326 – SMOKE ME A KIPPER

Despite looking like thick black sludge, Calcine's smoke was perfectly breathable. It even smelled of her. Her skin had a faint, smoky smell that always made Brandy a little hungry.   

Brandy wouldn't reach Sparky before she moved, but Morgan had been right behind her, and it only took a big step back to bump against her. Her fingernails stroked down Brandy's arm before she grabbed Brandy's hand and squeezed it. Brandy tugged at it, moving them through the smoke so their opponents would lose their position. Morgan dutifully followed; she was even kind enough to use Foul Play to remove some of the chill from being soaked to the bone. Her massive hat brim had kept the rain off her. A finger pressed to Brandy's lips stopped her from thanking Morgan, which surprised Brandy. 

Sure, blinding everyone didn't work if you started talking loudly, but the rain was coming down heavy enough that the roar of it pounding off the deck should have easily disguised Brandy's voice from these two. The quick-moving Pokémon playing chase with Calcine wasn't nearby, so it couldn't be her. The Golisopod they'd called Collie shouldn't have any boosted sense of hearing, and the Pincurchin, whose name was Milo if Collie was to be believed, crackled so much with electricity that her hearing should be awful even without the rain.

Morgan often thought about things from a different angle. If making noise wasn't the issue, then there had to be a benefit to keeping quiet. Brandy kissed the finger pressed to her lips, relaxed, and tried to listen over the hypnotic drumming of the rain. It wasn't easy, Brandy's Compound Eyes gave her the best sight in almost any room, but her hearing wasn't anything special. Without help, she probably wouldn't have heard a thing, but the wickedly sharp Murkrow got to show off her skill with Foul Play, running an invisible hand through Brandy's body and lightly touching her eardrums, taking away some of the drumming sensation the rain was giving. It washed out the rain, dampening it until it sounded like it was behind a window instead of all around her. 

There was a faint electric crackle in the air, but it wasn't loud enough for Brandy to point exactly where it was. Or even who it was, it was probably Milo, but Sparky was sneaky enough that she might try to mimic Milo's sound to throw off Collie. Speaking of Collie, she'd stopped swinging her claws. The loud thumps of those things smashing into the deck would have rung out loud enough for everyone to hear, but the sheer weight of her armor meant her feet still tumped on the deck as she walked. She was pacing through the smoke, hoping to bump into someone so she could go for a multiarmed bear hug. She was currently where Morgan and Brandy had just been standing, so it was a good thing they'd moved when they had. 

It was tempting to take a shot at her while she was blinded, but the only big-hitting Move that Morgan had was Sucker Punch, and while it could have done the job, they'd need Collie to throw an attack first. It was too much of a gamble while they were all blinded; it could just end in one of them getting pounded into the deck. 

With a sudden crackle, a ball of glowing electricity was thrown up into the air, bright enough that even the smoke couldn't hide it. Sparky had just lobbed an Electroball, and needles swished through the air at where she'd thrown it. No cry came from Sparky, so they all missed. The bug must have been running even before she threw the ball, and as it arced through the air, Brandy was darn impressed at her plan. 

Milo had the Lightning Rod ability, which meant she sucked up any Electric move Sparky threw. Usually, this would be annoyingly unhelpful, but in this thick Smokescreen they were stuck in Sparky's Electroball curved to land on Milo, briefly outlining the Pincurchin with crackling electricity. It wasn't an opportunity Brandy could pass up. 

"Calcine! Flame Charge the light!" Brandy called out, and there was a popping flare of fire in the darkness that blazed across the deck and slammed into the glowing Pincurchin. Milo squeaked as she was spiked into the air, and Brandy tossed Morgan after her. "Astonish, go!" 

Feathers rippled all over Brandy's skin as Morgan broke apart into a soft cloud and disappeared. The heavy rain sound came back the moment Morgan's palm left hers, but as consolation, Brandy got to see the satisfying sight of the glowing outline of Milo getting spiked back into the deck with a crash. That'd take the wind out of the Pincurchin for a bit, and Morgan had wanted to get her hands on that fat ass of hers. While Milo was stunned, Brandy could trust her to take as much advantage as possible. 

Brandy tried to run, but her feet stuck to the ground, and she almost fell over, arms flailing before she caught herself. With a heavy leg tug, she eventually pulled a boot free from the water on the deck with a gloopy suckling sound. A quick duck and brush with her fingers confirmed what she was feeling. The water around had turned into thick mud, and the deck was rumbling from the weight of Collie advancing on her slowly. 

