This chapter was certainly difficult to write being that, after fifty-four chapters, it's the trainers who get more of the spotlight. Zack's trainer to be precise, that is: the nameless trainer to whom I have yet to pick a name for. I don't want it being just a plain, normal name. I'd like for it to be a unique name so if anybody has any suggestions, I shall take it. Nevertheless, I feel that I fleshed out Zack's trainer's character rather well for a start and shall continue to shape him into the kind of character I want him to be portrayed as along with Laura.

In the meanwhile, with this chapter out, I'm making plans to write out my own Abridged series to which I will be doing a read out of on my YouTube channel. The series will consist of ten episodes per season, which there are ten of. Don't worry though, I'll still be writing Zack's story. This Abridged series is more "on the side" project I'll be occasionally working on. If you wish to see more content that I've created, I shall leave a link to my YouTube channel for anyone interested in checking them out. :)

Chapter 55: Bonding

My mind was abuzz with many thoughts swirling about as I stared out across the vast, endless ocean; perplexed by recent events I had come to know about. Upon regaining both my health and my consciousness, I had learned from Ted the results of Charcoal's battle. It concerned me with what was going on with him, but was told not to press the issue. At least not for the moment. He said something about Charcoal not willing to talk if cornered and to wait and see how things turned out or something. He did say we were to help him so as to discover what set him off. At least I think. I wasn't paying full attention at that bit. Nevertheless, while Charcoal's anger was questioning, there was a far more questioning mystery surrounding the laid back bear.

Before being told of the situation involving Charcoal, I had seen him talking with Raikou. Out of respect for them both, I chose not to listen in on their conversation until after Raikou took his leave, but not before being acknowledged by him for putting on a "rather unique battle." I then asked Ted what they were talking about to which he replied with, "I was merely apologizing for him having to see Charcoal's battle" which led to me asking what had happened and well, you know the story from there. The next day after, we took our leave upon a ship for the next gym. I kept my distance from Charcoal the entire time, taking Ted's advice not to corner him. Besides, even if I had wanted to ask him about what happened, I wouldn't be able to since the rocking of the ship made his stomach queasy.

Back to my main point, I wasn't entirely sure why, but I felt as though there was something about Ted that he wasn't letting on. Perhaps it had something to do with how low their voices were. It also could have been the way that Ted turned his head back towards me without having to turn it. Then again, I could have just been overthinking what I thought I saw and was assuming too much.

I let loose a sigh as the thoughts overwhelmed my mind. I needed a way to clear them before-

"There you are Zack!"

I turned, my thoughts broken, as my trainer came walking up to me, kneeling down to scratch behind my ear. I had to say, it felt nice.

"Hey boy!" he said. "I bet you're pretty bummed about us not getting the badge, huh?" Among other things. "That's why you're out here, isn't it?"

"One of many few reasons," was my response.

"Yeah I know. I just don't get why Charcoal acted the way he did. I'm hoping to find out before we challenge Surge again."

"Me too."

"That's why I'm taking a class they have here on the ship. They're hosting several different events on the way, one of which is the class that will help me better understand you guys." That sounded kinda cool. "I was wanting to take it with Charcoal, but he's currently unable to really do anything while we're on the sea. It frustrates me because I've barely sent him out in battles." I looked at him dead in the face, seeing the anguish he held in his eyes and placed a paw upon him for comfort. He looked back at me and gave a small smile. "But hey, look at it this way: taking the class with you will help me learn what I need to do for Charcoal, right? I mean after all, you and I managed to connect during the gym battle. So maybe it'll be a bit easier for us?" If only he knew that it was because of my future-seeing ability that we managed to make a comeback. But then, why discourage him when he was quite determined with this? "Then again, it could have been a one time thing and I'll need to learn everything I can anyway."

The thought in itself was intriguing. I wasn't really opposed to wanting to understand humans as they wanted to understand me. The thought never really crossed my mind once in all my travels until now. He did have a goal that both Ted and I wanted to know as well and taking this class thing might help lead to knowing what set Charcoal off. It was definitely a better idea to do than just sitting here with all these jumbled thoughts. I placed a paw over his mouth to stop his chattering, which surprisingly he somehow got the message. Getting up, we both then proceeded for the class with a goal on mind and the desire to learn of the other in a sense.

