Chapter Text
Prismatic fire cut across the sky and reflected off the waters below as the peacock phoenix Ho-Oh soared above the ocean. Over the empty waters it let out a cry that was the rising of the sun on a new day and the warning crackle of fire before it became an all-consuming blaze.
And from the stygian depths there came an answer.
Ash shivered as he plunged into the cold water aft of the S.S. Anne following the cries of the child who had fallen overboard. Bright sunlight glistened on the choppy waves, joined by white light as he sent out Squirtle to retrieve the child.
The pokéraised child had seen the commotion and heard the screaming from the child's family as he traversed the lower sun deck. Ash had rushed into action, ignoring the hysterical cries of the child's parents and the confused shouting from the people around him as he sloughed off his clothes so they wouldn't get wet.
(He really didn't get why they made a big deal about him stripping on deck, he had been wearing his swimming trunks underneath and who wanted to get their clothes wet?)
Once out of his pokéball, Squirtle shot through the water and grabbed the child and brought them back to Ash.
Got 'em, Squirtle told his trainer. What do you want me to do with 'em now?
Tha- "Thanks Squirtle," Ash said, remembering not to speak properly at the last second. Now that he no longer needed to be vigilant around Brock and Misty Ash was slipping more. He would need to work on that.
He looked at the child in Squirtle's forelimbs, their auburn hair slick against their head as they quietly sobbed and held on to Ash's pokémon with all their might. Ash then looked over at the S.S. Anne, which was getting smaller and smaller. He figured that word must not have reached the crew about the child overboard. Squirtle would take too long if he had to drag both Ash and the kid back to the ship.
"Get them to the ship," Ash ordered.
What about you? Squirtle asked.
"I'll be fine," Ash replied. Why was Squirtle worried? He should know that Ash would be perfectly fine.
Don't you think you've had enough close calls with the ocean this trip?
Ash grimaced as he recalled the pain of having to cough water out of his lungs. But that was some physical discomfort he could deal with. The child in Squirtle's forelimbs would be in much more dire straits. It was imperative to get them back to the S.S. Anne as soon as possible.
"Just go," Ash sighed.
Sure, Squirtle said. I'm not the one who's going to get in trouble for this. And with that Squirtle sped off after the S.S. Anne, leaving Ash to tread the choppy waves.
The first couple of minutes were easy, barring the occasional mass of saltwater slamming into Ash's face at inopportune times. He started to tire around the five-minute mark.
Ash groaned. He always forgot how difficult it was to tread water in the ocean. He was going to be in so much trouble.
Another few minutes and Ash was starting to exhaust himself. His limbs burned while feeling leaden, his heart was being used to play a rapid staccato in every place where he could feel his pulse, his extremities were going numb from the cold water, and his lungs ached from both exertion and the liquid that had made its way in.
He wouldn't be able to keep it up too much longer, Ash realized, and then groaned again. He wished that he had brought Pidgeot with him, but she, like half his team, was busy napping in the sunlight.
A wave swamped him and Ash went under.
Even now Ash wasn't afraid. And why should he be? He knew he would be perfectly fine.
Light faded as he sank and began to lose consciousness. Ash struggled to remain awake, knowing that if he went unconscious then he would be in even more-
He felt a pair of hands grab him under the shoulders and he was sudden above water again. Ash hacked some of the water from his lungs and turned to face his rescuer.
"You know, even with our assignment, I thought this would be a relaxing trip," Misty's voice was tight and angry. "I thought the worst that could happen would be a flying related mishap."
Even while she spoke her hands and arms were gentle as they guided him onto Starmie. Ash relaxed on the purple pokémon as it began to speed the two humans back to the cruise ship waiting in the distance.
"Oh, Misty, that whole business with Team Rocket is over, there's no way that Aaron could keep getting into life threatening trouble," the water-type specialist went on through clenched teeth. "That's what I told myself because I lacked the imagination needed to comprehend your complete lack of a self-preservation instinct."
"I'm not that bad," Ash protested.
"You have nearly drowned fou- wait, no, now it's five fucking times in during this voyage!" Misty shouted at him. "How in any universe would anyone consider it to be 'not that bad'?"
