-Seems like the sun, the sand and the sea won't be giving our heroes much time off. More danger awaits. Third in a series.

Pokemon and all related trademarks belong to Nintendo. The story, its original contents and ideas, and any original characters belong to the author and cannot be used or reprinted without the author's permission.

Author’s Note: Like before, a revised edition of my very third fanfic. Corrected a bunch of mistakes, edited some minor plot details and dialogue.

 

Wet & Wild

By Gregory Stephen (nightdragon0@hotmail.com)

 

It had been too easy, Kris thought.

After their victory at the gym, Kris had decided to stick around Vermilion City for some battles. Firestorm and Nightslice hadn’t even lost once. With the added support of the rest of her party, she’d made quite a reputation for herself, especially after that little stunt she’d pulled at the Midnight Tournament.

It was just a simple 8 Pokemon elimination battle. Even through most of the Pokemon used had been fire types, she’d entered Nightslice.

Much to everyone’s amazement, the Scyther literally slashed his way to the top in a record-breaking time. She’d won herself a ticket for the cruise ship, the S.S. Anne. After that, trainer after trainer had sought her out for matches.

That was not something good for someone wanting to keep a low profile. Fortunately, no Team Rocket operations seemed to be carried out around the area.

So, while no one’s hot on my tail right now, I can take some well-deserved rest.

"Sssccyytthh!"

With a scream, Nightslice hit sandy floor, snapping Kris out of her daydream.

Ok, concentrate on the battle.

This was against a Machoke, belonging to some kid who’d challenged her. Being on the beach, a group of spectators had gathered to watch.

Kris saw Nightslice spring to his feet and give her an acknowledging look. He was ready for a counterattack. The Machoke lunged for him.

"Move it! Then wing attack!"

Nightslice rolled out of the way and lashed out with one of his razor-sharp wings, tripping Machoke.

"Machoke, karate chop!" its trainer called.

"Nightslice, counter it!"

Nightslice grabbed his opponent’s hand in his mouth. There was a brief struggle, and then Nightslice slammed Machoke onto the floor. Machoke lashed out with a low kick, but Nightslice somersaulted forward. He brought a foot down on Machoke’s head, using the momentum to spring himself up into the air.

"Finish it! Sky attack!"

Nightslice charged down like a rocket, using gravity to his advantage to throw his full weight against his opponent. The impact sent Machoke flying back several feet, landing unconscious with a loud thud.

"Whoa, you’re good." The boy said, shaking hands with Kris.

"You’re not too bad, yourself." Kris returned the smile.

She noticed Nightslice kneel over in pain and begin licking part of his right wing. Kris came over and touched it. Immediately, the Scyther jumped up and hissed. Kris jumped back.

Pure instinct.

"Sorry," Kris told him, "let’s get a super potion for that injury, ok?"

Nightslice checked that no one else was within earshot, then he whispered to Kris.

"Yeah, if sleeping beauty over there ever wakes up." he grimaced, the look of pain showing in his eyes.

Kris walked over to Firestorm. The Charmeleon was basking in the midday sun. He was sound asleep and snoring loudly. He also had a pair of sunglasses on and a magazine on his belly.

"Hey sleepy head, time to go!" Kris told him.

Firestorm only rolled over to one side and ignored her.

"Here, let me." Nightslice smiled.

He fired a bunch of pin missiles at Firestorm’s butt. That certainty got his attention.

"Chhhhhaaaarrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!"

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 "Ow! That Machoke sure can hit!" Nightslice muttered as Kris sprayed the super potion on his injured wing.

The group was walking down an almost empty street.

"Huh, I could’ve done better." Firestorm said.

"Yeah, if ya weren’t sleeping like a hatchling." Nightslice made a face.

They were turning round a corner. As Firestorm was about to respond, a boy with a Pikachu on his head came running round the corner.

"Watch out!" someone behind the boy called.

But it was too late. The boy barged into Nightslice, in front of the group, and flew backwards into a boy and a girl behind him. The Pikachu jumped and landed on its feet. Firestorm caught Nightslice as he fell while Kris dove for a small, square device the boy had been holding. Everyone landed on the floor.

