Chapter 2

While everyone else were undertaking their activities for the day, Jerry undertook his by accompanying Christie, Dr. Kesner's disabled child, around the beach, along with Shakespeare, Christie's Gengar.

"Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream," Jerry sang in a goofy voice while he pushed the wheelchair with Christie sitting on it while Shakespeare walked beside them. "If you see a totodile, give him some double cream."

Christie let out a small chuckle as they got to the beach. "Hey, you like that one too," Jerry said happily. "Now, let me see if I can think of another one."

"Um… Jerry," Christie said. "I'm wondering if we can stop here for a while."

"Sure," Jerry replied as he stopped pushing the wheelchair. He walked next to Christie and sat down on the sandy beach, as did Shakespeare. Silence became between them as they looked at the beautiful waves of the sea moving in and out.

"Er, Jerry," Christie said, catching her new friend's attention. "What's it like being a trainer?"

"Well…" Jerry started as he laid his back on the sand. "For me, it's like a part of my dream come true. You get to walk around grassy places, you get to meet different kinds of pokemon, participate in many battles, make new discoveries, that kind of stuff.

"I also wanted to meet and be like other pokemon masters, Lance Dragonheart, Karen Darkshade, Wallace Seawave, Ash Ketchum and all that."

He let out a small sigh. "After four years of training, I was about to give up and with good reason that I never won a pokemon battle."

Christie and Shakespeare's eyes widened with shock when he said that. "Yeah, maybe I shouldn't have said that," he continued said noticeably. "That was until I met my boss, Black Jack. He's given me a new as a trainer and we've been training… a lot."

He sat up from his lying position and looked back at the sea waves with determined eyes. "Maybe one day," he continued. "Maybe one day I'll be a pokemon master like those guys… and the boss."

"Er… I don't want this to be uncomfortable but you didn't tell anyone else about that little secret, right?" Christie asked.

"Only Alice, the boss, and Keith," Jerry replied. "You won't tell anyone will ya?"

"I promise," Christie said in an assuring tone. She then turned her attention to the ghost-type pokemon. "And Shakespeare, can you not say anything too?"

"(Of course)," Shakespeare replied in his normal scratchy voice. "(If one cannot keep secrets that he bear in mind, he must find friends that he can trust in heart)."

"Don't worry, he likes to use long sentences," Christie said to Jerry. After spending a long time with her Gengar, she fully understood the language he spoke.

"Don't worry about that, I don't know what he's saying anyway," Jerry replied. "Anyone want some ice cream?"

Suddenly a huge splash from underneath the sea, surprising them as they let out huge gasps. After the big splash, a blue submarine occurred from the sea.

"Great, Team Ocean." Jerry moaned.

Meanwhile, outside the pokemon centre, Black Jack was busy attaching the sidecar to the motorcycle while his pokemon trained themselves by battling each other. "There, done," Black Jack said as he tossed a wrench aside and turned his attention to his pokemon. "Who wants to help me test drive?"

That caught everyone's attention; they were hesitant because they knew what Black Jack can be like with his prized vehicle. "Chan, how about you?" Black Jack said as he pointed to the fiery fighter Blaziken.

"(Never)," Chan said while moving his clawed paws in a negative way. "(If I was Mr. Ketchum's Pikachu, I'd rather be stuck inside a pokeball rather than sit on the vehicle)."

"Chan, you're the only guy who can fit in the sidecar. Alice and the others are busy."

Chan was still reluctant to get inside the sidecar, knowing what Black Jack was capable of. "(Chan)," Nidoking growled. "(When we were facing a bunch of Ursaring one time, what did you say when one of them slammed you like rag doll)?"

"(Ouchie)?" Chan replied, sounding as though he couldn't exactly remember.

"(No, you said nothing)," Ferliagatr growled. "(You just stood up and looked at him in the face, wanting give more and get more. You ought to sum up that same bravery you had there and get your downed butt in that sidecar)."

Chan let out a small breath out of his beak. "(Well, we did lose teeth here and there)," he said, trying to sound positive while giving the idea some thought. "(I'll give it one more try)."

