Chapter 13: Mudkip's Undersea Adventure

"It's beautiful, isn't it Skitty?" Lyla asked, completely memorized by the shimmering blue water that surrounded them and seemed to stretch on infinitely; there wasn't a bit of land in view, not even a large rock or a tiny island.

"Havin' fun there, small town girl?" Eziray asked, joining her by the side of the boat.

"I've seen the ocean in magazines and on TV but the images never captured how absolutely majestic it is!"

"I bet you can't wait to swim in it! Oh wait, you probably don't know how to swim, huh?"

"There's actually a hot spring in Lavaridge Town. It's not like I've never been in water before, Ez…"

"Captain Briney, when will we reach Dewford Island?" Eziray asked, not at all taking in what Lyla had just said.

"If we keep at this pace, I'd say we'll be there by nightfall, lass!" Mr. Briney exclaimed.

"Perfect!" Eziray exclaimed.

"Muuuudka!" Mudkip exclaimed, popping his head above the water below Lyla. He was wearing a golden crown with colorful gems embedded all around it.

"Mudkip, where did you find that?" Lyla asked.

"There be sunken treasure all over the bottom of this ocean. If I had a submarine like them gang-bangers we encountered earlier, I'd be scourin' the ocean floor me-self!" Mr. Briney exclaimed with a chuckle.

"Mudkip, don't go all the way down anymore okay? The ocean is huge and if you got lost, I have no idea how we would find you!" Lyla scolded and as if he just wanted to be defiant, Mudkip cried out with joy and dove back down out of sight.

"Uh-oh," Eziray said.

"HEY, YOU BETTER NOT GO DOWN TO THE BOTTOM!" Lyla shouted.

Mudkip could barely hear her at this point because he was already a quarter of the way down. When he reached the sandy bottom, he swam back a ways until he reached the remains of an old fishing vessel. He cocked his head curiously and paddled over to it, wondering if there was anything shiny to find here.

He drifted along slowly and full of wonder. He eventually found a cracked mirror with a film of algae growing over it. He was still able to see his distorted reflection and cried out happily. Then he began to make funny faces until he got bored and just stared at it. He pondered for a moment, wondering if algae in the sea tasted any better than the algae in the pond that he was born in. He licked the mirror, leaving a shiny and algae-free smudge where his tongue had trailed across it. He turned away from it with an absolutely disgusted expression on his face as he stuck out his tongue which was completely green now. He was no longer paying any attention to the mirror so he didn't happen to notice the blurred reflection of a blue, fish-like Pokémon that sped by in the distance. Tongue still out, he looked around for something to wipe it on. The only thing he could find was a large bluish purple shell sitting on the ocean floor. He swam to it and ran his tongue along it but it opened and quickly clamped down on his tongue.

"MUUU-KUH!" he cried out in pain, pushing his front two feet against the shell in an attempt to pry his tongue out. It was no use so he looked around and kicked his feet, floating upwards and lifting the shell from the ground before whipping around and flinging it into the mirror. It released its grip on his tongue as the mirror shattered and it hit the ground. It opened again and only its bright pink tongue and anger-filled eyes could be seen.

"SHELLDER!" it cried out angrily.

"Mud-kip!" Mudkip called back, eyes swelling with tears.

The Shellder used Aurora Beam, shooting a bright rainbow-colored beam of icy energy towards Mudkip. It wasn't a very sharp shooter, however and only managed to knock the crown from Mudkip's head. The crown was evidently made from plastic and simply broke apart and scattered around the ocean floor beneath Mudkip. The Shellder was about to fire again but something caught Mudkip's attention and he swam away.

He had seen a glimmer come from the inside of the vessel and swam towards a broken window to see what it was.

"Goooor…" something cried weakly. Mudkip stopped in his tracks.

"Kip?" he said, wondering what was making the sound. It sounded like it had come from the other side of the vessel so he paddled towards it but was suddenly blasted in the side by a powerful Water Pulse, knocking him back a ways. It came from an aggressive-looking Huntail who was rapidly swimming towards Mudkip with another Water Pulse ready.

"Mud…" Mudkip said, trying to reason with its attacker.

The Huntail did not listen, however, and fired yet another Water Pulse which Mudkip countered with his Water Gun, canceling it out. The Huntail then darted forward and sunk its sharp fangs into the side of Mudkip's body. Mudkip struggled for a moment and the Huntail whipped its entire body in order to launch Mudkip through the water. When Mudkip looked forward and noticed that its attacker had disappeared. He looked around desperately and when he glanced up, he realized that the Huntail was about to dive-bomb him with Dive so he zipped out of the way quickly and Huntail smashed into the ocean floor.

