Chapter 2: Bad Success
Misty awoke slowly. She felt sleepy, like the time when the
Drowzee and Hypno had hypnotized her. She looked around
sleepily and noticed Psyduck, but more importantly, Pikachu,
who had rubber-encased chains around her. She instinctively
tried to help her out, but then realized her hands were
tied behind her and her feet under her.
"Psyduck, help me out," said Misty angrily.
"Psy?" asked the incompetent yellow duck.
Misty sighed and said, somewhat impatiently, "Use your claws and shred the ropes, Psyduck." But before Psyduck could even begin to understand what she was talking about, Team Rocket walked in, minus Meowth.
"To unite all peoples within our nation," said James.
"Jessie!" Jessie introduced herself for what Misty guessed was the sixtieth time.
"James!" James followed.
"Team Rocket! Blast off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
Meowth, jumping over Misty backwards and landing in front of her, finished, "Meowth! That's right!" He had been behind her the whole time.
"There, that's much better," said Jessie, satisfied. "Now that our motto is taken care of, we can finally get down to business."
Jessie and James each dropped a Poké Ball at the same time, which opened to reveal a female and male Butterfree. The female went to Jessie as the male went to James.
Misty blinked. "Are those Ash's old Butterfree and his mate?" she asked.
"Chu," put in Pikachu.
"Yes," said Jessie. "You're a bit smarter than Ash and that other guy. If we could change the loyalty of humans, we'd probably make you a member of Team Rocket. This is where the Sleep Powder came from. Now, allow us to explain how we got these Butterfrees."
James began, "As you four watched the Butterfrees fly away, we had managed to come back and were watching you. After you left, we got another helicopter and followed them."
"It was fairly late by the time we caught up," said Jessie. "The Butterfrees found out we were following them a few times and flew low, making it hard to see them. They changed direction and we didn't find out for a while."
"Eventually we caught up," continued James. "Most of the Butterfrees were very weak and wouldn't have been much help to us at all. But Ash's Butterfree was special."
Jessie said fondly, while slightly smirking, "No matter what we did, he fought very well until we took his mate. When we did, he lost his concentration and we were able to catch him and his mate."
"You probably know how a trade works. Two Poké Balls are put into the machine. The loyalty of the two Pokémon is changed electronically while the two Poké Balls are going through the machine," explained James. "That was the mistake we made when we took the Charizard, Ivysaur, and Pikachu from that ridiculous, much-too-advanced, overconfident…" he paused. "Sorry. Jessie, go on."
"We put our Butterfrees in and they were converted to being loyal to us," continued Jessie. "Now our plan is to do the same with Pikachu. She'll be a very good addition to our collection."
James smiled and said, "We took your Staryu and Starmie. We also now have Vulpix, Onix, Charizard, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Pidgeotto, and there are two more that you won't be able to guess."
"So I've got Goldeen, Horsea, and Psyduck," thought Misty. "Not much…"
Jessie smirked. "Gengar and Gastly. Back in Lavender Town, they attacked us. After a while, we got revenge by capturing them."
"And," said Meowth happily, "my Togepi has happily returned to his true owner, the one who raised him with such care."
"Nice," said Misty sarcastically. "And what are you going to do with all those Pokémon now?" she asked.
"We intend to overthrow our boss, actually," answered Jessie. "But first we're going to defeat Ash once and for all. He's been annoying us ever since the beginning."
James tied a cloth over Misty's mouth. "If Ash still hears you, at the very least, we'll have beaten him in a Pokémon battle. We'll just leave you here to wait for your boyfriend to come save you. Kind of like the two Butterfrees, actually. He'll lose his concentration without his mate around."
Jessie and he snickered.
Misty blushed as they all left, with James carrying the helpless Pikachu. Even though she knew Team Rocket was just trying to make her mad, she couldn't help the way she felt about Ash.She could only hope he would come for her soon… It was so cold in the room, which had been purposely set at a low temperature by Team Rocket, and wearing shorts wasn't helping. She yelled into her gag for help, then, seeing how soft and muffled her voice was, decided to save her strength until she heard the sounds of a distant Pokémon battle. Psyduck, having heard her cry, came over and lay beside her, then fell asleep at her side. She shivered, tried to get her hands out of the ropes a few times, then gave up and waited for Ash to save her.
Ash woke up a little groggily. Although he was awake, he felt as sleepy as if Jigglypuff was singing her song. He shook his head a few times, then stood up. The first thing he noticed, since she was, after all, the only thing he really cared about, was that Pikachu was missing. "Pikachu," he called.
After a few seconds of Pikachu not showing up, not even a rustle in the bushes, he turned to Misty, only to find that she was missing as well. He turned to Brock and was glad to see that not everyone was missing. "Good old Brock," thought Ash. "He's always there for me. Now if only he was awake." He shook him, trying to wake him up.
Brock blinked a few times before his eyes adjusted to the light, then saw Ash standing over him. He also noticed that Ash's Pokémon were missing, and he instinctively reached for his own to find that Vulpix and Onix were gone, leaving him with Zubat and Geodude. "Ash, most of our Pokémon are missing!" he said, standing up quickly.
