The dank and dark cave echoed with droplets of water as the small rowboat drifted deeper inside. The group gazed up at the jagged ceiling, spooked a little by the dead silence, but even more so by the tons of broken ships. In order to battle the darkness, Zeru let his Charmander lead the boat. By now, Zeru had stopped rowing and just let the boat slug calmly along the water. "On second thought, maybe we should head back." May started to fidget nervously a bit. "We're here now; there's no use in turning back now." Zeru said fearlessly, though his eyes shivered lightly. "I think I've heard of this place." Sogen gulped, "This is the skip graveyard, where they put ships and boats that are too old and tatty to sail anymore. Some of these ships are said to even be haunted." At that, May and Zeru shivered. "Oh, tish-tosh-ghost Poke'mon, maybe, but I don't think this place is haunted by anything that's actually scary." Landon said. "Then why are you squeezing my hand?" May barked, blushing a bit. "That's not me." Landon glanced back. Zeru looked down and that it was he who was holding May's hand. A surge of hot-cold embarrassment went through his body heavily. May, who had been searching for the one gripping her palm, noticed as well. "…!!" Quickly, they pulled away from each other, folding their arms. Landon couldn't help but utter a chuckle. Their boat drifted to a halt on the bank of land, right beside another boat. "It's another boat." Sogen stated. The kids jumped out of the boat silently and gazed at the motor boat in their midst. May and Zeru were careful to avoid direct eye contact. "Vulpix, use your nose to sniff out the owners of the boat. See if Team Darkhorn has been inside." "Vulpix!" Vulpix leapt off Landon's shoulder and dashed over to the boat; she prodded the seats with her nose carefully. "Vulpix, vul-vul! Vulpix!" She shouted, her soft curly tails uncurling occasionally. "What'd she say?" Sogen asked. "By the looks of it, I think she's found our culprits. Lead the way, Vulpix." Landon said. "Vulpix," With a yelp, Vulpix turned and skipped down the rocky trail. Landon and his friends gave chase immediately and hopefully. "Now!" A sudden pair of voices shot out through the ship graveyard. The group came to an abrupt stop and allowed their eyes to dart around. Suddenly, a large metallic cage rose up from the ground and enclosed itself around the group. "Hey, what is this?" Zeru growled. "Char-charmander!" Charmander did the same. Everybody argued and growled as they tried to attack their prison.
       Landon pulled and tugged at the bars of his new prison angrily with his Poke'mon. "We can't break free!" May exclaimed. Sogen continuously thrust his fists into the bars in a furious attempt to make some kind of a dent. "It's no use; we can't get out." He said. Landon grabbed the top of the sword sheath with his left hand and the hilt of his sword with his right. Then, he moved his body in some sort of stance-he was going to attempt the technique known as the Batojitsu. "Don't worry; I'll cut us out of here." Landon just stood there for a while, concentrating his gaze on the bars. He knew he could cut through weak metal, but never tried it so thick before. The suspense of the wait was murderous on May and she started to sweat. The drop of water rolled off her cheek light. Splat-WHOOSH! Using the droplet splatter as a go mark, Landon pushed off towards the bars at a blinding speed; he withdrew his sword swiftly and swung it fast and hard. CLUNNNG!! The sound of clashing metal echoed throughout the cave, causing a colony of bat Poke'mon to stir above. Landon clenched his teeth as the shock of his failed attempt rang throughout his sword. "What happened?" Zeru asked. "I guess it's a lot tougher than I thought." Landon winced. "We have other ways to do this." May pulled a poke'ball from her belt, "Torchic, I choose you!" She tossed it to the ground and Torchic burst out. "Let's use our fire Poke'mon to break out." She said and Landon and Zeru nodded. Torchic, Vulpix, and Charmander lined up in front of the bars. Their trainers slid back a bit to avoid being burned. "Flamethrower!" The three kids exclaimed. Their fire Poke'mon fired a burst of flames and let them crash into the bars. However, the assault failed to damage the cage in any way. "Oh-great! Now what?" Sogen wailed. "You won't get out that way." Suddenly, a spotlight fell on top of a large, tatty old ship. From atop the mast, Yoshimari and Tsubimi grinned at them, clutching Peeko's cage. "Peeko!" Sogen cried. (Background turns into a vast night jungle scene) "A stealth like dark, we're shadows of the night." "Blanketing over those who do things right." "Where treasure glitters, we're there to claim." "To higher riches, we'll surely aim." "Tsubimi!" "Yoshimari!" "We're Team Darkhorn, the pirate thieves." "Don't mess with us; you're out of your league!"
