Alola readers! Brav is back with another chapter!
We were at the cliffhanger of the last one and I have to admit that I'm rubbing my hands together with an evil smirk. All of you are absolutely right in that this can turn bad really fast! Time to see what does end up happening and how this will affect our lovable cast.
This chapter does contain violence turned up a little more than usual. A friendly warning of course.
Enjoy everyone.
I can't believe this is the second time I've seen something life threatening happen. I've always believed surfing to be a fun sport, but there are risks…pokemon hazards, drowning and all of these can get the best of even the best surfers out there.
My heart stopped as soon as that…monster attacked her. How awful!
Elio was just as terrified, but I think everyone was just about surprised when he jumped right into action.
Calvera Northstar gave another sigh as he rolled his truck into the parking lot just behind the fire station.
It was still early in the morning and Cerulean City still had its usual overcast weather with a low mist hanging overhead. The wind was a slight breeze, ripping away at his windbreaker as he parked and exited before moving to the rear doors.
His seven year old son Elio rubbed his eyes, awakening after falling back asleep after putting on his seatbelt.
"Hey buddy." His father ruffled him on the head. "We're here."
"Already?"
"Yes. Come on, Blu's waiting for you."
Hearing the name of his best friend, the boy's eyes shot open and he frantically undid his seatbelt, jumping right down from the truck's higher railing to the ground. Elio stumbled, but he was already shouting out loud to the vaporeon about challenging him to a race inside.
Elaine had the weekend off, but she had begun to develop soreness in her throat which had fully escalated into strep by the time Calvera had woken up. He too had the day off, however it was the time he had to renew his own cardiopulmonary resuscitation certificate, which Kanto firehouses mandated twice a year.
With his mother bedridden, he had little choice but to take the boy along while retaking the course necessary for his job. He wasn't bothered by any of it, despite Elaine's worries that his session might bore him.
Elio was too preoccupied with Blu to really care. The two of them were already running around in the front yard as Calvera grabbed the duffel of his gear from the trunk and carried it inside.
He was rather touched by the close bond his own son had with his partner pokemon. Blu had already long been accepted into the family, forming a mate in Elaine's Jolteon Amp. Aside from playing "pretend battle" with Elio in the backyard, he was like a second pair of eyes when the boy wandered off or appeared to get into trouble. One of his favorite things in seeing his son and pokemon do was find them cuddled up together and sleeping soundly. He and Elaine had compiled several pictures already of the two and knew more would follow soon enough.
The session went smoothly with the trainer already being quite familiar with the station. He had come biannually to issue the renewals and having such acquaintance meant the class could be done faster. It was one of those things that nobody wanted to stay for, but had to since their jobs and lives of others depended on it.
Calvera made sure Elio was comfortable in the firehouse's living room where there was plenty of space before he turned on the TV to some footage of the Indigo League tournaments. Elio had sat down on the couch with Blu bounding right up to curl next to him. His eyes were already glued to the intense battling going on between a huge arcanine against a smaller marowak.
That would be enough to keep him occupied.
As Calvera sat with the others from his station, listening carefully to their instructor, he began to hear giggling come right from the living room. Footsteps rapidly beat on the floor growing louder.
The instructor paused mid-lecture and stared in that direction right as Elio and Blu playfully ran alongside one another. The boy tackled the bubble jet pokemon onto the ground, still giggling even as he tried to free himself.
"Aww." A couple of the other firefighters said. They had known Elio since he was a baby and loved the kid as if he was one of their own children.
The instructor looked a little embarrassed or irked that he had been rudely interrupted. Before he could say anything else, Calvera had stood up, scooping up his son before using his free hand to tickle Elio's open ribcage. The amount of laughter doubled.
"Dad! That tickles Dad! Stop it!"
"You think you're such a smart boy! Huh?"
"You should have seen this battle going on!" Elio was out of breath and he spread his hands wide. "This marowak jumped right on top of the arcanine and hit him with his bone! It knocked him out! That was soooooo amazing!"
Calvera laughed. "Already studying to be a trainer and appreciating the fine awesomeness of battle. I like it son! But Dad's busy right now and Mom is sick."
"I hope she feels better. Then we can play some more, eat dinner and watch TV together again."
"I hope your mother gets better too. But I'm trying to learn something really important right now. To do what we do best okay? Do you remember? We always what?"
"We…we always help anyone we can."
"That's right."
Elio looked over at everyone staring at him before back up to his father. Admiration shined in his gray eyes. "I want to learn too."
Back onshore, everyone was watching with wide frightened eyes at the massive screen.
The kraken of a pokemonhad rose up from the hellish depths ominously and straight out of a horror movie.
"What wazzz that?!" Rotom screeched, just as surprised and aghast as his human compatriots. "That was a new pokemon! Bzzt! Tentacruel. Jellyfish pokemon. It is the evolved form of tentacool. Normally it has eighty poisonous tentacles. The longer one has been alive, the fewer tentacles it will have. Tentacruel's stingers contain a neurotoxin that can lead to fatal cardiac arrest in humans. Tentacruel is a water and poison type. Additional information is available upon catching the pokemon."
Elio had seen the infamous flick Tentacruel, where an entire gang of the man o' war pokemon had been in the area of a lab waste accident, growing to immense sizes and terrorizing beachgoers. The movie was far older, having come out when his parents were in their teens.
They were looked as merely a bother, just a nuisance that often drifted about in the sea searching for food. Unprovoked attacks on humans were actually rare and overlooked by the more dangerous sharpedo.
In truth, sharpedo attacks on humans were indeed gruesome, but they were even more rare since the majority were either desperate for food or sensed blood in the water…something they were the most adept at.
More people died annually from tentacool and tentacruel stings than sharpedo attacks. Virbank's PokeStar Studios made the cult film Tentacruel, causing the entire world to wake up and fear a marine creature far more dangerous than the razor toothed bully.
