“Watch your step. It’s a little unstable here.”
Tia reached out and grabbed Aidan’s hand as she climbed out of the boat and onto the wrecked ship. From the corner of her eye, she could see the name “S.S. Anne” painted on the side of the hull in faded black letters.
The two stepped carefully across the deck, avoiding the cracks and holes. The deck had once been painted red, but years of direct exposure to the sun had bleached it a bright pink. The floor sloped down to the right at an odd angle, due to the ship running aground years ago.
They walked inside the ship and found themselves in a large, wide-spanning room. Ruined tables and chairs were piled up on one side of the room, and a large, rusting chandelier hung from the ceiling.
“This must have been the ballroom,” Tia said softly. A sudden, melancholy feeling came over her, and she shivered.
“You okay?” Aidan asked.
“Um… yeah. Just a little unnerved.” Tia looked around at the splintered wood, the rotted holes in the floors, and the moldy stains on the walls. “It feels so unreal. I remember when this ship was docked at Vermilion Harbor for years. I even went to a party with my parents aboard this ship when I was little.”
“And now it’s little more than a wreck.” Aidan said.
Tia nodded.
They both pulled out flashlights and turned them on as they walked further into the ship. The wide, spacious hallways and staterooms, now worn and destroyed by the elements, soon gave way to narrow, cramped corridors. They rounded a corner, and a loud shout echoed through the darkness.
“Hey, you there!”
Tia and Aidan jumped in surprise and looked over at an Officer Jenny pointing a flashlight at them.
“What are you two doing here?” Officer Jenny demanded.
Tia and Aidan looked at each other. “We’re researchers,” Tia spoke up, “We’re doing some research involving the wild Pokemon living in shipwrecks.”
Officer Jenny looked at them sternly for a moment, then relaxed. “All right, then. You two certainly don’t look like a couple of hooligans sneaking around. This place is currently off-limits, so you’d better wrap up your research and leave as soon as possible. Okay?”
Tia and Aidan nodded. “We’ll finish up soon,” Aidan replied. “Thanks.”
Officer Jenny left, and Tia and Aidan breathed sighs of relief. “What should we do now?” Aidan asked. “Should we still try to find Lugia?”
“We should at least try,” Tia answered. “It’s what we came for in the first place!”
“All right. But we should be careful not to run into anyone else.”
They continued on, walking deeper and deeper through the ship’s corridors. They passed sunken rooms full of water, more rotten flooring, and once came across a giant pool of water, dark on the surface, but with a brilliant light near the bottom.
Tia and Aidan debated on whether to Dive through the pool and see what was on the other end – in the end, Tia summoned Emi and confirmed there was air at the other end of the pool. After suiting up properly, they dove through the pool with Emi’s help and emerged somewhere within the ship’s hold.
The ship got darker as they traveled further into the hold. After another hour of hearing nothing but the creaking of the ship and the rippling of the water inside, there was a sudden, deep rumble.
Aidan looked around and pointed ahead. “Over there.” They walked a few more feet, and ended up in a large, open space, filled deep with water from a gaping hole in the ship’s floor. A patch of light shined down like a spotlight from a hole in the ship’s ceiling.
There was another rumble, and a slow, haunting song echoed through the ship. A dark shape appeared in the water, and several air bubbles rose to the surface, then disappeared.
For several long minutes, Tia and Aidan waited for Lugia to emerge from the pool. The rumbling continued, along with Lugia’s underwater melody, but Lugia never revealed itself. Eventually, the shaking of the ship above and the rumbling of the waters below gradually faded away, along with Lugia’s melancholy song.
There was silence as Tia and Aidan listened for Lugia again, to no avail.
“I don’t get it,” Tia said, “Why won’t Lugia surface?”
Aidan shrugged. “Maybe because there’s people here? But… that doesn’t make sense either – there’s no one here except us and Officer Jenny!”
Tia sighed. “I guess there’s nothing for it except to come back another time. Maybe then, it’ll show itself!”
The two retraced their steps through the hold and into the ship’s long corridors, stepping around the gaping holes in the floor and Diving wherever the water was deep.
When they reached a corner of one particular hallway, close to the entrance, Aidan stopped dead, motioning Tia to get behind him and putting a finger to his lips. He quickly switched off his flashlight.
Echoing down the dark hallway were footsteps, along with several whispers. Tia and Aidan exchanged glances. It sounded like there was more than one person in the hallway along with them. Did Officer Jenny bring reinforcements? It would be incredibly embarrassing to be caught again, after assuring the officer they were going to leave.
Aidan looked at Tia questioningly, and she nodded. Sighing, Aidan turned his flashlight back on and the two quickly rounded the corner… only to walk right into a large group of people.
“Holy crap-” the man in front of the group yelled, while Tia and a couple of women let out screams.
Aidan’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open. “Uh… hi?” he said in a tiny voice.
“You-you scared the living daylights out of me!” the man shouted, quickly recovering his composure. “What are you two doing here?”
“We’re, uh…” Aidan stammered.
“We’re doing a wildlife study,” Tia spoke up hastily, “We’re researchers. We’re definitely not skulking about in a ruined ship just for fun, nope!”
“We’re going to be shooting a movie here,” the man said, “We thought we’d bring the cast here to get a feel for how things are supposed to go. The officer at the entrance told us we could have the run of the place as long as we were careful!”
“Ah,” Aidan nodded. Now Officer Jenny’s presence made sense. “Okay. Well, we were just leaving ourselves, so we’ll go ahead and let you all do your thing.”
The man nodded. “Good luck with your research!” The group waved and continued walking down the pitch-dark hallway.
Tia sighed. “I guess this means Lugia won’t be staying here, either.”
“It is what it is,” Aidan replied. “Let’s get out of here before someone sends a search party to drag us back.”
They quickly made it out of the ruined ship with only a cursory explanation to Officer Jenny about getting lost on the way back to explain why they were still there. They got back into their rental boat and sped away from the wreck, all the while staring out toward the ocean, wondering where Lugia would go next.