RMS Olympic - 1428 hours local time - Day 21 of Ash Ketchum's Pokemon Journey
Ash adjusted his footing as the guns stopped firing and the deck angle went downward, towards the bow.
"Not again. This is why I didn't want to go on the ship!" he said as he gathered Pikachu up in his arms.
"Pika." 'I know. But we're here, so we should save the day.' his starter said as he got onto Ash's shoulder. "Pikapi?" 'Right, Ash?'
Ash let out a weary sigh. "I hate this timeline." he said before a hook shot past him, clattering to the deck before reeling back, securing itself on the railing. "Oh, crap."
Ash rushed to the hook, trying to dislodge it before coming face to face moments later with a Rocket Grunt, who stared at him for a second before she seemed to recognize him… then a look of terror and fear appeared on her face before she pushed back on the line, screaming in terror as she fell to the ocean below. Other grunts that got up the deck also saw him and bolted, one smacking into a lifeboat davit and falling to the ocean. Head first.
"Ka?" 'What the actual f-'
"Wish I knew." Ash said, grabbing onto and dislodging the grappling hook with difficulty, twisting the thing through the railing bars. Two grunts screamed as they fell into the waters, which explained why it was so hard to move. "We need to get off this deck. Come on!"
RMS Olympic - Bridge
"Tell our security people to focus on keeping the areas to the bridge and engine room secure." ordered Hiroshi as he tried to formulate a plan. "We're not letting those Rockets sink this ship and sure as hell not giving it to the Aquas."
"No, sir. So… let them deal with the Rockets and we deal with the survivors?" his XO asked, as another 'bang' resulted in another hole in the hull. "We're gonna need to deal with those guns, sir."
"One problem at a time. Maybe the Aquas'll deal with them, too." Hiroshi said. Suddenly, the lights dimmed. "They cut the power."
"No power, no pumps. We'll have to seal off more areas of the ship."
"Just fucking great." he spat.
RMS Olympic - A Deck, port side promenade - 1440 Hours Local Time
"You know the boss is going to kill us, right?" asked one grunt as he made his way inside, gun held out in front of him.
"Don't know," said his partner. "All I know is Archer ordered us to search the ship, find the passengers, loot them and shoot them." It was the plan. Take what could be taken, kill the passengers, sink the ship, leave no survivors.
"This'll make us rich, right?" the first grunt asked, opening a door, walking into a suite before the door slammed into him, with a trainer coming out and tackling the grunt, slamming him into the glass windows keeping them from the outside, knocking out the poor bastard.
The grunt glared at the trainer, ready to fire, before noticing something about the attacker. Black hair, reddish-brown eyes…
'Shit! It's Ketchum!' he thought, knowing the Boss wanted him alive for some reason. If he killed the Ketchum kid, the punishment would be… extreme.
That hesitation cost him the initiative, Ketchum tackling him, grappling for the gun in his hands. The grunt let go with his left hand, punching the kid in the face, but Ash pulled on the right, dragging him down to the deck as the two fought for the gun.
The Rocket grunt got away, still holding the gun, but he was hit with a bolt of lightning that stunned him, briefly seeing a yellow rat as he struggled to stay upright.
Ketchum's Shadow Pikachu. Who looked like he wanted him dead.
Ketchum tackled him, pinning his gun arm to his chest. It was the last thing he knew as the finger involuntarily squeezed the trigger.
BANG!
Ash stared dumbly, not feeling any pain from the bullet. Then he saw where the gun was pointing.
At the grunt's chin.
Blood leaked from the wound onto the Rocket uniform, more bled from the top of his head, making his beret smell like iron and copper. Ash backed away, horrified.
"I… I… I-" he muttered before Pikachu whacked the back of his head with his tail.
"Pikapi!" 'Ash, get your head together! You did not kill him!' his starter stated. "Ka." 'Even if you did, he was trying to kill you. You had-'
"I don't kill." Ash snapped, before realizing his tone. "Sorry."
"Pika." 'Ash, you've had this problem since we got here. I'm not offended.' Pikachu said back. "Chu." 'But still, even if you did kill him, it was self-defense.' Pikachu sighed, jumping back to the deck. "Pi." 'And if you didn't, I would have.'
