[ti]quest[/ti]Wish Upon a Whirlpool

Speaking of said friend, he showed up pretty quickly. She turned around with a laugh, twirling the key around her finger for a few seconds, already unlocked the padlock as the chain fell. She felt cool for a second, until the chain and padlock itself got dragged down, falling into the water never to be found again.

Oops?

Bertha the Cetoddle, however, seemed welcome to have a friend with them! "Oh, hey! Hello little friend!" They waved a flipper up to the Quaxly up above, only to suddenly pause and listen to their whispered words. "... Huh. Interesting. But I thought, water inside boats was bad?" More whispering, and Bertha just had an impossibly confused look as they looked up at their trainer. "Uh- I'm not really good at going under the water..."

Laguna meanwhile, just laughed and shook her head, trying not to feel too silly about the whole thing. What in the world was that Quaxly saying? Regardless, she just turned her attention back to her friend and boss. "Well, I admit, I wasn't intending to head out in this boat here on a quest. But when fate smiles upon the lucky, how am I supposed to say no?"

Leaping into the rusty boat, the vessel shifted back and forth, trying to adjust to her weight on the wild waves. She looked around, noticing no oars immediately in sight. It certainly had those little half ring things where you would rest the oars on to paddle, but they were nowhere to be found.

"Hmm, do you see any oars anywhere, Big Bee ? Or at least, something that we could use as oars? I guess we can always have a Pokemon push the boat, but I'd feel a lot safer on these waves with some."

Laguna just sat back, laughing as he suddenly began crafting up a few oars like it was nothing. She really should utilize the crafting more often. It sounded more useful than she probably realized. "Looking good! Let's get going! Bertha?"

"Oh! Yes?" The Cetoddle suddenly turned around, the Quaxly whispering into its ears confusing it intensely. It wasn't going to sink the boat! Even if they could swim, and she knew her trainer could apparently breath underwater, that would be rude!

"Keep your eyes peeled, we're setting sail."

"Aye aye, cap'n!" The Cetoddle pushed its flippers and feet, kicking forwards and keeping up with the old boat.

As BigBee rowed, Laguna kept her own eyes peeled herself. Sitting down at the front, Laguna's hands gripped around her fancy wand, twirling it in preperation. Just in case.

It didn't take long for something to interrupt their journey. The current seemed strong, pulling them somewhere as if by design, until the whole waves just rocked violently, something pulling them drastically off whatever course with visible strain on the boat. Within just seconds, the water began to swirl, twisting and sinking down into a whirlpool out of absolutely nowhere.

But this wasn't natural in the slightest. At the very bottom of the twisting waves laid a large, open blue maw as two massive claw-like limbs reached up above the waves, snapping aggressively.

"What is that!" Cried out her Cetoddle, caught entirely by surprise, their flippers slapping on the waters.

"Doesn't matter!" Laguna immediately cried out, twirling her wand as the seemingly magical tailwind of cold air formed, hoping to push them out of the unnatural whirlpool. "Just attack it! Bertha, Ice Shard!"

"O-on it boss!" The whale was careful of her duck passenger, as it opened its own large jaw. Razor sharp shards of ice fire forth at one of the limbs, hoping to draw attention away from the boat. "H-hey you big, nasty! Fight me!"