The Incredible Poke-Odyssey chapter 8

Giovanni the Cruel

Cameron and his friends were back on the road thanks to the van that 
Cerulean Jenny had lent to her cousin Pallet Jenny.  They were driving 
on a paved road at night that was right next to another beach on their 
way to Vermilion City hoping they could get help from Lt. Surge, the 
electric Pokemon gym leader.  Jenny was at the wheel with Seymour 
riding shotgun at Jenny's request.

"Gee, it must get lonely living up in the mountains all alone", said 
Jenny.

"I wasn't really alone", said Seymour, "I once lived happily with my 
adopted family of Clefairies and Clefables until that Zubat incident 
five years ago.  After that, it's just been my Clefairy and me."

"I noticed you also have a Wartortle", said Jenny, "They usually live in 
watery places, not high in the mountains."

"That was an interesting story", said Seymour.

"Clefairy and I were hanging around Mt. Moon.
Hoping to enter that cave someday soon.
Then one day we heard a loud yelp.
We looked up and saw a Wartortle that needed help.
It was struggling in vein in a Fearow's tight claw.
It was the most distressing thing that we ever saw.
Clefairy used her light screen and made a bright wall.
Which made the Fearow crash making its prey fall.
I came and caught Wartortle just before it hit the ground.
With the Fearow no where to be found.
Wartortle was so grateful it that it wouldn't leave my side.
Now I have a new Pokemon to add to my pride!"

"What a wonderful story", smiled Jenny as she looked at the man beside 
her.  Usually when she was near a guy, they would become suddenly 
afraid or intimidated by her for she was the law.  While others just 
wanted to date or marry her just because she was a girl in uniform.  
But Seymour was different.  He had a carefree mind that thinks of 
unusual things and puts them into poems.  She just seemed very 
comfortable with him.

"Thanks Officer Jen, I mean Jenny", smiled Seymour looking at the 
lovely Jenny.  He really wanted to ask her out on a date, but he didn't 
have the nerve.  Back in high school and college he was considered a 
geek getting "KICK ME" signs pasted on his back, girls too busy washing 
their hair to even speak to him and he was the only member of the 
Pokemon lovers club.  It was then, he decided to live up in Mt. Moon 
where the only ones he could trust and call friends were Pokemon.  Now 
he was actually traveling with five humans while having a conversation 
with the prettiest one.

"Maybe you can write a poem about me sometime", smiled Jenny.

"Oh boy!" thought Seymour who had his hand in his labcoat pocket 
clutching on to his inhaler just in case.

Cameron was just admiring his brand new Pokemon.  It was the Gloom that 
had evolved from Oddish in the last chapter. "That Gloom sure is 
pretty", sighed Misty.

"Gloom, Gloom!" said Gloom blushing.

"And I agree with, ah, with, AACHOO!" sneezed Cameron and he started to 
sneeze some more. "AACHOO, AACHOO!  I just don't know what's happening 
to, to, AACHOO!"

"I'd better stop the van so you can get some air", said Jenny.  
Everyone got out of the van so they could all stretch their legs and 
let Cameron sneeze out in the wide open beach in the beautiful starry 
night. "AACHOO!  AACHOO!" went Cameron while his Gloom followed him 
around.  

"Wow Cameron", said Stella, "Your eyes are all watery and your face is 
bright red!  You wouldn't happen to be allergic to anything would you?"

"AACHOO, the only things that I know I'm allergic to are perfume and 
flower nectar, AACHOO!" and then everyone suddenly looked at Gloom.

"Gloom?" asked Gloom wondering why everyone was looking funny at it.

"I'm afraid there's your answer", said Brock, "You're allergic to your 
Gloom."

"But I wasn't allergic to Oddish, AACHOO!" sneezed Cameron.

"That's because Oddish never oozed out nectar", explained Seymour as he 
pulled a huge blackboard out of nowhere. "You see Cameron", said 
Seymour as he drew a Gloom on the board. "Glooms can't help but ooze 
nectar from its newly grown flower bud.  So it's very common for most 
people to sneeze or break out whenever they're near a Gloom."

"I think it would be safer if you'd keep Gloom in its Pokeball for the 
time being", said Jenny, "Until we can figure something out."

"I'm sorry Gloom", said Cameron as he took out Gloom's Pokeball. "I 
hope you understand, AACHOO."

"Gloom!" said an understanding, but sad Gloom as it got sucked back 
into its ball.

"Here Cameron", said Misty as she handed him a box of tissues. "I'm 
sure things will work out for you and your Gloom soon."

"Thanks Misty", sniffed Cameron as he blew his nose.  

