The Rahlto Expedition

[Johnnysaurus Rex]

Abe came to choking. Disoriented would have been and understatement as his eyes opened to the too bright sun and he began uncontrollably coughing. He pawed at the... sand? There was some pressure nuzzling on his left side that wedged itself under his left side and in a second lifted to his side.
In the recovery position Abe's lungs finally emptied out as he heaved the water from them. He'd had mornings worse than this moment. After a few good wretches he felt something touch him again and now he slowly turned to see an orange paw. Abe smiled as he rolled on to his back and reached for the dog as it began to lick his face.

"Whelp, Molly. This is quite the situation we've found ourselves in."


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"Captain. Captain!" Abe stormed along the ship trying to catch up to the captain of their transport. The name escaped him at this moment for the vessel, but he knew the man's name was Franklin Stern.

"Captain Stern!" Abe shouted this time trying to get the attention of the man who was trying his last nerve.

"What?!" Captain Stern finally turned, no longer being able to ignore the security chief of the expedition team.

The two had been at each other's throats since leaving port at the beginning of their trip. The good captain was being payed to transport this team to the region known as Rahlto in order to study and survey the land.

"I was just doing a round of your ship, Captain and you know what I found?" Abe didn't give him time to answer. Instead he interrupted Stern before he could open his mouth for some half formed retort, "Evidence of stowaways. When we commissioned you back in Kanto it was under the assumption we'd be getting exclusive use of your services."

"Well," Captain Stern crossed his arms content with himself, "Shame you ASSUMED that. Last I checked you paid me to give you and yours a ride, not free run of my ship."

"You don't even care you have freeloaders?" Abe was a little more than confused at the notion.

"Honestly? No. I figure those people have more than one reason to be on here and if anything I am more sorry that I haven't been able to inform them of where the Hell you have us steering my boat."

"If they jeopardize-"

"Let me cut you off their right now, Mr. Nolan," Abe had come accustomed to people using his pseudonym to the point he was more averse to people calling him by his real name," Those people aren't going to jeopardize anything. If anyone gets anybody killed its going to be you. You've heard the stories of Rahlto right?"

"I have and everyone I hear it from is getting their information from a 'friend of a friend'. I'm not much inclined to rumors, Captain Stern."

Stern just laughed as he turned and began marching away. He was about to slam the door behind him into the wheel house before he turned and shouted back, "And no way are we staying more than a minute in Rahlto waters! You pack your shit up and leave in the boat you bought from us."

Abe was about to close the distance between them. Yell at him? Beat the tar out of him? What was he going to do. Abe wrapped his hand around his wrist to keep himself from trembling as he calmly as possible walked away and towards one of the ships railings. There he let out a ragged sigh and pulled a flask from inside his jacket. Taking a swig he deposited the small container back to where it came. He felt a small muzzle brush along his leg.

Instinctively his hand reached down to find the small tuft of hair at the top of a Growlithe's head, "What are we doing here, Mollster?"

Abe scratched behind Molly's ears as he continued to look out over the water. This was the first job Abe had in months. It was a big break for him when he was hired to be part of this research team and he was happy for it, but it just seemed like one thing after another reminded him why he was such a **** up.

Thankfully, he wasn't alone. He had Molly and of course his old friend Doe had agreed to tag along. Still, Rahlto's reputation preceded it he didn't give heed to the mythic nature of the place, but he was open to the facts. Those facts were, and he hated admitting it, almost as alarming.

Almost to lend credence to such facts the ship below Abe lurched and shook. Instinctively Abe through and arm around the rail and an arm around Molly. When it seemed as if the turbulence had stopped a deafening explosion was heard. Alarms began to howl on the ship and doors flung open as crew began frantically manning positions.

What was going on?

"PIRATES!"

Shouts began to ring out over the ship and the ship lurched again. Abe and Molly sprinted around the deck to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be a giant red sea monster disappear under the water and flanked by numerous other ships.

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That was all up to what he remembered. Painfully, it came back to him that the ship lurched violently again and he had been flung backwards. Or had he been falling? Leaning against a tree he began to take stock. Abe thankfully had his three pokeballs secured to his belt. Whoever made these things was sure to factor in they'd take a beating. Molly's paw appeared to be lightly injured. As she paced around she kept off of it as much as she could. The Growlithe must have swum them partially to shore and drug his ass to the beach.

He needed a moment. Just to get his bearings and his shit together. He'd rest his eyes just for a little bit...

 

[Kiro]

Pain.

That was the first, and frankly comforting, sensation that surged through the mind of Doe Janeway as she clawed herself back from the murky depths of unconsciousness. Pain was good. Pain meant you were alive. Pain in your limbs meant they were still attacked. Of course, pain was still pain, and thus unpleasant to say the least. But for now? Pain was a good sign.

She tried to open her eyes, only to find herself blinded by a glare of intensely bright light. Sunlight, most likely, considering she lay upon what felt like countless rocks. Groaning at the new pain assaulting her eyes, the woman forces herself to roll over, and gasps sharply as sharp pain shoots up her side, causing her to clutch at one of the stones on which she was lying upon.

Ribs, she thought as she forced open her eyes open again now that she wasn't facing the sun directly. Cracked, I think... She took a deep breath, and felt a throbbing pain in her sides again, but at least she couldn't feel any fluids in her lungs, or anything indicating that she might have punctured one of the air-sucking organs. With a groan, she pushes herself up into a sitting position and raises a hand to shield her eyes from the glare of the sun.

