AN: This is a longer chapter, about 4,760 words, and it could have been longer. I think I'm getting better at the whole description thing, but it could have just been me getting carried away.

Oh well.

Disclaimer: I don't have to do this every chapter, right? Well it's too late now, since I already gave a disclaimer for every chapter before this one. And it gives the author's note in the beginning a point. . .

I don't own Pokemon or Fullmetal Alchemist.

Chapter 5: A Fishy Situation

Al yawned, stretched, and shook himself. Blinking, he realized with belated joy that he wasn't in his pokeball. That's right, he recalled, I don't have to stay in that thing anymore. Really the only reason he was forced to in the first place was that Robby's parents didn't want to vacuum his very visible silver fur from the carpet every day.

Now he wasn't restrained in his pokeball inside anymore.

Glancing around the small hotel room, comprised of a small desk, dresser, and a single bed, Al spotted the motionless figure of Balo. The clay doll was standing straight up, not on its side or anything. The alchemist-turned-eevee couldn't even tell if Balo was awake, sleeping, or dead.

It was slightly unnerving, but Al figured the ground type was sleeping, since he wasn't spinning. Then again, since he had spent time as expressionless armour, maybe he understood because he could relate, as an expressionless kindred spirit.

Stretching once more, Silver glanced at the alarm clock. 6:34. Why am I up this early? Gazing at the lump hidden under the messy covers, he wondered if he should wake up Robby, briefly remembering the trainer wanted to leave early.

Waking him up would be cruel, considering Rob wasn't exactly a morning person. Robby had also confessed he wanted to leave before Brendan, who didn't seem to have similar reservations when it came to the early hours of the morning, so the cruelty would be his own trainers orders.

The joke might bring enough laughter to soothe the empty nook that had settled in his heart for the coming day.

Might as well wake Balo up first. Trotting over to the clay doll pokemon, Silver gently shook him, crooning, "Wake up. C'mon, It's time to get up."

The response is immediate, as Balo suddenly spins like a top. Not exactly wanting to get hit by the ground type's flailing 'arms,' Silver jumped back. As abruptly as it began, the twirling stopped.

"Good morning," was Balo's response to Silver's wide eyes, "I hope you had a fair night's sleep."

"Oh, uh, good morning to you as well." Al was still processing what appeared to be a sleep driven rapid spin attack (was Balo just stretching?). Making a mental note to be careful when waking up Balo next time, Silver tentatively started once more, "Did you have a good sleep, too?"

"It will be adequate to get me through the day." The response was curt, and sounded as if Balo was preparing to go fight a war. Was the baltoy always this uptight?

Silver stayed silent, not exactly knowing how to handle the serious pokemon. Changing the topic would do. "I haven't woken up Rob, yet. He likes to sleep in, but he told me to wake him up early . . ." Al trailed off, not exactly knowing what to say.

"You require me to assist, don't you?"

"Yeah." Al usually wasn't one to fumble with words, but there was hardly a hint of emotion in the genderless pokemon's voice, it was rather challenging to read the situation and predict reactions. It didn't exactly help that Balo was akin to a complete stranger.

Floating upwards, Balo's runes glowed softly. A soft blue glow enveloped the sheets and they were lifted weakly off the bed, dropping to the floor once they hovered over it. Robby shivered slightly, curling in on himself, but remained fast asleep.

That left Al confused, though only slightly. "Balo, since when could you use confusion to lift things?"

Shaking, Balo sighed. "I can't. That was simply my psychic powers. They aren't strong enough to be considered a move, but it is a natural talent that resides in all psychic type pokemon. I, however, am also a ground type, so mine is weaker than others and has less potential to develop into the various moves."

"Hmmm." It wasn't something that Silver had read about online before, but maybe he just needed to expand his own resources.

"There are more options than removing covers. They include: pain, shocking him awake (using various methods), and excessive noise. Which one should we use first?"

