Episode 3, Don't Miss the Boat! (part 2)

Part 2 of the 3rd episode in my Fan Fiction about the Pokémon journey of Ash and Angie. Updated version with improved layout, with speech now clearly separated from narrative parts. Involves some MorpheusShipping (Ash and Angie liking each other) so if you don't like that idea, stop reading here. The rest, I hope you enjoy this fan-fiction.

Angie turned slowly towards Ash.

"I'll never get my Shinx back," she said to him.

"And it's all your fault!" Ash predicted her next line in his head as he closed his eyes, and held his arm above his head, to cushion the blow on his head he was expecting from her, but Angie didn't say anything and she did not hit him either. Ash lowered his arm, opened his eyes again and looked straight into Angie's face. "Was that a tear in the corner of her eye?" Ash thought. Before he could answer his own question Angie started crying uncontrollably and Ash wrapped his arm around her.

"We'll get your Shinx back." he said to her, "and Pikachu."

"But how?" Angie asked, still sobbing.

The answer came from an unexpected source. It was Brock!

"Are you guys okay down there?" Brock asked.

"Yeah, we're fine" Tracey answered, but Team Rocket got Angie's Shinx and Pikachu!"

"Uh oh, that is not so good!" Brock stated. "But first I will get you out off here."

He tied a rope around a tree close to the pit, so Ash, Angie and Tracey could climb out off it.

"Ash, you should send out Staravia to look for Team Rocket," Brock proposed.

"Good idea Brock!" Ash said, and he released his Bird Pokémon.

"Can you find Team Rocket for us?" Ash asked Staravia.

It nodded and with a look of determination on it's eyes, it flew up high.

"By the way, what are you doing here, Brock?" Angie asked.

"Well, your parents had some stuff they also thought you should take with you on your journey. Along with the usual extra clean underwear your mother insisted on bringing for you. So they asked me to go here and catch up with you, so I could give you those things."

Angie became even more red then when she blushed when Ash said something nice to her. "Mum, why do you manage to embarrass me when you're not even around..." she thought.

"Thanks," she said to Brock, with a soft voice.

"Starrrravia" it sounded from high above.

"Did you see them, Staravia?" Ash asked.

The Bird Pokémon flapped enthusiastically with it's wings, pointing in the direction where it had seen something.

"Okay, who forgot to fill the gas tank?" Jessie asked in her usual menacing voice.

"Don't look at me!" Meowth said irritated, "I supply the hardware but maintenance and stuff is not my task!"

"Oopsie," James said softly as both his companions turned their heads in his direction.

"James!!" Jessie shouted even more threatening.

"At home our butler takes care of these things for us, I guess I have gotten a bit used to that," James defended himself. "Do you see a butler around here!?" Jessie shouted, "well then do something so we can get up in the air again!"

"Hold it right there, Team Rocket! You are not going anywhere!" Ash yelled.

Staravia had indeed seen the villains from the sky, and had guided Ash and company there.

"And give me back my Shinx right now!" Angie yelled.

"Hahahahaha... " Jessie laughed disdainful, "in your dreams, little twerp! Go pick flowers with your twerp-boyfriend," Jessie sneered.

"Why... you!" Angie shouted, while running towards Jessie.

"Yanmega, do Sonic Boom!" Jessie commanded.

Angie was thrown back a few meters by the impact of that sudden attack and fell on the ground.

"Angie, are you okay!?" Ash yelled as he ran to her.

She was still a bit stunned by the blow, but she nodded, confirming she had no injuries.

"You're going to pay for that, Team Rocket!" Ash shouted. "Give us back our Pokemon or else!"

Jessie laughed even louder at that threat and sent out her Seviper while James released his Carnivine, that greeted it's trainer in the same affectionate manner as always... by eating James' head.

"Seviper, do Poison Sting!" Jessie commanded, "and Yanmega, do your Sonic Boom one more time!"

"Carnivine, Bullet Seed!" James ordered, after having freed himself from Carnivine's mouth.

Ash wanted to step forward, but the combination of attacks that hit the ground just before his feet, stopped him in his tracks, forcing him to hold his arm before his eyes to protect them from all the dust flying around. "It's no use," he thought, "we'll never get through this wall of attacks."

