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Swing High, Swing Low ♫ (PG-13)

But after a while, of course, even that got boring. Trisha sighed. Why were everybody taking so long time to get ready to leave? She started walking around the deck, Samson following.

"Whoa, miss! What a pokémon!" a little voice suddenly said and made her head turn.

A boy was standing on deck, seemingly scrubbing it clean. He must be a young sailor, probably having a father or older brother working on the ship and helping out. His eyes were big and round as he stared at the lion. Samson yawned, showing all of his teeth and deep down his throat.

"Whooooa," the boy said again, dropping his scrubbing things.

Trisha wasn't annoyed, actually. She was used to people admiring her big lion partner, since it wasn't such a common sight with Luxrays outside of Sinnoh. This boy had probably never seen-

"I had a friend who looked like that once!"

Oh.

"He was a... a... Luxio! I miss him. Can your pokémon do some electric stuff, miss?"

Trisha was starting to get annoyed now. Maybe he wasn't amazed by the pokémon, he just wanted to see if it was better than his Luxio.

"Yes, he can," she said, sighing. "But firing it off onboard could disrupt the mechanics of the ship, so I'm not going to show it off."

"I think you are!" the boy smiled and suddenly took forth a pokéball. Trisha blinked. "Go, Shellder!"

A tiny pokémon with a shell around it and a large tongue sticking out, emerged from the held out pokéball. "Now you'll have to battle me!"

The seabreeze swept over the deck, making Trisha's hair and Samson's mane sway. She lowered her face, making her dark eyes look intimidating under the fringe. "I don't battle for fun," she said lowly.

"Oh, come on, miss! Just this once? I want to see Luxray in action!"

Samson poked Trisha's arm with his nose. She noticed him smiling. He wanted to. Sigh, alright then.

"Samson... Tackle."

Samson shot forward and tackled the Shellder before it could react. It flew up into the air.

"Hah, that won't work! My Shellder's shell is so thick that nothing gets through it!" the kid shouted triumphantly.

"Not even sea water?" Trisha asked, turning to walk away already. Samson snorted and turned too.

"Wha-" the boy began, before he noticed that Shellder was gone. Turning around, he saw a lot of bubbling in the ocean next to the ship. Oh.

"SHELLDER! COME BACK HERE!"

Battles... Trisha thought. So unnecessary. There are so many more intelligent and elegant things for pokémon to do in the world than fighting.
 
"Okay! Okay! I GOT ANOTHER ONE! What do you call a ox who ram's someone on the behind? ...A BUTT-OX! AHAHAHAHAHA!!"

"Good grief..." Rachel squealed as she heard a familiar laugh. In fact, there was only one person in the world who laughed like that...Joey the Clown. Rachel and Raul continued to drag her suitcase to exit the haul of the ship. She finally reached the dock of the ship, when she found Joey, and a small boy, seemingly terrified of Joey.

Perhaps he hated clowns...

"Please...no more..." the boy cried. Rachel got concerned, so she raced over to the spot where Joey was.

"Ya'll best not make the kid commit suicide!" Rachel warned Joey.

"Hehehe...Hahahaha! S-Sorry..." Joey laughed. "but...telling jokes is fuN! Okay! Okay! Wait Wait! Just another one: What do you call a Vibrava and a Omnyte..?"

"W-what...?" the boy painfull asked.

"You really shouldn't of asked..." Rachel sighed.

"A...DRAGONYTE! AHAHAHA!" Joey laughed. "ITS FUNNY BECAUSE VIBRAVA AND OMNYTE SUCKS! Hehehe...Hahahahahaha!!"

"I...I want my mommmmmyyyy!" the boy cried as he ran away in tears. Joey was still laughing his head off, while Rachel glanced at the boy as he ran away. Then, she glanced back over to Joey.

"Ya'll best not try any of that un-funny stuff..." Rachel sighed. "For the kid's health...please."

"Hahaha...ha...o-okay, okay, I w-won't, hehe..." Joey tried to reply as he slowly got the laughter out of him. "By the way? I saw a Poochyena that got so tired after it "did its buisness". I guess you can say it was...POOPED! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

Rachel glanced over at her Ambipom. Raul put on an unhappy face as it slowly hopped away.

