A surprisingly small number of people know this, but this is the reason you don't see anybody using guns in Pokémon, especially not in the games. From the Diamond and Pearls release, you find out in a Library via reading the books that, basically, people used to use swords all the time, but eventually struck a deal with Pokémon to never use them again, and instead capture the monsters from around the world for all fighting purposes.

nightelf37: As I have said before, not everyone's life stories, real or fictional, are exactly exciting or worth 'recording', and this story (may) prove(s) this "trope".

Chapter 3: The Watery Card

Daytime on board the S.S. Tidal…

Brendan and his classmates were aboard the ferry under the guise of a field trip. For some time now, rumors of the Academy have been spread. These trips have been established as an attempt to refute those (true) rumors. Brendan was leaning on the railing of the ferry's starboard side. Next to him was his Swampert, nicknamed Terraqus, who also wore double armbands on his forelegs. As they leaned there, Ricky, Yuri, and Nick were talking to each other.

"Brendan looks bored, doesn't he?", Ricky remarked.

"Uh-huh.", Yuri replied. "After all, he had traveled all over the region in his road to defeat the Elite Four."

"As for me, it's my first time to board a ferry.", said Nick.

Just then, Jackson emerged through a door that led to the cabins below.

"Come over to the other side! There's a pod of Wailmer!"

This perked up everybody else and started running past the Camper, who followed shortly after. When the six (counting Terraqus) arrived, they were met with a spout of water to their faces. It happened that upon arrival, the Wailmer (with a lone Wailord) have decided to have fun by forcefully snorting out seawater out of their nostrils. (Of course, Wailord is too 'mature' for that.)

"It's not everyday you get to see this while on a ferry.", Ricky commented.

"You know?", Brendan scoffed. "I once saw a pod of them blocking the coast leading outside Lilycove City and to Mossdeep."

"Really?", Nick asked.

"Of course. I'm one of those trainers who faced grunts of Team Aqua and won."

"Not to mention Team Magma.", Yuri added.

Just then, rings of water began to swirl around the Wailord. The people (and some Pokémon) on board the ferry could only watch in distress since none of them know what to do or if they even could do anything. None except Brendan, that is.

"Terraqus! Come with me!", he commanded as he took off his bag (Cerberus was hiding inside). His Swampert just nodded and together, they jumped off the ship and into the water. At that moment, a few of the Wailmer decided to swim over to the swirl imprisoning Wailord in an attempt to free him, only to get trapped in another swirl as well.

"Let's push at the tail!", Brendan told Terraqus. Both of them started doing so, but the swirl held the Wailord in place, though it was moved a bit. The remaining Wailmers not trapped by any water swirls joined in the shove. They continued pushing, to the suspense of the people on the ferry. Suddenly, the swirls stopped and its victims were freed.

"That's a relief.", Brendan sighed. Just then, he and Terraqus got a ride on the Wailmers who emerged from underneath them. These Wailmer then fired a Water Spout from their blowholes, sending the two back to the ferry. While Terraqus landed safely atop the ship, Brendan was pushed a bit too far and was about to land onto the water on the other side when a Granbull caught him in time. Brendan took a second to see it and saw that it wore simple earrings.

"Null Grab?", he muttered.

"Didn't expect you to come round like this.", a voice said.

He turned to see his sister, Daisy, and that it was her Granbull who caught him. She was also on a 'field trip', though Brendan didn't know it.

"Yeah…"

In the Lilycove Pokémon Center…

Brendan was alone in one of the rooms reserved for Pokémon Trainers. Since no one else was around for the moment, Cerberus was floating about outside the bag.

"Eh? You were trapped in a swirl of water, Brendan?"

"Not me.", he replied. "It was a Wailord."

"And it wasn't from a Whirlpool?"

"That's right.", Brendan answered as he took out some pancakes he cooked back at home and placed them on a table. During his travels, he looked upon cookbooks and wrote down the recipes. Often, this stood in his way during his Pokémon adventure since he may end upstaying hours on end just browsing one book, much to his chagrin, regrettably.

"It's even weirder that a whale Pokémon like that almost drowned.", Cerberus said as he took a pancake.

