Heyyyyyy Everyone! I'm still alive, and I have come to bring this story back from its slumber!
A lot of things are going to happen during the next few chapters, so be prepared for a lot of stuff going down! I have been mostly just trying to finish up schoolwork and think about how everything else will be going down, and I am proud of where this story is at so far. Thank you for all of the support and getting this story go beyond 100 favorites! It just makes me so happy!
But I know that you guys came for the chapter. So, let's begin!
The Very Best:
Chapter 17:
S.S. Anne
Opening (If you really want to): chAngE (From Bleach, composed by Miwa)
The evening sun came in through the personal office of Surge as the large Gym Leader entering in through the wooden door.
The large man's office was overall pretty simple by design. There was a large desk directly near the wall that had a black chair for Surge to sit on, all kinds of papers on the large desk along with a plug-in phone. An inactive fan was on the ceiling as there were two simple cactus plants sitting on right by the closed window. Filing cabinets sitting right by the other wall as a small digital clock was on one of the cabinets.
Surge went for the drawer that was in the desk and pulled a pack of cigarettes and a red lighter for his smoke break that he was about to do. Surge opened up the window and sat right by so that the smoke from the cigarette wouldn't accidently trigger the smoke detector in his room. As Surge sat right by the window, he lit his cigarette and placed it in his mouth.
Surge remained completely silent as his eyes were focused on the outside. He began to reflect on what had happened today and mostly the rest of his life in general. He didn't really enjoy revesting his memories or his past, but that was the only thing of interest he could actually think of as of right now.
A thousand-mile stare was on his face as thoughts clouded his minds.
Suddenly, the phone on his desk began to ring.
Surge turned around in a rather bored way as he removed the cigarette from his mouth and kept it in his hand. The large Gym Leader sat at his desk and placed the phone right next to his hear, already having a good idea on who this might be. "This is Gym Leader Surge speaking."
"Hello, Surge. This is Erika." A girly voice spoke in a polite manner over the phone as Surge placed the cigarette back in his mouth. "I hope that I didn't contact you on a bad time."
"You didn't. I was just thinking when you called."
"I see." Erika remarked in a normal tone of voice before returning back to her polite demeanor. "I just wanted to check up on a fellow gym leader like yourself, an-"
"You can cut the crap, Erika. I know that the Elite Four wanted you to call me." Surge told in a very mild voice, smoking his cigarette as he spoke. "So, let's just get straight to the point already."
"...I knew that you were the no nonsense type." Erika let out a sigh as any hope for a friendly conversation had been thrown out the window. "Has Ask Ketchum already visited your gym?"
"Yes, he did." Was the instant reply that came from Surge as he enjoyed his cigarette. "The baby and his friend just came to me earlier today for my gym badge."
"And I can only assume that they won against you."
"Don't worry, they did beat me and got their gym badge. They are pretty strong for a bunch of kids." Surge said as he tried his best not to let out a chuckle.
"Then it seems like he'll be coming to me next, assuming he'll be able to reach me before all of us Gym Leaders are forced to go to the Pokémon League this August." Erika said as she appeared interested to see what this boy might be able to do. "I'll make sure to notify every other Gym Leader while we are at the league."
"I personally think that doing all of this stupid." Surge suddenly spoke without any kind of seconds thoughts. "Why can't we just tell the baby the truth about what happened instead of doing all of this?"
"You already know the answer to that, Surge." Erika told over the phone. "We just have to play along with this until it's over."
"Oh, come on. Surly you must realize that keeping the truth from him won't change or fix anything." Surge looked aimlessly at his desk as he was almost done with his current cigarette. "I honestly feel like we should just tell him everything and just get it over with."
"I agree that we should tell him, but I'm not the one call the shoots here. Do you know who wants to keep things like this?"
"The Champion." Surge answered as if it were the most obvious answer ever, letting out a sigh. "I am fully aware of that."
"Then it's best to just agree with the plan." Erika said as she decided to stop talking about this topic, knowing that it may not be the best idea as of right now. "So, is it true that Brock and Misty are traveling with that boy?"
"Brock is definitely with the baby, but I never did see the Gym Leader's little sister."
"I guess she just didn't show up to you." Erika let out a small sigh before asking one other question. "Was anyone else with Ash?"
"There was this other boy, whose name I forgot about. However, there was another girl with them." Surge spoke in a calm way as he finished off his cigarette, putting it in his personal ash tray. "And for some reason, she seemed too familiar to me."
"May you please describe her to me?"
"Well, let me think. She had pink hair, glasses, looked a bit older than Ash, and she seemed very calm and emotionless for someone her age. It almost seemed like she had forgotten what feelings are." Surge tried to think as he listed all of this information to Erika, who absorbed this knowledge like a sponge. "I think her name was... Sakura? Something like that."
Erika remained silent as she heard all this, but on the inside, she was very shocked. If what Surge was saying was the truth, then this girl was someone very important to the Pokémon League, and to think that she was now appeared to be another companion of Ash. "If what you're saying is true, Surge, then we must keep tabs on that girl as well."
"And why is that?" Surge questioned.
"Because that Sakura girl is related to one of the members of The Elite Four."
"Misty. Can you just tell us where we are going already?" Ryan asked the girl as they were halfway through the large white bridge, the girl merely giving them a smile.
A nice wind past by as the ten-year old's still free orange hair moved around a bit. "Don't worry, I promise you that this is going to make you guys smile."
The group was walking through the large white bridge that separated the large docks from the rest of Vermillion City, the salty ocean water seemingly very calm today. The sun came down as it was slowly starting to become the afternoon. Something new was the case that contained Brock's bow and arrow, something that Ash and Ryan were amazed by, but Misty and Sakura scolded the former Gym Leader for wasting his money. Nevertheless, Brock carried the case with him without a care in the world.
A thought came to Ash's head, Wartortle closely walking by his Trainer. "Hey, Misty?" This caught the girl's attention. "Are you just brining us here so that you can be by the ocean?"
Misty just gave a small smile. "Let's just say, it's a bit more than that." Ash just nodded as the group finally left the bridge and stepped onto the large dock.
The dock itself was very open and pretty, various trees and plants placed around the center where there was a fountain of a Gyarados. A few ships were already there as the water gently rocked them. All kinds of people were walking to sight see or do their job, you could see that most of the people were wearing some kind of sailor outfit. The group kept walking ahead, until they reached a boat that was in the corner.
"Everyone," Misty began in a happy way as they all stopped to see what was in front of them. "We have made it."
In front of them was one of the few large ships that were at the dock, but this one was not like the others. Not only was this a cruise shop, while the others appeared to be shipping good and items across the water, but it was also the biggest ship there. It stood at an impressive 500 feet in height. About 90% of the ship was white in color, but there was a long line of red and yellow going through. On the hull of the ship, the name of the coat was there in dark blue paint:
S.S. ANNE
Ryan gently tapped Misty's shoulder to get her attention. "You dragged us all the way here so that you can show us a big ship?" The boy asked in a completely confused way.
"I guess this is kind of cool." Brock commented in a weird way as he tried to figure out something to say. "But it's not like we can get on it."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that." Misty gave a smirk as she looked at everyone. "There is a reason why we are here."
"And what is the reason?" Ash asked as he looked at his best friend, knowing that she wouldn't try to do anything bad to them.
"Wartortle?" The Water type asked as well, Sakura just behind and remained quiet as she listened to what Misty had to say.
Misty just kept her smirk. "I bought us tickets to go onto this ship and head straight to Lavender Town!"
Everyone thought they had just heard wrong. "I-I'm sorry. What?!" Ryan suddenly spoke in complete shock, even Sakura was a bit surprised by this recent development.
"You heard me. We'll be taking this nice cruise all the way to Lavender Town, where we can continue our journey as normal." Misty said with her arms crossed in a happy way.