"What?!" Ash cried out, staring at Pikachu. "Pikachu, you can't-"
"Pika!" 'Can and will. You are more important to me and the others than any mindless grunt employed by Giovanni, Ghetsis or Lysandre. If we have to kill to keep you safe, so be it.' Pikachu said and vowed, every word being as serious as Ash's vow to make the women in his life happy without being their significant other.
"…I still don't like it. Killing is just… wrong." Ash whispered. But Pikachu heard it.
"Pikapi…" 'Ash, I know. I don't like it either, but to defend you is the only reason I will. If I can take them out without ending them, I'll do it. But when push comes to shove…' Pikachu trailed off, Ash getting his meaning.
"We can't stay here." Ash finally said. "We have to kick them off this ship and keep it from sinking."
"Pika?" 'Bad memories of the Anne?' Pikachu asked rhetorically.
"Very." Ash said as they left the body of the grunt and his unconscious partner.
RMS Olympic - C-Deck dining saloon - 1442 hours local time
The security people were giving all they had, but the rockets outnumbered them six to one.
So someone decided to help out.
A grunt slammed into a wall, hit by high-pressure water from a brown starfish with a jewel, Misty poking her head out from her cover. "Nice one, Staryu!" she complimented, the tired starfish sagging, but unbroken.
They had been fighting since the Rockets started to board, delaying them as much as possible so the security teams could regroup and get ready to fight back.
She would have shot them, after all, self-defense and all, but…
"Nice. Ash and I did that a lot to Jessie and James back in the old days." her astral counterpart said. She was the only reason none of these murderers got what was coming to them.
She nearly pulled out her big gun, which she hadn't used since she met Ash, but her mental self frowned on it, so she didn't. Since then, the Pokemon were knocking them out of the fight.
But they were tiring. She would have to give them potions and ethers (the homemade kind made from berries, as the professional-grade stuff was… expensive) before going on the attack again. At least they could be applied while they were in the Pokeballs.
So Misty returned Staryu to her ball, joining everyone but Psyduck… who was hiding under a table.
"Psy-ay-ay…" 'Leave me alone! I already need to change my feathers: what more do you want?!' the duck quacked.
"Still a pain, my timeline or yours." Astral Misty said, shaking her head. Then gunfire tore into the room, hitting the beautiful panelling and grazing Misty's left shoulder before she ducked behind a broken oak table.
"Well, well…" said a man wearing a modified black Rocket uniform, with teal hair and eyes, holding the machine pistol version of the Rocket's usual sidearm with its' stock and extended detachable magazine. "Misty fucking Waterflower. Your sisters are always such a pain in the ass."
"And who the hell are you?!" Misty barked back, the usual fire Ash was used to back in full force. Her astral self whooped, not that the Rocket noticed.
"Archer Apollo, Administrator of Team Rocket." the man, Archer, said almost politely. "The Boss wanted to cancel this attack, like he was content with the League's scraps. But now that I know you're here, I know damn well why." He fired again, the oak table stopping the rounds from reaching Misty, but she couldn't stay here.
"The Ketchum brat! His father was enough of a problem, but he's dead now thanks to that overgrown Shadow bird." Archer ranted, his gun clicking empty before he snarled, yanking the magazine out. "But he's still scared of dear old Delia. Well, I'm not!" He slammed another one in, pulling the trigger.
Nothing happened. Archer forgot to chamber a round.
"Damn it!" he snapped, all of his attention on the weapon while Misty snuck to another table, one with a cloth covering it for extra protection.
Misty knew fighting Archer would be a tall, annoying order, not to mention potentially dangerous.
"You can't hide! I will find you, you little bitch!" Archer spat before releasing three Pokemon, one barking, another howling.
The other was silent, but the smell… two dogs and a Koffing, if the sulfurous stench was right.
"You're not leaving this room alive! Houndour, Houndoom, find her!" he ordered, giving Misty the names of the dog Pokemon.
Well, that made things harder and easier. They were both dark-types, meaning Starmie would have a hard time with them using Bite or Dark Pulse.
But they were also fire-types...and she had a lot of water-types. Even if they were trained like an Elite Four's, she had a chance.