He walked over to sidecar and leapt into it while Black Jack sat in his respective seat and started up his vehicle engine making Chan slightly nervous. As Black Jack accelerated the bike, the vehicle sped like a speeding bullet, much to the shock of the pokemon, especially Chan.

Back at the beach, Jerry and his friends was seeing the submarine emerging from the water. A hatch opened from the top of the submarine and two figures climbed out of it and stood in front of it. One was a woman with blond that reached down to her shoulder blades and the other was a man with short green hair, both were wearing striped t-shirts underneath their jean jackets, a pair of jeans and a pair of seviper-quilted boots each.

"Prepare for deep trouble," the woman said.

"Make it an impact of a double," the man said.

"To drown those who oppose against us."

"To wash out those who deny us."

"To increase the depth of the sea."

"To make sure that it's meant to be."

"Genghis."

"Kahn."

"Team Ocean, sailing the seven seas all day and night."

"Surrender to us now or you'll definitely lose this fight."

"That rhyming kinda sounds familiar," Jerry said suspiciously as he placed finger on his chin. "Are you guys originally from some jokers club, or was it some other guys?"

"Oh, nice one," Genghis said smugly. "Did Black Jack teach you that joke like the other things he taught you?"

Jerry gnarled his teeth. "In case you haven't noticed, kid," Kahn said in a scratchy voice. "We've been following you around since you put up a fight in that Pokemon contest event and we figured that you might be the weakest trainer of the group."

"So that's your game, pick on the weak" Jerry said. "That's the coward's way out. What do you want with me anyway?"

"As bait for Black Jack. He has a soft spot for kids like you," Kahn said. "And we'll be taking the girl along with us."

Jerry's eyes widened with surprise and annoyance. "Hey, leave the girl out of this!" he yelled. "If it's me you want, you're gonna have to battle me first!"

"Sorry, kid. But one of our orders is to not allow any witnesses to escape," Genghis said as she took out her pokeball off her belt. "Go! Shellshock!" she yelled as she tossed it out, which released a strange red energy that materialised into a large purple shell with spikes on various parts of it. It opened revealing a small black head with a sinister looking face.

"Go! Swashbuckler!" Kahn instructed as he tossed his pokeball, releasing a pokemon of his own. This time it was a blue mud fish pokemon that had a flat tail, a white stomach and chest and orange fins on each cheek.

"Huh, a Swarmpert," Jerry said. "To make things fair, I'm gonna choose two of mine."

He picked out two of his pokeballs off his belt. "Zapster! Jacky! Go get'm!" he yelled as he tossed them out, releasing the Kicking pokemon and a small yellow mouse with a red spot on each cheek. The Hitmonlee stood in his fighting stance and the Pikachu stood confidently with his forelegs crossed.

Jerry then turned towards Christie and Shakespeare. "Shakespeare, get Christie outta here," he said. "I'll hold them off." Shakespeare nodded, knowing the dangers that could happen if they remained on the beach.

Shakespeare quickly grabbed the handles of the wheelchair while Christie remained seated and ran away while pushing the wheelchair. Christie looked back to Jerry with worried eyes.

"Swashbuckler!" Kahn yelled. "Get the girl!"

The large Swarmpert ran on all fours and started to give chase on Christie and Shakespeare. Sensing what Swashbuckler was trying to do, he quickly gave an order. "Zapster! Use your Thundershock to stop that Swarmpert!" he yelled.

The Pikachu leapt into the air and powered his electrical as his red cheeks began to spark. He then let out a huge battle cry as he released a streak of lightning from his body aiming for the mud fish pokemon, who saw the attack and instinctively jumped back at the last second.

"My two buddies may be a couple of easy pickings for you," Jerry said. "But first you gotta get pass me!"

"It'll be our pleasure," Genghis replied arrogantly. "Since you are at a disadvantage, we'll let out have the first move."

"Ha! Pleasure's all mine," Jerry said. "Zapster! Use your Thunderbolt on Swrampert! Jacky! Hi Jump Rolling Kick on that Cloyster!"

His two pokemon attempted to attack their enemies simultaneously as they ran towards them and leapt into the air. Jacky leapt towards the shell pokemon with his trademark kick while the Pikachu let out his battle cry while shooting out another streak of lightning out his body.