"Mud…" Mudkip said, feeling a little sympathetic for the Huntail as it shook itself. It snarled at him in response and fired another Water Pulse that Mudkip dodged with ease.

"TAIL!" the Huntail hissed, finally ordering the trespasser to leave. Mudkip frowned and slowly began to swim back up to the surface when he heard another cry. He looked down and the Huntail had disappeared so he decided to look once again for what was making the sound.

"Gooor…byss…" a pink fish-like Pokémon moaned weakly. When the fishing vessel had sunk, the mast was not destroyed and as it aged, the base began to rot until it finally snapped off. This Gorebyss had been in the wrong place at the wrong time when this happened and was now trapped beneath it with the front half of her body sticking out. It had been crushing her there for days and she had grown quite famished and weak. The Huntail, her mate, was not strong enough to move or break the mast so all he could do was protect her by keeping all other Pokémon away from her. He was at her side now, desperately wishing that he could free her. He noticed Mudkip swimming towards them and fired another Water Pulse which Mudkip dodged as he picked up speed and force. The Huntail stood its ground and braced itself for the incoming attack but Mudkip swerved around and rammed into the side of the mast with Tackle.

"Byss?" the Gorebyss managed, looking up at Mudkip with pleading eyes.

"Mud…KIP!" Mudkip screamed, slamming into it even harder. The Huntail and Gorebyss watched as Mudkip tried repeatedly to bust apart the mast. He grew tired but refused to give up, finally the Huntail ordered him to stop. Mudkip obeyed but stared back with determination in his eyes. The Huntail swam over to the side of the mast and began pushing against it in an attempt to move it. Mudkip understood and swam over to help and both Water-types pushed with all their might but the mast wouldn't budge. A shadow drifted across them from up above and only Mudkip seemed to notice it. He stopped and looked up, trying to find what had cast the shadow. Huntail noticed Mudkip's uncertainty and stopped as well, looking around, but not quite certain about what exactly they were looking for. The shadow came over them again but much more rapidly this time.

"MUDKIP!" Mudkip shouted, threateningly.

"SHARPEDO!" a Pokémon roared, diving down towards the Gorebyss. Mudkip swam towards the predator and slammed into the side of it, knocking it back. For some reason, the Huntail had tried to stop him and as soon as the two Pokémon's skin met, Mudkip understood why. The Sharpedo's skin was extremely rough, worse than sand paper, and when Mudkip hit it, it scraped up his shoulder pretty badly.

"HUUUN!" Huntail exclaimed, firing a Water Pulse at the Sharpedo, but it didn't seem to have much effect.

"Mud!" Mudkip exclaimed, offering to help. Huntail nodded and fired Water Pulse again so Mudkip turned and joined in with Water Gun, but the Sharpedo simply ducked down out of the way and stared aggressively at the two. Huntail decided to try a different approach and charged forward, sinking its fangs as deep as it could into the Sharpedo's tough skin.

"SHAR!" the Sharpedo roared as Huntail released. And as if it were trying to demonstrate its superiority, Sharpedo snapped its powerful jaw down hard on Huntail before the Deep Sea Pokémon could escape.

"MUDKIP!" Mudkip shouted, demanding the Sharpedo to let go. Sharpedo dropped Huntail who then drifted down to the bottom as Sharpedo sped towards Mudkip. As it neared him, the water surrounding it began to take a bullet-like shape. It was using Aqua Jet and when it hit, Mudkip was launched way back but retaliated with Ice Beam. Sharpedo responded by bearing its sharp teeth which began to glow bright blue. An icy beam was released from them and it met Ice Beam in the middle, creating a giant ball of ice that was immediately shattered as Sharpedo busted through it with Take Down. Mudkip didn't try to dodge, instead he charged forward with tackle and hit the incoming Sharpedo head-on, leaving a rather large scrape across his forehead from Sharpedo's Rough Skin. Not only that, but the Sharpedo's Take Down was significantly more powerful than Mudkip's Tackle so Mudkip was sent spiraling down into the ocean floor.

"Shar…" the Sharpedo trailed off, looking around for Huntail who came at it from above with Dive. Sharpedo noticed in time and moved to the right so Huntail crashed into the ground beside Mudkip and the two gritted their teeth as the Sharpedo closed in on them. Suddenly, a bolt of electricity stretched out from above and surrounded the Sharpedo, paralyzing it.

"OOO, OOH!" Baby scolded as she swiveled down through the water. Lyla was worried sick about Mudkip because he had been gone for so long so they had dropped anchor and sent Baby to find him.

"Mud..." Mudkip said, turning his head towards the weakened Gorebyss. Dratini suddenly changed her tone and became very sympathetic towards the South Sea Pokémon. She wiggled through the water, making her way to Gorebyss' side and then barked some orders to Mudkip and the Huntail.

