[attr="class","icon"]

Adrian took pause.[break][break]

"We're swimming beneath it, you say?"[break][break]

The notion unsettled him. Adrian recalls his history with diving—it felt like several lifetimes ago. He and another (Kyle Lopez), diving to free some Luvdisc holed up in an underwater cave. There had almost been an accident—but his pokemon kept him safe, naturally. But that did nothing to stymie his fears.[break][break]

"...Alright then." He couldn't exactly object.[break][break]

He would fish out a pokeball from his pack, hoping to make use of Greninja as he had before. The pokemon raised its arms in a whole body stretch as it unleashed in a spark of crimson, with what might've been a yawn—muffled by the tongue wrapped around its neck—before looking to Adrian for instruction.[break][break]

"I need you to keep an eye on me down here, 'kay?" Greninja seemed amicable enough to the task, taking to the water quickly, careful to avoid the anchor as it plunked into the water and the chains tore through the water with a violent sloshing.[break][break]

Adrian clambered out of his shirt and jeans, hoping to reduce the drag. Tucking his things neatly away in the same pack as everything else, he felt a chill as the sea breeze washed over his bared skin.[break][break]

"I don't suppose you keep a spare wetsuit?"[break][break]

His arms wrapped around himself at the biceps—he had not acclimated to the temperature yet.

[attr="class","icon"]

Adrian clambered into the suit, fighting against the snag of material-on-skin, trying not to end up on his ass. Tempest was able to dive in ahead of Adrian, and Greninja seemed to grow restless, so he rushed what he could. Falling back into the water, he only saw the cacophony of bubbles roiling around him in that deep blue as he broke the water's surface. His eyes could fixate on nothing...[break][break]

A jolt ran up his and Greninja's spine when they were greeted with rows of teeth and beady black eyes just beneath the boat. A massive Sharpedo had been lurking in wait. It was the stuff of nightmares. Before either of them could react—beyond the burst of bubbles erupting from Adrian's mouth—he was able to see Tempest casually swimming ahead.[break][break]

Pressing a hand to his chest to console himself, Adrian and Greninja nervously moved around Marina, tailing after Tempest through the briny deep.[break][break]

He would feel a little claustrophobic as they approached their destination, but he'd try to ease his anxieties, reassuring himself that Tempest had found his way before. But even so, his heartbeat quickened.

[attr="class","bottom"][break][break]Tempest Quinn

[attr="class","icon"]

Adrian tried to follow after him slowly, but his chest felt tight as rock closed in on all sides; ahead of him was Tempest, behind him was Greninja. Every light snag or bump of rock made his heart race—what if he got stuck between them? Would Greninja be able to pull him back out, or Tempest to pull him through...?[break][break]

Thankfully, neither of those questions needed answered as they emerged into a small trench of water, though he was still smothered in that opressing darkness until Tempest released a Lanturn. Thank goodness for that...[break][break]

Aside from the brine, the air smelled... stale. Making light paddles towards the only bit of land there was, Adrian dragged himself up, taking a moment to look around: It was a mess of a place, everything was rusted and worn, and only spare pieces of plank or tarp covered what might've been a door.[break][break]

Hardly seemed to be anything valuable here.[break][break]

"Couldn't be me." He'd have gone crazy down here.[break][break]

Greninja was able to follow them in. As Adrian had left his torch in his satchel back on the boat, he could only search by the glow of Lanturn's light. Running a hand over the contents of the table, none of it seemed worth salvaging. He offered a shrug to Tempest, before turning his attention to the ramshackle door barring entry to the adjacent room. Tilting his head towards it, he asked the other:[break][break]

"Whaddaya suppose is in there?" Without much pause, Adrian made a go for the door without much consideration, thinking them to be alone down here...

[attr="class","bottom"][break][break]Tempest Quinn

[attr="class","icon"]

"MRE?" Adrian never had the displeasure, but he can only assume it was just that—war rations. Something to fill an empty belly, and with the nutrition one would expect—without any flavor or soul. I hope we won't have to break them out...[break][break]

Having crossed the threshold, they are met with a shadowy interloper. Piercing scarlet eyes and an unsettling cackle welcome Adrian and Tempest, though the former is ill prepared—he cannot see where it's come from.[break][break]

As the disembodied voice lobbed a shadowy orb at them, Greninja acted swiftly, slapping a palm to the ground that caused a barrier to erect in the form of mats offering a buffer between Adrian and the incoming attack. The defensive bulwark holds under the pressure, but the construct buckles just as quickly as the energy dissipates. So where is it?![break][break]

"I can't see a damned thing," he curses.

[attr="class","bottom"][break][break]Tempest Quinn

[attr="class","icon"]

"'Course."[break][break]

Tempest had the right of it. They couldn't well pilfer much while these squatters harried them from the shadows.[break][break]

Their gleaming eyes finally broke through the gloom, allowing Adrian to see them—recoiling at their multitudes. Greninja lags behind Milotic, but manages to keep pace as Adrian comes to his wits, barking out instruction.[break][break]

"Give 'em a few licks," he encouraged.[break][break]

Whirling its tongue as its body lurched forward, Greninja's tongue darted out, lashing the ephemeral forms surrounding them. In the grimly lit dark, he cannot be sure Greninja reached its mark, but there is a resounding assurance in the violent scuffling as Milotic and Greninja attack. Are we... winning?[break][break]

He still couldn't glean much in the pitch.

[attr="class","bottom"][break][break]Tempest Quinn