Chapter 54: The Cursed Ship
It was finally, finally time to leave Dewford Town. Lucas had ended up staying in the island town far longer than he had planned. After the nightmare of a trip getting there, he had only wanted to stay a day, but because of circumstance he ended up staying almost a week. After defeating the Gym Leader he decided to explore the Granite Cave. Afterwards, he had learned that rolling blackouts affecting the island were being caused by Pokemon sabotage of power lines buried deeply in the cave. With the determined reporter Gabby, her cameraman Ty and his new friend Skyler they found an abandoned lab with an ultrasonic device causing the Pokemon immense pain and to tear the power lines in attempt to help themselves. The device was destroyed, Gabby got a scoop, Lucas got injured by Gizmo and Skyler and Lucas decided to travel together for the remainder of Lucas' Journey.
This proved to be a mixed blessing. On one hand, Skyler had proven to be a loyal friend and a powerful ally. On the other, Lucas found himself deeply attracted to the taller, older teen. The tattooed teen knew this could prove to be a problem. As long as he was attracted to Skyler, Lucas would continue to trip mentally and physically, but telling the other young man his feelings would be problematic. Generally men were not flattered to find that other men were attracted to them and Skyler gave no indication that he was attracted to Lucas as well. As far as the dragon Trainer was concerned, they were just good, platonic friends. And for Lucas, that could be enough, even with Skyler's sexy legs and brain melting smile.
With the threat in Granite Cave over, Lucas switched his team back out for his Hoenn group and prepared to take the next step. Next on the agenda was going back to Slateport City, the town Lucas originally arrived at, in order to head north and get to Mauville for his next badge. Like travel in most of Hoenn, it required going over water. Ferries came weekly instead of daily in the small town of Dewford, where most of the traffic came from cargo deliveries, and rides with other boats were hard to catch. That meant that getting to Slateport required going back into the Tentacool and Tentacruel infested waters that made his initial trip the Dewford such a headache.
Lucas stared glumly at the horizon line while standing on the beach. Skyler came up behind him and clapped him cheerfully on the shoulder, "Ready to shove off, partner?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," Lucas grumbled in reply.
"What's the matter? Do you get seasick or something? Surfing on a Pokemon is amazing. The sky, the water,"
"The Tentacool," Lucas finished. Skyler gave the other boy an odd look, "I reeeeally don't like Tentacool,"
"Small price to pay for being a Pokemon Trainer, just a fact of life like mosquitoes and Zubat. So how would you rather travel? My Pokemon or yours. I'll be using the Gyrados I was telling you about,"
"Probably smarter if we use separate Pokemon and just travel together,"
"Fair enough, and I'll go first so most of the Tentacool bother me," Skyler reached to his belt and pulled off a Pokeball, "Go! Gyrados!"
The sea monster-like creature appeared in the surf and lowered its head to its Trainer. Like Skyler had mentioned in Granite Cave, he too had the water-and-flying type, but unlike Lucas' own Franky, this Pokemon seemed distant and stoic, more like his Charizard Hotrod. The other teen then grabbed at his own Pokeball and summoned his Wailmer, "Blobby Bob!"
The spherical Pokemon bounced up and down in the waves and waited for his Trainer to mount. Lucas approached and called to Gizmo to climb his shoulder. Since the battle in the lab the Eevee had become very distant. While under the influence of the ultrasonic device the normal-type had turned on his Trainer, biting the teen's leg so badly that he needed stitches and several days before he could walk again. A bandage still covered the healing puncture marks on his calf. Even though the young man constantly tried to reassure his Pokemon, the Eevee simply seemed unable to forgive himself. Gizmo approached loyally, but wouldn't take his normal place. Instead, he preferred to stay in the Pokeball Lucas kept around his neck.
On their Pokemons' backs, the two Trainers headed out east to Slateport. The trip would be simple enough. They'd hug the southern coast of Hoenn until they hit the luxury beach and along the way there were plenty of small islands to stop and rest at. The water in this part of the ocean was so calm and peaceful, you could actually see what was happening underwater for several miles down. Only a twenty mile stretch of open water presented any kind of real hazard. By ferry the trip would be far, far faster, able to get there in a single afternoon. By Pokemon it would take two to three days.
At first Lucas wondered if he simply wasn't better off flying back to Slateport, having been there he could navigate on the back of a Pokemon, but as Skyler handled most of the most annoying Tentacool, the teen found himself starting to enjoy the trip. If nothing else, it gave him another opportunity for training and filling out his Pokedex. It also gave him more time to talk and hang out with Skyler.
