Thanks for the reviews guys I really appreciate you taking the time to write one.

I thought you guys deserved another chapter as I made you wait so long for chapter 15 so I worked hard today to get this done.

Here's chapter 16 I hope you enjoy.

In conversations:

'- Translation of Poké Speech – No human unless otherwise stated can understand it. Ash can get the gist of what his Pokémon are saying due to his close bond with them.

"- Human speech

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

Ash felt nervous as he walked on to the dance floor with Salem. He wasn't lying when he said he couldn't dance, well he could but not to the fast paced music that the band were playing now. He tried to move with the beat but he just couldn't do it as he was used to slower dancing like his mother had taught him. Ash looked over to Raichu who was in a similar state to him. They both looked at their partner and stopped their attempts at dancing as they watched Salem and Pikachu. They were moving with style and grace and their movements fit the music perfectly. Ash and Raichu were snapped back to reality when the music began to slow down until it was just a slow beat. This was the kind of dancing Ash knew, he looked at Salem and his cheeks turned crimson.

"Hey d-do you w-wanna dance." Ash asked.

Now it was Salem's turn to blush

"S-sure Ash."

They moved closer together and Ash placed his left hand on the small of Salem's back and she placed her right hand on his shoulder, they both put their spare arm out to the side and they intertwined their hands. Then they began dancing and this time it was Salem's turn to be was amazed. It was hard to believe that the boy who moments ago couldn't dance to save his life was now moving with her in perfect sync not putting a foot wrong. Ash was now internally thanking his mother for teaching him this. He remembered the day his mother had said about teaching him how to dance as she had been quite insistent on him learning how to dance like this When she had taught him her only reasoning at the time had been that he'd need it one day. Ash and Salem took a quick look at their mouse Pokémon and smiled as they saw that Raichu was doing a similar dance with Pikachu which they both thought was adorable.

As Ash and Salem danced they were thinking about everything that had happened since they'd met. Salem was remembering how confident Ash had been when he saved Pichu and the care he had shown for all of her Pokémon and her. Meanwhile Ash was thinking back to incident earlier with Crobat. He had never done anything like that before and yet he had seen similar things happen to people he cared about like Misty for example. They both came to a conclusion and they looked into each other's eyes. Ash had never noticed how beautiful her silvery-grey eyes were or how they seemed to shimmer when the light caught them and at the same time Salem was entranced by his chocolate-brown eyes. Suddenly their faces slowly began to close in on each other, as they got closer they could feel each other's breath on their lips. They closed their eyes and were centimetres apart when Ash and Salem heard Ralts and Eevee whimper and heard Meowth and Luxray growling.

Their eyes shot open and they looked to where they had heard their Pokémon and saw Luxray and Meowth now standing protectively in front of Ralts and Eevee. They were surrounded by a group of trainers all presumably wanting both of the shiny Pokémon. By this time Raichu and Pikachu were now next to Ash and Salem and the four of them walked over to them. They pushed through the crowd and Ash picked up Ralts and Eevee who were both shaking in fear. The minute they were in Ash's arms Ralts and Eevee buried their heads in his shirt and started to cry. Ash held them tightly and made soothing noises hoping it would calm them down. When Ralts and Eevee stopped crying Ash and Salem turned around and glared at the crowd which made several of them step away.

"Hey what the hell are you doing to our Pokémon?!" Ash yelled.

The music stopped as the whole room turned to look at Ash.

"Please man trade me your Eevee. I'll give you all of these for it." one of the few remaining trainers begged.

A similar boy made the same offer to Salem for Luxray. Both of the trainers pulled a stash of poke balls out of their pockets and presented them to Ash and Salem who in response batted the hands away.

"No way. We wouldn't trade our Pokémon for anything in the world. Now go away!" Salem shouted.

"Ok how about we have a battle? If we win you trade them to us. If you win we'll leave the ship." one of the trainers suggested.

"No way are we agreeing to that. Our Pokémon aren't betting chips, they're our friends and allies." Ash replied.

"You're both cowards. You are to chicken to battle us." the other trainers remarked.

Ash and Salem were struggling to control their rage. They looked down and saw that Raichu, Pikachu and Meowth's were in a similar state as their bodies were crackling with electricity. A loud growl and then a series of barks turned their attention to Luxray who looked furious. Ash looked at Raichu hoping for an answer as he didn't want anyone to start asking about trading for a Meowth that talks. Raichu caught the look and climbed on to Ash's shoulder.

