//------------------------------//
// A Great Team Effort 
// Story: My Little Pokémon 
// by Amarvax 
//------------------------------//

The Royal Unova has lost one of its boilers.

Due to one of the boilers blowing up, the ship had suffered its first major loss. With one of the boilers destroyed, it was now moving slower with less power. And not only that, the explosion could be felt across the ship, especially on the Bridge where Drake and his crew were.

"W-What was that?!" The helmsman stuttered as he fell on his knees.

"That came from the boiler room..." Drake could tell where that explosion originated from. "Contact the engineer officer of this ship, now!"

"Aye, captain!" A crew member instantly responded as he rushed to speak with the engineer officer via the phone. Drake could tell that things could change for the worst now. They had just avoided the Flame Tsunami by changing their path of sailing, so they were in the clear for that.

However, this is still the Arcane Sea and anything can happen. There's no guarantee that they'll come across the same problems since before they even reached the Verdant Planet, AKA the giant Torterra, the Arcane Sea itself was fighting against the Royal Unova with hazards such as the Pure Liquid Milotic and the Flame Tsunami. And there's a good chance that something else will pop up, just to challenge the Royal Unova once more.

But of course, Drake was ready to tackle it like always. He'd never let the sea itself get the better of it. If anything, he and one other person, in particular, ruled the sea.



Outside the Aft Cabin, Axew had arrived with Spike and the Slurpuff's after tracking the source of the grunt and Drapion's scent. They had come across the barricade and tape that blocked the Aft Cabin but had already seen that someone had cut through and run through it. Obviously Pikachu and Audino. 

Spike began to wonder if going through there meant that they would find the grunt. After all, Slurpuff's sniffing led them here. Spike decided to take the risk as he walked through the broken barricade while Axew and the others followed.

"Something about this doesn't feel right..." A Slurpuff said. "Maybe we should go back to Pinkie Pie and tell her what we found. Or maybe she's found something better!"

"No way." A second Slurpuff shook her head. "We've come this far. This ship is really huge and wide. Pinkie could be far away by now. Let's just find that grunt and then we can alert them, okay?"

"Well hurry...I'm getting hungry right here." A third Slurpuff's stomach was rumbling as the other Slurpuffs agreed with their stomachs rumbling as well.

"Mmm...Same here." Axew was drooling as he was imagining what kind of food he would get to eat once this whole search is over. He can already imagine himself tasting some of the food here on the cruise since the scent of it was enough to distract him and one other Slurpuff.

Or even better, when the Pokemon Festival ends, he'll have the chance to eat home-made quality food back at Ponyville. All these thoughts were so pleasant to Axew's head. Perhaps a bit too pleasant as he was so lost in that when they all reached the Aft Cabin, Axew nearly fell through the large hole that was made on the floor. 

Thankfully, Spike pulled him back as they all looked down at the broken floor. "W-Woah!" Axew waddled as he and everyone witnessed the destroyed floor.

"Holy moly!" The Slurpuff's collectively screamed. "What happened here?!" They all kept their distance, along with Spike who was just as confused and shocked as them. 

But more importantly, the Team Plasma Grunt who resided in the Aft Cabin was currently in the bedroom. The only safe place to be in right now since the lounge is a hazard at this point. As such, he would not come out until he found a way to get past the large gaping floor while also retrieving Poke Ball and Drapion. Currently, he was devising a plan with the assistance of Colress who was smart enough to help him with that.

But even with him inside the bedroom, the Slurpuff's knew that he was here because they were able to pick up on his scent. He was 100% in the Aft Cabin.

"He's here!" A Slurpuff cried out. "We're sure of it!"

"Through there?" Axew looked over at the cabin. "Oooh...through that hole?"

"Well...we're not going through that! Who knows where it'll lead!" 

"Looks like it's not endless. See?" A Slurpuff leaned over, looking over the hole as she noticed the bottom, which led to the engine room. 

"But that's a pretty big fall...Let's see what Spike thinks." All of the Slurpuffs and Axew turned their attention to Spike, who was currently fixated on this.

"If this place is off-limits and the Slurpuffs came here with this giant hole in the floor...then he has to be in here! But I don't know if I wanna jump down there..."

