In our last episode, Ri and Billy were on board the famous cruise liner, the SS Dove.  They are now on their way to the dinning hall to see if there are any other pokémon trainers around.
    “Right this way m’am.  This is the dinning hall.  You will be eating dinner in here later tonight.  There are a couple people gather inside right now you may want to mingle with.  Anyways, have a pleasant time inside.”
    “Ok, thanks.”  Ri and Billy walked inside.  There were about 10 other kids about their age over on the opposite side of the room.  They were showing off their pokémon.
    “See, my Charmander is much better than that little Bulbasaur of yours.  It could burn it to a cinder.”
    “No it couldn’t,” Ri said.
    “Huh.  Hey, who asked you,” the boy responded harshly.  Ri stepped back a sec but then recovered.
    “I’m a pokémon breeder.  This is my specialty.  If you think that Charmander’s gonna roast anything, then you better start feeding it well.  This poor thing’s been eating nothing but pokéjunk-food.  You need to feed it the right type of food.”
    “Wow, how can you tell that just from looking at it?”
    “Like I said, I’m a pokémon breeder, that’s what I do.”
    “Cool, can you look at my pokémon please.”
    “No mine first.”
    “Hey, hey, quiet.  You pigs, none of you are gentlemen at all.”  The kid turned to Ri.  “Hello miss, the name’s Travis.  What was your name?”
    “Oh, sorry.  You all can call me Ri.  This is Billy.”
    “Is he your boyfriend?”
    Billy blushed as well as Ri.  They didn’t need to hear the answer now.  “”So, where are all of you from?”
    “I’m from Celadon City.”
    “Me too.”
    “Viridian.”
    “Pallet.”
    The rest of the kids were too busy to answer.  “Where are you both from?”
    “Oh, we’re from the Seafoam Islands.”
    “Oh cool.  My parents wanted to plan out summer vacation there.  You can tell me where to stay.”
    “That’s awesome.  What’s it like living in the most popular tourist spot.”
    “Well, they usually don’t come by my section of town.  They stay more towards the beaches.  My house is a ways inland.  My family owns a Pokémon Adoption Center.  I used to work in it, that’s why I like pokémon so much.”
    “That’s cool.  And Billy, what do you do.  Hey, awesome, a Pichu!”
    “He’s got a Pichu?”
    “Let us see it please.”
    “Um, ok.”  They went to touch Pichu and were instantly fried.  “Uhhh, I guess it doesn’t like strangers.  They say this pokémon shocks people pretty quickly.”
    “That’s for sure…”
    “Hey, we are all sitting at the same table for dinner, care to join us?”
    “Sure, we’d be delighted.”
    “Great.  Dinner’s not for another few hours.  Who’s up for a pokémon match?  Billy, you want to try at me?”
    “Ummm, ok, I guess…”
    Billy was a tad nervous, but he saw Ri and something inside of him told him he should do his very best.  He smiled back to her then readied his first pokéball.
    “Is this your first time Billy?”
    “Umm…,” he hung his head in shame, “yes…”
    “Hey, it’s cool.  I just didn’t want the go really hard on ya if you’re just learning.  That’s no way to train or battle.  I’ll give you a fighting chance.  Who are you going to start with?”
    “For my pokémon, I choose Nidoran.  Come out!”
    “Hehe, nice phrase.  Pokémon ready.  Pokéball go!  I choose Meowth!”
    “Cool, a Meowth.  Look Ri, a kitty.”
    “Don’t underestimate that little cat Billy.  Meowths have sharp claws making them very strong opponents.”
    “Ok.”
    “You may start off Billy.”
    “All right.  Nidoran.”  His pokémon turned to await his instructions.  “Use your scratch attack.”  Nidoran nodded and went into a furious scratching attack.  Meowth took only moderate damage.
    “Good work.  Meowth, counter back with your scratch attack.”  The Meowth shed its claws and ran for the Nidoran.  It took a few swipes and Nidoran fainted.
    “Oh no, Nidoran.  Oh, Ri, is he ok?”
    “Don’t worry Billy.  Nidoran will be just fine, give him this.”  Travis handed Billy a revive to use on Nidoran.  He did and Nidoran was awake again.  “You’ll get the hang of it soon Billy.  You and Nidoran should practice a lot together and it’ll grow stronger.”  Travis turned his attention over to Ri.  “I don’t suppose you’ll battle me.”
    “No…  I don’t really like pokémon battles all that much, at least not when I’m in it.  I watch the Pokémon League games.”
    “Ah, those are really exciting.  I’m going to be in that someday.”
    “Cool.  The greatest trainers from around the world compete in that tournament.  It must be very difficult to even enter.”
    “Yeah.  You have to collect eight badges from the gyms in order to enter.  Then, you can battle the Elite Four.  I hear they also have an elimination style tournament for master trainers.”
    “So then Ri, what are you going to do when you get the Golden Islands?  What exactly can a breeder do?”
    “Glad you asked.”  Ri went into a very cheery mode.  “Breeders raise pokémon much like trainers only not by having them battle, but by caring for them and nurturing them.  From what I heard back on the mainland, the Golden Islands hold a breeders competition every month or something and there’s one coming up very soon.  I’m going to try to enter it.”
