The air above Corrial Port seemed to vibrate with the cheerful thrum of the morning market’s activity. Merchants had discovered long before, that this little prosperous seaside settlement bore much potential when trading and selling goods and as a result Corrial had manifested quite a bustling vendor community. People were naturally quick to react - rushing from their homes each week to gather the latest bargains. Now it had become a rare sight indeed to find Corrial’s streets empty of life, as Caley and his friends soon discovered.

Original intentions had been to once again stock up on the necessary supplies before moving onward to Nintencu, but the female members of the team had soon become excitedly engrossed in one of the many trinket stalls that were set up along this particular route. James peered over Rose’s shoulder, pointing out certain items and making various ‘Oooo!’ and ‘Ahhh..’ noises as he did so. Caley stood by and kept an anxious lookout while Adam stared up at the clouds and Denise, with Errol, snickered over a newspaper they were holding between them, the headline of which read ‘Charizan Leader Hands Himself In To The Police, Literally!’ Eventually, Cory took a step forward, exclaiming rather coldly that he wanted to be away from the place before they were snatched up by the Elite trio and taken in for some type of twisted gene splicing. This remark was enough to send James into a panic, and the group was back on the move once more, for another minute or so.

 

“Errol!”

 

            At the sound of his name being called by someone other than one of his travelling companions, Errol swung round to see a young girl wearing a familiar Pokéball headscarf, blue tank top and pedal pushers, sitting behind one of the smaller stalls. His mouth dropped open with a mixture of relieved surprise and joy.

            “Ali?” he exclaimed.

“Yep!” the girl grinned with a wink. “That’s my name, don’t wear it out!”

The others swapped confused glances before Errol turned to face them once more, a content and childishly animated look in his eyes.

            “Didn’t I evah tell youse guys about her? She was da goil dat helped Cory and me out of a tight spot back near Pachna Town.”

            “You must be Errol’s friends?” Ali smiled cheerily, giving James an especially long gaze as the group drew closer. Errol nodded before the others had a chance to speak up for themselves.

            “Dey’re da guys who’ve stuck wit me through thick an’ thin” he explained. “Cory, Caley, Denise, Rose, Adam and James.”

            The travellers murmured in greeting, then scanned the array of merchandise that was spread out on the table.

            “You’ve certainly got a lot of goods here, Ali” Caley said.

            “The most varied mobile selection there is!” she nodded, suddenly switching into blagging mode. “I got your Pokémon plushies, pendants, potions, you name it.”

            Adam raised an eyebrow at the differently coloured and shaped objects before picking up something yellow in one hand, casually turning it over and flicking a switch on the underside. The sounds that followed caused Errol’s eyes to widen, James to shriek like someone had set fire to his hair and both figures to throw their arms round each other in some sort of defensively terrified stance.

            “Cute,” the boy murmured with a smirk as the life-size mechanical Pikachu waddled across the tabletop, emitting it’s usual high-pitched calls from a speaker built into the area where its mouth would have existed, had it been real.

            “Turn that off!” Rose snapped, while Ali looked on with a puzzled expression. “You know what bad memories it brings back for those guys!”

            To prove her point, she stepped back and waved her hand in James’ and Errol’s direction. They were now crouched low, hands placed upon their heads in a manner of someone awaiting imminent doom. James was babbling something about fatal attractions to electric rodents while Errol simply whined and exclaimed, “please don’t hoit me!” at frequent intervals. This was proving to be quite entertaining for the other marketers and customers, to say the least. Adam rolled his eyes at the display before turning off the robotic Pikachu and placing it back on the table.

            “Sheesh. It’s only a toy”

            James finally stood up, upon realising the noises had ceased.

            “Well how was I to know that, twerp? That…thing… sounded incredibly realistic!”

            “Yeah!” Errol snapped angrily, a slight wobble in his usually steadfast tone.

            “Perhaps if you’d actually turned round and looked before going into your ‘wimpo routine’ then maybe you would have saved yourself the humiliation.” Adam remarked.

 

            “After all, don’t you think you’ve had enough of that already?”

 

            It was hard to tell who looked the more angrier; James or Errol. It was easy to see, however, who was the first to react. With his catlike reflexes Errol was the first to dive at the adolescent, James following suit. The others stood with equal expressions of disbelief coupled with the occasional groan and the frequent sigh, listening to Adam’s alarmed yells as they bolted past their ears like hailstones.

            “Do they do this often?” Ali inquired, leaning across the table and watching the men distribute their angered pummelling.

            “Not as often as they’d like, I expect,” Rose replied, scratching the back of her head sheepishly while Cory bit his lip. Caley looked at her.

            “It’s a good thing too… if they did that every time Adam insulted them that guy would be black and blue and unable to walk!”

            The figures continued to watch with uncertainty for a minute or so, nervous to intervene but equally anxious about Adam’s state of health, regardless of his attitude problems. Denise shook her head as she leant forward, picked up a hardback book and glanced at the cover.

            “Wow!” she exclaimed, in an attempt to attract James’ attention and draw him away from his previous intentions. “It’s a Pokémon Fortune Telling Manual!”

            James paused, his fist shaking in midair, and looked up frantically as Adam groaned under the weight of Errol’s relentless grip.

