"I'm sooo boorrrreeedd." Groaned Leo as he flipped onto his back ontop of Louis.
"Shucks guys. I wish I could go faster..." Louis said as he swam through the water. They were surrounded by miles and miles of empty ocean. Wingulls cried as the flapped through the air.
"Oh, no, Louis. Leo here is just VERY IMPATIENT." Nina shot a glare at the sea weasel.
Leo rolled his eyes.
Suddenly, Louis stopped swimming. He nervously glanced around.
"Aw what now?" Leo moaned.
"Golly... This is where... My Ma and I first saw that Gyarados."
"OH MY GROUDON. SWIM AWAAAY SWIM FAR AWAAAY." Leo cried frantictly, diving under the water.
Lian rolled his eyes. "Didn't you want to fight it?"
"ALRIGHT, WHERE IS THE BIG THING?" Leo called out as he surfaced.
Right on cue, he was lifted out of the water by a huge serpent.
Leo blinked. He looked down to find himself on the top of a giant Gyarados. With scales probably dyed with blood. Okay, maybe not. BUT STILL. OH MY GROUDON.
"GUH. LET ME DOWN YOU SERPENT." Leo cried, slipping off the beast's face and into the water.
"YOU GET OFF ME." It snapped back.
The serpent spun around and slapped Leo. He flew back and crashed into Lian, knocking them both into the water.
"WE'RE DOOMED." Nina cried out.
"SHUCKS. I DON'T WANNA DIE!" Louis cried right along with her.
"Not on my watch!"
A silver streak flew across the sky, landing right in the middle of the Gyarados's face. It fell over, landing with a splash.
A Skarmory with a blue scarf and blue goggles landed neatly on top of Louis. It turned around.
"Well, if it isn't the little sea weasel!" It said.
"WAIT A MINUTE. THAT'S THE SKARMORY THAT KIDNAPPED NINA." Leo cried out.
Nina blinked. "So it is! What are you doing here?"
"Saving your sorry behinds, it seems." The steel bird. "Name's Pluck. I'm the leader of an elite team of fliers in Sinnoh. Called Whirlwind."
A Swablu landed next to Pluck, dressed in the same blue scarf and goggles.
Leo's jaw dropped.
"IT'S THAT BIRD THAT KEPT ON KNOCKING ME TO THE GROUND WHEN I TRIED FLYING WITH MY TAILS." He yelled, pointing at the blue bird.
"... And this is Maria. Seemed you two met."
Maria glared at Leo. "Why yes, yes we have."
"Maria is my apprentice. She's training to take over Whirlwind. And finally, this is Clair. She's a skilled fighter." Pluck continued.
A Butterfree fluttered over to the two flying types. She, too, wore the blue scarf and blue goggles.
"That's great. You're all together. Now... Weren't we in the middle of something... Oh yeah. A FREAKING HUGE GYARADOS." Leo pointed at the beast, who had surfaced.
He didn't exactly look like he wanted to have a tea party, either.
"Attack, Whirlwind!" Pluck commanded.
The three flying types took to the air. Clair flapped her delicate wings and fired a Silver Wind attack. The Gyarados roared as he was blown back, dazed. Pluck quickly slashed the serpent's face with his sharp wing feathers. Maria furiously jabbed the beast's chin.
The other four pokemon watched the fight on top of Louis.
"Shouldn't we be helping?" Lian asked.
"No." Leo replied, watching the three pokemon battle.
"Well, I'm not going to sit back and watch this battle." Nina declared.
She fired an Ice Beam and hit the Gyarados square in the face. It froze over and sank to the bottom.
Lian and Leo blinked.
Leo clung to Lian. "I'm scared." He whimpered.
Lian clung back. "Me too."
Pluck, Maria, and Clair landed on top of the Louis.
"Well, glad that's over." Maria sighed, grooming her feathers.
A sob rang through the area.
The pokemon looked around.
Louis was shaking underneath them.
Clair flew over to see the whale. "What's wrong?" She asked.
"Aw shucks. It's nothing really. But..." He let out another sob. "I miss my Ma, that's all." Louis cried as he burst out crying.
Leo rolled his eyes. "That's it?"
Nina elbowed him. "How would you feel if you lost your mom?" She hissed.
"Actually... Well. My mom and I never got along..." Leo said.
Flashback of a Floatzel ferociously hitting Leo with a large branch. End flashblack.
"Louis, we'll find your mom. She has to be around here somewhere." Lian said, patting the whale's blue skin.
"Golly, Lian. Thanks. But what about Iron Island?"
Pluck blinked. "Iron Island? There's a tournament there!" He chirped.
Leo blinked. "Really! That means I can beat the crap out of a whole bunch of people!"
"And Maria and I will help Louis find his mom." Clair said.
"Shucks guys, you're a real help." Louis sniffed.
"And look, we're here." Lian said as a rocky island appeared in front of them.
"QUICK LOUIS. WE HAVE TO GET THERE BEFORE WE MISS THE TOURNAMENT." Leo cried, springing up to his feet.
"Golly! Okay!" Louis began swimming at full speed.
A minute later, they were on the island.
"Good luck with your search." Nina cried as they scrambled off him.
"I'm coming with you. I need to see a good fight." Pluck said as he flew after them.
They went into a cave on the island. As they ran down a tunnel, they soon appeared in a clearing with tons of pokemon gathered around.
Leo ran over to a Blastoise. "Is it too late to register?" He panted.
"Nope, you're just on time." The turtle answered.
"Okay, who's entering?"
"I am!" Leo said, pointing to himself.
"... This is a partner battle. Who's your partner."
Leo blinked, looking around. "Uh.. Uh..." He grabbed Nina. "She is!"
"Very well." The Blastoise said. "You're ready to go."
The four pokemon joined the others as a voice cried from ontop of a jagged rock.
"POKEMON OF ALL KINDS. THE IRON ISLAND PARTNER BATTLE TOURNAMENT IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!" The crowd cheered.
Two shadowy pokemon looked at the crowd from a small cavern.
"Hehheh. 'Ey Wanizame. You think anyone stands a chance of beating us?" One asked.
"No way, Rhino. They're all too weak." The other answered.
The tournament began.