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A Winkle in Reality - Chapter 6.
🕑 Added 2025-04-14 15:28:15 +0000 UTCThis is the chapter I'm most excited about and where the story starts taking a darker turn (though not too dark, yet. Still trying to balance it with more light hearted moments).
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Chapter 6.
Salt water shot up in front of us as a particularly large wave hit the side of the ship. Rat's joyful giggling turned into sputtering as he was too slow to pull back from the railing like the rest of us and got a mouthfull of sea. We laughed as he coughed and spit, trying to get it out.
“Come on kid, at least wait until we can't see Orre anymore before you croak.” I teased, gesturing to the very faint blur of gray in the distant horizon. We’d been on the water for a couple of hours, the old ship scurrying across the waves at speed I hadn't thought it capable of.
My first impression of the boat had perhaps been a little ungenerous. Sure, it was more rust than paint and looked like it had been salvaged from the ocean floor, but it was seaworthy and larger than I’d thought. Besides the six of us, there were around 10 other passengers, and while it was cramped, there was space to move around.
Just not sleep. The gang was all forced to share two beds between them, though they didn't seem that sad about it. It had mostly been me who had been outraged.
Charging full price when there weren't enough beds? Fucking scamming dickhead of a captain. I was convinced he was a pirate.
Rat didn't give my words any thought, rushing towards the front of the ship where Joe stood.
Sharon chuckled from my side.
“It's good to see ‘im so eager. I thought it was gonna be another shitty birthday.”
I turned to him in surprise.
“It's his birthday?”
Sharon nodded his head, gazing in the direction the kid took off in. “Well, not ‘is actual birthday, I don't think. Just the anniversary of when ‘e joined the group. It's two years today.”
“Huh.”
I hesitated. My curiosity was killing me, but I understood that it was likely a touchy subject.
“It's fine.” He looked at me with a knowing smirk. “I can tell you're curious and I guess you've earned that much.”
He pointed down to the back end of the ship. Reed and John were lying on their backs, munching on jerky and slurping from glass bottles of Oran juice. Apparently, everyone other than Rat had splurged a bit with the remaining money after they’d bought the essentials.
Not that I could really comment, standing in my brand new clothes. Sure, it was a simple blue t-shirt, with black shorts and a pair of large boots, but it was still not technically necessary.
“Reed and John lived in an orphanage. And yes, there's a couple in Gateon, or at least, there were. Every now and again, some rich prick will take pity on us and throw some money at the city. As you can imagine, it either gets burned down, shaken down, or turned into a Snagem front within days. Theirs were one of the exceptions, lasted years. Until it didn't.”
“Joe, on the other hand, kinda just… showed up? One day?” Sharon scratched at his cheek as he tried to find the words. ”I just saw ‘im sitting by Mainstreet one day. Didn't think much of it, see stuff like that plenty. But then I saw ‘im the next day, same spot, like ‘e hadn't even moved. And then ‘e was there the next and the next, until I got too curious and I had to ask. Didn't get any answers, but ‘e seemed fine, so I brought ‘im back to camp.”
I blinked.
“He hasn't said anything? I know he's a little… slow, but…”
Sharon frowned at my words.
“I'm… not sure ‘e is. Yeah, ‘e's quiet and it takes ‘im a bit to react to shit, but every now and again, ‘e'll do or say something that really makes you think.”
“Huh.” I responded as we looked at the tall boy standing like a statue. The only sign of life was his eyes having moved from the water to where Rat was again hanging halfway over the railing.
“And Rat?”
He sighed.
“Rat… ‘e was the first of the guys that I met, two years ago now. Kid got thrown out of a store where ‘e'd been begging for food. ‘e was just laying there, crying ‘is eyes out. I had a little left over and ‘e was so pathetic… I don't know. Couldn't leave ‘im there.” His eyes unfocused as he gazed into nothing.
“I learned later that ‘is ma and pa just fucked off one day. Like literally, ‘e woke up and they were gone, no note, no money, no food, nothing. Apparently they were both Gloom addicts.”
