Pokébook

Kent Walker| 8:50pm| Under the Cianwood Dome


“I’ll catch up with you guys, I got some…unfinished business down there!” Kent did a sudden U-turn back into the cellar. Dittotom was still floating around, aimlessly. “Veon, use swift!”

“Diiiit!” The rotom was sent flying backwards, back into a blob of Jell-O in moments. “Now Discharge!”

“Ditttt!” The suddenly blew up to about fifty times its own size, forming into one angry Mamoswine. Veon’s attack bounced harmlessly off Ditto. “Um….Pin Miss--” Dittoswine charged Veon and blasted the thunder-fox into the ceiling. K.O. “Um….good Ditto…nice ditto, don’t hurt me!” Kent squeezed his eyes shot and waited for the beast to charge at him. In the fettle-position Kent whimpered.

“Diiit!” Kent screamed at the sudden attack. Moments later to realize he was okay, and the new weight was less than a pound, And soft. Creeping his eyes open Kent saw pink glob in front of him, smiling . Kent slowly let his hand crawl into his pocket, pulling out a small pouch of Poke-block. In moments the entire pouch was gone, swallowed by a Dittolax in front of Kent.

“You…You want to come with me.” It smiled.


Bye-Bye Poli

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Wait up you guys!” Kent charged at full speed over to the others. Ditto suddenly jumped off his shoulder and formed a Tauros under him. The raging bull broke through the bleachers, and Kent pulled the others on. “Stylish, eh?”

“Look, Mr. Deformed is over there…is that Jerri?” Sam called out. Kent tapped for Ditto to stop and the Tauros collapsed under them, they landed in a clump on the ground. “Jerri! Wait!” Tyler doubled in speed, running towards Scarface. “Out of t the way!”

Tyler charged at the man, knocked the wind out of him and sending him flying back. “Crawdaunt, vice grip!”

Scarface sighed and stepped out of the path, and poked Crawdaunt, with expert precision. Crawdaunt fell, unable to move. “Nerves, everyone has them, including Pokemon,” he laughed. “See, I do not need Pokemon to beat you. It doesn’t mean I won’t, but just something you might find…interesting.”

“Expload, Torkoal!” Scarface Let loose his team. “I used to be a member of team Magma.”

Sierra Stone | 8:55pm | Cianwood Dome
Well, that Kent guy was going to be interesting, if nothing else.

In to the dark it was, Sneasel a dark grinning blur in front of her and the others running beside her, their own pokemons running, floating and generally tagging along as they raced to try and catch up to the Rocket.

“So this isn’t the first time you guys have done this?” She was looking at Tyler, but it was the other girl—hadn’t caught her name yet, whatever, she’d pick it up eventually— that answered.

“You heard Mr Bandages—we beat them good in Violet City. Crossed them in Goldenrod too.” Huh. They’d been busy.

Sierra kind of liked that. “Tell me about it later?”

“Tell you all you want, as long as we catch that bastard first!” And that was Tyler, eyes narrowed and features tightened in focus. She almost liked him better this way than he’d been back on the Santa Olivia, when he’d been more contemplative and hesitant.

And there was only one valid answer to that, really: she grinned back, a sharp, vicious twist of the lips that would not have been out of place on her Sneasel. “I call dibs on his sorry ass. No one touches me like that creeper just did and walks away.”

Of course, that had been the exact moment Kent had chosen to come charging through, making enough of a racket that she was sure most of what she’d just said had been lost under the noise. Ah well. She took an offered hand to boost herself up the Tauros, only to fall more or less inelegantly when it morphed back a minute later. Great for speed and power, but when it came to comfort? She brushed herself out of habit as she rolled back to her feet. Yeah, Sierra would’ve liked to file a complaint.

Might do it, too. Later. When there wasn’t a visibly insane Rocket member leering at them (was he actually looking bored? Okay, time to get the gloves off), and when—

Tyler was charging in. So much for calling the bastard.

...And what the hell had just happened? She stared at the paralyzed Crawdaunt, then raised her head again, sneering at the guy and ignoring the curses from the sidelines. “We’ll just have to blast you away from a distance, then!”

At least they had space now that they were back under the dome. She looked at the others’ pokemons—a Ninetails, the Ditto, a Charmeleon, Haunter (that one might actually come in handy against those nerve strikes), Jolteon...

Sneasel. Who was fast, yes, but was she willing to risk it not being able to move away in time to dodge a blow?

No. “Sneasel, come back!” He wanted fire, eh? Sierra was just in the right mood to cool him down.

And so it would be Lapras this time, emerging from the pokeball just out of range of any sudden strike, calm and disdainful as its eyes alighted on the enemy Torkoal.

“I don’t have time to waste with you. Lapras, Water Pulse.” Highly-pressurized water spiralled from Lapras’ open mouth, shining a brilliant blue as it surged towards the tortoise.

Let’s see how he liked that.

“Drown him.” And now water rose under the flippers, a slow cresting of foam and tide: a Surf in the readying.

The others better get those fire-types out of the way.

"Someone get that Exploud before it busts our eardrums?"

Kent Walker| Cianwood Tournament Dome-Flooded| 9pm

“Ditto, surround us in a bubble!” The plink blob jumped into the air and with a pop stretched around us. The water bounced off not even a second later, Blaze and Ninetails letting out a collective sigh. Ditto strained under the pressure, jiggling as it started to come apart. “Just a little longer,” Kent called. The water was draining away, slowly but it was happening. Another minutes and it was at, roughly, knee level, still too high. Dittoo was clinging, to itself, with all its might.

SNAP! Ditto retreated back into the normal blob, the water level now just about their ankles. They weren fine.

“Where…where is Lapras?” Sierra shot her head around. “Where is it?” Sierra was freaking out.

“Team rocket,” A new voice called. “I just got here in time to see them take off, with it. And also Crawdaunt.” Jack gave a weak smile after bearing the bad news.

Tyler swore under his breath. “Maybe if we hurry we can get to them still?”

“Anything it takes,” Sierra said and the two took off. They ran through the water as if it was dry land, leaving the other awkwardly trailing, and sliding around. Ditto suddenly appeared around Kent’s feet, wrapping around them like slippers. The new grip let him sprint ahead and catch up. “Wait up you two!”

They listened, or at least stopped. “Good, now come on you two, be smart, you can’t take them on your own.”

“Kent, just shut up,” Tyler was staring out the door now. Kent appeared behind them, with a clear view. Team Rocket was taking off. They were already a good quarter mile off, loading their boats with the spoils of war. Lapras and Crawdaunt were tied up and were easily seen struggling on the closest boat.

Sam, Jerri and Jack caught up, now soaking wet, and stood shocked with the others. “They’re gone…” Tyler trailed off.

“No, not yet,” Sierra screamed. “Come on. My family has a boat. It’s should be on the pier...if we hurry…let’s just go.”