Nightslice was the first to recover.

"Hey, watch where you’re going kid!" he screamed.

The three kids and the Pikachu stared for a moment, then the first boy gasped.

"Hey, you can talk!"

"Of course we can…" Firestorm began, but he stopped short as he realized both their mistakes. That Pokemon usually don’t speak the human language. He shot a glance to Kris.

Kris saw it was no point trying to keep their little secret from these three.

"Yes, it’s something special these two can do."

"You’re their trainer?"

"Yep, name’s Kris." Kris held out her hand.

"I’m Ash," the boy shook her hand, "and I’m going to become the world’s greatest Pokemon master."

"That’s quite an ambition."

"And my name’s Misty." The girl said, waving her hand.

"And I’m Brock." The other boy introduced himself.

"Brock? You’re that Pewter City gym leader, right?" Kris asked.

"Oh yeah, I remember battling you." Brock snapped his fingers, "you put up quite a show that day."

"So, how’d these two learn to talk?" Ash asked, indicating Firestorm and Nightslice.

"That’s a trade secret." Firestorm answered, winking.

"And I thought the only talking Pokemon we’d see was Team Rocket’s Meowth."

"Talking Meowth?" Kris wondered, "probably Jessie and James."

"You’ve heard about them?"

"Read about it in the papers. Just a couple of criminals, like the rest of their bunch." That was a lie. Kris knew them personally, the two clowns of Team Rocket.

"Huh, those two are always after my Pikachu."

"Pikachu." Pikachu smiled.

"Those bumbling clowns?" Nightslice whispered to Firestorm, "they can’t even tie their own shoelaces in the dark."

"Well, neither can you." Firestorm replied.

"Not like I ever need to wear shoes."

Leaving the pair to argue on, Kris looked at Ash’s square device.

"Is this a Pokedex?" she asked as she examined it and handed it back to Ash.

"Yeah, it is."

"So, by any chance, do you know Professor Oak?"

"Well, yes. He gave me my first Pokemon and this Pokedex too."

"The old guy’s pretty famous for this kind of thing."

"Hey," Ash beamed, "how bout a match?"

"Hmmm, I wouldn’t mind," Kris answered, "if I can get these two to stop fighting each other."

She pointed to Firestorm and Nightslice, who were now engaged in a staring competition.

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Just outside town, there was a large open grass field.

Kris and Ash stood on opposite sides while Misty and Brock at down to watch the match.

"So, two Pokemon?" Ash asked.

"Agreed."

"Right, let’s go Pikachu!"

"Pika!"

Nightslice stepped forward and Kris gave him a nod.

"Pikachu, quick attack!"

"Nightslice, agility now!"

Swiftly, Nightslice moved out of the way. Pikachu hit the floor. Pikachu turned and tried again. This time, Nightslice jumped over the electric mouse and sent it flying to the floor with a kick. Pikachu got up and went for Nightslice again, only to miss as Nightslice rolled out of its way.

"Pikachu, he’s trying to tire you out!" Ash shouted, "hit em’ hard with scratch."

"Pika!" Pikachu charged at the Scyther, "Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu!"

Pikachu was scratching away with all its might, but Nightslice simply held it at arms’ length. Rather, foots’ length because he was holding the smaller Pokemon away with his foot.

"Oh no!"

"Ready? Pin Missile!"

Nightslice fired a bunch of needle-like darts from his mouth. Pikachu cried out in pain as the sharp needles pierced it. Nightslice followed up with a slash, sending Pikachu rolling back into Ash. Ash pulled Pikachu to its feet.

"Common! Don’t let him get the better of you. Thundershock now!"

"Pika…CCCCHHHHHHHHUUUUU!"

The lightning bolts only hit the empty air.

"Hey," Ash gasped, "where’d he go?"

"Sccyy!" Nightslice was high in the air and descending fast.

"Sky attack, now!"

Nightslice hit Pikachu with the full force of his razor-sharp wings. Pikachu managed to get up, but look dazed.

