The Party in the Storm

"Eh, a party?"

"Yep," I said, leaning on the Back of Ben's chair and sighing.

"Hmm," Ben said, crossing his arms behind his head. "We haven't heard about one of his parties in a long time, huh?

"Apparently he was busy on some big business thing, so he hasn't had time for one of his fancy parties recently."

"Fancy is right," Ben snorted. Jeb, the host, of the party was some strange millionaire or billionaire or something. I don't even know. Business and finance stuff is all too confusing for me. Ben, at least, understands it a little more than me. But it was all thanks to Jeb that I was allowed to keep my Pokémon here on Avalon. I'd gained this right by winning a bizarre contest hosted by the rich Pokémon-lover.

"So, the party's on a boat this time," I explained. "It departs from Canalave next week. He says you and Hari are invited too. He'd like some of us to do some Pokémon battles as entertainment."

"I'll leave that to you," Ben said. "And he's inviting Hari?"

I laughed. "Yeah. Jed's been lucky enough not to see what Hari does in 'hyperactive mode.'"

"Heaven forbid. Are you actually gonna bring him on the boat?"

"Still debating on that," I mumbled.

"I wouldn't mind if you could get him to behave."

"A miracle in itself."

The two of us started laughing.

I rubbed my eyes, still grinning. "What scares me is that he must be about ten now, right? He's the same age we were when we started our Pokémon journey."

"Jeez, he's ten?" Ben asked in mock horror. "He acts more like he's seven. Or less."

"I don't think he even acts like a human."

We started laughing again. It took longer for us to stop this time.

It was amazing to believe that we first set out on the usual Pokémon League quest six years ago. It felt like so much longer, what with all that had gone on. And yet had it only been six years?

My name's Cara. I'm sixteen with bushy dark blonde hair and blue eyes. I'm a Pokémon trainer, but I also have some weak psychic powers. Pretty much all they let me do is speak telepathically with Pokémon.

Ben is the same age as me. We grew up with each other and have always been best friends (despite occasional fights, arguments, ex). He's significantly taller than me with brown hair and green eyes. He does have some Pokémon of his own, but his main passion is working with computers and electronics. Recently he's been doing a lot of programming stuff. It's all beyond me, looking at the rows and rows of numbers and letters that apparently mean something.

The kid we were talking about, Hari, is a hyperactive boy that's probably about ten years old. I say probably because, uh, I kinda found him. Long story. But with help from my parents, I've been taking care of Hari. If you count letting him run wild around Avalon, in which case he kinda takes care of himself. But he comes traveling with us also. He still hasn't let me give him a good haircut, so his hair remains a rather long mass of dark brown (even worse than my own bushy hair, which is saying a lot).

Actually, Jed's parties kinda scare me. There's always lots of freaking rich people at them, or important people, and people dressed in fancy or "fashionable" outfits. I never know what to talk about with them. Jed was the only one I felt like I could talk to. And I owe Jed big time for letting me use Avalon, and I suppose by now I count him as a friend also.

I went out to look for Hari and found him snoozing up in a tree. I told him about the party.

"Boats are fun," Hari said. "But those kinda parties aren't much fun," Hari said. I could understand where he was coming from. Hari had to behave himself at parties, and he usually didn't have much fun unless he was running around climbing things.

"I wouldn't mind if you wanted to come," I said, "but this is one of Jed's parties so you'd have to dress up."

Hari's eyes got very wide. He only ever wore shirts that belonged to me and Ben, so were several sizes too large for him.

"You can go without me," he said rather quickly.

Which I guess was probably for the best.

And thus I found myself in my room dressing one evening as I prepared to head to Canalave.

I scowled at my reflection in the mirror. I never felt quite right in a dress. "I look like a boy," I mumbled darkly as I straightened my dress. I liked the dress itself. Mom gave it to me for my birthday last month. It was white with a flame pattern around the collar, sleeves, and the bottom hem. It was supposed to be a bit like a Ponyta, because Ponyta was my very first Pokémon. And Polaris is still one of the Pokémon I usually keep on my team.

I hooked on a necklace and earrings. I left my hair down. As long as I didn't touch it or shake my head of anything, it would remain fairly tame. My dislike of dresses probably went beyond me feeling like I looked like a boy, with my broad shoulders and ribs. I tended to get into trouble on occasions, and dresses usually just got in the way. On a rare occasion, I'd wear a dress or skirt around Avalon where things were more or less disaster-free.

