The Mystery of the Missing Pokemon!

"Hey Tracey, there's been something I've been meaning to ask." Ash spoke while the group made their way up the beach and towards Mandarin Island's city. "If this is Mandarin Island North, where's Mandarin Island South?"

"Huh? Oh," Tracey paused in place while retrieving a map from his pockets.

"You see we're here," Tracey pointed at a medium sized island that sat on the far left of the map's middle. "And Mandarin Island South is all the way down there." Tracey pointed towards a noticeably large island that sat at the direct center of the map's lower region.

"T-There's a lot of islands between us and that one..." Chloe sweated at the sight. "How exactly did they go about naming these islands?"

Tracey shrugged in response. "I honestly have no idea but I can tell you that this city, the Big Orange, is the largest city in all of the Orange Islands!" Tracey exclaimed while stretching his arms out to signify how large the city was.

"Yeah I can see it, we haven't seen skyscrapers since we left Kanto." Brock remarked while gazing towards the city.

"Hopefully we don't get lost shopping for supplies." Chloe frowned. The island didn't have anything of note from the sound of things so it was best to replace the supplies that Snorlax stole before setting off for Kumquat Island, there was five weeks left until the Silver League began.

Though a distraction soon found them as the familiar sounds of a Pokemon battle could be heard ahead of them. Ash's eyes lit up at the sound and he quickly raced ahead to watch in hopes of spotting another Pokemon that he hadn't seen before. He'd already encountered Marill, Meltan, Melmetal, Decidueye, Alolan Exeggutor and Mantine throughout his Orange Island adventure so who knows what excitement awaited him ahead!

"Blastoise what are you doing?!" A familiar shout could be heard.

"Toise!" The sounds of Blastoise's cannons activating could be heard ahead.

"Chase, duck!" Another familiar shout could be heard, Ash rounded the corner just in time to see Elaine tackle her brother to the ground as their Blastoise and Venusaur attacked them with Hydro Pump and Petal Blizzard.

"Gah!" The brother and sister duo grunted out as the attacks grazed their backsides.

Ash paused in place and tilted his head as confusion began racking through his head. He wasn't exactly as close to Elaine and Chase as he was with his other rivals but they seemed like decent people and he couldn't understand why their Pokemon were attacking them. Ash clenched his fists as Blastoise and Venusaur stepped closer to Elaine and Chase in preparation for another attack.

"I'm not sure what's going on but we can't let Blastoise and Venusaur kill them, Pikachu use Thunderbolt!"

"Pikachuuu!" Pikachu's cheeks began sparking up as he prepared to use the attack however rather than attack Blastoise and Venusaur, Pikachu decided to attack Ash instead!

"GAH!" Ash screamed out as Pikachu and Toxel blasted him with electricity.

"Ash?!" Chloe heard her boyfriend call out and shot ahead with visible concern. "Ash what's wro-"

"Eevoi!" Eevee similarly turned on Chloe and fired a black-purple ball of static energy at her, knocking Chloe off her feet.

"Ow!"

"Croagunk!" Croagunk jabbed Brock which wasn't necessarily unusual but this time it was unprovoked as Brock hadn't encountered any beautiful women in well over twenty four hours.

"Gah! Croagunk, why?!"

"Owowowow!" Tracey repeatedly grunted out as Marill repeatedly bashed his round tail against Tracey's face.

The Rocket trio peered around a nearby corner and watched the twerp's Pokemon turn on them. Visible confusion quickly filled their faces as they glanced at each other.

"What's going on? Is this some sort of Pokemon revolution?" James questioned.

"Wobbu..."

"I'm not sure, I find it hard to believe that the twerp's Pokemon would attack them unprovoked." Jessie frowned.

"I'm not sure it's unprovoked, I hear something. It's-GAH!" Meowth suddenly turned on Jessie and James, scratching their faces with his sharp unsheathed claws!

"Ow! Meowth, why?!" James whined.

"I'll get you for this, Meowth!" Jessie hissed out, preparing to kick Meowth only for Wobbuffet to bounce at her. "Gah!" Jessie grunted out as she faceplanted against the ground.

And the fighting would end as soon as it had began; Blastoise and Venusaur stopped before they could delivering the finishing blow while all the others similarly halted in place before turning around as if some unseen force was calling to them.

"Pika..."

"Eevoi..."

"Tox..."

"Croa..."

"Marill..."

"Wobbu..."

"Brains..." Meowth groaned out as he and the others began walking away from their trainers and friends while traversing deeper into the city.