"Shit..." Stretched out before her was a scene every kid whom had grown up in a port city hoped never to see.

The aftermath of a shipwreck.

Sighing, Doe reaches down and checks her belt, and then she visibly relaxes. Cap and Rain's PokéBalls were still in place. Confident and happy that her two closest friends and partners were safe, she draws in a deep breath, and forces herself up onto her feet, ignoring the intense pain surging from her right flank. It was time to scrounge up some supplies. Hopefully find her backpack and equipment. It was waterproofed, so it would be alright, unless it had been damaged during the wreck. And she knew it couldn't be far, as she'd been wearing it loosely around her shoulders when the attack had come. Reaching down to her belt again, she plucked a black and white PokéBall from the belt and tossed it to the ground.

"Out you come, Rain," Doe murmurs softly, as a bolt of white light materializes into Rain the Mightyena. The canine pokemon turns her head back and forth, red eyes scanning the area cautiously, her nostrils flaring. "Yeah, we're in a bit of a tight spot, hon... think you can find my pack? Then we'll try to find Abe... he can't be far, dead or alive."

 

[Clayton]

"Captain. Captain! Captain Stern!" frustrated voices drifted in through the open window with the salty breeze.

Glenn rolled off his bunk and groaned. What moron was shouting at the captain outside his suite? "Chin chin!" cried his chinchou as it hopped out of the bath where it had been swimming around. "I don't know Chinchou, let's go see," he muttered, stifling a yawn. His nap had gone longer than intended. He quietly exited his room into the hall, quickly flattening himself against one wall to avoid running into a sailor. "Whoops, sorry!" he said automatically. The sailor chuckled lightheartedly as he walked past, saying not to worry. "How long before we make landfall?" Glenn inquired.

"Eh, should be a couple more hours at most. We're in Rahlto waters now."

"Awesome!" he said eagerly and dashed back into his room to get his pack. Glenn planned at being at the prow of the ship to watch the mysterious landmass grow in size as they headed in to port. "Today we begin a new adventure, Chinchou," he said as he slung the pack over his shoulders. "Chiiin!" Glenn chuckled and headed back out. He had barely made it halfway down the hall before the ship shook violently. He briefly wondered if they had run aground on something, and then an explosion rocked the ship again. "Definitely didn't run aground!" he shouted, sprinting down the hall. Glenn vaguely remembered where his station was in the event of an emergency. He hadn't paid careful attention to the speech back in Kanto, after all, he had imagined that the likelihood of an actual emergency was rather low. So much for that notion.

Alarms rang and people were shouting outside. A large pokemon roared angrily. The door ahead burst open and the same sailor Glenn bumped into before waved at him to hurry. "Pirates, lad! Get a move on, the ship's been hit." He glanced at the chinchou by Glenn's side. "A trainer? Good, we might have to get into a little scrape."

"Pirates!" exclaimed Glenn incredulously. "What the shit! What's that huge pokemon I hear?"

"Gyrados. Big damn red one too! Bloody pirates. Come on lad, move your ass!" The sailor tossed a pokeball behind him, releasing a machoke.

Glenn needed no further urging. He sprinted after the sailor as they headed for one of the dinghies hanging over the side of the ship. Around them sounds of pokemon battles filled the air. Sailors shouted as they physically wrestled with pirates. Researchers screamed as they took cover behind equipment. "STOP!" came a shout. Two pirates stood in their way. A koffing floated in the air in front of them.

"Best move out of the way, lads, or you're in for some trouble. You've only got one pokemon, we've got two," growled the sailor as his machoke flexed threateningly.

"Four, actually. I've got more," Glenn said nervously. He quietly wondered if the pirates were here to kidnap him.

The pirates laughed. "One? Not quite true. Gyrados," commanded the second pirate. With a rush of water, the red monster surfaced explosively and roared.

"Shit! Machoke, submission! Take out that koffing!"

"Gyrados-" started the pirate with a leer before Glenn cut him off.

"THUNDERBOLT!" Chinchou's two antennae shot up straight and crackled with yellow light as a blast of electricity slammed into the red gyrados.

"GYRAAAAAAAAAAAAA" it roared in frustration as the electrical surge spread across its body. The koffing spewed out noxious gases as machoke wrestled with it. Neither pokemon really seemed to have an advantage. The Gyrados wasn't out of the fight either. Sparks danced across the leviathan as it reared back and slammed forward onto the deck and Chinchou with a great crash. Glenn flinched and stumbled back as the deck vibrated from the impact. Electricity crackled in the air again as the two yellow bulbs on Chinchou's antennae touched the gyrados, delivering another jolt. This time the red beast recoiled sharply and shook its head violently as it slid below the surface. "GYRADOS DAMMIT YOU NEVER LISTEN GET BACK HERE AND FIGHT!" shouted the pirate.

"Screw this, self-destruct!" snarled the first pirate.

"NO YOU IDIOT-" screamed the second in horror. A great white light exploded from the koffing as the machoke was flung back. The shockwave hit Glenn and Chincho full-on throwing them both overboard. Glenn hit the water with his back, the air in his lungs exited them with a great whoosh, then everything went black.

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He came to on a beach as an electrical jolt shocked him awake. "Chin chin!" cried chinchou happily. Glenn rolled onto his side and groaned. He spat out some sand from his mouth and slowly stood up. His hand went to his belt to make sure his other pokeballs were still there, then attempted to brush off the sand caked on half his body. Met with little progress he turned to chinchou. "Hose me down a little, mate?" The blue pokemon gurgled with delight and sprayed the already sodden Glenn. "Thanks," he said as water and sand trickled down his legs to pool around this feet. "Now back into your pokeball, you took a beating from that fight. You need rest." A red light enveloped Chinchou as the ball retrieved it.

