Morning Misadventures

As soon as they returned to the Pokémon Centre, Ray and Max roused Nurse Joy to explain what had happened to the others who were still asleep, leaving out what had happened afterwards. Her reaction at first was to gasp in horror and lament about who would do such a thing before she explained that all they would need to do was dab the sleeping powder off with a damp cloth and then just wait for the effect to wear off. She gave them a few clean towels and a bucket of water and took Ray's Treecko to be treated.

So, Max and Ray began to laboriously clean the Sleep Powder off their friends. Mari seemed to have disappeared.

"I hope your Treecko's gonna be okay," Max said with a yawn, trying to start a conversation in hopes that that would keep him awake long enough to finish.

"I think he'll be fine," Ray replied. "Nurse Joy said so. I wonder where Mari went."

Max dunked his cloth in the bucket to rinse off some of the powder before getting back to work on Daichi's face. "Do you think we should look for her?"

"No, let her be for now. She seems to be taking it hard."

Max just nodded but he couldn't help being worried. She'd warned them when they first started out about the dangers of wild Pokémon and he hoped she was thinking rationally enough to take her own advice.

Hilary grumbled as Tyson and Daichi began shovelling their third helpings of egg into their mouths. She picked at her own tray of eggs, bacon, mushroom, baked beans and toast, feeling her appetite diminish the longer she stayed around the boys. She growled in irritation and slammed her hands and cutlery down on the table. "Why can't you two just eat like human beings?!" she yelled at them.

They both sent her a confused look. "Chill, Hilary," Tyson replied with his mouth full. "What's your problem? These eggs are delicious and since breakfast here only lasts until nine thirty I'm gonna make the most of it."

Hilary's eyebrow twitched. "Nowhere in that explanation did I find express permission to behave like a starving animal."

She turned to look around the bright pink lobby. Kai had risen early and finished his breakfast before Tyson and Daichi had even sat down. The last time she had spotted him he was going back to his room to wake up his Pokémon and feed them. Nurse Joy's gentle Pokémon, Chansey, had brought over some bowls of some generic-looking Pokémon food – one type looked like dog food and the other looked like cinnamon sticks – but their Pokémon seemed to enjoy it.

"I wonder if Max and Ray are still asleep," Daichi piped up after finally swallowing and taking a breath. "They're gonna miss their breakfast if they don't come down soon. And what happened to Mari?"

Hilary shook her head. "I don't know where Mari went. She was gone when I woke up. I can't believe Max and Ray are still sleeping, though. Especially Ray. I thought he was the early-riser type like Kai."

Kai had returned to the lobby just in time to hear his name mentioned. He glanced at Hilary but otherwise didn't pay any mind to the conversation. With his Togepi and a small bottle of a special Pokémon milk formula he sat down on a couch and turned on the television, seeing that it was currently on a morning show and an interviewer live at a stadium-type place was talking to a woman with light brown hair and wearing what seemed to be more of a costume than an outfit. She was dressed to exactly match the Pokémon standing beside her: a tall creature that looked like a man with a bird's head and bird claws for hands. Kai didn't pay much attention to the TV; he was too busy concentrating on making Togepi eat.

Eventually, Hilary decided that if she continued to watch Tyson and Daichi compete to see who could stuff the most food in their stomachs she would never finish her breakfast so she picked up her tray and went to sit next to Kai. This was a sight she would much rather witness: Kai handfeeding his baby Pokémon with a bottle. She covered her mouth with both hands to muffle her squeals. Kai barely acknowledged her so she turned to face the television, starting to eat her breakfast.

"- you are, indeed, a very inspiring performer," said the interviewer – a charismatic-looking, purple-haired man wearing a loudly coloured suit. "And finally, we've brought some questions sent to us by fans via e-mail. Meowth has the mailbag right here!"

