The next morning, breakfast came with an exciting surprise for one of our heroes.

Ash sat at the table in Kukui's house as Pikachu and Rockruff chowed down on a shared bowl of Pokémon food, Professor Kukui having left a moment ago to retrieve something.

"Time to eat!" Ash declared for himself, readying his spoon.

"Ash!" The professor's voice stole the boy's attention from his food. Professor Kukui walked up, holding out an oddly-shaped but familiar-looking red device. "A present for you!"

"A present? What is it?" Ash asked.

"It's a PokéDex!" Kukui informed.

"Whoa!" Ash replied, excitedly accepting it with both hands. "A PokéDex!"

"Now, let's activate it!"

In the basement, Ash stood patiently behind Kukui with Pikachu on his shoulder and Rockruff beside him as the professor ran diagnostics on the 'Dex via his computer.

"Perfect!" The professor exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "We're all connected!"

Suddenly, the lights and monitors flickered, unnerving Rockruff and confusing Ash.

"Here it comes!" Kukui excitedly stated.

"What?" Ash asked. As the lights continued to flicker, an odd sound could be heard. Rockruff whimpered, drawing closer to Ash with its tail between its legs. "What's going on?"

"Just watch, and you'll see!" The professor replied.

Just then, something came out of a nearby light socket. It zipped about rapidly, difficult to see until it startled Ash and Pikachu into falling over. Ash landed on his rear, keeping the PokéDex secure. Pikachu fell on his back, but stood up quickly and joined Rockruff in trying to keep up with the newcomer that was zipping about.

"It's a Rotom!" Ash realized.

"Now we just have to wait for Rotom to go inside." Kukui said.

"Go inside?" Ash asked, standing up. "The PokéDex?"

As if on cue, Rotom dived into the device, causing it to glow brightly for moment. When the glow faded, Rockruff whimpered curiously.

"Is Rotom... in there?" Ash wondered, looking the device over. He light knocked on the device, then held it up to his ear like a phone, then shook it a bit. "Hey, Rotom?"

As Ash stared at the PokéDex, a green line suddenly ran across the screen, forming a partial heart in the center of the screen and zig-zagging at the sides.

"What's that?" The boy asked.

Then, Rotom's eyes appeared on the device, slowly opening. Ash, understandably startled again, fumbled with the 'Dex before dropping it. It never hit the ground, instead floating up in of Ash as the screen lit up. A smirk appeared on the screen as spike protruded from the top of the PokéDex. It then grew oddly-shaped arms and a pair of feet, though without visible legs.

"Whoa! The PokéDex is Rotom and Rotom's the PokéDex!" Ash brilliantly observed.

The Pokévice's screen changed to show a Poké Ball symbol with several other lines around it, all spinning at different speeds in different directions. It looked at Rockruff, then Pikachu, then Ash as Pikachu hopped up on his shoulder.

"Alola, Rotom!" Ash greeted, waving his hand.

"Pika pika!" Pikachu added, waving a paw.

"Language selection complete." The haunted PokéDex informed.

"Wow, Rotom just talked!"

"Rotom, please lend Ash a Helping Hand from now on, okay?" Kukui instructed.

"Understood!" Rotom replied, turning back to Ash. "Ash. User registration complete! PokéDex now booting up."

The Poké Ball symbol was replaced by a counter that rapidly rose from zero to one hundred.

"One hundred percent." Rotom informed. The possessed PokéDex twirled as it levitated a few inches backward. "Alola! Nice to meet you, Ash!"

"Wow, we can even have a conversation?" Ash asked.

"Of course." The Pokévice replied, taking a moment to bow in a gentlemanly manner. "RotomDex is equipped with an assortment of languages! I have been programmed to communicate properly with people of all different kinds!"

"Awesome!"

"'Awesome!' ... Does not compute. Does not compute!" Rotom said, a confused emoticon popping up on its screen surrounded by question marks as it held its head.

"Ash was just saying he's very impressed with your capabilities." Kukui clarified.

"I understand!" It replied. "So 'awesome' means 'excellent'! And that means RotomDex is excellent!"

