Chapter Four

Aqua Marine

by Havoc

"Remember, always give your best. Never get discouraged. Never be petty. Always remember, others may hate you. But those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself."
-Richard M. Nixon

------

Now that S.S. Tidal was on the way from Dewford Island to Petalburg City, Eric and Aurelia were looking forward to a nice, peaceful period of smooth sailing. Eric had talked to a crew member about the remaining stretch of the journey, and learned that the latest reports from the Hoenn Weather Institute projected the weather to be exceedingly favorable. If the seas remained calm, and if the skies stayed as clear and pleasant as the meteorologists said they would, then they should reach the port at Petalburg by late afternoon the next day. Aurelia was cheered by this news, since it meant she would have to be on the ship half of a day less than she had expected, and if the seas really did stay calm then she wouldn't have much to fear from seasickness.

The day's climb up to and down from Granite Cave had wiped Aurelia and Eric out, not to mention the fighting that she had done with the Sableye in the cave, and so they spent a good part of the early afternoon in the cabin. While they were catching up on sleep, the newly-captured Sableye was in the ship's Pokémon Center getting healed. Aurelia did not rest as well as she could have, since it was her turn on the floor, and so she was a little grumpy when she got up again for dinner. Since she and Eric had skipped lunch, the young Zangoose was made even more grumpy by her empty stomach.

Aurelia looked over at Eric, envying his apparently peaceful napping in the cabin's bed. He was sprawled on his back, his arms out to his sides and one leg sticking out from under the sheets. His mouth was wide open, and he was snoring slightly.

"Look at him...all high and mighty with his sheets and his pillows and his comfy mattress...," Aurelia said. Her speech degenerated into muted grumbles and she got up from her pink bedroll on the floor, stretching her arms and her back as she rose to her feet. Aurelia picked her pillow up and fluffed it nicely, smoothing it out and making sure it was nice and poofy.

Then she whipped around, hoisted it over her head, and brought it down on Eric's chest with a loud FWUMP! that reverberated around the cabin rather nicely. Eric's eyes shot open as the pillow smacked into his body and gave a huge cough, all of the air in his lungs being expelled in a single instant. He sat bolt upright in bed, looking around wildly as he tried to get his wind back. His eyes fell upon Aurelia, who was wearing a sweet smile with accompanying shiny green eyes, and whose tail was wagging happily.

"I'm hungry~," she announced in a singsong voice, batting her eyes and clasping her hands underneath her chin. "Won't you please wake up so you can take me to get something to eat?"

"Oof...," Eric responded, flopping back down on the bed. "You really know how to drive a point home." He took a few moments to recover his senses, and then hopped out of bed. He was still wearing his clothes from earlier in the day, which Aurelia was not very pleased to see. The sheets were a little dusty and grimy, and although there was a change of sheets in the cabin she didn't want to have to remake the bed in the evening. "First we need to go down to the Pokémon Center and get that Sableye you caught. He ought to be healed up by now, and I want to see him."

"Aww...," Aurelia whined. She crossed her arms, looking a little sulky. "Fine..." After Eric got his shoes back on, he and Aurelia left the cabin and headed down several decks to where the Pokémon Center was located. The onboard facility was rather deserted, with only a few other trainers milling about. Behind the main desk were several nurses, and behind them the equipment typical of most Pokémon Centers was visible. Aurelia could see rows of various types of poké balls on the healing machines.

Eric approached the counter and spoke to one of the nurses for a few minutes. The nurse went to the machines and found the ball that contained the captured Sableye, and after Eric signed some paperwork she handed it over to him. He carried it back over to Aurelia, a look of intense interest and excitement on his face.

"Well, let's meet him!" Eric said, barely able to contain himself. Although it was technically Aurelia's capture, she had no interest in raising pokémon and therefore the Sableye belonged to Eric. "Or I guess you'll be meeting him again. All the same."

"Do we have to?" Aurelia asked. Her stomach was growling and she wasn't at all interested in seeing that little troublemaker a second time.

"Of course!" Eric said. "I want to see him, and he'll have to have a name." Without waiting to hear what Aurelia had to say next, he tapped the center button on the ball and released the Sableye. There was the customary flash of light, and then the Sableye was deposited on the floor in between Aurelia and Eric.

*Ow, what the...,* the little purple, imp-like creature chattered, using the pokémon language. He rubbed his rear end. *Where am I now? Sure was cramped in there...* He blinked his diamond eyes, looking up at Aurelia.

"Hey there," Aurelia said, looking down at the Sableye with obvious dislike on her face.

*Ack!* the Sableye screeched, ducking behind Eric, who was the nearest cover available. He peeked out at her from behind the human's legs. *What the hell are YOU doing here?*

Eric looked down at the Sableye, and then back up at Aurelia. "He seems kind of scared of you."

