The New Team Rocket

by DChan87

Jessie, James and Meowth come to Ash and Misty with an offer to join their new, just-turned-good Team Rocket. If they accept, they'll have to believe in this new Team Rocket and build something new and whether or not they deserve a second chance. But old ghosts may haunt the new organization.

4. Victory Mission, part 2

The New Team Rocket, chapter 4: Victory Mission, Part 2

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

James sighed in relief when he saw that Ash and Misty were moving forward. The Special Forces agent just looked up from his clipboard and back for a second. "They're still in good position," he said, "Although they don't know that."

"I was getting worried!" said James.

"You really want them to graduate," the Special Forces agent concluded.

"Yes, well—"

"Aside from that, I may have to fail Jimmy and Burke," said the Agent, "That's not the kind of interference I want to accept."

"But why!?"

"I can see there's still some criminal in you," said the Agent.

"Oh, sorry," said James.

"Still… I think Ketchum and Waterflower should deal with them so I could have an actual reason."

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Ash and Misty did not find Jimmy and Burke. Nor did they find any other recruits. In this sense, they were lucky. On the other hand, they wanted to confront Jimmy and Burke about what happened. But there was another question on Misty's mind that was related to this. "Why didn't they take Pikachu?" she asked.

Pikachu's ears perked up.

"I dunno," he said.

"Well, they were in a hurry," she said. "Maybe they're smarter than Jessie and James."

"Huh?"

"Never mind," she said, "I think they didn't want to make it personal, so they didn't take Pikachu."

"Um, I guess," he replied. "Boy, I didn't know you could be so analytical."

"It comes with being a Gym Leader," she said proudly.

"And I didn't know you were getting into this," he said.

She opened her eyes and glanced at him, eventually realizing what he was talking about. "Oh, um, really?" she asked. "Am I really—"

"Yeah, I think you are," he said. "Do you really believe?"

"I don't know about believe, but I definitely want to survive this," she said. "What about you?"

"I believe," he said, "I think they deserve another chance."

"You're more forgiving than I remember," she said.

"People change," he replied, "You'll never be the same person you were three years ago, even if it is only minor. At least, that's what my mom told me."

"Good old Mrs. Ketchum," she said to herself. "Ash, I'm sorry I've been acting like a complete jerk lately."

"Sorry?"

"I've been being too much of a jerk," she said, "I just didn't think Jessie and James had really changed, and I expressed it the wrong way."

"Do you think they've changed?" he asked.

"If they haven't, then we should leave," she said. "I don't want to be a blind follower."

"Suit yourself," he said.

"Are you?" she replied.

"No," he said.

"No, what?"

"No, I won't be a blind follower," he said.

"Good," she said, "Now let's get to sleep."

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

"So how are the Twerps doing?" Jessie asked.

"Well, they ran into some trouble-makers named Jimmy and Burke yesterday," said James, "But they're doing okay!"

"Trouble-makers?" Jessie asked.

"Yes, trouble-makers!" said James.

Jessie looked up from her paperwork and made eye contact with James. "Trouble-makers?" she asked.

"A pair of recruits named Jimmy and Burke," said James.

"Did you hire them?"

"What? No, why would I?" asked James.

"To give the Twerps a challenge?" asked Jessie.

"Boss Jessie, if I may interject," said the Special Forces drill instructor, "I noticed Jimmy and Burke have been, well, trouble-makers from the beginning."

"And why are they still in the organization?" asked Jessie. "I don't want miscreants like that in the new Team Rocket!"

"I do intend to fail them," said the Special Forces agent, "Unless Ketchum and Waterflower take care of them, which I suspect they will."

To the Special Forces agent, Jessie didn't get mad. Instead, she threw her head back and laughed in her signature style. "Suspect?" she asked, "Knowing those two, they REALLY want to get their Poke-mitts on Jimmy and Burke!"

"See, this is what I get for not knowing someone's history," said the Special Forces agent.

"And James, are you sure you didn't hire Jimmy and Burke?" asked Jessie.

"You told me not to coerce the recruits!" said James. Meowth crept up to him and sniffed around. James was confused at first, but then Meowth jumped up on Jessie's desk.

"He's tellin' da truth, alright," he said.

"If you weren't, I'd have your head," said Jessie. "How are those Twerps doing, anyhow?"

"I can't divulge that," said the Special Forces agent, "Confidentiality."

"Ugh, FINE!" Jessie said, leaning back against her chair.

"Are you stressed, Jessie?" asked James.

"Taking over the old boss's corporate empire is tough," said Jessie, "I need a break."

"Maybe… I could help with that?" asked James.

Jessie looked up at James and smiled. "Of course," she said, "But you're buying."

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

The second day was uneventful. They could not find anyone, and they did their obstacles with precision. There was genuinely nothing they did that was eventful. They went to sleep that night a little disappointed.

