Sparkling and rippling ocean water surrounded the ship as it sailed under the spring sun. Wingulls cried out as they circled the ocean liner heading for Cinnabar Island. Wind whipped the waves and carried the scent of salt over the decks. The air was temperate, with the faintest hint of chill that was swiftly dissipated by spending some time in the noon time light, as Ash was doing.
The boy was in his swimming trunks, sitting on the edge of a platform near the bottom of the ship where trainers with water-type pokémon could come and go, his feet trailing in the water as he enjoyed the sun's rays and the sea breeze. Squirtle sat beside him and Magikarp lay behind them both.
Are you ready to go back in? Squirtle asked, looking over at Ash. I was just getting the hang of underwater Bubblebeam.
Ugh, Ash groaned, leaning back and propping himself up with his hands. Misty makes underwater training look easy.
What did you expect? She's the specialist after all, Squirtle replied.
I thought I would be able to bring something that could work as a target for your special attacks that wouldn't drift away as soon as my back was turned, Ash griped, remembering the day's disastrous doings. I thought it would be easier to see underwater without goggles, which they don't sell on this ship. I thought I could hold my breath long enough to watch what's going on. I thought I could do more than help you and Magikarp Tackle each other underwater!
Sorry, Magikarp said, his voice soft. Ash and Squirtle turned to look at him. The orange pokémon was lying limp on the deck, his visible eye staring up at the sky without looking at anything. My head hasn't been in the game all day.
Oh, so it wasn't just me being a lousy trainer then, Ash sighed, adjusting his position to face Magikarp. Want to talk about it?
Not really, Magikarp replied with a flop that was the fishy equivalent of a shrug. But if you have to know, I saw a school of other magikarp. Their eggs had just hatched. It reminded me of… well, better times.
Ash and Squirtle both winced at that.
I'm sorry, Ash said, putting a hand on Magikarp's head and gently rubbing it. Is there anything we can do?
Just hurry up and use me as bait or something, Magikarp answered. Then I won't have to remember things.
Ash was never sure of how to take it when Magikarp asked for death. He knew that the water-type was probably being serious, given how he had joined Ash's team in the first place, but it always seemed like a joke when the water-type actually said it.
What if you leave a ghost? Squirtle asked, before Ash could say anything.
Would the ghost actually be me?
No one's really sure, Ash answered, glad for the change of subject. Not even ghosts and ghost-type pokémon. Trust me, I've asked them. Now let's get back in the water!
Brock lay on a beach chair on the upper deck, as close to the center of the boat as he could get. He currently existed on the fine line between tanning and napping, where the sun's warmth lulled him to slumber while the sun's light kept him awake and one had that nagging feeling that one should be up and doing something else.
Not that there was much else to do. There was no place large enough to train Onix, though Onix, like Geodude, would have been too uncomfortable with the ocean to focus on training. Instead, Brock had occupied himself by training Zubat and tending to Vulpix. But those activities only took so many hours of his day, leaving him with little else to do but work out and lay on the upper decks when the sun was out.
The former gym leader actually wanted to nap, never mind the brightness or nagging feelings, but stray thoughts kept him from embracing sleep. A dozen little things he had seen since leaving Pewter City. Things that didn't add up, didn't make sense. A nagging suspicion that Brock kept trying to dismiss or ignore, but kept returning.
There was something off about Aaron.
Brock didn't know why he was thinking that about his traveling companion, his friend. But things didn't add up. It wasn't the big things, the trouble that Aaron kept running into, at least not the big things by themselves.
Rather it was the way the boy would make strange comments. How vague the boy could be when questioned. How he seemed to know nothing at times and too much at other times. Aaron's strange behavior when Bulbasaur had been kidnapped. How he always insisted on training his pokémon privately.
And Brock swore that the boy was bilingual or even a polyglot and hid it. He couldn't imagine why Aaron would possibly want to hide that ability, but Brock knew that he had heard him making comments in a language or languages that were not Sinnohese.
How could that be connected to the rest of the boy's strange behavior? What could it all mean?
Why did Brock even care?
