Glad you guys are enjoying this! No Pokemon fic is complete without Team Rocket making some kind of appearance! I loved writing this chapter!

Sam, Jazz, and Tucker will be doing some battling in this chapter! Enjoy!

Chapter 4

Team Rocket!

Team Rocket followed Ash and his friends the park where they watched an intense battle. The boy with the glasses wasn't kidding. This Ghost kid was strong!

"Do you really think we'll be able to steal that Ghost Twerp's Pokémon from right under his nose?" asked James. "I don't like the way that Dusclops looked at the twerp's Buizel!"

"You don't have to worry about looking at it, as long as we steal it!" Jessie snapped at James.

"Besides, that kid has a little trick of some kind," Meowth pointed out. "Look at the Ghost Twerp's eyes. Mind telling me how they went from green to blue and vice versa? And don't tell me it's a trick of the light."

The two humans squinted their eyes to get a closer look at Danny. Sure enough, his eyes were glowing neon green. They've seen him enough times during their shifts at the Nasty Burger (which they got fired from, by the way) to know that his eyes were blue. How did that happen?

"Maybe the kid's eyes change color in sunlight?" guessed James.

"That kid obviously has some kind of telepathic powers or something!" Jessie concluded. "We've seen it happen enough times to know how to spot it."

James shivered in fright. "Then maybe we should back off and leave the Ghost Twerp alone!" he exclaimed in fear.

"Wob-buffet!" exclaimed the blue Psychic Pokémon.

"Then let's just grab Pikachu and that Umbreon over there and skedaddle," said Meowth.

~0~0~0~

Meanwhile, Sam was patching up all of the Pokémon injured in the battle. Brock was taking notes on some of the ingredients used in some of Sam's remedies. He didn't try to flirt with Sam again, especially since Phantom the Umbreon was giving him a death glare.

Everyone else, however, were getting to know each other while their Pokémon played. Dawn was looking at two of Danny's Pokémon with her Pokedex.

"Shuppet, the Puppet Pokémon. Shuppet loves vengeful emotions and hangs in rows under the eaves of houses where vengeful people live.

"Sableye, the Darkness Pokémon. Sableye hides in the darkness of caves. Its diet of gems has transformed its eyes into gemstones."

"Wow! These guys are pretty creepy-looking," Dawn stammered.

Danny walked up to her. "What did you expect? They are Ghost Pokémon. That's Youngblood, my Shuppet. And that's Bertrand, my Sableye."

"Shuppet, pet!" The Puppet Pokémon floated to Danny's eyelevel and nuzzled his face.

"I know, I know. I love you too, Youngblood," Danny said casually to the Shuppet called Youngblood. He then floated away to continue playing with Bertrand and the others.

"Out of curiosity, why do you give your Pokémon nicknames?" Dawn asked curiously.

"Well, originally Spooky, my Gengar, was the going to be the only one with a nickname," Danny explained. "But then Sam inspired me to give all my Pokémon nicknames to make them 'individuals' as she would call it."

"You like her, don't you?" Dawn asked slyly.

That caught Danny off guard. "What? No, I dont'! What makes you say that?"

"Well, you panicked when she told you that Brock tried to flirt with her, you blushed when she gave you a hug when you won the battle, and what you told me just now were enough hints to convince me," Dawn explained.

Danny blushed a deep red. "Yeah, it's true. There are times when I wonder if she feels the same way about me. We've been friends since second grade and we've been inseparable since. I want to tell her how I feel at the Founder's Day Festival. And I'm going to do it by having a Misdreavous I recently caught do a combination of Will O' Wisp and Psychic but we haven't gotten it down yet."

Dawn's face lit up. "Combination? Sam said she wanted to be a Coordinator."

"Yeah, so?"

"Vortex did that Fly-Protect combination at the end of the battle, right?"

"Yeah. Sam taught it to us," said Danny.

"You want to make a special Contest combination just for her!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Yes. I make Lilith – that's the Misdreavous I mentioned – use Will O' Wisp to make a bunch of blue fire appear. Then she'd use Psychic to manipulate the blue fire to make the shape of a heart," Danny explained blushing.

