A/N: Okay, after a few discussions with my writing partner, I've decided to update the early chapters as the story goes along. So please bear with me for now in the early weirdness! There will be a few game references in this story, as well as occasional 4th wall breakage. It's Team Rocket, what did you expect?

Pokémon (C) 1995-2015 Pokémon, Nintendo, GAME FREAK, Creatures

I, the author, make no money from this story! I make no money from my OCs either! Please support the official release!

Episode 2: Solaceon Day Care! Pokémon Breeder James and Pikachu!?

(-o-) James (-o-)

"What are you doing here?" I gasped, not expecting to see Ash and company, of all people, with those two boys who had come here not too long ago to leave their Pokémon in the Day Care's… well, care.

"I'm the one who should be asking you that!" the red capped boy shot back.

"You'd better watch yourself!" Dawn snapped. "This is a place for Pokémon, not nasty, evil, thieving people like you!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, three Pokémon flew out of the door and into the arms of the two Hoenn-born Trainers standing behind the trio of familiar kids.

"Looking great, Kagami," Aaron grinned, as his Espeon, Kagami, rubbed against his leg.

"Heya, Michael!" the older one, Francis, grinned as he petted his Jolteon. "Did you have fun? Was Mr. Morgan nice to you?" Michael the Jolteon nodded and went up to me, rubbing my leg affectionately. "Looks like our Pokémon really appreciate the care you've given them, Mr. Morgan. Thanks a lot."

"Please," I waved, "call me James."

"Hold on," Dawn said. "You two know this guy?"

"We've been coming here every day for the past three days to drop off Michael and Kagami for some good old-fashioned R&R," Francis explained.

"Oh, Aaron and Francis," a woman's voice called out. "Good to see you again!"

The kids turned around to see a woman clearly older than me, with neck-length fuchsia hair tied in a long ponytail. She also wore a green Breeder's apron over a pink dress shirt and blue jeans. Her face looked familiar to Ash, but he couldn't place a name to it. As soon as she saw Ash, she gasped.

"Wait, a red cap… a Pikachu on the shoulder…" she stated, and snapped her fingers, "you must be Ash Ketchum! James here has talked quite a bit about you!"

"Oh, he has?" Ash quipped, now glaring at me.

"He would not stop talking about what an amazing Trainer and person you are," the woman nodded.

"Oh, he has?" Ash repeated, not expecting this.

"Oh, forgive me," she said, bowing. "My name is Audrey Austin. I'm a Pokémon Breeder and I run the Solaceon Day Care. James here has been working here for the past month as a volunteer Breeder."

"James is a volunteer Breeder?" Ash gasped.

"You're a professional Breeder?" Brock added, also surprised.

Just then, Ash's Pikachu caught sight of the Pikachu on my shoulder and gasped in shock. My Pikachu nodded, and both Pikachu jumped to the ground and started to talk very excitedly.

"Whoa, you know this Pikachu, buddy?" Ash asked, kneeling down to their level.

"Pikapi! Pika Pikachu-chu! (Ash, it's Pikachutwo!)" Pikachu said, and contorted his face and various parts of his body to resemble a certain Genetic Pokémon. He even curled his paws to look like Mewtwo's weird genetic fingers.

"Hey, that looks like Mewtwo!" Ash said, and then realized what that meant as he now was gawking at the new Pikachu. It looked exactly like his Pikachu, but his ears were spiky like a Pichu. There was only one Pokémon in the world that Ash had seen that was like that. "You're Pikachutwo?" Ash gasped.

"Pi pika. (Yep, that's me.)" Pikachutwo nodded, grinning slightly.

"What's a Pikachutwo?" Dawn asked, confused.

"How about we talk about this inside?" Audrey asked. "James and I were just about to serve lunch for the Pokémon."

"Sounds like a good idea to me!" Ash nodded, and we all headed inside.

(-o-)

Ash and the other kids were seated at a large dinner table in the Breeder's mess hall, and the Pokémon were all in a special dining area not far from the human table.