"P-Pikachu..." Ash gritted his teeth as he slowly got back to his feet. He attempted to chase after Pikachu only to comedically faceplant after a few steps. He could only watch as Pikachu and the others disappeared over the horizon. "Pikachu come back..."

"Meowth don't leave us!" James wailed out.

"Meowth I'm sorry, please come back!" Jessie cried out.

"I can't believe Marill's gone..." Tracey sighed.

Brock got up and went to check on Chase and Elaine as they had gotten the worst of it. "You two okay?"

"Y-Yeah I'm fine..." Chase grunted out, clearing trying to act tough as he got back to his feet. Though a loud pained hiss emitted from his mouth as he rubbed his shoulder. "That stings..."

Elaine similarly rubbed her shoulder with a pained grunt. "It hurts like h-"

"Here, I can help with that." Brock quickly produced a first aid kit from his bag and got to work helping them patch up.

Chloe was silent as she stared after Eevee. "There's no way she'd have done that by herself..." She muttered before taking notice of a nearby wall that was filled with posters of missing Pokemon! "Okay that isn't a coincidence." She frowned.

Ash glanced towards her as he got back to his feet. He noticed some familiar Pokemon such as Hitmonchan, Wartortle, Grimer, Ponyta and Electabuzz but there were also some that he'd never seen before such as a cute black furred kitten that had fiery red stripes across it's back, what looked like a miniature Raichu, and what appeared to be the Fruity Hoops' cereal mascot. Had it not been such a dire situation, Ash definitely would have pulled out his Rotom Phone to scan them.

"All those missing Pokemon..."

"You think they all ran off like Meowth and the others?" James seemed to catch on as quick as Chloe did.

"Or somebody could have stolen all of these Pokemon," Jessie commented, her gaze focused on a particular poster. "I mean if I saw a Smoochum, I'd have a mighty hard time resisting the urge to steal it!"

"I'll never understand your obsession with that Pokemon..." James sighed with a light shake of his head.

"Well you're one to talk, I've seen your diary. I know all about your desire to find a Chimecho!"

"Eeee! You've been reading my diary?! Those are my private thoughts!" James shouted.

"Well maybe you shouldn't leave it unlocked!"

"Guys can we please focus here? Meowth and the others were mind controlled by something and whatever did it is most likely the one behind the other missing Pokemon!" Chloe gestured towards the wall of 'Missing' posters.

"That's a lot of Pokemon." Chase bluntly commented.

"Which means that whoever has them is likely storing them in a large warehouse or building, waiting to offload them." Chloe glanced towards Jessie and James. "Are there any Team Rocket operatives nearby? It's likely that they have Meowth and Wobbuffet."

"Like we'd know if-" Jessie started.

"Actually I believe Biff and Cassidy are based somewhere in the Orange Islands, or at least that's what I heard. No idea where they are though." James shrugged.

"It's Butch!" A voice echoed throughout the city streets. "I have no idea who said that or where you are but I know you got my name wrong. Show some respect for your elders, damn it! The name's Butch, B-U-T-C-H! Get it right or don't say it at all!"

Ash, Brock, Chloe, Jessie, James, Tracey, Elaine and Chase turned their attention towards the street that Butch's voice carried from while sweat lightly poured down their heads.

"Well I guess we know who has Pikachu down." Chloe sweated.

"Venonat can find what building they're hiding in-" Tracey reached for Venonat's ball only for Brock to grab his arm.

"No. We don't know what'll happen if we send out another Pokemon, chances are they'll fall under the same spell that entranced Pikachu and the others!"

"Right, we'll just have to do it on our own." Ash frowned. He didn't like the idea of examining every building they came across until they found the right one, especially as Butch and Cassidy could be right in front of him and he wouldn't know.

"Karp, Magikarp, karp karp..." A golden Magikarp bounced past them, his eyes were glazed and focused on the road ahead indicating that he were under a trance of some kind. A trail of golden paint followed Magikarp as he bounced along the road.

"Hey where are you going?! We've got plenty of customers eager to fall for our sc-purchase our affordable and quick way to riches!" The Magikarp Salesman shouted while racing after the painted Magikarp.

"...or we could follow that Magikarp!" Ash smirked.

"That works!" Jessie smirked.

"Hey that's the guy that ripped me off!" James growled while rolling up the sleeves of his shirt.

"Another time James!" Jessie snarled. "I want to get a refund even more than you do but Meowth and Wobbuffet need us!"

