Chapter 117: I Broke a Man's Promise
"You..."
Will stood up, intending to scold the Corphish for not reading the room. But when he saw the usually carefree Pokémon lying on the ground, choking back sobs, he forgot what he was going to say.
He turned to look at the blue-haired man and his accomplices.
"Well? Should we knock them all out?" one of the men asked, walking up to their leader.
The blue-haired man raised his chin, glancing at the Corphish and then at the egg on the ground.
"Forget it," he sneered, turning and leaving with his crew.
"Phew..." Will breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the pirate ship sail away.
[Recover].
Using the skill for the first time, a faint green light glowed on Will's body. Under the sunlight, the emerald-green leaves on his arms shone even more brightly. At the same time, he felt his condition improve considerably; the pain from using Extreme Speed had already faded by more than half.
Only then did he look over at the Corphish, which was still lying on the ground whimpering. He shook his head. It was probably best to let it be for a while.
He picked up the Pokémon egg, walked to the edge of the reef, used his long tail to scoop up some water, and splashed it on Tom's face.
"Nghh..."
After all that commotion, a splash of water was all Tom needed to wake up. He sat up, dazed, and looked around, seemingly remembering what had happened.
"Ah, what rotten luck," Tom said, surprisingly laid-back. He just scratched the back of his head.
"Dude, look at him," Will said, pointing a finger at the Corphish still playing dead.
"Corphish, what are you doing lying over there?"
At Tom's call, the Corphish just turned its back to them.
"What's wrong with him?" Tom asked, looking at Will in confusion. He then noticed the egg in Will's arms but was more concerned about his partner.
"I was about to ask you the same thing," Will shrugged. If Tom, his Trainer, didn't know, how could an outsider who had only known him for a few days know?
"By the way, where's my boat?"
"I thought you'd already noticed," Will said, making a gesture with his hands. He could only try his best to mime the boat being destroyed; it was up to Tom to understand.
"...I see. The boat's gone," Tom understood. He raised a hand and wiped his eyes, remaining silent for a long time before finally sighing. "Maybe this is just fate."
Leaving that cryptic remark hanging in the air, Tom stood up and walked over to sit beside his Corphish. Will curiously followed but kept his distance to listen.
"Hey, what are you so sad about?" Tom asked, patting Corphish's back.
"Hey... (I broke a man's promise...)"
"Hahaha, that's nothing! You gotta look on the bright side!" Tom put his hands on his hips and burst out laughing, so hard it looked like he was about to cry.
"Hey-hey! (You're the one who said it!)"
"What did I say?" Tom asked, confused.
"Hey-hey! (A promise made by a man must always be kept, loud and proud!)"
The Corphish jumped up, looking at Tom angrily, as if scolding him for forgetting his own words. But Corphish didn't realize that its words had just struck two people silent.
"You... you still remember that?" Tom's laughter faded. He sat back, supporting himself on the reef with his hands, and looked out at the ocean. "Doesn't this scene feel familiar?"
"Hey," the Corphish said. Of course, it knew what Tom was talking about. After all, it was on a giant reef just like this one that they had become partners.
...
Over twenty years ago.
The regional Pokémon Leagues had just been established, but they had not yet formed a grand alliance. The villains who had been causing trouble in the various regions were driven out by their local Leagues and had fled to the seas. For a while, the oceans of this world were in chaos. It was, in effect, a great pirate era.
At that time, Tom was still a rich young master. If not for that status, he never would have met Sola, who had also been from a noble family. Tom had his own yacht, and his dream was to sail it around the world, to be the freest man alive.
But at that time, the Hoenn region was in turmoil, and there were many refugees. Batch after batch of them, it was impossible to tell who was a good person and who was a wolf in sheep's clothing. Tom, being kind-hearted and heroic, wanted to be a great hero. He repeatedly sailed his yacht back and forth between Hoenn and Johto, each time taking thousands of refugees and their Pokémon who were trying to escape to the peaceful Johto region.
However, what ordinary people could think of, the villains could too. Many pirates roamed the seas off the Johto coast, robbing these refugees to survive. At that time, the Indigo League had just resolved its own internal conflicts and had to manage both the Kanto and Johto mainlands, not to mention the Sevii Islands, which had been annexed into the Kanto map hundreds of years prior by the Dragonite Kingdom. They couldn't even get help from Sinnoh, let alone deal with the pirates in the southern seas.