"Now where the hell did I end up," wondered Glenn. He scanned the debris littered beach, and his heart sank. "What an awful sight," he muttered to himself. Did the ship and crew make it through the pirate attack alright? He winced as his neck turned too far to one side; pain lanced across his back. Landing back-first in the sea hadn't done him much good. Spying another figure standing amongst the wreckage, Glenn stumbled in that direction. He hoped it wasn't a pirate.

 

[Cainhurst Crow]

Valena had been looking into her personal log, staring at the blank pages and wondering if she should be writing anything down. The ships accommodations were adequate, the time long since passing in which she would care about her surroundings. And her own payments for this job were pretty decent, some even offered in advance, all to investigate this Rahlto Region, a truly unknown area when it came to the unknown.

"Maybe I'm nuts for doing this..." she wondered to herself, shaking her head as she closed her journal and shoved it into her backpack, brushing aside the pale blond hair as she rubbed her temple. This was a dangerous place, not that she was a stranger to danger. She had spent a good chunk of her life practically risking her life going after dangerous and rare pokemon, in nearly isolated places around the world. But something about this place, the way others talked about it, rubbed her the wrong way. "Maybe if I'm lucky I'll die saving some poor pokemon. Get horribly wounded as a returned favor..." She muttered to herself, the idea not sounding half bad.

The guilt pains she usually felt in her chest and gut helped make such thoughts seem less damaging, in the long run. She was about to turn it in when the alarm sounded about pirates on the ship. Her eyes widened as she reached into her backpack, pulling out the weapon she used whenever not dealing with pokemon. It was an old revolver, and she broke the top of it to check the bullets, counting six in all. 18 shots would probably be more then enough to deal with them.

"Weiss...it's show time." She said as she opened her pokeball, the floating Froslass letting out a high pitched call as she looked to her trainers hand, her eyes hardening as she gave a nod to Valena. She knew full well what it meant for her to take her gun out.

Valena was out the door, backpack slung over her back, just as she spotted two of the pirates turn the corners, a Carvanha and Nidorina in tow as Valena narrowed her eyes, taking aim just as the one to the right pointed towards her to shout.

"We got another one! Nidorian, use Pois-AGHHHHHH!!!" The loud pop echoed through the hallway as the pirate went down, clutching his shoulder as the other one looked shocked at his partner, ducking back into cover as another bullet almost caught him in the leg.

"You Psychopath! What the heck do you think you're doing!?" The pirate demanded, Valena ignoring him as she barked out her orders.

"Weiss, Icy Wind!" She barked, pulling back the hammer as she took aim for the pirate on the ground, firing at him only for the Nidorina to step into the way. The bullet bounced off its forehead, not even penetrating and only managing to nick its skin as it growled at her, running forward to attack the one who hurt its master.

"Frosslass..." Weiss replied softly, throwing out its arm-bangs as a gust of forzen wind cut through the hallway, pushing the pokemon back as the second pirate stayed around the corner, "Carvanha! Aqua Jet that Thing!" The Pirahna pokemon shot forward, cutting through the icy wind as it aimed for Froslass. It knocked the ghost ice pokemon back, Valena looking back as he cocked her gun again.

"Weiss, disorient and freeze..." Valena ordered, using code words to tell her what to do, and running forward into the icy hallway as she aimed her gun forward, heading for the retreating Carvanha and slipped up Niodrina.

"Carvanha, use - Woah!" The pirate shouted as Valena fired a shot towards his corner, cutting off his sentence and leaving his pokemon looking back in confusion. Just in time for Weiss to fire off a confusion ray, striking the Nidorian as it now fumbled on the ground, trying to see or think straight. She fired another shot, keeping the not wounded pirate pinned, and An Icy Shard shot forward and Struck Carvanha, and just like that Valena was at the end of the hall, jumping and landing with her knee shoved into the wounded pirates stomach, knocking the wind out of him before she pointed the gun to his head, looking to the other with dead eyes.

"Call off your pokemon...or you're friend is going to become the next ghost pokemon on this ship..." She threatened, the pirate on the ground coughingly complying as he withdrew the nidorian.

"Okay! Okay...Just don't hut him..." The other said, withdrawing his pokemon as she glared at him, "Now back away down that hallway...towards the railing." She said, the pirate compliging nervously as she soon found his back pressed to the rail of the deck. Valena cocked the hammer back as she rose to her feet, taking aim at the man as she narrowed her eyes.

"Nothing personal..." She said, about to pull the trigger when something rocked the entire ship. Valena's eyes went wide as the pirate went overboard, the whole world tilting as soon she found herself tumbling backwards, smacking her back hard against the back of the hallway, and opening her eyes to see a wall of water heading towards her, Weiss fleeing to the surface to avoid being drowned.

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Valena's eyes began to slowly flutter open as the world felt muted, everything feeling numb as she tried to open her eyes. They stung for a second until she blinked a few times, looking around as she saw everything around her floating, her own hair gently flowing about her surrondings. She opened her mouth, air bubbles escaping before she slammed it tightly shut, grunting in surprise and scrambling about as she looked around, realizing what had happened.