The sun started setting on the first day, the sky turning brilliant reds and purples as the faint bio luminescent glow of Chinchou and Lanturn slowly lit up the rapidly blackening water. The first day of their trip done, the two Trainers landed on a small island a few hundred feet across to make camp. There were a few sparse palm trees and a small fresh-water pond where the two could refill their water bottles and rest.
Skyler started a fire with the can of kerosene he kept in his bag and Lucas sank onto his spread out sleeping bag to catch his breath. While surfing on Blobby Bob was a total blast, riding the Pokemon over the open water took more out of the Trainer than walking ever did. His tanned skin was pink from the direct sunlight, and his lips were completely chapped from the salty air. And when he drank from the pond he didn't even realize how parched he truly was until the water went down his throat. When the other young man finished tending the fire he dropped down next to Lucas on his own sleeping bag and let out his own exhausted sigh.
"Phew, it's rough trip but I wouldn't trade anything for it, would you?" Skyler asked his companion.
"Surfing's good, but flying is better. The wind in your face, the way the ground just is a blur below you, feeling like you're racing the sun," Lucas responded. He dug into his own duffelbag and went to work preparing some spicy instant noodles he had stocked up on for the trip.
Skyler propped his arm on his knee and slumped his face onto his hand, "Sadly I have never had a chance to fly. My Dragonair has to evolve before I can, but I've seen people from Blackthorn fly on their Dragonite, and it does look pretty amazing,"
"Well, when we get a chance I'll let you fly with me on my Charizard. Trust me, the only thing better than flying on the back of a Pokemon is getting laid," As Lucas realized what he had said he felt like his throat was closing.
Skyler simply laughed, a happy carefree sound that immediately put Lucas at ease, "That's a pretty controversial statement. I guess one day you'll have to prove it," Lucas felt the blood rushing to his face again, his mind wondering if his companion was referring to proving the flying or the laying. Shortly Lucas got his answer, "Or I'll just find Rayquazza and fly for myself,"
"I was wondering about that. You seem pretty determined to find Rayquazza, but for all you know that Pokemon is nothing more than a legend. Don't forget, not every rumor about Pokemon is true," Lucas pulled the finished noodles from the fire and handed a portion to Skyler.
"Yeah, but that's part of the fun of exploring, the not knowing. Man, I love traveling. Seeing things you've never seen before, experiences that you can only understand when you've felt them yourself. Rayquazza could be a total myth, but finding out for myself is the only way I'll be satisfied. And if it is real, then can you imagine? Such a powerful dragon to Train? I'd be a legend," Skyler seemed lost in thought after his final statement, prodding his noodles absently. Suddenly he turned back to Lucas and smiled, "There's something I've been wondering about you as well,"
"Oh?" Lucas said nervously.
"I didn't want to ask back in Dewford Town because you were obviously trying to shake that reporter lady, but seriously, how did you know all about that device and stuff?"
"Because I've seen one like it before. A few months back in Sinnoh there was another one planted in Iron Island. It drove all the Pokemon there absolutely crazy, and made them all super powerful. It had the same green lights. And the same label on it," Lucas reached into his pocket and pulled out the scrap of metal he had taken back in the lab. On it was a shield-shaped crest of royal blue with three gold stars arranged in the shape of the letter 'C'.
"What is it?" Skyler took the piece and examined it for himself.
"It's the crest of Team Cosmic,"
"You mean those psychos that went after Sinnoh? The ones that want to destroy weak people and Pokemon?"
"Yes," Lucas took the metal back from the blue-haired Trainer and slipped it back into his pocket, "That was a Cosmic lab, which means they've been operating in Hoenn as well. Worse is that they're getting better at it. The other device was tinier, and way less powerful. I didn't get a headache until I was almost by the thing. This new one gave me a migraine as soon as I set foot in the lab. And Gizmo only hurt his ears. This time the waves actually caused him to attack me. And I'm pretty sure Agron Kong was also one of their experiments. It makes me sick to my stomach to think about the other Pokemon that didn't survive, the ones used for samples,"
"It's strange. When I was a kid Team Rocket did something similar at the Lake of Rage. I know because I had a relative who investigated it. I wonder if Cosmic is trying the same thing," Skyler said thoughtfully.
"Seems like it,"
"So why didn't you tell Gabby about it? If Cosmic is active in Hoenn, shouldn't people know?"