They woke up early the next morning and set out for the next station in the course. There, an instructor would tell them to solve obstacles that required them to work as a team. It was a 15-foot wall and they could not use Pokémon in order to scale it, just their regular, normal, human ingenuity. It was difficult, but then again, that's the point. They weren't supposed to just smash right through it, they had to think.

"Come on, move, move, move!" The instructor shouted. Did we mention they had to be quick, too?

Ash grabbed a rope from his bag and tossed it up to the top of the wall. He felt a snag and tugged until he was sure it was tight. He lifted Misty up and she grabbed the rope before pulling herself up. She grabbed onto the rope and tied it down to a peg that would provide a more secure anchor.

Ash pulled himself up and over the top of the wall. Then the two jumped off the wall, with Pikachu hanging on to Ash's uniform. The instructor smiled and wrote some notes down on his clipboard.

The trip pressed on, keeping to the same path. They were still making good time, as far as they knew. Barring an unforeseen disaster, they were going to finish within the 72 hours.

Of course, this being fiction, nothing was ever easy.

An hour passed after the wall test when they stopped to get their bearings. "Let's see here," Misty said while looking at her GPS, and her map, "Okay, so we're here and the base is there. It seems we've got about another 6 hours or so before we make it back to base."

"Six hours?" he asked.

"Unfortunately," she replied.

Ash groaned, but picked up his bag. "Come on, let's get moving," he said as if resigning himself to disappointment.

But when he took one step, he felt the ground underneath him collapse. His past experiences made him jump backwards as the ground gave way into a good-sized pit. "Wow, I almost fell for that!" he said.

"Who could've done that?" asked Misty.

"Who do you think?" A familiar voice caught their attention. Two figures, one on each side of the road, stepped into view.

"Jimmy and Burke, at your service!" said Burke.

"Oh, not you again!" Ash groaned.

"Well, who did you think it was going to be?" Jimmy taunted.

"Well, who cares!?" Ash spat, "Let's do this right here and now! Ready, Misty!?"

"READY!" Misty replied.

"GO! Talonflame!"

"Buizel, go!"

"Nosepass, go!"

"Get them, Breloom!"

All four Pokémon popped out of the PokeBalls and readied for battle. "HA!" Ash laughed, "This should be easy!"

"I dunno," said Misty. "But let's get this done!"

"Right! Talonflame, use Flame Charge on that Breloom!"

"Buizel, Water Gun on the Nosepass!"

Talonflame and Nosepass sounded their replies. Talonflame dove at Breloom, and Buizel spat a torrent of water at the Nosepass. The Breloom jumped out of the way right before Talonflame hit and the Nosepass just stood still and took Buizel's Water Gun attack like it was nothing. "Breloom, Bullet Seed!" said Jimmy.

"Nosepass, use Rock Throw!"

As Talonflame circle, Nosepass threw a cluster of rocks at Talonflame. The bird did its best to dodge, but there were so many that a few hit the poor bird, anyhow.

"Buizel, Water Gun again!" Misty called. Buizel tried to help Talonflame, but Breloom's Bullet Seed hit the weasel Pokémon before it could let off its attack. Misty's hands went to her head as Buizel was knocked down.

"Nosepass, Rollout!" Burke called out. Nosepass curled into a ball and rolled over Buizel, before hitting poor Talonflame hard. Breloom lowered its head and used Headbutt on Talonflame, knocking the bird Pokémon out before it could let off another attack.

"Talonflame, return!" Ash called. "That's no fair!"

"Says the guy who used to fight Team Rocket!" Burke laughed.

"Besides, shouldn't you two be using strategy?" Jimmy taunted.

"Hey, SHUT UP!" Ash barked.

"Ash!" Misty replied. "We gotta keep fighting!"

"Right!" said Ash.

"Buizel, return!" she recalled Buizel, who looked like he was about to pass out from the damage cause by the Bullet Seed attack. Now Misty had a bit of a problem. Who would she call out to face that Breloom? Misty did have something that could help against the Nosepass, but Breloom was still a big question. "Poliwrath, go!"

"You got a Poliwrath!?" Ash sputtered.

"Just summon something else already!" she snapped.

"HEY! Don't yell at me!" he replied. Jimmy and Burke's laughing made him angrier and he pulled out a PokeBall that he would eventually regret. "Donphan, go!"

Donphan trumpeted once he was released, but Misty was not happy. "WHY DONPHAN!?"

"Well, I—"

"Breloom, Bullet Seed both of them!" Jimmy shouted. Breloom spat out his Seeds at both Poliwrath and Donphan. The seeds finished off poor Donphan and knocked out Poliwrath before the poor frog could even get an attack off.

Jimmy and Burke laughed at Ash and Misty. "Pathetic!" said Jimmy. "Are you sure Jessie and James wanted you two to join?"