"Maybe we can try again tomorrow when they fix the floor?" A Slurpuff squeed.

"No, wait! Hold on!" The first Slurpuff's nose was picking up on the grunt once more, this time, with a clearer direction. "I don't think we have to jump...Right there." She pointed her paw north, aiming it at the single door that was still standing, even with the large broken floor.

The Slurpuffs, Axew and even Spike turned to face the door as each of the Meringue Pokemon could also pick up on the grunt's smell. With them facing the door and their noses reacting at a high level, it was confirmed. They had found the grunt and they knew where he was.

"There he is!" The fourth Slurpuff exclaimed. "Finally!"

"Now we can tell Pinkie Pie and the others, right? Or do we just head in there?" The fifth Slurpuff asked.

"We're telling. No way we're heading in there with this floor. Let's head back to Pinkie Pie and-"

"Well, I'm heading in!" Axew suddenly interrupted. "That jerk's still gonna pay for what he did to grandpa and everyone!" A very determined Tusk Pokemon was about to jump towards the door and break it down, just to get some payback against the grunt as he jumped.

"Wait!" The Slurpuffs gasped along with Spike as they each pulled Axew back before he would attempt something risky. They all almost fell into the hole because of how they leaned their bodies up to catch Axew.

They all fell on their back after retrieving the Tusk Pokemon. If Axew had jumped any further, then they would've surely fallen.

"C-Can you please not do something so risky...?" The first Slurpuff breathed in and out.

"Oops. My bad!" Axew laughed as he didn't make a big deal about it, showing his carefree nature. 

With the revelation of the grunt's actual whereabouts, the decision to tell the others had been made. Little did Spike, the Slurpuffs and Axew know was that their friends were beyond the large hole and currently going through a rough and fierce battle against Drapion.



Pokemon Paradise. 9:22

Drapion's feud with Pikachu, Absol, Eve and Audino continues. This time, it had led them to the Pokemon Paradise, disrupting the enjoyable fun in the process. Each of them apart from Audino had taken heavy amounts of damage, especially from the boiler exploding.

Pikachu and the others already felt weak from the explosion. Thankfully, because they were so resilient and durable because of their battle experiences, the explosion didn't fully take them out. They've been hit by far worse things. But it did hinder them greatly.

"You two?!" Sneasel gasped. "What's going on?!"

"Sorry, Sneasel." Eve shook her head. "Our battle kind of got carried away and ended up here..."

"What's this?" Drapion looked around, noticing the interior of the Pokemon Paradise as he also noticed the secret passageway via the stairs. "Hoh...So others have been hiding out here, have they? I'd say I'm getting lucky finding more and more Pokemon for the Harmonia Kingdom."

Those words intimidated the Pokemon here as they moved further away from Drapion since he was currently the biggest Pokemon here. They weren't expecting something like this to happen. They were just having fun and minding their own business in a place they call paradise.

"Hey!" Eve exclaimed. "I thought you said you only wanted Special Pokemon! Leave them out of this!"

"It ain't just Special Pokemon we want." Drapion cackled. "Every Pokemon's got a purpose for the scientist Colress. The more we grab, the more weird upgrades he gives them."

"What do you mean by upgrades?" Absol said.

"I don't have to tell you any further! You brats have already ticked me off enough as it is!" Drapion put his arms together as he was going for a Cross Poison. 

Everyone in the Pokemon Paradise gasped as they realized that a battle was about to ensue here. As such, they all started to scatter as Drapion fired an X-Shaped Poison blast from his claws, sending it straight towards Pikachu and the others. 

Instinctively, Pikachu and his friends moved out of the way, avoiding Cross Poison. However, there was some consequence because of their dodging. The Cross Poison had hit the walls of the Pokemon Paradise instead. And unfortunately, these walls weren't made out of steel but wood. Only the ceiling was made of something different. Marble.

Because of that, the poison started to spread, just like how it did back at the Verdant Planet, which further created more panic within the Pokemon Paradise. The poison moved across the walls and floor as the Pokemon knew that they would end up getting poisoned if they made contact with it. The wood was being dissolved because of the intensity of Cross Poison.

"Our paradise!" Sneasel gasped.

"Sorry about this, Sneasel!" Eve said while turning to face the Sharp Claw Pokemon. "We didn't intend for this to happen!"