“Ditto, think you got some taorus left in ya?” Kent asked. Ditto nodded, or rather jiggled and expanded into at brown beast. The group huddled on a took off down the beach. The pier was far, but with steed power they were there in less than a minute. And this time Ditto let them off a little less roughly.

“Um…where is it….this way!” Sierra took off down the dock, running through the maze of ejecting sides like it was a straight highway. They came to a semi-large power boat, big enough for Two Mamoswine to sail in comfort on, but still looking fast as could be.

“I hope you know how to drive,” Kent said, stupidly.

“Of course I do,” Tyler and Sierra said at once. It was time to take on some rockets.

There was a thump in the back, as a hitch hiker jumped on. Though no one noticed in the intensity of the moment.

(The free loader can be Max, if you want Bishop)

Jack Preston
Arena
8:40 pm

This was not good. Ralph was down to his last Pokemon, a towering Rhyperior, which had just KO'd Fists with a powerful strike of Thunder. To make matters worse, the stadium ground had been badly torn up during the fight. The once-flat battlefield was now strewn with boulders and dirt. That Rhyperior was, despite Ralph's obvious learning deficiency, one hell of a force to be reckoned with. And Jack only had a single Pokemon left - the barely-a-week-old Niles.

"The challenger from Pyrite Town is now also down to his final Pokemon!" the announcer exclaimed. "What will it be?"
Jack sighed and released Niles to the field. The announcer was silent for a second, before Jack caught the sound of muffled laughter emanating from the speakers and scowled.
"Your crocodile is tiny," Ralph giggled. "I'm going to kill it with fire." Rhyperior roared as it prepared to spew flames at the tiny reptile. Jack had to act quickly, and knew it.
"Niles! Remember the beach? It's time to put that manoeuvre into action!" Niles danced and ducked behind a rock just in time; its tail came close to resembling a Charmander's. The giant rockbeast, having lost sight of its prey, began glancing around. Jack grinned and, to Niles who was looking at him, indicated another nearby rock with a flick of his head. Niles made the jump, provoking another burst of fire from the Rhyperior. This went on a few times, Jack watching the opposing Pokemon carefully, and finally saw an opening.

"Niles!" he called, at what he prayed was the right time. "The mouth! Water Gun!" He'd tried to time it so Niles' Water Gun would hit before Rhyperior's Flamethrower was able to launch, and it almost worked: at the last possible second, flames met Niles' attack. It was an even match - the weaker Water attack was just powerful enough to douse the stronger Fire move. As both Pokemon stopped to breathe, Jack took another shot.
"Try Metal Claw, Niles! The belly!" Niles dashed forward, claws shining reflectively, and cut through the top layer of rock on the screeching behemoth. It howled in pain as Niles took charge, going for the mouth with another Water Gun and this time there was no Flamethrower to meet it. Rhyperior must have swallowed several gallons of water while nearly the same amount cascaded down its front. With one final grunt it fell forwards, Niles dancing out of the way with excellent precision and spectacular choreography.

There was silence for a few seconds before the announcer's voice came back across the PA.
"...wow! That was the most incredible David and Goliath battle I've ever seen! Point to Jack Preston from Pyrite Town, our winner!" The crowd went apeshit, save for a few people Jack happened to notice. One was a tubby man who was clearly Ralph's father, and Jack didn't blame him for being disappointed.
"Come on, Ralphy. I'll get you a pizza."
"These rubber pants are hot, Daddy."
"You wear 'em 'till you learn, sweetie."

The other person was several rows back, a complete stranger to Jack. He didn't move at all as Jack watched, simply sat there staring back, no emotion at all on his face. Whatever. Jack turned to the seats he and his friends had been sitting in during previous matches - who were those people in them now? It didn't take long for it to dawn on Jack that they'd be watching Jerri's match, though he was still a little bummed - he had sort of thought Kent might have chosen to watch his battle over hers. He turned back to the stranger that had been staring - his seat was now empty.
Before he had a chance to dwell on anything he'd just taken in, a swarm of cheering spectators tumbled towards him. He flinched and turned to run, recalling Niles and stooping to pick up Citrus as he went.


8:55 pm

Jack left the infirmary tent, thanking the nurse for taking care of his Pokemon. Wondering vaguely where the rest of the group was, and completely unaware that he was going to get his answer, he decided to head to the beach and see if the team was up for more training.
The sight that met his eyes made him duck back behind a rock. A large black truck drove by towards the beach, with a red R painted on the side. The unmistakeable logo of Team Rocket. As Jack looked on, he saw a struggling blue Pokemon on the back of the truck - along with something red, lying on its back. It looked like a Kingler or something, but lying so still...

The next thing he saw was Kent and the others, emerging from... a pink bubble? Jack was clearly hallucinating, but ran down to meet them anyway.

Sierra Stone | 9:10pm | Cianwood Coastal Waters
The first moment of overwhelming panic past, Sierra narrowed her eyes and blinked through the tears. Those bastards had dared take Lapras?

She’d teach them not to fuck with her. Headstart or not, this was her home turf and she knew those currents like the back of her hand. Tyler seemed to know what he was doing too, which was yet another great point in his favour. Within a couple minutes they were racing over the waves, the roar of the motors and of the water parting before the prow drowning every sound around her and leaving her whole being focused on the controls under her hands and the sight of the Rockets’ ship a distance ahead.

“We’re catching up!” Kent’s voice somehow managed to rise over the ocean of noise. Talk about lung capacity.

Still, they were. Getting closer by the minute, and ever closer to teaching those brutes to reconsider stealing from her.

And the others, technically, but it was Lapras. That made it personal.

She set the autopilot on when it seemed like the course the Rockets—and so themselves—were following was going to keep straight, and moved to the front of the boat, where it seemed everyone had congregated.

“We need to slow them down, or they’ll get away or reach a hideout or something before we can get there!”

The quasi-simultaneous reaching for pokeballs was a pretty good sign that everyone was on the same wavelength.

“Cloyster!” “Niles!” “Seadra!” “Piplup!” “Meta!”

Their mismatched little squadron of water-types was promptly sent overboard and on its way towards the Rocket boat. “Cloyster, trap them! Whirlpool!”

The more or less calm sea that had been stretching out before them until then started roiling, the waves rising in the wake of the other ship and starting to spin and whirl.

“Oooooh.” Kent again? “Meta! Transform into Cloyster and help with that!”

And suddenly the slow spin accelerated, spurred on by the Ditto’s added impulse, until the Rockets were stuck in one wild whirlpool, the ship struggling to pass through.

And then Tyler was boosting himself up, the better to call to Seadra. “Ice Beam the water around them!” Sierra grinned as she looked on, as the water took on a bright glint and slowed down, the waves freezing as they were about to break on the dark hull and trapping the motors that would have allowed it to get away. And, if that loud 'crunch' was anything to go by, the ice had pierced through the hull. Eat that.

“We’ve got them!”

