Chapter Twenty-Three: Under the Sea
The sunny weather the next day perfectly reflected Serena's mood. She was almost skipping as she and Ash walked south down the coastal road. The path descended, and as it did the cliffs were slowly beginning to give way to grassy dunes.
"You're in a good mood today," Ash said.
"Yep!" Serena said happily, without elaborating any further. Though she hadn't told Ash what she and Pikachu had talked about the night before, she still felt giddy at the thought that maybe she and Ash would get together at some point after all, even though the moment itself might be some time away yet.
But did it really have to be? Serena recalled something she'd read in her Kanto guidebook in the Pokémon Center in Lavender Town, and maybe it would be possible to create a moment between her and Ash there… It probably wouldn't go over with Bayleef too well, though. Truce or not, if Serena decided to actively make a move on Ash, there was a good chance she would interfere.
But even if there didn't turn out to be any good opportunities to act, it would still be nice to have a day off. There was more than enough time to get to Vermilion City, after all, so there was no real fear of being late to the Exposition if they spent a day lounging instead of traveling. Now all that was left was to see if they were actually anywhere near the location Serena had in mind. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked it up on her map. She smiled when she saw that they were not only close to where she wanted to go, they'd reach it within just an hour or so.
"Hey, Ash, I saw in my guidebook there's a beach nearby, and apparently a lot of Water Pokémon live near there because the water is really clean. It says it has one of the highest concentrations of Corsola in Kanto. Few tourists go there because it's out of the way and the beach isn't very large, but it is open to visitors. Want to take a day off and just…swim with the Pokémon?"
Ash considered for a moment and then said, "Yeah, that sounds like fun! We're not in a hurry anyway. Besides, it's been a while since we were at the beach."
"Alright! It's not far from here, let's go!"
Without waiting for Ash, Serena took off, and he scrambled to keep up with her.
"Hey, wait up!"
Even though Serena had no intention of running the rest of the way to the beach, it was nice to move a bit faster than regular walking pace for a change. Besides, it would probably be good for her performance in the Location Rounds of Expositions to improve her general shape a bit. Her Location Rounds thus far had all been fairly slow-paced, but she knew that her Pokémon would probably enjoy having a performance that was a bit more upbeat for a change, and she wouldn't exactly mind that herself, either, but that meant a little extra cardio probably wouldn't hurt. Ash was often doing exercises along with his Pokémon too, after all, and more than once she'd stolen a glance at him as he changed shirts. The only downside was that unless they were camping near a river or lake, or spending the night in a Pokémon Center, properly washing up after exercising was difficult, and there was nothing worse than being sweaty and unable to wash.
Now, though, that wasn't that much of a problem because they were going to the beach anyway. Knowing Ash, he'd find some way to train even on a day off, so Serena decided she'd just join in with whatever he had planned.
Just over half an hour later they came across a side path with a small signpost which just read 'Shell Dust Beach'.
"We're here!" Serena said. "I wonder what it'll be like. The guidebook said it was pretty small, but there weren't any pictures…"
They walked down the sandy trail, which wound through the dunes before eventually opening up to a sandy beach. On the right side of the path the beach quickly gave way to sharp-looking rocks, and a low fence had been placed on the edge to prevent people from hurting their feet accidentally. A small cabin faced the trail and the rest of the beach, which extended some distance northwards before also becoming impassable again. Directly to the left of the path was a short row of changing cabins.
A man with a clear suntan, wearing a large hat, sat in a folding chair by the door of the cabin, reading a book. When he spotted Serena and Ash he raised his hand in greeting, and Serena and Ash made their way over to them.
"Good morning!" the man said. "Or is it noon already?" He checked his watch and then shrugged. "Well, whatever. My name is Barnes. I keep an eye on this beach…That is, I mostly keep it clean and make sure the fences on either side are in good order. Not that many visitors here."
"I'm Ash, and this is my partner Pikachu," Ash said, and Pikachu raised his paw in greeting.
("Hi!")
"I'm Serena," Serena said. "I saw in my guidebook that there are a lot of Water Pokémon here because the water is so clean, so we wanted to take a look and just have some fun on the beach with our Pokémon."
