Chapter 6: Reminders of the Past

The wind practically shoveled the salty air into my lungs as I stepped out. The front deck was usually less crowded, and today was no exception. 

"Hah…"

I leaned over the side, my normal spot at the very front being taken by some lady dressed in a white shirt with black overall straps. She wore magenta magenta shoes and a flowery hair ornament of the same color, with a pair of dark pink stockings. It was a strange fashion sense, like somebody from another time- It reminded me a bit of the outings I was forced on. 

'…Who is she?'

I had talked to almost everybody onboard, but I had never seen her even during the banquets held almost daily. She was standing as if nothing affected her- neither the rocking of the boat nor the strong winds, like a figurehead made of stone. It didn't seem to be on purpose either, as her pale and dainty hands were only lightly gripping the railing. I stepped up behind her and cleared my throat, but she didn't respond. 

'Guess I'll just leave her alone.'

…Fwooooo~

A moment later a strong wind slammed into us- she turned to me, her crimson eyes met mine. She looked confused, but her blood-red eyes quickly smiled- unlike her mouth, which twisted into a scowl. 

"...?"

I felt like razors were scraped across my skin, and almost every fiber in my body told me she was dangerous. But something about her felt… oddly safe. Before I could even speak though, she opened her scowling mouth. 

"Do you know who I am?"

She didn't wait for me to reply and turned around. The breeze ruffled her black hair, and she calmly gripped the railing once more. As if I was never there. 

…

'Yeah, nevermind. I thought she'd be fun to talk to given the bright pinks, but she's a bit too… abrasive. And that weird feeling…'

I fixed my scarf, biting my lip to ease the strange feeling she gave me. Her red eyes felt oddly familiar- but it was impossible to pinpoint where, with how many refugees I had helped settle. Many had red eyes, especially ones whose parents forced them to get surgery to 'correct' their vision to be like the princess'. 

'...I really need to calm my nerves. I need coffee.'

Turning back, I went inside. The wind had taken care of my tear filled eyes within half a second, and I wasn't up to talk to somebody who obviously didn't want to talk. 

'I guess I'll go to the captain…'

My fingers ran over my medallion again, but I felt a chill run down my spine as I did so. I looked back, but nothing had changed- the weird woman was still just standing there, staring at the ocean ahead. 

'...Weird.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Knock-knock

"Come in!"

I opened the door, shutting it lightly behind before walking into the blue walled room. It smelled of cinnamon- probably spiced alcohol, if the other scents were anything to go by. 

"Oh-hohoo! You must be the wonderful Mykah, aren't you?"

The moment I turned the corner, a jolly man with a perfect handlebar mustache greeted me. 

"Please, please, come. I've been expecting you."

I moved to the other end of the desk, glancing around the room. The walls were packed with shelves of books locked in by elastic bands across them, and the floor was just as cluttered- strangely, none of the books were dusty.

"My name is Augustus. Augustus Briney. I come from a family of sailors. I happen to be the Captain of the S.S. Oceana."

'Wait, is this man seventy? Eighty? And he's still a captain… Man, if he learned how to sail at the same age I did he's my senior tenfold.'

"So tell me, how is your voyage so far? Surely it must be enjoyable?"

'But I can't call him a senior, given its all a secret… Darn, maybe I can ask for some tips on maintenance of this size of a ship to get his opinion. Even if he's not on our side, at least I can get some help with keeping things running smoothly.'

"..."

"No need to be so shy, my child. If you have something to say, please speak your mind!"

He turned around, tapping something into his phone. 

'I should have spoken up, but did he ask me something? Ugh, I need to just slow down to think. Not like there's a limit other than my brain.'

"Anyway, your mother asked me to go through a few things with you before we disembark in Aevium. Is there anything you'd wish to know in particular?"

An opportunity.

"...Yes, sorry. I was lost in thought. This room just reminded me of my love of ships when I was younger."

"Ohoho~! No need to fret, my child. You can ask me all you'd like of that, but I must first fill you in on your new home. So, what do you want to know about our journey's end?"

'…A lot. I couldn't look up anything on the way because of the lack of a phone, but this might be a chance to understand something beyond what the layman would know.'

"Aevium is an archipelago now, right? Why is there nothing in Unovan history books about it changing?"

"Hm?"

Captain Briney took a book from the floor and turned a few pages in. 

"Here you are. See?"

