The S.S. Anne lived up to its title as a luxury liner. It was a behemoth of a ship, a giant that dwarfed several of the buildings along the coastline. Those on the port could only stare up at the hotel of the sea for the wealthy to reside in with no shortage of amenities—as Ash and the others took note of the moment they climbed up the ramp.

The deck of the ship from the bow to the back was a melting pot of pokémon trainers, people of all ages and situations in Kanto coming together for the sake of meeting and interacting with others. They were from different social classes too, judging from their appearances. It made sense when you considered Vermillion was a Port City, so a lot of traffic flowed through it, and the prospect of a free ride on a luxury liner and the chance to battle others would draw in a vast number of them as well.

There was a woman adorned in a crimson dress that glimmered beneath the sun and an ivory Ponyta next to her chatting with a young girl who had a Vulpix nestled in her arms. There was a man in a sailor suit conversing with an older man of the mountains, a Poliwrath and Machoke flexing behind them respectively. There was even a woman in overalls petting the two of heads of a Doduo affectionately while talking to a young man with a Nidorino at his side.

The fact that people from different walks of life were able to animatedly interact with one another as if they were equals was because every one of them had pokémon present as well. Each and every one of them was someone who was proud of their pokémon and willing to show them off to whoever listened. That made it more of a fan convention than anything else.

"There's so many different pokémon that it reminds me of Gramps' place," Gina said with her Pokédex in hand. She was using it to scan the various pokémon for data, their information added to the database to give it a wider pool of information to draw from.

"I'm more interested in the battles to be honest," Ash said, adjusting his hat as Pikachu loitered on his shoulder. The Electric Mouse Pokémon had its ears raised as its forepaws braced the top of his head while looking around with a sense of amazement. "Where do we go to get started?"

"How about we ask around?" Brock suggested before approaching a teenager with a sleeveless green shirt and tanned pants, leaning against the rail and cradling a Poké Ball. He was a bit on the muscular side despite being around Ash's age, if a year or so older. "Excuse me. Do you know where the battles are being held?"

"You'll want to head below deck—" He abruptly stood up straight when he looked up from the ball and spotted Brock. "Hey, aren't you the Gym Leader of Pewter City?"

"Formerly," Brock said, brushing his chin in thought for a moment before snapping his fingers. "Oh wait, I remember you—Pete Pebbleman, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I'm honored you managed to remember me!"

"Well, you did start out in Pewter," Brock said. "Even though you couldn't earn my badge first, you still came back later and managed to take out Rhyhorn with your Arcanine. It was a good match."

"I thought I had it in the bag with Shellder, but you made me work for it." He pulled out a case from the bag slung over his shoulder and opened it to reveal five different badges, including the Boulder Badge. "But since then I've still been pushing ahead. Won't be long now before I enter the conference."

The Former Gym Leader found it in himself to smile. "That's great! I'm sure you'll do us proud."

"Well now, this is a pleasant surprise," a feminine voice drew their eyes towards the woman in red with the Ponyta. Her hips swayed as she sauntered forward and looked him over with a hand on her cheek. "To think I'd have a chance to run across an authentic Gym Leader."

The young girl ran up to him as well. "I'm planning on doing the Gym Challenge too next year. Can I ask for some advice?"

More and more people began to crowd around Brock, much to Ash's surprise. Soon there were enough people that he couldn't even make Brock out of the crowd. He tipped his hat and let out a sigh. "Geez, he sure got popular fast."

"Gym Leaders are considered some of the toughest trainers in the region and everyone who wants a badge will have to go through them eventually," Gina reminded Ash while putting away her Pokédex. "I'm more surprised he managed to recognize that trainer considering how he has to take on a bunch of challengers a day—let alone remember one from several months back. He might be actual competition for us some day."

"Maybe," Ash said while delving into thought. Brock hadn't really been so much of a larger-than-life figure to him like the others seemed to view him as. Then again, he'd had a chance to see Brock at his most human as a reliable older sibling looking after his brothers and sisters. "I guess we should head inside until he's done."

"It's this way," Misty said, gesturing towards an entrance. "Come on. I want to get a look at the inside."

Following Misty, they entered into the interior of the ship. The diamond chandeliers hanging overhead filtered in the radiant sunlight through the glass-laden ceiling. The air itself seemed to shimmer within what looked to be the main social hub of the ship, a bevy of lounges surrounding the perimeter of the level they were on that served as the ground floor. Red velvet banners were strung along the railing, their droop perfectly symmetrical with the various stalls beneath them where throngs of people with more common pokémon were abound.

