Chapter 40: When it Rains
BOOM!
Out in the patch of sea between Kenobi and Mengir, the Siglo Swellow shuddered and listed from an incoming barrage of various projectiles that had managed to break through the gaps in a hastily-raised wall of Protects. Crom stumbled onto the lurching deck, and threw his claws out to break a fall, where he drew his wings back amid the ongoing tumult.
Everywhere he looked, there were light barriers raised, attacks zipping through the air and crashing into parts of the ship, and golden-scarved Pokémon in the water and air engaging crew members.
"Stop right there, criminal scum!"
Including Kiran, who was tearing through the air in pursuit of a Hoppip. The Druddigon shook his head to try and regain his nerve, and threw himself back onto his feet unsteadily, only to feel someone grab his arm and yank him backwards.
"C-Crom! D-Don't just stand there!"
The Druddigon stumbled along after the presence that grabbed him, the culprit being revealed to be a wide-eyed Fraxure bolting for the stairs as fast as his legs could carry him.
"Dad?!"
"Hurry! We need to get you below deck!" Pladur cried. The Fraxure continued tugging and running, only to feel the arm in his claw wrench free and turn around to see a startled expression on his child's face.
"What are you doing?!" Crom exclaimed "Why are we running?!"
"It's not safe!" Pladur cried. "I don't want you getting hurt up here!"
Crom ducked as a gout of flame soared over his head and leapt down to the floor with a yelp. The little dragon lowered his head to the ground and flattened out his wings, before warily poking back up to face his father.
"But Kiran's my teammate!" the Druddigon protested. "I can't just leave him like this while the ship's in trouble!"
"What's going on out there-?!"
The form of Ander clambering up the steps came into view, the Scyther going wide-eyed and reflexively hopping back at the sight of the chaos around. Before either Crom or Pladur could explain, the deck resounded with distressed squawk.
"Ack!"
There, up by the ship's stern, the Hoppip had led Kiran directly into an ambush by a Staravia and a Ledian in Iron Fleet scarves. The Swellow quickly turned around and fled with battered plumes still crackling with static, his tormentors hotly pursuing him.
"Surprise, you split-tailed idiot!" Kichiro taunted.
"Yeah, way to fly right into our trap!" the accompanying Staravia sneered.
Without a further word, Ander dashed off, and sprang up to fly towards the three Pokémon. Crom watched as the three golden-scarved Pokémon hastily broke ranks to weave around a slashing swipe from the mantis…
It was then that the young Druddigon knew where he needed to be.
"Wait! Crom! What are you doing?!"
Crom took off running for the rigging, where he clambered up the rigging as fast as his limbs would allow him. Ander and Kiran were bogged down in a losing fight against three more maneuverable foes- Hey wait a minute, the Ledian! There was a clear shot at him below!
"Kiran! Ander! Hang in there!"
Crom sprang from rigging and spread his wings, the wind catching him and sending him gliding along towards the jeering Bug-Type. The young Druddigon swiped his claws to rake the beetle and-
"Too slow, tokage!"
"Huh?!"
Kichiro swerved out of the way, leaving Crom to claw at empty air. The young Druddigon hastily banked his wings to try and turn around, only to hear a startled Scyther's buzz.
"Crom! Watch out!"
Before Crom could right his course, the young Dragon-Type was buffeted by a gust laden with stinging pinkish dust. The Druddigon lost his balance from the Fairy Wind and plummeted out of the air against the deck of the Siglo Swellow. As Crom laid panting and stunned, he watched as a jeering Hoppip circled overhead.
"Hah! You're mine now, little twerp!"
"Stay away from him!"
"Hu-AAAAAAGH!"
A clawed presence rushed in and struck the Grass-Type with a ruddy claw trailing greenish flecks of light, sending the creature pinwheeling with a scream over the railing and into the sea with an audible sploosh. Crom looked up, and saw that his rescuer was none other than...
"Dad?!"
Although fatigue and shock twisted up his face, the figure standing above him was unmistakably that of Pladur. The Druddigon pawed at his throbbing head crest, his budding headache helped along by a distressed squawk ringing out from above. The two looked to the sky, where they spotted a visibly fatigued Kiran attempting to hold off a pursuing Staravia. A pained buzz drew Crom's attention to the side, where Ander was desperately staggering after being struck by an electrified downward punch from Kichiro. The Fraxure blanched and gulped, realizing that the situation at hand was rapidly spinning out of control.
"Crom," Pladur instructed. "I'm going to go and help Kiran, you stay-"
Before the Dragon-Type could finish, his red eyes widened as he saw Crom already bolting off ahead, towards the beleaguered mantis and his beetle tormenter.
"Ander, hang in there!"
"Eh?! Crom?!" Pladur exclaimed. "What are you-?!"
Before his father could complete his protest, Crom had already bolted for the Ledian, eager to defend his teammate and for a chance to even the score. The Druddigon opened his maw and lunged to try and clamp down on one of Kichiro's limbs, only for the beetle to spot him from the corner of his eye and quickly fall back, leaving Crom snapping at air. The young dragon attempted to compensate with a claw swipe, and another, and another... yet Kichiro weaved around his strikes effortlessly.
