Brandy was trying to remember what the little holes in the deck were called. The ones that let the rainwater drain out. It couldn't be drains; that didn't feel right. There had to be a fancy ship word for it. They were doing a shit job, whatever those drains were called.
Her boots splashed through the ankle-deep water pooled up on the deck. Thankfully, when Brandy and the gang had splashed out for travel gear, Brandy had ensured she got a comfy pair of hiking boots and had been wearing them on her day off because they were even better than slippers. It kept her feet blessedly dry and meant she didn't immediately flip over onto her back when her feet hit a thick patch of ice hidden under the water. Brandy yelped as she skidded along the deck and nearly tripped over a Tympole that hadn't been so lucky with the ice. She was lying face down in the water, blowing bubbles and lazily waving her blue tail, which Brandy couldn't resist giving a quick smack as she caught her balance. The tail waved back lazily as Brandy carefully scanned the rest of the water for any hidden shining ice patches.
Clever ice traps and an exhausted Pokémon. This had to be Marina and Maple's work. The Lapras could freeze water with a touch, and a clever use of the ability seemed just the sort of thing Maple would come up with to help defend an area. Chunks of broken ice were floating in the seawater pooled up on the deck, which didn't make it any warmer for Brandy to wade through. She should be able to see her now, but nothing was out there but murky darkness.
Which didn't make sense. The sun hadn't gone down yet. Brandy's Compound eyes were good enough for her to see the outline of the ship at least. Narrowing her eyes, she saw the darkness curl. Not darkness at all but a thick black smoke.
"Morgan!" Brandy yelled, hoping the Murkrow could hear over the pounding rain. "Need a Hurricane on me!"
There were ripples of explosions, and fireworks burst in the sky. Shining lights twinkled as a dark figure flew between the sparks, wings beating heavily to quickly jink back and forth to dodge the light show. Morgan wasn't delicate; she just dumped a swirling mass of wind right on top of Brandy and then dove as white streaks of light lashed out at her, exploding into more pretty blasts of sparkles.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Brandy cursed as the blast of wind blew ice water all over her. As much as the sudden Hurricane sucked, it was worth enduring it to clear out the black smoke and finally see what was going on.
Ice spears were pounded all over the deck, most standing almost straight like they'd tried to stab something in the water. There were enough of them all clustered together. They formed makeshift fences, limiting the approaches to a few corridors and forming a circular arena where Marina stood tall, a large round ice shield in one hand and a long spear in the other. Maple was up on the back of her silvery shell, holding on, but she was slumped over the Lapras, her wet golden hair trailing down the Lapras body, her head rolling to nuzzle against Marina's neck as she slurred instructions. She didn't look drunk, just exhausted, like the strength had been sapped out of her body. Not a good sign for a Water Ace in a rain storm, which should have been buzzing with energy.
She only caught sight of a turquoise tentacle lashed around one spear, pulling a purple-skinned Pokémon out of sight. Bright yellow eyes glowed through the ice before she blew out a puff of black smoke and disappeared into the driving rain.
Marina saw Brandy and waved her spear into the circle, her voice firm and commanding as she shouted over the rain. "They love ambushes. Watch the shadowed water. Get close quick!" Searᴄh the NôvelFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
Sure enough, a shadow on the water had slipped through a gap in the spears and darted quickly for Marina's back while she was focused on calling for Brandy.
"Sparky. Here! Electroweb!" Brandy called, "On the dark spot!"
She could have warned Marina, but ordering around other people's partners always came with a bit of a lag while they sorted it through their own partner's instructions. Brandy could rely on Sparky to respond way faster. To Marina's credit, she immediately caught on and turned to thrust with her ice spear, but the shadow on the water was already in and under her spear's reach.
The water was ankle-deep, but that didn't stop a Pokémon from bursting out. Tall and thin didn't do the Pokémon justice. She was like a whip made into a person. Her unnaturally long limbs moved together with a massive tail in a graceful, boneless flow as if her whole body were just one long piece of rope. Marina couldn't hold her back; she just washed right around the edge of her ice shield; gorgeous little red fins lining her arms and legs flicked off the water as she opened a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth and bit hard into the joint at Marina's elbow. It was a small victory for the Barraskewda because then Sparky came tumbling up over the wall of ice spears, her arms already outstretched to fire out four crackling ropes of webbing.
The thin Pokémon almost managed to wrap herself around Marina to dodge it, but she didn't quite pull in her long tail in time. The web stuck fast the moment it hit, and she hissed as an electric jolt ran through her body, loosening her bite enough that Marina could grab hold of an arm and pitch her back out towards the water. Sparky landed on an ice spear and yanked her webs, spinning on the spot as she tried to reel the Barraskewda in, but the moment she hit the water, she disappeared with a splash.
"Dive." Maple mumbled, "As long as she touches water, Chew can travel through it. She's super fast and hard to deal with. Hot though. Like a sexy eel."
It was probably best not to dig into why eels are sexy right now. Poisoned Maple might not be thinking completely straight.
"Sparky, keep hunting her! Try Electroballing her out," Brandy called. Sparky flicked her the victory sign and then turned on the spot to jump off her ice spear perch, electricity crackling as a water plume exploded up behind the ice fence.
"She's got it." Brandy said, "What about the Mareanie?"
"Nicked Maple with a Poison Jab," Marina said, shifting Maple on her back to more comfortably hug around her neck. "Wasn't a big deal until she followed up with a Venoshock. Almost completely wiped Maple out. I got hit with a nasty water move while they smoked us, and it's softened me up.
She showed off her bitten elbow joint. The teeth had gone through her blue dress and bit into the skin underneath, leaving a raw red mark. Marina was the team tank, and despite her occasional fears about being so short for a Lapras, Brandy knew she did a crazy good job at it. She'd taken some crazy hits in Saffira's fight; she should have been able to handle chewing for a while.
"You've done a hell of a job," Brandy said, "Monique's trying to get us to draw in a whole army before she fights us. From the looks of it, she didn't count on you beating half the ocean. Need a break?"
"Please," Marina said with a big sigh of relief. "I can get Maple up with a little care. She's holding on."
"It felt good to cut loose." Maple grinned over Marina's shoulder. "Sea Pokémon who don't get to see humans much can't hold a candle to my girls. Shame there wasn't a Lapras. I wanted to watch one of those haughty bitches choke on your cock."
Marina blushed and ruffled Maple's hair, "She's got no filter right now, ignore her."
"I mean, I'd love to see that too. I bet you'd fold all of your sisters easily." Brandy grinned. "I got this. Go gather your thoughts."
Seeing the smile Marina tried to hide at the compliment was worth it, and she repaid it immediately by putting her shield around Brandy and catching a wave of thin needles that couldn't dig through the thick ice.
"Brandy's got cocks to choke on." Maple said, "That isn't mine. C'mon gorgeous, take me to bed."
"I'll be back soon as I can," Marina said, "Kick her ass for us." Maple blew a kiss, and the two retreated. Marina grabbed two ice spears and pulled them out of the ground to make a gap for them to slide out of the arena.
Black smoke wafted along the ground as Brandy hunched her shoulders and readied herself for a fight. Golden eyes gleamed from behind the ice.
"Mistake," a sultry voice called out. Brandy could hear the snigger laced through that voice, so fucking full of herself.
"Come make me pay for it then," Brandy grinned. That kind of cocky selfsure pride, it lit a fire in Brandy's stomach. She'd been resting all day, teased by busty bunny girls, sharply dressed ladies, and a Kalosian Milotic whose voice dripped pure sex. Here was someone who didn't care to let her rest and just wanted to try to break her.
She had no idea who she was dealing with.