Chapter Thirteen: Lugia's Attack

Location: The bridge, S.S. Neptune, sea around Johto
December 11th, 3:50 p.m.

The sailor brought Kris back to the familiar bridge, but this time, Kris could have a more thorough look around. Indeed, on one of the computer terminals, there was the technician Celio, the brown-haired, well-dressed bespectacled computer geek. Sitting right next to him was his constant companion, Ein, the medical technician. Ein was silver-haired, wore sunglasses and had fancy, silver-colored clothes. The idea of wearing a uniform seemed to make these two shudder.

Touko and Blaine were standing on both sides of Captain Briney, Touko to his left and Blaine to his right. Briney was looking out of the window with a pair of binoculars. Next to Blaine was the helmsman while the navigator was standing next to Touko, looking into a computer monitor. Johto's coastline was visible in the horizon.

"Here she is!" the sailor announced and saluted when he brought Kris to the bridge.

Wordlessly, Briney passed the binoculars to Touko, turned around and marched to Kris. He nodded to the burly sailor, who saluted again and quickly left the bridge.

Briney started to observe Kris quietly. Despite his age, he was still a big man, and towered over Kris to intimidate her.

"Let's make one thing clear," Briney announced so the whole bridge staff could hear. "I don't like having you and your friends on board. However, we got a direct order from the higher-ups… according to them, you and your friends are experienced in dealing in these kind of situations…"

"I'm not saying anything until you say what the situation is," Kris said defiantly.

Briney squinted, but Kris knew she had upper hand. She could tell it from Briney's tone, and the way he said 'higher-ups'. That meant that he wasn't the one in charge of the operation. And no matter who was, they needed Kris' skills. Oh, and the others too, probably.

"I'll tell you what you needto know," Briney clarified and cleared his throat. "In a moment, we'll be arriving to the Whirl Islands. Inside caves that run under these islands is a mythical Pokémon that represents a threat to humanity…"

Hoo, boy. That old chestnut. He's thinking I'm actually buying that. Well, at least that sleazebag Palmer was right.

"Lt. Celio!" Briney ordered the wiry technician who was frightened by the way Briney suddenly addressed him. "Put it up on the screen!"

All eyes turned towards the gigantic display monitor above the windows. Celio pressed a few buttons, and soon the image of a white, bird-like Pokémon appeared on the screen.

"This is Lugia," Briney said dramatically.

The Pokémon was enormous, the statistics on the screen indicating that its height was estimated to be between twenty and twenty-five feet. Lugia was mostly pale silver-white and resembled a cross between a huge bird, a dragon and a plesiosaur. Lugia also had a ridged, beak-like mouth, a long, slender neck and humongous, hand-like wings. It had a light blue underbelly and had dark blue, plate-like protrusions sticking from its back.

"Nasty," Kris said appreciatively. "What do we know about it? Type? Capabilities?"

"Well, it's safe to guess that its secondary type is Flying," Celio reported, not expressing any surprise over seeing Kris on the Neptune'sbride. "But that's all we know. We have estimated its height to be about twenty-three feet and its weight should be close to five hundred pounds, but that info isn't going to help you a lot."

"Either way, you're not going to fight it unless we run out of options," Briney said. "We need to… hold on a second. Helm, report! Talk to me, Dock!"

Dock, the balding and slightly overweight helmsman saluted and turned to his captain.

"If we maintain current speed, we should reach the target in thirty minutes, sir," Dock said. "However, I spotted a large number of smaller ships around the archipelago. About a dozen speedboats and yachts registered to Team Plasma, and three destroyers registered to Team Rocket."

"Friends of yours?" Briney asked Kris.

"They're after Lugia as well?" Kris suggested. "So what's your plan going to be?"

Celio pressed another button. The image of Lugia was replaced with an image of the Whirl Islands. The archipelago consisted of four, rocky, completely deserted islands as well as a large number of dangerous whirlpools swirling around them. Somehow, Team Plasma's and Team Rocket's ships had gotten past the whirlpools, and now many grunts were running around on the surface of the islands.

"What you see here is probably less than 0,1 percent of the Whirl Islands archipelago," Briney said. "Beneath the sea, there is a maze of dark caves that are accessible from the surface. However, Rocket Grunts and Plasma Grunts have fortified the entrances to the caves. They had a bunch of bizarre Pokémon with them. Some types of huge, metallic insects…"

"Gee wiz, captain," Kris said, folded her arms and gave the evil eye to Blaine, whose bald head was glittering with sweat. "Maybe you should ask your security chief for the full story…"

Briney turned in Blaine's direction. Clearly, Blaine had been too ashamed to mention the Genesect, and how Team Plasma managed to make a bunch of clones from it. Briney stared at Blaine, but Blaine remained tight-lipped and pretended not to be listening. Finally, Briney just shrugged.

"Well, either way, it's not our concern," Briney said. "We're going into the caves, but we're not using the cave entrances. Our mission objective is to capture Lugia and make sure the enemy doesn't do it before us. That is all. You," Briney said to Kris while pointing at her, "make sure we succeed. It's either that or you'll experience the joy of getting keelhauled."

"Hey, like I said, that's why we came aboard," Kris said and tried to put on her best poker face. "We'll do everything we can."

"We?" Briney asked. "No, no, no. I don't want all six of you running nilly-willy around the Whirl Islands while we're having a situation. You and two others will go. Got it?"

"Okay," Kris said, knowing exactly who to use. "So tell me the plan!"

"We have a group of volunteer Pokémon Rangers traveling with us," Briney explained. "At exactly 4:30 p.m., a squad consisting of twelve Rangers will use a variety of Pokémon, mainly Fearow and Flygon, to launch an aerial attack on the Whirl Islands once we're close enough. They serve as a distraction for the realplan. You see, we also have a small submarine on board. It can only carry eight people at a time, but we won't even be needing that many. Me, the sub's driver, a member of the science team and you and your buddies will use the submarine to enter the underwater cave."

"Your plan is to use the Rangers as cannon fodder?" Kris asked. In all honesty, she didn't think was at all a bad plan… for her. For the Rangers, on the other hand…

"They will stay airborne the entire time," Briney assured. "I'm not denying that it will be dangerous… those big damn bugs have some serious firepower. However, the Neptune will stay at a safe distance for them to evacuate. We can't use any surface-to-surface missiles or bombard them more powerful dragon-type Pokémon - they might cause the underwater tunnels to collapse."

"All right, what else?" Kris asked.

"Once we're in, we'll use an electronic map to locate Lugia," Briney said. "Shouldn't be too hard, especially if the Rockets or the Plasmas have found it for us. They're probably attempting to capture it for themselves. To do so, they cannot use Poké Balls, as not only is it damn near impossible to catch it with one, but should they succeed, they can only use a limited amount of Lugia's power."

"Are we supposed to catch it alive, then?" Kris asked. She was worried, for sure, but if the plan was to capture it alive just like with Heatran, she still had a chance of stopping it.

"Negative," Briney answered, to Kris' dismay. "The scientist who will accompany us will… do what needs to be done to it, then you step in and terminate it. Either that, or we terminate you."

"Sounds like we're gonna have a fun day," Kris said and smiled. "Is that all?"

"Yes," Briney said, then looked in Blaine's direction.

