"Noctowl, I choose you!" I cried. I threw Noctowl's Pokeball. The yellow and green unusual colored Noctowl popped out. He swooped down and knocked Kio backwards into a huge area of water.
     "Sneasel, kick their butts!" Julius ordered. He tossed a Great Ball into the air and Sneasel came out of it. Noctowl tackled Sneasel right out of the air and onto Julius. Pikachu ended it quickly with a Thunderbolt attack. Kio, Sneasel and Julius shook and yelled as the electric surged through them.
     Lizzie sent out Charmander. Charmander used Flamethrower. Team Rocket and Sneasel were caught under the flames. They were burned.
     "Okay, okay, we give!" Kio cried. He banged his fist against the floor. Charmander stopped the attack and Team Rocket grabbed onto the wall. Kio and Julius were on their knees, trying to get to their feet.
    
All of us -- including Team Rocket walked through corridors on the boat. Eventually the lights started to flicker, and they blew out. "Okay, we have some flashlights," Willis muttered. He and Lizzie took flashlights from their backpacks and focused them ahead. Pikachu used Flash and so did Noctowl who hovered above my head.
     "Okay, if we can break through a part of the boat like Ash Ketchum did and then swim up to the surface ... we should be okay," I said.
     Lizzie, Willis, Pikachu, Sneasel, Noctowl and Team Rocket nodded. I was now almost up to my knees in the water. Things floated around us. I looked up. Pikachu and Noctowl aimed their Flashes up. There was a hole. "Here guys," I said. I looked up again. "We can get up through that hole. Maybe there is a door or something through a tunnel there."
     We built a pyramid to get up. Team Rocket on bottom. Willis and I on top of them. Pikachu climbed onto Noctowl's back and flew up. Sneasel floated up over them. Lizzie hopped up through the hole and bent down to help me up. I grabbed onto her hand and jumped up. We then together helped up Willis and left.
     "WHAT ABOUT US!" Kio and Julius yelled in unison.
     They helped themselves up. I was too busy to notice. We must have been in a gym or something. There were mats lying all over the floor and barbells lined up against the wall.
     "We ain't getting past here," Lizzie said. "Ewww, my socks smell like crap now."
     I sent out Quilava. Lizzie sent out Charmander. "Okay you two, we need you to use your most powerful Flamethrower so we can welt a hole through the roof of the boat and swim up to safety," I said.
     "Everyone, get a water Pokemon ready," Lizzie said. She sent out Marill. I sent out Lapras. Willis, Pikachu and I were already on Lapras.
     I returned Noctowl. Team Rocket returned Sneasel. "Wait, we don't have a water type," Julius said.
     "One of you grab a hold on Lapras," Willis said. "The other grab onto Lizzie and Marill."
     I already got ready to hold my breath. The roof was cracking. It would be less than a minute before the hole burned through. I prepared to recall Quilava. Lizzie got Charmander's Pokeball ready. We couldn't let our fire Pokemon get soaked.
     Kio got onto Lapras. I let Pikachu climb into my backpack. Willis sat right between Kio and I. Julius kneeled down and put an arm on Marill. The hole was huge now. It was ready. Water poured in.
     "Good job guys. Return," Lizzie and I said in unison. We returned Charmander and Quilava. We stuffed the Pokeballs into our pockets and then floated up. Marill floated through the hole first. Julius held onto Marill. Lizzie held onto Julius.
     Lapras floated up next. I could feel the weight of Willis and Kio clutching onto me. Lapras rose up. All of a sudden, she stopped.
     Why did Lapras stop? I wondered. I opened my eyes and peeked. A huge, huge Tentacruel was right in front of us. It shot white beams at Lapras and Marill. I was struck in the leg. "Aaahhhhh," I gurgled. I almost let go of Lapras. Bubbles and air, precious air escaped from my mouth. I strained to hold onto Lapras. I looked down at my leg where I was struck. Blood oozed out.
     Willis tapped me on the shoulder. I looked at him. Are you okay? he mouthed.
     I nodded and then tapped on Lapras. I nodded. "Laprasss!" Lapras roared. Lapras used a huge Ice Beam. I was running out of air.
     The Ice Beam hit Tentacruel. Marill also used a hard Ice Beam. Tentacruel was frozen in a huge block of ice. Lapras charged forward and so did Marill. The two Pokemon rammed the frozen Tentacruel together. The frozen Tentacruel sank, but we rose. Higher and higher.
     Eventually we broke the surface. I coughed on the cold air. A huge block of metal rolled by. We all climbed on top of it. "We hafta get somewhere quickly," Julius said to me.
     We tied rope to Lapras and Marill. They were being prepared to swim away. "Okay, Noctowl and Butterfree," Lizzie said. "We need you 2 to fly together and see where you can find the closest island -- or city."
     The Pokemon nodded. They flew away until they were out of site. Willis, Lizzie, Pikachu, Team Rocket and I sat on the huge block of metal. It had enough room to fit about 10 people on it. "So, what should we do why we wait?" Willis asked.
     Marill and Lapras were having a conversation. Pikachu ran up and sat on Lapras's head and began to talk to them.
     "Let's talk about food," Julius said. "When we get to civilization, the first thing I'm gonna do is order a double cheeseburger from Burger Universe."
     "Or we could talk about how you guys are ever gonna repay us," Lizzie said.
     "Yeah," I said. "You have done mean things to us and we totally saved your butts down there!"
     Kio nodded. "We thank you for that, but we are still enemies. We respect you, but we still don't like you. When we get to civilization we are right back to being enemies."
     "Fine with me," Lizzie said stubbornly.
     I sighed. Some things would never change.
    
