The Road to Indigo (Pokemon RP (Closed): Chapter 7: Dead Living On The Radio...)

[Lambi]

Blaze turned to the little Cyndaquil who was eating her food. "Charmeleon. Char, Charme. Charmeleon." How's the sauce hitting you? Pretty hot, isn't it? First time I've tried the Charizard sauce myself. She burped again and another fireball came out that also evaporated before it could hit anything.

Aeris managed to stand up after a while and thought to release the rest of her team from their Pokeballs. Tristan, Ekans, Xal and Felina appeared in a white light that quickly went away. All of them looked confused towards the Misdreavus that sat on her head, though Xal and Ekans were a little less confused than the rest of them, and wondered where Sonya was. "Guys, this is the new addition to our team. Meet Jessie. I traded her for Sonya with a girl I battled with. Xal and Ekans, you already fought against the girl, and Ekans even fought against Jessie. I do assure you that I didn't just trade her away easily. Sonya agreed to it and I am sure I can trust that trainer to take good care of her. Jessie here should become a valuable member of our team, so I want you all to make her feel welcome. Blaze already met her earlier when I had them both out of their Pokeballs."

The Misdreavus nodded towards all of them and they all nodded back. Tristan the Butterfree wanted to hug her, but he just went through her since she apparently didn't want a hug. Xal the Geodude just waved. Ekans, being the timid snake he was, just sort of waved his tail. And Feline the Meowth looked more around for stuff she could grab, the first thing she noticed being the food, so she made a beeline for it and came back with a handful of some rather tasty looking treats, which she shared with the ones that hadn't eaten. Tristan then flew over to the table and got himself a bit more, with Xal following him and both of them returning with more Pokemon food for Felina and Ekans, who thanked the two. Jessie thought that the interactions and friendship that the others showed was astonishing and interesting. Perhaps she was in a good place after all. Meanwhile, Blaze only just then stood up to walk over to Quinn, just more to watch over the little thing than anything else.

Aeris turned her attention to Rochelle and Charlie after making sure that Jessie might be starting to feel more comfortable with everyone else, which she seemed to be. Though she did visibly flinch when she saw Kirsten out of her Pokeball, so she moved over to Rochelle to keep her between herself and Kirsten. "I-it's just wrong to leave P-Pokemon just b-because they aren't good enough. I-I would never do that myself." She started to stutter just from having seen Kirsten. Crap in a bottle, I hate it when I start getting like this. Focus, Aeris, focus... She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself by just focusing on the conversation with Rochelle and Charlie.

 

[CounterAttack]

"Neither would I... that's not something I would wish on any Pokémon," Rochelle agreed with Aeris, taking care to avoid commenting on her fear of Kirsten. "If they want to leave, it's their choice, but just ditching them like that... no. It's not right." With that she returned to Charlie's comments after another mouthful of food. The Remoraid was good, though it had some kind of flavour she didn't recognise. Perhaps it was a herb found in other regions.

"Hmm, yes, Kingdra. A good Pokémon to have, since it's part Water, part Dragon-type. Though it needs a certain object to evolve from Seadra, a Dragon Scale. I dunno where I'm going to get one of those... and it'll be a while before Kirsten will be a Seadra anyway. If I remember correctly, almost all Dragon Pokémon, or those related to them, take a while to raise and evolve."

She turned her eyes to Kirsten for a moment. The Horsea was happily munching on a cube of food, content with her place in Rochelle's team. The Trainer silently noted that if she ever found the person who had abandoned her, they would not be happy with Rochelle's reaction to him or her. Any decent Trainer wouldn't just leave a Pokémon, an injured one no less, behind them if they thought it was weak. But then, Kirsten had won Rochelle a good couple of battles, including the one against Brock. So she wasn't as ineffective as her previous Trainer had thought.

 

[elementsoul]

When Sarah stood up, Callum had a slight thought of shock passed through his mind. She?s tiny. I mean really small. If I had hit her jumping over, I probably would have broken whatever I hit. I?m going to have to be a lot more careful around people; this isn?t a forest after all.

Callum noticed he was staring a little in silence so he started to reply to her questions. ?We did come from the party below. We were actually admitted with a bit of a large group and most people seemed to split up from each other. As for the way back I?m pretty sure that I can remember the way. If you?d like to join us and head back I?ll be glad to wait here. It seems like Eileen needs a few minutes to laydown anyways.?

When he finished his reply Callum walked over to Eileen with a slight stagger in his step. He pulled the girl back onto the chair so that she was laying down again before taking a quick look over at the hallway entrance to see if the pissed off sailor had returned yet. ?If you could go fast it would be appreciated,? Callum said to Sarah with a bit of a nervous tone. If the sailor was to return Callum was unsure as to if he?d be able to out run him with Eileen.

