Chapter 15: Battle on the S.S. Anne

The sun was shining brightly over the docks of Vermilion City on this new day, as Ash walked alongside Misty and Brock.

Before leaving the Pokémon Center, Brock contacted his family back at home to tell them about winning his very first Breeder Competition. They were all really proud of him and wished him luck in collecting more Breeder Medals and continuing his journey to become the world's best Breeder.

Ash also contacted Professor Oak about his Vermilion City Gym win, and decided it was now a good time to swap Pokémon. Videl had won a lot of battles so far, so she decided to go back to Pallet Town, along with Quake.

In their spots, Ash called for his Meowth, Bastet, and his recently captured Krabby, Crush.

After leaving the Pokemon Center, the group made their way to the port where tons of the biggest cruise ships you ever saw were docked. "Wow," Ash exclaimed in awe.

"Beautiful!" Misty exclaimed with excitement written all over her face.

"Oh man, I'd love to cross the ocean on a ship like that," Ash comments, looking up at the height of the vessel.

Brock looked at the name on the front, "It says it's the S.S. Anne." He read, making Misty's eyes light up as she gasped loudly.

"The S.S. Anne?! Like the famous S.S. Anne?!" she squealed.

"You..uh heard of it?" Ash said, getting spooked by Misty's fangirlism.

"Heard of it?! It's only the biggest cruise ship ever made! It's got everything on it!" Misty squeals.

"Everything?" Ash and Brock asked at the same time.

"Pools, deluxe food, it even has a shopping mall." Misty said with stars in her eyes.

"Wow, that sounds like the sea cruise to end all sea cruises," Brock whistled, impressed.

"Yeah that sounds amazing." Ash said.

However they were all hit with the same realization...they didn't have enough money for it.

Ash slumped his shoulders and groaned, "Tell me again why reality sucks?"

"It just does." Misty groans.

"I literally just won my first contest yesterday and now I feel like a loser already." Brock groans.

They all turned from the ship in reluctance and walked away defeated. They continued to walk a few yards until a pop of confetti poppers awakened them from their depression.

They looked up to see two girls jumping in front of them, full of giddiness. "Congratulations! You guys are really lucky. You get to go on a super-deluxe sea cruise!" The two girls said with giant smiles. Both had dark tan skin and were wearing sailor outfits. One had long, orange hair while the other sported bright blonde locks.

"What? Did you enter any raffles while we were here?" Brock asks, looking at Ash and Misty but they shake their heads.

"Oh silly this is no raffle." One said.

"No~oo." The second emphasized.

"This is your lucky day. Exclusive to only Pokemon trainers."

"Only trainers?" Ash asked as the girl shoves a bunch of tickets in his face.

"These are tickets for like the BIGGEST party ever, on board the S.S. Anne cruise liner!"

"Party? Wait, what's the catch?" Misty asks.

"Like no catch. Just bring your Pokémon and your party hats and be ready for a cruise you'll never forget."

"Well we'd love to go on the Pokemon Trainer Cruise, but we really don't have the money to pay for it." Brock said sheepishly.

The girl frowned and then shook her head, "Oh! Wow! You don't understand! They're totally free!" She said with a grin.

The gang looked at her in great surprise, "What?!"

She smiled and continued, "Totally free. To-ta-lly fr-ee!"

"Seriously? Wait, why are you giving them to us?" Ash asks.

The girl gave him a sad smile. "Well, we wanted to go out with our boyfriends," she said. "But we had to give our tickets to some cool Pokémon fans." Her other friend nodded along behind her, also with a sad smile. "We saw you and thought you looked really cool," she said, holding the tickets toward Ash. "Just take these and have a really cool time."

"Co~ol." The other one emphasized.

"Well thanks a lot." Ash said, taking them.

"Co~ol." She emphasized.

"See ya." Turning around the two gals took off.

Ash turned to the others with a smile. "Well, Misty, I guess we're going on that deluxe sea cruise you wanted to go on so badly after all."

"Yes! Finally something I want to do!" Misty cheers excited.

"Looks like our luck is beginning to change after all," Brock said.

"Well, what are we standing around for?! Let's go!" Misty exclaimed, grabbing her friends by their wrists as she pulled them towards the direction of the ship, much to their protests for her to slow down, and Ash's case, because he had an egg on board. He would chastise her about this later, he just knew it.

Watching them from afar were the two Valley Girls from earlier, who were laughing with evil grins on their faces. Throwing off their disguises, it was revealed that they were actually Jessie and James of Team Rocket.

"There they go, the little suckers fell for it," Jessie smirked.

"And that was the last of the tickets, just as planned," James said as he pulled out a walkie-talkie. "Come in Meowth, do you copy?"

"Loud and clear. Come back, we got a message from the boss." Meowth said.

Making their way to a lighthouse, Jessie and James join Meowth as a dark picture of a man in an orange suit appears on the screen.

"Greetings sir." Meowth said.

"So the team is all here," the boss questioned with an audio filter that disguised his voice.

"Sir!" Team Rocket shouted. The screen showed their boss's Persian coming onto the screen, nuzzling its owner. It purred in happiness.

Meowth looked taken aback by this. "Meowth!" he exclaimed. "What's with the Persian?!" The boss continued petting it as it purred. "Hey boss. What about me? Aren't I still your favorite anymore?" Meowth asked in sadness.

"I'm totally disgusted watching you fail me all the time when I expect perfection. Perfection, like this Persian." He mocks. "If you want to make me happy you can make sure our plan succeeds."

"Sir yes sir!" Meowth said eager to please the boss.

"Did you hand out all the tickets to the SS. Anne cruise?" The boss asks.

Jessie nodded. "Yes. All the Pokémon trainers were delighted to take them."

James looked at the boss and asked, "Was it really okay to give out all those tickets for free?"

The boss nodded, "A small price to pay, but I'll get what I want in the end." The others looked surprised at this. "My men have already secretly boarded the S.S. Anne. When I give them the signal, they'll take all the Pokemon from the trainers who were tricked into boarding the ship."

"That's the boss for you. A real genius." Meowth praised.

"And this time failure is out of the question." The boss declares.

"Aye-aye sir." All three said, making him smirk evilly.

Smells like trouble is about to board the vessel, which spells danger for everyone on board, including Ash and his friends.

Back with the group in question, Ash and his friends were finally getting aboard the ship.

They climbed the stairs, looking around in wonder. Ash smiled, holding his egg in happiness as he was on his first cruise. "What an awesome ship," he said in wonder.

Misty nodded, "I'd like to travel the whole world in this." They got to the top and looked at the ticket man. He looked to them for the ticket. Ash held up a finger and moved his egg and went to his vest pocket to grab the tickets. He showed it to the man who then nodded to them, "Welcome to the S.S. Anne. Right this way, if you please." He gestured to the front area.

Making their way inside the three of them looked in awe to see the main room filled to the brim with tons of trainers and Pokemon.

There were stands filled with merchandise for trainers to buy.

"Look at it all." Misty said.

"It's like a giant Pokemon Convention." Ash said in awe.

They then happen to see a conversation between two boys, comparing their Charmanders against each other. "Hey, check out the smooth skin on my Charmander. That's a sign of its good health."

