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You have made us for Yourself,
And our hearts are restless
Until they rest in You
Hello, everyone! This is a fic that I started writing close to seven years ago. After posting it elsewhere, I decided it was time to bring it here. As of 4 March 2021, chapters 1-7 have been rewritten.
One important thing to note: this fic uses the ORIGINAL designs for Team Aqua and Team Magma. I started writing this before there was any official word of Pokemon Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire so I had the original designs in mind (and quite honestly, I prefer them, but that's just my personal taste ^_^;)
Our very own Dragonfree did a beautiful depiction of the main character, Maressa, which you can see here.
Any comments or criticisms are greatly appreciated! Enjoy!
Credit for the banner goes to Sketchie at Serebii!
Rated PG-13 for violence and some swearing.
Chapter 1
I should have been a pair of ragged claws
Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.
The storm raged endlessly. Lightning sparked in mile-high clouds, throwing their black depths into sharp relief before the skies succumbed to darkness once more. The heavens tore open, sending sheets of rain down upon the turbulent seas.
In the roaring waters, a wooden ship plowed through the salty sea, miniscule in comparison to the endless abyss. Men on board raced to and fro, hauling buckets of water, desperately grabbing hold of lines, tying objects down, trying to control the sails. Three men stood together at the wheel in an attempt to prevent the ship from spinning out of control.
Black walls of water raged higher and higher; each new monstrous wave crashed down only to be replaced by one bigger than itself. The waves fell, retreated, and returned more powerful and numerous than ever before. Fighting to stay afloat was akin to fighting a hydra: the more progress they appeared to make, the more hopeless the situation became.
At last, as the ship fell into a trough, as rains lashed the bulwarks, as the faces of every sailor looked up in terror at the wall of water looming over them, highlighted by a burst of lightning, they gave in. The men at the wheel let go: the ship spun, capsizing, and a second later was completely submerged as the wave slammed down on it.
The fragments of the magnificent ship and its passengers all descended into the calmness of the deep, the latest victims of the thirsty storm.
We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us,
And we drown.
Maressa jerked back as Golduck wolfed down a piece of dried jerky in her hand—he had reached too far and clamped his bill over her fingers.
“Be more careful!” she snapped at him as he eagerly ate up the food.
“Maressa, you okay?”
Maressa turned her head to see her teammate, Sarah, striding over to her.
“Yeah, my Golduck just nipped my fingers a bit hard.”
Golduck rolled his eyes and quacked something—Maressa couldn’t quite hear what. Even though he didn’t speak with words the same way that humans did, he and Maressa had been together for so long that she perfectly understood his every mannerism and quack.
Sarah sat down next to Maressa. The estuarine waters rippled beneath the moonlight; the tiny submarine they sat on lay motionlessly in the gentle flow. Sarah straightened her blue Team Aqua bandanna as she gazed at Golduck.
“Do you always keep your Pokemon out of his Pokeball?”
“Not always, but it’s nice to have someone to hang out with—especially when our job is to literally do nothing,” she announced with a glare at the empty area. A few Vigoroth swung from the nearby trees surrounding the banks, but aside from that, the night was totally silent.
“Well,” Sarah said, “keeping watch is referred to as grunt work for a reason!” Taking a Pokeball out of her pocket, she looked at it thoughtfully. “It’d be nice to hang out with my Sealeo more.”
“Why don’t you bring him out? I’m sure my Pokemon would love to meet him!”
“He prefers colder areas, and whenever I bring him out somewhere warm like this, he gets really uncomfortable quickly.”
Maressa nodded. “That makes sense—sorry to hear that, though.”
“King! Seaking!”
The two women looked at the waters and saw a large Seaking poking his head above the surface, bobbing in the gentle ebb of the river.
“Oh, hey, Seaking!” Maressa said. “Want to meet Sarah? She’s one of my teammates!” Maressa smiled at Sarah. “Seaking loves attention—you can go ahead and pat him! He’d be really happy if you talked to him, too.”
Scooting closer to the edge of the submarine, Sarah reached out a shaky hand and patted Seaking’s scaly head. Sure enough, Seaking closed his eyes and fluttered his fins happily; Sarah’s tentative smile tuned into an adoring one.
“For something so big and scaly, he’s really endearing!”
Maressa smiled proudly. “Yep. Not the most confident Seaking yet, but we’re getting there. Hey, Seaking, where are Sharpedo and Lanturn, huh?”
As with Golduck, Maressa had grown to understand her other Pokemon and what they told her. Seaking swam in a few circles while chirping—Sharpedo and Lanturn were still hanging out underwater, but they weren’t far!
“Hey, what’s going on—woah, it’s a party up here!”
Maressa and Sarah turned to see a tan woman with long brown hair emerge from the submarine hatch.
“Hey, Cloe,” Sarah said with a smile. “What’s up?”
“Nothing—literally nothing is going on down there. How about up here?”
“Same,” Maressa said as she ripped up a strip of dried jerky and threw it at Golduck—he tried to catch it but missed and it smacked him in the face. He glared at her.
“You guys got your Pokemon out? Come on, Corsola, join the fun!”
Cloe took out a Pokeball, and a blue and pink spiny Pokemon emerged.
“Corsola!” she chirped happily before scuttling into the water on her short legs.
Sarah frowned. “Isn’t brackish water bad for Corsola?”
“Only if I leave her in there all day—she’ll be fine if it’s just a few hours,” Cloe said as she laid back on the submarine, looking up at the moonlit sky.
“And won’t Commander Shelly noticed that you’ve disappeared?”
Cloe waved a dismissive hand. “Nothing is happening down there, anyway. They’re supposed to be running tests on the water quality, flow, sedimentation, yada yada—but there’s about four people running them. There are too many of us and not enough things to do, so Shelly is having all of us clean the ship. There’s no way she’ll notice if one of us leaves for a bit.”
Maressa laid down next to Cloe and sighed. “I can’t wait to finally go on a real assignment!”
Cloe’s face lit up. “Oh yeah? Where are you going after this?”
“Mt. Chimney,” Maressa said with a proud smile. “Shelly said she’s really happy with my battling ability—”
Quack! Golduck cut her off.
“… Our battling ability. She wants to take us on a real mission!”
“So cool!” Sarah said. “What are you going to do?”
Maressa frowned and shrugged. “I dunno. Apparently there was a recent meteorite landing, and Shelly says Team Aqua can use it—I don’t know what for, but she wants us to get it first and put it to good use.”
“Who else would be after a meteorite?”
“Maybe some nerds who like to study rocks. Shelly’s also worried about Team Magma going after it.”
Sarah grimaced as if she had smelled something nasty. “Those people who just want to dry up the oceans?”
“Yeah,” Maressa spat. “I hope we don’t run into them… Although it’d be kinda fun to get the chance to get in a real Pokemon battle! Not just a training simulation like we do all the time here."
Cloe, who had been watching her Corsola splash around with Maressa’s Seaking, turned her head to Maressa. “You and your Pokemon really enjoy battling, huh?”
“Yep!” Maressa said proudly as her Golduck glanced at her. “It’s all this guy is good for, anyway—HEY!”
She spat as Golduck shot a blast of water at her. Her blonde hair hung lankly around her face as she glared at Golduck, who gazed back at her smugly with his bill sticking high in the air.
“Why would you say that about your Golduck?” Cloe asked.
“I don’t mean it—and you know that!” she shot at Golduck as he stared cheekily back at her. “You wouldn’t have hung around me for nineteen freaking years and followed me to Hoenn if I only battled with you!”
Sarah started. “Nineteen years? I wasn’t even allowed to have a Pokemon nineteen yeas ago!”
Maressa averted her eyes. “Well, I wasn’t, either… But we worked around it… without really telling anyone.
“Don’t look at me like that!” she said in response to Sarah’s and Cloe’s doubtful stares. “When I was four years old, I came across Psyduck and we became friends—I wasn’t allowed to have Pokemon yet, so I just saw him whenever I played outside. Once I was old enough, I caught him, my family moved from Kanto to Hoenn, and now we’re here. That’s not bad—we’re all Team Aqua members, and you guys know this organization isn’t legal!”
“That’s true,” Cloe said, “but Team Aqua isn’t bad, either—oceanic conservation without government regulations and stopping Team Magma isn’t exactly ‘bad.’”
Wiping water out of her eyes, Maressa asked, “So where are you guys going next?”
“Slateport Museum!” Cloe said. “I’m going in as a volunteer during the day, seeing what data they already have on water flow, oceanic currents and sediments—seeing what data already exists so we don’t have to measure it, y’know?”
“That’s cool! I was hired into Team Aqua after they saw I studied ocean currents in college—I really liked math and calculus, so I looked into how they worked and all that.”
“Neat! I’m a math person, too. Are they having you battle instead because they need more battlers?”
Maressa shrugged. “I guess. They saw my training simulations with all my Pokemon, told me it was good, asked how I felt about primarily doing Pokemon battles, and all of my Pokemon were cool with it.” She looked up at Sarah. “What about you? If I’m going to Mt. Chimney and Cloe’s going to Slateport, where are you going?”
“I don’t know yet. Shelly told me that she might transfer me to Matt’s squad, so we’ll see how that goes.”
Golduck slithered from the submarine into the estuary to join the other Pokemon. The three grunts sat quietly for a moment, gazing out at the dark waters that rippled with liquid moonlight.
Sarah smiled thoughtfully. “This reminds me of growing up in Mossdeep: when I was a kid, my friends and I used to go sit at the cliffs and watch the Wailmer come out of the water. We called it Wailmer Watching.”
“What’s Mossdeep like? I’ve never been there!”
“It’s beautiful! We’ve got sandy beaches, mangrove forests, and rocky tidepools. Every year, we have a festival for the Millennium Comet, and it’s actually coming this year! It’s a week-long celebration of singing, dancing, and having a ton of food and drink!” The dreamy smile soon faded from her face. “Too bad I have to miss it.”
“You can’t get off work?!”
“No,” she said sadly. “I asked Commander Shelly, and she said that Team Aqua has to be a priority.”
“Well, Shelly can take her priorities and shove them up—”
Maressa was cut off by the sound of the hatch opening. A woman wearing a blue bandanna with bushy red hair emerged from the submarine. Her red eyes were narrowed with displeasure, she slightly held her chin up, and a haughty air hung about her.
“Is Cloe up here?” Commander Shelly asked.
“Crap!” Cloe hissed.
“What are you all doing?” the Commander demanded as she walked onto the deck, her hands on her hips. “You—” she jabbed a finger at Cloe— “are supposed to be inside, cleaning the windows! And you two—" she pointed to Maressa and Sarah— "are supposed to be on watch! Tell me, how are you watching anything when you are lying on your backs?”
The three grunts immediately leapt to their feet.
“There’s no one out here,” Maressa said hastily, “and besides, my Pokemon have been scouting the waters, and they say they haven’t seen anyone!”
Shelly raised an eyebrow.
“Really?”
Maressa turned her head and her heart sank when she saw Golduck and Corsola wrestling with Seaking. Corsola clung to Seaking’s horn, yipping like a cowgirl as Seaking bucked up and down; Golduck had his arms wrapped as far around Seaking as they would go, trying to hold on while Seaking vigorously tried to shake them off.
Shelly let out a hiss (maybe it was supposed to be a sigh) as Cloe and Maressa recalled their Pokemon into their Pokeballs.
“Just because you’re going out on missions soon doesn’t mean you can slack off. Being a Team Aqua member demands a lot of responsibility!”
“Yes, Commander Shelly,” the three of them said reluctantly.
She nodded. “Cloe, into the submarine.”
With a glance of terror at the other grunts, Cloe did as she was told.
“Sarah, go in with her, too. I want to talk to Maressa for a moment.”
Maressa’s stomach knotted. This wasn’t good.
As Sarah walked away, Maressa desperately wanted to cling to her and beg her to stay so she didn’t have to listen to Shelly all by herself—
But Sarah soon disappeared into the submarine, too.
The Commander sighed. “Maressa, I’m very disappointed in you.
“We have a lot of hope for you, you know. I’m taking you with me to Mt. Chimney tomorrow because I believe you can handle it. I’ve seen the way your Pokemon fight, and I know you say that you care about the ocean—but you have to prove it. We didn’t find out about the meteorite on our own; it was through a spy we have on Team Magma. They’re going after that meteorite, so we are, too.”
Maressa’s stomach dropped.
“We will fight Team Magma tomorrow, Maressa. And you need to prove that you and your Pokemon are willing to work hard for Team Aqua. Standing out here on watch is easy. If I can’t trust you with a simple task like that, how can I trust you to do something that carries as much weight as a Pokemon battle?
“There may be a point where your loyalty is tested. If you want to be a member of Team Aqua, you must be willing to fight for it.”
Maressa bowed her head slightly as a trickle of shame bled into her heart.
“Yes, Commander Shelly. I’m sorry. I promise you, we’ll work hard from now on—we won’t let Team Aqua down.”
Shelly nodded. “Good.
“Now give me fifty push-ups.”
“WHAT?!”
The Commander stared back impassively at Maressa’s open-mouthed shock.
“I didn’t stutter. Searching Mt. Chimney is physical work. You want to prove you’re capable, don’t you?
“Fifty push-ups. Now.”
Maressa pursed her lips in anger—her disdain for Shelly growing ever stronger. She didn’t need to prove she was physically capable of hiking Mt. Chimney—the training simulations had already proven that! She swam four-hundred meters in the open ocean for her dive test; she had run up and down the muddy hillsides of Route 119; she had done free-diving with her Pokemon to more than twenty meters—
And now she needed to prove herself?
Maressa closed her eyes. She wouldn’t let her anger get the better of her—this time. Getting on her hands and feet, she steadily did push-ups while Shelly stood over her. Expending energy usually calmed her down—but as her chest and biceps burned, so did her resentment.
At dawn—Sean and Casey were supposed to relieve her and Sarah at 3 AM but missed their watch—she clambered down into the submarine hatch and sat on her cot, all four of her Pokemon recalled into their Pokeballs.
As she lay on the bed, weariness overtook her, clouding her mind with the bliss of restful sleep. Her upper body was still tender from doing push-ups—but she was excited for what the next day would bring. Recovering and researching a meteorite! Fighting Team Magma! She smiled, a single thought running through her head:
So I instantly found this set-up to be atmospheric--the watch by the water, the moonlight, some lurking unease. I'm also really excited to see a golduck trainer! I don't think I've ever seen that in a fic, and golduck is such a cool pokemon, from its appearance to its psychic nature.
I know this fic is seven years old, so I don't want to belabor anything you're already aware of, but a few points. First, we're getting a lot of exposition dumped in this conversation and the dumping feels pretty obvious. One place it especially stands out is when Sara is complementing Maressa on her skills and relationship with her pokemon. This would really be a place where showing would work better than telling. All these details are great, but we should be able to observe them ourselves when Maressa and her golduck interact, rather than learn them from Sara. The moment with the sharpedo was a good example of that. In that short interaction we at once learn that Maressa is a good water-type trainer and comfortable with all kinds of pokemon.
Hey, thanks so much for dropping by to leave a review! I haven't gotten the comment on this being an info dump before, so I appreciate you pointing it out to me (perhaps a version 3 of this fic will be in order? XP)
Next, the conflict. Most of the chapter is a free-floating conversation. It's only in the last few paragraphs that something seems to be wrong, with their replacements not coming. This is a great way to set up the tension, but I would lead with it! What if the chapter started with something like: "It was 2am, and the relief shift still hadn't come." That problem would then frame the rest of the chapter and give some more context for why they're talking about their childhoods to each other.
Fair enough; thanks so much! I intended for them talking to each other to come from the fact that they were put on watch in a deserted area and they felt like there was no need. But point taken!
Something's mismatched in the simile here. I think the order needs to be something like 'The moon looked like a curved tear against the black canopy of the sky.' Right now it feels like moon is being compared to black canopy. These first two sentences use the same main verb 'look' which is an odd repetition to start out a story with.
Thanks so much for leaving a review! I always appreciate it :)
Chapter 2
Maressa tightened the ties of her bandanna as she stared at her reflection. Closing her eyes, she straightened up, took a few deep breaths, and looked at herself once more. She tried to keep calm but her reflection only showed how anxious she was. She paced back and forth, sat down, stood back up, said a prayer—yet nothing would fend off the anxiety that kept attacking her.
Stationing herself before the mirror once more, she stared herself down.
“Once we land, I need the two of you to shut down the cable cars. Understand?”
“Yes, Commander Shelly!”
Maressa looked out the window of Team Aqua’s navy blue helicopter as the rocks and crags of Mt. Chimney passed rapidly beneath, the ground sloping upward to meet their descent. Her heart pounded furiously with excitement—this was it!
“Golduck! Golduck, look—see that red helicopter? Think that’s Team Magma?”
Sure enough, a red helicopter had already landed on Mt. Chimney—Maressa thought she could see people gathered nearby it.
Golduck stood next to her, peering out the window. He didn’t say anything, but Maressa knew he was excited—he thrived off of fighting, and the prospect of a big battle sent adrenaline coursing through both of their veins.
As their helicopter slowed, Maressa tuned around. Several other Team Aqua members stood inside, waiting with anticipation for the mission that lay before them. Seeing a lanky man with a tuft of brown hair, Maressa sidled over to him.
“Hey, Mark, how come Shelly wants us to turn off the cable cars?”
The older grunt looked down at her and flashed a quick smile. “Still new to this, huh? Turning off the cable cars will prevent civilians from getting caught up in our mess with Team Magma—it’ll also prevent anyone from interfering. Our mission won’t take long, and the cable cars will be back up within a few hours.”
Maressa nodded. “Makes sense to me!”
She looked back out the window, practically bouncing with excitement. “Golduck, can you imagine how Mt. Chimney will look once it’s made dormant? Maybe it’ll turn into a crater lake! Those are so beautiful—I’ve never seen one, though, but I heard they’re really neat, unique ecosystems!”
Mark looked out the window next to Maressa. “That’s the goal! By stopping Mt. Chimney, we won’t only prevent catastrophic lava flows, but it can become a fresh new environment for all sorts of Pokemon, and not just Water-types.”
“Mark.”
“Yes, Commander Shelly?”
Shelly walked over to him, her blue-gloved hands resting on her hips. “You’re in Squad B to stop the cars. You know what you need to do? And is your Crawdaunt ready?”
Mark pulled a Pokeball out of his pocket. “He sure is!”
Shelly nodded curtly. She glanced at Maressa and her eyes gravitated towards Golduck—for a split second, Maressa saw disdain shine behind her red irises. Shelly said nothing and turned away—
But if there was something about Golduck, Maressa wanted to know.
“Is something wrong?”
Shelly turned around and looked at Golduck again. “Is he normally out of his Pokeball?”
“Sometimes—he likes to hang outside with me when he can. Is that a problem?”
“Not in itself, no. But look around—this helicopter only has space for our team. We can’t all bring out Pokemon out—what if I wanted my Ludicolo? He would practically fill the center cabin.” Her red eyes glanced at Maressa. “In short, it’s not a problem—but in the future, I’d like you to think about the limit of space and ask for permission.”
Maressa said nothing; she watched in stony silence as Shelly turned around and called for the team to prepare to disembark. Maressa’s blood boiled—Shelly wanted her to ask permission just to have her Pokemon out? What kind of a crazy rule was that? Did she even think about what Golduck wanted?
Mark noticed her sour mood.
“Maressa, you need to calm down. Shelly’s just saying what she thinks is the most reasonable—”
THUD!
The helicopter touched down—Maressa lost her balance and fell back on the wall behind her and bumped her head. She clutched it, grimacing as she heard Shelly’s voice ring out.
“Team Aqua, let’s move out!”
“Yes!”
The sea of blue bandannas followed Shelly out of the helicopter—Maressa’s anger washed away and excitement filled her as she joined the group, descending the metal gangplank and gathering together out in the open air.
She blinked her eyes at the harshness of the sun—there were no trees or cloud cover to protect them from the blinding rays. The solar rays baked the rocks they stood on, filling the air with warm heat. At the very least, a cool mountain breeze sang through the air, offering a small degree of respite. Above their heads, a grey cloud rose from the volcanic crater as a testament to its life and activity.
Maressa’s heart jumped in her throat what she saw them—a swam of horned, red hoodies gathered before Team Aqua. Between the two teams, a bespectacled man clutched a porous rock to his chest as he anxiously glanced back-and-forth between them.
Team Magma members were gathered in a semicircle around the man; a lone team member stood on a rocky shelf above the others, surveying Team Aqua with impatience. A pair of white stripes gripped his pant legs in distinguishing his rank above the rest.
“B Squad, secure the cable cars!” Shelly announced.
“Right!”
Maressa watched Mark and another member take off at a jog towards a small building connected to large cables. She wished Mark could have stayed—he had been very patient and helpful with showing her the ropes, so far.
“What are you doing here, Team Aqua?” the Magma Commander called.
“Oh, Field Commander Tabitha, we’re just out here looking for some meteorites, and that nice man there is going to give his to us.”
Shelly’s voice was much less assertive when speaking to her enemies—it was still haughty, but Maressa noticed the playful, teasing quality it held. She frowned. This was how Shelly spoke to the people who wanted to destroy Team Aqua?
“The altitude is affecting your brain,” he sneered.
“Well, would you like to settle this the old-fashioned way, then?” Shelly asked as she took out a Pokeball. Several grunts on both teams took out Pokeballs, too, and Golduck started to crawl forward—
“Commander, the meteorite!”
All heads jerked to a Team Magma grunt pointing at the scientist, who was making a getaway through the rocky crags and hills that jutted out on Mt. Chimney—and for someone his age, he was fast.
“Squad One, go after him!” the Magma Commander announced.
“You four—” Shelly pointed to the people on her right—“after him! We’ll take care of things here. Go, Crawdaunt, Walrein!”
At her command, the rocky area filled with bright blue pinnipeds and dark red crustaceans.
“Go, Mightyena, Golbat!”
Maressa’s heart sank when she saw the matchup—Crawdaunt and Walrein were technically stronger Pokemon, and Walrein had a type advantage over Golbat—but the terrain was completely disadvantageous for Team Aqua. Golbat and Mightyena were fast—Crawdaunt were laughably slow, and Walrein were practically immobile. She prayed that their defenses were high enough to last them.
“Crawdaunt, bubble beam! Walrein, water gun!”
“Golbat, air cutter and Mightyena, hyper beam!”
Commanders and grunts shouted commands for their Pokemon and it all quickly dissolved into chaos. Maressa was grateful to see that Golduck was agile enough to dodge the attacks—he hid under a jutting rocky overhang, the red jewel on his forehead glinting as he spied his attackers.
A few Golbat shrieked in frustration as their attacks bounced uselessly off the rock.
“After him!” the Team Magma grunt across Maressa shouted. “Drive him out of there with poison fang!”
The Golbat swooped low and headed straight for Golduck as he crouched beneath the rock overhang.
“Now!” Maressa shouted.
Once the Golbat were within Golduck’s sight, his eyes glowed purple and lances of psychic energy pelted towards the incoming Golbat. The Poison-types screeched as they reeled back in pain before falling to the ground.
“Great job!” Maressa shouted as the Team Magma grunt recalled his unconscious Golbat. “Let’s go help the others!”
Golduck joined her as they ran over the rocks and crags. Maressa ran up next to a Team Aqua member she didn’t know while Golduck went over to his Walrein. Her teammate’s forehead was wet with sweat—from the heat or stress, Maressa wasn’t sure, but she was willing to bet it was a combination of both.
Maressa surveyed the situation: the Team Magma grunt’s Mightyena was running circles around Walrein and evading all of the Water-type’s attacks.
“Golduck will hold Mightyena still and your Walrein can take him out. Sound good?”
Her teammate glanced at her and nodded.
“Golduck, fight the Mightyena in close combat!”
“Mightyena, use crunch!”
Golduck and the Mightyena tackled each other furiously. Golduck wrapped his arms around the Dark-type’s neck. The Mightyena sank her jaws into Golduck’s side, but she soon let go and was gasping for air.
“Walrein, use sheer cold!”
The canine looked up in terror as the Walrein flopped over to her. Ice coated the Walrein’s tusks. The temperature plummeted; the air shimmered. Once he reached the Mightyena—who was squealing and desperately trying to get out of Golduck’s grasp—the Walrein brought his tusks down on her side. Lances of ice seared through the Dark-type’s body and coated her with frost—she stopped moving.
“Great job, you two!” Maressa called. “Come on, Golduck, let’s go help the others!”
Maressa and Golduck helped out other Team Aqua members with whatever they needed—Golduck pinned down Golbat while Crawdaunt clubbed them unconscious and he baited Mightyena so Walrein and Sealeo could shoot them down with water and ice attacks.
The team members that Maressa aided joined her and Golduck as they took on more Team Magma grunts. Eventually, Maressa saw that she was very near to Shelly, who was still engaged in battle with the Team Magma commander.
“Go, Ludicolo!”
Maressa stared in awe at the massive, yellow-husked Pokemon dominating the center of the battlefield. She hung back—she had never seen Shelly’s Ludicolo battle before! And this might be a good opportunity to let Golduck rest.
Shelly glanced back and saw the group of Team Aqua members hanging around her.
“Don’t just stand there! Talk with Mark and help him get the meteorite!”
Maressa had no headset and had no way to get in touch with Mark—should she have followed the rest of the squad and helped them out anyway? Maybe… But after being in the thick of battle, she didn’t want to give it up and go scavenging with the rest of them.
“Nature power!”
The air around Ludicolo shimmered—rocks ripped up from the ground and he hurled them in the air. Several Golbat squeaked as the rocks bruised their frail bodies and pinned down their thin wings.
But several Golbat still glided through the air untouched.
“Stun spore!”
Clouds of yellow spores puffed from the center of Ludicolo’s lily pad—dust filled the air and flew along in the breeze—Maressa covered her mouth and nose with her shirt.
She wasn’t convinced using stun spore out in the open was a good idea—but Ludicolo was doing damage! Golbat dropped out of the sky and fell flat on the rocks, clearing the air.
“Hyper beam!”
Maressa jerked her head as a beam—a really bright beam—of orange energy shot from a Mightyena’s mouth. The beam pulverized rocks and hit Ludicolo square in his back. The Grass-type flew face-first into the rock—smoke curled from a circular singe in his husk.
Lowering her shirt, Maressa stared at the Mightyena in awe—that hyper beam was much more powerful than the other ones she had seen so far, and the Mightyena looked larger, more feral—his fur was matted, and every time he opened his mouth, the size of his fangs filled Maressa with primal fear.
Mightyena pounced from his perch next to the Magma Commander and ducked into a shadow—and vanished. He reemerged from another shadow at the far side of the field—on the other side of Ludicolo.
“Ludicolo, behind!”
Shelly was too late—Ludicolo turned just in time to receive a face-full of shadow ball. He was blasted onto his back, panting as he rolled over and stood up.
Maressa watched the two fight: Ludicolo shot any sort of attack that came to mind—bullet seeds, leech sides, bursts of water, different powders… But Mightyena ducked in and out of the shadows as if they were portals, always keeping out of Ludicolo’s reach. The canine snarled, ducked into a shadow—and reemerged laughing from another one.
Veins stuck out in Ludicolo’s bloodshot eyes—it attacked with renewed vigor—it stopped using powder attacks entirely and only did what directly dealt damage—it smacked with its fists down on rocks, crushing them until its knuckles bled and its arms were bruised, always missing Mightyena.
“You see what’s going on, Golduck?”
Golduck nodded as he watched Mightyena dance in circles around the enraged Ludicolo, the canine laughing all the while. He and Maressa knew that Ludicolo’s time was almost up.
“Watch for the shadows—remember the tactics you use when you fight Sharpedo. Don’t let Mightyena get to your head, either—if he starts taunting or tormenting you, try to block him out.”
Golduck nodded again.
“Now, get in there!”
Ludicolo had been reduced to a screaming mess—he was running into random rocks, missing Mightyena entirely and only hurting himself. Bits of rock and rubble clung to his scraped and bruised forehead; the yellow husk encasing his body was broken in several areas. His knuckles bled from constantly pounding them into bare rock. Maressa knew that Shelly would either have to recall him or watch him faint.
As Mightyena yipped and laughed from a hiding spot, Golduck blasted him squarely in the back with a jet of water.
“Arrf!”
Mightyena squealed and turned around—baring his massive white fangs at Golduck as water dripped down his back.
“Mightyena, incapacitate him!”
“Golduck, get rid of the shadows!”
Mightyena ducked into a shadow—Golduck promptly fired psychic beams at the closest jutting rocks, leveling the battle field and exposing it to the sunlight.
Maressa waited with anticipation—she knew the Mightyena had to come out somewhere—
There! Several meters away from Golduck, Mightyena slunk out of a rocky precipice. He trod in a circle around Golduck, softly yipping. Golduck cupped his webbed hands over his ear holes, his eyes following Mightyena all the while.
Her mind ran a mile a minute—the battlefield was wide open, which was good, as Mightyena could no longer duck in-and-out of shadows and needed to stand on open ground. But that also meant that Golduck was stuck in direct sunlight and hot, dry air.
Maressa bit her lip. Psychic attacks were useless, and if Golduck expended water, he’d only wear out more quickly. That left one option:
“Golduck, meet him in close combat!"
“Mightyena, shadow ball!”
Golduck raced on all fours, dodging balls of dark ethereal energy as he hurtled into his opponent. Mightyena squealed as Golduck swiped at him with his claws, ripping up his fur and carving thin red lines into his skin.
“Crunch!”
Tendrils of dark energy swarmed around Mightyena’s jaws—he lunged and sank his fangs into Golduck’s arm.
“Screech!”
A high-pitched shriek emanated from Golduck’s bill—Mightyena jerked his head away from the auditory onslaught.
“Get back and use sand attack!”
“Keep your distance!”
“Hyper beam!”
“Evade!”
Blood rushed in Maressa’s veins—her heart pounded—sweat poured out of every pore in her body—her muscles tensed, ready to jump from the cliff and run into the fight herself. Part of her wanted to—oh, she wanted to!
But Golduck was flagging—his movements grew slower, his jumps weren’t as far. Maressa’s heart twisted and she felt a twinge of guilt.
“Golduck, come here for a moment!”
“Mightyena, regroup.”
The two Pokemon rejoined their trainers. Maressa’s heart panged when she saw how tired Golduck was: dust coated his blue skin, which had turned from slimy to sticky under the noonday sun. He blinked several times, his bill hanging open as he took rasping breaths.
“Oh, poor dude—here, have some water.”
Maressa took a water bottle out of her pocket and poured the whole thing down Golduck’s bill. He swallowed, closed his eyes, and breathed deeply.
“How are you holding up?”
Shrug.
“Do you want to go back into your Pokeball?”
Vehement shaking of his head—no! He’d much rather finish the fight. He could win—he would win!
Maressa sighed as reluctance settled deeper into the pit of her stomach.
“Golduck.”
He cocked his head.
“I hate seeing you get hurt.”
He opened his eyes wide—he didn’t often hear Maressa say something so sappy. He held her hand and quacked. He didn’t blame her for his injuries—someone had to fight this battle, and he was happy to do it. He would do it for her.
Maressa squeezed his hand. “You really are good to me.” Raising her eyes, she saw the Magma Commander crouching before his Mightyena, holding the Dark-type’s face in his hands and speaking softly to him.
The Magma Commander turned his head and met Maressa’s eyes. He stood up. “Are you ready to quit?”
“Never!”
Maressa leapt to her feet, her hands balled into fists, the blood boiling in her veins again as adrenaline coursed through her body.
“Golduck, let’s finish this!”
Quack!
The Magma Commander calmly stood up and the Mightyena leapt down from his ledge to be on even footing with Golduck.
She knew it was a gamble—but the battle needed to end, and this was their best shot!
“Hydro pump!”
“Hyper beam!”
Both Pokemon inhaled deeply—a burst of hyper-pressurized water blasted from Golduck’s bill. Bright orange light shone from Mightyena’s jaws and shot forward.
White water crashed into the orange beam—the heat from hyper beam evaporated the water, filling the battlefield with mist. A high-pitched ring sang through the air as energy collided with water.
“Golduck, keep it up!”
“Harder, Mightyena!”
Golduck was on all fours—leaning forward, his feet staggered to brace himself. Loud hissing filled the air—the cloud of mist thickened—a high-pitched whistle grew ever louder—
And Golduck’s strength failed him. The burst of water died—the hyper beam sailed forward, its light throwing Golduck’s face into sharp relief, highlighting the terror in his eyes as his bill hung open.
The beam slammed into Golduck—he soared through the air before being pummeled into the ground as Mightyena’s hyper beam pushed him into the rock—
Then the light died, and Maressa saw Golduck’s form crumpled into the recess.
“GOLDUCK!”
She jumped off the ledge and raced toward her fallen companion—her heart pounded furiously—fear and terror overwhelmed her—her eyes stung with tears—
No, no, no, no, no—
Mightyena raced forward—he reached Golduck first, grabbed the blue head in his jaws and shook him.
“Get away from him!” Maressa screamed. She flew forward as quickly as she could—she had to—she needed to—she needed Golduck to be okay—that was all that mattered—
Mightyena let go of Golduck’s head and growled at Maressa—someone whistled and the canine retreated, forgetting about her entirely.
Maressa sprinted forward and dropped to her knees once she reached Golduck.
“Golduck? Golduck, I’m here—I’m here—it’s going to be okay…”
She reached down and picked Golduck up with shaking hands, laying him in her lap. She watched his chest slowly rise and fall. His body was covered with dirt and scratches; blood oozed from several cuts; he was so dry—he had never been this dry. Maressa tried to pick out the rocks stuck to his body—but guilt constantly washed over her, filling her and welling up in tears in her eyelids and rendering her shaking hands useless.
“Golduck?”
No response.
Closing her eyes, she laid her forehead against his own. Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.
“I’m so sorry.”
She opened her eyes and gazed through the blur, grimacing as her throat tightened—she felt totally helpless as she gazed at Golduck’s unmoving form. All she wanted was for him to be okay, to say something, to do something—to let her know that he was all right and would recover quickly.
A shadow fell. The horned silhouette of a hoodie stood above her, the sun faming him like a halo. The Team Magma Commander looked down at her with his dark eyes, a small smile on his face.
Maressa immediately whipped out Golduck’s Pokeball and withdrew him. She leapt to her feet—and wheeled around as she heard a growl.
Mightyena stood behind her—Maressa shrank back when she saw him bare his enormous fangs and snarl. His fur was matted with blood and caked with dust. He breathed haggardly, his tongue hanging out.
“Don’t worry.”
Maressa turned around. The Magma Commander stood before her with his arms crossed, the small smile still on his face. His voice was surprisingly soft but full of confidence.
“He won’t attack you—unless I tell him to. Well done, by the way.” His eyes shone with approval. “That was an excellent battle. We haven’t fought that hard in over a year.”
Maressa was stunned—her mouth was dry and couldn’t form any words—not that she could think of any. Stuck between the Magma Commander and Mightyena, she felt horribly helpless. She didn’t want to look at the Commander—but she didn’t want to look at the angry Mightyena, either.
She tensed as the Magma Commander stepped closer to her—but another snarl from Mightyena prevented her from moving. She watched the Commander walk up to her, her heart stuck in her throat, completely frozen beneath the harsh sun.
“What’s your name?”
Maressa could only stare at him as sweat poured from her forehead and her heart beat heavily with fear and dread. The Magma Commander continued to survey her with his calculating gaze.
“I haven’t seen you before. Are you new? Or just new to fighting missions? I can tell you’re not new to battling—not after seeing you and your Golduck together.”
He stood at only an arm’s length from her—she desperately wanted to get away. She had no Pokemon; she didn’t think she could take him in on a fist fight (not that she wanted to try). But she couldn’t do anything.
What was he going to do to her?
Loud hissing filled the air—the three of them turned their heads. A steady stream of smoke that had constantly issued from the peak of the volcano died down, leaving empty air in its wake. Maressa stared uncomprehendingly at the dissipating cloud.
“Flame One here, report. Where are you?”
The Commander sounded calm as he spoke into his headset but Maressa shuddered when she saw the anger and loathing shine behind his black eyes.
The Commander’s gaze switched from where the cloud had dissipated to Maressa, and her heart sank as she bore the weight of his calm fury.
“Round up all the Pokemon and report back to the helicopter immediately,” he said, his gaze still on Maressa.
“Well done,” he told her, but his voice was no longer coy—there was a fury hiding behind the calmness of his voice. “I see you don’t have a headset. Your team just got the meteorite and cooled off Mt. Chimney.”
Under his angry gaze, Maressa couldn’t feel happy about the good news.
“And seeing as you have no Pokemon left, I could take you with us now…”
His gaze turned calculating and thoughtful once more as he cocked his head.
Maressa’s heart skipped a beat—
Take me with them?
No, no, no, no, no—that couldn’t happen—did that ever really happen?
Before she could say anything, the Commander straightened up, took out a Pokeball, and withdrew his Mightyena.
“I don’t have time,” he said. “And you’ve earned your freedom today. Go back to your team—but you should reconsider being with Team Aqua. They might be a team for Water-type Pokemon, but there’s nobody on that team who can coach you in battling the way we could.”
Without another word, he turned and hurried off. Maressa stared after him, finally feeling a trickle of relief amidst the sea of dread in her heart.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Beep.
The heart monitor dully sounded as the lone voice in the room. All the patients slept soundly in their beds. A few groggily blinked their eyes before returning to heavy sleep. Nearly every patient was hooked up to an IV tube, the multitude of which formed a plastic jungle. A nurse walked around, checking tubes, administering food, and adjusting pillows to make the patients more comfortable.
Maressa clasped her hands and hunched over. It seemed that the Magma commander had been right: while she and Golduck were fighting, her team left, secured the meteorite from the scientist, and put Mt. Chimney to sleep for good. Though Shelly ordered the team to get back to work when they returned, most of the squadron put together a party. Maressa had walked into the grunt’s lounge, looking for Sarah to ask if she could borrow a pair of gloves and instead found people celebrating their successful mission.
Maressa couldn’t stay. She couldn’t celebrate—she had half-hoped that, in finding Sarah, she could have someone to talk with. Someone to talk to about Golduck’s injuries, about how guilty she felt for letting him get hurt—not just allowing it to happen, but for enabling it.
But when she saw Sarah and Cloe celebrating with the rest, she couldn’t pluck up the nerve to take them out of the celebration. Golduck’s injuries were her fault—no point in putting the burden on anyone else.
A Walrein behind her let loose a deep sigh as it rolled over. Though Maressa loved her teammates, she couldn’t feel justified in celebrating with them. Their mission worked out but her battle was a disaster. She succeeded in holding Team Magma off but every time she looked at Golduck’s damaged form, the word “success” didn’t seem right.
The guilt didn’t go away. The longer she sat with Golduck, the more her eyes rested on his various cuts, scrapes and bruises; on the IV tubes hooked up to him; and on his exhausted frame, the worse she felt.
How could she not feel like a horrible human being? She considered Golduck her best friend—he was her best friend—and because of her, he was laying on a hospital bed.
She checked her watch; she had been sitting there for nearly two hours. Her stomach rumbled but she wasn’t in the mood to eat. The nurse said that Golduck just needed to re-hydrate and rest for a few days but Maressa didn’t want to leave him until she saw in full health.
Rubbing her temples, she groaned when she thought of the next assignment she had been given. She glanced up at Golduck, wishing she could stay with him, but she was due to move out in two days and he needed more time than that to recover.
“You did an excellent job,” Shelly told Maressa when they had returned to the helicopter. Maressa was still shaken from her encounter with the Team Magma Commander. “I understand your Golduck lost, but you really pulled through with helping me and Ludicolo. There’s a group going diving to research ruins soon—you can take your other Pokemon and help them out!”
Maressa sighed when she thought back to Shelly, her eyes shining with pride—and thinking of it did make Maressa feel better about herself, at least a little. But even that didn’t bridge the river of guilt that coursed through her heart.
She reached over and touched Golduck’s webbed hand. The bandages wound around his arm covered the needle connecting to an IV tube. His body was marred with slashes and scrapes. At her touch, he opened his eyes slightly, gave a grateful nod and then closed them again.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
He gave her a quizzical look.
“This was my fault. I knew you were exhausted, and I had you use hydro pump.”
Golduck shook his head slightly—he didn’t hold her to any blame.
Still unhappy, Maressa took her hand away while Golduck closed his eyes again and returned to sleep.
She thought back to the mission overall: none of her teammates had gotten hurt, which was a huge positive. And with Mt. Chimney cooling off, the crater should fill with water and become a lake at some point—a new ecosystem, one that gave life. Not one that belched out smoke, toxins and lead to death and ruin.
Maressa twisted her hands as she recalled her conversation with the Team Magma Commander.
Would he really have taken me?
Did teams capture each other? She supposed it was possible—but she was still so new at this. And what would they do with each other? Get information? Trade them for… For what?
Burying her head in her hands, she groaned. There was still so much about Team Aqua that she didn’t know—so much that she wanted to know and learn, but she was still so green and things were already happening so fast.
There’s no one on Team Aqua who can coach you in battling the way we can.
Anger sparked in Maressa’s heart—the Team Magma Commander was not better at Pokemon battling than she was. The terrain allowed him to win—Golduck was at a disadvantage. If there had been water nearby, Maressa’s Pokemon would have totally wiped him out.
“Why does he think he would be able to teach us anything? I bet he’s never worked with a Water-type in his life!” she fumed. “And telling me that I ‘earned’ my freedom—he’s not our boss! Why does he think he can say that?”
She looked over at Golduck, blood still boiling in her veins. Why would a Team Magma member want her with them? Team Aqua strove for oceanic conservation and Water-type preservation—Team Magma wanted to destroy that! They didn’t care for or understand Water-types—did they? No, they had tried making an active volcano erupt. How was that supposed to be good for anyone? They weren’t just trying to make more land—they were trying to destroy what was already there!
As her stomach clenched with pangs of hunger, she stood up, giving Golduck one last glance.
“Don’t worry, boy,” she whispered softly. Golduck lay unmoving, eyes still closed.
Maressa trudged down the wooden dock. Behind her, the forested hillsides stretched without end. She glanced back—a few miles north lay Route 118, and just west of that was Mauville City.
Home.
A wave of nostalgia washed over Maressa—but at the same time, she felt no desire to go back there, at least not now. There wasn’t anything particular about Mauville—she expected her dad was at work in the Mauville Construction Company while her mom kept up the sewing business at home. Perhaps Mom baked a pie that day, and after dinner she would brew Prince of Sevii tea for her and Dad to share while they talked about anything and everything on their minds…
“Maressa?”
She snapped back and saw Mark staring at her curiously.
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” she muttered. “Just thinking about home.”
Mark smiled as he followed her gaze over the grassy hill to the wall of trees. “Are you from around here?”
“Yeah, I mostly grew up in Mauville City. It’s just a few miles northwest of here—Golduck and I used to come to this area sometimes when we were kids.”
“First time being this close to home since you joined Team Aqua, isn’t it?”
“Yep, first time since you told me to not contact them.”
In her mind’s eye, she saw herself—dressed professionally for an interview, about to graduate college—sitting across from Mark, also dressed in business clothing.
“Something has to be done!” Maressa was half-out of her chair, blood coursing through her veins. “The seas are dying and polluted—everyone who steps outside sees it! If the government won’t do anything—if everyday people won’t do anything—if nothing happens—we’ll lose so much more than we realize! There is so much about the oceans we still don’t know—and everything will be gone, poisoned or polluted before we have a chance to discover them! The Pokemon we know and love will also die out if we don’t do something!”
Mark surveyed her with a small smile.
“How badly do you want to save the oceans?”
“More than anything! I’ll—I’ll—there’s nothing more important!”
He leaned forward, his eyes alight with excitement.
“There is a way—and we can invite you into it. But there are many promises you need to make, first.
“Nine months.”
That was how long she was “at sea,” or so she told her parents.
“I got a job with Ocean Incorporated—we’ll be doing research and surveys from oceanic vessels for months at a time, so I won’t be in contact.”
The blue-green horizon blurred and came back into focus as she blinked several times. It made sense—especially as a new recruit, she needed to focus on her time with Team Aqua. And, in a way, being told what she couldn’t do felt freeing—knowing that she could no longer contact her family or talk to them was, in a paradoxical way, a relief. There was no point in thinking about it, no time wasted daydreaming, no dreading what her parents might say if they knew she was doing something “radical.” She had freedom to do exactly as she wanted—exactly what needed to happen.
But she still missed them.
Turning around, she walked with Mark down to the dock. The sunlight scattered across the rippling ocean waters, showcasing a fantastic turquoise that turned dark navy at the reef break. At the end of the dock was what looked like a gargantuan blue cylinder with a small deck and guardrail on top. A skeletal white “A” that matched those on the team members’ bandannas was emblazoned on the side of the vessel.
Several team members clambered in to the submarine while Shelly stood at the head. She nodded when she saw Maressa and Mark.
“Everything is ready. Your diving gear is inside the submarine and there’s plenty of food and water. Mickey is in charge; defer to him for everything.”
Maressa gazed at the blue vessel. “So, this is the ship we’re going into?”
“Boat, if you’re not going to call it a submarine. It is not a ‘ship,’” Shelly said crossly. “This is named ‘Ictineo.’” She smiled as she gazed at it. “Quite impressive, and it’s one of Leader Archie’s proudest pieces.”
“Did he help make this?”
“He helped design it when he was at the shipyard,” Shelly said offhandedly.
“Cool! So, where are we going?”
Shelly glared at Mark. “Didn’t you fill her in?”
Mark gulped. “Uhh…”
“Showing the new recruits is your responsibility.”
“Yes—I—this just slipped my mind.”
Shelly rolled her eyes. “Whatever; do it once you’re both aboard. Have her watch Marius on the way to Triangle Rock and then work alongside him when you go near Dewford. I don’t expect proficiency, but I want her at least familiar with it by the time you return.”
“Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait—“ Maressa’s head spun back-and-forth as she panickily looked between Shelly and Mark. “You want me to drive this thing?!”
“Steer. But essentially, yes—”
“I don’t know how to pilot a ship!”
“Boat! And that’s why you’ll learn. You’ve already been through our submarine courses; you should have been expecting this.”
“Well, yeah, but I didn’t think it would be this soon!”
“You already know the basics and you won’t be alone-you’ll be fine. Besides, didn’t you say you liked math?”
“Yeah, but—”
“Then you’ll catch on,” Shelly said with finality. “Now, both of you, inside and get going! Make Team Aqua proud!”
Maressa followed Mark onto the deck and down through an open hatch while Shelly waited behind on the dock. Her heart beat rapidly—
She had never been inside a submarine, and now she was expected to pilot one? Sure, she had been in that tiny vessel that navigated the rivers and estuaries of Hoenn, but that never went far from land or did the cool stuff.
As she descended to the submarine’s innards, excitement and thrills washed along with the anxiety. She was in a submarine! The kinds that ocean explorers went on—she was really doing this! The halls and ceilings were narrow and cramped, just like she had always imagined it would be! It smelled of saltwater and rotting fish, just like she had always dreamed! And it was cold and foreboding!
Her heart soared with excitement as she followed Mark. As they descended, the halls opened out and several people could walk through them. Large, circular windows dotted the outermost hallways. As soon as she spotted one, Maressa ran up to it and gazed at the murkish water outside, her heart singing with excitement. How easy it would be to see all the sea creatures once they were in the open ocean!
“Maressa, this way.” She followed Mark, her heart bursting to joy—she was living out her dream!
Several other Team Aqua members milled about; the occasional Crawdaunt scuttled by; Maressa also spotted Marshtomp, Mudkip, Lombre and some Sealeo. Her heart panged—she would bring Golduck out, but he was still resting in the hospital.
Not that he wanted to.
“Don’t worry, Golduck,” she had told him—just yesterday, but it already felt so long ago. He lay in bed, much more alert than before, but still hooked to an IV tube and several bandages wound around him.
“We’re meeting up with another team member, and then just going on a scouting expedition. It’s nothing dangerous! Besides, Seaking, Sharpedo and Lanturn are all coming with me.”
He quacked angrily—why couldn’t he go with her? He didn’t want to be the only one left behind!
“I know you feel left out, and I’m sorry—Golduck, I really am.” The excitement died down as she looked at the bandages winding around Golduck and guilt settled into her heart.
He quacked—this wasn’t about being left out, it was that Maressa could be in danger and he wouldn’t be there to protect her! They were supposed to be best friends—why was she telling him to stay behind when he wanted to come along?
“Just look at you!”
She clenched her teeth, trying to hold back tears. “You can’t fight right now! And Shelly thinks you should stay here while you’re like this—so I’m just doing as I’m told! Golduck I…” She sighed. “I hate seeing you like this… And I know that it’s at least partially my responsibility. You are my best friend. But I need to learn to trust them—Team Aqua knows what’s best in this situation. I don’t have a choice in this.”
The anger in Golduck’s eyes died down; his muscles relaxed and he looked ready to drift off to sleep again. He quacked. Maressa always had a choice.
“Crawdaunt!”
Maressa snapped to the present when she spotted a large crustacean standing before her; a few bubbles frothed out of his mouth. She bent down to be eye level with him—which wasn’t very low, as he was a tall Crawdaunt.
“Hey, you’re a cutie! What’re you up to, huh?”
“Hey, Crawdaunt, made a new friend?”
Maressa looked up and saw a man with dark skin standing over his Crawdaunt; any hair he had was completely covered by his Team Aqua bandanna. His bright green eyes alighted on Maressa.
“I don’t think we’ve met before—I’m Mickey.”
“Hi! Maressa.” She shook his hand—perhaps a bit too vigorously in her excitement.
“Oh, Shelly told me about you! She said to take you to Marius. You’ve been filled in on what we’re doing, I assume?” He glanced up at Mark as he finished his question.
Mark stumbled over his words for a second before admitting, “I haven’t really told her anything—I keep forgetting.”
Mickey nodded. “Eh, it’s no big deal. We’ll have plenty of time. Follow me!”
Maressa bounced through the halls after him; Crawdaunt scuttled alongside them, the clacks of its calcareous shell ringing out through the metal tube.
“A member of ours is in Rustboro City right now,” Mickey explained. “He’s picking up something neat the scientists there have discovered—they’re referring to it as ‘creation fluid,’ and apparently it’s got amazing properties for examining and reviving DNA!”
“Reviving DNA?”
“Yeah—you know how a bunch of fossils are ‘trace fossils’—just the imprint of the creature? And then there are ‘body fossils,’ which are the actual Pokemon that’s been turned to stone, essentially. Apparently, this fluid can detect DNA that’s been fossilized and reconstruct a Pokemon out of it!”
“That’s so cool! I didn’t realize we had scientists in Rustboro!”
“Eh… We don’t.”
Maressa stopped walking. Mickey continued on for a few seconds before he realized she was no longer following and looked back. “Maressa?”
“If we don’t have scientists in Rustboro… is this stealing?”
“They call it ‘stealing,’ but in reality, it’s ‘liberating.’ Think about it—this ‘creation fluid’ is so precious, and there’s so little of it, do we really want government-paid scientists to be the ones handling it? They can’t keep track of anything! Science is just a job for them, not a passion. Shelly used to work with these people at Devon—she’s told me before about how irresponsible they are. They just don’t care about the ocean the way we do.”
“Shelly used to work at Devon?”
“Yep, she was a lead researcher. Knows all the behind-the-scenes stuff that goes on, the experiments they conducted. That’s how we know a lot about the environmental state of Hoenn now. She didn’t like Devon or the people there, though. From what she’s told us about them, they’ll probably forget about the fluid and leave it in a freezer until all the primers have decomposed. If we want this stuff to be used right, then we have to make sure it’s done ourselves.”
Something clicked in Maressa’s brain—Mickey was right.
“Better that ‘creation fluid’ be put to good use instead of wasting away!”
He smiled back at Maressa, his face shining with pride. “Exactly. So, we’re going to meet up with the team member. The rendezvous point is at Triangle Rock on the water Route 105—just a bit south of Rustboro City. After that, we’ll head south, to Route 106 near Dewford Town. There are reports that some ancient ruins have been found down there, so we’re gonna go and check them out.”
“We’ll get to go diving?” she asked, practically bouncing off the walls with excitement.
“Of course! There’s all kinds of neat stuff to be found. The water at Dewford is really clear. It’s rocky, and some of it’s hard to get to, so we think this might not have been thoroughly explored before.”
The smile was plastered to Maressa’s face as she followed Mickey through the halls. The sun rays passed through murky water, leaving ever-changing light patterns on the metal panels. She was thrilled—she wanted to get into her diving gear and go out right now!
Mickey glanced back at her. “I hear you’ve done well lately—fighting a commander at Mt. Chimney! Shelly has high hopes for you.”
“Really? She certainly never acts like it,” Maressa said with a hint of bitterness.
“Eh, she’s just not very touchy-feely. She might not say it, but she thinks you’re capable.”
Maressa wanted to reply with a scathing comment as to just what she thought about Shelly’s lack of affirmation—but thought better of it. She wasn’t upset with Mickey; no point in directing her anger at him.
“You’ll be kept busy while on the submarine, but we won’t be at sea for long—maybe a day or two in total. You might’ve noticed that it’s mostly grunts with aquatic Pokemon here. Hardly anyone goes out to the northwest coast of Dewford, so we don’t expect to meet any trouble. Just want to go there, take a look, and come back. But everything needs to be kept in check: all hands to make sure the boat is trim and the nuclear generators need to be maintained at all times—”
“Did you say nuclear?”
Mickey glanced back at Maressa, completely unfazed while she gaped at him in horror. “I did. Nuclear fuel is the cleanest, most efficient way for submarines to travel—”
“But what about nuclear waste? Or byproducts? Doesn’t that destroy habitats for kilometers around?”
He waved a dismissive hand. “That only happens if you’re not careful and allow things to get out of hand. Nuclear fuel is the fuel of the future: clean, reliable and safe. It has potential to go bad, and so most governments don’t want people touching it with a ten-meter pole. The only thing it requires to operate is a constant stream of fresh water. As long as that’s maintained, we’re fine—and so far, we’ve been doing great. Eventually, there’ll be widespread replacement of toxic, deadly fumes with clean nuclear fuel.”
Maressa frowned. She had never heard that about nuclear fuel—but then again, there was so much she didn’t know. All she had heard of nuclear fuel was the potential to build bombs out of it. Was it really that safe and clean?
The hallway soon opened out into a wide area filled with a multitude of panels and screens at which several Team Aqua members sat.
Mickey walked Maressa over to an older gentleman with slick blonde hair.
“Marius!” he announced as the two of them walked up. “I’d like you to meet Maressa. She’s a relatively new recruit.”
Marius smiled at Maressa and heartily shook her hand. “New, eh? Are you ready to learn the ways of navigating and controlling the Ictineo?”
“I sure am!” she said, bouncing up-and-down on the balls of her feet. “This is so cool—I’ve never been inside a submarine before!”
Marius started—his pale blue eyes opened wide as he looked down at Maressa.
“You’ve never even been inside? How are you—oh, nevermind.” He dismissively waved a hand. “Here, I’ll show you around. That’s for the rudder to control yaw, and here are the diving planes to control pitch. This is where we control the diving bells—we won’t need those this time, as we’ll be in fairly shallow water, but I’ll show the controls…”
Maressa hounded him like a lost Poochyena as he pointed to a variety of different panels and gadgets. She tried to memorize each and every bit of information—but it was all so much, so intertwined and so related that she quickly lost track of things.
All at once, the lights in the room went out. Darkness descended like a black cloak, the only source of illumination coming from the myriad of spectral lights emanating from the machines. A few Chinchou sat on the floor, adding the light of their lanterns to those of the navigation screens.
“On our way!” Marius said excitedly.
Maressa’s heart lifted—and then her whole body lifted as the submarine descended to the waters. She was light from the excitement. This was it! They were exploring the ocean—she was in the ocean in a submarine! Her face broke out into a smile, her heartbeat raced uncontrollably as the rush overtook her. She glanced around the room, spying the Chinchou. Taking out a Pokeball, she stared at the fishy form through the translucent cap.
She would love to bring her Lanturn out—but Lanturn wouldn’t be able to breathe air for long, and definitely couldn’t swim quickly enough to keep up with the submarine as it traversed the ocean…
She pocketed her Pokeball. She’d figure something out—eventually. For the moment, she reveled in the rush of adrenaline and soaring excitement as the vessel traversed the ocean depths.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
“Okay, see how this dot shows up—are you watching?”
“Huh? Oh—yes!”
Maressa snapped back as Marius glared pointedly at her with icy eyes. The Chinchou playing and rolling on the floor of the navigation room had caught her attention; watching the two of them wrestle and roll about warmed her heart and made her miss Golduck slightly less—but only slightly.
Marius sighed. “We have been in for a while. Go ahead out and grab some food.”
Maressa exited the dark room, wincing slightly as sunlight streamed in through the portholes. A small Corphish stared at the water outside. What had once been a murky, estuarine brown was replaced with crystal-clear azure. Maressa joined him, feeling a wave of calm wash over her as she gazed into the endless blue.
Myriads of Pokemon swam by them: pods of Wailmer bouncing along in the water’s flow; masses of Tentacool and Tentacruel with brilliant jewels shining like marine fire; groups of Sharpedo and Carvanha darkening the sea with their mere presence; schools of Luvdisc drifting like heart-shaped leaves in the waves; colonies of Corsola displaying their fluorescent pink staghorns; Huntail and Gorebyss with whip-like bodies that coiled and undulated in the sea’s flow; groups of Horsea and Seadra adding a draconic flare to the marine community—Maressa’s heart jumped at the sight of a crowned head with long fins trailing behind it like streamers announcing a regal presence. The Kingdra moved through the water easily, dwarfing its pre-evolutions that swarmed about it. As the sunlight caught its scales, they glistened and shone like hand-carved jasper.
Maressa pressed her face to the glass, a wide smile stuck to her face—Horsea was one of her favorite Pokemon, and to see not only hordes of them but its evolutions—to see a wild Kingdra!—was something she had never expected.
She gasped with delight at the sight of a great, dark wings, spread out like an avian in flight. Its long tail fanned out behind it, catching the sun’s rays in a magnificent dazzle of light. Maressa’s heart beat rapidly as the majestic Mantine passed by them, casually gliding along in the ocean currents.
A Mantine! Those were hardly ever seen in the Hoenn waters!
She gazed at the marvel until it was lost to sight and kept on gazing long after all the schools of Pokemon had left them. Once more, the Ictineo sat as a lone wanderer in the great blue void, plowing forward with a purpose.
Maressa’s stomach rumbled. How long had it been since she had eaten? She looked through empty the hallway. She hadn’t even noticed the Corphish leave.
Shaking herself out of reverie, she walked through the hall, passing portholes that served as portals to the marine realm. Mark would probably tell her to help with keeping the ship “trim,” soon, and she knew she didn’t have long for a break.
She made her way to the mess hall; there were a few tables mostly occupied with other team members wolfing down food. Once she secured a plate of food, she sat down. She didn’t know what the food was: everything was a sort of mushy mass of an off grey-white color. She ate it; it was as cold as winter snow (at least, what she imagined snow would be like) and had no taste.
Hm... Maybe being on a submarine actually kinda sucks.
“Hey! What are you doing? Marius said he wants you back in the navigation room.”
Maressa looked up to see Mickey standing by her with a plate of food.
“Already? I just got out.”
“Yeah, well, that’s the sub life for you. Break’s over!”
Depositing her empty tray in a container for dirty dishes, Maressa wound back through the halls, her outlook growing slightly dimmer with each step—but walking by the portholes reminded her that it wasn’t all bad.
Just mostly bad.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
“Triangle Rock! We just need to pick up Oscar, and then it’s down south!”
Diving planes—we’re ascending!”
Maressa hovered over Marius, watching him activate different controls. She heard a hissing sound—then an unseen weight pulled her down, gluing her feet to the floor as the boat rose through the water.
Loud splashing crashed around them—the boat broke the sea surface. There were sounds of thundering feet hitting the metal floor—a hiss as a hatch opened—the scuttle of clattering claws and the thud of human feet.
With the sound of another loud hiss, all weight seemed to leave Maressa’s body as the submarine returned to the depths and propelled onwards, continuing its journey to Dewford island.
So, I agree with Pen that the opening felt pretty slow here, what with it mostly consisting of the protagonists having vaguely expositional conversation whilst slightly bored. I feel like it might've been more interesting if we had more details about what exactly Team Aqua might've been expecting to find in the undersea craters rather than keeping it coy with a vague reference to "what we're looking for". Or, maybe if we were given an indication to believe that Maressa's mission might not go smoothly. (The part about her being told nothing except the need to obey all orders absolutely is a bit ominous, but it doesn't seem like Maressa has much of a reaction to it). As it is, I'm not really sure where the story's headed from now.
I did like Maressa's interactions with Golduck and Sharpedo, and they aren't typical protagonist Pokemon, which is a nice change.
Hey! Thanks so much for giving the reviews; I really appreciate pointing out the typos and inconsistencies that I never noticed after all these years >_< I see the opening is slow; I'm not sure how else to begin the story and since I'm still working on later parts of the story, trying to rewrite the opening into something totally new is a bit daunting ._. But I really appreciate your advice! Maybe I need to give this a more thorough revamp or scrap this edition and do another rewrite... I'll think of something.
Anyway, here's the new Chapter 4! I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 4
As the submarine descended once more, Maressa couldn’t hold her excitement in any further.