 

[Pm0n3y]

Charlie nodded along with the two girls as they conversed on the acts of selfishly leaving a Pokémon behind, before realizing that the plate in front of him was slowly emptying, the side once piled with pokémon food now almost entirely vacant. Not really sure how to react to Aeris' sudden stuttering (along with noticing how Rochelle didn't pick up on it as well), Charlie shrugged and turned his attention towards his Pokémon.

"Geez, you guys practically cleaned the plate! Was it good?" He asked, receiving satisfied confirmations in nods, chirps, and other sounds and motions. Nina took this chance to get closer to her master, eagerly jumping over the plate and landing in his lap. Charlie couldn't help but pet the Nidoran as she made herself more comfortable.

"Here Nina, have a Poffin." He said simply, placing a pink pastry with blue sprinkles in front of her. She sniffed at it quizzically before taking a bite, taking more bites as she realized how delicious it was. Passing out two more Poffins to Parker and Talon, he then turned towards Quinn, who was still eating in a very fast fashion.

"Quinnell Emily! Slow down! That food's not going anywhere!" He said, causing her to look up from the plate. Within that second, she let out a burp, a large ball of flame following it along with some small flames sprouting from her back before dying back down. Much too close for comfort, Charlie and Nina hopped back in the seat, almost tipping over as a result. With a nervous chuckle, Charlie wiped what was left of the apparently spicy sauce from around her mouth using a napkin. Nina, on the other hand, was not happy about the whole ordeal, and shot more daggers in Quinn's direction.

"Heh heh...Well, about your ordeal Rochelle, if you had found Kirsten while it was wild, you might've had a chance to already have the Dragon Scale. Back when I used to help out at the Day Care, I read a book about those type of things. It said there's a possibility that you could find on these scales on wild Horseas and Dratinis and such. I'm...surprised I still remember that." He remarked, now stroking his chin as the the cogs of his mind began working up a thought.

"...Through some otherworldly event we happen to eventually find the trainer that abandoned your Kirsten, we can shake 'im down, and see if they'd still have it. I mean, it's not they'd need it, right?" He said with a chuckle as he finished off the Torchic wings.

More interested in what was left of her food than Nina's general bitchiness, Quinn turned more towards Blaze as she moved in closer to the Fire Mouse. "Qui! Quiquil! Cynda!" It is hot! But a good hot! My flames will be so much stronger after this!" She replied happily, polishing off the remainder of food. Charlie began to notice Quinn's manner towards Blaze, and smiled at how well she's come out of her shell.

"Huh, I usually don't see Quinn this excited. Looks like she's found a friend in Blaze, Aeris!" He said, handing his Fire-Type the last Poffin, a red one topped with yellow sprinkles, as he too finished his dinner.

 

[NeoAC]

Spoiler: OOC

Fary's actions and dialogue were written by Lizmichi.

As Tyler started reeling in his line, the rod bending with the weight on the end, Jordan just stared at him. Dude, that's not cool. He wasn't even out here longer than me and he's got something? As Tyler fished up his catch, people in the immediate area hit the deck, and for Jordan he remained there after the Pokemon landed aboard the ship. Once he saw those glowing red orbs, his mind flashed back to his childhood, when one of that Tentacool's brethren tagged him and knocked him out of commission for a few months.

"Dude, not cool! Like, get that thing out of here, bro!" Unfortunately, Tyler decided to do the opposite of that suggestion, and quickly captured the Jellyfish Pokemon. Jordan emerged from behind his deck chair, as Tyler tucked away his latest catch. "Man, that's so gnarly, like I can't get anything going over here." Jordan reeled in his line to prove his point. As the hook rose into the line of sight, the hook on the end of it was empty. "Kidding me? What the hell is going on? Like I'm losing all my food over here."

Fary, with fishing pole in hand and Rogue in tow, emerged out on the fishing deck. She looked around and stopped once she saw Jordan. She sighed, the pangs of guilt filling her once again. "Ummm hey Jordan," she said, standing behind him with a guilty look on her face.

Jordan turned around to see Fary coming over, she seemed intent on joining the party out there. She had been silent since the outburst in the Cerulean Pokemon Center, so this was a surprise. "Oh, hey Fary. You like, out here to fish too huh?" Jordan put another hunk of his makeshift bait onto the line.

"Yes, something like that. Ummm, mind if I sit next to you?" she asked, biting her lip as she expected him to tell her to go away.

"Go for it, it's a free ship, you know?" Jordan answered. He could have told her to take off and ride on out, but that wasn't his style. If there was something to be worked on, it could be worked on. "So, how's the cruise treating you so far?"