'Luxray says he wants to battle them. He says he isn't afraid to do so.'

Ash nodded and looked at Luxray who's glare had intensified..

"Hey Salem I think Luxray wants to battle these tossers." Ash said.

"Really?" Salem asked.

She turned to her starter who was now looking at her with a smirk on his face.

"Are you sure?"

Luxray nodded and went back to glaring and growling at the crowd.

"Well if Luxray wants to battle them then I will stand by him."

Ash smirked and then shifted Eevee and Ralts into one arm. With his spare hand he took a Pokéball off his belt in preparation for the battle.

"I'll battle as well. Follow us."

Ash and Salem left the room and headed towards the combat deck. They looked behind them and saw that they were followed by the two trainers as well as several other passengers.

As soon as they were on the battle deck all four trainers stood ready in the trainer boxes. Luxray stepped on to the battlefield and kept glaring at the trainers who were both intimidated by him. Both boys pulled one of the poke balls from their stash and threw them.

"Go Sandslash."

"You're up Gloom."

Raichu looked at Ash.

'So Ash should I get on the battlefield?'

"Not this time buddy I've got someone else in mind." Ash said with a smirk.

Raichu also smirked as he looked at the Pokéball in Ash's hand and knew knowing who he was talking about.

"Hey Raichu can you take care of Eevee and Ralts while we deal with these two please?"

'You got it Ash.'

Raichu jumped off Ash's shoulder and Ash handed the young Pokémon to the mouse. Ash then pointed the Pokéball he had taken off his belt earlier at the boys.

"It's not too late for you to forfeit. If you leave now we can forget this happened and if you don't well let's just say that your Pokémon are in trouble."

"Ha, us give up, yeah right like that's gonna happen. Now stop stalling and choose a Pokémon."

"Well I gave you guys a chance. Charizard to the battlefield."

Ash threw the Pokéball and Charizard appeared on the battlefield. He looked around and could tell something was up by how pissed off Ash, Salem and Luxray looked. Luxray gave Charizard the short version of what happened and the dragon roared in anger. He then shot a massive Flamethrower into the air and like Luxray glared at the boys and their Pokémon making all of them flinch.

"Would you two hurry up. You were so eager to battle us so let's do this." Ash said.

The boys glared at Ash.

"We'll show you. Sandslash Rollout."

"Gloom Sludge Bomb."

"Charizard grab hold of Sandslash."

"Luxray charge at Gloom and use Ice Fang then follow up with Iron Tail."

Sandslash got into a ball and rolled at Charizard at a rather slow pace. Charizard had a disappointed look on his face as he could tell that this Sandslash was nothing compared to Phanpy so it would be incredibly easy for him to deal with Sandslash. As Sandslash got closer Charizard stayed completely still until Sandslash was just about to ram into him. That was when Charizard made his move by putting his arms forward and grabbing Sandslash's arms which stopped him instantly. The ground type struggled to break free from the dragons grip but he was just too strong. He cried out in pain as Charizard's grip tightened and it felt like his arms were being crushed.

As this happened Luxray's fangs became encased in ice and he ran at Gloom dodging the globs toxic sludge being shot at him. When Luxray got close to Gloom he leapt at the grass type and sank his teeth into the plant's body which froze his left arm. Luxray's tail then turned metallic and he slammed it into Gloom who skidded across the deck stopping in front of his trainer.

"Charizard Fire Punch."

Charizard released one of Sandslash's arms and pulled his fist away and it became engulfed in flames. He saw the fear in Sandslash's eyes and smirked as he threw the fist forward smashing it straight into Sandslash's face. The force of the punch sent him crashing along the deck and he slammed into Gloom leaving both Pokémon in a heap on the ground.

"Swift."

"Flamethrower."

Luxray shot a horde of stars and Charizard fired a burst of flame. When the flames hit the stars the attacks combined and the stars turned bright red. The combination of moves slammed into Gloom and Sandslash making both Pokémon cry out in pain as they were slashed and burned by the flaming stars. When the barrage ended both Pokémon were now barely standing and were covered in cuts and burns.

"Come on Salem let's finish this."

"Yeah, Luxray Wild Charge."

"Charizard Seismic Toss but don't throw Sandslash at the boat."

