Howdy! Wow, this update was quick, wasn't it? Well compared to the rest of the updates before. I didn't have much of writer's block this time. I just struggled a bit with getting myself to work on it every time I turned my laptop on. I would go on Showdown for a bit and work simultaneously while waiting to find a match. But you guys don't care about any of that, right? Let's get to the reviews!

sonofthetrigod: I wouldn't say that Sergio is bad at reading social signals. It's just that in the last chapter, he was having a bad day. Everyone was just pissing him off.

DJTiki: I'm a pretty snippy guy. Glad you liked all of the characters (poor Martin, I know I gave him the short end of the stick). I have no idea how I missed that. I was proofreading like at one in the afternoon! I am because it's something I would say, haha.

Heart of the Anime: You do that and let me know how it goes, haha. I'd like to see what you come up with.

grimbutnotalways: Yeah, I guess not.

Misuel Raiteu: Oh lord, anyone reading my responses to your reviews is going to get lost with all of your name changes. I have heard of it, but I just haven't found time to start watching it. He just might ;).

neauclearreactor5: I know, I'm sorry that he barely got a mention but he'll appear more later on.

Now enjoy!

Chapter 6: Boat Trip

Dr. Boykin sat in his office reading a newspaper, sipping occasionally from the mug he kept on his desk. The humming of a fan filled the otherwise quiet room, gently swaying his mocha locks to the side of his face. He felt his glasses slipping so he pushed them against his face so he could see the print in front of him more clearly.

His office was very simple, containing only his desk, his leather rolling chair, a couple of static chairs, a few photos, and some books shelves. Over the years, he really hadn't done much to make it stand out and he wasn't going to any time soon.

There was a small knock on the door that called his attention away from his newspaper.

"Come in," he said.

As the door opened, he turned his head to find Dr. Beatty with her delicate light hand on the doorknob. She was wearing her typical teaching attire: a colored blouse, black slacks, and a pair of heels.

"You always have to have your coffee in the morning, I see."

She closed the door behind her and took a seat in front of her colleague while he placed the newspaper on his desk and turned his chair so he could face her.

"It's tea actually," he replied casually. "What brings you?" He gestured towards the candy bowl sitting on his desk.

"Oh no thank you. I wouldn't want to ruin my teeth.

"Of course. A coordinator has to look presentable, right?"

She smiled, "Why yes she does. Anyways, I came to tell you that Mr. Querrero thinks it would be a good idea for the teachers to have a night out so we can all get to know each other and build teamwork."

"Yes, he told me about it earlier in the week."

"Are you going?"

"I told him I would and you know how I like to keep my promises."

"Yes, of course. Why did you make the promise in the first place? Being in big groups isn't exactly your ideal situation."

He responded nonchalantly, "Just thought it would be fun."

Dr. Beatty gave him a nod before asking, "Did I disturb your reading?"

"A little," he responded playfully, while flipping the page to see if there was anything else interesting. "Hmm…"

"What is it?"

"It says here that there are kidnappings in New Port City."

"There's always crime."

"But the interesting part is that the police have found webs at the crime scenes."

"Webs? Do you think that Pokemon might be involved?"

"Most likely."

She noticed the change in his demeanor. He was tense. The veins on his hands were bulging and his jaw was clenched tight. The redhead recalled Dr. Boykin's past and how he used to be a professional trainer – one that cared deeply for his Pokemon. Seeing them used for selfish gain must have been hard on him.

"You were once a trainer, weren't you?"

"Yes."

"Why did you stop?"

"I reached a point where I just wasn't cut out for it. My team couldn't compete against those that were bred to accentuate a Pokemon's natural talents and tutored to know the best moves. I was the underdog that wanted to prove that Pokemon could win through sheer determination and hard work. Unfortunately the weight of the top dogs had eventually crushed me and my career was over."

Dr. Beatty's expression showed her sympathy for him. She almost felt guilty for having earned the title of "Top Coordinator" more than once during her travels. "David…" she croaked.

Placing the paper down, Dr. Boykin asked, "So what does Alexander want to do later?"

She accepted the change in topic and responded, "He said he wanted to eat at the Pansear Pot."

With a smile, he replied, "That sounds like a good idea to me."

The lucid ocean waves neared and fled away from Alex and his friends as they stood on Star Island's northern beach with a fishing boat resting patiently nearby. The afternoon sun was still high in the sky but on its way to the horizon, trekking slowly across the heavens. The beach Pokemon like Krabby and Staryu could be found all over the hot sand and occasionally, rocks would move to reveal Dwebble underneath. Wingull and Pelipper passed by to and from the ocean, often perching on a large rock or tree branch.

