The doors to the prison cell clicked open. Butch and Cassidy looked up and their expressions turned to one of pure relief.
"You're lucky I like you two and Archer does not know about this yet," a purple-haired male said with a smirk.
The two Rocket Members followed the man outside, their eyes taking in all the Police Officers who were tied down and glaring at them.
"The plan wasn't a bad one I'll admit. But you two failed in its execution. But fear not, your thinking has been noted" the man smirked. He lazily motioned to the table. "Your Pokemon I believe."
Butch and Cassidy practically jumped at that, diving for their Pokeball. Cassidy picked up one Pokeball and frowned at it. "We had three only" She held up the extra Pokemon.
"That one is a reward for a good plan thought up" the male grinned. "I believe it belonged to the Officer Jenny over there. Aren't I such a brilliant admin?"
"Yes, Petrel!" Butch and Cassidy grinned.
"We shouldn't leave any witnesses of ever being here" Petrel commented offhandedly.
Cassidy grinned and called out the reward Pokemon… Gastly.
"Let's see just how terrifying Ghost types can be" Cassidy purred.
-x-
The ferry dropped Ash and James off on Navel Island, the site of Ash's next Gym battle. Ash could faintly remember a few events he had originally taken part in on the way to the Island, but the ferry did not stop on any of the islands Ash had previously on Lapras. He wondered if he'd missed anything major. He knew for a fact that he had not missed out on Snorlax yet, asking about the grapefruit islands every chance he got. James was curious why Ash kept asking about that, but Ash shrugged it off as him being excited to eat one of their famous grapefruits.
The two went straight to the Pokemon Center and Ash brought in his Charizard, Gengar, and Raticate. Lapras had reminded Ash about what the task of this Gym was when Ash asked her if she remembered it right. According to that knowledge, the three he chose fit the profile right.
Ash asked around about where the Gym was, ultimately running into the Gym Leader himself. The male explained the tasks for this gym, a physical test, a creativity test, and finally a race. The physical test consisted of Ash making the hard climb to the top of the mountain by hand and foot and without his Pokemon. Ash was glad it was not a race because Danny was a lizard with how he climbed the side of the mountain. Once Ash had reached the top, the creativity part of the test began. Nidoqueen and Lapras went against one another, blasting Ice Beam at a geyser to freeze it. Nidoqueen came out victorious in this part, but Ash was not displeased by the outcome. The second part of the creativity test was to make a sled out of the frozen geyser. Unlike last time, Charizard obeyed and used Flamethrower to make quick work of it, while Raticate used Hyper Fang to make the design better around the edges and the sitting area. Ash won it in record time. And finally came the race. Ash only used his Gengar, who used Psychic to take Ash down the mountain in record time, beating Danny and winning Ash the race. Ash received a Sea Ruby Badge for completing the trials.
"If you take a short trip across the water, you'll come across the Grapefruit Islands" Danny explained once they all made their way down and Ash asked about it. "But you won't find any Grapefruits there sadly."
"What? Why?!" Ash feigned shock. He already knew why.
"A Snorlax came and ate all the Grapefruits before swimming away. Nobody knows where the Pokemon went.
That was worrying… how was Ash going to reconnect with Snorlax if he had no idea where the Pokemon was?
"Hard luck Ash" James patted him on the shoulder. "Guess you just have to miss out on it."
"I guess…" he did not really care about the Grapefruits.
-x-
The ferry dropped them off at Murcott Island, not the site of Ash's next Gym but a layover for the next Island.
"Murcott Island is known for its bug type Pokemon. Maybe I'll find an interesting one here" James said excitedly. The male had yet to capture a single Pokemon since he got his Pokedex from Professor Oak, and he was excited about it.
Ash smiled at the man, his mind still on his Snorlax and where it could have gone. Maybe he'll ask Nurse Joy at the Pokemon Center about any sightings of it. Ash needed to get his Snorlax back on the team.
The duo stops when they spot a Scyther training. James steps forward, deciding that he will capture this Scyther. The Scyther turned hearing this, and got ready for a battle.
It looked young to Ash and not injured, so probably not the one Tracey captured. The Pallet Trainer wondered what even happened to Tracey. He hadn't met the man when he got Lapras. Maybe Ash just missed him because he arrived later than he did originally.
James sent out Growlie and immediately called for Flamethrower. The Scyther dodged the move and used Quick Attack. Growlie recovered quickly and followed up with another Flamethrower. Scyther dodged again and used Quick Attack. Growlie jumped out of the way this time and slammed into the Scyther using Take Down. Scyther recovered and charged with Wing Attack, but Growlie burrowed underground before the move could hit. The Pokemon came out from under Scyther and slammed into it, following up with a Flamethrower that finished it off. James threw a Pokeball and three shakes later the capture was confirmed.
Ash watched with a smile as James and Growlie celebrated the capture.
-x-
Ash decided that he was going to head to the next Island on Lapras instead of taking another Ferry. Lapras needed the exercise and maybe like that Ash could see signs of Snorlax swimming around on the water. They found nothing but chose to take a break on a nearby island.
The moment they stepped foot on it, they could hear some kind of commotion coming from deep in the forest before them. Ash called Lapras back before he and James made a run toward it. In the heart of the forest, they watched as a flock of Farfetch'd, Pidgeys, Pidgeottos, and a swarm of Beedrill, Butterfree, and Venomoth trying to fight off…
"Snorlax!"
The Pokemon in question, who was busy eating and ignoring everything around it, stopped and turned. With a happy cry, he charged at Ash. James jumped out of the way and Snorlax swooped Ash up in his arms and put him on its shoulder, letting out a happy cry.
"I've been looking for you" he whispered to his friend before capturing it in a Pokeball.
The Pokemon who were previously trying to fight Snorlax off happily danced around Ash and James, before offering them some fruits from the trees.
"That was reckless of you to just stand your ground like that" James hissed to Ash.
"I was too shocked to move" Ash smiled sheepishly. "I was trying to get its attention because it was eating all the fruits and the Pokemon were not happy. But for some reason, it seemed to like me a lot and let me capture it."
"A lot of Pokemon seem to do that" James pointed out.
"I must be a brilliant trainer" Ash grinned.
James rolled his eyes. He wasn't sure why, but he felt there was more to this than that.