Yo yo! Sorry this update is a day late. Been busy with my summer job and all. Gotta keep busy somehow.

Anyway, this chapter introduces the last pairing between the humans and mermaids of the crew. And guess who those lucky people are?

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or its characters. All rights to Game Freak and Nintendo.

Chapter 10:

Love on the High Seas

"Kenneth, secure the jib!" Drake barked out, "Sora, furl the sail on the front mast! Move it!"

"Aye aye." Kenneth replied, rushing to his task.

"On it captain!" Sora called out as he clambered up.

Curious, Prince Pewter came on deck with Teller and Opal and inquired, "What's the matter captain? Is another storm approaching?"

"Not today, my prince." Drake replied, "The waters here will carry us to a nearby island, where we'll rest before proceeding to the next Chieftain."

"What island could be out here?" Teller questioned.

As if to answer his question, Kenneth immediately shouted, "Land ho! Blanco Island, dead ahead!" And in the distance was an island with a dense jungle in the center, and white beaches as bright as crystal surrounding it.

"There it is." Drake whispered to himself, "Just like we planned."

"That's it!" Rina cried out, "Blanco Island!"

"The home of the best sunbath beaches in the world?!" Sarah asked excitedly.

"The one and only, little sister." Kari winked, "I'm pretty amazed Drake found such a place."

"It certainly looks beautiful." Rina sighed, "Wouldn't it be amazing if this is where we found our love?"

"Oh yes! Especially with Drake. Imagine…" Then, Kari daydreamed of her and Drake on those glistening beaches, the sun beginning to set. She imagined Drake on one knee, like one time she saw a human do, a ring in his hands.

But right at the big question, Sarah interrupted with a huff, "Puh-lease! Can you two seriously get your heads out of the silt?! Honestly. It's like I'm the only sane mermaid here! Humans and mermaids can never be together. End of story."

"Well, what about Sora and Rina?" Kari jibbed.

"Even that won't last. I'll respect Sora for his love of Pokemon, but that's it. No matter what you say, he's still a human." With a big 'harrumph', Sarah dove into the water, and swam off for the beaches.

Chuckling, Rina whispered, "Just like we planned."

"Now it's up to Drake and Sora to get that Kenneth person to be in position." Kari replied, "Then, we'll see what she thinks afterwards."

Immediately upon making landfall, the whole crew disembarked into the soft sand. Princess Yolanda had removed her footwear beforehand, and was enjoying the soft comfort of the sand beneath her feet. Tidus got dragged into playing with Sparky, and Cancer and Opal made sure to look out for them. Teller and Sketch were at work tracing the island layout while chronicling everything up to this point. Sora brought out some of his Pokémon to enjoy the coast and relax. Prince Pewter spotted some sand pits that were heated by geothermal vents, and allowed his Pokémon to relax there since most of them disliked water. As for Drake, he was keeping an eye out while relaxing under the sun's rays.

"Captain, sir." Kenneth saluted as he approached, "You said you had a task for me?"

"Aye, Kenneth." Drake replied, "Our berry supply has been running lower than I would like. Would you take a look and scavenge some more while we are here?"

"Aye captain. But, don't we already have a vast trove in the brig?"

"We did. But something seems to have scarfed most of it. We need a fresh batch soon."

"Understood." And with that, Kenneth took off for his errand.

After he left, Drake got up and snuck over to the water, signaling Sora to follow. As soon as Sora could break away, he snuck over to where Drake was, just on the other side of the ship, as their mermaid companions surfaced next to them.

"The plan is in motion." Drake told them.

"Great." Rina responded, "Sarah took off for the island before we landed. Knowing her, she'll probably be somewhere on the other side of the island."

"Good. Then it's all set." But then a thought crossed his mind. "Hey Sora, why is half our berry supply gone anyway?"

Scratching the back of his head, Sora told him, "Well, actually, it's a bit of a funny story."

"Do I even want to know?"

"We doubt it." both sisters sighed in unison.

