Chapter 27: Operation Cool Rescue

"Chansey! What happened here? Where-"

As the nurse pokemon comes to, she looks around in a panic, grasping for something that isn't there. Finding nothing, she looks to Jessie with a face of utter heartbrokenness.

"...Take five, Chansey. I'll take care of the egg." Ignoring the cries of those around him, Jessie drags himself off of the sled and into the water.

"Aurum, which way did they go?"

-"M-Magikarp! Maaagi"

"I don't care how big that Magikarp was or how many humans it ate, tell me which way it went!"

-"Mag-! Karp, kar-"

"Good enough." He dives below water and begins swimming out to sea as fast as his jelly body will take him, only to once more be stopped by yet another fish before he can get up to speed.

"Not now, Emperor. I need to go."

*puts his whole body in the way* -"Seaking!"

"No I will not, stop and think! They have my egg!"

-"Seaking sea! Sea-"

-"Goldeen." Spring leaps toward the pair, surprising them both.

-"King?"

-"Goldeen... Gol, gol?"

"You're a parent to, so you understand... Fine. Emperor, I won't head out alone, but I will NOT sit around and wait for you to get ready. Not when there's a life on the line. While the two of us chase down those kidnappers, I want you to arm the fleet and follow after us."

"If we are taking on an organized group, like you suspect, I'll rely on you all for backup."

-"King... Seaking! King!"

"Thank you." Leaving his friend to prepare, the two rush off for the last known sighting of the 'giant Magikarp', a place just a few miles from The Reef.

Hidden away, deep in the ocean trenches, a red submarine shaped like a Magikarp rests on the seabed. A window through the eye of this sleeping beast reveals two Rocket members, chatting over a busted looking egg. Their eyes, hungry with greed, fixate on the little egg. A flash of red alerts the pair and their attention is drawn to a crack in the hull, rapidly widening.

Panic sets in and one of the two attempts to patch the growing hole while the other pedals, full tilt, causing the vessel to rise. Legs growing damp and sweat beginning to pour down their faces, they fail to notice two pokemon clinging to it's side, Corsola twigs lodged deep into the crack.

The machine breaches the surface and the hatch opens to the Rockets' great relief.

-"Alright, what the hell do we do now? The others are gonna be here any minute and we're stuck topside till we can get this dumb thing patched!" An angry woman shouts to a familiar looking grunt.

-"Hell if I know! You were supposed to check this thing for damage BEFORE coming to rescue me! You know, before taking this big clunker a million leagues UNDERWATER!"

-"Checking this rust bucket for leaks was YOUR job, you sniveling twit! But no, you had to go get yourself caught by some wannabee Jigglypuff playing pop star in the middle of the boonies!"

-"Hey, HEY! How was I supposed to know there would be so many pokemon in that shitty little dump? Have you ever heard of so many pokemon working together like that? Just building stuff without a trainer around for miles? Fucking unnatural!"

"Alright, I've heard enough." With a splash, Jessie and Spring launch onto the ship, ready for battle.

-"Uh, I think we fished up something when we brought this thing up."

-"Oh shit, it's that Tentacool! The one leading those creepy pokemon who captured me!"

-"Oh well, the boss will simply love us after we catch a powerful pokemon like that! Prepare for trouble!"

-"And make it d- OW FUCK DAMNIT! It stung me!"

-"Nobody interrupts our team motto! Rattata, attack!"

-"Zubat, get in there!"

The battle starts as Jessie wastes no time sending a poison sting in the direction of that Rattata. With little room to dodge, it takes the attack, a spray of mud streaking across it's body.

The bat launches it's own offensive, coming down on the jellyfish with a powerful Bite! Wrapping it up in it's tentacles, Jessie Flings the captured prey into the water where Spring brings it down with a Horn attack.

-"...Okay, maybe not so unusual you got caught by that thing."

-"See, It's a monster!"

"Oh you have no idea." Jessie brings both of it's tentacles down onto the ship's cracked hull and wedges itself in. Pumping up it's body full of water, Jessie unleashes a mighty Bubblebeam, causing immense damage to the already sinking vessel!

-"Shit shit shit! Zubat, return! Quilfish, get out here and get rid of that thing!"

-"Rattata, Quick Attack! Don't let it escape!"

Escape being the last thing on it's mind, the ornery Tentacool holds fast to the side of the ship, it's blubbery body shaking with the impact of two simultaneous attacks. Instead, it pumps up it's body once more.

-"Eeek! I don't want to drown! Stop it right now! Hyper Fang!"

-"You two kill this fucking fish already! Body Slam!"

Drawing in the two opponents, Jessie pushes his body off of the vessel, giving Spring room to soak the pair with it's Water Pulse. Off balance and not expecting a counter attack out of nowhere, the two drown under a torrent of bubbles, fainting almost instantly.

Shaking off the battle frenzy, the two parent pokemon encroach on the shivering Rocket Grunts.

"Now, I'm only going to ask this once. Where. Is. My. Egg?"

"So um... you held back how many other Rocket grunts while me and Spring took on those two?"

-"Sea."

"That- that many, huh?"

As Jessie and Emperor relaxed and tended their wounds, a number of Team Rocket grunts worked in the background. Fixing up the town was the least of what they could do to make up for the trouble. That said, the Cooler Crew fully intended for them to make their floating warehouse into something that didn't look like a pile of logs stacked on top of each other. With the power of teamwork (a full team of pokemon watching the captives) and a bit of tenacity (people who could actually hold a hammer) this ragtag looking supply depot would soon come to take shape into something truly amazing.

"I... suppose I owe you an apology. And thanks, from both of us." A tiny Lapras floated nearby, splashing happily and playing with it's many excited uncles and aunts.

"I don't wanna say you were right back there..."

-"Seaking?"

"So I won't!" The slippery Tentacool dives down, escaping from his furious, if somewhat amused, predecessor. Baby Lapras squeals with joy seeing their adoptive parent returning to their side.

Tomorrow would be another hard work day, but tonight, everyone was ready for a little good news and a lot of shut eye.

*sunrise*

-"Fuck that's bright!"

"DON'T SWEAR NEAR MY BABY!"