Hey, guys! I'm back with a new chapter! This one reveals a bit about what Team Rocket is up to...an important plot point!
Last time: Upon returning to Cerulean City, Aiden challenges his mother to a battle for the Cascade Badge, which she promptly turns down. Misty informs the three that the gym is being occupied by her sisters, who are planning to put on a new water ballet starring none other than Michelle. There's only one problem: Michelle hates to perform! While Misty busies herself with teaching her oldest daughter the ins and outs of being a water ballerina, Team Rocket comes up with a scheme that involves the gym's new ballet...
Chapter Eight: The Water Ballet! Team Rocket's Scheme!
"No, no! All wrong!"
"She isn't even looking at the audience when she does that spin!"
"And she looks completely uncomfortable half of the time."
Michelle groaned and leaned back in the water, allowing herself to be swallowed by the liquid as she immersed herself underneath the surface of the gym pool. Misty watched her daughter sink underneath the water and frowned, feeling rather guilty for getting the girl into this situation.
"Misty, haven't you taught her anything?"
Growling, Misty looked over her shoulder and bit, "Lily, lay off! She doesn't even want to do this!"
Misty's pink haired older sister leaned back, but not in surprise. Over the past 30 years, she had grown quite used to her younger sister's outbursts and generally unpredictable moods. "I'm not blaming Michelle, Misty. I'm blaming you."
"Oh yeah, because that's so much better," Misty drawled sarcastically.
"Lily, setting Misty off isn't going to change the fact that this is going to be the worst water ballet in Cerulean history," Violet sighed sadly, folding her arms across her chest.
At this point, Michelle had come up from underneath the water and was now feeling even worse than before. She really didn't want to be doing this stupid show, but she didn't want to let down her home city either. And according to her aunts, she was going to do just that.
Daisy seemed to notice the torturous look on her niece's face and, being the most loving and protective of the aunts, decided to step in and give the girl some relief.
"Violet, Lily, stop that, right now," Daisy scolded gently. "Chiding Misty for not being able to teach Michelle is just pointless. Can't you see that Michelle is frustrated? Besides, water ballet isn't an easy thing to master. She's only been learning it for a day."
"We're not chiding her," Violet scrunched her nose up, a habit that all four sisters possessed.
"Yeah, we weren't telling Misty to be quiet at all!" Lily agreed.
At this, Misty smacked her forehead and groaned. Fortunately, her sisters had gotten considerably brighter over the years, but on the negative side, Daisy was the only one who seemed to have completely broken out of her teenage "ditz" phase. The other two still struggled on occasion, and now was certainly one of those times.
"That's not what chiding means, girls," Daisy sighed.
Misty encircled Michelle in her arms and held the girl close, resting her chin atop her head. "It's alright," Misty softly assured her daughter, "you're going to be just fine."
"Misty?" Daisy called, causing the gym leader to turn her eyes up to her oldest sister. "Perhaps Dakota could teach Michelle a few things about performing. She has a fondness for it, after all. I'm sure she wouldn't mind in the least!"
"I guess she could," Misty nodded, letting go of Michelle but keeping a hand on her. "I'm sure by now she's tired of running after Elizabeth, anyway."
XXX
Dakota LeighAnne Sketchit was, by all accounts, just like her mother.
She had perfectly defined and beautiful features, was blonde haired, sea green eyed, and light skinned, with a penchant for shopping and all things girly. There was nothing Dakota loved more than dressing up and trying out new makeup techniques. Despite this, small but noticeable bits of her father had seeped through as well.
Dakota loved art, especially drawing. She was generally a very gentle person, who didn't mind doing favors for others every once in awhile. As a result, she tended to be much more patient than her mother and willing to stick it out when it came to certain situations.
Today, that would involve training Michelle to be a prima water ballerina.
"Okay, Michelle," Dakota calmly instructed her younger cousin, who looked less than thrilled to be underneath the older girl's instruction. "I'm going to teach you one of the most important aspects of performing in the water ballet: eye contact with the audience."
"How am I supposed to do that while I'm dancing?" Michelle grumbled.
"Once you get used to it, it's not so hard," Dakota smiled innocently at the red head. "Here, I'll show you!"
The blonde dove underneath the water, creating a large splash which drenched Michelle in the process. The young coordinator growled and clenched her fists, but chose to say nothing in response, rather following her cousin's lead and sinking underneath the liquid much more calmly than her predecessor.
Watching the two girls were their other cousins: Vanessa and Lola, both of whom were simultaneously babysitting Elizabeth. Or, at least, they were supposed to be watching the young girl.
Elizabeth stood before the two older girls, dressed in her green one piece swim suit printed with limes and a ruffle on the back, with her arms crossed and a pout on her pretty little face. Vanessa and Lola were too busy observing Dakota and Michelle and yapping away to each other about boys and makeup to pay any attention to her.
"Hey!" Elizabeth finally snapped, grabbing onto Vanessa's leg.
The blue haired girl looked down in curiosity, wondering why in the world this little 4 year old was going crazy on her.
"Elizabeth, like…what's up with you?" Vanessa sighed, the 13 year old sounding pretty bored with the whole situation.
"You're boring," Elizabeth sniped.
Vanessa gasped, clearly offended by the younger girl's comment. She held a hand over her heart, pressing it against her purple lace tank top and planting her feet into the floor, making her long and slender legs appear even more so.
"Lizzie's got a point," Lola snickered, folding her arms over her chest to cover her ocean blue crop top with three bow cut outs on the back. She too had long, willowy legs, accentuated by her short white shorts.
"Oh, be quiet!" Vanessa whined. "I don't think you're so interesting either, Lola Avonlea!"
At this, Lola scrunched her nose up and shook her head, causing her short pink hair to fly out around her. "Blegh. Don't use my middle name."
