And we're back. After claiming victory in the Vermillion Gym, the group decides to celebrate while taking a well earned break. Now will they actually get the vacation they desire, or will they be unable to escape from their adventure filled lives? Let's find out.
Additionally I would like to thank everyone for the support up till now, as my Follow count has hit over 100. A milestone for me personally. So once again, thank you all for the support this whole time.
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The group were in high spirits, especially Ash as he was once again dressed in his traveling clothes. With their victory at the Vermillion Gym, they were soon on their way again, Lt. Surge and Visquez wishing him good luck on the rest of his journey, which he gladly accepted. Even Raichu had given Pikachu some encouragement too.
As they walked away from the Vermillion Gym, he couldn't help but hold up his new Thunder Badge into the air and see the light glint off of it. Pikachu soon climbed onto his shoulder and also looked pleased at the sight of the Badge, a symbol of their hard work and effort paying off.
"You two look happy," Brock chuckled rhetorically.
"Well after we trained so hard for our rematch, can you blame us for being happy?" Ash chuckled.
"Just don't let it get to your head," Misty teased.
"Considering we're barely halfway through...yeah, would be pretty dumb to get big headed now," Ash acknowledge with an awkward chuckle, Pikachu sweat dropping a little at that one.
"Well enough about that for now. Since you've got that Thunder Badge, how about we start planning the celebration?" Brock chuckled.
"Right after everyone has a checkup of course," Ash chuckled as they soon made their way to the Pokemon Center.
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A short while later had the group in the Pokemon Center, Ash's Team having a checkup to make sure they were all okay, while Ash was getting the same to make sure he didn't take any hits that were worse than they appeared.
"Alright, everything seems to be in order," Nurse Joy said, looking over the results of Ash's examination. "Other than the usual kind of injuries which have already been healed, there don't seem to be any problems."
"Thanks Nurse Joy," Ash nodded. "How are my Pokemon doing?"
"They're all doing just fine. No serious or unexpected injuries," she smiled. "You're all free to go at any time."
"Right, I think we will then," Ash chuckled. "We're kind of in a hurry to catch a cruise."
"Oh, you must mean the S. S. Anne," Nurse Joy said in surprise. "I'm surprised you could get a ticket to ride. They're quite hard to get a hold of."
"We kinda lucked into it," Ash said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.
"Well then, I hope you enjoy the cruise. The ocean is quite lovely," Nurse Joy smiled as she finished the examination.
A short while later saw Ash dressed in his normal clothes again and walking to the lobby of the Pokemon Center. "Everything normal?" Misty asked.
"Yep, no problems with me or any of my team," Ash grinned, Pikachu climbing on his shoulder and giving an energetic 'Pika!'.
"Well then, if that's the case, want to board the S. S. Anne soon? The Ticket says we're allowed to board a few days early if we want," Brock suggested.
"Sounds good. As long as we're on the ship when it's time to leave we should be okay. We might even be able to pick better rooms if we're earlier," Misty chuckled.
"Let's go then," Ash grinned, all of them were looking forward to this. However, before they could actually go, Charmander suddenly raised his voice, causing all of them to look at him. "Something wrong, Charmander?" Ash asked, squatting down to be closer to Charmander's level.
Charmander seemed to have a serious expression on his face, before he pointed at the Pokeballs at Ash's belt and spoke up. Pikachu's ears perked up in surprise at what he'd heard, something he quickly relayed to Ash, even if Ash had an idea what Charmander wanted to say already. "You...want to join my team?" Ash asked, making sure he got the details clear.
Charmander nodded firmly. He'd been thinking about this for quite some time, and he'd come to the conclusion that he trusted Ash. Ash was nothing like his previous Trainer. He cared for his Pokemon, and while he expected them to give it their all, encouraged them when 'their all' proved to not be enough. They grew stronger with him, and they did so happily. He...he wanted to be able to do the same. And above all he wanted to be able to believe in a Trainer again...and he felt that he could if Ash was that Trainer.
Ash waited for a moment, just to make sure Charmander was sure before he slowly nodded with a small smile. "Alright then," he smiled. "Welcome to the team, Charmander," he grinned as he held out an empty Pokeball, which Charmander happily tapped, going into the Pokeball that dinged with an instant capture. When it was done, Ash smiled, happy that he'd managed to earn Charmander's trust to this extent...right before the Pokeball teleported.
