"Ladies and gentlemen, the Saffron City Pokémon Contest has finally reached the final match! Competing for the Saffron Ribbon after many rounds of intense battle, the two contestants on this final stage are—May and Jessiebella! Now, let us welcome them to the stage!"
Lilian introduced them, and the audience cheered. May and Jessie walked onto the stage again.
In this contest, everyone had already seen how May and Jessie performed. After they beat their first opponents, both of them had performed better and better. Their exciting shows made the audience happy. Now, the people were clapping very loudly.
Jessie felt very good. This was one of the few times that so many people liked her. She felt proud and waved to the crowd with a smile.
She looked very proud.
But when she looked at her opponent, she saw the girl who had traveled with Ash in the Hoenn region. She was very surprised!
Wait! Why is it this girl!?
Jessie was usually careless. She was in the same contest, but she had not paid attention to the other contestants. She only noticed May now. She felt a huge shock.
James and Meowth were in the stands. They sighed.
"That Jessie finally noticed who her opponent is, meow."
"Tell me about it." James spread his hands. "This girl is not easy to fight. It won't be that simple for Jessie to beat her."
"It's not her I'm worried about, meow." Meowth looked at the audience. He was searching for something. He said hesitantly, "You saw it last time, meow. This girl is already traveling with that man. If she's here, then it goes without saying..."
Meowth did not finish his sentence. James started to sweat.
"Are you saying... that man is nearby?"
"That's for sure, meow." Meowth looked worried. "The Boss thinks that man is trouble. I really don't want him to notice us, meow."
James was also unsure. "Then what should we do?"
Meowth thought for a moment. He snapped his claws. "Execute Plan B, meow!"
"Plan B?" James was surprised. "Since when did we have a Plan B?"
"Right now, meow!"
"Isn't that a bit too random?" James scratched his head. "So... what is Plan B?"
Meowth did not answer him immediately. He asked a question instead. "Have you forgotten what our goal is?!"
James looked confused. "Isn't it to help Jessie in the contest?"
"Idiot!" Meowth scratched him with a claw. He was frustrated. "Our goal is obviously to catch Pokémon and give them to the Boss, meow!"
Meowth scratched James's face. James fell down in pain. He quickly stood up. He did not mind the scratch too much. He just covered his face. "Ow, ow... you mean that. Of course I know that..."
The battle had already started.
May's Pokémon for the match was still Squirtle. Jessie's Pokémon was the unofficial member of the group—Jessie's Wobbuffet!
After Jessie reached the second round, her style was to use Wobbuffet's moves, Counter and Mirror Coat. She won by reflecting the moves of her opponents.
It looked simple, but Jessie had beaten two opponents in a row this way. It showed that Wobbuffet could be very helpful sometimes.
This was also because those two opponents were stubborn. They only used strong, direct attacks.
Meowth watched the field carefully. He saw that May had studied Wobbuffet during the other matches. So, she did not attack directly. She had Squirtle move around to find Wobbuffet's weaknesses. Meowth thought for a bit. "If nothing unexpected happens, Jessie will lose. We need to make preparations early, meow!"
James asked, "What do you want to do?"
"See that person, meow?"
Meowth pointed a claw in a certain direction. James looked. In the shadows, the man named Harley was leaning against a pillar. He was also watching the match.
"Him?" James was confused. "What about him?"
Meowth laughed in a sneaky way. "Since he wants Jessie to get revenge for him, we should obviously collect some payment, meow!"
James was happy. "You mean...?"
"Exactly." Meowth snapped his claws and smiled in an evil way. "This man was able to get second place in the first round, which proves his Pokémon are also very strong. We can use this chance to give his Pokémon to the Boss, meow!"
In the corner of the hall, Harley stood with his arms crossed. He stared angrily at May on the stage.
He had been careless earlier. He did not beat Squirtle immediately, so he lost. He felt very bitter about that.
But the result was already decided. Being angry did not help.
Luckily, the woman named Jessiebella could punish May for him. She was his last hope!
Come on, Jessiebella, show me your strength!
I hope you don't disappoint me!
An evil smile appeared on Harley's face. Then, two people appeared in front of him.
Hmm?
He looked closely and saw it was Jessie's assistants!
"It's you?" Harley frowned. He was confused. "Is there something wrong?"
James rubbed his hands. He looked a bit embarrassed. He said with a fake smile, "Well... you see, that little girl is very tricky. Our Great Jessiebella might not be a match for her. We need to borrow your strength."
Harley frowned even more. "Borrow my strength? What does that mean?"