"Well, just look at the flames on my Charmander; there's orange mixed in with the red. Isn't it cool?"

"Hey, what do you guys think of the tough shell on my Squirtle?" Another boy joined in the conversation, holding a Squirtle.

"They're alright, but Shades and Torch are way better." Ash smirks to himself.

"Hey guys if you don't mind I'm gonna do some looking around. See if I can find any stuff for Breeders." Brock asks.

"Hey, not a bad idea. I'll go find some cute new clothes since we'll be back on the road later and beat my sisters to the latest fashion trends," Misty grinned evilly, rubbing her hands together.

"Alright let's meet at the snack tables in about an hour." Ash suggests.

Nodding, Misty and Brock both went their separate ways into the crowd, leaving Ash alone. "I guess it's just you and me, little one," he said to his egg.

As they made their way through the booths, a girl happened to pass by.

She was a young woman who appeared to be around Misty's age, and looked quite attractive. Her long, wavy brown hair reached all the way down to her waist. She wore a school uniform consisting of a short, dark blue skirt, a light blue vest with a white blouse tucked underneath her shoulders. There was a logo with the letters 'PT' written in gold on the breast pocket. A red bow tied to her shirt collar, her legs were covered by white knee-high socks and black dress shoes strapped onto her feet. She also carried a large red backpack on her back.

In her hands was a cute little Clefairy doll that she had just recently purchased.

"I am loving the stores on this ship." She smiles when she hears someone clear their throat.

"Psst. Young Lady. Over here." A voice calls out. The girl turned to see one of the vendors motioning her to come over. "Who, me?"

"Yes you, I want you to take a look at this Pokémon." He said pointing down to a tank in front of him. Looking down, the girl saw a Magikarp floating inside of it.

"What about it?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Just between you and me," the man leaned in to whisper. "This Magikarp isn't like other Magikarp. It's a Pokémon goldmine."

"A goldmine?" She said, causing Ash to stop in his tracks.

"You see this Magikarp lays 1000 eggs and each baby Magikarp lays 1000 more. And by Generation 3 you'll have over a billion Magikarp. By selling the eggs for 100 each you could make billions of dollars. And that's if the eggs hatch. If they don't, the Magikarp eggs can be sold as some of the rarest forms of jewelry in the world." The vendor explains.

Ash raised an eyebrow with a confused look on his face. "What's he talking about?" he asked, noticing the glint in the man's eyes. He remembered his mother warning him about guys like this. About how some people would make up lies in order to make a quick buck, conning someone out of their money, and it looked like that's what was happening with that girl. He glared at the man with a sharp look. "Oh hell no," he growled as he stomped over to put a stop to this.

"Okay now I just have one question for you? What would Magikarp do in a battle?" The girl asks curiously.

"Oh they are completely strong. With a full array of Powerful attacks." The vendor boasts.

"Wrong." She declares surprising him and Ash. "Magikarp can only do a total of 3 attacks and only the strongest can do a 4th one."

The man was at a loss for words as he tried to think of something else. "Well, uh, I bet you didn't know that Magikarp has some of the most beautiful scales there are? Only the rarest of any Pokémon ever. Why, they could fetch you quite the pretty penny on the market."

"Again wrong. You'd have better luck using these scales as coasters because Magikarp shed like crazy." She said as one scale fell off during the conversation. "Doesn't look very expensive to me." She said picking it up.

"KarpKarp," the fish Pokémon wiggled around in her hands.

"If you're going to lie and try to con me into buying a Pokemon you can find in any bed of water at least make it believable." She deadpans.

Ash couldn't help but snicker in the background. Whoever this girl was, she had certainly handled it like a pro.

"I-I... see," the guy said mournfully, with a sigh. "Carry on."

"Find some other sucker to try and pawn this off on." She said, shoving the Magikarp back in his hands.

As she turned around with her nose in the air, she bumped right into Ash, who was standing right behind her, causing her to drop her stuff. "Ow, oh, I'm so sorry about that," she said quickly, apologizing.

"Sorry, my fault. Here let me help you." Bending down to grab her Clefairy doll both their hands touched.

When the girl looks up she sees Ash's scars and immediately jumps back startled.

"O-Oh my!" She yelped.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." Ash cringed.

"Oh my. Young man if you would my Magikarp offer a very helpful skin--"

"Oh, save it. No they don't." Ash interrupts.

The guy looked taken aback at this, but froze when he saw Ash's hollow eye glare at him, making him shut his mouth and nod. Looking down at the Magikarp in the tank, Ash gives it a nod.

"Sorry little fella, I hope you can find a good trainer." Ash said.

"Magikarp.." The Magikarp softly bellowed, looking at Ash with wonder.

As the two of them walked away Magikarp didn't take his eyes off Ash until he could no longer see him.

As they walked, Ash turned to the girl. "Hey, you really shut that guy down with your Pokémon knowledge back there," he said, a little impressed.

"Well I know a lot about Pokemon. And I'm sorry for how I acted back there. I was just surprised." She apologized.

"Eh, it's alright. You weren't the only one to get a reaction out of me..." Ash sheepishly replied, holding his neck.

"I'm sorry. Uh my name's Giselle by the way, Giselle Yūtō," she said introducing herself.

"I'm Ash, Ash Ketchum." Ash said, introducing himself.

Looking at her, Ash noticed the PT logo on her jacket.

"'PT'? What's that?" Ash asks.

"It stands for The Pokémon Technical Institute," Giselle explained. "Pokémon Tech for short."

"Pokemon Tech? Wait, isn't that the fancy school that lets you compete in the League when you graduate?" Ash recalls.

"Yup, that's the one... or well, it used to be," Giselle muttered to herself with a frown, which Ash noticed.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Oh, uh, nothing, don't worry about it," she said, shaking her head.

"Oh uh here you go." Ash said, giving her back the Clefairy doll.

"Thanks," Giselle said, taking the stuffed toy back before she notices Ash's egg in his hands. "Is that a Pokémon egg?"

"Yep, got it from a friend for helping him out. I don't know what's inside it, but hopefully, it'll hatch soon." Ash said.

Giselle peered down at it. "You know, I've never seen a Pokémon Egg up close before, only in books."

"Pretty cool huh?" Ash said, holding it out for her to see.

Giselle was surprised by the gesture, and before reaching out to place her hand on it, she felt a warm substance rising from it.

"It's like I can feel it inside." She said, amazed.

"I know, right?" Ash said excitedly. "I think it's going to hatch anytime now."

"That'll be a sight to see." Giselle smiles.

"But in the meantime, I don't suppose you know any good booths here?" Ash asks.

"Oh I certainly know a couple of them, I can show you," she offered.

"Lead the way." Ash gestures.

As the Lass led the scarred boy to the booths, we moved over to see a crowd of people surrounding two people who were having a Pokémon battle.

One of them happened to be a young boy who had light brown hair; he was wearing a school uniform similar to Giselle's, with the Pokémon Tech logo emblazoned on his blue jacket, matching pants, brown shoes, a white undershirt, and a red tie.