"That wasn’t very effective…" Kris muttered. "Nightslice! Hyper Beam finishing!"

Nightslice needed only a second to charge up then fired the multi-colored beam of light.

"Chhhaaaaa!"

"Pikachu!!!" Ash ran forward to catch his Pokemon. "Are you alright?"

"Chhaa…" said Pikachu weakly.

"Well, all’s fair in love, play and Pokemon battles." Nightslice grinned.

"Ok," Ash pulled out a Pokeball, "Charmander! I choose you! Ember attack!"

"Uh oh! Yeowch!"

Nightslice jumped back in pain. Charmander rammed into him. Nightslice staggered backwards.

"Uh, I think I’ll stand down on this one." He said to Kris.

"Return," Kris ordered him, "Firestorm, you’re up!"

"Roar!" Firestorm stepped up, baring his fangs and flashing his claws to intimidate his opponent.

"Charmander, ember!"

"Firestorm, confusion!"

Firestorm held his hands upwards, his eyes glowing blue. The flames didn’t manage to even touch him, but charred the grass around him. The flames made a circle of burning grass around him, which made him appear more menacing than ever.

"He’s using a psychic attack!" Brock gasped.

Wait! The best is yet to come. Kris thought.

"Confuse Ray!"

Firestorm stared at Charmander with a strange purple glow in his eyes. Shaking its head, Charmander began spewing flames everywhere.

"Charmander, what are you doing?"

"Charmander’s confused!" Misty called out.

"Firestorm, earthquake!"

The Charmeleon’s punch shook the ground, throwing Charmander roughly off its feet. Charmander looked badly hurt, but managed to climb to its feet.

"Don’t give in Charmander!" Ash encouraged his Pokemon, "Fire Spin now!"

"Ccchhhhaaarrr!"

Charmander sent a huge burst of flames towards Firestorm. Firestorm didn’t budge one bit and just stood there calmly until the last possible second. He then grabbed the fireball, struggling for several minutes.

He looked like he might give in for a while, but suddenly he threw the fireball up into the air and sent it spinning off into the distance.

"Fire Spin, eh?" he sneered, "Here’s one from a pro."

Before his opponents had time to react, he launched his own fire spin. The flames formed a blazing tornado that completely engulfed Charmander.

Ash could hear it crying out in pain. He couldn’t stand it any longer.

"Stop! I give up!"

"Firestorm, you can stop now." Kris instructed.

However, Firestorm didn’t stop. He carried on with his attack.

"Firestorm, that’s enough!" Kris repeated.

Still no effect.

"Firestorm!!!" Kris had to punch the Charmeleon on the back of his head, before he stopped.

Charmander roughly hit the floor. Ash, Misty and Brock rushed over to it.

Kris spun Firestorm so that he was facing her.

"What did you think you were doing?!!" she yelled angrily.

"Hey, that attack goes on for five rounds," he calmly replied, "ain’t no way to stop it in-between."

"With the power of your flames, you could’ve killed him! Doesn’t that mean anything to you?" Kris lowered her voice slightly, so that Ash’s party wouldn’t hear.

"You fight, you get hurt. That’s the way it goes." Firestorm continued in his completely unconcerned tone, "what’s the problem with that?"

"You’re not getting my point!"

"Sure as hell I am!"

"Break it up!" Nightslice jumped in-between the two, using his bladed claws to keep them apart, "what’s done is done, alright? Now, let’s just deal with the consequences."

He gave Ash’s group a nod and watched them run off to the Pokemon Center.

Kris and Firestorm shot cold stares at each other.

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They found Ash and co. seated one resting rooms in the Pokemon Center.

"Charmander’s alright!" Ash called as they approached.

"I’m glad to hear that." Kris smiled, "And by the way, Firestorm’s got something he wants to say to you. Right, Firestorm."

The Charmeleon stepped forward. Firestorm could only find some comfort in staring down at the floor.

"I…got a little out of control back then," he staggered, "I realize that I have unnecessarily injured someone else. I…I…am dishonored."

