Here's the next chapter. I don't own Pokemon, enjoy!
Chapter 41: Viridian Gym Preparation
The next day after Angelina earned her Earth badge, she was finally heading home to Pallet Town on her 10-speed bike accompanied by her Pichu. Riding down the street, Angelina spotted Ash and his friends standing in front of the Viridian City Gym.
"Oh look, Cocoa!" Angelina pointed. "There's Ash and Pikachu!"
"Chu, pi-chu!" Cocoa squeaked excitedly.
"Hey Ash!" Angelina waved, catching the trainer's attention. She slowed down her bike and stopped near Brock and Misty. "Ready for your last gym battle?"
"Oh hey, Angelina," Ash said. "As a Pokemon trainer, I need all the badges I can get!"
"Are you sure you can do it?" Misty asked. "I hear the Gym Leader is pretty tough!"
"You got that right," Angelina said. "I just battled him yesturday, and it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be."
"Really? Was it hard?" Ash looked astounded.
Angelina giggled, showing off her Earth Badge. "Yes, but good luck with yours."
"Pika! Pika pika pi!" Pikachu said, standing at Ash's side.
Ash nodded. "Pikachu says I can do it!"
"Well, you have learned a lot since you began your journey as a Pokemon trainer," Brock admitted. "I think Pikachu's right."
Ash bent down to Pikachu. "With a pal like you behind me, how can I lose?"
Suddenly, a shiny red convertible zoomed down the street. A tall boy with wavy brown hair sat in the backseat. A group of cheerleaders sat in the car around him, cheering and waving pom-poms. "Gary! Gary! He's the best! Gary! Gary! Beats the rest!"
"Still playing with your cute little Poke-pals, eh Ash?" Gary asked snidely.
Angelina glared while Ash blushed, placing Pikachu down on the ground.
"I though you finally gave up catching and training Pokemon," Gary continued. "I figured you went back home. But no, it looks like you're still at it. Don't you know when to quit?"
Ash clenched his fists. "You'd better quit bugging me," he said angrily. "Or-"
"Or what?" Gary shot back. "I bet you don't even have enough badges to get into the Pokemon League yet."
"I only have to win one more to get in!" Ash yelled.
"Heh! You have a lot of catching up to do." Gary said, taking out a black case and revealed ten gym badges. "Still have what it takes to become a Pokemon Master?"
Ash just growls.
"I just stopped by on my way back to Pallet to see if the leader of this gym wants to battle a real trainer." Gary said.
"Well Ash has just as much of a chance to take the challenge as you do." Angelina said, defending the trainer before he could even protested.
Gary jumped out of the car, then swaggering up to the gym doors and knocked hard. The doors swung open, revealing two guards dressed in helmets and bronze breastplates, like ancient Romans.
"I'm Gary from Pallet Town and I hereby request a battle with the leader of this gym." Gary announced.
The guards nodded and stepped aside. Gary walked through the doors, his cheerleaders followed.
"See you later, loser!" Gary jeered, and then disappeared inside the gym.
"You'll be eating those words someday, Gary Oak!" Angelina spat, she watched Ash request a battle also but the guards blocked his path and said, "Only one trainer at a time, that's the rule." The heavy doors swung shut in Ash's face.
Ash sank to the stairs. "If I don't do something fast, Gary's going to get way ahead of me!"
Misty shook her head. "Reality check, Ash. Gary's been way ahead of you from the start!"
Ash groaned and covered his face with his hands.
"That's really harsh, Misty." Angelina said.
"Maybe you could go a little easy on Ash right now." Brock whispered.
"I'm just telling the truth." Misty sighed.
Angelina watched Togepi waddle up to Ash and climbed onto his back. He tapped its shoulder curiously. "Aw, now that's sweet."
"Oh Pikachu, thank you," Ash cried. "You're the only one who stands by me, no matter what."
"Uh Ash? That's not-" Angelina tried to explain, but it was too late when Togepi surprised Ash and the little egg Pokemon went flying into the air and was caught by a yawning Fearow.
"Togepi! No!" Misty cried, watching the Fearow fly away from the gym.
"Don't worry, Mist," Angelina assures, running off with Pichu in arms. "I'll go find Togepi."