Elio was among those. He hated tentacruel.
And he was front seat to watching someone he cared about die to one.
Again.
Shouts of panic snapped him out of his trance. Willie the announcer had reacted with visible shock. Around their own booth, Lillie's face went sheet white as she gasped and cupped her mouth with her hand. Instantly, she stuffed Nebby back inside her duffel, completely ignoring the cloud pokemon's protests.
Makoa couldn't tear his eyes away as the huge wave she had been riding crashed right to shore. People even remotely close screamed and ran for cover, in fear that the gigantic tentacruel would come ashore to claim another victim. "By the tapu." He whispered, barely able to believe what just happened. "No. Leilani."
"NO!"
Elio saw Hau fall to his knees as tears welled up in his eyes. "NO! Leilani!"
"That…that thing." Lillie stammered. "It just attacked her and broke her board…she's…she's gone."
"I can't believe the size of that thing!" Fear gripped Elio icily, him knowing that stings could be incredibly painful at the least. One survivor described it akin to having a red hot nail slowly grinding into his ribs and then pouring acid over.
Please let this be fake and staged! Please!
But Elio and Hau both knew that it was no hoax. Eyes glued to the screen, they watched Drewski the pelipper make another low pass over what looked to be several small fragments of her surfboard.
Willie had come back on to try and calm everyone down, yet the fans were still in a panic, the media was in a frenzy of questions and the other contestants had huddled together. Some people even knelt with their heads down, silently praying that she could be saved or if not…died quickly in a painless manner.
Hau felt helpless.
One moment he was cheering on for the girl he had grown up with as kids in Iki Town. The same girl he loved going for malasadas with after watching her practice with her board. She'd constantly decline for him to go, citing that she needed to watch her figure.
It was such an appreciative thing, that she wanted to keep herself fit and he hadn't known that she felt bad every time turning down his offer.
A strained cry of pain barely escaped his parted lips as his heart beat to the rate of automatic gunfire. Sweat ran down his limbs and he felt his stomach knot itself into lashings that would make a scoutmaster proud. A chill crept up his spine, despite the heat still being in full effect.
"I'm going to find her." He had said, barely registering the words in his mind.
Elio didn't want to disagree with him, but he was pretty sure some authorities would handle the rescuing.
"She'll be fine." Right?
Hau didn't feel the same way. "She's in trouble. I know it."
"I feel it too." Makoa added softly.
"But what can we do? We're only trainers. This is what professionals are for!"
"But look! Nobody's acting! What if we're the first ones to come to her aid?!" Hau looked hurt at his unwillingness. "I'm going to help her! If you're coming, fine, but don't try to stop me."
He called over his small eevee, smiling sadly as it bounded over. Elio admired the little pokemon's excitement, even though it likely had little idea of what is going on.
"Hey Eevee." Hau knelt down in front of it while digging around in his backpack. He saw a flash of a blue rounded stone in his palm. The small brown fox pokemon stared at it curiously.
Is that a water stone?
"Someone I really care about is in danger right now. I need your help." He paused. "I know I wanted to wait and have you choose which evolution you wanted, but I need all the help I can get. I'll understand if you don't want this though."
"Eevee."
"If I may butt in Bzzt!" Rotom hovered next to Eevee. "The water ztone izzz an item that can be uzzzed to evolve eevee into the water type vaporeon!"
"Eevee!" He stamped the ground and stared adamantly at Hau and Elio.
"My zugesstionzzz zuggezt that Eevee hazzz already zet hizzz heart on becoming a vaporeon! Bzzt! He juzt wanted to wait for the right time!"
"No time like the present huh?"
"Eevee!"
Hau reached the stone out as the evolution pokemon stepped forward, placing one of his paws on the stone in front of the other.
The moment they made contact; everyone saw the water stone glow a florescent blue and swirl with mysterious energy that almost looked liquid. It flowed directly into Eevee's paws, glowing as it coursed upwards into his chest and beyond.
He let out a loud cry before the glow began to intensify, enveloping his body.
Everyone was putting a hand over their eyes to shield them from the harsh glare. However curiosity was getting the better of them as they kept their attention at the evolving pokemon.
Even Nebby had poked its head out of the bag to investigate. Lillie was too entranced by what was happening to shove it back inside.
The pokemon had changed forms.
All traces of the glow vanished with a small pulse of radiating sparkles that dissolved shortly thereafter.
Eevee's brown fur was now gone, replaced by an aquamarine skin that shimmered in the sunlight. Three long blue fins adorned its head with a white frilly collar rung around in a perfect circumference. A long jagged blue fin ran along the back of its spine and despite its mammalian appearance; the creature's most distinctive feature was the split tail of a mermaid waving lazily from side to side.
"Thiz izzzz my queue! Bzzt! Vaporeon. Bubble jet pokemon. It is an evolved form of eevee. Blending in with its surroundings in any body of water and erasing any signs of its presence; it waits patiently for prey, fish pokemon. Vaporeon can detect nearby moisture with its fin. If it trembles rapidly, that means rain will fall in a few hours. Vaporeon is a water type. Your vaporeon is a male and knows the moves; swift, water pulse, quick attack and acid armor. It's ability is water absorb, which allows it to heal itself upon being attacked with water type moves!"
Normally Hau would've been his usual ecstatic self and embraced his newly evolved pokemon, but both boys wanted to get going quickly knowing the rather grim situation.
"I liked how Sun named his pokemon after they evolved and I guess I'll do that too. Acheron?"
The creature nodded, seeming to like his chosen nickname.
"Good." Makoa stepped behind. "I may have a pokemon that can help."
He threw a pokeball out to sea, expanding the shape into a marine creature with a wide wingspan that curled up at the tips. Two small antennae came out from its head and the tail resembled a long white ribbon, matching the color of its ventral side. On the top was a dark blue with black patterns. Part of it was hidden by a large strapped saddle lashed to its back.
