And back to the main story we go, taking a quick peek at how our sinking sailors are turning out, and watching as two separate teams' destinies intertwine.
Meanwhile some of the villains are beginning to achieve their goals, and things are once again looking grim.
Just as you thought there was some hope…
-.-.-.-.-.
Just south of Wailord Brow Bay – named as such because it was in the shape of the head of a Wailord – a lone ship sailed onwards. Indeed, it was the Windchaser, and it was indeed still seaworthy, thanks to the quick efforts of Miranda and Shadepelt.
After patching up the hull with awkwardly placed planks – there hadn't been time to grab the correct-sized ones, after all – the Vaporeon and Purrloin had managed to stop the ship from sinking further. Then they had joined Burner, Tortuga, and Cobalt in bailing the water out of the half-flooded hull. The Windchaser had been rendered effectively dry after over two hours of tossing the water out, and now was once more in shipshape.
Now, though, as Drain and Burner steered the ship through the relatively calm waters, there was still work to be done. The hastily placed planks in the hull had to be replaced with planks more suited to the gaps torn in the bottom by the Carvanha, and there was more cleaning to be done as scorch marks and other assorted scars marred the deck of the boat. The Pokemon worked in shifts, with some working hard and some resting, and they swapped roles at regular intervals.
One of the resting Pokemon was below deck, in one of the cabins. Shadepelt was spread out on her bed, writing on a sheet of parchment with a Tranquill quill, so to speak. She felt tired as she sprawled out limply on the mattress, with the only muscles in her body working being the ones holding up her head and moving her paw as she wrote. Everything else, though, simply relaxed.
"What are you doing?" a voice suddenly asked, cutting through the otherwise complete silence. Shadepelt screamed and frantically dropped the quill, covering up the letter with her paws. But it was only Cobalt, standing at the doorway with a faintly amused expression on his face.
"I'm just writing a letter," Shadepelt replied, once she had gotten a hold of herself. "You know, to home. There are Pokemon that want to know how I'm doing back in the desert."
Cobalt smiled wryly. "The Life Stealers?" he challenged in a joking way, although it still sounded a bit like he was being serious. Shadepelt laughed nervously and folded up the letter she had been writing. "Definitely not," she said with a quick grin of her own. "My parents. Even thugs – former thugs – like me have family, you know."
The Riolu shrugged. "I guess when you put it that way…" he mused. "Anyway, I'm sorry I disturbed you." He then left without another word.
Shadepelt blew a quiet sigh out of her mouth before rapidly finishing the letter. She put down the quill on the small side-table, and then scurried out the door and back onto the deck of the Windchaser. She held the folded-up letter in her mouth as she quickly scanned the sky. I could have sworn he'd be here by now… the Purrloin thought, trying to pick out that telltale speck of white and yellow amidst the big blue yonder.
Aha! she suddenly exclaimed in her mind as she saw him coming in for a landing. Shadepelt bustled over to the stern of the boat and waited, before checking around the deck to make sure that no one would notice. She was in luck – everyone was busy cleaning below deck, save for Drain and Burner.
The Pelipper flapped his wings slowly as he came in for a landing. He perched awkwardly with his flippers on the railing, balancing himself with his wings. "Shadepelt," he greeted. "How're things?"
The Purrloin hemmed and hawed, before finally saying nonchalantly, "I've been fine. How about you, Smatt?"
Smatt rolled his eyes and rustled his wings. "I've been better, believe me. Anyway, you have a letter to deliver like you said earlier?" Shadepelt nodded and held out the parchment, which he took with his giant bill and held it there.
"Remember," Shadepelt said quietly, "take that to Niwri." The Pelipper nodded in understanding, unable to talk without dropping the letter. With a single flap of his wings, he soared up into a salty thermal and was soon lost from view.
Shadepelt took a deep breath and went to grab a cleaning rag. Her shift was coming up, and she had her trustworthiness to prove.
-.-.-.-.-.
