"Cotton Spore! Electroweb!"
Ariados and Cacturne were already very familiar with this combo move. They could easily control the range of effect, with a maximum diameter of up to twelve meters.
The first wave of spore-electroweb was cast directly toward the front of the ship, where Tentacruel were most concentrated and the fighting was fiercest.
In the eyes of Archie and the crew, a massive Electroweb covered in spores suddenly flew over their heads and landed right in the middle of the Tentacruel swarm.
Then, to their astonishment, they saw that many of the Tentacruel that had previously shrugged off heavy electrical attacks were now immobilized.
Zzt! Zzt! Zzt!
More spore-webs began to fly wildly through the air; wherever Tentacruel gathered, Sato commanded Ariados to throw them there.
The web's binding effects were far more effective against Tentacruel than direct attacks.
Although Electric-type moves were super effective, Tentacruel's greatest strength in solo combat was its Special Defense!
Right after, the Tailwind whipped up by the Flying-type Pokémon began to take effect. The ship, which had been stalled, started to move again, and was getting faster by the second!
"Ariados, Cacturne, let's head to the stern!"
With the ship moving, Tentacruel that had been trapped by the webs were naturally pushed to the sides or the rear, and the fighting began to shift toward the back.
In fact, Tentacruel weren't exactly slow in water, but Electroweb's speed-reduction effect was unrivaled.
Archie also realized this now… defeating all these Tentacruel would take too much effort. If they could just shake them off, why bother fighting?
After all, Tentacruel were practically made of water and didn't have much value. They were hard to deal with and not worth capturing. Running into them was just plain bad luck.
So, Archie immediately shifted strategies, ordering the crew to use Grass- and Ice-type moves; anything that could reduce Tentacruel's speed.
Usually, energy-based Grass moves and Ice-type attacks didn't work well at sea; diluted by the water, their effects weakened.
But with Sato providing a second line of defense, they only needed to handle the simplest part: limiting speed. It was easy!
By the end, Sato didn't even need to give commands. Ariados and Cacturne could just mindlessly hurl spore-webs toward the back of the ship.
After about ten more minutes, when not a single Tentacruel could be seen behind them, the attack was finally over.
"Casualties?"
"No deaths. Seven were poisoned by accident, but all are stable now." Maxie, the ship's vice-captain and logistics chief, immediately reported the latest numbers.
"Good to hear."
Archie walked over to the wounded crew members and personally checked their condition. He also noticed Joseph, still busy tending to them.
"Right, where's the ship's medic? Haven't seen him at all."
"Uh… he partied a bit too hard last night… still not awake." Maxie frowned too.
A lot of crew liked to cut loose before setting sail, especially since the beginning of a voyage was usually safer. So people generally turned a blind eye to the doctor slacking off.
But now something had happened. There was no getting around it, this mess was the medic's fault, no excuses.
"Let the injured crew rest up. Wake that medic and have him help with the Pokémon. Everyone else, back to your duties."
Archie exchanged a glance with Maxie. Maxie nodded… the next port would likely be getting a new medic.
"Sato, Joseph, thank you. Without your help, I don't know how much we would've lost." Archie clapped Sato hard on the shoulder, full of gratitude.
"No need to be so formal. Just don't blame my friend for running his mouth," Sato said with a grin.
"No worries, no worries. Something as big as a Tentacruel attack isn't going to be triggered by a few words from your friend."
Archie waved it off casually. He had no idea just how powerful Mark's mouth really was… but the three of them knew perfectly well.
That Tentacruel attack? Yeah, it really was triggered by something Mark said!
Joseph placed both hands on Mark's shoulders and gave a hard squeeze.
"Hiss…"
Mark immediately lifted his head in pain, looking at Joseph in confusion.
"Cheer up, it's not your fault."
"Mhm..."
---
After a fierce battle, there were plenty of things to do: repairing the ship, treating Pokémon, checking supplies, and more.
The ship's doctor came out with the same bird's nest hairstyle as Mark, looking sheepish as he began treating the crew's injured Pokémon.
The wounded crew members had already received treatment, and the doctor, using his eagerness to make amends as an excuse, sent Joseph away from helping with the Pokémon care.
So, with nothing else to do for the moment, the three could only sit idly on the deck, watching everyone else stay busy.
"Let's head back. No need to get in their way," Sato said first, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Mark's body flinch.
"Let's just go back..." Joseph shook his head helplessly and pulled the sensitive Mark along, following Sato back into the cabin.
"Well done, Sato-boy!"
On the way, they ran into several crew members who gave Sato a thumbs-up, clearly impressed by his performance earlier.
Mark glanced up, pressed his lips together, then lowered his head again.
Back in the cabin, Sato and Joseph followed Mark to his room.
Clack!
Joseph casually closed the door behind them. In the small room, the three either stood or sat, silent.
Sato knew that Mark must be feeling a deep sense of guilt over what had just happened. He wanted to offer some comfort, but unfortunately, that wasn't a skill he had mastered.
Thankfully, there was Joseph.
"This is a good thing," Joseph slapped the table, giving the situation a firm judgment.
Mark looked up at Joseph and managed a weak smile. He tried, as usual, to cover things up with his carefree act.
But he just couldn't...
Until now, only he had ever suffered from the effects of misfortune. Most of the people around him had actually benefited from it, so he had never felt any guilt.
But this time was different. A casual, thoughtless remark had brought disaster, causing so many people and Pokémon to get hurt.
"This is probably the first time something like this has happened to you. Luckily, nothing too serious came of it. Just be more careful with your words next time, it's okay."
Mark smiled again. That might make sense when it happened to someone else, but when it was about himself, it wasn't so easy to let go.
"You're too positive by nature. That's why this sort of thing has never triggered before. And that's a good thing for you!" Joseph emphasized again.
"Really?" A bit of light returned to Mark's eyes. He still felt guilty, but his mood had slightly improved.
"Power itself isn't right or wrong. It all depends on whether the wielder's intentions are, 'good' or 'bad'," Sato added.
"Don't be afraid of your ability. Learn to control it, only then will it not control you!"
"Mm… okay. Thanks!"