Ash grimaced as someone else slammed an elbow into the small of his back. They muttered an apology but continued walking. He fought his way a couple more steps forward and felt his face break free of the crowd, staring over the water as he waited in line.

The SS Anne was a boat so large he doubted it was real. He had seen a few boats before, as Pallet Town got a lick of saltwater, but nothing of this size. It seemed like someone had taken Saffron City, the bubbling writhing mass of silver buildings and gleaming metal, and had tossed it into the water. Enormous and stretching from one end of the wooden deck to seemingly the horizon. He couldn't guess how long it was.

But he knew that the several thousand people it was able to hold were all gathering into their rooms, ready for the tournament and Cinnabar Island. Gripping his ticket tightly in his finger, he waited patiently in line until he reached a guard.

The man flashed him a keen look before accepting the ticket from his grip, staring it over with a steely eye. He flipped up a small tab and scanned the number underneath with a small machine. Only a couple seconds later, it beeped and he nodded, seemingly satisfied. "All right. You beat Surge, not bad, and that'll put you in the second class. The big ol' building in the middle has five floors - you're on the fourth, 2C49. If you have any questions, there are five crew members on every floor to assist you. Please enjoy your stay on the SS Anne."

Ash took back the ticket stub as a sort of memento, clambering onto the metal behemoth that in all actuality should not have floated with the size it was at. But that was no matter, he was just happy to be on it.

The sea breeze was thick and controlling, punching him in the nose and forcing him to only smell sheer salt and wind and algae and the water. Though overpowering, he adjusted quickly and took off his hat, letting the wind fool around with his hair for a second while he wiped sweat from his brow. The sun hadn't relented in several hours and the metal of the boat didn't make for cooler temperatures.

He padded along, heading toward the enormous building the sailor had talked about. Other people trotted alongside him, chattering happily. He didn't have anyone to talk to but that was fine with him, slipping into the air conditioned bottom floor and entering a gleaming elevator with four other people.

There were six buttons, 1C, 2C, 3C, 4C, and TC, which he guessed stood for Trainer Class. The bottom was locked and said Basement. He got a few strange looks from the well dressed people in the elevator when he pressed second class.

He definitely did notice the difference in their clothing. A suit, button downs, even a pencil skirt as compared to t-shirt and shorts well worn and covered in a few splotches of mud and embers. Vulpix hadn't held back in her training.

But as he managed to find his way to his room and dodged a simpering couple that looked like they had enough money to buy his first born child, the self-consciousness dripped off his shoulder. He might never be back in a room of this wealth and luxury and he was going to enjoy it.

There were two styles of room on every floor, barring trainer rooms. One for pokemon and one for not. Surge, quite obviously, handed out rooms that were made for pokemon. Ash grinned as he walked around.

Bigger than the largest room in his house, covered in gentle thick carpet that swallowed his feet. Two enormous beds on one side, a more human sized one tucked into the corner with curtains draping over every side. A sort of bean bag thing tucked in one side. An enormous fish tank with a protective removable seal on top to prevent spillage while traveling overseas stretched an entire wall and on the side opposite to her were three perches that looked like they could support a snorlax. A few more pieces of expensive furniture - a desk, several chairs, coffee table - were scattered around, and he was sure the bathroom was even more impressive. Only peeking in for a second showed that - the bathtub was as large as most hot tubs. Everything was super sized and expensive, though there was a certain simpering sweetness meant to brag about.

It was a bit annoying, but for now he just laid down on the nearest pokemon bed, feeling his back sink into the fluffy mattress. This was one part he would happily take on his journey with him.

The tournament, he guessed started tomorrow and someone would announce it tonight. While the room was brilliant, he had a fair amount of time to explore it. So he set down his bag, stripping from his dirty clothes and tossing them down a laundry shoot, and changed quickly. His pokeballs settled comfortably on his hips as he left the room.


He didn't have anyone to explore with, which was a rather prominent thought. While Gary would probably have been able to win the ticket and Leaf probably would punch Surge for it, he knew the boy was off visiting the breeder he had worked so hard to get to and he hadn't seen Leaf either time in Vermillion. A nice thought, but he didn't have his friends here. Well. All of them.

A hand resting protectively over his pokeballs, he started to push through the crowd to find his way to where the tournament would be. Catching the trail of a few trainers, he followed them to find himself in a sort of battle arena, similar to an enormously shrunken Indigo Conference one. Two fields, both plain dirt that was easiest to clean, though one was much bigger than the other.

There was a woman perched on a metal platform in between both fields, gripping a microphone. Rather pretty, long blonde hair and shining brown eyes. She pursed her lips, looking over the gathering crowd of trainers. Once she deemed it loud enough, she tapped her finger against the microphone.

The sound shut up all conversations and all of them stared up at her, ready. There was a grin on her face.

"Welcome, trainers!" She barked to the crowd, her voice like she had just swallowed a pound of honey. "You ready for the tournament?"

A cheer in response, one that only grew when she tossed her microphone into the air, where it began to float. It took him a second but he found the kadabra, spoon gleaming, perched on the opposite side of the closest field.

"My name is Eliza, and I'll be heading your tournament for this trip! Now, we've decided to make things a bit more fair, since our brilliant private breeder has offered us two rare pokemon to tickle your fancies. Two tournaments, split by badges."

Ash frowned. Three badges didn't put him above the line, which he was guessing was five badges. That was most likely for the better, as he didn't quite want to tackle a master on their way to their fourth Conference.

"Four and below for one, five and above for the other. Nothing too bad, but that's also so we can get a reasonable number. For some reason, more of you guys came once we announced a pokemon prize!"

Another cheer, which Eliza took the time to reach behind her and grab two pokeballs from a thin table. "Would you like to meet them?"

The sound was deafening. Ash kept quiet, slipping a few feet closer. Another member for his team would be nice, no matter what species. They had seemed very proud of these two pokemon, however.

"The prizes are as follows - fourth place gets one thousand dollars and three ultra balls, the newest Silph Co invention!" The kadabra floated a pokeball into the air, one that gleamed bright yellow and black. It seemed very sophisticated, like everything else on the boat, though he had heard rumors of its strength while catching pokemon.

"Third place! Two thousand dollars and another three ultra balls! Second place is three thousand dollars and five ultra balls." She got closer to the microphone, a grin on her face. "And first place wins you a whopping ten thousand dollars and one of these pokemon!"

Another cheer, and Eliza threw the first pokeball, the one for the younger tournament.

The pokemon that appeared was pink, that was his first thought. A bright pink circle with pink stubby arms and pink legs tipped with silver claws. Two triangular ears tipped with dark brown and a curl of fur over its forehead. A clefairy.

He blinked and added his voice to the thunderous cheer spreading over the crowd. That was rare, more so than he had thought. Only native to Mount Moon, though they migrated elsewhere occasionally, the fairy type pokemon were extremely hard to find and many trainers spend months hunting them down for one reason - dragon attacks didn't hurt them. They were immune, though he didn't know the specifics. To be honest, he hadn't even expected to encounter one of the rare types.

The crowd roared as the clefairy chirped, raising one hand to wave. The two pokemon had obviously been briefed, if its brief show off with a flicker of fairy type energy was anything to go off by. After a second, Eliza recalled it. "A dragon finishing machine! Try to challenge Lance with that one! But for our older tournament, we've brought a competitor!"

A green little thing, covered in thick scales and paler underbelly. There was an emerald fin on the top of its head and a lighter shade covering a sort of collar around its neck, very small claws on its feet. Two tusks extended out of its mouth, crimson eyes flashing.

An axew? Seriously? Whoever this breeder was, Ash needed to talk to him. Those two types were extremely rare and could - and would - be powerhouses if raised right. While an axew would have been brilliant there was no way he'd turn down a clefairy.

"The ferocious dragon!" Eliza bellowed over the roar of the crowd, gesturing to the pokemon who was already rearing back and clawing at the air with Scratch. "Fully grown, it'll take down anything anyone puts in front of you! Who wants to win these pokemon!"

By the sound, Ash was rather guessing he'd have a fearsome crowd to face. He turned to stare over at Vermillion City even as the crowds left, Eliza announcing the younger tournament would take place tomorrow and would extend into the next day while the older trainers would take a considerable longer amount of time and would probably stretch into the entire trip.

After about twenty minutes, the SS Anne trembled under his feet, letting loose an annoyed rumble. A crew member sent out his pidgeot, which grabbed several enormous ropes tying the ship to the dock. It brought them back on deck, placing them into a neat pile. Someone kicked the engine into gear and the boat began to move, sliding over the waves as it made its way toward Cinnabar Island.

This tournament would push him, he knew that. Brock had been difficult and Misty had caused him a few problems. Surge had nearly broke them, but this tournament would be a trial of fire. If he got everything perfect, they'd come out on top. If he didn't, they'd be burnt all the way to Cinnabar Island.

He rather doubted Apep would let anything of the matter occur.

Grinning, Ash made his way back to his room. He had a few strategies to prepare.


The next day dawned bright and early, the light streaming through his shining windows. It had taken him an extra long while to fall asleep with the gentle rocking of the boat but he woke up bright and ready, pokemon scattered in various states of disarray around the room. Siren had smacked into the aquarium and hadn't left since, Vulpix rather surprisingly tried out the bean bag before deciding she didn't like it and heading back to Ash. Ro took the beanbag after she left. Ash slept on one of the pokemon beds, which were slightly tougher and more what he was used to. The large size meant Vulpix and Apep were able to fully stretch over his body without worrying about falling off, which was nice.

But today was the tournament, and he had an hour to prepare.

The food was heavenly. By sheer force of being second class, he had been ushered to a special cafeteria and given a tray filled with all of his wondrous desires. Meat, berries, potatoes, rice, bread, eggs, everything - he ate blissfully, rather annoyed he couldn't release his pokemon alongside him as well. Though it made sense. Releasing Apep in the room would kind of suck for other people who didn't necessarily want a fifteen foot long snake avidly watching them eat steak.

He finished slowly, savoring, before trotting up to the main floor, the deck. Gentle music teased its way out of crevices and the waves bounced off the tall steel water, occasionally tossing a spray to wet down people's hair. A few flying types wheeled overhead, most of them from the crew themselves. There were always warnings of gyarados in the waters and protection was very handy.

But the tournament sang so he trotted toward the fields again. Below the metal platform was a large sheet of plastic, one which names were written. The challengers. Fighting his way forward, he found he was facing someone named Jin Appel. Probably someone from out of Kanto, which made sense. The SS Anne traveled to most everywhere, and it could probably hitch a few out-of-state travelers.

He was the fourth match, and so settled back with his pokemon and watched the three matches before him. Nothing too bad, though there was someone with a beedrill that had fought pretty well. During the third match, he crept down and waited his turn.

The field seemed rather small as he walked onto his side, another kadabra having joined the first and raising psychic barriers. Smaller than Brock's field and Surge's, though for Misty her's had been a pool. Plain dirt with a few scattered rock piles.

Jin walked onto the other side of the field, bouncing a bit nervously. He didn't look any older than Ash himself, which was nice. Narrow glasses perched on his nose, tousled brown hair that had a permanent cow lick despite his attempts to swish it back. Traveler clothes but not those that had seen a lot of use - a more casual user, then. Well. He could fight that.

"Here we have Jin Appel from Rustboro City and Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!" She made an exaggerated motion of flipping a coin, staring at the results. "Jin, you have been chosen to throw first!"

The boy frowned at the words and danced his finger along four pokeballs, finally plucking the second. With a flash, a mawile appeared, smacking its jaws together and giggling with a rusted, twanging sound.

Steel and fairy, though clefairy would only add to the kid's fairy types. It seemed well cared for, yellow skin bright and the black over its secondary mouth shimmering. Its teeth were sharp.

But he growled at the typing. Fairy was weak to poison but steel made it invulnerable, which really sucked. He had wanted to keep Apep and Ro more hidden until the last rounds and really had wanted to start with Siren, but she didn't have any advantages, which he didn't really want to risk in a one on one. Steel type, huh.

He grabbed his third pokeball and threw it onto the field.

Vulpix appeared with a snarl, slamming her three tails into the ground and barking out a challenge. Though she growled in annoyance at the heavy presence of sea mist, there was nothing in her that wasn't ready to battle. Jin blanched at the fire type but straightened again, pushing his glasses back angrily. Vulpix sat back at the sight of the steel type, emitting a chuffing noise. Laughter.

Ash grinned. The kid had trained well, but he hadn't prepared for Vulpix. No one could.

Eliza slashed her hand down. "Begin!"

Jin grappled for the first move. "0,0, ready for battle!"

Ash blinked, but Mawile reacted instantly, rushing forward with a kind of leaping, frolicking movement. It glanced around the battlefield, brownish eyes flicking over the sides of field and seeming to… calculate? The next second, it darted forward to stand directly in the middle of the field.

Vulpix barked, head tilted, though she still didn't worry. Shaking herself casually, a few embers flew off of her fur and crackled against the ground. Mawile hissed at the fire, tensing her claws.

"180 degrees, prepare for number 5, full psi!" Jin barked, hands in fists. There was a gleam in his eyes as he stared over the battlefield.

