The wind was breezy, just as the professor had warned me. I wanted to meet up with trainers from Sinnoh, since they had their own battle system outside of the gyms. The system intrigued me. My goal is to figure out how Pokémon can strengthen themselves, with or without the help of a trainer. I wanted Blanche to come with, since they're researching evolution, but they told me they had other business to take care of.

Blanche is considered newer out of the three of us, so we try our best to learn from them. As for Spark... he decided to come with me, but for his own reasons. We'll be going our separate ways, much as he'd like to stay with me.

"I'm so glad we got this boat ride! Leader Jasmine knows what she's doing." Spark said. He was enjoying his sweet time, and I was feeling sick to my stomach. Boats were not my cup of tea. Soon as the medicine kicks in, I'll be able to walk around all I want, but for now I'm stuck with the nausea. I brought up the topic of flight, but because we were in Johto at the time and met up with Jasmine, she offered us a good deal for this boat.

"Spark... can we head back inside? Where the boat's calmer?" I asked and used my jacket to shield myself from the wind and the water that would possibly get inside the boat. Despite my shouts, it didn't seem that the other leader heard a word. I frowned in disbelief and tried to ignore my stomach pain by enjoying the scenery. The waves were rough, but the sky was clear.

"Blanche would love this. We should take a picture, want to head inside?" he finally asked me a question with like minds. I nodded, but the slightest nod made the pain kick in more. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back inside.

"I think I need to lay down, Spark..." my stomach started to worsen, and I clutched onto him like a lost child. He started to pick up what I was going through; at least I assumed as he rubbed my back. It calmed my mind, but the pain stayed all the same.

"It's only a few more hours, I think. I know where there's better medicine, want me to get it?" after I said a "Yes please," in response, he took me on over to the bed. I took this chance to lay down for now and sent out my Flareon, who happily laid beside me. Spark let out his Jolteon not long after to help.

"Don't you need him...?" I asked in confusion, since his Jolteon was one of his best teammates, but Spark gave me a head shake.

There have been rumors that something strange has been going on this ship, but we have yet to see anything. We have been keeping our guard up, but we've also been trying to enjoy our time together. I would love to enjoy my time more if it weren't for this terrible sensation.

"I'll be fine. You wait here with these two. Besides, you need his help more." Spark winked and waved after he spoke before he closed the door behind him. I patted the Jolteon beside me and watched Spark leave. It didn't take him long to return and offer me the medicine. Before I knew it, I passed out. Whatever was in that medicine was supposedly working.

I opened my eyes and felt good as new. The two Pokémon seemed to have wandered. I wasn't worried, since Spark probably let them out. I stood up and held my head. The fast movement made my head spin even more-so than before.

"Calm down, Candela. Spark? Are you there?" I waited a few minutes for an answer. My head continued to throb, but it also started to settle. When I finally scanned around, he was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he went to take the Pokémon out, since they were also out of the room. I got out of the bed slowly to see if the nausea was still there. Since it felt faded, I headed out of the room.

The boat was still mobile; it'd probably take a few more hours before we made it to Sinnoh. I headed over to the dining hall. People were sitting down and interacting, but I didn't want to communicate at the time. My mind was wondering where Spark ran off to. Not wanting to be held back by greetings, I ran out of the area and went up the stairs.

I checked the deck first. So far, there were no signs of Spark. I looked over the side of the deck. The waves the boat made mesmerized me, but that wasn't the only thing that caught my eye.

Down below was Spark's Jolteon, who looked up at me when he sensed me. We locked eyes for a moment, but when I looked back the other direction, I saw a shadow that headed for the surface. I was about to shout, but it was already too late.

The Jolteon slipped, and my Flareon (who tried to support it) fell in along with it. I pulled out a pokéball to return my Pokémon, but she was too far away. I grabbed the bar to jump below but my shoes were not made for acrobatics.

Instead, gravity defied me and I had to hold on. A hand grabbed hold of me; it was Spark's. The boat rocked a bit more, and my whole body slipped further. I looked frantically for any sign of the two Pokémon, but they were already further out. I wasn't a great swimmer; my body was already sinking. I wanted to yell for my bird, but it was a lot harder to do than I thought. My eyes started to close.

