"That's funny…" Knock Out stopped suddenly.
"Yeah, I don't remember that building being there when we walked to find you." Firestar scratched her head. She couldn't remember seeing the building that had suddenly appeared along Dark Mount Pass when she walked back to Polyhex with the other femmes.
"Should we investigate it?" Dawn looked worried; sure something like this had happened before.
"I don't see why not; the Elite Four need to wait for me to get there before they can hold the tournament." Ash headed towards the door of the building. The building appeared to be made out of sheet metal that had been bolted together. It looked too clean for being this close to Dark Mount; making them all suspicious of the building.
"Welcome to the Battle House!" A silver robot with unusual pink hair sprouting from the back of its head spoke to them when they came through the door.
"Battle House?" Ash looked confused; he'd never heard of that before. He could have sworn he'd heard that voice before as well.
"It's a place where you can battle other trainers to improve your skills." The robot's eyes didn't look very robotic, both Firestar and Knock Out thought. Maybe this was a human dressed as a robot then.
"What's your name?" Brock asked; sure he'd heard that voice somewhere before.
"I'm Femma, and the bot that is about to battle is Mecha." Femma told them; leading them inside to watch. There were three bots sitting watching the arena; with a silver robot with purple hair stood opposite a dark blue and white robot.
"This battle will be between Mecha and Chase! You may each use only one Pokémon." A small white robot that resembled a cat told them.
"Go Carnivine!" A plant like Pokémon appeared before Mecha; twitching like it wanted to bite down on his head.
"Go Furret." Chase called out a brown ferret like Pokémon.
"Use Foresight." Furret ran forward and sniffed at Carnivine; as though trying to identify him.
"Carnivine use Bullet Seed!" Mecha shouted to his Pokémon. Seeds flew across the arena at Furret, who struggled back up after the hit.
"Are you alright Furret?" Chase asked his Pokémon. She got back to her feet; getting cheers from the three other trainers at the side.
"You can win this Furret!" A mostly red mech cheered.
"Show them what you got!" A white and orange mech shouted.
"Do your best!" A mostly green mech shouted.
"Not this lot…" Knock Out hoped they didn't notice him.
"What's wrong with the Rescue Bots?" Firestar asked him.
"They're very immature and don't know how to battle properly." Knock Out told her; folding his arms.
"Furret use Scratch." Furret ran forward and scratched her paw over Carnivine's stomach. Carnivine shook; but was able to keep going.
"Carnivine use Bite!" Carnivine flew at Furret and bit down on her tail. Furret shook her tail and Carnivine landed on the ground, but quickly flew back up.
"Furret use Quick Attack!" Furret darted at Carnivine and slammed into him. Carnivine landed on the ground once more, but quickly got back up.
"Use Bite again Carnivine!" Mecha commanded. Carnivine bit down on Furret's tail again. This time Carnivine let go of his own accord. Furret slumped to the ground with swirls in her eyes.
"Furret is unable to battle! The winner is Mecha!" There were three disappointed sounds to Knock Out's right. Chase returned Furret to her pokéball.
"Hi! I'm Neko, and if you'd like; I can give your Pokémon to Mecha to train!" The small white cat robot told Chase.
"I am not certain I would want my Pokémon to be trained by someone else." Chase told the cat. Neko didn't seem annoyed.
"We don't charge money for our services." Neko told Chase.
"I believe that it would be best if I trained Furret myself." Chase told them; heading to join the other Rescue Bots. Neko smiled; inwardly annoyed. He'd wanted to get a hold of that Furret.
"I see I had additional observers. When did you get here?" Chase asked.
"Just before your battle started Chase." Firestar told him.
"Would anyone else like to battle me?" Mecha asked. Carnivine was twitching; like he really wanted to bite down on something.
"Go on Blades." The mostly red mech encouraged the white and orange one. The mech in question looked nervous.
"Heatwave, I haven't done this before! I'm not sure I want to battle that thing for my first battle…" Blades shivered; that plant looked scary.
"Blades, you have to have your first battle sometime. Why not now?" Heatwave asked. Blades still seemed reluctant, but went over to the other side of the arena.