"That kinda killed the mood," Brock sweat dropped.
"Yeah, it kinda did," Ash sweat dropped as well.
"Well we're not in a hurry, so it wouldn't hurt to rotate your team first," Misty said, earning a small nod from Ash. That was probably something he'd be better off doing sooner than later.
XXXX
A short while later saw the three of them walking towards the harbor area of Vermillion City. Finding the S. S. Anne wasn't too hard, seeing as the large and luxurious ship was hard to miss. "Wow…" Ash couldn't help but say, impressed.
"I've seen a lot of pictures of the S. S. Anne, I even built a model of it when I was younger, but seeing it up close is really something else," Misty said in wonder.
"Don't get too impressed yet. We're about to see it very up close," Brock said as they walked towards the ship. They saw what appeared to be some crew members manning a checkpoint for anyone who wanted to board. Makes sense, seeing as being a famous Cruise Ship...it probably wasn't a strange thing for people to try to get in when they aren't allowed to. Whether it was for harmless intentions or otherwise.
"Tickets?" one of the people manning the checkpoint, a Pidgeot Pokemorph, asked.
"Right here," Misty said, putting down the ticket they won.
"One family pass for three. Granted you three clearly aren't family, but details," he chuckled, before checking the ticket and confirmed that it was indeed real. "ID please," he said, before logging them into the database and locking them in as passengers. "Thank you for joining us. You are now welcome to come and go until we leave, though I should warn you that if you're late on the day of departure the ship will leave without you," he explained.
"Right, we'll keep that in mind," Brock nodded as the three of them soon entered the S. S. Anne.
The ship was as impressive as they'd heard, having more than one level inside. Due to how large the ship was, they'd set up a few maps throughout the ship, one of which was near the entrance they were entering from. Based on the map, they noticed that the Ship apparently had multiple decks up top, and from the looks of it, each of them had their own set of facilities, most notable of all being the large swimming pool located on the biggest deck as well as a smaller pool near the back. The others seemed to be places for spending time and even a few deck games.
For the inside of the ship, they could see three stories with a large opening in the central area and what appeared to be a glass ceiling on top which probably allowed people to walk around on the top deck. In the central area they could see what may well have been a convention hall with various stalls and what appeared to be plenty of trainers with their Pokemon out, mingling, though several of the stalls seemed to be empty, probably because the event hadn't officially started yet. Aside from the central area, they saw that there were a number of shops in the halls around them, making it feel like they were on a floating mall, though the map also noted the paths to the various rooms, so it was probably more accurate to call it a floating hotel...which was basically what a Cruise Ship was.
"Wow, it's way more impressive up close," Misty couldn't help but say.
"Considering it's one of the most famed Cruise Ships in Kanto, I guess we shouldn't be surprised," Brock chuckled. "So, what shall we do first?"
"I think we should get our room first. Did we get a number?" Ash asked.
Misty checked the ticket again. "No, it seems like we'll use our Trainer IDs as keys to the rooms...and outside of the particular sections we get, we'll basically get to pick a room ourselves," she said.
"Then we'd better find the 'Family' rooms first," Ash nodded.
"Okay, let's see…" Brock said, taking a closer look at the map. "Okay, family rooms are at the top floor...looks like they're near the access way to the main deck, and with it the pool," he read.
"Sounds like a great place for families in my books," Misty chuckled, Pikachu let out a 'Pika' of agreement as the group quickly made their way there. Like any other mall, the access between floors had escalators and elevators, as well as some emergency stairs. The entrance they'd come in from was located on the second floor, so they only had to go up one floor, and soon made their way to the room area. Like a typical hotel, the halls to the rooms themselves were fairly small...one might even call them a LITTLE claustrophobic, but they eventually found the rooms, and noticed several had green lights on their doors, while most had red lights.
"Okay...which ones are occupied and which ones aren't?" Ash blinked, to which Misty checked.
"Green lights means occupied, red means unoccupied," she said.
"Alright then, how about this one?" Brock said, picking a door. Room number 15.
"No issues here," Ash and Misty shrugged, before Misty went over to the door and scanned her ticket on the scanner on the door. When her ticket was registered, a hard light screen appeared, telling them to register their IDs to act as keys. One quick input later and the door opened up, revealing the room to them as they walked in.
