The Mirror-World Menace

CHAPTER 3

"Prepare for trouble!" called out Jessie.

"And make it double!" rejoined James, holding his trademark red rose.

"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 fight fight!"

"Meowth, dat's right!" Meowth finished the motto triumphantly.

Ash was amazed. He hadn't realized until now really how close the resemblance was between his new friends from the parallel universe and the old Team Rocket members with whom he was already familiar. Jecy and Jessie had the same color and style of hair, the same facial appearance, the same build, even the same boots. Jaymz and James had identical eye and hair color and the same build, and both liked to carry a red rose. Except for the clothing, Jessie and James looked as if they were reciting their motto to a mirror reflection of themselves.

Meanwhile, Jecy watched the entire Team Rocket motto with an expression halfway between horror and fascination. When it was all done, she turned to Jaymz.

"They look like us," she said to her companion, "but they sound so ... stupid!"

Jaymz nodded in agreement.

"How dare you insult the Team Rocket motto!" an offended Jessie shouted. "And who are you two new twerps?"

Meowth finished stuffing a still surprised Pikachu into a glass jar, carefully sealing it with an electrically insulating lid. He peered down into the hole and took a careful look at Jecy and Jaymz. "Look at 'em, Jess," Meowth said, eyes wide in surprise. "Dey look just like you two!"

James took a good look. "Meowth has a point," he admitted. "There is a certain resemblance."

Jessie examined them carefully as well. "Perhaps," she declared, nose in the air, "but the girl lacks some the more unique facets of my delicate beauty."

"We're your counterparts from a parallel universe," Jecy called out to them. "We even had a talking Meowth like yours, although he's not with us now."

Jessie looked skeptical. "A parallel universe? Well, I don't care who you are, all I know is that I'm getting the twerp's Pikachu!"

"Wob - buffet!" called out the Wobbuffet, suddenly materializing in front of them and nearly falling in the hole.

"You won't get away with this," called out Ash, finally on his feet. "Pikachu, Thundershock!"

From within the glass jar, the yellow rodent charged up, then released an electric assault. The powerful electricity sprayed harmlessly along the inside walls of the jar. Not even the tiniest charge escaped through the glass.

Jessie announced, laughingly, "Nice try, but we've got your Pikachu safely stored in this insulating jar."

"And just wait until you see our newest surprise!" said James, gleefully.

Meowth grabbed a remote control and started pressing buttons while Jessie and James pushed a large metal contraption up to the edge of the hole. It had a large U-shaped metal piece, with a confusing tangle of wires and circuitry attached in various places all over the curved part of the piece. They tilted the device slightly so that the ends of the U pointed into the hole.

Ash was not about to let these three get away with this. He pulled out his Lure Ball. "I choose you ... Totodile!"

He threw out the metallic ball, but instead of falling to the ground and opening, the ball unexpectedly reversed course and flew straight up, heading right for the odd metal contraption that Team Rocket had pushed to the hole's edge. There was a loud clang as the Lure Ball sailed right to the ends of the large metal U and stuck there, unopened.

Jessie and James laughed again.

"You won't be releasing any of your Pokémon on us. Not as long as we have this," declared James, pointing to the strange device.

"It's da Magneton 2000," announced Meowth proudly. "Da most powerful commercially available electromagnet in the woild."

"That's right," Jessie added. "Not only will it attract any pokéballs you let loose, but it will magnetically seal them shut so that they won't open." She turned to her teammates and remarked, "The twerp's Totodile should make a nice addition to this Pikachu that we'll give to the Boss."

Ash looked helplessly at Brock and Misty. Neither of them had any ideas.

Jaymz had been listening to the whole exchange in silence. Then he turned to the others. "Wait a minute," he whispered. "Are you trying to tell me that in this universe, you people use metal pokéballs?"

And he and Jecy pulled out their own pokéballs. Ash's eyes opened wide as he realized that they were made completely out of plastic.

Brock smiled. "It's up to you guys now," he told them. "Just remember to have faith in yourselves."

Jecy and Jaymz nodded, and then with fierce looks of determination, they threw their pokéballs simultaneously. Unaffected by the magnet, the plastic balls opened on cue, and in a flash of light, Ekans and Koffing materialized, ready for battle. The two Pokémon leapt out of the hole to face a very surprised Jessie and James.

"How did ... ? Oh, never mind," muttered Jessie, as she threw out a pokéball of her own. "Go Arbok!" she called out. James tossed the pokéball containing Weezing at the same time. Jessie was quite confident. How could she and James lose against less evolved Pokémon of the same species?

The pokéballs belonging to Jessie and James flew towards the ground, then changed their direction abruptly and headed for the magnet. The two Team Rocket members stared in shock as their balls, now locked shut, attached themselves firmly to the magnet poles next to Ash's Lure Ball.