Ash had to figure this out. "Vulpix, circle it, don't get hit," he called softly, trusting her ears. She flicked one back in acknowledgment. "I'll figure out what its doing - if it attacks, Ember - and we'll see our strategy from there."

She looked a bit disappointed she wouldn't get to burn the field like in Surge's gym, but Ash had no plans to keep her upset for long. As soon as he figured out this kid's idea and how to fight it, she could go nuts.

Wait.

Psi - that was something he actually recognized. It was something used to measure bite strength, the League had developed it to selectively breed stronger pokemon. Number 5 could mean Bite, full psi meant full strength?

180 degrees became readily apparent as Mawile turned around until its back faced Vulpix, mouth opening into a savage grin. The kid was using a graph as a cipher to distract his opponents, and hell, it was working. That had taken far too long to figure out, even though he now knew the idea.

"Don't get too close," he warned, "It's going to use Bite."

Jin narrowed his eyes. "1,3! Strategy 3!"

Arceus, this was frustrating. By the time he roughly figured out that meant run forward, Mawile had already sprung at Vulpix with its strange, shuffling movement, baring glistening fangs. Vulpix kicked her four legs into gear and darted around the pokemon, running around to launch an attack from the other side, but Mawile leapt forward, landing Bite on Vulpix's shoulder with its regular mouth.

Ash blinked. While the move wasn't nearly as effective as if Mawile had gotten its enormous fangs into Vulpix, using its small fangs was ingenious. Most people only focused on the pokemon's larger weapon. He had to admit the kid was good, as annoying as his cipher was to face.

Vulpix hissed and shook herself, violently ripping Mawile off. The pokemon shrieked, sounding like grating metal, revealing burns lining the inside of its mouth and one blackened tooth. Jin blinked. "Your vulpix can't have Flame Body! That's impossible!"

Ash promptly ignored him. "Change it up a bit, Vul! Fire Whip!"

She stared the Mawile was dark eyes, her pride wounded from being attacked. The wound on her shoulder slowly cauterized as heat spread over her form, her tails frozen stiff as the air shimmered above them. This little… thing had managed to stumble forward and hurt her. She really had no idea what it was beside extremely irritating, and so decided to give it the respect it deserved.

Her Will-O-Wisps burn particularly bright, and Ash was well aware of how much they would hurt. Burns from those were never fun.

Tails glowing, she separated her three and used them all to each smack a single Will-O-Wisp, sending three burning streaks through the air.

Jin grinned. "Fractal!"

Ash barely bit back a groan. Another code name. He couldn't help but scowl as Mawile raised its hands and something flickered to life beyond its fingers, a sort of faded green disturbance in the air. Protect.

But not. It was visible as pieces shimmering out of place, like a broken mirror wrapped around the pokemon. Mawile also had no apparent strain and after putting its hands up to use the move, it let them drop again, able to keep the move up with only sheer mental force. Not that draining, which Protect always was.

The Will-O-Wisps thudded against the Fractal, instantly dimming and falling to the ground. Mawile squeaked and jumped back from the scattering embers, the shield still staying up.

"Ember. Test the shield."

Vulpix spat a ball of fire, one that Mawile's eyes widened at. The flames broke past the Fractal nearly instantly and slammed into the pokemon's face.

It shrieked with rage, golden face darkening with a burn. Under another hurried command from Jin, it sprang backward and a little to the right, presumably to 0, -1.

Fractal was just a weakened Protect, one that could stop status moves like Will-O-Wisp but not anything more powerful, like Ember. The kid had created Safeguard without having to buy the TM. Clever.

But Ash was onto Jin now, and while the kid was smart and had many useful tools on his side, he didn't have Vulpix. "Vulpix! Burn it!"

Vulpix howled, nose pointed toward the sky. The sun overhead, brilliant and unblocked by any cloud or shade, seemed to glow as she extended her power into the world around her. Fire spilled from underneath her ears as she reared back and slammed her front paws into the ground.

A shockwave born of fire burst from underneath her, creeping over the field. Mawile created another Fractal to block it but the heat began to get to it, causing the pokemon to shriek in pain.

Vulpix exploded toward Mawile, fire crackling over her fur. It wasn't Flame Charge - there wasn't enough speed or power, though he'd never mention that to Vulpix - but the strength of her pride was able to carry her straight through the Fractal and barreling into the stunned Mawile.

It caterwauled, raising its fists and slamming them into Vulpix's side. She used Mawile's chest as a springboard and leapt back, form blurred with Quick Attack. Jin apparently thought she were stopping her attack and fleeing, calling out, "Fairy Wind!"

Mawile didn't have very many ranged moves. That was a shame. Vulpix's Flamethrower was well capable of eating the burst of pink tinged air for breakfast and continuing to race toward Mawile.

Though, at Jin's shriek of "Number 7!", Mawile did manage to perform Iron Defense, crouching in on itself and letting steel energy crawl over its skin. The second before it finished, a wall of fire slammed into it.

Vulpix cocked her head, staring into the flames, but she didn't make another move to attack, at least not up close. She spat an Ember seemingly for good luck toward Mawile before pressing her shoulder into the flames, letting it heal over. Then she trotted back to Ash, yipping happily.

Mawile had been good and Jin rather smart, but it just didn't have enough fire power. If it had used more fearsome attacks to ground Vulpix instead of nipping and trying to protect itself, then the battle might have been changed. As the fire retreated, Ash only caught a glimpse of blackened fur before Jin recalled his pokemon, eyes a bit wide.

But after a second, he shook his head, a light smile on his face, and held up his pokeball. Eliza turned back toward him, caught sight of the recalled pokemon, and immediately started clapping. The onlookers did so as well.

"And Ash Ketchum's explosive vulpix brings him to a win! Congratulations to Ash!"

The clapping continued for a while, a few watchers whistling. Ash scratched the back of his neck, kneeling down and calling Vulpix over to him. He hadn't ever had people cheering for him after a battle and it was a bit of a worrying experience, almost frightening. Weeks of the routes hadn't prepared him for this many people's attention fixed on him.

Vulpix chuffed into his palm, spitting out a glob of fire on the battlefield to rid herself of some extra heat. He scratched behind her ears, grinning. "You did great, girl. I'm really proud of you. No one could have done better!"

Her expression clearly agreed with him, and he laughed as he recalled her. Escaping off of the battlefield, he walked toward the pokemon healing station. Though it wasn't a Pokecenter, the attendants there all had warm smiles and dozens of pokemon healing machines, which would have cost Silph Co thousands, if not a million. Those things were immensely expensive. They asked a few questions before slipping Vulpix into a quick healer after he told them he had another battle today. Though she might be a bit sore, she should she be able to fight if he called her out again.

The next level of battles weren't released yet, as the first matches were still going on. He walked back and sat in the seats, pulling his hat a bit lower to block the blistering sun. While Vulpix loved it and it had helped her in battle, the heat was edging over handable and settling into annoying. At least his room had strong air conditioning. Maybe he'd look into getting an ice type just to cool down.

The battles went well, the final one having someone with an espeon crushing a primeape, its trainer accepting the applause with a cool bow.

His battle was first, a bit surprisingly, versing someone named Giselle Overgreen. She immediately walked toward the opposite side of the field, which left him with the sun in his eyes. Sighing, he pulled his hat lowered over his head and trotted up to his place, four pokeballs on his waist. While he didn't want to release Apep, he would probably try to stick with Siren or Ro for this round. If he constantly fought with Vulpix without giving her much of a break, she would get tired, no matter the healers on board.

People cheered as he walked onto the field, hands resting on his pokeballs. He didn't quite know how this battle would go, even as he stared across the field at Giselle. She didn't seem to be the type to go backpacking across Kanto but confidence gleamed in her eyes. Strong, almost to the point of arrogant?

But it was pathetically easy to see that she hadn't traveled across Kanto. Her clothes were perfect and neat and while she could have just bought them for the show, her skin was a flawless white that seemed like only a few beams of sunlight had hit it. She flustered a bit in the heat, adjusting her long dress that looked like it more belonged in a wedding that a pokemon tournament. Her whole appearance gave the idea of a nose turned up, snobby. He was willing to bet she hadn't fought Surge to be on this boat.

She had actually placed a sort of badge on her chest, one proudly announcing she was first class. It was the kind of thing that she could say she used to remember her room number but no, it was to brag.

But whatever she was before, she was his opponent now. An opponent he was going to beat.

Eliza flicked another coin after announcing them, and he was throwing first. Annoying, because he hadn't seen Giselle fight before and had no idea of her pokemon.

Siren chittered happily, staring over the field onto the endless gleam of blue waves and crashing seafoam. It was her home, even though she'd been so close to shore when he had caught her. Something brightened in her dead eyes as sea spray cracked against the side of the boat and a drizzle of water splattered against the psychic barriers.

Giselle sniffed, raising her voice to be heard over the field. It was a bit shrill. "A water type? How pathetic. I'll show you a real one!" With a smirk, she tossed her pokeball.

A cloyster appeared on the field. Ash brightened at the sight - he had always loved ice types, and while there were few in Kanto that didn't mean they weren't powerful. Cloyster were water and ice types, which both gave them an advantage and a disadvantage against dragon types. It was a nice size, its shell hardened and its spikes shining. Peeking out from inside its shell, it gave a wicked grin with it peculiar face. Siren returned it, showing far too many shark teeth.

Ash flashed a grin over the field. "Thanks for the kind words!" Eliza slashed her hand down. "Siren, Absorb. Keep your energy up," he said, keeping his voice low. Siren didn't have incredible ears like Ro and Vulpix, but she was close enough to let him avoid Giselle hearing his plan.

She kept her moves slow, flapping her arms as if she needed them to stay afloat. Only Ash saw the thin gleam of green energy crackle toward Cloyster as she dipped toward the ground.

Siren brightened, chittering, as Cloyster winced, though not by much. Cloyster was a bit too large for Siren to pick up in her tentacles, although the weight wouldn't matter. A few slaps from her arms could poison it and Shock Waves and Night Shades could finish it off. Not bad. Giselle hadn't noticed the Absorb, which only made things easier.

"Cloyster, Ice Shard. Knock the unseemly creature out," Giselle said, flapping her hands.

Normally, Ash would have gotten upset at someone insulting his pokemon, but now it was all he could do to keep his laughter in. This was her trash talking skills? Forget traveling across Kanto, this kid had never left her fancy house before in her life.

Cloyster inhaled, blowing out a burst of freezing air. Water solidified into a dozen shards of ice, twitching in midair. Another movement and they fired at Siren, chilling the air around them.

Siren dropped, letting them thud harmlessly on the psychic barriers behind her. Ash's whisper of "Night Shade." went unnoticed by Giselle. He had to test this thing's defenses.

Her arms flickering with shadows, Siren bobbed higher into the air. Giselle frowned at her, mouth opening, when Siren giggled. High and shrill, the sound flashed over the battlefield. Ash had become desensitized to it but he couldn't deny the sheer creep factor behind the human-like sound of laughter.

Thankfully, Giselle was promptly distracted enough with shooting off a list of twenty billion commands he couldn't hear for Siren to launch two sickeningly black Night Shades at her opponent.

One slammed into its face, eliciting a shriek. It flashed with Withdraw, letting the second wash harmlessly over its shell. High defenses, but it hadn't been trained for endurance before. He wanted to know what happened when he cracked it with a super effective move.

Giselle's list of command came into play. Cloyster hesitantly peeked out once again, mouth gaping. A burning rainbow built in its mouth, flashes of every color under the sun in an effect that was almost hypnotic.

Cloyster launched the attack rather quickly while Siren was still lording over her hits and the ice type slammed into her side with a startling hiss. Two of her tentacles were gleaming with ice, though she smashed them off and leveled Cloyster with a furious glare. Ghost energy leaked over her arms.

Ash called to her. "Focus on me, girl! Highest point you can do, then Shock Waves, back to back. Don't let it escape."

Though it wasn't the up close and personal way she liked to fight, the idea of blasting the creature was appealing. Chittering, she raised one arm above her and began to float up, feeling for the psychic barriers. Around fifty feet off of the ground she found the top, settling a few feet below. The height strained her slightly but it was easily manageable with the constant energy from Absorb.

Electricity crackled over her arms, though it never dipped beneath her skin. She had worked too hard to let the move rebound on her.

Cloyster hissed at the sight of the yellow currents and shook itself violently. The spikes over its shell, rather long and fearsome, detached their outer layer, though Ash knew they would regrow quickly. A dozen and some change spikes floated with Spike Cannon before Cloyster fired them at Siren.

One problem of being pressed against the ceiling was that she couldn't dodge very well. Half of the spikes slammed into her chest, sending her screeching into pain. The electricity roared as it fired off her arm, only to splash harmlessly against a hastily erupted Protect.

Giselle laughed at his scowl. "You think I didn't load my precious pokemon up with TMs? Cloyster is more powerful than your weak, unevolved pokemon could ever hope to be-"

Two arching beams of crackling lightning fired off of Siren's arms, curved through the air to go around the Protect, and slammed into Cloyster's head.

His hypothesis was correct. Giselle, for all her bluster, hadn't trained her Cloyster in enduring super effective hits or overall defense. It shrieked with pain, writhing as electrical currents raced over its body and shell, before collapsing to the ground. Its Protect shattered above its head.

