The episode starts with the helicopter that has Zapdos below in the net flying in the air. It crosses into the fire zone as it cuts inside with Archer sitting down and taking a sip of tea. "The sweet taste of winning. It tastes like… tea!" He sips his tea once more with an evil chuckle.
Archer's wrist communication watch starts ringing as he accepts and Giovanni is projected from the watch. "Archer, report back on your mission. Do you have Zapdos in your possession?"
Archer nods with an evil smirk. "I do, sir. The best thing about it is that Zapdos was easier to catch than the previous two legendary birds."
Giovanni nods. "Good. Very good. You do understand that I am not in the mood for failure from what happened recently in Viridian City."
Archer nods very fast this time. "Of course, sir. You know I will always try to not fail you, sir."
Giovanni looks at Archer with an intense stare. "You better not make me regret putting you on this mission, Archer. I need the three legendary birds in my possession."
"Sir, if I may ask, why do you need the three legendary birds?" Archer nervously asked.
Giovanni starts explaining. "Because it's simple, I need Mewtwo back in my control. Mewtwo is a very strong Pokémon, no Pokémon has ever beaten the strong psychic type. Not even a Dragonite could take it down. If I'm going to go back to Cerulean Cave, I need the three legendary birds in my control, so I have a chance of becoming the first person to defeat Mewtwo and they will be back in my control once more. With an army of Mewtwo clones and the three legendary birds on my side too, my chances of taking over the world will increase!"
Archer laughs evilly after Giovanni's explanation. "Excellent plan, sir! I will make sure you succeed in that plan by being your right-hand man and being by your side!"
"Before I cut communication with you, Archer, there's one more thing I need you to do. I need you to contact a couple of Team Rocket grunts to help you secure the three legendary birds." Giovanni ordered.
Archer nods. "Yes, sir! What are the names of the grunts I should contact?"
"Cassidy, Butch, and Mondo," Giovanni answered.
Archer's eyes widened in disbelief. "WHAT, SIR?!"
The title screen shows.
"Infiltrating Team Rocket's Secret Base!"
"Sir, out of all the Team Rocket members you have, why especially those three idiots that mess everything up should help me?" Archer questioned.
Giovanni glares at Archer angrily. "Are you questioning my orders, Archer?!"
Archer's eyes widened and quickly shook his head. "N-no sir, I was just curious on why those three, Cassidy, Butch, and Mondo. When they're known as the most clumsy and idiotic Team Rocket members?"
Giovanni starts explaining more. "It's easy, Archer. You teamed up with those three before during the Silph Co. mission in Saffron City and you succeeded. It seems like you work greatly with them. Besides, if this mission fails, I finally have the great excuse to finally fire those three buffoons from Team Rocket once and for all for screwing up a very important mission. Does that answer your question, Archer?"
Archer nods. "Yes, sir, it does. Thank you so much for answering."
"Good. Once you make it to the secret Team Rocket base located on Route 4 contact Cassidy, Butch, and Mondo at once. Giovanni out." Giovanni ends communication with Archer.
Once communication ends, Archer gets mad and crushes the cup of tea he was sipping earlier. "Cassidy… Butch… Mondo… your loyalty to Team Rocket is about to be put to the test!"
The scene cuts to the gang and Team Rocket riding on flying Ditto who's still transformed into a Pidgeot. The group enters through the fire area and sees everything completely burnt down to the ground. "Goodness… So this is the fire zone?" Jessie questioned with a frown on her face.
"Just one more zone to clear and one more feather to gather, but we have to focus on where that helicopter is going," James says.
Domino starts whispering at her friends while looking at the Team Rocket trio. "Is it kinda weird that we're chasing a Team Rocket member with the help from Team Rocket members?"
"It seems pretty ironic, huh?" Meowth says with a chuckle.
"What's ironic?" Cassidy asked with curiosity as Meowth didn't whisper that part.
"Oh, it's just that you're supposed to be the bad guys and you're helping us. It seems kinda ironic, huh?" Domino starts nervously chuckling.
Butch nods and also chuckles. "Yeah, it does seem pretty ironic."
