Young Writers Society

Chelsie, Safari Boat Deck, time unknown

Chelsie was beginning to feel a little ill. The safari boat had started to roll as the waves picked up, and Geep wasn’t looking too good either. The little Togepi had tucked his head in and was sitting strangely still, which was never a good sign. The brown haired trainer hugged him to her chest, whispering to him comfortingly.
“It’s okay, Geep. They’ll be back soon. You’ll see.”
Whether the Togepi understood her worries or was just feeling seasick, Chelsie wasn’t sure, and she wasn’t about to prod him in case it just made it worse for them both. The rest of her small team were safely in their Pokeballs, but Geep didn’t like his. Besides, she was glad of his company.

Chelsie wasn’t used to this kind of thing. She was used to busy days running after her younger sisters, romping in the grass with Bayda, her Bayleef, and coaxing her two baby Pokemon into trying new recipes and playing new games. She’d left in search of adventure, and was sure she’d found it in one group of competitive trainers… who had lead her here, then run off on some adventure she didn’t quite understand. She didn’t begrudge them leaving her here, she had followed of her own free will, and if she was to be honest with herself, it was probably of her own interest more than them wanting a new companion. They probably saw her as a liability, with two baby Pokemon, while they had larger, stronger teams. She hadn’t had a chance to prove herself, yet. Kaz was getting stronger by the day, and the babies were coming along well. She knew she could, and would, raise them to be the strongest they could be.

Of course, Chelsie smiled, she couldn’t forget Bayda. Her first pokemon, and her oldest companion. Always happy, willing to fight, just as enthusiastic as Chelsie herself… and had pulled her out of many a sticky situation while they had been out exploring. She’d trained her from a Chikorita, caught Kaz, her first wild pokemon, and Bayda had proven to be a perfect aid in settling the unruly Abra, who had grown into the fine Kadrabra now sitting in his ball at Chelsie’s hip.

The boat rocked, and Chelsie cast worried eyes over the darkening ocean. Things were starting to pick up, and the tiny egg Pokemon pressed to her chest was starting to shiver. Were the skies darker than before? Chelsie peered out from the corner she was tucked into, and gasped. Dark clouds were rolling over the sky, casting a black shadow over the ocean. Muttering started up around her and somebody pointed, and cries of alarm started up. Chelsie shakily got to her feet, pressing the now-crying Geep to her chest, grabbing a rail with her free hand to see what was happening. The deck was rolling beneath her, but a few hundred feet off, she could see the waves were starting to pick up, steadily growing in size. She watched wide-eyed as the choppy sea became stormy around them, and clutched the rail tight as the boat continued bucking with the seas.

“Shhh, Geep. It’s okay.” Bracing herself against a seat, she held him tight to her chest. “We’ll be okay.” Chelsie looked around as people were ushered off the deck to the relative safety of the cabins. The Blastoise, made to survive the whirl islands, was so far handling the waves admirably, bucking underfoot but overall keeping steady, but Chelsie could see the waves were getting larger, and the sky was getting darker. Wind picked up flecks of seawater and coated the deck, making it slippery underfoot.

“Come on, Geeplove. We should get inside.” Sounding braver than she felt, the strictly land-dwelling Chelsie let go of the railing, stumbling across the pitching deck. Several times she slammed into tables, other passengers, and railings, apologising and muttering comforting words to the terrified Togepi along the way. The metal hull underfoot was slippery under her boots, and she had to catch herself on the doorframe as she made her way indoors to stop her and her precious Pokemon flying in headfirst.
“Well,” she huffed through her shock, “that was an adventure.”

Inside the cabin was full of concerned people, and Chelsie had to squirm her way through a small crowd to get to a window. She sat down hurriedly, glad to be off her feet, because though she was inside on carpeted, non-slip floor, she was finding it just as hard to keep her balance. In the short time it took her to get inside, the skies had become completely black, darkened with sooty thunderclouds. It was as if it were the middle of the night, Chelsie had to squint to see past the water-flecked glass to what was happening outside.

The waves were gigantic. Chelsie hadn’t seen anything like it, and she felt her heart leap into her mouth as she watched the next one make its way towards the boat. The floor pitched, raising with the swell of water… and boom, it hit the side, water covering the glass. The ship shuddered, and rolled the other way as it came down the other side of the wave. If she’d stayed on deck… a turn of the head, a gaze out another window showed her that fate. Water poured off the sides of the boat, taking with it chairs, belongings, and tables much heavier than fourteen year old girls and their Togepis.

Chelsie shuddered, and Geep cried, wriggling in her arms. She hummed to him, trying to get him to sit still. She didn’t need him running off, not now. He squirmed, crying out.
“Geep, shhh. Sit still, you’ll get hurt.” The baby Pokemon didn’t listen, and continued crying, squirming. Chelsie clung to him, afraid to lose him in the crowd, to have him crushed under the stumbling, confused bodies. “Please, Geep. Just shh.”
She stroked his shell, bracing her back to the window, ignoring the pitching floor, her attention now turned to her upset Pokemon. He was crying constantly, shivering in her arms. She knew if she didn’t get him calm soon, he would try and break free and find somewhere calm and quiet. If only there was such a place on this boat, Chelsie sighed. It didn’t feel like there was a calm and quiet place in the world right now. Tears were in her eyes as she held her squirming, crying Pokemon close to her, murmuring through her panic, “it’s gonna be alright, it’s gonna be alright.” She was unsure who she was trying to convince, her Togepi or herself.

She sat like this for an unknown amount of time, until Togepi’s wriggling subsided, though Chelsie suspected more from exhaustion than any comfort she could give. The boat continued to rock, and Chelsie’s exhausted mind started to wander. Panic could only last so long, and instead she felt a deep, if forboding, calm set into her stomach, and she blinked and took in her surroundings. Togepi was twitching in an exhausted and unsettled sleep, and Chelsie took the opportunity to quietly call him back into his pokeball. He wouldn’t be happy later, but she would think of a way to make it up to him. She needed her hands free.

Around her were people, some curled into corners, other leaning on each other, all exhausted. She’d lost track of time, but the initial terror had subsided into a dull, painful ache that filled the room, making even the children look thirty years old. Subconsciously everyone swayed with the uneven pitching, barely even noticing the waves anymore, each locked in their own thoughts. Somewhere someone was crying, but otherwise all Chelsie could hear was the thunderous booming from outside, but she wasn’t sure whether it was the waves or thunder itself anymore.

The others... the people she’d followed here, to be left behind, were they back? She somehow doubted it, her limited experience had taught her that they were usually noticed wherever they went. If they weren’t here, that meant they were out there, somewhere. Worry started to gnaw at her insides, dislodging the lethargic fear she had adopted for a fresh wave of terror. Would they be okay? The idea that maybe, just maybe, they weren’t coming back started to form in her mind. She had to find out if they were okay, somehow.

Chelsie frowned, trying to figure out a way to contact one of her new ‘friends’, for lack of a better classification. Kaz hadn’t been to where they were headed, so she couldn’t send him. It’s not even like she knew where they had gone, or if they were still there, anyhow. So that meant she needed a more traditional way of communication.

They’d taken a boat, hadn’t they?

Chelsie shifted in her seat, her fingers reaching for the first Pokeball on her belt. A tiny leaf was scratched into the paint, done with her own pocket knife, though she didn’t really need it. Pressing the round button, she released her oldest, and most reliable friend.
“Bayyleef.” The yellowish Pokemon stood in front of Chelsie, who threw her arms around her neck.
“Bayda. Bayda, I need your help.”
The Pokemon leaned into Chelsie, a comforting strength which Chelsie absorbed, feeling at once more confident. “We need to get to the radio room, Bay. Can you help me stay standing?”
With a nod of her leafed head, Bayda stepped back, allowing Chelsie room to stand. Chelsie kept an arm on her shoulder as she stood, and without needing to ask, felt the strength of Bayda’s vines encircle her waist. “Thanks.”

