Sam turned around. He saw a Swablu messing with someone holding a notebook. When both trainers agreed to have a battle, Sam picked up his Riolu and moved out of the way. He now stood next to two girls. One had a lucario, the other didn't seem to have any pokemon out. Sam mumbled in himself while watching the fight: "They are not doing a great job. They are using attacks that don't have any effect on the opponent. But I can tell the bond between the trainers and their pokemon is strong. They are executing their commands without even thinking about it. They fully trust their trainers." Meanwhile, Sam's Riolu was looking at the Lucario. It was the first time he saw a lucario for real, and he was thinking about all the things he was going to do when he was big and strong like that Lucario.

Cody woke up on a ship, heading somewhere new. After getting something to eat, and feeding his pokemon their breakfast, he headed out onto the deck and noticed a battle was going on. "Now this is a good start to my day." He said, feeling the sun and breeze, while watching the fight. His own pokemon were out of their balls, also enjoying the sun and breeze. Smeargle and Chansey started playing on the deck. Ditto took to copying the pokemon he hadn't seen before, as it often did. Ponyta stayed away from the railing and sunbathed, not really enjoying being on the water as much as the others.

Hm, his attack was guarded safely. Orion really cursed his inexperience when it came to battles right now. There were a lot of onlookers now too. But when the next command came, Orion smirked. **"Yuki! Receive it whole and then show them the power of your Frost Breath!"** As expected, the Swablu went right through Froslass' body. It then turned around and aimed at the Swablu with its icy breath.

Looking at the Pokémon that had done the job for her, Ari burst out into a brief laugh, responding, "Ahahaha! No, it's fine!" This girl and her Lucario would look pretty intimidating if she wasn't being absolutely destroyed by the boat and the cold. "You're pretty funny, you know?" she said as she leaned onto the rails near Andi. Turning back towards the ship, there was a blonde guy with a Riolu nearby mumbling something about bonds and Pokémon. Indeed, when she looked up, a Swablu and a Froslass were going at it above the ship. "Either way, this battle's not going to last long for sure." she stated, watching as the Froslass fired its Frost Breath.

Kite could see that Swab's Fury Attack went right through the other pokemon. "Darn, is that thing a Ghost?" Kite stated.With that the Froslass hit Swab close range. With Safeguard no longer up the Frost Breath froze Swab's wing which caused the flying pokemon to lose control of its flight. Then using its one good wing to glide into the boat and rolled right in front of Kite. Swab quickly got up but it could not get flight. Kite looked at his pokemon who obviously wanted to continue. "Hey, I concede." Kite stated. He knew his pokemon wanted to continue but he did not see himself winning this battle without any permanent damage to Swab.And Kite could not stand to see his best friend like that again.

Orion was impressed, to say the least. It was a rare ocurrance for him to win a fight outisde of a Contest. **"Yes, we did it, Yuki!"** He celebrated. His Pokemon approached him and nodded happily. After a little celebration with a simple smile and a nod, he approached the man with whom he had battled with. He offered him his hand as manner of a greeting. **"That was fun. I hope we can do it again. I am pretty sure you know who I am, but I'll introduce myself anyway. I am Orion Valsis, a pleasure to meet you."** He says, taking a small, polite bow, and his Froslass following suit. **"But nevermind that. Is your Swablu okay?"** He asked, squating down to check on the little bird.

Kite looked at this man offering his hand. "Sir, I have no idea who you are. You mentioned conests. As in Pokemon Contests? In that case I do not follow that sort of thing. The one contest I did watch seemed a bit too feminine to me." Kite stood up and pulled out an Ice Heal from his bag. With that he sprayed Swab until the ice chunks started to melt off of its wings. "Return, you did great." As Kite pulled out a tiny orb which enlarged with the press of button. Then a red laser came out and pulled his pokemon into its pokeball. "I do hope that I run into you again. I had a lot of fun that battle." Kite stated as he started to walk away. Ghost Pokemon he thought. Kite wondered how he would cover that weakness next time he engaged in a battle again Orion. "By the way." Kite yelled back. "My name is Kite, remember it."

Ariella was just chilling, minding her own business with her Sylveon because it was a beautiful day outside and not much to do just to relax and stuff. Everything was fine, that was until she heard some people yelling. It must have been a pokemon battle? Ariella stood up from her chair, as Sylveon followed right next to her. "Wonder what's going on?" she rose an eyebrow, sighing. As she got closer to the trainers battling, the battle seemed to have ended already. "Awww. I wanted to see the battle." she said standing there with her arm crossed, raising an eyebrow but she had to ask... who won the battle exactly? "Who won the battle?" Ariella smiled at them both, being a little random and all, but she was eager to know!

