{Note: This is a modified story I did for National Novel Writing Month last year. This is also an attempt by me to reset the continuity and come out with something a bit cleaner.}
"So like what is there to do in Hoehn?"
Brandon gave Ethan a confused look. "What do you mean what is there to do? I thought you came here with your friends?"
Wiggler let out an amused squeak. "If you're talking about Crystal and Lyra…I think Lyra dragged Crystal off to go shopping…again."
Wally groaned. "Shopping is boring."
Ethan nodded. "You're telling me! Lyra begged me to tag along but I was like…nah, I'll pass. You couldn't pay me enough to spend all my day, cooped up in a cold building, watching girls model clothes."
"Yea but what about pretty girls?" Brandon said with a smile.
He shook his head. "I grew up with them as kids…they're more like sisters to me than anything else."
Brandon gave him a knowing look. "Oh yea…I see your point then. Yea, I wouldn't want to be in there either. If I was with my girlfriend…"
"Which you don't have," Ethan pointed out. Brandon sat back on the sand chair he had made and sighed, looking up at the clear blue sky. "Not that I'm any better."
"No?"
Wiggler let out an amused squeak and he blasted him with some sand for his troubles. "Nope. I mean I've tried but I haven't had that much luck. I think I'm trying too hard."
"Maybe you are," Wally said.
"And it's kind of boring now in Johto. We had Team Rocket come back…and we cleaned their clocks. We had the Pokemon League Tournament, which I ended up taking second in, just behind Crystal. And now…nada."
"Well…nothing every exciting happens here in Hoehn…not a thing. We just come down here after training to relax, take in the sun. Check out the babes…"
"Yea well…I'm going to take a walk down the beach real quick. Don't wait up for me."
He really wasn't interesting in hearing Brandon talk about his babe watching. For one thing, the guy could go on for hours and hours, never stopping. Poor Wally would do his best to get him to shut up but he could only do so much before Brandon kept going. The funny thing was…Brandon was about in the same spot as him! Wiggler did his best to bounce along but the sand made it hard for him to do it so he was force to waddle. And a waddling Wigglytuff didn't make for a quick trek. He considered picking him up but that was pretty much a no-no in Wiggler's book. And his to be honest.
They reached the shoreline but he walked down a bit, along the very shallow waters that lined the rocky alcoves at the edge of the beach. With the tide out, a few of the low-lying caves were exposed and he stared at one of them for a bit before looking at Wiggler. "Well the tide won't be in for awhile, let's check it out!"
He got down on his knees and crawled into one of the caves. The opening wasn't huge but it was big enough for him to fit in. He took out a Pokeball and summoned his Litwick, Chase. He floated into the air and lit up the passage for him. Chase looked back at him but he gave him thumbs up. "Just keep going forward, I want to see what's inside here."
He didn't have very far to go actually. He crawled his way into a somewhat large but empty rocky chamber, ankle high in water. In the middle of it sat a small mound of rock, where of all things a large crystalline blue orb lay. He knelt down to get a closer look, as he heard Wiggler squeak out something. "Hold on, I found something here!"
He reached down and picked it up. "Wow…I bet the tide washed this thing in here somehow. There's no way something like this could go hiding for so long."
Chase floated in close to it and he peered into it but there didn't seem to be anything inside. "Huh, I wonder what is it for exactly? Oh well, let's go show Brandon and Wally our find! This beats—"
Wiggler let out another squeak and by the sounds of it, he seemed kind of worried. "What's wrong? The tide isn't coming in, is it?"
From the sounds of it, it wasn't the tide Wiggler was worried about but an incoming Gyrados? A Gyrados, really? And how was that big dragon supposed to fit in here? "Wiggler, you're scared of a Gyrados? You beat Lance's Gyrados with ease; this should be nothing for you! From the sounds of it, the Gyrados wasn't alone. "Okay so how far away are they? Can I get out before they come in or am I stuck here?"
Wiggler let out another squeak of disagreement and he sighed. "Drat…well let's see what they want for now. Sucks I'm stuck here in this cave."
He didn't have to long, judging by Wiggler's squeaks because they soon heard the familiar roar of a Gyrados, followed again by Wiggler. "A Wigglytuff? Really? Why don't you just bounce along now?"
It sounded like a young woman, maybe around his age. Wiggler didn't sound eager at all to leave and he thought he heard something akin to a Thunderbolt attack. "H-hey watch it you fat b****! That almost hit me! How about you get out of my way!"
Good luck with that. If he were in danger or in trouble, Wiggler would not budge. "Fine, be that way…I bet your trainer must be inside this cave…hey, anyone in there?" She yelled.
He thought about just keeping quiet, it wouldn't be too hard. "I know you're in there. This balloon would have no reason to stay here unless its trainer was inside. I hope you know that I can be just as patient as you and the tide will be coming in sooner than you think."
He was pretty sure he had read up on when the tide would come in but then again, he couldn't be sure exactly. "I left something very valuable in there."
"I don't see your name on it!"
"What? You jerk! How do you know it didn't belong to someone?"
That was true, she could have left it here but why here in a cave where the tide could pick it up and take it back out to sea where it could get lost? Seemed like a pretty risky move to him, especially since the tide hadn't been out for all that long and he hadn't seen her come in and hide it. "I think you're lying. They told me the tide comes in frequently and if it did come in, it would carry this thing out into the ocean."
"Oh ho…so you think I'm lying love?"
"Yes."
"Well I'm still by the entrance and I can just sit here and wait for the tide to come in. I'll be fine but I doubt you will. The tide will leave you without any air to breathe."
He looked at Chase. Wiggler could chase her off but he couldn't do anything when the tide came in and she had a Gyrados too. It could just guard the entrance with the tide in and then what? "So…I come out and give you the orb and you let us go?"
"I suppose."
