Aboard The SS Anne
Ace stood in line with Eevee on his shoulder, waiting to board the world-famous SS Anne. "This is gonna be it, Eevee! The next region we wind up in is the one we're going to win at! Are you ready?"
"Vee! Eevee!" Eevee said excitedly. Ace grinned. Seven regions and seven times he had lost the Pokemon League (Granted, that last one didn't really have one). Each time, he had come within an inch of victory, but could never quite reach it. But this time was going to be different for sure! This time he was going to make his hero proud!
Ace had grown up in Pallet Town, living right down the road from the Pokemon Lab. He used to spend every day there helping to take care of all the Pokemon that lived there and learning everything he could from the two professors that worked there: Prof. Oak and Ace's idol, Prof. Ketchum.
Ace would spend hours of his youth listening to Prof. Ketchum's incredible stories of his own Pokemon adventures. Battling evildoers, meeting rare Pokemon, and travelling all over the world with his partner, Pikachu. All Ace wanted for practically his whole childhood was to have a bond with a Pokemon like that of Prof. Ketchum and his Pikachu. And he finally felt like he had that with Eevee.
Meanwhile, a few people back in line, Cammie stood with her Mime Jr, Mimey, in her arms. She was nervous, but also excited to be going on this new journey to this new region: Insmou. Over the course of the day, she had been forced to listen to her sister tell her stories about the time she spent in Insmou herself. "The cities are so beautiful! And, there's this lighthouse in this one town that's just sooooo amazing!" Patty had said. "It's rumored that, if you see the sunset at the top of it with someone special, you'll be together forever. I actually took my boyfriend up there, and we both loved it! Ooh! Make sure you try the Dreamy Cremes they have there too! Best dessert ever!"
"Yeah, sounds amazing." Cammie had said, trying not to sound bored. "What are the Contests like?"
"Oh, everyone there is super talented! I barely even managed to win the Grand Festival! But I'm sure you'll do just fine."
Mimey seemed to sense how nervous Cammie was. "Mime Mime Mime?" He asked her.
Cammie took a deep breath. "I'm okay, Mimey. This time, we're going to go to the Grand Festival for sure! And we're gonna win!"
"Mime Mime!" Mimey replied excitedly.
And, just a few people behind her stood Chris with his Aerodactyl. "You'll probably have to get back in your Pokeball before we board." Chris said to Aerodactyl. "I doubt the crew would be happy having a giant, prehistoric Pokémon out in the open onboard."
"Dactyl Dac." Aerodactyl replied understandingly.
Chris smiled. "Don't worry, buddy. It's just a short boat ride, then you can soar through the skies as much as you want. I can tell we're both going to be flying high this time. Things are going to be different. I can feel it."
"Dactyl!" Aerodactyl agreed.
Chris patted his partner's head and returned him to his Pokeball. Meanwhile, towards the front of the line, Annie stood nervously with her Mimikyu in her arms watching a Pidgey perched on the trainer in front of her's shoulder. The tiny bird Pokemon was glaring at her, and Annie could tell that, if she made one wrong move, it would attack. "H-hi there." She said, waving politely to the Pidgey.
"Pidge! Pidgey!" The bird Pokemon squawked.
"K-k-k-kyu!" Annie's Mimikyu growled. Whatever Mimikyu said, it was enough to scare the Pidgey out of attacking.
"Thanks, Mimikyu." Annie said. "Hopefully, once we get on board the ship, things will be better."
Meanwhile, towards the front of the line, a man and a woman, both wearing clever disguises, were waiting to get their tickets checked. "I don't see why we have to wear these stupid costumes." Lucy complained.
"Well, we don't want anyone to know who we really are, do we?" Charles replied.
"Nobody knows who we are anyway!" Lucy retorted. "Look, can we just-"
"Tickets please." They had finally reached the front of the line.
"Oh. Of course, sir." Lucy and Charles handed over their tickets.
"Okay, looks like you're bunking in cabin 6. It's on deck B1." The ticket man said.
"Deck B1?" Charles said as they boarded the ship. "Why does that sound like a bad thing?"
…
"I knew that sounded like a bad thing!"
Lucy and Charles had finally reached deck B1, which turned out to be the basement of the ship. There was disgusting grease and grime everywhere, Rattatas and Nincadas were swarming around everywhere, and there was an eerie stench in the air that smelled suspiciously like death. "Your dad seriously couldn't have sprung for a better room?" Charles complained.
"He's thrifty when it comes to travel." Lucy explained.
Charles shuddered. "I feel like this place is haunted, or something. Can you feel that? It's like there's literally death all around us."
"That's just the smell from the sewage flap. You're worried about nothing."
But it wasn't nothing. As Lucy and Charles walked down the dark, eerie hall that was deck B1, an evil force was lurking just behind them, waiting for its moment to strike.