Not yet, but getting close. Already their pokemon were reaching the frozen patch, and the whirlpool was still going, albeit slower—enough to keep the immobilized ship disoriented, but not so much it would make it too dangerous for their little gang. Just a little bit more, and they’d be able to “land”.

“Won’t that ice be a bit thin to walk--to fight on?”

Ice was Sierra’s best friend. “Only for them.”

Kent|Off Shore of Cianwood| 9: 20pm

The waters were bizarre, to say the least. The water transformed from a raging whirlpool, suddenly into a spinning platform in the middle of the water, and then into a spinning cone of near-doom. As they navigated their way through the waters, watching out for mini-ice bergs thrown there way it began to, break apart. The ice cracked and split, molding together into piles. Team rocket was trapped near the bottom, their boats were able to stay afloat, but not nearly strong enough to force their way out.

“Epic!” Kent yelled. Oblivious to the seriousness of the experience. But then again, they were now driving into a spinning cone of ice in the middle of the ocean. Sam hit him in the back of the head, still. “Shut up!” she murmured, gesturing with her head to Tyler and Sierra.

“Sorry…but it’s Like S.S Anne meets At Journey’s End….”

The water Pokemon were making fast peed towards the cone, Meta the picture perfect copy of Seadra. They darted through the shaky, frigid waters of the whirlpool. With a final boost they disappeared below the water to avoid the ice-war zone on the surface. And then the attack hit, perfectly timed and perfectly executed.

As soon as the Pokemon went beneath the water froze around them. Muffled shrieks and pounds could be heard even from the boat. Before it could even register, though, a gusher of mud blew from the water. On the top of it an Icy bubble, with the water-squad held within. With a golden glow the mud cracked and blew away, leaving room for Rocket’s attempt to fight back to charge.

A blob of blue dashed up the whirlpool, a dash of giggling shadow. Behind it huge, unclear flying beast. Casper suddenly appeared to shed some light with a dazzling flash attack. “Gastrodon…and Golbat…and a Hitmontop, riding on Golbat” Kent spouted and reached for his belt. Veon was out and about a moment later. “Discharge the duo in the air!” Kent called out! The bolt shot through the air, hitting Golbat in its wide open mouth. Hitmontop quickly dropped, before the current reached it, landing on Gadtrodon easily.

“Jack, get Rotom in Lawn mower mode,” Sierra commanded.

“Leaf Storm Gastrodon!” Jack commanded and the swirling storm blasted towards Gastrodon. A white powered furiously hit the attack, freezing the leaves and leaving them to fall, uselessly, to the water.

“Casper, Toxic on the water. Craudaunt Water Pul--” Tyler cut himself off. Casper reappeared over the water, dropping a comically large blob of Poison into it. It bubbled bright purple for a moment, and together Gastrodon. Rotom ghosted over as well, blasting another leaf storm, knocking Gastrodon backwards and back into the whirlpool, unconscious.

“Where did Hitmontop go?” Sam called out.

“Only one way to know,” Kent smirked. “Discharge on the water, Veon!” another bolt shot from the boat, hitting the water. It steamed and bubbled with cackling, spreading sparks all around. There was a whimper as a needle-like shadow emerged and fell back away, into the whirlpool.

Now it was time to save the Pokemon, still trapped in the ice, trapped in the whirlpool.

Samuelle Park - Somewhere in the middle of the sea, 9:25 PM

Somewhere along the line, Sam not only lost track of Hitmontop, but of the other Pokemon too. How could she pay attention? Right now, right here, she felt so vulnerable, so afraid, so lost. Everything was everywhere, and, most frighteningly, the waves of the ocean were roaring all around them.

Where the thin ice ended, fear began.

Waves several feet high reached for them, desperately wanting to drown them in its clutches. She could feel it spraying on her, little icy drops that whispered lies and death threats with each touch. Sam had tried, Lord she'd tried, but she couldn't stay here. Not anymore. Even the boat was unsafe. God, why'd she even come here anyway?

To come after Team Rocket, to satisfy her stupid messiah complex. Abel was right. Team Rocket wasn't her problem, nor his. It wasn't their problem because they weren't the freaking police. Where were all the Officer Jennys in the damn world when she needed them anyway? They never seemed to be around whenever Team Rocket was.

The world had begun to spin, and the horizon seemed a lot closer than it ought to. Sam would have moved, but she couldn't. She just couldn't. The dark blue of the sea had melted into the inky night sky, and she couldn't tell where the world ended and where it began, and where the black ice faded away into raging waters.

Took a deep breath when something zipped past her, and Kent yelled, "Sam, what are you doing?"

She was only in the way here. Slowly, surely, Sam put out a hand and felt it touch solid ice. Her heart stopped and she inched forward. Hand forward, feel the solid surface, and crawled again.

This went on for a while, but she could only be so lucky, especially since she'd shut her eyes to avoid seeing the water reaching out for her.

Her next move had her hand touching solid ice, her moving forward....and hearing the most terrifying crack she'd ever heard her entire life. Sam shrieked, instinctively, and the ice gave way underneath her weight. The ice was too thin in this area, and it really didn't help that Sam couldn't swim.

The water invaded her personal space, wrapping her in an unforgiving embrace. And Sam couldn't even bring herself to thrash, surprised as she was. Her eyes remained open, open wide in shock and fear and something else she couldn't quite place. Calmness? Regret? She should have listened to Abel when he told her not to go after Team Rocket.

And she saw Piplup swimming towards her, trying to move her, but unable to due to its sheer lack of size. A seadra came soon after, trying to get Sam to hold it, but she wouldn't. Seadra had poisonous spikes, and she'd be damned if she touched it. Sam thrashed, trying to get away from the Seadra and break through the surface at the same time. The water was so cold, so cold it froze her and she couldn't think, and the salty seawater stung her eyes.

She couldn't hold on much longer. She needed air, and her chest hurt so badly. She could feel her control slipping away and the need to open her mouth overcoming all her senses.

She closed her eyes, searching desperately for a brief respite from the pain, but found none. She opened them again, and surprisingly, the Seadra had gone, and a kingdra was in its place. The Kingdra didn't hesitate. It simply drew close to Sam, who in turn clung to it for dear life.

They broke through the surface later, and sweet air filled Sam's lungs again. Sam spluttered as the Kingdra swam towards the ice, where all the others were. The wind was colder than ever, and Sam couldn't help shivering, and it was difficult to breathe such cold air, but she was alive, and that was what mattered.

But after this time, Team Rocket...was no longer her problem unless they took her Pokemon. She almost died, and Abel was right. These were professional criminals, and their luck could only last so long.

Sierra Stone | 9:35pm | Mini-Whirlpool of Icy Doom
“Cloyster, enough of the whirlpool, we’ve got them!” The other guys were dealing with the Rocket’s pokemons, which was fine with Sierra: she surged ahead of them, raced across the ice’s uneven and slippery surface as though it were solid ground, unerring even as around them the world slowly stopped spinning, the roiling waters calming and reverting to their original tameness, small waves lapping at the edges of the ice patch. It was growing dark now, the purple and reds that had started crawling dark and livid over the horizon when they'd jumped on her boat now almost sole masters of the sky.

