Aquatic Raid
This is Gabby from Hoenn News Network reporting live from where Lavaridge Town used to be. The site is now nothing but a field of cooled lava. It's unclear how many were killed as a result of this horrible tragedy, and it appears as though we will never uncover that answer. In addition, the Mt. Chimney National Park has been destroyed in its entirety, with the full south side of the mountain being forcefully broken apart. A few of the boulders were launched into Rustboro and Fallarbor, but thankfully there were no casualties from those impacts. While experts on volcanos are unsure what exactly happened, there are some who claim to have witnessed what they described a gigantic Pokèmon breaking out of the mountain. Since the eruption, the highest temperatures in the history of Hoenn have been recorded all across the region, and residents are urged to remain indoors as much as possible. Needless to say, our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims of this disaster.
Brendan heard Gabby giving the news report as he drank his second whiskey and Coke in a Slateport bar, with Gwen next to him drinking her first alcoholic drink, a cranberry and vodka, which she surprisingly enjoyed. They had been here since the bar opened, and that was three hours. So, are we just going to give up? she asked.
No, I just needed a drink. I mean, nobody ever did anything this stupid while completely sober, right? Brendan said as he finished his drink. Gwen just laughed.
You know, we should keep looking for May after this. If the world is about to end, we might as well be with the ones we love most, Gwen said, finishing her drink as well. Brendan smiled a bit as he paid the bill. Before they left, the bartender gave them both complimentary bottles of water telling them to stay hydrated and stay safe. They needed it, because they were sweating the moment they got outside, facing temperatures well over one-hundred degrees Fahrenheit. They walked over to the northern end of Slateport. They were almost out when they noticed a large crowd was standing outside the harbor, and there seemed to be a different news crew outside interviewing a familiar person.
Hey, isn't that Captain Stern, or whatever his name is? Gwen asked.
Yeah, let's go see what's going on. If we're gonna be in this heat, might as well be doing something, Brendan said as they approached the crowd, starting to hear the interview going on.
"So, Captain, with this new submarine you've built, what kind of research do you hope to accomplish?" the reporter asked.
"Well, the machine is designed to go deeper underwater than humans have ever gone. Our main goal is to find any unknown species of Pokèmon that live in the deepest parts of the ocean," the captain said with confidence and excitement.
"And what purpose does the small drill on the front serve?"
"That is to simply break through any rocks that we can't go around while underwater," Stern said calmly. That was when another familiar voice could be heard.
"Captain Stern, we of Team Aqua would like to thank you for your generous donation to our cause!"
Oh, come on! Can't we get a day away from this shit? Gwen said as she teleported Brendan to Captain Stern's side.
"Huh, oh you're Brendan, right? When did you get to Slateport?" he asked.
"Yesterday, but that's not important. We need to get to the dock and stop them from stealing the submarine," Brendan said as he pushed through and ran toward the bay, where he saw Archie and Shelly, the latter of whom Brendan almost didn't recognize since he hadn't seen her since the Weather Institute, standing beside the submarine while two grunts were inside getting the engines started. "ARCHIE!"
The commander of Team Aqua turned toward Brendan. "Oh, scamp! Glad that grunt didn't kill ye with that bat." His tone was a bit sarcastic
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Brendan said. "Where the hell is May?"
"Scampette is back at the base," Archie said, which earned a slightly shocked look from his lieutenant, which didn't escape Gwen's notice. "Come find us in Lilycove. We will gladly show you just how…hospitable we can be. Until then, Scampette is just going to have to wait for her knight in shining armor," he said, cackling as he and Shelly climbed into the submarine, closing the hatch just as it began to move out of the harbor.
"No, damn it!" Brendan shouted as he ran over to the dock, dropping to his hands and knees, punching the ground in frustration.
Gwen just came up beside him. Did you see Shelly's face when Archie said they had May?
Brendan looked up at her. "No, why?"
She was shocked. She almost looked like she was disgusted with him, she said. I get the feeling that she didn't that the kidnapping happened.
Brendan scowled as he stood up. "Well, I don't really care right now. We need to get to Lilycove and get May back."
Gwen nodded. I completely agree. Just be sure you don't go crazy while in their base.
a—a—a—a—a
On the submarine, Shelly was standing at a window, watching as they passed schools of Magikarp and Tentacool, with the occasional Sharpedo. It was a bit relaxing for her to see the underwater world rush by, but she couldn't really relax. Her mind was too focused on the exchange between Archie and that boy, Brendan. Why was he asking about his girlfriend? And why did Archie say she was at the base? It doesn't make any sense.
