Chapter Two

On the Road...er...Water

by Havoc

"Don't you realize that the sea is the home of water? All water is off on a journey unless it's in the sea, and it's homesick, and bound to make its way home someday."
-Zora Neale Hurston

------

"Wow...Big..." Aurelia breathed.

"Yeah, they are pretty big," Eric agreed. "I hear they have bigger ones up in Lilycove, though."

Although Aurelia had often snuck down to the waterfront of Slateport City to watch the ships come in and out of port, she never got over just how big they were. She always marveled at how many people seemed to be streaming on and off the large marine vehicles, and wondered how anything could hold so many people. And now, she would finally be able to take a ride in one, like she had often yearned to do.

In the back of her head, Aurelia knew that she must have ridden on one before, when her family moved from Sinnoh to Hoenn, but that was neither here nor there. She had just been a little Zangoose kitten then, and couldn't remember it at all. Getting on now would be just like getting on for the first time, and she couldn't wait.

"Which one are we riding?" Aurelia asked excitedly, looking at all of the various boats. She could see huge cargo ships, small fishing trollers, personal watercraft, and everything in between. People were moving all around and on the boats, some loading cargo and others obviously just travelers, like she and Eric.

Eric pointed to a medium-sized ship that had several stories, and was obviously some sort of passenger carrier. "That one. It's the S.S. Tidal, and it's used solely to transport Pokémon Trainers and Coordinators from place to place. It runs around the Hoenn waterways."

"Oh, okay," Aurelia said, committing the information to memory. The ship was mostly pink on the outside, and that was just fine with Aurelia. It had two smokestacks that rose from the port and starboard sides near the rear of the ship, and it looked very streamlined, leading the Zangoose to believe that it could go quite fast. The Tidal was anchored out in the bay, and smaller boats were ferrying people out to board. "Looks like a nice boat."

"Yeah, it should be pretty good." Eric dug into his pocket and pulled out a ticket. "I reserved a cabin for us. I was told the berths are pretty cramped, but I don't suppose we'll be doing much but sleeping in there."

"Sleeping?" Aurelia asked, momentarily confused. Then she realized her error. "Oh...I suppose so. If I recall what I've read correctly, it's a pretty long journey over water."

"The schedule has us one day out to Dewford Town, where there's supposed to be a few hours of stopover. Then we leave port again, and after that it's about two days to the port outside of Petalburg."

Her tail drooping a little, Aurelia looked up at Eric. "That seems like an awful long time to be on a boat..."

Eric chuckled. "Wait until you get on this boat. They have all kinds of things to do on it. There's a luxury restaurant, a few smaller places for casual eating, and an entire deck devoted to battle simulators and real battle floors."

Aurelia perked up again. "That doesn't sound so bad," she allowed, looking back to the Tidal. "What about coordinating? That's what I came along for, after all."

"I'm...not sure," Eric admitted sheepishly. "I didn't really look into that. I was kind of focused on the training aspect of things."

"We're going to have to get this teamwork thing straightened out," Aurelia scolded him. "Part of this deal was that I would get to try my hand at being a coordinator, remember? I need to know what kind of facilities will be available for me to use."

"Yes, Lia," Eric said, his voice apologetic. "Sorry about that."

Aurelia cracked a smile. "Don't worry about it," she said, taking his hand. "Come on, let's get on board."

------

Aurelia and Eric followed a crowd of people to a spot on the waterfront where the S.S. Tidal's ferries were carrying people out to the main ship. They had to wait in line for a little bit, since there were so many trainers and coordinators who needed to board, but eventually they climbed into one of the small motorboats and were taken out to the cruiser. Aurelia enjoyed the ride to the ship, and insisted on sitting at the edge of the fast little craft so that she could have a good view. She leaned out so far, trying to see below the water, that Eric kept a hand on her shoulder the entire time, just in case she lost her balance and fell.

Once they came alongside the ship, Aurelia and Eric realized that it was a lot larger than they had first thought. They hadn't had a frame of reference to judge its size, but now that they were up close they could tell that it was easily more than a hundred times the size of the craft they were riding on. The motorboat maneuvered around to the rear of the larger vessel, and eased into a wide opening that led into the Tidal. Inside, crew members used long poles with hooks on the end to grab the motorboat, and they held it steady so that the passengers could climb out and onto an internal dock. A walk up many flights of stairs later, and the duo were on the main deck of the ship, standing at the railing and looking back across the bay to Slateport City.

Aurelia shook herself a little, flinging off some of the salt spray that had gotten on her fur during the short ride from land. She teetered a little bit with the motion, a combination of the rocking of the ship and the heavy bag on her back making her unsteady. Eric caught her again, making sure she didn't fall over the side of the ship.

"Careful, Lia," Eric cautioned. He wobbled a little, too, though, and had to laugh. "I think this might take a little getting used to." Neither of them had their "sea legs," of course, so even just standing still on the deck was a bit of a challenge.

