Sayonara Crawl

She was almost to her room when the pounding of feet on the deck could be heard. It was just one pair at first, which had apparently been a young boy, who knocked right into Alice as he thundered around the corner. The two were sent tumbling to the ground, Pachirisu and the bag tumbling to the deck with his trainer. 

The boy was shocked, but only for a moment as he jerked his head around. More footsteps could be heard, "He went this way!" A disgruntled sounding man called, as they rushed toward them. The boy scurried to his feet, and took off in the direction he'd been heading before, ducking around a corner before the group of men came around the prior corner. 

There was three of them, apparently a Sailor, Chef, and an old gentleman who was perhaps one of the passengers. He was a bit more than middle aged, but still quite spry. The sailor seemed to be leading them, his coarse voice recognizable as the one from moments earlier. They were brought to a halt with Alice in the walk. 

"Argh, the little brat got away!" The sailor grumbled, the chef spouting off in French - literal French. However, he was so enraged that his words were rather indistinguishable even to the French. He waved his wooden spoon around, before throwing his chef hat to the ground and stomping on it angrily. He was quite a porky fellow, probably from 'taste testing' the meals.

The gentleman approached Alice, offering his hand to help her to her feet. He sported an old-timey mustache with an old brown pinstripe suit. He had a hat and cane to match, his hair speckled salt and pepper gray. He seemed the warmest from pure appearances, at least. Much better than the rough looking sailor, with bulging muscles adorned with nautical tattoos. "I apologize, Miss. Allow me," the gentleman said, hand extended.

"That little wretch is nothing but a thief and a hellion!" The sailor spouted, looking quite irate. He gritted his teeth, hands balled up tightly in fists. 

"Ze little brat, he ruined my soufflé!" The chef shouted with a thick accent, enraged. "And ze soup, he spilled too much spice in it!" He grumbled, red faced as he strangled his spoon.

"Indeed, he has been quite the thorn so far. In fact..." The Gentleman glanced to Alice's pack. "You may want to make sure all your belongings are still there...he's quite sly," he said with a worried face. "We aren't sure where he came from. He may have stowed away before we departed the island," he rubbed his brow, clearly concerned over the whole matter.

Within Alice's bag, something was amiss. The heal balls rolled around, clacking against each other lightly. All but one, anyway. The translucent caps were an easy way to determine. Slowpoke! His pokeball was missing!

Pachirisu seemed to panic, breathing heavily as he looked around. He was afraid of disappointing Alice, perhaps? He sniffed for the ball, even used his cheek pouches to try feeling electrical currents. However, he had never been on a ship before and was clearly disoriented. "Pachiii..." He groaned in a sobbing manner. Adorable though he was, he was no Houndour.

The old man clicked his tongue, "I was worried about that. He tried to get ahold of my Growlithe as well. Fortunately he only got an empty pokeball of mine in his rush. Still, losing a partner is hard," He offered his condolences. 

"Awright, that's it! Let's get that brat and give him a pounding!" The sailor growled, punching one hand into the palm of his other. The connection make a slap sound, his muscles around his neck and arms rippling. 

"Wee, send ze vermin overboard! Au revoir, wee man!" The chef tooted, waving his crumpled hat around in one hand. 

"Now, now gentleman. He is just a boy after all. The local enforcements can take care of him when we arrive. Until then we'll keep him confined so he doesn't cause any more trouble," the gentleman placed his hat back on his head, folding his hands over his cane behind his back. "Now, he's had a good head start, so running will hardly solve anything at this point, let's split into teams, shall we?"

"So it's agreed then. We'll split up into teams. Chef, how about you and I pair up? The good sailor can go with Alice here," The Gentleman announced. He looked at Alice and smiled. He had to split up in such a way that would cause the least damage, and though Alice might have preferred sticking with the Gentleman, putting the Chef and Sailor together would end only in disaster.

As the other two grumbled in agreement, the Gentleman continued. "Furthermore, should we apprehend the suspect, no harm is to come to him. Whomever catches him should take him to the Captain immediately. If no word is given in two hours, we shall reconvene here, agreed?" Again, the grumble of mutual dissatisfaction ruled. "Right then, let's be off. Good luck on the hunt!" The Gentleman parted ways, taking the stout chef with him. This left Alice with the burly Sailor, who was hardly refined.

