Redemmo – I'd be surprised if you did get it as of yet, I haven't explained much yet. But I'll keep posting it then.

Shadow/Phantomness – They haven't gotten the Dragon Dance yet, and won't for a while, they have to get to Tatsu first. And I was hoping a certain line wouldn't give everything away…

Kyle K – Yes, I love to confuse people. And this'll just get stranger as it goes on. Thanks for the review.

Tsuki Yashi – I don't like those journey stories either – you can tell exactly what's gonna happen next. This does have some Ash in it, but not a whole lot and thanks for your response.

Lightning-strike – You got it! It was Vance! Whee! That certain line about the President I thought gave it away, have a cookie! There's probably grammar and spelling mistakes littered all over the place that I always seem to miss. And thank you for reviewing all the chapters separately and your generous words, they made me smile.

TMSteelWing – thank you for the review and I think giving the characters full names adds to the intimacy of it all.

A/N: Hm, I'll continue to post this. And I know I shouldn't pine over reviews as I've noticed a few other authors don't get many either. Reviews on this site are reserved for AAML romance stories, I've noticed. But what are you gonna do? I'll just have to get my website up! But it's so encouraging to know people are reading even if they only leave "update" in the review.

Onwards!

Notes

"Talking"
Thinking
((Psychic communication))
Pokemon speech
'Phone calls'

The Dragon Homeland
Chapter 5

How to spell a Dragon;
Take a mirror and sprinkle it with Dragondust.
Then place a sapphire or any other treasure outside
the dragon's layer. When the dragon emerges
to investigate the gemstone, quickly bring out the mirror
so the dragon can see it's own reflection, and cry,
"Ecce Narcisso Dracouus Attractivae!" This will
tame the dragon – but watch out when it wears off!

He wrote the incantation down in his simple notebook. "Ecce Narcisso Dracouus Attractivae, hm? How, tch, simple." He turned to the next incantation in the book; "Summon dragons, invisibility spell, taming spell, cooling spell, tch, why do they write this, tch, down? Leaving crucial information for anyone to find."

"Boss, boss! We found it, boss!" A man ran into the room but stopped short at the look the other was throwing him.

The Dragonologist watched as the tall gangly man stumbled up to his table with a roll of parchment. "Get out, Crum. I do not, tch, need your incessant whining right now."

"But, boss!" Crum complained, "we found the map."

"You found what?"

"The map," Crum said again. "We found it in Kravos's old trunk in his grave, at first Xanthe wouldn't go near it, but then I pushed her and she fell in and screamed and she nearly ripped it when she went psycho. I don't think she likes graves, boss, but then I don't think anyone does. Do you like graves? Master Ryuin said you were crazy like that. Do you really like graves, though boss? That's rather creepy isn't it? Actually I think you -"

"Silence!" A swift clip around the head silenced Crum immediately. "I said I don't want your whining now or ever! Give me the map!"

"Oh, right-o then!" He said and pulled the map from under his arm to hang it in front of Vance's face.

"Don't hold it over the candle!" Vance shrieked at the man, "and hold it still!"

Crum shrunk down a little, "yes, yes boss."

The eldest remaining Tatsuian leant forward to study the withered old parchment. "You really are, tch, a moron. You know that Crum?" He said.

At that moment Crum's partner decided to stumble in the room covered in soil and dust. However, unlike her partner, she knew not to just run in on Vance when he was working on Dragon Mythology – not unless she wanted a knife in her back at any rate.

True to Ryuin's predictions it had been an incredibly easy job to badger Vance into working with the Dragon Lord and all his spawn. But then, nobody worked with the spawn, but rather above them as the creatures had only one thing on their limited minds; and that was anything Ryuin would order of them.

Ryuin himself was a strange Pokemon. Being part Dragon gave him the resistance from the three main elements and Electricity, whereas his Psychic abilities vastly improved brain capabilities and long range assaults. Not to mention being a direct creation of the Tatsu leaders he held a bountiful fountain of ancient Tatsu knowledge from them.

