Time Lapse: Reluctant Hero

by AvionVadion

She remembered nothing. Where she came from, who she was, if she had any family; all the girl knew now was that something was wrong. There was no way she was meant to be raised like this- treated like a grunt and tormented along with the rest. Pokemon were worth more than what Team Rocket claimed. They weren't tools... and neither was she. OCs

23. Pokemon Shipwreck

"Sing it for me, baby! Singing me to sleep!

Singing don't love the bottle, but the bottle loves me."

Something was wrong, but I wasn't sure what.

I was sitting at a table, tugging a large faded green jacket closer to my form, shivering and fighting the urge to sneeze. The hems of the jacket were so torn I could stick my thumbs through the sleeves, making make-shift gloves, and if I looked close enough I could see some old blue paint stains.

I fiddled with my fingers, glancing around the room before looking at my hands.

They were small and dainty, but not those belonging to a child. They were scar free and rather smooth, save for a callus or two on my right middle and ring finger. Most importantly, my left wrist wasn't crooked and my right arm wasn't burned. Why I felt like it should be I wasn't quite sure, but the feeling certainly added to the dread that something was terribly wrong.

Letting out a sigh, I leaned forward to rest my arms on the table, burying my face in my sleeves. I felt exhausted.

"Oi, short-stop, how're you feeling?"

"Hm?" I blinked, lazily lifting my head to see a young woman with auburn hair and hazel eyes walking over to me. She rested a hand gently atop my head, long red nails gently running through my short and choppy dark brown hair. The movement almost habitual, I sat up and leaned into her side, resting my head against her stomach and wrapping my arms around her waist. She smelled like peppermint. "Okay, I guess…"

"Are you just saying that or do you really feel okay?"

I didn't give a response. The young woman's freckled face twisted into one of exasperation as she leaned over, ruffling my hair a bit more aggressively.

"Did you take your medicine today?" A small nod. "Okay, well… we're all going to head out to eat soon, so you can just take a nap in the car on the way there. Food might make you feel better."

"I dunno." I mumbled, the words spilling out without my control. "I haven't really been eating that much this week."

"What the fuck, child? That's why you're feeling so bad right now. Come on." She pulled away and grabbed my chair, startling me by pulling it out so I could stand. She laughed at my squeak. "Also, you might wanna put on a thicker jacket. I know how much you love wearing our brother's clothes, buuut it's pretty cold outside."

"Eh, I'll be fine." I slid out of the seat and stood up, groaning and stretching my arms above my head- making a face when my shoulders popped and lower back ached. I whined and slumped over. "Everything hurts."

"That's why you should be doing the yoga I suggested!" She retorted, tossing an arm over my shoulders. I was expecting the action this time, so instead of shouting or anything of the like I just wrapped an arm around her waist to help balance myself. She was several inches taller than me. "You're always hunched over at the desk doodling; that's not good for you. Trust me, I know."

"True facts."

This was… warm. Familiar. Comforting. I knew this woman. Her voice, her laugh, her twinkling eyes full of mischief, her smirk, her warmth.

As we walked I looked at our feet, trying to match my steps with hers. It always amused me how she called me "child" despite the fact I no longer actually was one. I was simply younger than her by several years, and because of that alongside our height difference she took to it as a nickname for me- among others. She claimed that since she basically helped raise me, I was her child. "Where are we eating again?"

"Um… good question. Fuck." Pushing her striped red-black-and-white poncho out of the way, she reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out a cellphone, tapping on the screen a few times. "Ah. O'Charley's. Dad is driving."

He's probably already in the car. Here's to hoping he doesn't go off on a history tangent along the way. Well, maybe I'll be asleep so who knows? I might not even have to listen to it.

I wish I had never thought that.

Barely ten minutes into the drive it started to pour down rain, and within half an hour… the world around us became swallowed by rain water- the sun blazing hotter than ever before. There was panic. Confusion. Our father tried to turn back around to return to the house, but the ground was already flooded. A vortex of pure darkness seemed to swirl in the sky, and all everyone could do was watch as a monster came flying out, roaring loudly in rage, its body black and red and hideous and long.

But it wasn't alone.

Red and tall, and blue and round. Screeching. Flames and water and rain and sun and heat and cold. Buildings began to fall apart. Vehicles skidded and sunk and crashed. Blood seeped from our father's forehead, the large man trapped in his seat beneath rubble. My sister grabbing my arm and tugging, pulling, forcing me out of the door. Our brother kicking his way out of the front seat so he could reach the back where our other sister was trapped.

Large waves crashing towards us, sweeping us away.

Screaming.

Death.

Pain.

Arms squeezing me so tight, before suddenly we were yanked away from each other.

Water rushing, spinning, pulling and tugging and pushing. Drowning.

Debris flying. Corpses floating.