"I mean, it's not like I was in any danger," Ash told her. "You'd never let me drown."
Ash Ketchum knew that as long as Misty was nearby he would never need to fear drowning.
The fact was as sure as gravity to the boy.
It was why he sent Squirtle on with the kid. The worst Ash feared was having to cough water out of his lungs, but that child could've been in some major trouble.
Misty let out a noise that was half groan and half sigh.
"I'm not going to be around forever," she told him as they neared the S.S. Anne.
"But you're here now," Ash replied, confused. He'd be more careful around water when she wasn't there. He really didn't see what the problem was, just like when he was on deck-
"Oh, I should've asked Squirtle to grab my clothes when he got back," Ash said.
"Why?" Misty asked as she hauled herself onto a platform meant for training water-type pokémon during the voyage. "Where'd you leave them?"
"On the lower sun deck," Ash answered.
"Where on the sun deck?"
"Uh… on the deck?" Ash answered hesitantly, not sure why she had asked the extra question.
"Did you strip in public again?" Misty asked with a groan.
"I guess," Ash shrugged.
"Okay, Aaron, word of advice," Misty said, eyes closed and massaging her temple. "Taking your clothes off in public is never a good idea"
"I was wearing swimming trunks underneath though," Ash pointed out.
"Everyone else doesn't know that!"
Ash shrugged, not understanding it. He guessed it made sense, but Misty had kept her usual clothes on when she followed after him despite the fact that everyone could see she was wearing a singlet wetsuit underneath her shorts and crop top (something she had started to do on the voyage), so he was probably missing something.
This had never been an issue when he was younger.
"What are we going to do with you?" Misty groaned again before recalling Starmie.
"I don't know," Ash shrugged again. "Isn't pokéchess on again? That's something we could all do."
"I didn't mean what to do tonight," Misty sighed and stood up. "I'm going to tell the crew that everyone's recovered. You go find your clothes and hope nobody stole them."
Ash thought that was an understandable reason not to strip in public. He didn't understand why she didn't lead with that.
Life on the cruise ship was alien to Ash and it wasn't just the constant comforts of civilization that made it so strange.
His whole life Ash had either been sedentary and hidden (with his pokémon parents) or he had been constantly on the go (his pokémon journey). Living openly in one place for months on end was new. Living in a place that was on a journey itself was also new.
But, even though Ash had been staying in one place he spent his days exploring. The S.S. Anne was massive, so there was always just a little more of the ship to explore. Ash could wander the decks all day and then hop on Pidgeot or hitch a ride with Misty to visit a nearby island while the S.S. Anne weighed anchor for the night.
Though most nights Ash stayed on the ship because there was always something to do. The S.S. Anne had facilities for trainers to train and battle in. There were live shows with dinner most nights, and then there were activities such as pokémon shuffle boards, pokémon talent shows, small tournaments, and pokéchess.
Pokechess was a game where trainers would temporarily donate their pokémon to a pool to be randomly assigned to the players. Sometimes the players were fellow trainers and sometimes they were non-trainers taking an opportunity to try battling. When a trainer donated their pokémon they also had to include a short write up about their pokémon which would be the only information that the player had about the pokémon on their team.
For the players it was a test of their battling skills. For the trainers it was a test of the trainer's knowledge about their pokémon and their ability to communicate that information.
Though it was useless if the player didn't believe what the trainer had written.
Ash had tried to warn them about Pikachu's aggressive tendencies but he had seen the player scoff as they read Pikachu's blurb. Which was why when Pikachu was moved to E8 on the giant chess board the electric type had ended up challenging three nearby pokémon from the opposite team at once and then blasted them off the board with a Thunder.
It had thrown the plans of the player with Pikachu into disarray and they had lost the match despite the temporary advantage. Maybe next time they wouldn't fall for the electric type's cute face.
It was that match where Ash, Misty, and Brock met Tracey Sketchit, a teenage pokémon watcher with brown eyes and dark green hair, who had managed to immortalize the moment in a drawing and had introduced himself to Ash and company when he showed them said sketch. Tracey was also the impetus for Ash, Brock, and Misty to visit several of the local islands, accompanying him while he got sketches of the wild pokémon in their habitats.