"Hah! You couldn't hit the broad side of a- Argh!"
Before Kichiro could finish his taunt, he was swatted out of the air by a swipe from Ander's scythes and tumbled to the deck. Crom took his chance to dart off towards the still-stunned beetle and sank his claws under the bug's open elytra, raking over the tender segments underneath. The Ledian yelled in pain and hastily flew off as Crom gave chase, only for him to freeze in his tracks as he saw Kichiro's Staravia partner barrelling towards him. Crom flinched and braced for the bird to slam into him, only to hear the woosh of a cutting wind, and to see the pirate retreat squawking with damaged plumage after Kiran sent another Air Slash zipping past her head.
"Gwark! Kichiro?!" she cried. "How much more of this are we supposed to take?!"
The Ledian gave an annoyed buzz and glared at his teammate for bungling his name yet again, but then shook his head and decided to let the matter slide given his current circumstances.
"Rrgh… these clods hit harder than they look," the bug spat.
A deafening blast rang out from starboard as the ship shuddered and started to list. Crom, Pladur, and Ander tumbled and flailed, finally catching their balance on a snapped deck timber as the ship settled. Kichiro looked around quickly, and a small smile crept over his face as he turned back to his Staravia companion.
"Grab Wilhelm and let's get moving!" the Bug-Type barked. "Our part's done here!"
As the crew erupted into confused shouts over the damage to the side of the ship, the fliers and swimmers from the Mistral Marauder took the opportunity to retreat, carrying off their defeated comrades. The Siglo Swellow's attention turned to the hole ripped into starboard of the ship, a Hitmontop hastily barking out orders while perched over its top
"Keep an eye on that hole!" the Fighting-Type barked. "That's where they'll try and board us!"
"Eh? But they're falling back!" a Golduck exclaimed. "Shouldn't they be charging us?"
The Siglo Swellow suddenly lurched, and the ship began swiftly drifting to port side over the yelps of the ship's surprised sea escorts. The crew aboard the schooner looked off to the port side, where they saw a small whirlpool pulling them in towards Hess' golden-sailed caravel just as a few Pokémon on its deck pushed a wooden tube on rollers up against the railing.
"A-Aah!" the Golduck cried. "They're pointing a cannon at us!"
"Only one cannon?" the Hitmontop asked. "Why would they risk getting scuttled at sea over that, though?"
"Because that's no cannon!" Beatrix exclaimed. "Quick, attack-!"
The Illumise's command got cut off by a sudden impact and ka-THUNK sound. As the crew members of the Siglo Swellow looked over at the site of the impact, they saw a harpoon jutting out from the side of the hull, a rope trailing off back to the Mistral Marauder where shapes were beginning to move around the 'cannon' from earlier.
Unfortunately, the harpoon was not the only attack that the crew should have minded; as they were distracted by the attack on the port side, a loud thump erupted from the ship's starboard, revealing the dripping, all-too-familiar Aggron who had just surfed around the ship to plow onto the deck.
"Charge them while they're down!" he bellowed. Hess stormed on, the metal lizard effortlessly knocking a few unfortunate crew members in his path unconscious with heavy claw swipes and blows from his tail. The Aggron smashed his way through to the ship's port side, throwing the deck's defenders into disarray, before leaping back into the water right as a host of Water-Types from the pirate crew sliced through the water for the stricken ship. As the sea creatures neared, they popped up and belted out a thick volley of beams and watery attacks that punched through the Siglo Swellow's patchwork of Protects and quickly threw its defenders into confusion.
A number of more terrestrial pirates took advantage of the chaos to throw ropes up and clamber aboard the Siglo Swellow. Natrix and Philips were the first to notice, but fell to a pair of sniping beam attacks before they could do more than shout a warning. The defenses on the deck quickly devolved into a disorganized mess of blows and yelps as more and more attackers forced their way aboard.
"Retrocedan! Retrocedan!" Pat cried out in a panic. The Unfezant's call for retreat did not elude Crom and his companions' ears, as they too found themselves bolting for the ladder to retreat below deck.
"Hey, brat!"
The four came to a skidding stop as they saw their escape route cut off by a trio of growling and snarling pirates in their way. There ahead of them was a Marowak batting his club menacingly, a sparking Manectric, and an uncomfortably familiar Yanmega clicking his mandibles.
"You didn't forget about us, right?" Valatos sneered. "It's time for a rematch!"
Crom sucked in a sharp breath and yelped. By now, the fight to keep the Iron Fleet's members off deck had turned into a disorganized rout. All along the deck, feuding bands of lavender-scarved Pokémon traded blows with their golden-scarved attackers and hastily fell behind cover to attempt to regroup. Valatos and his companions seemed to be aware of the turn of fortune, as they drew near with predatory smirks.
"Time for a beating, dweebs!" Nori growled, giving a threatening shake of his club. The three Pokémon fanned out and began to encircle the team, the lot giving menacing glares as they prepared to pounce upon Crom and his companions.
