The SS Anne was a magnificent example of the whims of the wealthy. Or their folly, Ash really couldn't be sure. The entire ship gave her the creeps despite its elegant beauty, which was why she had worked so hard to convince Charmander that she was worried about being over the ocean and get him transferred to Professor Oak for the duration of the cruise. Every nerve in her body was on fire with tension, and she refused to let the most vulnerable of her Pokemon be put at risk. The rest of them were strong enough to take care of themselves and each other.
Charmander had been upset, but he must have seen the fear in her eyes because he allowed himself to be sent over, after much cuddling. She'd just given Samuel the look and he hadn't questioned her about the decision, instead reminding her to check in whenever possible and to take care.
Boarding the ship had sent a wave of foreboding crashing over her, but at the same time a sense of irritable resignation. She was supposed to be here, regardless of what ended up happening. Making her way to the room assigned to her by the ticket, she stayed there until the ship set sail. Oberon, sensing her emotions with ease, insisted on staying outside his Pokeball with Pikachu when she did finally decide to explore the ship. Not that she minded; she would rather have all her Pokemon out, but on such a crowded ship it was a recipe for disaster. She'd have to rotate.
Passengers had already begun to flock to the fancy mall-like setup on the main floor, with several warm-up competitions already in progress. Interested, but refraining in case there were people intent on joining the official tournament watching, she skirted the makeshift battlefields and browsed the shops. The sheer amount of people in floor-length dresses and suits unnerved her, and while she wasn't one who particularly cared, she had the feeling it would be better not to stand out too much. Her clothes were ragged and worn anyways, and it wasn't like she was averse to having something nice to wear should she need it.
Glancing down at her tattered jeans and vest, her shirt faded from long hours in the sun, Ash winced and asked her psychic friend to find somewhere she could afford to shop at.
Oberon led the way to one of the few shops that wasn't terrifyingly expensive, probably aimed at getting the on board trainers into less grungy outfits. The employees were happy to help her choose something 'fetching' (whatever the hell that meant). She ended up forced into a white dress shirt with ruffles on the neck and vaguely kimono-like long sleeves, and on either side of the row of buttons, tucked into a high-waisted, navy blue, pleated skirt that was tight on her waist and flared out from her hips. It stopped at mid-thigh, and she was infinitely grateful for the black leggings (white diamond shapes running down the outer sides) and matching blue boots with very low heels. With a grimace, she admitted that her hat was out of place, and returned it to the safety of her bag, which was now tucked inside another nicer looking black backpack.
Oberon was laughing at her, the brat.
Pikachu joined him once the ladies in the shop started squealing about how much 'cuter' she looked in the dress, and they descended upon her like a flock of Spearow with hairbrushes and a variety of other… products… Luckily they only insisted on a simple blue and white Pokeball-shaped hairclip to tame her bangs to one side. After paying a distressing amount of money and expressing semi-sincere thanks, Ash made her escape from the store, now satisfied that she didn't stick out as much. Although, Gary would probably choke on his spit if he could see her now.
"Pika?"
She ruffled his ears, leaning down a bit to brush a hand down Oberon's spine. "Don't worry about it," she said, resettling her new bag as she looked around. "Despite my usual disdain for clothes shopping, I am a girl, so this does happen occasionally."
Oberon snorted, and she nudged his stomach with her calf, ignoring that he just laughed harder. Brat. With a sigh, she set to exploring the rest of the ship, keeping a close eye on a growing number of employees that were looking a little too closely at people's Pokemon. Suspicious. Resolving to keep her guard up, Ash scooped her Espeon into her arms, just in case. Her friends were too precious to risk.
Despite her wariness, the sheer size of the ship kept her occupied until dinner, and she entered the dining hall satisfied with her knowledge of the ship's layout. Seeing an area where trainers could sit and eat with their teams, she hurried to grab one of those tables and released her own.
