Episode 147: Planetary Crisis Part 4: Rocket Monsters

Jessie, James, and Meowth stare at an impossible sight in front of them as Pierce says, "I've brought the entire Giovanni Garrison." In addition to him, Attila, Hun, Domino, Annie, Oakley, and the Iron-Masked Marauder all stand before them.

The Giovanni Garrison? What is this unprecedented assembly of ultimate evil? Let's rewind even further and find out…


Ten Hours Ago…

Giovanni turns in his office chair to face Matori. He strokes his Persian as he says, "Team Planetary has controlled Tenno for far too long. It is time for a change of ownership. It is time for Team Rocket to come to power in the one region in the world that has resisted it for so long. It is time to begin our play."

Matori pushes her glasses up slightly. "Shall I activate the Matori Matrix, sir?"

Giovanni grins. "No. Deploy the Giovanni Garrison."

Matori joins Giovanni in his grin. "It would be my pleasure." She promptly turns and exits the room.

Once outside Giovanni's office, she finds Gozu of the Matori Matrix standing at attention. He asks, "Ma'am, am I activating the Matori Matrix?"

Matori shakes her head. "This mission is greater than even that. Spread the word. Deploy the Giovanni Garrison."

Gozu's eyes widen. After he gets over his surprise, he salutes. "Yes, ma'am." He turns around and types something into a computer.

Elsewhere in Team Rocket HQ, Pierce is tinkering with his jetpack. A terminal on his left begins to flash. He looks to and grins slightly as he reads, "Deploy the Giovanni Garrison." He slips on his jetpack and flies out through a porthole that opens in the roof.

In another Team Rocket facility, Attila, Hun, and Professor Sebastian are standing above a large enclosure. Within the energy cage is Kyurem. No doubt another victim of Attila and Hun's Legendary Pokémon wrangling. Sebastian turns to look at a computer, to find Pierce standing behind him. He gets the attention of the other two. Pierce holds a tablet that says, "Deploy the Giovanni Garrison." Attila and Hun smile anticipatorily at each other.

Attila and Hun walk down a crowded street in trench coats that cover their uniforms. A woman in inconspicuous office clothing and a hat walks by them in the opposite direction. With movement easy to miss, Hun passes a rolled-up newspaper off to the woman without either party stopping. Once the woman makes it to a nearby bus stop, she stops and pulls off her hat, allowing her distinctive blond hair to roll down, revealing her as Domino, the Team Rocket master of disguise and espionage. She looks to the newspaper Hun passed her. Written across the front page it says, "Deploy the Giovanni Garrison." Domino savors the moment.

In a prison cell, Annie and Oakley, master thieves, sit in misery. Both look bored out of their minds. A blond-haired prison guard strolls by and whacks the bars of the cell with her baton, causing Annie and Oakley's focus to snap to her. A package drops from her pockets, then she points a black flower to the screen of the TV in their cell. The TV fizzes with static, then shows the message, "Deploy the Giovanni Garrison." Annie cheers something excitedly while Oakley opens the package. Inside she finds a lockpick and a strange black Pokéball, as well as a piece of paper. Oakley leaps to action and quickly picks the lock of the cell.

A few cells down, the Iron-Masked Marauder, sans the signature mask, lies on his bed. He hears something rolling on the floor. He gets up to see the black Pokéball, as well as the paper. The paper says, "Deploy the Giovanni Garrison." Sadistic joy comes the Marauder's face. He picks up the Pokéball and tosses it, sending out a Hydreigon. The normally scary Pokémon is somehow even scarier with a darker color to it and glazed over eyes. At the Marauder's command, the Dark Hydreigon uses an extremely powerful Hyper Beam to blast the wall of the cell away. The Marauder crushes the paper in his hands and steps out through his new exit, completely ignoring the sirens blaring around him.


Meowth says with disbelief, "It's like a gathering of the best-of-the-best…"

Jessie adds, "True Team Rocket royalty…"

James concludes, "Never has such an assembly of pure evil occurred…"

The three of them suddenly bow down and declare, "We're not worthy! We're not worthy!" They bow up and down several times. Pierce groans in embarrassment.

