Welcome back to another chapter of 'The Very Best'! Happy to finally be working on this story again after so long, and I will try to make this chapter pretty exciting to read! We are so close to reaching that 50 reviews mark! Sorry that the title is a bit generic, couldn't really think of anything too crazy.
And one other thing. I am happy that you guys are leaving reviews and stuff, but I hope that I am not asking for too much when I request that you guys, please give me some genuine feedback with the reviews. Sorry if I am being too demanding or anything like that, but I just want some feedback on my chapters so that I know what you guys want to see and what I should be working on. Don't be afraid to write me out some negative stuff, because I'll be taking it with open arms!
But I think that is enough rambling on now. Enjoy!
The Very Best:
Chapter 18:
Escaping The Ship
Opening (If you really want to): GO! (From Naruto, performed by Flow)
The Team Rocket members and Pokémon looked on in fear as the new Nidoqueen began to glare at them with anger and hatred. Any confidence that they had with them going into this fight evaporated faster than water on a summer day. Sakura tried to keep a calm look on her face, but a sadistic look was still present on the inside. Ryan and Pinsir decided to stay back as they were worried what this Nidoqueen would do.
"O-Oddish," One of the female Team Rocket members managed to studder out a command to her Pokémon. "Use your-"
No one was able to do anything as Nidoqueen came up to Oddish and delivered a devastating punch to the poor Grass type.
The simple punch from the Pokémon sent a small shockwave throughout the entire room, making everyone but Sakura loss their balance for a moment. Nidoqueen, seeing that the Oddish was already defeated, began to go straight for all the other Pokémon that were all standing off to the side. All of the Pokémon were not prepared for this and were beginning to get one-shotted by the powerful Poison type.
The Golbat in the group of Pokémon was able to maintain his cool and choose to be smart by flying up into the air. The Team Rocket member that owned the Golbat saw that his Pokémon was now safe to attack, and ordered to Pokémon, albeit in a scared tone of voice. "U y-your Confuse Ray, Golbat!"
Just as the Pokémon was about to begin setting up his attack, he froze after what he heard from Sakura's mouth. "Ice Beam."
Nidoqueen, as she defeated another Pokémon in her hand with ease, pointed her arm in the direction that Golbat was in. A bright, blue ball of energy began to gather up at the end of her arm as it barley took a second for it to fully complete, releasing the attack with one of her claws. Golbat was able to quickly move out the way by going slightly to the side, but the attack was extremely quick.
Suddenly, Golbat looked down at his wing to see that it was starting to get covered in ice. The attack that Nidoqueen launched actually was able to hit as the Poison type began to lose felling in his wing. Golbat tried to fly away and escape, but the ice had completely frozen one of his two wings as the Pokémon began to go down. Golbat braised himself as he hit the ground, effectible out of the battle as it couldn't move anymore.
"Machop!"
A bluish-gray Pokémon with large arm muscles tried to attack Nidoqueen from behind as she was distracted. He had three brown ridges on his head, rib-like protrusions on his sides, a tail, and somewhat resembled a human child. Nidoqueen was able to quite clearly sense that Machop was behind her but decided not to attack as she wanted one of these Pokémon to actually hit her. The Poison type didn't want this to be a complete slaughter and gave her opponents a actual chance.
"Pinsir, use X-Scissor!"
As Machop was about to punch the back of Nidoqueen, Pinsir came right beside him and use his claws on the Fighting type as if they were a big pair of scissors. Machop was sent back by this attack as Pinsir was right beside Nidoqueen, both of them ready to fight. Sakura gave a glare to Ryan.
"I told you to get out of here."
"I am not going to leave one of my own friends behind!" Ryan said in a serious way that didn't get a reaction out of Sakura. A small smirk appeared on his face. "Besides, it wouldn't be fair if did all the work on this fight." The girl gave the boy a big eyeroll after hearing that as she adjusted her glasses.
"Ekans!"
Pisnir saw that Ekans was coming straight towards him with her jaw wide open, showing off her teeth as she was about to perform Bite. Pinsir and Ryan were able to clearly see the attack and knew exactly what to do. "Pinsir, use your Vital Throw!"
Ekans's eyes widened as she knew that if her attack hit, then the Pinsir would attack back with much more power. Ekans tried to maneuver herself and ended up grazing Pinsir's left forearm. This was still good enough as Pinsir was able to grab Ekans with ease and jump high into the air. Pinsir did a very nice summersault up in the air as gravity began to drag both of them down, the Bug time holding the Poison type close to his chest as they made contact with the ground.
Ekans hit the floor with full force while Pinsir was able to cushion his landing with the opponent's body.
"It looks like we were able to win this pretty easily." Ryan commented as he saw all the knocked-out Pokémon that Nidoqueen was responsible for, with some help from Pinsir of course. Sakura returned Nidoqueen to her Poke Ball as she still kept an apathetic look on her face.
"Damn brats!" One of the male Team Rockets said in anger as they called back all of their Pokémon, some already about to leave. "You are going to regret messing with Team Rocket like that!"
"Come on! Let-" As another one of the male Team Rocket members was trying to flee after defeat, Sakura went towards him and delivered a serious kick to his face. Before he could even process what just happened, Sakura held a strong grip on the man's left arm and gave him a cold, dead stare.
"What the hell?" One of the Team Rocket members said in shock.
"Sakura." Ryan tried to call out as he looked at his friend, Pinsir already back in his own Poke Ball. "What are you doing?"
The Team Rocket member was trying to pry Sakura's hand off of his arm but is as if her hand was superglued on to it. "Dammit! Let me go, stupid brat!" He muttered out as he struggled.
"I wouldn't recommend trying to struggle." No emotion was in Sakura's voice as she was able to bring his arm up to eye level. "It is very easy to break your arms, you know."
The Team Rocket member froze after hearing that, taking his hand off as he tried to raise up in a defensive way. "H-Hey! Y-You don't have to do that. I promise to leave you alone."
Sakura was unmoved by the man's begging. "You attack this ship, these people, and my friend." Anger was clearly present in her voice as she looked down upon the man. "You really think that you can get away with all of this? That a pathetic excuse for life like you are above consequence?"
The man was sweating bullets as this point as the girl in front of him was actually causing pure fear and terror to go throughout his entire body. Sakura's grip only become tighter and tighter as she said these words, and everyone was so shocked to actually come up and stop her. Ryan couldn't believe that Sakura could be like this, she was always just so calm and quiet.
"I despise people like you." Venom was laced all over the girl's voice as she glared at the man through her glasses, bending him arm with her strength.
A loud snap came from the man's arm.
Everyone completely froze after hearing that disgusting noise. No one moved or tried to do anything as they saw the aftermath of what Sakura just did, and it was something that Ryan never thought he would ever see in his life. Sakura stood up and looked down at the man with an empty gaze. It took a second before the intense pain actually settled in, the man looking down to see what happened.
His arm now bent in an odd angel, the rest of the arm above the point moving around like a ragdoll.
The man didn't even try to stop himself from letting out a blood curdling scream at what he saw. Tears of pure pain became to come down from his eyes and fall down his face. Ryan was just to shocked to do anything and Team Rocket was downright scared, one of them on the verge of actually vomiting after seeing that. Sakura didn't give any reaction to this as her eyes meet the man with nothing but pain in his face.
The man began to slowly crawl away before sprinting with all the energy he had to escape, holding his lip arm close to him. No one from Team Rocket decided to say anything as they decided to just escape from the crazy girl with glasses, who still had no emotion on her face. They all left the room with all their speed and didn't plan on being here any longer.
Ryan was the only one still there as he kept looking on his friend in shock. He couldn't believe that Sakura was not only this strong but can do all of this in the first place! He was worried to approach the girl, but he knew that they had to leave now so that he could reunite with Brock. He gave a big gulp as it took a lot of effort to move one step forward.
"S-Sakura." The boy finally had the courage to finally speak up, hoping that their little friendship might be able to safe hi from having the same fate that Team Rocket member just had.