"Let's go to our cabin and put our stuff down," Aurelia said. "I want to see what the rest of the ship looks like!" She hitched her backpack up and hurried off, following directional signs that pointed towards the cabin areas. Eric hustled to catch up with her, trying to keep his balance on the deck.

Their cabin was on the third level of the ship, very close to the second level, which was the deck that held the eating establishments. While Aurelia was coming off of the stairs, and entering the cabin corridor, she began to feel a very queer sensation in the pit of her stomach. For some reason the walls began to look as though they were pulsing, and the floor seemed to be wavering. She put a hand out against the wall to steady herself, feeling a sudden wave of nausea sweep over her body. The Zangoose had to stop, and her fur bristled a little, her ears lying flat against her head.

"Something wrong?" Eric asked, coming up behind her. He was looking at the numbers on the cabin doors, searching for their berth. They had been assigned Cabin 1138, and they were at 1126, with the number going up as they walked. Eric wasn't really paying attention to Aurelia, other than to notice that she had stopped in the middle of the hall.

"Eric...I don't feel well...," Aurelia said, her voice coming out in a sickly groan.

Eric was suddenly focused on her. "You don't? What's wrong? What feels bad?"

"I think...," Aurelia started to say, but she had to stop in the middle of it. Another round of nausea had hit, and she closed her mouth. After taking a few deep breaths and letting them out slowly, she tried again. "I think I'm going to be sick..."

"Uh-oh," Eric said. He put an arm around her shoulder, helping her to keep her balance. "It can't be much farther to our cabin. Just hang in there, Lia."

Aurelia did her best to keep walking, trying not to hold Eric up too much, but she just couldn't walk very well at the moment. She was feeling dizzy, and slightly disoriented. It didn't really help that she didn't know where she was going, but she relied on Eric to lead her in the right direction. After a few more minutes, Eric stopped and Aurelia heard the scrape of a key in a lock. There was the sound of a door opening, and then she felt the cool sensation of air conditioning on her face, and knew that they must be in their cabin.

"Bathroom," Aurelia choked, unable to hold it back any longer.

The cabin had a small door leading off from the far-left corner of the room, and Eric guided Aurelia to it. Inside was a bathroom that had a toilet, sink and mirror, and a small shower stall. Eric pulled Aurelia's bag off of her back, and saw her immediately make for the toilet, going to her knees. Wincing, Eric hightailed it out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

"Seasick," he muttered, and moved back into the main portion of the cabin, taking a look around. The room was a little small, of course, but it looked comfortable enough. Directly across the room from the door leading out into the corridor was a small table, which sat at the foot of a bed. The bed was situated in the far-right corner of the cabin, and a dresser was placed next to it. In the near-right corner was a puffy armchair that had another small table next to it. About half of what floor space there was had been left empty, and the entire floor was carpeted in a rich mahogany carpet, which looked fairly deep and soft. The walls of the cabin were done in a similarly-colored paneling of what looked like wood, but Eric placed a hand on it and found that it was actually some kind of synthetic material. Real wood probably would have been much too expensive.

Eric put the bags down on the bed and went to the armchair. He sat down, grateful to get off his feet and have a bit of a rest from the rocking of the ship. He felt very sorry for Aurelia, and wished there was something he could do for her. Seasickness, he had heard, was an awful experience, though he hadn't ever felt it himself and was not feeling it now.

Not a very nice way for her to start off her first seagoing experience, Eric thought to himself. He could hear faint coughing noises from the bathroom, and a moment later he was about to get up and check on Aurelia when the bathroom door opened and she emerged.

"Feel better?" Eric asked.

Aurelia shook her head, looking miserable. "I'm not so excited about being on this boat anymore," she said. "I don't know if I can do this for three days."

"Let's go see if there's a shop on board," Eric suggested, standing up and walking over to her. He put a hand on her shoulder, trying to be comforting. "We can get you some medicine for seasickness somewhere on this ship, I'm sure."

"I think I'm just going to lie down for a while..." Aurelia moved over to the bed and shifted their bags to the floor, sitting on the edge of the mattress once it was clear. She was still taking deep breaths, and her ears were still drooping, a sure sign that she wasn't feeling well at all.

"Alright," Eric said, sounding a little worried. "Well, I'm going to go have a look around, anyway. I'll come back around lunchtime and see how you're doing, okay?" He watched as Aurelia slightly nodded and slipped underneath the covers, resting on her side. Eric made sure she was comfortably situated, and then he opened the door to their cabin and walked back into the corridor. He closed and locked the door behind him and began walking to the common areas of the ship, intending to see what the facilities had to offer.

He jumped a little as a long, low whistle sounded, and stopped walking, listening as the whistle blew again. A moment later, the motion of the ship changed, and Eric could tell that they had gotten underway. He found a crosshall that led outside, and walked down to the main deck. Stepping up to the railing along the side of the ship, he looked aft and saw a white, churning froth forming at the tail end of S.S. Tidal. Slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, Slateport City began to appear farther and farther away. As they picked up speed, the people, buildings, and other structures visible along the waterfront got smaller and smaller, until Eric couldn't distinguish much of anything anymore.

