Not All Arrogance (A Gary Oak Love Story) Part 12~Battle Ship

An hour later, Amy was getting edgy. Gary hadn't shown up. Ash, Brock and Misty hadn't seemed to have noticed but Duplica had questioned her about it. Amy shrugged in response to her question, provoking Duplica to question further.

"Seriously, where did he go? Really?" Duplica asked suspiciously. Amy sighed. If he wasn't back by now, then they should know right? Clearly something had gone wrong.

"Okay fine. Hey guys come here; you had better hear this too," Amy told Ash and the others. They stopped paying attention to the battle they were watching and turned to Amy, confused. She proceeded to explain about team rocket, and Gary going off to spy. Ash looked completely ashamed at being deceived by Jessie and James' pathetic disguises, but Amy assured him she didn't think any less of him. Really. This seemed like just the level of observance she was used to from him.

They figured they'd better go find Gary, but Amy made everyone swear not to start talking about Team Rocket. If they tell the wrong people they may be next to vanish. Before they went off Duplica and Amy went to the cabin and got their stuff. Gary had taken his with him and they weren't sure if they'd be back to the room later on if they had to disembark quickly or something.

*****

For the next half hour, they split up to search the ship. Misty and Duplica searched the deck and upper floor, Amy and Ash the lower. Brock stayed in the main room in case Gary came back late.

Amy and Ash were wandering down an empty corridor peeking into various doors when they rounded a corner and saw a green haired boy and a dark haired girl, the same two Gary had seen earlier, deep in discussion. They looked up, startled, as Amy and Ash approached.

"What are you doing down here?" the green haired boy asked sounding suspicious.

"Nice to meet you too," Amy said sarcastically.

"We could ask you the same question," Ash said stepping up to Amy's side. They all stared each other down a bit before Amy relented first.

"This is stupid. Um, have you seen a guy with spiky brown hair and a blue sweatshirt? May have had an Eevee with him," Amy asked. The dark haired girl looked a bit surprised before smiling.

"Yes, I think we have, I'm Machala, this is Drew. This spikey haired guy is your friend?"

"Um, more or less," Ash grunted.

"Erm, okay this may shock you but we think he was captured by agents for this organization called Team Rocket," Drew said frowning.

"You noticed them too? Do you know how many there are?" Amy asked wide eyed. Drew shook his head.

"No. But I expect you want to save him so you should know the details we do. The Rockets think he's Bill. You know, the famous Bill."

Amy blinked. "You're kidding. Why would they... oh, the invitation. Of course," she sighed.

"So do the Rockets have him or what? Do you know where he is?" Ash asked.

"Can we know your names first?" Drew asked haughtily. Amy decided it was best to field this. She smelled a brewing testosterone war.

"I'm Amy, this is Ash. Our friend is Gary, so do you know where he is?" she asked Machala specifically.

Machala bit her lip "Sort of, we know they went through this door, but its locked, and no window, so we aren't exactly sure what to do now. I would storm in but..."

"But that is stupid. We don't know what's behind that door. It's dangerous," Drew supplied unhelpfully.

Amy narrowed her eyes and looked down in concentration. "Maybe it's dangerous but..." she sighed "It's really our only option in the given circumstances. I would rather we had Brock, Duplica and Misty as back-up but we don't have time to go find them."

"So, we're going in?" Ash asked, seeming surprised.

"Well we aren't leaving him to the Rockets!" Amy snapped. They looked at each other. They seriously needed a plan.

*****

Gary stirred and woke in a small, dimly lit room. He was in a hard wooden chair and it appeared his hands were bound behind him. This didn't look good. Suddenly a bright light bulb was shining in his face.

"Hey, what is this?" Gary snapped and a dark laughter answered him. It sent a chill up his spine.

"Shut up Bill," the laugher grunted and a big hand slapped him across the face.

"What are you talking about? I'm not Bill!" Gary snapped, wincing at his bruising cheek.

"Yeah right. Then why were you using his invitation?" the guy laughed.

"He gave it to me! Me and my- my friend helped him out and he couldn't go anyway so he gave his invites to us!" Gary snapped.

"Hey um, Cecil? This kid's got a Pokedex ID and it says he's Gary Oak," another voice joined form behind him.

"Gary Oak? You related to Prof. Oak?" Cecil said gruffly, apparently undeterred by discovering he did not in fact have Bill.

"Uh, yeah he's my grandpa..."" Gary said slowly.

Cecil laughed. "Well then, you might not be much use on your own, but you'll make a great hostage. Old Prof. Oak'll do anything to save his own, and Bill'll tell that old coot anything. So no prob. Lou, go get Bud, tell him who we've got."

"Don't you mean Barnaby?" Lou asked.

"Uh, yeah, sure, whatever, just go get him."

"Right boss," Lou said and charged out the door. Right into Amy, Ash, Drew and Machala. "Hey, what're you-" Lou started but Machala cut him off.

