Ross' Fortune: Prologue

"You cannot know true courage until you have known fear."  Sir Isaac Chumandi, 1575

Aztec Isle, Eastern Hoenn Seas- April 10, 1580

The Royal Hoenn Fleet had easily conquered the inhabitants of the island.  The man in charge of their expedition, Captain Dewford Bane, had seen to that.  Rare Pokémon, incredible materials, valuable resources, cheap slave labor, and even the beautiful, unmarried, native women- all things that would catch a fine price at the markets back home… Dewford Bane had captured it all.  And all it took was a mixture of a few bullets, impressive swordplay, a small fleet of five ships strong filled with a powerful crew of sailors with their tough Pokémon, about a crate of Apricorns to catch new Pokémon, and his own unbreakable will to demoralize and defeat these savages.  Now, Dewford was watching his men load the spoils of their battle onto the ships.

Dewford was a seafaring man in his late thirties who had seen his fare share of battles- both on and off his flagship, Tuntemattomille- and was a master strategist.  He planned the entire invasion of Aztec Isle days before he pulled it off.  Not a single phase of his plan went awry, and not a single soul on his crew was unaccounted for- he didn't even give the locals a chance to get to any weapons they had or call an order to their Pokémon.  His short brown beard, the orderly keep of his powdered wig, pale skin, properly kept teeth, and fine, red clothes flaunting his status as an Admiral of the Royal Hoenn Navy were nowhere as intimidating as his beady black eyes.

Those eyes… even the bravest of his men, the rowdiest of the Pokémon serving in his fleet, and the toughest of the enemies that were either brave or stupid enough to face Dewford Bane in battle and live would all say that the scariest thing about Dewford wasn't his cold, merciless personality, nor is it his flawlessly planned assaults, but those beady, pure black eyes that just looked into one's soul.  And Dewford knew that everyone was afraid of his eyes, so he played off of that.  That is the reason why he prefers bladed weapons compared to guns- guns were too quick when he killed people with them, but with a knife, you can see everything about a person right before they keel over- their fear, their love, their hate, everything.  Dewford especially loved fear… he may as well known the man he just killed like a brother by using a bladed weapon.

"Admiral Bane," one of his recruits spoke up, breaking Dewford's concentration.  He turned to see a middle aged sailor, about five years younger than Dewford was, wearing a light blue Hoenn naval uniform- a Vice Captain- with dirty blonde hair in a ponytail, auburn brown eyes, and the beginnings of a beard forming on his chin- the young man could use a shave.  The young man offered a salute as a green-eyed Raichu dressed in an ocean blue Hoenn naval uniform- a rookie- walked up to them.  This Raichu had a normal shaped lightning bolt on the end of its tail- a male.

"Mr. McSweeny," Dewford greeted the man.  "Report on the loading of goods to be shipped back to Petalburg Harbor."

"We've loaded most of the resources worth harvesting," Vice-Captain McSweeny began as the Raichu curiously looked on them.  "Those will go on your personal ship, as well as the gold we have begun collecting from the island.  We'll have the male slaves loaded onto one of the large ships, while the women will be split between your ship and another ship.  We'll have everything loaded by nightfall.  But what of the Pokémon we have captured?"

As if to prove his point, another sailor walked in holding another Raichu, this time it had a slightly smaller lightning bolt- a female Raichu.  She tried to get out of the man's grasp, but to no avail.  Another man walked in with a young female Vulpix under one arm, and a male Treecko under the other, both struggling.  Dewford grinned at them.

Cupping the Vulpix's chin, Dewford ordered, "I think some of my Pokémon would like some fun with these natives, if you know what I mean."  The Vulpix growled at him.

"Vulpix Vulpix!" "(I am no play thing!)" the Vulpix growled.  "(You people are sick!)"

"(Hey,)" the male Raichu on the ground whispered to her, drawing all three Pokémon's attention.  They all stopped struggling, and looked down at him.  With a stern look, he told them, "(Pretend I'm scolding you for speaking out.  Make it look convincing.)"

"(Why would we do that?)" the Treecko questioned, surprised that the Raichu was telling them to act.

"(If that guy catches onto me,)" the Raichu warned while sparking his cheeks (to look like he was threatening them), "(consider yourselves as good as dead.  If that guy finds out I'm trying to help you, then there won't be any hope for you all, got it?)"  All three captives gasped at this fact- luckily, Dewford thought the male Raichu was trying to scare them senseless.

