A/N: Yep, pushing off the May/Misty fight another chapter. Oh, has it been about 10 years since my last update? Yeah, sorry, life happened, but I am trying to finish all of these stories as I'm in a place with some extra time again. I have no idea what my schedule will look like, but I will shoot for at least a chapter every month or two. Which I suppose is better than my prior once a decade update schedule.
Also, since it has been a decade and I've changed, even re-reading this, there are some items I don't like, but rather than re-writing and getting stuck again, I'm pushing on; if something doesn't match the prior writing, aliens did it.
Chapter 10: Timing is Everything
Indigo Battlegrounds -
"Why am I doing this again?" Gary muttered to Dawn as they walked through the crowd, heading towards the coordinator/trainer duo battle.
"Because May is competing with Ash, she can't be a judge, and Barry needed another judge since he is acting as announcer…and also, you love me!" Dawn ended by sticking her tongue out at her boyfriend. It was a little underhanded, but she wouldn't be stuck judging alone and have to see May and Ash together after the match.
Gary didn't know why he even tried to fight Dawn. When she wanted something, boy, did she get it. "Fine, fine…well, this is going to be a fantastic match. I'm sure Ash and May will be professional, and this won't cause an incident at all."
"Maybe they'll be professional?" Dawn ventured with a tinge of hope.
Gary just stared back at her with an incredulous look. "Those two…professional…sure apart, but they're still working through some things, and I have a bad feeling we'll be on the receiving end."
"Well, make sure to show me your love by shielding me with your body!" Dawn concluded with a gigawatt smile.
Gary shook his head. It was another thing he loved about the girl. She was eternally optimistic about what a good guy he was despite his past. "I'd never let you get injured…but who are the opponents? I hope they're good."
"Oh, here are their profiles. They're new, like brand new. I don't know how the husband got into this as the contestant against Ash since he isn't well established, but the wife has good credentials. They call themselves the Rocket Team." Dawn absently passed Gary the profile the judges were all given to get acquainted with the contestants.
Gary blew past May and Ash, he didn't need any help there. Only to land on a picture of the duo of Rocket Team…Gary's eye twitched immediately. This was Team Rocket. James was wearing what was clearly a set of eyeglasses and a fake mustache…Jesse also wearing glasses with her hair in twin ponytails in a yellow dress…James was even still wearing his Team Rocket uniform, only in red livery. "This is Team Rocket…" Gary couldn't believe this; how and why did no one see this?
Dawn chuckled. "Gary, you are so funny; there is no way Team Rocket is even still around; in fact, they don't even look like them…although I guess Jessilina's hair looks similar in color, and Jamieson does appear to hold a certain resemblance."
"It is literally team rocket!" Gary pushed the photos in front of Dawn again…there was no way people could not see through these stupid disguises. There was no way his girlfriend was getting fooled.
"Okay, Gary…" Dawn gave a placating pat on the head as one would a child who was getting overly excited and needed to calm down. "Well, I see some similarities. There is no way Jessilina and Jamieson from Rocket Team are Jessie and James from Team Rocket."
Gary pulled what could only be described as a look of disbelief mixed with someone suffering an aneurysm. "Do you hear yourself? Rocket Team? Team Rocket? It is literally right there."
Dawn rolled her eyes. Seriously, Gary was too paranoid sometimes. With a shake of her head, she happened to see Brock and Misty ahead. "Well, let's ask Brock and Misty. They ran into Team Rocket constantly. If they see it, then we can bring it to the proper authorities, but if you are overruled, you owe me a dinner at a place of my choice!"
"Fine! There is no way!" Gary called as they caught up with the two, who would no doubt be able to identify them.
"I don't see it…" Brock responded cautiously as he slowly moved away from Gary and Dawn; he felt he was getting pulled into something he did not want to be in the middle of.
"Nope, sorry, I can see some similarities, but there is no way this is Team Rocket." Misty shook her head with authority.