The one thing that escaped him, though, was the Karada Machine. The very thing that he was created for. Entering the System was a simple enough task and finding the Machine was a given as it never moved anymore, no, the problem was getting out to the Machine.

With hundreds of people travelling in and out of the small ports in the System everyday he would always be detected no matter how much of his body he withheld in the remains of Tatsu; his mind was always found and tracked by that insufferable Psychic Master!

Not to mention Vance's brother and cousin were constantly feeding the Machine, though if they maintained their current rate soon they'd blow a fuse and fall down to Vance's state and soon after that into mindless vegetables. He'd seen it all before.

Myths and Legends told of the prosperous land of Tatsu being the world of forgiveness and future, when in reality Ryuin saw it as a slave country. Many condemned to feeding the System and eventually giving their lives to it under needless circumstances. Really though, how did the rumours start when the world had only just discovered the land not ten years ago?

Sure Team Rocked had broken in first and wasted the culture, but after Master Kravos had condemned Giovanni to the System the Rockets fell down upon themselves. That was the main reason Ryuin traveled through the System; to find the prison of Giovanni's mind.

Being as intelligent as he was, Ryuin, he just didn't have the utmost knowledge of the distant lands of Kanto or Orre, and if his plan was to succeed he needed an information life source of a trainer that had ruled the world, if only for a short while.

That was why he violated the System.

Crum fidgeted under the eyes of the Tatsuian as he held the map up for him. "Why can't you touch it, boss?"

Xanthe clipped him again, "not while he's concentrating." She hissed.

Vance pulled back at the question as if coming out of a trance. "Oh for… Crum, how long have you been, tch, working with Master Ryuin? Eight… nine years? And you, tch, still don't know how, tch, things work?" He gave a disappointed sigh that caused the other man to shrink down even more.

Xanthe smiled, "forgive him, boss. He's an idiot, but you'll always have me!" She said and fluttered her eyelashes, Vance ignored it.

"I'll answer your question again, Crum," Vance started with a smile, "so that if you ever ask me again I will hang you upside down in the Gyarados tank." Ginning now he continued with no clicks in his speech. "I cannot touch this particular object as everything Kravos possessed in his burial site has been showered in Dragonsbane – a highly addictive drug used against dragons such as myself. I do not wish to become a 'Banes addict in my spare time… now get out of my sight." He ordered but added; "and leave the parchment" as Crum began to take it.

The lanky man dropped the scroll on the desk and scuttled away out the door. "Oh," he said as he poked his head back in the room. "I was wondering if you always click when you talk?" He yelped as a small pocket knife stabbed through his hair and nailed him to the wall.

"Come on, Crummy. Let's get you cleaned up." Xanthe said as she pulled him from the wall. "Bye, bye, Vanceie." She smiled as he threw the candle at her but only flicked her leg out as she left the room.

"Tch, idiots." Vance mumbled as he returned his attention to the map.

"Don't you think it's rather strange Wes and Rui didn't meet us at the port?" Karen asked as she tugged her hat down over her eyes. "Just some strange nervous man giving us a note."

Clair laughed her off, "oh, don't act so suspicious all the time. Have some fun, we do have a long trip."

As ordered by Agatha, Karen, Clair and Abby had been sent to meet the Orre trainers at Vermilion Port and then bring the new bonded trainers, Marina and Kenta, from Johto to the Plateau. Obviously they were under disguise, as they couldn't afford any mishaps involving rabid fans during a Karada related subject. It wasn't like they didn't appreciate their fans though, it just got a little out of hand some times; especially when trying to do any normal task would put them on the cover of all the celebrity magazines in Kanto.

Well, they were dressed as average tourists taking an educational cruise away from their husbands (or in Abby's case, boyfriend) to see the world. Pokemon hidden, they did a good job of it with different hairstyles, hats pulled low, different dress sense (no cape for Clair) and just, generally, doing normal things that weren't bound to gain people's gazes.

