"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Suddenly, the ship rocks to the side as something hits it hard in the hull. An icicle, to be specific, and a sharp one, too. It's managed to pierce through the thick metal and rip into the innards of the ship. It's not a problem right now, but that's only because the giant hole it created is being blocked by the same frigid dagger used to make it, just like a real knife wound. Except instead of keeping the blood from rushing out, it's keeping the water from rushing in.

That's a problem, because even now, the ice is beginning to melt from the natural heat. Droplets are already beginning to form from its glassy surface, trickling down and dripping back into the sea below. It won't be long before it breaks apart, and when it does, the entire ship will begin to sink twice as fast and twice as unsteady.

That might not be a problem, if a certain Pokemon wasn't intent on making it a problem.

"ARC! TO! ZOLT!"

The long-extinct menace hops aboard the deck, a shivering staticky mess of mismatched parts. As it looks around those gathered on the ship, its eyes eventually settle upon the Cradily, and that's all it needs to see. With a garbled howl, the prehistoric fauna charges at the prehistoric flora, and electricity begins to overflow from its mouth as it aims a Bolt Beak at its fossilized foe.

---

Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki
60MP, 50 for participation, 10 for x1 post.

Dinosaur and flower wrestle for control as they tumble down, through the shattered deck and down to the waters below. It's a vicious struggle, a desperate dance of writhing free from suction cups and dodging snapping jaws, each one battling to gain the upper hand. For a moment, the two seem to be evenly matched, but that's about to change. After all, to battle upon solid ground is one thing, but the instability of the stormy seas is another matter entirely.

When they hit the water, Cradily is the one on top, but the split-second shock of impact is all Arctozolt needs to pry itself free from its grasp. From there, it's only a short paddle to return back to the surface of the rising tide. The risk posed by the opposing Pokemon may be the primary threat, but the risk of drowning cannot be discounted, either. The water level is already high, and it's only going to get higher with every second that passes.

Which means the assault can't let up.

Bobbing down, Arctozolt leaps out of the water, and during its single precious second of airtime, it calls upon the same power that Cradily did mere moments earlier. Rocks manifest out from its icy body, called forth by Ancient Power, and with a strained roar, it launches them down into the water.

The beast seems intent on making this place a watery grave.

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Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki

Root-like tendrils begin to reach out, seeking to ensure that the Arctozolt goes down with the ship. On land, avoiding them would've been trivial. Within the rough waters? It is a struggle of thrashing and kicking and pushing, trying to get away from the grappling appendages. Had they truly been that same piscine ancestor, it would have been effortless to navigate the rising and falling sea, but in this instance, the godless mish-mash of ancient fossils possesses all the wrong traits for this kind of battle.

As it struggles to dodge, the Arctozolt resorts to Freeze Drying the water, before scrambling onto the resultant ice. A solid foothold, but also one with nowhere else to go. A dinghy, left to face down a kraken on its lonesome. How fortunate, then, that the lone sailor lacks the common sense to back down.

But really, the battle between the two is secondary. The primary purpose of Tsubaki's presence here isn't to pick fights, but to rescue the passengers of this ship. Slowly but surely, the lifeboat is loaded with more and more people. The ship won't last much longer, but it doesn't have to. Her mission here is almost done. All she needs is a few seconds longer...

THUMP!

Except all of a sudden, a shape leaps out from the water and Pounces aboard, and the boat is filled up. Six seats are taken up by six long legs. Through a film of water, a pair of blue eyes look to the girl, unblinking, before turning away. Away from the trainer, and towards the wounded victims.

"H-hey! STOP! HELP!"

With two of its legs, Araquanid picks up one of the terrified passengers, and attempts to introduce them to the bubble of water around its head.

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Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki

The Arctozolt is not going to give up. Every second that it fights, the icicle digging into the hull of the ship continues to thaw, and more and more water flows inside. That is its role in this endeavour, to be the distraction, to wreak as much havoc as possible and demand the enemy's attention. It isn't glamourous, but neither is his existence. The mismatched Pokemon appreciates disorder. Chaos suits him just fine. He revels in the mayhem, and he's all too happy to enable it.

