Hi guys! Sorry for the late update, I've been trying to get you guys a chapter out once a week, but this one took 2 weeks. On the upside, it's almost 4 times longer than the last chapter! :D Anyways, here the ages of the characters in this chapter:

Ash - 15

Brock - 18

Dawn - 12

New Girl (who's name shall be revealed at the end of the chapter) - 15

Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not Pokémon or any of the characters in this story.

Chapter 3 - Early Morning Endeavors

The morning sun peeked above the ocean line, winking brightly, reflecting a cheerful aura on the waking passengers of the S. S. Pokémon. A beam of sunlight took advantage of a break in the clouds, and shot down, hitting Ash Ketchum's face with full force. Immediately, Ash eyes scrunched up as he gritted his teeth, pulling his covers as far up as he could, shading his eyes from the bright behemoth.

The clouds were feeling particularly nasty, so as the rearranged themselves, the beam of sunlight moved itself down, hitting Pikachu like a slap in the face. Subconsciously, Pikachu grabbed and reach for something to cover its eyes. There had to be something! Sparks jumped across Pikachu's cheeks, as if warning the sun. It seemed the sun heeded Pikachu's warning, using a giant cumulus to hide its face. But then again, the sun wasn't one to take orders from a lowly Pikachu. A gust of wind was summoned, banishing the clouds from the sun's presence. It took its aim, and shot down with full force onto the tiny Pokémon's face.

Pikachu had had enough of the sun; without opening its eyes, Pikachu released a powerful Thunderbolt, attacking the sun and its rays as if it were a Pokémon. The electricity bounced of the walls, frying everything in the room from the clothes, to the chairs, to Ash and Brock. The shock was like, well, it was like a Thunderbolt from a Pikachu in the middle of a peaceful slumber. The boys roared with a combination of anger, fear, and surprise, waking up their next-door occupant, Dawn. She flung open the door connecting the two rooms, one hand gripping a Poké Ball, the other furiously rubbing her eyes. Her sapphire hair never agreed with her, and this was no exception.

"Wh-wha-wha," Dawn struggled to complete her sentence as a loud yawn forced itself through her lips. Dawn continued to rub her eyes, attempting to wake them up. Piplup walked into the room, also rubbing its eyes. It quickly scanned the room with its now fully awake eyes, and allowed itself to giggle. Pikachu would never learn; regardless, just to be a combination of help and a nuisance, Piplup shot a very light jet of water into Dawn's face. The poor girl gurgled and spluttered as Piplup's Water Gun attack and her completely soaked. As soon as Piplup finished, Dawn instantly became enraged with her tiny blue penguin.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR PIPLUP?" she screeched at it with blind rage. Now not only was she soaked from head to toe, but her hair was completely drenched! This was going to take forever to fix! Piplup was caught by surprise by its trainer's harsh reaction, and quickly ran back into their room, slamming and locking Dawn out. Dawn slowly transformed into a teapot as her face became a deadly crimson red and steam billowed from her ears.

"PIPLUP, YOU OPEN THIS DOOR IMMEDIATELY!" Piplup replied to Dawn, telling her it wouldn't open the door until Dawn calmed down. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'NOT UNTIL I CALM DOWN'? PIPLUP, YOU ARE SO DEAD WHEN I GET IN THERE, I'M GONNA TURN YOU INTO PENGUIN FLAMBÉ!"

"Dawn, look at it this way, you got your bath in early," chuckled Ash as he and Brock slowly recovered from their abrupt sleep, Pikachu furiously apologizing to both. Dawn snapped her neck towards Ash, giving him a leer that could've contested against a Gyarados'. Ash shrank back under his covers like a Diglett, deciding he'd better hide until the storm had passed. Brock, being much smarter than Ash, pretended to stay asleep throughout this whole ordeal. His teeth remained tightly clenched, as if bracing himself for a deadly rage attack from the Gyarados that looked like Dawn in their room.

