From Rota, via a road that skirted Pewter, the travellers went eastwards towards Mount Moon.

"Mount Moon," Brock said. "It's a strange place, really."

"Huh?" Ash replied. "I know there's Clefairy and stuff there, but there's weird Pokémon in a lot of places."

"Well," Brock began, then shrugged. "I've got a bit of a hobby of amateur geology. It's part of being a rock-type gym leader, you want to know what's bedrock assumptions and what keeps you grounded."

Riolu tutted. "I'd quite like to tell you off for that one."

"The strange thing is," Brock resumed. "There's lots of Moon Stones found around here. That means meteorites, mostly, but you wouldn't expect meteorites to mostly land in one place. That's the strange thing."

He shrugged. "Of course, these days, it's just part of the main route to Cerulean. Though that doesn't usually go right through the caves."

"We're going to have to, though, right?" Misty asked. "For Brock's Zubat, I mean. Er, Crobat… Zubat… which do you even call him at this point?"

"I guess maybe the name of what he is now?" Ash guessed. "Or what he was before. Either's fine… and I think I can see him up ahead, too-"

Ash tripped and slammed into the ground, sending Pikachu scattering forwards and leaving behind Riolu who'd hopped into the air just in time.

"Ow," the trainer mumbled, then rolled over.

The rock that Ash had landed on glared at him, then rolled off in a huff.

"I thought you were supposed to be training your Aura Sight?" Pikachu asked, from where he'd landed.

"Yeah, but it's hard!" Ash protested, feeling his toe. "If I have my eyes open then I'm not using Aura Sight, or I can't tell if I am properly, but if I close my eyes then the only rocks I can see are the ones that are actually Geodude."

"Don't you have a blindfold with you?" Pikachu asked.

"Yeah, but that doesn't make things easier," Ash complained.

"Yes it does," Pikachu replied.

"How?"

Pikachu tutted. "Put it over one eye, Ash."

Ash stopped halfway through getting up again. "Oh, yeah, I could do that… why didn't you mention that before?"

Riolu rubbed his temples. "I think I'm starting to see what Pidgeot meant."

"Same old Ash," Misty said. "He was like this in Sinnoh, right?"

"I should tell you about how he calmed down his Monferno once," Brock mused.

Dexter went beep. Then bing.

You have a text message, the Pokédex stated. I'm trying to work out the best way to provide an alert.

"Oh, can I?" Riolu asked, opening Ash's bag and extracting the Pokédex. "Let's see…"

He turned around, offering Ash the opportunity to read it as well, and Ash began reading it aloud.

"Let's see… battle in ten minutes, it'll be filmed, don't wreck this chance for us twerps. J-J-M-A-W plus G."

"Oh, so that J-J-M-A-W must have been Jessie, James, Meowth, Arbok, Weezing," Misty said. "But who's G?"

"Uh…" Ash began, thinking. "The only Pokémon I can think of that might fit is James' pet Growlithe."

"That does make sense," Brock said. "And that number they left us must have been their phone number… and I feel like we're idiots for not seeing that one coming."

Ash straightened, then let Pikachu and Riolu clamber up to his shoulders. "You remember what we said about Team Rocket, right, Riolu?"

"That them thinking about stealing me was nothing unusual," Riolu said, one paw cupping the other arm's elbow as he thought. "That they're good at disguises… that they tend to help out when it's really serious… and that they're obsessed with stealing Pikachu."

"That's about right," Pikachu agreed. "And they're also really good at recovering after being blasted into the sky, it's a bit of a signature by now."

"It's weird having warning that it's about to happen, but… here goes, I guess," Misty said.

They didn't have to wait long, and Team Rocket were waiting just over the next hill.

Complete with all the trimmings. Meowth shaped balloon, Jessie with a big megaphone… there was no giant robot, though.

Had they done giant robots at this point?

"A-ha-ha-ha!" Jessie laughed. "You've fallen right into our trap!"

"And it's such a shame, too," James agreed. "Since it looks like you've started taking care of your appearance! A pity it's hundreds of years out of style."

"You're from Team Rocket!" Ash said. "What are you trying to do?"

"Why, steal those Pokémon of yours, of course!" Jessie replied. "What did you think Team Rocket did, manufacture fireworks?"

