Trouble on the Sea (Part 1)

Auuuugghhh why does she have to sit dooooowwnnnn? She’s part of a team now! She should be going on missions and stuff! That’s what she thought this whole thing was about! Ah, well, if she has to sit, at least it’s somewhere cozy. Their trek down from Sky Peak led Team Synthesis to Capim Town’s Pokemon Cafe, taking a breather from all that walking. There were plenty of Pokemon in the cafe, all of them in the middle of a conversation with each other, but Lavender is far too engrossed in her thoughts of excitement to-

“So, you’re really dead-set on this, huh?” Ralph’s voice breaks her out of her stupor, realizing she’d just been staring blankly at the table this whole time as she’s ripped out of her fantasies of adventuring and exploring. She can’t help but feel a faint warmth creep up on her cheeks in embarrassment, how long was she doing that for?

She obviously nods eagerly in response, grassy hair bouncing in front of her eyes. “Yeah, of course! It does feel kind of bittersweet leaving Sky Peak after all these years, but honestly? I’m more pumped than I’ve ever been in my life! Shaymin Village is comfy and cozy, everyone knows everyone, but you’ve gotta leave the nest at some point, you know?”

Ralph chuckles, a smile curling up on his beak as he leans back in his chair, it creaking slightly as he rests a wing atop it and glances back at Mick, who’s conversing with the Kangaskhan shopkeeper at the front desk. “Not gonna lie, I’m surprised he considered bringing you aboard at all.”

Lavender blinks, her head tilting curiously at Ralph as she reaches a paw for her cup of coffee. “You mean that in a good way or a bad way?”

“No, not like that, I mean,” He glances back at Lavender and shrugs with a bit of a smirk. “We’re not exactly swarming with people who wanna join us, I don’t know why anyone would wanna join us if I’m being frank with you, but you’re the only other Pokemon we’ve ever had on our team. It’s just been Mick and I this entire time.”

“Wait, really?” She stares in surprise, eyes briefly glancing over towards Mick, who is still conversing with the shopkeeper before turning back to Ralph. “So I’m the special exception? Wow, uhh… I’d say that’s flattering, but I don’t know how much it means.”

The Quaxly chuckles. “Quite a bit, coming from Mick. You’ll never find a more boneheaded jackass in your life than him.I don’t know what made him decide you were the one, but hey, take it while you can. This is the happiest I’ve seen him in years.”

SLAM!

Lavender jumps in her seat a bit, almost spilling her coffee on her as the whole table shakes and shudders. Mick is back from his conversation, tail swaying eagerly behind him. “We’ve got a mission, fellas! Let’s head on out and-“

She gasps, eyes going wide as her jaw drops open a bit. “A mission?! I’m about to go on my first mission?!”

“Uh-” Mick blinks a few times as he stares at Lavender, expression falling slightly as he arches an eyebrow. “You mean, you don’t know? Come on, you gotta be joking with me, right?”

“Mick, you just sat down at the table and told us we were gonna leave without saying anything else.” Ralph shrugs with a wing. “We were just chatting with each other before you sat down, we were supposed to know?”

“…Aww, man, come on!” Mick pouts as his muzzle scrunches up. “Here I was banking on you guys overhearing my conversation, and you mean to tell me you weren’t listening in at all?” He crosses his arms over his chest, huffing out in an annoyed manner. “So much for the dramatic exit.”

“But we’re going out somewhere, right?” She leans across the table to the point where she’s practically laying down on top of it, her face all up in Mick’s face as the Shinx tries to back up slightly away from her face. “Right?”

Mick’s chair leans so far back he almost falls out of it, having to grip the table to keep himself from falling with his chair, a bit of sweat rolling down the side of his head as he smiles nervously at Lavender, a quiet, awkward chuckle escaping his lips as he nods. “Yeeeaahh, we’re headin’ down to the docks. We ain’t got time to waste, so I’ll explain on the way, mmkay?”

---

A ship. A really big one. Docked at the Capim Town dock. Lavender peeks out around the corner with Mick and Ralph, watching a whole group of Popplio and Brionne loading up boxes onto the boat, all led by a Primarina wearing a brown vest and a brown hat tipped off with a Corviknight’s quill, a sword in its hilt strapped to her side. Her ponytail was much, much shorter than an average Primarina, cut down to about neck length, braided at the very tail end.

