Disclaimer: I don't own anything here. Not even the song. Which is "Bad", by Michael Jackson.


That night...

For hours Ash had been training all of his Pokémon for the big match that was to be held the next day. By now, they were all in prime shape. Pikachu sparked the spark of a finishing blow.
"Okay, I believe that's enough training for the night," Ash declared as he turned off the training music. With that, he recalled all his Pokémon back into their PokéBalls, except of course for Pikachu. The electric mouse didn't like PokéBalls anyway. "We're gonna clean the floor with this Champion tomorrow, Pikachu," Ash told his favorite Pokémon. "But for now, we're gonna go get to sleep."
The two of them were about to start heading for the nearby hotel to spend the night when they suddenly heard something rustling in the bushes.
"Huh?" Ash was surprised to know that someone was up this late and not training for a big battle. "Who could that be?" he wondered. He and Pikachu walked up to the bush where the rustling was coming from. Something strange was definitely going on. "All right, whoever you are!" Ash called to the something in the bushes. "Come out of there and show yourself!"
"I wouldn't have said that if I were you, you twerpish rat!" A familiar feminine voice called from the bushes.
Then a masculine frog-sounding voice rang out. "Since you've found us, you'd better..."
"...Prepare for trouble and make it double!" Both mysterious voices shouted, in unison.
"To inflict the world with devastation!" said the first voice.
"To bright all peoples within every nation!" said the second voice.
"To denounce the goodness of truth and love!"
"To extend our wrath to the stars above!"
"Cassidy!"
"Buuuutch!"
The two Class A members of Team Rocket revealed themselves and jumped out of the bushes.
"We're Team Rocket, circling Earth all day and night!" Cassidy proclaimed.
"Surrender to us now or you'll surely lose the fight-fight-fight!" Butch demanded.
Their Raticate jumped out in front. "Rati-cate!" it snapped.
"Oh, puh-leeze, not you guys again!" Ash groaned. "This is getting real old!"
"That's what you think!" Butch said, pointing his index finger up.
"The tables have turned, rat!" Cassidy yelled. "You've attempted to foil our schemes for the last time!"
"'Attempted'? You two have to be kidding!" Ash pointed out. "You've been thrown in jail every time we cross paths. I'm 4 and 0."
"Heh heh, I can see our reputation is preceding us," Butch said.
"Well, you were just lucky in our previous encounters!" Cassidy bragged. "This time, we're gonna creeeeeam you!"
"Sheeeesh," Ash complained. "How many times can you two wind up behind bars without giving up?!"
"Lots of times, we'll tell you that!" Cassidy boasted. "Our Boss has always come to bail us out every time we get sent to the slammer!"
"Yeah? Well, I bet he won't this time!" Ash said, taking out one of his PokéBalls and throwing it. "Chikorita, I choose you!"
On command, Chikorita came out of her PokéBall. "Chika!" she let out her battle cry.
Ash gave the Grass-type Pokémon the attack command. "Chikorita, tie them up with your Vine Whip!"
Chikorita shot out his vines, and used it to tie up Butch and Cassidy.
"Great job, Chikorita!" Ash complimented. "Keep them bound while I go call the police."
Suddenly, an ominous voice sounded from nowhere in Ash's visual distance. "No one's going anywhere."
Ash looked freaked out. "That voice! It can't be..." As if on cue, the mysterious person revealed himself. Ash couldn't believe it. "GIOVANNI!!!" This came as a big shock, since the last time he saw Giovanni, he had been hit by a super-effective Selfdestruct from the MechaMew2. This shock was such a shock, that Chikorita's Vine Whip loosened from Butch and Cassidy, setting them free. "How did...?"
"I am not so easily beaten, son!" Giovanni gloated to the trainer, accompanied by his Persian. "In fact, my power is growing again! A child like you would never understand what I hoped to achieve. You may have destroyed the MechaMew2, but I have other, shall we say, tools!"
"You're mad!" Ash shouted at his ex-dad. "Pikachu and I defeated you before! And if we did it once, we can do it again!"