Blaine saluted nervously. "Sir!" he yelled, his normally raspy voice sounding much squeakier than normal, like a rusty hinge.

"Have the guards pick up…" Briney paused for a moment and turned to Kris. "Who do you want to use?" he asked.

"I think Wes and Shane for this one," Kris said. "They're my boy-toys, after all."

Briney just responded to this with a confused look. Kris sighed wearily.

"Wes is the dude who thinks he's part cowboy, part Han Solo and part Don Juan and Shane is the little pea-brained blonde kid with a Sandshrew," Kris clarified. "And by 'kid', I mean that he's just as old as the rest of us, but you wouldn't believe it by looking at 'im. Got it?"

"Oh, and all this time I thought his name was 'Bane'," Blaine said. "Okay, I think I remember it now."

As Blaine saluted Captain Briney and hastily left the bridge, Touko walked to her captain. Though still standing straight and looking at Briney respectably, Touko looked and sounded uncharacteristically concerned.

"Captain, with all due respect, I still think you should reconsider," Touko pleaded. "Let me go instead. I'm much more expandable, and I don't think it's standard policy for the captain to participate in these kind of missions!"

"Well, these aren't standard times," Briney responded sardonically. "I already told you your job, Commander White: you have the deck until I return. As my XO, you need to take the com when necessary!"

"I… aye aye, sir," Touko said.

"Good," Briney remarked rather unprofessionally before turning to Kris again. "Once your, eh… friends get here, a sailor will take you to the submarine. I will visit the lab and then come down to meet you."

~o~O~o~

Location: The lower deck, S.S. Neptune
Fifteen minutes later…

Kris, Wes and Shane were escorted to the lower deck and past the cargo holds. They walked down another set of stairs, arriving to the deck even below that one, where the engine room was housed. However, instead of going there, the sailor took the trio to a smaller room located near the bow.

In the room, resting on some sort of hatch and surrounded by maintenance personnel and sailors, was a small, white submarine with a cigar-shaped hull. It wasn't much bigger than a truck, and it could probably hold only eight people at max, like the captain had said - even then, it would be uncomfortably crowded. But how on earth were they going to get the submarine out of the ship?

The sailor guided Kris, Wes and Shane to a metal catwalk located directly above the submarine, giving the trio a full view of the craft.

When the group was imprisoned, their Pokétch's, C-Gears and weapons had been confiscated. Most devastatingly, Kris' case had been taken from her and placed along with the other confiscated items. Kris just had to pray that no one opened it - she couldn't stand to have her precious taken away. At least Kris and Shane both got their Pokétch's back, while Wes also got his two revolvers back in mint condition. His Pokémon were also ready to fight, while Kris had visited the med bay to heal her Feraligatr. She promised that it could rest once everything was done, and was now anticipating a fight inside its Poké Ball.

Shane's Sandshrew was still clinging to its owner. Shane didn't have the heart to point out that Shrew's claws had burrowed into his skin, so he just grit his teeth and waited for Shrew to get over its fears.

Making sure that no one could hear what the trio was talking, Kris quickly told the others the situation.

"Dang," was the only thing Wes could say. "So they're really gonna do it? Kill Lugia?"

"Not if we can help it," Kris said pointedly while making sure her Pokétch still worked. The screen currently showed the time: 4:09 p.m., and everything else seemed to work, too. The Pokémon powers, the radio, the map, the Pokémon status screen…

"Yeah, but…" Shane said, trying to sound brave but failing miserably. "I mean, uh… I'm totally for making sure the Lugia lives, but howare we gonna do that? You have some kind of plan ready, huh, Kris? Because I'm not interested in trying to take down that crazy captain."

"He's a 70-year old man," Kris said. "Accompanied by some random pencilneck. I think we can handle them."

"I didn't mean that," Shane said anxiously. "I just don't want to hurt anyone…"

"Well, Shane," Wes said and assumed the 'big brother'-tone again, "there comes a moment in every man's life when he has to beat the crap out of his enemies. To some, like me, it comes about once a week. Did I tell you about the time me and Rui blew up one of Team Snagem's bases?"

"Yes," Kris reminded and hoped that Wes would get the clue from that.

"Yeah, but I think I forgot it already," Shane said and tried to make use of both of his brain cells to remember it. "Could you tell it again?"

"With pleasure," Wes smirked. "It all started, when-"

Wes was quieted when Captain Briney entered the room. He once again had a Wingull hanging on his shoulders and he was accompanied by Dock, as well as a tall, thin scientist with spiky brown hair and horn-rimmed glasses. He carried a big white briefcase with him, somehow dragging it with him despite his nonexistent muscles. The captain, the scientist and Dock walked to the trio, Briney enthusiastically raving about the submarine:

"Submarine Explorer 1," Briney announced. "Brainchild of the same guy who designed our ship, Captain Stern. You'll be the guests of honor on its maiden voyage!"

"Yeah… what?" Kris asked nervously. "Um… you mean, this is the first time it's used in combat, right?"

"No," Briney replied with a big smile on his face. "This is the first time it's used period."

"Yay," Kris deadpanned.

"Um… question," Wes said and raised his hand. "Don't think I'm questioning the competence of you experienced seadogs or anything, but how're ya gonna get the sub outta here? Don't tell me your plan is to make a big hole in the hull and push it through there… believe me when I say it: there's a big ol' ship in the middle of the Orre desert with a huge hole in its hull!"

"Pfft, sure, that's likely," Shane scoffed. "You're just yanking my chain, Wes!"

"…nah, feel free to yank it yerself," Wes said.

"The mechanism is very simple," Dock explained calmly. "Just think of it as an airlock, or a torpedo tube. Once we're in, a crane will grab the submarine and the hatch it's resting on will open. The crane will put the sub in the airlock, the hatch will be closed. Once everything is set, the airlock will be opened and it will launch the sub from the bottom of the ship like it's an oversized torpedo. We turn on the sub's propellers and open the vent valves while the ship closes the airlock and pumps out the water so it will be ready for our return."

"Does that really work?" Wes wondered. "A big hatch at the bottom of the ship doesn't sound like a very good idea, but… what do I know, right? So you'll be controlling the sub?"

Dock was about to respond when Briney slapped him on the back roughly.

"Of course he will!" Briney chuckled. "Ol' Dock here is the best man for the job. Well, he's the only man who can control it, so we had to relieve him from the helm." Briney sighed as he gazed the Submarine Explorer 1. "Too bad it doesn't have torpedoes of its own or anything," he lamented, "but that Stern designed it for 'peaceful exploration' or something. What a chump!"

"Well, it's not even a real submarine, if you wanna get technical," Dock said defensively. "Submersible is a more accurate term, but-"

"Attention personnel," the P.A. system announced. "Ranger Squad Delta has engaged the enemy. Operation Silversoul commenced."

Briney checked the time, using a good old-fashioned waterproof wristwatch instead of a Pokétch.

"4:30," he muttered. "That's our signal. Everyone into the submarine!"

Like any good leader, Briney showed example to his troops by grabbing the catwalk's railing and jumping on the submarine below. He manually opened the submarine's hatch and climbed in. Dock quickly followed him, moving with surprising agility. The brown-haired scientist threw his case to Dock then jumped on the submarine himself. Soon both Dock and the scientist were in.

