The sunset was something Dewott never grew tired of.

The pink curtain of clouds against the gradient of the reddish-blue sky. The graceful descent of the sun as it welcomed itself into the orange, shimmering sea's embrace. The calming sound of the tides crashing against the wooden hull of the Albatross. The cool flurry of wind flying past his face. All of it combined to form one serene scene in front of him.

Heh. Dewott knew he was getting sentimental over nothing, yet he just couldn't look away. Just sitting at the helm, looking up towards the sky, a tinge of guilt weighted Dewott. Yes, he had express permission from their leader Maractus to be the main helmsman. Yes, he only volunteered himself when no one else would take the position. Yes, he was the Pokemon with the most experience sailing, through a personal hobby. By all means, he shouldn't feel guilty. But having the sunset and the fresh air all to himself while everyone else was below deck felt wrong.

He soaked in the mystifying atmosphere while he could. There was something about sitting around in the middle of the sea that called to him. Something… peaceful. That rare, serene quiet billowing against the wind was simply mesmerizing.

It wasn't often that the atmosphere was anything close to resembling peace. After crashing wave after crashing wave, it was hard to find quiet moments to appreciate in the first place. Metaphorical waves, of course. And literal waves too. After that storm two days ago, Dewott wanted nothing to do with them. Barely controlling a rocking ship in the middle of ceaseless rain was as far from enjoyable as one could get.

Those waves were long past, though. The storm of uncertainty had come and gone. He had a definite goal now, and he couldn't let himself stray away from that path, despite the long road ahead.

"Yo, Dew."

...And yet, that was one storm that rivaled the mightiest of winds. The fiercest tempests quivered at the sound of that dreaded voice. Dewott didn't respond back; doing so would only hasten his slow, certain descent into madness.

"Hello? Earth to Dew? You in there?" Pachirisu pouted. "You know, you could at least try to act like you're listening."

And with those words, Dewott's impending doom was sealed. "Hey, can't I at least have some peace while I still can? This is going to be the best the weather will be in… honestly, probably our entire time here. And you're certainly not going to ruin this moment."

"Well sorry to rain on your parade, but it's going to pour soon." Of course it was. Just couldn't get a single hour of peace. "Speaking of that, catch." Pachirisu tossed some sort of… yellow cloth at Dewott. With both of Dewott's paws holding the Albatross's helm, the cloth naturally landed right on top of his face.

After shaking the cloak onto the helm, Dewott looked straight at Pachirisu. "And what is this supposed to be?" Now that Dewott actually recognized Pachirisu's existence, his eyes caught Pachirisu's attire. Pachirisu was wearing the same cloak like the one he just tossed. Except smaller.

"Got it personally from Air's ruin investigation team. You'd think that Decrepit Lab would have given up all its secrets by now, but we've still only scratched its surface. We exponentially find more and more by the second. Yeah, you'd get better at extracting data out of those old lugs of memory as you worked with them, but it's honestly frightening how much was dug, and how much there still is to dig." Pachirisu's eyes lit up as he rambled on. "Getting back on topic though, you were asking about this thing?" Pachirsu raised a sleeve of the cloak. "It isn't even all that recent of a development; we've known about this for like… a month now? Eh, it's closer to a month and a half than a month flat. Production of this itself only just got past the testing phase, but guess who got us special privileges?"

Of course he had to get Pachirsu started on one of his rants. Get him on the wrong topic, and he'd stick on you harder than sand does fur. It didn't help that he was waving the cloth right in front of his face too. "Come on, you know how significant this expedition is. They would've donated us whatever that is without your interference anyway. And you don't need to drool all over the floor either. You've already convinced us ten times over that you'd eat all this flashy tech stuff three meals a day. And you still haven't said anything about what this thing even is in the first place."

