Chereads / AU: Jessie’s Pokémon Journey / Chapter 25 - Thirsty to Get There

Chapter 25 - Thirsty to Get There

"Our heroes are still on the path to Saffron City. There's something about the gang spot which raised their hopes of getting there soon!"

It shows the gang all looking and smiling at a sign that says 'Saffron City is up ahead.'

Jessie clutches her fist in excitement. "Saffron City is up ahead. I'm so hyped about getting my fifth Gym Badge soon!"

"Let's not get too carried away now." Domino chuckles.

James nods. "Yeah, who knows, this could be the toughest Gym Leader you're gonna end up facing, Jessie."

"Yeah right! No matter how tough a Gym Leader is, we're still gonna win in the end. Right, Meowth?" Jessie turns her attention to Meowth, who is on her shoulder.

"Meowth, that's right!"

It cuts to the gang back on the trail and notices buildings up ahead.

"Hey look, Saffron City!" Domino pointed out.

James notices something else. "It looks like all we have to do is get through a gate to get there."

Jessie, Domino, and Meowth both see the gate as well as their only entrance to get to Saffron City.

"Okay, let's end inside then," Jessie says.

Meowth, Domino, and James both nod in agreement. It cuts to the gang heading inside the gate. They started walking towards the exit, but-

"Hey you kids, stop!" An unknown voice says to the gang. He was in a guard uniform and standing behind the counter.

"Why?" Jessie asked. "We're just heading to Saffron City."

"Unfortunately the road ahead of this gate is closed." The gatekeeper responded.

"WHAT?!" The gang all yelled out in shock.

The title screen appears.

"Thirsty to Get There."

Jessie walks up to the gatekeeper. "Why is the road closed?!"

The gatekeeper shrugs. "Lady, I'm just the gatekeeper. I was only told that the roads were closed and to prevent any upcoming travelers from entering Saffron as of right now."

"So, all entries to Saffron City are also closed?" Domino asked.

The gatekeeper nods. "Unfortunately, yes."

Jessie falls in disbelief, but then gets back up and starts pouting. "That's not fair, I want to get to Saffron City now and win my fifth badge! I want to go now!" She starts stomping her foot on the floor in frustration.

The stomping almost causes Meowth to fall off Jessie's shoulder. "AH! Take it easy, Jess!"

James tries to calm Jessie down. "Jessie, calm down. We will head to a different city."

"But that's going to take forever and by then, Leaf will most likely have six badges by now and I have to catch up!" Jessie responded.

The gatekeeper starts sweating. "My goodness, this gate is so hot. Working here is so parched."

Domino notices the gatekeeper's lips are dry. "Wow, your lips are really dry."

The gatekeeper blushes in embarrassment. "Stop looking at my lips! Yes, my lips are dry. I haven't had a drink in two days. I can't just leave and get a drink because I'm stuck on guard duty."

"Did you pack any drinks with you?" James asked.

The gatekeeper shakes his head no. "I didn't know this was going to last more than one day. I'm so thirsty and the heat isn't helping as well."

Jessie gets an idea. "Hey, if we can get you a drink. Will you let us in Saffron City?"

The gatekeeper raises his eyebrow. "Miss, do you know attempting to bribe a gatekeeper is illegal?"

Jessie's eyes widened. "OH, I'M SORRY I DIDN'T-"

"BUT!" The gatekeeper interrupts Jessie. "Since I'm so thirsty and I feel like I can black out at any moment. I'll come to an exception to let you three and your Meowth in if you get me a drink."

Jessie, Domino, and James all pull out a Pokémon.

"Squirtle, I choose you!" Jessie sends out Squirtle.

"Squirtle!"

"Starmie, let's go!" Domino sends out Starmie.

"HYAH!"

"Slowbro, you got this!" Then finally, James sends out Slowbro.

"Slow… bro."

"Alright, just open your mouth, gatekeeper and we will command our Pokémon to use a water move to hydrate you," Jessie explained.

"Hold on here! Do you really think I want water coming out of a Pokémon's mouth?" The gatekeeper says, rhetorically.

"Well, technically Starmie doesn't have a mouth," Domino says.

"HYAH!"

"I don't care, it's still coming out of a Pokémon. It could be filled with so many disgusting germs, bacteria, and other stuff and I'm not taking any risk. If you want to get to Saffron City, you're gonna have to give me a drink that's not from a Pokémon and that no one has drank from it yet as well." The gatekeeper explained.