"Here we are." Lucy said as they reached their cabin. "Cabin 6"
The evil beast inched closer and closer, grinning maliciously as it grew nearer and nearer to its helpless prey.
They opened the door and were met with a stench that could only be described as Wailord carcass mixed with the smell of an extra-filthy Garbodor. "Oh, Arceus, that is just terrible!" Charles exclaimed, immediately covering his nose.
"At least the room looks nice." Lucy said, also shielding her nose from the smell.
The beast was finally close enough. It was about to strike, and its prey would be helpless to stop it…
"Rotooooooom!" Charles cried out from pain as he was electrocuted by a powerful Discharge attack. When it was over, his long, gelled hair was all poofed up, giving him the appearance of an oily lion. Lucy giggled at the sight of him, but Charles was furious. He turned around angrily to discover a tiny, orange little Pokemon giggling with glee over the amazing prank it had just pulled.
"You!" Charles growled. "Look what you did to my hair! I'll kill you, you little twerp!" He dived for the Rotom, but it just floated away from him, causing Charles to fall unceremoniously into a bit of deck B1's usual grime, dirtying his already ruined hair even more.
Lucy giggled more, but knew she had to help her hopeless partner. "Nidorina, go!" She called out her Pokemon. "Use Poison Sting!"
"Nidorina!" Nidorina fired several purple energy darts at the Rotom, hitting it perfectly and causing it to fall to the ground.
"Pokeball, go!" Lucy said as she threw a Pokeball at the Rotom. It wobbled once… Twice… Three times… Ding! The Rotom was caught! Lucy strolled forward and picked up the ball.
"Great! You caught it! Now give it to me so I can throw him in the ocean!" Charles said.
"No way! I'm keeping him!" Lucy retorted. "I like him. He's funny."
As Charles seethed with rage, Ace was busy checking out the events going on aboard the ship on one of the upper decks. "Let's see… There's a ping pong tournament, a shuffleboard social, Wailord spotting… Ooh! A battle gala!" Ace didn't know what a gala was, but seeing the word battle got him all fired up. "Let's see… Formal attire acquired. Aw, man! I gotta wear a tux?"
"Vee Eevee." Eevee said on his shoulder.
"Yeah, okay." Ace replied. "I guess it might be worth it to go. It starts at eight tonight, so we've got some time to kill. Wanna go train a little?"
"Vee!"
"That's the spirit."
Luckily, on the top deck, the SS Anne was equipped with several Pokemon battlefields. Ace went up there and began searching for the right opponent. Most of the battlefields were currently occupied with trainers hoping to get in a little extra practice before the Battle Gala. There was a trainer with a Venusaur battling one with a Slurpuff, another two trainers pitting their Throh and Sawk against each other, and a girl with a Mimikyu battling a boy with a Pokemon Ace had never even seen before. He really wanted to battle it, but, since its trainer was already battling that girl, he kept looking.
"Aerodactly, use Wing Attack!"
Ace turned in the direction of that command and saw a boy about his age with a brown buzzcut and a grey hoodie with the Sinnoh League's Coal Badge printed on it battling with his Aerodactyl. "Dactyyyyyl!" The Aerodactyl cried as its wings glowed with bright white light. It flew down and slammed into its opponent: a Hariyama that fainted from that super effective attack.
"Hariyama, return!" The boy's opponent said, returning his defeated Pokemon to its ball. "Nice job there." He said to the boy with the Aerodactyl. "That's one powerful Pokemon you've got."
"Thanks. I know." The boy said, petting his Aerodactyl on the head.
"Excuse me!" The boy turned around to see Ace. "Hey, can I battle you next?" He asked.
The boy smiled and stood up. "Only if you think you've got the skills to beat me." He said. "Name's Chris."
"I'm Ace." Ace replied, shaking Chris' hand. "So, what are you heading to Insmou for?"
"I'm planning on challenging the League there." Chris replied.
"Same here!" Ace said. "I'm gonna be the Insmou League Champion in no time!"
"You think so, do you?" Chris said with a smile. "Then let's see what you've got." Chris and Ace took their positions on the battlefield. "Aerodactyl, let's take him down!" Chris exclaimed.
"Dactyl!" Aerodactyl roared confidently.
"Eevee, I choose you!" Ace said. His Eevee jumped from his shoulder on to the battlefield.
"Vee! Eevee!" Eevee said, just as confident as its opponent.
"Aerodactyl, fly up and use Flamethrower!" Chris commanded. His Pokemon flew up into the sky and shot forth a blast of fire from its mouth.
"Eevee, dodge it and use Swift!" Ace yelled. Eevee jumped out of the way of the flames and shot a series of golden stars up at its opponent. The Aerodactyl took the attack, but, when the smoke cleared, it appeared to have sustained almost no damage at all. Ace grinned. This battle was going to be a good one.
