It should not have come as a surprise to her, not in the way that it was, that Artie would send her on a mission. Despite being a prince — maybe because he was a prince - he was poor at communication and caring for others. When he wanted something done, it would get done, regardless of how anyone else felt about the matter.

Good thing the Wartortle was the obedient sort, at least.

Alongside the others, Athena swam in the harsh undercurrents, holding what appeared to be a treasure chest found within the depths of the abandoned ship. It seemed empty, and therefore relatively useless, or Athena might have been tempted to steal the treasure trove for herself. Every now and then her body shimmered with the power of PROTECT to shield her, as well as the others, from any strong currents that would threaten to wash them ashore.

Little Bertha might not be the strongest swimmer in the trope, but there wasn't much the shifting tides and currents could to against the wide bulk of Bertha's carapaced body. Plus, she was trying her best. That had to count for something, right?

Shiny bits and pieces (unfortunately nothing of value) dangled from her arms and legs and stubby tail, glinted from the threatening shadows within her cannons, peeked up from a small chest held between her paws. In fact, Little Bertha wouldn't look amiss in one of those eccentric TV shows, the title of which would be something along the lines of 'Pimp My Blastoise'.

Only a tiny golden hoop attached to her right ear was her own though. She'd earned it when Captain Dross had promoted her to Master Gunner of the Sotally Tober, much to the Blastoise's delight. She really didn't want to disappoint her captain on her first day...

The Blastoise stood at the back of the group, gently nudging the others here and there when the undercurrents dragged them to her and sending a wink at her fellow Wartortle, joining her as she worked to PROTECT both the weaker swimmers and the treasure they'd recovered.

samuel carter Chu-e Choi Alexandra Briarwood Cillian Quinn

This particular Sharpedo isn’t the best at tasks that require finesse. He’s enthusiastic, ruthless, and violent. Picking delicate artifacts out of sand isn’t his specialty. If they need someone to blast through the ship and tear through some steel . . . Tank is your Sharpedo.

That exactly what they needed him to do. With no way to access portions of the ship, it’s the shark’s razor-sharp teeth, and large body mass that gets them there. Who knew tearing up a ship could be this much fun? The other could go in after him and collect the fragile pieces.

samuel carter & Chu-e Choi & Cillian Quinn

You see, the sad thing was that Vaporeon didn't have the benefit of anything buy mouths to grasp. Her toe beans were soft and very cute. They were squishable and sometimes she would even let her Trainer play with them! Yet, they were not very good at picking things up in general. She didn't even have neat flesh ribbons like Sylveon did! So, this left her with the unfortunate task of picking up whatever she found up with her mouth.

Things that the other pokemon might have picked up, shiny and nice things, were a little out of her comfort zone. What might have once been a pretty metal locket she could only see as a rusted promise of disgusting in her taste-buds. Something like rubies and pirate's lost coins just looked like a rotten algae surprise.

In the end, Vaporeon only brought up one single thing, which was a cell phone someone had dropped and was no doubt ruined and worthless. At least it hadn't given her a lingering taste.

Valuable?

It's got Rocket written all over it.

Gavin's Carracosta blends easily among the other salvagers, bearing cargo atop the thick shell on her back. Dutifully, she returns most of it to the waiting handlers. It's important to keep up the illusion of obedience...

...so that when a few things go missing, tucked inside of her shell, they won't notice. She pilfers in the comfort of darkness and solitude in the deepest parts of the wreckage.

Such illicit gains would be used to fund their efforts in Sootopolis.

Salvaging and deep sea gathering was something that Kanoa and Aukai were pretty used to back home, with many small sunken vessels being taken under the sea or people losing valuable objects in the deep that her and her father would look to retrieve. The Tirtouga was eager to get to work, and was especially protective of the Pokémon that seemed less capable of watching out for themselves, utilizing Iron Defense and Wide Guard to keep all of them secure while searching for valuables.

Once they were there, the first order of business was to try and collect anything that resembled a family heirloom: jewelry, lockets with picture frames,, that sort of thing. Even if they were somewhat damaged, that didn't make them any less valuable to the people that lost them right? For the most part Aukai was focused, but did try to squeeze in time to be friendly with some of the other pokemon, if they were willing at least.

Through some clever fenagling and use of his shell, Aukai was able to bring up at least a few interesting items alongside a couple of duds, as these things normally tend to go. Though there was this nice little wallet that he wished they had had a bit more time for.