"It’s his way of saying he’s sorry." Nightslice butted in helpfully.

"Nightslice," Kris said, "could you please wait outside?"

"Man! What’s your problem?"

But he obediently walked out and closed the door behind him.

"Nah, don’t worry about it." Ash said, "It was a good match after all."

"Yeah, I noticed Firestorm and Nightslice can use techniques other Pokemon of their species can’t." Brock added in.

"Really, those two design their own attacks." Kris replied, "How is beyond me."

"A fire Pokemon with psychic attacks would…"

Leaving the humans to carry on with their conversation, Firestorm wandered to the other side of the room. He felt a light tug at his foot and looked down to see Charmander smiling at him.

"Oh it’s you. Well you seem fine."

"Char!"

"Glad to hear that."

"Char! Char! Mander."

"Hmmm, you want to be as tough as me?"

"Char?"

"Well," Firestorm smiled, "I admit, you’ve got potential."

Firestorm knelt down and showed him the red burn marks on his claws.

"Anyone who can give me these has got to be pretty good."

"Char, Char."

"Just takes time," Firestorm patted the younger Pokemon on the head, "keep working on it."

On the other side of the room, Misty noticed the scene between the two and nudged the others. Everyone else gave a quick look.

"Look’s like he’s made a friend." Ash smiled.

"Speaking of that," Brock spoke up, "how bout the two of us do lunch?"

The question was addressed to Kris. Obviously.

Ash and Misty slapped their heads in disbelief.

"Well, it’s tempting," Kris replied, "but I don’t go out with younger men."

Brock fainted.

"Oh, and by the way Ash, I have a little favor to ash of Prof. Oak."

The group found a videophone and gave the Prof. a call.

"Oh not problem at all," the Professor said over the phone, "I would be delighted to help look after some of your Pokemon, Kris."

"Really? How bout this one first?" Kris held up a Pokeball.

"Feel free to send more over. You just need to find a Pokemon Center and place the Pokeball into that slot."

"This one?"

"Correct."

In a flash of light, the Pokeball disappeared.

"What’s that Pokemon, Kris?" Ash asked.

"Just the Onix I used to win the Thunder Badge. But it’s still pretty wild." Kris turned around and said.

"Wow, you caught an Onix? That’s pretty cool!"

Meanwhile, the screen showed Professor Oak walking over to the receiving machine. In another flash, the Pokeball appeared.

"I wonder what this one is?" he muttered, pressing the ‘open’ button.

"Oh wait!" Kris shouted, "Prof. I don’t think that’s a very good id…"

"Ooorrrrrooooorrrr"!

"Yyyyyyaaaarrggghhh!"

(Everyone sweat drops.)

"Oops!"

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"Hey Kris," Nightslice whispered, "I like the new look."

After bidding goodbye to Ash and company, Kris had gone round town and bought a new outfit. A pair of black Nike sports shoes, a brown T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. To top it off, she’d also gotten a pair of sunglasses, a cap which was pulled low down over her eyes and covered her night-black hair, and a black leather jacket with a Charizard drawing on its back. She could’ve easily passed for a young man.

"Yep, definitely got a ‘cool’ look to it," Firestorm agreed. And expensive. Good thing we’ve been winning all those tournaments for her.

"Like I said before, it’s just a precaution." Kris said again.

"Still, the Rockets ain’t so hot about going after you anymore."

"Anyway, forget about it. We’re here."

The three of them stood before the huge luxury liner, the S. S. Anne. Kris walked up the gangplank, followed by Firestorm and Nightslice, and handed her ticket to the steward.

"Welcome aboard the S. S. Anne." He said, leading her along the ship’s deck. "This way to the main hall."

He opened a pair of double doors. Kris gasped when she stepped inside the huge hall. The entire room was crowded with Pokemon trainers talking excitedly and showing off their Pokemon. Booths lined the walls, selling everything from toys to jewelry to Pokemon. It was a giant Pokemon convention.

Nightslice nudged her and pulled out a key from her pocket with his mouth.

