Starlight: Redshift

by the-pieman

Chapter 56

I decided the first order of business I should attend to is put Luna back in the PC, maybe train her when we get to a lower-level area. I take Geodude out and swap GLaDoS for Magomental. I need some kind of Bug type on my team after all. That done I see Twilight walk in the door with a plastic bag that I assume is carrying/protecting some books. Once the PC is finished, I walk over and plop down on the couch where Twilight has already opened a book. “Heya, how was your day Twi? Learn anything?”

“Oh, several things! I’m taking some time to learn about electrical power and how environmental power works, and I think I might be able to start making a more efficient model for the electrical systems in Ponyville and other rural areas. You humans have made incredible progress on finding ways for small towns to have easily renewable power. It’s been a problem in Equestria for decades, ever since electrical power was first used for powering a city, but only large enough cities could host a coal-based power plant without the pollution getting out of hoof... there’s a dam near Ponyville that we could even easily convert into a hydropower dam, or we could make a wind farm... there’s so many possibilities!” she says, giggles happily as she continues reading, her eyes never leaving the page.

“Yeah, get equestria more modernized.” I reply. “You should be more responsible with it than we were. Heck, look up airplanes for a way to mass-transport cargo and non-flying people.”

“We have air balloons Anthony, they work fine. Our airships are enough to get anything anywhere in under a week.”

“Sure but can it go several hundred miles per hour while staying stable?”

“Hmm... no, but with the right parts they can teleport six or seven hundred miles at a time.”

“Still, you wouldn’t believe what war has made us invent.” I say, deciding to let Twi read her book. “Whatcha check out?” I take a book from the plastic, water-proof bag and look at the cover. “Pokémon Breeding for Dummies?”

“It’s for Rarity. You had a lot of books like that... but it would seem ‘dummy’ means something else here.”

“If you mean dummy as in a puppet or something, then we have those too. We also use it as slang for a... well it means a dumb person but in this case they mean ‘newbie’ or ‘beginner’.” I flip open and the layout seems just like the other “X for Dummies” books back home. The first warning tag says ‘don’t worry about IVs, they will be covered later. Don’t be eager to start breeding for a profession until you’ve read through chapter twenty!’

“Wow, this thing covers breeding for a profession? Rarity might get a lot out of this.”

“Yeah, but the librarian said I have to return it in a week. It might be a lot to get through.”

“Well, we’re fast readers. We can always just read the book and tell Rarity what we know.”

“I am perfectly capable of a large read, darling. Have no fear, I am a rather prolific reader as well. Though admittedly not to your or Twilight’s extent.” Rarity says, and I notice she’s still got an Omanyte attached to her arm.

“I’m assuming they let you keep one?”

“Yes, he just doesn’t seem to want to let go. Isn’t it adorable? Just-”

I interrupt with “Lookit the giant eyes and those itty-bitty little arms! Isn’t it adorable!?”

“I know!” Rarity agrees, but Twilight seems nonplussed. Probably due to her first encounter with an Omanyte. The Omanyte itself is looking pleased at all the loving attention. “I’m looking forward to helping these little ones repopulate. Get them off the endangered list.”

“Wow, they’ve brought Omanyte from extinct to endangered in forty years or less?” I ask shocked. “That’s amazing progress!”

“It certainly helps that they’re such cuties~!” she says, tickling the Omanyte who seems to be in utter heaven from the attention, and coos.

“Yeah, that helps. Would explain why there are fewer Kabutops than Omastar. I mean, Kabuto is cool and all but not exactly an Omanyte in appearance. They’re those little Trilobite things back in those little habitats.”

“Oh, those’re cute too! though I can see why they’re less popular, they do look a touch menacing.”

“Evolved form doesn’t help.” I lament as I show her a picture of a Kabutops on my éTech. “Razors for arms aren’t exactly popular with the kids. Well actually the kids think they’re way awesome, but I mean that in the safety sort of way.”

“They doo look intimidating... but I could see them looking quite stunning in the water.” she says, and I point out that they can have Swift Swim as an ability.

