Axel wheeled around- a pair of Rockets were approaching him, but these Rockets were wearing white uniforms. The man had relatively short blue hair, while the woman sported extremely long red hair. Behind them, Axel could spot a cream-colored feline with a gold coin embedded in its forehead.
The woman spoke up again. "That fossil is Team Rocket's!" she declared.
"Surrender it now, or prepare to fight!" added the man.
"Meowth! Dat's right!" chimed in the Meowth, to Axel's astonishment.
"Wha- a talking Meowth?" Axel breathed. "How- how does-"
"Never you mind, twerp," snapped the woman, a Poké Ball at the ready. "If you won't hand over the Dome Fossil, we'll take it by force! Go, Ekans!" As she said this, she threw her Poké Ball, unleashing the purple serpent into the cave.
Axel threw his own Poké Ball. "Go, Vlad!" he exclaimed. "Supersonic!"
"Ekans! Poison Sting!" ordered the Rocket, but Ekans was already disoriented by the sound waves.
"Now! Leech Life!" grinned Vlad.
"Ekans, get ahold of yourself!" exclaimed the woman, but it was no good- Ekans started tying itself in knots and banging its head against the cave walls. Between that and Vlad's repeated Leech Life attacks, Ekans fell in no time.
"Alright, let Meowth give it a try," Meowth chimed in before stepping in.
"Vlad, Supersonic!" ordered Axel.
"I don't tink so!" Meowth retorted, lunging forward and striking with Scratch. Vlad desperately let out some sound waves, but didn't aim them properly- Meowth didn't hear a thing. Meowth then used Scratch again, and Axel realized that his Zubat was starting to get a little worn down.
"Come back now, Vlad!" he called out, holding out the Poké Ball as he threw another ball. "Needles! Double Kick!"
Meowth sneered. "Take me on if youse dare," he Growled, his tone so menacing that Needles started to look a bit unnerved. Nevertheless, he lunged forward and delivered a pair of powerful kicks. Meowth was looking irritated at this point, and attacked with Bite, to which Needles responded with another Double Kick. Finally, after one more Double Kick, Meowth crawled back to the Rockets. "I give! I surrender!" he gasped, hiding behind the female Rocket as the male stepped forward.
"Looks like it's my turn," he declared, throwing his own ball. "Go, Koffing!"
"Battery! You got this!"Axel said, turning to the Pikachu. "Thunder Shock!"
"Piiikaaaaaaa... CHUUUUUUUU!" bellowed Battery, blasting Koffing with electricity. Koffing responded by unleashing a cloud of Smog, which cause Battery to cough and choke, but to Axel's relief, did not induce poisoning.
"Battery, Thunder Shock again!" he ordered.
"Koffing, Smog!" the Rocket ordered.
But this time, Koffing didn't get a chance- the Thunder Shock seemed to strike a weak point, and a slightly smoking Koffing fell to the ground with a thud.
"Bah!" grunted the female Rocket. "Who cares if we lost? We're taking that fossil!"
"Ran!" exclaimed Needles- Axel now remembered that he hadn't actually withdrew the Nidoran yet. But as Needles stepped forward, something unusual happened- a bright glow came over Needles's body! The Nidoran grew larger, bulkier, pointier, until the glow faded away, revealing Needles's evolved state. "Riinoooh!" Needles grunted.
"Ehhh... I say it's time for Team Rocket to blast off," suggested the male Rocket.
The female nodded. "At the speed of light!" she agreed. With that, the two of them grabbed Meowth and raced away into the cave.
"Way to go, guys!" cheered Axel. "And Needles, you even evolved! That's so cool!"
"Riinooh! Riinooh!" agreed the Nidorino.
Sure enough, just as Axel had suspected, the exit to the cave was right nearby. They needed only climb a few ladders, and they were back out into the open. What was more, they could see Cerulean City in the distance, and upon realizing this, Axel and Battery broke out into a run, eager to take on their next challenge.