"He ought to be. I kicked his butt hard enough." Aurelia sneered at the Sableye, who cowered at her glare.

"Be nice, Lia," Eric said. "He's one of us, now, so we should all be friends." He kneeled down on the floor, and put his hands on the Sableye's shoulders. "Now, no need to be scared, little guy. Nobody is going to hurt you here."

The Sableye blinked a few times, and then looked at Aurelia. *Um...Your human needs to know I ain't a kid. And I got a name, and it ain't 'little guy.' It's Peb.*

*Peb?* Aurelia repeated, switching languages. *Like...pebble? That's not very inventive.*

*Hey, I didn't pick it! Gripe to my Mom if you're gonna gripe to anyone!*

Eric was looking between Aurelia and Peb, appearing increasingly confused. "Lia, what's he saying? Translation, please?"

"He says his name is Peb," Aurelia said. "And he wants you to know that he isn't a kid and he doesn't need to be babied."

"Oh," Eric said. He looked back at Peb and stood up. "Well, that's alright. Peb it is, then." He held out his hand to Peb, bending down a little so that he could reach the diminutive pokémon. Peb looked uncertain of what he was supposed to do, but apparently figured out what was expected of him and took Eric's hand. "Good, Peb. We're going to be traveling together from now on, and you're gonna get to see and fight all kinds of different pokémon. What do you think about that?"

*Uh...,* Peb said, glancing over at Aurelia. *Fine, as long as I don't have to fight her again...* Aurelia decided that she could learn to like Peb. He was smarter than he looked.

"He says 'fine,'" Aurelia translated for Eric.

"Great!" Eric said. He raised Peb's poké ball, and scratched the Sableye's head. "Time to go back in, now. I'll let you out later tonight for dinner and some exercise time." He pushed the button on the ball and a red beam shot out, hitting Peb and drawing him back into the capture device. Eric tucked the ball away and ran a hand through his dark brown hair. "Okay, now what you've been waiting for, Lia. Dinner!"

"Finally," Aurelia said, clapping her hands together. "I'm starved. What are we having?"

Eric stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I was thinking about that," he said. "We're only going to be on this ship until tomorrow afternoon, and it'll be a while before we're ever on it again. Why don't we try out the fancy place on board? I bet it has some great food, and it would be a treat after the rough day we've had."

"That sounds good to me," Aurelia said. "Oh, but wait, Eric...What will we wear? It is a fancy restaurant, after all."

To this, Eric waved a hand unconcernedly. "Don't worry about that," he assured her. "You'll be fine. Just put on a few things from your fashion kit that would be appropriate. And I brought some nice clothes along for when we do contests, so I can wear that."

"Sounds great, then," Aurelia said enthusiastically. Inside, however, she was beginning to feel rather nervous. Living the life that she had at home, she had never been to a fancy eating place. Actually, before beginning her journey with Eric she had never been to any sort of restaurant at all. Breakfast at the Tidal's casual restaurant had been the first experience of that kind that she'd ever had. From what she was imagining she thought it might be a little stiff for her, but she was eager to learn what the world had to offer in any case.

------

About half an hour later, Eric and Aurelia again left their cabin, dressed for the S.S. Tidal's formal dining place. They had quickly cleaned up, with Aurelia paying extra special attention to her fur coat. She made sure that not a hair was out of place, and had taken two golden necklaces from her fashion case and put them on, adding a simple bow to the middle portion of her tail (pink, naturally). The Zangoose considered it good practice for when she had to do a contest. If the dress-up theme was ever "simple but elegant," she thought she had it down.

Eric looked very nice as well. He had wiped away the dust and grime accumulated during their adventure in Granite Cave, and was dressed in a black suit and tie that was to be worn during Pokémon Contests. The shirt was actually a little bit small for him; Aurelia noticed that Eric kept plucking at his collar from time to time. He didn't have any sort of jewelry on, but then again nobody would have really expected him to, and it would have looked pretty silly on him in any case.

The luxury restaurant, which was located on the very top deck with the bridge, was an establishment called "The Silver Sea." Part of the restaurant actually was open-air, with tables and a bar set up on an uncovered portion of the deck. The Silver Sea was technically not owned by the people who ran the shipping line that operated the Tidal, and was actually a sister restaurant to a famous luxury dining establishment in Rustboro City called L'oiseau Bleu. The owners of that restaurant had a deal with the ship operators to maintain The Silver Sea onboard, and they shared in the profits. The major difference between the two restaurants was that L'oiseau Bleu in Rustboro was a human-only place, while The Silver Sea was open to humans and pokémon alike, in keeping with the nature of the S.S. Tidal.