Mondo was suspicious, raising his eyebrow, and starting to talk inside his mind. "Hmm… Who is exactly in that helicopter?" He looks at the helicopter that they're following.
Domino angrily looks at Meowth and whispers more. "Meowth, you're supposed to not say what I said out loud."
"Wait, how come?" Meowth questioned with a whisper.
James starts answering, also whispering. "Because if Cassidy, Butch, and Mondo find out the person we're chasing is a part of their criminal organization before we arrive at the helicopter's destination then I think they're not gonna be that helpful anymore."
Jessie enters the conversation by whispering as well. "But we made a truce that we won't be enemies until Kanto is completely free from chaos and all the Pokémon return to normal from the brainwashing."
Domino continues whispering. "Those three are loyal to Team Rocket and will do anything for the organization even breaking our truce to keep their jobs."
James nods and whispers back. "So we're going have to be quiet about this until we arrive at the destination of where the helicopter is going with Zapdos."
The scene cuts to the Archer's helicopter arriving at the secret Team Rocket base on Route 4 with Zapdos still under and unconscious. "Drop Zapdos next to the helipad on the roof." Archer directed to Team Rocket grunt pilot.
"Yes, Archer, sir!" The grunt pilot presses a button and the string holding the net from the helicopter becomes loose and lands next to the helipad.
The helicopter lands on the helipad and Archer gets out. "Help me take Zapdos where the other legendary birds are and lock them up." Archer directed the pilot once more.
The grunt pilot nods, saying the same thing earlier in response. "Yes, Archer, sir!"
The scene cuts to the Team Rocket trio and the gang spotting the building from a distance. "I see the helicopter on the helipad, but no Zapdos." Domino pointed out.
Jessie clutches her fist. "He must've taken Zapdos inside that building. We have to stop him!"
"Let's hope it's not too late," Meowth says.
"Team Rocket, can you have Ditto land a little away from the building so that we won't be spotted that easily?" James asked.
"Yep! Ditto, land near that tree over there that's a little far from the building!" Mondo commanded with a point.
"Pidgeotto!" Ditto cries out in agreement and flies over to the tree that its trainer pointed at.
Once Ditto lands, the group all hops off the transformed Pokémon, and Ditto transforms back into its original self. "Ditto!"
Mondo hugs his Ditto with a smile. "Nice job, Ditto."
"Think of this as getting you back for getting the three of us out of that jam back at the Kanto League Tournament," Cassidy informed them.
"So we're even now, got it?" Butch added.
The gang nods. "Again, thank you three for helping us." Jessie looks at her friends. "We need to find a way to sneak in without getting detected. We can't just use the front door."
Meowth, Domino, and James all nod in agreement. "Let's find another way quickly before they do something to Zapdos!" James exclaimed.
The gang leaves the area and heads towards the building as the Team Rocket trio stays behind, all three sighing in relief. "We did it guys, we finally contributed to helping the twerps!" Mondo says.
"Now we can sit back and relax, enjoy a break, and rest our legs!" Cassidy sits down and leans against a tree.
Butch and Mondo soon also follow what Cassidy was doing, but at that moment, the trio's laptop starts buzzing causing all of them to groan. "What is it now?!" Butch questioned with an attitude.
Mondo pulls out the laptop and sees that it's Archer calling them. "It's Archer."
Cassidy starts thinking. "Archer. Archer. Archer. That name sounds very familiar."
"He's the Team Rocket agent that we helped him steal the Master Ball from Silph Co. in Saffron City." Butch reminded her.
Mondo accepts the call and Archer appears on the laptop screen. "You three have been assigned a mission by the boss, Giovanni. I want you three to report to the secret base located on Route 4, I'll send you the details on how to get there."
Mondo looks at the isolated building ahead of the trio, his eyes widened before looking back at Archer with an embarrassed smile. "Before you do, it doesn't have a helicopter on the roof, right?"
Archer raises his eyebrow. "Why yes it does have a helicopter on the roof. I used it to bring a legendary bird to the secret base. He realizes. "Wait, are you telling me you three are already there?!"
