Staring at all the beautiful cruise ships, I could hardly believe my eyes. They were all so big! Wouldn't it be great to cruise around the ocean, sunbathing and drinking coctails all day? It would be a sweet life.

"Pika!" Pikachu voiced my amazement as we all stared upwards.

"It's so beautiful!"

"Man, I'd love to cross the ocean on a ship like this!" Ash said as we stood in the shadow on one of the biggest ships I'd ever seen. It was…huge!

"Yeah, just imagine all the Pokémon we'd be able to see along the way." Brock said and Misty clapped her hands to her face in wide eyed wonder.

"For sure! Just imagine, sunbathing on deck all day…just a nice, long, relaxing cruise…" She dreamed but then Brock had to go and blow a hole through it.

"We could never afford a cruise like that."

"Ugh…" Her face slipped completely and she slumped forwards so I patted her back.

"Maybe one day Misty. Who knows, maybe we'll win something?" I suggested and she tossed me a bright smile.

"Maybe!" But the boys had already slumped over.

"Reality can really bum you out." I shook my head as we walked along, looking back up to the ship again one last time with longing until I walked into Brock's backpack, which was pretty solid and my face hurt after.

"Congratulations!" Two voices trilled.

"Ow…" I slid down, dazed by the impact.

"You guys are way lucky! You can go on a super deluxe sea cruise!" They danced before us, spinning around and I poked my head around the side with a frown. A what now? One of them, a redhead, leaped forwards and leaned close to us as she giggled. "Well it's like you know, we have these incredible super cool tickets for you!"

"Cool!" The blonde one agreed and I instantly got the impression that she wasn't the sharpest nail in the box, because that's all she said afterwards.

"These are tickets to the biggest party ever onboard the St Anne cruise liner!" Ash gasped.

"The famous St Anne?"

"Cool!" The blonde trilled as what I assumed to be her sister continued.

"The coolest ship on the sea! Everyone's going to be together and have like the coolest party!"

"Cool!"

"And the party is for Pokémon trainers only!"

"Cool!" Did she not have a dictionary that exceeded two syallables? Wow, this is just…do people like that really exist? No something wasn't right. These guys are here giving us free tickets to a super awesome party, what was the catch?

"So step this way! It'll be a radical party, all the most radical Pokémon trainers will be there!" Ash leaned a little closer to Misty.

"Do you know anyone who says 'radical' anymore?" She shook her head no.

"Okay dudes, here're your tickets!" I pushed everyone else aside then slipped forwards, eyeing the girl carefully.

"What's the catch?" I asked her cautiously. "My luck never lets me get off with free tickets to a cruise ship. So how much money do you want for them?" She giggled and it became the most annoying sound I had ever heard.

"Oh wow you like, don't understand! They're totally free!" And the way her voice shoots up the octave. That just hurts. "Totally free!" She repeated. "To-ta-ly free!"

"For free!" Ash beamed then frowned slightly too. "Why're you giving them away?"

"Well like, we have to go out with our boyfriends but we wanted to give our tickets to cool Pokémon fans." She explained and I blinked. So…no catch? Can it be true? Is my luck changing? Alright!

"Cool!" I mentally face palmed.

"We saw you and thought you looked really cool! Just take these and have a really cool time." She handed them to Ash who took them with a grin.

"Thanks a lot!"

"No sweat!" Her sister beamed then wriggled her foot on the floor.

"Cool!" Then with that they ran off. I hummed quietly, tapping my chin as I leaned into my hip.

"Does anyone else feel at all suspicious about this?" I asked but Ash was completely oblivious.

"Alright! This really is cool isn't it?" He lifted the tickets up high and I sighed. Why do I even bother? Oh well, let's go party! We all ran to go find the St Anne, looking at all the beautiful ships as Ash darted from side to side. "Maybe it's this one, or this one! This one's bigger. No this one!"