Kris, Wes and Shane just stared, all three being afraid to go first. Apparently realizing what an opportunity it was to show off his courage, Wes took a deep breath and climbed on the catwalk's edge.

"Piece of cake," Wes said cockily. "It's only like a few feet or so…"

And then Wes landed on the submarine's steel surface, whining something about his leg as he landed. He didn't seem to be hurt, though, but still kept grumbling to himself as he climbed inside the submarine through the hatch.

Both Kris and Shane rolled their eyes simultaneously. Shane was finally able to tear Shrew off his skin and hand it over to Kris, who held it in her arms while Shane jumped on the submarine. Kris then threw the frightened armadillo to Shane, who barely managed to catch the critter.

Kris was the last one to go, suppressing the urge to yell "Geronimo!" as she jumped. Once she was safely on top of the sub, she climbed through the hatch and closed it tight as she got in.

~o~O~o~

Location: Inside the Submarine Explorer 1

After descending down a short ladder, Kris finally saw the submarine.

Sheesh, what a piece of crap, was Kris' first thought.

Of course, she wasn't expecting anything luxurious, considering its size and all, but there was even less room inside the sub than she had thought - apparently the engines and other systems took up most of the space.

The little submarine's interiors consisted of one, dimly lit space that already smelled like sweat, what with six people crammed inside. There were three circular windows on both sides of the sub plus one in the front. The passengers' space consisted of two benches beneath the windows on both sides. Between the controls and the passenger seats, there was the periscope, and the controls for the sub were in the bow. At the controls, there was basically just a small window, two seats and a big dashboard where the controls (a steering wheel) were located, along with a bunch of meters, buttons, switches and monitors that Kris didn't understand.

It was impossible to stand in there, so everyone had to be slightly hunched as they assumed their seats. It was also getting more and more difficult to breathe, even though the sub hadn't even submerged yet - either that or Kris was just too nervous to breathe properly. Kris, Shane and Wes sat on the bench (Shrew sitting in Shane's lap) and grabbed the handles on the walls. Dock and the scientist assumed their seats by the controls while Captain Briney sat next to the periscope, which was currently down.

To the sub's credit, the floor and the walls were cleans and the machinery was dustless. Nevertheless, Kris' heart was pounding and the tension was giving her a headache - what if the sub started leaking or something? Sleeping with the Remoraid wasn't a tempting idea, even if Shane sometimes semi-jokingly called Kris a 'poképhile'.

"Let's se… engines…check," Dock muttered while looking at the various monitors and meters on the dashboard and flicking random switches - at least he seemed to know what he was doing. "Life support… check. Electronics… check. Controls… check. Periscope… down. Pressure a-ok. Closing all hull openings… done."

Dock looked at a panel to his left. All the little lights on it turned green. Dock turned around in his chair, giving a thumbs up to Captain Briney, who casually nodded back. Everything seemed professional enough, but Kris wasn't convinced.

"How many submarines… or submersibles have you operated, Dock?" Kris wondered nervously.

"Including this?" Dock asked. "One. But don't worry. I've had plenty of practice with simulators and all that. Plus I loved diving when I was a kid. And I own a Vaporeon. I think I got it."

Kris gulped, took a deep breath and held on to the handles even tighter.

"Try the radio, Cozmo" Briney told the scientist sitting next to Dock.

The brown-haired scientist flipped one of the switches and talked into a mouthpiece.

"Check, check, Explorer to Neptune, Explorer to Neptune," the scientist said. "Celio, do you hear me? Over."

Soon, Celio's high-strung voice was heard through the speakers, almost as clearly as if he was standing right next to them:

"Neptune here. We hear you loud and clear. Looks like you're clear to go. Should I start the countdown, captain? Over."

"Roger that, Neptune," Briney grunted. "Over and out."

Briney made sure his captain's hat was securely on his head and nodded to his Wingull, Peeko, who still sat on his shoulders. Peeko nodded too, then jumped away from Briney and used its claws to grab on one of the handles. Briney grinned and looked at Kris, Wes and Shane.

"Better brace yourselves," he said gruffly. "We're about to take off."

The scientist took off his glasses and grabbed the dashboard as if his life depended on it, shutting his eyes tightly. Shrew was holding on to Shane as tightly as it could, its claws being entangled in Shane's clothes.

"Five," Briney counted. "Four… Three… Two… One… Go!"

As the submarine was launched from the torpedo tube, the whole vessel seemed to shake. The pressure was pulling everyone towards the stern of the sub, but everyone held on as tight as they could, gritting their teeth and closing their eyes as they endured the G's. In the midst of the chaos, Dock managed to flip a switch on the dashboard.

As the sub's engine whirred on, it started moving much more smoothly. The vent valves were then opened, and soon the submarine was rapidly but softly making its way towards the underwater caverns. When the bubbles and foam around the submarine finally cleared, the sub's inhabitants were able to see out the windows.

The dark, undersea world was less fascinating than Kris would have imagined, though. Dock had to refrain from using the submarine's headlights to avoid detection by the Rockets and Plasmas, so it had to move by radar. Still, the water around the Whirl Islands was relatively shallow, so the sunlight was able to do most of the job. Kris, Shane and Wes all looked out of a window, amazed by the undersea world.

"Damn," Wes muttered appreciatively when he saw a huge group of Tentacool float by, moving in a cluster of around thirty. "No wonder you keep popping into those jellies every three seconds…"

"Get us a bit closer to surface," Captain Briney ordered Dock. "I want to see what's happening out there."

Dock did as ordered by flicking a few switches. Slowly, the submersible started to ascend, moving closer to the surface… not too close, however, but it was getting less and less dark.

"Up periscope!" Briney ordered.

Briney grabbed the periscope's handles and raised it manually while Dock pressed another button on the dashboard. Briney looked into the periscope's lenses. Kris, feeling slightly less weak-kneed now that the sub was traveling more smoothly, managed to gather herself and stand up.… as well as she could inside this cramped tin-can.

"Mind if I have a look?" she asked the captain.

Though visibly irritated, Briney moved aside and let Kris look through the periscope.

Through the lenses, Kris saw what happened on the surface. The submarine had somehow navigated past the dangerous whirlpools around the islands and were now rapidly approaching one of them. Kris saw movement on the surface of the islands: Plasma Grunts, in their bluish gray, armor-like and hooded uniforms. Apparently they had captured some local Pokémon, as they were commanding a group of Mantine against their enemies. There was also one Genesect among the Plasma Grunts, its purple exoskeleton clearly standing out amidst the grunts.

Above the Plasma Grunts were a bunch of Pokémon Rangers, the Ranger Squad Delta, flying on six Fearow and five Flygon. Their uniforms, while skimpy and uncomfortable-looking, were still apparently designed for practicality. Both the male and the female Rangers had red combat jackets on top of their almost skin-tight black spandex uniforms. They all also wore combat boots and carried around strange-looking devices.

In charge of them was a professional-looking, blue-haired female Ranger who could only be told apart from the others thanks to her red bandanna. Of course, she was obviously in command, based on the way she yelled orders at the other Rangers and how she flew a Dragonite.

