Final Voyage of the SS Anne

"Good afternoon Kanto, this is Tim the intern filling in for DJ Mary after she quit and went back to her old job at the Goldenrod Radio station after Team Rocket held her hostage and-Oh my boss is giving me a funny look I guess I wasn't supposed to say that." The man on the news channel emitted a light bit of laughter before quickly continuing. "Anyways I'm here with Giovanni Sakaki and Ezekiel Phoenix at Pokepark which is due to make it's grand opening tomorrow! You two wanna take it from here?"

"Why yes," Giovanni adjusted his tie as he stepped forward and turned to face the camera. "It's been a fairly long time since the Kanto region had it's own theme park so I decided to take advantage of that, work on it started long before the Team Rocket threat escalated but now more than ever I believe folks are due for a fun time and a distraction from the Team Rocket menace. It's also a park where both people and Pokemon are welcome and every bit of income goes directly to charity! I got the name from an old legend, Pokepark was rumored to be a place in an unknown region where Pokemon of all sorts and rarity gathered to play games and interact with one another. While the idea for the park comes from the legend of Pokelantis!"

"But we took some liberties and based the mechanical Pokemon off of Galar's own Gigantamax, behold!" Ezekiel excitedly raced in front of the camera and adjusted it's view to face a large structure covered by a fairly large sheet! Ezekiel then activated a button and the sheet proceeded to catch on fire, revealing a large mechanical Charizard that towered over them! It's bodily structure burned brightly as it's wings and tail appeared to be entirely cased in fire, the mechanical Charizard then raised his head upwards and shot a powerful flame up into the sky above! "No need to fear it's tail or wings catching anything on fire, that's just a bunch of fancy lighting and firing! But I assure you the flame coming out it's mouth is the real deal!"

"A-Aren't you worried the guests will be in danger?" Tim nervously shook offscreen. "I-I mean that's actual fire!"

"Pfft relax my friend, I wired these babies myself! They'd never attack the guests, well Blastoise will but it's part of the water park!" Ezekiel excitedly exclaimed. "I'm a family man myself and I'd never put my son in danger!"

"Is that so? Is he here now?" Tim asked before looking around as if he expected to see him.

"Are you mad?! He's back in Hoenn with his friend May, I'd never put him at risk of running into one of those Team Rocket kooks! Not after they held my buddy here hostage!"

Giovanni flashed a light smirk but remained silent as his friend and business partner continued to excitedly ramble.

"Huh, A theme park is opening up? Maybe Ash and I can go there someday... if I ever have the courage to tell him how I feel." Chloe let out a sigh as she turned away from the television.

"Eevoi..." Eevee patted her shoulder while Togepi gave a sympathetic look as she gazed up at her.

"Togepriii!"

"Thanks you two but I wish it that easy, I guess I'm afraid of rejection? W-What if he doesn't feel the same way? W-What if he likes somebody else?! Oh this is so frustrating!" Chloe lightly pulled at her hair. "And on top of that I've been having doubts about my own personal goal in life... I lost to Solidad and felt nothing! Am I even on the right path? What if Contests really aren't for me?"

Somebody had been passing by and heard her doubts, the individual paused and tilted her head before making her approach as Chloe reminded her of herself. Although she wasn't that much older than her she had plenty of experience as she was lucky enough to start her journey before the age limit adjusted from ten to sixteen! The red head smiled to herself as she briefly reminisced before speaking out.

"Pardon my interruption but it's okay if you change goals you know, nobody will think any less of you for it! It's a lot like non-Pokemon related professions, not everyone starts off with a job they stick with for the rest of their lives or until their retirement. In fact it took a good six months for me to realize that being a Pokemon Trainer was not what I was destined to be and shortly upon discovering Pokemon Showcases I immediately fell in love and realized that it was my true passion in life, I didn't win the first Showcase or even the second but I knew that brought me great joy seeing my performances making others happy and both myself and my Pokemon were better off emotionally after our transition to Showcases. Obviously Showcases are likely not for you as they're exclusive to Kalos and from what I can tell you have no interest in going there for the time being just trying to help you feel better!" Her accent sounded similar to that of Luna's which made sense considering she said she hailed from Kalos!

Chloe pondered over what the stranger said for a moment and remembered that her mother wasn't always a manga artist and had another job before that. It was possible that Pokemon Contests may not be for her but she couldn't just give up now, not when she was so close to the Grand Festival! She had to see this through to the end as otherwise all that time and effort that her and her Pokemon put into it would be for nothing! "Thanks for that but... I can't just give up like you did."

