An Unusual Turn of Events
Chapter One: How to capture a Pokemon (trainer, that is)
by Kenshin

"Oooo! I can't wait! Finally we're gonna catch Pikachu!" James squealed in delight. "Shut up James. I can't stand it when you do that," complained Jessie as she finished covering the hole they had dug. (Why they always dig pitfall traps I'll never understand ...wait, I'm writing this!! I must be sick or something!) "Meowth! Yeah James, shut your trap! We don't want them to hear you!" Meowth was agitated. Why did he always have to dig the holes?

"I'm sorry, but I can't help it," James continued, "I just get so excited when I think about the bonus pay we would get for catching Pikachu! It's so exciting!"

"Yes, I think you said that already James," Jessie was more than slightly annoyed. "Now hurry up and hide over here with us before somebody sees you, idiot!" "Oh, right."

Just as James ducked behind a tree where Meowth and Jessie were already hiding, Ash and Co. can be heard heading down the trail. "Hey Brock, how far are we from Viridian?" asked Ash for the fifth time in as many minutes. "I told you already, Ash. We'll get there when we get there," said Brock in exasperated tones. "Sounds like you're just avoiding the question, Brock," chimed in Misty.

"Hey, no fair ganging up on me! Aren't you too supposed to be fighting with each other? Who's writing this anyway?!" (Sorry, Brock. I'm just writing what pops into my warped little mind!) "Don't blame the writer! It's your own fault Brock: you've got the map this time," said Misty. "Fine. Here, Ash, take the map," Brock said. "Oh, no! You're not pushing this off onto me!" said Ash.

"Just take it, Ash!" said Misty. "Hey, I thought you were on my side this time!" retorted Ash. "Take it!" repeated Brock. "No!" Ash refused. "Why not?" "My sense of direction is worse than your's Brock! We'd be completely lost if I was navigating." "It's nice to hear you admit that, Ash," Misty said as she poked him teasingly. Brock tried to force Ash to take the map.

However, as Brock pressed the map into Ash's hands, a gust of wind blew it away before he could grab it. "Don't worry, I'll get it," yelled Ash as he dashed off after it. Misty and Brock just looked at each other and shrugged. "Should we go after him?" "Nah, he'll be back in a sec. I'm gonna sit down and rest for a sec." "Pika-pi! (me, too!)"

Ash dashed after the map as it spun through the air. "Almost got it....woah!" Ash yelled out as he fell into Team Rocket's recently dug hole.

"It worked?!"
"Meowth, it worked?!"
"Ooooooooo!"
(Wow, they must be really excited....they even forgot their intro lines....wait, nevermind, here they come ^_^ )

"Prepare for trouble!" "Make it double!" "To protect the world from...." "Uhh, what's wrong Jessie?" "You know, I think we only caught the twerp...." "Meowth, WHAT?!" Team Rocket crept up to the lip of the pitfall they had dug. (well, Meowth anyway) Sure enough, only Ash lay in the bottom of the pit. He wasn't moving either.

"Ahhhh! He's dead! We killed him! Ahhhhh!" screamed James, running in circles while pulling his hair. Suddenly, Jessie stood up and smashed her fist into his face as he ran by. "Shut up James!" "Meowth! He's not dead. He's still breathing."

'Hmmm...' thought James. (James got an idea, okay? Sounds a little iffy, I know, but trust me, it's good!) "Hey, Jessie, let's take the twerp and ransom him for that Pikachu!" said James, grinning. "Why, James dear, you just had an idea!" "Meowth! Where did that come from?" Jessie looked at Meowth and shrugged. "Who cares? It sounds like a good plan to me, so let's do it," said Jessie.

So Jessie pulled Ash out the the pit (how they expected to catch Pikachu in a pit that shallow is beyond me) and tied him up. While Jessie bound Ash, James wrote a ransom note. He snickered slightly as he left it in plain view, along with the map that Ash had been chasing. (See, he's not such a bad guy! Go, James!)

"Hurry up James! Let's get out of here before the twerp's friends show up...or do you want to *blast off* again?" she asked. "Ohhhhh, let's go!" James yelled after her.

"I wonder what's taking Ash so long?" Brock wondered out loud. "I was thinking the same thing," replied Misty, "I'm worried about him. Maybe we should start looking for him." "Ha, I knew it! You're worried about him!" Brock said triumphantly. "Well, yeah. I mean, he's been gone almost 10 minutes!" she said, giving him a puzzled look. 'I can't blush. Please don't let me blush!' she pleaded to herself.

"You mean to tell me you wouldn't care if he got hurt or kidnapped?" asked Brock, trying to get her to crack a little. "Sure I would, wouldn't you?" she retorted, making him choose a new avenue of assault. "Yes, I would be worried, but I don't think I'd be as worried as you would," he said cryptically. "Forget about it, Brock. Let's just go look for him," Misty said, glad to have come up with an excuse to put off this conversation.

Misty and Brock got up from where they were sitting in a clearing and wandered off in the direction that Ash had chased the map. After they had gone a short distance, they noticed a rather obvious hole in the ground. "That almost looks like..." began Brock. "Hey, there's something in the bottom," interrupted Misty. She bent down and picked up the note and map from the bottom of the hole and read aloud:

"Twerps,

We have the annoying twerp. Meet us at the
abandoned watermill south of Viridian.
Have the tomboy twerp come alone.

Team Rocket"

TO BE CON'T