Aaron held the rope that kept his fishing boat from floating away and refused to relinquish its hold until he was finished explaining to Sergio the do's and don'ts of boating.

"And remember, once you get to de island, you eidder hafta tai dis rope securely or toss da makeshift anchor so dat it doesn't go floating away."

Sergio apathetically stuck his pinky into his ear and twisted it a bit while responding, "Yeah, yeah, I know. Why don't you come along if you don't think we can handle this?"

"Because I have to take care of meh classmates' Pokemon to make sure dey get an egg."

"Alright then, I'll take good care of your boat. Now will you just have a little faith in me?"

"Does March Twenty-Furst ring a bell?" the taller boy asked to remind his friend.

"Oh come on, it was a flock of Spearow and I had nothing else to defend myself with. I just sort of grabbed your fishing rod by instinct."

"It was an expensive rod!"

"And I paid you back for it," Sergio reasoned.

Kari intervened, "If you don't trust Sergio, you can trust me, right?"

Aaron let out a sigh of defeat before saying, "Yes, but you've got Alex and Rafi wit you, too."

"Hey, I'm responsible!" Alex whined.

Mark agreed, "Yeah, he hasn't lost any of his textbooks yet."

"See?"

"I know, but can you blame meh for worrying? Getting a fishing boat, even a cheap one isn't easy."

Sergio reinforced his friend's belief in him, "We're just going to Moonlight Island for a few hours and we'll bring it right back."

"Alright, you guys should get goin' den. De boat is a liddal small for all five of yah so Alex shood ride his Charizard."

"Sure thing, boss." He unclipped the spherical device from his waist, enlarged it, and called forth his fire starter Pokemon. "Charizard, you think you can give me a lift?" A proud roar answered his question.

Aaron nodded, "Okay, everyone else inside de boat. Gio, do you remembah how I showed you to drive it?"

"Yeah, I use this key to turn start the engine and move this up and down to accelerate and decelerate and side-to-side to steer."

"Yes, but be gentle."

"Don't worry, I will."

Once everyone except for Alex, Sergio, and Aaron was inside the boat, the ebony teen handed the rope to Rafi and pushed the vessel further into the water with the help of his silver-haired friend. Once the boat was afloat, Sergio jumped in and started up the engine. With a wave to Aaron, he led the aquatic vehicle further into the ocean.

As Alex mounted his orange beast, Aaron told him, "Remembah to have fun, brudda!"

The brunette nodded, "Definitely. Let's hang out when we get back."

"Ya. Give me a call."

"Alright. Ready Charizard?" The fire-type nodded and with a powerful flap of his wings, the two were in the air, racing off after the boat.

Aaron had to hold onto his beanie to prevent it from flying off and shield his eyes to protect them from the sand that was kicked up by Charizard's sudden flight. He stood on the beach, watching his friends as they traveled to their planned destination. Once they were a good distance away, he turned around and walked back to campus.

Raven's booted foot kicked a bent can across the hard singeing sidewalk that she treaded on. Her shoulders swung back and forth with each step and her feet stomped the ground, scaring away anyone that approached her. Bright orchid eyes burned with anger and her face was sporting a choleric expression that told people, "Move or die…"

A meek, black-haired girl diligently followed along behind her, too scared to walk next to her, but also too fearful of keeping her distance. What if someone were to take her away? She was safer with the rampaging blue-haired Tauros in front of her.

Raven began talking to herself as she marched, "How dare he not let me go along? He just wants to go to spite me!" She suddenly stopped, making the other girl flinch and freeze in place. "That little prick! I'll show him!" With her hands held close to her flat chest, the girl cautiously approached Raven until she was right behind her. She tapped on the bluenette's shoulder and was answered by an abrupt, "What?!"

Upon seeing the short girl inch back with fear – icy spheres trembling – Raven's expression softened a bit and she asked, "Sorry about that, Alaina." She looked to her right at the passing cars. "I'm just really pissed, you know?"

Alaina mumbled something but Raven could barely hear it so she said, "Alaina, we've been over this. You have to speak up."

The frail pale skinned girl repeated what she said but Raven still couldn't hear clearly. Finally, the bluenette tilted her neck so Alaina could speak into her ear. Her voice was still faint but Raven could understand what she was saying.

"W-what exactly are we doing on Crescent Island if Moonlight Island is north?"

Raven stood up straight and responded, "We're looking for a way to get onto the island. Neither of us has a water-type Pokemon to swim all the way over there."