“Gloom addicts?” I asked confused. Like the Pokémon?
Sharon gave me a weird look. “How in the world did you live in Orre and not know about Gloom? Dealers are all over the place.”
I shrugged, acting nonchalant.
“I don't know. I woke up in the desert ‘bout a day's walk from Outskirt Stand, with no idea of how I got there, or anything else, really.”
“Shit, you got Mindbroken? That's rough.” He seemed honestly sincere when he said that. “I thought you were from Phenac City or something. Sorry to hear that.”
“Eh, hard to miss something you don't remember losing.”
“I guess.” He didn't seem convinced. “But yeah, Gloom. You know the Pokémon?” He continued at my nod. “Lil’ bastards make these spores that get you out of your mind ‘igh. Like, unable to move and seeing shit kinda ‘igh.”
“Huh.” I contemplated the info. Drugs in the Pokémon world had never really crossed my mind, yet it made sense. Orre was proof that it wasn't all rainbows and sunshine. Gloom producing hallucinogenic drugs reminded me of certain frogs and shit from my original world. Making your predators too stoned to move was a decent survival strategy.
Until something started farming you for it, but at least you lived.
“Hey, not to get off topic, but why is Orre so shit?”
He hummed.
“Mostly because nobody wants the trouble it would take to fix. Orre lies roughly in between Hoenn and Indigo and they've been fighting over it for… I don't know how long. I do know it's mostly been Johto that's interested and the last war was like 60 years ago or something. But yeah, anytime another nation tries to move in, the rest gang up and kick them out. Which leaves the non-legal people free to do whatever they want.”
We stood in silence for a minute as I took that in, the ship swaying under our feet. I hadn’t thought of war either. I shouldn’t be surprised, humans were going to human after all, no matter the world. Yet, geopolitics and warfare with walking, breathing, death machines that spit fire and farted lightning was pretty far from the somewhat whimsical experience I’d expected. It had already dawned on me that it wasn't a game and that shit was real, the near death encounters and Gateon made sure of that.
Pokémon armies were still a lot, though.
I tried to shake it off, rationalizing that I could look into it later with, like, a computer and shit.
“What about you?” I asked to distract myself. “You've told me of the gang. I've even told you of me. What about you?”
“What about me?” He huffed, turning his head away. “There's nothing to tell really. Shitty parents that screwed up and the consequences ‘it us kids.”
“Us?”
He was silent for a time, chewing on his lip. I didn’t interrupt. It was clearly not a subject he liked talking about.
“... I ‘ad a kid brother. Couple years younger. Pa was a lowlife gangbanger, nothing impressive, with a gambling ‘abit. Ma was a whore ‘e got pregnant. One day, Pa spent more than we ‘ad, and they came for ‘im. Took Ma and Brian too.”
I blinked in shock at the unexpectedly dark story. Holy fucking shit.
“Fuck, I'm so sorry.”
He waved me off. “It was years ago. Who cares anymore. Everyone ‘as a sob story in Orre. I'm over it.”
He very clearly wasn't, but I didn’t call him on it, merely giving him a quick clap on the shoulder. Silence fell over us again, before he broke it halting, clearly uncomfortable.
“Thank you… for getting ‘em out. I promised ‘em that I would keep them safe and get us off the streets, but… it was always a long shot. Chances of a kid with a single Pokémon ending up another way than dead or affiliated… well. So, thank you. I'll deny this conversation ever ‘appened if you tell anyone, but thank you.”
I chuckled.
“Awwww, you're welcome. You wanna hug it out?” I teased.
“Shut up! Is ‘e gonna do that the whole trip!?” Sharon tried desperately to distract from the blush taking over his face, gesturing down at the wooden planks by our feet.
Sprawled out with all four limbs extended as far as they could go, Ra let out a constant low growl. His claws dug furrows in the wood as he hung to it, tails standing ramrod straight upwards, resembling red candyfloss with the way his fur puffed out in terror. Ears laid back flat along his skull, he kept his eyes squeezed firmly shut. Whenever droplets of water covered him in a light spray, the growl would gain a whining tone.