            “Fortune telling?” he squeaked, leaping to his feet and dashing toward the table. Ali acknowledged the alarmed inquiry with a grin.

            “Yup. The latest edition of the PFTM, complete with new Pokémon comparison definitive chart.” Ali leant forward, took the object from Denise and opened it up. “Basically, you look up your date of birth and it tells you what Pokémon you are most similar to.”

            “What’s wrong James?” Rose asked with a puzzled glance at her friend’s paled features. Errol lent an explanation as he approached.

            “He’s had…bad experiences wit’ dose fortune deals.”

            “What sort of bad experiences could you get from a book?” Caley inquired confusedly.

            “Plenty,” James muttered, recalling the uninhibited antics in overly tight Lycra that he exhibited while travelling Johto. Errol suddenly became very interested.

            “Hey…I’ve always wondad what made you so upset when you looked at da real t’ing” he said. “Hand it dis way, Ali.”

            James made a lunge for the book but Errol already had it in his grasp and was intent on keeping it that way.

            “Lessee…birth date…”

            “No, please don’t…”

            As Errol turned to the particular page his mouth dropped open.

            “What?”

            “Please…” James’ voice was getting quieter but more desperate at this point, as Rose sidled over to see what made Errol react that way.

            “It can’t be…” she gasped. Denise stood on her tiptoes and peered in between the stunned readers, and she raised her eyebrows.

            “A Ditto?”

            “James is a Ditto type?” Rose repeated in disbelief. Caley looked on with an expression that confirmed his complete misunderstanding of the whole thing.

            “I don’t get it…” Errol trailed off as James put on a pout of annoyance and misery. Adam just rubbed at his arm sulkily. “What’s so awful about dat?”

            “Think about it” James grumbled. “Being compared to a pink blob isn’t exactly the most flattering description.”

            “Pretty accurate though” Adam remarked, and consequently held his hands in front of his face.

            “James, it’s not talking about physical appearances,” Denise piped up hurriedly, before James considered hitting the boy again. “It means you're highly adaptable, like a Ditto adapts its form to conquer certain situations.”

            At this statement James moved closer for another look. After a minute or so he stepped back and scratched his head thoughtfully.

            “I guess that’s not so bad” he murmured.

            “There’s no way you look like a Ditto…” Ali smiled in a semi-dreamy manner. “More like a gutsy Hitmonchan.”

            Everyone’s gazes were upon her in an instant. Ali coughed hurriedly and began to blush somewhat, as did James, because he wasn’t sure what to make of this unrequited fondness. Adam snorted in amusement.

            “Gutsy? More like a no-brained Magikarp…” he said. “Or should that be a Feebas, I wonder? Heheh…”

            “Adam…” came the dangerously volatile voices of the remaining group members.

            “Don’t try your luck.”

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

            “How long have we got, Denise?” Caley sternly inquired not long after. The trainer and three of his companions were now sitting on a bench in a more open part of Corrial Square, a paved area with an almost direct view to the docks beyond. Adam stared at the cobblestones below his feet while shuffling his boots across them aimlessly and Rose gazed out at the sky with a wistful expression, stroking Sia carefully upon the point between her charm and her ears. Denise picked out the tracking device receiver from her pocket and glanced at the display somewhat worriedly.

            “From the speed those three are going,” she murmured. “I’d say about half an hour at the most. We need to keep ample distance after all.”

            Caley gave out a sigh as he massaged his temple with a forefinger and thumb.

            “I suggest we fetch those supplies while we can,” Rose stated.

            “Don’t worry about James and Errol. They’ll find their way back to us once they’re finished talking to Ali”

            “You’re right” Caley replied after a short pause. “I just hope they don’t take too long.” He turned to the others. “You’re free to purchase what you need, but meet me back here in twenty minutes, ok?

 

We’ve got a seriously tight schedule to keep.”

 

Rose was the quickest to leave - she had opted to choose the washing essentials for the rest of the group and had set off in the direction of the last general store she remembered passing. It didn’t take long for her to select the relevant items either - a packet of blades for Caley’s razor, a can of shaving cream, three bottles of shampoo and two bars of soap was enough to see them through until Nintencu city, she calculated.

As Rose stepped out of the shop door, her ears picked up on a volley of squabbles that were echoing from between some houses across the street. She could tell they were female and their tones sounded more than a little familiar.

“You dolt!” a lower-pitched voice snapped. “This is the last time I give you the map to read!”

Rose drew closer, her curiosity aroused by the content of the conversation. Her first assumption was that Butch, Cassidy and Jessie somehow managed to catch up with her and the others, but something else told her that this was impossible. Even in a car it would take them at least ten minutes or so. Terror and uncertainty was begging her to run just in case but something stronger motivated her to stay put and continue listening. Maybe these voices weren’t who she assumed them to be.

“Good!” another voice, this time higher and more childlike, replied with equal shortness. “Maps are dumb anyway, they never tell you where you need to go!”

The first voice groaned exasperatedly.

“Dinah…” it muttered. “Your block-headedness never fails to disparage me.”

“Oh yeah?” Dinah exclaimed. “Well you’re a… you’re a Sudowoodo with a face like a Treecko’s bum!”

There followed the sound of a rustled impact, and a yelp.

