All Aboard the S.S Anne

Covering his eyes as he exited out the door, Red took his first step into Route 6. An orange lizard exited the door, following his trainer.

"That took forever," Red remarked, putting down his hand as his eyes got adjusted to the bright sunlight. "It wasn't a total waste." Red thought about all the items he found in the path. He found potions, antidotes, and other helpful items that were probably left behind by other trainers that used the path.

Red and his faithful starter continued there way. The trainers on the path were pushovers and Red saw it as easy money. When he got to the end of the route, Red took his time to admire the city. Far ahead were many ships station in the harbor, which made Red think that this city was a port for ships. People were fishing in the ocean hoping to catch something good. Happy families were walking to the store which meant that this city was great for family life.

Red went to the place that ever trainer must go to after a long trip. He went into the pokemon center to get his pokemon healed up. He dropped his pokemon off with Nurse Joy and plopped himself in the waiting area. He then noticed that this pokemon center was pretty empty compared to the other pokemon centers he has been in.

When Nurse Joy called Red up for his pokemon, he decided to ask her what was going. "Excuse me Nurse Joy, but why is this place so empty?" Red asked, taking a look around to prove there wasn't a single soul.

Nurse Joy blinked in disbelief, like if Red was suppose to know what was going on. She then regained her posture. "It's because most of the trainers were invited to the S.S Anne. Some of the best trainers are on the ship and thus the invited trainers go to test their skill against them," the nurse replied with her trademark smile.

"You need to be invited to get on this ship?" Red asked.

"The ship requires an invitation that allows you to get on. Most trainers get it," Nurse joy replied.

Red nodded and took his pokeballs from the metal tray. "Well thanks for help," Red said, and left the building. The sounds of ship horns loudly rang in Red's ears as he stepped outside. He glanced at the ships that were docked. A few small boats floated on the water and the giant ships took up most of the space.

I bet there will be a lot of trainers on the S.S Anne with rare pokemon Red thought. He then remembered about his newly caught pokemon, Gible. He grabbed the pokeball from his belt and pushed the white button. The small dragon-type pokemon materialized on the ground. It stood on its two hind legs and stared at Red with large, wide eyes. It didn't move an inch so Red thought it was scared about having a trainer.

"Don't be scared little fellow. My name is Red," Red introduced himself, crouching down so he was at eye-level with Gible. Gible still didn't move. Red extended his hand to try comfort it, but Gible jumped over it. He clamped his jumbo mouth on Red's head.

"Ahhh! Get off Gible!" Red shouted, standing up and tried to pry off the dragon pokemon. He grabbed Gible from the sides and pushed with all his might. He didn't budge which annoyed Red.

"Gible, if you don't get off-."

"That's a fine pokemon you got there, trainer," an old man asked. Red stopped what he was doing and looked at the strange man. He had on a gray tuxedo with a gray dress hat. He stroked his bushy mustache that covered most of his face and held in his hand a wooden cane.

"Who are you, sir?" Red asked, ignoring the fact that his pokemon was biting into his skull.

"Where are my manners? My name is Hilbert and I am Chairman of the Pokemon Fan Club," Hilbert introduced himself.

"Well, my name is Red," Red grinned. Hilbert took a closer look at the gible on Red's head.

"Never seen this kind of pokemon before. He looks so adorable with his giant mouth and that small body," Hilbert chuckled, taking off his hat.

"Well, he is from Sinnoh, so you don't see a lot of them here in Kanto," Red said, his hair was starting to feel a little wet.

"Mind if I can hold him for a while?" the old man kindly asked, extending out his arms as he was going to receive a hug.

"I don't think that will be a good i-." Before Red could finish his sentence, Gible let go of Red and jumped onto Hilbert. He closed his jaws on the Chairman's head.

"Gible, stop that!" Red scolded his pokemon, but Hilbert just let out a cheerful chuckle.

"Don't be rash. This is your pokemon's way of showing affection," Hilbert chuckled, not showing any signs of anger. "This is a marvelous pokemon indeed. In fact, I think I should show it to all the members who are at the Fan Club." He turned around and began to walk, with Gible still latch onto his head. He led Red to a building close to the sea that had a sign that said "Pokemon Fan Club" in big blue letters.

Red followed the old man inside and was greeted by a crowd of people. Everyone stopped what they were doing when they saw that Hilbert had brought a new pokemon. They all crowded around Hilbert and Red, eagerly watching the duo.

"Everyone, I will like to show you this rare pokemon, Gible." Hilbert plucked the Gible off his head with little effort. Red was stunned by this since he used all his strength and couldn't even make the little rascal budge. The elderly man held the pokemon high above his head, so everyone in the club could see.

"This young trainer caught this cute, little pokemon," the chairman gestured to the Pallet town trainer next to him. Red sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, it wasn't that hard..." the club members didn't paid attention to Red as they began to close in on Hilbert. Red was left alone to watch the mob of people try to get chance to grab Gible from the old man's hand.

Gible leapt from Hilbert's hands on chomped on some random person's head. He then moved on to the next head and the next one. He took turns chomping on the club members heads and none of the crowd seemed angered by its actions. In fact, it seemed as if they enjoyed having gible bite their heads.

Red saw Hilbert squeezed his way out of the crowd. He walked over to Red with clothes all batter up and his hat tilted to the side.

"Looks like your Gible is a huge hit in the club," Hilbert chuckled, fixing his hat. "Thank you for sharing that cute Gible with us."

"Well, I didn't actu-." Red tried to protest but was cut off by the elderly man.

"I will like to thank you by giving you this invitation," Hilbert said, pulling out a piece of paper from out of nowhere. He handed it to Red.

Red examined the thin, smooth paper. A picture of a luxurious boat was in the middle with the words 'Your Invited' printed at the top.