"Dear Masters, Wes and I have decided to stay a while longer at Kings Cross Hospital (Vance's new workplace) as his attitude to people has changed dramatically since he now works in this new P.A.U. There is no need to worry about us if we do not communicate regularly, as we don't want to arouse his suspicions of us being connected to Pokemon in any way. Yours sincerely, Rui and Wes. PS, we will keep you posted!" Abby read the letter out loud again.

"Sounds suspicious."

"Oh, Karen," Clair laughed again and straightened her floppy straw hat. "Jus' enjoy yourself. I'm off to get an umbrella drink." She said as she wandered inside the cabins.

The three Masters had booked with the second class cabins under phony names to quell suspicion of three housewives with enough money to get into business class.

Abby sighed, "I wonder if there is any Mystic Water around…" she mumbled and hopped up to the railing to lean over and watch the sun set against the clam waves.

"I don't think you'll find any without some water Pokemon's help."

"Don't be so negative, Karen," Abby chirped.

The Dark Master shook her head. "Damn kids just don't know when to give up…"

'We miss you, daddy. Come howme sooooon!'

Steven smiled at Stella over the videophone. "Don't worry, petal, I'll be back as soon as possible," he grinned, "and I hope you were good with Nanny on the way home."

The small girl giggled. 'Yup! I towld Nanny all abowt Mowtres and Isaac! Hewen an' Amwy say hewo too!'

"Tell Helen and Amy hello too and I love them and to be good for Nanny."

Stella put on her 'sad face' as the conversation winded down to the end. 'Bye bye, daddy. I wuv you!' she said as Nanny plucked her from the seat she was on back in Hoenn.

'Your little darlings are a pleasure to look after, I wish you well while you are away. Goodbye, Steven.' Nanny hung up the phone.

The Supreme Fifth of Hoenn heaved an exhausted sigh. He never got to spend all that much time with his family anymore, at least not since he'd been aligned with Registeel anyway. Everything boiled down to the Ever Grande League or his constant trips to Indigo Plateau for Karada incidents these days. It was times like this that really began to wear a person down.

"Ah, Mister Stone was it?" Steven groaned, not Jayshow again.

"Good evening, President." He ground out as Jayshow glared at him. It was pretty obvious the stumpy man was keeping his distance to appear of a similar height to one of the tallest Masters present.

"I notice your brats have gone home, why haven't you?" The President sneered.

Steven scowled, "my daughters are not brats! And how dare you insinuate they are!"

"My, my, insinuate? That was a pretty complicated word for a trainer to come up with." Jayshow chuckled.

"Contrary to popular belief, not all Pokemon trainers dropped out of school or are otherwise uneducated." Steven said as calmly as he could after an insult about his family.

"My, well you have been reading the dictionary in your free time. My guess is you must have a lot since you seem to spend most of it in MY league!"

"As far as I know, this is not your League. It is the trainer's League; you are merely a representative of the business." Jayshow clenched his teeth as Steven continued. "It's people like you that make me applaud our council's decision to withhold the position of a League President, rather than give it to just any Tom, Dick and Harry." He crossed his arms over his chest, "tell me, what did you do to worm your way into this position? As I am fully aware the trainers hailed from this country are some of the most intelligent trainers ever born. You must have pulled some scam."

Jayshow thundered up to the taller man and pointed a short fat finger at him. "You have no right to talk to me like that, you ingrate! Get out of my Plateau, in fact, get out of my League, get out of my Country!" He stamped his foot in his rage but continued pointing even as Steven glared down at him. "I'll have no foreign rouges in my League! Get all your pathetic trainers and leave! Immediately!"

The Steel Master just smirked down at him, "ah but you see, we can't leave until the Karada Machine allows us. We are bound to it you know."

"Don't you talk down to me like that!" Jayshow roared. "I am not some illegitimate child! I could say, however, your offspring are…"

"Why you son of a –"

"Steven!" Brendan jumped out from behind a vending machine. Jayshow then pointed the fad digit at him.

"You, boy," he shouted. "You've been spying on us!"