"B-B-But how did y-you get the tickets?" Brock asked as his mind was still trying to process this, his case that contained his weapon still in his hand.
"Simple." Even though Misty was scared on the inside on how the group would respond, she kept a smile on her face. All those days with Ash and Brock seemed to have boosted her confidence. "I used up all the money that we had to buy us the tickets!"
Silence rang through the area that the group was in as everyone became downright quiet after hearing that. Brock was so shocked that he dropped his black case on the ground, and Ryan looked like he had just seen a ghost. Ash and Wartortle looked like they were frozen in time as they were just as shocked as everyone else, never, in a million years, thinking that Misty of all people would actually do this. Sakura just gave a facepalm as she wasn't even mad or surprised, and it was hard to tell what she was feeling. But the girl accidently let out a little Noise.
Sakura actually gave a little giggle at this, but for everyone else.
"YOU DID WHAT!?"
"WARTORTLE?!"
"Now look. I know that you may be mad, bu-"
"Mad is way too kind of a word for this!" Ryan yelled at Misty before she could finish her sentence. "What were you thinking?! You couldn't just tell us before you did something like this?!"
"That would've spoiled the surprise." Misty responded as she tried her best to calm down everyone. "Besides, I think it's time that we all finally have a nice break on this trip. You can't tell me that all of this traveling wasn't starting to slowly get to you."
"But Misty," Brock began as he tried to remain calm in this situation, his black case back in his hand. "We aren't exactly made out of gold. You can't just use money like this without anyone else knowing."
"Oh, you're one to talk." Misty quickly replied as she pointed to the case the contained Brock's bow and arrow. "You bought that thing without anyone else knowing, and you didn't seem to be too fazed by that."
"W... -I-I..." Brock tried to think of a way to retaliate, but he just couldn't come up with anything that would be good enough.
Misty let out a sharp sigh. "Come on, guys. Just think about all the things that we can do while were on this trip." Misty gave them a smile as she began to list off the various things that they could do there. "There is great room surface, Pokémon battles, a grant buffet three times a day, a bunch of games like pool, and I might be able to get a nice tan outside."
"But... Misty." Ash and Wartortle tried to remain kind to his best friend as he tried to think about what to say, but it was understandably quite hard to protect her right now. "We were supposed to leave today and head to Rock Tunnel, and then we would reach Lavender Town."
"Wartortle." The Pokémon agreed.
"Just give it a try. That's all I ask." Misty gently said as she wanted someone to be with her on this trip. The orange haired girl came to Ash and softly grabbed his hand, something the boy wasn't expecting. "I swear that this boat is heading to Lavender Town, where we can continue our journey as normal. Don't think of it as cheating your journey, but actually having time to relax." She looked at everyone else. "A way for all of us to finally have time for ourselves.
Ash didn't say anything back right away as thoughts came to his, trying to find a good response. No one decided to say anything as Ash was quiet, trying to construct any kind of sentence. Misty looked down after a few seconds, knowing that Ash was probably going to say no to her. Misty had a sad look on her face.
Suddenly, someone spoke up.
"Eh. Screw it." Sakura spoke up as she stepped forward, still trying to remain calm. "I got nothing to lose if I come with you, Misty."
Misty was surprised that someone actually decided to come with her, it almost felt like a tear of joy was going down her face. She couldn't believe that Sakura of all people would actually take her side, especially for something like this.
"You know what? Count me and Wartortle in!" Ash said in a determined way as he also came up to Misty, making the girl even more happy. Wartortle came right over to Misty and offered her a high-five, something the girl gladly took.
"I guess I'll come with you guys." Brock spoke up as he joined the other four. "I've always wondered what it's like to be on a cruise."
Misty couldn't contain her smile. "T-Thank you guys. I'm glad that you will come." She then noticed that someone was missing, and the girl moved her head to see the missing boy. "Ryan?"
Ryan just let out a sigh. "Fine." He said in a monotone way, clearly not okay with saying this. "Let us just get on the stupid boat."
Misty's smirk finally came back on her face. Suddenly, she took out 4 bright yellow tickets that were addressed for the S.S. Anne, and they even had the names of Pokémon Trainers on it. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
"Yes!" Ash happily cheered out as he was excited for this trip now.
The group began to make their way to the entrance of the boat with some newly obtained enthusiasm, all besides Ryan who tried to remain quiet. They boy seemed to be the only one not completely on board with this idea, but he knew that he was outnumbered 4 to 1, and that this maybe won't be the worst thing in the world. But that doesn't mean he is completely happy about this.
All of them began to walk up the large staircase that led to the entrance of the massive cruise. "This boat is big." Ash remarked as he noticed how small they were compared to it.
"Anything less just wouldn't be god enough for us." Misty told them as they made it to the top, where they were confronted by someone.
"Greetings. Welcome aboard the S.S. Anne." A man that was in a very fancy uniform said as he kept his eyes closed and a warm smile on his face. He had brown hair that was shaped in a bowl cut and stood up completely straight. He extended an open hand to them. "I am going to need your tickets, please."
"Here." Misty handed over the 4 tickets that she had to the worker, who quickly looked at each individually, asking them if that was indeed their names on the tickets. He took out a little device a stamped all the tickets after all the questions were done, handing over the now stamped tickets to each member of the group.
"You may come right on in." The man opened one of his arms and allowed everyone to easily continue on.
"Thank you." Both Misty and Ash told the man as they walked by, while Brock just gave a small bow. Sakura and Ryan didn't say anything as they also walked by.
"So, where shall we be going first?" Ryan asked everyone as they took a look at the nearby map on the wall, the map showed all the parts of the boat and where everything was.
"Shouldn't we head to our room first?" Brock asked as he tried to get everyone's attention. "I think that we should at least put our stuff away before we go on and explore."
"But don't you want to go to the Main Lobby and see what they have there?" Misty asked as she pointed to a large point on the map. "I heard that there is always something going on there."
"I'll come with you, Misty." Ash told the girl as she placed a hand on her shoulder, making the girl give a smile.
"Meh. I'll join you guys." Ryan said as he came to them, being hopeful that there will be some fun stuff there.
"Sure." Was the very stoic answer from Sakura as she came to them, Brock silently frowning on the inside as he was the only one that was going down a different path.
"I guess I'll be the only one going to the room then." Brock remarked as he turned away from them. "I'll join you guys in a bit." The former Gym Leader began to walk away.
"We'll be at the lobby." Ash said as he saw Brock walk away, the older boy just giving a thumb's up in response. The eleven-year-old looked at everyone else. "Well, shall we leave now?"
"We shall." Misty responded as the group left to go to the Main Lobby.
The worker was still at the front and kept a smile on his face as he saw that two people were coming up the stairs and approaching him. "Greetings. Welcome aboard the S.S. Anne." He said once again as he opened up his hand. "I am going to need your tickets, please."
A male gave him two tickets while both of them tried to avoid eye contact with the man. The man looked at the tickets and asked them the same questions he asked Ash's group
The girl's ticket said: Jessie
The boy's ticket said: James
"Everything seems to be good." The man said in his usual happy as he presented the path forward. "Please enjoy your stay."
Neither of them said anything as they continued to make it onto the boat. Both Jessie and James smiled to themselves as they were able to successfully get onto the boat without any suspicions. They were able to break into a private room where they could take a breather.
"Come on out, Mewoth." Jessie threw a Poke Ball into the air and release the cat like Pokémon.
"Mewoth! I remember why I hated being inside those things." Meowth remarked as he looked around his surroundings, noticing that they were alone. "So, are we on the S.S. Anne?"
"Yes, we are!" Jessie said in a somewhat happy way, actually a bit joyful that she was on a boat as fancy as this. "And soon, we'll be able to finally execute the plan."
"We must wait before we can begin the plan." James explained to the two as he was still standing up.
