Chapter Four: Tension

Cassie awoke feeling rather ill the next morning. She brushed her hair off her face and rolled over onto her side to try and lessen some of the nausea and to her surprise she found that Twikk was already awake. Cassie could make out his shape in the dim light that was filling the cargo bay through the porthole windows. He was lying on his back with his arms wrapped behind his head, staring at the ceiling, his face expressionless. The green Pokemon looked to be in deep thought.

She tried not to disturb him as she sat up from her mattress and attempted to stand up. Unfortunately, her lightheadedness got the better of her and she was forced to sit back down with a thud.

Twikk didn't flinch, but merely glanced at her. "I didn't know you were up," he said turning his gaze back to the ceiling. As if reading Cassie's mind, he grabbed a bottle of water and tossed it to her without saying another word.

She gratefully opened the water and took a few gulps, easing her nausea slightly. The two sat in silence as the gentle rocking of the ship and sound of the engines told them they were still en route to the mysterious island. Even as Cassie stared fixated on her Pokemon, she tried to imagine what he could be thinking about. Maybe he really did get it into his head that she was thinking of replacing him. For the last time, she screamed at herself in her mind, I do not want to be a Pokemon trainer! I won't abandon Twikk for anything!

"What kind of Pokemon do you think will be on the island?" Twikk suddenly asked out of the blue. Cassie stared dumbly, totally surprised at his question.

"Is that what you're really thinking about?" She clasped at her midsection as her stomach gave a slight lurch and groaned. "That's unusual," she grunted.

Twikk didn't respond. Cassie almost thought she'd said something offensive and was about to apologize before he blurted, "The professor said nobody had ever set foot here. No humans." That might not be entirely true, Cassie figured.

"Maybe someone else found it before Dad, but didn't tell anybody," she suggested. Twikk's face fell noticeably. She asked "Why?" when she thought she knew exactly the reason. Once again, Twikk beat her to the question.

He turned his face to hers. "Do you possibly think…that my species…some of my family could still…live there?" Cassie felt an unpleasant feeling in her gut that had nothing to do with her illness. How would she answer this kind of question?

"It is possible," she said. "But I can't promise anything."

"Really?" exclaimed Twikk sitting bolt upright. "I hope so. I wonder what they'll be like, having lived so long without ever seeing humans."

Cassie just nodded as a new wave of nausea overtook her. She lay back down on the thin mattress moaning and curled up with her knees to her chest.

Twikk stood up next to his mattress stumbling a little. He growled regaining his footing. "Is it just me or is the ride getting rougher?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," Cassie groaned. Beneath her, she could feel the boats gentle rocking getting slightly less calm. She hadn't been on boats much in her life, but she'd just remembered how seasick she had been the first time she ever went on one. She'd been too nervous beforehand to remember that. Plus Twikk had stopped her from buying Dramamine just in case.

Twikk had assembled two suitcases as a step stool so he could look out one of the portholes. The rest of the luggage had been stacked in a kind of wall around their mattresses so that anyone coming down into the cargo hold would most likely not see them if they were to venture down there. He stared out the small window for at least a minute before jumping down again.

"Nothing to report really," he said. "The clouds are dark for noontime. There's a storm in the distance, but I think the only way it will affect us is by the waves it's generating." Twikk flashed a look of concern at Cassie. "They seem to be doing a pretty good job with it, too."

A sudden clanging noise from where the hatch to the hold was made both of the stowaways jump. They quickly pressed themselves as close to the back of the luggage as they could. Twikk made the 'shh' sign with his claw and listened. The hatch screeched like nails on a chalkboard as it was slid open. They heard someone jump down through the hole and land with a grunt.

Whoever it was made no move to be quiet while they were down there. They yawned loudly, stomped around as if looking for something, then stood silently for what seemed to be thirty seconds.

"Okay, I know you're down here. Keeping quiet about it isn't going to help you either," spoke the voice from directly behind the suitcases where Twikk and Cassie were hiding. Twikk held the 'shh' sign up again. The voice she heard was undoubtedly that of a male, but not Isaac nor the professor's. Did someone really know they were on board?

The male sighed. "It's extremely obvious you and your Pokemon are hiding behind those suitcases," he drawled, as if he was playing a pathetically boring game of hide-and-seek. "If you're afraid I'll tell your little daddy and his friend that you snuck on, don't worry. I won't say a thing."

Cassie widened her eyes in horror at Twikk who was shaking his head so ferociously that his ear spikes were slashing up the suitcase he was leaning on. Someone did know they were here! Plus they knew who she was. Cassie felt sicker than ever.

"Or if you don't want to come out…" the voice started to threaten. Cassie heard a noise that sounded like a Pokeball letting out its contents. "I'll let Manny drag you from hiding and you'll be discovered," he concluded with a dark satisfaction.

Almost exactly as he finished, Cassie stood up, climbed over the suitcases and stood in plain view of the boy, followed by a very reluctant Twikk. She was surprised to see a familiar face standing there across from her in his letter jacket, a smug looking Mandlewick at his side.