To Hilary's surprise, a cream and brown cat with a charm on its forehead jumped in front of the camera. It was wearing a yellow bowtie matching the interviewer's and carried a colourful bag that seemed to be full of mail. However, the most shocking thing was what it did next:

"Meow! These are the topics that everyone wants to know!" it said and Hilary dropped her fork and her jaw at the sight of a talking cat. Meowth picked a letter from the bag at random and unfolded the paper. "First question comes from Linda of Olivine City: 'how are you able to consistently stay on top in such tough competition?' Guess we're wondering if there's some kind of trick to it." Holy shit. Hilary could hardly contain herself. That cat could read.

The interviewee giggled. "Oh no, there's no trick at all. Of course there's all of the technical stuff like choreography; it helps to have a good eye for a tasteful appeal combo. Definitely make sure that your Pokémon are well-groomed and in tip-top condition before you enter any contest. But most importantly you have to have a great relationship with your Pokémon, one in which you respect and trust them and they trust and respect you to the max. And have confidence. Coordinators with confidence will bring confident Pokémon to the hall."

"This doesn't sound like it has anything to do with Pokémon battling," Hilary muttered. She'd thought that it might due to the large building in the background so the conversation confused her a bit (it was also a little confusing as to why a Pokémon battle facility would adorn the front of the building with a giant ribbon tied in a bow but Hilary just thought that she didn't know the culture).

Finally Ray and Max made their way down the stairs. They both yawned widely and Max hadn't even combed his hair properly. Chansey greeted them and happily hurried off to fetch both of them a breakfast tray.

"Yo Ray, Max!" Tyson called out across the room. "We were wondering if you guys had died in your sleep or something. Don't you know there's only ten minutes left before they stop serving food?"

Max's stomach grumbled. "I could go for breakfast. What's on the menu?"

"Eggs, bacon, toast, that kind of stuff," Tyson replied around his fourth helping. "You should try it! I thought that the food at this place would be kinda crap since it's free – I mean, who's ever heard of cheap food that tasted good? – but these are the best eggs ever!"

"Really? I can't wait to try it," Ray said.

Chansey placed two trays with a generous serving of food on the table for Ray and Max. They smiled, not expecting the service, and thanked the pink Pokémon. Chansey beamed and skipped away to attend to her other duties. As she left, Ray noticed an empty pouch.

"Um…" he said, "didn't that Pokémon have an egg last night?"

Max sat down across from Tyson and Daichi and popped a bit of egg in his mouth. His eyes immediately lit up. "Wow! These really are the best eggs ever! What did they do to make it taste so good?"

"Guys, do know where the eggs came from?" Ray asked.

"What are you? Stupid?" Daichi retorted. "Everyone knows that eggs come from chickens."

"But Daichi, this is a world with completely different animals. I don't think there are any chickens."

"Well, where do you think they came from?" Max said while squeezing the mustard bottle over his breakfast.

"That Pokémon was carrying an egg in its pouch last night, now the egg is gone."

"So maybe it hatched?" Tyson guessed.

"Then where's the baby?"

"Somewhere else?"

"Are you saying you think that Chansey laid the eggs we're eating?" Max said. Ray nodded.

"Really? Are you sure its eggs are even edible?" Daichi wondered. Tyson looked in his Pokédex. It reported:

"Chansey lays nutritionally excellent eggs on an everyday basis. The eggs are so delicious they are easily and eagerly devoured by even those who have lost their appetite."

"Okay, so maybe it did," Tyson said with a shrug, putting his Pokédex away. "But that doesn't change the fact that these eggs are the bomb!"

"I don't think I'm going to eat them," Ray decided, bringing his tray closer to him and scooping up some mushrooms.

"Why not? They're really good," Max tried to persuade him. "Trust me, you'll regret this."

"No," Ray said with finality. "It's too weird."

"Why?"

"Because it's a Pokémon! Eating an egg that was carried around in something's pouch for a while seems weird."

"You don't object to eating eggs in the real world, why stop now?" Tyson argued.

"Eggs in our world come from chickens! It's normal." Ray looked back down at his tray. "And where do they get bacon in a world that doesn't have pigs?"

The other three shrugged.