Kukui laughed as the Pokévice flashed a happy emoticon on its screen in a hands-on-hips pose. "Believe it or not, I'm a professor! Professor Kukui!"

"Pleased to meet you, Professor Kukui! And you too, Ash!" RotomDex said.

"Hey, thanks!" Ash replied. "And this is my friend Pikachu!"

"Pikachu!" The mouse added, raising a paw.

"Ash and Pikachu are staying at my place, along with Rockruff." Kukui informed.

"Rock! Ruff!" The rock puppy added.

"Pleased to meet you, Pikachu! And Rockruff!" RotomDex replied. It then turned around, tapping something on its screen. As Ash and Pikachu stared in confusion, Rotom floated over to Rockruff and tapped it's screen again, before levitating back up and turning to face them. "Picture taken! Pikachu. Rockruff."

"So wait, why did you take a picture?" Ash asked as Rotom showed the photos of electric mouse and rock puppy.

"In order to add the images of the Pokémon I meet to my memory!" It replied. "The RotomDex is a self-learning PokéDex that updates its data each and every time it meets a new Pokémon!"

"Not sure what you mean." Ash said, scratching his nose. "But you're totally awesome, Rotom!"

"User Ash, I am not simply Rotom now!" The possessed PokéDex replied. "I am RotomDex, which means I am PokéDex; Rotom Version!"

"Hold on. PokéDex... Rotom... version?" Ash asked slowly, making stranger faces of confusion with each word. Pikachu sweatdropped. RotomDex made up for its lack of real sweat with an animated sweatdrop emoticon.

"Very well, you can simply call me RotomDex, User Ash!"

"And you can just call me Ash. That'll make it easier to say, won't it?"

"I understand, Ash!" RotomDex said, saluting.

"Hey, RotomDex?" Ash asked. "I wanna hear how you describe Pikachu in the RotomDex. Can you do that?"

"Pika pika!" Pikachu agreed.

"Right away, Ash!" The Dexmon replied, pulling up an image of a Pikachu. "Pikachu, the mouse Pokémon! An Electric-type. It raises its tail to sense its surroundings. If you pull on its tail..." RotomDex paused its explanation to float over to Pikachu and grab his tail like a true genius. "...it will bite!"

In a brilliant move, Rotom yanked Pikachu's tail, getting itself and Ash fried by Pikachu's instinctive Thunderbolt. Kukui's attempt to help resulted in the professor getting zapped as well.

"IT DOESN'T BITE YOU! IT ACTUALLY SHOCKS YOOOOOOOUUUUU!" Rotom corrected.

As Rotom demonstrated intellect beyond any other being, a certain trio of troublemakers made their grand entrance to Alola via airplane, dressed as tourists.

"At last, the Alola region." A red-headed woman quietly said.

"This great and distant land gives us a brand-new start for both the body and mind!" A blue-haired man added.

"We're gonna do everything for the greatest boss in all of bossland!" A very short male with a distinct but totally mysterious silhouette said.

"Wooobbuffeeet!" A well-dressed, also totally mysterious figure added.

"In the Alola region, many rare Pokémon can be found."

Wobbuffet, Jessie, James, and Meowth stood at attention. Giovanni was seated with his back to a screen displaying a shot of an Alolan island as he briefed our favorite villains. The images of four Alolan Pokémon popped up on the screen one at a time. Meowth, however, tuned out the "greatest boss in all of bossland" to think impolitely at his rival for said boss's affections.

'Alright Persian, you pompous jerk. Go ahead and enjoy sittin' happily on the boss's lap while you can. I'M gonna become number one!' The feline smirked as he imagined himself on Giovanni's lap in Persian's place. 'Then you know what you can do? You can just try the floor for a change, chump!'

"Now go and collect Pokémon the likes of which I've never seen before! Fulfill the ambitions of Team Rocket!" Giovanni commanded as Meowth tuned back in.

"Roger!/Wobbu!" The quartet responded.

"Catching Pokémon..." Jessie said, pulling her shades up.

"...and conquering Alola!" James added, pushing his own up.

"Ha-cha-cha!"

Meanwhile, Sai was accompanying Shane as he attempted to catch some Alolan Pokémon, before putting a hand to his head as if he had a headache. "I don't know why, but I feel like we're going to be very annoyed in the future." The assistant professor said.

