Challenge of the First Badge!

The episode starts with Jessie, Meowth, and Domino walking down a path. The narrator begins talking. "Jessie, with Meowth and Domino by her side, has finally reached out of the Viridian Forest. Now they're on the path to Pewter City with Jessie aiming to win her very first Gym Badge."

Jessie pumps her fist up while walking. "I'm so excited! Having one Gym Badge to my name will be one step forward in becoming a Pokémon Master!"

Domino rolls her eyes in annoyance. "And that one step is just a little tiny step from a billion steps."

Jessie turns to Domino while gritting her teeth and yells at her. "I'll show you for doubting me, I'll prove you wrong!"

Domino yells back at Jessie to defend herself. "I wasn't doubting you! I was just stating the facts!"

"You were secretly doubting me!" Jessie yelled back.

Domino escalates into an argument by yelling back again at Jessie. "That doesn't make sense!"

Meowth strikes both Jessie and Domino with his paws to end the fight. "Alright, that's enough! Can we go one day without you two arguing?! Look!" The talking Pokémon points to a city, full of stone, in the distance.

Domino smiles in delight. "It's Pewter City! We made it!"

"How do you know that's Pewter City?" Jessie questioned.

Domino facepalms in annoyance. "Because, dingus, Pewter City is full of stone and it's the one city near the Viridian Forest other than Viridian in general!"

"Then what are we waiting for?! Let's go!" Jessie starts sprinting towards Pewter City as Meowth keeps up with her pace by running on all fours.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Domino sprints off to follow Jessie.

The scene cuts to a tree that was near the path next to the three as the Team Rocket trio peeks out, expressing frustrated looks. "How did our net trap not work?!" Cassidy questioned with frustration.

"Mondo, you built the trap! You figure this out!" Butch demanded.

Mondo starts to think. "Maybe I accidentally set the wrong weight limit for the trap to activate?"

The Team Rocket trio walks to where they place the trap. It activates from the ground below them giving out, revealing a hole then a net from the tree quickly snatches the trio before they can hit the ground, slowly raising them back to the surface.

Mondo blushes from embarrassment, rubbing the back of his head. "Oops."

"You dumbass!" Butch grabs Mondo's neck and starts choking him from frustration.

Cassidy growls. "Just great…"

The title screen shows.

"Challenge of the First Badge!"

The scene cuts to Jessie, Meowth, and Domino looking over Pewter City from a cliff. "Wow, you were right, Meowth. Pewter City is full of stone."

"And full of gray too," Domino added.

Jessie looks at Meowth, all hyped up. "Alright Meowth, are you ready to challenge the Gym?"

Domino immediately cuts in. "Hold on, Ms. Pokémon Master! This is going to be your first Gym Battle, right? You have no idea who the Gym Leader is nor know what type of Pokémon they used. Maybe you should study a little more before challenging the Gym Leader."

Jessie scoffs. "It's not like you know who the Gym Leader is!"

Domino fires back. "Yes, I do know! His name is Brock and you're gonna get crushed by him if you don't get some help." Her expression changes into a smile as she holds up her index finger. "I'll tell you what, Jessie. Since this is your first Gym challenge, I'll help you out this one time. What do you say?"

Jessie looks away with an annoyed look. "Yeah, right! I'm experienced enough to handle a Gym Battle without help, thank you very much!" She looks at Meowth and smiles. "Come on Meowth, let's head to the Pewter Gym."

"Umm Jessie, maybe we should get Domino's help." Meowth looks to see Jessie already heading into the city. "Hey! Wait for me!" He chases to catch up with his trainer.

Domino growls and crosses her arms. "Fine, but don't come crying to me when you change your mind!" She yelled out before pouting. "I'm going to enjoy Pewter City with the time I have."

The scene cuts to inside Pewter City with Jessie and Meowth walking on the streets and looking for the Pewter Gym. "Do you know where the Pewter Gym is, Meowth?" Jessie asked.

Meowth looks around a little more before pointing it out. "I think that's it!"

Jessie looks where Meowth is pointing and there's a building structured with stones and rocks with 'Pewter Gym' imprinted on the upper left corner. "Yep, I think that's it. Let's go."

There was an adult man with gray hair and a gray mustache sitting down on the stone steps. He sees Jessie almost enter the building and stops her by speaking up. "You're gonna challenge the Gym Leader?"

"Isn't it obvious? You see my hand on the door, right?" Jessie says, rhetorically.

The mustache man stands up and takes a step forward toward Jessie. He looks at Meowth next to her before looking back at Jessie. "How many days have you been a Pokémon trainer so far?"

Jessie's eyes widened. "We were supposed to keep track of that?! Uhh… maybe five days?"

Meowth facepalms from Jessie's stupidity. "You can be so hard to deal with sometimes." He says quietly to himself.

The mustache man scoffs. "You have only been a trainer for five days and you already want to challenge the Gym Leader?! Kid, a Gym Leader is much tougher than your average Pokémon trainer. I prefer training your Pokémon for a few days before challenging them."

Jessie grits his teeth at the mustache man. "Listen here, whoever your name is! You may think my Pokémon are weak, but I'll prove you wrong right now by beating the Gym Leader and earning my first Gym Badge!"