"Cool," he said, his worry about Aurelia diminishing somewhat as he got caught up in the fun of journeying by sea. After watching the water and the shore for a few more minutes, he starting heading aft, to where the entrances to the entertainment and dining facilities would be located. The main deck level, third from the top, housed the luxury restaurant and the more casual dining establishments. Eric wasn't hungry, so he entered the superstructure of the ship and found the stairs. Moving down, he passed other trainers and coordinators who were also exploring.

On the fifth level from the top, and the third level up from the bottom, Eric found the areas where trainers could battle each other, as well as engage in simulations. They had a fully-functional Pokémon Center on the same level, and even a trading station that was connected to the Global Storage System, so that trainers and coordinators who were on the ship could trade pokémon electronically with others around the world.

Eric made his way to the battle area, eager to observe how it was done firsthand. To his delight, a few trainers had already gathered there, and a battle had apparently been underway for some minutes by the time he found a spot on a balcony that overlooked the battle floor. An experienced-looking trainer, on the side of the arena closest to Eric, was fighting with his Lucario, and the other trainer, one who looked as much like a novice as Eric was sure he did, was taking him on with her Torchic. Eric knew that on the surface the Torchic, a Fire-type, had the advantage over the Fighting- and Steel-type Lucario, but he thought that the Lucario would probably have the advantage of inveteracy.

Sure enough, after a few minutes the battle was already over, and the young girl trainer was recalling her Torchic and making a quick exit for the Pokémon Center. The Lucario walked back to the victorious trainer, and Eric saw them exchange a few words.

Huh...I guess it makes sense that there are other pokémon who can speak..., Eric thought. Maybe that's more widespread than I thought. He watched the trainer and his Lucario walk off, mixing in with the crowd. Just before they disappeared from his sight, Eric thought he saw the Lucario surreptitiously slip its paw around the trainer's waist. He blinked. Huh...Did I just see...Nah...

Shaking off what he was sure had been a figment of his imagination, Eric dragged himself away from the battle floor and started looking around the rest of the ship. He located a detailed map of the contents of S.S. Tidal, and found that there was, indeed, an area where Pokémon Coordinators could engage in simulated Pokémon Contests. He made a note to tell Aurelia about it later, and examined the rest of the map. On the bottom deck, which was actually the second from the bottom because the actual bottom deck was the engine room, he saw that there was an area labeled "Medical Ward." Recalling that he had told Aurelia that they should be able to find some seasickness medicine on the ship, he started heading that way.

On the way to the stairs, he had to pass through the onboard Pokémon Center. While maneuvering his way around the people who were gathered there, he bumped into someone quite hard, and was jostled to the floor.

"Sorry, sorry," Eric stammered, picking himself up and looking to see who he had hit. He was a little surprised to see that he had bumped into the girl who had just lost the battle he'd witnessed. Remembering his manners, he offered her his hand. "Here, let me help you up."

The girl held out her hand, and Eric helped her to her feet. Now that he was closer to her, he got a good look at her. She seemed younger than him, but not by much. Perhaps she was sixteen or seventeen, although Eric thought she could be as young as fifteen. In any case, he didn't think she was as old as he was. The girl had long, fiery red hair and pale, unblemished skin, with emerald green eyes obscured a little by a pair of thin-frame glasses. She looked about a foot taller than Aurelia, which put her around just under five feet tall.

"Thanks...," the girl said. She had a very quiet voice, and seemed unable to meet his eyes. Nevertheless, Eric could see that she had been crying, and he couldn't blame her. The battle he had seen her in might very well have been her first one.

"Don't mention it," Eric said. He had somewhere he wanted to be, but he felt that, since they were sharing a boat and he had just run into her, he should at least try to make a little conversation. "I saw the battle a few minutes ago. Is your Torchic alright?"

The girl gave a loud sniff, enough that Eric was a little worried she might burst into tears again. "Sh-She'll be okay...," the girl said. "But that Lucario...really gave her a beating...It's all my fault..."

Eric tried to be comforting. "You just didn't know what you were getting into. Lesson learned for next time." He felt rather sorry for her. "Wanna sit down and talk?" The girl nodded and Eric led her over to some couches that had been placed against the wall of the Pokémon Center, where a few other people were relaxing and chatting. They sat down, and Eric was relieved to be out of the main throng. "So, what's your name?"

"I'm Mia," the girl said.

"Okay, Mia. I'm Eric." Eric held out his hand, and Mia shook it weakly. She seemed to be a rather frail girl, and Eric wondered how her parents could have let her go off all by herself. If he had been her father, he certainly would have thought twice about it. "Where are you from, Mia?"

Mia brushed a lock of hair out of her face. "I'm from...Pacifidlog Town. Have you heard of it?" Eric shook his head, and Mia managed a small smile. "W-Well...Not many people have, I guess. It's a really tiny village east of Slateport, in the middle of the sea. Everyone in town says that it's built on the backs of...some kind of pokémon, but I don't really believe that..."