"Too late for that!" Drapion hardened his tail for an Iron Tail. He smashed his tail onto the wooden walls of the Pokemon Paradise, further adding more damage that was not needed since the poison was slowly destroying the place.

The Ogre Scorp Pokemon swung his tail violently around the Pokemon Paradise with full rage in his attacks. Not only was he destroying parts of the interior, but he was also causing collateral damage in the process.

Wooden planks from the wood that had been hit off by Iron Tail were sent flying, almost hitting some of the Pokemon but just barely missing. Drapion was obviously targeting the wood towards Pikachu and the others while having no care for his surroundings.

Drapion also used his tail to smack a table towards Pikachu, but the Electric Mouse Pokemon cut the table in half with Iron Tail. Drapion continued to smack tables and also chairs towards his opponents which almost hit some of the innocent Pokemon here.

The Trio used Quick Attack in unison to break through the tables and chairs as they each charged through the furniture, heading straight for the Ogre Scorp Pokemon. Drapion's eyes widened as he had been hit in the face and stomach by three Quick Attacks.

Drapion was forced into a wall because of the triple Quick Attacks as he knew that if he were to take one more powerful hit, that was game over for him. There would be no recovering from this.

"Gugh!" Drapion groaned as he held his face, reaching his limit. He could also see that Pikachu and the others were wearing down themselves. But their condition was better than his. Drapion is most likely to faint first than them.

Just then, Drapion decided to amp his dirty tricks once more. He could already see that his Cross Poison trick was doing great as many Pokemon had already been caught by the poison while trying to get away from this battle. Not only that, but Drapion forcefully stood where the exit was, preventing any of the Pokemon from even having the chance to escape.

But Drapion wasn't done yet. With terrifying malice, he fired a continuous Dark Pulse from his mouth, shooting it everywhere instead of at a specific target. He was aiming to bring the entire Pokemon Paradise down. And it was working as the ceiling itself was falling apart with large marble blocks falling from above while the beams that supported parts of the sub-deck were being destroyed.

"Oh no!" Pikachu gasped as he looked around him to see that the whole place was coming apart. "Eve! Absol! Let's focus on getting everyone out first!"

"R-Right!" Eve agreed with Pikachu as that was the best option right now. Pokemon were already poisoned and needed immediate care. And the collapsing ceiling sub-level was not helping.

A large block of marble was about to fall on a Bounsweet until Pikachu came flying in with Iron Tail, destroying the marble block and saving Bounsweet from any potential pain. 

Eve did the same thing by using her mind to move the marble away from any Pokemon that were nearby, placing them on the side. Even Absol helped by cutting the marble in half with his horn.

However, that's exactly what Drapion was hoping.

While Pikachu and Eve focus on saving those, Drapion pulled a cheap shot and fired a triple Cross Poison from his claws, tail and mouth while they weren't looking. Because of their distraction and Drapion's sneak attack, Pikachu, Eve and Abso had each been hit by Cross Poison from behind.

All three of them were knocked back into the walls, getting affected by the other poison that was still spreading. Because of that, Pikachu, Eve and Absol had all been poisoned as they were now in a weaker state.

"Ugh!" Pikachu groaned as he got on all fours.

"C-Curses!" Absol growled as he glared at Drapion with hateful eyes while all the Pokemon watched the trio suffer from the poison after they saved their lives.

"Gotcha!" Drapion cackled. "That poison should do the trick! Now you won't be scurrying about anymore! This is the-" All of a sudden, Drapion himself felt a sudden shock in his system. His eyes widened as he recognized this strange feeling.

He had been poisoned too.

"Heh...gotcha..." Eve mocked Drapion as she smirked at him.

"W-What is this?! What did you do?!" Drapion stammered.

"S-Synchronize!" Eve groaned as she was trying to keep herself stable. "It passes on a burn, poison, or paralysis to the foe. The attacker will receive the same status condition...instant payback!"

"Why you...!" Naturally, Drapion was aggravated as he had just been outplayed by his own move and an Ability.

"Absol! Pikachu! Let's finish this!" Eve ordered.

"Okay!" Both of them said in unison as they stood by the Sun Pokemon whilst still poisoned. They were ready to end this battle once and for all.

