My Little Pokemon Silver Spoon Version

“Sarah! Sarah, wake up!” Someone shook my shoulder.

I came up swinging.

“Whoa, watch out! It’s just me!” Brock yelped, dodging my flailing punch.

“Wha-huh? Oh, I’m so sorry!” I flinched back, bringing my hands in close.

“Hey, no worries.” He reassured me with a chuckle.

We were on a beach. Everyone looked okay, if a bit battered. The sun was burning bright up above, it had to be close to noon already.

“Pikachu?” Ash looked around. “Pikachu! Are you here?” He shot up, turning in circles looking for a bright yellow furball. His hand went down to his belt and I saw Ash go pale for the first time ever.

“I’m missing three pokeballs!” He cried in distress.

The rest of us felt the same panic and we rushed to check our own belts. I counted mine. One, two, three…

“I’ve got all mine.” Brock sighed with relief.

“Same here.” Misty nodded.

“Silver?” Weiss looked at me concerned.

“I’m…I’m missing someone.” I looked down at my belt and saw a pokeball with a green sticker on it and two without any stickers meaning…

“I’m missing Eevee.” I reported, shaken.

“I…I think I still have Butterfree and Pidgeotto.” Ash held up the two pokeballs to study.

“Then Pikachu, Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Eevee are the ones missing.” Misty realized.

“They must have washed up somewhere else.” Brock concluded. “Let’s start looking for them.”

“Right. Pidgeotto, I choose you!” In a moment the bird pokemon was hovering over us. “Pidgeotto, Pikachu, Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle are missing! Try to find them!”

“Fearow!” Instantly the bird pokemon was in the air. “Eevee is missing! I need you to look for him in the air!”

The two took off, flying out over the beach.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine, Ash, Sarah.” Brock patted Ash on the shoulder. “In the meantime, we can search too.”

“Yeah.” He still seemed worried. I couldn’t blame him. We’ve just escaped from a school of angry Gyrados and a capsized ship. I don’t even know how long we were unconscious in the St. Anne, but we’ve at least spent a day stranded at sea. And now our pokemon were missing and we were still lost in who knows where.

We searched, walking along the beach and calling out for them. Only when Pidgeotto and Fearow came back reporting nothing did we turn to the forest.

“PIKACHU!” Ash bellowed. All of us were calling out for the lost pokemon. Ash and I both sent out our bird pokemon but they weren’t out long before they came back in a panic.

“What do you think spooked Fearow and Pidgeotto like that?” Brock asked me as we brushed aside some frond leaves. It was getting dark out and soon we’d either need to stop and make camp or make some torches to see by.

“Honestly, I have no idea.” I frowned.

“I think I know.” Misty said shakily.

“Huh? What?” I watched as she raised a trembling hand, pointing at something above us and coming closer.

It was big. It flashed with occasional bursts of lightning. And the screech!

But my first impression was BIG!

“G-G-Gi-GI-!” Weiss began shaking head to toe.

“It’s heading straight for us!” Brock gasped. “We’ve got to run!”

“GI-GI-!” Weiss kept trying.

“Weiss, run!” Brock grabbed her hand and began pulling. Ash, Misty and I were right beside the two as we pelted through the jungle.

“GIANT ZAPDOS!” Weiss screamed.

“A WHAT!?” Misty screamed beside me.

“ZAPDOS! LIGHTNING POKEMON! LEGENDARY!” Weiss ranted.

My heart was trying to beat itself out of my chest.

“GIANT! Oh, Articuno, Suicune, Kyogre, Regice, protect us.” Weiss prayed.

I didn’t know what she was praying to exactly, but I hoped that they were listening!

“That’s a legendary pokemon?” Ash had to leap over a large rock in his way. I thought I saw him stick a hand in his jacket where he kept his pokedex, but he must’ve thought better of it because he didn’t pull it out. “That thing’s huge!”

We ran and ran with that thing overhead. We tried to stay away from trees but that’s kind of hard to do in a jungle.

Finally we lost it. Or maybe it just lost interest in us. Either way, the five of us collapsed and tried to soothe the aches in our sides.

“…We can’t…hah…stay out here.” Brock was taking in big gulps of air. “We need to find…hah…a safe…a safe place…hah…for the night.”

“Agreed.” Misty moaned, clutching a cramp in her side.

We all fell asleep almost before our heads hit the ground. None of us even bothered to pull out the sleeping bags and we were even too exhausted to think about food. We just found a cave and slept like rocks.

