XD Gale of Darkness: Prologue

   The sun set against a dark, cloudy gray sky, the colorful lights of its sinking rays reflecting off of the ocean and the hull of a massive ship.  Steam rose up and obscured some of the first few stars beginning to wink into sight, and the only two people on the huge boat stood together in the command room, staring uneasily at the mass of dark clouds ahead.
   "Captain, it looks pretty nasty out there," muttered the skinny man working at the wheel.  "Are you sure it's safe to proceed…?"
   "Does it matter if it's safe or not?"  The Captain frowned, clasping his thick hands behind his back and puffing out his chest as if immensely proud.  "Nothing can take down this ship.  She's a sure beauty, you know, and besides- we can't be late to the port.  We've got several families waiting to get their Pokémon back."
   "I know, Captain," sighed the skinny man, but he argued no more.
   Lightning flashed ahead, illuminating the black bellies of the deep storm clouds, and the man flinched.
   "What, afraid of a bit of light?" the Captain teased.
   A rumbling sound suddenly faded into existence, surrounding the ship, and the man jumped.  "What's that sound?" he demanded uneasily.
   The Captain chuckled.  "It's just thunder.  You're a right scaredy-cat, aren't you?"
   The man beside him opened his mouth as if to retort sharply, when suddenly his eyes widened and he froze, his hands clenching the wheel so tightly that his knuckles turned bone-white.
   A sleek dark-gray helicopter swept by the deck of the ship, its blades whirling quickly enough to blast the two men with icy-cold air.  The Captain for once was wishing for windows around the control room, when suddenly three more matching helicopters joined the first, all four sweeping about the ship as if signaling something.
   "What's going on-?" the man began to gasp, when a loud, screeching cry split the air.
   Thunder boomed over the choppy roar of the helicopters, and a huge dark shadow fell over the entire ship.  The men stared in terror at each other and burst from the control room, the air stirred by the helicopters whipping off the Captain's hat and sending it spiraling into the ocean.  They gaped up at the sky and gasped to see something huge and black descending upon the ship, wings spread wide.
   "What is that?" the Captain growled, fear in his eyes.
   "I-I don't know, Captain."
   Another shrieking bugle filled the sky, and the men realized it was the descending creature; its head angled down to glare with beady red eyes at them, and they flinched as if jabbed with daggers, quailing under its gaze.  The creature gave its wings a flap and gusts buffeted the men, threatening to throw them off the deck.
   "Hold on!" the Captain bellowed over the howling of the wind.
   They clutched at the rails just as something red flashed from the inside of each of the helicopters, directed at the huge creature overhead.  It bellowed and arched its back as if in pain before spreading wide its wings.
   "W-what's it doing?" gasped the man beside the Captain, shaking.
   Its eyes glowed a bright red and suddenly bright purple-and-blue light erupted outwards from its body, flashing through the sky and surrounding the ship.  The men yelled out in fear as the rails trembled and the entire ship began to groan, when suddenly the floorboards began to quake beneath their feet.
   "I'm slipping!" cried the man.
   "H-hold on-!"
   Suddenly the ship gave a wild lurch and the ocean seemed to grow farther away.  The men cried out as the rails seemed to shake them off, and they tumbled down towards the roiling waves, yelling as they splashed into its icy depths.  The men struggled to the surface, gasping for breath and treading water desperately to look up.
   Their mouths dropped in horror.
   The ship was rising steadily into the sky, the creature writhing overhead, light pulsating around its prey in rainbow ringlets.  The Captain narrowed his eyes in pain to see his ship begin to soar away under the wings of the creature.
   "Is that a Pokémon?" whispered the man beside him, trembling with cold and fright.
   "I don't know," the Captain grunted.  "I just…I don't know."
   The words "S.S. Libra" faded away on the side of the ship as the creature, escorted by the four helicopters, began to fly off into the sunset, the dying light glaring off the hull.  The two men exchanged terrified glances as rain began to fall on their heads, and the Pokémon's last pained cry faded into silence.