With the Golden Poké Ball apprehended by the Phantom Thief, Vincent, Jenny, and the others continued to give chase throughout the ship.
Brodie took the bait as Officer Jenny had hoped he would. Using a device to scan for a transmitter she'd placed inside the ball to track his movements, they'd attempt to corner the Phantom Thief and finally take him into custody. While they were admittedly caught by surprise, simultaneously remaining impressed, Brodie ended up continuing to remain one step ahead of them, changing disguises to continue blending into the environment.
Despite their determination to keep up with Brodie's transmitted position, their run-ins led them all right into a dead end as they tracked the Golden Poké Ball's final position in a corner just below an empty stairwell.
"Great…" Vincent snarled as he picked up the lonesome Golden Poké Ball from underneath the stairwell and showed it to the rest of the group. "One Golden Poké Ball…but no Phantom Thief to recover."
"Looks like he's onto us…" Jenny frowned.
"Please tell me this guy just gave up and dunked his head onto the ball's frame and just sealed himself inside so he could be taken away into your custody…" Vincent sighed, shortly gasping afterwards in shock as a little 'surprise' popped out of the ball. "JESUS CHRIST!" He jumped, dropping the ball to the ground as he saw an assortment of streamers and Brodie's calling card fly into the air and land softly on the ground.
"AH!" The others gasped in unison, the tension emanating from Vincent's reaction in a split second as things subsided shortly afterwards.
"Are you okay…?" May asked concernedly shortly after the card hit the ground.
"Pardon my language…that actually scared the hell-" He gulped as he glanced at the gang along with his younger self, inadvertently leaning against the stairwell and tapping his fingers anxiously against the frame. "I mean heck outta me. Sorry. Almost thought I was dead there. Good thing he didn't rig it like a…Hand Grenade or something."
"Yeesh…yeah." Max nodded. "This could have been so much worse."
"And uh…" Vincent turned to May. "I didn't mean to avoid the question kiddo but…yeah I'll be fine. How about you May? Vince? You two good?"
"Yeah!" May smiled.
"Yes…he thinks he can scare us?" Vinny snarled, holding out a Poké Ball in his hand. "He's going to be sorry he ever messed with the likes of us!"
"How about the rest of you?" Jenny asked.
"I'm good!" Ash confirmed.
"Yep." Max nodded.
"Good as I'll ever be, my dear!" Brock exclaimed.
"Alright…" Jenny acknowledged them all, crossing her arms deep in thought. "Without that Golden Poké Ball, we're in the dark…so what could his next move be?"
"You know, I bet he went up on deck…" Max spoke.
"How come Max?" Ash asked.
"Remember how he escaped back at the Weather Institute?" Max replied, prompting his friends to recall what had previously occurred some time ago. "With a jet pack?"
"The Weather Institute…" Vincent pondered. "Hey Max…actually, all of you."
"Yeah…?" Ash, Brock, May, and Max all spoke together.
"Tell me one thing. Was he there for that?" Vincent asked, pointing to the other Vincent.
"At that point, we hadn't even met…so, no. Not yet." Ash answered.
"Thinking back on it, I think he ran into us another sometime after Ash got his Sootopolis Gym Badge. And we've been together ever since." Brock said.
"I don't mean to bud in here but…we need to get to the deck ASAP!" Jenny exclaimed. "We can't let him get away!"
"Right…let's continue this chat some other time." Vincent nodded. "Let's get to the deck!"
With Jenny leading the kids to dash up to the stairs and swiftly trail behind her to act fast upon Max's more than probable theory based on what they'd previously experienced, Vincent took a moment to grab the Golden Poké Ball off the floor, sealing it tight and pressing the button to shrink the ball in size and put it in his pocket.
Looking around at the 'surprise' Brodie left him and the others, he spitefully swiped the sole of his shoe across the remaining streamers and calling card before sprinting up the stairs to catch up with the others.