"Give up? I never said that, I only quit collecting badges because I found my goal. Sure I could have probably entered the Kalos League but balancing between Pokemon battles and Showcases put too much drain on me and my team. Not to mention there wasn't a moment where she could sit back and relax, we had to be right back on the road whenever we weren't training! By all means continue collecting ribbons, you'll have all the time in the world to decide what to do after the Grand Festival!" The Kalos girl flashed her a smile before placing her arm out in greeting. "The name's Aria by the way!"

Chloe smiled and took her hand before shaking it. "Chloe, Chloe Cerise-Wait Aria?! I heard about you, a rival of mine mentioned you once!"

"Well that makes sense, quite a few Showcase Performers eventually leave Kalos to try out Pokemon Contests as they're quite different from our Showcases!" Aria giggled out before tilting her head. "What's her name?"

"Luna."

Aria tilted her head once more before shrugging. "I honestly don't remember her!"

"What?!" A feminine voice shrieked out causing Chloe to tense up before groaning out.

"Oh no..."

"How could you not remember royalty?! Unlike you I'm not a pretender, I am true Kalos royalty! You're just a wannabe peasant!" Luna screeched out.

Aria lightly flinched but kept a calm expression as Luna screeched at her. "Oh right, I remember now."

"You're damn right you should, I'm the true Kalos Queen! You should be bowing before me!"

"Yeah, I got that restraining order against you." Aria held up a piece of paper. "You were really stressing Braixen out with all your ranting and raving so I had this made, besides you were kicked out from Showcases after you threw that fit after losing from what I recall."

"I am a princess, I deserve your respect!" Luna screeched out as she had her Furfrou firing out attacks into the now panicking crowd as Aria and Pierre could be seen silently shaking their heads from the sideline as Officer Jenny rushed onto the stage to tackle the crazed princess!

"T-That is not what happened!" Luna stomped her feet though her expression said otherwise as it was a mixture of rage and embarrassment. "I demand a rematch here and now, the SS Anne Contest you and me!"

"Whoa there, both of us have to reach the finals or be paired up together for that to happen. It's my first Contest so luck might not even be on my side!" Aria lightly sweated as she attempted to reason with Luna.

"Sounds like you're afraid!" Luna flashed a mocking smirk. "What? You don't think you stand a shot against real royalty when you don't have your fanbase backing you up?"

"Don't bring my fans into this..." Aria lightly clenched her fists. "This is between us!"

"Indeed and after today you'll experience true royalty and the entire region will know the name Princess-"

"Karen!"

Luna went bright red and angrily shot around to see who said that. "Who dares?!" She roared before stomping off in search of the culprit.

Chloe laughed lightly before turning her gaze towards Aria's. "There's a Contest being held here?"

Aria nodded in confirmation. "Mr. Contesta and I crossed paths while I was vacationing at the Seafoam Islands and he asked if I'd be willing to participate in a Pokemon Contest as he hopes to someday introduce them to the Kalos region and my idol status carries weight. I figured why not, it sounds like fun!" Aria giggled out before tilting her head as her gaze met with Chloe's. "You are participating aren't you? It'd be nice to compete against a friendly face!"

"I'd like to but I'm supposed to meet my friends after I find my cabin," Chloe softly spoke.

"Well registration is over in ten minutes," Aria informed. "If your friends here about a Pokemon Contest going on then surely they'd know where to find you, wouldn't they? I mean I heard there's only three Contests left after this one so this may be your last chance."

Chloe's eyes darted back and forth, if she really wanted to make it to the Grand Festival then she didn't exactly have a choice here. Besides Aria had a point, if Ash and Brock heard about the Pokemon Contest then they'd likely head there to see if she was participating in it. "A-Alright, I guess I'll be registering then!"

"Good afternoon Kanto, I'm your favorite MC Lilian and today I've got a special treat for all of you as the one and only Kalos Queen Aria herself has graced us all with her presence and will be participating in today's festivities!" The crowd burst out in a series of loud cheers, drowning out Lilian as she introduced the judges though they appeared to be the same as usual with the Nurse Joy likely being one of the ones assigned to the cruise ship. "Now without further ado, I say we get the show on the road! Aria why don't you start us off today?"