"A lot of Starter Pokémon are here," Gina noticed, looking at some of the other trainers comparing their Charmanders and Squirtles with a smile on her face. They looked to be just about the age to get their trainer licenses like them. "It's good to see that they're at least being looked after by the majority of their trainers… unlike some people."

Ash could hear the venom in her voice at that last part and was grateful that it wasn't directed towards him. Instead it was directed towards Charmander's previous trainer, Damian. Oh, she had been in a mood when her Grandfather got back in touch with her this morning and reported that he'd only gotten the boy's license suspended—rather than revoked like she wanted.

"He's too soft to new trainers," she grumbled. "Gramps could have thrown his weight around a little more instead of brushing it off as a mistake new trainers make. Just because Ash adopted Charmander doesn't mean that all's well that ends well. I swear if I ever find him, I'll—"

Unaware of the dark aura washing off the other teenage girl, or wisely ignoring her threats that sent a chill down Ash's spine, Misty simply smiled as she drank in the atmosphere. "I've built models of the ship, but it's even more glamorous than I imagined."

Ash turned to her with a brow raised. "You build model ships?"

"As someone who specializes in Water Pokémon, it's good to know the ins and out of ships, sailing, and so on," Misty said, justifying one of her odder hobbies. "It just so happens that when I was younger I took an interest in this one liner in particular: S.S. Anne, the ship said to be unsinkable. Just having a chance to set foot on it makes me so glad I decided to travel~"

As her eyes glimmered like the surface of the ocean on a sunny day, Ash just sighed before shifting his attention to some of the other amenities of the ship catered to trainers. It was then he found himself staring at a pair of trainers standing before a machine and setting their Poké Balls onto a pad on each side. Then the machine activated.

The balls digitized before passing through the screen, revealing the two pokémon. Then they came out on the other end and a sound bubbled up in his throat. "Hm…"

It caught Gina's attention. "What, you never seen a Trading Machine before?"

"I just don't understand why they need a machine to trade the balls," he clarified. "What's the point of it?"

"That's because of the marker on them," Gina explained. "When you capture a pokémon they're converted into an energy state and the ball itself provides a marker that makes it impossible for another trainer to capture them. Pokémon Centers and the like can read that marker unless someone uses the release function or breaks the ball."

She then counted off on her fingers as she continued. "It also does things like check the pokémon's condition, registers it at the time of the trade and provides a log, and in some cases the energies released due to the trade will cause certain pokémon to evolve faster than they would in the wild. Like if the Abra I have evolved into a Kadabra and then I put him through a trading machine, he'd evolve into an Alakazam."

Of course, she intended to have her Grandfather use his Trading Machine and then immediately put it back through when the time came. She didn't intend to trade a pokémon she caught to anyone she didn't trust to raise it properly. Her pokémon were her responsibility at the end of the day.

Ash considered the merits of trading when Pikachu began to stir on his shoulders, ears perking up, "What's up Pikachu?"

The Electric Mouse pointed off to the ceiling where one of the largest chandeliers hung off, but Ash's attention was drawn to the crowd gathering around what looked to be a battle on a slightly raised platform beneath it. He hurried over before it could begin, eager to see what kind of competition he'd have to challenge. Slipping in through the somewhat tight crowd until he could get a better view, he spotted the two combatants.

To one side was a well-dressed Gentleman, a man at least thrice the age of Ash and dressed in a tailored suit. There was a somewhat large Raticate on the platform in front of him, its brown fur rather well-groomed but ruffled from some obvious exertion. He seemed like someone more at home on the ship than traveling, to where one would think he was a more casual trainer.

In contrast to him was a young man around Ash's age but on the shorter side. He had a Starmie, one of the same pokémon that Misty had, but compared to his height it seemed to almost be up to his chest. It floated off the ground and then touched down to the top of the platform, taking its place as the boy's representative.

"Well then, Young Man," the Gentleman began while tapping his cane against his palm. "For this practice match, I'll allow you to make the first move."

"Okay, but don't regret it!" was the response of his opponent. "Starmie, Tackle!"

The Mysterious Pokémon let out a sound before the rear, star-like appendages that made up its backside began to spin rapidly as it launched itself forward like a spinning top. It rushed towards the Raticate, who threw its large body into the air and managed to avoid the first sweep. But as it landed in the center of the arena the Starmie turned around mid-air and began to circle towards it again.

"Raticate, get ready," the Gentleman ordered. In response, the evolved Mouse Pokémon's body began to radiate a reddish aura that seemed to seep out of its body like steam as it braced itself. The moment that the Starmie's spinning appendages met the stout body and bristle fur, he gave the execution order. "Now, Super Fang!"