Barnes nodded. "Your guidebook's correct," he said.
He pointed at what seemed to be a couple of small rocks extending from the water. Calling them islands would have been a bit too generous with how small they were.
"That's where most of the Pokémon hang out. Those rocks you see are actually the shed branches of many Corsola, which have piled up to form something of a reef. There's a ridge on the sea floor just beyond there that slows the current down, so it doesn't get swept away — though of course, storms do often take the parts closest to the surface out. They always come back, though. The Corsola like it there.
"There's also Slowpoke who like to bake in the sun on the little islands, and underwater you'll find Krabby, Staryu, Shellder, Goldeen, and Horsea. Occasionally Tentacool float in, too. You won't find many evolved Pokémon, though; they tend to prefer the deeper, colder water further out. If you want, you can rent diving masks and flippers here, so you can swim over and watch them up close. Just be mindful not to swim too far past the reef. If you pass that ridge I mentioned, the current gets much stronger and then you'll be in trouble."
"That sounds great," Ash said. "We'll take you up on that. Can we just leave our stuff on the beach? Our Pokémon will be watching it."
"Of course. I'll keep an eye out, too, though I don't think you'll find many thieves here. There are only a couple of visitors per week," Barnes said.
A few moments later, Serena and Ash had set up a parasol and laid out their beach towels, and after changing into their swim gear — Serena decided to wear the same swimsuit she'd worn in the Cerulean City Location Round — they called out their Pokémon for some relaxation.
Misdreavus wanted to go back into her Poké Ball the second she saw how sunny it was outside, but Pancham convinced her to stay out, though she did settle herself down in the shadow of the parasol and said she didn't intend to move from it.
Everyone else did, though, and after some lunch, Ash got up and said, "Alright, guys, I know this is a day off, but I still want to get some training in. If you just want to play and relax, that's fine too, of course. For those of you who want to train…let's do some beach running. The sand makes it harder to kick off, so you'll really need to dig in to get that explosive dash. Krookodile, Noivern, Charizard…this might not be the best one for you, but if you have your own things you want to work on, go for it."
Of course, all of Ash's Pokémon eagerly jumped up to join him, and Serena got up as well.
"Can I join in too?" she asked.
Ash seemed pleasantly surprised that she wanted to join, and said, "Yeah, of course! Do your Pokémon want to go, too?"
("I do!") Pancham said immediately.
("I'll stay here to enjoy the sun,") Delphox said.
("I'll go too!") Sylveon said.
("I'm not moving from my one spot of shadow,") Misdreavus said.
And so, leaving Delphox and Misdreavus with their things, Serena, Pancham, and Sylveon joined Ash, Pikachu, Hawlucha, and Bayleef on the stretch of sand just past the waterline. Bayleef looked at Serena a bit suspiciously, but said nothing.
("Where are we dashing to?") Pikachu asked.
Ash considered for a moment. "Um, how about…that little pool of water over there?"
("Easy,") Pikachu said with a grin, and Ash grinned back.
"All right then, everyone ready?"
Serena crouched down a bit, ready to start running. "Ready," she said, at roughly the same time as the Pokémon.
"Go!" Ash yelled, and immediately Serena kicked off as hard as she could. She felt her feet digging into the sand, and it was, like Ash had said, difficult to really kick off, and though the distance to the small pool of water wasn't particularly big, Serena felt more tired by the dash than she'd expected.
"Alright, there's another pool up ahead," Ash said. "A bit further than this one, I think. Let's go again!"
Serena took a deep breath and lined herself up with the others again. This was an excellent training, and although she was already looking forward to having a swim later, followed by a shower in one of the cabins, she wasn't about to quit just yet.
They dashed to the next pool of water, and then one more, and then all the way back to where they started. After that, Ash and his Pokémon went for some more training, but Serena decided to join Misdreavus in the shadow for a bit with a cool drink.
And then, finally, Ash was done training and said, "Want to go check out the reef?"
Serena immediately got up and said, "Yeah, let's go!"
"Alright then. Misdreavus, can you keep an eye on our stuff?"
("I'm not going anywhere, so don't worry,") Misdreavus replied.