Morning was another matter.

“Let’s get going.” Ash put on his hat. “We need to find Pikachu and the others and get off this crazy island.”

“No arguments there.” Brock nodded.

We were more cautious this time. We didn’t want to run into that giant Zapdos again. I couldn’t believe how big it was.

And it wasn’t the only one we saw.

“That’s…That’s, uh.” My mouth was dry. I could only stare up and hope it didn’t turn around and see us.

“A Charizard.” Brock sounded rather meek. “But it’s jumbo-sized.”

“We need to run, don’t we?” Misty laughed nervously.

“Yup.” Ash gave one quick, stiff nod and then led by example.

Giant pokemon abounded. Giant Oddish, giant Pidgey, giant everything!

“I don’t understand!” I cried as we ran. “What do these pokemon eat!?”

“Who knows? Who cares! I just don’t want it to be us!” Ash screamed. “PIKACHU! WHERE ARE YOU?”

We found a land bridge and we were making our way across when a giant Pikachu came around the cliff-side.

“Not the Pikachu I was looking for.” Ash whimpered beside me.

“It doesn’t…hah…make sense!” I panted, dropping my hands to my knees while I tried to catch my breath.

“PIIIKAACHU!” It sounded cheerful enough, but it bumped against the cliff and the land bridge under us began to crumble.

We all screamed on the way down. I can only be thankful it wasn’t actually that high up. We landed in a confusing mass of limbs and pain. I got someone’s elbow directly in the head, right over the cut I’d gotten on the St. Anne. I think I might’ve kicked someone in the neck too.

Somehow we got ourselves righted and found, to our surprise, that we were in a runaway mine cart with the human members of Team Rocket.

“We’ve got you cornered now, twerps!” Jessie smirked. “Hand over Pikachu!”

“GAH! But not that big one!” James squealed, shaking at the sight of the giant Pikachu still chasing us.

“Look over there!” Misty pointed to one side. Two more giant pokemon were running and just ahead of their feet was Eevee and Ash’s pokemon! Along with Team Rocket’s!

“They’ll get trampled if we don’t think of something!” Misty grunted.

“We have to stop the cart.” Weiss nodded. “Where’s the break?”

“Here.” Jessie handed a metal rod to us.

“Oh thanks.” Weiss took the rod and paused.

“Ah! It’s broken!” Ash despaired.

“Guys, up ahead!” Brock shook our shoulders. We turned around in the cart and saw…

“Why is there a loop on a minecart track?” I asked, my voice reaching at least two pitches higher than normal.

“I hate roller coasters!” Jessie wailed.

We clung to the cart as best we could. Getting turned upside down like that wasn’t easy on the stomach. I felt myself being lifted up and held on all the tighter for it.

“Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charmander, Eevee! Jump in!” The loop had given the pokemon time to catch up with us but the giant ones were catching up too. Ash’s pokemon dogpiled him while Eevee leapt into my arms. Ekans, Koffing, and Meowth all jumped too and were caught by Team Rocket.

“I missed you guys!” Ash hugged Pikachu tightly. “I’m so glad you’re safe!”

“Vee!” Eevee exclaimed as I brought him to my chest and buried my face in Eevee’s fur.

“We’re not out of the woods yet!” Brock reminded us.

“The way our luck is going, next the line will snap.” James stated, sounding unusually calm and resigned.

Snap!

A black cord I hadn’t noticed behind us suddenly snapped.

“Then we’ll be tossed into the air.” Jessie sighed with a pout.

“Uh, guys?” Brock tensed up. I didn’t even have time to look before our cart flew up into the air.

“The Zapdos!” Ash screamed. We were flying straight at it. We all ducked under the lip of the cart, kneeing and elbowing each other even as we crashed straight through it.

“It was an animatronic?” Weiss gaped at the metal falling around us.

“Then we’ll fall into the water after a long fall.” Meowth nodded sagely.

“Water?” I repeated. Ash was holding Charmander. Below us, the ocean.

“Ash, Charmander’s ball!” I screamed. Luckily for us, Bulbasaur was carrying everyone’s pokeballs in his seed and he quickly handed Charmander’s pokeball to Ash. There was barely enough time for Charmander to turn into light before we hit the water.

The water was a shock of cold. I flailed around at first, panicking. Thank Celestia for Misty and Weiss’s lessons. I saw sunlight above me and started kicking for the surface.

