At that very moment, I had wished I didn't turn off the boat. The only thing I cared about before was me not driving in the harbor by accident and causing a problem because of my recklessness, but that would had been much better than aiming towards a spinning spiral of water!

"You're kidding!" I shouted and dashed to the captain "Wake up! Wake up!" He wouldn't wake up. I slapped his cheeks and shook him as many times as I thought needed, but he was out like a light "I don't know what to do! I don't have a water Pokémon with me!" Even Cleffa won't be able to lift this heavy boat alone! I had to see her power and Togetic's power combine to know how much they could carry, and they certainly won't be able to carry a boat that's much heavier than their average levitation weight of 10 people!

I was having a panic attack in the same spot I stared at the whirlpool as it got closer and closer "Dammit!" I shouted "Someone! Something! Please!" I cried out, balling tears "Help!!"

Something had appeared bouncing on the water. I fell on my knees, frightened at this sudden jerk of motion. The boat had stopped moving, thankfully. Whatever made that jerk had made the water stop trying to swallow the boat.

Looking ahead of me and gasped at the sight of the majestic Pokémon standing in the water like a feather. It stared at me watching with blurry vision due to my tears. The quick moment I wiped my eyes to get rid of the tears. The Pokémon and the whirlpool was gone!

"Was that Suicune..?" I held my pounding heart "It saved me... again!" I heard groaning from the drivers seat. The captain got up and looked around, then saw me in distress, hugging Cleffa tightly with tears streaming my eyes.

"Whoa... What happened-"

"JUST DRIVE!" I shouted at him. He quickly got up and drove us back to Olivine City. I quickly got off the boat before the boat could make a complete stop and touched the floor beneath me "I never been so happy to see the floor!"

"Ma'am, did something happen?" The captain asked, getting off the ship. To keep him from freaking out, it was best to just lie and say I thought I saw something that could had eaten us, since I had no idea how to explain that we were saved by a legendary Pokémon stopping the whirlpool that was going to crash the ship.

Getting that aside, I relaxed and thanked the man for the ride, never to go back to Cianwood until I get myself a water type or something.

"Any time. I'm sorry I passed out like that" he nervously laughed "but we got through it okay" sure... "Oh!" He kneeled down to Cleffa by my ankle "Looks like you got yourself something that's much bigger than you!" I picked up Cleffa confused when seeing her holding something that looked like a shell. Where did she get this from?

It was finally time to head to the lighthouse and get Ampharos the secretpotion! We took the elevator and dashed to Jasmine sharing a blanket with Ampharos.

"I'm sorry I took so long!" I accidentally yelled out. She looked at me surprised and looked like I was made of glitter.

"My hero! Thank you so much for this!" I handed her the medicine and she immediately gave it to Ampharos. One bite off the ball made the Pokémon sour up from the taste, but swallowed anyways and sighed "It should work in no time! Look at that! Your breathing even sounds a little better" Jasmine stood up to face me "You went through all that trouble. I'm so sorry for putting you through all that" it was a lot worse coming back, but if it's to help a Pokémon, I didn't mind.

"No problem! I'm glad I can help!"

"I'll repay you!" She dug in her purse and handed me her closed hand. I opened my hand for her to drop something cold on it "That's the Steel badge! You totally earned it!"

"H-Huh?!" Another badge given to me?! "But I didn't even battle you!"

"With what you've been through, it'll be an honor to give that to you!" She tapped her chin "I am the gym leader after Chuck... maybe I should had told you about him" She glanced at my bag "Is that the Storm badge! Wow!" She gasped "You beat Chuck in one day!? You're amazing!" She shook my hand "I'm so happy to have met you!"

"T-Thanks..." I chuckled "I didn't expect this special treatment, but I'll make it up for it" she giggled.

"Do the best you can! You have two more badges to collect. I wish you good luck. I have to head back to the gym now, but I'll send you a message on how Ampharos is doing"

"That'll be great" she jumped to hug me unexpectedly. I patted her back, feeling a bit weird to hug someone out of nowhere, but I manage to get use to it and hugged her back.

"I hope we can meet again" she let go and bowed to me "I thank you from the bottom of my heart" she stood up and jogged away "bye now! Be careful out on your journey!" I smiled and waved.

"She was sweet" I smiled at Ampharos looking at me "How are you feeling now?"

"Am!" It smiled. I giggled and went out to continue my journey while playing with the shell Cleffa had found suddenly.