"Well, Elizabeth, if you think I'm so boring, then what do you want me to do?" Vanessa raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing," Elizabeth shrugged. "I wanna' play with the Pokémon. You got none."
Vanessa flattened her brow out, and Lola began to laugh once again.
"Lizzie is funny," Lola snickered, her cobalt blue eyes sparkling as she laughed. The 12 year old was more relaxed than her two older cousins, and more willing to joke around. Especially when it came to those two. "Here, Elizabeth, you can play with Louis!"
Lola plucked a poke ball out of the small orange purse strapped across her chest and opened it up, releasing a bouncy little Eeevee.
"He's so cute!" Elizabeth squealed, jumping down to pet the happy normal type.
"Hey, Dakota!" Lola called as the blonde popped back up from underneath the water. "Do you mind if I take Queenie out of her poke ball? Elizabeth wants to play with our Pokémon."
"Sure," Dakota shrugged, pulling her dark golden hair behind her as she blinked the water out of her eyes. Michelle appeared next to the older girl, still looking miserable over her situation. Turning to Michelle, Dakota instructed, "Come on, Michelle. No time for a break! The show opens in two days!"
"I hate everything," Michelle grumbled, returning back underneath the water.
As the two girls returned to their work, Lola removed Dakota's sole poke ball from her brown leather bag and tossed it, sending out a bright blue light which materialized into a smirking Purrloin.
"Purr," she droned, stretching her body out and striding over towards Louis and Elizabeth.
Dakota and Lola did not use their Pokémon to battle, but rather kept them as pets. As a result, the two were very domesticated and used to being pampered and played with. Elizabeth picked up on this quickly and had an easy time playing with the two.
After awhile, she began to chase Queenie and Louis around the pool, the two Pokémon mewling happily while Elizabeth shrieked and squealed in utter delight. Halfway around the pool, however, Elizabeth slipped on a puddle and, with a cry, went flying towards the middle of the pool.
"Elizabeth!" Vanessa and Lola gasped.
Just as Elizabeth was about to hit the water, Michelle popped up, a huge smile on her face. "I finally did it! I l spun and looked at the audience! Isn't that great Da-"
Before Michelle could finish her triumphant celebration, Elizabeth landed on her, sending the older girl back underneath the water.
At that same moment, Dakota came afloat, her face glowing. "Michelle, that was awesome! I knew you'd catch on eventually!" Turning her head from side to side, Dakota quickly became confused and asked her two younger cousins, "Hey, where did Michelle go?"
Michelle remerged, panting as she held Elizabeth in her arms. The younger girl looked only somewhat startled, with her dark red hair plastered to her face and her arms wrapped around Michelle's neck.
"Well, at least Lizzie was wearing a bathing suit…" Vanessa rubbed the side of her head.
"Anything that can go wrong…is going wrong," Dakota groaned, burying her face in her hands.
XXX
Two days later, it was time for the brand new Cerulean City water ballet staring the one and only Michelle Ketchum.
To say the girl was less than thrilled was an understatement.
She had tried her hardest to sleep in. Even when her father came barging into her room and tried to playfully pry her out of bed. Normally, Michelle would've found it funny and laughed along with him, but she really wasn't in the mood to be tugged like that. Eventually, when Ash pulled at her again, Michelle went to kick him, and actually ended up connecting with his cheek.
"Ow!" Ash wailed, dropping Michelle back on her bed.
That finally got a laugh out of the young girl, who pushed herself up on her hands and grinned mischievously at her father. "That will teach you to get on my nerves."
"Just like your mother…" Ash muttered.
"Well then maybe you shouldn't just come in here and decide to wake me up," Michelle grew stern and pulled the covers back over her head, although she remained sitting up. "I want to go back to sleep."
"You can't, sweetheart," Ash smirked. "It's time to start getting ready for the water ballet."
"The water ballet is dumb," Michelle commented from underneath the blanket.
"But important," Ash yanked the covers off of his daughter. "Come on, princess."
Michelle narrowed her eyes. "Don't call me that."
"You love it when I call you princess," Ash chuckled. "That's your nickname!"
"I don't want you to call me that anymore," Michelle complained.
"Oh, you're only whining because you have to be in the water ballet. I know that isn't true."
"It is."
"Mmmhm."
"Believe me!" Michelle moaned.
"Not a chance!" Ash laughed, picking Michelle up with ease and carrying her out of her room.
"Put me down!" Michelle cried laughingly, reaching up to tug at her father's locks as he brought her down the stairs.
"Nope, not gonna' happen!" Ash shook his head. He brought her all the way into the kitchen, where unfortunately for the 10 year old girl, her entire family plus Brandon was gathered for breakfast and was now staring at her and her father like they were a couple of lunatics.
"Ash, put her down before you drop her!" Misty scolded.
"Ah, Mist, she's not a little baby!" Ash laughed, continuing to hold the girl in a bridal style. "She's got enough strength to hold herself up."
"Ash…" Misty warned darkly, "put her down."
"Yes, ma'am," Ash showed off a foolish grin, which caused Michelle to giggle and Misty to growl audibly at the Pokémon Master. Once back on her feet, Michelle waltzed over to the table and sat down next to her brother, who, just like her, was still dressed in his pajamas. He was eyeing the girl as if she was crazy, while Elizabeth was sitting up on her knees and facing the back of the chair.
"Daddy, pick me up like that!" Elizabeth demanded.
"No, there will be no more of that," Misty stepped in, her eyes still narrowed at Ash.
"But I wanna' be carried like that!" Elizabeth whined, her eyes darkening as she complained.
"Hush, baby girl," Ash stepped forward and brushed through the girl's hair. Leaning down, he whispered in her ear, "I'll carry you around later, when Mommy's not looking."
Elizabeth giggled and nodded her head wildly.
"Ash, what are you telling her?" Misty looked warily over her shoulder.
