The Dangers of the Sea

The next day, Brendan, May, and Gwen found themselves on Mr. Briney's boat once more, this time they were driving to the east. Gwen sat on the bow with Brendan beside her, with May next to him. Brendan had taken his hat off as he enjoyed the wind in his hair, while May had chosen to forego the bow and letting her hair fall freely. Today was set for relaxation on the water and enjoying their downtime.

"This is such a nice day again," Brendan said.

"I know," May said as a gust of wind blew her shoulder-length hair gently. "I just hope we don't get another storm like last time."

I think there should be smooth sailing the entire trip to Slateport, Gwen said.

"Well that is good to hear," Brendan said with a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, but with our luck, we will encounter something just as bad, if not worse than a storm," May said with a slight chuckle.

Brendan shook his head, knowing that May was probably right.

Back in the cabin, Mr. Briney was sitting at the captain's seat, with the throttle set, while he steered the boat away from any rocks. His boat was very high tech, and it came complete with multiple sonar sensors, and so far, the only things that had been picked up on the scopes were rocks and the occasional Pokémon. "Peecko, this is a great day t' be on the sea," he said after taking a sip of coffee. "The sun is shinin' and there's no sign of any foul weather."

"Gull!" Peecko said cheerfully. Unfortunately, that cheery mood didn't last, as the sonar suddenly began to show multiple Pokémon approaching, and they were moving fast.

"Oh no," Mr. Briney said. "What are these Pokémon doing on this route? They should only be near Pacifidlog Town."

Back on the deck, Gwen had pointed out the fins of multiple aquatic Pokémon, which she called Sharpedo. Brendan decided to look them up in his Pokédex.

"Sharpedo, the Brutal Pokémon, and the evolved form of Carvanha. This Pokémon is known as the vicious and sly gangster of the sea. Its skin is specially textured to minimize drag in water. Its speed tops out at over 75 miles per hour. It is also referred to as 'The Bully of the Sea.'"

"Oh no, these Sharpedo are going to be much stronger than any Pokémon we've faced before," May said with concern as the fins got closer and more numerous.

What should we do? Gwen said. Sharpedo are part dark type, which means they have an advantage over me.

"Maybe if we don't bother them, they won't bother us," Brendan said.

"Wishful thinking," May said. "Sharpedo can be very aggressive, especially with things in their territory." That was when a massive Sharpedo leapt out of the water, ramming the side of the ship, making it rock and putting a dent in the hull.

"Damn it!" Mr. Briney said as the boat shook. "They're already startin' to attack us."

May and Brendan were both worried now, as at least seven fins appeared in the water, and they had the ship surrounded.

"What'll we do?" Brendan said.

"We need to fight them off," May said as another Sharpedo attacked. "Otherwise they will tear this ship apart."

Those Sharpedo are way too powerful for us to face. The weakest one is at least twice as strong as any one of your Pokémon. That wouldn't be a problem if it was just one or two, but there are seven there at least. That's one for each Pokémon. We won't be able to battle them for too long, Gwen said. It'll only get us hurt.

"I know, but if we do nothing, then we'll be stranded out here," Brendan said. "We need to at least try."

Damn it, I hate it when you're right about these things!

Brendan and May both took out their other Pokéballs and let out Miranda, Clint, Lily, Nikki, Erza, and Graham. "Alright everybody, we need you to protect the boat. This will be our hardest battle yet, but we have to fend of the Sharpedo," Brendan said with determination and some slight fear. "May and I might not be able to keep track of everything going on, so trust your own judgment but don't get reckless!"

All of the Pokémon nodded in unison, with Gwen smiling nervously. She knew this battle would drain her physically and mentally, but what other choice did they have? They needed to fight to make it through this.

"Alright, remember to stay on the boat or in the air to attack. Don't get too close," Brendan said. All the Pokémon nodded before taking positions around the boat and preparing for the fight of their lives.