"It's been OK. I've been spending most of my time in the main room. So, ummm, how are you?" she asked as she sat next to him. She looked at her feed and played with it, not being able to bring herself to look at him.

"I dunno. Wish I could catch something. I'm coming up zeroes, like with nothing. Can't even get a bite. It sucks."

"Well you caught a gym leader. That has to say something," Fary commented. She reached down and started petting Rogue.

Jordan sighed as Fary brought up his tryst with Misty. "Yeah, I guess, but it's like, I dunno. I dunno if there is really anything there, you know? Well, I guess. I mean, we're like, even on the GL count. You can have the next one." I guess she's like using her own stuff as bait. Damn, I should have thought of like, the homemade stuff.

Fary's hopes perked up a bit when she heard Jordan might not have a real connection with Misty. "I see and thanks." She hooked some of the bait she bought on the hook and cast it into the water. "I'm sorry Jordan."

"Sorry for what? We each, like, did that same thing I guess," Jordan said, still gazing out onto the water. "I just don't know how willingly you went with it. That's what like, I don't get you know? You jumped on Rock Dude's ass from the get go, like I was ghosting. So what was it? Like why, you know? Especially someone that lame."

"It's a long story. Look, I know I fucked up. I've been fucked up for a while now. I wasn't like this a year ago. I don't know what I was thinking with Brock. I really don't." Fary sighed, looking at Jordan.

"Well, I guess we're in like, the same wavepipe then, aren't we?" Jordan remarked. "I dunno what's going on with you there Fary, but yeah, I dunno stuff right now either. That's all I can really say."

"I should let you know something. My ex is..." Fary felt a bite on her line and stood up, pulling it back on the rod as far as she could as she reeled it in. "Hey I got something!" she exclaimed, pulling the rod closer to her. After some time fighting it, she pulled up a Shellder, which was immediately set upon by Rogue. "Yes. Water and ice based attacks." Once Rogue was clear, she threw a Pokeball at the tired Pokemon and watched it shift back and forth on the floor of the ship before clicking shut.

Jordan just stared at the latest person to reel up a new Water Pokemon. "What the fuck, man! What the fuck! I can't get anything up in here!" He reeled in his line to see if anything was waiting on the end of it, but it was another goose egg. Just like the other times, the bait had disappeared as well. "Son of a..," he half cursed as he threw his rod onto the deck. "Dude that's it. Like I'm done with this man. This is like gnarly ass shit man. I'm getting some food. At least that won't float away on me." He waved at Tyler and Fary. "Later bros." He bolted from the scene of his latest failure and headed towards the middle of the ship, to where the buffet was at.

Fary picked up her Pokeball and followed him. "Wait Jordan, let me join you," she called softly, placing a hand on his shoulder after she had caught up.

Jordan was still a bit miffed over the sequence of events but allowed the hand to remain. "All right, like then, let's go I guess."

As the two left, the attendant, Marlon, waved at them. "Hope your catch was bountiful, and come-"

"Dude, just no, no man. No." Jordan led Fary out into the corridors of the ship.

After the walked for a few moments, Fary bit her lip and stopped him, wrapping her arms around him. "I'm sorry for you're bad luck. You can take the pokemon I just caught if you want," she said as she rested her head on his back. "My ex is a member of the Unova Elite 4," she blurted, out of the blue.

Those two statements didn't really go together in Jordan's mind, but he decided to press on. "Uh, OK, who's the Elite 4?"

"They're the best trainers in the region. You'd need to face and beat all the gym leaders before you can battle them." Fary nuzzled into his back, gripping him tighter, her arms shaking as she started to cry.

Jordan could feel Fary almost burrowing into his back, but what was digging at him more was the crying. "Fary, why are you like crying on me?"

"He left me for the fucking Elite 4. Lied and said he had to be single, and then right before leaving he called me a slut. I've been acting like one, maybe to show myself he's right for breaking up with me." Fary shook more. "I've never told this to anyone."

Not having much experience with the whole getting personal thing, at least one this level, Jordan didn't really know what to say to this development. "I, uh, that...that really sucks, Fary. Some guys are just total assholes, there are a couple of them on the beach. At least everyone knows their assholes now, so they don't get anything they want without moving on. Dunno if that helps, but it's true."

"No, it helps. It really does." Fary unlatched herself from Jordan's back and moved to his front, cuddling into his chest. "I know I can't hope to get you back but dammit I'll try," she vowed.

As Fary swung around to the front, Jordan felt a bit conflicted. A couple cities ago, she was jumping all over the place, now she was in his arms begging for forgiveness. How can I like, be sure she's not going to jump off to the next leader dude right after? I dunno. He gave Fary a pat on the back, and told her, "We'll see, I guess. Come on, let's like, find this banquet place. I'm starving."