He’d been perfectly fine right up until the boat set off, if still injured from the fight with Mightyena. The second we started moving, however, he seemed to realize that he was a Fire-Type surrounded by water and instantly hunkered down.
I sighed as I crouched down to pick him up. Pulling him up by the stomach, I tried to pry each individual claw from their hold, yet as soon as I got one free and moved to the next, he would slam it back down and dig in again.
“Come on buddy, stop being a bitch,” I grumbled as we played a stupid, wonky game of whack-a-mole. “Oh look! Is that a Ninetales!?”
I pointed dramatically to the other side of the boat. Terror briefly forgotten, the Vulpix’s head shot up, ears erecting so fast I imagined a BOING! sound, and twisted his head to look.
Moving like the wind, he howled in outrage as I used his distraction to scoop him up. He clung to my arms hard enough that lines of blood ran down and pushed his head into my chest, letting out a low whine the whole time.
“Ow, okay buddy, there we go, it's okay, OW! fucking shit those are sharp, okay, let's get you down stairs.” I nodded at Sharon who seemed extremely amused at my plight and walked over to the staircase that led down to the lower deck.
Much like the ship itself, the lower deck was in rough shape, but serviceable. I navigated by the four collapsable tables attached to the walls, flanked by a pair of wooden benches each. Leftover spots revealed that they’d once been painted blue, but the years and salt had ground the color away, leaving only dark, stained wood behind. An extra violent wave made me clutch the counter of the tiny kitchen as Ra yipped and whined. I shushed him gently, petting his head in comfort as we made it to the eight small cabins that served as the passengers’ quarters.
Pushing open the flimsy door, I made my way over to the bunk, beneath a small circular window. Shuffling to get by the closet that couldn't open fully without hitting the bed, I sat down on the two thin blankets. The only other thing in the tiny room was a long shelf that ran along the ceiling, containing both my backpack and the Grunt’s.
“There, there. You're okay. Shhhhhhh,” I pressed a kiss onto Ra's head as he slowly calmed down now that he at least couldn't see the water. He carefully unhooked his claws from my flesh and slunk down on the bed, immediately burrowing under the blankets, shuffling around until only his snout and eyes peeked out.
“There we go. Feel better?” He nodded, tongue briefly flickering out to touch the blood dripping from the holes he left in my triceps with regret. “Don't worry ‘bout it buddy, I've had worse. I'm more worried about you. Are you sure you don't want a Pokéball? We have extras now.” I showed him one of the empty ones attached next to Feebas’.
Ra growled and hid his head under the covers. He’d been very resolute in not wanting to go in a ball, even after I got a bunch of them.
“That's fine, we'll talk about it when we become official Trainers. I think you need to have a Pokéball to be registered as my Pokémon or something, like use the PokéCenter, but you don't have to stay in it if you don't want to. You wouldn't be the first. You good down here?” I asked as I retrieved something from my bag.
I got another huff in response as he curled into a tight ball. I chuckled as I closed the door on my way out.
“Alright. I'll come check on you later.”
Making my way up, I passed by Sharon and made my way over to Rat.
“Hey, kid.”
He turned to me and gave me a huge grin. Somehow, in the couple of hours we were apart he’d managed to lose his left front tooth, leaving quite the gap. In a weird way, it suited him.
“Peri, hi! Isn't the ocean amazing!? I swear I saw Lugia, but Joe doesn't believe me, but I really did and-”
He was cut off as the two pieces of fabric I was carrying hit him in the face.
“Happy Birthday. I saw that you didn't buy anything for yourself like everyone else, so I got you this.”
That didn't make sense and I prayed he didn't call me out on it. We were on the boat when everyone shared what they bought, so there wasn't time to buy it afterwards.
Rat unfurled the gift and gaped at the sky blue t-shirt with a white Pokéball over the left breast and the black cargo short with another white Pokéball on the right leg.
I opened my mouth to apologize if they were the wrong size, yet was cut off as the kid slammed into my midsection with a giant hug.
