Chapter 3: Team Rocket Annoying Lance

Ash and Raihan had been battling for five minutes thus far, and as expected, Ash and Pikachu found a way to win against Gigalith.

Ash said to Pikachu, "Great job, Pikachu! Let's keep going!"

"PIKA!"

"That's great work my brother. I can now see why you are Champion." Raihan returned the Gigalith, and immediately sent out his next Pokémon. "Let's go, Turtonator!" Turtonator appeared, and it was ready to fight.

The sandstorm stopped, and Lance could finally take the magazine off of his head, and shake the sand out of his hair and mouth. He then looked around and saw piles of sand surrounding his chair.

Raihan said first, "Turtonator, use Sunny Day!"

The Turtonator unleashed a bright light, and within seconds, harsh rays of sunlight enveloped the arena.

"A fierce battle between Hammerlocke's Gym Leader and a Champion. This is amazing," Goh said out loud. Curious, he then glanced over at Lance to see his reaction to the ferocious battle; however, he instantly regretted it when he saw Lance back in his lounging chair with his shades on and now shirtless. Because of Sunny Day and the enormous amount of sand around him, Lance already figured he was in a beach environment. Yes, he could finally relax and get a small tan.

Goh marched over to Lance. "Hey, are you paying any attention!?" The man didn't answer. Goh tried again, "Lance!"

After the second attempt to berate the man, he finally came to a realization that Lance was fast asleep.

Goh murmured, "I can't believe this guy."

In the midst of light snoring, Lance said in his sleep, "Oh, Cynthia…"

"Huh?" Goh raised a brow. "Cynthia? What on earth is he dreaming about?"

Lance continued softly, "So you were a guy after all."

Goh flinched. "What the hell?!" He then left, and continued to watch the battle with his arms crossed. He didn't need to hear any more of this.

Ash and Raihan continued to battle their hearts out, but all of a sudden, a net appeared from the stands and trapped the Pikachu and Turtonator. Everyone, but Lance – who was still asleep – gasped. The two Pokémon in the net had no idea what was going on or what to do.

Ash ordered, "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt to get you and Turtonator out of there."

Pikachu followed Ash's orders, but the net wouldn't break. It was soaking-in Pikachu's electric attacks. Raihan then ordered Turtonator to use fire blast, but electricity quickly enveloped the net, and shocked both of the trapped Pokémon with blue electricity. After, they were both dirty and weakened.

Raihan said, "What the hell is going on?"

Ash said, "I think I know who this is."

Then, familiar faces whose names were Jessie, James and Meowth appeared on the other side of the arena with the trapped Pokémon behind them. They laughed and Jesse started:

"Look, we caught the twerp's Pikachu. Finally."

James said, "Now we just have to get that Dragonite."

They then sent out their most reliable Pokémon in their eyes; Arbok and Weezing. Meowth decided to join in the fun.

Frustrated, Ash turned to both Goh and Raihan. "Guys, let's send out all of our Pokémon. Some will attack their Pokémon, and the rest will free the Pikachu and Turtonator."

Raihan agreed. He took his Pokéballs out and threw them in the air, revealing Torkoal, Goodra, and Flygon; his Gigalith had already fainted from he and Ash's battle. Ash then threw his, and out came Gengar, Dragonite and Riolu. Goh did the same, and Raboot came out, ready for anything that came its way.

Ash started, "Dragonite, use wing attack at Arbok. The rest of you free Pikachu!"

Raihan said, "Flygon, use Dragon Claw! Everyone else, rescue Turtonator!"

Goh said, "Raboot, help the trapped Pokémon!"

The Pokémon all did as they were told. The Dragonite, and Flygon both hit their targets, and the rest of the Pokémon started biting and scratching the net, but for some reason, they were struggling with it.

James said, "Weezing, use Dark Pulse!" A dark, semi-circle wave of black energy was sent at the Dragonite.