Fary nodded softly and resumed following after him. "I miss seafood so much," she said, trying to change the topic.

"Well then we totally need to go get some right now." Jordan led the two down the hall. He could smell the food wafting through the air. They had to be close.

Fary looked about and darted ahead. She opened some double doors and started drooling. "I found it Jordan," she stated, taking him by the hand and pulling him in.

"Awesome," Jordan remarked as he followed.

 

[Lost In The Void]

Sarah smiled and left the boy and his fairly intoxicated friend to their own devices while she returned to her room. Taking time for a short shower, she was careful not to wet her hair, she didn't have time to fix her hair and it wasn't that frayed from the sun in the first place.

Getting out of shower quickly, she sprayed her hair with what she thought was an acceptable amount of hair spray and worked it into something presentable. Finally she slid into something she saved for special occasions. She didn't have much in terms of formal wear so if something came up, she used it.

After a few tweaks and tucks she left her room and returned. The entire ordeal had maybe taken 20 minutes all together and it appeared the two hadn't moved upon her departure, something that she was very grateful of. The blue dress clung lightly to her as she turned the bend to meet them, "Well I see you weren't found in your little hide hole," she smiled, "Shall we go?"

 

[RBMidknight]

Simon brushed invisible lint from his work shirt for the fifth time. The dark red long-sleeved shirt was spotless. As was his dark khaki pants. But Simon hadn't been able to iron the shirt for very long and it still felt wrinkled from being folded in his backpack. He probably should have gotten a suit like his mother had suggested.

Before arriving on the ship Simon had called home to give his mother an update on his whereabouts and offhandedly mentioned the party aboard the S.S. Anne. It was only mentioned because he'd had to leave before finishing the story of his last gym battle. His mother had latched onto the event as though it was a dinner with the President. She'd given him advice about what to wear and how to act and sounded genuinely excited for him.

"Are you sure you've got clean shirts? I noticed you didn't pack your suit. Do you need money for a suit?"
"No thank you, mom. My uniform will be fine. It's brand new."
"Don't forget to wear clean socks!"
"Yes ma'am."

Simon shook his head to clear the memory. He'd circled the boat a few times. There was food available and some entertainment to watch but he wasn't hungry yet. Battling looked like a good option to pass the time. But he'd missed the rules somewhere. Do I ask someone to battle or wait until I'm challenged? Simon wondered. What was the protocol? Were there official referees or was everyone on the honor system? Simon began looking for any clues. In his distraction he accidentally stepped on someone's shoe.

"Sorry." He immediately apologized but continued moving. There was a group of people up ahead with their Pokemon at their feet. Maybe they knew.

"Hey, mister!" The young boy whose Simon might have stepped on shouted in his direction.

"Yes?" Simon turned with a polite smile. He'd apologized already but maybe the kid needed help.

A Pokeball was thrust into Simon's face. He jerked his head sideways to avoid getting his glasses smashed in.

"I challenge you!" The boy declared. He struck a sudden pose that was too flamboyant to be anything but practiced.

"Excuse me?" The boy couldn't have been more than eight years old despite the expensive looking suit he was wearing. Surely he wasn't old enough to-

"I. Challenge. You!" With a stamp of his shoe the boy began to call out his Pokemon. Seeing no alternative except for walking away and since he had wanted to battle someone Simon retrieved Shadow from his Pokeball.

....

In hindsight it was a battle Simon should have passed up. The fights were extremely one-sided. In fact Simon only used Shadow while his young opponent used a Rattata, a Raticate, and one extremely grumpy Nidoran. Shadow had tried to jump on the boy at first, thinking he was a potential playmate. The boy yelled at Shadow just as he had Simon causing Shadow to whine and retreat.

"You're just lucky, mister." The boy was still ranting about his loss. "I'm SO much better than you! You'll see! I want a rematch, and then you'll see I'm the bes-"

"That's quite enough from you, Mister." Simon turned to see an older woman in a bright yellow dress and a champagne glass in hand. He was about greet her when the lady strode right past him and grabbed the young boy by his shirt collar.

"You know good and well you're not supposed to be out up here by yourself. It's past your bedtime and just wait until your father hears how you've been..." the scowling boy and his high-class mother disappeared into the crowd leaving Simon and Shadow a bit bewildered. Those who had stopped to watch the battle began to filter back into the crowds.

"Migh?" Shadow whined before turning in a tight circle. He still wanted to 'play'.

"I think we won, bud." Simon offered. Lucky... he was getting tired of being called that. What was wrong with his team? Nothing was wrong with his team...except for one.

"Yen?"

"Let's go."