I felt my heart slow down, but then speed up. I could feel the pain in my chest pull at me more. I wanted to move, but I felt prevented from doing so. It felt like a pile of bricks fell on top of me. I tried to move my arm, but my body felt paralyzed. I did see a light out of all the darkness. There was someone up ahead. I let out a scream, to let them know I was there.

"Spark… what happened?" I managed to move my body upward and winced when Spark turned on the light beside the bed. There was some sort of feather in a cup beside me—it glowed slightly as if it reacted to something. However, whatever caused it to glow must have finished its effects, since it started to fade. The Flareon beside me licked my fingers, as she looked healthy along with Spark's Jolteon.

"I don't know exactly. I tried to talk to the Professor about it, and he said a Pokémon must've caused it. That's when he recommended I find this. It wasn't easy." He picked up the feather and handed it to me. Curious, I took it and examined it closely. The feather was green and white, from a Pokémon that I couldn't quite make out. I was about to ask, but then I remembered what happened.

"There was… a dark figure. What was I doing until now, Spark?" my mind felt hazy. I gripped onto my head. When the feather touched my face, I calmed down a little.

"You were in a deep sleep. I thought it was because of the effects of the medicine, so I waited a bit, but…" he rubbed the back of his head.

"…For how long…" I wasn't known to be a heavy sleeper, so that should've given it away that something was wrong, but Spark did have a point that the medicine would've done the job.

"We'll be reaching Sinnoh late tonight, if that helps. You screamed quite a few times, and I got worried." My yellow eyes went wide for a moment. I went over and gave him a hug. Thankfully, he hugged me back.

"I didn't realize… um. The Pokémon must be from Sinnoh… Blanche would be more interested than us. But if it's a legendary…" I paused and looked up at Spark. I wanted to ask why I couldn't wake up in the first place. It still didn't register in my mind completely. He simply rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"That's called a Lunar Wing. That's what the Professor told me. It's related to Cresselia. Umm…" I raised a brow once Spark paused with his words. Whenever he had something on his mind, he'd get too nervous to talk about it. It was the same as Blanche, and putting those two together was like a pile of bricks.

"Then the rumors on this boat were true. There's something else on this ship, no?" I let him go and twiddled my fingers through the feather, curious on how it worked. I knew it had to do with when I was asleep, otherwise it wouldn't have reacted that way. I saw Spark nod in response, but he still seemed nervous about the situation. Sometimes it was easy to tell how he reacted, sometimes it wasn't. Right now, his reaction was unusual to me. He turned his back on me. I assumed it was to hide his concerns.

"With the Lunar Wing, it shouldn't happen to me again, Spark. But you should watch yourself. You don't have one of your own, right?" I watched him fiddle with the ends of his hair. The good thing about the Instinct Leader was that he knew how to get out of dangerous situations, but being smack dab in the middle of them made him worry.

"…Where did you get this from, anyway?" I placed it next to my Flareon, so the fire-type could have a look at the Lunar Wing. The Pokémon's eyes were more intent on watching me, though. I patted its head, and waited on Spark to respond. I was hoping my calm atmosphere would share empathy with him, but so far it wasn't working. For such an intuitive leader, one would think they'd notice their surroundings.

"Someone on the deck below us. They seemed to have known about the situation, and gave it to me." I narrowed my eyes at him. I knew Spark had a strange way of handling situations. Something about this situation sounded farfetched. I hopped out of bed and went to head toward the door, but he grabbed my arm before I could move any further.

"Where are you going?" he let go when he felt me tugging, knowing very well not to get on my bad side. I knew that he was worried, but I refused to let his worries stop me.

"To the person you mentioned. I need you to come with me. Remember, I'll be fine." I showed him the Lunar Wing which I strapped onto my belt for now. He gave me a slight nod and lead the way. Since Blanche wasn't here, Spark's personality had dropped a ton. It was rather hard to get through to Spark. Perhaps I was just overthinking it.

"He might not have another…" Spark muttered his words and pointed in the right direction. He knew I sometimes liked to rush ahead. I took this opportunity and walked in front of him while he dragged behind for once.

