The ferry terminal was full of bustling tourists, sunglasses perched on their noses and cameras dangling over their arms. Farin wound her way through the crowds to the ticket counter, sliding her pass to a bored looking man who stamped it without even looking. Sweat had gathered along her back where the bag pressed against it, and she was glad to take it off and sit in the salt-scrubbed plastic chairs.

She watched as people boarded ferries or disembarked, laughing, pushing, checking their watches. Pokemon clung to their shoulders or scampered between their legs. A young kid was sending his water types – a tentacool, a shellder – into the water below the pier. As Farin watched one of the security guards came running over, waving his arms and pointing at the "no swim zone" sign.

At last Farin's ferry came. It had Ascorbia Dreaming painted on the side in looping golden letters. She stood, stretched, and swung her heavy rucksack across her shoulders. For a second she thought she saw something dart from the crowd towards her, but scanning the terminal she couldn't see anything amiss. A woman in a camouflage-pattern trench coat, also toting a heavy pack, was heading towards the boat. Farin got in line behind her, marvelling at all the brass buttons and big pockets on her garment, and walked slowly up the ramp. A smiling teenager in a sailors cap took her ticket and waved her on board.

There weren't many people heading to Ascorbia that day – Farin had her pick of seats. She dumped her bag and tent on one, and settled down beside the window, facing out across the bay. The town looked blurry through the unwashed glass, like an old photograph in which the image is beginning to fade. Bye bye to my childhood home she thought. The ferry motor grew louder, sending vibrations through the chair. A vaguely acrid smell, diesel and sea-salt, made her feel woozy.

The woman in the trench coat had taken a seat a few rows behind her, and was muttering into a mobile phone. Farin took out her book, but the noise and the tremors sent the words jittering across the page. She closed it, slid it back into her bag. A feeling of excitement was bubbling inside her, making it hard to concentrate on any one thing – finally, off on her own adventure!

When Farin was a kid lots of her friends had gone on trainer journeys, some just in the school holidays, others leaving for good and trying to make a career of it. She wasn't part of either group, really; she'd gotten her starter, Agni, and caught a few others, but she was average at best. Sure, she'd managed to train Agni, Lorcan and Rae, but that was mostly by grubbing about in the long grass battling rattatas and sentrets near her house, and the evolutions were more an effect of time than skill. Farin couldn't hack it in the competitive world.

Luckily, it wasn't pokemon training that she aspired to do.

The engine roared and with a jerk the ferry pulled away from the docks, chugging out onto the water. Farin sat up in her seat, pressing her face to the window. The vessel skimmed the waves, little white wakes curling from its sides. The motion made her feel slightly sick.

Heaving her bag back onto her shoulder, she headed for the upper deck. From the corner of her eye she saw the trench-coat woman glance at her.

Outside, air rushed passed with a chilly fierceness, slapping the flag against the pole and sending goose-bumps up Farin's bare arms. Hair flicked into her face, and she wobbled over to the railing. There were a few other people standing around, pointing out across the water, and a big bipedal pokemon that Farin didn't recognise – it had thick skin in deep red and black pigments, a long crocodilian snout and a dark mask pattern around its eyes. As she watched, it laughed, throwing its long snout open and showing curved ivory teeth.

"That's not a bad idea though," Farin said to herself, reaching into her pocket. "Do you guys want some fresh air?"

She threw the pokeballs up, and the glittering red forms resolved themselves into Agni, Lorcan and Rae. Agni yawned and stretched his wings, the wind filling them and pushing them backwards like two green kites. Rae blinked up at Farin with two wide elliptical eyes, and then turned around to stare intently at the sea. Farin always got the impression that the espeon could see dimensions that she couldn't.

And then there was Lorcan, bouncing off the walls as usual. The furret simply couldn't contain himself; he ran to the railings, snaking up them with his sinuous body, the wind whipping his messy fur in all directions.

"Prrrrrrhhhh," he trilled, standing with his little arms waving over the edge.

Farin couldn't help but smile. Lorcan was the most excitable pokemon she'd ever met – not to mention the furriest furret. With her three companions poised on the bow of the ship, the sense of adventure came to her renewed. I can't wait to get to the archipelago she thought.

"Hey, Agni," she said, calling up to the charizard, "mind my bag would you? I need to go back down to pee."

