Notice to readers:

Sorry I've been away for so long. Labor Day pulled a number on me. My computer died and it had to be completely upgraded. That I got hit by an SUV. I'll leave out the details.

On with the show.

Chapter 3.

Hours later, the gang found themselves in the middle of the ocean. To say the ship Morris had was fast was an understatement. According to him, they would arrive at the trench by sunrise. They were currently in the ships galley. Morris was preparing dinner for the crew.

"Hope you guys like Chinese because that's basically all I know how to fix." stated Morris.

Ash replied, "No problem, by the way who is steering this boat if you are down here?"

Morris smiled and said, "Glitch is."

Max said, "What a second, isn't he that demented Proygon2 of yours?"

"Yeah", sighed Morris. "But when he wants to he can be a help. So has anything exciting happened to you guys?"

Ash said, "Not really. Since we last saw you I got my fourth, fifth, and sixth badges. Team Rocket is still being a pain in the ass."

Morris said, "You mean those two weirdo's and that creepy Meowth? How long have they been chasing after your Pikachu?"

Ash said, "I lost track long ago. They think he has some sort of special power."

Morris replied, "It wouldn't surprise me if he had."

Everyone but Morris did a double-take and Brock exclaimed, "What do you mean?"

Morris explained, "There have been many well documented cases of electric types whose power far surpassed their evolutionary level. While this can occur in all types, it's the most common in electric Pokemons. Frankly scientists have been scratching their heads on this one for the better part of a decade."

May said, "Whoa. So how powerful to you think Pikachu might be?"

"If I had the proper equipment, I could probably test him. However usually these power jumps make them 3-5 levels stronger than they should be." stated Morris.

Ash glanced at Pikachu who was currently drinking a bottle of Ketchup and said, "That explains why they've been chasing me for God knows how long. Hey Morris, do you think you can test Pikachu when we are through with this?"

Morris smiled and said, "Oh sure. After we finish with the study of the trench this week, we'll head for Moss Deep. I have a small lab there as well. They'll have all the equipment we will need. So how is the food?"

Morris put down the plates and everyone started to eat. Brock exclaimed, "Hey, this is pretty good. If there is one thing I can't cook well it's Chinese."

May said, "I thought you could cook anything well."

Morris replied, "Nobody is perfect. If you want I can give you some recipes. And could you give me a few pointers, I'm sick of Chinese, besides that the only things I can make is prepackaged stuff. To me it tastes like foam packing peanuts."

Brock smiled and said, "Sure, no problem."

Suddenly a voice boomed over the intercom, "Shouldn't you all down there be getting some sleep? It's like 11 at night."

Everyone looked at the clock above the table which said 7:30. Morris yelled up, "Glitch! Your internal clock is screwed up again."

Glitch yelled, "Dammit! Not again! What time is it, I'll reset?"

"Seven thirty the group yelled in unison."

Glitch replied before shutting down the intercom, "Thank You."

Max asked, "What was up with that?"

Morris laughed and said, "You know how Glitch always wants to be upgraded? Well it turns out, last upgrade he got screwed him up a bit. I managed to de-bug him and now he's not demanding so many upgrades anymore. He's become more cautious. However, I just can't seem to get his internal clock running right. Sometimes its hilarious and other times just plain disturbing. Get this, a few days ago he woke me up saying it was noon, when I looked out the window it was still dark, it was 5 in the freaking morning."

Ash replied, "Why didn't he check the light before waking you?"

Morris sadly replied, "Sure he can tell the time by looking outside, but the night before I kind of accidentally spilled a glass of ginger ale on him. He almost short circuited with anger. He used the whole clock messed up thing just to get back at me. I'm going to turn in early. The rest of you get to bed at a decent hour, we've a big day tomorrow."

Please read, review and recommend.

Next: Strike Back.

Rave Drifter