"I'll eat your meat if you don't want it," Daichi offered. He didn't even wait for a response before he started stealing food from Ray's tray.

"You didn't have this problem with the food before," Max pointed out. "Why now?"

"I just didn't really think about until now but the more time I spend in this world the more I realise that everything is completely strange and I somehow can't bring myself to think of Pokémon as food." Ray sighed. "Well, anyway, has anyone seen Mari?"

Tyson and Daichi shook their heads. Tyson finally stopped eating and swallowed so that he could think. "Actually, I haven't seen her since last night. There's no way she should miss out on a breakfast this good!"

Ray and Max cast worried glances at each other. "I think we should go and look for her," Max asserted.

Ray nodded in agreement this time. Tyson and Daichi paused and stared at the two across from them.

"Did something happen?" Tyson asked.

"Yeah, there's no point in hiding it," Ray said. He and Max explained to Tyson and Daichi what had happened the night before, right from the sleeping powder to Jemima and Jamie. By the end of it, Tyson and Daichi almost had their jaws on the table in front of them.

"People can use Pokémon to do that?" Daichi exclaimed.

"Apparently so," Ray replied. "Although from the vibe that I picked up, it seems that mainstream morality is normally against using Pokémon attacks on people."

"And you think someone who steals other people's pets is all for 'mainstream morality'?" Tyson said. "Mari is probably really ticked off about this. What if she's run off to try and catch them or something dumb like that?"

"Honestly, that's what I'm afraid of too," Max confessed.

"We need to find her fast," Tyson declared, wolfing down the last of his breakfast and standing up. "Everyone get ready, we're forming a search party. Kai!"

"No," Kai answered. He was now a bit interested in the TV but still had most of his attention on Togepi. Hilary was completely captured by what was now on the screen that looked nothing like the kind of Pokémon battle Mari had gushed about. Instead, the Pokémon merely danced and pranced around a stage showing off well-timed moves and their general good condition.

"Fine then! Hilary-"

"Have fun doing whatever it is you're doing," she said.

"But-"

"Bye." Hilary waved over her shoulder without looking away from the TV.

Tyson grumbled. "Okay, then it's just us. Four is a good enough number for a search party. We'll grab our beyblades-"

"And our Pokémon," Max added, getting a sigh from Tyson.

"Okay, we'll get our beyblades and our Pokémon and split up. Max and I will look outside of town, Ray and Daichi can look around town. We'll meet up at the marketplace once around lunchtime and then again before sunset. Is this a plan or is this a plan?"

Ray and Max nodded.

"Hey, I wanna go out of town too," Daichi complained.

"Daichi! Just do what you're told. There's too much at stake here."

Daichi grumbled his agreement with the hasty plan and the four of them got up to prepare for their search.

The two groups left as soon as they were fully equipped and split up. Ray and Daichi headed towards the busiest part of the town while Tyson and Max looked for the shortest route out of town. They stopped to ask for directions a few times. It seemed that a few early risers had seen people heading north of the town at the crack of dawn. The bladers were a bit confused by that but figured it was their best shot. Anyone going out of town could let them know if Mari had gone their way as well.

Meanwhile, Daichi and Ray wandered the streets of the town. The town was quiet even in the busiest sections. Forty minutes after the plan had been put into action Daichi was still grumbling and walked beside Ray with his face scrunched up and his arms crossed tightly. Ray was doing an excellent job of ignoring his companion's bad mood and kept his eyes peeled for any sign of their friend.

"This is stupid," Daichi muttered. "Why don't I get to go out into the forest? That's my element! Tyson knows that. I bet he's doing this on purpose."

"Daichi, your whining isn't helpful," Ray admonished.

"But how are we supposed to search, exactly? This place isn't that big and we've already been around most of it."

Ray stopped and folded his arms. He put a finger to his chin and stared at the pavement, deep in thought. Daichi stared at him bemusedly. "Maybe… maybe there was a clue last night. Jamie and Jemima said they were in a team: Team Aqua."

"So they're a tag team?" Daichi asked.