As vines burst forth from beneath the ice to grapple him, lightning overflows from his mouth. Any tendrils that draw too close are met with a Bolt Beak to fend them off. So long as it can still fight, it can still buy more time, and it's clear that the beast still has plenty of fight left.

All that's left is for Araquanid to carry his weight.

The spider gets off to a rough start. With its attempted snatching blocked by the Scolipede, it ends up gathering zero captives, and on top of that, it ends up entangled with the centipede, too. At first, the situation seems difficult, and it only grows more dire as the more-legged insect begins to charge a Megahorn. However, faced with such a dangerous problem, the better-legged arachnid has a solution in mind.

Four legs grip the Scolipede around its long, segmented body, narrowly avoiding the many spikes and spines of the exoskeleton. Then, just as the horn starts to thrust forth, Araquanid uses its last two legs to Pounce, combining its own forward momentum with the momentum of the Megahorn in an attempt to throw the Poison-type overboard and into the rough waters.

Could a centipede swim? Better yet, did Tsubaki want to risk finding out?

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Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki

The Arcotozolt sees the boulders flying towards it, and prepares to dodge. And, had it been a Dracozolt or an Arctovish, it would've done so successfully. However, the electric parts dove to the left, while the icy parts ducked to the right, leading the dinosaur to crack its own neck, and get hit head-on. With a yelp, the prehistoric predator was reduced to prehistoric prey, and sent crashing through the hull and splashing into the sea outside.

"AAAAAGH!"

But in doing so, it had still succeeded in its mission - Its body had punched yet another hole into the boat, and more and more water rushed in to fill the gap. It wouldn't be long before the entire ship was submerged, buried within the ocean. Now, all Araquanid had to do was fulfill its half of the mission.

Easier said than done. The spider had successfully managed to throw the centipede overboard, but with the Cradily now free, the two Pokemon were quick to team up against the one. Rearing back, water frothed from its mouth as it lashed forth with a Liquidation, clashing against the Rollout, and just barely managing to to push them back. It wouldn't be sustainable to stay here and fight, nor was that why it was here. All it had to do was steal a few warm bodies, and it would be more than successful. To that end...

KCHT! KCHT! KCHT! KCHT! Four legs stab where the cables connect to metal, and all of a sudden, the lifeboat begins to fall into the ocean, where the Water-type can do their best work.

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Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki

Scolipede crashes into Araquanid, the sheer force of the impact sending both of them careening into the water. A mess of far too many legs thrash and splash about, grappling for dominance over the other. The spider attempts to repeatedly Headbutt the centipede, tryng to knock it out so that it might get back to the lifeboat before it gets away.

But it's too late. Already, the dinghy is floating away upon the rough seas, away from the sinking ship and out towards freedom. Not safety, not by a long shot, but certainly away from the present danger.

"AAARRRCblublublublubTOZOLT!"

Except that there's one hurdle left to cross. The dinosaur bursts out from the water, managing to stop drowning for long enough to throw one last wrench in the works. Its mouth froths with a glacial cold, which it proceeds to vomit all over the hull of the lifeboat. A Freeze Dry, meant to stop the vessel in its tracks.

And then, like the not-quite-fish it once half-was, it crashes into the water once more.

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Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki

In a close quarters fight against such a pointy foe, Araquanid is at an undeniable disadvantage. With a single stab, the two horns burst its bubble and pierce its flesh with a single strike. Worse still, the Scolipede's venom pours in through the wound, afflicting the spider with a powerful poison. It won't be long before it spreads, and once that happens, this fight is as good as lost.

Luckily, Arctozolt managed to create an opening. As Tsubaki falls into the water and Cradily dedicates its attention to searching for her, the briefest window of opportunity presents itself. Everyone on the lifeboat is now unguarded and unprotected. If it can grab a few of them with one arm, and pick up Arctozolt with the other, then four legs will be enough to carry them to a retreat. It won't be a particularly glorious or glamorous victory, mind, but kidnapping one or two is better than kidnapping none at all, and given how dire the circumstances are, then it'll still be a victory.

So, with one last Pounce, Araquanid leaps forth, aiming to snatch as many hostages as possible with a single arm.

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Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki