ULTRA DEEP SEA: SE

2nd Expedition

She wasn't making any mistakes this time. Last time, she had come into the expedition woefully underprepared, thinking that it would be similar to the desert, where she had gone in wearing fairly minimal clothing.

But the laws in this space seemed to be vastly different. Running around with too much bare skin exposed was something she could get away once. Maybe if she played her cards right, she could have done it a few more times.

But something in the data for prior missions stuck out to her. Based on that, she didn't want to be left in a dangerous situation that she wasn't equipped for. But this time, she made sure she was. It was kept under her clothes, but this time, she had brought a diving suit along.

It was hardly something to be proud of, but she was still at least relieved that she had been able to get her hands on a good one.

"So, what's the plan for today?"

Elaine crossed her arms behind the back of her neck as she walked forward, looking to her companion.

---

TL;DR:

• Diving Suit get
  

Tags: Shalin Nariya

Shalin wasn't messing around this time. After she got caught without a backup plan when her Sygna Suit stopped working, she brought several Pokémon capable of producing light on their own. When she got her suit back after repairs, she found the likely cause was stressing its Crystabloom when her Flygon's wing was shaking her.

Just because she could didn't mean it was a good idea.

The girl's demeanor was much more serious than it had been, as well; she was sitting on Sandy's back, the Flygon's wings humming. Like a normal person would. "There's a vessel I'd like to investigate," Shalin answered. "The Quaestor Lucis. I've been down there before, but our team had to abort when Ultra Beasts came swarming out of its bowels. They have to have cleared out of there by now."

ULTRA DEEP SEA: SE

2nd Expedition

"By ship, I'm assuming you mean that thing?" Elaine pointed off to something large and strangely familiar not too far off in the distance. She had seen a ship with the exact same name back in the desert.

Though last time she was there, she had set off a trap while pressing buttons. Clearly, she had learned from her mistakes and would not make this a repeat of last time.

It was easier to find this time considering they did not take the same route as before, but keeping the beacons they had seen before in mind certainly made the trek much easier in terms of navigation. Given the kind of place this was, that was a major blessing for them.

As they made their way ever closer, the ship became ever larger and larger until it was right next to them--a towering vessel.

Elaine looked around for a bit at it before turning back to Shalin. "So where did you guys enter from last time?" There was no need to make everything a deduction game, even if keeping an eye on openings and the like were for the better.

---

TL;DR:

• Ship

Tags: Shalin Nariya

"From the top," Shalin answered, the boat on the precipice of a trench. She didn't even peek over its edge into the endless abyss like last time. Nuh-uh. Been there, done that. "Why, were you thinking of going in the front door this time?"

One detail did make Shalin curious: the lower levels of the ship seemed to be exposed. "There were a lot of Ultra Beast eggs in the basement last time I was here. If a fight breaks out, it might be enough to send the vessel over the edge. With how different... physics are in here, it shouldn't be hard for us to escape if push comes to shove. But I'd rather us stay out of that deep darkness as long as we can."

Whichever entrance Elaine agreed to use, Shalin and her Flygon would help get it open. "Just because I have fun being vibrated like a wind-up toy doesn't mean I can keep it up long enough for my Sygna Suit to serve as a light source," she snickered, trying to keep the mood up.

ULTRA DEEP SEA: SE

2nd Expedition

"It would have been nice to simply walk into the front door, but it sounds like the ship isn't safe enough for that." Elaine scanned across the remainder of the ship. Its composition was similar enough. If that was the case...

"I had encountered a similar ship in the desert. It even had the same name." Elaine crossed her arms as she eyed to a very specific point on the ship. "In that case, the best point of interest would be..."

Elaine trailed off as she pointed up onto the second level--an area that had a few windows sticking out.

"In that case, let's go for the Bridge. If that fails to net anything, then the captain quarters should also be relatively close."

She had not gotten to do much exploring beyond the bridge the last time. Instead, the last expedition had them teleporting out. So, she could not say for sure anything beyond what she had seen on the last iteration of the ship.

But this time, she would not be pressing random buttons. She would go in with a purpose.

Elaine let out her own Flygon as she began to ride its back up to the proposed location.

"Shall we get going?"

---

TL;DR:

• Enter through the bridge.

Tags: Shalin Nariya

"The same name? Curious..." Shalin trailed off. Was the existence of two ships with the same name a time-space anomaly, much like the Distortions had been? Furthermore, how did she miss that the vessels had the same name? "I can't believe I didn't notice that, because I've also spent a lot of time in the desert."

