Team Rocket Triumphs, Chapter 4: Start of Retraining
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from this fanfic. There is original content but I'm not getting money for this anyways so why bother saying I own it?
Mr. Carth led the trio into a room roughly the size of a classroom at a normal school. It had a projector hanging from the ceiling, a big roll-up projector screen that classrooms use, and a few podiums in a line along the back edge of the classroom.
The room was black, no doubt to indicate that the projector screen was the focus of attention and the walls and floor were irrelevant. On the podiums were screens tilted at an angle towards the people who would be standing at it.
Jesse, James, and Meowth walked forwards and stood at three different podiums, Meowth hopping on a rather tall stool so he stood at eye level to everyone.
"What exactly are we doing here?" Jesse asked, "I don't remember this from our first training."
Mr. Carth walked to the front of the room, picked up a remote from next to the screen, and turned on the projector. The screen was suddenly filled with the words 'Agent Knowledge Training'.
"Back when you were initially trained, you learned all your statistics in a large group of other agents. You're getting special treatment now, and I've set up this room specifically for you three."
"Statistics…" James murmured, "Oh, I remember now! This is where we memorize all the facts and knowledge about Pokemon so we don't get caught off guard by them!"
"Yes." Mr. Carth confirmed, "And we are doing this in sort of a game show form. A question about Pokemon will appear on the screen, and options will appear on your screens. You tell me the answer, some explanation for it, and you get it right or wrong. You can also say there is no correct option given and explain that too."
"So it's a quiz." Meowth stated, "Sounds easy enough."
"Appearances can be deceiving." Mr. Carth said, "Let's start on easy mode, just for a warm up."
He pressed a button on the remote, and a different screen appeared with a question on it.
"Which of these Pokemon is a Fire Type?"
The trio looked at their screens. On it was a picture of a Drifblim, a Ponyta, and an Electrike.
James was the first to answer.
"Ponyta." He said. "It's pure Fire Type."
Mr. Carth smiled, "What evidence is there to support that?"
"It has flames on its back, as Fire Types usually do."
Mr. Carth smiled again, "Well, you're correct, James. Are you all ready for the second question?"
The trio nodded, and Mr. Carth set the screen to the next slide.
"Which of these three Pokemon is a dual type, and what are its types?"
On the trio's screen was a picture of a Tangrowth, a Glalie, and a Girafarig.
James was the first to answer again.
"Tangrowth!" He declared, "It's dual Grass and Poison Type!"
"Interesting theory, but you are incorrect, James." Mr. Carth said, "Tangrowth is pure Grass Type. Anyone else?"
"Girafarig." Meowth said, "Part Psychic, part Normal."
"And you're correct. But what made you think that?" Mr. Carth asked.
"Simple." Meowth said, "I know Glalie's pure Ice Type, so it has to be Girafarig. Couple in the fact that it doesn't really resemble any type other than its Psychic Type and I decided it had to be part Normal Type."
"Excellent." Mr. Carth said, "Now, let's see how you guys do on a higher difficulty."
And so the trio spent a good portion of their day, answering general knowledge questions such as 'which of these three Pokemon would have the advantage in a fight?' and 'Which of these Pokemon evolves into Seviper?' among other things. Most of them had trouble at some points or another, and eventually came out of the session feeling a lot smarter than before.
Now, after a lunch break, the trio were supposed to be going on a physical training session. At this point, Mr. Carth called up one of the specialists for Jesse and James, and went to a different area for Meowth.
It was a large gymnasium-style room, with wood paneled floors and equipment set around the walls. There were a few doors in the room that no doubt led to supply closets. In the centre of the room were bull's-eye targets on poles.
"What am I doing here?" Meowth asked.
"You're receiving training." Mr. Carth replied, "You need to become strong if you want your own team. Your Pokemon simply won't respect you if you can't beat them in a battle. As it is, you're hardly a match for any foe, so we're here to remedy that. We decided that a good option would be to improve your moveset to be more versatile. From what I've heard, the moves Night Slash and Fire Punch are good starters."
"Who's this 'we' you keep on talking about?" Meowth asked.