Shane and Blade looked at the older Unovan as question marks blinked over their heads.

Elsewhere on the island, the bizarre Bewear was walking through the woods. It briefly stopped to glance at a small Pokemon that bore an uncanny resemblance to a Pikachu, though upon close inspection it was clearly no mouse. The two Pokemon stared at each other for a moment before ignoring each other, Bewear walking on as the not-Pikachu brooded creepily.

Outside the Pokemon School, Principle Oak's Komala lay in a palm tree. As a Litten walked up to said tree, Komala yawned. Observing the palm tree's resident, Litten yawned as well, then began licking its paw.

As the little feline bathed itself, the shadow of a Pidgeot passed over it, heading right to the classroom. Inside, the bird Pokémon landed, revealing that it carried the Unovan duo, who promptly dismounted.

"I can't believe we didn't see a SINGLE wild Pokémon." Sai grumbled.

"To be fair, we didn't have much time." Shane replied, feeding Altius a Pokébean and petting him. "We'll probably have more luck after school. Less of a time limit and everyone will be more awake."

"Alola!" Seven voices caught the duo's attention. Turning, they saw the rest of the students, plus RotomDex, had all arrived before them. The Dexmon floated over to Altius, then turned around and took a picture.

"Pidgeot, the Bird Pokémon. It can fly at speeds of up to Mach two. By flapping its wings with full force, it can create a gust of wind capable of bending tall trees."

Shane blinked at the Pokévice, utterly baffled, as Ash walked over, getting Rotom's attention.

"Rotom, these are Shane and Sai. Shane's a student like me, and Sai's the assistant teacher to Professor Kukui." Ash explained, then turned to his human friends. "Guys, this here is RotomDex! Professor Kukui gave it to me this morning!"

"Nice to meet you!" RotomDex exclaimed.

"Uh... pleasure." Shane replied. "So, some kind of PokéDex with a Rotom inside? Incredible..."

"Yeah. Technology never ceases to amaze me." Sai agreed.

"Incredible... incredible means...awesome!" Rotom figured. "In other words, RotomDex is awesome!" It posed proudly with a smile emoticon popping up on its screen.

"...Sure." Shane said to it. "I'm not sure if it's endearing or annoying. Maybe you were right." He whispered, loud enough for Sai to hear, but not the others.

"So it's obviously learned how Ash talks." Sophocles observed. "I wonder just how this RotomDex is programmed!"

The short boy brandished a screwdriver in a menacing manner, disturbing RotomDex greatly. Rotom floated backwards as Sophocles leaned toward it.

"I'm going to analyze your programming for juuuuust a second, alright?" The tech wizard 'requested'.

"No, thank you!" RotomDex replied, visibly nervous even without an emoticon.

"Aw, come on! Don't be like that, please. Just a look!" Sophocles pleaded, attempting to lean further toward the Dexmon, only for Shane to pull him back.

"Or you could just ask about the programming, instead of scaring Rotom out of its wits." Shane suggested, tugging the back of the shorter boy's shirt.

"Yeah, seriously, the Rotoms are rare, but they mass produce the PokéDexes, you can get your own and take it apart to your hearts content." Sai added.

"Oh, a RotomDex!" Principal Oak's voice caught everyone's attention as the principal walked up alongside Professor Kukui. "Well, you seem to have quite an interesting item there!"

"Principal Oak!" Ash said, before turning to RotomDex. "This is the principal of the Pokémon School, Principal Oak."

"Pleased to meet you!" The Pokévice greeted, floating up to the man and bowing like a gentleman.

"Hi hi, Psyduck, Arrrrboooook!" Samson replied, imitating the Pokémon he named.

"What is 'hi, hi, Psyduck, Arbok'?" RotomDex asked. "Does not compute. Does not compute."

With a flash of light, Sai's Regice materialized once more.

"Ice Beam on my feet. Again." Sai commanded simply as his eyebrow twitched. Though still hesitant, it complied and froze its Trainer's feet.

Everyone sweatdropped at this, but Mallow was the first to recover. "Don't worry about it." She told RotomDex. "It's simply his way of saying hello. The principal is always making Pokémon gags."

