Disaster at the High Seas

[Rex]

There it was, the SS Apollo. It was a pretty nice ship, to say the least. The upper decks were painted a shiny white color, in direct contrast to the lower deck’s jet black. Near the waterline was a white line and a red underbelly, the latter of which stuck only a foot out of the water. The white line was probably there to tell the dock crew the lowest the ship could sit in the water safely. Both the bow and the stern had a pole sticking out, the bow’s had the Crow’s Nest of course, and the stern’s was probably there to make the bow’s stand out less. The very top of the liner had a pair of smokestacks, colored orange with black caps, probably to hide the soot let off by the steam. These were sealed over and largely for show now, though. This ship, like many now-a-days, ran on petroleum and used Azipod propellers, instead of steam powered turbines.

Of course, Team Magma Commander Tony Vekkner was only able to secure a Second Class ticket, but it was better then nothing. The ship was docked in Cianwood City, Johto. In just over an hour, she would be leaving port en route to the Sinnoh region. It would be a long trip, and Tabitha would probably bitch at him for being gone for so long, even though he was allowed to be. He would deal with all that when it came up, no reason to let it bring him down while he was supposed to be enjoying himself.

Next to him was a Buizel named Seth. He was Tony’s main Pokemon. The Pokemon looked excited to get on board, so why keep him waiting? Tony moved up the ramp, and into the main hall of the ship, presenting his ticket to a man in an officer’s uniform. The man nodded at Tony and pointed him in the direction of the Second Class rooms. Tony nodded his thanks, but instead of heading down, he took a seat on one of the many sofas in the room, Seth climbing up next to him.

The main hall was a pretty nice place, comely brown wood and red and gold furniture. There were Elevators here that could take people all the way up to First Class and all the way down to Steerage. Every place open to passengers could be explored by any class, though they were expected to respect Crew-Only areas. It truly was a grand ship, Tony would enjoy this trip, and he hoped his Pokemon would as well!

The two entered the elevator, and moved down to the second class area of the ship. Unlike the comely browns, reds, and golds of the lobby, the second and third class hallways were painted a stark white, though the floor still was covered in nice carpeting. Tony had room twenty-five, all the way near the bow. The two of them quickly entered, locking the door behind them. He didn't want to have to deal with any of his neighbors, not now at least.

His room was relatively modest. Still nice though, red carpet flooring, with white walls and ceiling. The main room was a living-dining room with a small kitchen area. The bathroom and bedroom were separate from the main room, which was nice. The main room had a TV and a nice sofa to watch it on, a table that could sit four comfortably, with matching chairs, a mini-fridge, stove, and some counter space. It was all colored black of course, Tony wouldn't have it any other way. The bathroom had all the little things one would expect to find in a bathroom, and the bed was a comfortable double.

"Damn, they sure know how to treat a guest," Tony chuckled.

The Trainer took a seat on the sofa and let out the rest of his Pokemon. Out first was a Quilava named Flynt, Tony's second Pokemon. The Quilava looked around the room for a moment before jumping onto the sofa next to him and Seth and curling up. Next out was Jake, a Lucario who had crimson fur instead of blue. He took a seat at the table, content to relax there. Third was Vince, a Flygon. The dual Ground-Dragon Type Pokemon looked queasy, and was quickly lead to the bathroom by Jake just in case he had to throw up. Tony would have to see if the ship had a Pharmacy, he didn't need Vince expelling every meal. Finally came Andre and Wes, a Linoone and Furret respectfully. The two of them started to run around the room, checking out every nook and cranny. Even with Tony and all six of his Pokemon present, they still had a lot of room. He would definitely enjoy this ride.

But first, he should probably find out if the ship had a pharmacy around that carried Pokemon medicine. And so, with Seth and Flynt following behind, Tony left his room, locking his door behind him. Jake would be able to take care of the other three well enough, but Tony didn't want to take any chances. After following the signs for a few minutes, the Trainer managed to find the pharmacy. Tony purchased a bottle of Dramamine, which he knew stopped motion sickness from previous encounters with the illness on trains. Then he returned to his cabin.

When he got there, Jake was sitting in front of the door to the bathroom, where Vince no doubt still was. Andre and Wes had also calmed down, and were most likely resting somewhere out of sight. Tony released Flynt from his Poke ball again, and allowed Seth to climb off him, before walking over to the bathroom door. Jake was quick to move out of his way, probably because not even he could put up with the stench of puke for too long.

Tony opened the door, and handed a pill to the Flygon. Then he quickly poured a glass of water for it to go down with, giving this to the Pokemon as well. The Flygon swallowed it, started to return to his normal shade of green after a few minutes. The teen allowed the Pokemon out of the bathroom, and into the cabin proper. That problem was solved for a few hours at least, though next time Vincent started to look sick, he'd just return the Flygon.

Deciding that open air might do the Pokemon some good, Tony dragged his team of six outside, onto the deck. The sun was just starting to sink towards the horizon, and Johto was nothing but a speck in the distance. The teen himself rested on a deck chair, keeping Vincent close. The Flygon wasn't to do any extreme activities, including flying, for a few hours because of an increased risk of danger from said activities.

His other Pokemon didn't go too far away either, thankfully. Flynt decided to sunbathe, while Andre and Wesley got back into playing, while under Jake's watchful eye. Seth remained near him and Vincent, content to keep the Flygon company. All in all, it looked like it would be a nice cruise, and they definitely needed this time to relax.

As the hours pasted and the sun sank, the speck that was Johto quickly disappeared from view. Now the only thing around for miles was the water. When the bottom of the sun finally touched the horizon, Tony decided it was time to return indoors. So, the teen returned his team to their Poke Balls, except Seth of course. Then he and the Buizel went inside. With the sun no longer shining high, most of the other passengers had also decided to enter the ship rather then stay on deck. After squeezing through the passengers back into the main lobby, the teen realized why. Soon, dinner was going to be served in the Banquet Halls.

While this wasn't such a big thing for the second and third class passengers, the Captain and off duty officers normally dined with the first class passengers. As such, dinner presented the perfect opportunity for the rich passengers to meet the captain of this fine vessel. Not feeling hungry just yet himself, Tony decided to take Seth and go to the small library the ship had. The books would help to kill the time until they were ready for a meal, at which time, the teen would probably just head back to his room and order something from there.

The two arrived at the library just as the dinner bell rang. Because of this, they largely had the room to themselves. As always, the Buizel wanted a book from the manga section. As always, Tony obliged, grabbing the book that was too far out of the Pokemon's reach for him. To this day, Tony had no idea if the Buizel actually could read, or just liked the pictures the book showed. Not thinking much of it, the trainer grabbed a book from the fiction section and joined his Pokemon back at the reading area.

---

In the bridge, the Captain's Chief Officer wasn't having as much a good time. Clouds had moved in shortly after the passengers had returned inside, and with the sun now completely down, it was pitch black outside. He could barely see beyond the ship's lights, and thus had to rely on the radar to make sure there weren't any nearby objects. Thankfully, the sea was a wide open place, and no objects had ever appeared in his history as a ship's officer.

Finally, there was a break in the clouds, exposing a beautiful full Moon. However, there seemed to be something off about it. There appeared to be a small chunk missing from the bottom, as if something was still in front of it, but the line was too perfect to be a cloud. As he watched, more and more of the the Moon was hidden, as if what ever was hiding was getting closer to them. The Officer grabbed a pair of binoculars, and looked towards the Moon, using what little light was still coming from it to aid in identifying the odd thing.

It was a Rouge Wave. The Chief Officer shouted, yelling at the helmsman to turn the ship to face the oncoming wave. Then he grabbed the mic for the intercom.

"All crew members report to your stations, this is not a drill," he shouted, his voice reverberating throughout the ship, "Brace for oncoming impact!"

Only moments after he had finished his message, the wave hit. The ship hadn't turned in time, and was broadsided. The water smashed into the upper decks first, pushing them towards the water. Then the bottom of the wave hit, pushing the ship even farther on its side. The Chief Officer knew he had failed, and he knew that the ship would capsize. In one last desperate attempt to save as many as he could, the man sealed the bulkhead doors all over the ship remotely. The could be manually opened using levers in glass containers nearby each door, should the need to reopen them arise.

It was the last thing he ever did, as the wave finally smashed through the glass in the bridge, washing him and his men off their stations. His head smashed into the wall, and he blacked out, never to wake up again.

---

The Chief Officer had been right. With the ballast tanks nearly empty, and the ship already nearly on its side, there was no was the ship wasn't going to complete her turn. All over the ship, anything and everything that wasn't nailed down was sliding across to the wall of the ship, including passengers that hadn't been fast enough to grab what ever they could. As the ship continued her role, the wall became the floor, and it didn't stop there. The ship continued her turn, catapulting the passengers onto the ceiling. Still she continued to turn, forcing the passengers once more onto the wall. She froze here for a moment, as the energy smashed into the ship finally depleted. Then, the returned to a completely upside down position. The lights flared for a moment, then went out, slowly flashing back on with the help of the backup generators.

---

In the dining room, the Captain heard his Chief Officer over the intercom. Then, a siren started up, and the bulkhead doors were closed. He stood up, only for the ship to shake and send him toppling to the ground. Suddenly, all the tables, chairs, and even humans started to slowly move towards him. He climbed back to his feet, and then was sent flying into a wall along with all the furniture and most of the passengers and crew.

It didn't stop there, after a few seconds the wall was completely horizontal. Then it started to slant again, faster this time. All he could do was watch as people were smashed under the room's furniture. The ones that survived the rain of tables were smashed into what once was the ceiling. Still it did not stop. Unlucky passengers were slid through the chandeliers. Even more were crushed under the tables. She continued to turn until the wall was now horizontal.

Finally, she stopped, but the relief was short lived. The ship began to turn the other way, sliding the survivors back down onto the ceiling. The Captain, who had rolled along the wall until he was quite far from what had once been the ceiling, was catapulted back down, and impaled on the chandelier. That was the end of him.

---

Third Officer James Wesson had made it into the dining room seconds before the bulkhead doors slammed shut. He was a young man, who had only just received the promotion to the Third Officer spot. He was dressed in uniform, and ready to dine with the Captain and First Officer. His brown hair was nice and slick, and his tan skin showed that he was used to the ship life. Now all he could do was watch as the ship spun around him. He was lucky to have remained close to the wall, and was able do keep his footing as the ship spun onto her side.

Even he couldn't keep his footing for too long, and was sent sliding down first the wall, and then the ceiling, just missing the light fixtures. The chandeliers were in a pit that was surrounded by a railing. As he slid past the pit, the grabbed onto the railing. This saved him from the ship's final turn onto her other side, and then back upside down. Just as it looked like things were about to settle, the Captain came flying out of no where, and was impaled on the far chandelier.

James climbed to his feet, and looked at the destruction all around him. Any and all survivors were pulling themselves to their feet as well. Not too far from him, the ship's First Officer climbed to her feet as well. With the captain dead and the Chief Officer missing, she was now in charge of the ship. The Third Officer quickly hurried over to her, but she had the passengers and other crewman to worry about, and couldn't take the time to talk with him. This he respected and quickly went to work following her orders, providing an example for others. Her orders were simple.

"Those that can still walk, search for survivors among the wreckage. The wounded are our first priority."