"And how long did they say we must wait? Meowth." The Pokémon questioned with crossed arms.
James darkly smiled at his partners. "An hour after the boat has left these docks."
The Main Lobby was one of the fanciest places that Ash has ever seen in his life.
Four large crystal chandlers hanged high on the roof and shined brightly, illuminating the large area completely. The floor was covered with a nice red carpet that had a nice pattern going throughout it, small trees in pots placed off to the side of the Lobby. A marble double staircase led to the second floor of the Main Lobby, where the buffet was currently being held along with a large statue in the middle.
On all over the first floor was all kinds of booths and small shops full of owners trying to sell people stuff, and over half of the people currently there were at these little shops. All kinds of Pokémon like Oddish, Charmander, and Pickachu were all outside of their Poke Balls and staying right by their Trainers. Some Pokémon matches were currently being held inside the Lobby in little areas as well!
"This place is great." Ash commented in his usual happy way as the group saw everything.
"This is just like the conventions back in Cerulean." Misty remarked as she all the booths and items that people were buying, wishing that she could buy everything here all at once. Ryan had a small smile on his face as he looked around, but still didn't decide to say anything right.
Sakura had stopped to see two guys arguing and comparing the Charmander's in their hands. "Don't you see how smooth my Charmander's body?" The first guy asked as he presented his Charmander.
"But don't you see how bright my Charmander's tail burns?" The second guy retorted as he showed off the Fire type's tail. "Mine is clearly superior."
"How annoying." Sakura silently thought to herself before she grabbed her stomach in silent pain, actually realizing just how hungry she was right now. Guess that is what you get for deciding to not have breakfast. "The buffet should be upstairs." The quiet girl silently thought to herself as she went up one of the two staircases.
Meanwhile, something caught Ash's eye and made him and Wartortle look at it with smiles on their face. "Misty! Ryan!" Ash called out as he signaled for them to follow him. "Check out this fight going on."
Misty and Ryan came right up to Ash and saw that they were currently in the spectating area of one of the matches going on. "What did you want us to see?" Ryan questioned, finally speaking after a little while.
"Just look at the battle between the Eevee and Exeggcute." Ash responded as he and Wartortle pointed to the battle going on in front of them.
An Eevee was currently attacking an Exeggcute with Tackle, knocking the unique Pokémon back. The Eevee's Trainer was a tall, young man that looked very rich and proper. He was wearing very nice blue pants, black dress shoes, and a white button up shirt that was underneath a black jacket. A black top hat was on the man's head as his mustache was shaped in a very sharp and fine way, along with blue glasses on his face. A nice red bowtie competed his look as a true gentleman.
Exeggcute resembled a set of six, separate eggs. The "eggs" each had a face, and each has a series of cracks or even broken pieces on them. Even though they appear as eggs, Exeggcute was much closer to seeds, given their Grass type status. The Pokémon's Trainer appeared to be about the same age as Ash and wore a very simple green shirt with jeans.
"Eevee, finish this off with your Swift." The gentleman said as he raised his hand into the air.
"Eevee!" The Normal type summoned six yellow stars that floated around her, before being directed straight for the opposing Exeggcute. The Pokémon knew that trying to dodge this attack would be futile, and she didn't have the energy to create one more attack. Exeggcute got hit by all six stars and was pushed back, fainting as she hit the ground.
A ding ran throughout the small area to indicate that the match was officially over.
"Exeggcute!" The kid yelled out as he went to comfort his Pokémon, seeing that his Exeggcute was fainted now. "I'm so sorry."
"Oh, you don't worry yourself young man." The gentleman began in respectful way as his Eevee was by his side. "Just consider this match a sign that you should become stronger and remember that losing is just part of a Pokémon Trainer's journey."
"I guess." The kid returned his Pokémon back to her Poke Ball and left the small arena, still a bit sad that he lost that simple match.
The gentleman then raised his hand up into the air, the other one still holding his cane. "Now, who would like to battle against me next? Don't be shy. I'll take any Pokémon you got!"
"Hey, Ryan." Ash whispered to his friend as they all just watched the match. "Maybe you should have a go at him. I think you'll win easily."
"I-I rather not." Ryan scratched the back of his head as a small sweat drop appeared on his head. "I rather not make a fool of myself."
"I don't think you'll make a fool of yourself." Brock told the kid as he walked up to them, something the others weren't expecting. The black case that contained his bow now gone.
"Oh, hey Brock." Misty instantly greeted as she saw the oldest member come up to them. "How did you enjoy the room?"
"It looks great." Brock answered in a genuine way. "I can tell that you put all of our money on this trip."
The gentleman suddenly saw who his trainer was going to be and pointed a finger straight at the person. "How about a battle between me?"
Misty was surprised to see that the man was pointing in their direction. "Wait me?" The group saw that the rich man and his Eevee walk up to them in a rather graceful way, Misty quickly putting on a smirk. "Well, I came here to take a break from all the fighting, but I guess we have a quick round if you want."
"Oh sorry, miss. I wasn't pointing at you." The man apologized to Misty, who now felt very embarrassed that she just let that happen. "I was wanting to battle you, young man."
Everyone was surprised to see that he was actually pointing at Brock himself. "Wait, me?"
"Why yes. You see like a respectful and somewhat powerful Trainer." The gentleman explained as he looked at Brock. "I consider it an honor if you would battle with me, even if it is short."
"Sorry, bu-"
"Come on, Brock. You can easily defeat this guy." Ash decided to encourage his friend to battle.
"Yeah, Brock." Ryan insisted as well. "You can take this guy on with your eyes closed."
"Wartortle!" The Pokémon told in a serious manner, wanting to see a good battle.
Brock, seeing that the three were practically pear pressuring him, decided that one battle wouldn't be the end of the world. He will try to make it quick though. "I guess I'll be fighting you then."
"How wonderful." The gentle enthusiastically said. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Jack."
"Brock." The former Gym Leader told his name as well as the two gave each other a firm handshake.
"Well, let us begin the battle then." Jack went away to get into position on the other side of the small arena as Brock took the spot closest to him, not entirely still on board with this battle. "Well, send out your Pokémon." Jack told the boy as his Eevee was already back on the battlefield with determination in her eyes.
"Go, Graveler." Brock decided to bring out his strongest Pokémon out so that he could end this battle quickly, a plain look on his face while Jack smiled.
"A Graveler, huh?" Jack said as he was staring to get excited for this battle. "Looks like I was correct, you are strong."
"I guess so."
Both of the combatants looked at each as they waited for the battle to officially start, a bored look on Brock's face. As Eevee was trying to pump herself up for this fight, Graveler just looked rather indifferent at the Normal type. Ash's group and all the spectators looked on as the battle was now about to begin, and Ash's group already knew that Brock was going to win.
A ding sound came to show that the match can begin now.
"Use Mega Punch." Brock told Graveler as he wanted to end this battle swiftly. Graveler ran straight for Eevee as the Pokémon began to charge up one of his four arms for the punch. Eevee could see how much power the Rock type was putting into the attack and wanted nothing to do with it. Just as Graveler was about to land his attack, Eevee jumped up into the air in order to quickly dodge the attack.
But the Normal type miscalculated.
Graveler used one of the arms it wasn't using to actually grab Eevee and keep the Pokémon in place, making escaping the attack actually impossible now. Eevee could only look on as the powerful punch came closer and closer until it made full contact with her face.
Eevee took the full force of the attack as it was launched back a few feet away, rolling on the ground during the last half. The attack was so strong that Eevee was strugling to actually sit up right now, already feeling too weak. Graevler was at the ready to attack once again, but it turns out he didn't have to as Eevee had suddenly stopped moving altogether, her breath very ragged.
Eevee had fainted.
The same ring happened to show that the battle was already over.