Making her way through the crowd, Misty managed to get a good spot to watch it.

"Is that all you got kid?" A Fisherman taunts as he had out on his side a purple clam-like Pokémon with its tongue sticking out.

"Not a chance. We're just getting started." The boy said at his side was a yellow and green plant-like Pokemon.

"Shellder, Ice Beam attack!" The Fisherman points as a light blue ball forms above Shellder's tongue. It then fires light blue beams of energy from it towards Weepinbell.

"Withdraw!" Shellder quickly retracted into its shell as the leaves bounced off of it.

"Now Vine Whip!" Hurling a vine out it wrapped around Shellder before flinging it into the air.

Shellder eyes bulged out, as it couldn't control itself while in mid-air. "What the?!" The Fisherman gasped.

"Looks like we got the catch of the day!" The boy said as Weepinbell slams Shelleder to the ground.

"Shellder!" The Fisherman yelled as Shellder opened its shell, revealing swirls in its eyes and spitting its tongue out onto the floor.

"Yes! We won!" The boy and his Weepinbell cheered with joy.

They were then awarded by applause from the other members of the crowd. Misty hummed with a slightly impressed look on her face. "Hm, not bad," She mutters.

"Alright, we have time for one more battle. Does any trainer feel like taking on the winner?" The boy calls out.

"I'll take you on." Misty said, stepping forward.

"Sounds good to me. What's your name?" The boy asked.

"The name's Misty Waterflower, from Cerulean City." Misty said, greeting herself.

"Well Misty, my name's Joe and this is my Weepinbell." He introduced. "Which Pokémon are you going to use?"

"This one, go Starmie!" She threw a Pokéball into the air, and her evolved Star Pokémon appeared.

"Hyu~" Starmie briefly spun in midair before returning to its spot near Misty.

"Another Water type? What do you say, Weepinbell? Got enough fight in you for one more battle?" Joe asks.

"Bell." Weepinbell nods.

As Weepinbell hops out, Joe was about to grin thinking he had this when suddenly a voice echoed in his mind.

"If you honestly think you can make it to the league simply by relying on Type Advantage you'd never make it past your first gym."

'If you honestly believe that you can make it to the League simply by relying on Type Advantage, then you will never make it past your first Gym.'

Instantly, Joe shook his head snapping out of it.

"Alright we're ready when you are." Joe calls out.

"Starmie, use Power Gem!" The core jewel on Starmie glowed red as it fired a pale pink beam of energy with a bright white energy surrounding it towards Weepinbell.

"Dodge, then use Razor Leaf," Joe said. Weepinbell leaped out of the way before sending out leaves at Starmie.

"Rapid Spin quick!" Spinning quickly Starmie deflects the Razor Leaf and flies in ramming into Weepinbell.

"Knock Off!" Weepinbell growls before slapping Starmie across its 'facial' area with its vines, which were colored orange.

Spinning backward, Starmie lands on the ground trying to regain its balance.

"Shake it off, Starmie! Use Water Pulse," Misty commanded. Starmie formed a blue ball made entirely of water from its gem, took aim at Weepinbell, and fired.

"Energy Ball, Weepinbell! Counter it!" Joe said. Weepinbell opened its mouth and a green glowing ball of spiraling energy appeared and fired, colliding with Water Pulse, resulting in a big explosion mid-air.

From different parts of the cruise, Ash, Brock and Giselle heard the noises coming from the battle.

The smoke cleared up, showing both Pokémon separated from each other, glaring the other down.

"Starmie, use Psybeam!" Firing a multi-colored beam Starmie blasts Weepinbell, dealing super effective damage.

"Weepinbell, shake it off and use Knock Off!" Joe said. Weepinbell shook off the attack and extended its arms towards Starmie and wrapped them around its body. "Now let'em have it!" Weepinbell lifts Starmie up high before bringing the starfish down to the ground, very harshly.

"Starmie quick, break free with Rapid Spin!"

"Vine Whip!" As Starmie started to spin a second vine shoots out to try and pull Starmie down.

"Gotcha! No escape now," Joe grinned, but so did Misty.

"Fine by us, Thunderbolt!" she yelled.

Sending sparks of electricity down the vines, Starmie zaps Weepinbell causing it to scream in pain.

"What?!" Joe gasped.

"Now Starmie, Rapid Spin!" Yanking Weepinbell in Starmie rams into Weepinbell sending it falling to the ground with swirly eyes.

"Weepinbell!" Joe ran over to his Pokémon and picked it up. "Are you okay?"

"Bell..?" Weepinbell groaned as it opened up its eyes.

"I don't understand. Electric type moves shouldn't do that much damage to grass types." Joe said.

"They usually don't but if they get in close even a grass type will feel the damage Joe," Giselle said approaching him. "You're still thinking about type advantages."

"G-Giselle," Joe said, feeling bad about losing the battle and having his friend tell him how he messed up in the match.

"Hey, this just wasn't your battle. You'll get it next time." She assures.

"Really?" Joe said, surprised.

"I'm not gonna react like I used to. Not anymore." Giselle promises.

"Like she used to?" Ash asked himself, after hearing her words.

"Joe, is she a friend of yours?" Misty asks, walking over.

"Yeah, and my tutor in a way." Joe reveals.

"Tutor?" They all said, interested.

"Joe and I are students of Pokémon Tech or at least we were until we decided to leave and go traveling for a while." Giselle admits.

"Wait a second. Pokemon Tech students don't usually leave the school to travel. The whole school was created so you could make it to the League without traveling the region." Brock recalled.

Hearing that made Giselle and Joe cringe and look away awkwardly. "Well... yeah, that is true..."

"So if that's the case why are you both here on a cruise and not in school?" Ash asks before pausing. "Wow, never thought I would say that sentence in a million years?"

"Uh well you see, it's kind of a long story," Joe admits.

"And it's not exactly a story we're proud of." Giselle admits.

The group could tell by their facial expressions and tone of voices that whatever happened to the two must have been bad and it's touchy for them.

"I'm sorry we didn't mean to touch on a sensitive subject." Brock said.

"It's fine. Long story short, we messed up at school and now we're questioning a lot of stuff." Joe admits.

"Messed up? Messed up how?" Misty asks.

"Messed up in every possible way." Giselle cringed.

The group was unsure how to react to this. Now they were curious. "Hey if you don't mind, you think you can tell us the story?" Ash asks them.

"Well I guess it would feel better if we told someone," Giselle said as they sat down. "At Pokémon Tech I was one of the top beginners and had created this Study Program that while on paper would help the students who were falling behind the rest, but in actuality..."

"It was anything but helpful. It was basically bullying with pop quizzes." Joe finished.

"What?" Ash, Brock, and Misty reacted with a startled gasp.

Giselle nodded with a sad look on her face. "I know, I know. It's quite a shock and hard to believe, but it's true. I proposed the idea to my father, who's the headmaster of the school, and he thought it was a sufficient idea."

"But being one of the students who was behind I can say those study sessions were nightmares. They'd put me on a treadmill and make you answer questions while I ran. If I didn't answer them quickly enough they'd make me run faster and faster until I fell off the thing." Joe said.

