Hello, thanks for the reviews! Here's the next chapter, based off the episode "The Big Balloon Blow-Up" with a huge twist of my ideas and some borrowed work from author Celebi. I don't own Pokemon, enjoy!
Chapter 12: Balloon Blow-Up
Almost near Olivine City, Jeremy and Angelina take a break from their journey and stopped to relax and have a picnic, which was also in the same vicinity where Jessie and James were laying in the grass watching two Pokemon shaped balloons float overhead.
"There he is," Angelina said, watching Meowth approached them holding a flyer of Pokemon balloons. "What's that Meowth?"
"Razaglobo Town is having a big hot air balloon competition tomorrow and the foist prize is dis super-duper high tech balloon engine!" Meowth explained excitedly. "If we had this engine we could have our getaways so fast that nothing can stop us! Not even Pikachu's Thunderbolt!"
Angelina and Jeremy rolled their eyes, but they honestly disliked the idea of Jessie and James stealing the balloon engine instead of winning it.
"We're gonna enter that balloon competition and win fare and square if it's the last t'ing I do!" Meowth said, posing bravely with his fist raised.
Jessie and James think their feline partner was delierious with fever and crazy, but Angelina just sighs and kneels to the Pokemon level to calm him down. "How do you plan on winning exactly? We all don't know anything about hot-air ballooning and it's probably put us in danger."
"Oh we'll win, sweetcheeks," Meowth assured calmly. "I just have to prove myself as a hot ait balloon pilot, so I'm gonna enter the competition and win it."
"Meowth's got a temper," James said.
"I wonder if Meowth's got distemper?" Jessie asked.
"It's neither, and with determination like that he'll need someone with experience knowing what it's like to help him reach a goal without cheating!" Angelina said, emphasizing certain parts so they'd understand.
"Dat's right, sweetcheeks!" Meowth agreed. "And you're exactly what I'm looking for!"
The very next day, Angelina filled out the contest forms while Meowth argues with the clerk about not being used and his expertise on ballooning. Once that was settled, Jeremy (with Pichu on his shoulder), Jessie and James watched Angelina helped Meowth get the balloon ready.
"Finished," Angelina said. "Okay from here, Meowth?"
"Exactly how it's supposed to!" the feline nodded.
"And you're sure you can fly the balloon?" Angelina asked.
"I was flying dis baby for years!" Meowth grinned.
Angelina observed the other contestant's balloons; some in Pokemon shapes such as Blissey, Pikachu, Fearow, Electrode, Wigglytuff, and Hoppip. She never experienced multicoloured balloons bounce into life all around her, but she wasn't complaining.
"It's Team Rocket!" cried a voice from behind. "Don't tell me they're in the competition too!" Angelina saw her brother and his friends approaching, she ducked inside the backet while Jeremy stood beside her watching.
"Prepare for trouble, but not today!" cries Jessie.
"And make it double, hear out what we say!" adds James.
"To protect the world from devastation."
"To unite all peoples within our nation."
"To denounce the evils of truth and love."
"To extend our reach to the stars above."
"Jessie."
"James."
"Team Rocket blasting off in a hot air balloon."
"Surrender now twerps, or prepare to lose to us soon!"
"Meowth! Dat's right, and I'm da one whose gonna beat ya!"
"Why haven't you three learned your lesson yet!?!" Ash demanded, "You're Team Loser, so get lost!"
"No way! Hot air balloning happens to be something I'm good at and today I'm gonna prove it to everybody!" Meowth proclaimed, his eyes burning with flames. "No tricks today! Today we're playing strickly on the up and up!"
"Meowth either has a burning desire or a bad eye inflimation!" Brock suggested.
"There's no way we're gonna lose to you three losers!" Ash yelled.
"Ashton Satoshi, cool it, will ya?!" Angelina shouted back, her voice made everyone jump as she appeared from the basket in aggitation. "Like I told them yesturday, Meowth wants to compete without cheating and Mew only knows he's never had the feeling of winning something so he insisted that I help. Jessie and James are watching the race with Jeremy, so you're worrying for nothing!"