Shakespeare ran a distance away while pushing the wheelchair with Christie on it. "Shakespeare, hold on a second," she said loudly, catching the Gengar's attention.

"(What is it, Christie)?" Shakespeare asked, wanting to know.

Christie was silent, she was deeply concerned for Jerry, yet she was also concerned about her father worrying about her. He was always protective of her and strict with her at the same time.

"I want to help him," Christie said. "But I can't do this without your help."

Shock appeared on Shakespeare's face. "(But child)," he replied. "(Your father despises you getting into danger… you know what he's like, even if it's a small scratch)."

"That's the risk I'm willing to take, Shakespeare. We now know about Jerry's inability of winning, he may not stand a chance against them."

"(I don't have much experience in battling either. All I can do is scare others with my hypnosis and others)."

"And that's what saved me and my dad. Remember the times when we first met and you scared that burglar away?"

-Flashback-

Christie, when she was just a little child, was sleeping in a small comfortable bed. The room was pitch-black. Outside her bedroom window, a shady character wearing rugged clothing carefully opened it with a break-in device.

He was able to fit in through the window. He took out a torch and switched it on, shooting out a stream of light. He moved it around the room until he inadvertently aimed it at Christie's face. She woke up and stirred because of the light.

When she opened her eyes, she saw him holding a knife. She shook with fear, ready to scream for help. "Don't make a sound," he warned quietly. "Or I'll cut you up so bad that you wish I didn't."

"Gastly…" a ghostly voice said. The burglar turned around, moving the torch towards the voice's direction. No one was there. He continued moving his torch around to catch someone who made that voice until he saw a small ball of gas, with devilish looking eyes and vampire-like mouth.

"Don't come near me, I got a knife," the thief warned fearfully. Christie was quite of the creature as well.

Despite his warning, the ball of gas slowly hovered towards, still menacingly looking at him. Out of instinct, the thief went to stab the gas but it went right through, much to his shock. Gastly responded by licking him in the face, making him shiver with completely awkwardness.

"GA-A-A-AS!" the creature yelled, making the thief scream in fright and jump out of the window. A loud thud was heard from below and Christie got out of her bed and ran towards the window, hoping that he wasn't hurt badly despite the threat he made.

"Ow! My leg!" the thief yelled in pain. "I think it's broken! I don't think I can…oh, a penny!" he continued, ending his painful yelling with a slight surprise in his tone when he found that small coin.

-End Flashback-

Shakespeare indeed remembered. Ever since that moment, he and Christie became best friends and protected from every danger that occurred to her, thus getting stronger with his scaring and hypnotic skills.

"I know we can do this, Shakespeare," Christie said in an assuring manner. "We would be able to say that we helped Jerry beat those bad guys and dad won't even worry anymore."

"(I'm not sure about this)," the Gengar said hesitantly.

"Please…" Christie pleaded.

Shakespeare looked back, not knowing what to do…

Meanwhile, while they were talking, both Zapster and Jacky were aiming their attacks against their opponents.

"Swashbuckler, stand your ground," Kahn said confidently.

"Shellshock, withdraw," Genghis instructed.

Jacky attempted to slam his leg on top Cloyster but the Water type pokemon quickly closed his shell, blocking the Hitmonlee's attack when he slammed his foot right on the hard-as-diamond shell and hurting himself in the process as he hopped away holding his hurt anatomy.

Meanwhile, Zapster's lightning attack was aiming for Swashbuckler, who was standing confidently despite the Pikachu's strong attack coming towards him. The move connected as the streak of electricity surrounded his entire body. After the attack evaporated the Swarmpert stood unfazed, much to Jerry's and Zapster's shock.

"Surprise, surprise, blondie," Kahn said. "Now, Swashbuckler! Mud Shot attack!"

Swashbuckler ran towards the little rodent while his fist glowed vigorously, picking up some sand with his paws and spraying it with his water gun out of his mouth; he then attempted to throw it at the opposition. "Dodge it, Zapster!" Jerry yelled.

Zapster obeyed as he barely dodged Swashbuckler's attack, making the small wet sand splat on the ground instead. Yet, Kahn still had a confident look on his face. "Swashbuckler! Slam Attack!" he instructed.

