APOLLO

            Apollo Love sat in silence in the captain’s cabin. He hardly slept anymore, and dawn was just beginning to break, judging from the way the light filtered in through the small round window in the metal room. Most nights he just stared at the Lily’s Egg, remembering.

            The Mudkip egg remained as it had been when he had first found it: beneath the shallows of the place where his niece had died and his sister, Luna, was abducted. The red blotch that covered the top of the egg remained present. Nothing would wash it off. It made Apollo angry, yet determined at the same time.

            It’s blood, Apollo thought to himself. Lily’s blood. I will shed a hundred times the amount on this egg, and more if I can.

            When he had set out for his journey, he had followed the coastline north towards Mauville. He had received a letter from Solomon Forrest that his two best men, Ares and Hermes, were waiting to be sent home. Apollo had set out with no one but Jasper, the Huntail breeder. Counting the two young men he had taken aboard earlier in the week, there were four aboard. There was enough room in the undersea aluminum craft to support ten people. Yet he knew that he wouldn’t need as many fighting men as most pirates would, given the fact that most pirates didn’t have the kind of ship that he commanded.

            He got up from his bunk at caressed the egg. “I’ll avenge you Lily,” he said to it. The shell was cold, lifeless. “And I’ll rescue your mother. Then, I will kill them all. Every last one.”

            He emerged from his captain’s cabin and into the main deck with its wide, curved window that gave him an almost one hundred eighty degree view of the ocean.  Gallade stood watch every night in front of the window.

            Everyone else was sleeping. Jasper liked to make a cot down the stairs that lead to the bottom of the window, near his Huntail. The blue eel Pokémon were nowhere in sight, but the ropes they were attached to lead around to one of the fins where they would rest on top of.

            Apollo had gotten used to the motion of the ocean. Truth be told, it was easier under the sea than it was above. When the anchor was dropped, the ship itself must have looked like one of those pouches filled with hot air that children floated up in the sky.

            “Jasper,” he said. The man sat up immediately from his cot. The Huntail breeder was a light sleeper, and Apollo was thankful for that. “Wake up our crew, it’s time to go.”

            “Aye,” the driver said as he got up and went down a ladder to the bottom cabin.

            The two young men emerged, neither one of them looked sleepy. The Combusken followed Brightflame onto the main deck looking curious as it scraped its claws together.

            Apollo was about to bid them good morning when Gallade made a grunt and shifted its gaze to the east. “What is it?” Apollo asked as he turned away from them and walked up next to the Spirit Pokémon. It pointed one of its arms in that direction. Human and Pokémon met each other’s stare, and Gallade made a wavy motion with its other arm.

            “What is it?” asked the fisherman’s boy, Hector.

            “I thought he said you were the thinker,” answered Brandon Brightflame. “It’s obvious that it’s another ship.”

            “I’ll have no talking right now,” snapped Apollo. “Gallade needs to focus to identify who is on the ship. Which kingdom they serve.”

            Gallade kept its arm outstretched towards where the still-distant ship was. With its eyes closed, its free arm pointed towards the bottom of the ship. Then, the Psychic Pokémon grimaced and made a slashing motion at its own throat.

            “A small ship,” Apollo interpreted. “And enemies from Sootopolis. JASPER! Raise the anchor!” He turned back to his two new crew members. “Boys, down below deck, in a closet next to the room you slept in, are some weapons. Bring me my sword, and a grappling hook.”

            “What about us?” asked Hector.

            “Do I have to bloody tell you to pick a weapon for yourself?” Apollo laughed. He heard Hector and Brandon Brightflame go down into the armory closet.

            Jasper had re-emerged, he was flicking the ropes that the Huntail were attached to. Soon, they had awoken and were aligning themselves in position to pull the undersea craft through the ocean. Apollo heard a metal clanking sound, and noticed that Gallade was using its Psychic power to raise the anchor. Soon, they were slowly making their way through the sea in the direction that Gallade had determined. Apollo could see the surface of the ocean glowing, it would be another hour until dawn fully broke. The perfect time for an assault, he thought.

            Brandon and Combusken emerged from below deck. Brandon put on some light armor and carried two short swords that didn’t match. Combusken had put on spiked knee plates, and a spare set of arm-swords that extended backwards from the elbows. Those arm-swords were for Gallade, but Apollo had brought plenty to spare.

            There was a flash and Gallade’s arms and body were armored in a silvery aluminum armor that the blacksmith had made for him, with arm-swords of its own.

            Hector emerged back on deck again, with a helmet, an axe and Apollo’s own set of armor and sword as well as the grappling hook. The Chief of Oldale buckled the armor on as he had dozens of times before.

“She moves faster than I could have ever believed,” he said as the aluminum undersea-craft moved gracefully through the seas, pulled by twenty or so Huntail.  He saw a shadow a quarter mile away on the surface.  “A perfect target,” he said to Gallade.  “They will rue the day they took my sister.  Jasper!” The Huntail tamer turned his head.  “Full speed ahead! I want that ship sunk before I scratch the itch my beard.”  Tonight, the captain and crew of that ship would be sleeping with the Relicanth.

            I’m coming for you, sister.

            The Huntail wiggled their tails in unison as they swiftly approached and built up speed for the target. “Hold on to your trousers boys!” He yelled as he held on to a metal ring on the side of the aluminum craft. In an instant, Jasper pulled up on the reigns and the Huntail dove sharply just as they were about to collide with the ship above.

