Chapter 2-6: A Double-Team Takedown

"Nnnnnnngh," Team Rocket groaned. They were in a pile after their latest blast-off, and they were still hungry. "That didn't do us any good," James grumbled.

"Well maybe there's some food around here we can steal," Jessie mumbled.

"Speaking of which, where is 'here?'" Meowth wondered, wriggling out from the bottom of the pile and looking around. The other two quickly got up and looked around. They were inside a cave with a few holes in the ceiling from which light shone in.

"Well this is new," James mused.

"I wonder what kind of Pokemon are hiding in here," Jessie said likewise.

"Ack!" Meowth suddenly exclaimed. "I hear a voice!"

"Hm?" Jessie and James craned their necks to listen. Sure enough, they heard a male voice. "Quick!" Jessie said. "Hide!" They slipped behind a wall as the voice's owner walked in.

"Now let me see," Ilima said. "Where are those Yungoos hiding today?" He peered into a hole in the ground, then rose up, confused. "Nobody home? Odd. There's usually one here to greet me. Were they scared off by something?"

"Uh-oh," Meowth whispered. "I think he's onta somethin'!"

"Stay low, Meowth," James ordered. "All good things to those who wait."

"Whew!" Ash said after he finished another handful of berries. "That was delicious."

"Thank you so much for the food," May agreed.

"Pika Pikachu."

"My pleasure," the berry man smiled. "If you're ever hungry again, look around for more berries. After all, they grow like...well, like weeds here in Alola. No need to be shy about eating them!"

"Thank you, sir," Ash smiled.

"Pikachu."

"Well, we should probably be on our way," May said. "We need to get to Verdant Cavern for our first trial."

"Ah, yes," the man said, taking note of the amulet May wore on her skirt. "Well, good luck to the both of you."

"Thanks again, sir," Ash said as they got up to leave. "We'd be happy to visit you again!"

"Goodbye!" May called back as they left. "Thanks for the berries!"

"Anytime!" the man replied as he waved to them. With that, they set off on their way.

"Boy, those berries sure fill you up," Ash said.

"I'll say," May agreed. "Though I noticed they had a bit of a tang to them."

"You too?" Ash blinked.

"Yeah. Then again, this is Alola. People are much more in tune with nature out here than we're used to."

"Well then!" Ash chuckled, "That would explain it!"

"Oh, look!" May said, pointing ahead of them. Ilima stood with his back to them, in front of the entrance to a cave. On hearing May's voice, he turned to greet them.

"Greetings," he said. "Captain Ilima here."

"Yeah, we know who you are," Ash chuckled. "You don't have to keep saying that."

"I know," Ilima returned the chuckle. "That's just my habitual way of greeting people. As for my trial..."

"Yes?" Ash and May said eagerly, clenching their fists in anticipation.

Ilima turned back towards the cave entrance. "It begins mere steps from here in Verdant Cavern!" Then he turned back to them, seeing their eyes sparkle with excitement. "Please be warned that the Pokemon living in Verdant Cavern are quite fierce. I wouldn't venture in until you're absolutely certain you're ready."

"We are!" the two of them said in unison, with Pikachu joining in with a "Pika!"

"Don't get cocky," Ilima went on. "Through attempting the trials during the island challenge, one can exceed his or her own limits. That is what the Alolan people believe."

"We believe it too," May nodded.

"Once you enter Verdant Cavern, you will not be able to leave until you have completed the trial. Are you prepared for the trial?"

"YES!" the two trainers said excitedly, nearly jumping out of their skin.

"Then come on in," Ilima said, turning and walking into the cave. "I'll be waiting for you!"

"Oh boy!" Rotom Dex beeped. "Time for training, time for trials! Time for us to storm the Verdant Cavern, zrrt!"

Ash and May eagerly walked in after Ilima, calling out their Alolan Pokemon as they did so. They looked to the ceiling, where small holes allowed some light to shine in. It looked like a jungle condensed into a cave.