Ash shouted, "Dragonite, dodge it and strike Weezing with another Wing Attack!" The Dragonite acknowledged its trainer and landed another Wing Attack.

Jesse said, "Arbok, use Poison sting!"

Arbok opened its mouth, and needles of white light were shot at Flygon.

Raihan said in return, "Flygon, use Steel Wing to deflect the attack and end that Arbok!" Flygon nodded. Its wing was suddenly coated with a shiny substance, and then hardened. The Poison Sting attack hit the wing, but was deflected. It then struck its wing at the Arbok, and the Arbok fell over.

Then, without warning, two more nets appeared. One net caught the Pokémon helping Pikachu and Turtonator, and the other caught Dragonite and Flygon. All of the Pokémon panicked and tried to escape, but the net coated itself in three different elements, and started to drain every Pokémon's energy. Finally, the captured Pokémon all fell over and moaned.

The trainers on the other side all stood there shocked as they witnessed Jesse and James holding larger than life Bazookas that shot nets instead of explosives.

Jesse said, "We did it, we got all of them!"

James said, thrilled, "And we caught a Dragonite!"

Meowth added, "It might be the twerp's Dragonite, but a Dragonite is a Dragonite nonetheless."

They all laughed somewhat menacingly.

Goh said in the distance. "No way…they've got all of our Pokémon."

Raihan shouted, "I don't know what your goal is here, but who the hell are you anyway?"

Goh yelled, "Give us back out Pokémon!"

Jessie said, "We thought you'd never ask. We are…" They then began stating their motto:

Jesse: Prepare for trouble!

James: Make it Double!

Jesse: To protect the world from devastation!

James: To unite all peoples within our nation!

Jesse: To denounce the evils of truth and love!

James: To extend our reach to the stars above!

Jessie: Jessie!

James: James!

Jessie: Team Rocket, blasting off at the speed of light!

James: Surrender now or prepare to fight, fight, fight!

Meowth: Meeeeowth, that's…

"Excuse me," a voice bellowed. The three team members glanced to the side, and saw none other than Lance the G-man awake, and lounging in his chair with his arms crossed. "Can you keep it down?"

Team Rocket blinked. "EHHH?!"

Goh shouted, "Lance, what're you doing? Get up and help us! You're the only one with Pokémon left."

Lance shrugged, "Relax guys, we'll get them back. These people are complete bimbos. A Jigglypuff is more intimidating than them. If we wait two minutes, they'll eventually sabotage their own plan."

Meowth felt offended. He retorted, "Who are you calling Bimbo, Mr. Good-two-shoes!? You out of all people should remember us!"

Lance propped himself up. He then lowered his sunglasses and looked over at them. "I'm sorry, who're you?"

The three Team Rocket members comically fell over.

They got up, and Jesse shouted, "We just told you!"

James added, "And I'm not going through that motto again!"

Ash gave Lance the Power Stare again, and Lance caved. He looked at the arena's ceiling, and gawked at the forced sunlight one last time; as expected, he wouldn't be able to enjoy that either. He then got up, and put on his black T-shirt. After, he wrapped his belt with his Pokéballs around his waist before joining the rest of the party. He noticed that the young men were concerned for their Pokémon's well-being. Lance placed both of his hands on their shoulders, and reassured them, "Don't worry, I'll help you get them back. I promise."

Lance then turned to face Team Rocket. He said, "You may be able to get my friend's Pokémon, but you sure as hell won't get mine."

Team Rocket then smiled. Jesse said, "Big words for a shorter man."

James continued, "Your Pokémon are no match for our traps."

Meowth concluded, "We want those Dragonite, and we'll be sure to get them."

Having enough, Lance threw three Pokéballs. They all revealed Dragonite who were more than ready to follow their trainer's orders. They all roared, and the arena shook.