It was awkward going, as Chelsie had to step over people as she made way for the door, and more than once felt even the sturdy Bayleef stumble behind her with the pitching deck. Together, Pokemon and trainer made it to the stairs, which were empty of all but debris. Chelsie braced herself against a wall and squinted at the moving map. “The radio room is upstairs. Reckon we can do it, Bay?”
“Bay!” Chelsie smiled, her resolve strengthened by her energetic and confident partner. She clung to the rails, and slowly climbed up the bucking stairs. As the ship rolled, it seemed at times more like they were clinging to a cliff face than walking up a staircase, only to be walking almost downhill the next moment. There were no windows in this stairwell, and Chelsie couldn’t see past the next ten steps or so, so she had no way of telling how far they climbed, but it felt like an expedition to the top of Mount Moon. Every time she had to pause for breath, however, her Pokemon was right there, and the vines around her waist would tighten ever so slightly in a Bayleef-hug, and Chelsie’s resolve would strengthen. She needed to see if her friends were alright.

The floor suddenly became one flat surface. Chelsie blinked in astonishment, and realised she had began to believe that the staircase would never end. But here they were, at the top of the stairs and as the map had promised, there was a door marked ‘cockpit’ at the top of them. In there would be the navigation gear, the pilot’s chair, and most importantly, the communications devices.

“Bayda. Thank you.” Chelsie whispered, quietly calling her friend back. She needed to remember to give her friend a proper thank you later, when she wasn’t so caught up. Shuffling closer to the door, Chelsie stuck her head up and peered in the window. Perfect.

Her hand went to the second slot on her belt, finding another pokeball, this one etched with a tiny spoon. A red flash enveloped the room, and Chelsie glanced through the window, worried that someone would have seen and come to investigate. None of the people inside even blinked, everyone was peering at some monitor or another, and by the looks of their mouths, they were all shouting.

“Kaz.”
“Dabra?”
“Come here, would you?” Chelsie motioned the Kadabra over, and pointed in the window, specifically at a shadowed, ignored corner behind a disused desk. “Can you get us in there?”
Kaz looked indignant. “Kadabra!”
“Oh.” Chelsie managed a smile. “Of course you can. Could you, please?”

Kaz lifted his spoon, his eyes going strangely vacant, and then there was a flash, and a thump. Chelsie shook her head, dizzy from the sudden displacement. They were sitting in the shadowed corner, almost exactly where she had pointed. Chelsie managed another smile and a thank you before returning Kaz, still shaken. She had never liked teleportation, it always felt to her as though she had fell a long way and landed with a surprisingly soft thud. Chelsie peered out, and paused. She hadn’t thought this through. What was she supposed to do? Burst out and demand to use the radio? Plead to be heard? Explain and hope that someone would pause long enough to listen to her story?

Luckily for her, the radio picked up on its own. A woman rushed over to it, picking up a receiver. “Hello? Oliver? Is that you?”
“-um, Mu-....-irl San.”

The woman called out, relief and panic mixing in her voice. “It sounds like they are on Whirl San!”
Someone called back, “That’s five miles away. Tell them we are on our way.”
She picked up the receiver again, and called back. “Whirl San is five miles away. We-” she was cut off by static, and she dropped the call with a gasp.
Someone, Chelsie couldn’t see who, came and took her from the radio with a firm arm around her shoulders. Her heart went out to the stricken woman, but secretly, Chelsie was relieved. They were still alive, or at least some of them were. That was more than she had been hoping for.

Kent Walker| Whirl Island| Time Unknown

“So...” Kent kicked the dirt. “We are fucked.”

Jack and Oliver stumbled out of the cloud of debris in the center of the platform; Jack had his shirt clutched over his mouth. “We are fucked,” he said, and coughed.

“What do we do now?” Jerri was knelt down beside Ninetales on the ground, spraying a potion on its wounds. “They have the Sea God. We can’t fight that.”

“Who said we had to fight that,” Oliver pointed out. “We’re a bunch of kids.” He rubbed a large bruise on the side of his neck

“You missed Sam’s monologue on that,” Kent deadpanned, recalling Gligar. The waves below began picking up speed, whipping up whirlpools and crashing against the walls. Thunder echoed outside.

“The fact remains,” Sam added, “that we’re trapped.”

“Doomed.”

“Hopeless.”

“Doomed, in other words.” Kent sneered and shook his head. “There has to be a way out, though.”

“Um...guys,” Jack pointed a trembling finger towards the water, where a large wave was heading towards them.

“Fucking stowaways!” Kent said and ducked behind a rock. The wave crashed in around the gang, flooding the platform. As the tide began to subside, the sound of wet coughs and gags echoed around them...and then someone screamed.

“They’re dead!” Jerri cried out, rushing towards the edge of the platform.

“Um, pretty sure dead people can’t cough,” Kent said. Jerri just shirked back, dropping to her knees between the two lying on the rocks.

“Ditto,” Kent commanded, releasing a pink blob between them. “Morph into a Marill and try to revive them...” The Pokemon complied, rearranging its cells into a tiny blue mouse, tipping its glowing tail onto the lips of the two unconscious. It too k a few tries, but finally, Marill drew the salt water from their lungs, pulling it like the Avatar from their mouths in tiny streams. Both coughed and shirked where they lie, beginning to open their eyes with a cautious hesitance.

Kent recalled Ditto and inclined Tyler against his chest, letting him cough out the rest of the stinging water in his lungs. Sierra was already sitting up and looking around with terrified eyes. The gang shook as thunder roared above; the ground shook violently. Things are getting worse, Kent thought, and closed his eyes, feeling the moving Earth beneath him. Rocks began to fall around them in tiny swarms, and the others began murmuring again. Kent moved as Tyler sat up finally, and looked around their group. Seven kids, an old man, and two unconscious Rockets.

Snarling, Kent felt something snap inside of him. Rage, hate, everything he could muster, all at the sight of those two limp bodies across the platform. Without thinking, he began running, delivering a swift, crunching kick to the ribcage of one of the Rockets. He expected him to scream; he wanted him to scream. With fists clenched, he readied for another kick, only to be pulled back by Jack and Oliver.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Kent screamed. “These guys deserve it! Because of them we’re probably going to die in this place!” Kent pulled away.

“Kent, relax,” Jack said. “They aren’t worth the effort. And they’re in the same situation as us.”

“Fine...” Kent walked over to the edge of platform and sat down. “But if those two even get near me...I swear to Arceus.”

Tyler Cohen

Slowly, Tyler rose to his feet. His clothes were soaked with salt water, his hair stuck to his face, and he swore under his breath as he touched a gash on his arm where the rocks had cut him. Looking around, he saw only dismal expressions. All of his friends, trapped in a cavern to die because of him. Some hero he was. He wiped his eyes and squinted, looking around the dark cavern for any sign of escape, but there was nothing, even the cave they took into the chamber was sealed. The boy cringed and coughed again, running all possibilities through his head.

“Do any of you have the Hoenn Machine Dive?” Tyler looked around, getting no response. Not even Sierra.

“Have I ever mentioned how weird that sounds?” Kent interjected. Even from the edge of it all, he managed to be a smartass.

Tyler looked down and sighed, biting on his bottom lip. It was true, then; there was no escape. Fly, Dive, Surf, Waterfall...Rock Climb...Teleport?

“I don’t guess anyone has Teleport on them?”

The chamber became eerily still; everyone slowly turned to Kent, who just stared back. “Aw, shit.”

“Guys, Kirlia can’t do that,” Kent said. “I mean, he could barely pull Sneasel with him.”

And the room sighed.

“Wait...did you say he?”

“Yeah, Kirlia is a he...confusing, I know.”

Tyler’s eyes grew wide as he fumbled through his bag for his Pokedex. Scrolling through the data, his lips stretched into a wide grin. “Kenters, your shemale psychic is going to save us.” Tyler began digging through his bag, holding his breath as he clawed through.

“Holy Fucking Palkia, you don’t have what I think you have, do you?” Kent ‘s face turned into a creepy grin.

“Fuck yes I do.” Tyler gripped onto a cold stone, pulling a bright green diamond from his bag. “Bring out tiny dancer.”

Kent tugged the ball off of his belt, releasing Kirlia in a storm of white light. The Psychic spun around on its feet, stopping once it saw its defeated audience. “Lia?” The little white dancer dropped its gaze and began spinning towards Kent.

Tyler ran across the platform, holding out the stone for Kent. “You owe me the fuck a new Dawn Stone.”

Kent

Kent just smiled and swooped the stone up. “Kirlia,” he said dramatically. “I bestow upon you a noble cause. You are to enter your manhoo--”

“Just do it already!” Sam yelled.