---

Further down, on what had once been one of the higher decks, Tony laid unconscious partly beneath a pile of books. Seth, his Buizel, was a few feet away from him, just waking up himself. The Buizel was largely uninjured, his smaller body being cushioned by his master's own and the many books that had fallen with them. They were lucky they had been in the study area, which was a bit away from the heavy looking bookshelves. The Buizel picked himself up, and rubbed the few cuts and bruises he had received. Then he stumbled over to his master, and shook him awake.

Tony was in a bit of a worse condition then his Pokemon. Other then the many small cuts and bruises one could expect, there was a medium sized cut on his forehead, which would have put blood in his eyes, had his head not been turned to the side when he passed out. The worse injury was a gash on his left leg, which had probably come about when a chair leg came down on it. He would have a hell of a time trying to walk, but at least it didn't feel like anything was broken.

The trainer pushed himself into a sitting position, and leaned against a wall. No way he could put any pressure on his left leg, but he couldn't walk otherwise. The Buizel was hovering over him, looking worried. Waiting for the throbbing pain in his head to clear, the trainer looked towards his Pokemon.

"Seth, I need something I can use as a walking stick," Tony confessed.

The Buizel seemed to understand, and dashed off to complete his master's request. By the time he came back, with a nice sized pole that had probably come from the gym a few doors down, the pain in Tony's head had settled down to a dull ache. Seth handed the pole to his master, receiving a slow nod of thanks in return. Slowly but surely, the trainer pushed himself up, using the stick to keep the weight off his left leg.

He'd have to find medicine, a pain killer or something, to dull the pain in his leg. The teen hobbled out of the library, his Pokemon following behind. The ship was upside down, which meant the pharmacy was above him now. Trying to remain his route through the pain and the ship's new positions. This was going to be a lot harder then he thought.

OoC: PM me with your first post if you want to join. Do not post in the RP unless I give you permission. Because of the nature of this RP, I have set up a list of Pokemon banned from the RP. This is to make it as difficult as possible to survive the experience. The list can be seen in the spoiler below, and any questions can be PMed to me.

Spoiler

Charizard
Blastoise
Pidgeot
Fearow
Diglett
Dugtrio
Golduck
Poliwrath
Abra
Kadabra
Alakazam
Tentacruel
Dewgong
Cloyster
Gastly
Haunter
Gengar
Kingler
Starmie
Gyrados
Lapras
Ditto
Aerodactyl
Snorlax
Articuno
Zapdos
Moltres
Dratini
Dragonair
Dragonite
Mewtwo
Mew
Feraligatr
Noctowl
Crobat
Lanturn
Natu
Xatu
Quagsire
Misdreavus
Slugma
Magcargo
Mantine
Skarmory
Kingdra
Raikou
Entei
Suicune
Lugia
Ho-Oh
Celebi
Swampert
Ludicolo
Pelipper
Ralts
Kirlia
Gardevoir
Shedinja
Sableye
Carvanha
Sharpedo
Wailmer
Wailord
Crawdaunt
Claydol
Milotic
Shuppet
Banette
Duskull
Dusclops
Tropius
Sealeo
Walrein
Huntail
Gorebyss
Relicanth
Salamence
Metagross
Regirock
Regice
Registeel
Latias
Latios
Kyogre
Groudon
Rayquaza
Jirachi
Deoxys
Empoleon
Staraptor
Bibarel
Floatzel
Drifloon
Drifblim
Mismagius
Honchkrow
Spiritomb
Togekiss
Gallade
Dusknoir
Froslass
Rotom
Uxie
Mesprit
Azelf
Dialga
Palkia
Heatran
Regigigas
Giratina
Cresselia
Phione
Manaphy
Darkrai
Shaymin
Arceus

 

[Sem]

“Here is your martini, Miss Fox,” came the soft voice of a butler, dressed very nicely. He held a tray in one white-gloved hand, upon which sat a filled glass. He leaned over the form of a young woman who was lying out on a deck chair, letting the sun’s rays flow over her body.

Miss Fox, or rather, the body she inhabited had a normally pale complexion, but she had spent quite a while in the sun the past week, and had a healthy glow about her. She wore only a black two-piece bikini, decorated with red hibiscus flower designs on both the bottom piece and the top piece that wrapped around her chest.

She was a bit taller than the average woman, which she liked. When she put on a pair of heels they gave her even more presence than she already had. Her hair was black and quite long, done up into a ponytail. A pair of designer sunglasses rested atop her head, more for show really – she didn’t want a tan-line around her eyes.

Lysis opened her midnight blue eyes and took the glass from the tray without even looking at the butler. “Thank you, love.”

The man blushed, though she didn’t notice – not that she needed to. She had gotten the feeling that the butler was attracted to her the moment he saw her – and that was when she had clothes on. Lysis didn’t mind it though, so long as he didn’t try anything, which he probably wouldn’t. Servants working in the first class tended to be fairly professional and tended to like having jobs.

“My pleasure, miss,” he bowed. “Please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you.”

Lysis took a sip of the drink before setting it down. “I will,” came her simple reply.

The man left, leaving the woman alone once more. The SS Apollo had left port several hours prior from Cianwood. She shot a glance over at her watch that sat on the table next to her. It was almost time for dinner.

She had only briefly pondered the idea of simply having food delivered to her room, but then she would miss out on the chance to socialize with other high class people and show herself off to them. Lysis Fox was many things, but humble wasn’t one of them, especially not when it came to her appearance.

With a sigh she rose up out of the chair, taking her drink and watch with her as she stepped into her spacious cabin. Every first class cabin had a balcony with enough room for a pair of sun chairs, a table, umbrella, and not much else – but what else did you need? The cabin itself was rather luxurious, with black marble floors and white walls and ceiling. A large, dome-shaped lamp on the ceiling lit up the room. Her bed was a large king sized, and there was a wall-mounted television above a fireplace with sofas positioned around it.

She walked into the bathroom, which had the same elements of the main room. There was a tub and a shower. Lysis thought to herself for a moment, knowing that a soak in the tub with the jets turned on would be lovely, but she really didn’t have the time. A shower would do.

Lysis was out of the shower fifteen minutes later, she walked out and went to the closet to select which outfit she would wear. Considering the people she would be around, the woman chose a red cocktail dress. It was made of silk, and dress itself was a bit ruffled at the bottom, which came down to her knees. The dress was strapless, but she wore a black denim blazer over the dress. Around her neck was a silver chain-necklace and her earrings were also silver. For footwear she chose were a pair of black, three-inch strap-stilettos.

Her hair was left down, styled in a wavy manner and held with hairspray. She applied her usual minimal amount of make-up, just a bit of foundation and blush. After applying eyeliner to her eyes she applied a colorless gloss to her lips that served to simply make them, well, glossy. To complete her look she clipped a red rose with blackened petal-tips into her hair.

She surveyed herself in the mirror for quite a while, making sure she was pleased with her look. It was a careful mix of sophistication and party-girl, which seemed to work rather well. Black and red was a common theme with Lysis as well, who liked to pay homage to her Rocket-roots despite the fact that she was no longer a part of the organization.

“You, gorgeous, are ready,” Lysis told herself with a purr as she grabbed her purse – a simple black clutch. Pulling back her left sleeve she looked at her watch, looking to see how much time she had left. “Right on time.”

She walked out of her cabin in her signature strut, which had so much confidence it was as if she wanted God himself to stop and look at her. Lysis nodded slightly to fellow first-class passengers she passed on the way down to the dining halls. The light of the setting sun blazed through the windows, and she stole glances at herself in any mirrors she passed, admiring the way the sunlight enhanced her look.

The doors opened for her as she neared them, allowing her to keep her pace as she entered the dining hall. She stopped for a moment, glancing around at all of the rich people around her. They too seemed to look at her as she walked in before returning to their conversations. Lysis noticed that she had caught the captain’s eye. She waved at him and made her way across the room. He smiled at her and met her half-way.

“Welcome aboard the SS Apollo, Miss…”

“Fox,” Lysis answered, extending her hand. “Lysis Fox. And my, captain, what a lovely ship you have,” she said with a purr, shooting her glance at the people who the captain had previously been speaking to.

“The better to serve you with, my dear,” he answered with a grin. He too looked backed at the people at his table. He motioned to Lysis, “Would you like to come sit with us?”

“I would love to,” she answered. She allowed him to take her hand and lead her to an empty chair. He introduced her to everyone and they immediately bombarded her with questions. Lysis was happy to answer them, as she was hoping she would get to meet those in the captain’s circle of friends. It was good to know people, especially if they were in high places - that’s where all the money was.

The food was served a few minutes after Lysis sat down, but the talking didn’t stop. No, Lysis expected that most of the evening would be spent right there in the dining hall. Despite this, time did fly by and soon it was night time. Lysis found herself by one of the windows, speaking to one of the men she had just met prior to dinner.

“Now, I am familiar with a man named Edwin Fox,” he told her. He was in his thirties, and had a nice tan himself, along with short dark brown hair. He looked rather smart in his suit, which looked to be tailored exactly for his body. “You wouldn’t happen to know him, would you?”

Lysis smirked. There was no escape from Edwin Fox, it seemed. “Grandfather,” she told him.

“Really?” he asked with a grin. “It’s a small world.”

“You have no idea,” she replied, biting her lip.

The man had said something else, but Lysis hadn’t really heard what it was. Her gaze was fixed on the window, or rather, what was outside of it. A monstrous wall of black was slowly blocking out the stars and the moon. “My gods…” she uttered.

“What are you looking at?...” he asked her, looking out the window as well. “Oh my god…”

Lysis thought quickly to herself, leaving the window and looking immediately for something that wouldn’t slide around the room. Her past training had never really gone over how to survive in a ship that was about to be hit by a giant wave. She was going with what sounded logical, and what sounded logical was to grab onto something solid, or better yet, leave the room and go out into the hallway.

Of course, she wouldn’t have time for that.

“Lysis?” came the voice of another one of her new acquaintances, which she ignored as she started running to the entrance. Another one got up suddenly and ran into her.

“Where are you going?”

“Move,” she commanded not so much as said as she maneuvered around them.

It was then the door seemed to seal itself shut. That wouldn’t have stopped Lysis normally, and indeed she kept going for a moment until she remembered her psychic powers had been locked away. At this point the screaming had started as the other passengers noticed the wave as well.

Lysis rushed to a column as the entire ship shuddered in agony as the top of the wave hit the higher levels. Within the passing of another second the rest of the wave hit the rest of the ship. Now, Lysis was used to doing a variety of things in heels, but walking in heels while a ship was rolling onto its side wasn’t something you could practice. Miss Fox stumbled forward and decided to jump to the column, grasping it as tightly as she could.

She positioned herself in a way so that she was on top of the column instead of hanging under it with the ship on its side. Tables, chairs, plates, and all other manner of objects, including people, flew through the air. Lysis perched on the pillar, trying to stay aware of anything flying her way as the boat continued to roll, capsizing.

The screams persisted long after the boat had stopped moving. The lights flickered violently and the ship groaned. Lysis slid down the pole to the ceiling, which was now the floor. Crown moldings made the surface uneven, so Lysis made sure to watch where she stepped.

“Great,” Lysis muttered to herself. “Now my life has turned into some survivor thriller. These things aren’t supposed to happen.”

“The captain!” somebody yelled, followed by more yelps and screams. Lysis shot a quick glance over to where people had gathering, catching a glimpse of the dead captain splayed out upon a chandelier. She didn’t bat an eyelash and continued making her was towards the doors. She didn’t like the fact that there were windows in the room with water on the outside and she wanted to get out as soon as possible.