"That's horrible!" Misty exclaimed as she turned to Giselle. "How could you have called that a simple study session? Were you trying to cram Pokémon knowledge in his head until he dies?"

"Did you even want to help him or did you just want a good laugh?" Ash asks.

Giselle shrank into her seat, with a shameful look on her face as her hair covered her eyes from looking at them. "Well... not really." She admitted, tapping her fingers together. "Back then, I really didn't care about what was happening behind the scenes, and just cared about the results... and my beauty," she said, muttering that last part.

"What kind of school is this?" Ash mutters.

"Well, to be fair, Giselle wasn't the only one who messed up," Joe said, getting their attention. "You see, I was focusing more on simulated battles than actual ones. And I thought they were the same thing. I would beat the Cerulean City Gym all the time."

"Excuse me?" Misty glares.

Joe flinched at the glare as he continued, "Yeah..well it was sort of how the system worked and I just went along with it."

"To the point he believed if he could beat the simulator he could beat the League." Giselle said.

"And how did that turn out?" Ash asks.

"I lost a battle with one hit." Joe hung his head in shame.

Misty snorted with a satisfied grin, until Brock nudged her.

"I hate to say this guys but there is no way any of you would make it to the league with a system like that." Ash cringed.

"Yeah that's what he said too." Joe sighs.

"He?" Brock asks.

"An Inspector from the Pokemon League came to the school a few weeks ago. And when he saw what we were doing he was disgusted." Joe said.

"I can't blame him," Misty mutters.

"Misty." Brock nudges again before glancing at them. "So what happened next?"

"I'll never forget those words he said that day," Giselle said, flashing back to the day their school failed the inspection, and the inspector spoke his mind aloud.

Flashback: A couple of weeks ago...

We find ourselves in front of the courtyard of Pokémon Tech as many students, male and female were all standing in front of the inspector, who was a tall male with brown hair, who are a blue suit with a "P" on the cover as he had a crossed look on his face as he spoke with the headmaster.

"You're revoking our right to access the Pokémon League?" The headmaster asked in disbelief as all of the students gasped.

"I don't know what kind of school you're running, but clearly none of these kids have the knowledge or abilities to cut it in the real world. It's a disgrace to every hard-working trainer out there who has been traveling the region, hoping one day to get into the Pokémon League. I hope you're all proud of yourselves." The man scolds.

The students began to protest in response, "You can't do this to us!"

"My parents sacrificed a lot to get me here!"

"I was just about to graduate, you jerk!"

"Maybe you all should have thought of that when you were tormenting those below you and wasting away in this place?" The inspector glares at them, silencing them.

The headmaster pleaded, "Please give us one more chance to keep our access!"

"Fine. I'll give you all one chance. A challenge, if you will. A select group of students must leave the school and travel the region as real trainers. Upon their return, they will be tested by me personally. If they pass, I will allow this school to keep its access to the League upon graduation," the instructor declares.

Everyone went silent. They had a chance to enter the Pokémon League, but they would have to travel to make it happen.

The inspector continued, "Surprised? I knew you would be. A Pokémon Trainer can't stay in one place in order to gain the knowledge they need to grow. They need outside experience; they need to see what the world is like outside of these walls, see how other people raise their Pokémon, how others train and interact with them, and most importantly, how to handle themselves in a real battle. You can't get everything just from textbooks."

"Very well I will assemble a group of students to take part in this demonstration." The headmaster said.

"Hold on. I request that two specific students take part in this as well. The ones that I believe need this the most." The Inspector interrupts.

"Uh who?" He asks.

The inspector scouts his eyes around the pack of students before noticing Giselle in the front. "Her." He points and looks for Joe, who was hiding behind another male student, due to his height. "And him."

"Huh?" Joe and Giselle said surprised.

"Giselle? But she's the top beginner in the school." The headmaster said.

"She's also the one who came up with the horrible system that your school implemented. And that boy is one of the worst battlers I've ever seen thanks to your simulators." The Inspector said before turning to them. "If you two ever want to be real

trainers consider this your last chance to do it through the school. I'll be waiting for your return."

And with his parting words finished, the instructor left the school grounds, leaving everyone distraught, disturbed and confused.

Flashback End: Back to present

"It was one of the worst and most humiliating days of my entire life." Giselle said.

"Per the Inspector's request, the two of us and a few other students were sent out on our journeys to try and keep the school in business. Since Giselle and I were the big 2 on the chopping block the Headmaster suggested that the two of us travel together." Joe said.

"Wow.. that guy did not pull any punches," Brock said, still trying to process the whole story.

"Since then Joe and I have been traveling, catching Pokémon and trying to become better trainers. The future of our school is on the line." Giselle said.

"Well Giselle, if it makes you feel you definitely showed how knowledgeable you were dealing with that Scammer at his booth." Ash said.

"And Joe gave me and Starmie a good battle. You even beat the guy before us." Misty adds.

"So we think it's safe to say that you guys are definitely improving your skills and attitudes by the day," Brock said.

Smiling, the two students felt much better hearing that. "Thanks, guys," Joe said.

"That means a lot." Giselle said.

"Hey I know what it's like to have a bad start. You'll bounce back sooner or later." Ash said, gesturing to his scars.

Looking at the scars and his empty left eye, it was clear to both Giselle and Joe that something horrible must have happened to Ash at the start of his journey, but yet there he was, still standing.

"Thanks guys. We needed that." Joe smiles feeling better.

"So does that mean you both are trying for Gym badges?" Brock asks.

"Joe is." Giselle points.

"Any badges so far?" Misty asked.

"Just 2 but once we get off this boat I'll go for my next ones." Joe admits.

"Hey not bad, I just got my 3rd one not too long ago." Ash said.

"If you were in Pokémon Tech that would make you a Top Beginner." Giselle said.

"Uh thanks, but I think I'm fine with the way I am now traveling," Ash said.

"So you two want to join us at the food tables?" Brock asks.

"I could eat." Giselle shrugs.

"Yeah, I'm starving," Joe nods.

As they walked away none of them noticed a familiar blue haired man approaching the Magikarp vendor that tried to con Ash and Giselle.

"A Magikarp lays a thousand eggs at a time, each of those Magikarp lay a thousand more, until it reaches a billion," the salesman whispered, making James gasp in excitement, falling for this guy's baloney. "You sell one Magikarp for a 100 PokéYen, and in 3 generations, you will be the richest man alive! For only 300 PokéYen, I'll also throw in this special rare golden PokéBall. What do you say?"

"I'll take it!" James said, grinning like a kid on Christmas as he quickly paid the man, who returned Magikarp into the "Golden" Pokéball and gave it to James.

"Pleasure doing business with you, you are going to be a VERY rich man my friend!" The vendor laughed.

"Rich! Rich!" James sings happily. He dances away gleefully, eager to share the news of his purchase with Jessie and Meowth, unaware of the sleazy grin on the Magikarp Salesman's face.

"Who knew it was easier to scam guys like him than little kids?" he asks, laughing as he counts his money.

Meanwhile over at the snack tables, the group of trainers were enjoying themselves a hearty meal as they each showed each other the recent things they've bought for themselves from vendors.