"They must've been truly desperate!" said Burke. "Hey, Jimmy, what do you say we take their Pikachu, too?"

"FORGET IT!" Ash declared. "Pikachu, you wanna go?"

"Pi-KA!" Pikachu's cheeks sparked and the electric mouse jumped into the fray.

"I might as well find something," she said. "I know!" She grabbed another PokeBall and prepared to throw it. "Starmie, I need—"

Another PokeBall in her bag popped open, and no one, not even poor Misty would be surprised to see who it was. "Oh, PSYDUCK, NOT AGAIN!" she wailed.

"Psyduck?"

Jimmy and Burke broke into laud guffaws at the sight of Psyduck. "And I thought it couldn't get any worse!" said Jimmy.

"Pikachu, Iron Tail!"

Pikachu ran up to Nosepass and jumped into the air, spun and whacked Nosepass with his tail. Nosepass, who was caught off guard, flew several yards before coming to a stop and struggling to get up. But, the attack was enough of a surprise and Pikachu hit it hard enough that Nosepass… passed out. Burke, who was so busy laughing, was so surprised, nothing but exasperated gasps escaped her mouth.

"Serves you right for taunting us!" Ash boasted. Misty gave him a fist bump.

"This isn't over!" said Burke. "Torterra, go!" She tossed her PokeBall and a Torterra emerged in front of Pikachu.

"Pi, kaaa," Pikachu sighed.

"Oh, jeez," said Ash. This was bad. Electric types were not particularly strong against grass-types and with another Grass-type facing the ever-dopey Psyduck… this didn't look good. Especially since Misty wasn't sure if her Water Pokémon could beat a Torterra.

"Come on, what's the matter?" asked Jimmy. "Skitty got your tongue?"

"SHUT UP!" Ash barked.

"Breloom, Bullet Seed!"

"Torterra, Solar Beam!"

Breloom spat out another round of seeds and Torterra gathered sunlight. The seeds hit Psyduck, causing the dopey duck to fall down. Pikachu scramble to get out of the way as Torterra fired his blast of sunlight at the poor little mouse. Pikachu dove to the ground and the Solarbeam just barely missed hitting Pikachu, only grazing his back and made Ash and Misty dodge. "Holy Miltank!" Misty cried out.

"Face it, you're done!" said Burke. "Ash, your problem is you never think! Misty, you're too overspecialized! ANYONE watching you two could figure that out in a microsecond! Face it, you're done!"

"Ash, what are we gonna do?" asked Misty.

"I don't know," he said.

"AAAH! DAMMIT!" She screamed and punched the top of Psyduck's head so hard, the duck screamed loudly. He ran around like a mad man, shouting the first part of his name over and over again.

"Breloom, Bullet Seed!" Jimmy shouted. Breloom prepared to fire another round of seeds at Psyduck when the dopey duck stopped in its tracks. "Hey, what's going on?" asked Jimmy. Breloom fired the bullets on Psyduck's head, but nothing happened.

"Psy… Duck!" A blue glow enveloped Psyduck.

"Oh, did I forget to mention something?" Misty asked, "It's best not to give Psyduck a headache." The blue glow enveloped Torterra and Breloom, rendering them immobile. The same thing happened to Jimmy and Burke.

"W-what's going on!?" asked Jimmy.

"Pikachu, Iron Tail!" Ash shouted, Pikachu got up and charged at the stunned Torterra. Pikachu jumped, spun and slammed his tail against Torterra. The big grassy tortoise wavered before falling to the ground and passing out.

"Torterra, return!" Burke said, struggling to get her Pokeball out.

"Psyduck, Psychic!" Misty said. Psyduck lifted the enemies up off the ground. All four, Jimmy, Burke, Breloom and Torterra were lifted up off the ground. Then Psyduck threw them about until they came crashing down to the ground, with all four of them stunned. Now Torterra finally went back into its PokeBall.

"Pikachu… Thunder," said Ash. Pikachu's cheeks bristled and he released a great bolt of electricity that zapped Breloom. Jimmy and Burke watched in shock as Breloom wavered and then fell down. "Sorry," said Ash.

"Let's get out of here!" Burke cried. Jimmy recalled Breloom and the duo ran off into the woods.

"YyyyyEAH!" Ash cheered, then gave Misty a high-five. Pikachu ran up to Ash and gave him a big hug, while Misty hugged a very confused Psyduck.

They started off again after this, but they knew that they were running late. But they fired on all cylinders now. Any challengers who came near them were easily beaten. Any obstacles they came across were solved and they had every reason and right to be excited about what was coming. They were going to pass the Victory Mission and become members of Team Rocket!

Okay, that wasn't a given, and it wasn't even on their minds. But they were so excited it didn't matter.

The sun began to set as they kept on. Now another thought appeared, and that was the fear they weren't going to make it. "Oh, dang!" Ash cursed.

