"Meow~ Found the twerp! Pikachu's there too, and… Aipom, huh?"
On the hot air balloon, a talking Meowth was leaning over the railing, using binoculars to observe Ash, who had just landed.
"Even though there's an extra nuisance to deal with, going by the usual pattern, the twerp shouldn't have his main team from Hoenn with him right now, right? If we're gonna nab Pikachu, this is our best shot!"
Jessie flicked her iconic, almost bizarrely long hair, speaking with a tone of absolute confidence.
"Well… but…"
On the other side, James looked hesitant, as if unsure whether he should voice his thoughts.
But after just a moment's pause, he went ahead and shared his opinion.
"We say this every time, but don't we keep failing and messing up every single time? I think we really need to plan this capture properly for once! We can't keep running into so many unexpected problems!"
"So~lance~~!"
As the weakest link in the classic trio, James's point was enthusiastically backed by Wobbuffet.
However, neither James's argument nor Wobbuffet's support managed to sway Jessie.
"What are you butting in for?!"
"So~lance…"
Before Wobbuffet could finish, Jessie pushed it down with a wave of her hand.
"I'm telling you, James, what are you so scared of right now? The twerp doesn't even have his main team with him! As long as we nab Pikachu first, you think we can't handle that puny Aipom?"
Jessie maintained her fearless attitude.
"But…"
James still seemed hesitant.
"We've been beaten by that Aipom before, haven't we?"
Jessie: "…"
On the hot air balloon, the trio fell silent for a moment. Then—
"Meowth, get him!"
"Take this, Fury Swipes!"
James: "Huh?! What?! Ahh—"
…
A minute later, James was sprawled on the balloon's floor, his face covered in scratch marks.
Wobbuffet stood trembling beside him, as if terrified that saying one more word would make it the next target.
"Boosting others' morale while undermining our own!"
Jessie flicked her hand dismissively, speaking with disdain.
"Exactly, meow! If we don't seize this chance, we'll have even less of a shot later! We're Team Rocket, meow, and Team Rocket's gotta have some pride!"
"B-But…"
"No buts!" *2
"Yes, sir!"
Intimidated by Jessie and Meowth's momentum, James scrambled to his feet, saluted, and responded quickly.
"Now that the trouble's out of the way, let's make a plan already."
Seeing that James no longer objected, Jessie leaned back against the railing, casually waving her hand as if passing off the responsibility.
Hearing Jessie's words, Meowth gave a sly grin and said, "Heh heh! Meowth's already got it covered. This plan's foolproof!"
"What is it?" James's eyes were still tinged with doubt.
Sure enough, as James had suspected, Meowth pulled a rocket launcher out of nowhere.
"This is loaded with an electric-proof capture net! If we use this to snag Pikachu and then hightail it in the balloon—"
"The twerp won't stand a chance of catching us!"
Hearing this "flawless" plan, Jessie jumped up, clapping as if victory was already theirs.
Watching the overly confident duo, James and Wobbuffet slunk to the other side of the balloon, whispering to each other out of earshot:
"Is this really gonna go that smoothly?"
Wobbuffet: "So~lance…"
Wobbuffet's tone sounded subdued, as if, in its eyes, Meowth's plan was indeed a bit too simplistic.
"Right? Right! We've used way more advanced machines and better plans before and still failed, but now they think they can catch Pikachu with just a net? That's a pipe dream!"
Wobbuffet: "Solance!"
Wobbuffet saluted, fully agreeing with James.
"Sigh, I bet nine times out of ten we're still in for that 'blasting off' feeling. No idea where we'll end up getting blasted to this time in the Sinnoh region."
Wobbuffet: "So↑lan↓ce↓…"
Wobbuffet's tone grew heavy again.
On the balloon, Jessie and Meowth were sipping juice, toasting their soon-to-be success, while James and Wobbuffet crouched in a corner, lamenting their unchanging fate.
Jessie & Meowth: "What a great feeling!"
James & Wobbuffet: "What a terrible feeling…
(Solance~)" (quietly)
…
Team Rocket's trio was scheming to capture Pikachu.
Meanwhile, Ash was at a phone booth near the airport, talking to Professor Oak with Pikachu and Aipom by his side.
"Yes, that's right… Aipom's with me right now. I have no idea when it followed me."
Ash was updating Professor Oak on Aipom's situation, while on the other end of the line, Professor Oak and Tracey, who was listening in, both let out sighs of relief.
"Phew, thank goodness. I was wondering how Aipom disappeared in the blink of an eye. So it followed you to Sinnoh… Well, Ash, are you going to send Aipom back?"
"OKIII!"
Aipom, who had been pressing its ear to the phone, heard Professor Oak's words and immediately burst into teary-eyed panic, tugging at Ash's collar and shaking him wildly, as if to say, If you send me back, I'm staying right here!
"Ah! I get it! I get it! Stop shaking me! I understand! You're not going back! I won't send you back! Let go already!"
"OKI!"
With Ash's promise, Aipom's tear-streaked face instantly cleared up.
Seeing Aipom's lightning-fast mood swing, Ash helplessly straightened his now-rumpled collar.
If this guy ever got into Pokémon movies, it'd probably want to be an actor…
Watching Aipom bounce around joyfully, Ash couldn't help but think.