“Amazing to look at and fast and sleek? My, pokémon may never cease to amaze me!”

A chorus of “Amen!”s come from the various other trainers in the pokémon center. It’s good to know you’re surrounded by like-minded individuals.

“Anyway.” I yawn. “I had a busy day. Despite taking a nap, I’m kinda beat. Not that tired yet but still... Luna did a good job out there for what she can do.”

“Wait, Luna?” Twilight asks, looking up to me from her book, and Rarity looks startled as well.

“Huh? Oh no, wrong Luna. That’s what I nicknamed my Lunaverde, the moth pokémon I caught before the migration event. I think they’re like the sister pokémon, like Butterfree to Beedrill. Or there could be no relation. Hold on, I’ll go get her.” I go to the PC and replace Magomental with Luna and, once the ball digistruction is finished, I toss it out and Luna appears next to the couch Rarity and Twilight were sitting on. “Luna, this is Twilight and Rarity.”

The two ponies-turned-girls wave, and the moth pokémon waves back. “Luu~uun!” she says, smiling gently. Well, smiling in the way a moth can, but it’s definitely a smile.

“Yeah, and I got a Ghowl too. No name for that one yet.” Ghowl is sent out and hoots in that badass, spine-chilling way it does. “Isn’t that cool?”

Both ponies shiver in their seats, but Rarity steps closer and begins cooing over Ghowl’s feathers, gently running her fingers along the pokémon’s head and back, which the pokémon seems to enjoy.

“Heh, I don’t think Rarity will even need a ‘for dummies’ book, an adept’s manual seems like it’d do more for her than one for beginners.” I say as I watch yet another pokémon fall for Rarity’s seemingly expert touch and honeyed words. “Maybe I get why you’re so popular with the stallions after all. If you could pet them with hands you’d probably have to beat them off with a stick or something.”

“Oh there’s one stallion I’d like to beat with a stick, but other than that I’ll just stick to my natural beauty for that. It’s already more than enough I assure you.”

“Hey, this group only has room for one egotist.” I warn.

“It’s not being egotistical if it’s true...” She smirks in reply and flutters her eyelashes innocently.

“Definitely see why the guys like you.” I say, chuckling. “Anyways, Twilight’s gonna take some notes on what she’s reading here and send them to Celestia to update your power sources... what have you learned today Rarity?”

“Oh, I’ve actually been practising a routine between Glorious, Glimmer, and myself.” she says. “Specifically, I was inspired by Mr. Xavius’ performance; I think with some work, we could easily do something similar.”

“Who’s Glimmer?” I ask.

“Oh, I named the pokémon you gifted to me Glimmer, as she gleams so beautifully in the light.”

“Ah yeah with the jeweled wings and such. I figured you’d like it and I’d already got Ghowl from Amy, and Luna from the wild so... Yeah. Speaking of Bug types, I haven’t seen Sewaddle out much, how’s it doing?”

“Oh, she’s doing excellently~! I did have a few sparring matches with some fine trainers I met at the mall.” she says, beaming.

“Cool. Zoli just trounced me and I did a bit of training. Carvanha is starting to listen to me better now that we’ve settled on an agreement of what is food and what isn’t.” I say, sighing. “How about you Twi? Getting any use out of Wispeery aside from using it as a booklight?”

“Oh, yes! Wispeery has been exceptionally helpful in general; apparently, it knows the sorting system in the libraries, and has been rather useful in some unusual battles... did you know there’s a variant where each trainer uses two pokémon at the same time?”

“Ah dang, I was hoping I could explain double battles before you wound up in one. There are even some contests that use the same idea, two pokémon at once for joint performances. There are also triple battles and Rotation battles. Triple is pretty self explanatory but I can go into detail later. Rotation battles are like double or Triple battles but only one pokémon is active at a time despite them being out on the field. You can spend a turn ‘rotating’ your team to switch to another. Those two variants haven’t made their way to the Contest circuit for... obvious reasons. Would just make things really complicated.”

