Chapter 48: The Island of Dreams
Hibiki and Viola held their breath and closed their eyes as they felt themselves suddenly shift before feeling the warm yet comforting breeze of the ocean on their faces. As Hibiki opened her eyes, she saw a beach with clear blue waters that reflected the setting crescent moon off the surface that led up a tree line with very dense trees that lead further into the island. She was about to say something when she felt her stomach churn as she immediately looked around before running over to the tree line and vomiting, Viola doing the same soon after. After taking a moment to let that pass and make sure their stomach was settled, they both laid on the sandy beach.
"I can see why this never took off." Hibiki said in an exhausted tone. Viola simply nodded in agreement as Hibiki took out some food for the both of them and they refilled their stomachs. After taking a few minutes to get their bearings and just make sure everything came with them in an ok condition. "Ok, so good news, everything made it over here safely. Bad news… I have no idea where we are looking for." Hibiki told Viola. Viola gave Hibiki a look that asked her if she was serious about that.
"Hey, I knew we had to come here to find Darkrai, that doesn't mean I know what we're looking for." Hibiki told Viola. Viola looked like she was going to sigh when they both heard rustling coming from the trees, causing them both to be at attention and hide behind some other trees. Peeking out from behind the tree, they both saw a Neo Cypher grunt walking out of the trees and towards where they were.
"Huh, I could have sworn I saw someone over here." the grunt said as he kept walking. As he continued forward, he looked down and noticed Hibiki's footprints in the sand, following them to where she and Viola had laid down. Thinking quickly, Hibiki carefully made her way out of the treeline as soon as possible, eventually managing to get behind the grunt, who had leaned down to check the sand. In a flash, she lifted her leg into the aid and delivered a swift axe kick, knocking the grunt out and flat onto the ground.
"Ok… that's taken care of for now." Hibiki said as she leaned down and made sure that the grunt was still breathing. After seeing he was, she took a moment to look around before grabbing the unconscious grunt and dragging him into the tree line. "Neo Cypher is on the island, good to know." Hibiki commented. She brushed herself off before looking at Viola, who was nervously staring down at the grunt. "Not much we could have done, it was either knock him out now or get our cover blown immediately. Given that it looks like they didn't expect us, Nel at least didn't rat us out. Let's try to be as sneaky as we possibly can." Hibiki told Viola.
Viola nodded as they both proceeded to head further into the jungle, taking care to be as quiet as they possibly could. As they moved further in, they stopped anytime patrols came close by them, which was fairly often. "They seem to still have a strong presence on the island. Is that because they just left these people behind or we're near their base?" Hibiki thought. After a few more minutes of sneaking, Hibiki eventually got her answer in the form of a large building in the distance. She was going to think about a plan to sneak inside when she overheard two of the nearby grunts openly talking, taking a moment to get close enough to hear them and barely see them through the trees. These grunts were standing guard near the entrance to the base, just keeping an eye on the incoming road.
"Man, we really are still here huh?" Grunt 1 asked.
"Yep." Grunt 2 responded in a deadpan tone.
"You would think we would be called back by now." Grunt 1 said with a sigh.
"Well we haven't, not till we got data or proof that we've caught Darkrai." Grunt 2 told Grunt 1.
"Are we sure that Darkrai is even on this island? The recon teams have combed every inch of the surface and not found a spec of evidence that says that." Grunt 1 complained.
"The lab boys are sure that he's here given that we do still get people who have extremely terrible nightmares." Grunt 2 retorted.
"Any idea if that's Darkrai being nearby or if that's the isolation getting to them? From what I remember hearing, it's been on and off." Grunt 1 questioned. Grunt 2 paused for a moment, before giving an exhausted sigh as they put a hand to their helmet.
"Look I get it, we're all fucking exhausted and want to go back to base, but you remember how furious the leader was when we failed to blow up the boat. I would rather stay here than face her wrath again." Grunt 2 responded.
