Act II - The Crew
Part I - The Squire
Jim slowly felt the world of sleep dissipate around him. He was not being pulled from it by Ms. Zoroark's calls or Zoey's tongue against his cheek. Instead, he slipped back into consciousness naturally, slowly becoming aware of the things around him again. He felt the mattress and blankets of the bed he was in, which had a noticeably different feel this morning. As he moved around, he felt two objects on the bed through the covers. They were small and his legs easily slid underneath them.
Zoey and Ralph? Jim thought. They had slept atop his bed before, but usually only after a particularly nasty nightmare. And even then, Zoey usually went to her mother.
Jim's hearing was the next sense to activate. He heard the sounds of hustle and bustle outside his room, something rather unusual for a rather isolated building out in the countryside. Jim slowly managed to get his eyes open to look around. He spotted his two best Pokémon friends still asleep at the end of the bed as he had suspected. As he looked around, however, something else got his attention.
This was not his room.
It was bigger for one thing, perhaps twice as many times so. The rooms at the inn were not exactly small but they were specifically for sleeping first and foremost and not made to be lived in. This was a true bedroom for a permanent resident or at least a more formal guest than an inn patron. There was a painting of a human physician tending to an injured orange dragon Pokémon on the wall to Jim's right, while the left wall was dominated by a large dresser and an open wardrobe where he could see his regular clothes hanging neatly. On the other side of the wardrobe was a familiar sea chest. To Jim's immediate right was a side table with a fancy pocket watch resting on it. The watch read 11:23.
Jim briefly had a panic attack. They should have been up and working a few hours ago! The inn's guests would be…
Then Jim remembered.
He remembered how Blind Pew delivered an ace of spades card to Billy Bones; a card that was laced with poison and killed the weakened Blastoise. He remembered how the pirates had returned and ransacked the inn searching for Bones and then for his map. He remembered how the inn had been set ablaze by an explosion in the cellar and by Ms. Zoroark's battle with that pirate Zangoose and how Dr. Joy had taken them all back here to her own house. He remembered how she had also sent Jim, Zoey, and Ralph to bed immediately upon arriving while she tended to Ms. Zoroark's injuries.
Jim laid back into his pillow and sighed. Could none of that have been a dream?
The sound of drowsy moans drew his attention to the foot of the bed. Zoey and Ralph were stretching and beginning to move. Zoey rubbed at her face with a forepaw and Ralph scratched behind his ear before looking over to Jim sitting up slightly.
"Good morning, Jim," Ralph mumbled, still waking up.
"Good morning," Jim replied. "Did you both sleep well?"
Zoey yawned before replying. "Were it not for this bed, I probably wouldn't have."
"Aye," Ralph agreed.
Jim nodded in understanding then got out of the bed and stretched. "I would like to change before going to breakfast, may I have some privacy?" he asked.
Zoey and Ralph nodded. They hopped off the bed and hid underneath it.
"That's not what I had in mind, and you are both aware of it," Jim said, sounding somewhat annoyed. He walked to the door and opened it. "Out, please."
Zoey and Ralph did not argue. They came out from under the bed with dust matted to their fur and exited the room. They did not have to wait long before Jim emerged from the room dressed in his normal clothes, sans his coat which still hung within the wardrobe.
Descending the stairs was a somewhat odd experience since the kids came down not into an expansive dining area but into a hallway that separated a living room and a kitchen/dining room. However, that living room had been converted into a temporary hospital ward. Laying on one of the rooms two sofas was a bruised and bandaged, but breathing Ms. Zoroark. At her side, mixing medicines on the large table in the middle of the living room was Dr. Joy. She noticed the kids entering the room and looked up, giving them a smile.
"Good morning children," she said.
"Good morning Dr. Joy," Jim and Ralph replied.
Zoey, understandably, had something else on her mind. "Dr. Joy," she asked. "How fares mother?"
Dr. Joy's smile lost a bit of warmth at the question, but she otherwise did not falter. "She shall recover," Dr. Joy reported. "I treated first that Zangoose's vicious poison; else Billy Bones' less regrettable fate would be shared by Ms. Zoroark."