"Max...what have you done hirin' this guy..." she sighed while slapping her forehead. "Look Joe -- I'll see you...in the show tonight." Rachel then started to drag her suitcase away again, with Joey still laughing his head off.

Rachel wondered a bit, until she wanted to stop and rest, with Raul was carefully trailing behind her.

"You know Raul, I reckon if the other's have gone and made it out okay," Rachel sighed. "Too much drama I had to endure..."

"SHELLDER! COME BACK HERE!"

"Hm...?" Rachel then heard a boy's cry. She saw by the docked ship that a boy was trying to return his, well...drowing Shellder Rachel supposed, back into its pokeball. She then noticed one of her 'sisters' as she puts it: it wa sTrish the Lion Tamer. Trish was the more sane people in the circus. Rachel then got up. She dragged her suitacase along.

"Trish, is that...you?" she asked.
 
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"THE SHIP HAS NOW ARRIVED IN SLATEPORT."

"Oh, good. I was starting to get seasick." Oleander looked at Lilly, who looked like she was going to throw up.

"Could you not talk about that, please? You know it grosses me out," Oleander said. She stared out the porthole in their room. The glistening sea was behind them, and the dock was...clear? "Let's go--it's getting muggy in here." She stood up, picked up her suitcase, and waited for Lilly to follow suit. "Once we leave, I want to go straight to the market, okay? I want an Oran Berry." As soon as Oleander stepped into the hallway, she saw Max pacing up and down the corridor, Flygon leaning against the wall.

"Ah, my young friends!" he shouted. "Can you feel it! The atmosphere of Hoenn! The tastes of Hoenn cuisine! The smeeeelllll of the moldy Skitties! It thrills me to be part of the atmosphere that ISSSSS HOENN!" HE looked jubilant as he ran around in circles.

"Yeah, Max, moldy Skitties," Lilly said unsurely as they swept past him. They ran for the ramp and off of the ship, stopping abruptly as Oleander spotted Joey the clown terrorizing a little kid. Just as they were about to say something, however, Rachel, Max's adopted daughter, beat them to the punch.

"SHELLDER! COME BACK HERE!" A boy's cry could be heard from the deck. Lilly and Oleander turned around and looked up.

Rachel looked up, too, and said, "Trish, is that...you?" Lilly and Oleander saw her too--Trisha Kou, the Swing Lows' Lion Tamer, and her Luxray, Samson. Lilly was terrified of Samson, but Oleander was terrified of Trisha. She just looked so...menacing.

"Hello, Trisha!" Lilly called up. "By the looks of it, I'd say you were battling! Come on, with that little boy's Shellder?!" Oleander gave Lilly a glare that she never ignored. She looked down at her feet. Oleander looked at Rachel.

"Hi," said Oleander, and she grabbed Lilly's arm. "C'mon, Lil, I really want that Oran Berry!!" She dragged the Ditto along, and they stumbled over to the open-air market. Lilly looked at the map.

"Okay, Produce is Isle 4, Booths A2-A6," she observed. Oleander started dragging her there. When they got to the booth with the berries, Lilly placed the order. "Two Oran Berries and a Chesto Berry, please," she said, and the man behind the counter bagged them for her. "Thank you," she said, paying him and being dragged along some more. They made shakes out of the second Oran Berry, and they drank their smoothies as they ate their berries.

"Why'd you buy the Chesto?" Oleander asked, biting into her berry and sipping her shake.

"'Cause I need it to keep myself awake so I can keep up with you!" she complained as she attacked her berry for emphasis. They plopped down at a table nearby and looked around. "Too many humans..." Lilly said, and Oleander nodded in agreement. "And it smells polluted! Yuck!" She plugged her nose and made a face. Oleander did the same and took out an eraser. She held it to her nose. "Oh, it has a use!" Lilly said, sarcasm practically oozing from her lips.

"Shut up," Oleander said, and she looked around to see about getting a portable air freshener. She fanned her face and rubbed her right temple.