James remembers something and pulls out a deck of trading cards. Suddenly geeking out, he declares, "I have all of their cards!" He thumbs through the decks, pulling out each respective card as he looks from person to person. First is Pierce, who, rather than his regular trench coat, is wearing a gray Team Rocket uniform with black vertical stripes on either side of the chest. "There's Pierce, the Elite Rocket Agent! He's a jack-of-all-trades and master of all too! His mission completion rate is 100%!" He moves to the next two cards. "Attila and Hun! He's the world's leading Pokémon wrangler! She's the brains! Together they're Team Rocket's go-to agents for operations involving the capture of Legendary Pokémon! Rumor has it they even captured a Rayquaza once!" The next card. "Agent 009, codename: Domino! Better known by her enemies as the Black Tulip! She's a master of disguise and gadgets!" Then it's back to two cards. "Annie and Oakley! The master thieves of Team Rocket! Originally, they were private contractors that worked closely with The Boss, but recently he's hired them on as true Team Rocket operatives!" He moves on to the last card, "And last, but certainly not least, it's the Iron-Masked Marauder, Pokémon hunter extraordinaire! With his patented Dark Balls, he can bring out the inner power and rage of any Pokémon! He's a powerhouse to be reckoned with!" James takes a second, then a third look at all of them with giddy excitement. He begins to twitch.

Meowth sighs. "I think they may have broken James."

But then James rushes forward with cards in one hand and several pens in the other. "Please! I need you all to sign my cards!" He shoves a pen and a trading card into each of their hands.

Pierce sighs. Domino and Hun look to the cards with disdain. Attila happily signs it. Annie looks at her card with disgust, not liking the photo. Oakley just looks skeptically at hers. The Iron-Masked Marauder just tosses his card and pen aside.

James catches the discarded card before it hits the ground. "Don't worry, Mr. Marauder, you can sign it later. Would you mind if I called you Iron-Masked?"

The Iron-Masked Marauder stares critically at James.

James backs up. "Okay. Too casual. I understand."

Meowth groans. "Okay, enough of the silliness. What's going on here? What's the Giovanni Garrison?"

Pierce says, "The boss will tell you himself."

Jessie, James, and Meowth all say in surprised unison, "The Boss!? Here!?"

Behind the Giovanni Garrison, a parked helicopter decloaks and becomes visible. The ramp lowers and Pierce indicates Team Rocket should enter. The three gulp nervously, then step in.

Inside, they find an ornate office. Sitting at the desk is Giovanni. He has swapped his orange suit for the militaristic clothes he wore during operations in Unova. Matori stands behind him. She's wearing the martial version of the Team Rocket uniform she wears when commanding the Matori Matrix.

Jessie, James, and Meowth all snap to attention and salute.

Giovanni announces, "At ease," as he strokes his Persian's back.

Jessie asks, "Sir, how are you and the others here? I thought Team Copyca- I mean Team Planetary made it impossible to get agents in and out of Tenno."

Giovanni grins. "Thanks to the hard work of you three and Butch and Cassidy, Team Rocket now has backdoor access into Team Planetary's computer network. That was enough to sneak a single elite unit into the region. And now we shall use the unit to begin to full Team Rocket invasion of Tenno."

James asks, "Sir, if I may be forward, why are you here personally?"

Giovanni seems to take amusement from the question. He chuckles deeply. "I am here because I am the leader of the Giovanni Garrison. My personal strike force of the greatest Team Rocket operatives to ever exist. This mission is far too important to leave to anyone else."

Meowth goes wide-eyed. "Wait…does that mean you're inviting us to join the best-of-the-best? Are we Giovanni Garrison material?"

Matori does her best to stop herself from snorting a laugh but fails. Jessie stares daggers at her.

Giovanni responds bluntly. "No." Meowth hangs a head sadly. "But you are to work with them. As you are already here in Tenno, I will not waste the assets."

James asks, "What about Bonk and Cassidy? I don't see their sorry selves here."

"Birch and Cassidy are on an alternate assignment to support the greater mission."

Somewhere else, Butch shouts at the sky, "The name's Butch!" Cassidy stares at him in confusion. He chuckles awkwardly. "Sorry, just got the odd urge to shout that…"

Back with Team Rocket, Giovanni asks, "Agents Jessie, James, and Meowth. Can I trust with your most important mission yet?"

They shout in unison, "Sir, yes, sir!"

"Will you stop at nothing to ensure Team Rocket gains a foothold in Tenno?"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"Will you make sure that Team Planetary is defeated once and for all?"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"Will you make fools of yourselves as you always do?"

"Sir, yes…!" They trail off as they realize their mistake, then shift to, "Sir, no, sir!"