"Now, pay attention!" James said. "And you'd better pay attention, or you might end up missing something important."

"Prepare for trouble, you know the drill!" Jessie said.

"And make it double – you'll get your fill!" James agreed.

"Is this a new one?" Misty asked quietly.

"Pikachu and I heard it before," Ash replied. "But I guess it's new, too..."

Jessie declared that they were there to protect the world from devastation, and James added that it was to unite all people within their nation. Then Jessie said they denounced the evils of truth and love, while James said their aim was to extend their reach to the stars above.

"Is this normal?" Riolu said.

"By this point I could recite this by heart," Pikachu answered, as Jessie and James introduced themselves.

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!" James added, which was considerably more threatening than the previous line if you knew what blasting off usually meant.

Then the ground shook.

"Dat's right!" Meowth's voice agreed, and a robotic Rhyhorn dug its way up from the ground.

"A giant robot?" Butterfree said, startled. "Huh."

"And that ain't all you missed!" Meowth said, as Jessie and James jumped down into the robot. "This is somethin' of a reunion, you know!"

"Meowth's right!" James confirmed. "Growlie, let's see another Flare Blitz!"

A blazing trail of fire flashed past between Ash and the others, prompting them all to jump aside, and Growlie skidded to a halt just in front of the mecha-Rhyhorn.

As an Arcanine.

"Oh, yeah," Ash admitted, getting to his feet again and reaching for Aaron's gloves. "Fire stones."

"Fire one!" James called, and the Rhyhorn launched out Arbok and Weezing. Her Poison-type was wrapped around James' one, and Arbok fired out a barrage of Poison Sting attacks which peppered the ground around Brock and Misty.

"Steelix!" Brock called, and his Starter emerged from his Pokéball. There was a rattle as the rest of the Poison Sting attacks bounced off, and Misty sent out her team.

Staryu and Starmie landed on the ground, and she held Goldeen in both hands before pointing her up at Arbok and Weezing. "Water Gun!"

The Water-type began pondering to herself if she was technically now a held item.

Back on Ash's side of the barrier, he sent out the last Pokémon he had with him. "Pidgeot, can you deal with Arbok and Weezing?"

"Easily!" Pidgeot replied. "I'll try not to fan the flames, though, that's going to be a bit trickier."

"You help her, Butterfree," Ash instructed.

"Why isn't she helping me?" Butterfree asked.

"Fire two!" James called, and this time Meowth came sailing out of the Rhyhorn's mouth. He hit Pidgeot before she could process what was happening, and began trying his best to demonstrate Fury Swipes was an effective way of dealing with a Flying-type as Pidgeot surged upwards to try and dislodge him.

"I'll handle this," Pikachu said, sparks building around his cheeks, then vaulted into the air and slapped an Electroball at the mecha. "And… Thunder!"

Thunder blazed across, combining with the Electroball, and there was a bang that echoed across the mountainside.

When the flash had faded, though, the Rhyhorn was still there.

"That's impressive," Ash admitted.

"I think I need a change of clothes," James mumbled through the PA system.

"Never mind that!" Jessie said forcefully. "Growlie! Set something on fire! Arbok, Dig!"

Arbok sprang off Weezing and plunged into the ground with a crunch, just as Brock's Steelix charged into the Rhyhorn and sent it sliding backwards a few feet. Then it fought back, the engine making the whole vehicle shiver as it matched its strength against Steelix, and Ash looked back and forth to try and keep track of what was going on.

"Riolu, use Aura sight – keep track of Arbok!" he said. "Uh oh – look!"

Growlie had considered the situation, and decided the best thing to set on fire was Brock's Steelix. The Fire-type was firing a continuous blast of Flamethrower at Steelix, now, heating the Steel-type up rapidly, and Misty redirected all of her Water-types from Weezing to cooling Steelix down.

"Dig, Geodude!" Brock instructed. "Go after that Arcanine!"

"You too, Pikachu!" Ash said, and Pikachu opened fire with Thunderbolt attacks.

As it turned out, though, Growlie was very fast and had excellent awareness of what was going on. He didn't quite dodge all of Pikachu's attacks, but he certainly dodged all the ones that had any kind of wind-up, and he even spared enough attention to avoid Geodude's attack as well.