Brendan moved to stand in front of Steven to stop his advances on the pathetic President. "Of course! What'd do you expect! We can here you shouting all the way down the hall, so Flannrey sent me to make sure you didn't get out of hand."

"You little Rattata!" Jayshow cursed.

Steven struggled against the boy, "Stop insulting everyone!"

"Steven! Steven… remember what Mercury said about the Pres and his… condition…" Brendan reasoned then sighed with relief as the Champion stopped struggling and trying reach the man.

"I HAVE NO CONDITION!"

"Ey up, Pres. Leave 'em alone will ya?" Lance asked as he walked up to them, "all this shoutin' is makin' Lorelei nervous."

Jayshow threw up his hands. "Oh beautiful, I just can't get rid of all the foreigners around here! First these Hoenn losers, then the Orre scum and now the Dragons!" He whipped his body around to point on either side of himself. "Get back to your own countries, damn it!"

"You really are a bitter old bastard aren't you?" Brendan sneered. "And if anyone's the loser it's you!" He pointed at the President.

"You watch your mouth, whelp! You're in my territory now!"

"This is a free country!" Steven snapped. "You don't see us ridiculing your trainers do you? No! Because we respect everyone who steps onto our land, we treat him or her with the same respect we treat our own. You know why that is?" He waited a moment for a snappy comeback. "Because we are all the same! That is why!"

"Yeah!" Brendan added.

"I wonder if there're any video cameras around…" Lance mumbled to himself.

The President whipped round to the Indigo Champion. "And why the hell would you want a camera!"

Lance shrugged, "Well, if we get this on tape we 'ave proof you are a racist twat." Jayshow opened his mouth to say something but Brendan cut him off.

"Hah! How'd you like them apples! Then you'll get replaced. Ha ha"

"Bloody hell, guys!" Flannery rushed over to them from down the hall. "You were meant to help not make things worse," she looked at Brendan and Lance. "Can't we just forget about this for now and enjoy the finals?" She pleaded.

Jayshow huffed and turned his purple face away from them to waddle back to his office, sulking. Brendan made a strangling motion with his hands, "What I'd like to do to that guy…"

Lance brushed some non-existent dust from his shirt, "he is really gettin' worse. We 'ave to find some way of getting' rid of 'im…"

"We could frame him for something, a crime maybe?" Brendan suggested.

Lance stared at him a moment as if considering it then shook his head. "An honest incident."

"Come on, come on," Flannery said trying to change the subject. "You're missing the battle; a Blastoise and Zangoose."

Steven sighed and flexed his hands. "Fine, fine. A good battle's worthy for the nerves." He said as him, Flannery and Lance walked back down to their press box.

Brendan snickered and ran off in the opposite direction to find May.

Clair trudged along the empty halls as she thought about all the recent happenings. The way Karen's actin', she'll want in on the System soon. Why can't she just realize she's safer 'ow she is?

"Oh God help!" Someone shrieked.

Clair jumped as the ship made a sudden jolt and threw her against the wall in a heap. "The Hell?"

As she stood again, however, the ship gave another violent jolt and knocked her to the ground once more. This time however, she didn't have time to stand as the ship lurched again.

"Somebody do something!" The voice shrieked again from the deck. "Gyarados!"

Head spinning Clair stumbled to her feet and hobbled down the hall. Were Gyarados attacking the ship? That was unusual. Okay, fair play, they were incredibly violent and territorial Pokemon in the wild not to mention powerful. But to attack a ship! Something fishy was going on!

Dodging passengers scrambling around in blind panic she reached the door only to be pulled back be a member of the staff.

"No, ma'am! Don't go out it's dangerous!" He shouted above the cries of others.

The Master trained yanked her arm from his grip. " Get out of my way!"

"Ma'am no!"

"Shove off! I have Pokemon!" She screamed as the ship shook again.

Gripping a Pokeball tightly she ripped off her hat to reveal her face to him. The man's eyes lit up upon seeing who she was and he pointed in the direction of the stern. "They're attacking the engines!"

Clair laughed at his sudden eagerness upon discovering a Master. What a reputation to live up to. She thought as she tore threw the door to the 'battle' between Pokemon and ship.