"You kidding me?", Brendan scoffed as he put a pancake down to his Manectric (Thundermax), who had an X scar on its face. It was received during a Pokémon battle with a tough Linoone. "I've seen a Psyduck who can't swim. Anyway as there is no move as far as I know, that does that, I'm guessing it's a Clow Card."

"Brendan?", they heard Daisy's voice say.

"Ack!", Brendan gasped. "Cerberus! Hide!"

The guardian did just that just before Daisy opened the door and approached Brendan.

"Hi, Daisy.", Brendan greeted with a smile as he ate a pancake.

"Uh-huh." was Daisy's reply.

"I saw you and Null Grab on board the S.S. Tidal."

Little did he realize that his sister was already taking a bite on one of his pancakes. He turned to her and shouted, "Hey! Those are mine!"

"Come on in, Julian!", Daisy called. "These pancakes are delicious."

"Okay, okay.", Julian's voice was heard outside. Sure enough, Julian entered the room.

"I was just re-tying my shoes.", he continued "Hello, Brendan."

"Hey there."

Julian took a bite out of one of Brendan's pancakes and said, "These are really good. You made them yourself?"

"Yup. I've been reading cookbooks during my travels."

"That's nothing compared to my culinary skills.", Daisy commented. This received her a little jolt from Thundermax.

"Have some more if you want.", Brendan said with a smile.

"Sure.", Julian answered.

"Daisy, you can have some too."

"Okay.", Daisy answered boredly.

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Later…

Brendan was bringing a 'tupperware' to where Daisy was resting and stopped in front of the closed door.

"Daisy, I'm at the door.", he called. But it was Julian who opened it.

"Thank you for the trouble, Brendan."

"You're welcome.", Brendan answered. "I hope you're having a good time here."

"He is.", Daisy called from inside. "Would you be as kind to close the door?"

"Okay.", he replied, then turned to Julian and said, "Well, gotta go."

"Okay.", Julian answered.

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In Brendan's 'room'…

Cerberus was meditating, after listening to what Brendan told him.

"Ferry… Ocean… Water…"

Just then, Brendan entered the room and greeted Cerberus.

"Hey there!", the trainer said "You know, I have a feeling the next Clow Card could be really tough this time. When the Wailmers and Wailord almost drowned, they were in the water, obviously."

"Did you see the thing that tried to drown them?", Cerberus asked.

"Nothing. All I saw was swirling water. What Clow Card could have done it?"

"That's probably the Watery card.", the guardian confirmed.

"Then I just need to capture it and change it back into a card?", Brendan asked, "Or is there more to it than just that?"

"It won't be easy.", Cerberus answered. "Watery's invisible in water. Even if you could draw it out of the water, it if comes apart and scatters, it'll be even harder to deal with. It's hard to capture something that has no form. Watery is one of the higher-level Clow cards. The four basic element cards of earth, water, fire, and wind are very hard to use, and Watery is an attack card, so it has a violent temper. Brendan, the cards you have so far are Windy, Fly, and Shadow. You're no match for Watery with those. For example, even if you used Windy, a card on the same high level as Watery, you still couldn't beat it because Windy is gentle."

"Windy, Shadow, Fly. I have these three cards in my hand.", Brendan thought, then turned to Cerberus and said, "But I can think of something else. After all, I also have my Pokémon."

"Like who?"

"My Manectric, Thundermax, is an Electric-type Pokémon. Since Watery is Water-type, I could stun it long enough for me to catch it."

"Probably."

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The next day, at the Pokémon Center…

Brendan and his classmates were awaiting at the lounge their next objective as their Pokémon were being healed. Seing his friend in a thinking position, Yuri approached the Pokécaptor and asked him.

"Something up, Brendan?"

When Brendan didn't answer, Yuri continued, "It seems the time has come for the great ordeal that every hero must face sooner or later."

"Uh-huh. I just don't know what to do to catch Watery. I already suggested using Thundermax to battle it but Cerberus later said it wasn't a good idea."

"Thought of anything else, Brendan?", Yuri asked.

"Nope."

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Somewhere in the streets of Lilycove…

Brendan and Yuri were walking together with Thundermax and Aixata, Yuri's Azumarril, who was wearing a red bandanna with a white Pokéball logo. The others were shopping at the Department Store.

(Obviously, this Aixata merely has the same name as the one in my Shisno Chronicles: The Last Airbender)

"Thanks for listening, Yuri.", Brendan said to his friend.

"On what? Wait, I remember. Oh, here."

Yuri dug into his bag and took out a Pokénav.

"But I already got one.", Brendan said, taking out his own Pokénav.

"It's for Cerberus. Does you Pokénav have a call feature?"

"No."

Yuri then took out two cards and inserted one of them into a slot on Brendan's Pokénav. Then he proceeded with the second.

"Where'd you get those?", Brendan asked.

"New from the Devon Corporation. My mom works there and she got these from a friend of hers who is one of the researchers."

"I see. Well, thanks."

The two then parted ways and minutes later, as Brendan turned around a corner, he bumped into Julian.

"Hey, Brendan.", he said.

"Oh, sorry, Julian.", Brendan replied sheepishly..

"Thanks for the pancakes earlier. Heading back to the Pokémon Center?"

"Uh-huh."

"Also, I was invited to a secret meeting from the Principal of the Academy himself."

"Lucky you."

"It's at the Aquarium, near the coast. Perhaps you should pay a visit.", Julian said, and then he winked.

(A/N: I never watched the Pokémon Advance series save for the first, but I assume that Ash and friends never traversed the whole of Lilycove and seen everything.)

"Gotcha. I'll consider it."

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Back at the Pokémon center…

Brendan went to his 'room' where he left his bag. Luckily, Cerberus didn't blow his cover.

"Here.", Brendan said as he offered the new Pokénav to Cerberus.

"It's a Pokénav.", he explained. "It has a map of the whole Hoenn region as well as info on trainers I've battled. But for you, just use it for calling. I'll teach you later."

Brendan searched Yuri in his Pokénav and chose "Call". He heard a dial tone for a few seconds, then he got an automatic message.

"Hello. This is Yuri Lotira. Sorry that I can't answer my Pokénav right now. Please be as kind as to leave a message."

"Hey there. This is Brendan. I heard that Julian has a meeting with the Principal himself. I'm gonna spy on them to see why this Academy exists. Not that I don't want to but it has been eating into my mind for a while now. Wish me luck. P.S. May I ask to have that answering machine feature you got? Bye."

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The next day…

Brendan was walking the streets of Lilycove (the others either had free time or were with a 'teacher' akin to 'field trip') when he saw Julian at the streets from a distance. He was beckoning Brendan to follow. Brendan silently nodded and complied. This continued for a few minutes and soon enough, they were at the Aquarium.

Once Julian had entered, Brendan waited for a while, then entered too. Little did he know that a certain Azumarril with Brendan's bag had followed him. Inside the building, Brendan saw that the inside was remarkably nice, and it had a water theme.

"Wow.", Brendan muttered, then caught himself, remembering what he was supposed to do. As he took off, Aixata the Azumarril and Cerberus emerged from behind a pedestal.

"Why are we here again?", Cerberus muttered. He turned to Aixata, who took out a videocam. Yuri had taught his Pokémon how to hold one and use it.

"I remember.", said the guardian. "We should spy on Brendan and see what he finds out. And to verify if there is a Clow Card here, as this is the Aquarium, where there's a water tank."

Aixata gave Cerberus a thumbs-up and both of them proceeded. As Cerberus, hid in the bag, no one noticed, not even the fact that there is a lone Azumarril wearing a bag wandering the place.

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Brendan was now at a "tea room" where there stood a large aquarium that held Magikarp, Tentacool, Remoraid, Qwilfish, Carvanha, and Clamperl. There was also a pair of Feebas and a single Relicanth.

As he stationed himself upon a balcony, Julian was with the Principal (who was a middle-aged man wearing a tuxedo) and some other people, presumably his staff or whoever he was supposed to meet. Two of them had a badge which had an open book colored in blue and white, with an orange backdrop.

(A/N: That's right. The Story Crew has something to do with the Mamoru Academy. This is a different 'division', though.)

"Thanks for coming today, Mr. Mamoru.", said the man who wore the badge as he shook hands with the principal.

"And you too, Mr. Jacobs."

(A/N: Come on, does it have to be Shisno all the time, like Idano, Aixata, and Moritz in my The Last Airbender 'fix'?)

Little did they know, or so it seemed, not only was Brendan spying on them, but also Aixata and Cerberus, who hid near a plant pot.