"SHUT UP!" Giovanni screamed, pointing his right index finger at Ash's face. "You are a fool and you will pay a fool's price! I will not rest until you and everyone else who has humiliated me have reaped their just rewards! Don't you know my story? I'll show you..."
"Oh great," Ash moaned to his Pokémon. "Now he wants to torture us with his backstory!"
"I'll ignore that little remark, thank you!" Giovanni said, as he began his story. "My mother was a beautiful woman who started up an organization she named Team Rocket. When I was becoming a teenager, she told me that one day, I'd be the leader of her establishment. So, each day, I headed up several kids my age and practiced for my reign as the leader of Team Rocket. During which, I met your mother! I knew, however, that my days as Boss Rocket wouldn't last forever. So, I married your mother without explaining my true intentions for our children!"
"But she caught you teaching me to be like you and divorced from you!" Ash interrupted.
"Ah, but I wasn't going to give up there!" Giovanni continued. "I set up base in the Viridian Gym, offering the Earth Badge to all challengers. But that wasn't enough for me. I wanted the world's most powerful Pokémon, so I commisioned my scientists to genetically engineer a super-clone of the rarest Pokémon ever, Mew. Thus, Mewtwo was created, and I reasoned that Team Rocket could help the creature his newfound strength. I used him to capture Pokémon for Team Rocket and defeat challengers in my Gym. But after a while or so, he was not content to do Team Rocket's bidding and escaped!
"I sought to regain control over that Psychic Pokémon. Enlisting the help of my Agent 009, Domino, I located Mewtwo's whereabouts in Purity Canyon, and sent the Team Rocket Attack Squad to capture Mewtwo and his cloned friends. I had built a new device that would contain his energy and sap his will, until I was in complete control of the creature once again. That was when I met you for the first time since your mother divorced from me. You and your friends defeated my evil plans and saved Mewtwo. My memory of Mewtwo was erased for good that time. But it wouldn't remain that way for long...
"One of my Rocket Grunts reported to me that he had overheard Jessie and James mentioning some super-Pokémon named Mewtwo. I had that Rocket Grunt bring Jessie and James forth to me, and out of better judgement, they told me all about Mewtwo. But instead of pounding them into the ground, I decided I wasn't giving up on my goal to own the world's most powerful Pokémon. So after a few weeks, all by myself, I had built the MechaMew2, the mechanical marvel that learned and returned every Pokémon attack! To insure that MechaMew2 would learn every type of attack, I offered the one-of-a-kind Diamond Badge as a reward for defeating me. Soon, my beautiful MechaMew2 had every Pokémon technique in the Pokédex, except for Thundershock and Thunderbolt, which your Pikachu possessed. Even though I was certain they were going to fail, I sent those two bumbleheads, Jessie and James, to steal it from you, while I captured the all-knowing Professor Oak so that he wouldn't interfere with my scheme. Much to my surprise, Jessie and James actually succeeded in bringing me your Pikachu, but I soon found out it was useless without you to command it. That's why I sent Jessie and James to bring you to my hideout - so you could have Pikachu feed its attacks to MechaMew2! Victory was mine! But then the original Mewtwo came back into my life and took your love and caring to turn MechaMew2 against me and try to destroy me! Now that my masterpiece is destroyed, I will destroy the destroyers!"
Ash wasn't going to let Giovanni get away with that. He stood up to the leader of Team Rocket and shouted, "We won't let you destroy us! We have a battle to win tomorrow!"
Giovanni taunted his ex-son. "Perhaps! But you will not live to see that battle!"
"Bring it on, daddio!" Ash shouted. With that, the fight began.
Butch and Cassidy got behind Giovanni to provide support. "Knock 'im dead, Boss!" Butch said.

