"Hey!  That Caterpie was MINE!" an irate young boy declared, stepping 
out of the bushes onto the path.

[cues challenge music.  "BUG CATCHER wants to fight!"]

	"GRRR!! I'm not finished!" the kid said, using his pokeball to draw 
Weedle 2 back.
	"%...despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage...%" Misty 
sang.

Oddly appropriate for this situation, that.

	"HAHAHAHA!  VICTORY!" cried the mystery girl.
	"Is it just me or is she a tad screwy?" Misty asked.
	"......." Ash answered, nodding.

Kermit:  And in a special guest appearance, Amileia from Slayers, 
YAAAAAAY!

	"WOW!  No wonder Professor Oak told me to find you immediately!  I'm 
Shelly, also known as the POKEMON-AVENGER!" Shelly said, striking a 
dramatic pose.  The female Nidoran and Squirtle began cheering wildly 
and dancing about.

Squirtle:  Shelly-chan's the greatest!

Nido-chan:  Shelly-chan's the best in the universe!

	Jessie sighed as she looked down at the stew.  Normally, she'd send 

the 

Meowth formerly known as Meowth to fish for food or they'd eat at a 

high 

class resturaunt.  However, Ben didn't have the kind of money necessary 
to go eat at those kinds of resturaunts and Fox was busy helping Ben 

set 

up the tents.  It wasn't often that she'd have to cook.  Of course, she 
had never been under the supervision of a boy before.
	He was better than the rest of Team Rocket.  He was kind to pokemon, 
even if he didn't entirely trust them, he was nice to her despite the 
fact that her business had once been stealing pokemon, and he had even 
given her two pokeballs.  They only contained Nidorans (one male, one 
female), but still, that he trusted her enough to hold them made her 
feel better.  Not only that, but he had even bothered to buy her some 
new clothes.  The new sweater and jeans she was wearing were a lot less 
conspicious than the embarrassing outift James had forced her to wear.  
Not mention that it sucked when it came to keep her warm.  James's 
outfit at least kept him from shivering at every cold wind.  He said it 
was the regulation outfit for every girl in Team Rocket, though she 

knew 

he was drooling at her behind her back.

Heh.

	Team Rocket brought back bad memories.  Sure, there had been a lot of 
fun getting money and blowing it all on good food, new clothes and 

such, 

but there had been far more hollering, verbal abuse, guns being fired 

at 

them by police and other hazards that had made the job less than 
desirable.  James had been the only one to actual enjoy that.
	James brought even worse memories back.  He had been the one to 
convince her to join Team Rocket.  And he had given her Ekans, her 

first 

pokemon, so she thought of him as the kindest person she knew.  At the 
time, of course, because that was before they met Meowth.... Fox.
	Fox had been incredibly intelligent.  He had even been able to speak 
three different languages and could bring in the cash when fighting 

wild 

pokemon.  

Which reminds me:  In those episodes where TR needed money, why _didn't_ 
they just have Meowth battle and use Pay Day?

And Fox had been a lot nicer.  Polite too.  James began to 

look more like a normal person.  Until they started getting shot at.  
Then, his cruelty began showing itself to her.  Even if they hadn't 
gotten caught, Jessie knew she was going to begin hating James for ever 
bringing her into the world of chaos that he enjoyed.

Man, you made James into a jerk.  Let me guess you have a sympathetic 
spot for Jessie, right?

	"A lot.  The first pokemon cry ever recorded happened to be the male 
Nidoran and it was the first to be put on to a Casio keyboard." Ben 
explained, using the part of his brain that recorded otherwise useless 
information.

Heh again.

	The next morning, Misty and Ash began the difficult task of teaching 
Shelly about Pokemon, the Pokeballs and the Pokedex.
	"Ever since the end of the last millenium, pokemon have existed on the 
planet.  

In that case; all the Kabuti, Omanytes, and Aerodactyls must've just 
somehow been forced underground, and the people just thought them 
extinct.  Although that contradicts a lot of information from the game 
and show, but hey, it's _your_ altiverse.

However, the original pokemon were very difficult to catch 

because pokeballs weren't around to help people catch the pokemon.  

Have you ever tried pulling a Gyarados on a leash?  Trust me, it ain't 
pretty.

