The ship horn blared loudly startling Agatha from her deep slumber. She flailed around in the bed, panicking for a moment as she struggled to remember where she was. Goldenrod.

She had booked an extended cruise from Vermillion to Goldenrod for some rest and relaxation before what was sure to be a brutal and strenuous year. She looked down at her PokéNav to check the time and frowned; the boat was late to dock. She turned her head over to the empty armchair that was seated in front of the dresser.

“You were supposed to wake both of us 30 minutes ago so we could pack,” she spoke to the chair. Nothing in the room stirred.

“I know you’re there,” Agatha said again to the chair. She sighed and threw her legs over the side of the bed. “Don’t pretend like you can’t hear me.”

The chair shimmered and a purple ghost blinked into existence, eyes narrowed and a big shit-eating grin plastered on his face.

“Wipe that smug look off your face, pal,” Agatha grinned right back. “If we’re late to the match then you won’t be the one fighting in it. I’ve got other options, you know?”

Haunter clasped his cheeks with his hands, mouth widened in mock surprise. He scooted around the room grasping at her clothes which lay strewn haphazardly in heaps on the floor or draped lazily over pieces of furniture. He would hover over her suitcase, run to a blouse and ‘pick it up,’ then run back, only to realize he had never grabbed the blouse.

“Enough!” Agatha chided after Haunter faked grabbing the same blouse five times in a row. A mischievous look spread across her face though a second later.

“Go get in position next to Samuel and I’ll wake him up,” she said, nodding at the man who had been sleeping in the bed next to her. How Samuel was still asleep she would never understand, the man could sleep through anything. She was always finding new creative ways to wake him up, smiling as she remembered the time she had placed Caterpie all over him and they had wrapped him up in a cocoon and strung him from a tree by his feet. Alas there were no bug Pokémon around today so she would have to go with a classic. Haunter was in position right in front of Samuel’s face and he was covering his mouth trying to contain his laughter.

“Samuel, time to wake up. We’re about to dock,” Agatha called out to him. Haunter was sitting on the bed in front of Samuel, tongue extended and fingers wiggling menacingly.

“By the mother!” Samuel swore as he opened his heavy eyelids. He fell off the bed and tumbled to the floor in a tangle of sheets and pillows.

“It never gets old,” Agatha wheezed as she collapsed onto the bed in fits of laughter.

“You’re going to give me heart problems, you know?” Samuel groaned from the floor. “Why must you torment me so?”

“Because it’s just too easy,” Agatha said, wiping at her eyes.

Samuel sat up from the floor, rubbing his brown eyes and yawning. The blanket fell away revealing a muscled torso and Agatha’s gaze lingered for a moment longer than it should. He saw her watching and a smile broke out on his face.

“See anything you like?” He teased.

“Nothing at all,” Agatha said, nose turned to the air. She turned her back to him and went back to packing. Her breath caught in her throat a moment later though; he had walked up behind her, wrapped his arms around her stomach, and began to plant light kisses on the nape of her neck.

“You can just reschedule your match right?” He whispered into her ear. “I mean we both know that they will let you fight tomorrow if you want to.”

“Yeah?” She asked teasingly, turning about in his arms to face him. She put her hands on his chest and shoved him down onto the bed again, climbing on top of him. She leaned down to his ear and exhaled a long slow breath, grinning wickedly as she felt him shudder and buck beneath her.

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“Not a chance, buddy boy,” she said, patting him lightly on his cheek. She rolled off of him and stood back up.

“At least put on some pants then,” Samuel groaned from the bed, gesturing towards the underwear she was currently sporting. “How can any man be expected to think straight when you’re walking around like that?”

She chuckled as she found a pair of blue jeans and slipped her legs through them. She cinched them with her belt and locked 6 Pokéballs onto the belt notches. She looked down at her PokéNav again and then at all of the clothes lying about in their mess of a cabin.

“Hey Sam?” She said playfully.

