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Journey | Computer Name: Zeke Gender:  Age: 22 Profession: Corsair
Appearance: Passing you by, Zeke would look like the typical surfer dude on any tourist beach. On closer inspection though it becomes obvious that he never leaves the sea. His body is seemingly always topless topless and buff. Did I say buff? I meant huge. Huge muscles built tall and lean, with skin that looked like the darkest possible tan on a Caucasian or about average for a Native American or Hispanic. Not only is he huge, his lack of fat makes him absolutely ripped; eight pack with pectorals the size of pies. Most his body tight enough you could bounce a coin off of it. His muscle mass and lack of fat stores make him neutrally buoyant, unlike most folk who float, when he walks straight into the sea without trying to swim he remains walking on the bottom.
His long blond hair hanging to his side; unkempt, only the fact that it never completely dried keeping it from becoming knotted and tangled. His eyes are a pale blue, the very color of the sea itself, the paleness showing a level of depth and knowledge of things that few have the privilege of witnessing. His nose is very broad and round given to being able to force down a lot of air in a short amount of time should he need to. His lips are thin and his mouth usually at a resting/closed position. On the rare occasion he opens his mouth to speak or bare his teeth, you would see they are an oddly bright white, compared to his overall dark appearance. This is due to him polishing them with a course sponge, collected from the seafloor. Years of polishing them have made them quite sharp. His chin is rounded and almost under-pronounced, the effect of his congenital inability to grow any form of facial hair. In fact, a barely visible treasure trail leading down from his taunt "inny" navel was the only bit of visible on his body outside his head. His ears are very small, and hidden by his hair.
He wears only a sand-colored belt on partially sea-torn cargo shorts. He doesn't carry any shoes, nor clothes. In fact, he doesn't have room to carry much at all, save for the pokeballs on his belt and large bag of cash tied thus worth. Anything that doesn't fit in his pockets is kept in bags carried by his pokemon. Being from the warm Southern Seas of Hoenn, he's never really known the need for much clothing. Even when he dives; he's never known the need to stay under long enough to need air with him; not that he never will, the oceans are much colder near Shimo and his breath wouldn't last nearly long enough to spend any useable amount of time in the Seafloor Ruins, etc.
He is a graceful swimmer and diver, but is unaccustomed to running on dry land and may appear as if he was drunk or very dizzy while in town. Getting him to speak in his soft, yet deep voice, however, reveals that he is always quite with it, if a bit ill from the lack of tidal motion. His soft-spoken nature is offset with his tact when he speaks. He is quite the wordsmith, though his speech gives a generally outdated, old-fashioned aire. His mannerisms in general show how foreign "normal" life is to him, though he may make attempts to learn it.
As of present, he is heavily bruised from an impact from a Metagross. He may or may not have sustained more serious injury. Trainer Biography: For as long as I've known, the ocean has been my home. Not sure why I was given this destiny. Its been both a gift and a curse. Though I know, not once in my life have I spent more than a day ashore.
Born in a floating hut, built from driftwood and anchored on Corsola with kelp strands in the shallow seas of Southern Hoenn, I was the only child of Mikael and Suzanna. Our family never did have a last name; no one in the town of Pacifidlog ever did. Such a small isolated community never really saw the need. Suppose it was just the heritage of the area. Those that had founded the town; the elder families, there was always something different about us, the tourists would say. The trainers and even those that moved in found us to be a peculiar group, salt water in the blood, my dad always said.
For the longest time, I felt that I would never leave that small town, in the warm shallow sea. We were far enough away from everywhere else and all discernible landmarks, that if it weren't for classes in history and geography in the school, I could have seriously believed that the world was a giant ocean and Pacifidlog was about the only human settlement in the world. Of course, I was a naive little kid back then. My extended family took care of me and I would ride in between home, school, the mart and the other floating homes on the back of my dad's Lapras. All the children did. Each family owned a gigantic water pokemon that the family used for transportation. The town center, where the mart was located had a few paths made of driftwood rafts, though most of us took no such luxury and besides, those things are known to fly apart come the slightest storm.
My father, however, Mike as he was known by the townsmen, was one of the divers. Being a pearl-divers was a prestigious position in Pacifidlog. Diving for food and sponges to trade with mainlanders was where most of our food and supplies came from. Mike would leave out, sometimes for days on end, equipped with nothing more than his trusty Mantine and Shuppet. The trick about his job was that Mantine swim fast enough to allow one to view large amounts of the seafloor in one breath. Shuppet's frisk allowed a quickscan of which pokemon on the seafloor were worth looting and pokemon and human together could loot them.
Of course, his life isn't really mine. Things changed so rapidly...