Giovanni rubs his temple. "I know I'm going to regret this, but I hereby offer you temporary enlistment into the Giovanni Garrison. Do not let me down." The way he says his last words sends shivers down Team Rocket's spines.


The entire Giovanni Garrison, as well as Jessie, James, and Meowth, are now assembled in Giovanni's mobile command center. Behind Giovanni's desk, a holographic map of Kanaveral City is projected. Matori stands in front of it with a riding crop. She uses it to point at the map. "This is Team Planetary Headquarters. It is not only the command center of Team Planetary, but also the center of their coordination efforts. It is in this building where they house the bulk of their servers which control and regulate operations pertaining to the defense of Tenno. That includes their sensor net which makes it all but impossible to deliver Rocket operatives into the region. Our backdoor access to the Planetary mainframe allowed—"

Jessie speaks up, "Backdoor access that we got you!" Everyone stares critically at Jessie but says nothing.

Matori groans silently and continues, "Our backdoor access to the Planetary mainframe allowed us to slip the Giovanni Garrison airship in undetected, but for a larger force to make landfall, we must destroy their operations at the source. The plan is twofold. We will cripple the Planetary mainframe in two different ways. Virtually and physically. Using data gathered from the Planetary database, we have reverse-engineered a virus that will attack and destroy their computer network across the region, specifically targeting any system that could be used to stop our primary attack force. This data virus will be planted using the Pokémon known as Artifract."

Jessie chimes in, "Which we captured for you!" Once again, she earns herself several glares.

"This virus is complex enough that it cannot be planted remotely. It must be done physically by Artifract. Then, to ensure beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are successful in our sabotage, the second part of the plan will involve the physical destruction of Planetary Headquarters' server room. They will be completely unable to interfere in our plans any longer." She looks across the Giovanni Garrison. "You represent the best Team Rocket has to offer." She glances at Jessie, James, and Meowth and adds with a sigh, "And the worst…"

James leans in towards Hun and whispers, "Sorry, I guess that means you." Hun glares critically at him but says nothing.

Matori continues, "As this is a field operation, the elite field operative Pierce will be in charge. Any questions?"

Jessie, James, and Meowth all raise a hand.

Matori sighs. "Any questions pertaining to the mission?"

They lower their hands slowly.

"I thought so." She looks to Giovanni, who has silently sat in observation.

Giovanni stands up and announces, "Then I'll say it one final time. Deploy the Giovanni Garrison. I have the utmost faith in all of…in most of you."

Jessie announces, "Your faith isn't misplaced!"

James whispers to Hun, "Wow, they really don't like you."


Who's that Pokémon!?

Some scientists believe that it gazes intently at the sky on nights with a full moon because it's homesick.


Back on the rooftop across the way from Planetary HQ, the Giovanni Garrison prepares for deployment. Pierce straps on his jetpack. Attila hooks a spooled rope to his side. Hun tunes a scanning device. Domino flicks the tulip she carries, testing its ability to fire a burst of energy. Annie checks her hair, while Oakley checks her virtual display sunglasses. The Iron-Masked Marauder attaches a Dark Ball to his vest.

And Jessie announces, "Prepare for trouble!"

James adds, "Make it double!"

Pierce asks critically, "What are you doing?"

Jessie looks to Pierce with hurt in her eyes. "We're preparing."

James nods. "Yeah, I thought this was a preparation montage. We're contributing by practicing our lines for our grand entrance."

Domino laughs. "This is an infiltration and stealth mission. You can't go announcing yourselves."

Meowth sighs. "I hate to admit it, guys, but I'm on little miss espionage's side. This may not be the mission for our motto."

Jessie and James gasp in horror. James asks, "Meowth, how could you?"

"Guys, I'm just trying to be realistic here. We're working with the Giovanni Garrison now. Maybe we should…I don't know…try a little harder…?"

Jessie shakes her head in disbelief. "I don't even know you anymore."

James asks, "How are we supposed to work together if you won't even say the motto? It's not just some meaningless words. It's our sacred creed."

Before this squabble can get any further, Pierce steps in and announces, "You won't be working together anyways. Meowth will be assigned to the server room infiltration team, due to his ability to communicate with Artifract. Jessie and James, with their propensity for messing things up, will be on the sabotage team."

This momentarily stuns all three of them. Jessie asks, "We won't be working together…?"