"Syl… syl! Sylve veon," Titania crooned approvingly as she looked her trainer over, ribbons gracefully brushing the cloth of Ash's new outfit. Alto hummed in agreement, cloud-like wings outstretched to feel the soft fabric. Even Houndour paused to admire the change, making his trainer a little self conscious. She rather liked her typical travel wear, thanks.
As if sensing her thoughts, Pikachu sent her a dry look that conveyed what was probably a jab at her androgynous preference in clothing. Like a mature trainer, she stuck out her tongue at him and rolled her eyes before ordering food for them from a waiter with a pleasant smile and none of the unsettling gleam she'd spotted in others around the ship. It was just as they were finishing their meal that he spotted her.
"Well, if it isn't Ashy-girl," Gary smirked as he dropped into the chair closest to her, eyeing her outfit. "And what on earth are you wearing?"
"I'm trying to blend in," she replied, speaking slowly as if to a small child. "Most of the trainers here for the tournament will be looking for other, obvious trainers to spy on beforehand; wearing this kind of thing, my team passes as a rich brat's collection of pets. It's just keeping my cards close, Gary."
Green eyes brightened even as he scowled at her tone. "Not a bad idea, Ashy-girl, but that won't help you beat me. I'll be the one claiming first place and that prize."
Ash shrugged, before her eyes dimmed a bit. She hadn't spoken to her friend like this in months, maybe a year or two. While she was happy he hadn't immediately launched into his whole 'rival' thing, she was still hurt by the way he'd pushed her off for so long.
"So, this your team? Where the hell did you get a Swablu?" He demanded, leaning to get a better look at her Pokemon. "And a Houndour, what the hell Ash?"
"I got lucky in Viridian Forest, Alto was trying to shake off a Scyther that I ended up catching and trading for Houndour. Bugsy had been looking for it, he had Houndour ready to go if someone caught that bug before he got there. Since Scyther was kind of a loose canon, I was more than happy to get my boy here, isn't that right Houndour?" Houndour's tongue lolled as he yipped happily in agreement, leaning against her leg and sliding down to rest his head on her shoe. "Dork. What about you? How's Umbreon and Vera?"
"They're doing great, kicking ass all the time. I've been rotating my team since I've caught so many Pokemon." Ah, there was the bragging. "You don't even have a full team yet? What have you even been doing?"
Ash paused, thoughts on her only absent Pokemon. "I've got a rescue I've been working with, you can talk to your grandpa about him. He's needed a lot of my attention so I'm not really keen on adding to the team right now."
"That Charmander, right? Don't give me that look, I do call home every now and then," Gary scowled, slouching a bit. His eyes narrowed. "Makes sense. Gramps told me a bit. If I ever see that Damien guy I'm gonna deck him."
"Please do, I didn't get the chance," she muttered darkly. "I sent Charmander to the lab until we're not over the open ocean… Gary, I've got a bad feeling about this cruise."
He eyed her carefully. While he'd focused on the while rival deal lately, he knew her enough to take her premonitions seriously, as they'd never let her down before. The fact that he still trusted her weird ability so easily had her relaxing slightly. "How so?"
"Something big is gonna happen," she murmured, gaze falling to her team, who were chattering to each other and looking around the extravagantly decorated room as they ate. "And some of the waiters and employees here are looking a little too close at the Pokemon on board. Whatever is going down, these people have connections on the inside, and it's not gonna be pretty. Just be on your guard, okay? And keep an eye on your stuff."
"Did you tell Gramps?"
"... No, not yet. I wasn't really sure until I'd explored a bit and kept noticing more, and by then we'd already set sail," she replied. It was only a bit of a lie, but she couldn't exactly tell Samuel 'hey, fate wants me on a ship that is going to be involved in something sketchy, see you when we land' or he'd have had Alakazam drag her back to Pallet. "I'd rather you mention it anyways, I still don't… I can't figure out what it is," she hissed, frustrated. "I know all these stupid, vague things and they hardly ever make sense."