Mondo rubs the back of his head. "Uhh… yes?"
Ditto shouts its cry. "Ditto!"
Cassidy gets in front of Mondo from the laptop and comes up with an excuse. "The boss told us to come here for an important mission for us three and that's how we're already here."
Butch starts nodding, also getting in front of the screen. "Yep! It wasn't a coincidence at all!"
"Ahh, I see." Archer then growls and starts talking about Giovanni to himself. "I don't see why telling me to do it if you're going to do it anyway!" He clears his throat and looks back at the screen. "Anyways, the boss wants you three to report at the base for a very important mission, it's something about helping guard the three legendary birds, and I'll give you some advice." Archer intensely stares at the trio. "I wouldn't screw this mission up if I was you three. Archer out." He ends the laptop call.
Mondo starts going into panic mode. "I knew they weren't talking about us ironically helping them! Do you guys realize what we just did?!"
Ditto looks at its trainer as it cries with a confused tone. "Ditto?"
"No. What did we do?" Butch asked.
Mondo answers while still panicking. "We just helped the twerps find where the secret Team Rocket base is; where they're keeping the three legendary birds for the boss!"
"WHAT?!" Cassidy yelled in frustration. "Are you telling me we already screwed up the mission before we could even start?!"
"And Archer threatened us to not screw this mission up! I think our jobs are on the line on this mission!" Butch pointed out.
Cassidy punches the tree in frustration. "If only we knew that Archer was in that helicopter, we would abandon those twerps hours ago and break the truce!"
Ditto frowns at Cassidy for saying that. "Ditto…"
"Enough talking, we have to report to the base. Let's hope Archer doesn't find out that we accidentally led the twerps here…" Mondo says as his partner-in-crimes nods in response, returning Ditto to its Poké Ball.
The Team Rocket trio starts heading to the entrance of the secret base and then it cuts to the gang sneaking around. "There must be cameras around inside the building, so try to spot them with your eyes," Jessie whispered.
"I get that, but should we discuss how to get inside the base in the first place?" Domino pointed out. "We simply can't use the front door."
James spots a vent and points it out to the gang. "I see a vent, maybe we can get in there without getting detected that way?"
The gang walks towards the vent, looking up because it's too high up. "I don't think either one of us can reach up there," Domino says.
"Maybe I can throw Meowth up there and he can grab it?" Jessie suggested.
Meowth immediately shakes his head no. "No! No! No! I don't want to risk missing the vent and then falling directly to the ground!"
"You're a cat, you will always land on your feet!" Domino responded with a glare.
"You think our legs are immune to fall damage? I got some bad news for you." Meowth glares back.
"Jessie will catch you then," Domino responds once more as Jessie nods and gives a thumbs up.
Meowth crosses his arms and looks away. "Still not risking it."
James sees a bunch of boxes in the distance from the back of the base. "I think I have an idea."
The scene cuts to the boxes being stacked upon each other like steps, reaching to the vent cover. "Ta-da! Meowth you should be able to walk on the boxes to reach the vent cover and be able to unscrew the screws with your claw to open it!"
Meowth looks at the boxes, concerned. "Is this even safe, Jimmy?"
"I'm not sure, but if you don't want to be thrown this is Plan B," James responded.
"Meowth, you gotta do it! This might be our only way in!" Jessie says.
"Plus you're a little small, so I bet the boxes won't even fall!" Domino added.
"Alright, I'll do it already! But if I get seriously injured from this, I'm never helping you guys out again." Meowth looks at the boxes once more and gulps before placing a foot on the lowest step of the milk crate and then placing his other foot. "Okay one down, two to go." Meowth continues slowly stepping over the boxes until he reaches the top. "Okay, I'm at the top!"
"Can you reach the vent cover now?" James asked.
Meowth extends his arm and can reach it without jumping. "I can!"
"Now use your claws to unscrew the screws of the cover," James instructed.
"Got it!" Meowth nods and starts unscrewing the screws of the vent cover with his sharp claws and after unscrewing it off, he throws it aside to the ground below.