The former gym leader couldn't answer any of those questions, no matter how many times he turned things over in his head, not even the last. Brock didn't know why this irked him; he didn't think it was connected to the trouble Aaron kept stumbling into, at least not in any way that was important. And it wasn't like Brock thought that his companions weren't allowed to have secrets.
That didn't stop the suspicions from eating away at him.
Brock eventually gave up on taking a nap and decided to go bother Misty. She was floating on her back in the ship's swimming pool and Brock couldn't tell if she was sleeping or not. He rolled his eyes and waded in.
"I'm pretty sure this is dangerous," he said standing in chest high water next to her.
"Only if you're a bad swimmer," Misty replied without opening her eyes.
"Oh, so you are awake."
"Because some jerk woke me up."
"Said jerk would rather not explain to your sisters how you drowned."
"Oh please, I wouldn't drown even if you put weights and cement shoes on me."
"I'm pretty sure that you haven't figured out how to breathe underwater…"
"Wow. You don't think I can swim in cement shoes and weights? Your lack of faith makes me sad."
"Save the tests for the kiddie pools," Brock said, rolling his eyes.
"So why are you bothering me anyway?" Misty asked, eyes still closed as she floated away at a glacial pace.
"Just got some things on my mind," Brock sighed after a moment's pause.
"Like?"
"… Has Aaron ever seemed…. I don't know…. off to you?" Brock asked eventually.
"You'll have to be more specific," Misty said. "Off in that he displays no regard for his own safety? Off in that he is suicidally overconfident? Off in that he's an idiot? Off in regards to how much food he can put away for being so small? Or off in that he enjoys pokémon center grub?"
"No, I mean, like, some of the things he says-"Brock tried to speak.
"You mean the stupid person says stupid things?" Misty asked, raising her head and opening one eye into a slit to give Brock a rather unimpressed look. "Who'd've thought?"
"No, I mean the comments he makes and then pretends he didn't say anything-"
"What, you never had trouble controlling your tongue when you were his age?" Misty asked. "Well, I guess you might not, but it's normal for the rest of us."
"No, it's not that. It's how he tries to hid the fact he's multilingual-"
"So?" Misty said, laying her head back in the water and closing her eye. "Maybe he doesn't want to be asked to translate things? Maybe he only knows the swear words?"
"That's not-"
"I think you've spent too much time away from your siblings and are instinctively looking for something to worry about," Misty said, idly kicking to move away from Brock. "Go find some eggs if you want something to mother hen over."
Brock sighed and accepted that the conversation was useless for settling his mind. He left Misty to the water and got out of the pool. After toweling off he put on a shirt and began to walk around the ship aimlessly.
He thought about working out again, but his muscles twinged, reminding Brock that outside of distracting him from the inside of his own head, more exercise would do more harm than good. Brock thought about training Zubat or grooming Vulpix some more, but he had already done both activities twice that day and didn't want to overdo it. He honestly considered getting drunk at the ship's bar, but didn't want to deal with the expense, the hangover, or setting a bad example in front of Aaron and Misty.
(Brock could almost hear Misty's sisters lecturing him on that point, nevermind their own habit of tossing back martinis at every gym conference.)
The former gym leader wandered into the lower parts of the ship, his thoughts still relentlessly poking at him, giving him no quarter. Finally, he decided he would go find Aaron and… and…
Well, Brock would do something, just for some peace of mind, if nothing else.
He went over to the port/bay that Aaron and some other trainers had been using, correctly figuring that the younger trainer would probably be there. When Brock found Aaron, the boy was sitting on the platform, hunched over as he talked with his pokémon.
That was another odd thing, Brock reflected. Aaron was always talking with his pokémon when other people weren't around.
"Whatcha up to?" Brock asked.
He tried to tell himself that Aaron was just shy, but that explanation wasn't enough to quell his nagging doubts. The boy never acted shy, just skittish, but only when it didn't make any sense for him to do so.
Aaron started and sat straight up at the sound of Brock's voice, reflexively tensing, only to relax when he turned around and saw where Brock was.
