A few hours passed by calmly. I talked with Charity for a while and she told me about the book she’d been reading, some text about the territorial conflicts between Kanto and Johto over the past few centuries. It sounded stuffy to me, but she seemed to be enjoying it. Then we joined Florence and Tanaji and talked idly about nothing at all until Zuri shouted at Tanaji to get back to work. The weather had improved again, so our passage over the sea was peaceful. I even got Echo to stay out in the sun with us, though she only agreed to it when I offered her my hat for shade.
That all changed when Zuri’s mysterious acquaintance arrived. With friends.
They came out of nowhere. One moment the ocean was calm and everything was normal; the next, a horde of Pokemon splashed up to the surface all around the ship and cried out their calls as they surrounded us. I jumped to my feet and looked around wildly, spotting a Seadra right below me, a pair of Staryu not too far off on one side, and a Mantine with a Remoraid attached to each wing on the other. Based on all the sounds I could hear, there were even more Pokemon surrounding the rest of the ship.
The Seadra looked up and spat a Water Gun that flew past me half a foot away from my head. I yelped and staggered backwards as my mind reeled. How were we supposed to take on so many wild Pokemon all at once?
“Drowzee, Psybeam that Seadra, then Hypnosis ‘til it goes down!” I yelled. “Zubat, get your continuous Supersonic going and try to spread it over as many of them as you can!” I could hear Florence shouting similar commands to her own Pokemon nearby.
“Belay that!” Zuri bellowed. We’d all gotten used to getting out of the way when Zuri yelled on the main deck, so now my Pokemon reacted on instinct and cut off their budding attacks before they could be unleashed. I whirled around to yell at her – we were under attack and she just wanted me to sit there and do nothing? – then fell silent as I saw what had appeared at the front of the ship.
A gigantic Gyarados had risen from the ocean right alongside the prow of the ship, and it roared a challenge that made a very primal part of me want to turn around and run in the opposite direction as quickly as I could. It wasn’t quite as long as the Relicanth but it was still huge, much bigger than the fishing boats from Enrui. Oddly enough, there was some kind of rope harness tied around the front half of Gyarados’ body. Even odder, there was a girl clinging to the harness on its back.
She didn’t look that old – just a teenager, probably. She wore nothing but a band of cloth around her chest and a loincloth, but she made up for that with an extravagant necklace of seashells and serrated teeth. Her skin was chapped and overly tan, like she’d spent too much time out in the sun, and her black hair was woven into a long braid that reached all the way down her back.
Black hair in a braid. Blackbraid.
Okay, Henry had been right. I wouldn’t have believed this if he’d told me upfront. I could barely believe it with the evidence right in front of my eyes.
The Gyarados roared something and the girl stood up tall on its back. “You have entered the Typhoon Clan’s territory! This is your only warning!” she shouted. “Surrender now, or face the consequences!”
“Aye, aye!” Zuri shouted back. Pelipper was already aloft and cawing something down to the wild Pokemon. “We will yield, just give us a moment.”
She snapped a quick series of commands at the crew, and they moved swiftly to fold down the sails. I waited impatiently until there was a lull in the action, then jogged over to intercept her. Florence got there first.
“Are you really going to surrender so easily?” Florence hissed in a low tone. “Who even knows what they want?”
“They’re pirates,” Zuri replied, almost sounding amused. “They want booty. I have dealt with Blackbraid before, I know how to handle her.”
“Still,” Florence muttered as she glanced back towards the Gyarados, “should we not at least put up a fight? Giving up right away feels cowardly.”
“Absolutely not,” Zuri said firmly. “I tried that the first time I encountered this crew. It only took a few seconds for that Mantine to Air Slash the sails while the Qwilfish put a hole in the hull. No fighting.” She paused to yell at Tanaji to pick up the pace, then turned back to the two of us and glared. “Oh, go sit down. I will manage this.”
Something about Zuri’s tone made it clear that she wasn’t going to argue the point. I wasn’t happy about it, but after a moment I nodded and made my way back to the side of the deck where Pausso and Echo were waiting.
Pausso was paying attention to the pirate crew, and he glanced back at me with his ears perked up as I approached. T̴h̵e̸ ̴ G̵y̷a̴r̴a̸d̵o̷s̶ ̶ i̴s̷ ̸i̷n̶ ̶ c̶h̸a̷r̸g̴e̶, he thought to me quickly. H̵e̶ ̸ i̷s̷ ̷ t̸e̸l̴l̷i̷n̷g̸ t̶h̷e̸ ̵ h̷u̷m̴a̷n̶ ̴ w̴h̷a̴t̴ ̴ t̵o̴ ̴ g̴e̸t̵.
I raised my eyebrows at that and peered over at the pair. The girl had scuttled down the giant Pokemon’s back slightly so he could turn his head around to look at her, and he growled low tones at her as he waggled his two face-tendrils about. She listened attentively, nodding every so often and making her own replies. It really did look like he was the leader in the pair, but that couldn’t be true… right?