"The name's Sasaki, but whatever kid, it's your funeral." Sasaki turns around and starts walking away.

"Come on, Meowth, let's go!" Jessie enters the Pewter Gym as Meowth follows her in.

Sasaki looks back and he smiles with a chuckle. "That kid reminds me of my very own son. He would've reacted the same way as her." He walks off.

The scene cuts to Jessie and Meowth both walking inside the Pewter Gym. "It's so dark in here, I can barely see," Meowth says.

"Hello?! Is anyone here?!" Jessie shouted.

The two hear a masculine voice in the darkness. "So, you're my next challenger, huh?"

Jessie looks around the room while gritting her teeth. "So you must be the Gym Leader, Brock!"

"Not exactly." The lights turn on, lighting up the entire Gym. There was a man on the platform with his arms crossed. He has periwinkle hair, wearing a leather black jacket, and sunglasses across his eyes. "You may call me James. I'm substituting Gym Leader duties for Brock."

"Where is the Brock guy anyways?" Meowth questioned.

"He's currently on vacation right now-" James realizes the Meowth, a Pokémon, just talked as his eyes widened. "Wait a minute, did your Meowth just speak?!"

"Don't worry about that." Jessie raises her fist. "My name's Jessie and I challenge you to a Gym battle for a badge!"

James raises an eyebrow. "I can tell you're one of those trainers who just started their journey a few days ago. You have no idea what you're getting yourself into, miss."

Jessie starts getting frustrated, gritting her teeth. "I don't care! I want a Gym battle right now!"

"You're lucky that as Gym Leader rules I have to accept every challenge." James snaps his fingers.

The battlefield filled with stones and rocks begins to slowly form as Jessie and Meowth look on with surprised looks on their faces.

James walks over to his side of the stone battlefield. "Just in case you didn't know. Pokémon battles can have their own set of rules. We will both use only two Pokémon and the Gym Leader cannot make substitutions. Do you agree with these rules?"

"Agreed!" Jessie pulls out a Poké Ball from her purse. "Let's battle!"

Meowth looks on at Jessie with a worried expression. "I don't think Jessie knows what she's doing." He said to himself.

"Very well!" James also pulls out a Poké Ball. "I'll send the first Pokémon out. Onix, I choose you!" He tosses the Poké Ball to the stone battlefield.

The Poké Ball opens up to reveal a giant Pokémon composed of a giant chain of gray boulders that become smaller towards the tail. It has black eyes and a rounded snout. On top of its head is a rocky spine and then it roars.

Meowth immediately hides behind Jessie in fear as she widens her eyes. "What is that?!" Jessie pulls out her Pokédex and aims it at Onix.

"Onix, the Rock Snake Pokémon. A rock and ground type. As it grows, the stone portions of its body harden to become similar to a diamond, but colored black."

James still has his arms crossed, looking directly at Jessie. "Now you send your Pokémon out."

"I know what to do! This isn't my first ever game battle, so stop treating it like it is! Elekid, I choose you!" Jessie sends out Elekid to battle.

Elekid materializes. "Elekid!" The spark plug Pokémon then looks up to see the tall Onix and immediately gets scared. "Elekid?!"

James scoffs. "Well, you're certainly acting like it's your first battle when you send that little electric type against Onix."

"What makes you say that?!" Jessie questioned, getting more frustrated.

"Go ahead, try to attack Onix." James encouraged her.

"You ask for it! Elekid, use Thunder Punch!" Jessie commanded.

"Elekid!" Elekid starts rubbing its fists together to cause a static electricity charge before rushing over to Onix and punching the very bottom of the rock snake Pokémon.

James grins, not commanding a move, and accepts Elekid's move to go through.

Jessie looks to see Onix staring down at her Elekid and not affected at all by the Thunder Punch she commanded. "What the?! Your Onix didn't take any damage at all!"

"Looks like you need to learn a little more about types. Electric-type moves don't affect ground Pokémon like Onix. Onix, use Tackle!" James commanded.

Onix roars and slams its head into Elekid, completely knocking the spark plug Pokémon out cold.

Jessie is even more worried about this battle since her Elekid got one-shotted. "Elekid, return!" She recalls her spark plug Pokémon and pulls out a different one. "Pidgeotto, I choose you!"

Pidgeotto materializes. "Pidgeotto!" The bird Pokémon starts flying around Onix in circles.

James sighs. "You're down to your last Pokémon and you send out Pidgeotto? You came to this battle unprepared, I almost feel bad for you."

"Save the trash-talking when the battle is over! I checked and Pidgeotto isn't an electric type!" Jessie commands the first move of the round once more. "Pidgeotto, use your Gust attack!"

"Pidgeotto!" Pidgeotto starts flying around in circles around Onix at a high speed, causing a tornado to kick up inside the circle. Once Pidgeotto gets exhausted and stops, Onix is seen barely affected by the move.

Jessie widened his eyes and was in complete shock. "B-but, Pidgeotto didn't use an electric type move!"

James informs Jessie once more. "Onix has a second type, it's the type your little red encyclopedia told you earlier. Onix is also a rock type, which flying type moves have little effect on it!"

