April's Team: Mars; Burn (Charizard); Thunder (Electabuzz); Happy (Lombre); Sam (Riolu/Latios)

James' Team: Gardevior (Evolves from Kirlia); Ninetails; Treeko; Nidoqueen; Corey (Mewvee)

POV: Suicune

I watched the match between James and the Vermillion City gym leader, Lieutenant Surge, through a psychic connection Mew had made. Darkrai floated wordlessly next to me as we watched the match. Both James and Surge were down to their last Pokémon; James' Kirlia and Surge's Jolteon. Kirlia dodged a thunderbolt, and unleashed a dazzling gleam at Jolteon, who took it full force.

"He is a good trainer." I said. Darkrai grunted, nodding his head and staring at the match. Kirlia was struck with a devilishly fast quick attack, but slowly got to her feet as James yelled words of encouragement. Kirlia began to glow with the light of evolution, and I shook my head, smiling.

"Figures she'd evolve now." Darkrai said. I nodded, and watched as a Gardevior emerged from the light, firing a magical leaf at Jolteon and knocking him out cold. Surge laughed, and walked over to congratulate James, handing him a badge. April patted Mars on the head in the stands, standing up and walking down to the stands. I silently turned away from the match to stare at the city, where a large cruise ship was pulling in. I closed my eyes and shook my head. Insanity. Pure insanity. I'm sorry you have to endure this, Mars.

POV CHANGE: Mars

I glared at Lieutenant Surge, who stood across from us, casually tossing a pokeball up into the air. He wore camo pants and dog tags around his neck, proof of his service in the military. I'd heard that military Pokémon were extremely vicious and strong, having been hardened by years of incessant training. They rivaled even the most skilled wild Pokémon when it came to getting out of life and death scenarios. This promised to be an...interesting battle. He had switched out his Pokémon from last match, and was now fully fit to fight.

"You ready?" He said, his voice booming forcefully across the field. I lay down next to April, and watched at he tossed out his Pokémon, not waiting for an answer. A Magnezone appeared on the field, levitating off of the ground. April smiled and grabbed Burn's pokeball.

"Alright, Burn! Let's start this off with a flamethrower!" April called. Burn appeared out of his pokeball with a mighty roar, and unleashed a torrent of fire at Magnezone, who took it without moving. "Nice! Now use fire blast!"

"Lock on and then zap cannon." Surge said calmly. A red dot appeared on Burn before he prepared the fire blast, followed quickly by a large ball of electricity. It slammed into Burn right as he fired, causing the attack to rocket into the air and slam into the ceiling. Burn tumbled backwards, but managed to push himself to his feet, breathing hard. "Two can play at the super-effective game. Remember, your Charizard there is a dual Fire/Flying type, giving my Magnezone's electric type an advantage over him." Surge explained.

"Flamethrower!" April called.

"Again." Was all Surge said, and Magnezone started his attack again. The red dot appeared on Burn, who launched his attack. The two attacks collided midair, and exploded. "Mirror shot." Surge said. "Then lock on and zap cannon."

"Fire blast!" April called. The two attacks collided again, this time with Burn's fire blast prevailing over mirror shot and slamming into Magnezone, knocking him out. Nobody saw the crackling ball of electricity as it plunged towards Burn, slamming into him as Magnezone's final hit. Burn crashed to the ground, KO'd.

"Nothing like a little mutual destruction. So what's next, girl?" Surge asked, tossing out a pokeball. Out of it emerged an Electabuzz, who looked ready to fight. April tapped Thunder's pokeball with her index finger, and then nodded.

"Alright, then let's use you, Thunder!" April called, throwing him out. Surge's Electabuzz glared at Thunder, who returned the glare with a smile. "Use brick break!" April called. Thunder rushed forwards, only to be stopped by Electabuzz, who was also using brick break. The two clashed, and were sent stumbling backwards. "Keep using it!" April called.

"You too, Electabuzz." Surge called. Electabuzz and Thunder clashed once more, beating their forearms against each other. Thunder ducked under one of Electabuzz's strikes, and brought the brick break up in an uppercut type move. Electabuzz stumbled backwards, and Thunder flew forwards, beating Electabuzz with a barrage of blows. "Protect." Surge said. Electabuzz held out its arms, and Thunder's next strike slammed into a force field. Thunder cursed and leapt back, narrowly avoiding Electabuzz's brick break.

"Use thunderbolt!" April said.

"Counter it." Surge said. Both Thunder and Electabuzz unleashed thunderbolts that collided in the air, sending tendrils of electricity arcing across the field. The two attacks died, and Surge made a move. "Use thunderpunch." Surge said.