It appeared that many trainers took advantage of this rule, for while Eric and Aurelia were making their way up to the restaurant they saw people who had the same idea as they did. While walking through the cabin area towards the stairs, they saw a trainer and her Gardevoir exiting their cabin. The trainer was very well-dressed in an evening gown, but of course the Gardevoir needed nothing to look elegant. It already wore the white, flowing, satin "dress" typical of its species. They also passed a trainer with an Electabuzz that was wearing a black bow tie. The surly Electric-type looked very put-off by the accessory, and was testily tugging at the offending item. Eric and Aurelia made a point of hurrying past, lest the annoyed pokémon decide to unleash an electrical storm in a fit of anger.

Once she got her first look at the restaurant, Aurelia had to admit that it was something to behold, indeed. The floor was not the hardwood that the rest of the ship's decks were done in, but rich-looking red carpet that had curling, golden designs winding through it. The carpet was nothing like as thick as that which was in their cabin, but it looked very nice, and was a shade or two darker than the red which zigzagged across Aurelia's fur. She was most definitely not the only pokémon in the restaurant, either. The inner portion of the restaurant seemed to be about half full, and trainers were seated with their pokémon at tables and at the inside bar. Not only were bipedal pokémon present, such as Blaziken and Mr. Mime, but four-legged pokémon seemed to be comfortably accommodated as well. Special chairs could be brought out at a trainer's request which would allow a pokémon like a Vaporeon or a Delcatty to sit at a table. The dining room used silver plates and eating utensils, and glorious crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, throwing sparkling light across the floor and around the room.

At the entrance to The Silver Sea, Eric and Aurelia were met by a crew member acting as the maître d' who, at Eric's request and Aurelia's agreement, escorted them through the restaurant and out to the outdoor portion. This area was smaller than the indoor area, but Aurelia immediately thought that it was much nicer. The tables and dining ware were simpler, and it seemed like a more relaxed setting. A gentle sea breeze blew across the deck and the moonlight was shining down on the tables, providing illumination which was augmented by a single candle placed in the center of each. Most pleasant of all, a Gardevoir much like the one they had encountered on the walk up was standing in a small cleared area near the outside bar. She had her eyes closed and was using her telepathy to sing a soft, lilting tune that everyone in the outer dining area could presumably hear.

Aurelia noticed that the Gardevoir singer was very pretty, but she was starting to see a trend in humanoid female pokémon that was starting to bother her: those that had breasts all seemed to be, well, rather more well-endowed than she was. She was trying not to let it get to her, but she was having trouble not being just a little jealous. Desiring a larger bust was asking a lot for a Zangoose, who wouldn't have had much prospect of being a heavy-hitter where that area of the body was concerned, but if she could at least have something that gave her chest the tiniest bit of definition, like her mother was blessed with...Then again, comparing herself to the Gardevoir singer, whose breasts would have been a bit excessive even on a human, was not exactly fair.

Here's hoping Pokémon Contest judges aren't attracted to big tits..., she thought, looking down ruefully at her nearly flat chest. Although she thought that not a likely possibility. Her parents notwithstanding, attractions and relationships of that sort were very rare and not at all acknowledged.

Eric and Aurelia were seated at a table for two near the deck railing and a waiter approached them, bowing and leaving Eric a menu. Aurelia was about to be offended when she realized that the waiter couldn't reasonably expect her to be able to read. To everyone on the ship except Eric and Mia, she was just a normal Zangoose.

"This is a nice place," Aurelia said, looking around as Eric glanced over the menu. "You almost can't tell that we're on a ship. I might actually be able to eat something without feeling nauseous afterward!"

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Eric replied, handing the menu over to her. He looked to the side, out over the railing. The ship was passing through a point where they were reasonably close to land on either side, and even in the darkness he could see the lights from beach houses on the shore. It seemed kind of a funny thing, to be so close to land and yet still a day's journey away from their destination.

Aurelia gave the menu a read, and decided that she would be adventurous and have a bit of meat for dinner. She didn't often eat meat, preferring instead to eat vegetables, berries, and food that was made for pokémon. But what the heck. They were on a cruise ship, and if you couldn't go a little wild at sea, then where could you go wild?

"You look really nice," Eric said, making Aurelia look up from the menu. "I mean, you always look pretty, Lia," he hastened to add, "but I mean you look especially nice with the necklaces and the bow."

"Oh...," Aurelia mumbled, feeling a bit of warmth rise to her cheeks, unbidden. "Thank you, Eric. You look...uh...handsome. I don't think I've ever seen you dressed up. You don't look half bad when you bother to care about your appearance" She cringed inside. The words she had said had come out more backhanded than she had meant them to sound. "Sorry, that sounded rude."

