Chapter 26, everybody! In which the 'mon in the back said 'everyone attack' and it turned into…a royal mess. In other news, added a line back in chapter 24 regarding the fact that you do find a Lava Cookie underneath the truck in the FireRed/LeafGreen remakes.

And yes, the title of this chapter is a reference to the song "Ballroom Blitz" by the band Sweet. It fit too well.

ChangelingRin, thanks for the review! Me too. :D I don't think so—and come to think of it, a Grass/Bug typing would be remarkably weak in comparison….I shall! :D

Luktopius, thanks for the review! Yes, he should….

IceDragonGirl36, thanks for the review! Yes they are—and I wouldn't either. D:

IAmUmbreon11, thanks for the review! Yes…I wouldn't either. I think Meowth's dislike of computers may stem from the last time he walked across the keyboard of one. Yes, well….Ha, and here I thought AOL was blocking the word "Butch" (although that wouldn't surprise me, to be honest).

Thor94, thanks for the review! Well, firstly we must consider the fact that all the starters were (temporarily) stolen—and since Gary was insistent on starting his journey right away, he got Growlithe as a starter (which he was going to get anyway, considering it was a puppy from Professor Oak's Arcanine and had hit it off with him) and therefore there is no Wartortle in the picture. Possibly Professor Oak could have called him (and Ash) up later to inform them of the starters' return, but chances are they would have refused, or there could have been a societal reason, considering Pikachu and Growlithe would be their official starters (and the fact that the original starters would have been useless for battling after being possibly scarred for life by Darkrai and would have had to been rehabilitated). Moving on—we do know that Gary had a Nidoking thanks to his battle against Giovanni, Blue in Pokémon Special had a Machoke, and the rival in Red/Blue had the (infamous) Raticate. We can also argue that Gary, unlike Ash (and myself) is probably cycling through his Pokémon until he finds a team he likes, which would explain Zubat and Geodude. Ash probably got remarkably lucky and caught him at a time where he's still working on his team and leveling everyone equally. And that was a lot of writing to explain all that…and good question….

KingDeadhead14, thanks for the review! Well, hopefully that means you'll enjoy this chapter. And perhaps….

Hello again, Luktopius!

Johnny Spectre, thanks for the review! Hmm….Well, considering that I started writing this before Sun/Moon was announced and Marshadow was retroactively inserted into Ash's past, and the fact that information on Marshadow hasn't been fully released (and the fact that the movie in question isn't even out yet), and the fact that the role of creepy ghosty stalker-mon is already taken by Darkrai, I…don't think Marshadow will be making an appearance in this. :\ Maybe if I had waited a couple more years….

Yami-chan and Unrealistic, thanks for the review! Haha, glad you liked it. :D And glad you like my humor (I run over the material so many times that I never find my own humor funny, so I'm glad to know it carries). I love Frenzy too. :D Aha, the rival in the games appears on the S.S. Anne, so it made sense that Gary show up here. :D

AveragePichu, thanks for the review! Yes, but we never see anything to suggest that in either the anime or the games (closest thing is a bed, I think). That gets touched on in this chapter, to be fair.

Pokémon © Game Freak; Nintendo

And now, for something completely different:

This just in from the Hoenn Weather Institute: several tropical storms have been reported by Mossdeep satellites. The likely cause is Kyogre being woken up by Team Aqua. Again.

This was going better than Meowth had hoped.

The initial plan of waiting for the trainers to put their Pokémon forward for healing had been shot down, as there were always those weirdoes that preferred to heal their Pokémon themselves. Therefore, individual Pokéball vacuums equipped to Team Rocket grunts would most likely yield a higher return. Plus, waiting for everyone to wear themselves out reduced the likelihood of resistance.

Yessir, this might actually be a plan that worked.

"Team Rocket!" someone yelled as they finished the motto—finally, all that practice worked. Plus, it kept people distracted as the grunts positioned themselves.

"It's so nice to be recognized," Jessie sighed.

Meowth squinted. The twerp that had hollered out looked vaguely familiar.

"What do you think you're doing?" a redhead yelled.

"Silly girl, we're taking the Pokémon!" Jessie said.

"Take it from the Meowth's mowth," Meowth said, paws on his hips. "Your Pokémon will be better off wid us!"

