Episode One: Into the Horizon

"I can tell you're a great trainer to your Samantha. It's a lot, raising little ones, whether it be Pokemon or people!" The woman was quite open and friendly, but she left Rosie to her own devises, turning toward her little girl and taking her small hand. She waved Rosie and Samantha goodbye after the trainer gave her well-wishes, and started walking off in the direction of where they were selling meals to the passengers, presumably to buy something in celebration.

Now that the Cleffa situation had been solved, the mystery of the Surskit opened. If Sammy's nose was good enough, she would be able to pick up the scent of a colony of Surskit mingled in with the salty air of the sea. Wherever they were, it was near water, and not just the roaring ocean underneath them, the scent was too definite for that. If the air was quiet enough, one could even pick up slight and faint "cheeps" of not birds but bugs, laughing and splashing somewhere around the area. If there was an oddly colored Surskit around, it wouldn't be alone...

While Sammy was trying to locate the source of the Surskit, a workman seemed to be in quite a rush to get somewhere, passing by Rosie and her companion on his way to something, and quite quickly. As he passed, his radio buzzed, making a static-y voice erupt from within it. We need personnel in the food storage room 2, it said, though quite hard to make out through the static of the crude device. Conveniently, he seemed to be heading toward where the source of the bug Pokemon's cries could be heard. With some thought... the sound did seem like it was being obscured by some walls, as if it were coming from the inner portions of the ferry. Though what was water doing in there? It was up to Rosie if she wanted to investigate or not.

As Rosie followed the shuffling, panicked staff worker, she would come across an opened door leading down to the lowest deck of the ship's interior, obscured by a darkened hallway. The staffer had already disappeared within the tunnel, and the clanking of footsteps against the concrete stairs echoed and silently faded. He seemed too preoccupied to even notice the girl and her Pokemon following his steps. The chirping grow louder the closer to the end of the hallway, and trickling, almost like a fountain pouring water into a larger pool, could be heard among human voices and splashes. Whatever was happening, the staff sure seemed panicked.

"They keep obscuring the pipes, s-sir, I'm not sure what you want me to do about it!" A voice suddenly called, louder than the others, heated with frustration. "It's all the damn honey in the water, they won't leave!" Now that was the voice of a guy on his last nerve, and others seemed to reply to him, but the other noises around the scene made it too difficult to make out.

"A trainer?" the same workman from before asked, glancing at Rosie and Sammy with skepticism, "you seem a little young..." Before he could speak again, a Surskit danced on the top of the flooding water toward them, blowing bubbles as it exclaimed in joy. As the man dove toward it, it gleefully danced away from his grasp, causing him to slam belly-first into the water. There were even more of the bugs in the room, crowded around where the supplies of sweets and honey now spoiled in the water, conveniently in the same area that the pipes had sprung a leak.

"If she's a trainer, let her help!" another worker said, gripping a wrench in his hand a little too tightly, his frustration quite obvious. He seemed to be the one who exclaimed earlier when Rosie was entering. "You don't need to faint them, just drive them out so we can fix this dam- er, darn thing!" At least he wasn't frustrated enough to watch his mouth around the younger girl.

There were about five Surskit in the room, each un-hostile but rather seemed to be having fun in the wake of the human's problems. Just as the woman had said earlier, one seemed darker hued than the rest, and it seemed to be the leader of the group. The others seemed to look up to her, while she happily sipped up some of the sweetened flood water. If the leader was driven out, the others may follow, but it would be difficult to battle in a flooded, cramped room. Then again, things didn't always have to be settled with a battle, despite what some trainers may say otherwise.

x 4, x1
Pokemon: Surskit
Gender: Female
Level: 5
Moves: Bubble
Ability: Swift Swim

The staff obeyed the girl's words, quite quickly. It seemed like none of them wanted to be in that room any longer, anyway. Some cast her doubtful glances, but they all got out quickly. Once Sammy used her attack, the fun-loving Surskit suddenly halted in their bubble blowing to look toward the other Pokemon with worry. Their cheeps grew in pace as they chattered among themselves, and they all turned toward the darkened one, looking at her questioningly. They all did seem scared, and were looking toward their leader for guidance. Worried, the shiny Surskit tried to look brave for her friends, but she didn't feel so as the humans they had been playing around with all fled.

As the Ice Fang collided with the water, a thin sheet of it froze over the top of the water, trapping the frail legs of the bug Pokemon due to their thin size and the lack of body weight made it difficult for them to trash around and get free. "Skit!" the four normal ones cried out in surprise. All the swarm could do were launch bubbles in Rosie and Samantha's direction as they tried to break free.