"In the middle of the sea?" Eric repeated, confused. "So, what was a Torchic doing out in the middle of the sea?"

"H-Huh...? Oh! Before I started my journey, I visited Littleroot Town...where the pokémon researcher, Professor Birch, lives. He gave me Lorena..."

"Lorena?"

"My Torchic," Mia explained. "I went to Littleroot with my big brother, on his Altaria...and after I got my pokémon I went home for a little while before catching the ship..." She played with one of the belt loops on her jeans. "Um...You're a trainer, right? Did you get your first pokémon from Professor Birch, too...?"

Eric shook his head. "No, I've never been to Littleroot Town. I've never really been outside of Slateport City, except for a few vacation trips. I'm from Slateport, by the way." He checked his watch, saw that he had plenty of time before he had promised to be back with Aurelia, and decided to continue talking. "I kind of got my first pokémon in a strange way. See, my pokémon volunteered to come with me."

"Volunteered?" Mia asked, looking astonished. "You mean your pokémon chose to be captured?"

"That's about the size of it," Eric said. He knew he couldn't go into the details, but surely just an idle chat wouldn't be any harm. "She's a Zangoose, and her name is Aurelia. But I call her Lia, for short."

Mia looked around, her hair rustling a little with the motion of her head. "So...Where is she...?"

"Back in our cabin," Eric said. "Seasick."

"Oh...That's too bad..."

"Yeah. I actually promised her I would look for some seasickness medicine for her. I should probably get going on that." Eric stood up, and shook Mia's hand once more. "It was nice meeting you, Mia. Maybe we'll see each other around somewhere."

"O-Okay," Mia said, standing as well. "Pleased to make your acquaintance..."

Eric smiled amiably and made his way through the Pokémon Center the rest of the way, leaving Mia behind him. As he was walking down the stairs, he thought to himself that Mia had been a rather nice girl, if a bit on the shy side. She certainly was pretty enough...But what was he thinking? He had only just met her, and who knew if he would ever see her again? Besides, he had more important things to do than chase girls, and it wouldn't do to get distracted so early in his journey.

------

Aurelia spent a long time in the bed, just trying to keep herself from throwing up again. Her nausea had gotten worse as soon as the ship had started to actually move, but after an hour or so it seemed to abate a little. She actually fell asleep for a little while, and when she woke up and checked the timepiece mounted above the door, it was about half an hour until noon. She sat up, and found that the dizziness and nausea had nearly gone, although she still felt slightly queasy. The Zangoose also felt like she could use some cleaning up, and so she gingerly slipped out of bed, straightening it up behind her, and walked over to the bathroom.

Now that Aurelia was not concentrating on being seasick, she could have a real look at the bathroom. For it's size, it was fairly nice-looking, if one could say such a thing about a bathroom. The small room was done in conventional white tile, and it looked as though the cleaning crew on the ship kept the rooms in immaculate condition, if this one was a judge of things overall. There was even a supply of towels provided for their use.

Right now, all Aurelia was concerned about was the shower, which took up an entire side of the bathroom. The shower was separated from the rest of the room by a sliding door which was made of frosted glass, providing the occupant with some assurance of privacy. Aurelia slid the door aside and stepped into the tub, taking care not to shut her tail in the door behind her. Like one might find in a hotel, there were small supplies of soap and shampoo sitting in a ceramic tray on the wall of the shower. The Zangoose was impressed by the luxuriousness of the accommodations, and she felt just a little twinge of guilt at what this must have cost Eric. She hadn't even thought to offer to chip in, not that she really could have, in any case.

Ah, well, she thought. To the matter at hand...

Reaching for the water knobs, Aurelia twisted the knob labeled "HOT" three-quarters of the way around and the "COLD" knob a quarter turn, giving herself a rather steamy mixture of water. She gave a pleased sigh as the water squirted out of the shower nozzle, splashing against her fur and sending warmth over her body. The water plastered her fur to her body, outlining her physique much more prominently than it would have otherwise been. Aurelia skimmed her hands down her sides, following the curves of her hips, and suppressed a giggle. She thought that she looked rather silly when she was wet, as though she were a person wearing a Zangoose-colored wetsuit.

Aurelia took the shampoo and squeezed some out into the palm of one of her hands, and starting rubbing it into her fur. The scent of the shampoo rose up to her nostrils, mixed with the steam of the shower, and she inhaled it deeply. She had never smelled anything like it before, but she liked it. She examined the label of the shampoo, and discovered that it was a scent called "lavender." Aurelia decided to remember that; she wouldn't mind having some of this after the boat trip was over. Having nice-smelling fur would be important for being a good show pokémon, after all.

Twenty minutes had passed when Aurelia turned the water off, feeling refreshed and content. She slid open the shower door and stepped out onto the floor, resisting the urge to shake herself off and instead reaching for one of the towels. Just as she was about to start drying off, she heard a knock on the bathroom door.