“I dub ye Knight Gallade!” The phantom dancer suddenly perked with a bright light.

The tu-tu on his flattened, rolling itself into a normal ring around his waist. His helmet retracted into a gladiator-like cap, a blue fin erupting from it’s top. His arms took off from his hips, extending into long, green blades, and his legs turned white and grew several feet taller.

“Fuck yeah,” Kent said.

“Wait!” Jerri ran to the side of the platform with them, holding a spoon and a piece of string. With a grunt, she bent the spoon twice, twisting it into a spiral. “Hold still, Gallade.”

“Jerri, what are you doing...?” Tyler cocked an eyebrow as she tied the spoon to Gallade’s arm.

“Twisted spoons make Psychics more powerful; we need all the power we can get behind him.”

“They also make them look lame and cheesy...” Kent drifted. “But fiiiiine””

Jerri finished tying the spoon on, grinning at her finished work. “Alright. Are...are we ready?”

Jack drew near and shook his head, watching the two Rockets and the old man on the ground. “We can’t just leave them.”

Sierra stepped forward, nodding. “I agree. They may be evil, twisted bastards, but they’re people.”

Kent looked away. After a long moment of just the others staring at him, he finally spoke. “...fine. But we leave them with Jenny.”

The others nodded. Oliver, Jack, and Tyler drug the unconscious three into the middle of the platform where the others gathered around Gallade

“We’ll have to make three trips,” Tyler said. “Jerri, The Old Man and Sam go first. The Sierra, Oliver, and the rockets then me, Jack, and Kent.” Gallade stretched its shoulders as if preparing for a workout.

“Ready guys?”

“Let’s leave this bitch in our fucking DUST!” Kent screamed at the top of his lungs. Dust began to fall from the ceiling, and a few rocks fell into the water. “Note to self...screaming is bad.” Kent screamed, grinning like mad. The ground shook then, and bigger rocks began falling.

“HolyshitKentlookwhatyoudid!” Sam covered her head and jumped near Gallade.

“We’re leaving in like two seconds.” A roar broke through the falling rocks as a gash opened in the ceiling, releasing a torrent of water into the chamber.

“Shiiiiiit! Go! Go! Go!”

Gallade spread its arms, enveloping the first group in white light before vanishing with a loud crack. Another piece of the ceiling broke apart, sending more water pouring into the chamber. Everyone neared the center of the platform, avoiding the rising water.

Gallade appeared once more in a bolt of light, surrounded quickly by the second group. They vanished just before the water reached knee-level around them Tyler, Kent, and Jack all drew in together, standing back-to-back-to-back as the water rose to their chests. “I swear, if we survive this,” Jack started.

“You won’t change anything, Jack. None of us will.” The water rose up to their chins and they lifted off their feet, clutching their arms together. Kent spat out a breath of water as he saw a trio of Sharpedo fins nearing them. “Goddammit.”

The three began moving away from the Sharpedo, beginning to freak out just before Gallade sliced his entrance through reality, grabbing the trio in his blade-arms.

“YIPPIE KA YA MOTHER FUCKER!” Kent screamed. The ceiling above them completely cracked this time, and large chunks of rock fell right towards them. Tyler shot Kent a quick glare, and Gallade cracked out of the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Agh!” Kent writhed in pain on the other side of the cavern, holding his arm right to his chest. “One of the Sharpedo got me before we escaped.” Kent held out his arm, a large bite mark was there, and he was bleeding heavily. “I’m lucky it didn’t come off, but it hurts like your mom when I’m done with her.” Kent grimaced and looked up, coming face-to-face with Tyler. “...oh.”

The blue-haired boy stood up on the rocks and walked out of the cave’s opening onto the beach. Sam, Jerri, and Sierra were standing together beneath Salamence’s wings, watching the cataclysm in the distance. “The ocean is so beautiful,” Sierra said, shaking her head. “But she’s so violent without her protector.”

Tyler nodded, wringing his shirt out in his hands. “It’s nature, though...” Sierra and Sam turned to him, curiously. “When no one is there to protect you, you have to fight for yourself...and that’s what she’s doing; she’s fighting for her life.”

“Aw, how sweet. No need to worry about me, I can just bleed, lose my arm, probably die.”

Tyler turned back to Kent, letting his hand brush against Sierra’s before running back to the rocks where his friend sat, arm bleeding, in the rain. “Here,” he said, and unraveled his shirt from the knot it had been in, slicing it down the middle with a tiny pocket knife. “Hold still.” Tyler crouched in front of Kent and began wrapping his arm, keeping as much pressure on the slits as he could to keep the blood in. Kent grimaced as the sting of salt water gripped his cuts, and Tyler shivered as near-freezing rain poured down on his bare back. “There.”

Kent stared at his arm, eyes narrowed through the sting. “Thanks,” he breathed out, laying his head back against the jagged cliffs. In the distance, Oliver shouted at the radio on the Mudkip only to have static blare back at him. Jack was standing on the back of the speedboat, angling his arms and legs while holding metal rods as antennae for the radio. Down in the boat, Citrus was wired to the radio to give it a power boost. The staticy ghost whirred as it charged the radio--and occasionally Oliver--to maximum power.

“We have to get it higher,” Oliver said. “It’s risky..but.” He threw down Petrie’s Pokeball, who grabbed the wires from Jack. “I need you to get hose as high as possible. If you can’t do it, don’t be a hero, just land.” The dino nodded and flew right into the skies, stretching the wires as far as he could.

“Yes! We got a signal!” Oliver clutched the receiver to his ear, listening as a woman’s voice broke through the static in bursts. The shortwave rose in pitch and cut her off as it searched again for the signal. Lightning slit the sky in the distance and Petri ducked with a roar. As it rose back up, the woman’s voice returned.

“--l-vr? Stht Y--?”

“Mom? Mom!” Oliver squinted off in the distance. “We’re on Whirl San.”

“Wrl S--s fve m--l -swy” The static roared back in Oliver’s ear and he closed his eyes, breathing slowly. In the back of the boat, Jack continued to stretch out his arms and legs like antennae.

“Could we try to send a flare?” Sam walked up behind them, clutching her arms across her chest. The rain poured down much more violently, and waves crashed in around them. Jack and Oliver clutched the sides of the boat as the waves pitched the Mudkip back into the rocks, and the radio flew off against the cliffside, shattering into a thousand shards.

“Shiiiiiiiiit!” Oliver stumbled out of the boat, running to the rock where the radio lay in shambles. He picked up the receiver and pitched it into the waves, swearing to the clouds.

-- -- --

“Thanks for the stone,” Kent muttered, new to his friendship with Tyler. He winced as he shifted his arm on the rocks and looked up to the other boy, shivering against the wall.

“Think nothing of it,” Tyler said, watching out over the waves. “Your Gallade is powerful, if he could handle that much strain on his power.”

“Yeah, well he’s the one Pokemon I haven’t pushed to the brink.”

“That’s probably for the best, then.” Tyler tried to laugh, turning his head as one of the Rockets groaned inside the cave. Rocks shifted and Tyler rose to his feet, walking a ways into the cave to where one of the three sat up, looking around. The boy grabbed a rock from the ground and chucked it at the Rocket’s head, knocking him out once more.

“Quick!” Kent yelled at Tyler, “Throw a Safari Ball!”

Jack Preston
Somewhere on the Whirl Islands

"This whole thing has been a blur," Jack muttered. "It feels like we've been on this island for a month."
"Quit being a whiny little bitch and help me," Oliver muttered. He was building a beacon - that is to say, a pile of sticks he was going to set alight. At this point it looked more to Jack like a deathtrap.

"I'm not sure I want to be within the vicinity of that thing when it goes off," Jack shot back.
"Whatever, I'm nearly done anyway." In a bright flash, a Quilava stood next to its trainer. "Nitro Charge!"
"I'll admit, that worked better than I expected," Jack said, watching the flames roar into the sky. "And just in time. It's getting kind of dark."
"The boat's supposed to be here soon," Oliver responded. "Gather the others, I think I can see its headlights."


The Blastoise? (some boat, I can't find the name)

As the tired group finally made its way back to Cianwood aboard Oliver's boat, Jack tossed and turned on his bunk in much the same manner as the boat was now tossing and turning on the rough sea. Once again, they had had a run-in with Team Rocket, and once again they had absolutely nothing to show for it.

