After several hours of rocking in the cabin, Uncle Fujii's shout finally came from the cockpit.
"Hey! We're about to enter the waters around Tangelo Island, but it's too dark right now, and I can't determine the exact conditions of the sea surface at all."
Upon hearing this, Kai quickly led his Pokémon to the deck to check the situation. The waves were high, and the moon was completely hidden behind thick clouds. The entire sea surface was a pitch-black void, with nothing visible.
"Uncle Fujii, don't drive further in for now. In this situation, we can't figure out what's going on over there. How about this? You slowly circle the surrounding waters, and I'll check the nearby situation."
Following Kai's instructions, Uncle Fujii immediately turned the bow of the ship and began to move slowly in one direction. At the same time, the ship's searchlights flickered on, illuminating the sea ahead with a bright beam. Kai went to the searchlight and began to carefully observe the surrounding conditions.
At this time, Ivy, who had been staying in the cabin, felt unwell. She was seasick, her head groggy. After all, for those like Kai who grew up by the sea, the current waves were a daily occurrence. Ivy, however, had never experienced anything like it.
How embarrassing, she thought, her mind wandering. Kai is right, I really need to exercise more.
After the ship had sailed around the dangerous area marked on the chart for a while, Kai's excellent eyesight spotted lights on the distant sea.
"It looks like there are people over there. Uncle Fujii, let's approach them," Kai said, sweeping the target with the searchlight.
"Alright," Fujii responded, also seeing the faint lights. He began to control the ship to approach them.
"Something feels wrong," Kai muttered after they had moved a certain distance. He turned off the searchlight. The source of the distant lights quickly appeared before them; it was another ship, its own searchlight on. Their attention seemed to be focused on the distant Tangelo Island, and they hadn't noticed Fujii's ship gradually approaching.
Kai recalled his other Pokémon, then flipped onto Skarmory. "Uncle, turn off the lights for now and just cruise nearby. Skarmory and I will go check out the situation."
With that, Skarmory carried Kai off the deck and flew silently towards the other ship. As they got closer, Kai could see that it was larger than Fujii's, its hull painted with an organizational symbol he had never seen before. The ship bobbed up and down in the strong winds and waves, its searchlight scanning the darkness. After careful observation, Kai saw there were only a few figures on board.
"Skarmory, let's fly directly to that searchlight," Kai commanded.
"Skaaar!" Skarmory responded, folding its wings for a dive.
The person operating the searchlight was a young man in a black uniform, with a noticeable scar on his neck, as if from a burn. He felt a sudden cold gust of wind behind him. Then, Kai descended from the sky and kicked him over. The young man fainted without making a sound.
Kai walked to the searchlight and looked in the direction it was shining; there was nothing on the dark sea. The unmanned searchlight swayed irregularly in the sea breeze, the light dancing on the waves.
"What are you doing? Are you dozing off?" a man's shout came from the deck.
The young man lying on the ground was in no condition to answer, as Kai had already tied him up with ropes.
"Hey! You! Are you pretending not to hear me?!" A bearded man walked angrily from the deck towards the searchlight. Just as he was about to climb the stairs, he heard rapid footsteps descending. Immediately after, a white fist enlarged before his eyes.
Thump!
The man's head slammed hard against the wall.
"A good hit makes a good head," Kai muttered, deftly pulling out a rope to tie him up. Meanwhile, Poliwrath vigilantly observed the surroundings for any other enemies.
The sound of the wind and waves perfectly concealed the commotion. The other men on the ship were pitifully unalert. It didn't take long for all eight people on the ship to be securely tied up. Poliwrath pulled out a sailor hat from somewhere, put it on its head, and took over the work in the cockpit. Ursaring dragged all the unconscious men from various places to the control room.
"Octillery, give everyone a Water Gun."
Eight weakened Water Guns sprayed onto their faces.
"Cough, cough! What was that?" Seven men quickly woke up, choking. Only the young man who was first kicked down remained unresponsive.
"Being young means sleeping a lot," Kai said after checking that he wasn't dead. He flashed his driver's license in front of them. "International Police! Now, who's going to tell me your identities and purposes?" he bluffed, his voice steady. "Confess and be lenient, resist and be dealt with severely. The first one to speak gets a reduced sentence."
The tied-up men hadn't figured out the situation yet. The bearded man struggled a few times but couldn't break free. It was the original pilot who reacted first.
"Officer! I'm just a sailor, I didn't do anything wrong!"
"Whether you did anything wrong or not is not for you to say. Now, answer my questions honestly."
"Bah! You spineless coward, what's there to be afraid of with this League dog? What can he do to us?" the bearded man spat. Although International Police officers have great power, according to regulations, they cannot use violent means against suspects who have already been subdued.
"So much talk. Did I ask you?" Kai waved his hand, and Ursaring immediately slapped the bearded man. He stiffened and fainted again.
"Officer! Officer! Don't hit! I'll talk!" the pilot squirmed on the ground, shouting anxiously. He hated the bearded man to the core; although regulations prohibited abusing subdued individuals, there was no recorder around. Who would know if he was hit before or after being subdued?
"We are Pokémon poachers active between the Orange Islands and the Hoenn region," he confessed. "We came here for the rare Pokémon on Tangelo Island. The boss already landed with a small team this afternoon. Our big ship can't pass through the whirlpools over there, so we're staying on the periphery."
"Poachers?"
"Yes, yes, yes."
"How did they get on the island?"
"Our boss caught a Wailmer in Hoenn that can use Whirlpool. It can slightly reduce the affected area of the vortex. Then they landed on the island by speedboat."
***
(End of Chapter)
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