"Another new pokemon! Bzzt! Mantine. Kite pokemon. It is the evolved form of mantyke. Postcards and posters featuring mantine leaping elegantly above the waves are popular souvenirs in Alola. Many people have taken up surfing on its back because they admire how magnificently it swims. Mantine is a water and flying type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."
"This is Leilani's mantine, Hana. She can help."
"Okay."
Nobody was taking any action, so neither of them paid attention to any reactions as they sprinted across the sand. Hau was already clinging onto Acheron's back as they dove right into the oncoming wave. In front, Nani slithered right in front and he grabbed her fins, arms nearly yanked out of his sockets from her quicker speed as she followed suit. Hana was already ahead, very concerned about her rider's well-being.
Elio held onto Nani as best he could while she made top speed right to the area where Leilani had disappeared. The breakers were getting even larger as they ventured further out to sea and it came to the point where he couldn't even tell the depth of the water. Maybe twelve feet, but anything out could double in a matter of meters.
Hau was right behind him with Acheron, deftly surprised that his newly evolved pokemon was able to swim so well even after attaining the form mere minutes ago. Up above them, Rufflet and Dartrix flew to assist in the search from the air.
Elio had seen no sign of her floating in the ocean as far as she should see. Each surfer featured a series of reflective strips in their suit that would catch the sun's rays. Many others featured glowing parts for nighttime and the glare from them would be distinct from the actual sun when it reflected off the ocean waves.
Hau and Elio looked around as they approached the area where they found a handful of surfboard fragments. Sun grabbed one about the size of his head, still disbelieving that such a creature could be so destructive.
It's dawned on me that pokemon are not to be taken lightly. They are dangerous in their own right.
"I don't see her!" He shouted, noting the wind was beginning to pick up. From what Leilani had explained in her short attempts to get him knowledgeable about her favorite sport, stronger winds often meant bigger waves. Soon enough it would be even more difficult to get everyone back to shore.
"She's here!" Hau said back. It almost sounded more that he was convincing himself on the fact.
Elio didn't want to think about the possibility or disagree with him, but they could be searching for her while she had already been dead. If she hadn't drowned, the deadly neurotoxin would've stopped her heart in minutes.
"I'll look underwater."
"Be careful," He warned, "That thing is still out there."
Hau nodded, quickly taking a deep breath and submerging, disappearing under the rolling waves.
Opening his eyes underwater greeted him with the harsh sting of the abundant salt. It was ripping mercilessly and raw at his delicate ocular tissues. The currents tugged at his body, threatening to drift him even further away. Flashes of movement darted below, he could recognize several species of marine pokemon, magikarp, finneon, corsola, carvanha. He only saw two of the latter, which was relieving as an entire school could erupt into a feeding frenzy on others, including humans.
However Leilani had seemed to disappear in the chaos leaving only the fragments of her surfboard as a reminder.
She couldn't have just disappeared! She has to be somewhere close by!
Back on the surface, Elio noticed the waves were starting to get choppier and dark gray clouds began to gather over the horizon moving rapidly in their direction. The heat was beginning to dissipate, but his body was already hot enough with nervousness of not being in time to rescue his friend.
Hana faithfully kept herself as steady as she possibly could, something Elio appreciated. To his left, Hau had resurfaced, clinging to the mantine's fin to catch his breath.
"I can't find her!"
"Keep looking!" Elio didn't have a watch on him, but a few minutes had to have passed since she had gone under. That was more than enough time for an eighteen year old woman to have drowned. "I'm with you! But this weather is starting to turn really bad!"
"We can't stop!" Hau pleaded. "Not now!"
Before he could take another dive into the water, a large section of it bubbled and frothed as the massive crown of the tentacruel surfaced in a dramatic evil entrance. Its true eyes glared daggers at the two humans while the massive crimson orbs flashed angrily.
"I don't think that thing is going to let us dive freely."
"You think?" Both boys immediately formed a plan. "I'll hold it off with Nani, Acheron, Dartrix and Rufflet. You find her! Go!" At his command, Hau had dove underwater again, renewed efforts and doubling his search.
He turned back to face the tentacruel. It hissed angrily and waved its long tentacles about. Elio saw textured cnidocytes within, stinging cells the size of his thumb.
Tentacruel's ancestors were previously far less aggressive than its current descendant, often simply drifting about lazily in the ocean currents and filter feeding tiny microorganisms that came across their path. They were in a mixed myriad of colors ranging from bright yellow to dark purple and considered beautiful yet deadly marine life.
Its sting was feared by both ancient and modern societies, with the widespread fear of the creature's titular movie from PokeStar Studios. As the tentacle stinger even brushed briefly against human skin, cynidocytes which contained its venom glands called nematocysts would trigger and attach by contact, shooting tiny barbs akin to a harpoon or speargun. Skin would easily be penetrated by these barbs with the venom already injected before the victim's brain could even register the pain of being stung.
It made him extremely nervous. Not just because Leilani's life was in danger.
"Okay prick." Elio snarled through clenched teeth. "I'm not losing another friend to you."
The tentacruel made the first move, slamming its tendrils into the water to create a gap that exposed a long delta-shaped appendage. A flurry of bubbles sprayed out at an incredible velocity, narrowly missing him.
He had four pokemon to use, Nani, Rufflet, Dartrix and Acheron. The first three, he knew that he could send into battle against this monster without a problem.
Elio just couldn't get over the fact he was about to witness a second bout of these two water types go at it again. The first one was brutal enough and traumatized him with the subsequent death of his best friend.
If they didn't succeed this time, a tentacruel would do the same thing a second time. Only it would be a human life that was lost.
Okay. Focus. He's gone…and there's no bringing him back. So let's show this thing it picked on the wrong surfer!
