Sea Mauville

“Shhh, girl, it’s alright.” Archie patted Sharpay’s side as she slowed. 

The Sharpedo gave a low rumble, but wouldn’t swim closer to the half-sunken building. Archie couldn’t blame her. Last time Sharpy had been this close to Sea Mauville, his unit leader had knocked her out and threatened to chop off her fins for Archie’s mutiny.

“None of those punks are gonna be here anymore, Sharpy,” he whispered, but slid off of her back and into the cold midnight sea. “I won’t let ‘em hurt you ever again.”

“Grarooough,” Sharpay growled, trying to nudge him away from the looming structure.

Maybe he should have listened to her. But Sea Mauville was the one place that Interpol would never expect him to go back to—and even if they did, he knew this hellhole inside and out. He could play hide and seek with Interpol’s goons until they ran out of air.

“Alright. Yer gonna have to get used to this new base before too long, though.” 

He unclipped Sharpay’s pokeball from his waist and let her inside. Then it was just him, the sea… and the place that had haunted his nightmares for the past ten years.

“Welp. Best take my own advice,” he muttered, swimming towards the crooked roof.

No one else should be stupid enough to wander around Sea Mauville this time of night. He had his Crobat, Blueberry, fly a quick recon before he climbed aboard, though.

He fed Blueberry a pink pokeblock, holding her close to his chest. Not like there were any grunts to act tough for around here.

He’d probably never see his loyal crew again. His friends. Matt and Shelley…

At least they’d be safe, without him. The little scamp would speak up for how they’d tried to stop Archie in the end.

“Enough lollygaggin’, eh?” He forced a grin, scratching Blueberry’s head. She let out a low chirp. “Yeah, I thought so.”

She fluttered out of his arms as he crossed the roof, finally taking the plunge into Sea Mauville’s interior.

“Arceus,” he cursed. 

The poster of company slogans still hung right next to the entrance. 

01. Say good morning very loudly.

02. Don't bring Pokémon to your workplace.

03. Always arrive on time. Always stay late.

04. Lay your life on the line in safety checks.

05. Take joint responsibility for teamwork.

06. Obey your superior's orders absolutely.

07. Maintain top quality. Give up your sanity.

08. Worship and praise the founder.

09. Don't expect time off before you retire.

10. No need to think. Just work unceasingly.

He didn’t need to read them. There wasn’t enough water in the world to wash those mantras from his mind. 

“Can’t believe no one bothered to hide how messed up this place was.” His fists clenched. If it wouldn’t tip off the phony “conservationists” who worked here, he would’ve torn the poster down.

No one saw a point in protesting against Sea Mauville and Greater Mauville Holdings. They were dead. Disbanded. Bankrupt. Whatever you wanted to call it.

No one was supposed to know that they’d been folded into Devon Corp., continuing their sinister projects under a cleaner name.

“Maybe Interpol won’t catch me, but my blood pressure’s gonna be through the roof,” he muttered. As if that weren’t the least of his worries.

Suddenly, Blueberry zipped towards starboard, over the crates and holes blocking off the hall.

“Hey!” Archie called out, but immediately shut his mouth. There was no telling what had set her off. The safest bet was to follow first, and ask questions later.

Leaping over the broken floor, he chased his Crobat down the hall. Tiles groaned beneath his feet, and he bit back a curse as one gave way entirely. 

Lay your life on the line in safety checks.

He grimaced, tugging his shoe free but activating its flipper extension by accident. 

“Arceus-cursed deathtrap,” he muttered, flop-flop-flopping his way after Blueberry. The end of the hall slanted into the ocean; he might as well be prepared to dive.

But Blueberry wasn’t circling over the water. She slammed her body against the far right door.

Don’t bring Pokemon to your workplace.

Archie shivered. Blast it, he wasn’t supposed to be getting seasick over a few bad memories. He was only going to make worse memories if he didn’t keep his sea legs.

Slam. Slam. Blueberry crashed through, and Archie stumbled into the room behind her. Though he didn’t know how they were going to hide in a room with a broken door—

He froze. They weren’t the only ones hiding.

“Maxie?”

Of course it was him. Maxie was the only man in the world who could be as stupid as Archie. His red coat was still bleached pink from the heat of Groudon’s awakening.

Take joint responsibility for teamwork. 

Maxie looked up with a jolt. A tiny bottle, familiar and vile, clinked in his trembling hand.

Then Blueberry plowed straight into his chest.

“Blueberry!” Archie gaped, running to catch Maxie before he could crumple to the unstable floor. Archie nearly slipped on the other empty, discarded bottles that littered the ground. 

“What—what on earth are y-you—” Maxie tried to say, but his chattering teeth shredded any remaining words. With that much Devon Energy Elixir™ in his system, it was a miracle he could speak at all.