"He quickly got those three in line," McSweeny grinned to Dewford.  "Bringing along a powerful Raichu was a great idea, Admiral Bane!"  At that instant, something clicked in Dewford's brain.

"Odd thing about that," Dewford replied.  "I do not recall having a single Raichu on the voyage over."

"Admiral Bane!" another man yelled, bringing attention briefly away from the Raichu on the ground.  Dewford and the rest present turned to the sight of two men carrying a small lifeboat on shore- capable of carrying people or Pokémon with a combined mass of 300 kilograms.  "This was not here last night, and it is not one of ours."  All human eyes turned to the male Raichu.  Before he could get away, Dewford grabbed him by his right ear, and looked at it, spotting a birthmark.  He stared at the Raichu, knowing who he was right there and then.

"Execute him," Dewford coldly ordered as he pushed the Raichu to the ground.  The male Raichu's eyes widened in shock and fear- he knew that he would have been caught eventually, but he honestly hoped Dewford did not figure this out until later.

"(Aw damn,)" he breathed before he saw muskets being reached for.  He then turned to McSweeny and took him out first- a quick, powerful Thunderbolt took the Vice Captain down while shooting lightning that was visible to everyone near the ships, startling the two men who had a hold on the three Pokémon captives into loosening their grip.  The female Raichu kicked her captor in the groin, sending pain throughout his system while the Treecko turned to his captor and used Pound on the man's toes with his small tail, distracting him from the four Pokémon escaping from a hail of gunfire.

"(You're not one of them?)" the female Raichu finally asked her male counterpart, who grinned as he led them towards a cavern.

"(Me with a cutthroat band of Hoenn sailors under the command of one of their most sadistic admirals ever?)" the male Raichu sarcastically asked.  "(I'd rather be dead.)"

"(If you don't tell us what the hell is going on, here,)" the Treecko warned, "(you will be dead.)"

"(It's too long of a story,)" the male Raichu answered.

The Raichu, once inside the cave, leaned his entire orange body on the wall, and motioned the others to do the same.  In the darkness of the cave, they were invisible from the curious eyes of three sailors who were peeking in, muskets and rifles first.  The male Raichu whistled loud enough to signal somebody over.  The Hoenns turned to him, pointing their guns.  While the other three Pokémon in the cave gasped for the male Raichu's safety, what they didn't know was that they weren't the only ones in the cave, as emphasized when the large mouth of a Mawile appeared out of nowhere, and scooped one of the sailors up before dragging them further into the cave, scaring the crap out of everyone there- save for the Raichu, who chose this cave as a last resort ambush.

"What in Arceus' name was that!?" one of the two remaining men questioned, pointing his gun at them.  "I thought we already captured all of the rare Pokémon on this- ACK!"  Now, many people would wonder why this guy stopped mid sentence.  Well, if you were speared into by a rather large penguin that was covered in water upon timing of ramming you at mach three, then you'd stop in mid-sentence, too.  Such was the case of him when he was gut-checked by a large Empoleon wearing a white sailor's uniform using Aqua Jet.

The penguin stood up after his move, and the sole human in the cave did not hesitate to do the stupidest thing you could do to a steel-type in this time period- try to shoot them.  The Empoleon ignored the bullets that had just attempted to drill into his steel hide only to bounce off, and walked over to the man with the musket before grabbing it with the near nonexistent fingers that his species were known for hiding under their wings.  The Water/Steel type then bent the barrel of the gun so that it was staring the man in the face, along with his own red eyes.

"(This is the part where you run away screaming,)" the Empoleon calmly told the man.  Although he did not exactly get it (since Pokémon and humans obviously do not speak the same language), the human could tell this was time for a tactical retreat- which, in modern English, meant time to haul ass out of here.  He ran away from the cave, screaming bloody murder.  The male Raichu smirked.

"(Gibbs,)" the Raichu grinned, "(it is always nice seeing you.)"  The Empoleon, known to many as Gibson Drake, but to his Pokémon simply as "Gibbs," smirked back at the Raichu before regurgitating a small dagger in its sheath, much to the disgust of the other three Pokémon in the cave, who openly voiced how gross they found it.

"(Ew!)" the Vulpix moaned in disgust.

