Even prior to his arrival in Hoenn, Faolan rarely had the pleasure of any off time. It felt wrong to just rest when a world of opportunities, once completely closed off to him, sprawled out ahead of him like the vast ocean. With no missions currently assigned to his name, the young ranger figured he would take this chance to patrol some of the areas he had yet to visit, taking time to really immerse himself in his new environment. He really wasn't one for city life, and so he had been quick to escape the rather suffocating confines of Lilycove City after arriving there. Route 124 was a seemingly immeasurable mass of saltwater and jutting crags, and it simply called to Faolan despite his lack of a surfing Pokemon. In one's place, he'd borrowed a rather shoddy rowboat from Lilycove -- he had no intentions of going out too far, but just enough to satisfy his cravings for a little ocean outing.

With him were Bourbon and Brandy, who were small and light enough to not make much of a difference on the boat. Though Brandy was exceptionally well-behaved and calm in the face of such adventure, plopped down at Faolan's side while sweeping the ocean with a brilliantly curious and awe-struck gaze, Bourbon was unable to keep himself still. The little Yamper raced from one end of the boat to the next, bright bouts of electricity sparking from the end of his tail. Half of Faolan's time was occupied with restraining the little dog by the scruff to keep him from leaping into the water and quite possibly killing them all with the electric current he would surely send jolting through the boat.

So hyper-focused was Faolan on Bourbon that he failed to notice the dark shadow forming beneath the water -- and it was dangerously close. The one who did notice, however, was Brandy, whose little body began to puff up with obvious fear and the dreadful sight. A pitiful whimper escaped the young Fidough, and she shrunk closer to her trainer, who had finally wrangled the happily panting and completely oblivious Bourbon into his arms. Faolan, huffing from the effort, glanced down at Brandy with mild concern, but before he could even open his mouth to question her, something emerged from the water.

Faolan barely got a glimpse of it. To say it was massive was a horrible understatement, it's gigantic bulk casting a dark shadow over the group as it arced through the air. Brilliantly glowing rings adorned its broad fins and underbelly, making it obvious that it wasn't just some oddly energetic Wailord. Before Faolan could process the sight enough to start making guesses on what exactly it was, the incredible splash resulting from the creature re-entering the water sent the boat rocketing backward. The way it endured blasting wave after wave, it was a miracle that it stayed upright. However, the ranger and his two Pokemon were now absolutely drenched to the bone, though in the aftermath of what they'd just seen, it went almost completely unnoticed.

Bourbon stood at the edge of the boat, barking incessantly as his eyes followed the slow-moving shadow beneath the waves. Faolan, rattled both physically and emotionally, knew he was clearly in no position to battle the creature. Swallowing a lump in his throat, the ranger promptly began to row his boat to one of the nearby rocky outcroppings, hoping that getting his feet onto land would give him a better perspective of the situation.

Tempest Quinn / the lawless sea