"It'd be my honor!" Aria performed a light bow before stepping forward. Luna let out an annoyed huff and rolled her eyes as Aria threw the ball forward and called out her trusty Pokemon partner! "Braixen let's put on a good show!"

"Braixen!"

"Whoa!" Chloe gasped from amazement as a cute yellow and black bipedal fox Pokemon came into view, tufts of red fur grew out of her ears and there appeared to be a stick resting within her long bushy tail! "It's adorable!" And the crowd seemed to agree with her.

"Please!" Luna scoffed while rolling her eyes once more. "My Meowth is far superior to that wannabe!"

"Braixen the Fox Pokemon, it has a twig stuck in its tail. With friction from its tail fur, it sets the twig on fire and launches into battle!"

"Flamethrower then follow with Psychic!"

"Braix!" Braixen retrieved her stick and held it as if it were a magic wand, she began twirling it around before a large stream of fire burst from the tip! Chloe's eyes widened from shock as she expected the attack to come from Braixen's mouth and not the stick. Braixen then twirled the stick about as a bright blue light surrounded it with a similar glow surrounding the stream of fire, forcing it to begin swirling around the area around Braixen as the fox twirled about in the middle of it!

"Braixen braix braix!" The crowd let out a loud cheer as Lilian clapped her hands.

"Now let's see what our judges have to say about this," Lilian turned her attention towards the judges who had a series of 10's presented upon their scoreboards! "A perfect set of ten! Let's see if our next Contestants can top that, Luna you're up!"

Luna's eye twitched as she stepped forward with a snarl. "How many times do I have to tell you peasants?! It's Princess Luna, Princess!" She screeched causing Mr. Contesta, Mr. Sukizo and Nurse Joy to give each other looks before returning their attention towards the stage as Luna released her Alolan Meowth.

"Meowth!" The Alolan Meowth was now dressed up like a prince, crown and all as he stood before the crowd. "Meowth Meowth." He smirked as he no doubt referred to everyone as peasants!

"Prince Meowth, use Dark Pulse then follow up with Thunder!" Meowth clamped his paws together and shot a pulse of dark energy into the air above, his fur started to spark and crackle shortly before he fired off a powerful bolt of electricity! The electric bolt crashed with the pulse of dark energy causing the two attacks to explode resulting in yellow and black sparks falling down onto the field as Meowth took a bow.

"Meowth Meowth!"

The judges gave each other a look before shrugging, despite her rude behavior they decided to give her a fair score.

"Eight, eight point five and eight! Fairly decent but Luna will have to hope that the others don't score higher than her or she might not make it to the next round!"

Chloe had to patiently wait as for once the random draw wasn't in her favor and she winded up being the last to perform for the performance round.

"Alright Eevee, let's go!"

"Eevoi!" Eevee leaped off her shoulder and onto the stage.

"Use Dig just like we practiced!"

"Eevoi!" Eevee quickly burrowed beneath the ground however rather than making one hole, Eevee made multiple holes in the battlefield!

"What on earth is that peasant planning?" Luna scowled, crossing her arms as 'Prince' Meowth copied her actions.

"Meow Meowth?"

"Sappy Seed!"

Nurse Joy raised her eyebrow as Mr. Contesta, Mr. Sukizo and Lilian all took several steps back before widening her eyes as a massive vine burst out of the battlefield and raised up towards the ceiling with several large seeds falling off of it and dropping down into the holes with perfect aim! Fire and explosions were visible from the top of the holes as the seeds burst in a series of explosions!

The judges flashed each other a look before nodding their heads as they decided on their scores.

"Nine, eight point five and nine! Alright now wait just a few moments and... okay folks, here are the lucky eight Coordinators who'll be proceeding to the next round!" The scoreboard adjusted to showcase images of Aria, Chloe, Luna and five other Coordinators! Lilian then pressed a button and the images shuffled around before pairing up Luna and Aria together while Chloe got paired against a random Coordinator she never saw before.

"Alright, looks like Aria and Luna will be starting off the next round!"

"Good luck, wannabe you'll need it!" Luna snarled as she walked back onto the stage. Aria gave her a calm look and kept a level head, not giving Luna the pleasure of reacting to her statement. "Prince Meowth take the stage!"

"Meowth meowth!"

"Alright Prince Meowth, use Payday!"

"Meowth Meowth!" Meowth began throwing coins at the audience, several of them pushed and shoved as they raced to gather up the coins!