"GET HIM!" she yelled and the four kids tackled him to the ground. He was out cold in seconds and they stormed into the room.

"What the hell-?!" Cecil asked thoroughly startled. Gary squinted in the dim light and made out the shapes of Amy and Ash.

"You guys sure took your time, where're the others?" Gary asked as Ash, Drew and Machala started battling Cecil who had released his Arcanine and Machoke. Ash sent forward his Pikachu, while Drew let loose a Rosalia and Machala sent out a Houndoom to Amy's awe. She was too busy untying Gary to comment on it but she soon got through the knots. Gary flexed his arms and got out of the chair looking eager to fight but Cecil had returned his Pokémon and ran out of the room in a cloud of smoke that had suddenly spilt from a small ball he held in his hand.

"Come on, we've got to follow him!" Gary said started to leave but Amy grabbed his shoulder.

"Wait! Do you have your Pokémon? Did they take anything from you?" she asked. Gary shoved his hand frantically in his pocket, as Drew calmly grabbed the stuff off the nearby table along with Gary's bag and handed it to him. He took it and then they hurried out but Cecil was nowhere to be seen.

"It's no good, let's go find the others. We may need the reinforcements," Amy said knowledgably. Gary looked ready to say he didn't think there was time but everyone else was onboard so he kept quiet.

*****

Soon they had met up with Misty, Brock and Duplica in the main room, introduced them to Drew and Machala hurriedly and explained the situation. They listened with rapt attention.

"Well we've got to tell everyone!" Duplica said confidently.

"No that'd cause a panic. We STILL don't know how many there are or if they actually are in control of the ship. All we know is that 2 were dressed as crew members," Brock said looking disheartened.

"Well we have to think of something," Machala said looking around at the other trainers in the room, wondering which were innocent and which were Rockets undercover. Amy fell into deep thought, closing her eyes. She opened them and looked at each member of the group in careful turn.

"I think... we're going to have to let Team Rocket make the first move. That is our only choice. Right now we will stay together. We will move about the ship enjoying the party. But we will be on guard. When they move to attack, we will fight back. Also it would be best for each of us to have one Pokémon free of its Pokeball in case we need help fast," she explained slowly.

Gary looked furious. "So we're just going to sit back and wait?"

"She didn't say that!" Ash snapped.

Misty sighed, "I don't think there's another choice right now to be honest."

They looked at each other knowing she was right and not liking it one bit.

*****

And so the group wandered about. Isis with Amy, Socrates with Gary, Rosalia with Drew, Houndoom with Machala, Zubat with Brock, Staryu with Misty and of course, Ditto and Pikachu with Duplica and Ash. They began their rounds. Not 5 minutes into it though Team Rocket made its move. Gun shots were heard and several crew members and guests threw off their costumes and stood on tables making a big show of waving vacuums around.

"Well at least they were quick about it," Machala sighed.

"What`s with the vacuums?" Ash queried to no one in particular.

Drew shrugged. "Guns were overused perhaps?"

"Hey, shut up!" snapped a gravelly voice and Amy turned to find Butch. Cassidy was nowhere in sight.

"It's Bart!" Gary shouted pointing at him. Amy elbowed him.

"You mean Butch."

"Oh right," Gary shrugged. Amy could still not figure out why no one could remember this guy's name.

"Right, well..." Butch trailed off.

"So where's Cassidy? Did she ditch you?" Gary asked crossing his arms. The other guests were being herded by rockets from around the ship into the main room. Suddenly the boat tossed a bit in the waves. A voice from the captain, who seemed oblivious to all that was occurring on his ship, told them they seemed to have headed into a storm.

"Oh great," Misty groaned.

"So where's Cassidy?" Amy asked Butch, who was trying to supervise Rocket Grunts.

"Huh? She's over at Cinnabar Isla... I mean, um... SHUT UP!" he growled and more Grunts came and hustled them into the crowd. Duplica looked ready to fight them off, but Machala grabbed her shoulder and shook her head. Too many for them to fight. The ship lurched again.

"Oh no..." Brock groaned clutching his stomach. The girls and Drew hurriedly edged away from Brock but Ash and Gary didn't get it. The ship lurched again. Brock lurched into Ash and Gary. Then they got it. All over them.

"Awe gross!" Gary whined trying to shake it off him. Ash looked mortified for a second and then stared at Gary before starting into wild laughter.

"Sorry guys," Brock moaned from the floor where he had fallen.

Butch started yelling at the crowd from is megaphone. "Okay, now that you're all here, you can put all your Pokémon in their Pokeballs and hand them over to us."

"No way!"

"You're crazy!"

"We aren't just going to hand them over!"

Cries went up through the crowd until Butch yelled over top "THEN WE'LL TAKE THEM FROM YOU!!!"

Vacuums were switched on, and the mystery of them was solved, they started sucking up Pokeballs from the crowd. Amy and the others quickly zipped up their pockets that held their Pokémon, and each held onto the Pokémon they had out.