He grumbled as he put the orb in his pocket. He began to crawl back out but as he did, he thought he heard Wiggler let out a terrified squeak. Not good. He hurried out and found Wiggler floating on the water with a knocked out expression. He turned to the young woman, who he recognized as the former Cerulean City gym leader, Kasumi. Her usually short orange hair was a bit longer than before and she had ditched her one-piece white swimsuit for a blue bikini with an orange towel tied around her waist. "Sorry about your balloon but she wasn't minding—"
"That's a he! And how did you knock him out?"
"Pepper spray!"
He leveled his eyes at her but she held out her hand. He heard the horn of a ship and saw a large white yacht emerge from the corner. His eyes grew wide and heard Kasumi clear her throat. "What?"
"The orb please!"
He reached into his pocket and took out the orb. She snatched it away and held it up with both hands to the sun. "Haha…about time! I can't tell you how long I've been searching for this orb! So many false starts, so many false leads and now I finally have it!"
He shrugged. "That's nice. Well I'm going," he said. He took out the Pokeball and summoned Wiggler back to his ball. He would have to take him to a Pokemon Center pronto and get him healed up. She grabbed him by his bicep and he looked at her. "What now? I gave you the orb, what do you want now?"
"You're coming with me," she said with a broad smile on her face.
"What, why? I don't want to come with you! You took the treasure I found, you hurt my Pokemon and now you want me to come with you?"
She pulled him closer. "I didn't say I wanted you to, I said you are coming with me. Simple as that! I didn't recognize you at first but I see you're that guy who ended up taking second in that tournament with all the gym leaders, Elite Four Members and Champions from all 5 regions. Second! My crew could use some muscle like that!"
"No way! I'm not—"
She snatched away the Pokeball holding Wiggler. "And if you don't come along quietly…guess what happens to your precious Pokemon?"
His eyes grew wide for a second and he grumbled. "All right…fine. I'll come along. Just don't do anything to him."
She giggled. "Well nothing will if you mind. If you try to do anything funny…well…I'm not sure you want to see that!"
The two of them rode on her Gyrados out to the ship, which had turned and began to head back out to the sea. She climbed aboard the yacht via a rope ladder and he followed close behind but as soon as he was on board, two large muscular men grabbed him and pinned his arms behind him. She put a hand on her hip as she tossed the orb in the air. "Well boys, thanks to his efforts, we now have the Blue Orb!"
"All right captain! That treasure is—"
"Hey, don't be so silly! This doesn't mean anything yet, we still need that f****** map! Without it, we won't be getting anywhere!" She yelled. She folded her arms. "Any luck on finding Captain Archie and his crew of clowns?"
One of the men, a guy with hair and a thick beard as orange as her hair, wearing only some worn out jeans and a dark blue skullcap, poked his head out of the cabin. "Nope. We've been searching all over for his ship but no dice. He's out there somewhere but it's nowhere close!"
"D*** it! I hate it when he does that. He's so good at hiding…what a drag," she said. She sighed. "Oh well, set a course for Moon Island!"
"What do we do with this guy?"
She shrugged. "Lock him up in one of the empty rooms. Guard the door too, I don't want him getting any funny ideas!"
"Lock me up? Now hold on just a—"
"Quiet, the captain's word is law! Now come with us!"
They dragged him below deck, literally before throwing him inside a small bedroom with two mattresses lying on the floor and…not much else to be honest. They shut the door behind him and he heard it lock. He got to his feet and walked over to the mattresses to lie down. He did but the middle of them slumped inward, not leaving him with a very relaxing bed but he would just have to make due.
He didn't know how long he had been asleep but he felt like it hadn't been long enough. He sat up but before he could even yawn, he could hear voices on the other side of the door. He rolled off the mattresses and walked over to the door so he could hear well. "We've been searching these seas for hours…days even! What does the captain hope to accomplish?"
"You know exactly what she wants…she wants that treasure. The legendary treasure of Captain Redbeard."
"You mean the treasure that is basically a myth? No one really knows if it exists or not. Especially since he had a habit of sinking his treasure to the bottom of the sea."
"Whether it's a myth or not doesn't matter to her. She only wants to get to it."
"I'm getting tired of it. I'm getting tired of being under her thumb. She works us like dogs and lives in luxury. What's the point?"
"I tell you…I hear the crew with Captain Archie are often in much better spirits."
"Are you suggesting we…leave this ship and join with him?"
"Trust me, we aren't the only two fed up with her iron fisted rule. Not by a long shot…"
"Soo…mutiny?"
He didn't like the sounds of that, at all. Just his luck, he got kidnap by pirates and now it seemed her crew was ready to turn on her. Talking about walking into a powder keg. He shook his head. He would just figure out a way to escape and get back to Hoehn. The two men outside stopped talking when he heard Kasumi. "Hey, what are you two jacka***** doing?"
"We're guarding the landlubber like you asked us to!"
"Yea, we haven't left our post once!"
"Well stop guarding him and get you're a**** out to sea! We've stopped here in the middle of the ocean and I've sent everyone out to see if they can find Archie. I need all the eyes and ears out there so you two need to get out there!"
"What about the guy inside? If he's left alone—"
"Did I ask you to worry about him? No, I told you to get out to the sea and search for Archie! Now get out of here!"
He heard a bunch of footsteps and he figured the two had run off. She opened the door a few minutes later and flung a mop at him. He caught it and looked down at it. "And…what am I doing with this?"
She put her hands on her hips. "What do you think it looks like?"
"A mop?"
"And what do you do with a mop?"
"You're gonna make me scrub the deck, aren't you?"
She winked at him. "You catch on fast!"
Usually scrubbing the deck of a ship for the first time would be a big time pain but thanks to getting dragged to some training sessions with Chuck and Lt. Surge, he had more than a bit of experience scrubbing the deck of a ship. Kasumi sat on a chair, lying under an umbrella like a lifeguard but by the time it looked like she had gotten comfortable, he had finished. He set down the mop and cleared his throat. She looked over at him. "What?"
"What? I'm done!"