“Mayaaaa…” Dinah blubbered, a frustrated look in her eyes. “That hurrrrt!”

“You need to learn to think before you speak” Maya snorted, arranging the map in front of her. “Of course for someone with your intellect it’s going to take you a while… so for now I suggest you shut up and stick to exploding things. Got it?”

“Uh huh” Dinah replied softly and sadly, rubbing at the cut on her face where the map had made contact.

“We have ten minutes to make it to the dock” Maya continued, more to herself than anyone. “If all goes well and you don’t mess things up any more than you have done, we should be able to board the St Marion in time. Now come on!

 

The last thing we need is any more black marks on our operative work record…”

 

Two pairs of footsteps reverberated into the distance as Rose stood there and contemplated these words. Those voices, even the names sounded familiar, but she couldn’t quite pinpoint where she remembered hearing them before. Heaving a thankful sigh of relief that the figures had not been the elite trio she feared had caught up with them Rose quickened her pace and made her way back to Corrial Square.

Rose returned to a scene of light-hearted interest. James, Errol and Cory had returned and brought with them an intriguing-looking case enclosed in what appeared to be a collection of leaves stitched together. Needless to say the other members of the group had temporarily forgotten their precarious agenda and were now gazing at the case with great intrigue.

“What…?” was the only word that managed to escape Rose’s mouth before James stepped forward with a grin upon his face not unlike that of Tatto’s most persuasive of salespeople.

“Ali gave it to us!” he exclaimed, carefully peeling back the leafy wrapper. Adam raised an eyebrow.

“Now why on earth would that girl give something to you? She doesn’t even know you!”

James’ frown in the boy’s direction quickly reversed into a smug smile.

“Some people bear a little trait known as kindness” he remarked. “Unlike you, the twerp who only thinks about his own needs.”

Adam’s head lowered as James continued to talk; to the others it looked like he was entering another darkened mood, but Caley sensed otherwise. He could feel his lip beginning to tremble with an onset of frustrated upset that clearly didn’t belong to him.

“James…” the trainer began softly, but the man hadn’t finished.

“Friends help each other out… there’s a little something you wouldn’t have learned at Team Wreck-it”

“James!” Caley protested in broken tones, causing his companion to look up in surprise.

“What’s up?” he inquired. “Why the long face?”

“Don’t…” Caley muttered. “…don’t be so harsh on Adam. He's been through a lot.”

Denise gave James a half-accusing, half-upset glance while Rose, Errol and Cory stood there looking awkward and watching as James’ face was overcome with shame and embarrassment.

“Sorry” came the distant conclusion.

“So…” Rose continued, attempting to change the subject. “What exactly is in that box?”  

Errol cleared his throat slightly upon noticing James wasn’t in the mood to talk any more.

“It’s a Shuckle Juice Kit” he explained. “Ali figured da formula we can make wit’ it will relieve us of da tension we’re gettin’ from all dis travellin’. Particularly Cory. He's been seriously uptight since we left Kalnya!”

“Shuckle juice?” Adam echoed, raising his head slightly. Denise nodded and grinned.

“It’s the residue that is formed from the crushed berries that a Shuckle keeps in its shell.”

“And what, may I ask, is a Shuckle?” Adam folded his arms.

“It’s a turtle Pokémon native to my home region” Denise replied. “They’re very unique creatures; each one has their own berry preferences, and certain formulas arise from particular combinations of berries.”

“Ugh” Adam spluttered loudly. “If you think I’m gonna drink something that came out of a Pokémon, then you can think again.”

Errol frowned at this.

“What’s wrong wit’ drinking stuff from Pokemon?” he snapped. “Ya drink Miltank milk, don’cha?”

“Uh…yeah…” Adam scratched the back of his head.

“Exac’ly! An’ furthermore, don’t diss somet’ing until ya try it, kid.”

“Ok, ok” Adam grumbled. “Don’t get’cha underpants in a twist. I’ll drink the turtle juice if it makes you quit whining.”

Errol opened his mouth to retort but then thought better of it. As he knelt down to open the box, Denise looked somewhat uncomfortable.

“Um, guys?” she began. “Couldn’t this…um…wait? We’re kinda strapped for time.”

James and Errol looked back at her, their faces bore expressions akin to that of small children who had been denied dessert.

“Aww, come on Neesee” James whimpered. “It’s not going to take that long…”

Rose gave Denise a calm smile.

“Let them have their fun,” she remarked, the volume of her voice descending as she spoke. “I’d rather they played with their drink maker now than later. At least then we won’t have to put up with James complaining over lack of attention.”

“Good point,” Denise giggled. “Ok guys…go ahead.”

“Yay!” Errol grinned, opening the lid of the case. The others leaned forward and inspected the contents within.

“What the heck is this thing?” Adam exclaimed loudly as he picked up an object that looked like a cross between a pipette and a conical flask. James snatched it from him.

“That, my stunted companion, is the device one uses to measure out the ingredients correctly” he instructed, putting the object back into the case.

 

“Now… where’s that recipe card…”

 

While the two friends searched for the required item and Cory carefully set up the mixing receptacle (which looked like a plastic replica of a real Shuckle's shell), Adam casually glanced at a tiny bottle in his left hand that he had selected from the case while no one had been paying that much attention. Curiously, the boy lifted a hand and began unscrewing the lid.