"Yeah, you're gonna regret crossing u- AUGH!"
Before Alvise could finish his sneer, Pladur rushed forward with a double blow from his tusks, catching the Electric-Type in his left flank.
"G-Get the Manectric!"
The wolf tumbled back with a yelp, hastily coming to his feet with a growl as a pair of ruddy marks on his pelt. Alvise arched his back and began to build up static on his body...
"Eat sparks you overgrown-!"
The Manectric once again failed to finish his taunt, as Ander swiftly cut him off with a Slash. Although the blow thwarted the wolf's Discharge, it gave a painful shock to the Scyther and sent him stumbling back screeching in pain as Alvise came to a tumbling stop against a damaged section of railing. Noticing that the sections seemed frailed, Kiran immediately reacted by sending a powerful wind at the Electric-Type, pushing Alvise back against the wood with a crack...
"A-AAAAAH!"
SPLASH!
Followed by him falling overboard into the sea. Before anyone could take any particular satisfaction in Alvise's rout, the group was promptly set upon by Valatos, fresh from having thrown an Ancient Power at Pladur, and Nori charging in with his head held low. The Yanmega sent a sharp gust of air towards a visibly tottering Kiran, only for Ander to step in the way and yelp after being struck by the cutting wind. Pladur was struck from behind by a heavy blow, and tumbled towards a break in the railing, desperately trying to scurry to the side as Nori pounced on him with a series of forceful strikes from his bony club.
"A-Aagh!"
"Hah! Can't take it as good as you dish out, huh?" the Marowak sneered.
"DAD!"
In a panic, Crom bolted for the Ground-Type harrying his father, opened his maw, and bit down on the Marowak's swinging arm with all the strength he could muster. The bone lizard bellowed in pain and whirled around. Nori tugged to try and pull his right arm free, only for the young dragon to remain stubbornly latched onto him. Sensing a need to change strategies, Nori passed over his bone to his other arm and tightened his grip on it.
"Let go of me, you little pest!" he shouted, as he brought his club down on Crom's head.
The young Dragon-Type let go of his grip with a cry of pain, prompting Nori to wrench his arm free, and prepare to bring another blow down on the Druddigon. Out of the corner of his eye, the Marowak caught the sight of a Fraxure whipping himself into a frenzy with a rhythmic dance, and running for him with a fierce roar. The Ground-Type went wide-eyed and tried to raise his bone to counter, only to yelp in pain after two hacking blows struck him from the front. Nori clutched his stomach, and watched as a set of ruddy claws trailing a greenish aura came and uppercut his jaw...
SMACK!
"AAAAAAAAAH!"
SPLOOSH!
… sending the hapless Marowak flying overboard, and onto the form of a Manectric treading water below.
"Ow! Nori!" a whining voice cried. "Watch where you're falling!"
Meanwhile, Kiran sent out a cutting gust of wind at Valatos, only for his blow to be swiftly dodged by his opponent. The dragonfly flitted around the tired Swellow, taunting his foe.
"Heh heh, you're weak, bird!" the Yanmega taunted. "I was whipping up stronger winds as a Yanma!"
"Kiran!" a voice buzzed. "Move out of the way!"
"Whuh?"
Before Valatos could turn towards the source of the voice, he felt something chitinous and sharp slam against his side and send him tumbling to the deck. The dragonfly staggered up from the deck's timbers, only to screech out of pain after a slash raked along his back. The creature buzzed out of panicked surprise and sent an Air Slash towards Ander, before turning around and hastily flying away from his attackers.
"A-Argh!" he exclaimed. "You clods weren't supposed to be getting the best of me like this!"
Crom and his companions hastily gave chase to the struggling dragonfly, with Pladur leading the charge. The Fraxure tensed his legs, ready to pounce on the Bug-Type, only to suddenly feel the deck jolt underfoot.
"Do I have to do everything around here?" bellowed a deep, rumbling voice.
Crom, Kiran, Ander, and Pladur all paled as they turned and saw Hess' lumbering form running at them at full speed, his head lowered and tensed for a vicious headbutt. The four dove out of the way of the charging Aggron, only for the metal lizard's headbutt to catch Pladur and run him into a mast.
"EYAAAAH!"
"PLADUR!"
Crom froze in place as he saw Hess step back and his father's unconscious body flop onto the deck. The Aggron turned and bared his teeth at the group, growling lowly and stirring up unwelcome memories in Crom's mind. The last time he had fought with the pirate captain, he easily knocked him and his friends out. H-how was he supposed to do any better now?!
"I was hoping you all would be taken care of by now, but that's fine with me," the Aggron snarled. "I'll just have to handle you myself!"
"Crom! Get out of here!"
"We'll hold him off!"
Crom turned his head in the direction of Kiran's voice just in time to catch sight of the Swellow whipping up a powerful Whirlwind. The wind sailed on, and made Hess fight to keep his footing and not get blown over. While the Aggron struggled to keep his balance, Ander flicked his scythes towards Hess, sending forward a white shockwave that sailed on and struck in between the Steel-Type's plates.