She took the sunglasses off her face. "How does a weak looking landlubber like you…"
"I've had to do a little training and scrubbing the deck of a ship was part of it," he said as he wiped some sweat from his forehead. Kasumi leaned forward on her knees and frowned.
"So you think you're hot stuff, don't you?"
"Only you're the one saying that."
"You're a real smart a**, aren't you?" She asked. She hopped down onto the deck and began to inspect it. He stepped out of the way and sat down while she did her inspection. She did this for a good fifteen minutes before she nodded. "Not bad for a weakling like you."
He ignored her and looked out across the ocean. In the distance he could see a few Goldeen leap out of the water, followed by a Magikarp. Not too far behind them were a few blue fins in the water, some Sharpedo looking for a snack probably. He let out a sigh and heard her chuckle. "What is it now?"
"Nothing. Is this the first time you've been out on the ocean or something?"
He shook his head. "Nope but I've only been out on the ocean once."
"Well luckily for you…you'll see so much of the freaking ocean that you'll soon get used to it!"
You call that lucky? "I thought this was just a temporary thing. Help you find whatever you're looking for and then—"
"This isn't temporary! You're gonna be here for the long run."
He looked back at her. "Why? I'm not a sailor; I don't even know the first thing about being on a ship full time. I am not your guy, you might as well go find a sailor in—"
"I'm going to make you're a** the best sailor around! Not just the best sailor, but also the second best pirate! Behind me of course."
His eyes grew wide. "What, a pirate? I helped put Pokemon gangsters in jail…why would I turn around and become a pirate?"
She laughed as she put her hands on her hips. "You don't have a choice. Besides…you're one of the most powerful Pokemon trainers around, you will be a great addition to my crew."
He could imagine how well that would go over with a crew ready to mutiny her. "That's nice but I'll pass."
She grabbed him by the arm. "Again, I didn't say you had a choice, now did I? You still have a long way to go before you are an adequate enough first mate—"
"Your crew isn't going to go for that at all."
She shot a glare at him. "Who's the f****** captain of this ship? Me! And I decide who is who, who does what and whatever!"
He nodded, if only to calm her down. Yep, he was gonna start thinking of a way to get off this ship pronto. Making some newcomer who doesn't know the first thing about ships the first mate? With a crew ready to mutiny? "I understand wanting to recruit a guy who is a powerful Pokemon trainer but there's another for recruiting a guy to work on a ship…who has never worked on one before!"
"So? Everyone has to start somewhere!"
Should he let her know her crew was ready to mutiny on her? Or was she even the kind of person that would care? Probably the latter. Even if he did tell her, she wouldn't care at all. "I see."
"Since you're so good at scrubbing the deck, you can clean the kitchen too!"
By the time the rest of the crew had returned, he was laid out on the deck from exhaustion. She had forced him to clean a good portion of the ship without a break or even food or water. He stared up at the night sky as the other pirates walked by him and mocked him for his troubles. Bunch of jerks, he would have loved to wiped the smirks off their faces but sadly; he would just have to play nice. He may have been a strong trainer but trying to defend himself against a whole ship of angry sailors was…not a plan he had in mind.
Once again he was tossed back into that room, this time with some food, some…gray looking soup that looked sickening, along with some hard bread. Some First Mate! He let Wiggler out of his ball, which looked a bit better than last time, having slept off the pepper spray. He looked at the food and let out a squeak. "Yep, it's awful. I'm gonna have to send a complaint to the chef."
Wiggler picked up the spoon and began to wave it in the air. He shook his head. "No, I'm not going to let you become the ship's cook!"
Wiggler gave him an angry look and he held up a finger at him. "Hey, remember the last time you tried to cook something? It was for the female Jigglypuff you had your eye on. You tried to make some soup for her…soup! And it ended up burning a hole through the pot, the stove….the floor—"
Wiggler let out a squeak saying he was making stuff up. "Nope, sorry. I remember because I had to clean up your mess! We had to get a new stove because of that!"
Wiggler let out a mischievous squeak and his eyes grew wide. "W-wait…oh…oh I see what you're saying. Make them all sick to their stomachs with your food so we can make our escape? That…I like it. We'd have to talk Kasumi into letting us do it. We shouldn't kill them but just give them enough pain where we can make our escape plain and clear. By the time they recover, we should be back in Hoehn…right?"
Wiggler frowned and he did as well. "Yea…we also don't know how far away from Hoehn are we? Juan isn't known for being a fast swimmer, at least not when someone is riding on him and…we would have to do it when we're closer to Hoehn."
The door to the room flung open, the wind from it knocking Wiggler into the opposite wall. Kasumi stood in the doorway and pointed a finger at him. "Hey you, clean up duty!"
"Clean up…but I just got through cleaning half the ship and now—"
She stomped her foot, even though she was wearing only a sandal. "I said cleanup duty, not argue or whine with the captain! You're the First Mate and first mates don't cry or whine like little girls. They suck it up, fat lip and all, before they go out and do what's asked of them!"
Funny, he never remembered hearing the First Mate was nothing more than slave labor. Shoot, slaves probably got treated better! He got to his feet though, knowing he would just have to play nice until the right time came.
She dragged him down to the kitchen and cafeteria area and when he entered, it looked like a war zone. The cafeteria looked very much like a school cafeteria, complete with large rows of tables with hard benches and the walls complete with pictures of various marine like settings but every table was plastered with food, overturned bowls and pools of soup spread out across the floor. The kitchen, full of steel…everything, was filled with huge stacks of dirty bowls and silverware. He looked over at her and as expected, had a mop thrust in his direction. "Get to work…and don't even think about taking a break because I'll be watching you!"
Shouldn't she…be trying to pay more attention to her crew who was losing patience with her? "Won't your crew—"
"Do I need to tell you again who is the captain of this ship?"
He shook his head. "Nope. So…you're a pirate right? When do you do the interesting stuff, like hunt for buried treasure or…well I'm not interested in stealing from other ships or people—"
"Oh so you're warming up to the idea?"
