RS032: Abandon Ship!

is the 32nd episode of , Season 6 of , and of .
==Synopsis==
Ash and the gang are headed for Slateport City in a motorboat so that May can try her hand at a Pokémon Contest. Team Rocket is on board, disguised as sailors, and after a failed attempt at capturing Pikachu, they exit the scene in their normal fashion. Unfortunately, now the boat won't start up. Ash and company are drifting at sea when they discover a large, seemingly abandoned ship. They notice that a small boat is along side the ship, so at least one other person must be on board.
They soon meet up with Tommy, who explains that he lost his Marshtomp on the ship a long time ago. He offers to give them a lift back to shore after he's done searching. Later on, Torchic suddenly disappears, and Team Rocket, who also arrived on the ship, find they are missing Meowth. Shortly afterwards, Max, James, May, Jessie, and Wobbuffet are also captured. They end up all tied up and hanging upside down thanks to some handy work by a Spinarak and a Swampert.
Ash, Brock, Pikachu, and the boy are still looking for everyone when Swampert emerges and Tommy  recognizes it as his Marshtomp. The Swampert runs away and they follow it, find the others and free them. The boy apologizes for losing Swampert and boy and Pokémon are happily reunited. Team Rocket makes another futile attempt at catching Pikachu and is sent blasting off again. The gang leaves in Tommy's boat, headed towards Slateport City.
==Episode plot==
The heroes are traveling on a boat to Slateport City. Ash gazes at his new badge he earned from Brawly. Brock reads they have to get to Slateport City first, then to Mauville, where the next Gym lies. However, May reminds them she is going to have her first Contest in Slateport City. While the heroes are discussing, the crew of the boat, who is actually Team Rocket in disguise, plan on capturing their Pokémon. The crew gives the drink and offers Ash's Pikachu some food as well. Pikachu comes to get its food, but is captured in a bag. Meowth and Jessie's Wobbuffet appear in Magikarp submarine as well. Ash sends Corphish, who cuts the bag, releasing Pikachu. Jessie sends Seviper to use Poison Tail, but Corphish evades the attack and uses Crabhammer, defeating Seviper. May sends her Beautifly, who uses Gust to send Team Rocket on the submarine, followed by Pikachu using Thunderbolt to blast them off.
After a while, Brock notices that the boat has been out of gas and there is no radio, either. A storm is approaching, causing the waves drift the boat to an abandoned ship. Brock senses something is wrong, making Ash suspect the ship has been stuck. While Max, Ash and Brock climb up, May plays the role of a detective to find the mysteries of the ship. While on the ship, Ash spots another, newer boat nearby, so they realize someone else is on the ship. A man goes outside the ship, introducing himself as Tommy. The heroes explain their problem, but Tommy claims he came to investigate. Tommy explains the passengers of the ship have abandoned the ship, which crashed, and the coast guard decided to left it as it is. Tommy continues, stating he was one of the passengers and his Marshtomp might still be in the ship. Tommy promises he would give them a ride towards the port once his Marshtomp is found.
While Tommy is searching for Marshtomp, the heroes are consuming the food and drinks Tommy gave to them. May's Torchic sees someone opened the door and goes in. Torchic screams and the heroes come in, but Torchic had disappeared. Tommy comes and hears what happened, so they split up to find Torchic. Team Rocket has blasted off, into the ship, but a Pokémon sees them. Meowth enters a room and is soon taken by the creature. Jessie and James turn around, seeing Meowth had vanished. The heroes search for Torchic, but as Max turns around, he is taken as well. Max wakes up, seeing Meowth and Torchic are being tied as well. As the heroes continues on a door is being shaken and it opens, revealing some Azurill and Marill passing by. Ash, Brock, May and Tommy see this ship is now inhabited by water Pokémon. Max struggles to get free, but Meowth chides him. Max thinks that Meowth should cut him loose, but Meowth does not see how it affects him. Max promises he will free Meowth when Meowth frees him. Meowth uses his hindlegs to free Max. Max tries to untie Torchic, but a lone Spinarak appears, using String Shot to capture Max once more. This causes them all to get angry and swing by side to hit each other.