He pointed to an old map on one of the pages. A large continent with tall mountain ranges and sweeping valleys, with a few ports labeled around the shores. It seemed to be using terms and words I didn't recognize as English, but they felt familiar to me. 

'Have I seen these before?'

"Now, this was Aevium forty years ago. Here it is today- you may have seen the maps around the ship."

This time he pulled out a chart of the islands we were heading to. Some were massive, but most were smaller than a blip. Browns and grays were speckled between the green, and seemed to be deserts and mountain faces very different from where the previous map had them. It was certainly more modern than the prior one. 

"A catastrophe happened forty years ago, making it into what it is now. We don't actually know what exactly happened to the region- the first map I showed you was easily over a century old. I may have the only one in existence! You'll notice some of the areas are particularly fraught with danger because of it the separation into these islands, while others have nothing more than a… Unovian like myself, right? I guess the best comparison would be pidove and trubbish?"

I nodded. It made sense- pokemon tended to be weaker in some areas, like Nuvema town or Pallet town in Kanto- the home of the extremely famous Red and Gary. It was a fairly famous trend, but nobody had figured it out yet aside from the postulation that pokemon were culled in some grand conspiracy. We relied on that for migrating further inland after the first batch of refugees. 

"You'll be in East Gearen for at least a while, which is a great place for most people to stay. The air is shockingly clear because of the abundance of galarian wheezing in West Gearen, which is something I never imagined in my youth. Back then- Er, I could go on for hours, but do you have any other questions?"

"...Ah, yes. The league- It's eight, right? How does that work?"

Shaking his head, the captain smiled. 

"It's best not to jump the gun yet. Your mother mentioned you don't even have a pokemon yet?"

I shook my head. 

"Instead, I think you may want to know more about them. See, Aevium pokemon are particularly prideful. Something about them requires a trainer who is capable of handling their strength, or they'll just rebel- which is why there's candies to help with that. Here-"

He held out a small, red-wrapped candy. It looked familiar, like one of the legendary Rare candies that helped pokemon unleash latent potential. I took it from his hand- his palm was large, almost the same size as mine. Much older though, and scarred in several places. 

"See, these candies will store the strength of a pokemon for later use. There's a whole system of candies being produced there by the breeders. It's fascinating, and I'm actually planning to get into the trade myself! Oh-hohoo!"

"Haha…"

Laughing along with the bellied chuckle, I unwrapped the candy. It was red- almost like blood. It was obviously not though, and the small nutritional blurb on the inside of the wrapper alleviated my doubts. Mostly berries, trace minerals, and a… Artificial Meganium Extract? What's that about?

"Your mother said she plans to get you acquainted with the workings of Aevium after you arrive, so don't fret over knowing everything right now. This journey is about to come to a close… Ah!"

The 'well-rounded' captain clapped his rough hands, his eyes twinkling as if he had seen something delicious. 

"It's about time for the farewell banquet! I'll…"

"...?"

I knew we were having a banquet tonight, but not that it was anything more special than the usual. 

"Don't tell me you haven't heard of it!? It's our signature! Our finest ingredients and wines- er, you're too young by a year until we land… I suppose you'd be more interested in the choice steaks?"

Now that caught my interest. No red-blooded Unovian would dare turn away a good steak.

"Do you guys have any good cuts? Ribeye? Sirloin?"

The captain's smile grew to a vicious smirk, threatening to overtake his chubby jawline and crack it in two. 

"Oh-hohoo! Of course, but you're in for more of a treat. Bacon wrapped filet mignon, ribs smoking in applewood from the moment this ship embarked… Hah…"

His mouth was practically watering- no, he was actually wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth. 

'A man of good taste, I see.'

 The Veterans would probably get along well with this guy, if he wasn't one already given the scars on his hands and old age. He probably didn't associate with them because of their seriousness and aversion to travel, something this man seemed to clash with at a glance. 

"I'll be heading down now to ensure everything is ready, and I presume your Mother is also there already. Please make your way over soon- it may be my last voyage, but its tradition to only begin once every able-bodied young boy has arrived!"

He stood up from his desk and walked around, patting my shoulder. He was half a head taller than me, who was six-foot myself. A giant of a man, in both height and width.

"Moving can be hard, but there's much to do in Aevium. I believe it'll be the adventure of a lifetime, my son."

"...thanks."

He let out another belly-full of laughter before marching out. I took one last look around the office, noting the nautical paperweights littered about and nailed firmly to the walls. The man really was from a long family of sailors- I guess brochures don't always lie.