About half an hour later, Butterfree and Noctowl returned. They flew above Pikachu and talked to him. Pikachu then ran over to me. "Pikachu, Pikachu, Pika, Pika, Chu, Pikachu." (Butterfree and Noctowl spotted an island where we can stay. No cities or anything, but the island is like, 10 miles away.)
     I translated for the others. "Well, we should start now. We might be able to make it there by night," Willis said.
     Marill and Lapras swam forward. I took some food out of my backpack. "Well, I have 2 bags of chips and some cookies in my backpack."
     Lizzie had 5 bottled sodas and Willis had 4 cans of soup.
     "This food is gonna hafta last until we get to a real city," Kio muttered. "That island is our best hope right now."

It was about midnight when we arrived at the island. Willis and Team Rocket were asleep, under some blankets in Willis's backpack.
     Lizzie was half awake - half asleep. I was tired, but still awake. Lapras and Marill approached the island. I woke everyone else up and we walked onto the island, pulling the metal shaft with us. "Good job guys," I said. "You deserve a long rest and a big breakfast."
     I returned Lapras and Lizzie returned Marill. I took out the T Box. The box that turned into a tent when you pressed the right button. I pressed the red button and dropped the box. A huge tent popped out. We all got inside and slept.

I woke up in the morning to smell soup. I looked around. Pikachu was asleep next to me and Team Rocket were both snoring loudly on the other side of the tent.
     I went outside. Willis had some logs on fire and over it was a pan of soup. It was cooking very well. Pikachu followed me out of the tent. "Hey," I croaked out. "Good morning."
     "Hey," Willis greeted. "Beef stew is almost ready. Get your bowl out of your backpack."
     Eventually, Kio and Julius joined us. We ate the stew, but didn't really have time to enjoy it. We knew that in a while we'd hafta find a way off of the island.
     "Hey, in a way this reminds me of Gilliagan's Island," Willis said. "Woody is like Gilligan, I'm the Professor, Lizzie is Ginger, Julius is Mr. Howell and Kio is Mrs. Howell."
     "Hey!" Kio yelled.
     We all laughed. Even Julius couldn't hold back a laugh. We sat around and ate our stew. This was the first time I had ever really bonded with my brother, Julius. He and I sat there, telling jokes and laughing. However, I caught myself before we got too close. I had to remember, this was the guy who had killed our mother. This was the guy that had killed Lizzie's father. He had made us orphans. He had attacked us so many times. He had always insulted us and he was never there for me.
     I stopped laughing and finished my stew. I went over to the lake and washed out my bowl and spoon. I then dried it and put it back in my backpack.
     "Charrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!" a voice roared.
     "Was that Charmander?" I asked Lizzie.
     Lizzie shook her head. "Charmander hasn't been out of his ball since yesterday when we got off the boat."
     I heard the roar again. "There it is again," I said.
     "I heard it this time," Lizzie said.
     Everyone else nodded.
     Suddenly, a huge fireball came rushing towards us. I jumped and dodged out of the way. It whizzed by and blew up a tree. The bits and chunks of the tree fell into the water. "What the funnel cake was that?" Kio demanded.
     "Oh ... my... GOD!" Julius cried. We all ran as fireballs flew at us. We ducked, dodged, and ran!
     We ran past the trees and I saw a huge Charizard staring us down. First was the huge and overgrown Tentacruel and now Charizard.
     "Hidey ho," I said with a cheesy grin. "We didn't mean to erm-- disturb you. We'll just be leaving now."
     We started to walk quickly the other way, but Charizard flew in front of us and used a Flamethrower. We all went in separate directions. "Charmander, go!" Lizzie cried.
     "Chikorita, you too," Willis called out.
     "Tauros, go!" Kio ordered.
     "I choose Sneasel," said Julius.
     "Take Charizard to the max, Pikachu," I said.
     The 5 Pokemon looked up at Charizard. They weren't all that big -- none of them.