“I’ll be right back!” she said to Marius. He might have called after her—but she was out of that room and blinking in the light of the main cabin once more. Besides, she needed to get away from the multitude of different configurations. She was starting to become more familiar with them, but the thought of soon taking control of them made her sick with anxiety.
Blinking, she walked through the hallways and stopped when she saw a group congregating. A few team members swarmed around a man and his Crawdaunt. The Team Aqua member had brown hair kept back in a scruffy ponytail and removed his sunglasses to rub his eyes.
“Sean! Nice to see you back,” Mickey said as he pushed aside teammates to get through. “How did everything go? Successful mission, I hope? Got the creation fluid?”
Sean lowered his eyes. “No, I didn’t get the creation fluid.”
The tension in the air was palpable. In the ensuing silence, the hum of the submarine’s engine was the only noise (though it was still quite a powerful noise). All stared at Sean expectantly.
“Okay,” Mickey said with forced patience, “and why is that?”
“I had gotten hold of it while undercover at Devon Corp—but the guy in charge, Mr. Stone, didn’t recognize me and started hounding my steps. I was stopped by a couple of kids and their Pokemon. I got away—but without the creation fluid.”
“Did you cover your tracks?” The joy had evaporated from Mickey’s face—his eyes were wide and he looked almost scared.
“… No, but I know they’re not following us.”
“And why didn’t you cover your tracks?”
“I barely got away, as it was!”
Mickey gaped at Sean, piercing him with his emerald glare. “Why? What happened? You know you’re supposed to kept undercover and avoid attention as much as possible—we don’t need all of the Rustboro police on our tail!”
Maressa’s head flew back and forth as she watched the two men converse. Her mind was abuzz with questions—and she wasn’t good at holding them back.
“‘Cover your tracks?’ What do you mean? And what are we using this creation fluid for, anyway? What fossils do we have that we need to revive?”
Heads turned to look at her but she didn’t care. How was she supposed to know what all this terminology meant? Mickey’s sour mood disappeared as he smiled.
“How about you come with me and I’ll teach you? Sean, you come along, too. The rest of you, back to work!”
The other Team Aqua members scattered like a bunch of Ariados as Mickey, Maressa and Sean made their way through the halls, passing portholes showcasing pale blue waters. As they walked, Maressa noticed Sean kept his eyes down and held a distinct air of discomfort.
Mickey unlocked a door and the three of them were in a tiny room with a very low ceiling. Desks barely large enough to hold notebooks sat against two walls, each with a tiny seat.
“So, welcome to my office!” Mickey said cheerfully. “You can have this cramped seat or that cramped seat or sit in that particularly cold spot on the floor.”
Maressa opted for one of the cramped seats—she hated the cold—and the three of them were in a little circle.
“Now, to answer your questions!” Mickey said with shining eyes. “We might not have fossils that need reviving—but that doesn’t mean the creation fluid can’t teach us about the origins of the earth!”
“Okay, but how does learning about the origins of earth help us?” she asked impatiently.
“All life begins in the sea—all life depends on the sea, even if it’s something terrestrial. You have the potential to become a high-ranking member in Team Aqua, so it’s very important that you know this—”
“Oh, yeah, I don’t doubt the importance of what we do! I was just wondering how discovering origins is going to help us with what’s going on now.”
“There are so many ways! The earliest oceans were even less habitable than they are now—they were pure acid, maybe didn’t even have oxygen, and yet life still persisted and thrived. If we can learn about how life continued under those conditions, imagine what we can do with that knowledge today! With our oceans deteriorating, learning this information is more crucial than ever.”
Puzzle pieces clicked into place as Maressa listened to Mickey. She smiled.
“So,” Mickey went on, “that is why we want to look at the creation fluid, and that is why we’re looking at the ruins by Dewford.”
… And the puzzle pieces fell apart again into a senseless jigsaw in Maressa’s mind.
“Ruins? You mean like man-made ruins?”
“Yes! Dewford was colonised by people long ago—”
“But how does studying something man-made teach us about the origin of life?”
“Because,” Mickey said with flare, “ancient people discovered how to live from the ocean sustainably without damaging it or polluting the waters. If they learned how to do it, so can we! They respected and worshipped the ocean and its gods. We can learn a lot by looking at them.
“Anyway,” he said as he stood up—bending his back slightly so as to not hit his head on the ceiling, “Maressa, now that you know what our next step is, I want you to rest with Squad C. You all will be taking diving gear and exploring the ruins. Make sure your Pokemon are ready, too. Sean, I want to talk to you a bit more.”
Marerssa did as she was told and exited Mickey’s office, traversing the winding halls until eventually finding her way to the row of rooms where the grunts stayed. She pulled the keys Mark had given her out of her pocket and went to the room assigned to her.
It was even tinier than Mickey’s office. The ceiling was low—she cursed her height—and she had to bend down. There was a cot, a small desk, and enough unoccupied space only to stand.
Untying her bandanna, Maressa draped it over the tiny square that constituted a desk and peeled her gloves off her hands. She lay down and exhaled deeply, feeling her vertebrae stretch as the weight was removed from them. Without people constantly talking to her, the excitement wore away and weariness seeped into her bones—but her mind buzzed with questions.
She trusted that there were good reasons for everything Team Aqua did; she just wished she could know what they all were. Sean didn’t have the creation fluid, and it sounded like it would only become more difficult to obtain—and judging that he hadn’t “covered his tracks,” it sounded like the police might be on their tail.
As Maressa closed her eyes and drifted off, she looked forward to diving with her Pokemon. In her mind’s eye, she saw a city of forgotten ruins wreathed in seagrass lying kilometers below the ocean surface. In the beautiful seascape of her mind, she drifted off into an easy sleep.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sunlight filtered through the surface of the water and sparkled on the wave tops as the Team Aqua grunts descended. The submarine floated at the surface, minuscule in comparison to the infinite open ocean around them. The large columns of rock reached out from the seafloor like fingers of the earth. As though attempting to escape the cold seawater and feel the warm sun, they formed avenues in the great sea. The sides of the pinnacles were lush with multitudes of coral and sedentary organisms arrayed in a rainbow of colors. Numerous Pokémon nosed their way about in search of food or else floated by idly as the current carried them wherever it willed.
Bubbles floated upwards as Maressa breathed out through her regulator. Clenching Seaking’s tail with one hand, she gazed at the scenery around them. Though she was to search for ruins or a cave opening like Mark had told her to, she couldn’t help but be mystified at the natural beauty of the tropical ocean. Her fingers relaxed as she let go of Seaking’s tail and began the descent by herself, allowing her aquatic companion to scout ahead of her.
The water beneath her was an impenetrable blue—she couldn’t see how far away the bottom might have been. Maressa switched her gaze from the aquatic life to her companions nearby her. Sharpedo and Lanturn swam close by; several other grunts had Pokemon with them, as well. Some of the other divers were within a few meters, each wearing the same grey-blue wetsuit.
Having her Pokemon nearby made Maressa feel secure; though she had been diving for years, the wide expanse of the ocean was always a bit daunting—every current and rock of the waves made her realize how small and utterly helpless she was against the sea's infinite power. With her Pokemon, at least, she knew they could help her out in case anything went wrong.
She couldn't stop thinking about her exchange with Mickey earlier. Even though she was always eager to go diving and exploring underwater formations, studying the ruins just seemed odd to her. Maybe he was right—maybe they could discover something about the ocean that they wouldn't otherwise know?
As she and Seaking descended into the sea, her heart leapt at the sight of shadowy outlines arise before her eyes. Seaking swam ahead of her and she saw his fishy orange form swim in-and-out of stone columns. As Maressa continued to descend, she soon found herself hovering over a rocky bottom in the midst of an ancient city. Spires and scaffolds of forgotten stone buildings stood around her, wreathed with seaweed red and brown. Corals and algae crowned the lopsided archways; seagrasses and kelp clung to the crumbling rock, their blades swaying in the current's gentle ebb and flow. Maressa hovered in the water, unable to do more than stare at the lost city she found herself in.
She watched a few Corphish crawl in large, oddly-shaped cracks on a stone wall. Blinking her eyes, she realized they weren't just cracks—they weren't cracks at all. They formed words:
"i guinaiya-ku. i minetgot-hu yan i fuetså-ku i tåsi"
Unclipping a camera from her dive jacket, she snapped a picture of the cryptic writing.
BOOP-BOOP BOOP-BOOP
Maressa jumped as the transmitter on her shoulder flashed bright red and released a series of beeps. Her heart raced—if the team on the submarine was sending her a signal, then she needed to get back to the sub as quickly as possible. What was so serious that they were cutting the mission short for?
Maressa looked up as an orange form tore through the water towards her.
"King! Seaking!"
With her regulator in her mouth, Marerssa couldn't say anything—but Seaking perfectly got his message across. He flapped his fins urgently, dancing back-and-forth in the water. There was something dangerous nearby!
Maressa's heart churned as her blood raced. If danger was that close, then all she could do was get back to the sub. Raising the control of her dive jacket, she pressed the button, pumping air into it. Kicking her finned feet, she slowly ascended through the water column. It took all her willpower to continue upwards at a slow, steady pace.
Go slower than the smallest bubble, she had always been told.
As she breathed out through her regulator, she watched her bubbles fly to the surface above her, keeping her pace slow and steady to prevent nitrogen buildup in her body.
Eventually, she saw the sunlight break through the endless blue and sparkle beyond the void. Her head broke the water surface; she exchanged her regulator for her snorkel before paddling her way to the submarine nearby. Mickey and a few others stood on top of the dark blue cylinder, looking at something behind Maressa.
"Mickey!" she called as she removed her snorkel. "What's up?"
He pointed; Maressa turned around and her heart sank.
A massive dark red ship crept towards to them. It easily dwarfed Team Aqua's submarine—it even seemed to have a loading port that was big enough to take them inside. Along its side was a black "M" resembling a cave nestled in a trio of mountains.
Other Team Aqua grunts joined Maressa at the surface. One of them whistled with awe as he laid eyes on the massive ship. Something nuzzled Maressa's shoulder—she put an arm over Lanturn's back and nodded to Sharpedo as the two of them joined her and Seaking.
Maressa looked back at Mickey, intending to ask him a question when she noticed a bright green form glide through the air.
"Is that a Tropius?"
Mickey wheeled around and immediately laid eyes on the reptilian creature flying around them.
"That's one of theirs! Shoot it down, shoot it down, shoot it down!"
Several jets of water—and an aurora beam from a Sealeo—all flew through the air towards the Tropius. The Grass-type ducked and wove, flying out of the attacks' range. It joined a flock of Swellow, which Maressa quickly noticed was joined by several Golbat that seemingly came from nowhere.
"Everyone inside, inside, inside!" Mickey urged.
Maressa and the others awkwardly clambered onto the submarine top. As she bent down to unbuckle her fins, a Xatu swooped down, soaring just over the waters, its scarlet eyes locked onto her.
Maressa crouched, her muscles tense, ready to dive aside at the last minute—but Lanturn leapt out of the water, slamming into the Xatu and delivering an electric shock to it. The Psychic-type flapped its wings wildly as it tried to right itself, sending a blast of psychic energy at Maressa’s Pokemon. Unaffected, Sharpedo leapt from the water and crunched down on the Xatu's wing, taking the Pokemon to the depths.
There was a splash—Xatu’s psychic attack had hit Mickey off the sub and into the water. Her teammates swam over to him, helping him back on deck.
Maressa looked up. The blood in her veins turned to ice as she saw hundreds of Pokemon soaring in the air above them: Swellow and Golbat formed a cloud, joined by an occasional Xatu, Skarmory and Tropius. Maressa spotted a few rarer individuals, including a Flygon and a Metang, along with more exotic Pokemon like Jumpluff and Pidgeot.
She squinted—the Metang hung in the air not very far above the deck of Team Magma's ship, just enough to make for a good vantage point. Someone sat on top of it. Her eyes roved to the ship’s deck, where several humans wearing dark grey pants and red hoodies stood with an assortment of Pokemon. A sprightly individual with a mushroom-domed head bounced along the deck, belching out seeds at the Pokemon in the water.
Her attention was torn as she saw a cloud of Swellow group together and divebomb the Team Aqua members. Adrenaline coursed through her veins as she saw the Flying-types descend—
"Everyone, down!"
The Team Aqua grunts dropped to the floor of the submarine as the Swellow flew just over them. Several Swellow were knocked out of the air as Pokemon in the water targeted them with various attacks. Maressa looked over at Mickey. Her dive tank was still attached to her and its weight pressed down heavily onto her with massive discomfort bordering on pain.
"What do we do now?"
"We can't fight them!"
"Why not? We have the terrain advantage! And we don't need to win, we just need to incapacitate enough of their Pokemon. Birds can't fly if their wings are wet—it won't be hard!"
Mickey grit his teeth as his eyes darted at the chaos unraveling before their eyes: more Team Aqua Pokemon were fighting back, leaping from the air to snag Flying-types in their jaws or tentacles. Some were beat down as Team Magma's Pokemon lashed out with wings, beaks, and claws.
"Fine!" he exclaimed at last. "Go ahead and command them—we need to make this quick!"
"You got it! Seaking, get over here! I need you!"
Maressa crawled across the surface of the submarine, put her snorkel in her mouth, and splashed back into the water. In a few seconds, Seaking's orange form appeared below her and Maressa sat on his back as he plowed through the seawater, away from the submarine and into the thick of battle.
Her eyes scanned the battlefield—it was a mess. The Pokemon above were frequently shot down but they always reformed, combining their attacks to create powerful gusts of wind or to attack a single Pokemon as a unit.
She gripped Seaking’s back with her legs as he plowed through the twisting, turning waters. Behind her mask, Maressa’s eyes stayed trained on the Pokemon in the air above her. Now that she was closer, she saw a few Team Magma members sitting astride the larger Pokemon: a Flygon ducked in and out of the sunlit patches while his rider gave him commands. Someone clung to the back of the Tropius. And above them all, Maressa saw a Metang floating near the ship, a lone Team Magma member sitting on him, calling out indeterminate orders and pointing to different areas.
Squeezing Seaking with her knees, she tapped him a few times and leaned to the left. Seaking followed her directions and rose out of the water to give her a clearer view. Sharpedo and Lanturn followed them, and her little party retreated to a calmer part of the waters. Removing her snorkel from her mouth, she gave out orders.
“We need to get them out of the sky. Flying-types can’t stay airborne with wet wings! The water Pokemon need to group together and combine attacks. Act as a unit. If they fly out of range, hide below the water. They can’t hit us down there. Sharpedo and Lanturn, regroup and direct those hiding under the waves. Seaking, let’s round up and direct everyone at the surface. Go!”
Sharpedo and Lanturn immediately dove beneath the waters while Seaking swam forward to the multitude of Tentacool, Tentacruel, Seadra and Wailmer sitting at the surface. Maressa called out orders—as Lanturn and Sharpedo herded other Pokemon, they gradually rose to the surface as well.
“Everyone, surf!”
Maressa exchanged her snorkel with her regulator as all Pokemon dove beneath the waves. They hydrokinetically controlled the water immediately around them, gathering, raising and building it up until it turned into a massive tidal wave that towered in the air.
Maressa clung to Seaking’s fins as the wall of water soared—her stomach somersaulted as she felt the wave’s powerful pull take her into the sky, launching all the Pokemon into the air—trapping the Flying-types in its deadly liquid net and crashing back down with thunderous force. Clinging to Seaking, Maressa’s body was still overtaken in the rush of adrenaline. A cloud of white bubbles filled the water, blinding her for a few seconds and blotting out her vision. Maressa reminded herself to keep breathing—or else in the excitement, she would have held her breath, and that would not bode well when attached to pressurized air.
As the bubbles rose to the surface and the sea waters calmed, Maressa and Seaking hung under the water. Her heart twisted—
Flying-types floated about erratically in the sea, helpless in the currents, desperately beating their wings in vain attempts to get air again. Some succeeded in breaking the surface of the salty waters. Others floundered about, ensnared in the ocean’s deadly embrace.
Smacking Seaking’s side, she pointed to the Flying-types stuck under the water. He darted forward; he and Maressa gathered who they could and brought them to the surface.
Cold wind slapped her face as her head broke the surface. She quickly exchanged her regulator for her snorkel. Her eyes fell on the Flying-types who had not been taken down by the wave—and there were a lot—beat their wings rapidly, creating a giant gust of wind. As Maressa clambered back onto Seaking, she noticed a Skarmory glowing brightly, cutting through the air like a razor.
"Lanturn, do what you can to stop them!"
Lanturn charged forward, her light sparkling with electricity. She leapt out of the air, releasing a bolt of lightning that hit several Flying-types, sending them to the waves below. She kept at it: leaping in the air, shocking Pokemon, and diving back down to the waters—all while the Skarmory drew nearer.
She leapt in the air—as her blue body crackled with electricity, a Flygon swooped in and smacked her with its tail, sending her flying through the air.
"LANTURN!"
Maressa knew Lanturn wouldn't be taken out by a single attack from a Flygon, but instinct drove her to check on her Pokemon. She was cut off as a green beam cut through the air and sliced through the salt water, penetrating meters deep beneath the waves.
Breloom danced about on deck, collecting energy into a glowing ball.
“Sharpedo, see that? Think you can launch yourself up there to stop him?”
Sharpedo growled—he could make the distance, for sure, but once he was on a dry deck, he couldn’t do more than flop about uselessly!
“Then launch me!”
Maressa dismounted Seaking and was soon astride Sharpedo—she had never before been so grateful that her wetsuit was built to endure serrated scales. Her amber eyes stayed locked on Breloom.
“Ready when you are!”
Lowering his head, Sharpedo plowed forward—racing faster and faster like a bullet—shooting through the water with increasing speed. The wind whipped and slapped Maressa’s face—her heart raced as she bent low over Sharpedo.
Sharpedo dipped down—then shot into the air with the force of a torpedo. Maressa clung to his back, her stomach churning, all eyes on them as they arced towards the deck of Team Magma’s ship.
“Bre—LAAAAAAAA!”
Breloom shrieked bloody murder as he saw Sharpedo flying towards him. He scrambled—
Team Magma members scattered as Sharpedo crashed onto the desk, his caudal fin cutting through the sheet metal like a knife through butter. Momentum carried Maressa forward—she flew off his back and straight into Breloom.
“BREEEEEEE!”
He screamed as Maressa crashed into him—the weight of her dive tank pinning him down. He flailed about, screaming in utter terror—letting out strange, chirping chokes that almost sounded like crying.
Someone lifted Maressa off Breloom—and then water sprayed all over the deck and the unseen force let go of her. She wheeled about—
Several Team Magma members stared at her with a mixture of confusion and anger. Sharpedo lay just before her, growling and spitting bursts of water to keep the enemies at bay.
She glanced up—several Flying types flew about in a circle, whipping up gusts. The ship suddenly dipped forward—Team Aqua’s Pokemon used surf again, creating a giant wall of water that trapped several of Team Magma’s Pokemon. The heads of Team Magma members turned away from her—she used the opportunity to try and push Sharpedo off deck and into the water. But Sharpedo was huge, and she had to walk backwards while wearing her fins. As she pushed her back against Sharpedo, adrenaline and panic raced through her—and her eyes locked on Breloom’s, who huddled in a shivering heap before her.
Once his eyes met hers, they narrowed and he sprang forward with a cry:
“Bre—LOOOM!”
He twisted—his powerful tail smacked Sharpedo upside the snout, sending him flying through the air—
And back into the water!
“Thank you!” Maressa called to Breloom before putting in her regulator, taking a few steps and falling back to the waves.
Several meters deep under water, Maressa saw more Flying-types than ever. Her heart twisted—but maybe this wasn’t a bad thing. If enough Pokemon were down, Team Aqua could retreat while Team Magma collected their Pokemon.
Her vision erupted—a green beam cut through the water—an orange form spun above her—
Seaking!
Seeing him hit by a solar beam erased all other thoughts from her mind—she swam up as quickly as she could, kicking hard, a trail of bubbles streaming behind her. She had to make sure Seaking was okay!
Several other water Pokemon congregated—Maressa felt the water pull as Team Aqua’s Pokemon readied another surf attack.
Sher head broke the surface—she saw Seaking floating, his eyes barely open.
“Seaking, I’m here! Are you—”
She was cut off by an agonized roar—a Skarmory had slammed into Sharpedo, slicing his scaly flesh with razor-sharp blades.
Sharpedo, no!
Maressa’s eyes were so trained on Seaking and Sharpedo that she failed to notice two bright beams fly in from the direction of Team Magma’s ship—
An immense force slammed into her, pushing her and Seaking below the water with breakneck force. Bubbles hailed from behind her neck as something hard slammed into the back of her head—she was constantly propelled downwards. Maressa switched her snorkel for her regulator and inhaled—water flooded her facial cavity, filling it with stinging salt.
There was no air.
Her body was pulled down quicker and quicker. He ears screamed from the weight of pressure. Panic flooded her heart—her hand flew behind her—
The gasket was damaged. All the air expelled from the top of the diving tank. The weight of the tank—and force of the air—pulled her body lower and lower—
She automatically unbuckled her dive jacket, freeing herself. Her lungs screamed with pain—free from the tank, she kicked as hard as she could. The water was dark around her—the surface seemed so far away—her lungs were fit to burst—she needed air. The sunlight grew closer, the water blindingly bright as it shone beneath the rays.
Her head broke the surface—before she could take in a breath, a wave crashed over her head and she was sent tumbling. The force of the water beat her back-and-forth, playing with her as if she was a rag doll. She tried to right herself—tried to orient herself—tried to find the surface, the sun, the air—
But the water pulled her under, a current sucking her lower and lower into the ocean’s omniscient grasp. She spasmed, twisting and turning—her lungs burst—her ears rang from the pressure—
She inhaled—water flooded her—her chest convulsed, as if she were trying to vomit—pain flooded her body, her torso pricked with hundreds of sharp knives. Her vision spotted—everything erupted around her—
All she knew was the dark, the liquid, the suffocation.
Fair enough! Another case of me not characterizing the Pokemon enough before delving into the plot. Her Seaking is much more timid and easily distressed than her other Pokemon. Her Pokemon all have backstories, but it isn't something I even noted before going in with the story. Maybe I should have expanded on them more, first. Thanks for the feedback!
Here's Chapter 5! I hope you enjoy, and any thoughts or critiques are always appreciated!
Chapter 5
Searing pain shot through Maressa’s chest—seawater squeezed out through her mouth. Her throat burned as if it were on fire and felt sandy. Her vision spun around—she couldn’t focus—it was hard to breathe—it never seemed enough…
Her lungs suddenly filled with air. It flowed in, refreshing, filling the space and clearing he mind. She opened her eyes, blinking several times to clear them of seawater—something was clamped down over her mouth and nose. Someone—she couldn’t register who—peered closely at her, his purple hair sticking to his face, watching her chest rise and fall as she took in oxygen.
Her limbs were so heavy. Her chest hurt immensely—the air was a relief, but pain surged through her torso with every breath she took. She heard people hustle about—shouting orders—running back and forth. She closed her eyes—it was too hard to keep them open, too difficult to stay awake…
Over all this, a soft voice spoke gently into her ear as she drifted off once more.
“You’ll be okay, we’ve got you. You’re going to be fine. Don’t worry.”
+++++++++++++++++++++
The blackness rose up to meet her, ready to swallow her whole.
Everything was warm, soft, peaceful…
Her body dragged further and further into the deep, unable to rise to the surface.
She inhaled deeply, exhaling again softly…
And as she stared into the abyss, the abyss stared into her.
Maressa’s eyelids fluttered open—the horrible image of the blackness of the ocean depths still imprinted on her mind, making her feel incredibly small and powerless. She nestled her face deeper into the pillows—
Pillows?
She looked around. She lay in a white bed, wearing a large shirt and loose shorts. More beds like her own filled the small area. There was a corner ahead of her, blocking the rest of the room from her view. A closed door was immediately next to her bed and she saw another door on a wall to the far left.
Inhaling deeply, Maressa closed her eyes. It was awful—the crushing pressure, the surrounding darkness, the flooding waters—it was all so awful.
But she was alive. And, by the look of things, she was well.
She dimly wondered where everyone was—where her Pokemon were, how the mission went—but for the moment, she was content to simply lay in bed. Her body felt too heavy to get back up and into action right away—and she was so thirsty. Her stomach rumbled with hunger as she lay there, staring at the blank metal ceiling.
Closing her eyes, she drifted into a half-sleep. She was tired, but for the most part, felt totally fine.
Her eyes opened as she heard a door creak and saw a man wearing white scrubs enter from the far left. He looked about her own age—perhaps in his mid-twenties—and smiled when he saw her.
“You’re awake! That’s great. How are you feeling?”
Maressa sighed. “Really tired…”
He walked over to Maressa’s bedside, still smiling. “I bet—getting directly hit with a Pokemon attack and being so deep underwater—that’s not easy to bounce back from! You’re doing really well overall, though. We got you emergency oxygen right away, so it doesn’t look like any damage done to major tissues or organs, at least not yet. We’ll need to monitor you for a few days, though; a lot of diving-related injuries aren’t immediate.”
Maressa raised her head slightly. “A few DAYS?"
The medic nodded.
“But that’s just a check-up, right? I’ll be able to go out and do everything normally like before—right?”
He shook his head. “Definitely not. You were down really deep before we got you—and sometimes the bends can show up after more than a day. If you’ve got nitrogen bubbling in your blood, we need to know and get it out immediately. You don’t want to be walking around and suddenly not be able to move. And you really need to rest. So, you might as well stay here.”
Maressa’s head dropped back to the pillows and she groaned.
She could not lie in bed for more than a day—definitely not for days on end. She wanted to see her Pokemon! And three of them couldn’t visit her—she needed to go outside and be in the water with them.
“Don’t worry—you’re in good hands,” the medic told her. “We’ll make sure you get back on your feet before long.”
She closed her eyes, unable to think of anything nice to say. She heard the door open as the medic walked into the hallway, his voice filtering in.
“She’s okay, so far… You shouldn’t go in, I don’t want her to go in shock… Give me at least until tomorrow… There’s enough going on already… Adding to it won’t help at this point…”
Footsteps, then the door closed and the medic was with her once more.
“When can I see my Pokemon?” she asked him.
His brown eyes looked curiously at her and he sighed. “I don’t know.”
Maressa grimaced. That was not the answer she wanted to hear.
“Well… Do you know how everything went?”
He cocked an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“The mission! By the time I passed out, I was on the losing end of a battle with that Magma commander. Did my Pokemon make it out okay? And everyone else?”
The man’s mouth parted slightly—he looked apprehensive.
“Okay, so, before I tell you… What exactly happened to you?”
Maressa closed her eyes, thinking back to what happened—suppressing a shudder as she remembered the seawater flooding her mouth, pulling her down…
“I dove into the water, far below the surface… I was close to that Team Magma ship, and there were tons of Swellow and Golbat in the air. A few Team Magma members rode on Flying-type Pokemon, too. My Seaking was hit by a solar beam and I saw a Skarmory crash into my Sharpedo… Something bright hit me—I think it was another solar beam… It pushed me further down and knocked the valve off of my dive tank—I couldn’t breathe anymore. I took my dive jacket off and swam back to the surface—but waves kept hitting me, and I was just pulled underwater—I couldn’t swim back up…”
Her insides churned as she remembered being filled with salt water, being pulled further and further into the deep, cut off from all air—from all life…
“I see,” the medic said thoughtfully. “You definitely took a beating—you should stay off your feet and rest for a bit.”
“And how is everything else?!” Maressa blurted out. “I at least gotta know what’s going on outside of here!”
The medic looked critically at her. “I can tell you what happened, but you need to not panic. Can you promise me that? Promise me that you’ll keep calm?”
Maressa took in a deep breath. She didn’t want to stay calm—she didn’t want to be lying in bed at all!—but if he said that panicking would only make things worse, then she would avoid it.
“Yes,” she resolutely. “I’ll stay calm.”
“This is a Team Magma base.”
“WHAT?!”
Maressa’s heart jumped to her throat—she pushed herself to a sitting position. Her blood raced—fear coursed through her veins. The medic no longer looked friendly—now that she knew who he worked with, he looked just as ugly and evil as the rest of Team Magma.
He frowned. “You told me you would keep calm.”
“I didn’t know you were with Team Magma!”
She swung her legs out of bed, all exhaustion and pain washed away with the flow of adrenaline. She stood—and found herself face-to-face with the Team Magma medic.
“You need to keep off your feet,” he said sternly.
She struck her heel into his ankle. He gasped and fell to his side—she reached for the door handle, but a hand clamped around her upper arm.
The medic was still on his feet—and apparently unhurt by Maressa’s attack. Before she could strike again, he twisted her arm—only to immobilize and not to cause pain—and pushed her against the wall.
Her heart beat frantically. She pushed—but was far too weak to fight against him. She thought she might cry—panic flooded her, filled her, she needed to get out!
“I’m not going to hurt you.”
She turned her head. The medic looked at her—there was no malice or smugness. His gaze was still critical. He almost looked reluctant.
“No one will touch you here—you’re safe. Panicking and moving about is going to hurt you more than anything else. We don’t know the extent of damage your body has undergone, and you really need to take it easy.”
“Why are you doing this?” she shouted. “Why are you hanging on to me? To interrogate me? To torture me later?”
“We wouldn’t do that! We wouldn’t bother to take care of you and heal you if we were just going to hurt you later on. We’ve already given you care—this stuff isn’t cheap, you know. Especially if you end up going in the decompression chamber.”
The mention of the decompression chamber made Maressa’s heart churn. He was right: she didn’t know the extent of damage, and it could very well be serious. And if they were already treating her, then they wouldn’t go back on their word and harm her—right?
“Will you let go of me?”
“Will you promise not to attack me again, but to sit down and do what I say?”
She was loathe to consent to his admonition but knew she was out of options. “Yes.”
The medic released his hold and Maressa sat back on her bed.
“You must be hungry; I’ll get you something to eat.”
Maressa nodded, her heart rate calming—but adrenaline and anxiety still rushed periodically through her.
Captured by Team Magma.
She scrunched her eyes shut—no, no, no, no, she could not be their prisoner! If she was their prisoner, she wasn’t with Team Aqua, she didn’t have her Pokemon—
Her Pokemon!
Her eyes popped open—she had left her Pokeballs with Mickey before diving. She didn’t see any reason to recall her Pokemon while out in the ocean and only saw the risk of losing them. Did Team Aqua recall them all and get to safety?
As the medic walked back in with a plate of spaghetti, Maressa asked, “Were my Pokemon captured as well?”
He shook his head. “I honestly don’t know, I’m sorry. If it makes you feel better, I don’t think they were. I remember everyone was preoccupied with you being unconscious and not breathing. From what I remember, Team Aqua hightailed it and got out of there with all of their Pokemon.”
Maressa sighed as a huge weight released from her shoulders. The panic and anxiety left her; exhaustion seeped back into her bones.
In spite of the relief, a shard of pain pricked her heart.
My team left without me.
Why would they do that? It had been hammered into their heads the entire time she worked with Team Aqua: do what’s best for the team; leave no one behind.
Why was she left behind?
The medic put the plate of spaghetti in her hands and gave her a gentle smile.
“You should eat to recover your strength more quickly. I’ll be reassessing you periodically to see how you’re coming along. I’m going to my office.” He pointed to the door just across from Maressa. “If you need anything at all, just give me a shout.” He turned to go but stopped.
“Oh, my name is Derek, by the way.”
She smiled back at him. “Maressa.”
He flashed her one more smile before disappearing. Maressa barely had time to dwell on her situation before he poked his head out again.
“Oh, I almost forgot. My commander, Tabitha, wants to talk to you, so that’ll probably happen at some point tomorrow.”
The thought of talking to a Magma commander made Maressa’s stomach churn.
“Do you know why she wants to talk to me?”
“What?”
“Tabitha. Do you know what she wants me for?”
Derek blinked. “Tabitha is a guy.”
Maressa snorted. “A guy?
“Yes,” he said simply. He checked his watch again, then closed the door.
Maressa leaned back, the unease lessening as she smiled. A guy—a commander named Tabitha? Her worry abated; if that was really his name, it would be hard to take him seriously.
++++++++
It was hard to not be afraid of him.
Maressa sat on her bed; the commander sat across from her. She realized—with a jolt of fear—that it was the same commander she had battled at Mt. Chimney.
Now that he was much closer, she saw some purple hair sticking out from beneath his hood. He looked around the same age as Derek—but there was something much more sinister lurking behind his dark eyes. With Derek, at least, Maressa trusted that there was no malice, no ill intent—he just wanted to help her get better. But with Tabitha, behind his small coy smile, and his narrow dark eyes, Maressa felt something more malevolent.
Or maybe she was imagining it.
He smiled at her as he leaned back on the stool Derek had brought out for him. Maressa wished Derek would have stayed—but Tabitha wanted to talk with Maressa alone.
“Welcome to our base. I trust you’ve been well-cared for?”
Maressa’s face burned. He was mocking her, and she knew it.
But she couldn’t think of anything to say.
“Derek told me you might have nitrogen bubbling up in your joints,” Tabitha went on when Maressa remained silent, “and that it’s best if you wait here. Otherwise, I’d meet with you in my office. Derek said you haven’t been in increasing pain, at least not yet. Have you?”
Maressa could only stare into his dark eyes and at his small smile. She tried to think: if Shelly were in this position, what would she say? How would she react? She always knew what to do.
But Maressa had no idea what that was. So she went with the first thing that came to mind.
“What do you want?” she asked Tabitha.
He shrugged. “I wanted to see you myself—a Team Aqua member is very valuable around here, after all. And I’ve been itching to talk to you. Our battle at Mt. Chimney was memorable. I wish your Pokemon were here, and we could do a sort of repeat, whether to demonstrate to the troops or just for the fun of it.”
“So my Pokemon are free?” she asked breathlessly.
He raised an eyebrow. “You really have been out of it, haven’t you? Yes, your Pokemon are free—at least, they’re back with Team Aqua.”
His smile widened. “I wanted to tell you: you fought very well in that battle yesterday. I’m impressed with how you commanded all the water Pokemon and how well you managed with riding atop your Seaking.”
Maressa’s face flushed. She expected—well, she didn’t know what she expected. Probably belittling or verbal assault—but certainly not to be praised.
And she didn’t want to go along with it.
“Whatever you’re trying to do—whatever you’re trying to get out of me, or what information you want me to tell you—it won’t work,” she hissed. “My team will come back for me, and I’ll be out of here.”
Tabitha still gazed at her with his self-assuring smile.
“And what makes you say that?”
“We’re a team—no one is left behind, and we always look out for each other.”
“But you were left behind. I know you were underwater and passed out for a long period of time, but once the rest of Team Aqua saw you go under, they recalled their Pokemon and got out of there.”
Maressa’s heart sank—
They left me like that?
Tabitha gazed critically at her; his smile faded into small frown. “If Team Aqua really is so intent about looking out for each other, why do you think they would do that?”
Maressa tried to think—but her brain didn’t seem to be working. She couldn’t shake the feeling of abandonment, couldn’t shake off the needles of pain pricking and sticking deeper into her heart. Almost involuntarily, her head and shoulders slumped forward.
“Look at it from their point of view,” Tabitha said. “The rest of them were on deck while you were in the water. You commanded most of the Pokemon, and the flow of Team Aqua’s battle generally went with how you fought. They saw you knocked off Seaking and then hit with a solar beam attack—and they didn’t see you come back up. What does it look like?”
Maressa looked into Tabitha’s eyes; he stared back patiently, waiting for her to answer.
“They… think I’m dead?”
Vocalizing it somehow made the statement much worse; it was no longer just a mere thought. Saying it out loud made Maressa realize how likely that situation looked.
Tabitha smiled again and nodded. “Exactly. They don’t know you’re here at all. What is there for them to save?”
Dread settled deeper into Maressa’s heart—she looked away from Tabitha. Feeling abandoned and hopeless was bad enough; looking into his smug, gloating face was unbearable.
She clenched her hands into fists—no, that couldn’t be!
“I will get back to them,” she said, raising her eyes to meet Tabitha’s. “I’m sure Team Aqua has something you guys would want, and I know I’d be a likely trade. I’m not giving up on my team.”
He tilted his head slightly. “But Maressa, do you want to go back to them?”
“Of course! I—”
“Again, think of it from their point of view,” he cut across. “If you were still with Team Aqua and heard that another member—whom everyone thought had died—was captured and ready to be handed back over, what would Team Aqua do with that person? Put them back in the same position they had, as if their capture never happened?
“They don’t know what you’ve done or what you’ve told us. For all they know, you could have given away everything you know about Team Aqua. Why would they want to keep you around or promote you if you’ve done that?”
Fear settled into Maressa’s stomach. She felt sick. She blinked several times—for some reason, it was difficult to register his words.
But no—Tabitha was her enemy, he was messing with her! He wasn’t honest—none of this could be true!
And yet… Maressa couldn’t think of any other way things would go. She couldn’t think of how things would work out otherwise. And there was something in the matter-of-fact way of speaking that made her suspect he was being honest.
“Going back won’t help you, Maressa,” he said quietly.
She stiffened. She hated hearing him say her name.
“Then what do you expect me to do?” she snapped. “Waste away here?”
“We wouldn’t waste you. I’ve seen the way you fight. I’ve seen the way you care for your Pokemon. You were doing reasonably well on Team Aqua, I’m sure. And Team Magma will be happy to have you.”
Maressa started—his words hit her like a hammer. She opened her eyes wide in shock. His expression hadn’t changed; he still gazed at her patiently.
“Y—you’re kidding!”
“Why would I? Think about what I said. You know it’s true. You and I have battled before, and our battles were close. I’ve seen you command several Pokemon and I know you show a lot of promise. You know about Team Aqua: their bases, their members—information that can be very valuable to us. And you know that you have no future if you go back to Team Aqua. This is in your best interest, as well.”
“I have four Water-type Pokemon!” she shouted. Her face was red; blood rushed through her veins—she couldn’t believe what she was hearing, and somehow shouting seemed to be a way to fend off his words. In the rush of blood, her brain defogged a little. “Why would we want to help you expand the land?”
His eyes sparkled with excitement. “Been listening to what Team Aqua has been telling you, have you? That all life depends on the ocean—that the ocean is dying directly due to human action? That we’re going to cause the world’s oceans and seas to become polluted and die?”
“Yes, and I know it’s true!”
“Then I have something interesting to show you.”
“I don’t care what you have—I’ll never do something that would betray my Pokemon!”
“You care a lot for your Pokemon,” he murmured.
“Of course I do! They’re everything to me!”
“And that’s what Team Magma aims for, as well. People and Pokemon should exist together—work together as friends and teammates. Pokemon shouldn’t just be viewed and used as tools for children to fight with.”
“No,” Maressa said quickly. “They shouldn’t.”
Tabitha nodded. “And we hope to change that point of view—to get rid of the modern idea of the ‘Pokemon League’ controlling everything, encouraging children to pick out Pokemon, train them solely for battle, give them drugs and medicines to turn them into fighting machines. It’s not healthy for either the trainer or the Pokemon, and it’s not sustainable. We need to encourage people to go back to befriending Pokemon, growing with them, and raising them the natural way.”
As she listened to his words, Maressa’s heart rate slowed; she felt calm again. Perhaps because they were no longer talking about her—or perhaps because it was all something that made sense to her. Without blood pounding through her veins, exhaustion hit and her brain felt slower again.
She nodded. “That’s what Team Aqua thinks, too—what I think.”
“Our teams agree on a lot—there’s more we agree than we disagree on.”
She shot him a glare. “I wouldn’t say that.”
He shrugged. “The way we go about things is differently, sure, but our teams largely think the same way. We have no interest in controlling Kyogre or expanding the oceans, and doing so really wouldn’t benefit Water-type Pokemon—”
“What?”
“Having more water doesn’t help marine ecosystems; the difference in temperature, pH—”
“No, no, not that,” Maressa said quickly. “What did you say about expanding the sea?”
He didn’t respond immediately but continued to survey her with his dark, calculating stare. Maressa tried to read his face; his cold gaze showed little expression.
“Control Kyogre and expand the sea,” he said bluntly.
Maressa could do little more than stare in utter bafflement. What was he talking about?
“You don’t even know.” He perked up slightly as if something clicked in his brain.
“In your point of view, what is Team Aqua up to?” he asked her.
“In my point of view? What does that mean? Team Aqua is trying to fight for better Pokemon-human interactions and clean aquatic environments to better the lives of Pokemon everywhere!”
“So why does your team send you out on missions? They probably don’t tell you everything, do they? There were underwater ruins on the route where we met you—what were you looking for down there?”
“None of your business,” she snapped.
He smiled. “But it is your business, and you don’t know why you were sent out, do you?”
Maressa glared at him—but words failed her. He was right. How could she respond to that?
When she stayed silent, Tabitha continued on.
“The oceans of our planet were formed by the ancient Pokemon, Kyogre. It’s said to have the power to cause unending rain, and Team Aqua wants to control Kyogre to expand the sea.
“Exactly how you’re going to do that yet, we aren’t sure. We know that you need the Blue Orb to control it, but as far as we know, nobody knows where that item is.
“That’s what you’re up to every time your team sends you out to go look somewhere—underwater caves, ruins, old temples… You may just think that they’re having you gather information or do research, but they’re really looking for the ancient Pokémon or the Orb.”
Maressa stared back at him—if he was lying, then he was good at it.
That was it—he had to be lying.
“That can’t be true!” she blurted out. “Team Aqua wants what’s best for the oceans—they know that expanding them won’t do any good!”
“Then what do you think they’re trying to do?”
“I—they’re—we’re doing… research!”
“Research on what?”
Maressa could only stare back at him, feeling confused, helpless. None of this made sense!
And yet, it made perfect sense.
All the secrecy surrounding the higher operations of the teams; their interest in lore and history; exploring the secret, ancient places… If Tabitha’s words were true, then Maressa’s questions were answered.
But she didn’t want them answered that way.
“What about Team Magma? What do you guys do—trying to expand more land! That’s also going to bring about destruction for everyone!”
“And what makes you say that?”
She stared at him in shock for a second. Why did he always answer her questions with more questions?
“It’s common knowledge! People rely on the sea to live—everyone needs water!”
“People need water, but not necessarily the sea. Our aim wouldn’t be to get rid of streams, lakes, rivers, or anything that provides freshwater to communities. It will make more land so that people and Pokemon have more room to go about with their lives.”
Maressa tried to think—but her brain wouldn’t work. Why didn’t her brain work? Even with the excitement, it all seemed so foggy. Nothing was so clear. And the exhaustion hit her harder than before. She slumped farther forward, involuntarily curling up: her knees curled up onto the bed, so she could only peer at Tabitha through the gap between her legs. Her elbows, shoulders, and wrists all turned inward, as well, as though she could curl into a ball and hide from the truth she didn’t want to see.
“Are you doing that on purpose?” Tabitha asked her.
She didn’t respond—she only stared at him, her eyelids heavy with exhaustion. Tabitha stood up and came over to her, reaching out to touch her—
“Stop!” she hissed.
But she didn’t feel him. She saw him tapping her shoulder, but she couldn’t feel any of it. She stared, wide-eyed, horror settling into her tired heart as she watched him tap what might as well have been a puppet that looked like her.
“Can’t feel that, can you?”
Without waiting for an answer, he turned around and knocked on the door on the far wall.
“Derek? She has the bends.”
Derek immediately came out, looking at Maressa with concern.
“Ah, I see. No need to worry, Maressa—you’ll be fine. We’ll just give you some pure oxygen, and your body will straighten itself out. Tabitha, can you help me lay her down?”
Maressa simply watched—without feeling—the two of them lay her on her back. Derek wheeled her bed over to what looked like a long, clear, horizontal tube with a sort of monitor attached to it. As he pushed her, he spoke to her gently.
“I’m just going to put you in that decompression chamber. It’ll deliver one-hundred-percent oxygen to you; if you’re no longer breathing in nitrogen, then the nitrogen bubbles in your joints will dissolve, and your body will straighten out and feel like yours again. It’s nothing to worry about; you’ll feel like yourself again soon.”
Maressa eyelids were so heavy—she lowered them, sinking into darkness as her mind rested, as her body truly felt like nothing…
Fresh air soon flowed into her, filling her lungs and clearing her mind—again. She blinked several times. The decompression chamber was clear, and she saw Derek sitting in a chair just outside, his back turned to her as he spoke with Tabitha.
Maressa closed her eyes again, exhausted. Tabitha’s words kept hitting her, flowing into her mind, making everything much worse. She didn’t want to think about it—none of it could be true!
But in her heart, part of her believed him.
They think I’m dead.
As she breathed in oxygen, feeling returned to her body and her joints straightened out. She was able to lie flat on her bed again. She could think and recall more clearly—and with clearer thinking came fresh, sharp pain.
My own teammates think I’m dead.
They weren’t coming back for her. They didn’t know she was there. What was left for her?
Tears welled up beneath her eyelids and rolled down her cheeks; her throat closed up and the muscles in her body tensed as the full force of abandonment washed over her. Opening her eyes, she stared blearily at the blank chamber top a few inches above her.
She turned her head: Derek’s back was to her, but Tabitha’s eyes met hers through the decompression chamber window. He saw her crying.
But it didn’t matter. If what he said was true—if Team Aqua had truly left her for dead—then she had nothing left. What would become of her? What about her Pokemon? What was going to happen—why did they leave he like that? Didn’t they care about her? Wouldn’t they at least check, wouldn’t they try to retrieve her body—
Why?
As Maressa wallowed in self-pity and pain, she didn’t know how long she was in the decompression chamber for. By the time Derek took her out and wheeled her bed up against the wall, the tears on her cheeks had dried.
She opened her eyes—a Breloom followed Derek around the clinic, hopping about and chittering away excitedly.
She had seen that Breloom—standing on Team Magma’s ship, shooting solar beams and taking their team apart, hitting Sharpedo off the deck and into the ocean—knocking her off of Seaking and sending her plummeting to the depths.
The memory of it brought a fresh wave of tears and sobs. She hugged herself, lying on the bed, feeling so lonely and lost.
“Maressa? Are you okay?”
Derek walked over to her, his brown eyes looking concernedly at her while Breloom sidled up next to him.
“Wh—what am I going to do?” Maressa choked out.
“What do you mean?”
“Ta—Tabitha said—said that Team—Team Aqua thinks I’m dead. That—that they won’t come for me!” Sniffling, she looked at Derek through red, bleary eyes. “Do you think that’s true?”
He looked apprehensive, as if he didn’t know what to say.
“I… I’m honestly not sure—I hadn’t thought about it.” He smiled—a warm, genuine smile. “But it’s okay. You’re here now, and we’ll take care of you.”
She scrunched her eyes shut—nothing he said dissolved the pain settling into her heart.
“Is there anything I can get you? Are you hungry? I can get you some food.”
She opened her eyes.
“Can I just get a hug?”
Derek hesitated, as if the idea of giving a hug was uncomfortable for him. But Breloom immediately leapt up onto the bed with a happy cry.
“Breloom, wait!”
But Maessa had already sat up and wrapped her arms around the Pokemon; he wrapped his arms around her in return, letting Maressa cry her worries out into his mossy shoulders.
“Wait—that’s not a good idea! Breloom releases a lot of spores—I’ve been paralyzed and poisoned by him before…”
His voice trailed off; Maressa kept hugging Breloom. His touch considerably calmed her: fresh tears no longer fell from her eyes and her breathing was much slower and deeper.
Pulling back, she looked at Breloom. His black eyes shone with alacrity—he chirruped cheerfully. Maressa smiled. She had never tried raising Grass-types (and had never interacted with them much) but she found the Breloom quite endearing.
“You’re the one who I fought in that battle outside, at sea, aren’t you? You’re really strong—your solar beam ripped the gasket off of my dive gear and sent me into the water! Come to think of it, you’re the reason I’m here now…”
Breloom seemed to take it as a compliment. He blushed and waved a hand as if to say, “aw, shucks.”
She patted his mushroom-domed head. “But I don’t blame you. You were just doing what you had to, didn’t you? Didn’t mean to really cause any damage…”
After getting the pain and crying out of her system, exhaustion hit Maressa like a brick. Exhaling deeply, she lay back down on the bed as Breloom hopped off.
She closed her eyes, pulled a sheet over her, and allowed sleep to overtake her weary body.
Maressa's in a tight spot, and--oof--without any of her pokemon! Sounds like she's on course to get back home ... but the damage will have been done. Some degree of trust has been broken. I get why you cut away, but the scene with Sarah was harder for me to get into because I'm not invested in her as a character.
Hey! I'm sorry this is such a late reply. I've had... various things going on with my family members in real life lately and it's taken my mind out of fanfiction. I'll get around to reviewing the latest chapter of Continental Divides soon! Sorry about that ._.
A human hand feels so different from a bug, it was hard for me to suspend disbelief on this one. I could maybe buy it more if she were drifting in and out of dreams and she imagined something from her dream grabbing her?
Good point! I added the bug thing on a whim, not sure why I thought it was a great idea lol
It feels like this is a source of comfort for her, like she takes it as a sign of safety, and I want to poke that a little. I can't quite tell by the descriptions if she thinks she's in a real hospital or an Aqua facility. What is Team Aqua/Magma's relationship to hospitals anyway? Do they have to avoid them because of their criminal history, or can they use them? It might also be nice to get a little inkling of Maressa's history with Aqua and injury. Has she ever been in an Aqua medical bay before? Has she been hurt on a mission before? (Seems like probably not!)
Good questions! Maressa thinks she's in a Team Aqua facility, though she hasn't stayed in one herself yet. For the most part, the Teams get by with their own medics but can go into hospitals if needed. This gets expanded on more later, in how the Teams function as part of society and operate under different names.
Heheh, fair enough. I didn't realize or really think about that when I wrote this, but after having visited a friend of mine in the hospital several times, I know that everyone's up all hours of the night.
I like that you noticed this in your fic and changed his gender entirely lol
I like this sentiment, but I'd reword to make it flow a little better. The office was dimly lit and claustrophobic, cluttered with __. But Maressa's real source of discomfort was his calculating gaze. I'm also very curious what Tabitha's office is cluttered with! Is he hoarding newspapers? Igneous rock? Plates he hasn't brought back to the cafeteria in a long time? Books about Hoenn legendaries? Etc. Good opportunity to sneak in more characterization for him.
Thanks for this tip! I had always imagined with newspapers and book scans etc. I should elaborate more on it!
I grew up on a hot spring without any volcanoes nearby, so I had to Google this to double-check. Nice way to justify that this action is a problem! The canon really doesn't offer much there.
I think I got this from the Pokemon Adventures/Pokemon Special manga. But that also rreminded me of a funny meme I saw lol I'll post it if I can find it.
I would've been nice to see this dropped earlier! It doesn't have as much impact hearing it for the first time now. But it would be easy to make this something Mark says to Maressa to reassure her.
This doesn't ring true for me. I can't tell if the intention here is that he's trying to psych her out, or if they both think this is how it works. If they think she's given up information, it would still make sense to get her back, to figure out what exactly she told them.
Oh for sure, and he knows that. He's trying to scare her, and even though she's fairly reasonable (or I try to describe her that way for the most part) her whole situation makes her scared and more prone to believing him.
Part of me want him to neg her harder? Like, really plant ideas of what her team might think of her in her head, put words in their mouths. Another part of me is glad he didn't because it suuuure does seem like you're slowly nudging them together too, and that would make it harder for me to like him. He's pretty ... rough ... as-is. At this stage it would take a big shift in Tabitha for me to see him as likable, but maybe that's the plan.
Hmmm I've gotten a lot of feedback on Tabitha and his character, so I'm just going to stay quiet about this right now and let you see you end up feeling about him :)
Hm, I'm wondering at his lack of emotion here! Is this something he worries about? Does he think they can do it, or that they're crazy? (And what about Maressa?)
I tried to make him stoic and not very expressive (which didn't work in the first draft because he was a melodramatic DRAMA QUEEN)
Again, I can't tell if he's just drunk his own Kool-aid here or if we're playing Sapphire version, not Emerald, and this is Totally Fine. I would expect Maressa with her background in bio and love of oceans to make a rebuttal about more land = harming existing aquatic ecosystems.
I don't want to say too much except that he believes that will become of it is BEST, but not necessarily beneficial... Which I realize doesn't make much sense at this point. And yes, Maressa definitely knows that more land =/= better world, but at the moment she's more caught up in her own worries with her team.
!
This is news! I wonder about not having anywhere else to go though. Did she have a fight with her family that we don't know about?
She meant she doesn't have other jobs lined up in terms of "nowhere else to go;" she's on good terms with her family (as long as they don't know she lied to them about Team Aqua)
It's not clear if it's because his smile is scary, or if she finds his smile comforting/alluring and doesn't want to.
O_O
Oh, yeah, I should probably clarify it to make it apparent that it's the former. She's intimidated by Tabitha, not attracted to him (I realize those aren't necessarily mutually exclusive all the time, but here she's solely the former)
Throughout, I'm having trouble getting a sense for how authority is wielded in Team Aqua. Are people generally scared of commanders ... or not? It feels a little more casual and less authoritarian than I'd expect. Like, there's a lot of bluster, but the punishments don't seem to be that bad. And here Sarah gets to interrupt without any consequences at all.
Depends on who it is. Shelly was MUCH stricter (though since I cut out her chapter... I guess people would no longer have a way of knowing that) whereas Matt is more laid back and this causes different character dynamics, especially in future chapters.
Huh, yeah, we haven't seen Archie or Maxie up close yet! Looking forward to seeing what you do with them.
Heh, I'm not super impressed with myself for how I handle them, since I wanted this story to primarily be about grunts. But they will appear!
This didn't quite feel like a conversation she should be allowed to overhear! It also didn't add much for me, since he's repeating information we just got.
Fair enough.
Thanks again for the review! I'll get around to reviewing Continental Divides when I'm less frazzled. Always good to hear from you!
Hi everyone! This is another fairly long chapter. If you have any thoughts or critiques, I'm happy to hear them! Enjoy!
Chapter 6
"Please?"
Claydol groaned, firmly denying the request.
“Come on. It’s easy, and what else are you going to spend your time doing? All you do all day is float next to me and bother me while I’m trying to work.”
Derek turned around and faced Claydol. His numerous red eyes were half-closed and surveyed the human with amusement. In spite of Derek’s provocation, the Pokemon didn’t respond.
“Won’t you, please? I actually have a patient to take care of for once, and you know that I hate doing inventory.”
Looking him over with an unchanged expression—not that his expression could change much, anyway—Claydol groaned again.
The answer was still the same.
Turning away, Derek sighed as he walked towards the medical room. He pushed open the door and saw Maressa lying awake on her bed. She flexed her arms, studying the muscles carefully. She was unusually brawny for a girl; while her muscles were lean and slim, they were well-defined—more well-defined than those of any girls Derek knew. Sighing, she relaxed her arms and looked up at Derek. He gave a small wave and headed to his office.
“Who’s your friend?”
“Hm?”
Derek turned to see Claydol floating by Maressa’s bedside. She sat up and gazed at him with curiosity and awe.
“Oh, that’s just Claydol. He helps me out when I need to get some stuff done.” After a second’s pause, he added, “Or he just bothers me when he’s too lazy to do anything.”
She reached up a hand, as though about to pet the Pokemon, and asked, “May I?”
Derek nodded and Claydol rumbled his consent. Maressa ran her fingers along the earthen body, rubbing the white patterns that grooved his mid-section.
“He’s beautiful…”
Claydol gave an appreciative groan, but Derek noticed that there was more than just respect in her voice. There was something forlorn, some note of longing, underneath the outward awe.
She must be upset about not having her Seaking with her, he realized. The thought stirred sympathy within him; he couldn’t imagine being stuck in one place without Claydol, Breloom or Golbat.
He glanced at the door then moved across the room and sat on the bed opposite Maressa’s. There would be time to do inventory later. Actually, there probably wouldn’t, but he didn’t feel like doing it anyway. Besides, he couldn’t get into too much trouble—he was one of the few medics on the team, after all.
Maressa patted the large earthen doll. “I know Breloom’s a fighter, but what about you? Do you like to battle, or would you rather stay on the sidelines?”
Claydol groaned an answer. Derek sat stiffly, a little surprised that she was talking directly to his Pokemon and not asking him. She was the first to do so. Everyone else he had met always talked to the trainer.
“He’s not much of a battler,” Derek informed her. She turned her amber eyes on him as he spoke. “He can fight when he needs to, but he mainly helps me out in here.”
“He knows how to do all of this medical stuff?”
He shrugged. “A bit. I’m usually the one that handles the patients. He’ll get out or put together whatever equipment I need, though.”
“That’s cool. I tried teaching my Pokemon calculus, but Lanturn and Sharpedo weren’t interested. Seaking showed interest, but I don’t think he really understood any of it. Golduck told me that it was a waste of time and that I shouldn’t bother trying to teach him anything as useless and boring as math.”
Taken aback, Derek noted, “Your Golduck seems pretty… stubborn.” He thought this was an understatement but couldn’t think of anything else to say and didn’t want to run the risk of insulting her Pokemon.
“You have no idea. I can hardly ever get him to listen to me.”
“Does he battle much?”
“All the time—he’s the strongest Pokemon I have and he works the best with me. He knows what I want him to do and does it without question. Sure, outside of battle, he can be rude, but I can tell that he doesn’t really mean it.”
She stopped petting Claydol. Her eyes fell and she slumped forward slightly.
Derek couldn’t really think of what to say; he pitied her for being stuck alone and without her Pokemon, but it wasn’t something he could relate to and he didn’t think that there was anything he could do to make her feel better. He didn’t want to end their conversation on such a somber note, though.
“You, uh… you liked studying calculus?”
“Hm? Oh, yeah.” She snapped out of her dejection and sat upright again. “Math was always my favorite; I studied it throughout high school and college.”
“Where did you go for college?”
“I went to the Hoenn Institute of Technology and Architecture.”
“Oh, decided to stay regional?”
“Yeah, they have pretty incredible math and physics departments. Did you know that they have a particle accelerator?”
His eyes widened. “I didn’t know that! That’s pretty cool. I guess it’s no surprise, though, since most of the top scientists and researchers in Hoenn have gone there.”
“What about you? Where did you go?”
“I studied at the Johto Technological and Medical Institution.”
“Did you go to med school?”
“I…”
He paused—he always felt a little embarrassed when talking about this. But in his split second of silence Maressa cut across him.
“I don’t mean to be asking anything too personal, it’s just that if—I thought that if you had gone to med school, you probably could’ve gotten a job as a doctor pretty easily, and it would’ve paid a lot better than being on Team Magma.” Her words tumbled out in a rush as though she was worried about offending him.
“It’s all right, don’t worry about. It’s just that… Yeah, I went to med school—got accepted and started my first year and everything—but I never finished. I wanted to, but it burned me out a lot more quickly than I thought it would.”
He shifted. The topic of burning out and choosing to quit was never without shame.
“And while I was in school, I heard about Team Magma—they said I could be a medic on the team even if I joined then right then and there. Med school is expensive, and the pay I get here is really good. It's like working early without having to pay for all of school. And it seems like my teammates were right. There hasn't been a single Pokémon brought to me that I haven't been able to cure yet."
"What about people?"
"To be honest, you're pretty much the only person I've really worked with. Sure, there have been cuts, burns, bruised bones, and things like that, but nobody else has had to lie in a bed for a while." He smiled. "You get to be my first long-time patient."
“So you joined Team Magma because you were tired and wanted to pay off your college debt?”
“Well… No, there’s more to it than that.” He rubbed his eyes with both of his hands for a moment. “I might go back to school—I haven’t decided. But I needed to leave—at least for a bit.”
“Do you think you don’t want to do medicine anymore?”
“No, I want to do medicine and take care of patients more than anything! It was the studying and bookwork that fried me—I spent five years in college working myself to the bone just to be good enough for medical school. But then one of my professors suggested I ‘take a year off’ and do some lab or clinical work before applying. So I did—but that ‘year off’ wasn’t relaxing. I still studied, staying up late constantly reading research papers and analyzing data to get results and compile reports. I had to study for entrance exams into medical schools, go through interviews and file more paperwork. When I got in, I went straight into school from work—it was constant studying and bookwork…” He shook his head.
“I couldn’t handle it anymore. Team Magma offered me the chance to start doing medical work. And after over six years of burning out, it sounded like a dream—so I took it and I’m starting to pay off my dues for undergrad and med school.” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “School is not cheap.”
“No, I’ve definitely learned that by now,” Maressa said. Her voice quieted and she stared down at her feet.
“So, why did you join Team Aqua? I told you my reasons for joining Team Magma.”
She grimaced. “I don’t have to pay for pre-med school, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t have plenty left to pay off. Honestly, being able to pay off school was a pretty big reason for joining them…” Her voice trailed off, and she shifted her gaze away in embarrassment.
“So—in that regard—you’re in the same boat as I am.”
“Well, it’s more than just paying off school; I enjoy what I do. I get to fight Pokemon battles and spend plenty of time with my Pokemon.”
“If you’re in this for Pokemon battling, why don’t you enter Pokemon tournaments? They offer pretty hefty cash prizes.”
“I don’t know… A lot of the biggest ones are televised, and I’m not really comfortable with all of that. And I like getting recognition for when I’m good at something, but I don’t think I could ever be comfortable with appearing on TV and being famous or anything. Besides, those are super competitive; the best people spend all their time training their Pokemon and have really diverse teams. I just have four Water-type Pokemon, and they are strong, but I don’t think we would really stand a chance in a tournament like that.” She shifted her eyes. “Besides, when I joined Team Aqua, I heard that I would be helping Pokemon—that we were working for oceanic conservation and trying to better our world after humans damaged it.”