Serena and Ash walked to the shoreline — she could hear Pikachu telling Bayleef to relax and have a drink — and put on the flippers and diving masks they'd rented from Barnes. A bit awkwardly they waded into the sea, which was colder than Serena had expected, yet not nearly as cold as the water in the Cerulean port had been.
When they were roughly up to their waist, Ash decided to take the plunge, and Serena followed suit. She quickly surfaced again because the cold shocked her a bit, but then she adjusted and put her face in the water again.
This part of the sea wasn't particularly spectacular. The sea floor was just the same kind of sand as the beach, and there was some kelp, but nothing else.
Ash gestured in the direction of the reef and Serena nodded. They began to swim, and now that they were properly in the water, the flippers were a great help, rather than a hindrance. It was almost effortless to swim, and given what bathing suit she was wearing, Serena wondered if she actually looked like a mermaid at that moment, albeit one wearing a diving mask. Ash certainly seemed to like it, because she spotted him looking over his shoulder a bit more than he probably needed to.
In almost no time at all, the sea floor became a bit stonier and just a bit further ahead, Serena could see something that looked almost like a pink-and-white forest. As she and Ash got closer, she began to spot the Pokémon swimming between the shed Corsola branches, and just like Barnes had said, there were plenty of them to be seen.
It was interesting that many of the species that were ubiquitous in other places were absent here, but even then, there was a large number of Pokémon living in this shallow part of the sea.
The sunlight was easily strong enough to illuminate the sea floor here, and Serena was amazed at just how many Staryu and Shellder lived there, with Krabby scuttling along between them, and how many Horsea were playing around between the slightly higher branches. And, of course, Corsola were everywhere, at every depth.
Some of the Pokémon looked at Serena and Ash as they swam by, but many simply ignored them. A few even came up to greet them before swimming away again. Being underwater muted all sounds from above the surface, and Serena felt very tranquil just floating around weightlessly in the near-silence, looking at the Pokémon below her as they went about their business. Ash seemed to be feeling much the same way, and Serena could see him lazily diving a bit deeper a short distance away to check out the Pokémon closer to the sea floor.
At that moment, she noticed that the near-silence was no longer quite as silent as before. Something that sounded a bit like an engine drone was clearly audible. Was a ship passing by in the distance? Serena had heard once that sound traveled much further underwater, but she had no idea exactly how far away she'd be able to hear a ship. She did notice that rather than disappearing again, the drone seemed to be getting louder with every passing moment.
She looked around, but since she was between many of the branches she couldn't see much. She considered surfacing to look around, but decided to just remain submerged and swim a bit closer to the edge of the reef. Ash, who'd clearly heard the sound as well, followed her.
After a few moments, Serena cleared the forest of branches — and was surprised to find herself staring directly at a Wailord. What was such a big Pokémon doing here, in water this shallow? And why would a Wailord make such a mechanical-sounding noise?
Just at the moment she realized what she was actually looking at, the Wailord opened its mouth and began to suck in water. Serena tried to turn around and swim away, but there was no escaping the sudden current. Many of the branches and the Pokémon between and around them were drawn in as well, and Serena was only just in time to hold her breath before she was entirely submerged and sucked into the Wailord's mouth.
The current strengthened as she got closer, but then she felt herself being pushed against a grate, and the many branches and Pokémon that were also being sucked in were slammed against her, nearly knocking the air out of her lungs, but somehow she managed to keep holding her breath. Even so, if there was no air in whatever dark cell she appeared to have ended up in, she'd be in big trouble.
To her unending relief, however, the rush of water soon stopped and the water itself drained away. The moment her head broke the surface of the water, she gratefully exhaled and took a few deep breaths, not even caring about the odd mix of scents between salty seawater and the metallic scent of the cage she'd been drawn into.
"Ash?" she said quietly, and from a short distance away Ash replied, "I'm here. Are you okay?"
"Yeah…where are we?" Serena asked.
She tried to make out anything, but it was nearly impossible to see anything. She could hear and feel that she was surrounded by Pokémon, and judging by some faint glows, even some of the Staryu had been sucked up.
