Chereads / AU: Jessie’s Pokémon Journey / Chapter 41 - James, Come Home!

Chapter 41 - James, Come Home!

The episode starts with Jessie training her recently evolved Wartortle right at the start, with Domino, James, and Meowth.

Jessie tosses up small sticks in different directions in the air. "Okay, Wartortle, Hydro Pump!"

"Wartortle!" Wartortle opens its mouth. Sends out big flows of water from it and hits all of the sticks perfectly in mid-air.

Jessie claps and smiles in delight at Wartortle hitting all of the sticks perfectly. "You did so great, Wartortle!" She recalls Wartortle back in its Poké Ball. "You deserve a nice long rest!"

"Our heroes continue the trail to Cinnabar Island and Jessie is already putting in a lot of work training her Wartortle! What's the next big thing that our heroes will encounter?"

It cuts to Jessie, Meowth, Domino, and James all walking on the trail. Jessie is looking at Wartortle's Poké Ball and smiling.

Domino looks at Jessie. "Wow Jessie, you sure are giving your Wartortle a lot of attention."

"I know! I'm just happy that my Wartortle evolved and I'm gonna train it up to a Blastoise!" Jessie declared with her fist in the air.

James chuckles. "Just don't give Wartortle too much attention or you might make some of your other Pokémon jealous."

Meowth was seen glaring at his trainer from the attention Wartortle was getting. "He's right, you know?"

Jessie puts Wartortle's Poké Ball back in her purse. "Guys I got it under control, it's alright!"

After seconds of walking, the gang soon comes across a big mansion as they gasp at how big and fancy it is.

"Wow… look at that mansion!" Domino says, in shock and amazement.

"It's so… big and beautiful!" Jessie added, also shocked and amazed as well.

"I would live in this mansion for the rest of my life if I wanted to!" Meowth added too.

James squints his eyes to look at the mansion more clearly, then he realizes. "I never thought I would stumble upon this…"

"Stumble upon what James, a mansion?" Jessie questioned, confused.

"Not just any mansion, but my mansion!" James replied with a confident look on his face.

Jessie, Domino, and Meowth all immediately are jaw-dropped. "YOUR MANSION?!"

The title screen shows.

"James, Come Home!"

James embarrassingly chuckles and rubs the back of his head. "Yep. This is my home. Do you like it?"

"I mean, it's very beautiful James," Domino answered.

"Why would you leave with a place like that?" Meowth asked.

"Family issues, basically," James answered. "But it is nice to be back after all."

"Didn't you clear things up and forgive your father in Pewter City? So why don't you stop for a visit and say hi to them? Couldn't hurt to do so." Jessie says.

"I-I don't know, Jessie. Maybe some other time when you guys are here." James responded, not confident about visiting his parents with his friends.

"Don't worry, me, Jessie, and Meowth will be good little friends and act polite!" Domino stated with a smile on her face.

"Right, Meowth?" Jessie shoots a glare at her Pokémon.

"Hey! I know that I have perfect manners!" Meowth defended himself and crossed his arms.

"No, you don't!" Jessie, Domino, and James all responded towards Meowth.

"Okay, okay, geez, I'll be good!" Meowth climbs up to Jessie's shoulder.

"Are you ready, James?" Jessie asked.

James nods in response. "Ready. Let's go."

Once the gang enters the front gates of the mansion, it cuts to the Team Rocket trio spying on the gang as always from afar with binoculars.

"I wish I had a mansion like that! That rich twerp is so lucky to be born into a wealthy family." Cassidy says, showing signs of jealousy.

"Maybe if one of our get-rich plans works, we three would be making snow angels in cash right now, money angels!" Butch says.

"Let's just steal some money and items from the twerp's mansion," Mondo suggested. "There's gotta be some valuable money in that mansion that we can get our hands on!"

"That's a good idea!" Cassidy stands up and starts heading towards the front door, before Butch grabs her, stopping Cassidy.

"What are you doing?!" Butch asked his partner-in-crime in disbelief.

"I'm entering the mansion, duh," Cassidy responded.

"We can't use the front door. What are we, Girl Scouts? We have to find another way in the place." Mondo says.

