Chapter 1: S.S. Qwilfish

A life at sea. Something Dustin had known his whole life - the sea spray, the shaky beds, the dry food. He was born on a boat - his dad was a sailor, his mother a cook. He grew up sailing the seven seas, he had seen countless places. But Dustin still felt like he hadn't seen enough.

He was longing for adventure - as if living on a boat was not one enough. He was longing for the land.

Dustin had a Pokemon - one he was given by his uncle in Slateport City many years ago. His Pokemon grew up alongside him. They were best friends. In fact, Dustin's only friend was his Pokemon - his Mudkip named Muddy.

Muddy did everything with Dustin. They explored the ship when he was little, and now that Dustin was older, they occasionally played pranks on the crew of the boat. The crew knew Dustin well - he was the captain's son, after all - and they raised him alongside the captain.

Dustin was a child of the S.S. Qwilfish. His mother cooked the meals for the workers and his father steered the boat into port. The Qwilfish was his hometown, or what he thought was a hometown. That being said, he had never seen a small town. The smallest town he had ever seen was Pacifidlog Town, and it wasn't much of a town to begin with - just a bunch of houses on stilts.

But now was a different day - Dustin's eighth birthday. The S.S. Qwilfish was sailing south to Lilycove City, a vibrant and touristy city along the eastern coast of mainland Hoenn. It passed Mossdeep the day before, and was now moving alongside the rocks that guarded Route 124.

Dustin was sitting in his hammock on the roof of the ship, and Muddy was in his little kiddie pool, squirting a Water Gun into a pail. Dustin was reading a travel brochure about Lilycove City, and was instantly captured by the idea of the Contest Spectacular. He stood up out of the hammock and knelt beside Muddy. Muddy stopped filling the pail and turned to see what Dustin was pointing at.

Though Muddy could not read the writing on the pamphlet, he eagerly looked at the pictures of Pokemon performing on the bright stage and splashed about in his pool. Dustin grinned, and he folded the brochure in half, sliding it into his back pocket.

The foghorn then blew behind them, a loud groan signifying the arrival of the ship. Dustin picked up Muddy and hopped off of the roof, entering the cabin of his father. His father turned to him. "We'll be there any moment now, son." Dustin held Muddy in front of him and grinned deviantly as his father pulled out his wallet. "There's a department store in Lilycove City, you know. Here's some money. We'll be docked for a few hours."

Dustin thanked his father and grasped the money in his hand. He put Muddy down and the two ran to the bow of the ship. He felt the salty air blow by his short hair, and then the air changed, becoming sweet-smelling - the smell of land. Muddy squealed with excitement.

The foghorn blew again, and the shipyard opened its gates. Dustin picked up Muddy as the boat docked against the shore, and then walked to the ramp that extended to the mainland.

Sailors from the Qwilfish and workers from the shipyard hurried up and down the ramp, carrying supplies and boxes from other parts of the world. Dustin weaved his way around their feet and finally found himself walking on the pavement.

He continued to sneak around the men until he discovered a quiet path that he could place Muddy down on. Muddy followed Dustin's footsteps down the cobblestones, hiding in the shadow of his human friend.

They turned a corner and Dustin gasped in awe. The building at the end of the path glowed with a rainbow of neon lights and metals. The sign on the top read 'Pokemon Contest Spectacular Held Here!'

Dustin understood the message, and he picked up his best friend once again. They approached the brilliant building and entered its sliding glass doors. Inside, loud music pumped through the hall. Dustin spun in circles, struggling to comprehend the elatedness exuding from everyone around him.

Pokemon of all colors paraded through the room, and Dustin hobbled up to the counter. "Hello, there." A blonde woman said from behind it. "Welcome to the Lilycove Contest Spectacular! Would you like a ticket?" Dustin nodded. "That will be ten Pokedollars." The woman smiled brightly.

Dustin carefully counted his money and placed it on the table. The woman took the money and handed him a ticket. She directed him to walk around the hall and enter through the door to the left. He followed her directions and brought Muddy beside him. They sat down in their assigned seat, Dustin in the chair and Muddy on his lap, and waited for the contest to begin.

People filed in and sat on either side of Dustin. A man with blue hair sat beside him, and on his other side sat a woman with red hair. Dustin paid little attention to his fellow audience members as the event began.

A contestant ran out on stage. He let his Pokemon - a Mawile - out onstage, and the Pokemon elegantly spun. Dustin cheered for the Pokemon as the next contestant let out their Gardevoir. The beautiful Pokemon curtseyed.

The next contestant ran onstage. Her hair was the same color as the man beside Dustin. She pulled out a Pokeball, made a gesture with her arm, and then an Altaria flew out of its Pokemon. Dustin cheered louder for the cloud-like bird Pokemon.

The final entrant let a Machoke out, and it bowed gracefully.

The appeal round ended, and the performance round began. The four Pokemon used their best moves to show off their beauty, and then the audience cheered for whomever they thought was the most beautiful. Dustin, of course, cheered for the Altaria, which seemed to be the crowd favorite.

The man beside Dustin agreed, and as the scoreboard began to show the results, he shouted with glee to see Lisia and her Altaria win. "That's my niece!" He called.

Dustin turned to him after the crowd settled down. "Lisia is your niece?" He asked. Muddy stared up at the man as Dustin continued. "That's really cool!"

The man pulled out a small bag. "Yeah, she is, son." He handed Dustin the bag. "I noticed your enthusiasm for this event the whole time you were watching. You couldn't keep your eyes off of the stage. I know this isn't much, but I want you to have this."

Dustin grinned. "Thank you, sir." They stood up, and Dustin exited the hall. He hurried down the now-crowded path and returned to his ship, regaining his place on the roof of the cabin with Muddy in his swimming pool.

Muddy eagerly watched as Dustin opened the bag, reaching in and pulling out a little bell-shaped shell. It jingled sweetly and Dustin grinned, amused by the sound. He pulled out a string from the bag and tied it loosely around Muddy's neck. "You can wear this Shell Bell, Muddy." He said, attaching the bell to the twine.

Muddy hopped in his kiddie pool and squealed at the noise.

The foghorn blew again, and the boat departed from shore. Dustin looked off at Lilycove City and sighed. "We'll be back." He said to himself as the sweet air morphed back into the familiar salty wind that whipped against the side of the ship.

Muddy curled up in the pool and fell asleep underneath the blanket of stars. Dustin did the same in his hammock, letting the gentle rocking of the waves drift him off to sleep.