Chapter 15: Trouble On The Ship
Just wanted to quickly say that I might end up completely skipping Johto or revisiting in the future since I'm pretty sure you guys would like to see him face different champions each time instead of just Lance twice in a row since he is the champion of both regions. So, I'll either discard it or revisit in the future.
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"Speech"
'Thoughts'
[Pokemon Speech]
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"Kayden, hurry your butt!"
[How are you running faster than me?!]
At the current time, both Nate and Kayden could currently be seen running through the city as they were quickly making their way towards the port area of the city where a number of ships could be seen either docked, docking, or in the middle of leaving.
It had been a day since they had managed to defeat Surge and earn the badge from his gym, and they were now going to continue on their journey. Nate had already said his farewells to both Chloe and Rita a few moments ago as he and Kayden were now rushing to catch their boat.
Thankfully, they didn't take long to get to the port as the two ran the entire way there. Due to their training, neither of them appeared that tired from the run as they were now slowing down since they had just gotten to the dock.
Looking around, they soon spotted the boat that they were going to be taking. The boat wasn't the S.S Anne though, it was a less luxurious boat, though it was definitely not a common cruise. Don't get them wrong, it wasn't that they couldn't afford tickets for the S.S Anne, it was just that it would be faster to take this other cruise.
The place that Nate wanted to go to was Celadon City, and taking this boat instead of the S.S Anne would be much quicker. From what he had read from the destination list in the main port building, the S.S Anne wouldn't be leaving for another week or so, and wouldn't even start heading straight to Celadon City for another five days on the boat.
On the other hand, the boat that they were going to go on would probably arrive at Celadon in a total of three days, starting from today. They weren't ones that would care about living in absolute luxury, just as long as it was a safe and clean living environment.
The reason he was going to Celadon first was that it was the closest and fastest place to get to first, and it also helped that the city had a gym there as well, so that was good. Another reason was that the boat they were taking was going to be stopping there for two days, to which it would then begin its two-day journey to Lavender Town.
Seeing the route that the boat was going to be taking, Nate was not going to just let it pass. He could first get the gym badge from the Celadon City Gym before going to Lavender Town to catch himself a ghost pokemon for the Saffron City Gym, it just seemed like a logical plan to him.
"Welcome aboard, young man." The cruise attendant standing at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the cruise gave a small bow as he welcomed Nate. Nate gave a small nod in response as he and Kayden walked calmly up the stairs and onto the boat.
Nate and Kayden gave smiles as they looked at the massive boat, they could already see and pool and a bar at the end of it. While this boat wasn't as grand as the S.S Anne, it was still quite the spectacle. Nate and Kayden looked around to see people doing their own business, and he could see a number of them were trainers as well.
Nate cracked his neck as he gave a sigh, this was the place they were going to be staying on for the next couple of days. Hopefully, they would be able to find some pretty good trainers here that could give them a good battle, though he had his doubts...
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It took an hour or so for Nat and Kayden to get themselves settled into their room, along with both of them taking their turns to take a shower. The room was thankfully a room with two beds, and despite Kayden being less than a fifth of Nate's size, they didn't want to share a bed together...
Anyway, aside from that though, Nate had just gotten out of the shower as he had his pants on, though he was topless and had a towel wrapped around his neck. His hair was still dripping a bit, though it wasn't a lot. Nate looked to see flipping through the television channels.
"Did you take a shit? There were some sparks in the freaking toilet, and it stunk like hell."
[Hey! A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.]
"At least you didn't get stuck in the toilet like the first time. Retard."
[Oi! That was ONE time!] Kayden glared comically as he shook his clenched fist towards Nate, who was just deadpanning at him heavily. [That was literally the first time I used the toilet as a damn pokemon, alright?! It was way harder than you'd expect!]
"Yeah... I had to get a plunger and suck you out. Anyway, anything good on?" Nate asked curiously as he began drying the rest of his hair. Nate had a feeling he already could guess the answer as Kayden held a bored look on his face, all the while pressing the buttons on the remote.
[What do you think? This world may be a fun place to be in, but DAMN do they have the most boring TV shows in existence!] Kayden groaned as he just flopped onto his back after turning the TV off. Nate just rolled his eyes at this. [So, what are we doing now?]
"Well, we might as well check out the cruise ship since we're going to be on here for the next few days. Maybe we'll see something interesting." Nate shrugged as he tossed the towel onto the desk before taking his shirt, which was on the desk chair, before putting it on as he stretched a bit.