"Wow," May said. "This looks so tranquil and peaceful."

"Io. Popplio," Popplio whispered, looking around in awe.

"I wonder what kind of Pokemon live in here," Ash mused.

"Let. Rowlet," Rowlet agreed, perching on his shoulder.

"Zrrt. I'm just talking to fill in the gap."

"Pikachu," Pikachu rolled his eyes.

"That's right, take it in for a moment," Ilima said beside them. "We can begin when you're ready."

"We are," Ash and May grinned, turning to him.

"Such confidence," Ilima smiled softly. "Very well, then. Allow me to explain the basics of my trial. Your goal is simple: to defeat three of the Pokémon that lurk here in their dens! Then reach the pedestal deep within the cave and collect the Z-Crystal there. You'll need to be completely in sync with your Pokémon to succeed."

"No sweat!" Ash smirked. "We'll take down this trial without a hitch!"

"Pika pikachu!" Pikachu agreed.

"Then what are we waiting for?" May grinned. "Let's go!" With that, the two young adults ran in with a childlike excitement.

"Good luck," Ilima smiled. "Let the trial begin!"

THE FIRST TRIAL

"Okay!" Ash grinned. "So where are these Pokemon?"

"I bet they're hiding," May suggested. "See any good hiding places in here?"

"No," Ash shook his head. "They must be good hiding places if they're hidden so well."

Pikachu and Rotom Dex looked at each other with deadpan expressions.

"Hey, look!" May send, bending over beside a wall.

"I'm looking, I'm looking, zrrt!" Rotom Dex said, hovering beside her. Pikachu saw what he was doing and swatted him with his tail. "Yoww! What wazz that for?!"

"Anything in there?" Ash asked.

"Hard to tell," May said. "It's too dark in there, and my head can't fit through the hole."

"Hm…" Ash thought. He looked at Popplio and smiled. "Maybe Popplio should take a look."

"Oh, right!" May grinned. "Wanna try that, Popplio?"

"Popplio!" Popplio nodded.

"Okay. Be careful in there," May said. Popplio nodded and scampered into the hole, looking around.

"See anything?" Ash asked. There was no answer. "Ah. I'll take that as a no."

"Don't worry," May looked up at him. "If she finds anything, she'll answer to me."

Ash blinked. "Will she answer to me?"

"No, she'll answer to me," May said.

"No, meeeeeeeee!"

"Iiiiiiiiiiii!" Popplio squealed, scampering out of the den. Ash and May looked sharply as a mongoose-like Pokemon chased her out.

"Aha!" Ash grinned. "Here we go! What's this Pokemon?"

Rotom Dex hovered over the Pokemon and scanned it. "Yungoos: the Loitering Pokemon. Yungoos will bite anything with its sharp fangs. It did not originally live in Alola but was imported from another region."

"Imported from another region?" Ash blinked.

"Wow," May mused. "That's not something you hear everyday."
"Well I think today it's going to be exported!" Ash grinned. "Rowlet, I choose you!"

"Rowlet!"

"Okay Rowlet, let's start this with Leafage!" Rowlet flew forward and fired several green balls of energy. They struck the Yungoos, forcing it to retreat backwards a little. Then it glared at Rowlet and charged forward with fangs bared.

"Those look like they could hurt," May shuddered.

"Rowlet, wait for it to come to you!" Ash said. Rowlet did so as Yungoos charged. Right when it was about to strike, Ash commanded, "Now jump to the side!" Rowlet jumped to the side. "Tackle it while it's distracted!" Rowlet rammed into it from the air, knocking it into the ground. "Good work!" Ash grinned.

Yungoos, however, was not finished yet. It jumped up and kicked sand in Rowlet's face, blinding it. "Uh-oh," May blinked. "Sand-Attack!"

"Don't let it get to you, Rowlet!" Ash called. "Use Leafage again!" Rowlet obeyed, and the green orbs floated towards Yungoos and hit it again. Exhausted from the fight, Yungoos collapsed. "Yeah, we did it!" Ash grinned.

