Jen immediately went lightheaded as she registered what Surge had said. She had to warn the other passengers, but she was frozen.
“Hey! You there!” Surge screamed.
Jen glanced down from the ship at Surge. “Y-Yeah?”
“Find the captain and warn everyone else. They have to get off before Team Rocket sets off their bomb!”
Jen nodded and took off down the deck. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone, quickly dialing Ash’s number. The dial tone rang only twice before Ash picked up.
“Hello? Jen, where are you?” Ash asked.
“I’m on the S.S. Anne. Are you and Misty onboard?” Jen asked quickly.
“Yeah. We’re at the front of the ship. Do you want us to--”
“Lt. Surge said that there is a bomb on the ship. Team Rocket has it set up somewhere, and I need your help finding it.”
Ash was silent for a moment as he took in what Jen had explained to him.
“What did she say, Ash?” Misty asked.
Ash quickly explained to her before putting the phone back to his ear. “Did he say where? Is Surge with you?”
“He doesn’t know, and…he’s back at the docks.”
Ash groaned on the other end. “Alright. Tell everyone you pass to get to the lifeboats. Misty will join you shortly, and once you get everyone off, I want both of you to jump ship. Got it?”
“And what about you?” Jen asked.
“Pikachu and I will look for this bomb.”
“Are you crazy?!” Jen cried. She could hear Misty asking Ash the same thing on the other end of the phone.
“I’m being serious here. If we can’t find the bomb in time, I’m going to count on you and Misty to get as many people off of the ship as possible.”
“And what if you’re still trapped on the ship when the bomb goes off?” Misty asked. There was a mix of anger and worry in her tone.
“Don’t worry, Misty. Pikachu and I have been through much worse. If the bomb explodes, we’ll find a way to escape.” Ash said with confidence. “We’ll meet you at the front of the ship, Jen.”
“You’re insane, Ash.” Jen muttered as she hung up.
She ran a little faster down the deck to the front of the ship. Many trainers tried to stop her to challenge her in a Pokemon battle, but she refused.
“You have to get off of the ship. There is a bomb on the ship!” She cried.
Many of the tourists and trainers stared at her, both bewildered and horrified with the news she delivered. However, none of them stuck around to find out if her words were true or not. All the trainers and tourists, with their Pokemon close at their sides, made their way to the lifeboats.
“Jen!”
Jen spun around and saw Misty waving at her. She swiftly made her way over to the gym leader and glanced around for Ash. “Where is my cousin?”
Misty chuckled slightly. “Hello to you too, Jen. Heh, you and Ash may seem and act differently at times, but you both have the same heart.”
Jen sighed. “Misty, please.”
“You think I feel comfortable letting Ash and Pikachu go off on their own to find a bomb? Trust me, Jen. I am just as scared for them as you are. Now lets hurry up and get everyone else off this ship.”
Jen nodded as Misty led her towards the control room. “We can use the intercoms to warn everyone.” Misty explained.
They arrived at the control room to find the Captain at the helm with his back turned towards them.
Jen ran up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. “Sir, you need to turn this ship around. Team Rocket is on this ship and they have a bomb with them.”
The Captain slowly turned towards them, and Jen’s eyes widened. “Now who told you that?” It was the male grunt from the forest. “Hey, I remember you. Ha! Aren’t you supposed to be dead?”
Jen glared at him. “Why are you doing this? You’ll just wind up blowing yourselves to kingdom come as well.”
The grunt laughed. “Oh, you poor, naïve little girl. We’re not going to stick around long enough for the bomb to go off, but you and the others will.”
“But you will kill everyone on the ship!”
“So?” The grunt scoffed. “We could really care less about what happens to any of the trainers on board. Just as long as we capture their Pokemon.”
Misty coughed behind him. “You wouldn’t mind repeating yourself, now would you? I’m sure all of your passengers would like to hear you say that again.”