"Hey, look over there", said Brock as he pointed to a lighthouse that 
had no light at all shining.

"Where's the light?" asked Stella, "Is the keeper in there goofing off?"

"I remember that lighthouse", said Brock, "That's the home of our 
friend Bill, the Pokemon researcher.

"I remember good old Bill", smiled Misty, "He taught us all sorts of 
neat things about Pokemon."

"And he also appeared in my Gameboy too", said Cameron.

"I wonder why his light is out?" wondered Brock. "He always keeps it on 
so he can keep a lookout for that special Pokemon he's been looking for 
so long."

"We'd better go check on him", said Misty, "Come on everybody."

"But first, it's camouflage time", said Jenny as she pushed a button on 
a remote and her van suddenly turned to sand and fell down mixing in 
with the rest of the sand.

"Wow!" said Cameron, "That's even weirder than the vine covered van!"

"We Jennies have to prepare for anything", winked Jenny. "The only 
problem though is we sometimes forget where we've parked."  Everyone 
laughed as they approached the lighthouse.

*      *      *      *      *      *

They all soon entered the lighthouse that was very dark in the inside 
as well. "This should be called a darkhouse instead of a lighthouse", 
said Cameron trying to find his way around.

"I can't even see my hand in front of my face", said Stella.

"But at least I can still hold it my sweet!" said Brock as he found her 
hand and kissed it.

"That's my hand you jerk!" shouted Misty as a loud slap was heard.

"And that's my cheek", shouted an annoyed Jenny.

"You're not gonna give me life for striking an officer?" asked a 
nervous Misty.

"Clefable, use your flash to light up this place", commanded Seymour. 
Suddenly a burst of light filled the room causing everyone to rub their 
eyes while seeing dancing colored dots.  Then they saw Clefable shining 
bright as a beacon.

"I certainly could use her in case my police siren goes on the blink", 
thought Jenny.

"Let's go up those stairs and see if we can find Bill", said Misty.  
They all went up the circular path of stairs with the shining Clefable 
leading the way.

When they got to the top, they found themselves in a beautifully 
decorated room filled with Pokemon paintings and shelves filled with 
Pokemon books. "Who's there?" asked a British accented voice, "If 
you're thieves, you'd better leave or I'll sick my Rattata on you!"

"That's Bill's voice", said Brock, "Don't worry Bill.  It's us, your 
old friends Brock and Misty."

"Hi Bill, remember us?" called out Misty.

"Misty and Brock?" called out Bill, "Why it has been a while!  Is Ash 
with you?"

Misty was about to sigh again until she stopped herself and said, "No, 
it's just me, Brock, and some new friends.  Why don't you come on out 
so we can see you."

"No, I can't!" cried Bill, "Something terrible has happened to me!  I 
can't face any of you!"

"Are you stuck in another Kabuto costume again?" asked Brock. "We can 
help you get out of it if you'll show yourself."

"It's far worse than that!" said Bill. "All right, I'll show myself.  
But you must promise that you won't be shocked an appalled at what you 
see." Everyone stood there waiting for Bill to come out from wherever 
he's hiding.

"EEEEEK!!!" cried Stella as she jumped into Brock's arms, "A RATTATA!!!!  
I hate Rattatas!  Kill it!!!  Kill it!!!" Everyone looked down at the 
small purple rat with huge fangs while Brock was busy gazing at the 
girl in his arms.

"You promised me you wouldn't be appalled!" said the Rattata in a 
British accent.

"Bill?!" thought Cameron.

"A talking Rattata!" gasped Seymour.

"But I thought Meowth was the world's only talking Pokemon", said 
Jenny.

"I'm not really a Rattata", said the rat, "Even though I have the body 
of one, I used to be a pure bread human named Bill."

"Bill, is that you?" gasped Misty as she bent down to examine the 
Rattata.  Instead of having bright red eyes like all Rattatas are 
supposed to have, it had human eyes.

"Yes, it's me", cried Bill covering his face in shame with his front 
feet, "This is so humiliating!"

"Getting you out of that tiny costume might be a little tricky", said 
Brock.

"This is no costume", whined Bill, "I've turned myself into a real fur 
and fanged Rattata with no hope of ever being changed back!"

"How did it happen?" asked Misty.

"It's a long story", said a now calm Bill, "If you'd be so kind and get 
some tea bags, cookies, and cheese logs out of that cupboard up there, 
I'll tell you.  I'd get them myself, but I've been vertically disabled."