Eyes glowing a brilliant and terrifying yellow through the water's darkness, undisturbed by the destruction it was causing, determined only to reign victorious. It beat its fins and spiraled forward, out of the water, twisting the waves once more, and a silent scream ripped from my throat as I was washed away along with it. Dragged by the current, unable to fight or resist, my body tossed about like I was nothing.

Splashing, then sinking.

Will fading.

Determination striking.

Arms wrapping around me from behind, helping pull me to the surface. Her. Tears welling up and falling uncontrollably, voice caught in a strangled sob. Coughing, crying, gasping. Clinging. Looking around at the destruction, and watching as yet another monster came shooting out from the vortex in the sky- green and even longer than the black one. It was heading straight towards the red and blue monsters.

A horrifying roar resounded through the air, the thunder and lighting crackling and lighting the dark sky up with yellow light. Squinting, I could make out something smaller- smaller and green- and as the water around us rose up into a huge tidal wave, sending us flying towards the dark vortex, I could see it.

It was so small compared to the other monsters, but it was real and there, and as my sister clung to me for dear life I blindly reached out towards it-

"Bi?"

-and a pair of big blue eyes turned towards me, tiny mouth opening in surprise. Then, just like that, the world around us was gone… and we were swallowed into the void. As we landed into the darkness, I found myself awakening from the nightmare with a start- gasping and sweating as I raised a hand to my aching head.

I was… used to having the same nightmare over and over after all these years, but that was far more vivid than usual.

That monster- the one at the end- it… looked and sounded a bit like a pokēmon.

And the woman I was with, the people I was with, they were… family? I had a family? Who were they? Did… they all die? Are they dead? That man who had been driving- he was… bleeding. Crushed beneath rubble. That was… my father?

I had… a brother.

I had sisters.

The woman who had saved me was my sister.

Shaking, I moved to sit up- curling close to my chest the dawn stone that was still in my hand. A part of me felt like I should be pleased to know my previous suspicions were true, and even more so that I now knew that I did in fact used to have a family, but it was all so confusing and painful and… wrong. None of it made sense.

Why were the monsters there? Why… did they look like pokēmon? What happened to the woman I was with?

She was clinging onto me as we fell through the vortex, right?

Why was she not in Rustboro with me?

I don't understand.

And… why did… I look and feel so different? Were these nightmares truly memories?

I… I don't…

"Ugh…" A groan snapped me out of my thoughts and I jumped, whirling my head around to see Blue laying on the steel ground next me. From the way we were positioned, it seemed like he had cushioned my fall when we crashed into the room, protecting my skull from any further damage. His face twisted with pain and I watched as he grimaced.

But… wait. I thought the ship was sinking?

Shakily standing and flinching at the pain in my leg, I looked around the room- trying to figure out what was going on. If the ship had sunk, then we should be dead. Did it somehow manage to stay afloat or… oh. My face paled when I saw several broken pipes pouring out seawater, as well as several spots on the floor starting to leak.

The ship did sink.

It just hasn't filled up with water yet.

And we were trapped inside it.

Heart dropping heavily into my stomach, I turned to look back at Blue, horror and fear rising up in me, and I looked down at the stone I was holding. B-Because of me… I was going to get us killed. Because of my selfishness, I got Blue trapped down here with me. No.

No…

No way…

Lips curling back, I choked- and then I was stumbling over to him, falling to my knees and hunching over his passed out form, cradling the stone to my forehead with both hands as I broke down into tears. This was all my fault.

"I-I'm sorry…" He didn't deserve this sort of fate. "I-I'm so sorry!"

All because I'm stubbornly clinging onto a faded memory, Blue followed me down here and trapped himself down here to die. I should have listened. If I had abandoned the stone, then we could have met up with Brock and Misty and gotten on a lifeboat. Instead, we were now running on a timelimit- about to lose oxygen and drown in the sunken remains of a cruise ship.

"I'm s-sorry… I'm sorry, I'm sorry, this is all my fault, I'm so sorry-!"

Professor Oak will never see his grandson again, and it's all because I got him killed.

"I'm sor-"

A hand suddenly grabbed mine, and I looked up just in time to receive a small bop on the head. Blue, despite being in pain, scowled at me, the boy struggling to sit up. "How many times… do I have to tell ya to quit apologizing?"

"B-But I… b-because of me, y-you… w-we're gonna…"

"Not if… I have anythin' to say about it." Blue grouched. Steadying his breathing, he pressed a hand to his abdomen, and waited for his head to stop spinning. "Okay. It's fine. We can do this, kid. You may think it's because of you that we're down here- and, yeah, maybe it is just a little bit- but it's also because of you that I switched out one of my pokēmon earlier. Remember?"

I blinked several times, both trying to clear my vision of the tears and to showcase my confusion. "H-Huh?"

