Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of the characters that appear in the novels, tv shows, movies, or games. It's as simple as that.

I do, however, own this story and all the characters in it that do not appear in the novels, tv shows, movies, or games, save for a few who may belong to friends of mine.

Copyright (c) Riiarei, Saw-of-the-Wolves, Chibi-Tory, and ShadowNight 2008

Authors Notes: Hello, readers! This is a collab story me and my three friends have been working on for a while. Starting with Shadow, and passing from him to Tory, then to me, and then finally to Saw and back again, we would each write something between ten and twenty paragraphs. The story was Shadow's idea, so naturally, he should be the one to post it. However, he doesn't have an account on this site and he's not one for posting stories in the first place, so he gave me permission to post it here. With four people working on one story, there's no telling when we might finish a chapter, so updates will probably be a little slow. Sorry about that. But, anyway, please enjoy and tell us what you think. We really do appreciate reviews, comments, constructive critisism-- the whole 9 yards. So don't be shy! We want to know what you readers think of all our hard work! ^_~

Chapter One: Unusual Introductions

The S.S. Anne-- just mentioning this name could fill one's heart with excitement.

As one of the most highly renowned cruise liners in the world, the S.S. Anne was constantly brimming with activities, parties, and the things Pokemon trainers enjoyed most-- battles. Though excitement wasn't all this ship was known for. The S.S. Anne was the largest ship ever to sail the ocean and was supposedly the strongest as well. It had the capacity to contain more than three-thousand passengers and the strength to withstand the most brutal of storms. In addition, it sailed around the world, visiting certain destinations on an annual basis and served as transportation for millions of trainers and Pokemon each year. This year was no exception.

The ship was virtually packed to the brim and despite its large size, it was hardly able to accommodate the vast amount of trainers onboard. Third-class passengers were forced to share accommodations with other low class passengers with whom they shared no relationship to. In other words, passengers who didn't have enough money to pay for first or second-class tickets had to share rooms with people they didn't know. This arrangement annoyed a few people, but for the most part, the passengers didn't really mind, seeing as they didn't spend much time in their cabins, anyway.

During the day, the ship was lively and loud. However, as it was fairly early in the morning, most trainers were still fast asleep in their rooms. Outdoors, on the deck of the ship, it was quiet and peaceful. Only the sound of the waves and the wind could be heard. But that didn't last long. The voice of a young boy and the sound of his running footsteps pounding on the wooden surface soon resounded throughout the ship.

"Sparks!" the boy called to a small Pokemon running a few yards ahead of him. "Come back here!"

The boy was relatively short and seemed to be unusually thin and frail-looking for his age. He was dressed in a pair of black pants with a gray and green sweater that appeared much too large for his tiny body. The hood of his sweater was cast up over his head, but messy, green locks of hair could be seen protruding from beneath it. The boy's eyes, though slightly obscured by worry for his Pokemon, were a bright yellow color and seemed to radiate innocence.

The Pokemon the boy was running after was a Shinx; a small, lion cub-looking Pokemon that was mostly covered in light blue fur. The end half of the Pokemon's body, as well as a collar-shaped patch of fur around its neck, was black with a faint tint of blue. At the end of its tail, was a golden, four-pointed star which, in color, matched the single golden band around each of the Pokemon's front paws. The Shinx acknowledged that the boy had called out to it, but didn't stop running. It didn't seem to realize that it was causing the boy any trouble, because as far as it was concerned, it was only having fun.

The Shinx carried on like that for a while as it ran wildly across the deck. It would stop momentarily once every few moments to examine objects that were new to it, but it would always be off and running before the boy had a chance to catch up. It wasn't until the boy called out to it, sounding a little worried, that the Shinx finally paid attention.

"Sparks, watch where you're going!"

By the time the Shinx looked ahead of itself, it was too late. All it saw was a mass of black fur before it collided into whatever it was that its trainer had told it to watch out for. The Shinx felt the mass it had run into topple over due to the force of the impact, and before the young Pokemon could see what it had hit, it felt itself being roughly knocked aside.