“Awright, awright, c’mon now, lads!” That is a very heavy accent, gosh. “Y’ain’t gunna get any younger by spendin’ any longer in this wee ol’ town ‘ere, yea? Let’s get movin’ Heave ho! Put yer backs into it!”

Lavender squints at the sight of it, her voice dropping to a whisper. _{“So this is who we’re checking out, huh?”}

_{“Yuh-huh.”} Mick whispers back in response with a nod of his head. _{“Kangaskhan said she saw them arrive this morning when she was getting the cafe ready. They didn’t steal anything as far as she knows, but she overheard them saying some strange things that put her on edge. Like they’re looking for something, something powerful, something to do with Kyogre.”}

_{“Kyogre?”} Ralph whispers, his voice laden with disbelief. _{“What kind of death wish do you need to have to mess with the goddess of the ocean?”}

_{“They don’t look like the kind of Pokemon to mess with that kind of stuff… When’s the last time you’ve ever heard of a Primarina going on a power trip?”} Lavender hums to herself, brows furrowed. She can hear them singing all the way from here. Can’t make out what they were singing, but they’re all quite jovial, judging from their body language. Lots of bouncing and swaying as they move and carry the crates to the ship.

_{“Eh, you know how the old saying goes. Looks can be deceiving.”} Mick whispers, peering out a bit more as his eyes scan the docks. _{“We’ll figure out what’s going on once we’re aboard, but we need to find a way to actually sneak onto their ship. Dock’s too crowded, boat itself is too crowded for us to sneak aboard the conventional way, so what we’re gonna have to do…”} Mick’s gaze narrows towards the many crates littered across the docks. _{“Which means we’re gonna need to take refuge in one of their crates and let them carry us aboard.”}

That sounds like… An idea! Is it a good idea? She thinks it sounds like a good idea, but this doesn’t exactly feel all that comforting. She glances back at Mick, arching an eyebrow. _{“That sounds like a great stealth approach, but won’t they notice how much heavier their luggage is?”}

_{“Those crates’re probably carrying loads of berries, hundreds of ’em. You know how heavy hundreds of berries are? Much heavier than you might think!”} Mick smirks up at Lavender with a wink. _{“We’re lightweights, we don’t need to worry about adding onto the weight because it’ll barely be noticeable to begin with. We get on that ship, see what’s going on, we deal with ’em if it’s shady, we get off at their next stop if nothing’s up. Easy peasy.”}

_{“And how are we-“} Ralph begins, but is quickly interrupted by Mick.

_{“We get on when nobody is looking at the furthest crate. Which means now! Move!”} Mick quickly gestures for them to follow along, bolting after one of the nearby crates without warning, Lavender and Ralph scrambling to follow behind him as quick as they can, almost tripping over themselves a number of times as they quickly and silently rush over to the docks.

Mick lifts up the top of one of the crates just enough for Lavender, Ralph and himself to squeeze inside, the trio finding themselves amidst a bountiful berry pile, along with a couple of other food produce nestled in there. It’s a cacophony of several smells and aromas, but man if it doesn’t smell good.

_{“Now this,”} Mick starts with a smirk, helping himself to a Pecha berry. _{“Is how you travel in style.”}

Hmm. She may as well help herself too. There’s so many berries in here, she doesn’t even know where to begin. She’s even seeing berries she’s never seen in her life before. A berry that resembles a rosebud with a black base, a green berry with a red circle embedded in the top of one side, a mysterious black berry with a question mark pattern on it, there were simply too many to choose from!

_{“Quite the variety they have here.”} Ralph observes quietly, holding a berry with a shape that didn’t look too unlike peas in a pod in his feathers. _{“I imagine they had to dive really deep into dungeons from all over the world to get some of these. A lot of ’em look exotic.”}

_{“All the more for us.”} Mick chuckles, stuffing a Cheri berry into his mouth. _{“Shure they wom’t motish a few merries missing from mher-”} He’s cut off when the group all feel the crate suddenly shift and move, the berries around them tumbling all over and knocking into them. It’s berries, so it doesn’t exactly hurt, but it’s annoying.

“Arrgh, blimey!” One of the crew says outside the crate, the box shaking a bit. “S’it jus’ me, or’s this one heavier th’n all the others?!” They can be heard grunting, the group bracing themselves as the box suddenly slants down to one side, Lavender scrunching her eyes shut as a chesto berry smacks her in the face, suppressing a grunt.

