Welcome to the second chapter of 'The Journal'! Sorry it took a bit to get out! I've been busy with end of the quarter deadlines in school. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

amoreanfibio: Thank you! And it'll turn out good hopefully. P

Chapter 2: First Battle

"ALL ABOARD!" A gruff voice yelled. People began to rush not-so-politely up ramps. Smoke filled the air, as well as deafening chatter of the crowds. All eyes were on the older gentleman who stood at the top of the ramps, welcoming all the people boarding his ship. The captain's skin was quite tan, the reason being that he was at sea most of the time, he had peppered hair and a short beard. As people rushed up the ramps, he shook their hands and said something like "Welcome aboard the S.S. Aquarius" or "Please have a nice Cruise". The crowd was making the area rather packed, and some people were getting annoyed. One such person was a child who was looking down into a book, an empty one to be more precise. Only a paragraph had been written in it. Even though people shoved past her to hurry onto the exquisite ship, she continued to drabble on slowly in her sloppy handwriting.

"Victoria! Victoria Lynn Monrae!!" A womanly voice yelled over the hustle of the crowd. The child raised her head and softly glared at the woman who yelled the name. "Do not give that look young lady, I would not have needed to yell for you if you would walk along with your father and I." The woman lectured as her daughter came across the crowd to her and walked behind her like some duckling. Victoria mumbled something about her name. Her mother couldn't hear it, which was a good thing for her child.

"There you are Elizabeth!" A man said, who seemed to be waiting impatiently by the loading ramps. The woman looked behind her as her daughter came to her side and looked up to her father. The girls smiled deviously as he father looked down in a disapproving manner, eying the book she held in the crook of her arm. He didn't think she needed some little journal, he didn't have one and he grew up just fine. More than fine actually, he was filthy rich. So was Elizabeth, both had come from wealthy families and had came together on account of an arranged marriage. The girl didn't quite understand the circumstances though.

"Now, now Mathew, if we don't hurry we will miss the ship." Elizabeth said kindly. She noticed that most of the passengers were already aboard, the ramps now being practically empty. Nodding to her husband, who hurried up the ramp in a regal manner, Liz patted Victoria's back. The girl snorted slightly and went up the ramp mumbling.

Victoria's, or Tori's as she preferred, hair was short and brown in color, with a slight curl at the end which was just above her shoulders. She wore a baggy white T-shirt and jeans, an outfit her parents didn't quite like. Tori's gray-blue eyes glimpsed down. Not lady-like enough they always said, but Tori couldn't care less about being a lady. She was just wearing some old clothes before she would change into her casual clothes for traveling. Something she was very excited for. After waiting two whole years for her parents to finally move to Kanto, she would get to start her Pokemon adventure there. Tori looked up at her mother and father, both had their cautions with her going. Danny, Tori's brother, had disappeared when on his journey years in the past. But Daniel had always wanted to run away from home, so they assumed he took the advantage. Tori could barely remember her brother, who was seven years her senior, because he left when she was almost four. But his voice was still in her head, something about resenting the way his parents were with the wealth. Tori had then noticed her parents were stationary, looking over the edge of the ship. The vessel was now moving, and people stood along the dock, waving to their friends and family. The girl tapped her mother's arm and once she got her attention, said "Mom, can I go look around the ship?"

"I'm not sure Victoria… this is a big ship, you could get lost." Liz told her softly.

"No I won't! And I've told you to call me Tori mom." He daughter protested.

"Don't talk back to your mother Victoria." Mathew warned sternly. He gave a sharp look to Tori that said 'be a good little girl and don't make a scene'. Sighing slightly, Tori looked over the ship railing, she was used to this. Being the only child left of a wealthy family meant being reformed and to not make the Monrae family name look bad. If she did something bad, people could look down on her parent's parenting skills. And her father never liked to be looked down on, it just wasn't in his blood. Mathew then stated, "I'm going to go get some rest in our room, you two be good."

"Of course hun." Elizabeth responded. Tori gave an annoyed nod. He then walked off, disappearing around a corner. Liz smiled down at Tori and bent down to her level. Her long, wavy golden brown hair hung down over her shoulder. She had a simple outfit on, a slim white tank top with a pastel pink skirt, which was decorated with a variety of small shells. Her brown eyes stared at her frustrated daughter. "Go ahead and look around the ship… Tori" She whispered in her daughter's ear before turning around to walk along the deck of the ship.

"Really?" Tori asked in surprise, her mother was usually not this lenient, nor did she ever call her Tori. Liz gave a nod as she continued to stroll down bow of the large boat. The girl ran and hugged her mom before running off to explore. Elizabeth chuckled and smiled softly, 'I hope she enjoys her last bit of time with us for a while.' She thought.

Running around passengers, almost running into a few, Tori looked around the ship. There wasn't anything real exciting on deck, a pool, doors to other boring places, people walking around. There had to be something more fun somewhere! Then something caught her eye, making her sandals screech, well… more like squeak, to a halt. An iron door stood in her way, with bold red paint it stated 'EMPLOYEES ONLY'. Tori smirked and pushed the heavy door open. Quickly running inside and shutting the door, the girl was in the dark. But she could still see the faint outlines of pipes and shafts. This was the inner workings of the ship, something exciting indeed. Walking forward, careful not to smack into any pipes, Tori noticed a glow. They appeared to be burning coal. But there was no one watching them, a confusing event. As Tori continued through the dark maze, she saw lights. Rushing to the light, Tori followed them with her eyes. The path led to stairs. "Should I down them?" Tori mumbled to herself.