“Gods know some imbecile will do something idiotic and crack the glass…” she thought to herself. “And Tara will not be happy if we get killed…”

She knew enough to know that there were safer places to be, and so she ignored the orders of the few officers that were in the room and made her way to the nearest door. She came across the friend of her grandfather lying on the floor, finding that he was dead. She stopped for a moment to look at his face before another of the ship’s groans spurred her on.

Lysis didn’t feel like she had been injured, though she knew she needed to perform a quick check on herself before going on. There was a large bruise on her leg from where a table leg had grazed it, but aside from that she seemed fine.

Before she could move on she heard the cries of a young child. Lysis inhaled deeply. ”Just keep going,” she told herself.

“Mommy?” the girl sobbed.

”Damn it." Lysis inhaled sharply and turned to the girl, who was the daughter of one of the other passengers she had met earlier. Her mother seemed to have also met an untimely demise as she lay under a table. There didn’t seem to be a father of some sort anywhere, and if there was Lysis didn’t meet him earlier.

“Hey,” Lysis said to the girl, who was in a cute white dress, with her blonde hair up in curly locks. The child looked at her with a tear-streaked face. “Come here, love,” she beckoned.

The girl shook her head.

”Just leave her,” said an inner voice. Lysis shook her head. “Your mommy’s going to be ok, they’re going to help her, but you should come with me.”

Again the girl shook her hand, but Lysis took the girl’s hand and led her away. “Your mommy wants me to take you somewhere safe, ok?”

“You promise?” she said through sobs.

“I promise, you’ll see you mom soon, ok?”

The child didn’t respond, but grasped Lysis’ hand tighter.

”Don’t hate me too much, kid,” Lysis said to herself as she made it to a door. It seemed to be sealed fairly tightly, but Lysis noticed the lever behind some glass on the wall. Breaking the glass, she was about to pull the lever.

“Excuse me, miss… miss!” said someone, a woman, as everyone else fell silent.

”Good gods.”

“You should stay in here - you don’t know what’s out there.”

“Nope, but I do know what’s in here. If you want to sit around waiting for the windows to break then be my guest.” At this a few of the people began to panic.

Somebody grabbed Lysis’ arm rather tightly, and she turned to find a man leering at her. “At least leave the girl, don’t take her with you.”

“Go to hell,” Lysis spat. “She’s my cousin.” She jerked her arm free and pulled the lever. She held the girl close and prepared for a rush of water as the door hissed open. Seeing that none was pouring through Lysis climbed over the still opening door and pulled the girl along after her. With the child in hand they walked into the flickering hallway and hopefully towards a possible way out.

 

[Shiny Motley]

“Hey Jane, isn’t this ship just amazing?” a brunette boy asked, turning his head towards a girl next to him.

“Amazing? You’ve got to be kidding me, John,” responded the girl as she rolled her brown eyes. “I think you meant incredible.”

“Whatever. In any case, it has to be the best looking ship ever made out there!”

“Totally agree with you, bro.”

The two kids, whom couldn’t be more than fourteen years of age, looked fairly similar to each other. They shared the same hair color, eye color, and even the same general face shape and body frame. Anyone would’ve been able to tell that the two were twins. The only way one could tell them apart, besides the obvious differences that came from being different genders (musculature, height, clothes, hair length), was by observing the way they held themselves; Jane had a slight spring in her step and looked more confident than John, who was always trailing slightly behind her with his hands in his jacket pockets.

As late as it was, the teens decided to go explore the SS Apollo, poking their heads into every door they found unlocked or spying on the people that had joined them on their vacation. John couldn’t help but gawk at the ship, for it had a beautifully crafted interior, comfortable seats, hot maids… no matter how many times he wandered around, the boy would always be amazed at how perfect the ship was. It was a wonder how he and his sister got some relatively cheap tickets for something so luxurious as this.

The trainer suddenly felt a tugging on his leg pant and, as he glanced downward, saw a Minun looking up at him with worried eyes. Kneeling beside the Pokemon, John asked, “What is it, Anion?”

“M-Minun, mi!” Anion replied as he pointed a paw out at some point beyond the ship’s exterior. John looked at the direction the Minun was pointing at and shook his head.

“I don’t see anything strange,” John said.

Jane, however, kept squinting her eyes at the direction Anion was pointing at. “No, something’s not quite right,” she said, as her Plusle, Cation, clung to the girl in an almost scared manner. She kept staring out at the horizon before announcing, “I don’t really know what’s wrong, but I can tell something’s really out of place.”

Looking again, John could, indeed, tell that something was just at the line where the sea and sky connected. “A storm cloud, perhaps…?” he muttered to himself, as Anion leapt onto the railing of the ship to get a better view of whatever it was out there that was putting everyone on edge. The thing started getting closer and closer, and soon John could tell that it wasn’t a storm, but rather an incredibly large wave that was coming their way. Panicking, the boy quickly returned his Pokemon and grabbed onto his sister’s arm. “Come on,” he said as he dashed through the ship, “we have to find a place for cover!” Uncharacteristically, Jane didn’t object, and the pair ran full-speed down the ship’s stairs.

What happened next happened far too quickly for anyone to comprehend. One second, John’s hand was on the doorframe of a cabin. The next second, the floor was shaking violently, the lights were flickering, and anything and everything was flying through the air in every which direction. The twins soon lost their balance and found themselves rolling towards the wall… or was it the ceiling? It didn’t matter anymore, since up and down was the same at this point.

John suddenly got his foot tangled between some sort of a rope that was tied to a metal bar that spanned across the wall. The ship then turned again, and the boy screamed in pain as he felt his ankle twist. Opening eyes that he hadn’t realized he was closing until then, he saw Jane trying to claw her way up back to him. The boy extended his arm to assist her, and the girl mirrored his movement. For a brief second, their fingers touched, and it seemed that not all was lost in disaster.

Fate, however, decided to extend their suffering, and the ship flipped yet again. A piece of debris hit Jane on the head, knocking the girl out immediately. John yelled in surprise and protest, reaching out again, only to find that his sister was sliding down at top speed. He then found himself hanging upside down, the rope still attached to his shoe; he quickly wriggled his foot out of his shoe and fell onto the opposite wall.

Only to faint in pain, exhaustion, and shock.

***

After a while, John finally came to and found himself lying on what seemed to be the ceiling. What was he doing on the ceiling? Did the world suddenly decide that down was up and up was down? When it dawned on him that the ship had been capsized, the trainer immediately tried to get up. As he tried to apply pressure to his right foot, however, a sudden pain shot up through his leg, making the trainer collapse. “Blast it,” he muttered as he fumbled around for a Pokéball. Thank God he still had Pokémon with him… then he noticed that three of them were missing. He would have to go look for them later; until then, he would have to work with whoever he had.

Grabbing a hold onto the Pokéball he needed, John released the Pokémon it held. With a flash a white light, a Snorunt appeared in front of him. “Hey Frost,” John began, “It would be really nice if you could put some ice on this ankle of mine-” the Snorunt immediately used a weak Ice Beam on his right ankle right when he said that. The sensation was rather tickling, and he had to resist the urge to laugh in order to continue with his command, saying, “And when you’re done with that, could you find me a good long pole I can use as a walking stick?” Almost right after he said that last word, Frost dashed away and came back in less than a minute with a metal bar in his hands. It smelled of flour, so undoubtedly it came from the kitchen pantry. “Thanks, man,” the trainer said before returning the Pokémon back into its Pokéball.

Looking around, John could tell that it would take a very long time to even find his sister, let alone get around all the debris and obstacles in order to get out of this mess.

 

[Chadwyck]

Paul Rogers was an average sixteen year old boy, nothing really special about him. He was a Pokemon trainer, but he had no ambitions to become the league champion or even travel to all of the gyms and collect the badges. Not that he could, currently he only had one Pokemon, and he hadn't even been the one to catch it; she was a gift from a friend. Someone Paul would never forget, someone who had crossed his path in a chance encounter and become a huge part of his life. Wasn't that the way that all great friendships were forged?

The boy was dressed in a pair of black shorts with silver pinstripes, a black tee-shirt with a matching black hoodie of one of his favorite bands, and gray high-top shoes. He didn't dress like someone in the first class cabins, but that was the way that he preferred it; he would have been in third class if it were up to him, but his parents bought his ticket so he could come home to visit. He would leave the ship at one of the various stops, but his parents insisted he take some time to relax aboard the SS Apollo.

Hana, his Bellossom, happily trotted along behind him. She had warmed up to him almost immediately, which was the reason his friend decided that he should take care of her. She didn't usually like anyone except for her trainer, but she took to Paul quickly for some reason. To most people she was cold and acted like a, as his friend had put it, "tough, little badass." And it was true, whenever her and Paul crossed paths with another passenger, she'd cross her arms and nod in a way that said, "What? You wanna fight or something?" The funny thing was that she could back up her tough talk, the Bellossom was one of the strongest Paul had ever seen.

They were currently on their way to the dining room, he was hoping that once he arrived they would look at his attire and send him away; then he could just order something from his room. The only reason he didn't do that right away was because his parents knew the captain personally, and they would be sure to ask if he attended all the first-class gatherings. Paul rolled his navy blue eyes and ran a hand through his chestnut, brown hair. "How annoying," he muttered as he walked the well decorated halls.

In all honesty, he hadn't enjoyed any of his time aboard the ship. He had tried to enjoy the pool, the deck, the lounge, even the library, but he had just not been at all interested in anything; it was more than likely due to the fact that he wasn't looking forward to visiting home. His parents were rich, as their ability to purchase a first class ticket for their son to travel aboard a luxury cruise-liner would suggest, and they didn't really 'spend time' with him, so much as they needed him around every so often to go to parties with other rich people. It was part of the reason that he left home to become a trainer in the first place.

"Right, Hana, here's the deal." He said quietly, bending down and allowing the Bellossom to climb up onto his shoulder, "If they don't turn us away, we'll say hello to the captain and then sneak away through the kitchen, grab some food on the way through, and go back to the room and watch some TV."

"Bell~" Hana chimed after Paul spoke, smiling and nodding. Paul felt better having the Pokemon with him, he was grateful everyday that she enjoyed his company as much as he enjoyed hers. Even though he knew she missed her original trainer, it had been hard for them to say goodbye, they'd been training together for over ten years.

They turned down the last corridor leading to the dining hall when all hell broke loose. Paul was knocked off his feet as the ship began to spin, he was tossed into the wall. He was feeling light headed already, most likely a concussion, but he was aware enough to return Hana to her Pokeball before anything else happened, which was a good move. The ship continued to turn, chairs and tables were tumbling along the corridor, and Paul felt like a rag doll being tossed around. He hit the ceiling with a thud and blacked out as he heard shouts and sirens begin to ring.

He awoke to the sound of tapping heels walking down the corridor, a beautiful, tan woman with black hair and a small girl with blonde hair were walking away from the dining room. Paul blinked away the grogginess as his head began to clear, only he realized that his head was throbbing. He was almost certain he'd suffered a concussion. He pulled himself into a sitting position, only to find a sharp pain shoot through his arm that started at the shoulder, it'd been dislocated. "Miss," He moaned as the woman neared him, "Please. Help." He mumbled as he started to stand up slowly.