"How does this work?" I turned it a few times and had noticed holes around it with a mouth piece "It looks like a flute, but it's nothing like I've ever seen..." I pocket the shell for now and explored what Olivine City had to offer. I made my way back to the gym without realizing it.

"I feel bad for not battling her to earn the badge myself, but I'll be able to battle her one day when I come back" the doors to the gym opened, letting her out and see me "Oh!"

"Why, if it isn't Valerie!" Jasmine smiled big and came over to hold my hands "I haven't seen you in a minute!"

"Since this morning" we laughed together.

"Are you enjoying the rest of Olivine City? It's a really great place, isn't it?"

"It's beautiful. Since you're here, are you busy?" She held her chin to think.

"Well, I just cleared my schedule after battling a bunch of trainers that asked for me the pass few days. I just finished up and was on my way to see Ampharos! What's up?"

"I wanted to see if you like to join me for dinner?" Her cheeks went pink and her eyes brightened up.

"I'm delighted! I haven't ate well for the pass few days. Thank you for your invitation!" She held my hands again "If you don't mind, I need to see how Ampharos is doing!" I didn't mind and followed her to the lighthouse. By the time we got there, the top floor where Ampharos was lit up.

"Great!" Jasmine cheered "You're all better!" She hugged me again "I have to thank you again!" I chuckled and moved away.

"You don't have to keep thanking me every time. I did it because I wanted to help" she smiled big again. It's refreshing to see the smiles on people's faces once helping them with something big.

"Well, how about dinner? I'm starving!" She took my hand and ran us to the elevator and then back to the city "I know a really great place to eat! I think you'll love it!" I chuckled at her bubbly behavior and followed her into a restaurant filled with drunk and loud men.

"Agh! Seriously!" Jasmine pouted "This is my favorite restaurant and these guys always come and ruin the peace and relaxation" she looked at me "This spot had always been popular for tourist and it shows a beautiful view of the ocean and ship! Ever since they added a bar, a bunch of sailors come in and ruin it all" I looked around the ocean themed restaurant "I would love if we got the chance to have the restaurant more quiet, but at this hour... these guys come to get drunk"

"I know exactly what you mean" I sighed "Want me to take care of it?"

"What?! N-No! It's okay! We can just go somewhere else!" Someone sent me a message. I read through it and smirked.

"You took me here first. It's not fair that we have to leave because some guys want to ruin the party" I took her hand and sat her at a table that was close to the view of the ocean and where the guys were chattering all loudly and drunkly "I don't think they'll be here long"

"I don't know... They're always here around this time. I totally forgot... with me being in the lighthouse most of the time, I forget the hours" we had ordered our drinks and I was recommended some food from Jasmine, so I took what she thought was good and sent the waiter off.

"I'm starving" I whined "My Pokémon had already ate, but I'm trying to get out of the habit of forgetting to eat" I started talking a bit louder now.

"Oh, that's not healthy at all. You should always eat, especially on a journey. Best way to do it is with your Pokémon!"

"Yeah, and I had thought to have dinner with you since you know" I peaked over at the sailors still chatting away "Eating better should be able to help my anxiety levels"

"Awe! You have anxiety?" I nervously laughed.

"Sometimes, but only at the moment. I try not to think randomly on my own or it won't be good for me, but you won't believe what happened back in the sea when I was heading back from Cianwood City!" The sailors quiet down when they heard that. Jasmine became confused, but went with it

"What happened?" She asked.

"I know I said I try to stop randomly thinking on my own, but when I did that on the way back, I had accidentally bit my lips. The captain of the boat had saw it and passed out" Jasmine gasped, and the sailors were as quiet as a Pichu.

"H-He passed out!? In those waters?!" Jasmine freaked out.

"Yeah... I didn't know how to drive a boat, so I left him there to wake up on his own. I tried waking him up, but nothing worked. I sat calmly with my Pokémon and the boat was moving sideways" Jasmine grew pale, and I felt the tension building behind us "We were heading towards a whirlpool"

"Oh no!" Jasmine put her hands on the table "how did you survive!?" I sighed.

"I got lucky that it went away on time before it carried us off. The captain woke up a bit after. I didn't tell him what happened because I didn't want to freak him out, even if he saw that I was" I sighed "It seems as if I think about something random, crazy things happen. I played it off by saying there was something in the water that looked like was about to eat us" I nervously laughed. The sailors behind us had walked out suddenly. Wow... I didn't think that would work.