"I thought this boat was supposed to be full of rich upper class people..." Chloe commented before shrugging. "Eh, makes sense I guess."

Aria's score lightly shrank but Aria didn't appear to be concerned nor did she make an attempt to attack just yet.

"...what are you waiting for?!" Luna snarled as her eye twitched. "I demand you attack me this once!"

Aria gave her a look but remained silent. Luna pulled at her blonde hair and screeched! "Prince Meowth use Night Slash!"

"Meowth!" Prince Meowth raced forward, his claws glowed a bright purple and black color as he slashed at his opponent. However that was precisely what Aria was waiting for as she simply ordered.

"Flamethrower!"

"Braix!" Braixen twirled her wand and released a powerful stream of fire, burning Meowth's clothes right off of him!

"Meowth!" Meowth made an attempt to cover himself as the crowd let out a laugh.

"Y-You have fur!" Luna's eye twitched before shooting Aria a glare.

"You shouldn't dress up your Pokemon in a Contest, it's not like a Showcase." Though she was new to this Aria knew that all too well from her time as a Pokemon Trainer! "Now Braixen let's use Sunny Day and follow up with Solar Beam!"

"Braix braix, Braixen!" A bright sunlight covered the stage as Braixen twirled her wand about, the fox Pokemon then quickly twirled it once more before taking aim as a burst of yellow-green solar energy came blasting out of it!

"Meowth!" Meowth flew through the air as the attack made impact with him, wiping out the remainder of Luna's points as the Kalos Princess screeched out and stomped her feet!

"No no no, I can't lose like this! I'm still a ribbon short! This was my Contest by right!"

"Ma'am I'm going to politely ask for you to leave the stage or I'll have to call security!" Lilian warned. Luna paused her tantrum to shoot a harsh glare in Chloe's direction.

"This isn't over peasant,"

"But what did I do?!" Luna didn't answer as she stormed off without another word! The rest of the Contest was rather calm and uneventful in comparison as Chloe and Aria both managed to proceed to the finals! The crowd let out a loud cheer as Aria took the stage and Chloe felt a bit relieved that it wasn't up to the audience who won or she might be screwed!

"Great work getting this far," Aria flashed her a smile as Chloe stepped onto the stage.

"You too, you were excellent out there and good luck!" Chloe smiled back as she reached for a Pokeball. "Oma-"

"Togepriii!" Togepi leaped from her arms and onto the stage, performing a light twirl as the audience let out an amused giggle.

"Braixen let's put on a good show!" Aria did a twirl as she tossed Braixen's Pokeball into the air!

"Braixen braix braix!"

"There she is, look's like we made it here just in time! Chloe, we're here!" Ash waved his hand as he and Brock made their way through the crowd.

'I'm guessing that's the guy she has a crush on?' Aria thought as her eyes made contact with Ash. 'Well can't say I blame her, he's cute!' Aria then turned her gaze back towards Chloe and watched as the girl gave a wave to Ash and Brock, politely waiting for Chloe to direct her attention back to the stage before proceeding further.

"Braixen use Psybeam!" Braixen twirled her wand and shot a multicolored beam of energy towards Togepi!

"Metronome!" Chloe didn't really have a choice on attack as along with not aging at the same rate as most Pokemon, Togepi didn't appear to be learning new attacks!

"Togepi Togepi!" Togepi excitedly chirped and waved her hands about, they began glowing brightly before a blue glow surrounded the Psybeam and redirected at Braixen! Braixen grunted as she was pushed back!

"Wow, that baby sure packs a punch. I wonder what the story behind that Pokemon is..." Aria tilted her head before shrugging. "Alright Braixen let's try Flamethrower!"

"Braix!" Braixen twirled her wand and unleashed a stream of fire upon Togepi, removing a significant amount of points from Chloe's corner.

"Togepi I want you to-Togepi!" Chloe gasped out as Togepi rushed straight through the flames while cheerfully crying out despite the pain she was enduring! The judges and Aria stared in shock while Chloe covered her eyes as she was sure Togepi would collapse at any second!

"Toge!" Togepi leaped up and pressed her lips against Braixen's causing her eyes to be filled with stars as miniature Torchic raced around her head.

"Braix...?"

"That was Sweet Kiss! You learned Sweet Kiss?!" Chloe exclaimed.

"Togepi!"

"W-Well great job! Now let's try Metronome again!"