When the Shinx had recovered, it shook itself off and blinked, looking upwards as a dark shadow fell over it. The form standing before it was that of a dangerous looking Weavile. The Pokemon was covered in thick black fur and a pair of razor sharp claws adorned both of the Pokemon's hands and feet. A feathery crimson crest protruded from the top of its head and a crimson, feather-like ear poked out from either side of its head, matching the Pokemon's two feather like tails. The Weavile's dark, crimson eyes revealed nothing but contempt for the bewildered Shinx at its feet.

"Wea-vile," it snorted, glowering at the little Shinx at its feet.

"Raid, cut it out," came the reproachful voice of a female. "It was just an accident."

The Weavile glanced up at the girl standing by its side before crossing its arms bitterly. It directed one last resentful glare at the Shinx before retreating behind its trainer, where it leaned up against her legs and continued to glare out of the corner of its eye.

The Weavile's trainer was young, no older than seventeen, though their seemed to be an air of darkness surrounding her. The girl's short, obsidian hair was streaked with red highlights and spiked upwards slightly in the back. Her bangs shadowed a pair of sharp, crimson eyes, giving her a slightly dark, somber appearance. She was dressed in a gray tank-top that was cut off just above her midriff and a pair of baggy black pants, healed up by a matching belt that revealed only a single red and white pokeball. Over her tank top, she was wearing a white, short-sleeved jacket. The jacket had black rings around the ends of the sleeves and the interior of the hood, as well as a dragon design on the back, were a dark red color. In addition, she wore a pair of black, fingerless gloves that extended halfway up her lower arm and around her neck was a thin silver chain with a dog tag at the end. Her gray and red backpack was on the floor by her feet.

The girl knelt down beside the Shinx, who only cocked its head and blinked at her. "I'm sorry about that," she said. "Raid's just a brat. He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Shi!" the Shinx replied, his tail wagging back and forth happily.

"Got'cha!"

The girl took a surprised step back as a young boy snatched the Shinx up from behind. The Shinx struggled for a moment until it realized that it knew the person who had grabbed it. Then it smiled and happily licked the boy's face. The boy laughed, patting the cub Pokemon's head affectionately before turning to face the girl.

"Sorry," he said a little sheepishly. "Sparks doesn't always listen very well. He was only playing. I hope you're not mad or anything."

The girl laughed. "Of course I'm not mad. I know he didn't mean it."

"I'm glad," the boy replied, smiling. "I'm Tory by the way. And this is Sparks, my Shinx."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Rei, and this..." she stepped aside to expose the Weavile, who still had his arms crossed and was now glowering bitterly at the ocean, "is my Weavile, Raid."

Raid looked at the two new faces out of the corner of his eye. He let out an annoyed snort before returning his gaze to the ocean.

* * *

"When I find the brat who woke me up at six in the morning, I swear I'm going to give him a piece of my mind! It's hard enough trying to sleep cramped in a room full of people I don't know."

Stomping down the deck, growling irritably, was a tall teenage boy with dark purple hair that slightly shadowed his crimson eyes. He was dressed in a purple t-shirt and a pair of black and silver pants that matched his jacket. And in his hand, dangling at his side, was a worn out gray backpack which had one of the shoulder straps torn in half. He went by the name Shad.

While he was storming down the deck of the ship, he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. Standing directly in front of him, leaning against the railing and staring over the side of the ship, was what must have been the prettiest teenage girl he had ever seen. She was a little taller than he was with wavy red hair that wavered like liquid silk in the light sea breeze and her soft golden eyes glittered brightly in the morning sunlight. She had on a pair of blue jeans and lavender shirt with writing in tiny brown letters that he was too far away to read. A pair of dark brown, fingerless gloves that extended half-way up her lower arm cloaked her hands and a pokeball was fastened around her neck by a strong platinum chain.

Shad instantly dropped his backpack, puffed up his chest, and strutted over to the girl in a dignified manner. When the girl spotted him approaching, she giggled lightly and acted as though she hadn't noticed just to see what would happen. When he finally reached her, he silently leaned up against the railing beside her. When the girl didn't even so much as glance at him, he spoke up.