"Ash!" I yelled then whacked his head. "Use your eyes you moron!" I gripped his head then turned it to the side to look at a beautiful cruise liner with the words 'St Anne' painted in gold on the side. "Look like our boat to you?" He grinned.

"Yeah! Let's go!" He ran on ahead and I sighed. Excitable kid, still, great example. Let's go! We slowed down as we got to the top of the ramp and Ash showed our tickets to the porter, who bowed and let us inside.

"Welcome aboard the St Anne." He greeted and we all smiled to him. "This way." He gestured with his hand so we followed his direction towards an open glass door with a red carpet.

"Wow look at this!" Ash grinned as we looked inside to see a massive looby with chandeliers, ornate staircases and hundreds of people filling the room. My eyes sparkled and shone with Misty's as we looked at all the beauty of such a magnificent ship. There were stalls and tables of food, everyone showing off their Pokémon with pride.

"Oh it's so cute!" Misty breathed as we entered the thick throng.

"It's like a giant Pokémon convention!" Ash agreed as we continued to look around.

"Everyone's a Pokémon trainer!" We passed two kids showing off their Charmander and we stopped to look, but then another kid appeard to show how hard the shell of his Squirtle was. Ash smiled then clenched a proud fist.

"My Squirtle and my Charmander are much better than theirs are." He boasted and I rolled my eyes.

"Don't let your mouth get too big now Ash or you'll start a black hole." I said to him then looked around as a voice rang out.

"Alright! Bring 'em all!" Moving our way through, Ash charging ahead, we saw a battle taking place and I slipped my way to the front too, being quite small.

"Alright they're having a battle!" Ash cheered and I turned to watch the Starmie and Ratticate. The man with the Ratticate wore a top hat, some weird blue glasses and a smart suit with a cane, which he waved around as he sent an order out to his Pokémon.

"Ratticate, Super Fang attack now!" He called and before the boy could answer the attack, the Ratticate had clamped its fangs into the Starmie's jewel centre, pressing down and I gasped. The boy stood in shock. Why wasn't he calling for a Water Gun attack? That would shake that Ratticate off.

The Ratticate continued to bite down and as I watched, the jewel began to crack. "Stop!" I cried before I knew what I was doing, then ran forwards. "Call off your Ratticate, if it breaks that gem…" There was a sickening shattering crack as the jewel broke and the Ratticate leaped back, chomping its teeth together as the Starmie fainted.

"Will what, little girl? Break?" The man questioned and I whirled around to face him.

"Do you know how difficult it is to fix a Staryu or a Starmie's jewel? Sometimes they can never be mended you brute!" I shook a fist at him then looked to the boy who was holding his Pokémon to him.

"Aw don't feel too badly young man, it was only a practice match anyhow and I just happened to be lucky." I growled at him. That was a mean thing he did! He should have called off its Pokémon the moment the attack had been made, not allowed it to chew on the Starmie like it was its dinner!

Suddenly a beautiful lady in a gorgeous dress walked up then placed her hands over the top hat man. "My…how gracious!" She said to him and he smiled.

"Not at all miss." Then he turned back to the boy. "Keep working on building your Starmie's strength now."

"You bonehead! Aren't you going to at least apologise for what you did!" I yelled from the side as Ash held me back. The man looked to me with the same smile on his face.

"A battle's a battle little missy, sometimes Pokémon get hurt." I growled.

"Well then, let me hurt you!" I lashed out but Ash was doing pretty well at holding me back. The guy laughed then spread out his hand.

"Well now! Is anyone else brave enough to challenge my Ratticate?" Three guesses as to who spoke up next. Ash flung me to the ground and I landed with a grunt, spinning aroung to shoot him a glare. He leaped forwards and picked up one of his Pokémon from his belt, running to face the gentleman.

"I can't wait! How about battling my Butterfree?"

"As you wish." He answered with a sly look on his face. Ash released his Butterfree, who gave a pretty trill and I stepped back to Brock and Misty.