“Right!” Errol announced once the recipe card had been found. “Foist we need a sachet of dat Esocu powder, Jimmy…”

“One sachet coming up!” James nodded excitedly as he rummaged in the case. Adam took a sniff from the tiny bottle and wrinkled his nose up in disgust.

“Mix dat well, den sprinkle in a handful o’ Seishou Spices…” Errol read, Cory looking on in anticipation.

“Done, and done” James declared. “What’s next?”

“Da ingredient t'give it da edge,” Errol told him. “Purified Lonahte Berry extract. Only two drops of it, mind. Says here dis stuff is real potent.”

“I can’t find it!” James looked up, a miserable expression on his face.

“Typical," Errol rolled his eyes. "Here, lemme look” Taking the case from James’ hands Errol flicked through the contents for a moment or two, before slight panic set in. “Dangit” he remarked.

“We must have misplaced it somehow” James commented. “Maybe it fell out of the box while we were bringing it back from Ali’s stall”

“An’ how would it do dat?” Errol snapped. “Da t’ing was wrapped up in dat leaf cloth!”

James looked at the floor.

“It was just a thought…” he mumbled. Errol’s irritated expression softened a little.

“Yeah. It would be more productive to go look dan ta sit here and mope, eh?” he smiled, standing up.

“That’s right!” James grinned, before the guys burst into fits of chuckling and wandered back across the square. Neither of them had noticed the bottle Adam had been thoughtfully examining. Neither had the rest of the group. They were too busy getting themselves into quite a flustered state of affairs.

Denise ruffled her hair in semi-exasperation.

“You never said they were going to go for a stroll!” she spluttered at Rose. “At this rate we’ll be caught, strung up and carted back to the TRHQ. All this travelling, for nothing!”

Rose put on an anxious expression.

“Sorry, Neesee” she replied. “I didn’t take into account the unpredictability of those two’s actions. Let’s just hope they come back quick.”

Or not at all… Adam thought as he continued to stare at the bottle. In his deep state of contemplation all he had managed to hear was Rose’s last sentence.

 

That would be good. Heh.

 

A blue and white shape materialised, seemingly out of nowhere, and barrelled into Adam’s right shoulder with a squawk of excitement. It had spotted the remnants of someone’s forgotten sandwich lying just beside the boy’s foot and had misjudged its trajectory in its impatience to snatch the filled bread before any other Wingull realised it was there. Adam gave out a terrible scream and waved his arms around in fear, sending the bottle flying from his hand and toward the shell-shaped receptacle of ingredients that James and Errol had been preparing.

The Wingull fluttered off happily clutching its morsel, while the humans below hurriedly attended to their fractious companion. Having been so caught up in Adam’s distress none of them had noticed the bottle slip through one of the holes in the receptacle, its purple tinged contents eking out into the mixture.

“What’s goin’ on?” Errol exclaimed with raised eyebrows as he and James returned to the scene.

“Just a few winged problems,” Caley replied absent-mindedly. James pulled a disgusted face at this.

“He said ‘winged’ not ‘wind’, Jimmy” Errol corrected with a shake of the head. The blonde-haired figure snickered to himself as he gave the solution in the bowl an extra stir and then transferred some of it into a glass the size of an eggcup.

“Looks like dat kid could really use some of our ‘relaxo-juice’ now, eh?” Errol remarked, holding the glass toward Adam’s paled countenance. “Come on… it’ll get rid of those shivers real quick.”

Adam looked too stunned to decline the offer and received the receptacle before shakily downing the contents.

“Here,” James grinned, handing another glass to Caley, who kindly accepted it. Cory measured out three more portions for Errol, James and himself.

“Bottoms up” the trainer mentioned with a slight smile, before tipping the liquid down his throat. James followed suit, while Cory tastefully sipped at his glass like he was trying to savour every drop.

“Tangy!” Errol exclaimed once he’d finished drinking. “Care ta unwind yourselves, ladies?” James giggled at this. Rose furrowed her brow suspiciously in his direction.

“Uhh, no thanks,” she shook her head.

 

“I’ll pass”

 

All the while Denise examined Adam’s expression. During the past two minutes that the drinks had been handed out in the adolescent’s expression had deteriorated from pure petrifaction into an imbecilic dopiness.

“Something doesn’t feel right here…” she muttered under her breath.

“Whaddya mean?” Errol slurred, a wide grin accompanying his now-reddened face. “It feels great!”

“Flantaaastic…” Cory gurgled, toppling over backwards and knocking the bowl with its remaining contents across the floor in the process. Something flew out, skittered across the concrete and came to rest against Denise’s foot. She leant down and picked it up gingerly.

“Oh no…”

“Oh what?” Rose echoed with a slight curl of the lip as Caley began to sing ‘I’m in the know’ in a horribly flat tone. Denise opened the palm of her hand and looked back at her friend sadly.

“I found out where that missing ingredient went” she sighed. Rose’s mouth dropped open.

“You mean…?” she began. Denise nodded.

“They’ve taken in way too much of this stuff… now they’re over relaxed.”

“More like delirious,” Rose commented as she watched what could only be described as a walking mailbox being chased across the square by a man scampering on all fours like an intoxicated Aipom.

