A/N: Wow. So, just so you all know, I'm extremely sorry I haven't updated in so long. The holidays hit and for whatever reason I just couldn't put myself back into that writing groove. As odd as it sounds to say this (to myself anyway, seeing as how the past has been) it was a little difficult to get this chapter out. And as much as I want to give you guys something to read, the one thing I want more is for that something to be great, not half-assed, so I'm not going to go force myself to write.
Anyway, here's the next installment! Hope you enjoy it!
Side note: I'm going to start working on my next fic here soon (don't worry, this one's not ending any time soon) and was planning on doing it from the perspective of a group of pokemon as well as humans. I can't seem to settle on any good ideas for which pokemon to use, though. So if you've got anything you'd like to see and you think I could make it work, send me a PM or leave it in a review. Thanks!
The S.S. Cloud makes its way through calm night seas, drawing ever-closer to Kanto. Our heroes onboard have already saved the day twice; once when they defeated Team Rocket and again when they managed to keep the boat steady and propel it out of a large whirlpool. After receiving praise from the captain (and an all-you-can-eat pass for the dining hall) the boys had planned on relaxing for the remainder of their trip, which should only be another half-day at the most.
Tyrel and Gary returned to their rooms shortly after dinner to call it an early night. Meanwhile Ritchie and Max had decided to explore the inner workings of the ship as Ritchie had been doing before saving Max earlier that day. The two of them walk into the engine room and Max is enthralled with all of the sights.
"Wow…" He slowly looked from one side to the other. They stood behind a railing and across from them filling a large part of the room was an intricate web of bars, pistons, whistles, and all sorts of things that Max had no clue about but were fascinating nonetheless. "You've gotta wonder how people figured out how to make all this stuff in the first place, y'know?"
Ritchie, who had visited the engine room of both the S.S. Aqua and the S.S. Cloud on multiple occasions, had never wondered how all of it worked. He chuckled, "You know, you're right, I hadn't ever thought of that." For a moment the two of them continued looking around at all of the moving parts around them.
Suddenly Max reaches over and pushes Ritchie. "You're it!" He then takes off and rounds a corner before Ritchie takes off after him. Sparky hops off of his shoulder and runs back the other way to flank Max. Max jumps over the pokemon and keeps running, out of the engine room and up the stairs they had come from, Ritchie and Sparky tailing close behind.
Just as Ritchie's about to leap forward and tag Max back, the ferry lurches to the side and both boys are thrown into the wall. Ritchie jumps back to his feet and hurries over to check on Max, who gives him a nod. Seconds later the captain is back on the intercom: "Ladies and gentlemen at this moment if you could please return to your rooms and assume a safe position. Once again we will be experiencing some turbulence as we seem to have some troubled waters ahead."
Max and Ritchie both look at each other and nod. Both of them had thought the same thing and took off up the stairs for the deck, meeting Gary along the way.
"What's wrong?" Gary yells as they continue running.
"We don't know yet." Max replies. The three of them burst onto the deck and stare in awe at the ocean in front of them, where they can see multiple cyclones and whirlpools tossing water everywhere. They run around and into the stairs leading to the helm. Inside is the captain, all of the crew, and Tyrel.
"My god…" The first mate stares with his mouth agape. "Sir, what is it?"
"It's nothing good, and it'll be the end of this ship if we don't act fast," the captain snaps, "Radio the mainland and tell them what's out here."
"Captain, didn't you radio the mainland after the whirlpool?" Tyrel asked.
"Yes, and we weren't the only ones. I was hoping we'd be able to make it to Kanto without running into anything, but the mainland reports said that whirlpools and cyclones like these are popping up all over the place. Every rescue team from Sinnoh to Hoenn has been dispatched all day responding to calls." As he speaks, he's constantly fighting for control of the wheel as the seas underneath the ferry are being torn in almost every direction.
"Is there anything we can do?" Gary asks, although he already knows the answer.
"Not this time, son. I'm sorry. We'll hold the ship as long as we can, but I'd suggest-" The captain's cut off as the ship lurches once more, causing Max to lose his balance and trip. Ritchie's quick to drop to his knees and catch him.