From the intent Collie was showing, it had to be her who'd used Muddy Water. It made sense. Her heavy frame could quickly trudge through the thick water where lighter Pokémon would get stuck. She must have avoided using it on Sparky because it'd have slowed down Milo if she wanted to charge in, but now Milo was out of the picture, she was free to ruin the ground, leaving Brandy a sitting duck. 

At least Collie wasn't moving very quickly. Brandy had a moment to think. Muddy Water was a Water Move, so even though mud did have earth in it, Calcine was weak to Water, and her Rock Tomb wouldn't be able to wrestle control of it away from Collie. Morgan could teleport with Astonish, but she couldn't bring Brandy with her. Her Hurricane Move might be strong enough to pick up the mud, but it was just as likely to throw Brandy and her partners overboard while it did so. 

Brandy put her foot down, and it squelched down into the mud again. It wasn't sturdy enough to support her weight, so there was no way she could get both feet free. She was stuck wading if she wanted to move and make a noise while doing it. Collie's laugh echoed over the sound of the pounding rain, clearly amused at Brandy's situation. 

"You're a tricky little redhead. Stay still, and I'll sweep you up into my shell. You'll learn to love it in here."

Woof. Tempting as it was to fall into that, Brandy wasn't about to let Collie get everything all her way. The boots had to go, Brandy kneeling and undoing her laces as quickly as she could, which wasn't that easy with them soaking wet, her fingers as slippery as they were, and the black smoke in the air making it impossible to see. Brandy dipped into that well of Super Luck, letting it guide her fingers to manage to pinch at precisely the right spots and pull the knots free with a deft tug. Shaking her ankles to loosen her boots, Brandy took a deep breath and spread her arms to make herself as big a target as possible. 

"Sparky!" Brandy called, "Electroweb me! Pull hard as you can!" 

"Oh no, you don't, you little shit!" Collie hissed, heavy feet tromping through the mud towards Brandy, but it was too late. Brandy felt the webbing stick to her body and the pleasurable arcs of electricity as Sparky pulled and ripped her right out of her boots. Brandy flew through the smoke, feeling the wind whip through her hair as she hurtled towards Sparky. She tried to tuck her body ready for a roll as she landed, but before she could even get there, bright red points of light flashed over her body and coalesced onto her stomach in a bright glowing pinprick of light. 

Then, a hole was blown right through the Smokescreen as a powerful jet of water rippling with blue energy smashed right into the spot on Brandy's stomach. The force slammed back Brandy, the shockwave ripping apart the webbing attached to her and tossing her sharply through the air to land shoulder first into the soft mud, carving a long trench through it as her momentum kept her sliding until she was all the way at the very edge of the muddy water, her head swimmingly dizzily from the sudden change of direction.

Humans were tough creatures, but a hit like that wasn't something you just shrugged right off. Feeling like her bones had been jellified, Brandy flailed about as she tried to push herself up. Water rushed around her as something sped by. The Smokescreen had dispersed enough that she could see shapes in the rain again. Just as Brandy got a hand on the wooden deck, a massive blue tail flicked out of the rain and slapped her back down. Its heavy weight trapped Brandy on her back, the long coiling tail shifting until the end coiled around Brandy's neck and pulled her up with the lightest of squeezes. 

Blood-red eyes glared at her through thin slits as she pulled Brandy up to her, and the tip of a pink tongue flicked out, dragging itself slowly over Brandy's cheek. The Pokémon's breath was hot on Brandy's skin as she sighed happily through her nose.

"Worthy prey," she murmured happily. "Finally."

The pale skin of her haughty face had a light blue shimmer, and her puffed-out chest was coated in a fine mesh of cream-coloured scales. Brandy couldn't help but raise a shaky hand to touch the rough texture of her breasts, and it wasn't unpleasant at all. You could barely feel the edges, though they were there, teasing at the skin, warning that even touching her wouldn't be easy. 

Her tail wasn't as long as snake Pokémon; it was more stubby, like a slightly elongated mermaid, and she had two massive wings on her back, triple-pointed and shaped like fish fins. She even had ears to match, the kind of cute mermaid webbed ears you sometimes saw inherited by Water Aces who barely left the water, all framed by beautiful flowing hair as dark blue as the ocean depths and swirling behind her in a messy wave that made her even more wild looking and gorgeous.

Haughty, seeking worthy prey, and powerful. Why was this familiar to Brandy?

Wait. Oh no. There was no way. 

"So," the Seadra said, "You ready to find out if what they say about sea horses is true?"

Of all the Pokémon in the sea, Brandy had to find the one horse-themed one.

Deep Sea Mercury. Fuck Brandy's luck.