“Hmm?” He grunted back, still lying spread eagle on the bed with his eyes closed.

“I don’t feel like packing,” she laughed. Haunter was now buzzing about her head, cackling. “Pack all this up for me and then I’ll meet you over at the trainer school once my battle is done.”

“Agatha, don't do this to me,” Samuel said, bolting upright. “I’ve got my meeting with the school at five that I need to prepare for.”

“How much more could you possibly need to prepare,” Agatha shuddered as she recalled all of the nights she had heard him practicing his speech in front of the mirror. She waved the PokéNav on her wrist in front of his face. “You designed the damn thing, you should know it backwards and forwards. Just use the same pitch you gave to Silph earlier this year.”

“It’s completely different!” Samuel said, desperation in his voice. “I have to pitch it and market it to students now.”

“Eh,” Agatha said, shrugging her shoulders. Sam laid back down and groaned as loud as he could, the sound of his utter defeat. Agatha walked back over to him and planted a kiss on his forehead, “See you soon.”

“Good luck with your battle,” Samuel called after her, swatting her rump playfully as she left their room on the cruise ship.

...all disembarking passengers are required to present the proper identification to customs upon departing the ship, a voice called out over the ship’s speaker system. We have now begun disembarking. Please make your way out of the ship and follow the proper disembarking protocol. All disembarking passengers are required...

Haunter cackled above her head as he zigged and zagged around the ship. Slipping through doorways and walls, the roof and the ceiling, the mischievous ghost could hardly ever sit still. He paused at a door and grinned, beckoning Agatha over to it. They both ran up the stairs and burst onto the deck of the ship and Agatha got her first glimpse of Johto.

Goldenrod was beautiful with its white stone buildings and steel high rises. The sun shone down, warming her body and reflecting off the glass windows of every building. She saw the Mart, six stories tall on the opposite end of the city, and couldn’t wait to drag Samuel there tomorrow to stock up on supplies for their trip.

“Miss, this area of the ship is now closed,” a voice called from behind her. Agatha turned and saw a little old man wearing a black polo shirt with a security badge pinned to it. “We’ve begun disembarking the ship so I ask that you return down and join the queue of other disembarking passengers.”

“Sorry gramps,” Agatha laughed. Haunter was grinning wickedly beside her as she unclipped one of the Pokéballs from her belt and tossed it into the air. A colossal blue titan was deposited onto the deck of the ship in front of her. It hovered soundlessly in the air between her and the security guard, while the man cowered in front of the glowing behemoth that had been called directly in front of him.

“I’m only giving you one more warning. Recall your Pokémon and return to your proper place,” the little old man was reaching shakily for a Pokéball with one hand and his walkie-talkie with the other.

“Relax old man,” Agatha grinned. “This is one fight you don’t want to pick. I got places to be so I can’t dawdle here anymore.”

Golurk scooped her up with his massive fists and sat her down gingerly on his shoulder, holding her firmly in place with one giant mitt. The golem floated from the ground, higher and higher as they began to fly towards the Goldenrod Gym.

“Samuel will vouch for me,” Agatha called out to the man dismissively as she heard him hollering after her to stop. She heard him yell something about not knowing who Samuel was but she didn’t really care.

She laughed and closed her eyes as the wind whipped her golden hair about her face. She and her two Pokémon flew through the air, ignoring the people on the streets below and in the windows of the buildings pointing up at her and gawking at her.

She would come back and register with customs after her fight. She only had a few more minutes to arrive at the gym before the fight started. She hadn’t lost a gym battle yet, forfeiting or otherwise, and she certainly wasn’t going to start now. Not after all of her big talk with the reporters and the media.

That was a close one, a voice called out into her mind, sarcastically. That little old man almost single handedly put a stop to the great Agatha.

“Has anyone told you that you’re not as funny as you think, Haunter?” Agatha asked, rolling her eyes as the gym came into view.