[Let's get going then. I'm really bored] Kayden nodded as he jumped off of the bed. Nate quickly grabbed his things before they both exited the room, with Nate making sure to lock the door behind him with his room card as they began walking through the halls. [Where are we going first then?]
"I'm pretty sure this is the way to the restaurant on this ship, we can eat after exploring around for a bit." Nate suggested as Kayden nodded in agreement. They continued to talk with one another quietly, making sure not to disturb anyone that might be in their rooms.
As Nate was turning the corner though, he widened his eyes when another person was doing the same thing as him. He wasn't able to make the person out, and it was too late for him to be able to react as he bumped into whoever it was. Thankfully, the impact wasn't strong as both parties just stumbled back slightly.
"S-Sorry, I didn't expect anyone to suddenly appear from the corner..."
"It's completely fine, young man. It was my fault as well." The person responded with sincerity. Nate looked to see that the person he had bumped into was a middle-aged man wearing a black suit, along with having dark green combed hair and a pair of blue eyes. He also had a calm smile on his face. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine. My name is Nathan, a pleasure to meet you, sir." Nate decided to introduce himself, common courtesy and all. He then gestured down to Kayden, who was just calmly standing beside him listening. "This here is Kayden."
"Nathan and Kayden, is it? Very nice to meet the both of you." The man smiled brightly as he nodded his head towards the both of them. "You may call me Foster."
"I see. Sorry about bumping into you, Mr Foster."
"No worries at all. Though, I should be on my way. Perhaps we'll meet once again during this cruise of ours, until then." Nate nodded his head as the both of them stepped aside to let Foster walk off, most likely back to his room. They then turned back before heading off themselves.
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After the small bump into with Foster, Nate and Kayden continued to explore the cruise ship. There were a number of different things that they found aboard, such as the restaurant, an arcade, and a number of other things as well.
However, the only thing that really interested them the most were the battlefields that were set up atop the front area of the ship. There were three from what they counted, and they were public battlefields for the trainers to battle one another on.
They were probably going to use them at some point if they ran into any trainers that may strike their fancy in battling. They really didn't want to spend the next few days doing nothing while on the ship, so battling would at least help them relieve any boredom.
Aside from that though, Nate and Kayden spent the last hour exploring the ship as they were present in the restaurant of the cruise waiting for their order to arrive. Nate was sitting patiently as Kayden was on the table with his phone in his hands.
While Kayden may be a pokemon now, he was previously a human and knew how to use a number of basic devices like computers and phones. So, Nate had gotten himself and Kayden phones just in case. If they were separated, then they could just call one another. True, Kayden was getting a few weird looks, but whatever.
[Bro, even the songs here in this world are lackluster...] Kayden frowned as he softly played some of the songs that were on the internet. True to his words, the songs in the pokemon world really didn't cut it. This world was probably more focused on celebrities that made a mark through things like acting, battling, contests, and such instead of mainly singing. [What the hell is a Pokemon Showcase?]
"Pokemon Showcase?" Nate repeated with confusion as he blinked a few times. The term was unfamiliar to him and Kayden, they couldn't quite recall ever hearing about something like that in the games. They knew of Pokemon Contests, but not showcases... "What does it say?"
[Something in Kalos apparently. From what I'm reading, it's like a Pokemon Contest, but only for girls] Nate just nodded in understanding and didn't ask anything else about it. Neither of them were really interested, they were more into battling and singing than anything else. Maybe if he eventually competed in Pokemon Contests he'll sing again, but who knows.
"Ah~, if it isn't young Nathan."
"Mr Foster."
"Nice to see you again!" Nate blinked in surprise as the man that he had bumped into in the hallway was walking over to him. The man stopped beside the table they were at and smiled down at Nate. "Do you mind if I sit down here?"
"Oh, go ahead. I don't mind."
"Thank you."
"So, what is this you have, Mr Foster?" Nate decided to ask as he stared at the covered-up object that the man had placed on the table after having sat down on the opposite end to Nate. It seemed to be decently tall, probably fifty or more centimeters high. Kayden also stared at it curiously.
"Oh, this here is a pokemon egg!" Foster answered as he took off the cover, revealing a large pokemon egg that was inside a cylindrical incubator. Nate and Kayden blinked in surprise at this. "I have had this egg for a couple of weeks now, it should be pretty close to hatching."