Luxray became surrounded in electricity and ran at Gloom who was struggling to stand. He slammed into the plant and sent him flying off the ship straight towards one of the building on the dock. Gloom had no way of stopping himself and he crashed into the building. Meanwhile Charizard grabbed Sandslash and flew into the air, he ascended high into the sky and set his sights on Gloom who was now pulling himself out of the building he'd crashed through. However as soon as he got out of the building he fell to the floor as he was far to weak to stand. Charizard smirked and threw Sandslash who went plummeting towards the ground. Gloom looked up and saw Sandslash rocketing towards him. The plant tried to get to his feet in an attempt to dodge Sandslash but he was unable to and Sandslash slammed down straight on top of him knocking both Pokémon out.

The boys looked at their unconscious Pokémon on the dock and after roars from both Charizard and Luxray they ran as fast they could off the ship returning their Pokémon as they ran. Everyone laughed as the boys fled and gradually the passengers left the deck and returned to the dining hall until only Ash, Salem and their Pokémon were left.

"I think I'm gonna go to bed." Salem declared.

"Yeah me too. See you in the morning Salem."

They both went to their cabins and lied down in bed. Their Pokémon quickly fell to sleep however both trainers were awake for a while thinking about what had almost happened in the dining hall. After a while they brushed the thoughts aside and eventually they managed to drift off to sleep.

Two days later the ship arrived at Slateport docks and weighed anchor. Ash and Salem had enjoyed the journey after the incident with the 2 boys. They had spent a lot of time with Dalamyr exchanging stories with the experienced sailor. Ash and Salem had not spoken to each other about what had almost happened in the dining hall before the incident with the boys. Mainly because they both feared that the other was merely reacting to the moment. They also didn't want to be rejected or make things awkward between them.

Ash and Salem took their belongings from the cabin and walked with Dalamyr to the main deck. As the last of the passengers walked on to the dock Ash and Salem turned and faced Dalamyr.

"Well lass, laddie this is goodbye." Dalamyr said.

"It's been fun Dalamyr." Salem replied.

"Yeah it's nice to meet someone who has been in more near death situations than me." Ash added.

Everyone chuckled at Ash's comment.

"Anyway, see ya Dalamyr."

Salem gave the old sailor a quick hug and walked off the ship. After giving Dalamyr a handshake Ash went to follow her but was stopped when he felt his arm being grabbed. Ash looked back and saw that Dalaymr had stopped him for some reason.

"Listen laddie take care of your lass."

Ash face turned bright red and his mind went blank for a moment.

"W-w-what d-d-do ya mean D-Dalamyr she's n-not my l-lass."

Dalamyr laughed at the young trainer as he tried to deny it.

"Come on laddie ya can't fool an old sailor like me."

"Well technically she's not my l-l-lass."

"Yeah she might not be yet but you want her to be."

Ash looked down and sighed.

"Maybe you're right. On the ship I started to get feelings that I've never felt before. It felt like a flock of Butterfree were fluttering in my stomach."

"That laddie is called love."

"So what do I do?"

Dalamyr placed a hand on Ash's shoulder.

"That laddie is something you have to work out on your own. Now off with ya your lass is waiting."

Ash chuckled, he was really going to miss the old sailor.

"Goodbye Dalamyr and thanks for everything."

They shook hands one last time and Ash then turned around and left the ship meeting Salem on the dock. They started looking around for where they might find Captain Stern but they had no luck. Ash thought that maybe it would have been helpful if he had been told what the man looked like but Mr Stone had for some reason left that detail out. After looking around for an hour or so they sat down for a moment. Salem then remembered that she hadn't asked Ash why Dalamyr had kept him on the ship.

"So Ash what did Dalamyr want after I left the ship?"

Ash's mind went blank again as he tried to think of something to say. He hadn't expected her to ask that and he couldn't tell her what Dalamyr had actually said as that would be too embarrassing. Luckily for Ash Meowth came to the rescue.

"He just told da boss that he'd be rooted for the two of ya. He didn't say it while you were there as he thought dat you might get mushy."

Salem seemed to be satisfied with Meowth's explanation which made Ash breathe a sigh of relief. He looked gratefully at the cat on his shoulder.

"Thanks Meowth." Ash whispered.

"No problem boss."

After a few minutes they got back up and continued on their quest to find Captain Stern. They didn't have to hunt long before they were told that he was giving a presentation at the museum. Ash shuddered when the man mentioned that the S.S Anne was one of the things he would be talking about. After getting directions from the man the young trainers walked to the museum.

When Ash and Salem got to the main entrance they walked to the reception desk which had two women tapping away on computers.