Elite level or not, fire could still be put out by water.
RMS Olympic - B-Deck - Reading Room
Ash ducked into the reading room, Pikachu jumping down from his shoulder.
"Pika." 'This is a horrible spot for a fight.' Pikachu deadpanned.
"We're passing through: just to get to the other side of the ship." Ash retorted. "We gotta get those boats away from the ship before we try and save it."
Ash's plan was to sink those gunboats, but first he had to get to one of the gangway hatches to get a better shot at rather, for Pikachu to get a better shot at them. Shadow Bolt would sink them and the rockets would be stuck on the water.
And the only way to the gangways was through the reading room according to the map he had and Pikachu was reading from. His early years in Kanto, Johto and Hoenn forced him to learn how to read a map.
If he ever got his hands on one, which was...rare.
"Let's get-" ash said before he was interrupted by the sound of rapid bangs, with him and Pikachu taking cover behind a bookshelf, which thankfully kept them from getting shot.
"Ketchum!" snapped an angry man with green hair as he reloaded the machine pistol. "You're going to pay for what your mother did to me, you little bastard!" He continued firing, right before it jammed. Ash broke cover and lunged at the man, knocking the gun out of his hands as they fell to the floor, Ash delivering a right hook into his jaw.
He forced Ash off, punching the young man in the gut before grabbing him and slamming his knee into Ash's face. "Mistake, boy." he spat, blood leaking from his mouth. "You're no hero. You're dead. And after I kill you, your mother's next."
"And-" Ash coughed out, getting air back into his lungs. "Who are you?"
The man scoffed. "Well, might as well entertain your question. Admin Proton Milas of Team Rocket." he said. "Now-"
He never finished his sentence as Pikachu thunderbolted him, forcing him to fall into a leather chair, which tipped over and made him fall ass over head.
"PIKA!" 'LIKE HELL YOU'RE TOUCHING MY BROTHER!' Pikachu roared as Proton shook off the electrocution, though not as well as Ash.
"Fucking rat!" he pulled out a pokeball, but Pikachu shocked him again before he could release anything. "Fine! I'll fucking kill you with a knife if I have to!"
Ash then remembered he still had the swords he took from the Samurai way back in Viridian Forest. Pikachu zapped Proton once more while Ash dropped his bag, finding the two weapons easily before drawing the shorter one.
Proton finally got up, snarling before seeing Ash holding the long, metal weapon in his hands, held with shaking hands and arms. And all he did was laugh.
"Stupid brat. You don't even know how to use that damn thin-" Proton said before Ash swung wildly, cutting Proton's left arm, making the man cry out in surprise before attempting to knife Ash back with some old bayonet, but Ash was smaller and faster, dodging the swipes, if barely.
"The only way you're going to stop me is to kill me and you don't have the stomach for it!" Proton raved as he overcommitted a downward stab that missed before Ash charged.
And ran him through.
Proton gasped as he felt the blade go through his back, missing his spine, but hurting nevertheless.
Ash then drew the blade out and clubbed him over the head with the pommel, knocking him out.
"Pikapi?" 'Is he dead?' Pikachu asked as Ash walked back to the backpack he dropped and put the sword away, sighing.
"No. I won't kill him. But he's not going anywhere. Not like this. Besides, he'll survive." he said, putting the back over his shoulders. "I won't kill. But they're not going to come out of it smelling like roses."
"Pika!" 'THAT we can agree on!' Pikachu cried as Ash took Proton's gun, Pokeball belt and knife. If he was getting up, he wasn't going to do any damage.
Pallet Town - Kanto Region - 1443 hours local time
Delia Ketchum hummed as she kneaded dough for a rather large loaf of bread to go with the stew that was boiling on the stovetop when she heard the vidphone ring.
And not the usual cheerful tone. It was the other one. The one her brother liked to play when they were younger.
Delia stopped her work, then wiped her hands clean before answering it. "What in the hell do YOU want, Giovanni?" she snapped, not happy to see her elder brother's face.
"Nice to see you, too, Delia." Giovanni said somewhat meekly. Delia was always the more terrifying of the two siblings and that had not completely faded.
After all, Giovanni was just a gym leader. Highest rated one in Kanto, but still a gym leader.
