The ranger’s boat was small and had little protection from the spray it kicked up as it crashed through the waves. There was some chatter among them, but I was near the engine at the back and could barely make out the words. I had tuned out long ago and was experiencing the kind of doubts I was getting used to dealing with. I was a good swimmer, my confidence didn’t waver there, but I’d never been diving before. Kayla had run me through the basics and promised me that with the cooperation of my (or, in this case, Darren’s) Pokémon, I’d have no trouble. That was part of the source of my unease. I trusted Darren, and by extension, Wish. I’d hardly interacted with him, though. For obvious reasons, Darren kept him in his pokeball most of the time, and even when he was out, I had next to no connection with him in the sense that his expression, in Solo Form, was of terminal dread, and it was hard to build that into any sort of empathy or understanding. How Darren got through to him was a mystery. TO me, he was as alien as when we first crossed paths.

  My worries were unfounded and I knew that. They still came. I’d returned Comfey to her pokeball early – I’d have to before I dove anyway – and her presence around my neck was missed. It wasn’t even her scent, though that was part of it. I just hadn’t realised how little time I spent without her or Flaaffy by my side. I was, strange as it seemed, a little lonely. It crossed my mind to take her out again, just for the boat ride, but felt it would be too awkward.

  It probably wasn’t too long, but the lack of distraction and my own thoughts made the trip take forever. We got there in the end though. There, in question, looked like any other spot of lake. I could see land and what I thought was the Eskew River in the distance. Honestly, it was so far away I couldn’t be sure.

  “Alright, everyone know where they’re going?” asked Peter. We assented, and without further delay, they stripped down to their wetsuits and leapt into the water, their trusted Pokémon ready to take them under, leaving just me, Luca, and Kayla behind. Kayla was staying on the boat to make sure it didn’t float off somewhere, or in case of emergencies, I guess. Luca was staring nervously at Purple Blood. The Pokémon Aria had lent her was a two-metre across Tentacruel. Small, evil eyes stared up at Luca beneath the bulbous red bulges on its top.

  “Heya Purple,” she said, stretching out an arm that was swiftly wrapped by numerous tentacles. Gathering her confidence, she said she was going in and found a nice place to settle on Purple Blood’s cap, securely bound by his tentacles so she wouldn’t fall. The next moment, they were gone, disappearing into the lake.

  I called up Wish too. Understanding his mission, he Schooled as soon as he made contact with the water. The boat rocked as his bulk made a wave that threatened to capsize us.

  “Wow, steady there,” said Kayla.

  “Sorry,” I said.

  “You’re fine. You’ll do good.”

  “Thanks.”

  I turned to Wish, his massive eyes, composed of white and dark blue solo Wishiwashi, looked back at me. How did that work? Did he see through the big eyes or the thousands of small ones he had? I shook my head, clearing it. It didn’t matter.

  “Are you ready?” I asked. He responded with a deep gargle. Leaning over the edge of the boat, I placed my hand on his head. It was a strange sensation. Not quite solid, but not liquid either. He was of a treacle-like viscosity. I could also feel every individual double, and was even able to slip my hand between them. He gargled again, and I blinked, caught with my hand wrist deep in his head. He didn’t seem to mind, maybe even liked the feeling. His Schooled Form was far more expressive than his Solo Form.

  “That’s a sight to see,” said Kayla. “I’d heard he was big, but wow.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Okay, I’m going. See you soon.”

  I put on the scuba mask and jumped in without waiting for her reply, the cold dispelling any lingering drowsiness.

  “Okay, Wish, how do we do this?” I mumbled through the tube.

  I swear he laughed at me. Without warning, he opened his mouth and engulfed me. I panicked, flailing my arms until I felt him assimilating me into his body, his doubles wriggling like Caterpie and Weedle against my body. My head emerged somewhere between his eyes, the rest of me snugly encapsulated by him. I guessed that worked. Freeing my right arm, I pointed to our designated area to search, and finally, he sank beneath the surface.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  As we submerged, I couldn’t help but shiver at the chill. Wish swam fast, and in addition to the cold, I felt the pressure building on my body. I tapped Wish with my free hand and waved it trying to convey that he should go down more slowly. Kayla had told me that submerging, and particularly surfacing, should be done slowly to get used to the pressures, or something. Even with my goggles, I couldn’t see nearly anything. I took out my compass, trying to get it level like Kayla taught me. I think I manage, at least, I got it pointing in one consistent direction. I guided Wish as we went into darker and darker waters; the small amount of visibility I did have thanks to my flashlight only showed further blackness. There were other Pokémon around. I could barely make out vague shapes on the edges of what I could see. What they were, however, I’d never know. Wish wasn’t a demon of the sea for nothing. Nothing approached that wasn’t scared off by his size and frankly terrifying face.