"Er.... nice... day, isn't it..." he said awkwardly, mentally slapping himself for being unable to think of anything better.

"Yeah," the girl replied simply, though it was obvious that she was trying to keep herself from laughing.

Shad grimaced, but then he noticed the tiny writing on the girl's shirt again, he had to get so close to read it that his face was practically in her boobs. The girl took a disturbed step back, her hand twitching slightly as Shad pulled away. The text had read in extremely tiny letters, "If you can read this, you better be my boyfriend."

It was then that Shad noticed the girl’s twitching hand form into a fist. He only dared look back up at her as her eyes darkened into rusty amber to go with her currently violated and pissed off state. Fearing what was to come next, he managed to choke out something in an accidentally squeaky and cracked voice.

“Er... s-sorry?”

* * *

As Rei and Tory started in on a new conversation, Raid picked up on something, knocking him out of his reverie about the ocean's shimmer from the morning sun reflected. He swiveled around quickly, trying to triangulate where the disturbance was coming from. When he managed to figure out that it was coming from the other end of the ship, he took a step forward with his left foot, growling lowly in his throat. The disruption seemed to be coming from a Pokemon, and whether it was harmful or not, it was enough to get his attention; he wasn’t going to risk it. He took another step forward to guide his body into a sprint to the back of the ship. This granted him attention from his owner.

“Raid! Where the hell are you going?!” Rei called out in frustration, as her Weavile hardly ever acted up this severely without a reason. When Raid disappeared around the corner of the ship’s built on apartment-like complex, Rei decided that she had no other choice but to go after him, so she did so immediately.

Following without question, but being slower than their companions, Tory and Sparks lagged behind most of the random sprint to the back of the boat. When Rei rounded another corner, Tory picked up his pace as to not risk losing sight of his newly found friend and rushed around the wall. However, he was met with the same fate that Sparks had with Raid earlier, only his was with Rei.

While picking himself up off of the deck floor and rubbing his now sore behind, Tory looked in the direction that Rei was facing to see what had made her stop. When he saw what had caught her attention and amazement, he couldn’t blame her. For now, facing away from them about ten yards further from Rei, was a shiny Charizard with golden, cat-like eyes and a bright golden flame on its tail.

* * *

“Sorry for the misunderstanding earlier. I can get a little tense around cocky guys. They just don’t know boundaries.”

Gee, thanks... thought Shad as he reached up to poke his now only semi-red cheek that had been given to him by the red head whom he was now talking to. “It’s no problem.” I think... He then jutted out his hand towards the girl. “I’m Shad. What’s your name?”

The girl smiled at him playfully with a kind twinkle in her once again golden eyes, “Now that’s more like it.” She took his hand and shook it. “I’m R –,”

Stopping suddenly in the middle of her sentence, a roar that she could recognize anywhere within a millisecond filled her ears. Charkhol... Without a second thought, the red head raced down the hallway to the familiar cry.

* * *

Tory yelped in fright and, accompanied by Sparks, he ducked behind Rei, peeking out over her shoulder only slightly. "I-is that a Charizard?" he stammered. "It's huge! And it's black! That is a Charizard, right?" Tory fell silent as he watched the Pokemon from behind Rei. It was looking around and seemed somewhat distressed, like it had lost something. "Hey, I think he might be looking for something."

Hearing voices, the Charizard abruptly reared its head to face them. Rei and Tory both froze. They had no idea whether this Pokemon was dangerous or friendly and to them, one thing was certain-- it sure didn't look friendly. Raid, on the other hand, wasn't intimidated in the slightest. He braced himself in front of his trainer and prepared for the opposing Pokemon to attack.

For a long moment, neither Pokemon moved. Raid and the Charizard just stared each other down, until finally--

"Charkhol!"

