Hey there mates. We're back! And we reach the first destination on Sora's Chieftain challenge: Topaz Island.

But, before our favorite trainer gets to battle for his first victory, we get to spend a little time with a certain mermaid who wants to know more about humans. Well, at least it ought to be interesting.

Again, I do not own Pokémon. That is the appropriate property of Nintendo and Game Freak.

Now, enjoy, fave, and review. Pretty please?

Sora was hanging on some of the ropes, looking out on the horizon in eager anticipation. Drake had told the crew that they would make landfall soon. Their first stop: Topaz Island, the home of the first Chieftain. Unfortunately, no one had any information on the Chieftains. Nobody knew who they were or what kind of Pokémon they used. So Sora had no means to prepare for his first battle.

But he didn't let that dampen his spirits. No, Sora was eager for the challenge. And not knowing his opponent made it even more enticing. Pikachu shared his enthusiasm, and rested dutifully on Sora's shoulder like always.

"You certainly seem excited Sora," Prince Pewter spoke to the eager guardian.

"Of course," Sora responded. "It's the first time since forever that I get to fight a tough opponent other than Ragnar. I can't wait to face them."

"Pika Pika" Pikachu cheered.

"Hey Sora, Cancer needs your help below deck," Drake informed. With a mighty leap, Sora landed on the deck and rushed below deck.

On the anchor, Rina shared much of Sora's enthusiasm. Eight strong warriors, called Chieftains, challenging him to battle. It was definitely something to look forward to, even for a mermaid like her. But, she wasn't sure if she would get to see such a battle.

"So, Sora has to battle these eight Chieftains because they challenged him?" Sarah spoke as she and her sisters went over what they knew.

"That's what we heard," Kari affirmed. "But it will be great to see battles like that."

"Yeah. The last battle that we experienced was against his Charizard," Sarah reminded, shuddering. "That wasn't fun."

"Don't forget," Rina pointed out, "you two attacked him, and his Charizard acted out of self-defense. These next eight battles will be different." The other two couldn't argue with that. They hadn't gotten over their previous misgivings about humans, but they did consider Sora to be different from most other humans.

Just then, an explosion rocked the ship from the inside, nearly knocking the mermaids off their perch.

"Sorry!" they heard the human called Cancer cry out.

"Let's just hope we get to the first island in one piece." Sarah griped.

The next day, the crew finally made landfall on Topaz Island. Besides the port town they landed in, the rest of the island looked rather barren. There wasn't any plant life living anywhere.

Sora was about to disembark from the ship, when Drake managed to grab him by the collar and chastised, "Oh no you're not! You're staying here."

Sora was perplexed, until Prince Pewter explained, "We can't let the first Chieftain know about you until it is time to battle. Since we don't know about them, we need to keep you a secret too."

"That's not fair!" Sora complained.

"Pika!" Pikachu added.

"We'll be back, once we have found this Chieftain," Prince Pewter assured. And with that, he and the others disembarked. But Cancer had his sister Sparky remain, though with much resistance.

In the water, Sarah and Kari decided to go explore the waters around the island. Rina opted to remain behind. One way or another, she was going to try to find out more about Sora. But how?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A few minutes later found Sora on the prow of the ship, slouched over the side from not getting to follow the others. It wasn't fair that he had to stay behind until they found the Chieftain. Even if the Chieftain found out about him, he didn't think it would put him at a significant enough disadvantage.

But even with that reasoning, he couldn't just abandon Sparky. The little tyke was chasing Pikachu and her Dedenne around the ship in a game of tag. The sight of them playing lifted Sora's spirits, but not enough to get him over his depression over not helping his friends. It ate at him to not be doing anything. He needed to venture out to the island.

It was then that he heard someone call, "Psst! Sora." It was Rina. Sora recognized her voice right away. But he couldn't see where she was calling from.
"Down here, below the ship." When he looked down, he saw Rina floating there.

"Rina?!" he gasped, but then he remembered that Sparky was still onboard. Lowering his voice slightly, he asked, "What are you doing down there?"