Chapter 1: The Beginning of a Life at Sea [Age 4]
It all started, or at least the first thing I can remember is my first day of school. I was four years old at the time. It was the first day that I had ever set foot outside of my parent's cabin. Ah, the old place. We had no television, some of the houses chose to have them, though given our isolation they needed to be battery powered and we never really did understand the point of such a device. Especially, with all the trouble it'd be to keep on top of the work to be done. We were a bit old fashion, an world, I suppose. There was a rather large bookshelf to the back of the cabin, filled with the classics, books that old folk say every house needs, most of which I had read by the age of seven, cover to cover. There was a large table, big enough for my parents, my grandparents and myself. The whole family, everyone I knew until that day. Beside it, a few feet to the left was a rather large wood stove, which was used to cook our food and usually powered by dried driftwood. Our beds were made in the old way, no mattresses only straw and Wingull feathers. They were arranged in a stack up the wall, the side opposite the stove. We never did have much, the constant proximity to water made it just too much trouble to keep unnecessary things dry.
That day, when I was four years old, was the first time I stepped beyond the door. There was nothing outside really, couldn't make out anything other than a few other cabins. One of them was a school; the town center was too far to make out clearly from home though, most were family homes like our own. Small and meager houses, anchored only to the sizable Corsola colony below. For my first trip outside of my home, I had my father by my side. His hair was black, unlike mine, an onyx as compared to my rare shade of gold. Mike was the strongest man in town and it showed. Made me proud to be his son as we took out a pokeball and produced a pokemon half the size of our house. A Lapras.
My first steps out on the pier were most fearful. A part of me looked forward to going to school, yet another part of me was so very afraid of leaving my home. A small house, no larger than a single room in an average apartment, may seem too little room to some and bring on claustrophobia. But to me, the small space was my home, I had never been any place else before. Sure, when my mom helped me up to the window, I could see the calm ocean waving and I felt the house swaying with the tides, but I never had actually been outside before. My knees locked and I was most fearful to leave my home. A house that would make most "normal" people seasick.
Lapras was a majestic Pokemon and I was so proud of my father for having readily produced it, yet I had a hard time trusting things. I wanted to stay inside, yet he assured me. With his long, black surfer's hair surrounding my head and body he spoke his deep, throaty voice. "It'll be alright. Lady here can protect you from anything that might be hiding beneath the surface." Lauprais the Lapras sung a gentle sea song to me, comforting me to walk across the pier and out into the real world, or at least the small town of Pacifidlog for the first time in my life. My father stood upon the giant creature. I, small and scared, sat down, hugging onto one of it's spikes tightly. Her psychic voice spoke softly to me, calming and reassuring as more than my father could manage.
The ocean was a big in scary place to me. The sea spray lifted up through the air and seemed that Lapras swam so very quickly. Though later when learning to surf a Mantine, I would realize that a Lapras isn't much faster than a walking person. Lapras are the luxury Pokemon to ride at sea, not the fastest. My dad stood calmly, his sable hair flapping in the wind ever so slightly. For the first time, I was seeing the real ocean. Open water, the homes of others in Pacifidlog and the Corsola colony below, with many Pokemon darting in and out from it's branches. We were headed to school, my first day outside it was, but it was also the day of another important event in my life.
The day I met Lucy.
You see, while we were going to school on the back of this Lapras. A small pokemon joined us. I suppose it was fate saying that I should take over for my dad when the time came, for the gift nature brought me was in the form of a very young Mantyke. The small ray came up beside Lady and began jumping up and down in the water just beside her. The small creature entertained me for a moment with its cunning attempts to make itself known.
I said to my dad simply: "Stop, there's a cute pokemon!" in the loud shrieking voice of a young child. In his deep voice he called Lady to stop, allowing the young Mantyke to hop up on top of the shell and say "hi" by using Bubble in my face. Not the full attack, just blowing around some playful bubbles. The large fish flailed around atop the shell for a moment before coming into my arms. I was so giddy to accept the young water type that I let go of the spike and collapsed directly down into the water.
Hugging onto the creature in the deep water for only a moment. Somehow, without ever being in the water before, I was able to swim back over to the Lapras. The ocean must have really been in my blood. Even at that young age, I was strong and meager to the point of sinking in the water. It was the way I was taught, physical fitness and work, being all I knew. For anyone from mainland Hoenn; a person swimming at such a young age so skillfully would have seemed strange, perhaps, though my father seemed to have expected it. The young ray followed me back over to Lapras to protect me, yet it seemed that in its heart, it accepted me as a capable swimmer, worthy of living at sea. A fellow Water-type by blood.
