Chapter 26: A Deep Blue Wonder
When they got back from Sky Peak, Team Marmalade returned to doing regular jobs, occasionally taking the higher ranked jobs that they were now entitled to. One morning, they encountered Flora, who seemed greatly excited. "Me and Larry are going to an awesome place today!"
"Really?" Stacy asked. "Where's that?"
"The Surrounded Sea! It's one of the oldest Mystery Dungeons around, but it's not always accessible. The reef tends to grow itself all over the place and not let anyone inside. But some reports have come in that there is a way open again."
"I hate water dungeons," Kip stated.
"But this one has some awesome secrets!" Flora squealed. "Many tides flow into the area, bringing in treasures from near and far! Oh my gosh, can you imagine? You can find treasures from even the human lands!"
"The human lands?" Stacy asked curiously, looking at Sally.
"That could be interesting," she signed.
Trey agreed. "I mean, they say that gremlins steal treasures that people lose, but they don't travel far. The tidal drifts, though, might bring in stuff from distant lands."
"I hate water dungeons," Kip repeated.
"But you might find your treasure there," Trey pointed out.
"Maybe," he admitted. "But I won't like it."
They traveled with Larry and Flora to the Surrounded Sea, but the two teams decided to take different paths from the entrance. The coral reef dungeon had large flat spaces where water was shallow or not there, but there were also holes that seemed to drop into deep crevices. In a few spots, there were streams with tides so strong that Stacy felt uncertain of swimming in. Almost all of the wild Pokemon there were Water type, which meant that Trey had a rather large advantage over all of them.
After wandering about the dungeon all day, they came upon a treasure room with three sealed boxes. "What do you think?" Stacy asked Kip as she picked one up.
Kip sniffed the air. "There's something… there's something more interesting over there." He ran to the other side of the room, splashing water along the way.
The others picked up the boxes, then followed him. "What is it?" Stacy asked.
The Skitty held a paw up. "Hang on. It's over there." He pointed to a deep blue egg, which almost blended into the surrounding seawater.
"There's an egg way out here?" Stacy asked.
"The teleport panel is behind it," Kip said. "But we have to be careful."
"Right," Trey said. "We don't want to anger its mother."
But as they walked by it, no Pokemon appeared. Curious, Sally went over and touched the egg.
"Careful," Kip warned.
She grimaced as the Dimensional Scream activated. Then she looked at the egg with a sad expression. She came over and showed Stacy what she had seen. The egg had come from far away, in an ocean where ice was as common as water. While protective ice had encased it, some accident knocked it out of place. The tidal drifts caught it and swept it all the way here.
Stacy explained to the others why the egg was there. "So its mother is probably thousands of miles to the north."
"That's a sad fate for an egg," Trey said.
Sally signed some things. "There's something about the egg that feels powerful and innocent at the same time. But not the usual kind of innocence that a baby has. It's something special."
"Huh. I wonder if we can find some local Pokemon to take care of it."
"Eat it?" a different voice said.
They turned and saw a half-wild Huntail near the egg. "No, you shouldn't eat eggs," Trey said. "Not good for the children."
"Don't belong to nobody here. Egg is for eating."
"It is not," Kip said. "You stay away from it."
"You no…" it looked at the group, who seemed fairly determined to keep it from eating the egg. "Eep!" The Huntail slithered off and dove into the water.
"You're a carnivore, Kip," Trey said.
"Yeah, but I don't eat eggs," he retorted. "There's certain limits to being a carnivore. Right Sally?"
She nodded. "Not a living egg," she signed.
"Maybe we ought to take it, if there are egg eaters around," Stacy said.
As no one had any objections, Sally picked up the egg and carefully brought it back with them.
Azeri was fascinated by the strange egg. "So a Pokemon is inside?"
"Yes, so leave it be," Stacy said.
"I came from an egg too," he stated.
"Yes you did," Matti said. "About five years ago. Your egg was white, though, with spots."
"What Pokemon is going to come out of this one?" He seemed to be struggling to keep from poking it in interest.