"That is fair, I don't want to be on her bad side even on a good day." Grunt 1 said with a heavy sigh. Hibiki was about to walk away, having heard enough when what she assumed was a commander walked down the path to the base, causing the two grunts to stand at attention.
"Ah, you two are still here. Good, I needed to ask a favor." the Commander asked in a somewhat urgent tone.
"Is something the matter Commander Alta?" Grunt 1 asked.
"Maybe, Tucker hasn't reported back from his patrol. Normally, I wouldn't think much of a missed call or two, but he's fairly diligent about his reports." Altatold the two.
"He might have just taken a nap or a break in the ocean, you know how boring the ocean route can be." Grunt 2 commented. Alta shot a glance at the second grunt, causing him to tense up a bit, before letting out a sigh.
"That is a fair point, but I wouldn't like for the base leader to hear about that if he is. Apologies for asking, but do you two mind going to check it out?" Alta asked.
"Anything to not get the base leader on our ass." Grunt 1 said. The two grunts took a moment to get directions before immediately walking back down the path that Alta had come from. After they left his sight, the commander let out a heavy sigh as he walked back into the base.
"I pray this is just a bad coincidence." Alta muttered to himself. After the commander disappeared into the base, Hibiki gave it a few seconds before sneaking down the patch and heading further into the island.
"Ok, so not only is Neo Cypher here, they've been on the island for a while. More than likely, they were sent here to capture Luna and Darkrai, but they haven't had much luck on the latter. Not that he isn't here, those dreams were more than likely a result of his ability, which I remember hearing has a wide radius." Hibiki said in a quiet voice, going over the details she was able to glean from that conversation in mind. After making sure she was far enough away, she decided to follow the path that the commander had come from.
"What could they be searching for? If they managed to find Luna, then they had to have found some sort of home for her, so what could that be?" Hibiki began to ponder. She looked back on all the stories that her grandmother had told her before recalling one that always seemed a bit odd to her. "The legend of the Temple of Dreams, a place where dreams and nightmares coexist in a peaceful harmony. Grandma had told me about it when I was a kid, but I always just thought that legend was just that, a legend. I wonder…" Hibiki thought.
As she was deep in her thought process and kept moving forward, she paused as she thought she heard people approaching, taking a moment to hide behind a tree. After a moment of no voices, she looked around and saw Viola above her, hiding in the trees as she looked to be scouting ahead. Taking a moment to relax, she paused and took in all the information that she had discovered as well as thinking of some theories she was working up, sitting down as she entered a trance of sorts.
"Neo Cypher has been on this island for some time, probably one of the first things ordered some time after the surge. They were sent here to capture at the very least Luna, which they succeeded at doing. The people that are here now more than likely participated in that mission, which means either they were ordered to stay after they caught Luna or were sent back here to look for the other half of the duo. This team has been here a while, but has had no luck discovering Darkrai's location, though he probably is here given the fact the Neo Cypher team has had nightmares on and off. Though with the nightmares being sporadic, that means that Darkrai is more than likely on the move given I don't know how far his ability can influence others. The question is, where would he be?" Hibiki thought as she zoned out.
Hibiki remained silent for a few moments as she thought about the question, when she felt herself being poked in the arm. Turning, she saw Viola floating there with a sparkle of pride in her eyes. "You found something?" Hibiki asked quietly. Viola nodded as she floated a bit off the path she was following and motioned for Hibiki to follow. Hibiki smiled as she took a deep breath and began to follow Viola, the two disappearing deeper into the jungle.
A few minutes of walking and sneaking later, the two had emerged at the edge of a lake, on which stood a giant stone temple. This temple was very ornate and obviously looked like it was a place of worship, though nature had taken its toll on it with various pieces of rock missing and a whole tower seeming weathered away. "Woah… that would be a place to look." Hibiki told Viola. Viola nodded happily before looking over at the entrance and sighing as she saw a lot of Neo Cypher Grunts stationed there.