Gary looked between the three in astonishment. This was not possible. Did everyone who traveled with Ash suffer from facial blindness? Was he the only sane one? Was he, in fact, crazy? Dawn took him by the shoulder and led him to the judges' booth for the contest, as she could tell he seemed to be having a time coming to grips with the fact that he was in the wrong.
Ready Room – 2
"To think I get to compete as a coordinator once more!" Jessie said with a smile as she danced around the ready room with her Bewear. The giant pink panda-like Pokemon seemed pleased with not only being back with its trainer but also battling again.
It had been too long, but with Pikachu back in play, the Team Rocket duo had decided on one last heist.
"I can't believe we got a chance to live it up one more time," James commented as he made sure to put the finishing touches on his disguise…instead of the traditional Team Rocket uniform, it was red with a giant white R instead of the traditional white with the red R or the alternate black with red R. It was such a genius move, and no one was the wiser.
"But we mustn't forget who we're doing this for!" Jessie stopped spinning before pulling out a picture of the old gang: her, James, and, of course, Meowth. The cat Pokemon had gone missing years and years ago. The team had broken up after Ash had quit Pokemon training, and well, the spark was gone.
"Of course!" James responded, tears welling in the corner of his eyes. "When Ash left Pokemon training…it didn't just impact his friends either! We were left with no purpose! We must give this our all and ensure Ash never gives up on his dream again, so we don't ever have to give up on our dream of capturing that Pikachu!"
"James, you mustn't cry! Because if you start to cry, I'll start to cry!" Jessie felt her emotions welling up what she wouldn't give for the old times again.
"James…are you ready for one last ride?" Jessie smiled.
"Of course, we should introduce ourselves for old times!" James responded.
Jessie frowned before shaking her head. "We can't…not without Meowth…"
James also frowned as he realized it wouldn't be the same. "I think Meowth would want us to…"
"You're right, James; Meowth would want us to…still, it won't feel the same," Jessie responded, trying to keep the despondent feelings from bubbling up.
"Remember, we're doing this for him…it won't be the same, but we'll do it for him…his honor demands it. If he were to find out we didn't introduce ourselves, well, he'd scratch our faces off." James put his hand on Jessie's shoulder, smiled, and attempted to cheer her up. "He loved our motto, and just because he isn't here with us physically doesn't mean he isn't here in spirit."
"Very astute, James; let's make sure that we grab that Pikachu and we don't go blasting off this time!" Jessie smiled as she pulled the last gadget their benefactor had given them. "It is the Pikachu Grabber 2025…it will grab that Pikachu quality guaranteed. I don't know what will if that doesn't remind Ash of the good old times."
"Yes, and this time, we've got plans to keep that Pikachu." James smiled as he took out giant rubber gloves and boots. "Pikachu won't be able to stop us even if he gets out of the patented Pika Grabber!"
"Now all we have to do is push him to the point he has to use Pikachu!" Jessie smirked as their names were called to the stadium.
"That shouldn't be too hard; he hasn't looked at himself since that first match," James responded with a frown. Something had happened, and while they didn't know what occurred, they knew they had to help get him back on track. If he lost so early into the tournament, it would jeopardize his return to going for his goal of becoming a Pokemon Master, which in turn meant no Pikachu to steal, and that meant returning to his day job as an acting coach. While it paid the bills, it wasn't what he really wanted to do. Sure, he was excellent at it and could portray any role, but it wasn't the role he really wanted to play in his life. He was a member of Team Rocket through and through.
Arena –
"Nice of you to show." May called out to Ash as she watched him make his way out of the ready room and up the stairs to the platform overseeing the field. She wasn't sure if he would show up after the last time they interacted. Hell, she wasn't sure if she would show up after Misty had laid into her after that dinner party.
"Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world." Ash flashed a smile to the crowd without even looking at his partner. It was show time, and as Gary had counseled him, he needed to regain that spirit he used to have and stop being such a stick in the mud. He also needed to get over May; there was nothing left to salvage. As Gary reminded him, despite Dawn beating him over the head and telling him to stop killing romance, he just needed to get her to agree to co-parent, this didn't need to become a happy ending where they got together as a family again.
"Nice to see you're not attacking me off the bat," May responded with a hint of surprise in her voice.
"Well, Gary reminded me we don't need to have a relationship, but I want to co-parent with you…this doesn't have to end with us being a family again. I don't think that would be good for either of us." Ash responded, almost slipping fully back to his CEO mode, but he didn't know how else to hold it together. He didn't know how he felt about her; she gave him butterflies in his stomach when he saw her, but those feelings had mainly been squashed after her outright assault and comparing him to his father. It didn't matter how they felt about each other in the end. "I just want to set a good example for Sam and be part of her life."
"Oh…" May was taken aback by the brusque and businesslike tone. Ash was talking to her like he was talking about the weather. She glanced over to see him with that fake smile as he waved to the crowds and Pikachu on his shoulder. The electric mouse at least looked a little miffed as well and seemed not to be too thrilled with his trainer based on the small electric currents gathering on his cheeks.
"I think it would be something we can talk about, but I want to introduce Sam to you the right way then." May managed to gather herself back up and respond as she decided to slip into her broadcaster mode. No feelings; this was only about Sam; Ash had made that clear. Although she knew deep down that her actions at the Golden Mew had likely sealed any chance of them reconciling after you verbally attack someone with their darkest fear, not exactly the foundations of a healthy relationship.
"Of course, I only want the best for her; I just want to be part of her life; I've missed so much…" Ash left the part out he wanted to say of 'Because of you' but was trying to maintain the peace.
"I'm sure we can work on a way for you to catch up. She'll love having a dad." May found herself smiling a little at the thought. This would be good for Sam; she glanced at Ash. She could put her feelings aside and make this work. She had bungled it, and that was on her. Her temper and assumptions had once again gotten in the way of what she really wanted, and she needed to accept that.
"Excellent; I was hoping you'd be amenable and lawyers would not have to be involved," Ash responded, not even realizing he was slipping entirely into business mode.
"I didn't realize we needed lawyers! I thought this was about our daughter, but you're making it sound like a business deal!" May felt her rage reignite with the flip of a switch. "I guess I was right. The Ash I knew is gone, and the only thing left is a stiff suit."
"What?" Ash responded in surprise. This had been going so well, and suddenly, it wasn't. He was doing everything right…right? Well, sure, he mentioned lawyers; it was a natural thought process. "What is wrong with an attorney getting involved? If two parties can't agree, it makes sense to have a neutral third party help broker a deal if the two parties come to an impasse due to their views." Ash lectured as if talking to a child. At least, that is how May saw it.
"Do you even hear yourself right now!?" May practically screeched as she turned to glare at Ash.
Whatever Ash might have responded with was interrupted by Barry. The judges suddenly were connected to the sound system, and Barry started to amp up the crowd.
"Annnnnnnd welcome everyone to a very special dual Coordinator/Trainer event. We'll start with the trainer side and then roll into the coordinator side." Barry was in his element as he felt the crowd's excitement surge. This was going to be a ratings goldmine. Barry dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "And we have some surprises for you folks! First and foremost, we have two very special guest judges. Professor Gary Oak of Pallet Town will help me with the battle part!" Barry paused with a giant smile, listening to the cheers as the spotlight dropped to Gary, who was waving with a confident smirk.
"And, of course, the lovely Dawn from Twinleaf town and famed coordinator herself will help judge the coordinator part!" Barry gestured to Dawn as the spotlight moved from Gary to Dawn, who gave the crowd a wave.
"Finally, and this was just announced, the Pokemon information for each Pokemon has been provided by the illustrious Dr. Oak and his brand new PokeDex using his patented OakAI!"