“Bah, quit yer belly-achin’, it ain’t that heavier than the others! Yer just exhausted ‘cus we’ve been liftin’ crates fer the past half hour! Course it’s gonna seem heavier!”

The crate gets shakier, an exhausted groan can be heard before the box suddenly drops down onto the ground, the top of the lid slightly loosening off to the side, just enough for someone to peek in. Lavender sees Mick’s eyes widening, gesturing for them to duck down below the berries in an attempt to hide. She takes a silent, deep breath, as if she’s about to submerge herself in water as she ducks down below the berries, trying to keep as silent as she can.

“Cap’n, can’t we ‘least take a break for a couple o’ moments? Ah feel like me arms are ’bout to give out!”

A soft chuckle can be heard outside the box, the Primarina’s voice taking on a taunting, rather teasing tone as she speaks. “Aw, lookit that, th’ lil’ scallywag wants t’ take a break, eh?” She scoffs. “When we’re this close to th’ booty? Absolutely not! Th sea waits fer no one! Now, haul our cargo on board, and if ya keep complainin’, I’ll cleave ya to th’ brisket.” a few taps can be heard on the lid of the crate as it creaks, as if the Primarina were leaning on top of the crate. “Savvy?”

“Uh- Y-Yes cap’n! Sorry cap’n!”

“Wonderful.~” There’s a brief pause, accompanied by a curious hum. “I don’t recall us collectin’ any star fruit…” Star fruit? Why would she- Oh. Oh no. Through all the berries, she can see a bit of Mick’s face, seeing his expression go wide-eyed throughout all the food. “Bah! It’ll fetch a pretty price, at least! No complainin’ here. Now, get to it!”

“Yes cap’n!” The sound of wood scraping against wood confirms the sign that the lid above have been closed again. Crisis averted. Mick lets out the tiniest, most panicked sounding squeak she’s ever heard in her life as his body goes lax amidst the berries.

---

They hadn’t known how much time had passed since they were brought aboard. The scare of nearly getting caught had encouraged them to stay in the crate for longer than they had initially intended. Now, they can feel the ship starting to rock and sway before eventually going back to being nice and smooth, very little movement.

Mick pokes his head back out of the berries after what feels like an eternity, pushing the top of the crate open slightly before peering outside, Lavender and Ralph waiting in anticipation for Mick to give the all-clear. After a few seconds, Mick glances back down at them and nods his head. “Should be good to go. Come on.”

Lavender feels a little disoriented, sense of direction all out of whack from being stuck in a crate for the last who knows how long, and the light swaying of the ship isn’t doing her any favors either. Ralph doesn’t seem to be having as much of an issue as he climbs out of the box with little effort. “Alright, okay, that was a little too close.”

“Nice job on almost getting us caught in your own plan, jackass.” Ralph says flatly, unamused as he leans against the crate.

“I didn’t know my tail was sticking out!” Ralph snaps back defensively, face pouting as he scrunches his muzzle up. “I was more focused on tryna keep quiet than focus on where my tail was! Still, still, doesn’t matter, she mistook it for a star fruit, we’re good, we’re cool. We’re alright.”

Lavender’s eyes sweep the room. Seems they’d been stashed away in the storage quarters. Lots of other, much taller crates surround them, the room having little to no illumination other than the sunlight peering through some of the wooden slats of the ship.

Yindy! Let me go! Take me back to the streets I know!
Yindy! Let me go! Take me back to the flow!

The captain and her crew can be heard singing up on the deck above them. All perfectly in tune with each other. Guess it’s no surprise that a crew consisting solely of a Primarina evolution line would be full of good singers. Doesn’t seem like there’s much down here, though. Mostly crates, more crates, the Audino tapped in a bubble against the wall and- Wait what?

“Guys! Look!” Lavender quickly points over, glancing back at Mick and Ralph. “They’ve got a hostage!” She rushes on over, hearing the Shinx and Quaxly quickly skittering over behind her. It was a shiny Audino, one wearing a red vest. Their eyes are closed, body seeming completely still and rigid, a faint glow emitting off of them and the bubble itself.

“Seems like they’re being kept in a stasis bubble, with Imprison cast on them to boot.” Mick observes, humming curiously to himself as he walks up with Lavender. “Whoever this guy is, they really don’t want them getting out.” He flashes a cheeky little smirk at the two of them. “Which is exactly why we’re gonna free ’em.”