"Thanks…" Max said, sighing.
"No problem." Ritchie forced a smile, still very aware of the trouble they were in. "What were you saying Captain?" Ritchie asked, without standing back up. He looked back up to the captain whose eyes were glued to the window. Ritchie quickly glanced around the rest of the room and everyone shared the same trance the captain seemed to be in.
Max had also noticed how silent the room had grown. He and Ritchie stood up and turned toward the window. The sight in front of them left them just as speechless as the rest of the room.
Three of the cyclones had converged some ways ahead of the ship and were twirling around each other violently, spewing streams of water hundreds of feet out. All around these cyclones were a series of whirlpools that had formed, some of them swirling clockwise with the others swirling counter-clockwise.
"Hard to port!" The captain yelled, trying his hardest to turn the wheel to the right. The men in the room all snapped out of their trances and returned to following the captain's orders.
"Wait!" Max yells, "Look!" He points back out the window to where the cyclones and whirlpools had gathered. All of them were spinning faster and faster, creating a blur of swirling water. All at once they stopped and the waters fell from the sky. Behind them was a lugia with its arms spread wide, staring down into the waters beneath it.
As everyone was staring in astonishment at the sudden appearance of the legendary pokemon, a kyogre burst out of the water and fired off a hyper beam attack at the lugia, who easily avoided it and retaliated with an ice beam, hitting the kyogre and sending it back into the water. Soon after, the lugia dove into the waters to chase after it.
"Was that a lugia?" Ritchie asked.
"And a kyogre!" Gary yelled, "It looked like they were fighting!"
"But why? Why would they-" Before Max can finish, the ship lurches once again, though everyone's a little more prepared this time and braces themselves. The lugia bursts out of the water again a mere 50 yards away. It seems to be fleeing from the water until the kyogre lunged forth-sending the ship rocking once more-and slammed into the lugia, pulling it back into the water.
"Halt all engines!" The captain yelled. Two men in the front pull back on a pair of levers and the ship slowly begins drifting. "We can't risk hitting either of them."
"We've gotta do something!" Max cried, "We can't just let them kill each other!"
"Max…" Ritchie said softly, "there's nothing we can do…"
Max grunted and clenched his teeth as tears formed in his eyes. He kept hearing Jirachi's cries from the night before. There was obviously something wrong, only further proven now by these two fighting right in front of them. He made an attempt to run for the door, but Tyrel blocked the way.
"You…we can't, I'm sorry." Tyrel said, his head hanging low. Before anyone else could say anything, the lugia appeared once more, this time moving at incredible speeds. The kyogre could be seen breaching the water as it chased after the lugia.
"Sir! They're headed straight for the Johto mainland!"
"Get on the radio now and inform them! All ahead full!" The captain took control of the wheel again and turned it to the left, allowing the ship to turn until it was following the path the kyogre had taken. Meanwhile the whirlpools and cyclones had all subsided. "Plot a course for the nearest town in Johto. We're not risking any more trouble."
"Aye-Aye captain." The two men pushed their levers forward and the ship began churning waters again.
"Plotting course for Goldenrod city port, sir." The man with the GPS said.
"Excellent." The captain said. He turned to the boys, "Thank you for your concern boys. I have no doubt that if there was anything to be done you boys would have been the ones to figure out what it was. I'm sorry you had to see that-that anyone had to see that. Something's not right in the world, and we can only hope that this is the worst of it."
"What do you mean?" Max asked, hoping to hear some news about Jirachi.
"These whirlpools and cyclones have been all over the ocean today, but that's not the only thing happening. Mainland reports informed us that strange weather patterns and geological anomalies were popping up everywhere. The cinnabar volcano's been acting up again, as well as Mt. Chimney in Hoenn. The Sky Pillar and Bell Tower have both crumbled to the ground. And apparently the entire town of Alto Mare was wiped out by an enormous wave."
The boys all simply stared in disbelief, unable to fully comprehend what the captain had just told them. In the course of less than a day the entire world was in disarray and a was wiped off the face of the planet, just like that.