Jessie groans in annoyance. "Fine! Squirtle, return.

Jessie, James, and Domino all recall their Pokémon back into their Poké Balls. Jessie starts searching in her purse, and James and Domino both start searching in their backpack to find any drink.

"I can't find anything. How about you guys?" Jessie asked.

"No… I can't find anything." James answered.

Domino spots a water bottle in her backpack and smiles. "Hey, I found a water bottle!" She pulls it out, but it's revealed that she already drank from it. "Oh… I already drank it, oops." Domino puts the water bottle back into her backpack.

"Are you telling me you three idiots don't have a single drink to even hydrate yourselves?!" Meowth growls.

"Look, we rely on our water Pokémon to hydrate us, okay!" Jessie responded.

James nods. "Yeah, unlike the gatekeeper, we don't believe the water is filled with germs and bacteria. Also, it saves money as well."

Jessie turns to Domino. "Domino, can you try to persuade the gatekeeper into believing nothing is wrong with the water from the Pokémon?"

Domino thinks for a little bit. "Well, he might believe in a Pokémon trainer that specializes in water types. I'll give it a shot."

"I hope this works…" James says.

Domino walks up to the gatekeeper. "Hey gatekeeper, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Yeah, what is it?" The gatekeeper responded, looking at the newspaper that he was reading.

Domino begins to try to persuade. "Believe me, nothing is wrong with the water from the Pokémon. My friends and I have been using the water to hydrate us and neither of us got sick from it yet. Also, I'm a water-type specialist."

"Oh yeah? How many Water-type Pokémon do you have in your possession, Ms. Water-type specialist?" The gatekeeper asked

"Umm…" Domino blushes in embarrassment. "Two?"

The gatekeeper goes back to reading his newspaper.

Domino goes back to walking to her friends and growls. "I really gotta capture more water-type Pokémon." She says to herself, frustrated.

"So, did you convince him?" Jessie asked.

Domino frowns and shakes his head no. "Unfortunately not."

Jessie sighs. "Now what are we going to do?"

"Let's just sneak in or make a run for it!" Meowth suggested.

"NO! If I get in trouble, my mom would get mad at me!" Jessie responds.

"Well, there's only one way we could do it, look for a drink for him," James says.

Jessie nods. "Maybe there's a soda vending machine nearby on this route?"

"Let's look for one then," Domino says.

The gang leaves the gate to look for a beverage machine. It cuts to the Team Rocket trio somewhere else on the route.

Cassidy groans. "My lips are dry like a desert."

"They're gonna get dryer if you complain more," Mondo says.

Butch starts complaining. "I'm so thirsty! I knew we should've grabbed a drink when we were in Celadon!"

Mondo growls in annoyance. "Butch, what did I just say? It's like you don't listen to me at all!"

"Now you're the one complaining, Mr. Smarty-pants." Cassidy fired back.

Mondo groans. "I wish one of us had a water-type Pokémon. An endless water supply would be like heaven!"

"The twerps are so lucky. They have a Squirtle, Starmie, Goldeen, and a Slowbro to keep them hydrated." Butch rolls his eyes.

"Well, why don't we catch a water-type Pokémon on this route then?" Cassidy suggested. "Besides, we need a new Pokémon member on Team Rocket to go up against those twerps!"

"Let's see, we only have three Pokémon, and the twerps have, combined…" Mondo starts counting his fingers. "It's three versus fifteen."

"MY GOODNESS!" Butch yelled out in disbelief.

"Alright, then our next mission is to catch a water-type Pokémon on this route!" Cassidy declared.

"Um… Cassidy, I believe there are no water-type Pokémon you can find on Route 7." Mondo says.

"Okay, then let's look for a drink or something," Cassidy suggested. "Because I'm so thirsty!"

The Team Rocket trio gets up and starts looking for something to drink. They came across something that made them jump up in joy.

"Guys is that… a soda vending machine?!" Cassidy yells out in delight.

"NO WAY!" Butch couldn't believe it and is in disbelief.

Mondo feels satisfied. "Finally, something good happens to us!"

The Team Rocket trio immediately runs up to the soda vending machine, jumping up and down in joy.

"Wait, we don't have any money…" Mondo pointed out.

A few seconds of silence occurred before the Team Rocket trio started laughing.