Jessie and James search for Meowth; suddenly a box begins to shake, causing a Golduck appear. Golduck passes by, annoying Jessie it nearly scared her. As Jessie goes, James is being caught by the creature. James is being tied to the place where Torchic, Max and Meowth are. Meowth tries to free James, but Max gets in the way, causing everyone to hit each other. As the group searches, May is pulled to the water. Brock sends Mudkip to search for May, but Mudkip does not see her. Tommy is certain whoever is on the ship does not like anyone going about. May is being caught as well, but Max cheers her up as Brock, Tommy and Ash are searching for them. Meowth and James remind them that Jessie's also left to search for them, thinking how she is tough enough to defeat this creature. Jessie is wandering and sees a Wooper passing by, nearly scaring her. However, the creature captures her as well. May and Max make fun of Jessie being tied, so she tackles everyone. Meowth turns around and (unintentionally) tackles them. Jessie's Wobbuffet releases itself, but soon is tied as well. Ash, Brock and Tommy search for others. The creature is about to grab Ash's Pikachu, but Pikachu uses Thunderbolt, electrocuting the creature, which is actually a Swampert. The Swampert goes away, with others following it. However, Swampert dives into the water, losing its tracks.
Mudkip follows Swampert, with others diving after Mudkip. They go to the other side and find an opened door. As Ash, Brock and Tommy go inside, they see everyone tied up. Mudkip tries to use Water Gun to cut the threads, but Swampert attacks them with Mud Shot. Ash sends Corphish to battle, who uses Crabhammer, but is quickly defeated with Swampert's Iron Tail. Tommy believes Swampert is his Marshtomp, who evolved when Tommy was absent. Tommy attempts to persuade it, but Swampert uses Mud Shot. Tommy does not give up, but Swampert is mad, as the Swampert thinks Tommy abandoned it. Tommy reminds Swampert the ship had crashed and everyone had to flee, so Tommy felt Marshtomp would be safe in its Poké Ball, but did not want to abandon it. When Swampert sees Mudkip, it recalls its days when it was a Mudkip and evolved into a Marshtomp, as well as the training to learn Iron Tail attack. Tommy points out he came back to find Swampert, who forgives Tommy.
After the threat is over, everyone is untied. Tommy apologizes for the inconvenience, but Max claims it was no trouble at all. Team Rocket isn't missing an opportunity, so Jessie sends Seviper, who uses Poison Tail. Swampert attacks Seviper, defeating it immediately. Swampert uses Hydro Pump, blasting Team Rocket away. Tommy plans to set the place up for Water Pokémon, who made their home here. The heroes supports Tommy's idea and they ride off to Slateport City.
==Debuts==
===Pokémon===
*Marshtomp (flashback)
*Swampert
===Move===
*Mud Shot
==Trivia==
*Featured Pokémon: Silcoon
===Dub Differences===
*The Abandoned Ship is known as the "Forsaken Ship" in the anime.
===Mistakes===
*When it showed Max waking up, finding himself captured in Spinarak's String Shot, along with May's Torchic and Meowth, it showed they looked to be at least ten feet in the air. However, when Meowth cut Max loose, it showed Meowth and Torchic to be low enough for Max to reach up and attempt to help May's Torchic down. This was repeatedly shown through the episode as the captured were shown again and again to be at least ten feet in the air.
*Near the end of the episode when Tommy was taking everyone to Slateport, May says she's excited for her Contest, and Ash says he's excited for his Slateport City Gym battle, though there is no Gym in Slateport.
*Pikachu's electric attack was able to affect Swampert despite it being partially Ground-type.
*Ash's Badge case, consisting of a red Poké Ball silhouette, does not get changed into a red rectangle.
==Gallery==
==References==
Category:Episodes focusing on Team Rocket
Category:Episodes focusing on May
Category:Episodes focusing on Max