"Dartrix, razor leaf!" Elio called out. He was a little bit worried that Hau's pokemon wouldn't listen to another trainer. To his relief, he saw the owl swoop overhead and flick one of his wings to throw a fan of leaf knives. They sailed through the air, pelting the creature and causing it to break off its bubblebeam attack.
With its focus changed, Elio's strategy was to have it get hit with enough attacks to either put it down or flee from the beach for good. Either way, he felt that it was a good chance one of those would occur.
Four against one.
The odds were in his favor, but this tentacruel was battling as if it had belonged to a trainer…or was just abnormally strong and smart.
Rufflet closed from the other side, slashing at its crown with a wing attack and swiftly barrel rolling out of the way as it tried to retaliate with its glowing purple tentacles in a poison jab attack. At his command, Nani fired a dragon pulse that caught it in its successive explosions to toss it around. The blast crashed into the sea, however it was quick to recover.
Acheron charged forward, timing his own attack alongside Dartrix's and Rufflet's. The tentacruel saw it coming and sprayed an oily clear liquid catching him straight in the middle of it. Elio nearly cringed seeing that, wondering when they could end this battle so that he wouldn't have to relieve a similar experience again.
The tentacruel targeted the vaporeon this time, shooting out a wave of noxious sludge that struck and sent him tumbling into the waves.
"No Blu!" Elio cried, almost feeling his heart try to thump out of his ribcage. He had no recollection of saying the incorrect name.
This is too much!
Rufflet swooped down for another wing attack although the man-o-war pokemon saw it coming. It twisted in the water before raising its mouthpart again and blasting out a beam of frigid white energy. The ice beam collided with his wings that both knocked him out and added nearly double his weight, causing him to plummet down.
Acheron had beaten him as he rushed forward in the water, erupting out in a wild spray to catch the falling bird. He could see that they were underwater from the impact, but the vaporeon rushed to his side, gently depositing Rufflet onto Leila's wing. Elio scooped him up immediately before a wave washed over the side.
"You did good out there buddy." He held him in one hand, cursing himself again for the tenth time that he had forgotten their poke balls. "We'll finish this."
As he was recovering his fallen pokemon, the tentacruel must've known it had tipped its hand on having the ice type attack. It fired wildly at Dartrix, keeping the owl from attacking, but engrossed enough to leave it exposed.
"Acheron, Nani! Both of you water pulse!"
The two water types in perfect synchronization began to gather water energy into spheres. As the tentacruel sensed an impending attack, both launched at the same time.
Acheron's pulse hit just a millisecond before Nani's, slamming into the beast's side and forcing it back to create a ten foot crater in the middle of the ocean. Gravity overtook its walls and it collided back together leaving bubbles as the only reminder of its presence moments prior.
Nani's water pulse created a second one doing just as much damage, but the stinging jellyfish was quick to shake off the effects. To Elio's dismay, neither of them had induced the added effect of confusion.
Elio paid scant attention to the battle as Nani, Acheron, Dartrix and the tentacruel went at one another as Hau finally surfaced once again in an explosive exhale from holding his breath underwater for so long. His dark hair clung to his back and he looked even worse for the wear.
"I found her!"
Elio's heart skipped a beat. They had a chance.
"I hold it off! Get back to shore!"
"Without you?" Hau asked incredulously.
"Every second we spend not back on solid ground could mean another second she's closer to death!" Elio yelled back. He glanced towards the shoreline, finding it extremely odd that nobody was coming to their rescue. "At least we can get someone to call emergency to get her to the hospital!"
Hau made to protest, but was cut off when the tentacruel had leapt out of the water right in front of the sun. Fear shot through the veins of both boys as its shadow had almost completely darkened the sun.
In another blur of motion, Acheron exploded out of the waves, rushing forward as if powered by rockets to intercept the tentacle monster. The pokemon's quick attack knocked it back into the waters flailing its stingers madly in desperation to retaliate.
Nani sensed the opportunity and rose up, gathering another sphere of emerald power from her maw to add to the mix. Overhead, Dartrix spun again, flinging both his wings for another barrage of razor leaves. All three combined attacks hit their mark as Acheron dove into the water to avoid the blasts. The tentacruel had been tossed around like a toy again from the dragon pulse, but it waved its own tentacles to deflect several of the leaf knives thrown at it while firing an ice beam.
Elio knew that if he saw any more of Hau's vaporeon go up against the gigantic tentacruel, he'd be having flashbacks to that fateful day again.
Willing his muscles to move, he waved Nani over as the creature was distracted by Dartrix and Acheron again.
"Keep it busy. I won't be long."
She cooed softly before slithering rapidly over to join the fight.
Elio unstrapped himself from Hana's back and hung over her side with the water dipped up to his chest. Flipping so that he could push off the ride pokemon's wing-flipper, he took as deep of a breath as he could before diving into the depths.
The water cocooned itself around him, effortlessly sizzling away at the heat that continued to emanate from his body from both the outside temperature and the rush of fright.
Opening his eyes, he was greeted with a burning sting of the salty seawater, causing him to flinch and wipe his eyes to no avail.
And I didn't even bring goggles. This is way worse than trying to open your eyes in a pool.
Although they weren't close to any currents, he could feel the tide tugging at him slightly back towards shore. He couldn't tell whether it was going to stop or continue, but either way…they had to go fast.
Hau was straight below him at the bottom, holding part of a rocky stalagmite to keep himself from floating up. Elio saw a dark figure beside him with a flashing white light as the sunlight reflected off Leilani's signal strip that was on her collar.
She looked suspended in midair with her feet not even touching the ground and hands outstretched in a starfish pose. He never saw her move as he swam down.
What's the problem? Why isn't she floating up?
While he would never openly admit that she was in far better shape than him or Hau; Leilani had an adequate amount of body fat on her shapely figure to keep her afloat in the ocean.
A crash of water interrupted them as they saw the azure shape of Acheron tossed onto the seabed next to them. The tentacruel pounced on it, flaring out four long tentacles with glowing purple poison at the tips.