Meowth questions, "You're separating us…?"

They both remember their argument at the same time and say simultaneously, "Good," as they turn away from each other.

But still, Meowth can't help but sigh. He finds a firm hand on his shoulder. He looks up to see Attila. "Huh?"

Attila grins at him. "Don't let those bozos get to you. You're part of the Giovanni Garrison now."

Meowth sighs. "Maybe. But for how long?"

"If I have any say in the matter, as long as you want."

Meowth looks to Attila skeptically. "What are you saying?"

"When this mission's over, I'll be formally requisitioning that you be given a permanent commission with the Giovanni Garrison. A Pokémon who can speak human is mighty impressive. A skillset much too rare to not be one of us."

Meowth grins profusely. "Wow. Jessie and James would love that!"

Attila laughs. "Ha! Good one. It takes a certain something to be a part of the Garrison, and those two do not have it."

Meowth hesitates. "Oh…yeah…right…" He watches Jessie and James as they get in an argument with Domino. Watching their foolery makes him realize, "Yeah. Right."

"That's the spirit, pardner."


It's Clefable!


The Giovanni Garrison has split into two squads. The infiltration squad consists of Domino, Annie, Oakley, Attila, and Meowth, while the sabotage squad consists of Pierce, Hun, the Iron-Masked Marauder, Jessie, and James. Both teams are ready.

Pierce announces, "Team Alpha, the infiltration team, will leave first. Team Bravo, the sabotage team, will wait exactly twenty minutes to allow Team Alpha the time they need to sneak in unnoticed and disable any security systems via the virus."

Annie laughs. "With skill like ours, we'll only need ten."

Hun advises bluntly, "Don't get too overconfident. You'll have enough of that on your team with Attila."

Attila laughs. "Come on, Hun. You know me better than that."

"It is because of how well I know you that I say that."

Attila feigns pain. "Ooh, right where it hurts." He looks to Pierce. "Say, why is that I'm on the infiltration team? Hun does subtle a whole lot better than I do."

Pierce explains, "For the sake of balance. The infiltration team required muscle. The sabotage team required technical expertise."

Attila nods. "I reckon that makes some sense."

Pierce looks to the rest of Team Alpha. "Does everyone else understand their roles in this plan?" He's answered by several nods. "Then let's get moving, people." Everyone scrambles into action.

James approaches Meowth. "Good luck, old pal. I'm sorry we couldn't be working together on this one."

Meowth hesitates. He slowly looks to James with a guilty look on his face. "Hey, um, maybe we should get used to working separately…"

James' eyes widen.

Jessie, who was standing nearby, asks critically, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Meowth sighs. "I wasn't going to tell you until after the mission, but I've been offered a permanent spot on the Giovanni Garrison."

Jessie cheers, "That's great! It's about time we get acknowledged as Team Rocket's best!"

Meowth hangs his head in shame.

James understands his meaning. "He said he was offered a spot, not we were."

Jessie steps back as she struggles to comprehend. "They can't do that! We're a team! It's one thing to break us up for one mission! But not permanently!"

Wobbuffet agrees, "Wobbuffet!"

Jessie continues, "You have to turn them down! It's all or nothing! We're a package deal!"

Meowth sighs. He's unsure of what to say.

But James isn't. He takes a deep breath and says, "Jessie, this is an opportunity of a lifetime for Meowth. We can't expect him to turn it down. As his friends, we have to support him."

Jessie's anger fades away as she realizes that James is right.

Meowth musters up the strength to announce, "Guys, we'll always be a team, but this is my path forward in life. I have to do this."

Jessie turns away, refusing to give Meowth a response. James forces a grin. "Good luck, old chum." He and Jessie head back towards Team Bravo.

Meowth sighs. He says to himself, "This is possibly the greatest thing to ever happen to me since learning to talk. So why am I not happier about it?"


The time has come for Team Alpha's operation to begin. Annie and Oakley, outfitted in harnesses, are first up. Annie pulls out a grappling gun and fires it. A thin cable shoots in two directions. One side goes across the gap between buildings and attaches itself to the side of Planetary HQ, while other goes backwards and attaches to a wall behind her.

Oakley jumps up and, with a practiced and fluid motion, attaches her harness to the cable. She ziplines down the cable. As she moves through the air, she tosses a special orange Pokéball with a purple lipstick pattern towards the other side. "Go, Terrorantula!" The Pokémon that appears adhered to wall is a massive spider Pokémon with legs seemingly made out of bones, and a massive skull-like plate atop its abdomen. Everything that doesn't look like bone is covered by a thick black fur.