Eric gave a little shake of his head. "That's okay. I know what you mean."

The waiter came back a few seconds later, forestalling any further conversation while they placed their orders. Aurelia ordered for herself before Eric could order for her, and she got several nice minutes of quality entertainment while the waiter interrogated Eric to discover the secret to his outstanding technique of ventriloquism. She always found it pretty funny that humans could just outright refuse to believe that it was really her talking, even when they had seen her and heard her do it with their own eyes and ears. But this waiter was no different from other humans, and walked away from the table still thinking that it couldn't possibly have been Aurelia that had spoken, and convinced that Eric had pulled some clever trick.

"At least this gives us an advantage," Aurelia pointed out, giggling at the waiter's back. "Even if someone finds out that you're not really doing anything during a Pokémon Contest, I doubt they'll believe what they find out!"

"Heh, you might be right," Eric agreed, picking up his wine glass, which the waiter had filled with a dark red wine. He tasted it, and made a face. "Yuck...I never understood what the draw of this was."

"Can I taste?"

Eric handed over the glass, and Aurelia took a cautious sip. She held the wine on the tip of her tongue, and her ears flattened right to her head, the fur on her tail bushing out. The drink was absolutely disgusting. It was sour and sweet at the same time, with a cloying taste that threatened to undo the settling of her stomach that the calm seas had created. Aurelia could tell that the wine had been made from Razz berries, and while that was her mother's favorite berry, she herself could not stand the taste of them. Adding alcohol to the mix made it a thousand times worse. She swallowed the small sip and then set the glass down in front of Eric. The expression on her face made her verdict on the concoction quite clear.

"You don't like it either, huh?" Eric asked with a smirk.

"No," Aurelia said, her tongue hanging comically out of her mouth. "It's totally disgusting."

"Yeah," Eric said. "Must be one of those things that rich people drink because it's expensive, and so they convince themselves that it's delicious." They both shared a laugh over that one.

When the food arrived, Aurelia's mood brightened considerably. Both of their dinners looked delicious and smelled even better. Whatever you could say about the things that the well-to-do drank, you could not the same things about the food they enjoyed. Aurelia was given a small round-cut piece of Miltank beef, along with some raw vegetables and a little dish with what looked like some kind of pastry in it. She took her fork and cut into the pastry a little bit, and saw that it was filled with a jelly made of what looked like Bluk berries. Eric had a larger steak and some steamed vegetables, and at his request the waiter took away the wine and brought back some Leppa berry juice for both of them.

The food was absolutely wonderful, and the atmosphere provided by the sounds of the sea and the Gardevoir singer made it perfect. Eric and Aurelia's conversation during dinner drifted between many topics, but it usually came back to what they were going to do when they made landfall near Petalburg. Aurelia was eager to get to some place that had a phone so that she could call home, and Eric wanted to talk to her folks and his mother as well. After making contact with home, they would leave Petalburg and make their way through Petalburg Woods to reach Rustboro City. Eric was excited about this, because in Rustboro City would be the first Hoenn Pokémon Gym that they would challenge.

Aurelia had to admit that she was a little excited about the first gym as well. After her fight down in the depths of Granite Cave, she wanted to see how she would do against trained pokémon. As she finished up her Bluk berry pastry, she thought that if she did as well as she did against Peb, she would be in fine shape.

------

It was around nine o'clock when the traveling companions made it back to their cabin, full and ready for a good night's sleep. They went in and Eric removed his jacket and tie, while Aurelia retrieved her fashion case and replaced her accessories inside it. Eric then went to his pack and pulled out a huge container full of pokémon food, along with Peb's poké ball. He released the Sableye, and while Peb watched he poured out a bit of the food into a travel dish and set in down in front of him.

*What is this stuff?* Peb asked, eying the pokémon food skeptically. In the wild, he had been used to eating rocks and gemstones for food, and hadn't ever seen anything like this before. *Don't look too appetizing...*

*It's not that bad,* Aurelia said, sitting on the edge of the bed while Eric went into the bathroom. *I used to eat it when I was little. Give it a try.*

Peb picked up a piece of the food and sniffed it, then took a cautious bite. *Hey, it's good!* He starting eating more quickly, finding the taste not at all displeasing. *This is a lot better than rocks!* The impish little pokémon looked up at Aurelia. *Uh...You want any?*

*No, thanks. I already ate.* Aurelia could tell that Peb was starting to grow used to the idea of traveling around with her and Eric, so he was making an effort to warm up to her. She still wasn't sure if she liked him or not, but she was willing to try.