Domino rushes and catches the vent cover before it can hit the ground. "Meowth, be careful! You don't want to alert anyone by causing a noise!"
"Sorry, my bad, but hey look!" Meowth climbs into the vent. "Now we have a way in the base!"
James looks at Jessie and Domino. "Alright, now we three also need to step over those boxes to reach the vent."
Domino raises her hand. "I'll go first because my balance is extremely perfect!"
"Famous last words," Jessie says quietly to herself.
Domino glares directly at Jessie. "What was that, Jess?!"
Jessie steps back, embarrassed, chuckling, and rubbing the back of her head. "I said I was just jealous of your perfect balance, that's all."
Domino turns around to face the boxes and takes a step on the first, making sure she doesn't lose her balance, she takes another step carefully and then another last step before jumping into the vent. "I made it!"
"Jessie, do you mind if I go second?" James asked.
Jessie shakes her head no in response. "I don't mind at all."
James faces the boxes, taking his first step, then carefully taking his second step, but when James is on the second step he starts losing his balance. "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!"
The gang gasped, afraid that James might fall. "Jimmy, control your balance!" Meowth ordered in fear.
James barely manages to get his balance in control again before quickly taking his third step and then jumping into the vent. "That was a close one…"
"Alright, my turn now." Jessie makes her first step, then her second step with ease, but when she makes her third step, the stack of boxes gives up and they start falling. "AH!" Jessie screamed.
"JESSIE, TAKE MY HAND!" James reaches his hand down so Jessie can reach it.
Jessie jumps before she loses unbalance from the boxes and manages to grab James' hand as he pulls her up to the vent. Jessie starts taking deep breaths. "What just happened?!"
"I guess the boxes couldn't support the weight of a human anymore and gave up after us two stepped on them," James answered.
"It doesn't anymore. We have legendary birds to save, let's go!" Domino ordered.
As the gang starts crawling further into the vents. Two Team Rocket grunts arrive outside to check out the noise and notice a bunch of boxes spread out on the ground and the vent cover is on the ground. "Looks like we got a couple of trespassers." "We should notify Archer immediately."
The scene cuts to the Team Rocket trio at the entrance of the base. "Do we just ring the doorbell?" Cassidy asked.
Butch shrugs. "I guess?"
"Couldn't hurt to do so," Mondo says.
Cassidy rings the doorbell and the trio waits for a little bit, but the welcome mat below them reveals to be a trap door and the Team Rocket trio falls through, screaming. The trio slides into a prison cell in the basement and then the trap door above them closes.
Butch groans in pain. "I think I landed hard on my back."
Mondo slowly gets up and realizes they're inside a prison cell. "What?!"
Cassidy and Butch both look to see as well. "Why are we in prison?! We're Team Rocket members too!" Cassidy says.
Butch grabs the prison cell bars and tries to bend them. "Someone let us out now!"
The Team Rocket trio could hear someone walking down the stairs and it was a Team Rocket grunt. "You really think you can bend the bars?" The grunt realizes the three had red letter Rs on their uniform. "Oh crap, you're Team Rocket members!"
"Of course we are! What's the big deal?!" Cassidy asked with a frustrated tone.
"Sorry, this happens to everyone. It's a security system so non-Team Rocket members try to get in. I'll notify Archer." The grunt calls Archer on his wrist communicator. "Sir, I have three Team Rocket members here in the cell. One with golden hair, green hair, and brown hair."
"That must be Cassidy, Butch, and Mondo. Release them now!" Archer demanded.
The grunt nods. "Yes, sir." They end the call. The grunt pulls out the key from their pocket and unlocks the cell so the trio can be set free.
The Team Rocket trio steps out of the cell. "Can you take us to Archer?" Cassidy asked.
The grunt nods. "I can. Just follow me."
As the grunt starts leading the Team Rocket trio to Archer the scene cuts to the trio still crawling inside the vents. "Where are we going again?" Domino asked.
"We're going to find where Team Rocket is keeping the three legendary birds in captivity and save them," Jessie answered.
