Once Maxie had left her, Rosella located the seashore cottage that Steven had mentioned before she had been captured, and knocked on the door.
Mr. Briney opened the door, "Oh, and how may I help you lass?"
Then he said, "Wait a minute…….. You're Rosella! Let me guess you were hoping that I could help you get to Dewford, is that it?"
"If you would." Rosella replied.
"That's no problem, lass, I'll be glad to take you." Mr. Briney said.
"Okay, thank you." Rosella said.
"Come on, lass, let's head on over there right now." Mr. Briney said.
They both walked outside and boarded Mr. Briney's boat, and shortly afterward they were off towards Dewford. They arrived in port at Dewford around mid-day, and Mr. Briney nodded to Rosella and said, "Meet me back here, lass, when you want to head back to Petalburg."
"Okay, I will." Rosella replied.
Rosella now disembarked from the ship and walked to the Pokemon Center, where she got her pokemon healed before she headed on to the gym. Rosella walked through the hallways of the gym until she finally found the Gymleader.
Brawly looked up, "Ah, a challenger." Then his eyes widened in recognition, "Hang on a second……. You were adopted by Lance and Lorelei of the Elite Four."
"I know…… Why does everyone keep bringing that up? I can't get any peace because of that fact……." Rosella said.
"Don't worry, people will get over it in a matter of time, so don't worry. Now, you want to battle, right?"
Rosella nodded.
"Good, we'll have a 2 on 2 battle. I'll start with Makuhita!" Brawly threw his poke ball, and a Makuhita emerged from it.
"Okay, I choose Sparkle." Rosella said while throwing her poke ball.
Her Flaafy appeared from it's poke ball and faced Makuhita.
"Interesting choice…….. This should be good……. I've never seen one of those in action before." Brawly said.
"Anyways, Makuhita use Arm Thrust!!" Brawly ordered.
"Agility, Sparkle!" Rosella countered.
"Argh! I wasn't expecting that! Makuhita use Arm Thrust again!" Brawly said.
"Quick Attack." Rosella countered.
Arm Thrust missed, and Sparkle charged forward and sent Makuhita flying.
"Now Sparkle, use Spark attack!" Rosella cried.
Sparkle released a strong burst of electricity, and this time Makuhita didn't get up.
"Oh, no! Makuhita return……" Brawly said.
"Okay, one down on my part, and…… What the!?"
Sparkle was glowing.
"It's evolving!" Rosella cried happily.
"Let's see what it turns into." Brawly said.
A minute later, Sparkle stopped glowing and was no longer a Flaafy, but an Ampharos.
"Wow! Amazing, your pokemon obviously love you. Anyways let's continue. Machop you're up!" Brawly threw his final poke ball and a Machop emerged from it.
"Good work, Sparkle, come back." Rosella said.
Rosella recalled her pokemon and sent out her Bayleef.
"Oy! Just when I thought I had a plan, you switched pokemon……. Oh well……… Machop, use Karate Chop!" Brawly commanded.
"Double Team, Bayley." Rosella said calmly.
"Argh! Machop, attack the image on the left!"
Machop attacked the image on the left and the image faded away revealing air.
"Darn, I was sure it was there……." Brawly said.
"Bayley, use Leaf Blade!" Rosella ordered.
Bayley's vines shot out and struck Machop three times in a cross pattern. After attacking Bayley went back into its Double Team position.
"Dang it! One more attack like that and I'm toast……" Brawly thought.
"Machop, use Low Kick on the image on the right!"
Machop attacked the image and once again it only revealed air.
"Not again!" Brawly exclaimed.
"Okay, Bayley, use Leaf Blade again. Rosella cried.
"Oh dear……. I'm a goner…….. I'm pretty sure that'll be her winning move……." Brawly thought.
Once again, Bayley shot out its vines and struck Machop three times in a cross pattern. Machop couldn't take anymore and fainted.
