Pokemon - Hoenn Hero!
Episode 2 – The Mirage Menagerie!
Having just left Sootopolis City by ship, Marina and Rainier decide to relax for a bit on deck. With a water pokemon each to start their journeys with, the two trainers seem pretty confident about what's in store for them in the future!
"Ah, feel that lovely tropical Hoenn weather!" Rainier said happily as he put his hands behind his head and fell back into his seat with eyes closed. He was right, Hoenn was a tropical place, especially the area they lived in. Marina looked up into the sky. She could see a small flock of flying pokemon soaring above the ship. She reached into her bag and got her pokedex out.
"Hmm…let's see…" She quietly said to herself as she flipped open the pokedex and pointed it towards the flying pokemon.
"Wingull, the Seagull pokemon. These pokemon can usually be found nesting on cliffs. It is not yet skilled at flapping its wings and prefers to soar on updrafts to stay airborne." The pokedex informed her.
"Wingull is a water pokemon as well as a flying pokemon…" Rainier commented. He heard the pokedex and decided to provide Marina with more information than the pokedex gave her.
"Really? Wow…That's an unusual type combination…" Marina looked up again and stared at the flock of Wingull. Both trainers stayed where they were, not wanting to move until the flock of Wingull decided to fly away from the ship to a tiny island. Marina walked to the edge of the deck to continue watching them.
"I wonder where they're going?" She said out loud. After pausing for a second or two she quickly turned round to Rainier with her eyes wide open.
"Hang on! Where are WE going?" She hurried to her bag and fumbled around for her ticket. She squinted as she tried to read the writing, although its destination was the biggest piece of writing on the ticket.
"Pacifi…Pacifid…" She attempted to read the name of their destination.
"Pacifidlog Town!" Rainier cut in. Although he loved watching Marina make a fool of herself he always jumped at the chance to show off that he knew more than her at times.
"Really? And can Mr. World Traveller tell me what's there?" She leaned towards him with an evil smile on her face. She could tell he only knew the name of the island and not its main features. Rainier fell to the side of the bench they were sitting on and opened his eyes.
"Uh…Well there's this…umm…" He hesitated for a moment until he thought of a great cover-up line.
"You'll just have to wait and see for yourself!" He crossed his arms and showed off a pleased smile. He was proud that he had saved himself from embarrassment, but Marina knew him all too well. She smirked and rolled her eyes back.
"Yeah right…" Marina went to sit back down with Rainier. She slipped on a pair of sunglasses from her bag since the sun was a little too bright for her liking.
"So Rainier? Why do you want to enter the pokemon league so much?" She asked him. Rainier sat up straight and clenched his fists in excitement.
"That's easy! Ever since seeing our gym leader, Juan, battling once in public when we were young I was fascinated by his skill, his style and his powerful pokemon! I always said to myself since that day that I'd eventually become a powerful trainer too! Maybe even become a gym leader myself! But I can't prove myself as a gym leader until I know I'm one of the best trainers around. To do that I want to enter the Hoenn League and come out as the winner! If I do that, who knows what kind of opportunities await me afterwards!" He was so eager to accomplish his dream. Marina looked at the sky to think for a bit.
"Juan is a water-pokemon trainer isn't he? Does that mean you're going to collect only water pokemon too since he's your hero?" Rainier looked at her and snapped back. He had asked himself the same question before and knew exactly how to answer.
"No way! If I collected only water pokemon and I came across a grass pokemon trainer, the odds are against me winning! I think it's important to have a large selection of different pokemon types so you have a better chance of beating whatever opponent you're up against. Of course I'd prefer to have the most powerful pokemon around on my team!" Rainier fantasises about having pokemon like Dragonite, Gyarados, Charizard, Metagross and other powerful, fully evolved pokemon.
"Well I wouldn't mind getting powerful pokemon but the most important factor I think is that you get along with your pokemon as friends! I'd love to have some cute pokemon friends because I think I'd get along with them better!" Marina joins Rainier in fantasising about their most desired pokemon. Marina thinks about cute pokemon like Jigglypuff, Pikachu, Skitty and Smoochum.
"So don't you want to enter the Hoenn League then?" Rainier asked. Marina snapped out of her daydream to think about it.
"Hmm…well I guess I could…how do I do it?" She asked. She had no idea how the system worked. Rainier stood up in one of his bragging moods and filled her in about it.