Eliza grinned. "And the frillish wins the fight! Giselle, please release your next pokemon! Ash, do you wish to switch yours out?"

He made eye contact with Siren, ignoring the twinge, and copied her head shake. "No thank you."

Giselle frowned, pursed her lips, and sent out her next pokemon. He blinked.

A graveler, not that exotic. But what was strange was that it wasn't the regular stone that made up most rock stones, excluding the few made of dirt or clay. Instead, it was a reddish color, its stones mostly grey but with scarlet tips, a sunset stretching its last rays over rock, though there wasn't enough red to be striking.

He had read about this. By feeding two geodude only a certain type of rock for their entire lives, they would produce a baby with a slight change in stone, like this one, who seemed partially granite. It took dozens of years to get right and had absolutely no effect whatsoever on the pokemon except for looks. Maybe in contests that would be an interesting thing to see, but on a battlefield, it was just colors. Colors that he was going to slam into the ground.

And it wouldn't even be difficult. Both rock and ground types had a disadvantage to water moves, and her fancy-smancy graveler was no different. Why in the world had she sent out such a disadvantaged pokemon?

His answer came as Giselle sniffed and flapped her hand again. "Yes, I only take the highest quality pokemon for my team. Graveler, Hidden Power. Wrap this up, won't you?"

Her pokemon grunted and pounded two fists together, shooting Ash into a short flashback of fighting Brock in his gym. While that had been a two on one, he still remembered some of its weak spots. Legs, back of head, directly in the face. Hidden Power was a tricky move - depending on the pokemon, it could be any sort of type. Judging by Giselle's smirk, it was probably something strong against Siren.

Graveler bellowed again, bringing its hands around to its front. Cradling them together, it spat something glowing in between its palms. After a second, it released a writhing mass of green energy toward Siren.

She tilted her head, chittering, and pushed her arms in front. A ball of water appeared, pulled from her very own cells, and she blew into it, embedding fearsome water energy into it. Eventually she could immediately place in the energy inside, but for now, Water Pulse was just what she needed. Firing it forward, it met the grass Hidden Power head on and exploded.

"Water Sport," he called softly, timing it so he gave the command just as Giselle demanded another Hidden Power, covering his voice.

Siren hissed smugly, shaking herself. Globs of water escaped from her skin, amassing around her in a shield of water. She raised her arms and flung them over the field, pushing the water with her tentacles.

Since she was so high, it almost seemed like it was raining. Droplets smacked against the dirt, changing the hard packed surface into something muddier and thicker. Graveler roared with fury as water trickled over its reddish stones, slipping through to press against its core. Ash grinned.

Giselle's pokemon weren't bad, that was true. She was cocky but her pokemon listened to her commands. But she made amateur mistakes, relying on one effective move to knock Siren out and not thinking about the fact that Ash still had another pokemon. It would have been better to knock out Siren with an effective pokemon or several effective moves before focusing on his next pokemon.

"Bubble Beam," he said. While Water Gun would have been nice with its direct beam of water, she couldn't learn that and bubbles exploded on impact.

She giggled as she opened her mouth, firing out shotgun blasts of bubbles that darted toward Graveler, who tucked its arms in and rolled away. But Siren merely swept her head from side to side and kept launching Bubble Beams. They connected in an explosion of water as Graveler roared.

Siren stopped to take breath and Giselle lunged for the opportunity. "Graveler, Magnitude!"

Ash blinked, but the pokemon did as commanded. It placed its hands on the ground before jumping into the air, bellowing. The sheer weight behind the move sent a terrific tremor over the ground, shaking rocks from their piles and making a quaver Ash could feel from his position.

Siren, still floating high in the air, chittered in confusion.

"That's not fair!" Giselle shrieked over the field. "Your pokemon can't have the ability Levitate, therefore it's not immune to my ground attacks. It should have been hit by that Magnitude!"

Ash couldn't even understand where she was coming from and shrugged. "Tell that to general logic. If she's not on the ground, she's not going to be hit."

Giselle growled, thinking hard. Ash took the advantage. "Siren, close range Bubble Beam. Make it count."

She giggled again, bloodlust shining in her eyes, but he was confident in his ability to control her. Though she was still a ghost type, he knew she respected him and would follow his instructions, even though he couldn't take her hunger away from her. Avoiding any ghost moves during her second battle was another method to keep her attitude to a minimum.

Drawing from the water around her, she hissed and opened her mouth. More bubbles appeared, these ones larger and full of the explosive energy that hurt the most. Giselle's eyes widened, and she shrieked out one final command- "Self-Destruct!"

Ash cursed just as Graveler closed its eyes and began to glow. Siren backpedaled but couldn't escape as a brilliant explosion of light snapped out from the rock pokemon and expanded outward. A touch of heat brushed against the psychic barriers in front of him, almost uncomfortable.

It didn't take a genius to realize that both of their pokemon were knocked out. He recalled Siren quickly, whispering congratulations to her through the pokeball. He could have sworn it shook slightly as he clipped it to his belt.

Giselle stared over the field, fists clenched. Without a word, she recalled her pokemon and stalked off the field. He watched her go with slight amusement - what had she expected, the Self-Destruct would not only knock out Siren but his next pokemon as well?

Eliza raised her hand. "And another stunning win with Ash! Let's see how he does in the next match!"

He grinned and not quite scampered from the field. He still didn't like the attention.

That night, he dropped off most of his supplies in his room before heading back onto the deck. It was only an hour or so before midnight and most everyone was asleep, regaining their energy. He just stood there, hands braced against the rail, looking over the seemingly endless expanse of tumbling blue waters.

The waves were almost black, watching the violet sky above. They crashed randomly, white tips slamming against the metal hull of the ship with enough strength to get his chin wet, but even the sheer power of the sea couldn't fight against the SS Anne while in its current form. A storm, maybe they'd have more problems, but the boat had been designed for rough seas and water behemoths lying beneath the surface.

He didn't have anyone to talk to, but he was here for introspection instead of conversation.

Watching the dark ceiling of the sky above him, he searched for both constellations and his thoughts. Tomorrow there would be another two on two and after that, the finales. He was confident in his skill level but there had been some intensely powerful trainers that he had seen. One had creamed the competition in both his first and second match with a slim primeape, using lightning fast punches and never seeming to stay in one spot for longer than a second. Another slammed with pure power, using an electabuzz with seemingly endless amounts of sheer electricity. No matter which one he fought, he knew he had at least several ideas to bring it down.

Ro hadn't seen any use yet so far in the tournament, and the nidorino was getting pent up with frustration. He wasn't a very battle hungry pokemon, actually Ash's least battle-ready pokemon, despite his strength and size. Being kingsize had probably made him the leader of his herd in the wild and he hadn't needed to battle anyone in order to stay in control, which he had happily accepted. But he needed to still do something, use his energy and strength, instead of just being in Ash's pokeball or room all day. Despite being a laid back pokemon, Ro got twitchy and pent up rather quickly. Ash feared for a day where he might have to leave his nidorino alone for longer than three days. There might be disasters ready to happen.

He still didn't know where to go with him. When the nidorino had joined so long ago, Ash had convinced him with potions and the promise to keep him safe. The pokemon accepted battling well enough and definitely seemed to enjoy it, but he didn't know what Ro wanted anymore. With the strength he was at, few pokemon could challenge him in the wild. Though Ash guessed he enjoyed the lack of fighting for his life out in the wild, it still didn't make full sense to him. Another wave crashed against the hull, echoing with a distant whine of some hunting beast.

But there wasn't a way he knew how to ask the poison type without making it seem like he wanted to get rid of the pokemon, which was never something he wanted to have happened until Ro wanted it. He thought Ro was happy, he always had a happy chuff and a brush against his legs when he came out of the pokeball. And battling seemed to be fun for him, even when he lost. While he did like physical moves, he appreciated ranged moves much more, though getting hurt didn't bother him that much.

He'd find a way to ask him, but not tonight. A buzz interrupted his thoughts.

The deck intercoms came on, buzzing softly with static, their regular volume lowered greatly to keep the sleeping passengers comfortable. "For those on the deck, we have a clear night tonight. So if you take a long look to your left, you'll be able to see the southern curve of Kanto, only a hundred miles away from Fuschia City!"

He narrowed his eyes, extending his gaze over the writhing curls of the ocean. And indeed, far off in the distance, a black mound huddled against the horizon, perched neatly in the darkness of the waves. Fuschia was his destination after he beat Erika, though he might explore a bit after that. If he beat Blaine on Cinnabar and then the grass type gym leader, he'd have five badges. The limit that kept him from a lot of places would break and let him explore more dangerous approaches to training.

A grin on his face, he watched the land of Kanto fade in the distance until it flickered and was gone. He drew out a pokeball and tossed it next to him, letting scarlet light spill over his legs.

Siren chittered as she was released, tensing as if ready for battle, but she quickly relaxed once she saw Ash standing next to him. Her arms flicked out and tapped his shoulder, tentacles pushing against the air to raise her high enough to stare into his eyes. He smiled and tapped her back.

"Hey, Siren. I wanted to let you relax a little." She chittered a bit confusedly, tilting her head.

He gestured to the ocean and watched her eyes go wide.

She made a sort of singing sound, flying higher into the air to stare over the edge of the protective railing. A wave splashed against the hull and she sighed happily as a drizzle of water and mist slip onto her body, smoothing down her skin.

"You can go explore for a little, but make sure to come back and avoid any battles with wild pokemon, okay? I don't want you to be hurt before a battle tomorrow, okay? Although I know you'd win."

She chittered back at him, pleased, before looking back at the world of water stretching before her. With one final look at him and receiving a nod, she plunged into the waves and almost instantly disappeared from sight.

Two glowing red eyes and the faintest flash of pink was the only sign he got as he watched Siren leap and splash above the waves, calling out with reckless abandon. Another trainer peered over the railing and nearly pulled out his pokeballs before Ash told him that she was his. A few awkward moments before they both went their separate ways and Ash went back to watching his water type swim through the water she was made of. A smile flashed across his face.

Tomorrow was the big day. He wasn't going to let it slip by him.


Eliza stretched in front of the crowd, letting them cheer as she held the coin in her hand. Ash stared across the field at his contestant.

Ceana Kilkor looked nothing like Giselle. Her clothes were trainer clothes, worn and ripped and used. Her hair dripped off her skull as a pale waterfall, tied back tight in a ponytail. Dark eyes gleamed across the battlefield as she stood there, six pokeballs over her waist. Her features were bony, sharp. Cheekbones high enough to grapple for room with her eyes and a narrow chin, thin mouth. There was something rough about her, tense. An alley poochyena, fighting for food and water and life. Battle ready, almost hungry.

And then there was the misshapen black mass hovering over her shoulder.

He had no idea what had made the five unown attach themselves together but there they were, black lines and circles mismatched together with five glaring eyes perched in the middle. It bobbed slightly in the air, psychic energy trickling away from its body.

Not much was known about the unown. They came from seemingly nowhere, clumped in small groups as they hovered in the air, mainly found in ruins with high psychic potential. Johto wasn't completely full of them, but it had the highest collection. Strange things were said to happen when many unown gathered together, reality distorting and strange visions appearing. There was only one move they could ever learn, Hidden Power, but that could be any type for each unown.

Flipping the coin, Eliza looked at the result and sucked in a breath, shaking her head. "Ah, tough luck, Ash. You release your pokemon first yet again! Remember, this is a two on two."

Ash scowled. He had very much wanted Ceana to release her pokemon first so he could use Vulpix in the battle, saving his two poison types until the final battle so their power could come as a surprise. But if he released Vulpix now, there was always the chance Ceana had a water type she could use, and then he'd have to recall one of his pokemon.

But judging by the psychic type over her shoulder, this might be a curious battle. Tossing his pokeballs onto the field, he watched his pokemon appear.

Ro rumbled. He had been briefed shortly that morning, though he snorted at the psychic barriers that flared golden in trying to contain him. Siren chittered to Ash, floating over to him through the psychic barriers. They grew dim as she grew near, but the psychics were too powerful for a ghost type to fully disrupt them. That would be devastating to the ship if the barriers failed during a particularly devastating battle.

He let her tap his shoulder, reaching up to gently set his hand next to her collared ruff. She chittered happily, but he frowned at the remains of a bruise spreading over her chest. Graveler's Self-Destruct had been terrible and he wouldn't be able to use her in the finale, no matter type advantages. She would just be too injured.

Ceana smiled. "No vulpix, then?" She said softly, her voice gentle yet carrying over the field. He nodded tersely back.

She readied a pokeball, the first one on her waist. Ceana turned her attention to the unown behind her, smiling softly. She gestured to the field, but Eliza raised her hand and her voice.

"Ceana, please remember that your appeal was rejected. Only League registered hive minds can be labeled as single pokemon, such as magneton, and your 'prime unown' unfortunately counts as five pokemon. Please only select one of them for this battle," she said, shrugging her shoulders in a 'what-can-I-do' motion.

Ceana's smile dropped from her face and a frosty scowl replaced it. She stared back over the field, eyeing the growling nidorino and chittering ghost type. Her eyes flicked back toward her prime unown, which floated closer to be directly by her side.