"And Sai's not too fond of puns." Shane added, idly withdrawing Altius.

"I don't mind ALL puns. His are just awful." Sai clarified.

RotomDex didn't seem to hear the Unovans. "Making Pokémon... gags?" It questioned, before repeating "hi hi Psyduck Arbok" several times with increasing speed as Pokémon silhouettes flashed on its screen.

"That's excellent." Oak praised. "I think you're getting the hang of it!"

"I'm not Dragonite down!" Rotom replied, causing Sai to growl and Shane to panic. "Matter of fact, I'm Clauncher-ing off, Inkay?" The genius continued as Shane released Reso. "Wooper-dee-doo!"

"We're too late to stop it..." Shane whispered, facepalming. The Lucario stared at his Trainer in concern.

"I really like the cut of your gibberish!" The principal replied. "So Wynaut hang with us for Mawhile?"

"Wooper-dee-doo!"

"Smile, Mawhile!"

"Dooper Wooper!"

"Mawhile is you!"

The pun-off was ended by the sound of ice shattering. Everyone turned to see the Sai, quite literally burning with rage as his hair stood on end, as red as his glowing eyes. "THAT'S IT! EVERYTHING DIES!" Sai roared.

"No, Sai, calm down!" Shane futilely pleaded as he and Reso tried to restrain the older Unovan. "Breathe! Happy place! HAPPY PLACE!"

Their efforts only resulted in them lighting their hands/paws on fire. The two proceeded to flail their hands/paws wildly like hummingbirds until they and Sai were frozen solid by Regice.

"This only delays the inevitable..." Sai growled dangerously, despite his mouth and the rest of his body being frozen.

The others stared for a moment longer before Kukui regained composure.

"All right class, for today, let's do some fieldwork! So, Ash, now that you've gotten yourself a RotomDex..." The professor snapped his fingers. "Let's catch a wild Pokémon!"

"Alright!" Ash replied excitedly. The rest of the students cheered up at this as well.

"Well, looks like you get another chance after all." Sai told Shane as the ice around the older Unovan's head melted.

"I absolutely adore fieldwork!" Mallow said.

"For Ash and Shane, the Alola Pokémon will be a new challenge." Kukui stated. "We have a Destiny Bond to help them out!"

"Destiny Bond, a Ghost-type move. When a Pokémon faints after using this move, the opponent that landed the knockout blow also faints!"

'Definitely annoying.' The frozen-er popsicle mentally decided.

"You get one final pass, Kukui!" Sai snapped, having melted the ice from his upper body.

"RotomDex, that was excellent." Kukui praised.

"For Pokémon information, you can count on me!" The Dexmon replied.

"Let's go, RotomDex!" Ash said, putting his backpack on.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu added, taking his usual place on Ash's shoulder.

"Understood!" Rotom replied as it followed Ash out of the classroom, with the rest of the non-frosted students joining them.

"I like your Spiritomb!" Principle Oak said.

"That does it!" Sai shouted, shattering the ice around himself and rushing at the principal, but he was luckily restrained by both Darkrai and Mewtwo, who emerged from their Master Balls and held their Trainer with Psychic.

Reso then broke out of his own icy prison, picked the remaining popsicle up over his head, and dashed off after the rest of the students as Kukui and Samson stared at Mewtwo and Sai.

As the class prepared to venture into the woods, Team Rocket had already found their way there.

"Let's catch the first Pokemon, stat!" Jessie said.

"We'll snatch every Pokemon in the order we encounter them and then take it from there!" James added.

"Yeah, but then that means that Wobbuffet and I are gonna have to do all the heavy lifting..." Meowth complained.

"There's no other choice." Jessie replied. "We left all of our other Pokemon way back at Team Rocket headquarters, and you know it!"

"When you're in Alola, you simply do as the Alolans do!" James added.

Looking around as they walked, Jessie moaned a bit. "Even so, it's kind of creepy out here."

"You think?" James asked.

"Yes!" Jessie replied. She began stumbling about, waving her arms and making a creepy face. "It feels like something scary could jump out at any moment!"