Swarmpert, with his long forelegs, quickly grabbed him and slammed him on the sandy ground. He then continued to push his face down in order to suffocate him. "Zapster's in trouble!" Jerry said. He turned towards his Hitmonlee who was still hoping on one leg while holding his hurt foot. "Jacky! Help Zapster with your tackle attack!"

Jacky quickly hopped on his one leg and slammed his body next to the Swarmpert's, knocking him down. He then helped his partner but he shoved him away and angrily looked at Jerry. "Hey! It wasn't me that was shoving your face in there!" Jerry said, realising what his Pikachu was going to do.

"PIKACHU!" the rodent yelled as he shot out a huge spark of lightning, shocking his trainer. When the attack stopped, Jerry fell to the floor.

His four enemies witnessed this and let out some huge laughs. "Not funny!" Jerry yelled as he quickly sat back up. "Zapster! Use your Thundershock!"

Zapster, still angry at his trainer, let out another streak of lightning at him again. "Not on me!" Jerry cried while getting electrocuted before falling down again. "Jacky," he said, with his back on the ground, loudly yet weakly while pointing at Swashbuckler. "High… Jump… Kick…"

The kicking pokemon towards the water/ground type pokemon and quickly hopped towards him, aiming a kick to the face. "Swashbuckler," Kahn yelled. "Dodge it and slam your Dynamic Punch on that rat!"

"Shellshock, tackle that Hitmonlee!" Genghis yelled.

The Swarmpert ran towards Jacky and dodged his High Jump Kick attack while his fist glowed vigorously and slammed it on the back of the head of Zapster, knocking him unconscious and sending him flying, until he fell next to Jerry while the shell pokemon leapt and knocked Jacky down. Knowing what happened, Jerry took out a pokeball off his belt and zapped his Pikachu back inside. "You got a serious anger management problem," Jerry said groggily. "I ought to talk to the boss about you."

He sat slowly sat back up, shaking the dizziness off his head and looked back at the battlefield. He and his Hitmonlee were now at the disadvantage against Team Ocean pair and their pokemon. Despite the numbers' game, Jerry and Hitmonlee never planned on giving up and surrendering themselves as Jacky shook the pain off his foot and stood in his fighting stance.

"You still want to go at it, pretty boy?" Genghis said smugly.

"Or aren't you going to be a good little doggy and come to daddy?" Kahn mocked.

"I still want to go at it, Genghis and Kang," Jerry said, mocking them back.

"It's Kahn!" Kahn said angrily. "Didn't you hear our introduction earlier?"

"Jerry!" a girl yelled, catching everyone's attention. They saw Christie and Shakespeare running back on the battle scene.

"Christie!" Jerry said in surprise. "I thought I said for you to get outta here!"

"Did you actually think we'd leave you here?" Christie said.

"Well, well, well," Genghis said arrogantly. "Here's she comes to save the day."

"And we'll be wrecking yours, fish balls!" Jerry yelled back. "Jacky! Rolling Kick!"

While they battled, Black Jack rode his motorcycle towards the beach and made an immediate stop with the wide-eyed Blaziken in the sidecar. "Enjoyed the ride?" Black Jack asked.

"(So fast)," Chan said giddily. "(Just… so… fast)."

A huge thud sound caught their attention as they turned towards it. They saw Jerry, Christie and their pokemon battling against the opposition. "(Shall we help them)?" Chan asked when he saw Jacky blocking Swarmpert's Dynamic Punch attack.

"As much as I want to crack some skulls today, I want to see what happens in this," Black Jack said. "What I'm missing right now is a hot dog and a beer but forget it."

With that said, they continued watching the battle scene. Despite that they were close by, the young ones were too busy battling to notice.

"Shakespeare! Use your Confuse Ray!" Christie yelled as she pointed at Shellshock.

The eyes of the Gengar glowed vigorously purple as he shot a purple beam out of the palms of his paws towards the water/ice pokemon. "Shellshock! Protect yourself!" Genghis yelled. Her shell pokemon quickly closed his shell, avoiding getting hit from the attack.