Valena kicked her way down in the water filled hallway, picking up her soaked revolver from the ground while reaching to her belt. She drew another pokeball, activating it as her Clauncher Turkis, as the lobster shaped blue pokemon found itself underwater and swam around, before spotting its owner in distress. It swam behind her, grabbing ahold of the olive green jacket she wore, and took off like a jet in the water, pulling out through the sinking ship and out to break the surface.

She gasped for air, arms flailing as she nearly went under once more, breaking the surface as she looked around in shock and surprise. Her mind was panicking, and while Clauncher was able to keep her afloat and move her in the water, it did little to stop her paniced short breaths as she began to look around, her brain screaming at her. She felt an intense drop in the water temperature, a solid sheet of ice now in front of her as she scrambled onto it, soaking wet and not even caring as she coughed and gagged up sea water, laying there as she saw the pokemon floating above her.

"Weiss....thank you." She said, looking up to her ghost pokemon, who nodded and gave a bow to her. Now on something solid at least, she took inventory. Her gun had been broken open, the bullets lost as she snapped it shut and put it in her bag. She pulled out a pokeball as she looked up to weiss, "You were probably worried sick about me...weren't you?"

Weiss crossed her arms and gave her a glare, before softening a bit and nodding her head yes. Valena smiled as she extended out an arm, patting the ghosts head as the other leaned into it a bit, "I'll be more careful next time...I swear." She said, enough for the froslass to clam down for now as she went back into her pokeball.

"Okay Turkis....take me to that island there." Valena ordered her water gun pokemon, the little shrimp shooting out the jet of water from its claw as it propelled them towards the only landmass around. The ice began to melt, almost dissolving fully as it hit the sand, and Valena turned back and returned the clauncher to its pokeball.

"So this is Rahlto..." She said, taking a guess as she looked back out towards sea, seeing the wreckage of the boat barely sticking out of it, debris scattered through the water and slowly drifting towards the shore, "Let's hope the worst is already behind us..." She said, turning to begin walking down the beach to see who she could find.

 

[Darman Kebii'tra]

David woke to the sudden silence that had befallen the ship. He didn’t particularly like being on boats, but they were a necessity in traveling quickly. He’d been practicing with Huntress so that one day he could fly on her. Thus far they had begun attempting to get her to lift him off the ground and move several feet. Yet all she managed to accomplish was lifting off and holding him for a few seconds before dropping him. So until then, David would have to be content riding in boats.

David rolled over and began pulling on his pants, mumbling about the quiet atmosphere. Huntress sat nearby on her stand, blindfolded while inside so she didn’t get out of control. Every now and then she would tilt her head as if listening to something. Howler on the other hand was scratching the door to be let out. David sighed. Taking him to use the bathroom while on the ship was difficult.

David pulled on the bird gloves that he kept for handling bird-types in such circumstances. Huntress deserved a chance to stretch her wings as well. She must have sense his approach, because she began to shift restlessly on her perch. David untied her and then extended his arm out for her to climb up to her usual spot on his shoulder. Huntress’s talons dug into his glove and then into his shirt as she settle on his shoulder. It was a habit since she was a Pidgey, and seemed to comfort her when she had to be blindfolded. Her right wing wrapped around his head to help her balance. Out of the corner of his eye, David saw Howler suddenly tense up.

*BANG* gunshots echoed outside.

David winced as Huntress’s talons dug into his shoulder and she squawked loudly in his ear. Howler was frozen, ready to pounce anything that came through the door. Outside he heard more gunshots followed by something hitting the ground. He signaled to Howler to get ready while he stood by the door, ready to pull it open. The growlithe stood ready, teeth bared. Huntress fidgeted, but silenced herself. They were all too well trained in these kinds of situations.

David mentally counted down from a hundred, showing Howler as he approached one. When he reached it, David slammed open the door and Howler sprang into action. He burst through the open doorway, ready to attack anything that presented itself as hostile. However, the moment the door swung open, water began pouring into the cabin. David eye’s went wide as the water quickly reached his waist and continued rising. Howler struggle to reach to the surface as the water was easily over its head. David wished that he had pokeballs to put them into, but he had no such objects. It was against the Ranger code to use.

Scooping up Howler in one arm and his pack in the other, he began to wade into the corridor. The entire ship seemed empty, no signs of human or pokemon alike. Once the water reached chest height, David felt the cold grip of panic setting in. He wasn’t going to make it, he thought. He still needed to climb several flights up to get outside. As he continued moving through to the nearest stairs, David spotted an open window through a cabin door. However, it was clear that the window would soon be submerged under water.

He quickly stepped in and began removing the Huntress’s blindfold. Howler was struggling to stay above the water again, as water was reaching David’s shoulders. Once she was freed, Huntress began to squirm feeling the water rising to her talons. David took off his backpack and opened up the soaking wet bag and began pulling out some of his supplies. If he couldn’t make it out without Howler or Huntress, he’d have no need for the supplies anyways.

Once enough room had been made, David stuffed Howler in, meriting a bite from the growlithe. David struggled to hurry so that Huntress wouldn’t be too wet to fly, but slowing down so that Howler would be secure. Once he was ready he turned to Huntress. He held out the backpack with Howler’s head and front paws hanging out of, “I need you, Tress. I’ll follow you, but I need you to get Howler out of here.”

Huntress squawked in acknowledgement and gripped the straps of the pack. She gave him an intelligent look that he recognized all too well. This wasn’t the first dire situation they’d been in, but it probably wouldn’t be the last. David strode to the door when the whole ship rocked. He gasped in pain as the bed tore and a jagged piece of metal cut deeply into his calf. He had to brace himself to avoid getting Huntress wet.