And the best part was it was all you can eat.

"Oh man. I haven't eaten this good in a long time." Joe said happily.

"I know right, I can't wait to rub it in my sister's face that I got to eat gourmet food on a cruise liner," Misty sighed, enjoying the cake.

"Weird brag, but who am I to judge? This stuff is 5 stars." Giselle said while eating a delicious bowl of noodles.

Brock chomped on one of the fancy sandwiches, "I gotta find the chef's who made this so I could get their recipes for these."

As Ash was happily chomping on some big drumsticks, he got some sauce on his lips.

Looking at him, Giselle lets out a giggle.

"What? What's so funny?" Ash asks.

"You got a little something right here," she said pointing all around her mouth.

"Oh man." Blushing, Ash wiped his face.

"You really like eating huh?" Giselle said, noticing a plate of bones near him.

"Oh trust me when I say, he is no picky eater," Misty teased.

"Ash has one of the biggest appetites I've ever seen." Brock chuckles.

"Hey I can't help it if I have a high metabolism.." Ash pouts, not liking getting picked on.

"Hey, nothing wrong with being able to enjoy all this. I think it's fun to see such an interesting side to you." Giselle said.

Ash looked at her with surprise, "Interesting?"

"Yeah I'll admit when I first saw those scars I thought you were scary but seeing this side of you helps show that there's more to you than that." Joe agrees.

Hearing that Ash couldn't help but smile. "Wow, thank you guys, I'm touched."

"Hey when we finish eating we go check out some more fun things on this boat?" Misty suggests.

"Sounds good to me." Brock said.

Meanwhile in another part of the boat...

"YOU IDIOT! CAN'T SEE YOU WERE TRICKED?!" Jessie snaps.

"WHAT A DOPE!" Meowth yelled, equally enraged.

James had found them and brought them over to talk in a corner, and needless to say, this wasn't the reaction he was hoping to see from them.

"But you don't understand, Magikarp is a goldmine!" James said, oblivious to his teammates' angry stares at him. "Even its Pokéball is solid gold," he added, showing them the ball.

"IT'S JUST GOLD-PLATED!" Meowth snapped, scratching the "solid gold" Poké Ball, revealing it to be just a regular Poké Ball with gold paint, causing James to exclaim in horror and realize his blunder.

"Magikarp is a useless Pokémon that can't do anything but flop around. How could you possibly expect to sell it?" Jessie said, scorning him.

"I was tricked!" James sobs.

"How did you even get the money to pay for it?" Jessie asks.

"Well the advance on my Salary wouldn't cover it so..." James starts.

"So…?" Jessie asks.

"I used the advance on your salary!!" James smiles.

And that earned him many kicks to the neck and head from a fuming Jessie. "YOU RETURN THAT STUPID FISH RIGHT NOW AND GET MY MONEY BACK!!!" she roared with a demonic look on her face.

As the sun was setting, Ash sat down with his Pokémon egg.

He wondered to himself as he looked up at the red-colored egg. "Just what kind of Pokémon are you going to hatch into?" he asked. "A Fire type? A Flying type? Or perhaps even a Fighting type?" He listed all of the many possibilities his soon-to-be baby Pokémon could become, including Electric types.

With narrowed eyes, a familiar figure came to Ash's mind in the form of the egg. This caused Ash to grimace at the thought until he remembered the words of advice Brock had given him the other day after his Gym battle.

Shaking the negative thoughts away, Ash said, "I don't care what kind of Pokémon you are; I promise to take good care of you... and maybe you won't abandon me like that little rat did." he muttered.

"Hey, what are you doing out here all by yourself?" Joe asked as he walked over.

"Oh hey, Joe. Nothing. I was just checking on my egg." Ash said.

"Cool. Hey, Ash, can I ask you something? Joe asked.

"What's up?" Ash asked.

"Ever since I left Pokémon Tech, something has been on his mind, but he wasn't sure if it was the right choice or not."

Ash looked to him confused and asked, "What do you mean?"

"I don't think I want to go back to Pokemon Tech." Joe admits surprising him.

"Woah, really?" Ash asked.

"Being on the road, traveling, and winning badges. I feel like I'm doing so much better out here than I ever did in there." Joe said.

Ash chuckles. "I know exactly how you feel dude. Just the love of traveling from town to town, finding new Pokémon to catch and befriend, you just don't get that in a school."

"I just don't know how to break it to Giselle. I mean she's my friend but I don't know how to tell her when she's so eager to go back to school." Joe said.

Ash placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "Hey, it's alright. If that's what you want, then I'm sure Giselle would understand."

"You think so?" Joe asks.

"Every trainer has a different way of doing things. Look at me, Misty and Brock. We all have different goals and even though they're not the same we support each other and help each other out." Ash smiles.

Joe stood there as he pondered about this. Giselle wishes to find a way to change her school's system, and she's also helping Joe with becoming a better trainer.

"Don't rush it. Sooner or later you'll figure out the right time to tell her." Ash assures.

Joe smiled and nodded, "Thanks Ash, you really are a good pal."

Ash was about to reply with "You're welcome" when suddenly his egg began to glow. "Uh, guys!" He shouted, getting Misty, Brock and Giselle's attention as they gasped.

Ash's egg was about to hatch!

They all huddled up around the corner as Ash quickly took the egg out of his incubator as it began blinking frequently before glowing and morphed into an shape.

Once the light died down, we finally got a glimpse of the baby Pokémon. It was red, with a yellow flame-shaped mark on its stomach. It had a single red spike on its back and a long red tail, and its head was covered in numerous red lumps that looked like hair.

The little Pokémon yawned as it looked around to see the new faces. "Magby," it said.

"Aww, it's so cute." Giselle squeals.

"What kind of Pokemon is that?" Misty asks.

"By the colors it looks like a fire type." Brock said.

"I've never seen a fire type like that before." Joe said.

Ash brought his PokéDex out to scan it, but unfortunately, it replied with, "NO DATA. Unregistered Pokémon can not be scanned by this PokéDex."

"No data? No wonder Bill was so confused." Ash said amazed.

The little Pokémon turned to face Ash, "Magby?"

"Hey there little guy." Ash gulps wondering how this would turn out.

"Mag." Slowly tilting his head the little Pokemon realized he was his parent. "Magby." He smiles hugging Ash.

Ash had expected the baby to cry at the sight of his scars, but instead, it hugged him. A small warm smile appeared on his face as he wrapped his arms around him.

"That's right little guy, I'm your..daddy," he said, fully introducing himself to him, which to Ash felt weird at first. He was now officially 'somewhat' a father.

"Newly hatched Pokémon are always able to recognize the ones who handled their eggs as their parents. Meaning, this Pokémon knew Ash was its parent from the moment it hatched." Brock said.

"Aww." Misty and Giselle said.

"MagbyMagbyMagby," The baby Pokémon cooed happily nuzzling in Ash's arms.

"Magby, huh? I guess that's its name." Ash laughed as he cradled it.

"We're gonna have to call Bill and Prof. Oak about this when we dock." Brock said.

"Bill?" Giselle gasped. "You know Bill the Pokémaniac and THE Prof. Oak?"