"Hey, I was right, Manny!" the boy said smiling down on his Pokemon who was scraping its hooves on the floor and shaking its mane. The ram-like Pokemon had graffiti drawn on its horns and was lashing its two flaming rope tails in a satisfied manner from side to side. "They are the performing nut jobs from the pier. If it isn't Cassie Lemuria," he said waving his hands and imitating her dramatic speech, "and her talking freak Pokemon. Looking a little pale there, Cassie. Can't handle the sea?"

Twikk snarled and made a lunge for the boy who backed up a step grinning twice as wide. Cassie grabbed him and pulled him back struggling and growling for blood. "Do you want his Pokemon to toast you?" Cassie whispered.

Twikk stopped struggling, but still kept a furious glare on his face. "What's up his rear?" he hissed to Cassie, but she was much more concerned that they'd been discovered.

"Who are you and what gives you the right to treat us like scum?" Cassie demanded.

The boy walked over to the wall where the suitcase stairs had been set up and leaned on it. His Pokemon followed and sat obediently by his feet, eyeing Twikk hungrily. "If you must know, I'm the skipper on this ship. My father is the captain," he said lazily. "In other words, this is my ship, and I refuse to have filthy stowaways on my ship." He chuckled slightly. "You thought you got on this boat without anybody seeing you? Well I did. You're just lucky that I didn't turn you in sooner." He turned his back to leave, Pokeball in hand ready to call Manny back.

"So you lied to us?" Cassie called after him. He froze.

"Me, lie to you? Oh no, you're the bad guys here."

Twikk shook his claws advancing toward the retreating boy. "You said that if we came out you wouldn't say anything!"

The blonde boy simply turned and laughed. "Oops. Silly me. But then I'd be the one in trouble, now wouldn't I?"

Twikk roared with anger and launched himself at the boy's Mandlewick who had had its back turned. It saw the attack too late and was quickly bowled over. A tangle of red and green was thrashing on the floor.

"Manny! Stop it! If you blast a hole in this ship, dad's gonna kill me!" the boy exclaimed running to try and separate the two fighting Pokemon. Cassie felt a wave of excitement flow through her as she watched her Pokemon rake the other across the back with his sharp claws. She felt suddenly determined and powerful. She wanted to win. She would show this kid that she and Twikk weren't just pushovers. The urge to be the victor was overwhelming.

The boy had fire in his eyes and Cassie felt as if she'd been burned when he looked at her. "You stupid girl! If you want to fight dirty, then I'm willing to play along." He refocused on the quarrel and shouted, "Manny! Show the talking freak the power of fire!"

Twikk had gotten the thrashing Mandlewick pinned on its back to Cassie's surprise. But to her horror, at the boys command the Pokemon suddenly stopped thrashing. Twikk seemed to be aware of something she wasn't and leapt backwards right before Manny's chest heaved and he expelled a jet of flame from his mouth.

"Not so brave now are ya?" the boy taunted as Manny got to its feet looking angrier than ever. The fire Pokemon was fast and showed no warning as it suddenly charged at Twikk with its head lowered, prepared to ram.

Twikk stood there, staring down the enemy as it charged him. Cassie's heart pounded in panic as she prayed for him to do anything to protect himself against this attack. Come on, she urged in her mind. Do something!

"Twikk! Rake him down the side with scratch as he passes you!" The command issued out of her mouth seemingly unbidden and Twikk was just as surprised about it as she was. So surprised that he turned his head with a puzzled expression, which gave enough time for Manny to slam its horns dead-center into Twikk's chest. To Cassie's horror, her Pokemon flew across the room and slammed into the wall of suitcases.

The boy laughed cruelly as Cassie ran over to help her Pokemon. Twikk looked only dazed by the attack. He slowly raised himself to a standing position and glared back at his enemy. "Don't worry about telling me what to do. I can handle this myself."

"But trainers are supposed to give their Pokemon commands in battle!" she whispered indignantly.

Twikk looked as if he'd been slapped across the face. "Trainers? But you're not a-"

He was interrupted abruptly as the boat lurched violently to the side, knocking everyone off their feet. Cassie slammed her shoulder on the floor and slid, scraping a generous amount of her bare arm. She winced from the pain and sat up, bewildered.

"What on earth was that?" the boy yelled. He was thrown against the side of the boat and was shaking his wrist that he'd twisted in the fall. They could hear yells from up on deck. He immediately leapt to his feet and dragged the ladder over to where the hatch was. Pulling out his pokeball, he recalled Manny who was cowering with his head down after the hit they'd taken. "I'm getting up on deck in case we hit a rock or something. You'd come too in case we sprung a leak. I don't want to be blamed if the professor's precious freaks drown."

Cassie simply stood rooted to the spot. "No way." Leaving would mean they would be discovered. Plus, this jerk didn't have the right to give her orders.

"You've got to be kidding!" he exclaimed waving his arms wildly. "You'd rather drown than get in a little bit of trouble with your daddy? You really are mad!"

Her mind was changed as the boat was again hit by something, this time from the rear. These weren't waves or rocks they were hitting. Cassie's feet once again flew out from under her. The boy was more prepared though and managed to keep his footing. He wasn't taking no for an answer now and ran over pulling Cassie to her feet.

"I'm not going to have anybody die on my ship!" he barked in her face. "Get up on the deck before that Pokemon decides to ram us again!"