Of course, I was a young kid and I begged my father to let me keep the young ray. My first pokemon, as fate would have it, the same sort that my father used for surfing. My father, knowing what my duty was to be, accepted my request simply and told me to spend as much time as I could with the creature at sea so that it would grow and evolve in time for me to learn my duties. He simply dropped a Net Ball and the baby, my darling Lucy, was caught easily, no struggle at all and then at the age of 4, I had my first pokemon.
Back upon the Lapras, I had a newfound confidence in the knowledge that if I fell from Lady's back. I had my new Mantyke to protect me and besides I could swim quite well on my own. Any other member of our community would look upon me and welcome me saying that I had just made the first major step on the road to becoming a man. The very intention of this outing was to take me to my first day of school, but it seemed that I'd learned a lot before reaching there.
The rest of the day was the typical first day of Kindergarten in a one-room schoolhouse. For those of a more modern upbringing. A one-room schoolhouse literally taught all grade levels together in a single room; one teacher teaching different lessons to different groups and leaving the others to work. As per our custom most were considered an adults at age thirteen, for the strong need of young workers. In such a small town and Pacifidlog, the whole school had only thirty-four students. Our teacher, a rather elderly gentleman, taught using a long black board and our desks were arranged in rows across the schoolhouse by grade level. There were three people in my "class", all boys. Chapter 2: The Magic of a Fish [Age 13]
My life grew rather eventless from that day. I focused on my studies and on my daily work routine, with some social contact with fellow students, though the isolation of our homes made such things limited. Days, weeks, years just flew by in a blur with the same daily routine in my mid-sea home so far away from the rest of the world. Though many things were happening in the rest of the world. My Mantyke and I played quite a bit in the open water near my home, protected from the more powerful creatures of the sea by the herd of Corsola reef below. Life continued in this pattern.
Then, one day, not long after I had graduated. In the Summer just following that year, I was forced to begin my work; my father's job.
It all came about as normal as could be. On one of the few days that I could get out during the summer. To us, summer is often referred to as simply "Storm Season", because about half the time, we are forced to stay inside to wait out the long-lasting tempest tides that come with the storms. The Corsola kept the sea calm enough to not harm our homes, but the constant stream of tropical storms and hurricanes still managed to cause quite a bit of trouble. On one of the calm days of Summer, Lucy and I had swam out a good bit farther from the town than we ever had before. We were just playing and splashing around as usual, when Lucy suggested, by her movements, that we do something that we go for a long dive.
All of us in Pacifidlog were quite "barrel-chested" as a mainlander would say. Meaning we had quite large chests and huge lungs that could fill up with large amounts of air. Most "barrel-chested" people live in the mountains and have adapted this attribute in order to improve their usage of the small amounts of oxygen at higher altitudes. For us, it allows for a long dive time and greatly increases our lung capacity as compared to the average person. In my case, I can usually hold my breath for around six minutes. As I approached the bottom, I knew that freakish pokemon like Relicanth and Chinchou were likely to attack me.
Holding on to my Mantyke tightly, I was rushed down to the seabed. It only took the young ray a good fifteen seconds to take me all the way down in a reef like this. The seabed was an interesting place, filled with colorful pokemon. Corsola, Clamperl and Gorebyss are some of my personal favorites. This time, we were near something that I had never seen before, a seafloor cave. Apparently there were many of these, it was fabled that one holding an ancient legendary pokemon was West of us. This was a just a small one; yet it intrigued me. I had never seen any sort of cavern before and I coaxed myself into swimming inside.
The interior of the cavern had columns, stalagmites and stalactites, just as I had read about. I went in deeper and deeper without thinking about air or anything. Just going into the darker and darker areas of the cavern. Then, I let out a huge air bubble in surprise. Lucy and I both saw it; glowing red eyes and huge glimmering scythes coming out at us from the darkness. A Kabutops. I forgot about my beloved pokemon and rushed myself back up as quickly as I could in fear. I nearly drowned and felt quite bedazzled and light-headed upon reaching the surface.
For about a minute, I floated there. Alone.
Inside, I worried about my Lucy. Had something happened to my little Mantyke? What was keeping her from reaching the surface? I had just swam away from the greatest danger I had ever seen and yet all I could think about was my girl, my friend, my Lucy.
Then, a much larger ray splashed up out of the water and swam around me for a moment. The wings of this creature, about twice as long as my Lucy's, with larger antennae. It was a Mantine, like my father's but where had the creature came from and why had it came to me? Then, the great Mantine swam right over in front of my face and used Bubblebeam, knocking me back underwater. She went under me and pulled me back out. Below one of her rays, I could see a Remoraid fastened tightly. And then it all came to me. My father had told me that Mantyke evolve as soon as a Remoraid fastens upon their rays. This was my Lucy. She had taken so long to surface because she had evolved on her way up. Its all the magic of deep water fish, I suppose.