"Really? Where did you get it from?"
"It was actually an egg I had gotten from my daughter that's living in the Johto region. She doesn't really know how to take care of the egg, so she gave it to me." Foster explained as they all looked at the egg floating in the incubator. "I have some experience in this field, but it's more my wife that deals with such things."
[Hm... Wonder what it is] Kayden tapped curiously against the glass casing as the egg didn't react at all to the tap, to which Kayden pressed his face against the glass with a narrowed look. Foster gave a small chuckle seeing Kayden's actions as he looked at Nate, who had deadpanned at his friend for his actions.
"Since you're heading to Celadon City, are you perhaps going there for a gym battle? You look to be a trainer." Foster asked with curiosity as he placed the cover back over the incubator. Nate nodded his head as he took out his badge case and showed Foster. "Oh, three badges! How long have you been on your journey?"
"Hm... I guess maybe three or four weeks now. Can't really remember."
"That is truly impressive, Nathan. From what I have heard in the past, trainers usually take around four at minimum to get to this stage." Foster commented with a genuinely impressed tone. Nate just shrugged, along with Kayden, garnering a chuckle from Foster.
"What about you, Mr Foster? Why are you heading to Celadon City?"
"Me? Well, I'm not actually going to be staying in Celadon City for long at all. I will probably be boarding another boat right after departing from this one, I'm actually heading back home to Cinnabar Island. My wife is waiting for me there."
"Oh, I see. That's pretty far..."
Nate and Foster continued to talk with one another, which Nate and Kayden's order soon arrived not long afterward. Since they had ordered quite a lot of food, and would most likely not finish it all, they decided to share it with Foster. Nate made sure to order some takeaway boxes as well so he could give some to Golisopod and Victreebell later.
As they talked, Nate had learned that Foster was actually good friends with the gym leader there at Cinnabar Island, that being Blaine. The fire gym leader of the Kanto region. According to Foster, Blaine had known him since he was around the same age as Nate. Blaine was probably in his mid-twenties when that was the case.
[Eh? What's that sound?] Kayden voiced in confusion as his ears twitch. Nate blinked in confusion at Kayden before he also heard the sound, which seemed to be a number of voices screaming. They turned around in confusion, only to see a number of people running in their direction.
"St-Stop that thief!"
"Out of my way!" The supposed thief was a male probably in his mid-thirties, wearing a simple pair of clothes and were pushing past a number of people in the restaurant. The man soon locked eyes with the item on their table. He grinned before running at them.
"Kayden, shock him!"
[Got it!] Nate instantly knew what the man was after, so he quickly gave his command to Kayden. Kayden released small amounts of electricity from his cheeks before firing a small bolt of lightning towards the running man, who had widened his eyes at the sight.
The man surprisingly managed to dodge the attack and reached their table, to which the man soon swooped up the incubator before making a run for it. Nate actually blinked his eyes in surprise at the man's reaction time to that attack, though he quickly shook that surprise off before getting up.
"I'll get it back. Let's go, Kayden!"
"N-Nathan!" Foster called out to Nate, though he wasn't heard as both Kayden and Nate quickly ran after the man who had just taken the incubator. Foster shook his head before quickly running after them as well, though slower-paced as his age was affecting him quite a bit.
He was both concerned for the egg, as well as Nate and Kayden.
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[Hey! Stop running, asshole!]
"Kayden, he's running towards the front of the ship. Sneak up on him."
[Okay, got it] Kayden nodded before splitting off as they were now running along the front open area of the ship, with the thief running quickly towards the bow of the ship. The people that saw them run past gave them confused and surprised looks.
"You're cornered, give up already." Nate voiced as he slowed down. The man that had taken Foster's incubator was now at the very front of the bow, a concerned expression very much present on his face as he looked around frantically. Trying to find a way to escape. "You're not very smart, are you? You run up here and didn't plan a way out?"
"Shut up! Don't come any closer!"
"Jeez, are you mentally okay...?" Nate deadpanned as he saw the man looking around like a crazed maniac. He hadn't even done much yet and the dude was already panicking as if his life was about to be forfeit. Nate then heard footsteps coming from behind, though only slightly glanced behind himself.
"Nathan!" The person that called his name out was none other than Foster, who ran up beside him panting slightly as he looked at the man who stole the egg. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah. We got this guy cornered though." Nate responded as he gestured towards the panicked individual. Foster looked at the man and narrowed his eyes, so this was the guy that took the egg. Foster couldn't get a good look at the guy before, but now he could. "What should we do?"