While there were cheers throughout the stadium, if you listened, you could identify one: "Oh god no! Why!" But that is for later.
Barry nodded, rather satisfied with his presentation so far. "And now to introduce the contestants! First, you love him, and you know he has been on a journey for a long time! Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!" Barry ended with a yell that invigorated the crowd.
While the lights went to Ash and gave him the spotlight, Barry turned on the mics for the judges. "Gary and Dawn, you both traveled extensively with Ash in Dawn's case and his number one rival in the case of Gary; what can we expect from Ash in this match?"
"Well, if he has got his head back in the game," Gary commented while staring across the field at Ash. Not that Ash would be able to see it directly, but the jumbotron certainly should be enough as the camera focused in on Gary. "Ash can adapt to almost anything thrown at him as long as he stays focused."
"His ability to adapt to the opponent and change their strengths to weaknesses on the fly is his greatest strength and weakness." Dawn picked up. "If his opponent can knock out his Pokemon early, it can spell trouble."
"Right!" Barry smiled as he moved the spotlight to Jamieson. The lavender-haired man in a red uniform with a blazing white R on his chest waved! Something about the man felt familiar to Barry, but no way was it anyone like James from Team Rocket. The guy had glasses and a mustache, for one, and wasn't wearing a Team Rocket uniform. "From redacted! It is Jamieson Rocket from Rocket Team!"
"Oh, come on, that is James from Team Rocket!" Gary couldn't help himself over the mic.
"Sorry, folks. It seems our top professor might need to get his eyes checked!" Barry quickly pivoted while glaring at Gary. Seriously, did Gary think Team Rocket could sneak into a contest this tightly guarded and vetted?
Gary pointed at James. "No, that is Jessie and James from Team Rocket; he is wearing a Team Rocket uniform that is red instead of white or black!"
Jessie and James for their part were clearly sweating as the jumbotron camera zoomed in on the pair. James even pulled his collar as if he was nervous.
"Haha well fashion choices aside annnnd baseless accusations aside!" Dawn butted in before elbowing Gary…hard. "From what I can see, Jamieson is a newcomer but has years of overall battle experience. Based on everything he has been to every continent Ash has been!"
"An interesting observation there, Dawn. But there are no records of him ever gaining a badge! Could he have been secretly training this entire time?" Barry dropped the end to a conspiratorial whisper, which got the crowd amped up.
"No, because he was with Team Rocket; this is literally Team Rocket on the stage as competitors. I bet they'll try to steal Pikachu, in fact if you look up all his travels, I bet that they absolutely mirror Ash's because they were following them…the entire time!" Gary interjected, not that it seemed anyone was listening. Even Ash and May were shaking their heads.
"Well, we'll just have to see who wins in the trainer battle!" Barry yelled over Gary before switching the spotlight to May.
"And after our initial battle phase, we'll have the coordinator phase! While we would have loved a showdown of the Princess of Sinnoh vs the Princess of Hoeen, we get Dawn's perspective here. What can Dawn do here to take the win after years of being off stage?" Barry turned his question mainly to Dawn and Gary, as he had judged before.
"Oh, we're pretending we're even getting to the coordinator part, calling it now. During the battle, Pikachu gets stolen, and we're chasing them down." Gary responded with more than a hint of sarcasm.
Barry would have cut Gary off, but the crowd seemed to love Gary's color commentary, so he just shook his head before turning to Dawn. "Well, our professor here is clearly testing out his comedic skills. What do you think, Dawn?"
"While she might have been out of the contest circuit for a while, I bet she has kept up with the times, and we'll see a return to form that might knock some people's socks off!" Dawn responded as Barry and Dawn seemed to agree in tandem that Gary was clearly not going to let his crazy suspicions go.
"A good point; while she might not be on the circuit like she used to, you've got to admit she still has style on stage, and I'm sure she won't give up her title without a fight," Barry commented before the light went to Jessilina.