"What is this?" Red asked, having no clue what it was, even though it was quite obvious.

"It's an invitation to get on the famous S.S Anne," Hilbert replied, with a smile.

"Thank you sir, but why give me this?" Red questioned his gift, holding up to see if it was a fake.

"Well, the ship is mostly about pokemon battles and I not a very good battler myself," the old man, sheepishly chuckling.

"That's why," Red sighed, but accepted the invitation. "Well, I got to go. Hey Gible! Lets go!"

Gible was taking his time biting people's head, but then stopped when he heard his trainer's voice.

-"Already time to go. I was having lots fun"- Gible whined, making his way through the pokemon obsessed people. He ran up to Red and jumped in the air to clamp onto his head, again.

"Gible! How did you get Gible off your head?" Red turned to Hilbert.

"I touched his sweet spot," he replied, and Red gave him a confuse look. "All pokemon have a certain spot on their bodies that they like to scratch at. Kind of like the place where you feel ticklish."

Pokemon have tickle spots Red thought in disbelief. He glanced at Gible and tried to find a place where he might be ticklish.

"Can you tell me where the sweet spot is on my Gible?" Red pleaded Hilbert. He just laughed and began to walk away.

"You will have to find it on your own," he called out, going into a room and closing the door behind him.

Red looked at Gible and poked him in his cheek...or was it his stomach? The jaws were still press against his head so he knew that wasn't his sweet spot.

"This might take a while," Red sighed.


"So that's the S.S Anne," Red said, standing in front of the giant cruise ship. Red felt tiny standing next to the ship. He walked along the concrete dock and soon came upon a line of people that were getting on the ship. Red formed in the line and studied the passengers. Most of the people getting on were Pokemon Trainers as he can tell by the pokeballs clipped to their belt.

When it was Red's turn to get on, a sailor asked him for his invitation. Red flashed him the paper that Hilbert gave him. The man let him pass and Red walked up the set of stairs that would lead him to the deck of the ship. It was a long walk to the deck since the S.S Anne was a rather large ship.

When Red got to the top, he walked along a red carpet that led him to giant room. He was shocked by all the people that were there. Giant chandeliers hung from the roof, and the lights above shone on the guests. Many tables with mouth watering food were spread across the room. Pokemon battles were taking place in the middle of the room, with many spectators surrounding the area.

Red saw a battle with a Persian and a Venomoth going on. He then saw a pokemon that looked like a butterfly that had colorful wings fighting green bipedal pokemon that had a mushroom-like head.

Red was amazed by all the foreign pokemon that were battling in the battle arenas. Trainers called out moves that he never heard off. He observed the battles for while before running into a familiar girl.

"What brings you here, Red?" a female voice asked. Red turned toward to the source of the voice and saw it was Leaf. "Like I need to ask. You're probably here for the same reason as all the other trainers."

"Of course and what are you doing here? Last time I saw you, you didn't want to challenge the pokemon league," Red recounted their last encounter.

"I have chosen what I am going to do with my life," Leaf smirked. "I have decided to become a...Pokemon Professor like Professor Oak." Red became silent for a moment, thinking it was joke.

When he realized she wasn't kidding, he spoke up again. "You're seriously thinking of becoming a pokemon professor?" Red raised an eyebrow. Leaf nodded, her big white hat flopping up and down. "I always thought that you were going to be something that gets a lot of excitement. You always liked adventure and thrill since we were kids ."

"Yea, but I always admired pokemon and their abilities. I decided my career and so I asked Professor Oak if we would take me as his assistant," Leaf explained to Red. "He accepted me and now I'm on this ship to study all the exotic pokemon that are here to help Professor Oak's research."

"All that happen in last few days," Red said. "How did you get here so fast, anyways?"

"Oh, I took the Diglett's cave, which is a shortcut from Vermilion city to Route 2," Leaf replied, fixing her hat that became uneven.

"Well, thanks for letting me know," Red sarcastically said. "Hey, want to have a pokemon battle?"

"Sure, can't wait to see how much stronger you gotten," Leaf agreed. "My pokemon are still a little weak since I haven't trained a lot. Working for my grandfather has turned out to be more work than I thought."

"Then I will take it easy on you," Red smirked, and found a free spot to have their battle. Leaf took her position across from Red.

"Let's make this a two-on-two. First trainer to lose both of their pokemon loses," Leaf stated the rules and Red nodded in agreement.

"Pikachu, standby for battle!" Red shouted, throwing his pokeball in the air. The pokeball snapped opened and the electric mouse appeared on the soft carpet. A small crowd began to form around the battle that is about to start.

"A Spiked-Eared Pikachu...," Leaf trailed off, admiring the rare pokemon.

-"Yea,Yea. My left ear has a little extra fur on it, so what,"- Pikachu scoffed.-"Are we going to fight or stare at me all day?"-

Leaf didn't understand Pikachu, but she did understand Pikachu's body language enough to know that he didn't like to be gawked at. She snapped out her trance and took out her own pokeball. Enlarging the pokeball, she threw it to release her pokemon. A small fox-like pokeball materialized in front of pikachu. She let out a cute bark as she got in her battle stance. Her six tails swayed around as she moved.

"Vulpix, the fox pokemon. It can easily control fire, allowing it use moves like will-o-wisp. The six tails becomes ablaze before evolution," the pokedex informed.

"Well, I know it's a fire type," Red remarked, wishing that the pokedex will give out more important information. "Pikachu, let's start off with Thunder Wave."

"Don't let them, Vulpix. Dodge with Quick Attack," Leaf called out.

