(Originally posted on 7-19-4)

Pre-chapter Conversation

The camera turned on in front of the Shack. Izzy and I were seen stretching our legs.

"Ahhh… What a great weekend that was." I sighed happily as I stood straight up. "For once, I actually got to see more than one (two on Saturday and Sunday) episode of Rocket Power a day! Island of the Menehune rocked!" Izzy stood up.

"Ugh! No way! That movie was too scary! I'm gonna have nightmares for weeks!" He yelled.

"¬.¬ Excuse me!? You didn't even see the movie! You were gone the whole time!"

"What? I told you, I would've gotten back in time to watch it, but it took forever to get the ice cream." Izzy defended. I crossed my arms.

"It doesn't take an hour and a half to get ice cream, Izzy."

"It does when the line takes up a city block!"

"I'll bet. You were scared of the Menehune." I said. Izzy looked away from me.

"Nooo… It really did take too long."

"Uh-huh…" I didn't believe a word of it. "Anyway, like I said, the movie was great! Plenty of action scenes, romance, a few near deaths (all involving Otto, by the way), and most importantly, I got to see Keoni for more than fifteen minutes! Aside from the fact that they could have elaborated a little bit more on Otto and Reggie's mom, it was perfect."

"I'm telling you, Boss, I wasn't scared!" Izzy tried again. "I was—O.O;;;; WHAT!?!" He grabbed my shirt and pulled me in close. "Keoni was in it!?! And for more than fifteen minutes!?!"

"Yep. It did take place in Hawaii, after all." I replied before smirking. "Why? Does Izzy miss his 'delectable pineapple?'" I blew kisses at him. Izzy blushed and turned away.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" He said coolly before crossing his arms. "I don't miss him one bit! I just…"

"Yes…?" I pressed with a wide grin. I love making him sweat sometimes.

"Ummm… Uhhh… Hey! Don't we have to get to the chapter!?"

"Oh crap!" I gasped. "You're right! We gotta get started!" I turned to the camera as Izzy wiped his forehead.

"Whew!"

"It's time to start the second full week of Rocketmon!" I started. "But before we get to business, here's a quick recap of who's playing as whom:

Sam = Ash

Lars = Gary

Raoul = Prof. Oak

Otto = A slight mixture of Jessie and James

Reggie = Same

Twister = Meowth

Ray = Nurse Joy

Tito = Chansey

Officer Shirley = Officer Jenny"

"Hey! What on Earth was your reasoning behind those roles!?" Izzy yelled at me.

"Later. We gotta get rolling." I answered. "Anyway, this short chapter features the first, but certainly not last, battle between Sam and Lars. Who will win? Find out now!"

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Rocketmon Ch. 5: The Rivalry's First Battle

At sunset…

"I wonder where Reggie and the others are." Sam said. He looked all over town for his friends all day, not even coming close to finding them. He was now walking up the hill to do more research and to try to find the one who sent him that e-mail.

"It's just as well that I can't find them. They're probably too busy scheming." He cast a glance at Pikachu, who was snoozing in his arms. He made it to the cul-de-sac, where he saw Lars and his "cheerleaders" going on about something.

"Yes! I caught it!" Lars yelled proudly as he held up a poké ball.

"Congrats!" Lars' cronies replied, shaking their pom-poms. Not wanting to get teased like yesterday, Sam carefully crept by.

"Just wait til the Squid sees this!" Lars laughed. He then turned around and saw Sam. "Well speak of the devil!" Sam froze as Lars ran over to him.

"Hi Lars…" He said dully.

"Hey dork! I just caught a pokémon!" Lars bragged. Sam raised an eyebrow.

"And I should care because…?" Lars fell over.

"Dude! Lars just got dissed!" Pi observed. Lars got up and glared at him. He then turned his attention back to Sam.

"Oh you don't care, huh? I challenge you to a pokémon battle!" Sam looked at him like he was nuts.

"A battle?"

"Yeah shrimp-o! A two-on-two match! You in or are ya chicken!?" Lars and his boys laughed jauntily. Sam sighed. Lars would probably never leave him alone until he battles.

'He's just as bad as Otto when it comes to stubbornness.' He shook his head. 'But it might give me practice for when I battle against a gym leader.'

