Hitoshi’s first thought when he sees the boat is man, this is old school. An old fashioned sailing boat while big, motorized vehicles from both sides are blocking the sea lanes around Dewford? Genius. Pure genius. Genius accentuated by the cover story they plant, thanks to the two operatives chosen.[break]
If the League stops them? He’s just a weirdo with enough money to afford a boat like this, sailing with a girl of dubious legal age.[break]
I swear, officer, she’s eighteen.[break]
The absurdity of the situation promises to be their salvation in the event that the worst happens. Hitoshi doesn’t pay much mind to his partner in crime for the caper. It’s not personal. His problem isn’t her. It’s the fact that Rocket, in their infinite wisdom, chose to put a hitman on guard duty.[break]
“Only thing I know is that I hope we run into some trouble, girlie.” The grunt puts in as he leans on the rails, looking out across the sea. He can see some of the bigger ships off in the distance. Some fighting, some just sitting there. Little sentinels posted along their part of this great, pointless war.[break]
“We’re gettin’ close to the cave. And that means—”[break]
A speedboat’s engine cuts through his words. That means trouble. Hitoshi stands up straight, looks to the Metagross, to the girl, and then back out to the waves. A pair of cops in a speedboat approach them.[break]
Well, he thinks they’re cops. Both are men in half-opened button up suits, badges dangling from their necks. Dark sunglasses cover their eyes. One’s chewing gum. The other, at the wheel, is smoking a cigarette.[break]
“Hey they, kids.” One of the two says. “Having a nice little trip out to sea? Don’tcha know there’s a war going on?” His tone is a master class in saying ‘I know you’re up to somethin’.

Saki rubbed her head a little, running her fingers through her hair a few times as she slowly finished waking up. Even as she stared at the apparent policemen bearing down on them, the girl kept on talking about her nothing-in-particular thoughts, resting her hands on the guard rail by Hitoshi. "It's so relaxing, though. Sometimes you just have to lay back and take in the world." Leaning forward, she gives the officers a dainty little wave and sleepy little smile as they pull up.

"A war? Oh my, I had no idea..." She covers her mouth and widens her eyes, but if anything, her voice only gets sleepier and more distant. Nobody could possibly mistake her for a girl who had a single thought in her entire life. "We haven't been checking the news, we've been too... uhm, busy." Her eyes flick to Hitoshi with an empty-headed giggle. Maybe a bit more mischief than was necessary for their story, but the best way to be convincing was to have fun with it. At least that's what Saki thought.

"We took the long, scenic route to get here... I don't think we could handle going back at this point, could we? There's all our cute friends waiting for us there too..." Saki lowered her head, lifting her hands up and folding her fingers together in mock display of anxiety. Although, the cute friends part wasn't actually a lie. Even if there was only one, and she wasn't waiting for Hitoshi.

"We kinda have no other option, do we? We'll be okay, we're pretty tough! Pokemon training's all about danger! You don't have to worry about us, I'm sure there are civilians to extract instead."

---

Cargo 1
Post: +10 MP
(Total: 430 MP)

The officers go from cocky that they’re about to catch a crook to confused. It’s painted on their faces. Even with sunglasses covering the windows to their souls, it’s written in the curl of their lips, the stillness of their bodies. In slow, robotic turns, they face one another. Neither of the two cops say anything, studying one another and then the eccentric duo once more.[break][break]

Finally, one of them remembers they’re here to do a job. They try and speak up, as if they can regain some control of this situation by simply talking over what she has said. Somewhere off in the distance, one of the freight ships along the harbor explode.[break][break]

Everyone’s forgotten that there is a battle above ground, same as below. The battle raging behind them is one fought by towering water Pokemon, rising from the briny depths to do battle on behalf of humans that have earned their respect. Neither office pays it much mind. They’re good at keeping a cool head under supposed pressure.[break][break]

“Uh, ma’am. You, you, you uh, you are a civilian. If what you say is true, we gotta take you back to port pronto.”[break]

“Just how old are you, creep?” His partner asks Hitoshi.[break]

“Old enough that I would’ve been yer daddy if the dog hadn’t beat me over the fence.” He says in a snicker.[break]

“Fuck you, bud. I could book you for disrupting our investigation right now.” He shakes a fist at Hitoshi and makes to go for his gun.[break]

“Calm down, Shamus. No need to shoot anybody. Miss, you’re out here on a pleasure cruise? How do you know this man? How old are you?” His dark eyebrows are raised in concern as he turns his head between the two eccentric Rockets.

Saki Shitachi

The innocent look that took over Saki's face certainly helped her cover. For her, it was an expression that came from mild surprise, having fully expected their story to go ignored and their storage ransacked. They had some sense of pragmatism after all, huh? Fortunately, Saki's naturally detached personality dialed that surprise all the way down into everyday curiosity.

"Oh, I left my wallet and ID down below deck. I'm eighteen though! Promise." She covered a coy smile with her fingertips. "Anyway, we met ages ago at a party through a mutual friend." She'd once heard or read that being too detailed with your lies was suspicious, so that was all she left it at.

"Back to port..." Saki rubbed her eye a little as she thought, or pretended to think, or whatever the closest equivalent inside her brain actually was. "That's where we're going anyway. Are you gonna lead the way? You said it was pretty dangerous..." Try as she might though, this girl couldn't feign concern or worry about anything on the planet. At least that was consistent with her previous attitude.

Whether they crept away before or after reaching port, or found the right time for a surprise attack... even though Saki could go along with anything, she had a sneaking suspicion which option she should prepare for.