"Grah!"
The Aggron stumbled and bellowed in pain from the attack, but quickly recovered, much to everyone's horror. The lizard gave an angry roar and stomped the deck hard enough to snap the timbers underfoot, calling up a barrage of rocks from the ship's ballast that sliced through the deck. The projectiles punched through the wood and carried into the air before falling in a great pile, sweeping up Kiran and Ander in the process.
The Swellow came off worse out of the two with a pained squawk as a spray of gravel slammed into him. The bird went limp and tumbled in the air, plummeting to the deck with a dull thud. Ander on the other hand, was able to dodge the bulk of the stony flechette, leaving the mantis to struggle to get back up. Any relief he had was short-lived, as the Scyther looked up wide-eyed as he saw Hess storming towards him.
"Time to squish you, you little gnat!"
Crom looked on blankly as the ragged Scyther bolted in blind terror from the pursuing pirate captain. It was happening all over again, Hess was too strong for the team and there wasn't anything that could be done about it... was there?
The Druddigon's gaze settled over a bag next to Kiran's unconscious body. Wait a minute, maybe there was something in there! Crom darted over and rifled through the bag, haphazardly pulling out bruised berries and crumpled paper in search for anything that could turn the tide.
Tak-tak
The Dragon-Type looked by his feet, and noticed that while rummaging through Kiran's bag, a Blast Seed had rolled out. The Druddigon looked down at the seed, and without a moment's hesitation, grabbed it, and ran towards Hess as fast as his quailing, uneasy legs could carry him.
"L-Leave him alone!"
Crom watched as the lumbering steel lizard turned around, and without thinking, threw a Blast Seed towards his head. The seed sailed on, only for the Steel-Type to spot it from the corner of his eye and duck in a panic and leave the projectile sailing along overhead.
"Ha!" Hess jeered. "You missed!"
BOOM!
The Aggron instinctively turned back in the direction of the Mistral Marauder at the sound of the boom, and saw that Crom's Blast Seed had carried on into the base of the forward mast, leaving it smoldering with burnt sails and listing at an odd angle.
"Ack! My ship!" he cried. "How on earth did it get so torn up?!"
As Hess bewailed the condition of his ship, Valatos cautiously returned as Alvise and Nori managed to stagger their way back to the deck using the climbing ropes the Iron Fleet had thrown up during their earlier boarding.
"Urgh… lousy hicks-" Alvise spat. "Eh?! They're right there!"
"Yeah, you shoulda run while you-!" Nori began, only to be cut off by a frightened squeal from his captain.
"A-AAH!" Hess yelped. "Stay away!"
The Aggron captain reflexively swiped his tail at Nori in a flailing panic before the Marowak could finish his taunt, the blow abruptly shoving the hapless Ground-Type back into the water as Alvise and Valatos traded dumbfounded looks.
"Captain, he was on our side!" Valatos complained.
"That's- er- I was helping him!" Hess insisted. "We're pulling back!"
"Wait, we are?" the dragonfly asked, only to be brusquely interrupted by the Steel-Type.
"That's right, we are!"
With the Mistral Marauder in as rough of shape as it was, it was best to retreat while he still could. Besides, his crew had done their own share of damage to this ship, enough to count as revenge and send those Tromban punks a message.
"Everyone, move out!" the Aggron bellowed. "And give these morons something to remember us by!"
At the sound of their Captain's call, the bulk of the golden-scarved Pokémon started to retreat back to their ship. The disorganized and battered crew of the Siglo Swellow tried to give chase and attack after them, only for a number of the invaders to spit fires and burning beams across the ship, the sensations of the fires whipping up a panic among the crew...
"Fire! Fire!"
"Heh heh! Here, have one from me!" Alvise sneered. The wolf opened his maw as orange flames began to wreath his teeth and clamped down on some nearby rigging, the fibrous ropes quickly catching ablaze much to Crom and his companions' horror.
"A-Ack! You can't do this-!" Crom exclaimed.
"Take a hike, brat!"
Before Crom could finish his protest, Hess struck him with a swinging blow from his metal-banded tail. The hapless dragon sailed on, pinwheeling against the deck, and striking his left wing against a dashed railing before he felt air under his feet.
"A-aaah!"
The Druddigon flailed blindly as he fell towards the sea, before managing to snag a fragment of a climbing rope that had been cut short during the battle and smacked against the side of the ship. Crom hung on, panting as he felt pain wracking his body, along with a lukewarm, sticky fluid starting to trickle down his abdomen as confused shouts and the crackle of flames came from above deck.
The Dragon-Type weakly tried to pull himself up, only to feel the rope start to give under his grasp and hot embers dust his crest. The Druddigon looked up in a panic, where he saw that a burning plank had set his rope alight, beginning to fray it where it met the flames. Crom looked desperately around for an escape, only to find that there was no exit, no other way to climb up... Only the sea below, waiting to suck up his injured body.
Suddenly, Crom felt the flat of one of Ander's blades brush against his claw. The nettle lizard looked left and saw that the blotched Scyther had climbed down, embedding his other blade into the hull to prop himself up.