“Fly Huntress! Go!” He bit back the tears from the pain, “I’m right behind you.” Huntress cried one last time before taking off. She barely made it as her tail feathers sank into the water as window disappeared under water.

David relaxed a little. Even if he should drown here, he could rest easy knowing that his partners had made it. But the pain from his leg reminded him of his predicament. Every shudder of the ship sent jolts of pain through his body, yet the water had reached his mouth and every breath through his nose brought a trickle of salt water. With a mighty heave he jerked his leg from between the bed and the metal. He nearly passed out for the pain, but gritted his teeth. The water around him began to turn a dark black as blood began to pour from the wound.

David managed to take one last deep breath before pulling himself through the window. He saw a PFD slowly rising to the surface and managed to latch onto it. Once he’d broken the surface he saw the ship listing heavily to one side and figures on the deck scrambling about. Seeing the island nearby, David slowly began kicking with his good leg.

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Once he was close enough to the shore that the tide would carry him in, David rested. It was a short time later before he felt the semi-solid sand beneath him. David managed to pull himself out of the water and travel a short distance before the pain became too much. He sat down in the wet sand and ripped the sleeve off his shirt. The wound on his leg was deep and would need to be looked at. Otherwise, he was sure to get a nasty infection. Taking a deep breath, David tightened the sleeve with a mighty yank. However, the pain was so intense that his head swam before disappearing into darkness…

 

[Raydo]

Cyril had spent most his time aboard the ship in his quarters. He had been working on finishing some research as he wasn't sure when he would be able to get back to it. He finished the e-mail to send back to his local pokemon professor when he heard the first loud explosion and felt the boat rock.

The motion made him want to throw up, but he hurriedly stuffed his computer and other research into his waterproof bag. He didn't notice to water coming in under the door. A few seconds later when he had put everything in his bag, the water was already up to his ankles. He rushed to door and flung it open. The rushing water knocked him backwards into the cold water. It was hard to fight the current of water as it flowed in from some leak in the ship, but he somehow found the hand rail and was able to pull himself above deck before drowning.

The scene above deck was nothing short of chaotic. People ran back and forth. Cyril wasn't sure what to do. He ran towards the edge of the ship when the second explosion came. The rocking of ship flung him over board. He fell into the water and hit with a loud splash. He landed on his back, which knocked the wind from his lungs. He instinctively tried to suck in air, but only got a lung full of water. Coughing, he struggled to get his head above water. Just as his vision began to blur around the edges, he reached above water and grabbed a hold of some wood wreckage from the ship. He held on for dear life when he tried to cough up all the water he had inhaled. He wasn't sure how long he drifter how which direction he had gone in. He thought he may have gone unconscious once or twice, because when he jumped awake he was laying on sandy beach.

He struggled to stand up and looked around him. He didn't see anyone but saw wreckage from the ship everywhere. He frantically checked to make sure his backpack was with him. He was relieved to find that it had stayed on his back and water had not gotten inside. He pulled out the three poke balls that had been stuffed one of the side pockets and attached them to his belt, except for the one which contained his Charmander. He tossed the ball and Charmander materialized several feet away from him. The small Pokemon cried out as a wave came and threatened to soak to poor thing. "Sorry Charmander." Cyril exclaimed following the small Pokemon further inland.

Within several moments, Cyril had gathered enough wood for a small fire which had been lit by his Pokemon. Cyril sighed as he sat down on a rock close to the fire. He would spend a few moments drying off and then he would set out in search for the others.

 

[BLADE]

In a hot airless room, a thin man with a slight hunch was at living. The only window was shut, and the room was lit only by a pale yellow lightbulb. The man liked it so. His fingers, red like devil-fire, wicked the glue carefully and mounted the latest specimen --of vespa feroces magna and coleoptera pugnatorum-- of his collection. His shoulders were set and his hands danced over forcep and minuten, a small brush for human nails (the only way to bring out the shine in the carapace), and a file. A tiny paring knife was his stylus for when he needed to sculpt his... treasures.

He sat on the single piece of furniture in the room (forswearing the work-desk of course), a hard-backed austere thing that he called a chair. The man wore a white shirt and underwear and not much else, though they were so crisply starched and the man's carriage so heavy, he might have carried every social occasion of sérieuse deportment before him. And while another man might have settled into a certain slovenliness there was no glue, nor balsam wood, nor the flotsam or jetsam of his... especialities affixed to his shirt.

This collector-man's features were unremarkable; pale and windburnt skin, dull brown hair dipping down into a slight widow's peak. An angular face with a thin (but not bloodless) mouth. His eyes, perhaps were brighter than most and were of a darker hue than his hair if the same listless color. Though perhaps it was useless to break his face into its constituent parts for though not an arresting face it was an interesting one. It was the sort of face that announced a man had just slipped past the precipice of his prime, but had not quite gone into that dark twilight of age. The troughs of frown lines here and there (and there were many for he was a grave sort of man) were filled in and yet shallow enough to suggest that future cares or joys might set their final character.

He shuffled about his room, carefully laying down the latest glass-board before appraising it with a bone-deep if cirurgical satisfaction.

There was a perfunctory set of knocks at his door and by the cadence -- a rappa-rap-tap-rap-- it was not his lessor with her heavy trod and her grasping hands.

Which was not to say they were unfamiliar.

