Nightfall. Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu are all sitting around a campfire. Brock climbs into his sleeping bag and goes to sleep. Pikachu falls asleep moments later next to Ash. That leaves only Ash and Misty awake. Ash is looking into the fire, trying to avoid Misty’s eyes. He thought. He knew the answer already, but was trying to avoid it. He sighed. Misty could tell that something was bothering him. "What’s wrong, Ash?" She asked. He shook his head. "Nothing. Just tired, that’s all." He replied. She looked him over. She couldn’t believe he still thought the only reason she followed him was to get a new bike. She smiled at the thought. He sure was dense sometimes. She wondered. Ash got into his sleeping bag and was snoring seconds later. Misty decided to follow his example and went into her own sleeping bag. Above them, a dark figure watched. it thought, . A pair of black wings opened and the strange creature watching over the Pokémon trainers flew off into the distance, to plan his next move. Pikachu was the first to wake up the next morning. He looked at Ash, his best friend in the world. He knew that Ash had feelings for Misty. He wasn’t sure about how Misty felt, but it seemed odd that she would follow Ash only because of a bike. Pikachu sighed. Sometimes he just couldn’t understand humans. He walked over to Misty’s sleeping bag and woke Togepi up. The small egg-like Pokémon rubbed it’s eyes. It got up and hugged Pikachu. "Togie togie briiii! (Good morning, uncle Pikachu!)" Togepi greeted. "Pikapipikachu pika pi.(morning Togepi. I want to ask you something.)" Pikachu told him. "Brii!(what, uncle Pikachu?)" "Pikapi pikachu CHUpikachu.(How does your mommy feel about Ash?)" Pikachu asked. Togepi looked confused. "Briii? togie? (Who’s Ash? OH! You mean daddy!)" Pikachu looked shocked (no pun intended). "PIKA?!(what do you mean, daddy?)" Pikachu questioned. "Awwww! How cute!" Pikachu looked to see Misty watching them. Fortunately, only Ash understands Pikachu. Pikachu decided to wait till later to ask Togepi, just in case. Pikachu hugged Misty then ran over to wake Ash up. Easier said than done. Pikachu pulled at Ash’s hair, to no evail. "Here, let me." Misty said. She walked over, bent down to Ash’s ear and shouted at the top of her lounges; "WAKE UP YOU SLOB!!!!" Ash jumped up. Unfortunately, he was still in the sleeping bag when he did it, so he fell down on his face and landed on Pikachu’s tail. "PIKA! CHUUUUUUU!!!!" Pikachu gave Ash a thunderbolt, while Misty and Togepi stood there laughing. "ALRIGHT! I’M UP! I’M UP! OW! STOP IT ALREADY, PIKACHU!!!" Pikachu pulled his tail out from under Ash and walked over to wake Brock up. Ash got out of his sleeping bag and glared at Misty, who was still laughing. "You know, you could just shake me or something." He told her. "I would, but then it wouldn’t be as funny, would it?" Misty replied, trying to stop laughing. "All you ever want to do is hurt me or break my eardrums!" Ash accused. "At least I’m not a slob like you! You can’t even get out of bed without being shocked!" They continued to argue until Brock announced that breakfast was ready. They didn’t even notice when a dark figure ran past at record breaking speed. Halfway into breakfast, some visitors arrived in a big balloon shaped like a Meowth. "Prepare for trouble!" "And Make that double!" "To protect the world from devastation!" "To unite all peoples within our nation!" "To denounce the evils of truth and Love!" "To extend out reach to the stars above!" "Jesse!" "James!" "Team rocket, Blast off at the speed of light!" "Surrender now or prepare to fight!" "Meowth! That’s right!" Ash, Misty and Brock looked at them, and then went back to eating. "Hey! We’re here for your Pikachu, not to watch you eat!" Jesse shouted. James’ stomach growled. "But while we’re here...can we have some?" James asked. Jesse and Meowth fell Anime style. Jesse hit James over the head with a mallet. "We’re here for Pikachu, not breakfast!!" She shouted. "But I’m hungry!" James Whined. Jesse glared at him and he shut up. What they didn’t notice is that Ash had already called out his Charizard, and it was charging at them. In fact, they noticed about five seconds before Charizard got to them. 5 "-what-" 4 "-is-" 3 "-that-" 2 "-doing?" 