Jessie turned angrily to Meowth. "You didn't tell me that this thing would attract our pokéballs too," she accused.

"I told ya it was powerful," Meowth protested.

"Don't worry," reassured James. "I've still got Victreebel." He carefully threw his pokéball behind them, away from the magnet so that it wouldn't be attracted. The giant plant materialized and, as usual, immediately grabbed James' head and pulled him into its bulbous body. "NOT ME!!" James yelled out. "Get them!!"

Victreebel turned around and came face to face with Koffing.

"Koffing, Smokescreen!" Jaymz called out from within the hole. There was no longer the slightest hesitation in his voice. Jet-black fumes instantly filled the area.

"Razor Leaf!" came the command from James. Victreebel was now blinded by thick smoke, and its leafy projectiles missed their target completely.

Jaymz started grinning. He could command his Pokémon well after all! "Okay," he yelled gleefully, "now a Tackle attack!"

The poison Pokémon roared through its own smoke cloud, smacking Victreebel squarely on the back. The giant plant tottered, and then fell to the ground unconscious.

Jecy was having a little more difficulty with her battle. "Use Bite!" she called out to her Ekans. The large snake detached its jaw to open it as wide as possible and went straight for Jessie's Wobbuffet.

But Jessie was prepared. "Counter attack!" she ordered. The patient Pokémon glowed an eerie shade of blue as Ekans hurtled towards it. Unable to penetrate the Wobbuffet's powerful defensive screen, the giant serpent bounced off of it harmlessly. Ekans was dazed, but managed to stay upright.

"Forget about the Wobbuffet," Brock advised. "It can't attack you if you don't attack it. Get that magnet remote instead."

Jecy nodded in acknowledgement. She shouted to her Ekans, "Use Leer on the Meowth!"

The snake Pokémon turned towards Meowth, its eyes glowing a sinister-looking red as it stared straight into its victim's eyes. The talking cat became slack-jawed as he was temporarily transfixed under the giant snake's gaze. Ekans took advantage of the momentary distraction to grab the remote with its powerful jaws, crushing it in one bite.

The panel lights on the Magneton 2000 went dim as its control signal was suddenly lost. The three magnetized balls, now freed, fell back down to the bottom of the hole. As the three balls reached bottom, they burst open, and Arbok and Weezing suddenly found themselves facing a prancing and bouncing Totodile.

"Totodile, Water Gun!" Ash commanded.

The tiny crocodile opened its mouth and shot out a powerful torrent of water at the two hapless Pokémon. The water pressure lifted them out of the hole and several yards in the air. They fell, landing right on top of a confused Jessie and James.

Jecy called out, "Ekans, get Pikachu out of that glass jar!" The big serpent shot a single poison stinger out of its mouth right at Pikachu's glass prison. The tiny dart shattered the glass, freeing the joyful electric mouse.

"Pi - ka - pi - ka - pi - ka - chu," Pikachu said, as he gave some directions to Ekans and Koffing. The two Pokémon nodded, then made their way back into the large hole where the others were.

Pikachu turned to the electromagnet. Charged up to full capacity, he brought his full electric force down on the Magneton 2000, then jumped into the hole for cover.

Now supercharged with electric energy, the overloaded electromagnet shot sparks and small pieces of metal everywhere. James screamed in fear as Jessie tried to crawl out from underneath Arbok to reach the power switch in time. She had not quite managed to reach the switch when the magnet blew up.

The force of the Magneton 2000's explosion shot the Team Rocket members and their Pokémon into the air. They reflected on their plight as they made their all too familiar flight towards the stratosphere.

"We've reached a new low," Jessie commented mournfully.

"Yeah," agreed James sadly. "We can't even beat ourselves."

"And their side didn't even have a me," Meowth commented despondently.

"LOOKS LIKE TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAINNNNNNnnnnnnnnn ..." they called out, before vanishing in a sparkle in the distance.

"We did it!" shouted Jecy and Jaymz triumphantly.

After they all climbed out of the hole, Jecy turned to Ash, Misty, and Brock gratefully. "We can't thank you three enough for your help. Your belief in us has made us more confident trainers."

"Yes," Jaymz agreed, a big grin on his face. "I almost feel that we could take on Red himself!"

"Let's all take him on," Ash said.

Everyone looked at him.

"We've got to save their Meowth," Ash continued. "We don't know what Red will do to him otherwise. And we owe them for helping us beat Team Rocket just now. I say we go find Red and help Jecy and Jaymz get their Meowth back."

Brock and Misty looked at each other, forming some sort of unspoken consensus between them. Then they turned back to Ash.

"Let's go," Brock said.