Good thing the Rockets' ship was equipped with proper, huge lights: they cut through the dark so she could see Lapras caught in the nets, struggling against whatever it was that stopped it from freeing itself, and the sight spurred on another burst of speed. Ice crunched under her feet; behind her still the sounds of battling pokemons, from the sides the lull of waves and cracking ice, and in front the Rockets’ ship, their grunts and Freakface. The taste of salt on her lips and cold like an old friend creeping under her jacket, her heart still loud in her ears, the light like a path, glinting through raised shards of ice.

I can take them. “Spike Cannon! See if you can’t sever that net!” From the water just off to the side the spikes flew out towards the immobilized boat, scattering as the distance increased but still managing to clip a few newly-released Zubats... and fray the main cord holding Lapras and Crawdaunt down. Not quite there, but getting close.

“Hey, wait up!” The others behind, voices carried over the noise. Must be done with the annoyances. Irrelevant.

“Jynx!” She didn’t break her stride, just sent the pokeball forward. “Ice Punch!” No questions asked, no hesitation: its hand glowed blue, startingly bright in the semi-dark of the shadow cast by the heavy frame, and then thrust forward: ice spiked along the boat’s flank, expanded from the pre-existing Ice Beamed layer and formed a jagged slope just barely good to be used as a ramp to get up on the deck.

“Good enough” was just that. She left Cloyster to circle the water and switched Jynx out for Sneasel, sending it out to hack at what was left of the net’s supporting cables while she stumbled her way up. “Use Metal Claw!” Another flash, a blur of dark, and the net was collapsing away from the boat. Damn, it was bright; the edges seemed to take in every single ray of light from the spotlights overhead and refract them to hell and back only to reemerge glitteringly blinding.

Then it was no longer a worry, for she set foot on the deck and find herself surrounded by Rockets, Scarface standing well in sight and looking at her in a way she was very much not okay with.

“You kids can’t make anything easy, can you?” His snarl looked ugly, deformed by the injuries and cast in sharp light, and she couldn’t stop a vaguely horrified movement. “But there’s no running away now, is there? We’ll deal with you once and for all now.”

Cocky bastard, we'll see who deals with whom— “You were the one to run away, mister. Get out of my way.”

Nevermind she was outnumbered at least ten to one, and that turning back at this point would be tantamount to waving a red flag under a Tauros' nose and then standing still to offer as wide a target as possible. “Sneasel, get ready.” Or that her pokemon looked woefully small compared to some of those that flashed onto the deck as they were set out against her.

She could do this.

[[or not. Reality check time for Sierra >.> Alas, poor Sneasel. Tyler to the rescue?]]

(trying in 3rd person never hurt anyone, eh?)

Tyler Cohen | Ice Patch | 9:42PM

So in the sparse beams of light that were scattered to and fro across the ice patch, beams of ice and fire and light and electricity shimmered, roared, and thundered past, making quick work of the generic rocket goons. Once the tiny armada was out, the slim trainer called out to his newly-evolved Kingdra through the dark. "Waterfall, Kingdra!"

The beautiful blue dragon blinked as its eyes began shimmering in a luminescent blue and released a surge of aquatic power into the roiling waves below the ice. In a perfect line shot out a torrent of water, breaking a swimming path for the ice and delivering a crippling blow to the ship's engines. The disturbed night air was split apart by the sound of wrenching steel and the dragon called out for its trainer.

Tyler nodded and began running on the ice beside Kingdra, leaping over chunks of overfrozen ice that rose above the main path. And just before he reached the ship, Tyler slipped on the ice, landing above the water on Kingdra's back. The blue sea dragon sent out a beautiful wail before speeding ahead towards the stadium lights of the ship. More ghastly sounds echoed from within the broken vessel as it tilted a bit on its side, giving entryway to the duo in the water. Tyler grinned as he pointed ahead at a newly-formed ledge of ice and Kingdra sped up, charging full-speed ahead towards the jagged edge. The dragon suddenly halted and became encased in red light as Tyler recalled it, scampering up the side of the ledge towards the sound of an ice queen in danger. He stopped, however, once he could see the action onboard.

"Well, pretty girl, your time is running out." Scarface

The psionic whirring of a Bronzong filled the empty air as a blast of blue negative energy blasted into Jynx, sending her to the broken floor. Sierra clenched her fists and shook her head, clutching a new Pokeball from her side. "Your mind is warped." She enlarged the ball in her palm. "Your logic is twisted." The queen clicked the button on the end of the Pokeball and released Cloyster out to fight off an army.

Scarface scowled and shook his head, ordering Bronzong forward. Tyler clutched the ice under his palm until his skin was colorless with frozen blood. Scarface took a step to the side and peered off at one of the Whirl Islands. "What possible motive could you have for stopping us...?"

Sierra just stared ahead as her platinum blond hair blew in the frigid sea breeze.

"What could compel you to risk your very lives to prevent something that is so far over your heads?" Scarface shook his head and turned back to Sierra, not making a single expression. "We all reach a point in our lives at which we create our own misery just to wallow in it." Taking a step forward, he recalled Bronzong and gazed into the worlds inside Sierra's eyes. "We get so used to being distraught that we are utterly lost without an excuse to feel that way. And since we love being miserable so much, we begin to create anger and search for the darkness in everything."

He advanced then towards Sierra and she backed up. Her thighs touched the frozen railing and she stopped, keeping her stern eyes on Scarface. Tyler shifted a foot on the ice and nearly slipped, but caught himself on the traction of his shoes. He knew that if he interfered, then Sierra would be put in danger, but he was ready for anything. Ready to protect her at any costs.

And so Scarface rejoined his silent armada of rocket goons across from Sierra and held out his hands. "And I can see it in your eyes, beauty... I can see the robust anguish and the desire to prove yourself as so much more than just a frozen rose..." He grinned a twisted grin and nodded. "So if you want to show your thorns, then join team Rocket."

Sierra just stared ahead, taken aghast by the breeze and the sea air and the ice and the anxiety of the moment. Moments of dead silence passed before she just shook her head. Scarface sighed and shook his head as well, folding his hands behind his back. "Pity."

Everything happened at once. In three blinks in Tyler's eyes, his feet left the ice, an Exploud entered the deck field, and the rockets began charging Sierra. Tyler charged ahead towards Sierra, knocking her out of the way as the mob of rocket goons began thrashing him with their fists and boots, lashing out in pure, blinded hatred. He tried to reach for his belt for Haunter or Kingdra or someone, but his arms were held down and his shirt was ripped and he tasted blood with each heavy breath.

So Tyler closed his eyes and prayed to be rescued. And during his prayer, the beating stopped.

And there was silence.