Everyone was surprised by how easily this kid was able to beat Jack and quickly began to cheer for Brock, who just waved at everyone. "I knew he could do it!" Both Ryan and Ash excitingly said at almost the exact same time.
Jack returned his Eevee to her Poke Ball and had a smile on his face. "Looks like I really stood no chance against this guy." He thought to himself as he saw Brock recall his own Pokémon and go to his friends. "The power that boy has is quite remarkable."
"Nice job." Misty praised Brock as he came up to them. "It's rare to see a match end in one hit."
"You right about that." Brock simply responded before he saw that a pink haired girl was coming up to them, a large plate with food and a fork in her hand. "Sakura."
"Yo." She calmly replied as began to chew down on her food, giving a big swallow. "What did I miss?"
"Well, Brock went against this guy called Jack an-"
"That's cool." Sakura said in an indifferent way as she was focused on her food, still not believing how good it actually was.
Everyone just looked at Sakura in a weird way before just brushing it off completely. "I must say, Brock, that was a truly great battle." Everyone turned to see that Jack was there walking up until he stopped right by them.
"Oh, it's really nothing." Brock tried to be humble to his opponent.
"Sorry, but I just can't get over how well you seem to take care of your Graveler." Jack admitted. "He is very strong."
"Well, your Eevee seemed strong as well. If only my own Pokémon didn't accidently one shot in our fight."
"It's quite alright." Jack assured as he waved his hand in front of him. "But I have a proposal for you, Brock."
This caught the boy's interest. "And what's that?"
"Why don't we trade each other's Pokémon?"
Everyone was quite surprised after hearing that sentence, except for Sakura, who only now finally decided to look up with her usual calm face. They didn't expect this guy that they just met to actually trade with them. A moment of silence quickly passed by before suddenly being interrupted by the first one to respond, which was Brock.
"I-I'm sorry," Brock began as he tried to come back to his senses. "What?"
"I want you trade me your Gravler, and in return I will give you my Eevee." Jack explained in a more detailed way as he looked down at Brock. "How else are you going to evolve your Graveler if you don't do this?"
Brock knew that Jack had a point in the past part, but that didn't mean that Brock would instantly agree to this. "I'm not so sure about this, I mean, we only just met."
"Don't worry, because I will always be on the ship after we trade." Jack tried to assure him. "If you ever want to get your Golem, then all you have to do is find me and I will be happy to trade back with you."
"Do you promise?"
"I promise."
Despite hearing Jack promise him, Brock was still unsure and turned to Ash and Misty. "What do you think I should do?"
"Brock, these are your Pokémon, not mine." Ash simply answered with crossed arms. "I can't force you to do a certain thing to your Pokémon."
"Wartortle." The Water type said as well as the Pokémon was right beside Ash.
"I agree with both Ash and Warotrtle." Misty spoke up as she looked at Brock. "This is your choice at the end of the day."
Brock turned to Ryan to see what he had to say, but Ryan lazily raised his hands in a defensive way. "Listen, I'm not going to interfere with your choices or Pokémon."
Brock decided to finally turn to Sakura, but he already had a feeling he knew what the answer was going to be. "Please leave me out of this so I can finish my food." Was the stoic response as the girl finished the last two bites of her plate, putting it away on the nearby table.
Brock turned around to face Jack and let out a deep sigh. "Fine. I'll trade with you."
"Marvelous." Jack faced other way and signaled everyone else to follow him. "Let me lead you to one of the trading rooms on this ship."
Everyone began to head, including Sakura for some reason. But Misty noticed that Ryan was not following them. "Hey, Ryan. Aren't you coming with?"
"I just want to explore the Main Lobby some more. See what kind of stuff they have."
Misty shrugged after hearing this as she was satisfied with the answer. "Okay. Just come back to the room when you're done." Ryan nodded as the two walked away from each other.
Most of the group, along with Jack, left the Main Lobby behind in order to begin the trade between the gentleman and Brock. Brock looked down as he wondered if this was actually the right choice, his hair accidently getting in front of his face. No one decided to strike up any kind of conversation as they didn't know what to say right now, but a charismatic smile was still present on Jack's face.
All the while Ryan just continued to mind his own business in the Main Lobby.
The ship had now begun to finally depart from the dock and leave vermillion City to go off into the ocean. People saw the large boat there leave them behind as the large horn it had bowled out a loud sound that was heard all over the dock. Everyone on the outside of the boat began to cheer after the boat leaving, their great trip was now about to begin.
Oh, how wrong they were.
"Are you sure that you want to go through with this?" Misty whispered to Brock's ear as the former Gym Leader had a Poke Ball out, the same one that contained his Graveler.
"I-I'll be fine." Brock lied as he looked up at Jack, who had his own Poke Ball that contained Eevee. "Are you sure that you will return Graveler to me when you're done?"
"Of course. I always keep my word." Jack replied with a nod. "And you should be happy. Your Pokémon is now about to become a Golem!"
Everyone, besides Ryan and Sakura, were now in a separate room that was much smaller than a normal room. The only thing that was in that room was a large machine that had two things that had gaps big enough for any Poke Ball to fit inside. Two pipes with large holes were off to the side and directly above the Poke Ball shaped gap, and a screen was in the direct center of the screen.
Brock let out a sigh, still not happy about having to let go of a Pokémon that has been with him for a long time, even if it was briefly. "I guess."
"Then let us do the trade." Jack placed his Poke Ball in the gap that was on his side while Brock did the exact same thing on the other, but with a bit less certainty. Misty gave a small frown as she pressed the button that was right below the screen, turning the whole machine on. The screen lit up as power began to come to it.
Suddenly, the two Poke Balls began to ascend up into the air and go straight towards the open pipes above. Everyone watched and remained silent as the Poke Balls entered the pipes and disappeared inside them. The screen suddenly brought up two completely black images of both Eevee and Graveler and showed that both of them were slowly moving toward each other.
The two Pokémon images went right past each other and went to the opposite side of where they started from. Both of the images left the screen altogether as something else was now happening. The two Poke Balls that came into the pipe came out and gently landed in the gap, but now the Pokémon inside them had been switched.
Misty turned off the machine after the trade had been done and watched as Jack and Brock grabbed their new Poke Balls, a different expression on both of their faces.
"There you go! My Eevee is now your Eevee," Jack said in a charismatic way as he looked at Brock. "At least for now."
Brock didn't say anything as he glanced down at his new Pokémon, a look of indifference was on his face. The former Gym Leader began to slowly walk away as he carried the Poke Ball in his hand. "Thank you, Jack." Ash decided to say for Brock as he knew his friend wouldn't do it. "We'll take care of Eevee."
"I'm very happy to hear that." Jack smiled as everyone else left the room, both of them about to depart.
"Goodbye Jack. See you later." Ash said as he, Misty, and Wartortle began to run away to go catch up to Brock.
"Just come find me when you want your Pokémon back." Jack said as he saw that Brock didn't respond, only Ash did by giving him a thumb's up. Jack decided to go on his own path a leave for now, ready to try out the Golem that was in this Poke Ball.
As all this trading was happening above in the public areas of the boat, some serious stuff was starting to happen within the lower depths. Jessie, James, and Meowth were slowly walking through near the bottom of the ship, the two Trainers wearing crewmate outfits that they stole in order to blend in. All of them tried to sneak through the bottom as they didn't want to get caught down here.
"I still can't believe that you actually bought that Magikarp from that booth guy." Jessie angrily told James as they continued to sneak, saying the voice in a way that was barely above a whisper.
"You won't be saying that when this little guy becomes a Gyarados." James replied like it was a pure fact. "Your just mad that you still only have Ekans with you."
Jessie had to calm herself from smacking James on the head, giving him a major eyeroll. "Whatever."