"So what's going on here?" Ash asked Audrey. "How do you know about James?"

"He came to work here about a month ago," Audrey replied.

"A month ago?" Dawn gasped.

"That's when he left Cacnea to Gardenia so it could master Drain Punch!" Brock realized.

"I understand you three have a… less than pleasant experience with James in the past," Audrey said, nervously. "But I think you should know that he's changed considerably since your last encounter."

Just then, I brought in the food tray with all the works. "All right, gang, soup's on! And I mean that literally!" Seven bowls of soup were then placed on the table, and I sat down next to Audrey. "I made this one myself: extra creamy cheese and potato soup with diced celery stirred in!"

"Sounds pretty good, Jimmy," Francis grinned, and dug right in. Aaron ate more well-mannered than his friend, but showed that he enjoyed it no less.

Ash and the others stared for a few seconds, confused, before they took a tentative spoonful in unison. Almost at once, their eyes grew wide and Ash started whipping the soup into his mouth. Like Aaron, Brock and Dawn ate less rudely than Ash, but they clearly liked it just as much as he did.

"Wow, this is amazing!" Ash cheered, happily scarfing it down.

"I never thought James could cook!" Dawn said.

"This may even rival my own cooking!" Brock added, clearly impressed.

Pikachu also seemed to enjoy the Pokémon food that Audrey and I made, as did the other Pokémon. Pikachutwo and Mime Jr. came over and all of the Pokémon started to have a back-and-forth conversation with each other. Then, to Ash's complete astonishment, a small Charmander came up to a bowl marked with the name: "Red".

"Whose Charmander is that?" he asked.

"Would any of you believe me if I told you he's mine?" I joked.

"Not a chance," Dawn said.

"Well, he is," Audrey nodded. "He actually got it from Professor Oak two weeks ago."

At this, Ash choked on his soup and had a fit of coughing. "Wait, what!? Professor Oak was here!?"

"Even more, he gave James a Pokémon!?" Brock gasped, also shocked.

"If you all calm down," Audrey said, "James will explain everything."

"Okay, okay," Ash said, calming down. "You might as well start from the beginning."

I nodded, and began to tell my tale.

(-o-)

(-o-) FLASHBACK (-o-)

The following events happened a month before I arrived in Solaceon Town. I was lying on a hill at night with Carnivine and Mime Jr., depressed about leaving Cacnea behind and because of my inability to help my friend when he needed me the most. All of a sudden, I heard a faint sound coming from above us.

"Li, deli, li, deli…"

I looked up and saw a familiar bird Pokémon approach us by the light of the moon.

"Is that…?" I asked myself, and confirmed it when the bird became closer. "It is!"

"What's what, James?" Jessie asked, noticing I was showing some emotion.

"Look up there!" I pointed, and my friends saw what I saw.

"It's Team Rocket's Deliboid!" Meowth cheered.

"And he's not alone!" a voice called out.

We all looked behind us and saw a young man and an old woman come out of the woods, and Delibird landed next to them. The old woman had combed back pale orange hair and wore a pink overcoat over a black shirt, while the young man had a spiky dark brown mop top with gold streaks and was dressed in an elite Team Rocket admin uniform.

"Hey, it's that Team Rocket recruitment scout from Johto!" Meowth said, recognizing the old woman.

"But who's the big guy?" Jessie asked, seeing the strange newcomer. "He looks kinda tough."

"That's my grandson, Frank James!" the Rocket Scout grinned. "He's Team Rocket's newest admin!"

"I'm looking for James Morgan," Frank said. "I have a message for him from the Boss."

"The Boss!?" I gasped, jumping up and standing at attention. "What does he need from me?"

"You and your partner's Pokémon," he said bluntly, and Delibird opened its sack-like tail and made motions for James to hand over his Poké Balls.

"Uh, what?" Jessie gawked. "Why do our Pokémon have to go?"

"They're payment for your friend's massive damage to our organization," he replied. "Also, he's fired."