He nodded, blowing air through his nostrils. Farin saw him glance over at the other big pokemon, his wings flexing slightly, head bent at a playful angle.

Farin passed the trench-coat woman on her way down the stairs; the woman had her head bowed, pushing up into the wind. Farin noticed that her hair was a peculiarly chemical red, a scarlet that betrayed a darker colour beneath. She reached the lower deck and headed for the toilets.

From the corner of the room darted a small shadow, ducking beneath the seats. Farin whipped around, caught a glimpse of four legs and two dark shining eyes. She put her hand in her pocket, as if to feel for something to defend herself with, but felt only the folded letter from her father. Get a grip, girl, she thought.

The toilet cubicle was small and she had to hold onto the sink to stop from rocking backwards and forwards. Her stomach lurched with every pitch. Stepping back out into the corridor, she held her arms out to balance, feeling for the walls. Soft footfall sounded behind her.

What is it? She thought, pivoting around and feeling a fresh wave of nausea. The corridor was empty. I'm a researcher, dammit, time to act like one. Curiosity and bravery to the fore.

Suppressing the prickle of vomit in her throat, she stumbled down the narrow corridor. There were more seats at the back. An un-oiled creak sounded from her immediate left, and she turned to see the four-legged form disappearing through a door. Are you running away from me now?

She strode along, the slightest wobble in her step, one hand on the wall. Engine Room the sign on the door read.

Farin paused. That would be trespassing. But I need to find out what this thing is – I can't let a haunting presence ruin my island adventure. She pushed open the door.

The sound was deafening, pressing against her ear-drums and rattling her teeth; the smell of diesel and grease filled her nostrils and made her gag. She climbed down a vertical ladder and landed amongst the engine. At the end of a row of turquoise coloured machinery the shadow slipped away. Setting her jaw, Farin followed it, gripping the rails for support. The metal path beneath her feet was slippery. Arcane dials and black plastic tubes protruded all over the place, a language of engineering she didn't understand.

The room was small, ending where the creature had hidden. No way out Farin thought. Whatever you are, you're behind this machine. Steadying her breathing, Farin leapt forwards, gripping the bannister with one white-knuckled hand.

Curled up beneath a throbbing piston was a small delcatty. She meowed pleadingly, her tail curled over her legs.

"Suki?"

Farin felt a rush of relief, and laughed.

"Suki, what are you doing here?"

"Hey!" shouted a voice behind her. "You're not supposed to be down here."

"Oh, sorry," she stammered, bending to retrieve her pokemon. "I lost my delcatty, I was just coming to find her."

"Get out," said the engineer, his bald head quivering.

Farin bundled Suki into her arms and dashed for the stairs.

"And slow down, you'll slip and hurt yourself. Bloody trainers."

Back up the ladder, Farin put Suki down on a chair and sat beside her. The delcatty was staring sheepishly at her paws. "I'm sorry I left you behind," she said, stroking the delcattys head, "but you shouldn't have followed me. That was very dangerous."

The delcatty stared into her eyes.

"Ok, I guess going down there after you was dangerous too. But you have to promise me you won't do anything like that again for the rest of the trip."

Suki sat up straight, her eyes twinkling. She let out a series of short meows.

Farin smiled. "Yes, I guess I did just say that you're coming with us. Seems like you've earned it, anyway."

The delcatty clambered onto her lap, kneading with her little paws. The sharp claws pulled threads from Farin's pants. Farin scratched her behind the ears and Suki purred loudly.

A loud crash interrupted the reunion, sounding from the deck above. It was followed by a scream and a low roar. Farin jumped and Suki sank her claws into her leg.

"Ouch," she cried, extracting the delcatty and standing up. "What on earth was that?"

The two companions looked at each other, and then dashed for the stairs.

As the upper level came into view, Farin saw a number of things simultaneously: a blur of khaki green and brown stripes, Agni flapping his wings angrily, a flash of scarlet. The people on the deck were pressing themselves backwards against the rail, and the big crocodile pokemon was hunching down as if ready to spring. As Farin's eyes focused the scene, one thing became vastly apparent: the whirling green form was the woman in the trench coat, spinning around and around with her right leg extended, and the brown and white striped thing hanging off the end of it with, gripping with pointed teeth, was Lorcan.

"What in the – ," said Farin, tearing up the staircase.

Suki meowed, once, and followed her.