"Shelly, is there something on your mind?" Archie said as he approached her from behind.
"Sir, why was Brendan looking for May? Did you have something to do with this?" she said, not one to waste any time.
"What do you mean?" Archie said.
"I heard you say that May was in our base. Why the hell would she be there?" Shelly was now getting an angry tone in her voice. "If you did something like a kidnapping, you know that I didn't sign up for that shit."
Archie looked surprised at her. "Is this mutiny?"
"Archie, when you recruited me, you said that Team Aqua was working for the betterment of the planet. I joined because I truly believed that," she said.
"And we are still doing that," Archie said.
"Then why the hell did you have to kidnap somebody?" Shelly said as she slapped him across the face. "That's not saving the world, that's something Team Rocket would do!"
Archie scowled. "I did what I had to do to keep Brendan from stopping us."
Shelly glared at him before shaking her head and looking out the window. Archie turned and walked away, leaving his lieutenant to her thoughts. "You idiot, don't you understand that you've only made Brendan hate us more?" she whispered.
a—a—a—a—a
Avery and Drake got Brendan and Gwen to Lilycove's shore by dusk. And from there, Brendan could see a single small cave entrance. Gwen, can you teleport us in- Gwen put her hand on Brendan's back and they were suddenly inside the cave. The interior was all black and there was a large blue flag with the Team Aqua emblem hung over the second passage. There were two chains drooping from the ceiling along with three blue banners overhead. The walls had a lot of greenery growing around them, and right before the Team Aqua banner was a waterfall on each side. Wow, this is interesting. Brendan said to Gwen. It's actually quite beautiful.
I know what you mean. The two of them walked into the main entrance, which was a little bare compared to the previous room. It was still black, but it was simply a long hallway, but that was it. They walked forward, climbing the short staircase, and seeing an L-shaped hallway, and there were two green circles on the floor with one on each end of the hallway.
Are those warp tiles? He thought. I didn't realize Silph had finished their production. Without much thought, he took a step on the first one, which transported him directly into a small storage closet. Not much here, so I'll just go back. He stepped back on the tile and returned to Gwen.
Seems like you're really feeling reckless, Gwen said.
"It's not like I'm concerned with what these Aqua bastards will do," he said. "After that bump they gave me and their kidnapping May, I kind of want to beat all of them, whether that's battle or in a fist fight."
Well, Brendan, please don't get too crazy, Gwen said. I really don't want May to hate you.
Brendan simply nodded. "I won't get too angry, and I won't kill anybody. But I will be relentless," he said. Gwen conceded the point as they walked to the farther warp panel, and they teleported into what looked like the upper floor of a break room, which had two grunts conversing along one of the walls. Luckily, they hadn't noticed either Brendan or Gwen nearby.
"So, I told him he should just take 'is sweet time with that prisoner girl, give 'er a real good time," he said. That was as far as they both got, as Brendan, now seeing red, grabbed one and slammed him headfirst into the wall, knocking him out. He then grabbed the other grunt and pinned him against the wall before punching him in the stomach twice.
"So, you think it's funny to try and take advantage of women, huh?"
"N-No!" the grunt stuttered as he tried to not look at his companion, who was lying a bit too still for comfort.
"Then give me one good reason why I shouldn't do to you what I just did to your friend over there," Brendan said menacingly.
"B-because of her!" the grunt said as he pointed over Brendan's shoulder. Brendan punched the grunt once more, this time across the face to knock him out before turning to see who was behind him. "Aren't you Shelly? You helped Archie steal that submarine."
"Yes, I know, but that's not what I'm here to discuss. I want to talk about what Archie did to you and May," she said.
Brendan looked cautiously curious. "He attacked us and kidnapped her. Why do you want to know about it? Gwen had the suspicion that you were unaware that it had happened. Is that true?"
"Yes, and I'm disgusted with him for doing it," Shelly said.
She's being honest, Gwen said.
"And, why are you telling us all this?" Brendan asked.
"Because Archie doesn't care, and you two are the only ones who can really stop him. I know what happened with Team Magma and that they awoke Groudon. That devastation was from just one of those two Pokèmon. If Kyogre is on the same scale as Groudon, then that level of destruction will be on Team Aqua's hands," Shelly said. "Besides, the reason I joined Team Aqua was to preserve the oceans, not to expand them to the point of global devastation."
