Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. GameFreak and Nintendo are the owners.
Chapter 1: Arrival
The sun shone upon the calm blue blanket of waves. Breeze was blowing softly, bringing the aroma of fresh salt. Occasionally, a few birds with white wings known as Wingull flew around the ship. And a few sea creatures hopped out of the water. One would surely be lost in thoughts upon seeing such solemn, living paintings of the ocean.
"Oh the serene sea of soul. One that I shall see of all."
"Your smile is sunshine. Your tears are the rain." A man declared.
He was the man in white coat, with cuirass underneath and a white cape wrapping him. He was admiring the view. A white beret was on his hand, he put it on after holding it dearly.
"Still with your poetic lines eh, Wallace." A gruffy old voice spoke.
"The ocean truly mirrors my heart. And so for you I believe, Mr. Drake." Wallace replied.
It was the man who wore the captain's outfit. A man with thick white mustache, who did not bother closing his coat and showed that tempered body.
"The sea is my place. Many years I spent sailing." Drake answered.
Both of the men stood by the deck, from there they could see whatever nature had offered. Behind them, from the ship funnel black smoke rose as a trail of their journey. Then he brought out his binocular and peered to the horizon, far ahead. He also brought out a compass on his left hand, and the needle pointed north. Seeing all of those, he smiled.
"Would you look at that, eh? That map is a real deal." Drake chuckled.
Wallace took the binocular and saw for himself the 'promised land' Mr, Stone had revealed to them. He put down that binocular and closed his eyes. His smile did not falter even a bit. Then he opened his eyes, a shaper glare was there.
"To think that such a place exists. One could dismiss it as a fairy tail." Wallace said.
"Fairy tail or not, we're soon to find out." The captain continued.
Somewhere else, in the ship bridge Steven stood there. With the same outfit he had as usual, and a cuirass protected his torso. On his belt, there was a longsword, resting for now. His eyes stared to the front window, while his arms rested on his chest. The still air was a perfect place for a contemplation.
"Vampires…" His expression was a confusion, mixed with anger, and one could say fear.
His brow contorted while his thoughts imagined possible scenarios and pondered much. He looked at a notebook and shrugged his head, because the page recounted a little of this so-called 'Sinnoh Kingdom'. He muttered a few words afterwards.
`Kriiit`. Then, the metal door behind was opened. Steven turned to his back, his solemn expression turned to a pleasant one.
"Owh, somebody is nervous I see." An almost bald man grinned.
"Sidney, but you are too." Steven replied.
"No can deny. We are near now."
Steven nodded, he followed Sidney out of the deck. His countenance became brighter now. His thoughtful look was no more for now.
Both of them stepped down the stairs heading to the bridge. He looked at the vast ship, a couple of men dressed in black long coats, wearing helmets, a chest plate, and the matching uniform. Some were watching toward the sea, some were walking back and forth near the stern.
"The other agents are kinda nervous you know." Sidney commented.
Steven nodded in response, nobody would be in their prime in this kind of condition.
They passed through the wide exterior of the ship. The metal-clad ship was a mighty one. As he saw the numerous personnel he had, he let go his breath, perhaps out of relief.
"Sir Steven." One agent greeted him.
"Sir." Another said.
They stood straight after they bowed slightly. Steven smiled at them and bowed too. Then he and Sidney proceed forward to their business.
At the deck, the captain of the ship had expected them. Steven looked toward the front, far away on the yonder a small shape came into his view. For a while, he squinted his eyes.
"So it is true." Steven muttered.
"One week of sailing only from Hoenn, here we are." Sidney said.
Steven then turned to Drake and nodded, which Drake reciprocated. The old captain stepped further a few steps, near the edge. The others watched in anticipation.
Drake brought out an orb from his coat pocket. A black, opaque orb with two yellow streaks on it. He stretched his hand to the front, the orb was held on his palm. Without much waiting, a light was emitted from the orb. The orb seemed to funnel the light, channeling it to a certain spot.
On the spot where the light landed, a creature was summoned. Around a meter tall it was. Then Drake knelt down and patted its blue head, which was the color of its body. Then it squealed, its short white beak opened wide.
"You know what to do." Drake spoke. It nodded in response.
"Go, Altaria."
Then the bird-like creature spanned its cloud-shaped fluffy wings and soared high immediately. At impressive speed and altitude, they saw it fly toward the island far ahead above the cloud.
"Now, we wait." Drake spoke to them.
"How long?" Steven asked.
"A few hours I say, not too long."
And then Steven walked away from the deck, Sidney followed him soon. Wallace remained, he kept his vision upon the sea. And Drake also took his leave, leaving the man in white at his own pace.
The anchor was dropped, it fell down to the shallow water seafloor, rooting deep. And the ship remained so for a while. The wary agents were still there, watching keenly every side where attack was possible. A few small tiger creatures, known as Growlithe patrolled the vessel along its trainer.
Below the ship, a long beautiful serpent with colorful scales on its head and tail swam around the ship along an orange fish with white tail and horn. No other sea creatures dared to approach those fearsome underwater guards of the ship.