And this brought out another question. Where do I put my Pokéball belt? I tried it on in the mirror. I'm not much of a person for understanding fashion, so I couldn't quite decide if it looked good or not. I finally decided that it might not look so weird if I was wearing a different sort of dress.

I grumbled in annoyance and dropped my belt into my bag. It was a nicer bag than the backpack I usually used, though less convenient to carry.

I left my room feeling rather self-conscious, and walked to the living room to meet Ben. I think subconsciously I was expecting a suit and tie, because I saw with relief that Ben was wearing a neat gray-blue shirt and black pants. He looked rather smarter in his outfit than I felt.

"Ready?" I asked.

Ben adjusted the collar of his shirt so it wasn't strangling him. "I suppose. Do you have transport ready?"

"Yep." I started to reach to my belt for a Pokéball, but I stopped myself in time and reached into my bag instead. I grumbled in annoyance.

"Strung a bit tight, are we?" Ben asked, raising an eyebrow at my dark scowl.

"Jed's an awesome person, but his parties kind of exhaust me," I muttered. "This time it's hitting me before we even get there."

"Ah, I see. Sure you don't want to sit down for a minute and hug something furry? That usually makes you feel better."

That made me laugh, which made me feel better right away. But he was definitely right. Hugging something furry usually made everything better.

I let my Alakazam (named Kinesis) out of his Pokéball.

"Would you take us to Canalave?" I asked. Kinesis nodded and used Teleport. Teleport is one of my favorite Pokémon moves, along with Fly. So convenient for someone who travels all over the place.

In less than five seconds, we arrived next to the Canalave Pokémon Center.

I returned Kinesis and Ben and I headed to the docks.

"I'd really like to give Jed a Pokémon," I sighed. "He loves them so much, but he doesn't have one of his own. He says it's because he's always so busy and wouldn't be able to take care of it properly unless he hired someone to do it. And then it wouldn't exactly be his Pokémon anymore, ya know?"

Ben shrugged. "I think it'd be worth it for him to have one anyway."

"Yeah, me too." I lapsed into thought until we arrived at the dock.

"Where is the ship?" Ben asked.

I unfolded my invitation and read, "Pier 12."

We walked along the dock, reading the plaques that identified the piers. When we arrived at Pier 12, Ben and I froze and our jaws dropped. When Jed said that the party was on a ship I expected some high-tech yacht or something. What we were facing instead was a real old-fashioned ship, complete with rigging, masts, and sails.

We exchanged surprised glances.

"That's actually… really cool," I said, astonished.

"It is pretty neat," Ben agreed. Though he probably would have preferred a yacht so he could snoop around the radar and steering systems and such.

As we walked towards the ship, I saw The Lady of the Sea painted in ornate lettering along the side of the ship, and a stylized Lugia was carved into the prow.

The two of us walked up the ramp and onto the ship. Several lights were hanging around the deck and a few people were scattered about. But most of the people seemed to be below deck. The sun was starting to sink and the wind that flowed across the ocean brought a chill with it. So it was only natural that most of the people would be inside where it was warm. But the cold was the nice kind. It didn't feel uncomfortable, to me at least.

"Jed's probably inside," Ben said, glancing around the deck.

"Yeah," I agreed. We walked across the deck, which was swaying under our feet to the rhythm of the ocean. The moment we stepped inside, we felt warmer. Almost too warm because of all the body heat of the dozens of people.

Jed was standing beside the door, greeting the guests as they arrived. I don't suppose people would call Jed handsome. He was average height (shorter than Ben) with short, neat light brown hair and brown eyes. But he looked happy. He enjoyed being around people. I didn't feel quite so comfortable surrounded by a mass of people. But I guess Jed had to deal with it a lot in his work and was beyond used to it.

He grinned the moment he saw me. "Cara, good to see you! And Ben! Long time no see. How are things going?"

"Pretty good," I replied, shaking his hand.

"Keeping busy," Ben agreed, grinning and also shaking Jed's hand.

"Make yourselves at home," Jed said. "I'll be rather busy tonight, but I'll be sure to talk to you some once we set sail." The next guest arrived and Jed turned to greet him.

"How can he handle dealing with so many people?" I asked, bewildered. "It would drive me crazy. He's not gonna have a minute to himself tonight. Or ever. So, yeah. Let's go get some food."