Though Shadow didn't need anything more than a nap Simon took him to the healing area. It looked a bit like a bar. There was a high counter built or temporarily bolted to a wall with nurses seated or standing behind it. Shelf after shelf of healing items were on display behind them. Presumably the items were for sale for anyone who didn't want to wait around for their Pokemon to be healed. Simon didn't see any of the normal machines but they must have been hidden because nurses kept putting Pokeballs into something. The nurses were dressed in Pokemon Center colors but reversed, what was usually white was red and was was normally red was white. And there was no Nurse Joy. The line of trainers was the same though. While he waited for Shadow to be healed Simon stopped one of the attendants who were wearing the same colors as the nurses but walking around with clipboards and pens talking about a survey for all of the guests.

"Excuse me, is there someone I could talk to about getting this updated?" Simon dug into his backpack and pulled out the first page of Drowzee's report. The one he'd been given in Vermillion's Pokemon Center.

The attendant took the sheet and glanced over it seeming to note the official Pokemon Center seal and the signature at the bottom.

"I'm not sure. Have a seat and I'll see if we can get someone to talk to you, okay?" A large group of trainers suddenly joined the crowd calling loudly for assistance. The attendant left Simon to go investigate the newcomers.

"Okay, thank you." Simon replied to the air. He found a group of chairs set against the far wall. The chairs were uncomfortable in design and function. Three legged wooden stools with high backs and no cushion to sit on. Simon propped his backpack up underneath the seat, stepping in between one of the straps so that if someone happened to grab the bag they'd be taking his leg with them. He closed his eyes for a few minutes...

...

"Excuse me sir? Sir!" Simon blinked slowly as someone continued to talk into his ear. "Sir, if you're not having Pokemon healed we really need you to keep this area clear."

Huh? "What?" Simon shook his head slowly. A new attendant was standing next to his chair. "I was...waiting for someone." he tried to explain but his head was a bit foggy. Ah, wait It wasn't just his head. Simon pushed his glasses back onto his nose.

"Could you maybe do that outside? We're on a tight schedule."

"But someone told me to-" Simon broke off and looked around. The woman he'd spoken to earlier was now gone. Simon checked his watch with a mixture of dread and resignation. "Did the shifts change?" he asked.

The attendant looked annoyed but answered "Yes, about five minutes ago. If you could just-"

"I'll leave. I'm leaving. Thank you. I'm sorry. " While he had taken his impromptu nap the Pokemon Center facility had gotten considerably more crowded. Uncomfortably so. Every uniformed person was busy. Just to pick up Shadow's Pokeball took Simon ten minutes. He pulled the handle extension on his backpack and began to move against the crowd. His backpack dragged behind him occasionally hitting people's feet. He began to apologize every few seconds until he cleared the area. Once free of the crowd Simon picked up his backpack and began to search for a less populated area of the ship.

 

[tsatoma]

While the deck chair wasn't as comfortable as her sleeping bag or one of the Pokemon Center's own beds, it was better than falling asleep on the floor. "Imma gonna take a nap," she mumbled quietly as she turned over to get herself adjusted to the chair, any thought of the potential danger that there could be if that sailor showed up immediately vanishing. The slight rocking motion of the boat quickly pulled her into sleep as she watched the waves glistening in the moonlight out in the sea.

Even though she had slept for a good fifteen minutes, it felt like she had just blinked before she was awoken by the sound of someone talking. "Whozzat?" she muttered, turning over to see the lady from before back in different clothes. Now that she was back, Callum helped Eileen get up as the trio started to head back towards the party.

 

[NeoAC]

The names of the fancy dishes laid out on the table were unknown to Jordan but at this time he didn't care. He grabbed whatever smelled good and loaded it up onto his plate. Once it was filled to the rimmed, he glanced around the banquet room for any sign of his travelling companions. Rochelle and Red were at a table, he could tell by the flames coming off both their hair and Red's Pokemon. However there seemed to be more people at the table than he remembered.

As he made his way over to the table, he had to dip around some of the other passengers. "What's up there bros?" he offered as a greeting before sitting himself down at an open seat. "I take it everyone is like, enjoying this thing a bit more than me, huh?"

[hr]

"Katrina! Allon-sy," Jean-Simon called out to his crony in the bridge.

After a few seconds, Katrina emerged, dirty blond hair now drawn back into a ponytail that slanted to the right side, a bang left alone in the front to lean to the left. Her black Rocket uniform was now augmented with a pair of standard issue pistols on the sides. "Yes Jean-Simon?"

"I am 'eading down to prepare for our leetle party. Stay here and make sure zat zis man does not get any ideas, non? Make ze announcement in cinq minute for ze patrons to head to ze main deck."

"Cinq?"

A weary sigh escaped Jean-Simon's lips. "Five! Five minutes! Merde! In zat time make ze announcement! I am off!" The Frenchman left Katrina alone with the helmsman.