Meowth facepalms from Jessie's lack of intelligence. "Jessie…" he says quietly.

"Now, Onix, use Rock Throw!" James commanded.

Onix roars and hits Pidgeotto with its tail, completely sending the bird Pokémon crashing into the ground and faints from the battle.

"Pidgeotto!" Jessie yelled out before recalling Pidgeotto back to its Poké Ball.

"Now this battle would be over now, but since this is very amusing to me, I'll let you use all of your Pokémon against my Onix. Go ahead." James grins.

Jessie was gritting her teeth before sending another Pokémon out. "Butterfree, I choose you!"

Butterfree materializes, flying up to Onix's height. "Free!"

Jessie commands the first move of the round again. "Butterfree, put that rock snake to sleep with your Sleep Powder!"

"I don't think so! Onix, use Bind and prevent Butterfree from using its wings!" James countered.

Butterfree was about to flap its wings to release a green powder until Onix started slithering around the butterfly Pokémon and then wrapped its body around Butterfree. The rock snake starts crushing the butterfly Pokémon and preventing it from flapping its wings. "FREEEE!" Butterfree cried out in pain.

"Butterfree! Tell your Onix to lay off on my Butterfree!" Jessie says, directing to James.

"That depends, do you surrender this round?" James asked.

Jessie looks up to hear more sounds of Butterfree crying in pain from Onix squeezing it. "Okay, I surrender this round! Just make it stop!"

"Alright Onix, you can let go." James directed.

Onix lets go of Butterfree as the butterfly Pokémon flies down to Jessie's height with a sad expression. "Free…"

"Hey, it's okay Butterfree, you did great. Now return and have a good rest." Jessie recalls Butterfree back in its Poké Ball. She looks up at Onix and starts talking inside her mind. "This is the toughest Pokémon I have faced so far. How am I going to beat it?!"

James starts tapping his foot. "Your next Pokémon please unless you already gave up…"

Jessie pulls out another Poké Ball and sends out her next Pokémon. "Kakuna, I choose you!"

Kakuna materializes on the battlefield and stays still like a statue.

James awkwardly stares at the Kakuna. "Can that Pokémon even move at all?"

"Kakuna might not be able to move but its shell is hard enough to resist the rock strength of your Onix!" Jessie responded.

James' expression changes to serious. "We will see about that. I think it's time I make the first move of the round! Onix, use Rock Throw!"

"Kakuna, Harden!" Jessie countered.

Onix roars and turns around so its tail is facing Kakuna. It starts rising and then descending to crush the cocoon Pokémon. Kakuna starts glowing white, its shell becomes more hardened before the rock snake Pokémon lands its stoned tail right on Kakuna.

James looks down with a confident smirk. "That should've crushed it." His smirk fades away after hearing the painful cry sound of Onix and looks back to the battlefield. "Onix?"

Kakuna wasn't crushed by Onix's tail. The rock snake's tail was seen right on top of the cocoon Pokémon. Onix pulls its tail back, currently in pain.

Meowth raises his fist. "There you go, Jessie. Now use a different move with Kakuna now that you have the chance!"

"Now use String Shot, Kakuna!" Jessie commanded.

Kakuna shoots white strings from the hole right below its head at Onix, trying to tie the rock snake Pokémon up.

James was now gritting his teeth. "Onix, break out of that string!"

Onix roars before easily breaking out Kakuna's String Shot and then the rock snake Pokémon stares directly at the cocoon Pokémon.

Meowth's eyes widened. "Um Jessie, an attacking move would've been more appropriate during that situation."

"Meowth, Kakuna doesn't know any attacking moves," Jessie responded.

"WHAT?!" Meowth falls in disbelief.

"Onix, knock that cocoon out with your Tackle attack!" James commanded.

Onix crushes Kakuna with its head and the cocoon Pokémon faints from battle.

"Darn it!" Jessie recalls Kakuna back to its Poké Ball before pulling out a different one. "Pikachu, you're next!" She sends out Pikachu as her next Pokémon.

Pikachu materializes and then proceeds to yawn. "Pikaaaa."

James was in disbelief. "Are you even taking this Gym Battle seriously?! First, you send out an electric type that can't affect ground types, then a flying type, another flying type, a Pokémon that couldn't move or use any attacking moves, and now another electric type?!"

"This is all the Pokémon I got! Pikachu, use Quick Attack!" Jessie commanded.

However, once more, Pikachu doesn't listen to Jessie, just lays down. "Chuuuuu!" It yawned and decided to take a nap in the middle of the battle.

Jessie's cheeks become red from the embarrassment of Pikachu not listening. "Pikachu, wake up and use Quick Attack!"

Pikachu continues to sleep and then starts snoring. "Chu. Chu. Chu."

"Why is your Pikachu not listening to you?" James questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Meowth facepalms. "This is so embarrassing."

"You might want to surrender this round too, Jessie." James awkwardly suggested.

"Pikachu!" Jessie shouted once more to try to wake Pikachu up, but the mouse Pokémon continued sleeping as she sighed and recalled Pikachu. "Pikachu, return…" Jessie turns to Meowth. "Meowth, you're the only Pokémon I have left."