"That Wailord ate us. Or well, Wailord robot, I guess," Ash amended. He sighed. "No guesses who's behind this, I suppose…"
"Team Rocket," Serena said angrily. It was just like them to ruin their day off. But without their Pokémon, she and Ash were in quite a bit of trouble.
Ash, though, seemed to already be busy thinking up a solution. "Hey, Staryu? Do any of you know Flash? If we can see where we are we might be able to find a way out."
A moment later, a bright, reddish glow lit up somewhere nearby, and now Serena was able to see her surroundings. She, Ash, and a staggering number of Pokémon, mostly Corsola and the shed branches that had made up the reef, were in what looked to be a massive, metal container. The back wall and floors were the grates through which the water had drained away, but the 'door' through which they had entered was made of what seemed to be solid steel.
"Are all of you alright?" Ash asked the Pokémon.
Serena couldn't understand the responses, but they didn't sound very distressed other than seeming understandably scared, and some angry.
"Don't worry, we'll get out of here," Ash said. "We just need to find where the exit is."
"We can't carelessly break the cell open," Serena warned. "For all we know we've already moved to deeper water, and then we'd be in a lot of trouble if we can't get to the surface in time."
Ash nodded. "Yeah, good point. In that case we'll just need to somehow make our way to Team Rocket and force them to surface and then release all the Pokémon."
"How? We don't have our Pokémon here to fight them," Serena said.
Ash grinned at her. "We have everyone here, don't we?"
He looked at the Pokémon around them. "Okay, everyone, listen up. We've been captured by a group of bad guys called Team Rocket. I don't know what they want with you, but it's probably best if we don't find out. We're going to need your help to get us all out of this safely, okay?"
The Pokémon murmured in assent, and Serena was glad that Ash was so good at working with wild Pokémon. It wasn't that she herself was bad at it, just that Ash always seemed to connect with them so easily.
"Right, the first thing we'll need to do is figure out where the Rockets are controlling the robot from…" Ash said. He frowned for a moment, thinking, and then he said, "Goldeen can learn Supersonic, can't they? Does that mean you can use it like a Zubat could and find your way based on it? More to the point, can any of you hear anything that's going on outside this cell?"
A few of the Goldeen spoke at once, before apparently settling on one of them as the spokes-fish for the group.
"Above us, huh? Where exactly?" Ash asked, looking at the ceiling. "Just about above the entrance…probably the head of the Wailord, then. Makes sense. Or, well, as much sense as Team Rocket ever has, I suppose," he said with a sigh after the Goldeen had answered his question.
Serena looked up at the ceiling as well. There didn't seem to be a hatch of any kind, but the ceiling itself was made of plates that had been riveted to the structure above. If the submarine continued in that direction, they probably wouldn't flood the cell if they removed any of the plates. But the cell was fairly high, and there wasn't really anything to hold onto. Normally if Serena wanted to get to a high place, she'd ask Pancham to use Stone Edge, but she doubted any of the Pokémon here would know it, and even if they did they might sink the submarine if they used it.
Fortunately, Ash was good at coming up with unorthodox solutions to problems. "Right, Corsola, can a group of you form something like a ladder? And then maybe one of the Krabby can climb up and get rid of one of those plates with your pincers. Maybe with Crabhammer, Razor Shell, or Metal Claw?"
The Pokémon enthusiastically went along with the plan, and it didn't take long at all for the Corsola to stack themselves into a pyramid-like structure that looked a lot like the reef had done.
"Alright, now to get Krabby up there… Serena, can you give me a hand? I don't think Krabby are very good at climbing," Ash said.
Serena nodded immediately, glad she'd be able to do something to help. Together, she and Ash carefully helped one of the Krabby to climb on top of the pyramid of Corsola, from where he could just reach the plate above him with his pincers. They glowed a bright white and he slammed them into the metal, one after the other.
"Won't Team Rocket hear this and investigate?" Serena asked.
Ash shrugged. "We can't hide ourselves anyway, and we're trying to find them so we can make them take us back to the reef, so if they come here it'll go much quicker," he said.
"Can the Pokémon fight them, though?" Serena asked.
