take what the water gave me [alyssa]

A PLATINUM GIRL LIVES INSIDE OF YOU

A part of her worried that Alyssa wasn't the same person she knew from Hoenn, when they'd met when the war had only just started to brew in earnest. They'd kept in contact, even met occasionally, but that was it. People change--war makes monsters of people, Platinum knew that for a fact, but not all people. The other part of Platinum knew that even a war like this wouldn't dampen Alyssa's will. If it did, well, Platinum would be very disappointed, and she had her lucario outside his pokeball, resting at the bow of the ship just in case anything went terribly wrong.

The S.S. Odessa was a majestic but small ship, light and quick, shallow upon the water. It was a pirate's ship, in short, the sort that only carried enough weaponry to defend itself while its superior speed let it flee the scene. For Platinum's purposes, it was the best sort of ship. No one would trust her if she cruised up to Olivine City with a sea dreadnought, even if she flew white flags. She wasn't going to sail up to enemy territory (it was weird thinking of Olivine that way) in a little fishing vessel either. That'd just be stupid.

When she'd first fled the city, it felt like half the mess in Olivine was her fault. She'd given her garchomp the orders for both earthquakes and a final outrage, but every time she returned, the damage from the fallen lighthouse shocked her. Even it's absence sent a chill through her. Technology for most ships had surpassed the need for a lighthouse, and the small boats without modern gadgetry didn't sail out at night anyway, but the lighthouse stood for something: for safety at night, security in the day, a light leading the way home.

The lighthouse was gone now. It'd left behind a cloak of rubble, dust, and debris, burying still breathing bodies and corpses both beneath its ruin. Platinum had fled the battle when she'd been defeated at the foot of the lighthouse. Her only thought now was that she should've stayed and fought on, with only her revolver if that's what it came down to, but it was a vain thought at best. She couldn't have turned the tide of the battle on her own.

No, the best thing for her to do was what Platinum did now. Cianwood City, strong in the seas as always, had quickly set up a naval blockade as soon as the Lux refugees fled to their shores. There were people in Olivine City still--good, faithful Lux supporters, and even Nox sympathizers that had done nothing wrong--and they needed food, medicine, and supplies to rebuild. Lux cut them off by land and sea. The city's only hope were airdrops, but even the skies were guarded by a flight of birds and dragons. It was a siege, and a stupid one, in Platinum's opinion. If Nox held ground here, the people of the city shouldn't suffer for it, not like this.

She'd talked Cianwood down, but it'd only be a brief respite in the naval blockade to allow necessary supplies through, and only if she could claim a hostage. Platinum promised them Alyssa herself, Hoenn's own leader, and a flurry of texts was all she'd needed to confirm the plan with Alyssa. Platinum suspected that any lesser hostage wouldn't have been good enough.

The ship pulled into what remained of the harbor at Olivine City, water lapping at its dark hull, and Platinum waited at the prow, her lucario standing in her shadow. She looked out, searching for Alyssa, nervous but hopeful.

tags: alyssa
notes: tired so there's probably typos like whoa. hopefully nothing too severe though.