Sakura turned back around and still gave a calm look on her face, something that startled Ryan a bit. She adjusted her glasses. "What's wrong with you, Ryan?" She asked as if nothing happened. "You act like you just saw a ghost."
Ryan didn't know what to say, or even how to act right now. "W-We n-"
"Well, straighten yourself up. We need to go find everyone else." She stated in her monotone way as she began to make her way to the other exit, turning her back to look at Ryan. "Aren't you coming?"
Ryan couldn't believe how Sakura was asking right now, it was almost scarier than her still being enraged. The boy decided to remain quiet as she nodded and came to Sakura. As both of them stood by the door they began to sprint down the hall as they began to make their way to the Main Lobby.
The memory of what Sakura did to that Team Rocket member was still in his mind as he looked at Sakura, who still seemed rather unfazed by all of this running. He was having trouble admitting that Sakura actually had something like that within her. Ryan tried to get that thought out of his head as he knew that Sakura wouldn't do that to any member of the group, but just the thought of it send a shiver throughout his spine.
"Gotta remind myself, and the others, to never get on her bad side." Was the thought that constantly went through Ryan's mind as the continued to go down the hall.
Another arrow went straight through the leg of a Team Rocket member.
Brock kept his guard up as he grabbed another arrow from his back and placed it on the bow, searching around for any Team Rocket members that were nearby. Jack, Golem, his Onix and other Trainers were all around him as they continued to battle against Team Rocket. Brock's Golbat was also out as the Poison type tried to remove any kind of arial threats that were in the Main Lobby, while also assisting the few Pidgeys and Spearows there as well.
The Main Lobby was slowly starting to look unrecognizable due to all the fighting that was going on. all kinds of burns and damage began to litter the walls as the battles between the Pokémon was growing to be more and more chaotic. Brock helped a lot not only by using his Pokémon, but the bow that was in hand that he would only use for Team Rocket grunts. He tried to avoid any vital points on their body as he shot, but in all honesty, the boy didn't care if a Team Rocket member died from his arrow.
He was not going to pity the people that almost killed Ryan back then!
"Charmander, use your Dragon Breath!" One of the many Trainers instructed his Pokémon to do. The Charmander began to exhale a mighty gust of wind from his mouth as her opponent, a Machop, took the attack full force. Machop was launched back by the attack and was finally knocked out the battle. The Team Rocket member that owned the fighting type cursed in anger.
"Mankey, use your Cross Chop!" A female Trainer said as well. Mankey was a small, monkey-like Pokémon. He was mostly tan in color, with a round body, long limbs and a tail. He had a pig like nose, pointy ears, and medium length fur. He also had triangular eyes with red irises.
"Mankey!" The fighting type yelled out as he began to go straight towards the Team Rocket Pikachu. Pikachu didn't try to dodge as she knew that there would be no point in doing so and watched as Mankey crossed his forearms together. Mankey was able to quit easily hit his opponent and make them fall to the ground. Pikachu had fainted from the attack.
Jack and Golem were fighting against a Koffing that tried to use the Dark type move Assurance on them, a small amount of sweat beginning to form on Jack's forehead. "They just won't stop coming at us." He remarked as he and Golem kept on fighting. "I don't think we'll be able to stop every last one of them."
"Just keep on fighting! They're not that strong on their own." Brock responded as he shot another arrow that went straight through the shoulder of a female Team Rocket member, taking her out of the battle. The teenager kept focus on the battle and making sure to drive all the Team Rocket members off the ship.
"Brock!"
Brock shot his head up after hearing the familiar voice, seeing that two people were coming over to assist him. "Ryan! Sakura!"
The two aforementioned people came up to him and stood right by his side. "We're here to help, but you probably already guessed that." The girl said in her usual calm way.
"Are you sure that you are okay to help?" Brock wanted to make sure that his friends were ready to fight beside him, as he didn't want to put them in this danger.
"We are." Sakura sent out her Nidoqueen, while Brock sent out Ivysaur as he knew that Pinsir wouldn't be able to do much to all the Flying and Poison types, as sad as it was. Brock was silently surprised by the fact that Sakura now had the Nidoqueen, as that could only mean one thing.
"Did I miss the evolution of your Nidorina?"
"Yup." Was the instant answer from Sakura. "Deepest apologizes that you weren't invited to see it."
Brock then saw Ryan and that there was something wrong with him. "Are you alright?" Brock's voice was in a gentle tone.
"...I-I'm good." Ryan answered as he was focused back on the battle, sending Ivysaur out the help out all the other Trainers that were there. Brock knew that Ryan wasn't truly all right but knew that now was not the time to ask. Brock turned back around and focused on the battle again, seeing that Nidoqueen was quickly beginning to tear up all the weaker Pokémon.
"Golbat, Sludge Bomb! Onix, Dragon Breath!" The two Pokémon listed to the command and began to perform the attack. Golbat summoned a large clump of unsanitary sludge from his mouth and threw it at the enemy, while Onix exhaled a mighty breath from her large mouth. The attacks were able to hit a little group of Team Rocket Pokémon that sent them all back, knocking out a few in the process. "Come on, Ash. We could really use your help right now." He accidently said out loud.
"Good thing I'm here then. Right?"
Ryan, Sakura, Brock and of their Pokémon cranked their heads to see that the eleven-year-old himself was now here with them, a determined smirk on his face. "Ash!" Ryan immediately called out as he gave a hug to Ash, who happily returned it. "Where were you?" He asked Ash as soon as they broke their hug.
"I was going to ask you the same thing." Ash replied before he began his actual answer. "Me and Misty were able to successfully get everyone out of their rooms and to safety, and we split up for two reasons. I came here to look for you guys and Misty left to go confront whoever might be in the control room, also making sure to see if she could get any help."
"Are you sure that Misty will be fine?" Sakura questioned in her stoic way.
Ash gave a small laugh. "Never knew that you cared about Misty, Sakura." A confident look was on the boy's face. "I'm sure that she'll do just great."
"That's great, Ash." Brock told in a bit of a hurried way. "But we need to focus on the battle now."
"Oh, of course." Ash sent out both Dratini and Oddish out into battle, the two starting down their opponents. "Oddish, use Sleeping Powder to knock out a few of them. Dratini, use your Dragon Tail." The two Pokémon understood the order and began to perform their move.
"We'll win this. I know we will!" Brock encouraged as put down his bow, but still keeping his arrow just in case.
"Brock, get out of here."
The former Gym Leader was confused by this request. "Wait. Why do you want me to leave?"
"Don't you want to get Golem back?" Ash asked back as he turned to face the older boy. "Now your chance to trade with Jack and get him back. We'll hold them out until then."
"The young man is right." Jack agreed as he inserted himself into the conversation. "We may not have another chance for this, Brock."
"B-But I won't leave you gu-"
"Just go." Sakura said in a calm way, surprising everyone that she would actually say something about all of this. "Go and get your Pokémon back."
Brock saw that everyone was looking at him in order for he and Jack to leave the Main Lobby, even Ryan agreed with everyone else. Brock just let out a somewhat raspy sounding sigh as held up two Poke Balls. "Golbat, Onix. Return!" The two Pokémon returned to their Poke Balls as Brock placed the arrow back in the pouch with the others and strapped the bow over his shoulder.
"Golem, return as well." Jack called back Golem and quickly joined up with Brock, his cane still with them.
Brock looked at his friend with a serious look. "Stay safe, alright?"
"We promise." Brock gave one last uncertain look as he and Jack finally left the Main Lobby behind, the teenager still upset that he had to leave his own friends behind. The group turned back around to finally focus on the fight once again. As they looked on, they saw a Charmander somehow get thrown all the way to the second floor, a loud crash happened when the Fire type met their painful landing.
"Looks like my plan for seconds has gone out the window." Sakura commented, actually a bit disappointed on the inside as she wasn't allowed to try that delicious food again.
"We are fighting an evil group that is trying to kill us, and food is your only concern?!" Ryan asked in anger and disbelief, a toon like vein on his head.
"You two, calm down." Ash managed to keep his cool as he acted as a leader right now. "We can argue over food after we won." Sakura just let out a sigh as Ryan put all of his focus back onto the fight.
