Me: Okay Jack, so what do you want to do in this chapter?

Jack: Well let's see...

Jason: Training. We have to do some training, or how will we get stronger.

Jack: I can't argue with that logic, and how's about adding some other human contact. You know, we did get a review asking for an appearance by...

Me: DON'T GIVE IT AWAY! The one thing you must never do, is give away plot points. That's not a bad idea though... alright, we can do that. Hold on to your hats folks.


It was just before lunch on the third day since they left Oreburgh City. Jack and Jason were training against each other while Cap and Katana did the same.

"One thing our fight with Articuno taught me," Jack grunted as he fired a Thunderbolt, "is that we've got to get a lot stronger before we can get answers."

Jason dodged expertly, then used Bone Rush. "I don't have any problem with training," the rod of energy hit Jack several times. "You never know when you might need to defend yourself."

Jack caught the last blow on his arm and used Counter. "I don't really think that'll be a problem," the blow pushed Jason back a few feet.

"Oof!" the steel type rubbed the point of impact. "That's going to bruise," he then launched an Aura Sphere in retaliation.

Jack tried to mimic the move, but only succeeded in summoning an unfocused blast of Aura that failed to stop the powerful projectile.

The blast caused Cap and Katana to stop sparring and rush over to see what happened. Jack got up and examined his chest, but his robes were not even charred. He knew from experience that, except for some bruising, there would be no lasting damage.

Jason came up to him and put a paw on his shoulder. "that's the sixth time in a row I've beaten you, maybe you should spar with Cap instead."

"No." Jack's eyes sparked with determination. "It may have been the sixth time, but I now know why you're beating me so easily. It's all in the aura; you're much better at using it than me. If I'm ever going to hold my own against an opponent as powerful as you, then we'll have to do a different kind of training."

Jason looked sceptical. "I'm not that strong myself, I may not be able to teach you much..."

But Jack was not going to be deterred. "Then we'll get stronger together, but get stronger we must."

Jason slowly smiled. "I guess I'll just have to enjoy outclassing you while I can."


The next morning the brothers got up early. Really early.

"Jason," Jack protested. "The sun is still asleep, so why aren't we?"

"It's quiet now, it won't be once the sun is up. And before you ask, we need peace and quiet to meditate effectively."

"You don't need to sound so... awake."

As you may have guessed, Jack is only a morning person up to a point.

Jason led his brother into a grove of trees; all was quiet, all was still. The moon, reflected off the morning dew, lit up the clearing. It was the perfect place for meditation, but they were not as alone as Jason had thought; three pairs of eyes watched them from the shadows.

"Why are we watching them? He only has three Pokémon."

"Yes, but one of them is a Lucario you dolt, and a powerful one at that; considering the size of that explosion we heard. That kind of power and elegance would make me famous."

"I'm 'tinken more about how much green that black and blue beauty'll get us."

"Unless it turns us black and blue instead..."

"You make a good point, we'll have to plan this carefully."


Jason and Jack sat in the centre of the clearing from then unfilled the sun rose. Nothing disturbed them, except for three rapidly retreating Aura signatures. Jason didn't pay them any mind, they were probably just the proverbial early Pidgeys after the worm. Little did he know how close that was...

When the first rays of sunlight entered the clearing, Jason got up and carried Jack back to their camp-site. But when they got there, they were greeted by the sight of Cap and Katana tied up with chains in a cage. Jack woke up real fast, and the two brothers rushed to free their friends.

Suddenly a cloud of smoke covered them completely, and when it cleared Jack saw that Jason was trussed up inside the cage as well, and three figures were standing in front of it; a woman with long purple hair, a man with blue hair, both of whom had a red R on their shirts. A Meowth stood on top of the cage, holding a remote.

"Who are you?" Jack shouted.

"Listen, is that a voice I hear?" said the woman.

"It's yelling at me loud and clear," replied the man.

"On the wind,"

"Past the stars,"

"In your ear."

"Bringing chaos at a breakneck pace,"

"Dashing all hope and putting fear in its place."

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

"When everything's worse our work is complete."

"Jessie,"

"And it's James,"

"Meowth, that's a name."

"Putting the do-gooders in their place,"

"We're Team Rocket."

"In your face!"

Jack was momentarily stunned, he hadn't exactly expected the song and dance.

"Okay, so your names are Jessie, James, and Meowth, and you're called Team Rocket. But why do you have my friends in a cage?"

"Ha," exclaimed Jessie. "you still don't get it."

"Oh the boundless ignorance of twerps," replied James.

"We're takin' dese Pokémon for da glory of Team Rocket," finished Meowth.

Jack thought about it for a second. "No, I'm afraid I can't let you get away with that. I suggest that you let them out immediately."

"Ha, what makes you think you got a choice," Meowth jammed a button on his remote.

The cage rattled and... floated away? No, there was a hot air balloon, shaped like a meowth's head, attached to it. Team Rocket jumped into the basket, and started to take off. Jack weighed the options and decided that time was of the essence, so subtlety would have to wait. His eyes flashed gold as he fired a blast of Psychic at the balloon.

With a tremendous 'Pop', the would-be escape vehicle plummeted. Jack managed to gently lower the cage to the ground with another wave of Psychic. The thieves weren't that lucky and hit the ground hard; unfortunately, they recovered quickly.

"Those balloons don't come cheap, twerp," shouted Jessie.

Meowth, however, looked thoughtful, "How did you bring us down anyway?"

"It doesn't matter," she insisted, taking out a Pokéball. "What matters is that you're going down with us twerp. Yanmega, Sonicboom."

Before the attack even got close, Jack leapt straight up to dodge. While he was still in mid-air, he fired a low-power Thunderbolt that scored a direct hit and paralysed Yanmega. Team Rocket was almost as stunned as their Pokémon.

Jack grinned. "Meowth was asking the right questions. If you had let me answer, you would have known to stay out of my way."

His eyes glowed once more as he concentrated on the ambient aura around him, focused it into one point, and fired. It wasn't an Aura Sphere, but it was still more than powerful enough to send them flying.

"We're blasting off again!"

Jack blinked in confusion. "That was odd."

Jack lost no time in freeing his friends, all it took was some fiddling around with Psychic inside the locks.

"Ouch!" Jason yelped in pain as he rubbed his wrists where the chains had bitten him. "Who were they anyway?"

"Apparently they were called Team Rocket, they're Pokémon thieves, and they aren't very bright; but they sure know how to hog-tie a Lucario," Jack said, snickering.

"Humph," grunted Jason. "It's alright for Cap and Katana. Katana has a hard exoskeleton, and Cap's a mushroom; he can bounce back from anything."

Cap shrugged.

"All I've got to protect me is fur," Jason continued.

"And all those rippling muscles," Jack said, still chuckling.

"Yeah, well none of this would have happened if you had kept us all in Pokéballs," Jason said, suddenly anxious to change the subject.

Jack groaned. "Not that again! I thought I made this all very clear, I'm capital N, capital O, capital T, NOT, going to put anyone in a Pokéball; Professor Rowan's lab was an accident. And that's final!"

After that outburst, the group had breakfast, packed up, and hit the road in complete silence.


Me: Well, did that satisfy your sufficiencies?

Jack: Well, Team Rocket was just as dumb as I remember them,

Jason: And we got a little bit of training done (emphasis on "little").

Jack: And I see that I'm still holding fast to my beliefs about pokéballs.

Me: Yes, for now. *evil laugh*

Jack: *shudder* I asked you not to do that...

Me: Oh, sorry. Anyway, that's chapter nine for all of you out there, as always please read and review.