"Well, we can always climb the wall…" Cassidy suggested.

Team Rocket looked at the wall of the mansion and it was a very big wall, reaching heights to the roof of the mansion.

Butch sighs. "I guess we're getting some climbing gear."

"Any way other than the front door!" Mondo demanded.

It cuts to Jessie and her friends arriving at the front door of James' mansion. Jessie and Domino both take a step back so that James can ring the doorbell.

"It's your place, James. You ring the doorbell." Jessie says.

"O-oh right, yeah…" James takes a deep breath and rings the doorbell.

A few seconds passed before someone answered. It was a person wearing a butler outfit with a bald forehead, and gray hair on the sides.

"Mmm, yes how can I help-" The butler opens its eyes and realizes they're talking to James. "MASTER JAMES?!"

James embarrassingly chuckles and greets his butler. "H-hey Hopkins. Yes, it's me, James. Can you inform my parents that I'm here?"

"Yes, currently!" Hopkins immediately rushes back to the mansion to inform James' parents.

"You got a butler? I'm like crazy jealous, James." Domino says, with a pout.

"I wish I had a butler!" Jessie added.

"I would love it if I could tell someone what to do! I'd be like a king!" Meowth starts fantasizing about wearing a crown on his head and being king of the Meowth.

"Okay, okay, yes I am rich. I thought we already knew about this, guys." James says, a little embarrassed.

"JAMES, DARLING!" A familiar feminine voice to James was heard.

The gang looks and sees a woman, with purple hair and red eyes, sprinting toward James and then hugging him tightly.

"I miss you so much, my baby boy!" James' mother said, still hugging her son tightly.

James' face starts showing blue. "MOM, YOU'RE HUGGING TOO TIGHT!"

Jessie starts chuckling to herself. "Welcome to my world."

"Sorry!" James' mom lets go of her son. "It's just I haven't seen you for over a month, dear! It's been forever!"

"Indeed, it has been quite long." A masculine voice was heard and this time, the gang recognized it. It was Sasaki, who approached the gang. "Ahh, James' friends, it's nice to meet you again."

"Hello, Sasaki!" Jessie greeted him with a wave.

"It's nice to see you again!" Domino added with a wave.

"Oh, by the way!" Sasaki points at his wife. "This is James' mother, known as my wife, Akame!"

"It's so nice to meet my baby boy's friends!" Akame said in delight.

Jessie, Domino, and Meowth start giggling at that nickname as James is blushing red in embarrassment.

"Mom! Can you please not call me nicknames in front of my friends?! I'm sixteen, stop treating me like a child!" James says, pouting.

"Okay, okay, sorry," Akame said with a chuckle of her own.

"Please, why won't you all come inside? I'll make you all some tea." Sasaki suggested.

It cuts to the living room of the mansion with everyone sitting on a chair or sofa with a cup of tea in their hands.

"So James, how's traveling with your friends so far?" Sasaki asked as he took a sip of his tea.

"It's been great so far! We had some bumps in the road here and there, but overall, I enjoyed it!" James responded, following with a sip of his tea.

"James has been a big help in our journey, Mr. Sasaki!" Jessie said with a smile and took a sip of her tea.

"Sometimes, I wonder what would happen if James didn't come with us," Domino added and also took a sip of her tea.

"Biggest mistake ever if that didn't happen." Meowth pretends to take a sip of his tea, despite the fact not have any tea. "Why don't I get some tea?"

"Sorry, but I'm afraid that tea might be dangerous for Pokémon," Sasaki responded. He goes over to his wife to whisper to her. "They're enjoying his company and James is enjoying their company. Any other ideas?"

"Try bringing in the Pokémon and doing that trick," Akame whispered back.

"Right, right." Sasaki clears his throat and turns to James. "My boy, we got a special surprise for you because you came back!"

James' eyes widen and is excited. "You have?!"

Sasaki whistles from his mouth, a few minutes pass and then Pokémon cries can be heard from a distance. James and his friends look where the cries can be heard and there comes a Growlithe and Weepinbell heading in his direction.

