Sorry for the long wait, but it's finally time to continue the Pride Team's Atlantis adventure! Get ready for some revelations! Have a blast!
Kate, Light, Lola, Milo, and Kida were now at some various ruins alongside the water. Night has fallen around Atlantis, the two rods around them had some fireflies on them.
Kate gladly let a firefly land on her hand and watched it shine at night. "You know? When they're not setting everything on fire, they're actually kinda cute." She kept smiling as the insect flew away.
"You know, Kida, the most we ever hoped to find was some crumbling buildings, maybe some broken pottery. Instead, we find a living, thriving society." Milo told Kida. The princess was gathering fireflies for the lantern.
Kida sadly shook her head. "We are not thriving. True, our people live, but our culture is dying. We are like a stone the ocean beats against. With each passing year...a little more of us is worn away."
Kate and the other three felt sorry for Kida. Based on what she told them about the great flood, it's no wonder. Her people only knew how to survive while underground. "Oh. Sorry, Kida." Light even said.
"Wish there was something I could do..." Milo said with a nod. "You're not the only one." Kate agreed. "Si." Lola nodded.
Kida gazed at Milo. "I have brought you to this place to ask you for your help. There is a mural here with writing all about the pictures.."
"Well, you came to the right guy." Milo placed the lantern on the ground and examined the wall. "Okay, let's see...let's start with this column right here."
Kate, Lola, and Light were about to approach the linguist until they noticed that Kida was approaching the water. And to Light's alarm, Kida was removing her sarong, revealing her blue bikini bottoms. Right away, Light looked up with a red face. Finding the Lycanroc's actions funny, Kate and Lola laughed a little to themselves.
Milo turned his head to speak, but he was now just as flustered as Light. "Uh, Kida? Uh, heh...What are you doing?"
"You do swim, do you not?" Kida smiled.
"Oh, I swim pretty girl. Pr-pretty good! Pretty good. Sw...good, swim good. Pretty good. I swim pretty good." Milo stuttered.
Kate and Lola giggled at Milo's answer. Light chuckled and shook his head a bit. "I swim good myself." Kate replied.
"I may be a Rock-Type, but I also know how to swim pretty good too." Light added.
"I swim well too, so there's no need to worry about that." Lola replied.
Kida nodded in acknowledgement. "Good. It's a fair distance to where we are going."
Milo took off his clothes, except for his boxer shorts. "Hey, you are talkin' to the belly flop champ at Camp Runamuck." Kate, Lola, and Light followed him into the water. As soon as he got in, Milo's shorts caught some air bubbles making them inflate. The girls giggled at the sight, Light just rolled his eyes with a smile on his face. Milo sheepishly let the air out, returning his shorts to normal. He was about to dive in, but he turned to Kida. "Why don't you lead the way? Because...I have no idea where we're going."
Kida smiled before she took a deep breath and dove into the water. Kate, Light, Lola, and Milo quickly followed her lead and went underwater as well.
As they kept swimming through the water, it was so dark that the only form of light came from Kida's crystal. There wasn't much creatures either, except for some purple lobsters.
They finally reached a large opening to the ruins which looked more like the mouth of a cavern. They swam up to an air pocket and gasped for air.
"Are you all right?" Kida asked.
"Never better." Even though he said that, Light was so dizzy he couldn't get his eyes to stop spinning.
Kate shook her head. "I'm okay."
"This is nothing for me." Lola replied.
"Well, I didn't drown, so-" Milo started. "Good. Follow me." Kida spoke before he could finish. They took another deep breath and dove back into the water.
Once they got deep enough, Kida used her crystal to show the other four what looks like a colorful mural. To Light, Kate, and Lola it looked like a star with four points. There were a bunch of symbols written around it. Milo swam a little closer to get a better look at it. It seems as if the more Milo read it, the more excited he got. After reading enough, and also looking back at Kida's crystal, Milo motioned for her and the other three up so he could explain to them what he read.
They swam back up to the air pocket. "The heart of Atlantis!" Milo declared.
"What?" Kida, Lola, and Kate asked in confusion. "What are you talking about, Milo?" Light asked next.
