[Pokémon] Never in the Wrong Time or Wrong Place: The Sky's the Limit

A Hoenn Story.

Yes! I've dappled with the idea for awhile and I've decided to rewrite my old (and first) Pokemon fan fiction "Never in the Wrong Time or Wrong Place". It's going to be a huge overhaul, but it won't be totally alien to those of you who might have read the story back in the day. So, some things will change and some things will stay the same. One of the changes will be that I'll be introducing the plot from the get go, whereas in the old story, the "real" plot was pretty much non-existent for the first twenty chapters. Obviously no knowledge of the old story is needed to read this one.

Since I have two other Digimon stories that I'm writing as well, I can't promise super-fast or regular updates, but I'll try not to let the wait between chapters go much longer than three weeks. No promises, but I'm going to be writing a lot over this summer break, so I'm going to try my damndest.

Speaking of damndest, the rating for this fic is going to be somewhere between PG-13 and PG-16 for language, realistic violence (as realistic as Pokemon can get, that is), and mature subject matter (whatever that means. There's going to be some politics and religion and stuff at various points, so I'm guessing that counts.)

PS: I started writing this before the announcement of the RS Remakes, so I totally got back into Hoenn before it was cool. [/hipster]

On that note...


PM List:


Chapter List:

Prologue: Aqua



The cobalt blue surf splashed against the golden shore, browning the shimmering sand until the hot, afternoon sun dried the grains up again. The water receded and another wave swept over the land until it was pulled back in once more. The process continued with every new wave, pulling the sand, pebbles, and wash up in between back and forth like an eternal tug-of-war.

A man watched these waves from his beach chair. He leaned back in his chair and crossed one ankle over the other with a contented grin on his clean-shaven face. His lips pressed against the salted rim of a cocktail glass before he tipped the glass back and allowed the sapphire liquid to pour into his mouth. A soft sigh escaped through his nostrils and he swallowed the strong-yet-sweet-tasting cocktail.

The salty sea breeze blew across his short, finely-trimmed hair and sideburns, both a dark brown hue. The man was in his late thirties, but he had the muscular chest of a twenty-year-old athlete. He took care of his body well enough that he looked like he'd be able to run a triathlon if he wanted to. However, he seemed content to relax and sip his refreshing drink.

His eyes matched the hue of that cocktail. They were a shimmering, bright blue colour that seemed as inviting as the tropical sea before him. A darker shade of blue were the pair of swimming trunks that he wore. Apart from those, the only other thing that he wore was a silver watch around his right wrist, which jangled every time he moved his arm to drink. He hung his free arm over the side of the beach chair and used it to pat the smooth, somewhat slippery head of the large, sapphire Pokémon that lay beside him.

The Swampert smiled and pressed against the palm that rested between the two sail-like fins on his head. The burly, blue body of the mudfish Pokémon was stretched out, his white underbelly against the warm sand below and his chin resting on his large, brawny arms. On the corners of his broad, grinning mouth were protrusive, orange gills that allowed him to breathe underwater. His large, fan-like tail, which was similar in appearance to the fins on his head, also aided in his swimming by acting like a rudder.

The two were at the Slateport Resort beach, below Slateport City in Hoenn, on the southern tip of the peninsula. The weather there was typically warm and sunny, making for a nice vacation spot.

The man took another sip of his drink and grinned, looking down at his Swampert companion. "It sure is nice here... What d'you think, Kip? Should we have gotten into the tourism industry instead?"

"Swam..." the Swampert lazily replied, roughly translated to "(Nah...)"

He laughed and leaned back in his chair. "Yeah, you're right. It's nice to be rich, but lining your own pockets just doesn't compare to the feeling that you're actually doing something for the world..."

The Swampert known as Kip looked up at his trainer. "(It's a really noble goal too, Arch,)" he told him with a big, warm smile. "(I wish all humans were as great as you.)"

Chuckling, Archie rubbed the back of his neck. "Come on, Kippy..." he sheepishly muttered. "You water Pokémon have been getting the short end of the stick for far too long. I'm just trying to make things right."

"(Yeah, well, a lot of people wouldn't do that,)" Kip spoke in his deep, guttural voice. He frowned. "(Especially not those Team Magma people...)"