James was quick to calm down. "Oh alright, I suppose we'll see him again at some point." He sighed out.

The group followed the Magikarp's golden paint trail down the street, up an alley and down another street before it came to an end at a large building.

"Butch and Catherine's Pokemon Spa and Resort." Chloe read out as the group stood at the front entrance. "Yeah, this'll be the place. Those alias are as obvious as yours are."

"Our aliases are not obvious!" James angrily retorted.

"Yeah, if they were 'so obvious' then how come nobody's arrested us yet?" Jessie was quick to ask.

"Maybe because you two aren't deemed a threat and a minor inconvenience at best?"

"Now listen here, you b-" Jessie turned with an accusing finger only to go silent as Cassidy stood directly in front of her finger with a mocking smirk present across her face. "You!"

"Who else could run this operation?" Cassidy laughed. "You buffoons prefer wasting millions of Pokedollars on those stupid mechs of yours, all Billy and I did was slap a Drowzee into a machine and we got an entire city's Pokemon population under our control!"

"How many times do I have to tell you, the name's Butch!" Butch shot around the corner in a similar disguise, his eyes filled with anger as he leered at Cassidy. "You're my partner, Cassidy! How come you always get it wrong yet the one time I don't want you to say it, you have it painted on the sign and my nametag?!"

"Oh stop complaining and get back to feeding the Pokemon, Billy. Arlo will be here to pick up the Pokemon any moment!" Butch gave Cassidy a final glare before stomping off while grumbling beneath his breath.

"So you're the ones who stole Pikachu and the others," Ash clenched his fists while giving Cassidy a hard glare. "Give them back right now!"

"Or what, you'll sick that Charizard of yours on us?" Cassidy cackled out. "Not a chance, as soon as you send him out he'll turn on you faster than you can say 'Flamethrower!'"

"She's right, she's not worth it." Chloe grabbed hold of Ash's shoulder. "Come on, let's go find Officer Jenny."

"Oh I don't think Officer Jenny will be a problem for us." Cassidy smirked while turning her attention towards the lobby's television as she hit a remote causing the screen to adjust to showcase Officer Jenny who was trapped in a cage alongside her fellow policemen and even some international policemen from the looks of things while a horde of angry looking Growlithe surrounded them. "The only way you'll stop us is if you break our machine which-" She paused to mockingly gasp. "Won't be happening as you're not stepping foot in here!"

"We'll see about that-" Ash tried pushing his way past her only for a deep growl to carry across the room as Houndoom burst from Cassidy's ball. The canine snarled before chomping at Ash's leg, giving him a warning bite.

"Uh huh, don't forget I have a Mega Evolution too!" Cassidy mockingly smirked while pointing towards the door. "Now unless you want to end up Houndoom's chew toy, I suggest you scram!"

Ash gave Cassidy another glare before uttering out a sigh of defeat. "Alright fine, we're going!" He could try kicking Houndoom and running but that wasn't his style, they'd have to find another way.

"How on earth are we going to get in there without Pokemon?" Chloe hissed out to the others as they walked away from the building.

"I think I have an idea, just give us a few hours to make the disguises." James hissed back.

"I feel ridiculous..." Tracey muttered out as he and Chase wore Congo shipping and deliveries uniforms while lugging a large crate towards Butch and Catherine's Spa and Resort.

"Same but it's worth it to get our Pokemon back, now quiet it up or they'll get suspicious!" Chase hissed.

They rolled the large crate through the doors before stopping at the front desk.

"What is this?" The clerk asked.

"We're delivering a pack-Hold up... Tim the Intern?!" Chase exclaimed with a shocked expression.

"Yeah it's me, they finally found a replacement for DJ Mary so I got fired for a 'less than stellar performance and not following the cue cards correctly'." Tim sighed out. "It was either this or frying burgers at McDollar's."

"Oh, that sucks."

"Tell me about it, life must suck for you too."

"Not really, I'm actually quite happy-" Chase started only to go silent as Tracey motioned for him to shut up as he was about to give themselves away. "Happy to be getting out of here! We just need you to sign this and take it to the basement."

"...you two aren't actual deliverymen, are you?" Tim gave Tracey and Chase a suspicious look before throwing up his arms. "Whatever, they don't pay me enough for this. I'll take it down there, you two can go."

Chase and Tracey ran out of there before Cassidy and Butch returned while Tim began lugging the large crate down the steps which wasn't easy as Tracey and Chase took the carrier with them.