"Well if anything, this is where Luna was captured, so we might as well see what happens." Hibiki thought to herself. As she was about to start thinking of a plan to get into the temple, Hibiki and Viola both felt something pull at them as they looked towards the lake again. Hibiki was about to say something when she heard rustling from behind her, and took a moment to dive into the edge of the forest with Viola as two more grunts emerged.
"There it is, told you we were going the right way." Grunt 3 said with a heavy sigh.
"You would think that with us making a base here, it would be easier to remember where it is. Apparently not as we keep getting lost trying to find it." Grunt 4 commented.
"Yeah, it honestly feels like the place is trying to keep us from finding it at times. It's not just us, others get lost too." Grunt 3 told Grunt 4. Almost as if on cue, the commander from earlier came out from the bushes in front of the two grunts, causing them to stand at attention. "Commander Alta? You just arrived yourself?" Grunt 3 asked in a cautious tone.
"Yes I did because I had heard talking from this direction. I take it that you two got lost?" Alta questioned in an exhausted tone. The two grunts went silent before they both nodded, causing Alta to sigh. "Ok fair enough, that's not exactly new around here and you're not the first grunts that I've found on this lakefront. Still, this is fairly far from the forward base, how did you two get so lost?" Alta inquired.
"It wasn't my fault, I swear. Someone thought it would be a good idea to follow some random noise they heard while we were patrolling." Grunt 4 responded in a somewhat accusatory tone. Alta felt himself tense up as Grunt 3 glared at their partner.
"Well I'm positive that I heard someone talking and wanted to make sure that no one was on the island, is that so wrong?" Grunt 3 retorted. Hibiki, still hiding off to the side out of sight of this group, mentally cursed herself for not being as careful sneaking around.
"Ok, with that knowledge in mind, I would like you two to join me in a sweep of the island." Alta told the grunts.
"Oh god, with all due respect, are we getting punished for this or do you actually think someone is on the island?" Grunt 4 questioned.
"The latter, something has been bugging me for the past few hours, but with a patrol potentially missing I am a bit on edge." Alta explained.
"Should we let the others know?" Grunt 3 asked. Alta stayed silent for a moment before nodding, the grunt taking a moment to lift a hand to the side of his head and being stopped by Alta.
"We don't know if they have access to our communications or if they're at the camps. I feel it would be best to stay as secretive as possible in this case. I don't know who could be here or why, but if they're here to interrupt our search, it can't be good." Alta told the two. They both nodded silently as he began to walk forward towards them. "If they emerged here, they might have thought to go deeper in to avoid us. Let's head back into the jungle and see if we can find some tracks." Alta ordered.
"Yes sir." the grunts said in unison. Alta nodded as the three turned and headed back into the forest at top speed, leaving Hibiki and Viola alone. After about a minute of waiting, Hibiki poked her head out to see if anyone was approaching before ducking back into the forest.
"Okay… we need to work fast with them looking for us. Still, that does leave us with the same question, where would Darkrai be?" Hibiki said quietly. Viola tilted her head as she pondered that as well when she noticed a part of the lake near them turning a foggy black. As Viola looked at that, she quickly remembered Hibiki and grabbed her head before pointing it in the direction of the anomaly. "Ok, the turn was not necessary, but thank you." Hibiki told Viola.
"Here…" a faint, deep voice called out. Hibiki felt herself shiver out of anticipation and fear as she looked closer at the puddle, seeing a pair of bright blue eyes staring at her, calling to her. Feeling a sense of familiarity as she looked at the eyes, Hibiki said nothing as she reached to her belt and grabbed Viola's Pokeball.
"Viola, get in your ball. I'm going to dive into that spot and I don't know what's going to happen." Hibiki said in a tense tone. Viola was going to argue, but didn't as she was feeling the same way that Hibiki currently was, tapping the button and being returned to her ball. After she put the ball away, Hibiki took a deep breath before looking at the eyes with determination as they nodded and faded away. She quickly dashed out of her hiding spot, not caring if there were any Neo Cypher agents nearby and diving head first into the shadowy water, the anomaly fading as she dove in.