All of the three kids and their Pokémon's all began to stare down at their enemy, who kept on fighting even though they were slowly starting to become outclassed. Team Rocket was not going to lose to these pathetic Trainer's like this, especially after all the work they did just to get on this darn ship! The Trainers were going to fight back and protect this ship and the people they cared about, even if they got severely harmed in the process. Ash kept a face of complete resolve and focus; Ryan turned his head to look at his friend.
Ryan then realized something. "Wait, where is Wartortle." Seeing Wartortle not with Ash was as rare as Sakura showing emotion.
Instead of being worried about his missing Pokémon, Ash gave a smile. "Well, let's just say that he is helping out a certain orange-haired girl."
"Come on, Wartortle!" Misty called out to the Water type as they ran up the stairs. "We should be getting close to the control room."
"Wartortle!" Wartortle nodded as he closely followed the girl as they were making their way to the top floor.
The two have been making their way to the control room ever since they split up with Ash. It was actually Ash that wanted Wartortle to stay with Misty not only for protection, but so the girl would have company and not be lonely. The Water type wasn't exactly happy following that order but decided to go along with it for his Trainer. Besides, Wartortle was practically best friends with Misty.
"It should be down this hall!" Misty and Wartortle kept on going until they saw two large doors that they assumed was the control room of the entire ship. "Let's go."
"Stop right there, twerps!"
Both of them turned around to see that Jessie, James, and Moewth were there standing in their best menacing pose. They all carried a smirk on their face. "Sorry to interrupt your mission, but we can't let you intervene with our business." James said with fake politeness.
"Team Rocket!" Misty and Wartortle completely turned their bodies to face the three and began to enter a fighting stance.
"Oh, but we aren't just any normal Team Rocket member. Meowth." The Pokémon exclaimed as they all began to pose dramtically. "We are the evil trio themselves! Jessie! James! And Moewth!"
Misty blinked a few times before she decided to ask a question. "Sorry, have we met before?"
All three of the Team Rocket members let out a major sweat drop each as their grand entrance was basically ruined by that question. Wartortle actually let out a laugh after hearing that, thinking that it was just so funny. "How can you not remember people like us? Meowth!" The Pokémon yelled back.
"Sorry, but I just don't remember you or your names." Misty then gave a closer look to Jessie's unique hair. "Although, your hair definitely does seem familiar."
"Don't you remember that time we attacked the Viridian Pokémon Center? Or that time back in Mt. Moon?" James asked as he tried to make the girl remember them.
Something finally clicked in Misty's head. "Oh yeah. You guys." She placed a hand on her head as she still looked at them. "Sorry. But it's been over a month since we last saw each other, and I don't exactly have you in my thoughts all the time."
"W-Well, do you at least remember our special entrance." Jessie cleared her throat so that she could clearly be heard. "Prepare for trouble!"
"And make it double!" James added.
"To protect the world f-"
"Yes, I do remember your intro. And now I remember how annoying it was." Misty decided to interrupt them before it went on for too long.
This sentence made Jessie mad. "How dare you insult our song! We had to make that entire thing up on our own, you know?!" She took out her Poke Ball. "We will defeat you for doing that."
"Just like how you defeated us the last two times?" This actually managed to get a laugh out of Wartortle.
"Shut up!" The older girl yelled in a childish way before sent out Ekans. "Ekans, let's show them what happens when you mess with Team Rocket!"
"Why is Jessie always so scary? Meowth." The Pokémon whispered to James.
"There are just some things that you can't answer in life." Was the only answer that the boy gave.
"Hey! Aren't you two idiots going to help or are you just going to continue to gossip?!" Jessie told them as she was really pissed off at the moment.
This was able to make the two straighten up. "Koffing, go!" James brought out the Poison type while Meowth went to the front in order to battle.
Misty brought her Starmie and the two Water types gave a piercing look at their opponent. "Starmie will handle the Poison types, while you can handle the little cat over there." Misty told Wartortle, who nodded in response.
"I am going to scratch you up good. Meowth." Meowth told Wartortle as he brought out his little claws.
"Koffing, use your Sludge!" Koffing closed his mouth and began to loudly chew. The Poison type then launched dark sludge at Starmie. Instead of being worried, Misty just smirked while Starmie remained impartial.
"Starmie, Psychic!" James and Koffing's eyes widened in fear after hearing the name of such a powerful attack.
Starmie began to gather energy within itself before finally being able to let it out. A bright pink wave of psychocentric energy was launched from Starmie crystal, and it was able to cut through the Sludge attack as if it were butter. The attack hit Koffing with complete force and sending the Poison type back as it began to disappear. Koffing hit the ground with over 80% of his energy just gone.
Somehow, Koffing didn't actually get one shot by that powerful Psychic type attack.
"Koffing!" James went right up to his Pokémon and gently picked up the Poison type. "Are you okay?"
"Koffing." The Poison type managed to say.
"EKANSSS!"
The other Poison type went to give a powerful Bite. Starmie was very aware of what was coming to it and didn't seem fazed at all. Just as Ekans was about to sing her teeth into Starmie, Wartortle grabbed the Ekans near the head and held on tight. The Poison type instantly began to squirm in his grip.
"What the? Weren't you just fighting Moewth a second ago?" Jessie demanded, and that is when she saw the very beaten up Meowth that was lying on the floor. Meowth was very outclassed in the fight as he didn't even get the chance to attack.
"Wartortle!" Wartortle began to charge up a throw with Ekans in his hand, who was starting to feel fear within her. He aimed the poor snake toward Koffing, who was just about to get back up. Ekans hit Koffing and not only took some damage from the attack, but actually made Koffing faint in the process.
Just as Ekans was about to get up to battle once again, little yellow stars began to go straight towards her. Starmier has used its Swift attack in order to finish the Ekans off, and they all watched as Ekans was hit with all the stars. Ekans fell as well, now fainted alongside her partner Koffing.
"Great! We lost to you brats again!" Jessie called back Ekans while James called back Koffing, Mepwth now in his arms.
"Come on, Jessie. We must leave."
"This isn't over, you hear me?!" Jessie and James quickly ran away after that, leaving Misty and Wartortle alone as the victors.
"Well, that was easy." Misty remarked as she and Wartortle face the door in front of them. "You ready for this?"
"Wartortle!" The Water type gave a determined nod to Misty's question, the two looking at the door in a serious way.
The pair remained silent for a few minutes as they breathed in deeply and exhaled in a slow way. Misty and Wartortle knew that they would probably win this fight with relative ease, but they just wanted to calm themselves before they enter. They knew that Ash was counting on them to do this, and they knew that they had to protect all of the people Both of them were going to stop Team Rocket from taking over the ship, together!
The two then charged straight through the door with power by their side!
"Alright, the machine is on." Brock told Jack as they watch the trading machine's screen light up. Brock quickly took out the Poke Ball that contained Eevee while Jack took out the ball that had Golem.
"Goodbye, Golem." Jack told the Poke Ball as he held it in his hand. "I wish that our time together wasn't so rudely cut short." Brock didn't say anything to the Eevee in his Poke Ball as he really didn't have any fond memories of her, he didn't even take her out this entire time.
The two placed their Poke Balls into the same place they did last time, they were even in the same room as last time. The machine sucked up the Poke Balls and the two images of the Pokémon quickly crossed each until they left the screen completely. The two Poke Balls came back down and landed softly in their locations, now switched again.
Brock wasted no time in getting his Poke Ball. "Thanks, Jack." The boy tried to run out of the room, but someone stopped him.
"Wait, Brock!" Jack suddenly called out. Brock stopped to turn back at the man, keeping his patience with him.
"Yes?" Instead of saying anything to him or anything like that, Jack presented the Poke Ball that contained Eevee to the boy. Brock raised his eyebrow. "What are you doing?"
"Brock." Jack began in a sentimental way. "I want you to take her. Take Eevee with you."
Brock was left very bewildered after hearing that request.
