So, school has started up again, but even that means less time for working on my fanfic(s) since I have schoolwork to do, I'll still do my best to keep the story moving.
Chapter 18: I have to admit, I'm kind of curious about these Deep Sea Charms too!
Sera, Blitz and Chiaki were going around Fenix Town, making their preparations for today's missions as usual. Sera cheerfully told her teammates about how she and Sirena had spent yesterday by the lake, and Blitz seemed happy to hear that Sera had been able to bond with Sirena. The three of them walked past Stella's house, just as Stella stepped outside.
"Good morning, Stella!" Sera said.
"Oh, hello," Stella responded somewhat absentmindedly. "I'm sorry, but I don't have time to talk."
"Are you in a hurry?" Chiaki asked, tilting his head slightly.
"Well, not exactly," Stella replied. "But I had a vision revealing the location of another crystal, so I thought I'd head up to the rescue team HQ to inform the rescue teams."
"Oh, that's what it was!" Bow suddenly exclaimed, peeking out of the window. "I had a vision of a crystal underwater, at the bottom of this huge whirlpool!"
"Yes, I believe that is the same crystal I saw," Stella said, nodding her head slightly to Bow.
"So, there's a crystal underwater?" Sera asked, tilting her head slightly.
"Yes, that's what we just told you!" Bow responded.
"I believe it must be somewhere in the Sapphire Sea," Stella said, thinking for a moment. "Specifically, somewhere near the end of a mystery dungeon called the Radiant Reef."
"There are mystery dungeons underwater?" Chiaki asked, tilting his head slightly.
"Yeah," Blitz responded, nodding his head. "There are several mystery dungeons underwater, and apparently there's also a deep sea branch of rescue teams."
"Ooh, a deep sea branch?" Chiaki asked, wanting to know more.
"It consists of Pokémon that live in the sea, naturally," Blitz explained. "They even have their own little rescue team headquarters, I've heard."
"That is correct," Stella responded. "Anyways, I'll head up to the rescue team HQ now. Hopefully they can send a message to the deep sea branch so they can send some of their rescue teams to search for the crystal."
Stella began walking towards the rescue team HQ, Sera, Blitz and Chiaki coming along since they were headed there anyways. Bow stayed behind to look after the house, and waved good bye as they left.
"I'd sure like to check out some of those underwater rescue teams," Chiaki said, looking rather excited at the thought. "Is there a way we can get there?"
"Hmm… I think there is a way for non-water type rescue teams to go there," Sera replied, looking over at Blitz. "Isn't there, Blitz?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, there is," Blitz responded, nodding his head. "One needs a special item, though, that will allow non-water types to breathe underwater."
"Ooh, what kind of item?" Chiaki asked, looking at Blitz curiously.
"Some sort of amulet, if I remember correctly…" Blitz responded, trying to remember what it was called.
"It's called a Deep Sea Charm," Stella said. "It's a necklace made from magical pearls and seashells."
"Cool!" Chiaki exclaimed, looking up at Stella. "Where can we get one of those?"
"Hmm… I have a friend who knows how to make them, but I know there's also a Pokémon working at the rescue team HQ that makes Deep Sea Charms and other special items," Stella responded. "I hear items like that can also be found in treasure chests found in mystery dungeons sometimes, if you're lucky."
As they reached the rescue team HQ, Stella went off to see if someone could send a message about the crystal to the deep sea branch's HQ.
"Either of you know where we can find the Pokémon that Stella talked about?" Chiaki asked.
"You mean the one who can make Deep Sea Charms and other special items like that?" Blitz replied. "Well… Let's see…" Blitz looked around, checking the differently colored curtains covering the entrances to the other rooms. "Nurse Giselle's room is behind the pink curtain, Kala's is the purple one… Oh, maybe it's that green one, over there?"
The three young Pokémon walked up to the curtain, peeking behind it. However, it didn't seem like anyone was inside the office behind the green curtain at the moment. There was a note pinned to a wall, reading: "Out gathering materials for making more items. Sorry for any inconvenience this might cause. ~Couture."
"Hmm, this seems to be the right place," Sera commented, looking at the note. "It doesn't seem like this "Couture" is here today, though."
"Aw, I wanted a Deep Sea Charm," Chiaki said, pouting.