“Thank you so much, Peri! I love them!”
I patted him on the back, somewhat uncomfortable.
“You're welcome, kid.”
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Feebas’ eyes were narrowed with effort as she furiously beat her tail side to side to propel herself forward. The waves coming at her from the side threatened to knock her off course, yet she stayed the path, every muscle straining with effort. She lowered her head and gave everything she had left for one last push, but it wasn't enough. She fell further and further back, despite her struggles, and soon she would be left behind entirely.
A red beam hit her just before she was out of range, digitizing her into energy that got sucked into her Pokéball. I gave her a minute. Time seemed to pass oddly inside the storage machine. Injuries didn’t progress, Pokémon didn't need food or water, yet they were aware of the outside world, to a degree, like the stasis only affected their bodies. I knew Pokémon releasing themselves happened in the anime, but I hadn't thought it was real until I saw Meowth pop out of his own randomly.
Feebas hadn't done it yet, but I was sure that she could, if she really wanted to. No way my little princess had less willpower or whatever than a cat.
Releasing Feebas into my arms, I took aim, tongue sticking out the side of my mouth in concentration, and then hurled her ahead of the vessel. The sun glinted off her scales before she hit the ocean in a splash and immediately resumed her attempts to keep up with the ship.
I watched her with a smile. We’d been at it for a little over half an hour and her energy was clearly dwindling. In the beginning it had taken her minutes before she lost the race completely, and now, even after a couple of breaks, she only lasted 30 seconds.
But she was stubborn and I couldn’t deny her. It was the most emotion I’d seen her express.
“At least one of the kids are still havin' fun, I ‘pose.” Sharon joked as he came up and leaned on the railing beside me.
I laughed. “Is he still puking? Poor kid.” I turned to look at the back of the boat. Sure enough, Rat was hanging limply over the fence as Reed and Joe took turns patting his back and making sure he didn't fall overboard.
“Yeah. Can't believe ‘e got seasick. ‘e was so excited when we set off!”
“Happens to the best of us.” I shrugged.
“Well, it clearly didn't ‘appen to the best of us,” he sniffed, pretending to wipe dust off his new deep red shirt.
“Hahahaha, you're so funny Sharon.” I deadpanned, giving the fakest laugh possible.
“I know. So, we're landing tomorrow. While I agree that a different boat that could take us to Kanto immediately would be awesome, I think the guys would appreciate a day without the swaying. Definitely Rat.”
“Yeah I know. It's fine. Just impatient.” I sighed, returning Feebas and sending her back out for one last round.
“Oh yeah, your big dreams of being the strongest and shit. We still going to that Professor guy?”
I hmmm'd and nodded in reply. “If he'll take us.”
While chances of Professor Oak agreeing to make six random kids Trainers were very small, it was the only sure way I knew of. There had to be different ways to get in, like I vaguely remember a Trainer School in the anime, and I imagine the Gyms could maybe authorize that type of thing, but that was mere conjecture.
So was Professor Oak, to be fair. I didn’t know where in the timeline I was, or if the world even followed any of the media I was familiar with. Sharon had never heard of anyone called Wes or Michael, but it might just not have happened yet. Innocuous questioning of some of the friendly passengers that lived in Kanto revealed that Oak was at least the Pokémon Professor of the region, but that was all I had.
“‘e might not take you, after all you're… you. But ‘e would be insane to turn down my kinda talent. I mean, I took down a Mightyena with a Meowth. Who can say that?”
“Liars, like you. Fuck you mean, YOU took down a Mightyena? I seem to remember Ra, Feebas, and me doing most of the work. It also had shit-tier training.”
He snorted dismissively at my claim. “I guess you ‘elped a bit. And yeah, in ‘indsight, it was kinda weak, wasn't it. Physically impressive, but I don't think it ‘ad a single ranged attack. Probably fresh meat, yoinked from some poor bastard. Gonna ‘ave to whip it into shape if its gonna stick around. The other two probably ain't any better.”
I nodded. That tracked with my own thoughts.