"It's the heart of Atlantis! T-that's what the shepherd was talking about! It wasn't a star, it was some kind of crystal, like" Milo lifted Kida's crystal out of the water as he kept explaining. "Like these. Don't you get it? The power source I've been looking for, the bright light Kida remembers, they're the same thing! It's what's keeping all these-everything-You, Kida, and all of Atlantis alive!"
"Wow! It can really do that?" Kate asked in amazement.
Lola's eyes widened in amazement. "Unbelievable!"
Kida was nearly speechless. "It cannot be!"
Light blinked in bewildered realization. "Well, that explains how everyone's been living for a long time."
"Then where is it now?" Kida asked.
Milo shook his head. "I don't know, I don't know. You'd think something this important would've been in the journal, but-" He paused and his eyes grew wide in alarm. Kida and Lola stared at him. "Unless...the missing page."
"We should head back up and find out." Kate suggested. They agreed and began to swim back up.
Milo, Kate, Lola, and Light emerged from the water and hung on to the stone tile...well Light and Milo did, Kate and Lola used their wings to fly a little above the water.
"Welcome back." Pinsir's voice made them look in front of them. The first things they saw were Pinsir and Rourke. "You all had a nice swim?" Rourke asked with a bit of a friendly grin.
Behind them, a crowd gathered behind them. The crowd included Helga, Audrey, Sweet, Vinny, Mole, Cookie, and Ms. Packard. There were also soldiers in gas masks, and everyone was armed with some sort of gun.
Milo smiled nervously. "Hey, guys. What's goin' on? What's with...what's with all the guns? Guys?"
"Move it!" A rough voice suddenly ordered. They turned their heads and were shocked to see some more soldiers pushing CatDog, Timon, Pumbaa, Pansage, and Panpour into view.
Light growled at Rourke and Pinsir. "I thought you two were up to something!"
Realizing what was going on, Milo gave off a deep sigh. "I'm such an idiot!"
"Pinsir, you no-good, dirty overgrown bug!" Lola growled angrily.
"Why are you doing this, Rourke? Is it for the crystal?" Kate asked with her own serious glare.
Rourke smiled and held out a piece of paper for the four of them to see. "Oh, you mean this?" The page had a picture of a large sphere surrounded by several stones. Kate, Light, Lola, and Milo gasped once they realized that Rourke was showing them the missing page from the journal.
"The heart of Atlantis." Milo realized.
"You all should've picked sides more carefully." Pinsir said.
Lola growled. "You were just using Milo from the beginning! And I bet you used his grandfather just so you can get your hands on the Shepherd's Journal, didn't you?"
"Well, I would've told Milo sooner, but it was strictly on a need-to-know basis, and well...now you know. I had to be sure that he, as well as you and your friends, Ms. Caricola, were one of us. At least one of you passed the test." Rourke extended a hand to Milo. "Welcome to the club, son."
"I'm no mercenary!" Milo snapped. As soon as Kida got out of the water, she was pulled out by a soldier. She fought back, and as soon as pulled a knife...it was shot out of her hand by Rourke.
"Mercenary? I prefer the term 'Adventure Capitalist'." Rourke told Milo. "Also, if I remember correctly, I believe you're the one who got us here. You led us right to the treasure chest, Mr. Thatch." Pinsir added.
"You and Pinsir don't know what you're tampering with, Rourke!" Milo got out of the water and stormed up to Rourke, even ignoring Sweet handing him his clothes.
Rourke carelessly shrugged. "What's to know? It's big, it's shiny, it's gonna make us all rich."
Milo shook his head. "You think it's some sort of diamond, I thought it was some kind of battery. But we're both wrong! It's their life force!"
"That's what keeping all of Atlantis alive! If you take that away from them, they'll die!" Kate added.
Both Rourke and Pinsir paused for a moment, pretending to think. "Well, that changes things. Helga, what do you think?" Rourke asked her.
Helga gave an evil smile. "Knowing that, I'd double the price." Pinsir slowly tapped his fingers together. "Funny, I was thinking triple."
"Why you...! I'll-" Kate was about to charge in...but some lightning stopped her. "Nuh-uh-uh, don't go making a scene." Some more figures came into the crowd, they were Snorlax, Cliff, Shriek, and Lube. There was also the Salamence, Garchomp, and Noivern that Timon and Pumbaa saw earlier. Not only that, but there was also a Luxray that had yellow skin underneath his black fur, he was the one that stopped Kate with electricity.
