Ah, back on the sea again! Well, this isn't quite the beginning of the next big thingummy, but it'll explain the title, and a bit on a character's past (it'll be important later on).

Disclaimer (That I always forget to put on the chapters.. so just bring this over to any chapter its not on): I don't own Pokemon, yadda yadda…

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It was a flawlessly beautiful sunny day. There was not a cloud in the sky, which was a startling blue. The sea glistened like a jewel; the wind was placid; everything was perfect.

Everybeast was on deck and lazing in the sun, even Buso. Dorian stood idly at the wheel. Torq and Tottle were leaning over the rail, eyes closed and smiles on their lips. Gully, Flint, and Buso were sleeping against the mast, snoring uproariously. Well, everything was almost perfect.

Skipper looked around and sighed contently. They had escaped the island unscathed. He had a good crew, and a good ship…

The ship!

"Stop the ship! Furl the sail! Everybeast to me!"

Those who were sleeping woke with a start. Dorian quickly helped Torq and Tot close the sail. The crew rushed to their captain, who was shaking his head, face in his paws.

"What's wrong, Captain?" Dorian ventured to ask.

Skip said nothing until the craft came to a complete stop. "We… this ship…" he stumbled over to a rail and ran a paw along it shakily.

Flint gasped, "No! Are ye saying we…?"

The Buizel nodded dolefully.

The rest of the group raised their eyebrows.

Skipper, who was obviously acting, took a deep breath and faced them, "This ship… hasn't got a name."

Silence.

Torq looked unconvinced, "Is that all?"

Flint and Skip immediately rounded on the Vaporeon.

"Is that ALL?! D'ye hear this lassie, Skip?"

"Aye, I do! And methinks she should walk the plank fer that!"

"Is that all, indeed!"

Gully chimed in, "Is that all! Is that all!

Tottle chuckled at their antics while Torq crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

The sea weasel pointed at Dorian, who was watching the scene nonchalantly, "What say ye, Dori?"

The Golduck thought it over, "A ship needs a good name…"

Skipper nodded approvingly, "How 'bout you, Buso?"

The cook looked dumbfounded.

"Tot?"

"Every ship needs a name, sir!" the turtle said with much enthusiasm.

"That's m'boy!" Skip roared, patting him on the back, "Come on me hearties! Let's hear some!"

"The Seagator!

"RogueWave!"

"Um… Seasquirt?"

"Gully! Gully!"

" But yer name's Gully…"

"Gully be a good name for anything! Gully! Gully!"

"How about Thundermast?"

Skip closed his eyes, running the names through his head and mumbling them under his breath. They were all braw names, but he didn't feel them. Then, through the din of the crowd, he heard it.

"Seathunder."

The Buizel's eyes flashed open, "What did you say?"

Flint looked perplexed, "LilyLiver? I was kiddin', Skip…"

"No, no! Who said it?" He looked around expectantly.

"Seathunder? I was only stringing two words together, Captain." Dorian muttered.

Skipper beamed, "Seathunder! No… Seatunder! Hahar! T'is a grand name! Good call, Dori!"

The rest of the group nodded, "Seatunder…"

"Seatunder! T'aint a Gully, but a good name! A good name!"

Skip was satisfied. "Flint," he held a paw out to his friend.

The gator passed the Buizel one of his throwing knives. A hush fell through the crowd. Skipper held the blade with his left paw, put his right paw over his heart, and recited,

"A Captain is bound

To his crew and the sea

Bind me to my ship

And my ship to me."

He brought his right arm forward and raised the knife.

"Skip, wait…" Torq started.

The rest stared in astonishment as the sea weasel swung the blade down, a flash of silver, creating a shallow cut on his paw. He neither blinked nor winced.

"Seatunder!" he bellowed, as he turned on his heel and swept his palm across the rail, leaving a smudge of red. With that, Skipper handed the weapon back to Flint.

"What was that?" Torq asked, wide eyed.

"The naming ceremony, what else?" the Buizel replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Right, this ship has a name! Let's get the Seatunder a'sailin'!"

Gully flew to the mast top with a squawk and Buso went back down to the kitchen. The sail was let down and the craft went forward once more, but this time with a title: Seatunder.

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Torq stood on the quarterdeck with Dorian, who was steering. She shook her head in disbelief, "Crazy thing, ship naming."

The Golduck smirked, "Hehe, I've seen crazier, missy."

The Vaporeon looked up at the helmsbeast, "Have you?

Dorian shrugged, "Some break wine bottles over the mast. Some give long speeches. And some, spill the blood of the ship's former captain and crew over the decks."

Torq's muscles tightened, "Pirates."

"Aye," Dorian continued, "ship naming is a serious thing, and every captain has his or her own traditions to follow."

"I wonder where our captain got his ideas from…" Torq pondered.

"My father."

Torq jumped, "Skip! Where did you come from?"

"Y'mentioned me," the Buizel smiled cunningly.

Tottle looked up to Skipper from the deck, "Are you going to tell us about your dad?"

"T'is a sad tale," Flint chipped in.

The tiny turtle hung his head apologetically, "Oh, sorry I asked."

But the Buizel shook his head, "Nay, t'is a story I ain't afraid to tell. What's past is past, and it's no use making pretend it didn't happen. Besides, my crew deserves to know about their Captain, eh?"

Skip looked out to the sea, "Flint and I, we came from an island far away from here. Our families were neighbors, see, so we grew up best of chums. Me parents were both Buizels. Borius, my father, used to be a Captain in his day, but when he married my mother, Aurora, he gave up sailing for the quiet life. But he still loved the sea, and he taught me everything I knew."

He paused, a wistful smile on his face as he recalled the olden days, "Flint and I were young rips back then, still are. Anywho, we always liked to sneak off when our parents weren't looking, getting into trouble and the likes. But one day, we came back from one of our adventures, and my mother was dead. So was Flint's father."

Torq gasped and glanced at Flint, who had lowered his eyes and was busy polishing his knives.

Skipper continued, "The villagers told us that my father had done it. He killed Aurora, and Flint's father, who saw what had happened too late and tried to stop my father from running away afterwards. The village beasts weren't happy about that, and they avenged my mother and tossed my father's body into the sea."

Flint took over, "Mom was kind enough to take Skip in, 'cause we both knew it wasn't his fault, but she was never the same after that day. She died of grief a year later. And then we figured, there be nothing but sadness left on that island, so we upped and left it. Sailed the seas, we did."

The listeners bowed their heads respectfully.

Skip gave a dry laugh, "S'alright, mateys. We've put it behind us! Don't let me catch yez moping at your stations now!"

Humming to himself, the sea weasel left the group and sought solitude in his room beneath the quarterdeck. The Seatunder carried a weight far heavier than her crew that day. But like Skipper, the vessel sailed on, stronger than ever, into the future and away from the past.

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Just a note, if you like long stories, then stick around ; D I don't know what the word count on FFnet is, but its at 23,641 words and 48 pages on Word on my computer. I'm just not uploading them all at once or I think the site will explode . And there's a certain methodology to it, like post one chapter, wait a bit, post another… I'm still not done with the story on my computer XD But I fully intend on finishing it! I find it sad when I come across a story I like and the author doesn't update for like ten years…

Anywho, next part up soon!

Cheers!

-Canyx