As she swam down, she felt like she was swimming through air rather than water before feeling like she was falling. "Oh god, please don't tell me I just dive right into the Distortion World. As much as I want to go there, not right now." Hibiki thought to herself.
"You need not worry about that, I'm fairly competent in my abilities." a voice called out. Hibiki almost gasped as she heard the voice, only not doing so as she was terrified of drowning, before seeing a red light above her. With nowhere else to seemingly go, she swam up with all her might, taking a few seconds to reach the surface. Once she surfaced, she took a deep breath of air and climbed onto land before taking a few moments to look at her surroundings. The area around her looked similar to where she just was, but bathed in a blood red light that came from a blood moon in the sky.
"Woah…" Hibiki said aloud, amazed and a tad creeped out.
"I must admit, not the first reaction I expected, though given who I'm talking to, I shouldn't be surprised." a voice said from behind her. Quickly turning around, she saw another version of herself with completely blue eyes standing there.
"Wh- …Darkrai?" Hibiki questioned out of surprise.
"That would be me, it's nice to speak with you again, child of the moon." Darkrai addressed as 'she' bowed. Hibiki let that sit for a moment, suddenly remembering the dream she had before waking up with her mom.
"Were you talking to me in that dream?" Hibiki asked.
"Yes it was me, figured you could use a bit of a pep talk." Darkrai told Hibiki. Hibiki had opened her mouth to say something but shook her head and focused on the Pokemon in front of her.
"Nice of you to do that and thank you for bringing me to where you are. What is this place anyway?" Hibiki asked.
"This is a place of my own creation, only viable to those that follow the correct steps or that I deem worthy. Come though, we have much to talk about and little time to do so." Darkrai responded, walking towards the lake. Hibiki was about to ask what he meant by that when she saw stairs made of shadow forming in the air, with Darkrai beckoning to follow.
"...Somehow this is the weirdest thing to happen to me this whole adventure and I'm not even that phased by it." Hibiki thought to herself before following Darkrai. The two walked up the stairs as they went over the lake and eventually ended up on the roof of the temple.
"First let's address the obvious question, you want me to help you with taking down those that took Luna away, is that right?" Darkrai questioned.
"That is correct, but I understand if you don't want to join me. I'm asking for you to put yours-" Hibiki began to say before being cut off by a finger over her lips.
"Trust me, I know that more than anyone, which is why I'm more than willing to help out." Darkrai told Hibiki. Hibiki was a tad stunned at Darkrai's response, taking a moment to process that response before responding.
"Just like that?" Hibiki asked, a tad apprehensive about the answer.
"Yes, just like that. Don't get me wrong, there is something that I want out of this as well, which is why I'm choosing to help you. As for you potentially joining your team, we'll have to see after this all wraps up." Darkrai responded.
"...Wait, do you happen to like Crescelia?" Hibiki guessed. Darkrai paused and almost tripped over his own feet before catching himself as Hibiki giggled.
"That proves nothing." Darkrai retorted, trying to keep up appearances.
"You don't have to be so closed off you know. You're talking with someone that started her journey wanting to live up to her grandmother's heights and is now throwing that to the side to go save a friend." Hibiki said in a comforting tone. Darkrai was quiet as he let out a long sigh before giving a big smile and turning around to face Hibiki.
"Humans will always be a mystery to me. There are those who want to rule the world with an iron fist and those like you who just care about life so much." Darkrai commented, a small smile on his face. Hibiki chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of her head out of nervousness, not sure how to react to that. "Either way, I take it you have a plan to take care of Neo Cypher?" Darkrai questioned.
"That I do, but it is a bit of a risky one." Hibiki responded.
"Sounds exactly like what you would say. All right, I'm in for this, what is that plan?" Darkrai questioned.
"It's fairly simple all things considered: We use a boat from the island to get into their main base, see if we can free any pokemon that might be trapped there, rescue my friend, and save Luna." Hibiki explained.