“Understandable.” Twilight says. “But the double battle was really interesting, and I did some research into it. There’s apparently some incredible synergy between abilities and moves that only apply in double battles. There’s an ability, called Leadership, and it boosts allied pokémon, which is an interesting idea, and I want to know how that works!”

“Teamwork.” I explain. “It’s like a move called Helping Hand. It doesn’t do any good to the user but in a double or triple battle it boosts the abilities of its partner. Again, just like Mega Evolution it’s taking that Magic of Friendship you talk about and turning it into useable effects. Pretty cool, huh?”

“Absolutely. The more I learn about this world, the more I think it’d be good to, eventually, make a more stable connections between here and Equestria, and open permanent relations. I could see this world and ours becoming very close, very easily.”

“Yeah, ponies are physically similar to pokémon but mentally are like humans. Who knows, you guys may be the missing link between ‘Mon and Man. That would be pretty interesting, wouldn’t it?”

“I suppose, though that would be a bit odd.” Twilight says with a chuckle.

“Like life isn’t odd at times.” I chuckle in return. “So yeah, Zoli beat me pretty easily. I gave as good as I could though, but his pokémon were twice my level. Sometimes, smarts aren’t an excuse for low numbers sadly.”

“And sometimes dumb luck isn’t an excuse for a little smarts, dear.”

I glance at Rarity, who has a perfectly innocent look on. “Did you just fire a shot at me?”

“Of course not!” Rarity say defensively. “I was just commenting that you seem to be less intelligent than you say.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, ponies and humans will get along just fine.” I reply honestly.

Rarity smiles and nods, “Well, I’m sure there’s many humans who are plenty intelligent enough, given you seem to be on the baseline.”

“Baseline? Oh then you must be under it. I’ve got plenty of years of experience.” I reply snarkily. “Not that you’re stupid. Just somewhere right below me.”

Twilight scoffs. “Sure, Anthony, whatever makes you feel better.”

“Okay then. I look better too.” I say, booping Twilight on the nose. “Boop!”

Twilight swats at my hand, face scrunched up as she backs up a bit.

“So, jokes aside, when are you gonna try fighting Zoli? One bit of warning, the gym trainers use swimmers, but not Water types.”

“Really? Well, that seems different than most of the other Regions... I found a site, called Wikipedia, and I, uh... got a little lost. That said, I now know quite a bit about geovoric species in this world!” she pauses, blushing, “I, uh... started by looking up the color spectrum and how it’s measured.”

“Yep, that’s Wikipedia. You start with one subject and a few clicks later you’re studying something else entirely.”

“Yeah. Uhm, anyways, yes I’m planning to challenge Zoli, but his Gym Profile says he’s around level thirty, so I’m still training my pokémon.” she says, then stops, remembering something. “Oh, right! I saw an advertisement for those underwater tours. Apparently, they run every two hours, down at the docks.”

I check a clock. “Well, I don’t have anywhere to be for the next few hours. Wanna check it out?”

“Yeah!” Twilight says, and Rarity agrees as well.

“Alright then, let’s see what the bottom of the ocean looks like.” I get up and stretch. “So Twilight, it’s a bit far off, but you’ll want Pignite with you when you fight Zoli. His gym has a good amount of Steel types.”

“Really? that’s... impressive. The information I found says that Steel types are usually rare or reclusive.”

“Well, either way, bring Pignite. The second gym trainer has a Steel and Ice type. Litwick didn’t have an easy time, but a brawler like Pignite, or Emboar if he hits that level, might be able to handle it.”

“Alright, thanks for the tip, Anthony.”

“Hey, it’s what friends do. Now let’s go check out that tour. After it’s over, I’m gonna go to sleep. Been a big day.”

The girls agree and we head for the docks. Looks like we got there just in time as there are a few other people in tourist get-ups gathering around at the dock, a quartet of submarine tops visible next to them. There’s a man or woman next to each sub in sailor’s attire, and a sign saying ‘Four passengers per sub’, along with the price (300 per passenger) and some safety guidelines.

“Guess we’ll have a guest with us on this one.” I fish out the fare for myself and head towards one of the submarines. “Unless you wanna go on your own sub, that’s fine with me.”

