The following morning, Azul described the late night encounter with King Crush of the Krabby and Kingler to his wife, children, and grandchildren, and told them of their planned migration to the western seas.
His oldest son Shell called the old Gastrodon crazy and verbally lashed him for his lack of pride in the waters that he had called his home ever since he had been hatched from his egg. Azul took these insults in stride; it was definitely a hard decision to pick up your entire family and livelihood on a hunch that things were not going to get better. The odds seemed against the Gastrodon and Shellos though.
Azul remembered the days of bounty, where harvesting particles of sea plants and small krill-like pokemon from the depths of the sand was far too easy for a hungry Shellos or Gastrodon. The sand so rich in nutrients that the eastern sea exploded with life. Bottom feeders like the Shellos and Gastrodon, Krabby and Kingler, Shellder and Cloysters thrived, attracting larger more complex pokemon - the Remoraid, Magikarp, and Goldeen- which were feasted upon by the carnivorous Carvanha, Basculin, and Crawdaunt. The rich sands attracted Corsola, Shuckles, and Luvdisc who constructed elaborate coral-like homes. Pokemon that the human researchers had never seen before, too small for the naked eye, recycled and replenished these valuable resources. The larger Pokemon unknowningly spreading the seeds of enormous kelp stalks and promoting the growth of the sun-supported plankton particles. It was a rich and vibrant world, the Western Sea; full of color and movement. Until... the creeping black water came.
It floated upon the surface of the water. First, there were but small puddles and streams drifting aimlessly like a lone Tentacool within the ocean current. They never stayed very long, nor did much harm, but Azul the Gastrodon took a note at the change in light beneath it. It blocked the sun's gentle rays from warming the sand; there were various cool spots here and there. It was so scarce that this happened, no one took care of it. But soon, the puddles grew larger and the streams grew longer. The black grew thicker, and thus the waters grew colder and darker. It had shocked the Western Sea community so that old man Tirtouga flapped his flippers about wildly shouting about the end of days; Kyogre and Groudon killing one another in battle, Darkrai's arrival, and Arceus's abandonment of the Pokemon world.
The whole Eastern sea was in an uproar; no one had an answer for where this murky eclipse was coming from. The Horseas and Seadra fanatically blamed the Magikarp for being a burden on society; the Huntails claimed it was Tentacruel terrorism; Tirtouga raved about making sacrifices to the ocean guardian Kyogre and how Pokemon had lost the old ways. The Shellos and Gastrodon, under the advice of their patriarcal leader Azul, to say nothing of their personal views of how this all came about, but as one of the founding species of the Eastern Sea took responsibility to calm its' inhabitants. Negotiations were handled with awkward tenderness at best, but Azul took pride in that the Shellos and Gastrodon prevented the species of the sea from turning full against one another...
However, when the creeping black began to float down from the surface and sink deep into the sea, there was no containing the sea Pokemon's fear and rage. The Remoraid clan was all but nearly wiped out by the rival Carvanha. The Barboach immediately fled. The Clamperl, Huntail, and Gorebyss declared their own territories and rule. The Shellos and Gastrodon family was ostracized and now they spent their time amongst themselves, getting by as best they could.
The Eastern Sea lost its' brightness. The colors faded. The Corsola and Shuckle died or moved up shore, and so the only remains were the dusty color of the sand, and the bone-white structures of abandoned homes... and abandoned relatives. Only the bottom feeders remained until now... which Azul would call 'the very end' ... it was difficult enough for a Shellos or Gastrodon to get a decent meal from the sand. They sifted it through their gills day and night sometimes. The harsh particles rubbed their gills and filters sore to the point they oozed blood and pus. Azul could not bear to see his children suffer anymore.
"Better to forget pride of your homeland than pride of your family, Shell" Azul replied with a cool tone of surrender, "Without family, it is only sand." - and then Azul addressed the members of his Shellos and Gastrodon family, "We leave at midday. Gather the others. The Sea has rejected us. It is Kyogre's will. We search for kinder waters."