(Ash and Gary stood side by side, staring at the Team Rocket trio as the last wisps of smoke cleared.)
(The whole room seemed frozen in a weird mix of tension and disbelief.)
(Finally, Ash broke the silence, voice dry as dust.)
Ash: "I have... so many questions. Like, why are you even here? What's going on? And more importantly—why can that Meowth talk?!"
(Jessie gave an exaggerated scoff, stepping forward with a flick of her hair.)
Jessie: "We'll answer your questions, kid—though it's not like you'll have much time to ponder them."
(James sidled up beside her with a grin, dramatically pointing toward the Pokémon Center.)
James: "We're here for Pokémon, of course! The rarest, the strongest, the best of the best!"
(Meowth leapt between them with a flashy spin, claws raised.)
Meowth: "Rare and powerful Pokémon! So you'd better hand them over nice and easy, or we'll take 'em the hard way!"
(Nurse Joy, standing behind the counter, tried to keep her voice calm, though she was clearly rattled.)
Nurse Joy: "You're wasting your time. This is a Pokémon Center for weak and injured Pokémon. There's nothing here worth stealing."
(Jessie smirked, placing a hand on her hip.)
Jessie: "Oh, that may seem true, but sometimes, among the junk... you find a few gems."
(Gary, arms crossed and clearly still bitter about the 1000 Pokédollars, huffed loudly and stepped forward.)
Gary: "Alright, that's it. You three are seriously annoying me."
(He grabbed a Pokéball from his belt and shot Ash a quick glance.)
Gary: "What do you say, Ash? Wanna beat the bricks off these clowns?"
(Ash grinned, tilting his head toward Pikachu.)
Ash: "What do you think, buddy? Up for a real fight?"
(Pikachu looked at him, then at Team Rocket, then back to Ash.)
(His cheeks sparked as he gave a smirk and a nod.)
Pikachu: "Pika-Pi!"
(Ash smirked, his eyes narrowing as he turned back toward Jessie and James.)
Ash: "Let's send 'em blasting off."
(James laughed, clearly not taking them seriously.)
James: "These kids think they can fight us? Koffing, let's show them how it's done!"
(He threw his Pokéball, and with a puff of dark gas, Koffing appeared, floating menacingly in the air.)
(Jessie struck a dramatic pose.)
Jessie: "Ekans, you're up too!"
(She threw her Pokéball, and Ekans slithered out, hissing and curling menacingly.)
(Gary, not missing a beat, grinned wide.)
Gary: "Let's get 'em, Squirtle!"
(He tossed his Pokéball, and with a flash of light, Squirtle popped out, striking a little fighting pose like a boxer, fists up and ready.)
(Ash nodded to Pikachu.)
Ash: "Alright, bud you up."
(Pikachu leapt down from Ash's shoulder, cheeks sparking in anticipation as he stared down Koffing and Ekans.)
(Jessie smirked.)
Jessie: "You kids are in way over your heads."
(Ash grinned right back.)
Ash: "But you are outmatched,"
(Gary cracked his knuckles, Squirtle mirroring him with a little flex.)
Gary: "Time to teach Team Rocket a lesson."
(And just like that, the battle began.)
(Jessie pointed dramatically at Pikachu, her voice filled with over-the-top flair.)
Jessie: "Ekans, show them that Team Rocket is not to be messed with! Use Bite on that rat!"
(Ekans hissed loudly, slithering forward in a blur, fangs bared and ready to sink into Pikachu.)
(Gary reacted fast.)
Gary: "Squirtle, counter with Water Gun! Let's take down that snake!"
(Squirtle didn't hesitate, he inhaled deeply, puffed up his cheeks, and blasted a high-pressure stream of water straight at Ekans.)
(The snake Pokémon was mid-leap when the water hit, sending it tumbling backward in a wet, hissing heap.)
(Ash seized the opening in a flash.)
Ash: "Pikachu, don't miss this chance! Hit it with a Thunder Shock, full power!"
Pikachu: "Pika-CHUUU!"
(Pikachu cried as sparks burst from his cheeks.)
(The electricity crackled across the soaked battlefield, slamming into Ekans with a burst of static energy.)
(The combination of water and electricity left the snake smoking, twitching, but still barely clinging to consciousness.)
(Jessie's eyes twitched, her face red with frustration.)
(She glared at James.)
Jessie: "Well, don't just stand there! Do something!"
(James flinched, then shook his head, snapping into action.)
James: "Koffing, Smokescreen! Follow up with Smog!!"
(Koffing floated up, spinning lazily as it unleashed a thick, choking cloud of dark smoke.)
(The entire room filled with a heavy haze, and they were hidden behind it.)
(Gary frowned seeing the poison smoke, then he quickly looked around and saw the window.)
Gary: "Hey Nurse Joy, sorry about this, put it on Oak's tab, Squirtle Rapid spin at the window."
(Squirtle went into his shell and launched himself through the air slamming into the window and breaking it open as he did the poisonous smoke started to flow out of the Pokemon center and they could see Koffing again.)
(Ash smiled, as he waved his hand.)
Ash: "I call dibs, Pikachu Iron tail!"
(Pikachu ran up and jumped up using James's face as a platform he got into the sky and flew over Koffing, then his tail glowed silver and he slammed the rock sending it crashing into Ekans.)
(As Jessie and James blinked in surprise and started actually getting worried, Ash and Gary didn't give them a chance to keep talking.)
Gary: "Squirtle, Water Gun! Full power NOW!"
(Gary shouted.)
Ash: "You too Pikachu, Thunder Shock! Give it everything you have!"
