"Sh-sheaugh..."
"Y-yeah, I know, we're... we're almost there..."
The two of us dragged our sweating selves along the long, winding path to Brine's port. The sun had dipped so that it hung above the lake in the distance, sending glaring light into our eyes as we walked. As we averted our eyes from this and trudged into the port's campus, a gust of wind blew my fur back as a familiar Pelipper landed in front of us and quickly saluted.
"Ah, you two! Oi reckon ya came to see the lass and her friends back? You're a couple days early, oi'd say!", Cap'n Brine boomed. Rye stepped up, fidgeting his fingers so hard they turned pale.
"Uh... a-actually, we were wondering if... uh..."
Cap'n Brine gave us as close to a grin as his massive bill could produce as Rye shrunk back, visibly sweating.
"If it's anywhere down the rivah ya wanna go to, oi can-", the captain began.
"W-we need to get to Bassa Village as soon as possible. Guild job.", Rye managed to choke out. Cap'n Brine's smile faltered as he looked at us conflictedly.
"Bassa? Hm, that's up north in the desert, if oi remember correctly? Hm, suppose ye want me tah fly ya lads there, then?", he inquired. We reluctantly nodded as Brine cast his gaze down in thought, muttering to himself.
"Hrm, I don usually floi anyone places, me place is on the water. But oi suppose I still owe the Oshawott fah saving me raft..."
After a few minutes of this, he looked back up at us, his hearty grin returning.
"Alright, oi'll get ye lads there, but only if ya do me a lil' favor.", he said.
"Wah?", I questioned. In response, Cap'n Brine pointed a wing out towards the lake, where several large Water-types seemed to be gathered over one spot trying to retrieve something from underwater.
"Last noight, two freighters carryin' ya standard goods 'ere rammed into each other.", he explained. We let out small gasps as he chuckled grimly. "No one died, thank goodness fah that, but it's why it 'appened that's got me a bit shook.", he said.
He then gestured us to follow him, leading us to the lighthouse on the water's edge. The tower must have been a good twenty feet tall, and it was made entirely out of large stones and planks crowned by a haphazardly assembled light room. I had no idea how they managed to keep this thing from falling over from the mildest breeze, but through some miracle of engineering, it worked.
'Honestly, why am I even trying to question things around here anymore?'
"Loike most ports in Gray Proper, and the rest o' the world, I assume, we 'ave a resident Pokémon go up and Flash to guide the boats 'round here. Thing is, ours 'appens to be a lil' scattered and left the key inside before his shift last noight. Both doors in are locked and... eh, we don't wanna pay for a new door. We've been tryin' tah get in all day without breakin' the lighthouse itself. No luck.", Cap'n Brine continued. Understanding dawned on us as he looked at us expectantly.
"...w-why do you even have a locking door? No one uses those!", Rye said after a minute.
"Lad, you're from a noice town where ya don' have to worry 'bout that kinda malarkey. You 'ave no oidea how many 'mon like to go in and mess with Flaaffy while he's on duty. Better safe than sorry.", Brine defended. Rye groaned in response.
"Isn't there another way, sir?"
"Sorry, but I won't be flyin' you two till ya find a way to go in and unlock the loighthouse."
As Brine watched, we began looking the lighthouse over. Any windows that might have provided a sufficient entrance were misshapen and small, and by the looks of it, trying to get one of the Wingulls flying around the harbor to fly in wouldn't end well for the structure. Sighing dejectedly, Rye crumpled against the lighthouse's base, only for his eyes to snap back open. Staring at his hand on the structure, he brightened up. As we looked on, he threw our bag onto the ground and placed his other hand against the wall before pulling himself up. His hands somehow stuck in place, so he put his feet to the wall to continue his climb up the tower. Beside me, Cap'n Brine gave a hearty chortle.
"Hoho, should 'ave thought o' that, otherwise I'd prob'ly've made the errand harder!", he boomed. Noticing my obliviousness, he beamed at me as Rye continued his steady climb.