"You want me to face that giant Pokémon?!" Meowth questioned in disbelief while pointing at Onix.

"You're the only Pokémon I have left! Besides, size doesn't matter, so get in there." Jessie points at the battlefield.

Meowth sighs before stepping onto the battlefield. He looks up at Onix and gulps. "This isn't good…"

"Onix, use Tackle!" James commanded.

"Dodge it, Meowth!" Jessie countered.

Onix roars and slams its head to the ground directly to Meowth, but the talking Pokémon quickly jumps to the right to dodge it. "Miss me!" He says.

"Now that Onix's head is on the ground, use Scratch quick!" Jessie commanded.

Meowth scratches Onix's head, but the move barely affects the rock snake Pokémon. "Um Jessie, that barely did anything!"

James clutches his fist. "Now's your chance Onix, grab that talking Meowth and use Bind!"

Jessie's eyes widened. "Get out of there Meowth before you get grabbed!"

"Yikes!" Meowth tries to run away but Onix successfully wraps around the talking Pokémon with its body and starts squeezing him as Meowth screams in pain. "AAAAAHHHH!"

"Meowth, use Bite!" Jessie commanded, trying to get Meowth out of the move.

"I can't move my body!" Meowth tries desperately to move but Onix has him wrapped around tight to the point Meowth can barely move.

"Tighten up your Bind more Onix! End this battle once and for all!" James commanded.

Onix tightens up its Bind, squeezing more of Meowth until the talking Pokémon officially faints from the battle from its screams quieting down.

James notices Meowth has fainted. "Alright, you can let go now, Onix."

Onix unwraps Meowth to the ground as Jessie calls out in fear. "MEOWTH!" She goes over to him, picking Meowth up, and proceeds to hold him.

James crosses his arms. "If I were you I would not challenge this Gym again. You're not cut out to become a Pokémon trainer yet. If you can't beat one Pokémon with your six then you should just give up."

Jessie grits her teeth for a little bit before thinking James is right. She then frowns, turns around, and slowly heads to the exit. Jessie's now outside with a frown on her face before looking up to see the man she met earlier before the Gym Battle, Sasaki. "Huh? You again?" She questioned.

"From the looks of your Meowth being unconscious, I can take a guess that you took quite a beating from James." Sasaki assumed.

Jessie looks back down and continues frowning. "That's not the worst part. James would let me use all of my six Pokémon against his two and I still couldn't take out at least one of them, let alone Onix."

Sasaki thinks for a little bit. "Perhaps you know something that could help you?"

Jessie's eyes widen as she remembers Domino's words from earlier. "Domino! Someone did offer me help earlier, but I turned it down because I thought I could handle the Gym without any help."

"Maybe it's not too late for you to change your mind," Sasaki replied. "Go and find this Domino person."

Jessie nods. "Thanks, Sasaki!" She sprints off to find Domino while still carrying the fainted Meowth in her hands.

Sasaki looks on seeing Jessie sprint as he smiles. "That kid has a bright future ahead of her." He walks off.

The scene cuts to where Domino is: walking on the streets of Pewter City. She stopped walking as a building caught her interest. Domino looks and reads the sign. "'Pewter Museum of Science.' That sounds like an interesting place to check out."

Before Domino could take a step toward the Museum of Science, she heard a familiar voice call out her name. "Domino!"

"Hm?" Domino looks in the direction where the voice came from and she sees Jessie running towards her with Meowth in her arms. "Oh great it's Ms. I can do everything myself."

"Domino! Domino! Domino!" Jessie kept repeating Domino's name until she caught up to her and started taking deep breaths from exhaustion. "I finally found you…"

Domino puts her hands on her hips. "Well. Well. Well. What a nice surprise." She looks to see Meowth is completely knocked out in Jessie's arms. "I'm assuming you did very badly in your Gym battle against Brock."

"No actually. Brock is on vacation somewhere. This guy named James is currently taking over and he beat me. Look, I'm sorry about earlier, Domino. I do need help. Please forgive me and help me beat James." Jessie lays Meowth down so she can get on her knees and beg for Domino's help with her hands together. "Pretty Please?"

Domino groans. "Jessie, get back up on your feet, you're embarrassing yourself out here."

Jessie immediately stands back up and she picks up Meowth again. "Sorry…"

"Fine, I'll forgive you, just because you embarrassed yourself out in public." Domino pulls out a Poké Ball and extends to Jessie for her to take. "Here."

"What? A Poké Ball?" Jessie questioned.

"This Poké Ball contains my Starmie, a water type. Water-types are super strong against James' rock and ground Pokémon. You can borrow my Starmie for your rematch against James and you have a higher chance of winning this time."

Jessie stares at Domino's Poké Ball containing Starmie for a few seconds before responding. "I'm sorry, Domino, but I'm going to have to refuse."

"What?!" Domino puts her Poké Ball away. "But I thought you wanted help? I'm giving you help!"

"Yes, I want help, but I want to earn my first Gym Badge with just the Pokémon I own and my Pokémon only. I hope you understand, I'm heading to the Pokémon Center." Jessie turns around and starts walking away.