"Meowth. If you are done acting like children, then you may want to look ahead." Meowth told them as he pointed his paw forward, making the two turn their head.
In front of them was large door that led right outside of the lower levels of the boat, a place that was still right above to ocean water. The door, along with most of the surroundings, were entirely made of dense metal. A large red valve was in the middle of the door.
Jessie smiled at this. "Looks like we have found what we are looking for." She began to walk right up to the door and grabbed the valve with both of her hands, turning it with all the strength she could build up right away.
The door swung open and not only revealed the ocean and the outside, but ten black ships that were stationed right by the door. All of these small ships had the signature 'R' of Team Rocket, and each boat seemed to be holding about twelve members of the evil group. All of the small ships moved around as the waves bounced up and down.
Someone on the first ship began to stand up and reach the front, being able to grab the side of the door and made it inside the boat. The person was a man who appeared to be around his early forty's and had a very worn-out face. He possessed black hair and gray eyes. He was wearing the usual Team Rocket outfit as he looked at Jessie and James, a dark smile present on his face.
"Greetings Jessie, James, and Meowth." He told the three as he watched them give his full attention to him.
"Hello, Evan." James began in a respectful tone as he stood up completely straight. "Are the members ready to board the ship?"
"Yes, they are." Evan answered before he faced towards Jessie. "And does anyone seem skeptical about you three?"
"No. No one here suspects a thing." Jessie said with a serious tone, Meowth sitting on one of the pipes near them. "They aren't aware of what's currently happening."
A smile appeared on Evan's face. "We can finally begin taking over this ship then."
Every member of the group, besides Ryan and Sakura, were all in their personal room of the ship. The room itself was very nice as Misty wanted it to be something that she knew everyone would enjoy. The furniture was mostly wood and seemed very polished, the two separate beds having white sheets and gray covers on them, and a large, wide cabinet on the wall. It also had a personal bathroom that looked like it was just deep cleaned.
Misty was currently sitting on one of the beds that had Ash's backpack and Wartortle with her, as her best friend was currently taking a shower in the bathroom. The reason Sakura wasn't there is because she actually wanted to go back to the buffet for seconds, something that no one decided to stop her on.
Misty saw that Brock was currently leaning on the railing of the balcony as he looked down at the Poke Ball that contained Eevee, a blank face was present on him. Brock has been like this ever since he traded away his Graveler, and the boy didn't seem to want any kind of conversation as of right now. Seeing her friend like this made Misty feel pit for him.
The girl suddenly stood up and went right beside Brock, Wartortle actually following her and sitting on the railing that was on the other side. "Hey, Brock." Misty began in a gentle tone of voice. "Are you feeling alright?"
"I'm just fine." Was the only response that Brock gave as he didn't even bother to look up.
However, Misty wasn't going to be taking these kinds of answers anymore. "No. I can tell that you aren't fine." Misty told in a still gentle way. "Just be honest with us. We can help out."
"Wartortle." The Water type nodded as he sat right by Brock on the railing, making the former Gym Leader actually look up at them.
He let out an exhale through his nose. "I'm just wondering if I did the right thing by trading over my Graveler to Jack." Brock began to explain as he carried the Poke Ball in his hand. "I know that I can take care of an Eevee no problem, but how will I know if he is taking care of Graveler?"
"Well, does he seem like the kind of person that abuses his Pokémon?" Misty decided to ask Brock. "Does he look like someone who doesn't know how to raise Pokémon?"
"I guess not." The boy begrudgingly answered. "But you can never be too careful."
Misty placed a hand on Brock's hand, something the boy wasn't expecting. "Hey, we can always get Graveler back from Jack, we'll help you find him. And when you get your own Pokémon back, it will be one powerful Golem."
Brock was surprised to see how Misty was comforting him. "You'd really do that for me."
"Of course, we will. Aren't we friend after all?"
"Wartortle." The Pokémon placed his own hand on Brock's other hand, something that made the fifteen-year-old even more surprised.
Brock actually let out a smile as he saw how much they care about him. "Thanks, you two. I really needed it."
As all of this was happening, Ash finally came out of the shower with most of his cloths on as he put back on his shoes. As he was putting on his jacket and hat back on, he saw the moment going on between his three friends on the balcony. He decided to get their attention by letting out a little cough.
All of them turned around to see that Ash was standing there and looking at them, a small, surprised look as he saw that Brock was now smiling now. "Oh, Ash. You are done with your shower?"
"Yeah, I'm done." Ash simply stated as he saw that Brock was now happy. "You, okay?"
"I'm okay." Brock answered with a smile still present as he made his way to the bathroom, thinking that washing his face would be good right about now.
Ryan kept on aimlessly walking around the Main Lobby, glancing around all over the place.
The boy was still within the Main Lobby as he looked around all the booths to see if anything interesting was happening, but nothing seemed to spark his interest. He saw that there was a Magikarp on sell at one of the booths, but some guy with this weird periwinkle hair grabbed it before Ryan even had a chance to try. Ryan was still somewhat unhappy with that, but there wasn't much he could do about it now. The boy carried an aimless stare as he looked at the chandler, not really thinking about anything.
Suddenly, a female hand was placed on his shoulder as he looked above.
"May I give you something?" The girl asked Ryan, a black hoodie completely hiding her face from view.
Ryan quickly backed away in a clearly scared way as he raised his fist up to fight, his arms and legs tensing up "W-Who are you?"
"I am just here to offer you something." The girl simply explained as she still hid her identity.
"Sorry, but I don't have any money on me right now."
"Oh, don't worry." The girl took out a Great Ball from her pocket and presented it to him. "This won't require any kind of money from you."
Ryan looked puzzled by the Great Ball, "What do you want me to do with this?"
"I simply want you to take the Great Ball." The girl dropped it into Ryan's hands and quickly put away her own hands after doing so.
"W-What's in it? Or is there just no Pokémon inside?"
"There is a Ponyta within that Great Ball." The girl simply explained, surprising Ryan.
"A Ponyta?!"
"That is what I said, didn't I?"
"S-So you are saying that there is an actual Ponyta in this Great Ball, and that I am just allowed to have it?" Ryan questioned with a raised eyebrow, the girl giving him a quick nod.
"That Ponyta in there is now yours."
Ryan looked down at the Great Ball in a calculating way. "I'm not quite sure about this."
"Just be careful with this Ponyta," The girl began in a clear voice as she saw Ryan examine the Great Ball in his hand, before suddenly lowering her voice to about a whisper. "Because it is not the same type of Pokémon that you may know."
"Did you say something?" Ryan questioned as he looked up, but the girl was no longer there.
Ryan began to look around in a very confused way as he tried to see what direction that weird girl just went off to. He scanned all around the area with a very attentive look as he walked to different areas. There was no person there that had on a dark hoodie of any kind there, and the boy knew that the girl was probably too far gone after a full minute.
"Where the hell did she go?" Ryan thought to himself as he lowered his guard after not finding the person he was just talking to.
The boy looked at the Great Ball in his hand and gave a firm grip onto the item. He knew that what had just happened with that mysterious girl was very strange, and that something was definitely wrong right now. Getting a Ponyta for free just seemed too good to be true. Heck, this Great Ball might be a bomb for all Ryan knew! Bur the boy didn't decide to toss it away.
He knew that this was going to be a bad idea, but the boy wanted to keep this Great Ball with him. If what this random girl said was actually true and that this was a Ponyta, then that would mean that Ryan now has a decent Fire type on his team. The boy knew that his team still had plenty of weakness to it, and his new Slowpoke barley helped the problem. He would take this weird interaction and offer to heart.
Anything to make him a Trainer that could help others!
"I'll go tell the others about this." Ryan began to run away with a smile on his face as he went to the dual staircase. He began to quickly step up them and began to dodge anyone that was accidently in his path. A new wave of hope coursed through his veins as he continued up the stairs.
