Prompt 5: Forest
Emmet was careful to keep a firm grip on Eelektross's neck as they descended through the water, his other pokémon- an Araquanid he had gotten in a trade from an Alolan trainer- careful to follow along as it too crept along the shallow sand beds. It had been based off of a whim to take a small vacation in Undella. Too much stress and too many migraines had gotten Ingo onto Emmet's case, both him and Elesa derailing his schedule so that they could all take a day off and relax. Emmet had had the choice of selecting where they would be going and with Eelektross's influence and shining eyes, Emmet had selected Undella Bay without much of a fuss.
That was the reason he was currently a few meters beneath the ocean's surface, his eyes catching on the beds of waving kelp that grew like trees under the water. He couldn't speak underwater but that was fine; both of his pokémon could understand him anyway. Emmet gently tugged on Eelektross's dorsal fin, his ace pokémon nodding before it began swimming into the kelp forests. Araquanid followed, sneaking close to refresh the oxygen in Emmet's air bubble before skittering away to hunt something.
This was mostly Eelektross's sort of vacation. Emmet rarely ever chose to visit the ocean despite Eelektross being a pokémon that thrived in deep water. It was the only resource- the only home expansion- that Emmet couldn't afford. Not like Ingo had when his Hisuian Sneasel had started climbing the house and Ingo had been forced to relocate her to their shared home back in Anville where there were plenty of tall cliffs. Eelektross didn't have any such allowances. Either Emmet had to manually take him to a deep body of water and supervise him for a few hours or the gigantic eel pokémon was without water until the weekend arrived. It was even worse during the winter.
Emmet only smiled upon seeing his ace pokémon so giddy and excited, recognizing other Eelektross and Eelektrik as they slithered in the sand, their glowing eyes seeming to follow Emmet as he floated alone in the current. Emmet's own Eelektross amiably swam closer to the shoal, almost dwarfing them with its size as it communicated with its wild friends using the bioluminescent scales along its body.
Don't wild Eelektross regularly hunt giant prey? I hope I'm not giant prey. I should be fine with both Araquanid and Eelektross, but I should move closer just to be safe. Something soft touched his leg, Emmet only having a minute to think before being drawn into an air bubble squarely atop his Araquanid's back. No longer suspended in water, he carefully saddled his pokémon's back. "Thank you!"
Araquanid waved its mandibles and then began to pick up the pace, its long legs easily finding their way as they slowly but surely entered the depths of the kelp forest bordering the Undella Sea.
The stalks of golden leaves rose high in the water, allowing filtered summer light to shine upon the sandy sea floor where both Corsolas and Shellders crawled around, their tough exoskeletons seeming to glitter as they moved between the columns. Emmet sighted a pack of Frillish floating at the top of the kelp, shoals of Luvdisc darting through their outstretched legs as if racing. Emmet even got to see a massive Mantine glide along the seafloor, waving one flipper at him as it passed by.
It was quiet under the water, the only sound being that of bubbles rising from the sand and of the kelp sliding against one another, muted by the air bubble around his head. He couldn't go too deep; the pressure of all the water on top of him would hurt him if he went any deeper, but Emmet relaxed, knowing that his pokémon were already keeping a watchful eye on him in case his protective diving suit wasn't performing correctly.
As Araquanid crawled over an outcrop of dark rocks, Emmet gasped, leaning closer to stare at the mystical silhouette that was the Abyssal Ruins.
The Abyssal Ruins were old; older than Unova as a matter of fact, allegedly built by an ancient civilization that worshipped a particular king. At least, that's the story that archeologists, divers, and anthropologists had come up with after a team of divers had resurfaced with pictures of dust-covered ancient artifacts and sunken walls containing lines upon lines of hieroglyphs. Emmet had no particular desire to get closer.
The ruins stuck out along the seabed. It was a long slab of rock with a central ziggurat just barely tilting to the side. Decrepit stone houses littered the top of the rock face, it being the only part of the seafloor that didn't have an obnoxious amount of kelp or coral growing on it.
And the longer he looked, the more Emmet began to notice that he could hear music. Lulling music. Music that sounded awfully like an orchestra coming directly from the ruins. He tried to think of any ocean pokémon native to Unova that could project their voice underwater, unable to think of anything. The music- it was more like singing- seemed to float into the kelp forest, a few of the Jellicents and Frillish floating off toward the ruins as if enticed to find the source.
It was a soothing noise. A peaceful song. One that Emmet sworn he had heard before when Ingo had once taken him to visit Celestial Tower back when they were kids. It was the same song that Chandelure often hummed late at night from her perch on the ceiling, the same one that almost always put the brothers to sleep after a long day at work. A horrible chill like being submerged in ice encased Emmet's body. He shuddered. Time to leave.
Emmet tapped his Araquanid three times on the side of its head- the signal to resurface. It then called out to Eelektross who had immediately swum back, something large caught in its mouth- probably prey. Eelektross flashed the bioluminescent spots on its body. Two flashes on the side of its face, one on its tail. Resurfacing?
Emmet nodded, pointing upward. He was grateful when Eelektross swam up to him and wrapped its hands around him, allowing Emmet to take hold of its dorsal fin as both it and Araquanid began to float upwards. And as he rose higher and higher, Emmet chanced a glance back down at the fading ruins.
He saw what looked to be a shoal of small Basculins swimming toward the walls of the ruins, a much bigger, sleeker-looking Basculin leading the pack. Emmet squinted. No. No, that doesn't look like a Basculin. Maybe an evolution? But Basculins don't evolve… Emmet blinked. Ingo had mentioned that the place he had been- Hisui- had featured new evolutions of certain pokémon. Basculin… Basculin was one of those noble pokémon, wasn't it?