"Swift, and then use brick break!" April said. Thunder raised his hands at the oncoming Electabuzz, and fired the multiple glowing stars at him. They collided with Electabuzz, who stopped in his tracks, and Thunder launched himself forwards, scoring a direct hit on Electabuzz, who crumpled to the ground. A small smile played on Surges lips as he recalled Electabuzz. I narrowed my eyes. Electabuzz hadn't been showing any signs of fatigue, so why did he recall him? That final brick break shouldn't have knocked him out.

"Let's go, Electrode. Use charge beam." Surge said. The white and red ball appeared on the field, a charge beam already to fire. Thunder took the blast head on, and was sent tumbling backwards. "Now use sonicboom." Surge said. Electrode screeched, and fired at Thunder, hitting him once more.

"Use brick break!" April called. Thunder rushed forwards, and slammed his fist into Electrode, who promptly knocked him back with another sonicboom followed by a charge beam. Thunder struggled to push himself to his feet, and Electrode rolled forwards.

"Use charge beam." Surge said. Electrode stopped right in front of Thunder, who was standing on one knee, and charged its attack.

"Brick break!" April called. Thunder slammed his fist into Electrode right as Electrode fired. The two attacks sent each other rolling backwards, but this time, Thunder didn't get up. Electrode grinned, showing only slight signs of fatigue. I sighed and started to get to my feet. Looks like I'm up. "Go, Happy!" April called, throwing out Happy. I looked at her in surprise, sighed, and lay back down, turning my attention towards the match. It lasted a total of five seconds. "Happy, use nature power!" April called. Surge smirked and nodded at Electrode.

"Explosion." He said. Electrode grinned maliciously, as if he got some kind of sick pleasure out of exploding, and began to glow in a white light.

"Jump back, Happy!" April called. Happy was charging her nature power, and couldn't move as a result. She took the explosion full force, sending her flying backwards and forcing me to avert my eyes as debris flew across the stadium. When I returned my gaze, there was nothing more than a slight indent in the ground, with Electrode in the middle, and an unconscious Happy laying at April's feet. April recalled Happy with a frown, glaring at Surge as he recalled Electrode.

"What's that glare for?" He asked, clipping Electrode's pokeball to his belt.

"That was a cheap shot." April said. Surge let out a booming laugh, and shook his head.

"Well, I thought I'd make it even for you going into the final round. Send out your best Pokémon, because here comes mine. Come on out, Riachu!" Surge said, throwing out his final Pokémon. The orange mouse locked eyes with me and grinned. A silent understanding passed between us, and I knew that this was going to be a fun fight. It was obvious Riachu had seen some real action, unlike some of the other gym leader's Pokémon.

"Alright. Mars, you're up." April said. I nodded and walked out to the middle of the arena, standing directly in front of Raichu.

"Woah, wait, what? You're actually using him? Sorry, but I can't fight cripples. Send out another Pokémon." Surge said. I gritted my teeth, and Raichu grinned at me.

"Think you'll be able to stand up to me, cripple?" He taunted. I grinned viciously.

"I'll crush you." I said, cracking my neck.

"But...but...he's the only Pokémon I've got left that I can use!" April shouted. She was right, though. Sam was too young to battle. Raichu tensed and got ready to fight me.

"Sorry, but I'm not going to fight an injured Pokémon. You can have the badge. Raichu, return." Surge said. Obviously, the two of them weren't on the same wavelength, because Raichu dodged the red beam and launched himself at me with amazing speed. I barely had time to step out of the way as his mega punch slammed into the ground next to me. I spun, swinging an iron tail at him, only to have him push himself up off of the ground and go flipping towards my head. I ducked as he slapped his tail at me and charged a shadow claw. He wouldn't be able to dodge midair. I struck as he was about to hit the ground, only to have my strike blocked by Raichu's iron tail.

"Huh. You're not half bad for a cripple." Raichu said. I shut him up by firing an ice beam, only to have him dodge out of the way. I cursed and watched as he flipped back to his side of the arena, showing how fast and agile he was. I mentally assessed the situation. He's got speed on me, so I should sit back and let him come to me. He may be fast, but my reaction time is just as fast, though I wouldn't hold a candle to him if it came to running. Counter the electric attacks with long range moves, and keep him from hitting me. That's the plan.

"Looks like Raichu's got a different idea than I do. Alright then, let's let them duke it out. I haven't seen Raichu this pumped for a fight in ages. How's about we don't yell out any commands, huh? Let them fight on their own." Surge said with a grin. I glanced back at April and nodded.

"Alright. Let's-Mars! Watch out!" April yelled. I didn't even turn my head, just leapt to the side as Raichu's iron tail slammed into the ground.

"Eyes on your enemy." Raichu said, still grinning. I snarled and charged an ice beam, firing it at Raichu, who continued his forward momentum and somersaulted out of the way. I raced forwards, striking at him with a shadow claw, only to have him block it with another iron tail. He grinned and began to crackle with electricity. "Too close." He said, and let loose a shockwave of yellow electricity.