She shook her head at one, shifting her finger to point to another. Ash blinked, trying to figure out what she was doing, when it suddenly clicked. Unown only had one move, Hidden Power, he already knew that. But every pokemon had a different type they used, and she had five pokemon in front of her. She was probably finding the one with the most effective type to use against his pokemon.

In the end, she managed to pick one unown, though she looked like she had been thinking between two different ones. It detached itself from the rest of its group with a visible sag in its motions, wanting to be back with its group. But the next second it zipped onto the field, humming softly.

Ceana's next pokemon was less exotic but more worrying.

An espeon, pink fur neatly smoothed back, appeared onto the battlefield, stretching languishing and curling its forked tail over its head. A red gem gleamed between its enormous ears, two pink tufts of fur branching out from next to its ears. Wide, inverted eyes stared across the field, white pupils and purple sclera. He tensed.

Siren was made to take out psychic types, but two on the battlefield was a bit too much. Unfortunately, Ro was made to be taken out by psychic types. Their natural mental flow disrupted his poison glands as they dug into his mind, causing him immense pain while breaking up the poison he would attack them with, keeping their concentration at a high and their pain low. This would be a difficult battle.

Eliza chirped a few words into the mic, hyping the crowd, before slashing her hand down. "Begin!"

"Focus Energy!" Ash barked, not bothering to try and lower his voice. Ro would hear him anyway and Ceana didn't know Ro was brilliant at breaking off movies before they finished and launching counterattacks if she tried to attack him while he was concentrating. "Night Shade, Siren. Keep 'em coming. Aim for Espeon."

Ceana tilted her head to the side. "Ialach, please take in some sun. Unown, full strength."

Ash cursed silently. Espeon's identification - the sun pokemon - wasn't just a dig at the time of day when they evolved. No, they drew energy and power from the sun, strengthening their psychic abilities. Already, its gem flashed, glowing with a light somewhere deep within as the pokemon stayed close to its trainer, head tilted up.

Siren reacted. Hissing, she threw a lance of shadowy energy to careen through the air. Espeon's fur ruffled and it leapt to the side. Right. Precognition. Espeon, he decided, were extremely irritating to fight.

But the shockwave from the Night Shade exploding on the ground was enough to jolt Espeon out of its sunbathing. Purple eyes snapping open, it glared openly at Siren before throwing itself at Ro.

The nidorino took a step backward as Espeon flickered from view with Quick Attack, charging across the battlefield. It didn't seem to have fully reached its potential with the move - he could still clearly see the blaze of pink fur - but weak or not it was still far too fast for Ro to have any hope of catching it. The psychic type continued sprinting until it ended up pressed near one of the sides, teeth bared in a snarl.

But in all the time he'd been focusing on Espeon, he had forgotten about Unown.

It charged through the air, not moving terribly fast. But shadows, grey and writhing, flickered over its entire body, covering the black markings that made up its body and disguising its eye. With a hum, it gathered the energy and launched the ghost type Hidden Power at Siren's side.

She hissed with startled rage, the move firing her back several feet. The ghostly energy trickled over her form, her eyes widening with a flicker of something in their dead sockets. It had hurt and the influx of ghost energy didn't help her anger. Ash had to finish Unown before it pissed Siren off.

Ceana tsked, a wicked smile on her sharp features. "Future Sight, please. Unown, continue what you're doing."

Ash thanked every deity he knew that she wasn't a psychic. That would make things much more infuriating, and he wouldn't have any way of guessing her attacks if she said them all telepathically.

Espeon actually roared, the sound slightly too high to be frightening. A cloud of pure psychic energy floated off of every fur on its body, condensing into a burst of cyan energy trickling into the air. It seemed to gain a mind of its own, flying up into the air to watch over the battle as if a vengeful ghost.

Ro finished Focus Energy but he didn't take the time to tell the currently distracted Siren about Espeon's weak points. Rumbling angrily, he opened his mouth and spat dozens of Poison Stings through the air. Espeon hissed furiously but flickered back into Quick Attack, dodging all of them, though one got infuriatingly close.

Unown flashed again with ghostly energy, its eye squeezed tight as if trying to ignore the fact it was harnessing dead energy as a psychic type. Siren hissed in fury as it managed to evade her once again. To those two, it was probably a high action chase scene, but they were both rather slow. To onlookers, it looked a bit like they were jogging after each other, snarling and humming. Another beam of ghostly energy slammed into Siren's chest and she shrieked, promises of violence in her voice.

Ro let his horn crackle with electricity at Ash's whispered command, firing Shock Wave. Espeon's eyes widened and it created a thin Protect over its back, letting the move wash off harmlessly. Ceana smiled once again.

But even as Espeon dropped the shield and straightened once again, a dozen Poison Stings slammed into its side. It shrieked painfully as a burst of psychic energy exploded from its gem, careening toward his pokemon.

Siren hissed as she winced, fury crawling over her features. Ash gaped as he realized she had just been poisoned, but she wouldn't have poisoned herself with her arms and Ro was nowhere near her. Ceana's frosty smile answered it for him.

Even as Espeon shuddered as poison wracked shivers over its body, there was a smugness he could feel pressing from across the battlefield. Synchronize used the pokemon's mental abilities to force telepathic pains onto its opponent as it felt pain. It couldn't transfer the sheer force of attacks, but being poisoned or paralyzed was easy enough. Ro avoided it, the poison tinged pain washing harmlessly over his body, but Siren got the brunt. As a ghost type, her natural energy diverted some of the energy, but the pain was still obvious in her features. Which was definitely not good.

Ceana was a brilliant trainer, but she hadn't fought many ghost types before. Unknown pain from a type they could normally rip to shreds was not something they took lightly, and ghostly energy from Unown over the field wasn't helping either. Fury bubbled over her features. There was an actual cloud of ghostly energy that hissed from her mouth as she bared her shark teeth.

But the other trainer still didn't seem concerned for her pokemon. "Unown, finish it quickly. Swift and Confusion, please."

Espeon flared with energy, flicking its forked tail over its head. Several golden beams of energy exploded from each tip, shaped like shooting rays as they locked heat signatures with Ro.

The nidorino knew better than to try and dodge the homing moves and instead snapped out a Shock Wave in retaliation. It wasn't as strong as it could have been but the weak electricity was plenty to stop the golden rays.

Ash had forgotten about the second part of the command until now. "Ro, Ice Beam! Don't let up!" He shouted.

But even as his friend charged flickering silver in his throat, Espeon's gem gleamed a brilliant cyan. Ro began to glow the same color, his face contorting into pain as he writhed over the ground, bellowing angrily as he tried to fight the psychic energy. Ice Beam burst in his throat, freezing his jaw, though he still fought.

It didn't work. He was raised into the air, still struggling, as Espeon narrowed its eyes and twitched its head up. Gem flashing, Ro seemed to burn with psychic energy.

Things got worse. The bubbling cloud of psychic energy Espeon had launched with Future Sight suddenly came to life, curving into a solid beam of energy and firing down on the battlefield. Ro was the first opponent it could reach and it did so with gleeful abandon.

Ash's shout mixed with Ro's furious bellows. Future Sight was a terrible move to fight, as it watched pokemon's minds to sense their awareness and distraction levels. It waited, as a predator, until the pokemon was at their weakest point before striking, using its full force and psychic power. The only way to block it was by countering, something the nidorino locked in Confusion did not have access to.

Ceana's grin was ice. "Slam it."

Ro was lifted several more feet, struggling weaker since the incredibly effective move disrupted his poison glands, before Espeon launched him at the ground with enough force to shatter the dirt and imbed Ro at least half a foot into the ground. He grunted softly, barely forcing his eyes open.

Ceana tsked again, eyebrow raised. "Not bad. Swift-"

Three burning rays of ghostly energy slammed into Espeon.

It caterwauled, thrown back into the psychic barriers. Its pink fur stood up at all angles, several chunks actually burned from the viciousness of the Night Shades. It struggled to rise before it winced again, the poison coursing stronger from the adrenaline. Another second and it slumped to the ground.

Ceana's eyes flew wide and she fumbled for her pokeball, almost as if she didn't expect to have to recall her pokemon. Siren lunged forward, shark teeth gleaming, ready to attack even though Espeon was knocked out. After several seconds, Espeon disappeared in a burst of scarlet light. Siren shrieked.

Ash blinked as he realized that the third Night Shade had been fired from Siren's mouth instead of her arms, a puff of shadows escaping from between her shark teeth as she glared over the field. She had lunged for Espeon like it was her prey. "Focus, girl," he said warningly, but she didn't appear to hear him.

This was not good. Bruises and ghostly burns littered her arms and chest, one dark spot on the side of her head. Unown still darted forward once again, charging more energy. It fired yet another beam, the total number countless, when Siren spat another Night Shade from her mouth. The two collided.

But Siren's was fueled by pain and rage, and it easily overpowered the Hidden Power and slammed into Unown's side. It thrummed in pain, shooting backward, one of its black lines twisted the wrong way. After a second, it popped back into place, though the movement pained the little creature.

Siren was done with playing games. A need for blood glinted in her eyes and she shrieked across the field, slamming Unown with one arm and launching it toward the ground. She followed it immediately, catching it only a few feet above the ground. Shark teeth slammed into its frail body.

The blood drained from Ash's face. "Siren, leave it!" He bellowed across the field, hands cupped around his mouth.

For a single, breathless second, she turned to him, pokemon still gripped in her jaws, acknowledgment in her eyes. Then she bit down harder, a wordless shriek of pain escaping from Unown.

Ash screamed for Ro. The nidorino could barely move, half frozen into the ground, but he understood and launched a weakened Shock Wave toward Siren.

It slammed into her side, frying her nervous system and unlocking her clenched jaws. She dropped Unown but the damage was down - its Levitate ability meant nothing as it slammed into the ground.

Ceana finished struggling and finally pulled the proper pokeball from her waist. She didn't seem to remember which one belonged to which unown - two others from her prime unown had been recalled before she finally found the one that belonged to the one on the battlefield. Her face was pale as she recalled her battler and immediately darted from the field, the remaining two unown disappearing in a flash of light.

Ash recalled Siren just as quickly. She had never reacted so badly. There were no words of encouragement as he clipped it to his belt, eyes wide. Ro was pulled off the field, leaving a wide dent in the ground.

Eliza looked slightly shaken. "Ash pulls through yet again with another victory! Let's welcome him to the finals!"

The applause wasn't thunderous this time. It was almost cautious. Ash turned and fled from the battlefield.


Ash stared at the pokeball in his grasp, tucked into a corner only a slight distance from the battlefield.

He had known she was a ghost type, that her rumored dead spirit would never be satisfied with mortal energies and food. Though she could control herself, the heat of battle unlocked inhibitions she needed to keep. Bloodlust, the hunger to consume spirits. The want for death.

But she had gotten better, had gotten much better from the first night where she had actively attacked both him and his team. The one accident where she had tried to hunt a rattata while traveling had been quickly fixed and she hadn't attempted something that again, eating the food he provided and nothing else. No one else.

And yet Unown wouldn't have survived in her jaws for much longer unless Ro had managed to shock her into submission. And not even submission - just paralysis in order to drop the psychic pokemon.

There was no chance he'd use her in the finals. Because of her injured chest, yes, but more so the fact he didn't know whether he trusted her on the battlefield yet until he learned to contain her. A brilliant help she was, that was true, but he wouldn't stand on the edge of his platform, pokeball in hand, waiting for the moment when she started to take things too far to recall her.

He would give himself a few days in Cinnabar where he'd just look for new pokemon, and only when he was off the SS Anne and back in Vermillion would he let Siren out and figure out what the hell was her problem.

And if he needed to, he would send her to Professor Oak until she curbed the bloodlust.

Was he being too harsh? It had been one mistake. One mistake that had nearly ended a pokemon's life. Siren had been vicious and she had known what she was doing because they had made eye contact. She had noticed him telling her to stop, to leave it, and had looked him in the eyes before biting down again.

He set the pokeball back on his belt and stood up, brushing off his shoulders. There was a distinct wail from the crowd as someone's pokemon was probably hit in the battle going on overhead. Whoever would win the battle going on right now would be his opponent in a battle to win a pokemon. Setting his course for the healing station, he bit his lip. He, being part of the finals, would be able to get his pokemon healed fast in order to have them all ready, but Ro would probably still feel the Confusion and Future Sight pretty heavily.

The attendants by the healing machines welcomed him, saying greetings. It was the same person from yesterday, warm smiles and quick-do attitude. She took his pokeballs and popped them into machines, the slots immediately emitting a piercingly bright light. After only five minutes, they were healed, though Siren might still be sore. He thanked her before jogging back to the battlefield.

He had a final to win.


The young kid with the mankey, bowl cut, and a terrified expression tried to command his pokemon one more time, but the fighting type was exhausted. The other kid with the electabuzz just stared up at the fearow circling overhead, nodding his head.

The bird struck and the battle was over. Eliza welcomed the kid, Paul, into the finals, then announced a thirty minutes break before the final battle would begin.