"Nothing, darling," Ash drawled in a sickeningly sweet voice, kissing Elizabeth on the cheek before getting to his full height and sitting down next to the girl with a sneaky look set on his handsome face. Continuing to grin, he prompted, "So, Michelle, I don't think you ever told me what this show is about."
"I barely know," Michelle scoffed.
"Yes you do, sweetheart," Misty smirked.
Michelle made a noise of disagreement and shook her head.
"But…Dakota was supposed to tell you," Misty reasoned.
"Oh, she did," Michelle nodded. "I just didn't listen."
"Mi…Michelle!" Misty gasped.
Michelle laughed nervously before sheepishly requesting, "Refresh my memory?"
Sighing, Misty took a seat next to Ash and began to tell the storyline of the latest water ballet: "the show is about a beautiful princess mermaid who lives happily with all of the water Pokémon in her underwater kingdom. Unfortunately for the princess, a group of villainous pirates have found the kingdom and plan on robbing it for all of its riches. While the kingdom is being attacked, the Princess gets caught in the fray and is captured by the devious pirates. They want to keep her hostage, but fortunately for the Princess, there is a kind pirate on board, who is the son of the ship's captain. He sees the Princess and falls in love at first sight with her, and then makes it his mission to rescue her and return her to the water kingdom."
"Yay!" Elizabeth clapped her hands together. "I like that story, Mommy!"
"Isn't it nice?" Misty giggled. "Your Aunt Violet did a very good job writing it!"
"Yeah, it sounds really cute…" Ash sounded cagey, "but, uh…I have to ask…who's playing this love interest to my daughter?"
"Dad!" Michelle's face lit up in a bright shade of red.
At this, Aiden and Brandon both began to chuckle, poorly attempting to hide this behind their hands. Michelle glowered at both boys, making a scarily angry face quite similar to her mother's.
"Oh, Ash, relax," Misty sighed. "Lola is playing the pirate boy."
"Oh, okay," Ash visibly relaxed and smiled at Michelle. "Never mind, then."
"I hate today," Michelle grumbled, burying her face in her hands.
XXX
Later that afternoon, Michelle was back in her sky blue bikini top, the ribbon in the center tied doubly tight, and the pearly pink mermaid tail that Michelle still hated with a rather strong passion. She didn't wear hair extensions in the way her mother had, but rather had her natural hair meticulously curled by her Aunt Daisy, leaving the typically past the shoulder red locks to bounce just above her shoulders in a sea of tight curls. A circlet of ribbons had been wrapped around Michelle's head, tied into a perfect bow on the side with her seashell hairclip pinned neatly in the middle.
"There, you look perfect!" Daisy chirped, standing back to admire her work.
"I don't feel perfect," Michelle rolled her eyes up in an attempt to study her curly locks.
"Oh, you'll be fine, Michelle," Daisy assured her young niece. "I promise!"
The coordinator grimaced, but said nothing in response. She wanted to believe her aunt, but Michelle really had no confidence in this going well at all.
"Oooh, Mom, you did such a good job with Michelle! She really looks like a mermaid princess!"
Michelle growled and gave her oldest cousin a fierce look. Dakota was dressed in her pirate costume: a white ruffled shirt with a black dress over it and a pink sash tied around her waist to match the one wrapped over her head.
"Thank you, Dakota!" Daisy giggled gratefully. "But, dear, it's almost show time. You should get yourself into place and start stretching."
"Of course!" Dakota agreed airily, running off to a secluded corner and stretching herself out. Michelle watched in slight jealousy as Dakota went down into splits, up into arabesques, and went flying in the air with various leaps and spins. She had long, gorgeous legs, just like Michelle. It seemed to be a trait of every female on that side of the family. Michelle viewed Dakota's movements as beautiful and graceful, because her legs were on display. Michelle could at least fake having some polish if she was able to use her legs. Unfortunately, they were confined inside the tail, and all that would do was make Michelle out to be some kind of awkward human fish. She couldn't even attempt to make it look elegant in the way her mother could.
"Don't be worried, Michelle," Daisy took the girl's hands into her own. "You'll do just fine."
Michelle looked away and blushed, muttering, "I hope so…"
Up in the stands, Ash and Misty sat together, with Aiden and Brandon on either of their sides. Originally, Elizabeth had been sitting between Misty and Brandon, but she quickly realized she'd much rather be sitting on her mother's lap. So now, she was perched on Misty's legs, holding Michelle's Pichu in her own lap and stroking the baby Pokémon's head.
"Mist, are you sure this was such a good idea?" Ash finally asked his wife, russet eyes flickering with concern.
"Absolutely not," Misty answered in a very confident manner, which surprised Ash to some extent. "I feel terrible for making her do this. I know it's important to the people of Cerulean City, but performing isn't something that Michelle likes to do. I've always known it, ever since she was a little girl."
"I like to, Mommy!" Elizabeth looked up at her mother.
"Yes, I know you do, sweetheart," Misty giggled softly as she placed her hand atop the girl's head. "And you can once you get older. But you and Michelle are different, baby girl. She doesn't think it's fun like you do."
"Pichu, pipipi," Pichu squeaked from Elizabeth's arms.
"Pika!" Pikachu commented, hopping off of Ash's shoulder to settle himself in his trainer's lap and tend to the smaller mouse.
"Pikachu really seems to have gotten quite attached to Pichu," Misty noted.
"Something tells me that Pikachu thinks Pichu is his baby," Ash chuckled. "He's certainly treating Pichu like she is!"
Misty looked back down, noticing that Pikachu was now bobbing his tail up and down in front of Pichu, who was watching the yellow lightning bolt bounce up and down with transfixed eyes.
At that moment, the lights in the gym went down, causing the crowd to go quiet. Ash and Misty both exchanged one last look of anxious concern before turning their attention back to the raised pool in the center of the battle area.