"Well, maybe I can help!" Dawn offered. "I've dealt with difficult combinations before so I'll be able to help you and Lilith. No need to worry, Danny. You just leave it to me!"

Danny smiled. "Thanks, Dawn. I'll show you Lilith some time later."

Suddenly, Dawn's hat was ripped from her head. She screamed in surprise. The hat suddenly landed on Danny's head. He frowned.

"Spooky! Come out," Danny ordered. A Gengar appeared out of thin air laughing hysterically.

"Gengar gar gar gar!" Spooky laughed.

"Is this Spooky?" asked Dawn as Danny gave her hat back.

"Yep. This is my very first Pokémon Spooky. I've had him since he was a Gastly that was living in my attic," said Danny.

"Gar. Gengar, Gengar," said Spooky.

Danny readily frowned. "Your best friend, yes. Henchman, no," said Danny.

"Gen, gen, Gengar."

"I'm your trainer, not your henchman!"

Dawn interrupted the weird conversation. "Do you understand what he's saying, Danny?"

Danny looked at her. "Uh, yeah. For some strange reason I can understand what Ghost Pokémon are saying."

"Gen-gar. Gengar," said Spooky.

Danny growled at the Ghost Pokémon. "I was eight! You told me it was water! Augh! Back into your Pokéball!" Gengar vanished inside its Pokéball.

Dawn sweat-dropped. "Uh, mind telling me what he's saying?"

"When he was still a Gastly, we were playing in the backyard and I got thirsty. I wasn't tall enough to get a glass of water myself so Gastly and I went to my parents' basement lab to find them. I saw a beaker of what appeared to be water. My parents told me to NEVER drink from the beakers but Spooky told me that it should be all right but I was reluctant. Spooky insisted that it was water," Danny explained.

"What was it?" asked Dawn.

"Ectoplasm from my mom's Rotom," Danny explained. "I spent a month in the hospital."

"And you've been able to understand Pokémon ever since?"

"Just Ghost Pokémon. I've tried communicating with my dad's Munchlax but all I got from him was gibberish," Danny explained. At this point, the rest of the group was listening to Danny's little tale (Jack went back home). Danny quickly called his newly healed team members back.

"Does that also explain your eyes glowing?" asked Ash.

Danny laughed nervously. "I was wondering if you noticed that."

"Your eyes glowed bright enough for us to see from the sidelines, Danny," said Sam. "Not that hard to miss."

"Sable, Sableye," said Bertrand nodding.

"Care to share your secret?" asked Brock.

"Whenever my eyes glow, my mind intertwines with my Pokémon's," Danny explained. "In battle, I discuss battle strategies with them, mentally. That's how I copied your 'dodge-and-attack' strategy, Ash. After you beat Spectra, she told me to try using your strategy to win before I called her back. That's how I beat you."

Ash's eyes widened. "That's amazing! So that's how Skulker was able to snap out of confusion so quickly."

"To be able to adapt your battle strategies to match your opponents' and use it against them is a pretty good strategy in itself," Brock remarked.

"Pika-Pika," said Pikachu.

"Shup-pet, Shup!" reminded Youngblood.

That got Danny's attention. "Oh right! You guys want to see Tucker's Porygon2?"

Everyone agreed excitedly.

"Come on out, Porygon2!" Tucker called out. A pink and blue Pokémon appeared in a flash of light.

"Porygon!" it cried.

"It's not much of a fighter, but it can still pack a punch when it wants to," Tucker explained. He poured a glass of water and set it on a nearby picnic table. Porygon2 approached the glass of water and dipped its beak into the glass. Tucker started laughing. "Check it out! I taught it to do the drinking bird trick!"

The whole gang started laughing. Suddenly, a gust of wind sucked up Pikachu, Phantom, Porygon2, Piplup, Bertrand and Youngblood into the containment chamber of a huge robot.

"Pikachu!" Ash shouted.

"Piplup!" Dawn shouted in panic.

"No! Phantom!" Sam cried.

"Porygon2!" Tucker called.