"GROWLIE AND WEEPINBELL!" James runs up and hugs the two Pokémon in delight.

"Growl!" "Weepinbell!" The two Pokémon cried out in delight too. Weepinbell starts munching on James' head out of love.

"Okay, I love you too! I love you too!" James says while his head is being munched on by his Weepinbell, then his Pokémon lets go.

"Wait, you had a Growlie and a Weepinbell?" Jessie asked, confused.

James responded with a nod. "Yep. I left them here because of home protection from criminals, I only took Koffing with me."

"Check this out, son." Sasaki turns his attention to Weepinbell. "A little welcome home gift for you. Alright, Weepinbell… now!" He snaps his fingers.

"Weepinbell!" Weepinbell cried out in joy and then proceeded to glow white to the gang's shock.

"No way!" James yelled out in delight,

Weepinbell begins to evolve, the glow starts slowly fading away as Weepinbell is now a Pokémon with a bell-shaped body and then proceeds to scream.

"W-Weepinbell you evolved into Victreebel!" James then proceeds to hug his newly evolved Pokémon tightly.

"Victreebel?" Jessie pulls out and opens up her Pokédex.

"Victrebel, the Flycatcher Pokémon. Evolved form of Weepinbell. Grass and poison type. Said to live in huge colonies deep in jungles, although no one has ever returned from there."

"Oh… I don't like that." Jessie then proceeds to put her Pokédex away.

Akame chuckles. "Now you're hugging Victreebel tightly, dear."

"Oh… right, sorry!" James lets go of his Victreebel. "Thank you so much, mom and dad! This was the best welcome-back gift ever!"

"Of course, my boy! And if you decide to stay, we will help you train to evolve all of your Pokémon!" Sasaki said with a smile on his face.

Akame nods in agreement. "You can bet that!"

Jessie, Domino, and Meowth all look at each other with a worried expression.

"Speaking of, check out my Pokémon I caught along the way, Mom and Dad!" James reaches into his pockets and pulls out all of his Pokémon's Poké Balls. "Everyone, come on out!" He sends out all of his Pokémon.

All of James' Pokémon materialize. "Koffing!" "Pikachu!" "Charmeleon!" "Slow… bro."

Then Gastly materializes. "What now? I was busy relaxing in my Poké Ball!"

Both of James' parents gasped, seeing his Gastly talk.

"Wow, son.. your Gastly can talk just like your friends' Meowth!" Sasaki stated.

Meowth rolls his eyes. "Don't compare us, old man."

"I do agree since I am the better talking Pokémon overall!" Gastly says with a laugh.

"OH YEAH?!" Meowth sharpens his claws. "How about I prove it right now of who's the better Pokémon!" Meowth attempts to scratch Gastly, only to go through them and hit the table. Meowth starts groaning in pain.

Gastly scoffs. "Idiot. Your normal type moves can affect me. I thought you would learn by now."

Jessie groans in annoyance. "Meowth…"

While James was looking on with a frown, Akame whispered in his son's ear. "Sounds like some of your Pokémon don't get along with your friend's Pokémon. You know, if you stay at home I'll make sure all of your Pokémon get along with each other."

James looks at his mother. "Really?"

Akame nods with a smile on her face, but she's oblivious that Growlie and Charmander are glaring at each other.

Growlie starts growling at Charmeleon. "Grow!"

Charmeleon cries angrily back at the puppy Pokémon. "Charmeleon!"

Meanwhile, Domino overheard Akame whispering to her son and raised an eyebrow. She started slowly connecting the dots. "Mr. Sasaki, I want to chat with Jessie and her Meowth for a bit and let you continue your welcome back celebration for James!"

"What?" Jessie and Meowth both said.

Sasaki smiles at Domino. "Sure, dear! We will still be here!"

Domino nods before dragging Jessie and Meowth outside and then shutting the door behind her. "We have a problem, guys."

"Huh?" Jessie raises an eyebrow. "What problem do we have?"

"Better be an important problem that I had to be embarrassed in front of that talking ghost by you dragging me!" Meowth sharps his claws.

"I swear this is important, Meowth!" Domino stated. "I think James' parents are trying to convince James to stay home and leave us."