"Alright Lars. A two-on-two sounds good." Lars laughed again.

"You'll wish you never said that."

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Everything was set up. In the middle of the cul-de-sac, a sloppy chalk drawing of a poké ball was made. Lars and Sam were standing at opposite ends of the cul-de-sac. Lars' back was to his house and Sam's was to the Rockets' house.

"Ready to lose, dork!?" Lars sneered.

"Whatever. Let's get this started." Sam said with a tired expression. Pikachu had woke up from all the noise and is now perched on his shoulder.

"Go! Pidgey!" Lars called, chucking a poké ball. It opened and in a flash, a tired-looking pidgey came out. Sam had a confused expression at the pokémon's fatigue.

"Uh...what?"

"Pahahahahahaha!!! What do ya think? I just caught it a few minutes ago." Lars bragged.

"You just caught it and you didn't even heal it?" Sam asked.

"Is that a bad thing?" Lars asked with a clueless expression.

"Kinda." Sam replied, taking a poké ball out of his pocket. "Go! Pidgeotto!" He tossed it, but instead of the bird coming out, his bellsprout did.

"Oops. I was aiming for Pidgeotto." He muttered. "I need to label these things."

(A/N: It really makes you wonder why they don't make those kinda mistakes in Pokémon. I swear, I only saw one mess up and that was when Ash accidentally called out his snorlax.)

'Good thing Dad taught me how to use this pokédex.' Lars thought as took his pokédex out of a pocket. 'I know that flying types can beat out grass types.'

"Pidgey! Use a Gust attack!" He ordered. Pidgey struggled to stand. It jumped up in the air and flapped its wings really fast. A mini tornado was formed and it headed towards Bellsprout.

"Bellsprout! Use Razor Leaf!" Sam ordered. Bellsprout tossed a couple of leaves, but they got sucked into the tornado. The tornado then sucked up Bellsprout and tossed it around. When the attack ended, the grass type had a dazed expression and collapsed.

"Aw man." Sam groaned. He called back Bellsprout.

"Ha! Now what!? My pokémon's too strong for you!" Lars taunted as his cheerleaders yelled and waved their pom-poms. Sam rolled his eyes as he put away Bellsprout's ball.

"Go! Pikachu!" He said.

"Pika!" Pikachu yelled as it jumped off Sam's shoulder and ran to the middle of the field.

"Pidgey! Gust again!" Lars ordered. Pidgey chirped as it flew up to prepare another attack.

"Pikachu! Thunder Shock!" Before Pidgey was even able to strike, Pikachu launched a devastating electric attack at the tiny bird. It connected and the charbroiled pokémon plummeted to the ground. It gave one last chirp before it fainted.

"Crap!" Lars yelled, calling back Pidgey. He clutched another poké ball. "Go! Squirtle!" He tossed it and a blue turtle appeared. Sam pointed the pokédex at the turtle.

"Squirtle. This water pokémon's shell is soft and chewy at birth." The machine droned. Lars and Sam sweatdropped.

"Ok…" Lars said. "Squirtle! Bite that rat!" Squirtle revealed its teeth and charged for Pikachu. Pikachu's eyes widened and it ran around the field, avoiding Squirtle's sharp jaws.

"Hey, you don't have to take that! Quick Attack!" Sam said. Pikachu turned around and tackled Squirtle. Squirtle was knocked on its shell. "Now use Thunder Shock!"

"Get up, you lame-o!" Lars screamed at Squirtle. The turtle tried to get up, but couldn't due to the shell. Pikachu charged energy and zapped the poor squirtle into submission.

"x.x Squirtle…" The pokémon groaned.

"Argh!" Lars cursed as he called back Squirtle.

"Yes! We did it!" Sam yelled with a grin as he ran up to Pikachu.

"Pikachu!" The pokémon cried happily as Sam hugged it. Just then, clapping was heard. Lars and Sam turned towards the hill and saw Team Rocket standing there.

"Well, it looks like the twerp's won his first battle." Otto said in a teasing manner. The others nodded in agreement.

"What the—? Who are you guys!?" Lars asked. Sam raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

'You gotta be kidding.' He thought.