"Of course, Prof. Oak was the one who gave me my Pokedex and Bill was the one who gave me this egg in the first place." Ash nods.

Giselle and Joe were both blown away to hear that their friends were friends with such famous people.

"If you guys want we can call them and you guys can meet." Misty offers.

"Those two are like the Ultimate Guest Speakers." Joe smiles.

"We'd love to." Giselle smiles.

Thus, our heroes and their new friends returned to lounging on the ship, enjoying themselves immensely during their free time.

In some dark, secluded room somewhere...

The boss of Team Rocket watched all the cameras like a Fearow. There were trainers and their Pokémon all over, all cooped up in one room.

All of the gullible fools who fell victim to his little trap had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and no one to save them.

The boss smirked, "It won't be long now." The Persian at his side purred once more before opening its eyes and screeching.

As if on cue, all the doors were slammed shut and a giant curtain covered all the windows.

"What in the?" Joe said confused.

Discarding all their disguises, the cruise staff were all Team Rocket grunts.

"It's Team Rocket!" screamed some of the passengers, making Ash, Brock, and Misty tense up and look at each member of the group in black, sporting the large red "R" logo on their chests. These were not the losers they typically encountered; no, these were the real deal.

The passengers all screamed in fear as they saw the dangerous Rocket agents standing before them. Most attempted to flee, but the doors were locked shut, leaving them trapped.

The party crashers were everywhere, all around the panicking passengers, each bearing strange machines on their backs.

Well...almost all of them.

Miserably walking through the crowd, James was trying to find the Magikarp vendor.

"Hey, hombre! Where are you, I want my money back!" He calls out when Jessie grabs him and pulls him away.

"What do you think you're doing?!" She snarled.

"I wa-"

"WE HAVE WORK TO DO!" Jessie snaps cutting him off.

The lights then dimmed out, and only one came on, revealing Jessie and a now deflated James in their uniforms with the same mechanisms on their backs as they did their motto, although James only mumbled through it because he won't be getting a refund.

Once the motto was finished, Giselle suddenly stopped when she heard those names, "Jessie... and James...?" Those two names suddenly sounded familiar, but she didn't know where from.

Jessie then announced on a microphone, "Thank you all for participating in our little soirée, but I'm afraid the party's over! As Team Rocket will now take possession of ALL of your Pokémon!"

Activating their strange devices, Team Rocket began sucking up as many Pokéballs as they could from the passengers, while the rest of them threatened the trainers personally.

"Give me your Pokémon!" one of them said as they walked up to Ash, Misty, Brock, Joe, and Giselle.

"No way!" Misty said.

"What do we have here?" One said noticing Magby. "Never seen one like you before. Bet you'll fetch a high price."

"Magby?" A look of fear appeared on Magby's face as he clenched onto Ash's jacket. Just as the Grunt reaches in to grab him, Ash suddenly grabbed the agents arm.

"Don't...you..dare.." He hissed.

"Or what?" He said before noticing his scars. "Wow talk about a face not even a mother could love. Listen Ugly, hand it over or—" Before he could finish Ash punched him in the face sending him crashing into a table surprising everyone.

A blazing aura appeared around Ash's body as he held his baby close to him, tightly with a face that could scare millions all across the world.

"You honestly think I'm just gonna stand around and let you take my Pokemon from me?! Not a chance!" Ash snaps.

"Wow, he's mad," Joe gulped.

"Never separate a father and his child," Brock said. "Because hell hath no fury."

"Come on!" Ash calls out to the other trainers. "You really gonna hand over your Pokemon to these clowns without a fight?! We're Pokemon Trainers for crying out loud!"

Hearing Ash's words of encouragement, the room filled with trainers as they realized that he was right. Each of them had worked very hard to catch, train, and raise their Pokémon all on their own! No way were they going to let these criminals take away their partners!

"Yes, he's right; we can't simply surrender."

"I am not going to give my Pokémon to anyone."

"Bring it on!" everyone shouted in retaliation as they all threw their Pokéballs into the air, releasing their Pokémon and preparing them for battle.

"Suck them up! Suck them all up!" Jessie ordered as they tried sucking up all their Pokémon.

Opening his bag, Ash put Magby inside. "Sit tight Magby. I got to take care of this."

"Magby," Magby said, although worried, nodded as his father zipped it tight around him. "Those machines are the problem. We gotta get rid of them and free those other Pokémon!" He said before opening up all of the Pokémon he had on him to help. "Alpa, Bastet, Crush, Torch and Talon! Go!"

"Hang on Ash! We're in too!" Misty said calling out Starmie, Oddish and Staryu.

"Here we go!" Brock said calling out Geodude, Zubat, Paras and Onix.

"Don't forget about me!" Joe said calling out his Victreebel, along with a Nidorina and Pinsir.

"Don't forget about me!" Joe said calling out his Weepinbell, along with a Nidorina and Pinsir.

"Me too!" Giselle said calling out a Cubone, a Graveler and a Venomoth.

The brawl had began!

All except for Jessie and James that is.

"Bulbasaur!!" Alpha, taking the lead of the fight, unleashed Razor Leaf at Team Rocket, striking them in places left to right, making them all cry out as their vacuum packs all dropped, releasing bags of Pokéballs.

"Hya!" As Staryu and Starmie unleashed Water Gun tons of other water types joined in blasted the Grunts soaking them to the bone.

"Char!!" To dry them up, Torch along with other Fire Pokémon breathed out Flamethrower, scorching them from head to toe, making them scream in pain.

"Geodude/Graveler! Rollout!" Brock and Giselle said as their rock types along with several other rock types rolled in like boulders flattening the grunts into pancakes.

"Crush! Crabhammer!" Ash's Crab Pokémon shouted as tons of other Krabby joined in with Crush.

Swinging their claws, they attacked the grunts and knocked them away.

"Venomoth, Stun Spore!" Giselle said as her Butterfree flew in with tons of others flying alongside it in a V formation. Raining down orange powder, they paralyzed the grunts trapping them where they stood."

"Horn Attack!" A squad of Nidorino, Nidorina, and their smaller Evolutions charged and tackled the grunts, in a huge stampede.

As Magby slowly popped its head out of the bag, he looked to see Torch fighting off two grunts at once.

"Char!" Torch roars blasting them with Flamethrower.

"Mag." Magby said amazed by the older Fire Type's skill. Firing a small Ember attack, Magby tried to imitate him, but of course, being a baby, he wasn't all that strong.

"Onix, Rock Throw!" As Onix roars Magby jumps back into the back startled.

As boulders from Onix and three others rained down on Team Rocket the boat started to shake.

Jessie, James and Meowth were looking at how their teammates were all being thrown around so easily.

"Uh guys maybe it's time to abandon ship?" James suggests.

"Yeah, from the looks of things, I say it's time to hit the deck," Meowth gulped.

"Talon!" Ash yells as Talon flew in with several other Fearow, Spearow and Pidgeotto that together created a giant hurricane blowing several grunts away as the tornado blew through the top of the ship.

"For once I think you guys are right.." Jessie gulped, not wanting to get caught in that, as they tried to make their escape by sneaking away, unfortunately Giselle's sharp eye caught them.

