The audience was fidgeting, waiting for the President, standing at the podium on stage, to speak. The townsfolk had been called to the Hearthome auditorium, and all the president had done since they got there was adjust his tie. Finally, he nervously spoke up.
“Good morning, people and visitors of Hearthome,” he began, “I’ve called you here to bring your attention to a new law,” he continued, and adjusted his tie again. His voice was high-pitched for a man, and he wore an orange jacket with tan pants, his red and white striped tie askew. His glasses sat atop his nose, clean, as always. It was rumored that they had no lenses, and that was why they were always clean. After a slight pause, he spoke up again. “Due to the decrease of Police Squad Officers, evil teams such as Team Rocket have been able to increase their villainous deeds using Pokémon. Because of this,” the president paused again, and looked at his advisor, who nodded, before speaking again. “Because of this,” he said again, “the use of Pokémon, anywhere, for anything, is now officially illegal,” he finished, and sat down in a chair, sweat rolling down his face.
“What? No!” a voice yelled from the audience, and everyone turned to look at a young trainer, around ten years old or so. A red cap with a Poke Ball on it sat upon his head, and he wore a blue jacket and jeans. A Pikachu sat upon his shoulder, and as the trainer said this, the Pikachu nodded, agreeing with him.
“You seem to be… very attached to your Pikachu,” the president said, “please bring it here.”
“What for?” the trainer asked defensively.
“I will demonstrate what we shall do with Pokémon that belong to trainers. What is your name?” the president asked.
“Ash Ketchum, and I’m not letting you have Pikachu!” Ash, the trainer, yelled, and he grabbed his Pikachu and ran towards the exit.
“Police, arrest him!” the president exclaimed, alarmed. The two policemen guarding the exits immediately ran towards Ash, attempting to block his way.
“Pikachu, Thundershock!” Ash exclaimed, and Pikachu obediently created a bolt of lightning from his forehead. In the middle, it split into two paths, and electrocuted both policemen. They fell over on the ground, unconscious. Ash ran towards the exit and pushed the door open. It wouldn’t budge. Then, he noticed the “Push, not Pull” sign on the door. He opened it and ran through.
I need a place to hide, he thought. As if hearing his plea for help, Team Rocket’s hot air balloon began to float over Hearthome city.
“Go, Grotle!” Ash yelled, sending out his Grotle. “Use Vine Whip! I need to get up there!” He continued. Grotle created two vines and reached them up to the basket of the hot air balloon, creating a ladder. Ash immediately began to climb it, Pikachu on his shoulder. While he was climbing, he looked down, despite telling himself not to over and over again in his mind. Below him, a crowd of police officers stood, holding guns. They were ready to shoot. Ash whispered something to Pikachu. Pikachu nodded, and electrified the vines. Ash was used to the shock, so he hung on and continued to climb. He was so close to the basket, he could almost feel its rough texture.
“I can’t believe it!” Meowth exclaimed, “Da twoip is actually tryin’ to climb into our balloon!”
“Let me see,” said James, grabbing a pair of binoculars and looking down. Sure enough, Ash was climbing up a pair of vines attached to the balloon by a Grotle.
“James, do something!” Jessie yelled in frustration, “we can’t let him sabotage our plans again!”
“Jessie,” James said, “he’s not trying to sabotage our plans.”
“How do you know?” Jessie asked in frustration.
“Because there are cops trying to follow him, and they don’t look happy,” James replied.
“Let me see!” Jessie yelled, forcing the binoculars out of James’ hand and looking down. She was astounded at what she saw.
“The Twerp”, Ash Ketchum, was climbing up a pair of vines attached to the basket of their hot-air balloon by his Grotle. Several police officers were gathered at the ground, yelling up after him.
“We’ve got to help him!” Jessie exclaimed, and she let down a short ladder. Ash grabbed onto it and returned his Grotle. He began to climb up, and in a few seconds, he was in the basket.
“Thanks,” was all he said before telling his Pikachu to Thunderbolt the police. Pikachu obeyed, and the police were soon unconscious.
“Why were you running from the cops?” James asked.
“I’ll explain later,” Ash said, “for now, we’ve got to rid every region of the police forces. We’ll start with Hoenn.”
“Da twoip is acsually on our side now!” Meowth exclaimed. After exclaiming this, a look of puzzlement crossed the Cat Pokémon’s face. “Wouldn’t it be more convenient if we took out da police sqwads in Sinnoh foist?” he asked.
“Hoenn is furthest away from here, so the news about owning a Pokémon being against the law may not have reached it yet. We’ve got to get there before it does,” Ash replied.
“Huh?” Jessie asked. It was her turn to be puzzled now. “Since when is owning a Pokémon illegal?”
“Since the President of Sinnoh made it so. And I’m guessing that he did that under the Governor’s orders,” Ash explained to Jessie, “because he didn’t look like he was doing it willingly.”
“So that’s why you came up here,” Jessie said, and turned to James, who was working with the engine. He turned back towards Jessie and Ash.
“That’s as fast as it can go,” James said, indicating the balloon. It was still moving slower than running speed. He frowned, and said, “we’re going to need a faster method of transportation.”
Delia Ketchum was sitting on the couch, humming to herself while knitting and watching the news. The commercial break was over, so she looked at the television and stopped knitting. The announcer spoke in a British accent, often mispronouncing words.
“This just in- a law has just been passed by the gov’ner that states no citizen of any region is allowed to own a Pokémon.”
Delia stared at the television. She was sure she had heard incorrectly. She assumed this, and continued to watch.
“Also, we’ve go’ a fugitive, from ‘earthome city. If you see him, repor’ him to the polices immediately.”