Gwen, who stood on the tip of the bow, used Disarming Voice, which struck a Sharpedo as it circled the boat. It flinched, but then began to swim even faster than before as it swung around and leapt from the water. Shit, she said as she ducked and the incoming Pokémon flew over her and the boat and splashed back in the water. Clint go to port and hit them with Bullet Seed; Miranda go to starboard and use Ember! Nikki and Erza, you stay near aft in case anything tries to get into the boat from there. Lily and Graham, you two fly overhead and fire attacks from above, but stay out of their jumping range. I will be on the bow hitting them with Disarming Voice and my new attack, hopefully that will hold them off. Everybody, waste no attacks, try to get a hit. The Pokémon all took their positions and began attacking while the pack of Sharpedo circled the boat. Gwen hit four with Disarming Voice attacks, while Clint and Miranda had hit all six with their attacks. Three had tried to enter the boat only to be repelled by quick Headbutts or Fury Swipes from Nikki and Erza. Graham had hit a couple of them with a Supersonic attack, causing them to start attacking one another. Lily had hit one with a lucky Poison Sting that poisoned the Sharpedo. Despite using their most powerful attacks, there seemed to be very little effect on most of the Brutal Pokémon, since none of them seemed to be giving up.

What May noticed, though, was that one of the Sharpedo seemed to be steadily getting faster, whereas the others seemed to be getting slightly slower. "Shit, does that one have Speed Boost?" she asked, referring to the rarer of Sharpedo's special abilities.

"I don't know, but if it does then we need to take care of it before it's too fast to hit," Brendan said. "Gwen and Clint, focus your attacks on the fastest one, we need to stop that one as soon as we can!"

Got it, but I'd better power up! Gwen said. She closed her eyes while a blue aura surrounded her with the power of Calm Mind. She opened her eyes and a gust of wind spiraled outward, sending a powerful ripple forward. Now I am ready. Gwen shrieked once, sending a Disarming Voice directly forward, which was timed perfectly. Unfortunately, the attack wasn't as effective as Gwen hoped. Clint, on the other hand, hit another Sharpedo with five consecutive Bullet Seed attacks. The shark Pokémon then leapt out of the water, mouth agape. Clint, look out! Gwen said with concern in her voice.

Clint snapped his attention to the airborne Sharpedo as his leaves began to glow a yellow-green color as he powered up a Fury Cutter, leaping into the air and repeatedly slashed the Pokémon across the face, leaving a mark across its right eye and sending it back to the water.

Great Clint, keep that up! Gwen said before unleashing another Disarming Voice. On starboard, Miranda had scored a few hits with Ember, burning one of them in the process. That was another leapt from the water, this time going for Miranda. Luckily, Miranda saw it in time and reacted by jumping into the air and hitting it with a fierce Double Kick, which sent it back into the water.

Nice kicks, keep it up! Gwen said as two of the Sharpedo swam away, deciding that they'd had enough. That was when the Speed Boosting Sharpedo took a more aggressive approach. It leapt from the water and fired off a ball of water at Erza, which sent her flying to the center of the boat with a cry. May sprinted over to her Pokémon as Sharpedo dove back into the ocean.

"Erza, are you alright?" she asked with concern. Erza shook her head to get herself out of the daze she was in.

"Brww" Erza chirped with a determined expression.

"Alright, be careful, I don't want you to get hurt," May said as the steel type ran to her previous position, using Harden repeatedly to prepare for the next attack.

That was when one of the other Sharpedo flew over the boat, firing a burst of dark rings at Gwen from behind. "Gwen, behind you, dodge it!" Brendan called out.

I got it! Gwen said, waiting for a moment before the attack hit, she used Teleport, and returned once the attack flew by. The Speed Boosting Sharpedo fell past the bow, but not without Gwen hitting it with a Disarming Voice, sending sonic wave out, hitting it in the stomach and sending it flipping through the air.

"Damn it, these things are too powerful," Brendan said. "How are we going to get out of this?"

"With strategy, skill, and a whole lot of luck," May said.

"I was afraid you'd say that," Brendan said.

Then we need to keep pushing, or we're screwed, Gwen said. They fought bitterly for nearly an hour, and each attack they made seemed only to get weaker from fatigue. The Speed Boosting Sharpedo was moving at a blinding speed, moving so fast that it almost appeared to be in four places at once, and all of the defending Pokémon seemed to be on their last legs of energy.

Brendan, we can't keep this up much longer! Gwen said through heavy breaths. We need a miracle if we're going to win this!

"I know, but we can't give up," Brendan said.

That was when an incredibly loud roar echoed across the water, and it sounded close. That one roar caused the Sharpedo to halt their circling, turn fin, and swim the opposite direction.

As they left, Brendan wanted to celebrate their survival, but there was now a bigger problem facing them. Even with all their strength, what had scared the Sharpedo so badly that they just abandoned the attack?

They didn't need to wonder long, as the source soon became visible over the horizon. What they saw was a massive sea serpent's head swimming toward them at a blistering pace. Brendan and May were both terrified at first, since they both recognized the Atrocious Pokémon, Gyarados, but Gwen alleviated their fear.