While in the lower bridge, Steven was in his personal chamber. It was a modest room, with a queen size bed unlike other quarters with bunk beds. He was sitting by his study desk, facing a window from whence the sun lit the room. His coat was on the coat hanger and his cuirass was off, revealing a violet waistcoat. On the table was the same book he had been reading earlier.
"I see… I see. How… possible? … civilization of undead." He muttered.
Then he closed the book. He leaned on the chairrest, he looked at the ceiling and closed his eyes. Somehow this whole mission was not going to end well for him, he thought. A smile came on his face, but quickly it faded.
Then he took a rock on the upper part of his desk. The rock was dark teal, a color that would attract men such as him. He wrapped his finger around it, like a squirrel with its acorn. And he picked another one, which seemed to be an obsidian stone. It was a humorous coincidence that his collection matched with his family's name.
When he opened his room door, immediately he heard a young, energetic voice of a young girl ringing in the hallway.
"Come on Brawly, I heard that grampa's Altaria is back." The young girl with two pink flowers on her head skipped through the white metal hallway.
"Uh please wait up, vice chief." Brawly, a man with deeper blue hair in black shirt spoke.
"Hurry up."
Steven followed them as he heard the news, no need for Sidney fetching him now. And he smiled at that thought.
On the dock, the elites of Devon Foundation gathered once again. Then they saw from the sky afar, the silhouette of Altaria approaching fast. Moments later it landed upon the dock. Then Drake approached it.
"How is it?" He asked.
The bird then squealed softly, Drake nodded as if he understood it. Then it scratched the floor with its talon, Drake's eyes captured each moment of it keenly, not even blinking.
He smiled at Altaria, then he petted it on the head. It was happy, then it squealed a joyful noise while flapping its soft wings.
"Good job. Here." Drake tossed a small biscuit and Altaria ate it quickly.
"Now rest up."
He brought out Altaria's orb, he raised it up and the physical form of Altria turned to energy form. Quickly it was funneled into the orb.
"Is the map accurate according to Altaria?" Steven asked.
"Yea, somehow that old map hits the spot right." Drake nodded.
"I see. Well depicted then."
Steven walked a bit, he was thinking now. The others were waiting for his decision. Then he turned to them.
"Thank you. Now let's proceed as planned. Gather everyone."
In a hall down in the lower bridge many of the agents had gathered. They stood in a line of eight men for each. Each of them was armed with a rifle and a sword, in addition to orbs they had to summon their Mystical creatures. And they had a backpack for each man, a medium size one. Their eyes were mixed with nervousness and readiness, this was going to be a hard task.
The sound of the door opened rang the arrival of Steven from behind the lined agents. Behind him there were Sidney and Wallace. Steven walked from the farthest left side of the room, then in a marching pace he made his way to the foremost front. There, three of them joined the poised Drake and the vice chief girl on a stage.
"Salute!" Brawly shouted from the foremost right line.
All of the agents gave the salutation gesture, their right hand met their brows and their elbow bent for honoring.
"At ease." Steven spoke firmly.
Immediately they dropped their arm, they returned to their previous stance. Nobody made sound now, only one could speak.
"Gentlemen, I believe all of us have known the reason why we are here." Steven spoke.
"Our dear comrade, chief of the Research Division, Glacia was abducted and brought here, to a lost kingdom." He continued.
All of them did not budge, some only nodded subtly. This seemed to be an extraordinary security breach, because some had a disbelief expression when remembering it.
"Now, we will proceed to infiltrate this kingdom." He paused a little.
With his right hand on his waist, then he tilted from left to the right, then he continued.
"However, one of the creatures we hunt, vampires inhabited it." Sweat dripped from the agents head.
Then Steven flipped the portable board behind him, every agent had their eyes upon it. It was the map of Sinnoh, a copy of a century old map.
"Therefore, I expect all of us to give their best. We will put an end to the kidnapper's and bring her home." He raised his voice.
"No holding back! Am I clear?"
"Yes sir!" A loud, unanimous reply came in an instant.
Steven smiled at them, a smile of kindness and power. His hope perhaps could be fulfilled.
"Thank you. Then our briefing will be continued." The he turned toward Sidney on his right.
"Our plan will be elaborated by the Extermination division vice chief, Sidney."
Then Steven stepped away from the edge of the middle stage. Quickly Sidney replaced him from his spot, and Steven stood by the right of the board.
"Ehm." Sidney coughed.
All of the agents had a crack under their mask of perfect calmness. That snide face of the Extermination vice chief was not ordinary. Then he brought out a thin, somewhat long wooden stick from his back.
"Listen closely, especially you, squad leaders." Sidney spoke.
They nodded, moreover the front man of each squad was the commander. They looked at the map keenly.
"According to our location and the map, we are approximately twenty miles away."
"Two and half hours away at our normal velocity from this place." He explained.
He pointed to the foremost left, near the bottom of the island in the map.