"Nice place," Brock said, impressed. The room was sizable with a large main area complete with a couple of couches, a mid-sized television, and a table with chairs for dining. To the sides of the room, they saw two bedrooms each with connected bathrooms. One of the rooms had two beds while the other only had one, though both had a number of cushions prepared, probably for any Pokemon in the event that Trainers let them sleep outside their Pokeballs.
"The S. S. Anne is one of if not THE best luxury cruises of Kanto. I'd expect nothing less," Misty grinned, before immediately going to the room with a single bed. "I'll be taking this room!" she said cheerfully.
"No arguments here," Ash and Brock chuckled lightly, Pikachu already going to the other room, hopping on the bed and let out a 'Chaaa!' of enjoyment at how soft the bed was.
"Don't go falling asleep yet, Pikachu. We've still got time," Ash chuckled at seeing his partner enjoying the rare moment of luxury.
The group quickly got to setting up the room as theirs for the duration of the cruise, putting their stuff down, making use of the in-room safes, etc etc. Once everything was in order, they soon left the room and started exploring the cruise.
Suffice to say the ship promised to keep them very much entertained for the duration of their stay. There was a good selection of shops, which would be enough to satisfy a wide variety of people. They decided to take the time to browse the various shops and even take a look at the spot where the main event would be held.
"Wow, it really shows how famous this ship is," Brock whistled a bit, seeing as they could find shops and products that came from all over the world.
"Considering the cruise is known worldwide, I'm not surprised," Misty chuckled.
"Then it looks like this is our chance to get a taste of the world," Ash chuckled, Pikachu looking quite excited at the prospect. The continued on, the group sampling a few snacks and treats that the various food shops offered, while window shopping through various other shops, which had a wide variety from clothing to entertainment, and of course there were various items related to Trainers and Fighters.
"I'd love to get some of these things, but I don't think they're worth burning through our funds," Brock sweat dropped, looking at the price tag for some of the stuff they could find, among other things some state of the art cooking utensils, not to mention some of the more expensive types of Pokeballs, and even traveling gear. It all looked great, but the price tag was a bit too much for them.
"Yeah...I think we can do fine without it," Ash and Misty sweat dropped.
After the small bit of window shopping, they decided to take a look at the other amenities available. The Arcade was rather crowded, various other guests having decided to take the time to have some fun with the games available. "Come to think about it, I haven't been in one of these in a long time," Ash mused.
"They didn't have Arcades like this in Pallet Town?" Misty asked.
"We were a pretty simple town honestly," Ash shrugged before they picked a few games to play, the group having fun as they passed the time playing a few fighting games, sports games, and several shooter games...to which they found out that Misty was a really good shot.
"Wow...you beat the high score," Brock blinked as they finished a game of House of the Dead 4.
"Let's just say when I was younger, these games were great when I was particularly annoyed with my Sisters," Misty chuckled, entering her name to the top.
"I am so glad firearms aren't allowed in the League," Ash sweat dropped. He had a feeling if they had allowed harmless firearms, his fight with Misty would have been even more one sided.
Misty just laughed at that one before they continued on.
The next area they explored were the decks, with the main attraction being of course the swimming pool on the main deck. It was sizable, and had plenty of room to swim, with a few smaller tubs for relaxing. Additionally of course there were plenty of deck chairs that were placed around the pool, several guests already relaxing under the sun...among them of course several attractive women.
Brock blushed a bit at the sight of the beautiful women, and he looked like he wanted to go over to try his luck...to which Ash and Misty grabbed him by the arm and pulled him along with a sigh, much to his dismay. "You can try hitting on them later when we're actually using the pool," Misty deadpanned as they left the main deck.
The smaller decks lacked a pool, but in exchange had several open spots for deck games as well as a few areas set up for sports, though the ones for sports naturally had barriers ready to avoid any equipment going overboard. And of course there were sections of the deck set aside for those who'd prefer doing some of their workouts out in the sun rather than in the gym. They continued exploring the decks till they reached the deck at the back of the ship, revealing another pool, this one notably smaller, being less to swim in and more to float in. At this point in time there wasn't all that much point in it what with the sun being high in the sky, so there wasn't gonna be much to look at right now.
With their exploration of the decks done, they soon returned to the ship's interior. "This place really DOES live up to its name," Ash chuckled. "Makes it hard to choose what we should do."
"Why don't we split up then?" Misty suggested. "We can all get into our room anytime, so it wouldn't be a problem if we did what we wanted throughout the day."