Ash nodded. "They can. I have faith in them and there are a lot of them. Inkay and Gourgeist don't stand a chance. Even Wobbuffet can't handle this many opponents at once," he said.
The steel plate in the ceiling was beginning to deform, and soon it bent enough for Krabby to grab it with his pincer and wrench it free.
"Yes! Great job, Krabby!" Ash said. "Now we just need to see what's beyond that hole. Corsola, do you think you can carry my weight?" he asked.
The Corsola forming the pyramid replied with such confidence that Serena didn't even need to be able to understand them to know what they said, and a moment later Ash began to climb up the pyramid as well. Once he reached the top, he slowly got up to look around.
"It looks like…a hallway?" he said. "I guess this leads to the cockpit, then…Alright! He squatted back down and said, "Okay, we'll need a couple of you who can fight. Serena, you help them up, and then climb up yourself, alright? With the two of us and the Pokémon, we can handle them easily."
He smiled at Serena, and she smiled back, happy that Ash had so much faith in her. Since getting swept up into the cage, it had been Ash who'd come up with all the solutions, not her. Though of course, in the Power Plant and the Pokémon Tower, she'd held her own just fine.
"Right, let's see, who would be the best fighters here…" Ash said thoughtfully. "I know Misty's Staryu was always really strong, so maybe some of you, and Krabby, of course…and then maybe a few of the Corsola as well…I think two of each of you? Goldeen, Horsea, Shellder, it might be a bit hard to move for you in a dry environment, but don't worry, we'll get all of us back to the reef safely."
The Pokémon seemed to be putting their faith in Ash, because their muttered replies sounded like they agreed with him. Serena helped another Krabby, two Staryu, and two Corsola up the pyramid, before climbing up herself and joining Ash and the Pokémon in the hallway, which was illuminated by a single light. There were doors on either end of it, but beyond that it was devoid of any features.
"I think the cockpit's behind that door," Ash said with a nod at the nearest door. He grinned at Serena. "What do you say we turn the tables on them for a change and barge in with their own motto?"
Serena giggled. "You know, that sounds like fun," she said.
Ash turned to all of the Pokémon with them. "Alright, everyone…blast out that door!"
The Staryu and Corsola fired off their Water Gun, while both Krabby went for Bubble Beam, and the combined attacks blew the door clean off its hinges, and Serena and Ash jumped into the cockpit, where the Rockets turned around in their seats in alarm.
"Prepare for trouble!" Serena shouted as dramatically as she could.
"And make it double!" Ash said in a just as hammy voice.
"To protect the reef from devastation!"
"To unite all Pokémon within our nation!"
"To denounce the evil that you three love!"
"To extend our reach to the surface above!"
"Serena!"
"And Ash!"
"Team Beach Day blasts off at the speed of light!"
"So surrender now, or prepare to fight!"
"Meowth, that's right!" Meowth said out of reflex, before hastily clapping his paws over his mouth.
"Twerps! Why are you two here?!" Jessie said angrily.
"And how dare you mock our beautiful motto like that? 'Team Beach Day'? Really?" James asked disgustedly.
"Take us back to the reef, Team Rocket," Ash said. "The Pokémon aren't happy with you…and we aren't, either."
"All of these Pokémon will serve our boss well, twerp, and there is nothing you can do to keep us from delivering them to him," Jessie said.
"And since you don't have your Pikachu with you, we can just throw you back in that cage," Meowth said with a grin.
"Okay, Inkay, Psybeam!"
"Shadow Ball, Gourgeist!"
"Alright, Metal Claw on Inkay, Krabby!" Ash said.
"Staryu, Psybeam on Gourgeist!" Serena said.
The attacks met in midair and exploded, and Serena turned away to keep the smoke out of her eyes.
"Corsola, use Life Dew to help Krabby and Staryu," Ash said.
"Inkay, Foul Play!"
"Metal Claw again, Krabby!"
"Gourgeist, Dark Pulse!"
"Power Gem, Staryu!"
Though the attacks clashed again, Team Rocket was at a clear disadvantage because Serena and Ash were commanding two Pokémon each, and the Life Dew from the Corsola kept them all healthy.