"Good one, Mondo!" Cassidy says while laughing.

"Yeah! That's hilarious." Butch added in while also still laughing.

"I know! I'm good with jokes!" Mondo says with a chuckle.

"Let's get those beverages!" Cassidy declared.

Team Rocket all pull out a Poké Ball. "Everyone, destroy that soda vending machine!" The trio sends out their Pokémon.

"Rattata!"

"Mankey!"

"Cubone!"

It cuts to the gang walking on a trail, looking for a vending machine.

"It's so hot outside, no wonder that the gatekeeper wants a drink," Domino says.

"If I stay out here for too long, I'll probably want a drink too," James added.

"That's the summer heat for ya," Meowth says.

Jessie looks closely and spots three people with a sack next to a machine. "Huh? I think I see three people up ahead. They're next to some machine with one of them holding a sack?"

Domino raises an eyebrow. "That sounds suspicious…"

"Let's get a closer look," James suggested.

Jessie, Meowth, and Domino all nodded in agreement. The gang gets a closer look and that's when they recognize that it's Team Rocket, stealing sodas from the now-broken vending machine and putting them in the sack.

"TEAM ROCKET!" The gang screamed out, sprinting towards them.

"THE TWERPS!" Team Rocket screamed back. The trio and their Pokémon quickly sprint out of there and head into the forest while carrying the sack full of sodas.

"Oh no you don't! Meowth, stop them with a Thunderbolt!" Jessie commanded.

"You're not getting away, you criminals!" Yellow sparks surround Meowth's body and the Pokémon sends a bolt of yellow lightning from its body at Team Rocket.

However, Meowth misses it and Team Rocket sprints deeper into the forest. "Adios, twerps!" The trio said before getting away with the sodas in the sack.

"Oh no, they actually got away!" Domino couldn't believe it.

"The vending machine!" Jessie sprints towards the broken vending machine with Domino and James following her.

The gang drops down in disbelief to see that Team Rocket has stolen every single soda in the vending machine.

"Team Rocket took everything! Dammit!" Jessie hits the ground with her fist in frustration.

James sighs in sadness. "Now we have to find another way to get that gatekeeper a drink."

Domino remembers something. "Well… I heard some rumors back when we were in Celadon that there's a girl on the roof of the department store that sells drinks. Should we head back to Celadon City?"

Jessie shakes her head no. "I'm not backtracking to Celadon. Leaf is not getting any farther than me!"

"Wow, you sure do like to talk about Leaf a lot, Jessie. She was right." Meowth chuckles.

Jessie blushes in embarrassment. "SH-SHUT UP, MEOWTH!" She screamed out. "We're rivals and besides, I know Leaf talks about me a lot during her journey! Hmph!" Jessie pouts.

"Can we get back on track here?" James asked, slightly annoyed.

"Right, sorry." Jessie chuckles and rubs the back of her head. "So, what are we going to do now?"

James takes off his sunglasses to read the map. "Well, there's no pond, lake, or any type of water source on Route 7. So that's out of the option."

Domino thinks of an idea. "Maybe we could build a campfire, boil the water, and purify one of our Pokémon's water? Even though I believe the water in our Pokémon is already purified, it just might be enough to get that gatekeeper to drink it."

"That's actually a good idea, Domino!" Meowth complimented.

James unzips his backpack and pulls out a pot. "I do have a pot. I bought it after we got stuck on that island, just in case we ever ended up being lost to humanity again."

"Perfect! Now all we need is some firewood to make a campfire. Who should go into the forest and get some?" Domino asked.

Domino, James, and Meowth all pointed at Jessie.

"What?! Why me?!" Jessie asked in disbelief.

"Well, I came up with the plan," Domino says.

"I bought the pot to boil the water," James added.

"And we all saw Team Rocket head into the forest earlier and I don't want to risk myself getting stolen." Meowth also added.

"Fine!" Jessie growls as she heads into the forest to gather firewood.

It cuts to the forest where Team Rocket is, after drinking every single soda from their sack.

"That was some delicious soda!" Cassidy says, satisfied.

Mondo nods in agreement. "And we escaped from the twerps! I say this is a first victory for us against the three twerps!"

"Now we just need a victory with stealing that talking Meowth from that annoying twerpette," Butch says.