       "Are…they okay?" Sogen sweated anime style. "Did they sound okay?" May gave an annoyed sigh. "Let us out of this stupid thing!" Zeru shouted. "Forget it; there's no way you're getting out of that cage." Tsubimi told him with a chuckle. "That cage is flame-proof, water-proof, and-obviously-cut-proof!" "But we'll set up a deal with you. Trade us your EX Poke'mon and we'll consider letting you and the Wingull free." Yoshimari said with a glint. "Not a chance!" "Mudkip!" Landon and Toya folded their arms. "Then I hope you like your cage because you'll be in it for a while!" Team Darkhorn laughed. "I'll show you!" As if he went mad, Landon swung his sword repeatedly against the bars. Clanging sounds echoed all around the area. Though he made a few nicks and scratches, he only succeeded in tiring himself out. "Man, I wish there was a way to get us out." He panted. In answer to his statement, a certain blue Poke'mon came wandering by. "Huh?....hey," "It's Totodile!" May walked over to the edge of the cage and Totodile smiled at her. "Did you follow us all the way over here?" "Toto-to-toto-dile!" It leapt. May glanced back to Landon, "Lan, didn't the Poke'dex say that Totodile can bite through anything?" "Almost anything," Landon corrected. "Totodile, can you do us a favor since you're here?" May asked the crocodile Poke'mon. Totodile replied with a spin and a nod. "Try and bite through these bars to help us out-" "Not so fast!" Tsubimi's voice broke through. "We can't have that lockjaw Poke'mon ruining our plans. Go, Tailow!" "You too, Loudred!" Team Darkhorn threw their Poke'balls down at the cage and their partner Poke'mon burst out. "Loudred!" "Tail-tailow!" They roared and squeaked. "Attack!" Team Darkhorn exclaimed. Loudred and Tailow made a mad-dash towards Totodile, while all it did was just stand there. "Totodile, Water Gun attack!" May blurted out. "Toto-dile!" Totodile opened its big mouth and launched a jet-stream of H20 at its attackers. Loudred let out a yelp as it was blasted back to the ground. "Tail?" Tailow gulped at its comrade, sweating. "Good, Totodile, now get the other one." May coached. Totodile fired a burst of water again into the air; Tailow feverishly spiraled in the air to avoid getting hit. "Good job, Tailow. Use your Whirlwind!" Tsubimi shouted and Tailow flapped its wings very rapidly. A swirl of wind kicked up and spiraled towards Totodile. "Totodile, fire a bubble attack into the Whirlwind as hard as you can." May ordered. "Toto-diiiile!" As instructed, Totodile spurted out an array of bubbles from its mouth. They sped into the mini tornado like bullets and spiraled with it. Amazingly, the force of the bubbles pushed the Whirlwind back towards its owner and exploded on it. "Tailow!" Tailow cried as it crashed to the ground. "Oh-no! Tailow, return!" Tsubimi growled and returned her Poke'mon.
