Pokémon: Hoenn Travels.

-The Important Stuff:-

1) I am not at all affiliated with Game Freak nor Nintendo, or any other companies that write/produce Pokémon.

2) I do not own any part of Pokémon.

-A Waiver:-

1) This is not a direct steal from anything already Pokémon-related that exists, not the show or a game or a novel/book. It is my own creation, therefore I may bend the rules a little bit to fit my needs.

2) The names of Professors, Gym Leaders, and Cities were taken from Ruby Version.

Chapter Nineteen:

Unaware

Doug and I stood at Lilycove Harbor, impatience radiating off of us as we tried, yet again, to explain to the employee of the harbor what we needed.

"Most trainers use their Pokémon to get to Mossdeep," she repeated for the umpteenth time.

"We don't have any Pokémon to get us across the water." I tried my hardest to keep my voice calm.

"But you're trainers?" She questioned.

"No, we told you that."

She eyed Luma and Phantom, who were seated on the mosaic tile floor of the harbor building behind us. "You have Pokémon."

"We are not Hoenn trainers," I spat at her, feeling my patience wane. "We are here for Cornelia Rowe, do you know who that is?"

"She's the region's champion," the woman answered. "If you're here to battle her, you're definitely trainers. And you're also in the wrong location."

I threw my hands up and walked away from the counter, swearing to myself. I could have sworn I heard a chuckle escape from Doug, but I was too angry to care.

"Okay, what's your name again?" Doug leaned heavily into the counter, gesturing to the young, daft woman.

"Katrina."

"Katrina, we just need a ship or a boat or some kind of water vessel, you have those here, right?"

"Right."

"And you rent them or sell them?"

"You can pay for a charter from here to Mossdeep, Sootopolis, or to Ever Grande City. If you're trying to battle Cornelia, you should be trying to go to Ever Grande City."

"No, we want to go to Mossdeep."

"Well, we have ferries to there that you can pay for."

"How much?" Doug asked.

"It's expensive," she warned him. "Way too much for trainers."

"How much?" Doug pressed.

"Two hundred and fifty, a person."

"Fine." Doug grabbed his wallet from his back pocket and slapped it against the counter. "Two tickets."

The price had made me physically recoil, Doug offering to pay made me feel even worse. "Doug," I gasped.

He waved me off, ignoring me as he paid the woman.

"Okay, two tickets to Mossdeep. You'll be on the Blue ferry line, the next ferry leaves out in about fifteen minutes."

"Thank you." Doug took the tickets from her, spun around, and waved me out of the building. We saw a blue line on the ground, leading out to a specific dock, which we assumed was the Blue ferry line and followed it. "Sorry, I thought if you said anything else she would lose her train of thought and we would be back at square one."

"Doug, you really have to let me pay you back when this is all over." I wasn't going to be deterred like I had been about the plane and the car service.

"We can talk about that later. It looks like our boat is here." He pointed out ahead of us and at a small ship docking at the end of the dock. We hurried to it, waving at the captain who was securing the boat.

"Afternoon, heading to Mossdeep?" He called to us as we neared.

"Yes sir," I answered.

"Hop aboard, let's set sail!" He grinned.

I tossed Luma onto the ship and lowered myself in the small boat as Doug did the same for Phantom.

"Find a seat, she may not look like much but this girl has got some get up and go," the captain called to us as he immediately undid the work he had done in securing the boat to the dock. "Ready?"

He didn't wait for our reply as he took off from the dock and shot out into the water. The boat flew across the waves, rising and falling with the crests of the waves. Though I was seated, my rear kept leaving the seat and I grasped onto a nearby metal bar with all of my strength. The speed didn't bother me, I appreciated it. It felt like we needed to hurry, everything was moving much quicker now. It felt like we were finally circling our final goal.

We had made contact with Team Magma. Sure, it wasn't great that they knew who we were, but as long as they were willing to talk, it at least put us in a position to barter or battle.

Our arrival at Mossdeep was not long after our departure from Lilycove. The captain dropped us off with a thank you and a good luck and then tore back out into the water. Doug and I hobbled up the dock, trying to feel stable now that we were back on solid ground.

"Okay, who are we looking for?" Doug asked.

"Kevin, scientist with the space center."

"Kevin," he repeated. "How do we find one person with just a first name in a city this size?"

Mossdeep was quite large. It was built on several plateaus of different heights. Near the shoreline where we had landed I could see the PokéCenter and the quaint mart. There was a plateau behind the center filled with large homes, each at least three stories. Further back, I could see a large, glinting building peaking up over the residential rooves.

"I am going to guess the tall building is the space center, maybe he lives around there?" I suggested.

"That's better than asking someone and tipping our hand," Doug said, waving me out ahead of him. We headed into Mossdeep proper, wandering up and down the streets, carefully taking in our surroundings.