"We don't know," Stacy said. "But someone's got to take care of it. It'll be like another brother or sister to us."
"Oh, then I'll be a good big brother like Matti," Azeri said.
It was a few days later that the egg hatched. As the four residents of the pond side home were getting ready for the day, the egg cracked open and released the child inside. He was a one-foot tall blue skinned Water-type, with a long pair of feelers growing out of his head, ending in two small orbs that flickered with light. He had long flipper arms, elegant eyelashes, and small flipper feet. But he seemed to have no trouble moving across the dirt floor.
"Hi!" Azeri said cheerfully.
"Hiiiiieeee," the baby replied, with equal happiness.
"Aw, he's cute," Stacy said, patting the baby's forehead. "I'm not sure what you are, though."
Sally made some signs.
"You mean, ask Trey?" Stacy asked, recognize a little bit of her hand sequences.
She nodded.
"We'll see if he can keep up. Come on."
"What's his name?" Azeri asked.
"I'm not sure," Stacy said. "We'll figure something out when we know what he is."
The baby warbled, then laughed. He followed them happily, with surprising speed and endurance for a newly hatched Pokemon. They went to the bridge in the middle of Treasure Town before running into Trey and Kip.
"The egg hatched," Azeri announced.
The baby whistled, then clapped his flippers together.
"And an enthusiastic little fish he is," Kip said.
"But what kind of Pokemon is he?" Trey asked.
"That's what we were going to ask you," Stacy said.
"Huh. Well…" he tapped his foot. "Let's go to the library and ask Kazza. He once told me that there were hundreds of Pokemon that he's read about. Maybe he's read about this one."
In the library, they met with the Alakazam. He seemed quite amazed at the baby. "This is a very special Pokemon," he told them. "A legendary, even."
"A legendary Pokemon?" Stacy asked. "But I thought they were endless."
"They are, but there are a few individuals that live cyclical lives. They die and are reborn at regular intervals. This would be Manaphy, the prince of the oceans."
"Oowa dah," Manaphy babbled, trying to be part of the conversation he was the subject of.
"Ocean," Azeri told him.
"We found his egg in the Surrounded Sea," Stacy said. "Some Pokemon were trying to eat the egg."
"It's unfortunate, but wild Pokemon do not understand. Don't blame them for it. Still," he stroked his chin. "Manaphy will have a period where he is a child and will need watching over. But he should be in the oceans. To find a trustworthy guardian… I think I know someone, but it will take some time to contact them. For now, watch over him and keep him near water."
"Oow sha," Manaphy said to Azeri.
"Ocean."
"I live near a pond, so it should be okay," Stacy said.
"Ocean," Manaphy said.
They left the library. "So what do we do for today?" Trey asked.
"Well somebody has to stay here and watch over little Manaphy," Stacy replied. "I helped take care of Azeri, so…"
"Matti! Oh, there you are." Chiaka floated over to them. "We've got some work to do. Oh, and Team Marmalade? Can I get you to take a special mission?"
"Maybe," Stacy said. "What is it?"
"The Sheriff's office is carrying out a lengthy investigation into an outlaw ring of pirates and they need some extra help. Oh, but they won't accept a former outlaw without a full pardon on the job."
"I'm almost at a full pardon," Kip stated, insulted. "I could help."
"They still won't like it," the Chimecho said. "Anyhow, I thought you might want to be involved because part of the ring is Team Skull, that group that made off with your Silver Acorn a while back."
"Those bums, huh?"
Stacy flicked her ear wings. "Well it would be good to bring them to justice. But then again…"
"Jah see," Manaphy squealed.
"Justice!" Azeri corrected with a laugh.
Chiaka giggled. "Aw, who's this kid? He's a cutie."
"Oh, this is Manaphy. We saved him from the Surrounded Sea."
"Jaow see," Manaphy said, smiling.
"Hey look, I'll watch him for a while," Kip offered. "Those bums ought to arrested and if the Sheriff won't let me go along, might as well let you guys go."