"So, what do you want with me?" Brendan asked.
"I want to help you stop Archie from doing something terrible. So, I want to give you this from Archie's personal stores," Shelly said as she pulled out two items that looked like Pokèballs, but they had purple tops with two pink bumps on the upper corners. Visible in the center was a single white "M." Brendan looked awestruck.
"Are those…Master Balls? I've only heard rumors about it secretly being developed by Silph. The only one I know of was given to Red after he stopped Team Rocket," Brendan said.
"Well, when Archie was younger and…a bit more noble…he was friends with the Silph president. These were recently sent to him as a gift, but I didn't let him see it. I've had my doubts for a while about Archie's intentions, and him kidnapping May just proved my suspicions," she said.
Brendan took the two Master Balls and put them in his bag. "Thanks, but where is May?"
Shelly looked sadly at Brendan. "Archie took her to the submarine. I can take you there, but you will need to give me time to get on the submarine so he won't suspect anything about me."
"Then get me there quickly so I don't miss the chance to get her out of here," Brendan said. Shelly nodded, taking him through the base as quickly as she could.
a—a—a—a—a—a
May struggled the entire way from her cell, kicking Matt's shins and trying to hit him with her head as he tried to carry her like a ragdoll to the submarine. "Damn it you giant oaf, let me go!" Matt just ignored her as his already black and blue shins took another blow. He'd need some serious icing for them later, but that was something he would worry about during his down time while Archie and Shelly woke Kyogre. For now, he needed to get this girl to Archie, then stall the boy just long enough for Archie to get away. It was a simple job, and it was one that he would carry out perfectly.
May, on the other hand, was in hell. Not only had her escape attempt yesterday failed, but now she was being carried by the big, sweaty guy who seemed to want nothing more than to bend over for his "bro." But that wasn't the only reason she was fighting so hard. She was fighting because she could sense Gwen very nearby, and she knew that could only mean Brendan was here. She sent her tenth kick to Matt's shins. He cringed at that hit, but he could now see the submarine, which had been given a paint job that made it look like a Sharpedo, so this part of the job was almost over. "Archie!" he called, getting his boss's attention. "Please take her off my hands, my shins can't take any more kicks!"
Archie motioned and three grunts took her from Matt, restraining her completely and dragging her to Archie. "Well, scampette, I didn't want to bring you along, but I can't have you harming my grunts while I'm gone. So, you're coming with me for today, we will keep you with us on the submarine, and you will behave yourself," he said, grabbing May by the chin in a show of dominance.
May spat in Archie's face in response. "Go to hell," she said.
"Still feisty, huh? No matter, we couldn't care less whether you like us. What we're doing is for the betterment of the world," he said with a scowl.
"Oh, and how'd that work for Team Magma? It doesn't take a genius to know that they woke Groudon. So, what'll you do now? Wake Kyogre and do the same amount of damage?" she said darkly.
Archie scowled again. "If Maxie woke Groudon, then we can counter it with Kyogre! After all, we have the Blue Orb, so what will stop us from controlling the leviathan? Take her aboard and toss her in the brig." The grunts followed Archie's orders to the letter, literally throwing May into her cell. This time, though, she pulled out her PokeNav, which still worked. That told her she wasn't in an EMP cell like she had been before. Hopefully, this could work in her favor. There was also a window that faced the dock, where she could already see Matt cradling his legs and holding an ice pack on each of them.
"ARCHIE, GO TO HELL!" May shouted with clear anger in her voice. She sat on the bench for a little while, before she saw Shelly come around a corner and board the submarine, and she was carrying a small bag too, looking at the window as if she knew May was there.
a—a—a—a—a
Brendan and Gwen waited for five minutes by the warp panel as Shelly had instructed to avoid raising suspicion that she had helped them. She wanted to do that to make sure that she could continue to help them from inside the organization. He had given Shelly a bag with May's usual traveling clothes, and her Pokèmon. He had to be sure that even if he couldn't get to her in time, at the very least he could help keep her safe. While he didn't know whether he could fully trust Shelly, he felt he really had no other options left. It was a desperate ploy, but then Brendan was beyond desperate by now.
Alright, it's been five minutes, let's go, Gwen said.
"Yeah, let's," Brendan said as they all got up and took the warp panel to the submarine's dock. The boat already seemed to be powering up and getting ready to depart. He also saw Matt sitting on the floor with ice packs on his legs which now looked severely bruised. Brendan didn't really care about what the buffoon was feeling or doing. He walked over, and surprised Matt with a kick to the face.