"Captain Drake will keep a distance of five miles off the coastline, the rest we will go by boat." Sidney had that unpleasant smile.
Sidney proceeded to explain about the boat division, the route of the boat will go through. And he did not forget to throw his somewhat unsavory warnings.
"Squad A, B, C, understand?" He asked. And they answered simultaneously.
"The rest of the squad will remain here. Only moving after chief Glacia is located, for the sake of discretion."
That statement gave the other squads, four in total, relief. They exhaled their held breath.
From the right edge of the stage, the tanned girl wearing a violet cloak stood beside the white man wearing white. She was moving a lot while the almost bald man seemed to be scaring the agents.
"Uncle, are we also going there?" She called the tall man.
"Yes, my dear Phoebe. We are going there." He answered.
She smiled widely upon knowing she will go down the kingdom, doing many things.
"But are we also catching, maybe we preserve Mysticals?" She whispered, controlling her excitement.
"No dear, we are here to only rescue aunt Glacia, remember?" He calmly answered.
Then her lips pouted, that was a downer for her. But then she seemed serious, her sharp stare was a sign.
"Perhaps my dear, we can observe some new Mysticals along the way."
Quickly her smile returned and she thanked her 'uncle' Wallace.
And then the meeting was over after a few more mental fortitude tests from Sidney. Then Steven dismissed the agents, slowly one by one marched to exit the building like ants going for food. They did not even bother to ask questions, nothing was necessary to ask or there was no audacity to ask.
In the bridge, Drake the captain was standing by the steering wheel. On his right hand, there was a flask. Then he took a sip from it, he gulped the liquid thoroughly.
"Aaah… vodka never changes." He commented.
"You are the one who never changes, Mr. Drake." Steven said from his right.
Drake chuckled on his words. Steven then looked through the binocular, he was looking at a port city. A big city with a wall made of steel guarding the entrance of the harbor. He grimaced slightly because of such scenery.
He put the binocular down. Then he closed his eyes and opened it at the same time as he released a heavy breath.
"You sure seemed to worry eh?" Drake asked.
"I must admit… yes." He kept looking at the front window.
"No worry there, everybody fears. And this mission is big to chew."
Steven crossed his arms. He seemed to think more, for the many times he had done so today.
"Still can't believe those blood suckers pulled off such thing." Drake snarked.
Then he drank from his flask once again until it was emptied. And he closed with a rotating lid. Steven raised his head and pondered.
"What would they gain from Glacia? Why her? She is not an heir." He asked.
"No idea. Guessing maybe they are desperate for human blood or dame." Drake said.
Steven shrugged Drake's theory. There must be something hidden, something deeper than a mere bloodlust or lust itself.
"One thing for sure, they are up to something sinister. Hope she is still alive, as human."
Steven furrowed his brows on the notion, where she would not be the same anymore. But then he regained his smile, albeit a soft and subtle one.
"Hopefully. We can only hope."
"But I will do my best. For her sake. For our foundation's name." Steven said.
He turned to Drake who held his shoulder, patting it twice and gave him an encouraging smile.
"That's the spirit." Drake was glad. Steven nodded.
Then he looked back to the front, grabbing the binocular and observed the now near large island.
"Well, here it comes. A lair of beast." He joked, but not in truthfully.
Ahead of the ship, the view of the ocean had diminished, instead in their vision was a wide island. More importantly the bulwark of steel stood proudly to guard the city by sea, as if beckoning them to come.
"It is the time, isn't it?" A rhetorical question from Steven.
"Everything has its time, Steven."
Then Steven made his own clothes neat, he fixed his red cravat, and made sure his coat was well. Drake then pulled a lever near the wheel. A series of metal sounds rang across the ship, and they heard it from the bridge.
Moments later, with mild thud the ship stopped in its tracks.
"Till we meet again, Mr. Drake."
"Remember, don't boil your head down." Drake said.
Steven walked away from the steering wheel , heading for the door. Drake took a glance at him for the last time in a while.
"May Arceus be with you." And the bridge door was closed.
On the deck, the squads had assembled. A, B, and C squad lined up neatly, waiting for further order. Their rifle was held on their right hand, leaning upon their shoulder. In front of them, stood Sidney with a saber on his hips and a pistol on the left side of his belt. It seemed they were poised to strike.
Steven then walked out of the bridge, passed through the right side and finally entered the front deck. They gave him a salute and he replied with easing them. He stood before them, with Sidney accompanying him at his side.
"Squad A." Steven shouted. A reply from the squad leader came.
"Squad B." The same reply was given.
"Squad C." The front man shouted back with `yes`.
Steven looked at them once more, with assurance in his eyes.
"Are the boats ready, Sidney?" Steven faced him.
"Yes, ready."
Steven nodded in return. The agents held their armaments with strong grip, so for Sidney, whose left hand stood by his saber. For a few seconds, Steven was silent. Then his countenance bore the look of a slayer, the smile of a merciful ruler.
He opened his mouth and proclaimed loudly.
"Let the operation commence!"
To Be Continued….