The door opened.

The man frowned.

Or entirely too familiar.

The same dark-haired young woman from the Silph Exploration and Research Concern stepped in. She was severely pretty (as far as that sort of thing registered to the man) wearing her suit around her as well... a suit. In all senses of the word. There was no age yet to mellow the prickliness of youth in authority. Although, he supposed her natural intelligence went a ways to compensate for her callowness. Or for the fact that her fitted outfit as well tailored and finely made as it no doubt was still did not quite... fit. Very little about the young Silph journeywoman did.

He turned a shoulder to her and continued his work, mounting, staging, pinning and ever collecting.

The first visit had been a debacle. She had been prickly, arrogant (and nervous) and he dismissive and cold. The second visit a disaster. She had been prickly and arrogant and he cold.

This was the third.

"My answer remains the same, Miss Bisset."

"Then it will change momentarily, M. Fuchs. I have the information you required."

"Ah?" He raised an eyebrow, "Your paymasters then have seen fit to pay me in real coin?"

The girl-woman's hands tightened around a thick folder containing the dossier meant for M. Fuchs's eyes. He cracked it open and began to scan it, his frown deepening.

"This... expedition."

"An initiative supported by our Kanto department and one which we believe--"

He lazily waved off her explanation.

"A mental irrelevancy, Miss--"

"It's Ms--"

He startled at being interrupted and stared at her for a moment, "Plus ca change," he murmured. He scanned the papers in front of him, his fingers tracing something in the air for a moment and his expression growing minutely more perfervid by the moment. Something in him tightened and then... relaxed. M. Fuchs came to himself set down the dossier. If his hands were sure, his legs were less so, and his movements were halting, jerky... painful even. His knees and ankles seemed to calcify with pig-iron and lead in them, and it took nearly a minute for him to reach the tiny window he kept so shut.

"They will all die, won't they?"

"There are dangers involved in the expedition. Rahlto is a largely unknown continent."

"Unknown to whom," he murmured softly, "To whom indeed."

"M. Fuchs?"

"I care not for their lives, Ms. Bisset. But I do not like such... surprises. Is there more I must know?"

"You know as much as we do, M. Fuchs."

"An insulting notion." He sighed and sat down heavily on his workchair.

"Very well. I accept your offer."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I guess, you're just what I needed
I needed someone to feed
I gue--

Charlie popped out her headphones and with a happy sigh prised open the fridge. Lunch was her favorite party of the day and not least because she'd made herself a kickass sandwich, thank you very much, but because well. Rahlto was just... weird. Not weird as in, like, the laws of physics were temporarily suspended (like one of her favorite shows on the boob tube where a foreign self-appointed architect traveled through time, saved the planet and also made quips about his favorite flavor of custard --coconut naturally) or fire-types could overcome water-types (all things being equal of course) or bananas not being vile.

But just. Lonely. And unknown. And big. Still. A job was a job. And an engineering job for Silph Co no less? Girlfriend was making her way up in the world.

The only downside was... um... how to put it?

Oh yes. Her coworkers were raging assholes.

Sometimes she wished she'd majored in biology just so she could write a paper on how testosterone generated some kind of self-reinforcing field where being a horrible dickhead somehow made you leader of the pack. The Prick Principle. The Douche Dynamic. Surely there was a market for it. She'd probably win a prize, wouldn't she?

Ah well. A peanut butter and bologna sandwich awaited her. Right behind the --well there was Jenkin's fried bacon fritters (abominable but tempting), and let's see that was Roybard's salad (his wife had put him on a diet after the third heart attack watching Sportsball Express), and then ugh how old was that almond milk? And seriously, who even drank almond milk here? (Charlie was privately grateful the crew of roughnecks she worked even wore pants.)

There it was.

Brown paper bag. Delicious meat and legume and bread trinity incoming.

Charlie opened her bag.

And screamed.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"And wasting all my time!"

It wasn't that she was a girly girl. Or that dead things disgusted her (there had been a weird third grade year in which she had desperately wanted to be an entomologist.) No. It was a scream of pure rage. And dismay.

Someone had put a dead caterpie in her lunchbag. And absconded with her sandwich.

"Rough day Charlie?"

She spun around. There was Durand from hydraulics standing behind her. He was stereotypically handsome in the sort of way that had taken her in. Tall. Raven-haired. Muscled. Good lord, the man had dimpled when he smiled (and unlike most of the tobacco chewers in the crew, he still had most of his teeth.) And yes, she'd slept with him. Sue her. Several times. To fit the crime after all. It wasn't like he had an aura of dickishness around him (not initially). And it had been fun the first few times.

And then he'd tried to forbid him from working with Jenkins (who was seventy-six and far more interested in his partner Lawrence --a spry sixty-eight himself-- than in her) in a fit of jealousy. She summarily dumped him, though not before observing that there wasn't much to the dumping.

"We had sex, Durand. It's not like I pledged troth to you you lunatic!"

He had spluttered until the Foreman, a fat mustachioed man that had married into the Silph Family (and though competent enough, that rankled Charlie just a bit) had intervened.

Since then he'd been shadowing her steps and she'd been trying to avoid him. Well that and once she had threatened his manhood with her engineer's compass. That had won her a week of peace (though maybe it had been the salmonella going around the crew.)

"It's Jensen to you, Durand," She said coldly, before narrowing her eyes, "Did you do this?"

He smiled. He dimpled. It was no longer quite so cute.

"Nope."

"But you know who did this?"