On those trips Misty had expanded her team. She caught Corsola, Poliwag, and Horsea on their expeditions when the pokémon challenged her in the water, only to be soundly defeated by Starmie, Staryu, or Goldeen. She had also acquired Psyduck, but that hadn't been a willing capture.
On Misty's part.
Ash had never seen a pokémon grab a pokéball from a trainer to catch themselves before. That scenario had never come up in any ethics class. But Psyduck had thought that Misty might need some help and refused to leave, which had made Misty's eye twitch when Ash translated what the water/psychic-type had said.
Brock hadn't tried to catch any new pokémon, preferring to stick with his current team.
Ash… had also not looked to expand his team. The glaring absence in the line-up weighed down on him anytime he thought about it. Remembering why the absence existed made Ash even more reluctant to add to his team.
But beneath the tropical sun, surrounded by people having fun, with his team relaxing between training sessions and games, with Ash's human friends having fun with him, such thoughts were rare and far between.
When Ash managed to return to the sun deck he found a grinning Tracey standing next to Squirtle who was holding his shed clothes.
"Did you get an earful, a lungful, or both?" Tracey sniggered as Ash collected his things from Squirtle.
"An earful," Ash said, throwing his shirt back on. "I barely breathed any water this time."
"I feel sorry for Brock and Misty if this is how you've acted your whole time together," Tracey shook his head.
"I wasn't usually around water in Kanto," Ash told him as he pulled his jeans back on.
"That's not what I meant," Tracey explained. "I mean the constant near death experiences."
"I knew Misty would get me out of the water before anything bad happened to me," Ash told the pokémon watcher.
"The third time you coughed up what I assumed to be an entire liter of water."
It was, I measured it, Squirtle said.
"Yeah, but nothing that lasted," Ash pointed out.
"Your standards are confusing and I hope never to understand them," Tracey said with a small grin. "At least I got a new drawing out of your latest misadventure."
Tracey showed his sketchpad to Ash. There was a detailed pencil drawing of Ash taking off his pants while surrounded by a confused and horrified crowd.
"Okay," Ash said with a shrug. He still didn't get why everyone was making a big deal about it.
"Oh, you're no fun sometimes," Tracey rolled his eyes. "Anyway, before I go down to the exercise gym to tell Brock about this, I should let you know that someone else is looking for you."
Squirtle looked behind Ash and then covered his mouth, his shoulders trembling with what Ash assumed was suppressed laughter.
"Who?"
Turn around, Squirtle said, laughing and pointing.
Ash turned around and didn't see anyone. And then he looked down to see Pikachu glaring up at him, forelimbs crossed, cheeks sparking, tapping one hindpaw on the deck.
"Oh, hey buddy!" Ash grinned. "How was the nap?"
There was a moment of electrical violence and Ash was crumpled on the deck no longer grinning. Tracey and Squirtle still were though. Tracey was even laughing as he walked away.
Let's go somewhere private so I can yell at you properly for this latest bout of idiocy, Pikachu snarled.
Ash went back to the cabin he shared with Misty and Brock. Squirtle went back in his pokéball, but Ash was pretty sure he'd still be listening in to Pikachu's lecture so he could relay it to the rest of the team.
Pikachu had been ranting for a good several minutes. The terms reckless, suicidal, stupid, idiot, antiquing, and self-defenestration were thrown around as well as oaths and curses involving several legendary pokémon. It had already passed the length of the previous rant from Ash's last watery misadventure and showed no signs of slowing down.
I really don't get why everyone's so upset, Ash cut in after Pikachu was done calling upon Xerneas to give him the strength to persevere. I haven't had any permanent damage and I knew each time that I would be fine.
No, you didn't! Pikachu protested.
I know Misty wouldn't let any of us drown, Ash countered.
Gah! Pikachu clenched his forepaws to his forehead. How are you even worse now that Team Rocket's not trying to kill you?