*      *      *      *      *      *

A few minutes later, everyone was seated around a huge table having tea 
and cookies.  Bill was sitting on top of the table nibbling on a cheese 
log.  Misty thought it was so cute, but Stella thought it was gross 
that a filthy Rattata was seated at a table with humans.

"I appreciate you all making the tea and setting the table for me", 
said Bill, "I don't mean to be such a terrible host, but you can see 
my condition."

"Can you tell us how it all happened?" asked Seymour, "I'm a scientist 
so I can probably help."

"It happened five years ago", said Bill.

"Uh oh", thought Cameron, "Another five years ago story.  This must 
mean, you know who, had something to do with Bill's dilemma."

"As you know", explained Bill, "I've been fascinated by Pokemon so much 
that I try to make myself Pokemon costumes so I can learn how its feels 
to be like them.  But the costumes weren't enough.  I wanted to 
experience being a real flesh and blood Pokemon.  So I invented a DNA 
chamber.  A device that would let my dreams come true.  First I placed 
my pet Rattata in chamber 1, then I stepped into chamber 2.  I suddenly 
felt my molecules get pulled apart and sucked into the long tube that 
leads to chamber 1.  When I felt my molecules rejoin, I stepped out of 
the chamber.  WITH FOUR FEET!  I looked into a nearby mirror and 
discovered I had the fur, ears, tail, and fangs of a real live Rattata!  
It was a most marvelous experience!  I ran through mouse holes, found 
things I had lost for years while scavenging through seat cushions, and 
I even knew the Rattata language by heart!  I had planned on merging 
with a Pidgey the minute I became human again."

Cameron remembered that Bill did the exact same thing in his Gameboy.  
He asked Cameron's character to activate the computer on the side.  The 
minute Pokemon Bill stepped into his chamber, Cameron activated the 
computer and Bill came out the other chamber human again. "Where's 
your machine now?" asked Cameron, "Maybe we can help you reactivate 
it so you can become human again."

"Alas, I don't have it anymore!" sighed Bill, "Just as I was about to 
reactivate my machine, hordes of thugs dressed in black uniforms with 
Rs on the front busted into my lighthouse."

"Team Rocket!" said everyone.

"I hid under a chair and watched as those horrible Rockets turned over 
my things, searched through my drawers, and took whatever they thought 
was valuable.  Then in stepped their boss.  He was a mean looking man 
with dark hair, dark skin, and wore an orange business suit."

"That sounds like Giovanni to me", said Cameron.

"Who's Giovanni?" asked Misty.
 
"Giovanni is the big boss of all Team Rocket", said Cameron, "I 
remember from the cartoon how Jessie, James, and Meowth would shake in 
fear whenever they reported to him.  He sure knew how to put those 3 
down with his insults and put downs."

"Anyway", continued Bill, "This Giovanni started to gaze at my DNA 
chamber and seemed to find it very interesting.  'This is what we came 
for', he said, 'I've heard rumors on the net that the famous Bill had 
created such an interesting device.  Too bad he isn't here to watch us 
steal it from him.  HA HA HA!' But I was there and I wasn't going to 
let them take my precious machine without a fight, even if I was a tiny 
Pokemon.  I leapt right in front of Giovanni with my best ferocious 
face.  I didn't want to talk because I wanted him to believe that I was 
a fierce wild Rattata.  But he just smiled and sent his pet Persian 
after me.  I ran for my dear life trying to escape the feline.  And I 
did by running into a nearby mouse hole.  A few minutes later, I 
emerged from my hole only to find my DNA chamber gone with no hope of 
ever becoming human again.  And that's my entire sad story."

Everyone felt sad about the life Bill had to live these past five years. 
"Who'd ever thought I'd feel for a filthy Rattata", thought Stella.

"If I only knew where this Giovanni lives", said Jenny, "I can track 
him down and put that awful head of Team Rocket behind bars for life!  
I'd become the most popular Jenny of all." She said while fantasizing 
about wearing a golden badge that was even bigger than her body.

Just then they all heard some glass crack, they all turned around and 
saw two human shaped and one Meowth shaped hole right on the large 
window of the lighthouse.  Then the forms of Team Rocket went right 
through them, but through the wrong shaped holes though, causing even 
more glass to shatter.  Then James and Reiko did their usual motto 
while Meowth started sweeping up the broken glass with a whisk-broom 
and dustpan.

"Meowth, why are you cleaning up this place?" asked James, "We're here 
to capture some rebels!"

"Hey, it's for my safety", said Meowth, "You both got shoes while all I 
have are bare paws.  That attracts blood thirsty broken glass!" and he 
dumped all the swept up shards into a nearby trashcan.

