"Alright! That's everything all packed for everybody, right?" Delia gave Ash, Gary and Tracey a smile as they finished loading the final items into a small metal trailer attached to James' red five-seater convertible, the small white trailer packed with the boys' and James' clothing and other essentials. They'd be meeting a ferry capable of carrying the car and trailer down to Cinnabar Island, then heading east by the Seafoam Islands and up to the mainland with a planned landing at Fuschia City, the sea trip necessary because there were no car-friendly routes through the thick, twisting Viridian Forest. "You have all of your homework and all that as well to turn in at the Centers as you go, all of you?"

"Yeah, Mom, I think that's everything!" Ash grinned as he loaded one final box of clothes into the small trailer, Pikachu deciding to 'help' by sitting on top of box as he carried it before perching on Ash's shoulder with a satisfied smirk. Ash and Gary had quickly learned that Eevee and Pikachu seemed to be okay with them so far and not aggressive at all, which was very impressive considering what they'd likely been through- unless either was asked to go into their Pokéballs, that was, which thankfully Nurse Joy had warned them about when they'd picked them up. Pikachu would slap his ball away with his tail with an annoyed expression and shake his head in a firm indication that it was Not Happening, with a light warning shock issued if the request was pressed. Eevee, however, would quite literally attack his on sight, snarling and chewing on it, only Meowth and Pikachu's joint intervention calming the small brown and tan Pokémon down. They'd eventually settled on an agreement of 'keep close by and we won't make you stay in your Pokéballs,' this feat accomplished through a rather interesting combination of charades and usage of Tracey's sketching skills by Ash and Gary.

"All my stuff's packed!" Tracey replied with a nod. "Of course, I had it easy- just my one bag," he added with a snicker. "Either of you need help, Ash or Gary?"

"Nope! I'm all done now." Ash grinned as he studied the convertible, excited about getting to be in such a cool car as Meowth settled into the middle backseat. "How about you, Gary?"

"This one's my last box, but thanks," called Gary as he gently shoved the box in with all the others with James' help. The slam of the trailer's rolling back door hitting home was followed by the click of a lock.

"And with that we're officially ready to head out!" James cried out victoriously into the early morning. "Now we get to drive the whole, long way down to the docks and wait for the ferry," he added with a snicker.

"Well, sounds like you're ready to go now. Why don't you guys go say your goodbyes to Samuel?" The three boys and their Pokémon scampered off towards Samuel's house, Delia turning to James and giving him an uncharacteristically serious look before handing him an open envelope, speaking softly. "Please read this some time when the boys are asleep. There's some things that you need to know about Ash since you'll be travelling with him long-term." She nodded her head to the letter. "That's what I remember of Ash's father, and also a conversation I had a few years ago. I'm hoping to hear back again from the same person I had that talk with soon as well. It should fill you in, but again, please look at it when they're all asleep, and keep it to yourself unless..." She sighed and winced. "Well, if that happens, you'll know immediately, and then all bets are off and he'll have to know everything, which is why I want you to be prepared just in case. I'm hoping it won't come to that before I hear back, though." She made a face. "Really, I was hoping to hear back before you guys left, but I should have known inter-regional mail wouldn't be that fast." Delia laughed and shook her head.

James quirked a brow and stared at the envelope. "Well, I'm glad that there's more information waiting for me, because now I'm both very confused and thoroughly intrigued," he replied with a grin before tucking the envelope away, trying to lighten the mood. "But I'm sure it's nothing that can't be worked through if it does come to it. Ah, here the boys come now."

Delia found herself enveloped in a bear hug by her son, smiling broadly as she returned it. "Hey, kiddo. You know I'll miss you! I look forward to hearing all about your trip, though. You better not forget that your Pokénav functions as a phone too, and be on your best behavior for James!" Ash grinned and nodded, breaking the hug before Gary came over and gave her a somewhat less powerful, but no less genuine hug. "You too, Gary- be good and keep up with your homework. I'm counting on you to keep Ash out of trouble!" She laughed as she gently patted Gary's back before ending their hug. "And last but not least, these two can get up to some crazy things, so I'm counting on YOU to be the voice of reason, Tracey!" Tracey laughed and wandered over for his own hug. "Now it looks like the ferry's pulling in, so you guys better load up and get going!" Gary hopped into the passenger seat eagerly since he'd called shotgun the evening before, Eevee hopping onto Gary's lap after Gary secured his buckle, Ash and Tracey settling in with Pikachu on Ash's lap and Deecee stretched across Tracey's shoulders after they buckled their own belts. "Thanks for everything you've done and will do, James. I know that they're in the best of hands with you being their guardian," Delia finished as she fought back tears, the realization finally settling in that they were headed off on their trip.