"Toge toge!" Togepi began splashing in place while everyone present sweat dropped.

"That was Splash..." Ash muttered.

"Well Metronome doesn't always give a good result!" Brock stated.

"Sunny Day!" Braixen twirled her wand and a bright light began pouring down upon the stage once more! "Solar Beam!"

"Metronome!" Chloe anxiously cried out.

"Toge toge!" Braixen winded up slapping herself due to confusion while Togepi excitedly wiggled her fingers before one of her arms glowed a color that bore a striking resemblance to the color Solar Beam produced! Togepi charged across the field and slashed at Braixen with the attack, causing her to cry out as the rest of Aria's points were drained! Braixen stood standing after the attack and panted out before flashing Togepi a smirk.

"Braix..."

"Good job Braixen, we may not have won but we tried our best and that's what counts! Besides this was fun," Aria was rather cheerful despite her loss which made Chloe reflect upon what Aria told her a few hours ago. Perhaps she was right after all though there wasn't a need to be sad about it as her true goal was out there somewhere and she'd find it someday! Ash wouldn't become a Pokemon Master overnight so she had all the time in the world to find her goal but for now she was going to finish what she started and earn that fifth ribbon so she could compete in the Grand Festival!

"And there, one ribbon to go!" Chloe placed the SS Anne ribbon into her ribbon case as she along with Ash, Brock and Aria sat at a table within the ship's food court. Ash and Pikachu were hastily stuffing their faces while Brock's gaze kept lingering towards various attractive women as they passed by the table.

"You know Chloe, there's a ballroom right upstairs why don't you take Ash?" Aria suggested with a sly smirk.

"I-I" Chloe's cheeks shot a bright shade of red while Ash didn't appear to even hear as he and Pikachu were busy scarfing down food like there was no tomorrow! "I-I don't know, isn't it expensive to get in? W-We're not exactly made of money... b-besides I can't just abandon Brock!"

"Nonsense, I'll pay for all three of you and dance with your friend so you don't have to worry about him feeling lonely. You'll have all the time you need!" Aria flashed Chloe a warm smile as she was determined to play the part of her wingman!

"Wait what?" Brock turned around with a reddened expression as he wondered if he heard that right.

"You'll dance with me, won't you Brock?" Aria gave the older male a smile causing him to eagerly nod his head as a furious blush crossed his face!

"O-Of course, it'd be my honor! Ash and I would love to dance with you girls!"

"Wait what?" Ash raised his eyebrow as he finished his food before gazing around with a confused look as he didn't appear to understand what was going on.

"Pika?!" Pikachu pat his bloated stomach as he gazed towards the others.

"I'm sorry but you all aren't wearing the proper dress code, I simply can't let-" The bouncer went silent as Aria placed a thousand Pokedollar bill in his hand.

"That Mew good enough for you?"

"O-Of course, right this way!" The bouncer bowed and stepped back allowing Ash, Chloe, Brock and Aria proper passageway into the ballroom. Chloe shot a look as she noticed somebody racing towards the bathroom in a hurry.

"Was that Rex?"

"I'm not sure who Rex is but don't worry about it!" Aria gave Chloe a push and shoved her towards Ash! "What's important is that the two of you have fun! Come on Brock, let's dance!"

"R-Right!" Brock seemed rather dazed as he couldn't believe that he was actually getting to dance with a beautiful woman! Even Croagunk looked as if this were to good to be true, cautiously following his trainer though being careful not to interfere.

"W-Well I guess if everyone else is..." Chloe nervously rubbed the back of her neck before blushing fiercely as Ash held out his hand to her.

"Shall we dance then? Everyone else is doing it." Chloe glanced to the side and noticed what appeared to be Jessie and James dancing with each other across the room while Meowth and Wobbuffet looked on while drinking punch.

"Yes, let's!" Chloe smiled as she placed her hand into his, the two began dancing with one another though much more awkwardly as Ash kept stepping on her feet and nearly tripping over. Rapidly apologizing to her but Chloe didn't seem to care at all, so what if he was a terrible dancer? Nobody was perfect and she didn't want to change that! She did keep a bit of distance though after their heads painfully smacked into another. Chloe rubbed her head with one hand and gave Ash a look as everyone began slow dancing. "Ash, I-"

"What? I didn't hurt you did I?" Ash tilted his head.