Ash looked and found out that Brock was right. "All of mine are missing," he said dejectedly. "Even Pikachu is gone."
Brock thought for a second, then said, "This has to be the work of Team Rocket!"
Ash shook his head. "It can't be," he explained. "They never get anything right."
"Not the time for humor, Ash," Brock replied in all sincerity. "We have to get our Pokémon back from them. Anyway, you still have two Pokémon. You left Krabby and Muk with Professor Oak, remember?"
"You're right," Ash said, appearing to be in a lighter mood. "Besides, there's still Misty. She must have gone somewhere, because her stuff is still here. She probably woke up early and managed to get away from Team Rocket."
He paused, then, thinking about what he had just said, clenched his fists and demanded, "How come she didn't wake us up? She only cares about herself!"
"I don't think that's really the case, Ash," Brock said, purposely leaving his statement a bit mysterious. He smiled when his friend stared at him with a confused look on his face. This occurred a lot with Ash.
"Whatever you mean by that, I need to go get my Pokémon. You stay here in case Misty comes back," Ash announced, taking charge.
Brock shook his head. Ash raised an eyebrow at him. "If you get attacked by a wild Pokémon out there," lectured Brock, "without any of your own, you have no defenses at all. I need to come with you."
Ash didn't like thinking that he was completely helpless without his Pokémon, but that's the way it was and he eventually agreed. The sun was shining so brightly. It was a great day for his faithful Bulbasaur to walk along beside him, with her bulb growing nicely. He reached for his Poké Ball to let her out, then remembered and looked downcast.
Soon, Ash thought he heard Team Rocket's voices.
"Prepare for trouble," began Jessie.
"Pipe down, you two," said Meowth angrily. "We've already said our motto twice in this day." Jessie reluctantly agreed. Luckily, Ash hadn't really heard them. She, James, and Meowth jumped out of the tree they were in and landed in front of Ash and Brock. Brock clenched his fists and reached for his Poké Balls. "Team Rocket," he said slowly, glaring at them. "We know it was you who took our Pokémon, and we're going to demand them back."
Jessie looked thoughtful, then quickly turned back to him. "I think not. You're no match for us, not now."
Brock looked at Ash and said, "Stand back. I'll take charge here." He took his Poké Balls in his hand. "Zubat, Geodude, go!" he yelled. Jessie and James looked at each other, then laughed.
James, a little too calmly, said, "Pidgeotto, Vulpix, Onix, Starmie, Butterfree, go."
Jessie followed up with, "Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Charizard, Staryu, Butterfree, go." She didn't really want to call out her Lickitung. All 10 Pokémon looked fiercely at Brock and his Zubat and Geodude.
"That's my old Butterfree," Ash thought to himself. Then he suddenly realized something else. "Where's Misty?" he demanded, seeing that Team Rocket had her Pokémon as well.
"Your girlfriend is being held captive off in a cabin deep in the forest," answered Jessie. "Now let's fight," she said, turning to Brock. "Butterfree and Butterfree, use your Sleep Powder!"
Brock was determined, despite the odds. "Geodude, shield yourself and Zubat!" Geodude hovered above Zubat to shield them both from the Sleep Powder. It wouldn't penetrate his hard rock body. "Zubat, Supersonic, now!" he shouted to his Zubat. If all of Team Rocket's Pokémon attacked each other, they would be completely defeated.
"Bulbasaur, Razor Leaf!" said Jessie. The leaves flying wildly through the air threw off Zubat's echolocation and she was temporarily dazzled. "Now, Squirtle, Water Gun!" Squirtle shot water, drenching Brock, Zubat, and Geodude. "Bulbasaur, Solarbeam!" Bulbasaur, filling herself with solar energy, shot out her beam of pure solar power, nearly destroying Brock and his Pokémon. "Vulpix and Charizard, Flamethrower!" The Vulpix and Charizard toasted the helpless trio.
"Charizard never obeyed me!" cried Ash, watching from a distance.
"Pokémon only disobey their trainers when the trainers are weak," explained Jessie.
"Aw…" said Ash. He fell over, dejected.
"Pidgeotto, Whirlwind!" shouted James. Pidgeotto flapped his wings and sent Brock and his Pokémon flying randomly across the forest and into trees. "And now, Onix, Tackle attack!" Onix charged into her former trainer, sending him and his Pokémon flying off into the distance.
"Looks like Brock and his loser," began James, looking toward the sky.
Jessie smiled and finished, "Pokémon are blasting off!" A star twinkled where they had been, in the daytime sky, oddly enough. After a pause, Jessie turned back to Ash, only to find him gone. "Where'd he go? Blast it, he's probably headed to the nearest Pokémon center if he has any other Pokémon! Let's go!"
The duo called all their Pokémon back and chased after Ash.
Ash glanced at Team Rocket, running as fast as they could after him. He sank back behind the tree. "What will I do now?" he asked himself. "I don't have any Pokémon, Team Rocket has the nearest Pokémon center covered, and I can't go back to camp because that's the second place they'd think to look for me. I guess I'll just have to wait here until they head toward camp, then run for the Pokémon center." He sighed.