Oakley has timed everything just right so that she lands atop her Pokémon as she reaches the other side. The Pokémon climbs down to the window below and uses its bony mandibles to cut a circular hole in the window directly below the cable.

Next, Annie comes zipping down. She throws her own special Pokéball, black with red lipstick, causing her Espeon to appear inside the building on the other side of the hole. A second later, and she joins her Pokémon, just as a Planetary scientist walks around a turn in the hallway and comes into view. A quick order from Annie has Espeon rendering her unconscious with a psychic attack.

With that, Domino jumps into action. She runs down the zipline cable as if it were a tightrope. On the other side, she swings in through the window with one fluid motion. With another, she has taken the clothes of scientist, completely disguising herself. She nods at Annie and Oakley, who immediately retreat back to hide in the shadows.

Domino takes a moment to get herself in character, then swings open a nearby door and shouts, "They need all the data specialists in the basement computer lab, pronto!"

A group of computer scientists look up from their stations at her with annoyance. One asks, "The basement lab? That's fifty floors down!"

Domino shrugs. "Sorry, I'm not the one who issued the order. I'm not too keen either, seeing as the elevators are out."

"The elevators are out!?" There's a collection of groans and complaints.

Domino gives an innocent grin, matched by an equally innocent chuckle. "Sorry."

With more complaints and reluctance, the data scientists frustratedly file out of the room.

Back on the next roof over, Attila announces, "The room's clear. That's our cue, pardner. Let's ride."

Meowth takes one glance towards Jessie and James, who are making a point of not looking at him, then affirms, "Ready."

Attila grabs him and throws Meowth onto his shoulder. With nothing but his hand, Attila grabs onto the cable and glides down. "Yeeee haaaw!"

They both land at their destination with a roll and quickly make their way into the computer room, along with Annie and Oakley.

Oakley pulls out a chair and sits down at a computer. She cracks her fingers and types away. "Those suckers. As predicted, they didn't even bother logging off before they stormed out. Bring out that virus Pokémon and let's crack open this network."

"Mutt?"

Everyone freezes up when they hear a Pokémon in the room. They look to a corner to see a Muttnik getting out of a pet bed. The Pokémon, curious at first, now growls angrily at the intruders.

Meowth grins. "No worry. I'll handle this one." He walks up to Muttnik and greets, "Hello pally!"

The Muttnik growls cautiously at him.

Meowth chuckles. "I can understand why you feel that way. You see, your humans were called away for some special work downstairs. We're their replacements. We'll be filling in for them."

"Mutt mutt!"

"Hey, I get it. You've got no reason to trust us. But why would I lie to you? We're both Pokémon, after all."

"Mutt."

"How about this? You head down to the basement level to find your humans. Tell them we're here. If they don't like it, they can come back here and tell us themselves."

Muttnik stares at Meowth critically. "Mutt…" It backs down and leaves the room.

Everyone else looks to Meowth with surprise. Meowth grins smugly back.

Attila cheers, "All right! You've got the silver tongue, pardner."

"What can I say? It's a gift."

Annie laughs. "But enough of that. Let's get going already." She pulls out a Pokéball and releases its Pokémon. The Artifract that Jessie, James, and Meowth stole from Team Planetary appears.

The Pokémon asks with a broken and fuzzy artificial voice, "Arti-i-i-fract."

Oakley nods at Meowth. "You know what to tell it."

Meowth nods back. He looks to Artifract. "Hey buddy, remember me? I helped free you from those goons that were holding you captive."

"Arti-arti-fract." The Pokémon's entire body fizzes out to static momentarily. The Pokémon splits apart into glitchy pixels, then reforms. "Ar-ar-ar-ti-fract."

Meowth explains, "It's good to see you again, too." He adds under his breath, "I think…" Speaking back up, "Anyways, Oakley here has a flash drive chock full of yummy data and viruses. We just need you to gobble it up, then spit it back out into these here computers. Think you can handle it?"

It breaks apart into a glitchy mess again. "Arti-fra-a-act."

"Come on, it'll be fun. I bet you live for spreading viruses and bugs. It's what you were made for."

It fizzes out. "Arti."

Meowth grins. "Wonderful!" He nods at Oakley, who holds out a flash drive.