Even though Tom knew the sea routes well, there's always a chance of capsizing. That one time, he had run right into a pirate crew. A ship full of refugees and only a few dozen Pokémon—how could they possibly fight against pirates who killed without a second thought? To protect everyone, Tom tried to get the refugees and Pokémon to abandon the yacht and hide on a nearby reef to wait for rescue.
Who would have thought that the pirates, hearing him say this, would just kick him off the boat? They wanted to use the humans and Pokémon as slaves, to live like kings.
The Corphish, who at the time was just a reckless youth, saw Tom get kicked overboard and snapped. It didn't care if it could win or not. It charged onto the pirate ship, pincers raised, and was beaten half to death and thrown overboard. That one battle had caused it to suffer internal injuries that even modern medicine couldn't heal, and it had completely lost the ability to evolve.
The yacht sailed away, leaving only Tom and the half-dead Corphish on the giant reef. Tom didn't even know how he had managed to keep the Corphish alive with the half a piece of bread he had in his pocket. Perhaps the Corphish just had a strong will to live.
After surviving this ordeal together, Tom and Corphish chatted while they waited for rescue. Tom couldn't understand what the Corphish was saying, but that didn't matter. They talked about everything under the sun. It was then that Corphish learned how much the "ship" meant to Tom. It was his dream, a dream that had been stolen.
From that moment on, the Corphish made a silent promise in its heart. It would protect Tom and his ship with its life. It would not let its savior and best friend lose anything ever again.
Later, the two were rescued and went to Johto. They worked as fishermen for ten years, saving up just enough money to buy a speedboat and return to Ever Grande City. That boat was their baby. Only they knew how important it was.
But today, ten years later, that treasure had been destroyed again. That was why the Corphish had lost its mind.
"Hey-hey! (I broke a man's promise!)"
Remembering the past, the Corphish wanted to cry again. It felt so useless.
"You idiot! A real man doesn't get stuck in a rut! As long as you gave it your all, even if you didn't keep your promise, a brave sailor of the sea stands tall and proud, loud and proud!"
Smack!
Tom angrily slapped the Corphish's shoulder. He stood up, put his hands on his hips, and faced the sea. Besides, from that moment on, the most important thing to me was you, you moron.
"...Hey-hey."
"Of course I don't blame you! It's just a boat! With our fishing skills, we can easily buy another one! What, are you doubting your own skills?!"
"Hey-hey!"
"Then let's challenge this sea again!"
"HEY-HEY-HEY!!"
Tom and the Corphish roared at the ocean, and then they began to sing some unknown sea shanty.
"These two... they don't seem like they've been shipwrecked at all," Will shook his head, falling silent as the sea breeze blew past.
A promise made by a man must be kept... I... I broke a man's promise, he thought, lowering his head, feeling dejected.
Smack! Smack!
A sudden slap from a hand and a pincer hit him on the back, making it sting.
"What the-?! Are you two crazy?!"
"Don't just mope around, Grovyle! It's just a little shipwreck, it's no big deal! A real man must face all hardships, loud and proud!"
"Hey-hey-hey!"
Tom and the Corphish pulled him up, forcing him to join their ridiculous dance on the isolated reef. Just then, a head poked out of the nearby sea. A ferocious-looking Gyarados. But its expression was strange, as if it was looking at something bizarre.
"Stop it! You're acting like lunatics, dancing here!" Will's face turned red. He shoved the two goofballs aside, then picked up the egg, sat on the edge of the reef, and tried to look aloof and melancholy.
The Gyarados hovered in place, considering, then finally returned to the depths. It had no intention of eating these things. It just thought they were being too loud and wanted to teach them a lesson. But now it thought that just getting near them would make it drool. It was safer to just move.
Watching the Gyarados disappear, Will sighed in relief. The noisy sounds of his companions and the splashing of the waves entered his ears, and his memory drifted back a thousand years.
"A promise..." he murmured, then fell silent again.
Time passed. Night began to fall. The Pokémon egg in Will's arms began to flash faster and faster.
"Is it going to be born?"
"Hey-hey?"
Tom and the Corphish brought their heads over, their faces full of novelty, all the sadness from the day gone.
"What do we do? The baby is about to be born, but the world outside is so cold and quiet! Corphish, as a man, can we allow this to happen?!"
"Hey-hey!"
"Then let us perform a dance that will shake the seven seas, to welcome this new baby!"
"HEY-HEY-HEY!!"
"...Could you two dance a little further away? I'm afraid you'll scare it from coming out."
~~~
Get early access to 30+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
~~~
Every 5 new reviews = 1 extra chapters
Every 150 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter