So, it has been quite a while since I last added to this. I'm on holidays now, and thus produced this. Boredom does that to a person I suppose.

Anyway, I found it quite difficult to pick up the story again after such a long absence. Meaning it is quite likely you'll find inconsistencies throughout the story. But i suppose I am in no way getting paid for writing this, so I suppose you'll just have to put up with my mistakes unfortunately. :P
Please let me know of any errors you find. I didn't spend much time looking for them, so any that you pick up along the way would be appreciated.

And thanks for your reviews ages ago!

me-mim-em: Thanks! I was really trying to make it humerous. :) I'm glad you like it.

Phoenix Helix: Oh, you got the impression Rylee and Mark don't get along? What on earth gave you that impression? Haha :P

Jess Readin & NeonNinja: I'm glad you both liked it, and I will try to continue. haha. But if it gets crap just say so. :)

THE RELUCTANT TRAVELLERS

Chapter 6:

So, here we were, Mark and I; sitting on opposite sides of the large, plush, king-sized bed.
"I cannot believe this." He exhaled in defeat, lowering his head into his hands. "Out of all the people - all the rooms! - they put me with you."
"Well, to be completely honest you're no carnival of fun times either."
Mark's eyes shot daggers at me. "I wonder why that is?"
"Look." I said with resolve, standing up and pacing across the royal blue carpet of our room. "We can do this two ways. The first is to sulk, and complain about each other's existence, or option two is to actually sort out an agreement for our time on this ship and compromise on something."
"Pffft. Compromise." Mark blurted. "That is such a married couple's word. I prefer the term negotiation."
"Fine, whatever. Negotiation. Either way, we need to settle on something."
Mark fell backwards on the bed and folded his arms under his neck. "Well. What ideas were you proposing?"
"Well. How about we list them all and work out which ones are plausible?"
Mark nodded, "sounds like a starting point."
"Right." I perched myself on the bed again, crossing my legs. "Option one: we share the bed."
"No."
I breathed a sigh of relief. "I was hoping you would say that. Okay… option one gone." I ticked off my fingers. "Option two: you sleep on the floor."
He sat up in protest. "Why can't you sleep on the floor?"
"Because."
"BECAUSE WHY?!"
"Because of reasons."
"How is that even a legitimate excuse?" Mark raised his arms in protest. He stood up before I even had a chance to reply. "Option three:You sleep in the bathtub, and I get the bed."
"Hell to the NO!" I yelled. "Option four: Neither of us sleeps on the bed and we both sleep on the floor."
Despite the tension, Mark laughed. "Now that's just plain stupid."
"Well," I smirked, "We're running out of ideas. And we're not exactly compromising here."
"Negotiating, Rylee. Negotiating."
"Whatever." I said, taking my Pokeball off my belt, and rolling it across my fingers. "It appears we've come to a stalemate for the moment. So how about we unpack our things and then go exploring this joint? Wanna battle some old rich people?"
"Well," he shrugged. "Better than staying locked up in here and being miserable I guess."

And so we found ourselves wandering around the wide, red carpeted hallways of the ship.
"Right. So…" I began, glancing at the doors of all the rooms we were passing by, "are we going to kick some old guy booty and get some moola? Or are we just going to walk around the ship all night? Because we have walked passed like a million rooms and potentially rich trainers."
Mark sighed. "Don't you ever read signs?"
"No?" I answered tentatively. "Wait. What signs?"
Mark rubbed his temples firmly. "Of course, I forgot you were so unobservant you wouldn't have even noticed them in the first place."
"Look, answer my question and just tell me what the damn signs said," I rebutted, folding my arms crossly.
He sighed again. "See this?" He pointed to a small sticker beside one of the room's door handles. "This sticker is red-"
"-No durr, Mark. I'm not colour blind."
Mark cleared his voice, ignoring my comment "- This sticker is red INDICATING that the passengers inside do not wish, or have no desire, to battle any opponents."
"So red is a no-go."
"Correct." He stated. "I believe I heard on the news a while ago that the ship crew were receiving complaints from guests when random trainers and adventurers just barged into peoples' rooms, interrupting their privacy and demanding battles at sometimes rather… inconvenient… moments."
"Oh. I see…" I blinked nervously, averting my gaze. "So they developed a colour system. That's pretty neat. So what colour are we looking for then? Green, I suppose?"
"My, my. Your deduction skills are off the charts, Rylee. Truly immeasurable."
"Oh shut up." I smirked. "Well. You keep going along the hallway. I'm going to go check out the deck." Surely someone will battle me up there, I thought. If I am ever going to compete in the League, go home and save my gaming consoles, I need to start training as soon as possible. Besides, a bit of extra money wouldn't hurt either. Who knows what we'll need to buy on the road.