---

Cargo 1
Post: +10 MP
(Total: 470 MP)

“No way in hell you’re eighteen.” The gungho gumshoe states. “If you’re eighteen, then I’m the crown prince of Kalos.” His boat bumps against theirs. The detective jumps up, his partner sighing and joining them up on deck. Both men, up close, are clearly taller than the eccentric duo bound together by the red string of Rocket.[break][break]
“It’ll be alright. We’ll just look around for a second and then take you back to town.” He reassures them. His partner doesn’t seem so sure about how this will go. His eyes are on the black dog’s sword.[break][break]
“A fuckin’ katana? The hell, man?” He laughs.[break][break]
It is the last mistake he will ever make. If Saki is an observant girl, she might notice how the calm, goofy smile drains from his face when the man laughs. Hitoshi’s hand trembles. Everything, their mission, the Rockets, his creed. All of it fades. Every sound is secondary to that laugh – the most grating sound ever concocted by man or god or devil.[break][break]
He doesn’t have legs. Hitoshi’s blade flies free and takes them clean out from under them in a stroke as smooth as silk. His sword’s edge is fine, paying no heed to bone or muscle or sinew. The detective falls onto the deck, bleeding. His partner, who did not chuckle, is speared through the brain by the sword. Improper, but effective.[break][break]
Turning the legless detective over, Hitoshi looks down at him with madness in his eyes.[break][break]
“No one laughs at me. Die die die die DIE!” Five stabs down into his gut like it’s a pinata waiting to be beaten open. Raw guts spill out across the deck, smelling like old dead things.[break][break]
Across the deck is a mosaic of brown wood and fresh scarlet blood.

The girl huffed with a playfully indignant pout. "I'm from Johto, we're just smaller over there than the people from Hoenn. Maybe you should visit sometime?"

Saki is not an observant girl, but even she noticed the sudden display of bloodshed and carnage. She stumbled backwards to get at a safe distance, losing her balance as their boat rocked and falling onto her back. A few moments of silence pass as she catches her breath, making sure that the violence is over.

"...Almost got my skirt all red and messy." With an awkward laugh, she carefully picked herself back up, briefly struggling to find her sea legs.

Her demeanour shifted without warning, just as Hitoshi's had before. "We're on too tight of a schedule to plunder their boat or their bodies. Sink it."

Hitoshi's outburst had been too swift and sudden for even Metagross to react, but it could at least assist with the cleanup. Floating over, the steel-type beast punched a clean hole straight through their vessel, leaving it to sink beneath the waves.

And just like that, Saki was back to normal. Or at least, she was back to the way she was before. "That was pretty cool. Where did you learn how to do stuff like that? I bet it's a lot of hard work..." She walked over, crouching down to look at one of the officer's faces. "Better luck in the spirit world, friends. No hard feelings. Let's meet again some day, okay?"

Although... despite that earlier comment, she did still pilfer one of their guns, before Hitoshi dealt with what was left of them.

---

Cargo 1
Post: +10 MP
(Total: 920 MP)

He hacks them, splits them, tears them. The blood on the deck isn’t their problem. There are bigger stakes today than petty battle. So long as these officers are the only problem they encounter, it’s no big deal. Just one of those things. Another head for the collection. Hitoshi chops at them with his sword. It’s an improper use of such a tool. With what he’s doing, it’s better to use a meat cleaver. With none on hand, he uses the next best things – Metagross and his sword.[break]

Their bodies are tossed into the soulless sea. Blood seeps into the water. Whatever hopes and dreams these men had sink with them. Sharpedo and other creatures of the sea will take care of them. They’re already out and about. If not here, in the calmer waters, then farther off in the middle of the pitched ship battle across the bay.[break]

It looks so fun. A shame that he can’t be there helping out.[break]

“Learned it fighting in Johto.” Hitoshi grunts. “Funny thing. When someone pulls out their funny ball, they can’t throw their pokemon out if you cut their hand off first.” He laughs, surprised to see she’s so calm about this whole thing.[break][break]

Not much farther now. Hitoshi takes the wheel and steers their ship. The cave can’t be far away now.

Finding a comfortable, non-bloodied place to seat herself back down, Saki half-watched, neither enamoured by the gore nor appalled by it. Tragically, she didn't own a meat cleaver either, much less carry one on her person. As was currently being demonstrated, her Pokemon sufficed perfectly well in most use cases, rending flesh and snapping bone with monstrous claw and telekinetic force.

She snickered a little when Hitoshi elaborated, covering her mouth with her hand. "You too, huh? I guess I should have paid more attention back when I lived there. Then I'd be cool and own a sword too. It's probably too late now though, and Johto's so far away. I can't leave Hoenn yet anyway, there's someone I have to meet first." Saki sighed, her voice steeped in wistful yearning. "...What about you, do you know your next mission after this one? Any fun plans ahead, or do you expect a bad day?"

With the size of their craft - and the much larger, much more dangerous crafts drawing everyone's attention - it was easy to slip in through the chaos and finish their journey, then meet up with their co-conspirators. All that left was the unpacking...

---

Cargo 1
Post: +10 MP
Mission Completion: +100 MP
Mission Win: +200 MP
(Total: 1610 MP)

“Any way the wind blows. Doesn’t really matter to me.” Is the answer given by the black dog as their ship sails at last into the cave. Their boat rocks as other grunts help pull them in. No one says anything about the bloodstains. That’s just the business they’re in, especially when they’re fighting for someone else’s glory.[break][break]
“Catch ya on the other side, girly. I’ll work with ya any time. Always nice to meet another girl from the homeland.” A rolling stone gathers no moss, but it still remembers the paths down which it has travelled. There’s another order waiting for him. An order to descend, rip, and tear.[break][break]
What a lovely day.[/bloclquote]