If one thing can be said about Jed's parties, they have excellent food. Like the mushrooms stuffed with cheese and spices, and the artichoke dip and… I could go on and on.

After a couple minutes, there was a shout that the ship as about to cast off. Ben and I went up on deck to watch Canalave City slide away. We went back to eat dinner, and some of Jed's other guests talked with us a bit. Then there was a shout for Pokémon trainers to go up on deck to take part in battles. Ben and I joined the sizeable crowd that ventured into the cold to watch.

Ben and I watched a couple battles before I went down to take part in one myself. I almost chose my Infernape before I stopped. We were on a wooden ship. A fire Pokémon would be bad. And with all the salt water around, my Luxio wouldn't be a much safer choice. Instead I sent out Dewey, my Roserade.

My opponent sent out Lopunny.

Dewey used Poison Sting, but Lopunny bounced out of the way and sprang in to kick at Dewey. My Roserade skidded across the deck and scrambled to her feet. Lopunny sprang in again and used Dizzy Punch. Dewey ducked and used Poion Jab at her opponent's stomach. Lopunny retreated and stayed at a safe distance, dodging Dewey's attacks until Dewey used the fail-safe Magical Leaf. Lopunny shook it off and jumped to the side to avoid Poison Sting. And she landed right in Dewey's trap. The vines that made up Grass Knot closed around Lopunny's feet, and Dewey twitched the ends of the vines, hooking them up in the rigging. Immediately, the snare lifted Lopunny off the ground, where she dangled upside-down, helpless.

The crowd laughed, and my opponent returned her Lopunny.

The battles ended when the sun set and everyone went inside again. Jed finally made it over to talk to us. I told him about how Avalon, was doing, and about my recent Pokémon experiences. Ben told him about the programming jobs he was working on. That was when I noticed something odd.

Jed noticed my lapse into silence. "What is it?" He asked.

"The ship," I said slowly. "It feels like it's lurching more. I wonder if the winds got stronger."

As if on cue, one of the sailors hurried through the room, making towards Jed. He seemed nervous. He whispered something to Jed, who looked alarmed.

"Excuse me," he said, following the sailor up onto the deck. Ben and I exchanged glances before following him.

We reached the captain of the ship, who was at the tiller, looking anxiously out at a gray sea that was growing steadily rougher and wilder.

"Storms never come in this fast," the captain explained to Jed. "There were no clouds at all just a couple minutes ago!"

I looked up and saw that the clouds were billowing up as we spoke. And then fat cold raindrops began to fall. This wasn't a normal event. There had to be some reason for it…

I quickly sent Kinesis out.

"Kinesis," I said, "can you figure out where this storm came from?"

My Alakazam shut his eyes and a faint glow emanated from his body. The captain turned to look at me.

"Who is this girl?" he asked. "Why is she here?"

Jed wasn't listening to him. He was watching Kinesis also. Kinesis opened his eye and looked at me.

It's Kyogre, he said. Kyogre is fighting some Pokémon beneath us and is causing the storm.

"Will it pass soon?" But even as I asked, the wind whipped my hair around, turning it into a tumbleweed, and the cold rain pelted down on us. A large wave crashed against the boat and several of the guests screamed from below deck.

I don't know, Kinesis admitted.

I quickly explained what Kinesis said. I added, "Since Kyogre can create storms, I guess it automatically does so when it begins to battle, as a sort of reflex or defense."

"Kyogre," the captain scoffed. "How could a Pokémon create a storm like this?"

I narrowed my eyes. I had seen a much worse storm conjured by a Pokémon. But before I could say anything, Jed spoke up, shouting over the wind and the waves.

"Cara knows her Pokémon. You'd do well to listen to her."

I looked at Jed, surprised.

"Pokémon or not," the captain replied in a shout that was barely audible, "We have to get the sails up! They could be torn to pieces!"

Already several of the sailors had climbed up into the rigging and were trying to haul in the sails.

The boat lurched dangerously, throwing Ben, Kinesis, Jed and I in a heap on the soaked deck. The captain managed to hang onto the tiller to steady himself.

Kinesis used Psychic to keep us from getting flung around, He directed part of his powers to help tie some of the sails up.

A spout of water shot over the deck and fell across me, drenching me further. Spluttering, I heard a strange rumbling sound from the ocean beside the ship. I grabbed the railing to steady myself and peered over it into the ocean. For a moment I thought I was looking at Kyogre, but then I realized that it was a Wailord.