Could Sam be right? Jack thought. We always seem to come off worse when we face off against people like this...

Fists had certainly come off worse. Fists, alone in bed, fighting for his life. It was probably the only time he'd had to try to fight without throwing a punch.

... Jack found himself shivering at the thought of Fists. It can't be right, he said to himself, I'm sorry, Sam, but you're wrong. We can't allow them to twist the world around their fingers. They can't be allowed to win...

"Dude, are you okay?" Kent's voice said from the bed across the room. Jack realised he was still shivering and his hands were clenched into... fists. "You look kind of... intense."
"Mmmh," Jack said. "I need to sleep."
"Looks that way."

Before Kent had finished talking, a sweet song had begun to fill the air. It was like... ambrosia... in audible form. Kent fell back onto his pillow and began snoring straight away. As Jack drifted off, he saw a familiar outline in the direction of the song.

"Orthodon...?"


Cianwood City

"We must've had a Jigglypuff stowaway on the ship last night," Kent yawned as he stretched, stepping off the boat onto the pier. "Me and Jack got put to sleep by a singing Pokemon."
"Jigglypuff?" Jack said. "It was Orthodon."
"Orthodon?" Sierra questioned.
"The Mawile I took from the Rocket lab. She's what sang us to sleep."

Kent glanced at Tyler. "Uh, Jack. I hate to rain on your parade, man, but Mawile can't learn Sing."
"It's true," Tyler added. "Not even by breeding."
Jack deflated a little as the rest of the group made a beeline for the Pokemon Centre.

"She did sing," he muttered defiantly.

Kent Walker | Cianwood Police Station | The Following Day, 9:00AM

“I SAID EXCUSE ME, BITCH!” Kent pounded on the police station’s door again, panting from all his yells.

“Kid!” A man’s voice called back through the door before it swung open, knocking Kent back several steps. The man was in a full-blue uniform with the Cianwood badge on his vest. “You’ve been whining to us for an hour already.” He shook his head and looked at the others. “We heard you when the little Chinese girl started swearing.”

“Then listen to us...” Kent pouted.

“Look, kids.” The man scouted the group again, running a finger across his mustache--laced with donut frosting--and shook his head again. “We saw the news. We know what happened, and we’re looking for the suspects now.”

“Gallade.” Kent coughed before a slender, pale Pokemon warped into sight, holding a small crew of rockets. “Your suspects.”

“Damn,” the man said, and looked inside, and back to them. “Alright, kidlets. Bring ‘em in.”

“So, is there some type of reward for this sort of stuff?” Jack piped in.

“Sure....” the policeman said, and reached into a desk drawer. “Have a Yo-Yo.”

“....Gallade,” Tyler coughed, and the knightly Pokemon vanished, the crew with him.

“We want cash.”

“Or sparkly valuables,” Sierra smirked.

“I also want that Yo-Yo,” Kent reached over and grabbed it. “What...it glows in the dark.”

The mustachioed officer sighed and sat down in his desk, pulling out a cash box. “You’re kids, so $5 should be enough for all of you.”

“That’s not even enough for a pokeball, you old fart.” Jerri grumbled and glared at him. The others glanced at her. “I demand at least $700. I risked my life for you.”

“Right,” Tyler said, laughing under his breath. “You rode those perilous waves and fought a Dragonite on your own dragon and prevented the cave from collapsing all on your own.”

Kent burst out laughing. “Burn!”

“Either way, she grumbled, “we all deserve a reward.”

“...of sparkling valuables,” Sierra quipped.

The others nodded, and Jack looked curious for a moment, staring into the back room. “Actually,” he said, seeming to drool a bit, “can I have my reward in the form of that hot dog in there?” He pointed ahead at an indoor grill where several hot dogs were cooking.

“Also,” Chelsie said. “There is a 500 dollar reward for any information regarding team Rocket, yes?”

“Yeah, that!” Kent yelled. “Wait! How the heck did you know that?”

“Look behind him, dumbass,” Oliver said, pointing to a huge sign on the bulletin board.

“Alright,” the officer said. “I’ll be real honest with y’all.” He leaned back and breathed out through his mouth, shaking his head. “We ain’t got that much cash on us.”

“...but you offered the reward.” Oliver raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side.

“I know well and good what we did,” the officer noted, “but I didn’t expect a damn platoon of kids to take down a Rocket Faction.” He shook his head again.

“We were here last week after doing the same thing. And two weeks before that we did the same. And a month ago we did the same thing.” Sam smirked.

“Damn, we kick ass,” Kent said.

“I ain’t denyin’ your ass-kicking abilities,” The officer grinned. “But I’m just saying that I figured Rocket would either get good enough for the big leagues--Lance and his posse--or at least get smart enough to leave Cianwood.”

“Fine, do you at least have some sort of contraband or lost/found bin?” Tyler asked. “Something better than a Yo-Yo or a hot dog for us.”

“Yeah, yeah.” The man nodded towards a room to the left. “Just some random crap we took off a Goldenrod Drug Lord last week.”

“WELL I WANT MY MONEY! OR AT LEAST TEN MORE YO-YO’S!”

Sierra nodded. “I’ll pass on the grimy valuables. The Queen needs some cash.”

Tyler shrugged and walked off to the Contraband room while the others continued bickering.

The lights were off and it was colder than the rest of the office. Tyler flipped on the lightswitch and peered around the tiny room with all its shelves and boxes and file cabinets. He grimaced a little, looking at the grimy belongings on the shelves. Mostly nothing but dingy radios and walkie-talkies. Some guns and knives and maybe a high-class explosive. Shit. Nothing but shit. He sighed and knelt down next to a small round machine that had several ovals inside. A plate on the front said INCUBATOR and flashed gold when touched.

Raising an eyebrow, he opened the machine and stared at the three eggs inside, noting their color. Blue, white, and green. The blue one, small with a black stripe across the belly, looked frail...weak. He reached down and picked it up, smiling as he held it beneath his arm. It was warm. Hopeful.

“What’s in here, Blue?” Oliver and Jerri walked into the room beside him, staring at the egg in his arms.

“D’aww! Eggs!” Jerri knelt down beside the INCUBATOR and picked up the green egg, smiling as she rubbed its rounded top. Oliver picked up the white egg and grinned slowly.

“I haven’t hatched an egg since Heracles,” Oliver noted, and grinned. “I had him in my backpack when his horn shot through the shell into my back.”

“Good first impression,” Jerri quipped.

“Aye. Horny from the start.”


Tyler Cohen | Pokemon Center | 10:00PM

Jerri, Oliver and Tyler sat in the lobby of the Pokemon Center, watching their eggs in the incubator, the little sphere swayed every now and again, and each of them would giggle like a schoolgirl when they did.

“Kenters, you’re a breeder, how long do you think till these guys will hatch?”

“Um...” Kent bent down and watched them carefully. “The green one should hatch with in the hour. There are small little cracks along the side, and judging by the type of Pokemon it takes awhile to break.”

“What is it?”

“A surprise!”

“Anyway. The blue one, it will take awhile. And the white one seems close too, but I can’t tell.”

Tyler looked down at his egg and smiled softly. “I wonder if it’ll be another water-type Pokemon.”

“Tyler, I swear we should petition to make a new Pokemon type for you: The Blue-Type.” Chelsie laughed while Togepi ran around the incubator, dancing and clapping its little hands.

He just grinned and picked up his egg from the machine. “Who knows...maybe it’ll be fierce and draconic and fiery.”

“That would imply that you have a Bagon egg,” Kent said and shrugged. “They’re very, very difficult to find outside of mountains or my dad’s farm.”

Tyler smirked. “Maybe your dad is a drug lord.”

“Probably is, but not the one this egg was taken from.”

____________________________________________

Oliver Davis | Cianwood | 5:00AM

“Ollie, why are we going back to the harbor?” It was morning, misty and hardly light yet, but Oliver had insisted that they head to the docks. Everyone was still half-asleep, and Jerri had a newborn Oddish in her arms sprinkling Sleep Powder every few seconds. Kent, though awake, snored with each step.

“I told you guys before we left, Blue.” He was wide awake already and was walking briskly with his thumbs holding to his bookbag straps. “Since we have some downtime before the tournament continues,” he nodded, “I want to see if we can fix the Mudkip.”

