Chapter 16: An unCool group
'The chatty Tentacool went on and on about how their... Smack I guess it's called? first arrived to these waters. How they had passed through various oceans of the world, picking up and losing members to predators or who were separated by the currents, seeing the sights of entirely new oceans the likes of which I had never known. I'd have listened more if I weren't more concerned about how to introduce this group to my own.'
'He pointed out some notable members of their group as we entered into the massive swarm. Among some of the more impressive ones were a large, intimidating Tentacruel known to have slain Gyrados, a foul tempered Tentacool who's poison roiled and rumbled like thunder, and a particularly strange Tentacool who possessed a rare healing art... He seemed quite kind actually, I'd like to meet them sometime.'
'I showed off my own Mud Slap attack which seemed to get them chatting away again at high speeds. Apparently I could one day become one of their Special members if I proved myself to their Smack.' (still such a dumb name)
"Okay Chatty, I see that you have a very impressive whatever-you-wanna-call-it of Tenta-folk. But hey, I notice there aren't any other species here. What uh, what about them?"
-"Tenta Tentacool. Tentacool!"
"Food? Well, fair I guess. I just thought, what if we could use other species and add them to our-"
-"Ten-ten-ten!"
"Haha yeah! Real funny joke, right? Hehe..." 'Not good!'
-"Tentacool! Tenta-ten!"
"Right now? Er, sure! Sure I guess I could- Hey! Stop pulling!"
With no time left to prepare, Jessie was yanked along and introduced to the Tenta-gang. They seemed nice for the most part, eager to get to know the new member. But the thing is, not a single one seemed willing to even consider working alongside another species. Not even against the approaching threat of The Warband.
Also, apparently only Chatty seemed to call their group all those names they told Jessie about? Weirdo.
Not wanting to stand out, Jessie introduced themselves and attempted to make nice with the wandering band of murderhobos. Or at the very least, attempted to not make any of them angry enough to call down the wrath of those Special pokemon.
"Well, it's been great meeting you! I had better get going though. I'm... hungry! Yeah! Growth spurt on the way, need to eat up!"
-"Tenta-ten! Cool?"
"Hunting with your party? Sure! Sounds- sounds so fun! We should do that right away! Maybe somewhere over that way far from the shore?"
-"Ten. Cool tenta."
"Cleared it out huh? Wow! Super! I mean, not super because I'm so hungry! That wasn't great."
The lot of them all laugh in unison, causing our protagonist to cringe inwardly. They seemed to believe they could just float off somewhere new when they cleared out an area. Like grazing on the open plains. There were always new things to eat, no matter how far they traveled. No matter... no matter how many they took from the locals. No matter how many other pokemon they-
Memories of that one ill behaved Krabby from the lake sprung to mind.
'I feel sick just listening to this.'
"Yeah, for sure. So, I was thinking, I actually wanna introduce you guys to some... hunting companions of mine. They're good folk, if a little strange. If you like them, we could see about teaming up! If not, no harm done. We can all go our separate ways. Deal?"
The others immediately agree, not a one suspecting the truth.
"Great! Let's get going then! I'll tell you all about-"
-"Tenta-Tentacool. Tentacool cool cool."
"Or we could listen to Chatty tell another story. Great. Sounds just great." Everyone tries to plug their lack of ears while swimming to the meeting point. It was a long trip, made longer by a story that just doesn't seem to end.
By the time everyone was getting their last nerves plucked, they happened upon Jessie's group. The hunting party of Magikarps swam round a small school of fish, herding them toward the main group.
Upon seeing Jessie, one of them, Jessie's oldest friend Aurum, swam forward. They glanced curiously at the swarm of jellies following him, but as they were with his pal, paid them little mind.
-"Karp?"
"Hey so, we should probably talk with everyone. But basically, I found out where all the Tentacool were. Some weirdness with the ocean currents or something? But yeah, I was thinking that if they were cool with it, we might be able to work together to solve our problem-"
-"TENTACOOL!" A rambunctious cool shouted over the others, startling everyone.
"Woah! There is no need for that language!"
-"Teeenta!"
"Look, I said it earlier. If you aren't gonna be cool, we can go our separate ways."
The swarm look amongst themselves, Chatty seeming to, for once, not have anything to say.
"I was being truthful before, you know. I really don't want my group to start anything with yours. But you have to know, these guys have helped me when I had nothing and nobody. Whatever it is you guys decide to do, I'm staying with them."
The other Magikarps seemed emboldened by that, swimming to stand beside their leader. As for the Tentacool hunters, they debated amongst themselves for a time before returning to their own group.
Chatty stayed only long enough to explain that not everyone thought the same way as Jessie, more still would be willing to come and crush him and his little ragtag band just for hearing about their coexistence! But since the currents were still wild these days, the majority would probably just opt to stay far away from the shoreline his group called home.
"That's all I ask. But hey! If you do change your mind, we've always got room for a few new friends! Maybe you could share stories of the wider ocean with a few interested listeners?"
Some karps nod eagerly in agreement. That almost seems to sway the jelly there and then, but a sharp word from the swarm called it back to reality.
-"Ten... tacool."
"Yeah, think it over. We'll be here. We're not going anywhere."