Meanwhile, Cammie and her Mime Jr, Mimey, were making their own way up to the battlefields on the upper deck. "If we're gonna win that Battle Gala, we'd better train first." Cammie said to Mimey. "So, let's go and find- Ohhhhh, wow!"
Cammie laid her eyes on the boy who was battling the girl with the Mimikyu. He was incredibly handsome with blonde hair blowing in the wind, muscley arms, and a face that was more gorgeous than any other boys' Cammie had ever seen. Mimey groaned and put hits head in its hands. Here we go again.
Cammie rushed up to the boy and took his hand in hers. "Hello there." She purred in a flirty voice. "My name's Cammie, but you can go ahead and call me the girl of your dreams."
"E-excuse me?" The boy said nervously.
"Let's run away together!" Cammie went on. "We can go and settle down in a nice region with plenty of- Oop. Wait! Mimey! No!" Mimey was using Confusion to pull Cammie away from the boy, just like it always did whenever Cammie got a new crush (Which was way too often). However, Mimey stopped when it laid eyes on the girl with the Mimikyu. It began to get angry. More angry than it had ever been before.
"Mime Miiiiime!" Mimey yelled as he fired a Psybeam attack at the Mimikyu girl. The girl screamed in terror, but her Pokemon jumped up and blocked the Psybeam with a Shadow Claw attack.
"Oh, my Arceus! I am so sorry!" Cammie said, running up to the girl who her Pokemon had just attacked. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." The girl replied. "And don't worry about that. Pokemon sort of attack me a lot."
Cammie quickly returned Mimey to his ball before he could do more damage. "Well, let me make it up to you anyways." She said. "I could buy us some lunch if you want."
The girl smiled. "Thank you." She said. "That's very kind. I'm Annie, by the way."
"Cammie." Cammie replied, shaking hands with the girl. "Well, let's go get you that lunch I promised you." She turned to face the boy Annie had been battling. "See you later, cutie!" Cammie called over to him.
"Uh, yeah. Bye." The boy said awkwardly as he returned his Pokemon to its ball. Cammie realized then that the Pokemon the boy had been using was one she had never seen before.
"Hey, what kind of Pokemon was that boy using?" She asked Annie.
Annie pulled out a Pokedex. "I already got its entry." She said. "Here. Take a look."
Cammie turned on Annie's Pokedex. It pulled up a picture of the Pokemon the boy had used: a red and yellow raccoon-looking Pokemon with a flame on the end of its tail. "Sparkoon," the Pokedex said, "the Fire Rodent Pokemon. This Pokemon is nocturnal and can typically be found trying to break into people's homes to steal their food, though the flame on the end of its tail usually gives it away."
"Sparkoon, huh?" Cammie said. "Is that a Pokemon from another region."
Annie nodded. "It's actually one of the starter Pokemon from Insmou." She explained.
As Cammie and Annie went to go get lunch, Cammie began wondering more about the Pokemon of the Insmou region, and which ones she would be capturing when she got there.
Meanwhile, Ace and Chris were just about to finish their battle. "Eevee, us Double Team!" Ace commanded.
"Vee!" Eevee created several duplicates of itself that then began running in a circle below Chris' Aerodactyl. The Aerodactyl couldn't tell which one was the real Eevee.
"Aerodactyl, use Rock Tomb to destroy the copies!" Chris said.
Aerodactyl summoned a series of stones from the air, then sent them hurtling towards the Eevee copies, destroying each and every one of them. Fortunately, the real Eevee hadn't been hit.
"Eevee, jump on the rocks then use Take Down on Aerodactyl!" Ace said. Eevee leapt up onto the rocks, jumping from rock to rock until finally it tackled Aerodactyl, sending it hurtling towards the ground.
"Aerodactyl! No!" Chris yelled. Fortunately, Aerodactyl got back up, albeit with a little effort. Ace's Eevee was looking pretty tired too.
"All right, Eevee, finish him off with-"
"Attention, passengers," the captain's voice said over the ship's PA system, "tickets to the SS Anne's Battle Gala will be going on sale now. Please hurry up to reserve your spot at the event."
"Crud! We'd better get going then, Eevee!" Ace said.
"Eevee!" Eevee agreed, running over and jumping up on Ace's shoulder again.
"It was nice battling you, Chris!" Ace said as he ran off to get to the Battle Gala ticket line. "Hope we can finish it someday!"
"Yeah, same!" Chris said as he returned his Aerodactyl to its ball and ran off to get his ticket along with Ace.
Meanwhile, from around the corner, two sneaky criminals ducked down before the two trainers saw them. "Did you see that?" Lucy asked her partner.
"A pair of Pokemon prime for the picking!" Charles replied excitedly.
"If we're going to steal those two Pokemon, we're going to need to make a plan." Lucy said.
"Oh, I already have one." Charles said. He and Lucy sneaked back down to their cabin, plotting all the way down to steal their first Pokemon for the glory of Team Rocket.