"And also from redacted is the other member of Rocket Team!" Barry grinned as he started building the crowd again.
"Literally Jessie from Team Rocket," Gary retorted with a roll of his eyes. To his annoyance, the crowd laughed in response and seemed to also think that it was all a practical joke or something like Barry and Dawn. Seriously, if this was all it took, Gary had to rethink how smart Team Rocket was…and that was not a comfortable feeling because the other option was that everyone really was that dumb.
"I see that she and Jamieson traveled together!" Dawn interjected. "Of course, our resident professor might have some thoughts."
Barry smiled as the crowd laughed; Dawn was a natural at working the crowd; maybe he could convince her to work for their network; while Barry and May had one of the highest-rated shows, they had other shows that could use a personality like Dawn on. "While certainly not a member of Team Rocket, Jessilina does have some coordinator experience on here from across multiple regions and even some high placements as top the 4 of the Sinnoh Grand Festival and five ribbons from the Sinnoh region proving that she isn't someone to turn your nose up at."
"Not at all! Having gone up against her in the Grand Festival, I can tell you that Jessilina is not to be taken lightly." Dawn shuddered involuntarily from the memories of that match but mostly from the cheek pinching. "While I managed to beat her, it was a close one, and while she has been out of the tournament circuit for a while, just like with May, she is likely to surprise anyone who counts her out!"
Barry hummed in agreement before turning back to the crowd. "Well, folks, with the stage set, we're about to witness the two trainers step up first! We know that Ash's getting his top-tier team out; his set lineup is Totodile, Charizard, and Pikachu!"
"A good all-round team." Dawn chimed in.
"Yes, with Totodile and Charizard able to learn multiple style attacks from outside their normal element group, he can cover many bases, and of course, even Pikachu has some attacks to cover his weaknesses, of course it doesn't matter because Team Rocket will grab Pikachu the moment he is on the field." Gary commented.
"Right, and Ash better be ready as Rocket Team's Jamieson consists of Carnivine, Morpeko, and Yamask, giving Ash mainly type disadvantages!" Dawn commented, once again ignoring Gary's accusations, much to the crowd's delight.
"We'll have to see how Ash can overcome these issues and how Jamieson might capitalize on his unforeseen advantage!" Barry responded as the judge called for Ash and Jamieson to send out their first Pokemon.
"And here we go!" Barry crowed as Totodile started with an aerial ace against Carnivine. "Woah, and right off the bat, Ash is taking no prisoners; he clearly made sure to cover some of Totodile's weaknesses!"
"As expected from Ash Ketchum, this wouldn't be a traditional battle if he started with something dumb like a water attack against a grass type." Dawn chuckled.
"Except, of course, when he'd do it anyway back in his rookie days." Gary chimed in with a chuckle.
"That might be, but he looks more like he was in the first match! Look at that; Totodile has gone underground!" Barry cried before smirking; now was the time to bring in the OakAI. "And while the battle has just started, let's take a moment to get our OakAI view of the Pokemon."
"No!" Gary cried, but it was too late.
"Ah, yes, Totodile is a wonderful Pokemon known as Big Jaw, or as Gary used to call him, the "Jig Saw" Pokemon when he was younger. Oh, there was a time he had some real trouble differentiating a Squirtle and a Totodile and almost lost an arm trying to feed the Totodile some snacks…oh where was I…" Barry's eyes widened as the OakAI continued to natter on about nothing, just meandering stories that flowed into each other. "Turn it off! Turn it off!" He hissed to the tech.
Gary's face had gone white from the stories…he had a feeling it would be bad based on Ash's Pokedex, but it seemed it was worse than he thought. It must have been created by listening to Gramps, and that meant that every Pokemon entry was likely full of meaningless stories no one would understand at best or embarrassing stories at worst. He'd have to talk with Gramps.