Light seemed to recognize the Luxray and his eyes widened. "Luxray, it's you!"
"Never thought you'd see me again, did you, Light?" Luxray asked.
Cliff smirked. "You didn't really think you'd have some crystal finding adventure without running into us, did you?" Shriek spoke next. "We were with youse the whole time. We were just hiding until the time was right!" Lube at least tried to finish. "Uh, duh...Happy Birthday!"
"I should've known the Outsiders would try something like this!" Pansage growled. "Indeed. But what about those three dragons?" Panpour looked at the three Dragon-Types as he asked the question.
"Hired by Luxray himself to help get revenge on you and your team." Garchomp said. "And since we're the most ferocious trio of Dragon-Type Pokemon who are bad to the bone, we agreed right away!" Noivern cackled a bit. Salamence used his tail to smack Noivern on the head. "Ease up, Noivern. We still have a job to do."
"Rourke, Pinsir, don't do this!" Milo pleaded.
Rourke rolled his eyes. "Academics, you never want to get your hands dirty. Think about it. If you gave back every stolen artifact from a museum, you'd be left with an empty building. We're just providing a necessary service to the archeological community."
Luxray chuckled to himself. "You are, but not us."
Milo didn't hear Luxray, but he glared at Rourke. "Not interested."
Rourke frowned. "I gotta admit, I'm disappointed. You're an idealist, just like your grandfather. Do yourself a favor, Milo. Don't be like him. For once, do the smart thing." Still, Milo wouldn't budge. Rourke sighed deeply. "I really hate it when negotiations go sour."
"Looks like there's no other choice." Pinsir snapped his fingers. Soon the Outsiders and some soldiers tossed Kate, her group, and Kida to the ground and aimed their weapons, or attacks in the Pokemon's case, at them.
Milo was horrified to see his friends in danger. Rourke just showed him the torn page again. "Let's try this again."
"And I'd choose wisely. You wouldn't want anything to happen to them, do you?" Luxray looked down at Kate and chuckled darkly. Both Kate and Light glared up at the Gleam Eyes Pokemon.
The door to the throne were suddenly blown up. When the smoke cleared, Vinny was seen standing and tossing some sticks of tied dynamite in his hand. "Knock knock!"
"Room service!" Cookie added, holding up a shot gun. The Outsiders kept the Pride Team from interfering while the mercenaries had their weapons.
Helga saw that two Atlantian guards stood firm and determined to defend the kingdom, so she kept a hold of Kida and pressed a gun against her back. "Tell them to drop their weapons! Now!" She demanded the king.
Knowing that his daughter's in danger, the king had no choice but to comply. He ordered his guards to drop their weapons, and they hesitatedly did so.
"Good." Pinsir turned to the mercenaries. "Men, spread out and search everywhere!" At the order, the mercenaries got to work searching...and they were pretty forceful in doing so.
Seeing that they still had no crystal from the searching, Rourke turned to Milo, grabbed him by the back of his shirt and shoved the journal in his face. "You're not applying yourself, son! There's gotta be something else!"
"Well, there isn't!" Milo reluctantly turned the page. "It just says, 'The Heart of Atlantis lies the eyes of our king'."
Rourke scowled, tossed Milo to the ground, and stormed over to the king. The King of Atlantis was trapped between both Noivern and Garchomp. "Maybe the old royal coot can help us out." Noivern said.
"Leave the king alone!" Pansage yelled...only to get squeezed more by Snorlax. "You just stay out of this, Green Monkey Bean!" The Former Giant warned.
Rourke ignored the two Pokemon and went on with the negotiation. "How 'bout it, Chief? Where's the Crystal Chamber?"
The king was not intimidated one bit. "You will destroy yourselves."
"Maybe I'm not being clear." Rourke surprised the Pride Team, Kida, and even some of the Outsiders by giving the king a good punch to the chest, making him collapse to the floor.
"Oh no!" Pumbaa gasped in horror. Kida furiously yelled in Atlantian at Rourke.
Pinsir just sighed and shook his head. "His patience is wearing thin once again."