Jerry and Christie looked at each other and nodded as though they thought up the same plan. "Shakespeare! Use your Shadow Ball!" Christie instructed.

The Gengar moved his paws in front of him and grew a black energy ball in between until it was big enough to cause a lot of damage. He then threw fireball towards the shell pokemon. "Waste of energy," Genghis said arrogantly. "Shellshock! Protect!"

The Cloyster quickly closed his shell again, protecting himself from any attack.

"Aim your Shadow Ball at Swarmpert!" Christie yelled.

"What?" Genghis yelled in shock as Shakespeare motioned his paws into another direction while using his psychic abilities to quickly the dark energy ball, which was millimetre's away from hitting the water/ice type pokemon, into another direction.

On another side of the battle scene, Hitmonlee ran towards and jumped to perform a horizontal spin kick towards Swashbuckler's head but missed as the Swarmpert ducked down. "Swashbuckler! Use your Dynamic Punch again!"

Swarmpert, from his ducking position, powered his fist, glowing it vigorously and went for an uppercut but barely missed as Jacky moved slightly backwards upon hearing Jerry's command to dodge it, much to Kahn's shock. It was then that the Shadow Ball that Shakespeare created collided into the Swarmpert, creating an explosion on impact. "No way!" Kahn yelled.

"Now's your chance, Jacky!" Jerry yelled. "Use your Mega Kick!"

Jacky quickly jumped onto his opponent's shoulder and slammed his foot right in Sawrmpert's face with all his might to knock him down flat on his back. "This is not right!" Kahn yelled in disbelief.

"Don't look at me, Kain!" Genghis yelled. "It's not my fault!"

"The name is Khan!" Khan yelled, frustrated.

"Do it now, Jacky!" Jacky yelled. "Use your Dizzy Punch!"

"Dizzy Punch?" Christie asked in a puzzled way. "I thought only Kangaskahn can do that?"

"Yeah, but not this way," Jerry said with a happy and confident look on his face. "Take a look here!"

The Hitmonlee stood near the Swarmpert's head and bent down, waving his three-fingered paw between his face and his opponent's. "(You can't see me!)" He yelled before dropping his clenched fist onto his head. Swarmpert quickly stood up after feeling the force and pain of that punch, walking around in a dizzy fashion. "C'mon, Swashbuckler! Snap out of it!" Kahn yelled desperately.

"You got the everything to beat me except guts and heart!" Jerry yelled. "Okay, Jacky! While he's being dizzy, Body Slam attack!"

Jacky quickly ducked down and hoisted up the heavier and bigger Swarmpert, placing his front on top of his shoulders, shocking the members of Team Ocean. "This cannot be!" Kahn yelled as the Hitmonlee slammed his opponent's back onto the sandy ground, causing a small earthquake and knocking him unconscious because of the pain he suffered from that attack.

"As the ref would say, 'Swashbuckler's unable to battle'," Jerry said confidently.

"This can't be happening!" Kahn yelled in disbelief as he pressed his hands on each side of his, looking at his defeated Swarmpert. "This is not fair!"

"Life's not fair!" Jerry yelled. "I've lost a lot battles and now you're gonna feel the same!"

After seeing what happened, Shellshock cowardly closed his shell in order to protect himself from any danger. "C'mon, Shellshock!" Genghis yelled, annoyed. "Come out of your shell and fight!"

"Cloyster! Cloyster!" Shellshock hissed negatively as he shook from side to die, signalling a 'no'.

Jacky and Shakespeare and their trainers looked at the Cloyster with puzzled looks, noticing that he was not faking his fear after seeing what happened. "(Ah-ha)!" the Hitmonlee said as he held his finger up. He walked over to him and gave his shell some light knocks as though he was knocking on the door. "(Hey, buddy)," he said in a positive, happy tone. "(If you open up, I'll give you a nice and special surprise)."

"(Really? What?)" Shellshock hissed as he opened up, revealing his face and receiving a devastating kick from Hitmonlee.

"(That)," the Hitmonlee replied after knocking out his opponent and jumping back to his trainer.

"I can't believe he actually fell for that," Jerry said, still with a smirk on his face.

"Darn it all!" Genghis as she and her partner returned their pokemon to their pokeballs. "We're going to have to use plan B!"