It was just some water, Ash said. I'm sorry I made everyone upset, but I knew I'd be fine. The people or pokémon I went after might not have been.
You don't think Misty would've rescued them?
No, she absolutely would've, I just bought some extra time, Ash explained.
Pikachu let out a keening, whining, moan and then collapsed backwards onto Ash's bed. He lay there staring up at the lights.
So, do you feel like doing pokéchess again? Ash asked.
No, I don't think they'll let me back in after last time, Pikachu sighed and picked himself up.
I'm sure they would if I promise that you'll be on your best behavior.
I don't promise to be on my best behavior.
Then there's an issue.
It's because my trainer sets such a poor example.
Oh, by the Tree of Life, Ash rolled his eyes, can't everyone just let it go?
Will you quit nearly drowning?
It's not like it's something I plan-
Then no, Pikachu rolled his own eyes. I cannot wait until we return so I can tell Poison Lance all about your recklessness.
Eh, I'm sure Lucas was worse.
I sincerely hope that no human is or was as bad as you, Pikachu said. Why can't you be more like those two nice agents and their pokémon who helped us get the last tickets?
I mean, I try to be helpful like those three Ash answered, remembering the cruise line employees and their pokémon who had helped them get tickets despite the late reservations. Even with the League helping them out it had been hard to find tickets that close to the start of the voyage. Those agents had been lifesavers.
Ash thought there had been something familiar about the blue-haired man, the red-haired woman, and their meowth, but hadn't dwelled on it.
When's that festival we're supposed to see? Pikachu asked.
Soon, Ash answered.
The S.S Anne had actually been running behind schedule (which was why she had been going so fast when the child fell overboard). The voyage had been rougher than usual with wild pokémon being riled up along the route.
The onboard trainers had needed to forcibly divert schools of pokémon who hadn't cared the ship was between them and their destination, drive off aggressive sharpedos during their mating season, and had fought off two groups of rampaging gyarados. There had been other issues that cropped up when Ash had visited the islands.
(Most of the trainers, including Ash, had considered the incidents to be part of the onboard entertainment.)
He had asked Rudy, one of the local gym leaders, about it when Ash was undergoing one of the Orange League Trials to see what it was like. Rudy hadn't any definitive answers, he could only guess that there was some long running natural cycle that must be entering a new phase.
The trial itself had been interesting. There was no badge on the line because Rudy wasn't sure how to handle an eight-badge trainer from another region and because Ash didn't want to compete in that year's Orange League conference, but he did want the experience of doing a trial. It was a two-day process with a target course and then a battle. Brock and Tracey had found things to occupy themselves on the island while Misty watched the trial.
Or at least, from the way she stared when no one was looking, she had watched the pretty gym leader who was conducting Ash's trial. Ash also thought that Rudy was aesthetically pleasing but didn't get why Misty stuck around just to look at him.
It was like what Brock had done when the group attended the series of public lectures by Professor Ivy while the S.S. Anne was in port for a few days. Ash had only sat in on the ones that had interested him but Brock had attended them all. When Ash had confronted the older boy about it, Brock had blushed and admitted he did it because he had found the professor pretty.
Ash found Professor Ivy aesthetically pleasing, like Rudy, but didn't get why that would get anyone to sit through multiple lectures.
There had been less of a chance for multi-day stops lately, as the S.S. Anne had to rush to make up for the delays caused by the unusually rough voyage. They were going to reach Shamouti the very day the festival began.
Did Butterfree hear anything from the flock while I was gone, Ash asked, laying down on his bed next to Pikachu.
They didn't have anything new to report, Pikachu told his trainer. The last disturbance they picked up was in the general area of Shamouti, but given how fast we've seen Mewtwo move that doesn't mean much.
If it doesn't just teleport back to Kanto or something, Ash sighed.
They hadn't been able to make any progress on the under the table mission from the League. Brock and Misty had been sending informal reports back to the Lance via their gyms and the League in turn had started monitoring the Orange Islands with what psychic assets they could spare after the Battle of Saffron City. The League's psychics were able to pick up on some of the psychic disturbances related to Mewtwo but not in as much detail as Sky Painter's flock.