Artifract takes the drive, causing the thing to spark, then explode. The sparks are absorbed into Artifract's body. For a moment, the Pokémon stands completely still. Then its entire body spazzes uncontrollably as it breaks apart and reforms on loop. "Arti-fra-a-a-a-a-a-act!"

Atilla worries, "No, we broke it!"

Meowth shakes his head. "No, it likes this! Our virus is like a gourmet desert for it! Eat up, pal!"

"Fra-a-a-act!"

Meowth nods. "Good stuff, indeed. Now how about you share that with this here computer system."

"A-a-a-arti." Artifract begins to glow, then its entire body breaks down into pixels and flies into the computer modem. The computer screen's display turns into a glitchy mess of random pixels. All the electronics in the room, including the lights, flicker erratically.

Attila thrusts a fist into the air. "That did it!"

Oakley confirms, "The virus has completely infiltrated the network. All firewalls have been broken. All security programs defeated."

Attila hoists Meowth onto his shoulder. "Great job, pardner. You're definitely getting that promotion now. No doubt about it."

Meowth grins giddily.


Back at the staging area, Team Bravo sees the lights throughout the entirety of Planetary HQ momentarily flicker. Pierce announces, "That's our cue, Bravo! The security systems will have been disabled by the virus. Let's move!"

The Iron-Masked Marauder grins. "Finally. I've had enough of this sneaking around stuff. It's time for a good old-fashioned forceful entry." He cracks his knuckles. "Go!" He removes a Dark Ball from his vest and throws it. His Hydreigon appears. "Hydreigon, Hyper Beam!"

The Dark Hydreigon roars in a show of rage, then uses all three mouths to fire three massive Hyper Beam attacks at once. The Hyper Beam strikes the building across the way and blows a hole into its side. The Marauder leaps off the rooftop and lands on his Hydreigon. The two fly across. Pierce follows with his jetpack, while Hun is riding atop a hovering platform.

Jessie and James glance at each other. James asks, "Do you think Pierce forgot that we told him we ditched the jetpacks last time we met him? How are we supposed to get across?"

Jessie ponders. "Something tells me we should have told him that before the plan was underway."

James nods in agreement. "Yeah. That might have been for the best." He gets an idea. "Hey, I know! Let's follow the Iron-Masked Marauder's lead and ride in on a Pokémon! We can use Haking!" James imagines himself standing majestically atop Haking as they sail through the air."

Jessie nods. "Sounds like a plan to me!"

When they make it across, James is holding on to Haking in terror, using both his arms and legs to cling to the overworked Pokémon, while Jessie is dangling below, barely keeping hold. Haking pants, falls down beneath the hole in the wall they need to enter through, then just barely floats back up high enough to make it in.

The Iron-Masked Marauder and Hun both groan at this display. Pierce just sighs and says to himself, "You knew this is what you were getting into…"

Jessie and James spring off of Haking. As if having just completed an impressive feat, they announce, "Tuh-duh!" as they take a flourishing pose.

Jessie looks to Pierce and winks. "I know. I probably look ten times more gorgeous when soaring through the air. But we need to focus on the mission, not my beauty."

Before Pierce can even decide what an appropriate response would be, a voice shouts, "Freeze!" Three Team Planetary Grunts stand across the hall from Team Rocket. One of them already has an intimidating Fallamence sent out.

The Iron-Masked Marauder laughs as he steps forward and pulls a Dark Ball off his chest. "You might want to reconsider who you try giving orders to."

"I said freeze!" Fallamence roars to exaggerate its trainers point.

The Marauder shakes his head in disapproval and throws the Dark Ball at the Fallamence. Despite belonging to the grunt, the Dark Ball captures the Pokémon. The Marauder grins with perverse satisfaction. He holds out a hand and the Dark Ball returns to him. "Nice Pokémon. It's mine now." He throws the Dark Ball again and Fallamence reappears. This times its skin is a shade darker, and rage engulfs its face. It roars.

This is enough to terrify the three grunts into fleeing without a fight.

The Marauder scoffs. "Too bad." He returns Fallamence to its new Pokéball.

Pierce points to a door ahead of them. "The server room is there, but the lock is on an independent system from the rest of the building. Even with the virus, we'll need to break in."

Hun floats forward on her hover platform. "Leave that to me." She floats up to the control panel next to the door and plugs a wire into it, connecting it to her machine. She types several commands onto a screen of her own and within seconds the door swishes open.