"Well jeez, ya killjoy. No need to be so rude about it. I know everyone here loves to hear me talk all about this tech"—Dewott rolled his eyes—"but it's actually important that you know how we even got some of this stuff. Like, all of the tech here, from the lights to even the kitchen, would've been the stuff of dreams a generation ago. Look at the sail even, we were only able to think of that when—" Dewott returned a cold stare. "On second thought, I understand that there's that small part of you that doesn't want to hear about it, and so I shall humbly respect your boundaries." Dewott glared harder as Pachirisu's smug grin looked cheekily at him. "But you're going to use this stuff much more often, so better get used to it now."

Dewott took a deep sigh. "Honestly, you could probably single-handedly cover for us and twice the world population when it comes to all of this technology stuff. And even then be free to handle more. So since you're more than capable of doing this by yourself, why don't you just let the rest of us be."

"Why, I ever so thank you for recognizing my capabilities"—Dewott hated how he twisted his words like that—"but getting back on topic, those guys reverse-engineered some of that data to make this." Pachirisu held up an arm of his cloak. "The guys back at Air dubbed this a 'parka'. Based on what the crew gathered, they were made by some weird chimera-like substance the Ancients called 'rubber'. It was supposed to be 'water-resistant' from what the plans showed, but honestly, the makeup was a total mess. Way too needlessly complex. And it was unreliable at best." Pride emerged from Pachirisu's tone. "Considering that humans themselves made the place, you'd think that they'd think of a smarter solution. Leavanny silk is cheaper, more available, and does the whole 'water prevention' thing better than that mess ever could."

"Really? Humans? You believe those myths? Aren't you supposed to be the sciency person around here?" Dewott wore a disappointed smile. "Somehow you're even more out there than I thought already."

Pachirisu laughed. "Ignore all the fun mystery in front of you and you're just going to be a bore. You certainly aren't going to be much fun to talk to if you keep that up."

"I could say the same thing to you."

"Sure." Pachirisu rolled his eyes.

A small pause followed. Proceed by a long silence. Only the crashing of the waves and the staggering of the ship broke the inaudible uncomfortableness. Both parties stared at each other awkwardly, Pachirisu leaning against the boat, and Dewott standing at the helm, paws still covered under the yellow cloth Pachirisu left him. Dewott could see the sun standing still on the horizon line.

And of course, Pachirisu broke the silence in the most awkward way possible. "So, uh, Dew. When are you going to put it on? That downpour could happen any minute now."

"Y-You're kidding me. Don't you see how restrictive this is?" Dewott held up the cloak in front of Pachirisu, keeping a spare hand on the helm. "I could barely move in this. And besides, I don't even mind the rain at all. I'm a water type. In fact, I'd feel better right in the rain."

"Sure. Tell me that after you're all drenched. Have you forgotten that we're right in the middle of the ocean? Island life out here is sure to be at least ten times worse than anything you've experienced in your life. Collectively." Pachirisu shot Dewott a glare. "And besides, captain's orders."

The water type shivered. The elders told of a time when storms, blizzards, and blistering heat were awe-inspiring rarities. As far as Dewott knew, that was just a load of crap. On forgiving days, ceaseless showers of rain could span an entire continent. On unforgiving ones, hurricanes and tornadoes leveled towns unfortunate enough to be caught by surprise. The strongest Rain Dances and the fiercest Sunny Days could barely make a dent in influencing the sporadic weather. That unruliness was just a part of everyday life, a simple fact of nature that society tolerated and endured. It sucked, but that was how life was, and everyone dealt with it. For the weather to be even worse here though… Pachirisu was most definitely exaggerating, but he had a point. And besides, he couldn't just oppose Maractus like that.

"Fine, I'll put it on. Just don't try anything funny."

"What would I even do?" Dewott motioned towards the helm. "Oh yeah, that." Pachirisu had a suspiciously smug grin. "C'mon, I'm not that untrustworthy. Just don't crash into the plainly obvious rocks. When was the last time I messed up something as simple as—"

"The time you overcooked dinner."

"Well I don't know about you, but I like my food crisply bur—"

"That time when you decided it was a funny idea to put a plush Joltik on Maractus' bed."

"Hey, she was feeling down and needed something to help distract fro—"

"Or how about yesterday, when you thought it was a great idea to start a blackout."

