Chapter Twenty One- Poolside talk, Team rocket attack

It took Mason a little while until he actually found Misty, though he wanted to slap himself for not looking for her where he found her sooner. On the top most deck of the ship, where the largest of the SS Anna's pools was located, and where a multitude of water Pokémon from the various regions were being shown off. Mason couldn't help himself but pause and stare at all of them, there were just so many.

Snapping himself out of his shock he quickly made his way over to Misty and tapped her shoulder to get her out of her own little world, "Hey Misty," he said, snapping her out of it.

"Mason," Misty said, as she turned around to greet him only to freeze when she saw the egg incubator he was holding, "Oh wow, a Pokémon egg, where did you get it."

Mason smirked, "I won it as part of a prize for winning ten battles back on the main deck, can't tell what it will hatch into though, guess I'll just have to wait and see."

Mist smiled at him before looking back out to the pool, "isn't it wonderful," she added as she gestured to the pool and all the water Pokémon being shown off, "You never see this many different kinds of water Pokémon all together like this in one place, it's like a dream come true."

Mason nodded, "yeah, it is something" he agreed as he watched a trio of Lumineon jump out of the pool at the same time as a Milotic surfed underneath them and a pair of Seadra competed against one another with their water guns, it really was a sight to behold.

Looking back at Misty he could see her eyes shimmering with awe as she watched on, making him smile. She really did have such an incredible passion for water Pokémon that the show barely touched on, to see her awe in person was something else.

"Hey Misty, I was hoping to get your advice on something," Mason asked as he held his newly acquired Pokéball in his hand, "I just got a new Pokémon, bought it from a vendor, and I wanted to get your advice on exactly how I should go about training it. I thought if anyone would know, it would be you."

Misty smiled at the praise and looked at the Pokéball before nodding, "another water type aye," she said with a teasing tone, "what's that make it now? Three water types on your team, if you're not careful people will accuse you of being a water type trainer"

Mason chuckled, "yeah I know, though it's kind of hard not to have multiple of them, given they are one of the largest type groups" he mused, "so," he said as he held up the ball, "you up for giving me a hand?"

Misty smiled and nodded, "Sure thing, I'd never turn away someone looking for help on how to properly train their water Pokémon, let's see what you got."

Mason nodded in response and pointed the Pokéball towards the pool, "come on out," he said as the ball opened and the red beam shot from it to the water as the karp Pokémon materialized.

Misty blinked for a moment as she took in the red karp before she said plainly, "a Magikarp," she said before her lips thinned and she knelt down and began to inspect his Pokémon.

Mason watched as she began looking Magikarp over inspecting every small part of the karp before nodding to herself apparently being satisfied with what she saw before she stood up.

"Well it wasn't what I was expecting but at least he's healthy," Misty commented, her severe look fading to a smile as she looked at the water Pokémon.

"What were you expecting?" Mason asked curious as to why she had been all serious when she had first seen Magikarp.

Misty sighed, "Sorry, it's just Magickarp are one of the most found species in every region, they are extremely common, as such that also makes them one of the most easiest to exploit because of that fact," she explained, "People have been known to catch large groups of magikarp and keep them in captivity only to sell them off for mass profit, mostly to idiots who don't know anything about the species. But to make matters worse they also mistreat them, keeping them in tanks too small for them, or feeding them only the bare minimum to keep their chance of evolution low. I was concerned that you might have stumbled across something like that with this one."

Mason nodded in understanding, "I see, but you didn't find anything wrong with him?"

Misty shook her head, "no, he looks to be completely fine. His scales are a healthy shade, his weight looks to be on par if a little more than what his species need to be healthy, his eyes aren't bloodshot and his tail and fin have no nicks in them at all, all in all he's in very good health, and from what I can tell particularly strong"

Mason smiled as he heard that and knelt down to the pool side, still holding the incubator with one arm as he gently began to pet Magikarps head, "you hear that, sounds like you're doing great" he praise the karp with a grin, "my name's Mason, I'm your new trainer, and I'm going to make sure you keep doing great and become as strong as you can be" he told the karp who pressed his head up into Mason's palm happy with the praise, it was acting more like a puppy than a fish.