"W-why am I here?"

"Would you let your fifteen-year old roommate go onto a strange island all by herself?"

"N-no, but why do you even w-want to go in the first place?"

"I've already gone over the story, Alaina. I'm not letting that silver-haired freak win!"

The blue-eyed girl mumbled, "It sounds like you like him."

"What was that?" Raven asked genuinely oblivious.

"N-nothing. What are we looking for here?"

"I don't know, Alaina. Now let me think." Raven placed her hands on her hips and stared holes into the ground while thinking of a way to get to Moonlight Island. She snapped her fingers and pointed upwards with her index, "I've got it!" Taking hold of Alaina's thin wrist, Raven energetically said, "Come with me!"

After running for several minutes, the girls arrived at a shipyard where large containers of varying colors were stacked on top of each other, waiting to be lifted by a crane and placed on a boat.

"R-raven…" the pale girl whimpered. "W-why are we here?"

Raven seemed to be focused on finding their way to the boats so she absentmindedly said, "There's got to be a ship around here that can take us there."

A grimy voice broke her from her thoughts, "Is you ladies needing of some assistance?" The voice was full of malicious intent and it crawled through the girls' eardrums, startling them. Alaina jumped and cowered behind Raven as they turned to find a group of leather-clad men approaching them.

The one that spoke was sitting on one of the metal containers and was staring right at them with hungry violet eyes. He wore the same attire as his friends except for a striped blue bandana tied around his neck. The sun high above made it slightly difficult to see his face but his neat bald head reflected its rays better than any mirror. Placing his hands on the edge of his yellow painted seat, he pushed himself off and landed in a crouching position, never once breaking his gaze. Raven reciprocated her gaze but noticed that the other thugs were closing in on them from the corner of her eye.

A mischievous smirk stretched across his face as he asked, "Well?"

She curtly asked, "Would you mind pointing us in the direction of the boats?"

Maintaining his same smirk, the thug pointed off in some direction and responded, "They're that way." He began approaching them, making Raven guide Alaina backwards. "But why are you in such a hurry?" Unable to huddle any more, the girls stood still, keeping an eye on all of the men around them. "Wouldn't yous prefers spendin' a bit of time with me and my associates?"

"No. We're in a hurry."

He chuckled slightly, "Well if that's the case go ahead." He moved aside and stretched his hand out to his left.

Raven eyed him, suspicious of his words. Taking note of this, the man nudged his head towards the exit, never looking away from her. Alaina took a hold of Raven's wrist as the bluenette slowly led them out of the circle, never turning her back to the bald man.

"You know…" the girls froze – their muscles locked. "It's a real shame yous can't stay. We's was just about to play a game." Raven didn't bother asking what he was talking about. She just kept her lips tightly pressed against each other. Her expression remained hard and her eyes kept a cold air about them. He revealed the inside of his jacket where Poke Balls hung patiently against the ebony fabric.

Raven's orchid eyes widened, understanding what he was about to do so she turned and yelled, "Run!" Her legs moved as fast as they could and despite Alaina being very thin, she seemed to be keeping up. Neither girl dared to look back so they were completely caught off guard when Alaina's footsteps stopped altogether. Raven whipped around – breath heavy, chest tight, and legs burning – to find her roommate pinned against the ground by what seemed like a spider web. Her orchid eyes darted back and forth, trying to find out what attacked. She saw a shadow beneath her and her eyes widened with terror when she saw a large body with eight long legs lowering itself on a thread.

She tried to turn her head, but was quickly pinned to the ground by a thin yet durable sticky substance. Her heart pounded against her chest as she tried to escape her threaded prison. She pulled and kicked and yelled for help and finally, she cried. Warm tears trailed down her face, smudging against the pavement beneath her.

Raven could hear small whimpers coming from nearby which, she assumed, came from Alaina. The frail girl must have given up all hope the minute she was captured unlike Raven who at least fought for freedom. But at the moment, the bluenette couldn't blame her roommate. She was feeling the same hopelessness.

Suddenly, Raven heard footsteps and everything stopped. The cawing coming from the bird Pokemon above, the sounds of cars in the distance, the ship horns. It all just muted, lost in the background of the footsteps. And there wasn't just a pair of steps. It was a group. It was the group of thugs that she tried to desperately to run away from and here they came. It must have been.

She struggled to turn her head to face them, but the web restricted her from doing so, so she just let it drop back against the ground regardless of how hot it was. This pain was nothing compared to what she was sure would happen to her.