1 CRASH! Charizard whacked into them, slashed them, then tail whipped them, sending them flying. "Looks like Team Rocket is blasting off again!" They shouted as they flew off into the distance. Ash called back Charizard and they all went back to eating breakfast. "Is it me, or is beating Team Rocket getting easier?" Brock asked. "Their Pokémon skills aren’t exactly top notch." Ash agreed. "Even you’re better than them, Ash." Misty joked. Ash glared at her. "What’s that supposed to mean?" Ash demanded. "Oh, so now you’re stupid, too?" Misty asked. "I’m not the stupid one! You should look in a mirror!" They argued while Pikachu and Brock got a big sweatdrop on their forehead. "Well, can we move on now, or do you two want to flirt some more?" Brock teased. He immediately regretted saying it. Both Ash and Misty Turned on him and started pounding him. Pikachu decided that Brock should survive since he was their chef, so he thundershocked them all. After recovering, they packed up and started heading towards their next destination: Seafoam Islands. The figure in the shadows watched them duke it out with disgust. Then he thought of the Team Rocket members that they had dispersed so easily. Jesse, James, and Meowth looked at the screen with the form of their boss, Giovanni. "So you failed me once again. You fools! Why don’t you just deal with the trainers, then take the Pokémon?!" "I don’t understand..." James said. "It’s simple, you impotent fool! Kill the trainers! In fact, if the trainers don’t die, You can say good bye to Team Rocket!" The screen went blank. Team Rocket stood there in shock. "Kill....them?" James stammered, not too fond of the idea. "I...guess we could do that..." Jesse said doubtfully. Even Meowth didn’t look to happy with Giovanni’s orders. "But if we don’t we’ll get kicked outta Team Rocket." Meowth said, "And da boss doesn’t usually let people live after dat." They all nodded in agreement. After walking for over an hour, Ash and the gang stumbled upon a huge lake. "Yeah! Now I can catch some more water Pokémon!" Misty exclaimed. She and Ash got out their fishing rods and casted into the water. No luck. They casted again. "Not even a nibble." Ash said bitterly. On the third cast, however, their luck changed. Ash’s rod bent way down. "I GOT ONE!" He exclaimed. "Uuuh you sure?" Brock asked, "It looks like it’s got you!" Ash was being dragged towards the lake. Misty grabbed his arm to help him pull, but it didn’t even slow down the pull. Brock and Pikachu grabbed on and pulled as hard as they could. Suddenly, a Tentacruel burst from the water. "Whooa! Pikachu, get it!" Ash ordered. Pikachu jumped forward at the Tentacruel. "Pikachu, thunderbolt!" "PikaaaaaaaaCHUUUUU!!!" a huge yellow blast came from Pikachu and hit Tentacruel full force. "Alright! Tentacruel, you’re mine! Pokéball, go!" Ash threw the pokéball at the jellyfish Pokémon and it was caught. "Yes!! I got Tentacr-" Then Ash thought of something. He picked up the pokéball Tentacruel was in and handed it to Misty. "What? Why are you giving him to me, Ash?" Misty asked, surprised. "I know that you really love Tentacruels and Tentacools, so I think you’ll enjoy having one more than I would." Ash said. Brock looked surprised. If he could open his eyes (why are his eyes closed?) they would be wide open. Ash hardly ever did something nice for Misty. "Thank you, Ash! Thanks a lot!" Misty exclaimed. Then, after a moment’s thought, "I guess you’re not that bad a jerk." "Oh, so I’m a jerk, am I? I don’t see you giving away Pokémon!" Ash said. "I said you weren’t that bad!" Misty shouted, "Why do you have to be so sensitive?!" They argued for a while and Brock sighed with relief. He knew that the peace couldn’t last long. Then, three familiar figures appeared. It was Jesse, James, and Meowth of Team Rocket, but they didn’t look too happy. "Please give us the Pikachu with no trouble." They begged. "No way!" Ash exclaimed, "Why haven’t you said the motto yet, anyway?" "We’re not in the mood." Was the reply. Suddenly, they pulled out guns. "Now GIVE US THAT PIKACHU BEFORE WE HAVE TO BLOW YOU TO BITS!!!" They hoped to intimidate Ash enough to just hand it over without having to kill him. It didn’t work. Ash took a step forward. "Go ahead, shoot!" He yelled at them. Misty was horrified. She ran up to Ash and tried to pull him back, but he wouldn’t budge. Jesse and James tightened their fingers on the triggers. Ash closed his eyes and got ready for the shot. Misty was hugging close to him. "Don’t be so stubborn, Ash! You’ll get killed!" She told him. He ignored her, and finally, Team Rocket fired. the three bullets wizzed by Ash’s head, and one grazed him. He crumpled to the floor. "ASH!!!" Misty cried. Team Rocket looked as horrified as Misty. Suddenly, a man with a trenchcoat and hat seemed to appear out of no where, and grabbed Jesse and James by the throats. He kicked Meowth and lifted the two into the air. "I know you two don’t like the idea of killing someone, but unless you agree to leave at once, I’ll be forced to snap both of your necks like twigs." "Aaaaugh! Let go! We’ll leave! Promise! Just let us go!" They cried. The man dropped them and they ran off as fast as they could. He walked over to Ash, who was on the ground. Misty, Brock, and Pikachu were kneeling down by him. Misty was in tears. The man picked Ash up. "He’s ok. He’s just in shock. We need to get him to a hospital." the man’s deep voice said. The others all nodded in agreement, and they followed him. He knew the way, and got to a hospital very quickly.