"NO WAY!" Both Jessie and Meowth yelled out in disbelief.

"Domino, you must be crazy," Jessie says in denial.

"Don't you see what's going on? They brought his Pokémon to him, they gave them a welcoming gift by having Weepinbell evolve, and I overheard James' mother whispering to him that it would be better if he stayed here."

Jessie and Meowth both stayed silent for a little before Meowth spoke up. "That's it, I'm clawing James' dumb parents!" Meowth's claws glow white signaling that they're sharpened. He is about to go back into the house to scratch James' parents until Jessie picks her Pokémon up before so and Meowth starts squirming in Jessie's arms. "Let me go, Jess! I want to teach them a lesson!"

"Let's not deal with this with violence, please?" Jessie grips her tightness on Meowth from him squirming until he calms down and stops squirming.

Meowth hops back on the ground. "Fine. What's the plan here?"

Domino thinks of a plan. "Okay, so James' parents are trying to convince him to stay at home, but what if we try to convince James to stay with us while traveling?!"

"That could work, but James' parents gave them a gift and we haven't. What could we give to James? We don't have anything to give him!"

"Hmm…" While Domino was thinking, she looked out the front window and saw James' Pokémon doing activities.

Charmeleon and Growlie are still glaring and growling at each other, Pikachu and Slowbro are chatting with each other, and so are Koffing and Victreebel.

Domino spots Gastly by itself and minding its own business and then she thinks of another idea. "Perfect!"

"What's perfect?" Jessie asked.

"Another plan that I have up my sleeve." Domino grabs the front window and opens it up. "Hey Gastly, over here!"

Gastly looks to see Domino calling for them at the window and waving her hands to grab their attention. Gastly floats over to the open window. "What is it? Can't you see I'm busy minding my own business here?"

"Wait." Jessie looks out the window and sees James and his parents are absent in the living room. "Where's James and his parents?"

"They went to the dining hall to eat dinner." Gastly answered.

"Why is the talking gas here?" Meowth said while rolling his eyes.

"Jessie, get your Meowth to shut up!" Domino demanded with a frustrated tone.

Jessie turns to her Pokémon and puts her finger over her mouth. "Meowth, shush!"

Domino looks back at Gastly, who is raising their eyebrow in confusion. Domino clears her throat. "Sorry about that, but we need you to do a quick favor for us."

"What favor are you asking for me to do?" Gastly asked.

"Quick question, can you evolve at any time you want?" Domino asked the Pokémon back.

Gastly starts laughing. "Of course I can! I can evolve at any time at any place!"

"Great!" Domino smiled. "So we want to evolve into Haunter for James. Can you do that for us?"

Gastly laughs even harder. "Why would I do that?!"

"Because we don't want James to stay home and leave us!" Jessie answered with determination.

"James' parents are trying to convince him to stay and we're trying to do the same thing here. So will you please evolve to help us?" Domino pleaded to the ghost Pokémon.

Gastly thinks for a little bit to make their decision. "I promised James I wouldn't evolve until he told the truth…" they said to themselves.

"What truth?" Jessie, Domino, and Meowth all asked.

"NOTHING!" Gastly immediately responded. "Okay, I'll evolve, but only because I'll be stronger than the talking Meowth!" They proceeded to laugh.

"Alright!" Jessie and Domino both said before high-fiving each other.

Meanwhile, Meowth glares at Gastly. "In your dreams!"

"Let's go inside and proceed with the plan!" Jessie commanded.

Once Jessie, Domino, and Meowth go inside, it cuts to the Team Rocket trio climbing the big wall with some rope.

"Almost to the top," Cassidy stated while taking deep breaths in between her sentences.

"This is my exercise for the day," Butch said, groaning from tiredness.

"You need to exercise more then." Mondo directed to Butch, taking deep breaths as well.

Unfortunately for Team Rocket, the rope snaps, and then the trio falls back down to the ground while screaming.

Cassidy slowly gets up, while growling. "All of that climbing for nothing!"

Butch then proceeds to get back up, angrily as well. "Fuck it! Let's just get our hot air balloon and float over the wall!"