"Justice," Azeri said.
"You sure about that?" Stacy asked.
The Skitty nodded. "Yeah, how hard could it be?"
"Justice," Manaphy said.
Stacy laughed. "You'd be surprised. I'll give you a book my mom had. It should help you out."
"Can I play with Manaphy and Kip today?" Azeri asked.
"Sure," Stacy said.
Kip stretched a bit. "Well this ought to be a nice break."
Manaphy giggled.
Kip usually wasn't big on reading. But if doing so meant that he got to spend the day on the warm sunny beach with the waves rolling by… and comfortably distant so there wasn't any wet sand near him… well, he'd do a lot of boring things to have a day like this. It wasn't exactly relaxing, though.
Manaphy was enthralled by the ocean: the water, the waves, even the wet sand that Kip despised. He and Azeri played water games in the tides, laughing and cheering the whole while. Every now and then, there'd be a shriek that Kip would have to look up for. But it was just playful shrieks as the two Water types splashed each other unexpectedly.
In the book, he read that while older Water types like Stacy and her brothers could endure being on land for long periods of time, kids like Manaphy had to be careful of dehydration. They needed to be in or near a water source almost constantly, hence why her room at the guild and back at the pond home had submerged beds made of smoothed rocks instead of the regular dry hay. However, Water kids weren't yet strong enough to swim in ocean currents on their own.
That caused Kip a bit of worry when he read it. There were some undertows at this beach sometimes. Not often, but every couple of months, one heard about some hapless Pokemon being swept away by an undertow. They were usually saved by the local ocean Pokemon, who were kind and understanding of their land dwelling neighbors. But an event like that might startle the two kids. Kip shut the book and walked down the beach towards the waves. He stopped short of where the sand became wet, though.
In the tides, Manaphy and Azeri were splashing about in some game that seemed to involve moving in circles around each other while floating on the water, occasionally ducking one or the other underwater. After a bit, Azeri noticed the Skitty watching them. "Come on, Mr. Kip, come play with us!"
"I'm fine being here, watching. How's the water, though?"
"It's kinda cool, but it's good. Manaphy doesn't seem to mind."
"Wah za!" The infant ducked underwater, then burst up in a spray of salt water and giggles. Then he waved to Kip. "Mista Kip!"
"Yay, you got his name right on the first try!" Azeri cheered.
"Kip!"
Despite himself, Kip smiled. "Very nice."
Manaphy swam into shallower waters, then tried to tug Kip in to play with them. "Kip!"
"I'm not a Water type like you," he replied. "It's not like I'm a Fire type or something, but me and water don't get along."
"Ask him by saying please!" Azeri called.
"Pwease?" Manaphy asked, looking at him with wide innocent yellow eyes.
A lesser 'mon would have given in to such utter cuteness, Kip thought. And it was tempting. There wasn't anyone else around the beach, and the kid probably didn't realize that not everyone loved water. But Kip really really did not like water. "Well I don't know…"
"Please, Mr. Kip?" Azeri added, moving in closer to shore.
"Not too deep in," Kip found himself saying, much to the horror of several parts of his mind.
The two kids cheered, though, so Kip denied his pride and cleanliness to walk out onto the wet sands and stand in the shallow tides. He wouldn't call the water cool; it was darn close to being cold. But Azeri and Manaphy were not bothered and continued splashing about. Gingerly, Kip flicked a paw across the surface. The tide slipped away from him. So he moved a step outward. It didn't work again. Slightly annoyed by the giggles at his failure, Kip took two steps into the water and smashed his paw down onto the incoming tide. It made a rather small splash, but the cold water hitting his chest wasn't all that pleasant.
"Like this!" Azeri called, then bounced up on his tail float and crashed onto the water spread full out. Manaphy squealed in delight at the large splash, although Kip found himself leaning away from the oncoming water.