"No, it's not that. There's something I want to tell you, that I should have told you a long time ago... Ash I-"

Boom! A nearby wall caved in revealing a Mega Scizor and quite the unusual looking Team Rocket officer as he appeared to be Brock's age and wore quite the strange attire in comparison to the standard Team Rocket grunt. He wore a black hooded jacket with the signature red R emblazoned across the chest and his hands were covered in large thick white gloves. Large white pouches were attached to his belt which was fitted upon a pair of black track pants, and rather than wearing boots he appeared to be wearing sneakers?! His hair style was also quite the sight as it was black with a red streak dyed into it, the young man adjusted his glasses as he flashed the crowd a smirk. "Ladies and gentlemen I'm afraid that this ship is full with Team Rocket operatives!" As if on cue half the individuals in the ballroom tore off their clothes.

"The nerve!"

"Good heavens!"

"Why I never!"

Thankfully the Team Rocket members were wearing their uniforms beneath causing some to utter gasp of relief before forming frightened expressions as they realized they were surrounded! Chloe clenched her fists and silently cursed her luck as Team Rocket ruined the moment!

The Team Rocket trio and Wobbuffet angrily rushed forward to greet the strange new Team Rocket member.

"What gives?!" Meowth angrily shouted.

"My word, did that Meowth just talk?!" An audience member gasped out.

"Yeah this was our operation!" James held back Jessie as it appeared as if she were ready to strangle the man!

"The Boss put us in charge of this heist!"

"That's true but he sent me to make sure the splinter cell doesn't try anything funny, the Boss can't lose the few associates he can trust!"

"D-Did he just say what I think he said?!" Meowth gasped out.

"The Boss-" James started.

"Trusts us?!" Jessie exclaimed.

"Wobbu?!" Wobbuffet gasped out.

The man nodded before tapping his chest. "The name's Arlo, the newest Rocket executive and perhaps one of Giovanni's finest? Now I suggest the rest of you put your Pokeballs and valuables into the bags, nobody has to get hurt here!"

"Yeah, we don't want that!" Meowth eagerly nodded.

"Right." Jessie and James nodded.

"Wobbuffet!"

Arlo rolled his eyes and silently shook his head. 'The Boss seriously trusts these clowns?'

Some of the guests began hastily tossing their valuables into the bag however when a grunt walked up to Ash and Chloe, Ash hesitated before shouting. "Thunderbolt!"

"Pika... chuuuu!"

"Gah!" The grunt cried out as he was electrocuted before collapsing on the ground as a pained groan escaped his lip.

Arlo clenched his fist and turned towards Ash. "That's it buster, Scizor use Hyper Beam!"

"Scizor!"

However Scizor didn't quite make it to Ash as his brave action inspired many others present, Croagunk and Braixen could be seen fighting alongside various other Pokemon. A good few Ash and Chloe didn't even recognize while Luna could be seen cowering in the corner nearby.

"My prince protect your princess!"

"Meowth!" Prince Meowth rushed at Scizor and slashed at him with Night Slash! Scizor looked down at where Prince Meowth had struck, the light shined off his metal plating as if Meowth didn't even hurt him! Prince Meowth sweated and began comically wiping at where he slashed, flashing Scizor an apologetic look. Scizor shot him a glare before firing off a yellow-orange beam of light from his pincers, blasting Prince Meowth straight through the roof of the ship as he was sent blasting off!

"Meoooooowth!" Prince Meowth cried out.

"My prince!" Luna screeched out.

Chloe shot her a look. "She really cared about him?"

Luna angrily punched the floor. "There goes a million Pokedollars!"

Chloe narrowed her eyes and silently shook her head before proceeding to engage in battle with another Team Rocket member!

"Nite!" The Shadowy Figure hovered directly in front of the ship while sitting atop his Dragonite.

"Hyper Beam!"

Dragonite opened his mouth and fired off the familiar beam of yellow-orange energy as he aimed his attack towards the ship's engine room. The Shadowy Figure held onto his head and groaned out, the shadows began wearing off the man's face to reveal the face of Rex! "No Dragonite, stop!"

"Nite?!" Dragonite stopped his attack but it was too late as it already struck the engine room, blasting apart one of the engines resulting in a large explosion that formed a large crack throughout the ship before forming a massive gaping hole on the bottom level allowing for water to begin flowing inwards! Rex held his heart as he began rapidly breathing out.