 

[Atma]

Karu felt lucky to get hold of this ticket... It had taken a large degree of hard work and theblack haired teen had been wanting for a holiday for some time. As such his other pokemon team's reaction to his suggestion of a luxury cruise was hardly well recieved judging by their sudden roar of criesand fighting even breaking out after a few minutes. In response, Karu had swapped out to the younger set of pokemon and left all the others at a daycare where they could rest easy or battle to their heart's content.

Currently he found himself pacing down the gangway to where the boat was docked... It was magnificent.. He smiled broadly at such a titanic structure of a ship and even all the young pokemon and their protector dashing and scuttling about couldn't snap him out of it! Well, until Aqua Pop his precious Chinchou had begun to cry because his Swablu had knocked him off of his shoulder. Red Silk was chattering and hissing chastisingly at the cloud-winged bird pokemon. With a sigh Karu scooped up the sobbing water type into his arms and cradled it with a gentle whisper of, "Come on now, no crying."

Lucky for him the little creature was so fond him the tears reduced to sniffles and sniffles gave way to petite smile. With a small laugh the trainer turned about to the others with a commanding, "Time to go. Looks like we're the last ones on..!" After having noticed the rest of the passenger's backs fade into the ship and the attendant call for final boarding.

Given the five minutes to win over his junior party, ten minutes to convince the attendant they were perfectly harmless after giving in his second class ticket and the further time to find his cabin.. Karu felt mildly like it was a whole new adventure already.

Having spent some time 'Ooing' and 'Ahhing' at the features of mere second class the blue eyed boy fell back onto the white-covered bed, relieved greatly by a chance to relax rather than always worry about battles at every turn or pressure to own every badge in site. Of course he didn't mind so much but at least if he politely declined here nobody would comment or judge him harshly like on land.

Pausing to roll over onto his side he checked on his pokemon, they all seemed content enough. Cotocan was playing with Flora and Sahara has decided to hop up on the counter and mock-fence with Sherry, Sherry using a plastic fork against Sahara's bone club. Meanwhile Red Silk appeared to be leasurely resting in a shadow under the bed, although Karu knew he was watching the door intently incase of a threat to his beloved companions.

Last but not least, Aqua Pop was snoozing right beside him and snuggling into the warmth. Smiling he petted the blue creature and rested his eyes for what he swore was just a second...

And then rang out a bell, piercing his unintentional sleep and signalling dinner. This did little to move him, since he knew his pokemon would always help themselves to the stock of berries in a shopping bag and abundancy of treats he'd placed in the mini-fridge earlier... Thus, his sleep resumed after he came to terms with the fact he'd dozed off.

It was barely an hour later when a panicked voice on the ship-wide intercom shouted out a cry of warning he awoke from his slumber. At the end of the sentance he barely had time to gasp before throwing himself over Aqua Pop with a cry of, "RED!" as the thunderous crash of the impact tossed the ship unto a grimmer fate than intended for the voyage. His eyes had scrunched tightly closed as he was flung from the bed, only briefly catching a glimpse of a red blur darting across the cabin to gather all the pokemon he could before catching his master in a web of safety yet to no avail, web tearing under the force of the bed's metal frame slamming into the blue eyed brunette's back, forcing the air from his lung and bloodying his nose on impact with the ground, he was certain at least that Aqua was safe beneath him as what distinctly felt like a mini-fridge collided with his arm with a burning flare of pain followed by a mess of loose objects sliding into the wall.

Karu opened his eyes with some hint of fear and adrenaline ruishing through his veins, heart pounding frantically in worry. "R-red..?!" He called into the dark in suffering fuelled panic. The lights of his cabin flickered back into life for barely a moment to show the arachnid in a webbed corner with his other pokemon protectively beneath him, hissing angrily. "Oh my G-!" He called out as the ship moved back, his stomach churning further and pile of debris falling onto a mangled bed frame, the remnants of a cuboard shattering into his back. Once he was certain things had calmed judging by the lights in his cabin coming back on and ensured he wasn't unconscious he gazed down, small black eyes met his own with worried expression. "I-I'm fine Aqua, just a touch .. alarmed ... " With that comment, the remnants of the room shifted to block off the precious few beams of light that had filtered through from just ahead of him.

"Irony!" he called out now face down on the floor - ...ceiling. Ony when it was a vacation would he injure himself in such a dramatic way and experience such a catastrophic incident. Easing himself to sit up after a team effort to shift what could merely be described as debris he was met by the eyes of a half-dozen worried pokemon. With a reassuring nod and comment of, "I'm ok...I'm ok.. not gonna be taken down this easily." He rose to stand. Giving a deep breath of self-gathering to try fade out the pain he winced, gripping his arm but forcing a smile as he looked about the capsized ship. Wonderful. And I suppose plenty has gone wrong. He thought to himself with a tone of sarcasm.

Apparantly nothing was broken but surely something was damaged. Pressing on with a weakly cheery tone he announced, "Come on, you band of rascals. I say we explore and see if we can find out who else made it or a way out of this wreck." With a cheer of approval he set off down the hallways with just a couple nicks and scrapes, Aqua in on his shoulder and the rest of the team all around him and Sahara breathing gentle snow flakes onto his arm. Karu had to keep a strong disposition, aside from Red Silk these little critters would get frantically upset if he showed his pain and he couldn't bare those tears.

Still he had to laugh, Somewhat amusingly Red Silk was crawling along the ex-floor, that would be confusing for anyone who was stuck upside down.

 

[Tailon]

OOC: Fear mai slowness D:
Lucy Ryan pushed her light brown hair out of her face as she ran to the shortly leaving ship, the S.S. Apollo, her male Butterfree, Buzz, frantically fluttering behind her as she dragged her luggage along in a headlong charge toward the massive cruiser. She flashed her second class ticket as she launched past the ramp and through the doors before finally slowing down, panting as her momentum finally died and she was left breathless in the middle of the main hall. When the young woman finally caught her breath, she got a chance to survey the area, and was rather impressed at the wood paneling and furniture color, but didn’t think about it too much beyond first glance. Deciding to rest in her room, if temporarily, Lucy stepped into one of the elevators, followed closely by Buzz as the metal box sprung to life and moved quickly and smoothly downward to the second class rooms.

Lucy had room 20, near the bow, and as she walked slowly toward it, she vaguely acknowledged a teenager passing by, who entered room 25, only a few doors down. Lucy entered her own room, locking the door behind her for the moment, before releasing her other five Pokemon. Wave and Hatchan, Squirtle and Slowbro, where the first to appear in a bright flash, followed by Dex the Raticate, Whip the Tangrowth, and Bell the Victribel. As they finally settled into the room, Lucy decided to have a rest, leaving the Pokemon to do what they would with the main room, and slipped away to the bathroom to shower before sneaking over to the bedroom to change and have a nap.

Lucy didn’t wake until the dinner bell rang, prompting her to stand groggily and head back out to the main room, to check if the Pokemon had caused any havoc. Surprisingly, they had done no damage to the room and had managed to get the TV on, which all but Whip and Dex were watching, as both had fallen asleep in corners of the room. Lucy tooke five Poke Balls from her belt, and once again returned everyone but Buzz, as he was wouldn’t mess up the carpets and hardwood floors on the rest of the ship, then stepped out, leaving the room unlocked, but the door closed as she slowly began to make her way upstairs. One her way up, she decided to stop at the pharmacy, having not had the time to restock at the Cianwood Poke Mart. In the pharmacy, she found a decent supply of Revives and various Potions as well as some motion sickness medicine, and purchased a few of each as well as one bottle of the sickness meds, just in case, placing them in item balls for safekeeping. Lucy once again exited, continuing her slow ascent toward first class. As she finally neared the floor containing the dining hall, a shrill alarm exploded from a nearby siren as the enormous floating structure began to tip. Buzz acted quickly, getting his stubby arms under hers and flapping furiously, to keep them both in the air as long as possible as the halls literally flipped around them for a few minutes, sending the broken leg of a small end table flying into Lucy's arm, causing her to scream in pain, and forcing Buzz to hold her by one arm. The entire place had been left upside down, and as the ship tipped a large exercise ball had fallen from the door of the gym on the floor, and it had bounced its way toward them in the ensuing flipping of the structure. With no way to stop the ball, Buzz was struck in the torso, forcing him to drop Lucy and knocking him back against a wall.

Lucy fell a few feet to the ceiling turned floor, and immediately ran over to her Pokemon, returning him to his Pokeball with a quiet “Thank you.” The young woman turned, releasing her Raticate, Dex, then checked her arm. The end table's leg had seemingly grazed her, but it was still enough to leave a large gash down her upper arm. Lucy noticed the teenager from earlier seemingly struggling to walk, most likely from being in a room full of loose books and chairs. Lucy walked over to the teen, holding her arm with her hand in an attempt to keep the bleeding down and asked, “Are you alright? It looks like your leg isn’t doing too well.”

 

[Rex]

OoC: Alright, this is how I imagined it would work, feel free to tell me any problems you might have. Every time I post, I'll have something in the ship come after each group of characters to present itself as a challenge of sorts. This will start out small, and slowly but surely grow in size as time goes on, the ship breaks apart further, and more survivors are met. For your part, you can respond to the challenges I present, and then do what ever else in your post you wish. I want this to be as open and fun as possible, but I do want to present a bit of a challenge, so this is the system I developed. As I said, any problems can be brought to me.

BiC:Tony, Seth in tow, hadn't made it too far down the hallway before another survivor approached him. She had a Raticate with her, and wanted to know if he was alright. The trainer passed by her with a shrug, heading a bit further down the hallway. When passed the gym, he leaned against the wall, stooping down and picking up a bottle of water that had most likely come out of the gym. The trainer opened the bottle, and haphazardly poured the water on his injured leg. It was the best thing he could do to clean it on the fly.

After that was finished, he sent Seth off to find something he could wrap the wound in. The Buizel returned with a few strips most likely torn off a shirt. They were clean, which was the best Tony could wish for. The trainer gingerly lowered himself to the floor, wrapping his leg in the strips. Now all he needed was some medicine. He slowly climbed to his feet, glancing back to see if the girl was still there. Deciding the smart decision was to keep moving, the trainer walked on, ever closer to the stairs and the pharmacy.

---

James had done his best to help those he could. There were just too many people for the Third Officer though. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a woman leaving the room with a child in hand. Seeing it as an excuse to get away from all the people that had managed to survive, James hurried after them. The hallway was in a surprisingly good condition, and he could see the two of them down the hallway. The Third Officer hurried off after the woman and child soon catching up to them.

"Miss, I am going to need you to return to the Dining Hall!" he ordered.

---

Above Lysis, James, and the girl in the hallway, the kitchen was an absolute wreck. Bodies, food, and kitchenware laid scattered around. The ovens were on, but the flames had gone out in the flipping. Gas was leaking into the room, with no sign of stopping any time soon. However, that was about to change. One of the cables that had originally run through the floor had been exposed when one of the counters had fallen out of the floor. It was hanging limply in the middle of the room, where one spark could cause disaster.

After a moment, power finally returned to this deck of the ship. The electricity ran through the cable, and caused a spark. The gas ignited, causing a small explosion that destroyed much of the room. Now weakened by the explosion, the former ceiling caved, falling into the hallway below, cutting the three off from the Dining Hall. There was no way back, the three could only move forward.