"Well maybe so," Misty said, watching the two Rockets walk off with Jeremy. "But are you sure its okay to go flying with Meowth? He isn't going to steal your Pokemon or anything?"
"Meowth's fine by himself," Angelina defended, which the Pokemon looked up at her in surprise and amazement. "Honestly, not all Pokemon are bad, only because of their trainers, like Team Rocket. Look, Meowth just wants to fly the balloon. Everything will be okay."
"If you say so," Ash said. "Good luck."
"Thanks, you too," Angelina smiled. "I'll look for you guys in the race!"
Angelina watched her friends walk away, she then turned to Meowth, "I told you there was nothing to worry about."
"Yous were right," Meowth nodded.
At the sound of a loud gong and a voice over the loudspeaker saying "And they're off!", the race finally begins. The Meowth balloon lifts into the sky and Angelina looks about the landscape as they rose higher. She could already see for miles, and just ahead the balloons of the other participants were rising. Several of them popped or broke apart just after leaving the ground.
"What's going on?" Angelina panicked.
"Something's not right," Meowth said, disturbly.
"Ring-Ring, Ring-Ring!" Angelina's Poke-Gear went off, caller ID read: Cretonne J. 552-7660.
"Hey, what's up?"
"You're not gonna believe this," Jeremy said, his voice sounded worried. "All those balloons that just collapsed, they were sabotaged."
"By who?" Angelina and Meowth echoed.
"Well isn't it obvious that Jessie and James thought Meowth was crazy about competing in the balloon race? I think they cut out the competition so Meowth could win that balloon engine!"
"Dat's cheating!" Meowth yelled. "Dey've gone way too far! I only want to win fair and square!"
"Thanks Jer, we'll be careful," Angelina assured, then closed off the connection and placed away her Poke-Gear.
The Meowth balloon rose higher and higher and blended right in with the Magnemite, Fearow, and Chansey balloons flying around them. Angelina looked out at the breathtaking view from below. Meowth even seemed more alive than ever before, doing something he knew he was good at, a smile plastered on his face. He was enjoying it immensely, but he was still completely determined to win. He guided the balloon safely around a mountain peak by putting on the burner, which lifted them gracefully over the top and they slowly advanced on the others.
"There's a great air current just above us. That would probably get us all the way past the others, but I can't get into it with just the burner." Meowth announced.
"Allow me," Angelina grinned, unclipping a Pokeball from her belt. "Go Blaze! Help us heat the balloon!"
Quilava formed from the white light and released a Flamethrower to lift them right into the current. Suddenly, the balloon jerked forward and they were whisked away towards the finish line.
As they passed the mountain Angelina heard thunder. A storm could be disastrous, but the black clouds overhead weren't in the way of the course. A little shower of rain caught them as they sped on, but it was nothing that Quilava couldn't handle.
When the Meowth balloon slowed down, there were two other balloons between it and the finish line---a circle with an X inside shaved into the grass which needed to be hit by a marker, thrown from the balloon. One of them was the image of a Pikachu. They seemed to have brushed closer to the storm, but were still powering ahead.
"Meowth, I think we could do this! There's only two balloons left."
Meowth didn't share Angelin'a optimism. "The twoips are in dat Pikachu one."
Well, he was right. Angelina could just make out the people in the Pikachu balloon; it was Ash and his friends.
The occupants of the Pikachu balloon looked back. As the Meowth balloon gained speed for the final push it was easier to make them out, and it was quite a sight to see. Brock was waving his hands goofily and would've fallen out of the balloon if it wasn't for Misty and Ash hanging onto him. Their balloon was aided by a Noctowl, strapped to the balloon with a harness and guiding it. Ash's Noctowl, the one with shiny colouration, left a trail of sparkles as it flew. The other balloon they were tied with was designed in the likeness of a Fearow and pulled by one to match.