"Greetings one and all to the Pokemon Bonding Event!" a young, energetic girl said to the small crowd of people and their Pokemon. "Whether you're a rookie trainer just starting out or a pet owner with a disobedient Pokemon, we're here to help you begin to understand the basics of your Pokemon's behavior! But how does one begin such a feat if there's a wide gap in the connection, you might ask. That is what the main focus will be for the next hour. And by the end of that hour, I guarantee that all of you will learn how to work better together as both a team member and/or a friend!"

Zack looked about the small crowd, only paying slight attention to the woman up front. He already knew what needed to be done and had the desire to help his trainer be able to understand him better. After all, if they were to run into Destiny again, he would want to make sure his trainer was safe from harm; or at the very least send him away to get help so that it would buy a little more time for him to beat the Psychic Pokemon. Laura was also someone he didn't want getting hurt. He may have not known much about her, but he wouldn't be able to live with himself if anything happened to the trainer of both Ted and Skitty.

As it were, Laura was also attending the class as well, no doubt wanting to connect with D.Z. he had figured. The only problem was was that D.Z. took off running the first chance he could get, wanting nothing more than to return to what he had called his home once. That, of course, resulted in Ted having to keep an eye on him. Henceforth, Laura came by herself to take notes to use for later. Zack's attention was then diverted onto his trainer as he tried figuring how the best way to start would be.

"All right," he said. "How do we begin to do this?" Zack placed a paw upon his muzzle, pondering the thought as well. Surely there had to be something that he could think of that could help them both in this situation, right? He let his mind wander back to previous battles he's been in whenever his trainer was present, trying to recall a time that there might have been the slightest hint of what they were focusing on. There weren't a lot of battles they've been in together, but of the times they've had, had there not been teamwork in amongst those?

"OK!" his trainer said. "I think I know how to start. We'll practice trying to understand attack patterns like what we did back at the gym. And in between doing that, I can focus more on taking proper care of you so that if we run into the D.C.A. again, they can't ticket me for negligence." He paused briefly as he pondered once again and smiled more to himself. Zack tilted his head curiously, wondering what it was he was thinking about. "That sounds like a good idea, doesn't it? I mean, we have worked well together so far in some of our previous battles and would like to continue to work on that."

Zack blinked, finding it rather interesting that he and his trainer were on the same thought process. Then again, he had been the one to partake in the majority of battles. Perhaps he had never noticed it until now. Then again, maybe he had known it all along and pretended not to know. If that were the case, what did he know about himself? Had he been one big lie all this time? Was he not who he thought he was? Were all of his adventures pointless? And why, oh why, was there a Roselia in the room? Flashbacks to one of his previous encounters with a group of Roselia came to the forefront of his mind, fear of this one being a member of that group quickly rose as he/she glanced in his direction. To avoid direct eye contact, Zack nodded in response to his trainer's question, to which he received a scratch behind his ear.

"It's settled then! We're going to work really hard on communicating and hopefully help Charcoal and whatever future Pokemon we add to the team!"

"Right!"

For the rest of the hour Zack practiced learning basic commands such as raising his left paw, stopping momentarily before raising his right paw. His trainer was taken aback a little at the sudden switch, realizing that Zack was using the logic given back at the Vermillion Gym. "Good boy!" he said, giving him a pat. "But not all commands are going to be like that. You'll have to know which command to listen to and which command to do the opposite of."

"Right," Zack replied in understanding.

"Maybe that could be your battle strategy," Laura commented. "Be unique to other trainers."

"You think so?"

"If you do, I'll have to keep up with my training to match yours. I can't let you go beating me easily."

"OK. Yeah!" he said, pumping his fists. "That sounds like a great strategy! I'll work hard with my Pokemon to perfect that kind of training!"

"I just hope that I can get D.Z. to listen me," Laura said with a sigh. "He always makes a break for it the first chance he gets and gets into small scrapings with Ted which usually affects the others."

"He does?"

"You wouldn't know because you're not usually attentive to what I do," Laura deadpanned.