Misty giggled, "looks like he likes you already," she said before she frowned slightly, "but have you thought this through Mason, you know what Magikarp evolves into right, do you know the amount of upkeep and training a Gyarados requires, they are very big Pokémon and cost a lot to keep on your team." She voiced her concerns, "I'm only comfortable taking my Gyarados with me because I'm still registered as one of the Gym leaders in Cerulean City, and I can still access the Gyms accounts to cover the cost to look after him."

Mason smiled, "if you had asked me that a couple hours ago I would have said I wouldn't have dreamed of it, even with the royalties I'll be getting in the future from my TMs, but let's just say my money problems are sorted for the foreseeable future" he grinned as he kept stroking Magikarp in the water.

Misty smiled and nodded, "I see, well at least you seem to have thought about it," she said as she knelt down next to him, "so what do you need my help with?"

"Well I wanted to ask you for anything you could tell me about properly caring for him, I know that it's important to do so in order to build a good relationship for when he evolves," Mason explained, "the last thing I want is for him to evolve and for him to be angry with me."

Misty nodded, "Yeah, that would be bad," she mused, "but I don't think that's likely. Magikarp as a whole are a relatively easy to please species, they like to be fed and tended to and you seem to be doing a good job of that second one now" she said before shivering slightly, "Believe it or not I actually used to be afraid of Gyarados."

Mason looked at her and arched an eyebrow, he recalled something about that from the anime, from the spin off side series, finding it odd that she said she used to be. 'Yeah, it was a bit odd that she could use Gyarados against me and not be afraid of it,' he thought before asking, "what happened?"

Misty shook her head, "I was young, and even back then I loved water Pokémon," she smiled, "I was playing next to the pool one day, and my Dad's Gyarados surfaced, the water splashed out and the backwash pulled me into the pool, I hadn't learned how to swim properly yet." she explained, "I was sinking and all I could see was his massive body, his red eyes and sharp fangs, scary for any little girl" she said, closing her eyes as she remembered the incident.

Mason remained quiet as he listened to her talk about it, yeah, that would be scary as hell, getting swapped into a pool with what was essentially a sea monster a hundred times your size as a kid, it would give anyone nightmares.

Coming back to herself Misty shook her head, "but he wasn't trying to hurt me, he swept me up with his tail and lifted me to the surface where my dad had quickly came to get me, I was so hysterical I cried for a full hour, after having almost drowning and I thought I was also almost eaten" she explained, "I stayed away from the pool for a solid month after that, refusing to even enter the room, until my dad carried me in and began instructing me how to swim, though I was still afraid of his Gyrados, though that fear didn't last as soon as my dad realized it and helped me get over that as well, his words still ring true in my ears even now, "no Pokémon is truly dangerous, they are just like us, weapons in the wrong hands but allies and friends for life in the right ones, and it's up to us to decide on which they will be by training them right", it still took me some time after that to get over my fear but after spending so much time with him the two of us are good friends now, and I can't imagine being as afraid of him as I once was." she explained.

Mason nodded understanding, it seemed that some things about her past were slightly different than what the canon storyline told him, she wasn't as two dimensional as he had thought.

"Well I'm not afraid per say," Mason said as he stroked Magikarps head, "it would be more apt to say I have a healthy respect for his evolution, especially after seeing your Gyarados in action," he said remembering his battle.

Misty smiled, "Yeah, I wish you could have seen him in his prime, he was one of my dad's strongest Pokémon." she mused, smiling.

Mason blinked at that, "wait, you mean Gyarados wasn't fighting at his full strength?" he asked, confused, but then it started to make sense to him, Dratini was strong sure, most dragon types are, but if Gyarados was trained personally by Misty's father then surely it should have been strong enough to beat even a young dragon type.

Misty gave a sad smile at his question, "Yeah, it's been a couple years since my dad died, and neither my sisters or I can train him like he was able to do, on top of that none of us are as skilled in battle as he was, so as a result the Gym isn't making as much money as it was and that means we have to cut back on various things like the specialized Pokémon food and other essential things that help to keep our Pokémons strength up besides training, as a result Gyarados has lost a lot of his former strength that he once had"

That made sense to Mason, Pokémon were just like humans, if they didn't constantly train and improve they would stagnate and if they didn't train like they used to eventually their strength would deteriorate. Now Mason wasn't feeling as good as he once had about getting even a draw against the massive sea serpent Pokémon, if anything it made his second badge feel cheaper for having it.