"I wonder what they are talking about.", Cerberus wondered. Aixata answered by handing him the videocam which had a special feature that amplifies the sound in such a way that whatever is focused on can also be heard just as clear as if you were there.

"Umm… Don't you think we should discuss at a more… remote location?", Mr. Mamoru asked.

"There is no need to worry." Mr Jacobs said. "I already applied what I call a Weirdness Censor 'barrier' around us."

"What does that mean?", Julian asked.

"It means no one 'relevant' to this conversation will think of this as strange.", said one of Jacobs' aides.

"I don't get it.", said Mr. Mamoru. "But I'll trust you on this. But I also want to know another thing."

"What could that be, Mr. Mamoru?", asked Mr. Jacobs.

"Why are you doing this? Well, it's not that I don't like it. It's just… well… too generous an offer."

"Well, you see… There is an upcoming calamity. And all our attempts at preventing it from starting has failed."

"So… this Academy was founded to combat this threat?"

"Simply put, yes."

Meanwhile, Brendan, who was 'relevant' to the conversation, was taking all this in.

"All this… to prepare… against… a foreboding?", he muttered.

Just then, he heard something crack. He looked up to see that the aquarium had a crack. Impulsively, he called down to whom he was spying on and called their attention to the crack, which was already getting bigger. Quickly, Julian, Mr. Mamoru, Mr. Jacobs, and their companions headed for the stairs up. And just about time, too, since the crack then gave way to a gush of water, which proceeded to flood the floor. Luckily, the hole was high enough so that there wasn't much water that came out and the Pokémon inside were able to get away from it in time.

Unfortunately, one of the men with Mr. Jacobs was caught by the water. While it's not a bad thing by itself, what made it bad was that a swirl just like the one that caught the Wailord two days back caught the man's foot.

"I'm stuck!", he cried out.

Brendan was quick on his feet as he bypassed Julian and the others and headed down the stairs to keep the man from being pulled under. The water wasn't that deep, but Brendan knew that it was deep enough to fully submerge a lying-down person. As the swirl (he knew it was a Clow Card) could force the man into that position, he sent out Terraqus, who materialized on the steps. Responding to a following hand command, he went to help pull the man.

"Don't give up, sir!", Brendan told the man. "We'll get you out."

"Freeze the water!", advised Mr. Jacobs.

"Right!" Brendan turned to Terraqus, and then said, "Terraqus, use Blizzard on the water!"

The Swampert opened its mouth, gathering power, and then he let it out on the water, freezing it solid all the way to the bottom. Brendan turned to Mr. Jacobs and said, "Thanks for the tip, sir!"

"No problem, son.", he replied as Brendan managed to free the man's foot from what has become ice.

"Well, I better be going now.", said the Trainer, but Mr. Jacobs grabbed his hand.

"Wait up, kid. I want you to have this."

Mr. Jacobs handed Brendan a small disc.

"A TM?"

"As a token of my thanks."

"You're welcome, sir. May I ask what it is?"

"You'll find out soon.", replied Mr. Jacobs. "Well, that ends our meeting, Mr. Mamoru."

"May we make another appointment with you some other time?", Julian asked.

"Of course. But I'll decide on the date. I have a tight schedule."

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Brendan was walking out of the Aquarium when an Azumarril headed his way with his bag. He recognized the bandanna it wore.

"Aixata!", Brendan gasped. As it arrived, Cerberus popped out of the bag.

"Are you all right?", he asked. "How did it go?"

"Well, I overheard the meeting and heard that the Academy was founded to prepare for something dark that is coming. Before I could find out more, the water tank cracked open and the room was flooded. Also, the water also caught a man's foot. And—"

"I knew it! It's the work of a Clow Card!", Cerberus gasped.

"You knew? So you were spying on me?"

"Whatever gave you that idea?", the guardian asked.

When Brendan answered by pulling out the videocam Aixata was using, Cerberus sighed and said, "Yuri asked us to spy on you, Happy?"

"I see.", Brendan replied, then he suddenly spaced out for a few seconds.

"Uhh… are you alright?", Cerberus asked. Just then, to his surprise, Brendan snapped his fingers in realization.

"That's it!"

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Later that evening…

Brendan and Yuri were a distance away from the entrance of the Aquarium, which was still open at this time.