Ever since, scientists have been striving to figure 

out how the pokemon evolve and how they came to replace the old animals 
of the wild, like the wolves, bears and lions, not to mention the 
domesticated animals, such as birds, cats and dogs.  Oddly, cows, pigs, 
fish and various forms of plants remained as they were. 

Really?  I thought all the cattle would've been replaced by Tauros.

	"Whoa, they're growing fast." Ben commented as Pen-Pen evolved into a 
Pidgeyotto and Bambi evolved into a Raticate.  The unconscious pack of 
Spearows that had attacked them were a testament to how hard they had 
been fighting.
	"Hmmm, you're right.  I've never seen pokemon grow so fast in my 

life." 

Jessie commented, putting away her pokeball containing a spearow.
	"Now, if your Nidorans evolve, I'm going to-" 

Scream?

Ben began before the 

Nidorans began glowing.

[snicker]

	Suddenly, an incredibly loud echo of 
"AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!" shattered the peace 

and 

quiet atomosphere of the camp.

Yep, Scream.

	"What's going on out he- Jessie, Meowth.  Explain yourselves." 

demanded 

the confident voice of a strong man.
	Ben, Jessie and Fox turned to see the leader of Team Rocket, Giovanni, 
exiting the cave.
	"G-g-g-GIOVANNI!  What are you doing here?!" Jessie asked, her face 
growing deathly pale.
	"I asked a question, Jessie.  What's going on?" Giovanni demanded.
	Jessie couldn't muster any confidence to answer.
	"We're working independently!" Fox managed to say.
	"Oh really?" Giovanni asked.
	"All right, mister, I don't know who are, nor do I care.  But if 

you're 

with Team Rocket, you're going down." Ben declared.

Ben is SO dead.

	"Pen-Pen.  Get ready for a fight." Ben warned as his loyal pidgeyotto 
landed in front of him.
	"Rhydon.  Get rid of that flying pest." Giovanni declared, letting the 
massive pokemon free.
	"Pen-Pen!  Special Technique!" Ben cried.
	Pen-Pen took to the air and flew above the clouds.
	"Looks like your pokemon went bye-bye." Giovanni laughed.
	"Looks that way, doesn't it?" Ben answered, grinning.
	*THOOM*  Giovanni's Rhydon cried out as it was slammed sideways.  
Pen-Pen flew up into the air again and vanished into the clouds.  The 
Rhydon struggled back to it's feet.
	"WHAT THE HELL?!" Giovanni declared.
	*THOOM*  The Rhydon was sent crashing in the other direction.  It 
bellowed in pain.
	"Oh, just a little special technique Pen-Pen knows." Ben answered.
	"You cheat!" Giovanni growled.

Ahh, the Fly attack.  Second only to Dig for whooping Pokemon stronger 
than you.

	Six members of Team Rocket raced out of the tunnel and launched 
pokemon. Ben and Jessie's pokemon met the Rockets' pokemon and began 
battling them as Jessie walked around and began beating the crap out of 
the Rockets.  Ben watched her and blinked.
	"No wonder you were chosen for the special assignment." Ben answered.
	Jessie dusted off her hands and smirked.

She's had practice beating on James and Meowth.  She's lethal with that 
big fan of hers.  By the way, what is that thing called, anyway?

	"I don't think I've got it." Shelly said.

Anyone _not_ suprised by this?  [multitude of hands raise]

(2) - This is unusual because all Kakunas and Metapods can do is harden 
their shells, they can't move on their own.  In combat, save for 
exhausting pokemon, they are virtually useless.

Unless you evolved yours from Caterpie/Weedle.  BTW, in Pokemon Yellow, 
The larval Pokemon learn Harden when they evolve, which doesn't happen 
in Red/Blue.  They also get their extra attack on their final evolution, 
so a Butterfree from a captured Metapod isn't useless right off the bat.

(3) - Thus proving Ben was more mature than his age as he spent most of 
the trip staring up Jessie's mini-skirt.

You pervert!  Thinking the same thing I was!

	Well, that's the end of chapter 3!

Good series.  Kinda like having the events of the anime, but using the 
Ash from the game.  I like it.  Gimme more.

SAMAS


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