"Pi-pikachu!" Pikachu cheered.

Ash walked up to Rowlet and brushed its face off. "Whew! You did a good job, Rowlet. Wanna rest for a bit?"

"Rowlet!" Rowlet nodded, hopping into Ash's backpack to sleep for a bit.

"All right," Ash said. He looked around the cave. "Now where would the next Pokemon be?"

"Eek!" May suddenly shrieked as something erupted beside her and attacked. "What is that?!"

"Whoa!" Ash exclaimed. "It looks like a Rattata!"

Rotom Dex hovered next to the dark Rattata and scanned it. "Rattata: the Rat Pokemon. When the sun goes down, Alolan Rattata become active, gnawing through doors and infiltrating people's homes to steal whatever food it finds."

"Ack!" Ash exclaimed in a panic. "That's right! My first Pokedex called me stupid when a Rattata stole my food!"

"Well this little rat won't steal our food!" May snapped. "Popplio, let's go!"

"Popplio!" Popplio jumped forward and stood on her tail.

"Popplio, use Water Gun!" May commanded. Popplio jumped up and fired a jet of water from her nose, striking the Alolan Rattata. Rattata retaliated by rushing forward in a blur, slamming into Popplio. "Hang in there, Popplio," May encouraged her. Popplio listened and growled at the Rattata. The rat Pokemon responded by running forward again. "Now, just like we practiced! Use Disarming Voice!"

"IIIIOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Popplio cried, unleashing several pink soundwaves that knocked Rattata into the air. It promptly fell to the ground, its eyes turned to swirls.

"Nicely done, Popplio!" May grinned. "We did it!"

"That was pretty good," Ash agreed. "You and Popplio were perfectly in sync."

"Pikachu," Pikachu agreed.

"Well, that's two Pokemon down," May said. "Let's go find one more!"

"Yeah!"

Ilima sat beside the entrance to Verdant Cavern, hand on his chin. "Hm…" he mused. "I can't help but feel like I'm forgetting something."

"Any sign of those Pokemon?" James asked his teammates as they all peered into holes.

"Nothing," Meowth grumbled. "Are you sure you saw something in here, Jessie?"

"Positive," Jessie nodded. "If there's a rare Alolan Pokemon here, then our job is to steal it for the boss."

"Yeah, yeah," Meowth grumbled. "You've only said dat a hundred times since we got here."

Eventually, James sat up. "There's nothing here," he grumbled. "If there was a Pokemon in here, we'd have found it by now."

"I agree with James," Meowth grumbled, imitating him. "I'm tired of waiting for somethin' ta happen." As if to taunt him, a net suddenly erupted and trapped him. "Gah!" he cried. "What's this?!"

"What?!" James and Jessie exclaimed, the latter shooting up on hearing that her teammate was in danger. "Oh no, Meowth! Hang on!" She pulled out a pocket knife and cut the net open, freeing the scratch Pokemon. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Just fine, thank you," Meowth grumbled.

"Yo, what do you think you're doing?!"

"Eh?" the three of them looked up and saw two thugs standing beside them.

"Blast it!" one of them grumbled. "That talking Meowth would be the best thing Team Skull has ever gotten!"

"Sorry, but I'm taken!" Meowth snapped.

"Oh really?!" the other thug sneered. "You roll with these losers?"

"Losers, you say?" Jessie sneered. "You've got a lesson to learn!

"Prepare for trouble, bring on the trial!"
"Make it double, right on the dial!"
"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's blasting off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight fight fight!"
"Meowth, that's right!"
"Woooooobbuffet!"

The two thugs stared at Team Rocket, unimpressed. "Yo, you're totally ripping off our style," the first one said.

"WHAT?!" the trio screamed.

"How dare you accuse us of ripping you off!" Jessie shouted.