He began mop up some of the soup. "No way! I'm just sick of being on eternal clean up duty."
She smiled. "Oh but didn't you yourself say that you didn't know the first thing about being on a ship, right? The only way you'll learn is by working on it and working hard!"
"And you couldn't get one of your crew members to do it? Doesn't seem like the kind of thing a captain should be—"
"You don't ask the questions around here, I do. I'm in charge and I'm gonna work you to the bone!"
He had gotten perhaps half finished with the task when they heard a loud foghorn. Kasumi jumped to her feet just as the door opened and that red bearded guy walked in. "What is it Cory?"
"Captain, it's another ship. We think it belongs to Captain Lanturn!"
"Captain who? Did he really name himself after a Pokemon?" Ethan asked.
"Oh so he wants to dance huh? Prepare for battle! We aren't going to take his s***! Let's go!" She said before turning to him. "As for you, keep working!"
She and the other pirate left and he shook his head. She forces him to join because she respects his skill as a trainer and then when it's time to battle, she tells him to stay below and clean the kitchen?
A few minutes later, something rocked the ship, knocking him off his feet and into one of the tables. He winced a bit from the pain in his back but he got back to his feet and tossed the mop aside. "That doesn't seem good. I wonder what's going on?"
He got his answer soon enough as he could hear a bunch of voices up above, yelling and screaming at each other. Soon it devolved into a battle, the ship shaking from the throes of battle. He looked over at Wiggler and Bolt, his Joltik but both looked about as amused by it as him. Well Wiggler was, hard to tell from Bolt's expression since he was a tiny mite. Well Kasumi told him to keep cleaning the kitchen so that is what he planned to do. The doors to the cafeteria burst open and a boyish looking guy strode in. He wore a pair of washed out jeans and a white shirt but wore something akin to a hat looking like the head of a Lanturn, including a little light dangling in front of him. He looked around the cafeteria, past him a few times until he finally noticed him. "Hey you! You're part of Kasumi's crew, aren't you?"
Wiggler let out an amused squeak. "I wouldn't say that. I'm just the slave labor."
The guy looked confused. "Huh, you are?"
"Of course. If I were a part of the crew, wouldn't I be above deck, helping with the fighting? Why do you think they keep me here, below deck, on cleanup duty?"
"Oh…well. I guess I'll leave you to your work then," he said as he turned around. He winked at Wiggler who let out a soothing and calming tune that had the guy down and out in on a matter of seconds. He had the worst snore though, loud and very nasal sounding. He dragged him over to a corner of the cafeteria and lay him down in a pool of soup.
"Not very bright is he?" He asked Wiggler and Bolt. He tossed the mop aside. "Well I was getting bored anyway, let's go see what's going on upstairs!"
By the time they got above deck, there were quite a few of Captain Lanturn's crew on Kasumi's yacht, battling it out with her very own pirates. The hilarious part of it, aside from the goofy hats they wore, was that both crews were using water Pokemon. The fight was a stalemate and he could see why they weren't getting anywhere. He ducked a water gun attack and began to search for Kasumi but he couldn't see her anywhere. He looked across at the adjacent ship, a yacht a bit bigger than the one he was on but it was painted black and had a flag with a Lanturn wearing an eye patch, flapping in the wind. Standing near the cabin was a tall man with long blond hair but a thick beard dyed blue, of all colors. His buccaneer hat had a strobe light dangling in front and he even had the outline of a Lanturn tattooed on his chest! He only wore a pair of dark blue jeans and one dark yellow boot, along with a peg leg for the other. Who dressed this clown? Were all the pirates this colorful? He looked around but no one seemed interested in the old Captain so why not him?
Captain Lanturn laughed as he hopped onto his yacht and folded his arm. "Arr… and who might you be? A scrawny landlubber?"
"What is a landlubber?"
He stomped his peg leg. "Arr, a landlubber is a lover of the land. Not a real man but a scrawny girly man who is too scared to get his feet wet and smell the sea!"
"The sea smells nice and all but—"
"But? But nothing! You aren't even worthy to be on the same boat as me! Arr…ye think just because ya step onto a boat, that makes you a pirate?"
He shrugged. "So does being a pirate mean being an idiot as well?"
"What?!"
He chuckled. "Do you have any other Pokemon than Lanturn? Or anything that isn't a water Pokemon?"
Lanturn stomped his peg leg. "I don't know need anything else! I've lasted for years on these seas with my trusted Lanturn and I'll continue to do so."
He took out a Pokeball holding Juan, his Ludicolo and chuckled. "That's because you fight nothing but Water Pokemon. Big whoop there man!"
Lanturn laughed as he summoned his Lanturn. "You talk big words landlubber but you'll be taking those words all the way to—"
"Yea yea, to Davey Jones' locker or something like that. Stop watching so many pirate movies."
"Lanturn, blast this freaking landlubber off my ship!"
His Lanturn floated forward and waved its flippers in the air as the light attached to its head lit up. Juan quacked and spun around like a top, sending leaves flying toward the Lanturn like deadly missiles. Lanturn let out a chirp as he struck down each of the leaves with a well-timed thunderbolt. His eyes grew wide as it continued to stop Juan's attack. However, it couldn't strike down every leaf and soon, a few got through its impressive defense and hit him. Juan stopped spinning for a moment and looked stunned that Lanturn was still standing.
"Arr, you'll have to try harder than that! Grass attacks…Lanturn knows how to defend against those!"
And being on a boat saved him from exploiting his other weakness too. He looked to his shoulder where Bolt sat. "Hey, latch on to that Lanturn and drain his electrical power. Juan will keep distracting him in the meantime," he whispered to him. Bolt hopped off but thanks to his small size, Lanturn would probably miss him. "Well I guess I'll have to try a little harder this time," he said. He gave Juan the signal to keep distracting the Lanturn and Juan let out a quack to say he understood.