Everything in Mossdeep seemed peaceful. It didn't feel like a criminal gang, or just one, high-ranking gang member, was present in the city. Doug and I made it to the space center, and I could tell both of us felt defeated. The city seemed completely normal and at ease, and there were no homes near the space station for us to search for a Kevin.

"What now?" Doug asked.

"Gym leader?" I thought out loud. "Winona was a great help, maybe whoever is the leader here will be too."

"Worth a shot, I saw the gym down on a lower level," Doug replied. "It's not too far from us."

We reoriented ourselves and headed for the gym. The building was large and modern, much like the space station. As we entered, we found ourselves to be standing at the top of a set of bleachers that circled the entire room. The bleachers led downward, to the main floor. In the center of the floor, a pair dark-haired twins wearing matching, dark blue outfits were sitting, seemingly playing.

"Gym leader's kids?" Doug guessed.

I shrugged. "Let's ask."

We descended the stairs and entered the arena. As soon as one of the two twins glanced up, I waved in their direction.

"Oh my Mew, Liza!" The twin that spotted me spoke. "Trainers!"

"Trainers?" The other twin squeaked. "Oh, Tate, do you think they are here for a battle?"

"We're not, we need to talk to the gym leader," Doug retorted.

The twins exchanged glances with each other, giggling behind their hands. "Well, if you wanna talk to the gym leader, you have to beat us in a battle."

"No." Doug shook his head. "I'm not doing this."

The twins ignored him, they both produced their own pokéball.

"Lunatone!" One twin shouted, tossing the pokéball above her head.

"Solrock!" The other twin followed suit.

"Let's battle!" They shouted together as their Pokémon formed on the field and they scampered away from us and to the trainer's rectangle on the other side of the field.

Doug's eyes closed and a long breath made its way out of his nose. I waited until he opened his eyes and looked at me before speaking. "Should we send out our best and make this quick?" I suggested.

"Please," he groaned.

"Luma." I pointed out toward the two rock-looking Pokémon as my Espeon leapt out in front of me.

"Phantom." Doug's voice was an impatient growl. Phantom took his spot beside Luma.

"Oh, Eevee-lutions!" The twins cheered together.

"Phantom, Shadow Ball, pick your own target."

"Luma, Quick Attack, follow Phantom."

Phantom spat out a quick orb in the direction of the bright orange, sun-shaped rock. Luma dashed across the field, nearly chasing the orb that Phantom had just released. Both attacks struck the opposing Pokémon, taking it out before it had a chance to attack.

"What!" The twin who had sent it out squawked. "That's not fair! I wasn't ready!"

"I'll fix it!" The other twin hurriedly tried to comfort their sibling.

Doug and I weren't wasting time though. "Phantom, Faint Attack."

"Luma, Swift."

Phantom's form became a shadowy whisper as he suddenly faded from sight and reappeared behind the moon-shaped Pokémon. As Phantom's attack landed into the back of the Pokémon, Luma's stellate projectiles bombarded it from the front. And in two moves, the twin's Pokémon were both knocked out.

"What!" The siblings seemed shocked by the outcome.

"Where is the Gym Leader?" Doug demanded to know, stalking across the field to glower down at the children. "The time for games is over."

The twins grabbed each other in a tight hug, staring up at Doug with wide eyes. "We are the Gym Leaders," they whispered.

I could see Doug go still as I slowly approached. He shook his head and spun around, moving away from the children. "This one is all on you, Rowan. I can't help."

I laughed, patting him as we passed each other. "Good effort, Champion," I giggled before giving the children my full attention. I squatted down to their level. "You guys must be pretty new gym leaders."

"Our dad wanted us to try it out for a few weeks," one of the twins explained to me while the other nodded. "He said that he wanted Tate and I safe while the whole Team Magma thing blew over."

"You guys know about Team Magma?" I asked.

"Well duh," the other twin, Tate I assumed, responded. "They're the bad guys, Dad didn't want us anywhere near them."

"So, we are the gym leader! How did we do?"

I offered them a reassuring smile. "Great, guys. Keep up the good work."

"Oh!" The twins looked at each other and then both reached into the pockets of their jumpsuits. They produced two badges. "The Mind Badge."

I almost felt bad taking them, but the twins looked so pleased I held my hand out. They slide both badges into my palm and high fived each other.

"Can I ask you guys a question?"

"Yes!" They cheered together.

"You wouldn't happen to know about a Team Magma member who lives here, would you?"

"Lives in Mossdeep?" One twin asked, sounding shocked.

"There is no Team Magma here!" The other answered.

"What about someone named Kevin?"

"I don't like that name," one said.

"I know someone named Kate!" The other added.