The boy had no idea what to say to Jack right now. He was trying to figure out if Jack might be lying or tricking to him, but he couldn't find anything negative in his facial features or voice. Brock had no idea why he was doing this and knew that taking his Pokémon like that would be very selfish. Brock was lost in thought, that he was starting to forget that Team Rocket was still actually on the ship.
"But she's your Poké-"
"I saw how well you fought back there, and how hard you tried to protect everyone there from harm." Jack interrupted as he tried to explain why he is doing this. "I can tell that you are a good person on the inside. You are someone that is better than me, and I have never said that to anyone."
"But Eevee is your Pokémon." Brock tried to state again after hearing that. "It wouldn't be fair in the slightest if I took her from you. I would be just as bad as Team Rocket if I did that."
"But you aren't taking her from me. I am willing giving her to you." Jack replied as he looked down at Brock in a gentle way. "Don't you want you want to be strong to protect others that can't protect themselves? Don't you want to make sure everyone is alright? Don't you want to help people and Pokémon?"
"I do!" Brock instantly responded in a serious way before looking down at the ground. "But-"
"No buts." Jack presented the Poke Ball in front of Brock in a still gentle way. "Go ahead, Brock. I want my Eevee to be with someone I know will raise it right."
Brock just started down at the Poke Ball with a empty look, not sure what emotion he should be using for this. His breath became funny for a moment as he began to wonder if he should actually do this.
Brock let out a sharp sigh. "Dammit." He said in a voice lower than a whisper as he took the Poke Ball from Jack's hand, keeping a firm grip as he looked down at the Poke Ball. Brock looked up at Jack. "Jack...I don't kn-"
"What are you still doing here? You need to get back to your friends!" Jack told him as he made an arm gesture to the open door. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."
Brock quickly nodded as he began to leave and make it out into the hallway. He looked back to see if Jack was going to be okay as he placed the new Poke Ball in his backpack. Jack quickly came out and wanted to run from the room, but saw that Brock was still there.
"Just go!" Jack yelled.
Brock, now seeing that Jack truly didn't want him to be there, began to finally run down the hall and make his way back to the Main Lobby. Jack nodded to himself when he saw Brock go away. Brock has a bit of regret on his face that he now has the Eevee of a man that he just met today. His legs kept on carrying him up the stairs to go towards his friends.
He tried to remain calm and focused, but a small burden was in the growing stage within his heart. He always gave comfort and kindness to others, and never really wanted others to do it the other way around. He tried his best to not be demanding or selfish, but he didn't have any other answer but accept the offer in that situation. Brock tried to look on the bright side of all of this, and there was one that the others would definitely care about.
A Eevee would now be a part of his team.
Evan quickly turned around after he heard the door being slammed open.
Misty and Wartortle were there as the doors were forced open, looking up to see that Evan was in the captain's chair with eyes widened. "Were you the one on the speaker?"
Evan looked at them for a moment before deciding to respond, ignoring the anger present in the little girl's voice. "Why yes. I was the one who made the announcement."
"Wartrotle!" The Water type pointed an acute finger at the still sitting Team Rocket member.
"Now. Now. You don't have to be so angry." Evan told them as he was the only Team Rocket member handling the situation well. "I am willing to spare you, if you leave right this second."
"We aren't backing down!" Misty declared as Starmie was right by her side to battle.
Evan didn't seem fazed by this as he actually stood up from his chair. "How annoying." The man faced all the Team Rocket members that were still in the room with him. "All of you, leave. I will personally handle this."
"Yes, sir." All of the Team Rocket members quickly left and leaving behind Evan and Misty, and the two Water type Pokémon.
"I'll handle this, Wartortle." Misty told the Pokémon with a confident grin. "Stay back and let me handle this."
"Wartortle." The Pokémon reluctantly nodded, not exactly comfortable with wanting to leave Misty alone to deal with this. But the Water type was going to listen to his best friend's request.
Evan kept a relaxed face as he took out his own Great Ball. "Show these fools our strength, Haunter." Evan released the Pokémon out into the battle. Haunter was a purple, spiky, floating figure with triangular eyes, tiny pupils, fangs and disembodied, three-fingered, clawed hands.
"Haunter. Haunter." The ghost type laughed as he saw the Starmie, who remain unfazed by seeing its opponent.
"I'm not scared of a simple ghost type." Misty thought to herself as the confident smile was still on her face. She pointed her finger at the ghost type in a way to begin this fight. "Starmie, use Psychic!"
Starmie began to charge up its psychic power and launch the powerful wave of pink energy at the Ghost type. Starmie also wanted to end this fight quickly as well. The energy came towards Haunter who surprisingly didn't seem shocked at this, having an uninterested look on his face. The attack disappeared and Misty and Starmie hope to see the Haunter become weak or be on the ground fainting. But that was not the case.
Haunter had disappeared.
Starmie began to sense around itself to see where the Ghost type went and finding out that Haunter was literally right behind itself. Starmie quickly turned around to attack but was unable to after hearing Evan's fist command. "Use your Hypnosis, Haunter."
"Haunter. Haunter." The Ghost type continued to laugh as he launched the attack at Starmie. Starmie was able to predict this attack using its psychic powers beforehand and was able to dodge the attack that would have made it fall asleep. Starmie created some distance between itself and Haunter, ready for the next order from Misty.
"Starmie, Scald." Starmie let out a jet of hot, boiling water from one of its sides and aimed it at Haunter. Haunter was caught a bit off guard by this powerful Water type attack and only realized to dodge when it was too late. The attack hit Haunter with full force and took out a major amount of health, but the Ghost type was still within this battle. Starmie stopped its attack and was pleased to see the Ghost type completely drenched.
Haunter was not happy about any of this, and visibly showed it to Starmie. Evan tried to remain a calm facade, even though he wasn't happy about his Pokémon getting hit by that attack. "Haunter, Payback."
Misty and Wartortle eyes widened after hearing that attack name, seeing the tendrils of darkness that erupted from Haunter's core. Starmie tried to spin its way out of the attack, but about 4 separate tendrils were still able to hit the Water type. Since Starmie had went first the attack power had doubled, making it even more dangerous for Starmie.
Despite a Dark type attack like, Starmie was still able to stand with some of its energy already gone.
"Starmie, Psychic!"
Haunter made sure to quickly dodge this attack as he knew that this Starmie packed quite a punch, despite having literally no hands. Haunter quickly went above and to the right to safely avoid the attack, looking down at Starmie as he kept on laughing. Suddenly, Haunter realized that he had made a fatal mistake as he looked at Starmie.
Starmie had not let out the Psychic type attack yet.
Starmie, having waited patiently, launched the Psychic type at Haunter. The Ghost type could only helplessly watch as the attack hit him completely as he was pushed back by the force of Psychic type attack. Haunter feel to the ground completely exhausted as the attack disappeared. Haunter closed his eyes in defeat.
Haunter had fainted.
"Good job, Starmie." Misty cheered for her Pokémon. "You did great."
"Wartortle!" The Water cheered as well from the sideline.
"It appears you have potential." Evan calmly said as he returned Haunter to his Great Ball. Even though Evan seemed calm and relaxed on the surface, on the inside was only anger and madness. Evan gave a calm smile as he took out another Great Ball.
"Starmie." The Water type declared as it was ready for the next opponent.
"Oh. I wouldn't feel so confident about winning, Starmie." Evan warned the Water type as he released the Great Ball. "This Pokémon is something that you have never faced before."
A Pokémon emerged from the Great Ball, and everyone was surprised at what they saw. "What the?" Misty questioned as she saw the Pokémon that Evan had released.
The Pokémon was something that none of them had ever seen before. He was mostly black with a red underside and his muzzle also in the color red. The Pokémon had a canine-like body and had white rings around his legs. He also had a skull-like helmet on his head and rib bones on the back. The unique Pokémon glared at the opponent with anger.
"Houndour." The new Pokémon growled at his opponent.
"Starmie?" Starmie questioned as it was confused by the mysterious Pokémon.