Further down the coast, nearly on the other side of the island, Kenneth strolled along the tree line as he pondered his task. Something about it felt off to him, as Captain Drake was not known to let their stash get pilfered. Even more so, the captain's Arcanine was always on guard duty, making sure no one snuck in for a late-night snack.

"The only ones I know of that ever access to the storage are Sora, Opal, and the captain himself." Kenneth mulled over, "It makes no sense that we lost half our supply. Something fishy must be going on." Sadly for him, he wasn't having any luck finding berries to replenish their stock, and for good reason. Blanco Island had no berries to speak of. So then, why did he agree to collect what wasn't here in the first place?

Then, unexpectedly, Kenneth heard a girl's voice gripe, "Those two have their heads stuck in the clouds. It's like they live on land more than they live at home in the sea." Startled, Kenneth hid himself in the forest. He spotted the source of the voice, and was mesmerized by what he saw. It was a young maiden, maybe about his age, with long, blue hair and sapphire eyes. She was stroking her hair with a brush that looked like it was made out of coral. But the strangest thing to him was, from the waist down, she had a pink tail. A mermaid tail! This girl was a mermaid!

"It's like they don't even act like mermaids anymore." The mermaid continued to grumble, "All because they've gone Psyduck for those human boys." Kenneth was stunned by her words. There were more mermaids like her? And what did she mean when she mentioned human boys? Could the captain be in danger? What about Sora?

"Even so, I can't deny that I do feel a little left out." The mermaid spoke in a softer tone, "I may hide it from them, but sometimes I wonder if I could be like them. The way Rina was when she fell in love with Sora really changed her." Stopping midstroke, the mermaid taped the pearl tied around her neck, and a light came out and turned into a Piplup. "Wouldn't that be just amazing, to fall in love with a human? What do you think Piplup?"

"Pip pip lup?" Piplup replied, puzzled by his mistress's behavior.

"Well, you know, to just be in love with someone sounds like it would be amazing. And, with me being the youngest, I don't want to miss out."

"Piplup Piplup! Pip pip, lup."

"You're right. Guess because I am the youngest, I can help keep my sisters out of trouble."

"Lup."

Kenneth could not seem to take his eyes off of this strange maiden. He was never much of a curious sailor, but he wondered about this mermaid he had seen. She apparently had sisters, and one of them was in love with Sora. This was so hard for him to take in. And he didn't feel it would be right to just appear out of nowhere and startle her. He might scare her off, and never see her again. But, he wanted to at least get close to her. She seemed so… lonely.

Then, from out of the blue, a ginormous ape-looking Pokémon barraged its way out of the forest and out onto the beach. A Slaking, and an angry one to boot. It's raging stomps frightened Sarah and Piplup as it barreled towards them. Thinking fast, Piplup summoned a Whirlpool and slammed it into Slaking, who smashed right through it and continued thundering at them.

Deciding that there was no other options, Kenneth brought out his Pokéstone and summoned out, "Breloom, Mach Punch!" And from that light came a tall Pokémon that looked like it had a mushroom for a head. Breloom zipped into the path of the Slaking, and nailed it right in the gut, sending it back a bit. Taking a stand next to his partner, Kenneth assured, "No worries. I've got your back."

"Wait, who are—" Sarah began to say. But then, she stopped herself when she saw Kenneth. For some reason, she felt captivated by him. But why?

The Slaking didn't stay down for long, however, as it got up in a fit. Slaking roared in outrage, pounding its chest proudly. But Kenneth and Breloom braced themselves for a fight. Slaking tried shaking Breloom's confidence using Bulldoze, but Breloom jumped over the giant ape-Pokémon, ready to strike.

"Now Breloom, Energy Ball!" Breloom concentrated a green ball near its mouth, then launched it right at Slaking. It made impact, but Slaking looked unaffected. Breloom grimaced as it prepared to receive an attack, but it never came. Instead, Slaking just yawned, and didn't do much else.

"What was that all about?" Sarah questioned.