"Well, dear sister, a trainer must travel around Hoenn and earn a minimum of eight badges in order to prove their worth. To earn a badge you need to defeat a gym leader." Marina crossed her arms.
"And that's what you're planning on doing? Beating eight gym leaders?"
"Yup. Like I said, I want to be a great trainer, and to prove that to myself I want to win the Hoenn League but in order to do that I need to beat eight gym leaders. You know, gym leaders aren't your average trainers! They're leaders of their gyms for a reason!"
Marina walked to the side of the ship's deck. She leaned over and closed her eyes. She wasn't too sure of her skills and whether she'd be capable of defeating a gym leader. After all, she was a new trainer. At least Rainier had done his research and knew what he was doing.
"Well…" She paused for a moment, not sure how to continue. "I..I suppose I could give it a shot. I mean there's a gym in every town and city, right? I can fight the Pacifidlog gym leader can't I?" She asked. It became even more obvious that she was oblivious to how the system worked.
"No! There are only gyms in selected town and cities. As far as I know there isn't one in Pacifidlog…but don't quote me on that!" Rainier felt like boasting some more but decided not to since he wasn't entirely sure if there actually was a gym in Pacifidlog.
Marina sat back down next to Rainier and was about to eat the sandwiches her mother had given her when they left. She started to unwrap them from the foil they were encased in until an excited voice was heard across the deck.
"Yay! A pokemon battle!"
"I wonder what pokemon they'll use?"
"Maybe a rock type?" More voices were heard and as Marina lifted her sunglasses to see what was going on she realised there was actually a crowd forming. Rainier and Marina looked at each other and ran over to see what was going on. They both squeezed into an opening in the crowd to find an empty space in the middle, filled with only two people, one on each side. They both had a pokeball each and were ready to throw them for battle. One of the trainers was a boy who looked to be about fourteen years old, while the other was a girl, probably only about eleven or twelve. The boy was first to send his pokemon out. He threw it into the space with a lot of effort and as the pokeball landed hard it opened to release a white light which quickly transformed into a pokemon shape. After releasing the pokemon, the pokeball closed and bounced back into the hand of the boy trainer.
"Ok, Lairon let's get this battle rolling!" The trainer said. He looked confident that his pokemon would win. The boy's pokemon was Lairon, who shouted its name in agreement with its trainer's cheering. Next it was the girl's turn to throw a pokeball. She twirled around and threw the pokeball high into the air. The bright light that emerged moulded into the shape of a cat-like pokemon. It was a sort of beige colour with purple bits too. Marina thought it looked cool and was impressed by the girl's technique of throwing her pokeball. Marina could tell the girl was enjoying herself, something that Marina always told herself she'd want to keep doing on her journey.
"Ok Delcatty, let's show this guy a good battle!" The girl said to her pokemon. Delcatty let out a meow and moved into an attacking pose, ready to begin the battle.
"Delcatty! Start off with a Double Edge attack!" The girl shouted. Delcatty ran at the Lairon at full speed.
"Quick Lairon! Iron Defense!" The boy quickly retaliated with an attack of his own. Lairon rolled up into a ball and remained perfectly still as Delcatty charged into it. Delcatty bounced back and fell onto its back. It struggled to get up. It was almost like running full blast into a brick wall and Delcatty had gotten seriously injured. Lairon was still rolled up in a ball.
"Ok Lairon, now let's try a Rollout attack!" The boy yelled. Lairon began spinning on the spot until it had built up enough speed. As it blasted off from its spot it aimed straight for Delcatty.
"Watch out Delcatty!" The girl shrieked in horror. She knew that her Delcatty had already been seriously weakened. A hit from this Rollout attack could end the match. Delcatty quickly jumped up into the air to dodge the attack. As Delcatty was still in the air, the girl trainer called out another attack.
"Iron Tail!" The girl commanded. Lairon was rolling around in circles down below. Delcatty's tail began to glow a bright colour and Delcatty dove back down at Lairon putting a lot of force into its Iron Tail attack. Delcatty's aim was perfect, and it hit Lairon from above while it was still rolling around. Lairon uncurled itself as it leapt backwards, slightly damaged from the attack. The girl's eyebrows dropped in anger as she was really determined to beat this Lairon now.