"It's not a problem at all. I'm very glad that things have worked out so well," replied James with a smile as he settled into the driver's seat and strapped in. Of course, he could never tell Delia exactly how glad he was that he now had a virtually perfect cover and excuse to travel to any of the major cities in Kanto and Johto whenever he needed for his work for Team Rocket, but the boys really had grown on him during the time they'd spent together and he had every intent of being the best guardian he could be. His Pokémon partners had definitely grown fond of the three as well, so that only made things even easier. "You have my number and Ash's, if you're ever worried feel free to call either of us at any time, it's not a bother at all." He turned on the car and pointed them in the direction of the docks. "And now, off to start our journey!"


"We'd like to hire your boat, please. We saw your chartering advertisement down at the docks."

Marcelle Bisset quirked a salt-and-pepper brow skyward, the veteran sailor studying the odd pair before him with a mix of amusement and puzzlement. They were a pair of boys, young teenagers by the looks of it, a black-haired one wearing black sunglasses and a sandy-haired one with almost golden eyes having some kind of strange, thick steel goggles that didn't look like you could see out of them perched on his head full of spiky hair. The pair also had on identical outfits consisting of a black T-shirt, thick grey jackets tied around their waists and black cargo pants tucked into what looked like charcoal grey combat boots. The black-haired one speaking to Marcelle had loose, chin-length hair and a Santalune accent coloring his Kalosian, which meant he was a good distance from home. The other boy stood silent, his head turning slightly towards the other boy attentively, seeming to try and catch the general gist of the conversation through the other boy's facial expressions.

Marcelle was about to ask where they wanted to go- his beloved Croc de Gyarados and her crew could handle any trip with adequate preparation, Marcelle knew, but he needed her expenses covered- before he noticed that the black-haired boy had a Friend Ball held around his neck thanks to use of carefully looped twine string and the sandy-haired boy had two of them on his own makeshift twine belt. "Let's start with your names and where you're looking to go exactly. I would need to factor in fuel and food for both us and the Pokémon." Marcelle politely nodded at the Friend Balls. The two boys had a whispered conversation in what sounded like Common from the bits Marcelle could manage to pick up though not understand, the sandy-haired one pulling out and opening a folded sheet of paper carefully, studying it before pointing to a spot on it, then giving it to the black-haired boy.

"You can call me Arthur, and my friend is Noah. I'll need to translate for Noah since he doesn't speak Kalosian." The black-haired one who'd just identified himself as Noah then continued by gently placing a folded piece of paper down on Marcelle's small desk and pointing at the logo on it, the glossy paper crinkling slightly. "We need to get to wherever this company is as soon as we can, please. A plane...isn't an option and we're hoping you can help. They don't seem to be based here in Kalos." The older man found himself staring down at a well-creased and worn, splashy-looking advertisement for various Pokémon potions in a foreign language he didn't recognize, though Marcelle did at least immediately recognize the company's very familiar logo emblazoned largely at the bottom of it- a curvy yellow S stylized heavily to resemble an open Pokéball on a black background.

"Ah, that's Silph. They're headquartered in Kanto, though I don't remember which city." Marcelle then glanced between the pair, finding it curious that what seemed like a pair of trainers, or owners of Pokémon at the least, would have no idea of the logo or name of one of the largest companies in the world when it came to Pokémon products, though he wasn't going to pry. "That's a long voyage, probably two months including refueling stops if the seas favor us, and we'd need a few days to prepare everything. If you want to eat well, I would say we're looking at twenty thousand Pokédollars for the both of you and your Pokémon, if this is a one-way trip."

Noah then suddenly seemed to startle, glancing over at the closed door before grabbing onto Arthur's arm, dragging him down and secreting them both under and behind Marcelle's desk before the older man could even ask them what was going on. A pair of women entered his small office a few moments later, the hair on the back of Marcelle's neck standing on end as the two women slowly sauntered in. Deciding that his body's first, instinctual response that had always served him so well on the open sea was the correct one, Marcelle played it cool and didn't reveal the boys' presence. "Good morning! Can I help you ladies?"