Blue flashed me a small smirk and reached over to his belt, pulling out a pokēball. "I have my Gyarados now. We just… gotta find an exit first before he can actually get us out of here."

My eyes widened.

The next thing I knew, a whole new wave of tears were spilling forth and Blue let out a startled yelp when I threw my arms around his shoulders, hugging him tightly. A thousand more apologies wanted to spill from my lips, but I held them back, gritting my teeth together and squeezing my eyes shut tightly. He's not going to die.

Not now, and not like the people from my nightmare.

We're going to get out of this.

Even… if it means having to travel through the water itself.

Pulling away, I cradled the stone to my chest and stood- wiping away the tears as best as I could with my short sleeves. Sniffling, I looked up at Blue one more time before lowering my head again, still feeling immensely guilty for getting us stuck in this mess. "I… I sh-should've listened to you. I'm sorry."

Blue stared at me for a moment, something flickering in his brown eyes, before he hung his head with a sigh. "It's fine. I have Gyarados, and it's not like we're dead yet. But, I swear, if I ever meet the guy who gave you that stone I am punching him in the face."

I snapped my head up at that, alarmed. "What!? Why?"

"Because." He grunted, pressing his palms to the floor and stumbling up onto his feet. Regaining his balance, he placed a hand on his hip and pointed at me- or, rather, specifically, he pointed at the stone I was cradling in my hands. "He has no idea how much that thing means to you. I mean, seriously; it's ridiculous. If he doesn't freaking remember you, I might actually go feral."

"O-Okay…?" I made a face, not quite understanding why he was saying all that. "Please don't."

"Nope. I'mma do it. That's my promise to you." Blue smirked. "Now, tuck that dumb stone in your bag so it doesn't go rolling away again."

Oh. Yes. Right. That would… be a smart idea, actually. Hmm.

Sliding off my backpack, I unzipped part of the front and carefully tucked the dawn stone it- making sure it was totally secure before zipping the bag back up and sliding it back on. Seeing Blue's hand extended out towards me, I hesitated before reaching out and taking it, the boy leading me through the room and out the door we came from. Everything was completely upside down.

Judging by all the food and cooking supplies, we seemed to have landed in the kitchen area.

Entering the hall, Blue scrunched up his nose- disturbed to see the floor was leaking. "We need to find a way up. If we're upside down, then the deck is below us and the hull is above us. We could try going down to the deck, but if we reach a dead end we're done for. But if we go up, I can have Arcanine blast through the hull and summon Gyarados to swim us out of this place."

"But… how are we going to go up if everything is upside down?" I didn't have Basil or Belladonna with me, so using their Vine Whips wasn't an option. Brock wasn't here either, which means we couldn't use Onix as a staircase either. "Wait, d-do you still have Pidgeot? He could carry us up."

Blue snapped his fingers, grinning down at me. "There we go! Bingo. Your brain isn't all muddled after all!" He blinked then, as if just taking notice of something. I tilted my head, concerned, only to recoil in surprise when he leaned down closer to my height. "Hey, who the heck did that to you?"

"Huh?"

He let go of my hand, instead reaching out to brush some of my hair out of my face, thumb gingerly brushing against my left eye. Immediately, pain flared throughout my face and I flinched, and Blue scowled. "Those Team Rocket jerks did it, didn't they? Was it that guy from before? The one with the silver hair?"

"N-No, Rich didn't-"

"Rich? You know him?"

"W-Well-" Frick. Brock knew, but Blue didn't. "-Rich… Richard was… the one who p-put me in charge of the kids."

Blue didn't look happy. "...You mentioned that yesterday. So that was him?"

"Y-Yeah. The pink-haired lady with him was Velga."

The boy clicked his tongue, standing up straight and bringing a hand to his chin. He glanced at me out of the corner of his eyes, frowning deeply. "Were they… I mean, did you see them a lot back in Hoenn? Did… Did they hurt you a lot?"

I lowered my head at that, not really wanting to answer. "...Velga did. She and the Mistress never liked me very much. They… always said they could "see through me" despite… everything I did for them. Rich… put me through some really bad training sessions, but he… didn't really hit mehimself that often. A-At least, not until Brock and I found him on Mount Moon. He… liked to brag about me to the boss a lot, since… a-as you said I… h-have a way with pokēmon. Which is… why I was brought here to Kanto."

"You mentioned that back in Pallet Town." Blue noticed. "Rich was the guy you were talking about back then, too. Seems you hung around him often."

"N-Not… willingly, but…" Yeah. "Rich was… my instructor, basically."

He was grooming me for villainy.

"On Mount Moon, he was… th-the one who, uh…" I awkwardly cleared my throat, raising a hand up to my neck. "Did that to me."

"...You know what, kid?" A grin curled across Blue's lips, eyes burning with a silent fury. "I'm gonna punch him in the face, too- ten times harder than I will your mystery guy. Then I'll send Machamp after him. He'll punch Rich, too. Repeatedly."

It took a second to process his words, and then I raised my fists up proudly- recalling the battle from what was probably a few hours ago. I didn't like the idea of Richard dying, but I did enjoy the thought of him being hit a couple of times. "I-I headbutted Rich earlier! A-And I... I think I broke his nose when I did it? It was bleeding a lot before I ran away! Last time I couldn't even really talk when I saw him, but this time! This time I hit him, a-and I also told him my name!"

"Yeah?" Blue said, sounding amused. "And what's your name, kid?"

"El!" I exclaimed. It was a little silly, but saying it was doing quite a bit to make me feel better, and I think Blue knew that. It was reminder I was human, a reminder that I was someone, and that I was no longer a puppet to be used. "If the boss is really alive, then I'm gonna tell him that, too, when we see him! A-And we are going to see him, because we're gonna get out of here, a-and we're gonna find him and take down all of Team Rocket! And we're gonna punch them all in the face!"

We can get out of this mess.

We have to.

"Then let's try and find a way up." Blue said, placing a hand atop my head. "The ship's body will only hold out for so long against all this water pressure, and we have no idea when the floor will cave out."

"R-Right." I nodded.

"Now, if we're in the east wing, then…" Blue walked a few steps forward, eying the ceiling. "There should be a staircase nearby leading deeper into the ship. Pidgeot can carry us up like you suggested. El, can you check the other side and see if you can find the staircase?"

"O-On it!"

Hurrying to the other side, I looked up- only to pause when my shoe stepped in something wet. Looking down, I saw the floor below us was already flooded, and the water was starting to rise up onto this level. We needed to hurry.

Looking back at Blue, who was still making his way to the other end- why are these halls so freaking long- I glanced back up at the staircase. "There's one over here! The floor is starting to flood though…" It was already reaching up to my ankles over here.

Hearing my shout, Blue rushed over- and made a face when he saw how high the water was rising. "Let's be quick then. Pidgeot, come out!"

"Pidggggeeee!" The bird pokēmon cawed, appearing in a flash of red light. It flapped its wings, and then looked down at the area around us with wide eyes. "Pidge!?"

"Yeah, it's a bit of a mess." Blue joked. "Think you can carry us up to the next floor?"

Pigeot looked up at the staircase above us, then at Blue- nodding its head. It wasted no time in diving forward and snatching the boy up by his shoulders. Carefully carrying him with his talons, Pidgeot raised him up in the air and through the hole, setting him down safely up above. I watched as this happened, ignoring the nervous racing of my heart as I felt the water reach up to just below my knees.

"El, your turn!"

"Pidgeeeot!" I inhaled sharply when the bird dived back down to grab me, its large talons snatching me by the arms. I let out a tiny squeak of alarm when my feet left the ground, very unused to the feeling of being carried like this, and squeezed my eyes shut until Blue's pokēmon had carried me past the staircase and set me down on the floor beside his trainer. "Pidgeee!"

Blue grinned, and the pokēmon cawed happily- flying over to rest on his shoulder. The boy carefully pet the feathers near Pidgeot's neck. "Good job, buddy. We might need you to help us get to the next floor too, though, so-"

"Blue!? El!?"

My heart leapt into my throat, and Blue and I whirled around- staring with wide eyes at a pair of familiar faces. "B-Brock?"

"Misty!?"

Brock wasted no time in running at us, Ansem and Basil and Belladonna following suit. Blue and I did not have time to brace ourselves for the sheer strength of his attack, the taller boy's strong arms wrapping around us and his body knocking us down on the ground- Ansem, Basil, and Belladonna on top, Pidgeot hurriedly flying out of the way.

Misty burst out into laughter, finding the dogpile of humans and pokēmon rather hilarious, and Blue shouted- smacking Brock on the back repeatedly to try and get him to let go. "Oi!"

"I-I was so worried!" Brock wailed, tears streaming down his face as he held us tighter. "We couldn't find you guys anywhere!"

"We're fine!" Blue exclaimed, exasperated, trying with all his might to push him off of us. Meanwhile I just layed there, accepting our fate, eyes wide as my brain tried to process the fact that Brock was trapped down here as well. "W-Will you get off'a me already!? Jeez!"

"Evaaa!" Ansem cried out, and I turned my head to the side to get a faceful of brown fur. "Veeva vee! Veva! Evaaa!"

"Weepin! Weepinbell, Weepin!"

Brock slowly lifted himself off of us, allowing Blue to worm his way out from under him and to freedom, and letting Basil and Belladonna hop onto me. I bit back a grunt of pain when Basil jumped on my stomach, and I moved to grab Ansem, lifting him off my face and holding him up to my chest. Belladonna sobbed into my side, wrapping her leafy arms around my waist.

"Saur!" Basil scolded, glaring at me with teary eyes. "Ivysaur, Ivy! Ivyyyysaur!"

"S-Sorry." I stammered, a bit overwhelmed. "I-I just- I panicked, a-and there was Team Rocket, a-and then my stone was-"

Misty stepped forward, moving closer to the group and frowning. She held a hand to her chest. "Wait, what happened?"

Blue sighed, watching as I tried to calm down my very emotional pokēmon. Now standing, he leaned against the wall, folding his arms over his chest. "Um, long story short: El got ambushed by some Team Rocket goons named Rich and Velga." Brock's expression darkened, and Blue and Misty took notice. Blue continued, "After I rescued her from Rich with my Aerodactyl, her dawn stone fell out of her pocket and she went crazy trying to catch it."

"Oooh." Brock brought a hand to his chin. "That makes sense. She's really attached to it."

I cringed when he said that, hugging Ansem closer so his tan-colored mane tickled my face. "I-I'm sorry."

"No apologizing." Blue said sternly. "We're alive, and that's what matters. We can still get out of this."

"Pidgee!" Pidgeot cawed, catching everyone's attention and reminding us he was still here. We turned to look at him, and he gestured with his wing towards the staircase Blue and I came up from. The water had already risen up to the next level- this level- during the time we spent chatting. "Pidge!"

"Right. Good call, Pidgeot." Blue said, nodding his head and pulling out his pokēball. He held it out towards the bird pokēmon. "Return!"

A red light swallowed the pokēmon, and Blue attached the pokēball back on his belt.

"As I was telling El earlier, it's too dangerous to try and go down to the deck. We need to make our way up to the hull and blast our way out."

Misty pressed a palm against her cheek, thinking about it. "That's true. It's a good thing I specialize in water-type pokēmon, otherwise we might be in a real pickle. I can summon them and swim us all out of here."

"I was just going to use my Gyarados, but." Blue shrugged. "Whatever works for you, I guess."

Misty scowled at him. "Oh, hush it. Now, we need to head up, right? Luckily for you guys, I once made a model of the S.S Anne so I know the layout of the ship pretty well. I can get us to the thinnest part of the hull. But we'll need a way to get all of us up the staircase quickly, otherwise…" She looked down at the floor, then raised a foot up- showing that the water has already risen up to our ankles. This place was flooding fast. "...we're all gonna sink."

"Welp, guess it's my time to shine then." Brock said, sweating nervously. He pulled out a pokēball and threw it, "Onix, make a staircase!"

"GROOOAAAAH!"

As soon as the pokēmon was summoned, Brock caught the pokēball and ran- leaping up the rock-type pokēmon's body just as it was getting into position. "Hurry, hurry, go, go, go!" The ship started to tilt to the side from Onix's weight, and not having the luxury of hesitation or time on our side we all ran up as fast as we could, scrambling across the pokemon's back.

When we were all up it and Basil, the last in line, had made it across, Brock summoned Onix back into his pokēball, and the ship, thankfully, tilted back into its previous position. Brock, Blue, Misty, and I, as well as Basil, Belladonna, and Ansem, all looked at each other and let out sighs of relief. That had been too close.

Unfortunately, this hallway happened to have lost all electricity- leaving it too dark to see in.

"Brock to the rescue once again!" The boy said, rummaging through his back and pulling out a flashlight. He flicked it on with a grin, lighting the area so we could see down the hallway. It was starting to get really cold within the ship. "Never go adventuring without a trusty light source!"

Misty took to the lead, snatching the flashlight from Brock, and we all followed behind her carefully. I stepped closer to Blue, looking around and eying the leaking walls and floor nervously. "S-So… where exactly are we heading? The hull, yeah, but…"

"This hallway should lead to the engine room." Misty explained, casting a quick glance at our surroundings. "And the engine is room where the hull is thinnest. With a little luck, and plenty of help from our pokēmon, we should be able to cut our way through."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Brock said. "It really is a good thing you're here with us Misty. You're saving our hides here."

She smirked at that, and held a hand up to her chin. "I know I am. If you guys are that grateful to me, you can just buy me dinner later once we get out of here."

I raised a hand. "Just so you know, Brock and I are broke."

"Then it's on Blue, then!"

Blue scowled. "What am I, a piggybank?"

Brock laughed. "Aw, you know we love you."

"Gross."

Misty rolled her eyes with a small smile, then looked forward. Her face lit up. "There! See that door? That's the engine room!"

We all followed her over to a metal door, and she struggled to spin the wheel to open it . Seeing this, Brock walked over to help- and within a few seconds he had managed to unlock it. He flashed Misty a thumbs up, who awkwardly thanked him, and we all made to step into the engine room. We had barely taken three steps in before we were blasted with heat, the entirety of the room lit aflame.