“Whatever.” He said. “Just promise me you won't cry when I'm Champion and whip your ass.”
“Pffft, you could be the overlord of the universe and you still couldn't touch me. Are you really going for the big seat though? You don't strike me as the type to enjoy paperwork.”
“Eh, I'll ‘ave people for that.” He shrugged. “What's the point if you don't aim for the top? Especially with talent like mine.”
“That's true, I’ve never seen talent quite like yours.” I agreed, recalling Feebas for the last time and attaching her ball to the magnetic strip inside the belt I nicked from the Grunt. Sharon perked up at my ‘admission’ as I headed for the stairs. “I didn't know it was possible to suck so much.”
“OI, SCREW YOU! I'LL CRUSH YOU ANY DAY, ANY TIME! COME BACK ‘ERE!”
I laughed as the angry yells vibrated through the wood.
We were 5 days into our journey at that point, and should be anchored at Knot Island by midday tomorrow. The island was apparently kind of the midpoint between Orre, Kanto, and Hoenn that lay further to the south on the other side of the archipelago from Indigo. There were bigger and closer islands, but most were heavily watched by Indigo and our captain had insisted on Knot.
Shady bastard.
I pushed open the door to my cabin and closed it behind me. Normally I'd have been more concerned with theft, but with 19 people on board, finding the culprit wouldn’t be hard.
Besides, I had a guard dog on watch.
“Where did you go now, huh?” I sighed when I saw the empty bed. Dustballs were the only thing that greeted me underneath and the empty closet reveled nothing either.
“Ra?”
Faint grumbling reached my ear from up high, causing me to sigh again as I looked at the long celling shelf containing the two backpacks, my duffelbag, and Kurt's old jacket. Knowing were to look, I could see fabric moving faintly.
“There you are. Seriously?”
Shifting the stuff around allowed Ra's red, extra fluffy fur to poke through, his dark eyes narrowed at me from the very back of the shelf. I’d have thought that spending time on the ship would allow him to calm down after a time, but if anything he’d gotten even worse. He straight up refused to leave the cabin after the first day, and by the third, he had abandoned the bed and tried to find any tiny hole he could squeeze into where he wouldn’t be thrown around by the motion of the waves.
“One more day, buddy, you got this. You're not gonna let a little bit of water beat you, right?”
My appeal to his ego would normally have hit right in his sore spot, yet he barely reacted. Being at sea had really fucked him up.
My arm and shoulder started arching from the awkward upwards angle I had to stretch to reach him, but I didn’t want to leave him alone. I gave the metal rack a speculative look and yanked it a couple of times.
“Fuck it.”
Grabbing the edge with both hands, I heaved myself up, swinging my legs up with me. It took a bit of shuffling to finagle myself in behind the luggage, but I succeeded and soon I was pressed up against the wall, basically hidden from the outside world. Ra immediately started squirming around, wriggling to find a better position. I sputtered as I got two back paws straight to the nose, followed by his ass dragging across my face, and a mouth full of tail fur. Finally he managed to complete his turn and press his wet snout into my neck with a long exhale, finally relaxing his tense muscles into my hug.
“I got you buddy, you're fine. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you, I promise.”
It didn't take long between the dark, soft surroundings and the heat of the Vulpix pressed against me, before I started struggling to keep my eyes open as soft snores hit my skin. Maybe Ra was onto something, I mused as I lost the fight against the sandman. It was actually pretty comfy up there.
I wasn't sure how long we slept, but I awoke suddenly. Based on the way Ra's ears were completely stiff as he stared at the ceiling, I knew it wasn't just me.
Something was off. The constant hum of the engine that had been our constant companion to the degree it had become as much a part of the journey as the movement of the ocean, had gone quiet.
There was no way we were at Knot Island already. The nap may have been of undefined length, but we definitely didn't sleep for 24 hours.
Straining my hearing, I could barely pick up a faint noise like an engine, but definitely not ours. Indistinct talking sounded from the upper deck, though not as loud as I expected them to be without the engine burr, like the passengers were whispering.