“Same’s you, I bet. ‘Cept I’m not trying to get myself killed.” Archie grunted as he lifted Maxie from beneath his knees, bridal style. 

He was too light. Had he forgotten how to eat while chasing after Groudon? Surely he hadn’t been living off these energy elixirs before today. Not after how hard he’d worked to quit them the first time.

“Blueberry. You remember what to do, yeah?”

She screeched in reply, fluttering over Maxie’s jittering form. Blast, this was the worst Archie had ever seen him. Even the night before Archie jumped ship from Sea Mauville, Maxie hadn’t drunk so much of the poison.

Of course, Archie hadn’t been around to see him after that, but it wasn’t hard to guess what happened. Maxie must have worked himself deeper and deeper into the ground. And without Archie, he would’ve had no one but the drink to turn to.

“C’mon, Maxie-boy.” He shook him gently. “You know the drill too.” 

Obey your superior's orders absolutely.

“Unless you want to have a week-long cruise on Panic Attack Ocean,” he added. 

Maxie’s snort turned into a cough. “S-still with the—idiotic s-sea metaphors.”

“Made ya smile, though.” Archie gave a tight grin. Maxie’s smile was more like a grimace, but that was about as close as Maxie got to smiling on a good day.

Today wasn’t a good day. There weren’t good days in Sea Mauville.

With a hissing sigh, Maxie extended his arm, his coat sleeve riding up. Blueberry’s fangs carefully sunk into the exposed veins of his wrist. She hadn’t drawn out poison like this since she was a tiny Zubat, but Maxie probably couldn't feel the difference in fang size at the moment.

When Blueberry finished leeching out the elixir, that was a different story. Maxie let out a hiss of pain, his free hand rushing to cover the puncture marks. They weren’t bleeding. Blueberry was a professional.

“Good girl.” Archie let out a shaky breath of relief. “I’ll have a nice oran berry for you soon as we get this landlubber anchored.”

“Idiotic…” Maxie groaned. 

Archie savored the insult. A rude Maxie was an alive Maxie. 

“Yeah, yeah, you’re welcome. You coherent enough to use a rebreather?”

XXX

“I’m not your pokemon. I can feed myself,” Maxie grumbled from where he lay on the barrack’s least-molded mattress. His Camerupt, Igneous, sprawled beneath the cot. His warmth was drying the sodden coat that hung from the cot’s metal frame, as well as the waterlogged pair of boots beside it. Maxie looked smaller than ever without the bulky outer clothes.

“Whatever you say, Maxie-boy.” Archie placed the pecha berry in Maxie’s shaking hand. 

He pretended not to notice when Maxie missed his mouth before managing a bite. Instead he scratched Blueberry’s head and tried to tune out of the flood of memories brought back by this personal hell.

Always arrive on time. Always stay late.

Archie had spent too many late nights and early mornings in this cabin. He’d only been a grunt—not worthy of one of the superiors’ private rooms. Rank didn’t matter now, of course. He could’ve picked any of Sea Mauville’s rooms to hide out in, but this one happened to be the most secluded, with the least damage to the wiring and plumbing. One dim bulb flickered fitfully above them, so low Archie’s head nearly brushed it when he stood.

“You ever teach that Leech Life trick to Tecton?” Archie asked, plopping down perpendicular to Maxie at the foot of the cot. The metal frame groaned, but thankfully held.

“...Yes,” Maxie replied quietly.

Archie blinked. “Wait, really?”

Tecton was Maxie’s Crobat, hatched from the same clutch as Blueberry. Hopefully Maxie had brought the pokemon with him. Blueberry would be thrilled to see her brother again.

“It would have been irresponsible not to,” Maxie muttered. “Especially once your pokemon were no longer available.”

Blueberry fluttered onto Archie’s lap, as if realizing she was the subject of the conversation. 

“You could’ve come with me,” he tried not to snap. “You should’ve come with me.”

Instead, Maxie had tried to fix Sea Mauville from the inside out. They could all see how well that ended up.

“If I had,” Maxie replied calmly, “we’d likely all be dead by now.”

Archie released a breath through gritted teeth. Maxie was the most insufferable when he had a point. With his booksmarts, Team Aqua would’ve raised Kyogre years ago. And, yeah, they’d all be dead.

Years ago, Archie had wanted everyone dead. This skeleton of a shipwreck only rekindled that feeling. This was a place where people had wrung each other dry, sucked the life out of innocent pokemon, bottled ‘em up and use ‘em as fuel for even more carnage… all to line some billionaire’s pockets. It was madness.

Maintain top quality. Give up your sanity.