To make matters worse, the door on the other side that would be our exit was… well… unreachable by any normal means. Not unless we could walk on air.

"Alright, hold on." Blue pulled out a pokēballs again. "Pidgeot, you're up again!"

"Pidgeee!?" The bird pokēmon appeared in a flash of light, and let out a squawk when it saw the fiery room. It looked at its trainer incredulously, unable to believe the sort of trouble Blue had gotten himself into. "Pidge! Pidgeot, Pidge!"

"Aw, stop nagging me. I get enough of that from sir mama hen over there." He jabbed his thumb in the taller boy's direction, and Brock crossed his arms with a huff. "Can you carry us across or not?"

Pigeot glanced at the door, then at all of us. Seeing how many people and pokēmon there were, Pidgeot shook its head. "Pidgee!"

"What? Really?"

I looked up at Blue and Pidgeot, hesitated for a second, and then looked down at Basil and Belladonna. "D-Do you think… Do you think Pidgeot could carry Basil and Belladonna across, and they grab us with their Vine Whips? It'd be safer than trying to walk our way over on them."

Blue stared, thought about it, and turned to his Pidgeot. "Did you get all that?"

"Pidgee!"

Basil and Belladonna looked at each other, then cheered. "Saaur!"

"Weepin!"

Pidgeot flew over and snatched them up. Careful not to drop the grass-types into the fiery flames of death below, the pokēmon carried them over to the door on the other side of the room, setting them down. Then Basil and Belladonna turned to us and shot out the vines we were all hoping for. "Saaaaur!"

"Weepinbell!"

Brock and Misty let out startled shouts, having not braced themselves to be yanked across the room, but Blue was a bit more prepared when his turn came. I held Ansem tight in my arms, and squeezed my eyes shut as I felt Basil's vines wrap around me. I tried to push out the memories of the explosion, to ignore the pain in my right arm as my burn began to ache, and grit my teeth when Basil yanked me towards everyone.

Not really having a safe way to land, Brock was quick to move to catch me, and Basil jumped up happily when he saw. He rushed forward and nuzzled my leg. "Ivysaur!"

"G-Good job." I breathed, kneeling down to pet him, Ansem situating himself on my shoulders. "Y-You did… very good. So good. Thank you."

"Saur!"

Belladonna hopped over, wanting praise as well. I caught her in my arms and nuzzled her face, letting her wrap her leafy arms around my head. "You too. I'm proud of you."

"Weepin!"

Misty looked around the hall we were in, cringing at the sounds of the creaking ship. "This should be a good place to cut our way out, but… which pokēmon to use? Oh! Wait a minute; El, your Weepinbell knows how to use the move Acid, right?" I blinked at the question, slowly nodding my head. "We can have her melt the hull for us, and with my water-type pokēmon we can swim our way out! Then we can ride Blue's Gyarados until we can find some land!"

"…Should she do that right now, or-?"

"Um, hold on." Misty pulled out her pokēballs, summoning forth several pokēmon. "Starmie, Staryu, Seaking, Horsea! Brock, do you have any rope in that big backpack of yours?"

"Absolutely, I do." He said, pulling the object off of his shoulders and rummaging through it. "I've got plenty!"

"Perfect. Tie yourselves to the pokēmon- and make sure El's is extra tight, since she can't swim. El, call back your Eevee and Ivysaur into their pokēballs."

I opened my mouth to protest, despising leaving my pokēmon in their pokēballs, but then I remembered I had already done the same thing to Ruby and Sapphire to try and protect them earlier. This also wasn't really a good time or place to argue about such a thing. It wasn't like my pokēmon could breathe underwater, anyway.

Begrudgingly, I did as told- and tried not to feel too uncomfortable as Brock tied me to Horsea. Blue was tied to Staryu, Brock to Starmie since they were both the biggest and strongest out of our group, and Misty herself latched onto Seaking.

I readied Belladonna's pokēball in my hand. "O-Okay, Bella. M-Melt through the hull!"

Don't be scared. Don't panic.

Breathe.

Stay focused, El. We're not going to drown.

We can do this.

We are going to survive this.

Sadly, telling myself that was easier than actually believing it. As soon as Belladonna blasted a large hole through the hull with her Acid attack and water came spilling into the hall, the fear rose up so strongly there was no hiding it. I was trembling so badly I almost wasn't able to call Belladonna back into her pokēball, and it was even harder to stick it in my backpack with the others.

"Hey, El!" Blue suddenly shouted, causing me to jump. I looked at him with big eyes. He pointed at me, then himself. "We are going to make it. Just don't let go of the rope, okay?"

My lips curled back and I choked back a sob, nodding with teary eyes.