"That's completely okay. I'm not after another. I want to know more about the rumors on this ship. Don't you?" I glanced at him and he simply stared at me with his mouth agape. He picked up his Jolteon and patted it on the head, only to point at the next corner.

"Room 480. He'll be in there." After saying "thanks," I went on ahead and started to knock on the door to their cabin. They immediately answered, looking ready to go somewhere. They had a strange jacket on; it was black, and gray in color. Their hair was almost red, and his eyes a silver-blue. I wasn't sure what to think of their hair-style choice, but I wasn't one to judge.

"You must be Candela. Spark told me about you. It's a pleasure. I'm Jasper, did you… need something from me?" he spoke rather formally for someone that didn't look formal. They looked rather young, too. Then again, so did Spark, and Spark was around my age.

"I did have a few questions… and thank you for saving me." I wasn't the best at saying thanks, but it did happen to slip out. I quickly glanced away after I saw Jasper pull a smile. He let himself out of his room once I moved aside. Now that I had a better chance to look at him, he was a tall man, and pale.

"You should be thanking Spark, not me. I only helped a little. Go ahead and ask away, but I do have a dinner to attend. Would you two like to join me?" he sounded sincere. I gave him a nod in response and so did Spark, but then Spark stuttered slightly.

"A-actually I can't! I have something I need to do. Sorry Candela, you're on your own!" fast as his words, Spark bolted out of our sight. I sighed, unsure what to do with that boy. I wanted to give him the Lunar Wing, but he was already gone before I had the chance to react.

"I guess that means you're coming with me, good. Perhaps you can help me out a little bit." Without allowing me to make my decision, Jasper was already leading the way. I started to get nervous now that Spark was gone, but I felt that wasn't the only reason. Something about Jasper was unsettling to me.

"Help you…?" I didn't know what I was getting into, but I started to follow them anyway. I still had questions to ask about the rumors on this ship, and I didn't want to give up now.

"Yes. Your vote would mean a lot. I'm trying to form a team, just like you did. It would mean more competition for all of you. You like competition, don't you?" he fixed his gloves and I fixed mine self-consciously. He was right, I was the one that enjoyed competition more than the other two, especially when it came to Blanche. Blanche was newer, but they successfully surpassed Spark and I. Spark's team was very motivated, so they're starting to pick up. My team looked to be falling behind them, but we wouldn't back down.

"I don't know if the league would allow it officially. It was settled at three teams. But this isn't what I want to discuss right now." He was trying to throw me off, I could feel it. We ended up making it to the dinner hall again before I could react any further. It seems my questions would have to wait. Judging from Spark's reaction previously, he knew what Jasper wanted from us. I was only hoping that Spark hadn't made a deal to get the Lunar Wing.

"Hello, mad 'am. I brought us a special guest, she'll be joining us for dinner. Have a seat." I stared at the lady he was talking to. Purple eyes. Lovely long, dark blue hair. She was sipping at a wine glass, but I could see her smile when she saw that I was joining. I recognized her. Her name wasn't that known, since she tended to stay in the dark, but she was part of the league council. I only met her once when the three of us got introduced for being picked as team leaders.

"Nice to see you again, Candela. I hope Jasper didn't drag you into this. He is rather persistent… but it sounds familiar, no?" I looked away while Jasper helped push in my seat. She did have a point, as I happened to also be persistent when it came to certain things. The other leaders knew that.

"He took it as an opportunity. I have other business with him." Which he seemed to be avoiding. I stared at him as he pushed in his own seat, only to wave at me. At least we weren't sitting next to each other. If we were, I would've crushed his foot.

"I see. That's why you're not dressed for this occasion. You brought a lot of attention to our table, Jasper." I remembered I was wearing my leader jacket, and looked behind me. A lot of people were starting to build chatter. I wasn't sure how it was unusual for leaders being on board, as this was a fancy ship. It seems that not everyone on here believed in rumors. Not wanting anymore chatter, I decided to take off my jacket and place it behind the chair.

