The New Team Rocket, chapter 1: The Offer
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It began when Jessie and James got fed up with being insulted by their Boss one too many times.
There's only so much abuse and so much losing that one person, let along three, can take. Losing to Ash Ketchum and his friends, plus getting constant threats from Giovanni took such a toll on the two that even after their Unova adventures, they could not return empty-handed to him. Time and time again, he put them down even for successes.
When they found out he didn't care about the organization, just his own interests, it was the last straw.
As if it was hiding, their consciences and confidence emerged. Gathering a group of Team Rocket members, they beseeched them to rise up and take over the group, throw Giovanni and the criminals out, and turn the organization into a force for righteousness.
The uprising succeeded. So imagine the big surprise when Jessie, James and Meowth showed up at a local police station with a tied-up Giovanni offering to turn him in in exchange for their freedom and to keep the organization going. The police were a little skeptical, but realizing they had Giovanni literally delivered to their doorstep, agreed, but on the condition that they also let the police do their job.
Thus, the new Team Rocket was born.
But the trio felt something was missing. Sure, they'd put away a criminal and given themselves a clean conscience, but it was more personnel related.
The Twerps had been a thorn in their sides for years. But, they secretly wanted Ash and his crew to join their team, kinda like a smart villain would. Now that Team Rocket had turned a proverbial new leaf, maybe they could offer them a chance.
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Ash had been taking care of his mother's house when she left on a two-week vacation to Kalos. The now 17-year-old had the place to himself, for the most part, since Mimey and Pikachu were there with him—and the Cerulean City Gym leader Misty, who agreed to help out.
Ash spent much of the afternoon lounging out on the couch in front of the TV with Pikachu curled up on his stomach. Misty sat at the kitchen table drinking some tea and reading mail that she'd gotten at the Cerulean City gym. The silence between them was not awkward, just relaxed and… kinda bored. Ash hated to admit it, but there wasn't much to do in a rural small town like Pallet. Maybe Cerulean could be a better place to visit… provided Misty let him, of course.
But there was nothing to do! They'd already had a little Pokemon battle a couple of hours ago, but none of their Pokemon wanted to fight now. Prof. Oak was also out at a conference, which meant the two were stuck with nothing to do and nowhere to go.
"I'm boooorrrrrrreeeed!" Ash groaned and shifted, causing Pikachu to fall onto the floor.
"You said that," Misty groaned in return, "Ten times already."
"I can't say it again?"
"NO."
"Ah, you're no fun!"
"Who said a gym leader had to—what the heck is going on?"
A low rumbling had started that felt like the ground was shaking. As the rumble got louder, the shaking got worse. "Do you know what's going on?" Ash asked.
"I already asked that!" Misty replied. "Outside!" Ash jumped off the couch as he and Misty ran outside.
Once outside, they saw what was causing the disturbance. A helicopter-sized transport, which should not be causing an earthquake, was approaching Ash's house. Those engines however, were pretty loud. That must be what was going on.
The helicopter-sized transport stopped and hovered over the ground. The wind caused by the engines was starting to kick up the plants in Delia's garden. Mimey ran out of the house, frantically trying to protect them from the wind with a few Light Screens and barriers. The poor mime eventually had enough and encased himself in his own Light Screens!
"HEY!" Ash screamed over the sound of the engines, "WHAT DO YOU WANT!?"
He knew it wasn't because of him, but the transport landed in front of the house and the engines eventually turned off. "Um, okay…" Misty said.
The top of the transport opened, and a fog of dry ice erupted. "Prepare for trouble!" A familiar female voice declared.
"And make it double!"
Ash and Misty watched first dumbfounded, then shocked and alert when the two figures emerged from the transport. "TO protect the world from devastation!"
"To united all peoples within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and—oops, hate and lies!"
"To extend our reach to beyond the skies!"
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, but we don't want to fight!"
"Meee-YOWTH! Dat's right!"
Ash and Misty were dumbfounded again. Okay, Team Rocket had just landed in front of Ash's mom's house. And they had a new motto… really? Either way, old defense mechanisms weren't going away any time soon. "What do you want, Team Rocket?" Ash threatened.
"Go away!" Misty concurred.
"What part of 'we don't want to fight' don't you idiot Twerps understand!?" Jessie screamed. But she calmed down and straightened herself out. "We just want to talk."
"Talk?" Misty asked.
Jessie and James jumped down from the transport in front of Ash and Misty. "We're here to make a proposition," she said, "An offer you CAN'T refuse!"
"WHAT!?" Ash and Misty screamed.
"Um, Jessie, one moment please," James muttered, "You know how gangsters like to make 'offers they can't refuse'?"
"Oh! HAHAHA!" Jessie laughed, "Silly me! Right, well, I guess I'll have to reword it. We here at the New Team Rocket are here to make an offer so GREAT and so SPECTACULAR that you WON'T WANT to refuse!"
"And what is that?" asked Misty.