"You looking for Couture?" a female voiced asked, and the rescue team turned around to see a Servine from one of the other rescue teams.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, sort of," Blitz responded, rubbing his forelegs together.
"Well, I actually ran into her yesterday, and she mentioned that she would be heading to Tidal Shores to gather some special seashells and pearls that tend to wash up there," the Servine said.
"Wow, really?" Sera asked, tilting her head slightly. "As in, the ones needed to make Deep Sea Charms?"
"Yeah, I think so," the Servine said, nodding her head slightly.
"Huh, what a strange coincidence…" Blitz responded. "That's the item we were just talking about."
"Anyways, I've got to get back to my teammates," the Servine said, looking over at a Minccino and Wynaut that seemed to be having trouble agreeing on what mission to take. "They look like they need some help. Bye!"
"Oh, bye Regina," Blitz replied, waving at the Servine.
"Well, I guess we should be finding ourselves a mission too," Sera said.
Sera and Blitz began walking up to the rescue board, but Chiaki seemed to have something else in mind.
"Wait up, guys," Chiaki said, thinking for a moment. "We were just told where Couture is!"
"So?" Sera asked, tilting her head slightly.
"I think we should head over to Tidal Shores and go meet her!" Chiaki responded, grinning.
"Or we can just wait until tomorrow," Blitz said. "She'll probably be back by then."
"Why wait until tomorrow to do things we can do today?" Chiaki asked, still smiling. "Ooh, maybe she'd get things done faster if we offer to help her find the materials she needs!"
"I like the sound of it, but it doesn't really count as a mission," Sera said, looking at the bronze colored half of their rescue team badge. "We need to do more missions if we want to reach the next rank."
"Oh, right…" Chiaki responded, looking disappointed. "I guess I was being kind of selfish there…"
"… Oh, all right, let's head over to Tidal Shores," Sera said, wagging her tail.
"You really mean it?" Chiaki asked, instantly perking up again.
"Yeah," Sera said, smiling. "I have to admit, I'm kind of curious about these Deep Sea Charms too!"
"Well, I suppose the mystery dungeon on Tidal Shores might be a good place to train," Blitz commented, rubbing his forelegs together.
"All right, let's go!" Chiaki said, excitedly running towards Kala's room. "Come on, guys!"
The bronze rank rescue team went through the purple curtain into Kala's room, where they found the Abra asleep as usual. Sera walked up to Kala, and used the tip of her fluffy tail to tickle the sleepy psychic type in an attempt to wake her up.
"Don't worry, daddy, I'll get your spoons back from the Krabby…" Kala mumbled in her sleep, before turning over on her side.
"Hey, wake up, Kala!" Sera said, shaking the Abra's shoulders when tickling didn't work.
"Don't use hot wax to soothe enraged Krabby…" Kala muttered, as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.
"Are you awake now?" Sera asked, poking Kala's shoulder.
"Yeah, sure…" Kala responded, nodding her head sleepily. "So, where do you guys want to go today?"
"We want to go to Tidal Shores!" Chiaki said, smiling at Kala.
"Sure, no problem…" Kala responded, yawning and stretching. "You three sure have been coming here a lot lately…"
There was a flash of light and… Kala had disappeared.
"Wait, what?" Sera said, looking around in confusion. "Where did she-"
Before Sera even had the chance to finish talking, she and her teammates were enveloped by light and they found themselves on a beach.
"… That was strange," Sera said, looking around. "But at least now we're here at Tidal Shores."
"Ooh, is that the Sapphire Sea?" Chiaki asked, looking out at the beautiful blue ocean sparkling in the light of the sun.
"Yep, it is," Sera responded, wagging her tail. "Wow, I bet Sirena would love this."
"It's so pretty…" Chiaki said, staring in awe at the sea.
"So… Where do you think Couture is?" Blitz asked, looking around.
"Actually… Do we even know what kind of Pokémon she is?"
"Hmm… I guess we should take a look around," Sera replied, poking at the sand with her paw. "We'll probably find her sooner or later."
"Oh, okay," Blitz responded, rubbing his forelegs together for a moment. "Where do you guys think Kala went earlier?"