Before either can say anything, I realize that most of the subs have groups of two or three lined up already, meaning there aren’t enough spots in any single sub for all of us.

I shrug. “Guess that answers that. Oh well, have fun I guess.” I walk to one of the three-person groups and join them. “Seeya in a couple hours I guess.”

The girls give a wave, and the two line up behind a young couple. After a while, the attendants are ready to take our fares and I’m helped into the submarine. Never been in one before and this is pretty cool.

Inside, it’s surprisingly spacious, though it’s still like a car, but tubular in shape. There’s so many windows on this thing, though, huge, curved panes of glass or something allowing all four of us to look around as the submarine begins to cruise out of the port. It’s a bit like a car ride, actually, in that there’s no tossing or turning like a boat would have as we go.

I ask my first question. “So how deep exactly is the bottom of this ocean?”

“The deepest part has only recently been found to be about six miles straight down. There’s also more areas down below that, but those are in caves and the like.” The attendant answers.

“And this thing has lights on it right? So we can actually see down there, right?”

“Oh, yes. There’s also a full pokémon team attached to this vessel; I’m a trainer, too. And besides, once you’re in the individual pods, you’ll each want to use the deep-sea pokémon that come with them, as unless you already have one, you’ll need something adapted to the depths.”

“I don’t have anything but a Carvanha.” I admit. “But how ‘deep sea’ are we talking? Lanturn level deep, or deeper?”

“Oh, Lanturn are good for the depths you’ll be at. We’re stopping only two miles down, at a shelf before the Abyssal Crevasse. There’s all sorts of intriguing pokémon down there, including some like Relicanth, that are much, much rarer above that point.”

“So I could get a Relicanth photo for my collection?” A now interested tourist asks, waving his camera.

“Easily! They’re attracted to the lights we use, so it’s common to find them. Just be careful; Crushacean tend to pick off Relicanth when they’re hungry, and they’re faster down here than the subs are.”

“We aren’t going to get eaten, are we?” One girl asks, and that gets everyone else worried, me included. I’ve almost been pasted by one of those things.

“No, no, no! Of course not, that’s why we’ll have pokémon with us.” the attendants says, calmingly.

“Would my Octillery be able to help then?” the third guy asks.

I add to that question. “What constitutes a ‘deep-sea’ pokémon exactly? Like I know there’s more pressure further down, but what pokémon can survive that deep? I doubt my Carvanha could but what about a Palpitoad or a Wailmer?”

“Wailmer, yes, but I’m not sure about Palpitoad. Most Deep-Sea Pokémon are ones already adapted to the depths. There’s a few that are transitory, like Zubzilla, which can dive easily down to around three miles, and have been known to eat Krakinos, which can only be found in the Crevasse itself.”

“So Octillery...?” The guy asks but I shake my head.

“Last I checked, Octillery are more along the lines of river pokémon since that’s Remoraid’s habitat, right?”

“Octillery are actually found in the ocean. Remoraid also live in the ocean, but have been known to find their way into rivers and streams. However, since Remoraid won’t evolve if it has too little territory, they never become an Octillery in the relatively cramped confines of a mere pond or lake.” The sub begins to dive, over a deep, dark blue expanse below us. The light begins to fade slowly, internal lights giving us enough illumination to see by.

“Are there any ancient pokémon down here that have been sent back into the wild by the local Devon people?”

“Yes, actually. Stinultra sometimes find their ways down into the depths, though there hasn’t been any fossils recovered of pokémon that are native to the depths. However, Krakinos are rumored to live for six to eight thousand years, meaning that it’s entirely possible that they qualify as naturally ancient pokémon.”

I nod, my question answered, and turn to look out the window. I wonder what I might be able to see, even if we aren’t going all the way down like I thought we were.

As the light dims all around, We all begin to see faint, sparkling lights in the distance, along with the lights of the other subs, until they fade into the distance. Finally, some of the floating blots of light resolve into a small school of Lanturn and Chinchou. Another school passes by, these being Finneon and Lumineon.