---

When the explosion occurred, James had done his best to push the two girls away from the collapsing ceiling. There was no way back to the Dining Hall now. All they could do was go onward down the corridor, or climb up to the kitchen's remains. The man looked back towards the two woman, almost completely at a loss for words.

"Well, I suppose I can't take you back to the Dining Hall," he stuttered, "If you'll come with me, I'll take you to another safe place."

It was only then that the man noticed the boy a bit further down the hallway. He walked over to the young man, and knelled down next to him. He offered the young man his arm, smiling a bit.

"Are you alright?" the Third Officer questioned.

---

Down the hallway from John, water was already starting to make its way into the ship. The bulkhead doors at each end of the hallway had been sealed, and unless the trainer could get one of the doors open in time, he would drown. What ever was holding the water back was already starting to give way, who could tell how long it would be before it gave way entirely.

---

Down the hall from Karu was a raging fire. There was no way he could make it further down that hallway. To make matters worse, the fire was spreading, greedily gobbling up the debris strewn through the corridor.

 

[Sem]

"Why did you lie?" the little girl asked shortly after they had left the dining hall. "You're not my cousin."

Lysis breathed in, remembering why she wasn't fond of children. "Because, honey, they wouldn't have let you go. I'm taking you somewhere that's safe, so I'm going to do whatever it takes."

The little girl didn't say anything, but she sniffed. She also didn't seem to have been injured, which was a miracle. Perhaps the reason her mother was dead because she was saving her daughter. No one would ever know, though, due to the chaos that had unfolded. "What's your name?" she asked after a moment.

"Lysis, dear," she answered simply. After a moment however she realized that she didn't know the girl's name. She could remember being introduced to her, but her name had quickly become a victim of short term memory. "And I forgot yours, hun, I'm sorry."

"Elizabeth," she answered. "But you can call me Lizzie."

The young woman smirked and nodded her head.

"Miss," Lysis heard someone say as she continued walking. Up ahead she saw a young man struggling to stand up. "Please. Help," he said.

"You can stand, kid, other people aren't so lucky," she said to herself as she neared him. Before she could respond another voice shouted from behind her.

"Miss, I am going to need you to return to the Dining Hall!" said a young man. No, not said, ordered.

"Who does he think he is?" Lysis said under her breath as she turned around. As the lights flickered back on she said, "Listen, worm, if you lay one hand on me I will punch you out-"

It was then that an explosion rocked the part of the ship that they were in. Lysis pulled Lizzie in and held her close as the young officer shoved them out of the way of the collapsing ceiling. When the dust settled it was revealed that the way back to the dining hall was completely blocked off.

"Well, I suppose I can't take you back to the Dining Hall," the man said.

"Thank you, Mr. Obvious," Lysis said with a sneer as she got up, pulling the little girl to her feet as well.

"If you'll come with me, I'll take you to another safe place," he continued, sounding professional.

"Unless you're going to take us up to the hull we're not going anywhere with you," Lysis informed him as she continued walking in the direction she was going before being interrupted. It was then that she remembered the teenager, and she saw him up ahead. She looked down at the ground and rolled her eyes so that he wouldn't see. She went up to him and inspected his arm. Lysis Fox was no doctor, but her training had given her the knowledge of how to treat certain injuries to an extent, mostly injuries that could happen during missions.

She found that the boy's shoulder was simply dislocated, which was something she could fix. Beyond that, if it had been broken the best thing she could have done was make a sling. "Right, kid, this'll hurt," she said as she gripped his arm with one hand and held him in place with her other. She bent his elbow and pulled his forearm away from his body, applying some force to pop the shoulder back in. "There..." Lysis said before stepping away.

Miss Fox thought quickly to herself, realizing that she had already wasted a lot of time helping people. "You're a saint," she told herself sarcastically as she inspected the collapsed ceiling, which had once been the floor. They needed to go to the hull, which was now above them. They could climb the rubble up to the kitchen, which would immediately put them one level closer to their destination.

"You, officer," she said. "Is there a stairwell near here? Otherwise, we're going up the rubble into whatever room that was."

 

[Tailon]

The young man seemed to shrug her off when she tried to inquire about his health, and began making his way toward the stairs, and possibly the on board pharmacy she had visited previously. Lucy was mildly confused, but began to follow the boy anyway, in case he was more seriously injured than he let on.

As she stepped forward, she realized there was no movement at her feet, and looked down to see Dex had disappeared without warning. When Lucy turned to look for him, she saw he was on his way back with a piece of someone’s shirt. Lucy realized he was emulating the boy’s Buizel, as he had noticed the teen wrapping his wound with what seemed to be part of someone’s shirt. Lucy thanked the Rat Pokemon, and attempted to wrap her wound as best she could, though she had never been the best at administering first aid, and wasn’t entirely sure she had done anything to help her condition.

Lucy once again made her way toward the teen and asked, “Are you going to the pharmacy? That could be difficult with an injured leg…”

 

[Chadwyck]

"Right, kid, this'll hurt." The woman said as she took hold of his arm after inspecting the seriousness of his injury. He himself wasn't exactly sure what was wrong, but she hadn't said it was broken, so his initial suspicion that it was dislocated was correct. That didn't do much to comfort him in the knowledge that placing it right again was going to hurt. Badly.

With a few quick motions the woman popped his shoulder back into place, he had prepared himself as best he could; namely shutting his eyes and clenching his teeth, it didn't do much to help and soon he was stifling a scream as his shoulder was placed back into its joint. He grunted a few times and took deep breaths, at least that bit of nastiness was over; if it had been broken he would have had to deal with the pain constantly.

Then the man came over and knelt beside him. Paul didn't particularly feel in a talkative mood, but he responded out of courtesy, "Yeah, I'll be all right now." He mumbled, politely refusing to take the man's arm. He wasn't helpless, and now that his arm was back in place, and a little sore, he would be a bit easier to get on. If only his head wasn't about to explode from throbbing pain. He felt slightly dizzy, but hopefully soon enough that would pass; though he severely doubted it.

Paul finally took his first real look around the capsized ship, now that down was up and up was down, they would need to go higher into the deeper part of the crew only bits of the ship. Trying to rationalize how that was going to happen only made his head hurt more. The woman had the same idea though, asking the man whether or not there was a stairwell near them or they'd be climbing along the rubble. Paul hoped he was included in that 'we' that she was saying, alone in a capsized ship wasn't near the top of his list of things to do before he died. Especially since doing so would more than likely shorten his time span to get to the other things on the list.

"I didn't see a stairwell for a while on my way here, it may be faster to climb the rubble. Though that is an increased danger as well." He muttered just loud enough for them to hear.

 

[Atma]

Karu frowned as the smell of burning woodwork reached his nose, then despaired somewhat as before he even turned the curved corner the crackling of flames was crisp in his ears. Giving a sigh he ran his hand over his face, still somewhat disorientated by the mild ache in his arm.

Sherry let out a low growl, teeth bared at the growing mass engulfed in flames. It was quite cute in honesty and would've made Karu chuckle somewhat if not for the fact this could be more than just risky if he tried to power through it with this young team. Sahara had brought her attention away from his arm and was now releasing small blasts of ice onto areas where the fire began to creep towards them with Red Silk shielding Flora and Cotocan from the heat.

Kissing a quivering little Aqua Pop in his good arm he then commanded, "Good, Sahara. For now we'll have to find another way around before this gets worse... With any luck we'll find some kind of superior to tell about fires too though if they got any brains.." His sentance was lost as he paused to see what everyone was up to as he and Sherry turned about. Red Silk was leaping wall to wall back towards where his cabin was with Flora and Cotocan clinging to his back with Sahara backing up from the fire with one final ice beam before dashing to catch up with the red arachnid.

Giving a sigh he quickened best he could in the damaged state, following the pokemon down the opposite end of the corridoor towards where he'd previously boarded the ship. Hell, there was a though... Would water have flooded it as far as the mid-deck..?

 

[Rex]

OoC: Shiny's out, Real Life has gotten in the way. Sad to lose someone so early, but it has to be done...

BiC: The door holding the water back was a simple wooden door, designed to look nice as it let people out onto the deck. Unfortunately, it was not designed to hold back water. After a long groan, the doors burst open, allowing the ocean to enter this part of the ship. The water rushed John before he had a chance to do anything, picking him up and slamming him into the floor, walls, and ceiling. The water rushed up to the bulkhead, and smashed John against it. The boy hit his head on the metal doorway, and immediately lost consciousness, never to wake up again.

---

"Service stairs, down the hall, through the second door to the right," James answered, "It's a crew only area, but I suppose I can let you go through to get you somewhere safe. However, I don't know how useful an upside down staircase will be in going up."

James looked back at the rubble that led up to what was left of the kitchen, the boy having ignored his arm. He couldn't allow them to go up there, it was far too dangerous. He had to get them somewhere safe, but the woman seemed determined to just go up. What could the purpose of going up be? The ship was falling to pieces, people needed to stay together!

---

The hallway Karu was walking down eventually terminated in a staircase leading up towards the main lobby. Water was running down the ramp that was the staircase's underside, but it seemed to be a small trickle so far. To the right of Karu was an elevator shaft. The door was jammed open, but the elevator itself was far above the open doorway. One could probably climb up to another open doorway from there, but it would be dangerous. The alternative was follow the ramp up, and head through one of the upside down doors on the staircase. However, because of the ship's position, the doors were a few feet above the floor, which would make opening them and climbing through a problem.

---

"I'll manage," Tony answered.

The teen made his way further down the hall, and into a staircase. He was on the top floor of this staircase, and below him was the way further down. However, the ramp that was the underside of the first staircase was gone. This staircase had collapsed, leaving debris all over the floor. Tony would have to find another ramp staircase he could climb up. Before he left, a door caught his eye. It was a doorway to the floor formerly below the one he was on. If he could climb up there, he could continue his trek on another floor, which was progress, of some sort.

The boy let Jake out of his Poke ball, and explained his situation to the crimson Lucario. The Pokemon simply nodded, and moved over to the doors, closing the ones on this floor so that they could lean against them. Tony walked over next to him, and leaned against the door, which appeared able to hold his weight. Then he cupped his hands and leaned down. Jake placed his foot in his Trainer's hands, and was lifted up to his master's shoulders.

The Lucario was a bit heavier then Tony had imagined, but Jake worked quickly, less his master collapse under him. The Lucario smashed the doors with a Force Palm, forcing them open. Then he climbed through onto the next floor. Once he was in a good position, the Lucario leaned out of the door, and reached his arms out for Tony to grab onto. First, the trainer picked up Seth, and handed him to Jake. The Lucario rolled his eyes, but took the Buizel to the next floor first anyway. Then, he returned to his position, once again waiting for his master.

After handing the Lucario the pole he'd been using as a crutch, and getting that taken up for him, Tony finally reached out for the Lucario's arms. However, no matter how the two tried, Tony couldn't reach his Pokemon. At a complete loss for what else to do, Tony let Vincent out of his Poke ball. The Flygon still was under the effects of the medicine, and couldn't fly. However, he could use the Flygon as a stepping stool. He did just that, climbing onto his Flygon's back, finally able to reach Jake. The Lucario carefully pulled him through, and was returned to his Poke ball after many thanks were given. Then the trainer turned to look out the doorway, and returned Vincent to his Poke ball.

Seth handed him his pole once again, and the two started down the hallway, leaving the door open in case the woman had a similar idea.

