we're getting closer to the end of arc I!
Arc I, The Plate of Space
Chapter Eighteen:
The Monsters that Split the Sea
The hallway was alight with the fireworks and chaos of a Pokémon battle behind us. My dull shadow was casted upon the walls, which glowered the colors of the rainbow. People were opening their cabin doors and covering their ears, yelling that they were going to complain to management that some idiots had initiated a fight inside of the ship.
"Who was that insane lady?!" shouted Aurelio.
Philippa was from the Antebureau, and that was all I had to know. She was in league with Grimmwolfe, whose goal was to strip me of my immortality and kill me, which was impossible anyway, but I didn't appreciate the intent.
"Perhaps I should develop an anti-bureau escape plan," I grumbled.
We skipped the stairs three at a time and sprinted onto the deck. The cool nighttime sky was there to meet us. Stumbling outside, I hurriedly detected all possible escape routes. Aurelio stopped to guarantee all of his belongings were secure, then he jogged to my side. All of the people who had been lounging around on the deck were rushing to the stairs, seeking the cause of the noise below.
"We've got to get off the ship," he said. Someone shoved past him, knocking him off-balance.
"We can fly," I said, more like a command than a suggestion. I scanned the skies, gauging it would be difficult to carry Aurelio from here. "But I must wait until all of these humans are gone." I clenched my fists, frustrated. "You were right — Grimmwolfe said they were weeks away from reaching the catacombs. It was no mistake that we were stuck on the boat when my Plate was snatched. We were exactly where he wanted us to be. Then he sent that stupid pink-haired—"
"But we saw him board," said Aurelio. "There's no way he could have gotten there that fast. We've only been on the boat for five hours!"
"Then it was someone else," I responded. Swimming away was looking better by the moment. "Now we know this is no longer an individual effort. No surprise, really."
The boards on the deck exploded, and Latios emerged from below. He still had not taken his Pokémon form. Humans were now realizing that this was no ordinary Pokémon battle, and were panicking and screaming. Most of them had already disappeared below deck, but the stragglers were running around aimlessly.
He wiped a streak of blood from the corner of his lip. "I didn't turn into a Pokémon because someone was watching," he said. "Now everyone thinks there's a lady on board who's maniacally attacking people. Made it look like I was some innocent human getting beat up. Damn, here she comes…"
Philippa strolled calmly through the remaining crowd fleeing in the opposite direction. She had her eyes fixed on me. In hindsight, I should have transformed without regard for who would have seen me, but I felt anchored to the deck by her gaze. Latios had braced himself, awaiting a battle. He was not running, and neither would I.
"We're in for a fight, boss," he said. His eyelashes blinked off the debris on his face. He lowered himself into a stance I had never seen him adopt before, like that of a cornered animal with its teeth bared. "I remember this one time, my twin sister and I were single handedly defeated — by her. We escaped by the skin of our teeth. Whatever you do, don't underestimate her."
"Latios," she cooed across the deck. She stood about thirty feet from us, her hands on his hips. The Jolteon which had attacked Latios earlier jumped to her side. Its skin started rippling, and it morphed into a rolling, magenta blob of matter. A Ditto, I realized. That would explain the Misdreavus floating around the ship earlier, as well. She continued, "And here I was thinking that you had finally surrendered yourself to me. We have so much history together. Why would you want to give any of that up?"
Latios chuckled darkly. "Let's just say that our relationship has been toxic."
Philippa daintily picked a piece of debris from her shoulder and flicked it away. "Toxic," she said, rolling the word over in her mouth. "I like that."
Her Ditto sludged forward and instantaneously became a Nidoking. He bellowed out an ear-shattering roar and charged towards us, his weight leaving splinters in the wood where he stomped.
"You ever battled a day in your life, boss?" asked Latios as he cartwheeled to the side. Aurelio and I went the other direction, only much less gracefully. The Nidoking was not a supple creature and could not stop as effortlessly as we could dodge it. "Or were you too busy lounging in your palace watching us do all the work instead?"
"Shut up—" I grumbled, only to be interrupted by another howling cry.
"Hmm, too lumbering of a beast," Philippa commented airily. "Don't charge like a bull, I suppose. Strike like a viper!"
The Nidoking curled up and changed forms again, becoming lithe and lean and snake-like. The Arbok's agile body hit the deck with a nauseating slapping noise. Hissing with loathsome eyes, it slithered towards us with far more dexterity and speed, its fangs bared. It was coming for me first.
Flipping the Alterstone, I reacted how my instinct told me I should, only with more prudence. The soul of the Pokémon in me was becoming Arceus the Original One — its dragon-like neck stretching out, golden-tipped feet shining in the night. But at the last moment, caught in the swirling chaos of the Alterstone's luminosity, I knew that this was not the time.
The show-off in me, however, still wanted to go big.
I landed upon the deck with so much weight that the wood split. My giant wings unfurled into the sky, covering the moon. The Arbok came to a screeching halt so quickly that it left skid marks, and it stared up at me with its eyes glistening like marbles. My tail glided across the ship, wrapping around the bridge and breaking its glass.
I refuse to be a coward. I am above all Pokémon.
Aurelio had collapsed onto his rear, hollering, "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"
Impressed, Latios was grinning from ear to ear. "Wait until the real Lugia hears about this, boss!" he called, his hands cupped around his mouth.
"Oh ho-ho!" laughed Philippa. She was clutching her sides and shrieking with laughter. When she recovered, she smiled with horrible bloodthirstiness. "Two can play at that game, Arceus! You're a natural actor, you know? You love the play the part of Pokémon and human and Pokémon again. But no matter how many times you put on a different costume, the truth still stands…"
The Arbok was gradually growing in size. With growing dread, I watched as fins grew from its sides. Its body elongated, darkened, stretched, and glistened — like the skin of a deep-sea creature accustomed to living in darkness. The ship began to creak. Wooden boards cracked and flew into the ocean.
"...that you're not very good at pretending," continued Philippa, grinning wildly. I saw the mania in her face. "But for every role that you play, I promise that I can be as dramatic. So, Original One, let me ask you a question…"
The ship's infrastructure was on its last leg. Latios had taken Aurelio and abandoned the deck, taking to the skies in Pokémon form to watch in horror from afar. Most of the people on the ship had already evacuated to the waters in their lifeboats. Her Ditto had stretched the limits of its powers and become a Pokémon that I hadn't seen since its creation — Kyogre, who had stayed sleeping in its underwater domain since the beginning of time. How could her Ditto impersonate it?
My heart suddenly grew fearful for my legendaries. How long had they been terrorized by the Antebureau?
Philippa's expression darkened. "How well can you swim?"
With a shuddering groan, the ship split in half, sending me stumbling down on top of Kyogre. With an immense crash, we plunged into the northern waters together, our colossal, prehistoric bodies entangling. First, I was overwhelmed by the frigidness of the underwater world. My eyes adjusted and saw the endless vales and canyons below us.
Then Kyogre's flaming red eyes opened, burning like volcanoes in the sea.
End of Chapter Eighteen