"Duh! I followed you guys," Rina scoffed. "We did promise to meet again. Remember?"

"Right. Sorry."

"Hey Sora, can I come onboard, so I don't get discovered?" Understanding the request, Sora looked over to Pikachu and signaled him to keep Sparky and Dedenne busy. Pikachu understood the command, and led the two below deck.

With that done, Sora told Rina, "Give me a sec. I'll get you onboard."

After much difficulty, albeit jealousy mostly, Sora managed to have his Bayleef and Bulbasaur use Vine Whip to carry Rina to his quarters. After the two set Rina down on Sora's bunk, Bayleef nuzzled its master affectionately.

"Thanks Bayleef, Bulbasaur," Sora praised, "Now get some rest." And he returned the two Grass-types to his staff.

As Rina looked around the room, she was impressed by its contents. Plaques and trophies lined the walls from Sora's various accomplishments. There were even a couple portraits of Sora in battle with a few of his partners. It was pretty spectacular to see.

"Are these from your travels to the other islands?" she asked.

"Yep," Sora answered. "All the journeys and hardships me and my Pokémon faced are on these walls. We definitely came a long way."

"You must be a pretty skillful guardian to have so many friends."

"It's not because of me. My Pokémon were the ones to do all this."

"But you did help them, didn't you?"

"I guess I did." But then something came into Sora's mind. "Say, Rina, why have you gotten so interested in humans? And in me?" he asked her.

"What do you mean?" she replied.

"It's just… Well, I've never met a mermaid before," Sora told her. "And any of the stories I've heard say they doom those that meet them. I'm just curious at why you're so interested in us."

With a sigh, Rina replied, "You're actually the first human that we have ever found interesting. Ever since I heard about how you helped that Lapras, I've felt a strange change inside me."

Taking a seat next to her, Sora inquired, "What kind of change?" Pikachu came in as he asked his question, and cocked its head inquisitively, eager to know what his partner was curious to know.

"For a long time, my sisters and I thought that humans were evil," Rina elaborated. "That everywhere they went, destruction and corruption occurred. So we sink human ships to keep them from doing harm, and protecting Pokémon. But when I heard about you and what you did, I began to doubt my original belief. You were the first human I have ever heard to save a Pokémon, and value them as equals. So naturally, I wanted to know more."

Sora seemed to understand Rina's reasoning. It was no exaggeration to say he had encountered his share of cruel humans on his travels. Pirates and slave traders. And then there was Tyrannia, Ragnar's kingdom. That place was the worst.

It was then that Sora noticed Pikachu present in the room. And not a moment later, Sparky and Dedenne came into his room, and spotted the strange, red-haired mermaid next to him. Immediately, her eyes went super wide.

Fearing that she was shocked, Sora tried to reason, "Sparky, it's okay. She's a friend. Her name is Rina, and she is a—"

"MERMAID!" Sparky cheered, leaving Sora, Rina, and Pikachu dumbfounded. "A real mermaid! On our ship! So cool! My name's Sparky, Ms. Mermaid, and this is Dedenne."

"Denne." Dedenne squeaked atop Sparky's head.

"A pleasure to meet you Sparky. My name's Rina."

"But I just said that," Sora grumbled.

But Sparky and Rina didn't pay him any attention, as Sparky peppered Rina with questions and comments; "Your tail is so pretty. Do you really live in the ocean? Where did you come from? Are there more of you? Do you like people?"

"Sparky, she isn't going to tell you any of that," Sora chastised. "Mermaids don't really reveal themselves to people." Just then, an idea came into Sora's mind. It would be disobeying the prince, but it would be worth it.

"Actually, want to give me a hand with something Sparky?" Sora grinned. That expression was translated to Sparky, and she was eager to help. Rina, however, was out of the loop.

"Help with what?" she asked.

"I have an idea for how to show you more stuff about humans without anyone finding out your secret." Rina didn't know why she felt so off, but something inside her wasn't sure about this plan.

