Belonging (Semi-Open, PM for entrance)

Bait did not belong here, in the Abyss.
She did not really belong anywhere; she was disowned by her family, and her 'new home', Grassveil, hardly knew she existed. Perhaps it was her fault; after all, she made no effort in making friends. Even when given the opportunity to join an exploration team, she found herself drawn to isolation and the comforts it brought.
As she waded through the waters of the hidden abyss, the Carvanha briefly wondered what she was supposed to feel about this. Was she supposed to be sad that she wasted her opportunities, or determined to prevent her next one from slipping away?
Whatever she was supposed to feel, Bait undoubtedly recognized what she did feel as satisfaction. She was satisfied with her life of seclusion. This was not to say that she was a loner - she often socialized with the many Pokemon that came by at the Small Pond. She simply enjoyed having the joys of friendship without the responsibilities that so often wormed their ways into her life.
I digress. While Bait did not belong in Grassveil, she certainly did not belong in the Ocean, and especially not within its depths. The school of Carvanha she had once been part of never gave her a second thought, and most other schools would not be civilized enough for her tastes.
Not to mention, there were countless other Pokemon that populated the Abyss, most of which would undoubtedly be even more aggressive than Carvanha, and would have no second thoughts about killing and eating her.
So, if she did not belong here, why was Bait here in the first place?

"Yay. This is such fun." Bait's words came out in a low monotone which betrayed her boredom, and the Carvanha continued to swim into the darkness, unperturbed by the terrifying darkness. "God, this had better be more interesting than Grassveil, or so help me, I'll..."

A golden fish sighed as he flowed along a seemingly lazy current. He was too weak to fight against it, and it was leading the magikarp straight towards the abyss that seemed terrifying, but interesting. Proteus stared at the gaping abyss before suddenly giving a swish of his tail to give himself a boost and move faster along the current. He had only just returned to the ocean form helping a kind feebas achieve a beauty scarf and evolve before his very eyes; he desired evolution. He wanted to be bigger, stronger and most of all be able to navigate land without having to use his entire body to launch himself into the air and slam down on his other side. His method of traveling like that on land was quite painful, and not enjoyable.

Proteus's Joy Ribbon was tied around his body vertically, and had makeshift pockets that he could hold a few items in. He looked ridiculous in it, yes, but it was useful seeing as the ribbon would make him stronger as he was hit. The Joy Ribbon also proved to be a nuisance at most times, like now when it got caught on a ledge as he passed by a wall. He gave a startled yell as he was yanked back to the wall after going a few inches of stretching the ribbon dangerously. He sighed in annoyance, for the current was pushing him down and he had no strength to fight against it and unhook himself.

"God, this had better be more interesting than Grassveil, or so help me, I'll..."

A voice! The Magikarp thought with joy, he could call out to whoever it was for help. He could exactly see the owner of the voice, but it seemed to be feminine, Maybe it's another Feebas! he thought.

"Um, excuse me? Miss? Could you lend me a hand? I am stuck here and the current is too powerful for me...then again EVERY current is..." he gave a nervous laugh as he stared into the dark waters, vulnerable and relying on a stranger for help.

Bait glanced at the direction of the voice; it was a Magikarp - one that seemed to be golden colored, and had a ridiculous looking ribbon tied around it. "Huh. That's not something you see every day," she mumbled, a grin appearing on her face. Maybe this is a sign that something actually fun will happen!
"Yeah, alright!" The young Carvanha easily swam ahead of the Magikarp, having had much experience with swimming in heavy currents. "Brace yourself, I'm gonna have to bite!" As soon as the Magikarp came close, Bait bit down as lightly as she could on the creature (having just barely missed the ribbon) in order to keep it from going too far, then threw the Magikarp away from the current and into less turbulent waters. "Sorry about that!" She yelled as she made her way over to the creature.