"Just training," the boy answered casually. And after Aaron relaxed, his reply did seem completely casual, normal, unremarkable… and yet it tugged on Brock's instincts nonetheless.
"What are you working on?" Brock inquired. "Specifically?"
"We were just, uh… thinking about more ideas for underwater training," Aaron replied.
That was another thing that bothered Brock. Aaron's vocabulary was either lacking or he tended to think about what he was going to say halfway through his sentences. Brock was pretty sure it was the former.
Related to that was that Aaron's background knowledge was eclectic. He seemed ignorant of many subjects a person his age should know, but showed a surprising grasp of areas that Brock wouldn't expect from a child his age. Normally Brock would have just chalked it up to Aaron being a poor student, but when combined with everything else, it was just another item to add to Brock's list of suspicions.
"Oh, is that what you were talking with your pokémon about?" Brock asked.
"Yeah!" Aaron replied, smiling and his smile seemed honest, but Brock cursed his own growing paranoia that made him think it was in some way forced.
"Working on how to communicate underwater?" The former gym leader continued.
"I didn't even think about that," Aaron groaned. "We were just working on Tackle and Bubblebeam."
"Yeah, there's a reason that it's usually only water-type specialists who bother with underwater training. It's far too much work for something so situational."
"Well, I might need it someday, so I should work on it now, when I can!"
"Then you're going to need to figure out how to communicate underwater," Brock said. "I think most water-type trainers use hand signs, but you should ask Misty for the details. I just know that water-type specialists liked using hand signs to direct their pokémon when they challenged me."
"Really?" Aaron asked, turning around to sit facing Brock.
"Yeah," Brock nodded. "I mean, they weren't the only ones. There are plenty of trainers who like to use codes, hand signs, foreign languages, and other tricks to try and hide what they're telling their pokémon to do."
He paused for a moment and then went on. "Have you ever considered using something like that?"
Aaron's head tilted slightly and Brock thought he saw the boy's eyes narrow. And then Aaron's face went back to normal.
"Nah," Arron replied, gently shaking his head. "I'm not good at that stuff. And real fights move fast enough that I don't know if that stuff would help."
"You sure?" Brock continued. "That kind of trick might be right up your alley."
Once again Brock thought he saw Aaron ever so slightly squint suspiciously at him, but the former gym leader couldn't be absolutely sure.
"No, I have a hard enough time talking already," Aaron said with a grin. "Though, I guess I'll have to learn hand stuff for underwater battles."
"Maybe think about learning another language," Brock suggested, still fishing. "Being polylingual is good for the brain and if you learn kalosian, I hear it's great for getting dates."
"Ugh, I'm not an old person," Aaron said, sticking out his tongue in disgust. "I don't want any dates… unless there's a food called dates."
"Dates aren't for old people!" Brock hissed. "And I don't mean the food! They're for anyone who wants to have a good time involving sex and/or romance!"
"There is a food called dates?" Aaron asked, perking up.
"Yes, it's a type of fruit, and that's not the point!" Brock exclaimed, shaking his head. "I'm not old and I've been trying to score dates for a while! I mean, it's not like I've succeeded, but I've been trying!"
"Huh?" Aaron tilted his head.
"I mean, not too much, because you don't want to be too pushy, especially when you're a strong trainer…" Brock went on, mumbling. "And some people don't like being put on the spot… but when it was socially acceptable, I've made my intentions known… which wasn't very often…. But the important thing is that I've been trying!"
"Ooookay?" Aaron said, looking very confused.
"You know, forget it," Brock sighed, his purpose forgotten. "I'm going to just head back to the room."
And with that Brock walked off, leaving Aaron alone with his pokémon.
AN: I'd like to thank Amationary for beta reading.
Another short chapter while my buffer slowly grows... though the real reason is so short is that the next scenes don't really fit with the ones in this chapter. The thing I really miss about having a large buffer is the ability to remix the order of compatible scenes to keep chapters a decent length.
On a different, I'm pretty sure some of you readers have been looking forward to the plotline that starts here.
The next chapter will be released on July 20th 2022
Don't forget to leave a review! Concrit is welcome!