CHAPTER 34
The day that followed felt very similar to the last day; there was no sign of Kyogre anywhere, and any attacking Pokémon were quickly defeated by Buizel.
"Nothing new to report," Buizel said after resurfacing for what felt like the fiftieth time.
"Same here!" Wingull called down from above.
Vulpix sighed. "I hope we find Kyogre soon," she said.
"Well, we knew what we'd be getting into when we started our search," said Gallade. "This could take us days, but we have to keep looking."
Buizel poked his head out of the water and looked at Gallade. "Sir?" he asked.
"What is it?" Gallade asked. "And what's with that look?"
Buizel looked utterly shocked by something. "I see something… There's something strange down there. It's too dark to get a good look but I could make out a strange pattern down there glowing bright red."
"A bright red glow…" Zorian muttered. "Wait! That's it!"
Everyone looked at Zorian. "What is?" asked Rylan.
"Kyogre has a patten on its body that sometimes glows red!" Zorian exclaimed. "…At least, that's what I've heard in stories," he added.
"Well, then, we may have found who we were looking for," said Gallade. "Buizel, can you dive down there and investigate?"
"Of course, sir," Buizel replied. He quickly returned to the depths of the ocean, diving deeper and deeper to get a closer look at the strange red glow.
Before he could make it any further, a swift movement caught his eyesight, and he looked around.
"Someone there?" he asked.
He continued to look around, but all he saw was the vast blue space that surrounded him. He attempted to dive deeper, but before he could move, a large claw swiped past him, missing him by mere centimeters.
Not wasting any time, Buizel turned around and confronted the hostile Crawdaunt that almost brutally harmed him.
"Get out," said Crawdaunt. "This is no place for the likes of you, stranger."
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I have some business here and I can't let you get in the way," said Buizel.
"Business, eh?" Crawdaunt asked. He looked up and noticed the raft floating above. "I suppose that means you're with them?"
"That is no concern of yours," Buizel said. "Now please get out of my way. I don't want to fight you."
"No concern of mine?" Crawdaunt asked. "By that, I assume you mean you are with those Pokémon. Well, guess what? It's you're lucky day. I'm not gonna waste my time fighting with you. I'm gonna make your friends up there sorry that they ever came here."
Crawdaunt started to swim upwards, but Buizel cut him off.
"I swear, if you so much as touch them…" Buizel growled.
"Ooh, what have we here?" Crawdaunt chuckled. "Mister Hero thinks he can get in my way."
"Aqua Jet!" Buizel yelled as he launched his attack, striking Crawdaunt in the stomach. The impact with Crawdaunt's armored skin sent Buizel reeling in pain, but Crawdaunt didn't seem to be affected by the blow. He laughed at Buizel's attempt.
Buizel shrugged off the pain and headed back to the surface. Upon reaching it, he quickly gathered the attention of the other Pokémon.
"There's a Crawdaunt down there!" he yelled. "He's aggressive! You need to hurry and get away from here! I'll hold him off!"
"Right," said Gallade. "Be careful, Buizel."
Buizel dived back down to deal with the enemy. Vulpix watched with worry at her friend did so.
"He looked hurt!" she said. "He shouldn't have to fight a Crawdaunt by himself!"
"Vulpix," said Gallade, "I'm just as willing to go down there and fight alongside our comrade as you are, but don't forget, we are not Water Pokémon. We wouldn't last five minutes down there."
"But-" Vulpix started.
"Let's just pick up the pace!" Rylan said. "Buizel can handle himself!"
Rylan and Gallade began to propel faster and harder through the water, trying to get the raft as far away from Crawdaunt as possible.
"I hope he'll be all right…" said Vulpix.
"He will be," Nidoran said with a smile. "I think Buizel can handle this. He's really skilled in battle."
Buizel was trying his best to hold off Crawdaunt as his allies tried just as hard to distance themselves from him. Crawdaunt seemed to be toying with Buizel as the two fought.
"What makes you care so much?" asked Crawdaunt. "Having friends ain't gonna get you nowhere."
"You don't know anything!" Buizel snapped. "Mind your own business!"
Crawdaunt chuckled. "Sooner or later, cracks will form in your so-called friendships."
Buizel rammed into Crawdaunt again, but nothing came of it.
"What's with this guy?" Buizel panted. "He's so…unnaturally strong…"
"Ah, there, you see?" Crawdaunt asked with a smirk. "You're on to something."
"Unnaturally strong…" Buizel uttered once again. He looked closely at Crawdaunt; something was starting to feel strange about him. It was as though Buizel could start to feel his very aura shifting. Moments later, a black, wispy glow began to radiate from Crawdaunt.
"Unnatural!" Buizel gasped. "You…You're not a Pokémon at all!"
Crawdaunt grinned. "You're quite the intelligent fellow."
"What…ARE you?" Buizel asked.
"A manifestation of your doubts, your fears," Crawdaunt replied. "You're getting close to the Province. In fact, you're closer than you realize."
"Where is it? Tell me!" Buizel demanded.
Before Crawdaunt could say anything, an enormous tremor rang through the depths of the sea. Something large had awoken and was stirring.
Up on the raft, shivers ran up everyone's spines as they felt the strange shifting feeling beneath them.
"What was that?" asked Rylan.
Zorian looked down at the water. "It may be just me, but I think there's something big down there. I'll take a look." He took a deep breath, then jumped in.
"Be careful!" Gallade called out to him.
Before Zorian could take a moment to look around underwater, a bright red glow swept past him from underneath, causing the sea to start trembling harshly.
"Zorian! What is that?" Rylan called out. The Pokémon clung to the raft for dear life as it was violently tossed about in the waves that followed the tremors. Vulpix looked more scared than the others.
The patch of sea beneath the raft began to glow red. Before anyone could react, the raft suddenly plummeted straight down into the ocean as if being sucked into a pipe, passengers and all.
The sea quieted down, and the red flash had gone as quickly as it came.