[CH.2] New Island

[Hitotsumami]

I haven't got much time! I pray this record of our experiments survives! A year ago we discovered a fossil that proved to be the remains of the ancient Pokemon, Mew. There was sufficient genetic material to replicate Mew. But Giovanni, who funded our project, insisted we try to design superclones more powerful than any living Pokemon! Many attempts failed, but finally our experiments proved successful. We produced a living Pokemon; we called it: Mewtwo! But for some reason the creature's anger is out of control! With its psychic powers it is destroying our laboratory! We dreamed of creating the world's strongest Pokemon... and we've succeeded...

---

Delric gasped for air as he reached out of the ocean churning and spinning all around him. He coughed violently, swinging his arms wildly, trying to grab on to anything. He then went under again. Opening his eyes, he saw shapes and figures in the water, then something else, a Pokemon!

He reached out and grabbed onto his Munna and he kicked back up to the surface, gasping for air. It was dark all around him. Lightning struck violently, temporarily giving everything a white glow. He spun around at the sound of a voice and saw what looked like a fishing boat. He reached out and managed to grab onto the ledge with one hand.

"What's this!?" called out the fisherman, looking over the edge of the boat. He reached down and pulled up Delric, who landed hard on the bottom of the ship, gasping for air. He quickly reached down to his belt to feel for his Pokeballs, and luckily both his Abra and Espeon were safe inside.

He sighed a sigh of relief, but his worries weren't over yet. He jumped back to his feet, looking out at the wide ocean. In the distance he could see the glow of a town, but everywhere else, only darkness.

"W-what's going on here, boy?" asked the fisherman, putting a coat around Delric. "You shouldn't be out in a storm like this!"

"My friends!" yelled out Delric. "They're out there somewhere! We gotta help them!" Delric felt tears in his eyes. He slammed his fist on the side of the boat and yelled at the top of his lungs, hoping anyone could hear him and find the boat.

"YOU GUYSSS! OVER HERE! ANYONE! Please..."

[CJ]

"I can't believe it!" Paola's voice could be heard. "Trash floats!"

The Gym Leader clutched onto her Trubbish who flopping its mutated arms about, trying to keep its face topside. The two struggled together. Since the death of the Salamence, even in that short time, the two seemed to understand each other.

"Hey! Who's your new friend, twerp?" she asked Delric as casually as she could. She seemed to be a little distressed over her situation.

[Xero]

Lucas was violently tossed around as the ocean water crashed all around, pulling him to the black watery depths below. Completely submerged, Lucas could do nothing but kick relentlessly for the surface, a task that seemed improbable with every kick.

After what seemed like an eternity, Lucas broke through the surface and grasped at every ounce of air. For a few moments, Lucas floated steadily and could tell he was in the middle of an ocean during a violent thunderstorm. As the thunder crackled and lightning lit up the night sky, Lucas could make out a very faint light emanating off into the distance.

Suddenly, without warning, something grabbed Lucas’ left foot and dragged under. Thrashing about, Lucas originally thought it was a powerful undertow that carried him, however, he could barely make out a visible silhouette near his feet. Is that a Pokemon?

Before Lucas could make anymore headway, he blacked out.

[KaosuKishi]

Gray coughed up seawater. The sudden teleport had caught him off guard, though he barely managed to recall his two Pokémon. The rough waves had almost caused him to drown, if his luck hadn't struck true once more. His situation caught the attention of a passerby, a Lapras, which had lifted him out of the water onto its back. Coughing up the last of the water, he turned to the Water-Ice dual-type with a tired smile and rubbed the side of it's neck.

"Thanks for the save, Lapras. I would've been a goner otherwise."

Lapras let out a happy cry. The Pokémon carried Gray through the storm, until he spotted Delric on a ship nearby and Paola floating in the water. Lapras swam over to them and he held out a hand to the Poison-type specialist.

"Need a lift? No offense, but your Trubbish looks like it'll sink soon."

[Kyubey]

On this wonderful day, Kolenkhov was taking a stroll by the ocean, his coat sweeping behind him in the winds. He didn't seem to notice the storm that was going on around him, or the fact that he was wandering aimlessly in the middle of the night. He was humming a pleasant little tune, that was invariably drowned out by the sounds of thunder crashing. Following behind him was a tiny Dratini, who kept close to his master's heels. Kolenkhov's relaxing nighttime walk was put on hold, however, when he thought he heard the sound of voices in the far off distance. He gazed out towards the grand and majestic ocean, and saw the faint images of people out in the water. This did not make Kolenkhov feel very good at all. In fact, he felt incredibly worried for the safety of those poor souls out there!