"Let's Sing that Lairon to sleep!" She said. Delcatty began singing in a melodious tune that was so soothing. People in the crowd started to get a bit sleepy from the effects of the attack. Lairon was getting the most of the attack though and couldn't stay awake for much longer.
"Hmm…a Sing attack huh? Drown out that Delcatty's awful singing voice with a Metal Sound attack!" The boy said to his Lairon. He was feeling pretty dreary himself. Lairon opened its mouth and let out a horrible high-pitched noise that echoed for miles. It was like a Screech attack but more intense. The drowsy people in the crowd burst their eyes back open from the horrible noise. Delcatty's singing couldn't be heard anymore and it was forced to stop singing altogether as it started cringing from the Metal Sound attack. Marina was forced to place her hands over her ears, the sound was too much to handle!
"Now Tackle it!" The boy trainer yelled. He had his hands cupped around his mouth to try and project his voice over the Metal Sound attack. Lairon stopped its Metal Sound attack, but as it lingered on for a few seconds more, Lairon charged at Delcatty with extreme power. Delcatty, still cringing from the previous attack, its eyes closed, was unable to do anything. Lairon hit Delcatty and it flew backwards several feet. It struggled to try and get back up but was unable to. The girl fell to her knees and recalled her Delcatty. The Metal Sound attack had now gone, but Marina was temporarily having trouble hearing.
"Nice job, Lairon!" Lairon turned round and smiled back at its trainer. The boy pointed the pokeball back at Lairon, and the red of beam of light emitted from it recalled the pokemon. Rainier admired the Lairon, it was a cool pokemon to have and powerful to boot. The boy and girl trainers left the space and the crowd had become disappointed. They wanted to see more battling.
"Hey Marina! Why don't we battle to keep the crowd happy?" Rainier asked. He was itching to try out his Seel's attacks in battle. Marina was a little unsure about it. She had never battled before. Rainier ran out into the space and grabbed Seel's pokeball.
"Come on, let's go! Don't keep these people waiting!" Rainier urged her on. She knew she couldn't back out now, so she took a deep breath and walked into the space and stood opposite Rainier. Her arm began to tremble as she was rather nervous. Rainier threw his pokeball into the air and sure enough, Seel entered the battlefield.
"Come on, Marina! Let's battle!" Marina grabbed Spheal's pokeball from around her waist and was about to throw it but stopped to think about something first.
"Hmm…maybe I should think about how I throw my pokeballs from now on! Maybe like that girl did?" She quietly thought to herself.
"Come on! Quit Procrastinating!" Rainier decided to pressurise her more. Marina nodded and decided to throw her pokeball in a fancy way like the girl trainer did. She decided to spin around on the spot and throw her pokeball too. However it did not go as expected as she became dizzy from the spinning and threw her pokeball into the crowd! Spheal emerged from the crowd and walked up to Marina.
"Oops…Guess that didn't work out as well as I had hoped…Ok Spheal, this is our first battle! You ready?" Spheal clapped its hands in happiness like it normally did and positioned itself on the makeshift battlefield.
"Ladies first, dear sister!" Rainier yelled across to Marina. Marina stood there and looked down at her feet. She put her hands behind her back and began to bite her lower lip.
"What's wrong?" Rainier asked. Marina looked up at him and was embarrassed about telling him what the problem was.
"I…Umm…I don't know what to say to Spheal!" She nervously said. Everyone in the crowd fell over anime style. They couldn't believe her! Rainier slapped himself on the forehead.
"Oh boy, don't you know any of Spheal's attacks? Look them up in the pokedex!" Rainier was ashamed of being her brother and felt a little embarrassed himself! Marina took her bag off of her shoulders and opened it to take out her pokedex.
"Hmm...What are Spheal's attacks?" She asked the pokedex as she opened it.
"Spheal's more common attacks include Water Gun, Body Slam and Powder Snow. However, more attacks can be taught by trainers and from experience in battle." The pokedex told her. She closed it up and put the pokedex back into her bag.
"Hmm…Water Gun, Body Slam and Powder Snow huh? Ok, I'll try them out. Alright Spheal, let's try a Water Gun attack!" Spheal nodded and shot a jet of water from its mouth. It was a little more impressive than she had thought.
"Watch out Seel! Dodge it!" Rainer called to its pokemon. Seel lay on its back and pushed itself off with its tail. It used its soft fur to slide around on the ship's deck since it wasn't particularly skilled at moving around quickly on land. Spheal's Water Gun had missed.
