Chapter 2 – Now, I'm a Believer!
The night air had begun to kick in, breezy and almost a bit cold. Viridian Forest seemed a lot different at night, its colors and shapes blending into one, giant, black blob. The inhabitants, all Pokémon, watched with wondering eyes and could not tell who this strange person was. He was in a hurry, that was for sure.
Tracey did not slow down for a minute, not thinking about the cold nor the scary shadows clinging to him, as if trying to draw him back. No, he had a mission at this point, one he was not going to back down on for a second. It was all up to him to find the goal.
He had considered pulling out Maril or Venonat to help him trace the Balloon, but figured they were sleeping and he could do it himself. The forest was dark and it could be hard for them to detect anything with the other Pokémon around.
The Balloon must have been going at a high speed, for, when he came to a clearing, Tracey could not see it. He had to find them! Ash was depending on him. He still didn't stop, but kept running, this time picking up the pace a little bit.
"Team Rocket won't get away this time," Tracey growled to himself. "They never have, they never will. I won't let them!"
"Pikapi!"
"Oh, poor Pikachu!"
"Can we mock it some moah?"
Pikachu sat in an electricity-catching bubble on the fateful Meowth Balloon. Team Rocket sat around him, laughing uncontrollably.
James still eating the chicken leg.
"James!" Jessie exclaimed. "We've finally done it! We may have spent all that money, but that doesn't matter now! Our goal has been fulfilled!"
While she was gushing, Pikachu rolled his eyes and continued trying to shock the ball.
"Don't jinx it!" Meowth growled, pulling a Jynx out of nowhere and then tossing it aside.
"Ugh," James leaned out the side of the Balloon a little bit. "I think I'm going to be sick…That was the WORST gag ever."
Meowth kicked him square in the behind. "Try one of yer own!" James screeched and sat back down while Jessie snickered. Meowth sighed and continued. "Evary time we say we did it, we lose. So…Pretend like it nevah happened!"
"Got'cha!" James saluted.
Jessie pouted. "But I wanna gloat!"
"We can gloat when we get back ta Head Quarters," snarled the Pokémon. "Dere it is!"
By now, Pikachu was starting to worry. He had never actually been inside Team Rocket Head Quarters. He looked at the laughing-hyena trio and sweatdropped. "Chu…"
The yellow Pokémon was taken and distributed to Lord Giovanni at once, Jessie and James rejoicing happily.
"I…Can't believe…You…Caught this…" A surprised Giovanni stuttered. "I always doubted you…UH! I mean, I ALWAYS had faith in you two!"
Jessie and James smiled proudly, Meowth at their feet. "We can hardly believe we did it either, Boss," James said. "I never had faith in us…"
Whack!
"OW!"
"So…Does this mean promotion?" Jessie asked hopefully.
"And a raise?" Meowth exclaimed, with the same eagerness as Jessie.
For a few moments, all was silent. A tumbleweed rolled by as blowing sand circled the air. Giovanni stood up. "A…RAISE?"
The three hunkered low, expecting an evil shout and reprimand. "Um…You don't HAVE to give us a raise…"
"Why not?"
Jessie blinked and looked up at the cheerful Boss…Cheerful? He smiled at her and nodded. "Sir…?"
"Why not? A raise is JUST what you three deserve!"
"REALLY?" Meowth gasped. "All fer us?"
"Sure…" Giovanni pressed a button and three trays with more money than Jessie or Meowth had ever seen (James had seen much more before) rolled out in front of them.
"This money is all yours…" He smiled gingerly.
They grabbed at the money eagerly, as if a child would to the last piece of cake. The trays made a useful way to carry their money. "Thank you, Sir!" they all laughed. They were about to rush out to bathe in the wealth, when Giovanni stepped in front of them.
"Ahem…Wait…JUST a minute there," he calmly said, pulling out several large slips of paper and putting on reading glasses. "According to these files, many of our large and useful machines, bulldozers, and other gadgets have been destroyed or massacred by your attempts to catch this Pikachu…" Giovanni clicked his tongue in a scolding manner. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Well, I guess you three should have to pay for it."
They were silent, looking from the money to each other.
Another button was pressed and the money was zapped from their hands and gone. "Thank you so much, Jessie, James, and Meowth." Giovanni chirped as his door slammed in their faces.
"I knew it was too good ta last," Meowth sighed.
"Oh well," sighed James. "At least we get to keep the trays…"
The door opened again, Persian coming out and taking all three trays from the trio. "Oh, I almost forgot," Giovanni said, still grinning like mad. "Those last few dishes you broke when you were doing cafeteria work. Well, goodnight!"
And the door slammed again.
It was now eleven o'clock at night. Tracey had stopped running and was completely lost in the dark. He held his hands out in front of him to keep from being bustled about, but could feel nothing but the bark of trees every way he turned.
He was very nervous and did not know how he would survive for the night. Just when things couldn't get any worse, the sound of thunder bellowed through the sky as it was illuminated with lightning not too long after. And then it poured. It was one of those rare summer downpours, and he happened to be caught right in the middle of it.
Well, this was just great…He was lost, cold, tired, wet, and a little confused. All this mixed up with his anger for Team Rocket. Not only had they stole from his best friends…But they had done a FAVOR for them. He growled and clenched his fists, looking for a tree to kick.
With his hand out in front of him, he finally felt something. However, it was not a tree. It was smooth. Tracey felt it up and down. When he heard the thunder again, he stepped back and waited for the lightning. Again, the lightning flashed, lighting up the object before him. It was a tall building, but he couldn't make out what kind. He waited for another flash of lightning and looked up. As it flashed, a bright red 'R' glimmered at the top.
"Team Rocket!" Tracey said, running around to find the door. When he couldn't find it, he found the next best thing.
The laundry chute!
He opened the tiny door and crawled in…But then was rushed down a long and winding tunnel until he fell flat on his stomach in a heap of Team Rocket garments. When he pulled himself up to the top of the ocean of clothes, he had something over his head. He pulled it off to reveal a lovely pair of women's slinky underwear with the name 'Jessie' embroidered on it.
"WAGH!!!" Tracey screamed, throwing the underwear aside and blushing. "Oh, Jessie! EW!"
After climbing to the top of the pile, Tracey figured that he should wear a Team Rocket uniform while in there. He picked up a uniform that looked like it fit him and changed into it. After doing so, he cautiously stepped outside. He had to find Pikachu. And it would be best to find Jessie and James first.
Tracey was right! As he walked by other Team Rocket members, no one seemed to notice his face. All they saw was the uniform, and that was good enough for them. It was a sea of black and white uniforms and red R's. At first, he was surprised at how late everyone was up. Then he realized that since this was an evil organization, they could stay up past their curfew…
As he was walking and admiring the greatness of Team Rocket Head Quarters, he accidentally bumped into someone.
"Ah! Excuse me," he said.
"It's okay," replied the other voice.
And then, he saw her face.
End of Chapter 2