The little scamp was the only one who’d been able to give him some of that sanity back. Her, and the consequences of his own actions. Seeing his own crew terrified before the storm and the sun. He couldn’t let them die, not even for the sake of pokemon. He loved them too much.

“Being dead nearly seems better than being back here, doesn’t it…” Maxie murmured, frighteningly close to Archie’s own thoughts.

“Why did you come back here?” he asked.

Maxie raised an eyebrow. “You said it yourself. ‘Same as you,’ correct?”

“Yeah, but I’m a moron. You were supposed to be smarter than that.”

“And yet I’m the one who had to be drained of self-inflicted poison,” Maxie deadpanned. “No. We have always been equals, in both intellect and resolve. In our blindness…”

Archie’s brow furrowed. Seemed like Maxie’s arrogance could change as quickly as the tides, now. It would’ve been more reassuring to hear him go on about his greatness.

“So we’re both morons.” 

Archie leaned back on his palms as Blueberry grew tired of scratches. Beneath his bare hands, the bed sheets were uncomfortably warm. Iggy was doing his job well. 

“Guess it’s no surprise we both ended up back on this old rustbucket,” Archie mumbled.

“It has electricity and running water, and no one will think to find the Team Magma leader in the ocean. It was the most practical option.” Maxie pointed out. Always the devil’s advocate, even when they technically agreed.

“And the Seviper extract was just a bonus, right?”

Maxie grimaced, and Archie felt an unusual pang of regret. Both their egos had suffered enough bruising. There was no need to rub salt in the wound.

“A weakness. One I should have calculated for.” Maxie squeezed a fistfull of the bed sheets. “Do you. Perhaps. Have any more pecha berries?”

“Course I do, you old fool.” 

Archie dug one out of his pocket and tossed it to Maxie. His hands barely shook as he caught it, this time.

“I don’t suppose you ever wash these.”

Archie laughed and slid another berry under the cot. Iggy deserved a treat, too. 

“Are you ever gonna straighten out your priorities, Maxie-boy?”

Maxie took a bite of the berry. Pink juice dribbled down his chin, with no attempt to clean it. Another change from the Maxie Archie remembered.

“I hope so,” Maxie replied in an unexpected bout of sincerity. “I truly hope so.”

What was Archie supposed to say to that? 

He called a tired Blueberry back into her pokeball. The silence felt even thicker without her, but it would look stupid to let her back out now.

“I don’t know where to begin,” Maxie said quietly, staring up at the low ceiling. His trembling hands folded over his stomach. “Groudon was my redemption. My everything.”

“Aye.” Archie sighed. It would be redundant to say he knew the feeling.

“Courtney and Tabitha will have Interpol drop my charges eventually,” he continued, as if to himself. “And then I will have to face a world where I failed.”

Archie’s brow furrowed. “You expect ‘em to let you off the hook?”

“Of course. With Team Magma’s finances and history of generous charitable donations, in addition to May’s support, it’s only a matter of time.”

Team Aqua didn’t have that kind of clout. Their style was more direct action—like sinking Sea Mauville back in the day. Archie expected to be on the run… well, indefinitely. Shelley could probably scrounge him up a fake ID, if she ever forgave him for taking off. 

If he was ever brave enough to come crawling back, after what he’d done.

“I must have a new plan ready when I return,” Maxie murmured. “Something to atone for all of this… if such an atonement is even possible.”

Archie shook his head. Maxie and his priorities. Worrying about morality while fully convinced he’d be pardoned legally.

“Maybe you should worry about surviving yourself, first,” he said.

Surprisingly, Maxie chuckled. “How did anyone think I was smarter than you?”

“I dunno. Probably your nerd glasses.” Archie smirked.

“Probably.” Maxie nodded with mock seriousness.

Blast . When was the last time Maxie had agreed with him? It brought back even more memories of this place—not all of them awful. Singing crude parodies of the company song when their unit leaders weren't around. Watching the sunrise over the sea. Dreaming of how they'd change the world when they got out from under Mauville's thumb. 

Back then, Archie had never dreamt of striking out on his own—and he hadn't, in the end. Even if they were in separate ships, Maxie had been sailing beside him the whole time.

"They'll forgive ya," Archie finally said. "I don't think you've gotta do any atoning for that."

"You sound awfully certain for a fellow fugitive."

"Your little speech convinced me." He shrugged. 

"That was about the law. You and I know how willing it is to bend beneath the weight of gold."

Archie grimaced. More than their opposing goals, that was what always rubbed him the wrong way about Team Magma. Maxie fought fire with fire. Money with money. He'd never be the Mauvilles or the Stones—couldn’t be, not without a multigenerational family fortune backing him up—but he was too willing to use their methods.

No need to think. Just work unceasingly.

