Sinking

Drew's POV

Phantom was gripping May tightly by her hair, holding her so that her feet only just touched the ground. With his other hand he held a shiny silver knife to her neck.

"Take another step boy," Phantom growled, "and this girl won't see the light of day ever again." I froze and May whimpered like a wounded puppy.

"Now that's better, "Phantom said, "I want you to take a few steps back here and join your friends." I did as I was told, scared for May's life. If I was a hero in a movie, I probably would've dived at phantom and rescued May before he could hurt her anymore. But this wasn't a movie and the truth was that there was nothing I could do except obey him. I had already found out that I was no match for him and so trying to free May could result in the death of both of us.

"Let her go," I challenged. May looked so frightened and I couldn't help it.

"I can't do that," he growled, "I need this girl."

"What do you need my sister for!" Max demanded before I could say anything.

"This girl is the sea princess," he said.

"Don't be ridiculous," Lizabeth laughed nervously.

"Don't play dumb with me," Phantom spat, "I know this girl is the sea princess. I told you that I know about the people of the water."

"What do you want Phantom?" Ash demanded.

"I want the power of the sea crown," he replied.

"You can't have it," Lizabeth challenged boldly, "You don't have royalty in you."

"I don't need royalty in me," he said, "I have my key right here." He shook May in his hands and I could only watch as May whimpered in pain and fear.

"What do you need May for?" I asked. He smirked and it made my stomach turn over. He brought May's face closer to him, still grinning. I froze. I felt sick right down to my stomach at the way he was leering at her. He brought his voice down to a thick whisper.

"Royal blood," he whispered.

May screamed as he dropped his hand back down and she hit the ground with a thud. I pondered Phantom's words in my head, realizing with sick horror that he was intending to hurt May. He dragged he along the halls.

"Do not interfere with me boy," he warned over his shoulder, "or you'll find she won't come back to you."

"Drew," she whimpered, wincing again as he roughly dragged her up the stairs.

'Mana,' Manaphy cried, 'Mama.' I looked down to see him and I snapped out of it. Arceus May was in danger. I picked up Manaphy and ran after Phantom.

"Wait up Drew!" Ash called, "You'll need some help." I was grateful, hearing the footstep pound behind me. It was good to know I had backup, but I was still so scared. I was scared that I wouldn't be able to do anything to stop him. I paused at the top. Phantom was staring at the crown. It was not what I expected. Not a normal crown to go on top of your head. It was a spiral structure with shining blue pointy crystals sticking out from it. It was protected by a bubble of water that was somehow staying in its form. Phantom dropped May in his shock and she started to crawl towards me. By the way she was pulling herself along, I could see that she was sore from being dragged up the stairs. I reached out my hands towards her, ready to pull her to safety, but she jerked to a stop. A small squeal escaped her mouth as Phantom grabbed her ankles. He dragged her back to him and picked her up.

"I was going to save you from seeing this kids, but if you insist on following me then I guess you'll have to," Phantom chuckled dangerously. May whimpered at her took her face in his hands.

"Hmm, such a pretty face," Phantom pondered out loud, "no wonder that boy is chasing after you. Wouldn't it be a shame if I happen to mess it up." May whimpered as he poked the tip of the knife into her skin. A trickle of blood dripped from her cheek to her chin. Manaphy squirmed in my arms, obviously upset at seeing his 'mama' like this, but I held on tightly. It wouldn't do us any good to get him mixed up.

"Don't you dare cut her," I warned, my voice lowering to a deep growl. Phantom snickered at me, something that made me feel sick again.

"And why not?" he sneered, trailing the knife down, lightly cutting her skin.

"I said don't cut her," I repeated, "or so help me I will rip you to pieces."

"You're right," he sighed, "I can't mess up a beautiful face like this." He released May's head and she sighed in relief, dropping down. I was about to take her, when Phantom yanked her back up by her wrist.

"But that doesn't mean that I'll let her go," he said. I tensed. He swiped the knife across her skin and she cried out. Blood poured from her wrist. He had cut her. He had cut my May. I felt so angry. He took her wrist and started rubbing her blood over his body. It must've been a deep cut, because it was bleeding pretty fast. He rubbed his hands together, covering them with blood. May whimpered, seeing her blood. He threw her roughly to the side.

"I don't need her anymore," Phantom growled, "I have royal blood now." He laughed in a way that made me want to throw something at him, but I didn't. May was whimpering as she tried to push herself off the ground. I knelt down next to her and Manaphy finally broke free. He jumped up and into the water, swimming around. I pulled May to me. She had her hand messily covering her cut. I pulled her hand away to see just how bad it was. I was right. It was really deep. Her crimson blood flowed from it freely. I looked at her face. She was pale and her eyes reflected fear. Arceus, if I didn't do something now, she'd bleed out to death. I shrugged off my jacket and tore it to shreds before I wrapped it tightly around her cut. It would need a lot of pressure to stop it from bleeding. Her blood started to soak the purple material red. I took her other hand and squeezed it tightly over her wrist. I turned to Phantom. He reached into the water, May's blood staining the water red and put both hands around one of the crystals. Manaphy desperately pulled at his hands, trying to take them away, but it didn't work. With a strong tug, the crystal broke loose and Manaphy flew out, hitting the ground with a thud. Manaphy started crying. May hobbled to him and picked him up, slowly rocking him.

"What did you do!" Lizabeth gasped in horror.