Elaine was right. The bridge would be one of the best points of entry that wouldn't disturb the vessel too much. Seeing the second Flygon brought a much-needed smile to her face. "Nice ride, Elaine!" she complimented as the two of them approached the bridge.

As they approached the window, lights within and around the ship suddenly turned on and brightly shined upon them. The Ranger's heart began to race, fearing the ship may have already been occupied by Ultra Beasts or worse. "Keep your guard up," Shalin cried over the humming of the two Flygon. "We might have company."

ULTRA DEEP SEA: SE

2nd Expedition

Elaine scrunched her face for a moment and she scratched her name for a moment as Shalin questioned her claim of the ships having the same name. "Wait. No, they both had Lucis in their name. Angelum Lucis. That was the one in the desert. Probably a similar class to this one."

Either way, the two of them had made it up to the bridge of the ship. Sitting atop their respective Flygons, the two of them saw the lights coming on inside within. Shalin had cried out, but Elaine quickly raised a finger to her mouth to quickly tell her to keep quiet for a moment.

Placing her hear against the glass, she listened in for anything. But to her surprise, it was all silent.

"Let's keep silent for now and make sure we signal each other for a bit. There's nothing coming for now and it may have simply reacted to our presence, but better to exercise caution for now."

As she did, she had Flygon help her pull apart a loose window panel, creating enough of an opening for the two of them. As she did that, she signalled Shalin to follow along.

---

TL;DR:

• Entering through the bridge.

Tags: Shalin Nariya

So it wasn't the exact same name, though a similar, if not identical vessel. "Ah, so another of its kind," Shalin mused as the duo approached the bridge. "Sounds like we should both be familiar with the interior, then. That'll make things way easier. If we get in trouble, we'll at least know where to go to safety." While it wouldn't necessarily be true, depending on what creepy crawlies were hiding in the wreckage, their survival odds would certainly be greater due to their past experiences.

As Elaine Highland 's Flygon pulled open a window panel for the two to enter through, Shalin turned toward her Flygon, putting a finger over her mouth to encourage her to keep her wings as still as possible.

ULTRA DEEP SEA: SE

2nd Expedition

The moment Elaine had jumped into the Bridge, however, she had realized that the entire area was completely empty. The lights had turned on, but there was not a single person home.

She felt a sense of deja vu as she stood back up on her feet and looked at all of the flashing lights. Multiple screens were lighting up with various shades of blue. Keys were remaining lit on all of the keyboards.

The place felt strangely alive despite the lack of anything living and breathing.

The last time she was in a similar situation, she had been a bit reckless. But this time, she needed to make sure repeating a similar folly. As much as she was tempted to sit at one of the computer screens and start tapping away on the keys, she stifled the urge.

Instead, she focused on something else.

"A note?"

One side of the paper was frayed, but unlike the language that was flashing on those screens, she could read this.

"This place isn't right. I don't know how I ended up here, but now I can't even find a way home. I've been wandering here for weeks, possibly months. It's a miracle I'm even alive to write this, but I don't know how much time I have.

I haven't seen anything normal since I got here. I've been hiding to survive here. I have to keep vigilant, otherwise those things will get me. I can't even see them at the wrong angle. Every step I take, I have to be vigilant otherwise one of them could get me.

Those jellyfish. Those weird things with the syringe tips. They're everywhere. Not a single normal Pokemon to be found. Not here, not anywhere. It's all..."

That was all of it. As she reached the end of the end of the page, it was all cut off. There was nothing left on that page.

As she flipped it over, she read out loud the last piece of information, clearly something written separately.

"No matter what you do, do not look deeper than you absolutely have to."

---

TL;DR:

• Prompts fulfilled: 13, 27

Tags: Shalin Nariya

The ship seemed to be operation but deserted. What in the world was going on? It was like the vessel itself was alive, observing Shalin and Elaine as they walked about the bridge. She listened to Elaine Highland read the note aloud. It made her shiver. "Nihilego..." the Captain trailed off. "They're scary Pokémon. One latches onto you, you could forget who your favorite Pokémon... or even not recognize your own family. it's awful."

The last note made Shalin laugh, not out of disregard, but because she had been there before. Both of them had. "In a place like this, you would think that would be obvious," Shalin added before heading toward the vessel's stairwell. "I thought I saw a hole in the hull at the bottom of the staircase. Maybe we can figure out something more about the ship or why it got stuck here."