Zoey grumbled under her breath; abrasive though he may have been, the Captain did not deserve to die.
"Once I was certain of the poisons dispelling, her physical wounds gained my fullest attention," Dr. Joy continued. "I tell you; only by a mother protecting her home and children could such grievous injuries be suffered and survived. Alas, time is the only method to heal such wounds; it shall perhaps take weeks or months."
"Well, there is no work to be done," Ms. Zoroark suddenly said, causing Dr. Joy to jump back a little. "To lie here and wait for my body to fix itself is what I shall do."
Dr. Joy nodded. "At the moment, 'tis but the one thing you can."
Ms. Zoroark looked up from her position on the sofa to see her wards. "Are you all uninjured?" she asked.
"I'm fine, mother," Zoey said.
"As am I," Jim replied.
"I confess to having been blasted out of a window," Ralph coyly admitted. "But I'm otherwise unhurt."
Ms. Zoroark smiled and lay back down. "Then all's right with the world," she said. "The inn can be replaced one day, but never any of you."
"That day is unlikely to be soon, I fear," Dr. Joy warned. "The Constable was to assess the damage today, but she shan't arrive for another hour yet. I cannot imagine the old Admiral Benbow fared well."
Ms. Zoroark shook her head and the kids all looked down.
"Are we homeless?" Zoey asked.
"Absolutely not," Dr. Joy replied, sounding aghast at the suggestion. "I have called for Squire Trelawney to come here so you may air your current woes to his ear; should nothing else come of it, please consider yourselves my indefinite guests."
The kids smiled at the doctor's assertion. Though the mood was quickly marred by Jim's stomach rumbling.
"I'm sorry," he said, his smile changing from one of gratitude to one of embarrassment.
Dr. Joy waved it off. "Food aplenty may be found in the pantry," she said. "Whatever you may fancy is yours to breakfast on."
Jim, Zoey, and Ralph did so without hesitation. Dr. Joy's selection was a bit more utilitarian and simple than the wide range in the Admiral Benbow's kitchen, but they made it work. Buttered toast and berries would never take the place of Ms. Zoroark's pancakes of course, but the kids were not about to complain about free food. It was as they were cleaning their kitchenware that there was a knock on the front door.
"Come in," Dr. Joy called to the visitor.
In strode Constable Jenny, still dressed in her blue uniform. She removed her hat and hung it on the rack next to the door before fully entering.
"Good afternoon all," she said. "I hope I have found you in reasonable health today."
"The kids are quite alright," Dr. Joy reported. "And Ms. Zoroark shall live; more time to heal her battle injuries is the only need."
The constable nodded. "That is good news, and I welcome it gladly," she sighed. "This morning has otherwise been a series of mounting frustrations."
"Do tell constable, if you would please," Ms. Zoroark asked from her improvised bed.
The kids came in from the kitchen and sat at a chair to listen as well; Jim taking the actual seat with Zoey and Ralph lying down on the armrests. The constable took a seat herself before beginning.
"Well, the Admiral Benbow is destroyed," Constable Jenny started. "The fires were snuffed by last night's rains, but not before the collapsing of the second floor; to say nothing of the massive hole that was the kitchen and the basement."
"Ralph testifies that the pirates foolishly played with fire in the cellar, lighting the barrels of alcohol and powder stored down there," Ms. Zoroark explained.
"I'll see that my report includes such. Anyway, two bodies were found amid the inn's husk. First, a Blastoise who looked to have been dead for a few hours."
"Billy Bones," Jim muttered.
"That was his name?" Constable Jenny asked.
"Yes," Ms. Zoroark confirmed. "It was he who the pirates sought. We intended to bury him at sea later."
"Which you still can," Jenny stated. "The morgue now holds his body and it can be retrieved for burial."
"Thank you, constable," Zoey said.
Jenny nodded before continuing. "The other body was that of the pirate David Pew. Under a pile of bricks and other rubble, his body was found crushed."
"His corpse is yours to dispose of as it pleases you," Zoey bitterly remarked. "It was he who poisoned the Captain to his death."
"I see," Jenny mused. "'Tis another crime of his to add to a list already too long."