She was no longer smiling or warm. She shrunk against the back wall and averted her eyes from his. There was something odd about her words as well.
“ ‘When you joined’ them, you heard that? Has that changed?”
She shifted her amber eyes back to him. “I don’t know—well, there were things going on in my team that I didn’t know about. They never told us everything when they sent us on missions. They would just tell our squad leaders. I felt like they were dodging the questions I asked. And I was okay with it then, since I was just a grunt and I knew that obedience was the most important thing. But since then, I’ve heard stuff about what we do and I just—I—I don’t know…”
Taken aback, Derek studied her. Slouched back on the bed with such a lost look, she seemed so pathetic that he found himself feeling a little sorry for her.
“What did they tell you, then?”
“Not much, really. I could tell that there was something going on that they weren’t giving us all of the details about, but I just thought it was because I was a low-ranking member. I thought, the longer I worked with them, I would be told more.
“And then when I came here, Tabitha told me that Team Aqua’s goal is to take control of some ancient Pokemon and use it to expand the sea, and if that’s true… Well, that’ll be the opposite of everything I thought we were doing. He also told me that Team Aqua isn’t actually working for the environment. I don’t want to work for a team like that, but my team wouldn’t really be doing that, would they?”
She looked pleadingly at him as though she expected him to hold some answer that would refute all of her suspicions and secure her belief in the goodwill of Team Aqua.
But he couldn’t do that. That would be a lie, and if she was living a lie the entire time she worked with Team Aqua then it was time for her to face the truth.
“That is what your team is doing. At least as far as Team Magma knows, anyway.”
She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, she appeared more dejected and forlorn than he had seen her yet.
Derek’s stomach churned. Was she going to ask what Team Aqua was going to do to her? Had Tabitha told her that much yet?
“But… What about Team Magma?”
“What about us?”
“If Team Aqua is trying to expand the sea by controlling some sort of monster, then how are you guys going to try to expand the land? From what my team says, you guys are trying to make more land—aren’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“And you’re okay with that? You do realize that will cause destruction and kill a ton of people and Pokemon, right?”
He paused. He did not believe that creating more land would be bad for the planet—all scientific models pointing to that were just theoretic, after all—but he was not interested in arguing with a Team Aqua member about it.
Maressa apparently wasn’t one for pauses and quickly cut through the silence.
“You want to take care of people and do what’s best for them but you’re supporting a team that’s only going to get them killed?”
“No, I don’t think that creating more land will hurt people—“
“But what about the stuff you guys do? Team Magma terrorizes people and towns! Doesn’t that matter to you? Doesn’t the path to completing your goal matter just as much as the completion itself?”
He paused. She stared intently at him, her amber eyes blazing. He couldn’t think of much else to say—of course, he didn’t want to make ends meet by doing something unethical, but after all, he wasn’t doing anything wrong.
“I just take care of the wounded. I don’t see anything wrong in that.”
“You’re doing it for a criminal organization when you could be doing it for anyone else! You just didn’t finish med school!”
Blood rushed to his face and he balled his hands into fists. Maressa glared at him and he glared back. He swallowed—he wanted to say something—how could she say that about him? She didn’t know his life. But he couldn’t think of how to put it into words.
“Dol…”
The two humans started as Claydol rumbled. Derek forgot he was there, floating inches from him as he had talked with his patient.
Seeing this as an opportunity to get out of the uncomfortable conversation, Derek stood up.
“You’re right, Claydol, we should get back to work.”
Ignoring the Pokemon as he blinked his several eyes in confusion, Derek turned to Maressa.
“We need to get back to work,” he said, ignoring the Pokemon’s protestant rumblings. Derek turned and walked across the infirmary to the supply door.
“Derek?”
He was about to exit when Maressa called. He turned—the fire was gone from her eyes. She sat upright on her bed, her legs stretched out, shoulders slumped, looking at him sadly.
“Thank you for taking care of me.”
Derek sighed. Maressa looked sad—even a bit apologetic and she really did seem grateful.
His anger abated. He smiled at her.
“You’re welcome.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Derek pushed the door open to Tabitha’s office. Mightyena lay on the floor and jumped as the hinges creaked. Seeing Derek, the canine wagged his tail and let out a whine. Derek scratched the Pokemon’s head, his nails digging through the matted, tangled fur.
Tabitha sat at his desk, looking through a few scientific publications.
“You wanted to see me?” Derek asked as he sat on the floor with Mightyena.
Tabitha tore his eyes away from the paper and looked at Derek. “Yeah. How’s the Team Aqua member doing?”
“Maressa? I think she’s okay. She hasn’t had to go back into the decompression chamber, at least not yet, but it’s hard to tell the extent of damage for diving accidents. She’s exhausted and really out of it, though—which is to be expected.”
“How about emotionally?”
Derek shrugged. “Crying quite a bit. Do you really think Team Aqua thinks she’s dead?”
Tabitha nodded. “I’m willing to bet on it. It’s not like them to leave their team members behind. They would normally at least make sure she’s dead before taking off.” His eyes roved up to the ceiling. “I’m wondering if it was a relatively new or young grunt commanding them. Maybe he panicked once Maressa went down and took off. If Matt or Shelly were there, they either would’ve tried to retrieve the body or sent a Pokemon after her to finish her off.”
“What?!”
Derek stared at Tabitha in wide-eyed horror. “Finish her off? You’re not serious—right?”
Tabitha gazed back at him impassively. “What else do you expect from Team Aqua? Their main priority is to not get caught. They do what’s best for the team, not the individual. If that means sacrificing a team member, then they’ll do it.”
Disgust held Derek’s heart with an icy grip. His hands hung limply over his knees as Mightyena stared expectantly, waiting for more head pats.
“Why would anyone join them?”
“Because they don’t broadcast details like that. None of the grunts know that their lives would be sacrificed in an instant. And I’m sure Maressa doesn’t know it—although if she stuck around longer and they wanted to promote her, they’d make sure her priorities were in line with theirs.”
“And do you really think she’ll join Team Magma? Everything you told her—that was just to get information about Team Aqua, right?”
“No. I honestly do think she’s a capable battler and I’d like to have her on our team. How high of a rank she can attain would be tricky to figure out if she’s defecting from Team Aqua. But even then, it depends if her motives are purely to save her own skin or a desire to actually help us in our goal. And from the sound of it, there was quite a bit about Team Aqua that she didn’t know. I’ll meet with her tomorrow and show her some of these—” he held up a few papers—“and see if I can get through to her.”
“What are those?”
“Big projects carried out by Hoenn’s government that report back with information on scientific catastrophes. And papers that refute them. She joined Team Aqua ‘for science’ and because it’s ‘right,’ which means she’s probably been eating everything the mainstream media has been pumping out for the past decade about human actions destroying the environment. What she—and most people—don’t know is that there is a lot of evidence to the contrary. It’s just not available to the public eye.”
Derek eyed the papers curiously. “If those aren’t publicly available, how did we get those?”
“We’ve got some people working at Devon funneling information back to us. A few days ago, a Team Aqua member was caught trying to steal some DNA regenerative material, but they didn’t succeed and they weren’t caught, so nothing came of it. At least not yet.”
Derek looked down at Mightyena as the canine nosed his hands. “And what if Maressa doesn’t believe you? What if she still thinks Team Aqua is trying to do what’s right?”
Tabitha put the papers down on his desk and blinked a few times. “Probably send her to Courtney.”
Chills shot up Derek’s spine. “You want to send her to Crazy Courtney?! I’ve heard she’s downright cruel when she punishes members on our team! Landon told me she took out a knife and threatened to cut him! And he said her Ninetales burned his arms!”
Tabitha nodded. “Yeah, she does like to scare people—”
“Not just scaring but hurting! Why on earth are you sending Maressa to her?”
“If Maressa won’t join us, then she’s useful only for information and as a bargaining tool. Courtney will interrogate her if she doesn’t willingly tell us what she knows.” He glanced at Derek. “If you know what Courtney does to our own teammates, why does it surprise you that she would do this to a prisoner?”
“I… I don’t know—maybe because Maressa doesn’t seem to know what’s going on? She seems so innocent.”
“She’s a Team Aqua member—at least for now. They’re never innocent. Anyway,” he sighed, “I just wanted to check with you on how she’s doing. I’ll have her come to my office tomorrow and I can show her this power analysis data. In the event that she doesn’t decide to join us, do you think she should still stay in the infirmary, or should we move her to a room we normally keep prisoners in?”
Dread trickled through Derek’s heart. “What are those rooms like?”
“They’re just empty rooms. They sit alone in the dark all day. We feed them twice a day—if they aren’t particularly bad.”
Derek didn’t want to know what constituted a ‘particularly bad’ Team Aqua member—and he didn’t want to think about it.
“I don’t think she should be all alone; her body might take weeks to recover. If she gets the bends again, it needs to be fixed right away.”
Tabitha nodded. “I thought so. I just wanted to check first. Thank you; you may go.”
As Derek walked back to his room, all he could feel was the cold fear clawing at his heart. If Maressa refused to join them—if she refused to give them any information—was she doomed to be their prisoner, subject to torture? After being abandoned and left for dead by her own team—a team that would have killed her—was the only future she had to look forward to one where she was burned by a Ninetales or carved open by a Team Magma commander?
Derek opened the door to the infirmary—and saw Maressa doing sit-ups in bed.
“Wh—what are you doing? You shouldn’t be exercising, you need to rest!”
She looked up at him, her tan face streaked with sweat. “I NEED to get back in shape! I can already tell I’m getting weaker just lying here—my muscle is disappearing!”
“You’re not going to help yourself at all if you try to push yourself when your body is recovering.”
“That’s just what a Team Magma member WOULD say!” she snapped. “If I’m going to be useful to Team Aqua, then I need to work out and get stronger.”
Derek was torn—he watched Maressa’s torso move back-and-forth as he tried to think of what to tell her. She needed to know the truth behind Team Aqua.
But was it his place to tell her? She had already learned from Tabitha about how Team Aqua abandoned her—maybe she was more likely to listen to him. He would surely tell her more about Team Aqua when he met with her tomorrow. It would be best to wait until after that and see what she thought.
And who knows? Derek thought as he shut the door to his room and turned on the light. Maybe she would join Team Magma, and they could be teammates!
But she has four Water-type Pokemon. And she didn’t just train them, she loved them—to a point that even Tabitha respected. Would she ever really work towards reducing the oceans?
Derek sat on his bed. And if Maressa didn’t join Team Magma, did she know what was in store for her? Would Tabitha tell her that Team Magma would torture her—
That they wouldn’t be much better than Team Aqua?
Derek scrunched his eyes shut and buried his face in his hands. How could he think that? Team Magma was leagues beyond Team Aqua!
But we aren’t above capturing and torturing prisoners.
How could that be? Derek knew Tabitha was tough on teammates and always fought to win in Pokemon battles, but would he seriously—deliberately—actively—hurt an enemy?
Derek lay back on his bed, staring at the ceiling, wishing his mind could be just as blank. Maybe Maressa would join Team Magma. That was definitely the best scenario. She would join them, she would be restored to full health and they wouldn’t do anything ethically questionable.
But what if she didn’t join Team Magma?
And even if she did, would it stop there? Or would Team Magma be just as prepared to employ the same tactics if they caught anyone else, be it another Team Aqua member or an official of the Pokemon League?
And if Maressa didn’t join, how could he just sit there and comply with her—with his patient—being harmed? How? What could he do—what would he do?
He didn’t know.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
The door closed softly behind Maressa. She perched on the edge of her set, nerves ablaze, blood coursing through her veins like a rapid river. A desk stacked high with various papers sat before her—and Tabitha was just on the other side of it, smiling at her.
“Should we really be in your office?" she blurted out. "What if I get the bends again?"
He shrugged. "Derek said this is fine. If you do get the bends, I can carry you to the infirmary. It's just down the hall. I wanted you to come here because I have some things to show you—and to talk." He leaned back, his elbows resting on the arms of his chair. He looked relaxed, but Maressa saw cold excitement behind his dark eyes. “I want to know your thoughts on our battles. What did you think about Mt. Chimney? I was impressed when your Golduck leveled the field to get rid of shadows. How did you decide that getting rid of Mightyena’s ability to move between them was worth Golduck being stuck in the open sun?”
Maressa squirmed slightly. Did he really want to have such a casual conversation with her? But Pokemon battling was one of her favorite subjects—and part of her couldn’t resist going on about it.
“We knew that your Mightyena was too fast and we wouldn’t be able to touch him if he kept on going back-and-forth through the shadows. If we couldn’t touch you, then it was pointless—it was worth the risk of Golduck fighting in the sun. And your Mightyena was barely even fighting—you almost got Shelly’s Ludicolo to take itself out but taunting and confusing it!”
He smiled. “Very observant—most grunts and new recruits don’t notice that during simulations. Their Pokemon end up taking themselves out. You must have memorable battles with Dark-types.”
“I train a Sharpedo.”
“Ah. Was that the one you rode on when you flew through the air and onto our ship?”
Maressa’s face burned—partly out of pride and partly out of embarrassment. “Yeah, he was.”
Tabitha’s smile widened. “I admit, I definitely did not see that coming. How did you think of it?”
She shrugged. “It’s something my Golduck tried with him when they trained before—Golduck’s more useful than I am, obviously, and the two of them fight well together.”
“I didn’t see your Golduck when we battled together outside. Is he only suited to freshwater?”
Maressa scowled. “No, he wasn’t there because after getting blasted by your Mightyena’s hyper beam, he was told he couldn’t battle for a few days.”
Tabitha’s smile was gone. “Is he okay?”
Maressa averted her eyes as regret trickled back into her heart. The image of Golduck covered in bandages and hooked up to an IV tube flashed before her mind—waves of guilty pain bled from her heart and welled up beneath her eyelids.
“He’s fine,” she said quietly.
She heard a shuffle—and saw Tabitha had put a tissue box on his desk.
“I know this is my fault!” she rounded on him, tears flowing freely from her eyes. Tabitha remained sitting back in his chair, his cool gaze resting on her.
“Golduck is my Pokemon, my responsibility, and I know I should have never pushed him that hard! I shouldn’t have had him use hydro pump out in the bright sunlight, I should have had him rest!”
Tears rolled down her cheeks as she breathed heavily, glaring at Tabitha. She wanted to curl up and cry—but she was too proud and refused to look away from him this time.
Tabitha dipped his head. “You’ve learned. And it won’t happen again. That is invaluable.
“And you shouldn’t feel too guilty about what happened with him—I saw that the two of you worked and talked through it together, so I take it that he probably agreed to do it. If he had been resistant and you pushed him anyway, that would be different. Don’t be too hard on yourself; everyone learns from experience. I’ve pushed Mightyena too far—he was so badly poisoned one time that he had a limp for three weeks.”
Maressa started.
Tabitha’s eyes fell. “We fought a Seviper; it had used poison fang, and I knew Mightyena was poisoned, but I didn’t realize just how badly it poisons Pokemon. I had him keep fighting, the Seviper kept poisoning him with fangs and tail until Mightyena was practically sweating out toxins.”
Tabitha was silent; his dark eyes fixed on the desk. But somehow, the silence wasn’t totally uncomfortable. Grabbing a tissue, she wiped her eyes clean while Tabitha mulled over the past.
“Anyway,” he said as he roused himself from his reverie. “I didn’t just want to talk about battling.” Picking up a few papers off his desk, he held them out to Maressa. "Know what these are?"
She took a stapled set of papers and her eyes scanned the familiar structure: Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Methods, Results, Conclusion, Discussion.
"It's a scientific research paper."
"Look at the writers and the journal."
The authors' names were completely unfamiliar to Maressa—but her eyes followed the asterisks next to their names she saw their affiliations. Hoenn Reef Conservation Coalition. Devon Corporation. She glanced at the journal name in the corner: Ecology. She rifled quickly through the paper. Nothing looked out of the ordinary to her—it studied the effect of water flow and sedimentation on Hoenn's western reefs, listing human activities as direct causes of the reef's decline. She glanced at Tabitha, who stared at her expectantly.
"I've never heard of the people. But I know it's a big journal—and the tests were carried out by Hoenn’s government."
"What do you think of the paper's contents?"
He eyes narrowed. "It affirms exactly what I've been telling you."
"You think so? Look at their Methods and how they did it."
She frowned—part of her wanted to refuse, but at this point she was curious enough to take a look for herself. "A group of scientists had laid transects at different areas all along Hoenn's western shore," she concluded. She looked back up at Tabitha. "So?"
"Think about it. Doesn't anything seem off about the way they did it?"
"No."
He gazed at her for a moment before grabbing another set of stapled papers and handing it to her. "Take a look at this."
The paper looked much rougher and more unrefined than the previous one; watermarks filled the page backgrounds and every line was denoted by a different number. The pages were double-spaced, the text wasn't formatted. Her eyes skimmed the abstract—it was a review of the previous paper.
"The Hoenn Reef Conservation's analyses had low statistical power and lacked proper planning. There is currently insufficient evidence to say that human actions are direct influencers of Hoenn reef decline."
Maressa started. Low statistical power? She hadn't thought of that—she rifled through the paper and looked at their methods.
"Transects were laid out randomly along thousands of kilometers of coastline. No differentiation between the transects was noted. This could lead to confounding errors between transects that lie by urbanized areas and those that lie by areas sparsely inhabited by humans.
"The analyses failed to take into conclusion mudslides and rockfalls that took place on September 14, 2002 and December 8, 2002, respectively. Failure to account for the magnitude of these events and their contribution to sedimentation greatly confounds the results."
Maressa's heart twisted.
None of it was true?
Well, that might not be the case—it could be true that humans directly caused main environmental decline. But... Perhaps it was possible that they did not cause decline.
"Then what does?"
Tabitha tilted his head.
"If humans aren't causing the decline, then what is killing the reefs? How can it be anything but us? And even if this one paper is refuted, there are literally hundreds of others that have plenty of proof!"
“Do you realize why I showed you that paper?" Tabitha asked calmly while Maressa hastily rifled through the report.
"To try and prove me wrong," she growled.
"No." He picked up two more papers, both of which looked refined, edited, completed. "Here is a paper stating that humans have not caused environmental impacts in rainforests, and here is another paper refuting the previous one and calling out the problems with its evidence." He put the papers down and gazed critically at Maressa. "The two reasons why I showed you that paper are because it calls into account the issues with statistical power of the previous paper and because this paper was never published."
"It was never published? If it's useless and proven untrue, why would you look at it?"
"It's not useless," he said quietly. "Look at the people who wrote it."
Maressa's eyes skimmed the authors and their affiliations. As before, the author names were completely alien to her, but the credentials included Hoenn Institute of Technology and Architecture and Petalburg Centre for Ecology and Conservation.
The sight of her alma mater made Maressa's heart skip a beat.
These were credible people, then. Why couldn't this paper be published?
"I'm not sure how familiar you are with the scientific world, but before research reports are released for the public, they are heavily screened and edited. The people at the top decide what gets published—what the mainstream media picks up on, and what every day people get to see."
As Maressa listened to his words, heaviness slowly settled into her heart like a stone in water.
"The editors of the journal Ecology didn't want people finding out that humans weren't responsible for reef decline. They don't want to shatter the fantasy that humans are inherently evil, that we destroy the natural environment with the comfort of our lives, that we are responsible for every natural disaster that happens."
"Just because they covered that up doesn't mean humans aren't responsible," Maressa interjected.
Tabitha took another paper—from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Science group—and showed it to her. "See these charts? How they show a direct correlation between increasing storms and human activity over the past 50 years?" Without waiting for an answer, he showed Maressa another paper, one she had never seen before—her blood turned cold.
The paper showed charts for an increase in human population over the past three hundred years and recorded storm activity. When zoomed out to the time Hoenn started recording storms in the early 1700's, the chart showed a particularly low point for storm frequency fifty years ago—and it was just returning to normal.
"It's like that with many papers, Maressa."
She looked at Tabitha, the dread of realization rendering her mute.
“I’m not saying we know for sure that humans aren’t causing problems with the natural environment—I know that the opposite is true. Look outside and watch rampant deforestation, construction, depletion of aquifers, the growing number of sinkholes—all of that is directly tied to the activities of humans. I agree with you in that we know that human actions do, indeed, cause problems.
“But small problems like that will never be reported on. It’s always the big problems on a grandiose scale, far too large for any one human to do something about. And if every human knows that, as an individual, he’s helpless, what is he left to do?”
He gazed at Maressa expectantly for a moment—it took her a minute to realize the question was not rhetorical.
“If we’re all helpless to do something? Well… Work together as a group, right?”
“And who organizes that group? Who directs it? Who tells it what to do?”
“Are you talking about Team Aqua?”
“No, I mean for everyday people living their lives as self-proclaimed ‘environmentalists.’ People who live as a gear in the machine of society. Who do they listen to? Who do they obey?”
“The… government, I suppose?”
He smiled. “Exactly.”
She stared blankly at him. “So, the government is trying to get people to fight for the environment?”
“That’s what people think—it’s the narrative they push. But, in reality, they don’t care. They want people to hand over their freedoms to them, to willingly look to the governing body as their savior, to have the government provide them with every solution, to create a sense of powerlessness in the individuals. The government wants to control its people, and that’s why they claim there are problems that are too big for people to handle. If they really did care about the natural world, they would practice what they preach. They wouldn’t fly on private jets or ships all the time. They wouldn’t rampantly waste fresh water or destroy forests. They would instead encourage people to build relationships with Pokemon, to understand and live alongside Pokemon in their natural habitats—not capture them, fill them with drugs to make them become as powerful as they can and raise them as tools for battling.
“This was never about the environment, Maressa.”
Maressa stared wide-eyed back at Tabitha, who gazed at her coldly. She wanted to fight back, to refute what he said—but she agreed with a lot of what he said.
“But… but this is what Team Aqua thinks, too!”
Tabitha tilted his head slightly. “You didn’t seem aware of faulty government-conducted experiments until just now.”
“I…”
Maressa tore her eyes away—she had to think clearly—but as she put together what Tabitha said with what she knew on Team Aqua, it felt as if pieces were missing.
“Commander Shelly used to work for Devon!” she blurted out.
Tabitha smiled. “Yes, she did. And?”
The more she tried to put the story together, the more confused she was. Shelly used to work for Devon. Shelly quit Devon. Devon put out published papers saying human action was destroying the natural environment. Team Aqua believed humans were destroying the environment. That all fit together—
But why did Shelly quit Devon?
Mickey had said that Shelly didn’t like the people there or the work they were doing—but it sounded like Devon was doing exactly what Team Aqua wanted. So just what was it?
Tabitha watched Maressa’s internal struggle for a minute.
“Team Aqua tells you that the environment is on the brink of collapsing and that the government gives all the evidence for environmental catastrophe. But they won’t do anything about it—because environmental restoration isn’t what they want. Team Magma knows that the government is lying and just wants people to willingly give up their freedom so that they can have more control over individuals’ lives.
“You’ve seen evidence for yourself, Maressa. What do you think?”
Maressa’s eyes dropped to her knees. What did she think? She knew Team Aqua—or at least, she thought she did. Would they actually lie to their teammates and use them to summon a rain-god to control the seas?
“It’s ridiculous,” she mused. Raising her eyes, she glared at Tabitha, who watched her patiently. “I know Team Aqua, and we care about our oceans. They don’t actually believe in an ancient god that summons rain, and they wouldn’t use saving the oceans as an excuse to find and control a mythological figure!”
Tabitha responded to her fire with a cold smile. “You say you know Team Aqua, do you? Let me ask you this: were Shelly or Matt with you on that submarine?”
“That doesn’t concern you.”
“I didn’t see them, so I’ll take that as a ‘no.’ Do you know what would have happened to you if they were there? Do you think they would actually leave your body behind? Or do you think they wouldn’t at least try to cover their tracks?”
A chill shot through Maressa’s heart. “Cover their tracks?”
Tabitha nodded. “Make sure there’s no one left behind who can disseminate information about them. ‘Leave no survivors.’ ”
Icicles speared Maressa’s heart as she stared at Tabitha in horror.
He was no longer smiling. “Your commanders wouldn’t have just left you there, Maressa. They would have tried to save you—or, if they believed you were beyond saving, they would have made sure your body was unsalvageable.”
Maressa stuttered, stumbling over her words—she had to say something—had to refute his words!
“That can’t be true! And what about Team Magma? Wouldn’t you do just the same thing?”
Tabitha gazed at her for a moment before responding. “If you do go back to Team Aqua, I suggest you ask them. Ask Shelly about working for Devon and why she quit. Commanders love it when their subordinates show interest in what they do. And if you do climb the ranks, ask them what’s expected when a team member is in danger of falling behind.”
Maressa blinked. Asking these questions sounded like perfectly reasonable things to do—they wouldn’t muddy the waters, like she thought Tabitha had wanted.
“Why are you telling me this?”
He smiled. “I want you to know the truth. And I want you to do well.
“Anyway, I’ve given you a bit to think on, so I’ll let you go for now. We’ll talk again soon. And I hope you have your answer ready.” He stood up to go—
“And what will happen to me if I say no?”
He looked down at Maressa. She stared up at him, utterly confused and disheartened.
“If you reject my offer to join Team Magma? It’ll be as you said—you’ll be useful for bargaining. And I’m sure you’ll have information about Team Aqua that would be useful to us,” he said with a soft smile.
He escorted Maressa back to the infirmary. She sat on her bed, Tabitha’s words running through her mind, ripping her heart into little pieces that did not fit together; pieces that fell into a senseless jumble.
It was never about the environment.
Was that true? How could that be true? She had to get back to Team Aqua—she had to talk to Shelly. That may be the only way to discover the truth. Maybe everything Tabitha had told her was a giant lie. That would certainly fit with his reputation as a Team Magma member.
But there was a fear that he was maybe, just maybe, telling the truth. And the more Maressa dwelled on it, the more palpable that fear became. And the concept of “covering their tracks”…
Maressa closed her eyes and lay back on her bed, feeling more lost and lonely than before.
Hi everyone! Here's the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy! ^_^
Chapter 7
“Breloom-Breloom-BREEEEEE!”
“Cut it out!”
Derek trudged down the hallway as Breloom hopped excitedly about him, chirping non-stop.
This was NOT a wonderful day! He was tired of being at sea and he wanted to be in a forest. Maybe a grassland—no, a jungle would be best! A jungle with plenty of water, good for growing fungus—and lots of other Grass-type Pokemon! He did NOT like the salt and wind and water and coldness that always hung about outside. It was miserable! And Claydol and Golbat hated it, too. When would they get to go to a REAL place?
“I don’t know,” Derek said sympathetically. “I know you guys aren’t suited to the water—I know it’s hard. Hopefully, we’ll just do this for a bit and then we’ll be on solid ground again for a while. Okay?”
He closed the infirmary door behind him as Breloom immediately hopped over to Maressa’s bed. Derek heard him chirp—was Maressa okay?
Derek glanced—she lay propped up on her pillows, her hands resting on her navel as she stared at the blank ceiling. Her amber eyes fixed on a spot above her but shone with a glassy contour as she only observed the contents of her mind.
“Are you okay?”
Maressa jolted—shaking her head, her blonde tresses spilled over her shoulders. She blinked several times before her eyes rested on Derek and roved away again.
“Hm? Oh—yeah, I’m—I’m okay…”
The discomfort was palpable. Part of Derek felt a bit rude for asking a personal question, but he knew that being direct and clear was the easiest approach.
“So, yeah, uh… talked with Tabitha yesterday, didn’t you?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“Everything go okay? He—nothing bad happened—right?”
“I’m not hurt or anything, and he didn’t threaten me—I just…” She shook her head. “I don’t know what to think anymore.”
Derek gingerly sat down on the bed across from Maressa. “Would it help to talk about it?”
“Tabitha isn’t always honest—is he? He’s a commander! He would just do whatever is most effective—whatever makes his job easiest for him—right?”
She sat bolt upright, her mouth hanging open slightly as she stared at Derek with pleading desperation.
Derek’s heart twisted. If he cared about her well-being, he wouldn’t tell her whatever she wanted to hear.
“That’s not entirely true,” he said slowly. “Tabitha is a very effective commander, but that’s because he’s strong enough to make good on any threats and smart enough to work with the people under him. But he’s honest—sometimes to a fault. He’s scared new recruits several times before. He tells the grunts to not party after 8 PM—he once caught them partying late into the night, canceled their mission and had the group stay up the entire night and day cleaning the base from top-to-bottom. And that’s probably the tamest thing he’s ever done.”
Hope died in Maressa’s eyes as she slowly brought her knees to her chest and hugged them. “But… but he doesn’t know Team Aqua… does he?”
Derek shifted. “He knows them better than most other people on this team, at least—he’s worked here for a long time.”
“But… No!” Maressa scrunched her eyes shut. “What he told me—it can’t be true—can it?”
“What did he tell you?”
Maressa buried her head in her knees for a second before responding, “He told me that Team Aqua cares most about its mission—and that its mission was never about the environment. It’s about power and who gets to wield it. That Team Aqua views us—the grunts—as disposable, that if Shelly or Matt saw me dying, they wouldn’t just leave me behind—that they would either do what they could to save me or—or ensure that I was dead first.
“But that can’t be true! I mean… I heard Team Aqua tell its members to ‘cover their tracks’ when they were on a mission and trying to escape notice, and I never knew what that meant—until Tabitha used the exact same phrase. And… and he encouraged me to talk to my Commanders about it—to ask them what those phrases mean, to ask Shelly why she quit working for Devon…” Her eyes darted about the room, looking for an answer that logic refused her. “And he showed me scientific papers—published by the Hoenn government that most of the public believes about environmental degradation. And then he showed me more papers that refuted those studies—papers that weren’t made public—ones that the school I went to released!
“But this can’t be true!”
She looked back at Derek, slightly uncurling her body from its ball-like shape.
“Tabitha is my enemy! He made all this up just to mess with me, to get me to spill information to Team Magma—he doesn’t actually want me on Team Magma—right?”
Derek forced himself to meet her gaze, to not look away—though he desperately wanted to. His heart twisted with guilt and reluctance—it would be so much easier to go to his room and shut the door on this conversation.
“The thing you need to know about Tabitha,” Derek said slowly, “is that he’ll do what he believes is best for Team Magma—for the grunts. If he spends time talking to someone, it’s because he thinks it’ll go somewhere—usually because he thinks he can help that person. And I meant what I said before about his honesty. He doesn’t waste words. If he told you that he wants you on Team Magma, Maressa, then he means it.”
The expression on Maressa’s face settled into a deeper despair—so Derek kept talking before he felt too awkward to stop.
“And he’s told me all this, too. I don’t… know the truth behind Team Aqua—exactly who they are, what they do, or what their values are. But Tabitha is my friend. And from what I know, if Team Aqua believed you were beyond saving, they would have ripped your body apart and made sure there was no chance you would recover.
“And everything he told you about the scientific papers—he told me that, too. That the Hoenn government cares about pushing an agenda. That they care about controlling their people, not helping Pokemon or the environment.”
Maressa recoiled, slowly wrapping her arms around herself again.
“Granted,” Derek said quickly, “this is all I’ve seen and heard from my own time with Team Magma—and it’s why I joined them. I believe that the way Hoenn runs things is wrong; Pokemon are friends, not battling tools. And if Hoenn cared about its people, it would give us more autonomy instead of having set agendas for each person to follow.” He said the last line with a hint of bitterness, thinking about his post-college burn-out. “Team Magma has people at Devon, so we got our reports through there. I don’t exactly know why we have people in Devon, but everything Tabitha has told you so far has been true.”
Maressa looked away from him, her eyes focused on the wall before her as she slowly unfolded her body, laying herself out on the bed and staring up at the blank ceiling while the gears in her head turned.
Maybe this was an opportunity—Derek felt guilty for trying to get to her while she was distressed, but ultimately this was for her own good—right?
“Maressa, I don’t think you should go back to Team Aqua. If Tabitha said you’re welcome on Team Magma, then you really are! We’ll take care of you—it’ll be easier for you.”
“I have to go back.”
She didn’t look at him but kept her gaze on the ceiling.
“My Pokemon are with Team Aqua. I can’t leave them.”
Derek’s heart fell.
“Did… Did Tabitha say anything about that?”
“He said Team Magma could ‘get them’ for me, but…” She shook he head. “I’m not putting my faith in that. My Pokemon are my best friends—I can’t go on without them. And I won’t sit around and hope that someone else can rescue them for me.” Her gaze, hardened with determination, met Derek’s. “They’re my responsibility. And I will not abandon them.”
“Maressa… I really think you should take up Tabitha’s offer to stay with us.”
“I can’t!”
She sat back up, staring at Derek with narrowed eyes of golden fire. “Even if Team Aqua is wrong—even if they don’t care about the environment—I can’t just join Team Magma! I don’t think reducing the ocean is good, I don’t believe in expanding the land—Derek, I have four Water-type Pokemon. This would never help them! And I won’t betray them like that.”
“I’m not saying this because I want Team Magma to succeed—I’m saying this because it’s in your best interest!”
“How—”
“Have you thought about what will happen if you say ‘no’ to Tabitha?”
Maressa stared at Derek for a second. “He said I have information that will be useful—”
“And Team Magma will torture it out of you, Maressa.”
He knew he shouldn’t have said it. Talking to a captive was not a good idea, and telling her information that Tabitha deliberately withheld was bound to get him into trouble. But he didn’t regret this. Maressa needed to know.
She stared back at Derek, the anger in her eyes slowly smoldering back to fear.
“I’m a Team Magma member, Maressa, and I believe that what we’re doing is ultimately the best—but some people on this team aren’t nice. Our Commander Courtney has physically punished our own team members before. And I can only imagine what she’ll do to an enemy like you. Please, Maressa, don’t let it come to that.”
Her eyes fell, darting back-and-forth. She turned to face Derek fully with her feet resting on the ground, her hands on the mattress. Her shoulders slumped forward and her mouth hung open slightly. Derek stared at her for a few minutes, hoping—hoping—that she might listen to him.
“Derek… I can’t.”
The word struck his heart like a hammer hitting a nail. She raised her amber eyes to gaze forlornly at him.
“My Pokemon are with Team Aqua. One way or another, I need to get back to them. If I defect to Team Magma, then there’s no way I can get them. I would have to rely on someone else. If I don’t join Team Magma—even if I tell them about Team Aqua—there’s always a chance that I can be with my Pokemon again.”
“Maressa, it’s okay to rely on others!”
“On people I don’t know or trust?”
“You’ve already done so much—you take care of your Pokemon, you’ve commanded your coworkers on Team Aqua—this time, just let us take care of you! We’ll see to your needs and we’ll retrieve your Pokemon for you!”
She shook her head. “I know you’re trying to help me, Derek, but I can’t do that.”
Derek wrung his hands. If Maressa believed everything Tabitha and Derek told her and still refused to join...
“Then what are you going to do?”
Maressa shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“You know all this about Team Aqua and you still want to work for them?”
“No, I… If this isn’t about the environment—if Team Aqua won’t actually try to save our oceans—then I can’t keep working for them. I can’t work for someone who thinks I’m disposable, who would throw my life away…” She opened her eyes. “I just want to live a normal life again. I had always known that Team Aqua was illegal—but I never thought of it as a life of crime. Not until now, at least.”
Silence descended on the duo like a blanket. Derek fiddled with his thumbs as he stared at the blank metal floor, his mind whirring as he played out different solutions.
“If you don’t consider yourself a Team Aqua member anymore,” he said slowly, “then I might be able to help you.”
Maressa jerked her head up, staring at him wide-eyed.
“You said it yourself—you won’t work for them anymore. So, if I help you out of here, then I’m not helping Team Aqua and I’m not actually betraying Team Magma."
Right?
“Really?”
He looked up. Maressa gazed at him, her eyes shining with hope, a small smile on her face as she leaned forward.
“Yes. And if you make your way back to Team Aqua, you’ll need to prove that Team Magma didn’t release you and that you’re infiltrating—so I’ll give you a bit of information about us that you can relay to your team.”
Maressa leaned farther forward, the smile on her face growing larger.
“You’ll really help me? Even with the trouble you’ll get in?”
“I’m not going to tell anyone!”
“I’m your responsibility."
He waved a hand. “My Pokemon and I will think of something. And it’s like you said: I can’t just sit here and be complacent when I know Team Magma is actively hurting someone. So, I’ll get you out to prevent it from happening.
“But you must promise me that you will leave Team Aqua for good. Promise me you’ll be careful with the information I give you, that Team Aqua won’t cause any permanent damage to our bases.”
“I promise!”
Releasing a large sigh, Maressa sank back onto her pillows. Anxiety and fear were replaced with a weary calm. She looked up at Derek with half-closed eyes and a small smile.
“Thank you, Derek—for everything.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Derek’s thoughts whirred about as he walked along deck, the salty wind whipping his face. He eyed a number of large fiberglass canisters containing life rafts.
At least he knew how to get Maressa out of there. The problem would be framing her for her own escape and avoiding getting trouble for himself.
He grimaced as he looked out over the waters. The slate-grey clouds completely blocked the sky. He hated being out at sea, and, especially on days like this, he longed for a bit of sunlight. Though he couldn’t feel the motion of the ship, he would rather have his feet planted on solid ground. Pity stirred inside him as he thought of Claydol, Breloom and Golbat; as unsuited for the ocean as he was, they were even less compatible with it. Except for when he sent Golbat out to scout over the waves, the Pokemon remained inside all day, cut off from fresh air but too scared of the ocean to come out.
A pang of guilt hit him—he had yet to tell his Pokemon about his plan to free Maressa. Would they support it?
It doesn’t matter, he told himself. They wouldn’t have to agree with his decision; after all, they were still his closest friends. He knew they wouldn’t be too angry or label him a traitor for choosing to set Maressa free.
Sighing, Derek took mental note of the position of the canisters and made his way to his room. Once there, he let his Pokemon out of their balls.
“Listen,” he said, ignoring Breloom’s protests at being woken up from a nap. “I’ve got something to tell you.”
His Pokemon silently listened as Derek relayed his intentions—they didn’t make any objections or appear even the slightest bit surprised.
Breloom looked smug. Did Derek have any other plans to betray Team Magma?
“What? No, I’m not turning traitor—”
At least not permanently.
“Anyway, I need to think of a way to get her out of here without any of us getting caught. Do any of you have any ideas?”
The three Pokemon thought quietly for a moment, but it wasn’t long before Breloom spouted out his thoughts. Eventually, Derek had to tell him not to give anymore suggestions, as the most reasonable of the Fighting-type’s ideas involved gun powder, vegetable oil, and glitter.
“What about you two?” he asked Claydol and Golbat, ignoring Breloom as he sat sulkily in the corner.
“Dol…”
Claydol moaned as Derek felt the Psychic-type connect a telepathic link between the two of them. Over the mental connection, Derek saw Claydol’s visions, felt his every emotion and listened to his every idea. Claydol poured out his observations and ideas, trying to immerse his trainer in his thoughts and convince him to follow his plans. But Derek knew Claydol too well and had been working with him too long to fall so easily into the depths of his Pokemon’s mind. Eventually, as Claydol’s ideas proved to hardly be saner than Breloom’s, Derek had to pull away.
Claydol was very disappointed.
“Can you think of anything, Golbat?” he asked hopefully. Though Golbat wasn’t as strong as Breloom, and not as intelligent as Claydol, he had more common sense than the other two combined, and his ideas weren’t often as roundabout or convoluted as theirs.
The bat-like creature ruffled his wings and stretched them out thoughtfully. Through a series of high-pitched “eeks,” he suggested giving a diversion while Derek took Maressa away to escape.
“What sort of diversion?”
The Poison-type suggested that, while on watch some night, he could grab a Wingull, bring it inside, and chase it around the interior of the ship. That should distract the guards—at least for a little bit.
Derek considered this and his heart lightened. Wingull were everywhere on the open ocean; it wouldn’t take long for Golbat to chase a small one onto the ship. And besides, wild Pokemon always made their ways inside bases somehow—it wouldn’t be obvious that Golbat had chased it in on purpose.
“Do you really think you could do it?”
Golbat nodded.
“Thank you,” Derek said, and a heavy weight was lifted off of him as he stood up. He held out his arm and Golbat hopped happily onto it. “Since I don’t want anyone to see me rewarding you after you chase a wild Pokemon around the base, I’m going to treat you right now. What do you want for dinner? Calm down,” he told Breloom and Claydol as they moaned in disbelief. “I let you both choose last week; it’s Golbat’s turn anyway. I’ll go get started on the food.”
While he walked, Derek contemplated Golbat’s plan. It was good—better than anything Derek himself could come up with.
I just hope it works.
++++++++++++++++++++
Evening came, and Derek smiled at Maressa as he entered her room.
“How are you doing?”
“I’m okay,” she replied, and she really did seem okay—her smile was genuine, and there was a sort of hope shining in her eyes that, until recently, had been absent.
“Do you remember everything I told you—about the small operation out by Rusturf?”
She nodded.
“Okay, just please be careful with that information. If anyone finds that I told you that—“
“Don’t worry,” she cut him off. “It’s not as if I’m going to tell everyone that I escaped with the help of a Team Magma member, and that he gave me the information I have.”
“I know, just…”
He shrugged uncomfortably.
“I understand. Don’t worry; your secrets are safe with me, and I’ll do everything I can to make sure everything will be all right.”
He smiled. “The ship has stopped moving now, but there’s a current going south. It should carry you to Mossdeep City by morning.”
She nodded but didn’t seem too keen on getting in the ocean. Derek couldn’t blame her; he could hardly stand being in the sea, and her last experience in the ocean made him sympathize greatly with her.
“I’ve been thinking,” he wondered, “since you don’t really want to be part of Team Aqua, what are you going to do once you get out? What will you do once you get to Mossdeep?”
Maressa sighed. “I’ve been thinking about this, too,” she said at last. “At first I was thinking I would go straight to the police—”
“Don’t do that.”
She irritably glared at him.
“I’ve changed my mind since, but why do you think I shouldn’t do that? If I was to go, I would only give away information about Team Aqua. I don’t have anything to say about you guys other than what you’ve told me and the fact that you own a boat.”
“I’m not worried about you betraying us. But I know that Team Magma—and maybe Team Aqua, too—have members infiltrating Hoenn’s police force, giving them false leads and wrong information to keep them off our trail. If one of them got wind that you were there, you could end up as a prisoner again.”
Maressa started and stared back at Derek, her golden eyes wide. Anger burned within him. Just how much information did Team Aqua keep hidden from their low-ranking recruits?
“Well,” she said after a momentary silence, “I decided that I’ll return to Team Aqua anyway. Even if I did go to the police, I don’t know how much I’d be allowed to help outside of giving them info. My Pokemon are still with Team Aqua, and I’m not going to leave the team unless they’re with me.”
As she spoke, her fear faded and was replaced by calm determination. Derek smiled; he worried about the possibility of her defection from Team Aqua being found out, but he admired the dedication she had for her Pokemon.
“And what will you do afterwards?”
She shrugged. “Whatever I can to slow them down. I’ll have Golduck, Lanturn, Sharpedo and Seaking with me, so they’ll have ideas and we’ll figure out where to go from there.” She looked up at him, her face shining with gratitude. “Thank you for everything, Derek. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You can thank me after you’ve gotten off this ship.”
But he smiled warmly all the same.
He checked his watch. “It’ll be dark outside by now. We’ll hear Golbat and the Wingull once they fly in here. Claydol is in the hallway, keeping watch. Once the coast is clear, he’ll let me know. Golbat will chase the Wingull past here. You and I will head the other way and we’ll get you out of here.”
Maressa looked confused. “How does Claydol let you know?”
Derek tapped his head. “He makes a mental link between us, so if he wants to tell me something, he just has to connect our minds and let me know what he wants to.”
“Are you always connected that way?”
“As long as Claydol isn’t in his Pokeball, the link is always there, but not always open, you know? Like…” He scratched his head. “It’s hard to explain, but he can pretty much telepathically communicate with me whenever he wants to.”
Maressa nodded and the duo descended into silence. Derek glanced at her; the cool, determined air she held a moment ago was gone. Her eyes were downcast and she slouched slightly. He wondered how she was when with her Pokemon. He imagined she wasn’t always this concerned or distressed. Perhaps, when this fight was over, they could still be friends, and he and she and their Pokemon could all get together.
When this is all over…
But just when would it be over? And when it was, how would the world be—conformed to Team Magma’s ideals, or flooded in accordance with Team Aqua’s plan? Or would it be the same as it was now, and everyone had given up?
Definitely not the last one, he thought bitterly. He knew the boss too well; the few times he had seen Maxie, Derek noted a powerful, confident aura emanating from the leader. And Derek knew that Tabitha would stay by Maxie until the end—he wouldn’t stop at anything until Team Magma’s goal was achieved.
A pang of guilt hit him when he thought of Tabitha. His friend was sure to get into trouble for Maressa escaping under his watch, and everyone else in the unit was going to have a rough time as well.
He shook the thought from his head. They may get in trouble from those of higher rank, but it wouldn’t be as bad as what Maressa would go through if she stayed. He tore his mind from the subject and let his thoughts wander elsewhere until he heard screeching.
The sound continued, rising in volume as it grew closer. Soon, however, it was drowned out in the numerous voices filling the hallway.
“Get them out of here!”
“Whose Golbat is that?”
“Look out, there’s another one!”
Derek opened the door and stuck his head into the hallway just in time to see a streak of white closely followed by a blue blur. A few Poochyena bounded past, followed by their trainers. The Magma members were commanding their Poochyena to attack the two flyers, but Golbat and Wingull were far too fast for them and sped away. Shouting excitedly, Breloom bounded out of the room and ran after them.
One of them, a sandy-haired man named Nate, suddenly stopped. “Derek, isn’t that your Golbat?”
“Was it?” Derek tried to appear mildly concerned, silently praying for Nate to leave and follow the commotion deeper into the ship.
Nate didn’t have enough time to reply before a deep, furious squawking echoed through the halls. The two turned, and Derek’s heart sank as he saw a large Pelipper hurtling towards them, its wings so large that it could barely move about in the hallway. Derek ducked back into the medical room and Nate flattened himself against the wall as the avian flew past, screeching angrily.
“I think that’s the Wingull’s mom,” Nate said.
“Its mom?!”
“Yeah! The Wingull that flew in here was pretty small, and I saw that Pelipper sticking pretty close to it, so the mom is probably still looking after it.”
Golbat!
Fear flooded Derek—Golbat could handle a scared Wingull, but an enraged mother Pelipper? Without a second thought, he sprinted down the hallway, Nate following slightly behind him.
It didn’t take long to get to the fighting Pokemon; their screeches, combined with the voices of angry Magma members, echoed throughout the halls. Derek felt something brush against his consciousness, but he ignored whatever Claydol was trying to tell him and overrode it with his own thoughts.
Claydol, get over here! Golbat might be in danger!
Wedging his way through a crowd of red hoodies, Derek got to where the Pokemon fought in the middle of a hallway. The door to the security room was wide open, and the guards had their own Pokemon out with their backs turned to the camera feed.
“Numel, use Take Down!”
“Watch out for its Water Gun!”
“Gloom, Sleep Powder!”
The Wingull zipped around, screeching in fear. The Pelipper, with its massive bulk, shrugged off all attacks that hit her. When the Gloom released a green powder into the air, the Flying-type flapped its powerful wings, pushing the dust away from her and into a crowd of Magma members and their Pokemon. The trainers and their companions fell to the ground, all fast asleep. The Pelipper turned her attention back to Golbat, who flew around and dodged all attacks aimed at him.
Derek bit his lip, at a loss of what to do. He didn’t want Golbat to use Haze or Supersonic in the confined space, but he couldn’t just let Golbat suffer a beatdown.
Suddenly, Claydol appeared, floating into the midst of the battle serenely. Derek breathed a sigh of relief at seeing his friend. The command barely formed in his mind before Claydol obeyed. The Pelipper and Wingull suddenly stopped moving, held in place by the Ground-type’s psychic power.
“Good work, Claydol!” Derek turned to the two guards, Lloyd and Stephen, standing in the doorway, who both appeared taken off-guard by Claydol’s sudden appearance. “What do you want him to do with them?”
Lloyd shrugged. “Just take them outside and set them loose again.”
“Yeah,” Stephen agreed, eyeing the Pokemon frozen in mid-air with distaste. “Thanks, by the way.”
“Sure thing. Come on, Claydol.”
He led his Pokemon down the hallway while the other Magma members tried to wake their sleeping teammates up. He had only been walking for a minute or so when another member came sprinting down the hallway, hollering at the top of his lungs.
“SHE’S ESCAPED! THE AQUA MEMBER ESCAPED!”
The man stopped right in front of Derek, panting heavily, his hood slipped off his dark brown hair. A lead weight sank to the bottom of Derek’s stomach.
“What?”
“The Aqua Member—went overboard—fell in water—escaped—” the team member panted out, pointing a shaking finger to the hallway behind him.
Maressa, no.
Derek sprinted down the hallway at top speed. Maybe she would be all right—maybe she found the way out on her own, and maybe she figured out how to open the life raft herself. If she hadn’t…
Derek flew out onto deck where the starry sky stretched out endlessly above the calm, black sea. No life raft canisters were in sight—she had gone to the wrong deck.
“Maressa, oh, Maressa, no…”
His shaking hands gripped the rail as he stared over the waters going by beneath them, devoid of any sign of life.
She’s gone. She’s gone and dead.
He barely noticed when Breloom bounded out onto the deck. Claydol followed and blasted away the Wingull and Pelipper with psychic energy. The doll floated next to Derek, moaning questioningly.
“She’s gone, Claydol. She’s gone and dead because of me. If I hadn’t told Golbat to chase that Wingull—if I hadn’t left her… She’s gone. She’s gone and she’ll die.” He couldn’t bring his voice to rise above a whisper, couldn’t bring himself to do anything but stand at the railing at stare at the starlit waters, hoping beyond hope that he might see a blonde head bobbing on the surface.
But there was nothing. There was only the sea, empty and oppressive, swallowing up everything while a twinkling sky winked innocently down at them.
He heard footsteps pounding through the halls behind him and was dimly aware of voices shouting over the ship. Claydol moaned once more, and Breloom urgently chirped, but he ignored them both. He stood, in silent dread and sorrow.
As he breathed, the air suddenly turned thick with spores. His consciousness slipped away, and he let go of the railing as he fell to the ground, wondering why Breloom chose to put him to sleep.
++++++++++++++++
When Derek had sprinted down the hallway after Golbat with the other Magma member trailing behind him, Maressa could only sit and stare in shock. Derek promised to stay with her, to guide her to deck and help her take off—not leave her alone. What was she to do now? But this might be her only chance to get away from Team Magma—she had to do something. Getting up, she made her way over to the door and looked both ways down the hall. It was completely empty.
Turning the opposite way Derek had run, she made her way down the hall, trying to go quickly without making much noise.
Her eyes darted around anxiously as she increased her speed. Jogging in the halls made her feel vulnerable, exposed, and at every turn she made, she expected to come face-to-face with a Magma member.
She stopped at an intersection, thinking hard. Derek had briefly gone over where they would go to get out—was it left? Or right? No, maybe it was straight—
She wheeled around at the sound of footsteps. Did she really hear footsteps? Or was she so anxious that her mind was playing tricks on her? Either way, she had to make a decision. She went straight, her fear hastening her on.
The smell of salt hit her as soon as she stepped outside. And, though the danger was far from over, a smile broke over her face. She stepped over to the railing, breathing in the salty air, filling her lungs with it, feeling so elated, so free. The ocean flowed calmly beneath the still ship, and as she leaned against the rail, closing her eyes, all anxiety melted away as tranquility washed over her.
Opening her eyes, she looked around the deck. Derek had said there would be life rafts but she couldn’t see any. The nervousness came back as she looked around. Had she gone to the wrong deck?
She looked back out at the dark waters, wondering if perhaps she could trust the current to carry her somewhere safely without a life raft. But as she stared into the black depths, memories of her last venture into the ocean returned, and a fear drove deeply into her heart.
She backed away from the rail, slightly shaking.
Get a hold of yourself. Now is your chance to leave. You don’t want to be stuck here.
Forcing herself to approach the rail again, she gripped the cold metal bars. Hoisting herself up, she put both feet on it and settled in a crouch, preparing herself to jump as she stared into the waters. She had never been afraid of the ocean before—but up until a few days ago, she had never come close to dying in it, either. None of her Pokemon were with her this time. Could she live in the ocean alone, even for a short period of time?
“You have to go,” she told herself. “Time is running out, and if you don’t go, Derek and Golbat will have done all of this for nothing.”
In spite of her words, she couldn’t do it. As she gazed at the waters, she could almost feel the weight of the air tank dragging her down, of her lungs bursting with pain, of the pressure caving in around her. Already, the water seemed to come up to her, and she could see herself sinking, drowning, dying…
Who am I kidding? she realized. She got off the rail and backed away, overcome with fear. Sure if I stay here, I’ll suffer, but if I go into the ocean without a raft or boat, I’ll die.
Inhaling deeply, she turned away, and realized just how badly she was shaking. She didn’t want to face whatever Team Magma had in store for her, but compared to death, it was preferable. She prepared to go back inside, wondering if she could get in without anyone catching her.
As soon as she turned around, her heart stopped in her chest. A red-hooded man stood in the doorway through which she had come, staring at her in shock.
“HEY!” he shouted as he lunged towards her.
Without thinking, Maressa turned around, climbed onto the rail, and launched herself off of the ship. As she hit the water, she realized what she had done, and panic engulfed her as the salt water swallowed her up. Primal fear devoured her as she felt the current carry her away from the ship.
Sticking her head above the surface, she took in great gulps of air, her heart racing in a panic. For a few moments, her arms and legs beat frantically, but then her habits overcame instinct and she treaded steadily. The current swiftly carried her. It was a calm night; there was little wind. The stars shown serenely out of the sky and illuminated the seascape with an ethereal light.
She turned her head and watched the Magma ship steadily shrink until it appeared as little more than a speck on the horizon.
Maressa floated on her back, staring up at the star-strewn sky. She hoped she wouldn’t attract attention from anything, but there was nothing to do about it now. All she could do was wait for the current to carry her to any nearby land and try to stay alive.
+++++++++++++++
Derek blearily opened his eyes and blinked in the bright light. He sat up, wincing as his head throbbed. Why was his head throbbing? As he rubbed the back of his head, he suddenly remembered the events of the previous night.
He looked around but could not see his Pokemon. He was lying in his bed and Nate sat on a stool in the doorway.
The blonde man nodded to Derek. “It’s about time you got up. You were out for a while. What happened? Did you faint?”
“No, I…” He rubbed his head, trying to remember. “It was my Breloom; he used spore on me, and I fell asleep.”
“Why did he do that?”
“Good question…”
“Probably to save you from Tabitha. He was furious when he found out that the Aqua member had gotten away.”
“Was furious? Is he fine now?”
“No, he’s still really mad, but he’s cooled down some. I’m supposed to go tell him that you’ve woken up. He wants to talk to you.”
“Great,” Derek grumbled as Nate walked out.
He sat for a moment on his bed and thought about what happened. He wanted to know why Breloom knocked him out. He reached in his pant pockets, but they were empty. No Pokeballs were on his nightstand, either. Worry gnawed at him—had they taken his Pokemon away from him?
Derek gasped as he remembered Maressa and passed a hand over his face as he closed his eyes. He didn’t have time to dwell on it before his commander appeared in the doorway.
Derek glanced up as Tabitha slammed the door shut. His eyes burned lividly, and the glare he gave Derek sent chills down his spine.
“What happened?” he demanded.
As truthfully as he could, Derek recounted everything that happened from the moment he first heard Golbat screeching through the hallway, though he didn’t say that Golbat intentionally chased the Wingull inside.
“Once I heard there was a Pelipper, I got scared for Golbat and ran after him—”
“And you just left the door wide open while Maressa was fully conscious?”
“Yes, I did. I forgot about her; as soon as I heard Golbat was in trouble, I forgot about everything else.” He met Tabitha’s dark gaze. “I’m sorry.”
The commander glared down at him, disgusted, but eventually his dark look passed. Sighing, he turned away.
“What am I going to do with you, Derek? I can’t let this pass without punishing you, but we can’t really have you anywhere other than where you are now.”
“What will happen to me?” Derek asked curiously.
Tabitha shrugged. “I’m not sure… I’ll talk to Maxie about it. What you can do or where you can go will probably be more limited, but I can’t see much more happening than that. After all,” he turned back to Derek, and his gaze had softened considerably, “you were acting out of concern for your Pokemon, so that much is understandable, at least. Just pay more attention in the future.
“Also,” Tabitha said as he crossed his arms and leaned against the opposite wall, “what about Maressa? Do you think she’ll live in the ocean without her Pokemon?”
Closing his eyes, Derek shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t know... The nitrogen won’t be a problem since she’s not diving, but whether she could actually make it to land… There are just so many things that could go wrong.” As he said the words, the reality of them hit him again and his insides turned numb.
Tabitha nodded. He said nothing, his eyes glassy.
Standing up straight, he walked over to the door and made to leave. “I’ll talk to Maxie about what to do with you. Until then, just try to rest. You hit your head pretty hard when you passed out.”
“Tabitha!” Derek exclaimed suddenly as his commander was about to walk out. “Do you know where my Pokemon are?”
“Stephen’s holding onto them. You can have them back after I’ve talked to Maxie. They’ve all been returned to their Pokeballs, and none of them were hurt.” With that, he walked out, shutting the door behind him.
Derek sank back down into the bed, more worried than before.
You can have them back after I’ve talked to Maxie…
What did that mean? If their boss saw fit to punish him, then would he not see them again? Would Golbat, Claydol or Breloom be punished for what he did?
His heart sank, and he knew that he would not be able to sleep. Maressa escaped, but everything had taken a turn for the worse.
Hello! This is a day late, but here's the latest chapter! It's long... again. These things will get shorter at some point, I promise. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 8
The sun beat oppressively down on the seashore. The pale sand burned beneath Maressa’s feet as she struggled up the sandy coast. Her head was light and pounded horribly. Her tongue felt bloated. Even though she was dripping wet, her throat and mouth were dry. Her muscles were so cramped and exhausted that she just wanted to curl up on the ground, but she had to keep going... She had to get back to her Pokemon…
One foot…
Then the other…
Left…
Right…
She stopped and gazed blearily ahead. Everything seemed green, but it was hard to tell. Her vision blurred and suddenly everything went black as she lost all feeling.
++++++++++++++
Wisps of blonde hair floated in the cold sea. Her body slowly sank into the dark depths of the ocean below while the orange light of a dimming sun sparkled above. Her limbs hung numbly at her side as she felt the caress of the saltwater, its little eddies kiss her cheeks, and the gentle rocking of the deep. She could not make out the ocean bottom, but only beheld a black pit below. Eyes half-closed, she peered into the chasm as her body sank further downward into the maw of the great pit.
Closing her eyes, her body dragged itself deeper and deeper into the depths of the sea. No heart beat within her, no blood ran through her veins, no air circulated in and out of her lungs. She was one with the element around her, allowing the waters of the ocean to pull her as her mind delved into the bliss of oblivion.
She opened her eyes again. The sparkle of the sun seemed much farther away as the blackness grew around her. Dimly aware of a change in scenery, she absentmindedly turned her head. Numerous figures rose from the darkness below. Few at first, they came in great multitudes: black, shapeless objects that climbed up through the water to greet her.
She watched them curiously. They were beginning to take shape—
Beep.
She inhaled deeply and her world was black for a moment before she opened her lids and saw a bright light shining overhead. Her brow furrowed; the last thing she remembered was falling on the beach but that bright light came from a ceiling lamp.
She looked around. She lay on a bed much like the one she had been on when she was with Team Magma but her bed was the only one in this small room. An IV tube was connected to her arm, and a heart monitor sat next to her. A small tube was connected to a wrap wound around her index finger with red light emanating from it. She licked her lips—they were still dry, and she was horribly thirsty.
Blinking, she sat up straighter. This was definitely a hospital—and not a Team Magma one—but where was she?
Gazing through an open window, she saw the green treetops before a bustling city. She felt a thrill of hope—had she made it to Mossdeep?
Her attention was torn away from the window as a young woman dressed in dark blue scrubs walked through the door. She smiled at Maressa.
“Good, you’re awake! How are you feeling?”
Maressa started at seeing someone else so suddenly. After a moment, she croaked, “Not too bad, just tired and really thirsty.”
“I’ll bet, after being out in that sun! I’ll go and ask the doctor if you’re allowed to have anything to eat or drink.”
Maressa watched in bewilderment as the woman left. If she wasn’t allowed to drink, then why on earth did she have an IV tube in? She sighed and leaned against the pillows.
In a moment, the nurse was back, holding a styrofoam cup. “Here you go.”
Maressa gratefully took it—fumbling a little with the awkward tube on her finger—and drank. Never had anything tasted or felt so good.
Finishing her drink, Maressa asked, “Where am I?”
“On the fourth floor of the Mossdeep Hospital.”
Mossdeep!
A grin split Maressa’s face, and an immense relief overcame her. She made it—she was here, she was free.
Derek and Golbat, you guys are incredible.
“Some woman walking along the beach found you this morning. Good thing we got you here; you were really dehydrated and the sun was starting to burn you.”
“How am I?” she asked. She needed to be well enough to go outside—and at the moment, she only felt tired.
