"Thunderbolt!"
Still planning to flip the yacht with Dragon Rage and Twister, Gyarados didn't believe Meowth's explanation at all. It only wanted revenge on Meowth and James.
Pikachu's Thunderbolt instantly calmed Gyarados down.
A Level-20 Water/Flying-type like Gyarados had a four-times weakness to Electric-type moves. Taking a Thunderbolt head-on was asking for trouble.
"Go tell it to help pull the boat," Ash said after dealing with Gyarados. He took the last two Super Potions from his backpack and handed them to Meowth.
Meowth cautiously approached Gyarados and translated Ash's request.
After getting shocked by Pikachu, Gyarados behaved much better. Once it finished the Super Potions, it obediently began pulling the yacht.
"Heh heh, looks like we managed to tame you," Meowth said with his usual mischievous grin, his eyes sparkling with smug confidence.
Watching Gyarados work hard pulling the yacht, James chuckled.
Spending 30,000 Poké Dollars to buy Magikarp had actually turned out to be a pretty good deal. At the very least, Team Rocket's strength had increased.
Sure, they still couldn't beat Pikachu—but against most other Trainers, they'd have more than enough power.
"Jessie, what do you think of Gyarados's strength?"
Jessie shot James an annoyed glare.
"And you still dare ask? You threw away the Poké Ball!"
Thinking about how the Poké Ball for their newly evolved Gyarados, bought with tens of thousands of Poké Dollars, had been casually tossed away by James made Jessie's heart ache. She even felt the urge to punch him.
Now they'd lost a powerful helper.
James lowered his head and sat down on the ground.
If it weren't for that brat and Pikachu earlier, Gyarados probably would've smacked him away with its tail.
With Gyarados pulling the yacht with all its strength, Ash and the others soon reached shore. Gyarados didn't even say goodbye—it dove straight into the sea, eager to get as far away as possible from that yellow electric mouse.
"Did we end up on a deserted island?"
Ash looked around. There wasn't a single sign of modern civilization.
"Meowth, go ask the local Pokémon what's going on here."
Meowth snorted and turned his head away, refusing to respond. If that brat thought he could order him around too, he was dreaming.
"Pika." (Are you going or not?)
Electricity crackled in Pikachu's cheek sacs.
"Slowpoke, hurry up and tell us where we are!"
Meowth obediently ran over to ask—but the Slowpoke really lived up to its name. With its famously vacant eyes, it simply stared at Meowth.
They stared at each other.
Silence.
…
"Let's just head further inland and take a look," Ash said.
He had already given up on getting any useful information from Slowpoke. They might have better luck asking a Raticate.
"Our mission failed, and now we're stranded on a deserted island…" Jessie sighed helplessly.
James and Meowth trudged along behind Ash with drooping heads.
Even though the kid was their enemy, they had to admit his strength. If they encountered wild Pokémon on this island, they'd probably have to rely on him to handle them.
Basically, they'd gotten themselves a free bodyguard.
"Berries?"
After walking several kilometers, they finally discovered a tree heavy with ripe berries.
Jessie and James exchanged excited looks.
Working together in perfect coordination, they stacked themselves up to lift Meowth so he could pick the berries.
James crouched down so Jessie could step on his shoulders, then Jessie lifted Meowth up to reach the fruit.
"Hey, brat!"
Meowth watched in shock as the berries right in front of him were suddenly snatched away by Bulbasaur's Vine Whip.
"What are you trying to do?!"
"Could you share some berries with us?" James asked weakly.
Unlike Jessie, who was angry, James was already dizzy with hunger. They hadn't eaten anything all day—he just wanted to fill his stomach.
"Let's eat together," Ash said.
He took out some newly made Pokéblocks from his backpack and let Team Rocket try them.
Perhaps because they were so hungry, Team Rocket devoured the Pokéblocks instantly. Their faces showed satisfied smiles, though they clearly wished there were more.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Ash's Pokédex suddenly started ringing nonstop.
He glanced at the screen and saw a long stream of notifications—messages from Officer Jenny, Brock, and Misty. Every conversation showed 99+ unread messages.
He opened Officer Jenny's chat window.
Message after message scrolled by, most of them asking about his situation.
Ash recorded a short video and sent it to Officer Jenny and the Kanto trio group chat.
[Misty: Ash, are you okay? Where are you right now?]
Her reply came almost instantly.
[Brock: Ash, are you alright? I saw the ship explode—I thought you were trapped inside!]
Ash almost had gone down with the ship…
[Ash: I'm fine. I flew out on a yacht. Now I'm stranded on a deserted island.]
He briefly explained the situation.
Soon, Officer Jenny replied saying she was already sailing over to rescue them.
"Did you call someone?" Meowth asked while gnawing on a berry, leaning over to check.
"Officer Jenny is already on her way," Ash said, flicking Meowth on the forehead.
Meowth originally wanted to retaliate, but when he noticed all the Pokémon staring directly at him, he quickly reconsidered. If he fought back, he'd probably get beaten up.
"Aren't you afraid?" Ash asked.
"Afraid of what?" Meowth replied.
Jessie and James were too busy eating berries to even look up.
"Squirtle squirtle~" (Afraid Officer Jenny will come arrest you!)
Squirtle grinned mischievously.
"We're not afraid of Officer Jenny at all," Meowth scoffed.
"Bulba, bulba!" (You say that now, but when she shows up, you'll be the first ones running!)
Bulbasaur saw right through Team Rocket.
"Pika pika chu!" (Exactly! Officer Jenny exists to catch bad guys like you!)
Before Pikachu could finish, Ekans and Koffing chimed in.
"Pokémon themselves aren't good or bad. If the Trainer is bad, the Pokémon end up doing bad things too."
"Wait… then what about me?" Meowth froze.
"I don't have a Trainer, but I still do bad things!"
The berry he had just bitten fell to the ground. His teammates' words had struck him hard.
"Squirtle squirtle~" (Maybe you're just an exception… a pure villain.)
"Bulba bulba!" (Drop the 'maybe.' He's definitely a villain.)
All the Pokémon present nodded in agreement.
Suddenly, the berries didn't taste so good anymore for Meowth.
Out of all the Pokémon here, he was the only one labeled a villain.
A Pokémon Side Theater, huh?
Ash watched the Pokémon chatting among themselves. Although he couldn't understand them, judging from Meowth's reaction he could roughly guess the topic.
Pokémon themselves weren't evil.
But Meowth… might just be the exception.
After eating and drinking their fill, Ash set up the tents.
One large tent, and two small tents.
"Hey brat, aren't the tents you set up for us a little too small?" James complained, looking at the tent that was only slightly bigger than Meowth.
There was no way people their size could sleep inside.
"Did you misunderstand something?"
Ash pointed toward the tents.
"Those are for Squirtle and the others…"
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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