"Hang in there, Crom!"
Crom carefully latched onto it, and clambered onto Ander's shoulders as the rope gave way and fell into the sea. Ander carefully worked to climb his way back up with his new passenger, slowly planting one scythe after the other into parts of the hull further ahead. All the while as the Scyther made his way back up, Crom shivered, still shaking and beginning to tear up from his ordeal.
"It's alright! It's alright!" the Bug-Type insisted. "It's over… We're- we're going to be okay…"
A gentle rain kicked up, as a Sliggoo summoned a localized drizzle with a chanting Rain Dance. As the drops came down, the flames licking the ship began to ebb and die off as other Pokémon that had fallen overboard were helped back aboard the now-battered schooner. And so it was that the blotched Scyther tiredly flopped down on the deck alongside the young Druddigon after having carried him up, the low rainclouds overhead hanging over the ship much like an ill omen.
While the Siglo Swellow limped along after the Iron Fleet's raid, Team Traveller had woken up to a quiet morning in Seaspear Station. After the team roused themselves from slumber, they made their way out of the sleeping chamber and out of the door of the bell-shaped hostel building. As they stepped out into the faded bluish light, they saw the square was much more lively than the night before.
The strands of bubbleweed continued to lazily emit beads of air into the seawater surrounding Seaspear Station as signs of life began to return to the outpost. The Ludicolo gummi merchant and his peers began opening their stalls for the morning, and the tavern built into the sunken ship started to become flecked with sleepy-looking creatures eager for a morning meal.
Yaaaaaaaaaah
Pleo yawned and beat out his wings to get his blood flowing, though drew his wounded one back to his side with a wince as he was rudely reminded of why he'd been told to stay off of it. As Nida, Elty, and Guardia similarly worked the sleep out of their bandaged bodies, a question bubbled up to his mind's fore.
"So what should we do now?" the Lugia chirped.
"Well, we need to find the Blue Fairy in Braveshoal Town, and I'm not sure if we should be dawdling too long..." Nida murmured. "The longer we wait to set out, the later it will be when we get to Otvaga."
"Yeah, but just how are we supposed to find her when we get there?" Elty prodded.
"You should try asking travellers who have come into town in the past few days when you get there," a voice bleated from behind.
"Yeah, the Blue Fairy moves around quite a bit," a similar-sounding voice added. "And she trusts Pokémon that travel around a lot to show her the way."
"Huh?!"
Pleo, Nida, Elty, and Guardia whirled around and saw a pair of young Flaaffy had gathered. The team's faces lit up in recognition of Currituck and Bodie from the night before.
"Oh, it's you again!" Pleo cried.
"Eh?" Guardia asked, tilting her head puzzledly. "I thought you were all still sleeping!"
"We wanted to have a chance to send you off," Currituck explained. "After all, it's not often that we run into others who have to stay on the move as we do."
"I mean, I don't know how long we can keep this up," Nida murmured.
"Keep hope, dearie," an elderly voice reassured. "You'll be surprised how much strength it will give you."
Pleo, Nida, Elty, and Guardia looked up and saw Alexandria making their way over to them, bending down to give a reassuring pat. In spite of the gesture, the quartet's spirits remained as battered as their bodies. Still swaddled in bandages as they were, and with the Company surely on still the hunt for them… could hope really make that much of a difference?
"Well… we'll try, at least," Pleo muttered. The Lugia and his teammates turned for the passage to Braveshoal Town, when suddenly, Alexandria's voice cried out.
"One more thing!"
"Huh?!" Pleo exclaimed. The little Protector craned his head back, and saw Alexandria waving her flipper.
"Good luck getting back to Tromba, little one," she said. "I'm sure everyone there's missed you an awful lot."
"Oh... thank you," Pleo answered. The little bird started to turn back to his friends, when a realization crept over their minds... How did Alexandria know Pleo was from Tromba?
"… Hey, zaczekaj chwilę," Elty murmured. "We never told you anything about that…"
"Eh?!" Guardia cried. "You know him?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes," the elder Ampharos chuckled.
Nida stared at her, agape. If she knew Pleo without having met him before, then she also had to know that he was Tromba's Protector!
"Yeah, from the moment you set foot into the hostel last night, we knew there was something special about your friend," Currituck explained.
"You don't need to look so surprised!" Bodie exclaimed. "Your secret is safe with us!"
"Yeah, we swear on the Travellers!" the other Flaaffy insisted. "We might not be able to head off with you here, but we'll do our part to help keep you going!"
The Nidoran's eyes brightened a bit, as the anxieties and dread of Team Traveller's next journey ebbed away a bit. Even if it wasn't much, just knowing that she and her teammates had allies even deep under the ocean provided much-needed reassurance.
"And keep your heads held high," Alexandria added. "It's a brand new day, and the sunlight's coming down beautifully through the water. Calm and perfect conditions for continuing on, no?"
"It would be better if we weren't stuck on the ocean floo- Ow!"