Jessie, James and Meowth posed like they usually do and pointed dramatically at Ash and Misty saying in unison, "We want you… to join the NEW TEAM ROCKET!"
"FORGET IT!" Ash and Misty replied, also in unison.
"Why would we want to join you?" Misty snarled. Pikachu growled at them, his cheeks sparking with electricity.
"Oh well, no one said it would be easy," Jessie said with a shrug.
"I guess we should tell them, then," said James.
"Right! Here's da deal!" said Meowth, "Haven't you Twoips been watchin' da news?"
"Yeah, I have," said Misty, "Why?"
"Heard anything about our old Boss, Giovanni?"
Ash and Misty hummed as if to think. Then they both came to a realization. "That's right! He was arrested, wasn't he?"
"And we're the ones who turned him in!" Jessie replied, "Who knew growing a conscience and turning into goody-two-shoes could be so rewarding?"
"So we're the new Team Rocket Bosses!"
"You two?" asked Ash.
"Yep! And we've toined ovah a new leaf!" said Meowth.
"So why do you want us to join?" asked Misty.
"Well, you know that movie where the bad guy wants his enemy to join so he won't be an enemy anymore?" asked James, "That's kind of like us, we've been wanting you to join for a while."
"But since you're both goody-two-shoes, that was about as likely as a Mamoswine flying," said Jessie, "But now, things have changed!"
"Is there another reason?" asked Misty.
"Yes, well, there is," said Jessie, "You see, it seems we've been so good at being bad…"
"… That we're bad at being good!" James finished. "In other words,"
"WE NEED YOUR HEEELLLP!" all three begged and pleaded.
"You want our…"
"Help?" Misty started and Ash finished. To say the least, they were still skeptical. They couldn't know for certain that Team Rocket had indeed turned over a new leaf.
"I don't know," said Misty, "You've attacked us so many times…"
"… It's kind of hard to accept," said Ash.
"Pi, ka, chuuu," said Pikachu.
"Don't worry about it!" Another voice declared, "They're fully rehabilitated!" The side door of the transport opened and out stepped a woman dressed in a police uniform. "I'm police liaison Officer Jenny!" she said, "As part of their pardon deal, I'm to monitor them and make sure they stay on the right path!"
"So why do you need us?" asked Ash.
"So you can give us advice!" said Jessie.
"Are you going to change your look?" asked Misty.
"The Red 'R' is a classic fashion statement!" Jessie huffed, "No chance are we changing it!"
"But please, oh PLEASE join our New Team Rocket!" James begged on his knees, Jessie and Meowth following, "We've put you through so much trouble, this is our chance to make it up to you!"
"We're sorry for making your lives miserable, just PLEASE help us out here!" Jessie wailed.
"I swear on all my nine lives we're not bad!" Meowth cried. "We wanna be GOOOOD!"
"JOIN US!" All three begged.
Misty looked at Ash and Ash looked at Misty. They had a silent conversation on the matter, spoken only through their eyes and facial expressions. It was clear looking at his face that Ash kind of wanted to join. After all, they came up to them and literally begged them. And given their history, they knew that, if given the right situation, Jessie and James would most certainly do the right thing. But Misty was still not so sure. Was this a trick? Was this just a ploy to get them out of the way?
Both turned their backs on Team Rocket to discuss the matter. "Ash, are you sure this is a good idea?" Misty asked.
"I don't know," he replied, "But they seem like they mean it."
"I hope you know what you're doing," she said. They turned back towards Team Rocket.
"Alright," he said, "We accept."
The Rocket Trio's faces beamed and they launched themselves at Ash and Misty, enveloping them in big, tight hugs. "I can't believe it, Jessie!" James cried, "The Twerps have finally joined us!"
"We're so proud of you!" Jessie cried as well.
"Dey're one of us now!" Meowth cried.
"We swear we'll do our best to be goody-two-shoes!" James cried. "We'll be the best Rocket Bosses ever!"
"Okay, but could you PLEASE let us breathe!?" Misty coughed.
The Rocket Trio let go. "Right, sorry," said James. "So, when can you start?"
"When do you need us?" asked Ash.
"As soon as possible!" said Jessie.
Misty looked at Ash and already had an idea of what he wanted to do. "Aw heck, we've got nothing planned, anyway!" she said, "But only AFTER Delia gets back!"
"Right, and then we'll come and pick you up!" said Jessie.
"And I'll be right there with them!" Officer Jessie reassured, "If they start causing trouble, don't hesitate to let me know, okay?"
"Um, okay," said Misty. "I hope you know what you're doing, Ash.
"I think I am," he replied.
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So how was that? It's a little short, but gets the point across. I like the idea of Ash and Misty joining Team Rocket, but I think it's better if TR turns good, which is the main premise behind this (although it was inspired by a Miya Toriaka fanart of the Twerps clad in Rocket unis while Jessie and James fawn over the two).
Right now, I have a basic plot outline ready to go for the story. I'm still ironing out the kinks, but I think it's a good one! Let me know what you think! The review button is right down there!