"We'll introduce ourselves." Reggie said to Lars. "And you'll learn true fear! So prepare for trouble!"

"Yeah, and make it double!" Otto added.

"To protect the world from shoobies!"

"To unite all surfers within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of major beefs!"

"To get huge air in the stars above!"

"Reggie!"

"Otto!"

"Team Rocket grinds rails at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to face us in Hockey!"

"Twister! That's right!" Twister yelled as he jumped in front of the duo.

"O.O;;; Holy crap on a stick! Team Rocket! AHHHHH!!!! Mommy!" Lars yelled as he ran to his house, followed by his pep squad. The door then slammed, leaving a shocked Sam and a smirking Team Rocket alone. Sam nervously turned to them.

"Heh heh. What's up, guys?" The trio crossed their arms.

"We have a little score to settle." Otto said.

"Why, whatever could you mean?" Sam asked with an innocent smirk.

"Don't play dumb!" Reggie yelled. "You made that little rat shock us!"

"Yeah! And now we'll steal your precious little pikachu!" Twister added.

"Hold up! You want Pikachu?" Sam asked. "Get your own!"

"No way!" Otto replied. "We want yours!"

"We only steal rare pokémon, so hand us that rat now!" Reggie barked.

"My pikachu's rare?" Sam blinked and looked at the mouse standing by him. Pikachu shrugged.

"That pikachu's way too powerful to be a normal one." Twister said with his arms crossed. "Its strength is beyond its evolutionary level! Your pikachu is—"

"Yeah, yeah. That's real interesting." Otto said with sarcasm. "Since when did you talk like that anyway?" Twister shrugged.

"It's in the script." Otto slapped his head and turned back to Sam, who was creeping away.

"Oh no ya don't! Go! Koffing!" He tossed his poké ball and the poison type appeared in front of Sam.

"Go! Ekans!" Reggie followed suit by releasing her pokémon. The snake appeared right behind the blond.

"Oh man. We're surrounded!" Sam said. The pokémon were about to attack when the roar of a siren filled the air.

"Crap! The cops!" Twister yelled. Otto gritted his teeth as he and Reggie called back their pokémon.

"You got lucky this time, but we'll be back!" He said as he and the others hopped on their boards.

"Team Rocket's skating off again!" The trio yelled as they skated down the hill. Officer Shirley's car entered the cul-de-sac.

"Are you ok, munchkin?!" Shirley asked when she stepped out of the car.

"Yeah. Thanks for coming." Sam said.

"Anytime, but I missed them again!" The officer started to cry. Sam rolled his eyes.

"There, there. You'll get 'em." He offered, not really sounding like he meant it. Shirley sniffed.

"Thank you, munchkin. If there's nothing else, I'll be on my way." Without waiting for Sam's reply, Officer Shirley got back in her car and drove away. Sam sighed.

"That was too close." He picked up Pikachu. "Come on. After dinner, I still have to do some more research."

"Pika." Pikachu nodded as Sam walked inside his house.

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Post-chapter Conversation

"What will happen to our hero next? Find out next time!" I yelled.

"Now let's hear your reasons for picking the character roles!" Izzy demanded. I groaned.

"Do I have to!?" Izzy shrugged.

"You know someone's gonna ask you eventually."

"With as little reviews as I get, I doubt it." I sighed. "Oh well. Better get it over with. So who do I start with?"

"How about our so-called 'hero' Sam?" Izzy suggested. "Why is he Ash?"

"Well, the best reason I can come up with is that I personally blame him for creating the link." I answered.

"o.O;;; How so?" I shrugged in response.

"I'd rather not say. I don't want to spoil one of the future chapters. Also, I needed someone who has a single parent, so that rules out Twister."

"Then what about Otto or Reggie?"

"By 'single parent,' I meant a single Mom, like in the case of Delia, Ash's mom." I replied. "I also needed someone who's an only child. So the only choice left was Sam. Besides, there should be more fics that star him. So I think I did this fandom a favor." I held my chin. "Hmmm… I wonder if I tricked anybody in the intro…"

"Boss, don't inflate your ego. We're already dealing with an ego-maniac in this dimension." Izzy scolded. "Moving on, what about the great Lars? Why is he Gary when Sam's true rival is Oliver?"