"That's…that can't be…why?" Ritchie was unable to articulate full sentences with how many thoughts were going through his mind.
"I think what we just witnessed might have something to do with it." Gary said calmly, prompting everyone to turn toward him. "Obviously there's a disturbance somewhere in the balance of nature. Kyogre is an ancient and powerful pokemon with the ability to control the very climate through its control of the seas. Lugia is also the protector of a very important part of the ecosystem: the undersea currents that flow across the entire planet. No one fully understands why or how, but those currents keep our weather patterns in check and normal, according to our standards. To see the two of them fighting…there's obviously something going on that caused the two of them to cross paths and possibly blame each other for the disturbances."
"But what about the volcanoes? Or the towers?" Tyrel asked, "Surely ocean currents and climate changes couldn't have caused those as well."
"And that's what I'm afraid of," Gary said in a very low voice, "What if…what if those two aren't the only ones?" Everyone remained silent as the thought was considered. "Groudon, another ancient pokemon said to have fought with Kyogre, is a very powerful pokemon with control over the elements that create landmass, which includes volcanoes. The Sky Pillar was said to have been the resting place of Rayquaza, the ancient pokemon said to keep watch over our atmosphere. Though it usually never leaves the o-zone, it has been sighted atop the sky pillar previously. These three pokemon alone, if ever disturbed, could destroy the ecosystem as we know it without a second thought."
"But I've seen Rayquayza!" Max cried, "It only wants to protect the planet, not destroy it! That's why he battled Deoxys when it crash-landed here!"
"I know, Max," Gary said, "but I don't think this is the same. In anything I've ever read, I've never heard any reports of Lugia and Kyogre crossing paths, let alone battling each other. I think there's something that's causing them to fight, and I don't think they're the only ones."
"Just tell us what you know," Tyrel said, "That's the only way we might be able to figure this thing out."
"I don't think we can figure this out. I'm sure if anyone can it's Grandpa. But I'll tell you what I know…"
As everyone in the helm listened, Gary retold stories told to him by his grandfather Professor Oak. Stories of mysterious and powerful pokemon all across the globe, hidden from humans, keeping watch over the planet in their own ways. The three legendary birds Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres, said to maintain order amongst the elements. The legendary beasts Raikou, Entei and Suicune, created by Ho-oh that kept watch over the different areas of the world. Celebi, Jirachi, and Mew, all three of which giving life to large regions of pokemon and plant-life. He reminded them of what he had just said about Groudon, Kyogre and Rayquaza keeping watch over the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere. The three lake guardians Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf who, when created, gave humans intelligence, emotion and willpower. And finally, he told of the three legendary dragons Palkia, Dialga and Giratina, created by the god pokemon Arceus. The three of them were each given a realm to watch over, Palkia's being space, Dialga's being time, and Giratina's being the realms outside of our comprehension. All of these pokemon working to keep the people, pokemon, the planet and everything else in a state of balance and harmony.
"Volcanoes, the oceans, even the skies; the world as we know it could be thrown into complete chaos if these pokemon were ever disturbed. It's happened before on small scales, but if this is all happening at once…" Gary didn't want to finish.
"Then we have to do something!" Max cried, "We can't just sit here and watch it happen!"
"What can we do, Max?" Tyrel asked, "None of us-"
Max cuts him off, "Anything! I don't care what it is, we have to try!" He turned to the captain, "There has to be something we can do, no matter what it is!"
The captain stared for a moment, and then smiled. "Max is right. There's no point to just hiding and waiting for it to pass. We'll get any information we can from the mainland." He turned to the front of the room, "ETA?"
"About eight hours, captain." One of the men replies, "We should be there just after dawn."
"Good. Much sooner than I had anticipated." The captain knelt in front of Max, "You've got a lot of spirit, son. Don't ever forget that, and don't ever lose it, no matter what happens. You can do great things." He stood back up and addressed them all, "I'd ask you boys to return to your rooms, but something tells me you'd rather be up here."
"Yes," Max said.
"I'd like to stay here with Max, too," Ritchie said, smiling at Max.
"It'd be easier to try and get some sleep," Tyrel said, "though I'll be here the second you need me."