The captain who drove me to shore had approached me. I didn't think he was part of the group... "Oh!" I stood up "H-Hey..." I got nervous "Y-You're here..." he looked really guilty "Y-You didn't hear what I just said, right?"

"Yes..." he looked down "I-I'm so sorry" he bowed to me "I'm sorry I put you through that!" I waved my hands. I couldn't even see him with the other sailors. They were all wearing the same uniform "Please, how can I make it up to you?!"

"W-Wait a minute! I didn't tell you the story because I honestly didn't want to freak you out!"

"Even so... I feel so bad" he dug in his pocket and bowed again, handing me something "here!"

"What's this?" He stood back up.

"It's a all way ticket to the S.S Aqua! It's under construction right now, but once it's finished, you can use this to get on the ship and travel from Johto to Kanto and back in specific days" he looked down again "I don't know if that makes up for what I did"

"P-Please!" I tried giving the ticket back, but he refused.

"Don't worry about it. It'll make me feel better if you take it" I frowned.

"It wasn't your fault! I was bleeding!"

"What? Is that really something you should be apologizing about?" he bit lips "I should had controlled my phobia until we were away from that whirlpool territory" he bowed "I better get going..." he waved "See you around" he left the building. I sat back down, shocked at what just happened.

"Valerie... Did you plan on that happening..?" Jasmine frowned.

"N-No! I told you the real story, and I didn't think that guy was here too! I was just trying to get those guys out of here and question the captain on my claims. Because I gave him a different story, he would deny it" I looked down "It backfired on me... I shouldn't have done that"

"I see what you were trying to do. You were okay with those guys calling you a lier. You wanted to scare them into finding that captain and..." she frowned "It was pretty reckless if you ask me, but it was smart" I looked back at her looking at the ocean "It's good that you told him the truth... that way he doesn't make the same mistake. I feel guilty as well for putting you through that" I waved my hands.

"W-Wait! What do you mean!? That was my choice! You didn't ask Ampharos to get sick. Listen, everything is fine. I should had thought through this prank... What I did wasn't intentional"

"I know" she patted my hand "You are very brave to tell a story that could had made you out as a lier"

"I don't care what people think of me. I didn't mean for that captain to feel bad. I didn't know he was there! I lied to him for a reason"

"Like I said before, it's good that you told the truth"

"But in front of everyone?" I frowned deeper.

"Tell you what, I'll take care of it. Okay?"

"I-I can't ask you to do that"

"We all make mistakes, Valerie. We learn from them, and that captain learned as well. What you did was a simple prank, but it was a good thing"

"I know what you're trying to do. I should had just avoided this whole thing and go to another restaurant"

"Maybe" Our food had finally arrived to our table "But things happen for a reason" I looked at the message Morty had sent me.

"I guess you're right" otherwise, Morty wouldn't have told me.

'Being honest is the best key, even if others think you're lying' there was more to the message I didn't bother reading 'The truth will keep a new problem from happening, and lies will keep the problem stable. What's better?' I'm not sure if he was asking me a question or giving me a fortune cookie.

"I'm sorry..." I sighed "I'm still a bit shaken up. I guess that's the reason why I did that"

"Our minds wander on their own if we don't take the time to take care of it. Learning that you are someone who forgets to eat and has anxiety sometimes, it's understandable. Do not push yourself. We have all the time in the world, and even if we don't, we must make decisions that make our lives meaningful and don't hold so much regret" she started eating "We might not know the true meaning of life, but living is a gift. Gifts are given to you because you either earn it or because you're blessed. It's up to you to decide what's your meaning in life" I stared at Jasmine's inspirational words and took them to heart. I smiled and felt myself tear up "Oh!" She frowned "What's the matter?"

"Nothing... Just what you said" I smiled "What you said was beautiful... How lucky am I to become friends with people who care about me enough to say things like that? I'm happy" She smiled "Thanks... I'm glad we're having dinner together" she giggled.

"I'm glad you're paying!" We laughed together and ate together in peace while watching the ocean waves crashing. It feels like a heavy load was removed from my chest. I feel bad for what I pulled before, but it's like Jasmine said, it was good to have said the truth, I just wish I didn't do what I just did. Either way, we've learned from our mistakes.

~~~~

So what had happened was very random. I didn't know where I was going with this, but I want to put a lot of meaningful quotes in this story. The way everyone learns and how people make mistakes is something we go through in our everyday lives. We say things that make us out as the bad guy, but at the end of the day, we are human who make mistakes and say things unintentionally. We learn from our mistakes and we grow