"Easy, Ashy-girl." Gary gently bumped her shoulder with his. "If something's up, we'll fix it. I'll call Gramps in a bit, since it doesn't seem to be immediate, right?" When she nodded, he retreated back to his own chair, waving down someone to order his own meal. When the guy left, he glanced back at her, thoughtful. "… That power of yours really bothers you, doesn't it?"
Ash snorted. "It can be useful, but mostly it's infuriating. What's worse is that I know I'm going to keep needing it, and that it's somehow important to something. It's a lot of deja vu and being irritated with what feels like redundant events. But I guess I do like having it. We wouldn't have our first partners without it."
"True that."
XxXxX
The ship was sinking.
Ash swore to herself even as she frantically grabbed people and started shoving them in the right direction, voice raised to direct them to the deck and the lifeboats. She couldn't find Gary, there were Rockets everywhere, and she'd come across nearly a dozen dead bodies－trainers who had been punished for trying to fight the Rocket grunts. She didn't let herself think about them.
There was water already lapping at her shoes, but the crowd had finally made it to the deck. She couldn't take the time to check for stragglers, the water was rising too quickly, and she couldn't hear anyone else. If they weren't running, they wouldn't make it anyways. The ship rocked to the side, sending Ash stumbling into the wall, and she hissed.
"Let's go, Pikachu," she said, checking her trainer belt once more to ensure the rest of her team was secure on it. The Electric type clutched her jacket tight, tense as his trainer made her way up to the deck. Lightning flashed in the storm, and they were soaked to the bone in a heartbeat. Squinting, Ash tried to make out the scene. People were still swarming into the lifeboats, a handful already in the water and struggling to escape the Rocket helicopters. The roar of the storm and screams were overpowering whatever other sounds might have been echoing across the rolling sea.
She still didn't see Gary.
And then it didn't matter, because cold, freezing icy blue psychic power flooded the sky, screeching and crackling down in a pillar headed straight for the ship, and then everything was gone.
XxXxX
"－more survivors, one hundred and sixty-three still unaccounted for," came through the radio, and Emmett Surge fought the urge to bury his face in his hands. His boat was off the coast, following the flow of the current from where the SS Anne had sunk, trying to find any other survivors. They had found some of them－there'd been far, far more of the dead－but it was the missing ones that got to him. As a soldier, he'd never left his comrades behind; family would either get their soldier back, or they would get a body to bury.
He grit his teeth and eyed the ocean. He'd sent nearly two dozen trainers onto that ship, with those damned tickets. He was a Gym Leader, he should have known if there was Rocket activity going on in the docks (in his city), should have put a stop to it. Now, hundreds of people and Pokemon were dead and/or missing.
Even that tiny little beast of a trainer, the girl with the Pikachu.
He'd heard the Oak kid screaming her name when they found him, delirious, dehydrated, and still trying to find her. Surge had told that girl she would go far; now she was likely at the bottom of the ocean. It had been a week, and none of the scouts they'd sent flying had seen anymore straggling survivors or bodies, so they were doing one last check of the few islands off the coast to see if anyone had washed ashore.
They'd had the barest of warnings, and the League hadn't been fast enough to prevent the attack. The Oak kid had called the professor, saying that he and Ash thought there was something off about the boat, possible Pokemon thieves disguised as crew members and other employees. An attack was just logic, with the ship so isolated. No one had expected it to be Rockets. No one had expected those terrorists to have a weapon that could obliterate such a massive ship.
"Last island, sir!"
"Send the scouts," Surge yelled back, straightening from where he'd been leaning on the rails. A few moments later, five Pidgeot cawed and flew towards the island. He watched their movements carefully as their forms grew small with distance, eyes narrowing when they faltered before beginning to circle. "Looks like we got one, get the medics on the deck!"
He would be lying if he said he hadn't been affected when he recognized the unconscious girl and her Pikachu, a wave of relief－one less dead, he didn't fail this kid, she was alive－but he had enough experience with this sort of thing to focus on getting her back to the city. She was in bad shape; sunburned, dehydrated, wounds from debris, a high fever, and major blood loss. She needed to be hospitalized, but she lived.
Somehow, she lived.