Panpour glared at Rourke. "You sir, have absolutely no respect for the elderly!"
Sweet rushed over to check on the king. "Rourke, this was not part of the plan!" He glared at the commander.
Rourke wasn't fazed at all. "Plans change, Doctor. I suggest you put a bandage on that bleeding heart of yours. It doesn't suit a mercenary." He sat on the throne and propped his feet on the table, knocking over a bowl of fruit as he did. "Well, as usual, diplomacy has failed us. Now, I'm going to count to ten and you're going to tell me where the crystal is."
As Rourke said that, the two Dragon-Type Pokemon lifted the king off the ground.
Lola gasped. "You wouldn't dare!" The Pride Team members were actually frozen at what they heard.
"Oh, I would dare, little birdie. Now..." Rourke aimed his gun at the king. Sweet, Audrey, Mole, Vinny, Mole, Cookie, and even the Greaser Dogs and Snorlax looked on in alarm. "One, two...Nine...te-" He cut his short countdown short and looked at the middle of the room in surprise.
The Pride Team was confused, wondering why Rourke didn't fire. Rourke gazed at the swirl of stones in the middle of the pond. "The Heart of Atlantis lies the eyes of our king." Rourke repeated what Milo read in the book. After that, he finally realized the final piece of the puzzle and was pretty amazed. "This is it! We're in!" He tossed the Shepherd's Journal back to Milo.
"How'd he do that?" Dog asked in confusion. "In this line of work, you've gotta be pretty clever to get what you desire." Pinsir walked over to Rourke with Lola trapped against his pincers.
"Snorlax, drop the monkeys and bring Light with you. I'll get the Togetic, we're going in." Luxray ordered before grabbing Kate by the wings with his mouth.
"Uh, sure." Snorlax just dropped Pansage and Panpour. The two monkey Pokemon grunted after hitting the floor. Snorlax picked up Light and followed Luxray to Rourke, who was stepping into the water. Both Garchomp and Noivern dropped the king and Sweet went back to checking on him.
Milo quickly followed after him. "Rourke, for the last time, you've gotta listen to me! You don't have the slightest idea what this power is capable of."
Helga joined them while dragging Kida with her. "True, but I can think of a few countries who'd pay anything to find out."
Rourke stepped onto the platform, as soon as he did, it began to rumble. Suddenly, the platform under the commander's feet began to descend. Rourke pulled Milo onto the platform while Helga, Pinsir, Luxray, and Snorlax got on while holding their respective captives.
The further down the platform went, the darker it got. Finally, they've reached their destination; an enormous cavern. On the far end of the cave was a pool, filled with water so deep you couldn't see the bottom, only your reflection. Once the platform got to the floor, Rourke, Pinsir, Helga, Milo, Kida, Lola, Luxray, Kate, Snorlax, and Light got off it. They looked up at what was hovering above the water. A glowing blue sphere was hovering above the water, and a number of huge stones with faces carved on them circled around the blue sphere.
Rourke grinned at the sphere. "Jackpot."
"So, that's the prize?" Snorlax dropped Light and kept looking at the sphere. "Somehow, I thought it'd be shaped more like a diamond."
Luxray, Pinsir, and Helga let their captives go as well. "Doesn't matter, we've found what we need." Pinsir said.
Kida looked up at the sphere...and she looked like she's seen a ghost. "Kings of our past." She muttered. Kate still heard her. "Wait, what?"
Kida got down to her knees and softly spoke in Atlantian. Kate, Lola, and Light looked back and forth between the princess and the sphere. They thought back to what Max was told about kings of the past, and they realized that Kida must be apologizing to the kings of Atlantis' past.
The others noticed as well. "Mumbling something to yourself in your own language, princess?" Luxray asked, uncaring of course.
Rourke rolled his eyes. "Thatch, tell her to wrap it up. We got a schedule to meet."
Milo glared at Rourke, but still moved over to Kida. He helped the princess back to her feet. "Um...Kida...I'm sorry." Kate, Lola, and Light just looked at Kida with both guilt and sympathy.
Rourke and Pinsir walked a little closer to the water. "So, how are we supposed to get it from up there?" The Stagbeetle Pokemon asked. Rourke didn't really answer, he just kicked a pebble into the water as if to test something out. That's when the sphere's light changed from blue to red.