Just then, some tall grass at the base of a tree began rustling, getting the attention of the Team Rocket quartet. Something leapt out of the grass, startling them. They calmed down slightly as it landed revealing...

"Pikachu?" Jessie asked.

The Pokémon's head, or what looked like, then tilted to the side at an unnatural angle, terrifying Team Rocket. They screamed in horror, Jessie and James clinging to each other as Meowth clung to Wobbuffet's head.

"I know it can't be, but could it be?!"

"Pikachu's head?!"

Meowth continued to scream for a moment, only to abruptly calm down as he took a better look at it, narrowing his eyes. "No." The feline said. "While giving it a closer inspection, it's a different Pokémon wearing a Pikachu-like thingy."

The other three calmed down as well, observing the new Pokemon.

"Upon closer inspection..." James said.

Just then, the head of the Pikachu-like thingy righted itself as the creature within chattered ominously. Meowth and Wobbuffet promptly began to freak out again, though much more quietly and with significantly more sweat.

"What in the world is wrong with you?" Jessie asked calmly as the two trembled.

The only response she got was Wobbuffet muttering fearfully as the fake Pikachu made eerie noises.

"Meowth, what is it saying?" James asked.

"This is a K-plus fic!" Meowth quietly replied. Jessie and James simply stared in confusion. "It's sayin' something SO scary, that it's better off you're kept in the dark!"

"Scary? It's not that scary. It's kind of cute." Jessie replied. "So, our very first job in the Alola region with be catching that cutie!" The redhead declared, grabbing Meowth. "Meowth, Fury Swipes, let's go!" she commanded, throwing the unfortunate feline at the rag-wearing creature.

Meowth screamed as he flew at the other Pokemon, but he regained composure in time to active the commanded attack. "Okay, desperate measures time!" He stated, flailing his claws wildly. Meowth landed on his feet behind the wild Pokemon, waiting for it to react, but nothing happened. "Fury Swipes didn't work?!"

"Kyukh. Khkyu."

"Will you knock off all of the scary talk?!" Meowth yelled. "Take off that Pikachu get-up and fight fair and square!" He demanded, jumping over to the not-mouse. The unfortunate feline lifted the cloth, only to scream in terror, stumble backwards, and faint.

The clothed Pokemon backed away, leaving Jessie and James room to get over to Meowth. The two humans took turns yelling Meowth's name as Jessie tried to shake him awake.

"Wake up, you fool!" James shouted.

"You weren't even attacked, mister heavy lifter!" Jessie added, continuing to shake the cat. Eventually, she dropped him and retrieved a bucket of water from out-of-sight, with James doing the same.

"SNAP OUT OF IT!" They shouted together, splashing the water all over Meowth's face and finally reviving him.

"You lugs are drownin' me!" He cried, hopping up and flailing.

"Welcome back!" James greeted. There was a brief silence, Wobbuffet quietly sighing as Meowth landed, before the trio joyfully shared a group hug.

"Meowth!" Jessie and James greeted the feline in unison.

"Aw, thanks, you guys, for bringing me back from that joint!" Meowth said.

"Bringing you back?" Jessie asked.

"When I tried to take that thing's mask off of my mug, I could see inside and then suddenly things got dark, and when I woke up I was walking in this super-duper-long tunnel!" Meowth explained, crying. "Then a really cute Gardevoir appeared!" He added, going heart-eyed. "And it was trying to get me to come along, see?" His eyes turned back to normal as he finished the tale with, "and then things got scary and I was falling deep into the pit of a bad place...!"

"A cute Gardevoir, you say?" James asked.

"Into a bad place? Hold on, do you mean-"

"It's true!" Meowth interrupted. "If you and James hadn't called me back from whatever you want to call it...it's all because of Bag Head!" He explained, pointing at the clothed creature.

The definitely-not-a-mouse quietly continued making creepy noises, unnerving the humans. Then, a nearby bush rustled, causing the quartet to hide as terror kicked their self-preservation instincts into overdrive.

Fortunately, rather than another creepy Pokémon, our heroes emerged from the bush, cheerfully exploring the forest together in the hopes of catching a wild Alolan Pokemon.

"I've got the feeling we'll run into a wild Pokémon really soon!" Ash said.