"But we don't know where they are keeping them, Jessie. We could be crawling in these vents for a long time!" James says.
"Plus, I can barely see anything in these vents and the only way to see inside the base is through other vent covers," Meowth added.
Jessie starts thinking. "Okay, I have an idea. We find a safe way to drop from the vents where no Team Rocket members are at and then we can stealthily search from there."
"Sounds like a plan, but where in the base could be a safe way to drop?" Domino asked once more.
James thought of a place. "How about the restroom? This place has to have one, so how about we exit the vents from there?"
"But the restroom isn't a guarantee of a free Team Rocket grunt area. Someone could be in there." Meowth pointed out.
"Then we will just wait for them to leave and then we will drop, easy," Jessie says.
"Alright, I guess we're heading to the restroom," Meowth says.
Before the gang can crawl to the restrooms, they spot Archer and the Team Rocket trio walking together from one of the vents so they stay to eavesdrop on their conversation.
"It was grateful for the boss to have us on this very important mission. I guess he finally is giving us the recognition we deserve." Cassidy says with a delightful smile.
Archer has an annoyed look on his face. "Giovanni did not hand you guys this mission just because he recognizes what you did. That would be an insult. This is a test for you three to see how loyal you guys are. If you guys care about continuing to be Team Rocket members, then I wouldn't mess up if I were you three."
The Team Rocket trio starts shaking in fear as the three gulp and slowly nod. "Yes, sir," Butch says.
"What is our mission, Archer sir?" Mondo asked.
Archer explains their mission. "Your three's mission is to guard the three legendary birds, each located in a different area throughout the base, from someone setting them free, until the boss gets here to take them."
"Where are the legendary birds exactly?" Cassidy asked.
Archer also explains each location of the legendary birds. "Each legendary bird is located where their purpose is to satisfy the base. For example, Moltres is located in the kitchen's basement to provide fire to cook food. Articuno is located in the ventilation area to provide cold air throughout the base. And Zapdos is located in the generator area to provide electricity for the base."
The two Team Rocket grunts, earlier from outside, rush to Archer. "Archer, sir! Archer, sir!"
Archer groans in annoyance. "What is it, you two? You're supposed to be outside guarding the base from possible outsiders entering!"
The other Team Rocket grunt explains. "That's just it, sir. We saw a bunch of our moving boxes next to the vent outside and the cover was on the ground and removed! I think trespassers are in the vents!"
"What?!" Archer yelled in disbelief. "Outsiders have discovered this secret base already?!"
The Team Rocket trio look at each other with guilt in their expressions, knowing they accidentally led the gang to the base. Cassidy speaks up. "We will take care of them, don't worry, Archer, sir!"
Archer nods. "Very well." He turns his attention to the two Team Rocket grunts. "They must still be in the vents, correct? I need one of you to turn up the AC to the max so we can freeze them in there before they reach the legendary birds!"
"Yes, sir!" The two Team Rocket grunts leave to do Archer's orders.
It cuts to the gang in the vents, still eavesdropping on the conversation from the vent cover. They all looked at each other with worried expressions before they started crawling fast to the restroom, leaving the area.
It cuts back to the Team Rocket trio, about to leave to find the gang before getting stopped by Archer. "Wait, you three. Before you start looking for the outsiders, I need to give you guys something."
"What is it, Archer, sir?" Butch asked.
Archer pulls out a collar from his pocket. "Giovanni sent me these. These are Team Rocket control collars, they will forcefully make our Pokémon listen to our orders. This collar is how Giovanni was able to control Mewtwo despite how powerful they were. This should make your Pokémon listen to you, surpassing the brainwash."
"So this will make our Pokémon listen to us despite being brainwashed?" Mondo repeatedly asked before he and his partners-in-crime cheered.
Cassidy claps her hands together. "Our Pokémon will go back to listening to us! This is a dream come true!"
"Giovanni has sent me five Team Rocket control collars for each of your Pokémon. Cassidy: for your Raticate and Muk." Archer hands two control collars to Cassidy. "Butch: only one for your Primeape." Archer hands one control collar to Butch. "And Mondo: for your Marowak and Ditto." Archer hands Mondo two control collars.