"Fairly straight forward, but will it work?" Darkrai questioned, crossing his arms. Hibiki simply chuckled and gave a thumbs up in response.
"As well as I need it too." Hibiki responded. Darkrai chucked and nodded in agreement before the world around them seemingly began to shake. "Oh… this place can only stay stable for so long, can't it?" Hibiki asked nervously as she looked around.
"That's why I said we had little time. Now, give me a second as I merge with you." Darkrai said as he walked onwards Hibiki. Hibiki nodded before taking a moment to process what she had just heard.
"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Hibiki asked, turning back to Darkrai. In response, Darkrai's form faded as he became a spirit and floated forward before phasing into Hibiki, sending a surge of chills throughout her body. "Oooookay… that felt weird." Hibiki said as she shook off the weird feeling.
"Apologies, was a bit necessary for me to leave this realm with no hassle and speak to you safely. Now then, do you mind if I puppet your body for a bit to get us to safety?" Darkrai responded. Hibiki paused for a moment before she saw cracks start to form in the sky and she gave a quick nod. "Good, now hold on." Darkrai told Hibiki. Hibiki relaxed as she felt her body lurch forward for a few steps before starting to run.
"Woah, this is weird." Hibiki thought to herself. As she approached the opposite edge of the roof, before jumping off and starting to fall down. Before she could reach the ground, Hibiki's body melded into the shadows of the temple wall and glided down to the front steps, emerging as she reached the bottom. "...THAT WAS SO COOOOL!" Hibiki screamed as she felt herself in control again.
"Figured you would say that. To the treeline, quickly." Darkrai ordered. Hibiki nodded as more cracks started to form in the space around them, Hibiki sprinting to the edge of the trees. Right as she reached the tree line and decked behind a tree, the space around them shattered and they were back in the real world. "Might want to get moving as fast as you can, don't want to risk getting caught after all." Darkrai suggested.
"You know, I figured I would be talking with another Pokemon or Melody at some point after meeting her mother. Didn't think that would be a dark type, let alone the lord of nightmares." Hibiki thought internally. Darkrai gave a smile that Hibiki noted before she carefully sneaked away from the stairs and headed back into the jungle.
After a few minutes of speaking and walking, Hibiki eventually found a cave where she took a deep breath and sat down on the floor to rest for a moment. "Ok, now that I'm safe, I should probably call out Viola." Hibiki said to herself.
"Viola?" Darkrai asked.
"Melody's sister, she's traveling with me to save her sister." Hibiki told Darkrai. Darkrai mentally nodded as Hbiki got out Viola's Pokeball and called out the dark-Type Meloetta, who looked around before as she sighed with relief before floating over to Hibiki.
"Ah it's not often I see a Meloetta with a unique form." Darkrai said, taking a moment to separate from Hibiki. Viola took a moment after seeing Darkrai emerge from Hibiki, a bit on the defensive before realizing who she was looking at and rubbing her head in embarrassment. "It's ok little one, you didn't know." Darkrai told Hibiki.
"Ok, how can I understand you? I know in that realm you took my body and with you inhabiting my body, understanding you makes sense. But even separate from my body?" Hibiki questioned.
"Simple, Legendary Pokemon all have some form of telepathy, even those that aren't Psychic type. Though, I'm not sure why Arceus gave us this ability if most humans aren't exactly receptive to what we're saying." Darkrai explained.
"Makes sense, we aren't exactly the most welcoming of people to ourselves. Back on that plan I was talking about earlier, you wouldn't happen to know where a boat would be, would you?" Hibiki questioned.
"Thankfully, I do. Spending your past few days just observing and hiding from your pursuers does lead you to learning where they keep their stuff. Not that I could have used any of it, don't have an idea how any of it works." Darkrai told Hibiki.
"Got it, mind leading us there so we can sail for the hideout?" Hibiki requested.
"I can, but a fair warning that it's only accessible through a cave on the coast." Darkrai began to say.