"Right, I'll opt out of that one," Kip said. He walked a bit further out; the tide was receeding. When he glanced down, he happened to spot a sparkle in the sand. There was something buried here. He sniffed at it, wondering if it might be a treasure, or just a sea shell.
"Mr. Kip!" Azeri called out. "Watch out!"
He looked up, expecting to see a Tentacool or something. "Huh?" Then he looked out and saw a two foot wave coming his way. He lowered his ears, afraid at getting hit by a mass of water as tall as himself.
The wave crashed into him, soaking him thoroughly. Sputtering, Kip fought against the retreating wave and came onto the shore. The water weighed down his pink and cream fur, matting against his skin and making him look quite pitiful.
The two kids laughed in amusement. "You really got splashed!" Azeri said.
While a curse was on the tip of his tongue, Kip bit down on the words before they came out. He coughed to spit out some of the disgusting salt water from his mouth before saying, "Yeah, and now I'm a sad soggy Skitty. It's going to take hours for my fur to dry out properly. I'm gonna look awful for the rest of the day."
Azeri and Manaphy swam over to him. "Aw, we're sorry," Azeri said. "I didn't think it would be too bad on you."
"Sorry," Manaphy echoed, then put his arms around Kip to give him a hug and a kiss.
As much as he hated being sopping wet, Kip had to admit that it was a sweet gesture. "All right, I accept your apology. It was partly my fault too. I just got to dry off now. But I tell you one thing: I think I saw some kind of treasure over there."
Manaphy looked puzzled, but Azeri perked right up. "Some treasure, right here on the beach?"
"Yeah, something sparkly in the sand over there. It might be a shell, but who knows? It might be something really rare and unique."
"Wow, that's amazing! Manaphy, let's go look for it!"
"Wow!" Manaphy cheered, excited because his friend was excited. The two kids went into the shallows where Kip had been and started poking around the sand.
Kip went back onto dry sand, but soon found out that the dry bits stuck fast to his wet fur, clumping in nasty looking lumps. Reluctantly, he went back onto the wet sand, which didn't stick quite as much, and washed off the lumps in the tidal pools. Some searching got him a flat rock on which to sun himself and hopefully dry off safely.
After ten minutes, Manaphy came up with a loud crow of excitement. He held onto a pretty and sparkling seashell. He swam over to the rock Kip was on and showed it off. "Tre sha!"
"Treasure," Azeri said. "Although it looks like a seashell."
Kip took it and examined it. "Actually, it seems to be a conch shell. If I remember right, there's a neat trick you can do with this. Let me see."
He put the shell in the seawater and shook it vigorously. Then he pulled it out and turned it. There were two holes in the conch, one at the tip and another in the wider opening. There was also a little loop of shell material at the end. Kip let it drain out the big opening, washing out sand and grit, then washed it out another time. Once it drained, he put the tip to his lips and blew. The shell sputtered and spat out soggy sand.
As the two kids laughed, he frowned and made a big deal out of shaking it. "Aw 'mon, needs some more rinsing out." After doing so and making sure that the last rinse came out with nothing but water, he blew on the conch again.
It was still sputtered, but a note like a small trumpet came out the other end. This impressed Azeri and Manaphy. "Wow, it's like an instrument! I knew shells could make ocean sounds, but I didn't know they could do that."
"It's only the special conch shells that can do that," Kip told them. "So you guys did find a nice treasure."
"Manaphy found it, so it's his," Azeri kindly offered.
"Conk," Manaphy said, then held his flipper out to it. "Treasure?"
"Sure, here you go." Kip handed it over.
Taking it, he cooed over it in fascination, then put it to his lips and blew. It seemed that Kip had gotten rid of what water had been in there, because this note was clear and strong. Manaphy then laughed, very happy over having found his first treasure.
Later on, Kip took the kids into town and bought a waterproof necklace cord from the craft store. Bethany helped to tie it securely so that it would stay in place, but could easily be taken on and off by Manaphy. He wore it around his neck and proudly showed it off, playing its single note for anyone who happened to be around.
