c9: Double Battle ?!
Austin held up his Pokédex to examine his latest catch. "Pidgeotto, the Bird Pokémon. The evolved form of Pidgey, known for its keen eyesight and powerful flight. This Pidgeotto is female, possesses the ability Tangled Feet, and knows Tackle, Sand Attack, Gust, and Quick Attack. Age: nine months," the device announced.
Another girl? Austin blinked in surprise. He had always envisioned Pidgeotto as male, but clearly, he was mistaken.
"Well, we've got a new friend," he said, trying to shake off the odd feeling. Five Pokémon already, and he hadn't even left the forest yet. Just one more, and he'd have a full team. He felt a mix of pride and anxiety; the responsibility was mounting.
As Austin began tidying up the campsite, he froze. Voices echoed nearby.
"We've been wandering this forest for a while now. I thought you knew where the exit was, Jessie."
No way. It couldn't be...
"It's not my fault you couldn't pedal that bike correctly!" Jessie's voice snapped, drawing nearer.
Pikachu and Spearow tensed immediately, recognizing the voices. Caterpie and Rattata looked puzzled.
"Meowth, I can't believe that bike was destroyed by those wild Pikachus!" Meowth grumbled.
"Ugh, just seeing a Pikachu reminds me of that twerp," Jessie snarled.
Oh crap. Austin slowly backed up, trying not to make a sound. But then SNAP—he stepped on a fallen branch. His heart dropped.
"Wait, I just heard something," James said, sounding hopeful. "Maybe someone's nearby. They could know the way out."
No, no, no...
The Rocket Trio emerged from the trees, looking as flamboyant as ever.
"Thank goodness," James began, but then he saw Austin. His face fell.
"It's the twerp!" Meowth exclaimed, while Jessie smirked.
"We found you just like we planned."
Austin couldn't help but deadpan, "I heard you guys being lost." He shook his head. "And I don't know where the exit is either, but it should be nearby."
"We don't need directions," James replied as Jessie stepped forward, her posture indicating a battle.
"Prepare for trouble."
"Make it double"
Oh no, not this again. "Pikachu, Thundershock the ground in front of them," Austin ordered.
"What?!" They barely got out half their motto before Pikachu's Thundershock hit the ground, causing them to stumble back.
Jessie was the first to recover, glaring at Austin. "Hey, at least let us finish our motto!"
Austin shrugged. "I've heard it before," he said, rolling his eyes. "You guys realize no one takes you seriously, right?"
He couldn't take hearing that motto one more time. His mind raced as Jessie and James pulled out their Pokéballs, releasing Ekans and Koffing.
"We owe you some payback for Viridian City," Jessie said with a smirk.
James nodded. "And what better way than to take your Pokémon?"
Austin's heart started racing again, but he forced a grin. "Rattata, Pikachu, you guys up for it?"
Both mice gave him a determined nod, while Caterpie looked relieved not to be in the fight. Spearow still looked irritated from earlier, but he didn't back down either.
"Koffing, use Sludge!" James commanded, and Koffing shot a stream of sludge at Pikachu, who ducked just in time.
"Rattata, Quick Attack!" Austin ordered, feeling a surge of adrenaline. Rattata darted forward, slamming into Koffing at high speed. "Pikachu, aim your Thundershock at Ekans!"
"Burrow underground," Jessie countered, and Ekans dove into the dirt, dodging the electric attack.
Koffing took the Quick Attack like a champ, still floating. Then James called out, "Smog!" Rattata coughed as the smoke surrounded her, disoriented. Before Austin could react, Ekans shot out of the ground, catching Rattata in its jaws.
Austin's heart skipped a beat. "Rattata, return!" he called out, recalling her just in time, but the terror of almost losing her to Ekans made his hands shake. He could feel the panic rising.
Pikachu was still distracted by Rattata's close call, and Austin barely noticed until the Sludge Attack hit him square in the face, knocking him down. His eyes were covered in gunk. He was out of the fight.
Austin stared at the scene in shock. This wasn't like the anime. Team Rocket was actually dangerous, way tougher than they'd seemed on TV. Why didn't he expect this?
Jessie's voice cut through his thoughts. "You ready to give up, little boy?"
James grinned smugly. "We may let you go if you hand over your Pokémon."
Austin felt anger welling up in his chest. "No," he growled, glaring at them. "I'm never giving them up."
He grabbed Spearow's Pokéball and threw it into the fight, along with Pidgeotto. Both glared at each other, still not fully trusting him. But right now, they didn't have a choice.
"Pidgeotto, use Sand Attack! Spearow, start with Leer!" Austin shouted, his mind racing to come up with a plan. If he could blind them, they'd stand a chance.
Sand whipped up, blinding not only the Pokémon but Team Rocket too. "Meowth, I can't see!" came a muffled yell.
Now! "Pidgeotto, Quick Attack on Koffing! Spearow, follow up with Fury Attack!"
Both attacks connected, and Koffing let out a pained cry before collapsing. James looked shocked. "Koffing!"
Jessie's face hardened. "Ekans, get underground again!"
Not this time. "Pidgeotto, use Quick Attack to launch him into the air!" Pidgeotto slammed into Ekans, sending it flying. "Spearow, Peck!"
Spearow darted in, striking Ekans mid-air, and it crashed to the ground, motionless. Jessie returned it, frustration clear on her face.
