Summery:
With pride that he won a Thunder Badge, Ash and company take a stroll to the docks where they see several luxury liners. They wish they could go on a cruise around the world to have fun and find new pokémon, but none of them have enough money. Suddenly, two girls who wanted to give away these cool free tickets for the St. Anne Cruise to Ash and his friends, because they like have to go out with their boyfriends. Ash graciously accepts, and we find out that the girls were none other than Jesse and James of Team Rocket. Team Rocket meets up with Meowth who is communicating with The Boss of Team Rocket who has a Persian with him, replacing Meowth because of its recent failures. Meowth vows to become the "top cat" again by accomplishing their most recent goal: to give away free tickets for the St. Anne to pokémon trainers so that they can trap them there and steal all their pokémon. Meanwhile, Ash and his friends marvel about the pokémon convention inside the ship. People are comparing their pokémon, selling pokémon merchandise, and battling. Ash, of course, rushes over to the practice match to find a Raticate defeating a Starmie. The victor winner, an older man asks if anyone else wants to challenge him. Ash offers his Butterfree and a "pretty-evenly" match begins. Butterfree then gets the upper hand by using stun spore, but before it can finish Raticate off, the other trainer says they should call a draw because Ash was winning, which disappoints Ash. Elsewhere, James is walking around in a waiter disguise but is drawn to a booth where some guy is selling Magikarp. He is able to con James into buying it, saying that the Magikarp will make him filthy rich by laying thousands of eggs that will hatch into more Magikarps which can be sold at a profit. Later, Ash and company are gorging themselves on a feast, when the older trainer stops by with his lovely date. He asks if Ash wants to trade his Butterfree for his Raticate. Ash tries to ask Brock for advice, but Brock is so ga-ga over the other trainer's date, that he goofily tells Ash to trade so that Brock can get to know her better. They go to a trading machine and trade. James tells Jesse of his purchase, but she knows he was conned, saying that Magikarps are worthless and no one but chumps by them. Wondering how he got the money to pay for it, James reveals that he used both of their salary money, and Jesse screams at James to go get their money back. Meanwhile, Ash worries that the other trainer won't take good care of Butterfree. Suddenly, the Boss gives the signal, and generic members of Team Rocket come out. James is still trying to find the guy who sold him the Magikarp to get his money back, but Jesse pulls him aside to make their entrance. Team Rocket begins using their vacuum backpacks to suck up pokéballs, but Ash rallies all the trainers to use their pokémon together to fight.
Huge storm clouds gather outside the ship as the battle begins with groups of the same pokémon battling members of Team Rocket. Seeing a group of Butterfrees fight, Ash calls out his Butterfree only to see that it is a Raticate. He sadly remembers the day Metapod evolved from Butterfree and vows to get it back. As Team Rocket is shocked, burnt, whipped, and blown away, Jesse and James escape to the lower deck of the ship, just as a huge wave crashes, causing James to lose the pokéball with Magikarp. They chase after it to get their money back, as the ship begins to sink. Meanwhile, Ash asks the other trainer to trade back, because Butterfree was the first pokémon he caught. The other trainer understands, and after the trade, another wave rams the boat, and the pokéball with Butterfree slips out and rolls away. Ash and his friends chase after it, while all the other people on the cruise escape on life rafts. A big wave suddenly turns the St. Anne over and causes both groups (who finally do get their pokéballs) to crash into a wall and pass out. The now upside-down sinking ship descends deeper into the blue abyss leaving us uncertain of our heroes' (and villains') future. |