Angelina searched high and low around Viridian City for Togepi. She was just about to give up when she finally found Misty's Pokemon in the hands of Team Rocket's Jessie, James, and Meowth.
"Oh no, poor Togepi!" Angelina cried, she followed the Rockets down the street to the back of Viridian City Gym.
A plain black door marked the secret entrance to the gym- for Giovanni's henchman only. Angelina found this very familiar; she watched James punched in the secret code and enter inside, she snuck in just before the door closed and hid on the side in shadowed area.
Jessie and James walked down the hall and stopped what two guards stood in front of Giovanni's Office.
'Hmm, this is gonna be tricky,' Angelina thought, hearing the guards talking to Jessie and James.
Just as Angelina slowly crept down the hall, Giovanni backed out of the door to the gym and called inside, "That's what you get for trying to battle my secret weapon! I possess the ultimate Pokemon. It can never be defeated!"
"Secret Pokemon?" Angelina whispered. "What's he talking about?"
As Jessie and James stepped into Giovanni's office, Angelina walked down the hall and watched the guards finally walk off elsewhere. Slowing her distance, she watched Persian slipped out of Giovanni's office and also down the hallway. Now looking around cautiously, Angelina continued down one empty corridor after another with no hope of finding Togepi.
"Togepi! Where are you, sweetie?" Angelina called out sweetly. "Misty misses you!"
"Togi, togi!"
"Togepi?" Angelina rushed down the hallway and arrived at a dead-end. The hall ended in a door, which was opened just a crack. "Togepi, are you down there?" she walked through the door onto a staircase leading downward.
The old wooden stairs creaked as Angelina stepped on them. Without warning, she tripped over a step and tumbled down the stairs; landing on the floor below with a thud.
"Oww, that hurt!" Angelina rubbed her sore backside. "Cocoa, you okay?"
"Chu!" Cocoa nodded.
"Gosh, it's so dark in here," Angelina said. "Cocoa, use your Flash Attack please?"
"Chu, chu!" Cocoa squeaked as sparked flew from its little cheeks as light filled some of the room.
Angelina looked around the room, she was in the basement. Storage boxes lined the gray concrete walls, and a computer terminal sat in one corner.
"What am I gonna do?" Angelina moaned worriedly. "I don't see Togepi anywhere!"
Suddenly, she heard voices upstairs and enter inside; climbing down the staircase. "Quick Cocoa, Flash off!" she grabbed her Pichu and hid behind some of the boxes. Cocoa's sparking light disappeared, but Angelina peaked out and saw another light flick on; now seeing Jessie, James, and Meowth.
"They're looking for Togepi, too." Angelina whispered.
"This is useless," James said hopelessly. "Let's get back up to the gym and start being Gym Leaders."
'Gym Leaders of Viridian City?' Angelina thought in shock. 'But how? Maybe…. That ultimate Pokemon…. Something must've happened…. And Giovanni….' Her thoughts were disrupted when Jessie kicked the door with her boots and James pounded the door with his fists. 'What's wrong now?'
"Now yous done it," Meowth growled. "We're trapped!"
'Trapped!' Angelina's eyes widened. 'With them!'
Jessie spun around. "What do you mean, now we've done it?" she asked, her eyes flashing angrily.
"That's right," James agreed. "You're the one who led us into this dungeon in the first place."
'Dungeon….' Angelina stifled a giggle.
"I was only tryin' to find Togepi," Meowth protested. "Yous da ones who let Togepi escape."
"Us!" Jessie yelled. "You were supposed to be watching Togepi!"
"Actually Jess, you were the last one who had Togepi," James smiled. "So I guess this really is all your fault!"
Jessie stomped across the room. "If I hadn't risked my life on the top of that roof, we never would have captured Togepi in the first place! Sometimes I don't know what I'm doing with you two cowards."
"Coward? Who are you calling a coward?" James barked at Jessie, the two Pokemon thieves were nose to nose and Angelina found this interesting.
"Cut it out!" Meowth yelled. "While yous argue, Togepi is runnin' around out dere. We've got to find a way out of here."
'Maybe he's right,' Angelina agreed, watching Jessie and James take a step back from each other.
Jessie took a deep breath, "Meowth's right."
James nodded, "But how do we get out?"
Meowth pointed to the computer, "Maybe dat can help."