"Look, girlie, you just leave the muscle to me, and keep your eyes out fer that brat!" The sailor said, scoffing at the puny bodied female. She hardly had any meat on her, let alone muscle! It was obvious this man had a stereotypical outlook on life, not too hard considering his lifestyle though.

"The way? Hah! That doesn't matter much, if we don't know where the vermin went, now does it?!" The sailor growled, punching his palm again. The two walked on, searching around every nook and cranny, leaving no unlocked door unsearched. 

It was somewhat beneficial, in that Alice managed to find a few random items scattered about. They had probably been dropped by other passengers, but with no way of knowing who they belonged to, they were Alice's. An odd shaped stone, almost like an evolutionary stone shaped like an egg, but painted oddly. Not to mention the delicious looking chocolate. 

Still, there was no consolation prize great enough to take her mind off her precious Slowpoke. It wasn't much longer before they heard a loud commotion. A great thud shook the deck, rocking the ship violently. Shrieks from the passengers being tousled could be heard clear as day. Alice was thrown into the railing, and nearly overboard. The sailor grabbed hold of her, saving her as her body tipped with the ship, ocean spray washing over the both of them. He tossed back on deck, pulling himself back as well.

"Alright, now that doesn't sound good!" Finding a balance with the ship's rocking motions, the sailor motioned forward. "Up there!" He pointed toward the front of the ship, where there was a large open area of deck. Apparently there was a Pokémon battle going on, and the boy was there!

"Hah kid, back for more? Thought we taught you a lesson last time!" One of two older kids sneered. They were two boys, probably in their mid teens. The one looked mildly grungy, as many teenage boys tended to. The other was trying a bit too hard to look cool, chewing a toothpick in place of cigarettes. 

"Apparently he needs another ass whoopin' to get it through his head!" The one kid punched his partially gloved hands together in a macho fashion. "Now bring us the goods, or pay the price!" He growled. An Emboar and Combusken were beside the boys, apparently their Pokémon. They must have been bullies!

The Combusken was definitely the weaker of the two foes, seeming to be in its early twenties. If an estimate had to be given, 22 seemed to be an appropriate level for the female fire chicken. Emboar was where their real challenge would lie, at a hefty level 36 the bulky male was quite intimidating. He roared, fire exploding from his snout.

"N-no! I have Pokémon now, t-too!" The young boy stuttered in reply to the bullies. However, in a flash Pachirisu and Cleffa appeared between them, surprising the fire Pokémon duo with a paralyzing shock! Combusken and Emboar winced, finding it difficult to move very easily. Their speed was cut drastically, as well as the potential that they wouldn't be able to attack.

"What the- what are you trying to pull?!" One of the bullies spouted, assuming the boy was responsible. He swung his arm outward, "How dare you try a sneak attack like that?!" He snapped, pointing to the Cleffa. She was just preparing her Psyshock attack.

"Emboar, cut that Cleffa down before she hurts you!" He wasn't really sure what to do, but figured trying to take it down to be his best chance. "Try to dodge, and use Flame Charge!" Emboar struggled to move, but narrowly dodged the fairy's Psychock. He roared, body flaming as he lowered his center of gravity. He fought his paralysis, charging forward like a crazed boar toward the little Cleffa! Unfortunately, he didn't get far before his entire body jolted and recoiled, 
Flames dispersing immediately. His paralysis was too great this time around.

"Combusken, it's up to you! Use your Sand Attack and lower their accuracy!" The other boy called out. The Combusken was still moderately quick though there had been a cut in its speed. It started kicking up any dirt it could manage from the deck at the foes in hopes of cutting their accuracy.

All the while, the young thief stared in horror at Alice. He didn't know how the other two hadn't noticed her yet, but it was obvious to Alice and the Sailor that he had. He was shaking in his boots, so to speak, utterly afraid now that he reencountered the woman he thieved from!

"What- what is this?!" One of the bullies shouted, as Alice stepped into the battle. "You hiding behind a girl? What a pathetic wimp!" He scoffed, usual teenage boy crap. This was likely why Alice was more likely to seek attention from men older than her, weed out some of the more immature ones. "Well it doesn't matter anyhow, Combusken, Scratch that Pachirisu!" 

Combusken's body jolted and jerked, as its partial paralysis slowed its general movements. Unfortunately it also made it rather sporadic and hard to time against. It hurried to Pachirisu fast as it could muster, attempting to scratch the squirrel with its sharp hind talons. It was then that Pachirisu emitted its powerful electric attack. Though a normally low accuracy move, the closeness of the two made it hard to miss.