"Lia, are you in there?" Eric asked through the door, sounding concerned. He doubtless thought that she was being sick again. "Are you feeling okay?" Before Aurelia could respond, the doorknob turned and swung open, and then Eric was standing in the doorway.

Years later, Aurelia would still be brought to tears from laughing at the memory of the variety of expressions that flashed across Eric's face in that moment. She could view all manner of emotions in his face, and the predominant one was always some degree of surprise and embarrassment. It must have been a rather surreal experience for Eric, with him trying to compose himself upon walking in on Aurelia exiting the shower and her just standing there, completely nonchalant, toweling herself off.

"I...I didn't...I was...," Eric stammered, turning his head mostly away from her, his eyes flicking back every few seconds. "Sorry, I didn't mean...to..." He backed out of the doorway and closed it hastily, leaving Aurelia quite amused.

How silly, she said to herself, continuing to dry off. I'm always naked. It's not like he's seeing anything he hasn't seen before. When she had dried off as much as a full coat of fur would allow her to, she walked out of the bathroom with her fur still slightly matted. Eric was sitting in the armchair, his face extremely red and a small, brown paper bag in his lap. "Well, Eric, nice going. Only one day into our journey and you've already managed to walk in on me taking a shower." Her voice was stern, but her expression said that she was teasing.

"Wh-...It's not my fault!" Eric said, sounding flustered. "Who takes a shower at noon?"

"Easy, there," Aurelia said, sitting down on the floor with her legs crossed. "I'm kidding. But it seems like a weird thing to get embarrassed about. You've seen me naked every day that you've known me."

Eric went even redder. "But that's different. I mean, I know you're always naked, but..."

"And it's not like you can even see anything bad," Aurelia continued, poking a little more fun at him. "My fur covers up all of the good bits, and even if the water slicked it down, there's nothing really show-"

"Just drop it, Lia!" Eric snapped, clearly not playing anymore. He looked away. "Come on, that's gross...You're a pokémon."

Aurelia was surprised at how much that comment stung. "Oh, is that all?" she asked, her voice coming out harsher than she had intended. "Gee, I thought I was your friend or something. I mean, who ever heard of a friend teasing another friend?"

"You know I didn't mean it like that," Eric said.

"Then how did you mean it?"

Eric couldn't find an answer for that which he thought would not offend her. For several minutes, he and Aurelia did not look at each other. The tension in the room was almost palpable, and the only sound that one could hear was the ticking of the clock above the door.

"Aurelia, I..." Eric started to say.

"Forget it," Aurelia said, shaking her head. A few droplets of water that she had missed with her towel were cast off from her long ears, and they soaked into the carpet. Ears were always so terribly hard to dry off.

"But-"

"Forget it," Aurelia repeated. "It's not worth making a fuss about." That wasn't exactly true, at least Aurelia didn't think so, but she didn't want to stay mad at the only friend she'd ever known.

"Okay," Eric said. He picked up the small paper bag and held it out to her. "I managed to get some seasickness medicine for you, if you still need it."

Aurelia took the bag from him. "Thanks." She opened the bag, and withdrew a bottle of liquid. The bottle had a brightly-colored label, and a picture of a smiling Pichu on it, but that didn't change the fact that the medicine inside was roughly the color of antifreeze. The consistency seemed about the same, too. "This doesn't look very tasty..."

"I don't expect it is, but it's formulated specifically for pokémon." Eric shrugged. "You're lucky they had it on board. I wouldn't have expected them to, considering that most pokémon on this ship are kept inside balls."

Aurelia twisted the bottle top off and took a sniff, her sensitive Zangoose nose wrinkling almost as soon as the scent hit it. "It smells foul, and I bet it tastes even worse. I'd almost rather be seasick." Reluctantly, she poured a dose out into the cap, measuring to the proper line. "Bottoms up." She tipped the cap into her mouth and swallowed as fast as she could. Even so, she still got the full taste of the concoction, and it almost made her gag. The liquid was sickly sweet, as though the manufacturer had tried to make palatable, but all they had done was make it so that the flavor clung to her mouth, refusing to go away even after she swallowed multiple times.

"Not good, huh?" Eric asked, grimacing sympathetically.

"Not at all," Aurelia affirmed, letting her tongue hang out dramatically. She couldn't deny that it was effective, however. After waiting for a minute or so, what remained of her nausea had disappeared completely. "Bleh...At least I won't be puking my guts out anymore."

Eric stood up. "So, now that your seasickness is being held at bay," he said, holding out his hand, "how about we get some lunch and then I show you around the ship? I managed to see most of what there is to see onboard, so I can be your tour guide."

Aurelia placed the medicine bottle on the table nearest the bed, and took his hand. "Alright, show me around, now that I'm in the position to enjoy it."