"(Why would you hide a weapon in there!?)" the Treecko questioned.

"(What is up with that!?)" the female Raichu demanded from the two.  Gibbs just pointed to his comrade.

"(It's his own fault for forgetting his own weapons,)" the Empoleon replied to the female Raichu.  "(I have learned that our kind can carry just about anything in our mouths- a dagger being one of them, isn't that right, Isaac?)"

"(Yeah,)" Isaac Chumandi grinned as he removed the shirt of his false Hoenn uniform to reveal the similar white sailor uniform that the Empoleon was wearing while the Mawile from before walked out, obviously finished dealing with her man.  The thing about Isaac was that he was practically a normal Raichu… save for a peculiar birthmark on the back of his right ear.  The birthmark looked like a heart being pierced by a lightning bolt that was only visible when his ears were fully perked.

"(Guy's out cold,)" the Mawile, also wearing a similar sailor's uniform, told them.  Turning her actual face to Isaac, she asked, "(What happened to being subtle, Chumandi?)"

"(I was doing fine until Bane remembered that he did not have a Raichu before he left port,)" Isaac explained himself before picking up his dagger.  "(Don't worry, I got the signal off, and people are gunning for me.  They'll never see the rest of the fleet coming.)"

"(Fleet?)" the Vulpix asked, tilting her head to the side.

"(Signal?)" the Treecko questioned.

"(We're Sinnoh Pokémon,)" Gibbs grinned while pointing to him and Isaac.  Referring to their Mawile friend, he continued "(Lily, here, is a defector from Hoenn, and our expert assassin.  We were sent here to ambush the Hoenn fleet.)"

"(As for signal,)" Isaac continued while his cheeks sparked electricity, "(that Thunderbolt wasn't just an attack.  It was to signal that it was safe to start attacking.)"

"(And with everyone here trying to kill you, Isaac,)" Gibbs grinned, "(not even Dewford could plan a counter strategy against us in time.)"  And to be honest, he was right.  Dewford Bane, as clever and devious as he was, did not have time to deal with the spy Isaac and develop a strategy against a Sinnoh fleet of fifteen ships strong that was quickly approaching them.

Dewford was among the first to spot the incoming fleet, who had already set to boarding his ships.  With superior numbers, a larger arsenal, and the art of surprise on their side, it did not take the Sinnoh Navy long to capture all five ships.  This would prove to be a problem for Dewford in this battle.  In the time period, Hoenn had the strongest navy in the world with some of the best cannons, durable ships, and water-type Pokémon they could get their hands on.  Losing the ships to Sinnoh this early not only took away Dewford's options to either bombard the shore should the Sinnoh sailors come straight for him or to retreat from the island should he be able to do something about the numerous ships of Sinnoh, but it allowed Sinnoh to take his beach bombardment and deal with any reinforcements Hoenn might send.

Now, Dewford knew that Sinnoh's next logical choice of action would either be bombarding the shoreline in hopes to finish Dewford off while he is helpless or coming to shore to capture or kill anyone else in Dewford's ranks and capturing Dewford himself for the sake of pride.  That second option would be good… he still had enough men on shore who were capable marksman, Pokémon Trainers, and swordsmen to deal with anybody foolish enough to approach the island under his occupancy. Besides, he knew Sinnoh- they wouldn't risk bombing the beach and invading at the same time- they do not leave any man behind that they didn't have to, and avoided potential friendly fire whenever possible.  However, Dewford soon noticed- after two minutes- no attempts to come to shore were made, and the cannons were not stationed his way.  It was almost as if they knew something was on the island was already out to get Dewford, so they wouldn't have to bother.

Dewford was initially confused by this, until he saw one of his men getting blasted by a huge torrent of water, practically having his ribs crush his heart at sudden speeds- a Hydro Cannon attack.  There were only four known Pokémon that knew that attack… and Dewford did not have a Blastoise, Feraligatr, Swampert, or Empoleon on his crew.  If that wasn't bad enough, a large, black, Venus flytrap appeared from nowhere and snatched another of his men into the bushes with a sickening Crunch.  To top it all off, a third troop went to investigate the bush, only to suddenly drop, followed by a hard smack.  That's when it hit Dewford- Sinnoh had planted some rather deadly Pokémon in his unit.