“The doctor says you should be fine. Your strength should return soon. If you don’t mind me asking, how did you end up on shore?”
Maressa paused. She hadn’t thought of making up any stories or aliases for when she got back to civilization. The words poured out of her mouth as she made up a story.
“I was surfing—on my Lanturn—just north of Route 124. We were planning on doing some training, so we started a battle with a young Wingull. I hadn’t noticed that its mom was in the area though, and after we attacked the Wingull, this huge Pelipper came flying at us. It was too much for Lanturn, so I tried to recall her, but the Pelipper knocked my Pokeball out of my hand and I fell off of her.”
As she spoke, she saw Sharpedo beaten down by Skarmory’s razor wings and Seaking’s orange form slammed by a solar beam. Were they okay? What had happened to Lanturn?
“Before the current carried me away, I saw her still struggling. I don’t know what happened to her…”
The nurse smiled warmly. “I’m sure she’ll be fine. The ocean is her natural habitat, after all. And don’t worry, you’ll see her soon.”
Maressa looked up into the nurse’s warm eyes. “How can you be so sure?"
“Pokemon have a way of knowing where their trainers are. When I was a little girl, I got separated from my parents when we were in the city once, but our Cacturn found me in almost no time. And Pokemon are closer to nature than humans tend to be; I’m sure your Lanturn noticed which way the current was flowing. She’s probably waiting just off of Mossdeep for you now.”
Maressa looked down at her hands. Could it be true? If so, would her Pokemon have known that she was on Team Magma’s ship—would they know that she was here, still alive?
“What’s your name? We didn’t find any credentials with you.”
Maressa hesitated for a second, then said the second name that came to her mind: “Elizabeth Llyr.”
“And your address? I assume you’ll want the bill mailed, correct?”
“Yes,” Maressa said with a small smile, thinking of her younger sister’s reaction on seeing a hospital bill she had never planned on getting. “The bill will be fine.”
+++++++++++++++++++
A few hours later, Maressa was still fiddling with the tube attached to her finger. Though she was grateful for the professional medical care and attention she was receiving, she had to get out of here—and soon. But how was she supposed to get to the ground from a fourth story? And where was she to start looking? She was pretty sure that Team Aqua had a base near Mossdeep, but she had never been there and wasn’t sure of the exact location.
She looked down and pursed her lips. Even if she did have all of that figured out, she would need clothes before she did anything else. And she was terribly hungry—maybe she could wait for food first…
She gazed outside. The sunlight filtered through broad leaves, dappling the tiled floor of her room green. How to get down from the fourth floor…
A sudden weight dropped to her stomach: what if they had put her on a higher floor on purpose? Did they suspect that she was a member of a criminal team, and they put her far above the ground to try and prevent any chance she had of escaping?
Her heart pounded furiously in her chest. If they had looked up Betty and thought she looked too different from Maressa and realized that the real Maressa Llyr had not been heard from for months, they just might realize who she was. Once they recognized her as a Team Aqua member, they could just as well send her off to prison.
I’m practically a prisoner already, she thought as she looked around the room.
That settled it. There was no time to get food, get clothes or heal. She had to leave the hospital and get back to her Pokemon now.
She was about to get up and walk over to the window when she realized the tubes were still attached to her. Would the nurse be alerted immediately if she took them off? Maybe—but staying in the hospital was too risky.
Glancing back and forth between the window and the tubes, she breathed steadily, readying herself. Taking the IV tube out of her arm and ripping the wrap off of her finger, she sprang out of bed and bolted to the window. Unlocking it, she breathed a sigh of relief when it opened with ease. She quickly got on the sill and grabbed hold of the tree branches. She placed both hands and feet on the thin branches as she slid closer to the trunk where the tree’s limbs were thicker. Descending slowly, she tried to climb down steadily, but she was tired and hadn’t been tree-climbing in months. Though she made it past the third and second stories, she had only gotten halfway down the first story before she slipped and fell to the ground.
Bolting to her feet, she looked around. The hospital stood in the middle of a large parking lot, but in front of her and to her right she could see only empty cars. To her left, along the building, she saw a street and people passing by.
She took in a deep breath, closed her eyes and steeled herself for what she had to do. The faster she went, the sooner it was done, the better. Opening her eyes, she took off at a sprint. Her face burned as she made her way into the open, and she could see people pointing at her and heard them give shouts of surprise and laughter as a woman in nothing but a hospital gown streaked by.
She stopped as she saw two men standing in front of a truck staring at her in utter confusion. One of them had a lanyard hanging out of his pocket. It was almost too easy, but at this point, she was willing to do anything to get out of the open.
“What do you think you’re—”
“I’m sorry,” she cut him off as she stepped in front of him. Yanking the lanyard out of his pocket, she drove her free fist into his solar plexus. The air whooshed! out of him and he doubled over.
“Hey!” the other man started, but didn’t have time to do anything before he also bent over, dropping his coffee as he clutched his stomach in pain.
Clambering in as quickly as possible, Maressa started the truck—fortunately, it wasn’t a stick shift.
Starting the car, Maressa was drove down the road in a flash, constantly checking to make sure she didn’t go over the speed limit. She prayed no one would notice her and it seemed like she melded in with the rest of traffic just fine. No one seemed aware that she had just committed a felony. Everything was going smoothly.
Woo-woo-woo-woo.
Or not.
“Dammit!” she whispered as she looked in her rear-view mirror to see flashing red-and-blue lights following her. She heard them giving her orders to pull over, but she ignored them and drove onward.
Sweat beaded her forehead as she realized the police were quickly gaining on her. Soon they would overtake her, and she would wind up captured—again. But it would be impossible to outdistance them if she was to stay within the speed limit.
“Idiot!” she shouted as the realization hit her. Stepping on the gas, she drove onwards, going into the heart of the city where traffic quickly thickened. And not just vehicular traffic—people swarmed the streets, filling every alley and lane. Flags and other decorations hung from buildings. Elaborate streamers and paper decorations bedecked every wall and spanned the gaps between buildings. Maressa stared in awe for a moment, and she actually had time to appreciate the beauty and effort, for the traffic had come to a standstill.
She looked back. Vehicles filled the lanes for as far as she could see, and the police cars were out of sight. People continued to pour past in a massive crowd. Without a second thought, Maressa opened the door and plunged into the thicket.
Heart hammering and face flushing, she shoved her way through people as quickly as she could, ignoring those who called or stared after her. Making her way through the streets, she wound her way into an alley, and soon ended up in one of the nastiest buildings she had ever been in. She briefly considered going somewhere without such a foul smell, but perhaps the smell kept people away and would take the police off of her trail.
Stepping slowly downstairs, she stopped before a closed door covered with graffiti and grime. Wrinkling her nose against the funky smell that permeated the air, she quickly stepped inside and softly shut the door. She saw why she was the only one in that restroom: the smell was absolutely horrendous. She considered heading back outside when she heard two voices.
They spoke softly and indistinctly but they sounded urgent. Maressa didn’t want to face any people, but she was in a women’s bathroom, and she did need clothes…
She was disgusted with herself but desperate enough to creep over to the handicapped stalls from which the voices came. Going into the stall next to it and standing on the toilet, she peered over the top, and soon saw why the bathroom smelled worse than it looked.
A Gloom stood on the ground, white nectar dripping from his half-open mouth. Two fully-grown men stood by it, and as she studied their filthy skin and stained clothes, Maressa figured they contributed to the stench.
“This is the Pokemon you decided to bring?!”
“You said that your products would work on any Pokemon. This Gloom has been keeping me out of prison for sixteen months, and I need him to get stronger.”
“He smells awful! How can you work with this?”
Ducking back down, Maressa took in great breaths through her mouth, trying to keep out the noxious perfume. What were men doing in the women’s room? It didn’t matter; she didn’t think she could take them on, especially not if they had a Gloom with them. She was deciding what to do when she heard the door burst open.
“Ugh, I would have been able to follow this stench by myself! Come on, Linoone, she can’t be far away.”
Maressa’s heart stopped. Those must have been police searching for her, and with Linoone’s odor sleuth, it wouldn’t be hard for it to trace her once it caught her scent. And since they knew the truck she had stolen and she had left it unmoving in the middle of a street, it wouldn’t be too hard for the Pokemon to pick up her scent and sniff her out.
The two men burst out of the stall and halted right before Maressa, their eyes were fixed on the policeman and his companion.
Before the policeman had time to say anything, the slightly trashier-looking of the two men shouted, “It’s a cop! Gloom, get us out of here!”
“Glooooom…” The Grass-type started to emit dark green spores from the flower on his head, but had barely begun to do so when the Linoone bowled him over, swiping furiously.
“What are you doing that for?” the Gloom’s owner shouted at the police officer.
“Telling your Pokemon to attack us—”
“We didn’t tell him to attack you, I just told him to get us out of here!”
The two continued to argue while the third man tried to slip away.
“Hey!” the officer shouted.
As soon as the man was noticed, he took off at a run, only to be tackled to the ground by the Linoone. Shouts echoed all throughout the little room, and all the while Gloom remained sitting where he had been tackled, still puffing out the green powder.
A lightbulb went off in Maressa’s head. Taking a deep breath, she rushed out of her stall. The others started in shock as they noticed her, but she paid them no attention. Grabbing Gloom, she held her breath and bolted to the other side of the room, waving the Poison-type up-and-down to diffuse the powder more quickly. The police man had just grabbed her arm when his grip suddenly loosened, and he fell to the ground in a deep sleep. His Pokemon and the other men soon followed.
Maressa put Gloom on the ground and stepped away, turning her head away to take in a quick breath. The Pokemon didn’t seem to notice or care that his trainer had fallen asleep; he just stood where he was set, puffing out spores. For some reason, sympathy stirred in Maressa. With how little Gloom seemed to care at knocking his own trainer out, Maressa wondered why he took orders from him in the first place. Would he take orders from just anyone?
“You can stop now, Gloom,” she said. The Pokemon turned towards her. His facial expression didn’t change—he did, however, stop emitting sleep powder.
After a few seconds, the powder settled out of the air and formed a dark green carpet on the floor.
“Thank you,” Maressa said, giving the Pokemon a warm smile before bending over the unconscious lot. She grimaced; her choices were to be a street rat or a police officer. Taking the latter option, she shook off the green dust and pulled on clothes that were too large over her, tightening the belt as much as possible. At least these were clean and didn’t smell nearly as bad. She took off the badges and insignias as best as she could, hoping she could pass by in plain blue clothing. She glanced in the mirror.
She was a wreck.
Grimacing, she rifled quickly through the thieves’ pockets. She found some cash alongside questionable-looking bottles with hand-written labels, as well as a single Pokeball, but nothing else.
“Looks like they aren’t very good thieves…” she mused.
She felt slightly guilty at taking their money, but it was probably stolen, anyway. That made it okay for her to take—right?
Her heart pounded rapidly. She needed to get out. She opened the door and headed back up the stairs, listening to the plodding gently behind her—
She wheeled around, her heart racing. No one was there. Just the thieves, police officer and Linoone lying on the ground.
Maressa jerked her head about and saw the Gloom standing on the step below her.
“Did you follow me? No! I need you to go back—or stay here—well, this place is pretty dingy. Okay, you can come with me for a bit, but once we’re out of here, you need to stay away!”
She went back to grab the Gloom’s Pokeball from the man’s pocket—what she would do with it, she didn’t know, but she didn’t want to leave it. She made her way back up the stairs, Gloom following closely behind.
The duo emerged from the bathroom, and once they got back out onto the street, Maressa only saw a few people pass by. Keeping her head down, she made her way towards the edge of the city, avoiding police officers and as many people as she could.
In spite of her desperation to get out, she couldn’t help but wonder at the bustle of the city. Surely it couldn’t always be this busy. And with the decorations adorning so many of the buildings, she figured there must be some sort of festival going on.
Maressa made her way through the busy alleyway. She had never been to Mossdeep City and knew nothing about the layout of it. She didn’t even have a plan. She had to get a clear head—she needed to sit down and think about things.
Up ahead, she saw a stone archway marking the entrance to a park. Several winding paths led though stretches of bamboo. Couples stood on small stone bridges hanging over tiny creeks and stone tables with seats were scattered in different areas.
Maressa started towards the park. It seemed relatively relaxed compared to the rest of the city, and maybe Gloom would finally stop following her.
Walking through the overhanging arch, Maressa went down the pathway, occasionally passing people. Plants of all sizes and colors stretched out their leaves, and flowers of all varieties opened their petals and exposed their colored throats. Everywhere she went, Maressa saw little signs naming plants and describing details about them. She soon saw a little path that led to a tiny patio completely surrounded by overhanging greenery with a stone bench.
Maressa sat down. Gloom followed and tried to do likewise but he was too short to pull himself up. Bending down, Maressa grabbed him—it took all of her effort to not gag at his stench—and set him on the bench next to her. She inhaled deeply—which she immediately regretted with Gloom right next to her—and tried to think.
It took a few minutes for her heartrate to go down and the excitement to wear off. The adrenaline that coursed through her veins gradually subsided, and all the aches and pains came back to Maressa. She was thirsty; she had a headache; and she was so exhausted. She wished she could lie down and sleep—but she was still too wired to do that.
She still couldn’t believe what happened—she escaped from Team Magma, escaped from a Mossdeep hospital, left her sister with the bill, stole a truck, and knocked out a police officer. Nothing looked good for her. In spite of what she believed about Team Aqua, the thought of going back to them made her feel much safer.
But how could she get back? She scrunched her eyes thought.
She first found out about and joined Team Aqua through a recruiter from “Ocean Incorporated,” which turned out to be a publicity front Team Aqua created to keep their true motivations hidden. She knew there were more—Sarah joined under the company “Blue Seas,” a public relations firm.
“That’s it!”
Gloom turned his head to look up at Maressa as she voiced her thoughts aloud.
“Sarah’s from Mossdeep, and she joined under a company called ‘Blue Seas.’ I just have to find them, and then I’ve found my team and I can go back and get my Pokemon!” She looked down at Gloom. “That makes sense, right?”
Gloom made no response. White drool dribbled from his mouth on to the seat. The sight of it grossed Maressa out—but she felt a twinge of pity.
“You poor thing. Here, let’s get you a bit cleaned up.”
Using her sleeve, she dabbed away some of the white drool. She glanced at the white stain left on her clothes.
Great, she thought. Now these clothes are going to reek until I get changed.
But she had a lead—she knew what to do, and the thought was immensely comforting. She glanced up at the rays of sun peeking through the leaves. She didn’t want to get up; this park bench was so peaceful. The thought of going back into public where people would be hounding her filled her with anxiety. There was also something oddly comforting of having Gloom be with her—maybe it was just the feeling of being with a Pokemon.
But she had to go. She needed to get back to Team Aqua. If she was captured by the police, she’d probably be arrested for everything she did—if she betrayed Team Aqua and tried to give them away and the Team Aqua members infiltrating the police found out, she could wind up as a prisoner with Team Aqua—
Or they might do something to my Pokemon.
Maressa clenched her eyes shut. No, that couldn’t happen—it wouldn’t. She’d get her Pokemon back and the five of them would be a family again. After she got her Pokemon back…
One step at a time, she told herself. She had no idea what she was going to do, but it wasn’t worth worrying about yet.
Inhaling deeply, Maressa stood up, heart pounding furiously with anxiety.
It’s easy. Find Blue Seas, and then go from there.
She walked through the foliage back on to the main path. Glancing back, she saw Gloom jump off the bench and waddle up to her.
“Gloom, no!” she said firmly. “You need to stay here. I can’t take you with me.” Turning around, Maressa walked away from him. She heard his footsteps on the path as he followed after her. The thought of him following her tugged at her heartstrings, and she wanted nothing more than to pick him up and hold him in her arms as she walked, just like she used to do with Psyduck.
She stopped and looked down at Gloom. To be fair, a park might not be the best place to drop him off. It wasn’t really a natural habitat—she could at least try to bring him to the outskirts of the city, couldn’t she?
Sighing, she reached down and picked him up. As Gloom’s stench wafted to her nostrils, she grimaced and nearly went back on her decision to cuddle him. But holding him in her arms filled her with a kind of warmth—did it make him happy, too? It occurred to Maressa that he might have been mistreated when with those thieves. He certainly seemed ready and eager to leave them for a complete stranger.
The thought of it filled Maressa’s heart with pity, and as she glanced at the Pokemon in her arms, she cared about him even more. Her eyes watered from the stench—maybe that was why he hadn’t been cared for. Perhaps it was a circumstance of his birth that turned people away from him.
Maressa’s heart twisted. She wouldn’t be able to care for Gloom in the long run, but maybe she could make him at least feel wanted in the present moment.
She told him whatever came to her mind—not her current plan, for fear of eavesdropping passerby’s—but of growing up in Mauville City and what she thought of Mossdeep.
“… and my friend, Sarah, is from here. I wish she was here.”
She smiled grimly as she remembered Sarah wishing that she would be there, too, for the week-long celebration.
The celebration!
Maressa suddenly realized that this celebration must be the reason for the decorations and heavy traffic. And, it seemed, she had arrived just in time to be smack in the middle of it all.
As she exited the park, Maressa recalled festivals and fairs that she attended when she was a child. The colorful costumes, eating little else but pastries, and running off with Psyduck and Betty while her parents yelled at them to come back…
“What do you think, Gloom?” she asked. “A festival sounds like it would be a lot of fun, but I don’t think we’ll have time for that. Maybe someday, though, we could come back here with Sarah. And her Pokemon and my Pokemon and you could all get together. Wouldn’t that be fun?”
Gloom made no reply, but just sat contentedly in Maressa’s arms.
+++++++++++++++++
A few Wiscash floated idly in the water. Marill splashed about playfully, and Lombre lay at the water’s edge, soaking up sun from the open roof.
Golduck sat on a spit of dirt and looked at the other Pokemon. They were all at ease. Their trainers had been with Team Aqua longer than Maressa had—they were accustomed to being in this place. They were in a large tank filled with fresh water with small areas of dry land at some edges. Parts of the roof were open so the Pokemon could feel natural sunlight.
Looking over the edge of the tank, Golduck saw other ones, some of which were filled with salt water. The tanks formed a hallway in the Team Aqua base. Between them, Team Aqua members milled about. Some walked past without a glance while others went right up to them and spoke to their Pokemon through the glass.
He curled his tail around his feet. He didn’t like this. He shouldn’t be there; his place was with Maressa, Lanturn, Sharpedo and Seaking. His mood further soured when he remembered how she told him to stay behind.
“Don’t worry about it, Golduck,” she said with a gentle smile. The two of them were in the clinic. Most of his bandages were gone. The needle was still stuck in his arm. His skin was slowly returning to its usual slimy state. Maressa sat at his side while Golduck stared at her in shock and anger. “It’s just a scouting expedition—it shouldn’t take more than a few days! We’re not doing anything dangerous, just exploring the area. It should be a lot of fun! And—“
Golduck cut her off. But why did he have to stay behind? She couldn’t go without him! There were dangerous Pokemon in the ocean. If she ran into trouble, she would need him to protect her.
“I’m not alone. I’ll have the others with me and they’re plenty capable of fighting!”
But that didn’t explain why he couldn’t go with her!
“Just look at you!”
Tears shone in her narrowed eyes. “You can’t fight right now! And Shelly thinks you should stay here while you’re like this—so I’m just doing as I’m told! Golduck I… I hate seeing you like this… And I know that it’s at least partially my responsibility. You are my best friend. But I need to learn to trust them—Team Aqua knows what’s best in this situation. I don’t have a choice in this.”
Golduck turned his back to her. Maressa always had a choice. She couldn’t blame someone else for her own actions.
Maressa sighed.
“Golduck.”
He turned around. Maressa’s eyes drooped and her shoulders slumped. She looked tired and sad.
“You are my best friend. Don’t make this harder for me than it already is.”
Golduck was slightly abashed. He hadn’t realized Maressa was just hiding her own sadness.
But he was still upset. He let out a throaty croak. Why were they separating? He and Maressa had been together their whole lives, and until now, they had never separated for anything.
“I know. I don’t like it, either. But whether or not I like it, I need to learn to trust them—to trust that they know better than I do.”
“Poliwhirl!”
Golduck shifted his eyes to see a Poliwhirl floating in the water, staring at him curiously. She wanted to know if he would play with her!
Golduck said nothing but looked away and flicked his tail. The only Pokemon he wanted to interact with were Sharpedo, Seaking and Lanturn—but they were gone. With Maressa.
He looked up at the sky. Maressa would be gone for seven sun cycles—maybe less. It was the third sun cycle. It was already too long.
Curling up his legs and his tail, Golduck watched some Team Aqua members dump lettuce into the tank. The Wiscash and Lombre swarmed as they ate the food, but Golduck had no desire to eat.
Hello! I am a day late (again...) but here is the latest chapter and it is mercifully much shorter than the previous! My life is about to go through some big changes so I should be able to hit the next two-week mark, but after that... we'll see. I'll do my best! Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy.
Chapter 9
“… and that was when Sharpedo got really mad. Ever since he came with me, he and Seaking have been like brothers. Which is kinda weird, since they have such opposite personalities, you know? You’ll understand when you meet them. Anyway, Sharpedo really didn’t like these other Pokemon picking on Seaking, and when he saw how upset Seaking was getting, he got super defensive and started to really rip into the others. I mean, I’ve seen him get aggressive in battling, but I’ve only seen him get this vicious a few times. But you won’t have anything to worry about,” she said with a smile as she looked down at Gloom. “I’m sure that once Sharpedo meets you, you two will get along great.”
Gloom sat silently in Maressa’s arms as she chattered away. She talked partly to keep her mind off of the anxiety and nervousness that kept attacking her. Having someone else to talk to and focus on helped—at least a little.
She glanced up at the buildings all around them. For being the lone city on an island, Mossdeep seemed to be quite the metropolis. People bustled around her; sounds of cars and hustling people rang in her ears; scents from street foods and waste filled her nostrils; the urban jungle seemed to sprawl on endlessly. Though Maressa grew up in Mauville, she at least lived in a townhouse on the outskirts of the city—it was not nearly as hectic or crowded as this. How was she supposed to find one company?
Maressa quickly went in and out of a convenience store to buy Mossdeep City Visitor’s Guidebook that came with a map and directory. The bulk of the book was about the city’s history and the white rock that it was noted for. Maressa skipped by it—it was all unimportant—and went down the directory until she found “Blue Seas” and located it on the map. It wasn’t too far away—they should be able to make it on foot.
An hour and a half of walking later, and Maressa wished she had taken a bus. She stood outside a large office building with several different logos on it—and one of them was “Blue Seas.” She broke into a cold sweat at the thought of trying to pass as an innocent bystander inside. She just needed to hold out for a few conversations—she could do that, right?
“Okay,” she said as she turned and faced Gloom. He stood on the concrete next to her. In the ninety minutes it took to get to “Blue Seas,” he followed Maressa the whole way and she didn’t have the heart to push him away. She fully intended to soon, though—once they were out of the city.
“I’m going to walk in there and ask to speak to a recruiter. I’ll—I’ll tell them I was hired under ‘Ocean Incorporated’ and was working on a joint project with them. And I got separated from my company and I’m trying to make my way back. That sounds reasonable—right?”
Gloom’s only response was the drip of his drool on the pavement.
“I think it’ll be best if you stay inside your Pokeball, Gloom. I’m not sure what they would think of me with a Grass-type Pokemon.”
Recalling him into his Pokeball, Maressa shoved it inside her shoe. The shoes were too large for her, and if she put it in the end and scrunched her toes up and didn’t mind the discomfort, then she could hide it reasonably well.
Maressa closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, trying to calm her nerves. Opening them, she walked in.
A woman sat at the reception desk inside, her eyes roving up and down a computer screen in front of her. She looked up and smiled at Maressa.
“Can I help you?”
Walking up to the desk, Maressa smiled back. “Hi! Can I talk to a recruiter? I was hired under Ocean Incorporated and was working on a joint project between them and Blue Seas.”
“A recruiter? Let me see…” She clicked on the computer screen and scrolled up and down, gazing at it. “Do you want to talk to one of our higher ups? We have a few people from Ocean Incorporated here who might be able to help you more. I’m not sure how much our recruiters can tell you—and this week they’re visiting schools, so it doesn’t look like they’re in.”
Maressa’s heart pounded ferociously in her chest as she blurted out the first things that came to her mind. “Ah—I guess anyone here who’s working with Ocean Incorporated. I met a recruiter from Ocean Incorporated at the Hoenn Institute of Technology and Architecture this past January.”
“Hmm… I’ll try asking Sean…”
The receptionist picked up the phone next to her and dialed in a number. “Hello, Sean. I have a young woman here who says she works with Ocean Incorporated. She wants to talk to someone who’s working on a joint project they have with Blue Seas… Okay, sure…” She took the phone away from her face and looked up at Maressa. “Do you have your Ocean Incorporated ID with you?”
Maressa’s face turned red.
“No, I don’t."
The receptionist put the phone back to her face. “She said she doesn’t have it…” She took it away once more and looked up at Maressa. “What’s your name?”
“Maressa Llyr.”
“She says her name is Maressa Llyr…” The receptionist raised her eyebrows slightly as she listened to whatever the person on the other side said. “Oh, okay. Got it, thanks.” Placing the phone down, she smiled at Maressa. “If you come with me, I’ll take you to Sean’s office.”
Maressa followed the woman into the elevator, up a few floors, and down a hallway. She stopped before a glass door, took out a fob and held it up to a scanner to unlock the door. They passed through it and continued down the hallway and stopped before a door that was cracked open. The receptionist knocked on the door a few times.
“Sean? Maressa is here to see you.”
The door was pulled wide open and a thin, bald man who looked to be in his late twenties looked down at Maressa. He smiled at the two of them.
“Thank you, Peggy. I’ll take care of things from here.”
Without another word, Peggy walked down the hallway.
“Come in to my office!” he invited Maressa. “And close the door behind you, if you don’t mind.”
Sunlight poured in through the window and illuminated the small office. A computer sat on a desk, facing away from the doorway. Bookshelves lined one side wall but there were only a few books and picture frames on them. A door stood slightly ajar on the other side wall.
Sean went over to this door and poked his head in.
“Lucy? Can you come and give this woman a pat-down?”
He turned back to Maressa. “I’m sure you understand—we have to make security a priority, especially in the city.”
Maressa didn’t quite understand but also didn’t know what to say. She stood there numbly as a sour-looking woman came out of the side room and swiftly patted Maressa down. Maressa’s gut clenched as the woman felt around her feet, but she didn’t examine Maressa’s shoes. After a minute, she looked up at Sean.
“She’s clear,” she said and went back into her office without another word.
Sean looked down at Maressa with dark blue eyes. Maressa gazed back. She didn’t know what to do—her heart beat rapidly with apprehension. Her mouth was dry. All she could do was stare back at him.
He smiled. “So!” he said as he walked over to his computer. “You’re Maressa Llyr, right?”
“Yes.”
He typed into the keyboard and turned the monitor around to face Maressa.
“Does this look familiar to you?”
A smile of relief broke out on Maressa’s face. Team Aqua’s skeletal “A” insignia was on Sean’s monitor. Still smiling, she looked up at Sean.
“So you’re a Team member, too?”
He nodded. “Gotta keep quiet about it—not everyone in this building is with us, and we can’t be too careful.” He typed into the keyboard as he spoke and pulled up a profile of Maressa—the picture she had taken on her first day with them along with facts and features about her.
“Once you disappeared, I was notified—I’m not as high up as Shelly or Matt, but I’m a step above the grunts. I was told to keep my eye out for you. Have a seat!”
Maressa sat in the chair he gestured to. She sighed—in the past few nerve-wracking minutes, she had forgotten how sore her muscles were. Leaning her back against a chair felt luxurious; taking weight off of her legs was bliss.
“You look worse for wear,” he noted. “What happened to you?”
Maressa’s heart clenched. She met Sean’s curious gaze with uncertainty.
“Where should I start?”
“I know you vanished on a mission four days ago. After that, though, it’s all a mystery. Do you wanna eat while we talk? You look terrible.”
Maressa glared at him for a second before catching herself. She didn’t like being told she looked terrible—but she needed to respect her superiors. And besides, the offer of a full meal was too much for her to pass up. Sean placed an order for sandwiches over the phone and Maressa began her story.
She told everything as truthfully as she could but removed her interactions with Derek and Gloom. When she mentioned how Derek left her to check on his Wingull, Sean shook his head.
“That’s a crappy medic—can’t watch his Pokemon fight without worrying about them and forgetting to guard his prisoner,” he said as he drizzled mustard over his veggie sandwich. “Typical Team Magma.”
Maressa bit back an angry response—Derek was a perfectly capable medic and Pokemon trainer!—but Sean didn’t need to know that. Several minutes later, the two of them sat before empty plates and Maressa finished her account. Sean smiled.
“That’s quite a story you’ve got! I’m impressed you managed to find us out here—and I’m glad you did. I can’t imagine being stranded in a random city without knowing how to get to any of our bases.”
“What do you guys do here?” Maressa asked. “Sarah and I were recruited into Team Aqua under company names—is this just an undercover Team Aqua base?”
Sean wiped his face with his napkin before replying.
“It’s a bit more than that—you can think of it as one of Team Aqua’s public relations branches. Archie is head over all these companies. Everyone knows that. But a lot of Blue Seas’s employees think it’s only an environmentalist media company concerned with publishing info about the environment—things like ocean acidification, Pokemon migrations, and stuff like that. They know that we’re partnered with other similar companies like Ocean Incorporated, but they don’t know about Team Aqua or what we’re trying to do. And the Boss is having me do a bit of both—I’m Team Aqua member first, but he also wants me to supervise Blue Seas. Make sure things are quiet, you know? And if any news about Team Aqua is leaked, I’ll be more likely to hear about it from here.”
Maressa frowned.
“How do you decide which employees to tell about Team Aqua? I was prepared to just work for Ocean Incorporated—I had never heard of Team Aqua until the recruiter suggested it for me.”
“We try to gauge it in each employee. If they’re more into Pokemon battling—which it sounds like you are—we explain a little bit about Team Aqua and see how interested they are. If all they want is a desk job, we don’t usually mention it. If they’re passionate, and I mean really passionate about the ocean, we might suggest Team Aqua anyway, even if they’re not a Pokemon trainer.
“Anyway,” he said as he suddenly stood up, “This has been a fun chat, and I’m happy I got to meet you, but you really should get back to a proper base. Others will want to hear everything you told me.”
Maressa’s heart skipped a beat at these last words—she didn’t want to repeat her story again.
“Is there a base nearby?” she asked.
“The nearest one is by Lilycove. I’ll have my Tentacruel take you—I know it’s not that fancy or comfortable, but we need to keep you under the radar, and you’ll blend in perfectly with all the trainers surfing on their Pokemon between these two places.”
Maressa nodded and stood up reluctantly. Her muscles ached in protest. The thought of spending the next who-knew-how-long clinging to a Pokemon and surfing the ocean made her want to cry. All she wanted to do was sleep.
Maybe she could sleep later. She forced a grateful smile as she looked at Sean.
“It was great to meet you, too. Thanks for helping me out.”
+++++++++
The sun beat down heavily on the azure waves. Maressa gazed ahead, her arms wrapped around the upright part of the Tentacruel’s bell. She wanted to talk to the Pokemon, but his face—if you could call it that, as it seemed to be just a pair of eyes—was beneath the water as he quickly made his way through the salty sea. She glanced at his brown tentacles and shuddered. The way they undulated and rippled gave her chills, and she knew that each carried a devastating stinging power. She cringed at the thought of being ensnared in them and felt pity for whatever poor ocean-goers had.
Sean said that Lilycove was a day’s worth of surfing away but Maressa didn’t know whether that applied to a fast Pokemon like Tentacruel or whether he would make the journey more quickly. Judging by her inability to see any land in any direction, Maressa guessed that they still had a long time to go.
For what felt like the thousandth time, Maressa went over in her head what she would say to her higher-ups once she got back to base. Her mouth went dry at the thought of lying to Shelly or—her heart skipped a beat at the thought—her boss. Could she really go through with it? She felt like it would be so much easier to keep going the way she was, to just keep working for Team Aqua. After all, they were searching for the stuff of legends, things that didn’t exist. Wouldn’t they just keep on searching forever, ultimately accomplishing nothing? How much harm could they really do?
Suddenly, images of Team Magma attacking her teammates at Mount Chimney and near Dewford appeared before her eyes and Tabitha’s words rang in her ears.
Do you think they would actually leave your body behind? Or do you think they wouldn’t at least try to cover their tracks?
Maressa shut her eyes. Though the teams may be conducting a search where the only option was failure, the amount of damage they could do was undeniable.
Abandoning Team Aqua wasn’t enough. As a former member of Team Aqua, with knowledge of their bases and plans, shouldn’t she do what she could to actively bring them down?
Pushing the thought aside, she decided to talk about it with her Pokemon later. As much as she looked forward to meeting with them again, there was also a sense of dread. She would tell them her plans to leave Team Aqua, and whether or not they would join her was their choice. They always readily carried out orders they were given while on the team—she just hoped that they hadn’t become so attached to Team Aqua and the other Pokemon that they would rather stay there than with her.
Thinking back on the day, heart clenched when she thought of Betty receiving the hospital bill. While it seemed funny on a whim, Maressa suddenly realized that her younger sister was receiving a hospital bill with no context whatsoever. And what would happen then? Betty would call them about the mistake, and they would bring up the account of Maressa being there and escaping. Betty would eventually piece things together and their family would find out that Maressa was a criminal.
Maressa’s stomach churned. How would her parents react to finding out that a child in whom they had put so much hope was breaking out of hospitals, stealing vehicles and running around with a criminal gang?
She didn’t want to think about it.
Closing her eyes and hugging Tentacruel’s bell more tightly, Maressa wallowed in the worry and anxiety that had been with her the past few days, considering all the different things the future could hold and what she would have to do about each potential path.
After a while, she opened her eyes again and looked up. Whatever would come would come, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to meet it when it did.
I'm (barely) not late this time! Here's the next chapter, finally featuring the big man himself (that's not really a spoiler lol). I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 10
Night hung over the world like a stellar cloak by the time Tentacruel and his passenger reached the shores of Lilycove City. Maressa let out a sigh of relief; after riding over the ocean waves for hours, her throat was parched, her head pounded, her eyelids drooped, and she was soaked to the bone. The sandy shores were tantalizingly close—if she was not so tired, she may have jumped off Tentacruel and swam for shore herself.
But as the shore neared, Tentacruel changed his direction and swam north toward a large outcrop of jagged sky-scraping rocks. Maressa instinctively clutched Tentacruel more tightly as he approached the formation. The water shot in fast, vigorous currents through the stones, and waves slapped aggressively against their sheer, weather-beaten sides.
Tentacruel sailed right into the treacherous waves. Water constantly splashed over the duo; terror coursed through Maressa each time she emerged coughing and sputtering. Every time the water covered them, she felt certain that she would never resurface, but Tentacruel always got her out again. Even with the rough currents, he was able to use his powerful tentacles to traverse the treacherous waterways and avoid slamming into the rocks too forcefully.
Maressa could barely see anything around her. Panic rose—she wanted to scream. But before long, Tentacruel made his way out of the roaring waterways and Maressa felt them ride along a much smoother current. The dimming night faded to total darkness. The sound of waves echoed all around them—they were in a cave.
Marerssa’s arms still clamped Tentacruel with an iron grip. He rose up out of the water and jerked forward—Maressa’s feet slipped off his bell. She sharply took in a breath and her heart fluttered frantically in her chest for a moment before she felt her feet hit solid rock. Making sure that her footing was secure, she let go of Tentacruel’s bell and listened to him slither back in the water. She watched his spectral outline diminish into the distance against the dim light of the cave entrance.
Her heartbeat gradually slowed and she took a deep breath to calm herself.
What’s wrong with me?
Sure, she had been frightened out in the ocean before, but only when she was far from shore or caught in inclement weather. Back then, it had been a realistic fear that she and her Pokemon would get hurt or stranded—not the constant, ever-growing terror that ate away at her for the past day. She tried to reason that it was because her Pokemon weren’t with her, that it was because she was with a stranger whom she didn’t know well.
She sighed inwardly at her own flimsy excuses.
I can’t blame Tentacruel. He knew what he was doing.
She continued to stare at the cave entrance—which brightened as the stars awoke and shone over the earth—pondering the source of her fear when a glow caught her eye.
Glancing down into the water, she made out two lavender lights shining with an ethereal radiance. She recognized the pale purple light—and she was not going to fall victim to any Pokemon’s hypnosis.
She looked away—her heart raced. A Pokemon was trying to hypnotize her, and she had to find Team Aqua—was this their base? She couldn’t see anything but the stars. Shouldn’t Team Aqua have lights or someone on watch in case team members came?
Turning away from the cave entrance to face the uniform blackness, she tentatively called out, “Hello? Is anyone there? I’m a member of Team Aqua, and Sean told me that I could find your base here.”
In answer, the waters lit up with several bright yellow lights. She looked down at the water and gave a cry of delight as she saw numerous Chinchou floating beneath the surface, illuminating the cave with the bioluminescence from their anglers. Kneeling down to get as close the surface as she could, she hungrily searched through the Pokemon. She spotted a few Lanturn—none that she could see were hers, but what if her Lanturn was there, lighting up the cave to welcome her companion back?
Maressa only had a few more seconds of searching before she saw a Politoed’s head emerge from the surface. She met his gaze as he stared at her quizzically for a moment before his eyes lit up with a pale purple light.
Maressa only had enough time to curse her own stupidity before falling asleep.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
She stood on the brink of rock high above the open ocean. The sky and waters alike were pitch black, melding into each other so that she could not tell where one began and the other ended.
The sea below suddenly lit with a thousand of pinpricks of light. Chinchou and Lanturn filled every layer of the water column, shining like nautical stars. Maressa bent down, looking through the water desperately for her friend. There were so many, but none was the one she wanted to see most. She couldn’t clearly make out those farther below the surface. She got on her hands and knees to peer more closely into the dazzling depths. As she got down on all fours, her hands slipped, and she plunged into the sea. All the living lights went out, and she felt herself sinking deeper into the now-empty ocean.
The air was gone from her lungs. She couldn’t breathe. She felt as though fabric was pressed against her nose and mouth as she sank deeper into the void.
Her eyes popped open, and she saw that there really was fabric pressing against her nose and mouth. Lifting her head off of the pillow, she looked down—she lay in a bed.
The walls and floor alike were of a blank metal, similar to that of the Team Magma base. Though she was again in the only occupied bed in a room full of cots, the arrangement of furniture and layout of the room was different from the previous base.
Breathing a sigh of relief, she laid back down on the pillow before immediately sitting back up. She wasn’t in the Team Magma base, but where was she? Had she gotten to Team Aqua, or had she been captured by the police and was to meet whatever sentence they had for her?
A wave of terror rushed over her and she tore off her left shoe. Shoving her hand inside, she breathed a sigh of relief as she felt the Pokeball still stuck inside.
Maressa released a shuddering breath. Gloom was still with her—that much, at least, hadn’t gone wrong. A pang of guilt hit her heart when she realized that she had yet to release him. But she had gone straight from the city to the open ocean—where was she supposed to let him go?
As soon I’m outside and no one else is around, I’ll let him go, she told herself.
Maressa looked around. If she was captured again, perhaps Gloom would be able to help her get out. It was worth a shot.
Getting out of bed, she walked over to the door only to find that it was locked. Forcing herself to remain calm, she sat back on the bed and buried her face in her hands. Anxiety and worry beat rapidly in her chest, and she was finding it increasingly difficult to not panic. She couldn’t bear the thoughts of being captured again, of having to wait for whatever punishment was chosen for her, of having to escape again.
Taking her head out of her hands, she clasped her fingers as her heart rate slowed. She knew her Pokemon were somewhere out there, and no matter how many times she was captured, she would find another way to escape—and she would be with them again.
As speculations of her current situation roamed through her mind, the door opened. She jerked her head up, and a smile split her face as she saw a man wearing a black-and-white striped shirt and a blue bandana standing there.
Falling back on her bed, she spread her arms out as the smile lingered on her face. She glanced back at the team member and leaped off her bed with joy.
“You’re a Team Aqua member!”
“Well, yeah, I—”
“Then I’m at a Team Aqua base!”
“You’re Maressa Llyr, right?”
“Yes! Yes, I’m Maressa, and I’m here, I’m back, I can see my Pokemon again…” Her voice trailed off as she strode restlessly about the room, her arms held wide out in childlike glee.
“Well, you’ll have to talk to our boss first before you can see anyone else.”
Maressa’s arms returned to her sides as she turned curiously to her team member. “What do you mean? Do I have to talk to Shelly or someone about everything I went through?”
“No. You have to talk to our boss.”
Maressa’s heart skipped a beat as the final word fell on her ears.
“You mean Archie? He’s here?”
The man nodded. “He’s scheduled to go in… and do something soon,” he said cautiously. “But he said he’ll talk to you while he’s here.”
“When do I go see him?”
“Right now. If you weren’t already awake, I was supposed to wake you up.”
Her mouth going dry, she followed the guy out the doorway. He glanced at her as they walked.
“I’m Noah, by the way. Are you nervous?” he asked with a smile.
She shrugged. “A little.”
“Don’t worry too much about it. Archie’s not bad, really. Show respect, definitely, and if it’s your first time meeting him, don’t joke around too much at first. But I’m sure he’ll warm up to you; he likes everyone once he gets to know them.”
“Do you work directly with him often?”
He nodded. “Just whenever he comes here. I’m in charge of this base, so whenever Archie comes I have to be the one to make sure that whatever he wants is here and everything is ready for him.”
“Do you think he’s easy to work with?”
“Let me put it this way: have you worked with Shelly before?”
She grimaced. “Yeah.”
“Then you won’t have a problem.”
They stopped before a set of double doors.
“Wait here,” Noah said before he walked through them. He was gone for a second before he reappeared and gestured for Maressa to go inside. Heart fluttering rapidly, she was about to open the door when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Noah looking kindly at her.
“Don’t be nervous. Everything will be fine.”
Giving him a smile in return, Maressa steeled herself and opened the door.
Three people stood around a desk looking over maps. One was dressed as an ordinary grunt, while another wore a dark coat and black pants. The other was Shelly, who alone noticed Maressa come in.
“They just can’t go that deep,” the grunt was saying.
The man in black looked disappointed. “Hmmm… Have we heard anything new about Stern’s Shipyard lately? Hm, what is it?” Shelly nudged him and indicated Maressa standing in the doorway.
The man turned around and smiled as he saw Maressa. Striding forward, he held out a hand.
“So, you must be Maressa! I’m Archie.”
She relaxed as she firmly shook her boss’s hand. She couldn’t think of what to say—seeing him—the big guy, the boss, the linchpin—with almost no warning was so surreal. Looking up at him, she smiled with her mouth half-open and said, “Hi."
Archie turned to the other grunt in the room.
“Could you leave us for a moment, please? This won’t take long.”
The grunt nodded and walked out without a word.
“So!” he said as he sat in a high-backed wheelie chair. “I’m sorry that you had to be knocked out before we could take you in, but it’s a necessary precaution.”
“Why? Have civilians shown up here?” Maressa couldn’t help asking.
Shelly looked furious at this interruption, but Archie merely shrugged. “More often than we’d like. Even with sharp rocks and fast currents, some people insist on exploring this area, in which case we’ll usually have our Pokemon take them out.”
A chill went up Maressa’s spine at these words, but she said nothing.
“Sean sent word to me that you were coming here. Some members from our team recognized you and we pulled up your profile and information. If you weren’t a Team Aqua member, then you wouldn’t be in here now.
“But enough of that. I want to hear everything that happened to you! Sean said that you were captured by Team Magma, and they’re not likely to just let a Team Aqua member go without getting some inside information first.”
“I didn’t tell them anything, sir. I escaped.”
“I trust you did. And I want to hear everything that happened to you while you were there, how you got out and how you got here.”
Maressa paused before beginning. Archie seemed amiable enough, but the atmosphere was strained. Her boss appeared to be inspecting a number of small bites on his arm—amidst the scarring, Maressa saw an inscription tattooed. Shelly stood by his chair, staring straight ahead, but Maressa was willing to bet that she was also paying close attention to her every move. The air was thick with tension and Maressa knew she was treading dangerous waters.
One wrong word, and I’m done for, she realized.
She took a deep breath, and launched into her story, telling everything as truthfully as she could but omitting the conversations she had had with Derek and his Pokemon and of taking Gloom with her.
When she finished, she looked up to see her boss staring down, his eyes drifting out of focus. Without looking at her, he asked, “Everything that Magma Commander, Tabitha, told you about us—do you believe what he said?”
Here was the test. Knowing her fate hung on the next words, she slowly said, “I don’t know what to believe, sir. I’ve never heard that Team Aqua would do those things, but I know that we fight for the good of the ocean, and making it larger would make sense.”
She met his gaze. His pale blue eyes bore into her, and she tried to appear as sincere as she could. She was speaking the truth, after all, and she hoped that he would elaborate on what Tabitha had told her. But she couldn’t control her nerves—her heart pounded so furiously within her chest that she worried someone would hear it.
After a moment, Archie stood up and made his way to the door.
“Come with me, Maressa,” he said, and with a nod to Shelly, he made his way out.
Maressa followed the Aqua leader through the metal-lined walls of the corridor. She broke out into a nervous sweat—had he seen through her? Where was he taking her? Was he about to hurt her? She prayed it wasn’t the last; he was much taller and heftier than her, and she didn’t fancy trying to hold her own against him.
After walking up a few staircases, he opened a small door. The sound of waves smacking stone and the kiss of the sea breeze met the duo as they stood on a small rocky precipice facing the open water. There was no rail between the humans and the edge of the rock. Maressa glanced over the edge and immediately took a step back as her stomach churned. She inched away until her back was flat against the door.
Archie raised an eyebrow. “Is something wrong?”
“I don’t do well with heights.”
“Ah.” He stepped forward to peer down at the violent waves below. “Yeah, it’s a pretty long way down. Don’t fall.”
Maressa didn’t answer. She just stared out at the deep blue waters that appeared so calm from a distance. Archie glanced at her then turned his gaze seaward.
“Do you understand why we fight for the ocean, Maressa?”
“Because we need it to live?”
“Because it sustains this entire planet and everything on it. Many creatures spend their lives in the ocean without ever seeing land—some live without even seeing sunlight. Entire civilizations have built their culture around the ocean, adjusting and shaping their lifestyles to work with it.”
Maressa couldn’t see his face, but as his voice took on a reflective tone, she felt as if he had almost forgotten about her.
“My own family was one that lived at the ocean’s edge. When I was thirteen, we left. Eleven years later, I made my way back to that same spot where we lived, and it was completely gone. All the plants that grew there, the rock formations, even peoples’ homes—gone. The water ran right against a sandy shore with hotels and beach houses.”
Maressa tensed; Archie’s tone had hardly changed, but a deep anger flowed from him. Underneath his words was a touch of malice. But when he turned around, his eyes held no cruelty or vengeance. They were hard, and he appeared that of a man filled with self-righteous indignation.
“The oceans are dying, and it’s because humans decided to change this world to make it more convenient for them. Have you ever been to Lilycove?”
She was surprised at the sudden question, but just shook her head in response.
He averted his gaze. “It’s right beyond this rock formation. And with cliffs and sea stacks like these, you’d expect the edge of the city to be the same, wouldn’t you?” He shook his head. “It’s covered in this sand that they imported from the southwest shores of Hoenn. The rocks are gone, and it’s become a large beach resort.”
When he didn’t say anything for a few moments, Maressa put in, “The sand won’t last long, will it? Especially if Lilycove has an erosional coast—it’ll just wash away.”
He nodded. “And so they keep bringing more. It’s a short-sighted goal that will make them a bit of money for the moment. But it’s also altered the environment in such a way that it’ll take years for it to recover. There used to be tons of Pokemon in the tidepools and colonies of Corsola living there, but now it’s almost completely dead. Other Pokemon have tried moving in, but it never lasts. And every time someone gets bitten by Sharpedo, people make a big fuss and wonder if the ocean is safe for anyone. But the next week, they forget, and the beach is as crowded as ever.
“It’s as if people no longer care to live together with Pokemon, as if all the technology and activist movements that have happened have been for nothing. I know there’s a fad where children will get a Pokemon while they’re young and challenge different Gyms in a region, and that the people who promote this say that the whole point of is for the kid to grow together with his Pokemon and learn what it means to cooperate with them. But even then, the goal they’re aiming for is to be the Pokemon Champion, as if they rule over Pokemon.” He shook his head. “It’s just a façade that the people in power are trying to put up so it looks like living and working with Pokemon is still possible, but it won’t last for long.”
His expression hardened. “And the Gym Leaders and Elite Four—people act as if they practically run this place, but for all the influence they supposedly have, they haven’t done jack shit about protecting the Pokemon they claim to love.”
Maressa stood in silence for a moment, taken aback. He had said much more than she expected, and as she thought on it, her heart sank. She didn’t actually know enough about the Elite Four or Hoenn’s rulers to contradict or confirm Archie, but she couldn’t deny the environmental changes she had noticed. While the ocean had seemed fine when she was riding Tentacruel, she had heard reports of people on Mossdeep planning to tear down the mangrove forests and start aquaculture. And she remembered being a nine-year-old back in Kanto, watching lakes be filled in and forests be torn down to make room for more housing.
Maressa took a step forward, feeling the chill wind whip her hair back. The lake she had first met Psyduck in was gone, and who knows what had happened to Seaking’s home? Sharpedo’s old family was bound to meet trouble if it was going to keep moving in-shore, and Lanturn’s old home at the bottom of the ocean was trawled away…
“They’ll have nowhere to live,” she murmured. Archie looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “The ocean habitats are being destroyed. The Pokemon will either be killed or left homeless.”
Her boss clapped a hand on her shoulder. “And that’s why we have to do what we can to fight for it and return it to its full livelihood once more. People say that global warming is causing ice to melt and the seas are already expanding.” He sighed. “Even if that’s the case, it doesn’t help us. The waters may be growing, but the ocean is dying. This is why we have to keep fighting people like Team Magma, who would see the ocean shrunk down to make more room for land.”
“Sir, may I ask something?”
He nodded. “Don’t bother asking if you can ask. If my answer was ‘no,’ you would have already defied orders.”
“How will summoning Kyogre help the ocean? I don’t know much at all about this Pokemon,” she hurriedly added, “but I find it hard to believe that a single creature can right everything that millions of people have been doing for years.”
Archie didn’t respond immediately but kept gazing out at the ocean. As Maressa studied him, she looked studied the tattoo on his forearm:
i guinaiya-ku. i minetgot-hu yan i fuetså-ku i tåsi
“Kyogre is unlike any other Pokemon on this planet," Archie's voice snapped her back to attention. "It was here while the earth was still young and when the oceans were acid. It brought rainwater, made the oceans fresh and suitable for life. And by making the oceans habitable, land became habitable as well. As the ocean has lived and governed this planet, so has Kyogre. It isn’t just a Pokemon; it’s the embodiment of the sea itself.”
Maressa said nothing. She had no idea how Archie could have known all this, but decided not to voice her skepticism and just silently accept what he said.
Archie turned to her.
“A Pokmon of this power won’t be locked away in a Pokeball and become a slave to a person’s will. People in ancient times made the Blue Orb to control Kyogre, and using that Orb is our only hope.”
Maressa’s heart skipped a beat.
Tabitha was telling the truth.
The boss went on, “If we can find Kyogre and find that Orb, then there’s hope that we can return the seas to their natural state and prevent humanity from destroying them ever again.”
“So where do we find Kyogre and the Blue Orb?”
He sighed. “That’s what we’re working on. And trying to stop Team Magma while doing that is no easy task.” He turned to Maressa, his eyes filled with sorrow. “We can’t let them get the Red Orb and control Groudon, Maressa. They would drain the oceans and tear this world apart.”
She nodded. “I’ll do whatever I can to help stop them sir.”
He turned back to the sea and, putting his hands on his hips, replied, “That’s what I like to hear. You can be very useful to us, Maressa.”
“I know where one of their operations is happening,” she said in a rush.
Archie turned his head towards her, his pale eyes piercing. “What?”
“It’s true. I heard one of their commanders talk about it with another member.” And she quickly told him everything Derek had relayed to her.
The Team Aqua boss said nothing, but stared at her keenly.
He doesn’t trust me, Maressa realized with dread.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked slowly.
“Sir, I will stake everything on this.”
Archie turned back to the sea and a smile split his face. “Then let’s show them what we can do.”
(Finally) Here's chapter 11! Sorry for my lateness; I'm also not sure how punctual I will be in the future, as I'm going through some big (but good) life changes at the moment. I'll do my best to stick to the every-other-Monday format!
Chapter 11
Once Archie dismissed her, Maressa made her way back to the room she woke up in. Now that her nervousness and anxiety were ebbing away, weariness was settling in again and she wanted to sleep. She just turned a corner when she was intercepted by Noah.
He smiled when he saw her. “Here you are. They were held at one of our bases near Slateport, so we decided to bring them for you.”
He held out his hand and a smile split Maressa’s face when she saw her Pokeballs. However, her joy didn’t last, and she looked back up at Noah with a small frown.
“What’s wrong?”
“There are only three Pokeballs here. I have four Pokemon.” She checked them; Seaking was missing.
Noah shrugged and shook his head. “The people at the other base told me that was all of them. But,” he quickly added when he saw Maressa’s look of terror, “it’s possible that your other Pokemon was separated from the rest. You can check with the head of your squadron and see if they know anything about it.”
Maressa nodded, her spirits rising slightly. “Do you know where Shelly is?”
“Should be somewhere on the lower levels. I also brought a uniform for you so you can change.”
Without another word, Maressa took the uniform, ducked into her bedroom to quickly change—remembering to pocket Gloom’s Pokeball—and took off down the hallway. In her excitement, the pain in her leg didn’t bother her so much. Making her way down staircases, she eventually came into a room with several large tanks. Pokemon drifted about idly in the water while some of their humans stood before the tanks or else sat in the water with them. Maressa spotted Shelly standing before a large tank with a few other grunts, examining a Mantine.
“Shelly!”
The Aqua Commander turned around, her expression sour at the interruption. Maressa felt a slight twinge of guilt; she forgot to pay her superior respect, but she pushed the feeling aside and walked over to her commander.
Shelly said nothing but raised her eyebrows questioningly.
“Do you know where my Seaking is?”
“Why would I know that? You’re one of several grunts I’m in charge of. I can’t keep track of everybody’s Pokemon.”
“Yes, but I just got these three—” she held up her Pokeballs—“back, and Noah said that I should ask you where my Seaking might be.”
“Where did you last see your Seaking?”
“He was fighting with me when I was captured by Team Magma.
“And do you know what happened to him afterwards? Was he captured, or did another Team Aqua member take him?”
Maressa traced her steps through her memory as she recounted, “He and I were both hit by a solar beam—that was when my dive gear was damaged…” She looked back up at her commander. “That’s all I remember.”
“What about his Pokeball? Did you keep that with you?”
“No I gave all of my Pokeballs to Mickey to hold on to.”
And in her mind’s eye, she saw Mickey knocked off the submarine and falling into the ocean.
“Well, if he had all of your Pokeballs, then he must have Seaking’s, as well.”
“He fell in the water,” Maressa whispered as realization took hold of her. She looked up at Shelly, her eyes wide with fear.
Shelly’s eyebrows climbed higher on her forehead. “Your Seaking was caught in a solar beam attack, Mickey probably dropped his Pokeball in the ocean, and you’re hoping to find him at a base?” She shook her head. “I’m sorry, Maressa, but it sounds like your Seaking’s gone.”
Maressa froze. The world stopped.
Gone?
Seaking couldn’t be gone. How could he be? Seaking, who was so timid and yet so cheerful, who was the only one willing to try and learn calculus, whom she had saved from people who saw him as only an object.
And she felt all those moments she spent with him: holding him, singing lullabies to him at night when he was too nervous to sleep, withdrawing him in the middle of a battle when he was getting too scared to keep fighting, having him play with Golduck, Lanturn and Sharpedo, steadily building his trust and feeling him love her in return.
All of those moments were ripped away.
Tears came hot and fast. Maressa’s chest constricted. She knew people were staring at her, but it didn’t matter.
Shelly put a hand on her shoulder, gazing at her subordinate with more pity than Maressa had ever seen.
“I’m sorry.”
Taking a few deep breaths, Maressa slowly asked, “But we can find him, right? We have plenty of aquatic Pokemon. They can search for him, can’t they?”
Shelly grimaced and shrugged. “The ocean is a big place, Maressa. Yes, we have Water-type Pokemon, but if we send them too far out into the sea, it’s possible that even they could lose their way and not return.”
Each word Shelly spoke was like a hammer beating a nail deeper into Maressa’s heart.
“But he won’t just be anywhere out in the ocean—he knows what our bases and submarines look like—he’ll come find one—“ she stopped as her voice cracked.
“If that’s the case, then maybe he will come back. But I can’t promise anything. We’ll keep an eye out for him, though,” she added with a soft smile. “How about you spend time with your other Pokemon? I’m sure they’ll be happy to see you.”
Maressa looked down at her shaking hands and at the small balls. Closing her fingers around them, she nodded, and made her way over to a tank at the far end of the room where only a few Corsola sat on the bottom. She paused, torn; part of her just wanted to curl up by the tank and sob, but the desire to see her Pokemon overrode it.
Tapping on each of the balls to enlarge them, she tossed them into the air where they burst open and released her friends in flashes of white light.
They shook their heads when they first came out and blinked their eyes. Upon seeing her, their faces became radiant with joy, and Maressa’s spirits rose. She placed her hands on the glass as Sharpedo and Lanturn swam right up next to the side of the tank. Her grief at Seaking’s absence was shunted aside as she let loose a laugh of relief. Reaching up, she caught hold of the edge of the tank and swung herself over the side and into the salty water. She reached out her arms and embraced Lanturn and Sharpedo when she felt a third being clamp itself tightly around her midriff.
She smiled as she saw Golduck’s shaking form embracing her tightly.
“It’s good to see you too, Golduck. All of you, really,” she said with another laugh. Her tears flowed, but they were no longer of sadness.
Sharpedo let out a soft growl, letting her know much they had missed her.
Golduck finally looked up, and Maressa saw that his eyes were slightly bloodshot. He quacked with anger, telling her to never leave them alone like that again. Had she known how much worry and anxiety she had put them through?
Maressa smiled gently. “Don’t worry; I don’t plan on ever doing that again.”
Lanturn chirped up as she nuzzled Maressa’s palm, adding that it would be so good to have Maressa and Seaking back again.
At the mention of Seaking, the painful realization came back and Maressa started sobbing again. Her three Pokemon looked at her, worried and confused. What was she crying for? Hadn’t she brought Seaking back with her?
Maressa was about to explain but suddenly became aware of the Corsola watching them at the bottom of the tank and of the voices of people drifting to them from around the corner. She didn’t feel ready to talk about it in front of others.
Forcing herself to calm down, she quietly said, “I’ll tell you soon; let’s go somewhere more private first, though.”
++++++++++++++++++
Soon, she wore a full-length wetsuit emblazoned with the Team Aqua logo and sat atop Lanturn out in the ocean. It had been difficult getting the wetsuit on—her leg still hurt quite a lot, and trying to squeeze it into a body glove had been no painless task. Still, she had managed, and went with her Pokemon out to the tranquil, azure sea where the sun shone down on them cheerily. Her Pokemon drifted in despondent silence; news of Seaking’s disappearance hit them as it had hit her.
Sharpedo’s eyes angled in anger, and he let loose an angry growl. He couldn’t spend any more time sitting there—if Seaking was out in the ocean, then he had to go and find him and bring him home safely.
“Sharpedo, wait!” Maressa called as her companion shot off. He stopped, and the worried, anxious look he gave Maressa tugged at her heartstrings.
Lanturn swam over to Sharpedo, telling him that he wasn’t alone—they would all search for Seaking together!
“No, we can’t just leave and search for Seaking!”
Golduck quacked angrily—why couldn’t they search for him? He was part of their family. What could possibly be more important?
“Nothing is more important, I know! But there’s so much to tell you guys, first."
Sharpedo interjected. Whatever she wanted to say could wait; Seaking had to be found now.
“It can’t wait! I need to talk to you all right now!”
The shark-like creature let loose a horrible roar. Seaking had been stuck alone in the ocean for the past week—he could be starving or hurt, and was surely lost and confused. Yet all Maressa wanted to do was talk. She didn’t want to look for him, and Seaking’s disappearance was her fault in the first place!
Lanturn and Golduck stared in silent shock at the two. Sharpedo’s eyes were a deep shade of red, and the water around him frothed as he growled. Lanturn cautiously backed away, and Golduck swam protectively between her and Sharpedo. But Maressa didn’t seem the least bit intimidated. Tears trickled down her face again as she let out a sob.
“I know it is.”
Lanturn crooned sympathetically. It wasn’t Maressa’s fault—nobody ever meant for Seaking to get lost.
“It is my fault, Lanturn. Whatever happens to any of you is my responsibility. I made this promise when I became your trainer—to protect and care for all of you. And I didn’t. If it wasn’t for me, he would still be here.” She gazed at Sharpedo. “I’m so sorry. If there was anything I could do to bring him back, I would. But we might be in danger. Sharpedo, please come over here and let me explain everything.”
