roserade!" he yelled, throwing a pokeball into the air. It was times like this when I really appreciated his ability to work under pressure. Masqerain flew past us quickly and carried scorched Roserade to us. Drew returned Masqerain quickly after giving her a thanks.

"Why? Why did you do it?" The question was not needed to be asked; even an idiot could have figured out why Roserade risked her life for us. Drew transferred Charlie into my arms and picked up Roserade. "I could have lost you."

"I hate to break it to you but you're going to lose all of us if we don't get out of here," I told him. As much as I wanted to give them a moment and wanted to give weeping Charlie a break, I knew it wasn't the time. Our lives were on the line. "C'mon, let's go."

Drew POV.

"Charlie!"

A streak of coral pink hair rushed past me, followed by purple. I turned back to see a family finally united in the midst of chaos. May stood awkwardly beside a weeping Harley. She met my gaze and came toward me, sighing. "Roserade okay?"

"Better now," I said, shifting her weight in my arms so May could see Roserade's condition. The burns were still painful for her, but I knew she would survive in terms of injuries.

"That's good," May replied as I returned Roserade to her pokeball. She fidgeted with the material of her dress, the exact one she'd worn at the ball. Burnt and torn, it was a complete mess. But May being May somehow managed to pull it off. She looked up, noticing that I was staring at her dress and grinned. "Guess I'll have to get a new dress once we get home, huh?"

I couldn't find it in myself to agree. I honestly wasn't sure if we'd even ever get to see home again. From where we stood, I could see the destruction the explosion had caused. About a quarter of the cruise near the center was a wreck. There was a hole in the cruise below the surface of the water, where I assumed the bomb had exploded.

Ah... So that's why the cruise feels exceptionally unstable. It's sinking.

Somebody coughed with purpose behind May and I, getting our attention. Looking tired and beaten, the Captain smiled at us like it was the last thing he wanted. "Do you two have a moment?"

When we nodded, he squeezed us through a crowd of people where there were the least people. The only people near us were an elderly couple who seemed oddly cheerful despite the situation.

"I want to first thank you for saving me, as well as helping bring people here," he paused for a second to let his word of thanks sink in. "And I want to apologize, not only to you but to all of the people who have been affected by today's tragic events."

"Its fine-"

"But is it, May?" the Captain asked, so soft I almost couldn't believe he was the same man that had been laughing and grinning earlier at the ball. The Captain paced a few steps before continuing. "No, it is not. My prized cruise is sinking. Eventually it will sink so fast, too fast for us save everyone."

"Captain-"

"Let me finish," he said, shutting both May and I up instantly. "I'm an old man. I've lived a long time on the sea, I know how ships sink. At first it's barely noticeable; but then it goes down. Judging by the gigantic hole near the middle where the bomb exploded, I'm guessing that the cruise will split in half. Most of the cruise will be dragged down by the middle, you see. And unfortunately, we can't have support here for quite some time because of the distance we are from any sort of civilization."

"Not to be rude," I cut in. May shot me a piercing look, but I continued anyways. "But you didn't call us over just to tell us we're dead, did you?"

"No, not quite." Not quite? He must have seen through me because he gave me a weak smile. "As you might have noticed, some people have already been evacuated by small boats we have on the side of the cruise. But we don't have enough for everyone. We've tried to organize groups so that some people could go on their large flying or water type Pokémon, but even with Pokémon not everyone will make it."

"Why are you even telling us?" The words had spilled out of my mouth before I could stop myself. May smacked my arm, but I didn't bother snapping at her for hitting me. I did deserve a hit for that one.

"Because if there would be a moment to exchange any last words, this would be the time," he chuckled sadly. "Thanks for everything, you two. And... Don't bother coming after me. I will die as an honourable, proud man with my cruise."

"But Captain!" May looked like she was on the verge of tears. "You can't just-"

The captain leaned forwards and whispered something in her ear, so softly I couldn't hear a word he said. May's change of a panicked expression to a sad smile was all I got from their small conversation.

"Good bye," he said, turning his back to us. This time, May didn't object. I saw his figure disappear through the crowd of people, and I could have sworn he stood much more confidently than I had ever seen him.

Even with all of the hectic noises around us, I still heard May sniff beside me. I reached down and squeezed one of her hands.

She squeezed right back.

Solidad POV.

I tried not to cry. But reuniting with the most precious person in your life is something hard not to cry about.

"Don't cry baby, don't cry," mumbled Harley from beside me. But I couldn't tell who he was speaking to. We were all completely drenched in our very own tears. Even little Charlie.

I looked up from Charlie's face when a man shouldered past me toward the emergency boats. There were only two left, each able to carry approximately a dozen each. But one was already loaded and taking off to some near land, which made only twelve more spots available for people to escape by boat. However, there were still over a hundred people left on the cruise.

"Harley," I whispered, making him raise his eyes to meet mine. His soft, innocent eyes only made the sick feeling in my gut intensify. My whole body was shaking, and he had to place a hand on my arm to steady me. "There's only one boat left. And even with some people's Pokémon... I don't think... I just..."

I broke down. I, the confident and unshakable Solidad, was afraid. Afraid that Charlie wouldn't make it out alive. But what if he did? What if somehow he made it without Harley and I? What it he was adopted by some cruel foster parent?

"We'll make sure Charlie gets out alive." Harley's words had echoed my mind. He delicately wrapped an arm around ever so gently, soothing me. "Even if we somehow don't make it... At least we'll die knowing that we protected what was most important to us, right?"

"But what if he gets a horrible foster parent? What if he doesn't know how to defend himself? Harley, we were both bullied as kids. What if he get picked on as well? We only survived because we had such supportive parents! What if-"

"We'll make sure he gets to someone we know, hun. Don't you worry." It felt so weird to me that Harley was acting like such a strong father figure. Of course, he loved his son just as any perfect father would, but never had he come out as a strong center to guide the family. "Hey, you know what I think? I think that maybe I found the perfect foster parents."

I didn't even need to ask who. Following his gaze, I saw none other than our favourite pair. Their intertwined hands were like a bond holding them up together against everything that was thrown their way.

"Last call for emergency boat!" A voice through a speaker rang in our ears. "Only accepting those with minors!"

I looked at Harley and he nodded. Holding our family tightly together, we shoved through the crowd to our friends.

SO SO SO SORRY. THIS UPDATE IS SO FREAKING LATE, ACCEPT MY APOLOGIES READERS. Lack of inspiration, musical, school & personal problems have made me lose complete track of fanfiction.

But I am back (yay!). Hopefully my next update will be soon.

This chapter was longer than my usual because I figured since I haven't updated in awhile, I might as well give you a nice and BIG update.

Let me know what you thought :) It sort of dragged on at the end, but I didn't want ALL the action in one chapter so... You'll have to wait till another update :D