Raihan folded his hands together as if he were in love. He thought cheerfully, "It's Lance's Dragonite! I can't believe I'm seeing this with my own eyes! Leon only saw his red Gyarados. He'll be so jealous that he couldn't battle such a strong Pokémon! I better take a picture, or he'll just laugh and tell me that it didn't happen."

Lance said to all three Dragonite, "Dragonite, you know what to do!" Again, his orders were vague, but his Pokémon knew exactly what he wanted. They flew past Team Rocket.

The Dragonite tried clawing at the net Ash, Goh and Raihan's Pokémon were in, but the net was like extremely thick leather, and hard to break. One of the Dragonite bit the netting instead, and the mesh started to tear. Pikachu and the other trapped Pokémon cheered on the Dragonite as it continued messing up the meshwork.

Ash's Dragonite then started communicating with the second Dragonite helping it out of its net. It was scared, but Lance's Dragonite gave it a curt nod, indicating that it'll do everything in its power to get it out safely.

James said, "Oh, no. They're messing everything up!"

Lance then sent out his Haxorus and Gyarados. "Haxorus, go cut the net with your tusks, but be careful; there are Pokémon inside. Gyarados, retrieve those idiots." The Haxorus ran to the netting. It was on its way to shredding the mesh with its tusk while the Gyarados zoomed at Team Rocket; however, the two Pokémon were stopped when an overly large cannon under Meowth's control shot out another net, trapping the Gyarados and Haxorus. Immediately, the net coated itself in electricity and stopped the two Pokémon from doing anything. Gyarados then collapsed from fatigue, and landed on top of Haxorus.

Then – just as quick – another net was released from the cannon, and trapped all three of Lance's Dragonites in one go. Lance shouted, "Dragonite, bite and claw through that netting." And they did just that. They could stand an electric attack, but a turn of events occurred, and the netting turned completely white and started glowing. It wasn't long before the material got hard and started to crystalize.

Lance exclaimed, "What?"

The area the Dragonite were trapped in got cold, and within seconds, the Dragonite's energy was diminishing.

Lance shouted again, a little panicked. Ice was his worst enemy. "All of you, Dragon Claw, NOW!" The Dragonite attempted to swipe at the netting, but with the mixture of harsh ice moves and energy depletion, the mesh was seemingly unbreakable. "No way."

Ash said, "He's got all of our Pokémon now."

Goh asked, "What do we do?"

Raihan tried to think.

Lance then peered over his shoulder. Hiding behind a large pillar in the stands was his Dreepy, watching the battle carefully, but a little frightened. Poor little guy. It was a prankster, but it lacked confidence in battle when it saw that its friends were taken down so easily. Lance winked at the ghost-dragon type Pokémon before focusing back onto Team Rocket. The Dreepy saw that its trainer was still confident that they were going to win, and that relieved it and made it confident in itself. The Dreepy lightly giggled before vanishing.

Lance quietly said to the group beside him, "Everyone, I want you to be completely still."

Ash shook his head. He said, surprised, "What?"

Stoic, Lance replied, "Do as I say."

Ash, Goh and Raihan nodded in understanding. They still had no idea why, but they had to trust him. Lance then yelled across the arena, "Team Rocket, give up while you still can. Release those Pokémon and you won't get hurt."

Meowth replied, "Why should we? We're the ones who's winning."

The Arbok and Weezing recovered from Flygon and Dragonite's attacks. They placed themselves in front of their trainers. Meowth joined them.

James said with an unnerving smile, "We've got all of your Pokémon. None of you can do anything now."

Lance smiled in return, revealing his hidden ego. "Not all of them." He aimed a hand at Team Rocket and commanded at the top of his lungs, "Dreepy, Thunder Wave!"

In a flash, the Dreepy appeared in front of Arbok, Weezing and Meowth. With a quick wave of its little arms, electricity soared throughout the stadium. The Thunder Wave wasn't very well controlled due to the Dreepy's inexperience, but it managed to hit all three of its targets, instantly paralyzing them.