Then again, this was apparently a band of pirates made up almost entirely of Pokemon. Maybe it did make sense for another Pokemon to be in charge.
In a short period of time the crew got the Relicanth’s sails down so that we sat still in the water. The Gyarados swam a broad circle around the ship, as if he wanted to make sure we weren’t hiding anything, or perhaps just so he could intimidate us. Then he reared up at the front of the ship and leaned his head over the prow, growling lightly. The crew members who were working nearby quickly backed towards the rear of the ship to get out of his way.
Gyarados slapped the end of his tail against the water, and shortly afterwards a Remoraid launched itself out of the ocean and into the sky next to the great sea serpent. Blackbraid leaned over, scooped the fish out of the air, and somehow attached it to her right arm. Then she clambered up Gyarados’ harness and lowered herself down onto the deck.
As soon as Blackbraid’s feet touched the deck she pulled a knife out of sheath tied around her leg with her left hand and repositioned her right arm so that the Remoraid was pointed towards the rest of us. “Don’t try anything funny,” she snapped as her eyes darted from person to person, eventually coming to rest on Zuri. Pelipper had winged down to rest next to his partner, and he croaked a low sound as his eyes narrowed.
“Of course not,” Zuri said briskly, resting a hand on the bird’s head to calm him down. “We are not stupid. What do you need?”
Blackbraid eyed Zuri warily for a moment; then she nodded and relaxed her shoulders, though she kept her knife out and the Remoraid still looked attentive. “We will take whatever you have that is most valuable!” she said grandly, and she looked around the deck of the ship as if she expected to see riches piled on top of it.
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“Right,” Zuri said calmly. “Anything else?”
The girl sniffed and shrugged. “Fresh water. Berries. And, uh, rice balls. Lanturn has taken a liking to them.”
“Afraid we’re out of those.”
“Then whatever else you’ve got that isn’t fish will do.” Blackbraid’s tone was casual, but her eyes looked hungry.
Zuri nodded, then turned to her crew. Was I seeing things, or was she holding back a smile? “Henry, go fetch our most valuable possessions, and one of the bags of mixed berries we picked up at Azalea. Kaiko, Sizhen, bring up one of the water barrels. Aipom…” she trailed off and peered at the pirate girl more closely. “Girl, are your gums bleeding?”
“None of your business!” Blackbraid snapped back at her. I squinted; now that I was paying attention, her mouth did look a little bloody.
“Aipom, fetch one of the small crates of oranges,” Zuri said firmly. “You need citrus, girl. Fish alone won’t keep you healthy.”
“Listen, lady” Blackbraid hissed, brandishing her knife in the air. “King and I are the ones in charge here. We don’t need your suggestions. I don’t need you mothering me. Watch your mouth.” Behind her, the Gyarados – King? – growled a low warning.
Zuri leaned back and put her hands up defensively. “Alright, alright. Forget I said anything.”
We all hung around in an awkward silence for a minute or so, and I glanced around to check in on my team. Echo had flown off to talk to the Mantine, who seemed friendly enough for a Pokemon that had threatened to attack us minutes earlier. Pausso was leaning over the edge of the ship and eavesdropping on the Seadra below us. It seemed to be holding a conversation with a Horsea who had surfaced next to it. I sent Pausso a feeling of curiosity to catch his attention.
H̴e̵ ̶ a̷s̷k̸s̸ ̶ h̷e̶r̷ ̷ i̵f̸ ̷ t̶h̶e̸y̴ ̴ g̴o̶ ̶ h̶o̵m̸e̵ ̴ s̵o̸o̶n̴, Pausso thought to me. B̷a̷c̷k̷ ̸ t̴o̶ ̵ t̶h̴e̴ ̸ b̵a̸s̷e̴.
Of course the Pokemon pirate crew had a secret base. Really, I shouldn’t have been surprised. I watched with some amusement as Tanaji tried to strike up a conversation with one of the Staryu, only to get sprayed in the face with a light jet of water for his troubles. Part of me felt like I should still be tense, but the longer we waited the more I felt like these pirates weren’t actually going to hurt us. Even the Remoraid on Blackbraid’s arm didn’t look dangerous anymore – it just peered around the ship curiously and burbled a few short words to Pelipper, who responded with clipped sounds.
Soon the rest of the crew came back up with the promised supplies, with Isaac trailing behind them. He perked up as soon as he saw the wide variety of Pokemon in the water and ran over to the side of the ship to take notes. I kept out of the way and watched as Kaiko and Sizhen reluctantly approached Gyarados so they could heft the barrel into a net tied to the bottom of his harness. Neither of them seemed particularly happy about the situation, but they went about it with a resigned air that made me think they’d done this before.
Blackbraid checked the rest of the bags and boxes herself before stowing them in the net. I watched with eyebrows raised as she pulled what looked like a colorful linen scarf out of the bag of the ship’s ‘most valuable possessions’ and nodded seriously. I was no expert, but I was pretty sure the spices Zuri had down in the hold were worth more than a simple piece of clothing.