"Not entirely sure. I have already called the captain, he should be arriving soon." Nate nodded his head in understanding as he kept his eyes trained on the thief. The thief then pointed a finger towards them and shouted with a stutter in his voice.
"St-Stay back! I swear, I'll smash this damn thing!" The man threatened as he took the cover off of the incubator, revealing the egg inside as the man widened his eyes at the sight before grinning. "An egg, huh? I'm sure you wouldn't want me to smash it pieces, now would you?"
"If you do that, you're going to be in for a world of fucking hurt." Nate frowned as his eyes became cold as he glared at the man. The gaze caused the man to shiver unconsciously as he gulped, though he shook his head and glared back at Nate, though not nearly as intimidating as the trainer.
"O-Oh, yeah? I'd like to see you try and stop me!"
"Oh, I'd like to. However, we won't be needing to see that happen."
"H-Huh?" The man seemed confused by the retort, including Foster. They both looked at Nate in confusion as the boy kept a calm composure, his eyes becoming normal again as he had a knowing smile on his face. Nate then smirked as he then voiced.
"Kayden, now!" Before the man could respond, Kayden suddenly jumped up from the edge of the boat before pouncing and taking hold of the incubator. Kayden grinned at the thief mockingly before dashing back over towards Nate and Foster at rapid speeds. "Nice work."
[Meh. This dude was panicking so much it was that much easier than it would have been befoer] Kayden shrugged with a smile as they all looked at the dumbfounded thief. Nate handed the egg back on over to Foster as he then glared once again at the thief, who stiffened under the gaze.
"So, are you going to hand yourself in now? Or do we have to do this the hard way?"
"G-Go, Primeape!" The man quickly tossed a Pokeball forwards, which soon burst open as the trail of light struck the field before forming into the pokemon that was inside. The pokemon known as Primape appeared to be a simian pokemon with white fur and black bands on its wrists and ankles. "Destroy them with Karate Chop!"
"Kayden, finish this off with Iron Tail." Nate commanded in a bored tone.
[Yeah, yeah] Kayden sighed as he walked forwards slowly before turning into a full sprint as it didn't take him long to arrive right next to Primeape, who was shocked by the display of speed. Kayden easily dodged the attack before spinning his body, to which he then smashed his metallic tail right against Primeape's face.
The attack was powerful enough to send Primeape flying back towards its trainer, sending the both of them smashing into the pillar that luckily stopped them from being thrown overboard. Just like that, Primeape was unconscious on top of the unconscious thief as well.
"That was easy..."
"Y-You truly are an exceptional trainer, aren't you?" Foster nervously chuckled as he saw the state of the person who had robbed him. Nate and Kayden just looked at him blankly before shrugging their shoulders. They then noticed a group of sailors and also whom they assumed was the captain of the cruise running towards them.
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"Wait, are you sure about this?"
"Of course! I believe it would be best if you keep it with you instead of me keeping it." Foster was currently speaking with Nate as they were off to the side as the sailors were tying up the thief that Nate had just defeated not too long ago. Kayden was off exploring again as he was getting bored, Nate stayed back since Foster wanted to talk to him
"I'm rather busy, so I can't take care of this egg as much as you probably can."
"I see... Then I guess I'll accept it." Nate said with a bit of uncertainty as he down at the incubator that he had in his arms. Foster had called him to ask if Nate could take care of the egg instead. Nate didn't mind, it was just that he wasn't sure if it was really okay for him to just take it. "Do you have any idea of what might hatch from this?"
"Well, I do have a very good idea." Foster grinned. He then pointed at the egg. "As I told you before, I was given this by my daughter who is currently living in the Johto region. She lives in a place called the Charicific Valley, ever heard of it?"
"Charicific Valley? Can't say I have..." Nate frowned as he heard this. Must be another location that wasn't known in the games, cause he definitely didn't remember a place going by that name. Though, the name did seem to give him the idea of what pokemon might be inside. If it really was, then he definitely didn't mind taking it with him if he could.
"Well, it is a very isolated location known to only a very select few individuals. My daughter, Liza, is the only human that actually lives there." Foster chuckled as he stated this. "Aside from that though, I hope that you will take care of that egg in my place, Nathan."
"Of course. You can count on me, Mr Foster."
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Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
-- Power
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