"What of the other pirates who fled the burning inn last night?" Dr. Joy asked.
"Like the thieves who ran away with the inn's food?" Ralph asked.
The Constable gained a frustrated look. "Most of them have vanished," she admitted. "Two of the slower pirates, a Krookodile and a woman, now sit chained in the town gaol. Alas, the other's smartly escaped into the woodland, using the night shrouded greenery to great advantage."
Everyone, especially the kids went quiet. They had only captured two pirates out of the at least dozen who attacked the inn?
"The Houndoom known as 'Black Shuck' is among these pirates at large," Jenny concluded. "He has apparently lost his other horn since that explosion, so I would advise keeping that in mind."
Everyone nodded in understanding.
"It is the intent of Town Watch to search the surrounding area to see if these sea scum have built a camp somewhere nearby," Jenny began concluding. "However, that they shall wander into town for supplies remains very likely. Hence, I must ask you all to remain vigilant and speak of any familiar faces or Pokémon you see amidst the Hulbury citizenry."
"Yes, constable," her audience replied.
"Thank you all," Jenny said. She then rose from her seat and nodded. "I must return to work, take care of yourselves."
"Jim will be sent to retrieve Billy Bones' body for burial," Ms. Zoroark added. "Please tell the manager of the morgue."
"Of course," the Constable agreed. She then retrieved her hat from the rack and with a wave goodbye departed to continue her search.
The afternoon after the Constable's departure was rather different, at least for the formerly innkeeper family. By this time they would be working to feed the last group of customers who came to the inn looking for lunch, and maybe the first ones looking to lodge there for the night.
But the inn was gone, little more than a husk of a building on the cliffs overlooking the eastern Galar coast. Without customers to attend to, and since they were expecting another visitor sometime shortly, the family had to find something else to occupy their time with. For her part, Ms. Zoroark was restricted to the couch by Dr. Joy's orders so she was content to simply read one of the few books the doctor owned that was not related to medicine. The only thing the kids had that could perhaps keep them entertained was the one thing they had salvaged from the inn, or at least been salvaged for them before they took it back. It still sat in the guest room that had become theirs as of last night.
But first, they had to get it open.
"I certainly cannot do it," Jim stated as he stared at Billy Bone's sea chest, once again locked closed by a padlock that had no key by design. "Don't either of you know any moves to open it?"
"Bite and Quick Attack are all that I can do," Ralph said somewhat dejectedly. "Neither will likely break the lock."
"My move pool is hardly of any superiority," Zoey grossed. "With what little practice time I had it's a miracle I can do Payback or Fury Swipes."
"Would neither of those moves break the lock?" Jim asked.
"Payback certainly not," Zoey replied before looking contemplative. "Fury Swipes on the other paw… stand back."
Jim and Ralph did so as Zoey lined herself up. She leapt at the chest as her forepaws began to glow a bright white and seem to sharpen into needles. With small grunts of effort, she repeatedly swiped at the lock, but when she set herself back down after the attack it hardly looked any different beyond some minor scratch marks.
"Well to hell with you too, lock," Zoey muttered as she glowered at the defiant piece of metal.
"Are you both so certain there are no other moves of use available, either of you?" Jim asked.
Ralph shook his head. "Never have I been much for battling; such disinterest has taken from me any motivation to learn more moves," he said.
Zoey however looked somewhat coy. "Well, as I possess no such reluctance, I have been practicing another move that might work," she admitted. "But truly perfecting it has yet to happen."
"What move do you speak of?" Ralph asked.
"Shadow Ball," Zoey replied. "I believe since Mother has learned it, I might be able to use it myself."
"Try it," Jim insisted. "Even if it should still fail it will count as further practice, no?"
Zoey thought for a second and nodded. "Aye, it should. Stand back again."
One Jim and Ralph had done so, Zoey braced herself. She opened her mouth and began generating a dark purple and black ball of energy in front of it. Once it reached the size of a bowling ball she attempted to fire it at the lock, but the ball simply dissipated in front of her.
"Curse it all!" Zoey stomped a forepaw in frustration. "That's what has happened every time!"