"Keep up the Water Gun!" Marina ordered. Spheal continued to fire Water Gun attacks at Seel, but it was able to dodge them effectively by sliding out of the way.
"Grrrr…This isn't working! Ok, try a Powder Snow attack!" Spheal spat out a barrage of small snowflakes at Seel, hoping to slow it down. However Seel just kept sliding around rendering the attack useless. The Powder Snow attack hit the puddles of water left by its Water Gun attack, freezing them upon impact. Using the newly created ice on the deck, Seel was able to slide around much faster.
"Seel! Headbutt!" Rainer finally called Seel's first attack. Seel slid along on the ice, picking up speed and finally hurtled towards Spheal headfirst, its horn pointing directly at Spheal. The combined speed and sharp horn resulted in a powerful attack and Spheal was knocked unconscious in just one attack. Marina felt incredibly let down, but she thought to herself that she'd get better in time. After all, it was only her first battle. She recalled Spheal and put the pokeball back where it belongs.
"High Five!" Rainier yelled to Seel. It slapped its tail into Rainer's hand and the two had already developed a bond. Rainier recalled his pokemon and the battle was over. The crowd began to part and the passengers went back to what they were doing. Marina felt sad and decided to go to the side of the ship and sulk. Rainier was about to rub in his victory but realised that his sister was upset, and he decided to leave her alone.
Only a few hours later it had begun to get dark. Rainier and Marina had a room on the ship, but unfortunately they had to share. Their room was very basic – a bed on either side of the room, a desk below the porthole window and a small toilet cubicle near the door. Marina was restless and frequently woke up that night. She was awoken again but this time by footsteps from the room above them. As she opened her eyes she felt that something was wrong. She felt different somehow. She sat up in bed and looked towards the porthole. It was incredibly foggy outside but Marina got the impression that the ship wasn't moving. Sleeping in her clothes, she didn't need to get dressed. She grabbed her bag and decided to head out on deck, tiptoeing quietly to make sure she didn't wake up Rainier.
"We can't be in Pacifidlog yet can we?" She muttered to herself as she walked up the stairs to the deck. As she opened the door to the deck she was hit with a sudden change of temperature. It was incredibly cold for the Hoenn region and the fog made it hard to see more than twenty feet away. She ran over to the side rails and peered out to sea as best as she could, but she couldn't see a thing. Looking around, a few other people had woken up and come to check what was going on. Either that or they had been awake for the entire trip. Marina leaned her head forward and squinted as she tried to spot a crew member. Luckily there was one available. She hurried over to him to see he was on a telephone.
"Yes…Yes…Really? What should I tell the passengers?...Uh huh…OK…Yes Captain…Ok, bye." Marina could only hear one side of the conversation. The crew member had hung up the phone and Marina decided to dive straight in with a question.
"Excuse me, but what's going on? Why have we stopped?" She asked. She had mixed feelings about the situation. She felt excited but also a little worried. The crew member turned to Marina.
"Well, according to the Captain, an unchartered island is in our path. We have sailed this route before but not come across this island ever. The Captain believes it is the fabled Mirage Island! The Captain wants to stop and take photographic evidence before we sail around it."
"Really? Oh cool! Are we allowed off the ship too?" Marina had a huge smile upon her face. She was dying to see it. Marina's policy was that if something is very rare, then it's worth making the trip to see it.
"Yes, passengers are permitted to disembark but we ask that you refrain from going too far from the ship. The crew down below should be getting the boarding platform ready so we can get across to the island." The sailor acted very politely. It was his job to be as polite as possible to all passengers. But something he said didn't quite make sense to Marina.
"Wait…how can we get to the island? Where is it? I can't even see it!" She asked. She peered around to try and spot it.
"It's just over there!" The crew member said, pointing to the other side of the ship. Marina rushed over and leaned past the rail to try and make out the shape of an island. With all the thick fog it was incredibly hard to see it, but she could make out a faint outline of what seemed like a small rocky cliff. She gazed at it until she was shocked by a hand that had quietly crept onto her shoulder…She slowly turned her head around and screamed as she realised someone was standing behind her!
"Woah!" the person said. He stepped back a few paces and Marina placed her hand over her chest. Her heart was beating really fast. She looked up and saw a familiar figure.
"I woke up to find the ship had stopped and you had vanished from the room! I thought you might be in trouble! What are you doing up here? And what's going on?" The person said. Marina recognised that voice.