The water around Sharpedo calmed and the red in his eyes died down. Though he still looked unhappy, he swam closer to Lanturn and Golduck, the latter of whom eyed him warily.
Maressa glanced down at the extra Pokeball on her belt. Taking a deep breath, she recounted everything that had happened while she was gone. She told them everything she told Archie, but included everything about Derek and his Pokemon as well as meeting Gloom.
Golduck was startled; she brought another Pokemon—one that couldn’t even swim? One that would most likely die if Team Aqua’s goals came to fruition?
Maressa sighed. “I didn’t mean to! He started following me when we knocked out his previous owners—I don’t think he was cared for, and I haven’t found a good place to release him. As for Team Aqua, well… there are things about that that I need to tell you. But don’t you want to meet him first? Don’t worry,” she said gently as she saw their looks of skepticism, “I know what I’m doing.”
Sharpedo interjected. Did the Gloom know that she was with Team Aqua?
“I told you, I’ll tell you about that part later. But please meet him; until we can get him somewhere proper for Grass-types, I would really love it if you all made him feel at home.”
Sharpedo and Golduck still looked uncertain, but Lanturn joyfully leapt out of the water. Maressa should bring Gloom out at once!
Smiling at Lanturn’s enthusiasm, Maressa detached the Pokeball from her belt, and soon Gloom stood on top of Sharpedo’s head.
“Gloom,” Maressa said gently.
The Pokemon looked up at her briefly then faced the water again. He stood completely still, as if he was afraid of falling. Maressa reached out, grabbed hold of him, and held him on her lap. Lanturn gleefully chirped a greeting. Golduck did the same, and Sharpedo added his disgruntled greetings to theirs.
Maressa smiled at Gloom looking curiously at each of the Pokemon.
“These are my Pokemon, Gloom. They’re my best friends. We’ll take care of you until we make it back to solid land, and then you can live in a forest with other Grass-types. Don’t worry about the water—I’m not out on the ocean all the time. Golduck knows; he spends a lot of time inside with me, and now you can, too!”
The Grass-type Pokemon turned and looked up at her, and for the first time Maressa thought she could detect something other than indifference. Even though his eyes were closed and his mouth was permanently frowning, something gave her the impression that he was confused, and almost a little hurt.
Maressa smiled wider and hugged him closer. “Don’t worry, we’ll protect you and make sure that you’re treated well. I’m sorry that you couldn’t meet the last member of our family…” She trailed off for a moment and sniffed. “But you can still be with the rest of us! How does that sound?”
Gloom turned away from her and stared out at the water, as if contemplating all she said. A breeze blew and the waves turned choppy. Maressa was caught off balance for a moment and gripped Lanturn tightly with her legs to stay on. She returned Gloom to his Pokeball, not wanting to run any risk of him falling into the water.
Once the Grass-type was back in the small sphere, Golduck and Sharpedo cast her uncertain, worried looks.
“Don’t look at me like that!” Maressa snapped. “I didn’t mean to drag him out here—but I couldn’t just leave him in the city, and I can’t really tell anyone else on Team Aqua about him, can I? They don’t care about Grass-types, they want to drown them!”
Her three Pokemon stared at her in shock. Sharpedo growled—drown Grass-types? They never heard anything about this. Wasn’t Maressa just fighting for Water-type Pokemon everywhere?
Maressa bit her lip. Here was the hard part. She had just gotten back with her friends, and she might lose them again. She tried to steel herself for rejection, but after a few seconds stopped trying. It didn’t matter what tears she tried to push back; she knew that she was a wreck without her Pokemon. Nonetheless, she had to tell them her decision, and go with it whether or not they decided to stay by her.
Maressa related everything Tabitha told her and of her conversations with Derek afterward. Her words tumbled out in a rush: how she had thought through everything she was told, and how she came to the decision that she would no longer be a Team Aqua member.
“And I don’t think that they’ll let me out, so I’d have to escape without them knowing. And I really want you all to come with me. But this is your choice to make; I understand if you don’t want to betray them, and that you wouldn’t want to come with me for being a traitor, if you didn’t want to be with a human who was too much of a coward to finish what she started—” she cut herself off. Closing her eyes, she breathed deeply for a moment, trying to ready herself for whatever response they might have for her.
When she opened her eyes, all three Pokemon were looking at her—but not with disgust or disappointment. Lanturn looked sad and hurt by her words; Sharpedo looked annoyed; Golduck’s eyes were narrowed in disbelief.
Sharpedo rolled his eyes and growled in exasperation. Did she really think that they wouldn’t want to be with her anymore just because she didn’t want to be on Team Aqua? Did she really think so little of their friendship?
Maressa floated on the waves, speechless. Golduck quacked, telling her that they never had any love or loyalty Team Aqua. They were there because she was. Why would she think they would leave her?
Lanturn chimed in, saying that they would follow Maressa wherever she went, whether it was back to Mauville, back to Kanto, or even to a whole new region. They would never leave her or abandon her!
Maressa couldn’t say anything. All she did was slide off of Lanturn and wrap her arms around the Electric-type in a hug. She felt another pair of arms wrap around her, and Sharpedo’s snout nuzzling her side.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
They let go of each other, and Sharpedo dove underneath and resurfaced below her so that she was sitting atop him.
“I’m going to make this work,” she told them. “We’ll get out of here and away from Team Aqua, and we will find Seaking and we can all be a family together again.” With a pang of guilt, she added, “And I’ll go to my parents and sister and explain what I’ve really been doing these past few months and make everything up to them.”
Golduck looked skeptically at her, asking if she could trust anything she heard about Team Aqua from Team Magma.
“I was thinking the same thing. At first, I thought Tabitha was just lying the whole time, but then I realized that everything just fits. I don’t think he was ever lying to me, even when he offered me a position on the team. I mean, he showed interest in us when he fought us at Mt. Chimney. And after all, he told me more about Team Aqua than anyone on our team ever did.” Her voice faded as she reflected on the curious relationship that existed between a grunt and enemy commander. He had seemed willing to tell her anything about Team Aqua; she wondered if she should have asked more questions, and if he told her more information than he told his own underlings…
Snapping back to the present, she lamely finished with, “And the Team Aqua leaders already confirmed everything he said, anyway.”
The Pokemon said nothing, but just floated along the waves, each lost in his or her own thoughts.
“I think we should leave soon,” she informed them. “Before we’re sent out on any more missions. And if we do, we won’t have to join in on the attack on Team Magma.”
Lanturn looked concerned. If Derek was counting on Team Aqua to attack them at that moment, shouldn’t she go with them like she promised?
“What—Why?” Maressa asked in disbelief. “I want to help Derek, and attacking Team Magma and assisting Team Aqua is just going to put them all in more danger!”
But he had told her that information so that Team Aqua wouldn’t accuse Maressa of treachery, Lanturn explained. He knew that Maressa had escaped; if she didn’t follow through with the attack, then he might assume that Team Aqua didn’t believe Maressa or that she had died on the trip to Mossdeep.
As Maressa sat on Sharpedo, her thoughts rolled along while she bobbed up and down on the waves. It never occurred to her that Derek might have left her for dead.
“Do you really think he’ll care about knowing whether I’m okay or not?”
Golduck piped up—if he cared enough about her to give away information about his team and put them at risk, then he would definitely want to make sure she was okay.
“Yeah… I just don’t want to have a part in this anymore.” As she said this, her thoughts turned to Seaking. She would give anything in the world just to know that he was okay, and though her relationship with Derek was quite different from hers with Seaking, she could imagine how much pain and uncertainty he was going through.
She looked back to her team. “Let’s do it.”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Moonlight shone on the tall pearlescent rock. People crowded around it, trying to touch the historic, mystical stone. They attached small tags to it on which were written the contents of their hearts, from their trivial desires to fervent prayers. Many standing closest to the rock gazed at it, giving a respectful moment of awed silence before moving back into the heavy throng. One boy stood before the rock, oblivious to everyone else crowding around it, not moving out of the way—for no one would demand a Gym Leader to move aside for themselves.
Tate stood with one hand on the rock, his mind connected with the presence inside it. It was nothing more than a whisper of a thought, but it was there. For as long as he or anyone else could remember, this rock had been nothing more than a shrine for people to come and put their wishes or respects to. It was the oldest symbol of Mossdeep, but had been overshadowed by the space shuttle and science center in recent years. Now, with the Millennium Comet coming, people were flocking to Mossdeep City to partake in the celebrations.
It had only been within the past few days that whenever he walked by the rock, Tate felt something call out to him. The first few days it hadn’t even been a whisper, just another consciousness brushing against his mind. It was completely unfamiliar to anything he had ever felt—nothing like the mind of a human, and much different from those of Pokemon such as Solrock or Xatu. And every time the consciousness contacted his own, he sensed a deep longing and loneliness emanating from it.
“I don’t get it,” Liza said once when Tate was standing by the rock by himself. “Your psychic powers are, like, the exact same as mine.” She walked over the rock and put her hand on it, her brow furrowed as she stretched out her thoughts in search of the alien presence. “How come you can feel it and I can’t?”
“I don’t know,” Tate replied, and he really didn’t. Ever since birth, he and Liza had been on the same level—except for a brief spell when she suddenly gained a surge in power before him, but he soon caught up to her afterwards. No matter what he did, no one else seemed to be able to feel the presence. He had opened his mind between the presence and others, such as Liza or his Pokemon and used himself as medium between them, intending to let them interact over his mind. But every time he did, the Pokemon or his sister would tell them that they could feel nothing.
Tate never considered that he was going crazy. The presence was there; he could feel it, he knew it! It had been growing stronger every day, and contacting with it made him feel so happy, even though he couldn’t explain why. And as the presence grew more prominent, more complex, his joy grew, for he sensed that he would soon meet whatever lay beneath the surface of the stone.
And as he stood with his hand pressed against the moonlit surface, he could hear a small voice echo through his head.
The star…
His eyes opened as the voice faded.
Star? What star? he wondered. With a thrill of hope, he thought The Millennium Comet?
From the alien presence came a rush of joy, surging through Tate in affirmation. A grin split his face. That’s only a few days away! he thought. With this thought, happiness emanated from the presence, and Tate’s spirits lifted.
From the back of the crowd on a small ledge overlooking the people, Courtney spectated the scene. Her pale eyes rested on the small boy who had never failed to come to the rock each night. As she saw the boy smile gleefully and press both hands against the rock, excitement coursed through her.
He had to be the one. No one else had the same pervasive joy that he did when they went to that rock and no one else was going to it as often as he. Most people were only interested in having their own wishes granted to fulfill whatever frivolous desire infected their souls—but this boy always looked as though he was reuniting with a friend whom he had not seen in a long time.
But he was like her. Through no fault of his own, he was given a special connection to legends—a connection that others would abuse and exploit for person gain. And he seemed happy now. But happiness didn’t last for those who were marked.
Courtney furrowed her brow as she toyed with the Vulpix icon in her keychain. The Millennium Comet was still days away, but it was imperative to get the group ready as soon as possible.
She smiled as she watched the boy close his eyes with his hands on the rock, his face peaceful. Hardly anyone believed in legends, and that left almost no one to protect them. Even the police standing around the rock were just there to keep the traffic flowing and make sure the crowd was under control. They didn’t expect anyone to steal anything, for to them—and at least ninety percent of the rest of the people there—it was only a rock.
Absentmindedly putting her hand in her pocket, her fingers found a coin and stroked its circular edges. She frowned as she caught snatches of conversation from people making their way past her, complaining about how life had taken an inconvenient turn or how they couldn’t afford the new model for a car and had to settle for a slightly less expensive one.
Soon, people of Hoenn, she thought as she traced the jagged black ‘M’ on her coin, you’ll wish these were the only problems you had.
Hey everybody! It's still Monday somewhere in the world, right? So I'm technically not late on this... right? Here's Chapter 12, and I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 12
Maressa walked through the metal doors of their base on Route 123. Her head throbbed—partly from the exhaustion, and partly from her burning anger. She heard Golduck’s footsteps as he plodded happily alongside her, but she was too angry to talk to him.
She and a group of other Team Aqua members followed Matt into a small room. Maressa only half-listened as he gave them instructions for getting ready tomorrow; she just wanted to lie down and rest.
“… You are dismissed,” the Aqua commander finally announced.
Without another word, Maressa walked into the hallway while Golduck followed her. She didn’t get very far before two voices squealed “MARESSA!” and she was thrown off-balance by the force of people hugging her.
As they pulled back, Maressa smiled as she saw Cloe and Sarah standing before her. Both of their uniforms were clean and they looked excited; evidently, neither had been on a mission recently.
Cloe’s eyes scanned Maressa and her smile fell. “What happened to you?”
Maressa’s outfit was torn and dirty, and her forearms were littered with burns. Her bandana and left glove were nowhere to be seen, and an acrid smell hung about her. Most noticeable was her hair, which was black and charred at the bottom edge. Golduck stood next to her, and though he had scratches and bite marks on him, he seemed significantly less put-out—even pleased.
Rubbing her eyes wearily, she said, “I’ll talk to you guys later. Let me put on a new outfit.” She glared down at her Golduck. “And I need to have a talk with you.”
Maressa and her Pokemon walked down the hall. Sarah and Cloe heard the Water-type quack nonchalantly. Maressa angrily replied, “When I said ‘make sure they’re okay,’ that doesn’t mean ‘encourage them to start spitting fire at me’—”
The duo entered Maressa’s room and she slammed the door behind them. Golduck shrugged. Maressa got out just fine; what did a bit of fire matter?
“I LOST TWO INCHES OF HAIR BECAUSE OF YOU!”
Maressa flopped down on the cot, glaring at Golduck, who stood in front of her and acted as though nothing was wrong.
“Do not tell me that everything was a success. Yeah, we made sure those Team Magma members got away, but half of our squad is pissed at me because you led us on a wild goose chase through the rainforest, because you just HAD to insist that the one Linoone who ran away had the Card Key that we needed to access the information, and so I had to run after you and take along another seven people and get absolutely nothing done. But I had to run after and take along half of the squad to make sure that Team Aqua didn’t completely overpower Team Magma.”
Rolling onto her back, she sighed. “And that base was teeny—Derek had nothing to worry about. Even if we did manage to take any hostages, I doubt it would really matter. That base was in the middle of nowhere and doing nothing.” Her eyes narrowed until they were but amber slits in her face. “And then your psybeam ‘missed’ Team Magma while they were escaping and hit the opposite cliff face, completely blocking us off. Seriously, Golduck, whose side are you on?”
The ease and amity vanished from Golduck’s face as he glared at his trainer. Whose side was he on? Whose side was she on? Maressa was the one who said she no longer wanted to be part of Team Aqua or do anything that would help them.
Shifting her eyes, Maressa replied, “Yeah, I know. It’s just that after everything we’d done, the admins were starting to be impressed with us and thought we would have done a pretty good job. But after that embarrassment, they would never think about promoting us…”
Golduck quacked angrily. This wasn’t about Maressa or the admins or what anyone thought—it was about keeping her promise to Derek. She had successfully attacked a small base and managed to keep both herself and any Team Magma members involved safe. Without the team suspecting her of treason, she could take the other Pokemon and get out of there, find Seaking, and live a normal life again.
At the mention of Seaking, her heart panged. She sat up and mulled over what Golduck said. It was true—as far as she and Derek had planned, the mission was a success. No one from Team Magma had been captured, but she had “proved” to the higher-ups of Team Aqua that she hadn’t betrayed them. What was to stop her from leaving?
“I suppose that’s true. I just hope no one found your horrible battle performance surprising. But Team Aqua did end up getting Team Magma’s Key Card—we’re going to find out something that they know.”
Golduck waved a hand dismissively. Whether it was Team Aqua or Team Magma who had the upper hand—none of that mattered now. For all that mattered, the two of them could go on fighting each other until the end of time.
His vermillion eyes glanced curiously at her. Did she have any plans or preferences for when they were going to leave Team Aqua?
Maressa stared downwards, rolling a Pokeball between her hands. “Well…”
What? he demanded.
“I really wanted to see Sarah and Cloe before I left and hang out with them a bit.”
Golduck shook his head, quacking furiously. She couldn’t take time to say goodbye to some friends—she had decided to leave Team Aqua, and that meant cutting off contact with everyone involved.
“I just want to say goodbye before I leave them for good.”
That was the point! If she was going to make some tearful farewell, then they would know something was up and their plan for escape would be ruined. He knew that Maressa cared for her friends, but she was duty-bound to her Pokemon—her family—first. And as a family, finding Seaking was their immediate priority. Stamping his foot, the Water-type cast her a heavy glare. He refused to do anything that would endanger any of the other Pokemon on their team.
Looking downcast, Maressa stopped rolling the Pokeball between her hands. Her face was strained, and she was reluctant to say anything. But a moment later she murmured, “You’re right. The sooner we get out of here, the better.” Holding up a Pokeball, she said, “And we haven’t even said ‘hi’ yet to Gloom today.”
She tossed the Pokeball in the air, and Gloom appeared before them in a burst of white light. Getting off the bed and sitting next to the Grass-type, Maressa put on a smile and greeted him. “Hey, Gloom!”
The furious glare vanished from Golduck’s face as he quacked hello.
Gloom looked at them both then started glancing uncertainly around the room.
“I’m sorry I haven’t let you out of your Pokeball at all today, and I’m sorry that you haven’t been outside. But there are guards all around the perimeter of the base, and we’re not allowed to go too far outside it. So we’ll just have to make do with this,” she finished with a wave to the bare bedroom.
Gloom had stopped looking around and just stood before her, his face still fixated in a small frown and expressing no further emotion.
Maressa smiled. “Don’t worry—we’ll be out of here soon, and then you can play outside all you want! Does that sound good?”
No response. The Pokemon stood there while Maressa smiled at him and Golduck fidgeted uncomfortably. The Water-type shot a glance at Maressa—what were they to do? This Gloom clearly didn’t have any interest in talking to either of them.
Still smiling, Maressa reached out to the Poison-type and picked him up. As she brought him over to her lap, the stench from his flower nearly overwhelmed her. The rotting odor brought tears to her eyes, and she was struggling not to gag. She could have sworn that he hadn’t smelled this bad before. Maybe the stench he gave off had something to do with his mood? But he seemed just the same as before. Perhaps it was due to a difference in stress levels? She had no idea, though it at least seemed possible that a constantly-changing environment was making him stressed out.
She glanced down at the Pokemon in her arms. The way he sat unmoving, staring at something off to the side, reminded her of how Seaking was shortly after she had met him. A pang of sorrow hit her heart at the thought of it, but it also gave her an idea.
Cradling Gloom in her arms, she leaned her head back and softly sang the lullaby she frequently sang to Seaking a few years ago.
O hush thee, my baby
The night is behind us
And black are the waters that sparkled so green
The moon o’er the combers
Looks downward to find us
At rest in the hollows that rustle between
Where billow meets billow
And soft be thy pillow
O weary wee flipperling,
Curl at thy ease!
The storm shall not wake thee,
Nor beast overtake thee
Asleep in the arms of the slow-swinging seas
Maressa sang softly, repeating the last line a few times and swaying slowly. As she sang, she could feel the current of Route 119’s river flow by as she crouched in the water, holding Seaking and trying to calm him; she envisioned the moonlight shining over the dark waters, and felt Seaking’s smooth scales beneath her fingers.
As she finished, she opened her eyes to see Gloom staring straight ahead, his body trembling. Peering over to see his face, Maressa was surprised to see tears fall from his eyes. She glanced up and saw Golduck staring at the Grass-type in shock, looking uncomfortable.
Golduck quacked uncertainly. What was Gloom’s problem?
Maressa shrugged. “I couldn’t tell you.” She hugged the Pokemon more tightly to her, managing to ignore the stench for the moment. “But don’t worry about him—he’ll be fine. He’s just had a lot to cope with.”
She dimly heard the patter of footsteps outside the door, and automatically whipped out her Pokeballs to recall the two Pokemon. They returned in a flash of red light just in time for the door to open and Matt to stand there, staring curiously at the space that was previously occupied. He smiled down at Maressa as she hastened to her feet.
“Relax,” he said with a wave of his hand. “You can have your Pokemon out and chill with them. I don’t mind. I was just coming in to see how you were feeling after that last mission.”
“Really?” Maressa asked with relief. As she played with her singed hair, she sourly admitted, “It could have gone a lot better.”
Matt chuckled, slapping overhanging belly with a meaty hand. “Your hair will grow back, it’s no big deal,” he said to Maressa’s annoyance.
“Did you guys find anything on the access card?”
Matt shrugged. “It was mostly just archives of weather patterns. They weren’t only from Route 120, though, which makes me think that they probably stole those records from the Weather Institute. There were also some simulations recorded on there, so our team is looking into that now. Anyway, I wanted to tell you that you did a good job. Your Pokemon were pretty exceptional.”
“They’re usually much better—I promise,” she answered with a grimace.
“Not at all! Your Golduck might have made a few mistakes, but everyone does from time to time, and his intentions were good. Besides, him chasing that Linoone all around the base and shooting attacks provided enough distraction for us to go in and get the access card without much trouble. Even when he did do something wrong, I could tell that you knew what to do. I think I’d like to keep you around,” he finished as he gave her an approving smile.
Maressa perked up. “Does this mean I don’t have to work with Shelly anymore?”
“I’m going to ask permission to transfer you to my group, and I’m pretty sure it’ll be approved.”
“Really?”
“Yep. The boss honestly doesn’t care that much which grunt goes where—you’re all pretty much the same to him. I’ll contact you later with any new assignments once I hear about it. By the way,” he mentioned as he leaned on the door frame and surveyed Maressa with his pale eyes, “do you want to hang out this evening? A couple of the grunts and I are having drinks. You’re more than welcome to come!”
“Really?” Maressa asked again, her eyes alight with excitement. “I’d love to! Thanks for the invite.”
Matt smiled back. “I’ll see you then.” With those words, he turned away and closed the door.
As soon as the door shut, Golduck popped out of his pokeball, arms crossed and staring intently at where the commander had just stood.
“You heard all that?” Maressa asked her Pokemon.
Golduck nodded and quacked sourly. Matt was tactless.
Maressa shrugged. “I guess. Almost as tactless as you,” she added bitterly as she combed her fingers through her hair.
Golduck glanced at his trainer and quacked again. He didn’t like Matt.
“Well, you’d better, because I’m really hoping that we’ll get to work with him and be free of Shelly. Oh, come on,” she begged when Golduck didn’t react. “He can’t be that bad. I’m sure you’ll prefer things with him. Why don’t you like him?”
Golduck glared daggers at her. She was supposed to get out of Team Aqua as fast as she could, and Matt was clearly focusing attention on her. Being re-assigned to him would make it all the more difficult to leave quietly.
Sighing, Maressa answered, “I know. But don’t worry—we’ll get out of here as soon as the coast is clear. I promise.” As the Water-type continued to stand with arms crossed, she pressed, “What else is wrong?”
The Pokemon glanced back at her but this time with concern. He quacked, telling Maressa that he just wanted her to be careful and stay safe.
She smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Besides, we need to be more concerned about his safety,” she said as she held up Gloom’s Pokeball. “Maybe I can find enough time today to get outside and release him when no one else is watching. I’ll have to check on where the guard is stationed, though—I know there are a lot of watchmen stationed on this river.” She turned back to Golduck. “Anyway, you should take a rest. I know things didn’t go the way I planned to, but you earned this. I’ll see you after I shower.”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Evening came. Maressa walked through the corridors, her heart fluttering with excitement. Her pockets were empty—she knew Golduck didn’t like Matt, so she decided to leave him behind. Besides, she was just hanging out with some teammates—it was nothing different from what she did before.
As she walked into a room, she saw Matt and several grunts she didn’t know sitting around a table. Nearby tables were likewise surrounded by grunts playing a variety of games: poker, crazy eights, bridge, and several others. The room was full of cheering and groans of despair as people succeeded or failed in their attempts.
Matt glanced at her, his pale eyes alight when he recognized her.
“Maressa! Glad to see you came. Come join us!”
As Maressa sat down at the table, other grunts reached out to shake her hand. She didn’t recognize any of them.
“This is one of the squads I normally work with,” Matt said offhandedly. “We do a lot of research and work in the southeast, around Dewford and Petalburg.”
“Not so much of the ‘scientific’ research, if you know what I mean,” a small man said with a shifty smile. Several other grunts around the table laughed—Maressa tried to awkwardly laugh along, although she had no idea what he was referring to.
“Ever played crazy eights before, Maressa?” Matt asked.
“No, I haven’t. How do I play?”
“Easy. Each player takes up five cards…”
Maressa barely played cards growing up, but as the night rolled on, it became evident that, while she wasn’t very good at cards, she felt a burning need to win every round and fought viciously.
“You can’t put that one down!” she yelled at a grunt named Katie. “That’s a spade, and we’re playing clubs now!”
Katie “humphed!” as Maressa took her card off the pile and flung it at her. Maressa put down an eight, declared, “hearts!” and put down her final card.
A grunt named Jason took the hearts card off the top of the pile and handed it back to her. “You can’t put that down right away; you need to wait for your next turn.”
“What? No I don’t! That’s my final card—I win!”
“No, you need to wait until the next round!”
“No, I don’t!”
“Yes, you do!”
“Maressa, you really do,” Matt said with a laugh.
Reluctantly, Maressa picked her card up. Jason, who had also been on his last card, put his down and was declared the winner.
Maressa glared at him when she felt a nudge from Matt.
“Do you wanna step outside?”
Nodding, she got up and followed him. The outside air was warm and muggy, and the sounds of barking Linoones could be heard in the distance. The starlight shone on the nearby river, giving the water a soft sheen.
“You’re pretty competitive, huh?” Matt asked with a smile.
Maressa blushed and smiled. “I guess a little.”
“I think it’s entertaining—it’s good. I always like it when people are trying their best. None of that mediocre ‘I’ll go easy on people so nobody gets upset.’ I’m really competitive, too—that’s why I just facilitate games now. I kept on getting into fights with the grunts, and as an admin, I shouldn’t really be doing that.”
“You? You got into fights with grunts over card games?”
Matt chuckled. “Yeah…”
The two of them kept talking—for how long, Maressa had no idea—but as the night went on, Matt eventually suggested they go back inside.
“You did a good job today,” he added as they parted ways in the corridor. “Get some rest, and I’ll be seeing you again soon.”
Maressa smiled at him. “Thanks—and I’ll see you soon!” As she strode down the hallway, her heart was light and fluttery—part of her wanted to gush to her Pokemon about how much fun she had. But she knew how Golduck felt about Matt. Maybe it was best to wait until he warmed up to him a bit more.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Maressa’s eyes darted back and forth from the cards in her hand to the ones on the table before her. Across from her and on her left, Cloe and Sarah were rapidly removing cards from their hands and picking up new ones from their decks. On Maressa’s right, Mark was looking uncertainly at the cards on the table and the ones in his hand.
Through the windows, the only visible sight was a sky as black as pitch—any celestial bodies were obscured by curtains of cloud. A small light on the ceiling illuminated the gameplay on the table below as the four people rapidly picked up and placed down cards in a game Sarah had dubbed “Peanuts”—which, as far as Maressa could tell, was just four-way Solitaire.
“How are you feeling about your new position?” Cloe asked Maressa. Once she had cleaned up, Maressa had lunch with her friends and filled them in on what had happened to her, telling them the same things she had told Archie. Even now, she felt the weight of regret at betraying her friends’ trust.
“I’m kinda looking forward to it,” Maressa admitted as she continued to slam cards on the table. “It’ll be great no longer having Shelly tell me what to do all the time.”
“But won’t it be just the same with Matt?”
“No, Matt is way better than Shelly,” Sarah butted in. “He’s a lot less pushy and in your face. If you do something wrong, he’ll tell you and get mad at you for it, but otherwise he’s really chill.”
“I like Shelly,” Mark admitted.
”How?”
“She really knows what she’s doing, and her sassiness is actually really funny. She can also be nice—sometimes.”
“If by ‘sometimes,’ you mean ‘never,’ then I can agree with that,” Maressa murmured.
“Hey, if you’re looking to work with nice people, then you got the raw end of the deal,” he shot back.
“What do you mean by that?”
“You said that Matt is sending you out to the Northwestern part of Hoenn, right?”
“What about it?”
“Those people are thugs, Maressa.”
She glanced at him skeptically. “You know this organization isn’t exactly legal…”
“I get what he’s saying, though,” Cloe added. “He’s talking about people who are only in Team Aqua for the money."
“This is our day-job. We all get paid.”
“Yeah,” Sarah said, “but people like us are in Team Aqua because it’s right—it’s what we believe in and we’re fighting to help other people. But the team members who are sent out on small assignments without their commanders are only on Team Aqua because they want to get paid. They don’t care about their Pokemon or about this world. They don’t care about what they’re told to do—they just do it because they want their money.”
“Yeah, well,” Maressa muttered, “that seems to be the kind of people teams like this one want the most.”
“Maressa,” Mark said sharply, and she glanced up at him, slightly worried. His dark eyes were narrowed as he asked, “where is your Peanuts pile?”
Maressa looked down at the table and suddenly realized that her deck was completely depleted. “I win! PEANUTS!”
“NO!” Cloe slammed her hand of cards down on the table. “I had one card left—one card! I was so close!” She sighed as Sarah began to collect the rest of the cards on the table and tally up everyone’s points.
“That leaves Maressa with seventy-nine, Cloe with sixty-seven, Mark with sixty-three and me with thirty-two… How do I only have thirty-two points?”
“It’s because you suck,” Mark said simply.
Sarah snorted. “Thanks, Mark. Maressa, I can’t believe you won three rounds in a row. You’re so lucky.”
“For real, though,” Cloe agreed. “I can’t believe you managed to escape from Team Magma and then came here and got to go on a mission right away!”
“I can’t believe it either,” Maressa murmured. As the words left her mouth, her thoughts turned to Derek. How was he doing? Had he been punished for her escape? She hoped that he was able to figure out that she was okay.
“Well,” Sarah declared as she stood up, “Hopefully your luck will hold out for a while yet. I need to get to bed.”
“What? Why? It’s only nine p.m.!”
“I’m supposed to be up and ready by six tomorrow morning.”
“But this could be our last chance to talk for a while!” Maressa whined as Cloe and Mark also stood up.
“Maybe for a few days, but we’ll see each other again soon. Besides, we’re both under Matt now—we’ll be seeing each other more often, if anything!”
“Why do you look this upset?” Cloe asked.
The regret and guilt was weighing heavier on Maressa’s heart more than ever before. She longed for nothing more than to tell them the truth, to tell them everything that had really happened and all about meeting Derek and just stay up all night talking to them just like she used to.
But she couldn’t.
“It’s just—I feel like I just got back and already I have to leave again. It’s like we never get enough chance to talk to each other anymore.”
“Well, if your Pokemon weren’t so good at battling, then you could have stayed at the bottom of the team ranking with us and stayed on watch for hours,” Cloe said.
Sarah snorted. “Poor Maressa, your Pokemon are too strong and you’re being promoted. You have it so hard.” She smiled at her friend. “Hey, maybe if my Sealeo can get back to training, then we can get promoted as well and be with you more often!”
The four of them walked into the hallway, wishing each other well before heading in their own directions.
“Cheer up, Maressa,” Cloe said. “It’s not as if we won’t see each other again. We’ll talk soon.” Giving her friend a hug, she and Sarah departed down the hallway as Mark walked down a different corridor.
Maressa watched their forms recede into the darkness, a sorrow weighing in her as she reflected on her friend’s parting words.
This chapter was pretty short, but quite a bit of stuff happened in it worth talking about.
I think you did a good job showing how nervous Maressa was at the beginning of the chapter. Her interaction with Mark was also pretty nice. I wonder how the two became friends.
Hmmm maybe it would've been better for me to show development of friendships while in Team Aqua? I wanted to get the plot rolling so I started out with characters on the teams being friends.
The Slateport scene was pretty wholesome until shit suddenly hit the fan when the Aqua gang revealed themselves. Things got pretty intense when Mark tried to get Maressa to knock Stern out. Poor scientist lad. Prior to this I'd thought that your depiction of Team Aqua was going to be a less obviously evil group one than the one in the games, so I was a bit surprised to see you're going this route.
It'd probably be better if it was something less obviously evil, but I wanted to at least show Maressa starting to have doubts about the morality of the Team by the time this fic starts.
I wonder if the events of this fic will be closely tied to how they happened in the games, or if the chain of events will be wildly different to the Team Aqua we know. In any case, I look forward to seeing more of Maressas growing dilemma of being in Team Aqua.
Well this is ANOTHER blast from the past! I remember following this fic back on Serebii back in the day, and here is a good place to kinda start over with it.
I remember this intro distinctly, and I have one overall conclusion to draw about it:
LOL good to see you back! If you're here for any romance or shipping, this fic is going to be quite a disappointment then, heh.
It's real nice to see a good character dynamic right off the bat, even if my tired brain kept mixing up the characters. It's also real good to see how you handle the Pokemon characters, I like it a lot. I will say the stuff about certain Aqua operations is a bit yikes given what happens next but not like, in a bad way.
I will try to catch up with this fic again later! Just not now. I am tired.
Thanks again for stopping by! I'm glad you enjoyed the first iteration and I hope all is well!
Here's Chapter 13 (on schedule, for once)! I don't have much else to say about it, but I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 13
The streets bustled with people while the colorful garlands hanging from the buildings swayed in a gentle breeze. The sky was dotted with winking stars, occasionally covered by the passing cloud. Though it was night, the lanes were packed with vendors and stalls.
The large white rock stood apart from the mass of buildings. The throng of people gathered before it was larger than ever, each person desperately trying to stick a tag on it. Now the rock had hundreds of little wish tags hanging off its sides, some of them getting caught in the breeze and flying away. People jostled to and fro, and a hum of excitement filled the air.
Tate stood before the rock, more excited than he had ever felt before. He sensed the presence within the stone strongly now—a powerful, joyous presence that was so much different than any he had ever known, but at the same time just happy to be alive. His hands were splayed on the rock’s smooth surface, a large smile on his face.
“Tate! Aren’t you going to go look at the stalls?”
His twin sister came running over to him, carrying a number of paper decorations as well as a bamboo stick with a tag stuck to it.
“Are you still looking at that rock?” Liza’s shoulders slumped in disbelief. “This is the first night of the Millennium Comet, and Mom and Dad took me shopping and say they want to take you too! Come on, you haven’t even written your wish!” Putting down her bamboo stick, she grabbed her brother’s hand. “Come on…”
“Stop it, Liza!” Tate jerked his hand away from hers. “I don’t want to make a wish, I just want to stay here!”
“But you’ve been standing at that rock all day for weeks! I can’t sense anything, and neither can our Pokemon, and I heard Mom and Dad talking and saying that you need to get away from that rock soon!”
Tate turned back to face her, ready to retort, but stopped himself. A large number of people around the rock were singing. Something about it, whether it was the lyrics, the music, or just the voices themselves, calmed Tate. Looking back at the rock, he felt a deep peace and joy rise from within him. There was a strong urge for him to join in the singing, so ignoring his sister’s whining, he added his voice to the song.
Sasa no ha sara-sara
Nokiba ni yureru
Ohoshi-sama kira-kira
Kingin sunago
Goshiki no tanzaku
Watashi ga kaita
Ohoshi-sama kira-kira
Sora kara miteru
“Are you listening to me?”
The song ended, and Tate finally turned around to see Liza glaring at him. Why couldn’t she relax and just enjoy the festival and let him do what he wanted? She was always so bossy and making things go her way and now, when he just wanted to leave her alone, she still had to make everything worse. Tate was about to shout at her when people all around him started pointing at the sky and giving cries of joy. He looked up and saw that a cloud had passed, revealing a brilliant, shining orb hanging in the sky with an immensely long tail streaking behind it, pouring forth its celestial light.
The Comet!
Tate turned back to the rock—the source of the cry. The light the comet threw on it made it look as if the rock was glowing a bright, pearly white. As Tate continued to stare, he realized that the rock actually was glowing. The joyful presence within the rock was overwhelming, and Tate gave a gasp of delight as he saw a piece of the rock detach itself and hang floating in the air before him.
Standing under a tree on a ledge a few hundred feet away, Tabitha watched the scene, petting Mightyena. He had abandoned his uniform for civilian clothes, and as he saw the rock begin to glow, he pulled up the green sleeve of his hoodie to rub the goosebumps away.
It was true.
Of course it was—Maxie wouldn’t have put his faith in it otherwise. All the same, it took the Magma admin an enormous amount of effort to do anything but stare in awe.
“All right, team. As soon as it takes form,” he said into his headgear. He kept his dark eyes fixated on the glow ahead of him, sweat beading on his forehead. He couldn’t afford to mess this up—not since Maressa had escaped and Team Aqua had destroyed one of their smaller bases. Both were small slip-ups—but both happened so quickly, and both were his fault. He knew Maxie was becoming angrier with him—the man who had given Tabitha a new life was on the verge of punishing him. He shuddered at the thought.
Tabitha snapped back to the present day as a chorus of “Yes, sir!” came through his headgear.
“Ready,” he said, and he felt Mightyena tense beneath his hand. He scanned the crowd, and though he couldn’t see them, he knew that a number of other Team Magma members disguised as civilians were there with their Pokemon.
Taking his eyes off the people, he turned his attention back to the glowing spectacle. The rock that had detached began to take the form of three large points with a small body attached to it. The light never truly faded—if anything, it seemed to grow brighter, and it took on a golden hue as the Pokemon became visible. Everyone in the crowd had gone silent and stared at the Pokemon, who gazed down at the boy before it with dark, benevolent eyes.
Tabitha had but a moment to inspect the Pokemon before jets of flame covered it from each side. The creature of a horrible cry of anguish, and people started screaming and running away from the floating ball of flame.
“Now!”
At Tabitha’s command, a swarm of Golbat erupted from the tree next to him, each leaving behind streaks of smog. A black swirl of energy collected between Mightyena’s jaws, and he opened his mouth to shoot the shadow ball at the newly-awakened creature. In the distance, the glass of building windows shattered as small explosions erupted in the air.
Tabitha leapt off the ledge and made his way through the crowd of people to the white rock. The area was a mass of chaos and confusion; most civilians were running away, and police were trying to find the sources of the flames. But they were hopeless. Every man and woman with a uniform was the target of some attack—whether they were hit with energy balls, punched out, or on the receiving end of sleep powder, they and their Pokemon were quickly put down.
The Mossdeep Gym Leaders were the only people still at the rock. The girl had dropped her things and grabbed her brothers’ hand, trying to get him to leave. Beside her, a Lunatone floated, its eyes glowing blue as it formed a barrier of solidified light between the trainers and the flames. A Solrock was doing likewise, hovering protectively before the trainers as it tried to shepherd them away from the fire.
“I can’t leave him!” The boy was crying, looking desperately at the fire. “He’s hurting so much—I can hardly feel him anymore!”
He stopped crying and gave a yell as he saw Solrock collapse to the ground, tendrils of smoke emanating from it. The twins froze in place as they saw a large, black canine charge them.
“Lunatone, stop him!” Liza shouted.
The lunar Pokemon immediately got between the Gym Leaders and oncoming Mightyena and shot a pale blue beam from its beak. Mightyena responded with a hyper beam, and the two attacks collided, forcing both Pokemon to stand their ground in an attempt to gain the advantage. Lunatone’s ice beam caused crystals of frost to coat the grass, whereas the blades near Mightyena’s feet were singed from the sheer intensity of the energy.
Although the Pokemon were occupied, the humans weren’t. While Mightyena was trying to gain advantage over Lunatone, Tabitha continued running right past the Pokemon towards the twins. Liza gave a terrified scream once she saw him and tried to drag Tate with her, but the boy kept looking worriedly at the flames—which were now a column of roaring, twisting fire—in which his friend lay.
Tabitha ran up, grabbed the boy’s head and delivered a swift punch to his abdomen. Tate gave a sort of choking cough before falling to his knees.
Liza screamed as she punched Tabitha’s sides. “What are you doing? Let go of him! Stop it! Stop—”
But her shrieks were silenced as Tabitha gave her the same treatment he gave her brother. As he lay her gently on the ground, he gave a discontented sigh. He gazed at the twins lying sprawled next to each other, his mind going a mile a minute. It would be so much easier to take her with them. He knew that she wasn’t the one Jirachi appeared for, but it was dangerous to leave her behind. She had seen him, and though she was about ten years old, she was still a Hoenn Gym Leader. And if she was anything like the siblings Tabitha had known, she would hunt her brother to the ends of the earth.
But Maxie said to only bring the boy and the Pokemon, and Tabitha knew that more trouble would come from disobeying Maxie.
“Enough!” he said into his microphone. The flames immediately died down, and a pack of Houndoom trotted forward from multiple directions, inspecting their work. Tabitha gazed at the Pokemon lying in the middle of the charred dirt. Its once-brilliant countenance was now dark and burned. The large eyelid on its belly was mostly closed, but through the half-open lid Tabitha could see the eye roving back and forth in delirium.
Suppressing a shudder, the Magma commander bent down and picked up the creature in his arms. His heart beat rapidly beneath his chest and a cold sweat broke out. He was holding Jirachi. There was simply no other creature in the world like it. What had he, Tabitha, ever done to deserve to hold this Pokemon?
Nothing. Instead, he had orchestrated its kidnapping, and he knew nothing good would come of it. He glanced down at the empty Pokeball that hung from his belt before closing his eyes and shaking his head. He couldn’t bring himself to try.
“Are we all set to go?”
He turned around to see Nate come trotting up, likewise wearing civilian clothing and carrying the boy in his arms. Liza was still lying on the ground.
Tabitha nodded. “Yes. Whether or not everyone’s ready, we need to go.”
The duo made their way to the wilder parts of Mossdeep, carrying their new prisoners through deep underbrush and around large trees until they found their helicopter waiting for them.
As Tabitha boarded the aircraft, he checked out each of the team members. Everyone was there, and all seemed to be in order. At his word, everyone got aboard the helicopter and they quickly took off.
Nate came up to him. “Tabitha, what do you want me to do with the kid?”
“Bring him over here. Come on, Mightyena.”
Going into a store room in the back, Tabitha told Nate to lay the Gym Leader down. Once Nate did so, he exited the room.
“All right Mightyena, I need you to stay with him at all times. You got that?”
Mightyena looked up at his trainer, the tips of his ears drooping slightly and his tail hanging low.
“Oh, don’t look at me like that. I’m not leaving you behind. It’s just that I need a Dark-type to stay with the kid until we reach base. Okay? It won’t be that long, I promise.”
The Pokemon let out a large huff of breath through his nose, and lay down on the ground, resting his head on Tate’s stomach. He looked up accusingly at his trainer, and though he was being obedient, Tabitha could tell that he was still unhappy.
Feeling a little guilty, he exited the room, still carrying Jirachi in his arms.
+++++++++++++++++++
The door automatically opened as Tabitha walked up to it. Inside, Maxie sat at a chair, talking to a computer screen. From it, Tabitha could hear Courtney’s voice firing off information.
“So that woke all of the Whismur up, and they started this whole racket and there was no stopping them. The only thing left to do was seal off the entrance to the cave, and Team Aqua immediately left, but there were only five of them so it didn’t take them long and then we got out of there as soon as we could. But that stupid Azumarill shot water on me and knocked me down about thirty feet—I’m perfectly fine, it didn’t hurt. We had to leave a lot of our equipment behind, but it seems like the entire project was going nowhere—we were there nearly a month and couldn’t find anything—”
Maxie glanced up as Tabitha entered the room, and his dark eyes immediately looked hungry—eager. Looking back at the computer, he said, “Courtney, we’ll continue this later.” With that, he stood up, looking expectantly at Tabitha.
“We have them,” the commander said.
“Show me.”
Tabitha led Maxie out of his office and down several flights of stairs to the very basement of the base. Maneuvering his way around large crates and boxes, the commander led his leader to a small door, which he unlocked. He flicked the light on to show one of the Mossdeep City Gym Leaders, Tate, sitting on the ground, with a Mightyena resting his large head on the boy’s lap and two Houndoom sitting around them. The kid looked utterly terrified, and he winced as the light turned on, turning his large eyes over to the Team Magma members. His gaze shifted to the canine lying on him, and he looked on the verge of fainting.
“This is the kid Jirachi woke up for.”
“And where is the Pokemon?”
At the mention of Jirachi’s name, the boy’s eyes flickered up to them, filled with concern. The fear wasn’t totally gone, but now there was a great deal of anger.
Turning away from him, Tabitha exited the room and walked between the crates to another small room. Unlocking it, he opened it and flicked on the light to reveal two Pokemon. One was lying unconscious on the floor, its silver-and-gold body tarnished with burn marks. The teal tags on its head were charred. Its eyes were closed, and it snored softly as a Breloom stood over it, shaking his tail to keep a constant stream of sleep-inducing spores over the burned Pokemon.
Tabitha moved aside as Maxie walked into the room, gazing steadily at the sleeping Pokemon with a sense of impatience. The commander shivered as his leader stepped closer to the legendary—even in sleep, Jirachi gave off a soft golden glow, and Tabitha felt a mystic energy radiate from it, filling the room and impressing on his mind.
“Enough,” Maxie commanded the Breloom. The Grass-type stopped shaking his tail, and moved back to stand with Tabitha. Reaching down, the commander patted the Pokemon’s mushroom-domed head as he waited and stared at the Steel-type with anticipation.
The wait wasn’t long—in a moment, the eyes on Jirachi’s face flickered open and it sat up, stretching its arms and slowly rocking its head from side-to-side. It gazed up at the duo, and within his head, Tabitha heard a voice echo.
Where’s Tate?
Tabitha glanced at Maxie—the voice wasn’t his own. It was soft, childlike, and sounded very confused. Had his leader heard it as well?
Apparently, he had. Staring down at the Pokemon, Maxie answered, “He’s here. And you’ll see him once I tell you what I want.”
I want him now. With that, the Pokemon floated upwards and drifted over to the other room where Tate sat.
The boss was not pleased. “You don’t want to do that,” he threatened quietly.
With a cry, Breloom sprang forward. Jirachi didn’t even turn around, but kept on drifting towards Tate’s room. Breloom was about to tackle the Psychic-type when he suddenly stopped in mid-air and was blasted backwards into Maxie, sending the two toppling over.
Tabitha raced over and lifted Breloom off his leader. Within his head, he heard the voice again—filled with anger, and sending chills down Tabitha’s spine.
Get away from him.
The Magma members and Breloom hurried to the other room to see Jirachi floating in from of Tate, gazing murderously down at Mightyena and the Houndoom. The Dark-types were completely unfazed. They were prepared that this would happen, and Mightyena was doing exactly what Tabitha had told him to. He stood over the boy, his teeth right by Tate’s neck, a soft growl emanating from his throat. The Houndoom crept closer to Jirachi, fangs bared and hackles raised.
Straightening up, Maxie said, “Perhaps now we can negotiate.”
Jirachi turned towards Maxie, and Tabitha felt a weight pressing heavily down on his mind. The sleeves of his shirt and legs of his pants fluttered from the pure energy Jirachi radiated. Turning towards Maxie, he saw his leader stood perfectly still, staring at the legendary with a level gaze.
Let him go.
“Or what? You’ll kill me and tear this place apart? Look at the position you’re in. I have no doubt that you could teleport yourself out of this room, but those Dark-type Pokemon will prevent you from taking the boy along. And if you try anything, he will rip out that boy’s throat. None of your psychic powers will affect these Pokemon, and if you think you’re fast enough to attack him before he attacks the kid, you can try your luck.”
The weight on Tabitha’s mind became lances of pure agony ripping through him. He gasped and leaned back against the wall behind him. Maxie was lifted into the air, and Jirachi floated right up to his face, glowing so bright that it blinded Tabitha. Tabitha’s clothes and hair fluttered madly, and Breloom gave a small squeal of fright.
Tabitha heard the leader gasp out, “You woke up just for him. Can you live with him dead?”
A moment passed, and the bright light died down and Maxie was lowered to the floor. He stood gasping, staring at Jirachi loathsomely.
“Can’t bear it, can you?” he choked. “Six days of loneliness, tearing everything apart before you become a solid rock for one thousand years again. Though I imagine that you’ve been through all of that before.”
Jirachi turned to Maxie—Tabitha had only just noticed the Pokemon had been facing Tate—and glared at the Magma leader. The voice echoed harshly, with a note of despair. What do you want?
“Give me the Red and Blue Orbs,” Maxie said, and has he spoke, he could not help but allow a glint of hunger into his eyes.
I can’t.
Maxie paused. “You can’t? Do I need to remind you what is at stake here?” Mightyena punctuated the end of his sentence with a soft growl.
I can’t! the voice screamed desperately. The Orbs belong to Pokemon who were here when the earth was made—I don’t have power over them. Humans made the Orbs were made with some sort of magic that I can’t do anything about.
The Pokemon and Magma leader glared at each other. Tabitha desperately wanted to speak—he believed wholeheartedly that the Pokemon told the truth, but he knew better than to say something at a moment like this.
Now it was Maxie’s turn to be livid. He glared unwaveringly at the creature floating in front of him before shifting his gaze to Tate and Mightyena. As he did so, Jirachi turned to them as well, its gaze incredibly soft and gentle, filled with tenderness and fear. Tabitha then realized that Maxie wasn’t really looking at Tate, but was studying Jirachi’s expression.
At last, he spoke. “Fine. If you can’t do that, then go find a Team Aqua base and destroy it.” The Pokemon hesitated, but with a growl from Mightyena and a stern, “Now” from Maxie, Jirachi gave Tate one last look and vanished into thin air.
Once it left the room, the weight lifted from Tabitha’s mind. His body felt heavier, and the room was much dimmer than before. He didn’t realize it, but beads of sweat had appeared on his face, and his heart was pounding rapidly.
Turning, Maxie said, “Come with me,” and exited the room. With Breloom trailing, Tabitha turned to follow him, giving one last look to Mightyena and Tate. The Dark-type stood there, ever faithful, gazing at Tabitha. Whatever fear the canine may have felt didn’t show in his eyes, and Tabitha gave him a grateful nod before turning the light off and departing.
Tabitha was going to tell Breloom to go back to Derek, but the poor Pokemon was shaking so badly that he took pity on him and let him walk with him and Maxie. The trio went back to Maxie’s office, where the leader sat down, wringing his hands and pursing his lips. This was not how he had planned it at all.
He was about to speak when he eyed Breloom huddling next to Tabitha. “Whose Breloom is that?”
“Derek’s. He’s trustworthy.”
Maxie nodded. Eyes downcast, he sighed. “Make sure the boy goes nowhere and that there is a Dark-type Pokemon with him at all times.”
“Yes, sir.”
“This wasn’t a complete waste,” he said, though Tabitha had a feeling he was more trying to convince himself. “If we hadn’t captured Jirachi, then the Gym Leaders could be using it to look for us and destroy us. We can’t let them have a Pokemon that powerful on their side.” He glanced up. “Have I given you your next assignment?”
“Yes, sir. Lilycove.”
Maxie nodded. “I may change that soon, though…” he muttered. He sat for a moment in contemplative silence, one elbow leaning on his desk, chin in his hand, his eyes flickering back and forth. “It’s only for a week,” he murmured. “But this will be quite a week. We’ll need to stay on our toes.” Eyes turning up towards Tabitha, he ordered, “No more screw-ups.”
“No, sir. I’m sorry about that.”
Maxie waved a hand. “It’s in the past—we’ll move on. You’re dismissed.”
“Sir,” Tabitha spoke up. “Do you really think that using it is a good idea? That we shouldn’t just keep it asleep for the next week? It might decide to alert the Hoenn authorities.”
Maxie shook his head. “It won’t. You saw its relationship with the boy. For this week, it’s alive because of him. There have been millennia in the past where Jirachi never woke up, most likely because it didn’t have someone to latch on to—a sort of ‘friend’ for it to be with. No, as long as we keep the boy under constant threat, Jirachi will do whatever we want it to.”
“But do we have to use the Orbs and Groudon to do this? If Jirachi really can grant wishes, can’t we just wish for the land to grow on its own? We can’t it directly return the damaged and polluted parts of nature to their original states and get rid of people?”
Maxie glared at Tabitha. “Groudon is the only Pokemon we will be using to do that. Besides, Jirachi will only be here for a week. Once we awaken Groudon, it’s ours for as long as we want. But we can’t use Jirachi to find Groudon or the Orbs… We still don’t have leads on those. Courtney says the Cave of Origin doesn’t hold information to their whereabouts, only how they were made.” He sat, lost in thought for a moment, before he indicated the door. “You may go now. I have a lot to work on.”
Tabitha and Breloom left the office though the commander’s mind was still abuzz. There were countless things that Maxie could do with Jirachi, and the fact that he was just using it to attack Team Aqua—something Team Magma could do on their own at any time—was infuriating for Tabitha. Even if Jirachi couldn’t directly get the Orbs, there were a number of ways they could use the Pokemon to make a clear path to them.
Tabitha shook the thought from his mind; Maxie knew what he was doing. Doubting him was useless, and besides that, he was so stubborn that trying to change his mind would do no good.
He turned to Breloom and told the Pokemon to go back to Derek, but the Breloom was still shaking and chirped pitifully. Tabitha tried to walk away, but the Grass-type wouldn’t stop following him. He didn’t want to be left alone! Heaving a sigh, Tabitha began to walk towards the clinic. He knew he shouldn’t be such a pushover for Pokemon, but sometimes, he couldn’t help it.
He opened the clinic door to see Derek sitting on a chair, staring at a group of bottles filled with pills and chemicals. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his chestnut hair was a disorganized mess on his head. His dark eyes were half-open and didn’t even look up until Breloom had hopped on his lap.
“Wha—oh hey, you’re back! No, stop that, you’re too big to do that anymore!” In spite of his complaints, he put an arm around the Pokemon and patted him fondly. He glanced up as Tabitha walked over. “You’re all done with him?”
The commander nodded. “I think so. If I need him again, I’ll let you know.” Looking critically at Derek, he asked, “What’s been happening here? You look terrible.”
The medic shrugged. “I’ve just had a lot to think on.”
Tabitha sighed. “Don’t tell me you still feel bad about letting the Team Aqua member get away. I told you, it doesn’t matter anymore. Everyone else has already forgotten about it, so just let it go. Nobody’s still upset at you.”
Derek looked up at Tabitha, incredulous. “You’re just going to accept that somebody died and expect me to move on?”
“We’ve all got to die at some point—I know it’s a lot to take in, but don’t feel guilty about it. It was her fault; she chose to escape. Also,” he added as he was about to depart, “we have a prisoner down in the basement in the room off to the left. My Mightyena and some Houndoom are guarding him at the moment. I’ll switch the Pokemon out but I’ll just want you to go down there twice a day and feed the guy.”
Derek nodded. “Got it.” Normally, Tabitha would expect Derek to pose further questions, but he seemed too detached from reality at the moment.
“Thanks. I’ll be in my office—let me know if you need anything,” Tabitha said and closed the door behind him.
Nudging Breloom off of his lap, Derek stood up and glanced at the clock. It was nearly three a.m. He knew he should have been asleep long ago, and he would be regretting it tomorrow. But he couldn’t stop dwelling on how Maressa had gone to the wrong deck and fallen into the ocean with a deep, open wound. If only he had been there to make sure it all went all right…
Changing into his night clothes, he tried to shake the thoughts from his head. Tabitha was right, it wasn’t good to dwell on the past—though he didn’t really want to admit it.
Sitting on his bed, he beckoned Breloom over. “So, Breloom,” he asked, “what happened to you today?”
Responding to Chapter 10! Nice to get a glimpse of your Archie so soon after finishing my Archie chapter! Sounds like she just keeps getting herself in deeper despite her doubts.
I also thought it was neat we posted chapters about Archie at around the same time! From what I've read so far of yours, I quite like your take on him! And oh yeah, Maressa is super indecisive when it comes to picking something and following through with it.
I’m not opposed to adverbs as a general rule, but in this case I do feel like your verbs are already doing so much more for you. Shot and slapped are great words to show the force and violence of the water. I also like the world-building aspect that this cave is hard to get to, or at least not an appealing route to travel.
Fair enough (I feel like I say that soooo much in my responses haha). This chapter wasn't heavily edited, so your later comments about my word choice are also explained by that. Looks like it definitely needs a more thorough tweaking; thank you for pointing these out! Also the image of "Tentacruel PCR" is hilarious/gross/kinda creepy hahaha.
It would be nice to know what makes her lantern stand out to her, or at least how she knows these ones are wrong. Fins too long? Missing the scar from when XYZ? Body too stubby? Etc.
While most of my puns are intentional, believe it or not, this one was random. I took the name from the fastest swimmer on my high school swim team and just ran with it ^_^;
I like all the suggestions you gave here about Archie and others impression of him--I appreciate the tips! I could have done more with showcasing him both in other peoples' perspectives and outside of them.
This is definitely in part the influence of reading a John le Carre spy novel in a frenzy the past few days, but—I wanted Archie to sweat her a little harder. She has a few moments of nervousness, but he still accepts her story rather easily. Might be nice if her info about these bases felt more like something she was offering up pleasingly rather than an afterthought.
I first read that as you wanted Archie to swear a little harder (like a drunken pirate) and I thought "But I almost never use swear words...?" and then I read more carefully and NOW I see what you mean. Totally fair! I wasn't confident in my ability to write a not-totally-friendly-but-no-proof-of-betrayal interrogation, so I held myself back.
I enjoyed Archie though! We love a monologue about the ocean. I’m wondering what those bites are about though. Too much “love” from his pokemon?
It was kinda to add to his appearance of a roughened-up sailor and someone who gets his own hands dirty. I imagined they came from him doing too much hands-on work with his own Sharpedo and Carvanha and occasionally fighting them himself (he always won fights with them, btw). Thanks again for your review! Always happy to see something from you :)
I decided to do a bonus chapter! This fic was originally about the low-key lives of grunts, and I wanted to write a bit more about that, even if it isn't the main focus of the meat of the fic. You can skip this chapter without missing anything plot-important; I just wanted to make more use of some characters I had already made and fleshed out. Enjoy!
Bonus Chapter
Sarah’s blue eyes focused on the Team Magma member ahead of her as he gave out orders.
“As Team Magma members, the bond we share with our Pokemon is very important. They need to listen to us—and we need to listen to them…”
At her feet, Zigzagoon yawned and shook his fur. Sarah wished she could have brought Sealeo with her, but the Ice-type had no place in a Team Magma base. As she listened to the Magma member’s comments and commands for them to group off in pairs, the anxiety that had been pounding in her heart started to die down.
She could do this. Shelly wouldn’t have sent her off on her own if she thought it was too dangerous for her.
“It’s a small base of theirs in central Hoenn,” the Aqua commander had told Sarah when she brought her to her office. “What with Team Magma capturing Jirachi, we need to be more aware of their motives and plans than ever. There aren’t any commanders there, just a few members slightly higher-ranking than grunts. They wouldn’t be holding Jirachi there, but it’ll be good for us to know what it’s being used for and whether they have any future plans for it.
“You’ll only be there for three days. Avoid talking to Team Magma members as much as you can. Take a quick look, send us photos of their base maps, and I want reports at the end of every day.” She smiled at Sarah, her red eyes glinting with approval. “You show a lot of promise, and I’m excited to see where you go from here.”
Sarah relished the feelings of excitement and affirmation she experienced in those moments—Shelly trusted her! Matt had referred her, and she was good enough to do this on her own! She was actually helping Team Aqua!
She snapped back to the present as she saw her Zigzagoon face off against a male Team Magma grunt and his Zubat.
“Zubat, use leech life!”
“Zigzagoon, growl!”
The Normal-type bared its tiny fangs and let out a growl at the incoming Zubat. The Zubat’s ultra-sensitive ears picked up the sound and the Poison-type reeled.
“Now, bite him!”
The room all around Sarah echoed with growls, yelps, squeaks, and the occasional embers. She glanced around. Most of the grunts had very young or inexperienced Pokemon: she saw several Poochyena and Zigzagoon, a few Baltoy, the occasional Cacnea and even a Magby. Her eyes swiveled back to the front of the room where the commanding grunt stood and her body went numb in shock.
A second man stood next to the commanding grunt, his arms crossed as he surveyed the new recruits. He held himself confidently and there was an air of authority about him. He was dressed similarly to the grunt but his pant legs were marked with white stripes.
A commander.
What was a commander doing out here? Commanders didn’t drill or train the newest recruits—did they? At least, Sarah, Cloe and Maressa were all interviewed by low-ranking officers in Team Aqua and didn’t even see Matt or Shelly until they had already worked for Team Aqua for a few weeks. And this was everyone’s first day with Team Magma.
What was he doing here?
She snapped back as she heard Zigzagoon bark and saw that the small Pokemon held Zubat, who was flapping his wings madly, between his jaws and jerking his head around.
“Zigzagoon, enough!”
As the other trainer reached out his arm for his Zubat to perch on, he smiled at Sarah. Jovial eyes shone from his round face. “You fight really well!”
“Oh, thanks,” Sarah said quickly, then took Zigzagoon to pair off with another team member.
For a few hours, the trainers and their Pokemon fought each other, seeing who would land the first hit. Sarah was grateful for Zigzagoon—even though she wasn’t a very adept Pokemon battler, the Zigzagoon Shelly lent her was definitely capable of holding his own. Sarah kept her eyes averted from the Team Magma commander—seeing him made her so scared. It was harder to focus on the task at hand knowing he was there, but as long as she gave orders to Zigzagoon, she blended in perfectly.