Domino looks on and chuckles. "Stubborn as ever. Jessie, wait!" She walks towards her.

Jessie stops and turns around to face Domino once more. "Yes, Domino?"

Domino hands Jessie her fishing rod. "Here, you can borrow my fishing rod. That way, you can catch your very own water-type Pokémon at the river against James in your rematch."

Jessie's eyes start sparkling with happiness as she gladly accepts Domino's fishing rod. "Thank you so much, Domino!"

"Just don't destroy it." Domino glares at Jessie.

Jessie blushes, chuckles, and rubs the back of her head. "You can trust me."

The scene cuts to the river where Jessie is sitting down and fishing. Meowth is still lying down and knocked out cold next to her. "I hope this doesn't take long…"

The scene cuts to afternoon, then evening, and finally night with Jessie not getting a single bite at all. She groans. "This is so useless! Maybe I should've borrowed Domino's Starmie and I would've had my first Gym Badge right now!"

The fishing line in the water starts moving, signaling Jessie that she has caught something. "A Pokémon's on the line! Finally! Now time you reel you in!" She starts yanking the fishing rod, using all of her strength to reel the Pokémon in, and after Jessie uses all of her strength, she manages to reel the Pokémon in.

The Pokémon that Jessie caught was a large, heavy reddish-orange scale. It has large, vacant eyes and pink lips as well. It starts flopping on the land, shouting its cry repeatedly. "Karp! Karp! Karp!"

"What Pokémon is that?" Jessie pulls out her Pokédex and aims it at the fish Pokémon she just caught.

"Magikarp, the Fish Pokémon, a water type. In the distant past, it was somewhat stronger than the horribly weak descendants that exist today."

"Are you saying this Pokémon is weak?!" Jessie groans and puts her Pokédex away. "Whatever, you can't be that weak, plus you're a water type, the type I need to beat James and I'm not gonna wait for that long for a different water Pokémon!" She then pulls out an empty Poké Ball. "All of my other Pokémon are hurt from the Gym battle so I guess I have to throw it and hope for luck. Poké Ball, go!" Jessie throws the Poké Ball towards Magikarp.

"Karp! Karp! Karp!" Magikarp gets hit by the Poké Ball and goes in. The Poké Ball falls to the ground and then shakes once, then twice, and after the third time, it clicks, signaling a successful catch.

Jessie smiles, pumping her fist in the air. "Yes!" She goes over and grabs the Pokémon containing the Magikarp she just caught. "I caught a Magikarp!"

However, the Poké Ball in Jessie's hand begins glowing white and then it completely disappears.

"Huh?" Jessie looks at her now empty hand. "Wasn't I just holding Magikarp a second ago?" She looks at her Meowth still knocked out next to her and frowns. "I have to get my Pokémon healed up. I can also ask Professor Oak where my Magikarp went." Jessie stands up and leaves the river area to head to the Pokémon Center.

The scene cuts to Jessie entering the Pokémon Center. "Hello? I like to speak with the Nurse here. I need my Pokémon healed!"

A familiar voice to Jessie responds "I'm the nurse of the Pewter City Pokémon Center!" She reveals herself and it is a woman who looks exactly like Nurse Joy from Viridian City.

Jessie scratches her head. "Wait a minute. You run this Center too, Nurse Joy?"

She shakes her head. "You must be mistaken for one of my sisters. I'm a different Nurse Joy, it's nice to meet you, uhh…"

"Jessie," Jessie answered as she handed a tray of all her Poké Balls containing her fainted Pokémon, including Meowth on the tray. "Nurse Joy, can you please heal my Pokémon?"

Nurse Joy nods and accepts the tray. "Of course, Jessie."

"And is it okay if I use the Pokémon Center phone? I need to make a phone call." Jessie asked.

Nurse Joy nods once more. "Go on ahead. I'll start healing your Pokémon up as you use the phone." She goes to the back with the tray containing all of Jessie's Pokémon to heal them one hundred percent.

Jessie thinks to herself. "Is all the Pokémon Centers gonna have a Nurse Joy that looks completely identical to the previous one? It doesn't matter, I need to make that phone call to Professor Oak." Jessie walks over to a phone and dials the number for Professor Oak, it starts ringing for a little bit.

The location switches to Professor Oak's lab where Professor Oak is watching a movie with popcorn until his phone in the lab starts ringing. "Why now? This movie was getting to the good part!" He pauses the movie and heads into his lab, to accept the call.

The location switches back to Pewter City Pokémon Center with Professor Oak popping up on the screen next to the phone. "Hello?"

Jessie smiles in delight. "Professor, it's me, Jessie!"

Professor Oak smiles back. "Jessie! You haven't called since you left until now. Where are you? In Viridian City?"

"I'm actually in Pewter City, Professor." Jessie corrected.

"You're already in Pewter City? That's wonderful!" Professor Oak smiles.

Jessie raises an eyebrow. "I thought you would be more surprised because I reached Pewter City in like five days. What about the other Pallet trainers including Leaf?"

Professor Oak scratches the back of his head. "I hate to break it to ya, Jessie, but Leaf and the others have passed Pewter City and won their badges already."

