"Can you believe it?" Ash wondered aloud in shock. "We were all having a good time and then… all of that, one thing right after another."
Ash, Misty, Brock and Carmine were all sitting on the back of a Lapras, slowly drifting away from the S.S. Anne.
"I'm never going on another boat as long as I live." Brock said.
"I'm just glad I have my trusty Lapras here to ferry us away." Misty sighed. "Everyone has all of their stuff, right? If we left anything behind, we can't exactly go back for it. It's extremely hard to stop a single rampaging Gyarados and I don't think anything could stop twelve of them at once."
"There are advantages to just keeping all of your stuff in your bag with you at all times." Carmine added. "It lets you leave anywhere at any time without having to worry about that. Not that it's much comfort right now with this going on. I just hope everyone else ends up all right."
"Do you think we should head back?" Ash asked the others. "See if we can help anyone?"
"Looker's team were already working on that and I'm sure they have it mostly under control." Carmine answered. "Or at least, no less under control than it would be if we were still there. I know this is hard to think about, but you can't help anyone if you can't help yourself. Even though helping others is important, you need to look out for yourself first."
"You right." Brock said. "That is hard to think about. I don't think I can agree with that philosophy."
"We can't Surf back there anyway." Misty pointed out. "The storm is making the water to dangerous."
"Where'd you get a Lapras, anyway?" Carmine asked the Water-type specialist. "Aren't these things supposed to be really rare and almost impossible to find?"
"She was a gift from my mentor. She raises them as a hobby and gave me this one. " Misty stroked the head of the Transport Pokémon's head. "She's not much for battling, but she's a great Surfer and a good companion for long trips."
The Lapras neighed back happily at the compliment, then returned to seriousness as she tried to make her way through the storm. Though the storm quickly seemed to fade away.
"Hey!" Ash shouted while looking back at towards the S.S. Anne. "It looks like there's something going on back there."
Misty turned her Lapras around and the others noticed it as well.
"What is that?" Brock asked.
"I don't know." Carmine answered seriously.
After Red had defeated Attila's Skarmory, Abraham had teleported away to get Pikachu in case Team Rocket would try anything else. Unfortunately they had been to late in returning to stop Attila from taking Maggie and they were all now paying the consequences. Pikachu watched in horror as the Gyarados continued circling the ship.
"This is it. There's nothing more I can do." Pikachu said to herself, trying her hardest not cry from despair. "I've failed in protecting her. My only hope is that Abraham can safely teleport her away from here and that he will continue to protect her in my place. And here I thought 'he' was the only one that I truly needed to protect her from."
It was then that Pikachu noticed that the rain had stopped falling. Not that it had stopped raining, but that the individual raindrops had stopped in midair.
"No!" Pikachu felt even more dread seep in as she looked around. The Gyarados had also stopped, encased in a faint purple glow. The people onboard the ship, their Pokémon, everything. It was almost as if time itself was being held in place by some immeasurable power. A force strong enough to seemingly control reality itself. "It can't be."
Only Pikachu was still capable of movement and, she knew, Yellow would also be unaffected by this power. Pikachu ran to find Yellow and, sure enough, the girl was looking around trying to figure out what was happening. The girl grabbed Red by the arm to try and break him out of the spell and, much to Pikachu's surprise, it worked.
"What's going on?" Red wondered aloud as he was brought back into motion.
"I'm scared." Yellow hugged Red tightly, her arms squeezing Red's waist. "I don't know what's going on, and I feel… I feel…"
"What do you feel?" Red held one arm around Yellow's back and rested the other on her head, trying to comfort the girl.
"I feel something coming. No, someone. I don't know who or what it is, but I feel… terror."
"Nothing will happen to you." Red said gently. "I'll make sure of it."
Pikachu watched the emotional scene as it happened below her. Pikachu knew now that letting the boy protect her was the right choice. In fact it looked as if it was the only right choice that she had made. She was about to hop down to great Yellow, that they could have at least one last moment together before the end. But it was too late.
Pikachu felt his presence first, then caught a glimpse of movement descending from above her. Yellow did the same, with Red looking up to see what the girl was looking at. The three all saw the same dark, cloaked figure fall gently from the storm onto the upper-most point of the wrecked ship.
"You will not harm the girl." His voice rang clear throughout the entire scene as he spoke to the Gyarados. Yet despite this, his mouth did not move, for he did not speak at all. Thoughts were projected straight from the mind of the powerful psychic. "She is mine, and mine alone. And now that I have found her, no one will harm her ever again. No one will use us again. We will finally be free at last."
"Who do you think he's talking about?" Yellow asked in a low whisper, trying not to attract the stranger's attention.
"I think he means you." Red replied, equally quite.
"Yes, I mean the girl." The hooded figure floated down to where the two were standing. "Now, you will give her to me."
Pikachu fired a Thunder attack at the stranger, who raised his arm up and absorbed the lightning bolt into its hand. In the process his hand slipped out from under the sleeve of his cloak, revealing three long, gray fingers with bulbous tips.
"What are you?" Red asked.
"Give me the girl!" The stranger reiterated.
"I don't want to go with you!" Yellow screamed at the cloaked figure.
"Yes, you do. You just do not know it right now due to your absence of memory."
"No. You feel… bad. You are bad! You're the reason I lost my memory, aren't you?!"
The stranger slowly lowered his hand down again as it became apparent that Pikachu would not try another useless attack. He was silent for a moment before finally saying: "It was an accident. I did not mean to harm you, but they had to pay for what they had done. For what they would do. Now, come with me."
"She said she doesn't want to." Red walked out in front of Yellow, as if shielding her with his own body.
"Silence, boy!" The stranger thrust out his hand and Red was lifted up into the air by a psychic grasp around his throat.
"No!" Yellow couldn't bear to see her friend in trouble and dashed out towards the stranger, tackling him to get him to stop strangling Red. This didn't knock him down, but it did surprise him enough that he released his grip on Red, who fell back to the floor.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm protecting my friend from you, monster!" Yellow held out her arms in defiance against the mysterious cloaked figure. Red had been protecting and saving her ever since they met, and it was her turn to return the favor.
"I see now that your mind has become poisoned with misconceptions and lies. I will have to correct that."
"How many times do we have to tell you?" Red asked as he managed to get to his feet. "She's not going with you."
"Silence!" The mysterious stranger lifted his hand towards Red to choke him again.
"NO!" Yellow held out both of her arms towards the stranger and a white light radiated from her, spreading around her entire body and engulfing the entire ship and everything around it.