"And me as well, Umbreon's still in the room waiting for me." Gary and Tyrel both shook the captain's hand.
"Thank you, boys." The two of them left the helm and returned to their rooms. Max continued to look out the window toward their destination. His mind raced with thoughts from Jirachi being awoken to the captain's words. He missed traveling with Ash, May and Brock, and wished the three of them were with him. They overcame impossible odds and obstacles time and time again, and just being with them would make him much more comfortable.
For the time being he had his new friends, and together they had already saved the ferry. Maybe there was hope after all. All that remained was to wait for their arrival in Goldenrod. He could get a hold of everyone from there and then things would be alright.
They had to be.
The sun started shining through the windows of the Yamada, greeting the early risers and waking others. Lying in their beds, Ash and Mason were both still fast asleep as their rooms began to light up.
The sun crept ever further until it shone directly into Ash's eyes. He squinted them shut as he was abruptly awakened. He looked around the room for a moment, slightly confused as to where he was. Once he remembered he hopped out of bed, ready and eager to dine on some gourmet breakfast provided by the best chefs in all of Johto. That was until the memories of the dance the night before came racing back. He had spent half of the night awake in bed, tormented by the memories of his dance with Misty, and how he had left her behind in an instant.
He slowly slouched back onto the bed, resting his elbows on his knees. Pikachu jumped up next to him and gave him a worried sigh.
"Why am I always so stupid…" He clenched his fists, "I'm such a jerk. I completely blew her off…" Pikachu inched closer and gave Ash a few pats of reassurance. Tears were beginning to form in his eyes, just like they had all last night. He quickly shook his head a few times and wiped them away. "Why does it matter? It was just a stupid dance anyway." Still, even with this rationalization, he couldn't explain why it hurt so much.
He stood from the bed and began getting dressed. Pikachu ran to retrieve his new hat from off of the stand next to the door. He held it up to Ash with a peace sign. Ash looked down and chuckled. "Official Champ" the hat read, with the official battle tower seal underneath the words.
"Thanks, pal." Ash reached down and lifted Pikachu up onto his shoulder where Pikachu placed the hat onto his head. Ash scratched Pikachu behind the ears. "You ready for some food?"
"Pikaaa!" The mouse pokemon cried out. He stepped out of his room and was met by Brock. He was dressed in his apron with a bowl in his arm, stirring it with the other hand.
"Morning bed-head!" Brock said, "The girls took off for the breakfast buffet, but I decided that since we had all of this stuff at our disposal, might as well make use of it!"
That's when Ash noticed the aroma of freshly cooked food in the air. "Aha! Good ol' Brock!" He followed Brock into the kitchen and took a seat at the bar once again. On the other side Brock had ingredients and cooking utensils spewed all over the counter and sink.
"Hey, where's Mason?" Ash asked.
"Still asleep, I guess. Haven't seen him at all this morning," Brock answered, not turning away from the food he was preparing. "Wanna go wake him up?"
"Nah, let's let him sleep in. He was probably exhausted after everything last night." The two of them chuckled.
In Mason's room, the sun had made its way over Mason's bed, though he had covered himself completely in the blankets they had provided, effectively shielding him from the bright lights. Had he been left to his own accord he probably would have remained in the extremely comfortable bed for most of the day. Noone, however, had other plans. She slowly got up from her spot next to Mason and made her way to the end of the bed. She took a corner of the blankets and gave it a yank, exposing Mason to the cool morning air and the bright morning sun.
"Ruuuhhh…no…" Mason muttered at his abrupt awakening. Once his eyes adjusted to the light he looked toward the bottom of the bed to see Noone sitting with the blankets still in her mouth. "Jerk," he called her as he flopped his head back down onto the bed, rubbing his eyes.
He sat straight up as he remembered where he was. For a split second he had thought that the entire night had been just a dream. He smiled toward Noone and gave his leg a pat, beckoning her over to him. "Can you believe we're staying in the Yamada?" He chuckled as he rubbed her head. "Just yesterday we were leaving Pallet Town for who-knows-where, and today here we are. And with such great friends too."