Upon reaching the stern she gasped as maybe six or seven Gyarados rammed into the ship with their heads and slapping the metal with vicious tail fins. Their strong teeth bit into the engines and easily crushed the metal despite the whirring machine cutting into their faces as they did so. Being an expert Dragon trainer she was perfectly used to battle with the creatures but if that many decided to perform Dragon Rage she wasn't sure they'd make it to Johto alive. A great relief came to her, though, as she spotted Abby and Karen with their Pokemon preparing for battle.

She ran over to them. "What the Hell is going on!"

"God knows!" Karen shouted. "They just came out of nowhere!"

"Come on, let's kick some arse!" Abby yelled as she threw her Lanturn's pokeball to the deck.

Clair nodded, "I'm with you all the way." She said as she released a Dragonair.

"Let's do it, Nightwalker!" Karen shouted as she released Umbreon. "Let's see how they react to Master Pokemon. Umbreon, Confuse Ray!"

The black Pokemon dipped it's head as the yellow rings began to glow vivid and emit a strange light towards the opposing Pokemon. The ripples of light hovered around five of the Gyarados.

"That's it!" Abby cheered as the Gyarados affected began thrashing around in random directions trying to hit their invisible opponents. "Let's do this Lanturn! Thundershock!"

The Water/Electric Pokemon flashed a bright yellow whipping it's orb forward to let loose the attack. The seawater projected the electricity through all seven Pokemon as they screeched and howled in pain. Despite their confusion the sea dragons spat out high-powered Water Guns at the ship destroying the lifeboats and preventing any escape route.

"Did they do that on purpose?" Karen asked.

"They can't 'av! They're not intelligent enough to trap us!" Clair answered and ducked as another attack shot over her head.

"Yeah," Abby agreed. "They'd just kill us off with force not strategy! Watch out!"

One of the healthy Gyarados dived for the ship with it's head again. When the Pokemon connected the ship lurched over collecting seawater as the opposite side dipped in the water. Others rammed the ship in successive order even when confused and the St Anne collected more and more damage but didn't yield to the pressure.

"Lanturn, Thundershock again!" Abby ordered when back on her feet, and again the Pokemon complied with a tremendous electric current.

Clair jumped to her feet and pointed at the nearest Gyarados. "Dragonair, Thunderwave!"

The elegant dragon shook loose it's feathery ears and took flight above the Pokemon. Not wasting a second the dragon whipped her tail up to the sky and threw the attack at the opponent. The Gyarados on the receiving end of the attack howled and fell down to meet the waves.

"Abby, now!" The Dragon Trainer called.

The Water Master nodded and ordered another Thundershock from her Pokemon. Another strangled howl and the Gyarados fell down below the surface, beaten.

"One down, six to go!" Karen said as Umbreon barked a Shadow ball at a Gyarados. "That's it Nightwalker, finish it."

The Dark Pokemon growled and crouched on the deck, then flipped into the air and cried out. Not a second later a dark ominous orb of dark raced into the thick of the Pokemon and upon connection exploded in a purple light that consumed everything in sight. More growls of pain and two more dragons fell to the power of a Master trained Pokemon. Umbreon dropped to his feet and resumed his defense stance.

"Only four left." She said with a sadistic smile.

The most forward Gyarados called out its battle cry and charged a blinding white beam in it's intimidating jaws. The three remaining Pokemon circled their leader in a protective way as it charged the Hyper Beam.

"God! We have to stop it! I'll call Kyogre!"

Karen jumped at the girl. "No, Abby! No Legendaries this close to people! We can do it, there's only four left."

"Look at that!" Clair yelled, pointing.

The Gyarados charging the Hyper Beam had clenched it's jaw shut yet continued to power the attack as the other two still circled around it.

"What's it doing?" Abby asked.

Karen shook her head. "I have no idea, but whatever it's doing we've gotta stop it. And fast!"

The young girl shook loose of Karen's grip and nodded at the look Clair was giving her. "Lanturn, in the water."

