Chapter Twenty-Nine: Team Rocket
"Meowth! You blew our cover!" James's voice called.
"It wasn't me, it was Jessie's stupid Wobbuffet!!" Meowth called.
"Quit arguing! Come on, run faster!" Jessie said.
"Oh Arceus, they're all here?!" Brock said, panting.
"That's right! Prepare for trouble . . . ." Jessie said, suddenly popping ahead of us.
"Make it double . . . ." James said, appearing next to Jessie.
"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 blasts off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"
"Meowth, dat's right!" Meowth said, appearing in front of Jessie and James.
"Nuts . . . ." I said.
"Pikachuuuuu!" Pikachu chattered angrily. He zapped Jessie, James, and Meowth. They went flying off the road.
"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" They called.
"Wobbuffet!!!!" Jessie's Wobbuffet screamed as it was coming out of its pokéball.
"Nice job, Pikachu!" Ash said, holding out his arms. Pikachu jumped into Ash's arms.
"That won't hold them off for long. Let's go!" Brock said.
"Once we're inside the town, we should be OK." Dawn said. We took off. The town got closer and closer.
"Wha- is that a CHRISTMAS TREE?!" Garrison asked.
"It looks like it." Ash said, squinting.
"What's it doing there?" Erin asked. "It's the beginning of November!"
"Christmas is a month away." Heather said.
"Will you guys be going home for Christmas?" Nik asked.
"We might. Haven't planned that far yet." Ash said. Nik nodded.
"OK! We're in the town limits. Now we just have to figure out where to stay." Brock said.
"Yea. Somewhere cheap." I added.
"What about here?" Dawn asked, pointing to a nice-looking building.
"Pika!" Pikachu said.
"Sure." I said. We leaned our bikes against the bike stand and we walked inside. Ash walked up to the counter.
"Well, well, if it isn't Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. How may I help you?" The woman at the desk asked.
"I need three adjoining rooms, please." Ash said.
"How many nights?" the woman asked.
"One." Ash said.
"75 poké points please." The woman said. Ash handed them over.
"Thanks." I said to him.
"No problem!" he said, giving me a smile. My heart rate sped up.
"Pikachu!!" Pikachu squeaked.
"Your room numbers are 124, 125, and 126." The lady said, handing us the room keys.
"Thanks." Ash said, taking the keys and giving them to me. We walked down the hall.
"We should have four of us stay in two rooms and the two other people stay in the other one." Erin said.
"Good idea. All of us boys should stay in one." Ash said.
"Good idea. Dawn and I can stay in one room." Greenalia said.
"And Hannah, Erin, Heather, and I can stay in one!! That works." I said. I opened the door to room 124.
"Nice." Nik said. Brock nodded.
"Let's stay in this one." He said. I tossed Ash the key to room 124.
"Nice catch!" Brock said, winking at Greenalia. Just then, Croagunk appeared AGAIN and punched Brock in the stomach.
"You little . . ." Brock started. We left the room.
"This one's nice." I said, looking around room 125.
"Yea. Let's stay in this one." Hannah said.
"Guess we're stuck with room 126. Come on, ummmm . . . ." Greenalia started.
"Dawn." Dawn said. Greenalia snapped her fingers.
"Right . . . . I knew that." She said. I tossed Greenalia the room 126 key and she and Dawn disappeared.
"Great catch . . . oof!" Hannah said, imitating Brock. We all burst out laughing.
"Hey guys!" Greenalia said, bursting the door open. We forced ourselves to stop laughing and asked,
"What?"
"All of the cooking stuff is in our room! Who's hungry?" Greenalia asked.
"I think we all are." Brock said, bursting open the other door.
"Well, I definantly am!" Ash said, appearing next to Brock in the doorway.
"Pika pika!!" Pikachu said.
"I'm going to make dinner, then." Greenalia said.
"I'm helping you!" Brock said. Greenalia raised and eyebrow.
"Okay." She said. Brock ran into Dawn and Greenalia's room. Dawn came out of the door and the door closed.
"They kicked me out. Do you think it's safe to leave those two alone together?" Dawn said once all of the boys were out of the room.
"Let's listen!" Hannah said, a mischievous sparkle in her eyes.
"Okay!" we said and pressed our ears against the wall.
"What are we going to make?" Greenalia's voice asked.
"What's our ingredients?" Brock asked.
"Well, I have a few boxes of macaroni and cheese, a bag of candy, some dried berries, some peas, some tomatoes, and some doughnuts, but Leela might get mad if we use the doughnuts." Greenalia said. Brock laughed.
"Ash might get mad too. I've got a few sticks of celery, a few carrots, and some salt." Brock said.