James cheers, "You're the man!"

Hun looks to him critically.

James cowers back. "Sorry…woman…"

She continues to stare critically.

James just says, "Ummm…"

Without another word, Hun floats forward into the server room. Pierce and the Marauder follow. Jessie's next, and she slaps James across the cheek as she walks by. James rubs his cheek and enters last.

The server room stretches on and on. It's filled with large computer server towers in every direction. Pierce hands a bag to the Marauder, Hun, and Jessie and James. He instructs, "Place your bombs in as many places as you can manage. The moment the first one is placed; we'll have minutes to place the rest and escape to a safe distance. Get moving."

Everyone splits up. Jessie and James move towards the back of the room. They take turns removing small disk-like objects from the bags and attaching them to the servers. James sighs. When Jessie doesn't say anything, he sighs even louder.

Jessie groans and asks, "Okay. What's wrong?"

"Do you really think Meowth will leave us?"

Jessie shrugs. "Maybe he will. Maybe he won't. It's not really my business."

James gasps. "How could you say that? He's our friend."

Jessie nods. "Exactly. He's our friend, and he's allowed to make his own decisions. And as his friends, we've got to let him make them. For better or for worse."

James looks at Jessie with surprise. "Wow… Jessie…that was…mature…"

Jessie puts her hands to her hips and frowns. "Mature is another word for old. And if there's one thing I'm not, it's old."

James chuckles. "And I take it back." He places another bomb and stops to think to himself. "Meowth…I trust you to do what's best for you… Just please don't forget your friends…"

Jessie suddenly freezes up. "James…?"

"Huh?"

"I just realized. If Meowth leaves us, what do we do about his part in the motto?"

James gasps. "I hadn't considered that! What would we do?"

Wobbuffet appears. "Wobbuffet!"

"Nope." Jessie forces Wobbuffet back into its Pokéball.

Jessie and James lament together, "We need Meowth!"

Pierce shouts, "Okay, everyone! We've got three minutes to detonation! Time to get out of here!"

Jessie and James are on the far side of the room, near a rear entrance. They look to each other, then prepare to make a run for it.

But before they can, two Planetary Grunts enter through the rear door and shout, "You shouldn't be here! Stop them!"

The Lunatone and Solrock by the grunts' side use Psychic to stop Jessie and James in their tracks. James shouts, "Help!"

Pierce, the Marauder, and Hun look back to them. The Marauder and Hun go right back to running for the door. Pierce's gaze lingers on them. Jessie shouts, "Don't just stand there! Free us!"

Pierce hangs his head with shame. "I'm sorry, Team Rocket, there's no time. We all knew the risks. I salute you." He activates his jetpack and escapes.

Jessie and James look to each other in horror.


Team Alpha is still in the computer room when Pierce's voice says over Attila's communication device, "The charges have been set. You have less than three minutes to evacuate the building." He pauses. "Jessie and James were captured. There's nothing we can do for them."

Meowth's eyes go wide. "Jessie… James…"

Attila shouts, "You heard the man! Let's clear out!"

Meowth objects, "Wait, no! We've got to go and rescue Jessie and James!"

Domino asks critically, "Those losers? No way. If we stay here much longer, we'll go up in flames too."

Oakley points out, "We were all willing to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of the mission. That's part of being a part of the Giovanni Garrison."

Annie adds, "But that doesn't mean I'm volunteering. So, let's get out of here."

Meowth looks to Attila with pleading eyes. "Attila, they're my friends. Please."

Attila shakes his head. "No can do, pardner. But don't worry, we're your friends now. You're a part of the Giovanni Garrison now. You don't need those losers anymore."

Meowth clenches his fist and moves for the exit. "You lugs go ahead and save your own tails. I'm going to save my friends."

Attila warns him, "There's not enough time. You're throwing away everything."

"I don't care." He looks Attila in the eyes. "Forgot suggesting I get a permanent position. If being a permanent member of the Giovanni Garrison means leaving my friends behind, then I don't want any part of it." He leaves.

Attila shakes his head in disapproval.


Jessie and James float helplessly as a grunt demands, "What are these!?" He holds out one of the charges.

Jessie sticks out her tongue and answers, "Toys! I hear they're a real blast."

"Don't play games! That's not what these are!"

Jessie laughs. "Hate to burst your bubble, but playing games is kind of the point of toys."