But it also brought up other questions in his mind, like just what kind of food Gyrados eat to get that strong and what other items were used, both would be something he'd have to learn if he wanted to raise his Gyrados to be of the same caliber. He made a mental note to ask that later.

"Well can I count on you to help me out when the time comes that this little guy does evolve," Mason asked, "even if you can't train Gyarados like your dad, anything you can teach me would be a huge help."

Misty smiled and nodded as she squatted down next to him, "sure, and we can start right now, here let me show you something" she said as she reached down to pet Magikarp as well, but only on his side and began to really press her fingers against his scales as if massaging them. The result was Magikarp was practically melting under her touch.

"Wow" Mason said, blinking seeing the sudden change.

Misty smiled, "you see Magikarps scales are much tougher than they look, and they have a lot of muscle under them for something their size, so as a result they love getting massaged, and because of their tough scales, you don't have to worry about being too rough with them" she explained, "see here try it," she said as she took his hand by the wrist and put it where her hand had been, putting her hand atop his and pressing down with her fingers to show him how much strength to use.

Mason nodded and let her do so noting how much strength she was using, but also noting just how soft her hand felt atop his, warm too, and smooth. He smiled and gave her a look from the side of his eyes, "I can see why he likes it so much, your hand feels nice" he commented plainly.

Misty blinked at the comment, before she realized just what she was doing as her cheeks went red with a blush and she suddenly snapped her hand back and began stuttering, "Um, I…" she said at a loss for words and unable to meet his eyes.

Mason chuckled softly and decided to throw her a life line, "It's okay Misty, you were just showing me, and it's not as if I was fighting you, I want to learn."

Misty's blush softened somewhat and she nodded, "Okay," she said before putting her hand back on his, her blush deepening somewhat when she did, but she kept a straight face as she went on to explain further and show him more about how to properly massage Magikarps scales and other important things. Needless to say Magikarp was enjoying all of the attention he was getting.

The two of them sat at the poolside and talked for the next couple of hours straight, Mason asking his questions and Misty answering them patiently and happily, clearly enjoying being able to share her extensive knowledge on water Pokémon with someone else.

It wasn't until the ship's speaker system made a noise and a voice came over the system that they finally looked up to listen.

"To all passengers, this afternoon's ball is about to begin in the ship's main ballroom on the second deck. To any passengers who wish to attend, please make their way there now, staff will be able to direct you should you need assistance."

Mason frowned slightly hearing that and looked out at the ocean around them, he remembered in the anime that it was a storm that caused the SS Anna to sink during the Team Rocket attack, but yet it was starting to get dark now and while the waters were a little rough they weren't proving to be anything like he thought they would be. Plus it wasn't raining and he couldn't see any clouds anywhere near them. There didn't look to be a storm coming, that was concerning.

"Hey do you want to go," Misty said, snapping him from his thoughts, "it is getting kind of late and I'm getting hungry after all this teaching."

Mason was about to reply when his stomach did so for him, grumbling and reminding him he hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast that morning and chuckled, "yeah sounds like a plan." he said as they stood up and he returned Magikarp to his ball before the pair of them left the upper deck. Though Mason couldn't help but glance back at the open ocean, the mild waves and clear skies, not a storm in sight.

-Scene break-

It only took the pair a few minutes to find their way to the ballroom but by the time they did it already looked like things were in full swing. The room was full of people around tables, and standing in groups talking while music was played over speakers.

Mason could even see a couple of indoor battlefields that were being used as crowds watched on, the ship was certainly much better equipped than what he remembered from the anime.

"We should try to find Brock and Ash," Misty said from his side.