"Rainier! Don't scare me like that!" Marina caught her breath back and stood up straight. Her facial expression changed to a smirk.
"Since when have you been worried about me? That's an unusual change of character!" Marina decided to tease her brother about it. "Well anyway, we've stopped because Mirage Island is right over there! I'm gonna go check it out!" She said.
"Well don't get used to me caring about you! It was really a one-off! So that's the infamous Mirage Island, eh? Well, I guess I'll go check it out too! Let's go!" Rainier had already grabbed his bag and Marina had hers, so they ran down the stairs and soon enough reached the exit to the ship.
"Please watch your step! And try not to stray too far from the ship!" Another ship attendant was nearby. Marina held on to the rope railing of the boarding platform. She was so excited but decided to step carefully rather than rush ahead. She looked around and noticed something peculiar on the side of the ship. She couldn't quite make it out since it was about 20 or 30 feet away from her. It looked like a rope but wasn't shaped like one and it seemed blue in colour.
"Hmm…I wonder what that is?" She whispered to herself. Upon reaching dry land, she saw some other crew members and passengers. The Captain was also on the island taking photographs.
"Hey Rainier, I'm going over there to have a look around. Are you coming?" Marina said. She waved her arms at him so he could spot her easily in the fog even though she was only a few feet away from him. Rainier thought she was acting stupid and sighed. He followed her. The island was covered in thick jungle. There was nothing but trees and bushes everywhere they looked. A rustle in the bushed startled Marina. She ran behind Rainier and grabbed onto him.
"Wh...What was that?" Rainier could feel her trembling behind him. Rainier was a little spooked himself but still went over to investigate the bush. As he parted the bush to see what was hiding in it, a blue creature ran away. Marina screamed which startled Rainier more than the creature jumping out of the bush.
"Quick! Let's follow it!" Rainier was interested to see what it was. He ran after it and Marina had no choice but to run after him since she was now pretty scared of the place. They soon found themselves back at the ship, but they had indeed followed the creature the right way. Marina saw it running up the strange blue ladder she saw earlier. Marina wanted to find out what that ladder was so she approached it cautiously with Rainier just behind her. As she got closer she realised this was no ordinary ladder. Suddenly the blue creature ran down the ladder carrying something. A few dozen more followed it down the ladder, also carrying things with them. The blue creatures all rushed past them, moving so fast that they couldn't make out what they were.
"Rainier! Look!" Marina was extremely shocked to see the blue ladder moving by itself! But what shocked her more was when she saw it split into several parts, all moving by themselves too! They were obviously the same blue creatures as they saw before. They all ran off after the first batch of creatures. Two of them ran up to Marina and Rainier and slipped their backpacks right off their shoulders and ran off with them.
"Hey! That's my backpack!" Marina shrieked.
"Yeah, and mine too! Get back here!" Rainier had an angry expression on his face. He started to run after them and Marina did too. Marina passed Rainier and ran much faster than him since she was in much better shape. After a few minutes of running, they reached a cave. Marina stopped to catch her breath for a few seconds but Rainier fell to the floor to get his back. He was completely exhausted! Marina heard a splash coming from within the cave and ran in to see what it was.
"Aw man, you gotta be kidding me!" Rainier moaned as he got back to his feet and ran once more. He couldn't take much more of it. Marina stopped as she arrived at a large pool of water and saw one of the blue creatures swimming into an underwater tunnel. It was the one who took her backpack.
"Rainier! Quick! They're underwater! Let's see where they're going!" Marina dove into the water with no consideration of her clothes getting wet. Rainier jumped in after her. He didn't have time to take his shoes or anything off because he had to look after his sister. The two siblings swam for a few dozen yards before surfacing to find themselves in another cave. The cave was filled with lit torches that seemed to have been lit for years. Marina wondered who had lit them. Was it the blue creatures? Rainier looked around and noticed the large group of blue creatures. His eyes widened as he could see what they really were.
"Look! They're pokemon!" He said. Marina was about to get her pokedex out but realised it was in her bag. Seeing this, Rainier pulled his own pokedex out of one of the pockets on his shorts.
"Wynaut, the Bright pokemon. Wynaut is the pre-evolved form of Wobbuffet. It uses its ears as arms and hands to pick up and feel things." The pokedex confirmed that they were pokemon.