He gave her an eloquent shrug, "You haven't exactly made friends, now have you Charlie?"

"I slept with you. Guess my taste leaves something to be desired."

His lips pinched for a moment. His square jaw worked for a moment, as though it was mechanically separating the mystery meat they served in the commissary (and you wonder why she packed her lunch) and then he smiled again.

"See it's that right there."

Charlie sighed. Her stomach rumbled. She didn't have the time --or the blood sugar level-- to deal with Tall, Dark and Won't-Take-The-Hint right now.

"Mystery meat it is," she muttered before glaring at Durand, "Get out of my way, will you? I guess I'll eat in the cafeteria."

He didn't move out of her way.

"Aren't you curious why the boys hate you?"

"Gee I dunno, because I'm not fascinated with the shape and feel of my tiny penis?"

"And there she goes again! The Bitch is Back y'know."

"What did you call me?"

"Bitch. But I reckon it's a bit polysemous, isn't it? Let's go through the list. Slag. Whore. Maneater. Harpy."

Charlie counted to ten. And then twenty. She made for the opposite entrance.

"See you around, Durand. Hope you don't have a horrible machinery accident."

And then Durand made a big mistake. He grabbed her by the arm and began to squeeze. His other arm snaked out to grab her shoulder and then... well she just saw red (and reruns of her karate lessons when she was twelve.)

It was a shame the boys mostly hated her. The story of a buck-ten Charlie Jensen decking Durand from hydraulics unconscious was pretty damn funny.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Her hand looked like some kind of festive mitten, red and swollen and bound up in a rather cursory manner with medical tape. The Foreman's elderly arcanine (and give the man some credit for books and covers and all that shit; he'd been some kind of champion in the past) loped after her creakily, the one sole concession to safety in this stupid island. Continent. Whatever the hell it was.

If Charlie had been less angry she might have been outraged at the phallocracy and how she had to go off like a good little lady on suspension (even though a bunch men --none of them under twenty five-- had stolen her lunch and one of their number had tried to womanhandle her) but she was really past that. Just... numb.

Suspension. Two weeks without pay. A possible write-up.

And she needed this job. Or didn't she?

She sighed and popped in her headphones. Suppose she could go back home. Work on the powerplant. One third pay, and one-half the assholes (but at least she knew the assholes there.) A bit of New Wave. A Bit of Rock and Roll.

And time to think.

The job paid well. And it wasn't like all of the men were bad. You had to stress men, since the boys were... well... boys. Jenkins was a good friend, wasn't he? And even the Foreman wasn't too bad. He'd at least suspended Durand too. Only a week and he should have been fired, but Charlie had the satisfaction of seeing broken jaw bound up by wire.

She was so caught up in her thinking that she didn't hear Archie --the steel grey arcanine accompanying her-- growl and then... whimper.

In her later days, she'd have to embellish this one, wouldn't she? Because she didn't even feel the buzzing of an angry hive of Them. Or hear the forest branches bending. Or see the men running and screaming and going for guns and pokeballs.

Just that--

I guess, you're just what I needed
I needed someone to bleed!
Yeah, yeah so bleed--

...

Truth be told, she didn't even know what quite knocked her out.

There was only one element of her story that was never going to change.

Suspension sucks.

 

[Johnnysaurus Rex]

The ocean gave no evidence of the violence that had taken place on its ebbing waves as they crested and fell back into themselves. The lives lost and fortune gained were all forgotten by the depths as they carried on. That's one thing she liked about the vast channels and bodies that covered this world, they always forgave and forgot.
Contessa Demarque. Terrible Tessa. The Red Dragon. The Pirate Queen. These were all names that she was known by, but none of them were real. She had been given no name at birth and didn't have a name of her own other than "Rat", "Urchin", and "Scum". Like everything else in her current life she had taken her name from someone else. Contessa Demarque. Tantalizing Tess. The Belle of Bella Bay. The Duchess.

Of course Bella Bay was now known as Bomber's Bay. The same night that she had taken her name she had taken the town. The same town her group of ships were now sailing towards after a successful day aboard the "Tide Spear". Two luxury ships, raid some small villages along the coast, and scuttled one vessel. The last one had been a job contracted to them and Contessa never asked just as long as she got payed up front and then an additional fee after. Also the rights to anything aboard the vessel of course. In this case there hadn't been much, but money was money.

"Captain." A voice interrupted her thoughts and a knock came from the door to her quarters. A small blue creature rushed into the room and clambered up her desk. Contessa ran her nails behind the Panpour's ears as she nodded towards the crewman who had arrived. The Panpour's name was Barney, the man's was also Barney. A strange coincidence.

"Yes, Barney?" She asked as she continued to pet the Pokemon.

"Call for you, ma'am. Our employer." Barney reached out the phone to Contessa and she took it, putting it up to her ear.

"Yes?"

"I assume the job was completed then?" A familiar dark voice echoed into her ear. Just the type of voice she had come to expect from those who contracted her crew.

"Well a ship like that barely put up a fight," Contessa waved away the small monkey and leaned back into her chair. She pointed Barney to a box and continued, "but with the Pokemon and weapons we had out with us today I think we could have made beachhead on Kanto if we felt like it."

All Contessa received from the other line was a grunt. Barney had by this time opened the box and withdrew a cigar in his paw and scampered back to the desk. Contessa took and cut the cigar while giving the Panpour a wink and another little scratch before placing the cigar in her mouth.

"Am I to assume this call is to air some grievance with our execution?" Contessa pressed.