A moment later, the lights flickered in the cabin and then went out altogether, plunging Aurelia and Peb into nearly absolute darkness. The Zangoose uttered a short cry of fright, but Peb said nothing. He was used to living in darkness, and his eyes quickly acclimated to the lack of light. Eric stumbled out of the bathroom, pulling his pants up and hastily zipping them.

"What's going on?" he asked frantically, unable to see much of anything. The only light in the room was offered by the moon, streaming in through the porthole.

"I don't know," Aurelia said. Her eyes were starting to adjust to the darkness, and she could see Peb calmly finishing his dinner. "The power just went out." She cocked her head to one side, her long, pointed ears pricking up as much as they could. She was listening to something, or rather, the absence of something. "The engines have stopped. We're not moving anymore."

They debated what to do for a few minutes, until a pair of dim red lights located on the ceiling, near the door, came on. The Tidal must have had a backup power system, and emergency lights were coming on. Eric and Aurelia could now see reasonably well, even if some details were not completely clear. A short time later, a voice came over the ship's public announcement system.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we're experiencing some difficulties with our engines and have temporarily cut power. Backup power is operating normally, but please remain in your cabins until-"

Abruptly, the transmission was cut off. Eric and Aurelia looked at each other, confused. If backup power was operating normally, what had happened to the PA system?

"Something isn't right," Aurelia said slowly, looking at Eric in the dim emergency light. "I think we should go take a look around."

Eric was hesitant, as he always was when Aurelia wanted to do something that might not be the best of ideas. It often ended up with one or both of them in trouble. "I don't know if that's what we ought to do. The PA said-"

"The PA got cut off in the middle of a sentence," Aurelia reminded him. "I don't know what you think, but if emergency power was still working properly it would seem to me that something like that shouldn't happen." She started moving towards the cabin door. "I'm going to have a look around to see what's going on."

"Wait," Eric said, shooting a hand out to grab her shoulder. She turned around, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Okay...I'll go, too. If we're going to look around, it will be faster if there are three of us out there." Eric looked at Peb. "Come on, Peb. You and I will go look around the lower decks, and Lia can check the upper decks."

Peb shrugged, and got up from the floor. *Whatever you say, boss.*

With that, the three of them exited the cabin, locking the door behind them. Aurelia went right, heading for the stairs that led up to the restaurant and bridge levels. Eric and Peb headed to the left, going for the staircases which would take them down to the Pokémon Center, the simulator and battle rooms, and eventually the engine room and the motorboat dock, where Aurelia and Eric had first come onto the S.S. Tidal.

------

Making her way up to through the levels of the ship, Aurelia found that all of the ship's guests seemed to be following the advice that had been given on the abbreviated PA announcement. She encountered nobody while walking through the dark corridors, and the silence onboard was deafening. The dim red emergency lights threw an eerie red glow all over the places, and Aurelia felt a chill as she found her mind flashing back to when she was lost in the depths of Granite Cave. Her ears were perked up, listening for any sounds, but all she could hear, no matter how hard she listened, was the buzz of the emergency lights and the sound of water lapping up against the Tidal's hull. There were no crew members to be found as she climbed the stairs up to the restaurant level, the level with the casual dining places, and she was perplexed by that. Surely if something was wrong with the ship, the crew would be scattered about, trying to figure out how to fix whatever was broken. Things just weren't adding up.

Suddenly, as she rounded a corner, Aurelia heard footsteps. A wave of apprehension went over her, and something inside of her told her that she should make herself scarce. Looking around, she saw a utility closet door to her left. The young Zangoose tried the door handle, and found that it was unlocked. Moving quickly but quietly, she opened the door and slipped inside. This small room had no emergency light and was perfectly dark, so she left the door open a tiny crack so that she could peek out into the hall.

The footsteps she had been hearing grew gradually louder, and presently a pair of people came into view, walking past the closet where Aurelia hid. They were walking away from the closet, which let her get a good look at them as they moved down the hall. It was a man and a woman, and they were dressed very peculiarly, in what seemed to be some kind of uniform. Both were wearing blue slacks and shiny black shoes that seemed to be made of polished leather, and they had on tight-fitting, white shirts with horizontal blue stripes. They also wore blue bandannas on their heads. The strange outfit gave them the appearance of pirates, just like the pirates that Aurelia had read about in storybooks when she was very young. The man was talking to the woman as they walked, and she caught a snippet of what he was saying.

"...need to get down to the engine room. Carl says one o' the crew shut off the engines to keep us from goin' anywhere. He'll be waitin' for us up in the bridge once we get 'em goin' again..."

Then the pair were too far down from the closet for Aurelia to hear anymore. She stayed in the utility room for a few more minutes until she could be sure that they were gone, and then she carefully opened the door and stepped out, closing it behind her. Aurelia breathed a sigh of relief, thankful for the acute Zangoose instincts that her mother's bloodline had imparted on her.