James looked confused. "What are we suppose to do? Play computer games until help arrives?"
Angelina giggled lowly, Jessie rolled her eyes. "No, you lamebrain. That computer is probably rigged up to the gym's operating system. There might be a floor plan in there. That would show us how to get out."
"Of course," James said sheepishly. "I was just joking."
Jessie ran up to the computer and turned it on, Angelina watched the Rockets discover their own file and photos.
"Do you see that?" Jessie said, very pleased with herself. "The Boss thinks I have great potential!"
"Well, he thinks I'm stupendous," James said proudly.
"And he called me amazing!" Meowth said, preening its fur.
They kept reading, and Angelina wondered what else the file described of the Rockets.
"Wow! He thinks we're an incredible team!" Jessie exclaimed happily.
"We are an incredible team," James agreed. "We shouldn't fight so much."
"Dat's right," Meowth nodded. "When we put our minds together, we can do anything. In fact, that reminds me of the times w had one of our greatest battles…."
Angelina listened intently to Meowth explain Team Rocket's second encounter with Ash and Pikachu in the Viridian Forest. She was there and knew what happened exactly, but Meowth tried switching the ending.
Jessie yanked Meowth's curly tail. "You nitwit! That's not how it happened!"
"That's right," James said. "If I remember correctly, Caterpie had you wrapped up in a cocoon, too. We had to carry you out of the forest. Thanks to you, we lost our chance to get Pikachu."
Jessie got a dreamy look in her eyes. "I'll tell you about a really great battle. "Thanks to me, we had Pikachu right where we wanted it…."
Angelina wished she had known earlier that Team Rocket opened a fashion salon for Pokemon, she would've helped them if she wasn't deeply upset and crying over Brock. She was riding her bike happily down the street in Celadon City; then spotting Ash and friends heading toward a shop on Scissor Street. About to say 'hello', Angelina sees Brock ogling and seemingly admiring a woman tending to a Chansey. She thought this was just a lovey-dovey faze for Brock, but the full details from Misty explained that the woman was Suzy, a Pokemon Breeder, and Brock wanted to become a breeder too.
"Not fare! I saw him first!" Angelina cried, not bothering to enter the shop and fled down the street on her bike. She was very upset, and jealous, too, but she just couldn't force Brock away from Suzy since his career was being a Pokemon breeder. Angelina knew it wasn't pity since she realized why she cared so much for Brock, she had a crush on him and it wasn't a silly school-girl crush either; a full-blown, head-over-heels, 'I wanna be with you' crush.
"…. They had to give up. Victory was ours!" Jessie smiled triumphantly.
James tapped Jessie on the shoulder. "Uh Jess, didn't you forget something? We lost that battle."
"What do you mean?" Jessie said angrily. "It was my greatest triumph."
"I think it was your greatest failure." James corrected. "Remember, Ash's friend, Suzy called on her Vulpix. That Pokemon may look like an ordinary little fox, but it has big fire-power. One Fire Spin from Vulpix sent us blasting off again."
"That's funny," Jessie sniffed. "I don't remember any of that."
"Well, maybe you will remember- this." James said. "It's the time I had Pikachu right in my hands!"
Angelina rolled her eyes, she remembered this story quite well. It happened not too long ago; Ash and friends met Snap, a Pokemon photographer. Team Rocket hired Snap to capture Pikachu, but what they didn't know, Snap captured Pokemon on film and was not a Pokemon trainer. He became fast friends with Ash, and saved the trainer when Team Rocket managed to capture Pikachu. Though Ash had a quick plan, he asked Team Rocket to pose for a picture and James' home-made Rocket Bomb exploded. Pikachu was rescued safely and the Rockets blasted away down the waterfall.
"We lost that battle. We lost Pikachu," Jessie said angrily. "And it was all your fault!"
"My fault?" James questioned. "Well, at least I didn't come up with some stupid plan like opening a fashion salon. How was that suppose to help us get Pikachu?"
"Good point!" Meowth said.
"Shut your big Meowth!" Jessie yelled. "My plans would work fine if you weren't constantly messing them up."
"Mine, too!" James agreed.
"Well if dat's how yous feel," Meowth said. "I guess yous don't need me at all."
"I don't need either of you!" Jessie said.
"Me either!" James said.