Pikachu fired a weak electric current, but Vulpix was already on the move. She sprinted towards Pikachu at blinding speed. Vulpix jumped when she was a foot away from the electric type. She nearly touched Pikachu's face as she went over him. The fire fox landed behind the mouse and turned around, completely missing the pikachu.

"Ember now Vulpix!" Opening her small mouth, Vulpix fired small fire balls at the stunned Pikachu's back. The fire made contact with pikachu and knocked him down.

"Got you there Red," Leaf winked at Red. Red was stunned by Leaf's battle strategy.

"I thought you barely trained with your pokemon," Red managed to say.

"You don't need to train your pokemon to think. Do you think I will fall for that?" Leaf rhetorically asked. "I know that Pikachus have the Static ability. If Vulpix makes physical contact with Pikachu, paralyzes takes over my sweet fire type."

Red was taken back by Leaf's knowledge. The crowd around have gotten bigger and they began to whisper about the ongoing battle, but Red didn't pay attention to them. Working for the professor must have gotten her to study Red thought.

"You have landed a hit on me, but you still haven't beaten me yet," Red retorted. "Let's start attacking. Pikachu, give it your best Thunder Shock." Sparks began to dance around Pikachu's red cheeks as he charged up electricity. He soon let out all of the stored energy at Vulpix. With little time to react, Vulpix was electrocuted by the electric attack.

"Vulpix!" Leaf cried as she saw her pokemon fall. Vulpix wasn't going to give up that easily. Ignoring the pain, Vulpix slowly stood back up on her four paws.

"Way to go, Vulpix," Leaf cheered, receiving an enthusiastic bark from Vulpix. "Time to go all out. Fire Spin!" A long stream of fire shot out of the fire pokemon's mouth. Vulpix's great control over fire allowed her to make the fire surround Pikachu. The flames began to rise upwards, trapping the mouse pokemon inside.

"I remember this technique," Red muttered, remembering the battle had with his 'brother', Ember. Pikachu's cries snapped him out of his thoughts. "Pikachu, try to blast the fire away with Thunder Shock."

"We won't let you. Vulpix confuse them with your Confuse Ray," Leaf ordered. Pikachu was faster than Vulpix so he fired his Thunder Shock in all directions, collaborating with the swirling column of fire. The electricity had no effect on the Fire Spin except create a bright flash that blinded everyone.

Red had to clench his eyes close from the bright light. The light soon disappeared and Red was free to open up his eyes. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was a white sphere floating across the floor. The light harmlessly passed through the fire and made its way to Pikachu. Pikachu's eyes were strangely drawn to the strange light as it circled around his body. The light slowly vanish and left Pikachu confuse. To prove that he was confused, Pikachu stumbled around his fiery enclosure, touching the flames and recoiling in pain.

"That Fire Spin is hard to get rid off," Leaf remarked, waving her index finger in a taunting matter. "Let's end there misery, Vulpix. Ember!"

"It's not over yet," Red retorted. "Pikachu, if you can here me, use Volt Tackle." Small fireballs were launch at the confused mouse. The fire balls somehow managed to pass through the burning fire spin undamaged and hit their target. Pikachu growled in pain as the fire hit his fur.

The swirling fire soon began to die down and Pikachu was free to move about. Shaking his head to get rid of the confusion, Pikachu got on fours to start his next attack.

"Now you can use Volt Tackle." Pikachu nodded and soon was running at full speed. His whole body was then cloaked in golden electricity. Being a very speedy pokemon, Pikachu managed to cover the distance between him and Vulpix in a matter of seconds. To fast for Vulpix to react, the Volt Tackle slammed into vulpix knocking her airborne.

"Vulpix!" Leaf shouted when she saw her pokemon land unconscious on the floor. Many people around were talking about the battle but mostly it was about the rare pikachu.

-"When you mess with pikachu, you get the Volt Tackle,"- Pikachu sneered. He then felt the recoil of his attack. Falling backwards Pikachu landed on his back with swirls in his eyes.

"Looks like its one-on-one," Leaf smirked, clipping Vulpix's pokeball on her belt and took out another pokeball.

Red silently returned his pokemon and grabbed a pokeball from his belt. "Gible, standby for battle." Gible appeared on the burnt carpet, due to the fire spin. I just hope they don't make me pay for this expensive looking carpet Red gulped.

"Never seen a pokemon like that before," Leaf remarked, registering Gible's information on her pokedex. "Alright, let's go Ivysaur." Leaf next pokemon resembled her bulbasaur. Only that this one had a pink flower bulb on its back instead of a green plant bulb. Her legs looked sturdier to probably support the weight of its flower.

"So you evolved your Bulbasaur," Red said, taking out his pokedex. He opened it up to see its data.

"Ivysaur, the seed pokemon. If it spends a lot of time in the sun, the flower bud on its back will soon bloom into a large flower. The flower bud also secretes sweet smelling pollen that attracts pokemon."

"Let's get things started." Red took a glance at the moves that Gible knows. "Gible, lets see your Sand Tomb." Gible nodded his head, which was pretty much his whole body. Taking in a deep breathe, Gible opened his mouth to spit out a blast of sand. The sand particles turned into a small dust tornado, engulfing the dual grass poison type. The small particles buffeted Ivysaur's body doing a little damage."Awesome attack, Gible," Red praised his pokemon. Gible just let out a short cry.

"Ivysaur, don't let a little sand stop you. Give it your best Razor Leaf," Leaf commanded, she had to cover eyes as some sand blew in her direction. Shaking his body, Ivysaur fired sharp leaves from his flower bulb. The leaves slashed Gible's body, making him clench his teeth in agony.

"Gible, Dragon Rage." The small dragon pokemon fired blue flames that scorched Ivysaur, doing a good amount of damage.