"Thank you my fellow Pokemon", said Bill as he approached Meowth, "I 
can hardly clean around here since I can't reach my vacuum cleaner."

"That Rattata talks!!!" shouted James and Reiko both surprised.

"WAAAH! That's not fair!" cried Meowth, "I'm supposed to be the world's 
only talking Pokemon!  I'm not special anymore!  WAAAAH!!!"

Reiko quieted Meowth down with her little mallet. "I suggest you do not 
be like the sorrowful Weepinbell and weep its eyes out." Said Reiko 
calmly, "If you want to be the world's only talking Pokemon, just 
destroy that one!"

"You're right!" smiled Meowth as he sharpened his claws, "Got any last 
words rodent?"

"Uh, bye!" said Bill as he sped into a nearby mouse hole.  Meowth 
chased after him but ended up bumping his head against the wall causing 
a huge lump to grow right through the charm on his head.

"How did you Rockets find us?!" demanded Jenny, "I thought I hid my van 
perfectly!"

"It's was very simple", said James, "We were traveling through the dark 
sky in our balloon when all of a sudden we saw a lighthouse giving off 
a beam of light that looked too powerful for a normal lighthouse." 
Everyone looked at Clefable who still had her flash power on. 
"Clefable!" she apologized as she turned off her flash and the entire 
room went dark.

"Clef..." said Seymour who suddenly had his mouth covered by someone.

"If we all stay quiet, Team Rocket may not have any chance of finding 
us in the dark", whispered Jenny.

"Someone turn on the lights!" shouted Meowth, "I can't see my paw in 
front of my face!"

"I'd better stop those rebels before they escape in the darkness", said 
James, "Victreebel, sleep powder now!"

"James you fool!" shouted Reiko, "Victreebel won't be able to see who 
its attacking.  It might put us to, to, sleeeeep, ZZZZZZZ!"

"I could use a little catnap myself", yawned Meowth, "ZZZZZZZ!"

"No Victreebel!" cried James, "You're supposed to put those rebels to 
sleep not my teammates!  Can't you do anything right?!" Then they all 
heard Victreebel chomping on James's head again. "When will I learn?!" 
cried James.

Cameron found a nearby light switch and turned it on.  He found himself 
and all his friends unharmed while Meowth and Reiko were sound asleep 
in a corner and James was kicking his feet trying to escape the mouth 
of his very own Victreebel.

"This is perfect!" smiled Misty, "We've got one of the trio right where 
we want him!  We've waited for this day for five long years!"

"Now we can find out what they did to Ash, Pikachu, and my Mr. Mime!" 
smiled Stella. "Go Tangela!" and she released her Tangela.

"Go Growlithe!" said Jenny as she released her Growlithe. "Growlithe, 
sustain that Victreebel!" commanded Jenny.  Growlithe quickly jumped 
on Victreebel causing it to spit out a nectar-slobbered James.  Then 
Growlithe sat on top of Victreebel making grumbling noises threatening 
to hurt the poor plant if it made any sudden moves.

"Thanks for getting me away from that constricting plant life", said 
James.

"I have a much nicer plant for you to meet", smiled Stella wickedly, 
"Tangela, bind him now!" James suddenly found himself tied up in the 
strong vines of Tangela.  

"Uh, I don't really hug on the first date", gasped James trying to get 
loose.

"All right James", said Brock sternly, "We want some answers and we 
want them now!  What have you done with Ash?!"

"Ash?" asked James, "I've given up smoking two years ago and I've 
thrown away all my ashes along with all my old ashtrays."

"We're talking about Ash Ketchum!" screamed Misty, "We want to know 
what you and your friends have done with him five years ago!!!"

"Oh, you mean the original twerp", smiled James, "Sorry, even if I did 
know what happened to him, I still wouldn't tell any of you.  My lips 
are zipped!"

"Tangela", smiled Stella, "Let's see if you can unzip James with your 
truth spore."

"Truth spore?" thought Cameron.  Just then Tangela sprayed some kind of 
red pollen all over James causing him to go into a trance. 

"I cannot tell a lie", said James in a monotone voice, "I chopped down 
my Dad's wooden leg with my little hatchet!"

"It works!" smiled Stella, "Now James will be able to tell us anything 
we want thanks to you Tangela."

"Tang!" said Tangela winking at her.

"Wow, I've never heard of an attack called truth spore", said Cameron.

"No one really has", said Stella, "Prof. Oak invented a truth spore TM 
just for my Tangela.  He figured it might come in handy in case we run 
into one of the trio.  And that day has finally come!"

"Now let's try this once again", said Brock calmly, "What have you done 
with Ash?"