He opened his throbbing eyes and found himself surrounded by ice sculptures in the shapes of rocket men. Scared to death, he scrambled out from beneath them and struggled to get to his feet. Sierra ran to his side and held up the boy by his chest and shoulder until he could balance better. Between her sweet breath he heard a thank you, but it wasn't the time to be happy.

Scarface stood across from them and just grinned. "Bravo, fools."

Bronzong and Exploud hit the deck and readied to blast the duo, but were taken down below by a dual blast of water from beneath the deck. Together in their places stood Crawdaunt and Lapras, aiming to kill. Scarface backed away from the two until his thighs hit the frozen railing. Crawdaunt took a step forward, pincers drawn while Lapras slid over to Sierra and Tyler. In his throbbing ears, Tyler could hear Scarface screaming for a ceasefire just before a splash split the agonized, half-second silence.

The numb boy coughed and lost a mouthful of blood on the deck before Sierra laid him down on the deck and folded the remains of his shirt under his head as a pillow. With eyes closed, he listened while she pleaded with Lapras to use a move that was new to her. "Please, can you try Aqua Ring? He's hurting..."

Lapras tried to conjure up what she imagined to be healing powers, but to no avail. Tyler coughed up more blood and Sierra wiped it away with her thumb, biting down on her lip as she reached the end of her resources. "Tyler, I don't know what I can do to help..."

"What's wrong?" called a voice from the stairwell. Footsteps covered the deck and the world spun as the rest of the group collaborated around the unconscious Tyler. Kent ushered Sierra to the side before releasing Ditto beside the sleeping boy's head. "Ditto, transform into a Marill and use Aqua Ring on Tyler."

Kent|Middle of the seas| 9:40pm\


As soon as the whirlpool died everything calmed in a moment. It wasn’t crickets can be heard calm, it wasn’t relaxing on the beach calm, but there was some sanity in the waters now, You could see what was going on, and not feel like you would die the second you blinked. Now that the whirlpool had died it was time to strike. It was time to take the dazed state and charge.

And then Sierra jumped away. Leaving the rest dumbfounded, floating in the water, helpless. But wait, Tyler could also drive…and then he took off after Sierra.

“Oh come on!” Kent screamed and grabbed Gligar’s Pokeball. It attempted to lift Kent into the air at once, but with the dead air around them it was nearly impossible. “Fuck,” Kent murmured.

The other three all were doing the same, unsure what to do. Rotom was trying to grab Jack’s attention, but unsuccessfully. Finally Jack seemingly snapped and turned to it with a cranky “What?!” Instantly taken aback by the comment. Rotom flew over to the controls and bounced around. It disappeared into the controls and boat hummed and took off. The gang all stumbled and fell to their asses with the shock and rolled towards the end.

A moan came from a tarp as Kent rammed into it. Before Kent could even react the tarp flew away from the air rushing around the speeding bullet of a boat. A kid was hiding under it, though he showed no expression to his unveiling. He was calm, if not a little sick from the sea.

“Max?!” Kent screamed over the winds. Again, before he could get a response all of them were thrown across the boat as Rotom stopped suddenly. Max jumped up before the others and sprinted onto the boat, as if he expected something to be there, and in a mad rush to find it.

Kent dusted himself off and jumped over, screaming for the others to follow. Jack was the first, then Jerri a bit less enthusiastic, and Sam was left there. She was torn on weather to join them. Finally she peeled herself away and crawled over, freaked out.

“We need to take out the control room, Rotom should make it a piece of cake,” Kent said. Jack nodded and the orange ghost grinned. “There should be a staircase around here somewhere.”

“Over here!” Jerri called and the group took off towards the top of the boat.

It was so empty, considering how many were in the dome earlier. Where were the all? Had they taken off on emergency boats? Hidden below deck from the attack? Gathered somewhere to defend? Or worst of all, were Tyler and Sierra dealing with them all. Kent kicked into over drive on the thought; they needed to hurry, before the worst could get worse.

“Gligar, use X-Scissor on the door!” The purple bat flew ahead and turned the cock-pits door into ruble in front of their eyes. Without stopped they ran in…..

They ran into a swarm of rocket guards, out numbering them by a decent number. But you don’t count in a stressful situation; you just pee yourself or act on instinct. Kent acted on instinct, as well as Jack and Jerri.

“Veon, use discharge! Gligar, use Aqua Tail!”

A swirling top blasted from Gligar’s tail, drenching the rocket goons. There was a briefe moment were the room was filled with curse words before the discharge hit the floor, sending shocks down all their spines. A few still stood after the attack and sent out their own Pokemon to defend. The battle began strong, flames, and shocks from the group’s side taking over quick, bodies falling helplessly to the ground, But they were over taken soon, the remaining rockets taking from their fallen teammates.

“Sam, do something!” Kent screamed. Sam had been standing there, shocked and scared the whole time, shaking. “Doing nothing won’t solve shit! Panic after this is over!”

Sam nodded and grabbed a Pokeball. “B-B-Blaze flamethrower!”

“Counter!” The flamethrower blasted towards the wrong opponent, only for it to bounce right back to the group. Sam tried to duck for cover, but was just a bit too late. The flames hit her bag, covering it in moments.

“Rotom, use discharge!” Jack called, this time the shock ended it, frying the room, and the controls in the process.

_____________

Kent didn’t wait for the others. This wasn’t the time to sit around, it was time to act, and Kent was acting before anything else. He charged down the stairs, three at a time. He heard the desperate cries from below and called out ditto right away.

Tyler was hurt, hurt bad. Blood soaked, clothes torn, and rough cuts surrounding him. Sierra was trying to get Lapras to get Aqua ring out, but it was exhausted, unable to muster enough energy. Kent looked down to Ditto.

“Transform into Maril, and use Aqua Ring on Tyler!” Ditto began to expand into a balloon shape, turning blue slowly. Round ears popped off its head, a zig-zag tail and a ball erupted from it before the transformation ended. The tail glowed again and glowing water wrapped around it. Ditto dipped its new tail onto Tyler and the water spread around him. The blood washed away, bruises already forming returned to his normal skin, and scratches disappeared instantly. But Tyler didn’t rise. He was still unable to move, out of energy.

Sierra panicked and began to search for something, anything to help. But Kent beat her too it. He grabbed a bag of berries and began to crush them up.

“We have to get him some energy, these sitrus berries should help, but I need to get their juices out first,” Kent pointed out and he began to crush them. The juice flooded out, filling up a bowl on the deck. “Ditto, give me another Aqua ring and fill this bottle up.” Ditto-Marill nodded, or rather shock it self. Kent nervously poured the juice into Tyler, hoping for something. There was a slight flutter, but nothing more.

“Fuck,” Kent shock away the panic and reached back into the bag. Nothing useful right away. Kent searches his bag for something, something useful. A lum berry! Kent grabbed a few of them, hidden in the very bottom from Munchlax and crushed them up. Once in a pasty mush he added another bit of sitrus juice and poured the Aqua ring water in.