Team Rocket clearly seemed to realize they were losing the fight, and Serena hoped they'd soon give up and agree to return to the reef…but then Jessie said, "I think it's time for a strategic retreat! Gourgeist, Seed Bomb!"
"Krabby, Protect, quick!" Ash said, but while his reactions were fast, the Seed Bomb from Gourgeist sent Serena and Ash diving for cover, and the Pokémon were hit hard by the blast. Though they were still easily capable of fighting, the short moment where they were scattered apart gave Team Rocket an opening to barrel past Serena and Ash into the hallway.
"Stop right there!" Ash shouted, running after Team Rocket with Serena right behind him.
The Rockets made their way through the other door and slammed it shut behind them.
"Alright, one more time, everyone, break that door down!" Ash said, and once more the Pokémon fired off their attacks, blasting open the door — and revealing an empty room, with only another door, which looked far stronger than the one they'd just broken down, on the far end of it.
There was a dull thump from the other side of the door, and through a narrow viewport in the far wall, Serena could see something that looked like a Wailmer moving away from the Wailord robot.
"They escaped," Ash said angrily. Then he sighed. "Well, it doesn't matter. Come on, let's see if we can find out how this thing works and go back to the surface…"
Serena nodded slowly and followed Ash back to the cockpit. She didn't like letting Team Rocket get away so easily, but there were more important things to worry about.
The cockpit looked a bit damaged from the earlier fight, but all the control panels still seemed to be intact. Two screens on the far wall showed empty ocean ahead of them, and by the looks of it they were fairly deep under the surface.
"Okay…I think Meowth usually pilots these things, so let's check his control panel first…" Ash said.
Serena joined him next to the middle seat and looked at the controls. There were a lot of buttons and switches, but none of them were particularly clearly marked. How did Meowth make sense of these things? There was something that looked a bit like a joystick, though. And the thing next to it could be a throttle, maybe.
"Can I try something?" Serena asked.
"Sure," Ash said, and he stepped away to give Serena some space.
Serena sat down a bit awkwardly, because the chair had been built for Meowth, but she could at least reach all the controls easily. She pulled back on the joystick-looking thing, and to her relief, she felt the entire submarine tilting back. Team Rocket seemed to have taken Wailord's classification as the Blimp Pokémon somewhat literally and made their sub control like one, too. Or, well, how she imagined a blimp would be controlled, anyway. Or was that planes? Well, in any case, the submarine began to slowly rise towards the surface.
"Nice, Serena!" Ash said. She smiled at him and pulled back on what she thought was the throttle a bit, to make sure she wouldn't accidentally launch the submarine out of the water somehow. A short while later, the submarine surfaced…but all Serena could see on the viewscreens was empty ocean ahead of her.
"Um, I'll try turning it around," she said uneasily, and she manipulated the joystick and the throttle a bit to make the sub rotate. Even when she'd turned a full one hundred eighty degrees, though, she still couldn't see any land.
"Hang on, maybe Jessie or James had a map, or something," Ash said, and he climbed the short stairs up to the remaining two chairs.
"Got it!" he said a moment later. "We're…quite far away from the coast. But according to this screen we're pointed in the right direction, now. Can you get us moving again?"
"Yeah, sure," Serena said.
She gently set the submarine in motion again, and it began to calmly glide through the water. Despite still being angry at Team Rocket, she was impressed by their ingenuity in building this entire submarine. With skills like that, they'd surely be able to make a living in a more honest way, right?
"We're going the right way!" Ash said. "Just…keep going like this and we'll be back at the reef soon. I'm going to see if I can find an exit somewhere, or if we'll just need to use that blast door Team Rocket escaped through."
He left the cockpit and Serena sighed. The beach day hadn't really gone according to plan. Still, she supposed it was lucky, in a way, that she and Ash had once again gotten caught up in one of Team Rocket's schemes. If they hadn't, Team Rocket would have gotten away with all the Pokémon, and she shuddered to think what would have become of them then.
Soon, she could see the coastline appearing on the horizon on the screens, and to her surprise she saw a boat closing in on them — and Charizard and Noivern were flying alongside it.
"Ash! We've got company!" she yelled, and a moment later Ash entered the cockpit, looking confused, but grinning the moment he saw the boat and his Pokémon on the screen.