Delia could still kick his ass.
Being ex-Elite Four allowed that to happen.
"Answer my question, Giovanni. You never call unless some Rocket nonsense is passing through Pallet Town and you want me to not turn your grunts into mulch for Oak's gardens." Delia replied. "I told you to stay away from me and my family."
"That's the thing, little sister…" Giovanni said, making Delia's face turn from a mere frown to an all-out scowl. He never called her 'little sister' except to drop some kind of bomb on her.
"Giovanni, you have 30 seconds to start talking before I have Mimey teleport me to Indigo Plateau and I tell Lance everything you've been up to." Delia threatened.
"Proton and Archer attacked the RMS Olympic." Giovanni said very quickly, much to Delia's confusion.
"Ball-less and Scaredy?" Delia said, referring to her nicknames for Proton and Archer respectively. "What about-"
"Ash is on the Olympic!" Giovanni cried, looking terrified out of his mind. For good reason.
Delia was a force of nature. A family curse: a terrible temper. Giovanni had it, she had it, even Belladonna and Ash had it. Motherhood only focused her rage towards that which would harm her children.
Bell and Ash just hadn't found the right method to focus it yet and Red and Yellow hadn't had their first 'anger moment'. But that was beside the point. Because now she was pissed. And whatever pissed her off was GOING TO DIE.
"…Your men." Delia ground out. "Are trying… to kill… MY SON?!"
"I ordered them to break off the attack the moment his name was added to the passenger list!" Giovanni snapped, his own temper showing. "I knew this would be your reaction! I am many things, but I will never kill family, either with my own hands or by proxy."
"Right now, I DON'T CARE, brother." Delia all but snarled. "If Ash has even one STRATCH on him, your little mafia dies. Do you understand me?!"
Giovanni's form on the screen sagged in defeat. "I pray to Arceus that they fail." he finally said.
"Damn well better." Delia said before ending the call.
"Who was that, mom?" came the unexpected voice of Yellow, making her jump and look to see her daughter, dressed in her usual outfit, including her sunhat and holding a Rowlet doll.
"Oh, no one, sweety." Delia lied. "Just a friend."
Yellow stared at her blankly, then left the kitchen after grabbing a cherry tomato from the fridge.
RMS Olympic - C-Deck Dining Saloon
Houndour sniffed around, trying to find the scent of the human female his master wanted. He didn't ask questions. He obeyed.
Then he was grabbed by a yellow pair of hands, which kept him from barking.
"Psy." 'First and last warning.' the Psyduck said, the usual dopy as hell look vanishing in favor of PURE HATE. "Duck." 'Stay. Away. From. My. Trainer.'
Fun thing about dark-types. They're immune to direct psychic attacks. Psybeam and the like does nothing.
That being said, nothing protects them against psychically held items like the large knife that just started floating towards his-
Houndour promptly fainted in terror.
Houndoom snorted out fire as he searched the room, his master demanding results. The girl would either die or warm his master's bed. He didn't care which.
He then heard something under one of the burning tables. The horned dog then went under, finding nothing but a squawking Wingull, flapping wings in place.
The water-bird then began hopping away, Houndoom snarling as he followed, only for the table to collapse on top of him, pinning him.
"Hya." 'Surprise.' said a Staryu before Rapid Spinning into his skull with a sickening CRACK.
Archer let Koffing patrol around him, the dopy Pokemon preparing to emit poisonous gas at any moment.
"Where the hell is that little bitch?" he spat before a bullet shot past his head, grazing his ear before he focused on the shooter, a massive man wearing a Team Aqua uniform.
If a Team Aqua tattoo, blue pants and gloves could be called a uniform, with an old anti-material rifle as his weapon of choice.
The round was a full inch from his head and it STILL hurt Archer, such as he couldn't hear from his right ear.
"Archer!" yelled the massive man. "I thought I lost you back in Lilycove two years ago!"
"Go to hell, Ushio!" Archer yelled as he took cover before firing the machine pistol wildly to get his opponent into cover himself.
"That's right! Matt Ushio's the name and I'm going to kick your ass for what you did to my Sharpedo, you son of a bitch!" the Aqua Admin yelled as he fired the rifle again.