     "Charmander, Ember," Lizzie ordered. Charmander shot tiny fireballs at Charizards's head and left a tiny scorch mark on his cheek.
     Pikachu jumped up. "Pikachu, Thunderbolt," I commanded.
     "Chikorita, tie up Charizard's legs with a Vine Whip," Willis said. Chikorita tied up Charizard and then a jolt of electricity smacked Charizard in the neck. Charizard was knocked backwards. He fell to the ground.
     Sneasel used Faint Attack when Charizard got back up and then Tauros used a Rampage Attack. This sent Charizard backwards a couple of yards and then we did the sensible thing.
     WE RAN FOR OUR LIVES!
     Our Pokemon behind us we ran faster than any of us thought we could. Charizard must have been knocked out because we ran 2 blocks and didn't see him behind us. We all stopped to catch our breath. That didn't last long when another flame burst at us.
     We all looked up. "Oh..." Lizzie started.
     "My..." Willis took over.
     "GOD!" Kio finished. A flaming red bird hovered above us. I didn't even need my Poke'dex. I knew it was Moltres.
     Moltres used Fire Spin and a swirling flame shot down at us. There was nothing we could do. The fire scorched my skin and I yelled out. Smoke escaped from my mouth and I groaned as the pain rocked through my body.
     Another beam of fire came from behind us. But it wasn't aiming for us. It was trying to hit Moltres! We all turned. Entei was standing there with Mew on his head.
     "Entei!" Willis and I yelled in unison. We ran over to the Legendary Pokemon and hugged its fur. Regaining composure we jumped on.
     "Full group attack," Julius instructed. "On Moltres. Sneasel, Night Shade!" A gray beam of energy shot at Moltres.
     "Pikachu, Thunderbolt," I commanded. Pikachu used Thunderbolt. Mew used Psybeam and Entei used Sacred Fire.
     "Charmander, Fire Spin," Lizzie ordered.
     "Chikorita, Razor Leaf," Willis said.
     "And, Tauros. Rampage!" Kio ordered.
     The 7 attacks combined. Moltres's eyes got huge. The Legendary Pokemon was for once, afraid. The attacks smacked right into it and knocked it to the ground.
     Lizzie took a Pokeball from her pocket. "Pokeball, go!" She hurled the Pokeball at Moltres. It was sucked inside. One shake, two, three, four, PING!
     We all cheered. Lizzie skipped over to retrieve her Pokeball, but it started shaking again. "What the heck?" I muttered.
     The Pokeball glowed white and Moltres popped back up. It soared away in the speed of light. "Mew?" Mew asked.
     "Pikachu, Pikachu," Pikachu said to me. (Mew says it knows a way off the island.)

The next day, we all got back on the metal shaft. Entei had left us after giving us something that was in his mouth. I looked at it. A ruby. I felt around my neck. I had lost the ruby that I had found the first day of my adventure! It must have happened weeks ago. It was as good as new and attached to a string.
     "Whoah," I muttered. "The ruby. I -- I forgot all about it."
     Mew vanished. I waved and then looked back at the ruby. Suddenly it glowed brilliantly. A flash of pink light surrounded us. Before I knew it, the metal shaft was speeding at incredible speed through the water. Waves crashed around us. It was only minutes before a city came into view.
     "We did it!" Kio cried with joy. "Civilization."
     As soon as the shaft hit shore, Kio jumped off and began to kiss the ground. "We were castaways all this time. Civilization!!!"
     "Kio, it was only 3 days," Julius said. "Good lord." He sighed and shook his head. He then looked back at Willis, Pikachu, Lizzie and I. "We are back to being enemies."
     With that he and Kio walked off quickly.
     "I guess some things never will change," I said. "But I have a new goal. It is time to get my fourth badge. After that, six more badges until I can get to battle for the Pokemon League Battle Championships."
     Lizzie tapped me on the shoulder. She had tapped Willis too. We all looked up. The sky had turned gray. It had darkened. I almost gasped as I saw Zapdos and Moltres flying through the sky. And they looked really angry. There was a flash of lightning and they were gone.
     "Soon..." I muttered.



                      TO BE CONTINUED...