[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/i8hyO6c.png[/img] __________________________________________________[/center] [color=silver] [right][sub][img]https://img.pokemondb.net/sprites/sword-shield/icon/braixen.png[/img][img]https://img.pokemondb.net/sprites/sword-shield/icon/munchlax.png[/img][img]https://img.pokemondb.net/sprites/sword-shield/icon/shuppet.png[/img][img]https://img.pokemondb.net/sprites/sword-shield/icon/klefki.png[/img] Passenger cabin → cabin corridors[/sub][/right] [color=#da7b7b]"Snickers, [i]no!"[/i][/color] The Munchlax, startled by his trainer's sudden cry, dropped a bottle of lotion he'd been about to stuff into his mouth and made a pained face. Joshua shook his head, walking up to swipe the bottle to safety before the Pokémon could recover and try again. It looked like expensive stuff. Everything in the passenger cabins did. [color=#da7b7b]"I know."[/color] Joshua got on his tiptoes and slid the bottle atop the wardrobe; not its original place, but far enough away from the Munchlax for now. He still had a bed to make. [color=#da7b7b]"I'm hungry too. We'll go to the Lucky Catch after, I'm sure they got some leftovers for you! But first, did you empty the trashcan?"[/color] Snickers gave an affirmative nod and rubbed at his belly - only to jump when Shuppet floated in through the closed door. She was wearing a wicked grin as she often did, apparently having just had her dinner. She seemed to thrive here, to a worrisome degree. Joshua would've assumed people rich enough to get on board the SS Lugia didn't bear grudges or feel envy, but it turned out it was just the opposite. Were the coordinators really all envious of each other like that? Even though they were all pretty people with pretty Pokémon? It didn't really make sense. Joshua crossed his arms, but couldn't force his face into anything too serious. The corners of his lips kept curling upwards at Shuppet's joy. He'd never caught her in a pokéball, and considering what a free spirit she was, naming her would've felt like intruding, too. She'd started following him on her own a few weeks ago when he was still job searching ashore, though he never did figure out why she was so drawn to him. He wasn't feeling any particular hatred or malice towards anyone that he knew of. She'd been miserable when he found her, hungry and drenched from a rain that he didn't even know could [i]affect [/i]ghosts. Now she looked happy, healthy, and bigger than before. How did Shuppet evolve? Was she close to it? He'd need to look that up when he got a spare minute; work kept him busy. [color=#da7b7b]"Who was it? Wait, don't tell me! ... Was it that rich lady from 349? I think she's got beef with-- [i]whoa!"[/i] [/color]Joshua backpedaled until the back of his knee hit the bed and he fell backwards onto its unimaginably soft (though still unchanged, damnit) covers. Behind the Shuppet - [i]his [/i]Shuppet - were a dozen others, all grinning, all seemingly satisfied with whatever grudge they'd just devoured. Those couldn't all be someone's Pokémon, right? Why were they here? No way there was that much negative emotion on the shi-- [i]Oh no.[/i] He jinxed it. That was Joshua's first and only thought as the ship suddenly shook and knocked him off his feet. There was a loud, horrible sound that Joshua didn't recognize, and he feared it'd make him deaf. Once it subsided, he stood up shakily, only to find all the Shuppet, save for his own, gone. Then there was a familiar rasp from the intercom. [color=green]"Attention passengers, this is your captain speaking."[/color] Joshua straightened out of reflex, straining to hear every word. Was this an [i]actual [/i]emergency then? If so, this'd be his first ever! And he was part of the [i]crew! [/i]Was he expected to do something? Save people? What if he actually got to save people?! Oh boy. Oh no. Oh yes! Oh... He felt a paw on his arm, stopping his hyperventilation before it could begin. Feuette had walked over from where she'd been wiping dust before the emergency, and smiled at him reassuringly. She nodded towards the ceiling as if prompting him to just listen. He did. Everyone was told to gather to the main stadium and prepare for an evacuation. [i]An evacuation![/i] They really must've been sinking! Klefki, Joshua's coworker, was still trying to tug at the bed covers, but he rushed over and swiped it to his chest. [color=#da7b7b]"F-forget the bedding! We're needed upstairs! Come on." [/color]He opened the door, waited for his team to gather, then dashed into the corridor-- Only to slip and fall on his back with a painful crack and a yelp. The floor had flooded. The water [i]would [/i]have reached his knees so far, except it was... frozen. The corridor ahead looked like a skating path. A haunted one, with the lights blinking, revealing a stray Shuppet here, another there, every time the lights came back on. They weren't the only one ones around, though. At the far end of the corridor, barely illuminated by the lights that still fought to live, floated something bigger that Joshua couldn't quite make out. [color=#da7b7b]"Um, Snickers, I'm sorry, buddy."[/color] Joshua mumbled, staring ahead and praying to Arceus the elevator and stairs weren't frozen solid too. [color=#da7b7b]"It's gonna take us a bit before we get you those leftovers."[/color] [/color]