"I think they meant something bigger," Ray guessed. "They were up to no good so I'm thinking that 'Team Aqua' could refer to an organised crime syndicate. At the very least, they're a group that has some kind of name for itself. Assuming that it's a name people recognise, maybe if we drop that name around town people will know something."

"And this helps us find Mari… how?"

"Look, I'm still only guessing but Mari was really upset about losing Woofy. I would bet money that she left to try and find him and maybe even get revenge, so she must be looking for Team Aqua too."

"Oh! Okay!" Daichi said, regarding Ray with awe. "That's really smart. Who should we ask first?"

Ray pointed to a café. A policewoman with blue hair and a Growlithe at her side was exiting the establishment (probably after a nice morning coffee) and was about to get on her white motorbike to start patrol. "If we ask an officer then we can gauge how much of a problem this Team Aqua is."

The Growlithe jumped into a sidecar on the bike and the officer was changing out her hat for her helmet when the bladers approached her. She saw them and gave them a friendly smile. "Hello, haven't seen your faces before," she said congenially. "New in town? Passing through?"

"Just passing through," Ray answered, "but unfortunately, we've had some major trouble."

Her expression changed to a more serious one and she stopped what she was doing completely. "What's the situation?"

"Our friend went missing after something that happened last night." Ray recounted last night's activities, including the battle with Jamie and Jemima. "The thieves said they were from 'Team Aqua'. Can you tell us anything about them?"

"Team Aqua?" the policewoman said, looking confused. "Impossible. Team Aqua was a big crime syndicate here in Hoenn but they disbanded decades ago."

Ray and Daichi exchanged glances. "Is there any possibility that they rebuilt?" Ray asked. "I'm absolutely certain that they mentioned Team Aqua."

"There's that possibility. Also possible that they're just using the name as a fear mongering tactic. Either way, this is a serious issue. Can you boys show me where they were last seen? And by the way, what are your names?"

"I'm Ray and this is Daichi," Ray replied, showing her his Pokédex's ID screen. Daichi followed suit.

"Name's Jenny." She returned her Growlithe to its Pokéball. "Take a seat and let's ride."

The road heading north wasn't so much a road as it was a part of the forest that just happened to not have trees. There was a dirt road, deeply grooved by tyres that wound through what would have otherwise been a wider path of packed earth. However, the route wasn't used very often and the tall grass had claimed most of it back.

"Geez, think of all the snakes that could be living in here," Max muttered as they travelled up this road.

"How do we know that snakes even exist in this world?" Tyson questioned facetiously.

"Who knows but I would be willing to bet that snakes are a universal constant across all worlds and dimensions," Max replied, equally as sarcastically as Tyson.

"Man, this place is boring."

After leaving the town behind them they had seen nothing and no one for almost an hour. They had it on good authority that they could make it from the town to the banks of the river and back again by nightfall (albeit with no idea what river was being mentioned) and hoped that if Mari had gone this way that that was as far as she'd gone.

"I thought that people had come through here. Why haven't we found anyone yet?"

"From the sounds of it, they got a massive head start," Max reasoned. "It could be that we just need to catch up with them."

"Hey, wait," Tyson said, pausing to shade his eyes and look ahead. "I think I found them."

The uneven grass was much shorter around some of the trees. It was at the base of one of these thick-trunked trees that the bladers spotted two people crouched over something. They were a man and a woman wearing matching outfits of black and white striped t-shirts, black gloves and shoes, blue bandannas and blue wide leg trousers. It looked like a uniform in the way the outfits conformed to each other. The black-haired man was bent over a large sheet of paper that appeared to be a map of sorts while the woman – a redhead with matching eyes – was taking notes in what looked like a journal.

"Hey!" Tyson called out to them. They both jumped and turned their heads so fast it could have given them whiplash. The woman snapped her journal shut and the man quickly folded up his map and tucked it into his pants, hiding it under his shirt. Max narrowed his eyes slightly and couldn't help but notice how suspicious their actions were. Not to mention how similarly they were dressed to Jemima and Jamie. They stood up as the bladers approached and smiled innocently enough. However, Max still couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about them.