Followed by Mondo getting up as well. "Great idea, let's go!"

It cuts to the dining hall where James and his parents are at. Currently eating dinner and having a conversation with each other. Jessie, Domino, Meowth, and Gastly then enter the dining hall.

"Ahh, James' friends. Welcome!" Sasaki greeted them. "There is still some food left on the table, please go ahead and eat."

Jessie and Domino bow to express their gratitude as they and Meowth take a seat and begin eating.

James then notices Gastly. "Gastly, what are you doing here?"

"James, for being our traveling buddy and helping us out throughout our adventures together, me, Jessie, and Meowth have a little gift for you!" Domino says with a smile.

James gasped in shock. "Another gift for me?!"

Sasaki and Akame both look at each other with suspicious looks on their faces.

Jessie turns to Gastly. "Ready, Gastly?"

"Here goes!" Gastly starts glowing white as the ghost Pokémon starts changing its appearance. Once the glow slowly disappears, James' Gastly is now Haunter. "Ha Ha! I am a Haunter now!" They start floating around in excitement.

"WOW!" James says in shock. "How did you guys get them to evolve?"

Jessie starts explaining "We both agreed that it was time for Gastly to evolve here and that you're such a good friend to us and we love traveling with you!"

Domino nods and adds her statement. "We hope you continue traveling with us for a very long time! Right Gastly- I mean Haunter?"

Haunter floats around in excitement. "Yeah!"

Meowth grumbles under his breath. "I'm still the stronger Pokémon." He quietly says to himself.

"Wow guys, I'm… so grateful," James says, bringing a tear to his eye, as he wipes his tear with a napkin nearby.

Sasaki clears his throat and stands up. "James, my boy, may we talk to your friends in private?"

Akame stands up as well. "Quite frankly, we wish to have a conversation with them."

"Sure, I don't mind," James says while watching his newly evolved Haunter floating around.

It cuts to Jessie, Domino, Meowth, and James' parents arriving in the backyard of the mansion.

"James' friends-"

Domino interrupts Sasaki while crossing his arms. "We have names you know."

"Jessie, Domino, and Meowth…" Sasaki corrected. "We would like for you to stop interfering with our goal to get James to stay home."

Jessie grits her teeth with a growl. "So you were trying to get James to leave us!"

"Listen here, missy!" Akame directed Jessie with anger. "James hasn't been home for over a month and we miss him deeply! We want him to come home!"

"Come on! Me and James are the same age and my mom lets me leave home to go on my Pokémon journey and you should do the same for James!" Jessie countered back.

Meowth sharpens his claws. "Does Meowth have to teach you two a lesson?"

"Silence!" Sasaki demanded, as everyone does. "I believe there's only one way to settle this and that's with a tag-team Pokémon battle. If you two win, James will continue traveling with you two, but if we win, James stays here at home. Deal?"

"Deal!" Both Jessie and Domino said.

It cuts to Jessie and Domino standing next to each other on the battlefield of their backyard, on the other side from James' parents as this tag-team Pokémon battle is about to start.

Jessie turns to her Meowth. "Ready, Meowth!"

"To teach these friend stealers a lesson? Yeah!" Meowth hops onto the battlefield.

Domino pulls out a Poké Ball. "Clefairy, I choose you!" She sends out her Clefairy into battle.

Clefairy materializes. "Clefairy!"

"Ready, dear?" Sasaki asked his wife.

Akame nods in response. "Ready!"

James' parents both pull out a Poké Ball, ready to send out their Pokémon. "Nidoran, go!" They both said, tossing their Poké Balls in the air.

A purple and blue Nidoran materializes on the battlefield. "Ran!" They both cried out.

Domino's eyes widened. "Check that out Jessie, a male and female Nidoran."

"I have never seen a purple Nidoran before." Jessie pulls out her Pokédex and aims it at the purple male Nidoran.

"Nidoran, male version, the Poison Pin Pokémon. A poison type. Stiffens its ears to sense danger. The larger its horns, the more powerful its secreted venom. There are two versions of this Pokémon. A male version, which is purple. A female version, which is blue."