Guys, it's okay, there's a trainer on that Gyarados, Gwen said with relief.

That was when Gyarados pulled up beside the boat and the trainer, dressed in almost all white except for the aqua interior of his cape, and his button down shirt. He wore an artistic hat over his aqua hair, which looked very much like Lisia's hair color, but it was kept in a different, more reserved style. He leapt from the serpent and boarded Mr. Briney's boat.

"Are you all alright? I saw what was happening only a few minutes ago, and I could barely get here in when I did," the man said.

"Yeah, we're fine. Thank you so much for helping us when you did," Brendan said. He noticed all of the Pokémon on the boat were congregating on the bow, while the Gyarados just swam alongside the boat. Gwen leapt over to join the other Pokémon, who all began to converse with the sea serpent.

"Oh, it was no trouble, I just wish I could have gotten here earlier," he said as he reached out and shook Brendan's then May's hand. "I'm Wallace by the way."

"Wait, Wallace as in the expert water-type trainer?" May asked.

"The very same," Wallace said with a grin. "And who are you all, if I may ask?"

"I'm Brendan, and this is May," Brendan said with a smile.

Hey, Goldenrod, you forgot me! Gwen said with mock offense.

"And my Pokémon are Gwen the Kirlia, Nikki the Slakoth, and Clint the Grovyle," Brendan said with a slight laugh at Gwen's action.

"Then the others are May's?" Wallace said.

"Yep, mine are Miranda the Combusken, Lily the Beautifly, Graham the Wingull, and Erza the Aron," May said with a smile.

"Well, it's good to meet you all, but I must get going," Wallace said as he handed May a bag of ten Sitrus Berries. "Before I leave, I'd like to give you two this so you can heal your Pokémon."

"Thank you sir," Brendan said. With that, Wallace leapt onto Gyarados and departed, leaving the trio on Mr. Briney's boat as it continued toward Slateport.

"Alright everybody, come here and get your Sitrus Berry," May said cheerfully, getting the Pokémon crowding around her as she distributed the medicinal berries. Brendan, however, took a seat on the bow, contemplating what had just happened to them. "Brendan are you alright?"

"Physically, yeah, but I can't believe how powerful those Sharpedo were. Why did they even attack us in the first place?"

"It could've been for any reason, since Sharpedo are naturally aggressive. Most likely, we were in their territory," May said.

"Unfortunately, that's not the case," Mr. Briney said as he came out of the cabin with Peecko on his shoulder. "By my experience, Sharpedo has never been seen in this area of Hoenn. They're normally only seen in the eastern areas of Hoenn, namely near Pacifidlog Town. If they came here, then something must have upset their habitat."

"But what could have caused them to go so far from Pacifidlog?" May said as she finished distributing the Sitrus Berries.

"I don't know, an' I don't think we really want to find out," Mr. Briney said.

"Yeah, but based on how this journey is going already, I'm guessing that we'll figure it out whether we like it or not," Brendan muttered under his breath, only to be surprised when Gwen leapt onto his lap like she used to when she was a Ralts.

Hey, it'll be alright. All we can do is to keep training and soon nobody will be able to stop us, Gwen said with a sincere tone.

Brendan smiled as he hugged Gwen. "Thanks Gwen," he said. Clint and Nikki both joined their trainer, while May stood back with her Pokémon and her phone out as she took pictures of Brendan and his Pokémon.

You know Brendan, it's rare for a girl to find a sensitive guy like you, May thought to herself. And I'm just glad I got to claim you before anybody else did. That was when May realized that her thoughts may not have been so private, because she noticed Gwen giving her a knowing look. Please don't tell Brendan. Gwen just smiled and nodded.

"By the way, you should know that we will be arriving in Slateport by about noon tomorrow," Mr. Briney said. "So, you two just keep enjoying yerselves, and I will let you know when I need some help getting the boat docked."

"Sounds good," Brendan said. Then he turned back to his Pokémon. "And then we may need to double our training. What do you guys think?" The entire team gave a cheer, and Brendan knew they approved.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this (admittedly, shameless filler) chapter. As always, honest reviews are welcomed, just don't be a jerk about it.

I also want to give a quick shout out to rylek196 for helping me come up with the plot of this chapter.

Anyway, I just want to reiterate what I said last chapter: The OC submissions aren't being taken anymore, so please stop sending them to me. I have way too many to use now, so please no more.