"Brace yourself, I'm gonna have to bite!"
A bite? The Magikarp wondered, he was not too sure on what the Carvanha meant until he felt something pinch him and toss him into calm water. He spun through the water as if he had been thrown like a Frisbee; the water was more gentle and the currents did not drag him down there. Proteus corrected himself so that he was facing upright, or at least what he thought was up right. It took him a while to notice that the star swimming towards him was actually a decoration on the jaws of the pokemon, and not its head. He corrected his position and looked to see that it had freed him from the torment of torrents he had been too feeble to fight.
The blue and red pokemon swam easily through the currents it seemed, which made him a little jealous. He noticed that the pokemon too had yellow spikes for fins both on top and on the bottom. Was this pokemon a more evolved form of Magikarp? Was this what his species was changing into? If so...can she fly? he wondered, since the pokemon seemed to be convinced he could fly. He never noticed that it was just flying pokemon carrying him all the time and that first time that had separated him from his school was just a storm.
"Hello!" He decided to finally speak, "How are you miss? I am Proteus, thank you for saving me!" He did not know quite what else to say so he only spoke what someone would normally say when rescued, "May I ask who might you be?"

Once Bait returned to slightly less turbulent waters, she eyed the Magikarp in a mixture of wonderment and excitement; the former because she'd never seen a shiny Pokemon before, and the latter because she took the event as a sign that something interesting had to happen soon. It was only a few seconds after the creature spoke that she realized that a question was asked at all. "Oh, um... Name's Bait. Say, why're you yellow? Did something pee on you and stain your skin, or something, or is that natural? Because I thought that Magikarp were supposed to be red."

"Oh, um... Name's Bait. Say, why're you yellow? Did something pee on you and stain your skin, or something, or is that natural? Because I thought that Magikarp were supposed to be red."
Proteus had not expected such a question; he pushed his fins out in surprise which caused him to be pushed backwards slightly. The golden scales on his body glimmered in what little sunlight reached the gaping abyss, attracting the attention of a figure lurking down deeper into the abyss.
The fish pokemon took a moment to answer the Carvanha. Did this pokemon really think that something urinated on him? The way the pokemon spoke made it seem like this pokemon knew of Magikarps, but was not one herself. The magikarp figured that this was an entirely different species of pokemon that he had never seen before. It disappointed him that he did not quite find someone else like him, but he was happy to meet a friend none the less. He had not noticed the pokemon's large mouth that could probably swallow him whole or the small but pointy teeth that marked the pokemon carnivorous most likely; if he had noticed he would have remained anyways.
"P-Pee?" he spoke at last, "No, this is my natural color. If someone had done such a thing it would have been washed off because we're in the water, correct? As for why I am yellow, I am a special kind of Magikarp. You see, I am the result of variation in organisms. Unlike other Magikarps, I have this golden color that might help me out one day in some way. I also have the ability to fly, but it's only available to me in certain conditions which I have not quite figured out yet."

This dice is not existing.

"You can fly."
It took a whole two seconds for Bait to go into a huge laughing fit.
"Oh man, that's rich, Prote! What, you find a way to dig underground too?" She continued laughing at the little shiny Magikarp, amused by his insane beliefs.
When she finally managed to stifle her giggling, the Carvanha began swimming in circles around the Magikarp in a way not dissimilar to a shark (it was a subconscious action). "So, what're you doing in the deep blue? Why aren't you soaring with the pidgey or something? You training to become a Gyarados?" She stopped for a fraction of a second to pick up an item and holding it with between her fin and body. "Because if you need a traveling companion or sparring partner, I could def-"
It was then, of course, that the supersonic hit her, blurring her vision and making her ears ring louder than she ever thought they could ring. The item floated off into the calm waters as Bait began tumbling into the strong currents, too disoriented to swim out.
And there it was. A lone tentacool, hatefully eyeing the remaining Magikarp as it moved towards its item.

This dice is not existing.