So we split up.
Mark continued down the corridor, while I began climbing up the ornately wood-crafted and varnished staircase which lead up to the deck.
Altogether, there were four flights of stairs to reach the top deck. The one stairway connected the different levels of accommodation, and made them share a common path to reach the above deck of the ship. As beautiful as the stairs were, I got bored of trudging up them alone on the first flight and decided to let my Mudkip out and climb them with me. It was kind of cute watching her bound up the stairs, and staring at her while she waited for me to catch up to the platform she stopped on.
"Ugh, I really need to give you a name." I groaned out loud, watching her leap two steps at once, with more enthusiasm and vigour than I could ever conjure up in a lifetime.
"I need to give her a name…" I muttered to my sneakers. "A name with meaning. And it can't be stupid either. I don't want all the other Pokemon teasing her for having a stupid name. I don't even know if bullying happens when you're a Pokemon, but I'm not taking any chanc- OOF!"

And that's when I accidentally bumped into one of the most beautiful men on earth.

His aqua-coloured hair was beautifully styled into a straight side fringe, with some small, lingering strands left framing the sides of his face. He was wearing a long, white cloak and small, circular hat of the same shade. His attire also consisted of some quite flamboyantly coloured pants (bright purple to be precise) and a green and white shirt, which seemed perfectly tailored to suit his physique. It was the most beautiful combination of gaudiness and grace that I have ever witnessed in my short life. I didn't even think such a look was possible in the modern fashion world. But here it was - here he was - standing right in front of me; carrying a huge, half-opened, pale blue striped beach umbrella in his arms.
"My word!" he gasped as he attempted to regain his balance on the platform. "Phew. That was a close one, wasn't it?" he exclaimed, peering down the flight of stairs behind him. "I'd hate to see how that would have ended if I didn't look up at the last moment, hah!" He beamed a friendly smile toward me.
I blinked at him like a stunned Magikarp; half blinded by his beauty, and half startled that I could have been the cause of death of one so beautiful. "I… I…"
"You…? You what?" he grinned, eyes crinkling on the edges.
"I-" Come on Rylee, get the words out. "I am so sorry!"
"No harm done." He smiled down at me with forgiveness. "Could have been much worse, I dare say."
"I am so sorry - you have no idea how sorry I am and I could have killed you and I wasn't looking where I was going and oh my God, again I am so sorry." Smooth, Rylee.
"There, there," he patted my shoulder lightly with a free hand. "Speak nothing of it, Miss…? Oh, I am terribly sorry, by what name should I address you?"
"Um. Rylee."
"Ah, Rylee. Rylee…" He mumbled to himself, briefly forgetting I was standing less than a metre away. "Such a full, hearty name. A lot of strength to it. Possible British heritage, but I wouldn't place any bets on it. She could be coming back from the Kanto region like the rest of us, but then again, I haven't seen her on the ship until now. In fact, we did make that short stop at Greywick port. She could very well have boarded there." He gazed into my eyes, with graceful intimidate, as though he was analysing my features, remembering. "Yes, she does look slightly familiar… as though I have seen her face somewhere before… Someone I have met before…" After a short pause, his eyes then trailed down to Mudkip who was circling our feet in figure eights. "Hmm. Only one Pokemon out free. Still needs training. Means she's new to the Pokemon Training agenda. And this ship is on the way to Hoenn; I can only guess that she is either here on a trip to visit relatives, or she is planning to raise her Pokemon, challenge the gyms, and defeat the league in which-"
"Hey," I cut in angrily, "this pretty boy façade is wearing out fast. You could just ask me. I'm standing right here, you know?" If there's one thing I hate, it's being spoken about, and not spoken to.
"Oh my!" He gasped in horror. "I am terribly sorry. I seem to have a bad habit of talking to myself when I'm thinking about things," he chuckled lightly; his laughter as soft and delicate as wind chimes. "Do forgive me, Rylee."
"Yeah, yeah. Nothing to forgive." I waved. "Besides, I did almost practically kill you before anyway. Now we're even I guess."
"That we are, that we are," he smiled kindly in return. "Oh, I was on my way to the top deck before I bumped into you. Would you care to join me?"
"I was on my way up there myself, actually."
"Bravo, bravo! Let us enter the scene together then!" he exclaimed dramatically, linking our arms, and dragging me up the stairs, with Mudkip following close behind us.
We scaled the stairs, arm in arm, until we reached the glass door which was emanating with heat due to the vast amount of sunlight absorbed into the screen.
"Allow me," the elegant stranger bowed, and opened the door for me, ushering me to walk through.
"Why, thank you." I pretended to curtsy. It occurred to me then that I didn't even know his name. "Um… I'm sorry, I still don't know your name."
"I'm sure you'll learn it soon enough." He tipped his hat toward me, exposing more of his aqua coloured hair. "Until then, I have some business to take care of with the captain. Enjoy exploring the deck, Rylee Caine!" He yelled over his shoulder as turned to approach the Captain's quarters.
"Whoa! Wait!" I yelled after him. "How did you know my… last name…" I trailed off, realising that my attempts were futile. He was long gone.
Typical. Everyone knows something about me, and here I am, always left in the dark trying to piece things together.