“Everyone, stop,” the leading grunt commanded. “Your Pokemon need a break. Recall them and take time to rest. I want you all back in here at 5 p.m.”
Looking down at Zigzagoon, she saw his tongue lolling out of his mouth as he panted. She felt guilty—she hadn’t even realized how hard he had been working. Taking out a Pokeball, she recalled him and made her way to the door with the other grunts.
“Hey, hey!”
Sarah kept her head down and eyes forward, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone, until a woman next to her tapped her arm.
“I think he wants to talk to you,” she said, indicating someone behind them.
Reluctantly, Sarah turned and saw the first grunt she battled walk over to her. He was still smiling.
“Hey—you did really well! What’s your name?”
“Sarah,” she said quickly and turned around.
“That’s a beautiful name! I’m Samuel. Do you—do you want to hang out? We can get lunch together.”
Sarah’s heart clenched and her stomach did flips. Glaring up at Samuel, she said, “No, I’m not interested.”
Samuel’s face fell and he suddenly looked guilty. “Oh, I—I didn’t mean it like that, I just thought, since we’re both new—“
“No,” she said firmly, and turned around again.
“Sarah,” a different voice said. She looked around and her heart nearly stopped when she saw the commander. His cold, calculating gaze was directed straight at her. “Wait here for a moment, please.”
Sarah numbly stood beside him as she watched the rest of the people leave the room, feeling as if the world was falling apart around her. This was it. She had been found out. They knew she was a Team Aqua member and she was going to be their prisoner.
The group of people quickly became a trickle and soon, she and the commander were the only ones left. The door was still open, and she could hear the people mill about in the halls.
He looked down at her—her fear must have been visible. “Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble. I saw that other Team Magma member talking to you. Is there anything there that I should be aware of?”
Sarah stared at him for a second in disbelief. So she wasn’t found out? He was only concerned about the possibility of her and another grunt getting too close?
Regaining composure, she quickly said, “Oh, no, sir, it’s not like that at all. I’m not here for relationships—I’m not about to do anything like that."
The commander nodded. “Was he bothering you?”
“Oh, no! I think he was honest—I think he just wanted to make friends.”
Tabitha gazed at her coolly for a second before averting his eyes and looking at the door. “I’m glad to hear that. I want you to know, Sarah, that if ever someone tells you do to something you don’t want to—if anyone threatens you, or does something to you and tells you to not repeat it—come directly to me. I have no patience for that sort of behavior among our team. If it’s a petty dispute or disagreement between grunts, then sort it out yourself. I have no time for that. But if it’s more serious, let me know. I try to travel between bases frequently.”
Sarah nodded, feeling as if an immense weight was lifted off her chest. “Yes, sir.”
“Thank you. You may go, now.”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
As a new Team Magma grunt (or so they thought), Sarah was given a small bedroom in their little base. There was nothing in the room but a bed and a few drawers, but it would be plenty for the three days. Bending down, she removed two electric devices from her pack. One looked like a miniature computer that was small enough to fit in one hand. The other looked like a cell phone from the 1980s, with a simplistic screen and a number pad. She then removed a small grey box and some tape. The box was the exact same shade of grey as her Team Magma gloves.
Removing her gloves, she took out a sewing kit and some tape and set about making a hole in the fabric of the gloves and attaching the miniature camera in there. As she worked, her thoughts turned to the events of the past day.
Everything turned out to be going smoothly so far, even with the commander there! The plan had been simple: show up to a recruiting event for Team Magma, display her abysmal battling skills (although, she admitted with amusement, that part wasn’t completely a lie), and be assigned to a small base in the middle of nowhere.
Even if the base was small and would ultimately be unimportant, Sarah felt very affirmed by getting to go as a spy. Who knew? Maybe, if she got all of this right, she could eventually spy on larger Team Magma operations…
Once she finished hiding the camera in her glove, she examined her handiwork. It didn’t look half-bad; only by close inspection could someone see a miniature lens hidden in the fabric.
Turning to the miniature computer, Sarah accessed the camera and turned it on. Now everything the camera picked up was recorded and sent to her small computer—it was just a matter of getting images of the base.
Sarah opened a drawer and stuffed her belongings inside, being careful to hide the electronics under her pack. Standing up, she took Zigzagoon’s Pokeball and attached it to her belt as she headed out the door.
In the late evening hours, the base was silent—but not dark. Ceiling lights illuminated the hallways, filling them with dull, lifeless light. Sarah kept going, her heart pounding with anticipation, just hoping that she wouldn’t come across the commander, hoping that he had already left their little base.
She didn’t expect to encounter much; if she could just find a layout or map of the base, that would be enough. But all she saw around the corner was another empty hall.
She didn’t want to spend too much time out and about, so she walked around with her hand on her chin or held uncertainly before her so the camera could get a clear view of the halls. At one point, she peered around the hall and immediately jerked back: a Loudred stood with his trainer. Both were at ease, leaning against the wall, looking bored. Probably a higher-ranking grunt keeping watch to make sure the newer recruits weren’t getting into trouble at night. He didn’t seem to notice Sarah, but she didn’t want to push her luck.
After an otherwise uneventful walk-through, she returned to her room and pulled out her small computer, typed up a quick report to send to Shelly, and turned on the other electric device. She dialed a few numbers into it and soon heard it hum. Shelly told her the Magneton steel in there would block any interference, so whatever defense a small base like that would have against transmission, the device should be able to stall it so her report to Shelly could get through.
Sarah kept it on long enough to hit “Send,” then turned it off again. Her heart still pounded with anticipation—she knew nothing would go wrong, but the nature of her work was new to her and it was still nerve-wracking.
As she lay in bed, she thought of all the possibilities that would happen. Was she doing a good job? Would her report get through to Shelly? Did she make a convincing Team Magma grunt? What would tomorrow bring?
As her brain wrestled with these questions, she fell into a fitful sleep.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
The next morning passed similarly to the first, with the commanding grunt—Sarah learned his name was Connor—giving orders to them and their Pokemon. Today had the trainers and Pokemon work together in doing a series of sprints through the room.
Sarah hated it. After just one round, she was sweaty and panting hard. Why did Team Magma wear such infernally hot hoodies? And after spending so much time in pants for Team Aqua’s uniform, she felt uncomfortable walking around in a mini-skirt. A really, really short mini-skirt. How was it practical at all?
At one point, she looked up and her heart jumped to her throat when she saw the commander standing with Connor again. Why was he still here? Wouldn’t he leave soon? At any rate, it didn’t make her job any easier knowing she would have to dodge him.
Once night came and the rest of the grunts were in their beds, Sarah set up as she did the previous night. She just had to get through the rest of today, then tomorrow, and then she was out of there! As much as she looked forward to finishing, she couldn’t deny that it was exciting to be on spy missions. Setting up her cameras and writing reports made it feel as if her work was tangible—like she was really contributing to Team Aqua’s efforts.
Heart pounding in anticipation, she walked through the hallway as before, keeping her eyes peeled for any map or directory of any sort. She walked down an unfamiliar hallway she had yet—
“Sarah?”
She jerked her head around at the sound of her name, but her fright turned to annoyance when she saw Samuel standing there. His Zubat was perched on his shoulder, its wings folded around its little body. Samuel looked tired and looked at her curiously.
“What are you doing out here?”
“I’m looking for the women’s bathroom—I didn’t see one anywhere near my room.”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure it’s in the opposite direction. It should be at the end of the hall from the women’s rooms; this is the men’s area.”
Sarah smiled, but inside she was disappointed in herself. “Oh, thanks for telling me that.”
Samuel bobbed his head. “No problem. Listen, I really want to apologize for the other day—“
“No, don’t mention it,” Sarah cut him off. She was not interested in making relationships with any Team Magma members—platonic or otherwise—or holding idle chit-chat with them.
“I just really felt like I came off the wrong way. I want you to know that I was just trying to be nice, and make friends—“
“Don’t mention it,” she said more firmly, dropping her false smile. “I’m going to bed now. Goodnight.” She turned tail and walked down the hallway, leaving Samuel looking slightly crestfallen. Not that she cared—she was upset at being forced to turn in early for the evening. But it couldn’t be helped. Better to call it quits early than to get in trouble with Team Magma, right?
As she rounded a corner, she jumped in surprise at the sudden appearance of a Loudred. It looked up at her suspiciously. Behind it was the same trainer from the other night, leering at Sarah with a small smile.
“What are you doing up so late, I wonder? New recruits are supposed to be in bed.”
“I know, I know—I didn’t know where the bathroom was and got lost.”
“Sounded like a little disagreement back there,” he gestured with a nod of his head. His small eyes stayed on Sarah, leering at her over his smug smirk.
Indignation rising, Sarah said firmly, “It was nothing. I’m going to bed now.” She tried to walk past him but he sidestepped, blocking her way. She glared up at him. “Excuse me.”
“What are you up to?” he asked with the small smile on his face.
“I’m going to bed.”
“But are you tired? You want to hang out here with me for a bit?”
“No, I don’t. Now let me go.”
“Or what? You don’t have any authority here.”
“I’ll scream,” she threatened.
He scoffed. “See my Loudred there? His soundproof ability stops all sound we make from going through these halls. Go ahead and scream, kick—anything you want. But no one will be able to hear you.”
As Sarah glanced back at the Loudred and saw the Team Magma grunt approach her, her heartbeat raced. She reached for Zigzagoon’s Pokeball and released him in a flash of white light. But Zigzagoon had only just appeared when Loudred delivered a swift punch, sending him flying against a wall.
“Zigzagoon!” she gasped. Zigzagoon yipped and struggled to stand back up.
Sarah looked up as the grunt stood over her and the blood in her veins turned to ice. She wanted to scream, but in her terror, she was reduced to numb silence.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
“These are their IDs, sir.”
“Thank you, Connor. You may go.”
Connor left Tabitha alone in the small filing room, a folder with IDs from the new recruits lying open on the table. Tabitha swiftly glanced over them. He partly wished he could have done interviews with prospective Team Magma members—getting an idea of what everyone’s thoughts and views were always intrigued him and was something he enjoyed the most. But with the hectic workload lately, it was better for him to hand it off to Connor. Still, he wanted to do a swift glance over their paperwork in case anything was overlooked.
Mightyena was sniffing around the various files and folders lying about in the room. Tabitha grimaced as he glanced—he would have to scold the secretary for letting the room get in such disarray.
As he checked the IDs of the new recruits, his eyes lingered on that of SARAH ARONNAX. Her ID said she was born 25 years ago in Petalburg City. He scanned the other ones, seeing people in their late 30’s as young as 18 from a variety of cities—mostly in Hoenn, but a few from neighboring regions.
He stopped. Something seemed off. He picked up Sarah’s ID and one belonging to GREG STEIN and held them up next to each other. When they were together, Tabitha saw that the printing on Sarah’s ID was lopsided a little bit and the corners weren’t as rounded as the rest. He lightly squeezed both in his hand; Greg’s ID stayed rigid, but Sarah’s bent fairly easily.
He looked at her ID. A fake? But why?
With a sinking feeling in his stomach, he thought of several possibilities as to why—and none of them were good. Pocketing the ID, he made his way out the door and toward the women’s rooms, Mightyena trailing his footsteps.
He stopped outside Sarah’s assigned room and hesitated. He really, really hated walking in to a woman’s room without at least knocking first—but in this situation, announcing his presence would do damage. Looking down at his canine companion, he asked, “Can you go in there and check? Please?”
Without a word, Mightyena slipped into the shadows cast by the hallway as if they were liquid. Tabitha only waited a few seconds when Mightyena poked his head back out.
Sarah wasn’t in there. The room was empty.
Tabitha immediately opened the door—unlocked—and stepped in to her room. Her bed looked used, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Was she on just a quick bathroom break? That would be the best-case scenario, but something told him there was more to it than that. He glanced at his watch; it was well past curfew, and all the new recruits were supposed to up early tomorrow morning.
“Mightyena, can you try to sniff her out? I’m going to look around in here.”
Tabitha heard the padding of Mightyena’s feet as he left the room, letting out whuffs of air as he sniffed. Looking around, Tabitha shuffled the objects in Sarah’s room to see if she had anything suspicious.
He opened the drawers of her dresser—she hadn’t unpacked her things yet, and her backpack was stuffed into the bottom drawer. Tabitha pulled it out and saw a light emanating from the back of the drawer.
Reaching in, he felt two objects and held them up. One looked like a crude cell phone. The other was a small computer that was turned on—the image was moving rapidly, and he couldn’t make any sense of what it was supposed to show. Tapping the keyboard, he was able to exit the moving image and found what looked like a miniature desktop screen. There were only a few portals: “NOTEPAD,” “CAMERA,” and “CONTACTS.”
Tabitha hit “CONTACTS” and it took him to a very brief address book. A few names were listed: “Boss,” “Shelly,” “Mattimeo,” and “Oscar.”
He flipped back to the homepage and hit “NOTEPAD” as his heartrate quickened. In it were a few simple sentences.
“Day 1.
“Went through new recruit training regimen. They had us pair off and do practice Pokemon battles. Saw male Team Magma commander. He noticed me and told me to let him know if I need anything. Walked through the halls after curfew. Didn’t find anything of interest. Spotted another member. Probably on watch. Went straight back to my room.”
Tabitha released a breath of air. Flipping the computer closed and putting the other device—probably something used to block signals—into his pants pockets, he hurried into the hall.
They had a spy. And while this base was small and had nothing of interest, they needed to root out spies as quickly as they could.
Tabitha barely made it into the hall when Mightyena came scampering around the corner.
He yipped—Sarah was already found! Lucius and his Loudred were detaining her.
“Lucius? Can you take me to them?”
Something didn’t sit right with Tabitha. Lucius was perceptive—which was why he was asked to be a guard—but if he realized that Sarah was a spy, why didn’t he alert Tabitha immediately?
Mightyena set off at a brisk trot and Tabitha followed at a jog. Before long, Mightyena stopped at a corner and Tabitha peered down the hall.
A Loudred stood at the end of the hallway with its back facing Tabitha and Mightyena. A small fluff of brown and white was sandwiched between Loudred’s foot and the floor. Between Tabitha and the Loudred were a pair of Team Magma members—one tall one forced a smaller one against the wall and they were struggling.
The sight of it flipped a switch in Tabitha’s brain and, without thinking, he tore down the hallway as fast as he could. Rage and disgust coursed through his veins as he met the duo—the guy didn’t even look up until Tabitha wrenched his hands off the woman, lifted him and slammed him into the opposite wall. Lucius looked angry, but once he saw Tabitha pinning him against the metal, his eyes widened and his face turned pallid.
Tabitha turned his head and saw Sarah slumped against the far wall. Her hood had slipped off her head; her blonde hair was messy; her face was white and she was shaking.
“Are you okay?” Tabitha asked.
She nodded mutely.
He turned back to Lucius.
“What were you doing?”
“Nothing—nothing! I saw her after curfew, so I pulled her aside—I wasn’t trying anything—!”
He was cut off and the air wooshed out of him as Tabitha kneed him in the navel. Lucius slumped to the ground, taking choking breaths of air.
“Don’t lie to me. I’ll deal with you later.” He looked at the Loudred. It stood with its back flat against the metal wall as Mightyena growled at it—neither of them had fired any attacks. A little Zigzagoon lay limply on the floor nearby them.
Tabitha got down and inspected the Zigzagoon: the little guy was knocked out, but he would be all right. Turning to Mightyena, he said, “Can you look after Lucius and his Loudred? I’ll be back to take care of them. I’ll get someone to help that Zigzagoon soon—he’ll be fine if we leave him as he is for now.” He then looked at Sarah. “Follow me.”
Tabitha walked through the halls to his temporary office, hearing the soft plod of Sarah’s steps behind him. The anger in him quickly died down; more than anything, he felt bad for Sarah. Considering the location, he figured this was probably her first assignment as a spy and was just doing as she was told—and already, she had been assaulted by a Team Magma member and found out.
Tabitha realized that the sound of Sarah’s footsteps had stopped. Turning around, he saw her standing in the hallway, hugging herself and staring ahead blankly. Her knees shook badly.
“Do you need help?”
Sarah didn’t look at Tabitha but just blinked a few times and slowly shook her head. Standing up straight, she walked again and followed Tabitha into his office.
Tabitha moved a stack of papers off the center of his desk to leave a clear area in the middle. He gestured to an empty chair across his desk. “Take a seat.”
She obliged. Her deep blue eyes stayed down; Tabitha thought he saw tears well up in them. He turned away—he felt so bad. The poor girl had just been harassed, and Tabitha had saved her only to tell her that she would now be their prisoner. His heart twisted—he couldn’t bring himself to do it yet.
Spying the kettle in the back of the room, he asked, “Do you want some tea?”
She nodded.
Tabitha boiled the water and set leaves in two cups—mainly to give her time. Once the water was heated, he poured it and allowed the leaves to steep. Returning to his desk, he sat the cups down, pretending not to notice her hastily wiping tears away from her face.
The two of them sat in silence for a while, quietly sipping their tea. It seemed to be doing her some good; she held her mug just below her mouth with her eyes closed, deeply inhaling and exhaling.
Tabitha knew the time had come. There was no use in delaying it.
“I actually brought you here for a different reason.”
For the first time, Sarah looked directly at him. Her head was slightly tilted and her brow was furrowed.
Reaching into his pockets, Tabitha took out the two electronic devices and set them on the desk between them. At the sight of them, Sarah’s face fell. She lowered her mug onto the desk and stared at the electronics with her mouth slightly agape.
“I need you to tell me everything you know. Please make this easy—I don’t want to use force.”
Sarah closed her eyes. Tabitha would never attack her himself, but it would be more effective to let her think about the different possibilities of what he could mean. He knew it was cruel—but she was still his enemy and he needed to get information from her.
“Just start with how you joined Team Aqua. Everything from then until now.”
Tabitha waited in silent patience while she told him. He watched her body language carefully, but she seemed to have accepted defeat: her shoulders were slumped, her head hung, and a few tears leaked from her eyes. There was nothing extraordinary about her story; most of what she said about their internal structure was what Tabitha already knew.
“Are there any other spies here that you know of?”
Sarah shook her head.
“Thank you.”
Tabitha turned on the phone on his desk. He believed Sarah had totally accepted defeat and had told him everything she knew. There was no point in holding her there any longer, even if he did pity her.
“Naomi, please come to my office. I need you to take a woman to room 12C.”
He hung up. Sarah stared silently at his desk while the two of them waited.
Before long, a Team Magma member came in. Her long, dark brown hair fell out of her hood and spilled over her shoulders. A Numel trailed behind her, puffing out whisps of smoke from the hump on his back. “Yes, commander?”
Tabitha stood up. “I need you to take Sarah, here, with you. I don’t think she has anything on her but check her just in case. Make sure no one has any contact with her. Give her food and water. I’ll give you further instructions later.”
He turned to Sarah. “You’ll be kept in one of our rooms in this base. You’ll be provided with food, water and clothing. Let Naomi know when you want to use the shower.”
Without another word, he exited his office, heading back down the hall to where Mightyena kept guard over Lucius and Loudred. Even though such behavior disgusted Tabitha, dealing with people like Lucius did provide him with a form of stress-relief: there was little thinking involved and he got to expend energy.
And even though Sarah turned out to be a Team Aqua member, Lucius would not be on watch again.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Cloe’s eyes scanned the river from her vantage point behind some trees. Looking down, she saw her Corsola splash about with some wild Barboach. Maybe she should have kept Corsola in her Pokeball—if anyone saw a Corsola in a river, they’d know there was a trainer about.
She dismissed the thought. No one was around. The place was totally deserted, just like everywhere else she kept watch at. A small town could be seen not too far off, and sometimes the inhabitants like to explore the area. But it was blazing hot, the air was thick with humidity, and bugs crawled around everywhere. Who in their right mind would be out and about at this hour? What need did they have to keep watch?
Sighing, she looked behind her. Past the thicket of trees, ferns and wild grasses, she knew a Team Aqua base lay well-hidden. And she knew that what they did was important—collecting data on rainfall, soil temperatures, and running simulations on soil absorbancy. But it was the scientists who got to do cool stuff like that. She, a grunt who had only joined a few months ago, got to stand outside and make sure nobody interrupted their ‘illicit’ experiments.
And it was hard to not feel unimportant when she thought about Maressa and Sarah. Maressa and her Pokemon had really climbed ranks—she got to work with Matt and go on missions with him! She did things so important that she wasn’t allowed to repeat them! Cloe knew it came at a cost, and she was worried about her friend; ever since Maressa had returned from being Team Magma’s captive, she was crying about losing Seaking or else looking extremely nervous. Cloe was no therapist and wasn’t going to pretend to be one—but she could be there for her and hear her out whenever she needed someone to talk to or just a shoulder to cry on.
Even Sarah had gotten higher up in the Team’s rankings. Matt put her through spy training, and she always came out at the top of her class with high marks. Whether or not she was actually going on a mission, she was not allowed to say. But it had been a few days since Cloe had seen or heard from her, and she figured that Team Aqua would want to put her friend’s skills to good use.
As Cloe gazed out at the carpet of green grass dotted with vines, ferns, and an assortment of flowers in every color of the rainbow, and as she glanced at the sun glinting off the river to make it look like flowing glass, melancholy settled in her heart. She was happy for her friends, but she felt lonely. She wanted to be important like the others—and no matter how many times Shelly and other older members told her that every bit of work for Team Aqua mattered, Cloe didn’t feel like it.
Sitting down, she leaned against a tree trunk, her eyelids slowly closing in the warmth radiating from the noonday sun. Guess this was just the life of a Team Aqua grunt.
I liked the conversation Maressa had with Golduck at the beginning of chapter 3. I still find it a cool detail that Maressa's pokemon just have their thoughts and opinions conveyed through the narration and then it's implied Maressa just has a strong bond with them that she understands them from the simplest gestures.
Her talking to Sarah in the fourth chapter was also short and sweet. I was afraid they were going to grow a bit distant when Maressa looked to talk to her at the end of the previous chapter but didn't want to ruin Sarah's fun at the party.
Thanks! People have given me mixed replies about how I handle the Pokemon-human dialogue, but I'm glad it works out for you. I was trying to get across her internal conflict there--fortunately, they don't grow distant from that!
Maressa's skill for coordination shined really well in these two chapters too. She definitely has a lot of potential to eventually become an executive or captain in the future, assuming she can look past the less moral aspects of Team Aqua. Still, she's more or less suffered defeats in both of her fights. However, things are much more dire in the fourth chapter with her slowly drowning. That sounds like an incredibly horrifying experience and I'd assume she's dead for sure if she wasn't the main character lol.
I'm glad she's coming across as a capable member! The admins on the team definitely think she's executive-material too, heh. And yeah, no spoilers but she is not quite dead :P Thanks again so much for leaving a review! I always love seeing you pop by ^_^
[/QUOTE]
Heya! When I found out there was a brand new bonus episode, I was definitely intrigued.
Seeing the zubat's reaction to the zigzagoon's growl got me thinking: sound-based moves really would be more or less effective based on how well the target hears, wouldn't they. Against the likes of a zubat, a growl might be as good as a charm.
Hey, good to see you! Yeah lol I figured if Zubat can tell the location of objects just by the sound waves given off, then attacks deliberately using sound would have to be painful.
I wonder how magneton steel is harvested. For some reason I'm picturing them just lopping off the screws. :B
Lolll I never even thought about that. I just looked at their dex entry, saw their abilities to cause outages and thought "they might have a cool material that affects technology." And thus, Magneton farms with farmers Magneton shears were born.
I suspected Sarah would get caught, but judging by her performing super well in her spy training, I can believe she might've pulled it off if Lucius hadn't decided to be a creep. I hope Tabitha kicked his ass hard, btw.
Heh, considering she shows up much later as a captive in Team Magma, it wouldn't be too much of a surprise. And Lucius was never able to walk again after that day for completely unknown reasons.
Glimpses at team life are always fun. :D Glad I decided to pop into the thread tonight!
Thanks again so much for dropping by! I always enjoy reading over your witty comments :P
Here's Chapter 14, right on schedule! Not one of my proudest chapters--it's a lot of doing and talking. Any comments and thoughts are appreciated!
Chapter 14
Phoebe glanced around the room apprehensively. The Gym Leaders and Elite Four of Hoenn sat around a table. Large windows encircled them, giving a fantastic view of Fortree City. Although the sun shone gloriously, the atmosphere within the room was dim. Nobody spoke and the eyes of many were downcast. Phoebe glanced to her right—Liza sat a few chairs away. The child’s eyes were red and Phoebe thought she could still see tear trails on the young girl’s cheeks. The Ghost-type trainer felt a heavy pang of sorrow, and for a moment, the pain of losing a sibling washed over her—but she quickly shook the thought from her mind. If she dwelled on it, tears would come, and a Leader conference meeting was not the proper place for her to cry.
Everyone’s heads turned towards the door as the last three members—Wallace, Norman and Steven—came in through the door. Norman donned civilian clothes, as usual, and Wallace had on his typica white attention-grabbing garb. Steven still wore his dapper black suit. If there was one thing the three men held in common, it was the expression: each of their faces were grim. The men sat down at the table. Wallace spoke.
“As most—probably all—of you know now, one of our Gym Leaders has been kidnapped, along with the Pokemon, Jirachi. We don’t know who was involved or how many people. There has been significant damage to some of the buildings in Mossdeep.” He paused, seemingly at a loss for what else to say.
“So where do we go from here?” Everyone turned their heads at Sidney as he stared curiously at Wallace. His fingers combed through his red mohawk as he noted, “If one of our Gym Leaders is missing, we can’t still have Pokemon trainers trying the League Challenge, can we?”
“Are we closing down our gyms?” Flannery asked.
Norman nodded. “It seems that, for the time being, that’s what we’ll have to do.”
Wallace spoke up again. “And since we’ll be temporarily shutting that down, we figured it’s best for all of us to put our efforts into finding our fellow Gym Leader and making Hoenn safer. For the past few years, Hoenn has had a crime problem; we’ve known this, but we’ve just left it to the police. As we can see, that’s not good enough. People are scared that they or their children might be the next targets. We need to start aiding the police force to do what we can to get rid of these criminals.”
“But do we know who kidnapped Tate?” Brawley asked.
“We have guesses,” Steven answered, his eyes pointed fixedly at the table before him, “but nothing is confirmed.”
“Then where do we start looking?”
“Anywhere!” boomed Wattson. “Criminals work in networks; find one, convince him to give away information, and you can trace your way through them. Besides, it’s better to try something instead of sitting here getting nothing done.”
“Ah…”
Everyone glanced over as Roxanne started to speak. The schoolgirl looked as though she had something to say but was incredibly nervous about it.
“What is it?” Steven asked gently.
“It might sound really strange…”
“It’s fine. You’re part of this council too; you’ve earned your spot, and you’ve a right to speak as much as anyone else here.”
The schoolgirl gulped, then put forth, “I heard rumors that a lot—and I mean a lot—of people think that Team Magma was behind this. Everyone knows that they’re enemies with Team Aqua. If that’s how it is, isn’t it best for us to team up with Team Aqua? Maybe they would help us.”
“No,” Norman immediately answered. “Team Aqua is just as dangerous as Team Magma. Have you forgotten the reports about Dewford? Or Slateport? We won’t be picking sides with any of these teams. We need to clear them all out.”
Roxanne nodded, looking embarrassed.
“And it’s not confirmed that Team Magma is behind this, right?” Winona asked.
“That’s correct,” Steven affirmed.
“But if we’re taking guesses,” Glacia interjected, “then Team Magma is most likely to have done this, aren’t they?”
Norman looked furious. “We aren’t taking guesses, we’re getting rid of the criminals and finding the missing Gym Leader.”
“But judging by their Pokemon—“
“There isn’t any evidence pointing—“
“Don’t you interrupt me. Why is it so bad to assume that Team Magma did this? It’s best to start somewhere, isn’t it?”
“If we spend all of our time and effort into digging into this one organization and we’re wrong, then we’re giving the others more time to do damage—”
“We’re wasting enough time as it is, just sitting here,” Wattson muttered.
“—and they’ll be able to do even worse things with Jirachi on their side.”
“Even then, do we really know that Jirachi actually appeared?” Sidney asked.
Drake cut in. “You can’t pretend it doesn’t exist anymore—pictures and videos of it waking up have been all over the news.”
“But none of them show anything clearly, just a really bright light.”
“It was Jirachi.”
Everyone went silent and turned their heads to Liza as she spoke for the first time. She glared accusingly up at all of them.
“It is real. I saw it. And I think it was Team Magma who took my brother. Nobody else uses so many Houndoom or Golbat. And the most important thing to do now is to find my brother, so I think we should team up with Team Aqua and then arrest them all after we’re done with them.”
Silence pervaded the room for a moment as the older members looked uncomfortably at each other. At last, Drake gently spoke.
“I don’t think it’ll be that simple. In the first place, we don’t know anything about the whereabouts of Team Aqua or Magma. Finding them would take time, not to mention convincing them to work with us, and then betraying them after gaining their trust…”
“We don’t know where they are?” the young girl asked incredulously. “There have been attacks the past month and people have known about these teams for years, but nobody even knows where to look for them?”
Norman interjected. “All of this takes time—”
“We don’t have time! Tate is with them right now! And who knows what they might be doing to him or Jirachi?” She stood up. “You all can sit around and talk, but I know that there are ways to find these people. I’m going to go rescue my brother.”
With that, she stormed out. Some Gym Leaders and Elite Four members half-rose from their chairs, calling to her, but Phoebe immediately leapt from her seat.
“I’ll keep an eye on her,” she said to them as she ran out the door to see Liza sitting on her Lunatone as it floated away over the treetops of the city.
“Liza, wait!”
Phoebe sent out her Dusclops, who picked her up and floated over to Lunatone.
“Are you going to try and stop me, too? I can’t wait, I have to go find Tate!”
“I’m not trying to stop you,” Phoebe said as the four of them cruised over the tree-top houses. “I want to talk to you. First off, where are you going to find Team Aqua?”
“I’ll look.”
“Over all of Hoenn? Just take a minute to think about this!”
“No, you take a minute to think! My brother is gone, we have some of the strongest Pokemon in the whole region, and everyone expects me to just do nothing! Why shouldn’t I go looking for him?”
“Because it might save his life, yours, and countless others!”
But the young girl and her Psychic-type floated on, speeding up to get away from Phoebe and Dusclops. “Don’t try to stop me—you can’t!”
Dusclops shot forward and blocked Lunatone’s way. Lunatone’s eyes narrowed in anger.
“Listen to me,” Phoebe begged, “because I agree with you, and I’ll help you find Team Aqua and I think that we should work with them to take down Team Magma because they pose the more immediate threat! I think we need to save Tate and Jirachi, but if Team Magma managed to capture the two of them, what do you think they’ll be able to do to you?”
Liza paused for a second as she contemplated her words. Phoebe gave in an inward sigh of relief; at least she managed to get the girl to sit still and stop arguing for a second.
“Well,” Liza conceded, “what do you think we should do?”
“Let’s talk about this more on the ground.”
The two Pokemon descended, and Dusclops set Phoebe gently on the ground while Liza hopped off of her Lunatone. People strolled by on the city street near them; a police officer leaned against a tree trunk, her Marshtomp walking around and looking at passing Pokemon; a busker played a saxophone, waiting for people to drop money into his open case.
Phoebe looked down at Liza.
“Do you have any ideas as to where to start looking for Team Aqua?”
The girl’s dark eyes were downcast. “No. Maybe the river or sea, since they’re all Water-type trainers…”
Phoebe grimaced. “That’s way too much to cover… Let’s see what we know: they were at Mt. Chimney and they made the volcano dormant. Since then, it’s been filling with rainwater, and some plants have started growing and Water-type Pokemon are moving in. Brawley told me that they were in Dewford a while ago, and they caused floods that washed away a lot of the beaches and nearly came up to the city…”
“So they’ve been flooding a lot of places,” Liza said flatly.
“Yeah, but we don’t know why. And we don’t know where they’ll go next or—assuming they flood somewhere again—how they’ll go about it."
“Maybe by rain? Isn’t that how flooding is usually caused? Or a tsunami.”
Phoebe thought hard on both of these possibilities. Tsunamis, as far as she knew, where caused by earthquakes—perhaps Team Aqua would get a bunch of Pokemon to use the move Earthquake offshore. She quickly shot the idea down; there would be next to no way to get enough Pokemon to make an earthquake powerful enough to produce a tidal wave, let alone when they were out in the middle of the ocean.
She thought about heavy rain, and considering the number of Pokemon who could learn the move Rain Dance, this seemed a very real possibility. But if Team Aqua owned so many Water-type Pokemon, why hadn’t they just made it rain already?
The saxophone player stopped playing for a moment and dipped his head gratefully as some people dropped bills and coins into his case. The police officer’s Marshtomp was watching Phoebe curiously, its head tilted to the side.
Clutching her head and sighing, Phoebe leaned against a tree. She didn’t understand these criminal teams at all.
“What’s the matter?” Liza asked.
“I just don’t know where they’ll go or how they’d do it. It’s possible Team Aqua could make it rain, but considering there’s a TM out there that causes constant rain that almost every type of Water Pokemon could learn, I don’t see why they wouldn’t do it already—but then again, TMs are expensive, although that wouldn’t stop criminals from just stealing it, but maybe they don’t even know of its existence in the first place…”
The busker suddenly struck up a jazzy tune; more people gathered about to watch him play. The police officer nearby started speaking into a radio, giving Phoebe and Liza the occasional glance.
“Do any Pokemon naturally learn how to make it rain?”
Phoebe lowered her hands and gazed upward, peering at the sunlight streaming through the branches of the tall trees overhead. “I think that there are a few—Wallace would be a good person to ask, though I doubt he’d be too helpful right now. I know the Weather Institute owns a bunch of Castform, which are known for being able to control the weather.”
“Then let’s just try the Weather Institute!”
Skeptical, Phoebe glanced at the young girl. “We don’t even know if Team Aqua is going to make it rain, or if they would want a Castform to do it.”
“Well, we have to start somewhere, and this place sounds as good as any other! And if Team Aqua is using rain, then maybe the Weather Institute will know where. You can stay here and keep trying to think, but I’m going to see if I can find them.”
Unable to stop her, Phoebe watched Liza jump onto her Lunatone and take off through the trees.
“Liza, wait! I’ll come with!”
“Miss—excuse me!”
Phoebe and Dusclops were about to hurry after Liza and Lunatone when the police officer and her Marshtomp ran over.
“Excuse me, I’m Officer April.” She flashed her police badge at Phoebe. “Do the two of you have a moment? My chief wants to speak with you—not about anything bad. We know the poor girl lost her brother, and we think that we can help.”
Phoebe looked up at Liza. Lunatone hovered just overhead, staring down at them impatiently.
“Thank you, Officer April, but we’re a bit busy right now—“
“I can promise you, it’ll be worth your time. And it won’t take too long!”
Liza shouted down, “What are you waiting for, Phoebe?”
“Liza, this police officer wants us to talk with her chief. They say they can help us with finding Tate!”
Lunatone and Liza descended. The girl looked very sour but didn’t say whatever was on her mind. Phoebe didn’t feel too positive about this, either. Even though the officer seemed genuine and earnest, Phoebe didn’t have too much confidence in their ability to do a better job searching than the Elite Four did.
But if they were going to get it out of the way, it was better for it to be done sooner rather than later.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
About twenty minutes later, Phoebe and Liza followed Officer April and her Marshtomp through the halls of Fortree’s Police Department. The officer led them through a hallway and gestured into a room.
“Our chief will be with you shortly. Feel free to take a seat!”
Disgruntled, Phoebe and Liza sat down at two chairs at the long table in the room. It was drab and dreary; there were no windows, several blank doors lined the walls, and it was illuminated by ceiling lights that gave off dull, lifeless light.
“What are we doing here?” Liza exclaimed. “We’re wasting time! We could be out looking for Tate!”
“I feel the same way,” Phoebe grumbled. “But we might as well go through with this, get it over with, and head to the Weather Institute to start looking.”
Placing her head on the desk, she let out an exasperated sigh. She just started dwelling on the tedious prospect of talking to police when the sound of doors opening around the room met her ears—along with Liza’s scream.
Phoebe jolted up and sharply inhaled. Men and women wearing striped shirts and blue bandanas poured in from the side doors and stood around the perimeter of the room. Leaping to their feet, Phoebe and Liza sent out Lunatone and Dusclops.
The Team Aqua members sent out a myriad of Pokemon, and soon the room was very crowded with Crawdaunt, Lombre, and Pelipper.
A man—a huge man, whose muscles bulged through his open vest—walked in to the room as his Azumarill plodded in alongside him. A woman with long blonde hair trailed him, her Golduck walking by her side. The man smiled at Phoebe and Liza.
“So! The Pokemon League is here, hoping to find Team Aqua so they can defeat Team Magma and get their brother back.”
“Let us out, or we’ll attack,” Phoebe spat.
The Aqua commander raised an eyebrow. “Oh? No time for even an introduction? My name is Matt. Nice to meet you. Aside from that, you really think attacking us is a good idea with how packed this room is? You can try to go intangible with your Dusclops, but our Dark-types will still be able to hit you. None of your psychic powers will work on them. And you can’t do anything without causing collateral damage—there are innocent police officers working here, too, you know. And if you want to scream, go ahead: these walls are soundproof.”
Phoebe bit her lip as she glared at the Aqua commander. She loathed to admit he was right, but she couldn’t think of what to do. She glanced at Liza—the girl didn’t seem overwhelmed, just surprised and angry.
“How about we have a little chat?” Matt asked. “You want something from us. Explain yourself, and maybe we can reach an agreement.”
“What do you mean?” Liza said angrily. “You’re Team Magma’s enemies! Why don’t you just attack them anyway? You can tell us where they are, and we can help you fight them!”
Dusclops shifted uncomfortably; Phoebe watched his red eye rove around the room and examine the several Pokemon and their trainers. The Team Aqua members all looked smug and slightly tense, ready for action. Only the blonde woman standing near the commander was stone-faced. Her Golduck stood protectively in front of her as he stared at Phoebe.
“But you’re their enemies, too,” the Aqua commander said, “and I haven’t seen you do squat. It’s only once they’ve done something to you that you have any interest in attacking them. You should know, kid, that finding someone else’s base, getting inside, getting a person and getting back out isn’t easy. And even then, it sounds like you have no idea which base they’d be holding your brother at. And what makes you think we know where their bases are, anyway? If the Elite Four, Gym Leaders and Hoenn police force are as powerful as they always claim, shouldn’t you guys be able to find us all?” he asked with a smirk.
“We’ve—tried,” Phoebe said haltingly as she switched her gaze back to him. “But we haven’t gotten anywhere until now. And it seems like you two teams have some sort of understanding of each other. You fight each other a lot, and it seems like you know each other better than we know you.”
“But if you’re their enemies,” the blonde-haired woman put in, “would that make us your enemies, too? How do we know that you won’t hunt us down and arrest us all once we’ve gotten your brother back?”
“We only have interest in arresting you because you guys are dangerous!” Phoebe snapped. “You terrorize people, like that scientist in Slateport, damage the natural environment, and attack cities! If you guys didn’t go around threatening people and destroying and stealing things, then we wouldn’t have such a problem! But we don’t even know what you guys want—it just looks like you’re causing trouble!”
A few of the Pokemon shuffled as Phoebe yelled. Crawdaunt clacked their claws menacingly and Lombre roved around on the floor. Matt and his Azumarill each put a hand on their hips, staring Phoebe down.
“Well, now, that temper won’t get you anywhere. Neither of us want to attack each other in here. Perhaps we can work something out—a deal. Maybe, if you promise to give us something in exchange, we can get your brother back.”
Phoebe cut in. “How will that work? We could make these promises and give you what you want, but there’s no guarantee that you would uphold your end. Why should we trust the word of a bunch of criminals?”
“We’ll give each other some form of insurance—something we’ll want back. That way we’ll have to see each other again, and when we do, we’ll return what we gave each other. Sound fair?”
Phoebe glanced at Liza, unsure. Were they trustworthy enough? And what would they ask for?
But Liza didn’t even hesitate.
“Deal.”
“So,” the commander pressed, “what do you have to offer us in exchange for finding and rescuing your brother?”
“What do you want?”
Phoebe shot Liza a death glare—that was the absolute worst thing they could say, but the man already had a reply on his tongue. With a hungry smile and excited eyes, he answered, “The Red and Blue Orbs.”
Phoebe’s heart sank with dread. How did they even know about those? Did they believe the stories surrounding them?
Liza furrowed her eyebrows. “I don’t know what those are.”
The commander looked at Phoebe. “Do you know?”
Knowing she was a bad liar, she only said, “You can’t have those. Ask for something else.”
“That’s the only thing we want.”
Phoebe’s mind was going a mile a minute, trying to weigh in the situation. The Orbs had to stay together at Mt. Pyre to ensure peace, otherwise those Pokemon would wake up and cause chaos. Did Team Aqua want to control Kyogre and Groudon?
She thought of the conversations she had had earlier—of how Team Aqua was always causing floods. In a moment, something clicked in her brain, and she stared at the blue-clad people in dread and disdain, shaking her head. And even if Team Aqua didn’t have malevolent intentions, there was no way her grandparents would ever let the Orbs out of her sight—and she knew she could never have the heart to ask them.
“No. We will never give those to you. Come on, Liza.”
“What?” the young girl asked incredulously. It looked as though her whole world had crashed around her—again. Her eyes, which had held some sort of hope before, turned hollow, and she stared at Phoebe as though Phoebe had punched her in the face. “We can’t just go! This might be only chance to get Tate back!” Turning to the Team Aqua members, she said, “We’ll do it!”
“NO, WE WILL NOT! You have no idea what they’re asking for or what kind of power that would give them! You can’t just go around making promises when you don’t even know what they’re about—you’ll be endangering the whole world for the sake of one person! I know you miss your brother—”
“No, you don’t!” Liza screamed. “You don’t know! You’re just acting like I just want to be with him, like I’m going to see him eventually and that I need to get over this, but this is more serious! I don’t know if I’ll ever see him again! I’ve lived my whole life with him and—and—” tears fell from her eyes as she gasped. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to him or if he’s even alive. Do you know what this is like?”
The two stared at each other, and Phoebe felt as though her heart had been torn to shreds. Liza’s words stirred up memories, and combined with the stress, Phoebe was struggling to hold back tears. Her throat tightened, making it extremely difficult to speak. Dusclops put an arm on his trainer’s shoulder, looking concerned.
“Yes,” Phoebe said thickly. “I do.”
She turned away, the gears in her mind working rapidly. She was acutely aware that the eyes of every Team Aqua member and their Pokemon were fixed on her. She dwelt—just for a second—on remembering hearing the news of her sister’s passing, and she immediately wiped away the tears. Turning back to Liza, she sighed. She hated herself for what she was about to do, but she couldn’t put someone else through that pain.
She looked up at the Team Aqua commander. He stared at her contentedly.
“Fine. The Orbs for Tate.”
Smiling, the man extended a hand, which Liza shook.
“Now for the insurance,” he mused. Turning to the woman behind him, he asked, “What do you think would make good insurance?”
“A Pokemon,” she answered immediately.
The air caught in Phoebe’s throat—that was the other thing she was least willing to give away. But it was no use arguing anymore. Sighing resignedly, she said, “I’ll do it.”
“No,” Liza muttered. “This is my brother we’re doing this for. I’ll hand over one of my Pokemon.”
Phoebe gazed at the Gym Leader, and some of her bitterness faded. She appreciated the young girl’s sudden maturity but she decided to go against it. Liza had already lost her brother; asking her to lose a Pokemon as well would be cruel.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said gently. “I can do this. You lose your brother, I’ll lose my Pokemon, and hopefully we’ll have them both back soon enough.”
Sending out her Pokemon, Phoebe explained the situation to all of them. None of them seemed keen on the idea of being held by Team Aqua but one of her Banettes volunteered.
“Are you sure? I feel bad…”
Phoebe shouldn’t feel guilty about this, Banette explained. If her captivity would free someone else, she would do it.
“Well, if you’re sure,” Phoebe said reluctantly. Withdrawing her Pokemon, she held up Banette’s Pokeball. “Here’s my Pokemon.”
“All right.” The man nudged the woman. “Now give them one of yours.”
The woman only had a second to look utterly appalled before Phoebe shouted, “No! You’re the one who requested the Orbs, and if you think I’m willing to trade one of my highly-trained Pokemon for the trash of a low-class criminal, then think again! I want your Pokemon and no one else’s!”
The blonde woman’s amber eyes shone with fury. “Don’t you talk about my Pokemon like—”
“Enough!”
The woman looked incredulously at her commander. His eyes were narrowed—all amity from before was gone. She looked up at him, furious and shocked.
“We’ll talk more about this after we’re done. This was your idea.” Reaching into his pocket, he took out a Pokeball and gave it to Phoebe. “That’s my Crawdaunt. Meet us at the end of each day to bring what the other wants. You know the waterfall cave on Route 119? Come find us there. If you don’t bring the Orbs or if you tell anyone else, the deal is off and you can kiss your Banette goodbye.”
Phoebe stiffened. “Then say the same to your Crawdaunt.”
The man looked at the Pokeball he handed her, and for the first time, Phoebe could see regret and sorrow in his expression. Shaking his head, he simply said, “We’re done here. Get out.” Addressing his teammates, he announced, “The rest of you are dismissed.” Without another word, the Team Aqua members exited through doors, their Pokemon glaring at Dusclops and Lunatone as they went.
Phoebe and Liza went through the Police Department, keeping their Pokemon out. With every step, Phoebe felt like she could be ambushed—like the Team Aqua members were lying in wait for her, watching for a vulnerable moment when they could strike. Even the police members at the front desk, who smiled and bade them a good day, looked suspicious. Or was it just her paranoia?
“Do you think they’ll get Tate back soon?” Liza asked as they stepped out into the Fortree sunlight.
“I don’t know,” Phoebe answered. She thought about what needed to be done: go to Mt. Pyre and ask her grandparents for the Orbs. “But I have other things to worry about.”
Seems to me like the bigger problem is that it would be a lot of resources for finding one seaking—and that’s not Aqua’s priority. Though maybe Shelly is trying to be nice?
Ah. I was thinking of only an hour or so and easily within sight, but I guess those would've been good things to put in, heh.
This feels like thinking too far ahead. Like, it felt like a jump, especially considering that later in the conversation it sounds like they don’t fully know what Aqua is planning until M tells them.
Oh lol I just got it frrom the "Magma Emblem" item in Pokemon Emerald that allows the player access to Team Magma's base. It isn't really anything more than that ^_^;
I really liked the interlude on Mossdeep! It had a lot of juicy, concrete detail.
[/QUOTE]
Thanks! Writing about things like that are some of my favs ^_^
I don’t have a good sense how bad her injury is. It does seem like she’s doing a lot on an injured leg, which is probably preventing it from healing. That feels to me like it should be serious, but the tone here is kinda light.
Ah, this is criticism I got from the last time I posted this--that her leg injury kept reappearing and disappearing. I'm... not doing too well at remembering and handling it, admittedly.
This is a weird statement coming from someone who was kidnapped by Magma and knows how unpleasant that can be!
Lol Golduck totally turns into the voice of reason for the next few chapters. He is not interested in doing what's heroic or right; he just wants Maressa and the rest of the team to be safe.
But not her literal flesh-and-blood family. What on earth happened between them?
Hah, it kinda gave the traditional image of thugs/bad guys hanging out in a bar with drinks and card games, though here they're meant to be neither bad guys nor thugs.
is something I probably never would have checked out on my own due to lack of interest – Team Aqua and Magma were always my least favorite of the Canon Evil Teams. They seemed so dumb in conception, without even a unifying ideology beyond common idiocy to hold them together. Here, though, you manage to make both sides of the Aqua/Magma conflict seem realistic and somewhat reasonable, even if both teams are still hellbent on a severely misguided attempt to “””save the world”””. I got sucked in almost immediately and had read seven chapters before I knew it.
True enough to its name, this fic does give me the impression of drowning. Maressa is a Team Aqua grunt who blindly believes obedience is the best virtue. There are tiny little hints of how deep she’s getting herself in, like when she’s made to use brass knuckles to knock a civilian out, but she doesn’t really realize what she’s gotten herself into until she becomes a prisoner of Team Magma. By the time the reality of her situation finally hits her, she realizes she’s caught in a trap with no easy way out – and there’s no walking away from a conflict that could easily end with the world in flames, underwater, or possibly both.
Ha, yeah, the Hoenn teams definitely are considered the most idiotic for a good reason, and I understand why you have a natural lack of interest in them! I'm glad I was able to make their goals into a story that's worthwhile. And thanks for expanding on the title! I feel like it's pretty obvious to most people, but I feel really affirmed when people point out what it means and how it plays in ^_^
One thing I enjoyed about this fic is the pokemon battles. Maressa is a master battler, and it shows here – she easily outbattles a team aqua commander (even if she loses that one in the end), and conducts the battle between the two submarines almost flawlessly. However, it’s also clear that the people she works with do not have the same regard for pokemon that she does – every battle Maressa has fought onscreen ends badly for either her or her pokemon, and it seems utterly clear that she and the pokemon she battles with are seen as completely disposable in the eyes of Maressa’s superiors. It almost makes the reader want Maressa to betray them and switch over to Team Magma instead… until you realize that Team Magma is just as bad as Team Aqua, if not worse.
This is helpful for me to know; I was told in the first version of this fic that writing battles was something I struggled with a lot, and it's never come naturally for me. But given that you enjoy them and can see that Maressa is considered a good battler makes me feel like I've come a long way in writing action scenes, so thank you so much!
It surprises me how grey the situation is after Tabitha’s interrogation. It’s clear that both teams are indisputably evil, but the different priorities they value make them evil in different ways. Team Aqua is more secretive and prefers to dupe their members into thinking they’re working for a great cause while they do their dirty business in secret, while Team Magma openly spreads information around its members, and is more openly ruthless as a result. I don’t think either team is good, though, and it seems that they have gotten many of their members from people who are in debt or too young to think twice about what they’re doing.
Yep, for my fic, Team Aqua is the one that values obedience and deceives their members while Team Magma is one that seeks open communication and encourages relationships between each other--which is the opposite of what a couple other fics have, and something I hadn't even intentionally written in at first! Everyone except the leaders are fairly young, and it's easier for them to get people who are desperate/looking for purpose to join them.
All of this makes me wonder about Maxie and Archie’s ideologies, though. They’ve both been namedropped a few times, but it’s clear that they’re pulling the strings, and whatever their cause is must be believable/strong enough for them to have won at least a few high-ranking team officials to their side. IF we finally reach them and it’s something like they were researchers who disagreed, then broke up their friendship, then started a rivalry that blew up into this, you will have my everlasting rage.
Oh they appear, all right :P And what is the reason for the everlasting rage, I wonder? That the whole "we used to be friends" is a bit cliched, perhaps? :P
I will admit that even though you said this fic uses the original Aqua/Magma designs, it’s hard for me to imagine Tabitha as anything outside of his ORAS design lol
HAHAHAHAHAHA. I get that from quite a couple people, that they keep thinking of the ORAS designs, but I can assure you that Tabitha does not look like that XD
I think one thing that broke my suspension of disbelief a bit is when people in this fic seem to understand their pokemon even without a proper way to talk to them. Good examples of this are Maressa and Seaking right before and during the submarine battle, and Derek with both Breloom and Golbat when discussing how best to free Maressa. While it’s not preposterous to think that people living with pokemon develop ways to know what their pokemon are saying after living with them for a bit, being able to make out details like ‘red submarine’ or breloom’s many over-the-top escape plans implies a more sophisticated form of communication that I don’t think was ever hinted at past ‘we have a bond’.
I kinda took this idea from the Pokemon anime; Ash was able to understand Pikachu and in one of the Indigo League episodes a researcher asked how he can talk to Pokemon and Ash said something along the lines of, "Well, it's my Pokemon, of course I can understand him!" I just took that logic and ran with it. Pokemon-human dialogue has been something I've gotten mixed reviews on; a number of people say it's clunky and awkwardr and could be rethought, whereas other people think it's an elegant solution. So idk :V
Overall, I think what I’ve read so far of Drowning is a very rich, in-depth, and realistic depiction of what are (in my opinion) the least realistic groups of villains in the pokemon franchise. It doesn’t hold back when depicting brutal, difficult or immoral situations, but also doesn’t stoop to using blood and gore alone as a horror factor. And above all, it’s gotten me invested in a conflict that by all rights is too ridiculous to exist, and worried for both Maressa and Derek, who, in acting by their moral compass, are about to get themselves in so deep that they may as well be drowning.
Aww, thanks so much for this and for leaving such a kind review! I thought your review was very well-written and nicely structured, and I really appreciate the feedback on Pokemon-human dialogue! :)
Chapter 5 was quite uncomfortable to read, and also a bit scary to be honest. I was pretty surprised when it was revealed that she'd ended up being caught by Team Magma. Here I thought she'd wake up washed up on an island somehow lol.
You did well in selling how scary and manipulative Tabitha actually is in this chapter, and I'm glad you didn't make him feel too much like a creep when he was tormenting Maressa towards the end of their conversation.
Thanks! Chapter 5 was one of my favorites to write, so I'm glad to hear that I did a good job in selling Tabitha this time around. He was much more melodramatic laughable in the previous version ^_^;
I do wonder how she's going to feel working for Team Aqua beyond this point as even though she knows what they're all about now, will she change her mind if they come back to rescue her? Or will she have mixed feelings up until she decides to abandon the group? It does make me wonder if they'll really just keep her as a grunt forever for being caught by the enemy team. Time will tell.
Time will indeed tell! Thanks so much for stopping by--it's always great to see you and I love hearing your thoughts about each chapter! Hope everything is going well on your end :)
Hey everyone! This chapter is a bit on the long side (for me, anyway) and is a hodge-podge of different scenes that I had a hard time pulling together in an orderly fashion. Thoughts or comments are appreciated!
Chapter 15
Sunlight streamed in through the windows of the treetop house as Phoebe finished packing her bags. Fortree was a beautiful city, but with her home at Mt. Pyre so close, she’d rather stay there. She was never one for throngs of foot traffic and crowds. She glanced up as a shadow passed overhead and saw an Altaria perch on the windowsill, holding a note in its beak. Phoebe removed the note and scanned it:
Please come meet me at the Conference Room as soon as you can.
- Steven
Phoebe’s heart twisted into knots—she hadn’t told anyone about her encounter with Team Aqua. Did Steven know? Was she going to pay for it?
As she descended the treetop house and made her way through the streets towards the Pokemon League Conference Center, her mind went through different scenarios and what she should say.
Worst case scenario: Steven knew she was making a deal with Team Aqua and he would punish her for it. What would that look like? But if that situation arose, she could defend herself—she didn’t mean to make a deal with them so soon, and she and Liza were forced to act on the spot.
And maybe that scenario wouldn’t happen. Maybe Steven didn’t know about the deal and wanted Phoebe for something else entirely.
But what?
She thought about bringing her Pokemon out of their Pokeballs and asking them their thoughts, but before she knew it, she arrived at the Conference Center. Perhaps, if Steven was okay with it, she could let them in on their meeting…
As Phoebe ascended the wooden steps to the center—which, like everything else in Fortree, was in the trees—her heart pounded with anxiety. She walked in to the Conference Room to see Steven with several bags next to him. His Skarmory stood perched on the sill of an enormous window; the sunlight shining on his silver wings made him glow. Steven patted Skarmory’s beak and gave Phoebe a tired smile when she walked in.
“Thank you for coming here on such short notice. I’m sorry to have done this to you, but with current events, I’m sure you understand why we need to act quickly and urgently.”
Phoebe dipped her head. “Yes, sir.”
“How is Liza doing?”
“She’s… restless,” was the only word Phoebe could think of. “She’s really upset about Tate being gone—she wants to take action.”
“I’m sure. That poor girl… Anyway, the real reason I brought you here is because I’m worried that, if the teams are kidnapping mythical Pokemon like Jirachi, they may soon target other such Pokemon as well.” He gestured to his bags. “I’m heading to Route 134 to search the underwater caves there. There’s writing and it looks like it was cut out deliberately a long time ago. Those rocks are hard, and they wouldn’t be easy to cut into. But they’re not like the volcanic rock that makes up the Sootopolis crater—interesting, isn’t it? That seems to be its own sort of rock entirely. Any places on this planet with the same type of rock as Sootopolis are yet to be discovered. But I digress.” He shook his head. “Before I go, I want to ask you what you know about Hoenn’s legendary Pokemon.
“I know you come from one of the oldest families in Hoenn and that your family guards the Red and Blue Orbs. Most people don’t know about them, but if the teams find out the connection of those items to ancient Pokemon, I fear they may be in danger—that we will all be in much greater danger.”
Phoebe’s stomach dropped. This was it—she had to say something. But before she could formulate words, Steven was already speaking again.
“We know they want to expand the land and the sea, but I didn’t know they would try to use mythical Pokemon to do it. If it’s okay with your family, I think we ought to keep the Orbs at the Pokemon League Center in Ever Grande City.”
“That won’t work—they need to stay at Mt. Pyre for their power to be neutralized.”
Steven raised his silver eyebrows. “Really? Why is that?”
“We believe it has to do with the creation of the Orbs themselves. All life comes from the Cave of Origin—it’s where the Weather Trio, Latios and Latias, and other Pokemon like them came from. But the Orbs aren’t part of Hoenn creation mythos; they only appear in later stories. According to the record passed down by my family, a hundred people willingly gave up their lives to tame Kyogre and Groudon, and that’s how the Orbs were made.”
Steven nodded. “The Orbs were made by people… And they lose their power if they’re kept at Mt. Pyre?”
“There’s a part of The Scorched Slab Codex that says, ‘Those who are truly dead stop those stuck in time.’ We know the Orbs are harmless when kept together at Mt. Pyre.”
“Why haven’t they been destroyed?”
Phoebe sighed. “We aren’t sure how… My family has records of people trying many things—horrible things—to destroy them, but nothing has worked. We don’t know if it would involve more sacrifice or dangerous magic, and since so few people know about them and their power is nullified at Mt. Pyre, we don’t want to try too hard.”
As Phoebe looked into Steven’s grey eyes, she desperately wanted to tell him that Team Aqua did know about the Orbs and wanted them. Then Steven could warn the rest of the Elite Four and they could all take down Team Aqua together—what did Phoebe have to lose?
Banette.
She had Banette to lose—Matt still had her Pokemon, and if Phoebe slipped up, then he could do the worst to Banette. There was no guarantee that Steven and the Pokemon League could find and take down Team Aqua. After all, their boss wasn’t at the police station when Phoebe and Liza were cornered. And if he was still up and running, then Team Aqua was still a threat.
There was a guarantee that if Matt got upset, Banette would be the one to pay for it. And as Phoebe watched Steven mount his Skarmory, she couldn’t bring herself to tell him the truth.
Steven gave her a grateful smile from atop his Skarmory. “Thank you for your time, Phoebe.” In the sunlight, Skarmory blazed as if he was made of harnessed sunlight. As the magnificent Steel-type spread its wings and took off into the pale blue sky and became nothing more than a glowing speck, Phoebe’s heart sank lower.
What had she gotten herself into?
+++++++++++++++++++
Derek descended the stairway, carrying a container of spaghetti along with some fruit juice. Ever since his interactions with Maressa, he had grown more sympathetic towards prisoners, and so he had taken some of his personal juice to give them to keep their spirits up. He paused as he was about to take another step—he didn’t really know what kind of person this prisoner was, and maybe they didn’t really deserve the juice. It was possible that they were really a thug, and not someone he could empathize with like Maressa was. He checked the flavor of the juice: orange. His favorite. Grimacing, he put it into one of his overly-large pockets. Maybe if he liked this person, he would give it to them. Otherwise, they could live with water.
Descending into the deep darkness of the base, he grew more and more anxious. Breloom told him everything he had seen—and felt. Derek could hardly believe that they had actually captured Jirachi—a Pokemon he had only heard of in classes and mythology books. Hardly anyone had actually believed it was real, but if he believed Breloom (who wasn’t always totally reliable), then they actually had the Wish Maker living with them.
Apparently, Jirachi had left the base for an indefinite amount of time. When Derek pressed Breloom for reasons, the Grass-type couldn’t answer—he had missed most of what Maxie said, being so overwhelmed by Jirachi’s feelings and energy.
Derek reached the basement. In the darkness of the dimly-lit room, it was hard to believe that it was actually mid-morning. Derek made his way around crates and to the door Tabitha had told him. Opening the door and flicking on the light, Derek nearly dropped the spaghetti in shock.
On the floor, up against the wall, sat a child. His messy hair was falling out of his bun, and in spite of his youth, his facial countenance was ghastly. His eyes were closed, mouth slightly agape, cheeks and lips twitching uneasily in his sleep. On his lap, a Mightyena lay. The Dark-type woke up at the sound of Derek opening the door, and he raised his head and squealed happily when he saw Derek. His tail wagged back-and-forth ecstatically but he remained lying where he was.
The sound of Mightyena squealing woke the boy and he shifted uneasily as he eyed the Pokemon. Mightyena noticed the movement, shot the boy a dark look and a low growl, then returned his attention and happy wagging to Derek.
Derek squatted down next to the kid, setting down the spaghetti. “You’re the person Team Magma took prisoner?” he asked incredulously.
The boy glanced at him, then paused. Perhaps the word “prisoner” hadn’t occurred to him, but after a moment, he nodded.
“Why?”
