"Ahoy! Someone is excited to see me! Here I am, clear as day!" Captain Walt bellowed as he walked onto the bow, wingspan fully spread. Wattrel squawked loudly from the captain's shoulder, the first mate always had to make his presence known.

With a thud, the large man jumped down onto the dock. "This isn't my first time on a ship, matey. When you've sailed as far and wide as I have, a simple delivery is barely a drop in the ocean blue!" He chuckled loudly and placed a firm grip on his friend's shoulder.

"I have everything under-. Before he could finish, a loud bang followed by a plume of smoke stole the stage

"Captain. It's leaking again." The young mechanic said loudly.

"I thought we fixed it! Argh! Give me a minute, Howard, just a minor inconvenience." The captain climbed back onto his salt riddled ship with a loud creak.

---

howard slayte

Shirley, Howard's Aerodactyl, gave Walter's Wattrel a side glance. The eye of a predator never fully abated.

"...heh. Good to see you, Walt, even if I still look like more of a pirate than you." Howard tapped his eyepatch. Walter's grip on the admin's shoulder didn't abate, and a smile slowly dawned on Howard's face. "Good to see you, man. How were yo-"

Something exploded on the ship. For a horrible moment, Howard thought that this was a trap, that Walter had turned to the League and that the ship was wired to explode. As one of Walter's boys came out, Howard visibly relaxed. Better a ship malfunction than sabotage.

Ship malfunctions were expensive, though.

"What do you mean 'it's leaking?' I thought you ran a tight ship!" Howard followed the captain up onto his ship, the admin's boots causing the wood to creak as he climbed. He looked around wildly. This ship couldn't sink. Ships were expensive to build and replace, after all.

Especially given the ship's expensive and valuable cargo.

"Walter, what's going on!"

---

walter delmar

"Nothing to worry about, matey. Ever since we disembarked from Dewford we've been having engine troubles." The Captain reassured Howard. "Don't worry, I have my top mechanic on it...and Aipom."

Aipom frantically leapt around the deck with a chaotic assortment of tools and mechanical bits. A loud clang roared out from the engine room. The deck fell silent for a brief moment.

Then mechanic meekly yelped "Captain! Can you tell Murkrow to stop taking my wrench?" A flash of dark feathers squawked out of the engine room. Oil and bolts splashed onto the main deck.

The Captain bellowed a fierce order "Murkrow! Stop taking Marco's tools! Do it again and you're going in the ball!" Murkrow titled his head and stared blankly at Walter. Captain Walt knelt down in front of his loyal look out. "Look, the faster we fix the engine the more shiny things I can get you. Ok?"

The Captain cracked a smile at his befuddled companion. Murkrow looked up towards the Captain and let out a squawk "Trouble!" The dark type Pokemon flew into the air with a nut and swiftly dropped it onto the deck.

The crew looked at where the nut landed.

Something was troubling.

---

howard slayte

"Dewford?" Every time that town came up, Howard could feel his soul curdling slightly. The island town was where Howard lived currently, but he suspected that it wouldn't be for long. "Hopefully the port is quiet over there."

It likely was. Dewford's sheriff was currently overworking himself to the bone, last time Howard saw him. Michael Navidson hardly visited Dewford anymore due to kyle lopez's death and his promotion to Elite Four.

Sure, Dewford's police department was capable, but Navy was Navy. He was worth a thousand deputies. If he was the sun, then the rest of the police were mere sparks. Without the sheriff there, Walter would be able to smuggle and pilfer without issue. If Navy caught him smuggling Eternatus's remnants, though?

Walter's ship wouldn't be the only thing that sank.

"What the...?" The nut clattered against the floor. Instinctively, Howard took a step back, as if expecting the nut to explode. It reminded the admin of Shred Zeppelin's Meltan, kinda. Was that offensive, to say all Meltan nuts looked the same? "Let me see."

He picked up the nut and inspected it. His eye narrowed in on a small, mite-sized piece of tech latched to the inside of the nut. A tracker. Shit.

"Walter." Howard tossed the nut to him. "Keep an eye on your ship."

---

walter delmar

Walter quickly caught the nut, examining each of its facets carefully. Then he noticed the tracker. "Que? How did this end up on my ship?" The Captain gave the nut back to Murkrow

"Don't lose this." the bird Pokemon happily took the shiny tracker in its beak. Murkrow waddled over to its scrap metal nest and promptly added the nut to the top.

The Captain looked sternly at the young mechanic. His voice thundered "I said, Marcos, how did this thing end up on my ship?" His eyes darkened like storm clouds.