"Hey, you three!" Gulping they saw her glaring at them.

"Oh it's just some angry schoolgirl." Meowth said when Jessie and James noticed the logo.

"Wait a second...PT? Pokemon Tech?" Jessie realized.

"As in the BIGGEST boarding school in Kanto?" James said.

"You guys know this school?" Meowth asks.

"That place brings back memories, James." Jessie whimpers.

"And none of them were good Jessie." James frowns. This was a first. Jessie and James went to Pokémon Tech together in the past?

"Wait Jessie? James?" Pausing Giselle remembered something. "Wait, I know who you two are."

"You do?" Meowth said.

"You two got the worst test results in the history of the school." Giselle declares, making both of them burst into tears.

"Our reputation has caught up to us, Jessie!" James sobs.

"One of the most humiliating days of my life! We were so embarrassed we ran out of that school!" Jessie sobs.

"And here you are, so low on your luck, you decided to join one of the biggest crime organizations in the world, Team Rocket," Giselle said as she shook her head. "Such a shame this is where your futures led you two."

"Shut up! We're not in that stupid school, so you can't insult us like that!" Jessie whined.

"Yeah! You have no right to judge us!" James sobbed.

"Well, if you don't feel like listening, how about I give you both one last memory of Pokémon Tech?" she asked, taking out an empty Pokeball.

Meowth had had enough of his friends' bawling and scratching their faces. "Get it together, you big babies! She's just one little spoiled brat; you can take her!"

"Who said she was alone?" Joe asked as he joined Giselle.

Looking at his uniform, Jessie and James gasped in surprise. "Another one?"

"Joe let these two be an example of what you and the other struggling students should never become." Giselle warns.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about me, Giselle," Joe said as his eyes sharpened, looking at the crooks. "I don't plan on ever becoming like these guys."

"Hurtful." James cringed.

"Focus!" Meowth snaps.

"Yeah, let's just suck up their Pokeballs and--" Before Jessie could finish, an empty Pokeball hit her in the face.

"You want pokeballs? Well, here you go!" Grabbing some empty ones off the floor, Giselle and Joe bombarded the three of them.

The Team Rocket trio exclaimed in pain as they were pelted from left to right. "Ow! Too many Pokéballs!" Jessie cried.

"Please make it stop! Make it stop!" James exclaimed as he was hit where the sun doesn't shine.

"These twerps are hooligans!" Meowth screamed, getting beaned in the face.

"This coming from the psychos who tried to rob us on a cruise!" Joe said.

The balls just kept coming and coming, as the trio couldn't take it anymore and ran for their lives, down the halls.

Smiling, both PT students high fived.

Now all that was left were the other grunts.

The trainers on board were wrapping up, defeating the Team Rocket members left to right, decreasing their numbers.

"Now, Thunderbolt!" As one trainer calls out, Ash saw a group of Pikachu gather together before creating a giant electric attack blasting all the grunt overboard.

"We did it!" All the trainers cheered.

As the Pikachu's walked away, Ash's hand shook nervously, but he managed to keep it together.

"Char!" "Bulbasaur!" Snapping him out of his thoughts were all of his Pokémon, coming up to greet him.

"Hey guys, great work out there." Ash said.

"They never stood a chance against all of us." Misty said.

"Oh yeah, I don't think they'll ever forget the lesson we taught them," Brock said.

"You guys would not believe what we had to deal with." Giselle said.

"I don't know about you but I hope this trip ends soon." Joe said.

Little did Joe know that his wish was about to be granted, though not in the way he had hoped for. Suddenly, the ship was rocked violently.

"Whoa!" The sudden movement made everyone cry out and fall off balance.

Ash caught himself as Magby popped his head out of the bag. "Magby?" He said, asking his father if he was alright.

"Ergh... yeah, I'm fine." He groaned before looking up at everyone. "What was that?"

"Is Team Rocket trying to capsize the ship?" Giselle asked, worried.

"No, look!" Misty said, getting their attention as she was near the porthole. Outside, the sky was now dark and gray as the waves grew increasingly rough. "It's a big storm!"

"It'll be tough to get back in with waves like these," Brock said.

Several passengers were talking to the captain nearby.

"Calm down, we've just been drifted by the high seas a little off course. There's no need to worry. We're heading back to port, and this ship is unsinkable, so there's no need for alarm." The Captain assured.

Once he said that, the ship was hit by a major wave. The ship rocked sideways, knocking everyone off their feet.

They looked around in alarm and saw the captain missing. They heard the ding of the rope and looked over to see the captain in a lifeboat. "Just as I said," he replied calmly. "No need to panic! I just wanted to test out one of the lifeboats."

As all the passengers' sweat dropped they all started to panic and sprint to the lifeboats.

That also goes with our group of friends as they sprinted behind everyone. "If we get off this boat alive I am never going on another cruise again!" Joe snaps.

"I've had enough cruise excitement for a while!" Misty agrees.

"There's the lifeboats!" Brock points, seeing passengers climbing up on some.

"Come on! We gotta find an open one and fast!" Ash said.

However, most of the boats were being filled up by the minute, and the storm was getting worse, causing the waves to rock the ship even more.

Behind them Jessie, James and Meowth were running to catch up when the ship shook causing James to drop Magikarp's Pokeball making it roll towards the outside.

"My salary advance!" James gasps trying to grab it.

"There goes my money too!" Jessie cried out, as she and Meowth ran after him. As the ball rolled out it banged against Ash's foot.

"Huh? What kind of tacky Pokeball is this?" Ash asks, picking it up.

"GIVE IT TO ME, THAT'S MINE!" Hearing a familiar voice shout out, they turn to see Team Rocket charging right up to them.

"Whoa slow down! Stop!" Ash yells as they slip and fall in front of them.

"That's my Poké Ball, twerp; give it to me!" James demanded.

"Not once when we sell it back!" Jessie said.

As the two tried to grab it, Ash stepped back and slipped on some water forcing him to grab the rails for dear life. "Ash!" His friends gasped in horror.

"Hey, get back! You idiots are going to make him fall," Misty said, as she and her friends ran to push Team Rocket back.

"All for a painted Pokeball?" Brock asks to help Ash up.

"For all we know they probably stole this from a booth." Ash assumes.

"Hey he makes a good point even if it was worthless why didn't you just steal it?" Meowth asks.

"He was very enthusiastic." James whines.

"And you fell for his words like a complete chump," Jessie antagonized him. "You're going to be making it up for me losing my paycheck, you hear me?!"

"Look, you can insult each other later. We gotta get on a lifeboat now or you'll never get your refund!" Misty snaps, shutting them up.

"Are those guys always like this?" Joe asked.

"Pretty much." Brock sighs.

Giselle shook her head, before noticing one last empty boat beside them. "Look, there's one!" She points.

As they made their way to it Ash and Brock helped their friends on first, but when Team Rocket scrambles to get on a wave hit them causing Brock to fall in, but Ash fell overboard and into the water.

"ASH!" Misty screamed.

As Ash struggled to make it to the surface he grabbed one of his Pokeballs and called out Mystic.