"Hey, great idea. That way we can all enjoy the ship in our own way," Brock nodded.
"Alright then, so we'll meet back at our room later when we're done," Ash agreed.
"Great, see you both later!" Brock said with a grin, and ran off, leaving Ash, Misty, and Pikachu to sweatdrop a bit.
"Three guesses where he's going and the first two don't count," Ash snorted, earning a laugh from Misty and Pikachu before they too went their own ways.
XXXX
"Even though we agreed we could do what we want...what SHOULD we start with?" Ash couldn't help but sweat drop, earning a light chuckle from Pikachu. The two of them were making their way through one of the many halls of the ship, the various shops and facilities passing them by.
Pikachu for his part just enjoyed the ride on his Trainer's shoulder. To him, just seeing all this was a treat. Whatever Ash chose to do, he'd follow along and enjoy alongside him for sure. As they continued to walk, they soon heard some rather familiar sounds. "Is someone having a Battle?" Ash blinked as they soon followed the sound and found themselves in an area they hadn't explored yet.
"Wow, how'd we miss this one?" Ash couldn't help but grin, as they found what appeared to be a room that seemed to be made specifically for Battles. The sizable room held several arenas which while not as big as say the arenas in a Gym, they were large enough for a Pokemon Battle, especially with smaller Pokemon. Furthermore, around the arenas were a few shops that sold various items that supported Pokemon Battles, such as Potions and even a few Items for Pokemon to use. There were even a few PCs to allow Trainers to switch out their teams as needed.
Ash took a moment to look over the area, and noticed several other Trainers of various ages already gathered. "What do you think, buddy? Wanna test our skills against everyone here?"
Pikachu gave him an eager look as they soon entered the area. It was time to get some practice in.
The Trainers present were all eager to test their skills against anyone who decided to join in, and so finding an opponent wasn't hard, and there were plenty to choose from, from younger Trainers, to even adults who'd had more experience under their belt. Either way, Ash was eager to test his skills against as many of them as he could.
XXXX
"Pikachu, Iron Tail!" Ash ordered as Pikachu evaded the Rock Throw his opponent had used, and landed the attack squarely onto the Rhyhorn's forehead, causing it to hit the ground with swirly eyes...and a small goose egg.
"Alright, we're off to a good start!" Ash grinned, while Pikachu cheered and did a V sign as the referee confirmed their opponent wasn't able to battle.
XXXX
"Pidgeotto, do a Whirlwind Gust!" Ash ordered, Pidgeotto nodding as she flew towards her opponent, a Sandshrew, which tried to charge at her, but she evaded before flying around it, using Gust to generate winds and kick up a powerful tornado. The Sandshrew tried to escape it, but too late. It was soon sucked into the winds and after a...spin cycle...found itself ejected from the top, and landed just shy of its trainer, eyes swirly...and looking a little green.
"A little TOO fast on the winds there, but good job," Ash chuckled a bit at Pidgeotto, who was pleased, even if she sweat dropped a bit at seeing the other Trainer rushing their Pokemon to the nearby toilet.
XXXX
"Butterfree, find an opening and use Sleep Powder!" Ash ordered as Butterfree continued to dodge the Water Guns sent forth from his opponent, a Cloyster who upon seeing him coming, quickly retracted into its shell...which was a bad move as that left him free to spread a generous helping of Sleep Powder. The powder covered the Cloyster, and after a few minutes...a loud snoring was heard.
"Wait, what?!" the opponent gasped.
"Sorry, but hiding in its shell won't save it from a Status Effect Move!" Ash smirked a bit. "Now, send it flying with Whirlwind!"
Butterfree nodded and started flapping his wings rapidly, sending his opponent flying right out of the arena, still snoring away.
"...well, Cloyster is still asleep AND out of the arena, so I guess that means Cloyster is unable to battle?" the referee blinked, not fully sure what to make of that.
XXXX
"There's an opening! Full power Water Gun, Squirtle!" Ash ordered, Squirtle obeying and shouting his name as he fired a powerful blast of water. His opponent, a Graveler tried to stand its ground, and while it was clearly not enjoying tanking the Water Gun, it seemed to be holding its ground, planting its feet firmly into the ground and even pushing forward a little bit. "Don't give up! Keep up the pressure!" Ash encouraged as Squirtle gave it his best.