"Good morning," replied the first woman coolly, a trim athletic type with close-cropped red hair and bright green eyes dressed in a smart cream jumpsuit. "I'm Lucette, and this is Marie. We're looking for a pair of boys that have wandered away from our orphanage and taken three of our therapy Pokémon with them."

"Yes. They're good boys, if naughty for going off without our permission like that." Marie, a slightly plump blonde with long hair wearing a pair of thick tortoiseshell glasses, yellow turtleneck and brown suit pants, shook her head and laughed. "We think one of them may have heard of family out of the region and is looking to travel to them, so the Ambrette docks seemed like a good place to check. We were trying to make arrangements for them to come see him, but well...he may have gotten a bit too eager, shall we say?" She then produced two photos, Marcelle carefully schooling his face to show no reaction as he looked at pictures of the two boys that were currently huddled under his desk, Arthur's eyes revealed to be a steel grey color. "Their names are Tiros and Steres. They also have an Espeon, Umbreon and Florges with them, though they may be keeping them hidden right now." She then spread out pictures of the three Pokémon in case Marcelle didn't know the species.

"I see. Well, I don't recognize either of them and I can't say I've seen any of those Pokémon around, but I'll keep an eye out for you. I do a lot of private work, so I may well run into them if they're looking for passage out of Kalos. Do you have a phone or contact number?" Marcelle took the card that Marie proffered him and studied it, his unease about the women only increasing as he studied a plain business card with nothing but the woman's name and phone number on it.

"We're very willing to pay the equivalent of registering all three of those Pokémon as a reward if they're returned to us along with the boys, by the way, so it will be worth your while to keep an eye out. You can reach either Marie or I at that number any time. Thank you for your time." As soon as he was certain they were far enough away, Marcelle narrowed his eyes and surreptitiously crumpled the card up in his hand before picking up his phone to make it look like a call had come in, speaking while looking directly ahead in case he was still being observed by the women.

"I don't know what you two are running away from or why you want to go to Kanto and Silph so badly, but you can stay in my yacht while I get the things together for our trip. It has plenty of room for us all including the Pokémon, and if they're going around looking for you and splashing your faces around you both should probably lay low for a while. I'm going to pretend like I'm closing up now and that this phone call took me out for some business- do you have a way of following me without being seen?" Marcelle heard the quiet mumbles of Arthur translating his words, then the soft whoosh of one of his wooden drawers slowly sliding open to his left before the sound of something heavy thudding into its bottom bounced off the walls of his small office. The older man extracted the proffered item and realized that it was a bulging sack of Pokédollars in coin form, more than enough to cover the trip and then some just from the weight and volume alone.

"Go ahead. We'll follow, though you might not be able to tell" replied Arthur quietly before Marcelle 'hung up the phone' and started turning off his lights and locking things up. Neither boy had reappeared, but Marcelle proceeded as he'd indicated, assuming that perhaps the pair had already slipped out the front door and were secreted somewhere waiting for him to emerge. He took his usual route home to his 150-foot yacht that had been outfitted with quite a few creature comforts for clients taking long trips, resisting the temptation to stop by some of his regular vendors and start ordering supplies already because he didn't want to risk those dangerous women potentially putting two and two together if they were still asking around.

Marcelle felt a soft breeze brush by his face after he opened his door and held it open for a moment or two longer than normal, then stepped inside to the main deck's entryway to see a pastel pink bubble appear in front of him in the middle of the richly appointed saloon, an Espeon, Umbreon and white-flowered Florges all appearing protectively surrounding the two boys as what Marcelle guessed was some kind of psychic or magical barrier was halted. The Florges and Espeon's eyes were gently glowing violet and white respectively until the barrier fully dropped, so the sailor supposed it was some kind of combined skills on the Pokémon's parts. "The bedrooms are below and the stairway is to the right there- feel free to start settling in, all of the rooms on the port, the left after you finish going down, are the guest rooms. We'll probably need to get you both some clothes at some point after we start our trip as well. My crew and I will start ordering supplies for the voyage tomorrow and get you an accounting of what we spend from your advance payment. I'll also instruct my crew to provide no information about you or where we're going."

Arthur offered a polite incline of his head. "We thank you. Yes, the fewer that know of us and where we're going outside of you and your crew, the better for everyone." He then translated for Noah, the pair and their Pokémon heading downstairs to get settled into their respective quarters for the future trip.