"Opex, my friend!" he cried out, "I fear! I fear that those poor sorry individuals might well be drowning! What if they die? That would not be good at all. Well, those poor souls are quite possibly the luckiest sort around, dear Opex! For what they do not know is that we are here, and we can save them from whatever horrible fishy things live in the depths! Shall we go rescue them, Opex? WE SHALL! No more of our boring lives, my friend, this! Is when we shall leave the world of ordinary greatness behind, and become great heroes, wet heroes though we may be! Are you ready, Opex?"

"Tiiiini!" the Dratini squealed in agreement.

"Fantastic! It is decided! There is no turning back now, no running from destiny! JUMP, OPEX! Into those violent, thrashing waves, and we shall save those beautiful lives!"

Kolenkhov removed his shoes and carefully set them aside before he nobly grabbed his tiny friend and leaped into the sea, crashing down into the waves in the hopes of swimming to those who were so far away.

"YES! Yes that is it, Opex! You are the knife that shall slice through these waters! You are the hope of children everywhere! You are the savior of all those lost to the waves! You are the true master of the seas! YOU ARE POSEIDON, THE MIGHTY..."

OPEX does not know SURF!

"..."

"NO! HELP! Somebody! I cannot do this dance of the waves! Somebody, assist me and my Opex! Assistance! Assistance!"

As Kolenkhov futilely thrashed about in the ocean, the waves would sweep him out further away from the shore, until eventually they would carry him to where the others were, while he helplessly tried to keep his head above the water. Opex, meanwhile, swam desperately in circles around him, like he knew he couldn't help but at least wanted to feel like he was doing something.

[Hitotsumami]

"Paola!"

Delric smiled when he saw Paola floating on the Trubbish. Finally, someone else had made it. "O-oh," muttered Delric, looking at the man standing beside him, who looked completely distressed. "He's just a fisherma--, wait, twerp!? I'm no twerp!"

He was about to continue when he heard screaming in the water. In fact, it seemed that two people had been struggling. Delric looked over the edge of the small boat to see Lucas sinking, along with another person he didn't recognize struggling.

"We've gotta help them out!" called Delric to Paola and Gray. "Gray, you go grab Lucas! Paola, help me get this guy on the ship!"

Hoping that Gray would go help Lucas, even after what happened in Mt. Moon, he reached down towards the struggling man, trying to grab his hand. "Help me out Paola! We can't let him drown, not in a storm like this!"

He felt like this was all his fault. "Sory for this," he called over the rain. "My Abra only knows one move, teleport! But... he doesn't have much control of it.." He shook his head, trying to forget about it. He didn't really have a choice back then. It was the only way to get out of a collapsing cave.

[CJ]

"You're a twerp, alright!" Paola confirmed to Delric as she kicked her legs to propel her and her Trubbish across the water.

"I got it!" she cheered to Gray, getting onto the fisherman's boat. She gave an "OK" sign to Gray with a grin. She seemed to be taking the sudden teleportation rather easily.

"Since did you become so commanding, shorty?" the Gym Leader asked Delric, shaking the water off of her. "I could use someone like you around the Gym. I could fix you up with a Koffing or an Ekans or two. Think about it."

Rather unlike her previous attitude, Paola's tone indicated she wasn't serious about the proposal. It was more of her trying to let Delric know she trusted him. Seeing Annabeth's Salamence killed seemed to have a strange effect on her.

As Paola assisted Delric with Kolenkhov, her Trubbish actually stuck its mutated arms out toward Opex, the likely adorable Dratini. Despite it being about three feet smaller than the dragon Pokemon, it was about nine times heavier than it. If the Pokemon trusted the living trash bag, it would find safety.

[Kuro]

Rain. Rain and lightning and wind all over the place. Not only that, but the seas - and that was all that there was over here, sea - were being wild and thrashing and all of that stuff. Hazards all around. This little piece of the ocean was bad for all of the kinds of traveller and Pokemon, whether they moved through air, water, or ground. No sane person would ever find stick around or even think to go through such a place.

In the harsh, cold air, a Honchkrow flew through the winds that would dare to try and whip it around in the sky. Determined to not make itself a plaything of nature, the bird flowed with most of the air currents while managing to resist others, all in a bid to keep going forward. The whole thing was made a little more impressive by the fact that it was carrying a black briefcase in one of its talons and a full-grown, albeit skinny man was hanging onto its back, his hands almost able to meet each other on the bird's chest that his arms were wrapped around.