XXX
"Alright, Michelle," Dakota smiled at her cousin, "show time!"
"Please stop reminding me," Michelle moaned.
Lola walked up next to Michelle, pinning her pink hair behind her head before tying a scarf over the mess of locks. "You'll be fine, Shelly. Don't let Dakota get on your nerves."
"What?" Dakota grew wide eyed. "I'm not getting on her nerves!"
"I'm just kidding, Koty!" Lola squealed, wrapping her arms around the older blonde and hugging her as tightly as possible.
"You're so odd," Dakota sighed, shrugging the younger girl off.
"Michelle, get out on the diving board!" Vanessa suddenly appeared, looking and sounding rather frantic. "I'm about to start my narration!"
Groaning, Michelle hopped her way over to the diving board, obviously not being able to walk in her pretty pink mermaid tail. Standing right before the long, white board, Michelle sighed and slumped her shoulders, muttering, "Oh well. Here goes nothing."
XXX
With everyone settled inside the battle area, a foursome along with two Pokémon was able to easily sneak through the front door without being stopped or even recognized. They had read about the plot of the ballet, and were all dressed to fit into the scene perfectly: as pirates.
"Are you sure this will work?" Jewel whined. Her blue hair was tied up into a very high ponytail with a silky red scarf wrapped around to hold it in place, while her typical Team Rocket uniform had been replaced by a red dress with a black vest over it.
"I trust Mom and Dad!" Jason puffed his chest out, smirking at the girl. His green hair was gelled back with a pirate hat on top of his head, uniform switched out in favor of a white shirt with torn sleeves and black pants that were equally torn at the bottom of the legs.
"Atta boy!" James patted his son on the shoulder. He was wearing an outfit very similar to Jason's.
"Oh, that's enough out of you!" Jessie smacked James in the back of the head. She had the most elaborate costume out of any of the four: a fine scarlet vest over a pure white shirt, black skinny leg pants, black leather boots, and a long, red velvet coat dotted with gold buttons and blue and red rope edging the sleeves and front coat opening. "We need to make our move now, or we'll never catch those water Pokémon!"
"Jessie's right!" Meowth agreed. He and Sneasel, on the other hand, had the most simple disguises in the group, consisting of nothing but an eye patch. "Oderwise da twerps'll catch us!"
"But we gotta' be quiet!" Sneasel added.
The four humans nodded, tip toeing towards the stair case that would lead upstairs into the backstage of the battle area.
XXX
"The beautiful mermaid spent all of her days playing with the Pokémon who resided in her beautiful underwater kingdom."
Michelle spun around Dewgong and was then encircled by the small family of Luvdisc, smiling the entire time. She floated above all of the Pokémon and spun around, keeping her eyes locked on the audience the whole time. Judging by their expressions, everyone was enamored by the girl and her performance so far. Michelle kept her happy façade, but inside, she was feeling far more relieved than cheerful.
At least I haven't messed up yet! Everyone seems to be enjoying it so far!
"At night, the Princess would always fall fast asleep, tired from her adventures with all of her Pokémon friends."
Michelle yawned, to "add to the effect" as Dakota had advised her, and swam effortlessly towards a big, pink seashell, curling up in a ball and closing her eyes. The top of the shell fell down, and once it did, Michelle made use of the red breathing apparatus to catch her breath, sighing once it was on.
"Much better…" Michelle murmured to herself.
As she relaxed in the seashell, knowing she had a while until her next cue from Vanessa, a loud explosion caught the girl's attention, causing her eyes to open more widely.
"Wh…what?" Michelle questioned, moving closer to the opposite end of the shell and slightly prying it open in order to peer out into the water. Looking up, she caught sight of four different figures standing on the diving board, all of them dressed as pirates.
A murmur went up in the crowd, and Ash and Misty once again looked at each other.
"Four pirates?" Ash asked his wife. "I thought there were only three…and none of those guys look like Dakota, Vanessa, or Lola."
"Something's not right…" Misty shook her head, "I can feel it."
"Hello, ladies and gentlemen!" The woman in the red coat announced. "I certainly hope you're all enjoying the show."
"Now make sure you hold onto your seats," the older man smirked, "because we're about to blow you all away!"
Meowth whipped out a small remote and pressed the red button on it, causing a strong wind to blow out of all the vents in the room. This simulated a violent wind storm, affecting both everyone in the audience and the pool in the middle of the room.
"Mommy!" Elizabeth cried out fearfully, closing her eyes tight so the hair whipping in her face wouldn't poke them.
"It's okay, baby!" Misty turned the young girl around and hugged her close, keeping the child's face against her chest and brushing all of her hair back to keep it away from her eyes.
"What's going on?" Ash barked, jumping to his feet.
"Yeah, who are those guys?" Brandon got to his feet as well, Aiden following with nothing but an almost feral growl.
"I think it's about time that our children properly introduce themselves," Jessie purred, "wouldn't you agree, James?"
"I certainly do, Jessie," James chuckled.
"Alright, you two," Jessie looked between the two children, "recite the motto that you've been practicing!"
Jewel and Jason both nodded proudly, tearing off their pirate costumes to reveal white Team Rocket uniforms that were completely identical to their parents'. Looking out at all of the people in the audience, the younger trio snickered and stood in powerful stances.
"Listen up, and prepare for us!" Jewel smirked.
"Give up now, or we'll make a fuss!" Jason adopted a rather evil look.
"We're here to start trouble!" Jewel placed her hands on her hips.
"And surely burst your bubble!" Jason folded his arms across his chest.
"Truth and love, we will defy!" Jewel threw her hands out emphatically to the sides.
"Like shooting stars, we're sure to fly!" Jason's arms went down, his hands balling into tight fists.
"Jewel!"
"Jason!"