"Oh! Right. S-sorry." He paused briefly. "Did you at least get some ideas you could use?"

"I have a few in mind," Laura replied. "I just hope that it works."

"What if it doesn't though?"

"I guess I'll figure it out if none of them work," she replied with a shrug. "That guy was pretty helpfully cute though."

"Cute?" he questioned with an odd look

"Don't judge my taste in guys. I have the right to decide who I find attractive or not."

"I didn't mean that! I just-"

The sound of a bell chiming suddenly interrupted their conversation as the girl from before walked back up to the front. "All right everyone. The bell has sounded meaning that the hour is up! I hope we were able to help everyone start their journey in knowing just who your Pokemon are. Whether you all decide to continue this training or not is totally up to you. Remember: the choice you make reflects what kind of person you really are! In the meanwhile, thank you all very much for participating! We hope you come back again in the near future for our intermediate courses! Have a very wonderful day!"

"Attention passengers! This is your captain speaking! We will be docking into the town of Porta Vista shortly. Porta Vista is home to its exquisite shoreline restaurants, its fun fair festival, and its once a year Beach Beauty and Pokemon Costume Contest! You'll be astounded with the amount of fun, beautiful sights, and all the food you could ever want to eat! If you're a passenger passing through, please stay at some of its luxurious hotels. Otherwise, the maximum wait time to board your next ship is at least three hours. In the meantime, thank you for sailing the S.S. Marianne. We hope to see you all again!"

"Whoaaa!" Zack said in awestruck, surveying the island as the ship began its preparations for docking. "It's so cool!"

"It is rather breath-taking," Ted said from beside him. "I hear that it's even more awestruck at night."

"How so?"

"I think it has something to do with how the lights make such places capture the elegance of the mood or something."

"Arrgh! Now I really want it to be night so that I could see!"

Ted chuckled. "I'm sure we will at some point." Ted glanced at him, taking note of something rather peculiar. "In the meanwhile, I'm not sure you're aware of it, but you have something upon your back."

"Hmm? I do?" Zack turned his head to inspect what was upon it and smiled. "Oh! You mean this red cloth."

"Red cloth?"

"Yeah. It's to remind me of some friends from so long ago."

"I see. That makes it rather special then, doesn't it?"

"It sure does," Zack said, smiling warmly to himself, thinking back to all the times they would spend together whether it be playing games or seeking out adventure within their home area. It was a nostalgic feeling, one that made him realize how much he missed them. He wondered where they were and how they were doing. Who knew? Maybe he'd run into them again someday? Nevertheless, adventure called to him and as such, he heeded the call, venturing out to discover what lied beyond his home.

"OK," Laura said, snapping him from his thoughts. "I'm looking at the time our ship is supposed to arrive and it looks like we have a good solid three hours to wait."

"Three hours huh?" Zack's trainer questioned. "That seems like more than enough time for me to train with Charcoal."

"And I'm going to check out some of the shops and restaurants they have here!"

"What about all that talk about training D.Z.?"

"There'll be plenty of time for that," Laura replied. "I don't want to waste my time here training him. You, on the other hand, can go off doing your training. Speaking of which, I should probably go grab Skitty. Poor thing's been off balance since we left Vermillion."

"What about D.Z.?"

"He's back in his ball," Laura told him. "I found him fast asleep earlier on the side of the ship and recalled him to his ball."

"I'll go grab Charcoal then. Hopefully he'll get over his seasickness quick enough to get some training in."

"At least give him an hour. He deserves that much."

"All right!" he said, somewhat irritated. "I'll give him an hour. I'll see how he's doing then."

As they walked off to grab their Pokemon, the ship began to back in, slowing to a stop. Zack turned about excitedly, his tail wagging furiously at the chance to check out the town. A gust of wind blew about, filing the air with nothing but saltwater. It was slightly strong, but not strong enough to lift him into the air. But then, how could a breeze lift such a creature as him? Perishing the thought, Zack turned about to meet up with his trainer on land when Ted stopped him in his tracks.

"Um... Zack bro?"

"Yeah?" Zack questioned, looking back at Ted who pointed up into the air. Zack followed to where his claw was pointing in time to see what looked to be a red piece of cloth being blown away into the town.