"You two aren't any better yourselves!" Meowth protested after being lectured by his own teammates.
Even with the powerful Pokémon their boss had given them, they still couldn't beat that yellow electric mouse. Their Pokémon weren't weak—aside from Pikachu being particularly strong, the bigger problem was clearly the Trainers.
"Why aren't we leaving yet?"
Ash glanced at the message Officer Jenny had sent him asking for his location.
There was also the Kanto trio group chat—Misty and Brock were constantly tagging him, asking if he was safe. They even sent a video taken from a rescue boat showing the S.S. Anne.
"Look at this."
Ash showed the video to Team Rocket. The S.S. Anne had already broken into two pieces. Parts of the ship were on fire, and it was slowly sinking beneath the sea.
"It's over… we're going to die here."
Jessie's voice was full of despair. Her face was pale, and deep fear filled her eyes. James was equally panicked, frantically scanning the surroundings.
"What are you talking about? Don't we still have the yacht?" Meowth snapped.
Unable to stand their nonsense, Meowth gave them both a Fury Swipes across the face to calm them down.
After Meowth's reminder, Jessie and James suddenly remembered the yacht.
"Let's go—follow me!"
James waved his hand and took the lead.
Ash recalled Squirtle and held Charmander tightly in his arms. Pikachu perched on Ash's head, scanning the path ahead.
Since the ship's power had already been cut, everything around them was pitch black. Fortunately, the flame on Charmander's tail provided a faint light, illuminating the way forward.
After more than ten minutes of struggle, James finally found the yacht just before the rising water reached his chest.
With a low rumbling sound, the yacht's engine finally started.
"Hey kid, you're up." Jessie pointed at the iron door ahead, signaling Ash to have Charmander melt it.
Jessie had originally wanted to command Charmander herself, but the little Fire-type turned its head away and ignored her completely. Left with no choice, she had to rely on Ash.
Boom!
Charmander only listened to Ash. Flames poured from its mouth, burning the thick iron door until it melted open—just wide enough for the yacht to pass through.
James steered the yacht forward, and whenever another iron door blocked the way, Charmander handled it.
Luckily, Ash had been raising Charmander according to the Charizard Training Manual provided by the system, so the task was easy.
"That Charmander sure has a lot of fire left," Meowth said in surprise.
He had seen fierce Charmanders before—but never one that could breathe fire so many times in a row.
Perhaps annoyed that Meowth belonged to Team Rocket, Charmander suddenly blasted him with a burst of flames.
That kid's Pokémon really were something else!
Jessie had noticed it too. Her gaze shifted back and forth between Pikachu and Charmander.
"Pika pika—chu!"
Pikachu noticed Jessie's ill-intentioned stare. Sparks crackled from the electric sacs on its cheeks.
"Jessie, Pikachu says you'd better behave," Meowth translated with a soot-covered face. "Otherwise, we're the ones who'll suffer."
He looked fearfully at Charmander. That Pokémon wasn't nearly as honest as it looked—just like its Trainer. Pure-looking on the outside, but secretly mischievous inside.
"Hurry! Faster!"
Meowth shouted anxiously, staring at the flames rapidly approaching from behind. The yacht raced through the ship's interior, but it clearly wasn't fast enough to escape the fire.
"Squirtle, Water Gun!"
Squirtle fired a powerful jet of water to block the incoming flames.
"Oh yeah! Go Squirtle!" ×2
Jessie and Meowth placed all their hopes on Squirtle.
Unfortunately, Water Gun wasn't Hydro Pump. It couldn't withstand the explosive flames rushing toward them.
BOOM!
The yacht's engine was already running at maximum power, and with the added shockwave from the explosion, the vessel shot straight out of the ship—faint screams echoing from inside the yacht.
"It's not working anymore," James said.
The yacht had broken down—probably damaged by the explosion.
"Where are we?"
Looking around, they felt as if they had flown through the air for a while. Now all they could see was the vast ocean stretching endlessly in every direction. The waves surged violently, and the S.S. Anne was nowhere in sight.
"Are we… going to drift at sea now?"
Living on the streets was one thing—but drifting across the ocean was a first.
"Kid! There's a small island over there, meow!"
Meowth pointed toward a small island on the right. The yacht was still some distance away from it, but with the engine broken, they could only rely on manual methods.
"So you want to use Water-type Pokémon to pull the yacht?" Ash guessed.
Team Rocket nodded vigorously.
"Where's your Gyarados?" Jessie asked curiously when she saw Ash only send out Squirtle, which was about the same size as Meowth.
"Didn't bring it with me," Ash replied awkwardly.
"Hahaha!"
"Watch closely! Now is the glorious moment for Magikarp!!!"
James took out a Poké Ball painted gold. The grin on his face was impossible to suppress.
You all kept laughing at me—saying Magikarp was useless...
At this moment, James felt that spending his salary to buy Magikarp had been the best decision of his life.
The Kick of Evolution?
Ash stared intently at the Magikarp James released. It didn't look much different from a normal one—just slightly larger.
Pokémon: Magikarp — Lv. 19
The level wasn't high enough either. That famous "Kick of Evolution" probably wouldn't happen… right?
"You're sure this thing can pull the yacht?"
The tied-up Magikarp only flopped up and down, completely failing to pull the rope.
To prove the kid wrong, James tossed Magikarp into the water.
The result…
Exactly what Ash predicted—it only bounced up and down.
"Ugh!"
"I can't even watch this…"
Jessie sighed deeply. James had spent 30,000 Poké Dollars on this fish. He might as well have given the money to her—she could've turned into a mermaid instead.
Ash recalled Squirtle. One Water-type Pokémon wasn't enough to pull the yacht anyway—better let it rest.
James pulled Magikarp back up, untied the rope, and kicked it toward Meowth.
"Forget it. Meowth, you can eat it."
"Magikarp are basically all bones," Ash warned.
But he was a little too late.
Meowth had already bitten down—clamping onto Magikarp's skull.
Crack!
"Why didn't you say that earlier?!" Meowth complained bitterly. His teeth throbbed with pain. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, so he kicked Magikarp back into the water.
The moment Magikarp hit the sea, it began glowing with the classic evolution light.
In the blink of an eye—
It evolved into Gyarados.
So it really was the Kick of Evolution…
James and Meowth had each delivered a kick—finally evolving the Magikarp.
Gyarados stared at them with an extremely unfriendly gaze.
"Actually… that was just a misunderstanding," Meowth quickly explained after sensing Gyarados's dangerous mood.
"I was just testing whether your skull was strong enough!!!"
"Really! A Pokémon would never lie to another Pokémon!"
PS: I've been releasing chapters daily . Honestly, it hurts seeing almost no support on Patreon after all that work.If you're enjoying the fic, even a little, supporting me would mean a lot. It helps a student stay independent .
complete fic (all chapters ) are already up on Patreon → patreon.com/Chakraflow789
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