Some time later, Sora and Pikachu waited outside Yolanda's quarters as Sparky helped Rina. Before their voyage, the princess loaded her designated room with a small wardrobe of fancy dresses, for reasons of her own. While no one was able to object to Yolanda's idea, it turned out to be a perfect way for Sora to hide Rina's mermaid tail.

After much scuffling, swishing, and complaining, Sparky finally announced, "The maiden is ready." She opened the door for Sora to come in, and his jaw pretty much put a whole through the ship.

Rina wore a teal blue dress, the same color as her tail, with long sleeves that were puffed up at the elbow and shoulders. The dress hid Rina's tail so perfectly, that Sora could've sworn she was human. Rina blushed so rose red from being seen that she tried to hide it. Despite such beauty, Sparky looked displeased.

"It's missing something important," She mumbled. Then an idea came to her. Going back into Yolanda's closet, Sparky picked a spare tiara from one of the shelves. Then she had Rina lean forward on her seat so she could put it perfectly in Rina's hair. With it, the ensemble was complete.

"You look… beautiful," Sora murmured, transfixed by Rina's beauty.

"I don't know," Rina replied, slightly embarrassed by the attention. "Don't you think it's a bit much, Sparky?"

"Nonsense! Princess Yolanda taught me all there was to know about beauty," Sparky refuted. "Because now, you're a keeper." Rina was puzzled by her words, but Sora face-palmed at it. Sparky had been prone to pull stunts like this whenever a cute girl was around. It was almost as worse as as the prince's efforts to woo girls he thought were cute. "You would make a perfect wife for Cancer," Sparky explained, taking a knee before Rina. "Of course, he would need to know you're a mermaid. And would he have to live in the sea? Cancer has trouble swimming. Maybe you could live on land with us…" But before this could continue, Sora had his Snivy pull Sparky away with Vine Whip.

With a sigh, Sora apologized to Rina for Sparky's outburst, and told her, "She does this quite a lot. But usually, Cancer is the one to stop her."

"It's alright," Rina assured. Then inquired, "But how will I travel with you? This dress is nice, but I'm kind of stuck here."

"No need to worry. I've got it covered." Sora informed.

"Sarah says the same thing, which makes me worry," Rina muttered. But Sora gave Rina a wink and a grin, which made her think he did have that problem solved.

Sora had Bayleef and Bulbasaur help him carry Rina again as they walked off the gangplank onto the dock. Pikachu, Dedenne, and Sparky followed behind them. Nobody was present on the dock besides the group, and anyone within the area was busy in other matters and paid no attention to what was going on.

Finding a suitable area with strong support, Sora called out, "Alright! Torterra, come on out!" And a beam of light shot out, and became a massive, green tortoise that had a tree on its back.

"Torterra, I need your help to carry Rina around town," Sora requested of his sturdy friend. Torterra knew what Sora requested of it, and lowered itself to allow Bayleef and Bulbasaur to set Rina on its back. Once onboard, Rina thanked Torterra for helping her.

"Alright, travel time!" Sparky cheered. But then Sora held his staff in front of her, blocking her way.

"Hold up. We need you to stay behind in case the others come back," He told her.

"Aw! But I wanna come too," She griped.

"If you stay, I promise to tell you more about me," Rina offered. Enticed by the offer, Sparky immediately agreed to the plan, and went back on the ship with Dedenne. Impressed, as well as relieved, Sora returned Bayleef and Bulbasaur, and led Rina through town.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was no exaggeration to say Rina was eager to see the marketplace. She was very quizzical about everything: the food, the jewels, the clothes, the tools, pretty much everything human made. Sora did his best to explain to her about the place, but Rina was like a kid in a candy shop. Each new thing piqued her interest to the point where she was barely paying attention to anything Sora said.

After about an hour of browsing and exploring, Sora and Rina settled down near the only fountain plaza in town. Rina was so excited to see everything that she flicked her tail a couple of times, nearly giving herself away. But Sora and Pikachu helped her to keep off everyone's radar.