Panic filled their bodies as it lunged forward towards the defenseless pokemon.
In the blink of an eye, Acheron seemed to blend invisibly within the depths and they heard the impact along its body. Elio was trying not to think of the worst possible scenario at that moment. His heartbeat was starting to ring in his head, overpowering the roar of rushing water and his own thoughts.
Acheron was quick to recover to their surprise, phasing out of the acid armor move and shooting forward, using its powerful flipper tail to reach a speed Elio didn't think was possible. His quick attack slammed into its side, knocking it over. As it attempted to attack again with poison jab, Nani had swam up to cover her ally, slashing at the tentacles with her bladed iron tail. Even Elio found himself cringing as it effortlessly sliced off the tips of some longer tendrils, sending them drifting in the dark eddies.
Knowing that he didn't have much of either time or air, he descended down to Leilani until he was facing her back.
Up closer, he didn't see her convulsing in breathing, which either meant she was dead or her vocal cords had sealed off her airway to both conserve what little oxygen it held and prevent more water from entering.
He wrapped his arms around her stomach, the slimmest part of her body and kicked, using his own buoyancy to help try and raise her up.
Knowing she was capable of floating on her own, it never crossed his mind on why the surfer was suspended unconscious underneath the surface.
She's not moving. Why?
Elio frantically looked around, wondering if something had her tied. She wouldn't have been weighted down since surfboards were extremely buoyant and even a fragment the size of a kickboard would still be able to support her weight.
Hau's hand snaked around his wrist and he tugged sharply. Through the painful gaze, he followed his friend down to her feet where a long black cord was snugly tied around her ankle.
The leash! That specific cord tied around a surfer's ankle was designed to keep both surfer and board together upon wiping out. It was argued that if the board or leash itself got snagged on the seabed, it could lead to drowning. Each one though had a clip that kept it wrapped around her ankles which could be easily undone if such a situation arose.
Either Leilani didn't have time to free herself or she was just unable to. Either way, they had to get her to the surface and the shore.
He felt his own breath starting to run thin and needed to go up for air.
Pushing off, he rapidly ascended while feeling an odd sensation in his ears from the rapid decompression.
I hope this doesn't give me the bends.
His arms stroked out in front of him, bringing the sun-rayed top of the water closer with every stroke. He aimed for Hana's massive spread form as she glided on the waves.
Elio broke the surface with an explosive exhale, latching onto Hana's fin before executing a perfect flip turn and diving back under.
His eyes felt as if an entire bottle of shampoo had been poured into each as the relentless assault of saltwater burned his vision. Hau hadn't left her side and was probably running out of air himself having gone down at the same time as him.
Elio appreciated his friend's dedication and would've done the same.
He pulled himself lower towards the leash, now seeing that it was indeed snagged in two places on the rocky seabed. Tugging at it indicated whatever it was had her pinned pretty good.
Sun was certain that no amount of him exerting any effort was going to free her. And he knew for certain that going up for air a second time could cost her life.
Nani.
As if she could read his thoughts, he heard something dive back into the depths. The tender pokemon quickly swam at his side.
Elio couldn't speak, pointing to the taut leash. Even though Hau was trying to work on taking the clasp on her ankle apart, the tension was too much for him to succeed.
Iron tail! Slice that leash!
Nani swayed her rear fins in front, sharpening them into her signature blade. With less light coming from above, her iron tail gave off an eerie illumination, showing different coral polyps growing from the surrounding rocks. A few small wishiwashi minnows scattered and he saw two star-shaped pokemon lying at the very bottom.
Her tail swung around, easily cutting through the thin cord as she circled Elio, allowing him to grab her red fin to surface once more. Leilani's body, now free from its tether to the seafloor began to drift lazily upward. Hau was behind her with an arm around the waist and kicking to speed up their ascent.
Nani moved at the same pace and Elio exhaled just before they broke above.
"Hurry!" Hau shouted. He was treading water while holding Leilani's limp body up above the choppy waves, waving to Hana just a few meters away. The mantine sensed the urgency and sped right over, coming to a swift halt right beside them.
Elio hauled himself up on the side of her wing, going back down on his knees. Hau had reached her side, rotating himself around so that he faced his best friend. Had it not been such a dire situation, he would've voiced openly how impressed he was with his knowledge of water rescue techniques.
"Give me her arms. On three you, push and I pull!"
Hau nodded, freeing one of his arms and using it to feed hers to Elio. Her dark suit made his grip a little slippery and he lost one during his first try, but the second time around he had intertwined his thumbs around hers, hooking it in the exact spot where one would perform a handshake.
"One, two, three!"
Hau scissor kicked at the same time Elio pulled on her arms. The trick worked. Leilani's lifeless body slowly rose out of the ocean, falling forward as Elio leaned backwards onto the mantine. From the waves, Hau gave her a second push, finally easing her onto the ride pokemon entirely.
Elio would've blushed any other time a girl lay on top of him like this, but he was fast to get out from underneath and roll her on her back.
Oh no. Leilani's eyes were still shut and she showed no signs of stirring or waking up. The content look on her face was almost...peaceful. Her normally warm, tanned complexion had taken a paler look and he saw a tinge of blue…which was a sign of asphyxiation. Never a good one.
What was even more alarming was the laceration on her left thigh, only an inch wide, but he could see that it had drawn blood. The bleeding had ceased a while ago and he saw droplets of a thicker clear iridescent liquid that almost oozed out the open wound.
She's been stung!
"We need to get back to shore right now!" Elio knelt back down, putting his arm around her waist once more. "Hold onto her as we go."
Hau nodded, closing his eyes and holding her by her shoulders. He could see that he was starting to shake from a fearful nervousness.
It was beginning to rub off on him too. What if they were too late to save her life? He tried not to think of the worst, telling himself that they were going to succeed and they could see and laugh with their friend again.