"I have no idea," Sera replied, still rather confused about the whole thing. "She doesn't really seem like the type who would be in a hurry to go anywhere…"
Meanwhile, back in Fenix Town, Elina was taking a nap in a tree. Or at least, that is what she had been doing before Kala suddenly teleported right onto the branch she was asleep on, causing Elina to fall off it. Kala held onto the branch, lazily watching Elina fall into some bushes below them.
"… You okay…?" Kala asked, as the young Elgyem crawled out from the bushes. "Hold on…"
Kala teleported down from the tree, and helped Elina back on her feet. Elina seemed a bit dazed, but didn't seem to have taken too much damage from the fall.
"So, are you like, ready to begin the telepathy lessons and stuff…?" Kala asked, nearly dozing off as she finished the question.
Elina shrugged her shoulders slightly, before nodding her head.
"Okay, then…" Kala responded, yawning and stretching. "Mind if we do it in my office at the rescue team HQ…?"
Elina shook her head to let her know that she didn't mind.
"All right, let's head back there, then…" Kala said, grabbing Elina's arm and teleporting back to her office.
Sera, Blitz and Chiaki were looking around on the beach, hoping to find the Pokémon they were searching for. Blitz wasn't sure why, but something about the place was giving him a really bad feeling.
"Guys… Something feels off…" Blitz said, looking around nervously.
"Oh?" Sera replied, stopping and turning around.
"Don't you guys feel it too?" Blitz asked. "There's something in the air… Something isn't right here…"
"Now that you mention it, I feel kind of strange…" Chiaki said, rubbing his head.
"I don't think I can feel anything, but I did just realize we haven't seen any signs of other Pokémon yet," Sera commented, looking around. "At a place like this, one would expect to see some other Pokémon…"
The three young Pokémon carefully looked around, trying to figure out what was causing this sense of unease. Chiaki kept an eye on his surroundings while moving forward, until he suddenly felt as if the ground was disappearing under one of his legs, and was stepping into an empty space that felt like it was simultaneously burning and freezing his leg.
"AH!" Chiaki quickly pulled his leg out of a strange ripple in the sand, his scream startling his teammates.
"Chiaki, are you okay!?" Sera asked, concerned.
"I… I think so?" Chiaki responded, as he examined his leg. It appeared to be unharmed, although Chiaki could've sworn it had been transparent for a split second as he pulled it out of the sand.
"Hmm… This isn't good," Blitz said, taking a closer look at the spot. "It's another distortion."
"Yeah, that's definitely bad," Sera commented, tilting her head slightly. "Is that all there is to the bad feelings about this place?"
"I don't know…" Blitz responded, rubbing his forelegs together. "I think we're close to the mystery dungeon in this area…"
"Should we check it out?" Chiaki asked, while quickly glancing at his leg one more time to make sure it was normal.
"We might as well," Sera responded. "Who knows? Couture might be in there."
The three Pokémon entered the mystery dungeon, and began to look around. They were surprised to see that some sections of the walls in the mystery dungeon appeared to be distorted.
"Huh, there's even more distortions in here?" Sera said, looking around.
"I guess it wouldn't be unusual for mystery dungeons to be more affected by this," Blitz responded, keeping an eye out for wild Pokémon. "At least the distortions are still small, even if there are more of them here…"
"Do you think it's affecting the wild Pokémon in any way?" Chiaki asked.
Blitz could hear something moving towards them through the sand, as well as what sounded like an angry gurgling sound.
"I think we're about to find out…" Blitz said, getting into a battle position.
Five angry looking red crab Pokémon with large pinchers entered the room the rescue team was in, clacking their claws as they walked sideways towards the rescue team.
"They look angry…" Chiaki said, taking a few steps back.
"So, the distortion stuff is making the wild Pokémon more aggressive?" Sera asked, looking over at Blitz.
"I suppose it's not that surprising the distortions would affect them this way," Blitz commented, waiting for the right moment to attack the Krabby. "From the stories I've heard, wild Pokémon in mystery dungeons tend to be really sensitive to things like this…"
"So, what do we do about it?" Sera asked, glancing around. "Do we just fight them like usual?"
"Hey, didn't Kala say something about enraged Krabby?" Chiaki said, thinking for a moment. "Do you think she knew this was going to happen?"
"I doubt that," Sera responded, rolling her eyes.