Jessie commands the first move. "Alright Meowth, use Scratch on the male Nidoran!"

"Claw time!" Meowth's claws start to glow white and become stronger. He starts sprinting towards the Male Nidoran, ready to scratch.

"Double Team quick, Nidoran!" Sasaki countered.

"Ran!" The male Nidoran quickly makes illusions of itself, surrounding Meowth.

Meowth ends up scratching an illusion, which disappears. "Aw come on!"

Akame uses this opportunity to strike. "Quick, while Meowth is distracted. Double Kick, Nidoran!"

"Ran!" As soon as the Male Nidoran illusions went away, Meowth was met with two kicks right in the face.

"OW, MY BEAUTIFUL FACE!" Meowth said while being flung back from the kicks, taking major damage.

"Clefairy, use Metronome!" Domino commanded.

Clefairy starts moving its fingers. "Clefairy! Clefairy! Clefairy!" Then soon the Pokémon starts hopping up and down, signaling using Splash.

Domino drops down to the ground in embarrassment. "Not Splash…"

"Quite embarrassing..." Sasaki stated.

Akame agreed. "Indeed…"

Jessie glares at Domino. "Can't you use any move other than Metronome?!"

Domino immediately gets back up. "Oh umm… Double Slap attack on the female Nidoran!"

Clefairy grabs the female Nidoran and starts slapping it across the face many times, saying their cry for each slap. "Clefairy! Clefairy! Clefairy!"

Akame shrieks. "She's slapping my Nidoran! Sasaki darling, do something!"

"Horn Attack on that Clefairy, Nidoran!" Sasaki commanded.

"Ran!" The male Nidoran dashes at Clefairy, striking its horn right at Clefairy.

"Clefairy!" The Pokémon cries out in pain, taking damage from the Horn Attack.

Jessie immediately takes action. "Now that male Nidoran is distracted, Thunderbolt quick!"

Yellow sparks begin to Meowth's body, then he fires a bolt of lightning right at the make Nidoran and lands the hit, taking damage.

"Ran!" Nidoran cries in pain from getting electrocuted.

"Fury Swipes on Meowth, Nidoran!" Akame commanded.

"Dodge it!" Jessie quickly countered.

The female Nidoran tries to scratch Meowth, but the talking Pokémon dodges every single swipe by moving out of the way.

Domino thinks this is the perfect opportunity to strike. "Clefairy, use Metronome and strike that female Nidoran!"

Clefairy starts moving its fingers once more. "Clefairy! Clefairy! Clefairy!"

Sasaki immediately tries to counter. "Oh no you don't! Nidoran, use Double Kick!"

"Ran!" Nidoran dashes at Clefairy and kicks the Pokémon twice before Clefairy can use Metronome.

Clefairy cries in pain. "Clefairy!" As the Pokémon hits the ground.

Domino immediately calls out for her Pokémon. "Clefairy, are you alright?!"

Clefairy hops back up to its feet, signaling they're alright. "Clefairy!"

Domino sighs in relief. "Thank goodness!"

Meanwhile, over at Meowth and the female Nidoran, Meowth keeps jumping out of the way every time the female Nidoran tries to scratch it. "You can't catch me!" Meowth taunted.

"Bubble Beam!" Jessie commanded.

Meowth opens its mouth and ejects a spray of bubbles right at the female Nidoran, which hits the Pokémon and inflicts damage.

The female Nidoran gets flung back while crying in pain. "Ran!" Then it hits the ground.

"Oh no! Nidoran, are you alright?!" Akame calls out her Pokémon.

Nidoran gets back up on its feet, signaling it's alright and can continue battling. "Ran!"

"Jessie, these are some strong Nidoran," Domino says.

Jessie nods. "Right. One of them isn't giving up."

"We could say the same thing with your Pokémon," Sasaki stated.

"I know my Pokémon isn't giving up until James officially stays home with us!"

"Oh yeah! Well, I know my Pokémon isn't giving up until James continues traveling with us! Clefairy, Metronome!"

Clefairy starts moving its fingers. "Clefairy! Clefairy! Clefairy!" Clefairy then soon falls asleep.

Meowth jaw drops in disbelief. "It fell asleep?!"