"Youngblood! Bertrand!" yelled Danny.

A trio of evil laughter was heard from the robot. "What's going on?" asked Jazz.

"Who are these guys?" asked Danny.

"Don't tell me…" moaned Ash.

Three figures appeared at the top of the robot.

"Listen, is that a ghostly voice I hear?" said the first figure.

"It's filling my heart with fear!" cried a frightened second figure.

"On the wind," said the first.

"P-Past the stars," stuttered the second.

"In your ear!" added a third figure.

"Bringing chaos at a breakneck pace…"

"Dashing hope and putting a different fear in its place…"

"A rose by any other name is just as sweet…"

"When everything's worse, our work is complete…"

"Jessie!"

"J-James," he whimpered.

"Meowth's the name!"

"Putting the do-gooders in their place…"

"We're Team Rocket…"

"And we're in your face!" the trio finished.

"Wobbu-Wobbu!"

"Mime! Mime!" added a Mime Jr.

"Team Rocket!" cried the traveling trio.

"Aren't those the new guys from the Nasty Burger?" asked Tucker.

Sam looked at them, bemused. "Team who?"

"Team Edward?" asked Danny.

"Team Jacob?" asked Jazz.

That got Meowth angry. "Grrr… That's Team ROCKET! We are way better than a vampire or a werewolf!"

"Team Rocket is a group of thieves that steal people's Pokémon," Dawn explained.

"And now we have more than enough Pokémon to give to the Boss," Jessie exclaimed excitedly.

"Give back our Pokémon now!" Danny yelled.

"Not on your afterlife, Ghost Twerp!" yelled Meowth.

Ash was about to go into battle when Tucker, Sam and Jazz stopped him. "Danny's not the only one who can battle," said Jazz.

The three teens pulled out their Pokéballs.

Jazz threw hers first. "I choose Noctowl!"

Tucker threw his next. "I pick Bastiodon!"

Sam threw hers last. "I pick Shadow!"

In three flashes of light, three Pokémon that looked like an owl, a dinosaur-like creature, and a panther-like creature appeared.

Dawn, who has never seen the panther-like Pokémon before, pulled out her Poke'dex. "Absol, the Disaster Pokémon. It senses coming disasters and appears before people only to warn them of the impending danger."

"I wonder if Team Rocket can handle three Pokémon at once," said Dawn.

"We're not afraid of those wimpy Pokémon!" Meowth exclaimed. The trio jumped into the robot. The machine's arms tried to crush our heroes but they managed to avoid them. A vacuum hose appeared and tried to suck up the three Pokémon.

"Everyone!" Tucker shouted. "Get behind Bastiodon! He'll block the suction with his body!" The trainers did so. Bastiodon braced himself against the vacuum's suction.

"You think an overgrown bulldozer is going to protect you?" Jessie asked angrily.

Sam jumped out from her hiding spot. "That's what you think! Shadow! Use Razor Wind on that vacuum hose!"

The horn on the Absol's head glowed white. Absol, or Shadow, swung his head and a blade of white energy sliced the hose clean off the robot.

"Nice job, Shadow!" Sam complimented.

"Ab…sol," Shadow replied.

"How dare you damage our machine, you Goth freak!" Jessie yelled.

"This thing didn't come cheap you know!" James added.

Jazz stepped out from behind Bastiodon. "My turn. Noctowl! Use Sky Attack to free the other Pokémon!" The Owl Pokémon flew towards the robot. A small window was displayed on the robot's torso where the other Pokémon were held captive. As Noctowl gained speed, its body began glowing with a white aura. Upon impacting the window, the glass shattered freeing the captive Pokémon. They all ran to their respective trainers.

"Piplup! Thank goodness you're alright!" Dawn exclaimed in relief.

"Pika-pi!" Pikachu called as he ran to Ash.

"Pikachu! Are you okay?"

"Pika, pika!" Pikachu assured Ash with a victory sign.

Sam embraced Phantom. "You're not hurt, are you Phantom?"

"Um-breon!" Phantom answered confidently.