Jessie falls in disbelief before getting back up and sighs. "Whatever… The reason why I called is because a Pokémon I caught just vanished from my hands. Do you know where it is?"

"Ahh, you must be talking about your recently caught Magikarp, yes?" Professor Oak grabs the Poké Ball containing the fish Pokémon on the table next to him. "I got it right here!"

Jessie smiles upon seeing her Magikarp. "There it is! Do you mind handing it over then?"

Professor Oak shakes his head. "Slow down, Jessie. I can't do that yet."

"Why not?" Jessie asked.

Professor Oak explains. "If this Pokémon was transported to my lab at the moment you caught it, that means you already have a full party. Pokémon trainers can only hold six Pokémon at once."

Jessie starts counting the fingers of the Pokémon she currently has and ends up counting six. "You're right, I do have six Pokémon, but I need Magikarp to beat the Pewter City Gym Leader! What do I have to do to get Magikarp in my party?"

"You can simply switch one of your Pokémon currently in your party by using the transporter machine next to the phone." Professor Oak points to his left.

Jessie looks to her right, seeing the transporter machine. "Oh, I see."

"Jessie!" She hears the voice of Nurse Joy with the tray of her Pokémon including Meowth who is awake. "All of your Pokémon are fully healed now! Thank you so much for waiting!"

"Jessie!" Meowth jumps onto her shoulder from the tray.

"Meowth! I'm so glad you're okay!" Jessie walks over to the counter to grab her Pokémon from the tray. "Thank you so much, Nurse Joy!"

Nurse Joy smiles at her. "Just doing my job, Jessie."

Jessie nods in response. "Right, but still, I'm grateful!" She heads back over to the phone call with Professor Oak.

Meowth has an annoyed look on his face upon seeing Professor Oak on the screen. "This old timer again?"

Professor Oak nervously waves at Meowth with a chuckle. "Hello, Meowth. Jessie was about to make a switch of a Pokémon she caught recently."

"A new Pokémon? It better be a good one to take out that pesky Gym Leader!" Meowth exclaimed, not knowing it was Magikarp.

"Of course it will! My Pokédex says it was a water type, which means it's stronger than James' Pokémon!" Jessie starts thinking of what Pokémon to switch with, grabbing a Poké Ball off of the tray. "I guess I'll switch with Kakuna. Please forgive me, Kakuna."

"You're switching Kakuna out?" Professor Oak instructs Jessie. "Okay, place Kakuna's Poké Ball in the transporter and I'll place the Pokémon you want to have, in the transporter in my lab."

Jessie places Kakuna's Poké Ball in the transporter next to the phone and Professor Oak places Magikarp's Poké Ball in his lab's transporter. Both Poké Balls glow white and shoot up in the transporter as both Poké Balls successfully get transported. Jessie grabs the Poké Ball. "Got it, Professor. Thank you!" She starts ending the call.

"Wait, Jessie, I think you should-" Jessie ends the call before Professor Oak can finish his sentence as it cuts to his lab for a quick second. "Train your Magikarp first…"

Jessie is holding Magikarp's Poké Ball in her hands. "Meowth, this is it, the Pokémon that's gonna help me beat James and win my first badge!" She notices a poster on the wall and looks at it.

"A poster?" Meowth questioned.

The poster displays the text 'Kanto League Tournament' with the picture of the Indigo Stadium as Jessie continues looking at it. "The Kanto League Tournament… if I win it, I can enter the Indigo League and possibly become Indigo Champion."

"If you haven't already seen it yet and it's obvious-" Meowth points at the bottom poster displaying text. "But according to the poster, you need to win eight Kanto Gym Badges to be able to compete in the tournament. Can you do that after that embarrassing loss against James?"

"Of course I can!" Jessie looks at Magikarp's Poké Ball. "And with my secret weapon, I'll beat James in the rematch and earn my first-ever Gym badge!"

Meowth shrugs. "Whatever you say, Jessie." He then yawns. "But can you rematch him tomorrow? I'm tired after getting destroyed by an Onix."

"Huh?" Jessie looks at the clock and the hands signal 9:00 PM. "Oh, it is getting late. I guess I should rest before my rematch." She heads to one of the rooms of the Pokémon Center to sleep for the rest of the night.

The scene cuts to tomorrow afternoon with Jessie opening up the doors of the Pewter City Gym, Meowth next to her. "I'm back for a rematch, James!"

James was standing on his rock platform with his arms crossed, raising an eyebrow. "You again? I thought you didn't want to be embarrassed twice."

Jessie holds up a Poké Ball. "I have a secret weapon to beat you this time and it's inside this Poké Ball!"

Domino is revealed to be on the sidelines with a worried expression. "Let's hope Jessie caught a good enough water Pokémon…" she says quietly to herself.

"'A secret weapon'" James air quoted as his expression turned to seriousness. "I could care less about it, but last battle was my comedic relief and fun, this time I'm serious and I'm only letting you use two Pokémon this time!" He pulls out a Poké Ball. "Got it?"

Jessie clutches her fist. "That's fine for me because I'm going to beat you this time with two Pokémon, maybe even just one!"

Meowth sighs and facepalms. "I wish she wasn't this cocky and confident."