At first it seemed like the Graveler would be able to win out but after a moment it started to get pushed back...before a dam broke and it finally lost its footing, getting sent flying back...to which its Trainer was forced to duck out of the way...as well as everyone else in the way...until the random shop owner who's shop happened to be in the way, almost boredly rang a bell he had on hand, to which an Alakazam poked its head out from behind the counter and almost casually stopped Graveler's flight with a psychic grip before letting go, leaving it to roll to the ground, swirly eyed.
"Sorry about that!" Ash called out, Squirtle letting out an apologetic 'Squir…'
"Eh, it's fine. This happens more often than you'd think," The shop owner waved off casually, while the Alakazam just yawned.
XXXX
"Bulbasaur, dodge it with Vine Whip!" Ash ordered, Bulbasaur acting quickly and using Vine Whip to help him leap higher into the air than he'd normally be able to, just in time to avoid the charging Tauros. "Now, Leech Seed!" he ordered, Bulbasair nodding and quickly firing said seed, which stuck onto the Tauros's back, the vines soon spreading and binding the Tauros that struggled to escape but continued to have its energy drained.
"Don't give it an opening to recover! Poison Powder!" Ash ordered as Bulbasaur let out a 'Saur!' and released the Move, poisoning Tauros who continued to struggle but ultimately couldn't take it anymore and fell over.
"Tauros is unable to battle, Bulbasaur wins!" the referee declared as Bulbasaur dismissed the Leech Seed.
"Great job, Bulbasaur!" Ash grinned, while Pikachu cheered as well. Bulbasaur likewise seemed pleased, before he extended a Vine Whip and after a moment of rummaging through Ash's bag, much to his Trainer's confused blinks, pulled out a Pecha Berry and quickly went over to the Tauros and offered the Berry, which it accepted happily.
Ash blinked before smiling a bit at what Bulbasaur did.
XXXX
With how many wins he was getting, Ash had gotten quite a crowd, and quite a few challengers.
"You're pretty good, but this time your luck's about to run out," his next opponent said as they stepped onto the opposite side of the arena, revealing to be a Stoutland Pokemorph. He was a middle aged man with a rather lean build and was well dressed in a fine tuxedo complete with a bow tie and a tophat. Heck, he'd apparently even trimmed his fur short in order to fit better into the outfit, seeing as if Ash remembered right, Stoutlands, be it Pokemon or Pokemorph were known for their rather thick fur. He'd even done his 'mustache' which was now a lot shorter as it only extended to slightly below his chin. On his face he had a pair of round tinted glasses and peeking out from under his hat was short dark blonde hair.
"We'll see about that," Ash said with a confident smirk. "I'll take on any challenge!" he said.
"Well then, show me what you can do! Go, Raticate!" he said, throwing a Pokeball which popped open to reveal the Pokemon in question.
"A Raticate, huh?" Ash frowned, before taking out his Pokedex and scanning it. "Raticate, the Mouse Pokemon. Raticate is a Normal-type Pokemon native to the Kanto Region, and is the evolved form of Rattata. Raticate are known to gnaw at anything with their sharp fangs including concrete, which have led to building collapses if left unchecked."
"Yikes, I'd hate to be on the receiving end of those," Ash sweat dropped, while Pikachu looked a little intimidated by that bit of info. Even so, Ash thought about who to use, and made his choice. "This is our first Battle together, but I'm counting on you, Charmander!"
Charmander appeared from his Pokeball and let out a determined 'Char!'. This was going to be his first Battle with his new Trainer and he fully intended to prove himself.
"Raticate, let's start things up with Focus Energy!" the gentleman said.
Raticate narrowed its eyes and glowed with a red aura as it used the Move.
"Don't give it a chance to take the initiative! Ember!" Ash said quickly.
Charmander acted quickly, firing small bursts of fire from his mouth, causing Raticate to quickly move to try and dodge, even if he still managed to singe some of its fur.
"Raticate, use Pursuit!" the gentleman followed up.
Raticate quickly regained its footing and gained a dark aura before surging forward, going straight for Charmander.
"Charmander, use Scratch!" Ash gasped at the sight.
Charmander barely had the time to use the Move before Raticate slammed into him, knocking him back, though in the process he DID manage to claw at Raticate, forcing it to recoil from the sudden damage.
"There's an opening! Use Flamethrower!" Ash ordered, hoping Charmander could recover fast enough to take advantage of the opening.
"Raticate, use Super Fang!" the gentleman gasped.