"Ah yes, I suppose I forgot to mention that I'm not the one training you. That's far out of my area of expertise. Instead I got one of the professionals to help. Allow me to introduce Suime."
A few seconds passed, and nothing happened. Mr. Carth looked around and wondered out loud.
"Where is she? The appointment started a few minutes ago."
"Sorry I'm late!" a woman said as she burst through the doors. She stopped and caught her breath. "I got pulled over by a cop on the way here."
"Oh dear. What happened?" Mr. Carth asked.
"I was speeding." Suime replied, "I didn't want to be late."
"That's irony for you!" Meowth exclaimed, "Now, how about we get started on that training?"
Suime took a good look at Meowth, shook her head, and said:
"Did that Meowth just talk? And on that note, why is it standing on two legs?" She asked.
Mr. Carth shook his head, "Suime, I thought I gave you a report on Meowth last night. You didn't read it?"
Suime looked thoughtful, then dashed over to her office and rooted through a bunch of disorganized files until she found a folder labelled 'Meowth'. She opened it and started to skim the contents.
"That Suime is a little weird, don't you think?" Meowth asked.
"She's quite odd, yes." Mr. Carth said, "But nevertheless she's good at her job. She's never been fired since her oddities have rarely caused any serious problems. She knows what she's doing, so don't worry."
"Ok, I believe you." Meowth said.
"I'm back." Suime said as she walked back to Meowth and Mr. Carth. "You're a very odd Meowth, you know that?"
"I'm not all that special." Meowth said. "All I really did different was being more human than others. It only took some effort and determination."
"I see." Suime said, "I wonder if we could apply the same concept to other Pokemon. If it works, we could make serious advancements in all sorts of fields. But, what's relevant right now is the fact that you're trying to learn new moves. Now, first, and this is important, is what ability you have."
"My ability? What does that have to do with my moves?" Meowth asked.
"Meowth have two different abilities normally." Suime explained, "Pickup, where you acquire items from the ground after battles instinctively and with great prowess, and Technician, where low-power moves become stronger. If you have Technician, Faint Attack would probably be a better move for you."
"I don't remember picking up any items." Meowth said.
"Then, for now we'll assume you have Technician." Suime said, "So, do you still want to learn Night Slash, or do you want Faint Attack?"
"How about I just get started with Fire Punch and leave the rest for later?" Meowth asked.
Suime smirked. "Alright then. Let's get going! See those targets over there? Try to punch them, but imagine your fist is on fire. Imagery is key to learning new attacks."
"Ok." Meowth said, "So I just imagine my hand is on fire and charge."
Meowth then let out what was presumably a battle cry and ran towards the target. He jumped into the air, punched the target right in the bulls-eye, and… only succeeded in making his hand turn red and swell up.
"Owwww! My hand!" Meowth yelled as he stuck his hand in his mouth.
"Don't worry." Suime said as she grabbed a Potion from one of the tables along the wall, and sprayed it on Meowth's hand. "We can keep trying this way."
And Meowth spent a few more hours practicing Fire Punch; until he managed to get a flicker of flame accompany his punches.
"Hey, learning new moves isn't as hard as people make it out to be." Meowth exclaimed, "But still, it's only a small flame."
"Meowth." Suime said, "I think it's about time I gave you a Fire Gem. You know what those are, correct?"
"Not particularly." Meowth admitted.
"They increase the power of any type of move for one use. After a little research, we've found out they can help drastically when learning moves. So, for your next attempt, you'll have a Fire Gem. When you attack, it's very likely you'll pull off a full-fledged Fire Punch. Then, once you know what it feels like, you can master the technique all that much easier."
"Sounds like a plan!" Meowth said.
Suime then handed him a Fire Gem. Meowth held it in one hand, and made another charge at the target. This time, when he launched his fist forwards, the Fire Gem disappeared in a small flash of light and his hand burst into flames. His momentum carried him through the air and he smashed through the target, setting fire to it as well.
"Wow…" Meowth said afterwards as he looked at his hand. "I'm not even charred! So that's what a Fire Type move feels like."