"Oh yeah, I didn’t book a private room for nothing. Pity it cost me quite a bit."

Kris looked out to the deep blue sea and watched the ship glide silently across the waters.

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"There! 50 damage, I win."

"What!!??"

Kris smiled. Firestorm had obviously lost another card game. Leaving the balcony and closing the glass door, she stepped back into the room. As expected, Firestorm and Nightslice were engaged in a card game on her laptop. Ivysaur and Wartortle were there too, lying on the bed and watching the television.

"Firestorm," Kris said so suddenly that Firestorm dropped the cards in his hand, "I’m going down to the main hall for a while. Will you lot be ok here?"

"Eh, yeah, we’ll be fine." Firestorm replied.

"You’ve got my cell phone number, right?"

Firestorm pushed a few buttons on the keyboard and brought up a Wordâ document.

"Yep, right here."

"Good. Call if something comes up."

"She’s been pretty quite throughout the whole trip." Nightslice said as the door closed.

"It’s just her nature," Firestorm replied, "especially when she’s got something on her mind."

"If you ask me, she’s just being way too paranoid."

"Maybe."

Firestorm then clicked the mouse and brought their card game back up.

"Anyway," he said, "let’s continue. I’ll take heads."

He clicked the mouse button to flip the coin, which came up on tails.

"Ha!" Nightslice laughed, "means I go first!"

"For the sixth time! Hey, it this thing hacked or something?"

"Would you like to examine it, my friend."

"Grrr." Firestorm growled, "I am going to be so glad when we reach Lavender Town and get off this ship."

"Indeed." Nightslice gave him a mocking laugh.

Firestorm stuck his flaming tail into the Scyther’s back.

"Ssssscccccyyyyytttttthhhhhheeeerrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Another trainer in the next room heard the scream.

"Really," he muttered, "trainers should better discipline their Pokemon."

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Pulling her cap low over her eyes, Kris walked along the side of the main hall.

Maybe they are right, she thought, I just being way over paranoid. Not like they were relentlessly me day and night. Really, I’m no where near the top of Giovanni’s most wanted list.

Kris shot a glance over to a young boy cuddling his Charmander.

Either that or I’m being over protective of my partners.

Considering the vulnerable states she’d found Firestorm and Nightslice in, she had quite a good reason for it.

Kris was an orphan and had grown up in the countryside, under the guidance and training of an old ninja master named Wang Long. After he passed away, she had to make a living for herself. And a job with Team Rocket seemed like and ideal way to make quick and easy cash, especially since she quickly became one of their top agents. In spite of everything, the money was good.

Then came the day when Giovanni had a special assignment for her. She was asked to tame this wild Charmeleon, a task all of her colleagues had claimed to be impossible.

Looking at it from outside its cage, she saw a metal mask covered the left half of its face. It was that terrible wound, plus the multiple lashes marks on its back that got her thinking. The harsh treatment didn’t help the least. No matter how badly it was tormented, its spirit always seemed unhindered, unconquered.

One day, when they were alone, it spoke to her in English, asking her of all humans acted this way. Kris was taken aback, both shocked and amazed. The two soon formed a strong bond of friendship in secrecy. In front of others, the two acted as harshly as enemies towards each other. It was a ploy that got Kris both a huge bonus and earned her the respect of her colleagues.

The pair did not remain idle, and made their own plans to ditch Team Rocket and escape with a whole lot of cash. They’d pulled off their plan successfully, escaping unnoticed to the isolated snowy mountains in the far north. Kris took a job in the Pokemon center there, remanding as inconspicuous as possible.

Because of his extremely powerful flame attacks and his unconquerable spirit, she’d named the Charmeleon Firestorm.

Exploring the snowy regions became their favorite pastime and while on one of their explorations they’d discovered the frozen body of a young Scyther. Miraculously, Kris felt a heartbeat in its cold body and immediately rushed it back. Most surprisingly of all, it had opened its eyes for a brief moment when they brought it back to the center. Upon seeing Firestorm, it had muttered, in English: "It’s you…" before slipping into a coma.