At this, we all blanched. "Wh-what?" I gasped.

"And you're not getting back in, so don't come crying to me!" the scout smirked. "Now be a good boy and give us your Pokémon! Giovanni's gonna make a base in Sinnoh, and he needs manpower for it! Or perhaps I should say, Pokémon power!"

Before I reacted, Carnivine attacked the Rocket agents with Bullet Seed, and Mime Jr. used Mimic to do a second wave of Bullet Seed, knocking the three out for now. Jessie, Meowth, and I were speechless at this sudden event, but Carnivine and Mime Jr. started to say something.

"Dey're sayin' dat dey'll never let anyone take dem away from ya, Jimmy," Meowth translated, "and dat dey'll never let you be taken away against yer will, eitha."

"Thanks a bunch, guys," I said, "but now we have to run."

"I agree," Jessie nodded, and handed me a huge bag of supplies. "We felt you'd need some stuff after Cacnea left, so we got this last night while you were asleep."

"You better make a run for it real fast!" Meowth said. "Dose guys won't be out for long!" As if on cue, the scout, Frank, and Delibird started to come around.

"What about you?" I asked, afraid for my friends.

"We can take care of ourselves!" Jessie said, "but you just go! We're putting your and your Pokémon's needs above our needs, like real true best friends do!"

I gasped, but then felt water flow from my face as I gave my friends one last big hug. "We'll meet again, I promise!"

With that, I ran off into the night as I heard the sound of a battle raging behind me.

"Get that traitor and hand me his head!" I heard Frank call out.

Gritting my teeth, I ran forward, not daring to look back or try to help my friends. I was not about to let their sacrifice be in vain.

(-o-) FLASHBACK: THE NEXT MORNING (-o-)

Having found some shelter in a small cave under a tree, I dug myself out, cleaned up my campsite, and walked for another kilometer or two before I checked my GPS to find out where I was.

"Huh, looks like I'm just outside of Solaceon Town," I stated. "I got some distance last night." I then snapped my fingers, having come to a realization. "Hey, the twerps were heading there on their way to Veilstone City! Maybe I'm ahead of them for once!" As soon as my excitement came, I groaned as I felt my stomach growling. "But first, I need something for breakfast."

With that, I headed towards the city. Luckily, Jessie had included a change of clothes in my bag so that no one confused me for a Team Rocket agent. Then again, Team Rocket didn't have any agents in Sinnoh, and nobody we ran into here even heard of Team Rocket in the first place. Before I arrived at the Pokémon Center, I found myself facing a small building to my left with a huge field behind it, with tons of Pokémon playing and running around happily. There were lots of toys and slide-and-swing play sets for the Pokémon strayed everywhere, and a cool rustic little well in the middle.

"Looks like a nice place," I said, and then thought for a moment. "Well, I'm not super hungry right now, so why not?"

I walked over to the building, and saw a little girl there. "Hey, what are you doing here?" I asked, kneeling down to her level.

"I'm too little to raise Pokémon," she answered, "so the nice lady is raising them for me!"

"How old are you, eight?" I joked, noticing her height as being half of my own.

"I'll be turning eight in a week," she said. Wow, I thought to myself, she really is young. "Hey, are you a Pokémon Trainer?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah, why?" I replied uncertainly.

"The Day-Care Lady posted a help wanted on the door at the Pokémon Center!" she replied, and pointed to a sign on the door of the red-roofed building a few meters away.

I walked over and saw a poster with strips of paper dangling off of it for people to take off, each with the same phone number printed onto it. I took one for myself, and I saw that it read: "Help Wanted – Solaceon Day Care. Call Audrey Austin at 04-1459-2009."

"Huh, I may have to look into that," I said. "Maybe this could give me a new chance to help Pokémon." Unfortunately, my growling gut had other plans. "Uhh… first lunch, then help."

I then put the slip into my back pocket and went up to the deli counter in the Pokémon Center, looking for a nice cup of coffee and something else to get me going. I had gotten to my table with an light roast latte and a cream cheese Danish, I overheard two boys saying something that piqued my interest.