The Charizard whirled around towards the direction the voice had come from. The sudden movement startled both Rei and Tory and even Raid was a little surprised. When the Charizard noticed a tall, red-headed figure running towards it, it let out a happy growl and started towards her. Rei and Tory stared dumbstruck as the girl greeted the Charizard affectionately and the Pokemon responded by accepting the attention like a neglected puppy.

Moments later, an older boy followed behind her but stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed the Charizard. "Whoa...." he gasped. "That Charizard is enormous. I'm guessing it belongs to you?"

The redhead giggled as the Charizard nuzzled her cheek. "Yeah," she said. "He's mine. His name is Charkhol."

While the two older teens resumed their conversation about the Charizard, Tory scooped Sparks into his arms and cautiously stepped out from behind Rei to get a closer look at the Pokemon. Rei followed him as he made his way over to the two trainers and Pokemon, who didn't notice until he was only a few feet away.

"Uh...." Tory started, feeling a little awkward with everyone's eyes on him. "Your Pokemon looks really powerful. I'd challenge you to a battle, but...." Tory glanced down at Sparks who was staring quizzically at the Charizard. "I don't think my Shinx would last very long."

"Last very long? Are you kidding?" chimed in the older boy who was accompanying the redhead. "Does it even know how fight?"

"Well... truthfully..." Tory replied, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "I haven't used Sparks in a battle yet, so I wouldn't know."

"Figures." For this comment, the older boy received a hard kick in the shin from the redhead. "Ow! 'The hell was that for?"

The redhead glared daggers at him before turning to Tory. "You'll have to excuse Shad," she said. "He's obviously blind to the potential that all Pokemon carry with them. I'm sure that with a little training and hard work, your Shinx will be able to stand up to Charkhol someday."

Tory grinned cheerfully. "Thank you! I'm Tory, by the way. And that's Rei and her Weavile, Raid." Tory gestured to the pair behind him.

"Nice to meet you Tory, and Rei," she replied. "I'm R--."

The redhead was cut off when the ship suddenly lurched sharply to the side. All four trainers, as well as their Pokemon, were knocked off their feet and sent sliding part ways down the ship. When they finally recovered, Shad was the first to speak.

"What the...?" he said, rubbing a sore spot on his back before turning irritably to the redhead. "Does something bad happen every time you try to tell someone your name? Just spit it out so no one has to ask you again."

"It's Reyna," she replied, trying to help her Pokemon to his feet. No sooner had she spoken, there was a loud bang followed by a low whistling sound that seemed to grow louder with each passing second.

"What is that?" Tory inquired. He looked to the three trainers, none of which seemed to have an answer. That was... until Rei happened to look up.

"Tory! Look out!"

Rei swiftly grabbed Tory by his sweater and yanked him back towards her only seconds before a large cannonball landed where he had just been sitting. Dust and debris were sent flying in all directions. Rei and Tory threw themselves to the ground and shielded their heads with their arms. Charkhol protectively cast a wing over his trainer and ducked his head behind the cover while Shad quickly dove behind the Charizard's massive body.

When the debris finally stopped falling, Rei was the first to rise. The air was thick with the dust that the cannonball kicked up when it struck the deck and it was impossible to see more than a few feet in front of her. "Raid!" she called out worriedly. Everyone had their Pokemon. Sparks was in Tory's arms, Charkhol was looming protectively over Reyna, and Shad never had his Pokemon out of its pokeball. But everything had happened so fast, she didn't have the chance to make sure that Raid hadn't been in the path of the cannonball. "Raid! Where are you?"

Rei sighed with relief when her Pokemon answered her call only moments later as he bounded up to her through the cloud of dust. "Wea..." he said simply.

"There you are. You're not hurt, are you?"

Raid shook his head.

With a sigh of relief, the worried beating of Rei’s heart slowed. She gave Raid a soft pat on his head before looking around to double check on the others. Reyna was helping Tory up as he cradled Sparks in his arms, and Shad stepped out from behind Charkhol, trying to fathom what had just happened.

As though to confirm what they all were thinking, Reyna spoke up, “I think the ship’s under attack...”