"Try again," Jim kindly suggested. "Continued practice shall eventually yield positive results."
Zoey glared at the padlock like it was her archenemy and began generating another Shadow Ball. When she tried to fire it, the results were the same.
"Damn it," Zoey cursed under her breath before attempting to try again.
"Watch that mouth, daughter!" Ms. Zoroark called from the living room.
"How…?" Zoey started to question before ignoring it and trying to fire another Shadow Ball.
This time she could not even generate the entire thing before a loud knock sounded at the front door, breaking her concentration.
She gave a shout of frustration. "For Arceus' sake!"
"Children, here is Squire Trelawney," Ms. Zoroark called from downstairs.
Jim and Ralph quickly left the guest bedroom and headed downstairs. Zoey took a few moments to glare at the padlock keeping the chest closed one last time before following them, though she continued to grumble about her failure as they descended from the second floor.
Downstairs the guest had already made himself comfortable in a chair. He was a younger man that one would expect given his title. He looked to be in his early thirties at the most. He wore very fancy clothing and an almost comically large powdered wig upon his head. He was also a somewhat plump fellow, not overweight exactly but he quite obviously ate more than he probably should and did not exercise enough.
"Ah! Jim, Zoey, Rudolph!" the Squire said cheerily. "'Tis a great pleasure to see you all in fantastic health!"
"My name is Ralph, sir," the Rattata corrected.
"Did I not say that?" Trelawney questioned.
"You misnamed him as 'Rudolph,' Squire," Ms. Zoroark informed.
"Egads, did I?" the Squire looked at Ralph apologetically. "Please accept my hundred apologies Ralph. Too many months have passed since I saw you all last."
"Admittedly there was no need for you to come to the inn," Ms. Zoroark remarked. "I always hand-delivered our rent to you at your own home."
"Truly," Trelawney acknowledged. "Alas, such words bring us to the reason for my appearance: the most barbaric and cruel destruction of the Admiral Benbow Inn by those pirates! To think such a thing could occur upon my own land!"
"We can keep renting that section from you, yes?" Ms. Zoroark asked. "And our agreement, a small percentage of our profits serving as the rental fee, shall remain intact and unchanged?"
"Most certainly!" the Squire declared. "From the first day your inn opened its doors, you have been nothing but the most wonderful of tenants. It is only a matter of rebuilding the Admiral Benbow, I think."
"Such reconstruction costs money, sir Squire; money we do not possess," Ms. Zoroark said. "I do not suppose helping with that problem would be within your power and will?"
"But a better idea comes to my mind!" The Squire jovially announced. "I shall waive your rent indefinitely while you restore the Admiral Benbow Inn to its rightful grandeur!"
Grandeur, he says? Jim wondered in his head. It wasn't completely lacking in beauty but none who entered would call it a palace of colour and art.
Of course, the Squire would know this had he bothered to ever visit in spite of him having no reason to.
Ms. Zoroark seemed to contemplate Squire Trelawney's alternate proposal; although those who knew her, such as her children, could recognize that she was actually trying to think of a way to convince the upper-class gentleman to go with her idea.
"[What makes waiving the rent a better solution then bankrolling the reconstruction?]" Zoey asked her mother in Pokémon speak.
"[That his brain was the source of it,]" was the reply.
Zoey and Ralph started snickering behind their forepaws. Squire Trelawney seemed oblivious.
"What was that?" Jim asked.
"I'll tell you later," Zoey promised.
"How would the needed funds be procured, Squire, even in the absences of a rental fee?" Ms. Zoroark asked. "A burned down inn shan't make us much money."
That question caught Trelawney off guard as he now looked contemplative. "Is there nothing you could sell to start?" he suggested.
"With what few things we did own destroyed and buried under the Admiral Benbow's husk, I should think not," Ms. Zoroark deadpanned.
"Well, just now as she descended, Zoey here grumbled of being unable to open something. What did she speak of?" Trelawney asked.
Zoey went silent as Trelawney turned to her. "A, a…" she started.
"A chest containing the belongings of a recently deceased guest of the inn," Ms. Zoroark answered for her daughter. "He gifted them to us before passing."
"What does this chest hold within?"