The Huntail objected, staring at the Sharpedo who could recover from the Paralysis at any given moment. Mudkip nodded in agreement and baby stared at them as if they had just insulted her. She snapped at them, assuring them that she was well capable of taking care of herself as well as the Gorebyss and then she backed it up by reminding Mudkip who her trainer was. Mudkip sighed and began swimming up to the surface. The Huntail, however, refused so Dratini sent a Thunder Wave in his direction, purposely missing but getting it close enough to send him the message. He darted off after Mudkip and the two reached the surface a few minutes later. Mudkip looked around, in search of the boat which wasn't too far away and just sitting idly in the water. He and Huntail popped their heads back into the water and began swimming towards it, hopping that they wouldn't be noticed. When they reached it, Mudkip quietly climbed on board and began searching the boat for Baby's demands: some Oran Berries to give Gorebyss strength, some Pokémon Food to fill her belly, and medicine for her wounds. He was able to locate the berries and the food but wasn't able to find the medicine before Peecko noticed him and landed on his head, squawking happily.

"Muuh!" Mudkip hushed. Peecko gasped and shut its beak, nodding. Mudkip finally found a Potion in his trainer's bag and dropped it down into the water where Huntail was waiting to catch it. Next he threw down a can of Pokémon food and then a few Oran Berries that Huntail would have to carry in his mouth. Mudkip was just about to jump back into the ocean when Lyla spotted him.

"YOU! I am going to kill you!" she shouted angrily. Realizing that there was no time to lose, he dove back into the water and she ran to the side of the boat, looking down to where the water was rippling from the splash. "Baby, if you can hear me, I give you permission to kick his ass!"

Mudkip and Huntail returned with the supplies and saw that the Sharpedo was no longer paralyzed. To their surprise, he didn't seem very aggressive anymore. In fact, he looked as if he had just been scolded and was now waiting for something. Dratini snatched up the supplies from the two and set them down beside Gorebyss then she motioned for them to help her move the mast.

She began pushing the side of it with all her might, as did Mudkip and Huntail, and even Sharpedo for some reason. Dratini had evidently given him a talking to and somehow persuaded him to help free the Gorebyss. Unfortunately, it still wasn't enough power to move the mast. Sharpedo roared out angrily and swam away finally. Before the others even noticed, he suddenly came back and slammed into the mast with Take Down. This powerful blow managed to knock the mast off Gorebyss who then made no attempt to move because she was just too weak at this point.

"Hunnn…" Huntail trailed off, feeding the Oran Berries to his mate. Dratini used Wrap to spray Gorebyss with the medicine and then she fed her some of the Pokémon food. Gorebyss was feeling much better in no time and even had enough energy to rejoice with Huntail as they swirled their bodies around each other, floating higher and higher until they were halfway to the surface. Then they looked at each other and nodded before swimming back down and asking Gorebyss' saviors to follow them.

Dratini and Mudkip were led for quite a ways until they reached a large rock, covered by colorful seaweed and coral. They followed Huntail and Gorebyss around it to the other side where there was an opening leading into a small underwater cavern. The leaders swam into it and Mudkip followed but Dratini hesitated for a moment before finally deciding to join them.

The cavern was full of Clamperl but each of them were clamped down, pretending to be regular seashells. Beneath them laid a magnificent pile of treasure. This was sort of like a nursery of Clamperl that were either abandoned or separated from their parents. The Gorebyss and Huntail took care of them along with a Lanturn that had been watching them while the other two were away scouring the ocean floor for treasures. Whenever these two found anything of value they would bring it back to this cavern and give them to the Clamperl as presents. Gorebyss explained what had happened to her and what Mudkip and Dratini had done for her. She asked if any of the Clamperl were willing to part with one of their treasures so that her two saviors could be rewarded with a token of appreciation on all of their behalf.

"Claaam!" the Clamperl all cheered happily, completely willing to part with one of the many treasures as thanks for saving their friend. The Gorebyss turned to Mudkip and Dratini, giving them permission to choose one of the children's treasures. Normally, Dratini would have forbid it because she would feel bad otherwise, but this case was an exception because Lyla was probably fuming at this point and it would be best to at least bring her back an expensive gift. Dratini advised Mudkip to choose whatever Lyla would enjoy the most.

He gazed around the cavern, unable to make a decision. There were pearls, expensive jewelry, real golden crowns, diamond tiaras, gold coins, rare gems, and all sorts of things to choose from. Something finally caught his attention. One of the Clamperl was holding a fully functional Pokéball that was made from real gold. There was a slight greenish shade to it because the gold had been mixed with iron to make it that color. On the top half, towards the top, there was a tiny pinkish-gold heart where the gold had been mixed with copper and this heart was bordered by tiny, perfectly aligned diamonds.