As Ryan reached the top of the stairs, his gaze fell upon the large statue there.
A large statue, that was much taller than any normal person, was near the top of the stairs. It had a stone base and the main sculpture itself was painted in a very professional way. Ryan decided that he can take a minute to take in this statue and walked up right next to it. The statue seemed to be depicting a battle between three Pokémon that seemed tall and looked powerful.
Two dragon like Pokémon seemed to be staring down a third one, clear hatred within the third one's eyes. The first one of the trio of dragons was a sauropod-like Pokémon. It was mainly blue with some gray, metallic portions, such as its chest plate, which had a diamond in the center. It also had various light blue lines all over its body. It has a, somewhat, wing-like structure on its back, and a crest on its head, resembling a type of dinosaur. It also had two horns on top of its head, two fang-like horns around its mouth, long claws, and a short tail, almost the impression of armor.
A second dragon was right by the blue one and started down at the third one, both of them appearing emotionless. It was a very large, bipedal dragon Pokémon. The majority of its body had a light pink-gray-white coloring with linear sections on its body being purple. Its arms and shoulders were covered by large, armored plates, and each hand had five nails. The round plates on its shoulders each have a large pearl in the center. On the creatures back were wings.
The final dragon had clear hatred and anger as it looked down the other two, seemingly on the opposite side of this battle. Its wings were shaped like tentacles with red thorn-like appendages sticking out at the end. Its mouth was behind the two appendages in front of its face. The horns on its head are still the same. The creature had five rows of golden spikes protruding out of the torso and near the tail. Five gray and red stripes were partially overlapped by these spikes.
The sculpture was really something to behold.
At the very bottom of the statue surrounded by pure refined stone, was a yellow plate that seemed to contain a large amount of text on it. Ryan brought his head just a little bit to see what the plate would tell him, and he noticed just how long it was. The text on the yellow plate of this great statue sent the following:
There was once three powerful dragon Pokémon that ruled over the universe.
There was Dialga, a blue dragon that had complete control over time. The white dragon was known as Palkia and held the power to bend all kinds of space. The last member was Giratina, the black dragon that was in command of antimatter.
The three were known as The Creation Trio.
All of them were able to create galaxies with their divine power, eventually creating our galaxy and planet. Dialga and Palkia wanted to rule over their new universe in a peaceful way that would satisfy all the life that they had created.
But Giratina did not want this.
Giratina believed that they should use force to rule over their world, to show every last being there who was the superior one. The posser of antimatter wanted this so that no one would ever fight for control over the universe that they created.
Dialga and Palkia were disgusted by this thought and wanted their fellow member to step out of this mindset. They didn't want to use force on Giratina, not wanting to harm the dragon that they actually considered family.
But it didn't work.
Giratina was consumed by their emotions and went along with their plan. An era of absolute control and fear went through out the entire universe. Giratina used their absolute power to strike fear across all the galaxies and keep control over the thing that they help create. Any creature that tried to defy was killed off in a mere instant. It seemed like this era would never end.
Until Dialga and Palkia finally decided to intervene.
A great battle between The Creation Trio, a battle that sent shock ways that shook the entire universe. Casual attacks from the three were able to erase solar systems in a blink of an eye, and reality itself seemed to be tearing apart as this battle went on.
Dialga and Palkia were able to finally surpass Giratina and bring them down after a long, intense, and grueling battle. The controllers of space and time had the power to kill Giratina right then and there. To end the life of a creature that had caused so much pain.
But... they couldn't bring themselves to kill Giratina.
Instead of ending their life, Dialga and Palkia sealed Giratina in a different dimension with the very last of their power. Giratina was placed in a world that didn't follow the laws of gravity, physics, or logic.
A dark reflection of our own world.
A world that Giratina would be stuck in for eternity.
Dialga and Palkia were heartbroken after what they were forced to do against Giratina, a creature that has been with them since the beginning. They worried that they might one day end up like Giratina did, using force on their own creations.
In order to prevent this and protect their universe, they detached themselves from it. Dialga and Palkia left the world that they loved so dearly to protect it. They gave one last glance at the planets, galaxies, and universe that they had created.
That was the last time that they ever appeared on this world.
It is still believed that the Creation Trio still look over this universe, forever wondering why this had to happen like this.
"How interesting." The boy was a bit loss in thought after he read that, the long paragraph kept on repeating within his mind.
Ryan didn't move as he looked upon the detailed and tall statue, taking in every last detail that went into this sculpture. He never really considered how time, space, or how things like the Earth came to be, and he never really cared about. Ryan was more focused on the now than before, remembering things like his past wouldn't change anything. But concepts like this were always pretty fun and interesting to hear, and it was interesting to see how many different answers there where. Ryan decided that he should continue to leave and show the group his newly obtained Pokémon.
"I wonder if those three Pokémon actually do exist," Ryan thought to himself as he may his way to the exit on the second floor. "Because I think that the concept is pretty interesting." Abruptly, Ryan stopped in his tracks as he heard something, even everyone else began to stop what they were doing.
All of a sudden, a noise rang throughout the entire ship to indicate that the speakers had been turned on.
Ash, Misty, and Brock turned to see the little speaker that was in the corner of their room. The noise was coming from every last room in the ship as the speaker within the captain's room had been turned on. Everyone wondered what announcement the controller of this vessel was now making.
"Greetings all passengers of the S.S. Anne." A male voice welcomed in a polite manner, but you could hear some traces of bad feelings in their voice. "We are regretful to announce that the captain has been found dead in the control room. His cause of death was a result of a stab wound to the head."
Everyone had their eyes widened after hearing that simple statement. People instantly began to mutter to themselves as they were discussing if this was true and what was really going on. Ash's group were left in shock that this was apparently happening, and how this guy seemed so nonchalant about this.
"W-What?" Misty muttered in a very faint whisper.
"But you won't have to worry about that old man anymore. We promise to make sure that your stay with us will be something that you will remember forever." He explained in a still polite and chilling way. "We here at Team Rocket promise to help you, if you had over all your Pokémon and valuables in a calm manner. We rather not have to use force." He finished in a cold way.
Shock ran through everyone's body after they heard the name of the people responsible for this, fear beginning to generate in about half of the people on the ship. Ash's group were surprised that Team Rocket was attacking once again, especially on a ship like this. Ash, instead of being shocked or scared, had anger building up within him.
"This ship is now under the rule and command of the great Team Rocket!" The same sound happened once again to indicate that the speaker had been turned off.
Ash's group was completely left speechless after hearing that last sentence. "T-This can't be happening." Brock tried to say as thoughts began to take over his mind.
Suddenly, Ash began to run towards the door as he put back on his backpack, Wartortle not expecting this. "Wartortle?"
"Come on. Sakura and Ryan are still out there, and, if this is actually happening, we need to go help out everyone!" Ash spoke in a bit of a heroic way as he opened the door to the room up, Wartortle quickly coming right by his Trainer.
"Wait, Ash!" Misty tried to call out as she ran after the boy, Brock tagging alone with his black case now in his hand. "We need to be c-"
"AAAAH!"
A loud scream came from a nearby hallway from Ash's group, and the eleven-year-old and his Pokémon wasted absolutely no time in going to help out. Misty was very close behind along with Brock, who was ready to use his bow and arrow if he had to. They arrived at the hallway to see that a male Team Rocket member with a black hat was trying to steal a little girl's Caterpie.
"Just hand it over, brat!" The Team Rocket member angrily said through gritted teeth as the girl refused to let go of her little Bug type.
"Wartortle! Use Ice Beam on the Team Rocket guy!" Wartortle wasted no time in charging up the Ice type attack, launching it forward after only two seconds. The Team Rocket Member was able to turn his head enough to see what was coming at him and was forced to let go of the girl to dodge. The Ice Beam attack hit the wall far away and covered it in ice.