“I told you it was a bad idea!” Caley snapped, causing the female travellers to start in alarm.

“Since when?” Denise muttered in annoyance. She was certain it had been her that mentioned the time was growing ever-shorter, and the knowledge that it still was didn’t happen to be making her mood any better.

“Tomorrow morning!” came the high-pitched reply. Denise stared.

“Huh?”

“Don’t forget to feed the Delcatty!” Caley ordered, gazing out at nothing. Rose groaned.

“Ok, he’s not with us either. That’s to be expected, I suppose; after all Caley drank that juice too.”

“And three kilograms of Whismur pellets, please!” the trainer requested. Denise glared at him.

“Caley… now is not the time”

“I don’t think he can help it, Neesee” Rose spoke solemnly. “From the sounds of what he’s saying that formula’s playing havoc with his psychic ability”

“Thank you for travelling with Lapras Liners!” came the yelled affirmative.

Denise stood gazing sadly at the screen of the tracking device receiver as Rose knelt down beside the case and began to gather the scattered contents. The dot that represented the approaching trio was barely inches away from its intended destination.

“We’re doomed” she stated, trying to prevent a wobble entering her voice. “There’s no way we can bring these guys to their senses and get out of here in five minutes! We might as well just stay here and let them find us…”

“Don’t talk ridiculous!” Rose snapped, attempting to slip the case into Caley’s bag while the trainer gibbered something about being late for a very important date. “We’ve come this far, and we’re not going to let this little mishap bring us down. Got that?”

Her statement was answered with a loud cry of alarm.

“Heeeeelp! Something’s got me! It’s trying to strangle me, HEEEELP!”

Rose swung round, thinking for all the world that a wild Machop was attacking Denise in a fit of rage but discovered, to her surprise, that it was in fact an inebriated Adam who had decided to leap up and throw his arms around the girl’s neck. Adam giggled, completely unaware of Denise’s petrified screams as she flailed her arms about in utter panic.

Before Rose could even open her mouth to explain that the figure responsible for unintentionally cutting off her companion’s air supply was not a Pokemon, Denise had taken out her Pokéball and thrown it to the ground.

“Rilly! Help me!”

The shiny blue creature was happy to oblige, materialising from the bright light of its enclosure and unleashing a jet of water with incredible accuracy onto Denise’s assailant. He toppled to the floor and lay there, soaking wet and shuddering with a mixture of alarm and the cold.

“Thank you…” the girl panted, placing a hand to her neck. Rose gave a nervous cough as Rilly surveyed the damage he had done.

“Qua…” it murmured sadly. Denise looked up.

“What is it, Rilly?” The Pokémon pointed a long fin to a point behind its owner. Denise turned round and what she saw caused her face to pale rapidly. “Ah-Adam?”

“That’s what I was about to try and tell you…” Rose shook her head. Denise bit her lip at this as she ashamedly scratched the back of her head.

“Oh.. oh I’m so sorry!” she spluttered, kneeling down beside the sodden figure and helping him into a sitting position.

 

“I never expected you to…“

 

Her words were cut off by an unbearably loud and miserable noise that emerged from Adam’s mouth. It was clear, in this drunken state, he had not taken this soaking well. Both Denise and Rose stumbled back - they weren’t used to seeing this particular behaviour from a character that usually acted so reserved and inward. Neither was the situation helped by the fact Caley was contributing to the tearful wailing.

“Argh!” Denise exclaimed bitterly. “This is more than I can bear!”

It seemed that the racket was also more than Caley’s Pokémon could bear as they rapidly emerged into the open, paws clasped over ears and excruciated expressions upon their faces.

“Dooourooooou!” Stian howled as he backed away from the noise and took refuge behind Rose. Kota drew up to his owner’s face height and gazed into his eyes with upset.

“Baaaab?”

“Kota!” Rose cried out. “You gotta do something to calm Adam down… I’m sure the only reason Caley is crying is because him.”

“ Yeah…” Denise complained while Rilly clutched at his ears.

 

“Please stop them crying before I start!”

 

Kota nodded and floated over toward Adam, his eyes glowing a faint shade of blue as he approached. The boy’s wailing gradually descended into a faint whimper and with it Caley’s knees slowly gave way, sending the trainer toppling to the floor. Rose managed to catch Caley’s upper body before his face had a chance to hit the concrete. The trainer’s eyes had grown slightly more focused, but the female members of the group noticed they were also exceedingly bloodshot, with disturbingly dark rings under them.

“What’s going on?” he mumbled brokenly as Denise examined Adam’s sleeping form with much concern. Rose approached, causing Stian and Rilly to do the same.

“I don’t know how, but you know the final ingredient James and Errol were looking for? It somehow worked its way into the mixture…too much of it. It sent you, Adam, Cory, Errol and James into some freakish drunken state!”

“I guess that would explain where this headache came from…” the trainer groaned in reply, rubbing at his temple. “Feels like someone jammed a Chatot in my ear; so many voices…I can’t concentrate…”

Rose looked up suddenly.

“Speaking of Cory, Errol and James…” she remarked. “Where are they?”

Denise’s eyes widened.

“Oh my…

 

…Oh NO! They ran off! They could be anywhere!”