------

For the remainder of the afternoon, Eric and Aurelia walked around the ship, with Eric showing Aurelia all of the important features that she might be interested in. They ate lunch together in one of the casual dining establishments, a fast-food type place that served things that both people and pokémon might enjoy. Both noted that they were not the only pokémon-trainer duo walking around together; several other trainers could be seen with their pokémon, although Eric did not see the trainer and Lucario that he had spotted before. He was still puzzling over that, wondering if he had really seen what he thought he had seen. One did hear of such things, after all, but they were dismissed as rumors or incidences of weirdos.

Aurelia was especially eager to see the Pokémon Contest simulators that Eric was describing to her during lunch, and so that was the first thing that they went to see. For what Aurelia had been expecting, she was rather let down. The simulator facility was not much more than a short hall with several rooms branching off from it. The pokémon and Pokémon Coordinator would go inside the room, and then a holographic program would start up which was supposed to simulate what went on during a contest. Aurelia and Eric went into one of the rooms and watched some stored videos that the ship's computer had recorded, and Aurelia was not impressed at all. She had already watched home movies of some of her mother's contests, and the videos were pretty much the same thing.

"This is kind of disappointing, Eric," Aurelia said, her tail sagging to the floor. "I was expecting something a little more realistic."

"I think this is as realistic as it can get without being the real thing," Eric said. "It seems like it could be good practice, anyway. You should give it a try."

"Well, I suppose I have no choice," Aurelia said. She walked over to a computer panel on the right wall of the room, and began scrolling through menu options in the simulation program. A thought occurred to her as she selected to simulate a beginning-level Pokémon Contest. "Eric, I didn't bring my fashion case. What am I supposed to do about the Visual portion?"

"Don't worry about that," Eric said. He walked over to stand beside her, and advanced through the screen. "I read up on this stuff while I was here before. The computer will take a scan of your body and then randomly assign you a selection of virtual accessories." He pressed a button, and a red square appeared on the floor.

Aurelia went over and stood in the middle of the square. Eric pressed the same button again, and then a crisscrossing sequence of laser beams began to sweep over Aurelia's body, apparently analyzing her figure. Projected holographically in front of her, an image of her body began to form as the lasers moved down her. In seconds, a completely accurate three-dimensional portrait of Aurelia was standing right there. She had to admit that this part, at least, was rather impressive.

"And now, you just come over here and dress up your copy the way you want to, with the accessories you've been given." Eric pointed to the screen, and Aurelia went over to find that a selection of accessories, grouped into various categories, had appeared, along with a smaller picture of a Zangoose silhouette, meant to represent herself.

Experimentally, Aurelia selected a pink hair bow, and dragged it across the screen to the head of the silhouette. She looked to the hologram of herself, and the hair bow appeared on her copy, right where her left ear met her head. Aurelia could not suppress a smile, because the bow looked rather good on "her." The Zangoose kept dragging over accessories, adding another pink bow a few inches from the tip of her tail, as well as a thin strand of Cloyster pearls. She finished the ensemble with a thin gold bracelet around her wrist, and stepped away from the screen to walk around the hologram of herself.

"What do you think, Eric?" she asked, wagging her tail and turning to look at the human. "Do I look nice?"

"Hm," Eric said, scratching his chin. "Yeah, it looks pretty good to me. Okay, now you go back to the screen and lock it in, and the computer will issue you a score based on the accessories you used and how well they complement your appearance. It's programmed with data from Pokémon Contests over the last ten years, so the results should be pretty accurate."

Aurelia went back to the computer panel. "Alright, so...this one?" She pressed a key, and the square that her hologram was standing in flashed green. Aurelia watched as numbers began to scroll down the screen, too fast for her to read. A progress bar at the bottom of the readout slowly advanced as the analysis went on, until finally the computer pinged completion. The score presented itself on the screen, divided into categories marked "Originality," "Complement," "Flair," and "Overall." Out of a possible score of one hundred percent in each category determined by the computer, Aurelia's simulation received the following: 78% in Originality, 100% in Complement, 66% in Flair, and 81% Overall.

"That's not bad," Eric said. "So, above average, but with room for improvement."

"Hmph," Aurelia mumbled, feeling slighted by the computer program. "I think it looks quite lovely. This computer is defective." She turned a glare towards Eric as he stifled a snicker, and then looked back to the screen. "So, what's next?"

"Next is the Appeal stage," Eric explained. He tapped a button on the screen, and the hologram of Aurelia disappeared. The hologram scene in the small room became much more elaborate, with a holographic audience, a stage, and a judge who sat on one side of the stage.

Aurelia was a little confused. "What about the Dance stage?" she asked.

"You're thinking of Sinnoh contests," Eric admonished her, feeling a little superior. He had learned quite a bit while on his earlier exploration trip. "In Hoenn, Pokémon Contests consist only of the Visual and Appeal stages. The Dance stage doesn't come into play until you make a transition into the Sinnoh League."