"It happened five years ago when me, Jessie, and Meowth thought we 
caught a Mr. Mime", said James emotionless.  Clefable then hopped over 
to James, placed her finger on his forehead and an image appeared in 
front of them.

"What's Clefable doing?" asked Cameron.

"She's just giving us a flashback so we can understand what happened 
better" smiled Seymour as he handed out bags of popcorn to everyone.  
James started talking while his words were being transformed into 
pictures.

START OF FLASHBACK:

Jessie, James, and Meowth were heading over to their boss's office 
carrying a great big sack.  The door opened and there sat Giovanni 
looking pretty mean while stroking his pet Persian. "So if it isn't the 
Simpleton Squad", said Giovanni annoyed, "Don't tell me.  You've 
destroyed something else of value to me.  Well, tell me so I can punish 
you and get on with my rich life!"

"Oh no Boss", smiled Jessie, "We've brought you an extremely rare 
Pokemon liked you asked us to."

"Here he is, the one and only Mr. Mime!" said James as Meowth gave him 
a drum roll on a tiny drum while James opened up the sack.  There in 
front of Giovanni was a Mr. Mime all tied up and gagged.

"A Mr. Mime!" said Giovanni who started to smile a little. "That's one 
of the Pokemon I've been missing from my collection.  Maybe I misjudged 
you three after all.  Congratulations." Jessie and James hugged each 
other with pride while Meowth made a face at the annoyed Persian while 
Giovanni studied the Mr. Mime.

"Very nice", smiled Giovanni, "I've always admired the curvy shoes of a 
Mr. Mime along with his round red shoulders, jester points on his head, 
and the tag that says, MADE IN JAPAN, sticking out of the back of his 
head and the....  MADE IN JAPAN!!!!!" He angrily pulled the Mr. Mime's 
head off and discovered that it was only a mask.  He looked down and 
saw the head of a black-haired boy.

"You're no Mr. Mime!!" shouted Giovanni angrily.

"Hey, I only play a Mr. Mime on TV!" shouted Ash.

"Oh no, it's that brat again!" shouted Meowth.  This time it was the 
Persian who was making faces at the poor Meowth.

"Uh oh", we're in trouble!" whined James while shaking his knees.

"Don't show fear in front of the boss!" said Jessie while hugging 
James's knees shut.

"I knew it was only in a fantasy world that you three nincompoops 
would do something right!" shouted Giovani as he threw the Mr. Mime 
mask causing it to land right on Meowth's head making him look like a 
Mr. Mimeowth. "You three have failed me for the last time!"

"Oooooh, are you gonna give us all a magic potion that'll stop us from 
failing?" smiled James while stars formed in his eyes.  Jessie just 
sighed.

"Just get out of my sight for all eternity!!!" screamed Giovanni as he 
pushed a button on his desk and the three Rockets fell through a trap 
door, slid down a long slide and landed into a dark and dirty room.  
They all looked around and found about 100 Rocket thugs wearing worn 
out uniforms, eating stale food, and looking very nervous.

"Hey, I've never seen this place before", said Jessie.

"We thought we knew where everything was in the boss's headquarters", 
said James.

"Welcome to the Rocket's execution room", said a skinny and dirty 
looking Rocket.

"We hope your stay here will be a long one", said another, "Unlike some 
of our other poor failures."

"Knuckles, is that you?" asked Jessie looking in surprise at the first 
Rocket. "It is you!  I haven't seen you since the day you accidentally 
starched the boss's underwear with greasy potato starch."

"And Brusier, you're here too!" gasped James staring at the other 
Rocket, "I thought you got fired when you tried to tell the boss to 
chill out."

"Firing is too kind a word Giovanni uses", moaned Bruiser.

"This is where he sends all the Rockets that let him down", wailed 
Knuckles.

"It looks like there are over a hundred Rockets in here", said Jessie.

"Yeah, Giovanni has a very short fuse", said Bruiser, "He goes through 
failed Rockets like a bag of potato chips."

"And who's your new Pokemon?" Asked Knuckles pointing to Meowth who 
still had a Mr. Mime's head.

"Oh it's just our ex-boss's ex-pet", said James as he pulled the mask 
off of Meowth's head.  Jessie and James looked surprised when they saw 
Ash's hat sitting on Meowth's head.  "Hey, I'm a Pokemon master!" 
smiled Meowth as he took out a mirror and admired himself while making 
a paws' up.

"Will you stop that?!" shouted Jessie as she grabbed the hat and 
whacked Meowth with it. "This stupid hat is a reminder of the little 
brat who got us into this mess!  I'm gonna tear this hat to shreds as 
soon as I can find something sharp!"