Something about that statement must have reminded Al of his brother because he managed to grin mischievously, all the while the chunk of his missing heart seemed to be growing larger.

. . .

Fading. Darkness swirling, folding and mixing with dim light to create an intricate pattern, an image that faded as swiftly as it came, only to be replaced by a different pattern. Dreams were a tricky thing, challenging to navigate, and equally hard to interpret, if someone even remembers them once they wake up.

Golden eyes opened in a flash, only to close once the light flooded into his retinas and burned them. Despite being rather dim, the lights were still overwhelming when compared to the peaceful oblivion of sleep he was accustomed to.

His bunny-esque ears were filled with static and his tongue was a miserable combination of dry and heavy in his mouth. Each limb felt as if it were a dead-weight and each were numb, not quite like a prickly sensation, but more akin to being frozen. Then a moment later, all his aches, pains, and soreness returned, a prime example of a delayed reaction.

Waking up after a fight was a familiar feeling, but that doesn't mean it was a welcome one.

Edward opened his eyes once again, more slowly this time, staring at the unfamiliar wall in front of him. His guard rose along with his hackles. The golden eevee's small heartbeat sped up, thumping loudly in his chest, a sure reaction of the suppressed panic running rampant through his veins.

Deep breaths, Ed thought, chiding himself, I have to get out of here, not fall victim to a stupid panic attack. Being kidnapped was less familiar territory for the elder Elric brother, but that didn't mean he had zero experience with being on the wrong side of a thievery. And by wrong side he means being the one inside the bag.

It didn't help that he was famous (a very loose description of the word) and some people got the bright idea that they would get loaded if they kidnapped the Fullmetal Alchemist, the youngest state alchemist, and held him for ransom. The stupid ones didn't get very far, neither did the ones who underestimated him. When he had been kidnapped, he could escape the more incompetent ones, and he could pay the ransom fee for the arguably more competent ones.

But Edward wasn't the Fullmetal Alchemist anymore. He wasn't 'famous,' and he doubted Laura and her family had enough money to pay for a ransom.

Laura. Was she okay? Last time Griffin saw her, he had. . .

A flash of blue, the fire seemingly more cold that hot, but still turning nearby metal cherry red.

Lightning flashes, crackling through the air briefly, the blue more familiar than the ghostly flames.

He had protected her from a powerful flamethrower, using Alchemy. Alchemy that he was certain had been taken away from him and Al once they were in this new world, in these new bodies. After several experiments, every single one of them failing, they had figured Alchemy was lost when they obtained the new bodies, perhaps in exchange for their newfound powers called moves.

But Ed had used it, and it was definitely different than it was before. It was the same basic principle, transform something into something else following the rules of equivalent exchange, but the execution was. . . different. The first step, Comprehension, seemed to be the same- essentially understanding what you are transmuting.

After that it was, different. Deconstruction is the second step, using energy to break down the substance into a more pliable form, so it can easily be reshaped. Before, Ed would use the natural, ambient energy that was everywhere. Now. . .

He used his own energy, a lot like the energy he used for his moves.

Reconstruction used his own energy to reform the concrete into the dome that he had wanted, which was probably the reason why passed out immediately afterwards.

There was also the fact that he hadn't drawn a circle, or clapped his hands for that matter-

"It appears our guest is awake."

A male voice rang out, startling Ed from his thoughts. He cursed internally. The alchemist hadn't even noticed the man come in. Turning (to the best of his ability with all those stupid chains), Ed managed to face the newcomer, who most likely was his captor.

The man was tall, that was the first thing that the eevee registered. It wasn't just the fact that Edward was hardly a foot tall himself; he was tall, and he was not someone Ed would want to fight if he were a human. The man wasn't exactly buff like Major Armstrong, more lean muscle than anything else, then again, it was hard to tell exactly. His clothes were rather baggy, consisting of a crimson cloak than concealed the majority of the rest of his stature.