"Team Rocket, here to succeed!" Jewel declared.
"Our great history you soon will read!" Jason added.
"Sneasel, agreed!" The devious Pokémon grinned sneakily.
"Team Rocket?" Ash and Misty cried in absolute confusion.
"Oh no, not those losers again!" Aiden complained.
"Aiden, you know those three?" Ash looked at his son.
"Yeah, we've run into 'em twice already!" Aiden confirmed. "All they try to do is cause trouble and steal Pokémon!"
"Sounds like Team Rocket alright," Ash grumbled.
"How was that, Mom?" Jewel turned to look at her mother, eyes sparkling with hope.
"Oh, just beautiful!" Jessie squealed, wiping joyful tears away from her eyes. "We've taught you two so well!"
"It was truly amazing!" James agreed, himself crying happy tears. "How proud I am of both of you!"
"Perfect!" Jason narrowed his eyes in determination. "Now, let's finish the job and steal those water Pokémon!" Whipping out a poke ball, he called, "Zubat, supersonic!"
A blue bat Pokémon was released and let out a terrifying screech, blue rings emitting from its mouth and causing all of the Pokémon in the water to become unable to attack or even move.
"Oh no, they're confused!" Michelle gasped.
"Jason, dear, I didn't know you caught a Zubat!" Jessie giggled.
"Yeah, in Mt. Moon!" Jason nodded. "I felt so bad for Nidoran after those brats attacked him…so I knew he needed some back up on the team!"
"And now that the Pokémon are all confused…" James hummed to himself as he threw a giant fishing net into the pool, scooping up all of the water Pokémon and dragging them up to the surface.
"Hey, I don't think so!" Misty snarled, jumping to her feet. Elizabeth whimpered against her chest, causing Misty to sigh sadly and hold the girl more tightly. She couldn't do anything rash, not while she was holding onto Elizabeth.
"I'm not letting them get away with this!" Ash turned towards Misty, who looked utterly panicked. "Don't you worry, Mist!"
He darted past the gym leader, knowing just as well as she did that it was impossible for her to act while Elizabeth was under her care. Running down the aisle towards the pool, Ash was surprised, and a little aggravated, when he heard the sound of footsteps behind him.
"Aiden!" Ash barked without turning around.
"I want to help!" Aiden cried.
"It's too dangerous," Ash refuted.
"Come on, I'm not a baby!" Aiden groaned. "I have my own Pokémon now! I'm a trainer!"
"You've been a trainer for barely two weeks!" Ash retorted.
"Better than having no experience at all," Aiden sniped before pulling one of his poke balls of his belt, "Growlithe, use ember on Zubat!"
"Growl!" The puppy Pokémon appeared before Ash, causing the Pokémon Master to skid to a halt.
"Aiden!" Ash snapped again, finally glaring over his shoulder at his son. "Why don't you listen to me?"
"Because I know what I'm doing!" Aiden huffed.
"No, you don't!" Ash bit.
As the father and son bickered, Growlithe's ember attack narrowly missed Zubat, who let out a shrill cry of anger in response.
"Hmm?" Jason looked up at his newest Pokémon. "What's going on, Zubat?"
Jewel turned her attention towards the floor and snickered deviously. "Oh, look! It's the little brat and his Daddy."
Jessie and James quickly became interested, and upon catching sight of their familiar foe, both grinned in wild, calculative fashions.
"Well, well, if it isn't the twerp!" James trilled.
"And his little twerp!" Jessie, of course, was referring to Aiden.
"But…Growlithe's attack missed?" Aiden grew wide eyed.
"What did I say?" Ash snarled. "You have NO idea what you're doing yet!" Turning his attention onto Pikachu, who sat furiously on his shoulder, Ash ordered, "Pikachu, use electroball!"
"Ka!" Pikachu nodded, jumping off of Ash's shoulder and firing off the ball of powerful electricity. This time, the attack made direct contact with the bat Pokémon, who landed listlessly on the diving board right in front of his trainer.
"No, Zubat!" Jason wailed. Giving Aiden a look of pure hatred, he pulled out the dual type's poke ball and returned it to the sanctuary of the sphere.
"Oh, enough of this," Jessie sighed. "James, finish reeling in those Pokémon, won't you?"
"Yes, of course!" James yanked the net right out of the water. Once it was in his grasp, Meowth pressed a green button on the same remote as before, causing jet packs to appear on each member's back.
Before Ash or Aiden could even think of reacting, the group of six shot right through the roof, creating a sizeable hole that was already giving Misty headaches.
"No, they got away!" Aiden whined.
"Maybe that wouldn't have happened if you'd just listened to me!" Ash stressed.
"Ash!"
The raven haired Master looked up, finding Misty to be running towards him. She was still carrying Elizabeth, and Brandon was trailing right behind her.
"Misty-" Ash began, but he was quickly cut off by the red head.
"You were supposed to save my Pokémon!" Misty wailed.
"I'm going to get them back, I swear to you!" Ash reached out and touched Misty's arm. "I might have been able to get them back now if Aiden had just listened to me…"
"Quit blaming me!" Aiden shouted.
"Aiden, I'm not blaming you," Ash sounded exasperated. "I'm just not pleased with your inability to listen!"
"Ash, calm down," Misty eyed her husband. "You're just upset because you couldn't get the Pokémon back. Don't take it out on Aiden."
Realizing that the wind created by Team Rocket had died down, Elizabeth pulled her face away from Misty's body and looked up curiously at her mother. "Mommy, where's Shelly?"
Misty blinked a few times before her heart started to race. "That's…a good question, Lizzie…Ash, you saw Michelle get out of the pool, didn't you?"
Ash's face went blank. "No…"
"Right before Team Rocket interrupted the show, didn't Michelle swim inside of that big seashell in the center of the pool?" Brandon inquired.