"Guys, focus!" Blitz said, watching the Krabby move closer. "While my electricity will be super effective, I still need a little help here."
"Okay, what do you need us to do?" Chiaki asked.
"Well, you're the fastest of us three, so you'll be the most difficult target for the Krabby to hit," Blitz said, while charging up some electricity. "Take advantage of that, and try to get some good hits in."
"Got it," Chiaki responded, nodding his head.
"Sera, could you give us a Helping Hand?" Blitz asked, moving out of the way as a few of the Krabby tried to pinch him.
"I'm on it!" Sera replied, giving Blitz and Chiaki some extra power.
"All right," Blitz said, knocking a Krabby aside with his electrified paw. "Let's take these out quickly!"
Chiaki ran around, knocking the Krabby aside with his paws, allowing for Blitz to knock them out with Spark. Sera used her Helping Hand and Sand Attack to assist her teammates. It didn't take long before all five Krabby were knocked out, allowing the rescue team to move on.
"That wasn't too bad," Sera commented. "Still, I don't look forward to fighting the other wild Pokémon in this dungeon if they're like this too."
"Agreed…" Blitz responded, looking around. "Do you guys think the wild Pokémon may have trapped Couture in here?"
"I hope not," Chiaki said, smiling confidently. "But if they did, no need to worry! We'll just rescue her!"
"As usual, that's probably going to be easier said than done," Blitz responded, sighing. "But since it'll probably be a while before all eight crystals have been gathered, and the distortions likely will continue to spread… I have a feeling we'll need to get used to fighting wild Pokémon like these…"
Kala sat down on her pillow, taking a few seconds to get into a comfortable position as she prepared to begin Elina's lessons in communicating through telepathy. Once comfortable, Kala cleared her throat and decided to begin the lesson.
"So… To communicate via telepathy, you have to like… establish a psychic link with whoever you want to speak to…" Kala said, sounding somewhat tired. "And then… you talk to them, except it's more like thinking than talking… Loud thinking…"
Elina nodded her head slightly, to show Kala that she was listening and hoping showing some interest would help the Abra stay awake. Kala didn't say anything else for a while, just staring at Elina. For a moment, Elina wondered if the Abra had dozed off again and waved her hand in front of her face in an attempt to get her attention.
"Hear anything…?" Kala asked, startling the Elgyem somewhat.
Elina shook her head, as she hadn't heard anything out of the ordinary.
"So… You couldn't hear my voice, like… talk to you in your head?" Kala asked, tilting her head slightly.
Elina shook her head again.
"Hmm… Okay, let's try again," Kala said, yawning. "So, let's try to make that psychic link, and… well, let me know if you hear anything."
The two psychic types sat there, gazing into each other's eyes for a few minutes while attempting to communicate via telepathy. However, nothing seemed to be happening.
"You're not doing it right…" Kala said, rubbing her eyes. "You must open up your mind… you're not doing that…"
Elina tilted her head slightly. Was her need to keep her secrets preventing her from being able to learn to use her telepathy properly?
"Maybe you've been too stressed lately… I suggest trying to relax…" Kala said. "It's easier to make progress if you have a calm mind…"
Elina shrugged her shoulders slightly, before looking up at Kala as if to ask what she recommended.
"… Let's take a nap!" Kala cheerfully said, before plopping down on her pillow and instantly falling asleep.
Elina stared blankly at the snoring Abra for a moment, and then quietly left the room.
Sera, Blitz and Chiaki continued making their way through the mystery dungeon, collecting items and fighting wild Pokémon as usual. With the distortions making the wild Pokémon more aggressive, things were proving to be a bit more difficult than it normally would've been.
Eventually, they reached a floor where they noticed some dark blue pearls and white seashells that seemed to have been scattered down one of the paths.
"Hey, are these the pearls and seashells used to make a Deep Sea Charm?" Chiaki asked, picking up one of the seashells and examining it.
"I think it might be…" Blitz said, poking at one of the pearls with his paw. "They shouldn't be lying around like this, though… It looks like someone might've dropped them…"
"You think Couture was here, then?" Sera asked, looking around.