Though there were many people there, it was only a fraction of who was actually there on the enormous SS Anne. Though some of them had powerful pokemon and brilliant strategies, they were still the less experienced trainers. The divide of five badges wasn't that good of a judge but it at least helped divide casual trainer from at least competent amateur, though he had seen a seventeen year old tossing a pokeball up and down in the crowd for the tournament. His tournament was the warm up round. After he finished winning the clefairy, the real games would begin.

He was dead set on the fairy type. Though he hadn't planned for a clefairy, hadn't thought he'd ever see one, he had spent a couple of sleepless hours researching its moves. Most, if not all, could stop a dragon in its tracks.

Ash tapped Apep's pokeball. With his luck, he'd have to throw first again, in which case he'd start with his starter for the first time. The shock factor would be enough to knock the Paul kid back to where he came from and Apep was well prepared to counter any type the kid had on him.

Thirty minutes passed quickly, and he clambered back up to the battlefield. More people were here now, but it was still nothing compared to the few tournaments he'd seen on television. His heart still fluttered at the thunderous chattering and applause as he stepped onto his platform.

Eliza was already perched over the crowd, microphone floating in front of her mouth like she was about to break into song. She tapped it once and the kadabra levitating it moved it back a bit sheepishly, giving her room to breathe.

Sucking in a deep breath, she lunged into announcements. "Hell-o, SS Anne! Are you ready for the first finale of this trip?" Deafening noise, which she apparently took as a yes. "Well then! We have two promising trainers ready to battle for us today! Paul from Veilstone City and Ash from our own Pallet Town!"

Eliza slammed her feet into the ground, starting a heavy beat that swept over the crowd as people pounded limbs in order to keep the wardrum sound continuing. Ash could feel it reverberate through his chest.

To his immense dislike, Paul just stretched and tapped along the six pokeballs on his waist. Ash had cheated - just a little - and had placed two empty pokeballs next to his teams' in order to make it seem like he had more options. Who knows, maybe Paul would slip up and let him snag an easy victory. Somehow he didn't think so.

With the beat of the crowd, Eliza tossed the coin and dramatically pointed toward Paul. The crowd erupted.

Paul wasted no time in tossing out his first pokeball. Ash grimaced as electricity immediately crackled over the field as soon as the scarlet let finished forming, brilliant and shocking.

His electabuzz. It seemed to be his main, though Ash and noticed a few problems - not a lot of speed, only finishing moves, and stood stock still until an order was given.

A grin split his face. He knew the perfect way to counter that.

Vulpix popped out of her pokeball a few feet above the ground, slamming into the dirt with enough force to send a small tremor over its surface. Fire swelled from her paws, claws unsheathed, and her bellow crossed continents. People cheered for her, which she preened and accepted proudly. Prideful little bugger. He couldn't keep the grin off of his face.

Electabuzz was probably the safest best for a pokemon that didn't have any water moves, though he didn't know the others. It was his best bet to throw Vulpix out first and then see how things went.

Paul's face didn't change. Electabuzz whirred, swinging its arms by its side, though it didn't move its feet.

Eliza grinned. "And now here are our two hopefuls for this tournament! The explosive vulpix and the powerful electabuzz - but which will be strong enough to take home our first place prize?"

Vulpix snorted and spat out an Ember. It hissed over the ground.

She slashed her hand down. "Begin!"

Ash hadn't seen anything but the end of Paul's battles before. He'd let the boy take the first move to get a feel for his abilities - he trusted Vulpix to be able to get away if anything happened.

"Shock Wave and Swift. Don't let it get close. Move away if it gets near," Paul said softly, but the battle hadn't started yet and there was no noise to cover up his voice. Ash frowned at the directions. Vulpix wouldn't be able to move very much under Protect but he didn't want her being hit.

"Protect. Fire Whip," he said, showing off just a little with his minimalistic instructions. Vulpix flicked ear back as Electabuzz finally started to move.

Its arms flashed, though he wasn't able to see exactly where the energy came from. Pichu and the line had the obvious cheek pacs that could make it slightly easier to get a lesser shock from the ability Static by avoiding those areas. Stretching its rather human-like hands into the air, it launched off the two attacks at once, one from each hand.

Ash grinned. An advanced technique, one that would take more time to use. Vulpix had her Protect up the instant the energy left Electabuzz's fingers, pacing underneath its green curve.

The last ray of Swift slammed into the shield and Vulpix immediately dropped it, fire spilling from her mouth. Electabuzz tensed, ready to move, but it didn't even attempt to dodge as Vulpix spat several Will-O-Wisps into the air.

"Dodge," Paul finally said, just as Vulpix hit her first one with Tail Whip. The fireballs darted through the air Electabuzz dodged all of them with impressive acrobatics, though one exploded near its foot.

"Fire Spin," Ash called. Vulpix could maintain the technique for a while and could drop it easily if Electabuzz launched another homing attack at her, and Paul didn't seem the type to act rashly, giving him plenty of time to react.

There was a pleased tone in her voice as she barked, blitzing off into Quick Attack as fire leapt to her call. Trickling off her fur, it thumped against the ground and began to burn. She was running circles around Electabuzz - literately. Within seconds, a tornado of flames surrounded the electric type, who merely blinked and waited for instructions. A stray tongue of fire brushed its leg and it hissed, pulling back into its very limited range of accessibility.

Ash grinned. Burns made it annoying as hell to move, and electabuzz already weren't the fastest. He waited for another one of Paul's sharp commands. Nothing came.

Vulpix reared from the flames, grey eyes turned scarlet. A Flamethrower exploded from her mouth, crackling as it exploded over Electabuzz's fur. The pokemon winced but didn't show anything else - it had been heavily trained in defense, even though the Flamethrower wasn't one of Vulpix's strongest.

Paul gave a command. His pokemon tensed, steadying itself as it raised its arms and closed its eyes as electricity raced over its body, fur rubbing together as it shifted into standing up straight. Two strong yellow lines of energy concentrated near its hands, which it held out in front of itself. Charge Beam wasn't a move he had faced before, but he guessed it was similar to a Thunderbolt.

Electabuzz fired the move. It blazed a brilliance of golden as it shot through the flames, slamming into the psychic barriers. But then the pokemon just began to turn slowly, pouring more and more energy into the move as it moved in a circle.

Only half a second later and Vulpix barked in pain, stumbling to the point that Ash could see her. Her Fire Spin began to die as both the energy cut through it and she lost concentration, but the second she recovered the flames burst back to life. The glare she leveled at Electabuzz could have melted stone. Ash wasn't going to give her any more commands. She could handle this now.

Paul's snap was like a gunshot over the battlefield.

Electabuzz exploded into action again, fur still blackened and a snarl over its face. Electricity crackled over its arms, far weaker after the immense power the Charge Beam had taken, and it launched three quick bursts of lightning. Vulpix dodged the first two and was hit cleanly by the third.

She didn't get thrown back, just frozen where she was standing. Ash cursed. Thunder Wave, a paralyzing move. For the next couple of minutes, she'd only be able to move in twitches and spasms until the electricity fully left her system. Unless she had a counter. Which she did.

As Electabuzz fought for a path out of the dancing flames, she narrowed her eyes and relaxed her three tails. They drifted toward the floor, a glow building on their surface. A current raced over them and she winced, but Iron Tail finally sank in and she slammed the tips of her tails into the ground.

She shrieked as electricity raced through her body painfully in order to find its way to the ground. Electabuzz finally just ran through a weak point in the Fire Spin, burns splashed over its body.

Vulpix shook off the rest of the paralysis through sheer force of will, whining in pain. The electric type ran at her at Paul's command, but this time her eyes narrowed with fury and she sprang to the side. Her paws slammed into the ground as she darted back toward Ash, not slowing down in the slightest. Growling fiercely, she ignored Ash's call for Payback and leapt off the ground.

Her paws smacked into the psychic barrier almost four feet off the ground, sending a rippling wave of energy over the surface as the kadabra fought to keep her in. But then she was rebounding, soaring over the battlefield back toward the pokemon. Her fur glowed a brilliant red, flames spilling from every pore.

She landed on the field as a bomb.

Fire exploded out from under her, licking against the dirt. It covered most of what the crowd could see but Ash still had a view through the stifling heat. Electabuzz finished its trainer's command and slammed a Thunder Punch into her side, but the pain only added to her anger. Quick Attack blurring her motions, she darted forward and slammed her paws into its chest, spitting another Flamethrower to finish the job.

Electabuzz's body just gave up, collapsing onto the ground. Vulpix shrieked against as the electric type's last revenge came through - its ability Static causing her paralysis again after she'd just gotten rid of the first batch. Paul had a light smile on his face as he recalled his first pokemon.

"That vulpix of yours isn't half bad," he called softly. Ash grinned back, not quite trusting himself not to brag about his fire type. Not the best social interaction and it most likely wouldn't help his case if Paul became angry and commanded stronger attacks because of it.

"Thanks." was the best he could come up with, and he'd take it. Paul bobbed his head back.

Eliza announced his win before pointing back to Paul. "Trainer, please release your second pokemon!"

Paul's fingers danced over his pokeballs as he stared at Vulpix, eyes narrowed. After a second, he tossed another one onto the field.

A tauros emerged from, stamping coal black hooves and tossing its enormous head. Its ruff of thick brown fur around its neck shook with it, though its thinner tan coat around its body barely moved in the breeze. Three thin tails whipped behind it, much slimmer and weaker than Vulpix's own. But its silver horns were sharp and being stabbed by those wouldn't just hurt - it would be devastating.

Vulpix just snarled, baring her teeth as she slammed another Iron Tail into the ground. The electricity was weaker and there was less of it, but Ash couldn't unsee the pain in her eyes as the lightning left her body. Determination soon replaced it. She might not be able to knock out this tauros, but she'd give it her all.

Tauros was about four feet tall and six feet long. Good for running, and he knew those horns would likely be lowered in any sort of charge it made. A normal type with no advantages or disadvantages against Vulpix. Perfect. It pawed at the ground, but it didn't move from the spot it had been released. Paul had trained most of his team in waiting for commands.

Eliza started the match. Paul waited a second before calmly stepping into the first move, pale eyes narrowed. "Tauros, Pursuit."

Ghost energy looked like shadows, writhing and crackling over the pokemon. Dark energy just looked black, seeping from the ground or tail to slither over the pokemon as it was ready. Tauros began to thrum with power, fur darkening to pitch. After a second, it charged furiously, horns lowered. Its hooves flashed as embers from Vulpix's fires sparked over them, but it didn't seem affected.

Vulpix fazed into Quick Attack and sped away. Tauros merely wheeled around, enormous paws cleaving dirt from the ground, and charged again.

Tauros couldn't stop their charge until they hit something. "Psychic barriers, girl! Make it hit them!"

She barked in acknowledgment and slowed purposely. Paul frowned but didn't command anything else - Tauros literately couldn't stop its impressive bulk until something stopped its momentum.

Tauros blazed toward her, streaming ribbons of tar, and Vulpix leaped nimbly into the air and darted away only feet from the psychic barriers. The ground trembled as Tauros collided, though the wild bull pokemon only shook its head quickly and turned around, facing the ready Vulpix.

Paul raised a hand. "Water Pulse."

Ash whitened. Vulpix opened her mouth to put up a Protect but she disappeared in a burst of scarlet light before the water got anywhere close to her.

It was the one thing that couldn't only put her out of the fight but this world, and he couldn't train her in any sort of defenses against it. "I forfeit Vulpix," he called to Eliza, who blinked but nodded her head. The Water Pulse splashed over the ground, setting out a few remaining fires and seeping into the ground.

"You did wonderfully, girl. I just don't want you getting hurt," he murmured to the pokeball as he pulled a new one off of his belt.

Apep bellowed his arrival, rearing immediately to six feet and spitting an enormous glob of hissing orange poison into the air. The crowd recovered from their shock and cheered wildly, eating the arbok's sign of strength up. Acid splattered around them, though none landed on the tauros.

His Shed Skin would help him avoid the remaining fires from Vulpix and his style of fighting would let Tauros, a rather up close and personal type of fighter, not land almost any hits on him. Already he flared his hood, revealing the strange, demonic face that bared white fangs down at Tauros. The bull grunted but didn't seem too frightened.

And even before Eliza slashed her hand down, Apep coiled up, making it seem like he was just preparing for battle. The second she started the battle, he began to burn a fierce white, the color splashing off of the crowd and Ash's face. He almost had to lift a hand up to block the rays.

Coil was a brilliant move, one he would take full advantage of. With Apep's attack raised, he would hit harder and his heightened accuracy wouldn't hurt either. His defense was more of a boon right now but one he could accept nevertheless.

Paul scowled at the move, obviously recognizing it. His Tauros, which had towered over Vulpix, looked little more than a plush toy next to the enormous snake, who grinned dozens of enormous fangs.

"Crunch, Poison Fang," Ash said softly, though it was still loud enough for Paul to hear. Apep didn't have the best of ears, especially with his head tucked low and under his scales in the move Coil.

The snake hissed and slowly raised himself. LIke a bullet, he snapped toward Tauros with his fangs dripping pitch. Tauros groaned as Apep slammed into it with his substantial body weight, nearly tipping it over. He slammed his glowing fangs into Tauros' shoulder and bit down, though the wild bull was almost too wide for him to get a proper hold it.

"Payback!" Paul barked.