Archie shook his head. He couldn't say how Maxie ran his ship, not without sailing it himself. And from the looks of things, Maxie himself had fared worse than any of his grunts. 

"I know money won’t hurt, but I don’t think you gotta bribe everyone, either.” Archie laid back across the cot, his legs dangling off the side. “You were tryin' to save the world. People are a lot more forgiving of that than trying to end it."

Maxie looked up sharply. 

"You—? That was your plan?"

"What, it wasn't obvious?" He laughed mirthlessly. “You know me better than anyone, Maxie-boy. Only one of us is the optimist, and it ain’t me.”

Maxie’s world was one where humans could expand. Where there was enough space to satisfy their hunger. Archie’s world was one where they starved.

“I just thought you miscalculated.” Maxie rubbed his forehead. “But you knew. You knew that Kyogre’s rain would only bring destruction.”

“For humans.” Archie nodded. “That’s how I know they’ll forgive you. If it weren’t for your half-baked schemes, Groudon wouldn’ta been around to hold off Kyogre. And who knows if the little scamp could've gotten to Rayquaza in time.”

Maxie slumped back under the covers, the tip of his foot brushing Archie’s side.

“I could say the same for you, then.”

“Aye. I guess you could.” He scratched the back of his neck, flaking dried salt onto the cot. “We could go back and forth, sayin’ things. We’re pretty good at that.”

“Too good, perhaps.” Maxie sighed. “My head is pounding.”

Archie laughed from deep in his lungs. Now that was more like the Maxie he remembered.

“Tired of me already, Maxie-boy?”

“Not of you. Just tired. You know the side effects of Crobat’s Leech Life.”

Right. Having the poison—and the energy—sucked out of you was exhausting, apparently. Archie was lucky enough not to know from experience.

“Alright.” After a stretch, Archie got to his feet. “Enjoy your beauty sleep. I’ll keep first watch.”

Maxie rolled over to face him, a baffled expression made even more ridiculous by the crooked angle of his glasses.

“You—you’re staying?” 

Archie shrugged and carefully lifted the glasses from Maxie’s face. Collateral, in case the other man snuck off and decided to turn Archie in for his own freedom. Not because Archie was that desperate for his old rival to stick around.

“Somebody’s gonna have to keep you out of the elixir cabinet.” Archie folded the glasses and hung them from the v-neck of his suit. 

Maxie’s face reddened a few shades, but surprisingly, he didn’t snap back.

Blast it all. There Archie went again, trying to get a rise out of him. Maxie couldn’t get up if Archie kept kicking him while he was down.

“Sorry.” He sighed. “I’m the last man who should be judgin’ your coping habits. I just…”

He just needed to stop running his mouth, that was what. He was only diving farther and farther. Eventually he was bound to hit rock bottom, and admit something he shouldn’t.

“You saved my life,” Maxie said quietly, shrinking a bit below the thin sheet. “I appreciate that you don’t want me dead.”

“What? Of course I don’t. Sure, maybe I wanted everyone dead for a while, but that—”

Everyone didn’t include Maxie. Not that Archie would ever admit that.

“I’m not that stupid anymore,” he finished in a mumble.

The only response was a low snore. At first Archie thought it was the Camerupt—but then he saw Maxie’s closed eyes and slack jaw, the leafy head of the pecha berry forgotten on his chest. Incredible. Archie would’ve thought Blueberry used Hypnosis on him, if she’d still been out. That detoxification must have been something else.

“You hearing this, Iggy?” Archie asked.

Igneous blinked slowly at him from under the cot. Maybe he’d used Yawn, and Archie had been running his mouth too long to hear it.

“Are you gonna be able to sleep with all that racket?”

Igneous gave a low rumble and rested his head on the grimy floor. Ground types could sleep wherever, Archie guessed.

“Heh. Well, at least it’ll keep me from passing out. Long as you don’t get any ideas about using Yawn on me.” 

Archie smiled and sat back on the cot, careful not to squish Maxie’s feet. No one ever said he had to keep watch standing up.

It was hard not to watch Maxie sleep—if only because there wasn’t much else to look at. For once, the creases around his cheekbones and eyes didn’t look so stark. Like dry riverbeds that had finally seen rain.

“Y’know, maybe I should go to sleep,” he muttered, forcing his eyes back to his lap. “Must be startin’ to hallucinate, or something.”

Hallucinating. Yeah, that must be why he found Maxie's snoring relaxing. That, or it just beat the creepy creaks and groans of the rusting building, chased the ghosts from the rafters. Reminded Archie that he wasn’t alone, after all.

His gaze drifted back to Maxie, and he couldn’t help a small smile. Whatever issues they both had, at least they were back on the same team.