"Nothing personal! Hoenn Pokemon are big money in Johto and Kanto!" Archer retorted as he reloaded, the table cracking as the round spot straight through. Archer winced as he got up and ran as the angry man tried to hit him again.
Seriously, the guy took it too seriously. The Rocket then tripped, smacking into the half-open door and hitting his head on the bulkhead wall.
A Staryu then span into Matt's head, stunning him, but not knocking him out of the fight before the little bitch Archer was looking for knocked the big man into a burning table, breaking a wine bottle in the process.
The Aqua Admin then caught fire, but Archer didn't see anything else as a Starmie used confusion, slamming him into the wall before he lost consciousness.
RMS Olympic - D-Deck - Aft Grand Staircase
This attack wasn't supposed to be happening. The Boss called it off over a week ago.
And she knew why: it wasn't common knowledge outside the admins, but Delia Ketchum being the Boss' sister and Ash Ketchum being his eldest nephew explained much.
But Archer and Proton did not like Ash. Archer had the Mt Moon thing, which he was pissed over. Proton was still pissed over the Pokemon Tech attack being foiled by Ash and had issues with Delia, but wasn't stupid enough to attack her.
Agent Domino ducked behind a column, looking for the boy in question. She had to protect him from Proton and Archer or else Giovanni would kill her. The blonde spy peeked around the pillar, mindful of the ship's slow downward pitch. The ship was sinking now. She had to get Ash off this ship before it did.
A loud crack interrupted her thoughts as a bullet slammed into the column, norrowly stopped by the thick oak it was made of from going through and killing her.
"Well, well. A Rocket spy." said a woman with black hair wearing a… revealing version of the Team Aqua uniform as Domino pulled out her own sidearm. "This is the second time your team's interfered in our operations. Matt's still not over his lost Sharpedo."
"I had nothing to do with that!" Domino snapped. "Look, I'm here to get an asset off this ship! You can deal with Archer and Proton if you want, just leave me be, Shelly!"
The Aqua Admin, Shelly, scoffed. "And why would I do that?" she asked. "Whatever is good for you is better served by Team Aqua."
"One, your plan is stupid, two, if he dies, Team Rocket dies!" Domino retorted, blind firing the weapon at Shelly, he took cover behind the staircase itself, bullets narrowly missing the Aqua admin.
"And why should I care about that?!" Shelly yelled as she fired back, Domino breaking cover and heading up a floor, Shelly following her while shooting.
"You want Delia Ketchum trying to kill you?! It's her son I'm trying to rescue, idiot!" the Rocket spy said, knowing every trainer that was around prior to Belladonna Ketchum's birth knew Delia's history as an Elite Four member.
Shelly froze, the threat of Delia Ketchum going after Team Aqua for preventing her son's escape from the sinking ship enough to make her freeze. Then flee, likely to inform her boss that Ash was there and to leave before Delia decided to utterly annihilate all of them to the tune of Here Comes the Bride.
Delia hid it well, but she had a twisted sense of humor.
Domino sighed in relief before the ship lurched forward and downward, making her fall on her ass.
Outside the RMS Olympic
Archer awoke to the sharp, stinging sensation of impacting the sea, dumped overboard by persons unknown.
…Correction: he knew damn well who dumped him out that hatch.
"WATERFLOWER, YOU FUCKING BITCH!" he screamed before he saw Matt fall out, still on fire, screaming, jumping out of the ship.
On top of him.
Archer yelped as he was pushed under, seawater burning his eyes as Matt struggled to get afloat, likely in searing pain from being burned. Archer barely got away from the Aqua Admin, who roared in pain as he surfaced.
The Rocket Admin didn't particularly care, swimming for shore. It would take a while. But the attack was a failure: Team Aqua was sinking the gunboats with their old submarine's gun, putting holes in the gunboats on the port side. Eventually, they would dive, go to the starboard side and sink the rest.
Archer seethed with rage, going for shore. He'd get revenge for this.
RMS Olympic - E-Deck, Compartment 10
Ash got to the gangway just in time to see some old sub start sinking everything, so he decided to go below decks to see if there was some way to stop the ship from sinking.