The electricity flowed through the feathered fowl, who was rather lucky to have lost its flying type upon evolution. Still, that didn't mean the damage wasn't noticeable. The fighting bird squawked in pain, Growling at Pachirisu angrily.

"Wha-No!" The angelic figure danced around like a wisp of light as Cleffa blew a confusing kiss to the paralyzed Emboar. He reeled, unsure of what was going on. Now if he was lucky enough to get a move off, he might accidentally aim it in the wrong direction! If that wasn't bad enough, the psychic shock was rocking his system! He was lucky to have the edge level wise, because for a baby Pokémon, Cleffa could pack a punch!

"Emboar!" The boy in control of the fully evolved pig grit his teeth. "Try ember!" He hoped that without having to move the rest of his body, he might be able to set off an attack on the foe. Emboar inhaled, flames appearing around his snout and mouth as his gullet was set ablaze from the inside. The move seemed to fizzle out though, smoke arising from Emboar's orifices as he dizzily wavered. He was confused, and hurt himself in confusion! 

All the while, the thief stood behind Alice, knees wobbling shakily. The Sailor looked like he was about to join in, but on closer inspection- had no pokeballs with him! Whether the young boy had taken his, or the man simply hadn't trained any Pokémon was left yet unseen. Still, he couldn't make his way safely around the battle, especially with it rocking the ship like that! He took off back down the side isle, probably trying to make his way around to the other side that way.

Cleffa's encore meant Emboar would be stuck using Ember for a few turns. Still, it was better than having used something useless or self damaging. The boy growled, "Keep attacking, Emboar!" He shouted, the poor fire boar both paralyzed and confused. Still, he seemed to manage aiming this time, spouting flames from his mouth at Cleffa. Her Psyshock met in the middle, the two moves colliding and causing a miniature explosion, rocking the ship yet again. Combusken and Emboar both took a bit of damage from the resulting shockwave. It was possible Cleffa or Pachirisu had as well.

"Tsk," the other boy huffed, as the lightning squirrel darted about. "Try your ember attack, Combusken!" He figured if he couldn't get close, he would try a ranged attack. The paralyzed chicken was still having troubles, but managed to launch some hot flames, spouting them in bursts at Pachirisu as it sipped around. Unfortunately for Pachirisu, Thunder missed, striking instead somewhere in the distance. It could be a hard move to use, with such a low accuracy.

All things considered, it was good the ship was rocking. It splashed water onto the deck, putting out fires before they could spread further. That didn't stop the squirrel from trying to burrow into the underbelly of the ship, though! He broke through the first layer of wood, only to find a steel hull underneath. He had to resort to scooting about on his belly rather than underneath ground to try the strike.

Still, it partially worked, as Emboar was paralyzed. Unfortunately, it was more of a tackle than Dig, and as such didn't do quite as much as Alice might have hoped. Still, the crackling static build summoned a lightning bolt, striking the pig who was beginning to tire somewhat. The duo seemed to be wearing the beast down, what with his current state and all.

Emboar, unable to do anything else tried another Ember. The strike to his gut from beneath caused him to launch it prematurely, so it wasn't near as strong or accurate as one might have hoped. Perfect for Alice, though.

Combusken struggled, barely able to move out of Cleffa's headbutt, only to be struck by his Psychock! The fighting fowl squawked in pain, attempting to immediately scratch at the pink star Pokémon. The boys were shocked, feeling helpless in the girl's wake. Somehow she was pulling this off, even though they should have had the advantage! Their faces said it all.

The boy behind Alice suddenly snapped his head up to her as she yelled back to him. He hadn't been expecting it, let alone for her to encourage him to use her Pokémon! "Uh, right," he said shakily, taking Slowpoke's pokéball out. "Go!" He yelled tossing the ball out and releasing the pink hippo in a minty green light, foamy bubbles floating up and popping as it did so.

The foes began laughing hysterically upon seeing the Pokémon, slapping their knees and holding their sides. "What a useless Pokémon!" He shouted between laughs. However, it was short lived for they didn't know yet what Slowpoke was capable of.

"Slow..." Slowpoke said rather slowly, looking up at Alice with a grin plastered on his face. He looked to the battle ahead, opening his mouth with water gurgling in his belly. He shot short spurts out, putting out small flames that appeared as the fiery Pokémon fought. He then began to glow a fierce hue, using his psychic abilities to stabilize the boat best he could. It wasn't perfect, but would help Alice quit tumbling into the railing.