"This battle will be between Mecha and Blades. You may use only one Pokémon; and it will be over when one trainer's Pokémon can no longer battle." Neko told Blades.
"Who are you four?" Ash turned to ask the four new Transformers.
"Most of the Transformers call us the Rescue Bots." The mostly green mech told them.
"I'm Boulder. The blue and white mech who just battled is Chase, the mostly red mech sitting here is Heatwave and the mech who is going to battle is Blades." Boulder explained.
"Why do they call you the Rescue Bots?" Max asked, confused by the name.
"Because that's what we're training to do." Chase explained.
"We'd like to become rescuers. Me and Horsea are going to make it; and maybe someday I'll get to be a gym leader. Horsea could easily beat Knock Out's Pokémon anyway. I don't know why he's the gym leader in the first place!"
"Because the champion chose me to be one!" Knock Out glared at Heatwave; who jumped. He hadn't realised Knock Out was with the kids.
"Me and Sandshrew just want to get the chance to travel and become stronger." Boulder told them.
"Go Ralts…" Blades threw his pokéball. A timid childlike Pokémon appeared.
"Use Growl!" Blades plucked up some courage. Ralts seemed to recognise that and growled at Carnivine.
"Bullet Seed!" Seeds rained down on Ralts from Carnivine's mouth. He didn't look as badly hurt as he should have been.
"Use Calm Mind!" Ralts closed his eyes; focusing his psychic power. Ralts' special attack and special defense went up; making him a little more confident.
"Use Bullet Seed again, Carnivine!" Mecha commanded. Seeds rained from Carnivine's mouth once more. Ralts wobbled a little; but was able to keep going.
"Use Confusion!" Blades felt much more confident now. Ralts picked up on it and purple glowed in his eyes. Purple energy surrounded Carnivine and he felt it lift him up higher. Ralts pointed down and Carnivine slammed into the ground. Swirls had appeared in Carnivine's eyes.
"Yay, we did it Ralts!" Blades cheered. Ralts cheered along with him; happy he'd won the battle.
"Carnivine… is… unable… to…" The white robot appeared to be glitching every time it said a word. By the time it reached 'to' Carnivine had got back up.
"That seems unfair." Chase remarked; seeing what that robot had done.
"Carnivine use Bite!" Carnivine flew at Ralts, snapping his jaws around the cheering Pokémon's head. Ralts collapsed to the ground with swirls in his eyes.
"Ralts is unable to battle! The winner is Mecha!" The white robot had no problems this time.
"Hey, you cheated! Blades knocked out Carnivine!" Heatwave shouted; he'd saw what the white robot did too.
"Carnivine got back up." Neko told them.
"Because you counted really slowly to give him time to!" Ash growled; these robots were cheating. Mecha had returned Carnivine to his pokéball and snuck off to heal him.
"Would any of you care to battle me?" Femma had made her way to where Mecha had been standing.
"I will." Firestar stepped up to the arena.
"Be careful… love." Knock Out paused before saying the last word. Femma then realised; this red and orange femme was the hot robot's girlfriend. I've got to defeat her, and show him how much better I am than her! Femma thought to herself.
"This battle will be between…" Neko sounded nervous; he didn't want to get caught out.
"Where did the slow counting happen before…?" Dawn pondered.
"Wait… wasn't it at a house like this one, where I got Croagunk?" Brock thought for a moment.
"Firestar."
"Femma and Firestar. You may each use only one Pokémon and the battle will be over when one trainer's Pokémon can no longer battle." Neko told them.
"It had better be!" Heatwave shouted.
"Yeah, my Ralts knocked out that Carnivine!" Blades had developed confidence now.
"Go Seviper!" Femma sent out a snake with long fangs.
"Go Ponyta!" Firestar's horse like Pokémon appeared.
"Use Flame Wheel!" Ponyta ran forward, her mane appearing to extend before curling around her. She rolled into Seviper, knocking her over. Seviper wriggled back up.
"Seviper use Poison Tail!" Seviper slithered forward; a purple sheen coating her tail. She slammed it into Ponyta; who wobbled a little from the hit.
"Ponyta use Tackle!" Ponyta knocked Seviper flying back to her master with the force of the tackle. Seviper looked shaky; but able to keep going.