"I know you're excited to be here," he reasoned, "but please don't draw attention to yourself. I can't protect you very well if you get discovered."

"Sorry Sora," Rina replied. "But I'm just so amazed at everything here. I never knew humans lived such wonderful lives."

"Well, I bet you and your sisters have places like this where you come from, right?" Almost immediately, Rina's cheerful expression turned sullen.

"Sora, our lives have never been like this. We don't know if there are other mermaids out in the world," She told him. "We think we're the only mermaids in the world. That's why there are only stories about our kind. There may not be others out there. Just the three of us."

Feeling guilty for asking, Sora said, "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"Chu. Pika Pi." Pikachu cooed to comfort.

"It's alright." Rina spoke, petting Pikachu's tail and eliciting a very cheerful response from the mouse Pokémon. "I guess it's only natural you would think that." A moment of silence fell over them. Sora wanted to cheer Rina up once more, but he was unsure as to how he would.

That is until he and Rina heard explosions from a battle sounding in the distance.

With energy revived, Sora called out, "C'mon! Let's go see what's going on." And he rushed off, with Torterra working to keep up with its speedy master.

Upon arrival, Sora spotted the two current battlers in the center of the crowd. Both were muscly men, and their Pokémon were equally tough. One had an Ursaring, a huge bear Pokémon with a circle on its belly. The other was a Donphan, a gray Pokémon with tusks and a long trunk. Rina and Torterra arrived just as the last attack was being called.

"Donphan, Rollout!" Donphan curled into a ball, and rolled towards Ursaring at lightning speed. The attack nailed Ursaring, and it fainted right after the blow was dealt.

"That's it!" the referee proclaimed. "Donphan wins!" The crowd cheered at the victory, as Ursaring's trainer returned it and ran from the loss in disgrace. Sora was impressed. That Donphan had been well-trained and well cared for.

Then, Donphan's trainer announced, "Is there anyone out there willing to take me on and break my 15 win streak?"

Eager to try his luck, Sora shouted, "I will." But his challenge was met with laughter. Everyone found it funny for a kid to take on a powerful trainer like this man.

"School is the other way kid. This is for real battlers," Donphan's trainer smirked.

Offended, Rina called out, "Do you know who you are talking to? This is Sora, Guardian of Aurora. He has bested men that were stronger than you." This outburst brought some murmuring among the crowd. It was clear they were not fully convinced that Sora was as good as he claimed.

With a mighty "guffaw," the man replied, "Very well, guardian. We'll give you a shot. One-on-one, with no substitutions." Excited, Sora raced to the other side of the field, facing his opponent confidently.

"Totodile, I choose you!" in a flash from his staff, a blue, crocodile Pokémon appeared to battle. Once it did, it danced around very cheerfully. This again brought laughter from the ongoers.

"This one is for you, Rina." Sora told his friend. But Rina didn't know whether to feel embarrassed, enraged, touched, or all of the above.

But it didn't matter, as the referee called out, "BEGIN!"

Right when the battle began, Donphan's trainer ordered, "Use Rollout, Donphan!" the tusk Pokémon curled into a ball, and charged at the dancing Totodile.

But then Sora called out, "Totodile, jump on it." Receiving the order, Totodile leapt atop Donphan, and used its fancy footwork to stay on top.

"Shake that dancing lizard off!" The opponent ordered.

"Stay on top, and use Water Gun on the ground." As much as Donphan tried to shake Totodile off, the little crocodile Pokémon was not budging one bit. In addition, Totodile blasted jets of water towards the ground, as it was instructed.

"You're kinda wasting your attacks kid," Sora's opponent smirked. "Rollout gets faster and stronger the longer it's used. Once that Totodile is shaken off, we'll finish it with one hit. This battle is as good as ours."

