The battle at sea was drawing to a close as the cannons and guns were fired towards different targets that were out in the open in the middle of many Marine Ships.
Many of the Marines still kept a careful watch over the surrounding waters just in case something did happen.
It seemed like each of the Minks truly had perished under the combined attacks and strategies of the Marines under Captain Fry.
Captain Fry looked on as the battle was coming to a close but he still had the time and patience to be able to make some extra precautions during that time.
He lifted the Sea Snail up to his face and spoke up. "Report in."
"Team one reporting in."
"Team two…"
"Team three.."
Each one of the Marines on the other end of the calls had reported in so that he could check in on their current status every so often.
If there was a problem then it would be caught early and if something had happened under his nose then he would be able to spot it once one of the teams had failed to respond to him or made a report that they had some troubles of their own to deal with.
The ships and those on them were split up quite widely in a circular formation so it was not possible to see everything that was happening on each ship.
There had been reports and checkins done regularly in order to deal with anything that could have happened on one of the ships as they were isolated from the others.
Captain Fry knit his brows as he listened to the reports of each team and noticed something strange. "Team six? Report!"
"Team six? Report!"
"I repeat! Report!"
His gaze turned towards a ship that was off in the distance on the opposing side of the circular formation. "Damn! Someone answer!"
No voice replied to him and then he started to notice something strange about the ship as he watched over it.
The ship had been within the correct position but had suddenly made a turn as it headed on a straight path towards one of the ships closest to it.
Captain Fry started to analyse the situation and started to realise that something had gone horribly wrong. "Number six! Report!"
"I repeat! Final warning! Number six! Report!"
No reply came from the ship that was getting closer to one of the other ships so he raised the Sea Snail up towards his mouth and coldly spoke. "Number three, move to evade a collision. Everyone open fire upon number six!"
"But sir.. our people.."
"Do it!"
"But.."
"This is an order from your captain!"
He coldly calculated the current losses that could result from his order as he weighed the lives of those men that could still be on board that ship.
He may not have gotten a clear view of the situation but if he hesitated any longer and did not go along with his suspicions then more losses would be had.
It did not matter if his subordinates had already died or were still alive on board the ship since they would only be used as hostages or shields that could be used to help the enemy gain more of an advantage.
Team six were already considered as lost and no more casualties could be had so he had made the call for them to be discarded for the sake of saving the rest of his people and ships.
——
Some time earlier had been when the Minks had went deeper underwater was when it had all begun.
The Minks continued to swim low to avoid most of the cannon fire and only came up to get some air in locations that Pixel had brought them to.
The wound on the arm of Felice had gotten wet and opened up once again so it did slow them all down a little to help her out.
Time was ticking away as the situation was worsening and they had few options available to them.
Out of the Minks on Zou, there were those that had trained harder than others to be effective swimmers despite having their fur wet and heavier than usual as it collected more water.
A lot of Minks would struggle if they were poor swimmers and that was the case for those that had never trained or had even stepped into a deep enough place of water in their entire lives.
A lot of noble Minks had enjoyed the privilege of having most things done for them and never really had the need to learn such things.
Even the Meridian family could get others to do certain tasks without having to step outside of their walls if they wanted to if they just paid their workers or retainers enough to handle anything.
Cleo and Felice had struggled quite a lot but had the assistance of others to help them while the others had undergone harsher training or had some experience of their own.
Micah had been running around with Jessie and James going all around the Pokémon world as Meowth so he had to pick up many skills and experiences that were useful in his present state and situation.
His natural growth had helped to aid him further as he swam more confidently than those that had struggled a little.
The shadow guards had been trained in many skills so they had enough ability to support themselves and could provide support to those that needed it.
Anyone that trained under one of the Dukes had been exposed to all kinds of tests and training over the years so they had a clearer advantage than others.
It took their combined efforts to survive and to support each other until the ships came in slightly closer then Pixel made her move.
She swam far and deep down into the sea so that she could not be spotted until she reached underneath a ship.
Her amber eyes were looking above her as she picked up on the movements of those on board then proceeded to move towards the side of it before finding something to grab onto so that she could pull herself from the water.
Once she had gotten something to use to hold onto or to use as some form of leverage, she timed it well as she had jumped up onto the ship just as some Marines had left that area and there was none moving towards that direction.
Pixel looked towards the small bag on her waist and sighed. 'It looks like a lot of the gains from the island have been lost or damaged.. luckily the Log Pose has not been affected by everything.'