Ash commented, "Woah, I didn't know a ghost Pokémon could do that."

"I get it now," said Goh.

"Get what?" Ash asked.

Goh turned to his friend. "Lance wanted us to stay still, because Dreepy can't properly control its attacks until it gets more experience; Lance is still training him. The Thunder Wave could have still struck us while standing in place, but if we would've been moving around, there would've been a greater chance that someone could have gotten injured."

Ash said, "I see."

Lance then ordered, "Dragon tail!"

Using all of its strength, the Dreepy slammed its tail end against the three Pokémon. The attack caused the opponent's Pokémon to fly at least ten feet. The Weezing and Arbok were out cold, but Meowth was still awake, trying to recover from the initial Thunder Wave.

When the Dreepy had finished, it quickly floated back to Lance and hugged his face with a smile. Lance couldn't help, but laugh and smile back. "Great job, Dreepy. Now, come with me and we'll finish this."

The Dreepy responded with a, "Hmph!"

Lance then walked over to Team Rocket's side.

Ash said, "L-Lance what're you doing?"

Raihan exclaimed, "It's too dangerous to go over there!"

But Lance didn't care. His main focus was to retrieve the trapped Pokémon. When he reached Team Rocket's position, he stopped in front of James and stared directly into his eyes.

James shuddered and said with a voice crack, "What're you looking at me like that for?"

Jesse was just as confused.

Lance clenched his right hand. "Some people see Pokémon as tools of destruction, while others view and cherish Pokémon as friends, but no matter the situation, Pokémon are loyal to their trainers, and mine have proven that to me over and over again. Throughout the years, my Pokémon have saved my ass from the greatest of enemies that I have ever come across, and upon looking at the position you have put my Pokémon in now…IT'S TIME FOR ME TO RETURN THE FAVOUR! AAARGGGH!" With manic eyes and one hard swing, Lance right hooked James into oblivion, and sent him flying.

Jesse screamed as she watched her partner get smoked by goody-two-shoes. "What're you doing? What gives you the right to assault my partner in that manner!"

Goh shouted, "OH MY ARCEUS, LANCE! WHAT THE HELL!"

Raihan thought, "My hero."

And ash said, "I'll remind myself never to piss off Lance."

Lance gave Jesse a death glare in return. "You're lucky I'm too decent to hit a woman, but if any of you hurt my friends or Pokémon again, I won't hesitate to kill you." He turned to the Dreepy beside him. "Dreepy, free the Pokémon."

Jesse winced. She could tell that this man meant business.

Dreepy nodded. It used Swift. Dozens of stars appeared, and were sent to cut different parts of the netting. Eventually, the mesh severed and all of the Pokémon were freed. While Dreepy was keeping busy with his orders, Lance grabbed Meowth by the scruff. The third Team Rocket member attempted to scratch Lance's face, but Lance was having none of it. After mustering up all his strength, Lance used all of his might to hurl the cat Pokémon across the arena, and into the nearest wall.

Ash, Goh, and Raihan's Pokémon were now free. They were fatigued and some injured, but they managed to run back to their trainers without severe complications. Lance's Pokémon – on the other hand – were a different story. The net the three Dragonite, Gyarados and Haxorus were trapped in were detached, but his Pokémon weren't moving.

Lance went back to his Dreepy. "Fantastic work again, Dreepy." They both then made their way to his fainted Pokémon. Lance went to each Dragonite first and asked softly, "Can you all hear me?" All three Dragonite weakly responded; it was rather pathetic to listen to. Lance pet one of the Dragonite as a means of comfort. He said, "Don't worry, everyone. I'll get you all healed up shortly." The first order of business was getting his Gyarados and Haxorus back into their Pokéballs. When that was sorted, Lance returned to his Dragonite. He grabbed the rest of his Pokéballs on his belt, along with some medicine.

But as Lance tended to his Pokémon, Goh noticed something. "Lance, watch out!"