“In ten minutes, we’ll be two miles under, and your podcrafts will disengage. As such, we are activating them now, so please make sure you’re tucked in and buckled up!”

I do as instructed and get myself all strapped in. This is so cool! “So do we drive them ourselves, or do the pokémon move it around on a predetermined tour path?”

The guy across from me, dressed like a fellow trainer, smiles at me. “This is my third tour. It controls like a video game, two joysticks and a control panel.” As he speaks, metal and plastic-or-glass rods and panels begin to slide into place, until we’re each in an individual pod. “We each get to go our own separate ways. If you need to send out a pokémon, there’s a pokeball symbol on the dash pad, and the one with the Depths balls is below it.” The attendant finishes explaining much the same to the other two, the tourists.

“Depth balls? You mean balls designed specifically for pokémon that live in the high-pressure environment? Geez, those Silph guys cover all the bases, huh?”

“Ha! Nah, they’re like Safari Balls, just for the sub tours. They’re kinda torpedo shaped, to fly out better under water.”

“Cool...” I look for the button and, underneath the pokeball button there’s one with an image of a black-and-gray torpedo, with a pokeball button on the back of it. Neat! Wonder if I can get myself a eighth, ninth, damn, I’ve lost count of how many I have already! Doesn’t that only happen if you have like, forty or more?

Oh well, I’m not gonna catch all of them, but I am gonna catch plenty. Mostly I’m just gonna see what I can find on my journeys. I can’t believe I’m in a pod in the deep ocean! Next great environment will probably be a volcano, that’d be awesome! I start to drift off, daydreaming about what cool places I’ll see, but I’m snapped back when the attendant announces that the pods will separate now.

Oh man, here we go! Once I’m fully separated from the others I test the controls a bit and see that it is indeed quite like a video game, left for moving, right for turning, and the buttons are for various lights and cameras and there’s a pedal like a car. Oh well, I’ll just ignore that, I want to take this slow so I can see everything down here!

Twin headlights illuminate the world around me, and I see that the pokémon I have ‘rented’ are a Lanturn, a Marilurk, and... nothing else, darn. Still, I’ve seen both of those pokémon before, so at least I’m not having to dig out their ‘dex entries.

Though I hope I see some new pokémon, obviously. I return to daydreaming somewhat as I drive around in my little sub-pod, seeing... nothing really so far. I think I see movement but each time I move the lights towards it, nothing’s there. Then, I see a lone Finneon begin to go by, at a fair clip. Which means it’s probably being chased... but by what? I train my lights and camera on the direction the Finneon was coming from and see... nothing yet. I’ll give it a second to catch up, Finneon are pretty fast.

Then, out of the dark, a series of tiny, glowing lights move rapidly in my direction, and a Marilurk shows up, oddly graceful in spite of looking like a toothy football that got bits of black concrete stuck to it.

I wonder what else there is, maybe I can land myself a Clamperl. Marilurk aren’t really my style. Then again... Nah. I don’t know how many torpedoes I have and I don’t wanna waste one.

The Marilurk continues on its way, and I look down, seeing a huge column of black ‘smoke’ rising from the seafloor. Looking to its base, I see a colony of tubes with little pale eyes, forming a mini-volcano with the ‘smog’ rising from the center. It looks like a deep-sea sulphur vent, until it sluggishly skitters off to one side.

Cool... but not what I’m looking for. I already have a pokémon that only works in water. I notice there’s a comm system available, probably so the attendant can keep in touch. I decide to use it to ask a question. “What are the chances of me finding a Clamperl down here? I’m at...” I check the little dial that measures depth “A little less than two miles under.”

“Not very good. Clamperl aren’t very common in Otaria.” the response comes. Darn, oh well. If I see a Relicanth, I’m definitely catching that.

A few moments later, I think I see a Huntail, judging by the long, thin shape sliding through the water. It isn’t until I get closer that I see it’s something like a massive, translucent gulper eel, whose mouth opens to reveal little glowing patches inside its mouth. That mouth is open wide enough to swallow the submarine!