“Right!” Blackbraid said briskly as she stowed the last bag of goods away. She hopped back up onto Gyarados’ back and slung her knife into its sheath, and the Remoraid took one last look at the boat before popping off to dive back down into the water. “Your cooperation is appreciated.”
“Naturally,” Zuri replied in an easy voice. Yeah, she definitely sounded amused. “You know, if you –“
The Gyarados reared his head back and roared one last time, interrupting Zuri before she could finish her sentence. Then he leapt into the air and dove underwater. I looked over the side just in time to see the other wild Pokemon all disappear to follow him. When the group appeared again, they were specks in the distant ocean; I could barely make out Blackbraid as a small figure cresting just above the sea.
Zuri tapped her chin, then shrugged. “Well, that’s dealt with. Look lively, people! Let’s get the sails hoisted!”
In my opinion it was not all dealt with, and I made that clear to Zuri as soon as the crew had gotten the sails up and the ship underway again. “What was all of that?” I asked, confused and feeling annoyed that I didn’t understand what was going on. “I mean, I get why you didn’t want to fight back, they would probably demolish us, but you didn’t need to be so friendly either. They were stealing your stuff!”
Zuri clicked her tongue and shook her head at me. “It never hurts to have good manners,” she told me. I scoffed – she was the one who had pushed her way into conversations uninvited back in Azalea. “Besides,” she continued in a softer voice, “a few cheap baubles to entertain the majū and a portion of our rations is not that high a price to pay. Tides know she needs it, living wild out there as she does.”
Zuri then marched off to discuss something with Kaiko at the back of the ship. I was left to stare after her and simmer in annoyance. Okay, so she felt bad for Blackbraid and was trying to look after her. But why?
My question wasn’t answered until several hours later, when Zuri ordered the crew to anchor the ship earlier than usual. We were apparently only a few hours away from Olivine, but she didn’t want to risk navigating the final stretch of sea in the dark. That gave us plenty of time to enjoy the gorgeous sunset over the sea. Echo was even using the low light to stretch her wings out over the surf, which made me smile. It felt right to see her flying freely instead of staying cooped up within the confines of the ship.
Tanaji and I were standing together at the ship’s railing, talking idly about what Olivine would be like. He had been there before, but he had mostly only seen the dockside shops. He had just finished telling me a story about a time that he had watched Zuri haggle down the shrewdest mushroom-monger in all of Olivine by appealing to the man’s sense of pride when I realized that he might understand why Zuri had acted the way she did. So I asked him.
He glanced over his shoulder to make sure she wasn’t nearby; then he shrugged. “I think she wants to make Blackbraid and her majū part of the crew.”
I stared at him. “You’re joking.”
“Nah, it fits. The captain has always had a thing for people who don’t fit in. Like Kaiko, right?” He gestured with his head towards the big man, who was currently grinning widely as he talked with Henry on the other side of the ship. “Want to know how he ended up here? He was on a big trading ship from Alola, the kind that only comes by once every few years. Went into port at Vermillion and caught the Pidgey Pox there. His ship did not wait for him to recover; they just left him behind with his salary.” Tanaji scowled at this injustice. “He knew less than ten words of our language, so no one would take him on. He told me he was stuck in the city for a month looking for work. He was almost out of money when Zuri found him and took him on. Apparently she worked with him every night to help him learn the language.”
“Wow,” I said quietly as I glanced back at Kaiko. He seemed so cheerful now. He didn’t look like someone who’d been stranded far from home and abandoned by everyone he knew.
“The others are the same,” Tanaji continued. “Henry got kicked off his ship when he lost his leg. He spent weeks as a drunkard in Olivine’s pubs before the captain found him and cleaned him up, gave him a purpose again. Sizhen? She wasn’t even a sailor before, she was just desperate to get away from her old life. Never told me what happened to her, but she still refuses to go on shore at Fuchsia and she gets skittish around loud men on shore leave. And Aipom… well, she is self-explanatory, isn’t she?”
I nodded and looked sidelong at Tanaji. “And you?”
He grinned cheekily. “I suppose I am an oddball for wanting to work on this ship over any other. Most people in Cianwood think Captain Zuri’s all kinds of strange – for bonding a majū, for choosing the life of a sailor… for everything she does, really. But I like it here. It feels like having a real family,” he finished, his voice a little softer.
I looked back around to see that Kaiko and Henry were now laughing at some joke, Zuri was holding a serious discussion with Pelipper and Aipom, and Sizhen had started playing an old bamboo flute up on the prow of the ship. I glanced back at Tanaji to see he was watching them too, with real fondness in his eyes.
Something in me changed. Yes, they were all still strangers, mostly; knowing more of their backstories wasn’t the same thing as knowing them personally. Yes, it would still be wise for my team and I to keep a watch when we were away from home, just to be cautious. But I could be cautious and still expect the best of people at the same time. Surely there had to be more good people than people like Finnegan out there in the world.
I let out a long breath and felt some hidden tension that had lurked in my gut since I first left Azalea flow away. Maybe things could still turn out to be okay.