Chapter 51: Cool Cavern
Important characters

Jessie (Male Tentacool/Ex-Human)

Aurum (Male Gyrados, Jessie's bff)

Emperor (Male Seaking, Ex-leader of Jessie's group)

"So what's up, Emperor?"

-"King?"

It wasn't too long into their journey up to Goldenrod, but they had traveled a good ways from Cherrygrove town by this point. They had managed to reach somewhere near Azalea forest's coastline that Jessie decided it was time to address the Donphan in the room.

"Come on, don't play that game with me. You were so determined to go out on this expedition with us even though you're retired. You're normally so calm about things to, but this time you were all furious and ready to pounce. Totally out of character." Jessie fixes him with a serious look.

"You're hiding something. And if that something is going to put us all in danger, then as your leader, I need to know about it."

-"...Seaking, king." The old fish gives an expression caught between surprise and pride in Jessie.

"Heh, yeah. I may have my faults, but I've still got 'some' leadership qualities. Had to be some reason you left The Crew in my command."

-"GYAAAAA!" Aurum nods along in approval.

"So spill it, what's really going on?"

-"Sea... Seaking king king."

"Don't worry buddy, we've got all day."

So begins the long story of Emperor's life before joining up with his old group, his childhood which was brutally taken from him, and the lost lives of his parents who were butchered for their horns.

By the end of it, he's visibly shaking with rage.

"Okay... Yeah, I understand now. Guess it makes sense why you looked so determined when Ranger Boy mentioned the poaching that happened years ago."

-"Seaking seak." They look down, face full of rage mixed with shame.

"Well... I guess we'll just have to help you out then!"

-"King?!"

-"GYAAAA!"

"Darn right! Like Aurum said, we're friends! If you want to figure out who was behind the poaching operation all that time ago, then we wanna know to!"

-"King... Sea Seaking!"

"That's the spirit! Now come on, let's take a sidebar and figure some stuff out. Maybe we can figure out a starting place to look if we put our heads together."

The group swims over to the side of the coast they were traveling along and pull out the waterproof map they were given.

"Let's see, I think from your story you would've been around this area when it happened. Roughly where we're located now."

-"Sea."

"Right, and Team Rocket has activities in this area. Mostly on land, but there's some that happened further north to. So it could've been them, but seeing as they're just one of several bands of criminals who were after rare pokemon parts, and the fact that I personally know a couple... I don't wanna just say it was them and be done with it. The victims deserve a proper investigation."

-"Sea-king."

"We can start a search for clues around here and meet up later to discuss what we found out. Aurum, think you can check that area?" Jessie points to a place on the map. Aurum, being a fish, doesn't really get it.

-"GYAAA?"

"Oh uh, by those rocks. Ships sometimes scrape themselves up along those rocks since they're hidden at certain times due to the tides. A poacher may have dropped something or lost a ship part."

-"GYAAAAA!" The Gyrados zooms off, making huge waves behind him.

"Damn, I sure am glad that guy's on our side... Okay, so that leaves the coast to us. I think there's a place which feeds into the Azalea Town's waterways, so I'll check that place first. Think you can handle this surroundings?"

-"King... Sea- seak Seaking ki."

"Don't mention it, bud. You were there for me back when I was still figuring out all this leader stuff. Let us be there for you to."

-"Sea-king!" *high fin*

Filled with the power of a rekindled friendship, the pair spread out to begin their search in earnest, confident that as long as they stick together, anything was possible!

Still reeling from the head injury, Jessie wakes up in a cold, damp place. Water runs down the wall of this cave-like room from somewhere high above. Craning his lack of a neck to see, Jessie spies some cracks in the carved stone leading to a prominent hole which probably wasn't there before he arrived.

"Uh, hello? Emperor? Aurum? Anyone?" ...No reply comes. Just the echoing 'Tentacool?' bounding off of the cavern walls.

'Okay okay, don't freak out. Just think back about how you got here... I was exploring near that eddy where that strange current was. I got close and found... That's right! I found that!'

Reaching around blindly in the shadows, Jessie splashes in the small pool where he landed for a minute before finding an old Seaking horn! It's chipped with battle scars and wear from the sea current, but still easily recognizable for what it is.

'Oh man, Emperor is gonna flip when he sees this! ...Ah, wait. He did flip. Back and fourth, very quickly. Broke some stones even when he was thrashing around. Then I found out first hand what was making that strange current. The water was flowing downward and further inland. Leading to...'

He looks about once more, more thoroughly this time. Out of the darkness, he starts to be able to make out some shapes. Most of them lumpy looking and hanging from the ceiling. Zubats probably. The others mostly idle, only the occasional yawn distinguishing them from normal rocks.

Taking a moment to edge closer, as far as the shallow pool will allow, he begins to figure out more details. A chubby body, stumpy legs, rounded head and similarly round ears... pink?

-"Slow..."

"Hey there, stranger! You wouldn't happen to know-"

-"poke?"

"...where we are right now? Or possibly an exit? Preferably a water based one?"

-"Slow..."

"...Go on, take your time."

-"poke."

"Ah. So we're in Azalea town, was that right? ...Fu-"

-"Slow..."