But instead of charging in with physical attacks, they were going to attack from afar. With Thunderbolt, Dark Pulse and Dazzling Gleam. Pikachu surrounded himself in an electric aura, Eve had a rainbow-sphere around her while Absol opened his mouth with a black ball forming.

Drapion could tell that this might be it if those three attacks land. And he didn't want that. So he decided to find a way to overcome this and walk out scot-free. He ran to the side, but the trio faced him while charging their attacks up. They made sure to keep their eyes on the Ogre Scorp Pokemon.

Desperate and afraid, Drapion decided to yet again, play dirty. This time, by using one of the innocent Pokemon. He used his long tail to grab a nearby Scatterbug, raising the Scatterdust Pokemon off the floor and holding it in front of him. He also used his long arms to grab a Skitty and Fletchling as well, holding three Pokemon as meat shields.

"Hold it!" Drapion said whilst showing the Bug-Type to the trio, prompting them to halt their attacks. Scatterbug and the other Pokemon were squirming about as Drapion's pincers dug into their skin, sending some poison through them. "That's as far as you three go!"

"You coward!" Eve exclaimed. 

"Hehe...! Now stay there and don't move...Unless you want these three to have their heads pop." Drapion tightened his grip on them. At any moment, he could end their life right here with a single action. But the poison was already slowly doing that. 

Pikachu and the others wanted to end this battle immediately but they also didn't want to risk hurting the innocent Pokemon that Drapion was holding.

Audino had finally arrived with full health since she was unaffected by the boiler explosion because of Protect. She had seen how Drapion was holding three Pokemon who were poisoned while the interior of the Pokemon Paradise was both being destroyed by poison from the walls and how the ceiling was half-destroyed.

She didn't want to make any sudden movements for the sake of the Pokemon as she stood behind Drapion. Audino could see that things were bad and they would not get better if something wasn't done. Knowing that Drapion wasn't aware of her being behind, Audino was ready to go on the offensive.

She wasn't going to use Hyper Beam since that would just cause more destruction than there already is. Instead, she was going to charge in.

"Here I go!" Audino screamed at the top of her lungs as she closed her eyes, charging straight towards Drapion who had heard Audino's voice.

"Hm?" The Ogre Scorp Pokemon turned to witness the Hearing Pokemon running straight towards him at speeds she rarely ever goes at. "Wha-"

Before Drapion could finish his sentence, Audino smashed her body at full-force onto the side of Drapion, dealing surprisingly efficient damage as the Ogre Scorp Pokemon's grip on the three Pokemon had been loosened, allowing them to break free.

"Oh!" Sneasel could see that his friends were free, so he decided to grab them while he had the chance. By using his amazing speed, the Sharp Claw Pokemon jumped off a table, grabbing Scatterbug, Skitty and Fletchling from the floor while Drapion fell over because of Audino's tackle. "Now! Do it!"

"Oh right! Thanks, Sneasel!" Eve thanked the Ice-Dark-Type as she and her friends now had the chance to finally attack Drapion without any distractions. 

Once more, they charged up Thunderbolt, Dazzling Gleam and Dark Pulse at full power. And this time, Drapion couldn't act fast since he was still recovering from Audino smashing into him. Because of that, they could finally unleash their attacks.

A blast of 100,000 volts, multiple rays of rainbows and a beam imbued with dark thoughts were all fired at the same time, merging as one to create an even stronger move.

"No-no-no-no-no!" Drapion shook his head aggressively as he was too late to stop this attack from landing. With incredible power, the three combined moves crashed into the Ogre Scorp Pokemon, creating a triple explosion of electricity, fairy magic and darkness. 

The triple explosion blew almost everyone back while Audino used Protect to shield herself yet again from another explosion. Thankfully, it wasn't as destructive as the boiler room, so not much damage was caused.

After the explosion cleared, it was over. Drapion had fainted. That was all that he could handle after all. After being shocked, tackled, blasted, smashed in the head and slammed about multiple times in one day, the Ogre Scorp Pokemon had fallen. But what a challenge he was.

"Oh thank Arceus, it's over...!" Eve sat down as Pikachu and Absol fell on their backs, relieved that the battle had come to an end.

