Sobbing, Azrael carried Brooke back towards the devastated builing.

*

Over the creak of timbers and the sloshing of water against its sides, the sound of splashing could be heard. Saffire fastened his claws into the side of the boat, which was a wooden vessel, and dragged himself aboard. His nine tails were waterlogged. Swimming was a huge chore for any Ninetails – even if they had immunity to water the way he did. Not to mention that it hurt badly for him to swim. His skin tingled with the water. Behind him James dragged himself aboard, using the fox’s tails for leverage. Saffire was none too happy about that!

Finally, panting, the two of them lay on the deck.

"Oh, look what we have here?" Came a familiar yowling voice. A large Persian with glossy fur stalked over. "Look what da sea threw up!" It stood there casually enough, but the rippling of its muscles and the tenseness in its hindlegs gave part of the show away. It was ready to attack at any moment.

James frowned. "Saffire, I’ll hold it off, find Cassandra!" Saffire glanced at him anxiously, then nodded and darted off. The human turned back to the cat. "Why, hello kitty," he said softly.

The Persian, hearing this did a double take. "Ah, yes, well, lookie what da sea did throw up, if it ain’t lettle Jamsie-girl. Come to apologise for what ya did to me, eh? Cos if ya are, den ya really will be sorry!"

"Meowth?" James was gaping.

"Dunno what ya talkin’ about," the Persian snarled, "I ain’t no prissy little pussy no more, now I’m da most powerful predator ya’ll ever meet. So it seems as if ya don’t have to be apologising ta me after all."

"We were friends," James said softly, backing up against the railing.

"Oh we was, was we? Well, friend, it seems as if I don’t be needin’ ya no more, so ya’ll get the old heave-ho. Betcha wondering what happened to your girly-friend, eh? Do ya know what happened to Jessie, James? Do ya wanna know?" From the taunting in its voice, it was obvious that whatever had befallen his companion had been none to pleasant.

He simply stared and shuddered. This Persian had once been Meowth – his friend, his companion, someone he and Jessie had loved and trusted. He had been told Meowth had died during the Change, but now he saw that was not true.

Meowth had been Changed, but not into a morph. He had been evolved.

And with Evolution, the mind changes too.

He felt a lump rising in his throat. How could Meowth do this to him? The cat had been their best friend, reliable, affectionate and had helped the two of them in their time of need, and now it was mocking him.

"She didn’t die, Jamsie-girl," the Persian yowled, "but she wished she had. See, ya know how ya let out all da prisoners? Well, Jessie got hurt like real nasty by a big bad bull Tauros. Luckily da master sought to save her by making her one of us. So ya see, Jamsie, in a way, ya killed her! How’s dat for poetic justice, eh?"

"No," James whimpered. Not Jessie… not his best friend and confident, almost like a sister to him, not quite like a lover, except in his deepest, forbidden dreams.

He had loved her, he had loved Meowth.

And Meowth was now a monster.

"And before dat, why da master got to do ter her what ya always wanted to, Jamsie-girl! He got to mate with her, he did. And she liked it." The Persian licked its chops. "But she weren’t so happy when da master took her baby away." Its tail swished against its hindquarters.

"You lie!" James hissed, although without conviction, "Jessie would never let that freak take her as a lover."

"What da ya know, Jamsie? You ain’t nothing but a faggot. Dontcha think I know? All dose years of parading around in women’s clothing and putting on da voice? Ya nothing, Jamsie-girl, nothing but a stinkin’ queer."

"You are not Meowth!" James threw himself at the Persian, and the two met in a series of yowls and shrieks.

The Persian’s claws were amazingly sharp, tearing through James’s weak human skin like a knife through butter. He bled from a dozen scratches and bites. Somehow, against all odds, he managed to push the cat off of himself. The Persian had suffered bruises, but nothing compared to the state of James. Then the young man backed up against the railing.

"Come and get me," he coaxed.

The Persian glanced to where Saffire had been, obviously a little concerned about the Ninetails wandering about freely, but then its rage took over, and it lunged.

James stepped aside at the last minute, and the large feline hit the side of the boat almost tipping over the side. It regained balance quickly however, leaving long scars in the timber, and whirled. Its eyes glowed violet and then a huge wave of bright purple light poured from its jewel.

James was so surprised that he barely had time to dodge, and the beam hit him in the side with enough force to shoot him into the air and into the side of the railing.

Bringing back some less-then-concerting flashbacks.

"Team Rocket’s blasting off again," he muttered, almost in delirium. It felt as it every molecule in his body had expanded, and then shrunk back to normal size. It felt as if he was falling apart from the inside.

And then the Persian pounced on him again.

Unfortunately for both parties involved, the force of the beam had weakened the railing to the point where it could no longer withstand the added pressure of several pounds of feline being applied at high speed.

Persian scrabbled and tried to back pedal as both he and James fell through the side of the ship and into the water.

James barely even noticed - the pain was intense, so intense that the chill of the water and the force of it coming up to meet him could not even compete.

And flailing, the two of them plunged straight under the water.

*

Saffire heard the splash and smiled, for obviously James had managed to get the feline overboard. He found without too much difficulty the entrance to the hold. It was locked, but a well placed blast of ice quickly put an end to that. In the darkness below he could hear voices, and then, suddenly, the wall before him caved in, or rather out, and three rolled up figures barrelled through it.

The whole ship shook.

Before him uncurled three female Sandshrews. Two looked at him in puzzlement, but the third sprang at him so impulsively he barely had time to catch her. Cassandra kissed him on the nose.