“Duuuude,” Jack groaned. “Lugia destroyed that thing.

Oliver shook his head. “Just stop whining. Not even a sea god can stand between a man and his Mudkip.”

“Amen,” Kent yawned.

They kept walking, most of them drifting from side to side; Sierra bumped into Tyler as she sleepwalked.

...and the Mudkip was trashed. In fact, only the head of the Mudkip even resembled one.

“Even though it’s trashed and made of steel, I can’t help but to think it’s cute.” Sam pondered and stared at the blue mangle of metal.

Oliver hopped down onto the dock and nodded. “Yeah. It’ll take some work and a whole lotta cash, but we can fix it.”

“We?” Kent groaned.

“Yeah...” Oliver shrugged. “I figured we could use it for Island hopping.” The others looked on curiously. “I mean...there has to be a clue as to how to make those storms stop coming on and off, right?” The others nodded. “And that clue is probably somewhere in the Whirl Islands.”

“But the place has been quarantined as a disaster area.” Tyler shook his head. “Even with our influence in this area, we couldn’t get in.”

Jack stared off towards the horizon where a quartet of cyclones raged where the Whirl Islands were. “So what can we do?”

“We could always just wait and see,” Chelsie pipped. The others turned to look at her, and she shrugged. “I know I’m new to this hero game and all, but don’t you think it would be wiser to...to ride out the waves?”

“Pun intended?”

“Sadly, yes.” She shook her head. “I just don’t think that there’s anything left for us in the Islands.”

“And what if Cianwood ends up just like them?”

“Then another city will be reminded how powerful gods can be.” Sierra stared off into the distance, into the storm. “Every day, that storm gets bigger. Slowly, but surely, it will consume the entire Cianwood Sea...and eventually Johto.”

“Yay....” Kent said wearily.

Jerri shook Oddish over his head and he dropped to the dock, asleep.

“...this is ultimately our responsibility,” Tyler said, eyes narrow and voice weak. “We’re the ones who couldn’t stop Ariana and her goons before Lugia was captured.” He stared at the tremulous waters beneath the dock. “If we play war games, we have to be able to win.”

The gang was silent, staring in different directions. There was a lack of noise--save the ocean--until something rustled in the Mudkip.

Oliver turned his head, staring at the boat hesitantly.

“Is there a hobo in the head?”

Oliver picked up an oar from the dock, poking at the tarp covering whatever had moved. There was a grumble, and Oliver grimaced. “Why are you in my boat?”

The tarp flew back and a bearded man with a Star of David around his neck jumped out. “UMADBRO?!” His eyes were wild and wide, and the kids jumped back. Oliver just stayed his ground, oar in hand.

“Whothehellareyou?”

The man looked around at the group, watching each face, and then looked at Oliver again. He didn’t answer--just grinned for a moment as a trio of tiny Mudkips climbed up onto his shoulders. Oliver slowly lowered the paddle and watched him. “You’re not a hobo?”

The man coughed. “Andrew Edward Thomas at your service!” Oliver didn’t respond.

Andrew coughed again. “Andrew. Edward. Thomas. At your service!” Still no reply.

The man stared blankly at Oliver, frowning. “Mud.”

“Kip!” The trio of Mudkip on his shoulders water-gunned Oliver off the dock in a frenzy. Andrew just laughed.

Tyler stepped forward from the group, egg in-arm. “Why are you sleeping in the Mudkip?”

The bearded Andrew laughed again. “Ho ho! I’m not sleeping in the Mudkip!” He shook his head. “No, no... I was trying to fire it up!”

Oliver breached the surface of the water and climbed back onto the dock, holding his arms to himself, shivering. “You were going to steal my boat!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“No!”

“Then why fire it up?”

Andrew grinned, a gleam in his eye. “To reach...The Whirl Mine.”

“So you were going to steal it.”

“Borrow.”

“Steal.”

“...okay, fine!” Andrew nodded. “I was going to steal your boat...” He snapped his fingers. “But! I had every intention of replacing it with money.”

He had the group’s attention. “Money?”

“Money! In the form...of diamonds.” He seemed to be drooling.

“You’re a miner?” Chelsie asked, holding Togepi closer.

“I am!” He grinned, secretly hatching a plan. “...and you could be, too.”

Oliver glanced at Tyler and Jack, and then back to the man. “We don’t really have any time to go mining, Andrew.”

“Call me Aet--and you do have time!”

“We have a tournament coming up, dude.”

“That Santa Olivia fiasco’s been delayed for nearly a week!” He laughed. “You have plenty of time to get plenty of money from the Whirl Mine.”

Kent stirred on the dock and looked up. “Mine?”

“Yes, yes.” Bearded Aet grinned and pointed out to the south. “About the distance between here and Olivine, only to the south.” He nodded. “It’s a long haul, but legend has it that the Whirl Mine reaches all the way between the Whirl Islands, Cianwood, and Olivine.”

Sam’s eyes grew wide. “That’s...that’s enormous!”

”That’s what she said,” Kent interjected.

Aet nodded. “Indeed. And it’s dangerous.” He stomped a foot on the dock three times. “You never know...one wrong strike to the rocks down there, and you could be crushed by leagues of seawater.”

Tyler looked over to Oliver, suddenly with an idea. “If that mine spans beneath the entire Cianwood Sea...”

“That means that we could get into the islands to search after all!”

“Searching Islands, eh? Spelunking and diving and mining...you all seem to make a craft out of this.”

The gang looked between themselves, pondering their chances. Sierra spoke up, finally. “Could you take us to the mine?”

He nodded. “Yes. However, I must go with you, or else I couldn’t sleep at night.”

The group nodded. “Alright, Aet the Bearded Hobo Miner!” Oliver stretched his hand out. “You’ve got yourself a team!”

Andrew Edward Thomas grinned and looked back to the Mudkip. “I don’t suppose you have another darling we could drive?”

“The Mudkip is trashed...and the Wooper isn’t in any condition to make that kind of haul,” Oliver said, frowning. There was a moment of silence. “...but the Blastoise could do it.”

“Ols, your dad would never let us take his precious just so we could sneak into a disaster area.” Sierra stepped out on the dock, looking out at the moored Blastoise.

“...but that’s not to say that we can’t finish our business before he finds out.”

The group looked at Chelsie, surprised by her deviant plan.

She just nodded. “Kaz and Gallade can get us inside. I’m sure that one of you has an electric Pokemon that can fire it up, and three of us can drive a ship.”

Tyler shrugged. “She’s right. Captain, First Mate, and Navigator.”

Sierra and Oliver had the same plotting gleam in their eyes.


Tyler Cohen | The Blastoise | 3:34PM

“And. We. Are. Off!” Oliver said.

“I think you mean. WE ARE OFF, BITCHES!” Kent screamed, winding himself from the pure volume.

“So, Mr. Aet,” Tyler walked over to the grimy old man. “You have any sort of map, or sense of direction for this cave?”

“None at all.”

“Sounds like a blast,” Sam said.

“Just lovely,” Sierra added.

Tyler stared at Sierra and Oliver for a moment before shrugging. “Guess we’re doing this blindly.” He nodded to Oliver and unlocked the throttle, wrenching them out of the harbor.


Kent Walker


Meanwhile five seconds into the future.....


“So bored!” Kent cried, staring intently at one of his Pokeballs. “Is there anything other than fish watching to do on this thing?”

“There’s a gift shop.” Sam rolled into the room, with a Wartortle cap, Blastoise Bag pack and a Squirtle water bottle. “I paid.”

“Wow, that is cheesy,” Kent mocked. “Like, why would you buy those?”

Sam just rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, you got class coming out your ass!” Kent shouted as if it were so clever.

“Shut your trap.”

“I can’t. If I try I just burst out laughing!”

“Shove it.”

“Or what?”

Sam got up out of her seat and slammed Kent against the wall. “Shut. Your. Trap.”

“Hey, no need for fists....how about a battle?” Kent grabbed two of his Pokeballs. “One on One, two rounds.”

Sam thought for a moment and then released Kent. “Fine. Jack, you’re judging.”

“Kay.”


Sam Park

“So, because of the limited space we have, I think it’s safe to say we would have to ban some of the larger Pokemon. Mamo, Kite, Steelix.”

“What, you;re scared of my dragon?”

“I’ve raised those beasts. Mamo and me could destroy it. I’m worried about putting a hole in the roof.”