"I think it's using Rest, at least Clefairy's health would be back up to full health," Domino says. "Jessie, cover for my Clefairy while it's asleep!"

"Alright Meowth, stand in front of Clefairy and guard it!" Jessie commanded.

Meowth grumbles in frustration before jumping in front of Clefairy, facing the two Nidoran. "Alright, if you both want to get to Clefairy, you're gonna have to get through Meowth!"

Sasaki looks at his wife. "Ready, darling?"

Akame nods back. "Ready, sweetie!"

James' parents both command their Nidoran at the same time. "Use Double Kick at Meowth, Nidoran!"

"Ran!" Both Nidoran cried out before they started dashing towards Meowth, ready to kick him twice.

Meowth closes his eyes, ready to embrace the impact. "This is going to sting…"

Before both Nidoran can hit the Double Kick move on Meowth, a huge net all of a sudden appears from the sky, trapping both Nidoran, Clefairy, and Meowth as the net starts ascending to the sky.

"HEY!" Meowth shouted.

Jessie, Domino, and James' parents all gasped in shock as they looked up in the air and saw a familiar hot air balloon to Jessie and Domino, carrying an also familiar trio, who were laughing.

"Did you miss up, twerps?" Cassidy asked, rhetorically. "Prepare for trouble!"

Butch steps into view. "Make it double!"

"To infect the world with devastation!"

"To blight all people within every nation!"

"To denounce the goodness of truth and love!"

"To extend our wrath to the stars above!"

"Cassidy!"

"and Butch, of course!"

"We're Team Rocket, circling Earth all day and night!"

"Surrender to us now you will surely lose the fight!"

Mondo then pokes his head out over the basket. "I'm Mondo, alright!"

"TEAM ROCKET!" Both Jessie and Domino screamed out.

"How are you guys here?!" Domino immediately asked in disbelief. "You three should be currently in jail right now!"

"We escape obviously, twerpette!" Cassidy answered. "And now your Pokémon will be ours!"

"No! My little Nidoran!" Akame exclaimed.

"Ran!" Both Nidoran called out.

Meowth growls. "I'm getting real tired of being captured in nets."

"You give back our Pokémon, right now!" Sasaki demanded.

"No way, gramps!" Butch says with a laugh.

"We're gonna be making bank with these Pokémon, especially your talking Meowth, twerpette!" Mondo says.

"So adios!" Team Rocket said, as their hot air balloon started ascending higher and higher.

"Oh no you don't!" Jessie quickly pulls out a Safari Ball. "Scyther, fly up there and try to cut that net!" She sends out Scyther.

Scyther materializes and immediately starts flying toward Team Rocket's hot air balloon. "Scyther!"

Cassidy looks down to see Scyther flying towards them and growls. "That flying bug pest always annoys me!"

"Don't worry, I got this! Primeape, use Low Kick!" Butch sends out Primeape.

As Primeape materializes, it grabs onto the rope that's holding the net containing: Meowth, Clefairy, and both Nidoran. Once Scyther gets close to the rope, trying to cut it. Primeape low kicks Scyther right in the face.

Scyther cries out in pain from the super-effective move. "Scyther!" Scyther starts slowly descending to the ground.

"AH!" Jessie shrieked. "Scyther, return!" She immediately recalls Scyther.

Butch laughs. "Nice one, Primeape! Return!" He recalls Primeape.

"Are we gonna win for once?!" Cassidy stated in delight.

"Maybe breaking out of that prison is the luck that we just needed!" Mondo added.

Team Rocket starts celebrating and singing. "We're gonna finally steal Meowth! We're gonna finally steal Meowth! We're gonna finally steal Meowth!"

Jessie can only look up and grit her teeth in frustration. Domino walks up behind her, panicking. "WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO!"

"I-I don't know!" Jessie responded, panicking as well.

Akame hugs her husband. "M-my little Nidoran."

Sasaki hugs his wife back. "I know, darling, I know."

As Team Rocket continued celebrating, they heard a familiar voice that interrupted their celebration.

"Haunter, use Night Shade on the net!"

"Huh?" Team Rocket said in confusion.