This is bad. I can't use any of Ivysaur's status attacks to immobilize that Gible because of the Sand Tomb Leaf thought. I will just have to wait for the attack to end. Ivysaur can handle it, since she's a sturdy pokemon. "Ivysaur, keep on using Razor Leaf."

-"Right,"- Ivysaur grunted, trying her best to ignore the sand scraping against her skin. She wiggled her body and more leaves were fired from her back.

"Dodge it, Gible" Red cried. Gible avoided the Razor Leaf by jumping high into the air. Going over the attack, gible began to descend.

"He is above you Ivysaur," Leaf shouted. Ivysaur tried to look up but the sand got into her eyes, causing Ivysaur to shut her eyes. Now the sand is getting into her eyes Leaf thought now in distress.

"Dragon Rage from that altitude," Red commanded, thinking his victory was in arms reach. Falling down, Gible fired his attack. His blue flames didn't just do damage on Ivysaur, but it also helped him soften his fall. He landed directly in front of the grass starter pokemon. The Sand Tomb began to died down, giving Ivysaur the chance for a counter attack

"Capture him with your Vine Whip," Leaf shouted her command. Ivysaur smirked, an evil glint shown in her eyes.

-"My turn,"- Ivysaur sneered, two long vines shot out from her back in a blink of an eye. They ensnared Gible and hoisted him up high in the air.

"Now he won't be able to escape, but just to make sure. Ivysaur, Sleep Powder," Leaf order with a mischievous smile on her lips. White powder was released when Ivysaur wiggled the flower bulb. The status affecting powder drifted towards Gible.

"Gible, try to get out. Use Dragon Rage if you can," Red cried to his pokemon in jeopardy.

Gible struggled against the vines, but the grip was too strong. The Sleep Powder landed on his body, causing his eyelids to droop. -"Getting...sleeepy...naptime...ZZZ," Gible drifted into a deep slumber. Ivysaur then slammed Gible into the floor with tremendous strength and lifted him up again. Gible didn't even stir in his sleep, except for his loud snores.

"Finish him off with a Razor Leaf!" Not hesitating, Ivysaur fired another round of Razor Leaves. The sharp leaves slashed Gible's body and this time he let out a soft grunt. Slowly the vines unwrapped themselves from Gible and the dragon pokemon fell on the floor. No snoring sounds came from the pokemon so it meant that he was asleep for good.

"Well, it was your first battle, Gible," Red sighed, recalling Gible back into his pokeball. Leaf did the same with her pokemon after she congratulated it for its hard work.

"That was good battle Red, but of course I knew I was going to win," Leaf winked. Before Red could reply, the sound of glass shattering stopped him. A black cloud soon began to engulf the whole room in a matter of seconds. Panic began to rise as people began to scream and yell.

"What the-" Red began to cough as the smoke got into his lungs. He took a few steps and not being able to see anything, he tripped on something and fell flat onto the lush carpet. Red turned around to see what he trip on and saw an unconscious man.

The smoke must be meant to knock people out Red realized. He also realized that he had stopped coughing. Looking up, he saw the smoke was right above him, meaning that he was safe by staying low. Two legs covered in long blue socks staggered his way. Knowing that it was Leaf, Red grabbed the red skirt in front of him and pulled the girl down.

"You..cough..pervert...cough...trying to see up my skirt!" Leaf yelled while slapping Red in the face.

"I was just trying to help to get away from the smoke," Red barked back, rubbing his sore face. Leaf suddenly realized she was out of the smoke and sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

"Sorry, I should have known since you aren't that kind of guy," Leaf apologized. The screaming soon came to a halt and everything was silent, except for the sound of footsteps. Red put a finger to his lips in order to tell Leaf to remain quiet.

"This was too easy for a mission," a haughty voice remarked, followed by a few chuckles.

"Silence Petrel. Giovanni wouldn't have ordered two Rocket Executives if this mission was going to be easy," a second and calmer voice scolded the first.

The smoke soon began to clear, and Red caught the glimpse of the buffet table. He slowly made his way towards the table, trying to avoid the dangerous gas above him. He hid behind the table and Leaf soon appeared also.

"This isn't the time to be thinking about food," Leaf harshly scolded her friend.

"I was just trying to find a place to hide and no one told you to follow me," Red whispered back. He poked his above the table and saw the smoke has cleared. Pokemon and trainers littered the floor as if they were trash. All sprawl on the ground, making no movements.

Five figures stood in the middle of the chaos. Three of the group was Team Rocket grunts that each had a Zubat fluttering their wings. They stood behind a tall, thin man that was slightly slouching. The old fellow had on a similar uniform as the grunts and with a gloved hand he pressed into his messy, purple beard that was the same color as his hair. A Koffing floated next to him with goofy smile just like its trainer.

The other guy looked younger and his cyan hair reminded Red about Proton. The guy's white uniform easily separated him from the rest of the group. On his side was a mean looking black dog that white lines on its back.

"Looks like your gas have done its job, Petrel," the white clad Team Rocket Member remarked. The lanky man began to rub his hands together and his smile got even wider.

"Of course it does its job. The gas can even knock out one of the boss's pokemon if they breathe it in long enough, Archer," Petrel chuckled, doing odd hand maneuvers.

The dark pokemon next to Archer soon caught the scent of something. It stuck it's snout in the air as it sniffed its surroundings.

"What is it, Houndour?" Archer asked his pokemon. Houndour began to sniff the air and sensed that the smell was coming from the buffet table. The dog-like pokemon turned to the table began to growl, and bark at it.

"Hehe, looks like your Houndour wants some chow," Petrel joked and giggled like a school girl. Archer didn't laugh at Petrel's joke, but kept a cold glare at the white table.

"Come out from behind the table," Archer demanded in a stern voice. Red began to sweat bullets but Leaf put on a brave face and stood up. She then roughly picked up Red from the floor by his collar.