"Which is more than likely being watched by various patrols in the area. Of course it wouldn't be that easy." HIbiki said, getting up and dusting herself off.
"Actually, I do know of an easier way to get there, but I'm not sure how confident you'll be with the method of getting there." Darkrai told Hibiki.
"Oh lord, is it that shadow thing you did earlier?" Hibiki questioned. Viola tilted her head out of confusion before realizing something and floating in front of Hibiki. Before Hibiki could ask what she was doing, Viola faded into the shadows of the cave. "Is that a thing Dark-Types can just do?" Hibiki asked as Viola poked her head out of the shadows.
"Specifically in the shadows, yes. The only reason you're able to do it is because you're an esper that has been blessed by me." Darkrai explained.
"So, the plan is to use the shadows to sneak into the cave and get a boat from there. Seems solid enough, though I am a bit concerned about using that ability. I haven't been using my powers a lot and I'm not sure I'll be able to do it." Hibiki said, a hint of uncertainty in her voice. Darkrai gave a small smile as he floated forward and put a hand on Hibiki's shoulder.
"Then let me help, you're one with my blessings after all." Darkrai offered, a gentle kindness in his voice. Hibiki paused for a moment before nodding her head, causing Darkrai to nod himself and turn into a spirit again.
"You know, you're not as scary as the stories make you out to be." Hibiki commented. Darkrai chuckled at that as he entered Hibiki once again, Viola emerging from the shadows to help support Hibiki.
"Well, the ones that usually tell those stories are often the most sleep deprived." Darkrai commented. Hibiki giggled at that, understanding what Darkrai was telling her, as she pressed a hand against the wall and took a deep breath. "Now, I want you to imagine what it would feel like to be surrounded like water. The feeling of a foreign substance that could kill you if you do something wrong." Darkrai explained calmly.
"Oh, when you put it like that, it makes it so easy to visualize." Hibiki said in a sarcastic tone.
"Hey, I understand that danger does a fairly good job at teaching stuff quickly." Darkrai pointed out.
"Ah… I mean, you're not wrong." Hibiki commented. Viola rolled her eyes at the exchange, putting a hand on Hibiki's shoulder for comfort and support, which the human appreciated as she closed her eyes.
"I will warn you, once you're in there, it will seem like you're not going to know where you are. To solve that, just calm down and feel the shapes of the shadows. Feel where they start and end, build a map of entrances and exits in your mind." Darkrai calmly said. Taking a moment to concentrate and visualize what Darkrai had told her, Hibiki stood in silence for a few seconds before feeling a faint pull from the shadows around herself.
"Take a dive and come up for air, just like swimming." Hibiki thought, focusing in on that pull.
"...Now!" Darkrai called out. Hibiki, hearing the order, pushed herself into the shadows and felt herself floating through an inky void. As she felt herself just floating, she concentrated and made a mental map of her surroundings, using the basics of echolocation to feel where the shadows started and ended. Not wanting to open her eyes just in case she could go blind, she "swam" a bit to get used to moving before feeling herself running out of air and popping out of the shadows. "There you go, you got the basics down." Darkrai told Hibiki, a hint of pride in his voice.
"That feels so weird, but also so familiar. You weren't that far off with your swimming comparison." Hibiki responded as she caught her breath.
"Hey, I at least know enough humans to know what triggers their survival instinct." Darkrai commented.
"Honestly, that is more than enough for me to get motivated. Now, you mind taking me over and guiding us to the cave or at least nearby it?" Hibiki requested. Darkrai nodded, promptly taking over Hibiki's body and phasing into the shadows with Viola right behind him. The two, with Hibiki riding as a passenger, made their way through the sea of shadows for a good bit, Darkrai occasionally popping out in safe spaces to make sure Hibiki's body didn't die.
"And if I remember right, the dock should be right around here." Darkrai said, coming up to the edge of shadows. As Hibiki was about to take back control and exit, she felt a lone shadow moving along what she assumed was the floor.