"I-I don't know captain." The mechanic said timidly. "You don't know? It's in the engine room! You've been fiddling with that engine ever since we made port in Dewford." The Captain jumped into the engine room and grabbed Marcos' collar.

"We wouldn't have a traitor on board would we, Marcos?" The Captains eyes flashed like lightning.

The burly deckhand, Manuel, yelled out "Hey, Captain, take it easy on the kid! You don't actually think he's a traitor right?"

The boy could barely get a word out. "No-no sir! Maybe someone snuck on while we were site seeing." Marcos said meekly.

"You were the one who told me 'Aye, lad, don't worry about the ship. We're on the beach now! Let's relax, ok?'' Wattrel gave Walter a stern look.

The Captain slowly lowered the young mechanic back to the floor. "You're right, lad. Lo siento. I'm sorry I lost my temper there, lad. After we sort this whole thing out, I permit you to stay in Sootopolis as long as you need."

Walter looked up at Howard "Howard. I'm sorry. How do we fix this?"

---

howard slayte

A tracker was bad news, especially if it was one placed on a mercenary ship. Walter did work for Team Rocket, but that didn't mean that the captain was officially a member of the organization. Rocket hired plenty of people for contract work, but a leak of this magnitude was an issue.

"Fuck, let me think." Howard rubbed his temples and paced between Walter and his crew. A captain was a king aboard his ship, but Howard was an admin for Team Rocket. That dynamic would always exist between the two, as much as Howard respected the man.

There had been a time, long ago, where Howard hadn't been a part of Team Rocket. He was glad that Walter remembered him from then, instead of the man he was now.

"Okay, okay..." Howard snapped his fingers. "Got it. You, boy. Marcos, right?"

Howard pointed at the young mechanic and snapped his fingers at Walter. What the man had in spirit and brawn, he lacked for in brains. Luckily, Howard made up for that. In that regard, Walter hadn't changed much since he and Howard had met in Paldea, all those years ago.

"Give your techie the tracker." The admin's eye glimmered. "Do you have any fish Pokémon on board? Wild ones that you've caught for food?"

Preferably ones that were still alive.

---

walter delmar

"Aye, sir. Orders are orders. Murkrow, give the 'trouble' back to Marcos." The Captain stood attentively arms clasped behind his back. Murkrow looked back at his captain with a blank stare.

Wattrel leapt from Walter's shoulder and swooped down towards Murkrow's treasure nest. The two gave each other a vacant stare for a few seconds before Wattrel made its move. Slowly, Wattrel inched his way to the top of the nest and plucked the nut with his beak.

Murkrow hopped on top of the nest with Wattrel. Slowly, Murkrow reached their beak out towards Wattrel. With a spark of electricity, Wattrel shot into the air. Murkrow fell off of the nest, stuck in a daze for a few moments.

Wattrel plopped the nut into his captain's hand. "Thank you, Wattrel. This is why you're the first mate." He turned towards Murkrow.

"Don't worry, Murkrow will be fine. They're a good scout and treasurer hunter, but sometimes they can be a bit clingy with their loot. They make a fine pirate but we're working on making them a better crew mate."

The Captain reached down to give Marcos the nut. "Marcos, take this and listen to every instruction Mr. Slayte gives you. He'd never betray us." with this order, the captain rose up and stared into his superior's eyes.

While the two were close friends, business is business and trackers are trackers. It didn't take a criminal mastermind to tell Walter that a tracker would be trouble. But it did require one to tell him how to deal with it.

"As for the fish Pokemon, sir. We have a few magikarp in the storage barrels but none that'll be lively swimmers." The Captain gave a small chuckle as he said the final sentence.

"Tell me, sir, what're you cooking up in that genius head of yours?"

---

howard slayte

"What I do best, Walter." He gave the man on the clap of the shoulder. "Plausible deniability."

People could suspect, but if they couldn't prove anything, then Walter's ship was safe. The Pokemon League kept a tight grip on the sea network, that populated Eastern Hoenn, but the admin knew that their grip was slackening. With skyler dross losing control of Kyogre, it fell onto Cillian Quinn and Lugia to control the seas in their stead.

A big pair of shoes to fill, but Cillian often rose to the occasion when Rocket was concerned. It was the League's slackening grip that Howard and Walter would abuse, with Marco's help.

"Get that tracker out of the nut. Don't break it." Howard gave the young mechanic a nod. Howard was dexterous with his fingers, but he was hopeless with technology. Hopefully Walter's crewmate could do what he could not. "Come with me, cap."