Then he heard Brock shout, "Crobat, come out and do Supersonic!"

The attack of the strong Bat Pokémon was very effective. Carnivine, Yanmega and Seviper were all confused, and started attacking each other. Jessie and James ordered their Pokemon back to their Poké Balls. "Now's my chance," Ash thought.

"Gliscor, I choose you! Do your X-Scissor on the cage with Pikachu and Shinx!"

With one blow the cage was opened, and Pikachu and Shinx jumped out.

"Oh no!" Jessie, James and Meowth screamed.

Ash was about to ask Pikachu to use Thunderbolt, when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Allow me," Angie said to him with a strange smile on her face. "I want to give Team Rocket a little souvenir."

"Go ahead," Ash replied while giving her a look of mutual understanding.

"Okay, Shinx, do Spark!" Angie said.

Jessie, James and Meowth were shocked when the little electric Pokémon made them shudder.

"Okay Ash, now it's your turn," Angie said.

"Gladly," Ash said to her with a devious smile. "Pikachu, do Thunderbolt! And give it all you got!"

"Uh oh!" Team Rocket yelled, as they were still trying to recover from the attack of Angie's Shinx.

Pikachu's lightning hit them with enormous power, and they flew up high in the air by the resulting explosion.

"Fine, now we have to deal with two of those electric menaces," James complained while flying higher and higher.

"It's not fair," Jessie muttered.

"At least we don't have to worry about empty gas tanks any more," Meowth remarked.

"And we're blasting off again..." the threesome said together.

"Good riddance!" Ash and Angie said simultaneously, while making their special handshake they invented during summer camp.

Then Shinx jumped in Angie's arms.

"I am so glad to have you back again," she said as she hugged her little friend lovingly

"Way to go, Brock!" Ash said, "I forgot how strong your Crobat is."

"Yeah, before I went looking for you, I contacted professor Oak in the Pokemon Center, and asked him to send it to me right away. I thought it might come on handy," Brock explained.

"Well, we're glad you did, right Ange?" Ash said.

She stopped hugging her Shinx, and nodded.

"Yes, thanks Brock!"

"Ah, don't mention it," Brock answered, a bit shy by all this sudden praise.

"Eh guys... " Tracey suddenly said, "I don't want to be rude, but the boat is about to leave."

Ash looked at his Poketch. "That was right, in 15 minutes the ship would set sail, and then it would possibly take weeks before we can take the next boat," it flashed through his mind. He quickly grabbed Angie's hand and started running, dragging here along.

"Come on guys! Hurry!" Ash yelled.

Huffing and puffing they arrived in the harbor. There was already smoke coming from the big funnels on top of the ship, and the sailors had almost finished loosening all the ropes that held the boat to the dock.

"Hey, wait for us!" Ash shouted.

But his voice was not strong enough to sound above the noise of the engines, and the horn that indicated the ship would leave any moment now. They started running again, but the boat already started moving. "We're never gonna make it!" Ash thought. But then something flashed through the sky, and the boat abruptly stopped moving.

"What was that!?" Ash said.

"No time to find out" Angie yelled, "this is our chance!" and this time she pulled Ash along while running towards the boat.

They saw sailors running around the decks, probably just as surprised as they were about what had happened. They were now but a few meters away from the boat.

"The sea... it is frozen!" They heard one of the sailors say to the captain.

And indeed, the water around the hull was frozen for several meters in every direction. "What could have caused this?" Ash wondered.

"Hey Ash! If that is the boat you were supposed to take, how come I don't see you on it yet?" he heard a well known voice say. It was Dawn!

"Did you... stop that boat?" Ash asked.

"Yeah I did, or rather, Buneary's Ice Beam did. I heard that you were leaving Sinnoh, and wanted to say goodbye. But when I didn't see you board the ship, and finally saw you running trying to catch it, I decided to help you a little"

"Gee, thanks, Dawn" Ash said, and Angie said something similar.

"Can we come along, mister?" Ash asked the captain.

"Sure, I'll ask my men to lower the boarding ramp again. We're not going anywhere for a while now," he said with disappointment in his voice. "It will take hours before that ice is gone..."

"I think can help you with that," Ash said as they boarded the ship. "Chimchar, I choose you!"

After a few well aimed Flamethrowers, the ice that had trapped the ship, was melted.