"Crap." I muttered, feeling it arc through my body. I growled and charged a razor wind, firing it at Raichu and scoring a direct hit. He was sent tumbling backwards, but picked himself up with a grin.

"Hey, you're tough. I didn't expect you to be moving so soon after I hit you with that discharge." Raichu said. I grinned.

"Yeah? I got hit with an Ampharos' thunder before, so that's probably why. That was pitifully weak comparatively speaking." I said. Raichu laughed and prepared himself again, charging a mega punch. I grinned back and lowered myself closer to the ground.

"Man, that's harsh. I beat an Ampharos before. Now I'm going to have to hit you for that." Raichu said, and launched himself forwards. I prepared two shadow claws, and launched myself forwards, swinging one paw at Raichu, and using the second to counter his mega punch. Just as I was about to connect, he spun, leaping into the air and putting one hand on my paw, pushing it to the ground and completely avoiding my attack. He gave me a mischievous grin and brought his mega punch straight into my side, slamming me into the ground. He leapt off of me, and turned to Surge.

"It's over. Get your Absol back." Surge said. Raichu just grinned and looked at me, turning around after he had retreated a few steps.

"Come on, man, that can't be all you got." He said. I groaned and pushed myself off of the ground, glaring at Raichu.

"You're going to pay for that." I said with a groan. I silently cursed myself for forgetting about his speed. Crud. I can't let him get close now, either. Or can I...? Raichu launched himself forwards, and I braced myself, charging a razor wind. Yep. This one was explosive. Raichu flashed forwards, vaulting over me to dodge the razor wind, and landed behind me. He leapt forwards, and I turned my head slightly, loosing the razor wind. BOOM. It blew up, sending me tumbling backwards into Raichu, who was also caught in the blast. I caught myself quickly, having been prepared for it, whereas Raichu was still trying to figure out what the heck just happened. All it took was one ice beam, and I froze Raichu solid. I grinned and walked over to him, freeing him with an iron tail. Surge whistled, walking up to Raichu.

"Man, that'll wake you up in the morning. Nobody saw that coming. Dang. I have to hand it to you, your Absol there is one tough Pokémon." Surge said, shaking April's hand and recalling Raichu, who grinned at me, shaking his head. "Well, a loss is a loss, even if I did take it easy on you in the beginning. I probably underestimated you. So, here's your badge as recognition for you win." Surge said. April paused holding the badge in her hand.

"What do you mean 'took it easy?'" She asked. Surge laughed.

"Kid, it's a gym leader's job to test trainers and get them to improve, not to beat every single one that comes to them. If I was going all out the entire time, you would've lost, to be blunt. But, hey, you deserve that badge. You've got what it takes to go far." He said, and walked towards his side of the gym. "Now get going, I've got some training to do." April glanced at me, grinned, and headed towards the door. I slowly followed, still feeling the damage I'd taken from the battle.

"That was epic, April! Mars was awesome how he blew Raichu up!" James said, running up to April. She smiled and scratched the back of her head in embarrassment.

"Thanks. But we'd better get out Pokémon to the Pokémon center." She said. James blinked, and then nodded, as if realizing this for the first time.

"Oh, yeah. Right. That's probably a good idea." He said, and we walked out of the gym. Lucien, Red, and Green were waiting outside for us.

"Hey, how'd it go?!" Green asked, practically jumping up and down. Was she always so hyper? James grinned.

"We won, obviously. We're headed towards the Pokémon center now so we can heal our Pokémon." James said. Lucien nodded, and approached us.

"Alright, sounds like a plan. Anyways, I would like for you to come on a cruise with me. It heads towards the Sevii islands, where the gym leader Blaine was relocated to two years ago, but takes a detour around towards Hoenn and such. What do you say? There will be a ton of trainers on board and a few contest type thingys." Lucien said, holding out two S.S. tickets. April took one, and James took the other.

"Sure, we'll go. I didn't know that there was a gym on the Sevii islands." April said. "I thought Blaine was at the Seafoam islands."

"Yeah, there's a gym at both locations now. A new guy took over at the Seafoam islands, and Blaine moved to the Sevii Islands. The boat leaves at 8:00, and they start boarding around 6:00. I'll meet you there around 6:00." Lucien said.

"Sorry, but neither I nor Green will be joining you on that cruise. We've got other stuff to do. I'll be seeing you two later." Red said, and grabbed Green by the arm, leading her away before she could say anything. Lucien shook his head, watching them go.

"Alright, well, go get your Pokémon healed. I'll be waiting for you on the pier." Lucien said, and walked off, heading towards the large cruise ship in the harbor. April looked at James, and shrugged.

"Let's head to the Pokémon center." She said, and started walking. James nodded and followed, with me close behind. A cruise ship in the open ocean...I shook my head. Never done that before.