The Fearow kept swooping down and getting back up again in an attempt to assault the Plasma Grunts and their Pokémon head-on, while the Flygon gave supporting fire from above. They seemed to use mostly non-lethal attack methods, like Dragonbreath, in hopes of paralyzing their opponents. However, they couldn't do much, seeing as the Genesect commanded by the Plasma Grunts easily kept them all at bay with its powerful cannon.

"You're sure that this is going to work?" Kris asked as she took her eyes off the battle. "They're tough, but so is Ge… that, bug-thing."

Kris wasn't sure why she didn't tell about Genesect. Should she at least mention the fact that it was weak to fire? Nah, probably not…

"They know the score," Briney said gruffly. "Stop worrying so much. Besides, they volunteered for this mission. The Ranger Union didn't authorize this, and they don't usually work with us, but these guys were very eager to help. And we were eager to accept it."

"I'm approaching the closest island," Dock announced. "No… hang on… according to radar, this is actually just one big, ginormous island… like a huge rock in the sea. Looks like four parts of the island are visible on the surface, which leads most people to think of them as four separate islands… wonder how that happened."

"They told us about it in Johto history!" Kris said suddenly, though trying not to sound like a geek. "Um, I mean, I thinkit's because Lugia blew up most of the surface with a thunderstorm to divide the islands into four pieces… or something. Then it probably created all these whirlpools… to protect itself."

"Well, now you see why we must stop it!" Briney said self-righteously.

"Actually," Kris continued, but made sure not to sound as annoying as Leaf, "it blew up the islands because some humans were-"

But Kris was cut off by Celio's high-pitched, nasally voice coming from the radio, which startled everyone in the sub:

"Captain! Captain! Commander White needs to talk to you!"

"Put her on, Celio," Briney said as he grabbed the radio's mouthpiece from the scientist. "What is it, Touko?"

"Sir, forgive me for troubling you," Touko said in a manner so smarmy it made Kris want nauseous, "but the lab has found out something strange about the whirlpools."

"What about them?"

"We sent an unmanned probe to get some info on 'em," Celio informed, "but the damn thing was sucked into the whirlpool and pulverized before it even got close. They're getting larger, and their estimated speed is around 50 mph! I think it's safe to call them maelstroms now!"

"That's why I told the Rangers to return to the ship in thirty minutes," Touko said. "I don't want them to get sucked in as well. I… I hope I didn't exceed my authority, sir…"

"You did, in a number of ways," Briney said coldly. He didn't even need to raise his voice to get his point across. "I told you - the Rangers are expendable. They're supposed to be the distraction for ouroperation, which his the whole point of this mission. But seeing as you gave the order already… fine. Are you expecting us to find Lugia in thirty minutes?"

"No need to, sir," Celio said casually, obviously happy that he wasn't the one getting chewed out. "We have picked up some of Team Plasma's comm chatter. They're talking about how some guy called, uh…'N' has found Lugia already. He gave the grunts directions to the chamber where its in. I'm uploading it to your maps now."

"Right," Briney grunted.

From the corner of his eye, Briney noticed Kris and Wes giving each other nervous glances.

"If you know anything about this 'N' or these bug-things," Briney said to them, "now's your last chance."

"Nope," Kris said.

"I've got nothing," Wes said and shrugged.

"Huh?" Shane said, taking his eyes off the window. "Sorry, I wasn't listening."

"Good," Briney said. "You two," he added, pointing at Kris and Shane. "You should have the map of the tunnels in your Pokétches. And you, Billy Bob," he pointed at Wes, who took offense but kept his mouth shut. "You just try to tag along. Think you can do that?"

"Now hold on," Wes objected. "I-"

"Good," Briney interrupted. "There's also a homing device in this submarine, so we added a little compass-like gizmo to your Pokétch maps. The trick is that instead of pointing to the north, the needle always points in the direction of the sub."

"Approaching the tunnels now," Dock informed. "There's a narrow tunnel that should get us in…"

~o~O~o~

Location: Beneath the Whirl islands, Johto

The submarine surfaced from an underground lake located somewhere in the tunnels beneath the islands. Dock stayed on the submarine to keep it fired up in case of a quick getaway, while Kris, Wes, Shane, Captain Briney and the scientist climbed out of the thing. Briney had warned them to keep quiet and use their ears, as evidently the caves were pitch-black inside.

So, as Kris opened the submarine's hatch… she was almost blinded by a bright lamp hanging right next to her.

"MY EYES!"

"Stop your whining, Krissy," Wes cursed. "Keep climbing! I've gotta get out of this tin can!"

It turned out that the whole cave was littered with these lamps, all attached to a cable that ran along the walls. This was definitely one of Team Rocket's techniques - based on what Kris had read, they used similar tricks on Mt. Moon in Kanto many years ago. This time the idea was probably to keep the wild Pokémon in caves, like those pesky Zubat and Golbat, away.

Well, at least navigation won't be much of a problem…

Kris, Wes, Shane, Briney and the scientist jumped on the underground lake's shore, grateful for the dry land beneath their feet. The chamber they were currently in had two tunnels leading out of them - one on the right, one on the left. Briney immediately checked his map. He didn't have Peeko with him, as he had left it on the sub, but Kris noticed a full belt of Poké Balls on his waist.

I need to stop staring at the waists of 70-year old geezers…they might get the wrong idea.

"We're currently in the first floor basement," Briney informed. "Lugia's chamber is one level below us. An underground river and a waterfall passes through its chamber… you'll need a water-type Pokémon."

"Done," Kris said.

She opened her only Poké Ball, and her Feraligatr came out, this time in great shape, albeit slightly pissed off by its earlier loss. Kris couldn't help but to think that Croc was staring at her with that angry face… though she couldn't blame it - yet again she had messed up a battle, and Croc was humiliated in front of everyone. If Croc suddenly started to disobey Kris, the game would be over.

Kris had to turn away from Croc before it filled her mind with more paranoid thoughts. No one else seemed to have noticed a thing, though. Briney nodded appreciatively upon seeing Croc.

"A Feraligatr," he observed. "Good. You'll need one. Both of these tunnels lead to Lugia… we'll take the one on the left: it leads to a crevice which we can use to drop down and get there quickly and undiscovered. You three can take the one on the right, the long road. Go to the end of the tunnel, turn right and head to the next turn, turn right again and find the ladder. Use it to get down to the second floor basement. It's pretty flooded, so from there on you'll have to swim. Take out all Plasma Grunts you see. Got it?"

"…no," Shane whimpered. "Can I stay here and help Dock with all those scary buttons?"

Briney ignored Shane's comment. He nodded to the scientist, who nodded back and patted the big silver case he was dragging with him. Briney and the scientist then disappeared to the tunnel on the left.

"Listen to me, Shane," Kris said quickly as soon as Briney was out of earshot. "Don't worry. I'm not gonna let them hurt you. Wes has Ninetales, so he can take point-"

"Gee, thanks," Wes grumbled.

"-I'll back him up with Feraligatr," Kris continued. "You, Shrew and Chansey hang back. When the going gets tough, I want you to get out as fast as you can, got it?"

Kris put her hands firmly on Shane's shoulders and shook him up a bit, while constantly looking into his eyes. Shane was visibly going over the whole scenario in his mind. Wes summoned his Ninetales, whose glow further illuminated the cave. He gazed uncomfortably at Kris and Shane and the way they were so… connected. After finally getting what he was supposed to do, he nodded to Kris and summoned Chansey, the group's new combat medic.