As Hau looked down at her fragile form while the mantine sped back towards shore, he felt the reality of the chance to finally tell her the thing he had been harboring since they started on the island challenge.
That reality was beginning to slip away.
Trouble struck about halfway. The waves began growing even larger than what they were during the actual competition, rising up and swelling to massive proportions that left the crowd's wide eyed. Its power finally became unstable enough and the wave broke off, crashing loudly into the sandbar and throwing up foam and sand before receding out for the next big volley.
Elio wasn't even sure if the competition was still going at this point. What was worth even more questioning at this point was the fact that no lifeguards or the Alola Coast Guard had come to even start a search. Had the two of them not boldly ran across the beach and dove in to start, she may have never been found.
However the waves were the least of their problems. Up ahead, a large spot churned and Elio felt the hair on his arms stand up again as the same gigantic tentacruel from before ascended out of the depths, glaring at the two with hate piercing eyes. It hissed loudly and flayed its whiplike tentacles in the air. He could see that it had a handful less than the last time he had seen it, thanks to Nani's sword iron tail cleaving through.
You again.
Elio had never felt a gaze of such malice from a pokemon ever. The movie starring the same creature had legitimized its reasoning for attacking due to human factors destroying its home and brethren. This one had attacked completely unprovoked and wasn't giving up until it had finished the job.
The fact that it knew many powerful moves suggested that it was not a wild pokemon at one point.
With large splashes, both Acheron and Nani flanked Hana, narrowing their eyes at the adversary and unwilling to budge.
Tentacruel hissed loudly as it gathered some energy in its mouth ready to fire. A wave to their right began to grow in size.
And that's when all hell broke loose.
The bubblebeam shot towards them with the rate and velocity of automatic gunfire. As it did, Acheron leapt in front of them to intercept the attack. All of the bubbles had harmlessly impacted his bluish skin and he glowed slightly as if feeling rejuvenated.
Water absorb! Vaporeon's ability makes water attacks useless and recovering health!
"Iron tail Nani!"
She formed her blade; however the tentacruel seemed to anticipate this move. A few of its longer tentacles lashed out, wrapping around her sword and flinging her into the oncoming wave that seemed to instantly swallow her into its depths.
That left Acheron to face it alone. The tentacruel sensed its advantage, lunging forward with even more poison jabs at the ready.
Elio's face visibly paled.
No no nononono! This is NOT happening!
However Hau was watched in disbelief as his vaporeon seemed to modify its cellular structure and become translucent. It flinched from the first tentacle seeped in poison, however the others glanced harmlessly off its body and doing no visible damage.
It gave off a frustrated hiss as Acheron reverted back to his form again from the acid armor.
"Water pulse!" Hau shouted from his side. Judging by the uncertainty in his voice, Elio assumed he wasn't sure if his new evolution had learned the move just yet.
To his surprise the bubble jet pokemon pulled water into a large sphere before shooting it straight at the beast. It looked like he DID know water pulse!
The attack slammed into his target just as they felt Hana tilt downwards as the wave began to overtake them. Elio craned his head up to look at the shore rapidly approaching to greet them and the multiple blurs of colors that were bystanders watching the entire spectacle.
Tentacruel was just ahead, waving its crown from side to side and blinking its reddish orbs in a staccato fashion.
"Nani!"
His milotic was quick to respond to his call, emerging from the crest of the wave with a lethal grace that made him immensely proud.
That's my girl.
"Iron tail! Let him have it!"
She narrowed her eyes and swung another sword with unrestrained fury. It slammed into the tougher front, staggering the jellyfish pokemon back. Not waiting for a second opportunity in the lull, she gathered a dragon pulse in her maw and launched it. Even as the first one struck, she fired a second and a third. Off to his left; Acheron added a second water pulse to the mix, a series of whumping sounds battling the roar of the wave as they descended.
The combined explosions suddenly split the entire thing in half, collapsing in a slide of blue and white foam that washed over them in an earsplitting roar. Sun saw a flash of the tentacruel as it crashed violently into the waves, bouncing up as if a skipped rock before its long stingers fell limp into the ocean and it slowly sank out of sight.
Hana the mantine was only slightly moved by the sudden change, but Elio felt himself starting to slide from the sea's torrential pull. Leilani's body shifted in his grip and he forced himself to quickly adjust his grip, sliding so that he kept her hips pinned between himself and the harness. In doing so, he almost let the sea drag her back. However their precious cargo remained with them.
Lillie and Makoa were already running to the part of the beach where they were going to step off. Hana hadn't stopped when Elio jumped into the knee-deep water and grabbed her arms. Hau got her legs and together they hauled the unconscious surfer off the mount.
"Move!" Elio shouted from the urgency building up. Another wave was going to crash ashore any moment and it could drag them all back into the surf.
Not caring at the growing crowd that was witnessing everything, Elio looked right at Lillie. He didn't want to put her through another panic situation. Another life was on the line. It would've been bad for him to prioritize Leilani's life over Meghan's unborn, but he was rushing too fast to really gauge the severity.
"E-Elio?" Her voice quavered and she quickly stuffed Nebby back into her duffel. Normally she would be admiring his glistening chest and shoulders.
Stop thinking that!
It pained him to see her all worried sick like this. Her pale complexion was even more ashen, but he saw something in her emerald eyes that told him she wanted to do her part in helping regardless. He wasn't sure if it was just trying to become more confident or the thought of being needed for help a second time in the day with someone's life in the balance.
He felt a ripple of anger that no help had arrived since he and Hau braved the tentacruel and the water to rescue their friend. Time to take matters into our hands.
"Listen to me carefully. Call emergency and tell them a surfer was attacked and stung by a large tentacruel off Hano Grand Resort. She looks to be in deep shock and possibly cardiac arrest. Give them your name and exact location and what I described word for wod."
"Okay." She nodded, repeating that to herself before hurrying off.