"We're the originators and copyright owners of that motto!" James shouted as well.

"And we're dang proud of it!" Meowth screeched.

"Woooooobbuffet!"

"Oh, really?" the second thug chuckled. "That's a good one, but enough of your amateurishness. Let the pro's teach you how it's done!" With that, they began jigging as they recited their motto:

"All the kids in Alola want a trial to face;"
"But some of us never could meet that pace!"
"So we decided to forget it and make a new career;"
"And the way we roll is the way we appear!"
"We're a team!"
"We wear skulls!"
"So that makes us Team Skull!"
"And we do what we do until our ledger is full!"
"So we'll give you a trial, anytime, anyplace;"
"Team Skull's there to get right in yo' FACE!"

They struck their bring-it pose at the end once again, while Team Rocket stared in shock. "You dare mock the Team Rocket motto?!" Jessie screamed.

"You'll pay for this!" James shouted, livid.

"Who do you think you are, ya posers!" Meowth shouted at them.

The Team Skull thugs dropped their ending poses and shrugged, unimpressed. "Were you really not listening to our motto? We're Team Skull, and we're here to get some rare Pokemon. So hand over the talking Meowth and we'll call it a day."

"Sorry, but I'm not up for trade!" Meowth snarled. "I'm sticking with Team Rocket, whether you like it or not!"

"Oh really?" the first thug sneered. "Well, if you won't surrender, then we'll take you by force!"

"Come and get me, then!" Meowth shouted, baring his claws.

"Let's go, Drowzee!" one of the thugs said, chucking a Pokeball. The hypnosis Pokemon emerged and stared at its opponents. "Use Hypnosis to put these losers to sleep!"

"Drowzee," Drowzee said, obeying and waving its hands left and right.

"Oh no you don't!" Jessie shouted, chucking a Luxury Ball. "Mimikyu! Stop them with Shadow Claw!"

The disguise Pokemon emerged and swiped at Drowzee with a dark claw, knocking it to the side. Drowzee, however, quickly got back up and continued using Hypnosis. Mimikyu attacked it again, knocking it against the wall. It fell to the ground, unconscious.

"What in the heckity-heck?!" the thug cried. "That demon Pikachu just took out my Pokemon like it was none of its business!"

"Bah! You're pathetic!" the other thug growled at his companion. "Let me handle this!" Before he could do anything, however, a harsh growling sound came from deep in the cave, startling all of them.

"What was that?" Jessie whimpered.

"It sounded hungry," James shivered.

"Too bad we don't have any food," Meowth shuddered.

"I think we are its food!" James squealed.

"Uh-oh," the first Team Skull thug said. "Sounds like trouble. Should we bail?"

"Nah," the second thug chuckled. "I wanna see this. Let 'em have it, whatever you are!"

As if on cue, a massive, mongoose-like Pokemon leapt out and landed in front of Team Rocket, towering over them. The terrified trio began screaming in fear as the Pokemon stepped back briefly, then smashed them with its claw, knocking them into the sky. "AUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH!"

"Could this day get any worse?!" Jessie shouted in anger as they flew through the sky. "As if all that wasn't enough, they ruined my hair!"

"You think dat's the worst of our troubles?!" Meowth exclaimed. "Those boneheads totally ripped off our style! No one mocks the Team Rocket motto and gets away with it!"

"You thugs will pay for disgracing the Team Rocket motto!" James shouted back down to the thugs (assuming they could hear him). "Next time we meet, you'll be the ones to...to um…" He trailed off.

"You seriously couldn't think of a good comeback?" Meowth stared at him with a deadpan expression.

"I'm a bit of an airhead," James admitted sheepishly.

"Maybe if you didn't blast off so much you wouldn't be such an airhead!" Jessie growled.

"Hey, you guys blast off as much as I do!" James retorted.

"Oh," Jessie blinked. "Right…"

"AND WE'RE BLASTING OFF RIGHT NOWWWWWWWW!"

Ding.