That is scary and awesome! I’m using a Depth Ball on this thing! Should be safe, right? I mean, there’s the Marilurk and Lanturn behind me still and they don’t seem worried.

“Alright buddy...” I chuckle at my impending joke. “Open wide.” And hit the button to send out a torpedo. The missile-shaped pokeball is shot out with a series of bubbles trailing it, and the phantasmal eel turns, seeing it. Its jaws shut and it watches the incoming pokeball, then turns almost invisible. If this were a video game, it’d be like it was turning intangi- the ball just went right through it. It must be part ghost type. A little counter appears over the ball release, indicating I’ve used one of twenty.

Well, there’s more chances to get something at least. Still, I open the communication line again. “Uh... this thing just turned invisible and the Depth Ball went through it.”

“Ah, that’s a Gulpar, then. They’re part ghost-type, and can phase out if they have enough energy. I’d suggest electrical attacks,” the response comes.

“Thanks for the tip.” I say and think on how to zap it when I recall I was issued a Lanturn. But those are for assistance. Does that also count as assisting in captures or not? Guess I’ll find out. I press the little button in the shape of a pokeball and the sub ejects a pokeball and a Depth Ball. Out of their respective balls comes the Marilurk and the Lanturn. Not sure what level they are so I’ll have to go with safe bets on what they’ll know. “Lanturn, Thunder Wave that Gulpar.”

Luckily it can somehow hear me from outside the submarine pod and looses a wave of sparks towards where the previously invisible pokémon is regaining its tangibility.

Let’s see, what else can Lanturn learn at relatively early levels? Oh, right, “Electro Ball.”

The decreased speed from paralysis would make that even more effective, though since the Gulpar is just floating there I can’t really tell if it was actually paralyzed or not, it’s just staring me down. Nevertheless, Lanturn’s orbs of light glow even brighter and form a sphere of energy that is sent straight for the Gulpar, who begins to try swimming out of the way, but is hit instead, thrashing wildly at the attack.

Next hit should be disorienting, but not damaging, so, “Supersonic.” The Lanturn opens it’s mouth and sends waves of sound I can almost see in the lit-up water nearby it. It’s pretty neat, but the Gulpar is less than pleased by the effect and starts thrashing wildly. This is my chance. I push the Depth Ball button again. Fire two is a direct hit as the missile-shaped ‘ball’ pulls the gigantic eel inside. It doesn’t shake in response to the struggle, flashing a blinking red light.

The red light at the tip starts flashing rapidly and then it stops abruptly. “Uh, the light went out on the Depth Ball. What’s that mean?”

I’m answered by a ‘ding’ and a flashing light coming from the control panel, and snap my fingers in success. “Nevermind, I got it!” I say happily. “Maybe this will help against Zoli.” The second part is said more to myself really, but I decide to let the others rate my catch, see what they think.

“I see you’ve caught a Gulpar, good job, pod three.” the pilot of the main sub says over the comm.

“Thanks, glad I got assigned a Lanturn, couldn’t have done it without the help.” Lanturn looks bashfully at me as if to say ‘It was nothing, really.’ The Depth Ball digistructs back to the PC marking my, uh... I count on my fingers by naming them. “Geodude, GLaDoS, Magomental, Litwick, Oddish, Luna...” I count the rest silently. “Ten! I have ten now! Sweet!”

I feel a sense of accomplishment, akin to when I first caught a pokémon in my first game I’d ever played.

Man, Silver version was such a long time ago... It makes me think of how far I’ve come. Now catching real pokémon. This is never going to stop feeling great! I thank the Lanturn again and it’s recalled by the sub, the Marilurk, mostly forgotten at this point, is returned as well.

Alright... where next to go? I could continue along the shelf, with chances for the pokémon around here, but the tour guide mentioned there’s more powerful and rare pokémon down in the crevasse. Both sound pretty enticing, to be honest. I decide to compromise and go around the shelf and head for the crevasse if I don’t see anything interesting. Nothing stopping me from doing both after all.