Noone turned and looked him in the eye. "Yeah, that includes her." Mason said with a smile. He turned and looked out the window. "May…" He whispered, lost in thought. After a few moments of replaying everything from the first moment of meeting the group to last night, he grew slightly concerned. Until now he hadn't realized just how awkward his current situation was, and how strange the entire day was bound to be.
As usual Noone was easy to catch on to his discomfort and gave his hand a lick. "I know girl, but still…we all only met each other yesterday…it all just happened so fast." He looked at the door uneasily, knowing Brock and Ash were already out and waiting.
Noone gave a yip and jumped onto Mason, knocking him back into the bed. While he was pinned she covered his face in kisses.
"Alright! Alright! I give!" Mason cried out, laughing. Noone eased off of him and he sat back up. "You're right. There has to be a reason we met up." He reached down and scratched her sides a bit. "You're always right, aren't you?"
He got up from the bed and got dressed before walking out to meet Ash and Brock. As soon as he left his room Pikachu hopped off of Ash's lap and ran over to Mason, standing at his feet with a smile on his face. Mason reached down and picked the small pokemon up, putting him on his shoulder and scratching his ears. "Good morning, Pikachu! Sleep well?" Pikachu sang out in happiness and agreement.
Mason made his way into the kitchen where he noticed the food all over the counter and the meal on the bar. "Wow…did you make all this?" He asked Brock, setting Pikachu onto the bar where he ran back to Ash.
"You betcha!" Brock said as he cleaned up after himself. "Help yourselves!"
"Ert's derishis!" Ash said with his mouth full of food.
"Looks like it!" Mason said, taking a seat. In front of him was the equivalent of restaurant buffet; his choice of four kinds of meats, pancakes, waffles, three different kinds of omelets, toast with or without butter, and much more. "Thanks Brock!"
Brock finished cleaning up and joined Mason and Ash. The three of them plowed through almost everything on the bar while Noone and Pikachu enjoyed a fresh batch of pokemon food that Brock had just whipped up.
"Wow," Ash said, finishing his last bite, "that was amazing Brock! I bet the girls didn't eat that well!"
"Where are the girls?" Mason asked, only now noticing their absence.
"They went downstairs for the breakfast the hotel provides," Brock answered, "but like I told Ash, we might as well put all of this stuff to use!" The three of them laughed.
"And it was a job well done!" Mason said, "Delicious right down to the last bite." He got up from his spot at the table and carried everything over to the sink to wash it.
"So Brock, what's the plan for today?" Ash asked.
"Well, the train leaves at half-past noon, so we've got until then to do whatever we want, I guess." Brock looked at the clock, "That's a little over four hours. No demands from me today, you're on your own!"
Mason was still a little uneasy about the whole situation. He had definitely felt something-a very strong something-for May, but what could come of it? They'd known each other for a single day, she was from Hoenn and he was from Kanto. And what about the rest of the group? It had only been a day that he had known the lot of them and, while he was having more fun than he'd had in a long time, it would seem very imposing to just tag along to wherever they went.
He decided to simply go with whatever happened as he always did and be happy with the outcome. "Well I'm up for anything," he said as he finished washing up, "as long as Noone's okay with it of course."
"Hey! We could head back to the Battle Tower!" Ash said as his face beamed, "We'll have lots more time today! If we beat eight in a row in less than an hour yesterday, imagine what we could do with four hours!"
"Sound like a plan!" He said to Ash, then turned to Noone, "You up for it?" Noone gave Mason an uneasy look, and then looked away. Mason knelt down in front of her and tilted her head toward his. "Hey, don't worry. You don't wanna fight, you don't have to fight." He smiled and gave her a peck on the cheek before standing back up. "Strike that last statement."
"Aw," Ash slouched in his chair, "Why?"
"We've done plenty of battling these past couple of days, and Noone's not really ready for any more." Mason smiled, "Hey, you're a great trainer! I'm sure you'll do fine in the single battles! Or maybe Brock will battle with you?"
"What we should do," Brock interjected, "is wait and see what the girls have planned before we all run off. Just as a courtesy."