From inside her room, she heard the click of a Poké Ball, the release of white energy, and Piplup hurriedly whispering something to whichever Pokémon it had released. The next thing she knew, Togekiss had tiptoed into the room, with Piplup under its wing like a caring mother. Before Dawn had a chance to speak, locked eyes with Dawn and became surrounded by a thin white aura, which had now enveloped Dawn as well. Togekiss' Charm attack began to calm Dawn down. She felt the rage inside of her go out like water dousing out the fire.

Dawn had calmed down, but remained slightly irritated with Piplup still. She walked back into her room, and locked the door behind her, leaving Togekiss and Piplup in the boys' room. Togekiss released a yawn, and snuggled itself and Piplup onto the now unoccupied bed of Ash Ketchum, who had quickly gotten himself into the bathroom before Brock claimed it.

Ash would never tell her, but he hated it when Dawn used Togekiss. Togekiss was the evolution of Togetic, which was the evolution of Togepi. They always reminded Ash of…her. And it made him feel terrible for leaving her alone at the Cerulean gym. But it was her decision; she had wanted to stay. She should've known that she could have come back to travel with him and Pikachu and Brock anytime. But Ash knew he couldn't be angry with her; after all, her birthday was coming up soon. He felt the angry wrinkles previously formed in his features slowly soften, and then stretch into a slightly excited expression. In fact, if he had been counting right, they should be docking this evening. Which meant 17 days left until her birthday. Perfect.

Ash took a quick peak at himself in the bathroom mirror; his raven hair remained impossibly disheveled, and he knew it would forever stay like that. A white t-shirt hugged his body snuggly, his very lightly toned chest and abs nearly showing through. Ash was sporting his favorite pair of boxers, black with a pattern of Pikachu expressions etched across them. Ash quickly stripped down, and walked into the shower. The water ran across his body, each droplet racing to reach the pool of water surrounding his feet, and into the drainage. He soaked his hair, and continued his shower while going over his birthday plan once more in his head. It was pretty simple, but he knew Misty would love it.

Brock decided to was safe to get out of bed now; he walked over to the window and ruffled his sienna hair, spiking in every other direction. The ocean looked gorgeous, reflecting the bright rays of the sun. It reminded him of their previous traveling partner Misty, whom they were going to see. Ash wouldn't admit it, but Brock knew that was the main reason Ash had wanted to return so badly to Kanto. He missed her, and wanted to show that by giving her the best 16th birthday she could ever wish for. He smiled to himself, thinking how incredibly and impossibly dense his friend was. Ah well, time fixes everything.

Dawn stepped into her shower, washing away the remaining annoyance built up inside of her. She didn't know why she had gotten so angry with Piplup; it never happened before. For some reason, she just snapped. For some reason, the water caused her to become upset, and just snap. Oh well, she thought. She'd make today a good day, and make it up to Piplup. She was thankful that it was smart enough to get Togekiss out; Togekiss could diffuse any situation in seconds. She loved it dearly; for some reason, however, Ash seemed to become the slightest bit irritated whenever she used Togekiss. She had once asked him about this, but he gave her a huge smile, and told her it was nothing, and then continued to run over to Togekiss and hug it. She couldn't help but notice that the hug seemed to be given gingerly, and was not as full and complete as the one Togekiss returned. No matter, it's no big deal I'm sure she thought.

No more than ten minutes later, as Dawn had just pulled on her outfit, an enormous explosion erupted and echoed throughout the hallways, followed by ear-splitting screams and chaotic roars! She quickly ran over to the boys' room to return Togekiss and grab Piplup, and make sure the boys were ok. Brock was nowhere to be seen, and Ash had emerged from the bathroom, steaming and towel hastily wrapped around his waist.

"What was that?" asked the dumb-founded teen. Dawn replied with a shrug, and quickly returned Togekiss as Piplup jumped a top her head. "I'll meet you at the front deck in 5 minutes" Ash yelled as Dawn quickly exited the room with a wave of acknowledgement. Ash quickly threw on his outfit, grabbed his Poké Balls, and ushered Pikachu to his shoulder. He sprinted down the hallways, past screaming people hugging each other in fear and ushering children into locked rooms, and reached the deck. A few people were sprawled across the deck, while others were running away from the front of the ship. Ash spotted a Togekiss and Chansey ushering people back towards the other end of the shape, as a Mamoswine carefully lifted the sprawled humans on the floor and carried them to safety for Chansey and Togekiss to heal. He spotted Dawn and Brock glaring towards eight shadowed figures. They must have been the cause of the explosion.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Ash roared at the unexpected and unwelcome visitors.