Ash hoped that Mewtwo was okay after what had happened in the Cerulean Caves.
At least he had the festival at Shamouti to look forward to. It would be a nice few days on land where he could eat festival food, enjoy music, and take part in public celebrations. And there shouldn't be any reason for him to go into dangerous water so everyone could quit giving him grief about it.
A palace flew.
It was a marvel of engineering, a whole building that defied gravity with ease. It had two red rings covered in propellers around the palace to help stabilize the structure's flight, a round building in a classical style with carved columns encased in a cage, topped by a spire with a viewing room. Matching it, another spire sprouted from the bottom of the structure, ending in what appeared to be another viewing room.
From the top spire Lawrence the Third looked down on the Orange Islands. He was a man with drab green hair that ended in spikes on the sides with violet eyes, dressed in pale blue and purple.
"Disturb not the God of Fire," he recited to himself from his piloting throne, "the God of Thunder, or the God of Ice lest the heavens and the earth become angry and the world heads toward destruction. The God of the Sea will appear to stop the destruction but will not succeed unless a great trainer appears to quell the gods' wrath and with it the Beast of the Sea.
"Well," he continued, talking to himself, "if I capture the gods before their wrath can be roused then the Beast of the Sea can rest easy."
He looked over the piloting consoles near him, checking readings and readiness. His capture frames, fitted with his own high technology and the secret capture fields stolen from Silph Company were prepared and reporting no issues. The palace's generators were working at full output. Flight remained stable.
His collaboration with Team Rocket had proved fruitful. Oh, the coordination required for the technology exchange and smuggling had cost him a pretty penny, but money was meant to be spent and it wasn't like it put a significant dent in his fortune.
And now it was time to put his acquisitions to the test.
Wisps of cloud fell away as the palace descended from the heavens. The bottom spire began to change, the dome that looked like the top observation room peeling away to reveal a ring of canons.
A glowing orange projectile blasted through the air and the fiery flower of an explosion bloomed on the surface of Lighting Island far below.
The response was instant and well-fitting of its namesake. Spears of electricity shot up, the lighting of a thunderstorm in reverse, enough power to wipe clean the surface of the island. Galvanic power earthed itself in Lawerence's flying palace and the man smiled.
Greedily the palace drank in the electricity, feeding into special capacitors. Forcefield emitters began to activate shielding around critical components as circuits were overcharged.
Another projectile from the palace smashed into Lightning Island and the reigning god revealed itself to the interloper.
With a shriek that flattened the waters around the island a winged form rose, crackling with the power of the storm. Yellow spikes formed the ends of its wings, its face, and its tail. A long sharp nose pointed out from its face, its eyes locked in a glare on the vessel above.
Zapdos rose to destroy the thing that had disturbed its rest.
Enough electricity to power Saffron City for a month engulfed Lawerence's vessel, azure light outshining the hidden sun. And the palace continued to drink it up.
A blue projectile slammed into the rising legendary, bobbing it down as ice exploded all over its body, lasting a tiny fraction of a second before it was disintegrated by Zapdos's power.
The cannons, fueled by the god's own wrath, began to hurl blast after blast at the legendary, the ring rotating to let each cannon fire while the others reloaded. Zapdos shrieked again and in its shriek was the wrath of thunder and screech of lightning.
Tendrils of electricity grasped at the palace like tentacles trying to tear it from the sky but Lawerence's vessel continued to drink in the god's power. More and more projectiles bombarded Zapdos, forcing the legendary to descend.
And then Lawrence III activated the capture frames. Crackling with white energy the diamond shaped frames meant for Zapdos flew from the flying palace. Another shriek that was the fury of lightning and a burst of power that could light up all of Kanto for a week surged forth.
The capacitors began to hit their limit. But that was no matter because the struggle was coming to an end. The capture frames soared through the electricity and surrounded the beast. Powered by the energy stolen from Zapdos itself they caged the electric/flying-type.
The electricity vanished and the capture frames whisked the pokémon back to the flying palace.
"That's one down, two to go," Lawerence said smiling. "And then Lugia will rise and my collection will be complete."