Something captures Team Rocket's attention as a Pokémon enters the scene and starts laying down on the grass. A Pokémon with a red-brown pelt, and cream-colored underbelly. It also possesses brown eyes, large, pointed ears with dark brown insides, and a triangular dark brown nose. It shows Team Rocket spying on the Pokémon behind a tree.

"What Pokémon is that?" Cassidy asked.

"I believe it's called a Vulpix, it's a fire-type Pokémon," Mondo confirmed. "They evolved into a Ninetales, which is a pretty useful Pokémon to have on your team."

"Sweet, I'm going to capture it!" Butch was about to pull out a Poké Ball.

Cassidy stops him. "Wait just a minute! Who said you are going to capture this Vulpix? I'm the hottest Team Rocket member ever and with Vulpix being a fire type, I say I deserve to capture it!"

"And by 'hottest', you mean you're extremely hotheaded?" Butch fired back.

Cassidy glares at Butch. "Whatever, Burch."

"THE NAME IS BUTCH, IT'S BUTCH, BUTCH, BUTCH!" Butch stomps his foot on the ground repeatedly in frustration.

Cassidy rolls her eyes. "And I'm hotheaded."

"I don't know why you two are arguing, because I'm the one who should capture the Vulpix." Mondo declared.

"Okay, we play rock, paper, scissors. Agree?" Cassidy suggested.

Butch and Mondo both nod in agreement with the idea.

The Team Rocket trio all start preparing. "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" Cassidy chose paper, and Butch and Mondo both chose rock.

"DAMMIT!" Butch shouted in disbelief.

"I win! Which means that Vulpix is mine!" Cassidy pulls out an empty Poké Ball. "I'm going to surprise that wild Vulpix." She then stops hiding and rushes towards it.

"Vulpix?!" The Pokémon cried in confusion.

"Poké Ball, go!" Cassidy throws her empty Poké Ball toward the Vulpix.

The Vulpix jumps to the left, dodging the Poké Ball that was coming right after it. "Vulpix!" The Pokémon then releases a red-orange stream of fire from its mouth right at the Team Rocket trio.

Team Rocket screams in pain, getting burnt to a crisp until Vulpix stops and runs away, leaving Team Rocket burnt.

Mondo coughs up black smoke. "Nice job, Cassidy…" he says, sarcastically.

"NO FAIR! I really wanted that adorable Vulpix!" Cassidy growls in frustration.

It cuts to Jessie gathering firewood in the forest for her friends.

"Of course, I have to be the one gathering firewood. Why would I even bother?" Jessie complained.

Jessie hears a Pokémon running in the distance, which grabs her attention, and looks to see what it is.

"Vulpix…" The Pokémon starts panting from running away, it doesn't watch where it's going and accidentally bumps into Jessie.

"AH!" Jessie screamed out. "What's the big-" She cuts her sentence off to see a Pokémon she hasn't seen. "Whoa!" Jessie pulls out her Pokédex.

"Vulpix, the fox Pokémon. A fire type. At the time of birth, it has just one tail. The tail splits from its tip as it grows older."

"A Vulpix huh? Well, I already caught a fire-type Pokémon recently…" Jessie begins to think and then just shrugs. "The more the merrier!" She puts her Pokédex away, drops the firewood that she was carrying, and pulls out a Poké Ball.

"Vulpix!" Vulpix does the same thing to Jessie that it did to Team Rocket earlier. Releasing a red-orange flame right at her from its mouth.

Jessie coughs up smoke. "OW! Okay, that's it! Poké Ball, go!" She throws the empty Poké Ball at the Vulpix.

The Vulpix once more dodges a Poké Ball by sliding out of the way. The Pokémon then runs away deeper into the forest.

Jessie frowns. "Man…" She picks back up the firewood and heads back to the gang.

It cuts to the gang waiting for Jessie to arrive back with the firewood as she does, still looking burnt from the Vulpix earlier. Domino, James, and Meowth's eyes widened.

"Uhh… what happ-"

Jessie cuts off Domino. "Don't even ask, I tried to catch a Vulpix earlier. Anyways, here's the firewood." She places it in the campfire.

"Sweet! Alright, since this is my pot that we're using, I believe that we should use my Slowbro's water to boil!" James declared.

"Excuse me?" Domino says, rhetorically. "Starmie's water is way better than your Slowbro's, besides I'm the water trainer expert here."

"I had to do the toughest job, which is getting this firewood and I ended up getting burnt in the process!" Jessie countered back. "More than anything, we're using Squirtle's water!"