If only she could reach her Poke Balls. Shizukana could easily get her out of this, but her hand was stuck and her holster was just out of reach. How cruel it was to have what she wanted – what she needed – more than anything so close, but inaccessible.

"Hey, there are some girls over here!" That voice didn't belong to the bald man. It could have been one of his thugs, though. "They're stuck!"

The man walked in front of Raven's face and to her relief, he was not in leather. He wore working boots and overalls. He must have been one of the shipyard workers and Arceus was kind enough to lead him right to her. His expression was very soft, full of sympathy for the girls. He could only imagine how scared she must have been.

"We'll get you out, okay?"

She nodded with a hopeful smile as she patiently waited for the man to cut the thread with his keys. To her dismay, he could not cut through it but luckily, he called over a Machoke to rip the webs apart with his superior strength.

The worker reasoned, "That web was really tough. It must've come from a Pokemon. Girls, can you tell us who trapped you?"

Raven looked over to Alaina who quietly stared at the ground with puffy red eyes and tear stains marking her cheeks. She looked back at the man and responded, "There were these…these thugs. They sent out a Pokemon to catch us."

The man nodded apprehensively then looked at one of his coworkers and said, "Call the cops to take these girls home. It looks like the Arachnid Attackers did it."

Rafi sat at the front of the boat, enjoying the wind whipping his black locks wildly and drops of ocean water spraying against his face with the engine humming behind him. Mark and Kari sat on opposite sides of the boat and Sergio steered in the back while all of their bags and equipment were scattered around their feet. Nearby, Charizard glided over the ocean surface, throwing up droplets of water with each flap of his powerful wings. Alex held onto his Pokemon's neck tightly but did not forget to enjoy the view of the bird Pokemon that would occasionally fly by or the water-types that would appear underneath the bouncing waves.

Mark turned to Sergio and asked, "Hey, when did you learn how to drive a boat?"

"Well I'm not pro but Aaron taught me the basics a few weeks after he got it last year."

"Not that I'm not happy that he has a boat," Kari started, "But how did he even afford it?!"

"He saved up money from working in a hardware store in town."

"He works?" Rafi asked.

"Yeah. His family isn't exactly the wealthiest and he didn't get in on a scholarship so he's doing work study to pay off his education. You guys didn't know about that?" He looked at each of his friends finding obliviousness on Rafi's face, as usual.

Kari scoffed, "I've got a full scholarship!"

Mark rolled his eyes, "Someone thinks she's cool."

"I beg your pardon? I am cool!"

"What about you?" Rafi asked Sergio.

"I came on Professor Sycamore's recommendation so the school is offering me a partial loan while he's paying for the rest."

"That's really nice of him," Kari said. "How did you even start working for him?"

"Well you guys know that I used to be a trainer, right?"

"I didn't," interrupted Rafi.

"Well I was. Anyway, I travelled around Kanto for a bit, battling wild Pokemon and other trainers, including gym leaders, until Professor Oak sent me a weird stone that one of Professor Elm's aids found in the Slowpoke well in Azalea Town. After talking to a friend about it, Professor Oak gave the stone to me and it turned out to be the Slowbronite needed for my Slowbro to Mega Evolve."

Mark noted, "I still don't get why you changed your occupation when you could've kept on going and trained your Slowbro."

"Well to tell you the truth, I haven't completely given up on being a trainer. Back in Kanto, I have a rival who can also Mega Evolve his Pokemon. His name is Bart and during one of our encounters while on our separate travels, we had a battle between my Slowbro and his Beedrill and something strange happened."

Sergio cut the engine off so his friends could hear him clearly and noticing this, Alex had Charizard turn around and hover in one spot. They all watched him curiously, waiting to know what happened. What was the turning point in Sergio's career? Had something happened to his Slowbro that drove him to find answers?

"Suddenly, Bart's Beedrill just dropped and reverted to his normal form."

"Did someone spray bug repellent?" Alex joked.

Sergio shook his head, "It wasn't until recently that I discovered why. Bart had been going through a bit of a losing streak before we battled and he had been losing faith in not only his own skills as a trainer but also in Beedrill's fighting abilities. Their bond began to break and without a strong bond, a Pokemon cannot Mega Evolve."

"So what does that have to do with you becoming a researcher?" Rafi asked.

"Well that incident bugged me in the months that followed so I had to figure out why it happened. I talked to Professor Oak and he sent me to his friend, Mr. Fuji, who told me everything that he knew about Mega Evolution. He didn't know much more than I did at the time, but hardly anyone did. Professor Oak then referred me to Professor Sycamore and I studied under him for about a year before coming here."