"No," The man replied evenly, "In fact we may look into employing you in the future should the need arise."

"Always good to have work," she lit and puffed the stogie, "When you contact us in the future what am I to call you?"

"Giovanni," was the only reply she got.

"Until next time, Mr. Giovanni."


-----------------------------------------------


Abe shot up like a bullet before pain brought him back down. He gritted his teeth and held his side as he took stock of his surroundings. Last thing he remembered was... a beach? Yes. Sand, trees, and constant ebb and flow of tide. He most definitely had not imagined the whole thing. Abe took another look around and thought to himself.

Rahlto.

So this was the place people always talked about with a touch of foreboding or mystic awe. Whoever owned it, they could keep it. Seemed just the same so far. Shitty place, shitty people. The pirates... Abe began to try to sit up more as he remembered the crew and that old sense of responsibility and guilt kicked in. He had to find them. Most of the pain seemed to be in his leg, but his left ribs were also quite sore. Probably bruised. The commotion piqued the interest of a small orange dog who returned to Abe and put an encouraging paw on his good leg.

Abe smiled and rubbed behind the Growlithe's ear, "Looks like the sun is setting pretty hard, Molly. Do me a favor and scrounge some driftwood so we don't have to fumble around in the dark?"

The dog assumed a pointer stance to his side where he noticed his Pokeballs sitting. He noticed both had been opened. She must have sent out Bubo and Tsu out already to hunt and gather materials. This earned her another rub behind the ears as he steadied himself and leaned at the base of a tree. Now all that was left to do was wait for sun up and hope that either someone on the crew found him or that he'd be able to hobble and find one of them.

Please... let them be alive.

 

[Kiro]

It was hard to move with a sprained rib.

Of course, that was old news to Doe. She hadn't exactly lived a charmed life, and knew just how rough it could be for both humans and Pokemon alike. There were few bones in her body that hadn't been broken, sprained, or fractured at some point in her life. Not a single one of her limbs or extremities were free from some form of scars. Even Cap, her oldest, must trusted friend and partner, had broken an arm on occasion during sparring sessions. Doe was a firm believer of training with her Pokemon partners, instead of just making her Pokemon fight one another.

Never had she asked Cap, Rain, or any of the Pokemon she'd ever fought alongside to do something she had been unwilling to do herself, if she had been able to do so. On more than one occasion she had put her own life on the line for the well-being of her partners from the criminal and terrorist gangs calling themselves by the more innocuous term of 'Team', such as Magma, Aqua, and the ever-present Rockets. At more than one point, only the devotion between her and her Pokemon had saved her from a shallow grave in some dark forest or another pile of bone in a forgotten cave.

Shaking her head slightly as Rain barked loudly, and stumbling her way past a piece of wreckage, a slight smile managed to work it's way onto her weathered face. The Mightyena was standing in the shadow of a piece of a ship's hull, though not from the S.S. Nameless as the colour was all wrong, with both front paws resting on the Lavender Town Gym Leader's waterproof backpack, and looking almost as smug as the time she'd taken down Morty's prized Tate and Liza's prized Xatu with a single bite.

"Yeah, yeah... your nose's still the best, hon," Doe replied with a smile as she reached out to scratch the black and white canine behind her left ear, which produced a pleased rumbling growl from the mightyena. "Now get off the pack, you smug girl, or there won't be any food tonight." At the prospect of not getting a regular meal, Rain blinks and meekly backs off the pack. It was something all of Doe's partners had learned the hard way, that you ate when you could, and food wasn't something to be taken for granted, despite the fact that she'd always done her best to keep her pokemon well fed. On more than one occasion she'd used the last of her cash to buy food for her partners rather than food for herself. And while she wasn't proud of it, she'd stolen to keep herself and her friends fed as well. And if forced to, she'd do it again. She'd never let Cap, Rain, or any Pokemon starve if she could help it.

Shaking her head lightly, she kneels down, one hand pressed against the hull wreckage for support, and opens the top of the backpack to check the water seal. It was intact. She let out a relieved sigh before closing it once more and attempts to sling it up onto her back... and lets out a yelp of pain.

"Damnit... alright, ain't nothing for it," she growls and reaches down to her belt and retrieves the second PokeBall resting there, and idly flicks it to the ground, and in a flash of pure white light, a tall Marowak with a long green scarf materializes before the battered and bruised Gym Leader. "Yo, Cap. Mind helping me get this backpack on? Looks like I was an idiot and got myself hurt again..."

The Marowak glances over at Rain, whom tilts her head slightly to one side and flicks an ear. The canine equivalent of a shrug. Cap closes his eyes and shakes his head as he plods over to his partner. His human sister. The two had been raised together from childhood. They had both lost their family. They had suffered and bled together. Wherever Doe had gone, Cap had always been at her side. If there was such a thing as an unbreakable spiritual bond between trainer and Pokemon, then one surely existed between Doe and the bone-wielding Pokemon. With a grumble and a grunt, the two manage to work the waterproof backpack carefully up onto her back without upsetting the woman's injured ribs again.

"Alright... let's think here... if Abe survived the shipwreck, then he's likely trying to set up camp tonight, which means he'll have Molly with him. Benefit of having a Fire-type, I suppose," Doe muses as she leans against a piece of wreckage for support, before glancing over at the mightyena that was busy nuzzling Cap. "Rain? Do a couple of howls for me, would you, hon? Molly's sure to hear it and respond. Then we can team up with Abe, at least."