"Oh...," Aurelia said, her ears perking up. "I didn't realize that. That's good to know. I'm not really a very good dancer yet, anyway." At home, she had spent much more of her time practicing her attacks, which was a lot more fun. Her parents hadn't seen any reason to discourage her from developing her inherent pokémon abilities, although she felt that they might have if they had known what she was going to want to do when she was older. Eventually, of course, she would have to become better at dancing, but for now she was content to put it off.

"Now, in the simulations they only allow you to do two moves," Eric explained. At a questioning look from Aurelia, he elaborated. "I asked one of the crew members about it, and they said it was because they want to get as much use out of the rooms as they can before they have to renovate them. Too many powerful attacks in a short period of time, and the walls will be ruined."

"That makes sense." The Zangoose looked around at the holographic scenario. "So...I just go whenever I'm ready?"

"Yep. Stand in the middle of the 'stage,' and cut loose!"

Aurelia went over to the middle of the holographic stage, and stood still for a moment, listening to the roar of the simulated crowd. She knew it was just a simulation, but she couldn't help pricking her ears and tail up as much as they could go, the fur on her shoulders bushing out a little in excitement. Eric sat down in front of the crowd, eager to see what his friend could do. She would, after all, be battling for him sooner or later, and he wanted to see how strong she was. He did plan to catch other pokémon so she wouldn't have to fight as much, but if she was a good fighter he wouldn't be ignorant of that.

Okay, so..., Aurelia thought. What should I start out with? This was just a simulation, so it didn't really matter what moves she picked, since nobody was depending on her abilities. All she could really do was try out some attacks, and see how they stacked up compared to the records that the computer had stored. Then again, Eric was watching. She did kind of want to show off in front of him, just a little. Let's have a little bit of fun.

As a Zangoose, Aurelia's main body of attacks would be of the Normal-type, and that was what she was best suited for and had practiced the most. However, she did have a small selection of elemental attacks that were a little more complex, and she had practiced those at home as well. For instance, she could conjure up an Ice-type Blizzard attack. She also knew how to use the Electric-type Thunderbolt, as well as the Fighting-type Focus Punch, which had been a specialty of her mother's. She had a few more that she could pick from, too. What to choose first...

Reaching her decision, Aurelia held her hands out to her sides, closing her eyes. This attack required a lot of focus, especially for a pokémon that was of a different type, and so she did her best to shut out the sounds of the virtual crowd. A dull roaring sound replaced them in her ears instead, brought on by a hush that seemed to dampen even the artificially-generated buzz of people cheering within the simulation room. Aurelia's fur prickled as the temperature plummeted, but she kept herself from growing too exultant, even though she knew that the attack was working. She opened her eyes a crack, and saw that her breath was now rushing from her nose in twin fountains of cloudy vapor.

Eric was fascinated by the sight of Aurelia. The air around her was taking on a slightly blue hue, and he couldn't tell if the goosebumps on his skin were from the sudden chill in the air or from looking at what the Zangoose in front of him was doing. As he watched, Aurelia seemed to sparkle, and it took him a few moments to realize that ice crystals were forming in her fur. More and more ice gathered on her, until Aurelia looked as though she was covered in a bodysuit of dull, milky ice. Eric looked her over, seeing her fur in muted white and pale red through the thick ice, dumbfounded.

For a minute, all that Aurelia did was stand there, mist rising from the ice-coated surface of her body, and Eric worried that she had frozen herself permanently. Then, with a sharp pop, a crack began to run down the sides of the icicle that was his Zangoose friend. The crack spider-webbed out, spreading all over her, until finally the sheath of ice shattered into a million tiny pieces.

"Ahhh!" Aurelia screamed, squeezing her eyes shut and shaking slightly to rid herself of the last ice crystals, sending them out into the air. They began to circle around her in a blinding dance, some remaining close to her body while others spread out into a wide radius. Faster and faster they whirled, until her body was hidden in a cyclone of frigid particles. Then, all of a sudden, they all flung out to fill the room, and in an instant Eric's eyes were alive with colors. Each ice crystal caught the lights projected by the rooms holographic sensors, sending rainbows sparkling around. It was a perfect light show, an amazing treat for the visual senses.

And then it was over. Each ice crystal, already miniscule, quickly melted and evaporated. Aurelia brushed a few stray droplets of water from her furry shoulders, sighing with satisfaction at her efforts.

"Wow!" Eric breathed, starting to clap.

Aurelia looked at him, beaming. She allowed herself to listen to the crowd again, their cheering and clapping joining that of Eric. Again, she knew it was just a simulation, but she couldn't help feeling immensely pleased. There was something so...satisfying about executing a perfect attack.

"How was that?" Aurelia asked, placing her hands on her hips. "Not bad, huh?"

"I thought you were great, Lia," Eric said. He pointed behind her. "Your score for that attack should be coming up soon."