“Everyone okay?” Brock called.

“Bulba!” Bulbasaur was floundering in the water.

“Bulbasaur, where’s your pokeball?” Ash coughed. Bulbasaur’s seed spat out three more pokeballs and Ash gave me Eevee’s pokeball and quickly returned his. “Squirtle?”

“Squirtle squirt!” Squirtle was doing just fine, carrying Pikachu on his back.

“Hey guys, look over there!” Misty, one of our better swimmers, was treading water and able to point out a boat passing nearby with Pokemon Land written on the side.

“A tour boat?” Brock cocked his head in confusion.

Turns out, the island of Giant Pokemon was a theme park. All the giant pokemon were mechanical.

And we’d just wrecked the place.

“So we’re agreed that we take this to our graves?” Brock clarified as we snuck in with the tour group.

“Agreed.” Even Team Rocket was nodding along.

I’m not proud of it but I’m also not in a hurry to confess. None of us were in a hurry to admit we’d been the ones to trash the place. Ash even let me wear his hat to hide my bandages. We got a ride back to the nearest island, Porta Vista, and parted ways.

Porta Vista is a beautiful island resort. Surf, sun, and fun abound. After the morning we’d had we were all glad for the chance to relax and soak up some rays.

“C’mon Sarah, the shops here are bound to have more variety!” Misty started tugging me towards the boardwalk.

“We’ll wait for you guys by the snack bar!” Brock waved as we walked away.

“Don’t take too long!” Ash called.

“What are you shopping for?” Weiss asked in a school swimsuit like my own.

…wait.

“When did you change into your swimsuit?” I asked as we walked into a store that sold beach things.

“Just before we separated from the boys. I was wearing it underneath my clothes.” She explained.

“Well, we were going to shop for a new swimsuit for both of you now.” Misty explained as she combed through the aisles.

“What’s wrong with school swimsuits?” Weiss asked tersely.

“They’re just so…” Misty waved her hand. “Childish.”

“And you’re how old exactly?” Weiss asked.

“How about this one?” I picked out a violet one piece, hoping to distract the two from their argument.

“Oh, I like it.” Misty handed me a few other sets. “Go ahead and pick a few out to try on.”

I only tried on two of them before choosing to keep the violet one.

“I definitely like this much better.” I said to myself as I checked myself out in the mirror. This and a pair of sandals and I’d be ready for the beach!

“Great!” Misty clapped her hands before turning towards Weiss.

“What if I wore a full body wetsuit?” Weiss offered.

“Fine.” Misty relented. “Did you see any on the way here?”

“I already have my own.” Weiss said, entering a changing room.

Misty decided to leave well enough alone and entered another changing room to change into a red two-piece and even pulled out an inflatable beach ball from her bag.

After paying, we left the store and found Ash and Brock playing in the water.

“What happened to waiting for us?” She asked them teasingly.

“Whoa, Misty?” Ash’s jaw dropped as he stared.

“What?” Misty frowned, looking down at herself.

“I’ve just never seen you look so much like a girl before.” Ash blinked, still totally stunned.

“Why, you!” Misty pulled back and threw the beachball with enough force to send Ash toppling backwards into the water.

Weiss opened her mouth to say something before freezing and closing her mouth shut.

“Sarah, you’re looking good.” Brock complimented me.

“Thanks.” I smiled.

I didn’t play in the water as much as the others. I’d had enough swimming over the last few days but it was nice to wade in the shallows. It wasn’t long before everyone decided to get out and play in the sand for a bit.

Misty, Weiss and I reclined on a couple of towels the two had. Misty was probably getting a better tan than I was but I was just happy to be warm. Weiss, on the other hand, was huddled underneath an umbrella looking miserable, even though her expression hadn’t changed.

“Guys!” Ash ran up to us. “C’mon, Brock found a diner selling shaved ice!”

“Shaved ice?” Weiss jumped up. We followed Ash to the diner where Brock and Pikachu were.

Judging from the umbrella tables set up in front and the trio advertising the place with a waiter running out with food before disappearing inside and quickly returning with more food, the diner was packed.

We entered the diner although I noticed that Weiss nodded to the only girl of the group and one of the two male advertisers, the remaining guy was busy…posing. Showing off his arms and chest to onlookers.

Inside a faint buzz of chatter and noises rose from the diner and a pair of waiters were bustling to and fro, carrying trays and refilling water.

“Ash!”

We turned to the door and, lo and behold.