"Take it easy, Leaf," Red nearly choked, rubbing his sore neck. He then faced the group that caused the trouble.

"Looks like your gas doesn't work on imprudent kids," Archer proclaimed. Red was about to face the rocket executive but Leaf held him back by grabbing him by his arm.

"My name is Red Ketchum from Pallet Town and I will soon become the Pokemon Champion," Red retorted, puffing up his chest to demonstrate his might, but miserably failed.

"Red…" Archer said to himself, closing his eyes to try to remember where he had heard that name. "Red, you're the troublesome kid that is always ruining Team Rocket's plan." Archer raised an eyebrow as he observed the young trainer. Petrel also looked like he began to take an interest in Red.

"Yea, that's me," Red confirmed, pointing to him myself with his thumb. Leaf just sighed at Red's cockiness.

"Well, shall we put a stop to your meddling," the Rocket Executive said it more like a command then a suggestion. "The grunts should be able to handle you guys. We have more important matters to attend to." On cue, the three grunts behind Archer took the front with their pokemon.

"I forgot how annoying Team Rocket Grunts can be," Red muttered, getting his first pokeball.

"Hey, I heard you. We have feelings you know," a grunt shouted, his Zubat screeched to show it was offended by the comment as well.

"Well, let get this over with. Nidorino, standby for battle." Red's Nidorino appeared with a smug smile, but it disappeared when he saw who he had to work with. A Nidorina stood next to him but she looked more menacing then nice. Nidorino immediately felt his heart beat faster and sweat began to trickle down his face because he has never in his life been this close to female without being hit.

-Am I dreaming?- Nidorino thought, staring at the female version of his species. Nidorina noticed this and gave him a weird look. Nidorino turned away and then saw his foe for the first time. Three Zubats were furiously flapping their small wings to stay airborne and opening their mouth to reveal their two sharp teeth.

-"Zubats are nothing compare to me,"- Nidorino coolly said, taking a step closer to the bat pokemon. The female poison pokemon just rolled her eyes.

"Nidorino, use Horn Attack on the zubat in the middle." Nidorino took off running, and leapt into the air. Zubat's great aerial skills helped it dodged the deadly Horn Attack. Missing his target, Nidorino crashed into the floor.

"Zubat use Super Sonic on the pink rabbit," the rocket grunt in charge of the Zubat that was attacked.

"Zubat, go use Bite," the two grunt shouted simultaneously, pointing at the nidorina. The first zubat to attack was the one that was order to attack nidorino. High pitch sounds resonated from zubat's mouth, and the sound took form of blue circles that hit Nidorino and confused him. The other two zubats flew straight towards the sitting nidorina, with their teeth bared.

"Fight back with your Fury Swipe," Leaf ordered her Nidorina. Nidorina's claws grew longer and she jumped at the zubats when they were close enough with her claws extended. She slashed both of the zubats' faces in one swipe then gracefully landed on the floor. The zubats kept on going as if nothing happen but then felt the sting of the scratch and dropped on the floor unconscious.

-"Two down and one to go,"- Nidorina smugly said, looking up to see a nidorino running around in circles. She sighed and fired a few purple darts at the zubat flying above. The Poison Sting managed to hit zubat's left wing which caused it to lose control of its flight and crashed into an ice sculpture of a Dewgong. The sculpture toppled over and shattered when it hit the floor. Zubat was sprawled on the shattered ice, not moving a muscle.

"Damn it!" the most talkative grunt cursed. All three grunts recalled their zubat and took out another pokeball from their belts.

"This will teach yall," shouted the grunt as they each threw a pokeball. This time they all had Koffings, polluting the air with their noxious gas that escaped from the pores in its body.

"Do you guys all have the same pokemon?" Leaf whined, returning her Nidorina into her pokeball.

"Actually, I have a Jigglypuff in my apartment," one of the quieter grunts spoke up. This created an awkward silence between the team.

"...Bro, a jigglypuff," the grunt commented to his comrade. The grunt who confessed was fidgeting with his fingers.

"Well, they are cute and round, plus it helps go sleep at night when I can't sleep because I'm a failure in life...," the grunt shut himself up to stop himself from saying anything more embarrassing.

"Well, that was nice to know," Red smirked, having his Pidgeotto already out for battle and Leaf having her shiny Pidgeotto out.

"You guys also have the same pokemon out, so you can't mock us," the talkative grunt barked at them.

"Are the gases from Koffing starting to affect your brain? My pideotto is a shiny pokemon," Leaf pointed out. Her pokemon did a loop in the air to demonstrate her beautiful feathers before returning to her original spot.

"She's right, and hat pokemon is very rare, so we steal it for the boss," the grunt that has hasn't spoken up said.

"Let's get then with our smog combo," the grunt ordered who now seemed the one in charge. The other Team Rocket members agreed by nodding their heads. Their Koffings floated closer together and each began to take a big breathe.

"Super Smog attack!" The grunt shouted in union. The Koffings all released their poisonous gas at the same time from their mouths. A purple cloud quickly began spread towards Red and Leaf.

Red quickly formulated a counter."Blow it away with Gust."

"You too, Pidgeotto," Leaf commanded. Both pokemon flapped their wings to create a gust attack. Their combine efforts managed create a very powerful wind that easily blew the gas away. A few tables turned on their side as the wind blew at it. The koffings didn't stand a chance against the hurricane strong wind and were thrown into the wall.

The pidgeottos stopped the flapping and admired their work. Tables were overturned with a few broken chairs but most importantly were the rocket grunts stuck to the wall. Along with the team rocket grunts were their koffings, all knocked out cold.