"Miranda, it's your turn to rest for a while," Cobalt said, snatching the feather duster from the Vaporeon's paw. Although initially startled at the gesture, Miranda quickly recovered and gave the Riolu a warm smile. As Cobalt took over her task of cleaning the cabin (the flooding had done a number on it), Miranda decided to go up on deck for some fresh air.
The salty sea breeze hit her pleasantly, blowing her head fins back slightly. Taking a deep breath through her nose, Miranda wondered how she should spend her rest shift. I could go swimming, but then I'd probably end up luring more unpleasant company to the Windchaser, she thought grimly. Hmm… maybe I could rest up near the stern. I've been feeling this urge to sunbathe for a while. Maybe it's a Vaporeon thing?
Shrugging, Miranda headed up the steps to the stern of the Windchaser, only to be stopped by a voice. "Wait!" it called. She turned around and saw Tesla scuttling toward her.
"What is it?" asked Miranda. Tesla gestured with a foreleg up toward the Murkrow's nest. "Do you mind keeping watch for me?" she offered. "I know it's your time to rest, but I really need someone reliable to do it."
Miranda thought about for a second or two. Tesla seemed to have put emphasis on the word "reliable" – possibly referring to Shadepelt, whose motives were still in doubt – but that didn't matter. Should she do this job, even though she needed a rest from all the cleaning she had been doing? Then again, it was just keeping watch.
"OK, sure," she said with a smile. Tesla seemed relieved at this, as she was probably still nervous from the Abyssal Raiders' ambush earlier that day. "Thank you, Miranda," she clicked. "Now I can focus on fishing." The Conductula moved off, twirling an electric thread around and whistling cheerfully.
Miranda climbed into the Murkrow's nest and used the pulley system to move it up to the top of the mast. My, you can certainly see quite a distance from up here, Miranda thought admirably. The deck seemed far away from such a height.
Soon, the Vaporeon was starting to get a little bored. She had been staring into the empty distance for ten minutes now, and had seen nothing out of the ordinary. She yawned widely and attempted to keep her tired eyes open. Luckily, there was a bit of cloud cover that kept the bright sun at bay for a while.
But then, just as she was about to slump to the floor and take a nap, Miranda indeed saw something that caught her eye. She fumbled for the telescope lying on the floor and held it up to her eye, peering at whatever it was that seemed out of place.
She gasped as she suddenly saw what it was. It was another boat! And it seemed to be heading in the opposite direction of the Windchaser. That might mean that it would cross paths with their own boat – which could be a bad thing if the unknown ship was hostile.
Miranda decided to warn someone. As rapidly as she could, she worked the pulley system until the Murkrow's nest landed on the deck with a loud *thud*. She then ran up to the bow, where Drain and Burner were still steering the ship. As soon as she reached them, she blurted out, "There's a boat coming from up ahead!"
The two insects turned to her in surprise. "Really? Does it look friendly or hostile?" Drain asked. Miranda thought back to what the boat looked like and replied hesitantly, "I don't really know. Actually, I don't think it was hostile – no skull-and-crossbones flags or anything like that."
Burner shook his head. "If there was anything screaming out the boat's nature, then they wouldn't be very smart hostiles," he said. "I'll fly up and take a look." With that, the Moskeeteor lifted off, buzzed off to where Miranda had dropped the telescope, and then zoomed upwards with it in hand.
A few seconds later, he flew back down to the bow. "They aren't hostile," he confirmed, "but they are requesting to board the ship. I say we let them, but be on our guard just in case." Drain nodded and said in agreement, "That's just what I was going to advise."
He left the ship on a straight course and went to go tell the other Pokemon that they'd be having some unknown guests on board shortly. He'd tell them not to make any threatening moves, but to be wary in case the other ship was trying to ambush them.
Very soon, the other ship was in view. Burner, who hadn't moved from his position near the wheel, squinted and asked Miranda to hand him the telescope. When she did, he peered through it and suddenly gave a great whoop of laughter.
"It's the Seasearcher!" he cried. "There's no need for any caution, folks! Team Sand Dragons is on their way!"