Then something came to her ears. Sounded like yelling and thing hitting each other. A fight perhaps? That would be fun to watch. Tori went down the metal stairs as quietly as possible. Coming to the bottom, she noticed an open doorway, with a crowd of men in a circle around something. Tori reached the door and snuck along the wall, going around the outside of the group. There wasn't much light in the room, a single dangling light swung around. This was to Tori's advantage, as it covered her in shadows. She then found a small crack in the crowd, settling down in the shadow of the crowd, she began to watch. It wasn't a fight! ...It was a battle.

"Golduck, use Fury Swipes!" A man yelled to the strong blue pokemon ahead of him. Doing as it was told, the Golduck scratched at its opponent multiple times. Its opponent, a Poliwhirl, dropped to the hard floor, knocked out. The trainer laughed as the other sailor called back his Poliwhirl and sunk back into the crowd. "Does anyone here have what it takes to beat me and Golduck here?!" The victorious sailor gloated.

"I think I might Chase…" A woman's voice mocked. The man grumbled as brown hair woman walked forward, pokeball in her hand. "Go, Wartortle!" She yelled as she threw the ball. In its wake, there stood the turtle pokemon. "Well?" The woman asked.

"Golduck, fury swipes!" The sailor called out. The Golduck launched toward the opponent, claws ready for the attack. But as it reached it, the Wartortle recoiled into its shell. As much as the duck scratched, nothing was penetrating the shell.

"Wartortle, use rapid spin and water gun!" The woman commanded with a smirk. The shell began to spin, pounding into the large pokemon. Then water emerged from the holes of its shell, causing the Golduck to be pounded back, and Wartortle to be pushed back. Popping out of its shell, it landed gracefully on its feet. Golduck held its stomach area where it had been hit.

"Er…" The sailor stuttered, "Use Headbutt!" It seemed this Wartortle out leveled his pokemon by the way Golduck was already worn down a bit. It had been battling a bit too, it would've been smarter to rest it. Golduck's forehead gem began to glow as it charged at Wartortle.

"Rapid Spin, then Bite Wartortle." The woman said with a sadistic coo. She knew she was going to win. Wartortle ran toward its pursuer and withdrew itself into its shell once again. But not to attack. It spun around the charging pokemon, pushing its leg out, the force caused it to catapult into the air. With jaws open wide it bit the surprised pokemon square on the head. The force from the jump continued to push Wartortle forward, causing it to push the Golduck over, slamming it into the hard floor. The Wartortle stood triumphant in front of its trainer. The Golduck was knocked out as a flash of light returned it to its pokeball. The sailor looked completely embarrassed and pushed his way through the crowd to some stairs going down another level. "Good job Wartortle." The woman told her pokemon as she took him back into his pokeball as well.

"That was awesome!" A young girl's voice yelled. Tori was amazed by the fight and couldn't help herself from blurting it out. The crowd immediately pulled back from the source and glared down at the child. Tori chuckled slightly and waved slightly. Before she could bolt, one sailor grabbed her arm and pulled her forward.

"Can you not read little girl? Only staff is allowed down here…" He spoke threateningly. Pulling her more, he managed to grab the other arm, allowing a book to fall from her grasp. The woman who had just won the battle grabbed it off of the floor and looked it over.

"Someone go get the captain and the passengers under the name Monrae." She instructed, "And let her go you brute, she can't run from all of us." As he was told the man let her go and went to get the captain and her parents. Tori swallowed nervously, now her father was going to know she snuck off. And her mother wasn't going to be very lenient again. "I believe this is yours?" The woman handed Tori her journal. Taking it cautiously, Tori looked at the winner.

"That was a really good battle miss." Tori said quietly, looking down. The woman smiled and patted her on the back. Looking up Tori noticed she was motioning her to follow. Nodding, Tori went up the stairs after the woman. Soon they came to the iron door.

"Now, I'm doing this cause you seem appreciate a good battle. But come down here again and I won't be so forgiving." The woman scolded. She opened the door and walked out with Tori.

"Who are you?" Tori asked. This woman wasn't dressed like the other sailors, more like the captain.

"I'm one of the captain's assistants. I sneak down here to practice battling, even though I'm not supposed to." She said with a wink. Then she noticed the captain approaching along with the Monrae's. They both looked disappointed, causing Tori to shrink back a little.

"What happened?" The captain asked, looking down at his assistant.

"This girl got lost, but more importantly she help Wartortle. He had been acting weird, and she found a thorn inside his shell." The woman said, making up a story. Tori smiled and kept herself from laughing at the cliché story. Elizabeth looked pleased, Mathew wasn't too happy because he was right that she'd get lost. The captain smiled at Tori, and then nodded to his assistant to follow him. "Goodbye Tori" She said quietly as she obediently followed.

"Come on Victoria, let's go to the pool." Elizabeth told her daughter, who came up next to her. Tori looked at Mathew who nodded slightly and left, heading back to the room. Liz looked down to her daughter, putting her arm around her shoulder as they walked. The sun was beginning to go down, but it was still nice enough to take a little dip.

'So, I got to see this totally awesome battle! This woman used attacks to benefit other attacks and for defense. I'll have to use some of these ideas when I have my first trainer fight in Kanto. I can't wait to get my first pokemon, I hope it likes me. Now all I have to do is wait for this stupid cruise to be over, I'm getting bored of this stuff. Mom said it should dock tomorrow afternoon in Vermilion City. Then we have to figure out some way to get to Pallet Town…Oh well… I'll fill you in when we find out how to get there!' Tori wrote in her journal. She then set the book down on a little table by the chair she was relaxing on. She looked at her mother who was swimming about in the water. "I can't wait…" Tori mumbled to herself.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next chapter we will be see how Tori will get to Pallet Town from Vermilion City and check in with David and Keno.

Please R&R, Crits are welcomed like water in the open desert!

Please stay tuned for next time! Vinn