Chapter Six

"Wow I think this is the most luxurious ship I've been on." Ash said while observing the multiple decks, water slides and pools.

"There aren't many ships that head to the Southlands that aren't cargo ships. This passenger liner is making the last trip between the North and South before the storm season shuts down travel for a few months." Brock said.

"It gets bad enough to prevent travel? " Brock nodded and he hoisted his bag onto his shoulder.

"Oh I can't wait to see our rooms, I hope there's a balcony so we can go outside and see the ocean." Dawn said from beside him.

"That would be awesome, we could see the moon over the ocean" May said.

"Well then enough talk, let's go find our rooms!" Ash said, picking up his bag. His Pikachu hopped up onto his shoulder and the group began walking.

May and Dawn noticed all the chairs around the pool.

"Oh May, we can get our tan here before we get to the south!" Dawn explained.

"It's a weeklong boat ride, why not" May said "I have been getting pretty….white"

"yup and then we can-" She was suddenly bumped into by a passing Pokémon. She lost her balance and fell over, right into a pool.

"Dawn!" May yelled. At the sound of her voice, Ash and Brock turned around to see Dawn surface from the pool.

"MY HAIR!" she managed to yell.

"Uh oh" Ash and Brock both muttered.

"Pika pika..."Someone's going to get shot

Dawn pulled herself out of the water and looked around angrily for the person who had Pokémon who bumped into her. In front of her, a Lucario was standing with his arms crossed.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" She said to him.

Beside her, Ash was looking at the Lucario "cool! A Lucario" he exclaimed. The Pokémon shot him a single glance before turning back to Dawn. He opened his mouth, yet instead of a growl or barking sound, a soft, yet robust voice began to speak in slightly accented English.

"In my country, it's considered a crime to bump into someone." He said in a voice dripping with menace.

Ash, Brock, Pikachu, May and Dawn stood rooted to the spot. Even Dawn wore a confusing expression.

"It talks?" Ash said.

"It talks talks…no telepathy" Brock muttered.

The Lucario was staring at them like they we're retarded.

"So I can talk, quit staring at me like I have three heads"

Dawn recovered the quickest. "Why did you knock me into the water?"

"I don't like blue hair" He said simply.

"YOU HAVE BLUE FUR"

"I also like being a hypocrite"

Dawn looked like she was about to strangle the Lucario. But before she said anything else, the Lucario was suddenly tackled to the ground.

"I swear to god! Remind me again why I don't keep a leash on you and tie you to a tree while you're out of your ball." Kite yelled while he pinned Sange to the ground. Sange managed a grin.

"Is it because of my infallible charm?" Sange then whispered something so that only Kite could here him. "I just made your job a whole freaking more easier, you owe me"

Kite let out a sigh of disgust and got off Sange. He turned to the very confused group of teenagers.

"Umm…yeah sorry, Sange here has an attitude problem or two…dozen." He said. Kites heart was pounding in his chest. He really did not want to be talking to them yet. Ash was speechless, Dawn and May seemed to both be focusing on his washboard abs, only Brock seemed to have his wits about him.

"That's ok, each Pokémon has its own personality. But I'm surprised by the fact that it can talk"

Sange frowned. "The 'it' you're referring too has a name, and it's Sange"

Brock muttered an apology. Next to him, Dawn was done gawking at Kite's body.

"Still, did you have to knock me into the water?"

"Yes."

Before Dawn could launch into another explosive rant, Kite pulled a poke ball from his belt and quickly returned Sange.

"Your Pokémon…has a lot of personality" May said.

"Everyone does lass, it just comes down to if you find it annoying or not" Kite said. "My Name is Kite, glad to meet you guys."

"I'm Brock"

"Dawn"

"May"

"Ash, and this is Pikachu"

He turned towards Dawn, "Sorry about Sange tossing you into the Drink, I'll make it up to you. He reached down and picked up Dawn's suitcase that she had dropped. "Guess I'll escort you to your rooms, where you staying?"

Brock pulled a ticket out if his pocket "Deck C, Room 55"

"We'll I'll be, your right across the hall from me." Feather probably set him up for this he thought. He let Brock lead the way and Kite walked next to Ash.

"So Ash, what brings you to the Southlands? It's not the world's best vacation spot"

Ash shrugged his shoulders. "Little this, little that. Planning to train for awhile down there. What about you?"

"I live there, Delta City is my home"

"I may be wrong, but are you from Kanto originally?" He asked. Kite narrowed his eyes, but his sunglasses hid his reaction from Ash.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"I'm from there too, I recognized your accent." Kite smiled, not many people noticed his accent.

"Yup, born in Saffron, Didn't expect you catch that" Kite almost added the word 'kid' to the end of his sentence. But caught himself as he remembered Ash was only a four months younger than him. Ahead of him, Brock opened a door that led to a stairway. The group made their way down until they found themselves in front of room 55. Brock inserted a key and the door opened.

"Oh great" Brock muttered. There were only two beds on opposite sides of the room. Worse yet, there was no balcony or window.

"Guess two of us are going to sleep on the floor" Ash sighed.

Kite turned around and walked to a door on the opposite side of the hallway.

"Nonsense, you guys seem nice enough. Ash, Brock, you two can take the spare beds in my room. I'm only traveling with one of my friends and those other beds are taking up space" He unlocked the door and walked inside.

"Wow thanks Kite!" Ash said and he followed him in. Kites room was laid out much like a house would be. There was a central den area and a kitchen in the middle of the room. On both sides of the room, were doors that led to individual bedrooms.

From behind him, Dawn saw what she was looking for.

"SWEET! You have a balcony!" She immediately dashed past Kite and threw open the sliding glass door that led outside.

Kite walked over to his couch and dropped Dawn's bag. He gestured to a door on the right side of the room.

"I guess you two can sleep over there in that room." The two of them thanked him and walked into the rooms to put their stuff down. Kite turned around to get a drink from the kitchen, but found May staring at him with an odd look in her eyes.

"May?" He asked her. Her eyes snapped open and a small blush formed at her cheeks.

"Sorry umm…I like your ponytail" She said, and then she quickly turned away and went outside with Dawn.

Kites hand twitched. Before he could do anything else, the door to his room burst open. Dean walked through with a margarita in his hand.

"Damn Kite, Let me tell you something about Lily Cove hospitality and- Brock?" He said. The squinty eyed man had just walked out of his room. He looked at Dean one moment before laughing.

"Dean Kidon, I thought you were still out running security for the Wallace cup" He walked forward and shook Dean's hand. Ash looked at the two of them.

"You know him Brock?"

"Yup, met the ladies man back during the Wallace cup. We talked a bunch between matches"

May walked over. "Oh joy, now we have two Brocks running around"

"Ha, I've been way more successful than Brock over here miss.."

"May"

Brock turned to Kite "you two are traveling together?"

"Yup, Dean over here is my best friend"

"Well talk about coincidence" Brock said. He walked over and sat on a table and was promptly followed by Dean. The two of them started catching up. Ash was over talking with Dawn and May while his Pikachu was in the middle of exploring his room. He smiled.

"guess Sange did make my job easier"