James starts getting a little mad. "Your arrogance is gonna cost you deeply. Geodude, destroy this wannabe Pokémon master!" He sends out Geodude to start the battle.

Geodude materializes. "Geodude."

"Hmm…" Jessie pulls out her Pokédex with her free hand and aims it at Geodude.

"Geodude, the Rock Pokémon. A rock and ground type. Found in fields and mountains. Mistaking them for boulders, people often step or trip on them."

"Alright secret weapon, I choose you!" Jessie throws the Poké Ball in the air onto the battlefield.

The Poké Ball opens and Magikarp materializes. "Karp! Karp! Karp!"

Both Domino and Meowth fall in disbelief after Jessie reveals Magikarp to them. "A MAGIKARP?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

James looks like he's offended upon seeing Magikarp. "Am I such a joke to you? Look at Magikarp's moveset!"

Jessie's eyes widened. "Huh?" She looks at her Pokédex still in her hands. "What is Magikarp's moveset?"

"Magikarp can only learn Splash and then it learns Tackle at level fifteen."

"WHAT?!" Jessie falls in disbelief before getting back up to scream at her Pokédex. "WHEN YOU SAID IT WAS WEAK YOU DIDN'T SPECIFICALLY IT WAS THIS WEAK?!"

Domino sighs from the sidelines. "Good thing I'm the only one watching or this would've been more embarrassing than it already is…"

"I told you I was done playing games with you!" James commands the first move with aggression. "Geodude, use Mega Punch!"

"Geodude!" One of Geodude's arms begins glowing white, about to strike Magikarp with it.

Jessie tries to shout a counter despite Magikarp's poor moveset. "Magikarp, dodge the move with your Splash!"

"Karp!" Magikarp splashes in the air, causing Geodude to punch Magikarp's belly and send the fish Pokémon onto James' rocky platform next to him.

"EEP!" James shrieked. "Tell your Pokémon to stay on the battlefield!" He kicks Jessie's Magikarp back onto the battlefield.

"Hey!" Jessie grits her teeth. "Don't kick my Pokémon like that!"

"Karp! Karp! Karp!" In response to the kick, Magikarp starts to glow white.

"Well maybe you should-" James cuts his sentence off from realizing Magikarp is glowing white and begins getting nervous. "Wh-what is happening?! W-Why is your Magikarp glowing?!"

Domino's eyes widened from seeing Magikarp slowly evolve. "No way… it's happening."

Meowth grins and chuckles. "Now this is gonna be good!"

Magikarp starts growing very tall while glowing and once the glow fades out, Magikarp has evolved into a blue fish monster with a yellow underbelly as it roars with Geodude trembling in fear upon looking up.

James puts his hands on his head in disbelief. "WHAT HAVE I DONE?!"

"What did Magikarp evolve into?!" Jessie immediately aims her Pokédex at her newly evolved Pokémon.

"Gyarados, the Atrocious Pokémon. Evolved form of Magikarp. A water and flying type. It has an extremely aggressive nature. The Hyper Beam it shoots from its mouth totally incinerates all targets."

Jessie puts her Pokédex away and thinks inside her thoughts with a smirk. "I'll save that powerful Hyper Beam move for Onix." She commands her next move out loud. "Gyarados, use Hydro Pump!"

Gyarados roars and blasts a powerful jet of water out of its mouth right at Geodude, knocking it out of the battle instantly.

"Geodude, return!" James recalls Geodude from its Poké Ball. "Onix, I need you to not make me look bad!" He sends out Onix next onto the battlefield.

Onix materializes and the rock snake Pokémon reaches up to Gyarados' height as both Pokémon roar at each other with a stare-off.

"Onix, use Tackle!" James commanded.

"Gyarados, counter it with your own Tackle attack!" Jessie counters.

Onix and Gyarados both roar at each other once more before both Pokémon start dashing towards each other. Both ended up headbutting each other, but Onix starts seeing stars upon impact.

Jessie clutches her fist. "Now's my chance! Gyarados, use your Hyper Beam!"

Gyarados opens its mouth and a yellow-orange beam of energy starts forming inside its mouth while growling aggressively.

Meowth eyes widened. "I'm out of here!" He goes on all his fours, turning around and heading to the exit.

"Meowth, where are you going?!" Jessie questioned.

"EEP! I agree with your talking cat, I'm out of here!" James rushes out of the building as well.

Jessie was very confused. "Where is everyone going?!"

Domino grabs her. "COME ON, JESSIE!" She rushes out of the Gym while pulling Jessie along with her.

The scene cuts to outside with the group running out of the Gym and getting to a safe distance before a huge loud explosion happens inside the Pewter City Gym from the Hyper Beam, destroying the whole Gym and bringing everyone to awareness.

Both Jessie and James shouted out their Pokémon respectfully. "GYARADOS!" "ONIX!" Both of them rush directly into the destroyed Gym where they see both Pokémon have completely fainted. "Gyarados, return!" "Onix, return!"

A lot of people arrive at the scene to find out what happened, and Officer Jenny soon arrives on her motorcycle next to Domino and Meowth. "WHAT HAPPENED?!"