No, what screamed dangerous about him was his posture. He was still. His visible face was a blank poker face, but his eyes, his dark eyes held a glint of something strange. Cold, calculating, along with a strange form of. . . Excitement? It was hard to tell.

There was one pokemon by his side. It was humanoid and majorly black, with a few white bows and blue eyes framed by a purple face.

Gothorita, the Manipulative Pokemon. On nights when the stars shine, this Pokémon's psychic power is at its strongest. According to many old tales, it creates friends for itself by controlling sleeping children on starry nights. This pokemon is a psychic type and is the second stage in the line of Gothita.

Edward's hackles spiked up and a shiver ran down his spine, but he managed to mold his face into a fierce scowl, glaring directly into the eyes of his captor. The excitement in the eyes seemed to grow, along with a small bud of amusement. Edward cursed the cute, cuddly features of his eevee body.

The man grinned. It was malevolent and sent a new round of shivers down Ed's spine. "Not very happy to see us, it appears."

He moved closer, Ed growled. "Back off! I'm warning you."

He stopped coming closer, but didn't move backwards either, seemingly pondering something. He spoke up a moment later. "How about you answer some questions from me?"

Scoffing, Edward scoffed, "Yeah, no way. I wouldn't answer questions from you, creep, even if you could understand me."

Gothorita's eyes glinted, making the eevee hastily look away. He wasn't exactly sure how hypnotism worked here, but he definitely wouldn't want to fall victim to it, especially if his information source is right about how Gothorita works.

The man responded, strangely, as if he understood Ed perfectly. "You will with enough persuasion, clever little eevee. I can understand you; Gothorita is here as a translator, with her telepathy abilities."

His thoughts were blinded briefly by being called the most hated word. "Why you. . ."

Growling, Ed launched himself forward,"Who are you calling little-!" The chains stopping him from getting to close cold metal choking off most of his rant.

Eyes glinting, the man was obviously amused by the tick he'd discovered in his captive,

Well At least now I know the Gothorita is here for more than just protection, or . . . my own theory. Ed didn't allow himself to relax, they could resort to hypnotising to get whatever answer they wanted from an eevee.

But that just brought up another question.

"I'm not going to answer any of yours until you answer some of mine." Ed smirked. It would be a downhill battle, since he had a lot of questions, and less information on his opponent, he'd just have to choose his own questions wisely. "Equivalent exchange."

There was a long pause as the man digested the information. He opened his mouth and what came out was a calm, dangerous thing, hissingly quiet and just as deadly as a snake.

"Now why would I do that, little eevee?"

Ed launched himself once again with renewed vigor, jumping up in a useless attempt to hurt the vile man, and was swiftly suppressed by a kick to his belly.

"Silence, pet." The word was dragged out, as if the Man (not a man, more like a monster) knew Ed hated it. "I don't have to play by your rules. You are at my whim, and I have all the cards in my hand."

A pause, filled with the frantic beat of Ed's heart, try has he might to calm the stuttering of it.

"Maybe, instead, if you answer my question, you shall be rewarded. If not. . ."

The Man smiled, truly a cruel thing, "If not, you will be punished."

"Understand? Good. Now, what-"

Anxiety pooled within his stomach. Ed didn't exactly know what type of questions a mad man would ask an eevee, no matter how unique that particular eevee was, and he was prepared for a question that would be an attempt to penetrate his deepest secrets. Or rather some thing he liked to keep a secret, no matter how deep it was.

"-is your name?"

It was a simple question, and not something Ed was expecting at all. It did make sense, though. It's not like the Man knew he had some big secret (several actually), and was probably just testing the eevee's reactions. A sinking feeling penetrated his chest; with his defensiveness earlier, he practically just showed the Man a wrapped present before running away saying 'you can't find it.'

Now all he had to do was find it before Ed escaped. And with his newfound alchemy abilities, escape won't be the problem. The problem will be 'not get caught.' But if Ed tried to escape to soon, he would definitely get caught, and the Man would definitely know he was hiding something; Ed was fairly certain that most eevees can't manipulate matter, after all.