At this proclamation, relief swept the tense atmosphere away. Team Sand Dragons was a Platinum-ranked rescue team, and thus of a greatly revered status. Many of the legends of the Guardians told across the continent featured Team Sand Dragons. Now everyone was excited for the ship and the Pokemon it carried to arrive.
At last, the time came for when the Seasearcher was close enough to the Windchaser to allow its crew to board. The ship was just as big as theirs, but it wasn't as elaborate. Instead, just by glancing at it, it looked as if it were owned by a crew of regular sailors or even pirates. But Burner was convinced that this was Team Sand Dragons' ship, pointing out the name Seasearcher that gleamed gold on the otherwise dingy side of the boat.
Then all of a sudden, the three Ground-and-Dragon-types landed on the deck with a crash. Everyone jumped and turned at the sight of their sudden new arrivals. The Flygon leader grinned jauntily and waved, while his Garchomp and Terralyrk comrades nodded their greetings from either side of him.
"Burner! It's been too long, my friend," the Flygon said, reaching out with a talon and shaking the end of Burner's leg. "Pleasure to see you again, Junpei," Burner replied, shaking his talon back. "You too, Eugene and Terence," he added, and the other two smiled and nodded again in response.
"Now, may I introduce our friends," Burner said, gesturing to the other Pokemon gathered off to the side. "This is Tortuga, Cobalt, Miranda, Sinestra, Amanita, and Shadepelt." They all waved with varying degrees of enthusiasm – Tortuga and Shadepelt looked nervous, Cobalt and Miranda were bolder, and Amanita and Sinestra seemed rather shy.
"Hmm, I recognize the two of you," Terence commented, pointing at the Vaporeon and larger Eevee. "You're on Team Eevui, are you not?" The two nodded and each shook his hand with a paw. Sinestra hid behind Miranda shyly.
"And you're from Team Fossil, right?" Eugene rumbled, indicating Tortuga. He gave a small smile and wave, but didn't say anything. He still seemed nervous. Eugene continued, this time looking at Cobalt and Shadepelt, "I don't recognize you, though. Who are you two squirts?"
The Purrloin simply murmured, "Shadepelt. Pleased to meet you." Tesla whispered to Junpei, "She has a rather… colorful history. I'll tell you about it later." The Flygon just blinked and shrugged indifferently.
Cobalt stepped forwards and said clearly, "My name is Cobalt. I came from Diamond Island originally, but I was forced to flee when the earthquake sank it."
Now the Sand Dragons' wide eyes were locked on the Riolu. "I… what?" Terence asked. "You've got to… you… are you serious?" Junpei stammered. Eugene opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
"It's true," Drain said solemnly. "We were on our way from the Elemental Islets to the Guardians' island in order to tell them. But then we had Darkfeathers on our tail to shake off, and then that Raider ambush…"
Junpei shook his head to clear it and forced a smile. "Well, looks like you've had a lot on your plates recently," he said, trying to remain cheerful. "Speaking of which, do you mind if we tag along with you? We've got a short little mission along the coast to complete, nothing too big. And the poor Seasearcher is in need of repairs, so its sailing days are numbered until we can fix it." He ducked his head humbly, hoping that he wasn't asking too much of them.
But Burner just laughed and replied, "Of course! The three of you are always welcome on board the Windchaser. We can set aside some time for your mission if you so wish." At this, Junpei looked delighted. He did a little hop and clapped his talons together. "Awesome!" he enthused. "Thanks, Burner old chum. We definitely owe you one."
Miranda stepped forward and asked curiously, "What kind of mission are you on?" Terence slithered a little closer to her and replied, "Oh, it's nothing that special. We need to pick up the family of Lancelot of Team Knights. Apparently King Stellar wants them on the island."
The three of Team Bloodsucker exchanged worried glances, which didn't go unnoticed by the Sand Dragons. "What is it?" Eugene demanded. "Is there something wrong?" Junpei settled him down with a wave of his tail before looking at the insect trio questioningly.