"Yeah, them..." Archie lowly replied. "They're a real pain in the ass. That Maxie guy..."

Archie was the head of the organization known as Team Aqua. Officially, they were an environmental non-governmental organization whose goals were to protect the habitats of water Pokémon from pollution, overfishing, and other such harmful activities. Unofficially, they were a group that had other, more clandestine goals.

A deep voice from behind them sounded out via the awkward clearing of the throat. Archie and Kip turned their heads to the side to look over their shoulders.

Behind them stood a tall, broad, and muscular man, who looked at Archie and shuffled his large foot in the sand as he waited to be formally acknowledged. He wore blue pants and a blue, sleeveless vest that was opened up to reveal his shirtless chest.

Archie hung his legs over the side of the chair, looking over at the large man, his eyes resting on his broad-jawed face and short brown hair. He recognized him as the man he recently promoted to the position of administrator.

The man attentively held his hands – which donned black, fingerless gloves - behind his back, and his uncertain, green eyes shifted from Archie to the sand between his toes every several seconds. "Uh, Mister—"

"Ah ah! It's Archie, remember?" Archie corrected, smirking up at him and raising his index finger.

"Uh, yeah, sorry... Archie..." he corrected.

"Matt..." Archie said, his grin suddenly disappearing as he looked his subordinate over.

The man named Matt tensed up, wondering what he did wrong now. He didn't want to screw up so soon after being promoted. "Yessir?" he quickly sputtered.

"Please tell me that you didn't wear that to your video call with the TVH network executives about our acquisition proposal..." he begged, pointing to his gaudy attire with a bland stare. "Shelly may be able to use sex appeal to get an advantage in business deals, but you, my friend, cannot."

"No, I didn't... The meeting went well," Matt muttered, shuffling a bit more in his place. "And my girlfriend says I'm hot..."

Archie laughed aloud. "Hahah. Okay, Matt. I believe you. So... what is it?"

"Oh, right. I got our two ferry tickets for the trip back to Lilycove," he explained, taking two slips of paper out of his pocket and flashing them.

"Good. So, all your errands are done for the day?" Archie asked him.

Matt nodded. He then stalled for a moment before apprehensively opening his mouth. "Think I have time for a swim with my Pokémon?" he asked.

Archie smirked and thumbed towards the ocean. "Yeah, you earned it. It'd be a pity to waste a beautiful day."

Matt smiled broadly and whipped off his vest and pants. To Archie's boundless relief, he was wearing black swimming trunks underneath. "Thanks, sir!" he said to him, taking out a pokeball and jogging towards the flowing surf. "Come on out, Sharpedo!"

Archie watched as his subordinate dived into the water with his shark Pokémon. He couldn't help but grin as the two disappeared under the bright blue, rolling waves, apparently doing some sort of race. He looked over at his Swampert, who stood to his feet and stretched his arms out with a guttural groan.

"See that, Kippy?" Archie said, finishing off the rest of his cocktail before extending his arm towards the ocean. "They won't be able to do that if Team Magma have their way... Draining the region's water... Pure selfishness. Does Maxie and his gang of thugs not realize that we need water to live?"

Kip shrugged and frowned, looking towards the ocean. "Swa..." he breathed.

Archie glanced at the burly mudfish. He let out a small laugh and placed his cocktail glass down in the sand. "I know, Kip. Some of the lower tier members of Team Aqua think I'm crazy too, trying to raise the sea level. I know they talk, but it's not like I'm planning to drown everything and expect everybody to grow gills."

Kip quickly turned towards the leader of Team Aqua. "(I never said that, Arch...)" he reassured him. "(I know what you're doing is for all the right reasons. And I know how much you sacrificed...)"

For a split second, Archie's smile faltered. He turned away from Kip and got off his chair, standing to his feet and spreading out his arms in a big stretch. "Ngh... Yup! Team Magna won't have their way so long as Team Aqua is on the up and up. As long as we can hang onto that Blue Orb..."

"(Then we just need to find the Red Orb, right, Arch?)" Kip asked, looking up at his friend.

Archie looked over his shoulder at Kip and smirked darkly. "Yeah... Then, Kippy, our dream will finally come true..."