The small window was on the perpendicular wall to the shelf and should be within arms reach. I started shifting to throw the bags off and get out, but Ra quickly smacked my arm with his paw, still looking straight up. Even without eye contact, his point was easy to understand.
Don't move.
Unfortunately, I’d never been great with directions.
“I'm just gonna open the window so we can hear,” I whispered. My Vulpix kept batting me as I snuck out my arm between the luggage, careful to not let anything fall to the floor.
Ra had faced a full grown Pokémon in battle without hesitation. Him being so worried he wanted us to stay hidden was concerning.
It took several minutes of careful maneuvering for my fingers to finally grasp the latch. Slowly, I pulled on the metal. The window unsealed with a light pop, letting the noise that had been building in intensity reach a crescendo that made it sound like it was coming from just out of sight.
The murmurs had gone silent.
The glass had just opened a narrow crack when white overtook the view of the outside. I hunkered down even further, peeking through the gaps, as a sleek speedboat passed by slowly.
“Ahoy thar! Be thar somethin' we can help ye gentlemen wit'?” The captain's tone was casual, yet I could feel the underlying tension.
The ship shook in response. A deep, low rumble reverberated through the boat, like a hundred tigers growled at the same time. The glass shuddered and wood groaned as my heart seized in my chest and I forgot how to breathe. Ra froze completely, like he was paralyzed.
I couldn’t explain it, but some kind of instinctive reaction told me that a predator was lurking just out of sight. Mightyena had been the scariest creature I’d ever come face to face with, yet it might as well have been a toddler in comparison. Sweat formed on my palms and forehead instantly and my pulse rose higher than I’d ever felt, my heart unable to stay still anymore, thundering in my chest.
Ra was right. We had to stay hidden. I liked to think of myself as brave, but every fiber of my being screamed that even a twitch would get me killed.
A smooth voice, one that I didn't recognise, spoke up, cutting off the bowel-loosening growl.
“Indeed there is, my good man. My name is Proton, Executive Proton, and we, that would be my fellows and I, come representing Team Rocket. If you would all be so kind as to hand over your Pokémon, we can get this over with quickly and easily. If not… well, we will get them one way or another.”
I felt like screaming. Team Rocket!? What the fuck!?
The same guy spoke up, seeming to love his own voice.
“Bert, if you would be so kind as to gather them up, there is a good boy. Steve, check downstairs for stragglers, would you? Thank you so much.”
“Shou’ I take the stuff to?”
“No, leave it. You never know when someone has something trackable. Technology these days, I swear. It is like they are trying to make it hard to be an honest criminal.”
Laughter rang out as footsteps creaked across the deck, two pairs, one walking slowly around and the other heading for the stairs.
“Come now,” the poss prick kept going, “you are from Orre, are you not? You should be familiar with the procedure. No heroics, no escape attempts. Not that there is anywhere to go. Unless you think you can out-swim Gyarados, and I should warn you, many have tried. None have succeeded.”
The same bone-shaking growl rattled through the ship as the thieves laughed again. I heard the doors to the cabins bang open as ‘Steve’ searched them. Mine was the fourth one, so he’d reach us swiftly. I quickly grabbed Kurt’s jacket and pulled it over us, curling into the smallest ball possible.
The door was kicked open with unnecessary force. I didn’t dare look, but I heard the minion's slow, confident steps as he entered. One of his knees popped as he knelt to check under the bed. The door to the closet crashed against the wall as it was torn open. I closed my eyes and tried to keep my breathing calm and noiseless. There was only one place left to search and I felt like throwing up as everything went silent.
One heartbeat.
Two heartbeats.
Nothing. He was just standing there.
Three heartbeats.
Four heartbeats.
He knew. He knew we were there.
Five heartbeats.
I should make the first move.
Six heartbeats.
Jump down atop of him before he could react.
Seven heartbeats.
Fuck fuck fuck.
Eight heartbeats.
Had to do it, had to do it, they'd kill us.
Nine heartbeats.
Footsteps rang out as Steve left the room, apparently satisfied. The door next to us crashed open.