Tauros reared, shaking Apep off, and spun around to gore black tipped horns into Apep's side. The snake was flung back, bruises forming, but only a second later he hissed furiously and sprang back into it, teeth bared.

Tauros dodged at its trainer's command, but fangs nipped it with almost lightning speed on the rear, immediately injecting waves upon waves of debilitating poison into its body. A hoof slammed into Apep's chin and he broke off, a bit stunned. But Tauros had winced, which was all Ash needed.

Paul frowned as he looked over the field. Apep was fast and so far hadn't been really using his full strength. Tauros was powerful but it was more meant to fight others of its size and smaller. "Stomping Tantrum and Zen Headbutt. Make them count, do not attempt to dodge, just perform the moves."

Tauros bellowed as it reared onto its back legs, paws humming a deep brown as ground energy leaked from beneath them. With the force of a train, it slammed its hooves into the ground.

A shockwave similar to an earthquake raced underfoot but Tauros wasn't done yet - it seemingly danced in one spot, rearing up and bucking to slam its hooves into the ground over and over, bellowing. Endless shockwaves raced over the field, slamming into Apep's scales and pushing him up.

Apep hissed back, scales flashing as he used Wrap on one of the rock piles to avoid most of the blows from Stomping Tantrum. It was a frustrating move as it never seemed to stop, just pounding more and more power into the earth until the user passed out from exhaustion or called off the move. Ash had to end Tauros' move before it managed to knock Apep out with the incredible effective move, and then stop Zen Headbutt as well before it hurt Apep's poison glands. He trilled.

The snake sped forward, ignoring the concussive blasts against his scales as Tauros bucked again. His tail gleamed, nearly three feet covered in burning silver energy, as he reared up to slam it into Tauros' side.

It bellowed and actually fell over, pawing at the air as it tried to find ground to stand up. Ash grinned. Poison Fang was strong but Apep adored using his tail and Iron Tail was all the stronger for it. "Fire Fang!"

Only a few embers trickled from his mouth as he got his fangs around Tauros' stomach. But his head was enough of a grounder and Tauros was able to get back on its feet and slammed a cyan colored head into Apep's stomach.

He was flown backward. There was no way to dodge. He shrieked in pain as the psychic energy swept through his body, hunting for his brain, throwing his poison production out the window as the sensitive organs were disrupted. There was a flicker of a smile on Paul's face as his Tauros stood at the ready, blood trickling from its bite wounds.

Ash knew what to do. His starter wouldn't stand to be taken down by a stupid wild bull and his face showed it. "Increase your speed! Rapid attack!"

Apep hissed as he concentrated. It wasn't an actual move but a wave of concentration pushing all of his force into his impressive speed, bringing his power to new, dangerous heights. It was exhausting for him and had taken hours upon hours to learn, but was very powerful against slow enemies.

He flashed once with Wrap, strengthening his muscles, before he launched himself forward. Tauros was still pulling back from using Zen Headbutt and it didn't have any time before Apep lunged forward.

Apep nipped at its back with Poison Fang, slamming Iron Tail into its side when it tried to kick him. He darted away, slithering behind another rock pillar to dodge Tauros' wild kick as the poison wheedled its strength away.

Tauros bellowed and started to run at Apep, and Ash grinned. "Rebound!" He called, letting Apep hear it. The snake immediately sank into the powerful move of Coil, still a fair bit larger than Tauros, and waited.

Its horns slammed into its side. A pitch black tail slammed directly between its eyes as Apep used Payback to launch himself a few more feet away, plenty of space to gather himself back up as Tauros whined in pain.

Paul looked worried now, one of the first expressions to cross his face. "Tauros." He sucked in a breath Ash could hear across the battlefield and let it out slowly. "Tauros," he said again, "use Thrash."

Ash frowned. Thrash released a bunch of chemicals that temporarily disabled the pokemon's pain receptors, leaving them unable to understand they were being injured and only able to attack without mercy or understanding. Their attacks were the same power but the move Thrash was the best way to use a finishing move with an incredible amount of recoil, like Double-Edge. Which Tauros could also learn.

Tauros froze, black eyes staring directly in front. Something flickered by its neck, mind triggering enzymes to create the dangerous batch of chemicals. "Use Double-Edge," Paul said, a hint of worry coloring his tone.

Ash cupped his hands around his mouth. "Apep! Dodge, Acid! Don't let it hit you!" Tauros roared and charged.

Its first attack cleaved a pile of rocks in half. It bellowed, shaking shattered splinters of stone out of its mane, ignoring the wound opening up on its chest and forehead from the sheer strength it was hitting the rocks with. Tauros turned and narrow eyes caught sight of Apep. It charged again.

Apep reared up fully and flared his hood. The face leered down over the field, swaying hypnotically. The two eyes gleamed both brighter and darker as Apep concentrated, forcing the thought that the wild bull was his prey and something he needed to stop. Tauros slowed, just for an instant.

That was enough for Apep to finish charging up an enormous burst of Acid Spray. A wave of sizzling green poison, toxic enough to change the taste of the air, slammed into Tauros' side. It slowed, Double-Edge stopped, and actually fell over. Writhing on the floor for a second, it ignored the pain of being poisoned until the Acid Spray destroyed the chemical shutting off its pain receptors.

There was a terrible, awful shriek, and Paul recalled the pokemon before it could truly fall unconscious. A somber look perched above his pointed nose.

Eliza announced the win for him, then turned expectantly to Paul. The boy tapped along his remaining four pokeballs, a careful look on his face. After a long while, he grabbed one and tossed it out.

A sandslash perked up, head twisting from side to side as it stared across the field. Its rippling back spines lifted and flexed, showing off their dagger sharp ends. That was a no for Wrap, then. Sandslash's whole body except for the weaker, white scaled underbelly was a weapon within itself.

Apep leered at the creature, still flexing his hood. Sandslash was only three feet tall yet it looked up at Apep with no fear, just curiosity, which was a far cry from the terrified little sandshrew Gary had caught.

Eliza grinned over the field. "And no, despite Ash's stunning victory last round, he now has a severe disadvantage! I wonder how this match will turn out! Begin!"

"Dig underground and charge up your move," Paul said immediately, and Sandslash reacted just as fast. Rearing up with its enormous claws gleaming, within seconds it had dug a hole underground and disappeared.

Apep stared at the hole that would most definitely fit him, but Ash called him off. He didn't know what move Sandslash was charging but if Apep went into the hole there was a chance it would explode right in his face. "Fire some Acid Sprays down there, bud. Keep your face away in case it comes up."

Paul's face tightened but he didn't command anything else. The bright emerald poison slipped neatly down the hole and there was a cry of pain, obviously striking something painful, but Sandslash didn't emerge. Apep frowned as best he could with a snake mouth and spat another Acid Spray down, this one larger. There wasn't another cry of pain. Dig was an annoying move to fight. He wanted it.

After a moment, Sandslash exploded out of the field only a couple feet away, bright green poison still sliding off of its back spines. Apep reared and spun to face him, hissing furiously and spitting out a wave of Poison Stings. Sandslash ignored the poisonous needles even as they stuck to its skin and merely concentrated. There was a ball of something in its mouth and it raised its stubby arms up, eyes closed. The ball of energy, tinged a dull yellowish brown, flew into the air and exploded only a few feet below the psychic barriers.

Nothing happened.

A wind slithered over the ground, picking up a thin stream of dirt and fooling with it. Another kicked up the shattered shards of a rock pile Tauros had demolished and inched them across the floor. A third brushed over Apep's scales, who hissed.

That was the only warning Ash got before a gale of wind exploded over the battlefield, raining down from on high to destroy the entire area. It was only contained by the psychic barriers, the crowd hooting at this change in development. Sandslash seemed to disappear from view, its ability of Sand Veil keeping it hidden amongst the raging power of the sandstorm it had just kicked up. Even the sun was blotted out by the furious winds carrying pounds of sand and dirt and rock.

There was no chance for Apep. He writhed in the wind, constantly buffeted and furious, but he couldn't move forward as every sliver of rock threw him back and only caused him more pain. Acids and Acid Spray and even a dark green blast that had to have been his attempt at Gunk Shot were just swept away to harmlessly splatter against the psychic barriers, where they sank to the ground. Sandslash stood there in the middle, brushing off the Poison Stings and watching Apep with the same curious look. It almost didn't even seem to realize the power it was using.

Apep roared at one final rock and fell over.

Ash winced as he recalled him. He had managed to poison Sandslash, which was a brilliant boon, but Acid Spray was still eating its way through the pokemon's defenses. It would be a while until the move actually managed to take a hold and started to weaken Sandslash, which was infuriating.

Siren would be great, though the sandstorm would still hurt her. But he wasn't releasing her into the fight.

Ro rumbled as he appeared, tucked as far as he could on Ash's side as he could get him to avoid the brunt of the sandstorm. He pawed at the ground, barbs extending, at least until he looked up.

He stared around in almost awe at the raging sandstorm, even as it buffeted him to the point of pain and launched thin slivers of rock against his side. Controlling the weather was always an incredible task to watch and Ro seemed enamored with it. Ash made a mental note for later.

There was one thing he had seen that would turn this battle back into his side of the field, and that was that while waves of poison didn't do much in the face of a sandstorm, beams of pure energy might not have that issue. They would be harder to shift in the wind and Ro had always had good aim.

"Ice Beam." His friend's incredible ears caught the word easily while Paul just scowled over the field. He opened his mouth and let traces of silver escape from his jaws before he fired a blazing beam of icy energy.

Sandslash were weak to ice energy, and Ro's wicked Ice Beams were no different. It couldn't move from the middle of its sandstorm lest the power whip it away and it couldn't use Dig or have the weather slow down and Ro charge in to attack him. Paul looked almost panicked now.

A shriek of pain that was quickly followed by another as Ro took a step forward and fired an Ice Beam once again. A third. Paul recalled his Sandslash before it hit, a truly annoyed expression on his face.

The weather died down and Ro churred up at him, head tilted to the side. Ash grinned widely but couldn't go out to greet his friend as Eliza raced down to raise his hand in the air amongst cheers from the audience. He barely was able to take the second to recall Ro, promising himself to congratulate his pokemon the second they all healed up. He clipped the pokeball to his waist as Eliza lunged to the front of the platform, dragging him along behind her.

"And our winner for the first amazing tournament is Ash Ketchum, who powered his way through these matches with his powerful pokemon! May all of our other trainers come forward?"

There were a few cheerful words, happy congratulates, and general thanks for an exciting tournament from Eliza as she patted him on the shoulder. Then she turned ack to the crowd and gestured furiously, the rest of the trainers coming onto the battlefield. Ash trotted down next to them, the stone having been quickly repaired by the kadabra. An assistant shoved them around until Ash was on the farthest left side, being led up onto an elevated platform. There was a blush constant on his cheeks as Eliza stepped her way down the row of trainers and spouted compliments for every single one of them. His embarrassment covered most of what she said about him, and then another assistant went down the row and started to hand out ultra balls and money.

Someone pressed a thin metal slide into his hands. He stared almost blankly at the ten thousand dollar gift card in his hand - that was enough for three reusable TMs, some of which he was definitely going to buy. It was time his time had a little variety, and the tournament had given more than a few ideas on to bulk his team up with power.

But then Eliza smiled in front of him and handed him clefairy's pokeball. It was warm, tightly gripped into his hand. "I'd suggest not releasing the clefairy yet until you're in your room, okay? I don't want it getting scared with the crowds and you would probably have an easier time bonding with it in a quiet enviroment." He smiled and thanked her. She grinned back and went up to hype the crowd with them one last time.

A final cheer for the tournament and then everyone was sent back to their room, ready for the actual tournament that would begin tomorrow with the much more intense pokemon battles. He was going to spend the night and a good portion of the morning working with his new teammate, but watching a tournament in real life would beat watching it on his flickering old television any day.

Clutching the pokeball tightly in his hand, he slipped through the crowd. A few people shook his hand and congratulated him as he walked out, but the younger tournament still wasn't too popular. More people came up to the two trainers chosen to fight first tomorrow than him. And he was already grinning as he watched one of the older trainers call up to an enormous pidgeot wheeling above.

But first, he had to get his pokemon healed up. Siren was already healed up and while Ro hadn't gotten anything else but blustered with the sandstorm, Apep and Vulpix needed a bit of healing. Fighting his way through the crowd, he got back to the upper deck and trotted toward the area.

They had replaced the attendant at the healing stations. The current one gave him a thin smile that changed to a more real one as he drew near, handing over his three pokemon. They promised him a quick healing, though they said it might be better to come tomorrow to have them completely better after the finals.

He thanked them before heading back up to his room. Second class still gleamed as he rode the elevator up, a bit jittery.

His room was still brilliant. He shoved the beanbag away from the bed, hanging his bag on one of the flying type perches, and shuffled a thin carpet out of the way. Enough room in case the clefairy was confused and wanted to do something. He kept Siren in her pokeball, setting it on one of the perches with his bag. He did keep his finger on the button of clefairy's pokeball in case he needed to recall the fairy type pokemon. Grinning, he tossed the red and white sphere.

The pokeball clattered over the ground, its edges popping open to reveal -

Nothing.

No swirl of scarlet energy, no creature emerging from inside, no cheerfully waving fairy type. Empty. No clefairy. No pokemon.