"Machop return…….. Well that settles that, you won! Now I need to give you something." Brawly reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a badge. "This is the Knuckle Badge, I want you to take it and wear or carry it proudly." Brawly said.
Rosella took the badge from Brawly and put it in the side pocket of her bag.
"Take care now, and come visit me if you're in the area." Brawly said.
Rosella now left the gym and headed towards the dock and saw Mr. Briney standing on the dock waiting for her.
"Hello, lass, how'd it go?" He asked.
"I won!" Rosella replied happily.
"That's great news! Come on, let's head back to Petalburg."
Just then a ship with the Aqua logo appeared on the horizon.
"Hurry lass! Inside and go to the bottom level of my ship! I won't let anything happen to you, but just in case have one of your pokemon out."
Rosella ran into the cabin, lifted up a floorboard with Mr. Briney's help, and climbed down into the hull of the ship. Once she was down there, Mr. Briney replaced the floorboard and walked back outside so as to act like he was waiting for someone. The Team Aqua ship pulled up to the dock and two members jumped off onto the dock and faced Mr. Briney.
"What brings you here?" Mr. Briney asked.
"Mind your own business!" The grunt snapped.
"This is his business, he has a right to know what we're looking for." An Admin said.
"Really?" MR. Briney asked feigning interst.
"Yeah, anyways we're here looking for a little girl named Rosella." The Admin said.
"What do you want her for?" Mr. Briney asked.
~*~
Down in the hull Rosella was hearing all this. "Great……. They must want me because I escaped from them……." Rosella thought.
~*~
"We can't tell your that. However, you can tell us if you've seen her." The Admin said.
"Sorry to say, I haven't seen her." Mr. Briney lied to protect her.
"Very well, then you won't mind if we search your vessel now will you?" The Admin asked.
"Hold it right there, Team Aqua!" Some voices said.
Everyone turned around to see a group of Team Magma agents that were being led by Maxie.
"Hah! Yeah right. Like we'd stop for you…….." The Aqua Admin said.
"You're still after Rosella, aren't you?" Maxie asked.
"So what if we are?" The Team Aqua Admin shot back.
~*~
Down in the hull, Rosella was hearing everything that was going on, and became really afraid when they mentioned searching Mr. Briney's ship. Rosella heard Maxie's voice and she wondered what he was doing out here, and how he knew that Team Aqua would be here.
~*~
"Argh! Fine, we'll pull out this time, but don't think you won't see us again; or think that Rosella's safe because she isn't." The Admin said.
Now the Team Aqua members boarded their ship and headed for Staleport.
Once they'd left, Maxie looked at Mr. Briney and said, "Don't tell me that they got Rosella…….."
"They didn't get here, she's safely down in the hull of my ship. I had her go down there when we saw their ship approaching." Mr. Briney said.
Maxie and Mr. Briney walked into the cabin and they lifted up the floorboard that covered the entrance to the hull.
"Rosella, they're gone, it's safe to come up now." Mr. Briney called down to her.
They heard footsteps as Rosella walked to the ladder. A minute or so later Rosella's head appeared through the opening in the floor. Rosella continued to climb up and when she started to fall back down the ladder, Maxie grabbed her around the waist and lifted her up and set her on the cabin floor.
"Thank god, they didn't get you again." Maxie said to Rosella.
"I'm a little shaken, but other than that I'm fine." Rosella said.
"Good." Maxie said.
"So Rosella how are things going for you?" Maxie asked.
"I've gotten two new badges since the last time you've seen me." Rosella replied.
"Glad to hear it." Maxie said.
"By the way, Sparkle evolved."
"Sparkle?" Maxie asked.
"Sparkle was my Flaafy, but it's now an Ampharos." Rosella replied.
"Awesome." Mr. Briney said.
"It sure is. Now take care of yourself since they haven't given up their hopes of capturing you." Maxie said.
"I will." Rosella promised.
Maxie now left the cabin, and headed back to what he had been checking into before Team Aqua had arrived. Now that the threat was gone, there was only one thing left to do; return to Petalburg.