ULTRA DEEP SEA: SE

2nd Expedition

"Then was that..." Elaine rubbed around the back of her neck. Last time she was here, she had felt something brushing by her neck before it felt like the world had begun to converge on her. That momentary trickle in paranoia that had ever exacerbated with each step they took back then...even her acts of belligerence. "Was that all from that Nihilego? If even a touch was enough to cause that all, how bad..."

How bad would it be to have become its direct prey. Elaine swallowed her words as she shook her head and refused to ask anything further. The answer was obvious. The only thing she didn't know was the magnitude.

The last time, it was all exacerbated by the environment, after all. She could only imagine that becoming Nihilego's prey was much worse.

So, she stifled all thoughts of that as she followed Shalin out towards the staircase. As she heard her suggestion, she chuckled. She had experienced something very similar.

"In that case, let's forget the staircase. There's an even better option." She said as she pulled Shalin back to the bridge. "Depending on the type of ship, they may have this kind of functionality."

She was not randomly pressing buttons this time. The last time she had tried to operate this, the group had been teleported to somewhere unexpected. But this time...

"And there." A single target icon showed up on a location on the lower parts of the ship on the map on screen. Based on its position, it was further below where the stairs terminated--exactly where the hole that Shalin had suggested would have been.

Lights glowed around the group. But when they vanished, they were neither thrown in the air, nor into the depths. This was a clear lower compartment even further below the stairs. Before them was the a gargantuan hole in the hull. It had even stretched up to the level above.

"If the ship was brought down or anchored by something that created a hole, it had to have taken a decent chunk of the wall. Which brings us to this thing here. Something definitely lies beyond all of this."

---

TL;DR:

• Prompts set-up for: 38

Tags: Shalin Nariya

Shalin didn't want to think about it. All the Ultra Beasts were very dangerous Pokémon. Even her own; as wondrous as her Sygna Suit was, it didn't protect her from the violent motion Olivia and Nymris were capable of. One buzz of either of their wings would dislodge her within milliseconds. Shalin, too, shook her head as she delved deeper into the vessel.

A teleporter - how useful! Without hesitation, Shalin joined Elaine on the platform, ready to be whisked off to the destination point on the screen. She was amazed the vessel was still in such good condition; the last one had all its systems completely offline by the time she could get to it.

As the girls delved to the lowest levels and even beneath the ship, Shalin grew increasingly more uncomfortable. Clicking open a second Poké Ball, an Ultra Beast of her own floated above her. "Toxrill will probably be more familiar with these depths than we are," Shalin suggested, smiling toward the Poipole. She knew better than to pet the small Poison-type.

As the explorers continued to descend, their vision slowly turned red as the liquid surrounding them became less water-like and closer to the texture of blood. Shalin's SYGNA SUIT was vital in protecting her; at such depths, were she to withdraw her Flygon, she would not make it back to the surface. She had to keep the dragon from fainting at all costs.

Just what in the world was down here?

ULTRA DEEP SEA: SE

2nd Expedition

"Roger that!"

Unlike Shalin who had access to a Sygna Suit, Elaine had to work with what she had. Regardless, a diving suit was still completely functional in the cave system, so she went through with it.

Even more fortunate was the fact that they had an Ultra Beast to guide them through this alien cave system. She had heard many tales of people going into caves and dying from cave-ins or bad directions, so having someone who could guide them through it was a start.

Elaine...

Rather than taking the lead here, she was letting Shalin and the Poipole take their time moving through the network. They had plenty of time. If she got tired, she could eventually bring Nephthys out.

Elaine, sink deeper...

Elaine found herself stopping for a second as she heard her name being called out--not by Shalin, but by a seemingly familiar voice.

Come deeper, sink into the abyss.

Her focus drew deeper into the world they were penetrating into.

Until you, too, have drowned in the same kind of mire. Only then will you understand the truth of the world. At its very depths.

"No. Not like that."

Elaine quickly shook her head. The voice that had played in her head was one familiar to the old Elaine and one that haunted her very memories. But she would not let it get to her. Not through her memories or whatever hallucinations this world threw upon to her.

She took deep breaths.

"We'll keep going forward."

And she swam ever forward.

---

TL;DR:

• Prompts fulfilled: 29

Tags: Shalin Nariya