"I hope he knows what he's doing." Misty said and I scoffed.

"It's Ash. He always does things as he goes." I answered then watched as the gentleman ordered his Ratticate forwards.

"Ratticate! High Jump Kick!" The Ratticate sprung forwards and leaped up but Ash had already given his counter reply.

"Butterfree! Tackle!" The two sprang across the room then collided repeatedly, drawing lots of attention as they began to turn up the heat and battle harder to get the other knocked out of the sky.

"Does Ash's Butterfree even stand a chance?" Misty worried but Brock was smiling.

"Sure it's a good match really." Just then the gentleman gave his next order.

"Finish it off Ratticate, Hyper Fang attack!" I was starting to notice a pattern here. The gentleman always seemed to start with High Jump Kick then with either a Super or Hyper Fang. That's bad, it makes him predictable.

Ratticate jumped into the air but Butterfree easily shifted out of the way, turning to face Ratticate as it landed. "Butterfree! Stun Spore!" Ash called out and I smirked. A good choice, that will paralyse Ratticate and sure enough, as Butterfree sent down streams of mystical yellow dust, the Ratticate seized up and stopped moving. "Alright, now a Whirlwind!" Ash decided but then the gentleman picked up his Ratticate.

"That's enough. Why don't we just call it a draw?" He suggested then walked away.

"Huh?" Ash blinked in shock as the gentleman didn't turn back. "But I was winning." I slipped over and slung an arm around his neck.

"That, my friend, is what you call a sore loser." I explained with a bright grin. "He knew Ratticate would lose the moment you used Stun Spore, so he ended the match before you could claim victory." I told him then clapped my hands. "Nice going Butterfree, you were super excellent!"

"Freeeeee!" It trilled and I beamed up at it as it fluttered closer. Ash returned it after a nod and a thanks for its great effort but still looked pretty put up.

"Hey, how about we go eat something?" I suggested and Ash instantly perked up.

"Yeah! Let's eat!" He raced towards one of the tables and I shrugged towards Brock and Misty before following. We all dived in, shovelling as much food as we could into our mouths and I even slipped a few tasty treats away into my bag for the Pokémon later. Why shouldn't they get a taste of the action? I only didn't let them out now because it was so crowded. I didn't want Charmeleon's temper blowing off here.

I was halfway through my seventh helping of cheesecake when the gentleman came and interrupted us. "So are you having yourself a good time?" He asked, that beauty hanging off his arm.

"Yes sir, we're having a great time." Ash told him and we all stopped eating to look at him curiously. He was up to something. He had the same look I used to wear whenever I planned on sneaking out after curfew to play catch with Pidgey.

"You know that Butterfree of yours is quite extraordinary." He commented and I slowly put everything I was holding down, my eyes narrowing slightly. So that was his game? He's after Ash's Butterfree!

"It's incredible." The beauty murmured softly and I glanced to Brock to see him get that same dopey look, so I slapped his head.

"Snap out of it Brock." He jerked forwards and face planted the trifle, which instantly made me and Pikachu snort with laughter.

"Agh!" He waved his hands fretfully but then licked his own face, pausing to think before grinning. "Hmm! Delicious!" Then he began to practically eat himself.

"Well I put a lot of work into raising it." Ash was saying so I turned back to the conversation.

"What did you think of my Ratticate?" He asked and Ash politely gave a suitable answer.

"It looked really great! It put up a tough fight."

"In that case I'll be direct. Why don't we trade?" He suggested and instantly I glared at him with an unimpressed expression. Just because his Raticate wasn't strong enough to stand up to Butterfree does not mean that Ash had to trade it away. Besides, he wouldn't be that dumb.

"Trade Pokémon?" He questioned.

"When two people find that they each like the other's Pokémon, they trade! It's quite a common practice everywhere!" He explained and Ash stood up with seeming interest.

"Everywhere?" Ash echoed and the gentleman leaned down and placed his hand on Ash's shoulder.