A woman with a raspy voice spoke up. "Cassidy, I thought you said these twerps knew you?"

"As did I, Caroline. I suppose they still haven't learned," another women replied.

"Cassidy? That means-"

"Prepare for trouble, you got that right!" shouted four of the members, clearly male.

"And make it double!" replied the remaining four members, clearly female.

"To infect the world with devastation!"

"To blight all people's in every nation!"

"To denounce the goodness of truth and love!"

"To extend our wrath to the stars above!"

"Cassidy!" "Caroline!" "Veronica!" "Julie!"

"Butch!" "Adrian!" "Neil!" "Trevor!"

"We're Team Rocket, circling Earth all day and night!"

"Surrender to us now, or you'll surely lose the fight, fight, fight!"

"Team Rocket!" roared the three teens. They couldn't believe; how could they possibly find them, every single time? Ash and Brock were well past irritated or frustrated. They were flat out furious.

"We've been assigned to-" began a boastful, big-headed Butch.

"Yeah, yeah, we know you're here to steal Pikachu Barry!" Dawn interrupted, thinking of the first name that began with B other than Butch, knowing how much it got on his nerves.

Butch squeezed his eyes shut. His teeth slammed together, gritting and grinding away at each other. A vein on his head stuck out, pulsating with rage. His blood boiled whenever somebody called him the wrong name; he absolutely despised it. How dim-witted were people? Professor Oak himself had gotten it wrong at least two or three times, and he was supposed to be a world-renown genius! But he couldn't show those brats that it had gotten to him; he would just have to live through it, at least for today…

"Actually, we're here to-" continued a cautious, combative Cassidy.

"To be honest, we don't really care. Why don't you take Bart and the rest of your cronies and just leave, saving all of us loads of time and energy?" snarled Brock, clearly tired of Team Rocket's old antics.

Butch crossed his arms, digging his gloved nails into his elbows, forcing his mouth shut. I swear, if those brats think they can just say whatever they wanted, and get away with it…

This action was not to go unnoticed by Ash. He remembered how flustered and frustrated Butch could get, so he continued to toy with him. One more name should crack him wide open…

"Brock's right. Now get out of here Cassidy and Bryce-"

He snapped. "THAT. IS. IT. THE NAME IS BUTCH. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU KIDS, ARE YOU REALLY THAT STUPID? I WILL PERSONALLY GET RID OF ALL OF YOU!" Like a twig.

Ash, Brock, and Dawn all swapped satisfied smiles. It felt good to get under Team Rocket's skin.

"We're actually here to kidnap all of you, and take you somewhere. Not just that weak Pikachu." Pikachu's cheeks flared with electricity at the insult, preparing itself if Ash told him to attack. Cassidy continued. "We want a battle. If you lose to us, you come with us. If you win, we will leave, and we can personally guarantee you shall never see us again." All eight members seemed to slightly shudder at that final comment.

"We accept!" yelled the three trainers, itching for a good butt kicking.

"Good, this will be a 2-on-2 double battle. Julie, Trevor, Veronica and myself shall take these two," a previously named Neil gestured at Dawn and Brock. "And Cassidy, Butch, Caroline, and Adrian will take on the last kid."

Dawn and Brock each pulled out a Poké Ball, while Ash instinctively put his hands on two of his own, decided he'd better let Pikachu rest for now.

"4 against 1? That's not too fair. How about a try and even things up, eh?" challenged a determined voice from behind Ash. Surprised, he turned to his left and faced a girl, no older than he was, with a determined look on her face. She had blonde hair, tied back into a ponytail. She sported a thin, purple hoodie, halfway zipped up. Under it, Ash spotted a blue tank top, and she wore jean capris', complete with matching purple sneakers. She was holding a green Poké Ball Ash recognized as a Friend Ball. She turned to Ash, and gave him a wink. Her eyes gave him a quick elevator, as they locked onto Pikachu. "A Pikachu? Is that yours?" she asked Ash. Ash slowly nodded, still slightly confused at what had just happened. "Pika, come on out!" the blonde yelled to a sports bag strapped across her shoulders. A yellow ear poked out, as if testing the air. A head emerged from the bag, and the rest of the tiny yellow Pokémon climbed atop the girls head.

