Meanwhile, at the Ketchum residence something terrible was occurring. James of Team Rocket, dressed as a salesman, rang the doorbell, while Jessie and Meowth hid in a bush. Mrs Ketchum came to the door.
“Hi!” she greeted him. “I’ve already got double glazing thank you.”
“But I’m not selling windows!” James jumped in as she tried to shut the door. “I’m selling nets.”
“Nets?” Mrs Ketchum enquired.
“Yes. Why don’t you take a closer look?” he replied.
Suddenly Meowth jumped out of the bush, catching Ash’s mom in a large fishing net. She struggled to get out but tripped over. James then dragged her into the bush where Jessie was hiding.
“Team Rocket!” she cried angrily. “Let me go! I guess you’re going to do that dumb motto now.”
They scowled at her. “You’ll have to wait until your twerp son comes looking for you.” Jessie told her. “We need all our energy for the next part of our plan.”
“Now let’s get to work!” Meowth exclaimed, throwing shovels to Jessie and James.
“Right!” they said simultaneously, and began to dig under the house.
Eventually they finished.
“There it’s all done.” Meowth panted. “Now all we’ve got to do is wait for that twerp.” “Speak for yourself!” Jessie shouted. James looked at her. She was dressed in Ash’s mom’s clothes. “I’m the one who has to dress like his mother!” She put on a mask. “There,” she said in Ash’s mom’s voice, “He’ll never notice the difference.”
“Sssh!” Meowth cried, “Here they come!”
Ash, Misty, and Brock came up to the house. James and Meowth quickly hid while Jessie pretended to work on the garden. “Hi mom!” Ash cried.
“Hey Mrs Ketchum!” Misty and Brock called.
“Pikachu!” Pikachu squeaked.
“Hello twerps,” Jessie started, “I..I.. mean Ash, Misty, Brock. How lovely it is to see you again. Come in!”
She opened the door. “Before you get comfy, Professor Oak called and said something about Team Rocket. He wants you all to go over there right away,” she lied, “But he said leave Pikachu behind. Just in case.”
“OK, let’s go guys!” Ash said. “But why can’t I take Pikachu mom?”
“BECAUSE I SAID SO!” Jessie screamed, sounding like herself.
“OK, OK.” Ash said reluctantly.
“Are you OK, Mrs Ketchum?” Misty asked, looking worried.
“Fine dear,” Jessie replied. “Now run along now.” Ash handed her Pikachu, and she put it on the table. She shut the door behind them. She walked over to Pikachu, smiling, and patted it on the head. “Pikachu,” she started.
Meowth jumped out from his hiding place and shoved Pikachu into a jar.
“We’ve got you!” she laughed. “Do it James!”
“Yes sir!” James said, pushing a button on a remote control. He came out of his hiding place and joined Jessie.
The house started to rise, and huge mechanical legs came out of the bottom. The house on legs started to walk slowly. The loud clanking noise it made, made Ash, Misty, and Brock turn around. They quickly ran back.
“What’s going on?” Ash demanded. The front door of the house flung open.
“What does it look like? Prepare for trouble!” Jessie replied.
“We’re moving house, so make it double!” James continued.
“Mom?” Ash asked.
“To protect the world from devastation.”
“To unite all peoples within our nation.”
“To denounce the evils of truth and love.”
“To extend our reach to the stars above.”
“Jessie.” Jessie removed the Mrs Ketchum mask.
“James.”
“Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light.”
“Surrender now or prepare to fight.”
“Meowth! That’s right!”
“Team Rocket!” Ash cried. “Give me back my Pikachu! And my mom!”
“Try and stop us!” James taunted.“Go, Bayleef!” Ash ordered. “Use Razor Leaf!”
The Pokémon obeyed and sent leaves spinning at Team Rocket. Quickly, Jessie and James ducked.
“You’ll have to do better than that kid!” Jessie told him. “I choose you, Wobbuffet! Counter whatever he sends at us!”
“Wobba!” Wobbuffet prepared to defend its master.
“Razor leaf, again!” Ash continued to attack.
“Counter it!” Jessie called.
“Wobba! Wobba!” Wobbuffet sent the leaves spinning right back at Bayleef.
“Ok, this isn’t working. Return Bayleef! Go, Cyndaquil! Flamethrower!”
“Counter!” Jessie continued, and again the attack was sent back at Ash’s Pokémon.“We’re getting nowhere James, do something! They’ll be following us all the way to the Boss!”
James began thinking of what to do. He took the Pokéball containing Victreebel from his belt, and stared at it. Should he use Victreebel? What if it started eating him as usual?
“JAMES!” Jessie shouted, “DO SOMETHING!”
“Alright,” James replied, startled, “I choose you, Victree-” The Pokéball slipped out of his gloved hand and plummeted towards the ground. “Oh no! Victreebel!”
The Pokéball hit the floor and Victreebel popped out in front of Ash, who fell back in surprise.
Suddenly Meowth got an evil idea. “Hey Jimmy, maybe your Victreebel would chomp on dat chump too!”
“But my –“ James started.
“Just do it James!” Jessie ordered him.
James sighed, “Victreebel, forget the Cyndaquil, attack the twerp!”
For once Victreebel obeyed it’s master, and started eating Ash.
“Hey!” Ash cried, his head stuck inside Victreebel.
“Misty, Brock, help me!”
“Hold on Ash!” Misty cried. She and Brock began to pull on Ash’s waving legs.
Jessie and Meowth cackled evilly, while James looked at his Pokémon in despair. The Pokéball hadn’t returned to him, he’d have to leave Victreebel behind. Unless Jessie would let them stop the house so he could go back for it.
