Chapter 29: Out to Sea

Surprise. Probably weren't expecting it for another week or so huh? Well I've had a change of plans, decided to focus on just this one and the Good Fire Prince for a while since they are closest to done. Enjoy and share your thoughts. Any information I might be missing or are incorrect on is appreciated.

Pikachu opened his eyes and saw everyone lying around unconscious. At least most of them, the only exception was Primeape. The pig monkey Pokemon stood over Anthony and was prodding his trainer with his foot. It began coming back to Pikachu, they'd beaten all those other Team Rocket members, some of whom they'd encountered years ago in Johto. Then suddenly they'd been reunited with Ash's mom and May and Max's parents, then Phantom had suddenly attacked them with spore. Pikachu looked around, having a bad feeling.

It was confirmed when he saw no sign of Ash.

"Pika! Pikachu!" he screamed.

Looking around he counted off his remaining allies. Everyone else was here except for… May! Pikachu clenched his teeth and held back tears. Two of his friends were taken!

"Pikachu!"

A thunderbolt traveled from Pikachu and hit everyone lying down. They screamed and immediately got up.

"Ah! Pikachu what was that for!" Misty screamed.

"That's a shocker!" Max said.

"Ow!" Brock said.

"Is everyone okay?" Norman asked. "Max, May are you… hey where's May!?"

Everyone looked around and-

"Ash isn't here either!" Delia stated.

"Where could they have gone off to!" Professor Oak asked.

"Primape! Pri!" Primeape growled at Pikachu, since it had been hit with the thunderbolt too.

"Pikachu! Pika!" Pikachu apologized. "Pika pika! Cha!"

Primeape narrowed its eyes but understood Pikachu did it to wake everyone up.

"Primeape we were all hit by sleep powder, but that wouldn't have worked on you!" Anthony said. "Do you know what happened to Ash and that other girl?"

"Primeape!" It nodded.

Tracing an image in the dirt with a stick it made a picture of a certain Pirates face.

"Phantom again!" Brock said. "He must have put us to sleep then grabbed Ash and May!"

"But why?" Max said now deeply worried.

"I… don't know. Though from what I remember he blamed them for stopping him from getting the Sea Crown," Brock said.

Delia shook and cried. "That's the man who beat up Ash earlier! Oh I can't bear to think of him doing that again!"

Caroline took a deep breath. "And May! Oh my baby!"

"We have to get them back somehow!" Tracy said. "What do we do Professor Oak?"

"I don't know. I have no way of knowing where Phantom might have taken them," Professor Oak said.

"Well I think I know!" Jessie said.

Everyone looked at her.

"Phantom wanted that Sea Crown treasure thing or whatever it was! I'll bet he's after it again!"

…

Phantoms copter headed toward Vermillion City. He'd prepared this copter for his escape a couple hours ago. Once he put it on auto pilot he took the duct tape he'd packed and tied the kids up so they couldn't cause any trouble. Soon the brown eyes of Ash Ketchum woke up and he saw he was in a copter. Phantom sat in the pilots seat, with May tied up next to him.

"Awake are you?" the old pirate asked.

"Phantom!" Ash exclaimed. He then remembered how the pirate had destroyed his home just a few days ago. Rage entered him and he glared with absolute hatred. "You!"

He tried to move but found himself bound a lot thick sticky tape. He then looked back to see Phantom grab hold of May's neck as the girl still slept.

"I warn you! If you don't cooperate I will break her neck!" Phantom promised.

Ash's rage quickly was replaced with fear as he saw his friend, the girl he'd helped become a skilled coordinator and one of the people he cared most about, being threatened. Ash grit his teeth and relented.

"There are two types of men in this world of ours, those that win and those that lose!" Phantom rambled. "You may have won against me a year ago when you stole Manapy but this time I will have the Sea Crown!"

He'd reached Vermillion city where Ash had arrived back in Kanto a while ago. So much had happened in just a bit over a week. Several ships were head out to sea. Phantom got low above the ocean, and spotted a ship that was just big enough to land his chopper on and couldn't have too many people. He grinned and brought the chopper down on top of it. Then he ran outside and with a few threats and Pokemon threw off the rest of the people on board, taking over the ship.

May opened her eyes as he was gone. She looked around her.

"Huh? Where am I? Ash!" she said noticing him behind her.

"Phantom took us!" Ash said.

May shivered. Looking outside she saw they were on the roof of a small yacht. She tried to move but her bonds wouldn't allow her.

"Ash, I'm scared!" she said.

"Don't worry, we'll get out of this," Ash said confidently.

His words soothed her somewhat. He was always there for her whenever she was down or in danger.

"I'll protect you, May." Ash promised.

Those words caused her to blush furiously. Before she could reply though, the doors to the copter opened and she felt large strong hands grab her. She screamed as her archenemy heaved her out of the chopper.

"Ash!"

"Let her go Phantom!"

"Quiet boy! I'll be gentle with her as long as you don't give me any trouble. We men are the strong types not the woman after all! But between the two of us you're the type to be crushed!" Phantom said. "Now… we're going on a trip to get the Sea Crown back!"

Ash gritted his teeth. "How are you ever gonna find the Sea Crown, Manapy had to lead us there! Its out in the middle of the ocean! You'll never find it."

"Maybe, but Manapy has a special bond with you two! And the move Heart Swap! Did it ever use it either of you?"

"Y-yes!" May answered truthfully. "I think it did anyway. It switched Ash with Jackie in their bodies and I did something to me when we were trapped in your safety tube waiting for Ash! But I knew he could save the temple! Just like he'll take you and Giovanni down!"

Ash remembered hearing May's words while he'd nearly drowned. They had given him the strength to finish his task and save the temple. She was so confident in him.

"Well, if he used Heart Swap on both of you that's perfect!" Phantom said. "Then he can feel this!"

And he punched her hard.

…

Giovanni was fuming. Butch, Cassidy, his spy Damian, and all the agents he'd recovered from the Johto Prisons. They'd all been defeated and were likely gonna be sent back to prison. This time he wasn't gonna bail them out. Phantom had betrayed him as well and taken Ash Ketchum for himself. Giovanni growled. His Persian looked at him scared.

"It seems I will have to go to Plan B," Giovanni said.

He picked up his phone. An image of Professor Namba soon appeared.

"Good afternoon Boss," Namba said.

"Is that other weapon you were developing ready?" Giovanni asked.

"Yes," Namba stated.

"Good. With the hypnosis machine destroyed we will now use that. Have the Pokemon put on board, and prepare for launch."

Well, Giovanni has a new plan. Don't know for sure how many more chapters there will be. I'm making a list though. Lets see, going over to it and making an outline. And we end at… 39! So ten more chapters of this story. If you guys have been keep up with my profile you might know I decided to focus on this story and The Good Fire Prince exclusively for a while. Wanted to get the ones closer to done quicker. It would have stretched another 10 or so months if I'd kept going this way. Don't know how long this weekly thing will last. Maybe just till August. Got my hands full writing 6 stories at once. Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this newest chapter and will continue to enjoy the last 10 chapters. Spoiler Alert, Ash and May will kiss soon in the next few chapters.