  In good time, we hit the sea floor, the sand forming waves of its own underfoot. The Pokémon here weren’t as concerned about Wish, or perhaps weren’t as quick to get away. I saw plenty of Corsola, their round, pink bodies hopping along the ground on stubby pink legs. I saw some Horsea among them, tails wrapped around the growths on their backs. I saw Staryu and Shellos, blue ones, not the pink ones I sometimes saw on the rocks near Flaaffy Farm. I lost myself looking at all the different species, more than I’d seen all at once in the wild before. My main mission, looking for Clamperl, slipped my mind for a bit. Not that I wasn’t looking, and if I spent five minutes looking at a Clauncher crawl across the sand, was it really my fault? The little guy was too cute to ignore.

  Wish had a handle on things anyway. If I spent too long in one place, he’d move on without my indication. Too soon, the oxygen was running out and we had to make our way back up.

  Luca was already back at the boat when I got there. I accepted her help climbing onboard and collapsed on a seat giggling, still joyful from the whole experience.

  “Had fun?” asked Kayla. I nodded.

  “Too much. No luck, though.”

  “Same here,” said Luca.

  “Yeah, none of the others have had much luck so far either,” said Kayla.

  “They were back?” I asked.

  “And gone again with fresh oxygen,” she said.

  “Oh. Am I going again?” I asked with not a note of hope in my voice. Kayla laughed.

  “No, you’re both done for the day. An hour underwater is more than enough for inexperienced divers.”

  While I was disappointed about not being able to go again that day, I didn’t mind the waiting for the others. After changing into more comfortable, and importantly, dry, clothes, Luca and I talked enthusiastically about our experience. She’d enjoyed herself as much as I had, and had as much trouble holding back from describing every Pokémon she saw as I. Time passed quickly, and the others made it back as Luca was saying how cute Purple Blood actually was once you got to know him. No one had seen any signs of the Clamperl.

  The unfortunate, though not wholly unexpected, news that Sunny had lost her match awaited us. Up against a Charizard that, from the videos she showed me, looked like it had been through multiple wars, there was little she could do, even with her type-advantage. More surprising was the fact that Jade was still fighting. I hadn’t been paying much attention to her battles, but from what I’d seen, she’d improved significantly since Rondo, and it wasn’t like she was weak back then.

  “Congratulations on the win,” I told her. We were gathered at the Pokémon Centre, the usual check-ups taking place. The crowd had thinned out quite a bit in the last couple of days as the people who were eliminated made their way to Caprice, having no reason to hang around a small village.

  “Thanks,” she said. “I’m going to win this. For Silverwind.”

  “That’s the spirit,” said Baltazar between bites of his roll. “But I’m not going to make it easy on you.”

  “I don’t want you to,” said Jade.

  “How was it with the rangers?” asked Sunny. She asked the question innocently enough, not expecting to be hit by the barrage of stories from both Luca and me, neither of which was yet tired of talking about it. We talked over each other a lot. So much, actually, that Darren had to step in and tell us to slow down. Exerting some control on our giddiness, we coordinated and said what we wanted to say better. It was the first time I wanted to tell a story, not just to tell what happened, but to bring the brilliance of every moment to life like I felt going through it, and I did the best I could with the words and grammar I knew back then. We must have sold it pretty well because when we finished, Sunny asked if she could join the next day.

  “I don’t see why not,” I said, glancing at Aria for confirmation.

  “Of course you can,” she said. “Though there are a lot of Corsola in this region, so I’d advise against bringing out Coral. They don’t exactly get along.”

  “I’ll keep it in mind. I was planning on diving with Hector anyway.”

  I spent the few hours left before bed sculpting with Flaaffy beside me as a reference. Trim checked in on me every so often, giving me tips, but he was busy with his market preparation and things, so most of the time it was just me, Flaaffy, and Comfey, back to her usual spot. It was a good way to wind down. Working with clay was, possibly, the most relaxing activity I’d engaged in. From another room, the music of a harmonica drifted out, Sunny having picked it back up after neglecting it the last few days due to the tournament. I slept well and satisfied with the work I’d done that day.