"Good job, Chimchar," Ash said as he made it return to it's Poké Ball.

"Goodbye, Ash! Take good care of yourself and Angie!" Dawn shouted.

"I will! Bye Dawn. You keep winning those contests!" Ash shouted back.

"Sure thing Ash!" Dawn replied.

"Good luck, thanks for getting us on this boat after all!" Angie yelled, as she was also waving at Dawn.

"All aboard!" a sailor shouted, but Tracey still hesitated to walk back across the boarding ramp to join Dawn at the docks.

"Why don't you come along with us?" Ash proposed, noticing Tracey's hesitation.

Angie looked up for a while. "On one hand I really just want to be with Ash and if Tracey comes along, I will have less time with Ash. But on the other hand, it would be safer to have someone else travel with us," Angie reasoned. Their encounter with the big Ariados on Route 228 had clearly proven that.

"I don't know if that is such a good idea. Shouldn't you ask Angie first what she thinks of this?" Tracey said, as if he had read Angie's mind.

"I'm okay with it, Ash," she said, "besides, it could come in handy to have someone else around to talk some sense into you, in case you don't listen to me," she teased him.

Tracey smiled, and quickly came on board again. The boarding ramp was retracted again, and the ship started to move for the second time.

"Bye Brock, don't chase after girls too much while we are gone!" Ash mocked.

"Look who's talking. Isn't that a girl next to you?" Brock said referring to Angie.

Ash blushed a little as he looked aside, straight in Angie's eyes.

"Point taken," he said while waving back to Brock.

As the boat started to pick up speed, the two waving figures on the docks became smaller and smaller, until they were to far away to see them wave any more.

"Now, let's see if they still have a cabin for you, Tracey," Ash remarked, "unless you want to sleep on the deck."

But since the boat had departed days later than originally planned, there were no more cabins free. Luckily, the crew did manage to arrange an extra bed, which was placed in Ash's room. Tracey would share a room it with him and Angie took the other room. After putting their belongings away in the cabins, and freshening up, they went to the restaurant, to fill their hungry stomachs.

"You want to go for a little stroll on deck?" Angie asked after they had finished eating.

"Yeah, I'd like that," Ash said.

"You're coming along too, Tracey?" Angie asked.

"Nah, you two go ahead. I have some drawings to finish. Maybe I'll catch up with you later," Tracey lied, since he only said it to give Ash and Angie some time together.

He was glad with the invitation to join Ash and Angie on their journey, since he was just as anxious as them to see the new Pokémon they might encounter in the new region, but didn't want to intrude. As Ash and Angie walked along the deck, their hands brushed along each other several times until Ash took Angie's hand, and they walked towards the stern of the ship together. The sun was slowly setting and seemed to disappear under the water surface.

"Can we sit down here for a while?" she asked Ash.

"Fine with me, it sure is a nice view, right Ange?" he said.

She nodded as she looked dreamily in his eyes, and they sat down on one of the benches. "It wasn't the same view as from that hills on Route 225, but it was still pretty good. Pretty good indeed," Angie thought, as she laid down her head on Ash's shoulder.

Ash smiled as they sat there. "We may fight sometimes, but she can be so sweet also," he thought. He put his arm around her waist and she relaxed even more. They never noticed that someone else was watching them silently. Tracey had come outside to say goodnight, but as he saw how cozy Ash and Angie sat there, he did not have the heart to disturb this moment. Instead he quietly made a quick sketch of the young couple.

"I will finish it later, and then give it to them," Tracey thought. "Who would have ever imagined that Ash could be so romantic. He used to think about nothing but gym battles, and getting stronger. That Angie really got through to him." Then he quietly went inside again, leaving Ash and Angie alone with the beautiful sunset, and the love that was slowly but clearly growing between them..

My fifth fan-fiction story and the first one to feature Team Rocket. I apologize for any typing errors, or grammatically not 100% correct sentences. Remember, I am not a native English speaker or writer. I tried to make this story as close to the Pokémon series as possible, so that the characters will react roughly the same in this fictional story as they do in the series. Comments are always welcome, you can use the review function on this FanFiction site for that.

Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own any trademarks of Pokémon. Any similarities to the works of others is purely accidental, and not meant as an infringement on anyone's achievements.