"Stop complaining!" Misty replied, "We're going to do this!" She reached for Ash's hand and took it. Ash didn't think about what she was doing, he just gripped tighter.

They stopped a couple more times to catch their breath, eat and drink, but for the most part, they ran at a brisk, steady pace.

The sun began to set below the tree line. The urgency of the situation was more obvious now, and they kept up their pace. Pikachu, who could not run as much as they could, had resigned himself to sitting on Ash's shoulder. "We're not gonna make it!" said Misty.

"Yes, we are!" he replied.

They weren't the only ones who were worried. Jessie and James watched the recruits slowly coming in from Victory Mission and saw the Twerps were not among them. They couldn't even see them among the recruits that had fallen out of the running. "What's going on!?" James whined. "Where are the Twerps?"

"They got held up," said the Special Forces agent.

"Yes, we know they got held up, but that's not the problem!" Jessie replied.

"I heard they got held up even more," said the Special Forces agent. "I heard they took out Jimmy and Burke."

"THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" James whined.

"WE PAY YA TA TELL US WHAT'S GOIN' ON!" Meowth screamed.

"You pay me to train them!" the Special Forces agent replied, "I can't control what happens in there!"

"BUT WE NEED THEM!" James bellowed.

"That's not my concern!" said Special Forces instructor, "My job is to be impartial, and I can't play favorites! Besides, they could still pass!"

Hope appeared on the Trio's faces again. They turned to the finish line to wait for the Twerps' arrival.

"There it is!" Misty declared. The base could be seen creeping over the horizon. They had made it!

"FINALLY!" Ash cheered.

"PIKAAAA!"

The trio broke into a faster run. The end was so tantalizingly close, they could taste it! Civilization! Warm beds! Hot food, not MREs! The end of this hellish training period, it was almost over!

They were afraid of Jimmy and Burke appearing out of nowhere to stop them, but nothing happened. They were in the clear! A set of figures bouncing up and down in excitement could be seen as the finish came into view.

"DERE DEY ARE!" Meowth cheered.

"THEY'VE MADE IT!" James cheered.

"I'm going to cry!" said James.

"Not yet!" said the Special Forces agent.

"Come on, come on!" James cheered.

"You twos can do it!" Meowth cheered.

"There they are!" Misty pointed. "We're almost there!"

The last moments of Victory Mission felt like a blur. But they finally crossed the finish line and collapsed onto the ground.

"DEY MADE IT!" Meowth cheered, with tears streaming down his face. "I can't believe I'm actually happy for da Twoips!"

The Special Forces instructor ignored them and walked up to Ash and Misty. Their chests were heaving and their breath was labored. Their legs could not hold them up and their chests burned hotter than a Torkoal fire. "So, how'd we do?" Ash breathed.

"You finished dead last out of all the finishing recruits," he said. Their hearts sank. "You went over the 72 hours by 5 minutes." They both let out disappointed sighs. "You almost broke up and you lost 4 Pokémon total."

"We failed," said Ash.

"However, your scores here are very impressive and your teamwork, while it took a hit, was exceptional. Plus, I didn't see that Psyduck coming, I could've sworn it was a deus ex machina."

"It was foreshadowed," said Ash.

"In either case, the feedback I got from the instructors is enough," said the instructor, "Congratulations. You've passed."

Now the exhaustion didn't matter. They both jumped triumphantly high in the air, cheering and high-fiving.

The Team Rocket Trio, seeing Ash and Misty celebrate, could not believe it either. Eight weeks of giving the Twerps hell had gone out the window, and they could finally show how happy they were without being partial.

"YOU DID IIIIT!" They cheered as they ran up to Ash, Misty and Pikachu, tackling them and hugging them tightly.

"WE'RE SO PROUD OF YOU!" James wailed.

"WE'RE SO GRATEFUL YOU DID IT, OH, I CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING!" Jessie cried.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M HUGGIN' PIKACHU!" Meowth whined.

Ash, Misty and Pikachu felt a little sheepish, but they hugged the Rocket trio back. They couldn't understand the inelegant blubbering from the trio about how they were going to be the best bosses ever. But that didn't matter. They were just happy to have survived Team Rocket training.

"Right!" Jessie said, letting go of them. "Let me be the first to welcome you to the NEW Team Rocket!" She saluted the two, and they saluted back.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

End chapter

HOORAY, THEY DID IT!

Most of this chapter was done after cutting from the last chapter and pasting it into this. I had to add a mention of Psyduck into the other one so that I wouldn't be committing a deus ex machina (I hate those). But I had intended for Jimmy and Burke to be like a final test, if you will.

But I'm finally done with the training arc! Now I can finally get to the good part—Ash and Misty as members of Team Rocket! So please, tell me what you think! The review is right there!