"Did you see the Hearthome Tag Battle last week?" one kid asked.

"Wasn't that with Ash Ketchum from Kanto who won the Kanto Battle Frontier last summer?" the other one nodded.

"That's the one," his friend nodded. "But did you see his battle partner?"

"No," the other boy shook his head. "Who was it?"

"It was this creep named Paul," he replied. "His Chimchar got hurt really bad in the first day battle, but he used it again the next day! He even made it attack Ash's Turtwig so that it could get into the battle when Turtwig tried to protect it!"

"You serious!?" the second kid gasped, and the first kid nodded solemnly.

"I should know!" I piped up. "I was there as a food vendor! I even saw him defy Nurse Joy's order to let him rest! You should have seen Ash's reaction to that, I thought he was going to nail him right then and there!" I then smirked to myself. "Personally, I kinda hoped he would. If he won't, I sure as Ho-Oh will."

"Someone ought to report him to Officer Jenny for that," the second boy mused.

"What happened to Chimchar?" the other boy asked.

"You'll be happy to know he's in Ash's capable hands," I replied.

"Well, that's a relief," the first boy sighed. "Do you know Ash, mister?"

"Uh, yeah, we're friends," I nodded, stretching the truth slightly. "I heard he was on his way to Veilstone City for his third Sinnoh Gym Badge."

"Cool!" the boys said, getting up. "We need to get our badges too!" With that, they left.

"Ah, to be young," I smiled as I went back to my breakfast.

(-o-)

After my nice breakfast, and a quick rest afterwards for me and my Pokémon, I went up to one of the phones in the Pokémon Center. Taking out the slip, I read the number and dialed it. The dull dial tone sounded for a few seconds before the face of a Pokémon Breeder filled the screen.

"Hello, this is the Solaceon Day Care," the breeder said. "How may I help you?"

"Yes, I'm calling about the job offer," I said into the receiver. "I was told to speak to Miss Audrey, is she available?"

"Yes, please hold on," the young man said, and left the screen. After a few seconds, a dark purple-haired woman in a Breeder's outfit appeared.

"Hello, this is Audrey," the woman said.

"Hello, my name is James," I said. "I'm calling about the job offer at the Solaceon Day Care."

"Oh, yes," she nodded. "Are you close by?"

"I'm in the Solaceon Town Pokémon Center," I said. "What qualifications do I need for the job?"

"How about you swing by here and I fill you in on the details?" she asked.

"Okay, I'll do that," I said, and hung up.

I then left the Pokémon Center and walked back down the road towards the Day Care, with Mime Jr. riding on my shoulder. I felt a bit nervous, but I shrugged it off before I arrived at the Day Care center. Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door, and Audrey showed up to greet me.

"It's nice to meet you, James," she said. "Please come in."

I bowed and walked inside, making sure to wipe my feet. I saw a few Breeders rush around with pails of water and bags of food. With the multitude of Pokémon outside, I was surprised to see so few people working here.

"Do you always have this short a staff?" I asked, curiously.

"Day Care centers don't need much in the way of human help," she said, "but we are a bit short-staffed at the moment. We've gotten quite a bit of Pokémon here and it's truly hard to take care of them all."

"Yeah, I can see that," I said, looking out the window at the multitude of Pokémon outside. "So what is there to do here?"

"Well," Audrey began, "we have a sick bay if Pokémon need medical attention without needing Nurse Joy to overwork, and we have the kitchen to prepare most of the meals for the Pokémon we take care of, as well as the human staff."

"Just put me in the lowest spot," I said, "and I'll do what I can."

"Alright," she said as she led me into the kitchen, "how about I start you with KP?"

"Kitchen patrol?" I said, grinning. "No problem! I did all the cleaning and cooking work for my friends when we were travelling." My smile turned into a frown when I remembered the friends I left behind not two days ago.

"What's the matter?" Audrey asked, picking up on my sudden frown.