Still, even that didn’t help. Tyler lay unconscious; only sing of life groans of pain. Oran berries did nothing, Chesto were useless, figy were nothing more. Liechi didn’t give him anything either. Kent was at a lose. The only thing he had left was to have Veon discharge some life into him. Shock him awake. But it was risky.

Then it hit him. Literally. The pricks on the side stabbed his hand as Kent was about to throw the bag away and give up. Tamto Berries.

The spiciest thing on the planet. It might just work. So kent grabbed all of them and crammed them down Tyler’s throat. Steam rose from his body as they began to realse the spices, and the heat turned on. Sweat poured down Tyler’s forehead, and he began to shake a bit. One Tamto berry alone could burn your tongue, and Kent had given enough to make a Macargo sweat.

Sierra and Kent waited for something. And then in a flash Tyler shot up and the berries flew away. Panting Tyler looked at the two drowsy and dazed. Unsure what had just happened. Yet relived that he could wonder.

Samuelle Park l Middle of the Sea l 10:00 PM

Oh God oh God oh God she shouldn't have asked Blaze to attack. Now her bag was on fire, and Sam didn't know what to do. This was the last time she was helping the others go after Rocket. If they wanted to risk their lives every fucking minute of the day just to save some idiots' pokemon from the nefarious team, then they could do it on their own.

Sam , having no choice, shoved kicked the bag into the water before sending out Piplup after it. "Piplup, bring it back!" she screamed, panicking, tearing at her hair and praying it would come back. Kite's pokeball was in there, and she didn't want to know what would happen to him should he lose it. Whatever was going on, she didn't care.

She just wanted out.

"Rotom, use discharge!"

Something exploded, something let out a deep breath. Sam still didn't care.

Finally, Piplup emerged from the black depths of the water, struggling, her doused bag caught in its beak. With a sigh of relief she dragged both her Pokemon and her bag out from the water, hauling them both on land.

Her bag squirmed then, and in her surprise she almost shoved it back into the water. Instead, she took a deep breath and tentatively opened it.

A shivering Eevee lay inside, cold, drenched, and looking pitiful. Sam stared at it in disbelief. Since when could you catch Eevees in the...the egg.

Sure enough, egg shells littered the bottom of her bag. Her egg had hatched. Sam would have screamed in delight, but she didn't have time. Her Eevee was wet and shivering, and it needed warmth at once. She hugged it tight, eyes desperately scanning the horizon for some help. Any help.

"Sam! Are you all right?" Jack called.

Sam didn't even reply. She simply rocked the Eevee close to her body and glared around, desperate for any beam of artificial light.

None came.

She needed help, needed it badly, needed it now. She would have used her Pokegear to call Abel, but damn it, they didn't make the things waterproof. Sam would have given anything right now to save her little Pokemon, but it seemed as if that simply wasn't possible. Tears trickled down her face, leaving icy trails on her cheeks. Her Eevee was going to die, right here, right now, and she couldn't do anything about -

"Oomf!"

Click.

Sam froze. Behind Jack was not one, but two Rockets. Two shivering Rockets, obviously dry and unscathed. Meaning they'd been hiding. Of course. Stupid. Did they really think all the Rockets would come out at once? For all Sam knew, there were more creeping around the ship at this moment.

At that point in time, she simply couldn't do anything but cry. She didn't dare move for fear of falling into the ocean, but couldn't sit still when there was a gun pointed at Jack's head.

"Stop crying." Cold, resilient, but nervous.

Sam shut up and held her Eevee closer. The Rocket holding the gun nodded at his companion. "Take the Eevee and we'll go."

Blaze and Piplup moved in front of Sam, but stopped when the Rocket hit Jack's head with the butt of the gun.

"Don't even try."

Hopeless. Fucking hopeless. To hell with this. She hadn't wanted to come here. She never would either. And her Eevee...at least it'd live if she handed it to them. Right? Sam clutched her new Eevee closer one more time

And then everything darkened, as if something blotted out the moon. Sam looked up, but in the absolute darkness, she couldn't see anything.

"What the hell did you guys just do?" shrieked the Rocket, and barely, over the magnificent sound of flapping wings, Sam could hear grunts as a scuffle happened.

Jack Preston
Ice Floes
10:20 pm

It was strange, how the barrel of the pistol against his head felt so much colder than the tonnes of ice that must have been surrounding them at that moment. Jack was silently praying that Sam still had some Pokemon able to fight - Citrus couldn't safely attack while the Rockets were holding Jack hostage, Fists had been savagely beaten by a Rocket's Milotic and Niles was godknowswhere under the water somewhere - when it happened. Nearly all light was extinguished as something that vaguely reminded Jack of Mothra passed by overhead, blocking the light from the bright white moon. A few light sources remained: the Rockets had, to their credit, thought to keep floodlights on their boats - nonetheless, the flying behemoth provided an adequate distraction. Jack felt the gun move from his head as the dopey Rocket stared blankly at the shadow moving past. The other Rocket was a little sharper, unfortunately, and called out sharply "What the hell did you guys just do!?"

Jackass, Jack thought, the irony of using his own name as part of a slight lost on him at the moment. Like a group of kids have anything like that at their disp-
Before he could elaborate one of the Rockets had jumped him, and after a second or two it felt like the second had followed suit. Jack struggled and flailed, and in a moment of sheer luck managed to knock the gun clear out of the armed grunt's hand and into the icy water. The Rocket growled in anger and threw a punch at Jack, who backed out of the way, causing the punch to hit the other Rocket's stomach. Jack's insane lucky streak continued as Niles burst out of the water and latched itself onto the attacking Rocket's backside. Chaos ensued for a few seconds before Jack recalled Niles to its Poke Ball.

Citrus quickly took advantage of the situation: as Jack and Sam turned to find the others, it let loose with a furious Discharge, as if to say fuck with my friends and you fuck with me. It followed with Ominous Wind, blowing the two singed criminals screaming into the water below. The ghost then turned to follow its trainer.
Meanwhile, Jack and Sam were moving towards what they hoped was the control room. Sam had found a bathroom along the way and had grabbed a towel to wrap the huddled Eevee in. Even as the trainers watched the tiny fox-like 'mon, watching and hoping for signs of comfort, and even as Citrus caught up to them, the moon was blotted out once again.

The reaction in both trainers and Rotom was instant. They craned their necks to reveal that the shadow had turned around and was coming back. This time, its mood was clear from the guttural sound that emanated from it: not happy.
"What the fuck is that?" Sam shouted over the growls. Jack just shook his head. The next thing caught them completely off guard.
A blinding light appeared at the "front" of the shadow, and within a second had shot towards one of the Rocket boats on the far side. The boat exploded on contact, the screams of the unfortunate grunts on board echoing for miles around. Sam screamed; Jack simply stood, too appalled to speak or move, knowing that they were going to die as soon as the leviathan locked its gaze on their boat - and yet, for some stupid reason, he still had to wonder whether the beast had had a previous run-in with Team Rocket, or was simply angry that humans had disturbed its home...