"Pika, Pikachu!" cried the tiny mouse. Brock noticed that this Pikachu looked nearly identical to Ash's Pikachu, except for the fact that it had a tiny notch in the middle of its tail. That meant that this was a girl Pikachu. Brock glanced over at Pikachu. Yup, he knew it; Pikachu's eyes had slowly glossed over as it stared at the female Pikachu. He chuckled to himself. This should be interesting.

Ash took a second to think about why she changed Pokémon. Did she think her Pikachu was better than his or something? Who did she think she was? Did she want him to use his Pikachu too? Wait a second...a double battle using two Pikachu's? That would be awesome! Ash's face cracked in a grin. "Let's go Pikachu!"

The two Pikachu's bounded together into the field. Ash's still seemed slightly distracted, though Ash failed to notice.

"Meet our Pokémon!" yelled Caroline and Adrian together, releasing a black Poké Ball from their grasp. It was pitch-black, except for the red Rocket 'R' on the top. A bright light shot to the middle, materializing the energy into the form of a Pokémon; a Beautifly! But this Beautifly looked…different. It retained the normal color of a Beautifly, but with a dark hue. It looked…evil. It's eyes, instead of their traditional periwinkle, they burned a deep crimson, radiating with evil almost. Ash knew Team Rocket had tampered with this Beautifly somehow, and he knew he had to help it in whichever way he could. If their first Pokémon was Beautifly, and if he knew Team Rocket, then Cassidy and Butch's Pokémon would be a…

"Go Dustox, it's time we put these kids back in their place!" Whatever Team Rocket had done to Beautifly, they had also done to this Dustox. Its body emitted a dark aura, and its eyes matched the coloring of the rings on its wings.

"Alright Pika, let's start this battle off with a Thundershock! Aim for that Beautifly!" The girl's Pikachu's eyes narrowed in concentration, and released a bolt of electricity straight towards the butterfly Pokémon.

Adrian chuckled. "Dodge it Beautifly, and counter with Silver Wind." The Beautifly dodged with ease, and released a silver powder from its wings. Narrowing its eyes, it flapped its wings, creating a tornado of silver and sparkles.

"Pikachu, stop Beautifly with Iron Tail!" Ash commanded. He had to help protect this girl's Pikachu. Pikachu looked more than determined; almost angry. It sprinted towards the Beautifly, and front flipped, to launch a devastating Iron Tail.

"Pikaaaa!" Pikachu screamed in pain. It had run head first into some kind of invisible wall!

"Pikachu!" Ash couldn't figure out what happened. He heard Cassidy snickering, and took a peak at Dustox. That's it! It must have used its Light Screen! Without Pikachu to help, Pika was hit with Silver Wind, full blast. The poor Pokémon was lifted off its feet, trapped in a flurry of destructive Silver Wing.

"Dustox/Beautifly, use Whirlwind!" yelled the four Rocket members, simultaneously. The two bug Pokémon hovered with their backs against each other, and spun around with impossible speed. They created a slight draft, and continued to increase the wind's power and flying in a circular motion. Once again, a huge twister appeared on board the ship. This time, both Pikachu's were lifted off their feet and thrown against the floorboards.

Ash gritted his teeth. These two Pokémon were impossibly strong; how was this possible?

"Cassidy dear, wouldn't you agree battling one Pikachu is much easier than battling two?" Caroline asked, cocking her head to her female companion.

"Oh dear Caroline, what a splendid idea!" cheered Cassidy, clapping her hands together with delight.

"Dustox/Beautifly, use Bug Buzz on the girl's Pikachu!" The two bug Pokémon narrowed their eyes, and shouted menacingly. A white line emitted from their cores, slowly growing bigger. Each of them flapped their wings three times, each time releasing a wave of white energy! If this hit, Pika was finished!