Their panicked cries halted as they heard Rosie's calming voice. Like always, the blue colored bugs looked toward their leader for guidance, and after staring at Rosie for what seemed like a minute, she nodded her head slowly. It seemed this Pokemon was intelligent enough to understand the trainer's words. For what first seemed like the first time, she actually looked around the chaos of the room, and her face shown with concern. Her strange bug-like language vibrated in a new tone, and the others replied, nodding their heads. Two were close enough together for one to push the other out of their icy hold, and that one proceeded to help the rest.

The four blue Surskit didn't hesitate to leave, disappearing up the steps of the hallway, and as they passed, there was obvious relief in the hushed voices on the workers. The remaining Surskit glided over the top of the ice with ease, stopping in front of Rosie. She seemed to want to apologize to the trainer. She was usually level-headed, but sweets made her... prone to rash decisions. The last part of Rosie's words had created a glint in the bug's eyes... perhaps she remained and waited because she was intrigued with a battle!

Surskit seemed delighted that Rosie agreed to test her strength. As Samantha charged toward her the bug decided to dodge it by jumping into the air. Of course, it was a mistake on her part. Although she managed to get away from the blunt of the Tackle, she ended up in prime position for the crackling jaws to clamp down on her for massive damage. Crying out, she shuddered as she fought free of the other Pokemon's jaws and landed on her needle-like legs, though they were now shaking. It was clear that the Thunder Fang took a majority of her health in that one attack alone, and another would probably make her unable to battle... or resist capture. Determined to put up a fight, she narrowed her eyes in concentration and launched a barrage of bubbles toward Sammy, a Bubble attack!

Surskit may be speedy, but dodging another high-accuracy attack wasn't likely for her. As she tried to dance away from Samantha's jaws, but wasn't quite fast enough in her reaction. Just like before, the crackling jaws clamped down onto her body, and though she tried to wriggle free, she became too weak to even struggle. Once the attack ended and she managed to worm out of the Snubbull's teeth, she collapsed onto the ground, barely managing to stay conscious. A small bubble appeared and floated weakly straight into the air, she was no longer strong enough to attack and would be quite easy to capture or finish off.

The ball made easy contact with the weakened bug, and Surskit seemed too weak to stand and attack, let alone resist the grip of the girl's Luxury Ball. Besides... it was so comfortable, so warm, it felt great for the weakened bug. The ball made three quick shakes before halting, and a final click indicated that the Pokemon was successfully captured.

Surskit was caught! Would you like to give her a nickname?

Rosie's giddy trip up the stairs in search of a healing machine would be a successful one. A sign right above the stairs declared the location of many vital areas of the ship, one of which was the self-serving Pokemon Center. Among its features was an easy-access PC storage, a small vending shop selling basic items, and, of course, some healing machines for any eager battler on the ship. This travel sized Pokemon Center was right around the corner, and there didn't seem to be anything impeding Rosie from reaching it.

The crew stood scattered around the deck. Noticing the return of the young girl, one staff member looked up. She then alerted the other staff of the girl's presence, before the awaited her to reach their location. They passed murmured speech to each other, seeming to discuss what she could have been up to. The camera crew got ready to record. "So what have you been up to? Remember to answer in full sentences, the audience won't know what we asked you," asked the director. She then gestured to the cameramen and camerawomen and they began rolling the cameras.

"Definitely," the Director prompted, she bit her lip slightly, as a slight annoyance of only being able to take the girl's words for the events. It would have been much better to have been able to add in a montage of clips of the events, at least, over her words, but everything was off camera. Oh well, no need to fret, she mentally told herself, keeping a firm smile in place as she gestured for the camera workers to get in position, a total of four, all at different angles and distances from the star of the show. "Whenever you're ready, Rosie," she said. A shiny Pokemon should be enough to get more views. We can promote the reveal in our adverts... her mind turned toward other aspects of the show as she awaited the girl's next move.

The camera workers crouched and did their things, some zooming in on the girl and Pokemon, others panning out for a wider shot. Everything was going well, and even the Director seemed stunned by the radiant display. But then a surprised exclaim by one of the cameramen caught her attention. He had taken a step back from his camera, resting on a tripod, which seemed to have taken a mind of its own. It was shaking and spinning, teetering between legs of the tripod. No one was touching it, but something did seem to be moving it for reasons unknown...