Jerri|Unknown-Dark Corridor|10:25pm:

My Eevee wasn't with me. In the confusion, I couldn't find her. I grabbed Ninetails' pokeball and let him out. We were in the control room... No, we weren't. how had I gotten down here? This was a hallway, and it was pretty dark.

"Eevee," I called softly, trying to stay quite. I'd seen Scareface around, here on the ship. Well, somewhere. And he could be anywhere. "Eevee! Where are you?"

I heard her calling from infront of me. "Eeeevvvveeee! Vvveee!"

I looked at Ninetails, who was gazing off down the darkened hall in front of us. He tilted his head to one side, then glanced towards me. I nodded; We had to go find my Eevee.

"Come on, Ninetails," I said and pulled my bag off my back. "Let's go get Eevee; but first, let's get the others back." I had hoped I would find a few revives but nope. Nothing. I swore and threw my bag back onto my back. "Let's go," I muttered and started off down the hall, Ninetails trailing after me.

I'd barely gone five steps when light sprang up in front of me, revealing a Gastrodon and, behind him, Scarface....holding my Eevee. He grinned and lowered the torch so the light didn't shine into my eyes.

"You," I hissed. Scarface just shrugged. My gaze flickered towards Eevee. She was struggling to get away from him.

"You," he said, still smiling. "You are coming with me." He tightened his grip on Eevee, making her cry out.

"No," I gasped, taking a step forward. His grip tightened even more and his pokemon moved between us.

"Ah, ah, ah," he snapped. "You'll get the pokemon back if you help me get out of here."

I glared at him. Oh, so it was blackmail, was it? Fine. "Ninetails," I said, holding out a pokeball. Scarface's expression darkened. "Return."

Ninetails flashed red as it returned to the pokeball. I put the ball back on my belt and crossed my arms over my chest. Scarface's Gastrodon flashed red and disappeared. Then he strode over to me and grabbed my arm roughly.

"Good girl," he hissed as he handed me my Eevee.

Then he started dragging me off down the hall and into the hull of the ship. The whole floor we were now on was full of helicopters and such. But that wasn't where we were headed; Scarface was dragging me over to the other side of the ship, and back up onto the deck. Then we went over the side and onto the ice. A boat was waiting for him, just across the ice.

Uh oh, I thought and looked back over my shoulder in time to see the others on deck. "Tyler!" I screamed. "Kent! Sam! Jack!" Scarface jerked me to a stop as we reached the boat. "Someone? Help!"

I saw one of them look my way just as Scarface covered my mouth with his free hand, smothering my screams. Then something hit the side of my head and everything went dark; the bastard had knocked me out.

Kent| Port Side| 10:00pm

It all happened fast.

Not even a minute after Tyler had cam to the moon just disappeared. Out of the blue, or rather the black, came nothing. And that was the scary thing. There was no light, well not where they were at least. During the battle the lights around them had died. It was pure black around them at the moment. “Casper, use flash!” instantly the ghostly body glows, illuminating the night.

Though as soon as one fear had left them a worse one filled the void. “Tyler!”

“What, I mean who, was that?” Sierra asked right away.

“I think it was Jer-”

“Kent!Sam!Jack!.”

“Yeah, that’s Jerri,” Tyler said. His expression changed from exhausted to fearful as he tried to get up, again.

“Anyone Help!” Haunter flew into the air and sent its beams all around the boat, trying to isolate her. It returned a few seconds later. “Haun!” it cried and began to twist its face around. It turned into a simple bubble, and then cuts and holes began to form around it. “Scarface…” Tyler whispered.

“Haun! “Han-Han!” The ghost darted down the side of the boat, leading the way for the others. Tyler, still weak fell as soon as he tried to take off. “Ah!” he groaned. “Kent, help me out.”

The trio walked as fast as they could down the side, trying to keep Tyler from falling over. But at the rate they were going they would be too late. “Go on,” Tyler said. “I’ll be fine here, just hurry and help.” Sierra and Kent nodded, though they didn’t run right away. Sierra was hesitant to leave him, and Kent was unsure if Tyler really would be fine. But they left, his eyes told them they had too.

There was a rumble from below, water sprayed up and the two ran to the edge. Scarface was turning the boat around, releasing from the side. “Glide, quick stop Scarface!”

“Aaaaaah!” Scarface suddenly popped out of his cock pit, screaming, terrified. He backed up to the edge of the boat and covered his face, scared for his life.

“Gligar…this dude must be gligarphobia after what happened to him,” Kent smirked. “Fly in from behind! Now, get under his legs! Latch onto his head! Now do a little dance! Now then….use X-Scissor on his pants!”

Scarface turned tail and ran. He dodged the X-Scissor, with freakish grace for all the fear he had. With another girlish sfrem he jumped into the bottom of the boat, Jerri emerging a second later. The boat instantly took off, Jerri flying off, very cartoon like.

Kent and Sierra were about to jump over board when the entire sea light up. Not just normal light, but blinding rays. Kent peeked up and what he was terrified him. The shadow was not a cloud, it was not a lightning storm coming. Sure that would have been freighting as Scarface in your bed, but this was worse. Far worse. Like sobering up while doing what one could only assume they had done with Scarface that night. Well, maybe not that scary. Gligar appeared next to him, a safe(ish) Jerri with him. This took a bit of fear away, but the equivalent of one scar off of the naught Scarface from that night. Sorry, let me stop mentally scaring you now.

They landed just in time, right as the beast above them showed its true form. A brilliant white bird, with blue scales on its wings. An aura of white energy. It seemed to gentle, so calm, a godly being. Yet this turned bad right away. The neutral expression turned into anger, frustration. They had upset it, and were going to pay.

Sierra and Jerri darted away, Kent only could think to save Tyler. He Didn’t have that instinct, he wished his first thought was to save someone else, but it was honestly to save his own ass. “Glide, Meta,” two Gligar now gripped onto Kent, pulling him off the ship.

The white aura exploded above him, coming from it a beam of purse-thick orange light. The beam blasted the front of the ship, and with an explosion, and flames the ship began to sink. It started with a tipping, then a slamming-clang as the water filled it. He could hear the screams, but he was helpless to do anything right now. He had chosen the smart thing. The cowardly thing. The beast flew into the sky, then dove gracefully away into the ocean. The glowing energy making a white shadow in the sea. If not for what it had done moments before, a true beauty to be hold.

The duo of Gligar gripping him picked up the winds and were getting a good distance away. He could see the frozen rocket members sliding off the side, floating away into the night. He could also see the police coming, but as soon as they noticed the ice-sculptures of criminals, they seemed to forget the wreck. There was little hope for the boat-bound group members.