And so were the Pokemon. They cheered as they knew that Pikachu, Eve and Absol were just trying to protect them all this time. It was very clear whose side they were on. Thus, they themselves were relieved as well. But they were still poisoned so they couldn't celebrate too hard.

Luckily, Audino was here as she had used Refresh around the interior of the Pokemon Paradise. Her massive Refresh bathed everything and everyone in a calming green light as their poison afflictions were being erased along with the poison on the walls.

"Ah...That's good..." Absol nodded as he was free of poison along with everyone else. 

"Pikachu! Eve! Absol!" Audino ran over. "Glad you three are okay! Let me heal you all up." She was about to use Heal Pulse.

"Yeah!" Pikachu sat up as his body was being healed up by Heal Pulse. "And thanks for knocking him down. That could've gotten really ugly fast."

"You all." Sneasel went up to the four of them along with the rest of the Pokemon here. "Thank you all so much for saving us."

"You're welcome. But we're sorry about the Pokemon Paradise. We didn't intend for this to happen." Eve replied.

"It's fine." Sneasel shook his head. "Besides, we haven't seen a good battle in a while. We can fix this place up fast. The same way we stole some of the surveillance monitors without damaging them."

"Hm?" The Cherubi who was inside of the Poke Ball had come out out of confusion and fear of what was going on. She saw that Drapion was on the floor defeated and she was no longer in possession of the grunt. With that knowledge, she destroyed the Poke Ball with Razor Leaf and started bouncing away. "Woohoo! Freedom!"

"But what do we do about this guy?" Absol went up to Drapion.

"He's with the Team Plasma grunt. So we have to take him in as well. He definitely can't stay here." said Eve. 

"We'll help you get him out. Nothing too heavy all of us can't carry together." Sneasel offered.

"Really? Thanks, Sneasel!" Eve squeed. "Wait till Twilight and everyone hear about this!"



And indeed they have.

Thanks to Spike, Slurpuff and Axew, they had found their location. They now knew where the Team Plasma Grunt was and they quickly informed Drake and his crew.

"Hm. So, through here, eh?" Drake said as he stood before the Aft Cabin.

"What happened here?" Ash wondered. 

"Hey!" Drake shouted out. "We know you're in there!" 

"Eek!" The grunt squealed as he had just been found whilst still in the bedroom.

"Thought you could hide forever, hm? I've issued a full lockdown on all doors in the Aft Cabin and nowhere else. You'll be sitting there without any chance of getting out."

"B-But I can't get out either way! There's a large hole in the floor! I'll go plummeting if I step outside!"

"He's right about that." Spike nodded.

"Axew."

"Hm. Well, in that case, sit tight until we return to Nimbasa. You'll have a freshly stable floor back in jail, okay?"

"...Aye captain..." The grunt sighed as he admitted defeat. 

"Pikapi!" Pikachu and the others came running over with the Pokemon from the Pokemon Paradise carrying Drapion in unity.

"Pikachu! Guys!" Ash turned to face his buddy. "Came at the right time!"

"Eve! Absol!" Twilight hugged both of her Pokemon. "I got a bit worried after I felt and heard that explosion. Glad you two are alright."

"Espeon!" Eve nuzzled her nose on Twilight's while Absol scoffed. He wasn't a big fan of hugs, clearly.

"Audi!" Fluttershy jumped into Audino's hands.

"Audino!" The Hearing Pokemon gave her partner a bear hug. 

"Oh!" Spike climbed on Ash's shoulder. "And you got the Drapion too?! Nice stuff."

"Xew!"

"A splendid team effort." Drake nodded. "We'll be moving slower now that one of the boilers has blown up, unfortunately. But we'll still make it to Nimbasa City either way. In the meantime, why don't you all relax and leave everything to us. You've earned it."

"Thanks, Drake." Ash adjusted his hat while Pikachu climbed onto his shoulder.

"Pikachu!"

Finally, the entire Team Plasma Grunt debacle had come to an end. At least, until they get to Nimbasa where Officer Jenny can take them in. But for now, they can relax while Drake and his crew take everything from here.

However, they still had to prepare for the Arcane Sea and what they'll pull next. Resting is never easy when on these waters as the journey continues.


Chapter 350 End.