"All right Lanturn, enough defensive action. Turn the tides and wash this landlubber out to sea!"
Juan unleashed another Razor Leaf attack but instead aimed for the old Captain instead. His eyes grew as wide as dinner plates as he was forced to dive into the water. He came up for air and cursed at Ethan. "Hey, I'm just doing what you said a real man does, let him taste the sea!"
"Cursed landlubber! You think this is some sort of game?" He asked as he climbed back onto the ship. Juan aimed another attack at the flag but Lanturn zapped the leaves out of the air again. Man did that thing have impeccable aim. "And how dare you touch the flag of an old buccaneer! That's treason, you do not touch the flag of a buccaneer!"
He put his hands into his pockets. "Guess what? I just did? What are you going to do about it?"
Captain Lanturn scratched his beard. "You got guts landlubber. Stupid guts but guts."
He shrugged. Juan and Lanturn continued to trade attacks but he could see Bolt attached to the underside of one of its fins, ignored as usual. It wouldn't take him too long to have an effect but a little help couldn't hurt. "I'm a pretty decent trainer myself."
"Maybe ye are. I was expecting Kasumi to come and fight but instead she sent her guard dog."
"I'm the slave labor, thank you very much."
"Slave labor who holds his own, against one of the best pirates of the sea. Perhaps you really are the captain!"
That wouldn't sit well with her. By the way, where was Kasumi? Shouldn't it be customary for the two captains to face each other? And yet she was nowhere to be found! Lanturn suddenly let out a cry of pain and they looked over at him. "I think something's wrong."
"Arr Lanturn, what be troubling ya?"
Bolt hopped off and finally the old captain noticed. "Looks like poor Lanturn had a mite problem."
"Arr…what might that be?"
Juan let out a loud quack as he unleashed a powerful beam of solar energy, knocking the Lanturn flat and on its back. Captain Lanturn gasped while Ethan smiled. "While we were busy, my little spider mite here, Bolt, was draining the electrical energy from him, weakening him considerably. Juan just did the rest."
"Arrr…I've been had?"
He folded his arms. "Yes, you've been had—"
"Like hell I've been had!" He yelled as he stepped forward and swung his fist at him. Ethan stepped back to avoid it but tripped and fell into the water. He swam back to the surface but could hear Lanturn barking out orders. "All right men, we've had our fun but let's get going!"
He watched as a bunch of the men with hats like Lanturns hopped onboard and he noticed smoke coming from Kasumi's yacht. They must have done some damage while the two of them were battling…man he must have been really distracted. Lanturn's yacht sailed away and he swam back to Kasumi's yacht but…no one seemed eager to help him up. He looked over at Juan and Bolt who sat atop Juan's head and frowned. "We help drive away the pirates and this is the thanks we get?"
Kasumi leaned over the edge of the yacht. "Hey, where the f*** where you? I thought I told you to clean the kitchen!"
"I got bored."
"You don't defy the captain's orders! And just to take a dip in the ocean!"
He pointed a finger at her. "For your information, I was taking on Captain Lanturn while you were nowhere to be found! And I chased him off as well. Funny, I thought that's what the captain was supposed to do!"
"I was busy!"
"Likely story," he said. He chuckled. "Well I'm gonna be leaving now—"
He didn't get to finish as he heard a loud roar behind him. He turned to see not one but two Gyrados hovering over him, a blue and red one. Followed up by a Lapras as well. He heard her chuckle. Yep, he wasn't going anywhere for now.
For his troubles, he was tossed back into the bedroom, without one of his Pokemon but at least he didn't have to clean up the kitchen. He let Wiggler out and told him about the fight. Wiggler didn't seem cool with the idea that he got punished for helping take out a pirate leader. "Yea it does suck. I do all the hard work and I get punished! I tell ya, I can't wait until I get off this stupid ship!"
He eased closer to the door, curious if he could hear more gossip. He remembered the guards were different but perhaps there were a bunch of loose lips on this ship. "That battle didn't go all that well, we lost several men today!"
"You're telling me…we weren't prepared at all for the attack! Our captain was too busy working this…new guy to death and not busy enough being the captain!"
"What does she see in him anyway? I've never seen a lesser pirate."
"Well…he did chase off Lanturn. Without any help either. What was Kasumi doing? Nothing!"
"He did chase off Lanturn. You think…they've been saying she wants to make him the First Mate now. I don't like the idea of replacing capable pirates, especially someone who isn't fully onboard with us!"
"I did hear that too and it's garbage! This guy won't become a pirate! He doesn't have it in him! He's happier defeating pirates than being one. And if she doesn't watch him…close enough, it could be trouble for all of us. I don't like it."
"And she allows him to keep his own Pokemon with him! I feel like…we're being set up or something."
"I don't like it either. I don't trust her or him."
"From what the others said, they seem just as uneasy about the whole situation. Add on the fact we lost some good men today because she was screwing around and we were only saved in part thanks to this landlubber…ugh."
He and Wiggler exchanged a concerned look. At first he thought it was bad but now it was looking even worse. Now all of a sudden he was part of the problem too? And all he did was help them out! Was the entire ship full of ungrateful jerks? It was almost hilarious. Push come to shove…if they had to fight their way out, he was sure Wiggler and the others could handle them easily. It was just that getting back to Hoehn part…no telling how far away they were now. Maybe he would just have to kick everyone out, force one of them to stay on to drive the ship and take him back to Hoehn. "I've put out the word to Archie. Our ships should meet tomorrow afternoon. We can then deal with those two and finally be rid of that devilish woman."
And her ship was full of idiots…who whisper about their plan to deal away with someone…when they're locked inside the room you're guarding? They grew quiet soon after so he decided it would be best to try and get some sleep, even if he was a bit hungry.
He must have had a nice and long peaceful sleep because he was awaken in the morning, not by the sunlight coming through the window in his room but by Kasumi kicking him in his side. He shoved her foot away and rubbed his sore side. "What's the big idea? Why don't you just give me a gentle shake like most normal human beings?"