"They were all too easy," Red sneered, shaking his head in a mocking matter. "Sorry that you didn't get a descent fight, Pidgeotto." Pidgeotto nodded as Red recalled his bird pokemon and so did his childhood friend.

"I almost feel sorry for them," Leaf laughed, and then took a quick scan of the room. Most of the trainers had their pokemon out so there were many pokemon on floor as well. "Though I can't seem to find does other two guys from Team Rocket."

"They did say about having something more important to do," Red reminded her, and tried to think of something important on the ship. "Do you know if there is something valuable on this ship?"

Leaf placed her hand on her chin and took her time to ponder. "I did hear about a rare crystal was being kept somewhere in the lower floors," Leaf said. "In fact, I know where it is. Follow me." She then took lead by running off to the nearest exit. Red had no choice but to follow her. They exited out into the sky deck and found more knock out people on wooden floor.

"You think that at least a few people might have avoided the gas," Red remarked, but was ignored by Leaf. She then remembered the way and went down a flight of stairs that lead her to the lower floor of the giant ship.

Red descended the stairs as well and stopped next the Pallet Town girl. He admired the sea as Leaf tried to remembered the rest of the way. The small waves clashed against the boat, and a few tentacools emerged from the ocean.

"This way," Leaf interrupted Red sight seeing. She grabbed the giant glass door and pushed it to the side. As they walked into the room that resembled the room they were in only smaller, a large explosion could be felt rocking the ship. Red grabbed onto the glass door for support while Leaf held onto the wall. The shaking soon subsided and the trainers let go of their support.

"What was that?" Red asked, feeling a little shaken from the explosion.

"I don't know but it looks like it came from the next room," Leaf stated her thoughts. She started to cross the room and needed to avoid the many trainers on the floor. She skipped over a Raticate as Red jumped over big fat pokemon that looked like a giant pineapple with a sombrero.

Red then found a faster way to get to the other side. He picked up speed and did one final jump. He landed on the belly of a snorlax and his feet sank into the enormous pokemon's stomach. Like a trampoline, the stomach flexed back and sent Red flying across the room. Red smirked as sailed over the unconscious bodies on the floor and enjoyed the feeling of being airborne. He didn't think about how he was going to land but that was resolved when he slammed into the wall.

"That's what you get for trying to find a faster way across," Leaf said as she passed by him. Red peeled himself from the wall and stumbled his way towards Leaf. He could feel a few bones were broken or was it his imagination.

"Let's keep ongoing," Red murmured, holding his sore ribs. Leaf gave him a worried look but decided to continue. She opened a door that led them into a wide hallway. The hall was in a fancy decorated. The same velvet carpet was laid on the floor and paintings of sea captains were hung on the wall. Bright lights lit the way for the duo as they walked down the aisle. They soon came open a pair of large doors. Commotion could be heard from behind the doors.

"Looks like they're here," Red said, being the first to react by pushing the doors open. The room was smaller compare to the other rooms Red has been in. It was also more dirty then the rest. All of the furniture was blown into pieces including a few shattered vases and some small broken desks. In the middle of the room, the carpet was burnt as if something has recently exploded.

The two Team Rocket Executives stood in Red's way with their backs to them. They seem to be engaged in a battle against another trainer that had a dewgong and a pokemon that looked like a giant purple rock with spikes. Behind the trainer, stood a display case that had a red crystal inside a glass container. The crystal looked like it had a small flame burning inside of it.

"How could you just sacrifice your pokemon?" A female voice asked. Red then saw the dewgong being return back into its pokeball.

"My koffings don't mind going out in a bang," Petrel's voice replied with a laugh.

"Enough of this. Hand over the Fire Crystal," Archer demanded, holding out his hand as if he was going to receive it. His pokemon next to him had the color as his Houndour only that it had a tail with spade shaped tip. Its long horns on its head made the pokemon look like as if came from hell.

"So you guys are after the crystal," Leaf shouted, announcing their arrival. Both Rocket executives slightly turned around to glance at the duo.

Red was too busy registering Archer's pokemon into his pokedex."Houndoom, the dark pokemon. It is said that Houndoom's flames will leave its victims burns that will last forever. Its howls at night were once thought to be the grim reaper."

"Now that's a pokemon that Team Rocket will have," Red merrily spoke, but shrank back when he saw that the houndoom was giving him a cold look.

"I knew those good for nothing grunts would fail," Archer tiredly said. "Houndoom, take care of these troublesome kids." Houndoom looked more than happy to comply as he faced the duo, giving them an intimidating look.

"Hey, I'm your opponent," the female trainer cried to get their attention. Red then caught sight of her when Archer shuffled to the side. She had on a black blouse with a purple skirt. Her red glasses matched her long red hair as she took out another pokeball. The giant rock slowly opened up to reveal a black sphere with a smirking face and a large spike protruded above it.

"How could your cloyster survived my Koffing's explosion?" Petrel exclaimed.

"Remember Petrel, she is part of the elite four and Cloysters are known to have high defenses," Archer informed his comrade, getting ready to release his next pokemon.

"I'm not going to let you take this crystal," the elite trainer shouted, her eyes glaring daggers. She threw a pokeball that released a human-like pokemon. The pokemon had great resemblance to a female human. The pokemon shook her hips as she blew a kiss to the foe's pokemon.

Red plucked a pokeball and pressed the button on his pokeball. A fire lizard was sent out to fight the houndoom. Charmeleon carefully observed his opponent.

-"This will more certainly be a good battle," Charmeleon hissed, crouching low and let out a battle roar.

-"Yay, another battle!"- a childish voice cried. A blue tadpole pokemon bounced his way towards Houndoom. The dark fire type gave the pokemon a scary look but it didn't work to scare the cheerful pokemon.

