I didn't explore the rooms that were open. But there wasn't much to be honest. In the last room, there was a sailor who confessed he was not doing patrol and let me wander around the room, seeing I was bored and curious.

Curiously, I checked a crack on one side of the room.

From there, I heard voices on the other side. Part of me was telling me that I shouldn't be like this and just focus on my stuff, and I was going to leave them when I heard something unusual. There were three voices: one deep voice, male; one light voice, also male; and one female voice.

The deep voice spoke first, "Sigh, I already checked before entering, but if it makes you feel better..." The deep voice moved a bit away towards the north. It seemed that he went to guard the door. "It's clear, like I said before."

"Good," the female answered. The third voice answered afterwards. "Now that's over with, let's discuss things. Are things falling into place? Is the plan going well?"

The lady spoke, "Everything's been set. We're just waiting for the Farewell Banquet to begin." The other replied in a sinister yet reassuring voice, "Then, at that point, we'll start our "presentation," right?"

The deep voice answered him, "Yes, our "presentation" will be held at the moment the toast is done."

"Hehehehehe...I hope everyone will love what we bring to the table, literally!"

The deep voice laughed with her, "A farewell banquet indeed."

The trio kept laughing as I backed up from the wall and slowly snuck past the room. Oh hell no! That doesn't sound good by the tones. Please, God, Arceus, or whatever is up there, tell me it's just a normal banquet, just some food... Please...

I tried to get my mind off of that, but the worry only increased. I tried to look around, but nothing. Sailors were protecting the entrance.

The seconds passed as my anxiety consumed me. What are they planning? Is this just some festivity at the last moment? It must be that... But something in me told me that it may not. I had to find the captain. I must! I ran away, trying to reach the captain in time. Surely he can do something! I just hope it was a false alarm, but something in me, my non-existent experience, told me that I should get to him as soon as possible. I ran through the whole ship, but every place was suddenly empty. I feared the worst. Everyone was at the banquet? No! There must be someone out there... Please...

But nothing... Everyone was at the banquet. The captain was helping the people and the piano lady. I tried to reach him, but he only pointed me to my mother. The place was too loud for him to recognize I said something else than that question. He ignored me after a couple of tries. I was getting more and more anxious until I spotted something that caught my attention. A head with large black ears, multiple pairs of them. Another Pokémon! And a psychic one!

A Gothitelle! Surely they can read my mind and tell their trainer something was off. I got nearby, trying to warn the Pokémon, but it ignored me too. How was that possible! I didn't get it. I got to my mother and was about to talk when the room fell into silence. Augustus spoke to everyone, and the ones around me shut me down.

"Hello, everyone. I am Augustus. I've been your captain during this luxurious voyage. It is my pleasure to welcome all of you to the Farewell Banquet. Where we celebrate the end of our voyage and the beginning of something new. I hope that this trip will forever stay in your memories. Especially as a fond one. But I won't keep you all too long. I'm sure you're all starving. So let's begin!"

I spoke up for a moment, "Wait, sir, there's something-!" But was interrupted again! Come on.

A new mysterious voice appeared in the background, cutting me off. "Sorry, but I think there's something that needs taking care of first. A trio of people interrupted, the same voices as before.

The captain spoke back, his voice filled with patience, unfazed by this intervention. "Hrm? What is the issue here? Please, return to your seats."

But they spoke back. "Hmmm, No, I think we won't. The ship is under our control now." And in a flash, like a scene from a 90's cartoon, they stripped out of their clothes and somehow appeared with new hairstyles and hats under their old appearances. Their uniforms resembled those of Team Rocket or other villainous teams in the Pokémon world, but with dark purplish stripes and an unfamiliar symbol. Mother stood up, stepping in front of the captain amid the commotion. I raised my hand, trying to stop her, but it was too late. One of the grunts gave me a gesture, indicating that I should step out.

"What is the meaning of this?!" The piano lady continued, more terrified than the others. "Is...Is this a hijacking?!" Yeah, I wanted to know that! Who are they? What is going on? Why are they hijacking a cruiser? This is not the typical Pokémon adventure!

The deep grunt spoke, his voice filled with menace, "You must be insane to run in front of people like us. But we'll give you the benefit of the doubt and let you sit back down. C'mon, take our generous offer."

But my mother pushed back with a defiant gesture. "I refuse." The grunt groaned and roared, his eyes filled with anger and fury, yet a malicious smile crept across his face. "You'll regret this, lady."

Mother urgently spoke to the hibiscus lady, who was sitting at a nearby table, "Crescent! Get Ephiron out of here!" Crescent remained silent, only signaling me to go, becoming the center of my attention. And the Gothitelle reacted:

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

"Gothi Gothi... See you later, boy."

I couldn't remember more as I was transported to another place, while one of the grunts shouted:

"THIS SHIP IS GOING DOWN!"

Skibirumdada!

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

{5 minutes later}

I was knocked down by the sudden teleportation by an unknown force. I woke up coughing as the air burned through my lungs. Forced to get up by my own body and instincts, I quickly realized why. I was teleported to the Captain's office, but the whole office was on fire. Cracks on the wooden ground were enough to block the pathways, the pillars and walls were burning, papers flying in ashes and embers. The place was going down in a fire, the ceiling was falling down, and cracks were making the runaway almost impossible! I didn't think this much through. I ran down through the stairs, which luckily were still mostly intact.