“I—I think it’s because you want Jirachi, and Jirachi wants me.”
Derek studied the boy and Mightyena, and things began clicking in place. He shook his head.
“No…” Standing up, he was about to exit but remembered to take the orange juice out of his pocket and hand it to the kid. “Here. It’s not much, but I hope you’ll like it.” Turning to Mightyena, he jabbed a finger at the Dark-type. “You don’t touch his food, or take that juice, or do anything to hurt him. I’m going to talk to your trainer.”
Derek sprinted upstairs two at a time, his mind going a mile a minute. Where could Tabitha be? It was roughly ten-thirty a.m. He decided to check the training area—perhaps he was drilling some of the newer recruits.
His guess turned out to be correct. In a large room, Tabitha stood before a bunch of uniformed men and women, each with their Pokemon out.
Derek walked over to his commander. “Tabitha, I need to talk to you.”
His black eyes shot Derek an impatient look. “Wait until we’re done.”
“It can’t wait.”
“What is it about?”
“The kid—”
Tabitha silenced the medic with a glare and a glance at the grunts. “Not here. I told you, you need to wait until I’m done with them. Now get out.”
Derek stormed out of the room and back to the clinic, thinking of perhaps trying to stitch the laceration in that Cacnea’s arm back up while waiting. But he soon dismissed the idea—he knew that it was never a good idea to try and work while he was angry, so he just opted to watch Claydol do it. In a minute, he was sitting on a stool, watching Claydol floating before the Grass-type, telekinetically levitating a bunch of tools. The Psychic-type’s telekinesis proved to be just as precise as Derek’s handiwork, perhaps even more so.
An hour-and-a-half later, Tabitha entered, looking disgruntled. “What is so important that you had to interrupt my training regimen for?”
Derek stood up. “We’re holding a child hostage? What the hell, Tabitha?!”
What was previously mild annoyance turned into exasperation and anger as Tabitha shot a dark glare at Derek. “We need the kid because it’s the only way to get Jirachi to listen to us. If we didn’t take him, we couldn’t have Jirachi, and the Pokemon League or the police could use that Pokemon to find us and destroy our organization. And the kid is a Gym Leader. He’s been working against us the entire time—he’s our enemy as much as Team Aqua is.”
“He’s a kid! He’s barely done anything in his entire life! And you’re fine with stationing a Dark-type right next to him, ready to kill him if he doesn’t do what you want? And he’s a Psychic-type trainer! Imprisoning him with a Dark-type is torturing him!”
“It’s not torture—”
“Yes it is! Psychics are used to projecting their minds and feeling the thoughts and feelings of those around them, but they can’t do it on Dark-type Pokemon. It’s like they’re voids or drains on their consciousness.”
Tabitha looked slightly surprised at this information, but just said, “So we’re preventing the kid from knowing what we think or feel. All the better, then.”
“ ‘All the bett—’ how can you say that?” Derek stared open-mouthed at his commander. “And have you even considered the consequences of what’s going to happen? We’re going to have the entire legal force of Hoenn hunting us down!”
“This was Leader Maxie’s idea. If you want to take it up with him, fine, but don’t you dare tell anyone else about this. This has to be our most important secret, and we can’t have any of others knowing about it. You’ve been entrusted to take care of the kid, so we trust you well enough to know about this at all. There’s nothing else about this that I have control over, and at this point I’m just carrying out orders.”
Derek stood there, staring at Tabitha but at a complete loss for words. His commander turned around and exited, shutting the door behind him. Claydol and Cacnea were looking up at Derek, curious and slightly frightened. Derek sighed and sat back down next to Claydol.
His mind mulled over the issue, trying to look at it from every angle, and his thoughts kept on turning back to Maressa. When she couldn’t agree with what her team was doing anymore, she had quit. She was brave—she had done what Derek couldn’t do. Derek shook the thought from his head. His situation was entirely different than hers, wasn’t it?
“Claydol,” he said as one of the Ground-type’s large red eyes met his own, “I don’t know what to do.”
+++++++++++++++++++
The bright moon shone in the black sky overhead. Maressa leaned back on her hands as she stared up into the nighttime void. Next to her, Matt sat in the same position while he chattered away.
The two of them spent the past few nights just hanging outside and talking until late into the night. Maressa’s heart always swelled with warmth whenever Matt said he wanted to hang out with her. He—the cool commander—the one the grunts liked—actually enjoyed spending time with her!
Maressa grew into a habit of leaving her Pokeballs in her room when Matt asked her to hang out. Throughout high school and college, whenever Maressa became interested in a boy, Golduck noticed and hounded her constantly.
He claimed he didn’t want Maressa to get hurt and had to screen the boys before they got too close to Maressa—though she didn’t think that following them and watching them closely on dates was the most effective way to do it.
Maybe that’s why I’ve never gotten past a first date… she mused.
But it was different now. Golduck knew Matt—he didn’t like him, but he knew him—and didn’t need to know Maressa was spending so much time with him just yet. Maressa knew Golduck wouldn’t take it well.
She glanced over at Matt and saw him gesture to a large patch of knotted skin encircling his bicep.
“… And this is where Huntail chomped down on me when he got upset,” Matt explained. “But I showed him who’s boss—you’ve got to show these Pokemon that you know their weaknesses and then they’ll come to respect you. Archie had to do it with his Sharpedo, too. That man is a tank—he didn’t let up when his Sharpedo and its school of Carvanha all started biting him!” His pale blue eyes glanced at Maressa and he smiled. “You understand this, of course, what with your Sharpedo.”
Maressa smiled bashfully. “Well, yeah, I do. I had to fight my Sharpedo for him to listen to me—and now we’re great friends!”
“Yeah. Funny how that happens, eh? Well,” Matt said as he checked his watch, “we should probably turn in for the night.”
Maressa nodded. “Probably.”
Matt gazed at her; her face grew red.
“What?” she asked him with a smile on her face.
“Do you want to come back tonight with me?”
At Matt’s words, the temperature around Maressa might have dropped ten degrees. The warmth faded, the smile fell from her face and her heart sank a little.
“Oh... No, I—I’m just going back to my bed.”
The smile vanished from Matt’s face and his brows furrowed.
“What? Why?”
“I’m—I’m just not comfortable with that.”
He stared at her with his mouth partly open.
“Then what were these past few nights about? Why did you always come out and spend hours talking to me?”
Maressa’s eyes opened wide as a feeling of icy water spread from her heart through her veins. “I—I don’t know! You always just asked me to hang out with you—I thought—I thought we were just getting along!”
Matt rolled his eyes. “Maressa… We spent hours together. You really just wanted to talk?”
Maressa’s heart dropped but her fists quickly balled up in anger. The iciness gave way to heat which soon boiled into simmering anger.
“Do you realize how much we’ve done for you—how much I’ve don’t for you?” Matt continued. “Maressa, I’ve been thinking about promoting you!”
She felt he face turn red as blood coursed though her veins. She stood up.
“So you’ll promote me if I just do what you want? Is that how this works?”
Matt stood up, his eyes narrowing over his small frown. “This isn’t anything to get worked up about. My line of thought was perfectly reasonable.”
“Well, what about now? Are you still going to promote me when I don’t do what you want?”
“You shouldn’t talk to me like that. Remember, I’m still in charge of you—I can do whatever I want, you know.”
Maressa’s heart skipped a beat but she regained her composure. “Are you threatening me?” she spat.
“Just reminding you of your position—I’m a commander, and you’re a grunt.”
“I’m not interested,” she immediately said. Turning tail, she walked back to the base at the bottom of the hill as quickly as she could. She didn’t hear Matt’s footsteps behind her and didn’t bother looking back to see whether he also came back or whether he stayed—but she didn’t care. She didn’t care about what he said, or what he wanted—she didn’t care about him!
How could he say that to her? Would he really decide to promote her based on whether she caved to his every whim?
As she walked, Matt’s words made their full impact and hot tears came to her eyes. Her nose sniffled. In a few moments, she was full-on crying, just barely able to suppress audible sobs.
Once she reached her room, she slammed the door shut and opened Golduck’s Pokeball. Maressa leaned against the door of her room and slid to the ground while she cried.
Golduck—who initially blinked in annoyance at being woken up—immediately ran over to Maressa and put an arm around her. What happened to her?
Choking out words, Maressa told Golduck that she had been seeing and speaking with Matt for the past several nights—and what he said to Maressa. Her chest heaved with each breath and she could barely get words out.
“And—and I’m sorry I never told you—or Sharpedo, or Lanturn, or anybody—I just—just felt like—like he wanted to be with me—until—until he said he was never interested in—in me—just—just what he wanted—from me…”
Golduck quacked, but Maressa could hardly hear anything other than the thoughts running through her head.
Did none of the guys she ever spent time talking to—time being friends with—actually care about her? Those times that Mark came in when she was new—did he not really care about how she felt? And all that time Derek spoke to her when she was captured by Team Magma—all the effort he put in to protecting her, to helping her escape, to ensure she’d still have a spot with Team Aqua after she escaped—was it all for nothing?
No. Maressa knew that couldn’t be true—she refused to believe it.
Even still, a shard of doubt remained lodged in her heart.
Maressa put her head on Golduck’s shoulder and listened to his quacks.
She should have escaped earlier, he said. She had been avoiding it for so long, and now there was no more escaping reality. Staying grew more dangerous by the day, and if she stayed with Team Aqua any longer then she would only face more trouble.
Maressa’s exhaled deeply. “I know,” she said steadily. “You were right… And back then, if Phoebe hadn’t demanded one of Matt’s Pokemon, I would have lost another one of you.” As though she was living through it again, she saw the event play out, and her hands balled into fists. “But I can’t just take this! I can’t just let him get away after talking like that to me!”
Golduck jumped up and quacked angrily. How could Maressa be so stubborn? How could she stay behind to try and get even with someone when there were four other Pokemon who relied on her and when they needed to be looking for Seaking
Maressa glared through tears at Golduck. “Do you think I’ve forgotten about all of you? Did you think I forgot about Seaking? I think about him all the time! I think about you—I worry about you all. But I’m with Matt now, and he won’t leave me alone. We stay up late at night talking and then during the day he always wants me with him and he keeps telling me how I good I am at being a Team Aqua member and how if—if I just do what he says then he’ll promote me…” Her face twisted into a grimace, and she shook her head and turned away. She pounded a fist on the floor again. “I won’t do it anymore, Golduck.”
Golduck quacked. Then they should all escape!
“I feel like it’s wrong at this point, though. Team Aqua doesn’t want us to leave because we know so much about them. And now we know that Team Magma has Jirachi and if those Pokemon League people keep their promise—which I kinda doubt—then Team Aqua will have the Orbs. Can we really just do nothing and leave?”
Golduck stared blankly at her. Team Aqua and Team Magma were large organizations with hundreds of members and countless Pokemon trained for battle and spying. She was one Team Aqua grunt with three Pokemon. What were they supposed to do?
Maressa stared ahead, deep in thought. “Well, Derek was one grunt with only three Pokemon, and he managed to sneak a captive out.”
Shaking his head, Golduck paced back and forth. Her situation and Derek’s were completely different—they couldn’t be compared.
Flinging her hands in the air, Maressa cried, “I don’t know, then! But I feel like I have to—if Team Aqua does get this powerful, how can I live with myself with just running away and doing absolutely nothing after helping them get this far?”
That didn’t matter! What did matter was that she and the others would still be alive—as long as they were alive, things could get better! They could keep fighting and keep hoping! As it was, they were powerless to do anything else.
Maressa scowled. She didn’t want to argue anymore, so she took out a Pokeball and released Gloom. He popped out, looking as apathetic as usual. Smiling through her tears, Maressa said with forced cheerfulness, “How are you doing, Gloom?”
The Pokemon tilted his head as he gazed at her. At least, Maressa assumed he was gazing—his eyes were so nearly closed that it was hard to tell if he could see anything at all. Maressa wiped tears away as she smiled at him. He looked more doleful than she had ever seen him. Maybe he was surprised to see her crying?
“Oh, it’s no big deal,” she said nonchalantly as she sniffed. Golduck shot her a glare, but she ignored him. “This just happens sometimes.”
Gloom looked completely unassured. It wasn’t just his usual, un-changing expression that made Maressa notice; it was something in him—though Maressa couldn’t entirely tell what—that emanated worry. Maressa continued to gaze at him, showcasing her false smile. It wasn’t entirely false, as she was happy to see Gloom and genuinely wanted him to be happy. But with the rawness of her throat and stinging of her salty eyes, it was hard to forget the events that recently transpired.
After staring at her for a minute, Gloom did something Maressa had never seen him do.
He reached his little arms out towards her.
Her heart soaring, Maressa took him in her hands, set him on her lap, and cradled him. As he leaned back into her, she couldn’t help smiling. She glanced over at Golduck, who looked a bit surprised but pleased. Maressa wanted to snuggle her face into Gloom like she used to do to Psyduck and Seaking, but she held back because she knew she would only breathe in toxic substances from Gloom’s flower—which didn’t smell nearly as horrible as before.
As Maressa sat there, holding Gloom in her arms, rocking him and singing softly to him, she felt a deeper resentment for Team Aqua growing in her heart. She knew Team Aqua would have no interest in protecting Grass-types and that Gloom would have little chance of surviving in whatever new world Kyogre was to create.
When Maressa stopped singing, she leaned back against the wall and merely looked at Golduck. She couldn’t let Team Aqua go through with their plan. She at least had to try something, and if it meant stealing the Orbs from right under Team Aqua’s noses, she would do it.
Golduck gazed back at her evenly. Perhaps he disapproved or disagreed with her, but they both knew that he and the other Pokemon would stick with her through anything. Sharpedo was always willing to fight, and Lanturn would always stick by the rest of them.
The two held their gaze, and after a moment, Golduck closed his eyes and nodded.
Relieved, Maressa gave Gloom a gentle squeeze. “Don’t worry, Gloom,” she said. “We’ll keep you stay safe. And we’ll make sure the world stays the way it is.”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Maressa blinked as the sun peeked through her blinds and shone on her face, sending bright spots dancing behind her eyes. She inhaled deeply as she watched dust motes float in the rays of the morning sun. Matt’s words came back to her from the previous night and fury bubbled up in her. She clenched her bed sheets as she remembered—but the anger quickly died away and morphed into sadness and fear.
Am I really not worth it?
Rolling on to her side, she saw Golduck curled up on the metal floor—he was so good to her, choosing to sleep in uncomfortable conditions if it meant that she didn’t have to be alone. Next to him, Gloom was slumped in the corner, snoring softly.
Maressa gazed at Gloom; the sight of him sleeping so peacefully was oddly heartwarming. She glanced back at the sunlight shining on the bright green leaves outside—
Where no one else was.
Bolting out of bed, Maressa scrutinized the forest through her window. There were no Team Aqua members or Pokemon in sight. Quickly getting changed, she returned Gloom to his Pokeball and made her way through the hallway and out of the base.
As she strode through the trees, stepping through tall grasses and pushing aside ferns, her shoes and pant legs quickly became soaked from the dew covering the foliage. Tendrils of misty vapor rose through the forest canopy as it soaked in the morning sun. A few Taillow twittered to each other, but aside from that, the forest was quiet.
Stopping at a patch of grass, Maressa took out Gloom’s Pokeball. Through the translucent red cap, she saw him still sleeping peacefully. For just a moment, she thought of putting the Pokeball back into her pocket and keeping him with her—but she quickly dismissed the thought. Gloom was never meant to stay with her long-term. And she didn’t know how to properly care for a Grass-type, anyway.
Opening the ball, Maressa released him in a flash of white light. Gloom stretched his stubby little hands and legs before looking up at Maressa. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, a line of white drool falling from his mouth as he did so. The woman smiled at him as she bent down to where she was almost eye-level.
“Here you are, Gloom. There are lots of other Gloom and Grass-types in this forest. I’m sure it’ll be perfect for you to live in! You’re free now.”
Gloom cocked his head and stared at Maressa as drool dribbled down his chin and into the grass. Maressa’s heart panged—she didn’t have anything else to say, but she didn’t want to leave. Why was it so hard to leave him? She barely knew him. She had just met him a few days ago. Was she really that attached to him? Or was she just projecting her attachment for Seaking onto another Pokemon?
She didn’t know. But either way, it wasn’t fair to subject Gloom to anything dangerous. Getting up, she turned and strode back the way she came. She suddenly stopped as she heard the grass rustle behind her. Heartbeat racing, she turned around, grabbing Sharpedo’s Pokeball. He might not be able to move on land, but he could at least shoot water or bite whatever Pokemon got close.
Looking around, Maressa’s heart melted when she saw Gloom walk through the grass, following close behind her.
“You can’t stay with me!” she said, though she wished he could. Gloom looked up at her. “I don’t know how to take care of you—you won’t get sunlight from being inside all day, and everyone will wonder where I got a Gloom, and things will be dangerous, and—and you belong here.”
She stopped talking as Gloom reached his short arms out to her. Tears came to her eyes—why did tears come to her eyes? This shouldn’t be hard, not after everything she’d already been through, and not with everything she was about to go through.
All the same, she bent down, took Gloom in her arms and hugged him. Her body shook slightly as she softly cried. The floral scent of sweet azaleas and magnolias reached Maressa’s nose. When she opened her eyes and realized how close her nose was to Gloom’s flower, she realized with a jolt that it was his flower that smelled so sweet.
She didn’t know how long they held each other—it might have been five minutes, it might have been twenty. But she eventually put Gloom back down and smiled at him through her tears.
“I love you, Gloom. And I’ll still be around. But things are going to get dangerous soon, and I don’t want you caught up in it. I’ll come back here—I promise! When the fighting is all over, Golduck, Lanturn, Sharpedo, Seaking and I will come back here and we can all play together. We can go to the river, and you can meet Seaking and talk to him. Won’t that be nice?”
Gloom made no sound but just looked up at Maressa sadly. She was surprised to see that his eyes were wet, too.
“When everything is safe again, I promise I’ll come back!”
With that, she turned around again and walked through the forest, wiping away tears and snot. She half-hoped to hear the rustle of Gloom’s footsteps again, but the forest was as silent as the grave.
Well, this is about 10 days late. My apologies, and I'll do what I can to get back on schedule with these chapters! I decided to try a new style of writing with this chapter: instead of just summing up things that happen over a period of days, I put in snippets of the dialogue and things that happened. Did it work? Or would summing have been better? Let me know!
Credit to bluwiikoon for the onomatopoeia of the fire siren!
Quick side-note: I've gotten a lot of commends over the years about human-Pokemon dialogue and interactio in this fic. I edited chapter 1 a bit to more explicitly spell out that, as trainers and their Pokemon spend more time together, they can communicate with each other. Since Maressa has spent most of her life with her Pokemon, she understands them just fine. Other trainers in this fic can also understand their Pokemon.
Chapter 16
Maressa leaned against a tree trunk and gazed out over the wide river as the roar of the waterfall reached her ears. She stood on a protruding piece of land that gave her a breathtaking view of the rainforest stretching out like a green carpet beneath a bright blue canopy; it was a view that would allow her to easily spot any intruders—or visitors. The waterfall nearby was the same one where she and Matt were to meet Phoebe and Liza.
Switching her gaze to the riverbed, she saw Golduck lazily hovering just beneath the water’s surface, the jewel on his forehead glinting dully. He still disagreed with Maressa in staying with Team Aqua, but he wasn’t so angry at her that he wouldn’t hang around her.
Maressa swiveled her head around to make sure no other team members were nearby. None was in sight. She glanced at a swath of trees behind her and saw Gloom sitting beside a tree in a patch of sunlight, a line of white drool dribbling from his mouth. Her heart lightened and turned warm.
She hadn’t officially released him; he could technically be returned to the Pokeball and she always kept his Pokeball on her belt, although it was more for sentimental reasons at this point. The sentimentality wasn’t entirely directed towards Gloom; it had always felt right for her to have four Pokeballs with her. Feeling the empty one reminded her, with panging sorrow, of Seaking each time.
Fortunately, Gloom seemed to acclimate to the rainforest just fine, and Maressa couldn’t help but notice that every time she came outside, she saw him nearby, gazing at her. She always smiled at him, and even though he hardly made a response, it filled her heart to know that he stayed nearby and that she could still see him.
She frowned. She wanted to do something nice for Gloom—maybe give him a snack or something to eat. But what did Grass-types eat? Did they eat at all? Every time she saw him, Gloom seemed content to just soak up the sunlight. Maressa’s thoughts flickered back to Derek and his Breloom; they would know how to take care of Gloom. Breloom might make a really good friend for Gloom—he was always so welcoming and friendly every time Maressa saw him.
Thinking of Derek and his Pokemon made Maressa’s heart sink a little. She wondered what trouble they had gotten into for releasing her and hoped they were all right. There was a longing in her heart to speak to Derek—to speak to someone about her desire to leave Team Aqua and how she had grown to hate the Team.
Well, how she had grown to hate Matt.
At the thought of Matt, she turned her mind to thinking what she could do to damage Team Aqua. Many of the experimental labs had bottles filled with ethanol—that was highly flammable. Maybe she could—
KABOOM!
She wheeled around at the sound of the explosion as it accompanied a shockwave that reverberated through the air. People screamed and yelled—a group of team members pelted into the forest and away from their base. Maressa rushed down the slope to where the Team Aqua base was located, hearing Golduck’s feet slap wetly in the grass as he raced alongside her. She came to a halt as she saw the small metal structure—or what was left of it—nestled snugly between several trees. Most of the base was underground with only a small entrance at the surface. Copious amounts of smoke issued from the metal structure and Team Aqua members stumbled out of it, coughing.
Maressa started forward but stopped when everything in her vision exploded in a flash. It was too bright to see—even when she clenched her eyes shut, the golden light shone through her eyelids. She turned away and buried her face in the crook of her elbow—frustrated, confused and completely helpless.
A moment later the light vanished. Maressa opened her eyes and lowered her arm, blinking away the spots popping up. Heart racing, she raised her eyes towards the heavens and a chill rolled down her spine.
Dark grey clouds moved rapidly in a spotty formation, erratically letting through piercing columns of sunlight before covering them up again. Columns of cloud has been turned on their side and rolled with alarming speed through the skyscape.
And just as suddenly as they had started, they stopped, leaving puffy white cumulus clouds and serene blue sky.
Maressa blinked but didn’t have enough time to question it before she felt every hair on her body rise. She looked down at Golduck—but she barely had control of her own muscles. Golduck didn’t have any hairs—not since he was a Psyduck—but the wide-eyed expression of shock on his face mirrored the panic Maressa felt in her heart. She saw her friend’s body lift into the air, as if he was a puppet attached to strings. Her own body rose along with him—her heart pounded madly and a terrified sweat broke out on her forehead.
Maressa’s heart jumped in her throat as she saw a little gold and silver imp floating in the air before her, its body giving off a soft glow. She might have considered it cute, but with the dark smoke billowing from the remains of the base behind it, along with the fact that she could no longer move her own body, left Maressa terrified.
Her terror was overridden a second later by searing pain. She took in a strangled gasp as it felt like a thousand needles were hammered into her brain—each hammer blow sending skull-cracking lances of agony through her body.
Her own memories flashed before her eyes: playing in a pond near Fuchsia city, getting into a slap-fight with Psyduck, staring out the window of a moving truck, getting into a slap-fight with Betty, graduating college, receiving her Team Aqua uniform, talking with Derek…
Each of these memories lasted for a split-second before moving on to the next with a new jolt of pain. Maressa didn’t only see the memories, but felt all of the feelings associated with them: the anger at Psyduck and her sister, the longing and sadness of moving away from Kanto, the excitement of joining Team Aqua, the fear of being trapped in a Team Magma base—and everything else as hundreds of memories were sifted through her mind in an instant. Only the memories of her talking to Derek and escaping the Team Magma base lasted longer. It paused on a memory of Derek searching through the medicine cabinet, turning his head to talk to her.
I like this one.
Maressa saw the little imp staring at her, its brown eyes stern but approving.
This one is nice.
It took her but a moment to realize that “this one” meant Derek and that it was the creature’s voice she heard in her head—a voice that sounded like a young boy’s.
I’ve seen him before. He’s nice to my friend. He brings him food and takes care of him.
The pain vanished from Maressa’s brain and the Pokemon gazed at her eagerly. She didn’t know who this “friend” was—but the Pokemon knew Derek. And he was taking care of someone just like he did with Maressa. Was he okay after her escape?
He’s fine. I have seen his thoughts too. He worries about you a lot. He thinks you’re dead. I’ll let him know that you are alive.
The Pokemon held Maressa a moment longer—it examined her feelings of resentment towards Team Aqua and sifted through her memories of making a deal with Liza and Phoebe. As these flashed before her mind, she felt a burst of joy though it was not her own. The Pokemon’s eyes lit up as it gazed at her and then lowered her to the ground.
The two of them stared at each other for a moment—then it vanished.
Maressa was only on her feet for only a second before the weight of her body came back to her. She fell to her knees, clutching her stomach as it reeled in nausea. She felt dizzy and heavy. The world spun around her—her vision started to go black, and she leaned forward and retched, coughing as she wiped her mouth clean. She fell onto her back, arms spread outwards as she breathed heavily, gazing at the sky while colors popped before her eyes. Golduck was at her side in a flash, his vermillion eyes filled with concern.
Laying a hand on her friend, Maressa panted, “Did… did you feel it, Golduck?”
The Pokemon’s eyes moved downwards as he nodded slowly.
“What do you think it was?”
Golduck shook his head. It was a Pokemon—some type that was far more powerful than anything he had ever come across.
Maressa continued gazing at the sky, questions popping into her mind, which she voiced aloud to Golduck.
“But just what was that thing? Why did it come to attack us? How does it know Derek? Does this mean it’s been around Team Magma before? Why was it so overjoyed when it realized Matt and I had made a deal with Phoebe and Liza? What did it do to the sky—and to our base?”
As she voiced these thoughts, she pieced together bits of the puzzle in her mind when she felt the ground shake and saw people run by. Golduck helped Maressa sit back up as Team Aqua members sprinted over to the base.
“Are you all right?”
Maressa looked up as Mark ambled over. “Yeah,” she said a little shakily. “Do you know what that thing was?”
Mark shook his head. “I have no idea. I was just outside with Lombre one minute, and then I heard this loud explosion. So I took off running as fast as I could—because what was I supposed to do, y’know?—and once I reached the woods, it felt like something was squeezing my brain. And I can hardly even move my own body, and next thing I know I’m in the air, and I see my entire life flash right before my eyes. Literally every single thing I ever experienced flashed before me in a few seconds! And a second later I’m lying flat on my back in the grass. So I got up and noticed that little—that little thing floating in the air, and you and your Golduck were floating in front of it for a few seconds before you two dropped down. Then it vanished—not a sound, just a weird little light flicker—and it was gone.”
“Yeah… That’s pretty much what happened to me.”
Maressa stared at the plume of smoke erupting from the ground for a second more before switching her gaze to Golduck. His face—as usual—showed little expression, but Maressa could tell that he was disturbed. His slanted red eyes were soft and glossed over. Reaching out a hand, Maressa rubbed his shoulder. He jolted back to reality and gave her a nod of acknowledgement.
“You doing okay?”
Nod.
“You wanna talk about it?”
A pause. Shrug. Maybe they would talk later.
“Is something on your mind?”
Golduck’s gaze was downcast. His shoulders slumped forward and his tail moved back-and-forth slowly.
“What is it? Come on, speak to me.”
He paused before he let out a series of low quacks. He knew that the creature was powerful and very old. Once he saw it, some sort of sense awoke in Golduck—a sense that he should treat that creature with deference and shouldn’t attack it. It was a higher being; it was far above him. But the moment it looked at Maressa, Golduck knew it was a potential threat to her so he cast aside his instincts and prepared to attack anyway.
Except that he couldn’t. The creature overpowered him—it had taken control over his body and brain and scanned all of his memories and everything that was on his mind, halting his flow of thought and rendering him completely useless and immobile—physically and mentally. But it had also done it to Maressa and apparently the other Team Aqua grunts and their Pokemon, too, all at the same time.
Golduck sat down on the ground, his head turned away as he quacked. In all his life, he had never felt so useless. That creature could have done away with Maressa or any of the Pokemon and there wasn’t a thing he could have done to stop it.
Putting an arm around his shoulders, Maressa smiled. “It’s okay. I know that thing was strong—I don’t think any Pokemon I’ve ever met would be able to do a thing to it. I doubt even the Elite Four could give it a fight! And,” she whispered wryly, “it certainly did a number on Team Aqua’s base.”
Several meters before her, she saw Matt and the rest of the team standing and staring at the ruined remains of their base. The smoke had cleared away, leaving a pit in the middle of the jungle. Matt swore violently and put his hands on his hips.
“What the hell do we do now?”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
For the next several days, the attacks by that little creature continued to occur on all of the Team Aqua bases. Archie told the Team Aqua members that the little creature was known as “Jirachi.”
“It’s incredibly powerful, as you already saw,” he said to a small contingent of members one day. He sat at a desk, chin resting on one hand, eyes locked as he thought hard. “There’s only one of it, and it’s supposed to only be awake for a week every one-thousand years. Most people don’t believe it exists—I sure didn’t.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe he was right…”
“If it’s going to keep attacking us, what do we do?” Shelly asked.
“Lay low. No missions, no going out for anything except to abandon bases and move elsewhere. If it attacks, leave the base. I’m sure the Hoenn authorities will be trying to track it and investigate the attack sites. Considering we were an immediate target, I’m willing to bet that Team Magma has control of it—somehow.”
But the Hoenn authorities seemed to be having problems of their own. The day after Jirachi had attacked the base in the rainforest, the police headquarters in Petalburg City was demolished. Maressa saw an image of the building—once large and fortified—on the TV as little more than a mound of smoking rubble within a steel skeleton. It wasn’t just police buildings; random areas of cities throughout Hoenn were being torn apart by Jirachi’s attacks.
Maressa stood in a room of other Team Aqua members, all of whom were crowded around a TV. As she watched the reporters speak of the attacks and speculate where they might occur next, more and more questions kept coming to her mind.
The most prominent question was: if Team Magma really was controlling Jirachi, why didn’t they just have Jirachi bring them the Red and Blue Orbs directly? The admins brought this question to Archie.
“If there’s anything Jirarchi can’t do, it’s control Kyogre and Groudon,” he theorized. “The Red and Blue Orbs aren’t ordinary objects. They must have special properties that prevent Pokemon powers from working on them.”
Well, Maressa thought, if that was the case, why didn’t Maxie just have Jirachi dry up the oceans and make more land by itself? If the power Maressa had seen was anything to gauge by, Jirachi was certainly capable of doing such.
Maressa mentioned it to Shelly. Her commander glanced at her, annoyed. “Because they’re going to get Groudon to do that,” she said shortly. And the conversation was over.
Maressa thought back to the words Archie had said to her when she first returned to Team Aqua: “If we can find Kyogre and find that Orb, then there’s hope that we can return the seas to their natural state and prevent humanity from destroying them ever again.”
Was Team Aqua planning to control Kyogre long-term? Jirachi was only awake for a week, after all. But Team Aqua’s objective was to restore oceans to their state before humanity intervened—and from her conversation with Tabitha, it seemed like Team Magma intended to do the same with Groudon and terrestrial habitats. Why not just use Jirachi to do so? If their goal really was to restore natural habitats, Jirachi should have been able to do it quickly and easily. Why go to the trouble of summoning another Pokemon? Unless they wanted control over Groudon for the long-term, she couldn’t see the reasoning—and even then, how long would they want to control Groudon?
She stood in the security room, her eyes on the camera screens as Mark and Cloe, who were on duty, chattered away. Her eyes roved from one screen to another, looking at the different rooms: the lower left hallway, Microbio Lab A, the lower right hallway—
She blinked. There were two microbiology labs, but Microbio Lab B wasn’t next to A like she thought it would. Her eyes darted around—Lab B wasn’t on any of the screens at all.
“Why is only Lab A on here?” she asked.
Cloe and Mark looked at the screens.
“Oh,” Mark said as he remembered. “They were originally one lab. But people were stepping on each other’s toes and getting angry—the people studying Lombre genetics always left their stuff out, and those studying Barboach breeding patterns didn’t label their stuff so all of the DNA samples in the freezers and fridges were disorganized. Someone—we don’t know who, but it was probably Terry—left something big and frozen in the freezer for half a year. We lost power during a storm once, everything in the freezer melted, and it’s smelled like something dead ever since. That was the last straw for the Lombre researchers—so they built a wall to keep the others out.”
“Isn’t that extreme? Why not just talk to each other and work it out?”
“I think it’s genius!” Cloe exclaimed. “I wouldn’t want anyone messing with my projects.”
As Cloe chattered away about how wonderful it was to keep scientific projects organized and away from messy people, Maressa kept her eyes fixed on the screen, formulating a plan in her head. She smiled—she knew what to do.
A few hours later, she walked down the hallway towards the Microbio Labs, her heart pounding with excitement. They were full of ethanol, and they had lighters in the drawer that they used for sterilizing—all she had to do was knock over a bottle of ethanol, light it on fire, and the lab would go up in flames!
BREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE BEEOOBEEOOBEEOOBEEOO
Clamping her hands over her eyes, she shut her eyes against the bursts of blinding light before her eyes. The fire sirens went off—but she hadn’t even set the lab on fire yet!
Doors to the microbiology labs burst open and a cloud of smoke poured out—the Barboach researchers stumbled through the haze, coughing.
A man in his early thirties saw Maressa and exclaimed, “We need to move! The lab’s on fire!”
Maressa reached to grab a Pokeball but a young woman named Ashley grabbed her arms and ushered her down the hallway, away from the smoke. Doors opened on either side—a couple people and their Water-type Pokemon went down the hall to take care of the damage.
“What happened?” Maressa asked as they walked out into the sunlight on the grassy hillside.
“That was my fault,” said the man from before. “I put down the chemical paper and had the Barboach tissue samples on them. I was sanitizing my tweezers in the fire, but I knocked over my burner and it burned the chemical paper. I stood up too quickly—I knocked the bottle of ethanol over, too, and it soaked the wooden table and it all lit on fire.”
Terry.
His lab-mates didn’t seem too upset with him; Ashley patted him on the back; Donald said it was “no big deal, accidents happen all the time;” Rhett figured that the fire would just clean out the contamination that had plagued that lab for years, if nothing else.
Maressa turned away from the researchers, not wanting them to see her pouting. She wanted to be the one to set the lab on fire! As other Team Aqua members came out the door and informed them that the fire was put out, Maressa angrily stormed back into the hall. Sure, it was good for her, but she didn’t even get to do anything!
As she power-walked past a few open doors, she paused. Glancing to her right, she saw a large computer in the room, its multiple monitors filling up the wall space. Various amounts of code and data were recorded on the screens. Maressa glanced about—in the chaos of Terry setting the lab on fire, the room was left wide open and abandoned.
Should she have done it? Maybe not. But in the heat of her anger and resentment, she stormed into the room, opened the file menu, and deleted all the files saved to the computer. Yanking the USB drives out of the computer—without waiting for the computer to signal it was safe to eject them—she pocketed them, walked outside, followed the river to where no one else saw her, and flung the USB drives in the water.
That would show them.
As she stood in the soft mud of the river bank beneath the broad green leaves of the canopy, she saw two large forms swim towards her up the river—one of them emanating a pale light.
She smiled as she saw Sharpedo and Lanturn break the surface of the water. Sharpedo smiled smugly—as much as a Sharpedo could, anyway—looked very pleased with himself; Lanturn looked worried and slightly upset.
Sharpedo growled proudly—he had just torn chunks out of some of the team’s equipment!
“Good job, Sharpedo!” Maressa said.
Lanturn crooned—it was dangerous! He shouldn’t have done it, especially not when other people on the team also raised and studied Sharpedo!
“I’m sure it’ll be fine, Lanturn,” Maressa said. “One of our own team members just set the lab on fire, I just deleted all the files on a computer, and Jirachi is still causing chaos and blowing up parts of our bases. If anything, they’ll just think Jirachi did all this!”
While she never heard anything more about the first two, it seemed that the rest of the team members dismissed it as another of Jirachi’s attacks or from a wild, territorial Sharpedo.
In the meantime, Golduck was pressing Maressa harder than ever to pack up and leave Team Aqua for good. Everyone was on edge and thinking about Jirachi all the time; she could easily get out undetected and they could start looking for Seaking. It was their golden opportunity!
“I can’t,” Maressa hissed. “I have to meet up with Matt every day to go see Phoebe and Liza.”
Golduck shook his head in disgust. Maressa could get away—she just chose not to.
“But Golduck, what if Phoebe and Liza end up actually giving the Orbs to Team Aqua? Am I supposed to just run away and let it happen? If Team Aqua gets the Orbs, then the rest of the world is done for!”
Golduck slapped his tail loudly on the ground and quacked angrily. So what if Team Aqua got the Orbs? What were they supposed to do about it? She was one person with three Pokemon, he reminded her. Team Aqua was over a hundred people and hundreds of Pokemon. How were they supposed to fight against them?
“Because you’re stronger than any other Pokemon on this team,” she told him, and she almost meant it.
Golduck rolled his eyes at this but dropped the issue for the time being. A large reason he wanted to leave was that he didn’t want to constantly guard Maressa and be on lookout for Matt.
“Well, that was stupid and dangerous of you,” Archie growled when Matt told him about the deal they made with Phoebe and Liza. “You trust scum like the Pokemon League to keep their word on anything?”
“No, which is why I’ve got one of their Pokemon,” Matt said as he held up Banette’s Pokeball.
Archie took it. His anger abated when he saw Banette through the translucent cap. “How’d you get this?”
“I had to give them one of my own,” Matt mumbled with a murderous glare at Maressa.
She stiffened and was ready to throw back a retort—it wasn’t her fault that Phoebe demanded one of his Pokemon!
But the Boss spoke up first. “You might as well see this through. Our base on Route 119 is gone,” the boss said to Matt as he handed Banette’s Pokeball back. “Meet up with them each day. We’ve sent a number of our own members to pretend to be new Team Magma recruits and spy on them and try to get the boy; I’ll tell you if I hear anything. Bring strong Pokemon with you in case anything bad happens. Who knows—maybe they are looking for an honest bargain. They seem to have their hands tied up as much as we do.”
He paused before letting out a bark of laughter. “I take that back—they’ll never aim for an honest bargain, not with us!”
Except for the times when Maressa and Matt met to go see Phoebe and Liza, they had almost completely stopped interacting. She sensed displeasure and anger emanating from him but she didn’t care. Even though he seemed to regard Crawdaunt falling into the hands of the Pokemon League to be her fault, Maressa didn’t have any pity for him.
Well, maybe a little. But it wasn’t enough to make a difference. And he hadn’t asked her to hang out with him since she turned him down.
Two days after Team Aqua made the deal with Phoebe and Liza, Maressa found herself standing with the other three humans and Golduck in a small cliff-side opening right next to the waterfall. Large ferns and other plants grew all over the rockface, completely blocking the appearance of the cave-like opening.
Maressa rubbed her arms. The walls were wet—they always were. Away from the sun, the rocks never seemed to dry. Lichens and slime molds grew within the craggy crevices. Barely anything was visible from the few streams of sunlight that trickled in. Everything was cold, damp and dark. She didn’t like being there.
The Elite Four Member and Gym Leader were both soaking wet from the rain outside and looking thoroughly disgruntled. Matt looked up at them, his expression bored.
“Got anything?” he asked.
Phoebe wordlessly held up a cloth bag in which two bulges could be seen. Matt’s eyes immediately lit up and he held out his hand to receive it.
The Elite Four member jerked her hand back. “Give us Tate and then you can have these.”
Matt’s excitement dissipated into stony anger. “We don’t have him—yet. But we’re working on it. At least let me take a look at the Orbs.”
“Are you kidding me? ‘Just take a look’ means that you’re not going to return them.” She and Liza turned to go. “Have Tate with you next time.”
Matt’s face turned a vivid shade of red as the two of them began to walk out. Phoebe and Liza hadn’t even reached the cliff opening when Matt punched the wall—a large group of Zubat descended from their perches on the ceiling and filled the air.
“Go, Lunatone!”
“Stop them, Banet—no!”
The girls had only just sent out their Pokemon when a Zubat snatched the bag from Phoebe’s hands. Maressa watched apprehensively as the admin took the bag from the Pokemon’s jaws and looked inside, his eyes shining in earnest. He reached in and pulled out a dull, blue sphere that looked as if it was made of glass. All traces of delight faded from his face, and after a second of examining the Orb, he looked at Phoebe and Liza—whose Pokemon were fending off the cloud of Zubat—in disgust.
“Do you realize who you’re dealing with?”
At his words, the Zubat dispersed. Phoebe and Liza looked directly at him. Small bite marks dotted their hands and faces, leaving little bleeding punctures. Liza looked confused; Phoebe, apprehensive.
“What do you mean?” Phoebe asked.
Keeping a steady gaze on her, Matt dropped the Blue Orb. Maressa gasped sharply as it shattered into thousands of azure bits on the rocks.
It actually shattered.
And so easily, as if it were made of ordinary glass. Maressa’s flow of thought ceased. She looked up at the other humans: Liza stared at the shattered Orb in shock, Phoebe looked at Matt in horror. The Aqua admin looked squarely at the two of them and grew angrier by the second.
“What kind of person do you take me for? You think that just because I don’t play by your rules means that I’m some kind of idiot? That wasn’t the Blue Orb, and this—” he reached in the bag and held out a perfectly-round sphere of red glass, “—isn’t the Red Orb.” So saying, he dropped it, where it shattered on the ground next to its twin.
Phoebe grew hysterical. “Do you know what you’ve done?” she shrieked. “Those are needed for keeping the balance of power in Hoenn! Now that you’ve destroyed them, Groudon and Kyogre are all the more likely to set loose and start fighting!”
“Don’t lie to me!” Matt shouted. “I know those were plain glass objects—the real Orbs would have power, those had nothing!” Breathing heavily, he glared icily at the Elite Four member. “If you’re not going to uphold your end of the bargain, I see no reason to uphold mine.”
He reached inside his pocket and took out a Pokeball.
Phoebe’s face blanched. “What are you doing?” she asked quietly.
“I don’t get it,” Liza said as she looked up at Phoebe. “What’s going on?”
Maressa was wondering the same thing and watched as Matt dropped the Pokeball and it clattered on the ground. Placing a foot on it, Matt leaned, gradually pushing more of his weight on it. There was a crack, and a brief spark of static—
“STOP!”
Maressa’s head jerked upwards at Phoebe’s scream. The Elite Four member’s dark face turned completely white—tears streamed from her dark brown eyes. Phoebe ran forward, trying to grab the Pokeball from Matt, but he deftly picked it as Azumarill burst out of a Pokeball on his belt and sprayed the Ghost-type trainer with a jet of water.
A second later, the Water-type’s body was surrounded by a ghastly purple glow and it was thrown across the cave.
The purple glow faded from Lunatone’s eyes as Liza rushed over to where Phoebe lay against the rock wall. Azumarill immediately got up from where it laid and ran to stand before Matt.
“I’m not interested in fighting,” Matt said. He held up the Pokeball he had tried to crush. “But you should have never tried to pull that on me.”
“P—please,” Phoebe stuttered from where she lay. She gazed pleadingly at Matt as she lay on the floor in a sopping wet heap, the pink flowers in her hair sagging. Tears still leaked from her eyes as she despaired. “Don’t do anything to hurt her. I’m—I’m sorry—I’ll bring you the real ones.”
“Oh, I wasn’t going to hurt her,” Matt said nonchalantly. “Don’t you know what happens to Pokemon who are stuck inside their Pokeballs when they’re destroyed? They—”
“Yes, I know!” Phoebe shouted. Matt chuckled as he watched her gaze at him in terror and shock. “I know, I’m sorry, I’ll bring you the real Orbs—whatever you want, just please don’t do anything to my Banette.”
“Bring me the real Orbs, and you’ve got a deal. Otherwise, I will destroy this Pokeball with your precious Banette inside it. We’re done here.” Without another word, he walked to the opening in the cliff face. Maressa glanced at Lunatone and Liza—who glared at her—and Phoebe, who remained on the ground and sobbed softly. Turning her head, she followed Matt outside to where the Pelipper were waiting for them, her heart heavy with guilt and pity.
To be fair, my prose was VERY off in earlier chapters ^_^;
I've been meaning to get back to Drowning for a couple of weeks now, but stuff has been hectic so this late arrival shall have to do. If it means anything, I stayed up to an ungodly time of night reading this both because I have Problems (TM) and because it's so goodView attachment 454
That one sentence gave me such feels 😭I cannot overstate how affirming it is to see someone say that.
I must say, I wasn't expecting things to ramp up that quickly, after the relatively slow pace of the first seven chapters. It feels like we went from Maressa making her way back to a Team Aqua base to cross-team espionage, exploding team bases, gym leader involvement, and the immediate and looming threat of awakening legendary pokemon in just a snap. A striking, but certainly not unwelcome expansion of scope! I just wonder how long it'll go on for, since it seems like tensions are beginning to click into high gear and the all-important Red and Blue Orbs are very nearly in Team Aqua's grasp.
Yep, the scope-creep was real and quite unintentional with this fic ^_^; I always meant for it to happen to some extent, but it happened much more quickly and on a marge larger scale than I had initially intended.
One thing I think Drowning does really well is present a more grounded, down-to-earth portrayal of these two warring teams. Where the game presented us with a bunch of cartoony idiots with no clue what they were playing around with, Drowning turns them into fully militarized factions with false-front companies, multiple bases all over the region, apparent control of the police authorities, and a deep understanding of what they are toying with in the worst of ways. Which is pretty darn freaky, NGL.
Thank you so much! Portraying each of the "mooks" or grunts as more than just a faceless unit in the teams was something big that initially drove me to start writing this, and I'm glad to hear that it's been working to an extent!
I think it's slightly LOL that Courtney has appeared two or three times already and every time it's been over the phone ranting to either Tabitha or Maxie.
LOL I hadn't even realized that XD If it makes up for it at all, she does show up in-person this chapter!
Right after Maressa gets back into Team Aqua, she's interrogated by none other than Archie himself, who provides his long-awaited motive for starting Team Aqua... and it's actually pretty reasonable, to be honest. He seems like a well-intentioned, if misguided person, but as always there's something he's just not saying that makes it all a little off - exactly like the rest of Team Aqua. And that's why - just like Maressa - I don't believe he's saying everything, because that's what Team Aqua does. They spin a tapestry of lies to hide their true intentions, and it all sounds so good that most people ignore the cracks on purpose.
The Archie scene was written one night where I could not go to sleep for whatever reason and lay awake thinking about what he would say. And thus it was written View attachment 454 And you're right, he's definitely keep a few secrets :P
And then there's Team Magma, who in true Team Magma fashion aren't even hiding their evil deeds. It's ironic how openly evil Maxie seems to be, yet the Magma team-base Sarah infiltrates is very concerned with its team members' well-being and Tabitha shows more mercy than Matt or Shelly likely would have in his position. ...And then there's the fact that they kidnapped a freaking child and are currently forcing his legendary friend to go around and blow places up WTF
I think Team Magma can be summed up as "has strong morals but they are very misguided." Hopefully Maxie appears a bit more human and less cartoonishly-evil as the fic goes on. His team members, at the very least, think he's a great guy ^_^; Tabitha is probably the most complex character in this fic in terms of morality/actions and how he does things :P
So now to talk about Jirachi, who hands down may be the most tragic/interesting character in this fic. I think it's nice that, overall, pretty much every pokemon in this fic has some kind of distinct characterization, but Jirachi is the first pokemon who actually talks to the humans here. I think its lore is tragic, honestly - it sleeps alone for a thousand years and gets so desperate that when it wakes up it clings onto someone for the six days it's awake until it's forced back into sleep again. I feel really sad for it. Hopefully it gets a happy ending with Tate
I always thought that too :( The poor little Pokemon just wants to have a friend for seven out of every 365,000 days and people just want it to grant their wishes. I also kinda had the direct talking to separate it from non-legendary Pokemon.
Now that Jirachi's out, though, it seems that the fic is softlocked into its new, high-speed pace. Jirachi's awake for six days only, and in that time it's created a lot of mess and made things particularly hard for Team Aqua. I think that Maxie forgoing using Jirachi to replenish the land they wanted is enough to prove that he wants something a bit more than just environmental repair, something Drowning has been tackling head-on.
Initially I was going to ding that Jirachi seems to be a media sensation when it first comes out of the stone and interacts with Tate, but none of the characters seem to realize what it is or that it exists until it's convenient for them. Then I realized that the last four or so chapters have pretty much all taken place at once, or over the same stretch of time. It didn't really click for me until Chapter Sixteen, when Jirachi executes an order Maxie made two or three chapters ago, and Archie talks about Aqua spies sent to Magma bases. But then it did, and I realized that 'Oh crap. This all happened at once.' it's very high-speed and dense, but despite the denseness (which is not a negative in my book at all) it all slotted together well in the end.
That's something that has sorta slid under my radar, too--the fact that there are so many things to look at and focus on but so many characters who are entangled in it. So I have to keep each character's scenes individually in line, at least, and decide what order to focus stuff on. And creating the timeline for this part of the fic definitely took some effort lol.
On a not-so-related note, I find it odd that everyone constantly dunks on Shelly being hard to work with behind Shelly's back, but Shelly doesn't seem that hard to work with in the few moments she does get page-time? Busy, maybe, and a bit snippy in the beginning with the Mt. Chimney mission, but certainly not hard to work with IMO. At the very least, she's not constantly jabbering into her superiors' ears through a phone like Courtney is lol
Ah, that's something left over from the first draft that I never truly revisited. She was a lot more apparent in the first version of this story and much stricter and crueler to her underlings, but because I've re-written the chapters she appears in, she's much more out of focus. But those are good points! I'll definitely keep them in mind.
One thing I've found interesting while reading is what seems to be the recurring theme of Drowning: Doing the right thing gets you in trouble with the wrong people. Derek gets in trouble with Tabitha and the higher-ups for letting a prisoner """die""" on his watch. Tate is in a boatload of trouble for sticking with Jirachi. Phoebe is in trouble for trying to comfort Liza and accidentally getting herself in deep water with Team Aqua, and Maressa is headed nowhere good by actively sabotaging TA's missions and stuff. It hits hard, because I think that's an unfortunate IRL truth - when presented with a hard situation, if you follow your conscience you're probably going to get a lot of crap for it - even if it turns out to be the right thing in the end. And you might make some very bad decisions along the way, like nearly everyone in this fic has done at some point.
Exactly. "No good deed goes unpunished." I'm glad you picked up on this! It's really affirming when readers catch onto the stuff that's not explicitly spelled out ^_^ And that all the "good" characters are making bad decisions is also a recurring theme--some pressured into it, others not knowing what's best--it happens to everyone. How far do we excuse another's bad actions? And how much do good intentions make up for it?
A negative I had is that I didn't really understand Maressa's train of actions after she makes it back to the Team Aqua base. It's like... she arrives, and then she skirts under the radar during interrogation, which is fine. But then she just lets her tongue slip out of nowhere about the Team Magma base?
She intentionally told Archie about the Team Magma base--it was part of her and Derek's plan to get her safely back to Team Aqua and ""prove"" that she hadn't betrayed them by giving them useful information
And then after that, she talks about wanting to escape from Team Aqua, but then gets caught up with Matt and straight up abandons this goal for a few days so she can pretend like it's not happening, and it's only when Matt attempts to hit on her that she decides to help dismantle Team Aqua. It's like... I understand not being able to keep it together - I know I wouldn't be holding up very well in her situation at all - but the train of thought isn't really clear to me. It's like she set herself a goal and then took a U-turn right away, with brief interludes of "I know, I know" when Golduck rightfully WTF'd at her. I'm kind of ??? as well.
She's caving in a lot to the pressure of the present moment and not making good decisions. I'm... not quite sure how far I can have my main character do that and still have them be a likeable/strong main character ^_^; It is supposed to be following the theme of her being flawed and making bad decisions in the present moment despite knowing better, but you definitely bring up a fair point.
Why does it not surprise me at all that the lab scientists could not keep their crap together well enough to share a lab lol.
Would you believe me if I told you that this has happened to me before in real life
But then Maressa trashed it... and at this point it feels less like she's actually making a calculated effort to destroy Team Aqua and more like she's just taking out her petty frustrations on the team. That, or she has no clue how to go about it and is way to excited to destroy things and hamper progress. Either way, it bodes badly for her, and she's likely to get caught sooner or later. I think Golduck is absolutely justified to be worried about her.
Yeeeaaaah more about her making not-so-good decisions and acting out on her rashness 😬 It originally was written as a calculated effort but the scene I wrote didn't properly fit with the chapter so what I wrote ended up being her pettiness instead :V
Another thing that kind of made me go "??" was when Phoebe chased after Liza, caught up with her, and sat her down to discuss strategies for finding a criminal gang... in the middle of the street in public. It feels like something an elite member of the Pokemon League should know better than to do, especially considering Maressa, a disgruntled criminal grunt, was very mindful of eavesdroppers and the like. As a side note, I kind of saw the Team Aqua gang-up at the police station coming once it was mentioned that the eavesdropping police officer had a marshtomp, but also as a reader I am privy to both sides of the situation and know a lot more about Team Aqua than Phoebe and Liza do, so... hindsight is 20/20, I suppose?
Totally fair--this chapter was also rewritten. Originally, Phoebe and Liza logic'd together and found a Team Aqua base by the waterfall on Route 119, but readers told me that it suspended their disbelief by having two ordinary folk find Team Aqua when the police had been trying and failing for years to do so. Phoebe and Liza are both very young here, so I had their naivete in mind when I wrote this, but you still make a good point. Thanks for bringing it up!
Now I'll just have to decide if Team Aqua finding them or if them finding Team Aqua would work better :rowlanxiety:
Overall I am very much enjoying myself, though! This down-to-earth, more reasonably portrayal of the Team Aqua/Magma conflict has me thoroughly hooked, and the elements I assume had absolutely no place in the original game (such as the kidnapping of Jirachi) make it all the more engaging. No matter what happens from here on out, this fic deserves to be Drowning in praise I have
no regrets
Thank you so much for this review This truly brightened my day! It is such a joy to hear this and gives me inspiration to keep going when I am in a funk. I'll even forgive you for that pun! Thanks for sticking around, I really appreciate the feedback!
Hey hey! I am back on schedule with this next chapter--I know it's soon after the previous one, but at this rate, I'll hopefully be back on track.
Chapter 17
The walls, floor and ceiling were all made of the same drab metal. Tabitha sighed inwardly—working in places like this all the time made him long for the outside air, for forests, fields and jungles. He knew that being a Team Magma admin would mean a lot of indoor work, and to an extent he enjoyed what he did, but mostly he couldn’t wait until the day Team Magma took control of Groudon and built up more land, restoring the forests and habitats to their natural states.
Before him, a group of several grunts with their Pokemon underwent a series of training exercises. The walls reverberated with the sounds of trainers shouting, Pokemon leaping, snarling, and growling. He reached down to pat Mightyena, but his canine companion wasn’t at his usual spot. Tabitha remembered that his Pokemon was watching their prisoner at that moment and his heart sank a little further.
He was snapped out of his reverie by the sounds of footsteps and audible crunching. Raising his head, he saw Courtney walking over to him, a plate piled high with toast in one hand while the other held a half-eaten piece of toast. Chewing with her mouth open, she nodded to Tabitha as she made her way over to him, her long grey skirt swinging from side-to-side with the movement of her hips.
“How’s it going, Tabs?”
“What are you doing here? Don’t you have work to do?”
“Got it all finished,” she said as she took another bite. “I asked the boss what to do, and he said to find a way to kill time.”
Tabitha eyed her toast with disgust. “Do you have to have that here?”
“It’s my breakfast! What do you want me to do, starve?”
He glanced at his watch. “Courtney, it’s 2 pm. Why are you eating breakfast now?”
“Because I had to work night shifts this past week and didn’t get off until four AM, which usually means not getting to bed until about five.” Holding the plate of toast up to him, she asked, “Want some?”
“No, thanks.”
“Come on, I took too many. Have some.”
“No, I can’t.”
“You can’t or you don’t want to?”
“No, I can’t have grains. I gain weight really easily.”
Courtney’s black eyebrows raised at his words. “Oh really?” she said as she eyed him.
“Will you stop staring at me?” he snapped.
“I mean,” she closed her eyes and shrugged. “You could stand to gain a few pounds, is all.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean I can see every vein and muscle sticking out on your arm,” she said as she poked his bicep.
“Stop that.”
“It makes you look like you’re always extremely tense.”
“I probably look that way because I am tense,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Learn to relax a little! And maybe a good way to start with that would be eating whatever you want,” she sang as she waved a piece of toast in front of his face.
“Kinda hard to relax when there are always people around.”
“Really? I feel like it’s harder to relax when there aren’t people around. Like when I’m put somewhere by myself, I get so restless and anxious and it gets so boring and I get lonely easily. Either that, or my energy just drains away and I don’t feel like doing anything.” She shrugged. “But maybe that’s just me. Anyway, how are the new recruits?” she asked as she gestured to the group of people before them.
Tabitha shrugged. “Seem pretty average. I put Connor in charge of them and had them go through a series of exercises, mainly to see whether or not they can take orders. Haven’t had any issues yet.”
Silence stretched between the two of them. Connor’s echoing commands and the grunt’s replies were the only noises in the room. Tabitha savored the peace, but after a few minutes glanced at Courtney. Her dark red eyes had glossed over, and a small frown was etched on her face. Her brow was slightly furrowed, and she overall looked very worried—and slightly disturbed.
Taken aback, Tabitha asked, “Are you okay? Courtney?”
At the sound of her name, she snapped out of her trance. Nodding, she said, “Yeah, it’s… it’s nothing. I’ve just been out of it for the past few days…”
Unconvinced, Tabitha turned his attention back to the new recruits, but his mind was still working rapidly. It just wasn’t like Courtney to suddenly drift off like that—he had only seen her do it a few times before and had known her for the better part of four years. Why would—
“Have you felt it?” she asked him suddenly, her eyes shining with worry.
“Felt what?”
“That… that presence.” She turned from him and cast her eyes downward. “Ever since we took them, I’ve sometimes felt it here, even though I’ve never seen it. But I know who it is.”
Tabitha immediately knew what she was talking about and glanced worriedly at the new recruits. No one seemed to have overheard their conversation, however. “No,” he answered quietly, “I haven’t felt anything. And I don’t think this is the best place to discuss this. But try not to worry—they’ll both be gone in a few days.”
Courtney nodded demurely, a most un-Courtney-like way to do anything, but she said no more about it. Even still, Tabitha noticed that she didn’t take another bite of toast and kept the same sorrowful expression on her face.
+++++++++++++++
Tabitha knocked on the door to Maxie’s office. The hollow noise echoed down the empty hallways. At his side, Mightyena yawned, displaying his large white teeth.
“Come in.”
Tabitha entered the office. It was very spacious—the ceiling was high, and the large windows at the back of the room showed the crags and cascading rocksides of central Hoenn. The setting sun dyed everything with golden light. Maxie gazed out the window and turned his head around as Tabitha and Mightyena came through the door. The two Houndoom at Maxie’s side looked over at them, sniffed, then turned away. Mightyena did likewise.
Tabitha’s heart panged—he wished that Mightyena held the same respect for Maxie’s Houndoom that Tabitha held for Maxie. But it didn’t seem to work the same way for Pokemon. Mightyena held no loyalty to Houndoom and didn’t consider them superior.
Tabitha held up a few stapled papers and a Pokeball. “I’ve got that report on Camerupt sediment composition you wanted. And here’s the Camerupt our scientists experimented on.”
Maxie nodded eagerly. “Did they find anything interesting?”
“They know the sediments that form Camerupt humps vary by region, and they got some… weird results from their experiment. They stopped with this one when they tried mixing mud with the rocks in his body and smoke wouldn’t stop coming out of him—they had to clear the lab and open all the vents to air it out.”
Maxie nodded as he skimmed the papers. “Fascinating… Thank you for bringing me these. You can take a seat, if you want.”
Tabitha was happy to do so. Mightyena came and immediately put his head on Tabitha’s lap. He idly ruffled the Dark-type’s fur but didn’t give him any more attention than that. Even with how busy the week had been—what with capturing Jirachi, sending it after Team Aqua and the police, and running their other experiments—Maxie seemed in an unusually good mood. Tabitha relaxed against the back of the chair. He tried not to bother Maxie too much, especially with him being so busy, but it was nice to have intelligent conversation with him and take a break from all the stupid stunts the grunts got into on a daily basis.
The Leader went over to a cabinet and took out a bottle of wine. “You still don’t drink, do you?”
“No, sir, but thank you.”
Maxie smiled wryly as he poured himself a glass. The liquid was a deep shade of red, its pungent odor carrying across the room and wafting to Tabitha’s nose.
“You know, Tabitha, in some ways, you’ve changed and grown a lot since I found you—and in other ways, you haven’t changed at all.”
Tabitha smiled wryly. He had changed, all right—he didn’t like looking back on his life before meeting Maxie and forming Team Magma. But he did like to hear Maxie’s thoughts on things, especially on Tabitha’s progress. “How so?” he asked.
“Well, for one, you were still torn-up over some girl who had left you. And here, I don’t think you’ve dated anyone. You know, I haven’t outright forbidden it.”
Tabitha grimaced. “That would not be professional at all.”