Pidgeot was off trying to get free of Meowth. Butterfree was battling Weezing overhead and stopping him from drifting down Smog on the rest of the battlefield, and even as Ash turned to check on him Riolu dodged to the side away from a Dig attack by Arbok.

There was one way left Ash could help, and he put his gloved hands together. Then he broke into a run, and hurled an Aura Sphere at Growlie.

James' Fire-type had been ready for Pikachu, and for Geodude, but he had absolutely no clue that Ash could do anything like that. It distracted him, first when he spotted it and second when it changed course to follow his dodge, and that meant he took a hit – then Ash hit Growlie with a Force Palm, and that knocked the Arcanine rolling over and over before he could skid to a halt.

There was a crunching sound, followed by a roar, and Brock's Steelix blasted a Dragon Breath through the open mouth of the Mecha Rhyhorn.

"Abandon Rhyhorn!" James yelped.

He and Jessie activated ejector seats, then returned their Pokémon, and as they cut the mooring rope the balloon turned out to be heavily over-engineered. It went rocketing skywards, wobbling from side to side, then a gliding parachute blossomed overhead as Pidgeot finally shook Meowth off and the feline Normal-type began steering towards his teammates.

"Phew," Brock said, exhaling. "Were they like that in Unova?"

"I don't think I really thought through how much time their Pokémon spent training," Ash admitted, as Misty had Goldeen and Starmie extinguish the last of the flames. "Great work, everyone…"

"No," Sir Aaron said.

But-

"No. I don't care how much you all like the idea, we are not doing sumo wrestling next."

He paused. "Lord Arceus, creator of all."

Very well, then, Arceus decided. Badminton?

"How would badminton work?" Aaron asked.

You didn't bother asking that about sumo wrestling.

"That's because I didn't want a demonstration, mostly," Aaron said. "I don't suppose there's an option that's not a sport?"

Well, now, Arceus considered. Have you ever played Monopoly?

"I don't think so," Sir Aaron decided.

Then we'll play that, Arceus declared, raising his hoof. Red and Blue version?

"I don't even know what that means," the human admitted.

Kanto version, then. Arceus struck the immanent space below them with a hoof, and a board appeared.

Dialga perked up, and nudged at the little metal boot.

Very well, Dialga, you are the boot, Arceus allowed. Though it would help to use words. Palkia, the car seems appropriate for you.

Palkia accepted that piece, and Arceus considered the remaining two.

I shall be the Growlithe, he said. Thus, you will be the bowler hat.

"It's not as good as my real hat," Sir Aaron said, taking the playing piece anyway. "My real hat's useful, it can-"

Ssh, it hasn't been revealed yet.

"What do you mean?"

Arceus, Creator of All (and a monopoly set), looked distinctly shifty. Never you mind.

The recording wound to a close, with the ground dropping away below, then the image cut out entirely.

Giovanni allowed himself a small smile. Then, seeing the worry on the faces of the agents he was with, allowed it to widen into a grin.

A controlled one, though.

"Well, well," he said. "I am impressed. You've chosen something of a difficult target, this time, but then again you've shown some surprising skills. On that subject… where did the giant robot come from?"

"There's a company that makes them bespoke," James said.

"And we got in a rush order," Jessie agreed. "They do loyalty discounts, too!"

"Yeah, an' whose work is it that meant we could pay the rush fee in the first place?" Meowth asked, then clammed up a little belatedly.

He was right, of course… the Rocket cell's budget wasn't tiny, but it couldn't have afforded a mecha along with everyone else that soon. At least not as a rush job.

Fortunately, they'd made a lot of money betting on a Rapidash race… albeit not without trouble. Jessie and James had remembered exactly how the race had gone, because they'd lost most of their budget on it last time around, and when the race had come around again… they'd wanted to bet on exactly the same Rapidash, because how likely was it for the same horse to lose twice in a row?

Which was why Meowth had stolen the budget and made the bet himself. It had worked, for once.

"Well, then… good work," Giovanni decided. "Of course, that assumes that you will avoid making mistakes in the future, but for now, good work. Now… I noticed that you were especially pointing out how well the robot held up against that Pikachu."

"That's right!" James agreed. "It didn't explode! Which was a possibility."

"We should probably tell them their catalogue was right on the money, yeah," Meowth nodded. "It said immune to electricity, an' all that happened was a bit of damage."