"The thing is Gary, in the earlier episodes of Pokémon, was incredibly snotty towards Ash. He was a total braggart. He would always put Ash down. That's exactly like how Lars is."

"Funny, I thought Ash was the braggart." Izzy commented. I shrugged.

"Maybe it's both? Anyway, if I gave Oliver the role, he would've been too OOC, despite the fact that he did act that way towards Sam in a couple of episodes. Plus, I needed someone whose father or older relative I've seen, so there you go. I guess that also explains Raoul's role since Prof. Oak is Gary's grandfather."

"Guess so… Now then, about our villains." Izzy started. "Why exactly did you say that Otto and Reggie are playing as mixtures of Jessie and James?"

"It's like this: Despite the fact that he says James' part of the motto, Otto is the leader, which is what I consider Jessie to be." I replied. "And despite the fact that she says Jessie's part of the motto, Reggie is second in command. Also, Reggie has displayed many mood swings, not to mention she's had many outbursts, just like Jessie. Plus, their names rhyme. Also, I may switch their roles a little bit in future chapters."

"Ok, but why are they even playing as Team Rocket in the first place?"

"Well, look at their hair colors. Otto's hair is red, just like Jessie's is. In fact, I bet that if you unravel every single dreadlock on his head, his hair would be just as long as hers. Reggie's hair is purple, just like James'." Izzy raised an eyebrow.

"Huh!? His hair is blue!"

"It's debatable. Let's leave it at that." I defended. "Somehow, I think the creators of the show had the real Team Rocket in mind when they created Otto and Reggie. All they needed was a pet cat. As for Twister playing as Meowth…" I scratched my head.

"I didn't exactly have anything planned for him, so I thought that since he's one of my favorite characters, why not make him play as my favorite pokémon? Also, there have been plenty of scenes on the show that have just those three alone. Is there anybody else?" Izzy looked at a clipboard.

"There's just Ray, Tito, and Shirley." He said.

"Ray and Tito are easy. I felt that since our stars always hang out at the Shack, I should make that the pokémon center. And because Ray owns the place, he was perfect for the role of Nurse Joy. And because Tito is supposed to be Ray's assistant, I made him dress up as a chansey, a Nurse Joy's assistant." I answered. "As for Officer Shirley… Well that should be self explanatory. Who else was I gonna make Officer Jenny?"

"One more thing before we rap things up." Izzy started. "What about Misty and Brock? Aren't you gonna give somebody their roles?" I scratched my head while putting on a sheepish look.

"Unfortunately, going into this fic, I had nobody to play their roles. There was just nobody who acted like Brock."

"Level Headed Brock or Womanizer Brock?"

"Defiantly Womanizer Brock. Nobody acts like that on RP, so I was a tad lost on that one. As for Misty, nobody else on the show has orange hair." Izzy got into a thinking pose before he put on an evil grin.

"Actually, there is someone who could play her role." He said. I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Who?"

"Twister." Izzy simply said. I shook my head in response.

"But I got him playing as Meowth."

"I know, but think about it, Boss. Twister's got orange hair, right?"

"A little bit, but yeah." I nodded.

"And there are usually scenes that feature just him and Sam, right?"

"Yeah…" I nodded again, trying to see where he was going with this. "So?" Izzy sighed exasperatedly.

"So! If you had Team Rocket's meowth guest star, you could've turned this into a slash fic because you support Ash/Misty romance!" I gasped at that.

"O.O;;;;;;;;;;; WHAT!?! I could've done that!?!" I asked in disbelief. Izzy nodded.

"Yep. This could've been a Sam/Twister fic with plenty of adventure." I groaned and slapped my forehead.

"Oh man…" I turned to Izzy. "It's not too late to change Twister's role, is it?" My partner gave me a toothy grin.

"Yep." I fell over before giving him a curious look.

"Wait, I thought you hated slash fics."

"I do. I just wanted to make you sweat to get revenge for the pre-chapter conversation." He replied. I growled and grabbed my mallet. I then turned to the camera.

"Tune in next time, folks, although I'm sure Izzy won't be around."

"Eeep!" Izzy squeaked before running away. I gave chase.

"Get back here!!!"