 

Caley began to grit his teeth as his companion’s panic flooded into his mind. The Shuckle juice had weakened his scope of control and as a result, he had become extremely sensitive to those around him.

“Denise…” Rose began. “Getting into a fluster isn’t going to help us find the others. We need someone to seek them out, and Caley doesn’t currently seem to be an option.”

“Bab” Kota volunteered. Rose smiled at him.

“If you would, Kota…we need to find Errol, Cory and James before our time runs out on us.

I just hope they’re all in the same place.”

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

“Lapras Liners 12:20 St Marion voyage from Corrial Port to Artina Ridge is now docking in bay 3,” the announcer relayed in monotone.

“On approach to the check-in area please have your tickets ready. Lapras Liners hopes you have a pleasant trip”

 

As usual the St. Marion seaport was bustling with human activity, as passengers hung around the lobby exchanging carefree chatter, sipping drinks and awaiting the moment of departure, while others stood gazing out of the window at the expanse of aqueous blue beyond, anticipating the return of their loved ones and business colleagues.

From out of nowhere three figures appeared - the first was a young man in his mid twenties with chin-length lavender-blue hair who was wearing a pair of flared blue trousers, a turquoise green turtleneck jumper, a cream coloured jacket and a scarily wide goofy grin. Directly behind him and scampering on all fours was another man over twenty five years older than the previous one (though with the way he was currently acting it would have been difficult to tell) with platinum blonde hair, jeans, a green sweater with navy leather jacket and two pairs of deep scars across his cheeks. Trailing behind was a tall gangly looking girl with shoulder length reddish hair, a mint and leaf green coloured jumper, navy blue trousers and what looked to be a pinkish coloured jewel attached to her forehead. Amongst this animated environment, the multicoloured trio dashed in some neurotic game of tag, pursued by two noticeably angry-looking security guards. The majority of the crowd pretend not to notice while the remainder looked on in a mixture of amusement, astonishment and disgust.

One of the security guards took a detour in an attempt to cut off the trio’s escape, but it seemed Errol, James and Cory were so engrossed in their childish game they hadn’t even noticed he was standing there and simply ran straight over him. By the time the guard’s companion had managed to bring the first to his feet their quarry had vanished.

It didn’t take long for the guards to work out where they had vanished to; moments later a loud crash was heard from the luggage sorting department. Arriving at the door the men were confronted with a sea of Pokéballs that had dispersed across the floor and around their feet.

“Three people ran in here…where did they go?” the first guard snapped at the sorting staff who were hurriedly trying to gather the yellow and black patterned spheres and return them to their respective container.

“No idea” one of them replied.

“We ran in after hearing the noise only to find this shipment of empty Ultra Balls had been scattered all over the place”

“Drat” the same guard muttered.

 

“How hard could it possibly be to apprehend three moronic drunkards?”

 

A loud explosion was heard outside - it caused the foundations of the seaport building to shudder and some of the sorting staff to cover their ears. The smaller, more youthful-looking of the two guards looked up in alarm and anxiousness.

“That can’t be them…can it?”

“Whether it’s them or not we can’t let something like that be overlooked,” the first guard exclaimed as he turned to dash from the room.

 

“Now, come on!”

 

With those presences gone, the sorting staff finished gathering the Ultra Balls into the cardboard container they had been kept in and, after laboriously applying a padded lid they stacked the receptacle upon the conveyor belt, ready to transport it to the St. Marion goods lorry. As far as they were concerned the business of runaway hoodlums and explosions was one best left to the authorities; their snippet of unusual occurrence was over for one day.

But unbeknownst to the employees, deep within the confines of the box, three of the Ultra Balls had begun to twitch.      

 

***~~***~~***~***~~***

 

            Rose, with Adam slung over her shoulders, arrived at the entrance to the Lapras Liners Seaport just as the explosion caused a cloud of fiery sparks to spatter into the air. Denise skidded to a halt behind her older female companion as she took in the sight, her jaw dropping in horror.

            “Oh no” she stammered. “Please don’t say that’s them…”

            “The last thing we need is…a run-in with the Police,” Rose grumbled, watching Caley try desperately to stay upright. “All they’d have to…do is call up our citizen records…and bam! We’d be landed in jail from…now till next century”

            Denise slumped her head as Rose lowered Adam to the floor and stood there, trying to catch her breath.

            “Can you check it out with Kota, Neesee?” she inquired hopefully. “I can’t carry Adam any further and Caley is in no condition to do it for me.”

Denise looked back at Rose and nodded in acceptance before running into the lobby entrance. Minutes later she was back, her face twisted into a more intense expression than the last.

“The site of the explosion has been cordoned off” she exclaimed. “From what I managed to hear the disturbance was caused by two women.”

Rose’s eyes widened in horror.

“It can’t be!” she uttered. “They can’t have caught up with us already!”

Denise shook her head as she took a glance at the tracking monitor in her hand.

“Nuh uh” she replied.

 

“Those three are still several miles away from here at least.”

 

There was a pause. Rose snatched the device from Denise’s hand and scrutinized it sternly before cringing at a passing thought.

“That dot has been in that position for the past twenty minutes!” she cried exasperatedly. “You know what that means? They must have discovered the scouting implant and dumped it to throw us into a false sense of security!”