“Turn back,” Kent whispered. There were two questioning yelps from above him. “I said take me back!” Kent screamed. And began flying right back into hell.

Has soon as he touched the cold metal below he took off running, or rather stumbling, down into the -flooding bottom of the boat. “X Scissor!” The two bats glided forward and cut through a pipe blocking the way, Kent sliding right under. Another path blocker nearly took off his head, but Glide took it out as well. All was going well. The floor began to dampen beneath him, his grip slipping. He grabbed madly for something to stop him from plummeting into the flooded bottom. His body was pulled backwards as the two-twin bats pulled him back.

Right in front of him was the water, where he could see the others, trying to get back up as the boat creped downward. Even the Pokemon were unable to get there, and that was without extra weight from the gang. He could see ice floating around, failed attempts at man made platforms. There was another groan as the boat took a steeper incline and Kent grabbed on for a hold. “Don’t worry guys, Kent is here!” he called, though his voice was cracking and full of self doubt. They had gotten the wrong hero.

“Time to take all that climbing experience, into Action,” Kent said and took a breath. He had always been a climber, it came with where he lived, the mountains. But until then, there was nothing at stake. There was always a Flygon, or a Salamance to catch him if anything happened. He had someone to catch him if he fell. Right now, he was the catcher. And it did not test well for him.

First step, get the a secure grip, and hock on. The rest would be easy, right? He grabbed the ropes from his bag and scanned the area, looking for something sturdy. All the stuff on ground level was either destroyed, loose, or too jagged to safely tie the rope too. Even the railing had been torn apart. He needed to find something above him, not too high, something near the water. A pipe to the engine room was still hanging on above him, perfect. He took the shot and chucked the rope around it. It twirled once, twice, and stopped. Kent gave a tug and it came loose right away. One more time, not even a single loop. Kent sighed and directed Glide to it. Glide tried to fly up next, but the wind had died, useless for gliding.

Kent gulped and took one more shot. One loop. Two loop. Three loop. …four loops. Kent tugged, perfect. Next step was to get some grips going for him. He couldn’t just dive down there, into the water, and climb out, not on flat metal. Epically not soaking wet, while the incline kept getting steeper. Which, speak of the devil, happened once more. Kent grabbed at his rope, barley escaping the water below.

“Glide, use your fire fang and warm up this metal!” The bat flew down and its fangs grabbed the metal, red-heat spreading over it instantly. A sizzle as the water vaporized from the heat. “Veon, use swift and pin missile, and dent up this floor!”

The yellow-fox slipped and slide around as soon as it was released, coming inches to the water before Kent could grab hold of it. Once there it blasted at the ground, making large holes in the metal around it, Kent almost laughed in joy and returned Veon. No time for celebration, there was still work to do.

He tied the rope around his waist quickly and got on his stomach, sliding carefully down to the first grip. “Okay, breath Kent, breath. No time to panic. Well a good time to, but not now. Panic later. Later!” Kent took another breath, found the next few grips and then dove into the water. His first fear was that there wasn’t enough rope, and he would end up too far away for them to swim. It was the opposite, actually. Far too much slack. A slaking wasn’t even close to it.

As soon as Kent dove, he slammed into the bottom, against the metal. He was out like a light. Which was ironic, considering how dim witted he was during the plan. The last thing he saw before he passed out was the change in the group’s expression. From hopeful, into depression. Kent had failed. Way big time.

So much for Kent: Hero of the High Seas.

Sierra Stone | 10:45pm | Shipwreck
Hero or not, Kent’d done something, which was more than she could say for herself. The powerlessness as the situation kept getting worse was affecting her like nothing before, worse than even those long childhood stretches that had seemed like a slow, sluggish trickle of boredom, helplessness and patience fraying at the edges.

For one, now was wet and dangerous and increasingly life-threatening, and three quarters of her team was out of her commision. Lapras, last one conscious, was still only barely fit to hold them afloat, aided a bit by Niles and Piplup in keeping the worst of the water’s snaps away.

Sierra was more than cool with ice, and water could be dealt with most of the time... but not like this, not with semi-conscious friends to take care.

Not when he’d gotten hurt protecting her in the first place. She wasn’t supposed to need protection. That had been the whole point of leaving home.

So get a grip and get the hell out of here.

Lapras was already moving towards him, and the others had already sent their out to keep Kent from getting too shaken by the tides surging into the broken hull. That’s right, closer to the wall and those nice handholds. And the rope. Mostly the rope, still tied to Ken and that had probably been the only thing stopping him from being pulled under completely.

“We need to get up and out before the water’s too high!” Some people liked stating the obvious. If it made them feel better, she supposed.

“Sam, Jerri, you’ve still got Blaze and Ninetales. See if you can make a signal or something, get the police to notice and help us out.” Tyler nodded at the rope, neatly at hand with Kent pulled up on Lapras, still out but at least out of danger. “You go first.”

Sam seemed only too happy to comply, and Jerri only hesitated for a bit before she went too, the cord trembling straight and tense under their weights as they ascended, slippery metal and wet hands and shoes over the mad incline. Nice move Kent had there, melting the metal into something a tad more useable.

There, they were over, and Piplup retrieved. “Tyler, you go.”

“Ladies first.”

“You’re half-conscious. If you fall, best some of us are still here to stop you from breaking your neck.”

At least he didn’t try to argue. Maybe it was the still-out-of-it part. The water was rising with a dull roar as it brushed against the breach, punctuated by a tinkle of ice as the breaking shards shattered against the edges, and she kept an eye on it even as she looked at Tyler’s ascension, heart thrumming just a bit faster when he stumbled or almost slipped.

He made it. Funny how it was easier to breathe suddenly.

Now it was Kent, Jack, and her. “Go,” Jack said, and she figured now was not the moment to waste time protesting either. The rope was cold under her hands, the threads catching at her fingers in a way that was just this side of painful, unless it was just her hands themselves made sensitive by the pervasive cold. The metal grunted under the soles of her sodden sneakers, creaked from the water and the failing friction, but she got ahold of the grips, pulled herself up. Almost fell just as she reached the top, misjudging the distance in the moving darkness and stumbling rather inelegantly. Screw that, at least she was out.

Crap, Tyler was watching. Not her most glorious moment.

Still. Jack and Kent. She turned back, pretending nothing had happened.

“Get the rope,” Jack called up, and she did, frowning in confusion, before her eyes widened. Oh. Of course someone would have to push Kent up, and of course it’d be near-impossible without help pulling up.

Tyler conscripted into helping and several long, heart-stoppingly scary moments later, everyone was out of imminent danger. Lapras and Niles were called back, and then they were off towards the uppermost part of the boat, dragging a slowly coming back to life Kent and a still hesitantly-walking Tyler through the slightly lightening penumbra.

They emerged to a blinding flood of light that turned the call of the sea into only a distant murmur and made the thought of land more welcome than ever, and Sierra blinked back tears. Damn, she’d never been so happy to see the police.