Lucas took in a deep breath, "Listen, I gotta tell you. I'm a pretty stupid person. The only reason I know anything about these devices is because someone else told me how they worked. I'm not pretending I'm some great military strategist or anything, but I do know Cosmic. I've run into them enough times to know how they work. They're sneaky, and they're subtle. If they know they've been caught they'll just up root and move on somewhere else. But if they don't know that I know they're here, I can still do something to stop them,"
"You're pretty brave," Skyler smiled, "That makes you pretty cool,"
"I'm not brave, I just don't like seeing people hurting Pokemon. It's not right,"
"Even Tentacool?"
Lucas sighed, "Yes, even Tentacool,"
"We should probably get some sleep," Skyler yawned, "Night Lucas,"
While Skyler crawled into his sleeping bag, Lucas put out the canned fire. The other Trainer was already dead to the world as soon as he put his head on the ground, something that amused Lucas intensely. For a few minutes he watched Skyler sleeping. He seemed so peaceful, and the features of his face were still visible in the low light of the sea night. While it was getting easier to talk with his new friend, the teen still couldn't get over the feelings that seemed to be building up instead of dissipating. And at that moment he would have given anything to be sleeping right next to him instead of several feet away on the other side of the now smoldering campfire. But he knew how reality worked, and he resolved himself to stop wasting his heart on a straight guy. His feelings still hadn't quite recovered from when the Coordinator Ashley rejected him.
Instead he focused on the problems with his Pokemon team. He let Gizmo and Diablo out of their Pokeballs to curl up next to him as he slept. And while Diablo didn't hesitate to plop himself next to Lucas' side, rather than taking his spot by his Trainer's head or chest, the Eevee once again took his distance, curling himself into a tight ball just in the shadow of a palm tree.
The next morning the two Trainers headed early out back into the water. They were making good time, and soon would start to see the tallest buildings of Slateport City. More and more often giant freighters would pass them by as they headed the same direction to the commercial city. But as morning turned into afternoon, Skyler on his Gyrados stopped suddenly, the two treading water as Skyler looked seriously at the sky.
Lucas and Blobby Bob pulled up next to them, and the teen called out this friend, "What's going on?"
"A storm is coming, a big one. We need to find shelter as soon as possible," Skyler replied.
The tattooed teen looked all around him. As far as he could see, the sky was as clear as it always was. Perfectly blue with some steel colored clouds on the distant horizon, "What makes you so sure?"
"Blackthorn City is in the mountains. When you grow up in the mountains you develop a sense about these storms. Like, how the wind keeps changing direction every couple of minutes, and the color of those clouds,"
While Lucas was still a bit skeptical about how such a beautiful day could turn so monstrous, his utter hatred of rain and Skyler's determined expression told him to err on the side of caution. The two Trainers had run into a small problem with their plan. They had just entered the final part of their journey to Slateport, the twenty mile stretch of open water. They could turn back, but the nearest island they saw was hours ago, and Skyler's prediction proved to be correct. First the winds kicked up full blast, ripping at their clothes and hair. The distant gray clouds whooshed quickly with the winds, and the sky turned dark and ominous. Then the clouds opened up and it began pouring. The two Trainers on their Pokemon worked against the wind, trying to move forward and their pace slowed with each passing moment. It made the storm Lucas went through near Dewford Town seem like an unpleasant shower. The teen Trainer squinted through squall trying to find anything that would pass as protection, but it seemed like there was nothing but open sea, even the coastline they were following seemed to disappear. He tried not to lose sight of Skyler, and started planning on using his Swellow to escape if things kept up, but just when all hope was lost, he spotted a shape on the horizon.
"Skyler, there!" Lucas shouted above the roar of the storm. Lightning was starting, and in the open water they were sitting ducks. The other Trainer nodded in understanding, and the massive Gyrados veered his course towards the shape. The currents were in their favor as they got pushed closer and closer to the shape, which proved to be a cruise ship, grounded on a reef just below the water's surface.
Gratefully, the two Trainers collapsed inside the relatively dry shelter of the mauled vessel, recalling their equally exhausted Pokemon as they waited out the storm. The two lied in silence for several minutes as they caught their breath, before they both pulled themselves up to a sitting position and leaned their backs against the rusting steel plate walls.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure I won't need a shower for about a year," Skyler joked.