She reached down and pulled him off the mattresses, almost causing him to fall on Wiggler, but he rolled out of the way at the last minute. He got to his feet and squeaked in anger at her, also not pleased to be roused awake. "You're pathetic! Why are you sleeping in?"
He yawned. "Well what time is it?"
She folded her arms. "It's about five in the morning."
"F-F-Five? How is that sleeping in?!"
"It is when you've got more work to do!"
His stomach growled and he sighed. "Can I get breakfast first?"
"No!"
"Even after I helped chase that pirate off, even after I helped saved the ship…I can't get a bite to eat?"
"What part of no don't you understand? The no part…or the part where I said no?"
He grumbled to himself as she yanked him up by the arm. "What now?"
"Chin up! I'm not going to make you clean the kitchen or scrub the deck. I'm gonna teach you some more about being a pirate!"
"Like?"
"You'll see!"
So what more did she have to show him? So far all he had done was cleaning duty…he hadn't learned anything about the ship, how it works or what to do on it. And what made it worse is that the crew was furious with how distracted she seemed to be…maybe he should say something? Part of him didn't want to bother considering she liked to work him to death and was super ungrateful but then again…he would need someone's help to get back to Hoehn.
"Kasumi, we need to talk."
She looked over at him as they walked up the hill of a small tropical island. "What is it?"
"Why are you doing this? Why are you going to all of this trouble to make me your first mate?"
She rolled her eyes. "Didn't I already explain it to you?"
"Yes about me being a capable trainer and how I would make a valuable ally, yea I get that part but it seems still like way too much trouble. You want me to become a pirate, when I just got through putting away a gang of Pokemon criminals. You want me to serve on a ship, when I've never done it before."
She laughed. "Isn't it obvious?"
"Well…no."
She sighed. "I call myself a pirate but…to be honest, we don't do a lot of pirate things anymore. I'm more interested…right now, in finding and hunting for treasure."
"So you're a bunch of pirates who don't do anything."
She frowned. "We have done a bunch of stealing in the past but ever since I've been after this legendary treasure, we haven't bothered. I think most of the crew isn't keen on the idea. Maybe once we find that treasure we can go back to pirating but…"
"So you're more of a treasure hunter?"
"Maybe! Who knows? I knew you would go for something like that—"
"What makes you think that?" He asked.
She winked at him. "You seem like the…adventurous type. The kind of guy who can't sit still for long. That's why I lured you out here."
"Lured me out? How did you do that?"
She laughed. "With that orb of course! I left it there, hoping you might come around. I didn't expect you to just sit out on the beach and relax."
"Isn't that kind of risky? What if someone else had gotten curious and explored the area?"
She shrugged. "I kick their a** and take it back?"
"Well now I feel kind of stupid…"
She laughed. "That you were lured into this adventure? Why should you? No one would have been able to figure it out. Now…we are out here for a reason. One of the big things about being a pirate…other than pillaging ships and making people walk the plank—"
"You still have people walk the plank? I didn't see it on the ship," he said with a smile. She sighed.
"We keep it hidden below deck but we still use it from time to time but stop changing the subject!"
He rolled his eyes. "Okay."
"So one of the most important skills of being a pirate is finding hidden treasure. We don't trust the corrupt banks…so that's why we bury the treasure."
He folded his arms. "Really? I always wondered why you guys buried the treasure you worked so hard to steal—"
"Like I said, those freaking banks are so corrupt, I wouldn't trust those f****** nerds with my money, no sir! Of course the fun thing about it is trying to find a good enough spot to hide it and making sure that while it's a spot you can remember or easily track down—"
"It has to be hidden well enough that no one else will suspect the treasure is buried there."
She winked. "You've got it. So I've hidden some treasure on this island and I want you to find it. I'll tag along but I won't tell you where it's hidden because that would just defeat the purpose."
He frowned. "Do I have to do it by myself or can my Pokemon help me?"
She pursed her lips and winked at him again. "No Pokemon either!"
Wiggler let out an annoyed squeak but he just sighed. He would just have to play along…again. He turned toward the line of palm trees that lined the beach and folded his arms. "Well…have it your way…captain."
Once you got past the initial line of trees, he found that the interior of the island was a bit more open and easier to travel around. There were far less palm trees but the trees that were around, blocked out much of the sunlight, with only small patches getting through. The ground was littered with various plants and he could tell it would be pretty tough to tell just where she buried the treasure. He heard some sounds above and saw a Chimchar swinging from the branches. "Huh, that's pretty rare. I don't see those guys around very much."
"Are you usually easily distracted by stuff like that?" Kasumi asked.
"Why not? Chimchar aren't very numerous Pokemon. If I had a spot on my team, I would capture him—"
"We didn't come here for you to capture Pokemon! Remember that!"
He looked around the area. It was gonna be tough to figure where she buried it. She wouldn't be dumb enough to leave obvious clues, so he would have to figure out another way. If he were she…where would he bury it? He could rule out the areas where the light shone in on…those would be too obvious. Anywhere near the trees would also be out of the question because the roots would make digging a pain. And those were some pretty big trees so the roots probably spread out pretty far too. So it would have to be a spot a good distance away from the trees and…he began to nod as he thought he noticed a spot. He walked over to the area, a small patch of ground with some ground shrubs. There weren't any nearby trees or light and the ground was kind of moist and soft. He got down to his knees and then it dawned on him…how was he supposed to dig for it? He looked over at her and she looked like she was doing her best to not smile. "Hey Kasumi…don't you guys usually bury this stuff pretty deep in the ground?"
"Oh…"
"Because you didn't give me a shovel! No pirate would be stupid enough to bury it that shallow so I think you're trying to pull a fast one."
"Oh…am I?"
Wiggler nodded and gave her a look. Even he thought something was up! "Yes…you've always provided me with the stuff I needed to do your crazy jobs before but why not now?"