Continuing along the shelf I don’t see a whole lot, though I see a few odd pokémon but nothing compared to my recent catch. Not much can compete with a Water/Ghost type in ‘coolness’ so far. I decide to start diving, but keeping a close eye on the shelf in case I miss something just as I’m leaving.

I see a couple Magikarp, but other than that nothing really. I decide to pace myself in my captures, limiting myself to only one more. Don’t want a team so big that some get neglected. I think of all the pokémon in the games that I’ve caught just for the pokedex data and never using them... Geez, I’m fucking heartless to those ones. Just gotta be careful to keep my team small for now.

Suddenly, in the corner of my eye, I see a bright bloom of purple and blue light from the side of the crevasse, and a vaguely humanoid body atop a flow of violet... lava, I think, pours from a crack in the wall, which reveals itself to be a sulphur vent, like the many others I’ve seen down here.

An underwater possible-fire-type? Hell yes! That’d make Zoli’s gym trainers a joke! I try Lanturn again but the lava creature takes a look at my sub and Lanturn and begisn to slide around the side of the cliff vaguely down, apparently deciding at a glance it could do better than me in getting a trainer.

“Get back here! I want you to beat a gym for me!” No response. Damnit... well, there’s always that pokémon I suppose. Down to the Crevasse. But I do make a note to take this tour a few months later and get one of those whatevers. I will have one, even if not today, even if it’s not that one... I’ll catch one.

Sinking down into the Crevasse I check my little depth meter to see how far under the sea level I am at this point. In the quiet darkness, time seems to stand still, so I have to rely on machines to tell me what’s going on.

The hull groans softly every few yards I drop, but there’s no signs of damage, and I keep descending. Along the way, I check for a ‘user’s manual’, and find a tutorial program in the systems. And apparently, this sub can go down as far as 3500 meters, way farther than I’d thought previously. Also, it’s a bit odd that the instruction guide is in metric, but the tour guide was using imperial. Weird.

Either way, it doesn’t matter, what matters is finding out what’s down there. I go deeper and deeper, the, uh... depthometer? Whatever it’s called says I’m at 1500 and still doing fine so I decide to push a bit further. I’m descending still when I see something. It’s not clear and it’ gone when I shine the light. Must be another Gulpar. Am I still in that territory? Guess I have to go deeper then.

A few moments later, something, long, sinuous, and at least twice as big as the Gulpar slides past my view, barely grazing the pod in passing, but I feel the entire mini-sub shake and rattle under the impact. A gargantuan shape, covered in rocky plates and small, glowing tendrils, a squid-like pokémon longer than a bus slides out of the shadows. A pair of huge, crab-like claws untuck from between its mantle of tentacles, and the tendrils begin to enwrap the hull, saucer-sized suction cups gripping the clear material.

Now this is a pokémon, whatever it is! I do my best to calm down. It’s probably fine, just checking me out, deciding if I’m a threat. I try moving to another window to see out of, but it too is blocked by giant suckers. One word echoes in my mind when my eyes return to the crab claw: Kraken.

Ohhhhh shit. I open the comm. “I think I may have... a problem.” Mangled static comes over the comm in response, and I realize I may have strayed a little far from the tour group.

I release Marilurk and Lanturn and issue my first command of ‘Help!’. The two pokémon backpedal instantly as they see the colossal pokémon, identical looks of fright on both their visages as they retreat back into their balls. The immense, kraken-like pokémon begins to shift me to one side, and holds my pod up near its eye, which is almost as big around as the pod itself. The strange, gigantic pupil looks at me, but I can’t see any malice in its gaze. Slowly, the gargantuan pokémon uncoils itself from me, grabbing me in a claw instead, and pushes me gently upwards.

I can take a hint, that’s for sure. I make the sub rise up and away. I swear that was as close as close gets! I wait until I can hear more than static over the comms and I hear calls for ‘pod three’ which is apparently me, to check in. “Yeah, I’m here I just saw something really really big down there.”

“You went well below the depth for the tour; it’s not safe down there.” the tour guide says, sounding a bit panicky. “Please, please don’t go into the Crevasse itself again.”

