Disclaimer: No ownership of Pokémon and The Little Mermaid.

The Little Mermaid: Melody of the Trainer

Chapter 1: Sea Something New

A castle on the edge of shore. A pristine castle overlooked the ocean. The sun began to rise to the sky, nary a cloud. A small red crab surfaced and perched himself on a rock protruding from the ocean. He gazed to the castle. "Good morning, Sebastian!" someone called from above. "How's grandpa doing?!" Looking up, the crab saw a seagull flying overhead.

"Scuttle, up as usual at dis time?" the crab replied with a Jamaican accent. "Let me be clear, birdbrain! King Triton is not my grandpa!"

"Ah, don't sweat the details, Sebastian. Besides, now that the wall between the two worlds is destroyed, Ariel will be more than happy to speak to her dad."

"Yes, one positive ting since Morgana's revenge on us." As the two continued to bark about their statuses, the sun hit a bedroom where a raven-haired girl slept until the sun's rays struck her face. She feigned the sunshine but the rays won.

"Forgot to close the curtains…" she yawned as she sat up from her bed. The blanket started rolling away from her, exposing a cream-colored pantalettes and camisole. She rolled out of bed and opened the windows to breathe in the sea air. Coming out of the sea from her view was a large and aged man wearing a gold crown. His shining gray hair and beard didn't disguise his muscular build. He also had dark blue fins from the waist down.

"Good morning, Melody!" the merman greeted.

"Good morning, grandpa!" the girl greeted. "You're up bright and early."

"Well, I came to see how you're doing. After all, you're the one who destroyed the wall between the humans and merfolk." Melody giggled to the decision.

"Grandpa!" Melody left her room in the castle, the grandfather believing she'd be coming outside to further discuss matters. Melody wandered through the castle and found the kitchen. Inside was a middle-aged man wearing a puffy white chef's hat. He wore a yellow shirt with a bow-tie in front. Hearing the prattle of bare feet, he turned to see Melody entering.

"Bonjour, mademoiselle Melody," he greeted with a French accent from his pencil thin but long mustache.

"Good morning, Louis," she returned. "Did you get started with breakfast?" Louis laughed to Melody's question.

"Mais oui! It may take a little while before le preparations are fini."

"Okay!" Melody began to walk some more when a gray sheepdog rush at and around Melody. Joyed, Melody laughed while she messed with its fur. "Morning to you too, Max! Who's a good boy!?" Max barked happily before slobbering Melody with many licks as a raven-haired man emerged, He wore a white button-down shirt and slacks.

"There's my princess!" he greeted. Melody turned to the man.

"Morning, Dad," she greeted. "You doing okay?"

"We're good. You're the one mom and I have concern for." Melody laughed nervously to the comment.

"Dad, come on… I… may take a little bit after Mom." The father chuckled before an old but slim man found the two. He had gray hair tied in a ponytail,

"King Eric," he called. "Melody…" The father and daughter turned to the old man.

"Grimsby," he replied. "I figured you to be up about now."

"Come now, Eric," Grimsby scoffed. "There have been proposals presented to you about the new trade deals with other kingdoms in referring to your alliance with Atlantica." Eric sighed to the topic.

"Didn't take long for news to reach other places after Morgana's attacks," he muttered. Melody shrugged her shoulders. She and Max exited the kingdom to which they circled around the massive structure.

"I guess you wanted to meet my seafaring friends before we ate, huh?" she asked. Max barked happily as they reached the shore. Suddenly, she looked up, finding Scuttle descending, she waived him down.

"Melody!" he cawed. Looking up, the two eyed each other.

"Scuttle, good morning," she greeted. "I take it you had your breakfast?" Scuttle blinked, looking befuddled.

"I haven't been needing anything so, uh… " Sebastian and a penguin emerged from the ocean to see the princess.

"Top of the morning to you, Melody," the crab cheered. "Heard King Triton came by to see you." Melody's head spun to Sebastian with a smile.

"He did, Sebastian," she confirmed. "Just wondering about my health after Morgana's revenge. And it's nice to see you too, Tip."

"Likewise, Princess Melody," the penguin cawed. "And I can see you're wearing the locket the king gave you after your birth." Melody pulled out a gold seashell-like locket.

"Being part mermaid, I'm glad to know about where my mom came from and why I have this gift." As they admired the locket, a rotund yellow tropical fish with blue stripes and mohawk-like blue fin emerged.

"Guys, we've got a situation!" he gulped. "I may have found the biggest seahorse in existence!" Everyone, including Scuttle, began to wonder about the tropical fish's discovery.

"Flounder, my boy," Sebastian scoffed. "Even if you found a seahorse, it can be any bigger than… oh, yours truly." Scuttle's beak watered.

"Whoa, Flounder!" he cawed. "Bring it up so that I may feast on it!" Melody heard Scuttle and clamped his beak with her hand.

"Not so fast, Scuttle," she murmured. She released her grip where Scuttle rubbed his beak to straighten it. "Can you bring up this seahorse?" Flounder nodded before coaxing a large blue seahorse to surface with a tube-shaped mouth. Everyone gasped and awed the discovery. Melody focused on the seahorse. "It's okay. I won't let Scuttle or Tip hurt you. I promise." The seahorse hesitantly swam to Melody who picked it up. "There you go… I know that seeing all these other creatures kinda made you nervous." The seahorse sighed, flustered to the discovery.

"I've got a question, and I think it I speak for everyone," Flounder spoke up. "Where did this giant seahorse come from?" Scuttle didn't mind the seahorse's origin.

"Who cares!" he cawed. "It's breakfast time!" The seahorse saw the charging seagull and shot a blotch of ink that nailed Scuttle in the eyes. Blinded, Scuttle crashed into the rocks before entering the ocean. The rest awed the seahorse's defense.