"Hey look! There's our bags! And a bunch of other bags from the ship!" She ran over to them but the Wynaut created a barricade to stop her. With an angry expression on their faces, the Wynaut looked prepared to challenge her. A Wynaut slightly bigger than the others stepped forward which appeared to be the leader of the group. It challenged Marina to a battle to protect the bags. Marina grabbed the only pokeball she had with a pokemon inside and released her starter pokemon.
"Fine! You want a battle, then here's your battle! I choose you Spheal!" She boldly told the Wynaut leader. Spheal appeared and judging from its trainer's voice it could tell she meant business so Spheal showed a confident look on its face.
"Water Gun!" Marina commanded. Spheal shot a powerful jet of water at Wynaut. Wynaut began to glow and as the Water Gun hit it, it didn't seem to be doing anything to it. The Water Gun stopped in front of the Wynaut like there was some sort of barrier in front if it. Wynaut focused and thrust its body a few inches in the direction of Spheal. The Water Gun attack reflected and hit Spheal, causing some powerful damage. Spheal was low on energy already.
"What was that?" Marina yelled. Rainier still had his pokedex in his hand and pointed it at the Wynaut again.
"Wynaut is unable to attack directly, but causes damage by returning attacks at double the power using its counter attacks. Counter reflects physical attacks like Tackle, while Mirror Coat reflects special attacks like Flamethrower." The pokedex gave Rainier a good idea of how to defeat it. He grabbed his pokeball and released Seel.
"Hmm…Surely it can't use both Counter and Mirror Coat at the same time, right? So if we attack it with both a special AND a physical move, it won't be able to counter them both. Marina! Try attacking with a Water Gun again!" Marina looked puzzled. Why should she do it again? The same thing was bound to happen. Rainier winked at her which signalled to her that he had a plan. She smiled back at him.
"Ok Spheal, try another Water Gun!" Spheal, being totally obedient, performed another Water Gun attack. Wynaut began to glow again as it got ready to use Mirror Coat.
"Seel! Use Headbutt!" Rainier's turn was now. Seel jumped at Wynaut to use Headbutt on it. Too busy with its Mirror Coat attack, Wynaut was unable to Counter Seel's Headbutt. It was knocked several feet away, smacking into the cave wall. It fell unconscious and Rainier grabbed an empty pokeball.
"Pokeball go!" He shouted. The echo could be heard clearly. The pokeball made contact with the Wynaut and it was sucked inside the pokeball. The pokeball shook several times and finally stopped.
"Yes! I caught my first pokemon!" Rainier sounded like a little boy as he said it. He ran over to pick up the pokeball and kissed it before shrinking it and placing it with his other pokeballs.
"Ok you group of Wynaut! Now I've captured your leader, give us our bags back!" Rainier threatened the Wynaut. The Wynaut shook their heads. Suddenly, the island began to shake, and it felt like it was moving!
"What's going on? It feels like the island is sinking!" Marina wondered how it was possible. The Wynaut nodded their heads in unison.
"You know it's sinking? How are you so calm about it?" Rainier asked the Wynaut in complete despair.
"I think I know why! This cave is like an air pocket! The Wynaut can survive in here even while the entire island is underwater…It's like if you place an empty glass upside-down into some water, the air stays inside it if held in position. The same thing applies here." Marina explained. The Wynaut nodded their heads once again to confirm that she was right.
"Yeah, but what about us?" Rainier was starting to lose control of himself. Marina glanced again at the bags in the corner.
"Why do you want the bags anyway?" She asked. One of the Wynaut went over to a lunch box and pulled out an apple using its ear-like arms.
"Food? Is that all?" The Wynaut nodded. Rainier couldn't believe they'd steal everyone's stuff just for some food.
"Hmm…If the island is sinking, then they must want the food so they can stay alive in this cave for the duration of the island's time underwater! It's like hibernation for pokemon like Ursaring!" Marina showed off her knowledge to Rainier. It was nice to have something to brag about since he normally did all the bragging. Marina decided to use a trick of her brother Dewey's and flared up her eyes into puppy dog eyes!