“Mom?” Ash was stunned.

“Oh, I’m so glad we’re here at the same time you are!” She pressed a kiss to his forehead. “The Pallet Town Volunteer Patrol is taking a tour of Porta Vista.” She informed him.

“Mom!” Ash, typical ten year old boy that he was, pushed her away and brushed off the kiss.

“She’s not the only one here, Ash.” Professor Oak stepped inside.

Considering I hadn’t said a word to Ash’s mom the first time we met, and Misty and Brock hadn’t even met her nor Professor Oak, introductions were made by the time a server got to us.

“I apologize for keeping you waiting. Welcome to Elko’s. How many…” The server trailed off, eyes wide as she looked over the group. “You're not all together, are you?"

“Of course we are.” Ash’s mom said. “I haven’t seen my son in months, it would be wonderful to have lunch with him.”

“I see.” The server plastered on a falsely cheerful smile. “In that case, we can accommodate eight people. May you excuse me for a minute?” She walked off, grabbing the other server who looked just like her, trading the blue eyes and long blue hair for red eyes and red long hair. She pointed at the group, then started whispering.

The two servers had a quick exchange, the second server growing more heated. She threw up her hands, then started helping the first server move a group of empty, not entirely clean tables at the center of the diner. Some of the patrons looked on curiously. Once they'd managed to assemble two tables into a table for eight, the second server hurriedly wiped everything down while the first server came back, a huge stack of menus in her arms.

"Right this way." She said in a quiet yet overly syrupy sweet voice.

We followed her, seating ourselves. The server passed out menus, then pulled out a notepad. "I'm Himeko, I'll be one of your servers. Let me get you started with something to drink?"

After ordering our drinks Himeko walked off to get our drinks while the red haired server came up to us.

“I’m the loveliest server Ako!” She did a twirl and made a little pose in the cramped diner. “What can I get you all?”

It took us several minutes to decide what to order, during which Ako’s enthusiasm slowly eroded away. When she finally walked away, it was obvious that she was done with her shift.

We talked a bit after that. Ash exaggerated about his adventure while me and Misty, who were there since day one, had to explain what actually happened along with clarifying some details that Ash conveniently left out. Misty had to explain why she was traveling with Ash which almost led to another bike argument before Ash’s mom, Delia, asked why Ash had to borrow Misty’s bike which led to me explaining how Ash and I were chased by a flock of Spearow.

By the time the drinks had come in the three of us had gone over what had happened on Ash’s first day as a Pokemon Trainer. Our food was going to take a bit longer to be served because the kitchen wasn’t expecting eight orders at the same time.

It took ten minutes for us to be full served and we spent half an hour eating lunch. That gave us enough time to cover everything up to Vermillion City.

“We should be going now.” Ash smiled as we left the diner. “I promise I’m going to make you proud, Mom.”

“I already am.” She assured him as we walked away.

“Your mom is pretty great, Ash.” I clutched the straps of my backpack.

“Yeah, she is.” He agreed with a grin.

We had to walk to the far side of town where the ferries came. There we’d get a ride back to the mainland.

Too bad we had the misfortune of arriving after the ferry left.

“It’s not too bad.” I tried to reassure them. “It’s only three hours until the next ferry.”

“What are we gonna do for three whole hours?” Ash groaned, flopping down on the pier. “We can’t go back to the beach because we might miss the next one and there’s no Pokemon Center to wait in here.”

“Guess we just have to sit around and wait.” Brock concluded.

“Well this wait won’t be so bad!” Misty giggled. “Look, a Horsea!” She pointed out at the water.

“Wow, a Horsea?” Ash perked right up, already digging for his pokedex.

“Horsea, the Water Dragon Pokemon. Thousands of eggs are laid each year which the males of the species then raise. When threatened it will spew ink from its mouth in order to escape.”

“It looks injured.” Brock frowned seriously. It was true, the little Horsea had a black eye and some bruising along its head.

“Oh, the poor thing! And there’s no Pokemon Center around.” Misty crooned. “I’m going to catch it and treat its injuries!”

“Sea! Hor-Sea!” The little Horsea surprised us by spewing ink over the water. It wasn’t trying to hide itself so it could run away though. It was painting a picture.

“Tentacool and Tentacruel.” Weiss stated, watching the lines of ink connect.

That was some impressive artistic talent for a wild pokemon.

“What do you think it’s trying to tell us?” Ash asked.

