Chapter 6: Toxic Waters

Ok...not exactly an ideal start to life, thought Tentacrueltwo as he swam through obviously unfamiliar water. He had landed in a random spot in the water, with the only land in sight appearing to be an island along the horizon. Not that he ever planned on visiting it, but it was still good to know nonetheless. He had only been swimming for a few a minutes, but every Pokémon he passed by appeared to be giving him some kind of stare. Like they knew that something was off about him. Like they knew that he wasn't from there. Or maybe...

That he wasn't normal.

Tentacrueltwo hoped that it wasn't the latter. Though, thinking about it, there wasn't anything that could immediately make him stand out amongst the normal Pokémon. Physically, he looked identical to any other Tentacruel. The only things that set him apart were his birth and abnormal strength. Well, hopefully that isn't an explanation I'll ever have to give anyone.

After a few more minutes of swimming, Tentacrueltwo stopped by a large rock to rest and think about where he was going to go from here. However, his thoughts didn't last long as he was soon approached by two Pokémon who appeared to be smaller versions of him, and a Seadra whom he knew better than to assume it was his old friend. The latter was the first to speak.

"Hey, bub. You're not from around here."

"No, I'm not. Can I help you?" Asked Tentacrueltwo, sensing a slight bit of hostility in the Pokémon's tone.

"Yeah, you can tell us your business here," the Seadra spat at him. "This is Octillery's turf, and he don't want outsiders messin' around in our waters."

"What's an 'Octillery?'" Tentacrueltwo blurted out without thinking. Drat, I should not have asked that, he thought to himself once he realized what he'd said.

The other Pokémon laughed. "You're really not from around here, are ya'?" Said one of the mini-Tentacruel sarcastically.

"Nope. No, I'm not," said Tentacrueltwo in the driest tone possible.

"Octillery's a Pokémon who moved in from the Johto region a little while ago," explained the Seadra, "and he's claimed this territory as his own since he came. He's a red Pokémon with tentacles like you. And lemme tell ya, he's strong. As in, strong enough to defeat the Gyarados that used to live around here and send him off."

"There used to be a Gyarados here?"

"Yeah, but he just kinda lived here and didn't bother anyone. But he was mighty strong, too. Octillery just wanted to control some Pokémon, though, I guess, and he saw Gyarados as a threat so he got rid of him."

"I see..."

"Yeah, and he doesn't like outsiders, so either do whatever you need to and get out or else you'll be answerin' to him."

This guy sounds like quite a jerk. And I'm guess these Pokémon don't exactly like living around here with him. Maybe I can do something about that.

"And if I choose to answer to him?"

"Heh, your funeral."

"What if I win?"

"Hey, I mean...fat chance but if you somehow do show 'im up, maybe he'll go find some other place to hang around and he'll leave us alone."

"Well, what exactly does he do that makes him unpleasant to live with?"

"Well, he's loud, annoying, and really, REALLY boastful. Like, seriously, his ego's probably bigger than that Gyarados. He also just has a habit of bullying Pokémon who try to stand up to him and sometimes even messes them up if they hurt his ego too much."

Great, an adult-child who needs to learn some manners. "Sounds like he needs someone to talk to."

"You're really willing to set yourself up like that?"

"Eh, I've been through some things, lemme put it that way," Tentacrueltwo said as he got up and started swimming. "Now, where can I find this guy?"

"Pff, you really wanna take this guy on for a bunch of Pokémon you don't even know?"

"Someone once helped me even though we didn't know each other very well," Tentacrueltwo said, thinking about the kind humans who helped free him and his friends. "Now I think it's time I did the same for someone else. Now, can you take me to him?"

The Seadra looked at him with surprised eyes. "Alright, Mr. Sentimental. I'll take you to him, but after that, you're on your own."

"Fine by me."

The two were on their way, and Tentacrueltwo began planning how he was going to take this Pokémon on. He still didn't know what kind of moves he could use or what kind of tactics he might employ. I can't run into this thing using just my Clone strength alone, he thought to himself. I had practiced battling with some of the other Clones back on the mountain, but he wasn't super familiar with how real wild Pokémon fought. He had no real clue how different it might be, or if it would be at all.

And there was another thing he had to worry about: he couldn't let his full Clone strength show. Nobody could know that he was different. All this he thought about on his way to meeting this "Octillery..."