Meowth said directly, "We need your Pokémon, meow!"
Harley was very surprised. "The battle has already started! How can she change Pokémon? Besides, I've already been eliminated. How can I lend them to her?"
James smiled. "Actually, we have a move that can summon Pokémon to help during a battle. This is one of Jessiebella's special skills. It can instantly turn the situation into a two-on-one or a multi-on-one!"
"Oh?"
Harley was interested.
He believed them. He had never met Team Rocket before, so he did not know they were thieves. He thought they were famous Coordinators!
He respected people like that, so he did not think they were lying.
Harley also liked to use tricks. He thought the "move" James mentioned was fine.
Only...
He was careful, so he asked, "Then why do you need my Pokémon?"
James opened his hands. "We didn't want to trouble you, but Jessiebella didn't bring that many Pokémon with her this time. We had no choice but to come to you."
Harley waited for a moment.
He was still a bit unsure. But Jessie was famous, had assistants, had a big presence, and had gotten a high score. He thought she would not lie.
"Alright then. What Pokémon do you need?"
James and Meowth were very happy that Harley agreed. But they did not show it. They just smiled. "If possible, we hope you can lend us the Cacturne you used in the first round and the Ariados you used in the second!"
Harley did not say anything else. He took two Poké Balls from his pocket and gave them to James and Meowth.
James and Meowth got the two Poké Balls. They looked at each other. They were both very happy.
But they stayed serious. They thanked Harley. "With your Pokémon, I believe Jessiebella will definitely win! We won't disturb you anymore. Wait for our good news!"
They did not wait for Harley to answer. They ran away quickly.
Harley did not think it was strange. He thought they were in a hurry because Jessie needed the Pokémon. He looked back at the stage.
In the arena, the match looked bad for Jessiebella. Squirtle was not attacking Wobbuffet directly. It was using other ways to win.
Neither side was winning yet.
Harley thought this was why the assistants asked for help!
He looked at May.
Hmph, now that I'm helping, I'll make sure you lose!
Harley had tricked May many times, but now Team Rocket was tricking him.
He did not know Team Rocket was not trying to help Jessie beat May. They were just tricking him. He thought his plan was working.
Everyone makes mistakes. Even smart people can be tricked.
The final match of the Saffron Contest reached its last part.
In the arena, May told Squirtle to try different ways to attack Wobbuffet.
She did not recognize Jessie yet. But she had watched the other matches. She had analyzed Wobbuffet's moves.
She knew Wobbuffet had no way to attack first!
Most Wobbuffet fight that way, so it was not strange. The purple-haired woman looked familiar and her voice was similar, but May still did not recognize Jessie!
However, it was still hard for Squirtle to beat Wobbuffet.
There was less than one minute left.
Squirtle was putting constant pressure on Wobbuffet. Jessie's points were very low. It was very dangerous for her.
On the other hand, Squirtle's points were still high. In this situation, May would win even if she did not knock out Wobbuffet.
Jessie was very worried.
But those were the rules. Wobbuffet just stood there. It could not lower Squirtle's points!
Harley was also very worried.
He looked at Jessie. He wanted to see the "special move." But Jessie did nothing!
What on earth is she doing? If she waits any longer, it will be too late!!
Suddenly, the lights in the hall went out. It was dark everywhere.
The battle stopped. The audience looked around in surprise. They were whispering.
"Eh?" Lilian's voice came over the microphone. "What's going on?"
Then, a spotlight turned on. It was shining on Jessie in the middle of the stage!
Huh?
Jessie looked left and right. She did not know what happened. Then, two people jumped next to her.
Music started playing.
People saw a man in a white uniform and a Meowth. They jumped next to Jessiebella.
It was James and Meowth. They had removed their disguises!
The audience was very surprised. Jessie was also confused. She looked at her two friends.
"What are you two doing up here!?"
Meowth did not look at Jessie. He looked at the audience and laughed. "I heard the voice of 'What's going on?'"
James stood back-to-back with him and made a fist. "From the other side of the horizon!"
Jessie took off her disguise instinctively. She jumped next to James and stood back-to-back with him. She said the next part. "From the other side of the Big Bang!"
"A calling voice reaches us!"
"Sorry to keep you waiting, meow!"
"The brave and blooming flower of evil!"
"The cute and strong villain!"
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"And I'm Meowth, meow! Meow!"
"Wherever Team Rocket is!"
"The world!"
"The universe!"
"Is waiting for you!"
"Wobbuffet!"
Jessie did all this instinctively. Then she stopped. She turned to her friends. "So I'm asking! What on earth did you come up here for!?"