Neither Jen nor the grunt had noticed Misty sneaking past them, and hitting the intercom button. Jen could just see over the control panel at all the trainers and passengers staring up at them.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are sorry for the inconvenience, but if you will, please locate the nearest lifeboats and head back for the docks. Thank you, and have a nice day.” Misty said calmly as turned back to Jen and the grunt. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did we ruin your plans again?”
Jen snickered at the grunt’s anger.
“You two are going to pay for that!” He grabbed a walkie-talkie from his belt and held it up. “Some of the passengers may be able to get off this ship, but you two aren’t. Light it up!” He screamed into the walkie-talkie.
Misty and Jen stiffened as they waited for the sound of explosions, but nothing happened. They looked around the ship, and then back at the grunt who stared back at them awkwardly.
“I guess Ash found the bomb?” Jen said after a moment of silence.
“Damn it…you haven’t seen the last of us!” He growled as he threw a smoke bomb down on the ground.
The smoke engulfed everything in the room, blinding both girls as the grunt escaped.
“I miss when it was just Jessie, James, and Meowth blasting off. They never used smoke bombs like these to get away.” Misty groaned once the smoke cleared.
“Blasting off?”
Misty giggled as she recalled the memories she shared with Ash. “Yeah. Ash, Brock, and I would foil their plans and they would wind up being thrown into the air screaming, ‘Team Rocket’s blasting off again!’”
Jen laughed as she watched Misty’s humorous imitation of Team Rocket. “It sounds like the group you faced wasn’t as violent or evil as the Team Rocket grunts I’ve been seeing.”
“That’s because they have hearts and emotions, unlike the rest of Team Rocket. Luckily Jessie, Jamie, and Meowth quit awhile back…or so I’ve heard.” Misty glanced out towards the window at the nearly empty ship deck. “I guess we can go find Ash now.”
Jen’s stomach tightened into a knot. “Yeah. Let’s go.” She was not looking forward to giving the terrible news to Ash.
They turned to leave the control room when they felt something rumble under their feet. Both girls looked at each other worriedly before rushing to the window.
The passengers felt it too for they were now moving even faster. Some were even jumping ship.
“Where is Ash?” Misty wondered aloud.
Jen scanned the faces of the fleeing passengers, but she couldn’t find Ash. “I’ll go check below deck. You stay on the sky deck and call me if you find Ash.” Jen ordered as she ran from the room.
She could hear Misty calling after her, but Jen would not listen. She found a stairwell and quickly descended to the lower floors.
“Ash! Ash!” She cried.
“Jen! We’re over here!” The voice was faint, but she could tell that it was Pikachu.
Jen ran along the hallways until she came to the boiler room. “Of course they would stick the bomb in the boiler room!” She quickly kicked open the door and rushed inside to find Ash on the ground unconscious. A wounded Pikachu was beside him, trying desperately to wake him.
“Ash!” Jen gasped.
“Team Rocket knocked him out while we were trying to deactivate the bomb, and took it somewhere else.”
Jen nodded slightly and shook Ash. “Come on, Ash. Wake up!”
Ash slowly stirred and looked at her sleepily before remembering where they were. “The bomb! Where is it? Where is Team Rocket? Is Misty alright?”
Jen helped Ash to his feet and walked him back to the stairwell. “Don’t worry, Ash, Misty is fine. She’s on the sky deck as we speak. Now do you have any clue as to where the grunts could have taken the bomb?” She asked as she quickly shot Misty a text.
“Found Ash. Go ahead and get off the ship.”
Ash shook his head. He was still slightly disoriented. “It’s set on a timer. Last time I saw it, it had eight minutes to go.”
“And how long ago was that?” Jen thought with a grimace.
They reached the sky deck to find it cleared, say for one or two filled lifeboats currently being lowered into the water. Jen smiled with relief.
“Time to get off.” Ash said as he reached for his Pokeballs. He chose one and threw it, summoning his Pidgeot. His Pokemon cawed and fanned its wings out. “Pidgeot, we need to--”
Ash slumped to the ground and Pikachu rushed to his side. “Ash!”