"The sea crown is mine!" Phantom exclaimed, "and now I should get the power of the sea!" He laughed. The bubble around the sea crown glowed and Phantom laughed, holding his arms out like he was about to receive a present. Instead of getting power though, the bubble popped, washing water over us. May fell down and hit the wall behind her.

"What!" Phantom yelled, "I have royal blood on me! I should be getting power!"

"That's because," May whispered, "I'm not the heir."

"What!" Phantom yelled, turning to May with malice in his eyes. I slowly moved closer to her, ready to get us out of here. Max, Brock, Lizabeth and Max seemed to understand and they slowly backed away towards the stairs.

"My older sister is the heir," May explained, "She's the only one who can get that power."

"What older sister!" Phantom yelled.

"There are two sea princess this generation," Lizabeth spoke up, "and only the older one can access the power." Phantom looked ready to explode when he was interrupted. Water burst in through a hole in the dome shaped roof. Arceus, this could be bad.

"I swear I'll kill you," Phantom growled, "useless girl." He took a few steps forwards. I quickly swung May into my arms and started running. I turned back to see that Phantom had apparently forgotten about us as he pulled more crystals from the crown.

"Drew," she whimpered.

"Don't talk," I said, "just hold your hand tightly over your wrist and don't drop Manaphy." I ran after Lizabeth, Brock, Ash and Max. I passed Jackie and I stopped. What was he doing here? How did he get here? Jackie stopped as well.

"Is everybody ok?" he asked.

"May's hurt, other than that, yes," I replied, gesturing to the girl in my arms.

"Where's Phantom?" he demanded.

"He's still in there, raiding the crown," I answered.

"I'll take care of Phantom," he said, "You gotta get everyone else out of here. The sea temple is sinking." He went to run back there.

"Wait!" I called. He stopped.

"It's pretty bad in there," I warned, "and Phantom's got a knife."

"Thanks." He continued running. I bit my lip. He might not have been the best brother ever, but I still didn't want him to get hurt. May whimpered again and I snapped back. I had to get May to safety and quickly. I continued running. I eventually reached the submarine. Lizabeth opened the sub.

"Hurry, get in," she urged. I let May down, helping her stand up as I patiently waited for Ash, Brock and Max to get in. Manaphy wriggled in May's arms and jumped into the water.

"Wait Manaphy!" she yelled.

No-one POV

May ran after Manaphy, even in her weakened state, she just had to find him.

"May!" Drew yelled, running after her. She wouldn't be able to get back out by herself, especially if she kept swinging her arms like that. The blood was already starting to leak through his make-shift bandage. Back in the room with the sea crown, Jackie confronted Phantom.

"This is the people of the water's!" he yelled, "You have to put it back!"

"No way!" Phantom shouted, "This is mine now. If I can't have the power, I'm at least going to have the gems."

"Well, I guess I'll just have to fix it myself," Jackie yelled. He ran forwards, grabbing two of the crystals from Phantom's bag. He slotted them into place. Phantom dropped the bag.

"They're mine!" he shouted angrily, reaching for Jackie. Jackie darted over Phantom's head and grabbed more. He slotted more in their places. He grabbed another. Phantom cornered him and grabbed onto the single crystal.

"Well Pokémon ranger," Phantom said, his voice full of malice, "your time is up." Jackie caught sight of the knife in his hands.

"Unless I do something, both of our time is up," he retorted, dodging out of the way of the knife, just in time. Water shot down and hit both men. They tumbled off the platform and fell into the rising water beneath. Phantom held tightly to the crystal as he tried to swim out. Jackie was sucked down a different path. Phantom was roughly smashed into a pillar and his grip on the crystal loosened. It fell into the water and disappeared through a small hole.

"Wait May!" Lizabeth yelled. A burst of water landed next to the sub, pushing it away. Lizabeth quickly got in and closed the hatch. It wouldn't help her if she let the rest of them drown. She'd have to come back around for them. May and Drew followed Manaphy until they came to the room with the sea crown. They were standing in one of the little windows above it.

"Hey look what Manaphy's doing!" May exclaimed, pointing. Manaphy tugged on one of the crystals, desperately trying to get it to the crown.

"He's trying to get it back to normal," Drew said in realization, "He's trying to save the temple."

"We've got to help him Drew," May pleaded. Drew nodded and jumped down into the water. He swam to the edge of the platform and pulled himself up. May nervously stepped from foot to foot. She couldn't swim and the current looked really strong.

"Jump May," Drew called, "Just keep your head above water and I'll pull you out." May nodded. She trusted him. She held her breath and jumped in. She struggled around until her head broke the surface. She gasped and flailed around, keeping herself afloat. She spotted Drew. She reached out towards him and he grasped her hand tightly. He pulled her out onto the platform, inspecting quickly to make sure she was ok. They got up and went to the platform. May grabbed a crystal. It was heavy, but she had to be strong. She picked it up and slotted it in one of the holes. Drew started doing the same.

Meanwhile Phantom looked at the water bursting through the temple's protective bubble.

"So it is sinking!" he exclaimed, "I've gotta get out of here." He spotted his little sub and ran towards it. Before he could get it though, the water pushed it away. He growled and swam after it. Jackie saw the sub and made a daring leap from the temple to where it was floating. He managed to land on it and quickly got inside. He spotted the Chatot that was usually with Phantom.

"Wanna come?" he asked, holding his hand out. The Chatot landed on his hand, echoing his words. Jackie smiled dryly and pulled him inside the sub, closing the lid. At least everyone was safe now. Or so he thought.