April's Team: Mars; Burn (Charizard); Thunder (Electabuzz); Happy (Lombre); Sam (Riolu/Latios)

James' Team: Gardevior; Ninetails; Nidoqueen; Treeko; Corey (Mewvee)

Lucien's Team: Soul (Lucario); Vesuvius (Typhlosion); Draco (Shiny Dragonite);Tia (Latias); Shogun (Samurott)


POV: Mars

I ran towards the exit, Rose close behind me. The first priority now was warning the captains of the boat of the impending danger, whatever it may be. How we were supposed to do that without knowing what was coming, I don't know. Humans didn't understand us, and normally didn't even get when we were trying to warn them. I cursed and glanced at April as I ran past. She was laughing at something Lucien had said, along with James and that reporter, Anna. She caught sight of me out of the corner of her eye, and a concerned look crossed her face.

"Mars, where are you going?" April yelled. I ignored her and kept running, dashing out of the ball room and into the hallway.

"Which way?" Rose asked. I looked down either hall, and then looked at one of the signs humans posted. As best I could tell, the sign didn't say anything about the captain's quarters, or whatever it was that the captain was at.

"I don't know." I muttered. "I assume it'd be up towards the front, but..." Rose took off down the hall, leaving me to chase after her.

"The front is this way!" She yelled over her shoulder. A small voice in my head said that it was the wrong way, but I ignored it, following Rose. I could dimly hear April's footsteps behind me, but I ignored them. We ran and ran, passing countless doors, but didn't seem to get anywhere. Eventually, we managed to get outside, stepping out onto a side deck. Rain poured from the pitch black heavens, pounding onto the side of the ship like a million tiny hammers. "What...? How? I was sure we were going towards the front." Rose muttered. I glanced down either path, and sighed.

"Well, at least it's a decently straight path now. The front is this way." I said, turning and racing off down the deck. Rose turned and followed, while April's voice could be dimly heard.

"Mars, wait for me!" She shouted. I ignored her cries and kept running, racing down the deck. How long was this stupid boat anyways? Eventually we came to the back end of the ship; I had led us the wrong way. I cursed and shook my head, noticing for the first time that my thoughts were muddled.

"Nice work, genius!" Rose shouted, and raced off back down the deck. I shook my head, trying to clear my head. My sense of direction must be off. But why...? I cursed, realizing that I had let my thoughts stray, and raced after Rose, passing April.

"Mars, what's going on?" She asked worriedly as I raced past.

"No time to explain!" I yelled back, pushing myself to run faster. Rose made a hard left, heading into the ship, and I followed. Crack. I stumbled backwards, shaking my head on impact and glaring at the door that had just opened. A sailor poked his head around, and smiled at me, laughing.

"Whoops. Sorry about that, Absol." He said, closing the door behind him. I tried to maneuver around him, only to have him step in the way. "Hold on, there. Where's your trainer? Pokémon shouldn't be running around willy nilly on the boat. I glared at him and glanced around, looking for a way around him. I saw none.

"Mars! What are you doing?" April yelled, appearing in the doorway behind me. I tried once more to get past the sailor, only to have him step in the way once more. I growled, and April put a hand on me. The sailor chuckled and shook his head. "Sorry. I don't know what's gotten into him." She said, glaring at me pointedly. I shrugged it off and once again tried to get past the sailor, who, once again, stepped in my way.

"No, no it's ok. Don't worry about it. He is acting nervous though, isn't he?" The sailor mused, and knelt in front of me. I looked into his eyes, and noticed a thin blue line along his irises. I blew it off as a trick of the light, and growled. He laughed again. "Yeah, we've got Absol up by my home town in Fortree City. They're pretty cool, you know most people think of them as bad omens, when in actuality they just try and warn people of impending danger." I growled again and took a step backwards.

"Out of my way, or I hit you." I snarled. April put a hand on my head, trying in vain to calm me down.

"Mars, calm down. What's wrong?" She said. I glanced at her, and noticed that her irises were also fringed with a blue light.

"There's a natural disaster coming." I said flatly, once again trying to get past the sailor, who's eyes lit up in recognition.