"Surprised, aren't you?" Evan asked as he witness the dumbfounded look on their face. "This Pokémon is from the Region of Johto, and isn't exactly known to be common. But I think we should get back to our battle now." He made an arm gesture to the opposing Pokémon. "Houndour, Ember."
"Houndour." The Pokémon launched small fire from his mouth and aimed it to Starmie. Starmie, along with Misty and Wartortle, were able to finally focus on the battle again and stop questing about the new Pokémon. Starmie was able to pretty easily dodge this weak Fire type attack and get into position for its own attack.
"Starmie, Psychic!" Misty wanted to use her strongest attack on this new Pokémon before the battle accidently became too crazy. Starmie performed the attack and threw at Houndour with force, but for some odd reason the Pokémon didn't even try to dodge. Everyone watched as the attack hit Houndour and was absolutely nothing affected by it. Wartortle let out a little gasp of surprise.
Houndour had taken no damage from the attack!
"Dang it! It's a Dark type." Misty concluded after she saw the most powerful attack in Starmie's arsenal did absolutely nothing to Houndour.
"How smart of you." Evan complimented. "But what are you going to do about it. Houndour, Bite."
The now revealed Dark type began to charge towards straight to Starmie with his sharp teeth fully showing. Starmie saw the opponent coming and knew that it's most powerful attack wouldn't work, so the Water type used a different move. Starmie launched a Scald attack to at least do some good damage. No Pokémon type was immune to Water type moves, so it was safe to use this.
Houndour saw the attack coming straight towards him and actually tried to maneuver out the way. The Dark type actually seemed very weary of the attack and wanted to get out, but Scald was still able to hit both of his back legs before he could escape in time. Houndour still growled at Starmie but felt pain in the back, becuase the attack was actually effective against Houndour.
"I think I know exactly what the typing of your Pokémon is." Misty told Evan as she was happy about the answer she managed to deduce.
"Oh, and what might Houndour's typing be?" Evan asked with a smirk as he wanted to amuse this declaration.
"It's quite clear that your Houndour is a Dark type since it took no damage from Psychic, but I noticed that your Houndour seemed scared about that Scald attack." Misty began to explain as she didn't take her gaze off the battle or Evan. "Only three types are weak to the Water typing, and I can just tell from appearance that Houndour isn't ground or Rock. Leaving up with one possibility." Misty gave her own smirk. "Houndour is a Dark and Fire type!"
No one said anything for a mere moment just let out a dark chuckle and looking at Misty, actually feeling quite humorous right now. "Impressive. You are actually correct. Houndour is a Dark and Fire type."
"Wartortle." The Pokémon was surprised that Misty was able to catch on so quickly like that.
"Looks like we both have an advantage in this battle then." Misty remarked as she made Starmie perform another attack. "Use Scald again."
Starmie performed the attack quickly and launched the jet of boiling water. Houndour didn't have any kind of hesitation as he quickly jumped to the side to skillfully dodge the attack. Houndour made some distance in order to perform a Smog attack to at least get some damage in. And that is when the Fire type realized that there were multiple shadows above him.
Multiple stars were above him as a result from Starmie's Swift attack.
Starmie knew that Houndour was going to dodge the first attack pretty quickly, so that is why the Water type also performed another attack that it knew would never miss. Houndour tried to use Ember to bring down the stars that were spinning straight at him, but that didn't work at all. The stars still kept coming even after the attack and Houndour was hit with 10 separate, small stars.
Starmie took advantage of Houndour's damaged state and launched one final Scald at Houndour. The Pokémon saw the move coming straight at him but was unable to get out of the way in time. Hondour took the full-on force of the attack and was pushed back a distance away. Starmie finally stopped the attack and was starting to feel tired, the Dark type had made it use more moves than it expected.
Houndour kept on growling as he weakly tried to stand back up. The pain covering his entire body was very bad, but that did not stop the growling and glare from Houndour. The Pokémon wanted to continue this fight for as long as possible. The Dark type eventually couldn't keep himself together and feel back to the ground, having no other choice but to succumb to the pain that was all over his body.
Houndour had fainted!
Evan said absolutely nothing as no expression was present on his face, bringing Houndour back to his great ball. His hear fell in front of his face and obstructed his vision, but he did not care. Meanwhile, everyone on Misty's side began to cheer as they saw another one of the opposing Pokémon get knocked out.
"Yes! We did it!" Misty cheered happily as she held her somewhat tired Starmie close to her. "You were amazing out there!"
"Wartortle!" Wartortle hugged the leg of Misty as he was proud for both her and Starmie.
"Starmie." The Water type managed to say as it was happy to get all of this attention. All three of them seemed to be off in their own world.
They all fell silent as they heard a small chuckle.
All of them turned to see that Evan was still standing there, his head directed towards the ground. He seemed to be chuckling to himself as it slowly became louder and louder. None of the three knew how to react or what to do in this situation, and just tried to remain quiet.
"Wartortle?" The Water type suddenly spoke up after a long moment.
Evan then let out a psychotic laugh as he stared up!
Everyone froze as they heard the awful laugh that sent literal shivers throughout their entire body. Evan seemed to be in a bad state of mind right now, and the three quickly took a step back from the not okay man. Evan kept letting out his psychotic laugh as it slowly began to die down.
A wide smile was on his face as he finally faced the three once again. "I must say, I'm impressed. You are one of the very few people that almost beat me, little girl." Evan praised Misty as a deranged look was all over his face. "But I can't just let you take this ship back. So that is why I must do this."
Evan took out his last Great Ball and threw it, revealing that it was a small Seel. "Do we have to fight him again?" Misty thought to herself as she saw the small Water type.
"Seel, please launch an Ice Beam into the ocean." Evan calmly requested his Pokémon to do, but his mannerism and face were anything but calm.
"Seel." The Water type felt uncomfortable with this order.
Evan gave a death stare with his eyes at Seel, but the rest of his face was unaffected. "Seel, please launch an Ice Beam into the ocean." He repeated in a slower way.
The Seel had a deep grimace on her face as she went right by one of the front windows. The little Water type launched her Ice Beam attack a distance away that was in front of the ship. The Seel kept on using her attack until the ice created from the blast of energy began to actually take shape in the water. Seel fell back exhausted after using that attack for almost a full minute.
There was now a semi-large ice spike that was in the water.
Evan returned the Seel back to her Great Ball, giving some gratitude towards Seel. He looked at the three, who still kept some distance from the still very mentally unstable man. Evan made the ship go to where the new ice creation was, handling the large steering wheel in a stable manner. Misty's and Wartorle's eyes widened after they finally realized what he was about to do.
"WAIT! STOP!"
But the call of protest didn't make Evan even remotely flitch.
Misty was barely able to bring Starmie back in it's Great Ball and put the ball away. She quickly hugged Wartortle tightly as she knew what was going to happen. The boat came closer and closer to the dangerous ice. It was only a matter of time until they made full contact.
A violent shake went throughout the entire boat as the ice in the water cut into the boat like it was a large knife. Misty had lost her footing and fell to the ground, but she was able to hold Wartortle close to her and prevent the Water type from accidently getting harmed. Evan didn't seem fazed at the violent shaking that went through the boat as she still stood up just fine. The shaking eventually came to a stop, allowing Misty to finally stand up.
Misty breath became very uneven as the gravity of the situation really came to her and Wartortle. They showed fear and anger towards the Team Rocket member for doing something like this. Evan just kept his psychotic smile on his face as all of this happened, not even caring what has just happened at the bottom of the ship.
A wide and long jagged cut was on the very bottom of the ship now!
"If Team Rocket can't have this ship, then no one can!"
The last and final Team Rocket Pokémon had fainted from Oddish's Absorb.
After a long and somewhat intense battle, the Trainers were able to finally defeat all the Team Rocket grunts that had invaded the Main Lobby in the first place. The Main Lobby had completely been trashed at this point, as there were holes within the wall and floor as a result from all the attacks being thrown around. A few of the chandeliers now broken on the floor as they hit the ground full force.