"I only need one control collar, Archer," Mondo says.
Archer raises an eyebrow. "How come?"
"We found out that my Ditto is already immune from the brainwashing. We don't know why, but we're not complaining." Mondo answered.
"Still, just in case if something happens to Ditto, keep it anyways." Archer still hands the one control collar to Mondo. "Now find those outsiders and protect the legendary birds!"
"Yes, sir!" The Team Rocket trio exits the area to find the gang.
The shake cuts back to the gang arriving at the vent cover over the restroom. "Okay, I don't see anyone. Meowth, can you unscrew the cover?" Jessie asked.
James interrupts. "Wait a minute, is this the female restroom?"
Domino looks at the restroom closely from the vent cover. "I don't see any urinals, so it must be the female restroom."
James points the other way. "I'm going to go crawl over to the male restroom."
Meowth nods. "Same here."
Jessie and Domino both groan. "Are you both kidding me right now? They're gonna freeze us in here if we don't get out of the vents quickly. Come on, it doesn't matter in this context. Let's go!" Jessie demanded.
James crosses his arms, looking offended. "Hey! I highly respect the privacy of both females and males and I refuse to be in the women's restroom even in this situation!"
Domino rolls his eyes. "Fine. Can Meowth unscrew the vent cover before you two head to another restroom?"
"Then me and Domino will knock on the door for you guys to signal it's safe," Jessie explained.
"Wait, how would we know it's you two and not some Team Rocket grunt trying to use the restroom?" Meowth asked.
"We will say 'banana pudding' now unscrew, we can't be wasting time!" Domino demanded.
Jessie starts holding the vent cover as Meowth unscrews the cover and she places it aside as James and Meowth begin crawling to the men's restroom.
Domino gulped as she was looking down to the floor. "This looks like a long drop. Jessie, can you drop down first and catch me?"
"Whatever will help us get to the legendary birds quicker." Jessie drops down to the floor first.
"Lock the door before any female grunt comes over and opens it!" Domino directed.
"Right!" Jessie immediately rushes to the door and locks it before she goes back over to the vent, and looks up, holding out her hands to catch Domino with. "Come on, jump already!"
Domino still looks afraid. "I swear Jessie if you don't catch me I'm suing you for my injuries after this is all over!"
Jessie groans in annoyance. "Domino, I would purposely let you hit the ground as a funny prank, but we're in a serious situation right now. Just jump and I'll catch you!"
Domino hesitates for a little before finally dropping out of the vents and Jessie catches her. "Thank goodness you didn't drop me," Domino says.
"And thank goodness you didn't scream," Jessie responded before placing Domino down.
The scene cuts to James and Meowth still crawling to the vents and they arrive at the cover above the men's restroom. "We made it! Alright Meowth, unscrew the cover!"
"You got it, Jimmy!" Meowth reveals his claws, getting ready to unscrew the cover until he and James get blasted with powerful cold air and the two immediately start shivering. "What the hell?!"
"They must've turned the AC to the max!" James informed him. "My hands are almost already numb! We're gonna freeze to death if we don't unscrew the cover!"
Meowth tries to move his paw, but he can't. "I can't move my paw! It's, like, already frozen in seconds! What are we going to do?!"
"I got an idea!" James picks up Meowth, turning him upside down.
"What are you doing, Jimmy?!" Meowth asked in disbelief. "I'm going to get dizzy!"
"Just trust me! It's the only way we don't freeze! We're getting colder and colder every second!" James lowers Meowth's claw down to the screw and starts using the talking Pokémon like a screwdriver to unscrew the cover. James grabs the cover with his other hand before it can fall to the ground and places it aside as he falls to the floor while having Meowth still in his arms. "Ow… that hurts."
"Maybe we should've gone with Jessie and Domino…" Meowth cheeks start to fill up with vomit as he rushes into the stall and starts barfing into the toilet.
The scene cuts to the women's restroom with Jessie looking down at the crack under the door and Domino. "Do you see any legs?" Domino asked.
