I was fourteen years old when I joined Tarana's crew on the Maiden Milotic. She was the most reputable captain in Amphitrite, and her ship was the most magnificent; she lived up to her name in beauty and elegance. Her streamlined build and efficient engines also made her the fastest ship at the time. Her speed was both a blessing and a curse.

It was a cold night in December, made warm by the aurora borealis that shone on the Maiden Milotic. As a novice sailor, I was to go through initiation that night. Tarana didn't allow hazing or anything so filthy or cult-like on her ship—no offense; she was a captain who could command fealty and cohesiveness without underhanded tactics and cheap psychology—but she needed each of her sailors to prove themselves as worthy and competent to sail with her.

Like a driving test, we had to navigate the ice floes around the waters bordering Deyraan. When we leave this hellhole, I'll show you where I proved my worth as a sailor and a person of the sea.

With the help of my Poliwhirl's Surf—Politoed hadn't evolved yet—and Dragonite's wings guiding the sails, I passed the test with flying colours. For your peace of mind, Tarana was supervising the whole ordeal along with her Floatzel. She would have taken over if I goofed.

The next morning, over a hearty breakfast of syrup and oranges, Tarana declared that my initiation was the best out of everyone in the crew. Most of the younger sailors as well as the oldest, grandfatherly ones, congratulated me. However, some of the older sailors grumbled that Tarana must have gone easy on me because I was a kid.

"You were all kids when you underwent initiation," Tarana pointed out. "I show no leniency toward anyone who would join my crew. That's why the Maiden Milotic is the best-run ship in all the seas."

"We're the best in Torren!" declared one of the cranky sailors, raising a mug of brandy. There's no such thing as 'too early to drink' when it comes to the sea.

"That's nothing, Peeko Junior," Tarana snapped. "The seas of Torren are meager. Being the best in Torren is nothing to boast of. We are the best in the world!"

The other sailors cheered at Tarana's words, but Peeko Junior was angrier at having been embarrassed twice in one morning. He drank heavily that day, and then in the evening, he demanded a second initiation to prove he was the best sailor in the world.

"You have already proven yourself, PJ," Tarana said. "There is no need to redo your initiation."

"I need to be the best," PJ insisted, but he swayed on his feet, inebriated. "I need to be better than him." He pointed at me with a shaking finger.

Tarana laughed in his face. "You, a man old enough to be his father, dare to challenge our newest sailor?" Her tone was less amused as she went on, "And you dare to challenge my authority; I said there is no need, but you insist!" She was full of rage as she screamed, "Worst of all, you risk everyone's lives by your intention to recklessly steer the fastest ship in the iciest seas! You are dismissed, Peeko Junior. When we return to Deyraan's harbour in two days, you will get off my ship and you will never be part of my crew again."

PJ froze in horror. A dismissal was the most undignified way to leave employment. With Tarana's reputation, word would spread faster than a cyclone. He would never sail again.

I couldn't sleep that night. I thought it was my fault, that somehow, I'd ruined someone's career. I traced the swirl on Poliwhirl's belly—did you know the swirl changes direction after evolving from Poliwag?—and then my finger slipped as the boat crashed into something.

I ran onto the deck, Poliwhirl following on lighter footsteps. The two sailors who were steering for that shift were unconscious; the moonlight illuminated their black-and-blue faces. Peeko Junior was slumped over at the helm.

I ran toward him to see what he'd hit. My boots echoed on the boards in a way that indicated there was fluid below, like a hole had been punctured and water was flooding the cabins. And I knew—the Maiden Milotic had become a Titanic.

"Ready the lifeboats!" Tarana bellowed.

I helped her lower the oldest, most grandfatherly sailors in the first lifeboats. When they were in the water, I turned to ready the next ones when I almost keeled overboard.

Tarana grabbed my arm. She and Poliwhirl pulled me back to port. "Clumsy sea legs, greenie," she said.

Our eyes widened as we realized the ship was still moving.

A horrible crunch grated our ears as the Maiden Milotic crushed the lifeboats below.