"Katrina is it?" The helmsman offered. "You don't have to follow him, you know. You have options. If you just let me get the ship to shore, I can-"

Katrina answered his offer with a pistol whip to the other side of his jaw. "Shut up and drive, I know damn well what I'm doing." Much as I hate to play the ditz again. Fucking Frenchie. I'll fix him eventually. "Just make the turn and head back towards the channel. Then cut the engines when I address the sheep below. Or I'll blow your brains out. Got that?"

The helmsman nodded and prepared the ship for a gentle U-turn back towards the upper waters of the bay.

 

[Lambi]

"Yeah, looks like it." Aeris said to Charlie and giggled. Blaze tried to flex her arms to impress the little Cyndaquil, then stopped after realizing how silly it was. "Charmeleon. Char." It's good that you're enjoying it. I don't know about you, but I'm stuffed. Yet another fireball came from another of her burps which slightly missed Jordan's head. She chuckled at that.

"Hey there, Jordan. We have been enjoying ourselves, at least. Has everything been alright for you?" Aeris asked Jordan. She had a feeling things weren't alright for him by the way he asked them, but wanted to hear it from him before making assumptions.

 

[CounterAttack]

"Oh, hey, Jordan," Rochelle greeted her fellow Trainer. "The night's going well, got a few battles in as well as a trade... and we ran into a guy I knew from high school back home. Jordan, meet Charlie Delacroix," she introduced, indicating Charlie as she spoke. She paused before continuing further, since she wasn't actually sure of how Charlie would react to the idea of him tagging along with the group.

With that in mind, she turned to Charlie and spoke up again. "Say, Charlie. We all travel together with a few others. If you want to come along with us, I'm pretty sure you'd fit in well... Oh, hang on a bit. How many Badges do you have? Did you visit the Vermilion Gym already?" If he had already obtained the Thunder Badge, then perhaps he would be pressing on ahead of the group to take on the Gyms on the road ahead.

 

[Pm0n3y]

"Sup bro?" Charlie greeted coolly to the latest character to join the company, displaying a short waving gesture resembling a salute. By the way the trainers before him knew each other on a first name basis, he immediately made the assumption of the three being a part of the fabled group. Said assumptions became confirmed as Rochelle released a barrage of queries upon him.

"Welp, my mom did say to make some friends...so if it's really okay with y'all, then yeah! I guess I can hang with you guys. What's the worse that could happen? If anything, it'll make the badge collecting job a lot less boring." He piped up, repositioning the Nidoran in his lap so he could reach one of his pockets. Pulling out a wallet, he showed what represented his process in the Kanto region, two glossy badges pinned to a inner flap within the wallet.

"I haven't been to the Vermillion Gym yet...I was planning on getting around to that after I relaxed here a bit. Am I like, falling behind you guys or something?" He let into the air, a bit intrigued of their progress as well. And like a schoolgirl finally being able to spend the night at her friend's house, Quinn couldn't help but smile as Charlie decided to join the group. His decision could only mean that she'd be able to spend more time with her new found friend.

 

[Lizmichi]

Fary followed Jordan's lead and picked out several types of food from pasta dishes to sea food. After she finished there she looked around for Jordan and or the others and smiled seeing them sitting together with some other faces she didn't recognize. With a can of bubble tea in hand and a plate full of food she smile meekly and sat down.

"Hey guys. I just caught a Shellder, I think I may name it Scallop or ohh I like Shellbert. Anyway how have the rest of you been? This seems like a nice ship and all but I still think I like being on land much more then here." she joked softly setting up food for her Pokemon.

"Here you go guys enjoy the food. You've earned a break." she smiled then looked at her fellow trainers biting her lip softly taking a bite of what seemed to be crab.

 

[Lost In The Void]

They had finally reached the party; the rumble of laughter, music and the wafting variety of smell confirmed this before they even turned the corner. It was all very exciting to Sarah. While being a college student, she had most definitely attended some kind of parties; they were usually booze soaked festivities full of grinding, suffocating clubs, grinding music and casual sex for those who wanted it. Claire had always been a fan of those, but Sarah preferred the quiet affairs of a library and a soft classical sound in her ears.

Regardless, the mix of class and festivities had her excited and she was ready to bolt in her own direction when the boy, Callum, she believed his name was, flagged someone down. He called the other guy, 'The guy that was in Eileen's group.

Mildly disappointed that she was momentarily distracted with this new face, she walked up to the new boy and waited to be introduced.

 

[NeoAC]

"No bro," Jordan chimed in between mouthfuls of poultry as Fary sat down. "We totally haven't been to like the Gym. I didn't even get Misty's badge yet. So yeah." Fary bringing up her newly acquired Pokemon stung a bit as well, after his own attempts failed. Maybe I'm just not meant to have one...