"Seviper use Bite!" Seviper slithered back over to Ponyta. She bit down on Ponyta's leg. Ponyta shook her leg and shook Seviper off.
"Ponyta use Stomp before that snake gets away!" Ponyta quickly ran after the fleeing Seviper. She stomped her hoof down on the end of Seviper's tail. Seviper cried out, before lowering her head to the ground. Swirls had appeared in her eyes.
"Seviper… is… un… able… to…" Neko was slow at calling the result once more, and Seviper got back up.
"Cheater!" Heatwave shouted; enraged by the bias this announcer was showing.
"Seviper, Bite that Ponyta again!" Seviper slithered over to Ponyta and once again bit down on her leg. Ponyta whinnied in pain; before collapsing to the ground with swirls in her eyes.
"Ponyta is unable to battle. The winner is Femma!" Neko said.
"You cheated!" Blades shouted; that was twice that robot had done that!
"Announcers are not allowed show bias!" Ash shouted at them. Firestar returned Ponyta to her pokéball while the robots were being shouted at. Neko had wandered over to Firestar.
"If you'd like, you can give your Pokémon to Femma to train." Neko told her.
"As if! You cheated." Firestar folded her arms.
"I wasn't asking." Neko pulled out a remote and pushed the button on it. Suddenly; arms shot out from all over the place grabbing every Pokémon and pokéball they could get hold of.
"What?!"
"Pikachu!"
"Piplup!"
"No!" They all shouted in shock when their Pokémon were stolen. They saw smoke appear from somewhere, followed by laughter.
"Listen, is that a voice I hear?" A female voice spoke.
"It speaks to me loud and clear!" A male voice spoke. Ash and his friends growled, as did Knock Out and Firestar. They knew who this was.
"On the wind!"
"Past the stars!"
"In your ear!" A different male voice spoke.
"Bringing chaos at a breakneck pace!"
"Dashing all hope and putting fear in its place!"
"A rose by any other name is just as sweet!"
"When everything's worse our work is complete!"
"Jessie!" A girl with pink hair stepped forward.
"And it's James!" A boy with purple hair stepped forward.
"Meowth now that's a name!" The Rescue Bots were surprised when a talking Pokémon stepped forward.
"Putting the do-gooders in their place!"
"Team Rocket…"
"In your face!" All three of them said at the same time.
"You give me my Pokémon back!" Heatwave shouted at them.
"Uh, no." Jessie said, sticking her tongue out.
"And since we have all of your Pokémon; there's no way any of you can stop us!" James put his hands on his hips, looking smug.
"Wanna bet?" Knock Out stepped forward. He still had pokéballs in his possession.
"Huh? But our arms grabbed them all…" Meowth looked disappointed his machine hadn't worked.
"Not quite all. They went over mine and Brock's heads. Shall we get our friends' Pokémon back, Brock?" Knock Out asked, looking eager to battle.
"I'll help you." Brock stepped forward.
"Go Seviper!" Jessie called out her fang snake again.
"Go Carnivine!" James' plant Pokémon immediately bit down on his head. James threw him off; annoyed he was back to normal.
"Go Vulpix!" Knock Out's fox like Pokémon appeared; and Brock felt a twinge of longing. He remembered Suzie's Vulpix. Brock chose his Pokémon.
"Go Croagunk!" Croagunk appeared; inflating his cheeks then deflating them again.
"Croagunk use Brick Break!" Croagunk ran forward and slammed his fist down on Seviper's head with enough force to shatter bricks. Seviper wobbled; but was able to continue battling.
"Vulpix use Flamethrower!" Vulpix spat a stream of fire at Carnivine. Carnivine shrieked in pain. James looked worried; but Carnivine was able to keep battling.
"Seviper use Poison Tail!" Seviper slammed her tail into Vulpix; knowing that Poison Tail wouldn't work on Croagunk. Vulpix quickly stood back up; not wanting to disappoint his master.
"Carnivine use Bullet Seed!" Carnivine spat a rain of seeds from his mouth. Neither Croagunk nor Vulpix appeared badly hurt by the seeds.