"Oh, just thinking about those friends," I said. "We split up a couple of days back."

"Oh, that's sad," she said, handing me a Breeder's apron. "I hope you meet up again."

"Thanks," I said, smiling. I then put the apron on and started to wash the dishes.

(-o-)

After the dishes were clean and the floor was mopped, which took me about an hour to do, I went to see Audrey. "Floor's mopped, dishes are done, you wanna check it for yourself?"

She nodded, and we went to the kitchen. True to my word, not a stain or spot was to be seen. Everything was put away nice and neat, and the whole room truly shone.

"Wow, I'm impressed!" she grinned.

"Well, I had to learn it myself to take care of those loafers," I smiled, joking around.

"I also needed help with a special Pokémon case," she said. "Follow me."

I followed her to the sick bay, and one of the six beds held a very special patient. It looked just like Ash's Pikachu, except that its ears were more spiky, like a Pichu's. I felt like I had seen this one before, but could not remember at the moment.

"It's a Pikachu," I gasped. "What's wrong with it?"

"It's completely out of energy," she said. "I assumed that it suffered from a lack of electricity in its cheek pouches, but we haven't been able to generate enough electricity to test it out. We found it in the field yesterday, but it hasn't showed any signs of recovering. It hasn't even eaten anything. We considered calling Nurse Joy, but I felt like this Pikachu needed someone special to help it."

"Do you have jumper cables?" I asked.

"Not small enough for a Pikachu, no," she shook her head.

I thought for a moment, trying to think of a good plan from all my years of hunting that kid's Pikachu. Just then, I had an idea. "Do you have any Electric-Type Pokémon in your care here?"

"I believe so," she said, and we went outside. "Hello! Are there any Electric-Type Pokémon here?" What came up was a Plusle, a Minun, and a Shinx. "Looks like we do, James. What's the plan?"

"All right," I said, talking to the Pokémon. "There's a sick Pikachu here, and we need you to help it recover. It needs lots and lots of electricity to get it back on its feet. Can I count on you all do it?"

The trio agreed, and followed us into the ward. They got on the table, and Plusle and Minun joined hands, with Plusle touching one of Pikachu's cheeks while Minun touched the other. They released a joined current which flowed into Pikachu. Shinx took Pikachu's tail in its own tail and sent its own electricity into it. After a few seconds, the trio stopped.

"Did it work?" I asked as I looked at the Pikachu. A few seconds later, Pikachu slowly opened its eyes as its cheeks crackled. "All right! Good job, you three!" The trio cheered and went back out to play.

"That was amazing," Audrey smiled. "Not even I could figure that out. You have the makings of a top-notch Breeder, James."

Just then, the Pikachu got up and looked at me. It gasped in realization and jumped onto my shoulder, rubbing against my neck. "Whoa, what's gotten into you?" I asked, taken aback.

"He seems to like you," Audrey smiled. "Why don't I let you take care of him?"

"Uh, okay," I said, shrugging. Audrey then left and I looked at this new Pikachu. Just then, I remembered where I had seen this one before. "Hey, I remember you! You're that Pikachu clone from Mewtwo's group! I thought those ears looked familiar!" The Pikachu nodded. "Well, I left Team Rocket forever and I'm starting a new life. Do you want to be my new partner?"

For a while, Pikachutwo didn't answer, but then nodded. "Okay, but I'll have to use a Poké Ball so that no one will try to catch you, okay?" He nodded, albeit uneasily, and I used an empty Poké Ball on him. After a few dings, the capture was successful, and I let him out. "See, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

Suddenly, I heard a scream from the backyard. "What was that!?" I gasped.

Just then, a Breeder rushed in. "It's horrible! Someone's attacking the Pokémon in the backyard!"

Gasping in horror, I dashed outside and was confronted with my worst fear: the elite Team Rocket agent Goddard with a Mightyena and a Raticate attacking all the other Pokémon and even the people too. As soon as I showed up, Goddard noticed me and smiled cruelly.