"That's interesting," Rafi said. "Most researcher students here come because they want to get hired by Professors and other scientists when they graduate. You did it the other way around."

"Yeah. Sycamore is the leading scientist on Mega Evolution but I came here because I felt that I could study more by watching Mega Evolution in action. Think about it. Back at the lab, Sycamore only has a Garchomp with Garchompite but there was no trainer for him to form a bond with and the only trainers there are the occasional rookies that pass by to pick up their starter and a Pokedex. I couldn't learn much from that. But if I were to go to a place with a concentration of young trainers full of energy, there had to be at least a few with Key Stones and Mega Stones for me to observe, right? Plus the library at the academy is no joke so they have a few readings there from around the world about Mega Evolution."

Rafi dramatically wiped a tear from his eye and clapped, "Absolutely brilliant! I knew that I made the right choice for a mentor! Come here, I must give you a hug!"

"Rafi, stop! You're rocking the boat!" Sergio snapped while keeping the first-year at bay with the bottom of his shoe. The younger boy stumbled, bumping into Kari and knocking her out of the boat in the process.

"Ugh! Rafi!" she whined.

Chimchar jumped on Rafi and started clawing away at his face as punishment for pushing his master off.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!" Rafi yelled as he quickly stood up and desperately tried to get Chimchar off of him.

The boat started rocking again, much more violently this time, prompting Mark and Sergio to yell, "Rafi, stop!"

The boat shook so much, that Rafi fell on Mark, effectively pushing them both out of the water with Chimchar still on the researcher's face.

"Aw man," said Mark, clearly not happy about his clothes getting wet.

"I hope you're happy with yourself," Kari chided as Sergio helped her back onto the boat. "You've gone and gotten Chimchar wet!" The fire ape voiced his anger with cries and shrieks.

"I'm alright, Kari, thanks for the concern," Mark said sarcastically as he climbed aboard with Chimchar in his hand.

They heard laughter from above and looked to find Alex struggling to breathe as he held onto his draconic partner. Suddenly, the brunette felt wind beat against his back and his eyes shot open. He could see Charizard above him and before he knew it, salty water flooded his mouth and his eyes began to burn. He frantically moved his arms until his head was above the rocking waves and he could hear his friends' laughter.

The roaring coming from Charizard almost sounded like laughter as well, making Alex shout, "Oh I am so getting you back for this, Lizard Breath! This is just great, now I can't ride your back or your tail might get wet!"

Sergio taunted him, "Better start swimming, then." Empathizing with Alex, the silver-haired boy jumped into the water and instructed, "Get onto the boat for some leverage then jump onto Charizard's back. You'll dry quickly once you guys start flying again."

With Mark's help, Alex boarded the vessel and whistled for Charizard to come down. Even with all of the horseplay, Sergio was beginning to feel anxious now that he was in the water. The matter of that fact was that he was in the ocean where water-type Pokemon lived – both friendly and…unfriendly. He wanted to avoid ridicule for being so paranoid so he kept quiet but his eyes began to wander, looking all around the area. He stayed alert for fins, but he failed to see any which could have been either good or bad.

From afar, Sergio could see the end of a finned blue tail flick water and his eyes widened. "Guys, what the hell was that?!"

The others followed his eyes but there was nothing there.

Alex laughed, "Good one, bro. Don't jinx us now, alright?"

"Look again!" A set of white fins attached to a long serpentine body surfaced before submerging again, causing the group to panic.

"Charizard, hurry up!" Alex called.

"No time! Grab my hand!"

Complying, Rafi helped Sergio onto the boat, but now there was hardly any room to move. Sergio frantically crawled over his friends in a desperate attempt to reach the ignition. Just as his finger reached the keys, a foreign body bumped into the boat and moved his hand.

Alex called to his partner again, "Charizard, can you see what's down there?"

He looked from left to right but could not find the strange creature that hid beneath the waves. Suddenly, an enormous blue water snake with a gaping jaw sprang out of the water directly underneath Charizard, knocking him out of the air.

Alex's hand struggled to grab the lizard's Poke Ball, but when it finally grasped the sphere, he shot a red beam of energy to save the orange beast from getting wet.

"Sergio, hurry!" Kari cried.

"Alex, sit up right! I can't reach the keys!"

"I can't, Kari's in the way!"

"Rafi's knees are in my back! Rafi, jump on Mark!" Kari yelled hysterically.

"Gladly," he said before throwing himself on top of the ruby boy.

"Wait, what?" Mark yelled.