"Ugh....This is fun, isn't it, Honchkrow?"

"Honch, honch! Honchkrow!"

A tired sigh from the human.

"Oh, please...Come on, Honchy...Oh, don't make me actually have to talk right now, i'm almost...ready to sleep..."

The bird made a huff of surprise and indignation, eventually continued to fly through the horrible weather. The man looked around him with half-lidded, sleepy eyes and it seemed as if he really was ready to fall asleep on a flying bird's back in the middle of a typhoon. He blinked once. Yes, this was good. He blinked twice, his lids not coming back up as high. Almost there. He closed his eyes, a smile on his face...

"HONCHKROW HONCH HONCHKROW"

"Er...Oh...What is it?!", said the man with a sneer and clear annoyance in his voice, which now had an edge to it. "Honchkrow! Honch! Honch! Krow!" "...Eh...?" "Honchkrow! Honchkrow! Honch!" "...Uh-huh...Huh?" The man looked below him, barely noticing that the bird had majorly decreased their altitude at the same time it had loudly and rudely prevented his nap. They could now see the ocean, and apparently there was some kind of commotion down there. He could see a bunch of whole little figures, some big and small, all in almost one bunch. As they got closer, the man squinted his eyes to see just what was down there.

"...Huh. You're right. There is something down there. Well, I won't stop you. Go on, you deserve a snack, flying me...all the way...and back..."

"Honch?!"

"Darn right, 'back'! I'm not going to have Murkrow or Duskull fly me there! Oh, let's hope they have more conventional means at the island we get to...You think they would have a way to get to the typhoon, but...no..." He yawned. Now he just sounded annoyed. "Ah...come on, i'm about to get back to a good nap, go get your food." With that, the Honchkrow swooped down at a steep angle at high speeds towards his target, his owner hanging on tightly with a bored look on his face as he sped through the winds like a bullet. Closer...Closer...Ah-hah! Got it!

The Honchkrow flew up at the same steep angle he had flown down in, except now he had a big juicy blue worm in his talons along with his owner's briefcase. The Dratini was a true snack worthy of its expert catcher, who had effortlessly been able to snatch it up in one fell swoop. Now, it was only a matter of finding some land where he stop down for a moment and change the Dratini's position form his grip into his beak. Yes, it was just what the Honchkrow deserved.

"...Hey...Wait...I think there were...guys, back there."

The Honchkrow started to turn around and replied with a questioning squawk.

"Yeah...Yeah, look. People. On the sea. Huh. How about that. Maybe they got the invitation too...They don't look to be in too good of a shape though...Come on, let's go help." He clutched some feathers on the bird's chest and his Pokémon made its way to the boat and those around it. The Honchkrow, about 3 meters tall and rather weighty, flapped its large black and red wings repeatedly as it stayed in place, causing a gust of wind with each flap. "Uh...hey. You guys. Uh. You doing fine, or what? I mean, the only one I see in trouble is that one guy over there...Uh, i'll get him. Murkrow. Come out." The man, whose suit, tie, and somewhat-bored-somewhat-annoyed could now be seen by the other humans around him, took out a Pokeball from one of his pockets and activated it while still holding it in his hand. One flash of red light later, and a Murkrow about half a meter tall came out flying in one spot and ready to help. "Murk...row?" It sounded a bit meek or uncertain in its question, looking back and forth at all the characters in front of him.

"Carry Honchkrow's things."

"Honch."

The Honchkrow handed - or "talon-ed" - its load to the Murkrow, who dropped from the sky quite a significant amount with a squawk of surprise but still managed to stay a-flying with a good amount of more effort than it usually needed to flap its wings enough to stay in the sky.

"Ok, now...Uh...uh..." The man's eyes began to close, a smile coming back on his face.. "Uh, oh, oh! Yeah, right, uh, you. Yeah. I can have my Honchkrow pick you up with its talons and drop you off onto the ship, how about that? Sound good? Come on...Every second I have to stay awake is...yeah..." The Honchkrow was ready to pick the drowning guy up and drop him onto the ship once the drowner grabbed the talons, if he even bothered to.

[Xero]

Moments after he blacked out, Lucas regained conscious, only to find himself still submerged within the ocean. Except now, Lucas was not in the need for air. He could not explain it in depth, but he felt a light sensation within; sort of like an aura that surrounded his entire body that enabled him not to require air. In fact, Lucas could not feel anything, including the water he found himself submerged in.