Throughout his next few attempts, Meowth managed to get a flame on his hand for a second, but it would blink out before he hit the target. But hey, no one ever said learning new moves would be that easy.
Elsewhere, Jesse and James were braving a challenging obstacle course… at least, challenging for them.
It turns out years of negligent exercise had made the reflexes and strength of Jesse and James worse than normal. They were having trouble on the easiest setting of the course.
It was fairly straightforward: They had to cross a small field of tripwires without crossing any, climb up a rocky hill, cross a hallway while avoiding trapdoors and pressure panel traps, all culminating in carefully taking a (surprisingly heavy) gold-painted Pokeball sculpture from its place without disturbing anything, and then making their way back to the beginning.
Currently, the duo had completely failed the tripwire field, had done surprisingly well on the rock climbing, and had set off most of the hidden traps but only survived because of determination, panic, and no small part luck.
In the end, they succeeded, but didn't do too well.
"Well well." Their new instructor said, "It appears you two have retained good reflexes and developed surprising pain tolerance… but your stealth leaves much to be desired."
"We… did the best we could." Jesse panted. "Those traps were just too difficult."
"Nonsense!" The instructor declared, "Even I could ace that course. But come with me, I'll show you another obstacle course that will really help you."
Jesse and James exchanged wary glances, but were forced to follow anyways when their instructor left the room.
Their new room didn't look too scary. It was a simple hallway with a metal floor, a few hills and uneven ground, but otherwise quite underwhelming.
"This is our special training?" James asked, "What's so special about it?"
Their instructor responded by pressing a button, causing panels in the ceiling to open up and two pairs of solid metal boots fall to the floor right in front of the duo.
"What's special about this course is that you will be wearing these boots." The instructor explained, "If you land on the ground too forcefully, you'll receive a strong electric shock. This exercise is to make you guys lighter on your feet."
"And we're supposed to take our time on this?" Jesse asked as she and James put on their boots.
"Actually, I'm just gonna send an Ursaring wearing rubber boots to chase you. Happy training!"
And with that, the instructor pressed another button and walked out through a door. Right after he left the wall behind the duo slid open and a large Ursaring, who was indeed wearing rubber boots, charged out at the duo.
Jesse and James ran, receiving many, many electric shocks and quite a few hits from the Ursaring.
"Just like old times, right Jesse?" James commented.
"Yup," Jesse said, "Just like old times."
Thanks to Team Rocket never being there to abduct Sunnyshore Tower, Ash spent a lot less time in Sunnyshore City than he would want.
Despite Flint's and his efforts, they never managed to convince Volkner battling was worth it. They did, however, manage to bug him enough to make him battle Ash just so he would go away.
It was a tough battle, with Ash coming down to just his Grotle against Volkner's Raichu, which had just finished knocking out Pikachu.
Grotle was getting low on energy, and it didn't help that Raichu was still going strong. It looked clear that Ash was going to lose… until Grotle evolved into Torterra, learned Earthquake, and beat Raichu in one move.
And thus Ash walked away with his eighth Sinnoh Gym Badge. He said goodbye to some people around town, and then Ash and co. hopped on their Salamence friend and started travelling to the Pokemon League for some training.
Meowth's Night Slash actually has some canon evidence behind it. He claims he's learning it in the episode Jumping Rocket Ship. I am also disregarding the ways Pokemon learn moves from the games since that's not how it works in the anime, and when I have a conflict like that I just choose what makes the most sense.
Meowth also tries to use Fire Punch (Despite not being able to know the move legitimately) in the episode Cream Of The Croagunk Crop. He fails, but I decided to run with it.
Also, if anyone's wondering why it was so easy for Meowth to learn Fire Punch, while Ash and supposedly others rarely, if ever, teach their Pokemon new moves quickly, my theory is that Ash spends too much time walking everywhere to pull off any special training (Or much training at all for that matter), and he doesn't have any special guidance to help learn them either.
I know I'm bad at making up names. Please forgive me.
Things should pick up soon as I make the trio go and catch new team members straight from the wild as little 'missions', which should start about next chapter.