"Nope, I don't see any. Which means the coast is clear." Jessie stands back up, unlocks the door, and opens it. She and Domino head over to the men's restroom next to the women's restroom and knock on the door. "Banana pudding! Banana pudding!"
The two hear the door click and it opens, Meowth and James are both shivering from the cold. "I wouldn't want to enter one of the stalls if I was one of the grunts."
"Ew… anyways, let's discuss the three legendary birds. It seems Team Rocket has separated them into different locations. Looks like we're going have to split up and save them separately."
James and Domino both nod. "Sounds like a plan."
Jessie says what legendary bird she wants to save first. "I'll go after Moltres."
"Then I'll go and save Articuno." Domino followed up with what legendary bird she would try to save.
"That leaves me to go and save Zapdos then. I'm on it!" James gives them a thumbs up.
The gang was ready to split up as Jessie started giving the signal. "Alright, let's split up in three, two-"
Jessie was cut off by a familiar voice. "Two? That's double!" It was Cassidy with Butch and Mondo standing in front of the gang.
"And it looks like the twerps are in a lot of trouble!" Butch followed up.
Cassidy and Butch begin saying their motto. "To infect the world with devastation!" "To blight all people in 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 or you will surely lose the fight!" Mondo finishes up the motto. "I'm Mondo, alright!"
"Hey Team Rocket, umm… remember that truce of ours?" Jessie rubs the back of her head.
"The truce is over, twerps!" Cassidy immediately responded. "We choose loyalty with Team Rocket over an alliance with you any day of the week!"
"The only reason why we brought you twerps here to our secret base in the first place is because we didn't know that helicopter was one of our own!" Butch added.
Domino scoffs. "You should've thought of that earlier."
Mondo growls. "Oh yeah? Well here's what we're gonna think about." He pulls out two Poké Balls. "And that's taking you three twerps down to the cell and locking you all up!"
Cassidy also pulls out two Poké Balls and Butch pulls out just one with smirks on their faces. "Believe it!"
"Hold on here!" James speaks up. "Don't you know that all of our Pokémon are being brainwashed right now?!"
The Team Rocket trio smirks before sending out all of their Pokémon. "Raticate and Muk, let's go!" "Primeape, go!" "Marowak and Ditto, you're up!"
All of Team Rocket's Pokémon materialize, saying their battle cry except Ditto who has a frown on their face. Minus Ditto, all of Team Rocket's Pokémon have red eyes, but they are wearing collars, and not attacking their trainers as they are standing there and looking at the gang.
Jessie raises an eyebrow. "What is going on? Why aren't your brainwashed Pokémon attacking you?"
James notices the collars around each of Team Rocket's Pokémon. "I believe the collars have something to do about that."
"That is cheating and completely unfair!" Meowth pouts.
"Shut it, talking Meowth!" Cassidy demanded. "But your sunglasses twerp is right. Our latest Team Rocket technology allows these collars to give us back full control of our Pokémon!"
"Which means there is no point of even teaming up with you twerps now that our Pokémon is back following our orders!" Butch added.
"So you twerps can surrender peacefully or if you play stupid and want to go out by fighting, our five Pokémon will beat the crap out of your one Meowth!" Mondo grins.
Jessie grits her teeth at the trio. "Oh yeah! Well…"
Meowth looks at Team Rocket's red-eyed Pokémon looking aggressively at him and gulps. "Jessie, I can't beat all of those Pokémon at once."
Domino agrees. "Meowth is right, Jessie. We have to surrender peacefully."
James nods. "It's the right decision, Jessie."
Jessie looks at Meowth and then Team Rocket's Pokémon before groaning. "We choose to surrender peacefully."
"Excellent!" The Team Rocket trio said all together.
Ditto looks on and frowns, sighing in sadness. "Ditto…"
The scene cuts to the gang in handcuffs being led by the Team Rocket trio, all of their Pokémon were recalled back after they surrendered. They are led down the basement. Then it cuts to the gang being inside and the prison cell in the basement that the Team Rocket trio was in earlier, being locked by the cell key.