"Let's move!" Kris yelled.

Following Briney's instructions, the group run towards the tunnel on the right. It was so narrow that Ninetales had to walk in front, its tails effectively preventing the others from seeing anything. Wes walked behind his fox, followed by Croc, then by Kris, then Chansey, then Shane and finally Shrew, whose stubby legs and lack of willingness to exercise meant it had a hard time keeping up with everyone.

The tunnel seemed to take them deeper and deeper into the cave, as the only thing the group heard were their own footsteps and the sound of the water flowing everywhere. They didn't hear the wind blowing, but the air in the caves had to be circulated somehow, as it was just as fresh as on the surface. No sign of Plasma Grunts, Genesect or even any wild Pokémon as the group turned to the right.

Kris checked her Pokétch - only 19 minutes left. As they ran along the tunnel, she was still going over things in her mind. Wes and Shane probably expected her to have a plan: how to spring Lugia free without Briney and the scientist noticing? Why was the scientist even there? Perhaps it would be better if they did run into Plasma Grunts… it would create a nice distraction at least.

"The ladder!" Wes shouted suddenly. "I see the ladder!"

The tunnel was getting wider, and the group could now see what was in front of them: a big, man-made hole in the ground and a ladder leading 'downstairs'. The flow and crashing of the underwater river was now clearly audible as it echoed in the tunnel.

"We're almost there!" Wes cheered the others on. "I can hear the w-"

What Wes was about to say next was drowned by the sound of an explosion: a silver-colored beam of energy was fired from the hole in the ground, hitting the cave's ceiling, causing huge chunks of rock to fall on the group. They all leaped out of the way, but were distracted long enough for a Genesect and two Plasma Grunts to appear out of the hole.

"We found them!" the other Grunt yelled into his walkie-talkie. "Don't worry, your highness! We'll hold them off!"

So N was 'his highness' now? Talk about delusional…

"Ninetales, Flamethrower!" Wes yelled the instant he saw the Genesect.

Ninetales fired its flamethrower at the Genesect, but the bug was faster, quickly leaping out of the way. The Plasma Grunts quickly inserted some sort of cassette to the Genesect's cannon, and the light at the cannon suddenly glowed blue.

"Techno Blast!" the other Grunt ordered.

Genesect fired another energy beam, but this time the whole beam was blue. Ninetales dodged, but the Genesect's attack sweeped the whole tunnel, and it was too narrow for Ninetales to hide. As the beam hit Ninetales, it was instantly knocked out.

"Switch!" Kris yelled.

Wes nodded, and instead of recalling Ninetales, he quickly started dragging the fox Pokémon away while Kris and Croc stepped to face Genesect. Croc fired a Hydro Pump at the Genesect, hitting it in its ugly face and sending it flying against the cave's rocky wall.

But the Genesect wasn't knocked out, and the Plasma Grunts quickly scuttled towards it, ejecting the previous cassette and quickly inserting another, a yellow one before Croc could launch a counter-attack.

"Croc, Hydro Cannon!" Kris yelled.

"Genesect, Techno Blast!" the Plasma Grunt ordered.

Croc didn't even have time to charge its attack, as Genesect fired an umpteenth beam of energy at it - this time the color of the beam was yellow, and as it almost exploded upon impact with Kris' Feraligatr, sparks flying everywhere.

This gave Kris an idea. As Croc struggled to maintain its balance, Kris looked behind her, seeing Shane's Chansey treating Wes' Ninetales back to health and Shane looking clueless on the background.

Kris ran closer to her Feraligatr and quickly pulled its head down so Kris could whisper into its ear:

"Croc… I know you don't like this, but… you're gonna have to throw this one. You need to let it knock you out… trust me!"

"Are you ready to give up yet?" yelled the other Plasma Grunts, arms folded across his chest and a smug grin on his face. "Throw whatever you want at us, it won't work. N ordered us to keep you out of his way… and it seems we've done that."

"Yeah, but Giovanni ordered us to kill those guys," argued the other Plasma Grunt. "He said explicitly: the scrawny girl, the scrawny guy and the Firefly-cosplayer… I think we got'em! Just waste 'em so N can catch the Lugia!"

"He's not our boss, Giovanni is!" the first Grunt argued back, while Genesect just stood there motionlessly, waiting for its orders. "N is! And we're here to set it free, not catch it!"

Kris took advantage of this pointless arguing and ran to Shane, who was just watching as Chansey healed the Ninetales, while Wes was looking at the Poké Balls on his belt and trying to decide what to use next.

"Shane," Kris whispered sharply, snapping Shane to his senses. "We need Shrew. Those cassette-thingies… you know…"

Shane just blinked and stared at Kris in confusion while processing what Kris had said. The two Plasma Grunts continued their arguing.

"…and I don't care what you allegedly told my mom last night!" the other Grunt said. "She's dead, so that doesn't work on me!"

"Yeah, no wonder she was a bit quieter than usual last night…"

"Oh, you did not just say that!"

Finally, Shane came up with an answer:

"I don't," he said, then looked at his Sandshrew, who had been watching the fight while hiding behind Shane's leg. "Did you get it?" Shane asked the yellow critter.

Panicked, Shrew looked at Shane, then at Kris, who nodded her head in the Plasma Grunts' direction, seeing them still arguing over nothing. Shrew gulped and visibly shuddered at the thought of taking on these two humans who were colossal compared to it, but managed to give a nod to Kris.

"Thanks! You can do it, Shrew!" Kris cheered. "Croc!" she ordered her Feraligatr, who was barely standing and down to its last ounce of strength after the Genesect's attack. "Charge!"

If it wasn't for the sheer amount of chutzpah that Kris had in her voice when she yelled that, Croc would have disobeyed. But now, the lumbering Feraligatr charged towards the sleek, menacing Genesect, its claws extended and ready to fight. The Plasma Grunts, distracted, stopped their argument and quickly ordered Genesect to use X-Scissor.

Meanwhile, Shrew used the opportunity to run towards the Plasma Grunts, using the rocks that fell from the ceiling as its cover, moving faster than either Shane or Kris had ever seen it move before, all the while staying undetected by the Plasmas.

Predictably, Croc was knocked out by the force of Genesect's attack, so Kris quickly recalled it, and nodded at Wes. He ordered his Ninetales to advance, and though still feeling woozy after Genesect's attack, the fox Pokémon got enough boost from Chansey to get on its feet and charge towards the Genesect.

"Change the Drive!" the other Grunt yelled the moment he saw Ninetales getting on its feet.

"Yeah, I…" The second Grunt stopped mid-sentence when he noticed the case containing the cassettes was no longer in his pocket. "What the-"

Both Plasma Grunts turned to see Shrew holding the cassette case directly above the hole in the ground. They both yelled at it, but Shrew held its ground and threw the Drives into the underground river.

"Flamethrower!" Wes ordered.

Genesect tried to defend itself futilely using X-Scissor, but while the attack hit Ninetales, it barely even did any damage. Ninetales' flamethrower, on the other hand, roasted the Genesect and charred its purple skin, instantly knocking it out.