"Treeckos have lil' hooks on their feet they use to stick to walls, didn't ya know?", he asked.
'Treeckos aren't native to... uh, wherever I'm from, are they? How should I know that?'
I shook my head, causing Brine's enthusiasm to melt away a bit.
"Ah, roight... the kid found ya in the woods, makes sense ye wouldn't know that one, eh?", he asked.
'...had to bring that one up, huh?'
Unpleasant memories of my meltdown not quite two hours ago quickly bubbled up as I looked to him, disgust on my face.
"Shyaa...", I said in a huff. Cap'n Brine cleared his throat in response, which consisted of him disgustingly hacking from somewhere deep within his massive bill.
"Not sayin' there's anything wrong with that, y'know. Oi've 'eard what everyone says 'bout your type, but in me eyes, as long as you can tell me the difference between port and starboard, you're perfectly foine! You do know the difference, don'tcha? Go on an' point tah starboard for me.", he said.
'Shit. Uh... starboard sounds like a left-y term, right?'
I reluctantly gestured to the left, earning another jovial chuckle from Brine.
"Ah, close 'nuff! No need tah worry, laddie!", he piped.
Turning back to the lighthouse, we watched as Rye carefully squeezed himself through the lowest window. He suddenly disappeared into the opening as a crash sounded from inside. A few minutes passed before the lighthouse's door flew open to reveal a visibly dirtied and shaken Rye, clutching a bulky key in his hand. Cap'n Brine snatched it away before turning towards the port proper and letting out a loud caw. As Rye dusted himself off, a Flaaffy hobbled up to us before stopping before Brine, shame clear in his face.
"Now wot 'ave we learned?", Brine asked. The Flaaffy didn't answer, instead sighing, taking the key, and waddling into the lighthouse, slamming the door behind him. With that out of the way, Brine hopped over to a Wingull who had been watching the ordeal.
"Piku, I'm goin' somewhere, yer in charge till oi get back!", he ordered, prompting a quick salute from the Wingull as he turned to us.
"Now, then, stand to attention!", he barked. "I'd say without any breaks, we'll be in Bassa Village boi night. You will be responsible for yaself, so if any of you lads fall out, that's yer own fault."
Now visibly nervous, Rye raised his hand.
"H-how are we supposed to hang on to your back for that long?", he asked.
"Well, now, oi nevah said you'd be ridin' on me back!", Brine piped. He then opened his massive bill and gestured for us to climb in. Neither of us volunteered to go in, as I instead stared dumbfounded for a moment, wondering just what we had gotten ourselves into.
"...well, come on, now! Oi'm not gonna swallow ya!", Brine said after a little while of our horrified hesitation.
Swallowing hard and uttering a small prayer, I relented, slowly climbing feetfirst into his bill. The place was warm, damp, and reeked of seaweed and fish, but it seemed there was just barely enough room inside for Rye and I, a notion that was proven when Rye followed me inside, bag in hand and whispering mortified obscenities under his breath. As we adjusted ourselves as to not fall backwards, Cap'n Brine looked over a crude compass in his foot, positioning himself to face away from the setting sun before tossing it into his bill, hitting me in the head with it before the sudden lurch of his taking off left Rye and I clutching the edge of his bill for dear life as to not fall backwards into his throat.
The howling of the wind just barely drowned out our screams as Brine began building speed by circling the port. As the wind in my face forced my eyes shut, I felt him begin to decelerate and steady out. Opening my eyes, I was met with a view of the lake stretching as far as I could see below us. I could make out dozens of tiny boats trailing along its clear waters and the port shrinking to nothing more than a group of small shapes on the side as we flew ever higher.
"Wow...", Rye whispered beside me. Cap'n Brine made a few assuring noises, not risking talking with us in his mouth. Tolerating the stench, we got as close to a seated position as we could as I picked Brine's compass up and began fidgeting with it, settling in for a long, uncomfortable flight.