Tesla flexed her mandibles for a while before she found what she wanted to say. "Well… Gaby was with us, originally," she started, tentatively. "We started off on our journey to the Guardians' island with five others – Gaby, Pteryx of Team Fossil, Okami of Team Eevui, a Victini named Luke, and another Eevee named Jowl. That Abyssal Raiders attack that Drain mentioned earlier… well, they took all five of them as prisoners and vanished."
Team Sand Dragons was speechless for a moment. Then Junpei spoke up in a strangled voice. "Well, this is… unexpected," he said. "Not to mention very unpleasant. What'll we do about this? It's not like we have an army of Guardians with us so we can attack the Abyssal Raiders' trench and take them back!"
Terence put a calming hand on his leader's shoulder. "No, we don't have that," he agreed, "which is why we're going to get one. Let's head to Seaside Village and get Adrianna, then we can set sail for the Guardians' island. The village isn't far from where we are now, we can surely make it."
Junpei nodded in agreement after a moment. Burner then said commandingly, "Alright, we'll need everyone's help if we are to make it to Seaside Village and then the island of the Guardians as quick as we can! You all must work together alongside our new passengers if we are to succeed in our mission, head back home, and alert King Stellar as to our poor friends' whereabouts. Understand?"
All of the Pokemon hopped to attention and cried, "Yes, sir!" as one. "Excellent!" Junpei cheered. "Now let's hop to it. Chop-chop!"
Soon, everyone was back to being hard at work. Team Sand Dragons, Miranda, and Cobalt all helped to pull in the Seasearcher and then lash it tightly to the stern of the Windchaser, allowing it to trail behind. Then four of those five Pokemon hopped aboard to start repairing the boat, while Junpei used Sandstorm on the sails of the Windchaser, propelling it forward.
With their goals ringing clear in their minds, all of the Pokemon worked their hardest in order to help reach them. Lives depended on it.
-.-.-.-.-.
Night had fallen over the western ocean. The moon shone high in the sky, its glowing white light strong enough to pierce the surface of the waves. However, the deeper you went, the darker it, naturally, became.
The lonely coral reef to the north of the Abyssal Raiders' trench was indeed rather dim in terms of light, but still shallow enough for some of the moonlight to illuminate it. The bright colors of the coral during the day were muted at night, but indeed the light from the moon helped bring their colors out somewhat. Glowing microorganisms floated here and there, giving the coral reef a calming, almost alien feel to it.
Of course, to the pair of Frillish that swam hand-in-hand through the coral, they simply found what land-dwellers would find strange and unnerving very romantic and almost mystical.
"This always takes my breath away," Neptune murmured. "No matter how many times we come here, it's always like the first time for me." The other smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I see what you mean," Sapphire replied. "I never really get used to it either. But that's alright… sometimes never getting used to something is a good thing."
The blue Frillish nodded. He pecked her on the cheek and whispered, "Like how I can never get used to seeing your beautiful face first thing every morning?" Sapphire giggled hysterically and gave him a playful shove. "Stop that," she said, not meaning either of those words. She wrapped her tentacles around his neck and nuzzled him lovingly. Neptune hugged her back and pushed his forehead up against hers.
They stayed like that for a while, simply enjoying the embrace they shared. "I love you so much," Neptune breathed without pulling his head away. Sapphire pulled herself a little closer, but didn't reply. Instead, she kissed him passionately, putting all of her feelings into it. Sometimes, words aren't needed,Neptune thought blissfully as he kissed her back.
The couple separated at last after a full minute of this happiness. "Come on now," Sapphire sighed regretfully, "we've had our fun. They'll be here any second and…" Her words were suddenly cut off by the sound of someone approaching. The two of them turned around and came face-to-face with the ones they were to be meeting with.
None other than Khan and Pearl, Sapphire's parents and the monarchs of the faraway Jellicent Kingdom.
"How's my little girl?" Pearl asked in a rich, deep voice. Sapphire rushed to hug her mother, who returned her greeting wholeheartedly. "I'm so happy to see you again, Mum," she said happily, floating over to her father to hug him as well.
