As soon as lunch was finished, they all headed back to the main arena for the unofficial match. Ash and Pikachu stood ready at one end of the gym, while Norman faced them at the other side of the room, the two of them poised for action. Meanwhile, the others were seated on some of the spectator benches, where they would have a clear view of the battle that was about to begin.

"All right, Pikachu, let's go!" grinned Ash.

"Pikachu!" agreed the equally energetic electric Pokémon.

From the spectator bench, Max smirked, already certain of his father's impending victory. "Ash is pretty confident for having only one Pokémon."

"Yeah, problem is he can get way overconfident on occasion," admitted Misty anxiously.

As they all watched expectantly, Norman got out one of his Poké Balls and opened it up, releasing a large, sloth-like, bipedal Pokémon covered in white fur with a teardrop-shaped tuft of red fur on its forehead. It had a shaggy tail, stubby ears, two small, triangular teeth in each jaw, a brown lower jaw, and large eyes encircled by brown rings. There were also two brown stripes on its back, its arms were long, and its hands and feet all had two sharp black claws at the ends. All in all, it looked quite an intimidating Pokémon.

"What kind of Pokémon is that?" asked Misty.

"Oh, that's Dad's Vigoroth," said Max.

"A Vigoroth?" echoed Misty. "I've never heard of that before. Can I borrow your Pokédex for a moment, May?"

Sure!" said May, as she handed the device to Misty, who quickly looked up the relevant data on the screen, as Ash did likewise on his own Pokédex.

"Vigoroth, the wild monkey Pokémon. Vigoroth is only comfortable going berserk, will destroy anything in its path by spinning both arms and goes more berserk when done."

"Oh, it's sounds rather frightening," said Misty apprehensively, as the Vigoroth gave a loud roar and made both Ash and Pikachu jump with fright!

"Check it out! Dad's Vigoroth is raring to go," commented Max.

"I hope Ash can handle that thing," said Misty worriedly, as they watched Pikachu leap into action, only for Norman to instruct Vigoroth to use scratch attack!

"Pikachu, dodge it!" cried Ash, but the reactions of the Vigoroth seemed to be faster, as it effortlessly swatted Pikachu aside and sent the yellow electric mouse crashing to the ground. Quickly recovering, Pikachu managed to dodge another attack from one of Vigoroth's powerful arms, only to be hit by the other!

"Don't give in, Pikachu," called Ash encouragingly. "Quick attack!"

Pikachu charged forward and leapt at its opponent, but Vigoroth leapt to the side and avoided the attack with ease. Before the surprised Ash could react, Vigoroth landed another major blow, again knocking Pikachu to the ground.

"Oh no! This doesn't look good for Ash and Pikachu!" exclaimed Misty, astounded by the sheer speed and power of the Vigoroth.

"Togi togi," agreed an equally fretful Togepi.


Meanwhile, peering in through a window from outside, Team Rocket were also observing the battle with considerable interest.

"Maybe we don't want Pikachu after all," remarked James, in awe of the Vigoroth.

"Not if we grab that Vigoroth instead," agreed Jessie. "It's natural nastiness would be a perfect fit for Team Rocket."

"Yeah, but if we gave it to the boss, that would be even better!" said Meowth keenly.

"And if we gave him both, then that would be even better than that!" cheered Jessie, with a supporting cry from her teammates.


Meanwhile, the gym battle raged on as Pikachu attempted a thunderbolt attack, but again, the Vigoroth dodged the attack, much to Ash's frustration.

"Use quick attack!" Ash called to Pikachu, who leapt right at Vigoroth. This time, the monkey Pokémon was not quite fast enough and Pikachu collided right into its chest, knocking it off balance.

"Yay, way to go, Pikachu!" cheered Misty.

Caroline was impressed. "I didn't think they had a chance against Norman's Vigoroth."

"Yeah, Ash is good, huh?" breathed May in awe.

"Of course he's good!" said an excited Max. "He did make it to the Championship Tournament of the Silver Conference, you know."

Misty smirked at Max. "So you can get your details right, huh? Yeah, Ash is one of the best there is!"

Nevertheless, Norman was well-experienced and he quickly instructed Vigoroth to use another scratch attack, knocking Pikachu away! Before Pikachu could recover, Vigoroth slammed into it with a powerful tackle attack, sending the electric Pokémon flying through the air and smashing right into the wall! As the defeated Pikachu tumbled to the floor in a daze, a shocked Ash rushed over to check on his dazed buddy.

"Pikachu, are you okay?" Ash asked in concern.

"Pika," confirmed the tired Pikachu, as Misty and Togepi hurried over to join them.

"That was a great battle, you guys," smiled Misty, relieved that Pikachu was not badly hurt. "But I guess that Vigoroth is even tougher than it looks."

"Well, I guess that's that," said Norman, gracious in victory.

Ash smiled at Norman with both gratitude and admiration. "That Vigoroth of yours is really powerful, Norman! There sure are some strong Pokémon in the Hoenn region, right Pikachu?"

"Pika," agreed Pikachu.

Suddenly, there came a tremendous explosion, as one of the Gym walls was blasted apart from the outside, sending a cloud of dust and smoke into the room, and knocking everyone off their feet!

"What was that?" exclaimed May, as the smoke cleared, revealing a large hole in the wall, through which could be seen the villainous figures of Team Rocket!