Despite the less than favorable conditions of our transport, Rye and I both found ourselves drifting off. After a couple of hours, I awoke from a dreamless nap to a loud squawk from Cap'n Brine. My ears ringing, I groggily sat up to see what was the matter, only to wake Rye up with my own loud scream. By the looks of it, we were now flying over the desert, or rather, we were barreling uncontrollably towards the sand as Brine tried to stabilize himself in midair. As we quickly realized this wasn't working, Rye dropped down and curled into a ball, his tail over his head.
"G-get down!", he yelled. I obeyed without question, only just managing to curl my tail over my head before Brine hit the ground, sending Rye and I flying out of his bill and tumbling onto sweet solid ground. Groaning as we pushed ourselves off the sand, we noted that night had fallen by this point, allowing the thankfully close town's torchlight to make itself known.
"Agh. Sorry 'bout that, oi 'aven't flown like that in a long, long toime.", Cap'n Brine groaned apologetically, dislodging himself from the sand. As we picked up the scattered contents of our bag, a loud whistle suddenly sounded from the town.
"Hey! You there!", a low feminine voice called. We snapped our heads up to find a figure approaching us from the town gate, flashing something shiny towards us.
"Bassa Village Police. What's a bunch like you doin' out here at this time of day?", it asked suspiciously. As we watched nervously, the features of a Feraligatr with a badge-adorned sash over its shoulder became evident. Cap'n Brine limped forwards to meet the newcomer.
"Evenin', officer. Oi was joss flyin' these young lads here for... what'd ya say it was? A Guild mission?", he said. The Feraligatr relaxed as she looked us over, her jaws shifting.
"Mm. Explorers...", she grunted. "I suppose you're the ones Magnezone sent to help deal with those asshats from earlier today." As she spoke, I heard a small gasp from Rye.
"Uh... er, y-y... yes, ma'am.", he choked out. He was noticeably pressed up against Cap'n Brine, keeping his eyes trained on Officer Feraligatr as if she were about to pounce on him. Instead, she offered a courteous nod.
"Well, I reckon there's nothing wrong with letting you stay the night, then. The desert gets mighty frigid around this time, I'd best take you to my place. Let's discuss the outlaws tomorrow morning over breakfast.", she said as she gestured us to follow her into the town.
As we walked after her, I took a glance up at the town's gate. It seemed to have been made of several large pieces of metallic trash welded together into an arch, the main feature being a large green sign attached to the top. It was too dark to see clearly, but I could tell whatever was written on it wasn't footprint runes. They looked familiar in a way, actually...
Officer Feraligatr took notice of my curiosity and offered a small smirk, though trying this with her crocodile maw just came across as unnerving.
"Yeah, Bassa here was built around an old human town. Just about every building here was built on the foundations of some human structure. Apparently even the town's name has human influence, I'm told the sign up there says something like 'Bassa' in Unown-script.", she explained as she stopped in front of an unorthodox but modest house just past the gate. As I watched, she threw the door open and waved us in.
"Pelipper, you can roost on the roof, the others can sleep wherever. Get comfy, and keep in mind you'll be responsible for getting yourselves up tomorrow. I'll be waiting at the cafe whenever..."
She trailed off as she got a proper look at us in the torchlight. It didn't take long for me to realize that her now wide-eyed gaze was fixed on Rye. As her breath shook a bit, Feraligatr stared him down for a minute, prompting Rye to stumble backwards into the street, his face pale. As he did this, Feraligatr let out a soft sigh and headed inside.
"Oi, wot was that 'bout?", Cap'n Brine asked.
"It's nothing. Just thought I recognized Treecko there.", Feraligatr called over her shoulder.
She didn't elaborate further, as she simply put her sash away and curled up in a large straw bed next to a lit fireplace. Rye let out a noise somewhere between a relieved sigh and a choked sob as I helped him up. Sending me a familiar pleading look, he headed into the house. Deciding as usual that I'd pursue this later, I followed him in as Cap'n Brine fluttered up to the roof. Finding a comfy spot in the living area, I curled up and shut my eyes, pondering what tomorrow would bring as I started to drift off...
And then Feraligatr started loudly snoring in her sleep.
'...just great.'