"Hmph," Andi responded, half-heartedly, crossing her arms to unsuccessfully block out some of the cold. She would definitely need to find a coat or something, especially since her stereotypical Johto clothing of choice wasn't keep her warm enough. Then, she would immediately blow off Sandgem and any of the further towns in the region and head straight to Veilstone or Iron Island -- both had potential choices of Lucario trainers for her to learn from. Speaking of Lucarios, her was looking at a Riolu from a distance. "What are you doing?" She hissed as the Lucario approached the Riolu and patted it on the head. Alright, Andi could be gruff and a bit mean, but even she had to admit -- _that was adorable_. --- "Yeah," Ross responded to the girl's comment, noticing a lust for battle in her eyes. Continuing to watching the end of the fight, Ross was less than surprised to see the Froslass win victoriously, however, it was moreso because of the other trainer throwing in the towel. "That was a lot less quick than I expected. Almost makes me want to battle," he commented, petting the Absol's fur while considering his next move: gather his supplies? Find some food on the ship? _Or challenge someone to a battle?_

Sam saw how the Swablu trainer admitted defeat. _Too bad it ended so quickly, I would've liked to see some more. Almost wants me to fight myself._ He thought. He then saw one of the girls' Lucario patting his Riolu on the head. Riolu seemed to like it, and stretched out his tiny arms like it wanted a hug. "Looks like your Lucario fell for my Riolu's cuteness. He's not that old, so I understand." Sam said to the Lucario's owner, then whaited for the girl to reply. Then he looked up at the girl's Lucario. "That's a fine Lucario you've got there." He said. He loved Steel types since he was a child, and even though most people didn't know, Lucario was one as well. That's why he wanted to evolve his Riolu. But he knew it would take time and patience, so he never told Riolu that. After all, it was Riolu's life, not his.

A door near Arc at the deck slid open, revealing a lethargic Jolteon and Electabuzz. Arc smiled when she saw them, then looked at the watch strapped to her left wrist. "Oh. It's a new record, 20 minutes faster! But it seems you're not fully awake," she said, looking back at her two pokemon. She gently put her Mareep back on the floor, then stood up, brushing herself off. "Say, how about a battle? My pokemon isn't looking quite energized for the day. And-...right. I haven't got your name. I'm Arcturus by the way, you can just call me Arc. So, how about it?" She said to the silver haired teen. Hearing that, her Jolteon and Electabuzz jolted awake, and looked ready to battle.

Hearing this, Ross felt a jolt of energy and then looked down to the Absol at his side. "Are you up for it, Rivet?" The Absol stood up, stretching her back and giving a happy cry in response, her nails clicking across the deck as she got a closer look at the Jolteon and Electabuzz. Arc had. . a lot of Electric type Pokemon. After a moment of silence, the Absol nodded her head: she accepted the challenge. "Very well," Ross responded as he headed to the opposite end of the deck. As the Absol approached him, he briefly wondered if he should give out his name: after all, he was almost an international superstar, given his "ground-breaking research" on Mega Stones. No, surely this girl doesn't stay in loops with the science aspect of Pokemon? He doubted it. "I'm Ross Marco and this my partner, Rivet. And we accept your challenge." --- "Don't mind him, he pets anything that looks cute," Andi responded grumpily, crossing her arms and leaning back in a defensive stance. Though her eyes were softened, watching the Lucario smile at the younger Pokemon. If there was anyone she was soft around, it'd be her partner in crime. "Yeah, he's alright," she shrugged in response, "Needs a bit more training and so do I. I suppose that's why we are here," she was talking about the Sinnoh region, "Though I'm sure he could easily beat that Riolu of yours, sorry to say."

Cody had started to sunbathe himself, and relaxed after the battle, but it looked like another one might get started again. Apparently he had taken a cruise with people who were fond of battles. Not that he had never battled before, but he was more interested in the collecting and breeding aspects. He hadn't put his team through the paces of getting eight gym badges, and challenging the Elite Four, but he was familiar with all but the most rare pokemon, and some new ones from regions he hadn't been to like this one.

Ryker's Espeon was mewing impatiently at him, excited by all the commotion going on around them. She wanted to battle so very badly- and she was making it known to her trainer. He, however, was not in the mood- in fact he was physically incapable of even looking on at the battles. Seeing this Espeon narrowed her eyes at him, disappointed in her weak bodied trainer. She sort of huffed and touched her nose to his knee- he may have been useless but she was there for him. He groaned, knuckles white from gripping the railing so hard, and he was thankful that his best pal was beside him- but he was too sick to thank her for her comfort.