"Hey, what's the big idea?!" The other boy began, taking quick not of the change in environment. He growled, watching the Pachirisu jump onto Emboar. "Emboar-" he started, then remembered his unfortunate predicament. The Pokémon merely used another ember attack, which again backfired. This time Thunder missed, though just barely. It rocked the ship, making Slowpoke's job that much harder. Emboar snapped out of his confusion, turning his head slightly and reaching back to try prying Pachirisu off his back.

"Combusken!" The other trainer cried, as his paralyzed Pokémon was temporarily unable to move. Cleffa, though not truly a fast Pokémon, was currently faster than the paralyzed bird and ran about, shooting the bird with psychic jolts! The fowl screeched. After two shots, he was able to move again, and tried retaliating with alternating shots of Ember and Scratch like an epic battle one might have seen on the TV. Combusken was looking very worn down though, and his trainer knew it wouldn't be much longer at this rate...

Pachirisu didn't have much to worry about, aside from holding onto the bucking boar. His arms were bulky and stubby, making it nigh impossible to reach the electric squirrel nipping at his fingers. He roared in pain as the next Thunder struck its target, making the boar dizzied. He couldn't move this turn, as he was paralyzed!

Cleffa on the other hand, resorted to his cute phase. He blew an angelic kiss toward Combusken. The confusing act left the fighter befuddled, causing him to trip and hurt himself in the confusion! He was left weak and defenseless, especially to Cleffa's Psyshock attack. He cried out one last time, the Pokémon not moving afterward. Combusken fainted! 

Cleffa and Pachirisu both gained 11 experience for the first foe's defeat. The owner returned it, terrified look in his eyes. Cleffa even seemed a little stronger from the experience!
"What- what the hell are these Pokémon made out of?!" He shouted, turning tail to run. He was, unfortunately for him, cut off by the old man and Chef from before. The teen bounced off of the tubby man's gut, falling flat on his arse.

"What the hell man, you were just gonna leave me here?!" The other boy shouted, paying less attention to the battle at hand than ever. It was the perfect opportunity to tag team the boar. Alice just needed to be careful not to hit her own Pokémon with their attacks.

The attacks struck as a beautifully executed dance, the two friends flowing nearly flawlessly. It was quite a sight to behold, as the two low level Pokémon brought the Emboar to his knees. The Pokémon cried out, roaring in pain as it collapsed to the deck floor, knocked unconscious in the combined efforts. Cleffa was severely injured after the whole affair, and would need some tending to by a nurse. He would likely be quite alright though. Pachirisu had managed to avoid taking most, if not all damage during the battle thanks to having the foes paralyzed.

Both Pokémon gained a good deal of experience from the ordeal, though. They both looked to be a bit stronger after Emboar went down, having each leveled up. Slowpoke had been working hard to keep the ship steady and free of fires. He seemed to have gained some experience from the training it provided, as well. The other boy returned Emboar, shaking at the knees in his cowardice.
"Well boys, don't you think you should give this young lady what she rightfully earned?" The Gentleman spoke, mustache moving like a little broom with every word. His voice was warm and friendly like a grandfather, even now.

"Gotcha!" The Sailor said, grabbing the younger boy by the arms behind Alice. He had snuck up on him, now squirming in the burly man's hold. "Here's your pokeball back," he said, tossing Slowpoke's ball back to Alice. "I'll take the boy back to your cabin, Captain!" 

"Yes quite. Thank you, Jim. Make sure he stays there this time, eh?" The gentleman laughed heartily. "Sorry I didn't disclose everything before, Alice. You see, he's actually my grandson. He snuck on board when he heard I was setting sail again. I need to get him back to my Son, but he's stuck with me for at least this ferry ride. He seems to have fallen in with a bad crowd though..." He shot the teenagers a sharp look.

Their hair stood straight up, stepping back toward Alice. They turned around, pale in the face as they handed her some winning cash for her victory. "And don't worry, these boys will be paying for the damage they caused...with hard labor! Tohoho!"

The Chef escorted the teens out of Alice's presence, probably getting scrubbed up for some hard work to come. The gentleman approached Alice, smile on his face. "That was quite a show you put on there. Your Pokémon are very talented, which only shows your prowess as a trainer!" He complimented, holding out something in his hand. "Give this to Professor Ivy when you see her, will you? The ship will be docking soon, and I need to keep an eye on my Grandson." He handed over a small package with an envelope attached.