When questioned, Firestorm was very certain that he didn’t recognize this Scyther.

Through even Nurse Joy was doubtful it had any chance of survival, she still gave Kris all the support and help that she could in nursing the injured creature.

It had taken almost a year, but he went from a pathetic, near-dead creature to a healthy, agile fighter, much to everyone’s amazement. He retained his ability to speak English, wherever he’d learnt it from, but unfortunately, suffered from amnesia. All memories of his past were lost to him. He’d learnt to put it behind him and sworn his life to the person who’d rescued him from an icy tomb.

He’d taken a name, Nightslice, and so three strangers from different worlds came together, united by fate. So, their journey began.

And it continues now…

Kris’ thoughts were suddenly interrupted when all the lights in the room went out. There were astonished cries and shouts from the other passengers. Instinctively, Kris ran and ducked behind a nearby table, putting a hand into her pocket and reaching for her surikens, or ninja stars. She knew exactly who’d pull a stunt like that.

A spotlight shone down on two figures in the center of the room. It took Kris a moment to recognize them. Jessie and James of Team Rocket.

So they were planning to rob all the trainers on this ship. Very clever.

As usual, they launched into the Team Rocket motto, Kris quietly crept to the closet door. She had to get out of the room and call Firestorm.

"Team Rocket will now take possession of your Pokemon." Jessie sneered.

The lights came on and a bunch of masked Rockets stepped out of their hiding places. Kris counted approximately fourteen, excluding Jessie and James standing on the table. They began using vacuum-like devices to suck up the passengers Pokeballs.

Partially thankful that she didn’t have any Pokemon with her, Kris tiptoed to the nearest door. Two of the Rockets blocked her way.

"Ok, hand em’ over!" the guy snarled.

"Ok, Ok!" Kris replied.

She pretended to reach for her Pokeballs, but instead clenched her hand into a fist and punched the Rocket. Without giving the second one time to react, she kicked him in the gut and sprinted for the door.

"After her!!"

Kris heard some of the Rockets chasing after her. Apparently, one of them had recognized her and now she had six of them on her tail. Which left a total of ten in the main hall. Hopefully, the other passengers would be able to handle that.

Her pursuers split up into groups of two and went in different directions. Two of them came to a storeroom at the end of a corridor.

"Where’d she go?"

Suddenly, the storeroom door swung open, slamming both to the floor. Jumping over their fallen bodies, Kris tore down the corridor, pulling out her cell phone as she did. Frantically, she dialed the room’s number.

"Kris?" she heard Firestorm’s voice.

"Get down to level 1 ASAP! I got six Rockets hot on my tail!"

"Team Rocket’s here! Hey, wait! Where on level 1?"

"Just get here now! I need you!"

Kris shut the phone off without waiting for a reply. She rounded a corner and grabbed onto a room service table. When two Rockets came round the corner, she shoved the wheeled table at them and ran. Two more Rockets arrived and helped their fallen comrades up.

Then, Nightslice burst in through the ventilation shaft and landed in front of them, roaring a battle cry.

The first man pulled out a whip and lashed at Nightslice with it. He grabbed it in his mouth and pulled, throwing the man into the wall. The second and third attacked together with their fists.

Nightslice blocked one with his left claw and kicked the other one with his right foot. He quickly brought his foot back to launch a kick at the man who was still standing. The Rocket managed to catch his foot as he threw the kick, but Nightslice jumped and executed a flip kick with his other foot.

That caught the guy by surprise, the kick connecting with his lower jaw and knocking him unconscious.

The fourth man grabbed a table leg and knocked Nightslice down with it. He moved in for a second strike, but Nightslice rolled away and hit it out of his hand with a two-footed kick. Nightslice used the momentum to spring himself up, dodge a punch, and knock the man out with a spinning kick.

By now, the other two men who had not been knocked out had gotten up. They both launched kicks at Nightslice, throwing him back and breaking open a room door in the process.

The remanding two Rockets chased Kris till they reached the stairs leading to the lower deck. Firestorm suddenly pounced from behind the closed door where he’d been hiding and knocked one of them into the wall.