"All right! They must've gone for help when they saw that we were in trouble," he said. "Stop the submarine for now; there's a small ridge beyond that door where the Wailmer pod was, so we can meet them there."
Serena nodded and pulled the throttle all the way back. She could still hear the engines rumbling, but at least the submarine stopped moving. She followed Ash to the back room and through the door. The ridge Ash had mentioned was fairly narrow, but large enough to stand on without immediately fearing they'd fall off.
"Hey, over here!" Ash shouted, and a moment later the small boat came alongside. On board were Barnes, Officer Jenny, and all the Pokémon, who cheered when they saw Serena and Ash.
("Ash! You're alright!") Pikachu said, jumping into Ash's arms.
"Hey, buddy! Yeah, we're fine. The Pokémon are, too."
"Can you tell me what happened?" Officer Jenny asked. "Barnes said that he saw this submarine approaching the reef and that you were there. Your Pokémon were very worried, too."
"It was Team Rocket, Officer Jenny," Ash said, and he quickly explained everything that had happened to them.
"So Team Rocket escaped?" Officer Jenny asked at the end of the story.
Ash nodded. "Yeah. But I don't think they managed to get any Pokémon. They're all still in the cell, except the six we took with us." He grimaced. "I don't know how we can get them out, though. We only figured out how to move this thing."
Officer Jenny nodded. "That's alright. Just slowly sail it past the ridge, and we'll get the Pokémon out through this door one by one. If we all work together we'll have it done in no time."
Serena nodded once and went back inside to move the submarine a bit further, and soon Ash called over that they'd passed the ridge. Once more, she cut the power, and then she helped Ash, Barnes and Officer Jenny with getting the Pokémon out of the cell. Bayleef's vines were also incredibly useful in lifting out the Pokémon.
Soon, only the six Pokémon who had fought Team Rocket with Serena and Ash were left. "You all did great today," Ash said fondly. "I'm sure your friends really appreciate what you did for them, and I hope Team Rocket will leave you alone from now on."
The Pokémon happily thanked Ash and Serena — or so Serena assumed, anyway — and then went back into the water to join their friends.
"It's lucky you two were here," Barnes said, watching as the last Corsola jumped into the water with a wave. "The sub damaged the reef, but since all the Pokémon are safe I'm sure they'll manage to rebuild it."
"So…what should we do with this thing, now?" Ash asked.
"If you tell me how to operate it, I will take it to Vermilion City and turn it over," Officer Jenny said. "The onboard computer might contain information about Team Rocket's plans. They've been getting increasingly active lately, and it's concerning us greatly."
"I'll take you back to the coast on my boat," Barnes said. "Unless you want to swim some more?" he asked teasingly.
Serena sighed and shook her head. "No, thanks…I'm pretty tired," she said.
"Yeah, me too," Ash said.
And so, Serena told Officer Jenny how to control the submarine and then joined Barnes, Ash, and the Pokémon on his boat. And despite the unwanted adventure, Serena had to admit that saving the Pokémon meant that the day had ended almost as perfectly as it had begun…it was just too bad she and Ash didn't end up having any 'moments' together…
"Why does it not surprise me to learn that you failed again?" Giovanni asked stonily when Jessie and James finally contacted him and explained what happened on what should have been an easy mission.
"We're sorry, sir, we–" Jessie began.
"Spare me the excuses. I will find another way to procure the Corsola I require. You are dismissed for the time being, and make sure to succeed in your mission next time."
"Yes, sir," Jessie said uncomfortably, and the screen shut off.
Giovanni stared at the blank screen for just a moment longer, until the purr of his Persian made him look up.
"Yes, I suppose I have better things to do than being angry," he said.
He got up from his chair. Perhaps the Johto branch of the organization could be of some assistance, so there were calls to be made.
Right, first off, sorry for not uploading yesterday. I had less time to write than I expected to have. On the other hand, though, this chapter did end up being twice as long as a regular chapter, so maybe that makes up for it a bit. I should be able to post tomorrow, but I might not have enough time. If I don't post, I'll be back on Saturday. See you in the next one.