[hr]

5...4...3...2...1...showtime.[/hr]

Leaning over to the console, Katrina grabbed the speaker for the ship's PA system. "Attention passengers! Now that we are out into the water, we will be proceeding to the final party! There will be music, drinks, and at the end, a fireworks display! So, if everyone would please make their way towards the Fiesta Deck at the front of the ship, the party will get started as soon as all of the guests have arrived!"

After clicking the device off, she turned back to the helmsman. He had finished gently turning the ship around, back toward Vermillion. "Well your services won't be needed for the rest of the trip," Katrina informed him.

"What are-" the helmsman's question was cut off by another shot to the head. Only this one was more lethal than the previous ones. Katrina's pistol connected underneath his jaw and the blast went through his skull, instantly killing the man.

The blood spattered all over the ceiling and the floor behind the man's body as it slumped to the floor. "Oops," Katrina said coldly as she cut the power to the ships engines and then checked her outfit, now spotted with blood. "Damn it. Now I'm going to have to change again."

She grabbed the corpse's arm and dragged him to the door at the back of the bridge. Unlocking it, she looked in on the captain's chambers. The captain was still in the same position that she last observed him in. He was clearly emaciated and hunched over the bucket in the back, not that it was doing any good to contain the results of his seasickness. The room stunk and upon looking up and seeing what was left of his helmsman, the captain turned back to the bucket.

"Brought you some company," Katrina remarked as she tossed the body into the room. "Or lunch, if you would prefer. I imagine two days in here puking your guts up makes a man hungry. Anyway, I'm off to change before the party. Have fun." She shut the door and locked it.

[hr]

In the back of the ship, the announcement resonated over the fishing deck and the passengers started to make their way out towards the exits. The attendant however stayed put, both to make sure the equipment was put away, and to ponder what this could be about.

Something wasn't right to Marlon. The ship's engines were silent, Vermillion was no longer in sight and fireworks were something the Captain had strictly forbidden on the ship for obvious reasons. This party was quickly turning suspect in his eyes.

He walked out to the deck to gather the leftover fishing rods, and as he picked up a couple, he reached down to his belt and pulled out a Pokeball. "Come on out, Loomis," he said quietly.

Emerging from the ball stood a large bipedal Pokemon. As the energy faded, the blue creature gave a salute. "Poliwrath!"

"Loomis. I want you to swim back to Vermillion and get a hold of the police for me. You remember Vermillion?" Marlon asked. Loomis nodded, as well as it could. "Good. Go there, as fast as you can. Once you find someone, get them to send some people out here. I'm worried about what's going on here."

"Poli! Poliwrath!" Loomis gave another salute and dove over the barrier of the fishing zone, into the water below.

Marlon gave a sigh and returned to collecting the rods. As he finished taking them back to the counter and hanging them properly, a couple of cruise workers appeared in the room. "Marlon, come on. Everyone's supposed to be at the party now. That includes the staff."

"Yes, of course." Marlon left the remaining rods on the counter and followed after the two disguised Rocket members.

[hr]

As the announcement boomed over the banquet hall, Jordan looked up, not entirely pleased. "But, like, dude! I wasn't even done man! Not cool." He stood up from the table, still finishing the last piece of chicken he had. "So, what, like, does anyone know where this, like, Fiesta Deck is? Like how to get there?"

 

[CounterAttack]

"Nope... I don't have the Cascade Badge yet. Misty thrashed me the first time round," Rochelle admitted with a hint of dejection in her voice. She glanced down to the floor briefly, her smile vanishing as she recalled yesterday's match. It was kind of hard to believe that it had only been a day ago. The group was going through the cities, and from city to city, so quickly... it had sometimes taken Rochelle more than a day to travel between cities in Johto on her own.

"I will say, though, when we get back up to Cerulean my buddy Iskra is going to show Misty how much we've improved in such a short span of time. Right, Iskra?" she added, turning back to the pink Electric-type, who was giving Eva a strange look. Evidently Eva had pinched one of the last cubes of food on their plate before Iskra could collect it for himself.

"Eva, share it with Iskra, please," she told the new addition to her team, eyebrows raised. Eva stuck her tongue out at Rochelle in a somewhat rude manner, but complied, splitting the cube in half with a snip of a claw. Happy with the compromise, Iskra gave his Trainer a nod in answer to her question before ensuring no-one else would claim his share of the food. It was good to know that Eva was playing nice with the others... at least, when she was told to do so. Satisfied, Rochelle turned her attention back to Charlie.