'Prepare for trouble from the hole in the wall," began Jessie.

"Make it double, you're in for a brawl," continued James.

"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 makes a mad dash at the speed of light!"

"Surrender to these great effects or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth! That's right!" added Meowth.

"Wobbuffet!" finished Wobbuffet.

"Oh no, not you again!" groaned Misty.

"Team Rocket!" cried May irately.

"Oh, how sweet," said Caroline, not realising that Team Rocket were evildoers. "It's always nice to meet your friends. Thank you so much for being there for my May."

"No Mother, those are the bad guys!" May bellowed at Caroline in frustration.

Jessie chuckled. "That's okay, we're not your run-of-the-mill criminals."

"We do bad things with panache and style," boasted James.

"We'll rob ya, but we'll do it with a smile," chuckled Meowth.

"You don't look so stylish," retorted an unimpressed Max.

"They're not!" confirmed Misty with a scowl. "But they certainly have a talent for being a nuisance."

This remark offended Jessie, and she decided to go on the attack. "We're here for your Pokémon! Go, Arbok!"

Jessie threw a Poké Ball, which opened up and let out her loyal snake Pokémon, while James let out his own faithful poison Pokémon, Weezing.

"Use smoke screen!" James commanded, and a second later, Weezing let out a huge billow of thick smoke from its two mouths, which quickly enveloped the room and made everyone choke and splutter!

"Hold your breath, everyone!" Norman managed to call out, as they all tried not to breathe in the thick smoke, while Team Rocket carried on with their attack.

"Now, Arbok, give them your headbutt!" instructed Jessie, and the large purple cobra Pokémon launched forward, ramming right into Pikachu! As this was happening, Vigoroth tried a swipe attack at Weezing, but the thick smoke obscured its vision and caused it to miss.

"Hang on, guys!" cried Misty as she grabbed one of her own Poké Balls and opened it, to reveal her pink coral-like Pokémon, Corsola. "Quick, Corsola, use your spike cannon!"

Moving fast, Corsola fired a series of glowing white spikes from the horns around its body, which impacted with Weezing and sent it crashing to the ground unconscious.

"Great work, Corsola!" cheered Misty, as James was forced to recall Weezing back into its Poké Ball.

As the battle raged on, Max turned urgently to his sister. "Come on, you should get in there with your Pokémon too, May. Can't you help them out with your Pokémon?"

"Uh, right!" said May, as she let out Torchic from its Poké Ball, though it was clear that May was unsure what she should actually do next. "So now what do I do?"

"Now would be a good idea to get it to attack," prompted Max.

"Okay, don't rush me!" said May in annoyance. "Let's see now, what attacks should I use..."

But as May wasted time trying to remember what attacks Torchic could do, Arbok shot forward and tackled the little fire Pokémon, sending it flying!

"Argh! My little Torchic!" wailed May, as Jessie laughed, certain that victory still belonged to Team Rocket.

"And now, we'll be taking Pikachu and Vigoroth with us!" declared Jessie.

"What's what you think!" snapped Ash. "Pikachu, thunderbolt them!"

With a determined cry, Pikachu let off a powerful and dazzling thunderbolt through the smoke. There came an anguished yell, and for a moment, Ash thought the thunderbolt had managed to hit Team Rocket. But as the smoke finally began to clear, he was dismayed to see that the bolt had instead hit...

"Oh no, Max!" groaned Ash, as he saw a frizzled Max twitching on the floor.

"Are you okay?" asked Misty in concern, rushing over to check the stunned boy.

Max groaned, unsure if he should feel impressed or depressed. "Well it's one thing learning about Pikachu's thunderbolt on TV, but a whole 'nother thing to feel it in the flesh. Wow! Gotta say it's impressive."

As the last of the smoke cleared, May realised that their vile attackers had vanished!

"Hey, Team Rocket's gone!" she said.

"I can't believe it! That was too easy," remarked Ash skeptically.

"Yeah, Team Rocket don't give up just like that!" agreed Misty worriedly. "Does everyone have their Pokémon here okay?"

"My Vigoroth is still here, safe and sound," confirmed Norman, as his berserk Pokémon gave an encouraging smile.

"So's Pikachu," added Ash, glad that Team Rocket had not been able to grab his electric Pokémon.

"And I've got Togepi and Corsola here all right," said Misty. "So why...?"

Just then, they all realised that a fretful May was looking desperately around the room, searching for something.

"Hey, May, what's wrong?" asked Ash.

"My Torchic's gone!" wailed May in alarm.

"What?!" Ash, Misty and Max exclaimed in unison, as they all rushed through the hole Team Rocket made in the wall and peered outside. Sure enough, they could see Team Rocket floating away in their hot-air balloon, with a gleeful Jessie clutching a large swag bag with something struggling inside.

"Just like we said, service with a smile!" boasted Jessie, as James and Meowth pulled funny faces at everyone down on the ground. "Have a nice day!"

As Team Rocket's balloon disappeared from sight, May fell to her knees in despair.

"Now what do I do? I just got that Torchic!"

"Ash, we can't let Team Rocket get away with this!" said Misty gravely.

"Don't worry, we won't!" promised Ash with a look of determination. "We'll get Torchic back no matter what!"