"That is not holding up to the catalogue," Giovanni stressed, lightly, interested in pressing this point to see what happened.

"That's because it was dealing with that Pikachu," Jessie retorted. "That's a really strong Electric-type, boss."

"Hmm," Giovanni said, then nodded a little. "I'll take your word for it."

He hid a smirk at the relieved whooshes of breath from the Rockets. "Now, this boy, the Pikachu's trainer… I believe he used a Pokémon attack there? And that's a Riolu he has."

"Dat's new," Meowth admitted. "But yeah."

Giovanni rewound the tape, to get the best picture of Ash, and considered the paused scene for a minute.

"Yes," he said, eventually. "The gloves, the boots… combined, I think I know what's going on. That boy resembles the legendary hero, Sir Aaron. To a disquieting degree."

He went silent again.

Giovanni sometimes found that it was better to wait for someone else to speak.

"So… is there anything else, boss?" Jessie asked.

"Hmm?" Giovanni asked. "Oh, yes. That Arcanine of yours, I want it."

James jerked as if stung. "Boss?"

"You heard me," Giovanni said, swivelling his chair slightly. "Hand him over. He's clearly an exceptional specimen, from the recording alone. That's the kind of firepower that Team Rocket needs, and it needs it where the higher-ups can access it."

He leaned forwards slightly. "So. The Pokémon, please."

James reached for the Pokéball on his belt, hesitated, then took his hand away again. "No – n, er… I… no."

"You're sure?" Giovanni asked, silkily, and Persian prowled around behind him. "Defying your leader?"

Jessie and James shrank back, and Meowth fell off his chair, as the leader of Team Rocket gazed at them. "W-we'd never defy you, boss!"

"Then hand over the Pokémon," Giovanni said. "Need I remind you of the real motto?"

Three synchronized head-shakes.

"Steal Pokémon for profit. Exploit Pokémon for profit. All Pokémon exist for the glory of Team Rocket," Jessie provided, nervously.

"Then what's the problem?" Giovanni asked. "Will you defy me over something so insignificant? You can certainly requisition more – and more diverse – Pokémon from the team pool."

Jessie and James looked at one another, then both turned to Meowth.

The three of them nodded to one another, and James gave their answer.

Admittedly while visibly trembling.

"With all due respect, Boss, you'll never get Growlie. He's… a good friend of mine."

Giovanni glowered at them for a moment longer, then… smiled. A genuine smile, full of warmth.

"Very good. You pass."

Both Jessie and James overbalanced at the same time with a crash as their chairs fell over.

"You mean to say dat was a test?" Meowth demanded from the floor, irate, then his fury turned into a gulp as Persian bared his fangs.

Giovanni stroked the Classy Cat, and Persian calmed down. "Of course," he said. "That business about profit is all very good for the grunts, but Team Rocket is more than that… it's one thing to make money and have control, but for that we need somewhere to control."

He sat back. "You three have just qualified for Executive status, and that means you can learn about the true purpose of Team Rocket. You might have heard of it, it's even in the motto you said earlier."

"...there ain't much in there to say, is there?" Meowth asked, perplexed.

"The other motto," Giovanni replied. "Protect the world from devastation. Layers within layers. It means finding the things that might threaten the world, and us with it – and stopping them. Working with useful idiots, if need be."

Jessie had got her chair back upright now, and she stopped. "Um, boss? Who are the useful idiots?"

"That boy you battled would count," Giovanni said, opening a drawer in his desk. "They're also known as heroes."

He slid three small badges across the desk. "Here. These are your new rank insignia. As of now, your job is to make sure your cell is stronger, trail this Ash Ketchum, test his strength when you can, and steer him into anything big that might be coming."

Then Giovanni smiled.

It was still warm, but it wasn't friendly any more. "Oh, and don't boast about any of this. You might need to sacrifice someone else's… less important plans… and we don't want anyone slacking off."

Jessie, James and Meowth waited to see if there was anything more the Boss had to say, then left the room.

Perhaps 'fled' was a better term.

AN:

Team Rocket is competent! And actually plan things out. Same for the main organization, too, as there has to be someone to corrupt. And to make money off. Team Rocket plans aren't aimed at destroying the world, or even changing it much - just repositioning themselves in it.

I added detail to the battle.