"And no one saw her get out…" Aiden blinked.
Gasping, Misty's face went pale as she shrieked, "that means…she's with Team Rocket!"
XXX
Groaning, Michelle pushed up the top of the seashell and slipped out of the prop, yelping quietly as she fell on the floor.
"Ow…" Michelle whined, holding onto her head.
"Dew?" Dewgong, who was sitting right next to where Michelle had fallen, was showing some serious concern for the young girl, which brought a smile to her face.
"Yeah, I'm just fine, Dewgong," Michelle sat up and pet the water type on the head. "Thanks for being worried about me, though."
"Gong," Dewgong nodded under her palm.
Michelle tried to move her legs, but forgot that they were being constricted by the pearly pink tail. "I hate this thing…" Michelle grumbled. Holding the costume by the waist, Michelle managed to squirm out of the tail, revealing the blue bikini bottoms she'd been wearing underneath. Stretching her legs out, Michelle giggled, "there! Much better!"
"Hello, boss!"
Michelle's ears perked at this. Turning her eyes up, Michelle saw the bright blue sky and fluffy white clouds, and around her green wicker.
I must be in Team Rocket's balloon! Michelle gasped inwardly. So that means I got captured with the Pokémon…
"You two imbeciles better be calling about something worthwhile, this time," a gruff voice emitted from the laptop, alarming Michelle. She sat up just enough to see over the basket, where she found the older two members of Team Rocket, Jessie and James, sitting in front of a laptop. The younger two, Jason and Jewel, stood off to the side.
"It's not just us, sir," Jessie informed the mysterious man. "Jason and Jewel have assisted us in this great mission!"
"Great mission?" the chilling voice repeated.
"Yes, we're training them, just as you wanted!" James nodded.
"Fine, what did you teach them?"
"How to steal an entire gym worth of Pokémon!" Jessie cackled.
"A gym raid?" The man suddenly sounded slightly impressed. "On which one, might I ask?"
"Why don't I let our little operatives tell you?" Jessie nudged the very nervous Jason and Jewel forward, both of whom were visibly sweating and shaking slightly.
"Well?" The man demanded when the pre teens didn't tell him right away.
"Sir…it was…well, we…" Jason stammered, leading to Jewel cutting him off with a small sneer.
"The Cerulean City gym, sir."
Silence set in after this, and Michelle watched in fascination as the four members of Team Rocket all visibly froze at the lack of communication.
"The water type gym?"
"Yes, sir."
"Where the gym leader is married to that insufferable Pokémon Master?"
"Yes, sir!"
Michelle's eyes narrowed at this. How dare that mystifying weirdo call her father something so terrible! He was a good man, and Michelle knew this guy couldn't be anything like her father if he was associated with people as evil as Team Rocket.
The man cleared his throat before requesting as gently as he could (which was really anything but), "May I speak to your…parents…alone, please?"
"Uh…yes, sir," Jason and Jewel simultaneously replied, stalking off into the forest so Jessie and James could talk to the man in peace. Their absence left the screen in Michelle's view for a few seconds, and she was able to get a clear picture of this strange, haunting man.
She could only see from his head down to his shoulders, but just from that, Michelle got the impression that he was a hulking, intimidating man. He had tan skin, short brown hair, and black eyes that were set into a permanent glare. His face had many lines, especially accentuated on his brow, and around his eyes and lips. Probably from grimacing, glowering, scowling, and frowning so much, Michelle assumed.
"Gi…Giovanni, sir?" Jessie asked timidly.
"Just what do you two think you are doing?" The man, apparently named Giovanni, barked.
"We thought you would like an impressive collection of extra strength water types, sir!" James sounded quite panicky himself.
"It's not the Pokémon that I'm upset about!" Giovanni slammed his fist against the desk that he must've been sitting in front of.
"O…oh?" Jessie held her shoulders back. "Then…what are you upset about?"
"You stormed straight into that gym leader's domain," Giovanni was breathing heavily, "that gym leader. The same one who is married to the Pokémon Master, the very bane of my existence. Do you not remember how badly they disgraced this organization 10 years ago?"
Michelle furrowed her brow. 10 years ago? She had been born 10 years ago. What had happened then?
"Sir, I thought you weren't bothered by the fact we couldn't kidnap the twer-I mean…the elite trainer's children," Jessie piped up.
At this, Michelle's eyes widened. Team Rocket had tried to kidnap her and Aiden?
"Of course I'm bothered by it," Giovanni huffed. "They would've made some of the most elite agents this organization has ever seen! But you and everyone else failed at it, which is why I had to put my alternative plan into effect."
"And it's worked out so well, hasn't it, sir?" James sounded more optimistic now.
"That isn't the point!" Giovanni snapped. "The only child who has truly turned out a visionary is Magnus. You two cannot even properly teach the two you yourselves stole!"
"Jason and Jewel are still young," Jessie murmured, "they're learning-"
"They've been with you since they were several months old," Giovanni hissed. "It's been 11 years! They should be experts by now!"
"But they're getting better!" James tried. "Sir, they planned out almost all of that gym raid! Truly! They're going to be elite operatives one day!"
Michelle slunk back down into the basket, the fishing net still hanging over her as she pulled her knees into her chest. She wasn't entirely sure of what Team Rocket was talking about, but it certainly didn't sound like anything good.
"Besides, it doesn't matter if we messed around with those two," Jessie smirked. "We have the Pokémon, and we made a clean escape. Does that work for now, sir?"
"I suppose it will have to," Giovanni sighed. "But don't be so foolish next time!"
"Yes, sir!" The older two saluted their boss, who quickly cut off the connection.
"Can't you two do anything right?" Jessie stormed.
"Don't try to pin this on me!" James protested in a whiny tone.
"How is this supposed to teach Jason and Jewel anything?" Jessie barked. "Giovanni will be furious! We're failing his plan with those two!"
