"I feel much better now." Alexandra noted brightly, weaving a braid over one shoulder as Scarlet folded back the cot's sheets. "Don't you feel better?"

The Lucario slanted a look the woman's way, almost scolding, despite the slight upward tilt of her mouth.

"Would you rather I go throw the warden overboard instead?"

Snickering at the eye roll she got in response, Alexandra set aside her well-worn boots and crossed to the low cot, long sleeping shirt brushing against the tops of her thighs with each step.

"Even with the giant waste of space and Sabra, I think this trip is getting off to a great start."

Of course, at that exact moment, the universe just had to prove her wrong.

Shots echoed through the walls, and the pair stared at each other for a moment, Scarlet wholly unimpressed with this turn of events.

"…My bad?"

Another round of gunfire, followed by screams and the growing crackle of flames, propelled them out of the room and down hallway, heedless of anything but the survival of their own.

One of the ship's attackers was unlucky enough to cross her path, stunned at the sight of a half-naked woman barreling towards him, flanked by a gold Lucario-

That split second was all Alexandra needed, muscles coiling like steel bands beneath soft flesh, as she leapt up to wrap strong legs around the man's shoulders and twist to throw him into a head-first spin towards the nearest wall.

Intercepting a Cacturne's Needle Arm with a well-timed Counter, Scarlet struck her off-balance opponent with a Black Kick that caved the floor in on secondary impact.

All of this took a handful of seconds, and the pair hardly broke stride as they continued on towards the growing chaos ahead.

The whole boat was a pitched battle between black-robed assailants and the passengers, blood staining the wooden deck as Mandibuzz and Vibrava swooped overhead and Krokorok, Marowak and Heliolisk tore through whatever resistance they came across.

Tip's roar and a fresh glut of flame off to one side assured Alexandra in that split second that Rick was alive and kicking, so she leapt into the fray with a battle cry.

Whirling around, one of the attackers froze as Scarlet slammed a Force Palm into one Heliolisk and threw the large Pokemon into an unsuspecting Krokorok, sliding underneath a Marowak's Bone Club to deliver an Aura Sphere at point-blank range.

"The Golden One-!"

Alexandra struck at that moment, whipping her leg around in a kick that rattled teeth and grabbing his shirt mid-turn to drive her shoulder in and throw the man overboard with a choked cry.

The momentum allowed her to slide underneath a sword swing, lashing out to topple her attacker into the railing with a CRACK that had him stumbling back with a bloody nose.

Striking the diaphragm hard, she finished him off with an upward palm strike that drove the weakened bone into the man's brain so he crumpled like a sack of bricks.

The Americans, who had been whooping and shooting from behind a makeshift barricade, watched in wide-eyed awe as Scarlet ducked away from a Mandibuzz's Air Slash, leaping onto the vulture-like Pokemon back as he passed to jam a Thunder Punch between his wings instead.

With a paw wrapped around the Bone Vulture's neck, she steered her involuntarily ride into a crash-landing that knocked over a trio of Heliolisk, leaping free at the last moment as Alexandra grabbed a man's raised arm by the wrist, pressing hard on the joint while twisting it around with a sickening POP and CRACK, ending his screams with a knee to the face.

The three men swallowed hard.

"Whoa…"

"Alex!"

"Kinda busy, Ricky!" She shouted back, catching another's sword-arm and kicking his knee out of joint before flipping him neatly around onto his back.

"No time!" Rick ordered, dragging Evelyn to the starboard railing as Tip spat a Flamethrower at the trailing Krokorok and Isis' Dazzling Gleam forced a quartet of Vibrava off-course. "Jump!"

Experience had taught Alexandra not to ignore that tone, and so she grabbed Scarlet's paw to swing them both over the nearest railing.

The Nile was frigid cold, a shock to her system, and the brunette coughed as she surfaced, Scarlet perched on her back to keep from sinking.

Kicking over to Evelyn as Rick hit the water, Alexandra took hold of the sputtering Brit's hand, guiding Isis to hold on one of her shoulders.

"Come on, shore's that way."

After a few moments where Evelyn got over the shock, they followed after Rick and Jonathon, Tip grumbling as he doggie-paddled along.

Thankfully, ground met their feet within a few minutes, and the tiny group dragged themselves in a shambling walk onto shore.

"We've lost everything!" Evelyn nearly shouted, exhausted and soaked as the situation finally set in. "All of our tools, all the equipment! All my clothes!"

"Well, at least we lost the warden, too." Alexandra noted cheerfully, snickering as Basil shook himself dry.

Of course, the warden chose that moment to appear like a beaching whale, gasping for breath as Sabra scurried past him to burrow into dry sand.

Watching this blankly, Alexandra heaved a disappointed sigh.

"Damn."

"Hey, O'Connell!"

Both O'Connell siblings turned to see Beni standing on the opposite shore, Ammon shaking himself dry and chattering smugly.

"Looks to me like I've got all the horses!"

"Hey, Beni!" Rick shouted back, Tip chuffing a laugh. "Looks to me like you're on the wrong side of the river!"

Watching the Hungarian throw a tantrum as the realization sunk in, swearing in every language he knew and kicking at the water, Alexandra began to smile.

"Worth it."