"Jolly good to see you're doing well, my dear Sapphire," Khan boomed, patting his daughter on the head fondly. "And how are you, Neptune old bean?" the Jellicent asked with equal kindness. Neptune only hung back shyly and averted his eyes. "Very well, sir," he said quietly.
Khan sighed dramatically with a grin and draped a tentacle around his son-in-law. "You've got to think bold, my boy!" he chastised lightly. "After all, you're part of our family now," Pearl agreed, bobbing her head with authority. Neptune only shrugged, still looking uncomfortable. But he quickly relaxed when Sapphire reached over and entwined her tentacle with his, smiling encouragingly.
The sight of the couple made Pearl tear up. "Our little Sapphire's all grown up," she sniffed, dabbing at her eyes with a hankie. The pink Frillish grinned and said teasingly, "Oh, Mum. You say that like it's a bad thing!"
Khan as well looked a little bit emotional. "I say, it is a tad heartwarming to see you and your beloved here together," he said, trying his best to hold back his own tears. But he got a hold on himself quickly and drew himself up in a dignified manner.
"We learned so much at El Nino's fortress, Papa," Sapphire said happily, changing the subject. "Just like you asked! There's enough in here to really make you and Mum proud." She reached inside of her lacy shawl and pulled out a small box. The top was clear, allowing the piece of parchment inside to be seen.
Pearl beamed at her and Neptune as she took the box. "That's my smart girl," she said. "Thanks to you and Neptune" – she gave the blue Frillish a nod, to which he blushed and smiled faintly – "we'll be able to make our move on the Abyssal Raiders very soon."
The Jellicent queen then sniffed and a look of distaste twisted her face. "Those arrogant Raiders, thinking the oceans belong to them," she muttered. Sapphire grinned again, this time with malicious intent. "Yes, but they won't be thinking when we're done with them," she replied, the madness in her eyes flickering spastically.
"That's the spirit, my dear Sapphire," Khan said proudly. "You're right, the forces of the Jellicent Kingdom will soon have them in a right fix!" His wife added, "You two just remain with the Raiders for now and pretend this never happened. We'll tell you what to do next in due time."
Neptune gave his first words to the monarchs as he responded, "We'll make you proud. I promise."
Khan and Pearl both laughed. "You already have, dear," the pink Jellicent told him, giving him a lasting, motherly hug. When she let go of Neptune at last, she turned to depart. "Stay out of trouble, you two," she cautioned. "It's been so nice seeing you again."
Sapphire and Neptune both waved goodbye. Khan gave them his own jaunty wave in response as he turned to leave as well. "Farewell to you, children! Tally ho!" he cried, then disappeared along with Pearl into the deep blue of the nighttime ocean.
Things were quiet for a little while after they had left. Finally, Neptune asked, "Should we be heading back?" and gestured in the direction of the Abyssal Raiders' trench.
But Sapphire shook her head and subtly slipped her arms around him. "I'm not finished with you yet, dearest," she murmured, pressing her cheek against his. "I was hoping you'd say that, to be honest," Neptune replied with a grin, leaning in to press his lips against hers.
It wasn't until midnight when they decided to leave the reef. When they did, they were drifting hand-in-hand once more.
-.-.-.-.-.
Khan, Pearl, and Smatt all belong to me. I'm not sure if that Pelipper will play any major roles in this story or not, though. Oh well, one step at a time and all that.
Here's a bit of trivia – Pearl is actually the Jellicent that belongs to my OC, Volan Gurei. Again, I'm not sure of this, but I might decide to do another Pokemon fanfic featuring Volan and his team.
See you soon for Chapter 24! Wow, this fanfic is coming along nicely.
Smatt: "Hey, review please, yeah? Also, check out the Chapter Question and send me a letter!"
Chapter Question #14: It's time to send Smatt a letter! Deliver a question to the Pelipper mailman and he'll deliver it to its rightful owner. So, what do you want to ask, and to what character? I'll answer all questions in the next few chapters!
Don't worry, Smatt will be available for a while, so there's plenty of time to send some mail his way!