Elio trusted her enough to do what he had said. But now it left a more pressing matter. An ambulance dispatched from a hospital on average took roughly eight minutes to arrive.
Cardiac arrest could kill in a fraction of that.
I have to keep her alive.
His father's training kicked in, with him silently thanking for having a little bit of knowledge retained in emergency preparedness.
He shook her shoulder. "Leilani! Are you okay? Say something!"
"Elio are you nuts?" Hau asked, flabbergasted. "She's not okay!"
I know! He wanted to argue, but quickly moved to the next step. She was clearly unconscious and he needed to see if she was breathing.
Lowering his head to stare at her chest…
Oh great. I have to do this in front of Hau AND her father!
He checked to see if it rose and fell from steady breathing. It wasn't.
"Makoa," Elio started. "Go and get an AED from the resort! They gotta have one somewhere!"
"You think she needs-"
"Maybe. I don't know! GO!" He was surprised at the authority in his own voice and it looked like Makoa was too. He sprinted away towards the building with earnest, knowing that he could help contribute to saving his daughter.
She needs air as soon as possible.
Hau looked at him with trusting eyes as he moved around. Leilani was larger than him slightly, so he opted for the straddling position, positioning his legs by her stomach, going on his knees spread apart on each side of her hips.
"Keep her steady!" He yelled to Hau, who automatically nodded.
I'm sorry Hau. I hope this works.
Before anyone could react, he opened her mouth checking for obstructions and sealing it completely with his own. His face immediately heated up far more than what the heat wave was doing and he was completely unaware of Hau's mouth hanging agape at his actions. The mouth to mouth contact was done three times in rapid succession. Her lips felt cold and lifeless even though the hot sun had warmed him up slightly.
And now right after it looks like I kissed her, I have to grope. This is turning out great.
None of the consequences of this mattered to him. All that did matter was keeping her alive.
With two fingers, he gently pressed down on her upper chest, trying not to think about where he was touching. Just below her well-developed breasts; her ribcage curved upwards as his fingers moved along the edge, finally locating her diaphragm.
Placing both hands curled left over right, he pushed up going from her belly to her lungs in three successive repetitions. As soon as that was done, three more breaths. Then three more compressions.
It kept going for him. Three more. Then three more. Then three more. Then three more.
"Leilani!" Hau yelled, shaking her shoulders and arms as if it would be an attempt to rouse her. She stayed silent and unresponsive despite both boys' efforts.
Elio was starting to wonder if it was a lost cause. Despite the differences from his father, the skillset of this was undeniable. Yet the entire attempt to force the water out of her lungs that she inevitably ingested did nothing to surface.
There was also the neurotoxin from her leg wound he had to worry about.
"Come on Leilani!" Hau shouted again. Through it all, he never stopped at Elio's instructions to keep calling her name in hopes she would awaken.
Through it all, it felt like she was fading.
"Come on!" Elio snarled through gritted teeth. His brows furrowed in frustration. "I had to brave a damn tentacruel to get back here. Don't you dare die on me! Breathe!"
He resumed his task without a second thought. Three compressions, three breaths and then three more compressions. Breaths again.
I'll stay at this. I'm not giving up on you. Hau's not either and you better come back from this! I'm not letting you go without him telling you how he feels!
Elio felt the next set of compressions with an audible popping sound somewhere inside her chest. If she was going to awaken after this, the injury…most likely a fractured rib would result.
"Come on!"
Where are the damn paramedics?!
He did three more breaths and back to compressions.
At the second one, his own heart skipped a beat.
Upon thrusting, her mouth involuntarily twitched as a few droplets of water splashed out onto the sand. He pushed again and it sprayed this time around.
Leilani's eyes snapped open, filled with panic and she made a gargled gagging sound as she rolled onto her side with Hau's help, coughing up a storm. Seawater gushed into her mouth as if it were a hydro pump attack while her body convulsed from shock and the lack of oxygen.
Her arms swung out, grabbing Elio and Hau, pulling them close together.
"Easy!" The dark haired boy said, trying his best to console her panic. Her mouth hung open, still in a coughing fit as she still tried to purge what remained from her inflamed airway. Hau wrapped his arm around her head, tilting it so that any additional water would spill out of the corner of her mouth.
They heard the sirens of an approaching ambulance begin to grow in volume. Finally.
"Leilani." The kahuna's grandson whispered as both Nani and Acheron emerged from the water to make their way over. "You're okay. K'ou alola."
"Deep breaths." Elio added. "We're here."
"Hau?"
He put a finger to her lips and they supported her as she slowly sat up. She was still shaking in their arms and breathing heavily as if she had run an entire marathon. "It's alright. You're alright."
"Elio!"
He looked up to see Lillie running back down towards him as best she could in her dress clothes. Right behind her were two red collar-shirted men bearing patches of a medical insignia on their left breast.
"We'll take her from here." One of them said, already beginning to strap an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth. "Lean back please."
It all seemed to hit them like a train upon the realization of how close they were to losing her. Elio and Hau knew she wasn't in the clear yet, but bringing her back to consciousness would give her a fighting chance. They still had to deal with the toxin in her body as well as other possible harmful effects. Hau felt himself starting to calm a little as he saw his own crush talking to the two EMT paramedics that were crouched over her. After a few seconds, they helped move her onto a stretcher brought by a third man before carrying her back to the ambulance, which was parked right at the resort's entrance.
"I'm going with her." Hau insisted.
"Me too." Makoa added.
"Okay." Elio drew in a deep breath, finally casting a gaze at all the onlookers as they were trying to be discreet in talking amongst themselves. His mind was still reeling from the experience, his lips over her mouth, providing breaths of life that could've stolen her away from them.
"Elio?"
He barely registered Lillie's concerned expression. Across from him, she was bewildered to see that her crush had such a defeated expression on his face.
He's exhausted from the whole thing.
Stepping forward, she offered her arms for comfort.