Danny held up two Pokéballs. "Youngblood, Bertrand return!" The two Ghost Pokémon disappeared into their Pokéballs. He put them in his pocket.

"Porygon2! You're alright!" Tucker cried as he gave the pink and blue Pokémon a tight squeeze. He called it back into its Pokéball and pocketed it. He then pulled out his PDA. "Now to go into techno-geek mode." He started pressing some buttons.

~0~0~0~

"What is Four-Eyes doing? Checking e-mail?" wondered James.

"Quit gawking and help us get those Pokémon back!" snapped Meowth. He pressed a button but nothing happened. "Hey! What gives?"

Jessie looked at the computer screen. She paled. "Aaaaaahhhhhh! We've been hacked!"

"Hacked? How could that happen?" asked James.

"Why didn't we have software protection?" asked Jessie.

"Oops," squeaked a certain Scratch Cat Pokémon.

Both Jessie and James immediately knew what that meant.

"You didn't buy software protection?" Jessie yelled.

"You've left us at the mercy of every computer geek in the region!" added James.

"Don't blame me!" defended Meowth. "It cost extra and I could only afford the robot!" Before the two thieves had a chance to strangle the cat, the robot jolted to the side. "What was that?" asked Meowth.

~0~0~0~

Outside, Tucker's Bastiodon was using Take Down to knock the robot over and bring Team Rocket out of hiding. The robot toppled over and the three thieves fell out.

"We're not giving up without a fight!" declared Jessie. "Seviper, teach these twerps a lesson!" A snake-like Pokémon with red fangs appeared.

"Seviper!" it hissed.

"Carnivine! You too!" yelled James as he threw his Pokéball.

CHOMP! A Venus flytrap Pokémon started chewing on James's head! "What is it about my head you find so appetizing?" James yelled.

Danny's eyes glowed an angry green. He pulled out a Pokéball and then turned to Ash. "Wanna do a double-battle with these idiots?"

"You know it!" Ash exclaimed. "Ready, Pikachu?"

"Pika!"

Danny threw his Pokéball. "Going ghost! Spooky!"

"Gengar!" Spooky cried as he appeared. He turned and started licking Danny's face affectionately.

"Quit treating my face like a lollipop and help Pikachu out!" Danny cried. It immediately stopped and joined Pikachu in battle.

"Seviper, use Poison Tail!" ordered Jessie.

"Carnivine! Use Bullet Seed!" yelled James.

Carnivine shot multiple seeds at the Ghost and the Mouse Pokémon but they were ready. Both jumped out of the way. Seviper's Poison Tail hit Spooky's head, but since Spooky is both Ghost and Poison Type, it did little damage. In fact, it made Spooky ticked off.

"Spooky! Use Night Shade on Seviper!" ordered Danny.

"And Pikachu! Use Volt Tackle!" yelled Ash.

Spooky blasted the giant snake away from him using dark energy from his eyes while Pikachu, fully charged, sprinted towards Carnivine. Both snake and plant were blown back to their masters.

"Now Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt!"

"Spooky! Use Dark Pulse!"

"PIIIIIIKKKAAAAA-CHUUUUUU!"

"GEEEEEENNNNN-GAAAARRRR!"

The combination of Thunderbolt and Dark Pulse was strong enough to make the robot explode and send Team Rocket off into the sky.

"That Ghost Twerp really was terrifying!" wailed James.

"Not as terrifying as his Gengar!" Jessie added.

"Even in this fanfiction were being blasted off," mumbled Meowth.

"Wob-buffet!" agreed Wobbuffet.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again…"

"Wobbuffet…"

HAHAHA! I loved writing the end! Well, I've named every one of Danny's Pokemon.

I gave Tucker a Bastiodon as a little shout-out to the Sphinx from the episode 'King Tuck'. Bastiodon was the closest I could find that was Steel-type. Since Tucker's a techno-geek, I figured Pokemon that were either Steel or Electric would fit him.

I named Sam's Absol Shadow after Johnny 13's Shadow. I think it fit him. People used to think that Absol caused disasters so there you have it. Any questions?

Keep reviewing or I will unleash my bubble wrap of doom! :P