“Pikachu, get onto Pidgeot. We need to get Ash off of the ship and to the Center.” Jen instructed as she dragged her cousin onto his Pokemon.
Pikachu obeyed. “Aren’t you going to get on too?”
It didn’t look like Jen would be able to fit on the Pokémon’s back. “You’ll have to carry me, Pidgeot. Now, go!”
Pidgeot rose into the air and grabbed Jen by the hood. They rose higher and higher, but they didn’t make it away fast enough.
The sky deck erupted into an inferno of flames and debris. Some of the fiery wreckage flew up and hit both Jen and Pidgeot. Both Jen and Ash’s Pokemon cried out as Pidgeot’s grip on Jen loosened. Jen looked up as she slipped from Pidgeot’s grip and plummeted into the sea.
The cold water enveloped her being as she quickly sunk. She gasped out of shock and sucked in a mouthful of water. Memories of being trapped under the pool of ice rushed through her mind, sending her into a panicked frenzy. She pulled at the water viciously as she attempted to reach the surface, but her efforts were leading her nowhere. “At least I won’t have to tell Ash about Red…” She thought as she tried to calm herself. “Maybe I can float towards the surface?”
She forced herself to stop moving, which felt nearly impossible, and waited as her body slowly drifted upward. Unfortunately, she was running low on oxygen and her body was starting to fall back into panic mode again.
“HELP!” She cried.
She reached out in the direction she thought was the surface and felt a hand grab her. “Oh thank God.” She thought as the being dragged her out of the water.
Ash awoke in the Pokemon Center with Pikachu and Misty sitting in a chair next to him.
“Ooh, ouch! How long was I out?” He asked, holding his head.
“Just a couple of hours.” Misty replied. She sounded sad.
Ash looked around and frowned. “Where is Jen?”
Misty shook her head. “I saw her fall into the sea, but--”
Ash’s eyes widened. He quickly took out his phone and tried to dial up Jen’s number, but all he got was her voice mail.
Misty saw the pained expression on his face. “If she is anything like you, Ash, then rest assured that she is still alive. You always found a way out of trouble, and so has she.” Misty said as she placed a hand on his.
“Pika pika!” Pikachu added.
Ash lowered his phone.
“Besides, a foot of ice didn’t stop her from living. She found a way out, and made her way here.”
Ash nodded and looked over at Pikachu and rubbed behind his buddy’s ears. “And if she died, would you cry for her, Pikachu?”
Pikachu nodded. “Pika.”
Misty smiled softly. She remembered when Pikachu and a few other Pokemon cried for Ash when he died. Their tears brought him back to life after he tried to halt Mew and Mewtwo’s first battle against each other.
“We know the legend of the Pokémon’s tears to be true. If a Pokemon is sad enough, and cries, their tears could be used to revive the dead.” Ash said as he recited the legend.
He lifted his phone again, and began sending a text.
“Don’t know if you saw or heard yet, but Team Rocket has bombed the S.S. Anne. Everyone escaped, but we last Jen. Misty and I are at Vermilion’s Center. We will be at the docks looking for her soon. Please help.”
He hit the send button as he climbed to his feet.
“Pika?” Pikachu asked as he hopped onto Ash’s shoulder.
“I’m feeling much better, Pikachu. Don’t worry. Right now we need to get to the docks and find Jen.”
“Right.” Misty agreed as she too stood.
Ash’s phone vibrated, and he immediately checked the message.
“Found Jen. You guys might want to hurry. I’m following her out of Kanto and to Hoenn. Don’t ask why. Just get over here. I’ll give you my exact location soon.”
Ash finished reading the text and hurried over to the Center’s computer.
“What are you doing, Ash?”
Ash smirked at her. “I just want to bring along some of my old friends. I’m sure they’ll be up for another adventure.”