"Vulpix use Secret Power!" Stars flew across the arena; knocking both Carnivine and Seviper to the ground. Carnivine got back up, but Seviper didn't.
"Aw… Seviper return." Jessie returned Seviper to her pokéball.
"Go Yanmega!" Jessie's dragonfly appeared. Carnivine looked reassured by her presence.
"Use Ancientpower!" Ancient rocks floated up beside Yanmega. They flew across the arena at Vulpix. He managed to get back to his feet; but only just.
"Carnivine, use Bite!" Carnivine flew over to Vulpix and bit down on his tail. Vulpix wagged all six of his tails back and forth to try and dislodge Carnivine. Carnivine eventually let go; but Vulpix slumped to the ground with swirls in his eyes.
"Vulpix return." Knock Out returned Vulpix to his pokéball.
"You brought this on yourselves." Knock Out told Team Rocket.
"Go Camerupt!" Knock Out's cow like Pokémon appeared; looking pleased with herself.
"Huh… that's a really big Pokémon…" James looked nervously at Camerupt.
"Use Earth Power on Carnivine!" Camerupt thought about her attack; cracks appearing on the ground beneath Carnivine. Camerupt opened her eyes and lava shot out of the ground under Carnivine. Carnivine shivered; but seemed to be less hurt than he should have been, James thought, for a fire type attack.
"Use Poison Sting!" A bunch of poisonous spikes shot out of Croagunk's mouth. Yanmega wobbled about after the attack. She shook herself, slightly ill looking. She felt the poison surging through her.
"Oh no! Yanmega, quick use Sonicboom!" Yanmega flapped her wings and shock waves flew across the arena at both opponents. Croagunk wobbled, just managing to stay on his feet. Camerupt didn't seem phased.
"Bullet Seed Carnivine!" Seeds rained from Carnivine's mouth. Croagunk wobbled again; this time using a fist to prop himself up. Camerupt didn't seem phased by this attack either. Yanmega shivered with the effects of the poison.
"Croagunk use Poison Jab on Carnivine!" Croagunk ran forward, slamming his poison coated fist into the side of Carnivine. Carnivine landed beside Yanmega.
"Camerupt, use Rock Slide!" Camerupt closed her eyes; rocks appearing above both Yanmega and Carnivine. Camerupt opened her eyes and the rocks fell on to Carnivine and Yanmega. Both fell to the ground, swirls appearing their eyes. Both Jessie and James returned their Pokémon to their pokéballs. They both started to flee; fearing the Camerupt.
"Use Lava Plume!" Camerupt ran forward as quickly as she could. Team Rocket were worried by her speed; no Pokémon that size should be that fast! Her back swelled up; before firing lava out of the mini-volcanoes at Team Rocket. They dropped the container as they flew into the sky.
"No! Why must the twerps always stop us?" Jessie shouted angrily.
"Let's leave them alone; at least until Ash gets to Unova!" James told her.
"All right… but…" Jessie seemed consoled by James' comment.
"It looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" All three of them shouted as they flew off into the distance. Meanwhile, back on the ground, everyone was looking through the container and finding their Pokémon. Ash and Dawn were both hugging their Pokémon.
"Shall we tidy up this metal?" Boulder asked, looking eager to tidy up the mess Team Rocket had left behind. Each of the Rescue Bots knew who they were giving the metal to; he'd know what to do with it!
"Come to Iacon when you're finished though." Firestar pointed out.
"You won't want to miss the tournament!" Knock Out told them.
"Now that we've rescued all of our Pokémon; shall we continue to Altihex?" Ash asked; eager to get going. Ash's friends began walking without him.
"Good luck Ash." Heatwave said; before turning to the building. The other three all wished him luck as well. Ash saw that he was the only one not heading towards Altihex and took off after his friends. They all walked a little faster, laughing at Ash's shouts for them to wait for him, for once.
AN: I had to include the Rescue Bots in here after watching it; they're so cute! They weren't in the original draft, but I felt they fitted the new trainer role better than the femmes did. And that is it for Team Rocket. They break the fourth wall in the last episode of the Sinnoh Saga they appear in I believe; so I thought it might be funny if they did so here as well!