"Excuse me is Captain Stern in the museum?" Ash asked.

One of the women stopped her work and looked up.

"Yes, he is still doing his presentation on the top floor."

"Great I need to see him."

"Very well sir. That will fifty poke dollars each sir."

"What? But I have an important package for him."

"I'm sorry sir but you will have to pay to get in."

Ash grumbled and reluctantly swiped his Pokédex through the machine which transferred the funds. They walked inside and began looking through the exhibits. They took a good look at all the exhibits however Ash and Salem spent a lot more time looking at the fossils of Anorith and Lileep as both were interested in the ancient Pokémon. The next exhibit made Ash pick up the pace and walk straight past it. The exhibit was a model of the S.S Anne, the memories of that day still haunted him at times and he just wanted to get away from it as soon as possible.

He leaned against a wall and his eyes were tightly shut. Images of what happened flashed in his mind which made a few tears escape from his eyes. Eevee and Ralts nuzzled their dad hoping that it would help and Raichu and Meowth looked worriedly at Ash both feeling useless. They knew that what happened on the S.S Anne had affected him but they didn't think it was this bad. Salem quickly caught up to Ash and wrapped her arms around him. Ash had told her about what had happened on that cruise and the fear he had felt several times when he found out the boat had capsized. Ash relaxed in her embraced and when he felt Eevee and Ralts jump out of his arms he returned the hug. He looked at her with a smile on his face.

"Thanks Salem."

"No problem Ash."

They eventually broke the hug and after Ash picked up Eevee and Ralts they carried on to the staircase. As the climbed they stairs Salem started to wonder why Ash was delivering this item. All she knew at the minute was that Mr Stone had asked him to deliver it to Captain Stern.

"Hey Ash why are you delivering these items for Mr Stone?" Salem questioned.

Ash stiffened for a moment. He was torn about what to say as he had promised Mr Stone that he wouldn't reveal the devices he was given. But on the other hand he didn't want to lie to Salem. He stopped climbing the stairs and turned around to look at Salem

"Um well, he said that these things were important and needed delivering. So he asked me to keep the items safe and I said yes."

Ash started walking again before Salem could respond. He hated lying especially to a close friend like Salem but it wasn't exactly a lie. Maybe he could tell her the truth when they are alone, but right now they were in a building full of security camera's so there was no telling who could be watching.

They reached the final step and walked through the open door seeing a group of people looking around the room and a man who was packing some things into a briefcase. Ash and Salem walked over to the man who upon seeing them stopped packing.

"Excuse me are you Captain Stern?" Ash asked.

"Yes I am young man. Who are you?"

"My name is Ash Ketchum and this is my friend Salem Ashni."

"Ah yes Ash Mr Stone told me about you. Please follow me to my office."

Ash and Salem followed Captain Stern through a door with curator on it and they all took a seat. Ash opened one of his pockets and pulled one of the data disks out.

"Here's your data from Devon Corp." Ash said.

Ash presented the disk to Captain Stern who took the disk and inserted it into his computer. Ash and Salem watched as the improved schematics for Captain Stern's submarine appeared on the screen.

"Thank you Ash this information is invaluable to us. I have something for you and you friend to show my appreciation."

Captain Stern opened a draw on his desk and took two items out. He handed one to Ash and the other to Salem. Salem held the pink disc in front of her with a confused look on her face.

"Um what is this?" Salem asked.

"That's a Deep Sea Scale. It makes a Clamperl evolve into a Gorebyss and I have a Deep Sea Tooth which makes Clamperl evolve into Huntail." Ash replied.

Salem was now sat looking at the pink disk and wondering what to do with it. She only trained electric type Pokémon so this was completely useless to her. Ash saw the look on her face and when Captain Stern looked away he leaned in close to her.

"Don't worry when we get out of here I'll trade you an item that you want for that Deep Sea Scale." Ash whispered

She sent an appreciative look at Ash and mouthed a thank you to him. Captain Stern then turned his attention back to the young trainers.

"So where are the two of you planning to go next?"

"Well our next stop is Mauville Town so me and Salem can win our third badges. We should be there in a few days if we can hire some bikes and ride down Cycling Road."

"Hang on a second you can't use Cycling Road right now."

"Why can't we use it?" Salem asked.

"Of course you've been on the ship for the last few days so you won't have heard the news. You see Cycle Road was badly damaged a few days ago so now Route 110 is impassable until the rubble is cleared. The police are also still searching for evidence on who is responsible."