The Plasma Grunts had a split second to run away, but failed as Kris aimed her Pokétch at them. She launched a Hydro Pump at the grunts, and though not even one tenth as powerful as if a Feraligatr had used it, the stream of water was still enough to knock the Plasma Grunts unconscious.

"It's times like these that make me actually happy to have a chunk of metal in my brain," Kris said and admired her Pokétch. "I don't know how it works and I don't wanna know."

But while looking at the wristwatch, Kris noticed they only had eleven minutes left. If one Genesect was this tough, what the hell were they going to do if a dozen of them suddenly popped in?

"All right, thank you!" Kris said to Shrew, who quickly ran back to its owner and jumped on his lap, though this time it looked happy rather than frightened out of its mind. "Both of you!" she said and smiled to Shane, even if his input had been nonexistent. "You better go! Take Shrew and Chansey with you and get back to the sub. We'll be there in no time!"

"But," Shane said. "I don't…"

"I know, you don't wanna leave us," Wes said. "But as awesome as we are, I gotta agree with Krissy. This ain't your place."

"No, I'm totally with you there," Shane said. "I can't wait to get out of here. I just don't know how!"

"Oh…"

Kris sighed in annoyance. Why now?

"Look at that little arrow on your Pokétch screen," Kris said, enunciating clearly. "Head to the direction where the arrow points. AND HURRY! Or I'll swear to Arceus, I'll… eat your PokéBlocks when we get back!"

Horrified, Shane quickly recalled Chansey and ran away, back into the tunnels. Wes gave Kris a thumbs up, and the two of them continued deeper into the cave, climbing down the ladder and entering the second floor basement.

It was only there when Kris and Wes remembered that to get to Lugia's chamber, they had to cross the underwater river. But now that Croc had been knocked out…

"Wes…" she said and desperately hoped that Wes had an alternate solution ready. "I think we have to swim…"

The current in the underground river was fast and dangerous, and there was a small waterfall only about twelve yards away from them, with lots of jagged rocks at its bottom. Then it was only a short swim of about eight or nine yards and they could reach the entrance to Lugia's chamber.

"You stay here," Kris said to a somewhat dazed Wes.

"…huh?" was the only thing Wes could reply.

"You still have Pokémon left," Kris reasoned. "If any of those Plasma Grunts try to come down this ladder… y'know, don't let them. I'm going to swim and get to Lugia's chamber. Once that's done, I'll… think of something."

"I, uh…" Wes was nervous - should he heroically offer to do it himself or would that hurt Kris' pride, what a dilemma. "Are you… sure?"

"No," Kris said and looked at the current. She quickly took off her denim jacket and gave it to Wes. "Hold on to that. I want something dry on me when I get back. This is going to be cold."

"…be careful," Wes muttered and carefully took the jacket from Kris.

Kris took a deep breath, and didn't even look back as she jumped into the river, ignoring how her brain tried to reason with her. The moment she hit the water, she felt her clothes getting heavier and dragging her towards the bottom. Her lips trembled as she struggled to move in the freezing water… only to find out that the current was doing that for her.

Kris tried to scream out as the current dragged her towards the waterfall, but only got her mouth full of water and was reduced to coughing and desperately struggling to stay on the surface. She could faintly hear Wes yelling out her name, but the cold water made her brains freeze and unable to process anything.

For a few seconds, Kris desperately tried to swim back towards shore, but the current was too strong. She crashed down with the waterfall and hit the shallow water at the bottom, feeling her consciousness fading as her head hit the bottom of the river.

It was only for a few seconds, though. Soon Kris found herself back on land, right in front of the entrance to Lugia's chamber. Soaking wet, shivering all over, breathing heavily and with a splitting pain on the back of her head… but she was still alive. Somehow, she gathered the strength to get up on her feet and look around her.

Kris' ears were ringing and the crashing of the waterfall was too loud, so she couldn't hear Wes anymore. Hoping that even he wouldn't be stupid enough to try and follow her, Kris stumbled into Lugia's cave.

Ho-lee motherlover!

There it was: Lugia. The colossal white bird felt even more overwhelming in nature - compared to it, Kris felt nothing more like a cockroach. It was just like in the picture she had been shown - however, its dragon-like tail and humongous, hand-shaped wings were tied into the ground with strong ropes. There was even a steel chain tied around its beak-like mouth. Did Briney and the scientist do this? Or Team Plasma?

Lugia's was swimming in shallow water, and more and more kept pouring in through cracks in the wall. Guardian of the waters or not, even Lugia would drown if the cave would collapse and get filled with water.

Lugia itself was struggling against its restraints, trying to break free from its ropes and emitting a loud, ungodly roar. It didn't even notice Kris, who ran to the closest rope - though it was more like a chain, made from hard material that resembled steel. Desperately, Kris grabbed a sharp rock from the ground and tried to break the chain by hitting the rock against it - but even she knew that it was futile.

There has to be something I can… hold on…

The chain she was trying to break was the one attached to a muzzle around Lugia's mouth that kept it from using its attacks. And the muzzle was not made out of steel. Kris looked at the sharp rock in her hand, then at the constantly struggling and helpless Lugia…

Nah, it couldn't possibly work.

But then again, what did she have to lose? Kris was no athlete, especially now that she was soaking wet and about to freeze to death… and yet, there was no other way. She threw the jagged rock at Lugia's mouth, hoping it would understand her intention and hoping even more that the rock would hit.

And it did.

Lugia could finally open its mouth as the muzzle broke. It wasted no time, it seemed, as blue energy started to form in its mouth. Fearing that it would try to blast her into tiny bits, Kris hid behind a rock.

At the same time, Captain Briney and the scientist stumbled into the chamber using an entrance on the other side. Their clothes were torn and wet and they had bruises and cuts all over them - looks like they ran into a Genesect, too. Kris decided to stay out of sight, but eavesdropped on their conversation.

"Where did those tweens go!" Briney yelled at the pencil-necked scientist, who cowered in front of the captain. "Have you tried the radio?"

"It won't work in here!" the scientist whined. "Do you think Team Plasma got 'em?"

"Ah, screw it!" Briney groaned. "Pump it full of Toxicroak venom so you can do your thing and we can get outta here! What are you staring at?"

"C-captain…" the scientist stuttered. "Um… are you sure you fastened the ropes properly?"

"Of course I'm sure!"

"T-then h-how can it, um… open its m-mouth?"

"What?"

Those words would be their last. Kris couldn't bring herself to watch, as Lugia opened its mouth and fired a destructive blue beam of energy towards the captain and the scientist. Though the beam didn't hit either of them, it instead hit the walls and the ceiling around them, causing a pile of boulders to bury and crush both of them.

Lugia then opened its mouth for a second time and cut off all its ropes with an Aeroblast. Once it was done, it spread its enormous wings so it almost filled the whole room. Stretching its long neck, Lugia looked up at the ceiling and fired a third Aeroblast, this one blowing a huge hole through the ceiling. Ignoring the falling rubble, Lugia folded the blue plates on its back and rose to the sky.

When Kris finally could come out from her hiding place, she looked through the crack in the ceiling. Lugia was now just a white dot in the distance, and both Team Plasma and the Pokémon Rangers had to notice it.

I did it… I'm cold, wet, hurt and miserable… but I won!