"Ugh... Gah..." Tim grunted out as he pulled the crate towards the stairs and down each step before eventually arriving at the basement.

"What are you doing here?" Cassidy gave Tim a suspicious look upon taking notice of him. A large horde of Pokemon stood in the surrounding area, there wasn't any cages in sight as their Drowzee was keeping them all in check with the help of their machine.

"Delivery, no idea what it is. Must be something that you two bought. Say what kind of spa is this? Where's the dancing?"

Butch rolled his eyes before clapping. "Everyone start dancing!"

"Now get." Cassidy snapped before turning back towards Butch. "I'm guessing you bought more action figures?"

"Not me, the mailmen are the only people that get my name right..." Butch sighed out while pointing towards the label. "It says 'Billy and Cassidy'."

"Cassidy?! Wait a moment-"

"Surprise!" The crate burst apart to reveal Ash, Chloe, Brock, Elaine, Jessie and James.

"You!" Cassidy snarled out.

"We're back!" Jessie cackled out. "And here to save Meowth!"

"Yeah, eat bazooka!" James pulled a comedically large rocket launcher from his pocket before firing it towards the machine that Drowzee was hooked up to.

"AGGRON!" Butch's Aggron quickly leaped in the way of the attack, tanking it head on.

"Well don't just stand there James, fire another!" Jessie shouted.

"I would but we're kind of out of ammo." James sweated.

"Hold up, that was your plan?!" Chloe exclaimed.

"Some plan, these idiots are going to get us killed!" Elaine gasped as the hypnotized horde focused their attention upon the group.

Cassidy rubbed her hands together as a gleeful expression crossed her face. "Oh boy, I've been looking forward to this day since the Team Rocket Academy! And the best part is that we can totally get away with it if the boss finds out, we'll simply label you as one of Masked Maniac's traitors!" Her hatred for Jessie seemed to stop her from realizing that they'd be roasting Giovanni's golden boy along with her. "Fire!"

"PIKA!" Pikachu leaped to the front, his cheeks crackled as he aimed his attention towards the group. "Pika..."

"Pikachu don't!" Ash shot forward and quickly dropped to his knees as he pulled Pikachu in for a tight hug. "Come on Pikachu it's me, Ash! Your best friend! We promised each other that we'd be Pokemon Masters together, I know you can fight it. Don't throw it all away, fight it Pikachu! I know you're in there..."

"Pika!" Pikachu snarled out.

"Ha, it's no use kid." Butch laughed out. "This machine's setting works to wipe out all trace of a Pokemon's emotion and sense of thought, making us our mindless-"

"Brains..." Meowth groaned out.

"Well Meowth gets it." Butch snickered.

"Pika...chuuuu!" Pikachu suddenly shot around and fired off an electrical bolt towards Butch and Cassidy's mind control machine.

"Noooo!" Time moved in slow motion for Butch, Cassidy, Aggron and Houndoom as the electrical bolt soared towards the machine before a loud explosion set off as the attack made contact. The horde of Pokemon began shaking their heads as they broke free of their trance before quickly turning their attention towards Butch and Cassidy.

"Grrrr!"

"GYAA!"

"Rhy!"

"Arca!"

"Rai rai!"

"Toise!"

"Saur!"

"Karp karp, Magikarp!" Even the Magikarp Salesman's Magikarp looked extremely ticked off.

"Croa..."

"Brains... I-I mean you're gonna pay for what you did to me!" Meowth snarled out. "I'm not a mindless zombie!"

"Eevoi!" Eevee snapped.

"Wobbuffet!"

Butch, Cassidy, Aggron and Houndoom held onto each other with fearful expressions. "Now now maybe we can talk about this..."

"Yeah I'm sure that we can-"

The Pokemon weren't willing to hear Butch and Cassidy out and chose to fire off an array of attacks, the sheer number of Pokemon within the basement easily overwhelmed the two Mega Pokemon and an explosion was soon heard as Butch, Cassidy and their two Pokemon were sent blasting off to the sky above!

"Looks like Team Rocket is-"

"BEWEAR!" Bewear leaped up and grabbed hold of them only to freeze in place midair upon realizing they weren't her Team Rocket, Bewear glared and let out a menacing roar before hurling them back into motion.

"Looks like we're blasting off twice in one day!"

"Aggron!"

"Aroooo!"

"Oh Meowth, I'm so glad that you're okay!" James pulled Meowth in for a hug while Jessie raced towards Wobbuffet.

"Come here you big lug!"