Upon hearing his name, Lance looked over his shoulder, and saw the Arbok free of the paralysis and towering over him. With a cunning smile, Jesse commanded, "Alright Arbok, let's put goody-two-shoes G-man in his place! Arbok, use Glare!"

The Arbok looked deep into Lance's eyes. The man's body on the receiving end immediately stiffened. As the Pokémon's attack took its effect, Lance could feel his muscles twitch, and feeling as if a million pins were poking at every nerve in his body. It didn't hurt, he couldn't feel anything; it was just an odd sensation.

It wasn't long before Lance's body collapsed, and he fell to his side in a heap. One of his Dragonite slowly opened its eyes and saw its trainer on the ground, unmoving. It whined and groaned, wanting to help him, but it was too weak to do so. Lance tried moving again, but it was impossible. He'd have to deal with the odd sensations, and hope that the Arbok wasn't going to throw a Poison Sting at him.

Realizing that Lance was in trouble, Ash said to his reliable partner, "Quick, help Lance, Pikachu! Use Agility and then Thunder against that Arbok!"

Pikachu nodded, and did exactly as it was told. Its cheeks gathered electricity as it made its way to the Arbok at an incredible speed.

Raihan then sent out his own Pokémon, "Goodra, help Pikachu out with your Rain Dance."

Goodra nodded, and waved its arms and tail. Rain started to pour in the arena. This caught everyone – including the Arbok – off guard. Then, Pikachu jumped into the air, and with the electrical energy it had collected in its little cheeks, released its power and struck the Arbok without fault.

The Arbok fell over, and Jesse stood there, shocked by everything that had occurred in the last few minutes. Meanwhile, the Dreepy was at Lance's side, nudging his arms and legs, hoping that its trainer would move or try getting up. Lance was awake, and aware of his surroundings, but he just couldn't move. The muscles in his body twitched again. He assured his ghost-dragon Pokémon positively, "I'm okay, Dreepy." He tried moving again, but it was no use. He then shifted his eyes to the side and noticed the Weezing beginning to wake up from its paralysis. Even though its trainer was unconscious, it didn't mean it wasn't capable of inflicting some damage. Lance looked into Dreepy's eyes. He said with a smile and resolve, "Dreepy, use Curse."

Dreepy nodded. The Weezing then turned around and looked at Lance and Dreepy. Dreepy flew in front of Lance, protecting him from any more harm. Then, the Dreepy's eyes turned red momentarily before the area got dark. The Weezing was petrified, and unsure of what was happening, but relatively quickly, its energy was being drained out of it. As this happened, Dreepy was getting just as tired. The Dreepy lowered itself to the ground, attempting to regain its strength. Remaining paralyzed, Lance managed, "You did great. Soon, you'll get a nice long rest."

Raihan waved an arm and shouted, "Goodra, the Pokémon is weak! Finish that Weezing off with Surf!"

Goodra quickly hurled a giant wave at the Weezing. The impact of the water sent the poison Pokémon flying, which hit Jesse in the process. As she attempted to push the fainted Weezing off of her, she pulled out her Pokéball and said, "Return, Arbok."

Ash then sent out his Dragonite, "Dragonite, get Team Rocket out of here." Ash's Dragonite acknowledged its trainer's commands.

Hearing Ash's orders from afar, Lance said, "Dragonite. Any one of you. Are you able to do anything?" Two of them moaned in response, but one Dragonite slowly rose. After seeing its trainer paralyzed on the ground, it grew angrier. Finally, the Dragonite was on its feet and roared loudly. Lance said, "Dragonite, help Ash's Pokémon get these idiots out of here."

Ash's Dragonite went and grabbed Meowth with a handful of talons, and James' pant leg with another. Lance's Dragonite then grasped Jesse's arm and the Weezing. Quickly, the two Dragonite flew out of the arena and tossed Team Rocket into the air. Lance's Dragonite then took its opportunity for vengeance by using a nasty Hyper Beam, hitting Team Rocket dead on.