The rest of the group shifted so that Sergio could reach the key. He twisted it and the engine began roaring, but it was nothing compared to the vicious cry coming from the nearby monster.

Sergio sat upright and announced, "We're getting out of here." His voice contained a tone of confidence mixed with urgency.

The boat lifted slightly from the powerful thrust of the motor before landing roughly on the waves and skidding off. Their course was redirected when the sea beast bumped into their vessel once again. Sergio tried to regain control and just as he did, a finned blue tail lifted them into the air, allowing them to crash back onto the ocean surface. Luckily, they landed upright, but any assurance that the group felt disappeared when they felt the boat flip over and watched the Gyarados' tail join the rest of its body underwater.

The adolescents fell into a state of chaos as they scanned the area for the water serpent. Sergio wasted no time in swimming over to the upside down boat to flip it back over.

"Help me flip it back!" he yelled.

Rafi was too busy yelling hysterically to hear him while Mark was simply frozen with fear, drowning out all sounds. Alex and Kari, on the other hand, kicked and pounded away at the water with their arms to reach Sergio and the boat – Kari was mindful of the fire chimp clinging to her wet hair. Together, they succeeded in flipping it over but the Gyarados rose, lifting its head as high as possible, to analyze its prey and intimidate them at the same time. Sergio turned his head to Mark and Rafi who switched from panic mode to survival mode and began swimming over to the boat.

"Mark, quick!" Alex started, "What's Gyarados' typing?"

"I, erm, i-it's uh, it's water and flying!"

"Perfect!" He quickly tossed up a Poke Ball and it opened to reveal his Pikachu. While the yellow mouse was still in the air, Alex called out, "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on Gyarados!"

"No, wait Alex!" Kari yelled.

Pikachu was already descending when he released the bolt of lightning so it struck Gyarados at the base, where its body met the ocean. The discharge of electricity, spread throughout the water, shocking the group as well. Feeling weak, Sergio felt his body numb and his eyelids heavy. The last thing he remembered was the back of his head meeting the cool ocean water and his hair waving in the current.

The plastic ceiling fan spun slowly above Raven's head, barely affecting the room's temperature. Alaina sat in the seat next to her with her hands in her lap and her gaze directed downward. On the other side of the large desk sat a dark-haired man holding a pen in his right hand to jot down notes on the clipboard set before him. His features were cut and well defined but his complexion was beginning to waver along with the small traces of gray in his hair. His dark eyes held wisdom earned not through years but through experiences and his expression showed his focus and concern regarding the matter. This man's brown trench coat screamed detective to Raven but he had introduced himself as an International Police officer, codenamed: Looker.

Officer Jenny was also in the room, but she stood by the door and on the other side of the arch was one of the shipyard workers that had found the girls, specifically the one that ordered the Machoke to free them from their prisons.

Looker's steely gaze made Raven feel uncomfortable, not because his status as an officer intimidated her but because his serious expression actually looked goofy. The slightly downward curve of his lips, the knitted brows, the furrowed forehead. It was almost laughable. It made it difficult for her to take him seriously and that's what made her uncomfortable. She knew that she had to take this seriously. She was almost kidnapped, but still. That face of his.

He carefully placed his elbows on the desk, locked his fingers together, and rested his chin on them before saying, "This man says that he found you stuck in webs. Not just normal webs, no. He found you in very tough, very rigid webs, leading me to believe that they came from a Pokemon. Yes!"

His manner of speaking was even sillier than his face. Raven couldn't do this. She refused to cooperate with such a ridiculous excuse for an officer. Her ten-year old brother was more intimidating than this man.

Looker continued, "Could you explain to me what led to your capture?"

"No," she responded flatly.

He was taken aback, literally. His head bounced back slightly from the shock. He was expecting a story considering that people do not find themselves caught in webs on a day-to-day basis. His brows became heavy again and the confused look dissipated. The detective understood what was going on. Or at least he thought he did.

"I understand that this experience must be traumatic but we cannot help if you do not tell us what happened."

"That's fine. We don't need help."

Officer Jenny had been thrown off by her initial refusal but she realized that Raven was just being difficult. It had nothing to do with whether the experience left her traumatized or not.

"Listen," the teal-haired officer began, "You need to tell us what happened or it could happen again. This is a real problem that needs to be solved."

"Then solve it." Again, the officers and the worker were all caught off guard by Raven's blunt response. Alaina showed no response or emotion. She was in her own little world. "If this has happened before and it happened to us, you aren't doing your job right. What I say won't make any difference."

