Gold's POV

"Nice of you to finally show up," Green taunts as soon as I board the ship.

"Ha ha," I roll my eyes. "Shouldn't be surprised you made friends with the kidnappers."

"They're quite nice," She flips her long brown brown hair.

Scyther and Larvesta follow me onto the open deck. A light breeze causes the sail to flap back and forth above us.

"Two Pokemon?" The Captain muses. He has a scruffy black beard that he scratches. "Well done recruit."

"What's the challenge?" Ash asks before I can. 

"It's simple," The Captain approaches. "We wanted to see if you could live the way nature intends and you passed. Now I just want to battle you for fun. Pick one of your Pokemon."

I look between the two, trying to make the decision I failed to make earlier. I still feel like this challenge is about my bond with them.

"Scyther," I say and the green bipedal Pokemon steps up. "We've trained hard the last couple days."

"Interesting," The Captain says and points out his arm.

A Masquerain that was previously on his pirate hat flies forward. Its light blue body blends in with the sky and its two orange and purple wings form an eyeball when they come together. Masquerain is small and delicate but I'm assuming very strong.

"Stun Spore!" The Captain takes me by surprise.

Where was the 1, 2, 3, go.

Masquerain sprinkles orange poisonous particles into the air. Before I can react, Scyther breathes them in and collapses to one knee.

He struggles back up but I can tell the paralysis is settling in.

Scyther loves to be an instigator but that's not going work if he's paralyzed. Time for the Plan B we practiced.

"Double Team!" I command.

Scyther duplicates itself into a bunch of identical copies. Usually it's a faster move but I can tell the paralysis is causing the copies to surround Masquerain slower than we practiced.

"Gust!" The Captain yells. "Take them out."

Masquerain's wings draw up a powerful gust of wind that takes out the fake Scythers one by one. They disintegrate into nothing until there are no copies left.

Just the real one hiding on the frame of the sail.

"Aerial Ace!"

Scyther dives through the air with a glowing white scythe. It catches Masquerain by surprise and deals the super effective attack.

The wooden deck creaks as the smaller bug and flying type crashes into it.

I would like to keep the pressure up but Scyther is fighting through the paralysis, stuck to the deck. Right beside Masquerain.

"Air Cutter!" The Captain's Masquerain recovers quickly and starts spinning through the air.

It creates a sharp blast of air and hits Scyther who was unable to dodge. Scyther goes flying across the deck, tearing up some planks in the process.

He gets right up though, momentarily over the paralysis.

I need this to be over before Scyther freezes up again.

"Air Cutter again!"

"Focus Energy!"

Scyther readies itself for another air cutter attack. It digs itself into the deck and holds out his scythe-arms in front.

Masquerain's attack struggles to break though while Scyther focuses its internal will. Maybe we can get lucky with a critical hit.

"Now Aerial Ace!"

In a new burst of speed, Scyther flies across the ship. It hits Masquerain out of mid-air and knocks it out against the deck.

"You did it!" Serena cheers first.

I smile at my three friends who are all clapping, even Green.

"Not bad kid," The Captain returns his Pokemon.

"Thanks Scyther," I hand it a cheri berry I had leftover from my adventure in the forest. "I'd love for you to continue travelling with me."

"You'll need this," Green throws me a pokeball.

Scyther nods and I capture the bug type.

"Vee!" Eevee jumps in my arms but its cold scales tickle my bare chest.

"Hi Eevee," I laugh. "Still in your bug form I see."

"Yea she hasn't changed forms so it may just be an evolution," Green states and I shrug. "Want this?"

She puts my gold and black hat on my head, making sure to pull it down so far I can't see.

"Thanks," I fix it and take the rest of my stuff for her. 

"What about Larvesta?" Ash points out the fire type Pokemon that has patiently been waiting at my feet this whole time. 

"I think I owe someone for leaving their first party early," I turn towards Green.

She looks at me in surprise so I place Larvesta in her arms. "Gold it wasn't that big of a deal," She tries to argue.

"I think Larvesta deserves a stronger trainer," I say honestly. "If that's alright with you Larvesta?"

The Pokemon nods and Green instantly smiles. I made the right choice.

"Anyways I can't wait to get some clean clothes on and shower," I say.

"So are we," The brunette remarks.

Serena's POV

"We should go on more cruises," I say to Ash who joins me at the front of the boat.

We're slowly making our way to the next City but I'm not in a rush. It's calming watching the ship crash through the waves.

"We can do that," Ash smiles.

It's a bit chilly despite the sun being out but I stole Ash's jacket so I'm warm. I do love the blue jacket.

Ash, who I left in a black t-shirt, doesn't seem fazed by the cold wind. He's too busy pointing out each Pokemon that jumps out of the water as we pass by.

I lean against him, enjoying his warmth. We haven't talked about the party since the whole kidnapping thing interrupting our dance but I can tell he's changed.

Ash was always thoughtful but now I notice him going out his way to let me make my plate first at dinner or bring me something before I can get up and get it myself. It's nice.

