Brock ran towards the group with a bunch of snacks.

" Guys, when is the match starting ?"

Yellow, Kris and Ethan looked at Brock before sighing collectively.

" What happened ?"

" The match had already ended."

Brock's jaw dropped as he just went to get everyone snacks.

It hasn't even been a minute and Cynthia and Harrison's match ended just like that.

"What's with you being so absentminded today?" Misty chided.

" I didn't think the match would end so quickly."

" Yeah, Cynthia is strong."

" Of course, she is a champion but to think she would defeat Harrison under a minute is speaking volumes of her strength."

" What are you talking about ? Cynthia defeated Harrison in one hit."

( ~ Thud ~ )

Brock's eye almost popped out of his sockets as he heard Misty's words.

"Where's Harrison?" Brock asked absent-mindedly.

"There, sulking in the corner." Misty rolled her eyes.

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Steven meanwhile read a message on his pokenav that freaked him out as one of the ace trainers on the ship had an absol that was currently having a panic attack.

And that only meant one thing.

Death of people and Pokémon on a large scale.

Immediately sending this to his uncle after which the senior Stone teleported away with his Alakazam. Steven also made a couple of calls to the League to deploy several dozen Kadabra and Alakazam and prepare for the emergency deployment procedure.

Walking on the deck , Steven saw Austin and Gary sitting and enjoying the night breeze as he called out ," Ash ! Can you come here for a second ? "

Austin hurriedly came towards Steven along with pikachu as Steven took out a single card-like object from his pocket, which enlarged into a little suitcase. From the inside, he pulled out a watch-like thing and handed it to Austin "Take it."

"What… is this?" Austin wondered before realizing what the object is.

"This is a Pokenav," Steven explained. "It is used to communicate with people who have a similar one on them, without having to resort to using PC Consoles. They are quite expensive, so I'd say that you take good care of that thing."

"Uh... thanks, but… why are you giving this to me?"

Steven sighed. "Look kid there seems to be trouble brewing and this place is going to the epicenter of that trouble, you seem to get involved in matters that fall under Elite Four scrutiny a lot, especially with your past experiences with team rocket. I guess, it is for the betterment, of both yourself and us, that you remain in contact, especially now that you are in direct communication with the Sinnoh Champion, and for the record, what exactly is your relation to Montgomery again?"

"Bill—I mean, Mr. Montgomery is like a friend to me, and um… he wanted me to register as a freelance researcher working for Mr. Montgomery."

"Impressive." Steven arched an eyebrow. "You sure have a knack of knowing people in the higher ups."

"I ask myself the reason for that every day." Austin mumbled to himself, much to the former Champion's amusement.

" I want you to go to Cynthia and give her this code 666444 ."

"Anyway, you will find my number registered inside the Pokenav. I personally gifted Cynthia with one, so I guess the two can exchange information later on, considering how chummy she seems to be with you."

Austin flushed at that remark.

"Just teasing, but you have to get a few years older if you want to shoot your shot ." Steven chuckled, as he took out a tiny device from his jacket and checked in the young trainer's credentials. "Damn. You're right, kid. Freelance researcher for Professor Oak and a pending position for Bill …." Steven looked up. "Nah Ash, you better not lose my contact number. Something tells me we will be meeting soon again, somewhere."

"Of course." Austin replied, a little too quickly.

"You should join your friends and… do try to stick with Cynthia for you and your friends safety. I… need to go and contact Lance."

"Sure." Austin said as he knew that Team Rocket's attack is going to occur pretty soon.

" How do you know Steven Stone ? " Gary asked curiously but his voice was cut off by the Captain's intercom.

" I want to personally thank every single one of you for joining us on this marvelous cruise and don't fret , enjoy tonight's party...."

Static began to erupt from the speakers making a lot of people cover their ears, Austin being one of them while Pikachu's ears flattened to his head before they froze as they heard familiar laughter on the intercoms.

"Prepare for Trouble."

"And Make that Double."

Immediately Austin's eyes widened as he didn't expect the attack to occur so soon, while Gary blinked. "Is this a part of the cruise?"

"No, it's Team Rocket." Austin said making Gary's head snap up in shock.

In the crowd down at the deck Yellow and Brock froze up, no doubt recognizing those voices.

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The Captain turned to find out who was in his Cabin when a bolt of electricity slammed into him, knocking him off the balcony where he landed in the crowd, luckily that ended up saving his life while Jessie, James and Meowth showed themselves, James returning a Pokemon in the process.

Just seeing their uniforms made the crowd erupt in a frenzy before the 'Sailors' threw off their Uniforms to show they were Rocket Grunts, various Pokemon erupting from their belts.

Countless Golbats, Raticates, Grimers. It was endless as people were beginning to panic further.

"No need to panic, as long as you cooperate things will go smoothly." James said holding a rose while he scanned the crowd from the computer in hand , his eyes landing right on Austin picking him out .

"For most of you that is."

Jessie smirked seeing Austin. "Resist and things will get messy."

Meowth gave a laugh, climbing onto the rails. "So listen to your betters, Meowth!" He said shocking everyone by speaking.

"However some of you won't be getting off this ship." Austin nearly cursed when he heard Arianna's voice as Arianna walked up behind the Trio, a sadistic grin on her face. "But don't worry it's only three of you that won't get off, and I can already see one of them with the Pikachu."

Gary's eyes widened as he turned towards Austin as Pikachu snarled, his cheeks sparking as he was the only one with a Pikachu out.

"This is bad." Austin said while reaching for his belt to send out Butterfree and Raticate but a toxic smell hit his nose causing him to gag when a Weezing got in his face.

"There will be none of that, Ash was it?" Proton spoke making his presence known and now Austin will admit he was scared.