“If that’s the case…” Denise stated with remorse. “Then that would explain why the figures boarded the St Marion. Kota is certain that same vessel is where James, Errol and Cory are too”

“So what’s happening now?” Rose blurted out. “Has security cancelled the trip?”

“Not in the least” Denise sighed. “They got the mistaken impression that the attackers escaped into Corrial - we’ve only three minutes to somehow get onto that boat before it sets sail… and buying a ticket isn’t an option since the queue is so long and cutting in line would provoke too many questions”

Rose muttered under her breath. One of her strongest vows upon escaping the clutches of Team Rocket society was to obey the law to the finest detail, but now her friends’ lives were hanging in the balance.

“Ok…” she began slowly.

“I have an idea.”

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

           

            Every hard-working structure has its layabouts. And the employees on the St. Marion were no exception. This particular case happened to be a wayward bellhop who had considered it a laugh to take a wander through the cargo hold and examine its contents. After several minutes of disinterest and the occasional adolescent grunt the young man came across a large cardboard box with a lid, carefully sealed and addressed to a location in Kanto. Curiosity drove the figure to mindlessly peel away at the tape holding the lid until it broke loose, at which point the shiny spherical contents within were revealed.

            The man gave out a breath of awe, his eyes wide with childlike joy and naivety. Picking out one of the Ultra Balls he held it aloft, a smarmy grin spread across his face.

            “Oh look!” he announced to no one. “I’m Denny, the Pokémon Trainer! I can solve all my problems simply by beating the crud out of everything I come across! Pokéball, go!”

            Suddenly the object in Denny’s hand began to shudder violently, causing him to drop it in alarm. As the Ultra Ball hit the ground it opened in a brilliant burst of light and the man squealed as he shielded his face from the intense aura. “I thought these things were empty!

Nice Pokémon… please don’t eat me…”

 

            “Meow?”

 

            Lifting his arms away Denny lowered his gaze slowly until it met that of a cheerfully puzzled countenance that was sitting upon the tiles.

            “How…” the man stammered, the colour draining rapidly from his cheeks. “How on earth did you get in…”

            “Meeeeeeowth!” the figure grinned, showing its nastily sharp fangs. At this point Denny snapped.

            “I must be going insane…” he babbled, turning to run. “Pokeballs are for Pokémon, not people. Pokémon! I need some fresh air…”

            And with that he vanished, leaving Errol to dab happily at the empty Ultra Ball he had emerged from while emitting an unusual rumbling noise from the back of his throat.

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

            “Tickets please!”

            Standing at the forefront of the check-in line, Denise watched with visible discomfort as Adam clumsily rubbed at his eyes and gave out the occasional giggle - Caley just managing not to do the same. Just in front of them, Rose stood with a plastic bag in one hand, fishing about in the pocket of her bodysuit with the other as the two guards looked on expectantly.

            As Rose carefully brought out several pieces of paper, Kota peered over the rim of the bag and gazed up at the nearest guard, his eyes glowing an ominously bright blue.

            “Mm-hmm…” the guard murmured with a smile, sifting through the items. “Yep. All perfectly valid to me. Have a pleasant trip.”

            “What?” his companion exclaimed, causing a wave of panic to descend upon the awaiting group. “Sam, are you off your head? Those weren’t tickets! One of them is a piece of tissue paper for crying out loud! I…”

Sam raised an eyebrow as the guard next to him took on an expression of drowsy confusion, and gave out a slight hiccup.

“Sounds like someone’s been on the ol’ Roserade Reserve again, eh Mac?” he remarked, opening the gate to let the group pass through.

“Wha?” Mac slurred, swaying slightly. “I dun nurthing off thuh short!”

“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that” Sam muttered, rolling his eyes and giving his companion a little shove.

 

“I think you’d better take a break and sober up a little.”

 

“What on earth happened there?” Denise inquired in stunned tones as the travellers strode down the corridor toward the St. Marion.

“I thought Kota was just going to create the illusion that those old credit cards and ID slips were the tickets we bought, not send one of the security guards into a drunken episode!”

“Baab!” the Psybab dragon protested while Rose looked at it thoughtfully. “Ba psy!”

“Actually” came a soft voice from the back. “It was my doing”

“You?” Rose and Denise echoed in unison, turning to stare questioningly at Caley. The trainer nodded.

“I attempted to recreate the same illusion that Kota was manifesting in the other guard’s head, since he is only capable of disorientating one person at a time. But it seems all I managed to do was transfer my own disorientation.”

“No wonder that guy was acting all weird and drunk,” Denise remarked, as Adam emitted an inhibited belch. “And you seem better as a result.”

“For the most part, yes” Caley replied with a slight smile. “I’m not picking up as many thoughts and feelings as I was before”

“Excellent” Rose acknowledged. “We need all the help we can get to find those three, not to mention prevent them from becoming prisoners to Team Rocket once more.

 

Let’s go!”

 

Upon reaching the deck, the group was confronted with a most unusual scene. Three waitresses, two waiters and a cleaner ran across the boards, chasing a cap. It was an odd, bulbous piece of headwear in dull shades blue, red and green which gave it the appearance of a dirty coloured beach ball. At first glance it looked as if this hat was being tossed playfully by the wind, but upon closer inspection the travellers realised their original judgements were far from correct. For a start there wasn’t a breeze strong enough to throw the cap in such a manner - in fact the object almost looked as if it was bouncing across the ship of its own accord.