Elty abruptly bit his tongue after Guardia gave a swat at his head along with a huffed 'stop ruining the mood!' under her breath. Nida looked back at the three Electric-Types and cracked a nervous smile.
"I… suppose we can't argue with that. Thanks again for talking with us, but..." she murmured uneasily. "I wish we could do something to repay you."
"Well, there is one thing," the elderly Ampharos said.
"Huh?"
"When you get home, tell the local lightkeeper we're doing fine and look forward to meeting him in person when the fates align again," she instructed.
"Right," Nida replied. "I think we can do that."
The four children waved a farewell at the trio of electric sheep and made their way for the northern passage. As Seaspear Station began to fade behind them, their young minds filled with trepidation. They were heading off to an unknown place, after an unknown guide, for advice that they couldn't be sure would help them. And yet, in spite of all that, a faint hope kept them trudging on. A hope that maybe things would finally turn around in their quest to return home.
SPLUTCH!
As Team Traveller set off from Seaspear station oblivious to the rainy clouds over the Siglo Swellow, a different kind of storm cloud brewed deep within Mengir's fort. At the training grounds inside the compound, Lyn drew a seamitar back from the fading body of a freshly-beheaded Dragonite Substitute. Dissatisfied with the effects of his blow, the Samurott hacked and speared the Substitute's body a few more times, growling in frustration all the while.
"Captain, aren't you getting bored of cutting up those Substitutes?"
Lyn tightened his grip on his seamitar and looked over his shoulder. There behind him stood Ketu, picking his claws disinterestedly as usual.
"Hrmph. I don't think you need to worry about my sparring habits, Ketu," Lyn icily answered.
"Sparring? Looks more like you're blowing off steam over missing out on that bird," the Weavile retorted.
"And so what if I am?" the Samurott spat. The Water-Type glowered at his subordinate, reflexively tightening his paw's grip on his seamitar, only for a sudden commotion to break his focus.
"H-Hey, Payak! Lighten up a little! It's just a practice session!"
The Samurott and Weavile turned their attention to the field beside them, where a Tangela frantically threw a hissing Ariados off of him. The Bug-Type hissed and shrieked out of obvious frustration, and threw himself back at his hapless opponent, snapping his mandibles furiously as Lyn and Ketu traded askew looks with each other.
"Tch, fair enough," the Dark-Type conceded. "Looks like you're not the only one blowing off steam anyway."
The Samurott sat and shook his head, raising a paw to pinch his brow with a frustrated growl.
"Grr… this just isn't my mission…"
"I know, I know. All I'm saying is don't get so hung up over it," Ketu offered. "It's been awhile since I filled that unexpected vacancy for the Argent Aviso's First Mate, and that bird's the slipperiest target I've seen since then."
"Hrmph. It would be nice if you'd care as much about being prompt with your work," Lyn snapped.
"Eh. You can't rush results," the Weavile nonchalantly answered. "Besides, if we really get into too much trouble, I'm sure that I could try calling in a favor or two."
The Samurott paused and gave a puzzled twitch of his whiskers at his first mate's comments. The mustelid turned his head to the Weavile, giving a quizzical look.
"Huh?" Lyn asked. "What are you going on about, Ketu-?"
"Lyn!"
The Samurott and his Weavile first mate whirled around just in time to catch Ellsberg flying in in a hurry. The Mothim hastily landed and caught his breath, wide-eyed and clearly surprised by something.
"What is it Ellsberg?"
"It's the Board!" the Mothim buzzed. "They're coming to Mengir for an emergency meeting!"
"What?!" Lyn snapped upright in shock and went wide-eyed at the moth's statement. Did Ellsberg just say what he thought he heard?!
"A messenger arrived just a few minutes ago!" Ellsberg exclaimed. "Director Inler is on his way over here alongside Administrator Farn and Elilan. They'll be here within the next few hours!"
Lyn gritted his teeth and slammed his seamitar into the ground. And here he thought his day couldn't get any worse.
"Ugh... just what I needed," he hissed through clenched teeth.
The Siglo Swellow was in shambles, but mercifully still seaworthy. A large hole in the side had been covered by a compound of sawdust and ice, courtesy of the crew's Ice-types; severe repairs would be needed once they next came into port.
The crew had taken nearly as bad a beating as the ship; the ship's doctor had his work cut out dressing wounds and administering berry juices. Crom and Ander had been pressed into nurse duties as soon as possible due to their comparatively light injuries, with Kiran joining in after he finally regained consciousness. One of their number, however, had yet to awaken.
"Nrgh…"
The Fraxure began stirring weakly, the Dragon-Type's form faintly shifting and moving in reaction to various aches and wounds all over his scaled body. Finally, Pladur opened his eyes, weakly lifting his head to meet his son's face.
"E-Estás bien!"
Crom embraced his dad instantly, drying his tears on the Fraxure's face. The axe-headed Dragon raised a claw and brought it up to his son's crest with a gentle caress.
"H-Heh… it takes more than that to get your old papí down," the Fraxure said, wiping at his son's damp eyes. "The ship make it through alright?"