There was no time to celebrate, however. The whole cave was still shaking, even if the battle between the Plasma Grunts and the Rangers above had ceased. Rubble and dust were falling from the ceiling while the cave was slowly being filled with water - Kris was already ankle-deep.

Ignoring the bodies of Briney and the scientist under the piles of rocks, Kris quickly fled from the chamber and arrived to the waterfall cave. Now her only dilemma was how to get up the waterfall, especially since Croc was in no shape to do it… especially since Kris hadn't ever taught it Waterfall, since she was sick when they taught the difference between physical and special moves in school.

"Better hur-ry~," a voice taunted Kris, "or you'll end up like the good captain!"

Kris anxiously looked around her until she saw the source of the voice: N.

N was a rather ridiculous sight now. In contrast to Kris, whose hair and clothes were dripping bucketloads of water on the ground, N was dry, and somehow kept his coolness and composure while standing on a rock in the middle of the river. Still, it was impressive to see his tall figure just staring at Kris, smiling, with his long, tea green hair swaying in the wind that was now blowing through the numerous cracks in the cave's walls. The imminent danger didn't seem to bother him.

"So you're the one," N chimed. "I didn't expect you to make it this far… and I have to hand it to you - the way you got rid of the captain and the scientist was effective… albeit a bit too brutal for my tastes."

"What?" Kris asked - this reallywasn't a good time for irritating, feminine men to be making fun of her - she got enough of that from Shane. "I didn't-"

"Could you be…. Kris?" N asked, still smiling at her, his grayish blue eyes locked at her - he didn't even seem to blink. "Gio told me that you were strong, but I certainly wasn't expecting this. And you're much more beautiful than he described."

Kris had to pause when she heard that. Never mind that she normally didn't get this phrase from men, but she was currently soaking wet and shivering while her nose was running disgustingly. Either that was a very cruel joke or that N hadn't seen much women in his life, Kris figured. Most likely both.

"But… I wonder," N mused, mostly to himself, though still staring at Kris. "Gio also said that you and the rest of the scum from Extranormal Operations would come here to try and capture, if not outright kill Lugia. Naturally, I came to assist it… in a way, its almost like my brother."

Wacko.

"Great story, dude," Kris shivered and desperately wanted her jacket back. "S-so… what now? In case you haven't noticed, this place is falling apart…"

"Why did you free Lugia like that?" N wondered. "Especially considering how you and your friends previously decimated our home and killed many of my friends. Do you know how many Pokémon died when the skybase crashed? Or how many of our my brothers and sisters of Team Plasma were injured?"

"Better question is, do I care?" Kris growled. "Look, we can talk about this later! Well, okay, I really don't want to, but neither of us really win if we die when this place crashes down on us!"

N laughed - not in a mocking way, either. It was cheerful, joyous laughter, like a little kid who had just become the owner of a toy store or something.

"Don't be silly, Kris," N said. "I'm not going to die here. I don't know about you, but in my case… it's destiny. I am going to do great things. The things Ghetsis dreamed of… before you killed him."

"I haven't killed anybody!" Kris fumed.

"Liar!" N retaliated childishly. "Gio told me all about it. It makes no difference to me whether you were merely 'following orders' or not!"

Who the hell…?

"Giovanni?" Kris asked. "He told you this? And you really trust him? Have you been living in a barrel your whole life? Wait, don't answer that…"

Great, for once I'd really need Wes to be around and he's nowhere to be seen… if he just saved his own ass to leave me here, I'm coming back as a zombie just to spite him!

"So… was Ghetsis your father?" Kris asked.

This really wasn't the time for small-talk, but Kris' only hope was that she could distract N long enough for Wes to magically appear from somewhere and take him out.

"No… I'm… sure of it," N said, but the tone of his voice said otherwise. "I was raised by Pokémon. That's what he himself told me. After youkilled him, it was Gio who took me in. He's helping us to reach our goal. Don't take me for an idiot, Kris - neither Ghetsis nor Giovanni are saints, and they would gladly admit it. But when you're fighting the enemies we fight, you cannot afford to be picky."

Ah, screw it, I can take him.

Kris fired an Ice Beam from her Pokétch in N's direction, expecting to turn him into an ice statue in no time.

But N leaped out of the way, the freezing beam bouncing off the rock instead. Now, N stood on a different rock, where he stood on one foot, as if to mock Kris. He continued talking as if Kris hadn't even attacked him.

"I am not like you," N said. "I will not resort to murder to get my revenge."

"Are EVERYONE here freaking Olympic gymnasts or something!" Kris screamed.

"I appreciate your help with Lugia," N said, "but I can't let you and your friends interfere with our plans."

Kris fired another Ice Beam, but N casually jumped out of the way and landed back on the rock he stood on previously. What the frak was this guy?

"Separate worlds for humans and Pokémon!" N proclaimed triumphantly. "Our friends do not have to suffer in the hands of us, the rogue species, ever again! Once that is done, we can destroy your leaders, this so-called Committee, and liberate the entire world from their stranglehold!"

"What do you mean 'bosses'?" Kris asked and lowered her Pokétch, taken off guard.

"I must admit that you arebrave, Kris," N continued, sounding like he had been rehearsing this speech for months. "If only you would open your eyes… oh, well."

Getting no answer to her questions and getting more and more agitated by N's mannerisms and the slowly collapsing cave, Kris quickly raised her Pokétch again and tried to fire - but pointlessly. N dodged out of the way and climbed up the waterfall somehow, using stalagmites and crevices in the wall as footholds, eventually jumping on the upper level.

Oh, so it's that easy…

Since there was no other way out, Kris tried to imitate N. She jumped from rock to rock, slowly, trying to maintain her balance, eventually getting to the waterfall. There were lots of footholds and things to grab from on the wall right next to the waterfall, so Kris started to climb up the wall.

Finally, Kris pulled herself up on the ledge and collapsed on her knees in exhaustion… only to be pulled up on her feet again by N.

His eerily pale face was only inches away from Kris', and he still continued smiling as he spoke:

"But I can't let you just get away with what you've done," N said. "It pains me to do this… and I'm sorry."

"D-do what?" Kris asked.

N just smiled and dropped Kris on the ground again. He turned around, and Kris thought he was going to walk away…

…but instead, N turned back to face Kris and kicked her in the stomach. Taken by surprise, Kris was sent flying through the air, off the ledge and back towards the bottom of the pit.

Mid-air, Kris instinctively tried to make it so her arms would soften the blow - only to painfully land on them. A wave of pain crashed over her as she heard sickening crunches from both of her arms. Her right shoulder was dislocated and started to stick in a bizarre position. Her left arm merely got several fractures as her elbow had hit the ground. Kris was forced to lay on her back helplessly, unable to move her arms without feeling a nauseating surge of pain.

The fall impact had made Kris scream, but she quickly closed her mouth and gritted her teeth - she wouldn't give N the satisfaction. She briefly opened her eyes, seeing N through a blur of pain, watching at her from above. Surprisingly, N wasn't smiling anymore, he was just looking around helplessly, like a kid who had done something bad and didn't know how to make up for it. Giving one last glance in Kris' direction, N eventually just turned tail and ran.

Kris was just there, on her back, with two broken arms. The fall had knocked the air out of her lungs, so she could only gasp for air for a short while. When she finally got her breath back, she still couldn't scream for help. And who to scream at, anyway?