"No, I'll need about fifty hot showers before I remember what it's like to feel warm again. I'm soaked in places I didn't even think could get soaked," Lucas grumbled as he squeezed water and dissolved gel out of his now limp Mohawk. He pulled a Pokeball from his belt and summoned Diablo, "I know I'll end up smelling like wet dog, but at this point I don't care,"
Lucas motioned for Diablo to sit next to him, but rather than take the open side on Lucas' left, the Mightyena looked from Skyler to his Trainer and wedged himself on the teen's right side, pushing Skyler slightly away. Skyler fell on his side from being shoved, "Wow, excuse me!"
Diablo looked back to Skyler, silently showed his teeth before dropping his head possessively into Lucas' lap, "Jeez Diablo, what is your problem?" The teen turned apologetically to his friend, "Sorry about that, he's never done that before,"
Skyler shrugged, "No worries,"
"So what do you think is this place, anyway?" Lucas asked as he looked around the abandoned vessel.
"Probably a ship that got caught up in a storm like this one. Corsola are pretty common in these warm waters so they build reefs all over the place. Not hard to run aground when things get as murky as they are," Skyler surmised, "It didn't sink all the way so probably no one got hurt, but it's still pretty eerie to think that a cruise ship like this, so full of people, is now completely abandoned,"
"I wonder why no one's tried to salvage it," Lucas wondered aloud. Just then a scraping ringing dinned through the hull, followed by an ominous wet, squelching noise.
"What was that?!" Skyler hissed.
"I thought you'd know!" Lucas whispered back. Once again the scraping and squelching rang through the ship.
"We should probably check it out..." Skyler decided, but his expression seemed less confident.
Lucas took in a calming breath and nodded, "You're right, it might be someone needing our help,"
Cautiously, with Skyler's flashlight guiding their path and Diablo covering their rear, the two Trainers got up from their resting place and started exploring the abandoned vessel. Their boots made heavy thudding noises while the pelting rain roared outside, and every couple of minutes the unpleasant scraping and squelching would ring louder and louder as they moved through the ship.
The ship had clearly been wrecked for several years, and while mysteriously no one dragged the gored vessel back to a salvage yard for the valuable metal, there were signs that people had been inside since after it was wrecked. Skyler and Lucas said nothing to each other for several minutes, Lucas' fighter's instinct telling him to stay alert to his surroundings. There was something about the ship and its noises that made his skin crawl, but he couldn't place the reason.
Skyler stopped and switched off his flashlight, turning to face Lucas in the darkness. For a split second caution was replaced with that fluttering feeling in Lucas' stomach to be with Skyler in the darkness, but went away again when Skyler spoke, "Have you noticed anything...odd about this ship?"
"In what way?"
"Well, you're a Trainer, right? So you've explored all sorts of things. Old factories, caves, forests, do you notice anything missing?"
Lucas thought for a moment as he realized his companion's point, "You're right. There are no Pokemon here. This place has been abandoned for years, obviously, but we haven't run into anything. Not even a single Zubat. Pokemon love making nests in abandoned human dwellings,"
"Exactly," Skyler nodded. Just then the eerie squelching and scraping got even louder.
"We're almost at the hull,"
Skyler turned his flashlight back on and stepped carefully around. The previously dry ground was starting to have ankle depth water. As the water got deeper and cloudier, Diablo let out a yelp and made Lucas jump.
"What is it, boy?" Lucas asked gently as the dark type thrashed in the water. He seemed desperate to keep his feet out of the liquid, but the nature of a quadruped forced him to have at least two legs down. Finally Lucas put his hands near his Pokemon and got splashed. As soon as the liquid touched his skin he understood his Pokemon's behavior and howled in pain, "Son of a bitch!"
"What's wrong?!" Skyler asked with great concern.
"There's acid in the water, burns like hell," Lucas winced as he shook his wounded hand and recalled his suffering Pokemon. Skyler lifted up his feet and shined the light to find his shoes were almost completely bleached. Carefully the two continued to tread through the water as they spotted a doorway up ahead.
Skyler shined his light through the doorway and just as Lucas was about to step through he grabbed the smaller man by the waist and pulled him back, "Whoa! You do not want to go in there,"
"Why, what's going on?" Lucas squinted through the doorway to see what had caused the other Trainer to grab him. At first all Lucas could see were some dim shapes of twisted metal, but as his eyes adjusted he realized that there was a faint red glow coming from the floor.
The two stepped to the doorjamb and the light from the flashlight reflected stronger. In the half-submerged room were hundreds upon hundreds Tentacool floating in the shallow water. And slightly shriveled and clearly in total agony was a large Tentacruel trapped under a fallen steel girder.