"If you are going to fight someone, then you are going to have to fight us!" Misty brought out her Starmie to fight alongside Ash's Wartortle. The little girl began to run towards the team for protection as she carried her Caterpie close to her. Brock came up to help the girl and place a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you two alright?" He asked in a gentle way, happy when the girl nodded with a tear in her eye. "Listen to me. Go find your parents and stay right by their side no matter what, okay?"
She and Caterpie nodded. "Thank you, sir." The girl began to run away to look for her family and was carefully watched by Brock, who was relieved to see that the girl was alright.
"I'll look for Ryan and Sakura." Brock told everyone as he grabbed his case again. "Just keep saving anyone else that is on this floor.
"You don't have to tell us twice." Misty merely responded as she kept on focusing on the battle.
"Starmie!" The Pokémon agreed with its Trainer.
Brock left them behind as he made his way towards the Main Lobby, hoping that both Ryan and Skaura were still there at the exact same time. Ash and Misty looked at their opponent with anger as he brought out a Nidorina, angry that someone, who appeared to be an adult, would an attack a little kid like that.
Ash looked back at Misty with a serious face. "Looks like our relaxing trip took a wrong turn." He commented to her, causing the girl to let out a sigh.
"I guess we really can't go a day without fighting after all." Misty remarked as Ash and the Pokémon stared down the Team Rocket members, ready to stop and protect everyone here.
All hell had broken loss within the Main Lobby.
Everyone was running around like crazy as they all had panic and fear consume their bodies. Most of the booths were destroyed or in disrepair, stains all over the walls and floors, and most of the clean tables had been flipped and rapped apart. And who was to blame for all this chaos, well it would obviously be the Team Rocket members that were there.
About 50 Team Rocket members were there and leaving everything in ruin. Most of them were busy stealing Pokémon from all the other Trainers while some began to steal any kind of jewelry or belongings from others. The Team Rocket members were not holding back, as a couple Pokémon Trainers began to fight against them in an intense battle. Both of them having a hard time against each other.
As all of this was happening, Ryan was running to get out of here as nervous sweat poured down his face. The poor boy was so scared about all this that he was actually hiding underneath one of the tables when everything began to happen, but he was eventually forced to come out in order to leave. Ryan just didn't have the confidence to actually fight back and go against Team Rocket, even if he was pretty powerful. His fear was going straight through the roof as he struggled to get past everyone.
"What the fuck is happening?!" He yelled out as he accidently ran into someone, bringing him and that person down. Both of them were able to quickly pick themselves up and began to start running once again. Ryan suddenly stopped as he saw that a familiar man was one of the Trainers that were actually fighting back
Jack was there and tried to keep a calm face, but the Pokémon with him was a creature that was once a Gravler. The Pokémon's body resembles a large boulder with some appendages sticking out from it. He had claws on his hands and feet, along with a gray head in the center that was shaped in a bit of a flat way. He had red eyes and two sharp teeth sticking out on the bottom half of his jaw.
"Golem, use your Stone Edge!" Jack said to his new Pokémon as he still kept a straight face on. The Pokémon nodded and slammed his foot to the ground, summoning a large spike that was entirely made of rock. The rock spike hit the Team Rocket's Beedrill, who was able to barley get stabbed through the side. Blood came out of the new wound on Beedrill's side as the Bug type glared at her opponent.
"Jack!" Ryan called out as he came right beside him.
The gentleman was shocked to see that Ryan was here. "What are you doing here? You need to get of here now!" He said in a very harsh way. "We can handle them while everyone else gets to safety."
Even though Ryan did want to leave and be a coward, he knew that doing such a thing would be wrong. "I-I won't l-leave." The boy responded as he tried to get rid of some of his fear, even though his knees still felt pretty weak. "J-just let me f-fight, an-"
"Look out behind you!" Jack suddenly interrupted, too far away to do anything.
Ryan was only to turn around and see that a female Team Rocket member wearing purple lipstick came directly at him with a bat that was directly aimed for his skull. Ryan had his eyes completely widened as his brain was struggling to process what was happening in front of him now. He could barely see that the girl seemed to have a smile on her face as she brought her weapon down. There was nothing that anyone could do as they weren't near Ryan to push him out the way.
Time seemed to slow down around Ryan as he watched as the weapon slowly come towards him, not even trying to stop it as he was frozen in shock and fear. His life began to flash through his eyes as he had the feeling that this was going to be it, that is how he was going to be leaving this mortal world. A single tear managed to escape his eyes as he closed them completely, ready to accept his fate while standing tall.
All of a sudden, an arrow came by and directly hit the Team Rocket member's back.
The Team Rocket member let out a cry of pain as she fell to the ground, letting go of the bat that was just about to kill Ryan. The boy opened his eyes and was completely bewildered when he saw that the Team Rocket member was now on the ground, holding her open wound from the arrow that was still in her back. Ryan looked up to see who had just saved him and saw that a familiar face was running up to him with a look of concern on his face.
It was Brock, a bow in his hand and a bag that contained many arrows strapped to his back.
'B-Brock." Ryan managed to say as he tried to calm himself after seeing his friend with him.
The former Gym Leader placed a hand on Ryan's shoulder and looked at him in a sympathetic way. "Ryan! Are you okay?"
"I-I'm f-fine." Ryan managed to studder out as he kept his eyes entirely focused on Brock.
"Brock." The fifteen-year-old looked up to see that Jack was facing him while Golem tried to handle his opponents. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you leave for safety?"
"I couldn't leave with my friends still outside and with all these people getting hurt." Brock answered in a serious way.
"Then can you help us Pokémon Trainers stop Team Rocket in this room?"
"Will do." Brock walked right beside Jack before looking back at Ryan. "Promise me that, when you get out of here, that you will search for Sakura and meet up with everyone else."
"B-But Bro-"
"Just promise me!" Brock yelled back as he was starting to become impatient.
Ryan, never seeing Brock this mad before, nodded and began to back away. "I-I will."
Brock nodded at this before turning back and focusing all of his attention to the Team Rocket members that were present there. Ryan gave last look at his friend about to fight before making his way back to the main exit, which was a straight shot away. Ryan made sure to look back and forth to dodge any kind of surprise attack and was relieved to see that no one was going for him. The boy's legs kept on carrying him until he made it through the doorway and through the halls, not even caring about how tired he was starting to slowly become.
"Looks like there a lot more than I thought." Brock remarked as he saw all the Team Rocket members that were only in this one room. "Don't drop your guard."
Jack gave a smile as he faced Brock. "You know, when I first saw that you were here, I thought that you were trying to look for me so that you can have your Pokémon back."
"I didn't come here for you, Jack." Brock instantly told as he brought out his Poke Ball that contained Onix. "I came here to protect all these people."
Jack gave a nod at this. "Then why don't we just get rid of these criminals once and for all then?"
"That's the plan." Brock brought out his Onix and the Rock type looked down at his Trainer, awaiting command. "Onix, attack any Team Rocket member that you see here and make sure that everyone else is able to safely get out of here."
"Onix." Onix nodded and left to go fulfill her duty. Brock grabbed another arrow from his back and attacked it to the bow string, ready to shoot whenever he had to.
In the control room of the S.S. Anne, Evan let out a cruel laugh as he could see all the craziness going around the ship with the camera monitors there. He sat in the seat that only belonged to the captain, whose body they had already thrown overboard, and he said in with his legs crossed. Six other Team Rocket members were there, guarding the entrances and helping out with controlling the ship.
A lip smile was on his face. "How cute. They think that they have a chance." Evan was referring to the camera of the Main Lobby, which showed Brock and all the other Pokémon battling all the Team Rocket members there. Neither side seemed to be getting the upper hand, although Brock's marksmanship was definitely threating.