"Well, we're still sailing at least, but that's about as much as I can say for it," Ander sighed.
"What do you mean by that?" Pladur asked.
"There's a huge hole in the starboard hull, much of the crew is sleeping off wounds like you just were, and the decks are full of holes from all that ballast Hess pulled up with his Rock Slide," the Scyther sighed. "To top it off, the ship's now moving much slower from it all."
"The fire damage certainly didn't help matters, either. The sails and rigging above deck are in burnt tatters right now," Kiran added. "And since the Iron Fleet made off with our spares, we're barely keeping what's left together by some spot repairs."
"H-Huh?!" Crom exclaimed. "But Pleo's still at Mengir and Lyn's going after him! We'll still make it there in time, right?"
Ander and Kiran stood in silence, unable to offer a favorable reply. The oxygen seemed to be sucked out of the room, as the three elder Pokémon traded unnerved looks with each other, leaving Crom to ask again, this time in a weaker and warier voice.
"Won't we…?" the Druddigon murmured.
Once again nobody answered. Contemplating the limping, nearly helpless state of the Siglo Swellow, Crom's hope slowly started to fade. If Lyn had already found Pleo… what could any of them hope to do now...?
Far away from the Siglo Swellow, a frigate with sails that had been hastily died white with red saltires sailed into a lagoon ringed by an atoll. The ship turned for a lonely set of docks surrounded by a handful of huts and palisades with wild and unkept palm groves with unscarved Pokémon moving around just beyond.
"Lower the anchor!"
A buzzing cry came up from the Beedrill first mate, which was quickly followed by the splash of the stone anchor hitting the water. The deck hands and escorts in the sea and air quickly flew into a flurry of activity, shifting the ship with currents and throwing out lines as the ship sidled up against a wooden wharf. As some Pokémon from the three-masted vessel hopped onto the dock to tie their ship down on the moorings, a number of the sea escorts eased away to keep a watchful eye on the vessel and chatter among themselves...
"Ugh... a mission in Company waters and all we're doing is bobbing around the ship..." Cyanea groaned.
Including a none-too-pleased Tentacruel, along with a bemused-looking Sharpedo partner who shook her head.
"Tch, lighten up a little!" Katyusha scoffed. "The world's not going to end from you missing one mission…"
"But it was an important mission!" Cyanea protested, flailing her tendrils excitedly "Just what exactly out here is more important than making sure everything in Company waters goes smoothly?!"
"Finally! Time to relax on the beach!"
"Dibs on that spot under the coconut tree!"
The Tentacruel frowned and turned back to the ship to see that the crew had spotted a pink-sanded beach just beyond the palisades and was making their way for the coast for some much needed relaxation... Only for their progress to be hastily interrupted by a loud, displeased buzz, which drew their attention back to a stern-faced Beedrill flitting above the bridge.
"Now hold on a minute!" Jun barked. "None of you are going anywhere until the assignments are handed out!"
A chorus of groans came from the frigate's crew, as their much-anticipated shore leave was held up by their stickler of a first mate. Some grumbles and dirty looks floated about, as complaints bubbled among the gathered Pokémon.
"Seriously?"
"Why'd Captain Nugget have him as her first mate?"
"Ibwa, you know how our docking protocol works! Just because the Captain isn't here doesn't mean I'm about to ignore it!" Jun snapped. "So, to start with… do we have any volunteers for any assignments?"
A long, uncomfortable silence fell over the gathering, as one by one Pokémon looked away or whistled innocuously. That was, until a low, gruff voice suddenly responded from the water.
"Cyanea and I will get provisions for the galley from Braveshoal Town," Katyusha offered.
"Eh?! Katyusha?!" the Tentacruel interjected. "What are you-?!"
"Proposal approved," the wasp buzzed. "Get a move on, we'll need those provisions as soon as you can get them!"
The Sharpedo gave a nod in affirmation before swimming off, leaving her partner to splutter in place before grudgingly following after the shark. The two dove under the surface, the light getting dimmer as the two Water-Types continued deeper into the sea. All the while, Cyanea glared daggers at her partner, breaking the silence with an exasperated huff.
"Katyusha, why did you do that?!" the jellyfish exclaimed.
"You seemed a bit high-strung, so I figured you could use a break from the normal grind," the shark explained.
"How on earth is going on a supply run supposed to help?!" the Poison-Type hissed.
As the two Water Pokémon continued swimming, large, clustered shapes began to enter their field of vision along the seabed. As the duo drew closer to the seabed, it became apparent the shapes were clusters of dome-shaped buildings, which were stitched together by a web of air tunnels and large bubbles not too unlike those of the Subway. All around the buildings and the bubble-passages were pastel-colored corals as far as the eye could see, all teeming with schools of belt-wearing Pokémon swimming to and fro among the vibrant reef.
"You didn't honestly think that I volunteered to do this because I had a strong work ethic, did you?" the Katyusha asked, chuckling. "Not when there's places to see and things to do here in Braveshoal Town!"
"…You got me into this to drag me to Soapy's, didn't you?"
