Chapter 29: The Sinking of the Cruise Ship

Chapter 29: The Sinking Cruise Ship

"Damn it!" The handsome man slammed his hand hard against the corridor railing. "He actually got away!"

Before Xia You could speak, he proactively explained, "This Lambda is the high-ranking Team Rocket executive I've been tracking. I thought I would capture him today and cut off one of Team Rocket's assets, but I didn't expect everything to fall apart at the very last moment!"

"You did well enough to stop the robbery," Xia You offered a word of comfort, then his tone shifted abruptly. "But now is not the time for self-pity. The priority is to deal with those ordinary Team Rocket members below!"

"You're right," the handsome man nodded solemnly. "Then let's move!"

A slight breeze blew past, and the originally calm sea began to ripple in layers. Looking into the distance, the sky had already changed color; a massive, heavy dark cloud was slowly approaching the SS Anne.

In the first-floor lobby, with everyone working together, the Team Rocket members were quickly defeated.

The Team Rocket members scattered in all directions, vanishing completely in the blink of an eye.

The handsome man felt powerless to do more; he could only watch helplessly as they escaped.

After all, he couldn't bring so many Team Rocket members to justice by himself. Therefore, after greeting Xia You and leaving his phone number, he also chose to depart silently.

Just then, a massive wave struck the ship. The hull jolted violently, catching the passengers off guard. They lost their footing and tumbled backward.

Xia You was quick to react, grabbing a nearby table to steady himself and avoid falling. Before he could even look up, a small body crashed into his arms.

It was Misty!

Xia You quickly wrapped his arms around her waist to keep her from falling, asking with concern, "Are you okay?"

Misty's face flushed slightly as she looked up at Xia You and gave a soft shake of her head.

Under the onslaught of the waves, the SS Anne rocked from side to side. Its stabilization system had limited effectiveness in such terrible weather. People rushed to the portholes to look out; at this moment, the entire sky looked like night, and the only things visible were flashes of lightning and rolls of thunder.

"It's a storm!"

Someone shouted, instantly triggering a wave of panic among those nearby.

Xia You helped Misty up and sighed. "In such terrible weather, this ship definitely won't be able to make it back."

On the other side of the lobby, the captain—who had been missing since the beginning—was suddenly found by the crowd. Although he looked panicked, he forced himself to remain calm. "...By the time I noticed, the ship was already surrounded by the storm. But please, rest assured, the SS Anne is well-tested and has a massive tonnage. I guarantee it absolutely will not sink!"

Just as he finished speaking, another giant wave slammed into the ship. Everyone jolted and fell to the ground. When they scrambled back up, they saw that the captain had already run to the end of the emergency exit and sat down in a lifeboat!

"Everyone!" From inside the lifeboat, the captain repeated his words to the astonished crowd. "I guarantee this ship will absolutely not sink! Please stay here with peace of mind!"

However, seeing that even the captain had boarded a lifeboat, no one believed him anymore. They scrambled toward the lifeboats in a frenzy.

In the chaos, the screams of women, the shouts of men, and the cries of children rang out, creating a scene of extreme disorder.

"Let's get moving too," Xia You beckoned to Misty and Brock. Just as he was about to step forward, he realized Ash was nowhere to be seen. "Huh? Where's Ash?"

Misty and Brock also searched hurriedly, finally spotting Ash in front of a machine in a corner.

"He's over there!"

By the time Xia You and the others reached Ash, they saw him exchanging Pokémon with the man in the suit using the machine.

*So, he really figured it out...*

As the man in the suit operated the machine, he looked surprised to see Xia You. "It's you!? In such a short time, your Ralts has already evolved into Kirlia. It must have become much stronger than before, hasn't it!?"

Xia You nodded politely but did not offer much of a response.

At that moment, Ash took the Poké Ball containing Butterfree back into his hand. However, before he could grip it tightly, the SS Anne jolted again. His hand slipped, and the Poké Ball fell to the ground, rolling into the adjacent corridor.

"Butterfree!"

Ash shouted and rushed after it. Out of concern, his companions, Misty and Brock, also ran into the corridor.

Xia You glanced back at the lifeboats. If they wanted to leave safely, now was the best time.

But logically speaking, with waves this large, wouldn't it be extremely dangerous even to board a lifeboat?

Shaking his head, he chose not to leave alone, but instead followed behind Misty and Brock into the corridor.

After running dozens of steps, he finally caught up to Ash. Just as Ash picked up the Poké Ball and was about to stand up, an unprecedented, massive force swept through the SS Anne. In the next second, Xia You felt the world spinning; his body was lifted into the air, and he slammed hard against a wall.

The impact was quite heavy. After a long while, when Xia You stood up with the help of Kirlia, he discovered that the entire ship had completely capsized.

Furthermore, he could clearly feel that the ship was continuously sinking. From the occasional sound of cracking, he could hear streams of water rushing into the vessel.

*It finally sank...*

Beside him, Ash and the others were also dazed and disoriented from the fall. Xia You woke them up one by one, and once they realized the situation, their expressions all changed.

With another tremor, the SS Anne seemed to have reached the seabed and come to a complete standstill.

The corridor lights still illuminated the cabin; it seemed the electrical system had not yet been affected.

"What do we do now?" Ash leaned against the porthole, his face full of shock. "The ship has completely sunk to the bottom of the sea!"

"Calm down," Xia You soothed his emotions. "We need to find an exit immediately. We must escape before we are completely submerged by the seawater!"

Fortunately, because there was a large amount of air inside the ship, the water pressure meant the seawater would not immediately fill the entire vessel, giving them sufficient time.

The group moved rapidly along the corridor. Unfortunately, because the ship had flipped, what was once the top was now the bottom, and vice versa. Some paths were blocked, and because of the accumulated water, moving forward became extremely difficult.

When they reached the staircase, they looked at the stairs that were completely submerged in water. With nowhere left to go, they couldn't help but stop in tension.

(End of Chapter)