"Damn it. Well how long will it be until the Route or Cycling Road will be open again?"

Captain Stern rubbed his chin and appeared deep in thought.

"I'd say about a week or so." Captain Stern finally said.

Ash and Salem silently cursed their luck. They had desperately wanted to get to Mauville and win their next badge as soon as possible.

"I guess we've got a week to kill then." Ash said.

"May I make a suggestion?" Captain Stern asked.

Ash and Salem looked at each other and shrugged.

"Okay." they both said.

"Well if you plan to stay in Slateport while then you should check out the monthly Trading Battle Event that starts in a couple of days."

Ash and Salem were bemused as neither of them had heard of this Trading Battle Event.

"What's a Trading Battle Event?" Salem asked.

"Basically you bring along Pokémon you want to trade and battle other trainers with them. If you like your opponents Pokémon and they like yours then you can trade with them. It started a couple of years ago and it became increasingly popular until it finally became a monthly event."

Ash liked the sound of this event as it gave him another chance to trade some of his Tauros.

"Are there any limits to how many you can trade?" Ash asked.

"Nope you can trade as many as you want."

"Well I have to say that this event sound like a great idea Captain Stern." Ash said.

"Yeah it will be fun seeing all of the Pokémon on display." Salem added.

"Well I hope that you enjoy it. Now if you'll excuse me I need to make a couple of calls and get this data to the engineer's so they can started making the modifications. Thank you again I appreciate you two taking the time to deliver this"

Captain Stern got up and shook hands with Ash and Salem

"It was no problem Captain Stern and thank you for telling us about the event." Ash replied

"And good luck with your experiments." Salem said.

Ash and Salem left his office and went downstairs. The building had filled since they had gotten there so they had to push through the crowd of people to get out. They walked outside and headed towards the Pokémon Centre so that Ash could ask Professor Oak to send him some of his Tauros.

Ash and Salem entered the Pokémon Centre and immediately took a seat at the phones. Ash picked one of the phones of and quickly dialled Professor Oak's number. Moments later Professor Oak's face appeared on the screen. Ash saw the confused look on Professor Oak's face and wasn't really that surprised. In the past he hadn't even called Professor Oak every month but now he is doing it several times a month.

"Well hello Ash I wasn't expecting another call from you so soon."

"Well honestly I hadn't been expecting to call you. However I just learned of a trading event that is taking place in Slateport and I was hoping that you'd send me three of my Tauros. If that's alright."

"It's fine Ash. Just wait a minute and I'll go get three of them."

Professor Oak walked off the screen and after a few minutes he returned holding three Pokéballs. He placed them in the transfer machine and they vanished appearing in the machine next to Ash. Ash took the Pokéballs out of the machine and clipped them on to his belt. After saying a short farewell Ash and Professor Oak hung up.

"So is there anything Pokémon you are looking for in particular?" Salem asked.

"Not really. I'll just have to wait and see if there is anything that catches my eye."

Ash and Salem left the Pokémon Centre and spent the rest of the day exploring Slateport. As it got late they returned to the Pokémon Centre and after getting a couple of rooms they went upstairs and lied down on their beds and fell to sleep.

Notes

So what 3 Pokémon will Ash trade his Tauros for.

Readers of the original version of this story don't worry I haven't deleted the storyline that originally came just after Slateport. It has just been moved to slightly later in the story so that one of the main events made more sense.

Thanks for reading this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.

Please give a review telling me what you liked/didn't like.

If you have any questions I am more than happy to answer them.

Ash:

Kanto – Raichu, Meowth, Ivysaur, Wartortle, Charizard, Pidgeot, Kingler, Muk, Tauros(x29), Snorlax & Eevee (Shiny)

Johto – Totodile, Meganium, Cyndaquil, Heracross, Noctowl (Shiny), Phanpy & Sneasel

Hoenn – Marshtomp, Nincada, Treecko, Zangoose, Sableye & Ralts

Pokémon on hand – Raichu, Meowth, Charizard, Meganium, Wartortle, Treecko, Sableye, Tauros(x3), Ralts & Eevee

Salem:

Kanto – Pikachu & Jolteon

Johto – Chinchou

Sinnoh – Luxray

Unova – Zebstrika & Galvantula

Pokémon on hand – Pikachu, Jolteon, Chinchou, Luxray, Zebstrika & Galvantula