"G-Good, m-maybe most of them will make it out..." He wanted to stay and help but he was worried he'd lose control and more people would wind up dead by his hand than there was already! "N-No more, Dragonite take me home... I-I'm feeling... fain..." Rex collapsed atop Dragonite's back as the Dragon Pokemon flew off towards shore!

"Meooowth!" Prince Meowth flew past them as he went skyrocketing towards some islands in the far distance!

"Alright twerps, we've got you cornered!" Jessie shouted as she, James, Meowth and Wobbuffet burst out into laughter. "May as well give up now!"

"Sarrbok!"

"Weezing!" Arbok and Weezing had Ash, Chloe, Pikachu and Eevee cornered. It was clear Pikachu and Eevee were worn out from all the fighting as their legs looked ready to give and their breath grew heavy!

"We'll never give up, we'll go down fighting if we have to!" Ash growled out while silently cursing the fact that Pikachu was the only 'ace' he had with him at the moment. Everyone else wore themselves out during the intense battle! "Pikachu use-!"

"Croagunk!" Croagunk rushed forward and knocked Arbok and Weezing away with Poison Jab as Brock came racing to their rescue.

"I've got your back, Ash!" Boom!

"W-What was that?" James stuttered as he shot a quick look around.

"Don't worry about it James, probably just another battle downstairs." Jessie casually waved it off.

Crack!

"Uh Jess," Meowth anxiously pulled at Jessie's pant leg.

"What is it Meowth?" Jessie asked in an annoyed tone before following Meowth's gaze as a large crack circled around them and the twerps! The Rocket trio and twerps silently locked eyes with another before screaming out as the floor beneath gave way and sent them falling through to the ship's lower levels, crashing through floor after floor before losing consciousness as they fell upon a now abandoned floor!

"Boss the ship is sinking, we need to get to the choppa!" A muscular grunt shouted out.

Arlo shot a quick looked around. "Where on earth did those clowns go...?" He then noticed a few Rocket grunts stumbling to put on civilians clothes as they raced to sneak off onto some life boats. "Ah, they must have gotten away with the others. Let's go, the ship will be sinking at any moment!"

The Team Rocket helicopter flew off, leaving the Meowth balloon behind to sink with the ship while the lifeboats rowed away from the ship. Aria stood up in an effort to locate Ash, Brock and Chloe but couldn't find them anywhere. Scott and Lucy glanced around as well. Aria shot a worried look towards the ship as it began sinking to the bottom of the ocean. "I hope they're okay..."

"Of course they're okay! Now ma'am, would you be interested in learning about the secrets of the Golden Magikarp?!" The Magikarp Salesman eagerly exclaimed as he held up what was obviously a normal Magikarp with specks of golden paint as most had disappeared when a wave struck the lifeboat!

"Isn't that a normal Magikarp?" Aria asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Hm? Oh!" The Magikarp Salesman carelessly threw the Magikarp towards the sinking ship. "What Magikarp?" He innocently asked.

Mew flew beneath the waves in the safety of her magic bubble, watching as the ship sank. "Mew?" She flew down and watched as the ship hit the ocean floor and a concerned look filled her gaze. "Mew..."

Mew flew through the ship and let out an anxious cry as the group was covered with water and quickly running out of breath! "Mew!" Mew quickly extended her bubble and formed it around both the Rocket trio and twerps before carefully making her way back towards the ocean surface! Mew shot a quick look around as Chloe slowly started to regain conscious.

"Mew...?" She questioned before closing her eyes once more.

Mew frowned as the lifeboats were now gone, the rescue party likely having came while she was flying up! Mew looked around for a decent sized piece of ship wreck and placed them carefully upon it before flying off. She saved them but she was going to let them figure how a way to get home, she couldn't do everything for them!

Chloe sat up a few moments later and looked around. "Huh, guess I was dreaming. No Mew here just water-wait water?! H-How did we end up here?! What happened to the boat?!"

"Ugh, I think the boat sank..." Brock groaned as he felt his soaked clothing. "We're all wet!"

"Y-You think everyone got out?" Chloe nervously asked but Brock could only shrug. Eevee shook herself off as she awoke and Pikachu followed shortly afterwards before rushing towards his trainer.

"Pika!" Pikachu licked Ash's cheek causing the boy to let out a light laugh as he woke up.

"I'm up, I'm up-Aaah!" Ash winded up rolling directly into the water but thankfully Brock was quick to grab hold of his arm to pull him back onto the floating ship wreck.