"Sup, kids?" the man said pleasantly but his eyes had the cold glare of someone who just wanted them to go away. "Lose your way?"

"No, we're looking for someone," Tyson replied. "Did you see a ginger-haired girl go through here this morning? She's wearing a yellow shirt and has her hair tied up all the time."

"Hardly anyone goes through here," the woman replied in a nasally voice. "Route 103 is a road to nowhere unless you really like fishing."

"So I guess you really like fishing," Max said coolly, raising an eyebrow.

"'Scuse me?"

"Max, what are you saying?" Tyson said. "Do these guys look like fishermen to you?"

"Well if you're not fishermen, why are you guys out here if this road really doesn't go anywhere?" Max inquired.

"Wouldn't you like to know!" the man snapped immaturely.

"Actually, we do," Max retorted crossly. "Our friend is missing and she might have come down this way."

"Cool it, Max. They probably don't know anything," Tyson said.

"Yeah, what he said," the man nodded. "Sorry 'bout your friend, lil' dude but we ain't seen no one on this road today."

"Then can I ask you something else?" Max pressed, dropping his suspicious and angered expression for a happier façade. "Have you guys ever heard of Team Aqua? I hear that they've been hanging around these parts lately."

The pair flinched. Tyson was confused and had a right mind to reprimand his friend but the adults reacted before he could say anything by pulling out Pokéballs and expanding them.

"How'd you know 'bout the Team?" the man growled.

"Um… what?" Max and Tyson said in unison, blinking blankly.

"Whaddya mean 'what?'!" Tyson yelled at Max. "I thought you were going somewhere with this!"

"I thought 'Team Aqua' was just the tag team name for Jemima and Jamie!" Max claimed.

"Che! Should have known Jamie and Jemima would be the muddle-Duckletts to ruin everything," the woman huffed. "Since you found out about us being back in action, we can't risk you running back to the cops before we're finished here. Corphish, go!"

"Get 'em, Poliwhirl!"

They threw their Pokéballs to release a little, red lobster-like Pokémon and an odd, blue, round creature with the eyes of a frog and a swirl on its belly that had arms and legs like a person. Tyson quickly opened his Pokédex to find out just what they were.

"Poliwhirl, the tadpole Pokémon. Its two legs are well developed, allowing it to live in or out of water. When out of water, it constantly sweats to keep its body slimy. Because of this greasy covering, it can easily slip and slide out of the clutches of an enemy in battle."

"Corphish, the ruffian Pokémon. They were imported to various regions as pets. It is a very hardy creature that will quickly proliferate, even in polluted streams. It has no likes or dislikes when it comes to food - it will eat anything."

"According to the Pokédex, they're both water-types," Tyson muttered. "If only Ray were here…"

"Corphish, use Bubble!"

Max and Tyson both screamed and dived out of the way when Corphish shot a stream of bubbles at them. The bubbles lingered in the air, floating slowly and the bladers felt a little stupid. That is, until the bubbles burst with an audible pop and they felt the small shockwaves of energy being released.

"Whoa, these guys aren't messing around," Max said.

"If they're going to attack then we have to defend ourselves," Tyson said, getting up and releasing Torchic. The chick ruffled his feathers and glared at his opponents.

Max released Mudkip alongside Torchic. The amphibian took a look at the stronger opponents he was facing and whimpered. "Hey, Mudkip, don't worry. I got your back if anything bad happens here."

Mudkip glanced back at his trainer and then faced the battle, still nervous about fighting but feeling a little bit braver thanks to Max's encouragement. At the drop of an order from the Team Aqua grunts, Corphish and Poliwhirl charged and the battle began.

A/N: continuing in the next chapter yet again and our heroes seem to keep getting in trouble. Please leave a review! I would really love some feedback because sometimes as I'm writing and proofreading I laugh and I'm not sure if I'm laughing because I'm just a dork who laughs at her own jokes or because it's actually funny.