Using the distraction, Kris hit the standing man with a flying kick. While he was stunned, she grabbed a large dustbin and stuck it over the guy’s head. She then kicked him and sent him rolling down the stairs. Giving Kris a nod, Firestorm handed Kris her other Pokeballs and they ran to find Nightslice.

There was a huge mirror in the room and Nightslice knocked one of the reminding men out by throwing him into it, shattering the mirror in the process. The last man kept lashing at Nightslice with his whip.

Nightslice carefully backed off until he was at the balcony, then when the Rocket lunged for him, Nightslice dropped to his back and flipped him over the side.

The Rocket landed with a satisfying splash in the sea.

Nightslice left the room and ran into his companions.

"You ok?" Kris asked.

"Yeah, fine." Nightslice gasped.

"Let’s get back to the main hall." Kris ordered.

"Right."

The three turned and ran.

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Loosing their way among the ship’s long, winding corridors, it took some time to get back to the main hall. When they did, they found the Rockets gone and the whole place in chaos. Kris spotted Misty and Brock standing on one side.

"Misty! Brock!"

"Kris?!"

"What’s going on?" Kris asked as she came over.

"The ship is sinking," Brock inform her, "we’d better get out of here!"

"Wait! Where’s Ash?" Misty asked.

"There!" Brock pointed. Misty and him took off.

Kris frowned, but decided to follow.

Looking outside, she could see a huge storm had blown up during the fight. The violent waves rocked the ocean liner like a toy ship, almost causing Kris to lose her footing.

She caught up with them just as a Pokeball slipped out of Ash’s hand and went bouncing down the corridor. Ash and company went chasing after it.

"Ash!" Kris started to say, "we’ve got to…"

The ship suddenly lurched to one side, throwing Firestorm and Nightslice into her. Kris had the wind knocked out of her as they flew through and open door. Kris felt her head hit into something hard and she blacked out.

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With a moan, Kris drifted slowly back to consciousness. She sat up, shaking her head to clear out the ringing in her ears. Beside her, Firestorm and Nightslice slowly awakened as well.

"Ow! I feel like I just got hit by an anvil!" moaned Nightslice.

Kris was still trying to clear the mist within her confused mind.

The attack, the storm, the sinking ship, us falling…

"Uh, guys I think we have a problem." Firestorm pointed to a window.

Kris immediately noticed two things. One thing was that they were standing of the ceiling, meaning the ship had overturned. Two; the area outside the window was filled with water.

"Make that a deep problem." Kris muttered.

Kris peered out the window. There wasn’t much to see, other than the silent waters and the fish swimming around. The ship was lying on its top on the ocean floor. From what she could see, it was dangerously close to a deep ocean trench.

Nightslice tried the only door in the room.

"Locked," he moaned, "either that or its blocked. We won’t be getting out this way."

"Then we’ll just have to swim out." Firestorm said.

He was rummaging through the contents of an inverted cupboard. Tossing out a pile of scuba gear, he beamed.

"Conveniently, someone left these here."

Kris managed to pull the diving mask over Nightslice’s dinosaur-like head and strapped on he small oxygen tank for him while Firestorm donned his own set, in addition to a pair of flippers. Kris shot a glance to the window, then to the jammed shut door.

"Ash and the others…are they still onboard?"

"If they are, then I’m afraid they’ll have to take care of themselves." Firestorm said. "Any of us try to barge open the door and we risk sending the ship 20,000 leagues under the sea. Cause it doesn’t look very stable."

"Guess you’re right." Kris sighed.

"Hey," Firestorm put a claw on her shoulder, "I’m pretty sure that kid can take care of himself. But we’ve gotta save our own butts for now!"

"He’d thank you for the vote of confidence." Kris pulled her scuba mask on.

"Ready guys?" Firestorm asked, "I gonna burn a hole in the side."

Concentrating his flames into a single, sharp breath, he carefully burnt a square hole in the wall. It gave in, flooding the room with cold seawater. Nodding to each other, they squeezed through the hole and made their way to the surface.