"Hmm, I'm going to assume that is a guard that I'm sensing. Makes sense seeing as this is their hanger, but we need to emerge soon. Is there anywhere we can safely come out?" Hibiki questioned as she worked on sensing a safe place to come out.
"From what I've been able to gather, there is just one standing watch. Get rid of them and we have easy access to the boats." Darkrai said.
"Might have an idea for that. Viola, think you can provide a distraction?" Hibiki asked. Viola nodded as she moved forward and emerged from the shadows near the guard. After poking her head up and looking around, she saw that the guard was looking away from her towards a pile of large, moving boxes, one of which was open. "Hey Darkrai, mind if I try something out?" Hibiki questioned.
"...Go ahead." Darkrai responded, a curious tone in his voice. Letting out a big smile as she took back her body, Hibiki slowly approached the guard as the guard moved towards the open box. When the guard looked in, Viola quickly leaped out and hid behind the lid, surprising the guard as Hibiki swam up and grabbed the guard's leg, causing them to trip into the box. Viola, moving quickly as she heard the guard fall in, put the lid back on the crate as Hibiki emerged from the shadows.
"Nice work you two, have you really only been together for less than a day?" Darkrai asked curiously, impressed with the teamwork of the two partners.
"If you could believe it, yes. Now come on, we got a boat to steal." Hibiki told the two. Viola nodded while Darkrai remained quiet as they all headed to one of the boats. The dock, now that Hibiki could get a better look around, was a fairly blank room with rock walls that had various boxes and stuff on the walls with a makeshift door blocking the only entrance into the cave. The cave mouth led to the open ocean and there were three boats docked, one of which looked like it was getting ready to leave with only an anchor in the water keeping it from drifting.
"Hey, you do see that right?" Darkrai pointed out, unsure if Hibiki saw the boat in question.
"The fact that one of the boats looks loose? Yeah I do and yes, I'm cautious about it." Hibiki responded. The boats all were fairly simple in design, with a fairly big deck that had a small cabin where the wheel was located. As Hibiki was about to jump over, she heard some movement on the boat that was getting ready to leave. Viola quickly hid behind Hibiki as a grunt walked out of the cabin and looked around before seeing Hibiki. "Shit." Hibiki thought to herself as she jumped in front of the guard.
"Who the hell?" the grunt said, caught off guard.
"Look as much as I want to just knock you out and just get on with this, I don't know how to drive this boat. If you could just get back in there and drive me to your hideout, that would be really swell." Hibiki ordered in an annoyed tone.
"And why would I do that?" the grunt responded. In response to that, they felt a tap on their back by Viola, which caused them to turn around before getting trapped in a void of shadow from below and falling asleep.
"...Appreciated, but you know I could have just knocked him out." Hibiki said, looking down at her chest. Darkrai quickly emerged from her body, took on his normal form, and quickly moved the body of the grunt to the dock out of sight.
"It was faster and I didn't want to bother waiting for something to happen. Thanks for the distraction Viola." Darkrai responded, fading into Hibiki's shadow. Viola gave a nod and smiled as Hibiki sighed before heading into the cabin to see what she could do. The driving cabin was fairly bare, with only a table with a computer that was bolted down and a steering console towards the front.
"Ok, let's see what we have here." Hibiki said as she walked to the computer. As she looked at the console, she looked around a bit and saw that there was a pre-programmed route to an island located to the north. "No auto-drive feature, but that might be a blessing in disguise. Need to quickly send this to let the others know where the base is located." Hibiki thought. When she moved to grab her laptop, she felt someone pull at her arm, turning to see it was Viola pointing out of the door.
"We've got a guard coming in, it's up to you what we want to do." Darkrai told Hibiki. Hibiki nodded and paused, considering what route to take as she heard footsteps approaching the boat.
"Hey Nika, are you there?" the grunt called out. Staying silent Hibiki simply chose not to move and remained silent, waiting to see what would happen. As she did, she heard a brief groan and mentally cursed herself as she got out another Pokeball.