Lucas could now open his eyes without the water affecting him, but the darkness of the ocean muddled his sight. The silhouette that was pulling him seemed smaller than mid-size, but also very powerful as Lucas was now being pulling into the current. He had no idea if this Pokemon was out to try and assist or hinder Lucas’ progress to safety. Given the current circumstances, however, Lucas had to ride it out.

After several minutes, Lucas could now feel himself being dragged toward the surface. Moments before he broke the surface, the Pokemon let go of his leg and Lucas crashed through the surface. The “aura” that had surrounded him had dissipated, so he was now grasping for air.

In his struggle, Lucas noticed a small boat nearby. Did the Pokemon take me to the boat? Without thinking too much, Lucas gave a very water-logged shout, “hey, help. I’m over here.”

[Hitotsumami]

Delric was glad Paola was actually helping them out instead of just putting them down all the time. Well, she was still doing that, but at least she was doing something useful as well.

Now that gray was on board, all that was left was Lucas. Somehow Lucas appeared back at the surface, without the help of anyone. Delric quickly reached down, pulling Lucas on board. Now they were all safe, for the time being.

"I don't know what happened back at the mountain," said Delric, breathing heavily. "But I'll put it behind me. I can tell you're a good person."

It was then that another figured appeared in the sky. Someone who looked like he could help. Delric jumped up, raising his arms out. "Hey, you! We could use some help!"

[CJ]

"Thank goodness we're safe," she sighed in relief. "It's a good thing you were here to help us... Mr. Fisherman? How many Magikarp do you have, I wonder."

Paola laughed awkwardly at the fisherman, hoping she wasn't being too rude. She outright ignored Lucas. She would be nice to Delric (despite his alliance with Psychic Pokemon), but she still wasn't ready to accept Lucas for his absence against Team Rocket.

She clutched tightly to her Trubbish and double checked that her Pokeballs were still at her side. She lost her backpack in the teleportation but she tried not to think too terribly of her lost belongings. She sighed sadly, noting she still had her badges with her. She could only imagine how terrible it would be if those badges got into the wrong hands.

Paola looked up against the rain at the mysterious trainer somehow riding on a Honchcrow (which she was grateful was not a Psychic Pokemon). She noticed he had a Murkow too. One might question the benefit of having two similar Pokemon but the Poison Gym Leader knew of the power in numbers from her army of Koffing and Ekans back at home.

"Seems odd someone would be flying around in a storm. What's up dude?"

[Xero]

Coughing the final drops of water out of his lungs, Lucas stood over and greeted Delric, “thanks for the save. Both now and back at the mountain.” Lucas looked around the boat and saw a few familiar faces from back at Mt. Moon, including the Gym Leader Paola. “Look, I’m sure you all have some problems with the way I handled the situation back at Mt. Moon. If I could change the results, I would; but I would not change how I handled everything. There is a lot more to the story and I can guarantee that Pierce has not seen the last of me.”

Lucas stood there for a few moments before continuing, “if you want me to explain my actions, I will. But can we at least wait until we are on dry land?”

Reaching down, his Pokemon were still safely tucked away on his belt, however, his backpack and supplies were long gone; swallowed by the ocean. Luckily, there was nothing important but a few medical supplies and some food. The only bad part is that it was supplies that he had just bought in Viridian City.

Lucas took a sweeping glance around the small boat. Suddenly, they were joined by someone riding a Honchcrow, which was something one does not see often. Lucas turned to the fisherman conducting the boat, “I’m sorry for the intrusion, but can you tell us exactly where we are?”

[Kyubey]

Kolenkhov thrashed about in a near-crazed state, quite unsure about what it was that was happening. He knew he was in danger. That was apparent because of the likelihood of drowning, but in his mind he wasn't all too sure about what would happen if he actually did drown. He couldn't imagine himself really dying, nor did he ever wish to. Thankfully, he was saved from such thoughts by a kind hand rescuing him.

"EGAD! This is it for me! The ocean shall be my home now, and I shall become one with the sea, frolicking with my beautiful mermaid friends and... ah, assistance has arrived!"

Kolenkhov coughed out a fair amount of water, or at least tried to, before realizing he never really ingested any to begin with, and looked around at the youngsters that, like him, were caught in the dreadful storm.

"Wonderful, now I am saved and all can be well. But first! Friends, my kind, glorious friends who saved my life on this day, you must help me further, for when I was taking my stroll earlier, I saw quite a few figures out struggling in the same waves as I! Surely you must help them, too? AH BUT WAIT! I see that you are they! What an astonishing turn! I had ventured out into this vast and deep ocean to save you, but you have instead saved me! This, I suppose, is another one of those mysteries of life. What do you think, Opex?"