"Asshole…"
Eagerly trudging their way up towards the ship's deck, everyone braced themselves to find Brodie skirmishing about in order to take off away from the ship via jetpack just as Ash, Brock, May, and Max have witnessed previously.
"Where is this guy…?" Vincent grumbled as he held up his camera.
Even Officer Jenny, despite taking a few steps back towards one of the doorways that led back into the ship, seemingly had no success in locating her target.
"Hey look, it's Officer Jenny!" Max called out, prompting the others to turn and look towards the left doorway.
"There's no one over here!" The Officer announced as they came through the doorway.
"Hold the phone-" Vincent croaked, looking at the right doorway seeing another Officer Jenny walking towards the deck from the right as he scurried to point the camera lens back and forward between the two Jennies now present.
"No one has seen anyone coming or going. Huh…?" They stopped in their tracks, appalled and confused at the sight of another one of her.
"Two Officer Jennies…?!" May said dumbfoundingly.
"You're kidding…!" Vinny gasped. "Which one is the real one, May?!"
"I don't know…" May replied.
"Listen up!" The second Jenny exclaimed. "There's only one Officer Jenny on this ship!"
"You're right about that, you fake!" The first Jenny accusingly pointed. "So, you're nothing but a phony!"
"Not true! You're the phony!" Jenny II shot back. "You're Brodie and dressed to look just like me!"
"No, I'm the real one, which would make you the real Brodie!"
"If I wasn't capturing this on camera, Nathaniel probably wouldn't believe me if I said this happened…" Vincent remarked quietly to himself.
"Well, the truth isn't always what meets the eye!" Brock suddenly spoke up, pointing his finger to the Jenny on the left. "YOU! You're the fake Jenny!"
"Brock, how can you say that?!" She replied, astonished.
"It's simple…" Brock began as he walked a little closer to Jenny I as he crossed his arms. "Okay…when I speak to this Jenny over here, I say 'So we're battling Brodie the Phantom Thief. Let's come up with a plan to catch him.'"
"Mhmm…" Ash, May, Max, and Vinny all nodded in unison.
"Right…" Vincent shrugged.
"But when I speak to this Jenny over here!" Brock's voice shrieked with excitement and infatuation towards Jenny II as he swooped down on his knees and held her hands. "A vision of loveliness! Have you found any clues my dearest one? Because I sure have beautiful! As we were off searching together, you and I! We created the ties that bind! Bind you to me! I'm talking about our future! Our destiny!"
"This is too much…!" Vincent remarked to himself hiding a wide smirk as he resisted the urge to smile and laugh. "Brock you're just as funny and romantic as I remember you…"
While Ash, May, Max, and Vinny nearly caught his wide smirks, they never fully came to be, and all brushed off from what they thought to be a mix of confusion and hysteria coming from Vincent. In that moment they all thought that Vincent hasn't been around Brock's flirting attempts as much, having not been with them all too long.
"Right…!" Vincent cleared his throat, keeping himself composed. "Great work, Brock! That's our Jenny right there! As for you impostor," He looked onto 'Jenny I' one more time. "Why don't you take off that disguise and just give it up?"
With their confirmations being locked in, the Jenny on the right approached the other as Brodie finally revealed himself and shed away his Officer Jenny disguise in an instant, shown to be wearing his regular outfit as he held the real Ribbon Cup tucked under his left arm held up against one half of his chest.
"Again, you're all incredibly perceptive." Brodie complimented as he stood his ground.
"Give back the Ribbon Cup at once!" Jenny demanded.
"Otherwise the Grand Festival will have to be cancelled!" May plead.
"Well…" Brodie took a glance at the Ribbon Cup in his grip. "On closer examination it doesn't seem to be quite as valuable as I thought. You can have it." He finally announced as he tossed it into the air.
Jenny tried to act fast to prevent the cup's collision with the deck's floor, but in an instant, the cup was in new 'ownership' as a large suction cup from above thrust into the Ribbon Cup and snatched it upwards into the sky.
"Team Rocket!" Vinny yelled as he pointed up towards their Meowth shaped balloon in the sky.