“Maybe it was hurt by Tentacool and Tentacruel?” I shrugged helplessly as Weiss stared out at sea, silent.

An explosion knocked us for a loop. A boat on the water had suddenly just exploded and several people were jumping overboard to escape the flames.

“Oh no! We’ve gotta help them!” Misty threw out all her pokeballs. “You guys, find us a boat!”

“Right!” The boys shot up.

Brock and Ash found a little motorboat for us to use and we began pulling sailors out of the water.

“They can’t move!” Ash realized with shock as we pulled another on board. Indeed, the men were mostly conscious but none of them were doing more than twitching!

“Have ta…tell boss.” One of them babbled. “Tell boss,”

“Tell your boss what?” Ash leaned in to hear him better.

“Te-Tenta…cool.” His eyes rolled into the back of his head.

“Eeh, is he okay?” Ash flinched back.

“I’ll check.” Weiss leaned down and began checking the sailors. None of them seemed to be struggling for air. Their arms and legs had ropey bruises on them. “They’re just paralyzed. A few hours and they’ll be fine.”

“Looks like someone called emergency services.” Brock noticed as we pulled up closer to the dock. Paramedics were waiting to take the people we’d saved.

“You kids did good saving these men.” Officer Jenny nodded respectfully. “Your quick action saved a lot of lives today.”

So it seemed we wouldn’t be getting in trouble for stealing this boat. Nice.

“It was our pleasure, Officer Jenny!” Brock rushed up and clasped her hand in his. “Indeed, how could we have seen such danger and stand idly by with you to act as our example?”

“Okay, that’s enough.” Misty grabbed Brock by the ear and pulled him back. “Remember, we still have to see their boss and tell them what happened!”

“Maybe their boss will be a beautiful woman in a stylish suit.” Brock drifted off into a daydream while Weiss covered a laugh.

Teenage guys are kinda weird.

“Oh, the Horsea!” Misty gasped, turning around to scan the water. The little Horsea was much nearer the dock now and we could see its injuries more clearly. “You poor thing, hold on, I’ve got just the thing!”

She started digging through her bag and pulled out a deflated rubber…thing. It was bigger than the beach ball had been. It took a while for her to blow up but eventually I could see that it was a tiny swimming pool. She probably had it for her pokemon and now she filled it with seawater for the Horsea.

“C’mon little guy.” She knelt down and held out her arms. “Jump up here. I’ve got some medicine that will make you all better!” She enticed it.

“Sea? Hors-Horsea?” It was a trusting little guy and only hesitated a moment before jumping into Misty’s arms. She gently carried it to the kiddy pool and set it down before digging out a Super Potion from her bag.

“Now this might sting a little but I promise it’ll make you feel better.” The whole time she treated it she kept up a gentle stream of encouragement and praise while the rest of us could only watch.

“Wow, when it comes to water pokemon she’s really something else.” Brock muttered to us. Ash, Pikachu, and I could only nod.

“We still need to go see their boss, Misty.” Ash reminded her.

“I know.” She frowned. “I don’t want to leave Horsea all alone though.”

“Pika! Pikachu!” Pikachu jumped off Ash’s shoulder and rummaged through Misty’s bag until it found a floaty. “Pika!”

“You’ll stay with Horsea until we get back?” Misty checked.

“Pika!” He confirmed, holding up the floaty for her to inflate.

“Alright, we’ll be back soon, Pikachu.” Ash agreed. With that, the four of us left to meet this mysterious boss and tell them what had befallen their men.

Their boss did turn out to be a woman. However she was most definitely not Brock’s type.

“Welcome, friends, to Nastina’s office! I’m Nastina!” She welcomed us while surrounded by a cadre of young men in…minimalist attire. “I can’t thank you enough for saving my men today!”

“You could give us a ride to the mainland.” Ash suggested hopefully.

“Oh I can’t do that! How could I possibly let you leave before you see the wonders of Nastina’s Resort?” She gestured to a table with a bunch of plastic figurines on it. “It’s not finished yet but once it is it’ll be the jewel of the ocean!”

“Hundreds of gorgeous suites, all surrounded by the most beautiful coral reefs in the world!” She spoke with passion. Passion that quickly turned to rage as she continued. “Or at least it will be if I ever get rid of those Tentacool!”

“Tentacool?” Misty repeated, worried.