“Fine.” It killed her to admit Kent was right.

“I’ll go first, just to show I’m not afraid.” Kent threw down a Pokeball, Ru jumped out of the light.

Sam threw down her own, Duskull emerged from the light and disappeared a moment later.

“Nice choice,” Kent smirked. “But even with a ghost type you can;t match a fully evolved Pokemon.”

Sam just ignored Kent and called out her first move, Curse. Duskull appeared on the field again, pulling from his sleeve a nail made of energy. He stabbed himself in the chest, draining his own energy and sending a black void to Gallade. The fighting type fell onto one knee and cried in pain.

Before Kent could even call out an attack Duskull sent out a flurry of fire balls, Will-O-Wisp, and blasted Gallade back. He flinched again, this time it was followed by a short burst of flames around his body.

“Dammit! Ru, Psycho Cut that bastard!”

The fighting type jumped to his feet and rolled over to the ghost, slicing upward in a swift motion. “Shadow Sneak!” Sam called, and the ghost instantly disappeared into the shadows.

“Be ready Gallade, don’t let it get a hit in!” Gallade just smiled under intense pain, the burn and curse hitting him one more time. Duskull popped into the field again, punching the pained Gallade, sending him flying across the room.

“Gallade is unable to battle!”

“Yeah yeah...” Kent pulled his second Pokeball off his belt and threw it down.

“Glide, X-Fang!” Kent’s short handed, and somehow Glide instantly understood.

The bat grabbed onto Duskull with blazing fangs, throwing it into the air and hitting it with an X-Scissor right after. The curse weakened ghost nearly collapsed, ready to fight back, but the barrage wasn;t over.

“Now, summon up and Aqua Tail!” Kent shouted with a wild grin. Gligar pulled water around his tail’s tip, spinning it into a whirlpool, ready to pounce.

“Duskull, send a shadow ball into the pool, the Will-O-Wisp!” The ghost summunded a dark ball or energy, chucking it into Gligar’s incomplete Aqua Tail. The ball of energy exploded on the water, followed by a series of flames.

Gliagar recovered quickly, ducking out of the way of the flames, barreling towards Duskull in an Aerial Ace, pinning it to the wall. Fang flaming again it clamped down right on it’s head and finished it off.

“And boom goes the dynamite,” Kent did a short-lived jig, cut off as the boat heaved to the side.

”Ty!” Sierra’s voice broke out through the upper deck, a surge of water pouring in through the door to the outer deck.

“Oly Shit!” The rest of the group was thrown against the viewing desk, nearly shattering the glass beneath them.

“Gallade! Meta! Teleport us up top!” Two identical knights wrapped around the group, and with a warp they fell into the helm of the ship.

“A bunch of Sharpedo rammed into the side,” Sierra said in panic. “The glass shattered and Tyler barreled out.”

“Mudkips ho!” Aet called out, and his team of little critters jumped out the window. Sierra cringed and shoved past Aet, trying to grab them before leaping.

“What part of Sharpedo did you not understand?!” Her eyes were wide, wild like the seas below.

“Calm down, princess.” Aet shook his head. “My darlings are strong like SHAMWOW.”


Tyler Cohen

Beneath the waves, Tyler fought for his way to the surface, failing and sinking deeper with each wild heave of the waves. Something--fast and hard--rammed into his gut, knocking the wind from his lungs. His mouth released, a stream of bubbles blasting from his face, and he sucked in a mouthful of seawater. There was no up nor down; just a swell of panic and distress. He stretched out his arms, wailing out for the surface once more, and sank backwards as something razor-sharp grazed his arm. So it was the sea that would kill him, that would take him down without a pray--

“Mud!”

Mud?

A tiny little squeak rang out through the water, followed by two others. Before Tyler could react, three tiny little...squishy...cuddly...things...had hoisted him up to the surface, giving him the breath he didn’t expect back. As he opened squinted eyes, he saw a grinning blue face on the water in front of him, just smiling at him.

“PEDO!” Tyler’s head jerked back as a trash of that razor-sharp skin blasted against his back, slicing through his clothes and skin. He screamed, eyes closed and hands on the Mudkip, and cringed as the salt water stung the fresh lacerations.

“Godfuckingdammit,” Tyler grated his teeth, swiping a hand by his side to retrieve a Pokeball. In a flash, Crawdaunt sank into the turmoiled waters with them. The lobster roared and dove beneath the waves, thrusting out a Crabhammer into the face of a passing Sharpedo.

As the storm raged and the waves crashed around Tyler, he could faintly hear the sound of his partner fighting off the bastard who had just stolen half of his skin; and Tyler heard off in the distance a very quiet, “Glide!”

His head was spinning, his vision blurring between the waves and his dizziness. Tyler peered up into the blackened sky and squinted as Gligar descended on him, hoisting him up under his arms.

Sam Park

She used to be scared of water. She used to be unable to swim. But by now, she'd almost drowned so many times she'd mastered the art of flailing in the water. Magikarp had nothing on her.

She used to think she was lucky too. Now, misfortune was her best friend, and this didn't really strike her by surprise anymore. It shouldn't have surprised the others either. So why the fuck was Sierra flailing like a headless chicken? Ty would live. He always pulled through in the end.

Speaking of Sierra...she was already out there, riding the waves and braving the Sharpedo. The others leaned over the edge of the boat, screaming orders at their water Pokemon. From where she stood, she could see the distress clearly painted across their faces.

Well, most of their faces. Kent was being a confident jackass, as usual.

Back and forth, left and right - the boat danced to its own rhythm, fighting to keep balance as the Pokemon around it fought for Tyler's life.

Duskull flew out over the edge of the Blastoise, peering at his trainer with unabashed curiosity. "Skull?"

"You can help them if you want, but I think you'd do better if you rest for now," Sam said lightly, resting her chin on her hands. Duskull glanced at the battle, shrugged, and settled on his trainer's shoulder. Couldn't give a damn either, Sam supposed.

Fuck, what was wrong with her? A small frown tainted her features. She should care more. She'd thought she'd seen red seeping into white foam a while ago.

Well, she could start at the beginning. She hadn't had a normal day in some time, for one. Any craving for adventure she'd left home with had dissipated into bitterness, for another. How the world could be so tainted was beyond her. She'd been so ignorant, sitting at home and thinking the world was all peace and fairness.

Ha.

"Sam! We could use some help here!" Jerri yelled.

Oh yeah, they could use some help. Wait, no, they didn't. Sharpedos weren't too difficult to beat, save maybe for the fact that Ty was in the ocean, and Sierra had been reckless enough to dive in to save her beloved. She should have sent a bird pokemon (did she even own one-?) to fetch him from the waters; it wouldn't be too difficult to charge up the entire sea then.

Of course, the sheer amount of Pokemon they'd leave unconscious would probably have some sort of environmental impact, but hey, at least Ty would be safe.

Why did this crud always happen to them anyway? She pulled a Pokeball out of her belt, but couldn't find it in her to throw it. To call help for Ty, who'd saved her quite a few times.

"Girly, you better do something!" Aet called.

With a cry of disgust and outrage, she threw the Pokeball, and it crashed against the wall before bouncing back into her hand. She caught it squarely, though the impact stung her palm.

"Sam, what the fuck?"

She blinked. They all wanted her to help. Yeah, they did.

"I don't think any of my Pokemon can help."

...That ought to work. Yeah. And with that, she left the deck.

--
'- I want to go home.No, I don't want to go home. I don't know what I want anymore...'
--

It was a few hours later that Sierra showed up in front of Sam, icy eyes even colder than usual. Sam glanced at the taller girl, stared at her for a while, then returned to playing a game on her Pokegear. Dialga, that chick's makeup always gave Sam the heebie-jeebies. She shouldn't dress up so blue.

But who was Sam to talk? She wasn't exactly a fashion expert either. Maybe blue was in.

"I heard you did a lot to help Tyler."

"Didn't do anything," Sam cut in shortly. She didn't feel like talking to anyone, or at least, she didn't feel like making the effort to talk. Which was precisely why she'd sent Kieran a message on impulse. Kieran. Ft. Would he even remember her? Sam wasn't sure why she chose him out of everyone; she simply did.