Aurelia turned around, her tail wagging like crazy. Eric's compliment had made her feel very good, and she almost didn't need to see what the computer judge's rating was. But she was curious, after all, and shortly a holographic readout appeared in the air in front of her. Her Blizzard attack, which was placed in the Beauty category, was to be rated against the average for such an attack, as well as the highest score ever attained by that particular move. After a few minutes of calculation, the computer projected her results, represented in terms of heart-shaped icons. The average for a Blizzard attack was four hearts, but Aurelia saw that she had earned four and a half. The highest given rating was six hearts, but she was not troubled. She thought that four and a half was just fine.

"Alrighty," Aurelia said, cracking her knuckles and laying her ears back. "Next attack, let's-"

Unexpectedly, the hologram disappeared and the lights in the simulation room dimmed slightly. Aurelia and Eric both looked around, trying to determine the source of the sudden loss of the program, and then an intercom mounted up near the door began to speak.

"Thank you for using our Pokémon Contest Simulation Facilities," a soft female voice said. It was obviously a recording of some sort. "The time is now two o'clock, and the simulation rooms are now closed for the day. Please come back tomorrow, and thank you for choosing S.S. Tidal for your training-related travel."

"Aw...," Aurelia said, pouting. "They close at two? That seems awfully early...I wanted to try some more attacks."

"Ah, well," Eric said, standing up and stretching his arms out, popping his back. "What are you gonna do? I guess we can come back another time."

"I guess..." They exited the simulation room and left the coordination area, heading for other parts of the ship so that Aurelia could have a look around. After walking for several minutes, Aurelia looked up at Eric. "Hey, did you really like that attack?"

"Oh, yeah," Eric said, sounding enthusiastic. "It was really beautiful. I didn't even know Zangoose could use elemental attacks. The way that you got that ice to catch the light, and the way you threw those rainbows all over the room...It was really, really cool."

Aurelia couldn't keep a smile off of her face for the rest of the afternoon.

------

Aurelia managed to see most of what the ship had to offer, with Eric's guidance. They spent a lot of time up on the deck, in the open air, so that Aurelia could get used to the rocking of the ship without the impediment of seasickness. They had to go back to the cabin so that she could take another dose of the medicine close to dinner time, but she was able to make it through the day without puking again. Aurelia thought that a great triumph, especially, she thought ruefully as they left the cabin for dinner, considering how sick she had been when they got on S.S. Tidal.

During the rest of the afternoon, Eric was looking out for Mia, wanting to introduce her to Aurelia. He was a little disappointed when they didn't run into her again, although he did tell Aurelia about his new acquaintance over dinner, which they ate in one of the casual areas. The Zangoose snickered a little over his description of her, and remarked that maybe Eric should look for her without Aurelia along. He was a little chagrined at that, but privately thought that perhaps that wouldn't be a bad idea. The frail girl might be cut to pieces by Aurelia's personality if they happened to meet.

After dinner, Eric and Aurelia spent a few hours back out on the deck, watching the sun go down over the water. The sea completely surrounded the ship, with no land in sight. According to the ship's schedule, they would make port at Dewford Town early the next morning. The pair was looking forward to that. Eric had done some reading on the areas surrounding Dewford Town, and learned that a few rare species of pokémon could be found in the forests and caves just outside of town. He was eager to do some hunting, and Aurelia was rather excited to get into her first battling with wild pokémon. She needed practice if she was going to fight for Eric, after all.

When the sun was completely down, both of them suddenly realized just how tired they were. They returned to their cabin, and then the problem of sleeping arrangements reared its ugly head. The cabin, of course, only had one bed.

"Um...," Aurelia said, looking at the bed. "How are we going to do this?"

"Good question," Eric said. The bed wasn't exactly tiny, but he didn't think that two people would fit in it. And he wasn't exactly comfortable with sharing a bed with Aurelia, anyway. She might be his friend, but, well...She was female, after all, and officially his pokémon, besides. It wasn't exactly proper. "I guess I'll take the floor."

"Are you sure, Eric?" Aurelia asked. "I wouldn't mind sharing the bed. It won't be that uncomfortable, and it's just for a few days."

"No, that's okay," Eric quickly responded. "I don't mind sleeping on the floor. I have my bedroll, and it'll be good practice for when we're camping outside."

Aurelia grinned. "Shy, Eric? I promise I won't try anything during the night. Although I can't accept responsibility for anything I may do in my sleep, unconsciously."

"Hey, Lia...," Eric said, an annoyed tone to his voice.

"Okay, okay," Aurelia said, her voice placating. "If you insist, I'll take the bed tonight." She held up a hand. "But we'll switch off. Tomorrow, you get the bed and I'll sleep on the floor."

"Deal."

Aurelia climbed into bed, pulling the sheets over her, while Eric retrieved his bedroll from his pack and spread it out on the floor. He went into the bathroom to change into sleeping clothes, and came out a moment later in shorts and an undershirt. Eric flipped off the light and then stretched out on his bedroll, and the two settled into to sleep. As they let their weariness overtake them, the ship's whistle blew a long, low note, ushering both of them into dreamland.

------

"Last night, I dreamed I had insomnia. I woke up exhausted, yet too well rested to go back to sleep."
-Bob Ingman