"Everyone ready?" Misty called, the water now up to our waists. I couldn't feel my legs. The water was freezing. Brock and Blue shared a look, then turned to me. My voice was trapped in my throat. The rope felt slippery in my hands. The sound of the water spilling into the hall and rising around us only served as fuel for my fear. "Let's go!"

I wasn't prepared for the speed in which Horsea took off, a startled cry escaping my lips before I quickly inhaled some air and held my breath, squeezing my eyes shut as we went diving into the water and through the hole in the hull, bursting out and entering the deep blue sea. It was so cold.

So dark.

So familiar. It stung. Holding my breath hurt.

I don't want to die again.

Unable to recognize what it was I had just thought, a pair of hands suddenly grabbed mine from either side. My eyes snapped open and I looked up, surprised to see Brock and Blue beside me. They were kicking their legs, following Starmie and Staryu, and with their extra hand that wasn't hanging onto the rope they had grabbed mine, helping Horsea pull me along and reminding me that I wasn't alone. That they were here.

That we were going to get out of this, and we were going to make it to the surface alive.

Ignoring the slight sting in my eyes from the saltwater, I squeezed my eyes shut and tightened my grip on the rope. Everything was fine. We're going to be okay. I could vaguely hear the sunken S.S Anne falling off the ledge it had been balancing on, but I pretended not to notice- doing my best to focus solely on the feeling of Brock and Blue's hands.

We're not… going to die.

Not this time. Not today.

Just as I thought I was going to lose consciousness from the lack of air, head throbbing and eyes burning with a sensation I was all too used to, we finally broke through to the surface.

Keeping hold of Starmie, Brock helped tug me closer to Horsea so I could actually hold on to the pokēmon. Misty and her Seaking swam over to some nearby debris that had floated away from the ship, climbing atop it and urging us to do the same.

Blue climbed up first, and helped pull Brock up while Misty did the same for me. I collapsed onto all fours, breathing heavily and wheezing, inhaling as much sweet oxygen as I could before just straight-up collapsing onto the wooden platform, emotionally and mentally drained from that entire fiasco.

I was exhausted. "I hated… e-everything about that…"

Blue barked a laugh, brushing his wet hair out of his face while Misty returned her pokēmon to their pokēballs, thanking them for doing such a good job. "And here I thought it was kinda fun. Nothing like a life-and-death situation to get the blood pumping."

"You're insane." Misty breathed.

Blue laughed again, then leaned onto his back, stretching his limbs out. "Am I now? I dunno. It got real exciting towards the end there, didn't it? We were racing against the clock."

"The clock of death!" Misty exclaimed. "You really are a weirdo."

"I think we made a great team." Brock said, interrupting their sure-to-become argument.

"Just a little." Blue relented, closing his eyes. "Man, this sun feels nice…"

Misty let out a yawn. "We should… avoid falling asleep here. Otherwise, we might… drift farther out to sea…"

Blue, Brock, and Misty all stared at each other after that, and I watched in confusion as they all started to break out into fits of laughter. Did I… miss something? Was there a joke I didn't understand?

Still shaking, never going to be comfortable until I was back on solid unmoving land, I pushed myself up onto my knees. "A… Are you guys okay?"

"W-We're fine." Blue gasped. "D-Don't worry about it, kid."

"Wha…?"

"I-It's…" Misty snorted, bringing a hand up to her face and wiping away a few tears. "It's weird. Sorry. Just… I mean… we're alive. We actually got out of there!"

Glancing at the water, I scooted closer to the middle of the wooden platform we were on, disturbed at the knowledge that if not for the debris, it would have been impossible to tell that a ship had ever sunk. That… a group of kids and their pokēmon had been trapped inside. Does anyone know? Are we the only ones aware of that?

We… could have died, and nobody would have known.

Not until years later, when divers would discover our skeletons in the depths of the destroyed cruise ship. Gods, that thought… I shivered and shook my head, bringing my hands up to my hair and curling my knees to my chest. It was hard to believe that we really made it out. Now we were just floating, out in the middle of the big watery blue.

And all… because I was too attached to a faded memory.

"I… I'm sorry."

At the sound of my pathetic, whimpering voice their laughter came to a halt. The trio looked at me with wide eyes, surprised by the abrupt apology.

"I-It's… a-all because of me that… that we… that you all… I-I'm so sorry." I dug my fingers into my hair, burying my face in my arms as I started to hiccup and cry. "I-I should've- I should've just l-left the stone, b-but I- I couldn't, and then- I'm so sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I-I'm not- you should- I can't-"

"El…" Brock began to say, outstretching a hand, but I frantically shook my head and cut him off.