Wes and Shane are probably on their way back to the ship by now…

Kris tried to turn on her side, but even the slightly moving her arm made her entire body ache. She tried moving her fingers and succeeded - at least they still worked. The most painful parts were above the elbow. Kris tried to touch the button on Croc's Poké Ball with her fingertips, but just couldn't bend her arm enough, causing Kris to close her eyes tight and swear:

"Son of a… c'mon… cking… crap!"

"You called?"

Kris opened her eyes. Wes was standing directly above her, his face red and his clothes and hair just as wet as Kris'.

"W…wes?" Kris stuttered. "Did… did I just die and go to hell? 'Cuz if I did, this is a severe disappointment. Much colder than I thought!"

"Nah, you ain't go nowhere yet," Wes said and smirked. "Besides, I needed to give this back!"

Wes was dangling Kris' familiar blue, extremely worn denim jacket above her. Well now I know I'm not dead. Surprisingly enough, Wes had managed to keep it dry.

"What happened?" Wes asked and stopped smiling when he saw Kris' anguished expression. "You look like the entire Pacific Ocean just crashed on you…"

"N happened," Kris grunted. "Help me up. I think… ow! I think he broke my arms…"

"That metrosexual guy?" Wes wondered. "Charlie Cheekbone? The Bishie King? Seriously? Why didn't you just slap him on the cheek and make him cry or something?"

But seeing Kris grimacing instead of coming up with a snappy response, Wes was legitimately concerned and carefully helped Kris up. He grabbed Kris by the sides, trying not to make it look like he was feeling her up. Trying to avoid touching her arms by any means necessary, Wes pulled Kris on her feet and wrapped the jacket around her, ignoring Kris' constant "Ow! Ow! Ow!"-whining.

T-thanks," Kris sniffed and tried to hide the fact that her face was stained by tears.

Wes, of course, responded with usual insensitivity.

"Are you… crying?" Wes asked, sounding legitimately surprised. "You?"

"No!" Kris countered and dried her eyes. "It's humid in here…"

At precisely that moment, a crack in the wall grew bigger, and water started flowing into the cave from everywhere: the ceiling, both sides of the wall…

"Tell me about it," Wes muttered. "How are we gonna get out of here?"

"How did you get in here?" Kris wondered.

"I tried to see if there were other ways into Lugia's chamber," Wes said. "But I ran into a huge bunch of Plasma Grunts. Didn't have to fight 'em, though… weird thing, they all seemed to be in a terrible rush… next thing I know, I see Lugia busting out of the cave… the explosion it caused knocked me out cold for a while."

"How did you… argh!" Kris had to bite her lip not to scream when her arms ached like hell, prompting another concerned look from Wes. "How did you survive?"

"That's the weird part!" Wes said. "That N guy got me on my feet and told me where you were. I turn around and whoosh! The guy's gone! He's a frickin' ghost, I tell ya!"

Odd… but that didn't change things at all. Kris entertained herself with a scenario where she made N swallow that ridiculous cap of his the next time they met.

"My question still kinda stands," Wes said. "How do we get out? This plane's gonna be flooded…"

"Unless you wanna risk swimming, there's only one way," Kris groaned and tried to ignore the pain. "You can climb up the wall there… and then come out the way we came… that's how N got out… plus he had some mad acrobat skills…"

Wes looked at the waterfall, then at Kris, who didn't know how to be to avoid being in more pain, her arms hurting whenever she moved even a little.

"No way!" Wes protested when he realized what Kris meant. "I ain't leaving you here! The only way I'm climbing up there is if I can carry you on my back!"

Kris and Wes looked around the cave, but that was indeed the only way out, aside from trying to swim to the surface. Of course, it was more likely that you'd get caught in a current and be thrown around by it until you drowned. And Kris wouldn't be able to swim, anyway.

Wes looked at the river they were standing next to. He seemed to be concentrating on something, which prompted Kris to look as well. There were lots of bubbles on the water's surface… as well as large, constantly growing underwater shadow… as if something was coming up…

Wes stepped in front of Kris and spread his arms in front of her, but instead of a rabid sea Pokémon, the duo was greeted by the Submarine Explorer 1 emerging from the underground river. Through the window, they could see Shrew and Chansey waving at them, while Shane popped out from the hatch on top.

"Hurry!" Shane yelled. "Get in!"

Kris and Wes wasted no time wondering how the hell did the sub find them. They ran to the sub, and when Kris was unable to climb on her own, Shane seemed to get the idea. Wes pusher her legs while Shane and Dock pulled her by grabbing her waist. Kris tried to avoid howling in pain as she was dragged into the sub, knowing that it was rather that or slow death by drowning. After Kris was safely on board, Wes climbed into the sub and closed the hatch.

With everything ready, Dock rushed to the controls and made the Explorer submerge. The collapsing cave was soon left behind them as Dock navigated the submarine through the flooded tunnels beneath the Whirl Islands. Finally, just as the whole tunnel seemed to start collapsing, the submarine got out to the open sea, heading back towards the ship.

As soon as they were safe, Dock turned around to look at the others.

"What about the captain and the scientist?" he asked. "Did they return to the ship with the Rangers?"

"No," Kris informed coldly. "They're dead."

Surprisingly, Dock reaction was rather minimal. He just raised his eyebrows a bit and made an 'oh' face, having probably expected this to happen. He turned back to the controls and navigated the submarine past some coral reefs.

"What about Lugia?" Dock asked without taking his eyes off the controls.

"It got away," Kris said apathetically.

She tried to make it sound like it was a failed mission. But as Dock couldn't see them, Kris, Wes and Shane couldn't help but to smile. Shane was even about to give Kris an encouraging nudge in the arm before Wes stopped him.

"Oh, right, sorry," Shane said. "Don't worry, though. We'll call ahead, tell the doctor to get ready… oh, by the way, Dock," Shane said, getting trailed off, since he couldn't focus on two things at once. "Since Briney's fish food, who's gonna be the new captain?"

"The next in the chain of command, of course," Dock replied.

"The next in the… aw, no!" Kris groaned, this announcement hurting her more than the arm fractures. "You don't mean-"

Author's Notes: So, okay, this turned out to be longer than I thought, but I had to make sure the submarine scene would be at least a little authentic. That and I got carried away with N's stupid (yet plot-relevant!) speeches and the battle against the Genesect. I still think this chapter is one of my favorites even though it doesn't have much witty and funny dialogue and the ending was a bit rushed.

Also, HUMONGOUS thanks to Jaxin who made great fan art to my earlier story, "Loser's Log". Though unrelated to this story, it features two of the same characters (Kris and Shane that is). Here's the link (remove the spaces of course): http: deviantart .com/art/ Two-Weirdos-269376043

And also thanks to Alternate Lopunnu, drewbie, Rogue Krayt Dragon and Kokinatsuyosa no Kage for the great reviews that really keep me going. Additional thanks to drewbie for pointing out a couple of rather glaring errors for me. "Narrow water"? "One feet"? *facepalm*

Coming up next: Chapter Fourteen - 'Genetic Destiny', in which the gang encounters Giovanni and his Mooks on Faraway Island and action ensues. (I swear that it won't be 12 000 words long, but I guess that it doesn't matter if no one is bothered by the long chapters)