So it was the waiting game then.

Scowling, Ed hissed, "Why would I tell you something that important to me?"

It was true, the alchemist turned eevee had no desire to tell the mad Man any of his names of titles: Ed, Edward, Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist, or even Griffin. The names and their meaning to him are only a slight incentive to not give them to someone he has already decided he hated (it makes perfect sense to hate the person who kidnapped you), but there was also the fact that if he didn't fight now, he would be hiding something even more obvious when it really mattered.

Besides, Ed never liked people who flaunted their power, and the Man reeked arrogance. Ed's very pride was on the line now (it was his unofficial job to infuriate every person in power, afterall).

The Man smiled as if he had expected that type of response. "Well then, punishment it is." Turning a swift 180, he walked straight to the wall, but disappeared in a flash of blue light before he hit it.

Edward was hoping to witness what could have been a solid faceplant in the wall, but remained disappointed nonetheless.

Now all he had to do was wait for the punishment.

He waited.

And waited.

But when the Man came in again, what Edward assumed was the next day, to ask the same question, the game the Man was playing became very clear.

. . .

The sun was shining harshly in the sky, beating down on Robby's neck. He was sure by the time he would finally get in some shade his neck would be sunburnt. It wasn't even that hot outside, temperature wise, but compared to the day prior it was way too hot.

At least he didn't have fur. Silver, on the other hand, was not so lucky. He wasn't exactly short haired, the fur being maybe a medium to long length, depending on the season. Eevees are known for being adaptable, and right now he was adapting to the heat. Meaning Al was leaving a trail of silver fur in his wake.

The road was dusty and Al wished he had some sort of shoes, not that the dirt was burning his paws or anything, but it had managed to work itself in between his paw pads. Not that it was painful or anything, but it was rather annoying, like getting small rocks stuck in a shoe while walking.

Balo floated pleasantly besides Silver, avoiding the problem altogether- not that the clay doll even had to deal with it in the first place, as he didn't have paws or shoes. The baltoy was essentially a clay toy with psychic powers, so Al didn't know if he could even feel the temperature, see the blue sky, or the small beach they were walking by.

A life like that would be even worse than living in a suit of armor, Al thought glumly, but if it never knew what it is missing, since it never had any of the things I did. And still do.

"Silver. I am sensing something is troubling you. May I ask what it is?" Silver swallowed, glancing nervously to the spinning Balo.

"U-Uh, yeah, actually. I do have a question, if you don't mind me asking."

"I do not mind at all."

Tail twitching, Silver wondered briefly if it really was okay, or if he was being insensitive. But he shook his head as his resolve hardened. "I was wondering if you could see. W-well, it's just, you don't exactly have eyes and, now that I think about it, you don't have a mouth either, s-so how do you even speak-?"

Al cut himself off, hoping he hadn't sounded too rude, but knowing the rant had probably made him sound that way, whether he wanted to or not. His heart sank further into his chest once he didn't get a response, thinking that he had just been given the silent treatment-

"How I speak without a mouth is the simpler one to answer." Balo stated, voice inflection rather flat, but that was normal for him. "I simply use my psychic powers to create vibrations in the air. You are fairly clever, so I can assume you know how sound waves work."

Silver nodded,"Yes, vibrations."

"To answer your other question, I can see, but it is a bit more complicated than how I speak. I suppose the way I see would be different. A simpler way to put it is I. . . sense my surroundings using my psychic powers. It is rather hard to explain."

Al's mind was buzzing with questions, each one vying for his attention, and an old excitement to learn was building in his chest. "Are you more like an inanimate object with psychic powers, or are you like a creature with mud like skin and stuff?"

"Hmmm, I suppose I'm a combination of those two things. I have bones, a brain, and a few other organs, but from what I was taught, Baltoy lack a nervous system. Our psychic abilities is what allows us to live and interact with the world, we use it almost constantly to keep us alive."