So...it seems as though these people have taken over the ship, Aurelia thought to herself. Whoever they are, they must be up to no good. And it sounds like they're trying to get the ship moving again...to take it somewhere? She couldn't be sure about that, but why else would they have been trying to get down to the engine room? Aurelia briefly considered following the two people she had just seen, because they were going for the engine room, where Eric and Peb had been heading. A second later, she decided not to do that. If they're going for the engine room, I'd better head for the bridge and see if I can help out there. That way even if they get the engines started again, they won't be able to steer the ship anywhere.

Nodding to herself, Aurelia returned to her original route, walking to the stairs that would take her up to the next level, where the bridge and the luxury dining room were. From what those two people had said, it sounded as though there were only a few of these hijackers on board. If there were any of them in the bridge, she felt sure that she could hold her own.

------

Meanwhile, Eric was nearly down to the level that had the engine room and the motorboat dock. So far, he had seen nobody walking around, and was starting to think that perhaps nothing was wrong after all. However, he had made it this far, and thought that he might as well finish his walk out. He and Peb were just walking through the Pokémon Center when they stopped short.

"Did you hear that?" Eric asked Peb, looking down at the Sableye. They both stayed still, listening carefully. The sound that Eric had thought he'd heard moments before repeated itself. It sounded as though someone was hunkered down behind the counter.

Eric pointed that way, and he and Peb both began creeping in that direction. They had just about reached the counter when a young woman in a nurse's uniform leapt up from behind it, stifling a shriek of terror.

"P-P-Please don't hurt me!" the woman pleaded, closing her eyes tightly and clasping her hands in front of her face as though she were praying. "I...I'll do anything! J-Just don't harm me!"

Peb and Eric were both surprised by the display. *Bit of a nutter, this lady,* Peb mumbled to himself.

"Calm down, calm down," Eric said, holding his hands up. "I'm not going to hurt you! We're guests on the ship. We were just having a look around to see what was up."

The nurse opened her eyes, gave Eric and Peb a closer look, and then breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Oh...Th-Thank goodness. You're not them." She slumped forward on the counter, trembling and gasping for breath.

"Not who?" Eric asked, arching an eyebrow. "What's going on, here?"

"The ship has been taken over," the nurse answered, looking up. Eric and Peb could see fear etched all across her face. "Team Aqua...They boarded the ship. They came up from the motorboat launch. I only barely managed to hide before they came through."

"Team Aqua...," Eric repeated, feeling a slight chill. He was old enough to remember that trouble that they had helped to cause some years ago in Hoenn, but like most people he had thought that Team Aqua had disbanded. But if what the nurse was saying was true..."How many of them were there?"

The nurse looked uncertain. "I...I'm not sure. No more than three. But that's enough to take over a ship like this. N-None of the security people on the ship are armed, or anything."

"Did they have pokémon?"

"I know one of them did," the nurse said, after thinking for a few seconds. "I don't think the other two do. Th-They came by right before you did. Two of them, I mean. I think they might have been heading for the engine room."

Eric nodded. "Right. We'll see what we can do. You just keep hiding down here until some kind of all-clear comes through." Eric's heart was pounding as the nurse ducked back down behind the counter once more, but he figured that he was the only thing standing between Team Aqua and whatever they were planning to do. He was worried about the other Team Aqua member that was unaccounted for, though. He hoped that Aurelia wouldn't have any problems.

"Come on, Peb," Eric said, and the human and the Sableye continued on through the Pokémon Center and down towards the engine room.

------

Going slowly, carefully, and listening for any noises that might be out of the ordinary, Aurelia finally arrived on the same level as the bridge. She came out of the stairwell in a location that gave her a clear view into The Silver Sea, where she and Eric had eaten dinner. The restaurant was completely empty, but the lights were still on. The crew had probably been caught off guard in the middle of cleaning up. Looking carefully, Aurelia could tell that the door to the kitchen was slightly ajar, although she could not see inside from where she was.

To her right, opposite from the restaurant, was a door which, according to a sign on it, led into the bridge. She crept over to it, and carefully tried the door's handle. Whether by luck, providence, or the carelessness of the invaders, it was unlocked and un-barricaded. Aurelia opened it just enough to allow her to slip inside, and closed it quickly behind her, careful to avoid catching her tail in it.

The bridge was arranged in a block, with the lower-right corner of the block containing the door that Aurelia had come through. Directly in front of her was a huge window that allowed the bridge crew to see what was ahead of the ship, and on the far side was a radar screen which the operator could use to detect objects underneath the water and ahead of the ship. All along the huge window stood various instruments and indicator lights, and in the center of the instrument console was a large steering wheel, not that much different from the steering wheel of the classic wooden sailing ships of old.