"Yeah, he didn't have us take 'em for nothin'!" Meowth agreed.
"But they really are like our children at this point…" James sulked.
Jessie sighed and just turned her head away, not knowing what else to say on the matter. James and Meowth, on the other hand, simply sighed and looked sadly at one another before calling Jason and Jewel back.
Michelle, meanwhile, soon noticed that all of the water Pokémon around her were trembling in fear. "No, don't worry!" Michelle went to work on reassuring the terrified creatures. "I won't let them take any of you! They won't get through me!"
The Pokémon stared at Michelle in awe. Grinning, Michelle pumped her fist in determination and nodded before jumping to her feet and bellowing, "Team Rocket!"
The devious foursome turned towards the basket, gasping at the sight of a very angry Michelle.
"The little twerpette?" Jessie and James shrieked.
"How did the brat get in our balloon?" Jewel cried.
"I will not let you steal the gym's Pokémon!" Michelle shouted. "So whatever your dumb, evil plan is, you'd better drop it right now and let us go!"
"Hey, our plan's not dumb!" Jason fumed.
"Jess, wait!" James grabbed his partner by the shoulder, giving her an almost pleading look. "This is our chance!"
"Our chance for what?" Jessie growled.
"To give the twerp's offspring to the boss!" James beamed.
"What does he want with a 10 year old?" Jessie shook James off of her. "She's not a baby anymore. She can't be raised into the kind of Team Rocket operative that he wanted!"
"I'm sure there's some kind of way to brainwash her!" James grinned. "It's worth a try, isn't it?"
Sighing, Jessie stood up straight and concluded, "I suppose you're right." Smirking, she raised her voice, "alright, twerpette, I'll make you a deal. The Pokémon stay here, but you come with us."
"What?" Jason and Jewel grew wide eyed.
Michelle held her breath at the ultimatum, unsure of what to do. Of course she didn't want to go with Team Rocket, but she had made a promise to the Pokémon that she would protect them. Biting her lip, Michelle clenched her fists and conceded, "fine, I'll go with you."
"Excellent!" Jessie cheered before cackling evilly.
The Pokémon all whimpered, staring sadly at Michelle and begging for her not to sacrifice herself in their own languages.
"I have to," Michelle whispered, "I don't know what they'll do to you guys, and I don't want to find out. I'll be fine, I promise."
"She's not going anywhere, Team Rocket!"
Michelle turned around and smiled widely at the sight of her parents, Aiden, and Brandon running towards her, her father's Unfezant flying overhead.
"Hey, you guys found me!" Michelle's face was bright with glee.
"You guys are going to pay for trying to take my little girl!" Ash tore a poke ball off of his belt. "Bayleef, I choose you!"
The grass type appeared before her trainer, crying out, "bay!" before glaring at the evil team before her.
"Dad!" Aiden whined, running up next to his father. Ash turned to look at Aiden, an expression of annoyance growing on his handsome face. "Please, let me help."
"Aiden," Ash sighed, "you don't know what to-"
"And I'll never know what to do if you don't let me get some experience!" Aiden interrupted.
Groaning, Ash rolled his eyes but concluded, "fine! Just follow my lead, alright?"
"You got it!" Aiden retrieved his own poke ball. "Let's go, Growlithe!"
The fire puppy Pokémon appeared next to Bayleef, growling at Team Rocket as his eyes narrowed in infuriation.
"James, show them just how well you've trained our son," Jessie's lips curled up into a devious smirk.
"With pleasure!" James pulled out a poke ball.
"Did he just say…their son?" Ash's jaw dropped.
"The original Team Rocket are those two's parents?" Aiden seemed equally shocked.
"Carnivine, you're on!" James threw the sphere, and was quickly engulfed into the grass type's mouth, shrieking as he was halfway swallowed.
"Is this…normal?" Aiden sweat dropped and leaned back slightly.
"Sadly, yes," Ash groaned, rubbing his face.
"I'm counting on you, Nidoran!" Jason released his partner Pokémon.
"Ah, get off of me!" James finally pried his long time Pokémon off of his head. "Carnivine, use bite on Bayleef, not me!"
"Carni!" Carnivine jumped forward, opening its mouth to try and catch Bayleef.
"Bayleef, dodge it!" Ash ordered skillfully.
"Leef!" The dinosaur Pokémon jumped out of the way, smirking as soon as she landed on her feet.
"Nidoran, use poison sting on Growlithe!" Jason pointed at the fire type.
"Ni!" Nidoran fired off the glowing white spikes.
"Growlithe, use-"
"No, Aiden!" Ash cut off his son's command.
"Oh…uh, dodge it!" Aiden rectified. Growlithe barked and narrowly avoided Nidoran's attack, much to Aiden's delight. "Alright! Nice work, Growlithe!"
As the battle raged on, Misty and Brandon managed to sneak over to the balloon's basket, freeing Michelle and the gym's Pokémon from the fishing net.
"Mom!" Michelle cheered as Misty extricated her from the lattice.
"Oh, my sweet little girl!" Misty hugged Michelle as soon as the net was off. Holding her by the shoulders, Misty whimpered, "are you alright? Did they hurt you?"
"No, I'm fine," Michelle shook her head happily.
"This wouldn't have happened if I hadn't forced you into doing the water ballet," Misty still sounded shaken up. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart…"
"Mom, I'm fine!" Michelle laughed. "Don't get so worked up."
"Hey! Just what do you think you're doing?"
Misty and Michelle both turned around, finding Jessie to be glaring at them.
"Your little twerpy offspring just agreed to join Team Rocket, so it's too late for you!" Jessie pointed an accusatory finger at Misty.
"Oh please, she's my daughter," Misty narrowed her eyes. "You'll never know what that feels like, but I can tell you right now that she isn't going with you."