"It's Sophie's, and I wasn't planning on spending all my time at eateries playing dice over snacks!" the Sharpedo rebutted. "We'll get those supplies eventually!"
The Tentacruel huffed and shot back an unsatisfied leer, prompting the Sharpedo to circle around the jellyfish and decide that perhaps her appeal just needed a slight repackaging to sway her tough customer.
"But really now, would you rather be up on the surface bobbing around and sulking?" Katyusha prodded, "or grabbing a bite and playing a game or two of dice instead?"
Cyanea paused and thought for a moment. She wanted nothing more than to prove herself and make a difference against the Company and restore the Empire's realms, and this was the perfect mission to do it! ...On the other hand, she couldn't do much against the Captain's orders, and floating around the ship in wait for attackers that would likely never come wasn't all that productive either. Not to mention that some relaxation would be nice...
"... I'll take you up on that game of dice," the jellyfish answered.
"Great! So let's hurry up, then!"
Katyusha zipped along in the water, prompting Cyanea to follow after her wake. As the jellyfish carried along, her frustrations began to ebb away. It had been a long journey over…
Besides, on a mission as important as her crew's current one, there was no telling if she would be needed to jump back into action in the future.
"Are we almost there yet?"
The team had been traversing the Subway tunnels for hours now after leaving Seaspear Station. They had passed marker after marker along the Subway's path, but going on foot was slower, and apparently more tiring than going by sea or air, which was starting to reflect in Team Traveller's increasingly tired gaits.
"Just a little longer Pleo," Nida said as she nuzzled the little Lugia in an attempt to comfort him. "It shouldn't take too long now."
But I'm tired and my feet hurt!" Pleo protested. "Couldn't you have let me swim?"
"Pleo, your wing's still hurt and seawater isn't good for the bandages," Nida chided. "Besides, we can't help you if you're wandering off from us in the water…"
"But there's still no town in sight!"
A silence fell throughout the group as nobody knew for sure how to respond. They had been walking for a while… As the faint burbling of the bubbleweed filled the silence, Nida thought about how to reassure Pleo, but before she could Guardia spoke up.
"You know he does actually have a point…" the Cubone said. "We've been walking in the direction those sheep pointed us for ages now but there's still no sign of this 'Braveshoal Town.' How do we know this isn't a trap?"
"Don't focus so much on the worst-case scenario!" Nida cried. "We've been through worse before!"
The Nidoran forced a smile, though the tension squeezing the rest of her body still came through obviously enough to be picked up by her unswayed teammates.
"You remember how scary the storm was, right? But we still pulled through it!" Nida exclaimed. "If we made it through that, I'm sure we can make it through finding this 'Blue Fairy'!"
"Um, spike ball, you do remember that we fell into the sea just after we got out of it, right?" Elty reminded. "We would've drowned there if it weren't for that Skarmory and Kabutops, and we're on our own right now."
A pall came over the group along with shudders from that fateful night that allowed them to escape. The seas around them suddenly felt much larger and foreboding as an uncomfortable realization started to weigh down on the four. There was no one to turn to down here in the lonely Subway passage if something went wrong, just them and the vast waters above...
Should they turn back? There would be other Pokémon, yes, but wouldn't they just be waiting for the Company to come and find them? And what of their hopes of getting home? Wasn't that the reason why they left in the first place?
Then… perhaps, the best thing to do, was just to keep on trudging ahead. Towards their uncertain hope.
"Oh wait, I think I see something up ahead!"
After the sound of Pleo's surprised squawk, the group looked off ahead in the distance. There, muddled by the filtering of the deep water was the sight of a great coral reef riddled with bubbles and dome-shaped structures. It was a little strange-looking, but…
"Ah! Soko da!" Guardia exclaimed. "That must be that town those sheep told us about!"
"Well, whatever it is, it's certainly bigger than a rest stop," Elty murmured. "But… are we really making the right choice heading into it?"
"But Elty!" Pleo protested. "It's right here!"
The rabbit paused and twitched her whiskers anxiously. The town ahead was unknown territory, they didn't know if it would be friendly, or even if it was, if the Company had already beaten them there and laid in wait for it. On the other hand, Alexandria and her children said that the Blue Fairy was there, and that was the only lead any of them had for a way to help break the endless cycle of pursuit.
With those choices laid before her, the Poison-Type gave a shake of her head, and turned to her companions.
"... We've come this far," Nida said. "Let's not give up just yet"
The four members of Team Traveller looked ahead, and after a moment's hesitation, set off for the town in the distance. The lot hoping upon the stars that misfortune would not follow them there during their present time of weakness.
Author's Notes:
- (¡)Retrocedan! - Spanish: "Fall back!", "Retreat!"
- zaczekaj chwilę - Polish: "wait a moment", "wait a second"
- (¡)Estás bien! - Spanish: "You're alright!"
- Ibwa (이봐) - Korean: "Hey", used here as an interjection. (South Korean Revised Romanization)
- Soko da! (そこだ!) Japanese: Expression roughly analogous to "There it is!" (Hepburn Romanzation)