Meowth groans and facepalms. "Here we go again!"

The gang continues arguing about whose Pokémon's water should be used for boiling. Meowth finally has enough and decides to break it up.

"Okay, okay, quiet you three!" Meowth yelled.

The gang all stop arguing to hear Meowth.

"Thank you! Okay, I think I know a way to settle this. A three-way battle!" Meowth suggested.

"'A three-way battle'" Jessie repeated, confused. "What's that?"

Meowth explains. "It's a battle involving three Pokémon trainers at the same time. The last Pokémon standing among the two, wins, or I should say in this situation, will be the one's water boiling for that gatekeeper."

"I actually like that idea!" James says.

Domino nods in agreement. "Yeah, it could be fun!"

Jessie smirks. "Alright, let's do this!"

It cuts to the gang forming a triangle around the grass battlefield as the three-way battle is near.

Meowth starts refereeing. "This is a three-way battle between Jessie, Domino, and James! Only one Pokémon will be used for each trainer and the last Pokémon standing wins! The battle may begin!"

Jessie, Domino, and James all pull out a Poké Ball.

"Squirtle, you can do it!"

"Starmie, teach them a lesson!"

"Slowbro, I'm counting on you!"

Jessie sends out Squirtle, Domino sends out Starmie, and finally, James sends out Slowbro, all into the battlefield.

"Squirtle!"

"HYAH!"

"Slow… bro."

"Alright Squirtle, use Bite directly on Slowbro!" Jessie commanded.

"Squirtle!" Squirtle dashes at Slowbro, getting ready to bite the Pokémon.

"Starmie, Tackle on Squirtle, quick!" Domino commanded.

"HYAH!" Starmie spins around and tackles the Squirtle before the Pokémon would deal damage to Slowbro with Bite.

"HEY!" Jessie yelled out to Domino in disbelief. "Why would you do that?! I was damaging Slowbro, not Starmie!"

Domino smirks. "All's fair in love and war!"

"Slowbro, use Disable on Starmie!" James commanded.

"NO!" Domino yelled out.

"Slow…bro." However, Slowbro just stood there doing nothing.

James is confused at the Pokémon just standing there. "Slowbro?! Come on, use Disable on Starmie!"

Meowth is watching this battle in the distance. "This three-way battle isn't living up to what I expected it to be…"

"Well I guess since Slowbro isn't doing anything, Squirtle use-"

All of a sudden, Slowbro started to glow blue, Jessie noticed and cut her sentence off. Slowbro becomes surrounded by a light blue aura and Starmie starts to glow light blue as well.

"HYAH?" Starmie cried out in confusion, looking around at the blue aura surrounding the Pokémon.

Soon the blue aura slowly fades away, and Domino, Jessie, and their Pokémon are confused.

"So uhh… I think Tackle is disabled now?" James says, secretly not sure.

Jessie looks annoyed. "Okay, that's it. Your Slowbro is confusing me so much. Squirtle, use Skull Bash on it!"

"Squirtle!" Squirtle runs and jumps at Slowbro with its head down, ready to strike the Pokémon with its head.

"Starmie, Water Gun at Squirtle!" Domino commanded.

"HYAH!" Starmie shoots a spiral of water from the tip of its uppermost limb at Squirtle.

However, the move did not damage Squirtle at all. The Water Gun made Squirtle go even faster by the Pokémon swimming in the Water Gun. Squirtle lands the Skull Bash on Slowbro, dealing more damage than a regular Skull Bash because of the Water Gun.

"Slowbro!" The Pokémon cries out in pain.

"Wow, thanks for the assist, Domino!" Jessie laughs.

"Hey, what's the big idea here? I feel like I'm being tag teamed!" James complained.

"I… didn't know that would happen. I was trying to deal more damage to Squirtle!" Domino defended herself.

James growls. "Now you got me mad! Slowbro, use Confusion on Squirtle!"

"Slow…bro." Slowbro just stands there once more and does nothing.

James stomps his foot in frustration. "Come on Slowbro, stop being so slow!"

Jessie just crosses her arms. "James, I'll forfeit if I was you."

Slowbro's eyes glow blue and it points at Squirtle.

"Squirtle?" The Pokémon cries out in confusion, all of a sudden Squirtle decides to run into a nearby tree, taking damage.

"Squirtle, why did you do that?!" Jessie asked in disbelief and confusion.