            Thankfully, everyone heeded Apollo’s warning. There was a loud scraping sound and a jarring thud and eventually they were free of contact with the ship above, and diving. Jasper whirled the ropes to his right and the Huntail turned around and approached the surface. It was only Apollo’s first strike he had ever  tried, but he could see the damage it caused.

            The bottom of the ship’s hull was splintered scraped, and coming apart. It was dented and dark scrapes made it seem like the appearance that some beast had swiped at it with a giant clawed hand. Apollo laughed when he saw the result. Doubtless it had already begun to take in water. He knew that some of that ship’s crew would be drowned before they even woke up. “Jasper, the spikes on top were a nice touch!”

            “Aye, Cap’n!”

            “Not much time, that ship sinks in less than an hour! Upward, boys!” He shouted. “On second thought, Hector you stay here. Upward, Brightflame! Let’s see what you’re made of!”

            Gallade disappeared in a flash of light, no doubt already securing their boarding. The Huntail relaxed and the undersea-craft broke the surface right next to the ship. Apollo led Brandon and Combusken up the ladder to the ships top entrance hatch.

            Once the two humans and Pokémon were standing on top of the aluminum roof. Apollo gestured to where Gallade was standing on top of the other ship. “There!” he pointed as he threw the grappling hook up next to Gallade. “After me!” He earnestly began climbing the rope, adrenaline rushing. Apollo was fueled by his rage as he remembered his sister and his niece’s egg.

            Apollo climbed onto the Sootopolis ship’s deck, followed by Brandon and Combusken, they all had their weapons ready. Sure enough, the flag at the top of the mast displayed a Milotic, symbol of Sootopolis. No sooner had the two humans and two Pokémon landed than the first of the ships defenders came pouring out.

            They had no Pokémon with them, not one of the crew members had a Spirit Bond. Apollo smiled at that as the crowd rushed on. It was over in a matter of seconds.

Brandon and Combusken were dancing in arcs of fire and flashing steel. Once, Apollo saw that Brandon had been surrounded by three enemies, but he had spun around with swords outstretched and slit the throats of two crew members simultaneously. He gave a sharp kick to the belly of the third, who was sent reeling back to be impaled on one of Combusken’s blades that extended from the elbow.

Apollo slew them one at a time. The first man came at him, so he ducked and lifted him over the edge of the ship. There was a crunch and he knew that the poor man had hit two or three of the iron spikes that waited below. The second one charged him with sword raised above his head to cleave Apollo’s head in two. A sorry mistake. Apollo spun away and grabbed him by the back of the collar and threw him into a third enemy who was chasing after Combusken. The two men became entangled and fell, and Apollo drove his sword between the both of them, driving the steel through the top man’s abdomen and the bottom man’s back. Sailors hardly ever wear armor for fear of drowning.

When he went to withdraw his sword he saw the man he had stabbed in the belly not quite dead, and about to throw a dagger into Apollo’s eye. Suddenly, Combusken landed on the bleeding man’s wrist, pinning it down, and roasted man above and below in a river of flame.

The rest of the fight was a blur to him, but the deck was awash in puddles of blood, and Apollo could feel the stickiness of it on his face. There was a flash of light in the morning sun, and Gallade appeared with what appeared to be the ship’s captain, he was immobile as the Spirit Pokémon was focusing on him with its Psychic power.

“Are you pirates?” he managed to stammer out, eyes glancing at his fallen crew. All were dead as Apollo began to feel the ship begin to lower into the sea. The ship was taking on more water now.

“Might be we are,” said Apollo as he walked up to the man. “Restrain him!” he commanded to Brandon and Combusken. The rightful King of Lavaridge and his Spirit Pokémon ran and held the captain’s arms behind his back. Gallade relaxed the man's Psychic bondage.

“I ain’t no merchant,” said the captain. “I’m an officer in Empress Glamour’s royal navy, and cousin to the Chief of Pacifidlog. I ain’t got no gold on this ship, only weapons and supplies.”

“Then tell us where the weapons and supplies are, and I might ransom you back for the gold,” Apollo said as he got in the captain’s face. He’s the only one left on the ship, he knew. And I need more gold to pay off my friends who built my aluminum undersea-boat.

The captain told him quick enough. He nodded to Gallade and in a matter of seconds, the tall green and white Pokémon reappeared with weapons and rope much finer than what Apollo had brought on board his own vessel, and even a pouch of silver and gold coins. The ship began to sink even farther.

“You two, take the weapons back on board our own ship,” he told Brandon and Combusken as they grabbed the weapons by the hilt and threw them down a few feet onto the roof of the metal ship they arrived in, before disembarking the sinking ship themselves. “Gallade, tie the Officer to the mast,” he told the Spirit Pokémon. The man tried to scream and resist, but Gallade levitated the captain against the mast while the rope glowed pinkish-purple and tied itself around him.

            The deck of the Sootopolis Scout ship had begun to take on water now. The ship would be completely submerged in a matter of minutes.

            “Wait!” the captain cried as Apollo casually stepped onto the roof of his own metal ship. There was a red stain where that first stupid sailor had fallen to. The Chief of Oldale turned around at the Sootopolis captain’s last request.

            “I told you, I’m valuable! You can ransom me! I have friends and family!” he pleaded.

            Apollo’s felt his face turn bright red as the water had reached to the tied-up captain’s knees now. He thought back to Lily’s Egg sitting in his cabin. “So do I,” he said before climbing back down the hatch and into his metal submarine.