Suddenly, the black phone in Evan's pocket began to ring.
"It must be her." The man thought to himself as he brought out the phone and placed it to his ear. "Hello, Lieutenant."
"Have you taken control over the boat?" A female voice instantly questioned.
"Yes. We are on the S.S. Anne as the rest of our members are now starting to get on the boat."
"It seems like you are doing well so far. Keep it up." The voice said in a very direct way. "Oh and try not to get too cocky."
Evan couldn't help but chuckle a little. "You don't have to worry, Lieutenant. Everything here is still under our control, and I doubt that there is anyone here that can actually be a true threat."
"Just don't become too arrogant, since that is how you failed your last mission." She said in a still direct way. "That is an order from the Lieutenant of division 5."
Evan decided to finally just accept it. "You have our word, Mrs. Olive." Evan finally said before he heard nothing coming out of the black phone, seeing that the Lieutenant had ended the call with him.
Evan kept on his lip smile as he placed his phone back in his pocket, returning back to the position he was once sitting in. He knew that the Lieutenant was stronger and superior to him, but he didn't know why she wanted to be cautious in the first place. They were Team Rocket! A group that will one day have complete control over all of the Kanto Region!
"Who can stop us now?" He gleefully thought to himself as he got comfortable in the seat, having no plans of leaving it anytime soon.
Ryan kept on running down the hallway, looking for anyone that needed any kind of help.
It has been minutes ever since he had forced to leave Brock and help out anyone that was still stuck, already assisting over 16 people to get to safety. He knew that he wasn't strong and that he was the most scared out of everyone there, but he was forced to put these thoughts aside for now. Ryan tried his best to make sure that everyone was feeling safe as they got away.
He had to put on a strong face for these people.
"Remain calm. Remain calm." Ryan kept telling himself as he ran all the way down to the end of the long hallway.
He opened up the double doors and actually ended up in one of the small parts of the, a location that seemed like a much smaller Main Lobby. He looked around to see if there was any kind of innocents but ended up seeing that there was a female Trainer going against ten whole Team Rocket members. Ryan began to quickly go over to help the person that was battling Team Rocket, seeming that there were seven male grunts and three female grunts.
And the person that was actually going against them was Sakura, and her Pokémon Shellder!
"Sakura!" Ryan called out to his friend, making the girl look back in a bit of a surprised way.
"Ryan!" Sakura yelled back as she was forced to look away from her battle. "Get out of here, now!"
"No! I am going to help you defeat these guys." Ryan tried to sound confident and hide his fear as he was right next to Sakura, quietly breathing in and out to help calm down.
Sakura let out a scoff as she looked at him. "Just don't try to get in my way."
"Shellder!"
Sakura and Ryan instantly turned to see that Sakura's Shellder was knocked back by the Goldbat's Bite, making the Water type hit the ground in a hard way. Sakura quickly ran up to her Pokémon to see if they were okay. Shellder was not only fainted, but now had some bite marks on his shell. Sakura actually placed a gentle hand on him.
"Dammit." She said in a voice lower than a whisper, putting Shellder back in his Great Ball. Sakura looked back at Team Rocket as she took out her second Pokémon and sent them out into battle. Since she knew that Charmander would be too weak to handle all the Team Rocket members, that only left one other option.
"Nidorina." The Poison type called out as she saw the ten different Team Rocket members in front of her, her smile still not wavering.
"L-Let me h-help too." Ryan suddenly spoke up as a worried look was on his face as he brought out Pinsir.
"Pinsir." Pinsir also spoke out as he stood right by Nidorina, both of them glaring down Team Rocket.
One of the members began to laugh at this. "How funny." They pointed their finger at Ryan. "He thinks that they can win, but he also seems so scared of us."
"I-I'm not!" Ryan yelled back as some nervous sweat started to fall down his face.
"I think that you should not underestimate us like this, brats." A female member told them with arms crossed. "It would be a shame if a kid died on this ship today."
Sakura kept looking at them as she heard Team Rocket tell them not to underestimate them, something that she thought was hilarious. An idea came to the quiet girl's mind to make Team Rocket eat their own words. It was just too good once Sakura really did think about.
A small smile actually appeared on Sakura's face.
"Nidorina." Sakura suddenly called to her Pokémon as she looked back at Team Rocket in a mocking way. "They are telling us not underestimate them."
"Nidorina." The Poison type responded, giving a nod to her trainer.
"I agree. We should honor them by going all out." Sakura gave them a sadistic smile as her green eyes seemed to pierce right through the 10 grunts. A small wave of fear passed through the Team Rocket members as Sakura softly opened her bag, digging around without actually looking around. Ryan and Pinsir looked at the girl in a confused way, wondering why she was acting like this.
"What is she trying to find?" Ryan thought as he kept looking at all the Team Rocket members, occasionally glancing back at his friend.
"H-Hey!" A female Team Rocket member finally deciding to speak up. "What the hell do you think you're doing, you four eyes bra-"
"You told us not to underestimate you," Sakura began as she took out something from her bag and showed to everyone in the room, making everyone but Nidorina give out a little gasp. "So that means that I should not be holding back."
A Moon Stone was now in Sakura's hand!
"Y-Y-You wouldn't dare." A Team Rocket Grunt told them in anger, trying to hide his obvious fear.
Sakura just gave them all a bored look. "Try us." Was the only response that came from Sakura.
A moment of silence came throughout the entire main area of the ship as no one moved after what Sakura had just said. Team Rocket was now worried that this battle wasn't going to be that easy anymore, and that they will actually have to be serious for these brats. Ryan and Pinsir said nothing as they were still surpirsed by Sakura. The pink haired girl still kept her sadistic smile.
"Nidorina," Sakura began, making the Pokémon look at her, as she suddenly threw the Moon Stone up into the air. "Catch."
The Moon Stone went up into the air and become too quickly come back down due to gravity. Nidorina began to run and a stand directly where the Moon Stone would land, the Poison type watching the Moon Stone become closer and closer. Nidorina gently grabbed the Moon Stone with her hands and looked down at the rock, knowing that this was the only time she would ever feel it.
Nidorina began to glow as soon as the Moon Stone touched her hands.
A bright light covered up the Poison type as the Pokémon was slowly beginning to change. Ryan, Pinsir, and Sakura didn't say anything but give a small smile at what was happening. All of the Team Rocket members and Pokémon looked on in shock and growing fear as they began too slowly back away, seeing that the Pokémon was becoming extremely tall in height as the evolution continued.
The evolution ended and the light disappeared, the now Poison/Ground type opening her eyes.
A large Pokémon stood where Nidorina once was, with features resembling a rhino, mouse, and reptile. She was largely blue in color. She had large round ears and two small horns in the center of her head. Her jaw was cream colored. She also has short legs and arms with white claws, two on her feet and three on each paw, and a large, bulky tail. The Pokémon also had a couple of armor-like scales on its body. Just like the jaw, two armored lumps on her upper chest and a segmented piece on the abdomen were also cream colored.
A powerful, deep, and menacing voice came from the new Pokémon rang all through the main area.
"NIDOQUEEN!"
END OF CHAPTER 17
Woo! It feels good to write this out again! The whole S.S. Anne thing will be going for more than one chapter, and you guys might be surprised to see how the group will actually escape this place! And it was nice to see Jessie, James, and Meowth after so long! See ya!
Ash's Team: Wartortle (M), Pidgeotto (F), Sandshrew(M), Oddish (F), Dratini (M)
Misty's Team: Starmie (N/A), Seel (F), Magikarp (M), Squirtle (F)
Ryan's Team: Pinsir (M), Ivysaur (F), Slowpoke (M), Ponyta (?)
Brock's Team: Onix (F), Golbat (M), Eevee (F)
Sakura's Team: Nidoqueen (F), Charmander (M), Shellder (M)