Your Butt Is Mine, Gonna Take You Right
Just Show Your Face In Broad Daylight
I'm Telling You On How I Feel
Gonna Hurt Your Mind, Don't Shoot To Kill
(Come On, Come On,) Lay It On Me, All Right...

I'm Giving You On Count Of Three
To Show Your Stuff Or Let It Be...
I'm Telling You, Just Watch Your Mouth
I Know Your Game, What You're About

Well They Say The Sky's The Limit
And To Me That's Really True
But My Friend You Have Seen Nothing
Just Wait 'Til I Get Through...

Because I'm Bad, I'm Bad- Come On
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad- You Know It
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad- Come On, You Know
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
And The Whole World Has To Answer Right Now
Just To Tell You Once Again, Who's Bad...

The Word Is Out, You're Doin' Wrong
Gonna Lock You Up Before Too Long,
Your Lyin' Eyes, Gonna Take You Right
So Listen Up, Don't Make A Fight,
Your Talk Is Cheap, You're Not A Man
You're Throwin' Stones To Hide Your Hands

But They Say The Sky's The Limit
And To Me That's Really True
And My Friends You Have Seen Nothin'
Just Wait 'Til I Get Through...

Because I'm Bad, I'm Bad- Come On
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad- You Know It
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad- You Know It, You Know
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
And The Whole World Has To Answer Right Now
(And The Whole World Has To Answer Right Now)
Just To Tell You Once Again,
(Just To Tell You Once Again)
Who's Bad...

We Can Change The World Tomorrow
This Could Be A Better Place
If You Don't Like What I'm Sayin'
Then Won't You Slap My Face...

Because I'm Bad, I'm Bad- Come On
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad- You Know It
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad- You Know It, You Know
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
Woo! Woo! Woo! (And The Whole World Has To Answer Right Now
Just To Tell You Once Again...)

You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad- Come On
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad- You Know It-You Know It
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know, You Know, You Know, Come On
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
And The Whole World Has To Answer Right Now
(And The Whole World Has To Answer Right Now)
Just To Tell You
(Just To Tell You Once Again)

You Know I'm Smooth, I'm Bad, You Know It
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad Baby
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know, You Know, You Know It, Come On
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
And The Whole World Has To Answer Right Now
(And The Whole World Has To Answer Right Now)
Woo! (Just To Tell You Once Again)

You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad- You Know It
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad-You Know-Hoo!
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad-I'm Bad- You Know It, You Know
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
And The Whole World Has To Answer Right Now
(And The Whole World Has To Answer Right Now)
Just To Tell You Once Again...
(Just To Tell You Once Again...)
Who's Bad?