"Then I guess that settles it," Jessie concluded. "We're all going solo. From this moment on, we'll be evil on our own."
James nodded. "No more Team Rocket!"
'N-no more?' Angelina gawked, confused whether to be happy or sad. 'The end of Team Rocket?'
"Dat's fine wit me!" Meowth yelled, turning his back on Jessie and James.
"Me too!" James said, storming off into a corner.
"I don't need Team Rocket anyway!" Jessie said, sitting on a wooden crate and putting her face in her hands.
The three former members of Team Rocket quietly fumed, Angelina watched them. Was it really the end of trouble and mayhem? No more pitfall traps or mottos? No captures of Pikachu or other Pokemon? She knew it wasn't possible, something would bring them back together…. And maybe it'd be her.
Angelina looked up and saw Meowth turn around, he cleared his throat, "Uh, guys. I was thinking…."
Jessie jumped up and hugged Meowth. "You don't have to say it. I feel the same way."
"If you guys are talking about getting Team Rocket back together again, then count me in!" James said, hugging Jessie and Meowth.
Team Rocket hugged one another and sobbed happily. Then Jessie jumped back, "Yuck! You two are as sappy as that silly Ash."
"Speaking of Ash, isn't that his voice?" James asked.
From outside the gym, they could hear Ash calling for Togepi. Angelina could hear the trainer also.
"He's bound to come to the gym looking for a challenge," Jessie said.
"And as Gym Leaders, we will battle him." James agreed.
"And steal Pikachu!" Meowth said happily. "But we've got to get out of dis basement foist!"
"Looks like it's time for another brilliant Team Rocket plan." James added.
Jessie ran to the computer. "We've got to stop jabbering and figure this out." She pushed some buttons on the keyboard; Angelina watched a floor plan of the gym pop up on the screen.
"According to this map, there is another door in the basement," James said. "It's right…." He looked up. Next to the computer was a wooden door marked EXIT. "…. here." He finished weakly.
"It was dere all along!" Meowth pointed out.
"It doesn't matter now." Jessie waved off; staring at the screen and her eyes gleamed. "This floor plan is interesting. With a few minor adjustments, I think we can rig up the gym so that Ash will lose for sure!"
"A booby-trapped gym!" James exclaimed. "Oh Jess, you're so clever!"
"Let's get down to business," Meowth announced. "If we work together, we can't be beat."
"And soon…." Jessie said.
"…. Pikachu will be ours!" James cried.
"Not on my watch!" Angelina stood from her hiding spot, the Rockets jumped in surprise.
"Hey how'd yous get down here, sweetcheeks?" Meowth asked.
"Well that's for me to know and you to never find out." Angelina replied. "I happen to know everything that you're planning, so I could just leave and-"
"Oh no, you're NOT tell that twerp our scheme!" Jessie warned the girl. "We're the new gym leaders of Viridian City Gym and we can do whatever we want!"
"Who says I'm going to tell?" Angelina smirked. "I'm on your side, remember?"
"Since when?" James said, not really believing the girl. "You're a goody-goody like Ash."
"Not all the time, James." Angelina said. "If you'd remember I loaned you those school-girl costumes awhile back in Vermillion City? And I also happen to be your Boss's daughter, so you can assume I'm not just an innocent Pokemon trainer."
"Well that certainly explains a lot," Jessie said, clearing understanding although she noticed otherwise from her flabbergasted partner. "But I don't know whether we can trust you."
"C'mon Jess," Meowth argued. "She's one of us!"
"Yes, and m-maybe she can help with the gym?" James added.
Jessie sighed, "All right," she held out her hand. "Welcome to the team."
Angelina smiled, and shook Jessie's hand. "I won't let you down."
Now that Angelina had been found, she's agreed to help Jessie and James with the Viridian City Gym. What will happen next! Stay tuned!
§To Be Continued§
*This chapter is based off the Pokemon Anime novelization "Team Rocket Blasts Off!"
*This chapter also follows the plot of the episode "The Battle Of The Badge"
*Angelina helps Team Rocket temporarily own the Viridian City Gym.
*Jessie, James, and Meowth disband, but come back together.
You can take a guess what's gonna happen in the next chapter. That'll be up whenever I'm back from my weekend of band activities. Thanks for reading!