Kahn quickly jumped back into the submarine and climbed back up holding a cannon on his shoulder. "You brats can either come with us or get in the net."

"That's not fair," Christie yelled. "Are you saying that we lost either way?"

Shakespeare ran towards the opposition and his eyes glowed purple and slowly motioned his paws in a circular motion. The Team Ocean partners curiously looked down on him and slowly became dizzy while the Gengar chanted his own name numerous times.

"We like living in the submarine," they said in a hypnotised manner, much to curiosity of the young ones.

"Gengar, gengar, gengar," Shakespeare chanted quietly as he continued to hypnotise Genghis and Kahn.

"We're going to ride back to our group," they said in unison, still being hypnotised. "And Backstreet Boys was the best boy band since New Kids on the Block."

They slowly went back into the submarine and closed the top of it and drove back into the ocean. "Hey!" Jerry yelled. "Come back any time, suckers!"

After Team Ocean was gone, both Jerry and Christie expressed their joy battling side by side with each other. "Jerry, you and Jacky are fantastic!" Christie exclaimed. "I liked the way Jacky kicked Swarmpert's head!"

"Heh! That was nothing compared to you guiding that Shadow Ball attack and into that mud fish!" Jerry exclaimed positively. "If it wasn't for you, I..."

As they continued talking, Black Jack and Chan saw this as the time to get back to the pokemon centre. "Impressive," Black Jack said. "You agree with me?"

"(Of course)," Chan replied. "(If they continue to improve, we may have another equal)."

"Most unlikely," Black Jack said as he started up his motorbike, driving away from the scene.

That night at the pokemon centre, everyone came back from their day's activities and had dinner in the cafeteria and chatted about what they did during that day. "So, Christie," Prof. Kesner said. "How was your day?"

Before she could answer, Black Jack got up from his seat and took his bottle of beer with him. "I off to get some air," he said, predicting what was coming, much to everyone's curiosity.

Christie quickly placed her knife and fork on the table. "I had such a blast!" she said excitedly, unable to contain it. "Jerry and I were having a pokemon battle with a couple of bullies and..."

She continued on talking about her day like it was the best day ever, along with Jerry who kept on complimenting her battling skills and her pokemon. "How does Black Jack do this?" Prof. Oak thought to himself, remembering the moment when Black Jack left the table. He then noticed his colleague, Prof. Kesner, leaving the table.

"I'm off to the bathroom," Prof. Kesner said.

"I'll join you," Prof. Oak said as he also got up from his seat, leaving the young ones to continue listening to the battle scene that Jerry and Christie were describing.

They both entered the men's bathroom and Kesner started to wash his hands as did Prof. Oak. "So, Lenny," Prof. Oak said. "Any thoughts about her adventure?"

"I'm not sure, Samuel," Kesner said, sounding slightly guilty. "You know how overprotective I am about my daughter. Yet, I feel sad and guilty that she doesn't get such exciting and memorable moments that I had when I was her age. After seeing that smile on her face, it made me happy. Maybe she got this joy for adventures from me... but still..."

He let out a small sigh, not knowing what to do. "What should I do, Samuel?" he asked.

Oak placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Maybe you ought to give her a chance," he said. "With Shakespeare's psychic skills, her knowledge and her courage, she will always do the best she can."

"We both know very well that the world is still a very dangerous place... especially those 'bullies' that she was talking about. If you could send me a Pokemon Trainer application form I will give this time to think and maybe I'll send it back to you, granting that she may become a pokemn trainer."

He walked out of the bathroom, leaving Oak behind drying his hands with a tissue cloth. "I hope you will, my friend. I hope you will."

Outside of the pokemon centre, Black Jack and his pokemon were a distance away from the building, relaxing against a tree. They were thinking numerous thoughts about how a young, helpless, but not hopeless, child, to be able to defeat a couple of opponents. "(In my opinion)," Tyranitar growled. "(I think that she and Shakespeare have more guts than all of us put together)."

With that, everyone agreed.

Next episode: Black Jack, his 'cubs' and associates travel to the Seveii Islands and Black Jack talks about old times to a familiar face.
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More coming! Reviews please!