While the Trainers group was mostly intact with a few major exceptions, Team Rocket's side was left weak and defeated. Most of the members that were hit by Brock's arrows were forced to flee and remove the arrows from their bodies, and they left all the arrows in a small pile near the upper middle. All of their Pokémon had fainted, and the last Team Rocket member returned the last Pokémon, a very fainted Rattata.
"Damn brats." One of the many members said. "We aren't going to lose to the likes of you."
"I hate to break it to you, but you have already lost." Sakura said without any kind of remorse or forgiveness in her voice.
Ash punched his fist to his open palm. "If you mess with anyone here, then you are going to have to go through me!" Ash declared as he glared at Team Rocket. "I won't stop until my friends are protected!"
"Oddish!" Suddenly, the Grass type began to glow.
Everyone started at the now glowing Pokémon with surprise as they saw the Grass/Poison type begin to turn into something new. Both Ash and Ryan had stars in their eyes while Team Rocket felt even weaker now, knowing that they were even more outclassed than before. The light then suddenly faded away.
"Gloommm." The Grass type let out a tired moan as it stood there, also only having one petal on its flower, just like Giselle's.
"Wasn't expecting an evolution to happen." Sakura thought to herself as she saw the new Pokémon the Grass type turned into.
"Gloom!" Ash gave a small hug to his brand-new Pokémon as Dratini decided to join in on this. Gloom somehow managed to smile at this. "You look so strong!"
"Gloom." The Grass type joyfully moaned out.
"Hey, don't you dare ignore us!" One of the Team Rocket members yelled out in anger and was responded with many glares from all the Trainers that were with Ash. Sakura and Ryan in front of their friend.
All of a sudden, a violent shake came throughout the entire S.S. Anne!
Everyone was knocked from their feet and fell to the ground, some hitting the floor worse than others. Sakura was able to quickly react by not only calling back Nidoqueen but also catching herself from hitting the ground. Ryan wasn't so lucky as he and Ivysaur both fell to the ground, and the Trainer accidently made contact with his face. Ash couldn't catch himself and fell on his back, but he was able to call back both Dratini to his Great Ball and Gloom to her Poke Ball.
"Ivysaur. Are you alright?" Ryan went to his Pokémon and checked up on her, seeing that she was fine and gave a nod to him. "Return." Ryan called back Ivysaur to make sure she was okay.
The Team Rocket member quickly shook his head off. "What was that?"
A ringing sound came throughout the intercom to indicate that it had been turned on.
"EVERYONE! GET OUT OF HERE!" Misty's voice came in through the device as holding her emotions back wasn't even present in her mind. "THE SHIP IS ABOUT TO SINK! GET OUT OF HERE NOW!"
"W-What?" Ryan said in fear as she looked at where the voice of Misty was coming from. Everyone began to mutter among themselves as they wondered what was happening.
"TEAM ROCKET HAS CREATED ICE THAT CAUSED A GIANT HOLE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SHIP! THIS SHIP IS GOING TO SINK!"
Panic.
That is what went through everyone after they heard Misty's explanation.
All the Team Rocket member began too instantly flee after hearing that as they didn't actually want to die. All the Trainer's beside Sakura, Ryan, and Ash all began to run away to after hearing that. Sakura was silently panicking on the inside while Ryan was completely frozen as he shed a tear of fear, is as if the boy was a statue. A hand was placed on both of their shoulders.
Ash was there and remained determined, putting his shock aside for his own friends. "Come on, you two. We need to get Brock and Misty to get out of here!"
"Alright." Sakura managed to keep her calm tone of voice as she was ready to follow after Ash. The two then turned their attention to Ryan.
"I-I-"
"Guys!" Before Ryan could actually manage to studder out a sentence, Brock ran up to them as his weapon and arrows were now back in the black case that was in his hand. "You heard what Misty said on the intercom, right?"
"We did." Ash instantly responded. "Let's go find her so that we'll all be able to leave together."
Brock nodded as he noticed that a pile of his arrows was still there, some amount of blood on each of them. "Alright. Let me get my arrows back first." Both Sakura and Ash nodded as they watched as Brock quickly put all the arrows back in his case. "Let's go!"
"Come on, Ryan." Sakura called out as she and Brock grabbed the boy by the arms and began to run as they held him, forcing the boy to move his legs. "Move quickly, dumbass."
"R-Right." Ryan was able to finally step out of his shocked state and began to run along with everyone else, not needing the help of Brock or Sakura.
"Misty and Wartortle were in the control room, so let's go there." Ash instructed as he led the group throughout the ship.
"How do you know they are still going to be there?"
"I can just feel it." Was the only answer that Ash gave to Sakura's question as he was only focused on moving forward. "Don't worry. I will safe you two no matter what! I promise!"
Both Misty and Wartortle looked at the Team Rocket member with complete hatred and rage.
Evan just gave a wicked laugh after he heard the desperate attempt that Misty made to make sure that everyone would be safe. He thought that this attempt was pretty comical, and just wanted to show how he felt on the inside. He didn't care that innocent people, his fellow Team Rocket members, or himself were on the ship that was about to be below the ocean.
He seemed like a real psychopath at this point!
"Why are you laughing?" Misty finally asked as he saw how deranged Evan was right now. "Don't you care about the rest of Team Rocket on this ship? Or the fact that you are still on this ship?"
Evan's laugh became a chuckle. "Does it look like I care?"
Neither Misty nor Wartortle replied to this and entered a fighting stance once again. "Wartortle." Wartortle said in a threating way.
Evan finally let out a relaxed sigh as he began to walk, but not towards the two people that defeated him. He gave a very casual look as he stood right by a window and faced the pair once again. He grabbed the nearby fire extinguisher without even looking and held it up with one hand, Wartortle and Misty as they were ready. He moved his arm.
He threw the fire extinguisher through the window, shattering a giant hole in it.
Both of them were confused by this as they saw Evan throw away a weapon that he could have used to defend himself. Their eyes widened as they saw break all the other glass enough for him to fit on the frame of the destroyed window. Both of them saw the smile that was still present on his face as they were worried about what he was about to do now.
His arm was fully extended and said one last thing as he looked at the people that beat him: "I've always wondered what would be on the other side."
He leaned back and fell off the ship!
Wartortle and Misty let out a gasp of horror as they instantly went to the broken window to see, being careful not to accidently touch the shards of broken glass. They saw the man slowly fall down towards the water and they just couldn't but feel scared for the man. Even though he was their enemy, that did not mean he had to have this happen to him!
Evan seemed calm as he the world seemed to slow down as he feel to the hard water. His life flashed before his eye as a relaxed smile was still present on his face, the man completely stuck in how own little world at this point. He closed his eyes as he could just hear and feel death coming straight at him. A calm look and smile never left his face as he was just about to touch the water that would kill him.
He left this mortal world as the water made full contact with his body.
Misty and Wartortle were left in complete shock and disbelieve as they saw Evan just commit downright suicide! The last sentence that they heard from the man was practically stuck in their skull. They couldn't believe that they just saw that, and a smile was still on his face as he did this. Both of them felt sick by this and didn't want to move or do anything right now.
"Misty! Wartortle!"
The two were able to finally snap out of their thoughts and go where Ash's voice was, seeing the boy and everyone else there. "Ash!"
"Wartortle!" The Water type went in front of Misty and gave a fierce hug to Ash, who wasn't expecting this.
"Whoa! Are you alright, buddy?" Ash asked his Pokémon as he looked down at him, returning the hug. The Water was currently trying to forget about what had just happened with Evan.
"Wartortle!" The Pokémon held onto his Trainer tightly.
"Misty, where is the Team Rocket?" Brock decided to ask the girl.
"Oh. Um, h-he..." Misty didn't want to tell any of them the truth, as she didn't want the thought of that suicidal man to be in her mind. "He escaped before I could stop."
"Dang it." Ryan remarked after hearing that. "Looks like we'll have to get him next time."
"Y-Yeah. Next time."
"Now that we are all together, can we actually escape this slowly sinking ship?" Sakura asked in a calm way, ignoring the nervousness in Misty's voice.