Both Pokemon heard their orders and quickly tried to regain their footing and bearings, before obeying the order...and as it so happened, Charmander was able to regain his wits a little faster, and as such, Raticate found itself charging face first into a gout of flames.
"Oh no!" the gentleman gasped, seeing Raticate take the Move head on. Charmander kept up the flames for a moment, before cutting them off, revealing a now very sooty Raticate, who breathed out a puff of smoke, and then fell over, eyes swirly.
"Raticate is unable to battle! Charmander wins!" the referee declared.
"Alright! Good job, Charmander!" Ash cheered, Pikachu joining in, while Charmander had a happy smile at the win.
"That was very impressive, young man," the gentleman congratulated as he recalled his Raticate. "You've got some real talent for someone so young," he chuckled. "Then again, I imagine you must be quite the Trainer to be able to collect all three of the Kanto Starters."
Ash and Pikachu both paused at that, before the young pokemorph blinked a few times "I… you know, that actually totally slipped my mind."
"Wait, he's got all the Starters?!" one of the other Trainers gasped.
"Hey, now that I think about it, he DID use a Bulbasaur and a Squirtle before!" another added, and then a domino effect happened, and before Ash could fully understand what was going on, he was suddenly swarmed by the other Trainers, especially the younger ones who were asking him questions about how he got such hard to find Pokemon, and even asking for a few tips.
Needless to say, Ash suddenly found himself in over his head in a very strange way…
XXXX
Meanwhile, in another part of the ship, Misty was having fun window shopping again, while enjoying a freshly made crepe in her hand. "Still almost can't believe we're actually getting to ride in the S. S. Anne," Misty chuckled as she continued to enjoy her time. It had been a hard pick of what she'd do with her time, but she'd decided that for now she was going to continue window shopping while trying out any treats that caught her attention. Maybe she should take a picture and send it back to her Sisters.
That thought made her a little giddy. Oh she loved her sisters...but being the little sister, and after years of them teasing and ribbing her, she had fun one upping them when she could. And with how much they loved to talk, she KNEW they'd never gotten to ride on the S. S. Anne. Just imagining the looks on their faces made her giddy.
With that in mind, she quickly finished up her treat, and decided to see where best she could start taking some photos. "Maybe I should take a picture during the convention," she mused. "But a few shots now would be great too. Oooh, a few shots by the pool are a must too," she grinned.
XXXX
While that was going on, Brock was elsewhere on the ship. Where exactly? You get 3 guesses and the first two don't count.
"Excuse me-" he started, but was promptly interrupted.
"Pass," the woman he was trying to talk to, a rather attractive Mienshao Morph with long black hair and dressed in a rather flattering two piece, said simply.
"But I-" Brock started again, but was cut off again.
"Try sounding less desperate first," she said, before getting off the deck chair she was on and went over to the pool before she dove in.
That seemed to take the wind out of his sails as he watched her go, before sighing and sitting down onto the now empty deck chair. When he had split up from Ash and Misty, he had gone straight for the pool. Heck, he didn't even bother going back to the room to get any extras and just rented some swimwear...which was why he was wearing a very colorful pair of floral trunks.
Of course, he didn't particularly mind, and not to toot his own horn, but another advantage of the training he went through to be the Gym Leader for the Pewter Gym while his parents were away meant that he definitely could rock the shirtless look if he ever felt like it. Naturally once he was ready, he wasted no time in trying to strike up a conversation with some of the beautiful ladies who were enjoying the pool.
Okay, so the first one he picked, a lovely looking Flareon, just happened to be done sunbathing and had to go, so he didn't get to talk much. Nothing to be done about that. The second lady he tried to talk with, a beautiful Gardevoire, was polite...including being polite about how she was married. Yeah, he felt a bit silly on that one. The third lady, an attractive Altaria, seemed...strangely unimpressed with his attempts to talk with her and left soon after...and then came the Mienshao he'd just tried to talk to.
"I don't get it. I mean, I wasn't coming on too strong or something, was I?" he sighed.
"Actually I think it was probably how you went straight from one woman to another," came a voice next to him, to which he turned to see a male Sceptile Morph in his mid 20s, dressed in a pair of green trunks, showing off his toned body. He was currently laying back on the deck chair with a pair of sunglasses on his head, and his blonde hair at a shoulder length cut.
"Huh?" Brock blinked.