Sam's eyes returned to Sierra, whose face was scratched slightly where it wasn't powdered. Sam had to give Sierra credit for being able to drag herself away from Tyler's side, however, and for her unnerving calmness.

If it'd been Abel down there, Sam was sure she'd be in hysterics, and would probably be tearing out the throat of whoever didn't help.

"He's doing all right," Sierra added, as if in reply to the question Sam wanted to ask but didn't.

"Good to hear."

It was quiet save for the endless beat of Sam's game. Sierra leaned against the doorframe, surveying the girl she'd barely spoken to. They simply had nothing in common was all. No hard feelings.

Sam's dark eyes flickered to meet Sierra's gaze. "What?"

"I know we're not close friends -"

"That's a little sad to hear, after everything we've been through together." Well, sort of. Technically Sierra and Sam were never on the same mini-team, but it was fair enough.

"-but I can tell you don't feel all right. Is anything wrong?"

"No, nothing." Props to Sierra for not getting mad. "I'm sorry I didn't do anything to help." Not really. But it was what Sierra probably wanted to hear, or so Sam thought. And even if it wasn't, it was the right thing to do.

How many times had she been doing crud because "it was the right thing to do"? A lot, especially in the last few months. On the bright side, probably half the world knew her name. She was famous now!

On the other hand, the last email she'd sent to her parents was what, a month ago? Sure she had her friends, but she wasn't doing much better than Abel in the keeping up with family department.

"It's all right." Pause. "We're headed back to the city to get help for Ty." Sierra smiled as Duskull performed a little dance in front of her.

"City?"

"You know, Cianwood."

Beep. Sam's heart skipped a beat. Maybe he did remember her.

'where are you now'

Fingers tapped furiously. Heading back to Cianwood.

"Does Ty know?"

"Ty needs help. He's badly torn up."

Sam paused right before she sent the message. If she'd helped, would Ty have been better? She sent Sierra a quizzical look.

"The Sharpedo got to him before I was even in the water."

Ah. Good to hear. Somehow, Sam couldn't really give much more of a crap about Tyler.

Maybe she needed a break from these people. Being with such a big group was suffocating. Mahogany town probably had as many kids as she was with now. It was like hanging out with everyone her age in town. Exhausting, and most importantly, tiring.

These guys were bad luck anyway.

'you joking?'

Sam frowned. 'No, why?'

'cianwood is crawling with team grave now. dangerous place. they've arrived.'

Sam wavered for a minute, and she looked at Sierra. "How bad is Tyler?"

"He needs stitches, probably," Sierra said. "Why?"

"So I guess that means he can't battle?" Great. Tyler's Pokemon always carried them. A sick feeling of terror finally began to form in the pit of Sam's stomach. Guess it took a whole new level of terrible to get her to feel panicked now. Why the hell was she looking for this feeling a while ago?

"Of course not." Sierra's eyebrows furrowed. Her feelings on the matter were clear. Are you insane?

'please tell me you're joking'

'no really. check the news. please tell me you're joking bout going there.'

Sam swallowed. Stuck between a rock and a hard place. Again. "Sierra?"

"Yeah?"

"Better let your Pokemon get some rest."

'We need to. No choice.'

--
Kieran Dexters

He arrived at the beach in an black armored car, with a bodyguard carrying an armalite on his right. Overkill, he'd said. Safe, his father had argued. If you went to war, you went prepared.

He watched the city beyond the beach. It was eerily silent. Grave had arrived without much fanfare; in fact, Kieran wouldn't even call it an arrival. More like they surfaced. It started with a dark shadow over the city, then a a slow but sure takeover. Here, an old lady would pull out a gun and yank off her mask to reveal a younger face, all while threatening the people in the Pokemon Center, and there a nondescript hobo would fire a shot into the air and, Tyranitar behind him, threaten the citizens with force if they didn't hand over any Pokemon they had. The moment a Rocket blimp appeared, the mayor of Cianwood had fled to Kieran's father for help.

More than a few stood against Grave. More than a few drops of blood stained the streets.

So Kieran, he'd come with a full arsenal of Pokemon. He wasn't exactly sure why Sam needed to come, but hey. A friend was a friend. Besides, she'd been interesting enough. They'd exchanged emails a few times, but never anything truly serious.

To Kieran, this was simply a chance for fun. A challenge.

Something to shake up the dreariness of the responsibility of being a mayor's son.

Besides, Dad wouldn't complain after the good publicity floods in.

There. A Blastoise approached the beach. It had to be them. No one else would come to a port like this.

Grave probably thought they had a hostage in Kieran. Little did they know. Kieran smiled, and it wasn't a safe smile, but perhaps the kind you'd expect from a grand master when his opponent had fallen into the trap he'd set.

The Gravediggers had their orders, Kieran knew. Attack any approaching vessels, regardless of whether or not they were armed. And if someone came out, knock out their Pokemon, then drag them in and remove all clothes before shoving them into a room and announcing your catch.

The more hostages, the better. The Gravediggers wanted a big ransom for this one. This was their entry, their declaration of a challenge against Team Rocket.

They'd accepted his little bribe; a suitcase full of money. They believe he was here to negotiate. In fact, one of the higher Gravediggers was waiting in the tallest building in town. Waiting to talk to him.

Unfortunately, wherever the money was, there'd be a big explosion.

He loved having resources.

"When they raise their arms," Kieran instructed, drumming his fingers against his thigh.

Father wouldn't appreciate this, but eh, fuck it.

Tyler

“How the hell is he this heavy?” Kent grunted as he trudged through the rain with Oliver, Tyler hoisted onto their shoulders by his arms. The crew had rushed from the docks towards downtown Cianwood, and Sam had kept to the front, eyeing their surroundings suspiciously. Everyone was gone.

A siren screamed in the distance; smoke rose from Santa Olivia’s Cathedral. Tyler’s head spun as he slowly parted his eyes, everything swaying back and forth as if gravity had slid to one side of the earth and back. His back was burning. Christ, was It burning… He groaned and closed his eyes, his feet stumbling beneath him.

“Aaaand he’s out again.” Oliver sighed, pulling up on Tyler’s shoulder. Sierra and Sam eased ahead into the streets, shirking back as a black Rover rolled by with the GRAVE insignia on the side.

“Kieran wasn’t kidding,” Sam said, shuddering in the rain. “We have to get Ty to the hospital ASAP.”

“It’s on the other side of Cianwood,” Sierra droned, shaking her head. “If Grave is all about like you said, then we’ll have to be tricky.”

Chelsie snuck up to the front of the group, peeking her head around the corner. “Let’s start by crossing the street—it’s clear.” The gang rushed across the plaza, ducking into an alley behind the pharmacy. The rain fell harder. Ratata scurried from a dumpster in the alley into the plaza.

“Did you hear something?” A deep voice crawled from belowground where the sub-city entrance lay, water streaming down the steps.

“That’s it!” Sierra snapped, grabbing a Pokeball. “We’ll probably have to fight, but there’s a direct path to the hospital beneath the city.” Everyone nodded but Oliver and Kent. They groaned as they hoisted Tyler up once more. Sierra flicked her wrist, dropping Jynx out into the street. “Ice Beam any goons you see downstairs.” Jynx pounded her fists together and crept down the stairs.

“Hold up,” Sam called once they were downstairs. The fluorescent lights were dim and flickering all around. Deserted kiosks and broken Pokeballs covered the floors, even scattered with blood and clothes. It was as if a violent rapture had seized the city. “Kieran is on his way—he said he can help us.”

“How?” Jack crossed his arms, Citrus zipping around his head. “We don’t have time to wait on him.”

“Yes, you’re right.” Sam shook her head. “But he just said to wait for a bang—“

There was an explosion far off, one that shook the ground from its force. Stones and plaster fell from the ceiling above them. Lowly Pokemon ran from their hidden corners to safety.

A walkie-talkie beeped down the corridor. A voice rang out through radio static. “Mayhem Squad, this is Calvin—confirmed assassination attempt in the Pinnacle Complex. Demanding backup operatives.”

“Shitshitshit—“ Three goons ran from the dark corridors towards the stairs, stopping as they found the gang. “Intruders…boss…intruders…shit!”

“Richie, you go to the Complex; we’ll handle these jokers.” One of the grunts ran off as the other two drew Pokeballs. In a flash, four Golurk shook the ground as they appeared. With a roar, they picked up slabs of tile, ready to heave.