"This is why we should've gotten a private room, but it seems they're already taken by someone else. Anyway, what do you think of the name Team Void?" he ordered his own drink as he spoke, tapping at the menu and showing the waiter. I decided to stick with water, knowing very well how I was acting earlier.

"That sounds preposterous. What color were you planning on making your team? Black? It would not suit the others. The other teams have a ring to it." I listened to their conversation and sipped at my water, wanting to get out of here asap. This is not what I was expecting to end up in on a boat ride to Sinnoh.

"Actually, I was thinking green would match. I wanted red, but Candela took that color already." I wanted to facepalm. It's not like we had a choice in our colors, as the colors depended on our legendary birds.

"You don't even have a legendary. We'd have to postpone this meeting until you get one. Understand? Now answer her questions. She's having to take the time to listen to you." I sighed in relief, glad that the girl was on my side. She started to get up and leave, however. I watched her put on her jacket.

"Wait, where are you going?" Jasper seemed confused, but I understood why she wanted to leave. I'd love to leave if it weren't for the fact that I had questions to ask him.

"To get some fresh air. I'll just have them deliver my meal to my room. Good luck with whatever you need out of this man, Candela. I'd rather handle Spark than him." She didn't seem to know that Spark was on this ship, from the sounds of it. I gave her a wave in response, and she left. People stopped paying attention to our table once she was gone. It seems she was the one that attracted a lot of attention.

"Since we can't talk about that… what did you need again?" I tried not to show my annoyance, but I had a very bad habit of doing so. However, he seemed to be used to others being annoyed at him.

"I wanted to know about the rumors on this ship. I've only heard of them briefly, but they seem to be causing problems. What do you know about them? You seem prepared." it didn't take long for the food to come, surprisingly. I decided to take this opportunity to try and eat.

"Not a whole lot. I've heard most things from other people. Something black entering people's rooms, they say. Or their friends would sleep restlessly. That's what happened to you, it seems." Jasper happily munched on his bread. His reactions made no sense to me, as he was troubled earlier because of the leader council.

"How come you had a Lunar Wing on you…? How did the Professor know you had it?" I was confused when it came to the facts. Spark had a strange way of meeting up with people like Jasper.

"Ehm… I was talking legendaries to him, and my mouth slipped. I got it from a friend a ways back, and it seemed to have come in handy. Speaking of… could I have it back? You don't seem to need it anymore." Feeling frustrated that this guy wasn't answering things completely, I handed the Lunar Wing back to him. He happily stuck it behind his ear. I don't know why I was thinking Spark had the right to keep it.

"You're not very good at answering… if you want to be a leader, you should practice answering questions. You'll get asked a lot. Now then… how was Spark able to find you?" I tried to elaborate a little more to make it easier, but he quietly hummed. He seemed rather ignorant.

"Well… he shouted for help. He's rather noisy, and nosy. He saw me talking over the phone with the Professor, and the Professor suggested I help him. I went to my room after that. If you want to be asking anyone questions, it should be Spark. He'll probably know more than me. He's rather intuitive." He wasn't wrong there. I quickly ate my meal, and the rest of the dinner was filled with silence surprisingly. Jasper did have someone talk to him halfway through the meal, but they didn't even look at me. I decided to ignore them.

"I should get going. I need to figure out where Spark ran off to, the boat should be landing soon…" the boat was supposed to arrive in Sinnoh late tonight. Even if I did find everything about the mystery Pokémon, it might end up hopping off board soon as the ship lands.

"We should arrive around midnight. Do you two have a place to stay? I could help with that if you don't." I wasn't sure what he was planning, but I turned down his offer. He seemed disappointed, but this sounded better than having to deal with him.

"…Good luck with your mystery Pokémon, Candela." He fixed his gloves again and gave me a wave, finally getting out of my sight. It was a shame I couldn't keep the Lunar Wing, since now the Pokémon could target me easily, but I also wondered if it would bother putting me to sleep twice.

"Where are you, Spark…?" I hurried around the ship, deciding to check our room first. Of course, he wasn't there. I had to take a moment to think, before running to the deck and checking there. Fortunately, there was no one. My dream wasn't about to become true. I rushed off to the battleground arena on the ship. There were a lot of trainers here, trying to finish their matches before the boat landed. I met up with a couple of Instinct's teammates, wondering if they've seen Spark.