"So, what's up with Professor Oak's AI?" Dawn leaned over to Gary.
"It had to listen to Gramps for literal months on end, and now it knows everything Pokemon…and every thought in Gramp's head and all of his stories…and no one thought, "Gee, maybe we should proof this before release?" and here we are," Gary responded in a sardonic tone. Where was Tracey during all of this? That man at least normally kept a lid on Gramps' more insane ideas.
"I'm surprised it came out as sane as it did in that case," Dawn said sagely as she watched Barry try to save the crowd's enthusiasm.
"Well folks, as they say, "never trust any computer you can't throw out the window!" and it looks like there are still some issues to work out, so I'll turn to Doctor Gary Oak to handle Pokemon descriptions the rest of the match!" Barry pivoted with a thumbs up to Gary.
Gary, for his part, rolled his eyes but acquiesced to the request.
"Woah, and there goes Totodile and Carnivine in a total knockout to each other!" Barry cried as Totodile met Carnivine's leaf storm with another aerial ace. The two Pokemon passed out with swirling eyes.
"And here comes the next Pokemon from Ash! He has called out Pikachu!" Barry cried while the crowd roared in excitement.
Just as Pikachu jumped up to the line, the entire stadium went dark until suddenly lights from seemingly nowhere flashed on to where Rocket Team was…only instead of Jamieson and Jessilina stood Jesse and James in their original Team Rocket uniforms with the white and red R livery.
"Prepare for Trouble!" Jessie called out!
"And make it Double!" James followed up.
"Fucking called it!" Gary crowed as he jumped up from his seat. The rest of the stadium, including Ash, Dawn, Barry, Misty, Brock, and May, gasped! Team Rocket had infiltrated the stadium as contestants, but how!?
"To protect the world from devastation!" Jessie smirked as she threw the Pikachu capture device 2025 onto the field.
"To unite all peoples within our nation!" James followed up before hitting a remote control that converted their contestant stand into a giant robot with a jet pack.
"Oh, come the fuck on, are you kidding me right now? How the fuck did security miss Team Rocket building a giant fucking robot mech and turning it into the contestant box!?" Gary interrupted over the loudspeaker again.
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!" Jessie activated the Pika Grabber 2025 and smiled as the robotic rubber hand grabbed Pikachu. They had gotten their quarry.
"To extend our reach to the stars above!" James opened the chest plate to bring Pikachu into the insulated core of the robot…a smirk on his face as Pikachu started zapping like crazy. The poor rodent had no idea he was powering the robot himself. Without Pikachu's automatic "shock the fuck out of it" response, they'd barely have enough power to move much further, let alone use the jump jets.
"Pikachu no!" Ash cried as he reached out for his friend. He couldn't believe it!
"Jessie!" Jessie smirked as she struck a pose.
"James!" James took a bow with a flourish as he looked at the crowd.
"Team Rocket Blasts off at the speed of light!" Jessie ended by closing up the chest to the giant chest.
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!" James cried out as he directed the robot's jump jets to activate.
"Meowth, that's right." The pair whispered to each other with pinpricks of tears in the corners of their eyes as they took the contestant mics off so the stadium couldn't hear the last part.
"Oh who could have seen this coming! The pair called Rocket Team was actually Team Rocket this entire time! I mean, James was literally wearing a rocket uniform with a color palate swap; who could have guessed!" Gary mock cried as the crowd was speechless, watching a giant mecha robot lift off the stadium grounds and into the sky with a kidnapped Pikachu.
A/N: And there we have it folks, 10 years off and you get uh…well you got something that is for sure. I may be a little heavy handed with the Gary commentary being able to pick out Team Rocket's disguises but fuck it, I love my version of Gary. Next chapter we'll battle Team Rocket, try to get Pikachu back and once again I'll ignore the Misty/May argument that I'm still trying to figure out how to write unless you want me to take another decade off!