"Did you really need rescuing?" He asked her.

She grinned. "At first we were really scared, but then we realised something, we are, after all, Sandshrews and we do have some power. Especially if we band together."

"What about the water?"

The other two Sandshrews looked at each other nervously. "No like water," one ventured.

"If you could face it to get to us," Cassandra replied brightly, "then I can face it to get to you."

And then, suddenly, it started to rain, a rumble of thunder rolling across the heavens. There was a flash of vivid white lightning, neatly (and dramatically) illuminating a figure standing in the doorway. Saffire was sure it had not been there a moment ago.

"Were my little birdies planning on flying the coop?" Asked a mocking voice. "We can’t have that happening, can we just?"

The two Sandshrew girls screamed and hugged each other. But Saffire was not so easily scared, even though he had already faced the wrath of Giovanni.

"What do you want with them?" He asked, placing Cassandra on the ground and stepping forward.

"Just a bit of her DNA," Giovanni replied, grinning, "the rest of her is entirely expendable – what a shame I shall have to kill her to get the piece I require, eh?"

Saffire’s eyes glowed vibrant blue, but his body showed no other reaction.

Cassandra stood boldly beside him. "You will not take me alive," she growled.

"Oh that is a pity," Giovanni said sadly, "see, to completely preserve the bit I really need, I have to remove it in the laboratory, otherwise it’ll die and all will be lost. But I think, really, you are all bluster and no action!"

Cassandra stared at him. "I mean it," she said, sticking out her chin, "if you come any closer, I shall barrel straight through this floor and drown myself, you know water is not kind to me, and you know out kin cannot swim. Dare you risk it?"

Even Saffire was puzzled, what could she possibly be trying to achieve? He knew that whilst Sandshrew were not weak against the water the same way a fire Pokemon was, they could certainly not swim. And if she was under the boat, she certainly would drown, not to mention that the boat would sink.

Giovanni seemed to realise this, for he did not make any advance. He brought his hands together, and a purple light began to form there. Saffire pushed Cassandra behind him, not wanting her to experience the agony he had experienced earlier. The tearing pain in his head.

"Luckily I don’t have to advance…" Giovanni said. And then, for no discernable reason, his speech was broken off by a screech and a scream – his scream. Someone else’s screech. The glowing purple light suddenly plunged downwards, into the floor near where Giovanni had been standing - for he had disappeared from the entranceway, and if one listened carefully, the sound of thrashing wings could be heard. They were quickly drowned out by the pounding rain.

"What the hell just happened?" One of the Sandshrew’s shrieked, almost despairingly.

Saffire paid no heed, motioning for Cassandra to stay below, he stepped over the large hole, through which water was already beginning to bubble into the lowest compartments of the ship, and peered out into the storm. Lightning flashed at just the right moment for him to see two things.

A large smear of blood on the deck where Giovanni had been standing.

And a shape, high in the sky, a strangely deformed shape, and dangling from its claws the limp silhouette of a man.

Part of the deck was on fire.

Saffire took all this in in a few quick glances. "Cassandra, girls! We have to go overboard now! Or we’re going to go down with the ship! Or up with the ship…" he muttered the last part to himself. Already water was starting to flow into the floor, slowly, but with intent.

He reached down one hand, "take my hand!"

Cassandra pushed one of the other girls ahead of her, and the girl winched as the water touched her naked feet. One hand reached out and he clasped it firmly, half lifting, half dragging her across the deck. She shrieked in fear when she saw the fire. Saffire had no time for her, he pushed her aside and reached out for the next Sandshrew.

The fire was not spreading very far, the rain was preventing it taking firm hold, although oddly enough, despite the pounding rain it still burned. Call it creative licence.

Just as the second Sandshrew stood on the deck, the boat lurched, and tipped, sending Cassandra tumbling forwards, almost into the hole. The two Sandshrew girls on board shrieked as they almost rolled into the fire. Saffire, braced against the doorway, managed to keep his balance.

The railing went underwater, immediately putting an end to the flames. Cassandra had slipped into the hole, and was clinging frantically to the side.

"Help…" She whimpered. "Can’t swim!"

Saffire reached down, trying to take her hand, but it was, naturally, just a few inches too short. The boat lurched again and he almost lost his grip and fell into the hole himself.

Suddenly the air was filled with chittering. Creatures, strange small and twisted creatures grasped the Sandshrew girls in many hands and lifted them into the air. Now the air was filled with screams.

Saffire was torn, he could not concern himself with rescuing them, he had to save Cassandra! He twisted, lowering his tails into the hole. "Grasp one!" He shouted against the pounding rain, the chittering winged beasts and the screaming girls.

He felt something grab onto his tail, something heavy and painful. Bracing himself he held his bulk in place whilst Cassandra dragged herself up his tail, then fell backwards, catching her in his arms as the boat lurched again. This time they both tumbled into the water, him cradling Cassandra to his chest. The water hit him like a very cold, very wet wall. Instantly he plunged deep, almost to the bottom, then buoyancy sent him back to the surface. Things were grasping at his hair, his shoulders, trying to haul him into the air, and he no longer had the strength to resist them.

Cradling Cassandra close, almost as though she were a frightened infant, the small but strong winged beasts dragged him across the water and to shore. One of them landed beside him, staring at him, and he recoiled a bit in surprise.

It looked like a Zubat, only its body was rounder, more furry, and it had a short pug-nose.

"Kweek?" It asked, and much to his surprise, the Ninetails morph allowed himself to fall back, feeling strangely relieved.

It was over, although what had begun, he could barely even conceive.