I snickered and began scanning the deck for potentially wealthy opponents to battle.
"Now, I don't want to challenge anyone that's too strong for you yet, Mudkip." I spoke to my companion, as I bent down to stroke her gills. "We need to find a rich, unexperienced opponent who we can beat and win some cash from."
Mudkip butted her head hard against my shin.
"Oh. Right. And to train you, too." I smiled down at her. "Don't worry, I'm not just training you for the money."
"How dull. Because that's the only reason I have Pokemon battles."
I turned around and saw a young, probably 15 year old, teenage boy dressed in a white suit, tossing a Pokeball absent-mindedly in his hand.
"What do you want?" I asked harshly, rising to meet his gaze.
"How polite." He tutted. "The name's Trent. Trent Stone. Nephew of the great Mr. Stone - President of Devon Corporation and first cousin of Steven Stone, Hoenn's reigning Pokemon League Champion." Trent held out his hand. "And you are?"
I refused to shake such a pompous, little twerp's hand. "Rylee Caine," I say.
"Rylee Caine? That's it?" He scoffed as he retracted his hand, only to bury them both deep into his pockets. "No titles following? No infamous relatives? Nothing? Just plain old Rylee Caine? Hah!"
It took all my strength not to jam my fist into his jaw then and there.
"Yes, that's my name." I said through my tight lips which had somehow managed to form a vicious smile on their own accord.
He cocked one of his eyebrows up. "Well, Miss Caine, I am sorry to eaves drop upon your conversation before, but I thought I overheard you saying you wish to challenge someone to a Pokemon battle?"
And here was my chance to make this little twerp's ego hurt.
"Yes, you heard me correctly. Why? Are you offering to be my opponent?" I dared.
"It depends on whether that was an invitation or not," he smiled cunningly.
"Oh, that wasn't an invitation." I walked up close to him, almost flush with his suit. "That was a challenge."
He smirked, showing half of his bright, perfectly aligned teeth. What I wouldn't give to knock a few of them out of place.
"Then it is a challenge I will accept." He confirmed, shifting two steps back and bowing. "These are the conditions I battle under." He reached into his tuxedo pocket and gave me a shimmering card with his photo and battle details on it. "Be sure to read them before our battle. I expect you will be able to meet all of the conditions outlined on the card. If not, the battle is off."
He quickly glanced at his expensive silver watch. "Meet me here in 20 minutes." Trent stated as he turned his back to me. "I have a few things to set up first. Until then, I suggest you go practise a little. Because you'll need all the help you can get." He sauntered off along the side of the deck towards the pool house, leaving me to stand in the middle of the deck, surrounded by a few geriatric onlookers who went back to sunbathing when I caught them staring at me.

"Come on, Mudkip." I called, gripping the piece of card tightly. "Let's go fit in a little practise".
Because God only knows what kind of Pokemon we're about to go up against.

Well, that's that. If I'm still in the mood I'll continue writing the next chapter tonight.

Thanks guys!