"You see, friends who trade then trade with their other friends and friendships grow deeper and continue to spread wider and wider. Trading and making new friends is one of the best things about having Pokémon!" I held my tongue, waiting to see what Ash would have to say about this, but there's no way I was going to let him trade away Butterfree. That Pokémon was special, and it was his first catch! "That's how Pokémon friendships get to spread all around the world."

"Wow…"

"Friendship is wonderful isn't it?" The beauty commented with a pretty smile. Brock beamed and nodded his head, staring at the woman as lights flashed in his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah! You and me should start a friendship right now!" He gushed, still staring and Misty and I shared a dull expression.

"Should I trade Brock?" Ash asked and I slapped my face. He was asking Brock of all people? Who was now too loved up to know what planet he was on?

"Oh yeah you gotta trade everybody should trade let's start trading."

"Well okay…"

"Hold it right there! Nobody move, don't even blink or breathe!" I yelled out, slamming my palms ouwards and shoved the gentleman and Ash away from one another before spinning to face my fellow Pallet Town-ian. "You think long and hard about this mister. That guy only wants your Butterfree because it's stronger than his Raticate. You've put a lot of work into raising Butterfree into the strong Pokémon it is today and it was your first catch! Are you really just going to…dispose of him like that without even properly thinking it through?" I demanded then felt a cane rest on my shoulder.

"Now little lady, I don't think this is any of your business." I whipped around and grabbed the cane, wrenching it towards me then firmly delivered a high kick to his chest, sending him flying backwards when I let go of the cane.

"Do not interrupt me when I'm ranting!" I shouted then faced Ash again, who now looked terrified. "When you trade Pokémon, you have to be certain that the person your Pokémon is going to is going to give it the same level of love and care that you did, you don't even know this gentleman's name! You should never bow to peer pressure, it's completely irrational. That Butterfree trusts you more than anything in the world, are you really just going to give it away for some other Pokémon just because someone tells you to?" Ash stared at me, leaning backwards as I placed my hands on my hips.

"My dad once had a Pokémon, it was the first he ever caught and it was a Nidoran. However as it grew stronger, it began to get lots of attention. One day some other guy offered to trade what was apparently a rare Pokémon for Nido, my dad's Pokémon, and he agreed because he gave in to the pressure. What the Pokémon turned out to be was some dumb duck thing that kept on falling over." I rolled my eyes. "When he tried to find the guy again to get Nido back, he was gone. He lost his first Pokémon forever. Do you want to lose Butterfree forever?" Ash hung his head.

"I guess not." I sighed with relief then smiled.

"Good! Because if you had decided to trade, it would have still been your decision, but I would have absolutely pounded you for doing such a stupid and dumb thing as that!" I grinned then jumped around, waving to the guy who was still collapsed on the ground. "Thank you! Goodbye for now! Keep on spreading that lovely friendliness!" I trilled then pushed everyone away, going over to a new food table to resume eating.

"That was awesome! How did you kick him like that?" Brock asked after I had smacked him again to wake him up from his daydream.

"Oh I used to train with my mom as a kid. She was a Battle Girl." I laughed and blushed a little. "I was quite a protégé you know!"

"I can tell. So you can fight like a master?" Ash asked me and I gave a shrug.

"Well, I can hold my own for sure. It's been a while since I've thrown some proper punches because I've been out on the road so long. Maybe next time we're in town, I'll show you guys a few moves!" I suggested and they all nodded with bright grins.

"Yeah! That would be awesome!"

"Pika Pi!" Pikachu took up a boxing pose then jabbed forwards rather neatly.

"Nice Pikachu! You're well on your way already." I complimented then stuffed some cake into my mouth and chewed happily. I was almost finished with a delicious berry pie when I heard the doors all slam closed and curtains be drawn across the windows and then the lights all cut out. Huh?"

Looking around in confusion everyone began to whisper with worry, looking around to try and see what was going on. I took a step back and stood on someone's foot. "Ow! Watch it!"

