Meowth scurried through the roadside bushes, pushing aside various shrubs and bushes, then made a giant leap into a conveniently large bush. So convenient, in fact, that it was able to hold two fully grown adults and a scratch cat.

"Day're coming!" he whispered… loudly. Jessie and James looked to Meowth, then to each other and smiled villainously, ready to enact their plan. Meowth nods and takes off away from the road into the hidden balloon, starting it up as quietly as one can start up a balloon.

Meanwhile, Ash, Serena, Clemont, Bonnie, and of course, Pikachu, were enjoying a stroll through no forest in particular, with no particular goal in mind. Who could have ever suspected that Team Rocket was watching from the bushes. Pikachu seemed to sense some kind of danger, as he stood up on Ash's shoulder, looking around. Ash was about to ask what was wrong, when a gloved mechanical arm popped out of the bush and firmly grasped the mouse pokemon.

"Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed, and made a mad leap to grab his friend, but he was too slow. The arm retracted back into the bush, and a small struggle could be heard. Then Team Rocket decided it was time for their grand entrance.

"Prepare for trouble, our plans are a success!"

"And make it double, it's a cure for our stress!"

"Team Rocket!" Ash and gangs voices called out in an angry unison, watching as the Team Rocket duo leapt from their hiding spot, James holding a caged Pikachu. Bonnie gasped in fear as the others reached for their pokeballs. Jessie continues regardless.

"To protect the world from devastation!" she sang, holding out a red rose.

"To unite all people within our nation!" James adds, holding up a blue rose.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"And James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth, that's right!" Meowth calls from above, and the balloon hovers down, inches off the ground, which Jessie and James effortlessly jumped into.

Pikachu, realizing that the motto was finished, decided now would be a good time to see if the cage was shockproof. Energy coursed from the pouches in it's red cheeks, and it unleashed its signature thunderbolt. The move was instantly absorbed, though, and James was completely unaffected, and seemed very happy to be so. Clemont, however, watched as the electricity traveled through a black wire into some sort of device on the balloon.

"Well, wasn't that shocking?" James asked.

Ash was completely unaffected by the pun. "You better give Pikachu back right now!" he called out.

"Well, seems the twerps are ec-static to see us," Jessie chimed.

"I guess we should thank them for giving us our new battery," he said, holding up Pikachu's cage. "Now free of charge!" Jessie and James both laughed hysterically at James' pun. Meowth hit a button on the balloon, and it started to fly up and away.

"Oh no you don't! Go! Talonflame!" Ash called out again, throwing a pokeball and in a flash of light revealing his red and black falcon. "Use Flame Charge and get pikachu back!" With a mighty screech, Talonflame cloaked itself in flames and began the attack.

"What's with all the electricity puns?" Serena wondered out loud.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket looked over the side of the balloon basket, practically biting their nails in anticipation. Talonflame was charging full speed at their balloon, when Clemont's voice rang out.

"Wait… Ash, stop Talonflame!" he exclaimed.

"What? Ah… Talonflame stop!" Ash yelled to his talonflame, a bit confused. Talonflame stopped just short of the balloon, leaving Jessie, James and Meowth both disappointed and just as confused as everyone else.

"Ash, don't you see?" Clemont continued. "The wire? The puns? The fact they haven't sent out their pokemon to fight? And…" Clemont took a short break from his speech and readjusted his glasses, causing a glare that made it impossible to see Clemont's eyes. "And the fact that the balloon is faintly sparking means only one thing!"

Confused, Jessie and James looked up at their balloon, and sure enough, tiny sparks were flying out of the giant meowth head.

"The balloon is electrified!" Ash and Co. half exclaimed, half gasped in unison, having figured out the foolproof plan.

"Goodra, go!" yelled Ash, and in another flash of white light, a purple, gooey dragon stood before him, smiling and ready for battle. "Use your dragon pulse to pop the balloon! Talonflame, get Pikachu back!" he commanded.

Before James could even react to the command, Talonflame was already upon him, it's talons interlocked with the cage bars, flapping it's wings, pulling the cage from James' grip. Down below, Goodra charged a ball of purple energy in front of it's face, growing more and more.

"Jessie, help me! We've gotta…" he started. Jessie rushed over and grabbed hold of the cage as well, fighting the red falcon.

"Get Pikachu… Back..." she said, straining to keep hold.

Then Goodra fired it's dragon pulse.

The electricity that was trapped in the balloon gave no resistance to the pulse, and it tore straight through the fabric, creating a large hole in the meowth balloon's arm. Air gushed out of the opening, pushing Team Rocket higher and farther away from twerp and company. The sudden movement pushed all of team rocket to the ground, and Talonflame managed to rip the cage away. The group of twerps quickly vanished from their sight.

Jessie punched James squarely on the top of his head. "James, I thought you said this plan was foolproof!" she roared, as James rubbed his aching skull.

"I did! It was! Not even a fool was supposed to mess it up-!" he whined.

Meowth cut him off. "I guess you didn't make it Team Rocket proof, did ya?"

The three let out a sigh, sailing higher and higher into the clouds.

"Looks like Team Rocket is blasting off again!"

Ding