Lilly stood up. "I'll be right back," she said, and she walked away. She headed towards the ship, which surprised Oleander.

Ah, she has her Dittoey reasons. She sighed and sipped her smoothie, practically waiting for an accident to happen.
 
"THE SHIP HAS NOW ARRIVED IN SLATEPORT."

That blaring was what greeted him as he entered the Hoenn region, Ariel flipped right side up from the pipe he usually hangs on and he set the red gameboy advance SP that he was playing on his bed.

"Haxorus, we're in the Hoenn region." Haxorus then nodded as a show of aknowledgement, as Haxorus got out of its ball-like position. Ariel then smiled and walked out of his room to be received by a myriad of noises.

"SHELLDER! COME BACK HERE!" Ariel quickly ran out with Haxorus following it, and Ariel then looked to see a common sight.

Ariel exhaled loudly as he then heard, "Trish, is that...you?"

Haxorus then made a wheezing sound, with a bit of coughing, and Ariel knew that Haxorus was laughing at the current situation. Arielshook his head at Haxorus' supposed idea of humor.

"Haxorus. Go wherever, we're in a new city, I'll see you later." Ariel said absent-mindedly as he then used parkour to get to the top of the ship and did a sideflip to the land, and then began mixing runs and flips to get to the market.

Haxorus followed Ariel, turning into a ball and propelling himself to the land, while making a somewhat noticeable impression in the ground. Ariel then went to the market looking for some food for Haxorus to eat, while examining one of the flyers that had an advertisement for the group that he was part of, the swing lows.

Ariel then examined the flyer and chuckled at the lion tamer bit for Trisha, because he knew that Samson was very tame and housebroken, but their group was just doing acting, but he respected her, because she had to keep a straight face for the whole performance, all he believed that he had to do was to flip in different directions because his face was not visible.

Ariel looked at the remaining acts listed and then threw the flyer on the ground, as he walked toward Oleander as Lilly was walking away he then said, "What's up Oleander?"
 
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"Trish, is that...you?" a voice came. Trisha turned her head to see Rachel approach her.

Samson growled in a kind way, not the intimidating way. He liked Rachel even though her Ambipom could be quite annoying at times. Trisha smiled, and even if it looked as darkly as ever, it was a rather kind smile. "Yes, glad to see you survived the sea trip, Rachel," she said. "Where has Max gone off to? I guess we should just get off the boat already."

"Hello, Trisha!" Lilly called up. She was one of the comedy girls on the team and Trisha didn't really like her for some reason... there was something strange about her.

"By the looks of it, I'd say you were battling! Come on, with that little boy's Shellder?!" Lilly daringly said.

"I don't do battles," Trisha snapped. Samson snorted.

Oleander gave Lilly a glare that she never ignored. She looked down at her feet. Oleander looked at Rachel. The air was quite tense, until Oleander broke it, thank lord.

"Hi," the girl said and grabbed Lilly's arm. "C'mon, Lil, I really want that Oran Berry!!" And they were off, stepping onto dry land from the boat and shot off towards the great open-air market that was clearly visible from the harbor.

Following their example was Ariel, the acrobat of the circus. He and his Haxorus emerged from inside the boat, looking quite eager to finally having arrived in Hoenn. They did some of their usual jumps and twists and were off the boat before Trish or Rachel had even had time to greet them.

"Like I said... we'd better get off. I doubt Max would have any problems with out stretching our legs for a little while, or what do you think Rach?"

Samson took action and started walking towards the ramp by himself. Trisha stopped smiling and followed him, only nodding slightly towards Rachel and Raul to follow.
 
"Yes, glad to see you survived the sea trip, Rachel," Trish said. "Where has Max gone off to? I guess we should just get off the boat already."

Rachel sighed as she looked down towards the floor. "Aw, I can never know what that dummy Max is up to," she scowled. "I assume he's out there brinin' a storm to Slateport...a annoyin' storm. I can hear him now: 'come one! Come all! See the amazing circus performers and their ridiculous' hairstyles perform right in front of your eyes!' Sometimes I wonder why he's my father..."