"You mean like these?!" shouted Meowth as he scratched Jessie's face 
causing her to yelp and drop the hat.  Meowth quickly slid by as the 
hat landed perfectly on his head. "I still got it!" said Meowth as he 
turned the hat backwards like they way Ash usually does.

"This doesn't look like an execution room to me", said James, "Where 
are the torture devices, the iron maidens, the guillotines, the 
electric chairs?"

"Just look down there", answered Bruiser while pointing down.  Jessie, 
James, and Meowth looked down and saw a bunch of closed trap doors all 
over the floor.

"And look up there also", replied Knuckles, "They saw an alarm go off 
and a light that read in red letters, LUNCH TIME! Everyone held each 
other in fear waiting for something.  Just then, a door slid open from 
under a Rocket and he suddenly fell through it letting out a loud scream 
and a splash.  Jessie, James, and Meowth rushed over to the open door 
while the others backed away.  There they saw the Rocket in a shallow 
pool of water facing a gigantic sea serpent.

"A GYARADOS!!!" cried the trio remembering their frightful experience 
with one a year back.  Then the trap door quickly shut right before 
they saw the Gyarados take a bite of the poor Rocket.  

"You see", moaned Knuckles, "We never know who's gonna be on the menu.  
I could be tonight's dinner!"

"Or I could be tomorrow's breakfast", wailed Bruiser.

"Or I could be today's tea time", said a British sounding Rocket 
holding an umbrella.

"Jessie", said James nervously, "Did I ever tell you that you were a 
marvelous dresser?"

"Oh no", grumbled Jessie while slapping James around, "We're not gonna 
go through those death row compliments like we did on that sinking 
ship!" She then stood up and shouted, "Listen up my fellow Rockets!  
For many years, we've served and cowered under the thumb of that 
miserable ingrate Giovanni.  And where did it get us?  Stuck in a room 
with stale food all over the place thinking about the future we were 
never gonna get even if we still worked for him!  I'd say we find a way 
out of here, start our own Rocket empire and run it our way!"

"That's brilliant Jess", smiled James, "And you can be the queen and I 
can be the king!  And I get to wear a pretty tiara!"

"And I can be the top cat of this new and better empire too!" smiled 
Meowth, "What da' ya' all say?"

"YEAH!!" shouted all the Rockets together. "To Queen Jessie, King James, 
and the Top Meowth.  The rulers of our new empire!" shouted Knuckles.

"So your majesties", asked Bruiser, "How are you gonna get us out of 
this room of doom?"

"Give me a minute and I'll think of something", said Jessie.  Just then, 
the alarm went off and the words, AFTERNOON MUNCHIE TIME, appeared on 
the screen.  

"Uh oh", said Knuckles, "I wonder who'll be it now?"

"Our new queen", said Bruiser as they all looked at Jessie.  Jessie 
looked down and found the trap door underneath her was open.  She 
screamed as she fell through it.  But James caught her arm just in 
time.  She looked down and found the Gyarados sleeping in the water.

"Pull me up quick", pleaded Jessie.  Just as James was about to pull 
her up, the trap door slammed right onto James's waist.  He yelped as 
he let go of Jessie causing her to land right on top of the Gyarados's 
head waking it up.  It woke up in an angry rage looking for the 
delicious thing that awakened it.  Jessie ducked under the water and 
held her breath hoping it wouldn't find her.  She did find a chomped 
up skeleton though.  Which was probably the last guy that was 
Gyarados's lunch.  She screamed in terror as she rose from the water 
causing the Gyarados to spot her.  

"Jessie, I'm sorry that I let you go!" called out the front half of 
James, "And I'm sorry that I got your beautiful hair and clothes dirty 
too.  Please don't beat on me in the afterlife!"

"Keep quiet you moron!" screamed Jessie, "Or Gyarados will spot you 
too!"  But it was too late.  Gyarados saw James sticking out of the 
trap door and it flew up getting ready to chomp on him. 

"No!" I'm too wimpy to die!" cried James as he covered his eyes.  
Jessie quickly jumped onto Gyarados's tail causing it to fall back into 
the water.  Then she released Arbok just as Gyarados rose and was about 
to attack our villians.

"Arbok, use your glare attack now!" commanded Jessie.  Arbok's eyes 
started to glow a bright scary color as it glared at the even bigger 
serpent.  Gyarados suddenly became paralyzed with fear and it stood 
there motionless.

"You did it Jessie!" smiled James, "You're my hero!"