"Pikapi?" 'Ash, you know this is insane, right?' Pikachu asked as starter and trainer got closer to the hole in the hull.
"I'm not letting this ship sink. There's got to be a way to seal the holes and stop the water." Ash said as they entered the hold where the water was coming from, with what looked like steel patches and rivets near the hatchway. Someone tried to patch the holes and gave up.
Ash was not in the habit of giving up. He would seal that hole and thus retrieved a Pokeball from his belt.
"Butterfree, I choose you!" he called, releasing the butterfly Pokemon from his ball.
"Free!" 'What's going on, Ash?' he asked.
"We need to stop this ship from sinking. There's a lot of holes and we need to patch them." Ash said as he began lifting one of the patches, struggling with it.
Butterfree used his psychic might to begin lifting the plate. "Butterfree." 'You secure them, I'll lift them.' the butterfly said as Pikachu jumped on what looked like some kind of air pump.
"Pika!" 'An arc welder! I can power it and Ash can weld the plates in place!' Pikachu exclaimed, Ash getting a brief migraine as he remembered that he knew how to solder, which was pretty close to welding.
Butterfree pushed the plate against the hole with his mind, struggling against the water flowing in, but it strained the bug-type, as his psychic might was barely enough.
"Free…" 'Ash… hurry…' he begged as Ash grabbed a pair of welding goggles, putting them over his eyes before taking in a breath and going underwater, firing up the welding torch as Pikachu charged it, running the welder over the edges of the plate, fusing the two pieces of metal together, leaving no gaps he could see.
But the hole was too big for one plate. He was only slowing it down.
Welding these would take time.
RMS Olympic - Bridge
"Pumps are back online and those Team bastards are leaving." the XO reported as the board in the back of the wheelhouse lit up, showing where the ship was holed.
Hiroshi looked at the damage, seeing nine out of the ship's sixteen compartments having suffered damage. "Those pumps will only delay our sinking. Get ready to evacuate the passengers: we-"
The board then changed lights as Compartment 9's status changed as the light turned green, showing the damage repaired.
Someone was fixing the damage.
"Who in the hell?" he asked.
"Captain, the security chief is reporting one of the passengers opening a sealed hatch and heading for Compartment 8…" the comms officer said, confusion on her face. "With an arc welder?"
"He closed that hatch with the emergency patching equipment." Hiroshi said with some amount of awe. "How many Electric/Water types and Psychics are in the security roster?"
"One Chinchou for emergency welding operations and two Kadabra for putting the plating in place and reducing the water flow." his XO reported.
"Get them to Compartment 8! I want that hole sealed! Pump the water out of compartment 9, NOW!" the captain roared. "We might just be able to save this ship after all."
RMS Olympic - Compartment 8, D-Deck, above former Boiler Room 4, now Cargo Hold 8
The water came up to his waist and was cold, but Ash wasn't letting that slow him down. He was unwilling to let this ship go to the bottom.
"Pikapi…" 'You're insane, you know that?' Pikachu asked once more as water hit his back paws.
"Right now, sanity is overrated." Ash retorted. "Besides, after nearly seven years of legendary after legendary, team after team, you think we're still completely sane?"
"…Pi." 'Good point.' Pikachu admitted as they went through another hatch, seeing their way below completely filled with water. "Chu." '…Crap.'
"How long can you hold your breath?" Ash asked mock-cheerfully as he sighed. "We still need to patch the hole."
"Pika." 'I won't last down there any longer then you will and Butterfree-' Pikachu said before Ash took a breath and dived through the flooded hatch. "Pikapi!" 'Arceusdamn it, Ash!'
Water.
One of the things life needs most. But what gives life can take it. Ash knew this all too well.
Ash could hold his breath for six minutes. It took him a long time to master how to conserve air. May and Manaphy extended that with Life Transfer, but he had six minutes to seal that breach. Because he couldn't breathe underwater.
Pikachu could hold it longer, for fifteen, due to his nature as a Pokemon.
If they couldn't seal the hole, they were dead.
Butterfree was waiting above, using Pikachu and Ash as his eyes to guide the plating into position. There was just one problem: the damage to the hull in this section meant the plating would have to be welded on from the outside.