Meowth stepped forward with his claws out, laughing. "Now it's my turn to show you a real Pokémon battle."
Spearow and Pidgeotto were panting hard. They were exhausted from fighting each other earlier and then battling Team Rocket.
Austin returned both. "Caterpie, you're up," he said, surprising even himself. The tiny bug crawled forward, looking almost comically out of place.
Meowth blinked, clearly unimpressed. "You're sending a bug against me?"
"String Shot," Austin ordered calmly. In an instant, Caterpie fired a string shot so thick that Meowth was completely wrapped up like a mummy. He blinked, unable to move a muscle.
Jessie and James backed up in horror, realizing they had no other Pokémon to rely on.
Scooping up Meowth, they turned and ran. "This is the second time you've humiliated us!" Jessie yelled. "Next time, you won't get so lucky."
"Be wary, kid," James added, shaking his fist. "You've made an official enemy out of Team Rocket!"
Austin watched them go, his chest heaving. He'd won. Again. He'd actually won a double battle.
A wave of relief hit him so hard he couldn't help but laugh as he sat down, his legs giving out beneath him. The Pokémon gave him concerned looks, but he just smiled at them. "You guys were amazing."
But then he saw Pikachu still squinting in pain from the sludge covering his eyes. "Come here, buddy." Grabbing a cloth and a water bottle from his pack, he gently wiped the sludge off Pikachu's face.
The look of relief on Pikachu's face when he could see again made Austin's heart swell. That was awesome, he thought, grinning like an idiot.
"So, who's hungry?" Austin asked, suddenly remembering that none of them had eaten breakfast yet.
...
"I can't believe we lost to a brat!" Jessie snapped as she and James pedaled through the Viridian Forest on a red bike, a paralyzed Meowth in the basket.
"I can't believe we're stuck sharing a single-seat bike," James complained, shifting uncomfortably as he tried to balance his lanky frame on the narrow saddle.
Meowth's tail flicked irritably. "I can't believe that twerp's Pikachu humiliated us—again," he muttered, eyes narrowed.
Eventually, the Rocket Trio was forced to stop for a breather, a small campfire crackling near their patch of the Viridian Forest, its light keeping Beedrill and Caterpie at bay while James tended to Ekans, Koffing, and Meowth's bruised ego.
"So, what exactly are we gonna tell the Boss this time?" James asked, looking worried as he patted Koffing's bruised canister.
"Nothing!" Jessie shot back, surprising James as she stood up and crossed her arms. "We tell him Officer Jenny interfered, not some kid with a Pikachu."
"Yeah! If the Boss finds out that a measly kid beat us, we'll be the laughingstocks of Team Rocket and he'll probably replace me with that stuck-up Persian of his!" Meowth's fur bristled.
"But what if the Boss figures it out anyway?" James's voice cracked a bit as he thought of Giovanni's Persian with its cold, calculating stare. "He'll put us on janitorial duty or worse!"
"Well," Jessie said with a determined frown, "he won't find out unless one of us blabs, and I sure as heck ain't gonna." She shot Meowth a pointed glare. "And neither are you."
James's hands went up defensively. "No way! I'm not telling him anything!" he agreed quickly, nodding at Jessie's fierce magenta hair.
Meowth started to respond, but his ears twitched at a sudden rustling from the bushes. "Hey, uh, guys—"
"Good, now that's settled," Jessie continued, ignoring him. "That twerp and his Pikachu have to come through here on the way to Pewter City, so we'll ambush him outside the Pewter Gym. We'll snag his Pokémon and get payback and maybe a promotion for a change!"
James brightened momentarily. "That's a great plan, except...which way is Pewter City again?" he asked sheepishly, scratching his head and earning a groan from Jessie, who looked around, realizing they'd bolted through the forest faster than a Rapidash.
"We'll figure that out" Jessie started to say, but Meowth leaped onto her shoulder, claws digging in.
"Would you cut it out?!" Jessie yelped, glaring at Meowth.
"We got company," Meowth warned, his eyes darting as more leaves shook.
Jessie and James tensed as Koffing and Ekans slithered and hovered into position, ready to protect their trainers.
They didn't like the idea of being blindsided again.
"Chu?" A wild Pikachu peeked out of the undergrowth, ears perked and eyes wide with innocent curiosity.
"A Pikachu?" Meowth gasped, recognizing the species that had caused them so much grief. Jessie's face darkened at the reminder of Ash's Pikachu that had bested them in Pallet Town.
"Shoo, scram!" she snapped irritably, her hunger and anger overriding caution.
"Pi?" the Pikachu tilted its head, confused.
"Jessie, maybe you shouldn't provoke it," James said nervously, remembering the voltages that Pikachu could dish out, especially after they'd already been zapped earlier that day by Ash's Pikachu.
Jessie wasn't listening. She was too frustrated by the constant failures and by the gnawing in her stomach. "I said get out of here!" she barked, hurling a rock that whizzed past the Pikachu's head. Its cheeks crackled with electricity.
"Oh no," Meowth gulped as more Pikachu appeared, their cheeks sparking in unison. "You really ticked them off now!"
Jessie's bravado faltered as she watched the growing mob of electric rodents. She barely had time to brace herself before the forest erupted in a massive Thundershock, frying them and their already battered bicycle.
"T-Twice in one day?!" Meowth whimpered, smoke curling from his fur.
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