Almost….Almost…

There was a squeal from Nightslice as he was suddenly and forcefully dragged down. Kris whizzed around to face the attacker, trying to see through the dozens of bubbles. She would have screamed if she weren’t under water.

It was so quiet!

A huge Gyarados had Nightslice clutched in its jaws. The Scyther was struggling, but to no avail against the vice-like grip. Firestorm swam at it and jabbed it in the eyes. Roaring in pain, it let go of Nightslice.

Nightslice took off at full speed. However, swimming had never been his forte. The snake-like creature quickly caught up and barreled into him, jarring his breathing gear loose.

Firestorm watched his friend’s eyes go wide as his lungs were suddenly been deprived of oxygen. Taking a deep breath, Firestorm sacrificed his own gear, rapidly strapping it onto Nightslice. Making a quick check that he could breathe, Firestorm shoved his limp body straight up to the surface.

The Gyarados charged at Firestorm, grabbing hold of his leg. While clawing at the creature, he gestured for Kris to get to the surface.

Kris was about to protest, but the desperate look on Firestorm’s face forced her to move. She grabbed Nightslice and dragged him to the surface.

Meanwhile, Firestorm found himself being pulled further into the creature’s mouth. The Gyarados had his entire lower body firmly clasped, preventing him from swimming away. Straining his already exhausted muscles, he slashed at the steel-like hide and kicked the inside of his mouth. The sudden attack stunned the creature, but not for very long.

Realizing its advantage, it dove deeper down into the ocean. Still without a way to escape, Firestorm felt the water pressure begin to crush him, as much as the Gyarados’ teeth snapping several of his ribs.

In space, they say, no one can hear you scream. Underwater, it’s exact same situation.

"Firestorm! Firestorm!"

From her perch on the wooden board, Kris had watched the bubbles constantly rising to the surface for the last five minutes or so. Then they had abruptly stopped.

"Firestorm!!!!!"

"Grruughh! Hrk! Hrk!" Nightslice came to, coughing and spluttering.

Kris moved over to his side, being careful not to unbalance the wooden board.

"Firestorm! Where is he?"

Kris sadly glanced over the side. Nightslice knew what she meant. He felt Kris putting her arms around his neck.

No, he told himself, please! Say it isn’t true!

The next instant, something burst out from the water.

Firestorm launched himself onto the makeshift raft, gasping and coughing.

"Firestorm!!"

"You’re alive man!"

Firestorm rolled a Pokeball over to Kris.

"Come…on pe…ople…takes…a more that…this…jerk to…do me…in…"

Kris happily gave him a hug, but he yelled out in pain. She saw his chest heavily bleeding. There was a slight unevenness in the movements of his chest when he inhaled and exhaled.

"Mu…must’ve cracked a…few ribs…b…back there."

Kris pulled out a piece of cloth from Nightslice’s backpack.

"Here, this might hurt. But we’ll need to apply pressure to stop the bleeding."

"GGGRRrgrrgrraaarrgrggr!!!!!!" Firestorm roared as Kris pulled the bandage tight.

The pain was agonizing, but Firestorm made no attempt to resist. At least he wouldn’t bleed to death. Kris and Nightslice opened up some of Kris’ extra clothes, giving him a soft cushion to lie on.

"Will you be alright?" Kris asked, deep concern showing in her eyes. She was trying to make him as comfortable as possible.

"Yes…" he managed to gasp, "my…gratitude." He held his claw up in a two-fingered salute.

Firestorm watched as Kris crawled over to Nightslice. Together, they pulled out a map book and began discussing the way to steer their raft. For the first time, Firestorm noticed it was nightfall. It was a clear sky with a bright, full moon and all the millions of brightly shinning stars.

Clear sky, Firestorm silently said, they’ll easily be able to navigate. Considering they pretty much know what they’re doing…

He would leave their fate in the hands (and claws) of his most trusted companions. They’d find the way out of this.

For me…

Firestorm yawned.

I just need a nice long nap…

The exhausted warrior closed his eyes and drifted dreamily into a deep sleep.