Domino immediately responds with shock. "They were just having a Gym Battle and Jessie commanded her Gyarados to use Hyper Beam!"

"I also need to get the Fire Department on this!" Officer Jenny speaks into her walkie-talkie. "Send in the fire team, now!"

The scene cuts to the Fire Department taking out the fire as it then switches to the Pokémon Center with Jessie, Meowth, Domino, and James all there. "I'm so sorry, I-I didn't mean to do this, I just wanted a Gym Badge!"

"It's okay, we're just lucky that no one got seriously hurt. That's the important part." James says, earning nods from Jessie, Meowth, and Domino.

Officer Jenny soon walks up to the group. "Okay, upon investigation and witness, there's no choice but to declare this as just an accident from a Pokémon battle and the city will be charged with rebuilding the Pewter City Gym."

Jessie, Meowth, Domino, and James all sigh in relief. "Thank goodness…" Domino says.

"But!" Officer Jenny glares directly at Jessie. "Young lady, you need to train your Pokémon better to prevent this from happening often!"

Jessie gulps before nodding. "Yes, ma'am!"

As Officer Jenny exits the Pokémon Center, the doors open once more and it is Sasaki entering the building. "SON!" He rushes towards James and hugs him.

"Dad?!" James stares at his father hugging him before hugging back.

Jessie was shocked upon hearing this. "Wait a minute, you're telling me that you were James' father all this time?!"

Sasaki stops hugging his son to nod at Jessie. "Yep. Sorry for not telling you earlier." He turns his attention back to his son. "I'm so glad you're alright, James, and you weren't seriously hurt."

James crosses his arms and turns around being a little annoyed. "Yeah, thanks, dad…"

Sasaki sighs. "Son… I came here to Pewter City to apologize for being a terrible father to you and not understanding that you were just going through your rebellious stage. Please forgive me, son."

James slowly turns around to face his father before slowly smiling. "It's okay Dad, I forgive you.

They both hug once more as Jessie, Domino, and Meowth both look on with smiles on their faces. "Come on, we should leave to let them have their moment," Jessie says as Domino and Meowth both nod in agreement.

"Whatever helps us get to the next location faster," Meowth says.

The scene cuts to Jessie, Domino, and Meowth walking on the path to the next route until the sound of James' voice stops them. "Jessie, wait!"

The three turn around with confused expressions on their faces. "Huh?" Jessie says.

James holds up a Gym Badge in his hands for Jessie. "You still won."

Jessie looks at the Gym Badge in shock before directing her eyes to James. "Y-you're giving me a Gym Badge?! But didn't Onix vs. Gyarados end in a draw?"

"Well yes it's true, but I did say the battle would be two Pokémon and you still had one Pokémon available while both of mine were knocked out. So it's yours, the Boulder Badge!" James holds the Boulder Badge closer to Jessie for her to take.

Jessie smiles in delight and gladly accepts the Boulder Badge. "I got… the Boulder Badge!" She poses with it as Meowth and Domino clap in the background.

Domino realizes something and looks at James. "Wait a minute, what are you going to do? You're a substitute Gym Leader for Brock, right? What happens when he comes back and his Gym has been destroyed and his Geodude and Onix are both very injured under your watch?"

James also realizes and his eyes widen. "AW CRAP! I gotta flee the city!" He then gets an idea. "Let me come with you guys!"

Jessie raises an eyebrow. "You want to come with us on our journey?"

James nods in response, rubbing the back of his head with an embarrassed chuckle. "I have a knack for running away from my problems."

Meowth laughs. "Nice!"

Jessie smiles, clutching her fist. "Well, we will be glad to have you on board! Welcome to the group!"

James pumps his fist up in the air. "Yes! I swear I will try not to be annoying along the way!"

Domino rolls his eyes. "Alright, enough with the welcoming ceremony. We should get out of here and head to the next location."

"Right! I have to get my second Gym Badge immediately. Let's go!" Jessie sprints off into the route with Meowth, Domino, and a new member, James, trying to follow her.

The narrator begins concluding the episode. "With a new member to the group joining on Jessie's adventure, James, and her winning her first-ever Gym Badge, it looks like all hope is looking up to Jessie as she starts heading to the next Gym immediately! What exciting things are gonna happen now that James has joined in to accompany them? Find out soon as the journey continues!"

The scene cuts to Team Rocket still in their net trap with Cassidy filing to the top of the net and both Butch and Mondo giving annoyed looks. "Cassidy, you've been trying to free us with your nail file for hours! Can you give it up already?" Butch asked with an annoyed tone.

"Keep your Team Rocket shorts on! I'm almost done freeing us!" Cassidy responded, close to cutting the net fully with her nail file.

Butch and Mondo's expressions change from annoyance to happiness upon Cassidy's statement. "Really?! About time!" Mondo says

Cassidy gets closer and closer upon cutting the net free. "Almost there and…" After finally cutting the net fully, Team Rocket now falls into the pit below the trap with screams, completely forgetting their pitfall trap below their net trap. "Oh yeah… I forgot the pitfall trap."

Team Rocket sighs as the camera pans up to the sky. "Looks like Team Rocket is trapped once again…"