Her Pokemon slid across the wooden deck and squeezed itself through the railing to plop into the ocean, no questions asked. Clair's Dragonair was now circling high above the Gyrados anti-clockwise as opposed to their clockwise motion.

"Ready, Dragonair," Clair shouted above the screams of the passengers and the battering of waves against the damaged hull of the St Anne. "Aim you're Thunderwave down at Lanturn!"

The dragon looked down to spot her target as the Lanturn looked up. "And you're aiming at Dragonair with your Thundershock, Lanturn." Abby ordered.

"What are you two doing?" Karen asked totally perplexed, "you can't attack each other."

Clair grinned as the two Master Pokemon got into their positions. "Oh, we aren't. Ready now Dragonair… Thunderwave that Lanturn!"

"You get that Dragonair, Lanturn. Thundershock!"

With a great cry the Pokemon threw out their electrical currents towards the other, but just as they'd known, the attacks attracted each other and produced an electrical string of light suspended between Dragonair and Lanturn.

"Now, Dragonair, you control the direction of the attack while Lanturn powers it. Send it to the Gyarados." Clair said.

"Oh I get it," Karen muttered. "Dragonair is the positive anode while Lanturn is the negative and you're holding an electrical wire between them."

Clair winked, "you got it!"

The lithe Dragonair fluttered her ears to control the direction of the electric 'tripwire' and hover ever closer the Gyarados.

"Don't you give up now!" Abby encouraged as the light from the Hyper Beam could be seen escaping the confines of the Gyarados' mouth.

Clair threw her arm out. "Now do it!"

With a sudden jolt of power from Lanturn, Dragonair snapped her body around and projected the wire at her opponents. Everything set on course the electrical wire broke free from Lanturn's orb and Dragonair's horn as it swept across the waves to the attacking Gyarados, however, before it had a chance to connect, the sea dragons ducked under the water to avoid the attack.

The three guard Pokemon watched in horror while their leader writhed in pain as the electrical wire wrapped itself securely around the snake like body and proceeded to exploit the Flying and Water weakness of a Gyarados. Being in the water the attack was conducted into them, nonetheless it was a severely numbed down assault and served nothing more of an annoyance. A long dragged out moment later and their leaded smashed down against the waves unconscious.

"Oh yeah!" Abby cheered. "Are we the best of what?"

Karen growled, "calm down! We still have three left."

"No we don't." Clair muttered and pointed at the backs of the retreating Pokemon.

"What're they doing?" Abby asked in an almost disappointed tone.

Karen watched the fleeing dragons a moment; "We must've scared them off or something…"

"Nah, they should've gone berserk we felled their leader, unless…" Clair trailed off and looked over to the Water Master in horror, "Wailord."

Karen paled and Abby slowly backed up against the cabin wall while Clair simply stared out at the ocean with an unreadable expression.

"Is it over?" One of the passengers asked as he stuck his head out of a window.

"I think-think you best stay indoors, sir." Karen suggested.

"Why?" he asked.

The Dark Master slapped her hands on the railings and hunched over. "Because!" she mumbled. Clair pushed the man's head back through the window and told him to stay inside until they gave the all clear and joined Karen in looking over the railings.

"It's got to be near by to suddenly scare a Gyarados." Clair expressed. The ship lurched to one side again, this time more violently, "yeah, I'm pretty sure it's close."

A wailing chorus filled the air as a stream of seawater shot up through the waves from the Pokemon's blowhole. The Wailord's song continued to fill the air as a gigantic tail fin crashed into the hull of the St Anne knocking the Masters across the deck to ram into the other railings. Having sustained critical damage from under the Gyarados's assault just minutes ago the ship creaked as the metal bent inwards on itself.

Not a second later and the tail of the Pokemon came crashing down vertically on the deck again and crushed the bow deep into the water as screams of the hundreds of passengers and crew fell forward as the St Anne nose-dived. The engines whirred as they met air and the Masters gripped onto anything nailed down as the ship bobbed up and down by the rip tides produced when the massive tail slapped down on water again.