"I'm your heroine", corrected Jessie, "And don't you forget it!  Now 
this Gyarados will only stay paralyzed for a few minutes so we have to 
find a way out of here fast.  And I think I found a way", she said as 
she pointed to a huge drainpipe. "This pipe looks like it's big enough 
for a human to pass through.  We can all escape through here and hope 
it leads to a better place."

"Hey James, is Jessie fish bait yet?" called out Meowth's voice from 
above.

"No Meowth", called out James.  She's alive and she's found us a way 
out.  Take Weezing out of my pocket and stuff it into the crack of the 
door."

"Okie dokie", said Meowth as he released Weezing from its Pokeball 
and pushed it through the crack of the trap door that was opened by 
James's torso.

"Weezing, expand yourself", said James.  Weezing then took a deep 
breath and started blowing up like a balloon causing the door to slide 
open some more.  James fell out of it and slid down Gyarados's back 
like a slide causing him to land into the water right next to Jessie.

"Hey all you Rockets" called out Jessie's voice. "There's a drainpipe 
to freedom in this pit.  I've paralyzed this beast so you can all slide 
down it safely.  So come on everyone, your first slide to a brand new 
life starts with you!" 

Everyone cheered as they all slid down Gyarados's back one by one and 
crawled through the pipe.  Once the last Rocket went through, James 
sucked Weezing back into its ball and the trap door shut quick.  Just 
then, Gyarados started to shake off the last of the paralysis and 
started to look angrily at Jessie and James. "Quick James", shouted 
Jessie, "We gotta split!"

"I just thought of something", said James nervously, "What if that pipe 
leads to filthy raw sewage?  We could get killed if we get exposed to 
our ex-boss's old waste!"

"Would you rather become Gyarados's waste after it munches on and 
digests you?" hollered Jessie as she tossed her partner into the pipe 
and got in just before the Gyarados could snap at her.  

Jessie and James crawled through the pipe and came across an open 
vent.  They slipped right through it and found themselves in a room 
where Meowth and all the other Rockets were waiting for them. "Hey 
guys", said Meowth, "Look what we came across."  They both looked 
around and discovered that they had entered the Rocket weapon and 
invention storage room.  It was filled with nets, bazookas, tanks, 
jeeps, motorcycles, and a huge device that happened to be Bill's stolen 
DNA chamber.

"Acres and acres of items of destruction", smiled James as he danced 
around happily, "And they're all ours!  I feel like a schoolgirl!"

"Well then why are we standing around here for?" asked Jessie, "Let's 
take all this stuff to our new kingdom!"

"And where exactly is our new kingdom?" asked Meowth.

"I've got just the place!" smiled Jessie as she stared at Meowth's new 
hat evily.

*      *      *      *      *      *

Soon, a door exploded and a pack of tanks, jeeps, and motorcycles drove 
out of Rocket headquarters with Jessie, James and Meowth leading the 
way in the largest tank.  Jessie took out a bottle of champagne and 
poured them all some. "To our wonderful new future as monarchs!" she 
shouted as they all tapped their glasses together.  Just then, they 
heard a loud bang.

"Oh no!" cried James, "Giovanni's found out about our plan and he's 
blown his stack about it!" He opened the top of the tank and looked 
behind him.  He found something purple and white flying out from the 
roof of the headquarters.  It looked like some kind of new Pokemon.

"What do you suppose that is?" wondered James.

"Whatever that is, it's Giovanni's and that dumb Persian's problem", 
said Meowth as he popped open another bottle of champagne causing the 
cork to fly off into the horizon along with the Pokemon.

END OF FLASHBACK:

Clefable then stopped pointing at James's head and fell back down 
completely exhausted. "Why did Clefable stop?" asked Misty, "We were 
just finding out lots of interesting stuff."

"Clefable needs to rest up", said Seymour as he cradled his poor tired 
Pokemon. "That technique sure can take a lot out of her."

"But we still got James under the power of Tangela's vines and its 
truth spore", said Stella, "Let's continue with our interrogation."

"So James", asked Brock, "What has this old boss of yours done with 
Ash?"

"I don't know", said James who was still in a trance, "We haven't seen 
Giovanni or the twerp ever since that day."

"Well where is this Giovanni's headquarters?" asked Jenny?"

"It's in Celadon City", said James, "Hidden in a game center."

"Just like in my game." Said Cameron remembering the underground maze 
in the Celadon game center that lead to Giovanni's headquarters.

"Well what have you done with Ash's Pikachu?" demanded Misty.

"And my Mr. Mime?" demanded Stella.