The Admiral cursed himself for being so careless and letting his pride swell up to think that he won this unopposed.  Dewford knew better than to underestimate Sinnoh's reconnaissance abilities- they were the arch enemies of Hoenn, after all.  It would only be natural that they would place spies into his unit to follow his mission and steal whatever he had discovered.  But Pokémon?  Sinnoh had gotten devious, especially since they sent in Isaac, a Raichu that happened to be owned by an old student of Dewford's.

"Damn that Chumandi," the Admiral growled, knowing what Isaac was capable of.  "You and your trainer just don't know when to quit, do you?"  He was answered by an orange blur ramming into him, pinning him to the ground by his neck with a yellow lightning bolt shaped tail, followed by a dagger glinting in his face.

"(Hey, Bane,)" Isaac grinned, pressing a brown foot on Dewford's chest.  Dewford looked around as much as he could- all of his men were on the ground, either charred by electricity, pulled into the ground with their heads sticking out with it, or a powerful kick to their heads.  Either way, they were probably dead at Isaac's paws.  "(Sorry for the delay… your men took too long for me to deal with while you were watching the fleet capture your ships.)"  Dewford didn't need to understand Isaac to know that he was insulting him.  An Empoleon walked up to them as Isaac got off of Dewford.

"(Wow,)" Gibbs whistled at the chaos Isaac unleashed while Dewford was distracted.  "(We just survived ambushing a bunch of Hoenn sailors and captured their Admiral.  We have to show Captain Drake.)"

---

The Helios' Deck- One Hour Later

Dewford was brought before the captain of the Sinnoh fleet, Samuel Drake, by Isaac and Gibbs- the former dragging Dewford by wrapping his long tail around the man's waist, while the latter had gotten his wings under Dewford's arms and practically carrying the guy.  The two released him, gave their captain a salute, and went off to the side to join their friend Lily the Mawile as Dewford was being handled by human Sinnoh officers, who were pointing muskets at Dewford.

Samuel Drake was- at the time- a man in his mid-twenties.  He was a rather handsome man, with his shoulder length brown hair tied in a ponytail, dark blue eyes, short beard, and dressed in a white shirt under a black jacket, blue pants, and a dark brown captain's hat.  Samuel looked at Dewford with a slight disgust, but not before spotting Isaac attempting to leave with his two friends.  Isaac... Isaac personally belonged to Samuel.  If the man had one thing to say about his Raichu, is that Isaac "always volunteered for the craziest and potentially the most dangerous missions, despite his timid nature back when he was a mere Pichu."  Isaac had truly grown up before Samuel's eyes, from a coward who wouldn't even step on board of a ship without being lured on with a bowl of berries to a brave Pokémon that is willing to lay down his life for his comrades, no food involved.  That deserved an award.

"Not yet, Isaac," Samuel interrupted the Raichu's departure.  The three Pokémon turned to their captain, noticing the grin on his face as they approached him.  Isaac looked particularly shy, not knowing what his master had in store for him next.  "It's one thing that you three Pokémon risked your lives by volunteering an espionage mission and came back alive, but it's another to succeed in capturing one of Hoenn's finest officers right at what could have been his greatest triumph.  When we return to Sinnoh, I'll see to it that you are all knighted and promoted.  Congratulations, Sir Isaac Chumandi, Sir Gibson Drake, and Lady Lily Maw."  All three Pokémon were shocked at the sight of the crew of the ship, humans and Pokémon alike, saluting them.  Lily bowed in respect, Isaac awkwardly waved his tiny paws, and Gibbs just rubbed his head.

"I suppose the reason that you captured me," Dewford spoke up, "was that you wanted me to see the Pokémon that ruined my operation be promoted before I am executed by you, Drake?"

"No, old friend," Samuel corrected.  Samuel and Dewford had been enemies long before this incident- Dewford had trained Samuel, and taught him everything he knew, but neglected to see that his methods (as well as Dewford killing the woman Samuel had a relationship with, saying that the only love a soldier needs is the love of battle) would cause Samuel to turn on him, defecting to Sinnoh.  "I brought you here to watch their promotion, and negotiate this little stain on your record."

Dewford looked at him in shock.  "What do you mean, Drake?"