(Ash copied.)
(Squirtle fired a blast of water, while Pikachu's body glowed with electric energy and he shot a bolt.)
(The two attacks collided midair, and mixed making electrified water, the combined attack cut through the smoke and slammed into both Ekans and Koffing with a deafening CRACK.)
(Neither Jessie nor James had time to react, Ekans let out a strangled hiss, and Koffing's eyes spun as they both collapsed to the ground in smoking heaps.)
(Jessie stared at the scene, wide-eyed, her jaw practically on the floor.)
Jessie: "We were... beaten..."
James: "By two kids."
(James finished, voice weak, disbelief dripping from every syllable.)
(As they hurriedly recalled their Pokémon, Ash and Gary shared a triumphant high five, grinning like they owned the place.)
(But the moment was cut short by a low growl.)
(Meowth stepped forward, claws extended, his expression dark.)
Meowth: "You know what they say... If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself!"
(He slowly stalked toward Pikachu, eyes glinting menacingly.)
(Ash and Pikachu exchanged a deadpan look, completely unimpressed.)
(Pikachu hopped onto Ash's shoulder, his cheeks sparking lazily as if this whole situation was barely worth the effort.)
(Ash crossed his arms and stared down Team Rocket, voice calm but firm.)
Ash: "Remember what I promised? Pikachu, let's send them blasting off."
(Meowth's confidence faltered.)
(He backed up a step, waving his paws nervously.)
Meowth: "N-now, hold on a minute! I know what you might be thinking, but the answer may surprise you—"
Pikachu: "Pika-CHUUUUU!"
(Pikachu's electricity surged out in a massive blast, zapping Jessie, James, and Meowth in an explosion of light and sound.)
(Their screams echoed as they were launched clean through the Pokémon Center's window and up, up, up into the air, right through the conveniently parked Meowth-shaped balloon.)
(As the balloon burst with a loud POP, they vanished into the distance, their voices trailing behind them.)
(Cut to Team Rocket tumbling through the air, spiraling toward the horizon.)
(Jessie groaned, her hair frizzing from static.)
Jessie: "Great. A cat losing to a mouse. That's just perfect."
(Meowth glared at her, crossing his arms.)
Meowth: "Hey! That Pikachu's no ordinary Pikachu. It's got some serious spark."
(James, floating in midair with arms folded behind his head like a lazy day at the beach, added thoughtfully.)
James: "It's certainly rare. The perfect prize for Team Rocket's glory."
(Jessie's eyes gleamed.)
Jessie: "Let's catch it."
(Meowth smirked.)
Meowth: "Perhaps we will."
(All three of them, despite their situation, threw up their arms dramatically.)
Team Rocket: "But for now... Team Rocket's blasting off!!!"
(Twinkle...)
(Back to the Pokémon Center.)
(As Ash and Gary watched Team Rocket vanish like a shooting star, they barely had time to breathe before a warm voice called out behind them.)
Nurse Joy: "Thank you for saving the Pokémon Center."
(Nurse Joy said with genuine relief.)
(She clutched her hands together as she smiled.)
Nurse Joy: "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't stepped in."
(Ash waved his hand in front of him.)
Ash: "Ah, don't worry about it... Sorry we had to fight in the middle of the lobby."
(Nurse Joy waved it off kindly.)
Nurse Joy: "Trust me, this is hardly the worst thing I've seen."
(Before anyone else could speak, Gary tried again.)
Gary: "Well, like I was saying before those morons showed up—"
(His sentence was cut short by a sudden burst of energy as Misty and Green came sprinting down the stairs, looking wide-eyed and disheveled, like they had to put on their clothes quickly.)
Misty: "What happened?! We heard a commotion, and then the whole building shook!"
(Misty exclaimed, eyes darting around the room.)
(Ash grinned and waved casually, like it was just another Tuesday.)
Ash: "Nothing much. Team Rocket showed up, Gary lost a 1000 Pokédollars, then we sent them flying. Same old, same old."
(Misty and Green froze, blinking in unison.)
(Green glanced at Gary's sour expression and smirked.)
Green: "They actually showed up? I was all ready to tease you about paying Ash, but wow... They were really dumb enough to attack a Pokémon Center?"
(Before anyone could answer, the front doors burst open dramatically—BAM! A familiar figure stormed in, siren wailing on her motorbike outside.)
(It was none other than Officer Jenny.)
(Officer Jenny looked around, hair windswept, eyes sharp as she barked.)
Officer Jenny: "What happened here?! I got an urgent alert, raced over as fast as I could, and then I saw the fireworks! Did someone throw a party without inviting me?"
(Nurse Joy, utterly unfazed, raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms.)
Nurse Joy,: "We have a driveway, you know. You don't have to park on the sidewalk every time."
(Officer Jenny blinked, looking sheepish.)
Officer Jenny: "Right, sorry."
(Gary stepped forward, arms folded.)
Gary: "Well, you're a little late to the party. Team Rocket came in, we beat them, not much else to it."
Ash: "Don't forget the part where you lost a 1000 Pokédollars."
(Ash chimed in with a grin as he handed Pikachu back to Nurse Joy for a quick checkup.)
(Gary scowled, glaring at Ash like he might tackle him on the spot.)
(Officer Jenny glanced at Joy, who nodded in confirmation.)
(Officer Jenny sighed, pulling out her notepad.)
Officer Jenny: "Well, I appreciate you two helping out... but next time, maybe let the professionals handle actual criminals, alright?"
(Gary muttered under his breath.)
Gary [in mind]: 'then maybe get here in time...'
[To Be Continued...]