His pokedex blinked as he scanned the pokeball. No ownership - that was expected, he'd have to release the clefairy from its regular pokeball and capture it with one of his own - and no pokemon.

But his pokemon wasn't inside.

Maybe there had been a mistake? He'd go up to Eliza right now and see whether she had simply handed him the wrong pokeball. While it would suck his heartbeat had raced this fast for no reason, it would be something small. He frowned, clipping his pokedex and pokeball back to his waist, and turned to leave the room.

Someone knocked on the door.

He grinned - they had to have figured out they gave him the wrong pokeball - and walked over to it, holding the clefairy's pokeball in his hand. Another knock, one that nearly shook the boat as the hinges rattled. It would definitely have woken him up. He grabbed the handle and pulled the door open.

It was hard to make out who was in front of him, though it wasn't Eliza. Black clothing, which was what the crew members wore when not on the deck, and a couple of pokeballs around his waist. He yawned, raising a hand in greeting.

His eyes snapped open and the Team Rocket grunt lunged.

A fist slammed into his face. He felt the skin over his forehead break, a short spike of pain. The trainer hissed a dull thrum blurred his vision. The grunt stepped into the room and raised another two fists, sharp eyes picking out the pokeball in his hand and the other on his bag.

Instinct prevailed over the fogginess clouding his mind. He chucked the clefairy's pokeball at the grunt's face. It slammed into the man's face and he leapt, clawing for his own pokemon.

A kick hit the small of his back and he stumbled, falling forward. His fingers fell a few inches short of a rapidly shaking pokeball. There was a growl and the man behind him grabbed his ankles, pulling him away from his bag. The pokeball shook more violently as the grunt stepped forward.

His eyes flashed black but vision came only a second later. It was going cross-eyed but he could still see the man pick up Siren's pokeball and there was rage, rage the like he had never felt before -

He managed to lunge out and grab the man's foot just as the pokeball exploded.

The grunt yelped, leaning back, and Ash yanked his foot as hard as he could. He fell backward and there was a crack as his skull meet the side of the aquarium. His body collapsed against the ground out of Ash's sight.

Siren hissed as she saw the man, prone as he was over the ground, but her first concern was to get an arm beneath Ash's body and pull him to his feet. His head swam but he was righted, hunched but standing.

She flew a bit closer to the ground and picked up her pokeball, pressing it into his hand. He slipped it into her spot, staring around the room.

"Thank you," he managed, forcing out praise in his eyes. His ghost type had never been able to be held prisoner of her pokeball and now was no exception. She chittered warmly before her attention slipped back to the man.

Ash knelt by his side and slapped a hand over his neck, finding the artery. A pulse? He couldn't tell whether the pressure against his fingers was the man's heartbeat or the roaring pound within his own head. Black stars crept over the edge of his eyes, blurring Siren's worried form.

Overhead, the speakers crackled to life.

"To my men, we are preparing to leave soon. If you do not arrive within the next ten minutes, you will be lost. Passengers, I apologize for the troubling announcement, but please give up your pokemon unless you'd like to be killed by us instead of the ship exploding. Hurry it up."

There was something hauntingly familiar in the masculine tone, something that took him far too long to pick out. Dark eyes and thunderous scowls and thin, wicked grins flashed before his mind. Proton. Executive Proton was somewhere on the ship and he was promising to blow it up somehow.

He stumbled his way toward the door only to nearly drip over the prone body on the ground. Siren sprang forward and steadied his shoulder. His mind flashed.

If he left the Team Rocket grunt, the man might die. If he woke him up, he would lose his pokemon.

The hallway was dark, every fancy light shut off. The carpet was scuffed and doors all down it were opened. He pushed his own door closed, a few seconds of extra time if the man woke up. Sounds of a struggle mingled with the buzzing behind his eyes but the lack of weight on his waist drove him forward.

His pokemon. They were at the healing station. He had to get to them.

He barely remembered the turn and managed to find himself in front of the elevator. Every single light in the building was burnt out, the thrum beneath his feet of the ship's engines silent. They had managed to shut down the SS Anne.

Three stories of stairs. Each one hurt but Siren pulled on his shoulders, lightning the weight. Her dead eyes were narrowed and she was constantly tense, ready for anything that came their way.

He opened the door at the bottom, legs shaking. It was a silent, quiet night outside except for distant shrieks and screams from passengers. Waves slammed into the SS Anne, the boat unable to move forward and cleave through the walls of water. Liquid splashed over the deck.

His vision went blurry again but he pushed it away and stepped forward. There wasn't anything he could see beside blurry, rushing forms in the sheer pressing darkness but Siren suddenly shrieked and raced forward, arms glowing.

The raticate was thrown back by her Night Shade and he heard a crack - something broken. Was it dead? He couldn't tell. Something hot slipped from his forehead into his eyes and he couldn't find the strength to wipe it away.

Siren lunged again and grabbed the raticate in her arms, injecting enough poison to knock out a family of raticate. His mind pulled up facts useless in this situation. Five minutes without an antidote and it would die.

She would kill for herself, for him, that was clear. But the raticate's Hyper Fang died in its throat, Siren stopping its move. Vulpix and Joey Marvil flashed through his mind.

"Siren." His mouth was dry and words fought with his tongue. Was he doing this? He tried again. "Siren, protect me."

She hissed and flexed her arms. Poison trickled from the edges of her palms, eating away at the ground of the boat.

A brilliant burst of fire roared over the top of a building to his left. He knew the brilliant white of the flames even as the afterimage sent a blazing bolt of pain through his head. Was he that lucky? Stumbling a bit, he changed his course toward the building. Ten minutes to save them.

Vulpix bellowed in fury, roaring another Flamethrower at the advancing pokemon. The night sky was lit up by her rage but Ash could see the injuries still lining her fur as she paced in front of the healing stations. Ro weakly fired Ice Beams at pokemon that came too close and several pokeballs gleamed from underneath his claws. Apep was nowhere to be seen, but he had been knocked out in the battle against Paul.

The healers hadn't healed his pokemon. They had handed them over immediately to Team Rocket or maybe even were Team Rocket, he couldn't think through all of the war drums in his mind.

But Vulpix, even as feisty and furious at Team Rocket as she was, was still heavily injured. She couldn't hold off against the shadowed pokemon attacking her under the control of grunts he couldn't see.

"Go," he mumbled to Siren. "Grab their pokeballs and give them to me."

She hissed and started to float forward, drawing ghostly energy around her pink form. Malice dripped from her every pore.

A zubat sprang at her. Without seemingly even looking, she turned and slammed her fangs into its frail body. It shrieked, firing echolocation everywhere, but she shook her head and there was a crack. The bat pokemon fell to the ground and Siren continued on.

Vulpix nearly blasted her, grey eyes burning with the sheer will that was the only thing keeping her standing at this point. Ro perked up and Siren dove at him, grabbing the three pokeballs in her arms. Her poisonous glands would dink the surface but the metal was pokemon resistant, though it wouldn't stand up to everything. In fact, they actually had perfected ultra balls to the point that they would take basic moves, like Flamethrower and Poison Sting-

His head swam and he nearly blacked out.

When his opened eyes could finally see more than rippling waves of darkness, Siren was present in front of him, chittering nervously. Vulpix blasted back a few enemies that she didn't have the advantage of floating over and Ro cleared the last shadowed pokemon out of his view. Where were the grunts? Had they just released hundreds of pokemon across the boat and went to take pokemon from trainers and other valuables?

"Thank you," he said weakly. Apep's pokeball was cold as he clipped it onto his belt. Vulpix stared up at him with blazing scarlet eyes, revenge bursting beneath her fur as her tails released enough heat to start a wildfire. She was running on her sheer wish for revenge against Team Rocket but there was water all around and she couldn't survive the spray of a wave and she was still heavily injured from her fights. Ro wasn't any better and Siren couldn't fight these hordes alone.

Ignoring their protests, he recalled them. All three of their pokeballs shook violently but he pressed his hands against them and whispered words until they eventually stopped, though he guessed that was more from their exhaustion than any real bending to his pleas. He looked around with blurred eyes and began to force his way to the lifeboats.

More people ran by him, jostling his sides as they sprinted toward the protective railing. Lifeboats were filled much higher than their max of fifty and lowered down to the waves. A Team Rocket grunt cackled as she chased a crowd of people with a massive houndour, snapping darkly at people's heels. One jumped over the edge of the boat to avoid the pokemon in a long, drawn-out scream that echoed as something hit the water.

More grunts poured from the buildings, carrying bags and bags of pokeballs as they raced toward the front of the boat, grinning and recalling their pokemon. He could see something in the bright, something flashing with light like lightning in the dark storm, but his head pounded more powerfully and black closed over his eyes once again. He was already slower than the rest of the crowd and was one hundred and twenty percent sure he had some form of concussion, so perhaps that was the reason he didn't notice the man until he laid a hand on his shoulder.

He blinked and tried to refocus. Instincts prevailed again and he shoved at the arm, pushing himself away a few feet.

Blue-green hair tousled neatly above glimmering green eyes. A little smile as the man tilted his head.

"You see, Ash, I'm a bit annoyed at you for ruining my plans so thoroughly last time. So before the boat explodes, I've decided to give you a choice on your death. My newest may have his fun with you before the ideal but it'll be stunning to watch. I'm sure you and my hypno would like some catching up." Proton settled a hand across his chin as if thinking. Ash's head swam more powerfully. "The quickest death I can promise is, of course, very illegal to own but despite the League's powerful blusters, they never do manage to protect their Fossil Research Labs very well, do they? It's quite unfortunate."

He could barely think yet his mind kept pulling more and more useless facts instead of trying to find a way to survive. Proton had attacked the Pokemon Fossil Research Lab and had stolen something. Would he have killed anyone? Maybe. Ash couldn't tell and something burned behind his eyes as two brain cells finally connected -

He took a leaf out of the Team Rocket grunt's book and punched Proton across the nose.

The Executive stumbled back, eyes wide with fury and shock, and Ash promptly turned and sprinted as fast as he could into the crowd of fleeing people. His heart raced and his palms were sweaty. A pressure in his mind built up, no longer a passive blanket wrapped around his skull, and light spilled from the front of the boat.

But that was upset by the flash of scarlet light as a behemoth appeared in the middle of the deck. The rock covered beast immediately stomped on someone, crunching bones, as it emerged with an earth-shattering bellow. Grey skin, gaping jaw, narrowed black eyes. A wingspan three times his size stretched out to its full length as Proton, green hair whistling in the sudden wind, climbed onto its back. "Find him!" He shouted at the monster, the terrifying aerodactyl, rage bleeding into the air around him.

The words connected and Ash ducked his head and sprinted with the even more terrified crowd. Lifeboats were filling up and soon there wouldn't be enough left for everyone - several groups had released it with only a fraction of the people the boats were able to hold in order to escape.

There was a wail as someone was thrown off the boat. He couldn't concentrate on anything but the shriek of pain and fear cut off by another wave. Something was messing with the weather - winds were kicking up and waves were growing higher and higher, nearly reaching above the hull at their peak. Something powerful.

His answer was granted as people began to shriek. Proton shouted something but Ash couldn't hear it over the roar and bellow of the winds and his aerodactyl took to the air. The man's green eyes hunted through the crowd even as Ash could hear pops from the front of the boat - teleportation. The grunts were abandoning them as a shining white light shot into the air, glowing even past Ash's closed eyes.

The presence against his mind doubled and he had to know, he had to see what was there, and he forced himself to a stop as people streamed past him, leaving him alone on the deck of the ship. There had been no chance for escape via lifeboats - all of them were gone. And so he opened his eyes to see what was truly attacking the SS Anne and thousands of people.

It was hard to see at first. The ball of white energy wasn't actually a ball but a pokemon glowing so strongly with power it made his concussion slam painful fists into his skull. Green upper body, shining in the light, an emerald hair-like extension from the back of its head. A white… dress?

The gardevoir shrieked, the sound blasting across the sky. It gathered enormous power within its hands, raising it high above its head. One of the most powerful psychic types but they were gentle creatures that had never attacked any human in less than extreme self-defense, and even then they normally just knocked them out and fled.

But this one was screaming with rage, psychic energy flowing off of its body, building up a sheer ball of power that burned like lightning within its raised palms.

Ash frowned and looked closer. Something was wrong.

The gardevoir took up the front of the battle, but it wasn't the only creature in the sky. High enough to be partially hidden behind a cloud was a sort of blue ball, one bright enough to be the sun. He hadn't seen it in the splendor of the gardevoir but now he couldn't understand how he had missed it. Metal gleamed and purple fur flickered as it watched the boat with impassive eyes.

Pressure built behind his eyes. Gods, it hurt so bad, why was everything inside of his skull burning like it was on fire- he screamed as everything grew and grew- something was bubbling from his ears, streaming down his neck- the gardevoir raised its hands higher- the pokemon watched with burning, glaring eyes-

The gardevoir snapped its hands down and a beam of solid energy exploded against the ship. It was strong enough to instantly vaporize steel and wood and humans in its path without slowing down and he could feel it as the beam tore its way right through the other side of the ship and continued down.

