Opal & Topaz

S1 ep20: Living with an ocean view

It had been two whole weeks. The flood was nowhere near finished. In fact, it sounded like the rain was getting heavier.

Hank was forced to lug all his stuff up two floors. Then, he took them up two more, just to be safe.

Although, he was running out of space. He'd checked. There was one more floor above him, then the roof.

His supplies were starting to dwindle. The only reason he wasn't out already was thanks to Sparks, who occasionally managed to catch a magikarp on the lower floors.

It wasn't the tastiest, but it certainly gave him more rations to work with.

Besides that, he was still waiting for Daz. There had been no word from them, or sight even. Hank wondered if they were still looking around the cave. Surely not. By now, the other two would've died, regardless of circumstance.

Hank wasn't sure why, but the thought bothered him. He wasn't a fan of their idiocy. He never had been. But at times, he found himself missing it.

Of course, he had Sparks. But Sparks couldn't exactly hold in-depth conversations. As much as Hank wished they could.

"What today?" Hank still tried regardless. Even if he was destined to get no answer.

Sparks just grunted, letting out a yawn as they padded over and laid themself in Hank's lap. Not a particularly exciting activity, but what was?

Sighing, Hank just ran his fingers through their fur. Nothing was going to happen. As usual. He just needed to wait the flood out.

Hank zoned out, trying, in any way, to pass time. It could've been minutes, or hours later, when he heard movement from downstairs.

At first he explained it away as a magikarp hopping around, but it slowly because clear that this was the water sloshing as a result of something moving. Something that could walk.

For a second, the idea was horrifying. How could a human manage their way up that many floors without drowning? Was this some mutant or something?

Almost immediately, he told himself to snap out of it. There were plenty of bi-pedal water Pokémon. The last thing for it to be was a supernatural horror.

Sparks heard it too, based off his growling, before leaping off of Hank to investigate the stairwell.

Hank followed. Maybe it was Daz. And if it wasn't, Sparks could deal with it. Very easily.

The water lapped ominously at the bottom of the stairs. Even with Sparks by his side, it made him uneasy. While the space was limited, the general consensus with bodies of water was that anything could be hiding in them.

They could be small, like a magikarp or the occasional finneon. But, on the other hand...

Hank shook his head. It was best not to dwell too much on it. He wouldn't see those bigger Pokémon here, anyway.

Sparks let out a low growl as they approached the bottom, moving slowly with their shoulders tensed. The same way they'd stalk prey.

Then, they stood completely still for a few moments. Hank paused. This usually wasn't good.

However, Sparks just splashed their way into the water, letting out something between a meow and a roar.

Whatever it was must be friendly, then. And there was only one other Pokémon Sparks would consider 'friendly'.

Hank made his way to the bottom. Or, rather, the step just above the water line. He had to duck to see into the previous floor, but his assumption was right.