“Ever since construction began it’s been one thing after another with those despicable water vermin!” Nastina raged. “And it’s been getting worse too! Today’s attack is just the latest! Who knows how they’ll try to top themselves next time? Or…”

“Or?” Ash prompted nervously.

“Or you young trainers can help me exterminate the nasty vermin!” She offered in a cheerful tone. “And as a reward you’ll get free luxury class dinners for a year, a million dollars in cash, and vouchers for free stays at the hotel! Isn’t Nastina generous?”

“You’re disgusting!” Misty scowled, grabbing the guys by the arms and pulling them to the door. “C’mon guys, we’re leaving!”

“Huh? But, Misty!” Ash protested the whole way back to where we’d left the Horsea and Pikachu.

“I can’t believe anyone can be so despicable!” She stormed down the street as we walked along in her wake.

“Not to mention the damage to the ecosystem, the Tentacool aren’t the only ones who would suffer.” Weiss added quietly.

“I don’t understand how a person like that can exist!” Misty continued her one-woman march. “How could anyone want to exterminate such beautiful creatures?”

“Beautiful creatures?” Ash echoed. “Hold on, let’s see, Tentacool…”

“Tentacool: The Jellyfish Pokemon. This pokemon is 99% water with the remaining 1% being the organ which creates its poison.”

“Yikes.” He hissed. “You call that a beautiful pokemon?”

“I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Brock muttered.

“Tentacool are beautiful!” Misty rounded on them. “That smooth blue skin! Those graceful tentacles! The red spots on their heads are called the Rubies of the Sea!”

“Who calls them that?” Ash asked, raising a skeptic brow.

“I do.” Misty proclaimed proudly.

“Sheesh.” He scoffed. “When you talk about water pokemon it’s like you get a whole different personality!”

“Hmph!” Misty put her hands on her hips and looked away. “I don’t get why you guys don’t see water pokemons natural beauty! Like that Horsea! It was such a talented artist!”

“Oh, yeah.” I remembered that. “It drew a Tentacool really well.”

“Hmm, do you think it was trying to tell us something about the Tentacool? And why the boat sank?” Brock suggested.

“Maybe.” I shrugged, uneasy. It was certainly possible.

“Pika!” Oh, we’d arrived. Pikachu and Horsea were still happily splashing in the kiddy pool.

“Horsea’s looking a lot better already.” Brock smiled gently.

“Are you feeling better, Horsea?” Misty knelt down by the pool.

“Sea!” The little pokemon nodded.

“Attention all citizens of Porta Vista!”

We all jumped, surprised by Nastina’s voice broadcasting throughout the city.

“This is Nastina of Nastina’s Ocean Resort speaking! And I am offering a one million dollar reward to whoever can exterminate the Tentacool that so trouble our fair city! Isn’t Nastina generous?”

“Why that old bag!” Misty scowled.

“If you want mone—I mean, if you care about the development of our city, come to Slowpoke Square for more information!”

“Ha! No one but pure monsters would ever agree to something so horrible just for some money.” Misty declared confidently.

The ground trembled beneath our feet.

“Oh look, pure monsters.” Weiss pointed behind us at a…

A whole sea of people were running headlong towards us, presumably in the direction of Slowpoke Square.

“Oh no, Horsea!” I turned and saw Misty had lost her grip on Horsea. The people were overtaking us and for a second I was afraid the poor thing would be trampled underfoot. Luckily it got to the water before that happened.

“It’s okay! It jumped into the water!” I grabbed Misty’s arm so we wouldn’t be separated as the crowd carried us away.

Finally the crowd came to a stop and Misty and I were able to hook back up with the boys. That’s when I saw…

“Where did she get a tank?” Weiss appeared out of nowhere, scaring the daylights of me and Misty.

“Alright, listen up!” Nastina popped out of the box on top of the metal machine. “You all heard me! There’s a one million cash reward to whoever can exterminate all the Tentacool!”

Out of nowhere, a rose arrow stuck itself to the gun of the tank.

“Prepare for trouble.”

Out on the water on a motorboat stood the people I least wanted to see.

“Make it double.”

Seriously, hadn’t we had enough since this morning?

“To protect the world from devastation.”

“To unite all people within our nation.”

“To denounce the evils of truth and love.”

“To extend our reach to the stars above.”

“Jessie.”

“James.”

“Team Rocket, blasting off at the speed of light!”

“Surrender now or prepare to fight!”

“Meowth, that’s right!”

“Hey now, those guys have a lot of spunk!” Nastina nodded approvingly.

