The next morning Ash and Jessie were up bright and early. They had packed their bags and had had breakfast before 8 AM, which was a good thing as the boat to the Hoenn Region left at 10 o'clock. When they got to the ship they found that there were no other passengers queuing up for it, so they just boarded it without any hassles. They were shown to their self-contained room, which had two separate bedrooms, each with an ensuite, a kitchenette and both living and dining areas. Once the two trainers were shown their rooms the steward told them to not leave their rooms until they were underway, as it there would be people running all about the place and there would be hell to pay if either one or two children, even if they are Pokémon Trainers, got trampled underfoot. The two trainers accepted the instruction for what it was without complaint.
After the steward left Ash turned to Jessie and said, "Well Jessie, I suppose we could let our Pokémon out of their Pokéballs for the time being. What do you think?"
"Yeah, I think that that'd be a good idea," Jessie said as she retrieved two of her Pokéballs from her trainer's belt.
Ash reciprocated his friend's actions as he asked, "Why'd you take two Pokéballs from your belt Jessie?"
Jessie smiled as she answered Ash's question with one of her own, "You don't think that you're the only one that can capture a Pokémon on their first day as a trainer did you?"
"Huh...but when did...ohh!" Ash said as he thought back to when he was sent to look for Oran Berries, "...when I went to get the Oran Berries, right?"
"Yep," Jessie smiled as she said, "Come on out," and tossed her Pokéballs in the air. In twin bursts of light Jessie's Charmander burst forth alongside a yellow bug with two large, red, antennae on its head.
Ash asked, "So, you caught yourself a Caterpie, a pretty rare one by the looks of it too."
"Yeah, I sure did. It came wandering into that clearing that we were having lunch in and I gave it some of the Pokémon food that I made before leaving and it started humping my leg, kind of like it is now."
Ash, looking down, saw that the shiny Caterpie was indeed humping his friend's leg. He squatted down next to it and tapped it on its shoulder, saying, "You're a pretty perverted Pokémon, ain't ya?" Caterpie stopped what it was doing as it turned to look at Ash. When it had Ash in his sights it nodded before spraying Ash's face with String Shot and then going back to what it was doing. Ash's right eye, through his String Shot mask, started to visibly twitch and he quickly brushed all of the sticky thread off of his face and hair, although some was still in it. Ash then said, "Alright guys, come on out," as he released his Pokémon. In two beams of light Riolu and Deino burst from their Pokéballs. Ash said, "Riolu, use Blaze Kick on that perverted bug." Riolu acknowledged the order as her foot caught fire. Riolu then raced forward and kicked the Caterpie away from Jessie. The Caterpie went flying into the wall of the cabin.
When the first Pokémon she caught was kicked away from her Jessie's gaze shot from Ash to where it had landed. Seeing it unconscious she rushed to its side and cradled it in her lap as she angrily glared at Ash before demanding, "Ash Ketchum, you apologise this instant!"
Ash incredulously looked at his friend of many years as he thought, 'She can't honestly mean that...can she?' He said, "I'm sorry Jessie, but I won't be apologising for this one."
"What?" Jessie asked, confused as whenever she had asked Ash to apologise before he had always done so.
"No matter how you might see it, that perverted insect was molesting you. I don't see how protecting my friend is something that I should apologise for."
"He's not perverted, he's just got some distorted beliefs."
"Oh yeah?" Ash sardonically asked.
"Yeah," Jessie vehemently retorted.
"Then what's he doing now?"
"What do you..." Jessie started to ask as she felt something rubbing against her chest. Getting a weird look on her face(stunned disbelief) she looked down at her Caterpie, only to see it rubbing its head against her chest. "...Well, maybe he is a little."
Ash's forehead met his palm as he said, "Saying that that bug is 'a little' perverted, is like saying Charizard is just an overgrown lizard." Hearing the name of its fully evolved version, Jessie's Charmander twisted its head to the side. Ash sighed and said, "You'll need to work on Caterpie's horniness before you try and use him in any contests."
Jessie sighed and said, "Yeah, you're probably right."
"Of course I am," Ash said, feigning self-importance.
Jessie sighed, smiled, and said, "You are aware that I don't buy that arrogant act of yours any more than you do."
Ash smiled and said, "Yeah, I know, but at least it can always get you to smile, even if only in exasperation."