The massive fangs brimmed white. Then they turned a deep shade of red before it reared its head around. The moment it bit down—

CRACK!

—there was a loud crack like glass being put under too much pressure, shattering the core of the Mysterious Pokémon before the Raticate whipped its head around and tossed it back onto the boy's side of the field. It struggled to get back up, only for its body to droop and it slouched to the ground defeated.

"Starmie!" the boy shouted, reaching up and grabbing it from behind before lowering it onto its back to take a look at its core. The formerly well-cut ruby that was in place before was now a sunken mesh of ragged crystal that flickered rapidly. "Starmie, are you okay!?"

Ash winced as he stared at the cracked core. "That looks bad…"

"It just needs to spend some time recovering," Misty said loud enough for the boy to hear as she stepped away from Ash's side towards him. "Despite looking like gems, the core is organic. It can regrow a new one with enough time."

"A-Are you sure?" he asked, looking up towards her with wary eyes.

She nodded. "I know from personal experience. It'll have a new core in two or so weeks if you let it rest. Just make sure to pay it enough attention while its recovering. Its core is its primary means of communicating, so it might be worried that you'll have trouble understanding it."

"That's a relief," he said. "I'm sorry, Starmie. I'll make it up to you."

"Part of the blame is mine, Young Man," the Gentleman said. "I had been expecting it to Harden reflexively, so I intended to end things in a single blow. I don't know how much of a consolation it'll be but I have no doubt that if you'd been aware of my strategy you would have utilized its long-ranged attacks to end things more in your favor. I simply got lucky."

Coming from the winner the consolation only partly soothed his pride, but Gina seemed intrigued at the Raticate as she scanned it. Then when he announced that he was looking for a new challenger, she was the first to volunteer. "I'll take you on with my Rattata, if you don't mind?"

The Mouse Pokémon emerged from her ball as she threw it out. Upon seeing the evolved form of itself standing ahead of her, Rattata's violet fur bristled. She immediately took on a battle stance. "Rrrrraaattt…"

"Well now, it seems your pokémon is raring to go," the Gentleman noted as his fingers drummed against the head of his cane.

"She's been a bit eager to battle for a while now and this is a perfect opportunity to see how our current fighting style would stack up against her evolved form," Gina claimed.

"Well then, by all means we'll accept your challenge," he said. "The first move is yours, Young Lady."

"Well, if you insist…" She smirked before looking over to her pokémon and giving the order. "Rattata, Double Team."

One became three and then five. Multiples of Rattata spawned into existence as the illusionary clones filled the space between the two. Then they moved as a mischief, all rushing towards the evolved Mouse Pokémon with the intent of swarming it while readying their fangs as if to bite.

The Raticate merely watched the oncoming horde for a moment with its whiskers twitching before suddenly rushing into the swarm. It plowed through the copies uncaringly as it pushed for the one remaining in the back and took a leaping lunge with its fangs aglow, intent on biting down upon it. The Rattata located in the back of the swarm immediately disengaged, bounding off to the side as the fangs scraped against the metal platform and carved out a portion.

"Numbers are all well and nice for a distraction, but it'll take more than that to confuse my Raticate," the Gentleman said. "However, I applaud you for the attempt."

This guy's not just a casual trainer for his age, Gina thought to herself before deciding to take it up a notch. "Rattata, let's get serious then. Blitz and then finish it!"

"RATA!" The Mouse Pokémon sprung backwards and was wreathed in a pale light before it split off into four copies of herself. Then all four shot forward, propelled by the contained power of the Quick Attack to become running light.

The Raticate braced from the direction that she originated from only to have that and two others fade on impact. But the real one struck from the side and caused it to stagger a step from the impact. Rattata then rebound, foregoing additional clones in order to streak forward even faster to ram into her opponent's upper body a second time and knock it off balance. Then she came around a third time, whipping around on her forepaws and rocketing forward as a streak of light that struck the larger Mouse Pokémon dead in the face.

Due to being off-balance, Raticate was toppled over onto its backside and briefly left stunned. Just long enough for Rattata to lunge with her fangs aglow. Energy pooled and condensed so that she could deliver a Super Fang of her own—

"Raticate, Jump Kick!"

—only for the Raticate to curl its short legs over its head as they took on a different hue while it rolled along its spine. Rather than getting up and being vulnerable, it opted to instead turn its recovery into an attack. Thus the empowered fang met with the enshrouded foot as the resulting impact discharged with a skin-prickling wave of force.