"Got you!"

The Rocket trio and Wobbuffet remained completely still the entire time and it wasn't long before Ash and the others realized. "Y-You think they're dead?" Chloe questioned.

"Should we push them over?" Ash asked.

"Well it's the respectful thing to do." Brock stated before grabbing onto James, Ash grabbed onto Wobbuffett while Chloe grabbed hold of Jessie and Pikachu grabbed Meowth! Everyone began pushing Team Rocket towards the edge before the trio all quickly shot up.

"We're alive!" Jessie shouted

"Please don't kill us!" James pleaded.

"I can't swim!" Meowth cried.

"Wobbu!" Wobbuffet begged.

"Pika!" Pikachu snapped his fingers and had a disappointed look as the four sprang up!

The two groups began talking about what happened before quickly breaking into arguments as they started blaming the other side for what happened.

"If you didn't try and rob the boat this wouldn't have happened!" Ash angrily shouted.

"Yeah well if you didn't fight back we'd all be nice and warm on the fancy ship instead of cold, wet and starving!" Jessie shouted in retaliation. Both groups not noticing a rather unusual Charizard flying into view. It's scales were black while it's wings were glowing a bright fiery red and had a demonic shape to them, it's eyes burned as bright red as Pidgeot's had when Ash first encountered him and his claws were a similar fiery color to his wings!

"He failed! Bah, must I do everything myself?!" Another shadowy individual uttered out an annoyed sigh as he reached into his pocket just as a Gyarados with an abnormally sized bump atop his forehead came rising out from beneath the surface!

'Well what do you expect, he was always the weakest. You're the strongest and my champion!'

"True, he doesn't have the strength to do what needs to be done!"

"GYA!"

"Eeee!" James screamed out while Meowth leaped onto Jessie's head, digging into her hair while Chloe clung to Ash's arm!

"Gyarados! Everyone stay calm, if we stay perfectly still he'll move on!" Brock cautiously advised.

"GYA!" Gyarados glared down at the group and roared.

"James you call out your Gyarados, maybe he can get it to calm down!"

"Right-Oh, Gyarados fainted during that battle!" Jessie facepalmed as Meowth groaned out.

"GYA!" Gyarados roared as a yellow-orange light began forming within his mouth!

Ash threw his arm out as he wasn't about to stand by and let him and his friends get hurt! "Pikachu use Thunderbolt!"

"Pikachuuu!"

"GYA!" Gyarados roared out as the electricity surged through his veins. Splat! A object fell from the sky and splattered onto Gyarados head, covering him in a sinister looking black ooze as a winged creature flew above them! Ash shot a quick look up but didn't see anything. Ash then glanced back in horror as Gyarados' scales turned a bright purple color, the spikes atop his back grew a fiery red while the light blue scales on his body changed to a black color! Gyarados' eyes then burst open to reveal the same red eyes he'd seen back when he met Pidgeot!

"GYA!"

"This doesn't look good..."

"Pika..." Pikachu flattened his ears against his head as Shadow Gyarados began rapidly circling the group with a loud fierce cry, several other Gyarados joined in as they heard his fierce cries and fearfully joined and acknowledged him as alpha!

"GYA!" A fierce wind began picking up and the two groups were hoisted through the air as the Gyarados' formed a large twister!

"Ash!" Chloe anxiously screamed. Ash tried to grab her hand only for her to blow out of the twister and fly off into the distance!

"Chloe!" Ash called out before anxiously looking around for Pikachu.

"P-Pika!" Pikachu swam through the wind as he tried to reach Ash!

"Ah!" Brock went flying out of the twister and the Rocket Trio went flying after him!

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off with a twerp this time!"

"Wobbuffet!"

"Pikachu... Eevee...!"

"Pikachu!"

"Eevoi!" The two Pokemon tried to grab onto Ash before he was blasted out of the twister.

"Pika pi?!"

"Eevoi?!" The two gasped in horror as they watched him disappearing into the distance before they were launched out as well! After everyone was gone Shadow Gyarados called off the attack and shot the other Gyarados a look.

"GYA!" He growled in a threatening manner.

"Gya?!" The other Gyarados gasped and quickly swam away.

Shadow Gyarados smirked and turned his gaze towards a set of islands in the distance. "Gya!" He cried before swimming towards them, disappearing into the sunset as he left the Kanto region!