If Ash failed, he would drown. If he succeeded, he would be trapped outside the ship.
The Chosen One got to work as he began welding the plate to the hull.
RMS Olympic - B-Deck Port Promenade Deck
Misty had a hard time finding Ash.
"Where, oh where did our idiot go?" her astral self said as Misty ran through the promenade, noticing something off about the pitch of the ship. The stern was no longer going up. It was like the ship was stabilizing.
"The ship's taken too many holes. How is it righting…" Misty muttered before realizing it. "Ash!"
"Did he adopt a martyr complex since he left Kanto for Alola?" Astral Misty asked before her real self pulled out Archer's machine pistol, still loaded and shot out the window, glass falling to the seas below.
"Are you fucking CRAZY?!" her past self asked before Misty looked out of the window and saw flashes just below the waterline fifty feet aft. Ash was welding plates to the hull, keeping the ship from sinking by patching the holes so the pumps could get it out.
He was also going to drown doing it.
"Is he crazy?!" her projection snapped before Misty pulled out a Pokeball.
"If he is… we need him." Misty said before jumping into the sea.
The hole was closed, but Ash could barely see it. His vision was blurred, his lungs were burning, he could barely think.
It was over. Ash was dying.
And his only regret was watching the world die and not being able to stop it again.
Maybe Pikachu and the others… could…
The last thing Ash saw was something blue moving towards him from the deep before blacking out.
Gyarados roared as he surfaced, Misty exhaling as she held Ash in her arms, seemingly lifeless.
"This is familiar." her astral self said as she looked at Ash. "I had to give him CPR after the Shamouti thing."
She turned Ash onto his stomach, with her… boyfriend? …coughing up water, spitting it out of his lungs.
His coughing stopped, water still in his lungs. Misty would not have that.
She leaned forward to put her mouth on his, but water was pulled out of his lungs by psychic power, his mouth having a column of seawater erupt from it before being shoved into the sea.
"Free…" said a surprising voice, Misty looking up to see Ash's Butterfly barely aloft, visibly tired. The butterfly then dropped onto Gyarados' head. Ash then began coughing properly, wheezing for air.
"Damn it. I thought you'd take his first kiss by saving his life." her astral self groused before Misty blushed heavily.
RMS Olympic - En Route to Porta Visa, former Nihon Naval Shipyard - 1614 hours local time
The Olympic, thanks to the heroic efforts of the Prince of Rota and in no small part to the serious redesign of the ship after her younger sister's sinking, was safely afloat once more.
Four of the breached compartments were still open to the sea and there was serious fire damage to the upper decks, but the ship was still sailing.
Even if every member of the crew was staring at the forecastle and how dangerously close the prow and anchor winch were to touching the water.
Right now, Ash just wanted to rest. This was very close to adding another tally to the number of times he died and he still felt half-dead.
"Pika." 'That was horrible.' Pikachu said, his fur still wet from the time in the ocean. He had to climb up Gyarados to escape. "Pikapi…" 'And Misty was so close to giving you a kiss…'
"Pikachu… Misty deserves SO much better." Ash retorted.
"Pika." 'Like who, that crossdressing freak from the Orange Islands?' Pikachu retorted.
Ash shuddered. That 'gym leader' (Orange Islands, so technically, it didn't count) creeped the living hell out of him when he started doing that. "I hate to admit it, but even I'm a better choice then he is." he said.
The door opened, Misty walked in, a previously unknown member of her little Poke-family sitting on her shoulder as a Wingull looked at him. "Hi." she said, hands behind her back.
Ash was really tired of Misty being shy. She was supposed to be angry, yelling, all that sort of thing. "…Hey." he answered back.
"So… I know what you've been through-" she started before Ash coughed. "It's complicated-"
"Can't be more complicated than me being from an alternate timeline, trying to save the universe from some genocidal madman." Ash said, almost amused.
"Mewtwo."
Ash froze at Misty saying that name. And immediately, his mind returned to that damned day on New Island.
(Two beings of insane power, one created by some scientist somewhere, one the origin-mother of all Pokemon, prepared to erupt pure power at one another. Ash couldn't stand it and ran between the energy blasts. "BOTH OF YOU STOP!" he cried. His last words as they impacted him, resulting in his death)
"…How do you know that name?" Ash asked, his voice distant and haunted. Remembering how you died did that to you.