"Sakura's right." Ash spoke up as he held onto the arm of Wartortle, who was very close to his Trainer. "We need to escape by using one of the lifeboats that this ship has in case of an emergency."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Ryan asked particularly nobody. "Let's finally leave!"
Everyone nodded at this and finally could leave the ship behind once and for all, now noticing that the ship was actually starting to tilt at an angle now. Everyone began to make their way down the stairs to make it to the main floor where all the lifeboats were. All of them knew that they had time but wanted to get out as fast as the feasibly could.
"We should be two more levels away." Brock told everyone as they made their way down the stairs. "Let's just hope th-"
All of a sudden, Brock accidently knocked into someone and causing him and the other person to fall to the ground. Everyone let out a gasp after they saw who it was, while Sakura actually gave Brock a hand to stand up. Brock looked to see who he ran into and was angered by who it was. Unlike Misty, Brock was able to clearly remember these three almost instantly.
It was Jessie, James, and Meowth!
"It's Team Rocket!" Ash yelled out to everyone as he and Wartortle went in front of Brock, ready to battle.
"Ow." James said as he was the one that Brock hit, Meowth still in his arms. "What is your problem?"
"We are just trying to escape the ship that your boss made sink."
"Did you think we wanted that?!" Jessie asked in anger as she raised her fist.
"Well, I know that me and Wartortle already defeated you guys." Misty said in a somewhat proud way. "So, you can't exactly defend yourself now."
"Oh. You seem to be mistaken, girl." Jessie turned to face James. "I know that your Golbat is still fine. Send him out to fight these twerps."
"How many of my Pokémon have to suffer before you are satisfied." James said as he brought out his Poke Ball, knowing that Jessie wouldn't be taking no for an answer. And poor James was terrified when Jessie was mad.
All of a sudden, another shake happened across the ship that cause everyone to slightly lose their balance. Although this one wasn't as bad as the other one, it still shocked everyone and made them use quick reaction time. James tightly held onto Meowth and his Poke Ball, as he was determined to not let either of them go. The shaking finally stopped as everything seemed to have calmed down again.
James realized that fighting in a place like this would be an awful idea. "Listen." He looked at Ash and began in an honest way. "If you don't fight, then I won't fight you. Deal?"
To everyone's surprise, Ash actually nodded. "I agree with those terms."
"James! What are you doing?" Jessie asked in an angry way. "Are you scared to lose to a kid again?"
"No. I just don't want my own Pokémon to get harmed, because I actually care about them!"
"I do too!" This response actually got a bit of a chuckle from both Misty and Wartortle. "You really don't think that?"
"We are wasting time." Brock declared as he decided to speak up. "Come on. We need to make it too the main floor in order to catch one of the boats."
"Main floor?" James asked as he finally stood up with Meowth still in his arms. "We were just about to go there to. Could we travel there together?"
Ash let out a sigh. "Alright. But don't try anything funny."
"Ash! What are you doing?" Ryan asked with fear as Team Rocket members were now about to join them.
"Don't worry. I can tell that they don't want to fight." Ash assured as he looked at them in a serious way. "Besides, me and Wartortle can always deal with them if we have to."
Jessie let out a very exaggerated sigh. "I guess we are doing this after all." It was clear that the girl wasn't happy about this, while James was actually grateful for the group's kindness.
Jessie, James, and Meowth began to join the group's run back to the main floor as the kept on traveling through the stairs. Our main group was hoping that there would at least one more lifeboat for all of them to fit in, while Jessie and James wanted to make sure that the Team Rocket boats were still going to be there for them. All of them were running quite fast as it was basically a race against time itself, and it was a race that neither of them could lose.
But they did not realize that all of them were too late.
As all of them finally made it outside on the main floor, the last lifeboat had already just left them.
Ash was shocked as he grabbed the railing. "WAIT! ALL OF OUS ARE STILL HERE!" He tried to get their attention by ripping his throat with his yelling, but they were too far away to help or even hear them.
"No." Misty was in complete disbelieve as she saw this, hoping that this was some kind of bad dream. "They left us."
"Jessie, look!" The Team Rocket girl turned to see where James was pointing and was now scared at what she saw. "Team Rocket just left us as well!"
"H-Hey! ASSHOLES!" Jessie tried to get their attention like Ash tried to and got practically the same results. "HEY! DON'T YOU HEAR US?!"
Ryan was panting heavily as he was scared for his life as he saw that their way of getting off this sinking ship was now gone. The boy went to Brock for some kind of help. "W-What do we do?"
"I-I-I don't know." Brock shook his head as he was also left in shock as well. He then turned to face Misty. "Can't we just use our Water Pokémon to get out here?"
"Magikarp, Squirtle, Shellder, Seel, and Slowpoke are all too small for one person to latch onto them. Even if someone could get on them, they probably wouldn't make it that far." Misty explained as she had already gone over that thought. "Along with that, Wartortle and Starmie could only carry one person at best. And even that wouldn't be a good idea."
James looked at the ground in defeat. "So... is this it? Is this how all of our journey's end?"
"NO! I refuse to take this as an answer!" Ash declared as he wouldn't allow anyone here to die. "There has to be another way. There has to be!"
Everyone could just feel the ship slowly becoming consumed by the ocean as the boat was still at a bit of an angel. Everyone was still able to stand up property, but they knew that it would be a matter of time before they would be forcibly dragged to the sinking side of this ship. Everyone tried to think of any kind of answer or solution for this situation. But there was no answer now. There hope was all gone except for Wartortle and Ash's, who were still too stubborn to actually admit the truth. Was this really how it was going to, after everything that they have been through?
Suddenly, an idea came to Sakura.
"Wait." She turned to face both Misty and Ash. "Misty, bring out Magikarp. Ash, take out your Pokédex."
"For what?" The girl asked back.
"Just do it. I think I have a way to get us all out of here." The girl tried her best to remain neutral and calm. Bothof them decided to agree to this as Misty released Magikarp and Ash received the Pokédex. "Ash. Check Magikarp's level to see what it is."
Ash nodded and pointed the Pokédex at the flopping Water type. Dexter began to say the information. "This specific Magikarp is approximately 0.9 meters tall and has a weight of 10 kilograms. Its gender is male and is currently level 19. The Pokémon has the following moves: Splash and Tackle."
"Level 19." Sakura repeated as she began to look around in her bag for something. "I was hoping that I could safe this for later, but it looks like I have to use it now."
"What are you talking about?" Sakura didn't answer as she finally found what she was looking for, and everyone let out a little gasp after seeing it. A little piece of round candy that was wrapped up in blue was in her hand. Although the candy was very small, it still contained a lot of energy for any Pokémon that ate it. Everyone knew exactly what this was and couldn't believe that Sakura had this with her the whole time.
"A Rare Candy." Jessie said in surprise.
Sakura went up to Magikarp and opened up the wrapper, showing that the candy itself was a nice orange color. Sakura placed the candy in Magikarp without saying anything and watched as Magikarp closed his mouth. The Water type swallowed the candy completely.
Magikarp began to glow.
Everyone watched as Magikarp began to grow rapidly in size as he was covered in the bright light. Sakura was well aware what Magikarp was about to become and picked him to place in the ocean so that his new size wouldn't accidently destroy part of the ship. Everyone looked over the railing to see if Magiakrp was okay, and they began to see something big move in the water.
From the water came a large Water type Pokémon that was over twenty feet tall in pure height. This Pokémon was known to be dangerous and feared out into the ocean, but everyone except Team Rocket and Ryan looked at the Pokémon in joy and hope. The Pokémon had a terrifying presence and look in his face, but his eyes had grown soft when he saw Misty was alright. The Pokémon was regarded as one of the most powerful Pokémon in the entire Kanto Region.
Magikarp had now become the powerful, terrifying, and destructive Gyarados!
"Gyarados!" Misty walked up to her new Pokémon and was able to touch his head by standing by the side. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
"Gyarados." The Pokémon tried to speak in a soft tone, but even that was loud. One could just see that the Water type enjoyed being head rubbed by his Trainer.
"Gyarados." Brock began as he looked at the Pokémon in a curious way. "Can you please get us off this ship? You are the only one big enough for everyone to fit on."