Mudkip knew that this would please Lyla the most; he knew that she would be absolutely delighted to display such a Pokéball in a contest and that she would completely forget about being mad at him the moment she laid eyes on it. So he clutched onto it with his mouth, let Baby thank them all and bid them farewell, and then the two swam off together to find the S.S. Wingull.

"WHERE HAVE YOU TWO BEEN?" Lyla demanded as soon as they returned. "AND WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED TO YOUR FOREHEAD, MUDKIP?"

Dratini began to explain but Mudkip managed to quell his trainer by simply scampering forward and dropping the treasure he had chosen into her hands.

"What's that?" Aiden asked as Lyla examined it.

"It...It's…gorgeous! What's it made out of? It's so pretty and shiny and sparkly! Look at it!" she exclaimed, holding it up into the sunlight which caused it to shimmer even more. She imagined the sun as if it were a spotlight and knew that the crowd would be just as dazzled by the rather fancy Pokéball. She concluded that Mudkip had been gone for so long because he had been trying to find her the perfect present and must have faced all sorts of danger to get it, judging by the scrape on his forehead. She then announced that he was officially out of the doghouse and walked away to go admire her new Pokéball some more, fantasizing about what glamorous Pokémon she would eventually catch with it.

Eziray thanked Baby for her help and then sat down, wanting to hear all about the adventure as Aiden began plucking away at his guitar. Mr. Briney was in the middle of a nap at this point and no one was selfish enough to wake him so they just let him be and sat, enjoying the sparkling ocean around them.

Not too far away, a first class cruise ship bound for Slateport City was sailing by and its guests were having quite the celebration, all but one anyway.

"Selena! I'm so glad I found you; I've been looking all over for you! What's the matter, darling? You look bored out of your mind and you've hardly touched your wine!" a boy with slicked-back blond hair said. She had been sitting at a table all by herself, resting her head on one hand as she stared out the window at the S.S. Wingull. Her hair was in small, tight curls and twisted up around her head to form a slight yet elegant pouf. As she stared out the window, the sunlight reflected off the touch of glitter that dusted the corners of her eyes and off of the slim silver dress that fell to her ankles.

The boy stumbled into the seat across from her and she took hold of her wine glass to pull it in closer.

"I do hope that you're not asking for it. I can see that you've already had quite enough, Ashton…" she trailed off coldly.

"Selena! I'm surprised at you! You know me better than that, don't you?" he asked dramatically, batting his ocean blue eyes.

"You'd be surprised…"

"Oh come now, why do you keep staring out the window like that? What's so interesting about a stranded boat, hm?"

"I recently competed with a girl on that boat…"

"And…"

"I have a feeling about this one…"

"It's probably just the wine, dear!"

"I haven't had any wine…"

"Oh…"

"Yeah…I don't know Ashton. This Lyla person has sparked Girafarig's interest and for that reason, she's sparked mine as well. I almost look forward to seeing her compete again…"

There was a loud thud as Ashton's head hit the table and he began snoring loudly.

"And I also get the feeling that you're going to be a raging alcoholic someday…" she trailed off, snatching the champagne glass from his hand and setting it on the table before he dropped it or something.

"Selena…" a feminine voice trailed off.

Selena turned to find a Girafarig standing beside the table.

"Girafarig? I thought you were taking a nap."

"Those three…"

"Tch. Let me guess. They all possess some sort of amazing talent in spite of their youth, right? And –"

"They are all connected to something much bigger than contests and Pokémon Battles, Selena…"

"What are you talking about?"

"Selena, something terrible is going to befall this world very, very soon…I can feel it. And those three will somehow be linked to it, I know it!"

"What exactly is going to happen?"

"I don't know…but I've been having visions again…and in those visions, they are awakened."

"They?"

"Do you know nothing of this region's history?"

"Girafarig, get to the point. I don't feel like playing guessing games today…"

"It's not a game. This is serious, Selena!"

"Who are they?"

"Groudon and Kyogre!"

"The Legendary Pokémon?"

"So you do know something…"

"But I still don't know what the problem is or what on Earth you're talking about."

"Selena, stop talking to yourself," Ashton murmured, half asleep.

"We'll discuss this later," Selena whispered. "Get back to the room."

Author Notes:

Kind of a short chapter but I hope you enjoyed it! Especially the little bit of foreshadowing there at the end. I'm not going to say much about that though, you'll have to keep reading ;) And sorry it took so long to update, I was in France for three weeks with no internet access and I re-wrote the ending a million times (and I'm still not entirely satisfied). Please, please, please be sure to read and review if you loved it or want to leave me some tips or anything!