Jessie aggressively grabs the cell bars, gritting her teeth at the trio. "You guys are going to pay for betraying us!"
Cassidy is spinning the cell key with her finger as she scoffs. "Sure twerp! Alright, boys, now that we have taken care of them, let's guard the legendary birds!"
"Right!" Butch and Mondo said as the trio turned around and began leading back up.
However, one of the Poké Balls drops from Mondo's back pocket, bounces off the stairs, and lands near the prison cell. Mondo doesn't notice as the trio closes the door behind them.
"Meowth, can you pick the keyhole with your claws?" Jessie asked.
Meowth shakes his head no. "Sorry, Jessie, but my paw is still a little cold after that vent disaster I and James had."
Domino groans. "I told you that you guys should've gone with us!"
"I know, I know! I'll take full blame for that!" James says before sighing. "How are we going to get out of here?"
Domino frowns, crossing her arms. "I guess we have to wait till Meowth's paw warms up."
Jessie leans on the cell bars. "With this cold air blasting and we're down in a basement, it's going to take a while."
The Poké Ball that bounced from the stairs, landing near the prison cell, starts opening up as a white beam shoots up in the air, immediately gathering the gang's attention and Ditto slowly materializes from the Poké Ball. "Ditto!"
"Ditto?!" The gang all said together in disbelief. "Is this Mondo's Ditto?" Jessie asked.
Ditto proudly cries in joy. "Ditto!"
Meowth smiles in delight and translates what Ditto said. "Guys, Ditto wants to help us free the legendary birds!"
Jessie, Domino, and James then smile in delight as well. "Thank you so much, Ditto!" They all said.
"But how is Ditto going to free us from this prison cell?" Meowth asked.
Jessie gets an idea. "Wait! Ditto, you can transform into anything right? Any other Pokémon, a human, and objects, right?"
Ditto nods in agreement. "Ditto!"
"Then can you transform into the cell key Teak Rocket had so we can unlock this prison cell from inside?" Jessie asked.
Domino smiles. "That should work, yes!"
James pats Jessie's shoulder. "Great thinking, Jessie!"
Ditto glows white and transforms into the cell key as Jessie picks Ditto up, inserts it into the lock, and turns it, unlocking the cell as the gang smiles in delight.
"We're free!" Domino says, cheerfully.
Jessie pulls Ditto out of the key lock. "Nice work, Ditto!"
Ditto transforms back into its original self. "Ditto!"
Jessie clutches her fist. "Come on, we have to save the three legendary birds before Team Rocket's boss gets here!"
Domino interrupts. "Hold on here, Jessie, me and James don't have any Pokémon that will listen to us."
"Maybe Ditto can come with you, Domino?" Jessie suggested.
"That could work!" Domino looks at Ditto with a smile. "Are you ready to team up, Ditto?"
Ditto happily jumps into Domino's arms from Jessie's arms, nuzzling her cheek. "Ditto!"
Domino giggles and nuzzles Ditto back. "Aww, you're adorable!"
"I need a Pokémon that isn't brainwashed too. What about me?" James asked.
"Ditto!" Ditto pulls out one of the control collars that was meant for him and hands it to James.
James gasps. "This is one of the control collars Team Rocket had on their Pokémon! I can use this on one of my Pokémon and they will obey me!"
Jessie begins explaining. "It seems like we have everything in control. I have Meowth, Domino has Ditto, and James has the Pokémon of his choosing. Let's go and save some legendary birds! To recall, I'm going after Moltres, Domino is heading to Articuno, and James has Zapdos. We will split up once we exit the basement. Are we all clear?"
Meowth, Domino, and James all nod in agreement. "Clear!"
Ditto cries out. "Ditto!"
The gang all head up to the stairs and once they close the basement door, Jessie, Domino, and James all split up around the base as the narrator begins wrapping up the episode. "The clock is ticking, every second counts! Our heroes have to save Moltres, Articuno, and Zapdos before Team Rocket's boss arrives. With Mondo's Ditto helping our heroes, do they stand a chance? Find out as the journey continues!"