Elio nearly collapsed into them, regaining just enough energy to wrap them gently around her back, but squeezed tight. Lillie didn't care that his body and hair were dripping wet onto her warm skin, she wanted to communicate to him that she was there.
He seemed to be trembling slightly as she held him and leaned into her shoulder. Neither was able to register the blushing on each other's face as they felt skin on skin contact. A lot more of it than normal.
She feels so soft.
I feel so safe in Elio's arms right now. It's almost like nothing dangerous can even touch me.
"Thank you Lillie." He shuddered slightly, feeling a soothing relief at her familiar embrace. "Mahalo for being here for me."
She wasn't sure if he had felt her heart flutter at those words and she wasn't sure if she remembered herself talking quietly to further keep him calmed down.
Elio finally pulled away, much to her own reluctance, however he didn't want to make things any more awkward. Nani took that opportunity to slither quietly onto the sand from behind and gently nudge him with her snout.
He grinned and stroked it, earning a coo of happiness from her. "Mahalo nui loa. Nani."
She kept prodding him, eventually raising her head up and leaning it right on his shoulder.
His smile didn't fade, but he brushed her away. "I'm okay. I promise."
That seemed to satisfy her and she trailed behind as they made their way back to Leilani's canopy. Instead of the entire place being rife with activity and vibrant conversations, it was full of murmurs as people continued to discuss the unexpected events. A few pointed at them as they walked inside the empty area.
Elio quickly returned all his pokemon, going out to where Grimer was still devouring the waste scraps of other beachgoers. He had been so carefree and absentminded that he hadn't noticed anything unusual that transpired since his trainer left him with his fellow sludge blobs. He was quickly returned to his poke ball as the others were slipped back inside his backpack.
Between them news reporters had spawned right out of nowhere including the reporter from the News Network of Alola he recognized that interviewed Leilani just a couple of days ago. Jessie was her name. He thought to himself.
A barrage of questions were hurtled his way and a half dozen handheld microphones thrust into his face.
Lillie felt her own head spin from everything, but gasped as Elio grabbed her hand a little too firmly and pressed on, ignoring the press badgering them both.
I don't want to talk! His brows furrowed at the thought they could make money and publicity out of this life threatening event. This never affected them.
As they walked out, Elio just happened to see Sabine Joyeux in her canopy a ways over towards the resort's entrance. She was talking to another pair of women who were in simpler clothing, but likely close.
Maybe her coach or trainer.
He stole a glance every now and then as they approached them on the way to the exit, intent on heading to the hospital to join Hau and Makoa. Lillie tagged along, really without a choice as he had yet to let go of her hand.
Sabine was laughing at something her trainers were saying and he could finally hear bits and pieces of their conversation. Something was gnawing at his inside that it wasn't good, considering her haughty attitude towards Leilani prior. It felt like she was actually celebrating that she was clearly out of the competition.
She crossed the line when he heard "out of the picture."
Elio wasn't going to lie to himself. When he was in basketball, the coach and some other players would be a bit more cheerful if an opposing player would be unable to participate, especially a starter they would have to deal with in order to win.
He never willingly wished injury for anyone like that, regardless of their skill.
So when Sabine Joyeux had smugly declared that the competition was no contest, he knew that it delighted her that her biggest rival and contender for the win was "out of the picture."
Leilani's not even here to say anything. You're not getting the last word out of this.
Still dripping wet from the ocean, Elio took a brisk step and fell right into stride towards Sabine's canopy.
"Elio?"
He ignored Lillie behind him, finally letting go of her hand and kept going. He never took his eyes off the blonde surfer except for the moment to look behind, seeing multiple cameras from different press stations still trained on them as they left.
Sabine smiled again and sensed someone approaching from the side.
She met a pair of steel gray eyes that were narrowed and glaring coupled with the permanent grimace chiseled onto Elio's face.
"If you're here for an auto-"
He promptly cut her off by taking three long steps right to the rack where her towels were hung.
They were the expensive kind, at least judging from the tiny logo in the corner of a black outlying circle with the scaly wings of a butterfly pokemon in the center. Each one was different in patterns, shapes and colors.
Autograph this. Elio's eyes never lost their piercing stare as he reached up, grabbing one of the towels and swiftly yanking it off its rung. It flowed freely in the air before he tossed it behind his back, wrapping it around his chest and wiping off the droplets of water clinging to his skin. Once he had finished drying himself in the five seconds, he folded it right over his waist, tucking an end in so that it would hang on and not fall off as he walked.
This towel seems so amazingly soft. Elio thought to himself, taking a moment off his preoccupation to admire the cloth's elegant design. High maintenance expensive towel for a high maintenance, expensive and uptight girl.
Sabine's jaw literally dropped open in shock at his bold move and he had to almost clench his own teeth to keep himself from laughing and ruining the moment.
Elio exhaled sharply through his nostrils as if in disappointment and turned away, gently taking Lillie's hand and leading her out of the resort. He never bothered to return the towel.
You want it back? Come get it.
"Let's go."
Back in the canopy, Sabine Joyeux still had her mouth agape even as eager reporters swarmed towards her area, ready to pepper the surfer with questions about what more drama had just happened.
Heh, what an ending right? Tried to make this as thrilling yet realistic as possible. I am CPR certified from Scout training, although I've never had to use the practice on anyone and hope I never do in the future. Big thanks to my mother who works in the medical field, even though her particular job doesn't require it as heavily, she still needs to be trained if the unthinkable occurred.
Finally reaching the end stretches of the Akala act and getting to the spot where the story gets really interesting. I'll admit that my idea for Ula'ula stuff may not be as well done as it is here, but there's plenty of time to brainstorm on top of the other ideas.
Translations:
Mahalo nui loa - Thank you very much.
K'ou Alola - My love.
As always, a big mahalo for reading and reviewing. You give my writing purpose.
Brav