"Well," Samuel continued, "if word got out that you were ambushed by your own student and captured by three Pokémon when you had cargo worth millions on the market, then the Hoenn royal family would have your head for botching this up rather poorly.  But my lips would be sealed… provided you hand over all of your maps, charts, and logbooks, released the Pokémon and people, and never come to this island again.  You can keep the resources and some of the gold, though… I'll be taking some, and I'm sure the natives will want the rest back."  Extending his hand, Samuel asked, "What do you say to those, old friend?"

"…Perhaps in another life," Dewford reluctantly agreed, shaking the hand, "we could've been partners."  Once they let go of each other's hands, both Dewford and Samuel stared into each other's eyes with such hate for each other, that if looks could kill, they both would have been dead at least three thousand times over.

"Perhaps in another life," Samuel spat venomously, "you wouldn't be such an ass."  Turning to his men, he ordered, "Get this man out of my sight before I have the chance to regret not going with his previous suggestion."  The men nodded, grabbing the man and dragging him away from the captain, who returned to his quarters, leaving his men to do whatever they wanted- which included Isaac, Gibbs, and Lily, who were still not over their promotion.

"(…Wow,)" Isaac breathed.  "(We're going to be the first Pokémon to ever be knighted in Sinnoh.)"

"(With you two,)" Lily admitted, "(I never expected to be given such an honor.)"

"(This calls for a party,)" Gibbs grinned.  "(Let's go back to the island and see if the natives are willing to celebrate their freedom.)"  Turning to the other Pokémon on the boat, he yelled, "(Who wants to come with us to the shore!?)"  Several Pokémon on the boat instantly cheered, much to the shock of the sailors as the Pokémon headed for the lifeboats.

---

Aztec Isle- Near Midnight

As Gibbs had hoped, the natives were more than willing to celebrate their freedom, and proceeded to dance the night away.  Sir Isaac had wondered away from the hooting and hollering to get a load off his mind.  Sir Isaac… the sound of that name as it came out was amazing.  Isaac never thought that he would be promoted to a knight, but it did happen.

Now, he was just exploring some the island, since he didn't have a chance to during the battle.  There was more to Aztec Isle that he had never seen.  Such as the underground cavern he was in, noticing that the place was littered in Hoenn weapons and helmets, picked clean of the gold that was here approximately twenty-four hours ago.

"(You came here, too?)" a female voice interrupted him.  The Raichu turned, reaching for his dagger, only to see the female Raichu from before.  Isaac sighed, returning his hand to his side.

"(Yeah,)" Isaac sighed.  "(I came to clear my head, that's all.  Also, I somewhat shy away from large groups when I do not have to be there.  What about you?)"

"(I've never been a fan of parties,)" the female Raichu replied, a blush on her face.  "(And I noticed the person I forgot to thank for saving my life earlier was gone; I felt the need to look for him.)"

"(You're welcome,)" Isaac replied, extending a paw, a blush on his face as well.  "(We haven't been properly introduced, yet.  I'm Isaac… Sir Isaac Chumandi.  What is your name, madam?)"

The female Raichu smiled, "(Pucca.)"  She then shook his hand.  Little did either Raichu know right then that over the next four years, they would share a romantic relationship.  This relationship would give birth to an adventure that would be of international proportions.

Over the next four years, a series of events leading to Sir Isaac's downfall took place.  Isaac would be knighted, along with Gibbs and Lily.  However, when they returned to Sinnoh, the Queen confiscated all of their charts that they took from the Hoenns.  And worse, Pucca, who Isaac had started to be attracted to, was forced to stay back in Aztec Isle.  Sir Isaac in about a year, gathered up a crew, and set forth to Aztec Isle.  Isaac had eagerly returned, only to find Dewford lied about not bothering them- he had captured Pucca and others, and taken a golden idol.  In rage, Chumandi met with his master, broke into Hoenn's most secure prison, and rescued Pucca, who he had proposed to the second he was sure they were safe.  They were married, but Pucca pointed out that the ship with the golden idol had sunk near an island off the coast of Kanto.  Before Sir Isaac could go to see to it that the idol was returned, he was captured by the Hoenns, who executed him as a pirate and war criminal.  His body was recovered by Sinnoh, and he was buried at sea….

Now, I know what you're thinking:  "Where's my funny Random Doom cast?"  I'm glad you asked!  Because what you've just witnessed was a peak into the last four years of Sir Isaac's tale.  Our true tale begins over four-hundred years later on a certain Pokémon breeder's ranch...