“Ummm..Jessie?” he began.
“Yes James?” she smiled happily at him.
“Do you think we could stop the house for just a moment?”
Jessie’s smile vanished. “ARE YOU CRAZY?!?!” she shouted. “We finally have Pikachu and you want to stop this? That’s exactly the kind of chance we give them every time!”
“Oh, alright.” James sighed. He went to the back door and sat with his legs dangling over the side. “Good bye, Victreebel.” A tear rolled down his cheek.
As Misty and Brock struggled to free Ash, his house moved off into the distance, and disappeared over the horizon.
Eventually Victreebel gave up, and let Ash go. It turned round, expecting to see James with a huge smile and a Pokéball welcoming its return. But there was nothing. Just its empty Pokéball on the floor, and a road stretching for miles. It turned back to Ash, Misty and Brock. The glared at it angrily. Victreebel cowered and hopped back to its Pokéball, then disappeared inside.
“Wow,” Misty thought out loud. “I wonder why Team Rocket left it here.”
“I don’t think they meant to,” Brock told her, staring into the distance. “James looked quite upset when he dropped it.”
“Well it doesn’t look like they’ll come back for it,” Ash said, “Let’s take it with us and get back my Pikachu.” He bent down and picked up Victreebel’s Pokéball. “Let’s go!”
The trio began running after Team Rocket, following the tracks the house had made.
“WAIT!” a voice cried.They stopped.“Mom?” Ash called.
“Ash!” his mom called back.” I’m trapped in a net!”
“Where are you?” Ash asked.
“In the bushes where our house used to be!” she replied.
Ash ran over and found his mother. He freed her from the net.
“Thank you, and good luck Ash.” she said.
Ash laughed, “I don’t need any luck, this is Team Rocket!”
They all laughed, and Ash, Misty, and Brock began running after the house again. Soon, to their surprise, the trio found the house.
“It’s not moving.” Misty observed.“That’s strange.” Brock replied.
They crept up to the house. Ash opened the door cautiously, and stepped inside. Team Rocket were nowhere to be seen.
“H..h..hello?” Ash stuttered. “Is anyone here?”
“Ash look at this,” Misty called. “They left a note. Here.” She handed it to him.
“Twerp,” Ash read. “If you are reading this your house and your legs are too slow. We don’t need it anymore. You can have it back.” He dropped the note in disbelief. “Now we’ll never find them!”

Meanwhile, Giovanni was in office, stroking his Persian. There was a knock at his door. “What now?” he bellowed.
“Sir!” Jessie and James called through the door. “We have a present for you!”
Giovanni’s evil eyes lit up. “Come in!”
The trio marched in proudly, Jessie’s hands behind her back, concealing their surprise.“What is it?” Giovanni asked.
“We’ve caught you,” James started.
“A Pikachu!” Jessie took the jar from behind her back and placed it in front of Giovanni, grinning.
Giovanni sighed. “A Pikachu? Why would I want a Pikachu? I want rare, strong, and valuable Pokémon, not some electric rat you picked up in the forest!”
“But this ain’t no ordinary Pikachu, sir!” Meowth insisted. “It’s rare, strong, and valuable! It’s much stronger than any other Pikachu in da world! Why don’t ya try it out?”
Giovanni stared at Meowth. “You better be right about this. I will test it’s power later. You can’t just use a stolen Pokémon as soon as you get it. You have to capture them in a Pokéball before they will obey you, and I just don’t have time right now. Take it to the lab.”
“Yes sir!” They replied, and made their way towards the door.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Giovanni shouted at them. He pointed at the Pikachu.
“Oh yes!” Jessie smiled, “Silly us!” She picked the jar up and they ran out of the room. When the door was shut James lent again the wall, and sighed.
“What’s the matter James?” Jessie asked, still smiling. “Look, we finally got Pikachu!”
“Yes,” James looked at her sadly. “We may have Pikachu, but I’ve lost my old pal Victreebel. It’s gone. I might never see it again!” He held his face in his hands and began to cry. “Now I don’t have Growlithe or Victreebel. All I have is Weezing.” He looked down at this belt. “AAAAAAH! It’s gone too!”
“Umm..James,” Jessie replied, “The other side.” She pointed to the other side of his belt. James looked down and saw Weezing’s Pokéball. He picked it up.
“Oh,” he said, blushing. He small smile spread across his face.
Relieved at James’ smile, Jessie put a reassuring arm around him. “Come on, let’s take this Pikachu to the lab and then we’ll talk some more about getting Victreebel back.”
“OK,” James’ smile grew larger.
At the lab they were greeted by a large man in an equally large white lab coat.
“You have a new Pokémon for me?” he asked in a gruff voice. Jessie, quite afraid of the huge scientist, nodded, and handed the jar to him. “OK, thanks.”
The door of the lab slid shut. The scientist carried Pikachu to a large metal table. He put the jar down, and the sound echoed around the lab. He walked over to a cabinet on the far side of the room, and opened it. Pikachu pressed itself up against the glass, trying to get a better look at what the scientist was doing. The door of the cabinet was slammed shut, and the scientist returned carrying a needle. He put this down beside Pikachu, and then walked away again. Pikachu followed the man across the room with its eyes. The scientist disappeared behind a screen, and a few minutes later returned to the table dress in rubber. He picked up the needle again, and stared at Pikachu. Pikachu growled and performed a thunderbolt attack. The scientist laughed.
“Time for bed, Pikachu.” he sneered, waving the needle. Pikachu gazed in fear as the scientist’s hand reached for the jar.

To be continued…