When I came back home that evening, my father said two words as I reached the door: "You're ready." Deep in my heart, I knew what that meant. My life would grow much more difficult, but the job that was the pride of the town was soon to be mine. Chapter 3: Son of a Diver [Age 13]
The next morning, he took me out with him. Taking a day off of the job to teach me the ropes of the profession, particularly Ray Surfing. Its like an islander's surf-boarding except you stand upon the ray of a Mantine, rather than a board and you need not a wave in the sea to move, once mastered, the right straps allow a ray surfer to go underwater and surface again repeatedly without trouble, though that would take time. It sounds simple enough, doesn't it? Well, not really. Ray Surfing was something that in all my life at sea, I've seen fewer than ten people pull off. There is a certain art to it. A certain trust between man and Pokemon that the job necessitated. A person had to live with a Mantine for quite a while to understand its heart well enough to surf upon it; there was no real telepathy to work on, only instinct and muscle memory. Fortunately for me, eight years alongside my Lucy was more that long enough to let me learn how she moved, though seeing and feeling it in the water and balancing the air upon it were two very different things.
We went out, way out of town to a very quite spot. Open water, couldn't make out the town or anything. Holding on to Lucy's ray and watching dad simply stand as his Mantine swam, I hoped in the deepest part of my soul that this would be the last time that I had to lie in the water and hold on to surf. I hoped that after that day at sea, I would be able to simply stand, with my long blond hair flapping in the wind, just as my father's sable locks did. When we stopped out in the middle of nowhere, I could see nothing for miles, except a small flock of Wingull sitting on the surface nearby.
My father demonstrated rather simply how it is done from sitting the water. He gently, yet rapidly moved upon the back of his Mantine, Geo. He demonstrated first how to be able to stand on the back of his steed whilst the ray didn't move at all. "The act of not moving, however, causes Mantine to sink. So you can never stay in this position for long." He explained, as he crouched down for a moment, placing his right leg to the rear of the ray and his left foot almost immediately on top of his head. Geo, instinctively knew to move forward and how fast as my father simply rested upon it. Showing off, he made Geo do a few loops in different directions and then dived directly down with the great ray a good 500 yards away from me, just to pop up right at my face. Freaking me out and startling Lucy swimming just behind me. On the other hand, the nearby Wingull were just sitting there preening. The naive pokemon had paid no attention to my dad's display.
Watching the tactfully display had made me a good deal nervous. Inside I asked myself: Could I live up to his expectations? Can I really surf upon my Lucy? Lucy bumped up behind me and used a simple bubble attack in my face. Why I found being bombarded with bubbly water such a comfort was beyond me. But, she knew how to give me confidence, without the slightest bit of speaking ability. Looking her straight in the eye, I spoke "You know me and you trust me. Now, just try to feel my movements and let me guide you through the water." TINE!" Such a simple response and yet so meaningful, coming from her.
With all the confidence and hope in the world. I looked straight into my dad's eyes, jumped upon Lucy's back, wriggled around for a moment straightening my spine to bring balance. Actually it was a little more than a moment...more like fifteen seconds. I was up to my waist in water because I was taking too long. I finally fell over and sunk a few feet. Resurfacing, I heard "Wing-ing-gull Wingull Wingull!" in the distance. I could swear the birds were laughing at the idiot that can't surf making a fool of himself. It hurt me a good deal, made me angry at them, fueling me to try again. Lucy came back up and we were almost immediately ready, all the time I looked over at the Wingull with a sneer, focused on my anger. In fact, I was so angry and wanted to do it so bad that I jumped too far and fell off the other side of Lucy immediately.
"Stay calm, boy, focus on the sea. Think like a Mantine and you may become one and ride upon her." My father's voice rang out as he surfed by me calmly.
"Think like Lucy." I whispered to myself, gazing into the eyes of my Mantine. Once more, she blew bubbles in my face. I kept myself from laughing. "We need to be serious. When I lean back, take off. The longer I do it, the faster you go. When, I lean forward, dive. Tilt with me if I lean to the side. If we must stop, I will tap you with my foot. Does that make sense?" "Mantine.
This time, I leaped upon her back, leaned back to tell her to take off. She understood and I fell over backwards, because she took off too fast. Resetting for--hopefully--the last time. "I leaned back too fast on you, I think." I told Lucy before trying again. I jumped upon her back and we were off. We flew together like birds in the sky. On and under the water. So many tries to get moving, but once in motion, it seemed so natural. Perhaps, because I had known the Mantine for so long. Maybe it was in my blood. I don't know, but I felt as free as a bird.