James smirks. "That's Slowbro's Confusion attack in effect! Keep at it, Slowbro!"

"Slowbro!" Slowbro keeps controlling Squirtle to hit the tree, dealing damage for each hit.

"Squirtle, try to break out of the Confusion!" Jessie commanded.

Squirtle tries to break out of Slowbro's Confusion, but can't and continues hitting its head against the tree.

Jessie growls and turns to Domino. "Can you help me out here by attacking Slowbro?!"

Domino smirks and shrugs. "I don't know. I could simply just watch Squirtle slowly take damage, which will result in you out of the battle and my chances of winning increases."

Jessie gives Domino a death glare, which causes Domino to gulp.

"Fine, geez. Let's see here, what move…" Domino begins to think of a move to use, purposefully letting Slowbro control Squirtle longer. "Oh I got it, Tackle! Oh wait, Slowbro disabled it." Domino purposely takes her time to think once more.

"DOMINO!" Jessie shouted at her.

"OKAY, FINE!" Domino shouted back. "Starmie, use Swift at Slowbro!"

"HYAH!" Starmie fires multiple white stars from the gem in the center of its body at Slowbro.

"Slowbro!" The Pokémon cries out from taking damage from the Swift. Which causes Slowbro to lose control of Squirtle.

"Squirtle…" Squirtle has spiral eyes, signaling that it's confused.

"Wow, Domino…" James says, sarcastically. "Slowbro, use Headbutt on Starmie!"

"Slow…bro!" Slowbro takes his time once more before sticking its head out and starts charging straight at Starmie.

"Squirtle, Skull Bash on Slowbro!" Jessie commanded.

However, Squirtle confusion causes the Pokémon to attack itself, dealing more damage to Squirtle.

Jessie starts to worry about the amount of damage Squirtle has taken. "This is not good at all…"

Meanwhile, Slowbro successfully headbutts Starmie, dealing damage to the Starfish Pokémon.

Domino growls. "Use Swift once more at Slowbro, Starmie!"

"HYAH!" Starmie fires more white stars at Slowbro, dealing more damage to the Pokémon.

"Can't you use a move that I can dodge?!" James asked in frustration.

Domino shrugs. "I did have Tackle, but you disabled it." She laughs.

James clutches his fist in anger. "Alright Slowbro, use Confusion on Starmie!"

Jessie thinks this is the perfect opportunity to strike. "And Squirtle, you attack Starmie too with Bite!"

Squirtle snaps out of confusion as the Pokémon starts dashing at Starmie with its mouth open, ready to bite the Pokémon. Meanwhile, after taking its time, Slowbro starts glowing blue, getting ready to use Confusion.

Domino growls at Jessie. "I helped you out and this is how you repay me?"

Jessie smirks and shrugs. "All is fair in love and war!"

Domino turns her attention back to Starmie. "Double Team, quick!"

"HYAH!" Starmie creates illusions of itself, surrounding the battlefield. Squirtle ends up hitting a Starmie illusion with its Skull Bash and Slowbro ends up using Confusion on a Starmie illusion as well, both end up disappearing.

Jessie turns her attention to James, annoyed. "Wow James, what a way for Slowbro to pick the wrong one!"

James growls at Jessie. "Your Squirtle chose wrong too! Headbutt straight at Squirtle, Slowbro!"

"Use Skull Bash!" Jessie commanded.

"Slow… bro!"

"Squirtle!"

Squirtle starts dashing at Slowbro, then Slowbro starts dashing at Squirtle too. Both Pokémon hit each other with their heads and took damage as they both cried in pain.

Domino smirks. "Thank you both for setting this up! Starmie, use Swift at Squirtle and Slowbro!"

"HYAH!" Starmie releases white stars from its gem right at Squirtle and Slowbro.

Jessie and James both have their eyes widened.

"This can't-"

"Be good." James finishes Jessie's sentence.

Swift both lands on Squirtle and Slowbro. Both Pokémon land on the ground and faint, ending the three-way battle.

Meowth starts declaring the battle after seeing Jessie and James' Pokémon on the ground. "Squirtle and Slowbro are both unable to battle. Which means the winner of this three-way battle is Domino and Starmie!"

Domino hops up and down to celebrate her victory. "Yes, let's go!" She goes over and hugs Starmie. "We did it, Starmie, we won!"