"You won't believe it, but… when you… died on New Island, Mewtwo and Mew made you… well, there's no way to say it." Misty said. "You had a psychic imprint of me from your timeline. And she's stuck to me."
…That was not the weirdest thing Ash had run into. Rather mundane, actually, when compared to alternate universes, time travel and whatever Sabrina did after the first time he lost against her.
Not something he wanted to relive.
"Yeah… I can believe it, sadly." he finally admitted after a moment. "Believe me, psychic nonsense is something I had to deal with in every region at least once."
Misty stared blankly before blinking, as if she heard some glib comment from someone only she could hear. "Sabrina." she said.
"Yeah, that was weird. And you don't want to know about the other regions." Ash said.
"Actually, she… told me everything. She WAS around you the entire time." Misty said, Ash's face going white as a sheet.
Well, that was going to make an interesting conversation later.
Oblivia Region - Roughly the same time
Shadow Pokemon were all on the ground, either wounded, dead or dying from their rampage against the humans and normal Pokemon of the region, what few of them were left.
"Goom." 'That sucked.' Goomy said as he used Rain Dance to make himself feel better.
While the battle was brief, mainly once those human military people got involved, it was brutal.
Hawlucha had the bright idea to join the fight. He called it training for the Kanto League. Now he was nursing about a dozen broken bones and the headache from hell. They were lucky to get out of that with their lives.
Serena even used some crazy crossbow against a Shadow Gyarados. It… did not end well for the Gyarados, especially as she was screaming something about the species 'ruining everything for her'.
They did not want to know.
"Froak." 'We have bigger problems.' Froakie then said, making the group jump.
"LING!" 'Sweet fucking Palkia, DON'T DO THAT!' Fletchling chirped. "Flet!" 'We didn't even know you were there!'
"Froak." 'I recognize my faults and will correct them.' Froakie retorted sarcastically. "Kie." 'But has anyone checked on Noibat?'
"Goomy." 'Still sulking about being a Noibat again and not a Noivern.' Goomy said, gaining a look from all present. "Goo." 'What? I'm not sulking. I'm working on getting back to being a Goodra.'
No one believed him.
"Froakie." 'Back on topic, I ran into something before I-' Froakie started before they heard an enraged scream.
"Goo?" 'NOW what?'
Kanto Region Coast - 1702 Hours Local Time
Archer crawled ashore, sputtering and coughing. He was alive. He was free.
"Hello, Archer."
…He was dead. Archer looked up to see Giovanni, dressed in his black trench coat and fedora, a Shelder under the crook of his left arm. One of the few that knew Teleport, because everyone forgot how to teach them the move and who would suspect a Shelder?
"I told you not to attack the Olympic." the Boss growled. "I don't care what your personal hate of the boy is, Archer. I will not risk Team Rocket by making my sister angry enough to kill us all."
"You know damn well what he did to us at Mount Moon! I barely got out of there!" Archer snapped back before a hammer was cocked back.
Giovanni aimed the handgun in his right hand at Archer's head, looking cold and angry. "You had promise." he said, seemingly sad. "But sadly, you made it personal. And when you go attack my nephew…"
"Please, Boss, NO!" Archer begged as he tried to get to his knees.
"That is an attack on ME." Giovanni finished before pulling the trigger. BANG!
Nearby, a group of teenagers all looked at the Olympic, smoke rising from her superstructure in some places as fires were put out.
"Didn't think Team Rocket had the balls to attack a Pernon Line ship, let alone the flagship." one of them said as the Olympic, low in the water at the bow, steamed towards Porta Vista.
"Think he was on board?" another asked as a pretty girl lowered a pair of binoculars, a Cubone watching the ship with her.
"He saved us, Joe." she said, staring at the ship as she limped for repairs. "No doubt he saved the Olympic, too. Alright, people, you know what to do: any Rockets get to shore, round them up! If they resist, shoot them as a last resort. We want them alive."
"Cu." said the Cubone.
"And yes, he would disapprove." Giselle said as her team got to work. Rocket hunting was such a pain.