"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all peoples within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jesse!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light."

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth! Dat's right!"

They had heard it so many times it was ingrained into their minds and as Team Rocket recited the motto they could swear they did so too. Ash was already reaching for one of the Pokeballs when Meowth and Wobbuffet hoisted what looked like a giant vacuum cleaner above them. The loud suctioning noise was unbearable but it didn't stop them from freaking out as the vacuum sucked up all of their Pokeballs. Pikachu was the only one that remained as Ash pinned it with his back against the wall of dirt and Ash grabbed some thick roots sprouting from the wall.

The hole they'd fallen into was deep but not that spacious so Ash, Brock, May and Max managed to hang on to each other successfully. After the Pokeballs were gone James loomed in on them with what appeared to be a rocket launcher but was in fact yet another weapon used to capture Pikachu with. At the same time Chimecho appeared and Wobbuffet faced Chimecho. Wobbuffet prepared itself with Safeguard and then Chimecho hit it with Confusion. Ash and the others were confused but did the only thing they could do: watch.

Wobbuffet took the Confusion attack as best as it could and used Mirror Coat but instead of unleashing the attack on Chimecho it blasted it at Ash, Pikachu, Brock, May and Max. The successful attacks took a toll on Ash and company who were all almost knocked unconscious. James then fired the weapon and a strange rubbery bubble raced towards Pikachu and engulfed the small rodent. It tried using a Thunder Shock attack but it was still too dazed from the Confusion attack dealt back from Wobbuffet.

Meowth jumped into the hole and retrieved Pikachu with ease and as it climbed back out it cackled, not in a cruel way but amazed they were doing so well. "Later, suckers! Tanks for the parting gift!" Meowth said as it moved the vacuum aside, showing that they were only interested in Pikachu, as usual.

Team Rocket climbed into their balloon and quickly drifted off as they cackled at the success of their heist. In the commotion the vacuum had been turned off and one of the last Pokeballs to be sucked in slowly rolled out and bumped itself with a rock and Swellow was released. The bird Pokémon ruffled its feathers as it looked around.

It noticed the Team Rocket balloon flying off in the distance and it looked around looking for its trainer but he was nowhere in sight. Finally it saw the hole in the ground and as it peaked in it saw the group of kids lying on the floor dazed and almost knocked out. Swellow put two and two together and silently flew after Team Rocket.

Around dusk Team Rocket decided it was miles away from the "twerps" and safe enough to make camp. They did so near the edge of a river and after setting up their equipment they made a small campfire to prepare some food. The smiles on their faces glittered and their eyes almost swollen with pride enjoyed what they agreed on was the best dinner they'd had in years.

Of course, Swellow was off in a tall tree branch keeping a close watch on them. It sat there watching guard and waiting for the right moment to swoop down and see how it could take back Pikachu. Around 10:22 Team Rocket called it a night and placed Pikachu within another contraption. This time it was an iron jar of sorts but the precautions taken by Team Rocket were monumental so they kept Pikachu in the rubbery material as well.

Swellow swooped down as quiet as possible and gently tapped on the jar with its beak. Pikachu's ears jerked as it woke up and followed the noise only to find Swellow on the other side of the jar. Its ears perked up and a smile ran across its face. Swellow returned the smile and jumped on top of the iron jar. It tried to lift the jar but it was far too heavy for it. It tried several times but after its wings and feet were worn out it jumped down and looked at Pikachu with a devastating look of hopelessness. Swellow had given its all but it was all it could do.

Suddenly the bird lifted its head high as it thought of another plan. It spread its wings and took off into the night sky screeching a hopeful message for Pikachu. The mouse smiled and knew it would only be a matter of time before it was back with its friends.

An hour later Swellow was back to where the kids were and it was surprised to see they were still knocked out. Swellow landed on Ash's right shoulder and lightly pecked at his head. Ash's eyes quickly fluttered as he woke up. He laid his eyes on Swellow but he must have been still dazed since he just stared at the bird. Swellow ruffled its feathers and flapped its wings as it urgently screeched. Ash blinked heavily and shook his head as he said, "Swellow? Wait, what are you doing out here? What happened? Are you okay?"

Swellow kept screeching and Ash tried his best to make out what the bird was saying. He didn't understand, obviously, so he looked around and saw Brock, May and Max knocked out on the ground but no sign of Pikachu.