Rattata was rebuffed. Her small frame was knocked back to the edge of the platform and hit it with a loud thud. She shuddered as she got back to her feet, wavering slightly while her opposition finished getting back up and eyed her warily, and bristled again as light began to seethe off her body until Gina clapped her hands.

"That's enough," she said with outstretched arms. "We'll end it here, so come back."

Rattata looked to her for a moment. Then back to her opponent. Then the light wreathing her petered out before she turned around and then hopped into Gina's arms. "Ratta…"

Gina could tell she wasn't pleased to be pulled out of the match as she brought her closer. "I know, but it's a practice match. We learned a lot and can adjust for it the next time. Okay?"

The Mouse Pokémon let out a small grumble before nodding. Then she curled up as Gina set arms against her stomach, letting the tension leave her body as she brought her paws to her nose. There was a bruise forming around there that Gina could see from the kick.

If Raticate had been a Fighting-Type that would have knocked her out, Gina noted to herself before addressing her opponent. "I'm forfeiting before Rattata takes an injury I can't treat since there doesn't appear to be a Healing Machine on the ship."

"You've trained it well to make up for its smaller size and speed," he said in turn. "However, as it stands it likely won't be able to stand against more durable opponents. You should consider focusing on developing its fangs for a more decisive way to end things."

"I'll take that under advisement," she said. In truth, if the opponent was something that was durable like a Rock-Type or Fighting-Type Pokémon, then she would have just used another pokémon. But she had the suspicion that he took the opposite approach.

Jump Kick offered a way to deal with Rock-Type and other Normal-Type Pokémon. Between that and how strong its Super Fang was when boosted by that first technique it used against the Starmie, he'd sacrificed building up Raticate's speed for the sake of being able to take a hit and deliver a decisive single blow to end things. In contrast, her own Rattata was fast but lacked in raw strength… at the moment, anyway.

"It was still an impressive display."

While she mused on that, a compliment reached Gina's ears. She turned towards the source to see that a young man who looked only a year or so her senior was approaching. He had long hair that flowed down his back and wore a bright pink vest that exposed a white shirt beneath it. A complementing red bandana covered his forehead while a yellow ascot was around his neck, and he was smiling at her in a manner most would call charming.

"And you are?" Gina asked.

The corners of his lips pulled back, widening his smile a touch before he bowed his head slightly. "I am the Astounding Mandi, a magician and trainer taking the League Challenge much like yourself. Your tactics are not unsimilar my own, so I thought that we could make one another's acquaintance."

Then with a flourish of his hand a rose appeared. "If you have a moment, would you join me in the restaurant on the rear of the ship? It will present a wonderful seaside view of Vermillion City as the ship departs from the harbor while we discuss… training methods."

Gina took the flower being offered gingerly before declining. "As tempting as the offer is, I need to tend to Rattata's injuries."

"A pity, but understandable," he said in response. "Well, perhaps you'll join me later this evening for a performance after the matches are over. Until then."

As the performer departed, Ash came up to her next and just stared at the back of his retreating head for a moment before saying, "Something about that guy rubs me the wrong way."

Pikachu, on the other hand, looked down from his perch on Ash's shoulder towards Rattata and let out an inquiring noise. "Pika?"

Rattata only looked off to the side. That was when they heard the horns of the ship blaring, signaling they were departing from the shore. The S.S. Anne was officially taking off.

[-oOo-]

"The ship's begun moving," a man spoke from beneath the deck of the cruise ship. He was one of many in an unoccupied room within the ship, around maybe twenty or thirty that were all dressed in uniforms of the waiting staff and other members of the crew. While it was a bit out of the ordinary for so many to be gathered in an isolated room, the ship itself employed so many people that their presence wouldn't be missed while they were officially on break.

Really, the only oddity was the Meowth that stood on its hindlegs next to him.

"The operation will begin once the ship reaches the midway point," he continued. "Our target is the pokémon of all the trainers on this ship. There are some pretty strong ones from all of the Gym Challengers on-board, so if we can get them under our thumb we'll have an army of powerful pokémon for our future operations."

"We installed a Poké Ball Jammer made by the boys at HQ in the chandler," the woman next to him spoke. "Once we turn it on, the electrical impulses will disable the opening function on all the Poké Balls in range. All of yours should be shielded against the electrical signal, so they'll work fine. No matter how skilled or talented the trainers are, they can't do anything if they can't call their pokémon out."

Then the Meowth spoke. "We'll be able to take all of their pokémon without too much of a problem and then take the getaway boat with our pilfered prize. The Boss has invested a lot into this operation, including setting up the temp company to get us all hired and arranging for all the invitations, so make sure not to screw it up. Got it?"

The disguised members of Team Rocket collectively nodded.