Suddenly, the ship takes as hard of a turn a ship can make and throws us sideways.

Ash wraps his arms around me and takes the fall as we crash into the hard wooden deck. He grunts in pain but smiles when he realizes I'm okay.

We quickly get up and run towards the back of the ship where the Captain is furiously yelling orders. The rest of the ninja pirate crew take a variety of positions, adjusting sails, cannons, and more.

"What's going on!?" Ash yells over the wind that has picked up.

"The military," The Captain grumbles and I can make out some purple emblems off the more modern boat. "They don't like us."

"Why?" Green asks. "We're just going to Wimpod Cove."

"You see girl," The Captain sighs. "We were not always ninja pirates. People of the Bug District always lived off the land and because of this, some learned exceptional skills and tricks alongside their Pokemon. The military utilized our skills to form a ninja unit that would protect the region from similar threats."

"That's so cool," Ash awes. "But you don't anymore?"

"The rest of the bug community would make clothes or harvest materials to trade for anything our military money couldn't buy from the rest of the region," He continues. "But it was generally small shipments as we cared for the land and didn't want to take away what nature couldn't replace."

"So when Triton created the Districts and organized all the trade, the Bug District was left out. And the ninja corps were disbanded. We knew how to live off the land of course but some modern supplies were important such as medicine, technology, etc."

"We had to get that supplies somehow so we learned what cargo ships to hijack."

"Making you pirates," Green frowns. "Couldn't you just ask?"

"It doesn't work that way honey," The Captain shakes his head. "We did what we had to do and generally the military has left us alone."

I glance back into the open water, the purple ship getting much closer.

"Until now," I point out.

"It appears so," He sighs and pulls a lever that causes the ship to jolt forward with a loud humming noise. "That's what the motor is for though."

We all hang on to the closest railing as we speed across the water. The military ship is still closing in but not as fast.

"Green can't you talk to them?!" Gold yells over all the noise.

"And say what?!" She yells back. "Don't be mad at them for stealing because I like them?!"

"Uh guys," I point to a scary looking device rise out of the ship. They've closed in enough that the Triton symbol on the side is clear.

"No way," Gold mumbles and suddenly a burst of flames comes from the ship.

A missile zips by before we can blink, tearing a hole in the big sail. Wait a missile...

"AH!" I scream and duck to the deck.

My eyes close but I hear another missile fly by us, probably another warning shot through our sail. It's only a matter of time before they hit something more important.

"Pikachu thunderbolt!" Ash screams.

The sound of another missile being fired is soon followed by a sky shaking explosion. The ocean breeze brings the smoke onto the ship, causing my lungs to wheeze.

I open my eyes, burning a little from the smoke, and see Green with her Pokedex out. She types quickly and she's tearing up a little, either from the smoke or the whole missile situation.

"Stop the ship!" Green grabs the Captain's jacket and shows him her Pokedex.

He pauses before nodding and shutting down the motors.

We all get our footing back as the military ship calmly catches us and anchors to the side. Purple uniformed soldiers move onto the boat, not saying a word but keeping an alert eye on everyone aboard.

We nervously glance between each other, waiting for someone to say something.

Then someone more important steps out of the ship. They have a sharp maroon uniform on with a fancy cap and medals across their chest. "Miss Green," He directly addresses the girl, ignoring the rest of us.

He hands her a tablet and I make out an older man's face that I now recognize as her Dad thanks to our earlier meet-up. "Green I'm so sor-." His voice starts.

"Missiles!?" She yells back. "Aren't you supposed to be protecting people?!"

"These people have been stealing for a long ti-"

"Because they need to!" She continues yelling. "Maybe if y'know the Capital wasn't keeping life-saving medicine from them then they wouldn't need to steal."

"Green it's more complicated than that." Her Dad argues but if there's one thing I've learned about Green it's that she's stubborn.

"Well it shouldn't be," She frowns, her face red with anger.

Green marches over to the uniformed man and shoves the tablet into the guy's chest. The stunned look on his face is priceless.

He walks away from our group, talking in a low voice only his earpiece can pickup. After a few minutes he calls all the soldiers to their ship and and ride away into the open water.

"Looks like a owe you one," The Captain slaps Green on the back.

"They'll be back for you," She warns with a sad look on her face.

"Don't worry about that," The Captain laughs. "One day at a time. Let's get you guys to shore."

Ash and I return to our seat at the front of the ship, watching as we approach the land.

"That was scary," I lean my head on his shoulder.

"Yea," Ash says with a monotone voice.

He stares off into the ocean.

"What's wrong?" I look up at him.

"That wasn't fun."

"No it certainly wasn't..."

"Pikachu and I have faced so many bad people but I always looked at it as a challenge for us. This time I was scared. Not of the missile but of you getting hurt. I'm always pulling the people around me into dangerous situations."

I wrap an arm around his stomach, holding the boy tight.

"You and Pikachu still protected us," I say softly. "You always do."