My exhale was slow and stuttery, my entire body shaking.
That was so fucking close. I didn’t know what to do. It sounded like there was at least a dozen of them, plus a fucking Executive with a fucking Gyarados! What the fuck kinda endgame bullshit did I end up in!?
“NO! FUCK YOU!”
My internal panic was cut off by a whole new wave of freight as loud smack rang out. If before it had felt like I was paralyzed, recognizing Sharon's voice made me feel like I was dipped in ice.
“Lad, don't-”
“NO! I'M NOT SCARED OF THIS PRETTY BOY! WE'RE SO FUCKIN’ CLOSE! I WON’T LET YOU RUIN IT NOW! GO, MEOWTH!”
“Ahh, there is always one. Crobat.”
A faint whistle of air was followed by a wet gurgling sound, then a thump as something hit the deck.
“MEOWTH NOO-ARRgggleee…”
I struggled to get up, only for Ra to press me back down. I opened my mouth to scream as I tried again, a second thump, seemingly so much louder than the first, echoing through my head, yet I was smacked down again, his paws pressed against my lips. My Pokémon stared at me with wide eyes as cries rang out.
“SHARON!”
“BOSS, NO!”
“BIG S!”
“I warned you. Now look at what you have made me do. It is going to take at least 10 minutes to get the blood out of Crobat's fur.”
Their laughter was as loud as gunshots in my ears as I felt tears crawl down my cheeks. Ra gently licked them from my face, nuzzling me softly, yet kept me down.
“Ah, Steve, you are back. Nothing?”
“Empty, Boss.”
“I see, good work. Well then, ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your time and patience. It has been an absolute delight to make your acquaintance. I wish you the best of luck on your journey.”
“Gyarados, Hyper Beam.”
I saw my shock mirrored in Ra's brown eyes as he scrambled to get off me. A stillness took over, like existence itself held its breath as a low whine began, like a turbine starting up. I grabbed Ra and pulled him close as a bright light shone on the water outside, like a second sun had been born right over our heads.
“HOLD O-”
The world vanished in light. Everything shook like an earthquake, sending us crashing to the ground as our side of the ship suddenly tilted inwards. A tree-trunk thick beam of blindingly bright, gold-ish white scythed through the middle of the vessel, instantly vaporizing the wall, door, wood, metal, anything in its path turned to ash by its mere proximity. Even five feet away, I felt burn marks form on the arm I threw up to shield myself in the split second it took the attack to sweep through the craft like wheat.
Water rushed in to fill the path the Hyper Beam had left, walls falling as the ceiling crashed down around our ears. Panicked, pained screams fought with laughter to dominate my senses, both drowned out by the tortured screeching of the sinking ship and the ominous glucks of the ocean coming to swallow us. I desperately tried to get to my feet as the water rapidly filled the destroyed cabin, scrambling to get to the wall and window. Ra yipped and clawed to get out of my grasp, yet I refused to let him go.
We would get out of this. We had to.
“JUST HOLD ON, RA! WE'LL-”
C-CRAAACK!
I looked up just in time to see the roof collapsing, wooden beams and metal supports giving out and plummeting down towards our heads. Frantically, I spun around and tried to shield Ra with my body.
CRASH!
Hundreds of pounds of timber and steel smashed into me with bone-breaking force. A thick piece struck me in the back of the head, and I could barely see the water rushing up to meet us as I fell.
The liquid was ice cold as it surrounded us, pinned under the debris. My forehead hit something hard on the way down, adding to the fuzziness of the first blow.
I struggled weakly as darkness crept in, buried under the rubble. The impact had knocked Ra loose from my grasp and I fumbled in the water as best I could to find him. My body grew weaker as my lungs started striking from the lack of oxygen. My eyelids got heavy, but I couldn’t give up.
I promised him it would be okay.
I had to find him.
I had to.
The last thing I felt as my eyes closed was the shaking of the Pokéball at my waist.
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Muhahaha.
Thank you for reading. Hopefully you enjoyed.