**Wha? Effeminate? It seems you cannot appreciate beauty when you see it, if that's what you think of contests. Or maybe you just like more brutish things."** He suddenly noticed he was being really rude. Well, not that it matter, since he was laready walking away. **"Maybe, next time, we can get a challange on in my own terms. It'd be beautiful to see that Swablu in a Pokemon Contest.""** He said, shouting a bit so that Kite could hear him. After he walked away, Orion sighed. **How unrefined."**

As Kite walked away he saw a young women walking out of her room asking who won the battle. Kite felt himself scanning her from head to toe thinking that she looked like a pixie from a Disney cartoon. It almost made Kite want to laugh. Then his Wingull came out of nowhere and perched on the back of this girls Eevee hybrid that Kite could not name off the top of his head. The Wingull looked back at him with a sad gaze on its face. Kite could tell it had no idea that it was sitting on top of another pokemon. "Win, thanks but thats a bit rude invading a foreign pokemon like that." He stated as his pokemon looked down in surprise. His pokemon screeched and flew over to Kite's shoulder.

Cody's Chansey noticed that one of the Humans was gripping the railing, and looking sick. As a healing pokemon, she often helped her friends and other pokemon, and wanted to help him too. She walked up to the teenager, and his Espeon, and used her move Heal Bell. Whether she understood that such a move may not work on a Human wasn't entirely clear.

Espeon stepped out of Chansey's way, her tail swishing knowingly, for in her experience Chansey were the most docile and loving pokemon she had ever encountered. Otherwise protective of her trainer, she was not here, and set to licking a paw as she watched the other pokemon attempt to heal Ryker. The snowy-haired trainer jolted up from the railing in surprise and looked down at the Chansey, "W-what?" Had it been another person he would have been rude- but the cuteness of the pokemon itself threw him off guard. The chansey was like a pink marshmallow- bright and pink and just _cute_. He forgot his sickness for just a moment as he smiled weakly at the pokemon, "Sorry buddy. Heal Bell doesn't work too well on humans-" he patted the pokemons head briefly, "Thanks for the help though." He looked up and about for the nearest trainer, assuming that the Chansey would belong to them. He spotted Cody and pointed at the Chansey as he made eye contact with its trainer, "This Chansey yours?" He asked and then felt a wave of nausea, so he held the railing to steady himself again. Espeon rolled her eyes, her trainer needed to seriously consider flying next time.

"Yes, she's mine. I'm Cody. Sorry to see you're not doing well. I hear that back rubs can be good for seasickness, Bu watching Chansey try to do that with her stubby little arms might be too funny. I think watching the waves probably makes it worse, so just do like Ponyta and settle down in the middle of the deck. Maybe look up at the sky, and pretend you're on a hammock." Chansey smiled at being patted, but was disappointed that it didn't work. she returned to the rest of the group.

The problem with having a Charizard as a best friend was that if she had to travel long distances, he didn't get to stand beside her. He also wasn't very fond of water, so that made boat trips even harder on the large fellow. It saddened her to have to put him in his Pokeball, but they had both agreed that it had to be done. Thankfully the rest of her team were considerably smaller in size, which allowed for them all to run around free of confinement. As per her instructions, each of the remaining three stuck close to Jade's position on the rail, pacing behind her while chattering excitedly. Jade sat atop the railing, dangling her feet over the edge of the boat. The possibility of falling didn't frighten the ranger at all, nor did it seem to phase the Dratini that had gently wrapped itself around her neck. The pokemon had been playing around outside for most of the trip but it wasn't until now that she heard a small whimper trying to nab her attention. Spinning around so that her feet were once again inside the boat, Jade hopped down to kneel before the shivering Trapinch. "Oh you poor girl, it has gotten rather chilly for you hasn't it. Come here, I'll take you back inside." Mia was a ground type pokemon known for burrowing itself in the sands of deserts, her tolerance for the cold most likely still low due to her younger age. She hugged her close and motioned for Blake the Bagon to follow close behind. She had intended on heading straight back to the cabins, which were much warmer, but instead grew distracted by a commotion above her. Silv whistled a sound that closely resembled a laugh. "You shouldn't make fun of them, I was like that too in the early days. You can just ask Leo, he was there." She chuckled to herself, turning her eyes to the sky just in time to watch the Swablu's wing frozen over. With a sigh, Jade rounded the corner as the battle drew to a close, the opponents drifting in other directions. "Kite was it?" Jade approached the trainer who had been shouting his name out, her expression mostly neutral as she spoke. "Might I give you a bit of friendly advice, trainer to trainer? Swablu are incredibly susceptible to Ice-Type attacks, against a pokemon like Froslass your best bet is to quickly **"blow"** your opponent away." She winked at the guy before stepping around him, hoping that her hint to use Swablu's Flying-Type moves had been understood. Having spent time as a ranger, Jade knew much about the strengths and weaknesses of pokemon. She mostly used the information to protect herself against aggressive wild pokemon or to help an injured or sick pokemon in need. However, seeing the Swablu beaten so quickly had made her feel for the pokemon, thus enticing her to help its trainer succeed in the future.