"Well, well, well," he chuckled, "if it isn't our little runaway. Hand over your Pokémon and maybe I'll consider leaving these saps be."

I hissed, angry. "I'll never surrender any Pokémon to the likes of you. See, I realized something last night and just today. I realized just how wrong stealing Pokémon is, and how much I've screwed up. I don't know if I'll ever be forgiven, but I can start doing something different, starting now!" With that, I called out Carnivine and Mime Jr., who got into a battle-ready stance. "GO GET HIM!"

(-o-) END FLASHBACK (-o-)

"So what happened next?" Ash asked.

"Oh, I kicked his butt to the curb," I smiled. "Carnivine gnawed out Raticate, and Pikachutwo blasted him off, just like you did to us so often."

"And you've been working here ever since?" Brock asked.

"That's right," I nodded. "Audrey accepted me as her apprentice, and I'm now an officially licensed Pokémon Breeder." I pulled out a wallet card to show them the proof.

"But how does this Charmander come into the picture?" Dawn asked.

"I wrote it down in my journal," I said, and handed them a small book from my backpack. "Read it yourself and see what I've done so far!"

The whole gang soon read my story, which I would go on to title: "Journal of a Repentant Rocket", which may be published sometime in the near future to all who are reading this story! That's right, kids! Team Rocket breaks the fourth wall of the fan fiction world too!

After all the kids present had read a bit of the book, Ash gave it back to me. "So what are your plans now, James?"

"I figured once I was settled in," I replied, "I could join the Sinnoh League and face you as a rival, Ash."

"You want to earn badges like me?" Ash gasped, surprised.

"After seeing what kind of brat Paul is," I grinned, "you need a good rival. In fact, how about we battle right now so I can show you what I'm made of?"

Ash grinned at this and nodded. "Okay, James, you're on!"

(-o-)

We had gone outside to the battlefield in the pasture, and Brock stepped up as the referee.

"This Pokémon battle between Ash and James will now begin!" Brock declared. "Each side will use three Pokémon, and the battle will be over when all three Pokémon on one side are unable to battle! During this battle, both sides will be allowed to substitute Pokémon!"

"This could be interesting," Dawn said.

"Pip lup," (For sure.) Piplup nodded.

"Let the battle begin!" Brock declared.

"Turtwig, I choose you!" Ash cried, and called on his Grass-Type Turtle Pokémon.

"Okay, you're up first!" I cried, and called out my Zubat.

"Whoa, when did James catch a Zubat?" Dawn gasped as she pulled out her pink Pokédex. "Zubat, the Bat Pokémon. To compensate for its lack of eyes, Zubat uses ultrasonic waves to detect objects in front of it. It flies about at night and in caves, and avoids sunlight at all costs, since it causes it body to become slightly burned."

"Watch and learn, kiddies!" I said. "Zubat, use Supersonic!"

It let out an eerie cry, and Turtwig looked like it was all turned around. "What just happened?" Dawn asked.

"Supersonic is a move that confuses an opposing Pokémon," Francis explained. "A confused Pokémon may miss its target easily or even attack itself."

"Come on, Turtwig!" Ash cried. "Snap out of it and use Razor Leaf!"

Turtwig, still confused, fired multiple leaves at Zubat, but it dodged most of them, and the few that did hit it didn't seem to do much damage.

"Now is the time!" I cheered. "Zubat, use Leech Life!"

Zubat bit down on Turtwig's earthen shell and began sucking some weird greenish energy out of it. It flew off soon after, and it looked noticeably stronger while Turtwig looked noticeably weaker.

"Now what?" Dawn asked Francis again.

"Leech Life is a Bug-Type move that drains some of the target's energy," he replied. "It's proportional to the amount of damage given by the attack itself. And Bug-Type moves are super effective on Grass-Type Pokémon like Turtwig."

"Now, Zubat, use Wing Attack!" I called out, and Zubat slapped Turtwig with its wings, sending it flying backwards.