She giggled. "You're right, I didn't bury it. I didn't give you a shovel but I was wondering if you would figure it out or if you would give it a shot with your bare hands."
"I doubt you would bother so why should I? So you have the treasure…"
She tugged on the string to her bikini top. "So your next assignment is to find out where…I have it hidden."
He turned bright red in the face and lost his voice. He could only muster a meek question. "W-what?"
She blushed. "I have it hidden on me, somewhere. And it's your job to find it."
He stomped his foot in the ground. "What, no way! I'm not going to do a freaking strip search!"
"What are you so scared about?"
He shook his head. "I'm not scared—"
"So then why won't you do it?"
He looked away. "I'm not playing your game. I know you have the treasure so doesn't that mean I've won?"
"Not until it's in your hand."
"I'm not playing your game. You may want me to play your game but I'm not going to play your game…"
She frowned. "I'm the captain…and don't you forget that. I also still have one of your Pokemon."
Wiggler let out a shocked squeak and then launched into a series of outraged squeaks…if you could call a squeaking Wigglytuff threatening. He seemed angrier about it than him. "Why? I figured out you have it…why do you want me to search you? I mean…you can't possibly—"
He didn't get to finish his thought as they heard a very loud foghorn, except it couldn't have been from her ship because that one sounded a bit different compared to this one. "Heeeey…that foghorn! I recognize it!" She said, as her eyes grew wide. Oh thank goodness the strip search idea was being dropped.
"Another pirate ship?"
"It belongs to that b****** Archie…but what is he doing way out here?"
That would be a good sign that he was planning to meet her ship and encourage the mutiny. He signaled to Wiggler and they hurried off. He ran through the line of trees but stopped a few feet short of getting onto the beach. Through the leaves he could see a large dark blue yacht with a blue flag and a strange symbol. It looked like a white circle with a pointed top and two bone legs. Two rubber rafts floated over to the shoreline, filled with pirates. All of them were decked out in the same outfits, black and white striped shirts and dark blue pants, along with blue skullcaps, which also had that same symbol. Standing amongst them was a large man who looked like he was ready to burst out of his suit. It was a dark colored suit with no shirt underneath but you kind of suspected that from a pirate, allowing him to show off his impressive chest. He had a thick black beard and wore a similar skullcap to the others. That had to be Archie.
He felt someone press against him and felt her breath on him. "Archie. F***-"
"Keep your voice down," he said. The rafts made it the shoreline and he hopped onto the sand. He stretched out his limbs and chuckled.
"All right boys, we're taking a rest here."
"How long of a rest?"
Archie laughed. "The deal is we meet up with those clowns on Kasumi's ship in the afternoon. They turn her over, we feed her to the Sharpedo and then we ransack her ship."
She gasped and he covered her mouth. "Heh."
"So we'll finally be rid of that wretched b****? Took long enough."
"Yea, I don't get why she's all that feared. They don't even do much in the way of actual pirate business. I think the whole ship is too squeamish—"
"That's not right," she said under her breath.
"I mean I know they used to but it seems they've been too busy trying to find that legendary treasure. The one of Captain Redbeard," he said. Archie folded his arms and looked up at the sky.
"What do you think captain? Is it real or just some sort of legend?"
"Ha, hell if I know. Everyone seems to have an opinion one way or the other about that treasure. It could be out there but that guy was also a jerk and loved to get a rise out of everyone. He loved to talk about where he buried this or where he buried that and each time, it turned out he was just bulls******* everyone. That's just how he rolled," Archie said. He stopped looking at the sky for a moment. "To waste all your time chasing after something that may or may not be real…pathetic."
"You sound a bit sad captain."
Archie chuckled. "You're only as good as your competition. If you're far and away better than everyone else, you'll get lazy, you'll lose your edge and soon you'll be cooling your heels in a prison somewhere. If you got people out there that can challenge you, keep you on your heels, you'll be better for it. I thought she could but well…look at her. Her crew is ready to mutiny on her because she's obsessed with a treasure that may or may not exist."
"And what about this guy? The crew said she's recruited some guy on her ship and he did pretty well in that recent Pokemon League Tournament."
Archie laughed. "Perhaps he'll prove to be the challenge I need. A guy like that sounds like a formidable foe."
Well…in a way he seemed a bit proud for someone to say that, even if it was a dirty pirate. Why did it seem that the only people who remembered his accomplishments…were just the criminals? He crept back from the line of trees and walked past her and further into the island. She continued to stay in her spot but he would worry about that. He looked at Wiggler. "Well…do you think we should invade the ship? I bet he wouldn't be expecting that."
Wiggler's eyes lit up and he smiled. "Yep…they think they can get the drop on us? Well, we'll show them a thing or two—"
"No," Kasumi said. She walked over to them and put her hands on her hips. She shot him a look. "Did you know about this?"
"About?"
"My crew."
He chuckled. "Oh well…yes, I did."
She reached forward to grab him by the throat but he jumped away. "You knew and you didn't tell—"
"You were too busy working me to the death and forcing me to become a pirate. Would you tell if you were in my position?"
"If you wanted to get on my good side—"
"What if I didn't care and just wanted to go home?" He asked.
"Your only hope to go home is to beat me and threaten to harm me unless I take you home."
Yea, that threatening part would be tough. She would probably just call his bluff and then what? "Thanks for the reminder."
She shook her head. "Okay so that aside, we know that my crew wants to turn me over to Archie and we can't let that happen."
Remind him again why he had to care? Oh right, she had one of his Pokemon again. "I suppose but what about Archie?"
"I want to kick his a** too—"
"How about we do this? I cause some trouble here for Archie while you go deal with your crew."
She shook her head. "No way! I want to go kick his a** now! He thinks he can just get away with this? I'll show him whose boss!"
He slapped his forehead. "Okay okay…we'll go together and give him a piece of…well your mind I suppose. Then after we're done, we can go back to your ship."