"So yeah. We should be able to beat Misty now that Iskra evolved from Mareep to Flaaffy, and Lieutenant Surge will be a piece of cake now that I have Eva on my team," Rochelle continued before another announcement played over the speakers. Something about a party on the Fiesta Deck? And it sounded like attendance was mandatory. That was weird. Maybe it was just the way the event was planned. Still, she saw no reason not to go... once she had finished eating, of course. No sense in leaving part of her meal behind.

With that in mind, she returned to the last third or so of her meal, pausing only to answer Jordan's question. "The announcer said it was at the bow of the ship, the front," she answered. An odd choice of words, using 'front' instead of 'bow'. But perhaps that was done so passengers wouldn't be confused by the directions.

Relax, 'Chelle. Nothing to worry about, she told herself.

 

[Lambi]

"Heh, that's the spirit." Aeris said to Rochelle when she mentioned showing Misty how tough she'd gotten. "Well, I managed to get the Cascade Badge. And, unbelievably, it was with the help of Blaze." she said to Charlie, proud of her Charmeleon, who looked back at her with pride in her eyes. If they could defeat the Water Gym leader, anything was possible. So long as it didn't involve water, that is. She was on her way to recover from her fear of water, but it would still take time. "Though, it was still hard to d-do it." She began stuttering again a little just thinking about it. "But it's s-still a huge accomplishment for me, b-because of my fear of water..."

Focusing on what the announcer said, she cheered up a bit more and stopped thinking about the battle with Misty. "Sweet, a party. Wonder if I'll see Fiona there. If everyone will be there, I should see her again." Aeris looked around herself. "Now, where could that boyfriend of mine be?" She sighed slightly. She was with Rochelle, Jordan and Fary, so she was alright. And this new guy, Charlie, seemed fun and interested in joining their group, so now there was another trainer who started with a Fire Pokemon. Pretty sweet, in her mind.

 

[Pm0n3y]

"Hell yeah! Brofist for beating the Water gym with a Fire type!" Charlie blurted somewhat spontaneously, holding out a righteous fist for Aeris, in congratulations for overcoming adversity in her own little way. It was a situation similar to his, how he and Quinn delivered the finishing blow to Misty's team and earned the Cascade Badge.

Her fear in water raised a query in him however, but he ultimately decided to ask about it at another time. Seeing as the experience was potentially traumatic enough for it to cause speech impediments every time she mentioned it, he didn't want purposely impose such a fright upon her. Hearing Rochelle's confidant volition towards the aforementioned gym, Charlie couldn't help but contribute his two cents to the subject.

"Oh, so you guys are heading back to Cerulean after Vermillion then? I wouldn't mind seeing Misty again...I hope she doesn't hold grudges against trainers that beat her, she was hawt." He added, putting much emphasis on the last word. Before he could comment anymore on the situation, the lot was promptly interrupted by an announcement telling of a party out at the front of the ship. The news left Charlie conflicted, seeing has he wanted to train some and get into a battle or two, but he knew he couldn't turn down a party. With a small shrug, the optimistic in him deemed that there might be some still eager to battle at the final event.

 

[NeoAC]

Charlie's comment regarding Misty's attractiveness struck at the heart of Jordan's current moral dilemma. Man, like, who am I gonna pick there? They're both hot, they can both, like, train the Pokemon up and all. I dunno. I don't think I'm gonna bother thinking about it now.

"Yeah bro, she's totally hot," he commented in a lukewarm tone as they moved with the rest of the guests out of the dining room.

[hr]

The throngs of guests were making their way onto the vast main deck of the ship. There was another long table on the port side, consisting purely of finger foods and culminating in an expansive bar at the end. Near the starboard side, on a raised platform, a DJ could be seen with his hands in the air, in an attempt to pump the crowd up. The music he was playing certainly wasn't doing the trick. Near the bow of the ship, a big display could be seen with tubes of all sizes pointing skyward, set to light the sky ablaze. There were various crew members standing along the railing of the ship at every post, making sure that any drunken passengers didn't barrel into the sea below.

[hr]

Jean-Simon waited patiently below deck. He adjusted the bluetooth like device in his ear.

"We've moved all passengers onto the deck sir. There's no one left in the rooms or anything."

"OK, once ze DeeJay starts to play 'is remix of 'I Luvdisc You'," he shuddered having to say such a stupid song title, "Zat is ze cue to lock ze doors to ze deck. I will make my entrance once zat insipid song is finis."

 

[CounterAttack]

As Rochelle entered the Fiesta Deck, she made a face in the DJ's direction. The... well, more noise than music - to her ears, at least - was not something that she had hoped to hear. "Bleah. There goes any hope for the organisers having good taste," she commented to the others, looking around for the few people she had not seen in the dining hall. She hadn't seen a fair few of the group since they had all boarded the ship. Hopefully everyone would meet up when the party was over, if not sooner.