"No! D-Don't- Don't try t-to make me feel better! It's my fault a-and you know it! I-I can't…" I hiccupped, sniffling painfully and slowly lifting up my head, gazing at the palms of my hands in frustration, trying my hardest to recall anything I knew about the person outside his eye color. "I nearly got us all killed… for a stone that belonged to someone I can't even remember! D-Do you have any idea what that feels like!?"

My lips curled back as I stared them all down, unable to bear the weight of their pained expressions. I slammed a hand to my chest, digging my fingers into my shirt.

"I don't remember him! His name, his face, his voice! I have only one memory of him, and it's of a promise that won't ever be fulfilled! I-I survived Team Rocket because of that promise, because of… of some dumb, stupid hope that I'd see him again! But I don't rememberhim, and my attachment to a stone is what got us stuck in that ship in the first place!"

Everything hurt. Everything burned.

"I'm never going to find him, I'm never going to see him again, and despite knowing that I…!" I lowered my head and sobbed, wiping furiously at my face and sniffling continuously. My heart felt like it was tearing itself to pieces from inside out. "I still ran after it! E-Even though… Even though you're my friends. Even though… you've made me human again. I…"

I still chose a stone over your safety.

"H-How… How can I call you my friends when I… I almost… got you all killed?"

I don't deserve you.

"J-Just… Just give up on me… please…"

I'm never going to heal. I'm never going to get better. I'll forever be haunted by Team Rocket and the faded memory of a boy whose name I can't remember. I'm a failure. A mess. A product of the environment I grew up in. I never knew who I was, so why should I even bother trying to be someone now? I'm disgusting.

I'm filth.

I'm… a weed, just like Mistress Augusta and Velga always said. I've only had access to my emotions for less than three weeks, and this is where those chaotic feelings have gotten us. I've not been able to process anything.

With each step I try to take forward, another part of me regresses. I used to be smart. I used to be intelligent. I used to be able to do things withoutputting others at risk. But now…

I can barely even think straight anymore.

I'm so overwhelmed by everything and everyone and all these emotions that I'm no longer able to comprehend anything.

Affection, friendship, understanding, warmth.

It's too much for me. Yet I keep selfishly wanting to cling onto them for more of it, despite knowing no matter where we went they would all be in danger. I don't even think I've fully managed to process the trauma I've suffered at the hands of Team Rocket, yet now that I'm out of that hellhole I'm drowning beneath all this unnecessary and unconditional kindness these people keep showing me and the emotions that came with it. That I've kept locked away for so many years.

Why?

I'm not worth it. I never was. No matter what they might try to say otherwise. I can't even remember the name or face of the one person most important to me.

To make matters worse, I'm a murderer. I'm the one who spoke to Mewtwo, who led to the headquarter's explosion; and back in the Hoenn base, there were so many kids I failed to save. Little ones I ended up cradling close, their bodies cold and lifeless after I had failed to nurse them back to health. Team Rocket probably never even gave them proper burials.

I worked so hard, but in the end… it didn't really matter.

My efforts were pointless.

I was useless.

I was broken.

I was a weed that was just too stubborn to give up. That clung onto faded promises that'll never be kept, and dreamed foolish, childish dreams that one day things might change. That I could help cause the change.

I should have known better.

After all, weeds may be stubborn- but they all get pulled out by their roots in the end. Dandelions, like Velga said, are no different.

"Just… Just take Gyarados and go!"

Leave me here to rot and wither, just like I should have long ago. I won't be able to live with myself if you nearly die again because of me.

"I-"

"Okay, that's enough!" Blue's voice rang out, cutting me off before I could say anymore. I paused and sniffled, looking up at him with wide eyes from between my fingers. His shout had startled me considerably, and his glare even more so. "Enough with the self-blame already! You weren't the one who made the ship sink; that was allTeam Rocket."

"B-But I-"

"Yeah, yeah; you went after the stone, I tried to get you to stop, and Brock and Misty got trapped trying to find us while everyone else was evacuating. But, again, you weren't the one who sunk the ship. You weren't even really the one who dropped the stone, seeing as that Team Rocket jerk kept tossing you about like a ragdoll."

"I-I should have kept better watch on it-"

"It's a stone." Blue exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "It was bound to fall out of your pocket sometime! You want to keep better track of it? Be like me, get a fanny pack! Nothing falls out of that unless you just happen to leave it unzipped. Now shut up and stop blaming yourself. I'm summoning Gyarados and we are getting out of here."

Misty looked up at that. "But we don't know which way is land!"

Blue rolled his eyes. "I have two flying-type pokēmon. Come on. Give me some credit. I was a traveling trainer way before any of you three. I wasn't always my grandpa's assistant, you know."

We're getting a better glimpse into El's past! Who is she truly? What about the woman she was with? WHO IS THAT POKEMON!?

Good lord, I need to stop. T_T I'm outta control.

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you all think in the comments, and have a wonderful day/night wherever you are! Stay safe! 💕