Flying mid air, Jesse cried, "I can't believe we lost!"

Meowth weakly added, "And to think we could've had all those Pokémon in our possession. We are so greedy."

James, just waking up, exclaimed, "Oh no, why are we flying?"

Ignoring James, Jesse said, "Maybe goody-two-shoes is right. Maybe we are just a bunch of bimbos."

Meowth finished, "and we'll be going down the toilet instead of the history books."

"TEAM ROCKET IS BLASTING OFF AGAAAIIIINNN!" *Ding*

The two Dragonite took a moment to high five each other before turning back into the building. The dragon Pokémon eventually met up with the rest of their friends who were currently running to Lance's aid. Pikachu got there first and poked the dragon trainer's arm, hoping he'd move. "Pika…"

Lance assured, "I'm fine, Pikachu."

Ash then knelt in front of his friend, "Lance, are you alright?"

Then, using its head, his one Dragonite nudged Lance's forehead. He still couldn't understand why his trainer wasn't getting up.

Lance said, confidently and with a relaxed smile, "I'm fine, Ash. I just can't move. Give me some time. The effects will eventually wear off. Trust me, I've been through this before."

Raihan then said, "Come on, let's walk it off." With the help of Ash, Raihan was able to hoist Lance onto his feet. After a few minutes they got his legs working, but he could barely move his upper half.

Goh noticed Lance's Dreepy on the ground, who had almost fainted from the Curse. He grabbed it and held it close to his chest, comforting it as it watched its trainer struggle.

Ash said, while he and Raihan aided their friend to the sidelines, "Sorry for ruining your day." Both of their Dragonite followed.

Lance assured, "Don't worry about it, Ash. Despite the interruptions, I think I had fun meeting new people, and battling once more with Pokémon under the odd circumstances. Not only that, I got to spend some time with a good friend. Wow, what a rush! I almost forgot what battling felt like. Oh – can you do me a favour? Can you grab the three Pokéballs from my belt, and retrieve my other Dragonite? They're very weak, and we have to get them to a Pokémon centre straight away. Actually, I think we need to get everyone to a Pokémon centre."

It took thirty minutes, but eventually, Lance was able to move again. Working together, everyone managed to gather their Pokémon, and they travelled to the nearest Pokémon centre to get everyone treated. Out of all the Pokémon, Lance's Dragonite were in the worst shape, but they pulled through. In the waiting room, Lance quickly looked at his watch. It was now 7:00pm. He took a quick glance out of the window, and noticed that the sun was setting. Ash and Goh still felt bad for everything that had happened, but Lance told them that it was out of their control. He then added, "Besides, I won't be able to enjoy my vacation now, because Team Rocket did a number on my Pokémon. I want them to be healthy so they can enjoy their retirement too." Lance gave a warm smile. This was the Lance Ash knew. "Anyways, thank you for helping me out back there. Who knows what that Arbok would've done? And my apologies. I didn't mean to be an asshole all day. I was just hoping to have a day without disruptions."

Goh and Ash said together, "You're welcome!"

Lance then said, "We'll be waiting here for a while, so I think that this is an appropriate time to catch up. Ash, got any interesting stories for me?"

Ash clenched his fists, and said with exhilaration, "Do I ever!" He looked at Goh, "Should we tell him about the Lugia?"

Goh replied, "Yeah!"

Raihan watched from afar as his idol interacted with the two young men. All the red-haired man wanted was to enjoy some sunshine, and he felt bad too for not giving it to him, but Lance being the humble human being he was, would probably tell him that his thoughts were utter nonsense. Lance then noticed Raihan on the side, watching them. He said, "Raihan, come and join us! Ash has some great stories to share."

Raihan was taken aback by the invite. "Y-yes, sir."

Epilogue is next…