"AH, shit! What is it with both you and your little bitch of a girlfriend kicking people?" He said, clutching his now bloody nose.
"What is it with both Team Magma and Team Aqua kidnapping people?" Brendan asked with venom in his voice. "I don't have time for your shit. Now, get out of my way."
Matt just threw two Pokèballs and let out both a Mightyena and a Crobat. Brendan glared and let out Clint. Gwen threw the Crobat effortlessly into a steel crate, while Clint hit Mightyena with a strong Leaf Blade, knocking it out easily. That, however, was when the submarine started to move from the dock. He looked up at the top window of the submarine, where he saw May pounding on the glass, shouting to him, but he could hear none of it. Gwen tried to reach out and stop the submarine, but it seemed that there was something to stop her, because it kept going unhindered. Brendan watched helplessly as May disappeared from his sight beneath the waves.
"No, no, no," Brendan cursed and fell to his knees, punching the ground. "I was so close, but she slipped away!" Matt started laughing then.
"Seems my mission to stall you succeeded. My bro knew I was the best choice for this job," he said. Brendan lost any will to hold anything back. Matt had stopped him from saving the person he loved most in this world, and he had let a lot of rage build up while May was gone, and he was about to let it all out now. He recalled Clint, then grabbed the Aqua lieutenant by the neck, slamming his head against the metal railing, dazing him.
"Yeah, your mission to hold a girl hostage," Brendan said as he stomped on Matt's chest. "You need to learn the definition of insanity. Because clearly, nobody in Team Aqua understands it. If Team Magma couldn't control Groudon with the Red Orb, what makes you assholes think you can control Kyogre with the Blue Orb?" He punched Matt across the face, feeling the man's nose give out and break.
"Ah, damn it!" the man said in pain before the next punch landed. Brendan kept hitting Matt, both of his hands beginning to bleed a bit from the knuckles. When Matt was lying in a small pool of his own blood, Gwen grabbed Brendan's arm and made him stop.
Brendan, I know you want to save May, but you need to stop this, because it will do literally nothing for her. And it may even drive her away, she said, concern in her eyes. Just look at him. Brendan seemed to be calming down as he looked at his handiwork, and almost gagged. Both of Matt's cheeks had been broken, his lip had been split in multiple spots, and his nose was broken at least twice.
He walked away holding his head. I'm losing it. I'm just barely holding onto my sanity.
Gwen came up behind him. You're desperate, and that desperation is getting to you. But you need to calm down. If you kill somebody, May will never look at you again.
Brendan took a deep breath to steady himself. "Alright, I need to do better, and I promise you that I won't snap like that again." Gwen hugged him from behind.
Remember what Shelley said? Team Aqua is going to a place on route 128 called Seafloor Cavern. So, that's where we're going. We can stop in Mossdeep and get the badge there first if you want.
Brendan sighed. We'll decide when we get to Mossdeep.
a—a—a—a—a—a
May sat in disbelief in her cell. Brendan had been right there. He had been in her view, but they couldn't get to each other. He couldn't even hear her when she was shouting at the top of her lungs. It was so demoralizing. As she was musing, she heard the main door open, and she saw Shelly enter.
"Before you say anything," the lieutenant said as she pressed a button on a remote she had been holding. "Okay, the cameras and audio in here are disabled. Now, we can speak freely. First, I had no clue that Archie kidnapped you, and I am disgusted by it. Second, I have decided to help Brendan stop Archie so we can hopefully prevent Kyogre's awakening."
May shook her head in disbelief, and a bit of shock at the suddenness of this information. Then one question came forward. "How can I trust you?"
Shelly smiled, clearly expecting that as she passed the bag she had brought aboard through the bars. "Open it. It's a little surprise from Brendan."
May opened the bag and saw not only her normal outfit, which she had been dying to get back into, but all her Pokèballs were in there too. She smiled and looked at Shelly. "Thank you. I'm guessing you want me to keep these things hidden, right."
"Until we get to our destination, yes. Then let loose and unleash hell. Brendan will likely be close behind you," Shelly smiled and left. May now showed the expression of somebody with new-found hope. And she was not going to let it die.
Well, thank you all for reading. I hope you all enjoyed this one. As always, please review, and let me know where I can improve.
Next is Brendan's next gym battle in Mossdeep, followed by the Magma raid on the space center.
Until next time – jmoul18