Speaking of birds, it was time I paid them a visit, wasn't it? Well, I popped underwater, letting Lucy dive a good ways, then tilted back to have her surface immediately. he jumped a good 5 feet out of the water, right in the middle of the birds, forcing them to fly off with the harshest cries of resentment. "Psybeam." I ordered Lucy below me and a purple wave of revenge attacked the birds that had laughed at me. With a splash down into the water, I turned about and returned to my father. Standing atop our respective Mantines, we looked at each other and he slowly removed the fishing spear from his back. "Its yours now." he said, handing it to me as I passed by.
Slowly, I strapped the spear to my own back as Lucy and I continued forward. What a load. Having just learned to surf properly, I had to take over? Well. For now, all that was in order was a swift return trip home. Tomorrow, I thought, would be my first hunt.
The following morning, my father told me of the area in which the soft sand beds most often bore blue pearls and useable wild sponges grew. It was a dangerous game; one of the most dangerous things I was ever asked to do. The only thing that he could tell me was that it wasn't nearly as hard as it might seem. It was earlier than I'd ever left out before and I was to go farther than I had ever attempted. A good five hours or close to two-hundred miles out. The cooler night air of six-thirty felt peculiar; something that I'd never been in contact with before. The array of different chills and the dance of the moonlight on the horizon all felt enchanting. I was amazed by how different the sea felt at night. I was confident. With all that I had learned the day before, I felt like a real man, like I could really bring in a great haul.
The game was simple, use Mantine to propel yourself forward and Shuppet's Frisk to know which of the wild Pokemon on the sea floor had something worth messing with. Mantine's Confuse Ray stopped the Pokemon for long enough for a human hand to rush in and grab their pearl before the clams could manage to use clamp. We spent all day at this and by the end of it; well, I'd made my worth at least, not nearly as good as my father, but in the coming weeks and years my skills grew rapidly. Chapter 4: Isle of Dreams [Age 17]
On a particular diving trip, I had spent three days out making passes farther and farther from town, still not found anything useful. It seemed like I had been on the open ocean forever and yet not a sign of anything useful. Even the Pokemon seemed to be oddly rarer. Where had they all gone?
That night, it became dark and stormy and I got turned around in the storm, not truly knowing where I was headed. It was the only time in my life that I'd been lost. The misdirection didn't frighten me, for I knew I could live alone off only the sea for weeks. It actually felt like a challenge. Every wave as tall as one of the Gym in Mossdeep; a good two stories, whipping Lucy and I in and out of the water. Yet, I kept my focus and kept going straight on, unflinching from my resolve. The darkness of the waves, rampant wild Sharpedo, black clouds and loud claps of thunder meant nothing to me. Even the lightning was little more than a minor annoyance, being underwater most the time, I had a certain sense of security that Lucy and I wouldn't be stricken. The loud crackles and roars of an angry sea could be heard from all directions. All I could do was continue to dive and stay underwater as much as possible.
The tempest seemed like it would never end. I spent a good twenty hours dodging the tides, the waves and staying below the lightening. Everything seemed without an end. Then, I found a shore. Lucy let me off and I placed her in a pokeball. Passing off immediately into a deep sleep, waking up the following morning I could immediately tell three things. First, was the island that I was on. Looking around I could make out the shape of the mountain in the distance very quickly. That particular mountain's shape is very distinctive and known very well in the legend, though many people insist the place doesn't even exist. The shape, rather clearly, was that of a skull. Something was definitely being hidden deep within them; probably by pokemon, making the island frightening to discourage trainers, but perhaps by something else.
The mainlanders refer to this place as "Mirage Island", for it is often written off as a place that doesn't and can't really exist. An island that may only be found by those who already know where it is and those whom are completely lost. It defies being charted on a map and yet if someone who knows its location sets out for it alone, he shall find it, such is the mystique of the island. My people refer to the island as the "Isle of Dreams", because it is mentioned in our legends that anyone who finds the island shall also find their dreams somewhere within it. Though, I've never wished for anything, what could the island hold that would be appealing to me?
The second thing I realized was that I wasn't alone. There was a sizable old-fashioned wooden ship in the distance. I had a greater respect for these ships as they stood little chance of harming water pokemon or polluting the water as the modern ones and had a similar sort of fortitude as the wooden home that I'd came from. I had nothing against the people that chose to use it, though their reasoning was beyond me.