"Good God!" Karen spluttered out around a mouthful of seawater. "How on earth do we beat that!"

Wailords were known to be very calm and peaceful Pokemon, but territorial nonetheless. It seemed the St Anne had been knocked off course during the previous battle and drifted into uncharted Wailord territory. From the vague looks of the tail fin as it resurfaced this was either a female or a young male Wailord, but a ferocious one regardless.

Abby shrieked as the Pokemon charged through the blue to drive through the ship but only succeeded in knocking it back with it's sheer size. "It's trying to kill us!"

Under normal circumstances Karen would have said something to the extent of teenagers but focused on the Wailord. "Nightwalker, confuse that Wailord!"

Again the Umbreon jumped up and growled as it's rings glowed with the same ominous light as before and a heavy haze descended around the general area of the Wailord's head.

"Alright Lanturn, Thundershock." Abby ordered to take advantage of the confused Pokemon.

Lanturn, aimed it's attack at the whale Pokemon only for it to ricochet off in a harmless fashion and fizzle out into the sky. Feeling the attack the Wailord dipped it's head under the ship and resurfaced under the ship to bring the St Anne to a complete stop on it's back.

Clair gulped, "Oh dear."

The Wailord shot a geyser of water from it's blowhole as it steamed forward. "I have it!" Karen shouted, "I'll have Houndoom Flamethrower the blowhole! That'll get to it." She said as she released said Pokemon.

The Dark Master and both her Pokemon hopped over the railing to land comfortably on the leathery blubber of Wailord's back and ran. Slipping and sliding across the hard flesh they slowly made progress forward despite the stinging wind whipping and lashing them as Abby and Clair screamed for her to come back.

"There," she panted as they looked down into the seemingly bottomless hole. "Wah!" She screamed and jumped back as another geyser of liquid streamed forth to shower her with humid spray seconds later.

"Aroo?" Houndoom whined as it looked down the hole nervously.

Karen got to her feet again and nodded. "That's it, Houndoom. Do it!" She pointed.

The Dark/Fire type hurled forth a river of flames down into the blowhole with the scorching power only a Master Pokemon could muster. Mere moments into the attack the Wailord howled in pain yet still continued to charge through the waters. A low rumbling noise accompanied by screams of the passengers and yet another geyser of water shot up to douse the fire when suddenly the enraged Pokemon screeched to a halt. The sudden standstill of Wailord sent the St Anne catapulting forward back into the sea with a mightily splash. Karen, however, was hurled much further over the ship and into the sea, Pokemon dropping nearby.

"Bloody Hell!" Abby shrieked and released her Vaporeon. "Blue, go get Karen quick!"

Clair released her Kingdra, "go help now!"

The two Pokemon stormed up to the area Karen had fallen and Kingdra immediately found Houndoom struggling against the current while trying to keep his head above water. The Dragon flipped the Pokemon onto it's back with healthy fins and continued to search for the others.

Back on the ship Clair snarled at the situation. "Abby, you take care of this while I finish off the Wailord!" She ordered and when Abby agreed she ran over to the railings to call for Dragonair. "This has got to stop now, Dragonair! Get ready."

Dragonair began to circle high above the whale like it'd done with the Gyarados to look for a point of attack or weakness. The Wailord was thrashing about in the water as the distinct smell of something burning wafted through the atmosphere among the odor of fear, a small flow of smoke could be seen escaping the blowhole of the Pokemon.

While Clair and Dragonair watched the Pokemon with intent, Abby scoured the sea for Karen or Umbreon. Kingdra had taken to dipping it's head under the surface as it couldn't dive with Houndoom anymore but Vaporeon, however, plunged deeper to search.

The Eeveeloution squeaked when she spotted the Dark Master. Karen was slowly sinking further down into the deep whilst Nightwalker tried in vain to pull her back up to the surface; it was obvious the Dark type couldn't stay submerged much longer. Blue waded over and motioned for Umbroen to swim back up, the other Eeveeloution hesitated but the sheer lack of oxygen drove him to leave.

