Chapter 24, everybody! In which we set sail and touch upon one of the older urban legends surrounding Pokémon….Also, my Mom whistles like Brock does. And what Brock says was the rule in regards to her whistle as well.

Dunkaccino, thanks for the review! Congratulations! :D Thank you, glad you liked it—and Pikachu and Volt's interactions. :D Maybe….

Yami-chan and Unrealistic, thanks for the review! Yes…thank you, glad it came across properly (always struggle with the emotional bits).

ChangelingRin, thanks for the review! Thank you, glad you like him—had some fun writing him. :D Haha, yes—'Stop whining and hit me like you mean it.' Perhaps. :)

Idea Tamer Chaos, thanks for the reviews! Ah, thank you for clearing that up. And thank you for clearing up the bit about Explosion as well—so I take it the Explosion at Bill's was believable (and if you want to add insult to injury, recall all those papers and other flammable materials). So I suppose we can say that close counts with horse shoes, hand grenades, and Explosion as well. :)

Jakeroo123, thanks for the review! I wouldn't know—by the time they reached that part in the anime, my attention wasn't solely focused on it (and then it bounced around a few different stations, so I couldn't catch it if I wanted to). Good question—if you want to compare a similar situation, Hiccup and Toothless from the How to Train Your Dragon movies are described as being the same age, although we're led to believe that dragons mature faster. In this case, falling on how animals in real life work, we could argue that Pikachu is physically an adult and more than capable of taking care of himself, as he was separated from his troupe and did decently until Professor Oak caught him. Giving him the same maturity rate as an animal of similar size—say a cat—Pikachu could be anywhere from two to three years old. Now, mentally, Pikachu is probably similar to Ash, and it'll probably become more of a thing when he finally gets around to loosening up properly. Yes, character development….

Luktopius, thanks for the review! Eh….Historically, populations tend to explode in victorious countries shortly after a war—consider the Baby Boomers here in America. So to be fair, the war ended ten years and nine months ago—and aside from explaining the lack of gainfully employed adults and the current economic state of affairs in the Pokémon world….Ash has no bearing on the war ending, by the way (if we want to get particular, Gary was born at about the same time).

IAmUmbreon11, thanks for the review! Eh, this one updates regularly because I made sure I had a good buffer going before I started posting—hopefully this gives me enough leeway to add to this before I run out of chapters (right now I'll run out at about Chapter 40, so hopefully I'll get past that before then). I feel your pain, though. T-T Well…it's an honest assessment. Of course! It's not like Volt actually was hurt by it ('yeah, that tickled. Try again'). Hahaha—that was actually the first one of those I wrote, and it's based on real-life 'tourist survival kits' out in Montana—complete with similar spiel. :D Thanks! I hope to continue to please! :D

Thor94, thanks for the review! Good question….

Madrigal-in-training, thanks for the review! Glad you liked how it was handled—let's be honest: with Pokémon being treated like sentient beings, that's probably the worst fate they could dream of (maybe Team Plasma had a point…).

IceDragonGirl36, thanks for the review! Yes…and good question….

Garm88, thanks for the review! Yes, but I have an explanation for it—I'll probably get it worked in during the Battling Eevee Brothers episode.

Iniziodellastella, thanks for the review! Thank you, glad you like it! Hopefully I'll continue to please! :D

Calzifer, thanks for the review! Thank you, glad you like it—I've been getting varied reviews on the subject, so it's interesting to see how different people react to the leveling and things. I'll peek at that when I get the chance. Aha, thank you—and thank my buffer, too (now if only I'd update before midnight…). Thank you—I will try my best! :D I do too (and I wonder why my e-mail censored 'bugger'…).

Thanks for the review, Gust! Please don't. D:

Pokémon © Game Freak; Nintendo

And now, for something completely different:

In other news, new legislation for the banning of motor vehicles has been filed following the collision of a delivery truck and a Rhyhorn. Researchers cite this incident as impetus to remove such vehicles altogether, declaring that automobiles are harmful to the environment and to Pokémon. These claims are supported by groups such as PLASMA—"People for the Liberation, Assistance, and Support of Monsters Among us." The incident report states that the driver of the delivery truck is still in critical condition. The Rhyhorn was unharmed.

It was the end of the week. The S.S. Anne would shortly leave port.

Ash and company were bidding Lt. Surge and his Pokémon goodbye, promising to visit again sometime and to keep practicing.

"I'm expecting a rematch the next time you come by, kid," Lt. Surge told Ash, shaking his hand.

"A rematch as in a Pokémon battle, or more headlocks?" Ash asked.

Lt. Surge laughed. "I like your style, kid—don't ever change."

The general attitude was upbeat as they headed for port, waving goodbye as they went.

"Wow! It's huge!"

"Of course," Brock said patently as Misty and Ash gawked at the huge cruise ship—Misty was busy trying to capture the whole boat on film. "This ship has to deal with massive waves across giant oceans—it can't be some dinky dinghy."

"Awesome," Misty said, backing up to try and get a long shot.

Ash, meanwhile, darted off.

"Hey!" Brock called. "Where are you going?"

"I have to go check something out!" Ash called back quickly. "Okaybye!"

Brock couldn't help but make a bemused expression as he watched Ash dash off.

"So, I've been giving it some thought," Misty said, still trying to get the perfect angle. "And I came up with an idea for our acronym."

"Let's hear it," Brock said.

"Absurdly Speedy Hairbrain."

Brock gave it some thought. "It's got some charm, but I think we could come up with something better."

"I'll keep thinking then."

Ash ran around the corner, scrambled through the bushes, and hit the brakes before he shot clear and out over the water.