"Hey, it's not my fault the generator needed fixing—"

"Or this morning, when—"

"Ok, ok, I get it." Pachirsu tiredly looked at Dewott. "Hey, come on. I'm serious this time." Dewott skeptically looked at Pachirisu. "Yeah, I kinda, sorta, maybe mess up sometimes. But I know how important this is. I won't screw it up."

Dewott paused before forcing out a "Fine." Instant regret flowed out of his voice. "Just go steady the helm."Pachirisu stifled a smug smile.

Dewott hurriedly pulled the parka over his head. Better to not let Pachirisu have free reign for a second longer than he had to. He just had to put his arm there, align his head there, and then… No, that wasn't correct. His head couldn't even fit in the hole. Wait, why was his arm in the head hole?

Pachirisu looked on, gasping for breath in between his laughter.

"Ahem. If you wouldn't patronize me while I'm putting this thing on, that would be greatly appreciated."

"Haha… Sorry. Couldn't help myself." Even though Pachirisu sounded like regained his composure, Dewott could still see his smug smile through the cloak. "You sure you don't need any help though?"

Dewott finally found the head hole and popped his head out. "Yes. I'm sure." He reached for the helm. "Now give me back—"

"Nuh uh." Pachirisu stood between Dewott and the helm he wanted so desperately out of the squirrel's reach. "You've got a meeting to go to first!"

"Wha— since when?!"

"Since uh… now. Mac wanted to see you and Marshadow, and since I was already gonna nab you to give you that,"—Pachirisu pointed at the parka—"I told her I might as well tell you guys for her. Speaking about Marshadow… you have any clue where he is?"

"Somebody called?" A shadowy figure appeared from behind Pachirisu.

Dewott jumped back in surprise. Did Marshadow really have to do that? Yeah, having a Legendary on board was still jaw-dropping to even think about, but subconsciously looking behind his own back to make sure he wasn't going to be jumped on got tiring after at most the second time. "Gah! Could you give a little warning next time?! Jumping between us during a conversation isn't exactly the most polite way to get our attention."

"Well, you guys called for me. Don't go asking for something you don't want." Hold on. What was Marshadow even doing, taking Pachirisu's words and shoving them in Dewott's mouth? He wasn't even apologetic about it either!

Thankfully, Dewott's composure wasn't the only one to crumble. Pachirisu cautiously started breathing again after a short break. "Well, uh, Mac looked like she really needed you guys, so how about you get going." Dewott and Marshadow looked on, dumbfounded, while Pachirisu stayed awkwardly silent. "You guys don't want to incur her wrath, right?"

Despite the fact that Maractus' "wrath" was less threatening than a lone Magikarp—Dewott could still feel the cold fish slapping against his warm, swelling face even then—Marshadow went along with Pachirisu's claim. "Nope. Definitely wouldn't want that." And just as suddenly as he appeared, Marshadow slipped back into the shadows.

Pachirisu shot a grin at Dewott. "You know, I still can't believe the legendary Marshadow's here with us. You'd think someone of his stature would be too good to meddle with us lowly mortals or something."

"Yes. Because I can truly feel all of his compassionate kindness oozing all over me."

"Hey, he's a professional. He's got that sort of charm." Despite only knowing him for a couple of days, Dewott was at least sure that he was anything but charming.

"So then"—Pachirisu's grin widened—"how long are you just going to stand there? You aren't going to keep them waiting, right?"

Dewott grumbled. "I really, really hate it when you've got an actual point."

"C'mon, you've already let me steer for this long." Pachirisu leaned back against the helm. "It'll only be for a little while."

Dewott pointed at the helm. "You're drifting to the left."

"Yeah, yeah, of course." Pachirisu's tone was irritably nonchalant, but he practically punched the helm as he hastily regained control of it. "I-I wanted to turn left anyways."

Dewott face-pawed. "We're screwed." Dewott went down into the hull, praying to dear life that his certain death at the paws of Pachirisu's negligence would be swift.