"Sorry Ash, I can't see you." I said, turning around but then bumped into someone else.

"Hey stop moving! You just elbowed me!" Misty grunted so simply stopped where I was. "What's going on?" As if in answer, a single beam of light appeared and shone down on two people at the top of a podium, their uniforms standing out obviously. "Oh no!"

"To protect the world from devestation!" Jessie chanted, pourdly standing above everyone else though James was slumped forwards, seemingly a little put out. What's up with him? And what are they wearing on their backs? They look like giant suction tubese or something.

"To unite all people within our nation." James continued though he didn't put any heart or effort into it.

"To denounce the evil of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above…" I almost felt sorry for the guy. Maybe spending all that time with Jessie was finally beginning to wear him down.

"Jessie."

"James."

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!" Jessie added and then James proceded to finish, though still there was no spirit. I was kind of disappointed.

"Surrender now or prepare to fight." Then Meowth bounded and I rolled my eyes, mouthing the words with him.

"Meowth that's right!" The lights came back on and I instantly looked around me to see Brock, Misty, Ash and Pikachu, which was a little more comforting.

"Team Rocket will now take possession of your Pokémon." Instantly people murmured in fear and my hands darted to my belt, taking off both Charmeleon and Pidgeotto's Pokéballs to then hug them into me, hiding them from view.

The waiters, who had all ripped off their uniforms to reveal themselves to be from Team Rocket, switched on their machines and began to suck in the Pokéballs from everyone on the ship, causing outcry as they lost their Pokémon.

Two Rocket grunts came over and actually asked us for our Pokémon, though not very nicely. "Give me your Pokémon." He directed at Misty who clenched her fists and glared at him.

"No way!" Another came up behind us and jabbed Ash in the shoulder.

"Don't make me take them!" Ash whirled around and pointed with a flash of anger in his eyes.

"Pikachu!" The little Pokémon leaped up and with a powerful Thundershock, lit up that grunt who then crashed the ground, smoking slightly.

"Nice hit Pikachu." I said then looked at Ash who called out to everyone.

"If they're going to take our Pokémon, we might as well make it a battle!" People began to call out in agreement, nodding their heads.

"Yeah we can't just surrender!"

"Let's fight back!" Meanwhile I saw Jessie quite happily directing her vacuum tubes towards the trainers whilst chanting almost manically.

"Suck them up, suck them up, suck them all up!" Alright, time to join the fight! This is not going to end the way Team Rocket wants if I have anything to do with it. Everyone stood behind Ash, who faced down Team Rocket seemingly without fear.

"We've gotta fight together!" Brock called and Ash sent Pikachu forwards.

"Pikachu go!" But then several other Pikachu raced forwards too and they leaped together, forming a row of four at the bottom then build up a pyramid, Ash's Pikachu at the top. Together they made a pretty impressive Thundershock, enough so that around ten grunts were taking out with quite a bang. "Charmander, I choose you!" Smirking I picked up both Pidgeotto and Charmeleon.

"Pokéball go!" I yelled and sent them forwards, catching the Pokéballs when they sprang back to me.

"Pidgeo!"

"Charmeleon!"

"Okay Pidgeotto, use your Gust to round up as many grunts as you can, fight against their suction packs to stop them taking the Pokéballs! Charmeleon, use Slash to open up their sacks to release the Pokémon and then use Flamethrower to send them running!" Both Pokémon chorused their names then leaped into the battle, other Pidgeotto joining with the attack but Charmeleon was on his own, though I don't think he minded.

"Geodude, go!" Brock yelled and I watched as his Geodude then linked hands with other Geodude and created an awesome spinning rock ring. They smashed into the Rocket grunts and sent them flying.

"Alright!" I punched then air then ran forwards, leaping over a Rattata towards a grunt who was shaking up a young girl.

"Give me your Pokémon you little rat!"

