Thorned Roses

Chapter 1 - Friend and Foe

---

"I honestly don't know why I let you drag me along on this trip," said Drew with a hint of irritation. "There are so many better things I could be doing right now."

"Yeah, right," scoffed May. She leaned on the windowsill of the ferry, chestnut hair tied up into a neat ponytail. Legs crossed, arms crossed, lips pouting, the young Coordinator was the image of stubbornness. "I won two Rainbow Tickets in that Contest, and absolutely no one else can come. Seriously. Besides, you've been talking about taking a break for a while."

"I was talking about a break, not an entire vacation," Drew shot back testily. The heat was getting to him. Sweat had already soaked through the back of his shirt, plastering the cloth to his skin. Some of the more shameless female passengers were already eyeing him. "I meant a day or two, not an entire month. I could be training right now. I could be testing out new combinations and toning my Pokemon to perfection."

May sighed. "You're such a workaholic, Drew. I really don't understand how you do it."

"Discipline," the green-haired Coordinator answered shortly.

"Oh, I see," said May, in her own irritated way. "Mr. Discipline's insecure about his coordinating skills, so he needs to overwork himself."

"You're the one who's insecure, Miss Crybaby."

"I'd like to remind you that you cried after Solidad beat you, too," retorted May, hands on hips.

"Thought I told you never to mention that ever again," growled Drew.

"You're the one who brought it up," May retorted.

To their collective surprise, they both heard a familiar voice behind them. "Arguing about something?"

Both Drew and May turned. "Rafe?" the two said in unison. Then they turned to one another. "You know him?"

"I met him when Ash, Brock, Max and I were visiting LaRousse," said May. "During the Deoxys incident."

"I met Drew in LaRousse, too, though that was after the Deoxys thing," Rafe cut in.

"Visiting my family," said Drew.

"Oh... I totally forgot that was your hometown when we were there," May gasped. "Your family...? Maybe I should've looked them up."

"No need." Drew flicked his hair away absently. "They aren't the best at entertaining guests, to be honest."

"Oh." There was an awkward silence.

The auburn-haired trainer stood in the aisle, eyeing them. "What a coincidence. What are you two doing here?"

"I won two Rainbow tickets from a Contest, so I decided to bring him along since no one else could come."

Drew scoffed. "You practically begged me to come along."

"Did not."

Stony silence.

"Well," said Drew stiffly after a while, "I didn't really want to come."

"But you came anyway, so I'm going to make you enjoy this trip; got it?" said May firmly.

"May," began Drew, but at that moment there was a terrific crash that rocked the ferry. Many of the passengers screamed and clung onto nearby counters and chairs. As luck would have it, May grabbed Drew. There was a brief, fleeting thought in his mind that said, Well, I'm enjoying this, at any rate...

"What was that?" wondered Rafe. When there was no response, he realized that both of the Coordinators had already begun running toward the source of the noise. He immediately joined them, catching up as they emerged from the door to the deck.

It was an odd sight that met their eyes. Down in the water, several boats with tough-looking occupants surrounded the ferry, shouting up at the passengers who had crowded by the railing. Each wore a tight-fitting, navy blue uniform with a matching bandanna tied around their heads. On each bandanna was printed a white symbol shaped like an A and a skull-and-crossbones. Beneath each bandanna was a sneering face.

"We're taking this ferry!" yelled a particularly burly-looking man at a passenger who, out of anger, had brought out his Pokemon and was retaliating angrily. Within seconds the passenger's Swellow was brought down by an Ice Beam from a Sharpedo. Just before the bird managed to right itself in midair, the shark-like beast caught it with a Crunch. Struggling in the shark's jaws, the Swellow screeched in pain.

"Solarbeam, Roserade!"

"Use Vine Whip to get Swellow, Venusaur!"

In a flash, the Sharpedo was reeling back in the water, badly injured by the powerful Grass-type attack shot by Drew's Roserade. Swellow was easily pried free from its jaws and safely set down onto the deck. Its trainer rushed to it as Drew and May pushed their way to the railing.

"Is this your idea of fun, May?" Drew asked wryly, watching as the rest of the thugs began to pull out their Pokemon.

"Not exactly what I had in mind," May answered. "Venusaur! Petal Dance!"

A whirling vortex of petals blasted several of the enemy Pokemon out of the water. The sound of the blast was accompanied by curses, one louder than the others. The loudest thug, the owner of the Sharpedo, glared at the two Coordinators.

"Think you're so great, huh? Mightyena, teach these kids a lesson!"

"How insulting. All three of us are at least twenty, I'm sure. Blaziken!" Rafe tossed a Pokeball into the air, and the bird-like Fighting-type appeared in a flash of light. "Sky Uppercut!"

"Bla-zi-ken!"

It was a direct hit. The attack caught the wolf Pokemon squarely under the jaw, flinging it many feet into the air. Rafe's Blaziken leapt after it.

"Double Kick, Blaziken!"

Once. Twice. Three times. The Mightyena hung in midair, limp as a rag doll, then began to fall. By now some of the other Pokemon had mobilized and were almost upon Blaziken. Out of nowhere, a stray Water attack hit it in the chest, making it stagger backwards. The source was a Wailmer, directed by a short-haired, redheaded girl.

"Hydro Pump, Wailmer."

"Solarbeam!"

Simultaneously, Venusaur and Roserade fired. Wailmer just barely managed to dodge. Its comrades weren't as lucky - several Carvanha fainted in the water. Rafe, turning to May and Drew, gave them a nod of thanks before all three switched their attention back to the battle.

"Who are these guys?" shouted Rafe over the commotion. Some of the other trainers onboard had released their Pokemon, with May, Drew and Rafe leading the attack.

"Team Aqua," responded May. "They tried to control this legendary called Kyogre once."

Drew made a tch sound. "Great."

Now the Aquas were getting beaten badly. One side of their formation was crumbling due to the double Solarbeam that had ripped through their ranks, and the trainers onboard quickly took advantage of this, pummeling the water Pokemon with aerial and electric attacks. May, Drew and Rafe all released more of their Pokemon, lending strength to their forces.

The attacks were coming more weakly now. The unexpected combined force of their trio with the other trainers on the ship had hit the thirty-odd Aquas from all angles, and they had taken it hard. The leader, the one who had attacked the Swellow with his Sharpedo, was shaking with rage and humiliation, but soon he called a retreat. It was with decided relief that the passengers recalled their Pokemon.

Meanwhile, May gathered with Drew and Rafe indoors, reclining on a chair.

"We're almost at the island," she remarked, looking out the window at the landmass looming ahead. "I hope we don't get any more surprises."

"You have to wonder why those Aquas wanted to take over this ferry," mused Drew.

"To cut off any sort of travel to the Sevii Islands, maybe?" suggested Rafe. "I think this is the only form of transportation in these parts."

"Or," said May, "they might have been trying to take it so they could use it themselves."

Drew shifted so he could look past May's head, out the windows, at the lights that were beginning to come on in the city ahead. "Whatever it was, I hope they haven't attacked One Island."

A feeling of uneasiness settled over the three of them as the ferry sped on through the darkening waters.