"You know, I've only seen an Absol act like this once before..." He said, staring straight into my eyes. Suddenly he stood bolt upright. "Is a natural disaster coming?" He asked. I nodded vigorously, and the sailor cursed, turning and bolting down the hall. "I've got to warn the captain!" He said over his shoulder, and disappeared as he turned a corner. I ran forwards, breaking free of April's grasp, chasing after the sailor. I rounded the corner, only to find that the sailor had vanished. I cursed, and April appeared at my side.

"I lost him. How did I lose him?" I muttered.

"It doesn't matter. Let's head to the stern, maybe we'll be able to see what the natural disaster is once we get outside." April said. I nodded, my mind still trying to work out how I had lost the sailor. I hadn't been that far behind, had I? "C'mon, Mars." April called, I nodded and turned around, following her back out to the side of the ship. I peered off into the darkness that surrounded the ship, only the first thirty feet surrounding the boat were actually lit up from the lights. Wind howled, pelting us with rain. We sprinted towards the front of the ship, though I tried my best to keep close to April. Rose was waiting for us at the very front, and glared at me.

"Alright, now where?" She asked, looking around nervously.

"Don't worry, I got it covered. I managed to give one of the sailors a hint. Apparently he'd run into a few Absols in Fortree City. Now we just need to see what we're dealing with." I said. Rose looked at me skeptically, and shook her head.

"I don't see how we're supposed to do that. I can't see anything past thirty feet from the boat." She said. As if on cue, lightning flashed in the sky, illuminating the world for a split second.

"Arceus hates us."

POV CHANGE: Suicune

I stood off to the side of the ship, watching as multiple twisters converged towards the boat. Lugia had stirred up some Gyarados, causing them to attack one another. At the present moment, they were all using the move twister. The water roiled in front of me, and out of the churning water rose a giant red Gyarados. He roared, and then took a good look at whom he was roaring at before diving back into the water. Smart. Mew materialized next to me as I turned my attention back to the boat, whose spotlights had just lit up the nearest twister.

"Are you sure about this?" Mew asked. Another flash of lightning lit up the sky, and Rose's flamethrower lit up the twister. Leave it to her to calmly rationalize and move accordingly to the situation. The bright red and orange flames swirled up the twister, telling them just how fast and in what direction the air was swirling.

"No." I said honestly. "But Lugia is right. We need to test Mars on this." Mew just shrugged, and watched as Rose and Mars fired a razor wind against the flow of the twister, canceling out the flow and therefore causing the attack to falter. I could almost feel Mars' confusion from here, a real tornado wouldn't falter so easily. Are you ready? Lugia asked inside my head. Yes. I replied, and turned my gaze to watch beyond the ship. Lugia would be flying along the bottom of the ocean right now, creating a tidal wave. It was my job to make sure the ship stayed upright after it struck. This was the true natural disaster. 5...I could barely see the wave in the distance, rising like a black wall. 4...It was closer now, rushing forwards in a silent roar. 3...Rose and Mars diffused yet another twister, as it strayed too close to the boat. 2...A lone spotlight illuminated part of the sea, barely catching the wave hurtling towards them. 1...Alarms sounded on the boat, but it was already too late. 0. Impact.

POV CHANGE: Mars

My body was jarred, and I found myself freefalling. A single scream ripped through the air, and I was plunged into the murky blackness of the ocean. Water churned around us and the steel hull groaned as the ship tilted. I forced my legs to work, only one thought going through my head; protect April. My head broke the surface, and I croaked out her name.

"April!" I shouted. No response. "April!" I said, my desperation growing. A garbled cry ripped through the air, and I struck out through the freezing ocean, heading towards the source of the scream. "April!" I shouted again. Arms wrapped themselves around my neck, and my head whirled around to see the pale face of April. I was dimly aware of the sound of water churning, and suddenly we were thrust back down into the icy blackness of the ocean. We spun and spun until I had lost all sense of direction. Somehow April had managed to keep hold of me, so I struck out in search of the surface, pushing as hard as I could. My muscles didn't want to work for me, as the cold seeped into my bones and froze my blood as it ran through my veins. A single light shone through the water, illuminating the world behind me. I craned my neck to look straight at the light as it searched wildly in the water. We had been heading the wrong way.