Proteus watched in dismay as a tentacool blasted the carvanah with a Super Sonic attack and caused her to be carried away in the currents. The magikarp glared at the tentacool, before charging forward to bash himself into the odd blue and red pokemon. He collided with the tentacool, the impact feeling powerful and accomplishing to him. In reality the tentacool did not even be pushed back and was simply staring at the fish like pokemon in surprise.
Yes! That felt stronger than normal! I must be getting bigger and better! The magikarp had forgotten completely about the shark pokemon's laughter at his ideals of flight and thought nothing of the pokemon's swimming around him almost threateningly. He was a simple pokemon, and thought that the pokemon was just a nice girl that was attacked for no reason.
"Back off!" The magikarp cried as he rushed in for another attack that probably would not do much like before.

Bump.
Bump.
Bump.
She hated the bumps; they annoyed her so much and she didn't even know where they were coming from, or even whether they were happening often or slowly (it should be noted that supersonic can be confusing enough to impair one's ability to sense time). She sometimes tried to swat upwards or downwards, but she usually hit thin air before
Bump.
And there it was again. She frowned, still trying to discern her orientation, let alone her position. She wasn't stupid enough to start swimming in a random direction; confusion wasn't idiocy, after all.
What was she to do? Wait for it to stop? She was in a current; the confusion wouldn't stop even after the attack stopped taking effect. Besides, there was a lone magikarp attempting to take on a tentacool; there was a chance that it was really a prodigy or something, but
Bump
even if it was, Bait wasn't going to leave it at the tentacool's hands. Or tentacles.
Bump.
Was it her, or was Bait slightly less disoriented? She began noticing sunlight shining from the surface, and marked it as up. She grinned; the battle was upwards, and there was a fifty fifty chance that she'd get there immediately. If not, she'd just swim to the opposite side of the current! Perfect plan! All she had to do was wait for the next
Bump.
She pushed off.

------------------

It should be noted that there is little sunlight in the hidden abyss, and that it was Proteus, not sunlight, that Bait noticed and aimed for. It should also be noted that it was sheer luck that made her swiftly attack the tentacool rather than Bait's Magikarp friend, since she was still suffering completely from the effects of supersonic.

Proteus was startled when the tentacool was suddenly attacked by his carnivorous friend. The Tentacool was surprised as well, for it had thought that once the pokemon was confused, it would do the idiotic dance around the area as it attempted to find the fight once more.
Proteus had no idea how Bait had struck the tentacool, but figured that now was not the time for it. He was coated in a slight white light that powered his tackle attack slightly more than a normal one. He charged forward, confidence and determination seeming to radiate off of him as the light. He smashed into the tentacool's ruby decorations upon its head, and caused it to cry in pain, and growl an oath of revenge.

(I think I'll blame... God. Yeah, I'll blame God for my inactivity. That's a good excuse, amirite?)

Bait shook herself out of confusion as soon as she hit the monster. "Ah! I'm awake, I'm awake, I'm awake!" She yelled as she swam to her golden companion's side. "What did I miss, er... Proteus, ri-"
It was at that moment that the wrathful tentacool spewed acid at the duo, muttering what Bait presumed to be vulgarities in the feral language. "Alright, let's split up; it can't take us both!" With only that as warning, Bait bolted, expecting her companion to do the same. It was not too surprising when the feral beast followed after Proteus instead, considering that he was the one to crack its precious gem. "Distract it! I'll try to hit it!" Bait yelled.

"Don't have a choice!" Proteus managed to call before swimming into the currents of the waters and letting himself be carried away as the Tentacool chased after him. Proteus avoided the pokemon's poisonous darts that just missed him by inches by flailing about and moving himself in small unpredictable directions. The golden fish yelped as a purple spike flashed by his left eyeball, nearly getting him and possibly poisoning him. Now would not be the best time to become poisoned, he thought. Instead of continuing the chase, the magikarp managed to free himself of the currents. He began to become coated in a white light that signaled an actual move was about to occur. He charged forward and smashed into the tentacool, or at least what he had thought was the tentacool. He had instead hurled himself into the abyss's wall, the pokemon had managed to hit him with a SuperSonic without the oblivious fish noticing!