"Let's try making a soup." Greenalia said.
"OK. Let's use the peas, tomatoes, celery, carrots, and the pasta from your macaroni and cheese boxes." Brock said.
"Why don't we use the cheese too? We can put it in a saltshaker for people who want to sprinkle it on the soup." Greenalia said.
"Great idea. You're just as smart as you are beautiful." Brock said.
"T-thank you." Greenalia said.
"I'll bet my life she's blushing." Heather said, giggling.
"Shhhh!" I said.
"You're welcome." Brock said.
"Let's boil some water." I heard some banging and then a trickling sound. We all burst out in giggles.
"SHHH!" I said again.
"I'll peel the tomatoes." Greenalia's voice said. Dawn sighed and pulled her ear away from the wall.
"I don't think anything interesting is going to happen anytime soon. Let's play with our pokémon." Dawn said.
"OK!" I said. I released Swordsman and Thunderbolt. Hannah released Bell and Ruby, Erin released Magic and Balloon, Heather released Treecko and Mudkip, and Dawn released her Piplup and Buneary.
"Those are some nice pokémon, Erin." Dawn said. Erin smiled and scratches Magic's chin.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu said and burst into the room.
"Pikachu!" Ash said and entered after him.
"Hi!" I said and laughed. "Mai!" Thunderbolt said. Suddenly, Greenalia opened the door.
"Hiya! Dinner's ready!" she said.
"Great!" Ash said and we walked into Greenalia and Dawn's room.
"Dig in!!" Brock said.
"This is really good!!" Ash said.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu said.
"Cheese anyone?" Brock asked, holding up a saltshaker filled with cheese and winking at Greenalia. Suddenly, Croagunk appeared and punched Brock, making him fall to the ground. The saltshaker landed neatly on the table. I barley managed to keep from bursting out laughing hysterical. Ash took the shaker and shook it over his soup. Brock sat up, rubbing his head.
"Don't do that again." Brock said severely. Croagunk gave Brock a Face and went down to sit next to Greenalia's Leafeon. After we were finished eating, Ash asked,
"What time is it?"
"9:00." I said.
"Greenalia and I can clean up. You guys go to bed." Dawn said.
"Thanks Dawn." Ash said. We left Greenalia and Dawn's room.
"Good night!" We said.
"Good night!" the boys said and went into their room. After we were ready for bed, we opened the door to room 126.
"Good night!" We said.
"Good night!" Greenalia and Dawn said. I closed the door and we got into bed.
"Hey Leela?" Hannah asked.
"Yea?" I asked.
"What's the deal when you woke up screaming this morning? Did you have another nightmare?" Hannah asked.
"I guess . . . . I don't remember what it was about, though." I said.
"Well, I was talking to Brock earlier today and it seems Ash has been having nightmares too!!!" Hannah said.
"WHAT?????" We asked.
"Yea. Brock said he was even waking up screaming like you." Hannah said.
"That's weird." Erin said.
"Does he remember the dreams?" Heather asked.
"No. Brock said that last night Ash woke up screaming 'LEELA!' and all he remembered was that you were in it." Hannah said, pointing at me.
"But . . . . that's just like what happened two nights ago!!!" I said.
"I know!! It's all real weird!" Hannah said.
"Maybe the dreams are trying to tell you and Ash something. Maybe some legendary pokémon sent them and they're trying to tell you about something important." Erin said.
"Maybe . . . . but if they were sent by some legendary pokémon . . . . . shouldn't they make it so that we can REMEMBER the dream?" I wondered.
"Hmmm. Good point." Erin said.
"Maybe it's the doughnuts." Heather joked.
"Maybe it's continually skipping lunch." I said.
"You sound like Ash!!" Hannah said, bursting out laughing hysterically. We laughed with her.
"Speaking of Ash, do you still like him?" Heather asked.
"What do you think?" I asked. Grins spread across my friend's faces.
"YES!" They roared.
"SHH! The boys might be eavesdropping!" I hissed.
"Arceus! I never thought of that!!!" Heather said. We all burst out laughing.
"Let's go to bed." Erin said.
"Whaaaat? Right when we were having so much fun?" I asked. We laughed.
"Well, it IS late." Erin pointed out.
"You're right; it's 10:00." I said, looking at my watch.
"WHAT? I knew it was late, but I didn't think it was THAT late!" Hannah said. We laughed.
"If we're going to challenge Poisenia tomorrow, we should get some rest." Heather said.
"Yea. Good night guys." Hannah said.
"Good night." We said. I got under the covers. I was afraid to go to sleep because, what if I had another nightmare?? But eventually I fell asleep.