As short as she was, and owing to how quietly she had made her entrance, Aurelia was nearly perfectly concealed behind a bank of instruments near the bridge door. By peeking around this hiding spot, Aurelia could see a man dressed much like the two people she had witnessed in the corridor on the lower deck. He had his back to Aurelia, so his face was hidden, but she could clearly see the small pistol that he held in his right hand. The gun was aimed directly at a group of five people who were dressed in nautical clothes, who were obviously the bridge crew. One man, wearing a hat that identified him as the Captain, happened to glance over and see Aurelia.

The Captain's eyes widened, and Aurelia shook her head frantically to warn him off, fearful that the armed hijacker would notice. The Captain immediately schooled his face into a blank expression, returning his eyes to his captor.

Okay..., Aurelia thought to herself, her heart pounding with fear and determination. I have to do this...

The brave young Zangoose stepped out from her hiding spot, taking care not to allow the claws on her feet to click too loudly against the metal floor of the bridge. She crept up behind the armed man, getting closer with each cautious step. Soon Aurelia was five feet behind him, then four, three, two...When she was right behind him, Aurelia put all of her power into great leap, landing on his shoulders in a flash.

"What the hell!?" the man shouted, his voice gruff but very startled-sounding. The arm connected to the hand which was holding the gun came up, pointing away from the bridge crew for a split second. Seizing the opportunity, one of the crew members jumped up and grabbed the hijacker's gun arm while the Captain dove for his knees, sending all four of them crashing to the floor.

Jarred by the fall but full of adrenaline and still ready to fight, Aurelia began pounding on the man's head with a clawed fist, her legs tightening around his neck. The crew member who had grabbed the criminal's gun arm wrenched the pistol from his grasp, and after a very brief scuffle on the floor the man had been subdued. He was quite unconscious from the beating that Aurelia had managed to give him, and the bridge crew tossed him into a corner of the room.

"Cummings," the Captain said, his voice deep and rich, "keep an eye on him. The rest of you, to your stations. I'll take the helm once we get moving again." Cummings, the man who had taken the gun, nodded and turned to watch the unconscious pirate while keeping him covered with his own weapon. Meanwhile, the Captain turned to Aurelia. "I don't know how you managed it, lassie, but thank you very much. You're a brave little pokémon."

"Thanks," Aurelia said cheerfully, awash in the glory of a successful mission. The Captain's eyes widened; he had obviously not expected Aurelia to say anything back. "Yes, yes, I can talk. Don't get too excited about it, mister. Is there some way we can talk to the engine room? I think the other bad guys might be down there."

Blankly, the Captain pointed to a microphone mounted on the wall near the radar station. He watched, shaking his head slowly, as Aurelia walked over to it, swishing her tail. Then he turned to the steering wheel and moved over to it, ready to keep the ship from veering into danger if the engines started up unexpectedly.

------

At the same time as Aurelia was arriving at the bridge, Eric and Peb made it to the engine room. No door separated the engine room from the rest of the ship, but it was "hidden" after a series of twists and turns in a long corridor, which prevented the sound from the engines from penetrating the upper decks too much. Right now, though, even the muted sound of the engines that one could hear throughout the ship was silent. Eric and Peb hoped that didn't mean whoever might be in the engine room could hear their approach, and they moved as silently as they could.

As they approached the open entrance to the engine room, they began to hear muffled sounds of speech. At the corner that would put them in the room, they paused to try to discern what was being said. The words were difficult to make out, but by holding his breath Eric was able to tell what was going on.

"C'mon, sonny Jim," a man's voice said. "Just tell us how to start the engines up, yeah?" A smacking sound was heard, as though someone had just hit another person. "Keep up the silent treatment, and me friend here'll keep up the pain. Joanna, how's it comin'?

"It's not coming at all, Lou," a female voice, presumably this Joanna person, responded. "I don't know anything about how to start these engines!"

"Y'hear that, fella?" Lou said. Another smack. "Come on and tell us, or we'll have to get rough with ya, yeah?"

A voice, quiet and calm, responded. "I'm not telling you anything. I don't know what you plan to do with this ship, but I'm not going to help you get it moving again."

A sigh was heard. "Alright, guess that's that," the male voice said. "Show 'im we're not playin' around."

Satisfied that something needed to be done, Eric and Peb wasted no more time. They charged around the corner, and were immediately greeted with the sight of two people wearing blue and white clothing, unbeknownst to them the same two individuals that Aurelia had seen several decks up. One, the woman who must have been the one known as Joanna, looked up at their charge, complete surprise etched on her face. The second, the man known as Lou, still had his back to Eric and Peb, distracted by a crewer who was half-sitting, half-crouching on the floor. The crewer was being menaced by a Machop that must have belonged to Lou. Before the woman had a chance to shout a warning, Eric dove at her and bowled her over. She struck her head on part of the engine housing and stopped moving, knocked senseless by the blow.