"That would be true," Sora responded confidently. "But you might want to take a look at your Donphan right now." As everyone began to take notice, they saw that Donphan's rolling had actually slowed down considerably. Making the field wet and muddy caused it to lose traction, and thus struggle to gather momentum. Rina was impressed in the fact that Sora could be this strategic, even with a Water-type. After Donphan slowed to a crawl, Totodile leaped off its back and faced it once more.

"Now Totodile, use Water Gun on Donphan!" Totodile let loose a powerful sream of water from its huge maw, and nailed Donphan dead-on. Because it was super effective, Donphan fainted instantly.

"That's it! The match goes to Guardian Sora!" the ref called. The crowd was astonished by such a result. Sora only called on a single attack to fight Donphan, and it wasn't just to attack it. It was a strategy they never saw coming. As Pikachu and Sora went to congratulate Totodile on a well-earned victory, Donphan and its trainer came over and shook hands (and trunk) with their opponents.

"That was rather crafty, slowing Donphan down with a muddy field," The man remarked. "You definitely are a strong battler."

"Thank you. You're pretty strong too," Sora complemented. Saying farewell, the trainer and Donphan took off for parts unknown.

Afterwards, Sora took Rina to the coast to relax. Sora breathed in the sea air deeply as he rested alongside his mermaid friend on Torterra.

"You knew how to beat that man from the start, didn't you?" Rina quizzed.

"Kinda," Sora chuckled. "I figured he would use Donphan against me, so I had to use a Pokémon that took away its main strength."

"I see. And that's why you used Totodile?" Rina asked, leaning closer.

"Actually, I was also thinking of using my Heracross or Glalie. But I wanted to battle with Totodile because you were there. I wanted to battle with a Water-type because of you." Rina didn't know what to say. She felt quite flattered that Sora battled with a Pokémon type she loved the most. It made her wonder if there was another reason why Sora chose Totodile.

"One day, I hope a dream of mine can come true," Sora said suddenly.

Curious, Rina asked, "And what dream is that?"

"That people and Pokémon can all live together," he answered. "That we would only battle for fun, not for conquest. And also, I hope you and your sisters can be a part of it too."

"But Sora, how can we?" Rina questioned. "Even if you can wish it, mermaids and humans can never be together. It's just impossible."

"If it's impossible, then how come we keep meeting each other?" The two friends pondered it for a bit, then shared a laugh over the idea. But Rina had to admit that Sora had a point. Since she and Sora continued to meet like this, maybe it was possible for a human and a mermaid to live together.

But as the sun began to hang lower in the sky, Sora informed, "It's getting late. And my friends will be back soon."

"Same with my sisters," Rina added.

"Let's head back to the Aura before anyone knows we were gone."

"Great idea. But this time, I'll provide the ride."

Sparky was pouting on the deck during that whole exchange. She couldn't believe she agreed to stay behind, just so she could know more about Rina and mermaids. It was totally unfair!

But that was when a huge presence suddenly appeared over the deck. When she turned around, a fierce Gyarados rose over her. On its head was Rina, Sora, and Pikachu. Sora jumped down onto the deck along with Pikachu.

Then Rina called out, "Sora, here!" And she threw down Yolanda's dress towards Sora and Sparky, which the two caught as it floated down to them despite being slightly damp.

Rina was about to return the tiara when Sparky shouted, "Keep it! Think of it as a gift from us."

"But… it belongs to you guys," Rina tried to reason.

"It's yours now," Sora told her. "A promise that we'll meet again." Rina didn't know what to say. So instead, she put the tiara back on. Then she had her Gyarados lower its head so it was at deck level, and asked Sora to come over.

When he did, she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and whispered, "Promise." Then she and Gyarados dove back under.

A little later, two hooded women approached the ship and called out, "Guardian Sora, we've been expecting you." Once Sora, Pikachu, Sparky, and Dedenne came on deck, they told them, "the Chieftain will see you now. Come with us."

Sora: I get to challenge the island Chieftain.
Rina: Be careful Sora.
Sora: I will. And I have my Pokémon to help me.
Rina: And I'll be cheering for you.

Next time,
Awakening a Dormant Power