...

"Opex? Friend?"

"TINITINI! Dratini! Dratiiiiiini!"

At the moment, Opex could not have responded to anything his master was doing or saying, for he was busy being captured by a fearsome black bird. Opex thrashed about, but even with its slippery body, it could not wriggle free.

"Opex! No! You cannot allow the bird-creature to end you like this! Fight back!"

"Dra?"

"Use your bolt! Of lightning!"

Seemingly understanding Kolenkhov's command, (a rather hard thing to do in of itself,) Opex got a certain flare in his eye after hearing this, and turned to face its feathery opponent.

"Tiiiiiiiiiiini!"

As Opex used Thunderbolt, his body became enveloped in electricity, which would shoot out at it's target directly. Whether it hit or not had yet to be seen.

[Kuro]

"Hey, you! We could use some help!"

"Well yeah, I figured as much, seeing as how i'm already trying to help one of you guys over here...But how did you guys...?"

The rider of the Honchkrow scratched his head, but the confused expression on his face lasted only a moment. He looked at the girl with the pile of trash and lazily smiled at her, his eyes half-lidded and about to shut. "What's up, dudette? Well, there is a reason that i'm....flying...in a..." A sudden jerk of his Honchkrow. "Wha wha what? Huh? O-oh yeah, the storm. Well, i'm flying because -"

"Tiiiiiiiiiiini!"

It was at that moment that the Honchkrow and its master were replaced by a bright light. The Murkrow that had been holding the Dratini was zapped when the worm started the attack since it enveloped itself in lightning first. The yells of the two birds and their master could be clearly heard as they thrashed about. The Murkrow dropped the Dratini into the water and as quickly as it had started, the Thunderbolt finished. Now the birds had their feathers sticking out in all directions and looking much fluffier. The businessman now had his hair turn into a bunch of spikes and he generally looked rather charred. He had no words at first, just a cough and an odd smile that looked like it wouldn't budge.

"...W-w-well...I g-g-guess that's your Pokémon, huh? S-s-sorry for the...confusion, heh." "H-h-h...Honch."

The businessman shook himself out of his stupor and looked at the owner of the Dratini. "Yyyyyyeeeeaahhhh, just grab my Honchkrow's talons and he'll carry over onto the ship. You can put your Dratini back in its pokeball or something." He then looked back at the girl with her trash, and began to resume the conservation.

"O-oh yeah, that's right. There's a reason why i'm flying out in this storm, but i'm not sure if I should -" He paused. "...Actually, I think you guys should come with me. I mean, you guys don't even know where you are, huh? I'm sure this nice fisherman over here can take you guys back to the town, but I can take you to a place full of intrigue and wonder. There's probably going to be some good-old, non-malicious pokebattles over there. So, what do you say we all go and follow the nice man in the suit, huh? Of course...that's only if we can all go to where i'm trying to go right now, I mean, I don't know if we all have swimming or flying pokemon...I guess we could hijack this fisherman's boat, but that wouldn't be too nice...Maybe you can go back to town just to get vehicles, I dunno?" The electric attack apparently gave him quite the wake-up call, as he was no longer drowsy.

"Oh, and I almost forgot. I am Mr. Sevill. Who are you guys?"

[Hitotsumami]

The group of Delric, Paola, Lucas, Kolenkhov, and Gray had been introduced to a new character, Mr. Sevill. Sevill had helped them get out of the storm by fling them to a hidden island that he was going to.

He had received an invitation from a mysterious Pokemon Trainer who claimed to be a Pokemon Master, and he wanted to challenge other powerful trainers to prove his skill and power. Although Delric wasn't really interested in that, they had to get out of the storm, so he went along with Sevill.

A few minutes would pass until the Island finally came into view. It was a huge place with giant towers covered in mechanical clockwork and rotating windmills. The storm seemed to clear as they got closer to the island, as if purposely avoiding it.

Eventually they would land near a giant doorway that led into the maze of towers. As they did land, a woman appeared, greeting them with an emotionless face.

"My Master welcomes you to New Island. Will you please follow me? He will want to be meeting each of you personally soon."

Delric looked around, confused. They had just escaped from an underground cave collapse and now were directly thrown back into a scary situation.

"Did the message say who this Pokemon Master is?" asked Delric to Sevill as they entered the towers and walked through the twisting halls.