She smiled. "I like your idea but let me handle him. I've been itching to teach him a lesson or two for so long. You go cause trouble on his ship!"
They heard another loud foghorn but this too was different from Archie's. A grave look formed on her face. "What's wrong? We got even more pirates now?"
She grumbled. "They aren't really pirates. Well I guess they are in a way but that foghorn belongs to the infamous ghost ship, controlled by a bunch of trouble making ghost Pokemon. And they are pretty formidable."
"A ghost ship? Well now I've heard of everything. So now we have ghost pirates to worry about, in addition to Archie and his crew."
She grumbled. "Yes, just our f****** luck that those ghosts would show. We may be able to defeat Archie but—"
"We haven't even tried…to…well maybe…we don't have to worry about them," he said as he smiled. "Maybe we can just get them to focus on Archie, while we make our escape to your ship."
She tapped the side of her chin. "Well…I want to show him up but…that may just have to wait for later."
"Hey you, give me back my stupid cap!"
He grabbed her by the arm and they hid behind some shrubs. He could see a pirate enter the area, chasing after that Chimchar, who now had his blue skullcap in hand. The little chimp quickly scurried up a nearby tree and disappeared into the treetops. The pirate looked up after him and shook the tree a few times but to no avail. He eventually gave up and walked away. The Chimchar must have been annoyed that the pirate had given up the game so easily because he soon threw the cap down to the ground. He walked over to it and picked it up before turning to her. "What are you doing with it?"
He took off his hat and put the skullcap on. "I'll wear it when I mess with those ghosts. They'll see the hat and I'll lead them to Archie and his crew. While they're distracted, I make my escape."
"You make it sound so easy," she said with a grumble. He put the cap on and tossed his hat over to her.
"Maybe it is. Let's go Wiggler!"
They ran off in the direction of where the foghorn sound had come from, which was to the north. They emerged through the line of trees and saw what looked like a rotting schooner floating toward the island, surrounded by a thick fog. The sails on it were tattered, worn and full of holes but you could still make out the skull and cross bones symbol on the largest of sails. Large spider wells hung from every hole and crack in the ship and he could see several Haunters hanging around on the deck. The ship moved much quicker than any other boat he had seen and when they noticed him, it seemed to encourage them. Wiggler didn't look at all worried but then again, ghost attacks could do little to harm a normal Pokemon.
As the ship got closer to the shore, several Haunters and Shuppet floated toward them. Of course the Gastly line would make up most of the crew, the whole line was known for being mischievous by nature. Each of them wore a patch over one of their eyes but he wasn't sure if that really made them look like pirates, or idiots. One of the Haunters gave them a huge grin, its tongue hanging out like a dog. Wiggler pointed his little limbs toward his head and a yellow aura formed around his body. Looks like he had chosen to use Metronome at first but would he use it to do a random move or use it to remember one of the many moves he had used several times before? One of the other Haunter moved toward him but Wiggler let out an outraged squeak as he began to form a ball of purple energy in front of him. He launched it at the ghosts, who scattered like bowling pins but he wasn't done yet. He continued to lob Shadow Balls at the ghosts and while they didn't hit, it did keep them on their heels…that is if they had any.
Wiggler lobbed one final one but all of a sudden, a Gengar appeared and swatted the Shadow Ball to the side. Wiggler let out a squeak of surprise but he just patted him on the head for comfort. The Gengar didn't have an eye patch but wore a large pirate's hat, complete with purple feathers at the top. He grinned at them and snapped his fingers. Soon an army of Ghost Pokemon appeared before them, not just the Gastly line but also all kinds of ghost Pokemon like Drifloon, Duskulls, Yamasks and even a Golett or two. It was like a convention of ghosts and the only fully evolved one was the Gengar, who had to be the leader of the bunch. Wiggler looked at him and he gave him the signal to run.
They turned and sped back down the beach where Archie and his pirates were relaxing. While he wasn't a fast runner, he could bounce along just as well. Ethan looked back to see if they were still after them and while he couldn't see them, he had a feeling they were right behind, just playing the invisible card. Archie noticed him running toward them and put his hands on his hips. "Who the hell are you? You're not part of my crew!"
Ethan ran up to him and pointed to the cap. "Of course I am! I'm wearing the cap, aren't I?"
Archie grabbed for it but he scurried out of his grasp. "Like hell you are! You must have stolen that cap! I know every person on my crew and you aren't one of them!"
"Captain, I think we've got bigger problems!" One of the pirates said in a whiny voice. All of a sudden, the army of ghosts appeared, sending everyone into a panic. All of the pirates began to scatter and scramble for their Pokeballs but Archie didn't seem all that bothered. He produced a Pokeball of his own and summoned a Swampert. It let out a loud roar but the ghosts didn't seem bothered. Seeing their captain face the ghosts down seemed to fire up the other pirates because they stopped scrambling around like roaches and summoned their Pokemon as well. While the two parties prepared to fight, he and Wiggler snuck away back into the island. Kasumi had put his hat on her head and when he stretched out his hand to get it back, she refused.
"Sorry, I'm keeping it! So did it work?"
Wiggler let out an amused squeak. "Yep, the ghosts and Archie are fighting it out so we can get back to the ship."
She smiled. "Good, let's go! If we hang around too long, those ghosts might get curious!"
They hurried to the shoreline opposite where the battle was going and she summoned her red Gyrados. "Won't they see us?"
She laughed. "We'll sail out far enough so they won't get a good look at us. Besides, they have other things to worry about, like each other!"
He nodded. "Well…I guess that works," he said as he summoned Wiggler back to his ball.
"You know Ethan…you're still gonna have to find that treasure on me," she said with a coy look. He leveled his eyes at her and groaned. "What, you thought you got out of it because you got us out of this mess?"
"Whatever," he said. He turned around and frowned. Why did he have this feeling of dread? Had they really lost all of the ghosts?
"Hey stop lollygagging!"
"Okay, I'm coming!"