"Truant. It's Slaking's ability." Kenneth explained, "So it can't use consecutive attacks." That was Kenneth's only advantage at the moment. With Slaking's ability, he could figure out a way to subdue it. Only problem was, Truant was short-lived, as Slaking's anger got it active once more. It clobbered Breloom with a powerful Focus Punch. Breloom slammed hard into a tree, but refused to quit. It got up, ready for its next command.

"Alright Breloom, use Mach Punch!" Breloom dashed for its opponent, and started letting loose with a flurry of punches. Slaking once more seemed unfazed, and took all the hits like they were coming from a flurry of leaves. As Breloom retreated, Kenneth couldn't figure how he could beat this opponent. It was like he was going against a stone wall. But there had to be a way to beat it.

As Slaking came in for another Focus Punch, Kenneth called out, "Breloom, hit it with Stun Spore!" Then, Breloom released a cloud of orange-yellow spores into the air that descended upon the titan. As soon as Slaking was hit, it froze up. "Nice! Now send it flying with Mach Punch!" As fast as a blur, Breloom dealt a powerful uppercut to Slaking, and sent it flying back into the forest. And with that, peace resumed.

The instant the battle was over, Kenneth sat down as the adrenaline wore off. He may not like to admit it, but battling wasn't something he enjoyed as much as Sora did. Every time he did battle, it drained him in the process.

"Phew! Glad that's over." He sighed with relief.

Suddenly, the mermaid he protected flung herself onto him and cheered, "My hero! You saved me!"

"Aw, it was nothing." But then Piplup started chirping furiously at the mermaid, as if it was chastising her.

Letting go of Kenneth, she replied somberly, "Oh yeah. You're right Piplup." With one last glance at her savior, the mermaid began returning to the sea.

But before she even touched the water, Kenneth grabbed her wrist and asked, "Wait! Who are you? Please tell me." As the mermaid looked back at him, Kenneth saw in her eyes something he almost missed. She wanted to let him know her, and she wanted to know him too. She wanted desperately the chance to learn more. But there was something inside her holding her back.

Finally, after what seemed like a long internal struggle, she told him, "My name is Sarah."

"Sarah. What a lovely name." Kenneth returned, "My name's Kenneth. It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Sarah." Then, Sarah felt flustered by Kenneth's words, so much so that her cheeks brightened to a rosy-red. There was no point in her denying it anymore, for she may have found her answer.

Grabbing Kenneth's wrist, she urged, "Come with me." Without even replying, Kenneth found himself dragged into the ocean, leaving Breloom alone on the beach.

Back to the rest of the gang, most everyone was relaxing in the shade of the trees along the boundary line between the mangrove and the coast. However Sora, Tidus, Sparky, and a few of Sora's Pokémon were out splashing in the waters, having a blast in the warm waters.

Sitting up from her relaxation, Yolanda asked, "Sora, don't you want to come in? You have to be getting tired by now."

"Nope." Sora replied chipperly, "It's too much fun to rest." With that, Sora continued swimming and splashing with the others. This made Yolanda cross, as she wanted to spend some "quality" time with her future prince.

Chuckling, Prince Pewter comforted, "Be in good spirits, sister. Sora deserves some fun. He has been through a lot with the last two Chieftains."

"I know." She pouted, "But I wish he could also spend it with me."

As Tidus and Sparky were going back to shore to rest, Sora went deeper into the water, eventually diving under with Squirtle. The two swam out a ways, far beyond the others sight. When Sora was confident they were far enough, he and Squirtle surfaced. Once they did, Rina appeared right next to them.

"Thanks for coming out here Sora." She spoke first.

"You're welcome. Thanks for asking me out here." Sora replied, "It's been awhile since I went swimming out in the ocean with my Pokémon."

"Well then, shall we?" And with that, the two friends and Squirtle dove under.

In another region of the sea, Sarah was guiding Kenneth through the coral-crusted depths, her spirit beaming with glee. Kenneth, however, was frantically clawing at both her hand, and his throat. Sarah failed to notice this for a while, until Piplup brought it to her attention.

Uh, mistress? He prodded, Should humans be turning blue down here? When Sarah looked back, she noticed Kenneth's face going blue, and his cheeks expanding as he tried to retain what little air he had left. Frantic, she yanked Kenneth to the surface. As soon as they broke through, Kenneth not only gasped for air, but frantically flailed his arms around to keep himself from drowning.

