Chapter 26

Ash, Misty, and Brock were feeling tremendously nervous, but they knew in order to successfully escape, they had to keep up with their appearances and not blow their cover. Immediately, a small army of Team Rocket grunts marched into the office from hearing the emergency alarm sound.

"What are you three standin' around for?" one of the grunts asked the heroes, "We gotta help the boss!" The grunt pushed Ash, Misty, and Brock into the crowd of low-level agents, all wearing the exact same uniform.

Giovanni was in absolute panic as he stormed out of the generator room. "You all!" he addressed the group of grunts, "Get out of here at once and look for that Pikachu!" The boss shouted loudly, "Ugh, I need better backup!" He pushed some of the grunts out of his way, and sprinted down the hall.

"C'mon, guys, let's get 'em!" cheered one of the grunts, and they all ran out of the office towards the elevators. Ash, Misty, and Brock followed the group, seeing this as a perfect chance to escape. Cautiously, the heroes crept away from the rest of the grunts once they arrived on the ground floor. As soon as they were out of sight, they dashed out of headquarters, and headed towards the designated meeting place… Hoping that Pikachu was there.

Meanwhile, Jessie, James, and Meowth had just defeated Giovanni's Tyranitar in battle relatively quickly. With Rhia's Groudon on their side, they were a force to be reckoned with.

"You three won't get away with this!" Giovanni screamed angrily as he stormed out of the generator room. The trio looked at one another blankly.

"So James," Jessie asked sarcastically, "How are we going to get out of here?"

"I…I don't know, Jess," James stammered. Out of the blue, King roared at the trio, signaling that he had something to say.

"Meowth, translate?" Jessie and James said in unison.

Meowth cheered happily, "Jumbo here says to jump on his back, and he'll get us outta here!" The humans looked at each other hesitantly, then climbed on the giant Pokemon's back with their feline companion. "He says we betta' hold on tight," Meowth added. Instantaneously, King unleashed the largest fire blast the trio had ever seen. This attack was powerful enough to melt through the steel wall of the HQ building. King steadily walked towards the hole in the wall, then peered down; they were five stories up. In the blink of an eye, Rhia's brave Pokemon had jumped out of the building with her friends on his back, plummeting quickly to the ground. Surprisingly, King nor Team Rocket was harmed in the fall… Although they were a little shaken up. Jessie, James, and Meowth speedily thanked King and gave him a grateful hug, then had him return to his master ball. Seconds later, the trio was running up the hill, successfully escaping from headquarters.

Rhia and Pikachu were the first ones to arrive under the pine tree; the designated meeting place. The young trainer opened up her purse and finally released Pikachu, completely unharmed.

Rhia smiled, "That was one heck of a ride, huh?... I'm sorry for kidnapping you and causing all this trouble. Those three you hate, yeah… They're kinda my closest pals. I just wanted to help them succeed for once… Anyways, Ash is on his way, I promise." Because the whole experience was somewhat traumatic for Pikachu, Rhia decided to give him a freshly picked oran berry to make him feel better. Moments later, gleeful cheering echoed in the distance, and the noise was approaching closer and closer very quickly. Rhia squinted her eyes to get a better view; it was Jessie, James, and Meowth, alive and well!

"Rhia! You're alright!" Jessie cried as they ran over to her and Pikachu.

"Of course I'm okay," Rhia said confidently, "I've always got a backup plan!"

"And Pikachu ain't hurt one bit!" Meowth commented. Rhia and her friends applauded and laughed happily together regarding yet another victory.

At the same time, Pikachu overheard every word they were saying. Here was the group that captured him in the first place, all alone with him. They're talking about victory… Pikachu put two and two together as he noticed the berry Rhia gave to him. Team Rocket just bamboozled him again! Pikachu was immediately enraged, and charged up his thunderbolt to full blast…

"Pikachu!" a familiar voice yelled off in the distance. Just before Pikachu was about to give the villains the shock of their lives, he glanced over and saw his best friend, Ash, running full speed towards him. Pikachu beamed, headed towards his trainer, and leaped into his arms.

"I'm so glad you're safe!" Ash said as he gave his Pokemon a well-needed hug.

"You guys, we did it," Brock mentioned, "We were able to succeed because we worked together."

"And it was for a good reason," James added, "Pokemon and trainer bonds are special ones that can never be broken. We were wrong for trying to break that."

Ash nodded, "I forgive all of you, as long as there are no more tricks up your sleeves!"

"Definitely not," Jessie said hastily, "I'm just glad this mess is over, now we can get on with our lives."

"Is any of yous really darn hungry?" Meowth said randomly, "Because I sure am!"

Misty's stomach growled, "Now that you mention it, we didn't have breakfast this morning."

"Dinner's on me," Rhia chimed in proudly, "Let's head to the next town together, grab a bite to eat and celebrate, then head on our ways." The group began their short trek to the nearest urban area, Celadon City. The heroes were overjoyed to have Pikachu back with them, and the villains were proud of their sudden change of heart; demonstrating acts of honesty, teamwork, and bravery. Sometimes, change can be a good thing.