"Poliwag, put it to sleep with Hypnosis," Leaf ordered. The tiny pokemon nodded as it fired hypnotic waves from its belly. Houdoom's eyelid began to droop but he still managed to swipe the poliwag with a swipe of his claws. Stopping the attack, houndoom's eyes snapped wide open.

"Charmeleon, it's your turn to attack. Ember attack," Red ordered. Charmeleon roared before launching his attack. The flames made contact with Houndoom's body and it caused his body to glow bright red. The flames of attack looked like if they were being absorbed by Houndoom's body. After his glowing stopped, Houndoom smirked at Charmeleon futile attempt to hurt him.

"Red, if you didn't know, Houndoom has Flash Fire as its ability," Leaf scolded Red's senselessness. "Fire attacks won't affect it. In fact, it just powers-up their fire attacks."

"Ohhh…'" Red said, annoying Leaf even more. "Well, Charmeleon let's make it up by using Dragon Rage."

-"Try absorbing this!"- Charmeleon shouted as he fired the shockwave attack. Houndoom's speed was incredibly fast and Charmeleon found out the hard way. Before his Dragon Rage could hit the dark pokemon, Houndoom has already escaped. He tackled down Charmeleon and had his mouth around Charmeleon's neck. Before he could deliver the final blow, bubbles slammed into Houndoom's side sending him sprawling on his side.

"Don't you think that we are out of the battle?" Leaf taunted, Poliwag appearing with an angry face instead of its joyful one. "Water gun, Poliwag." A blast of water was fired from Poliwag's small mouth that landed a direct hit on Houndoom. Though the attack was super effective the power behind the attack was weak and Houndoom easily endured it.

-"That attack was very weak, runt,"- Houndoom insulted in a gruff voice. He was knocked down by a powerful claw attack. Charmeleon stomped his foot on the dark pokemon's long snout to stop him from firing any attacks.

"Houndoom, enough playing around," Archer spoke without turning around. Archer was battling a dim witted looking pokemon with a shellder on its tail using his Golbat. "Petrel, lets put an end to this useless fighting."

"Sounds good to me," Petrel conceitedly said, releasing his Weezing from its pokeball. "My Weezing will need to charge up so you will have to stall, Archer."

Archer seemed a bit surprised by this, but decided to stall. "Well, Golbat use Confuse Ray. We shall gain Petrel some time."

Houndoom who was still pinned down let out bone chilling roar. Charmeleon took his foot off Houndoom's neck and began to back away in fear. Houndoom slowly picked himself up and growled in a mocking way.

"Charmeleon, don't back down. Knock it down with a Mega Punch," Red encouraged his pokemon. Charmeleon put on his brave face when he heard his trainers words.

Houndoom huffed releasing a small puff of smoke in the process. A foul odor reached Charmeleon's sensitive nose as Houndoom began to move. In less in second, houndoom was a foot away from Charmeleon. The fire starter swung at his foe with a glowing white fist, but Houndoom ducked under the punch and ram his horns into Charmeleon's belly. Charmeleon did an odd "oof" sound as he was thrown backwards and landed on floor.

-"My turn!"- shouted the little tadpole pokemon. Jumping in front of the hellhound and firing off a weak Water Gun. He then hopped to the side and fired another Water Gun that hit Houndoom's head. He began to jump back and forth firing off Water Guns at each spot, but it did little damage to the powerful Houndoom.

-"And Take This!"- poliwag shouted as he fired one last Water Gun before starting glow. The white glow grew bigger and Poliwag could be seen growing arms and his tail began to shrink. When the glowing stopped, a new pokemon appeared in polwag's position. The new pokemon looked like a Poliwag with arms.

"My poliwag finally evolved into a Poliwhirl," Leaf exclaimed with stars in her eyes. To test his new strength, Poliwhirl fired large bubbles from the center of its stomach at houndoom. The attack did noticeable damage this time as houndoom recoiled in pain.

"Houndoom, your assistance is required," Archer shouted from his position. Houndoom snorted and opened its mouth to release a black smoke that engulfed the pallet town trainers and their pokemon. After immobilizing them, Houndoom quickly approached his master.

"We-can't-let him escape," Red coughed in the smoke. Charmeleon casually walked up to his trainer, not affected by the smokescreen. Red noticed this but was too slow to think of a plan when he heard the sound of more gas being released.

"What! I can't breathe!" the female trainer shouted and glass shattering soon came after.

"Pidgeotto!" Red shouted as he released his pokemon. The bird pokemon didn't need a command to know what to do. He began to flap his wings and the smoke easily blew away and escaped the room through a broken porthole. The smoke cleared and the room was left in a mess. The woman that was fighting the Rocket Executives was on the floor coughing. Leaf and Red ran to her assistance.

"Are you alright?"Leaf asked, helping up the woman.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me," she replied, doing one final cough. The glass case behind her was broken and with the unsurprising absence of a crystal.

"They must have token the Fire Crystal and escaped through the porthole," Red proclaimed, and took a look through the porthole that could easily let a grown man pass through. He didn't see any sign of the Rocket Executives anywhere. The ocean waves were the only moving thing that Red saw and the calls of water pokemon filled the silence.

"Did they escape?" Leaf asked and received a nod from Red.

"Well, as long as none of you were hurt," the woman tried to lighten up the mood. "Oh by the way, my name is Lorelei and what is yours?"

"My name is Leaf and the boy over there is Retarded Red," Leaf innocently smiled.

"Hey! My name is Red," Red corrected her. "And we need to think of a way to wake up the passengers that are knocked out on the ship."

"What! The passengers are all unconscious on this boat," Lorelei exclaimed.

"Come on, I'll show you."


"Oh my," was all Lorelei could say when she saw the many trainers and pokemon lying on the floor. "You would think at least a couple of adults would have been smart enough to avoid the smoke then a couple of kids."