"Sorry, that one is on me. Didn't want to put her fully under and risk her potentially dying in her sleep because of me." Darkrai mentally told Hibiki.
"You really need to see if you can control that." Hibiki quietly responded.
"Nika?" the grunt asked, walking towards the source of the groan. When they did, they found Nika lying on the floor, slowly waking up from the sleep Darkrai had put them under.
"...Someone is on the boat." Nika responded quickly.
"What?!" the grunt responded, helping Nika to their feet.
"Yeah, someone without armor jumped onto the boat and knocked me out." Nika said as she quickly moved towards the boat. The grunt moved with them and let the information sink in before something clicked as she stopped Nika. "Is something the matter?" Nika questioned.
"No, but I might know them. Echo Eversong, is that you?" the grunt called out. Hibiki stopped as she heard Echo's name from the grunt, still feeling a bit cautious, but deciding to take a gamble.
"You know my sister?" HIbiki responded, opening the door as she did so.
"Sis- Hibiki?" the grunt asked. After opening the door fully, she stepped out and showed herself to the two grunts, the unnamed one relaxing as she saw the unarmored girl. "She's cool." the grunt told Nika.
"Are you sure Krystal?" Nika inquired, still a bit curious herself.
"Given that she is currently thought to be dead, yes I am." Krystal said as she removed her helmet.
"Krystal? Wait, I've heard your name before from Wind." Hibiki commented. Krystal was going to say something as the box that Hibiki had trapped the guard in started to shake violently. "If you two were planning on leaving, come on. We have to hurry." Hibiki told the two. Nika and Krystal nodded as they jumped on the boat, Nika heading inside to start the boat up while Krystal and Hibiki made sure everything was set on the outside.
"Are we good to go?" Nika called out.
"Yes we are, the anchor is raised and the waters are clear." Krystal called out. Nika nodded as she started the engine, Hibiki and Krystal going back inside the cabin, and the boat sped out of the cove right as the lid of the box shot off, the guard emerging to see the boat taking off into the distance. After a few minutes of sailing, the group heard a faint alarm in the distance as the base was alerted to their departure.
"Don't worry about them following us, I made sure to cut the engines on the other boats." Krystal told Hibiki.
"Good to know, but can't they follow us on Pokemon?" Hibiki questioned.
"You act like most of their Pokemon will listen to them." Nika responded.
"Oh… Ohhhhhh." Hibiki said.
"Yeah just because they own actual Pokemon, that doesn't mean that all of their Pokemon will listen to them. I might have had a hand in that by proposing a fun "trade your pokemon" event for today." Nika said.
"I like you already Nika. Speaking of, sorry for the scare and knocking you out." Hibiki apologized, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.
"Ah, it's fine. How did you knock me out though?" Nika questioned. Hibiki looked a bit sheepish before looking at Viola sitting on the table, who Nika looked at and nodded for a moment before it clicked what she was looking at. "Excuse me what?" Nika asked, taking a moment to stop diving as Krystal took over.
"Yeah, let's leave it at something that happened very fast over the past 11 hours." Hibiki explained. Nika opened her mouth to say more, but quickly shut it as she just accepted it with no further discussion. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you helping Krystal?" Hibiki questioned.
"I grew conscious. " Nika said simply.
"She actually approached me with the idea of leaving. We were just going to head to land and leave the region. However, I take it that you're going to want to head to the Neo Cypher HQ?" Krystal questioned.
"Apologies, but that I do." Hibiki said with a kind smile.
"That's… honestly fine with me." Nika commented.
"Yeah same, though I do have to assume that you have a plan right." Krystal said.
"That I do, but you two are going to have to trust me if you want to help. It's not exactly the sanest plan I've come up with." Hibiki told the two. Nika and Krystal looked at each other for a moment before giving a nod of approval as Hibiki began to explain the plan to them as the boat continued towards their destination.