The third thing was, well its rather embarrassing, I can't walk straight on dry land. I had gotten so used to the sway of the sea under my feet, that walking on the shore made me sway like a drunkard. Suppose its a startling discovery, someone who was at sea his whole life would become as landsick as the average man could become sea sick. The lack of motion of tides made me very very dizzy trying to get around. However, I was quite curious about this place that I had discovered. The Isle of Dreams and who or what may have came out of that silver sphere on the coast. Honestly, I simply had to go check it out. Thus, balancing myself as best I could, I continued into the forest.
After a while, I was able to walk straight and look like a normal person again, though it took about an hour and similar transitions would probably take just as long. The forest, now that I could focus on it. I'd read about trees before but this was my first time near them, they looked like huge brown algae stalks, with leafy green fronds and large firmholds that made marks in the ground. Strange pokemon swung in between the treetops.
It wasn't too long after I returned to normal that I approached what I had pegged as the place that held what I was looking for, the skull-shaped mountain. Why I couldn't just leave it alone was beyond me. Something about this island seemed to have a strong magnetic force pulling me towards the odd, slightly terrifying center. There were flames coming out of the stone orifices that looked rather magnificent up close. A brilliant supernatural blue; I had read that ghosts cause blue flames that were unlike the natural fire of a fireplace before, but this was the first time I'd seen such a thing.
But, this was as far as I was going, there wasn't an entrance that wasn't plagued with fire and I hadn't a pokemon powerful enough to stop it that could be used this far ashore. But, then I saw it, the person who had arrived with me revealed the true purpose of the island. A couple men in strange clothing appeared from the inside of the skull.
"Hey, you what are you doing here?"
I had left myself out in the middle of a clearing in the sand, where I was easily spotted.
"I got lost in the storm. We crashed on the shore and this strange structure attracted my attention."
"Where's your ship?"
"A boat? I don't believe in boats, I was out on my Mantine, we were diving for pearls; meager pickings as of late."
"Using a Mantine that way, quite the skill; you might be of some use to us."
The two men escorted me past the blue flames and into a large stone cavern, a pirate's hideout. There was a great store of stolen jewels, liqueurs, and treasures of many sorts. There were people all similarly dressed darting about everywhere. I was escorted towards one tall, older gentlemen wearing a huge fur Tricorne. The men who brought me in spoke with him for a bit. After a few moments, he explained that they used electric pokemon to shutdown modern technologies and ships and used their old boat and the assistance of water pokemon to Everything they built was safe to water pokemon, though most modern machines aren't, I was told. Black Dog asked me to explain who I was and how I had gotten there, as well as demonstrate ray surfing in the still cave water. Showing that he was rather impressed, he challenged me to a battle. Lucy was the only pokemon on any strength I held, but I felt that she'd do well on the water and thus I trusted her.
Leaving her in the pool to do battle with the captain's pokemon, I awaited his move. Captain Black released a Sharpedo, something she and I had fought off many a time at sea. I laughed off at the simplicity of it. "You can handle it." was all I said to my Lucy. It seemed absolutely too perfect in how she done so too. The shark approaching her to use a deadly crunch. She just sat there, calmly, waiting until the very last second. Just as the jaws were about to surround her face, she filled the ruffian's mouth with seeds and bubbles, causing it to grind its own teeth together. The battle was a short one and the Cap'n was most impressed.
The Cap'n said. "If you're beliefs are the same as ours; you could prove an invaluable resource to our efforts. What I am saying is I would like to offer you a job." In a few moments, his offers were set. Enough money to bring the whole town of Pacifidlog out of the old-fashioned ways and keep me from needing to spend so much time on the sea floor, as long as I worked for him sinking ships with the Pirates. Seeing the ships best use as creating artificial coral habitats on the ocean floor, I readily agreed to my new post. Chapter 5: Buccaneer [Age 17]
Late that same night, I headed out, with a small gang of pirates, all on the backs of pokemon. There were six of us on my first mission, to sink a particular trade ship for rare candies to resell. I was by far the fastest, riding the smallest, swiftest pokemon, whilst the others rode upon larger more cumbersome pokemon, Gyarados and Milotic. Looking upon their beasts, the lady of the lake, Milotic, seemed beautiful, yet Gyarados seemed brutish and barbaric; both dragons of the sea, yet so different. Our entire group was surfing or rather diving out from the cavern, using an undersea hidden entrance, through an underwater canal, before surfacing for air outside. I was the only one that didn't need a respirator to make it.
Black Dog had briefed me on how this was to work. Being most at home in the sea, I was to coordinate the attack outside the ship from the top of Mantine, whilst the others were to board the ship, grab the booty and light the fuel, to keep it from polluting the water. Then the people were to either be killed or left to the sea; similar fates for mainland folk really. The ship was then to be sank by Sharpedo's jaws on it's lower decks. Eloquently simple, almost too easy.