Finding it too difficult to drag Karen back to the surface on her own, and with Umbreon gone, Blue transfigured her DNA to that of the water and dissolved. At one with the water the Vaporeon created an updraft of water to push the unconscious woman to the surface where Kingdra immediately snapped her up with it's snout.

The Blackthorn Gym Leader halted her pacing and sneered at the Wailord as it trounced about in pain and decided on her actions. "There's only one thing left to do, Dragonair." She threw out one arm while still holding the bars with the other and shouted; "Rainy Day!"

Vaporeon washed Kingdra and his passengers onto the deck just in time as Dragonair stretched out towards the sky and began the Rain dance. The glass orbs on her body shook and burst out a deep blue colour as a dull ring reached everyone's ears. The passengers and crew screamed as the sea churned and bashed the ship and the sky darkened as heavy rain clouds descended all the while focused on the dragon. Even the Wailord was struggling to stay above the powerful waves and extreme winds.

Clair shouted above the noise but her voice was lost to Abby as she gripped Karen, however Dragonair heard the order and intensified the storm with pure concentration. The rain clouds transformed to thunder and the sky lit up with light above the clouds. Another lost order from Clair and the aura around Dragonair shattered as a bolt of lightning flew from the clouds and struck the Wailord.

All the time struggling under the pain of the fire within it's body the Wailord failed to notice the streak of light as it thundered down and split the sea. The Wailord curled in on itself quickly to dull out the shock but nature overcame it shortly and it plunged under the waves swiftly.

Dragonair cooed for nature and the clouds dissipated to free the sun and the waves dulled back to their original relaxing current. When sure the weather was stable Dragonair fluttered back to her trainer and sang her melody.

Clair petted the Pokemon and whispered praise to it. It was like they were trying to stop us somehow, she thought then slowly turned to walk to Abby and… Karen.

The dungeons of the castle were dank and gloomy – just like any typical dungeon. But then, he'd never been in a dungeon before so he wouldn't exactly know. It was cold and musty too and the air was ripe with decay, but the most annoying thing, perhaps, was that infernal dripping.

Drip, drip, drip and drip. It never stopped! And from what he could see from the wall through the small barred window it showed no signs of rain. So where was it coming from? Maybe they were trying to drown him slowly? Actually, he'd probably die from boredom first.

The stumbling footsteps of that incompetent moron could be heard as they echoed across the empty walls as he made his way down the spiraling staircase to the cell.

"Master Ryuin wants to see you." Crum said as he pulled a ring of keys from his pocket and released Wes from the wall.

The Orre trainer massaged his wrists where the cuffs had dug in and left a nasty red mark. "Oh, really?" He asked and lifted an uninterested eyebrow as Crum dragged him to the stairs.

The lanky man laughed, "Did you really think you could fool the boss? He's smart you know." He announced.

Wes hissed at the comment. "He isn't smart, he had a knife." Crum laughed again.

"Yeah, the boss loves his knives!" He smiled.

Wes shook his head as Crum pushed him up the stairs. "What have you done with Rui?" He demanded.

Crum scratched his head, "I think the boss had a talk with her and den sent her to Master. Well, anyhoo, Master wants to see you now! Can't keep him waiting now can we?" When Wes remained silent he huffed. "Aw come on, it's gotta be betta en hangin' on that wall all day."

"I just want to see Rui." Wes murmured.

A/N: Geeze, I'm only into the fifth chapter and I already have thirty-two characters! Oh, and about the Tatsu accents; Lance has a strong one, Clair has a mild one and Vance impersonates a Kanto accent.

I assure you, thought the plot may not be progressing very far at the moment, this is a very long piece of fiction and all will be revealed as it progresses. I've planned out thirty chapters so far and I still have a lot of the plot to work through.

I don't know sod all about ships so I'm sorry if I got anything wrong in that aspect. ; And their disguises… have you noticed in Pokemon that even just a different hairstyle can fool the characters? A little sad really.

I've noticed everyone seems to sigh a lot as well. Sigh