“You sure that’s the best idea?” Ralph questions, a wing placed on his hip. “It’s not like we were sent to rescue them or anything, we literally have no idea who they are.”

Lavender shrugs in response, glancing back up at the Audino. “They had to have been captured for a reason, otherwise they wouldn’t be here. They might know something we don’t, if they’re being kept prisoner. An all Primarina crew wouldn’t just have an Audino stowaway for nothing, right?”

Mick chuckles softly, giving an affirming nod. “I like the way you think, Lavender. And besides, four’s better than three. It wouldn’t hurt to have an extra helping hand if we need to throw down with the crew up top.” He glances up, listening in on the singing coming from above. “Which is starting to seem more likely by the minute at this rate… Everyone, line up. We’ll all strike the bubble at the same time.”

The three all get into formation, all standing right beside each other, all at the ready. “Alright!” Mick speaks up. “Three, two, one… Now!”

Electricity meets water, water meets grass, all three combined forces pounding away relentless at the bubble, until finally it breaks with a comical ‘Pop!’ The Audino collapses to the ground with a groan, his voice low and weak. “Bwuuugh… Nuh, nuh, I’m not, mmmnnhh… Listening to…” His eyes crack open a bit, staring up at his saviors, eyes quickly widening in surprise as he sits up, darting around the room. “What in the-“

“Are you okay?” Lavender speaks up, stepping forward as she looks over him. “You were trapped in a bubble, we helped free you. You don’t look hurt, but do you feel alright?”

The Audino groans, rubbing at his head as he leans back against the hull of the ship. “Sweetie, I haven’t even gotten my bearings yet, gimme a few seconds.” He shakes his head, trying to catch his breath as his eyes glance around the room. “Where am I? We on some kind of pirate ship or something?”

“Preeeeeeeeetty much, yeah.” Mick nods his head. “Name’s Mick, my pals over here are Ralph and Lavender. We snuck on here through the crates, gang of Brionne and Popplio led by a Primarina. That ring any bells for ya?”

The Audino’s face suddenly goes pale as his eyes widen, body stiffening up. “Oh no. Oooohh no oh no oh no, this isn’t good, this is-” He suddenly stops, shaking his head and trying to compose himself. Lavender shuffles awkwardly as she stares at him, a growing worry forming in the pit of her stomach. “Okay, I should explain myself. My name’s Sahara. I’m an archivist. Was making the rounds, I remember wanting to tackle a bounty for some extra cash to fund my work.”

“I think we’ve pieced together that this Primarina is an outlaw, we know that much.” Lavender tilts her head to the side, glancing back at the group before turning back to Sahara. “Who is she?”

“Shanti of the Sea.” Sahara responds. “Devious one, she is. I’d explain more about her, but I need to know something important. Where was she last stopped before she headed back out to sea?”

“Capim Town.” Ralph responds. “How come?”

“Aaaaand things have gone from bad to worse.” Sahara lets out a shuddering breath. “Okay, okay, I think I’m piecing everything together now. She must’ve… Serenaded me, yes. If my memory isn’t failing me, she’s on her way to the Ocean Tempest, where Kyogre resides. What she wants with Kyogre, I don’t have the slightest clue, but it can’t be good.”

Mick’s brows furrow in thought, humming to himself. “..And I’m assuming the Ocean Tempest is at the bottom of the ocean, which means we’re not stopping anywhere else, are we? No towns or anything, we’re just gonna be stuck out here in the middle of the ocean.” He scoffs. “Well, great. That makes things even more complicated.”

“We can figure out our escape route after we take care of ’em.” Ralph says, stretching his wings a bit. “This is Kyogre we’re talking about here, it’s bad by default, whatever she’s planning.”

Sahara blinks in surprise. “You mean, you’d do that? You’d help me out?”

Lavender muffles a quiet giggle. “You think we’d have snuck aboard if we weren’t planning on doing whatever we could? Besides, we have the type advantage! I’m grass, Mick is electric, and I’m sure Ralph can can manage type-to-type combat really well! And besides, I’ve got a plan that should take care of her and her crew and get us out of there in the process!”

“Ya do?” Mick arches an eyebrow curiously. “Care to run that by us?”

Lavender chuckles, a cheeky smile curling up on her lips. “You’ll see.~”