We came upon the ship, made of the metal as it was blatantly polluting the water, churning up a wispy trail in its wake. Popping up from under the water, one of the pirates, Billy Bones, bumped into the ship, before we got organized. The Gyarados on which he rode, gave the creature a harsh headbutt, causing the whole ship to rock and undoubtedly awakening and warning those on board. Taken aback by the suddenness, we rushed to shut off their devices with a special move taught to a Lanturn in one of the Pirate's possession, they boarded and I circled the ship rapidly keeping a strong guard and preventing people from escaping.
The grunts may have never done it before either, but at least, they knew what to do immediately, each stepping from the top of their serpent to the ship above. Being that I was the one that remained in the sea; I oversaw what was going on inside and commanded the Sharpedo as to when to start sinking the vessel. My mind focused and my memories became distorted. All that mattered was finishing the job. The razor sharp teeth of Sharpedo carved through the base of the ship like a Thanksgiving turkey. My command kept them in a nice row, going across the bottom of the ship and dividing it in two. Lucy even threw in a bit of help, by blasting the large gash with a Psybeam to start it fulling splitting in two. The whole process only took around fifteen minutes. Such ships really didn't stand a chance against organized water pokemon. Knowing the job was done, I surfaced and simply watched as the harden pirates returned to their serpents. Scarcely was I needed, the whole thing went off without any hard snags.
Even the captain was defeated without a fuss. The necessary supplies were quickly stolen and the fuel set brilliantly ablaze to save the water pokemon from its evil poisoning. Wickedly cool, swift and evil, yet I still felt that I was working for a good cause. The salty dogs seemed a very noble group to me. One that had never lived upon land and always respected the sea as his creator and lived upon it, not as a guest, but as an occupant. The ocean will always be my home.
Watching the last throws of the ship, its final creaks and rips as it was sinking, I bathed in the afterglow of a job well done. The product had been harvested and I had successfully ripped completely through the side of the ship with the use of pokemon. The few survivors were being picked off by Sharpedo. Everything had went well. To the east, the sun was rising. We had to leave quickly, lest we be spotted by any authority that could be lurking in the distance. The pre-warning Parker had given the ship may have given them enough time to radio for help. We all dove deep and left the scene. A new chapter in my life had begun. I was one of them, a pirate, a corsair. In time, I developed some of their greed and took on their mission. Always sending money back home for their food and desires, more than enough to bring television and computers to my family; hell, the whole town, though they never did see me again. I was always too busy on missions, pillaging and commandeering. Everything was really nice for a few years, but eventually the law caught up with us. Chapter 6: A Great Battle [Age 21]
A special taskforce had been formed specifically to deal with us. A large group of special forces, as well as regular Officer Jennys Riding on the backs of their own giant serpents to try to defeat us.
When they caught up with us, they spread spread out into a large front; making going around them an impossibility. Around fifty people on each side all drawing out their best ocean Pokémon and battling in such a way that we caused the entire sea in the area to become stormy with us. The various water Pokémon all battling in a row. The total number must have approached five hundred. All of them knowing what they battled for, the fate of the ocean itself, to be enslaved and abused by man or to be freed from it's grip by robbing from those who would enslave it. All of them fought, all of them believed truly in their own side. The water's went wild, above the sky turned black and the whole area was covered in a gigantic storm. Perhaps, as great as one that the legendary Kyogre alone could caused, or perhaps even in these numbers, such Pokémon are not capable of that much. Having not seen the world past that day, I can't have a single clue as to if there was any severe damage to the land near there. But, the oceans upon which we fought were the roughest that I had ever seen.
A Milotic; my Mantine, Lucy, upon which I rode and the smaller, but still powerful Sharpedo all fought by my side. Each blasting out Ice Beams and Bubblebeams and Crunching and killing the foes. As far as my eyes could see, there was a line of my people and those of my foe doing the same act. The war seemed endless, as if it would last for all time and span the entire width of the ocean. But, together we surfed and fought. The long hard battle was all that we knew. The only thing we could do is stand there all other things seemed outside us. The earth stood still except for us inside that field battling our hearts out. It was us versus them.
And the battle did rage for hours, until only a few remained on each side. The field had shrank and was now merely around the size of a football stadium from four or five times that size. The last usuable Pokémon battling to their last breath to prove they served the ocean better and to protect their masters. And then I faced him directly, the leader of my opposition, Steven of Devon Corporation, a rich and powerful pro-industrial trainer. I saw this as my chance to take out the leader and break up this opposition so we could count our losses and continue in our pilfer. My Milotic, my Lucy and my Sharpedo, against his Lanturn, his Gyarados and his levitating beat Metagross. All of which were already exhausted. In my mind it all went down to this, a three on three free for all.
