The ferry ride was chaos.

The remnants of the ruined Beta Ferry had been cobbled together with glue and prayers, and the glue was not waterproof. The engine had been replaced with a weird alchemy station that seemed to be pumping green liquid into the front part of the boat, and then pushing an equal amount of yellow liquid back into the tank that now sat where the engine should have been. Big Bee failed to see how this new feature could have any impact on the efficiency of the boat.

And the engine wasn't the only thing that had been replaced! The ferry was actually packed with new features! For example, there was now an Onix instead of the back of the boat, and instead of the usual plastic ferry seating there was a giant crank attached to a series of Klink that apparently controlled the rudder? It was a massive mess, but just like Hydance it WORKED.

Big Bee didn't know whether it was magic, cheating, or just optimistic physics programming, but the boat even seemed faster than it had been before.

As they skidded over the waves and closer to the shore, he kept an eye out for Taka. "If you see him, ugh, shout out, ugh," he said, grunting with each pull of the giant crank.

"See who?" asked Orange the Blaziken.

"Taka! Ugh, he's the whole reason we're, ugh, back here! We've gotta, ugh, find him!"

Big Bee pulled his head out of the sand. He was soaked, and pissed. "Taka! This is...well not unlike you, but more just a step up from biting. And I'm not sure I like it! I think that duck is a bad influence on you!"

The Quaxly on Taka's shoulder snickered. It was like a devil on his shoulder, corrupting Big Bee's precious starter. Well maybe what he needed was an angel on the other shoulder.

"Orange!"

"Yeah?" Orange was standing nearby, kicking a rock again and again, quickly reducing it to a pile of beach dust.

"Take out Taka!"

"I thought you'd never ask."

Orange moved with the speed of a slighted falcon. One second she was shin-deep in a stone, the next he had both feet planted on the sunning stone and was hauling Blastoise backwards. "STOP BEING AN ASSHOLE! WE'RE GOING BACK TO THE MAINLAND!"

Quaxly squarked in alarm, and sprayed Orange with water, but the Blaziken lashed out with a bicycle kick that sent the duck soaring through the air as if he'd just become a Wingull. "LET'S GO!" Orange shouted, dragging Blastoise backwards one step at a time.

"F-f-f-fish!" Taka groaned. The first word Big Bee had heard from him since they landed. That single groan removed any doubt remaining in Big Bee that this was HIS Taka. The beast gagged and struggled as Blaziken pulled him over to Big Bee, who tried in vain to wrap his fully-grown starter in a hug. "I missed you bud."