 

[Sem]

"I see..." Lysis responded to the officer. Some stairwells were constructed in a way that consequently allowed you ascend them if they were to be upside down. You'd think that in a ship such a thing would be a safety precaution. But apparently it was not so with these stairs, or the officer would have seen using them as a possibility. "I'm not going to wander around here aimlessly," she explained. "A way up has been conveniently presented to us, but I'll go first to check out if it's safe."

"I can help!" Lizzie spoke, digging through a pocket in her dress. From it she produced a Pokéball.

"Oh, wonderful!" Lysis said, hoping that whatever was inside would be of use to them. The girl pressed the button on the spherical device, releasing the creature within. Lysis watched as the white energy took shape and faded away. Her grin flickered. "Oh hell, of course it's a Beautifly."

The insect Pokémon fluttered about for a moment before resting upon the little girl's head. It looked around with its eyes, seemingly slightly uneasy, of course, who wouldn't be? It scanned the area, taking in the unfamiliar faces.

"Miss Pretty, this nice lady's name is Lysis," Lizzie said, introducing her Beautifly, Miss Pretty, to Miss Fox. "Do what she tells you, ok?"

The butterfly nodded its head in response and looked to Lysis for instructions. "Right, erm, Miss... Pretty... Fly up there and see if it's safe," the young woman instructed, pointing to the room above with her finger. She shot a glance at the little girl, seeing the worried look on her face. "Be careful, Miss Pretty," Lysis added, for the girl's sake. Lysis personally didn't care for the creature, but if it could prove itself useful then it was useful.

The winged insect fluttered up the pile of rubble, perching itself ontop of the mound and scanning the room before entering. "Huh, not bad..." Lysis thought, thinking that the Beautifly might be trained specifically to protect the girl. You could never tell with the rich. Sometimes they had utterly useless pets, and other times they had pets that could take out a squad of soldiers without breaking a sweat, much like Lysis could. She had been a pet of the Rockets in a sense. Beautifly as a species were capable of being powerful psychics, which wasn't well known. No one would suspect a creature as innocent-looking as a Beautifly to carry dangerous psychic abilities.

After a few moments Miss Pretty flew back down to Lizzie. The creature seemed fine, and rather confident.

"Is it safe to go up?" Lysis asked. Miss Pretty nodded, and Elizabeth smiled in response. "Right, I'll go up first then. Miss Pretty, can you help Lizzie up the rubble?" The Beautifly nodded again. "Good. Let's go." Lysis had gone into her 'mission-mode' where she viewed everything around her from a tactical point of view - a result of her training. Her speech would be short, and everything she said sounded like a command. As far as she was concerned she was the leader.

Lysis removed her heels and tossed them up into the room above them. She would be glad not to be in heels at the moment, but it was safer to walk in them and to walk barefoot around a capsized ship. Better that something be protecting her feet than she step on something and injure herself. Of course, she could not wear them climbing up the pile of debris. She climbed as fast as she could, reaching the top after a minute or so. Miss Fox scanned the room herself, double-checking just in case the Beautifly missed anything. It was the kitchen it seemed, which meant all sorts of things could go wrong in there, none of the chefs still in the room seemed to be alive, and the woman could smell a tinge of burned flesh. They would need to leave what was left of the room as soon as possible, and find a quick way to a higher level.

"All right," she called down. "Bring Lizzie up."

The butterfly latched herself to the girl's back, and started flapping her wings vigorously. So fast, in fact, that it was creating a powerful gust of air that helped the insect fly the girl up into the room. Lysis took hold of the girl and said "Don't look around you, ok? Keep your eyes on Miss Pretty's until we leave this room."

"Ok..." she replied as Miss Pretty latched herself to the front of Lizzie's dress, looking up into her trainer's eyes.

"Good," Lysis thought. "No need for her to see these bodies..." She picked up her heels and looked down into the hallway below as she put them back on. "You two coming?" she asked the boys.

 

[Atma]

Coming to the sloping floor and staircase ceiling, Karu gave a sigh. He'd risk slipping and falling on both himself and Aqua Pop if he climbed that accursed ramp, but it had to be done he supposed... Turning with open mouth to instruct Red Silk, he found the spider surveying an open lift shaft, prepared to leap within.

A deep panic from his childhood leapt up and provoked Karu to call out, "Not a chance in any circle of hell or beyond the gates of heaven!" He was trembling lighty, cold sweat breaking out. In his arms Aqua looked up at him worriedly. Even his other pokemon stopped to stair at him with curious eyes and expressions, Flora in particular near tears due to her sensitive nature.

"T-traumatic childhood experiance.." the black haired male replied in response to the wordless quiery. Clearing his throat he turned to face the slope. "I'm sure you'll forgive me and agree falling over is less risky than plummeting from a wire or wall.." Looking down to his youngest companion he added, "Right, little Aqua..?"

In response it gave a cry, waving tiny arms with a smile and light crackle of electricity forming. Focusing on the task at hand Karu treated it just like any other slippery slope. Use both hands and - Oh. Right, crippled arm ... Giving a sigh he leant against the wall and motioned for Red Silk and Cotocan to go first with an instruction to carry up Flora, who was releasing a pleasent fragrance of Sweet Scent in attempt to relax her trainer.

Calling up to Red Silk once he could see him at the top he called out, "Right! Now use String Shot!" Obeying the command, the strong web was fired and as it travelled between them the blue eyed male added, "Sahara, use Bonemerang to pin the web the the slope in front of me!" With an eager glint in her eye threw a precise bone, pinnig the web to the ground and twirling her bone club with pride after a pat on the head and "Good job." from her trainer.

Placing Aqua on his shoulder and gripping the web like a sort of rappel, the injured trained eased himself up with Sahara in tow, giving Red Silk a word of thanks then having Sahara pin the other end down for any other unfortunate soul coming this way. Pausing once more, he realised a door was in the way. Lucky for him he had a flying type .. "Cotocan, would you mind?" Giving a happy chirp the cloud winged bird turned the hand and opened the door with some difficulty, flying about the lobby which was littered with its own broken furnishings. Using a crawling Red Silk for aid, Karu was able to move over the doorframe but in the process of easing himself down almost injured himself further if not for the further strained efforts of Red Silk to ease his footing.

"Well.." He said with relief once safely on the ceiling, which was quite ironic he thought since this was hardly a safe place to be at all ... "A small break for everyone.." Slouching down against a wall the dark haired trainer offered up berries to all his pokemon as reward for their effort so far. Yet he feared much more might be needed yet...

 

[Chadwyck]

Paul watched the Beautifly flutter up into the room above, it came back down after a few moments and seemingly signaled to the woman that it was safe. The PokeMon reminded the boy that Hana was still in her PokeBall. The boy released the Bellossom, and upon seeing other people around she immediately set to crossing her arms and acting tough. It was a second before she noticed the state of her trainer and the ship for that matter. She softened a bit and hugged Paul's leg, not caring who saw her display of affection.

"I'm all right, Hana. We need to climb up after that lady, now, you ready?" He asked with a smile. Hana nodded and climbed up onto Paul's shoulder. The boy had a bit of trouble with the shifting debris, but soon the dangerous climb was over and he was standing beside the woman in what was once a kitchen. The sight was horrific, and if it weren't for the little girl he may have vomited, but for her sake he didn't want to let on that something was wrong.

Hana had to close her eyes, she never much cared for the carnage of death; despite on occasion having to protect her previous trainer by nearly killing his enemies. In the matter of self-defense, it was different. Life or death situations. But these men and women didn't deserve to die, not such gruesome deaths as these. Paul took the Bellossom and hugged her tightly in his arms, shielding her from the sight and comforting himself at the same time. "It's all right, Hana. We'll get out of this." He said quietly, looking at the woman with a look that meant, "Let's get the hell out of here."

OoC: Yayyyy, short post of inaction!

 

[Tailon]

“I’ll manage,” the teen answered shortly, then moved toward the stairs, calling on his oddly colored Lucario to help him get to the next floor, passing his Buizel to the Fighting type before climbing up himself via his Flygon, then returning the two Pokemon and moving on, seemingly fully ready to ignore Lucy.

The young woman was fairly sure it would be better to remain with another person, and thus made her way to upside down stairs and now open door, and took a two Poke Balls off her belt. The first she used to recall Dex, thanking him as he disappeared in a red beam of light. She then tossed the other ball up through the open door releasing the Pokemon inside in a white flash. What appeared to be a large bundle of vines with eyes peered over the edge of the now bashed in door. Whip, realizing his trainer needed a lift, stretched his long, red tipped, vine-like arms to pick her up by the waist, lifting her up to the former ceiling on which he stood.

Lucy patted the large Tangrowth with her good arm as thanks, and he seemed to smile, or at least the vine mass equivalent. The Grass type fell into step behind Lucy as she began to follow the teenager again, then decided to scoop her up place her on his head, using a few vines around her waist to keep her stable.
As the Tangrowth caught up with the teenager, Lucy spoke from atop his head, saying, “It really would be better if we cooperated you know, this isn’t exactly an ideal time to go it alone.”

 

[Rex]

James was flabbergasted as the two women carefully made there way up the debris to the kitchen's remains. As soon as the older woman peeked her head out again to ask if they were coming along, James hurried up the debris after them. The kitchen was a destroyed wreck. There was a door leading out of the kitchen at both ends. The one closest to them lead to a service corridor that would take them down into where the first class cabins used to be. The second, on the other side of the debris laden and hole filled kitchen, would lead them further up, into the bowels of the ship. There was also a vent that appeared large enough for the little girl at the very least. The vents would allow quick travel around the deck, unless they were taken down. The question was, could they even fit?

Suddenly, the ship rocked as one of her larger rooms started to flood. Sparks again flew from what remained of the wire in the middle of the room, and several bits of debris were thrown about. After a moment, it stopped, and all was calm.

"I suppose we should find a way to get off the ship," James nodded, trying to keep the fear out of his voice, "Right, Miss, the door closest to you will take you down to First Class. Across the gap, and through that door would take you further down. There are also the vents, but I don't think they are large enough to fit anyone but the girl."

---

Karu had made it to the main lobby of the ship, where the guests had entered from. The great elevators that took passengers up and down the decks from here had mainly collapsed, and there were a number of bodies laying around the ceiling, from when unlucky passengers had been smashed out of the glass elevators, and to the ground below. Somehow, the lights shone bright in this room. The fire hadn't touched the grand lobby yet, and neither had the water.

However, all that would soon change. Because of damage done to the ship's side because of the tidal wave, some rooms had already flooded, and the water pressure was becoming too great for the doors to hold back. Finally, several of the weaker doors burst, and water rushed into the lobby. All the bulkhead doors on this floor were down, except for the one leading back to where Karu had come from. Of course, it was entirely possible for him to ride the water for several floors until he reached a balcony, where an open bulkhead door could be spotted. Waiting for the water to take him up there would be dangerous, but it would postpone the sinking for at least a few minutes extra.

The only other option that presented itself was climbing up one of the tracks the elevators in the lobby ran on. If he was fast enough, he could beat the water and open a door in time to escape the flooding. This route presented its own dangers of course, but it might just be the easier of the two.

---

"If you want to come along, then by all means go ahead," Tony sighed, "I'm heading to the pharmacy, I need something to disinfect this gash, at the very least."