When I went down, I was stopped by a man, another passenger, shouting to me, engulfed by the same panic as my legs were moving, "You there, child! Thank goodness you're all right! I was just hanging around out here, and there was this huge explosion..." Excuse me?! Explosion?! This is not a normal hi-jacking. This is a terrorist attack! My breathing got quicker, as did my coughs. The man continued while my train of thoughts started to derail me, "It knocked me off my feet and flat on my face, but I'm alright. But unfortunately, we're trapped because the flooring here has gone under..."

I quickly looked to where he was pointing. Oh shit! The whole floor was missing, and the gap was too wide for me to jump! But that was not the worst problem. Behind him, a whole sphere, red and slightly brown as the wood and the air appeared. And it took form. Tentacles instead of limbs, a mask instead of a face, red with blue strips, and a body too thin to even have normal organs in there. A Pokemon like any other that I had recognized in an instant.

Deoxys.

A legendary Pokemon! Before I could even say or acknowledge anything, the man shouted, "W-What?!" and the Deoxys changed form right here and there! It took his speed form and quickly caught and moved at sonic speeds the man away. Oh nononononononono, this is horrible! This is too much!

I ran away through the dining hall, looking for any solution, any hope! The situation was worse in the dining hall; every table and chair was flipped over like there were dominoes, blood was on the tiles and the floor but not anyone. Except for a familiar figure that appeared. The piano lady was in front of me, seemingly was gonna go through the door as well. She started the conversation more calmly than I expected.

"Hey, look who it is! I gotta say, kid...I'm glad to see you. I dunno how you were able to weasel your way out of that explosion, but kudos to you!" As we stepped near each other, subtly checking if the other was okay. In my panic, I shouted, "Where's my mother?! What is happening?!" as my vision got blurry with my own tears, but the smoke forced me to stay focused. The piano lady answered, "I dunno. I'm sorry, I was blinded during that explosion and passed out. The smoke in here is intense. We can't stay here for long, but...The captain seems to have been conscious through all of this. Maybe he'll know something?"

"Then we must get to him!" We quickly rushed through the hall, avoiding the obstacles and avoiding the big hole in the center of it, when we spotted Augustus on the other side, near a big fire that propagated near the entrances of the kitchen. The piano lady put a hand on his shoulder, worried about him, but he barely moved, "Augustus, you're too close to the fire! Please, step back!"

The defeated tone of the captain would have invaded the whole mood if it weren't for the fire around. He was on his knees, his hands placed on the ground, holding the remaining bits of a nearby photo of the cruiser. "The beautiful S.S. Oceana is done for. My prized possession. She won't make it to her destination, after all this time." As subtle tears crossed his face and he clenched his teeth in sadness.

In the last room, which seemed to be a storage room, I found Mother! She was accompanied by a Sylveon and a third figure who moved around through the mountains of items like a ninja. A feminine figure with purple hair and shades in a costume similar to those grunts, but more advanced.

I needed to catch my breath as the smoke was getting to me. Luckily, here the air was a bit cleaner as there were fewer fires around. My mother spoke up while seemingly guiding the Sylveon around. "I've had about enough of this. No more running around! What are you doing, and why?!"

The other figure stood silent for a moment, a faint smile and tilting her head, gazing directly at me before to the side in a prideful pose. "Perhaps you should be less concerned about me, and more concerned about our guest who just joined us."

"What?" My mother reacted as she turned around to find me coughing, my gaze barely up as I tried to clear my lungs. "Hey, mom..." "Ephiron...But...What are you doing here? I thought Crescent...She was supposed to send you somewhere safe."

"I was transported to the office nearby!" I shouted between my coughs; I felt a bit better but not much. My whole chest felt like it was burning, and my vision was getting blurry.

But the purple lady interrupted us before either of us could say anything more. "Sorry, safety is long gone for both of you. For now, we're going to go ahead and take our target. You."

"Me?" "Her?" Both of us commented at the same time as our attention went back to her. "That's right. Did you think our target was Ephiron or something?" That's fair...I am just a guy in the end; I don't even know who I am exactly yet! The purple lady giggled, "Anyway, I was only going after you, but since both of you decided to just deliver yourselves to me..." She cracked her neck and arms while her voice took an intimidating approach. "I'll be happy to take you back to HQ on silver platters."

A couple of Deoxys formed in mid-air, grabbing Sylveon and Mother. The figure kept talking while both of them tried to resist. "Now do you understand?"

Mother nodded, her voice hinting that she fully knew what to do. The fire was getting worse, the structure was slowly collapsing, and fewer and fewer voices were heard through the ship. "There isn't any future for this ship or for anyone else you've put through this..."

The ninja sighed happily, "Glad you see things my way-"

"But I will create hope for at least one person." In that moment, somehow, a familiar tone, a song was popping in my mind. A piano. A hint of hope. As I looked at her tired but happy face. "Ephiron...I know that we've been distant, but know that I only want you to be happy. And while it hasn't been for a long time, I was glad to be able to share time with you on this ship. I will hold her off for as long as I can, but I want you to run. Even in a place as confined as this vessel, you must run anyway. Even in the times where a future seems impossible, you must keep on! For it is through that pursuit of hope that opportunity shines through. And wherever you end up...Find new friends. New opportunities, new love. Know that no matter where you are, or what you're doing...I'm looking upon you. Smiling. Protecting. That's my love for you, Ephiron. A mother's love. Go, my child.

[https://i.imgur.com/fnkkM4x.png]

Run.