“That is no ordinary cap,” Denise muttered. Caley nodded in agreement.

“You’re right. That’s Cory.”

Rose stared for a moment before slapping her forehead.

“Oh great…how are we going to snatch him back in that state? Especially when those people chasing him think he’s an item that belongs to someone on deck…”

“We’re going to have to find the real cap,” Denise stated. “Before Cory reverts back to his true form.”

“And how unearth arr we gonna do that?” Adam grumbled in more familiar tones. “I bets theres farsands uff peple oniss boat…”

“Then we’ll have to delve deeper than what we see” Rose explained. “Caley? Do you think you can listen out for the thoughts of someone who has lost their cap?”

“I can give it my best shot,” the trainer nodded as he lowered his head slightly. A few moments passed in which the others listened to Caley mumbling random sentences under his breath and took the occasional glance back at the commotion occurring near the pool.

“Any luck?” Denise inquired after a pause.

“Hmm…” Caley pondered. “I can’t seem to pinpoint any losses. But I did hear a guy contemplating coming this way to explain the cap those people by the swimming pool are chasing isn’t his…”

“Oh no!” Rose exclaimed. “If they find out what the cap really is then things are going to get even trickier!

 

Caley, you’ve got to go and distract that guy while Denise and I fetch Cory back.”

 

With Adam in tow, Caley strode quickly across the deck and around the entrance area to the floors below. It didn’t take long to figure out who they were seeking. A brown-haired young man around Caley’s age was sprawled across a sun bed with a fuzzy-headed Raichu at his side, gazing out at the sea beyond, his brow furrowed in deepest thought.

“Hey…” Caley murmured to himself. “That guy looks strangely familiar somehow.”

“Iss...thuh stashoo,” Adam slurred.

“Do you need a tissue, Ad?” the trainer asked absently, then his eyes widened in enlightenment. “Wait! That’s the same person whose statue I saw on Champion’s Walk...Ritchie Thompson!"

The figure looked up upon hearing his name. It seemed Caley was standing closer than he realised.

“You called?”

“Wow…” Caley commented with true feeling. “I never thought I’d meet someone like you; a cross-regional champion.”

“Heh,” Ritchie smiled, looking a little awkward over the sudden attention. “A lot of people say that. But I’m really not that much different from you, besides a few extra awards. Care to see?”

The trainer nodded enthusiastically as Adam rolled his eyes and pulled a disgusted expression.

“Naturally I had to stop putting the badges on the inside of my jacket after I got past 25. Sparky? Could you fetch my case for me?”

“Chuh” the Raichu acknowledged, diving into Ritchie’s rucksack. A second later it reappeared clasping a emerald green box which was opened proudly for Caley to look within.

“Impressive, eh?”

Caley nodded, unable to speak out of sheer awe as the sunlight reflected from the shiny emblems upon his face. Even Adam had changed his expression and was now gazing into the case with equal amazement.

“There’s badges from the Indigo, Hoenn, Sinnoh and OA leagues here…” the red-haired trainer uttered softly. “Not to mention the Silver Conference and Battle Frontier symbols, and even the medals from the Tatto Expedition! Wait, that means…”

“That’s right,” Ritchie grinned, pointing at the purple jewel at the far end of the case. “I've been inside Tomary Tower and bagged myself a piece of the Oragon too."

"The Oragon?" Caley blinked. "So that's what's in there? What exactly is it?"

"A crystal bigger than your head!" Ritchie exclaimed with unexpected enthusiasm. "Quite valuable as a whole, but the chunks taken from it don't amount to much, money-wise. Some find they make great accessories. But let me tell you, beating the tower guardian was by no means easy. His Pokémon... well let's just say they're not the kind you see every day.

 

You’ve really got to be something special to get the better of them, believe me.”

 

Caley marvelled at the shimmering extra in Ritchie's badge case, unaware of the veteran trainer's egotistical inclinations, while Adam’s face returned to it’s ‘oh brother’ expression at Ritchie's bragging.

“So.." the young man continued. “How long have you been a Pokémon Trainer?”

“Two and half months, I think” Caley replied. “It’s hard to tell with all this travelling.”

“Tell me about it,” Ritchie groaned slightly. "You lose track of time when you get caught up in training." He added under his breath, "Not to mention the antics of two insane brothers and an eccentric professor..."

"What was that?" Caley raised an eyebrow. Ritchie flinched, looking incredibly sheepish at being overheard.

 “Oh nothing, nothing!" he chuckled, unconvincingly changing the subject. "Mind if I take a look at your Pokémon?”

 “Be my guest!” Caley grinned with a childish excitement; it was obvious he had clearly forgotten about rescuing Errol and James from the jaws of potential danger. And with that he released Kota and Stian onto the deck. Ritchie examined them for a moment, eyebrows raised.

“These Pokémon are in really good condition… uh…”

“Caley.”

“Right. Your Pokémon are in excellent health, Caley. I take it you have others in storage?”

“A few,” the trainer replied, not wishing to go into details. Ritchie smiled widely at this.

“Heh. You sure do remind me of one of my old friends. He used to be more conc