Ash had to defeat this evil gangster's strongest Pokémon, including a Level-40 Rhyhorn, a Level-43 Nidoqueen, a Level-45 Nidoking, and a Level-50 Rhydon. But like I said before, Ash cared a lot for his Pokémon, and like with the MechaMew2, Ash's love and caring gave his Pokémon enough agility to defeat Giovanni's Pokémon.
"It appears I've misjudged your abilities, boy," Giovanni said as he recalled his Rhydon. "It appears I may need to send out a Pokémon powerful than my others. I never thought I'd do this, but it seems I needs its help. My lap pet, Persian, will make short work and you and your electric rodent! Persian, slice them to bits."
Giovanni's Level-53 Persian wasn't an ordinary evil villain's lap pet. It was 71 pounds of pure evil standing at three feet and three inches. Its Fury Swipes were like a hot knife through butter. But Pikachu was not going to let these nasty, pointy claws defeat him. He was soon to find he wasn't alone on that...
"HA HA!" Giovanni laughed, just when it looked like Persian was going to win. "Don't you see? You can never defeat me as long as I am determined to destroy you! My MechaMew2 would've had all of you at my feet if it weren't for you miserable little meddlers!"
"Maybe not, but we can defeat you as a team!" a familiar voice sounded behind Giovanni.
"Huh?" Giovanni turned around to see who was calling to him. Ash was also getting pretty tired of hearing mysterious yet familiar voices come from behind him. The callers turned out to be none other than Jessie and James!
"To save the world from devastation!"
"To unite all good guys within our nation!"
"To fight for the goodness of truth and love!"
"To defeat villains who hit us from above!"
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Team Ex-Rocket does goodness at the speed of light!" Mondo got in front of them. "Surrender now or we'll knock out your bite!"
"Meowth! Dat's right!" Meowth chimed in, jumping down from a tree.
"You four quitters again!" Giovanni snarled, really angry. "I thought I had tied you pieces of riffraff to that tree!"
"That's what you thought, ex-Boss!" Meowth said, outstretching his right claw. "You don't t'ink I only use dese claws for attacks, do youse?!"
Just then, Butch and Cassidy got in front of Jessie and James. "Sheesh!" Cassidy scoffed. "The four of you still get the motto wrong even after being fired!"
"Oh, look," James said in a teasing tone. "It appears the gang is all here! Our former Boss has even brought Cassidy and Botch! How's it goin', Buzz?"
Butch reeled in anger. "Urgh! The name's Butch! B-U-T-C-H! Not Botch! I've had it with you putting an 'O' in place of the 'U' in my name! And that's going to stop, John!"
"Oh!" James shrieked. "You did that again on purpose!"
Butch, Cassidy, Jessie, and James argued for quite a while, and everyone else watched them. Finally, Giovanni decided he'd had enough of it and shouted in a loud, commanding voice: "SHUUUUUUUUUUT UUUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!" All the Rockets and ex-Rockets stopped arguing and turned to face their angry leader as he gave his speech. "I've had it with all of you arguing like one of you had wrecked another one's bike!" He turned to Meowth, Jessie, James, and Mondo. "I'm sick of you Active-Duty Underlings! You never succeed in capturing any Pokémon!" Then he faced Butch and Cassidy. "And you! You two Active-Duty Elites! I've had to bail you out of jail too many times! It appears none of you will ever be worth anything in Team Rocket! At least Domino, Dr. Namba, Bashou, Buson, Shiranui, Tatsumi, and the Grunts have worth, even if they've failed in their schemes! But now I take the pleasure of saying that YOU'RE ALL FIRED!!"
Butch and Cassidy fell down to their knees. "That's not fair!" Butch cried. "Jessie and James were actually able to complete a mission for you before you fired them!"
"Stop your whining," Giovanni said, unmoved. "I had fired Jessie and James because I had no further need of them. You two are being fired because you haven't been able to accomplish anything you've tried to do for me! The breeding center scam... hypnotizing all the Pokémon on Mandarin Island... selling phony fortune-telling books to unsuspecting trainers... trying to capture a baby Lugia and its mother... And none of those schemes have worked! Of course I have rights to fire you!" With that, Giovanni stripped the red "R"s off of Butch and Cassidy's uniforms. He then turned and faced Ash once more. "Now then, where were we, boy?"
"I believe we were at the part where Pikachu and I defeat you!" Ash answered.
Giovanni sneered. "That part will not occur, you sad excuse for a future crime organizer! You must never forget that all Pokémon exist for the glory of Team Rocket!" Just as Giovanni had finished saying this, however, he felt a hand clap him on his left shoulder. He turned around and gasped in shock and alarm. It was Officer Jenny!
"So you're the leader of Team Rocket!" Jenny declared, slapping handcuffs onto Giovanni's hands. "You're under arrest for countless attempts at world domination!"
"Like I told you, ex-father," Ash said, "we were at the part where Pikachu and I defeat you! We called the police while you were firing your minions."
Jenny took Giovanni and threw him and his Persian into her paddy wagon. Giovanni pleaded to his underlings. "Butch! Cassidy! Get me out of this! I've bailed you out of jail before, so you should do the same for me."
"I'm sorry, we won't be able to do that," Cassidy stated.
"You fired us, remember?" Butch added.
"You traitors!" Giovanni insulted them, as the paddy wagon drove away. He pounded his Persian on the head. "I would've gotten away with this if it weren't for that meddling son of mine!"
Ash turned to Pikachu and clapped his little hand. "That was a great victory, Pikachu!" They looked ahead. "But now, we'd better go back to the hotel and get some sleep. Tomorrow, we'll be competing in a battle even bigger than this one." So, he and Pikachu started walking to the hotel they were staying at for the night. Ash looked back and saw all the ex-members of Team Rocket behind him. Meowth, Jessie, James, Mondo, Butch, and Cassidy all looked like they needed some help. So he walked up to them and asked "You all want a place to stay?"

Ash's friends were already asleep by the time Ash had gotten the ex-Rockets to the hotel. Ash was going to let them sleep in the room next to his for the night. He figured they'd need it, for they wouldn't have their own places to call home for a few years. So after Ash left all the ex-Rockets in their room, he and Pikachu went to their own room. Ash changed into his pajamas, got into the bed Misty was sleeping in, and drifted off to sleep.