Mason nodded and the pair of them began to make their way amongst the crowds, looking around as they went. The room was a practical A to Z of Pokémon with trainers showing off their partners to one another. Mason lost track of how many he saw, not just from Kanto but from every region, this ship was a veritable zoo, and it became clear to Mason just why Team Rocket would target such an event like in canon, if they wanted rare and exotic Pokémon, this ship was a gold mine with all these trainers and Pokémon in one place, isolated from any means of getting away.

"There they are," Misty said, catching his attention once more, as he looked to where she was pointing to see both Ash and Brock at one of the dining tables sitting down, with Ash practically wolfing down the many plates of food around him.

"Misty, Mason," Brock called to them as they approached, "you two having fun?"

"Yeah, we were just at the ship's pool appreciating all of the species of water Pokémon being shown off by their trainers," Misty said with a dreamy expression on her face as she sat down.

Mason chuckled and shook his head with amusement before looking to Ash, "I'm surprised you're not out there watching the battles, or taking part in one yourself Ash," he mused remembering how things went in canon with Ash getting into a battle with some old gentleman and then trading away his Butterfree for a Raticate, a rather dumb thing to do considering in the battle between them Bufferfree was clearly the better Pokémon.

"That was where I found him before the ball actually," Brock explained as Ash finished off the last of his food, "it looked like he was giving it his all."

"Well yeah, I wasn't about to pass up any good chance to battle like that," Ash grinned, "All that battling worked up a real hunger."

"Well that's nothing new," Misty mused, rolling her eyes.

Ash snorted before shaking his head, "I think I won about seven battles, made for some good experience and made some good winnings too, one guy even offered to trade me his Raticate for my Butterfree, but I turned him down."

That immediately got Mason's attention, "really?" he asked, putting his full attention on Ash, that was not canon.

"Yeah," Ash nodded, "Don't get me wrong, his Raticate was strong, but with all the work Butterfree and the others have been putting in training, I don't want to go trading him away, I want to stick with him, I know he's getting stronger day by day and it would feel cheap to trade him for another Pokémon, same with any of my team." he explained.

"I'm sure a lot of trainers think the same," Brock mused, "while some people like trading their Pokémon constantly, I know just as many who would never want to trade a single member of their teams away even for a second."

But Mason wasn't paying attention, his mind was a hundred miles away as he ran over what Ash has said before, because of the training Ash didn't want to trade Butterfree, the training that he pushed him into. Mason began to think about the ramifications of that, without Ash making the mistake of trading there would be no reason for Ash and the group to not get to the lifeboats in time to get off the ship when it sank… if it sank. Mason remembered not seeing even one storm cloud ahead of them, so it was now up in the air if the SS Anna would even sink this time, he didn't know how his presence could have affected the weather at all, but all he could do for now was to play things by ear and go with whatever events he hoped would continue to happen from canon.

As if on cue the doors of the ball room slammed shut loudly and the lights of the room went off, making some people cry out in shock, Mason felt a bit better knowing it was coming and stood up from his seat at the table.

"What's going on, why'd the lights go out," Misty said worriedly as she stood up too, followed by Brock and Ash.

As if to answer her question, a spotlight from above shown down on a table that two familiar people were standing up on, Jessie and James, Both wearing two backpack like machines on their backs, and began to sing the Rocket motto, while around the room other lights began to come on, as the various waiting staff pulled off their over shirts and pulled on hats to reveal they were each wearing black shirts underneath each with a large crimson R on it's front identifying them as members of Team Rocket, every other member wearing a mechanical backpack similar to the ones Jessie and James were wearing.

"Looks like a heist to me," Mason scowled as he reached down to his Pokéballs on his belt, as Jessie confirmed Mason's words and began to give orders and the Rocket grunts began to move into the crowd, "what say we make them work for it." He added before he tossed his Pokéball towards the duo on the table, "Dratini, Thunderbolt!"

Dratini's Pokéball burst open and the small dragon came out with a cry, electricity running up and down his body as he let loose a powerful electric attack that hit both Jessie and James from the table, Meowth only barely jumping out of the way in time.

The sudden attack made the room go quiet as everyone looked on before Mason grinned, "They want our Pokémon, then I say we give them what they want."

At his words, other trainers grinned, and absolute bedlam ensued as trainers called out attacks and Pokémon alike, and the battle of the SS Anna began in full.