"Lemme guess…they're gonna do the thing, aren't they?" Vincent sighed, making sure to continue capturing everything on film.
"Prepare for trouble! We won first prize!" Jessie announced.
"They're doing the thing…" Vincent shrugged.
"By cutting Aqua and Magma down to size!" James exclaimed.
"To protect the world from devastation!" Jessie continued.
"To unite all peoples within our nation." James said.
"To denounce the evils of truth and love-"
"Do they do this every single time…?" Vincent asked the group, letting them continue to run through their motto as he put down his camera.
"Sadly…? Yes." Max responded.
"How long have these clowns been chasing you for?" Vincent inquired.
"Too long…" Ash sighed.
"Pika…" Pikachu sighed in unison with its trainer.
"Surrender now or prepare to fight, fight, fight!" James' voice came back into focus.
"Meowth, that's right!" Meowth waved its arms revealing itself.
"WOBBUFFET!" Their Wobbuffet waved.
"Chime, Chime!" Another Pokémon appeared and joined in on the motto as well alongside Wobbuffet.
"Chimecho…?!" Vincent gasped quietly. "That's right…James did have a Chimecho. But that was way before…"
"Give back that Ribbon Cup!" May demanded.
"We told you, we earned this!" Jessie retaliated.
"Haven't you heard the news?" James smirked.
"Team Rocket ran those other teams out of town." Meowth bragged.
"You earned NOTHING!" Vinny shouted. "You're going to give back May's Ribbon Cup right now!"
"Well I think I've heard enough of this nonsense. I think it's time I showed myself out." Brodie declared, heading towards the hand rail and jumping on top of it, revealing the jet pack strapped to his back.
"Brodie! Don't move." Jenny ordered.
"It's been real! Real boring!" Brodie waved as the jet pack began to ignite, his last words echoing among the thruster's engine's humming in the distance.
"Dammit…" Vincent snarled as he attempted to run after the now departed Phantom Thief. "He got away." He huffed, pounding his fist and lower arm against the handrail. "We've still got a cup to get back!" He exclaimed as he regained his focus.
"Stay behind me, Vincent. We'll handle this. Just make sure you watch and learn!" Jenny said as she reached for a Poké Ball. "Go Growlithe!"
Making sure to keep a respectable distance from the battle that began to ensue as per Jenny's request, Vincent watched on as Jessie summoned her Seviper from above. As every fiber of his being urged for him to raise up his camera and film what he was witnessing, both trainers respectively began to call on their Pokémon for their attacks.
"Growlithe! Use Flamethrower!"
"Seviper! Dodge and use Poison Tail!"
As a steady and strong looking stream of flame hurled towards Seviper in the air, the snake Pokémon managed to react as her its owner's command and hurled to the left, its sharp hook shaped tail beginning to glow purple as it landed a hit on Growlithe, causing it to howl in pain as it fell downwards and was shook off balance.
"Damn…" Vincent grunted.
Fortune was at Officer Jenny's side, thankfully, as Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu was nearby to aid in the battle that Growlithe was struggling within.
"Pikachu! Help Growlithe with Thunberbolt!" Ash commanded.
With jolts of concentrated electricity being shot in Seviper's direction, the Pokémon found itself quivering in pain as the electricity consumed its entire body.
"Cacnea! You're up!" James suddenly called out as he threw his own Poké Ball.
"Oh boy…" Vincent huffed urgingly as he focused the lens upwards onto the balloon.
Witnessing the small cacti, round shaped green Pokémon emerging from James' Poké Ball, he saw it about to dive downwards towards the battle for just a moment and yet before Vincent could even blink, the Pokémon, as if drawn to James like a magnet, opened its arms up to its trainer and, to James' dismay and embarrassment, his Cacnea along with its prickly body wrapped around him in what it thought to be a warm embrace.
"WE REALLY GOTTA STOP MEETING LIKE THIS!" James yelped.
"Ouch…" Vincent shivered.