"Stop Peeko Junior!" Tarana commanded me. "Floatzel, assist me!"

As one, she and Floatzel dove from the ship to rescue the old sailors whose lifeboats had either capsized or been destroyed. Meanwhile, Poliwhirl and I charged at PJ, who was slumped over the helm whistling a jolly pirate tune; his pitch was off, transposing the tune into a minor key.

"Poliwhirl, bind him!" I ordered.

Poliwhirl grabbed PJ and tossed him toward the mast, where she could tie him while I steered the ship to starboard, away from where we'd lowered the lifeboats. I could hear the sailors shouting for help and called for Dragonite to fly everyone to the nearest safe zone.

By the time I was sure the Maiden Milotic was as far from the lifeboats as possible, the deck was flooded. Water splashed over the top of my boots and soaked my legs through. I ditched the boots and went barefoot. Tarana climbed back to join me; she was also barefoot, and scratches cut slits in her sleeves to form roses on her arms. "That's everyone, Calreath. Get on Dragonite and go."

I was about to climb onto my dragon Pokémon when I heard someone cry out from below the ship. "Wait!" I exclaimed. "You missed someone."

"He's as good as dead," Tarana said as she got onto Floatzel, whose yellow flotation device had inflated to help in the rescue. "He got trapped when the Maiden hit the lifeboats, and when you steered the ship away, you dragged him, too."

I gritted my teeth. I wasn't a captain, who had to think about the greater good of all the sailors. I wouldn't leave anyone behind. "Poliwhirl, you're responsible for PJ!" I shouted.

Poliwhirl gaped at me, half in shock, half exasperated.

"Dragonite," I commanded, about to use Tarana's expression—Assist!—when I thought, I need more than an assist. I need a rescue. "It's rescue time!"

"You're crazy!" Tarana exclaimed as I dove into the water.

Above, Dragonite's shadow hovered as he flew in circles, waiting for me to resurface. I swam deeper until I found the unfortunate sailor. I could see why Tarana abandoned him. The only logical way to free him from the damaged Maiden was to amputate his arm. With our first-aid supplies damaged and a several-days journey back to Deyraan, there was no way he'd survive. The despair in his eyes told me he knew. It was a fight just to hold on for this long, but it was a fight he expected to lose.

I felt partly responsible for his plight. If my initiation had been mediocre, then PJ wouldn't have gotten jealous and tried to prove himself. He wouldn't have steered us into an iceberg like a rerun of The Titanic. The lifeboats wouldn't have been necessary, and they definitely wouldn't have gotten crushed or overturned. I wouldn't have needed to steer the ship away, so he wouldn't have gotten dragged across the icy seas. If he didn't die from drowning, trauma, or blood loss, the shock would haunt the rest of his long life.

But this wasn't my fault. If your only motivation to save people is because you feel like you have to, then there will come a time when you will turn your back on someone you could save—because you don't have to. I owed him nothing, and that's why I had to save him.

I pushed the ship with all my might, but of course, it was futile. The Maiden Milotic is—was—the most marvelous ship in all the seas. She can't be budged by a child.

I thought that was it. I'd drown with this old sailor and leave behind my Poliwhirl and Dragonite. It was too cruel—all because we wanted to prove something—and I resigned myself to an unhappy ending.

I thought I was delirious when I saw a glow in the water. I swam up to the surface, took a deep breath—Dragonite swooped down to grab me, but I dove back down a split second before he could reach me—and swam back to the old sailor.

I wasn't delirious. We weren't dying. Manaphy, the princess of the seas, had taken pity on us and arrived to help. With her Heart Swap ability, she switched places with the trapped sailor. Her own size allowed her to wriggle free while I carried the sailor back to the surface.

Dragonite grabbed us and flew away.

"Why?" the old man rasped.

Manaphy swam after us, hopping along the waters.

"Because..." I began. Back then, I was unable to answer him.

"And now?" Zenith asked.

Calreath smiled. "I think you know."