James points out, "Well, it seems like you do know what they are then. So why are you asking us?"

The other grunt complains, "You two are impossible!"

Jessie laughs. "Impossibly good-looking!"

"How can you be so obnoxious!?"

James answers seriously, "We practice being annoying three times a day. We also practice being irritating, maddening, and infuriating once each."

"Just shut up!"

"Hey! No one tells those two lugs to shut up but me!"

Jessie and James look up in surprise. "Meowth!?"

"Did you miss me?"

Jessie laughs. "Not a bit."

James adds, "Not even a little."

Meowth grins at them. "I missed you too."

One of the grunts demands, "What are you doing here?"

"Standing by my friends. Like I should have from the beginning."

The other grunt groans. "My goodness, these guys just keep getting more annoying."

Meowth suddenly shouts, "Face my Fury Swipes!" He leaps at the grunts with claws extended.

The grunts both shout, "Stop him!"

Lunatone and Solrock move to intercept Meowth, but Meowth jumps up, leaps atop Lunatone, then off Solrock, and scratches at the Grunts' faces.

The grunts cry out in pain and make a break for it. Lunatone and Solrock follow them, freeing Jessie and James.

Meowth lands in a kneel like an action hero and shouts at them, "And don't you dare come back!" He looks back to Jessie and James. "You lugs okay?" In response, the two of them leap up and embrace Meowth in a tight hug. Meowth complains, "Oi! You're ruining my cool factor!"

James asks, "What about the Giovanni Garrison?"

"I don't need them. I already have a team." Jessie and James hug him tighter. Meowth points out, "We have less than a minute until kaboom."

This is all the reminder they need. They break off. Jessie asks with distress, "How are we supposed to get out of here in time?"

James urges, "I suggest we try running."

They decide this is a good idea and make a break for it.

The timer on one of the charges reads ten seconds and counting. Team Rocket just keep on running. They make it to the hole in the wall blasted by Hydreigon. 3…2…1…

Team Rocket makes a leap for it just as the charges go off. For just a moment, the explosion overtakes them. But then they're ejected from the explosion and sent flying into the air. They shout in utter glee, "Looks like Team Rocket lives to blast off again!"

From the roof of the next building over, Pierce grins as he sees the twinkles of light left by Team Rocket disappearing from sight.


The Present

Ash, Brock, Brenda, and Braydon stare up at the explosion towards the top of Planetary HQ with a combination of shock and horror. Brenda asks timidly, "What was that…? What happened…?"

Brock answers, "Someone else is attacking Team Planetary… Someone else has declared war on them…"

Braydon suggests, "That's a good thing…isn't it…?"

Ash shakes his head. "Not like that…. Nothing like that is good… It's all wrong…"


Brandon stands at the edge of Kanaveral City. He stares at the smoke billowing from Planetary HQ with disbelief. "Who has the power to do such a thing? How is this possible?"


At the International Police Tenno HQ, Looker is watching a holographic video feed of the explosion. He shouts to the other agents in the room, "I want all available eyes on this! We've got a new party involved, and whoever they are, they are dangerous!"

There's a chorus of "Yes, sir!"


Polaris and Cosmo are in Polaris' office, which looks like it was hit by an earthquake. They're both getting up off the ground. Polaris presses a button on his desk and demands, "What is going on!?"

A voice responds, "Five minutes after our computers went offline, there was a massive explosion. Levels 30 through 50 have been greatly damaged. We've lost our entire computer network! We're blind, sir!"

Cosmo says wearily, "I don't like this."

Polaris nods in agreement. "Something is wrong. Something is very wrong. Fortunately, this doesn't affect the launch. The plan will continue. In the meantime…" He presses down on the intercom button again. "I want all available grunts mobilized. Defend Kanaveral City and the Cape Space Center at all costs!"


Giovanni watches the footage of the explosion with a wicked grin on his face. He slowly strokes his Persian. "All is according to plan. It won't be long now before the war between Team Planetary and Team Rocket begins."

Matori approaches Giovanni. "Sir, the Rocket Attack Force has mobilized. They'll make landfall within the hour."

"Very good. The Team Rocket invasion of Tenno has officially begun."

Villain vs. villain. Evil against evil. Criminals fighting criminals. Just when it seemed like things couldn't get any worse for our heroes, this happens. What else will happen, as the crisis continues…?

To Be Continued…