The Pokémon nodded."Gyarados." The Water type bend his large head a little so that everyone could begin to climb aboard. Misty was the first one to get on as she was the closest.
"Come on, guys! It's time to leave!" One by one, everyone within the group began to get on Gyarados as they were ready to finally leave this ship behind. Ash and Wartotle stayed back to make sure that everyone else would get on first.
"Are you sure that you don't want to be on Gyarados?" Ash asked his Pokémon partner, who gave a thumb's up at this. Wartortle jumped over the railing without a second thought and was able to skillfully land in the water. Ash looked down to see that Wartortle was looking up at him in the water, looking perfectly fine.
"Wartortle!" Wartrotle assured with a goofy smile.
"Looks like it's my turn then." Ash reflected as he was just about to go on Gyarados's head. But a hand suddenly stopped him.
He swiftly turned around to see that James was the one that stopped him. Both he and Jessie had self-pity within their eyes. "Wait. Please, take us with you."
Brock heard James speak and was annoyed by this request. "Don't listen, Ash. Just get on Gyarados and let's get out of here."
"Please." James begged as held Meowth close to him. "We have nowhere else to go. We'll be stuck here if you don't let us come along."
"We just don't want to die." Jessie added as she began to beg as well, genuine fear in her voice.
Ash looked at the with a grimace. He knew that the people in front of him were the enemies that harmed people, but now they were nothing more than two people who were worried about themselves. He knew that Jessie and James were still people despite everything they have probably done. It was in Ash's nature to help those who could not help themselves but was it okay to apply that same logic to an enemy. He was conflicted on what to do now as he kept on looking at the three Team Rocket members that waited for his answer.
Finally, he made his choice.
"Alright. Come along."
"Ash! What the hell?" Sakura quickly called out to the boy as she, along with everyone else, couldn't see him clearly.
"Y-You really mean it?" James asked after a moment. Ash responded with a firm nod.
"Ash. This isn't a good idea."
"Don't worry, Misty. I'll deal with them if they ever try anything." Ash assured them as he got on top of Gyarados and took a seat in front of Misty. "Besides, Gyarados is always here to kick them off."
Everyone seemed to calm down after hearing that, although they still weren't exactly happy about Team Rocket being on the same Garados as them. Jessie and James quickly got on Gyarados and took their seats as they kept on expressing just how grateful they were, something that only Ash actually believed. From the bottom to the top of Gyarados was Ryan, Sakura, Brock, Jessie, James who kept on holding Meowth, Misty, and Ash. Wartortle was still in the water and right beside them.
"Gyarados," Misty began once she saw everyone was ready. "Get us out of here."
The Pokémon slowly went towards the water and gently put the lower half of his body in the water, allowing for everyone on the top half to be mostly dry. Ash began to figure out which way they should go now that they were a good distance from the ship. "The sun rises in the east, and the sun was going up that way when we were in Vermillion." Ashe began to explain as he pointed in the direction that was east. "The ship was going south when we were leaving Vermillion, meaning that the city is in the opposite direction." As pointed directly behind them to show that the way he was pointing was north.
"Are you sure about that?" Ryan questioned the boy.
"Do you have another answer?" Ryan couldn't give a response and shook his head at this. "Then I guess this is the best we got."
"Come on, Gyarados." Misty instructed her Pokémon who nodded and made a full 180-degree turn.
Gyarados was moving pretty fast, but not too fast that someone would accidently fall off of him. He would always glance back and focus on feeling that everyone was still with him. No one said anything for a little while as they continued across the sea, although Jessie and Brock would occasionally stop their thoughts to glare at each other. Ash made sure that everyone was safe on Gyarados, including Jessie, James and Meowth. Wartortle was still in the water as he followed Gyarados and matching the large Water type in swimming speed.
Misty looked back at the ship that they were meant to stay at until they reached Lavender Town. Half the ship was now underneath the water as the large vessel was in a very weird angle. The fact that they were able to actually escape was a miracle within itself, but Misty still felt unsatisfied. She wanted everyone to be happy and enjoy themselves, but any thought of that happening had now been thrown at the window with Team Rocket. Even though she was mad at Jessie, James and Meowth, she tried her best to not show it, unlike Brock.
"So much for a great trip." She depressingly thought to herself as the trip that she wanted to enjoy had permanently been ruined. Looks like they'll have to take the Rock Tunnel way after all.
Bonus Scene:
Daisy looked blanky on the wall as she laid on her fancy bed.
The girl was really off in her own world as the three sisters had the full day off from being the Gym Leaders and battling people. All of them were doing their own thing now as they wanted to enjoy themselves. Daisy wasn't enjoying herself, though. Instead of chatting online with friends like Lily, or painting her nails like Violet, she was just so deep in thought. She was thinking about someone the other two would merely brush off.
Her younger sister, Misty.
Ever since that paper from Mitis Town dropped, Daisy was the one to show the most concern and fear for her sister. She only now started to calm down when she heard that Misty was just fine from Lance himself. If she had lost her sister without her being there to do anything, then it most likely would've broken the girl completely.
The conversation that she had with Ryan back then also came to her mind. The boy tried to suggest that maybe the reason that their relationship was like wasn't because of Misty, but because of them. Daisy thought that wasn't the truth, but really think about it made it seem like the real reason as to why. At this point in time, she was starting to accept that the problem was from them.
"Are we... Are we bad sisters?" The thought came to her mind, but she didn't want it to be the truth at all.
A knock on her door finally snapped her out of her thoughts and made Daisy stand up. "It's Lily." The pink haired sister said from beyond the door.
"Come in." Lily opened up the door and saw Daisy come up to her, A bunch of mail was in the short haired girl's hands. "What is it?"
"You have like a lot of mail for you." Lily presented the pile of papers that was in her hands.
Daisy quickly took it all from her sister's hand. "Thank you."
"Do you want to come with me and Violet? We're about to leave for some food." Lily offered her sister. "We can like go to that taco place that you like."
"I'll come. Just let me like look over these really quick."
Lily gave a happy nod as she turned to walk away. "Okay. Tell us when you're like ready." The girl closed the door behind her.
Daisy sat at her personal desk and began to look over all the mail with her with a passive look on her face. She already guessed that over half of these were fan mail for her, and the girl was completely right with that assessment. She tossed all the mail that she looked through on one side of the desk, happy that she did get this kind of mail, but it was getting repetitive at this point. She was getting near the bottom with a look of complete boredom.
She froze after she saw the second to last one.
Instead of some kind of letter, request for appearance, or bill, the thing in front of her seemed to be promoting something. Instead of some kind of restaurant or shopping center, it was some kind of family therapy place that was called: Dr. Abby's Family Therapy Center. There was a picture of a female doctor with blue hair that was in twin tails.
The girl kept looking at the ad with genuine intrigue as she had never heard of this place. She knew that therapy places like this were in Cerulean, but never really thought that she or her sisters needed it. But now that she actually wanted to fix the relationship with her sister, could this maybe be the answer for them? A simple questioning thought came to her mind:
"Should we give this a try?"
Daisy curiosity caught up to her as she took out the cell phone from her pocket and quickly put in the number that was on the advertisement. She placed the phone close to her ear and listen to the ringing that was standard for every call. If she could convince the others to actually join in on this, and if she could score a session with this place, then maybe they could fix their relationship with Misty.
The ringing stopped.
"Hello. You have reached Dr. Abby's Family Therapy Center." A female voice greeted as Daisy listened to her. "How may we help you today?"
END OF CHAPTER 18
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Ash's Team: Wartortle (M), Pidgeotto (F), Sandshrew (M), Gloom (F), Dratini (M)
Misty's Team: Starmie (N/A), Seel (F), Gyarados (M), Squirtle (F)
Ryan's Team: Pinsir (M), Ivysaur (F), Slowpoke (M), Ponyta (?)
Brock's Team: Golem (M), Onix (F), Golbat (M), Eevee (F)
Sakura's Team: Nidoqueen (F), Charmander (M), Shellder (M)