"Karp!" Mystic said as he grabbed onto her and she swam as fast as she could.

"Mystic-*gag* take my bag!" Ash said, trying to talk while in the water.

Grabbing the bag, Mystic pulled it up to the surface as quickly as she could, popping up right beside their raft.

"Mystic?! Where's Ash?" Brock asks, but Mystic tosses him the bag in reply, and Magby's head pops out from the zipper.

"Magby!" Misty gasped as Magby coughed slightly before recovering.

Brock said, "He's okay. Thankfully, the backpack shielded him from the water."

Joe asked, "But where's Ash?"

Giselle gasped and covered her mouth as she looked out at the sea. "He's not coming back up?"

"The twerp is done for?" Jessie asked in surprise.

"At such a young age?!" James exclaimed in disbelief.

"I won't miss him blasting us off all of the time," Meowth said.

"Shut up! Ash is tougher than he looks!" Misty snapped.

"Misty dived back down and found him!" Brock said.

With an affirming nod, the Magikarp dove back into the water.

Have you ever been near a sinking ship before? If not, let me tell you it's like a whirlpool. As the ship sinks into the ocean, it creates a vortex that sucks in anything nearby.

And unfortunately for Ash, he was being pulled into the shipwreck.

He struggled to breathe and swim up to the surface, but he couldn't resist the force of the vortex, which was sucking him in. 'I've gotta make it...to the top,' he thought to himself. 'This can't be the end.'

He had come very close to dying months ago. He didn't want to go through that experience again, especially not after having recovered so much from the incident.

"Karp! Karp!" Ash looked up as he saw Mystic swim in and grab onto him.

'Mystic!' Ash thought happily, she made it in time.

As the little fish began pulling Ash, she found herself fighting against the vortex, but it was proving to be difficult for her.

Cringing, Ash realized he was beginning to lose oxygen.

Mystic noticed his face was turning blue and he was slowly beginning to choke.

"Karp!" Mystic gasps.

She had to do something. If she didn't get Ash to the surface ASAP then he wouldn't last much longer.

Swimming with everything she could, a serious look appeared on her. She remembered how hurt Ash was when he was dying the first time they met and she was not gonna let that happen again!

A monstrous roar came from the mind of Mystic as her entire body began to glow.

Up on the surface, the Captain was standing up in his raft. "Now there is no need to panic. Anyone who did not make it out please say aye." The captain said but no one answered. "See? Everyone is safe."

"You're dead wrong!!" A voice yelled, getting everyone's attention as they turned to the boat where Brock, Misty, Giselle, Joe, Magby, and Team Rocket were all present. It was Misty who had yelled. "My friend fell into the sea, and hasn't come back up yet!"

Instantly, the passengers began to panic.

"I said there's no need to panic!" The captain said.

"Yes there is!" Giselle said.

"How can you stand there and say there's no reason to panic, when there's someone who could be dead at this point?!" Brock said.

"What kind of a quack captain are you?!" Joe yelled.

"What are you going to do, let the kid die?!"

"Someone is dying and you are just standing there!"

The captain began to whimper with every insult.

Suddenly, something began to glow from under the water's surface getting everyone's attention.

"Hey, there's something in the water!"

"What is it?" The crowd all looked over to the spot with interest.

Bursting out of the water, everyone looks to see a giant blue serpent Pokemon whose roar echoed through the storm.

"IT'S A GYARADOS!" Someone panicked as they looked in fear.

Ash's friends and Team Rocket screamed in fear, while Misty stood back at the far end of the boat, hyperventilating as she held Magby close to her chest, watching the fearsome sea serpent.

As the Gyarados swam to their boat, everyone held their breath in fear.

"I blame you 3 for this." Giselle said, glancing at Team Rocket.

However, to their surprise, Gyarados lowered its head to reveal Ash was lying on it.

"ASH!" They all exclaimed.

"MAGBY!" Magby exclaimed, relieved to see his father.

As Ash was dropped onto the lifeboat, Brock checked his vitals.

"Hang on!" Doing some chest compressions, Ash began to spit up water before coughing loudly.

With a groan, Ash slowly opened his eyes to see the worried looks of his friends looking down at him. "G-guys?" he croaked in a hoarse voice.

"He's alive!" Joe cheers.

All of the passengers began cheering upon hearing that the boy was alive, safe, and well.

"Excellent. See? Nothing to worry about. Now let's find our way back to shore." The Captain said trying to play it off like this mess never happened.

Unfortunately, this only made the Gyarados roar angrily at him, telling him to shut up and scaring the cowardly captain. "Please, don't eat me!" he cried.

"Ugh, guys I think I speak for all of us when I say the sooner we get to dry land the better." Ash groans sitting up.

He then looked down to his feet, and saw his baby Magby, hugging his feet, not wanting to let him go. "MagbyMagbyMagby." He cried.

"I'm sorry Magby? Did I scare you?" Ash asks, patting him on the forehead. "Don't worry it's all over now."

He then felt a presence behind him and saw the Gyarados looking down at him with a worried look.

"Mystic you evolved to save my life. Thank you." Ash smiles.

"Mystic?" Everyone gasped. This was Ash's Magikarp, and it evolved?

"So Magikarp can evolve into that?" James pauses looking at his gold Pokeball.

"Don't waste your breath James." Meowth said.

"Well, yeah, yeah, everything is fine and dandy, but can we please get out of this storm now?" Jessie asked.

"Absolutely, but once we dock you three can either get lost or we'll send you blasting off. Got it?" Misty glares.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Jessie brushed off.

"Mystic, take us to the nearest dry land." Ash said.

Getting some rope, Ash tied it around Mystic's body so they could use her as a makeshift raft. Climbing onto her back, Ash said, "Okay, Mystic, let's head for the nearest dry land."

"We're not following the captain's orders?" Joe asked.

"Would you trust him to figure out how we get back safe and sound?" Ash deadpanned.

Joe shouted, "Full speed ahead, Mystic!"

With a loud roar, Mystic began moving like a vessel across the rapidly churning seas, pulling the passengers she had on board.

After escaping what was probably the worst cruise ever, Ash, his friends, and Team Rocket left the disaster behind them just as the storm began to end.

-Party Data-

Ash:

Fearow (Talon)

Gyarados (Mystic)

Bulbasaur (Alpha)

Charmander (Torch)

Krabby (Crush)

Meowth (Bastet)

Magby (not caught yet)

Ekans (Naga) (Oak's lab)

Squirtle (Shades) (Oak's lab)

Beedrill (Videl) (Oak's lab)

Sandshrew (Quake) (Oak's lab)

Misty:

Staryu

Goldeen

Starmie

Seel

Oddish

Brock:

Geodude

Onix

Zubat

Paras

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I bet you were all surprised by the appearance of Giselle and Joe? Yeah, me Cloud40 thought about them.

Since we didn't like the original episode, we decided to go a new route with them. I hope you like it.

Now, another thing, like the original, Misty and Ash are going to have a sibling relationship, so they aren't being paired together. Thought it was made clear when I brought in Georgio.

Now I think that's all for now. I'll see you guys in the next update.