"Good night.", said a man as he left the building.

"Yeah, good night.", the guard replied. Just then, he suddenly went drowsy and nodded off to sleep.

"Good one, Castora.", said Yuri who was in his regular clothes. As for Brendan, he was wearing a full pseudo-scuba suit colored blue with orange linings. He also wore navy rain boots and rubber gloves of matching color. His face was concealed with a ski mask, akin to those conventional burglars wear.

"Are you certain about this?", Brendan asked. "This seems to look a bit… sinister. And this really doesn't really look good on me."

"For once, I'll have to agree with you, Brendan.", Yuri replied. "I was going crazy with ideas for a costume."

"Let's not dawdle.", Cerberus cut in, who was wearing a similar mask, catered for his ears to fit in.

Quickly, Brendan, Yuri, Castora, and Cerberus snuck by the guard. Soon enough, they finally made it to where the water tank cracked.

"The guards must be crazy.", Yuri replied. "There wasn't much security about."

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?", Cerberus asked.

"I'm sure.", Brendan answered. "Trust me." He then turned to Cerberus and asked, "Where's the Clow Card?"

"There.", said the guardian as he pointed to the tank, which still hasn't been repaired yet.

Brendan approached the tank and, after calling his staff, called, "Watery! I'm here!"

Upon hearing those words, a blob of water emerged from the tank. It then formulated into a Gyarados. (Remember, the Clow Cards assume Pokémon forms in the Pokémon world) In response, Brendan took out a Pokéball.

"Terraqus, I choose you!", he yelled as he sent out his Swampert.

Watery then split itself up into streams which headed for the captor and his Pokémon. In a flash, both of them dodged and ran about. Yuri and Castora already have hidden somewhere and were watching the action.

"What is his plan, I wonder?", Yuri asked as he recorded all of this.

The dodging continued for a few more minutes when Watery decided to gather together again. As it reformed, Brendan yelled, "Terraqus, use Blizzard on Watery!"

In an instant, Terraqus released a very cold gale (complete with snow) from his mouth at Watery. Slowly, the Clow Card was slowly being frozen, but it still wasn't enough this time. Slowly, but surely, it was defrosting by moving its water faster than it could be frozen.

Seeing that, Brendan took out the Windy Card and tossed it ahead of him. As it spun in place, Brendan invoked, "O wind, imbue your powers into Terraqus!" He then struck the card with his wand.

"WINDY!"

Like before, Windy emerged as a Ninjask, and it imbued itself into the Pokémon. In an instant, Terraqus' Blizzard increased in power, and was lined with the streams of wind Windy was known for. Before they know it, Watery was swiftly solidified.

Swiftly, Brendan commanded, "Return to thy true form! Clow Card!"

As usual, Watery was reduced to streams of itself as it all came together in the form of a card, which then materialized into the card "Watery".

"Victory!", Brendan whooped as he swiped the card.

"Nice plan!", Yuri cheered. "How did you think that up?"

"Well, during the meeting I spied on, I saw the tank crack.", Brendan explained as he returned Terraqus into his Pokéball. "I warned the people below and they all got up in time before the water reached them. All but one, that is. When Terraqus and I tried to pull him out, one of the guys at the meeting, who was called Mr. Jacobs, advised me to freeze the water."

"How did he know about that?", Cerberus asked.

"It's common sense. As much as we know water douses fire. I got a TM from him, too."

"A TM?"

"Technical Machine.", Yuri explained. "It's used to teach Pokémon moves they couldn't learn naturally from level up."

"Level up?", asked the guardian.

"We'll explain more about Pokémon some other time.", Brendan cut in. "Now let's get outta here before the guards come.."

Yuri took out an Escape Rope and flung one end upward as he, Cerberus, and Brendan held the other. It then disappeared into a white portal. The three were then pulled up and were teleported near the entrance of the Aquarium.

(A/N: Come on. I had to think of a logical reason on how Escape Rope works. Let's say the Story Crew had a hand on the mechanics of this item.)

"Let's get back to the Pokémon Center, then.", Brendan spoke up.

"Way ahead of you.", Yuri answered.

"How did the Escape Rope work?", Cerberus asked himself as he went back to Brendan's bag.

-The last part was a bit of randomness. Until next time.-