Lucy and I focused on the Lanturn, to drive home Supersonic and Bullet Seed, before the creature could focus a Thunder. The rest split into their own battles, Sharpedo vs. Metagross and Gyarados vs. Milotic. From my point of view, the battle went nicely, Supersonic kept the electric Pokémon from attacking, giving us an actual chance at victory. The follow up with Bullet Seed, given the exhaustion of the Pokémon, proved to be enough to drill the Pokémon down, with a few loud SMACKS of the seeds across its surface. Meanwhile, Milotic had chosen to attempt to Attract the Gyarados, which seemed blinded and oblivious, responding with a Hyper Beam, putting the both of them out of commission. Huntail and Sharpedo, proved to be little more than a battle of Crunches, with the two out of my sight battling by biting each other over and over again. Should have been long and pointless if it mattered.
After a few moments, the Gyarados had collected itself, though it seemed that its strike had been too much for my serpent. Seeing it straighten up, I used my last instinct as a fisherman and made a strike myself. I tapped Lucy the same way I did when we were diving, she took off, as I pulled a cutlass from my back. Lifting up my hand, I drew the sword with my near-perfect accuracy looking directly to strike his heart. So focused I was on this, that the Metagross got the better of me and knocked me off Lucy's back. My sword broke and knocked out I sank to what I would believe to be my death.
Next thing I knew, I woke up on a beach in a strange land. Beached, with very little left upon me. I felt like I may have had several broken bones from the strike; all my well trained pokemon were missing. I was able to stand and walk, though rather painfully. Hopefully I wasn't too bad off. I'd lost all I had and it was time to start anew. At this point all I had was a small amount of money and a young Clamperl, who had yet to see battle. On the plus side, today is my birthday. Guess it's like starting another new life in a new land; with any luck I'm far enough from Hoenn that no one will recognize me. I was lucky; impact from a Metagross could easily have killed me and being knocked out I could have easily drowned. Arceus or Poseidon one must really want me to live. Personality: "The strong, silent type."
The longest period Zeke ever spent ashore was twelve hours, and that was because he was ordered to. Outside of needing air to breath everything about him has to do with the ocean as such, Zeke relates most to water Pokémon. This makes him very protective of the sea and his friends in its waters. Due to the destruction that he has seen of these creatures and their homes at the hands of man, he is very mistrustful of land people, especially those who do not train and gently care for water Pokémon. And care for in this case really does mean care for abusive trainers make him most sick, he feels that he must defend the injured Pokémon from any further abuse at the hands of its evil trainer.
But, those things aren't the worst in his opinion. He absolutely loathes ships. Luke believes that ships do unnecessary damage to the ocean and that people should travel across the seas only using water Pokémon like Lapras and Mantine. Whenever he encounters a ship of any sort, Luke will do his best to sink it and reap the rewards of its interior. A true buccaneer, if with a slightly different than expected motive. Though, in time and experience, he has grown greedy to an extent and will loot a ship while taking it over. This is a lot of how he has learned to live, pirating and pearl diving are the only real ways he's knows to make money for the things the ocean cannot provide.
When ashore, he treats everyone with a certain respect, being as he is a guest. On some levels this is genuine whole respect, on others; it's much like a diver being careful to not upset sharks. Its against his morals to kill who he finds innocent, though anyone who is upon a ship or abusing a water Pokémon has violated what he sees as his home. Such a person is to be executed without question, for it is sinful to attack the Pokémon. Also, he finds it sinful to attack anyone's home, thus he will protect those upon the shore, as long as they stay there. There is a seed in his mind, however, that views large cities a lot like ships as they need to destroy the existing land in order to form, though it isn't really his place to do anything about it.
He found use in his education and does speak and act with an amount of knowledge and understanding beyond most whom he spent his time with. His skill and knowledge, particularly around water Pokémon are one of his most major assets. He doesn't speak much; but he makes his words count. He may spend a relatively long while thinking through what he is to say before saying only a few sentences.
Starter Town: Millenia Town
Trainer Items
1x Poketech
1x Poke Balls
x3 Escape Rope
x5 Great Ball
x3 Super Potion
x2 Elixir
x3 Full Heal
x2 Revive
x1 Emergency Override
x1 Grand Festival '11 Token
x1 Grand Festival '11 Cabinet Painting
x1 Trickurtreet (Trick) Holding Duckball Ticket
1x Mystic Water (Clamperl)
x1 Dream Ticket (Chilkit)
x1 Red Scarf
Badges None
Awards Won None
Jobs and Teams None
Money: $199 Star Tokens: 0
Edited by viperdk1, Nov 4 2012, 06:01 PM.
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