"Friendly advice man, if you're trying to hit on women...don't immediately jump from one to the other after one says 'no'. Kinda makes you look like a player," the Sceptile snorted.
"Ah...when you put it that way…" Brock sweat dropped a bit, seeing his point. Maybe he should rethink how he goes about this...
XXXX
"Dad was right, too much attention is overrated," Ash groaned. After managing to escape the crowd of eager Trainers who apparently thought he was some super Trainer just because he'd by luck managed to gain all three of the Kanto Starters, he and Pikachu were now exploring more of the ship.
Pikachu let out a tired sigh, just glad that they'd managed to escape that crowd. If that was the reaction they'd possibly be getting, he'd had enough of battling for one day. The two decided to enjoy the time a bit by further exploring the ship, and even enjoying some of the food on offer, unknowingly taking a page out of Misty's book.
After a while, they found themselves getting close to one of the paths towards the decks, with Ash noticing a gym sign present, with it offering free service for any passengers. "...wanna see what this one has?" Ash asked his partner.
Pikachu shrugged, since he was fine with anything. Besides, a workout after some of those treats they had sounded pretty good too. That idly made him think of a random Pikachu he'd encountered before he was caught by Professor Oak. Let's just say that one liked eating berries a little too much to be healthy. On the plus side, seeing it roll down a hill was funny.
The two soon entered the gym, and found that it was quite well equipped, and even had a window that opened up to the pool area, which was now more crowded than earlier if Ash remembered right. The gym was stocked with a variety of equipment...and even had smaller treadmills and weight machines for the smaller Pokemon to use. "Seems like a pretty good place," Ash chuckled a bit, before he decided why not.
XXXX
Brock sighed as he was currently walking through the hallways again. After the total bust before, he'd decided to actually enjoy what the ship had to offer. The problem was he wasn't really sure what to do. As he was walking, he noticed another shop that seemed to sell cooking utensils, but he had a feeling they'd burn through his budget if he went and bought some of them. However, that was when he realized he heard the sound of cooking further back in.
"What's going on here?" he mused, now very curious and soon entered the shop.
"Welcome," the clerk, a male Skarmory morph with short black hair dressed in a fairly standard uniform said. "What might we interest you with today?"
"Oh, sorry, I'm not here to buy. I was curious about the sound of cooking I was hearing...and smelling for that matter," Brock asked as a pleasant scent hit his nose.
"That would be our cooking class at the back. We offer services to passengers to learn of various cuisines and how to prepare them. Our selection covers foods from all over the world," the clerk helpfully explained.
"All over the world huh?" Brock said with interest, smiling a bit. "Think I could sign up then?"
"Certainly," the clerk smiled before taking out a form. "Just sign your name and your Trainer ID here, and a small fee, and you are welcome to come for any class of your choice for the duration of the cruise."
"Alright then," Brock nodded, filling in the details and paying the fee. The Clerk quickly processed the data, before giving Brock a card that had his data on it.
"Here is your membership card. You'll need that to attend the classes. One is in progress, but you should be able to watch then join the next one," the Clerk explained with a smile.
"Alright, I think I'll do that thank you," Brock smiled as well before going to where the classes were being held.
XXXX
While Ash was busy working out and Brock was busy expanding his menu, Misty was...floating in one of the pools, sighing happily as she found the pool was heated to make it a comfortable warm temperature, even letting herself sink into the water completely. "This is just absolutely perfect…" she sighed happily as she was in the pool at the back of the ship. By now the day was ending and thus she was enjoying the sunset while enjoying the pool as well.
She'd gotten a few great pictures, but she fully intended to get more through the cruise. However one upping her sisters could wait. She was so glad she'd won the ticket, and with plenty more to look forward to...yeah, she fully intended to enjoy this cruise as fully as she could. Their little vacation was just beginning.
XXXX
And done. The group are able to board the S. S. Anne and actually get to enjoy it first. After everything, a break is always appreciated. Also, with the nature of this chapter, another Retold File is ready.
File No. 8: The S. S. Anne
The S. S. Anne is a famous cruise ship that is known to sail the world. The ship originates from and regularly returns to the Kanto region, while providing cruises that can both be local or across regions. It is known as a high tier luxury cruise and thus the tickets to ride are highly sought after, being top tier prizes in certain raffles or cost a high price. However, anyone fortunate enough to get a ticket generally comes out of the experience with a positive feeling.