    “A breeders competition?”
    “Hmm, how do I explain it…  It’s kinda something where the contestants show off their finest pokémon, the foods they have created, their breeding techniques, that kind of stuff.”
    “Lost me…”
    “Hehehe…  Don’t worry.  Maybe if we all stay together a while, I can teach you how to better take care of your pokémon so they will love you even more.”
    “Sounds cool to me.”
    “Yeah.”
    “Hey, it’s starting to get close to dinner.  I gotta run guys.  See ya at table 7 right?”
    “Yes Jen.  Meet us down here at dinner.  Ri, Billy, you are welcome to join us too.  We are sitting at table 7, it’s right over there.”  Travis points to a large circular table near the middle of the hall.  “I gotta split too.  See ya all at dinner.”
    Ri and Billy waved goodbye to their new friends and returned to their room.  “Travis is really cool huh?”
    “Yes.  All those guys were pretty neat to be around.  I hope the rest of the trainers on the boat are that nice too.”
    “I’m sure they are.”
    “Yeah.  Well, let’s get ready for dinner Billy.”
    “Okee.”

---

    Ri and Billy were back in their room now getting ready for dinner.  “I can’t wait to eat.  I wonder what they will be serving.”
    “Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s really good.  C’mon, let’s hurry.”
    Ri came up of her closet wearing a pretty pink dress.  “Is this too fancy or just right?”  Billy’s cheeks turned completely red.  “That bad huh?”  Billy wanted to say no but he could even speak.  He was completely out of it.  “Umm, hello.  Are you still here Billy?”  Ri noticed Billy’s Pichu walking around and led it towards its master.  “Go wake up your trainer Pichu.”  Pichu latched onto Billy’s foot and called out.  When he got no response, he thundershocked Billy.  It wasn’t much, but Billy did snap out of it as a result.
    “Huh, what.”
    “Ok ok, I’ll just wear this.”  Ri came back out with just normal clothes on.
    “Ok.  You look great either way Ri.”
    “Aww, thank you Billy.”  She blushed slightly.  From afar, their two Nidorans watched their masters court each other and began to mimic their actions.  It was quite funny to see them try so hand to imitate their trainers.
    “Let’s go down to dinner now.  They should be there by this time.”
    “Yes.”  The two head down to the dining room where their friends are waiting for them.”
    “Ri, Billy!  Over here!” Travis shouts.
    “Ahh, I see Travis over there, Billy.”  They head over to Travis’ table.  Jen was also there waiting.
    “Ri, sit next to me,” Jen said.  Billy sat next to Travis.  “I was thinking about what you were saying earlier about pokémon breeding.  Do you think I could do that too?  Being a trainer is great and all, but I think being a breeder sounds much more interesting.”
    “Really?  Most people tend to think the opposite.  But ok.  I dunno Jen, pokémon breeding isn’t as easy as it looks.  You have to know how to best nourish a young pokémon, regardless of type.  You need to be able to feed it and possibly make your own food.  It’s a lot of hard work.”
    “I can do it.  I know I can.”
    “That’s a good attitude to have.  I’m sure if you stay that way you’d make a fine breeder one day just like I will.”
    Meanwhile, Travis and Billy were talking.  “So, you really want to be a pokémon trainer huh?”
    “Yes.”
    “Well, it’s not too hard.  The key thing is to really care about your pokémon.  The more a trainer cares about his pokémon, the more likely the pokémon is to obey the trainer and win matches.  The only other aspect is training your pokémon.  That’s really accomplished however you want.  I prefer using battles to strengthen up my pokémon.”
    “So, all I really need to do is take good care of my pokémon and train them well?”
    “Basically, that’s all there is to it.”
    “Cool.”
    The waiters came around the table taking people’s orders.  After everyone had ordered, they took the menus and went back to the kitchen.  “That’s food sounds so delicious.  I can’t wait to eat!”
    “Me too!”
    A few minutes later, the waiter returned carrying all their food.  “Here you are.  Have a pleasant evening.”  Everybody stopped their conversations and began eating their meals.
    Once they were done and had had desert, Travis motioned to Ri.  “So, you and Billy are like, uhh, go’n out right?”
    Both Ri and Billy blushed.  “Well, ya, I guess so…” Ri answered shyly.  Billy just continued blushing.  He didn’t have an easy time confessing his true feelings in front of people.
    “It’s ok, I was just going to comment how cute you two look together.  Ain’t that right guys?”
    “Yea,” they all replied.
    “Me, I still haven’t met that girl yet.  But I hope I’ll get some cute girl on the Golden Islands.  It’s an island resort, there should be plenty of girls.”  Travis glowed with anticipation.
    “He is really starting to remind me of someone,” Ri said quietly to herself.
    “Travis calm down man.  That’s the reason you still don’t have a girlfriend.  You gotta relax more.”
    “Hey, I don’t see any of you hang’n out with a girl.”
    “Hmm…  We are still looking.”  Travis facefaulted.
    “Well, me and Jen are kinda going out,” Sam said.
    “Hmm,” Jen mumbled after sticking a whole biscuit in her mouth.
    “Eheh…” Sam laughed softly.