"Mostly padlocks," Jim provided. "They bury a few odd trinkets and personal possessions that I doubt would be desired by anyone but the late owner."
"But there are many who would desire a padlock!" Trelawney stated. "How many have you inside that chest?"
The family looked at each other. They had not bothered to actually count them, but there was a very large amount.
"I think a hundred at the least, perhaps more," Zoey answered.
"Then there you have it, something to sell!" the Squire proclaimed. "One hundred padlocks sold for four Poké each and you shall have a start!"
"I was hoping to keep those profits for myself," Zoey muttered under her breath.
"Alas, none of those locks have keys," Ms. Zoroark argued, trying again to dissuade this idea. "Not even the lock holding the chest shut. With me bedridden, it cannot be opened."
"Oh, that should be of little trouble," Trelawney assured. "Mr. Chester!" he called outside.
In strode a large green and white bipedal Pokémon with a massive dome-shaped shell resembling a chestnut with two big spines poking out the back and two more at its shoulders.
"Chesnaught?" the new Pokémon asked.
"These children will show you to a chest," Trelawney instructed. "Please, with finesse, use Wood Hammer to remove the padlock on it?"
"[Wood Hammer is not ever used with 'finesse,' sir,]" the Chesnaught replied. "[I will use Shadow Claw instead.]"
"Excellent! Thank you very much, Chester," the Squire proclaimed despite not understanding a word his Pokémon had said.
Chester shook his head at his employer and looked to the kids. "[Lead the way then, children,]" he said.
The kids led the Chesnaught upstairs to the guest room and pointed to the sea chest sitting next to the wardrobe. As Chester set to do his task, Jim looked to the wardrobe and his red military coat and remembered something as the padlock was heard being smashed.
"Zoey, Ralph," he said. "What about Flint's treasure? If Billy Bones did not exaggerate its worth, there's enough treasure there to pay for rebuilding the inn five times over."
"And still ten or more pirates out looking for it," Ralph reminded him.
Zoey however was wearing a wide smile. "We could see the Admiral Benbow restored with a lifetimes worth of wealth to use as we please remaining! It's perfect!" she said. "And the Squire's daft enough he might finance a voyage to it without question!"
Jim nodded in agreement. "Then pray, help me to get it unsown from my coat," he requested.
Much of the work was done by the reluctant Ralph whose tinier digits could plunk at the strings better than Jim. The rushed sewing was easily undone and the map easily removed from the inside of Jim's coat. The kids quickly returned downstairs with Chester behind them; he seemed to be hiding something behind his back but no one commented on it.
"Here you all are," Squire Trelawney said. "It must have been a persistent lock to take so long to break it."
"[A-aye, that's why we were long,]" Chester said nervously.
"Is it indeed full of sellable padlocks, Chester?" Trelawney asked.
"[It is,]" Chester responded with an added nod.
"But now it is us with a greater idea in mind, Squire sir," Zoey said.
"Truly? Pray do not keep it to yourselves," he insisted.
"Jim, show him the map," Zoey confidently instructed.
Jim took the map and spread it out on the small table in the centre of the living room. "Squire, have you ever heard tales of the man Captain Flint?" Jim asked.
"I most certainly have!" Trelawney said. "Never has a more bloodthirsty pirate sailed the seas since that demon Ned Lowe! He was a ruthless man from the darkest of any beings nightmares, and it was not a persona to encourage obedience as it was with Blackbeard or the Dreaded Roberts, no. If it would so much as amuse him, he would murder anyone of his choosing without any hesitation or regret."
"Aye," Jim continued, deciding not to share how much he knew of Flint's murderous tendencies. "But his habit of flippantly killing is not of interest; do you know what became of his treasure?"
"I fear I do not," the Squire replied. "He was captured without much on his person and hung without question."
"Well, Flint buried it on an island known only to him and this map," Jim concluded pointing to the paper on oilcloth in question.
The Squire looked closely at it. He was clearly intrigued though he seemed to have trouble reading it beyond the "bulk of treasure here" written in plain script.
"By Arceus," the Squire said as he examined the map. "Pray tell, where did you discover this?"