"This is just stupid, we're all Pokémon trainers aren't we?" Machala suddenly yelled over the roar. They looked at each other. She was right. Amy smiled. She pulled out the Pokeball that held Quasar.

"GO!" she yelled as the Wartortle appeared in a burst of light.

"Hit Butch's mega phone so it gets over here!" she told her Pokémon who nodded. The others stared bewildered as he hit his mark. Butch shouted something presumably obscene as his megaphone flew from his grip into the air. A couple more well aimed jets of water and a very good catch from Amy later and the megaphone was in her grasp. She switched it on and yelled into it, blaring over the crowd. "GET YOUR POKEMON OUT OF YOUR POKEBALLS AND FIGHT! DO YOU WANT THEM CAPTURED BY THESE GOONS OR SOMETHING? " She sounded so angry that even the Rockets looked at her stunned. Heck, everybody did.

"WELL?!"

That snapped them out of it. Butch leaped towards Amy, presumably to get his megaphone back. Ash and Gary both made to stop him at the same time and it caused a 3-headed collision. They all landed on the floor and Butch proceeded to scream about how gross Brock's lunch was as he had gotten it all over himself from the duo that had jumped him.

Trainer by trainer, including Misty, Brock, Drew and Machala, had released all their Pokémon and were doing battle with the Rockets, liberating already stolen Pokémon, while the storm raged outside, tossing the boat...

Barely heard over the noise the captain, still oblivious, informed everyone that they should probably abandon ship as it was about to capsize. The few who heard it told the others and panic ensued. Rockets and trainers alike rushed for the deck and the lifeboats, tumbling in the rocking corridors. Amy lost sight of the others while she quickly reclaimed her Pokémon into their Pokeballs. She headed for the deck, and on the way found Drew and Machala. They were walking calmly, holding hands.

"Hey! Have you guys seen the others?" Amy asked them wildly. Drew shook his head.

"No, but I'm willing to bet they panicked. We'll help you search on deck if you want..." Drew looked at Machala who nodded.

*****

On deck it was chaos. People were running everywhere. Amy spotted Misty, Brock, Duplica and Ash sitting in one life boat looking worried. They then spotted Amy, Drew and Machala and looks of relief washed over their faces. Drew and Machala got into the raft and suddenly Jesse, James and Meowth appeared and jumped in too.

"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" Ash snapped.

"Ash, we can't leave them onboard!" Amy snapped. "Where's Gary?"

"He went back to look for you I think," Duplica told her a bit sadly.

"Ash wanted to go to but we held him back," Misty said looking at Ash like he was an idiot. Amy stared at her, then turned swiftly and headed back into the crowd.

"AMY!" Ash yelled, but she ignored him. She wasn't going to let Gary drown because he went looking for her. She found him quick enough on the other side of the deck and grabbed his arm. When he saw her he looked about to say something but Amy shook her head.

"Not now, the boat's sinking! It-" but she cut off when Gary suddenly grabbed her into a fierce hug. Most of the vomit was wiped away but he still smelled like it. It sort of ruined a possibly romantic moment and Amy grimaced, unnoticed by Gary.

"I thought you fell and hit you head or something, I-" but then he was cut off when the boat tipped heavily to one side and both of them, holding tight to each other now, fell into the sea.

*****

They came to on a chunk of wood presumably used as a raft. Amy found herself looking Brock's face. He was giving her the jaws of life. Without thinking she slapped him.

"Ouch!" Brock groaned rubbing his bruised cheek. "I think Amy's okay..." he drew back and Amy saw Machala working expertly on Gary. His eyes opened and she drew back, smiling. Amy felt a small flare of anger when she saw their lips together but it left her when the first thing Gary did was ask where Amy was. Amy waved at him, and he relaxed instantly. Amy looked about the raft and saw Ash and the others were there as well, watching. Machala crawled over to Drew and he kissed her.

"You're a couple?" Ash said shocked.

They glanced at him. "Yes," they said in unison looking a bit surprised he didn't pick up on it. It wasn't obvious but it wasn't too hard to figure out. But that was Ash. Amy giggled and looked at the horizon. Nothing but water.

"What happened? Where's the life boat?" Amy asked. Duplica excitedly filled her in on what happened. Team Rocket had tried to catch Pikachu, the life boat popped, Team Rocket blasted off with it and Ditto turned into the raft they were sitting on. Amy looked shocked at the far end and saw Ditto's smiling face looking at her. She found this weird but got over it fast. "Well, at least we're all okay," she said with a sigh of relief.

"Okay?! We're in the middle of the ocean! Things couldn't be WORSE! " Gary yelled. Then, suddenly, randomly, probably due to Gary using the jinxed phrase, a school of Gyrados popped out of the water and used Dragon Rage. Misty ominously explained what attack it was when she saw them prepare to use it. So it was with that everyone wound up in a vortex of water, sending them far out in the water, and managing to knock them all conveniently unconscious on the way.

TO BE CONTINUED...