"Excuse me, but I have a daughter too, you know!" Jessie stormed.
"You? Having a baby?" Misty raised an eyebrow. "I don't have any recollection of that ever happening."
"Well it did, and she's a perfect miniature version of myself!" Jessie hugged Jewel. "Isn't that right, my sweet little darling?"
"Of course!" Jewel giggled.
"Wait…that's her Mom?" Michelle looked shiftily at Brandon.
"Yeah, I wouldn't have guessed that," the aspiring Pokémon breeder shook his head.
"Either way, I'm not going to let you just walk away with my daughter!" Misty barked. "Dewgong, aurora beam!"
The leader of the gym Pokémon nodded its head before firing off a rainbow beam at Jessie, hitting her directly. It sent her and Jewel crashing into James and Jason, creating a heap of people on the ground.
"Hey, no fair!" Jessie cried.
"Neither is kidnapping," Misty rolled her eyes.
"Sneasel, attack them!" Jewel ordered furiously.
"How about some of my fury swipes?" Sneasel jumped up, extracting his claws to try and attack Aiden.
"Oh no you don't!" Ash jumped in front of the boy as a shield before commanding, "Pikachu, thunderbolt!"
"Pika!" Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder and fired off his signature move. It hit Sneasel and affected him immediately, causing him to land back in the mound of his teammates and sending the electrocution straight through to them.
"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" They cried, turning into nothing more than a sparkle in the sky.
"Finally," Ash sighed tiredly.
"Thanks Dad," Aiden murmured from behind the man.
Ash raised an eyebrow and whipped around, chuckling at his son's slightly scared expression. "Thanks for what, champ?"
"Protecting me," Aiden blinked, assuming it had been obvious. "If you hadn't jumped in front of me and used Pikachu, Sneasel would've clawed my face off."
"I'd never let anyone claw off my little buddy's face," Ash smirked, taking off Aiden's hat to ruffle his hair.
"Good to know," Aiden laughed.
"Mist, how are all the Pokémon looking?" Ash called out to his wife.
"I think they're just fine," Misty smiled down at the water types who all resided in the gym. "How are you guys? Are you all okay?"
They all cheered, nodding their heads and appearing much happier than they had even moments ago.
"Yep, everyone's looking pretty good!" Brandon agreed.
"And my little princess?" Ash hurried over to Michelle, holding her face in his hands. "Are you alright? Nothing broken, sprained, bruised, cut, touched, scraped, bur-"
"Dad, I'm fine!" Michelle moaned.
"I just have to make sure," Ash hugged the girl close to him, feeling relieved when she rubbed her cheek against his chest. Whispering to her so no one else would hear, Ash informed her, "I was so scared when I realized that you were gone…I know that Team Rocket wouldn't hesitate to do horrible things to you."
"I'm okay," Michelle murmured against him.
"I think we should head back to the gym," Misty smiled at her husband, who looked up and nodded in agreement. "This should be a fun one to explain to my sisters…"
XXX
When the group returned to the gym, Misty was instantly greeted by Elizabeth, who ran to the front door with a huge smile on her little face as she cried out happily, "Mommy! Mommy!"
"Hello, my beautiful baby!" Misty kneeled down to catch Elizabeth and lift her into the air. "I'm so happy that you got out of this unscathed."
Daisy, Violet, and Lily came from the same direction that Elizabeth had, with their daughters trailing closely behind.
"Thank you for watching Lizzie for me while we tracked down Team Rocket," Misty smiled at her sisters.
"Don't mention it," Daisy shook her head. "That was a no brainer."
"Did you get all of the Pokémon back?" Lily questioned.
"Sure did," Ash placed his hands on his hips. "They're all back in the battle area, resting in the pool!"
"Michelle, are you alright?" Violet looked down at her niece, who was still dressed in her sky blue bikini. Pichu, who had been residing in the blue haired woman's arms, jumped into the possession of Michelle, emitting happy sounds as she cuddled up against her giggling trainer.
"Yeah!" Michelle nodded quickly. Her happy expression soon melted, however, and she backtracked, "but…I ruined your show. I'm really sorry."
"Oh, dear, you didn't ruin it!" Daisy refuted. "If anyone is responsible for that, it's Team Rocket."
"Yeah, you were doing really well until those guys showed and messed everything up!" Dakota agreed.
"Even though the show got interrupted, everyone was talking about how beautiful and graceful you were!" Vanessa continued.
"R…really?" Michelle was shocked by this revelation.
"Yeah, you're a real star!" Lola giggled.
"That's…awesome!" Michelle grinned foolishly. "Even though I still don't like being a ballerina…"
"Michelle, why don't you go get changed out of your bathing suit?" Misty nudged her daughter.
"Okay," Michelle nodded, heading up the stairs that led to the dressing rooms.
"Mist…" Ash pulled his wife closer to him, "can you believe that Jessie and James had kids?"
"No, I don't," Misty shook her head.
"Don't you find it a little odd that those kids look absolutely nothing like them?" Ash inquired.
"Completely," Misty nodded slowly. "But what I find even more strange than that is the fact that those two don't seem much older than Aiden and Michelle. But I don't ever remember seeing Jessie pregnant…"
"Yeah, you're right!" Ash's eyes widened. "And it's not like they disappeared for months at a time. We kept running into 'em, before and after Aiden and Michelle were born!"
"Something's up with those two…" Misty sighed, "I just wish I knew what…"
That's right, Team Rocket is DEFINITELY up to something. But what? You guys can leave a review and tell me what you think it is. But also tell me how the chapter was! This one is my favorite so far, and I want to know what you all thought of it ^^
By the way, the hardest part of this chapter was writing Jewel and Jason's motto. It had to be similair to Jessie and James' without completely replicating it. But I like the way it came out! That's what they'll be saying from now on :)