"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet raced towards his trainer before he was pulled in for a hug. The four hugged each other for a moment before uttering out a sharp gasp as a loud thud sounded behind them.

"BEWEAR!"

"AH!"

"Wobbu!" Bewear scooped the four up before performing a powerful jump as she leaped right out of the building's basement and towards the sky above.

"No fair, we didn't even get to blast off this time!"

"Wobbuffet!"

"Blastoise!"

"Venusaur!" Chase and Elaine raced towards their Pokemon.

"Croagunk!" Brock gave Croagunk a hug while Chloe scooped Eevee into her arms.

"I'm so glad that you're okay!"

"Eevoi!" Eevee affectionately nuzzled against her trainer's cheek while Toxel and Pikachu leaped back onto Ash's shoulder.

"I knew you could do it, Pikachu. Way to go!"

"Pika!" Pikachu beamed while nuzzling against Ash's cheek.

"Tox..."

"Ah there you are, time to whip up a fresh batch of-" The Magikarp Salesman walked towards Magikarp with a golden paintbrush in hand.

"International Police, everyone stop where you are!"

"Eee!" The Magikarp Salesman tossed the paintbrush across the room before whistling in an innocent fashion as Officer Jenny and the International Police broke free from their confinement.

Looker was the first to step out and froze upon spotting Ash, Brock and Chloe. "You three again?"

"You know these kids sir?" Officer Jenny asked.

"Not personally but I know they're good people, they stopped the bad guys again and are free to go."

"But what about the paperwork!" Another international police officer started only for his partner to toss the pad.

"I told you it's easier this way." His partner shook his head.

"Alright kids, you heard the nice police officer. Let's get going-Hey what are you doing?! I know my rights!" Magikarp Salesman shouted as one of the international policemen handcuffed him.

"The kids are free to go, you're not."

"But I didn't even do anything, I'm not the villain of this story!" Magikarp Salesman whined. "Come on, I have six kids to feed at home!"

"Enough with the lies, we've read your file." A police officer scoffed.

Looker gave Ash and his friends a look as they left before motioning towards the unclaimed Pokemon. "Alright let's get these Pokemon back to their trainers, they're probably worried sick."

"But what of Drowzee? Isn't it part of Team Rocket?"

"Nope, a Drowzee was reported stolen from Murcott Island and I'm willing to bet that it's this one based on the timing of everything." Looker frowned. "We'll get it back as soon as we can."

"Bye Ash!" Chase waved after Ash and the others as they departed on Lapras the following morning.

"Good luck with your Orange League adventure!" Elaine waved after them.

"Thanks and good luck with whatever it is you two are planning to do!" Ash and the others waved back at them until they disappeared from view. "Alright Lapras, let's get to Kumquat Island. I can't wait to earn my fourth Orange League Badge!" Ash excitedly exclaimed.

"Laaaaa!"

"All hail the great Meowth of Bounty!" A bunch of locals dressed in identical white robes were bent down on their knees while bowing towards a golden throne where an Alolan Meowth sat.

"Meowth..." Prince uttered out a sigh while gazing upon his worshippers, a bored expression visible across his face as he impatiently tapped his claws against the side of his throne. After the emotional abuse he suffered under Luna, he was glad to be worshipped and loved twenty four hours of the day but four straight months of it with absolutely zero breaks?! It was driving him bonkers and he was desperate for a way out, for a change of scenery... but he wasn't sure how to accomplish it as the island lacked modern technology and Meowth's sure couldn't swim!

"Meowth..." Meowth sighed out while gazing towards the ground with a defeated expression as he thought himself stuck forever.

"Ahh!" Butch and Cassidy screamed as they fell towards the ground.

Prince's eyes widened at the sight and he was quick to race after the falling humans in hopes of finding a way out. "Ow..." Butch and Cassidy groaned out as they hit against the ground, swirls formed within their eyes before fading away as the duo shook their heads.

"W-Where are we...?" Cassidy groaned out.

"No idea... but I'm sure that we're going to be stuck here for awhile..." Butch groaned before going silent as his eyes set upon Prince. Cassidy's gaze soon followed Butch's and the three stared each other down before eventually speaking out as they all seemed to be riding the same train of thought.

"Meow meow?!" 'Can I join you guys?!'

"How would you like to join Team Rocket?!"

The three paused before sharing a smirk as they each held a hand, or paw in Prince's case, before resting them on top of each other as a new partnership was forged.

Prince finally found his place in the world.

Next time, Ash faces off against the final Orange Island Gym! :)