Pikachu heard Team Rocket call their attack. He couldn't wait for Ash to call an attack; that female Pikachu was in danger! Pikachu closed its eyes and focused its energy on bringing out its hidden ability: Static. Pikachu immediately began glowing with a thin yellow coating and sparks crackled over its body. Pikachu was thrilled! It turned towards the incoming double-Bug Buzz attack; it began to slowly run at them, and immediately jumped into a sprint.

It took Ash a second, but he finally realized what Pikachu was doing. It was combining its Static ability with a Volt Tackle! "Go ahead Pikachu, Volt Tackle, full speed ahead!" Pikachu become no more than a yellow blur, zooming straight into the waves of yellow energy. The double-Bug Buzz attack exploded in a dazzling rain, and Pikachu continued to zoom straight on through. It hit Beautifly and Dustox head on, KO'ing both. They both fell to the ground in a crumpled heap of static electricity and pain. Pikachu grinned triumphantly! It had saved the female Pikachu, there's no way she couldn't like him now! It jus- Pikachu crumpled to the ground, exhausted and out of energy. Ash ran over to his long-time best friend, cradling him in his arms. He walked over the girl, who had now taken possession of her own Pikachu.

"Is Pika ok?" Ash asked, with genuine concern. He looked the Pikachu over, it had lots of bruises and cuts, but he guessed it'd be ok.

"Mhm, Pika will be just fine! How about Pikachu? That was awfully brave of him to attack and save Pika!" exclaimed the girl, absolutely giddy! Her little Pika whispered a tiny "Pika", which Ash and the girl took to be a thank you to Pikachu. Pikachu blushed furiously, and rubbed the back of its neck, chatting with Pika in their language.

Ash turned towards Team Rocket to give them a piece of his mind; who did they think they were? But he did not expect to see what he saw; the four members were glowing purple, and seemed to be in pain. They flailed and shook, sobbing tears, and begging nobody in particular to spare them. Ash almost felt bad for them.

"Wha-what's going on you guys?" Team Rocket didn't seem to hear him; instead, a white bracelet he hadn't noticed before dropped from each of their left wrists. It fell to the floor, expanding into a large circle. Each member stood, pained, in each of their respective circles. A beam of light emitted from the center, eventually enveloping each member so they were no longer visible to anyone. With a final blood-curling shriek, the four members disappeared. The Poké Balls remained on the ground; Ash picked them up and inspected them carefully. He'd have to show these to Professor Oak, but in the mean time, he decided to place them carefully into his bag. He turned to see the girl cradling both Pikachu's in her arms, whispering softly to them. He walked over, and she happily returned his own Pikachu to his arms. Suddenly, a thought occurred to Ash; Brock and Dawn!

He turned to see them with stunned expressions, Croagunk and Quilava heaving with exhaustion and supporting one another. He noticed that their opponents were nowhere to be seen, and two Poké Balls remained on the ground. Ash walked over and picked them up. He turned them in his hands, and noticed something on the bottom he hadn't noticed before: a letter! 'B'. He looked under the other one; a silver 'A' was embedded in this one. He took the two Poké Balls from his bag; they also had a silver letter under them: 'C' and 'D'. Ash placed all four balls into his bag, making a mental note to point out the letters to Professor Oak. Ash checked to make sure Brock and Dawn were ok as they recalled their tired Pokémon to their Poké Balls.

"And who's this?" Brock gestured towards the blonde girl with the ponytail.

"Oh, I never introduced myself, how silly of me!" The girl giggled, her ponytail bouncing slightly. She grabbed Ash's hand, shaking it. "It's nice to meet you! My name is April!"

How'd ya guys like it? If you guys want to suggest some "evil-looking" Pokémon to include in later chapters, let me know in a review! Also, did you guys enjoy reading a battle? I personally find it boring to read, but I know that some people enjoy it. Do you guys want me to keep writing in battles, or just skip over them and just say "they had a battle" or whatever? Anyways, please review, it helps the story get noticed! Thanks a lot you guys, hope you enjoyed! I'll try to have another chapter up in a week or so!