"There," he said, after a moment of looking, and ran over and slid on the grass so he could see under the truck.

It was rusted red with flat tires, but even in its dilapidated state it was a rarity. Vehicles were uncommon, initially from the demands of the war, but eventually because they became unpopular. Cars and trucks were expensive, and those that were privately owned were often vandalized. It would explain why this one was hidden.

But in actuality, this vehicle was well-known, and so was what was supposedly hidden beneath it.

Ash glanced around, even going so far as to stick his head under to check behind the tires (at the protest of Pikachu, who obviously did not trust this thing), but there was nothing except an old stale cookie, which Ash pocketed after a moment of debate. Other than that, nothing. Not even a hint of something even being there.

Ash sighed and backed out, leaning against the dilapidated truck. It had been a bit of a stretch to expect that Mew would be under there, but it was worth a shot. He could hear Darkrai sneering now….

He sighed again, absently watching the clouds scud across the sky.

"Pika?" Pikachu noised, poking him in the arm before jumping into his lap.

"I drove him away, didn't I?" Ash asked. "I mean, I've been ignoring him, I haven't been making an effort…I can understand why he'd leave."

Pikachu was silent.

"I miss him," Ash continued. "Heh, I can hear him now, too: You should have thought about that earlier!"

He sagged again—he had been hoping Darkrai would come along like he usually did, finishing his sentence or making a snide comment about his statement. Okay, so Darkrai wasn't the best friend in the whole wide world—but when he was Ash's only friend for so long….

Pikachu patted his arm, then hopped onto his head and then the hood of the truck.

Ash looked to see Pikachu pressing his face against the windshield.

"I guess we could look inside," Ash mused, standing up and pressing his face against the side window. Nothing. He tried the door. Locked. Nothing in the truck bed, either.

Ash sighed again. Darkrai would have probably broken the window by now.

"Pika!"

Ash looked to see Pikachu on top of the truck, looking down on him with cheeks sparking.

Pikachu launched into what sounded like a tirade, waving his paws around and occasionally pitching his voice deeper. Ash couldn't understand the words, but he could get the gist—Pikachu was talking about Darkrai, and not in a flattering way, either.

"I think I get what you're saying," Ash said to him. "But look at it this way—say you lived with your troupe all your life, and no one liked you but your parents. And then one day this big creepy Pokémon with an attitude like barbed-wire comes along and starts paying attention to you. Sure, you realize that he could be nicer, but you…you end up so starved for attention that you'll take it when it comes."

Pikachu was quiet at that.

Then he jumped at Ash, forcing him to catch him in his arms, then licked Ash on the face.

"Yeah," Ash murmured, rocking the now-purring Pikachu. "I…I just miss him, and I can't shake the feeling that if I had done more, he wouldn't have left."

"Cha," Pikachu noised, rubbing his head against Ash's cheek.

"Pikachu…do me a favor…if you ever leave, please give me advanced warning."

He couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the electric shock Pikachu gave him.

Pikachu's ears perked as the electricity died down; he jumped onto Ash's head, sitting at attention.

And then Ash heard the whistle too.

"What was that?" Ash wondered—there was absolutely no way his mother was in Viridian City—

Pikachu jumped off his head and darted through the bushes.

"Hey! Hey, Pikachu!" Ash yelped, running after him. "Wait for me!"

"Here he comes," Brock said, pointing.

Misty slapped him upside the head with her free hand. "Next time you whistle like that, warn me!"

"Sorry," Brock said, catching Pikachu as he jumped up. Ash skidded to a halt right behind him.

"You guys haven't seen my Mom, have you?" Ash asked. "I thought I heard her whistle, and then Pikachu ran off—"

"That was me," Brock said. He turned to Misty. "I'm going to demonstrate now."

Misty nodded and covered her ears.

Satisfied that he wouldn't get slapped again, Brock put two fingers in his mouth and whistled.

Everyone in the immediate vicinity turned to glare at him.

"Sorry," Brock called. "Just demonstrating for my friend!"

There was muttering as people went back to their business, and Pikachu took the opportunity to shock him.

"Ow," Brock muttered as Pikachu jumped back to Ash's shoulder.

Ash, meanwhile, was rubbing his ears. "Ow. Where did you learn that?"

"From my Mom," Brock explained. "She told us that we couldn't go any farther than her whistle could carry. When she left, I had to pick up the talent quickly."

"Anyway, now that you're here," Misty said. "We've got to go. The S.S. Anne is boarding, and we don't want to be left behind!"

Brock ran after Misty and the already sprinting Ash.

Okay, absurdly speedy worked. This kid could seriously run for track and field.

"We should make it a rule that Ash can't go any farther than your whistle carries," Misty called back to Brock.

Brock nodded. "It's a tried and true technique."

Darkrai completed his cursory circuit in time to see the S.S. Anne leave port. Somewhere on there, the kid and his new friends were fooling around.

"Good riddance," Darkrai said, crossing his arms and watching it go.

He fully intended to delude himself for as long as it took to get over the kid.

"This is going to take a while," he sighed.

But he was startled out of any self-pity he might have worked up by a flock of bird Pokémon flying inland.

"Hey!" he yelled after them. "Watch where you're going!"

None of them paid him much mind, instead chattering Storm! Storm! Storm! as they flew away.

Do what?

He looked back out to sea to see dark blotches marring the far horizon.

"That's not good," he observed.

And that dumb ship was heading straight for it.

"Aw, Muk," he groaned, already starting forward—

No.

He clenched his claws and flew in a different direction. Let the kid's new friends bail him out.

He was done.