"Probably, since we don't know of anyone else who would be gathering these items," Blitz responded. "Based on the way these items are scattered, I guess the wild Pokémon must've attacked her, and she was in a hurry to escape…"
"Well, let's hurry up and find her, then!" Chiaki said, while quickly trying to gather up some of the pearls and seashells from the ground.
"Yeah, let's go!" Sera replied, nodding her head slightly. "Come on, this way!"
In the deepest part of the dungeon, a yellow bipedal bug Pokémon wearing clothes made from green leaves and an orange otter-like Pokémon with two tails and a yellow floatation device of sorts on his body were trying to fight off several wild Pokémon, including a brown crab Pokémon resembling a bigger Krabby.
"How many of them are there?" the bug Pokémon said, trying to keep a satchel made of leaves away from a small flock of white seagull-like Pokémon that kept trying to grab it. "I didn't come here to fight…"
"Don't worry," the Floatzel responded, while knocking aside some orange hermit crab Pokémon with rocks for shells. "Even if they're more aggressive than they normally would be, I should still be able to handle them without much difficulty. After all, what kind of lifeguard would I be if I couldn't deal with the wild Pokémon on this beach?"
The Floatzel and the Leavanny continued fighting off the wild Pokémon, when Sera, Blitz and Chiaki finally reached the end of the dungeon. There were two Krabby, three Dwebble, five Wingull and the one Kingler to fight, the Kingler seeming to have indirectly become the leader of the wild Pokémon.
"Oh, it's a rescue team!" the Leavanny said, smiling.
"Neat, now we've got some back-up," the Floatzel commented, smirking.
"Are you Couture?" Chiaki asked, looking over at the Leavanny.
"Why, yes. That's me," the Leavanny responded, smiling at Chiaki. "If there's anything you need, I'll see what I can do when we're done here!"
"Cool," Chiaki replied, getting into a battle position. "Let's try to get this done fast, then!"
Sera used her Helping Hand to give the other four Pokémon present a power boost, while Chiaki decided to take a moment to use Meditate to further increase his attack power. Blitz charged up some electricity, before deciding to try to take out the Wingull.
"So, I'm guessing you live around these parts?" Sera asked the Floatzel.
"Yeah, sort of," the Floatzel responded, while knocking the Dwebble aside. "My name is Jet; I work as a lifeguard here."
"Cool," Sera replied, head-butting a Krabby that tried to pinch her ears.
Blitz managed to finish off the five Wingull quickly with his charged up Spark attack, while Chiaki helped Couture take out the other Krabby. Jet quickly took out the Dwebble by coating himself in water and charging through them. The Kingler began advancing on the rescue team, and Blitz began charging up more electricity.
The Kingler raised his big claw, which began to glow with a blue light as it began charging up a Crabhammer attack that it intended to strike Blitz with before he could finish charging.
"I'm not going to let you do that!" Sera shouted, flinging a Blast Seed at the Kingler with her tail.
However, the Kingler just blocked it with his claw, not seeming to take much damage. On the other hand, it did distract the Kingler long enough for Chiaki to come in from the side and strike him with a Fake Out. As the Kingler flinched, Blitz finished charging and immediately hit the Kingler with his Spark attack.
"Nice one!" Jet said, grinning.
"I don't think they are quite finished yet, though…" Couture replied, noticing that the Kingler was still standing.
The crab Pokémon seemed to be quite angry now, foaming at the mouth as he suddenly struck all three members of the rescue team with his Crabhammer attack. The force of the attack sent the three flying through the air for a moment, before falling down on the sand. The Kingler began approaching the three, preparing to knock them out with another Crabhammer before they could recover.
Chiaki tried to get back up, only to see the shadow of the Kingler's claw above him as he prepared to bring it down. Chiaki tried shielding himself with his arms as he prepared for the impact, only for some strings of sticky silk to suddenly hit the claw and try to pull it away, much to the Kingler's annoyance as he tried to get it off.
"This is your chance!" Couture shouted, having used String Shot to latch onto the claw and stop the Kingler's attack. "Hurry, before he manages to cut the string!"
Chiaki quickly got to his feet, and ran over to help his teammates while the Kingler attempted to cut the string holding his big claw using his other, smaller claw. Luckily for the rescue team, Couture's strings were quite strong, but they would likely still only last for a few more seconds against the Kingler's claws.