       Loudred, use your Hyper Voice on that pipsqueak." Yoshimari stated. Loudred got to its feet and its speaker-like ears started to vibrate. "Quick, finish with Water Gun!" "Totodile-dile!" Totodile let out a stream of water and sent Loudred flying into a ship wall before it could attack. "Ack! Return now, Loudred!" Yoshimari returned his Poke'mon to its Poke'ball, frowning. "Yoshi, let's make a run for it." Tsubimi whispered. "Sounds like a good idea." Her brother nodded. With that, Team Darkhorn leapt down onto the ground and made a dash for it. "Hey!" The kids shouted. Yoshimari and Tsubimi, who still had Peeko hostage, jumped into their motor boat and revved the motor to life. "They're getting away!" Sogen exclaimed. "Totodile, use your bite on the bars, please." May said and Totodile gave another nod. It then wrapped its jaws around two bars at once and crunched them to pieces. It did this process over and over until there were no bars left on one side. "Thanks," Sogen was the first to run out, followed by Landon, Toya, Vulpix, Zeru, and Charmander. "C'mon, you two." May held out her arms and Totodile and Torchic hopped in. Team Darkhorn finally got their boat untied and started backing out as fast as they could. "They'll never catch us now." Tsubimi said as they drove away. "Think again," Yoshimari pointed to the side. Landon was running on the strip of land alongside the boat, clutching a Poke'ball. He gave the two a grin to hint them on their defeat. "I choose you," He said calmly and the item flashed open. "Pika-Pika!" Pikachu appeared on his shoulder next to Toya. "You two know what to do." "Piiiikaaa!" "Mudkiiip!" Pikachu (who shocked itself and Comrades) and Toya let out a mixed blast of lightning and water; the attack traveled along the water and connected with the moving vehicle. KABOOOOM!!! The boat exploded, sending everything out of the mouth of the cave. The kids made their way to the edge of the land path. Sogen looked up into the sky at the debris flying around. When his eyes fell on the screaming Wingull, he held out his arms. "Peeko!" "Wingull!!" He caught the cage deftly. "Wingull, Wingull!" Wingull chirped happily at him. Then, Sogen turned to Landon and his friends. "Thanks a lot. You don't know what this Wingull means to my grandpa. He'd never be able to brave the sea without her." He said. "No problem; we do this kind of stuff all the time." Zeru flashed him a thumbs-up and they all smiled.

       Landon, May, Zeru, and Toya stood in the Poke'mon center with Sogen and Mr. Briney. The old sea captain had just awaken from his nap and came down to greet his Poke'mon's rescuers. Before they could talk, however, Nurse Joy walked up to them with Peeko resting in her arms. "Your Wingull is in tip-top shape, Mr. Briney." She smiled. "Peeko, ol' girl!" At the sound of Briney's voice, Peeko leapt up and fluttered into his arms. "Wingull-Wingull!" She squeaked happily. "I can't thank you kids enough for bringing my first mate back to me." Briney was close to tears. "Actually," Landon held out his hand, "If you can get us to Dewford Town, We'll take it." Mr. Briney slapped him on the back and the young samurai coughed from the rush of withdrawing air. "Kid, you've got yourself a deal. And don't forget to thank him and his friends, Peeko." "Wingull!" As thanks, Peeko fluttered into the air and nipped Landon, Toya, May, Zeru, and Sogen and nipped them affectionately on the cheeks. They all burst into laughter as Peeko nipped them again and again. (What surprises await Landon on the road to Dewford Island? Join us next time as our heroes take another exciting journey on "Poke'mon X")
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Fast Fact answer: The technique Landon taps into is the power to fuse with Poke'mon. Stay tuned for more Fast facts.

"Shine the Sky" (Ending Theme)

Shine the sky!
Crystal power hit the high-
Flying current to my victory
Try and Try!
Never give the fight away
I'll take every challenge that I can get in my hands
Des-tiny!
Prophecy I can't ignore
Know what surprises that it has in store
Shine the sky!
A knew adventure I will face
Another chance at victory with Poke'mon!

This is the end of  Chapter 13. See ya' in Chapter 14