The ship lurched, throwing Tony and Seth into the wall. The trainer shouted some choice curse words, then picked himself up again. The pain in his leg was even more intense now. Seth seemed alright, though worried for his master. Tony painfully continued on, wincing with each step.

"It's just a few stories higher. I need pain killers too, now that I think about it," the trainer called back to the girl, "Get to the pharmacy, get the drugs, then find a way off this damn ship."

There was another stairwell just down the hall, if the signs were correct. Tony just needed to get to them, and he could take them up to the pharmacy. Continuing through the pain, he eventually made it to the staircase, carefully heading up the ramp to the floor the Pharmacy was on. However, it seemed he wasn't the first to get this idea, as the second he turned towards the pharmacy, a Flamethrower was shot at him.

The trainer dived around the corner again, hiding behind the doorway. He heard a cruel laugh from down the hall, obviously the owner of the Flamethrower-knowing Pokemon. He needed to get around this guy somehow.

 

[Tailon]

It seemed the young man was at least willing to cooperate, and Lucy asked Whip to follow him toward the pharmacy. However, as they small group was rounding the corner, a massive tounge of fire forced them back. Lucy patted her Tangrowth on the head, prompting him to reach up and place her back on the ground. She recalled the Grass Type, instead releasing a small, blue turtle. Wave blinked a few times, looking to Lucy in confusion when he realized they were on the ceiling.

Lucy turned to the teen and said, “Listen, I’m going to send Wave in to counter any attacks coming our way, then you send your Buizel, or anyone really, and take him out before it can change its focus.” The young woman motioned to Wave, and the Squirtle moved quietly around the corner until the fire began to fly, at which point the Tinyturtle Pokemon began launching Water Gun to put down the attacks as they came.
Lucy watched this, and as soon as the attacks began to fly, called out,“Alright, go!”


OoC:Shortpost :\

 

[Sem]

"First class..." Lysis muttered. Her suite was below them, and contained her possessions. None of them were irreplaceable, however. "Probably flooded down there, and in the opposite direction of where we want to go." The woman directed her attention up to the vents. Getting up there would be an issue, as well as the fact that she probably did not fit. The other door was the most logical choice, and so Lysis set out for it quickly, not wanting to lose more time. Every second counted against them in their current situation.

Lysis removed her shoes again, tossing them across the gap. She measured the distance, figuring she could jump it if she wanted to, being as athletic as she was, but it was possible she was overestimating herself, so she used the rubble that was piled up against one side of the hole to cross. She carefully stepped over a body and put on her heels once again.

"All right, Lizzie," Miss Fox instructed. "Close your eyes. Carry her over here, Pretty," she instructed the Beautifly. The insect nodded her head and repeated what she had done earlier, using the power of her wings to create a strong enough air current to carry her and the girl across the gap. Elizabeth squinted her eyes and whimpered slightly, unable to see her surroundings. Once they were close enough Lysis grabbed the girl and set her on the ground.

The young woman began to head towards the door before glancing back at the two males. The officer was useful, as he was a living map. The boy however was useless as far as Lysis knew, and she would leave him behind if he couldn't keep up. But as she eyed the Bellossom she knew that the Grass-type could prove to be a useful tool in certain situations. In the end she would leave the officer behind as well if it came to it - she trusted her instincts enough to get herself out in one piece. For now, however, the young men could be useful to have around.

"Miss... Pretty," Lysis said, nodding back to James and Paul. "Go see if they need help crossing - I'm going to check the path ahead." The Beautifly agreed and fluttered back across the gap. Holding Lizzie close to her, Lysis walked to the door and opened it. She peeked out into the hallway beyond and saw that it was all clear. "Wait here out here, okay? You can open your eyes," Lysis said as she took a more thorough look around while waiting for the other two to catch up.

 

[Chadwyck]

Paul watched as the woman climbed across the debris to the other side of the gap. He knew that he couldn't make the jump, it was just the truth of the matter, but he may be able to climb across the debris and follow her example. He noticed that she looked back at the pair, no doubt wondering how best to help them across; she wouldn't be considering leaving them behind. They were together in this. Paul made it a point to catch up with her quickly, though.

"All right, Hana, hold on tight." He nodded toward the Bellossom and she tightened her grip. He stuck as close to the wall as possible, climbing carefully over the rubble. Luckily he had worn shoes that weren't formal, otherwise it would have been an even more uncomfortable experience. As he stepped, part of the rubble broke loose and he began to lose his balance.

In that instant he felt a fear unlike anything he could have possibly imagined; the knowledge that, if he fell, it was over. There wouldn't be any second chances, and that was terrifying. Time seemed to hold its breath as he tried, desperately, to find a grip to keep his balance. There weren't any. He started to fall, when suddenly something pushed him back up. He hurriedly crossed to the other side of the gap, glad that the experience was over. He looked behind him and saw the little girl's beautifly. "Thank you." Paul's voice shook and he smiled, it was a smile full of adrenaline and fear, but a smile nonetheless.

Paul walked over to where the little girl was standing, the woman apparently taking a closer look beyond the door. Paul wasn't great with kids, and he was just as scared and freaked out as she probably was; so he decided that rather than speak to her with a quavering voice, he would follow the woman and take a closer look around. It would hopefully help the adrenaline coursing through his veins to subside, at least slightly.

 

[Atma]

Karu groaned at the sound of splintering wood and buckling metal. Even the rush of water was horrific. Scrambling to his feet he shouted commands to his pokemon to make for the debris and fasten it together. In a crazed rush the small bustle of junior pokemon was swept up by their senior spider and taken to safety, trainer not yet quite so fortunate.

Regardless, as he regathered himself and made his way across the room the spider pokemon was viciously tearing apart the legs on a sturdy oak table to make a raft of sorts. Sahara was doing her best with what little energy she still had to build a small mass of ice to divert the flow of water to buy time, to some avail too.

As water struck the block of ice chunks gave in, breaking off into the torrent of oncoming water as it parted about the pokemon. Karu himself was swept off of his feet and back into where he had sat earlier, water still rising about him with increasing pressure on his body, threatening to force all air from his lungs and lose his body to the abyss. Yet, a teary eyed Aqua gave him some manner of determination, tugging at his cheek from his shoulder. As block of ice gave way completely the darkly clad trainer's pokemon pulled him up onto the makeshift raft one the force of water pushed them toward him.

Karu gasped heavily in the air as water filled the room. He looked up to the once more worried faces of pokemon, giving a reassuring smile. Then dread gripped him. He could hear the water falling into somewhere. Looking across horror took him. The elevator shaft. Shouting in panic he pulled the pokemon close to him with a shout of, "Flora, use Magical Leaf and split some of this table off!"

The teary eyed flower pokemon nodded as she scrunched he eyes shut and shimmering coloured leaves rushed from her 'skirt' into the air, pausing to fall for barely a second then neatly removing a third of the table. As inevitable water flow drew them toward the large elevator shaft the trainer screamed as the raft fell with a resounding splash further down. His heart was pounding, his entire team was shaken. Even the sturdy Red Silk was quivering.

"It's alright.." He whispered in hesitating tone. "Look we're just rising up now. Closer to the surface." It calmed them all somewhat, even Karu himself was put at ease by the statement. Some floors up he'd have to break open an elevator door. No point in reaching the top and just drowning. Of course though, he listened for movement beyond the passing doors before anything was done.

 

[Rex]

OoC: After much pestering from Sem, and no responce from Karu in regards to fixing up his post, I've decided to go on without him. Sorry Karu, but this appears to be the end.

BiC: The water burst into the lobby, quickly sweeping Karu and his team of six away. The trainer was quickly crushed under the weight of the water, and drowned long before his body finally came to rest on the ramp of one of the many upside down staircases.

---

"Aqua Jet," Tony commanded.

Seth nodded, and hurried around the Squirtle. Before the opposing Pokemon could respond, the Buizel had rammed it with its attack, sending it flying. The enemy trainer let out a cry of anger, signaling the Buizel's victory. Tony quickly hurried around, in time to see the trainer return their Pokemon and run off. They had won the fight, and taken the Pharmacy, for now.

With Seth in tow, Tony entered the pharmacy. There was no way he was getting over the counter, so he, once again, let Jake out of his Poke ball. The red Lucario quickly grabbed his trainer the bottles he had pointed out, soon rewarding Tony with a pain killer and a disinfectant. The leg pain was bearable, so the trainer put that bottle in his pocket for safekeeping, then cracked open the disinfectant.

Seth quickly found a bottle of water for his trainer, while Jake moved over to guard the door. The trainer quickly took the pills, gulping them down with the water. Afterward, he sat down, leaning against the counter. He needed a break, especially with his leg injured as it was. Using the water, Tony washed the blood off his head, and fingered the cut on his head. It didn't hurt much unless he pressed down on it, thankfully.

"Get what you need," Tony called to the girl, "We'll have to get moving again soon."

---

James watched as the woman, girl, and boy made it over the gap. Now it was his turn to attempt to climb around the side of the pit without falling down. Slowly and carefully, he climbed over the rubble, making sure not to misplace his feet. Somehow, he made it, though he took a lot longer then the others.

Hoping to make up for his blunder, the third officer quickly hurried out to the hallway, looking down each side himself. Then he called back into the room.

"Right, this is a service corridor," the man stated, "we go left from here, and well head to the bow. Likewise, right goes to the stern. There should be more stairs on either side of the corridor. If we're lucky, we might be able to take one all the way to the hold, though I don't know what sort of condition the stairs or the hold is in at this point."

 

[Sem]

"Is there a way for us to get out from the hull?" Lysis asked James. "Getting up their would be great, but it does us no good if we're trapped up there." Whether they went right or left at this point could decide their fate, she knew this.

The ship rumbled and their were loud creaks around the group following by a loud rumbling that sounded like it was very close. Lysis looked around, turning her ears to every direction. It seemed to be below them. Lysis wandered back into the kitchen and saw that water was quickly rising, spilling over the hole in the floor. Lysis quickly walked back to the rest of the group as the water chased her heels.

"Water's rising, we need to move! Which way, officer?" she asked him again. as water spilled out into the hallway.

 

[Rex]

"Crap, we'll have to find a drier way!" James yelled.

With that, the man hurried down the hall, away from the flooding kitchen. Instead of taking the stairs, he found his way to one of the bulkhead doors, and raised it so they could get through. With that, the officer hurried under, and grabbed the other lever, waiting for the passengers to catch up to him.

"Come on, this way!" he called, "We'll have to take a small detour so the water doesn't trap us somewhere!"

 

[Sem]

Lysis hurried after the officer, holding tightly onto Lizzie's arm. The water had already rushed past them, though it wasn't yet up to their ankles. The young woman ducked under the rising door, with the Beautifly fluttering behind them. Lysis grabbed the creature's Pokéball from Lizzie and returned it, tucking the ball away into her clothing. Once everyone was through the officer closed the door behind them, stopping the flow of water.

"Great," Lysis sighed. 'Now where..." It was silent now except for the constant creaking and moaning of the ship. They needed to get higher before one of the larger rooms like the dining rooms or the ballroom started to flood it they weren't flooded already. What she would give for a cell phone of any kind - she could use it to call her grandfather and with his resources he would ensure that she would be rescued. Of course, it wasn't as if she would get reception in a malfunctioning ship underwater. Crews were already in motion to rescue any survivors anyway. It wasn't as if no one knew that a passenger ship carrying thousands had capsized.