He jumped off the ship and walked down the dock, hat flapping in the wind. His Aerodactyl gave Walter a side-glare as they walked. She remembered him, though distantly.

"You slipped up with the tracker, Walt. That was sloppy." The admin's eye flickered with concern as he gave Walter a look. "I need you to be careful. This isn't Paldea or the Levincian docks anymore."

---

walter delmar

Walter somberly climbed down from his ship. He went to the edge of the dock and stared out at the sea. This was his domain, his home. Yet now it looked darker and angrier to him. The waves lapped at the dock with a newfound hostility. The once gentle breeze now tugged at Walter's clothes. He had failed as a captain.

Walter reminisced the first time he boarded his ship. On that bright sunny day he remembered looking out on the Paldean sea with newly united his crew. He made a promise to them. A promise that they would become sailors of legend and all lands from Unova to Sinnoh would know the name Team Cove.

He made another promise. He promised to be their unyielding captain who would never lead them astray. When the storms blew in, he would maneuver the ship to save his crew. When they were blown off course, he would be the one to make sure everyone made it to land. He made a promise and he broke it.

A rookie mistake wrought upon his crew because of his arrogance. He was no great captain. He was a boy playing pirate.


Walter turned around, his lips didn't dare curl into his usual smile. He looked into Howard's eyes and stated "Howard, my old friend. I apologize for my recklessness. I made a promise to you and to my crew that I would lead this operation to success. I have failed you both. As captain of this vessel and crew, I take full responsibility for letting this happen. If you allow me to continue sailing for Team Rocket, I will make sure this never happens again. I will station more regimented ship watch rotations. Furthermore, I will make sure everyone and every part of my ship is accounted for at all times during a mission. Howard, will you let us continue to sail for you?"

---

howard slayte

"Nice speech." The admin crossed his arms in thought as Walter spoke. "Very nice."

They crossed the docks in silence, boots clicking against wood and stone. Howard's Aerodactyl scraped her claws against the dock as they walked towards a fishmonger's stand. As they grew close, the admin checked his wallet. His earnings were squalid, in spite of the sheer supply of resources Sootopolis received with his guidance. He could finance an organization, but not keep his own balance in check.

"You were made to sail. I would never take that from you, man." Howard sighed as he scratched at a bit of stubble on his chin. "That's your dream. Your life. I can't take away something that's so fundamental to who you are. It'd be like clipping your Wattrel's wings. Cruel."

With a murmur to a fishmonger, the admin exchanged a few coins for a flopping Magikarp, still breathing. They could survive out of water for a remarkable amount of time with minimal inconvenience. As it flopped in his arm, Howard gave the captain a gentle smack to his head.

"I still need Captain Walt. You wanna make amends?" Howard tossed the fish to Walter. "Stay safe, and keep an eye on your ship. Make sure she's still your own. The seas are getting more and more dangerous, now."

Though he didn't admit it, he didn't want to lose the young captain. Inexperience was not a crime. Failing to learn from it was.

"Take the Magikarp, make it swallow the tracker, and set it loose when you're out at sea. Let your stalker follow Magikarps instead."

Not an ideal solution, but it was one nonetheless.

---

walter delmar

"Aye aye, matey. You can trust ol' Captain Walt. This ship is as secure as an octillery's tentacles round its prey!"
Walter cracked a smile as he took the magikarp. It was time to make amends.

The Captain strode back to his ship and climbed aboard. "Attention, Team Cove! This is your captain speaking. Good news! We are still working for Howard and Team Rocket!" the crew let out a mighty "Yo ho!"

"Marcos, did you finish extracting the tracker?" Walter looked over with a confident look at his top mechanic.

"Aye aye, captain! Here you are!" Marcos handed the tracker to his captain. "Excellent work, Marcos!" The Captain held the tracker in one hand, the magikarp in the other.

"Down the hatch!" Walter thrust the tracker deep into the magikarp's mouth. He gave deckhand Gino a pat on the shoulder, hand still covered in magikarp slime.

"Keep this in a barrel full of water. We're gonna release it when we set sail again."

Gino tried to wipe the slime from his shoulder with little success. He grabbed the poor fish Pokemon and quickly ran off to put it in water.

"Now, everyone. Let's start unloading our goods and chart our course for our next big adventure!"

"Yo ho! Yo ho! Aye aye, Captain!" rang out from the crew.

It was good to be the captain. It was even better to be friends with a Rocket admin.

---

howard slayte