"How does a water attack not wash your clay away and leave just a skeleton behind, then?"

"As powerful as water attacks may be, our clay is a specific type that does not wash away easily, not even a hydro cannon can do something like that. I even have a fail safe where my psychic powers will reinforce my body."

Silver's eyes sparkled, and Balo fell silent. Suddenly, Rob stopped in front of them.

Looking up, Silver tried to discern the reason. There was a house in front of them, just a small shack, but it was by a dock that stretched out onto the water. A dingy old boat was bobbing, occasionally trying to drift off, but was tied rather efficiently to the dock.

Following Robby's gaze, Silver found himself staring at the back of a rather old man. His hair was a grayish white and he had a fishing pole that looked almost as old as his boat, Silver could only assume that the house and the boat was the man's, and was sitting on an old stool. A bait box sat next to him, guarded fiercely by a wingull, who was squawking at the various bird pokemon occasionally making a dive for the worms.

At least the dock is sturdy, was Silver's thought as he trotted after his trainer down the wooden planks. Balo floated uneasily behind them, his defense being 'just because water doesn't wash me away, doesn't mean it doesn't hurt.' It was a very valid point, besides the fact he was levitating.

Robby stepped on a rather creaky board, and he cringed as the old man turned around to see the small group.

He didn't glare, or smile, instead opting for a yawn saying, "If yer here for a battle, ye'll be disappointed, laddy."

"Ah, no. I just wanted to see if you had seen an eevee that looked like this, recently." Al's heart twanged as Robby pulled out a picture of Griffin. In it, he had been taking a nap, and Laura had scooped him up into her arms, saying that it was the only good way to take a photo of him, since he didn't like holding still for the camera.

The old man stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Hmmm, can't say I have, lad. That there seems to be some rare thing, though. I'm only an expert of fish though, me and Peeko, here. Oh, where're me manners? The name's Briney-"

He cut himself with wide eyes, as his pole bent wildly and the string stretched taught. Arms tightening, he grits his teeth, and starts to fight the fish. Reeling in wildly, he stopped, letting the line trail slightly, he continued tugging at the fish. The line tugged back harder. Growling, his bushy eyebrows dropped into a glare and with one last back wrenching haul, the pokemon erupted from the water in a display of mist and fine water droplets.

She was majorly blue, with yellow eyes and black plus sins within the yellow. Two wire-like tails (or were they antenne?) sprouted from her rear end and ended in big, yellow bulbs right in front of her face.

Chinchou, the Angler Pokemon. When it senses danger, it discharges positive and negative electricity from its two antennae. It lives in depths beyond sunlight's reach. This is a water/electric type pokemon and is the first stage of its evolution line.

Mr. Briney cursed. "A chinchou?! I usually have to ger sailing to find one of these, not ta mention havin' a long fishing rod. Peeko!" The wingull squawked, taking off from the deck to circle over the water where the electric type was waiting. "Use water pulse!"

The bird's eyes narrowed and her beak opened a large sphere of water forming. With a twist of her neck, she launched it at the enemy floating in the water.

Chinchou's eyes narrowed in anger, but she didn't move out of the way, instead took the attack straight on. Water splashed up around her, shielding her from view. But as it returned to the ocean, it revealed that Chinchou was completely unharmed. Mr. Briney's jaw dropped.

"What! Even if it isn't very effective, water pulse should have done something. Unless. . ." Ordering Peeko to use wing attack, the old man observed the chinchou carefully.

Peeko's wings glowed a white color and with a flap, she dived down, skimming the surface of the water. Chinchou sparked, and a bright ball filled with crackling electricity appeared between the two bulbs. With a cry, it launched the electro ball straight into Peeko.

The smell of burnt feathers penetrated Silver's nose, making him wrinkle it in distaste.

Peeko wobbled on the air, but managed to make it over the dock before she collapsed in a heap. Mr. Briney softly pet the bird on the head, whispering 'good girl.' He turned to Robby. "Laddy, I might need yer help with this little rascal here."

Rob nodded, looking over to Balo . . . only to notice it wasn't there. Looking around wildly for his starter, he finally spotted the baltoy on land, far away from the water. Groaning, Robby ran a hand down his face in exasperation, while Silver only chuckled.

"Well, since Balo is to much of a COWARD," Rob yelled the last part loud enough for Balo to hear, hopefully, before continuing, "I guess you're gonna have to take care of this one, Silver."

Looking at the water, Al shuddered. Getting his fur wet was a hassle, one he tried to avoid when given a chance, so he was not going to like fighting water types. Not to mention trying to out swim a pokemon that lives in the ocean is anything but a good idea, especially since water is a great conductive of electricity. So that makes going into the water out of the question.

It's a good thing he knows swift.

Summoning the stars, they shot off, chasing after their target, who attempted to dodge them by diving underwater. Silver was forced to wait patiently for her to resurface, listening to the waves crash into the rocks below the dock absentmindedly.

She eventually did, jumping out of the water and unleashing a water gun, which the eevee swiftly avoided. Retaliating, he launched a new set of swift stars and they slammed into the water electric type while she was still in the air. She fell back into the water with a quiet plop and didn't come back up, most likely swimming away.

Silver spun around and was faced with a drenched Robby, looking rather disappointed. "Man," he voiced, "I really wanted to catch that one."

Mr. Briney, however, was just finishing up with treating Peeko's wounds. The bird let out a soft croon, but Briney just smiled. "Ya did yer best, Peeko. Never could'a expected reeling in a chinchou in these shallow waters."

Rob bit his lip thoughtfully. "That reminds me. Has this been happening a lot lately? I mean, fishing up wrong pokemon in the wrong places?"

Mr. Briney nodded gravely. "Aye, it's mighty troublin', too. Never happened before in my ol' memory of fishing, either. But," he stood up, "it ain't my business and it shouldn't trouble you youngin, leave stuff like this to the pokemon researchers."

"Right." Rob nodded, but hesitated. "I, er, was wondering if I could stay the night here?"

"Why'd ye want to do that? It ain't even nightfall yet."

"Well, I know I won't be able to get to the next town before nightfall, and I don't want to sleep in the Petalburg Woods, so I figured I'd stay here and do the rest of the trek in the morning." Rob stuttered, "I-I mean, if I managed to convince you."

Mr. Briney snorted. "Ya don't have to be so nervous, lad. Ye can stay if ye want."

Bowing slightly, Rob said, "Thank you." And he left to train for the remainder of the day.

Briney chuckled, looking down at Peeko fondly. She squawked and he patted her head. Sitting back on his stool, he baited his line and cast it out, reeling it in slowly. It snagged something. Sweat bead on his brow and he gave a sharp tug, sending himself tumbling backwards as he was offered no resistance.

Sitting back up, he rubbed his head, looking around for the fish. Seeing none, he frowned in confusion. But as his eyes landed on something sparkling, besides the sun reflecting on the water, they widened in surprise.

"I haven't fished up one of those in a long time."

Peeko squawked in agreement.

Notes: To be honest, I didn't actually plan to put Ed in this chapter, I just couldn't figure out what else to do to make the chapter longer. I think it worked out.

Now everyone knows what the deal with Alchemy is. Too bad Al doesn't, but he's working on it, I swear. Also I looked on the FMA wiki so I could BS my way through it.

I tried to make Mr. Briney have a pirate-ish accent, cause that's how I think he sounds like, but I might have gotten it wrong. Peeko's battle was going to be longer, but I figured a 4x super effective move would be enough to stop her from battling.

Well, hope y'all liked the chapter!

What could the Man possibly want?

Who is the Man?

What will Ed evolve into?

What did Mr. Briney fish up?

Why is a deepsea pokemon this close to shore?

Review! Stay tuned! And stay safe!