“That’s a new definition of the word ‘spunk’.” Ash snorted.

“So you three think you’ve got what it takes to get rid of these vermin?” Nastina eyed them. “Then give it a go! And if you succeed, it’ll be one million dollars for ya!”

“Go ahead and start getting our money ready!” Meowth laughed as their boat pulled away from the dock.

“I do not see this ending well.” I grit my teeth. With the crowd in the way there was no way for us to get to the water in time to stop them, but we tried anyway. We pushed our way to the water and watched their boat get further and further out towards the construction site.

“They didn’t look like they were carrying weapons. What do you think their plan is?” Brock worried.

“The…” Weiss swallowed, gathering her nerves. “The easiest way to kill water pokemon would be to poison the water.”

“But if they do that, they won’t just kill the Tentacool!” Misty realized.

We couldn’t let this happen! We had to find another boat and go after them! But there wasn’t one in sight!

“Look!” Misty cried. Out on the water and surrounding Team Rocket’s boat were hundreds, maybe thousands, of sparkling red lights.

The Tentacool.

I’d thought things would be bad.

I was not picturing a fifty-story Tentacruel evolving from the depths.

Tentacruel had risen up in a foam of water and light and it wasted no time in wrapping its many arms around the hotel construction site. We could hear the metal screech as it was bent and broken beneath his grip.

And once the hotel was destroyed, Tentacruel turned its eyes towards the city.

“We need to get to high ground! Now!” Brock shouted, grabbing me by the hand and tugging me away from the water. Ash grabbed Misty and Weiss and we and the rest of Porta Vista did our best to reach the highest point of the city, the skyscrapers.

The tidal wave was devastating. I watched it flatten homes, smash concrete, rip poles from the ground. And the Tentacool swarmed, using their attacks to further destroy everything the wave hadn’t already broken.

This…this is a level of destruction I only ever saw once, and that was when the Parasprites started eating Ponyville. Even that didn’t match what I was seeing now. The effects of Discord’s reign was undone by the Elements of Harmony, I’ve never been to Canterlot during or shortly after the Changeling attack and Tirek only really destroyed the Golden Oak Library before fighting Princess Twilight outside of Ponyville.

“We’ve got to stop this. Don’t they realize this will only make things worse?” Misty was getting teary eyed beside me.

“Tentacruel just grabbed something!” Brock hissed.

“Humans, hear us now!”

That…that came from Tentacruel.

The giant Tentacruel that was holding something.

The giant Tentacruel that was holding Meowth and speaking through him.

“For too long humans have destroyed our nesting grounds! We have tried time and again to turn you away and still you insist on destroying our homes!” Tentacruel continued to broadcast, ensuring we all heard his message. “No more! Now it is you who will know the pain of lost homes and lost lives!”

“Hm?” Tentacruel turned towards the water slightly. “It is too late for that, Horsea. The humans have gone too far.”

We couldn’t see Horsea but we knew he was trying to help.

“We will not meekly allow our homes to be destroyed any longer!” Horsea must have said something to really tick him off, because one of Tentacruel’s tentacles swept out over the water and sent Horsea flying straight at us.

“Pidgeotto, catch it!” Ash had the fastest reflexes. Pidgeotto was able to save Horsea from a terrible fall and bring him safely to Misty’s waiting arms.

“We can’t let this happen!” Ash shook beside me. “Everyone, come out!” He threw his pokeballs in the air. The only one he didn’t send out was Charmander, who’d be severely risking his life fighting all those water pokemon.

“Yeah, go Zubat!” Brock followed.

“Eevee, Bulbasaur, Fearow, Clefairy!” I almost rethought sending out Clefairy, but Clefairy did need experience and this is kind of an all hands situation.

“Staryu, Starmie, Goldeen!” Misty threw hers out too, though I knew how much it had to pain her to fight Tentacruel when they had such grievances.

“Yun, Mien, Mr. Krabs, Magikarp.” Weiss sent out all but two of her pokemon. Why? I didn’t know and I needed to focus on the task at hand.

With all our pokemon working together the Tentacool could be fought. Their numbers were vast but they didn’t have the same maneuverability that ours did. Even Magikarp could use Tackle, though it wasn’t doing much damage, mostly acting as a distraction for the others.

Tentacruel was another matter. But Pikachu was brave. On Pidgeotto’s back he flew right up to Tentacruel and started talking to it, trying to reason with it.