"Now!" James yelled, flinging his rose up in the air.

On that cue, the Rocket grunts activated the vacuums. Pokéballs went flying.

Meowth couldn't help but cheer.

Victory for Team Rocket!

The captain examined the radar warily before glancing around the empty control room once again.

Team Rocket had paid him handsomely to captain the ship, but it had also come with the promise that he not be left with an understaffed control room. But something was happening upstairs, that prompted the rest of the Rockets to run out, leaving him, by himself, with a ship that was heading straight for a storm with no means to steer it away.

He took a calculated risk, ran upstairs to get someone to help with the steering—

Whatever was happening was happening in the ballroom, and it sounded like a huge battle.

Again, the need for a calculated risk. Go get in the thick of things, or….

In the end, self-preservation won out.

"We've got to do something!"

"I'm open to suggestions!" Misty said, clinging to her Pokéballs.

Ash was trying to hang onto his Pokéballs and Pikachu at the same time—

Something occurred to him.

"They want our Pokémon?" Ash hollered. "Then let's give them our Pokémon! Go, Pikachu! Thunder Shock!"

Pikachu zapped the first goon—

And was assisted by several others on the second.

"Good idea, Ash!" Brock exclaimed. "Go! Geodude! Zubat! Bulbasaur!"

"Go! Staryu! Squirtle!" Misty added.

Ash hesitated before throwing out Charmander.

"Think you can manage?" Ash asked.

"Char," Charmander said, nodding.

"Perfect!" Ash said, releasing Frenzy and Vee. "Vee, cover Charmander." Then, to the room: "Everyone, attack!"

The Rockets were quickly routed.

"Their Pokémon are weak from battlin'!" the Meowth yelled, jumping up and down frantically. "Fight back! You got Pokémon! Use them!"

Spearow and Zubat and Beedrill—and even one or two Grimer and Clefairy—appeared in the room.

"This is going to be a mess," Misty observed, before quickly ordering her Staryu to use Psybeam on an approaching Grimer.

"The ship can handle this, right?" Ash asked Brock.

"It should," Brock said, not sounding convinced.

Pikachu spotted one of the Clefairy and aimed a Thunderbolt at it, chattering angrily.

"Pikachu—" Ash began, but was cut off by something landing on his head.

"You! You're da instigator o' all dis!" Meowth snarled, batting Ash around the ears.

"Hey! Gerroff!" Ash yelped, stumbling.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu yelled, Tackling Meowth. The Clefairy followed, bouncing off of Ash's head.

"Clef, Clefairy," the Clefairy said to Meowth.

"Not now!" Meowth said. "You—geeow!"

Meowth ran off, the electrocuted Clefairy following, Pikachu dashing angrily after them.

"Pikachu! Don't run off like that!" Ash yelled, running after them.

"Ash! Take your own advice!" Misty called after him.

Ash skidded to a halt. Ulk—Misty had a point.

Especially considering he was now facing down Jessie and James' team of Ekans, Koffing, Growlithe, and….

"A Magikarp?" Jessie asked, looking at James. "Where did you pick up that one? Why did you pick it up?"

"I bought it from a salesperson—"

Jessie gave James a look very similar to Darkrai's you're such an idiot I'll deal with you later look. "We'll discuss this after we deal with the twerp."

"I'm not a twerp!" Ash said.

"Who cares?" Meowth asked. "What matters is you're outnumbered!"

"Everyone!" Jessie ordered. "Get that Pikachu!"

"Pika," Pikachu noised, cheeks sparking.

Not good—Pikachu had taken some damage from Raticate and then some from this melee. Backup, backup—

"Frenzy!" Ash hollered.

He heard the shriek, and was able to track Frenzy's movement by the people and Pokémon jumping up or scrambling out of the way of the scuttling Bug Pokémon.

"Okay, now we've got a fair fight!" Ash said as Frenzy arrived.

"Doncha know?" Meowth asked. "We never fight fair!"

"Clef," the Clefairy said shortly.

"Fine—you don't hafta fight him. But go make yourself useful and fight someone else!"

The Clefairy bounced away.

"How did you people get a Clefairy?" Ash asked.