"Okay… We'll hit him at the same time," Blitz said, charging up for one more attack.
"Got it," Sera responded, taking a few steps back.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Chiaki said, taking a deep breath and using Meditate to boost his attack power a little.
"Ready?" Blitz asked, glancing at his teammates as he finished charging. "Go!"
All three began running towards the Kingler, Sera running faster than usual in order to do a Quick Attack, Blitz running with his body coated in electricity as usual, and Chiaki preparing to punch the Kingler. The three rammed into the Kingler just as it managed to free itself from Couture's String Shot, and the impact knocked the crab Pokémon onto its back, before it fainted.
"Whew… I think we did it, guys!" Sera said, happily wagging her tail.
"Yeah," Blitz responded, sighing in relief. "Man, that Kingler was tough…"
"Are you all okay?" Couture asked, walking over to the rescue team.
"Yeah, we'll be fine," Chiaki replied, with a friendly smile.
"Thanks for helping us out," Jet said. "Things have been kind of chaotic around here these past few days with the distortions that have been appearing and its effect on the wilds."
"I can see that…" Blitz commented, glancing around.
"Well, let's get out of this mystery dungeon before we have to deal with any more of them," Jet said.
"Agreed," Couture responded, looking at her satchel. "I still need to gather some more seashells and pearls before I head back to town."
"Oh, that reminds me!" Chiaki said, before handing Couture some of the pearls and seashells she had dropped earlier. "I found these in the mystery dungeon!"
"Thank you," Couture replied, taking the pearls and seashells and putting them into her bag. "I knew I dropped some of the things I had already gathered when the wilds chased me here… I still don't think I have enough, though."
"We can help you find some more!" Chiaki said.
"Oh, that is really not necessary," Couture responded, smiling at the Mienfoo. "I appreciate the offer, but I can do the rest on my own."
"Are you sure?" Chiaki asked, smiling at the Leavanny. "We don't mind helping out!"
"Oh, but you've already helped me out a lot today!" Couture responded. "So, why don't the three of you head home and get some rest, and tomorrow you can stop by my room at the rescue team HQ and I'll give you a free special item each as a reward for helping us?"
"Sounds good to me," Sera said, shaking some sand out of her fur. "A battle like that is enough work for one day, if you ask me."
"Agreed, let's head back," Blitz replied.
"Bye, then!" Chiaki said, and waved good-bye to Jet and Couture as the rescue team badge teleported him and his teammates back to town.
Elina thought about what Kala had said, and wondered how she could possibly relax herself enough to be able to learn how to communicate through telepathy. She figured that with all the stress relating to the missing crystals, she hadn't been able to fully relax. However, it wasn't exactly easy for her to just forget about all of that, even if it only had to be for a few moments.
She had to find a way to at least stop worrying enough so that she could learn to properly use her telepathy to communicate, like she had promised her father. Elina thought about her father, thinking about how he in addition to helping locate the stolen crystals also had to be worried about her…
Elina shook her head. This was not the time to be worrying about these things. She had to find a way to overcome these worries, so she could learn from Kala how to communicate via telepathy. Not only that, but she had to help find the remaining crystals. There was also the whole issue with Chiaki, but she would deal with that later.
The first thing she needed to do was figure out how she would overcome her worries.
As the sun eventually went down, Couture decided she had gathered enough seashells and pearls, and said good-bye to Jet before heading back to town. It had gotten dark by the time Couture returned to the HQ, and went inside her room behind the green curtain to make some items with the supplies she had collected.
She searched through a basket for a special type of string, and began making a necklace from the pearls and sea shells, with one white seashell between five blue pearls on each side of it. She carefully examined each finished necklace, and put them in a bowl of water. Couture grinned as the pearls and seashells began to glow upon touching the water, and continued to glow as long as they remained underwater.
"Success," she whispered to herself, taking the necklace out of the bowl and putting it away for later.
The Leavanny quietly continued her work until late in the night, when she finally decided to get some sleep. Things had gotten a bit stressful when the wild Pokémon attacked her while she was searching for seashells and pearls washed up on the beach, but she was glad things had turned out okay. She was grateful to the rescue team that had helped her out, and she hoped they would find a good use for the reward she planned on giving each of them.
End of Chapter 18.