"Turtwig, are you okay?" Ash asked, and Turtwig shook its head, snapped out of its confusion. "Now use Tackle!"

Turtwig jumped up high and slammed into Zubat, knocking it down to the ground.

"Please hang in there, Zubat!" James cried, and Zubat flew back up into the air. "Now, use Leech Life!"

Zubat soared down to Turtwig and flew behind it, biting its head this time. Like before, Turtwig grew weaker while Zubat regained some of its energy.

"Now use Wing Attack!" James cried, and Turtwig was slapped backwards again, this time into the Dialga statue pedestal, and it fell over backwards, out cold.

"Turtwig is unable to battle!" Brock ruled. "The winner is Zubat!"

"Wow, what a Zubat!" Dawn said, clearly impressed.

"Turtwig, return!" Ash said, recalling his Pokémon. "That was a great battle, Turtwig. Now you get some good rest." He then looked at me as he took out his next Pokémon. "I'll admit, you're a lot tougher now, but I'm not gonna lose! Buizel, I choose you!" The Sea Weasel Pokémon popped out, eager for battle. "Let's start it off with Water Gun!" Buizel shot a high blast of water at Zubat, whose wings were now soaked and fell to the ground.

"Zubat's not skilled enough to fly with wet wings!" Francis gasped. "This could be bad for James."

"Now use Aqua Jet!" Ash cried, and Buizel shot forward in its watery dash.

"Quick, use Astonish!" I cried, but Buizel was too fast and nailed Zubat, knocking it into the air and then it crashed to the ground, fainted.

"Zubat is unable to battle!" Brock ruled. "Buizel wins!"

"One to one," Aaron noted, speaking up for the first time since hearing my story.

"Good job, Zubat," I smiled, recalling my fainted partner. "You ready, Pikachutwo?" I grinned at Pikachutwo, who nodded and jumped from my shoulder and onto the ground, on all fours, ready to battle. "Pikachutwo, use Thunderbolt!"

Pikachutwo shot a huge bolt of lightning, which scored a direct hit on Buizel. "Buizel, hang in there! Spin and use Aqua Jet!"

Buizel obliged, and shot straight at Pikachutwo, who deftly dodged to the side. "You want speed? Try this! Use Quick Attack!" Pikachutwo shot forward and rammed into Buizel, sending him flying.

"You okay, Buizel?" Ash asked, and Buizel nodded, grinning. "Okay, use Sonic Boom!" Buizel shot waves of sonic wind at Pikachutwo, who couldn't dodge in time and slammed into a tree, down but not out.

"Strike back with Volt Tackle!" I cried, and Pikachutwo charged forward, cloaked in electricity, and slammed into Buizel, causing Buizel to fly up and down, and stay down for the count.

"Buizel is unable to battle!" Brock ruled. "Pikachutwo wins!"

At this, Ash gasped. I had managed to knock out two of his Pokémon in a row, and he only knocked out one. But his frown soon turned upside down as he tightened his gloves and he turned his hat backwards, which I had not seen in a good long time. "You're good James, but I'm still not gonna lose!" Pikachu got the message and jumped into the battle. "Pikachu, it's all up to you!"

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N: As a side note, the episode titles will also be updated to match anime-like titles! Keeping it real, baby! There's one Pokemon game reference in here, if you can spot it! HINT: it involves the Day Care.

(-o-)

Ash: Let's go, everyone! To our next adventure!

NEXT TIME:

Ash: I'm still having trouble believeing that James is a good guy, but he seems okay for now.

James: Today I'll earn Ash's trust for sure! Maybe he'll even let me tag along with him!

Dawn: I'd better work hard for my next Contest! It's tomorrow!

Brock: But who are those people in the Solaceon Ruins?

Francis: And how in the world is James's name in a centuries-old ruin?

NEXT TIME ON POKEMON PLATINUM: THE PRODIGAL ROCKET: "Unown of the Solaceon Ruins! James Proves His Trust!"

Ash & James: Everyone, get Pokemon!