“Not sure if I’m gonna stray outside of the shallow end after this.” I reply as I continue moving the sub pod upwards as I await my reply, deciding deeper really is where the scariest shit in the ocean lives. “Dunno what that thing was but I thought I was fish food for sure. So uh, what exactly has tentacles, claws and has eyes bigger than I am? What was that thing?”

“Oh my- that was a Krakinos!” someone else on the comm yells. “Those things are so~o strong!”

“And big.” I say in confirmation. “I take it that a tiny little Depth Ball wouldn’t cut it if you tried to catch it?”

“Are you seriously considering-”

“Oh hell no, not on my life, no way I’m going back down there!” I say, defensively. “I’m just curious.”

“W-well, technically, they can be caught in any ball. They are, in fact, the evolved form of Marilurk, and they don’t need much in the way of upgrades to make the balls able to hold them. Most pokémon centers install those on the ball immediately when a pokémon like that is caught.” the guide explains.

“Explains a lot. That thing must be big as a mountain! And they’re just a stage one evolution? Geez.”

“Indeed, and they’re usually about fifty-five to sixty feet long, actually.”

Okay, so not a mountain... but close. “Anyways, I’m making my way back up. I’ve had more than enough ‘adventure’ here to last me the rest of the week.” I admit. “Sorry, curiosity is definitely my major weakness.” I admit.

“Well, as long as you’re fine, then it’s no problem. I’ll engage the autopilot when you get close, so just sit back and relax.”

“Gotcha. So I know this girl who has a Marilurk. You’re saying she’s gonna end up with one of those, and I let it bone my Carvanha?”

“Uh...” the response is probably what I should’ve expected, but still... I need to know the answer! Maybe not from the poor guide, though.

Oh well, I guess I’ll just sit still until autopilot takes over.

---

I climb out of the pod and I breathe in heavily, swearing that pod was starting to get claustrophobic. “Well... that was eventful.” I make my way from the docks back to land, vowing t keep away from the ocean depths for the rest of my days.

I see Twilight and Rarity exiting their own sub, chatting excitedly about what they saw and how beautiful it was and all that. Finally they get close enough to me. “What did you see, Anthony?”

“A gigantic eyeball with tentacles and claws. It grabbed my pod and let me go before it could decide to eat me!” They look at me like I’m telling a tale. “Really! I saw a Krakinos! It was huge!” I spread my arms out to emphasize it’s giganticness.

“A- a what, dear?” she asks, sounding utterly baffled.

I pull out my eTech and look it up and show a picture. “According to this they weigh two metric tons. Is that big enough for you?”

“Two m- assuming they’re anything like Equestrian tonnes, that’s simply gigantic!” Rarity says, eyes wide as she looks over the data, and Twilight nods.

“Yes, they’re comparable. I brought a few weights with me, in case we needed to measure Bits out for conversion, and the local weight is fairly similar, based on the units I’ve found.”

I nod. “I told you it’s huge, I’m just glad it wasn’t hungry or I’d be eaten!”

Twilight pipes up with, “Actually, they don’t eat anything smaller than a Wailmer, and the submarine pods were rather smaller.”

“...Still, it was huge and it had me right in its claw. I can’t believe it evolves from something so relatively small...” I yawn. The experience must have tied me out. Well, it’s about sundown anyway. “But whatever, I’m here and not eaten. I caught something.” I interrupt myself with another yawn. “But I’ll show ya tomorrow.”

Author's Note:

Sorry for the wait, but I've been busy with holiday stuff.

Comments

[catfire13]

Ehhhhh it's fine :3

[jaxman147]

Check yes for Rarity sass, yes please. I'm also adoring the idea of a deep sea tour diving. Reading this reminded me of the game Subnautica. Except with Pokemon.

[Spirit of Harmony]

7076490 Me too. I was half expecting a Reaper Leviathan to appear.

[Spirit of Harmony]

“Yes, actually. Stinultra sometimes find their ways down into the depths, though there hasn’t been any fossils recovered of pokémon that are native to the depths.

I thought there was a ban on letting Stinultra into the modern oceans, due to the affect they would have on the ecosystem.