They said they didn't even know he was on board, along with finding it surprising that I was, too. I gave them a wave and told them to let me know if they saw Spark. For some reason, finding Spark was harder than finding Blanche. I only hoped that his intuition would kick in and he'd know I'd be looking for him, just like that. Unfortunately, intuition didn't seem to work that way.

I started to head back to my room and figured it'd be best to wait for him to show up. When I saw someone familiar, I quickly hid behind the corner. It was the league council girl from before, and she was talking to someone. I assumed it was Jasper trying to pester her again.

"—that Candela's in danger… I see." It seems that I came in at a bad time. Listening was my only option right now if I wanted to find out more about their conversation. Whatever danger they spoke of, I felt I had the right to know right away.

"Please don't tell her. I want her to enjoy this trip, and not take it seriously. She's been taking a lot of things seriously lately…" I raised a brow at the soft voice that I didn't expect to hear on the other end. It was true, I have been taking things too far, but that's how I always deal with things. I started to wonder why they were concerned for my well-being.

"Isn't this a business trip, regardless? But I'll listen to your intuition, Spark. I do have a favor to ask you." She seemed to know a lot, and apparently, so did Spark… this wasn't what I expected. He seemed to be on good terms with her. Her and I were neutral when it came to things.

"Sure, I do owe you one." He owed her? I started to wonder what he was doing from the time of the dinner and now. Spark wasn't one to talk about his problems, he was the type to listen to others. He seemed to enjoy being the mysterious out of the three of us.

"Try and keep her away from Jasper. I am worried much as you. I fear he might want to take down Team Valor." My mind was baffled at her words. We did have a lot of haters, I admit, but not anyone brave enough to actually try and prevail. That's also not what he said to me at the dining table.

"…Aren't you the one that left her with him at the dinner?" Spark sounded concerned as I was, and I was able to finally see him from the corner. He moved slightly, seeming to head toward the direction of our room. Perhaps his intuition was kicking in right now.

"I had no choice. That man has his own way around things, and besides, she probably needed to eat. Don't worry, he won't poison her. I should get back to my room, the ship will be landing soon. She might be looking for you, Spark." During the time she spoke, I saw Spark's blue eyes glance over at my direction. I hurriedly hid deeper in my corner. The intuitive leader was shocking sometimes.

"I'll do the same… thanks for talking to me. If you hear anything about that Pokémon, let me know." Spark waved at her and entered our room not far from them. I waited for the league council girl to be out of my sight, and decided to wait five minutes more so Spark wouldn't have any superstition. Eventually, I went back into the room.

"Spark, hey. I was wondering where you went." He gave me a small "hey Candela" and went back to what he was working on at the desk. Curious as I was, I went over to have a look. It was a drawing of some sort of Pokémon that wasn't familiar to me. He seemed to be working on this even before he came in, since he had a lot done already.

"I had to give Jasper back the Lunar Wing, I hope you don't mind." I was about to grab the edge of his chair, but he spun around and looked at me in surprise. He fiddled with his pencil to try and hide his nerves, but I could clearly see them despite his attempts.

"I didn't know he wanted it back. I thought it was for you to keep. We'll be landing soon, anyway…" he shook his head and went back to his drawing, taking out a red pen and coloring over certain parts of the sketch. He had an interesting art style compared to Blanche's. Spark's appeared more soft and cloudy yet hazy, while Blanche's seemed to shout in style, yet had a crisp look.

"…Is there something you want to tell me, Spark?" this boy wasn't the best at hiding things, at least not around me. I had a feeling he knew I knew, but he still shook his head. Knowing I wouldn't get a word out of his mouth, I decided to sit on my bed and wait. There was the thought of napping, but that didn't sound promising right now.

"I'll tell you sometime when we're in Sinnoh." Somehow, Spark never failed to surprise me. This rather pleased me and kept me a little more at ease, since the boy did seem to have information he wanted to share with me. I decided to get comfortable in my spot and pull out a book, waiting for the ship to dock.