Kent


“Ocrap.”

“Meta, surround us!” Kent called, the pink blob popped out of his Pokeball, expanding around the group in a protective dome. The Golurk’s tiles hit Meta head on, literally it hit it in the face, but bounced off harmlessly. The blob retracted back into it’s base form, and crawled into Kent’s backpack, exhausted from the hit.

Sam acted quickly, releasing Piplup into the battle. “Piplup, bubble—Piplup?” Sam stood awestruck as a much-larger than Piplup Pokémon stood in front of the group.

“HA!” Kent nearly-screamed. “I’ve heard of it, but never seen it before. A pokemon evolving in it’s Pokeball out of pure rage.”

“And how do you know it’s froe rage?” Sam asked, completely forgetting the two Grave goons in front of them.

“Well, there’s that,” Kent said, pointing to the Bubblebeam barreling towards Sam. Kent burst out laughing again, Sierra also let a chuckle slip.

“Um, hello?” One of the goon called over. “It’s no fun if you aren’t afraid you know.”

“Why would we be afraid?” Oliver asked in a mock-innocent voice. “Neptune, surf.”

The Vaporeon popped out of the ground behind the goons, letting out a wave of water at the four Golurks, knocking them on their possessed Asses. “Acid Armor,” Oliver explained.

Sam, now with her Prinplup safe in it’s Pokéball, released Kite into battle, she wasn’t holding back. The massive dragon roared, letting loose a Dragon breath powerful enough to knock back an Elite Four’s best Pokémon. The Goons dove behind an over-turned Subway car, their Pokémon weren’t as lucky, Kite getting a nice quadruple KO.

“Requesting Back-Up,” one of the goons whispered into his walkie-talkie. “Sector C-4.”

“On my way,” someone spoke, just loud enough for the rest of the gang to hear.

“Get ready,” Tyler moaned. He sheepishly pulled a Pokéball off of his belt, and let it roll onto the floor, releasing Casper. The ghost looked around, his eyes landing on a now unconscious Tyler, an honest-to-god whimper coming out of his mouth before it dropped down to his trainer, attempting to hold him.

“Aw, what a sweet moment,” from the other end of the room a man laughed. He was a large man, about six foot four, with muscles large enough to crush a head like a balloon. “Are you ready to die?”

“No,” Oliver said. “I like living. I like it a lot.”

“Well too bad!” He grabbed a Pokeball from his belt and chucked it at the group, a large bull with an afro popping out of it.

“I prefer this,” Kent said, chucking a Pokeball at him, Steelix appearing.

“Aqua Jet!” Kent called out, the metallic beast blasting forward at his opponent. The bull jumped in the air to dodge, smacking Steelix’s face into the ground with his hooves. The bull moved in quickly, slamming the snake with a Head Charge, tearing most of the floor in the process. Steelix dodged a second Head Charge, knocking the bull into the ceiling with his tail.

“Now, Aqua Jet!” Steelix covered himself in water, shakily moving through the ruble of the tunnel, before blasting right into Bouffalanf.

“Alright!” Kent screamed in celebration before turning around to smile at the group. “Whose the man?” The other just stared at him, eyes dead and shocked. “Oh real funny, what I can’t win a battle?” The stayed quiet, eyes dead straight. “What are you looking ah…ah…ah shit.”

At the other end of the room Steelix was laying against the wall, his face painted red. Kent followed the trail, revealing what could only be described as a corpse in the loosest of terms. The grave’s body was completely crushed, giant pools of blood surrounding him, and flesh and bones scattered around the area. Kent staggered backwards.


“Go!” Kent suddenly screamed. “Just go…I’ll…I’ll catch up with you guys….” No one moved. “I SAID GO!” Kent screamed at the top of his lungs. He waited for the group to follow; they finally picked up Tyler and walked away, leaving Kent in the ruble. Once they were gone he got up, turned the other way and left.

A month has passed since the Cianwood Catastrophe. The kids couldn’t find a hospital or infirmary in Cianwood, and by the time they reached the docks, the city had been completely sieged by Rockets and Grave operatives. The sky’s been a bit darker ever since, really. With no sign of Kent, Sierra and Oliver hot-wired a boat in Cianwood Bay and the gang fled to Olivine where they found refuge in a hospital. They’ve been there ever since, Tyler semi-comatose with severe wounds from the Sharpedo attack. Our story continues upon the moment when he regains consciousness...

Tyler | Olivine

”Official orders from the office of Champion Lance have urged citizens to seek refuge from storms increasing in severity. While the terrorists remain at large, all civilians unaccompanied by Pokemon are encouraged to travel in pairs and avoid the Oceanic District.”

There were bubbles in this dream. Huge bubbles that were different colors, all spread around him.

”A recent arrest by Violet City police has shed light upon the potential identity of the head operative of Team Grave.”

Every time he’d try to press up against the waves, these bubbles would push against him, against his bare skin and push him deeper into the water.

”With winter fast approaching, scientists speculate that disastrous winter storms are impending. Cold fronts currently moving southward from the Orre territories have frozen over the Sinjoh Ruins and all northern routes between Ecruteak and Phenac City.”

Tyler couldn’t remember when he’d been this cold before.

”Search continues for a missing young Pokemon trainer, Kent Walker of Blackthorn.”

But there were hands in the bubbles, reaching for him, for his hands.

”Kent Walker”

And he’d reach for the hands through the bubbles.

”Missing”

And finally, with the bubbles bursting against his chest, he reached their hands and was thrust from the water, into the sound of thunder and rain.

Tyler gasped awake with wild, wide eyes, hands grasping at the blanched white bedsheets covering him. He couldn’t catch his breath, trapped back in the dark waters of the Shoal Cave.

Thunder roared around him, and he caught his breath in his chest, lying deathly still, staring at the white ceiling overhead.

“Tyler?” It was Sierra’s voice, that steady soprano that was as much fluid as the ocean itself. “Tyler, you’re awake!” Her hand grasped his own, and she pressed his knuckles to her lips, kissing his skin for affirmation. She brushed her hand through choppy, cut-off blue hair that was so close to his head, too close to his head. It didn’t feel like it was him.

He turned his eyes to see her, awfully confused. His throat was parched. He couldn’t speak, but she would understand--she had to understand.

“You’ve been...asleep...for a month, Tyler,” she said, “we’re in Olivine.”

His heart sank. Olivine. Home. Dad.

Sierra called a nurse in, and along with the nurse came his mob of friends--Sam, Ollie, Jack, and Chelsie. They stood at the foot of his bed while the nurse checked his vitals, along with checking his skin for remaining wounds.

“Medical technology,” she said, “saved your life.” She was a large, round woman who resembled a Chansey. “Luckily, you’re fairly unscathed now.” She smiled warmly and touched his cheek. “The treatment had ample time to take effect, if you care to leave anytime soon.”

Where would they go if they left?

__ __ __ __

The next day, the group stood in the lobby of the hospital while Sierra and Tyler entered from the elevators. When they were reunited, there was silence, as if waiting for direction. And from what Sierra had told Tyler, they needed it. Kent had vanished in the subway, and the storms hadn’t let up a bit since the capture of Lugia. Tyler saw himself in the reflection of the glossy glass doors of the lobby and just stared, seeing a different person.

They were all different people. Things could only get so dark before consuming someone, especially a child. So Tyler looked at his friends and smiled. “The world is different.” He nodded. “And we are, too.” He looked out into the rain and lightning. “But what binds us together hasn’t changed.” Thunder crashed outside.

“Our best shot at taking down Rocket and Grave is to become as strong as we can,” said Sam.

Everyone turned to her, surprised. It was the first time they had heard her wanting to get involved.

“Kieran is caught up in this mess,” she murmured. “And if they have him hostage, then I must do all I can to save him.”

Jack nodded in agreement. “And Kent is the best friend I’ve ever had.” He shook his head. “If they’ve taken him, then I have to help, no matter what.”

“I’m scared of what Team Rocket is going to do with Lugia,” Sierra whispered. Her voice was gone, taken by the wind and rain. “If they’re caught up in a terror war with Grave...”

There was silence.

"Then it's decided." Tyler stepped into the middle, nodding. "We're going to get stronger until we can handle Team Rocket and Team Grave." More thunder rolled outside, heavier than before. "So we move forward in our quest for the Pokemon League."