The change of the color of the light caught everyone's attention. "Now what's happening?" Light asked.
Helga felt uneasy. "Come on, let's get this over with. I don't like this place." Snorlax actually agreed with her. "Neither do I. Let's just grab it and get out of here quick!"
Rourke looked at the red sphere a bit more, then turned to Milo. "Alright, Thatch. What's next?"
Milo looked through the pages to find some answers. "Okay, there's a giant crystal hovering 150 feet above our heads over a bottomless pit of water. Doesn't anything surprise you?"
Kate, Lola, and Light gave each other concerned looks. Suddenly, one of the red lights from the sphere shined on Kida and turned back to blue, the crystal around her neck floated a little and glowed as well.
"Mother." Kida said in her language. Kate turned to the princess. "What'd you say, Kida?" But she gasped once she saw that Kida's eyes glowed blue.
Light and Lola turned to the princess just as she began to walk closer to the sphere as if she was being hypnotized. The others noticed as well. Milo tried to get to her, but Rourke stopped him from doing so.
"What's happening to her?" Lola asked in concern. Luxray turned to Milo. "Hey, linguist! You mind telling us what's going on?"
Milo pointed at the journal. "Look, all it says here is that the Crystal is 'alive' somehow. I-I don't know how to explain it. It's their deity. It's their power source."
Rourke rolled his eyes. "Speak English, Professor."
"They're a part of it, it's a part of them. I-I'm doing the best I can here." Milo replied.
Rourke reached for his pistol. "Well, do better."
Milo glared at Rourke. "I know! Why don't you translate, and I'll wave the gun around!"
Lola flew between the two of them. "Will you two quit fighting? The only thing we'll get is a great big headache! Can't you see that something strange is happening to Kida as we speak?"
Light was about to chime in, but another voice stopped him. "All will be well, Milo Thatch." Everyone turned to the water. Kida was standing on the water when she slowly turned to them. "Kate the Togetic, Light the Midday Lycanroc, and Lola Caricola, the item you seek is not what you thought, but trust yourselves and your team. Be not afraid."
Snorlax blinked. "...I have no idea what she just said."
"What did she say?" Rourke asked Milo.
The linguist shrugged. "I-I don't know. I didn't catch it." Kate, Lola, and Light looked at each other. The three of them were confused and worried as well.
Kida turned around and kept walking on the water, literally, and walking closer to the sphere. It wasn't long until she was standing right underneath the crystal and the stones circling around it.
Soon more light-blue light beams were around the cavern until they circled around the young Atlantian woman that was below the crystal. When they collided, there was a bright flash of light and Kida was unconscious. Her body was being lifted up until it entered the glowing sphere above. After Kida's body went inside the sphere, the stones around it began to spin faster and faster. Then there was light so bright, most of them used their arms to shield their eyes.
The light dimmed down. When everyone looked up again, a figure slowly came back down. It was light-blue like the sphere, but seems to have taken the sphere's place. It also looked like a replica of Kida. When she got down to the water, Kate, Light, Lola, and Milo were both surprised and worried. Snorlax rubbed his eyes in disbelief. Luxray just kept his serious expression.
Milo tried to go after Kida, but Rourke stopped him. "Hold your horses, lover boy." The only thing Milo could do was mutter Kida's name twice.
Crystallized Kida opened her eyes and began to slowly walk back to the others. "What happened to her?" Light quietly asked.
"I don't know, Light. But, if I have to make a wild guess, I'd say Kida just became one with the crystal." Kate answered uneasily.
"Unbelievable." Lola only muttered. Behind Kida, the stones that were floating not that long ago fell into the water. They weren't even glowing anymore, now they were just lifeless stones.
Once Kida got out of the water, Rourke tried to grab her. Milo was able to stop him. "No, don't! Don't touch her." Kate, Lola, and Light could only watch on with worried looks on their faces.
Seems like things aren't going well in Atlantis, but it seems even worse after what just happened to Kida! Hopefully Milo, Kate and her search group can find a way to fix this and save their friend...but how? For the answer, tune in to the next chapter. Until then, see ya later!