The announcer held up a picture. Delia stared at it. It disappeared shortly, but it was still there in her mind. The picture had been of Ash. Her Ash.
Giovanni turned in his chair, a stern look on his face.
“What makes you think you have the right to just barge into my hideout and ask for a Personal Jet? Get out!” He yelled. However, it did not have the effect it usually did on Jessie, James, and Meowth. Instead of cowering in terror, they simply smirked.
“Tell him, Jessie,” James said, not wanting to be selfish.
“No, you tell him, James,” Jessie said, wanting James to have the glory.
“No, you , Jessie,” James said. They continued to go back and forth like this, until Meowth finally spoke up.
“We’ve got the twoip’s Pikachu!” he yelled. Giovanni stared at him.
“What did you say?” Giovanni asked.
“I said, we’ve got the twoip’s Pikachu!” Meowth shouted again. Giovanni’s Persian looked over at the situation with a fearful look in its eyes, not wanting to lose its position as his personal pet.
“I need proof,” Giovanni said, “give me proof.”
“Gladly,” Meowth replied, and he motioned to Jessie and James. Giovanni watched patiently as they stood at each end of the double doors leading into Giovanni’s room.
“Prepare for trouble….” Jessie began.
“And make it double!” James cried. At this point, instead of the motto, Ash Ketchum burst into the room, Pikachu on his shoulder.
“To protect the world from devastation!” He cried.
“To unite all peoples within our nation…” James said.
“To denounce the evils of truth and love,” Jessie began,
“To extend our reach to the stars above!” Ash finished.
“Jessie,” said Jessie,
“James,” James said,
“Ash,” Ash said.
“Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!” Jessie cried.
“Surrender now or prepare to fight!” James yelled.
“Meowth, that’s right!” Meowth yelled, and instead of the motto ending here, Pikachu cried,
“Pika, Pika!” and all of them got into a pose.
Giovanni applauded. Not the kind of applauding that you hear when there’s only one person clapping for you, but the kind of applauding that you feel like fills the whole room, though it’s a one-person audience. All of the other five bowed.
“Jessie, James, Meowth, you’re getting a raise in your paycheck. Now hand that Pikachu over, if you please,” Giovanni said.
“No!” Ash cried defensively, and leaped sideways. His aim was wrong, and he crashed out of the window and fell down seven stories before falling on the ground, still alive enough to feel the pain.
I… survived… he managed to think, before becoming unconscious.
Ash woke up to the sound of voices. He was lying in a bed, with casts wrapped around most of him. He attempted to sit up, but immediately felt immense pain and lied back down. James, sitting on the bed next to him playing a Game Boy Advance, looked up at Ash.
“Oh, you’re awake,” he said, before shutting off the Game Boy and walking over to him.
“What… happened?” croaked Ash. It hurt to move his mouth.
“That was quite a fall you took,” James said. “I don’t really think you want to know the details. All that matters is that you’re all right. I’m going to save you the trouble of asking questions, as your vocal chords were hurt severely in that fall. I’ll just explain everything to you now. After you fell, we-er… brought you back to life… in a way I’d rather not mention…” he noticed the curious look on Ash’s face. “All right, fine, I’ll tell you. You’re not going to like it though… to bring you back to life… I performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.”
“You WHAT?!” Ash yelled, forgetting how much his throat hurt.
“Just be happy that you’re alive, okay?” James said. His face was red. To the disgusted look on Ash’s face, he replied, “we washed your mouth out.” Ash looked relieved. “Anyways, the boss is letting you stay here until you’re better. That’s all I’ve got to say for now,” he finished, and went back to playing his Game Boy.
“I’ve come to a decision, and-"
Giovanni paused, turned his chair around in a circle, and resumed to speak.
“I’m letting him keep his Pikachu. If it means so much to him that he would jump out of a building to protect it, they must have a really strong bond. Also, it’ll probably be able to help Team Rocket in their plans, when needed.”
“Sir, the twe- I mean, Ash, had a plan of his own. He wanted to destroy all the police squads,” Jessie said.
“All the police squads?” Giovanni asked.
“Yes, all of them,” Jessie replied.
“Go ahead and go with him, when he’s better. Destroying all of the police squads will make things easier for Team Rocket. Where does he want to start?”
“Hoenn, sir,” Jessie said.
“Hoenn. I see. I’m giving you that private jet.”
“Thank you, sir. We will see to it that it is returned in proper condition.”
“I’m not letting you borrow it, I’m giving it to you. As in, it’s yours to keep.”
“Why- thank you, sir!” Jessie cried, overjoyed.
“You may leave now,” Giovanni said. Jessie left, Meowth following behind her, carrying Pikachu. Before Meowth could walk out, Giovanni stopped him.
“Meowth,” he said quietly, “do you still want that spot as my pet?”
“Nah, I’m good with Jessie and James. And the twoip, I suppose,” Meowth finished, before walking out the door.
Two weeks later
Jessie and James were waiting for Ash, standing at the entrance to the jet. He finally jogged toward them, Pikachu on his shoulder, wearing his new Team Rocket uniform.
“Ash, are you ready for this?” James asked.
“Yep!” Ash replied happily.
“Are you sure? This is a very dangerous journey,” Jessie warned him.
“I’m sure,” Ash said.
“You won’t bail out-
“The twoip says he’s ready, let’s go!” Meowth yelled from inside the jet. Jessie, James, Ash, and Pikachu all climbed in. All went to their respective seats, Jessie and James in the cockpit, and Ash, Meowth, and Pikachu in the regular seats. James’ voice came on over the intercom.
“Prepare for takeoff. 3… 2… 1…”