Both Jessie and James sigh in defeat and both recall their Pokémon back into their Poké Ball.

"Alright, let's get Starmie's water boiling!" Meowth says.

James nods and pulls out the pot that he had earlier and Charmander's Poké Ball as well. "Charmander, use Ember to light up the campfire!" He sends out Charmander.

"Char!" Charmander uses Ember and does what it was told to do, lighting up the campfire.

"Great work!" James recalls Charmander back into its Poké Ball.

Domino kneels to Starmie. "Okay, Starmie, can you use Water Gun to fill up the pot with water?"

"HYAH!" Starmie shoots a spiral of water from the tip of its uppermost limb and fills up the entire pot with water.

"Good work!" Domino smiles.

James places the pot filled with water on top of the campfire as it begins to boil. Domino unzips and reaches into her backpack to pull out her water bottle and pours out the remaining water inside. It then cuts to somewhere in the forest where a Pidgey is seen pecking in the grass.

"POKÉ BALL, GO!" Butch jumps out of the bush and throws an empty Poké Ball at the wild Pidgey.

"Pidgey!" The Pokémon manages to dodge Butch's Poké Ball by flying away and escaping.

"DAMMIT!" Butch punches a nearby tree in frustration.

Cassidy and Mondo soon poke their head out of the bush where Butch jumped out from.

"Wow Butch, nice job…" Cassidy claps slowly in sarcasm.

"Stealth isn't your thing, huh?" Mondo questioned.

"Shut up, both of you!" Butch demanded.

Soon a Pokémon that Team Rocket hasn't seen, hops towards them. It was a pink Pokémon with a spherical body. It has pointed ears with black insides and large, blue eyes. It has small, stubby arms and slightly longer feet.

"Jigglypuff!" The Pokémon cried out.

"Jigglypuff?" Team Rocket all said in confusion as they looked at each other.

Mondo pulls out an empty Poké Ball. "My turn to capture a Pokémon! Jigglypuff, you're mine!" He smirks and is about to throw his Poké Ball.

Jigglypuff smiles and starts to sing to Team Rocket. "Jiiiiiiigglyyypuff! Jigglyyylyyypuuuff!"

Team Rocket starts feeling drowsy.

"Why am I… suddenly feeling sleepy?" Cassidy asked with a yawn as she drops to the ground and begins to sleep.

"I… didn't even get a chance!" Mondo soon follows by dropping to the ground and sleeping.

"Must… resist… sleeping!" Butch tries to fight it, he ends up dropping to the ground and sleeping.

Jigglypuff stops its song from noticing Team Rocket snoring and sleeping. "Puff!" The Pokémon gets furious and puffs up like a balloon. Jigglypuff slaps the Team Rocket trio's face in anger before leaving.

It then cuts to the gang finishing boiling the water and Domino is shown holding up her water bottle filled with, now, purified water as the gang starts heading back to the gate.

Jessie frowns. "Are sure this is going to work? I'm not sure if it's going to."

"If that gatekeeper doesn't accept my Starmie water, then I'll just have to force him to. Besides, he probably won't have any clue that it came from a Pokémon." Domino says.

"I sure hope so, otherwise that three-way battle was a complete waste of time," James says.

Meowth shrugs. "Not for me! It was my entertainment for the day!"

It cuts to the gang inside the gate with Domino handing the gatekeeper the water bottle.

"Here you go, this water bottle is filled with purified water. We promise!" Domino says.

The gatekeeper gets a closer look at the water inside the water bottle. "Well, it does look purified." The gatekeeper opens up the bottle and drinks it. "Oh wow, it's delicious too! This will definitely hydrate me. Alright, you kids can go in."

"YES!" The gang all shouted before exiting the gate.

"See? I told you, he didn't suspect a thing!" Domino chuckles.

"I have to say, good job, marked pieces!" Meowth snickers.

Domino looks at Meowth, annoyed. "Thank you…"

Soon, while continuing walking on the trail, the gang finally saw the entrance to Saffron City.

James spots the entrance and announces it. "I see the entrance! We made it!"

Jessie clutches her fist in excitement. "Finally, we made it to Saffron City. Time to win my fifth badge!"

"Jessie and friends have finally made it through the gate and have reached Saffron City. Let's see if Jessie can become closer to qualifying for the Kanto Pokémon League with her fifth badge close by! Can she win it? Find out as the journey continues!"