"We have our ways," Jessie said. "Now, everyone: exterminate those pests!"

"Pikachu, Thunder! Frenzy, get anyone still standing after that!"

Pikachu let loose a devastating electrical shock. James' Koffing's internal gases ignited from the heat, and exploded.

Several other small explosions occurred.

"The Clefairy used Metronome!" At least, that's what Ash thought someone said—his ears were ringing from the nearby explosion. And why was he getting wet?

He sat up, looked up—

To see that the Explosion had not only blown a hole in the floor, but in the ceiling as well.

And it was raining.

"A storm!" Misty said. "We must have sailed into it! But why?"

"I think the answer has something to do with that captain in a lifeboat," Gary observed from a nearby window.

Pikachu directed Ash's attention to Frenzy, who had again taken Ash's exact words to heart. "Frenzy, return!" Ash called. "We've got to get out of here!"

"This ship wasn't built for that sort of punishment!" Brock hollered. "We've got to abandon ship!"

Rockets and passengers both hastened to obey, jostling and elbowing each other in an attempt to get to the lifeboats first.

Brock had Zubat use Screech, which made all activity grind to a halt.

"If you keep acting like that, you're all going to drown," Brock yelled.

Gary hopped onto the railing and held onto the ropes for the first lifeboat. "All right, you losers! Get on the boats in an orderly fashion! I want two people per Rocket! Now move!"

Ash returned Frenzy, Charmander and Vee before scooping Pikachu up and running to Misty, who was helping Brock organize everyone.

"Is the ship really going to sink?" Ash asked.

"We've sailed into a storm and blown holes in the ship," Brock observed. "There's no if here—it's when."

"I say we have about twenty minutes," Misty said.

Ash glanced around, bracing himself against the rocking of the ship and trying to ignore the feeling of cold and wet. "I don't see anyone else in here."

"Yeah, once you get people heading in the same direction, it gets easier," Misty observed. "Now come on, let's go!"

Ash started after her, but skidded to a halt when something occurred to him. "Wait! What about our stuff?"

"Things aren't worth your life!" Brock said, running back to him and flinging him into a fireman's carry.

"Yeah, I—wait! We have to get your bag at least!"

"I'll buy new food supplies!"

"The egg's still in there!"

That did make Brock skid to a halt. "Aw, Muk," he muttered, already performing a 180 to head for the stairs.

"Wait! Where are you two going?" Misty yelled, running after them.

Jessie, James and Meowth were joining the press of people heading for the lifeboats when a larger wave knocked them to the floor.

"AAA!" James yelped, scrambling to his feet and running after a rolling gold ball. "My Magikarp! Come back!"

"James, I'll buy you a new one!" Jessie yelled after him, getting to her feet. "Now let's go!"

Meowth hopped upright just as James answered. "You can't! It took all three of our advance salaries to pay for it!"

Meowth blinked, praying he had salt water in his ears. "Did he say what I thought he said?"

"I'm going to kill him," Jessie said, running after James.

"Hey, wait!" Meowth yelped, running after her. "Lifeboats! Sinking ship! We gotta leave!"

Okay, in the interest of not being able to do much else but look around at the moment, travelling down a hall backwards offered an interesting view. Ash felt it would make a great scene in a movie, although he wasn't sure what sort of movie it would fit with.

Brock plopped Ash down at the room. "Key! Quick!"

Ash fumbled in his pockets. "I don't—I think I dropped—"

Brock made an impatient noise, backed up to the opposite wall, then gave a running kick to the door near the knob.

It broke open.

"Wow," Ash said. "I thought that was just in the movies."

"What's going on?" Misty said, finally catching up.

"Brock did a Chuck Norris."

"Well unless he wants to do a Leonardo DiCaprio, we have to go!"

Brock came running out of the room, tossing Misty her bag before unzipping his.

"Okay, it's still there," he said, pulling a few shirts down to show the egg still safely wrapped up.

"Great," Misty said, grabbing Ash's wrist and tugging him along as Brock rezipped his pack and slung it over his shoulders. "Now we've gotta—"

Whatever else they had to do was cut off as the hall suddenly went topsy-turvy. They stumbled, fell, tumbled—

And then the impact—

And everything went dark.