Lysis kept walking, holding Elizabeth's hand. Some of the lights on the ceiling-now-floor were dead, but enough were lit that it was easy enough to see, but it would be prudent for the group to find flashlights somewhere before they found themselves in a place with no light.

Then the woman came upon something promising - an elevator. It wasn't going to work, obviously, but most elevator shafts had ladders in them. They could use the ladder to climb up to the hull. "Wait here," Lysis told Lizzie as she began searching for something the pry the doors open with. She returned after moment with a piece of metal that was just thin enough to force between the doors.

"Can one of you boys help a lady out?" she asked as she drove the object between the elevator doors and began prying. Once it was opened wide enough she slipped her hand through and pulled on one door while one of the young men pulled on the other door. Tara probably wasn't going to appreciate it, but Lysis was taking very good care of her body. She had developed the girl's muscles and toned her body.

The doors were now open. "No matter where this goes, up is the best direction to travel in," Lysis pointed out. She peered down the shaft, happy to see that the elevator was bellow them, which mean that it pose no danger. The young woman slipped the metal object into her belt and released Miss Pretty once again. "Keep us safe, Missy," Lysis ordered as she started inching along the rim inside the shaft. The ladder was directly opposite of the opening, but the rim was thankfully wide enough. Lysis stepped onto the next wall and grabbed the side of the ladder. She turned sideways and twisted her torso to face the door. "Miss, get Lizzie onto the ladder," she said. The butterfly nodded and got into position on the girl's back. "Don't look down, darling, just look at me," she said.

Lizzie nodded, though she seemed fearful - which was natural - a seventy foot fall awaited anyone who slipped. Lysis grabbed the girl's arm with her right hand when she was closed enough, helping the Beautifly place the girl onto the ladder. "You're ok," Lysis said. "Start climbing." The young woman to started climbing after Lizzie, and the Beautifly hovered by her owner, ensuring that she didn't slip. "One step at a time, you're doing good," she told Lizzie, though Lysis secretly wished that the girl would move faster.

The group climbed up several floors, which helped them gain a lot of ground. Lysis saw one of the elevator doors opened just a crack. It wasn't near the top, but it would do.

"Wait here," Lysis told Lizzie once more as she climbed over the girl and stepped onto the rim. "Missy? Do you know Psychic?" she asked. Missy nodded. "Good, get those doors open for us, please," Lysis instructed, nodding towards the elevator doors. The metallic doors groaned and screeched as an unseen force assaulted them, prying them open just enough for the people to climb through. "Not a strong as I would've liked," Lysis thought to herself as she inched towards the opening. "We'll definitely have to work on that." Lysis stepped out of the shaft and looked around quickly, noticing the orange glow of a fire around the corner. It didn't seem to be moving, which was good. Again Missy helped Lizzie cross and Lysis pulled her into the hallway. The Beautifly fluttered back into the shaft in order to assist the officer and the young man.

Looking around Lysis noticed that they still seemed to be in the passenger area of the ship. They were likely on one of the lower, or higher in this case, steerage levels. She didn't see a map anywhere, but she noted that the hallway around the corner with the fire wasn't blocked off, and they could go through it if they needed to without getting burned.

"Where are we?" she asked James as the ship gave another lurch. "And where to now, officer?"

 

[Chadwyck]

Water began to rise through the hole in the kitchen they had just come past. For a moment the gravity of the situation seemed very real to Paul, not that it wasn't real to begin with. But, when in the midst of something like this, it was easy to get so focused on your own feelings that you forget that there's a very real chance for something to go wrong. For people to die. Suddenly, those corpses that they had passed by so leisurely without any hesitation returned to Paul's mind. Those had been real people, who were no longer living. Did they have families? Friends who would never see them again? It made Paul feel sick to think about. "Will... Will I ever see my parents again?" He asked no one in particular. Hana clung tightly to his shoulder, and with mild hesitation Paul followed the officer and the woman through the door.

Safely on the other side of the door they began walking again. They could only be safe for so long. They needed to get out, and they needed to get out now. For the first time since the incident, Paul was beginning to view his surroundings more like a prison. At any instant something could happen and that would be the end of it. The urgency took hold of him, and he was immediately at the woman's side, prying open the elevator that they had come to. The woman said something about going up, and Paul silently agreed. He didn't care so long as they were moving. So long as he didn't feel trapped.

The woman and the girl began climbing, and Paul followed closely behind. He stepped out onto the narrow rim around the elevator door. He looked down, which was his first mistake. He had been feeling dizzy enough as it was with his concussion, now the sight of the fall that awaited him should he slip only added to it. He stopped and decided to return Hana, if anything happened to the Bellossom he wouldn't know what to do. With the grass-type safely within her Pokeball he stepped out onto the rim once more. He stuck as close to the wall as possible and somehow managed to will himself to step over and grab the ladder.

He climbed behind the pair. Keeping a respectful distance so he didn't feel like he was rushing them, but in all honesty he wanted out of the elevator shaft as soon as possible. It felt like they had been climbing a long time, mostly due to his discomfort with the height, before they finally found a floor that they were going to exit onto.

The Beautifly pried open the door with the use of Psychic, despite the fact that it wasn't overly powerful it got the job done. After the girl and the woman climbed through, Paul followed out into the hall. He looked around and saw the glow of a fire, but other than that it looked safe enough. He released Hana again and she immediately climbed her way up to Paul's shoulder.

The woman asked the officer where they should go next, and while they waited for an answer Paul decided to take a closer look around at the lower level turned higher level. It was a service area of some sort, Paul wasn't entirely sure since he knew next to nothing about ships of any kind. Still, it seemed like it was safe. Safer than the water that was only increasing beneath his feet. The thought made him uncomfortable. The crushing black of the ocean around them. If they didn't keep on pressing forward, it would be his grave. Nothing had ever terrified him more.

 

[Tailon]

The trainer’s Pokemon fell quickly before the teenager’s Buizel, causing them to recall whatever it was and flee. The boy was first to head around the corner, into the pharmacy. Lucy recalled Wave, using the moment of peace to give Buzz a Max Revive, waking the Pokemon from his fainted state, and fully restoring him from any injuries. The Butterfly Pokemon lifted into the air, and began hovering around, apparently attempting to thank her.

Lucy walked up to the pharmacy to find the boy’s red Lucario standing by the door, and the teen seated against the fallen counter, who said, "Get what you need, we'll have to get moving again soon."
Lucy nodded, then turned to Buzz and told the Butterfree, “Alright, I need you to find a first aid kit, there’s gotta be one around, just look for a bag, probably with a red cross on it,” Buzz immediately complied, beginning a sweep of the objects on the floor. As he looked, Lucy turned to the boy and said, “I don’t think we’ve been introduced. My name’s Lucy, yours?” As she finished the query, Buzz hovered over with a red bag, a white cross on the front. Lucy opened it and took a gauze pad in a plastic bag marked “sterile”, and unwrapped the makeshift bandage, asked Buzz to bring over some water, to which he obliged, and poured it over the wound to keep it clean, then covered it with the gauze, and took some actual bandages from the pack and wrapped them over it to keep it in place, securing them with a small knot. She then closed the bag and walked over to the boy, sitting down a couple of feet away from him.

 

[Rex]

It didn't take long for the three of them to hurry though after James. He quickly slammed the door behind them, stopping the water from following them up. He then followed the woman down the hall, until she came to an elevator. The other boy helped her open the door, after which they climbed through. James could do nothing but follow them up, climbing the latter inside the shaft. When they finally reached the top, the woman asked him where to go next.

The third officer looked around him, wondering what he should say. One hallway was on fire, though the blaze looked relatively contained. It was very hard for the officer to get his barrings in this upside down world. After a moment, he spoke.

"We are in a service corridor, located near the third class dining room," he said, then pointed at the fire, "the kitchen and dining room are through there, probably most of the survivors as well. The other way would go to the mail room, and from there we would probably climb up to the boilers. That's the quickest way to the engines, though it is probably very dangerous as well."

---

Tony stared at the first aid kit the girl found, a little envious. However, he wouldn't take the time to ask for help, he needed to keep moving. The trainer pulled himself back to his feet, and returned Jake to his Poke Ball. Then he looked towards the girl.

"You can call me Tony, I suppose," he sighed, before heading towards the door, "Why don't you take the lead for a while, I'm a bit tired."

 

[Sem]

Despite the dangers, Lysis knew instantly where she wanted to go - nothing would happen to them as long as they were careful. Running into survivors would simply mean that more people would want to follow her, which would slow her down considerably.

With a silent nod Lysis began walking towards the mail room. Hopefully, if there were survivors, none of them would hear the group as they made their way. There was only a short hallway, at the end of which was the mail room, or what was left of it. Papers covered the ground like a carpet, along with now broken equipment such as computers and monitors. The young woman looked around briefly, not expecting there to be much danger, and there was none currently. All of the paper was a fire hazard however, and it would be best to get through quickly before the unspeakable happened.

On the other side of the room was a closed door. Lysis strode quickly over to the door, leering at the light that was flickering on the ceiling-now-floor. The group could still do with some flashlights. "Hey, sailor," she said as she stopped in front of the door, inspecting it for a moment. "Any idea where we can find some flash lights? Or other useful survival tools?" Lysis carefully raised her hand towards the door and paused. Heat. There was a lot of heat behind the door, and the door itself was sweltering, she could feel it without even touching it it was so very intense. The room itself felt rather warm.

Lysis turned, hiding her panic rather expertly despite the fact that the room could go up in flames in any second. Miss Fox could always count on her ability to lie effortlessly, as it did come in handy more often than not. She looked around, spotting a fire extinguisher off to the side. "Ah, a useful thing to have," she said, making it seem as if she was simply grabbing it in case they would need it later - which was half true, except they might need it sooner rather than later. "The door's jammed - let's go the other way." It was good to keep everyone calm, and not alert them to the immediate danger. People reacted in adverse ways when in a panic, and could actually be more dangerous than the threat they're running from.

As she was ushering Lizzie out the door she could see an orange light out of the corner of her eye, spreading across the room in a matter of seconds.

"Move!" she yelled, pushing people forward, waiting for everyone to get out. She swung the door closed behind them and immediately turned, facing the door with the extinguisher, prepared to extinguish and flames that got through. The room would burn quickly for the most part, as most of the combustible material was paper. She could hear the flames from behind the door, but none of them seemed to go through. Lysis smiled at Lizzie, who was hugging her leg. "We're ok," she said.

Lysis decided to wait, keeping track of the time with her watch. After more than five minutes had passed she decided the fire would be fairly dead by now. "Let's see here..." she muttered, stepping towards the door. The young woman spun, delivering a solid kick to the door. It cracked and flew open and was immediately followed by a spray from the fire extinguisher. Lysis coughed from the smell of smoke that now lingered in the air. Indeed, all of the paper on the floor had been burned up, but several pieces of furniture were still burning.

Carefully Lysis walked in. "Follow me, single file," she said and began spraying the ground in front of her as she walked, and also put out fires close to them. After a few moments she was at the other door once again. She could still feel that it was hot, but seemingly less so than before. She held the extinguisher at the ready and kicked that door as well, splintering it. She sprayed again, but found that the hallway had also been burned out for the most part. The cracklings of smaller fires could still be heard but other than that it was mostly safe.

"Let's go," Lysis said, stepping into the blackened hallway.