Kip decided to spend the night at Stacy's house, even though she was away. Manaphy needed to be in the water beds. He settled himself onto one of the guest beds for the night.
Partly into the night, though, he got woken up by a prodding of a flipper. He opened his eyes to see Manaphy there. "Huh? What is it? It's late and you ought to be asleep."
Manaphy made a crying sound and seemed quite nervous. The twin orbs on his antennas flickered with a bright light.
"Oh, you having some bad dreams, huh?" When the infant nodded, Kip said, "Well that's not really my area of expertise, but… I'll come over and check out your room, all right?"
He followed Manaphy to the room where Azeri was sleeping underwater. There were quite a few shells around; it seemed like the boys liked to collect them. Other than that, it seemed like any other room in any other house.
He still sniffed around anyhow. "Looks like everything is in the clear," he said quietly, to avoid disturbing the Azurill.
Still, Manaphy whimpered and drew close to him.
"Hey, it's okay, kid," he said, rubbing his head against Manaphy's. "Everybody has nightmares from time to time. Even a tough guy like me." He still didn't seem calmed down, so Kip added, "How about I sleep over here tonight by the pool? That way if anything does get in here, I'll be able to protect you little guys. How's that? Is it okay?"
"O-okay," Manaphy said quietly. He hugged Kip, then went back into the water. After making sure Kip was staying there, he fell back asleep fairly quick.
True to his word, the Skitty settled himself on the edge of the sleeping pool. It wasn't as comfortable here, but that kind of thing could be sacrificed. "Good night, kid."
Before he could get to sleep himself, though, Kip found himself stirred up again by a deep feeling that something wasn't right. He lifted his head and looked around the room. The two kids were asleep and there wasn't anything wrong. Still bothered, he checked out the house and the surrounding area. Nothing.
He paused outside to look at the starry sky. It was new moon, so the stars were the only light to see by. "Something…" he paused, listening. "Maybe it's just my imagination."
Kip went into the house and back to the sleeping pool. After checking on the kids one last time, he fell asleep himself.
Outside of the little house by the pond, a dark figure hid amongst the trees. He waited until he felt the Skitty fall asleep again. "That was too close," Darkrai grumbled, then moved away from the house.
Things were not going right. His deception of even Arceus was still intact, as far as he could tell. They had no idea that he was behind the era of darkness. But then when he went to check on his other plots for this time… it wasn't good.
A wild Combee flew close. Although it didn't see Darkrai, it still annoyed him enough that he launched a Dark Pulse at it. It squalled, then flew away frantically from the unseen attacker. The dream spirit floated on, still grumbling. He would have preferred that the thing put up a fight. If it had been the era of darkness, the Combee would have tried fighting. Vainly, but it would have tried.
Thoroughly annoyed, it was all Darkrai to do to keep himself from screaming or something. The plot to sicken the Shaymin tribe and force an extension of winter? Cut short when that Wortortle Stacy discovered the poisonous plant and pointed it out to one of the Shaymin, getting them to weed through their gardens more carefully. The plot to trick Mewtwo back into his darkness state? Fallen to pieces because of his memories of Sally. The plot to lure Celebi into making a fatal change to history? Wasn't going to work now due to similar reasons, except with Trey. The plot to terrorize the world's waters and turn the sea-dwellers against the land-dwelling Pokemon again? Ruined because the main key of that plot, Manaphy being forced into not being reborn in time, was undone and the Skitty was watching over him! There were other plots that had fallen apart for reasons other than this Team Marmalade, but these four beings were really getting on Darkrai's nerves.
Everything that could bring about the era of darkness where he could thrive was being undone.
However, there was still one plot that was slowly stewing away. One other little trick of his was going unnoticed, even though it should have been obvious. While the ignorance of the others was fueling his bitterness, he did appreciate it from time to time. It was a risky plot, though, one that would require his direct involvement. But to get back what had been undone, and to get revenge on everyone… he would risk it all.
Darkrai slipped into the world of dreams, to connects tricks that were in motion.