Angelina could see the 'X' now and took a sphere from her pocket. It had streamers attached to one end, and she was supposed to throw this at the cross. She didn't want to let Meowth down after all the great flying he did. Meowth steered us expertly into an air current for a burst of speed, and Quilava was letting the balloon descend slightly, watching the finish of the race eagerly.
Fastly approached the cross, Meowth took the streamer ball from Angelina and jumped onto the side of the basket, ready to throw.
"Meowth honey, shouldn't I throw that?"
"Why?"
"Well, I got longer arms…."
Meowth reluctantly gave up the ball and went back to steering them into an air current which took them right up to the others. They were quite far apart, but neck-and-neck. It was the final stretch now; they were closing in and the cross got bigger.
There was a Fearow steering the other balloon, a Fearow shaped balloon, and the Pikachu one was pulled by an oddly colored Noctowl that left a trail of sparkles behind as it flew. Angelina shook herself out of it and focused on the throw. The boy in the Fearow balloon was with his father; they must want to win. Angelina saw Ash, and she knew he liked winning things, but then why did she want to win? She looked at Meowth, and she'd never seen him so inspired and ambitious before, he was the best balloon flyer here and really deserved it…. though she had her doubts that Jessie and James would take advantage of Meowth's prize to steal Pokemon.
Ash, the other boy, and Angelina raised their arms. The Meowth balloon was still behind, so they had more distance between them and the cross. Angelina waited until the last moment when the boys' arms moved, locked her eyes on the target, and threw the ball down with all her strength.
The three differently colored balls flew silently at exactly the same time. Angelina saw hers, colored yellow, lagging behind…. The other two balls hit the bulls-eye to the side, but at exactly the same time. Angelina's hit a split-second later, but it was a perfect bulls-eye. It struck the other two balls and bounced off, away from the target. Angelina sat down in the corner of the basket while the balloon descended, feeling that she'd let him down.
"Meowth… I'm sorry," Angelina finally found the voice to say.
"Hey, it ain't your fault," the feline replied, giving her an encouraging look. He wasn't elated, but he was happy. "I loved gettin' to do dis. I felt so alive!"
There was a tie between Ash and Skylar. Ash had no need for the engine, so he gave it to Skylar, knowing his friend's father would get the best use from it.
Angelina and Meowth walked down the dirt path and finally met up with Jeremy, Jessie, and James.
"Did you watch the race?" Angelina asked.
"Yeah, you guys did great!" Jeremy said. "Faster than everyone else!"
"All thanks to Meowth," Angelina smiled to the feline-Pokemon whom blushed. "I still wish I'd won for you though. You tried so hard, and Blaze too, but I should've thrown the marker earlier instead of aiming so much. Maybe if we'd had a fast balloon like we thought we'd get, you could've won."
Meowth shook his head. "It's only right that I got to use my balloon. Nothin' coulda beat dat," he grinned.
"Let's go, Meowth! We're leaving!" Jessie ordered, she and James were standing next to their balloon.
"Nice while it lasted without dem," Meowth sighed, then looked up at the Boss's daughter. "I really had fun, thanks sweetcheeks!"
"Don't mention it," Angelina smiled. "You may be a Rocket's Pokemon, but you're good in my eyes."
"And I won't forget dat," Meowth nodded, a stray tear fell down his face.
"Tell me you're not crying," Jessie sneered impatiently. "We're losing time to capture Pikachu! Come on!"
"All right, Jess!" Meowth yelled, he scurried towards the Rockets and turned back to Angelina. "See ya around, sweetcheeks!"
"Take care!" Angelina waved; watching the Rockets leave in their Meowth balloon, then whispered, "Stay outta trouble, even if you don't."
§To Be Continued§
I worked the ideas I had with the borrowed ideas as best I could. The episode was cool when I saw it the first time, but I twisted it with my ideas. Next chapter will be up ASAP, thanks for reading; all comments and suggestions welcomed.
