Looking at the scene before them, the two humans and one Meowth were too stunned to speak.
Dodrio and Graveler, two Pokémon that were usually quite powerful, now lay on the floor like lumps of charcoal, completely motionless.
The scorched marks on the deck looked as though they had been burned by a raging fire, leaving deep impressions in their minds. Worse still, several large cracks had formed in the wooden floor, as if it might collapse at any moment.
An Electric-type attack had actually one-shot a Rock/Ground-type Graveler?
"You guys go next."
Jessie decisively ordered the other Team Rocket members to step in.
For now, they clearly couldn't handle this twerp themselves.
"Someone save Meowth!" Meowth cried weakly. Smoke was still rising from its body.
Team Rocket members in the main hall were being defeated one after another. As they fled, some even damaged parts of the ship.
The vessel was now riddled with holes and barely holding together.
"Everyone, please stay calm!"
A middle-aged man shouted loudly as he put on a police uniform.
"I'm a police officer! Reinforcements are already on the way. Please proceed to the lifeboats in an orderly manner!"
At that moment, a violent tremor shook the ship—as if something massive had slammed into the hull.
Everyone instinctively grabbed onto nearby objects to avoid being thrown to the ground.
The officer directed the trainers to board the lifeboats in order.
Just moments earlier, the captain had confidently guaranteed that the ship could hold out.
Yet now—
The captain was the first one to reach the lifeboats.
"Where's Ash?" Brock looked around anxiously.
"He went after Team Rocket," Misty replied, her beautiful eyes filled with worry.
Before leaving, Ash had told her he planned to pursue Team Rocket because they had another yacht prepared. He told her to regroup with Officer Jenny.
After hearing Misty explain, Brock relaxed a little.
At least Ash hadn't fallen into the sea.
"Don't worry. Ash isn't ordinary—he must have a backup plan."
Urged by Officer Jenny, Misty finally boarded the lifeboat.
Meanwhile, Ash and Pikachu were chasing Team Rocket through the ship.
Team Rocket was practically going insane.
They had no idea what had gotten into this twerp—he was relentlessly chasing them down.
Usually, they were the ones chasing others.
Now the situation had completely reversed.
"Twerp! Do you have a grudge against us or something? Meowth!" Meowth shouted while being carried on James's shoulder, occasionally twitching from Pikachu's lingering electric shocks.
"Enough talking. Hand over the yacht you prepared," Ash said.
He had overheard Team Rocket mentioning the yacht earlier.
Now was the perfect time to use it.
The S.S. Anne's lifeboats might not be enough, so he planned to borrow Team Rocket's yacht to pick up Misty and Brock.
"How did you know we had a yacht?"
Jessie, James, and Meowth stared at him in shock.
They exchanged confused glances.
The yacht had been prepared at the last minute, and they hadn't told anyone about it.
So how had the information leaked?
BOOM!
A deafening sound echoed as the ship suddenly lurched violently from side to side.
Ash and Team Rocket were thrown around by the massive force, repeatedly slamming into the deck.
The wooden boards creaked loudly under the impacts.
If not for their sturdy physiques, the violent shaking might have scrambled their brains.
"Ow!"
Meowth suddenly screamed in pain.
He had become a cushion beneath Jessie and James.
James soon noticed something strange happening near his backside.
Looking down, he realized Meowth was poking his butt with its claws.
"James! I told you to take good care of Meowth—is this how you do it?" Jessie scolded him while gently patting Meowth's head.
"It happened too suddenly! I couldn't control it!" James replied apologetically.
"Look at how the twerp treats his Pokémon."
Meowth looked at Pikachu with envy.
Ash was holding Pikachu tightly in his arms, protecting it from any harm.
Meowth sighed internally.
They were both Pokémon.
So why was the treatment so different?
Then he looked at his own teammates.
Just moments ago they had used him as a human—no, Pokémon—cushion.
CRACK!
Two huge holes suddenly opened in the surrounding floorboards.
Seawater burst in like a volcanic eruption.
"Why are you still standing there? If we don't leave now, this place will flood," Ash warned.
The nearby hull had clearly been tampered with by Team Rocket, otherwise it wouldn't have collapsed so easily.
"Let's call a temporary truce and escape first," Jessie said.
She and James accepted Ash's proposal.
They shook hands to declare a temporary ceasefire.
"Hmph." Meowth reluctantly extended its paw.
Pikachu reached out and shook Meowth's paw.
A mischievous glint flashed in Pikachu's eyes.
BZZZT!
"YAAOW!!"
The sound of electricity crackling mixed with Meowth's scream.
Pikachu had secretly zapped Meowth.
Jessie and James ignored the small scuffle between Pikachu and Meowth and hurried ahead.
Right now, escaping was the priority.
Besides…
They couldn't win anyway.
"Why did we stop? Meowth?" Meowth asked in confusion.
Jessie and James were staring at something ahead.
"When did this door close?" Jessie said, kicking and punching the steel door, which echoed loudly.
"Let me handle it, Meowth!"
Meowth shouted confidently.
It took several steps back and slashed forward with its claws, leaving streaks of claw marks flashing through the air.
SCRREEECH!
Its claws raked across the metal door, leaving a deep scratch.
Meowth landed gracefully and turned to Pikachu with a smug look.
"Pika…"
(Stop pretending. Look at the door.)
Pikachu shook its head in disappointment.
"Seriously, Meowth?" Ash said helplessly.
Despite all the dramatic scratching, the steel door only had a few shallow marks.
It hadn't even broken the surface.
All that noise—
And the damage was practically nothing.
"Charmander, Squirtle!"
Team Rocket obediently stepped aside.
Right now, the only person with Pokémon capable of opening the door was the twerp.
Charmander slowly released a stream of fire.
When the flames touched the steel door, a harsh sizzling sound erupted as the metal gradually softened.
Soon, a large hole melted through the door.
Then Squirtle sprayed water onto the molten metal.
Hiss—
Steam rose instantly as the metal rapidly cooled.
"Nice work!"
Jessie and James stood side by side, nodding with satisfaction at the hole in the door.
"Meowth, you should really learn from this."
"If we relied on your soft little claws…"
"By the time we drowned, you still wouldn't have broken the door's defense."
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