She felt a rugged hand gently take her shoulder, causing her to look up at the man it belonged to. She waited patiently for him to say something.

"When I found you, I could tell that you were crying." His grip tightened to show her his concern. "Something happened back there. Your friend is practically traumatized by what went down."

Raven scoffed, "I live with this girl and she's always quiet. This isn't anything special."

Officer Jenny took a step forward and raised her voice, "You're not taking this seriously!" She was clearly frustrated by the adolescent's behavior.

Without even glancing at her, Looker raised his hand to halt her approach and took over.

"The victims of these crimes, never are they here to tell us what happened." Raven's eyes widened slightly but she tried to control her shock. "So please tell us what happened." Moments passed by in which the adults waited patiently for a response, but it never came. "Did you at least see what they looked like? Before you decide to respond or not, I want you to know that it would greatly help us bring these people to justice."

Silence. More Silence. Even more silence. The room sat still until Raven's lips finally cracked again. "You're looking for a bald guy with purple eyes and he likes to wear leather. That's all I saw."

"You didn't see the Pokemon that–"

Looker stopped Jenny again. He understood that Raven was done talking about the experience and regardless of how helpful she could have been if she lost the attitude, they could not force her to talk. She was clearly too stubborn for that.

"I did."

Looker scanned the room for the source of that voice. Where could it have come from? There were only five of them and no one had come in or out of that room since he'd entered. Finally, he realized that it belonged to Alaina. Of course he'd never heard that voice before. She'd been quiet the entire time. According to Raven, Alaina was incredibly shy and introverted so it would be foolish of him to pressure her and end up scaring her away so he patiently waited for her answer.

Raven had no reason to tell Alaina not to speak. It was the bluenette's choice to withhold her tongue and now it was her roommate's to reveal the Pokemon's identity. In all honesty, Raven did not even see what the Pokemon looked like so she had no say in the matter. Alaina could be lying for all she knew, but it was very unlikely.

Alaina's voice was incredibly soft so Looker and Officer Jenny had to lean in to understand what she was saying. It also didn't help that she kept her neck craned and her gaze low.

"I-it was a bug-type Pokemon…with six yellow legs – four in front and two on its back. It was red with…with black stripes and a white horn on its head. It was…big…bigger than a Hariyama."

They waited several seconds to see if she would continue, but her expression remained blank – almost detached. Looker gave a nod, knowing that he had everything that he could possibly get from them.

"We should get them home safely," suggested the worker.

Looker gave another nod, this time of agreement. He turned to the female officer and asked, "Do you think you could drive them to their house?"

"Yeah. Girls, where do you live?"

Regardless of her speaking abilities in social situations, Alaina was not planning on answering because she was unsure of what Raven wanted to do. Did she want to reveal their real home or a fake one? If the latter, what would they do once they got to the fake address? There was no possibility of Officer Jenny just leaving them there no matter how frustrated Raven could get her.

"We're students at Star Academy," Raven answered.

Looker rephrased his previous statement, "Do you think you can get them back to their dorms safely?"

"Yes. Are you going to contact their dean?"

"No," Raven stated coldly. "I'd appreciate it if you kept the school out of this. It's better that way."

Looker shook his head, "I've played by your terms but this I cannot do. Your dean has to know that his students were in danger. I understand that this could result in stricter rules at your school but with this band of criminals running around, I believe it to be the best course of action."

Raven was not going to dispute this. She didn't have any more energy to do it. It had been a long day what with Physical Education, Music, Contest Essentials, the long ride to Crescent Island, almost getting kidnapped, and finally the interrogation. She was just too tired to fight anymore. She'd used most of her will to fight in that web. She wouldn't even be able to challenge Sergio. All she wanted to do was go home.

Nine o'clock. That's what Aaron's PokeNav displayed on its screen as he walked on the forest green carpet of Ventus Dorm's third floor. He stopped in front of room three-hundred and one and pounded away at the dark brown door, causing other students to exit their rooms out of curiosity. He didn't care. That silver-haired dork had his boat and didn't even both to call once they reached the island.

It wasn't just the boat, though. Sergio had told him that they would only be gone for a few hours. Five hours later and he hadn't heard a word from anyone. He began worrying about his boat the moment he saw it speed away. He began worrying about his friends at eight o'clock. Now, he was scared. He was praying to Arceus that Sergio was just being lazy and inconsiderate like he always was and that they just left the boat lying somewhere and went to their rooms. But even then, Mark or Kari would have had the courtesy to let him know that they had returned.