“Do you think Pikachu can convince it to back down?” Brock asked.

“I…” I couldn’t answer. Stop the fighting? In any way other than overwhelming force? Was that even possible?

“If you side with the humans then you will be treated as the enemy!” Tentacruel started broadcasting again and struck out against our pokemon. I saw Fearow nearly get thrown out of the sky and he had to abandon his next attack to save Clefairy when she fell off.

“PLEASE STOP, TENTACRUEL!”

“Misty!?” We looked but she was gone, left when we weren’t looking. It sounded like she’d gotten up on the roof! I leaned out the window, holding one of the bent supports to try to get a glimpse of her.

“WE UNDERSTAND NOW! WE REALIZE THAT WE’VE HURT YOU! WE’LL STOP, I SWEAR!” She yelled, doing her best to make herself heard. “SO, PLEASE! TAKE THEM BACK TO THE OCEAN!”

It worked. How, I don’t know. But it worked. She got through to him. The fighting stopped.

I actually fell to my knees. The fighting stopped.

They were leaving. All the Tentacool were slithering back to the ocean. Tentacruel tossed Meowth away and started making his way through the wreckage left in his wake. That should’ve been the end of it.

Except Nastina had ammunition to spare.

I saw red. Without thinking, I stood and yelled. “FEAROW! CATCH ME!” And leapt.

“Sarah!” Ash yelled but he was too late to stop me. The wind whipped at my face and hair. I spread my arms and legs wide to slow myself down a little but I trusted my pokemon. Fearow was there in a second and I landed on his back, already directing him towards Nastina.

“Use Whirlwind to knock those weapons out of her hands!” I held tight to Clefairy as we soared closer. Fearow beat his wings, knocking Nastina clean off her feet and, yes, sending the weapons flying. “Now grab her!”

“What! Hey, what’s the big idea!” She thrashed ineffectively in Fearow’s talons.

“Drop the attitude or I’ll drop you!” I gave her a piercing glare. Only after she went limp did I look up into Tentacruel’s eyes. “I’m sorry! We’ll make sure she’s held responsible for her part in this! Please know that this woman does not speak for the rest of us!”

Tentacruel narrowed his eyes at me but in the end he continued on his way and had soon vanished beneath the waves.

“Fearow.” My bird pokemon looked at me. “Drop her.”

“WHAT!? AAAAIIIIEEEE—!” SPLASH!

“Sarah!” I checked over my shoulder to see Ash, Brock, and Misty all running down towards the waterfront while Weiss followed them seemingly in shock. Our pokemon were with them, though I noticed Pidgeotto was carrying Magikarp. Was it my imagination or did Magikarp look slightly bigger?

“We did it!” Misty jumped on me with a hug. “We stopped the fighting!”

“Yeah!” I choked up a little.

“You kids are something else.” Officer Jenny, looking more than a little water logged, limped over to us. I noticed her leg was inexpertly wrapped and her red dog was favoring one of its legs. “You saved a lot of lives today.”

“Aw shucks, we were just trying to help.” Ash blushed.

“What happens now?” Brock looked around at the wreckage.

“First, we get in touch with the mainland and organize an evacuation, as well as getting volunteers to start, ah…” Officer Jenny cut herself off with a cough. “First, you kids follow my Growlithe to the nearest intact police department. Wait there until I or another officer comes to get your statements, okay?”

“Are you sure? We could help.” Ash offered.

“You’ve done enough for today.” She reassured us. “I think you and your pokemon have all earned a good rest. I’d appreciate it if you could look after Growlithe for me too.”

“Well, alright.” He agreed hesitantly.

“Growl!” Growlithe barked and started down the road. We all returned our pokemon and followed him. It took a while to reach the police station since we had to go around some wreckage and Growlithe couldn’t move too fast with his hurt leg.

We walked along the water for a good portion of the way. Water was still draining out of the city and we were all soaked up to our knees before long. The most interesting part of the walk was when we came across the remains of Team Rocket’s boat.

“Phew, I’m glad all that’s over.” Ash collapsed on the couch with a sigh. We were in the break room, helping ourselves to the comfortable seating. Brock was on the floor doing what he could for Growlithe.

I couldn’t believe it. I woke up today in a cave on an island full of giant pokemon and after lunch I had to deal with a giant Tentacruel and a horde of Tentacool lay waste to a city. How many more times was this going to happen!?

…

And Weiss is looking at me and holding up two fingers.

…

Yay.