"Hey!" I yelled, balling my fist as I leaped up into the air. "Knock knock!" I punched him hard across the jaw, sending him flying as he let the girl go. I landed then lifted my knee, slamming it into another Rocket grunt's gut then gave a high jump kick to another.

"Woah! Look at Ruby go!" Brock said and I grinned before turning back to a Rocket who was running at me. I gripped his arm with both hands then wheeled him over my head, slamming him into the ground then turned to the girl.

"Tell your Nidoran to chew open the cases to let out all the Pokémon!" I said to her and she nodded, wiping her face dry from the tears.

"Go Nidoran! Use Hyper Fang!" I jumped away in search of my own Pokémon, easily finding Charmeleon. He slashed open cases and the Pokémon immediately burst free of their Pokéballs to join the fight, others picking up their Pokéballs to go and find their trainers.

Team Rocket were blasted off the ship with one last Thunderbolt from the Pikachu, tossed up into the sky from the force and we all cheered. "Yeah! We sure showed them!" I beamed, bounding over to Ash, Misty and Brock to tackle them with a hug.

"We did it! I think we should all be very proud of our Pokémon." Ash said and I nodded my head before giving a sharp whistle. One of the Pidgeotto's broke off from the flock and flew back to me, making me grin.

"Great job Pidgeotto!" I beamed as she landed and I embraced her, burying my face into her feathers. "You were super awesome as always, you take a nice rest now." I returned her to her Pokéball then looked around for Charmeleon.

He leaped down in front of me then folded his arms across his chest. "Char." I giggled.

"You were amazing too! I'm very proud!" I flung my arms around him and although he didn't embrace me back, I felt him nod his head. "You'd better return now, it's a little crowded in here." I said to him then clicked the button on my Pokéball to return him safely.

Just then the ship leaned precariously to the side and many of us fell over, though as I should have guessed, about twenty people landed on top of me. "Argh! Get off of me! I hate being squashed at the bottom!" I yelled, banging my fists on the ground.

"It's a storm!" Misty gasped as she looked out the window. I arched an eyebrow at her.

"I knew something like this would happen. Just my lucky day!" I grunted as I tried to pull myself out from underneath everyone but I was stuck fast as we were thrown to the other side of the ship when it tilted the other way. "Ow!"

"Hey where's Ash?" Misty asked, looking around and I glared at them.

"Can I get a little help here? It's getting kinda hard to breathe." Brock and Misty blinked before running over. Though people were beginning to get up, they continued to lose their balance and fall back down again.

"Oh right! Sorry Ruby." Brock said then grabbed one of my arms as Misty took the other. Together they pulled and although I felt like my arms were being ripped off, they managed to pull me free. Looking around we ran to find Ash, who was talking to the same gentleman as before.

"You sure I can't persuade you to change your mind young man?" He was asking but Ash shook his head.

"Butterfree was the first Pokémon I captured and I put a lot of work into raising it. I'm sorry, I just can't trade it away." The gentleman sighed then shook his head.

"Well, I know a lost cause when I see one. Good day to you young man." He touched his cap then walked calmly away as we raced over to him.

"Was that creep still trying to get Butterfree from you?" Ash nodded his head then picked up Butterfree's Pokéball, smiling down at it.

"I won't ever let you go." But just then the ship was slammed into by a wave and tilted over, ripping the Pokéball from Ash's hands and it rolled down the ship's length. "Butterfree!" Ash yelled and chased after it, Misty, Brock and I following.

"Ash!" We raced after Butterfree's Pokéball, though we were tossed and thrown about like potatos in a sack in the progress. "Ash we've gotta go!" Misty yelled just as Ash dived for the Pokéball.

"Got it!" He crowed victoriously but then what must have been the biggest wave in existence slammed into the ship and threw us to the side, crying out as we slammed into a door and flew into the room.

Although I felt everyone land on me I didn't have a chance to complain as the force of the landing and the blow to my head knocked me out cold.