Maxie smiled. “No, it wouldn’t be—and I’m glad you’re responsible enough to see that. Tell me,” he said as he took a sip of wine, “have you ever had any desire to go back to living in the streets?”
“None whatsoever.”
Maxie nodded. “Though it would probably beat being a member of modern society, wouldn’t it?”
Tabitha looked out the window and thought on Maxie’s words.
“Honestly, without Team Magma, I don’t know what I would be doing right now,” he mused. “You’re right—I can’t become a part of modern society. Cities are hellholes, and towns aren’t much better. I don’t know about living in a rural area. I’d still be subject to the state.”
“You and me both,” Maxie said pensively. “Along with everyone else here, it seems like. Courtney was in here the other week telling me how much she hates it—well, she doesn’t hate most people, obviously. But she hates what the Pokemon League has done to human-Pokemon bonds.”
Tabitha grimaced. “I can see that.”
Maxie put his glass of wine down on the counter. “When I was traveling to Dewford the other day, I saw a child exploring on a Salamence—and I don’t mean a kid in his late teens or early twenties, I mean someone who barely looked like he was twelve. He can’t even grow facial hair and he’s out riding on a Salamence. There’s no way he could have gotten him as a Bagon and raised him all the way without resorting to some drug use to stimulate evolution.”
Tabitha sighed. “I saw two children battling their Pokemon the other day: one had a Tyranitar and the other had a Machamp. And they weren’t particularly good—the Pokemon are strong, sure, but I could tell the trainers both lacked experience and skill. Mightyena would be at a type disadvantage against either of them, but I have no doubt he’d be able to defeat one of them in battle.” Tabitha looked down at Mightyena and smiled. The Dark-type’s facial expression didn’t change, but he wagged his bushy black tail.
Maxie glanced down at one of his Houndoom lounging across the cold metal floor. “Same with you, I’d bet.” Houndoom’s only response was to let out a few embers through her nose.
“The way these children are being lied to is horrible,” Tabitha said as watched the sunlight turn from gold to red. “Kids should enjoy their childhood. They shouldn’t be taught to catch Pokemon, train them into the most powerful forms they can get, and then only use them for battle. There’s so much more to Pokemon than that.” He smiled down at Mightyena as he ruffled his fur. “I can’t imagine what life would be like without you! But kids these days don’t get to experience that so much.”
“I agree. It’s a crime—all pointing to some larger agenda.”
Tabitha glanced at Maxie. “You think so?”
Maxie took another sip of wine. “It’s a classic trick in the book: manipulate the children. Turn the schools into indoctrination camps. Let it trickle into their malleable minds. Turn them into your own army. Turn them against their parents. Get them to do their work for you. Public education is a terrible idea—it’s letting the state and the government own your children. Parents who give up their children shouldn’t have custody of them in the first place. But with a system that’s so ingrained into our society, how would you convince anyone to give it up? Restarting this society and re-building it from the ground up is the only way to go from here.”
Tabitha nodded. “I agree.”
Maxie flipped through the pages of the Camerupt report. “Anything unusual going on with the grunts lately?” he asked without looking up.
Tabitha sighed and closed his eyes as he thought back to the events he witnessed earlier that day. “One of the women working here, Naomi, has a Numel. And a couple of guys thought it’d be a good idea to drop solid sodium into the Numel’s crater—it caused a mini eruption and filled the hall with smoke. And the Numel started oozing lava all over the floor. I made them clean up what they could, but there’s still quite a bit to repair.”
Tabitha couldn’t quite read Maxie’s expression; he clenched his face muscles and stared very pointedly away from Tabitha. He took another sip of wine.
“Well,” the Leader said, “even with the grunts acting—well, acting normal, I suppose—that shouldn’t be something to get down about.” He looked wistfully out the window with a half-smile on his face as the land turned dark shades of blue beneath a cotton-candy colored sky. “I’ve been thinking back the past few days, and even though things aren’t going the way I thought they would or exactly the way I wanted them to, overall, it has been going really well for us.”
Tabitha looked back at Maxie. “How so?” He remembered Maxie’s frustration with Jirachi—and now he was happy?
He put his glass down. “We need to remember to look at the whole picture—at how far we’ve come in a few years. I had my vision, and you had skills, passion—but it was just the two of us. And now, we have a whole team—another admin, over a hundred grunts, a couple of medics, and even a PR team.” He shook his head. “I always knew things would work out well, but it’s surreal, sometimes, to see how much they’ve changed.” He looked directly at Tabitha, his red eyes alight with eagerness. “And now, we have Jirachi. Think about it, Tabitha—it might not be the legendary Pokemon we were after, but it’s still one of those that most people only know of from myths. And we have near-total control over it! Who else, in all of human history, can claim that? Even the people who made the Red and Blue Orbs—they took control over Kyogre and Groudon, but their victory was shared by many people later down the line in history. We have a Pokemon who isn’t even from this world—a Pokemon born of a star, with the power to grant almost any wish!”
His expression soured as he mentioned, “Except, of course, our only wish.”
Tabitha nodded but said nothing. As much as he trusted Maxie, he didn’t share his joy. He remembered holding the little Pokemon’s body—surprisingly heavy for its small size—in his arms and the overwhelming sensation that it was all wrong. And even though they had Jirachi under control, something in him told him that they were poorly using the Pokemon’s powers—it was abuse. Abusing the supernatural. And what good ever came of that?
“You don’t look happy,” Maxie noted.
Tabitha looked up at him. “None of this felt right to me. We were after Groudon, and now we’re taking control of a different Pokemon entirely—a supernatural one. It’s… it’s more like a god than a Pokemon. I have a bad feeling that this is going to come back and bite us hard.”
“I’ve thought about that too,” Maxie said pensively. “But as long as we hold on to the child for the next week, we should be able to manage. It’s certainly not ideal, but we have to make the best of this situation. Does anyone else know about him?”
Tabitha shook his head. “Just us, Courtney, and a few of the grunts who helped me capture him also know, but they know the significance of this. They’ll keep quiet.”
Maxie nodded, swilling the wine in his glass. “As long as we’re careful, we should be set for the next week. I honestly don’t know if this could have been pulled off without you and your leadership, Tabitha.”
Tabitha’s heart jumped at these words—approval from Maxie! It didn’t come often, so he had to relish it.
He dipped his head. “Thank you, sir.” As he watched the last of the sunlight fade to darkness, he stood up. “I ought to go. Thank you for your time.”
“Of course.” Maxie gazed critically at him. “You’ve done a very good job with everything lately, Tabitha. You have a lot to be proud of.”
Tabitha said nothing but exited in silence. He and Mightyena walked down the empty hallway, leaving Maxie’s office behind them. His heart soared as he replayed Maxie’s words over and over in his head, feeling the same burst of excitement each time:
You have a lot to be proud of.
He thought he might cry. In his six years of work, he always had to work hard to get approval from Maxie—let alone affection.
And Maxie was proud of him. He thought Tabitha was capable—that Tabitha was good enough to be commanding Team Magma.
Tabitha’s face flushed. As he went back to his office, he couldn’t stop smiling. After hearing that, even office work seemed durable.
+++++++++++++++
Tabitha’s eyes flickered open as he heard whining accompanied by scratching. He closed his eyes and rolled over, burying his face in his blanket. Maybe if he pretended that he hadn’t heard him, he would stop…
A few seconds later, Mightyena’s wet tongue slid over his ear and he jolted upright. Blinking hazily, he rubbed his eyes as he tried to see in the blackness of his bedroom. Mightyena continued whining, and even though Tabitha was blind without light, he knew that the Pokemon saw him perfectly clearly.
“What is it, boy?” Tabitha said groggily. He heard the pads of Mightyena’s feet and more scratching at the door. “What do you need to go out for? Huh? What’s out there?”
Getting to his feet, Tabitha flicked on the light, blinking at the sudden brightness. Mightyena sat right in front of the door, crimson eyes gazing at Tabitha in worry. His ears flattened against his head, and he let out a high-pitched whine.
Tabitha was confused. Why was Mightyena so worked up? He usually went to bed whenever Tabitha did and slept through the night.
She? The only person who stayed near Tabitha was Courtney. He put his ear to the door, but he could hear nothing. Mightyena’s hearing was much more acute than his own, though. And his and Courtney’s rooms were fairly close—it wouldn’t hurt to go check and see if she was okay.
Putting some clothes on, Tabitha opened the door. Mightyena bounded down the hallway, stopping right before the door to Courtney’s office, which lay adjacent to her bedroom. Tabitha knocked on the door and waited while Mightyena kept snuffling and scratching—but there was no answer. Sighing—it felt so wrong to do this, but Mightyena wouldn’t be making a fuss if it wasn’t a big deal—he pulled a knife out of his pocket and picked the lock open. Opening the door, he intended to peer in and see if everything was okay—but Mightyena pushed the door all the way open as he made his way into the office and through the open door to Courtney’s bedroom. Giving in, Tabitha decided to just go with his Pokemon and followed him in.
Once he stepped through the doorway, he heard cries—Courtney’s cries. Tabitha darted into her bedroom and turned the light on to see her lying on her bed, eyes shut, face covered in sweat as she constantly turned back and forth in her distressed sleep. Mightyena jumped up and placed his two front paws on her bed, looking at her with concern.
“Courtney!” Tabitha called as he hurried over to her bed and grabbed her shoulders. She continued to turn and toss, but in her sleep, her movements were weak.
“No... Can’t be… Gone, all gone…”
“Courtney!” Tabitha felt bad and slightly nervous about doing so, but he roughly shook her shoulders. Courtney’s eyelids flitted open, and she gazed terror-stricken at Tabitha.
“Are you okay?”
“Oh, n—no, how can it be you?” she asked before bursting into tears. Sitting on the bed, Tabitha gently wrapped his arms around her and patted her sweat-stiff hair.
“It’s okay, it was all just a dream,” he said quietly.
“It wasn’t just a dream,” she insisted as she looked up at him. Her red eyes gazed at him steadily as she said, “Tabitha, I just watched you die.”
Tabitha’s heart jolted but he shook his head. “Courtney, I’m right here. Whatever you saw, it wasn’t real. It was all in your head.”
“Maybe it was all in my head, but why should that mean that it’s not real?” she asked angrily. “Everything I saw—it was all so clear. You and Maxie and almost everyone else was there, and pe—people were dying,” she choked. Her gaze switched from Tabitha and she stared straight forward. “Everything was so bright—the sun was so much brighter than ever. And the sky—it was burning. It was orange and yellow—and looked like it was going up in flames. And volcanoes were erupting all over, releasing ash and gas, and the air was dirty. People could barely breathe. And I saw—” her eyes widened, and she started shaking slightly, “—I saw it—I saw Groudon. It was huge, it was so huge, and it was so angry. It was standing in this big pool of lava and staring down at Maxie. Maxie’s hand was bright red, and it was glowing. But Groudon just—just sort of—of breathed out, and lava came out of its mouth—and it covered you and Maxie and—” she stopped, shaking her head as tears came out of her eyes
“It’s okay,” Tabitha said soothingly as he held her. As Courtney described what she had seen, a trickle of fear crept into his heart. “You just had a nightmare. None of that actually happened.”
“It wasn’t just a nightmare! I’ve had nightmares before, but this was so much more! Tabitha, I saw you and Maxie and everyone else I know on our team get killed by Groudon!”
“Courtney, I am right here. How could I have been killed if I’m sitting with you right now? You can feel me—you know I’m not a ghost.”
“But what if I saw was a sort of vision, what if it’s showing me what’s about to come? Is that what’ll happen if we take Groudon?”
“None of us can know that,” Tabitha said firmly.
She switched her gaze away from him. “I… might be able to,” she whispered.
Apprehension settled more deeply into Tabitha. “What do you mean?” he asked, though part of him didn’t want to know the answer.
Without a word, Courtney yanked her blankets to the side, showing her bare legs covered in markings. The marks were a dark, charred grey, as if they had been burned into her. They twisted and turned in various shapes—it might have been some sort of writing Tabitha had never seen before.
“What are those from?” he asked uneasily.
“My parents put them there,” she said flatly. Her eyebrows furrowed. She no longer looked afraid; a scowl crossed her face. “My family is from Sootopolis—one of the oldest in Hoenn. It can be traced back three-thousand years, to when the Orbs were made. My ancestors were sacrificed to make the Orbs.”
Tabitha stared at Courtney. He had never seen her this resentful, this bitter—nor had he ever heard about the creation of the Orbs.
“People wanted power, so they took control of Kyogre and Groudon. They created the Orbs in the Cave of Origin—poisoned it,” she spat. “Defiled its divine power to create life by sacrificing humans to take control over the gods themselves. But some of my family lived, and we’ve been bearing this grudge ever since.”
“And you… you support Maxie trying to take the Orb and controlling Groudon?” Tabitha asked hesitantly.
She nodded. “I do. Maxie knows humanity’s flaws—sacrificing people to create the Orbs in the first place and running this planet to the ground. Look at all they’ve done, Tabitha!”
“I kno—”
“They’ve cleared forests—”
“Yes, I—”
“Polluted countrysides—”
“I know—”
“Hunted Pokemon to extinction, broken the human-Pokemon bond that was supposed to exist, and are wantonly wasting natural resources! You can’t believe that continuing to trust humanity with this world is a good idea, can you?”
“Courtney,” he said with annoyance, “we’ve talked about this before. You know I agree with everything you’ve said.”
“And that’s why I agree with Maxie—he’ll take the Red Orb, clear out those who did all this, and leave Groudon to restore this planet to the way it was.” She sighed—the fire was gone and she looked tired. Her eyes drooped, her shoulders slumped, and she blinked slowly. “But this Pokemon… having it here has been showing me strange things this past week. It feels like parts of me are waking up—like I’m remembering stuff that I forgot…”
“You said that these Orbs were made in the Cave of Origin, right? Would that hold any solutions to this—”
“I don’t want to go back there,” she whispered. Tabitha saw her rub her markings and he felt guilty. “I don’t know what’ll happen to me—how it’ll affect me. Not after last time.” She shook her head and sighed. “Maybe were wrong to do this. We should never have taken Tate or Jirachi. This’ll just end in disaster for us all—even for Maxie.”
Tabitha’s heartbeat quickened—Courtney shouldn’t confide any doubts about Maxie’s decisions to him. “Courtney, you know that Maxie has thought all of this through. If you’re concerned about any of it, let him know—he’ll listen. It’s probably just Jirachi making you think that—that Pokemon is a Psychic-type, and it might be messing with our minds.” Tabitha stood up. “Trust me, everything will be fine. You just need to get some proper sleep.”
Courtney shrugged, still looking distracted. “Maybe. We’ll see.”
Tabitha grimaced. His co-worker was as stubborn as ever. “I don’t want to leave you by yourself tonight; do you want one of your Pokemon to stay out with you?”
She frowned, thinking on what he said. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. Can you hand me that Pokeball on the dresser? Ninetales is in there.”
He did so and she opened the ball. The Ninetales yawned and stretched, her sleek cream-colored fur shining even in the dull light of the room. Tossing her nine tails to the side, she looked questioningly up at her trainer, wondering why she was called out of her ball so late at night. But Courtney simply smiled on seeing her companion and began ruffling the silky fur on her head. Ninetales closed her brilliant red eyes contentedly and laid her head on her trainer’s bed.
Tabitha got Courtney a glass of water then bade her goodnight and left her room. As he lay on his bed, staring at the blackness, his mind buzzed with thoughts while the sound of Mightyena’s snores reached his ears.
Everything Courtney said disturbed him. Tabitha had never known much about the Orbs—he hadn’t even known they were man-made. But hearing how closely Courtney’s life was tied to them, of how they affected her and that people had poisoned the Cave of Origin to create them…
That people purposefully abused divine power from the source of life itself made everything feel wrong. At the same time, Tabitha questioned Maxie and felt more admiration towards him—such abuse of power and nature had to be remedied, but why was he using the very object that had been so wrongfully created? Did Maxie intend to get rid of the Orb and cleanse the Cave—was that even possible? Courtney trusted Maxie’s intentions, so there shouldn’t be any problem…
And then what was with her dream? Everything she had seen sounded terrifying, but it was just a dream—Tabitha had had his fair share of disturbing dreams and night terrors throughout his life, but nothing to convince him that one of Maxie’s ideas was flat-out wrong. Courtney was one of the highest-ranking people on their team. She had been working with them since its very beginning—at least, right after Maxie had started recruiting people. She was also by far the most ruthless person on their team. Tabitha had seen few people in life more vicious than her, and he knew that the grunts called her “Crazy Courtney” for a good reason. The most notorious example was the time where a grunt was caught trying to desert Team Magma, so Maxie told Courtney to “deal with him.” Tabitha didn’t know exactly what had happened behind those closed doors, but the grunt had come out of that room, singed and shivering, his eyes holding the look of someone who had experienced things that were forever burned into his memory.
And Tabitha had been with her during other interrogations; she typically sent her Ninetales out and people fell victim to her fiery wrath. Tabitha knew that her Ninetales possessed some psychic powers, and perhaps she would mess with the minds of her victims. Other times, Courtney would use the Boss’s Houndoom to inflict burns that never healed.
Tabitha gripped his hair in frustration. It was reasons like this that made him more aggravated—Courtney barely had any morals! She would do whatever it took for Team Magma to win. She was always eager to cause destruction and burn trees and buildings and whatever else her heart desired to the ground. Did a dream of seeing her co-workers dying really mean that much to her?
Sighing, Tabitha turned on his side, trying to calm his thoughts. Granted, Courtney hadn’t just seen anyone die—it was Maxie. Tabitha didn’t know what his life would look like without Maxie and he knew Courtney was greatly indebted to him as well.
This had to be due to them harboring Jirachi; Courtney’s nightmare couldn’t just be a coincidence. But Jirachi would only be around a few more days, and once it was gone, everything would be back to normal.
Back at it with the next chapter! I'm wondering if the three totally different scenes makes this chapter feel disjointed. If you have any thoughts, let me know! Enjoy!
Content warning: someone's legs are cut into
Chapter 18
The waves slapped the rockfaces, spraying them with white foam. The sun peeked out behind puffy white cumulus clouds as it beams shone on the choppy waters. Corphish and Corsola teemed in the tidepools at the base of the cliffs.
She silently followed her parents, the cheeriness of the ocean view failing to brighten her somber spirits.
“Where are we going, mommy?” she asked when her mother and father told her to follow them.
“Don’t ask,” her mother snapped. And that was that.
Theodosia saw an odd assortment of items in the pack on her mother’s back—paints, gourds, and her heart leapt when she spotted a knife. But she knew better than to nag her parents, so she followed them out of their small home into the bright sunlight.
Theodosia glanced over her shoulder at the city built into the cliffsides. The buildings of the city crowded the terraces, leaving only narrow walkways for people and Pokemon to rush up and down. They were made of the same mixture of sandy shells as the homes in her village, but the structure was so different. Many were made of materials Theodosia didn’t otherwise see used in buildings: metal and other strange mixtures that she couldn’t name. These buildings reached high into the sky, piercing the blue dome with their spires.
She looked up at her village. Many of their homes and public facilities were open to the air, with columns carved into elegant branches holding up slates of stone. People walked up and down the wider walkways, carrying jars of water, baskets of seaweed, nets teeming with marine life, and packs of fruit. Trees stood in-between the terraces, their branches laden with olives ripe for the picking.
“Theodosia, come!
The young girl snapped out of her reverie and hastily followed her parents. They didn’t go further up into the village as she had hoped. They followed the rocky path laterally along the cliffsides, leaving behind the slow pace of their home.
As Theodosia walked, her heart pounded with fear. She didn’t know why her parents told her to come with them. She didn’t know why they didn’t want to bring along Nikolaos or Thaddeus. Theodosia wished her younger brothers were with her. It was easier to not be afraid when she was with them.
As she followed her parents, she saw the Cave loom before her, like a black gaping mouth in the cliff face, waiting to swallow up whatever walked inside. The sight of it scared Theodosia. She didn’t know why.
The closer they got to the entrance, the smaller Theodosia felt. The cliff face sharply curved inward several feet above her—her parents could stand on each other’s shoulders and still not be able to touch the top. The air in front of the Cave entrance was cool. Theodosia peered in. Sunlight didn’t penetrate far into the darkness, and soon everything was lost to sight.
Her parents walked in wordlessly. They were going quickly, as if they were excited. Theodosia hung back. Something told her to turn around and go home. She shouldn’t go inside—she couldn’t!
“Theodosia?”
Her mother turned around and glared at Theodosia. Her purple eyebrows converged in an angry frown. “Follow along—quickly, now!”
Startled, Theodosia ran into the cave, the footfalls of her sandaled feet echoing all around her. She didn’t want to be left behind! She didn’t know what she would do if she was all alone.
Running deeper into the Cave, Theodosia felt the cool air sap away her energy. The warmth from the sunshine was dispelled in the blackness of the Cave. Theodosia tried to see ahead of her, but everything was so dark and her parents were going so quickly that it was all she could do to keep up with them.
Theodosia noticed little lights up ahead—gemstones shone in the walls around her! She wanted to stop and look at them, but if she did, she would be left behind and her parents would continue without her. And something about these gems weren’t right. The light was cold, not like the sunlight that made her warm. She saw writing on the walls, but she couldn’t read quickly enough to make out what it said.
Goosebumps crawled up her pale arms and she shivered. She shouldn’t be there. It was wrong—the Cave was not a place for anyone to be. So why were they there? Why couldn’t she go back to their home and lay out the seaweed to dry? Or play with baby Thaddeus? Or help Aunt Diana harvest the olives? Why did she have to be in this dark, cold, awful, horrible place?
Eventually, she caught up to her parents. They stopped in the center of a large, circular room. This room was dark. There were no gemstones in the wall.
“Theodosia, go sit in the center of the room,” her mother said as she rifled through items in her pack.
Theodosia complied though she really didn’t want to. She wanted to run away and get out of this Cave. As she walked to the center of the dark room, she tripped and fell face first to the floor—there were two holes in the ground!
“Perfect, Theodosia, stay right there,” her father said.
Sniffling, she picked herself up and sat right in front of the two holes her feet got caught in. They weren’t big, but but they were enough to catch her feet.
She looked all around her. She couldn’t make out anything in the dark. And it was so cold. Her purple hair stuck to her forehead from the dampness. Theodosia hugged herself and started sniffling as tears ran down her cheeks. She wanted to go home.
“Think we’ll need the whole root? She’s so tiny… Maybe just half of it will do. And put some blue dye with it.”
“We’re not going to use it for anything else; we might as well use the whole thing now. Never too much for a god, right?”
Theodosia cried. “Mommy, Daddy, can we go home?”
Her parents didn’t answer. Her mom was mixing something together in a bowl and her dad walked over to her. Theodosia could barely see him stroking his purple beard as he looked down at her.
“Lie down right between those two holes, Theodosia.”
“I wanna go home!”
“Be quiet!”
Theodosia hiccupped and did as he told, still shaking and crying. She stared straight up into the blackness overhead—this horrible, horrible black Cave. She needed to leave—but her parents told her to stay. When could she leave and see the sun again?
“Are you ready?” she heard her dad ask.
“Yes! Here, take the bowl.”
Theodosia heard the footsteps of her approaching parents. They both knelt down around her. She sat up—
“Lie down!” her dad hissed.
Theodosia sobbed again and did as she was told.
“Now, Theodosia, this is going to hurt, but I need you to hold still, okay?” her mom said.
“O—okay…”
She screamed and leapt back as something cold and sharp broke the skin of her ankle.
“Theodosia, hold still!” her mother shouted angrily. “Krataigos, hold her down.”
Her father’s strong hands clamped her down and held her to the floor. She felt the sharp pain again—it started in her ankle and made its way up her legs. Blood spilled down her legs and onto the floor as she screamed.
And then it felt as if the lines dug into her legs were filled with stinging from a thousand Wurmples. Her throat went hoarse from her screaming—she gasped so hard that her lungs hurt. Her eyes stung from all the crying. Her mother and father were saying something—or singing something—bright colors flashed all around her eyes—
Black smoke choked the night sky as embers danced in the air. The sound of wailing met her ears—
She screamed—her throat hurt so badly, but the rest of her body hurt even more. The stinging from her legs turned into lances of fire that surged throughout her whole body—fire that burned before her eyes, eating everything in sight. And in that fire was a pair of yellow eyes—
“No!”
Courtney jolted awake and sat up in bed. She was breathing hard. Her forehead was wet with sweat. Tearing the blanket away from her, she looked down at her legs. The marks from her childhood were still there, elongated and stretched as they grew with her.
Her heart raced—she took several gulps of air to try and calm herself down. She had never felt pain in her dreams before. Not since they had Jirachi…
Maxie would want to know. Courtney looked at the clock on her bedside. It was 2:11 AM. He wasn’t in the base. He would be in Mt. Chimney, while she was stuck with the kid near Lilycove.
Going to the phone, Courtney typed in the numbers for Maxie’s office at Mt. Chimney. As expected, he didn’t answer.
“Maxie, this is Courtney. I just had a vivid dream about my childhood. Call me when you can.”
Hanging up, Courtney sat back on her bed, her mind stewing with resentment.
She started going back to bed when she saw—and felt—something hovering in the air before her.
Soft golden light shimmered around Jirachi’s body as it stared at Courtney. She felt its presence—it didn’t pierce her brain but it felt distinctly alien.
You’ve suffered a lot, haven’t you? its voice softly echoed through her head.
“Go away,” she hissed.
The Pokemon slowly drifted through the air, gazing at Courtney with large, round eyes as it encircled her.
Cursed from birth, experimented on by parents who didn’t love you, and sent away by your aunt in the hopes that you would be safe…
“Get out!”
The creature drifted closer to her. It kept staring straight into Courtney’s eyes. Courtney started breathing heavily as blood pounded through her veins and rage filled her.
So desperate for love, for validation from anyone that you joined a criminal team—the first people who made you feel wanted. The first time you felt like you were good at something.
Courtney’s hands balled into fists and she shook in anger. The creature narrowed its eyes slightly.
But you’re not perfect the way you are. You’ve taken advantage of and killed people. You killed many people. And Pokemon. You burned down buildings and created landslides—all in the name of Team Magma. Your own surrogate sister—
“I SAID GO!”
Courtney screamed the last words. Darting to her nightstand, she grabbed a long knife and ripped it out of its sheath. She lunged at the loathsome being floating before her but was too late. With a flash, Jirachi was gone. Her knife clanged against the metal wall. Courtney stood for a few seconds as sweat dripped down her forehead.
She stood on shaky legs for a moment before dragging herself back to her bed. Tears trickled down her cheeks as she lay on top of her blanket, still sweating. That horrid Pokemon was doing this—digging through her brains, making her relive her past, trying to get her to let him go.
Well, it wouldn’t work. Team Magma’s goals weren’t that disposable—though it certainly did make Courtney want to get away from that Pokemon. It had been a long time since she thought about her parents—since she thought about her childhood at all. As far as she considered, her life began when she chose the name “Courtney” and escaped from the agony and pain that characterized her childhood. Once she left Sootopolis, she had no intention of going back to that cursed city—a city that the people of Hoenn largely considered a landmark to be proud of but in reality was an empty crater that led straight into the depths of Hell.
Her heart pounded viciously with anger when she thought of her parents. She hoped they’d stay to witness Groudon’s awakening—that way they could perish in its fire. She looked forward to that day of seeing her parents finally get a taste of what they forcefed her in her youth.
She did love her Aunt Diana, though. Harvesting the olives and helping with dinner were the few happy memories Courtney had of growing up in Sootopolis crater.
Otherwise, she wanted that rest of that damned city to crumble into the abyss and take all of its native inhabitants with it.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Derek rifled through papers on his desk, trying to figure out what kind of disinfectant was suitable for Graveler wounds. The Rock-type Pokemon sat on a bed nearby him, looking up at Derek with doleful eyes. Two of her arms had long gashes in them, the exterior chipped away to reveal some sort of sandy substance mixed with flesh and blood. Parts of her injury festered an ugly grey color.
Derek felt bad for the poor Pokemon and he knew she needed her wounds disinfected, but what might work for Breloom or Golbat might not work with her rocky composition. Stuff he used for Claydol might work, but he wanted to be sure before experimenting on someone else’s Pokemon. And he couldn’t keep his mind off of his frustrations with Team Magma.
They kidnapped a child. How could they be sure about the good they were doing when they had a child locked up? At what point was it worth terrorizing civilians and kidnapping innocent children just to achieve their goal?
He stared at words on paper but not really absorbing them. Blood pounded to his head so hard that it hurt. Team Magma always said that the world they aimed to build would be better, and maybe they honestly believed that it was—but if this was the cost, was it really worth it?
“Derek?”
He turned around and saw a female Team Magma grunt standing in the doorway. Long dark hair spilled out from beneath her hood and down her shoulders. The freckles speckled across her face coupled with her curious expression made her look much younger than she was.
“Hey, Naomi, do you need something?”
“I just wanted to see how my Graveler was doing.”
His heart sank with guilt as he looked at the Pokemon’s open wound. “She’ll be fine—there’s something infecting the flesh and rock in her wound, but I need to find out what kind of disinfectant can be used for Graveler. It’s nothing I can’t fix, I just…” He glanced at the pile of papers on his desk arrayed haphazardly. “…Yeah.”
Naomi nodded and stepped into the doorway to show she was holding a bag of muffins. “Thanks so much for looking after her. I made some muffins—do you want some?”
She opened the bag and the scent of pumpkin spice wafted to Derek’s nose, causing his mouth to water and his stomach to rumble. He would never admit out loud how much he liked pumpkin spice, but it was definitely one of his favorite flavors.
“Sure. Thanks, Naomi.”
She smiled gently. “Of course.” Her smile quickly faded as she looked at Derek and noticed his red face and messy hair. “Are you doing okay?”
Derek paused and inhaled deeply before answering. He didn’t want to take out his anger on someone else. And there was something about the woman’s presence that calmed him down and eased his pent-up tension.
“Yeah, it’s just… work stuff.”
“I see. Dealing with other people?”
“Not really, it’s… stuff I’m not really allowed to talk about.”
Naomi nodded. “I understand. Thanks so much again for taking care of Graveler—we really appreciate it,” she said with a smile.
Derek smiled back, and he felt his heartrate calm and the blood stopped pounding through his veins. He watched Naomi pat her Graveler on the head, speak a few encouraging words, and then depart.
With his head clear, it was much easier to find the right antiseptic and apply it to the Pokemon. After wrapping the Graveler’s arm up, he turned off the lights in the clinic and departed to his own room. He stored the muffins in a cabinet—he didn’t need to share them with anyone else.
He got ready for bed and turned off the lights in his room, plunging it into utter darkness. Sitting on the edge of his bed, he mulled over all that had happened.
He still couldn’t shake the thought of keeping a child captive. Didn’t he trust Maxie to have the right idea, to make the right choices? Sure, but—
A soft glow caught his eye and he felt a psychic presence touch his mind—it felt similar to when Claydol communicated with him, but this presence was vastly different. There was something about it that was completely alien when compared to Claydol and any other Psychic-type Pokemon Derek had met.
Turning his head, Derek’s heart skipped a beat when he saw a gold and silver creature hang in the air before him. Its body shone as if it was a star plucked from the heavens. As Derek gazed at it in awe, a voice echoed in his head.
I saw your friend.
He blinked—and the image of Maressa appeared before his eyes. She and Golduck floated in the midst of a jungle, her eyes wide open and terrified.
The image disappeared and Derek was left staring at Jirachi. The Pokemon smiled at him.
She’s okay. She’s with Team Aqua again. But she doesn’t like them.
Derek could do no more than stare dumbly as the creature gazed at him kindly.
Thank you for taking care of Tate. You have been so kind.
The Pokemon’s eyelids drooped and it rubbed an eye with one of its little fists.
I am… sleepy. I need to sleep.
Without a further word, the Pokemon disappeared, leaving behind a soft golden shimmer that hung in the air for a few seconds before dissipating. Derek was left staring at the spot long after it had disappeared into the darkness.
As he lay on his bed, his thoughts were finally able to come together—he could comprehend what had happened.
He had been visited by Jirachi—and Maressa was alive! She was more than alive, she was okay! The plan had worked.
Derek’s face broke out into a smile. He couldn’t believe it—he couldn’t believe the awesome power of Jirachi, and he couldn’t believe that Maressa had—somehow—gotten through the ocean safely and was back with Team Aqua.
Closing his eyes, all the anger that had filled Derek earlier left him. For the first night in recent memory, he slept peacefully.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mist swirled up towards the treetops as the early morning sun ascended into the sky. The dark, broad leaves of trees dripped with water. The moist ground squelched underfoot as Phoebe walked through the wet grass, trudging her way up the mountainside. With every step she took higher, her heart sunk lower in her chest.
She tried to come and see her grandparents frequently, but no matter how much she came, it never felt often enough. She was busy almost all the time with trainer matches and Elite Four meetings—and now that the Elite Four matches had temporarily stopped, she should, theoretically, have less work to do. But all of the members were supposed to be searching for Tate and Team Magma around the clock, and she hadn’t told anyone of her and Liza’s secret deal with Team Aqua…
The guilt built up to where Phoebe was tempted multiple times to turn around and give up. It was the first time seeing her grandparents all month, but she wasn’t going to check up on them. She might not even talk to them. No, she had to talk to them—they at least had to know what she was going to do. Maybe she could even convince them to give her the Orbs—but she immediately scratched that idea. She knew that nothing, not even a request from one of their few grandchildren, would convince them to do that.
Squelch, squelch, squelch…
She knew she could just send out one of her Pokemon and have them swiftly fly her up to the mountaintop, just like they always did. But somehow, that seemed even more wrong. Trudging up through the forest and thickening fog seemed to fit her mood more; besides, she wasn’t in a ready mindset to meet her grandparents quite yet…
The forest around her rustled as Vulpixes darted back and forth, and Ghost-types flitted through the trees, little more than moving shadows. All of these had ceased to bother Phoebe years ago. In fact, she couldn’t remember ever being afraid of Ghost-type Pokemon.
The dirt path gave way to a stone stairway. The steps were a dark grey, with moss creeping through the cracks and eating away at the crumbling edges.
Okay, Phoebe told herself as she closed her eyes, taking deep, slow breaths. Explain the situation, say what you want, and if they refuse to give them, then—then take them. Opening her eyes, she made her way up the stairs, her heart pounding heavily. Physically taking the Orbs would be easy, but she knew that it would weigh heavily on her conscience for a long time—possibly the rest of her life.
She slowly ascended the stairs. They had always seemed to go by fairly quickly when she flew up with her Pokemon, and even though she was going on foot this time, it still went by much faster than she liked. She paused right as she reached the top of the stairs, glancing up at the large alabaster rocks forming an archway. The fog had thinned out and she could now see several feet in every direction. Her stomach churned uneasily; she thought she might throw up. Resisting the urge, she steeled herself and walked forward.
All too soon, two elderly people came into view. Their dark eyes were bright, and the corners of their mouths were lifted in cheerful smiles. A walking staff with odd stones embedded in gnarled wood stood near the man’s chair. Both of them had white hair, and the woman’s hands were shaking. They had started constantly shaking a few months ago, and Phoebe’s family suggested that she come down from the mountain and see a doctor, but her grandmother dismissed the idea. Phoebe wondered if her mother had ever set up that appointment for the doctor to come check on her grandmother…
Phoebe set her eyes on her grandparents and gave them a soft smile as she came closer. She could see the Orbs out of her peripheral vision and was using all of her willpower to avoid looking at them directly. They would be where they always were, standing on a podium right in-between and slightly behind her grandparents. She had barely given them thought before, but now they were all that mattered.
“Is that Phoebe?” her grandfather asked as she came up to him. He rose to give her a gentle hug, his smile showcasing a few missing teeth. “We haven’t seen you in weeks! Been busy as ever, I suppose?”
Phoebe couldn’t help smiling as she returned her grandfather’s hug and held her grandmother’s shaking hands. She could allow herself a few moments of happiness with them.
“Is it true that the League has been shut down?” her grandmother asked.
“How did you know?”
“Chimecho told us.”
The Elite Four member looked up to see a Chimecho hang above them, the yellow suction cup on her head plastering her to a tree branch. Their Chimecho would often go out into the world, collect news and bring it back to them to keep them more up-to-date on the goings-on when their children and grandchildren weren’t around.
“What for?” her grandfather asked. “I’ve never heard of this happening before.”
“You seem very troubled, child,” her grandmother put in. “What is it?”
Phoebe’s eyes were downcast. Her grandmother had psychic powers; if she wanted to, she could read Phoebe’s mind. But she wouldn’t do that—she never had.
And she didn’t have to.
Eyes still down, Phoebe explained, “It’s because one of the Gym Leaders—Tate from Mossdeep City—has been kidnapped. We’re pretty sure it was Team Magma. And so his sister, Liza, and I made a pact with Team Aqua for them to get Tate back.”
“Why would they want that boy?” her grandmother asked.
“Because he was the one Jirachi ‘chose’—or something. We think it’s that they want Jirachi’s power, so they kidnapped him. Maybe to use him to control Jirachi. We’ve been having a lot of problems since it’s all happened. Police headquarters around the region have been destroyed, along with all of their computers and security information. A lot of data that hasn’t been backed up has been lost. Some people have been lost, too,” she finished quietly.
Her grandparents sat there in stunned silence, their mouths slightly agape. “This is terrible,” her grandfather muttered as his eyes lowered. “Not only kidnapping a child but destroying buildings and ending lives. And for what purpose?”
“Maybe so people will be more concerned with their own safety than with trying to hunt down Team Magma. Just hoping that they aren’t victims of its next attack. And that poor boy’s family…” Her grandmother’s face creased with pain and sorrow. “They must be worried sick, absolutely terrified! And the boy himself—I can’t imagine.”
“Yeah,” Phoebe murmured. “That’s why we need to get Tate out as soon as possible, to put a stop to all of this.”
“Phoebe,” her grandfather said slowly, “you said you made a pact with Team Aqua. What pact was this, exactly?”
“Before you go any further,” her grandmother said, “why did you trust Team Aqua in the first place? From what anyone knows, they’re no better than Team Magma.”
“Because they’re similar to each other,” Phoebe said. “Teams Aqua and Magma know each other better than any outsider does—if anyone is able to free Tate, wouldn’t Team Aqua know how to do it best? And wouldn’t they want to do it just as much as we would?”
“But you need to think about these people, and where they come from and what they value. No matter what they may claim to be, they’re a criminal organization. They attack innocent people and have destroyed public property, all for the sake of getting what they want. And I find it very difficult to believe that they would help you get Tate back just because it’s a shared goal between you two.”
“They’ve given me—given me custody of one of their Pokemon as insurance that they’ll keep their word.” So saying, she held up Crawdaunt’s Pokeball.
Her grandfather’s eyebrows furrowed. “They’ve agreed to free your friend, and they’ve lent you one of their Pokemon…”
“Because I let them have Banette as insurance that I would keep my word,” she said haltingly, looking her grandfather in her eye. Guilt and fear gnawed their ways into her heart as she dreaded their next question.
“And what was it that you promised them?” her grandmother asked. But Phoebe felt as if she already knew.
“I promised to give them the Red and Blue Orbs in exchange for Tate.”
Her grandparents gazed at her critically for a second—not accusingly, not angrily, not even confused. It just seemed as though they were trying to decide how to best voice their thoughts.
“Those aren’t yours to give,” her grandfather said.
“It was the only thing they would accept.” Fear and worry had overtaken her now, and she was struggling to keep it together, to keep from crying.
“Phoebe,” her grandmother said gently. And Phoebe couldn’t keep the tears from her eyes as her grandmother’s gentle gaze met her. “I know you had the best intentions. But these are matters that you’ve never dealt with before, and you’ve made a promise you had no right to. Giving them the Orbs won’t do anyone any good.”
“But—but they’ll give Tate back—” her voice began to break as tears trailed down her cheeks.
But her grandmother shook her head. “And what then? They’ll give him back, and then use the Orbs to unleash complete chaos. You will be helping no one.”
“But—I—I—I—I have to,” Phoebe sobbed. “After—after Tara—I can’t put her through it, too…”
“Phoebe,” her grandfather said, “I know you empathize with Liza, and that makes this all harder. But you can’t let that get in the way—if Team Aqua has the Orbs, they’ll kill everyone.”
Phoebe’s eyes were shut tight, sobs wracking her chest. Through her closed eyelids, she could make out a burst of white light and heard the groan of her Dusclops.
“Phoebe.”
She looked up to see her grandmother’s dark brown eyes. Not a trace of fear, or even anger. But what she saw was almost worse; it made her heart drop, it melted away all resolve, and put Phoebe into a deeper shame than she had ever felt. It was disappointment.
Never in her life—not when she had failed to win a Pokemon battle for the nineteenth time in a row, not when her parents told her she was mistreating her Pokemon or being cruel to her siblings, not even when she had failed to watch her little brother and her parents found him riding his tricycle in the street while she was watching TV—had she known such disappointment. And they weren’t disappointed in what she had already done; it was in what she was about to do. She could still stop. She was on the verge of calling her Dusclops off when her grandparents’ eyes fell shut.
She fell to her knees, crying softly for a moment. She could barely believe what she was doing. She would have been content to stay there, but a groan from Dusclops urged her to her feet. Walking over to the pedestal, she looked at where the Orbs sat, gleaming dully. Reaching into the bag slung around her shoulder, she took out a cloth and carefully picked the Orbs up—she didn’t dare touch them with her bare hands.
Once the Orbs were secure, Dusclops picked her up and soared down the steps towards the base of Mt. Pyre. Phoebe glanced at the sleeping figures of her grandparents as well as the little Chimecho that had fallen near them. Heart wracked with guilt, Phoebe whispered, “I’m sorry,” before turning her face away from the sight.
As they descended the mountain, she couldn’t help but think about how her grandparents didn’t even try to stop her. Her grandmother wielded enormous psychic power, and Phoebe knew that she could easily have put her to sleep or much more.
Perhaps she couldn’t, and that she had faced the same struggle that Phoebe was facing: when it came to family, they couldn’t do anything against each other. And maybe her grandmother wasn’t just disappointed in Phoebe; maybe she was disappointed in herself for not being able to do what she knew was right, for not being able to stand against family. Were it not for Dusclops, Phoebe would not have been able to take the Orbs from her grandparents.
Phoebe glanced down at her bag, then set her face forward. Soon they reached the sea, and the salty wind dried the tears on her cheeks. She would work something out—Team Aqua wouldn’t have the Orbs so easily, or for so long. But now she had to get back Tate and Banette.
Hi, all! I decided to kickstart things by posting a chapter. I'm hoping to do quite a bit of editing and start putting out more content (emphasis on *hope*, since I'm still going through quite a bit). As always, thanks to everyone who stops by, and ESPECIALLY thank you to all who leave reviews! I know I need to get around to replying to them, but I promise I read them and am super grateful for them! <3 Anyway, here's Chapter 19!
Chapter 19
The chatter of grunts grew louder as Tabitha and Mightyena walked into the lounge area. The Commander frowned slightly as he saw several of his team members playing cards, drinking, talking loudly, or else sprawled out on the various chairs and couches in the room. A TV in the back was on but Tabitha deliberately turned a blind eye and walked over to the kitchen. A few grunts who noticed him stiffened; he didn’t pay them any attention. Going to the pantry, he intended to grab a water filter and get out of there immediately. He paused as he noticed stains of various colors dotting the countertops. The microwave door hung open, the dim orange light inside showcasing an assortment of food splotches. Dishes were piled haphazardly in the sink—at least the drying rack was empty.
Tabitha frowned. This was why he chose to have a fridge and separate set of kitchenware in his own suite and only came in the earliest hours of dawn, when no one else was up and awake.
“You can’t even beat Jason? What’s wrong with y—oh, Tabitha, hey!”
Tabitha sighed. The high-pitched shrieky voice belonged to none other than—
“What are you up to?” Courtney asked. She sat atop one of the tables, watching some grunts play a game involving dice. She looked over her shoulder at Tabitha with a big smile on her face. One of her hands drifted over the table and rubbed a Houndoom’s head.
Tabitha walked over to her. “Looks like you’re feeling better.” He glanced at the Houndoom. “Why do you have Maxie’s Pokemon?”
“Because I just love to hang out with them—they’re the sweetest! Aren’t you, cutie? Who’s a good boy? Who’s the best boy?” The Houndoom closed his eyes contentedly and banged his foot on the floor as Courtney scratched behind his horns.
Mightyena whined. Tabitha looked down to see his companion gaze sadly up at him, his red and yellow eyes wide with fear and his ears flat against his head. Wasn’t he the best boy?
“You are the best, Mightyena,” Tabitha said as he ruffled his Pokemon’s fur.
“But Maxie thinks Houndoom is the best, and his opinion is the only one that matters,” Courtney chimed.
Mightyena whined again. Was that true? Did Maxie’s opinion really matter more?
Tabitha couldn’t think of how to tell the truth without hurting Mightyena’s feelings.
“I love you very much, Mightyena.” And that was that.
“What’re you doing here, Tabby Catty?” Courtney asked.
“Don’t call me that. I’m just grabbing a water filter. What are you doing down here?” He didn’t want to ask Courtney about her recent night terror in front of the grunts, but he didn’t think that even she would be acting herself again so soon. His eyes fell on the Dark-type next to her—and he understood.
“I’m hanging out! It’s so good to see what other people are up to, y’know? Get some relaxed human interaction where we don’t have to be all stiff and order people around.”
“Well… If you like it.”
Tabitha glanced up at the TV. A few of the Pokemon League members spoke to interviewers from various places—the Gym Leader Norman was on the streets in Petalburg City, Elite Four member Glacia stood outside a cave with the wind whipping her hair and the sea foaming behind her, and Roxanne spoke to a woman in (Tabitha’s stomach churned) the streets of Rustboro.
“We think it’s for the best that the Pokemon League halts its operations and devotes all of its efforts to stopping these evil teams,” the young girl said confidently.
Several grunts laughed.
“What a load of crap! They’ve never tried anything—they just have their Pokemon attack those that belong to children!”
The screen switched to the Elite Four member Phoebe. The fog-wreathed crown of Mt. Pyre was visible behind her. She stared intently at the camera as she said, “The Pokemon League serves you, people of Hoenn, and we won’t rest until justice has been brought.”
The grunts roared with laughter. Tabitha had seen enough—these news reports sometimes held sprinkles of useful information, but otherwise it was all propaganda for the Pokemon League. He glanced over at Courtney and started.
All the energy from before was gone. She was no longer petting Houndoom and her hands lay limply over the side of the table. Her smile evaporated into a small frown and her eyes were fixated on the young woman on the TV screen.
“Courtney? Are you okay?”
She lowered her eyes. “I don’t like ghosts,” she said quietly.
Perturbed, Tabitha decided to leave. As long as Maxie knew about Courtney’s ordeal, he could work things out with her.
“Later, Tabby Catty!” a man’s voice called.
Tabitha stopped in his tracks and turned around. All the grunts stared back at him. A few pursed their lips in attempts to stifle their laughter; others looked terrified.
“Who said that?”
All hands pointed to a man about Tabitha’s age named Damien. The color leeched from his face when he saw Tabitha glare at him.
“Come with me.”
Damien followed Tabitha outside. The sun shone on the jungle and the dull grey buildings of Lilycove just beyond. Tabitha looked evenly at Damien, who averted his eyes and looked around apprehensively.
“You have a Flygon, don’t you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Send him out. And empty your pockets.”
Damien handed Tabitha his wallet and keys. In a burst of white light, a bright green dragon stood before the two of them and stretched his wings, soaking up the afternoon sun with delight. The large eyes gazed curiously at his trainer from behind their red shields.
“Flygon, take these, please.” At Tabitha’s word, Flygon held on to his trainer’s keys and wallet. “See that ridge over there?” Tabitha pointed to a mountain covered in foliage a couple hundred feet in the distance. “Fly there and wait for your trainer.”
“Wh—hey!”
But Damien shouted at empty air. Flygon kicked hard off the ground and in a few seconds was nothing more than a shining green speck amongst a fleet of cumulus clouds in a sea of blue sky.
“My room is locked—I need my keys to get back in!” Damien looked at his commander in disbelief.
“Then you’d better be quick. We have a training session in 45 minutes. You won’t be excused if you’re late.”
+++++++++++++++++++
Breloom hopped around Derek excitedly as they walked through the halls to the clinic.
It was his day to choose dinner! And he didn’t just want to choose it—he wanted to make it! He had a salad recipe that was just the best—spring greens, oregano, arugula, toadstools—
“I can’t eat toadstools, Breloom, those will make me sick.”
Breloom stopped hopping about and stared at Derek—his jaw dropped.
Toadstools made him sick!? That was ridiculous! It was perfectly safe for him, Claydol and Golbat to eat them!
“I am affected by poison—the rest of you are either immune or resistant. And Golbat feeds on blood and Claydol doesn’t even have a mouth. Did you run this by anyone else first?”
Derek felt a bit bad as he saw Breloom’s shoulders slump and his head hang low.
Breloom just wanted to give them all something special.
“I know, buddy—I’ll help you think of something that everyone will enjoy, okay?”
Derek walked back to the clinic, Breloom skulking behind him—though Derek expected he would be back to bouncing off the walls again in about five minutes. Opening the door, he jumped when he saw Tabitha sitting on a stool, watching Golbat read a thermometer and using his feet to type down the results to a computer.
“What are you doing here?”
Tabitha looked up at him. “Taking a break from the grunts.” He switched his gaze back to Golbat, who was squeaking to a Cacnea sitting on a chair before him. “Do Cacnea temperatures read the same as a human’s?”
Derek glanced at the Cacnea. “Not always—it’s more important to check their desiccation level. Even though they’re resistant to drought, they still need water at some point and will injure more easily if they dry out.”
Tabitha looked over at a Seviper lying curled up on a bed. “Is that Connor’s? What’s wrong with him?”
“Just got into a fight with James’s Zangoose—got some nasty gashes that it’ll need time to recover from.” He glanced at his commander. “I take it things aren’t going very well, are they?”
Tabitha closed his eyes and rubbed his face with his hands. “Things are going well overall—Maxie is happy. But the grunts get into stupid antics that I’m tired of.”
Derek sat on a bed and looked curiously at Tabitha. “Like what?”
They were interrupted at that moment by a knocking at the door—which promptly opened without waiting for an answer. A very pretty woman with tan skin and a flat nose poked her head through the door. Her long black hair spilled over her shoulders and lowered hood as she smiled widely at Tabitha and Derek. Just behind her, Derek saw a Graveler trying to look through the doorway.
Tabitha didn’t move from where he was but glanced at her out of the side of his eye. His eyebrows were lowered. He didn’t return her smile.
“You wanted to see me, Tabitha?” she asked. Her almond-shaped eyes glanced at Derek. “Hey, Derek! How’s it going?”
“Not too bad. How are you, Ka’ohi?”
“I’m pretty good!” She looked back at Tabitha. “Squad B did the training regimen you asked us to!”
Tabitha looked away. “Then you’re free to go.”
“We’re going hiking in the jungle near Northern Falls this afternoon, and you’re welcome to come!” she said with a dazzling smile.
“No, thank you.”
Her smile faltered. She turned to Derek. “What about you? You can come with, if you’d like!”
“Thanks, Ka’ohi, but I need to need to take care of my patients this afternoon,” he said as he gestured to the Cacnea.
She nodded. “I gotcha. Well, it was nice to see you! I’ll catch you later.” Turning tail, she walked down the hall, her Graveler rolling after her.
Derek looked at Tabitha. “Why don’t you hang out with the grunts? Courtney does it all the time.”
Tabitha grimaced. “I’m not opposed to hanging out with them in general, but I also don’t want to cross too many boundaries—something Courtney could learn more about,” he said darkly.
Derek smiled. “Did she call you nicknames in front of the others, again?”
“Yep. And Damien tried to use it with me. So I sent had him chase his Flygon to the ridge just west of us.”
“The ridge—that must have taken hours!”
Tabitha nodded. “He showed up four hours later.” He sighed and shook his head. “As long as he learned his lesson…” He glanced at Breloom, who was skulking in a corner. His mushroom-domed head was bowed low and he wrapped his tail around him. “What’s up with him?”
“He wanted to make the rest of us salad for dinner, but I told him that he can’t use toadstools.”
Tabitha smiled as he looked over at Breloom—who kept his face pointed to the corner.
“That was sweet of you. Maybe you can think of something else to treat your teammates with.”
Breloom swiveled his head around—his eyes were scrunched up as though he was about to cry, but they shone with anger. He howled.
He had so many talents that he just wanted to share his teammates with and none of them appreciated anything he did! He was a fantastic cook, an extraordinary fighter, and came up with the best plans to—
“Breloom, we do appreciate you!” Derek cut him off. He didn’t know what Breloom was going to say but didn’t want to run the risk that his Pokemon might spill information that Tabitha shouldn’t hear. “I tell you all the time how helpful you are in the clinic and you’re an excellent fighter.”
Tabitha leaned back as he gazed at Breloom with a smile lingering on his face. “You just need to accept that you’re not good at everything.”
Derek inwardly sighed with relief—Tabitha wasn’t pressing Breloom for information.
“Anyway, Naomi came here and brought me some muffins earlier. Would you like one?”
Tabitha shook his head. “I don’t eat grains.”
“You don’t eat sugar either, do you?”
“Nope.”
“Red meat?”
“Sometimes.”
“What do you normally eat?”
Tabitha paused, his black eyes looking up at the ceiling as he thought.
“I eat rice and seafood.”
“Every day?”
He paused again. “Pretty much, yeah.”
“Any fruits or vegetables?”
“Yeah, I eat those, too. On second thought, I do keep red meat around for Mightyena. I imagine you’re someone who eats everything.”
“Yep. No dietary restrictions for me.”
Tabitha nodded. “Do you mind if I borrow Breloom for a bit?”
At the sound of his name, Breloom turned about, his face plastered with a large smile and his black eyes shining with hope.
Of course Tabitha could hang out with him! What were they going to do?
“Not much hanging out—I’m running the grunts through training simulations, and since Mightyena is on guard duty, it would be helpful to have another experienced Pokemon.”
Before Derek could get a word in, Breloom bounded across the room and tackled Tabitha to the ground with a big hug.
“You don’t—hey! Agh!”
The commander lay flat on his back as Breloom squeezed his chest, chirruping happily. Someone appreciated his talents! He was finally seen, known, and loved!
Peeling Breloom’s arms off him, Tabitha stood up, flipped his hood back in, and looked at Derek. “Is it all right with you?”
Derek hesitated—he didn’t know if Breloom would inadvertently tell Tabitha about Maressa, but he did want Breloom to be happy.
“Sure, but Breloom can be a handful—how about Golbat goes with?”
Derek looked over at Golbat, who peered at him indifferently over his folded wings. Golbat gave a single nod—he was okay with it.
“Good.” Tabitha smiled at Breloom. “You’ll definitely be a big help with training the others.” He looked back at Derek. “Thanks so much again—for being reliable all around, really.”
Derek nodded, not allowing his exterior to reflect what he felt inside. He watched Tabitha exit the clinic with Breloom bouncing behind him excitedly. Golbat remained perched on the bedside.
He squeaked. What was Derek sending him after Breloom for?
“Make sure he doesn’t say anything about Maressa.”
Golbat closed his eyes in affirmation, and without another squeak, glided through the open door. Derek turned to the Cacnea and picked up where Golbat had left off.
He was conflicted—but he didn’t feel guilty. He didn’t regret freeing Maressa, not now, not when he knew she was alive. That was unquestionably good. But he didn’t just want to throw away everything he had with Team Magma—it had done a lot of good for him, Golbat, Breloom and Claydol. He was able to get hands-on working experience, his Pokemon could engage in battles often or help him in the clinic, and they got to spend a lot more time together.
Derek’s stomach rumbled, and the scent of Naomi’s pumpkin muffins wafted to his nose. He had made friends in Team Magma—good friends. And in spite of his unusual job and its circumstances, his life felt normal, in a way. He had a solid job, steady friends, and was living a day-to-day life.
Could it last?
+++++++++++++++++++
Courtney’s hand trailed across the Houndoom’s head as he sat his red snout in her lap. Across the desk from her, Maxie watched her patiently.
“Thank you for letting me borrow your Houndoom, sir. I’ve felt much better.”
“Of course,” he muttered. “Have you seen anything else, apart from your childhood and that one vision?”
Courtney tensed at the mention of her childhood. “No.”
The two of them sat in silence punctuated only by Houndoom licking his lips. The sun shone down harshly through the windows, bright enough to eliminate the need for electric light. Courtney stewed with resentment, thinking bitterly about the hateful people that Pokemon made her remember.
“You still want your memories removed, don’t you?”
She looked up. Maxie gazed at her kindly. Swallowing back the lump in her throat, she said, “I do.”
“In these past four years, you haven’t thought any differently?”
Courtney averted her gaze. She knew Maxie’s eyes were on her, but she kept gazing at the Houndoom’s head lying on her lap.
“I—have. At some points,” she said slowly. “But it’s still painful. And it’s only gotten worse recently.”
Maxie was silent for a bit.
“What do you expect me to say?”
Courtney looked up at him. He didn’t look angry or condescending or impatient—he seemed genuinely curious.
“What do I expect you to say?”
“I want to hear your reasoning on this,” he said gently.
“I—I don’t know. That you won’t do it, I guess. That what I’ve been through makes me a stronger, more motivated person, just like it did for you.”
Maxie smiled softly. “Exactly.”
“But you’re important!” she blurted out. The Houndoom jumped at her sudden outburst as Courtney half-rose from her chair. Her heart pounded beneath her sternum.
“This team needs you—you’re everything to us!”
Maxie did not get up. He simply raised his eyes to look at Courtney. “Do you consider yourself unimportant?”
“I’m not as important as you! You made Team Magma! We rely on you—I don’t know where we’d be without you, I don’t know if I’d even still be alive!”
“And where do you think I would be without you and Tabitha?” he asked calmly.
Courtney stared at him, fury building up within her.
“How can you stay so calm?” she shouted. “How can you just keep asking me questions? Why don’t you do something?”
“Because I care about you, Courtney, and I won’t do anything to you if I believe it’s against your best interest.
“I’m not doubting you or what you’ve been through. I know your life has been very painful—more than that of most here. But we’re not trying to erase the past. We’re accepting our past and moving forward—we are making the future better. We’re giving ourselves a chance at a good life. I want to share that with someone who understands. If you no longer understand that, Courtney, will you have the same drive and passion that you do today? Will you remain fit to be an executive of Team Magma?”
Courtney looked into his glinting red eyes as she let his words soak into her. The fire inside her died down and her heartrate calmed. She sat back down and folded her hands in her lap.
“You’re right,” she murmured.
The two of them sat in silence for a moment. Courtney was grateful for Maxie—sometimes, she just needed someone to reason out everything she felt.
“Have you ever talked to Tabitha about his life?” Maxie asked after a moment.
She shook her head. “He won’t talk about it.”
Maxie nodded. “Even if he wasn’t so reserved, I wouldn’t be surprised.” Maxie sighed and laid his hands in his lap. “Tabitha lost his family at a young age. After that, he wandered the streets of Rustboro and had run-ins with gangs. He and his Mightyena literally fought for their lives. Gangs killed the only people he had left, and he retaliated by killing them—all when he was only seventeen.”
A chill shot up Courtney’s spine but she didn’t respond.
Maxie looked up at her. “Remind me—the incident with Tara was an accident, wasn’t it?”
She averted her eyes. “Yes.”
“And Tabitha has never brought up the idea of memory removal to me. And you know what happened in my life—how I was, shall we say, less than happy about my family being left in squalor after the ocean destroyed our shipping business.” For the first time, a note of bitterness accented his words. “And I believe that you, Tabitha, and all of Team Magma will be better off if we push forward, if we get through this together instead of forgetting what drives us to change this world.”
Courtney exhaled deeply. “You’re right—as always. I just want Jirachi to be gone soon so I can stop reliving all those horrible moments.”
“Keep Houndoom with you. He should protect you from Jirachi’s psychic powers, at least.”
“I think I saw that Phoebe is with the Elite Four now,” she suddenly added.
Maxie raised an eyebrow. “How long have you been wanting to say that?”
“Since I got here,” she said quickly. “But you take so much time to think about everything that I didn’t want to interrupt your thoughts!”
Maxie smirked. “You’re not wrong, I suppose. But yes, it seems your surrogate sister has joined them. She’s even younger than you are, isn’t she?”
“By four years.”
“Twenty-two, and already in leadership governing all who raise Pokemon for battling…” Maxie shook his head. “They’re going to regret putting such young people in positions of power like that.”
“What makes you say that? I was twenty-two when you made me a commander.”
“Being a commander and being a Pokemon League member are quite different—there are millions of people in the Hoenn region and only a few hundred in Team Magma, for starters. And she has to deal with governmental regulations and law nonsense—we’re free from all of that.
“I also hope that you won’t shirk your duties here to seek out personal revenge.”
“No—no, of course I wouldn’t do that!” she said hastily. “I just—I hadn’t realized how far she had gotten with those damned Shuppets that wouldn’t leave me alone growing up. Though I suppose they’re Banettes, now…” She curled her lip in disgust. Goosebumps rose along her arms as she remembered waking up in the night, seeing two floating pairs of large yellow eyes and feeling ice shoot through her veins as they fed on her emotions.
“You certainly had plenty for them to feed on,” he noted.
“That hasn’t changed.”
He smiled wryly. “You’ll get your revenge on them someday—I promise.”