Suddenly his memory came back and he remembered hearing Meowth cackling at a distance and it became apparent that Team Rocket was up to their old tricks. Ash got up while calling the others and desperately sunk his fingers into the wet dirt wall to climb out. Swellow grabbed Ash by the hoodie and helped lift him. After some struggling Ash managed to drag himself out of the pit. He saw the scattered Pokeballs that had slid out of the vacuum, he grabbed one and out came Skitty.

"Skitty, I need you wake the others up and hurry! Swellow lead the way!"

Skitty looked at Ash confused as he ran off into the woods while chasing Swellow but it obeyed. Skitty ran towards the hole and it jumped in. It landed on May's back and started to play with May's hair.

"Why is it looking at us that way?"

Jessie stood in front of the captured Pikachu with one eyebrow raised and a confused look on her face. James stood next to her with one hand on his chin and his eyes fixated on Pikachu. The small rodent was laughing and waving at Team Rocket and making cooing sounds at them. It had been going on ever since Team Rocket woke up and it was puzzling Jessie, James and Meowth.

"I think it finally snapped." Said Meowth as it frowned, "Maybe the Confusion attack was too powerful for it and it just snapped."

"No, I…think it might be congratulating us for finally capturing it!" Said James with a gleeful tone and a smile as wide as his face. Jessie soon smacked him across the face and said in an irritated tone, "What is wrong with you? That rat isn't applauding us! It's up to something!"

"Now hurry up and grab your things, we need to get out of here as soon as possible before those twerps ruin our best plan yet!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Replied James and Meowth as they quickled set out to pack their things and stashed them into the balloon.

Moments before grabbing the last few things they heard Pikachu screech with delight. "Pika pi!" This caused Team Rocket to drop what they were doing and turned to the mouse that was looking at a very irate Ash.

Pikachu's plan had gone off without a hitch. It behaved oddly long enough to make Team Rocket fall behind schedule and give Swellow enough time to fly back for help.

The situation was not any different for Team Rocket. They remained cool and collected even as Ash ran towards Pikachu. Ash ran right through a thin vine on the floor and after hearing a loud snapping sound Ash froze and from the bushes next to him a contraption set off and a rope came out shooting straight at him. The rope wrapped itself around his upper body and as it tightened he lost his balance and fell face first into the ground.

Swellow reacted quickly and grabbed Ash by the shirt and lifted him up. With its claws it ripped the rope and Ash continued to rampage towards Pikachu proving that nothing would stand in his way.

Meowth grabbed the launcher and hit Swellow with a sticky substance that grounded the bird. It hit the ground hard and Ash looked back to see if he could free his Swellow. Meowth fired once more and hit Ash on his left side. Jessie had grabbed another launcher and fired a rope at Ash and hit him. The force from the rope hit him hard enough to knock him on the floor.

As Ash groaned Pikachu tried to use an electric attack but it seemed like his voltage was low and a physical attack just rendered him useless. Pikachu moved around hard enough to actually manage to make the jar fall on the side. The jar rolled down the river and landed into the water.

Everyone screamed and everyone raced towards the river. As James reached the shore Swellow managed to gather enough strength to use Tackle on him but as it did James became tangled with the bird and both fell to the ground. Jessie and Meowth ran faster and as they did Ash was right behind them and before hitting the shore Ash slid and tackled them to avoid touching them with the glue like substance.

Ash got back up and jumped into the river. Once under the water he opened his eyes and saw Pikachu frantically moving about. The jar had hit a rock and cracked it making a small hole and water quickly filled the jar. Ash swam down and with his left arm touched the jar. The jar stuck to him long enough to reach the surface and when he did he inhaled some air, afterwards he positioned himself awkwardly to the side as to empty some of the water accumulated in the jar to allow Pikachu some air to breath.

In the process he and Pikachu failed to notice that the river was dragging them, dragging them towards a tall waterfall only 43 feet away. As soon as Pikachu saw the raging waterfall it began to screech out to Ash.

"Oh, no…"

That was the only reaction Ash had time for. Before he or Pikachu could do anything about it both of them went over the almost 200 foot waterfall. Ash could hear himself frantically screaming and he could almost swear he heard himself screaming out for help to anyone that was close to him. The only thing he could see was a yellow blue and a never-ending shade of blue and some green as he fell. And as he hit the water hard it stung but it was nothing compared to the pain he felt as he hit the river's floor.

The amount of pain he felt on the left side of his head was unspeakable and the burning sensation in his lungs was just as bad if not worse. He had never felt so much pain in his life. Then suddenly he could not hear anything, it was all muffled and his vision was fading and the burning in his lungs was intense as he inhaled.

Soon he could neither see nor hear. There was only darkness and a numbing feeling in his chest.