After he found a rock to cling to, Sarah reconciled, "I'm so sorry Kenneth. I forgot that you can't breathe underwater like I can. I feel so ashamed."

"I'm the one who should be apologizing." Kenneth responded, "I should've told you, I can't swim. Can't go very far without sinking like a Golem."

Some human. Piplup scoffed.

Outraged, Sarah scolded, "Take that back Piplup!"

Hey, it's the truth. The guy can't even swim. Sarah became quite fuming mad at Piplup's behavior.

With a huff, she returned him to her pearl, muttering, "That's enough out of you."

Kenneth was quite puzzled by the sudden behavior, but he let it go. His dilemma was more of a puzzle for Sarah to solve.

"So, why can't you swim?" she asked him after settling down, "Shouldn't you know how to if you're a sailor?"

"True." Kenneth replied, "But, I just always seem to be afraid to swim. I had a little bit of an incident when I was younger. That made me afraid to ever swim again."

"And yet you sail?"

"I may be afraid to swim, but not to venture out to sea. Sailing comes much easier for me. And, I've got a little insurance." Bringing out his Pokéstone, Kenneth called out, "Let's go, Floatzel!" And from it came his water-weasel Pokémon, Floatzel.

"Hey wow, you have a Floatzel." Sarah admired, "Cool. Actually, I have a Pokémon like him too." Tapping her pearl, Sarah summoned another water-weasel Pokémon that was much smaller than Floatzel. It was her Buizel. "This is Buizel."

"Well, how do you do Buizel?"

Pfft. Like I'm gonna say hi to someone like you. Buizel huffed.

Hey! Show some respect shrimp. Floatzel warned.

Oh yeah. You wanna make me? Kenneth may not understand Water Pokémon, but even he knew that a fight was about to go down by noticing their glaring at each other. And Buizel had somehow started it with its aloof behavior earlier.

"Alright, enough you two." Sarah intervened with a stern tone, "Buizel, please don't start anything. This is Kenneth, my new friend. He saved me from a Slaking."

Oh hooray. He took down a lazy ape. The water weasel yawned. This was becoming bothersome. Buizel was a proud Pokémon, and only recognized trainers based on their strength against him. He would not respect anyone otherwise.

"Um, why don't we get moving, before things go wrong." Kenneth suggested.

"Good idea." Sarah agreed, "Buizel, play nice or I won't let you out ever again."

Fine. Buizel sighed. So, having settled that, Kenneth held onto Floztzel as the group dove under once more.

Not too far away, Sora and Rina were exploring undersea life around Blanco Island. Sora was amazed at all the different Pokémon he was discovering down here. He spotted Huntail, Seadra, Chinchou, and Feebas. He also saw Starmie, Clamperl, Binacle, and Luvdisc closer to the floor. It was like a Pokémon utopia down here.

Sora was amazed at all the life he was seeing in a place like this. As for Rina, she was happy to get this chance with him. It felt like a dream come true for her. She was so giddy with excitement that she began swimming around Sora in a playful manner.

"Isn't this amazing Sora?" she asked him gleefully, "It always feels… so magical down here." Sora looked down at his Squirtle, who nodded back at his master.

It sure is wonderful down here. Sora told Rina, I can't believe that there is all these different Pokémon living down here.

Confused, Rina inquired, "What do you mean Squirtle? You should be used to seeing this."

That wasn't me talking, miss. I was relaying Sora's thoughts for him.

"Wait, what? But Squirtle, you can't read Sora's thoughts. And I know humans can't communicate with Pokémon."

Yeah. But Sora's different. You knew that.

"Well yes, but—"

Sora can talk to us from his heart. We connect to him on a much deeper level than almost all other Pokémon trainers. Even if we don't understand each other at first, our connection with Sora helps us to grow stronger and closer together. Rina was stunned. She knew Sora connected with his Pokémon on a much deeper level, but she never figured he went so deep as his heart. And Rina knew Squirtle was telling the truth. She could feel it between him and Sora. It was the same with Sora, Pikachu, and all his other Pokémon Sora had. That alone seemed to captivate her even more.