It shuddered beneath his feet, the SS Anne trembling. The gardevoir began to charge power up again, shrieking with rage and pain and fury before it disappeared in a burst of scarlet light, appearing in Proton's hand. He grinned, still hunting through the crowd as his massive aerodactyl flapped lazily overhead, roaring angrily.

Water bubbled over Ash's feet, rising higher and higher. He didn't have his bag or any of the supplies that would help him to float.

Proton shouted, his hand pointed toward Ash's face. The boy took one moment to assure himself of his pokeballs' safety before turning and running. The aerodactyl shrieked at the thrill of the chase and charged.

It nearly got him before he dove off the edge of the boat.

There were a few moments of shrieking, painful terror before the cold water hit him. He was nearly frozen from the cold but the shock cleared his brain from the fogginess of the concussion and he managed to swim from the surface. His ribs throbbed. Pumping air into his lungs, he ducked under again and untied his boots. They would only slow down his swimming and he needed it to survive.

A single moment and he could feel as the presence up in the clouds focused its attention on him for a split, broken second and he screamed again as everything became so much more intense and sharp-

The monster burning brightening brilliant disappeared from view, not in the scarlet of a pokeball or in a pop of teleportation but just merely ceased to exist in that space and appeared somewhere far away. The pressure against Ash's mind cleared slightly, still raging before his weak shields that were doing nothing to keep it out.

Water splashed up his nose and jolted him enough. His head swung from side to side and he paddled furiously toward a chunk of wood tore from the side of the building. It held his weight as he heaved himself onto it, gasping for air.

Behind him, the ship groaned. The hole in the middle began to spew water like a geyser, forcing the ship lower and lower as water flooded over the deck, washing away wood and people and pokemon alike. A few released enormous flying types and clambered on, seeking escape.

There was a brilliant flash of light and a Hyper Beam slammed into their pokemon. Proton grinned wickedly, soaring peacefully on the back of his aerodactyl as people shrieked below him. Something gleamed in his eyes, easy enough to see even from so far away. Water cleaved through Ash's shirt and now his trembles weren't controllable.

Proton flew away from the dying ship, which still heaved and groaned for air as the hole widened from the constant flow of water. It sank lower and lower, buildings tearing themselves off in the huge waves and frightening winds. With a final shriek of rending steel and defeat, its front was ripped off and the behemoth died beneath the waves.

Another Hyper Beam smote the water only a hundred feet from him. Proton soared overhead, cleaving through the wreckage in case of survivors.

Ash held his breath and prayed as he held one hand over his pokeballs and slipped off the board. The water hit him like a physical weapon once again and burned with the heat fire could never produce as he forced himself underneath the board. There was a tiny pocket of air under a bulge.

Wingbeats, almost directly above his head. Siren's pokeball shivered in fury but he squeezed it tightly and closed his eyes, almost not daring to breathe.

The aerodactyl let out a groan of disappointment and flew away. Proton's command lost to the wind as he searched for a new target. Ash forced himself to count to sixty as feeling in his legs faded painfully before sliding out from underneath the board and hauling himself onto it once again.

The ocean was still wild, waves picking him up and hurdling him forward as they swept the wreckage of the SS Anne into the water. His board went under several times but he always managed to surface as his lungs screamed for air.

Eventually, he was alone in the waves. A pitch black sky flashed before him as lightning crackled across its surface. The gardevoir and monster of a pokemon behind it had raised the weather into a storm stretching for as far as the eye could see. Ash clung to the board like the half-drowned rattata he was.

Hours passed. His muscles locked in place and he knew that Siren might be able to help him but she came from warmer waters, not the frigid depths around him. He wouldn't put her through that. Blood leaked from his forehead and ears and the burn on his lips told him he might have a new source soon. Everything hurt.

But the clouds began to crawl away and revealed a brightening sky. The light revealed a huddled mass of black on the horizon. Land.

He didn't care what it was, but he couldn't paddle himself toward it, letting the waves do the work as they pushed his bedraggled form on a crumpled lump of wood over its white-peaked surfaces.

The land grew closer. Mainly flat, peeling away from the horizon in a steady line. The green of tall, dark trees flickering in the gleaming light of the rising sun. The water grew gentler, warmer, coming close to shore. Enormous shapes wheeled overhead, flapping enormous wings he couldn't see.

One dove at him. After a second, he was able to force his head up to see an enormous fearow flapping to stay airborne, frozen in place. It didn't dare to land on his board in case it capsized. It moved closer and leaned down. After a moment, Ash understood its intentions. Wrenching his arms off of the board, he tucked his hands around his pokeballs and raised his shoulders as best he could.

The fearow's talons were like the sun against ice but he was so numb he couldn't feel the pain as their razor tips dug slightly beneath his skin. His jacket groaned and he could hear threads popping but the fearow changed its grip to be beneath his arms before flapping its wings and beginning to fly.

Wind hurt, but Ash could barely think enough to notice it. The fearow soared over the forest, coming closer to a gleaming city nestled in the reaching arms of a mountain. He didn't recognize it.

It tucked its wings in slightly and began to go down, wind pelting Ash's face. After a few seconds, it extended its wings fully again and soared down a sort of circle cleared in the middle of an area, paint spilled to make an enormous X. People scurried across it, movements panicked.

One looked up. "Fearow has a survivor!" They called, and instantly there were a half dozen people to grab Ash's limbs and take him from the bird. Fearow cried out as someone gave it several oran berries to regain its strength before it took off again, soaring back into the air to search for more.

The people helped him to stand, walking him over onto a mattress. A flareon immediately got closer to him and the heat washed over his body, taking the edge of the chill away.

Someone in a League certified uniform sat by his arm, pressing against his wrists and joints. "Severe hypothermia. Shaking. Lethargic - I'm noticing a slower lack of response in eyes. Wound on forehead suggests concussion. Chapped lips. Bleeding from ears - heavy psychic contact. Frostbite has settled in but manageable."

Someone else rattled off answers and then there were blankets thrown over his body. The flareon got closer, almost sitting in his lap, and he could feel his hands and feet being lowered into warm cups of water.

There was a person by his left arm, which took far too long to focus on. The man held a large needle in his hands attached to an IV bag, and though a smile sat on his face his eyes were nothing but concentrated. Moving slowly, he helped Ash to straighten his arm and started to press his thumbs against Ash's inner elbow.

"Geez kid, these are some of the most difficult veins I've ever had to find before, and I've helped over three hundred patients!" The man joked. Ash snorted.

Immediately the doctor lunged into more jokes, eyes fixed on Ash's. "Seriously! Finding a needle in a haystack with your arm, kid! I'm going to need a tracking device and several teams of helpers to get anywhere close-"

The edges of his vision faded the black. He could still see the man, who had stopped trying to put the needle in his arm and was staring fully at his face.

"Kid, I need you to stay awake. There are all sorts of problems if you fall asleep and we'll need your help to see what's wrong-"

He tried, he really did. But the black consumed his vision and he never felt himself relax fully against the mattress.


When he woke up, it was to Nurse Joy standing over him.

He jerked back, eyes flying wide. Nausea instantly split his head and he went to double over when Nurse Joy set her hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him back to lay against the mattress.

"Hush, dear. Don't move too much. We don't want you getting sick."

He stared blearily at her, not able to understand. She smiled sadly and pressed a gloved hand on his forehead. Her palm felt icy despite the cold he knew he should have been feeling. The SS Anne breaking, screaming, groaning as it fell beneath the waves. People and pokemon blasted beneath the water- Proton overhead- the gardevoir- the monster of something something-

Something began to beep steadily by his side. Nurse Joy narrowed her eyes and snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Ash, please calm down. I understand you're scared but going into shock is only going to hurt more than it helps."

"Where am I?" He managed out. His voice sounded like he had gone through a meat grinder.

"You're in Fuschia City, dear, and you've been sleeping for about two days. It's nearly night and you're going to go right back to bed to fully recover your strength, but I can answer a few questions right now. I don't want you overexerting your strength."

"How did I get here?" The idea of going to sleep was instantly shot down, though he didn't dare tell Nurse Joy that.

"Well, we aren't aware of how you got off the SS Anne or survived the waves, but one of our fearow saw you and managed to bring you to our makeshift healing station. We helped your more immediate problems and then brought you to the closest city - here - where I and my team healed you the rest of the way."

"Are my pokemon okay? I gave them to the healers but they were fakes and they had to break out of their pokeballs to attack pokemon and-"

She held up another hand to stop his rapid questions and breathing. "All of them are fine. Your vulpix was immensely tired and your arbok was fully knocked out, but frillish was fine and nidorino was just regularly battle injured. All of them are fine and I believe your vulpix told the arbok everything that happened, which we had to promptly return him after that. You have a very protective pokemon," she said a bit dryly, and Ash could only guess. Apep would probably have broken down walls if given the chance. When she pointed, he could see his belt on a counter by the window. All four pokeballs gleamed on its surface. His bag - he dimly remember strapping it to his back - was sat behind it.

But there was still something burning in the back of his mind, beyond the pain from his shields and the twinge from his fingers and toes. The SS Anne had been one of the largest ships ever created and thousands of people had been on board its majestic deck. Proton had blasted the wreckage and lifeboats but maybe there were enough flying types to get everyone away.

"How many died?" He needed to know, needed to know Proton and Team Rocket and the gardevoir had done to those innocent people.

Her eyes were blank. "That's not a question I'm going to answer in your fragile state right now, and my answer is final. Please, go back to sleep. I'll give you a mild sedative to help and tomorrow there will be someone who is more adept at helping to give you the answers you desire."

It was hardly the answer he wanted but the steel in her eyes told him that was what he was going to get. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome." She gave him a smile as she walked over to a desk on the counter he hadn't seen before. Withdrawing a thin syringe, she nodded toward his bed. "There's a jar of water for you and a bell if you need anything else. Please, get some sleep."

There was a needle in his arm - the doctor had finally found one of his veins, it seemed - connected to a movable IV perched near his bed. She stuck the needle into the back and injected the clear substance into the liquid already there.

His legs hurt, throbbing, but at least he wasn't frozen by the freezing burn from the water. He was able to move, be free-

The Fossil Research Lab. what had Proton said? The League hadn't been able to protect it. He couldn't think straight but there had been no alerts about any sort of invasion or thief, no messages to avoid the building, no warnings. The League didn't know about the Research Lab but he did and he knew who was going to save it.

Nurse Joy smiled as she pulled the needle from his IV bag, slipping out of the room. "I'll talk more in the morning, dear," she said, and then was gone.

Ash immediately lunged for his arm. He couldn't save the lab drugged up on sedatives. He barely managed to pull off the endless white tapes and slide the needle out of his skin. Blood leaked out but he pressed the tape over the wound and forced himself to stand. His head was swimming but his pokeballs were there. He released Vulpix and immediately knelt to put a hand over her mouth, ignoring the heat.

"Shush, girl. We need to get out." Protectiveness flowed over her eyes and she nearly shook her head but he kept talking. "I know where Team Rocket is and a way that we can stop them."

That shut her up, but she still stared up at him.

"I'll tell the League, I'll get everyone I can involved, but I won't let Nurse Joy or anyone not let us take them down after what they've done to us."

This got her attention, and after a second warring with herself she looked back up at him, eyes tight.

"The window. If you can break the window - quietly - I can get out."

She nodded and padded over, examining the lock. It wasn't much of anything, just something to make sure winds didn't bust down the glass, but Nurse Joy knew the trainers she kept and held the only key. There was a hammer by the side in case of emergency but that would sound an alarm and with the shape he was in, even with his pokemon, there was no way that Ash could escape Nurse Joy if she sent Officer Jenny after him.

Vulpix sniffed before angling her tails over her head. Her eyes closed as she concentrated and slowly, he saw the glass bubble. In under a few seconds, it was a mass of shimmering glass steaming on the window sill. It was almost too hot to imagine but after five minutes and the jar of water on his bedside table, he was able to crawl through the opening and fall onto the ground. He recalled Vulpix from inside. He had bag, no shoes, no supplies, but he felt the same determination that had filled Vulpix during the fight. He was going to do this, and the shadows swallowed him as he walked away.

By the time Nurse Joy came in the morning to give him a checkup and say that there was a League representative to talk to him, he was long gone.


Hey guys! Long chapter here, also long wait. Sorry.

So I know for the most part, I've been cheating off Traveler and Challenger, even in this chapter. But I want you to know that this moment now is when things really switch. I'm going my own way and while I'll still have similarities, this is where I'm going to change.

Also, sorry for the cliffhanger.

Good news! I finally picked Ash's future dragon. Sorry about clefairy, but Team Rocket wouldn't just give him a pokemon only to steal it the next second. RIP clefairy, you will be missed. Maybe. You got like two paragraphs.

And yes, I did switch around the chapters a ton.

What do you guys think about me changing the title? Misfits was something I had originally planned on but I don't want that anymore. While I won't get rid of Ro and Vulpix I don't think it's fair to have Ash get every weird pokemon. And it's better to change the title now then when I get to two thousand words, eh? PLEASE ANSWER! I've been thinking maybe Searcher, Trainer, Seeker, Warrior, Fighter, or Finder. IDK on any one of them. Any suggestions?

Anyway! Please read and review!

Frost OUT!