"Go Seviper!" Jessie called upon her Pokémon once more. "Poison Tail once more!"
"Go, Cacnea!" James chimed in. "Needle arm right now!"
With the duo's Pokémon using the air to dive down towards their opponent, trying to use the momentum to land a deadlier blow, Vincent saw his younger self act quickly and urgently eager to join in on the fight.
"Swampert! Ice Beam, go!" Vinny cried, throwing his own Poké Ball.
Seeing the large blue Pokémon once more emerging from his Poké Ball, the swirls of concentrated ice that shot out of its mouth pushed back the unfortunate Cacnea and Seviper, pushing them back towards their trainers and impacting them in their balloon, causing Jessie to drop the Ribbon Cup as it hurled down below towards the deck.
"Flygon! Catch the Ribbon Cup for May! Go!" Vinny hurled as he summoned yet another Pokémon.
"Woah…" Vincent remarked as he was caught by surprise.
Emerging from within the Poké Ball, the green dragon shaped Pokémon with red colored streaks hurriedly and accurately caught the falling cup with ease, without damage, granting the group to breathe a collective sigh of relief.
"Great job, Flygon!" Vinny cheered, his fist flying in the air as he jumped once, the Pokémon landing firmly on the ground as it handed off the cup to Officer Jenny.
"Alright Pikachu, you ready?!" Ash exclaimed. "Finish it off with Thunder!"
Compared to the Thunderbolt Vincent had seen a few moments ago, this attack and the amount of electricity released from Pikachu's body appeared to double excessively as the move hit its target and the Team Rocket trio above, along with their Pokémon, cried out in pain as the balloon exploded in midair.
Though the smoke, as Vincent covered his face with his left arm and kept his camera on his right hand, he could've sworn he heard one last thing beyond the smoke before the voice of Jessie, James, and Meowth faded away.
"WE'RE BLASTING OFF AGAIN!"
"Yup…" Vincent croaked putting away his camera. "And there it was. Poor bastards…"
With the Ribbon Cup being returned to Mr. Contesta and everything being set right again, May becoming ecstatic of the Grand Festival's continuation as the docking time to Slateport City was set to occur later that day, there was still time to kill before their inevitable arrival to the city docks.
Vincent sat at his cabin desk, copying over the footage that he had taped all day on the ship to make room for when he was going to talk to May later while writing things down as a means to vent in private since, in his mind, some of the things he wanted to say were things that he needed to keep from the others.
Where do I even begin…? Do I begin with what Pokémon I saw and who I saw? Do I even mention the asshole that got away with pranking the shit out of me and the others? Eh, fuck it, let's just start from the top and mark down the most significant details.
Ash tells me that sometime after his victory against Juan in Sootopolis City, that's when they ran into him…me. I don't think the kids have caught on yet but…younger me sure can't hide his childhood crush for May, that's for sure...but he's quite open when it comes to the power wielded beside his Pokémon. I do remember Swampert and Flygon being quite essential on my time when I played Emerald all those years ago.
Team Rocket even surprised me today as well. Seeing that Meowth balloon in person was actually kind of a treat to see, though I wouldn't want to be in their shoes considering they blast off a lot thanks to that Thunderbolt packing a punch. Jessie still has her Seviper just like I remember and James' Cacnea and Chimecho…he doesn't know it yet but those are Pokémon of his that he will have to say goodbye to one day. Hell, those were goodbyes that had me going for a bit way back when…
Man, this whole thing is so damn confusing…I guess for now I'll have to wait patiently and just keep rolling with the punches. I've got a job to do...and I'm going to see it through.
Vincent sighed as he took a glance over to the laptop to see the footage had finished copying over. Safely being able to disconnect the camera's memory card from the laptop, Vincent ensured that the video files were fully present on the laptop before erasing the footage on the camera's memory card itself for more room.
"What a day..." Vincent stretched as he yawned loudly. "But the day isn't done yet...I've still got an interview to shoot." He groaned, dragging over his camera from his fingertips.