"Well", continued James, but before he could speak, a small ball of 
blue goo hit James in the mouth sealing it up tight.  They all turned 
around and found Reiko and Meowth who had just woken up.  

"Spilling the beans can lead one into a life of empty franks and 
associates." Said Reiko while holding a slingshot she used to throw 
that goo ball. "Tentacruel, retrieve our teammates at once!" commanded 
Reiko.  Tentacruel stuck out its tendrils and pulled James out of 
Tangela's vines and Victreebel from Growlithe's feet.

"So you rotten humans know about our old ex-boss and my so-called 
loving master, eh?" sneered Meowth. "Now it's gonna be a double 
pleasure rubbing you all out along with the stuff you just learned!"

"Not so fast", said Jenny, "Growlithe, take down attack!"

"Tangela, vine whip!" commanded Stella.  Just as the two Pokemon were 
about to launch their attacks.  Tentacruel managed to restrain them 
with its powerful tendrils.  It then stuck out its other countless 
tendrils and nabbed all six of our heroes pinning their arms to their 
sides.

"I can't reach Sandy's Pokeball" gasped Cameron for his Pokebelt was 
covered with a thick tendril.

"Now we're all going back to Rocketville so we can show you how real 
villians interrogate goody-goods!" laughed Meowth.  Just then a voice 
shouted out, "QUICK ATTACK AND SUPER FANG!"  A bolt of purple flashed 
by biting off Tentacruel's tendrils freeing our heroes.

"Bill?" asked everyone.  They all looked down and found Bill smiling 
with his fangs covered with green ooze. "Luckily, I taught my Rattata 
some good attacks before getting combined with him", smiled Bill. "But 
now I'm gonna have to brush my fangs for an entire year!  YEECH!"

"It looks like Cruelly's gonna be useless now that it's handicapped", 
said Meowth as he stared at the tendrilless Tentacruel.

"Never underestimate the handicapped", smiled Reiko as she watched 
Tentacruel grow some more tendrils ready for battle again.  

"All right!" shouted Meowth, "Cruelly, you take a rest and I'll take 
care of that tasty looking rat for you!"  He shot out his claws and was 
about to pounce on Bill, until Clefable knocked Meowth down with her 
pound attack.  She then started to wiggle her fingers starting up her 
metronome.

"Clefable, you need to save up your energy!" cried Seymour, "If you 
end up launching a weak attack, you'll be finished for sure!"

But luckily Clefable launched a powerful attack.  Probably the most 
powerful attack of all, Hyper Beam!  The entire room went dark and a 
powerful beam of energy shot from Clefable's body.  It hit the Rockets 
sending them flying out of the lighthouse and off into the morning 
sunrise.

"TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!!" shouted Reiko and Meowth while 
James was still in a trance and his mouth was still covered with goo.

Clefable smiled, fell to the ground and went into a deep sleep. "Nice 
job sweetie", smiled Seymour as he sucked her back into her Pokeball. 
"You rest up now.  You deserve it."

"And you did a great job too Bill", smiled Cameron, "Thanks for saving 
us."

"My pleasure", said Bill blushing. "So this team rocket took my DNA 
chamber back to their palace.  I must go there and get it back!"

"Well, why don't you come with us?" asked Brock. "We were on our way 
to Vermilion City so we can ask Lt. Surge to supply us with an army 
that'll help us free Pallet Town."

"And it looks like we'll now be heading off to Celadon City too to find 
this Giovanni creep so we can find out what happened to Ash." Said 
Misty hoping Ash would be all right.

"All right, you talked me into it", smiled Bill, "And it looks like I 
won't have to pack me some clothes either", he laughed as he showed off 
his ratty bareness.  They all laughed too.

"Wow, it looks like we have ourselves a magnificent seven", said 
Cameron.

"You mean a magnificent six and a half", whispered Stella who still 
couldn't stand the sight of rats.  Even if this one was a nice guy.

"Just don't put me in a Pokeball please", said Bill, "I prefer being my 
own Pokemon."

"You got it!" smiled Cameron.  Then Cameron, Misty, Brock, Stella, 
Jenny, Seymour, all placed their hands on top of each other while Bill 
leapt on top of Cameron's arm and placed his front foot on the pile.

"Long live the Pallet Rebellion!" They all shouted together.

TO BE CONTINUED

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Well it looks like our heroes have another new addition to their team.  
I hope you enjoyed this chapter.  And those Rocket thugs, Knuckles and 
Bruiser, happen to be the same two thugs that terrorized the poor 
Johnston family in chapter 2.  Knuckles owned the Koffing and Bruiser 
owned the Charmeleon.  

See ya' all soon with another chapter! ;)