I felt my patience and my hope waning. "Okay," I smiled at them. "Thank you, guys."

"What about a scientist?" Doug was suddenly at my side again, standing at his full height. "Do you guys know where the Space Center scientists live?"

"Yes!"

"Where?"

"Dad took us to visit once, the space center is so cool!" Tate began to muse. "Right, Liza?"

"Right!" Liza agreed. "We got a behind the scenes tour!"

"And?" Doug pressed.

"And they told us that the scientists all live together, in the Research District!" Liza said.

"That's located right behind the space center," Tate added, smiling proudly.

"You guys have been very helpful, thank you!" I straightened up and glanced over my shoulder. Doug was already heading for the exit, our Pokémon trotting after him. I offered the twins a wave and ran after him.

As we came out of the gym, Doug took in his surroundings again before heading off in the direction of the space center. I hurried after him, nearly breaking out into a jog to keep up with his elongated strides. We made it to the space center in a short amount of time and followed a walkway around the outside. It led around the exterior of the center and down a path behind it. Small houses lined the walkway on either side.

"Still more than I would like, but it gives us a place to start," Doug muttered. "Split up or stay together?"

I quickly counted down one side of the road. I spotted at least a dozen mailboxes and doubled it since there were houses on each side. "There's a lot of houses, I say we split up."

"I was thinking the same thing," Doug agreed. "I'll take the left side, you take the right."

I nodded and Doug immediately took off away from me, bee-lining for the house closest to us on the right-hand side of the walkway. I started in the opposite direction, but a large sign off to my right caught my attention. I wandered over to sign, wondering what it was for. I was immediately grateful that I had. It was a bird's eye view of the neighborhood, showing exactly how many homes were on the walkway and the address points.

It also gave the name of the current resident. At least their first initial and their last name.

I scoured the list for every resident's whose name started with a K.

There were only two.

One was the third house on Doug's side. I glanced up to see where he was, he was already stalking toward the second house. Convinced he would get there in his own time, I checked where the second one was located.

"K. Mulaney," I whispered, reading off the name. "Last house on the right."

"Let's go," Luma commented, heading down the street.

As I walked toward the end of the block, I glanced in Doug's direction. He had disappeared into the second house. I giggled to myself, sure that he was pleased with the forced socialization with strangers.

I approached the last house on the left. As I came up the walkway to the front door, I noticed the blinds of the window nearest the door suddenly flip shut, as though someone had been looking out the window. I knocked on the front door.

"Who are you?" A voice called from the other side of the door.

"I'm looking for a Kevin Mulaney, is that you?" I called through the door to him.

"I said who are you?" The male voice shouted back at me.

"Kevin?"

The blinds flipped open again. A man of about forty peered out at me, sizing me up and then glancing down at Luma beside me. "Put the Pokémon away, I don't allow them in my house."

I glanced down at Luma; she shrugged her shoulders at me. I then returned her into her pokéball and returned my attention to the window. "Better?"

"You didn't say who you are? Why are you here? At my home."

"Someone sent me here, to find you," I offered.

His face darkened. "Who?"

I gave him a stern look, not willing to shout that a Team Magma member had sent me looking for him. "I think you know who."

The blinds fell back shut and there was no movement for several seconds. However, after just a few moments, the door slowly creaked inward. "Come in," the shy man waved me inside.

I walked into the house and past him. He stared up and down the street and then shut the door behind. He spun around quickly to face me, sizing me up yet again. "Who sent you?" He demanded again.

I cocked my head at him. "Team Magma did."

His expression became stricken, but he slowly nodded. "Are you alone?"

"My partner is outside."

The man ducked back towards his window, flipping the blinds back to peer down the street. "Tall guy, dark hair, with an Umbreon?"

"That's him."

"Is he coming here too?"

"Eventually, we have a lot of questions for you," I told him honestly. "Mostly, what kind of work you do."

"I'm a scientist for the space center." He dropped his blinds and put his back against the closed door.

"Besides that."

He watched me warily, slowly approaching me. "You said Team Magma sent you? Or you're part of Team Magma?"

"I said a Team Magma member told me where I could find you," I reiterated. "And you're going to tell me what I want to know, it's taken us a long time to find you."

The man stopped directly in front of me. "I'm sorry, I can't do that."

"I think you can."

"I'm sorry for this too."

I had no time to respond, the man's arms were suddenly wrapped around my neck and his grasp was growing tighter and tighter. I couldn't even scream. My hands were clawing at his arm, trying to wrench it away from me. I was gasping to breathe, barely getting in any oxygen. My vision was already starting to go black around the edges.

A moment of clarity struck me and I dropped my hands, reaching for a pokéball instead. I hadn't given myself enough time.

Consciousness slipped away from me.