"Dat's not a seahorse to mess with," Sebastian gulped.

"No kidding," Tip beaked. Melody began to wonder more.

"I know I should get ready for breakfast," she weighed. "But I wanna return this seahorse back home." The seahorse seemed eager to go back from the way it came.

"Melody, wait a mon!" croaked Sebastian. "What about Ari- I mean, your mama! And don't you need to have breakfast?!"

"I'll be back before long," Melody assured. "I know how long it takes Louis to cook." As Melody took the seahorse, Tip trusted her word.

"She's known the ins and outs of that castle," he sighed. "She'll be back." A short while later, Melody and the seahorse came to a new part of the shore. The seahorse hummed about the spot.

"You came around here?" she asked. The seahorse nodded before Melody placed it in the ocean water. "Go on ahead. I'll follow you." The seahorse seemed befuddled with Melody's request. "I've been swimming since I was born and can hold my breath for a long time." The seahorse wanted to agree and led Melody into the ocean where she began her swim. She followed the seahorse into a cavern. A minute into the swim, the two surfaced. Melody climbed a small wall and hoisted herself up. "This can't be where you're from." She picked the seahorse from the water and walked through the dark tunnel with water churning while only being up to her ankles. "I see… you entered here and the water carried you from your home to mine." The seahorse sighed. "Kinda wished I brought my bag along." She found another hole to where the seahorse hummed. "So, you came through this?" A hum later with a deep breath had the two crawling through the walls underwater. It took another minute before the two found light. Resurfacing, Melody took a deep breath. The seahorse made flight by rushing through the water and out the hole with impressive air time. That's when she heard cheering. She crawled out of the cave to find a lot of kids and various creatures in boats and ferries. Blue turtles that had red shells, goldfishes with flowing tails, living coral reefs, mantas… "Wow! So many seafaring creatures!" She also saw a ferry where she spotted a raven-haired young man in a red baseball cap. He wore a sleeveless blue sweat-tee and denim trousers. On his shoulder was a yellow mouse with a lightning bolt for a tail. Melody skirt behind the wall of the cave. 'Who… is that? He looks cute… and that mouse with the pointy ears...' The young man was with five other young people, one holding an armless blue round mouse with a zigzag tail attached to a ball.

"Misty, this festival knows how to bring out a lot of trainers and Water Pokémon," the young man laughed.

"I know, Ash," the redhead replied. She held the armless mouse while her hair was in a ponytail and wearing a yellow sleeveless t-shirt with matching shorts. "You get to appreciate other trainers and owners who've wanted to share their secrets in raising their Water Pokémon. You and May could learn a few things from them." A brunette young woman gawked to the redhead's words. She wore a red bandanna and tight red t-shirt and biker shorts. She then itched her head.

"Well, considering I acquired Squirtle from Professor Oak, I guess so," she shyly agreed. The mouse hopped off Ash's shoulder to peer at the Pokémon swimming as well as seagulls with large heads and hardly a neck, and pelicans with no necks as well.

"Pikachu's excited to see all of the Water Pokémon," another young raven-haired man noted. He wore a green t-shirt and reddish-brown shorts while sporting a salmon-colored headband. Pikachu saw the cave and Melody who ducked down a little. She slowly appeared as Pikachu looked elsewhere.

"Let me see if I can meet him," she wished. She dove into the water and swam to the ferry. The seahorse joined her when she heard a growl. Turning, the two saw a dark blue shark with no tail and four fins around the body while a yellow X was on its forehead. It swam right at Melody who screamed. Pikachu squeaked to the rest and Ash was the first to respond.

"What is it, Pikachu?" he asked. Seeing Melody and the seahorse chased, Ash gulped as the rest saw.

"A Sharpedo!" a raven-haired boy in glasses gasped. He wore a green t-shirt and dark shorts.

"And it's going after that girl and the Horsea!" the redhead alerted. Without a second to think, Ash leaped from the rail of the ferry into the water with a red/white ball in hand.

"I choose you, Kingler!" he called out. The ball opened to reveal a giant red crustacean with fangs and spikes on the head for the crown. It also had two pincers, one twice as big as the other. Hitting the water, the crustacean swam fast to catch up to Melody and Horsea. Within reach, Ash grabbed and pulled Melody out of Sharpedo's path. "Gotcha!" Horsea swam behind the crustacean. Sharpedo turned around and chased the crustacean.

"It's coming back!" she called out. Ash nodded before issuing a command.

"Kingler, use Crab Hammer!" he decided. Kingler spun before connecting an uppercut with a glowing pincer. Sharpedo flew into the air. Ash decided to end the mayhem. "Pikachu, it's out of the water. Nail it with Thunderbolt!" Pikachu leaped from the railing and emitted a blast of electricity, zapping the attacking Pokémon. Sharpedo fell into the water, charred from the shock. It surfaced and swam away.

"That scared Sharpedo away," a brunette young man cheered. The tanned young man with squinted eyes wore a brown jacket and slacks. His hair was like spikes. Pikachu landed back on the ferry as Ash nodded to the eviction.

"Good thing Pikachu saw you in time," Ash sighed. "Let's get back to the ferry. Kingler?" Obeying, Kingler swam back to the ferry as Melody got a closer look at the boy who rescued her.

'That cute face, the zigzags under his eyes, the way he chased that shark away,' she listed in her head. 'I think I'm already falling for him. I mean, he looks like Dad a little. I wonder if Mom felt like what I'm going through right now?' Ash and Melody rode Kingler back to the ship while Melody's cheeks began to blush. Little does Ash know who he rescued.

TO BE CONTINUED...