"Please! If you don't return those bags, a lot of people are going to be very upset! These bags have sentimental value and the things inside of them are priceless! They might have keepsakes from their parents, photos of their families…some might even have pokeballs in them. And to us humans, the pokemon we catch are almost like our best friends! Please! You have to return the bags to their rightful owners! You can keep all the food, but the bags and the contents of them are something that we just can't give away!" Marina tried a bit of acting and managed to shed a tear or two during her speech. The Wynaut looked at each other and then looked at the bags. The Wynaut seemed sad and a little touched by Marina's speech.
"Wynaut! Wy! Wynaut!" One of the Wynaut shouted out loud. All of the others ran over to the pile of bags and were raiding them for food. After collecting all the food, they placed it in another pile and cleared an opening for Marina and Rainier to get to the bags.
"Thank you! Really!" Marina was very grateful and went over to grab her own bag first of all. She pulled out the foil package that had the sandwiches her mother gave her when she left Sootopolis City. She held it out in front of the Wynaut.
"Here, you missed one!" The Wynaut graciously accepted it. Rainier and Marina recalled their pokemon since they were still out of their pokeballs after the battle with the Wynaut leader. Their next mission was to get all of the bags to the ship before the island completely sank! As well as their own backpacks, they had others on top of each other on their backs and they were both weighed down quite a bit!
"Come on Marina! Let's get going!" Rainier urged her out of the cave in a hurry since the island was still sinking. The two trainers dove back into the water and eventually emerged from the cave.
Meanwhile back at the ship, the captain and crew members had hurried everyone back on board.
"Is that everyone on board then?" The Captain asked.
"No, Captain! I believe two teenagers went off and haven't returned yet!" A crew member informed the Captain. The Captain looked hard into the fog and scratched his head.
"Hmm…Well we'll have to wait for them I guess. If they don't return by the time the island sinks, we'll have to leave without them I'm afraid…" The Captain was sad to hear himself say such words. As he got back on the ship, he was bombarded with complaints about missing bags and lunchboxes. The Captain didn't have time for that, so he hurried back to the Bridge ready to set sail since the island wasn't likely to stay afloat much longer. He decided to sound the horn which echoed for miles around. The sound of the horn was heard by Marina and Rainier who used it as a guide to get back to the ship since they were unsure of which direction to head in.
"Come on! The sound of the ship's horn came from over there!" Marina ran ahead first but with the weight of the extra bags she couldn't run as fast as she normally could. Rainier was also having the same problem. After only a couple of minutes of slow running, the island was sinking much faster. The water had reached their ankles and so they decided to speed up a little. Before they knew it, the water was up to their waists, and they were forced to wade through the water, severely slowing them down.
Rainier could see the ship just ahead, but the water was getting so deep now that they had no choice but to swim. The ship's boarding platform had already been pulled back onto the ship, meaning that they couldn't board through the entrance.
"Marina! It's too deep now! Let's get our water pokemon to help us out!" Rainier yelled towards Marina. He was quite far behind her. Agreeing, she released Spheal and grabbed on to it.
"Spheal, you gotta get me to the ship! Hurry!" Spheal was only small but it swam as hard and as fast as it could towards the ship. Rainier passed her while holding onto Seel. It seemed that Seel was the better swimmer. The crew member that informed the Captain about Marina and Rainier's absence was peering over the railings on the deck. He was watching out for them. Upon seeing them, he threw out two rubber rings from the deck that were attached to some rope. Rainer and Marina grabbed on and were pulled up on deck.
Marina explained to everyone on deck that they had returned all the bags but lost all of the food in them to some hungry pokemon. The Captain had returned from the Bridge to congratulate them for returning the bags.
"Ah, well done you two! I've been getting complaints about missing bags ever since the island started sinking! As a reward, I'll get the cook to make you a HUGE meal!" The Captain said with a giant smile on his face. Coincidentally, the cook ran up on deck to speak to the Captain…
"Captain! The food in the pantry has all gone!" He panted. A giant sweat drop ran down Marina's head.
"Hmm…The hungry pokemon took it didn't they? Oh well…maybe next time…" She sighed to herself.
And so, after saving the day, Marina and Rainier dried off and rested for the remainder of the voyage. They never got their giant meal, with no thanks to the Wynaut! Still, Rainier got a new pokemon and of course they got all the bags back with some very thankful passengers!
Next time in Pokemon - Hoenn Hero! –
Marina and Rainier arrive in Pacifidlog where they find out about a pokemon contest being held there. Marina makes a new friend and learns all about pokemon contests! Is this Marina's calling in life? To take part in pokemon contests? Find out next time!