Just as Rina was about to swim closer, Sora turned around and looked behind him.

Looks like Sora spotted something. Squirtle informed.

"But what? I didn't see anything."

Yeah, I didn't feel anything either. But Sora somehow did. This puzzled Rina quite a bit. But then Sora gestured for Rina to follow, and swam away. So Rina did, though still lost in thought about how peculiar Sora was.

After that, the two spotted Sarah and Kenneth exploring around the reefs. Kenneth was hanging onto Floatzel as they swam around. But what was stranger was Sarah's behavior. She was simply ecstatic, swimming around and playing with Kenneth, and he seemed to be enjoying it. Sora and Rina were quite surprised. They thought it would take the whole day for Sarah to even remotely like Kenneth. But here she was, acting as if she and Kenneth were childhood friends.

"I don't understand." Rina muttered, "Sarah was the most dead set against loving a human. How can she be so close to Kenneth so fast?"

After looking up to Sora, Squirtle relayed, Maybe Sarah was trying to hide another side of herself. And maybe, she just was insecure about revealing this side of her.

"But why would she hide this side of her from and me and Kari?"

Who can say? But I can tell you that she really likes Kenneth. Which means, mission accomplished. It certainly was. They had done it.

Towards the afternoon, Sarah and Kenneth began heading back to the Aura. As they approached, Kenneth directed Sarah to swim under the ship. As he did, they spotted an opening in the bottom of the hull. Sarah was very puzzled, but Kenneth brought her up. They ended up in a separate room at the bottom of the ship. This room was sparsely filled with cargo, and outfitted with three, low-hanging hammocks.

"What is this?" Sarah wondered aloud.

"It's a separate compartment Captain Drake had built when we docked at Silver Island." Kenneth explained, "Though he never told me why. I was lucky we made the hole so that water can't get in easily, and special doors for when storms roll in."

"And yet you never asked why I had it built." Came Drake's voice. Then, the two saw the captain came down the stairs, and then Kari appeared from one of the hammocks surrounding the makeshift pool.

"C-Captain!" Kenneth gasped, "It-It's not what you think!"

"Kari! What are you doing here?!"

With a chuckle, Kari replied, "It's alright you two. We know."

"You… know?" Kenneth questioned.

"Sorry Kenneth." Drake elaborated, "I sent you off not only to get more berries, but also to have you run into Sarah."

"You did WHAT?!" both Sarah and Kenneth screamed.

"Easy. We didn't think it would work out this well." Kari told them, "Besides, looks like it worked out for you two."

Before the two could ask more, Sora and Rina surfaced right behind them. Immediately, Sora was perplexed by the room he found himself in.

"What is this?" he wondered.

"S-Sora?!" Kenneth exclaimed, "So you do have a mermaid with you?!"

"Oh, hey Kenneth. Hey Sarah." Now Kenneth was even more confused. Why was he the only one who seemed out of the loop?

"Looks like we have some explaining to do. Again." Rina sighed.

"Before that, you left your Breloom on shore Kenneth. Not a smart idea." And immediately, Breloom bounded out from behind the captain and next to his partner.

"Hey there Breloom, sorry for leaving you back there." Kenneth said as he petted his friend.

"Me too. Sorry Breloom." Sarah apologized as well. With that finally settled, the explaining could begin.

In another region of the world, three strange figures looked into a crystal ball observing the three pairs.

"So, they have all found them." One of the figures observed.

"I never thought they could. This is, like, really bad." Another worried.

Then the third, wielding a trident, spoke, "We cannot allow this to continue. We must separate them from each other. Starting with these two." Then, the image focused on Sora and Rina. "We have to, for our little sister's sake. We must protect her from the evil of humans."

Sora: Where are you Rina? And, where are we?

Rina: Here I am, Sora. Sora?

Sora: What's wrong Rina?

Rina: What is that blue fire around you?

Next time,

The Mega Aura