That sent chills down both Mason and Ash's spines, but they both did a good job of hiding it. "I'm not going to have to go shopping all day again, am I?" Ash asked.
"We'll see," Brock answered, "let's all just get everything figured out before we run off so everyone knows what's going on."
"Seems fair and sensible," Mason said. He moved his leg out of the way before Noone could do anything. He looked down and stuck his tongue out at her, to which she responded with an ember attack. While Mason stood sizzling and stunned, Ash and Brock looked on for a second before bursting out laughing. Mason shook himself off and gave the ninetails a pat on the head.
Heading up the elevator, Misty, Dawn and May had just finished eating from the breakfast buffet provided by the hotel.
"Wow…that was even better than I thought it would be!" May said.
"Wasn't it?" Dawn replied, The pancakes were so soft and fluffy…and the berry juice had to have been freshly squeezed!" The two of them happily recalled their entire meal from start to finish while Misty listened in. She still felt bad about snapping at the two of them the night before, even though they seemed to have forgotten about it completely.
"How was yours, Misty?" May asked, hoping to break her out of her trance.
She was successful, though Misty wasn't entirely prepared for the question. "Huh? Oh, it was great!" She faked enthusiasm, though she knew it wasn't very convincing. "Best breakfast I've had since I can remember."
May gave her an uneasy smile, wanting to ask what was wrong, but decided against it.
As the elevator neared their floor, Dawn had an epiphany. "When are we supposed to be leaving?" She asked the others.
"Oh. I'm not sure." May said, trying to remember if Brock had said anything.
"I don't think Brock told us," Misty said, answering May's unasked question.
"Well let's stop by and see!" Dawn said, exiting the elevator as soon as the doors opened. May and Misty both stood frozen in place by the thought of seeing the boys. Misty was having a hard enough time with May and Dawn and was more than ready for a little time alone with her thoughts. She definitely didn't want to put on a happy face for both Brock and Ash, who would almost certainly see straight through it.
As for May, the thought of the dance and her unfulfilled wishes had been hanging in the back of her mind for most of the morning, and she wasn't quite ready to confront them face-to-face. The entire thing seemed so crazy and unreal, especially considering the fact that she knew nothing about the boy who had swept her off her feet, but it had happened and she needed more time to figure out what could possibly come of it, if anything.
The two of them seemed completely oblivious to the other's presence until the elevator door in front of them began closing again and they both shot their hands forward to stop it. After a quick moment of rationalizing, May finally realized what Misty was so upset about. She smiled and stepped back, allowing Misty to go first.
"Thanks," Misty said, giving her a smile.
"Of course." May returned the smile.
Out of the elevator and halfway down the hall, Dawn spoke to the two people she thought were with her: "They had the one right across from us, right?" She stopped and looked for a second before turning around to see Misty and May emerging from the elevator. She ran back and met them along the way. "What's up?" She asked.
"Nothing," May said, giving her a very stern smile. Dawn picked up on the hint, though she still wasn't quite sure what was going on.
"Oh. Okay. Which room was theirs again?" Dawn asked.
"It's right-" May's interrupted mid-sentence as the lights in the building go out, startling everyone. After a few moments of silence and darkened hallways, the entire building begins shaking. From inside all of the rooms and at the ends of the hallways the girls can hear windows shattering and things being thrown to the ground. The three of them drop to the floor and grab hold of each other. The thin ceiling panels all around them begin falling to the ground and shattering. All they could do was duck for cover and hope they remain safe.
A/N: I actually think this is the first cliffhanger I've given you guys! Not that it's too much of one, but still. =P
As I said at the beginning of the chapter, I've been having a hard time getting back into the groove of writing (shouldn't have ever stopped -.-). I'll do my best to update as often as possible, and I think that once I get started on this other fic I'll find myself pouring the chapters out again. Thanks to all who are still reading and to those who have just picked it up. =]
And again, I'm looking for ideas of which pokemon to write about (from their perspective) for my next fic! It'll be mostly romance based, not so much adventure/action like this one is/will be. So if you've got any suggestions or ideas, send me a PM or let me know in a review!