Something was definitely wrong and it did not help that no one was answering the door with how hard Aaron was hitting it. He was ready to punch right through the wood and plaster and open the door from the inside.

"Hey, what's the problem?"

Aaron turned to find Ventus Dorm's resident assistant approaching him in his signature royal blue jumpsuit.

"Ow's it goin', Randy?" Aaron waved with faux enthusiasm.

"Don't 'Ow's it goin', Randy' me," he responded, butchering Aaron's accent. The round scruffy haired brunette pointed a finger at him accusingly, "You're making noise and that don't fly. Not on my watch, mister! Now explain yourself." His voice was coarse and sounded as if he was tiring himself out just by talking.

Aaron waved his hands defensively and quickly shook his head, raising Randy's suspicions. "It's nothing. Sergio borrowed meh fishin' rod and forgot to give it back."

"Well there's no need for all of this here commotion. Don't you have his number?"

"I tried callin' him, but he doesn't pick up. I'll just tawk to him about it layta. Bye Randy!" Aaron left before the R.A. could question him further.

The ebony teen made his way to the first floor and out of the building. His gaze was aimed at the floor in front of him and his legs moved like pistons – quickly and mechanically. He didn't have a destination in mind. He just knew that he couldn't stay in one place knowing that his friends could be stuck in the middle of the ocean or lost on Moonlight Island or Arceus-forbid…they could be dead.

"Whoa! Whoa! Where's the fire, big guy?"

Aaron was so distracted by his thoughts that he was about to walk right past Stacy and Vera without even acknowledging them. The girls could see the confusion on his face when he looked up at them. It took him a while to realize that Vera had asked him the question.

"Is everything alright?" Stacy asked. Her expression was soft and her voice full of concern.

Aaron looked around, noting that there were quite a bit of students outside, talking or walking to their dorm buildings. To avoid someone from listening in on their conversation, Aaron grabbed the girls by their wrists and said, "Come with me."

Vera retaliated, "Hey! Hands off before I pop you one!"

Without breaking a whisper, Aaron said, "Don't draw attention!"

The urgency in his voice made it sound like he was yelling. They knew that he was serious and that they had to go with him. The trio walked until the lights from the dorms and lampposts were mere specs through the trees.

"What's the matter?" Stacy reiterated.

"Today, I let Sergio, Alex, Mark, Kari, and anodder kid borrow meh boat to go to Moonlight Island."

Vera interrupted, "Wait, you left your boat with Sergio and let some kid you don't know ride it and I'm not even allowed to get inside of it? While it's on land?!"

"Vera, ju know why and dat's not important raight now. Dey left around four and dey're still not back. Sergio hasn't even called or texted to let me know if everyting is okay."

Stacy responded, "Well you do know how inconsiderate he is."

"I know, but Kari and Mark went too and dey haven't contacted me eidder."

"That is concerning," Diamond said. "What do you think could've happened?"

"Ahm not sure. I don't wanna tink about what could have happened. I want to know what did."

"Alright, a search and rescue mission!" Vera cheered. "We can ride Finn!"

"Vera, this is serious," Stacy scolded. "Our friends could be lost or hurt right now." She didn't dare say anything else from fear that that would jinx them. "We have to tell the faculty so they can send a search party."

"I jest tawked to Randy and lied to his face."

"Well you're going to have to go back to him and tell him the truth."

Arceus he hated how Stacy was always right.

"No, you're right. I jast hope dey do come back before de school sends out a search party."

"So no search and rescue mission?" Vera pouted.

"Hopefully not," Aaron responded broodingly.

Special Thanks to:

shinymudkip25 for Alaina Spencer

You wouldn't believe how happy I was when I saw that you wanted to submit her again because she is without a doubt one of my favorite characters from the original story. And this is the first character from the previous story other than Alex and Mark that I've revealed. You all may now begin speculating who else will be returning.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Could you believe that I was worried that I wouldn't be able to make an intermediate chapter between their departure from Star Island and arrival at Crescent Island long enough? It came out to the average length I like for these chapters so I was more than satisfied with it and I hope you all are as well.

QOTD: On a scale of 1-10, what do you think is the likelihood that everyone made it out of the shipwreck in one piece? 1 being that you think that they are all dead and 10 being that you think that they are all okay. And give your reasoning. (Note: The question isn't asking what the likelihood of someone surviving a shipwreck in general is. It pertains specifically to this situation and what you think I'll have the outcome be.)

That's it for now! Leave your thoughts, questions, and concerns on this chapter (or a previous chapter) in the reviews and I'll see you all next time! Legacy, out!