You're not fighting Kyogre, are you? I asked telepathically.

Wailord's eye swiveled up to look at me. Are you kidding? I'm running away form the battle! Apparently Lugia thought Kyogre was trying to invade his territory. I'm sure things will blow over pretty quick. Do you need help though?

Yes! Please, help steady the ship!

Wailord nodded and braced his huge body against the ship. But even so, the next wave made the boat pitch, and I went sprawling onto my face. I heard a shout and looked up to see one of the sailors lose his grip and fall off one of the masts. He managed to grab onto a rope, but it didn't look like he could hold on for long.

I quickly sent out my Charizard (named Charren). She snorted in discomfort as the rain hissed against her flaming tail. But the moment I was on her back, she took to the air and soared upwards to grab the sailor and set him on the mast again.

"Hey!" One of the men bellowed, "Is there a way you could hand us that rope!" He pointed to a loose piece of rope that was hanging out of reach. Charren grabbed it and carefully handed it to the sailor, trying not to get her wings tangles in the rigging.

"Do you need more help?" I called.

The man pointed to a sail where only one man was struggling to haul it in.

Charren flew up and I jumped off her back landing rather unsteadily on the beam across the top of the sail. The man helped steady me and I helped him haul up the sail and tie it in place. I signaled to Charren, who flew up and let me jump onto her back again. We flew towards the next mast, but suddenly a gust of wind blasted under Charren's wings, sending her into the rigging. The ropes fell across her wings and held fast. As she jerked to a halt, I felt my fingers slip off from around her neck.

My fingers scrabbled desperately against her back, but I slid down until there was nothing beneath me. For one moment, I thought I would get tangled in the ropes. But I didn't. I reached out, trying to grab onto something, but it was too late. I wondered if I'd hit the deck. Maybe Kinesis would catch me. But the combination of momentum from Charren's flight and the lurch of the boat meant that there was nothing but water beneath me.

I shut my eyes tight as I fell, helpless, dropping through the rushing wind. And then I hit the frigid water. The impact knocked the breath out of me, and I sank until I managed to reorient myself and kick to the surface. I opened my mouth to take a breath, and immediately a wave came crashing down on me. I went spinning down into the pitch-black waters, with my lungs crying for air. The salt water stung my eyes as I kicked to the surface and gasped for breath. I tried desperately to keep my head above the waves, but the surges were so huge that I suddenly found myself gliding upwards on the back of a wave.

By some miracle, my bag was still with me. I had it gripped tightly in one hand, wince the strap had slipped off of my shoulder. What Pokémon could I use? Swampert? Lapras? Gyarados? Blastoise? But I realized with a horrible lurch that I didn't have any of my water Pokémon with me. Alakazam was on deck. Ponyta, Roserade, Luxio, and Infernape would be completely useless in the water. And Charren… was she still tangled up in the rigging? And the ship was being pushed further into the distance.

I had reached the top of the wave. Any second now, I'd go rushing down the front of it. Then what? I'd get pounded beneath the surface again. How long could I remain afloat in these water?

My heart leapt as I saw something orange flying towards me. Charren had managed to untangle herself and she'd come after me.

"Charren!" I shouted. But my voice was lost to the storm. Luckily she saw me as I slipped over the edge of the wave into the deep ravine or swirling water and sea foam. Charren tucked her wings and dove downwards. Her claws closer around my upper arms and she struggled to lift me up out of the water. Then I noticed with a horrible jolt that the wave was arcing up over us, ready to shove us back down into the storm-tossed sea. But Charren… her tail flame would go out if that wave hit her! And she wasn't high enough yet to get out of the way!

I shoved my hand into my bag and grabbed Charren's Pokéball. As the wave plunged down on top of us, I aimed the Pokéball at her and called her back. She let out a roar of protest, which was cut off as she vanished into the safety of the Pokéball. And the wave crashed down on me. I choked and kicked wildly. But I couldn't seem to reach the surface. A wave had risen over me, drawing air further out of my reach. I might still be able to make it… this time.

Then my feet hit something solid and I felt myself pushed up towards the surface. I gasped and inhaled deeply. Wailord was beneath me.

Thank you, I said, relieved. Although the waves still sloshed at me, Wailord was large enough to keep me above the worst of it.

But I couldn't see the ship anywhere.