A black beam comes out of nowhere and immediately cuts the bottom net that was holding Meowth, Clefairy, and both Nidoran. The four Pokémon started falling and screaming, minus Clefairy, who was still asleep.

Everyone immediately looks on to see that it was James with his Haunter, floating back down beside him, and Victreebel also beside him.

James' friends and his parents all called his name out in delight. "JAMES!"

"SUNGLASSES TWERP!" Team Rocket yelled out in disbelief.

"Victreebel, use your vine whip to catch the falling Pokémon!" James commanded.

Domino immediately pulls out a Poké Ball. "You too, Bulbasaur!" She sends out her Bulbasaur to do the same thing James commanded his Victreebel.

Bulbasaur materializes. "Bulba!"

Victreebel and Bulbasaur both use their Vine whip to catch the falling Pokémon. Victreebel catches both Nidoran and Bulbasaur, catches Meowth and Clefairy, and is brought back safely to the ground. Both Nidoran jumps into their trainers' arms, Meowth jumps into Jessie's arms, and Domino runs up to hug Clefairy.

Cassidy starts stomping her foot in frustration. "We were so close this time!"

Mondo sighs. "Sunglasses twerp always has to ruin the fun for us."

Butch crosses his arms and looks away. "At least my Primeape did well today."

"Alright Haunter, send Team Rocket blasting off with Night Shade!" James commanded.

Haunter shoots another black beam at Team Rocket's balloon, exploding it and sending Team Rocket blasting off to the sky.

"WE'RE BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" Ding!

"That was a close one." Jessie thanks, James. "Thank you so much for helping us at the last moment, James!"

James chuckles and rubs his head. "It was no big deal. I decided to check what was taking so long and thank goodness I did."

Clefairy opens its eyes and yawns. "Clefairy!"

"Clefairy… did you really sleep through that entirety?" Domino asked her Pokémon with a chuckle.

Clefairy just looks at its trainer in confusion. "Clefairy?"

"Wait a minute here." Meowth notices Haunter is out in the sun. "I thought you couldn't stand to be in the sun? What gives?"

"That's the best thing about being a Haunter! I can now be in sunlight!" Haunter starts floating around in joy.

Sasaki and Akame walk towards Jessie and Domino. "Well, I think we should call our little battle earlier a draw. Would you both agree?" Sasaki asked.

Jessie and Domino both nod in agreement. "We agree."

"And I think it's fair that James should decide what he wants to do," Domino stated.

"I believe that is the fair option," Akame says.

James raises an eyebrow in confusion. "Wait what? What decision am I making here?"

Jessie takes a deep breath. "Okay, James… Do you want to stay traveling with us?"

Sasaki continues the question. "Or do you want to stay with us? Your family?"

James' eyes widened. "Aw come on, are you really making me decide here…" He looks back and forth, before taking a deep breath. "Mom… Dad, I'm sorry but I'm going to continue traveling with my friends. I just love adventures and exploring, I hope you two understand."

James' parents take a deep breath before smiling at their son.

"We surely do. We were hoping that you would stay with us, but I guess you are a big boy after all, and that you can take care of yourself." Akame said.

James blushes in embarrassment. "Thanks, mom."

"If you want to continue traveling with your friends, go ahead!" Sasaki said.

James and his parents all hug while Jessie, Domino, Meowth, and the rest of the Pokémon look on with a smile on their faces. It cuts to the entrance gate with the gang leaving the mansion and waving goodbye at James' parents and Victreebel and Growlie as well, right next to him.

"I thought Team Rocket was in prison by the way?" James asked his friends.

"Apparently they escaped from prison, so it looks like we're gonna be dealing with them again," Meowth responded with an annoyed expression.

"Don't worry, Meowth. We always somehow managed to stop them!" Jessie says with a chuckle.

Domino chuckles as well. "Right!"

The gang all laughed along the way while continuing where they left off on the trail and continued walking on it.

"What another eventful day for our heroes, and now they're getting closer and closer to Cinnabar Island with each step they take on their adventurous journey! James chose to stay and travel with his friends. Something tells me that James did make the right decision!"