"Hey!" Both Red and Leaf shouted, feeling insulted by the comment.

"Well, how are we going to wake them up?" Red asked, putting his arms behind his head.

"I got an idea," the elite four member said. She enlarged a pokeball and threw it at an open space for her pokemon. A blue water type pokemon that looked like a plesiosaurus materialized on the floor.

"What is that pokemon?" Red asked, taking out his pokedex when he could have just asked Lorelei.

"Lapras, the transport pokemon. This pokemon likes to ferry pokemon on its back. It is a very friendly pokemon but ever since it has been nearly hunted to extinction it avoids humans."

"Lapras sounds like a nice pokemon," Red happily said, and Lapras cried in a soothing voice. "Its voice is so soothing. How is Lapras going to wake people up since it has a voice that makes me sleepy?"

"Like this. Lapras create a Safeguard that will cover the entire ship," Lorelei ordered, holding up her arms as to emphasize the size of the ship.

-"Of course,"- Lapras nodded and closed her eyes to concentrate. After a few seconds, Lapras opened up her eyes and a blue glow began to cover her body. A blue transparent barrier formed around Lapras and it began to expand. As the bubble expanded, the people or pokemon that were caught in the barrier began to stir. A few started to wake up while others were already getting up. The barrier disappeared into the floors above and below but it kept on growing. In less than a minute, the safeguard has engulfed the whole ship and the effects of the gas were beginning to wear off. The ship was soon alive with people and pokemon, again.

"Great job, Lapras," Lorelei praised as she returned Lapras back into its pokeball. She placed the pokeball on her belt.

"That was amazing. Your Lapras managed to create a safeguard the can cover distance of over a hundred feet. You are part of the famous elite four," Leaf began to praise the woman who sweat dropped at Leaf's enthusiasm.


"Thank you for your help," the old man said. The captain of the S.S Anne called up the trio to his cabin. Red and other two girls were in the captain's cabin to be thanked. "I am a bit disappointed to hear about the Fire Crystal being stolen, but at least no one was hurt. I will like to reward you kids with this Cut HM." The nice captain handed the kids a white disc that contained the attack Cut.

"Well this is nice-" Red began.

"You can teach it to your pokemon as many times as you want and it won't break, unlike those other TMs" the captain exclaimed, thinking it was the best move in the world.

"I'm sorry that I failed to protect the crystal," Lorelei apologized, bowing her head in shame. "I was supposed to protect it until we got to Olivine City, but I failed."

"Don't worry about it. I bet the people who wanted the crystal will understand," assured the captain and he checked the time on the watch. "Oh my, look at the time. We are behind schedule. We must leave at once, and you two better hurry and leave or you will be left behind." The captain turned around and grabbed a bottle that contained his seasickness pills.

"It was nice meeting you Lorelei," Leaf said, bowing her head in respect and Red did the same thing.

"It was nice meeting you kids as well," Lorelei replied, not good with farewells. Red and Leaf nodded and left the ship.

"Thanks for visiting the S.S Anne and come back when we are in town again," a female voice said over the intercom as Red made it to the concrete docks. Leaf stepped onto the docks as well.

"Well, this good bye, Leaf" Red said, removing his hat to scratch the back of his head.

"We are not leaving for good, but until next time we meet," Leaf corrected him.

"Yea, so where are you headed?" Red asked, starting to make his way to the pokemon center with Leaf following.

"I'm going to head back to Pallet Town and show Professor the pokemon I met on the cruise ship," Leaf stated her plans. "What about you? You should visit your hometown once in a while. Oh, and show the professor your Gible. He might know how it got here."

"I will think about it, but right now I must head to the pokemon center to heal up my pokemon," Red responded. "What a weird day this was, right? I wonder what happen to those Team Rocket Executives that escaped with the crystal."


High above route 6, two figures were making there way across the route. The lanky man was sitting crisscross on a weezing and it looked like as if he were meditating. The other was a young man hanging on his golbat with one arm and holding a red crystal in the other hand. The duo were making there way when suddenly they were attacked by a barrage of fireballs.

The attacks didn't do any damage to the pokemon but it did make their pokemon lose altitude. They were heading towards the ground but before they could hit the ground, Petrel's Weezing fired a gas towards the ground that stopped their fall.

Archer's golbat regain it's composure by vigorously flapping its wings and catching the gas in its wings. Archer let go of his pokemon and safely landed on the ground of the dirt path. Petrel as well hopped off his pokemon.

"Whoever attacked us, come out," Archer shouted in a demanding tone into the forest. Two silhouettes could be seen in the woods walking towards them.

"Looks like won't have to walk all the way back, Ember," a deep voice said and tall, muscular man stepped out with a smirk on his face. His outfit was an odd looking jacket with a pair of khaki pants.

"That's great, now I don't have to walk anymore," another voice responded. The man stepped out and had the same outfit as his partner but he looked younger.

"You have a lot of nerve to attack Team Rocket," Petrel shouted, pointing an accusing finger at them.

"What do you want?" Archer asked, narrowing his eyes.

"We just want that nice crystal of yours," the blue haired man replied. "So hand it over and we can head our separate ways. Don't resist or prepare to get clobbered."

"Those are fighting words," Archer coldly said, releasing his houndoom without hesitation. Petrel motion for his weezing to get ready for a battle.

"You call that a Houndoom," Ember mocked but showed no emotion. He then released his houndoom, but his houndoom had its horns raked sharply back. This symbolized that this was a powerful houndoom.

Archer narrowed his eyes and clenched the crystal tighter in his hand. "Just who are you people?"


(A/N)This chapter was longer than I thought with a whooping 9000 words. The longest chapter so far and I hope you liked it!