Then, there was another voice: "Hello, Trisha!" It was Lilly, one of the fellow circus performers. She was a part of a duo of comedy. In fact -- Lilly wasn't a person at all; she was a Ditto that was a real trickster. One could tell she was a Ditto at first glance. Rachel rolled her eyes and turned away a bit since Lilly probably forgot Rachel was right there anyway.

"By the looks of it, I'd say you were battling! Come on, with that little boy's Shellder?!" Lilly daringly said.

"I don't do battles." Trisha snapped as Samson snorted.

Rachel wasn't much into battling herself. All the while, the only training she did with Ambipom was to perfect his timing and speed when juggiling. Rachel was a bit suprised at Trish morever; Samson did seem like the type to battle...or get extremely angry.

Oleander then came around to give Lilly an icy stare. Then she turned to Rachel.

"Wh-what?" Rachel asked in suspense.

"Hi," Oleander said as she grabbed Lilly's arm. "C'mon, Lil, I really want that Oran Berry!!" And they were off, stepping onto dry land from the boat and shot off towards the great open-air market that was clearly visible from the harbor.

Rachel then turned to Trish as she also watched the Acrobat, Ariel, jumping up and down on his usual tricks with his partner pokemon.

"Like I said... we'd better get off. I doubt Max would have any problems with out stretching our legs for a little while, or what do you think Rach?" Trish stated as Rachel glanced at Raul.

"I reckon you're right," Rachel gleamed as She grabbed her rolling suitcase. "After you."

Samson took action and started walking towards the ramp by himself. Trisha stopped smiling and followed him, only nodding slightly towards Rachel and Raul to follow.

"Raul, have you remembered our routine?" Rachel asked him, as Raul replied with a smile and a small cry. "Abmiiii!"

"I think accordin' to Maxie, we're supposed to perform here at Slateport soon enough. Until then...lets be off to the city. I bet Maxie is already ove rthere iinto his usual shinanegians..." Rachel then dragged her suitcase along with Raul trailing behind her, heading off the ramp, following Trish and Samson.

Meanwhile...

"Come one! Come all! See the amazing circus performers and their ridiculous' hairstyles perform right in front of your eyes!" Max was with his red megaphone as she tried to stir up a crowd.

"That's rrrrrrright!" he said. "Juggilers, magicians, Strong man, Lion tamers...AND MUCH MUCH MORE! AND YOU, THE LUCKY PEOPLE OF SLATEPORT, GET TO SEE IT ALL!"

"Mommy, is that Man...an id...i...ot?" a girl in the crowd said to her mother while staring at the cheerful, excited Max.

"Oh no sweetheart," her mother replied with a smile. "I think he's justa ringmaster for a circus! However... I surely hope he's not on drugs."

The girl got confused and looked up to her mother again. "Mommy, what are...dr...ugs?"

"I'll tell you when you're older." her mother bowled.
 
Trisha and Samson walked with Rachel and Raul following them. Slateport was lively. People pointed in awe at the lion by her side, and Trisha knew that if Samson wasn't so well trained he'd want nothing more than to run up to them, wag his tail and get patted. He was such a little kitten inside. They walked past Lilly, who was for some reason returning to the ship. Trisha didn't ponder it. That strange girl could do whatever she liked as long as she didn't bother her.

Trisha thought it would be a good idea to walk around the market for a while as well. "Come, Samson," she said, wondering if Rachel was still following them or if she had left.

They strolled around for a while but not much interested Trisha. She didn't care for simple trinkets or colorful food. She started to wonder where Max would want to put up the big circus tent.

They found a pretty open spot to the southeast of the city. Watching it for a while, she decided that it would be a good place and went to find Max in Slateport. He shouldn't be hard to find... he could probably be heard all over the place, advertising the Swing Lows.

On their way to find him, Trisha and Samson found the other girl, Oleander, sitting down sipping a smoothie. Ariel had apparently wandered around the town for a bit, for now he came up to the girl.

"What's up Oleander?" Ariel asked. Trisha was just walking past, nodding to them and halting for a little while.
 
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