Peb, meanwhile, made a beeline for the man and his Machop. He had fire in his diamond eyes, and for good reason. He knew as well as any pokémon would have that the Machop would be no match for a Ghost-type like him, having very few attacks that could harm him. Before anyone knew what was happening, the Sableye was on the Machop, slashing at its face and body with his sharp claws. Eric was quick to jump on the male hijacker, and in as little time as it had taken Eric and Peb to charge around the corner, the battle was over. Complete surprise had won the night.

"Good work," the crew member who had been held captive told Eric, as they dragged the unconscious pair and the fainted pokémon into a corner. "I ran down here to stop the engines as soon as I heard these people had come aboard. They were trying to get me to tell them how to start them back up again, but I knew they would take the ship somewhere we didn't want to go..."

Oh, a genius, Peb thought to himself.

"...so I wasn't going to do that."

"Good thinking," Eric said. "Now, what should we do next? If we start the engines right away, and there are others aboard, they still might be able to-"

A squawking sound cut off the end of Eric's sentence, and he looked around to see where it was coming from. He spotted a microphone unit mounted on the wall, one of the short-range ones used to communicate between areas of the ship, and realized that someone was about to make a transmission. He hurried over and turned up the volume on the device to listen.

"-have the engine room, now," a familiar voice was saying. "So you folks are in big trouble if you turn the engines on, because we can take you right to shore where the police will have you. So you might as well cut them back on, because we'll all just sit here until something happens."

"Lia?" Eric said, astonished. He picked up the microphone and pressed the button to talk. "Lia, is that you? It's Eric! We took the engine room back."

"Eric?" Lia asked. She was quiet for a few minutes, but Eric could hear talking in the background. "...Can you get the engines going again? The Captain wants to get us moving again, and then he wants to have some people search the ship to make sure there aren't any of them left."

"Sure, no problem," Eric said. He turned and looked at the crew member who he and Peb had just rescued. "You can turn them back on, right?" The crewer nodded. "Okay, Lia, we're turning the engines back on. I'm coming to you, so stay where you are."

------

Several hours later, things seemed to be getting back to normal onboard the ship. The engines were restarted and power was restored, and the Captain got them back on their original course. It turned out that most of the crew had been rounded up and locked in the freezer that was in the kitchens on the top deck; that was why the door to the kitchen had been slightly ajar when Aurelia had passed by on her way to the bridge. The whole crew thanked Eric and Aurelia for what they had done, and the three members of Team Aqua who had attempted to take over the ship were locked in an empty cabin. When some members of the crew went down to look at the boat that they must have used to access the ship, however, they found none. A fourth person must have been present, left at their boat to guard it, but now they were long gone.

Since everything was in order on the ship, Eric returned Peb to his poké ball and then he and Aurelia went back to their cabin. It wasn't until they got there that they realized just how exhausted they were. All of the fighting had really worn them out, so Aurelia found that she could do little else than put the fresh change of sheets on the bed and climb in. As she was settling down, Eric prepared his bedroll on the floor, and she turned on one side underneath the covers to watch him.

"So, that was a pretty interesting night," Aurelia said. "Fancy dinner, nice talk out in the open with music, and then some butt-kicking to round things out."

Eric chuckled a little, slipping under the blanket on his bedroll. "Yeah, it was exciting, all right. Dunno if I wanna repeat the experience...but, yeah." He sighed. "I'm completely spent, and pretty sore, too..."

Aurelia looked at him on the floor for a little bit, and then she rolled over, scooting to the edge closest to the wall. "Well...If you want to share the bed, I guess that's okay. Just for tonight."

"Huh?"

"You're not going to get very good rest if you sleep on the floor. I'm not very big, so there's plenty of room over here."

Eric blinked. "Are you sure? It won't be awkward or anything?"

"Oh, come on, just get up here. We'll sleep back-to-back if it will make you feel better, Mr. Mind-in-the-Gutter!"

Smirking a little, Eric got up from his bedroll and got up on the bed. He turned his back to Aurelia, and there was just enough room for him beside her. The bed would be a lot more comfortable than the floor, he had to admit, and after all it didn't mean anything. They were just a couple of friends sharing sleeping arrangements out of necessity.

"So, Eric," Aurelia said. "When we get to Petalburg City, are you going to tell your mom that a girl let you sleep with her?"

"...Shut up, Lia..."

------

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
-Dr. Seuss