"It was in the sea chest," Zoey explained. "Billy Bones was its owner, and Captain Flint's former partner Pokémon. He, and only he, was whom Flint trusted a map to his treasure."
The Squire hummed in acknowledgment before examining the map further. "You wish to voyage for the treasure of Captain Flint with this map, am I not correct?" he asked.
"Aye," Jim said.
"Aye!" Zoey eagerly agreed.
"Maybe," Ralph added, still on the fence about going.
"If you would be willing to finance such a voyage, we're certain that we can share the treasure with you," Jim added on.
The Squire continued looking at the map for what felt like an agonizingly long time. Finally, he closed his eyes and seemed to come to a conclusion.
"I would be willing to finance such an endeavor," he said.
Jim and Zoey beamed at those words.
"...If you can prove beyond a doubt that this map is genuine," Trelawney concluded.
Jim almost fell over. "But it is the genuine map to Flint's treasure," he insisted. "Billy Bones said there was only ever one made and he held it."
"Do remember what you are asking of me, friend Jim," Trelawney replied. "I must purchase or rent a vessel of adequate size to carry this treasure, pay a crew anywhere from ten to one hundred in size to sail it, and pay for all the provisions that keep them alive. All of this in service of following a map one recently passed Pokémon claimed to belong to a legendarily wealthy pirate."
"[Him bankrolling the inn's repairs still sounds less expensive, yet here is where he makes his arguments?]" Zoey questioned in Pokémon speak.
"But worry not!" Trelawney announced. "For there is someone you can go too who can verify the map. Are any of you acquainted with the local magistrate, Professor Danielle Livesey?"
"Moderately so," Ms. Zoroark replied. "It has been a while since any one of us set foot inside the lair of that mad scientist."
Squire Trelawney let out a chuckle. "Yes, when engrossed in her studies she grows quite eccentric," he said. "But you shan't find a being, human or Pokémon, more capable of verifying this map's authenticity than Livesey."
"What would you have her verify?" Jim asked.
"Perhaps these strange symbols," Trelawney suggested, pointing to the odd letters that were written on various points of the map. "Have them translated, and should they truly spell directions to this 'bulk of treasure' then I shall gladly see this voyage through!"
Jim and Zoey looked at each other and nodded.
"Very well Squire Trelawney," Jim agreed.
"We'll see this map to Professor Livesey and tell you of her findings," Zoey added.
"Splendid!" Trelawney cried. "Well then, I shall leave you to it."
He got up and retrieved his hat from the rack by the door. "Come along Chester!" he called.
"[One moment sir,]" Chester replied, making a similar motion with his hand. He then turned back to the kids with some slight embarrassment. "[What prices must I pay for this?]" he asked as he revealed what he had been hiding behind his back.
The body pillowcase with a seductive looking Lopunny stitched into it.
Zoey restrained a sneaky grin. She transformed into Jim and snatched the pillowcase back. "I think one hundred and fifty Poké should be sufficient," she said. "You must, however, pay another fifty as a fee for picking through our sea chest without permission."
Chester was a little taken aback by the price but did not argue with Zoey's logic. He hurried outside and returned with a small stack of banknotes.
"[Redeem these at any bank to collect the money,]" he instructed as he handed the notes over.
Zoey-as-Jim nodded and handed Chester the pillow cover. The exchange complete, the Chesnaught hurried back out the door and could be heard trying to avoid answering the Squire's questions on why he wanted that pillowcase.
"Well then, a visit to Professor Livesey is in order," Jim said after the Squire and his assistant were out of earshot.
"I suppose there is little I can do to stop you all from going through with this plan," Ms. Zoroark observed. "Bedridden as I am and lacking other ideas of where to find money to restore the inn."
"Worry not mother!" Zoey insisted as she turned back into herself. "Even while surrounded by a bunch of strange humans and Pokémon on a ship in the middle of the ocean, we can see to our own safety."
Everyone in the room looked at Zoey after she said that so flippantly.
"When you put it such words…" Ralph trailed off nervously.
"Once we have given Billy Bones his funeral, you and Ralph are to be trained for battle," Ms. Zoroark said with finality. "With much vigor."