Dammit Mars, move! I roared silently, twisting around and pushing with all my might. My lungs felt ready to burst, but I forced myself to move. I had to make it to the surface. I pushed again, my legs paddling furiously towards the light. But the nightmare wouldn't end. My legs burned, my lungs burst, and yet I still didn't get any closer. Blackness began to encroach my vision, and I realized that I was at my limit. Protect April. I looked back at April, whose eyes were closed. Her grip on me had loosened dangerously, and I desperately scratched at her belt with my back paw. Somehow, I managed to hit the right button, and Happy appeared in a flash of light. I opened my mouth, only to have a stream of bubbles leak out. Happy grabbed hold of April, and began to swim towards the surface, dragging both of us.

No...time...My mind slowly churned this idea out behind the desperate cry for oxygen. We were moving too slowly, Happy wouldn't make it in time dragging both of us. Using the last of my strength, I managed to free myself from Happy's grip, slowly sinking down into the depths. The light was still shining. Happy glanced back at me, and I did my best to motion forwards. She didn't turn around to come get me. As I floated down towards my watery grave, a small smile crossed my lips. At least April was ok. My vision tunneled, and I slowly lost consciousness. My world went black just as I saw Happy get struck and get sent tumbling through the water. Everything was dark, and a single thought ran through my mind; NO.

POV CHANGE: Lucien

I groaned and stood up, rubbing my head. Everything was on the floor, from glasses to people to plates still full of food. Chairs were skewed across the room, but the tables still stood strong, having been bolted to the floor. Anna was the next to stand up, rubbing her head and looking around the room, same as I had. Luna pulled herself out of the pile of fans she had been surrounded by, and James was gently set on the ground, having been protected by Gardevior's psychic energy. Gardevior followed, lowering herself onto the floor as well.

"What just happened?" Luna asked, cradling her arm. Slowly, the other people were beginning to get up.

"I don't know." I said, shaking my head. "But I'd better go make sure everything's ok. You three stay here and help these people any way you can." My feet moved accordingly, striking out across the room, avoiding chairs, people, food, and anything else that happened to get in my way. Anna was following me eagerly, but I ignored it, instead focusing on my task. I had nothing more to say to her. I exited the room and swiftly made it up a few flights of stairs, brushing off the odd waiter or sailor asking if I was ok. The bridge should be...I opened the door, to find the captains rushing around the room, picking up whatever they could and trying to get the ship back on track. One was sitting in the corner, laughing hysterically.

"So, what happened? How can I help?" I demanded. Only one captain turned to me, concern on his face.

"We were struck by a tidal wave. Somehow we managed to stay upright, and sustained minimal damage, but we've got passengers overboard. A small girl and two Absols disappeared off the deck the minute the wave hit." The captain said. "I've got people-" I didn't hear his next statement, as I was already running down the hall, rushing right past Anna and bursting out onto the deck. Rain poured from the heavens, and wind ripped across the deck. There were three flashes of light, and three Pokémon appeared on the deck.

"Draco, Tia, I want you to search from the skies. Look for April and Mars. Shogun," I said, turning my attention to the great Samurott on the deck. He grunted and leapt over the side of the boat, not even letting me finish my sentence. I grabbed a length of rope from a container marked 'emergency use,' and grabbed a flashlight from it too. "Draco, I'll be riding on you." I said, leaping onto the Dragonite's back. He wordlessly leapt into the air, and Tia followed, for once not saying a word. We circled the deck of the boat once, searching the immediate surroundings, before flying off into the storm. Samurott was a water Pokémon, so he had the advantage in finding them. Tia was psychic, so she could search for them that way. I tapped Draco's shoulder, and he hovered in midair.

I wrapped the rope around his waist and stripped off my sports jacket and bowtie, letting them flutter into the ocean. I'd have to do this the old fashioned way. I flicked the flashlight on and gripped it with my teeth, praying that it was water proof. My lungs filled with air, and I wound the other end of the rope around my waist.

"Time to go to work." I muttered through my teeth, and sucked in one last breath of air before leaping headfirst into the black ocean.