"Really?" Kiawe questioned.

"Well, I hope your prediction is right on the money!" Mallow said, turning to walk backwards so she could face Ash.

"Yeah." Sophocles added as he yawned, stretching mid-stride. "I'm tired from all this walking."

"The probability of meeting a Pokémon in this area is eighty-three point nine percent!" RotomDex stated.

Hidden in a bush, Team Rocket watched as the group walked along the path.

"The twerp and Pikachu in view!" Meowth whispered.

"And an assortment of others!" James quietly observed.

"Meaning what?" Jessie asked. Wobbuffet made to speak and likely blow their cover, but Jessie intercepted it and held its mouth closed. "Along with them comes a great chance! The chance to grab gobs of Alola Pokémon and that Pikachu at the same time and give them all to the boss!" She explained, topping it off with evil laughter that somehow failed to reach the ears of the heroes.

"I caught a good handful of Pokémon here during my first few days in Alola. I'm pretty sure Ash is right... For once." Sai's voice informed the students as he stepped into view as well.

This caused the trio of villains to shriek in fear. "It's that edgy twerp with all the Legendaries!" Meowth said fearfully.

"We'll never catch Pikachu and the other twerps' Pokémon with him around!" James said fearfully.

"But... If we play it right, we may just be able to nab ourselves some Legendaries!" Jessie said. The other two, quite naturally, glanced at her in bafflement and fear as she snickered villainously.

"Oy vey..."

"Do we really want try taking on trench-twerp when we don't even have a single Alolan Pokémon yet?"

"Come on, you two!" Jessie reprimanded. "The worst that can happen is we blast off like usual. It's never stopped us before, it won't stop us now!" She reasoned, finally convincing her teammates.

Just then, Ash took notice of the Pokémon that stole one of Meowth's lives.

"Over there!" He said.

"Pika pika?"

"Khkyu?" The mouse-imitation took notice of the group, turning to face them... and locking on to Pikachu.

"Pika." The real mouse voiced quietly.

The wild Pokémon trembled in rage as it stared at Pikachu.

"Looks like your feeling was right!" Mallow told Ash.

"A Pikachu? I don't think so." Lana observed.

"Mimikyu!" Lillie corrected excitedly. "I read about it in a book once! I think it's type is-"

"Wait!" Rotom interrupted. "Please leave the Pokémon descriptions to me! Mimikyu, the Disguise Pokémon. A Ghost and Fairy-type." the Dexmon said, turning away from Lillie and approaching the Mimikyu. "It wears a ragged head cover to look like a Pikachu, but little is know about this Pokémon. It's said that a scholar who once tried to look inside met his end."

"Met his end?!" Meowth echoed in the bush. He began crying, somehow still failing to alert the twerps. "I'm glad I'm still here kickin' and grinnin'!"

"Wait," James said. "That unusual PokéDex appears to be moving all by itself!" He observed, causing Meowth to stop crying and look again.

"That's weird." The feline said.

"'Kay." Ash said, readying for battle. "Alright, Pikachu, go and get Mimikyu!"

"Pikachu!" The electric mouse confirmed, excitedly hopping off his partner and getting into his battle stance.

"Um... Ash? That may be a bad idea. Mimikyu wear those rags to look like Pikachu because they're jealous of all the love Pikachu gets. In other words, most of them hate Pikachu." Sai cautioned.

"In that case, allow me." Shane said, walking to stand besides Ash. "I know you want to battle, but catching Mimikyu with Pikachu's help will only make it more resentful."

Ash and Pikachu looked reluctant, but relaxed and backed away, the latter returning to the former's shoulder. Shane took a moment to pet Pikachu in consolation before turning to Mimikyu and pulling out a Poké Ball.

"Go, Blade!" Shane called, throwing the ball. In a flash of light, the Servine materialized, ready for battle. "Alright, let's start this show with Leaf Blade!"

"Ser!" Blade confirmed, leaping into the air and somersaulting with his tail glowing green. The grass snake slammed his tail into the head of Mimikyu's disguise, then backflipped off. Though the head flattened, Mimikyu appeared unharmed, much to the shock of the students.

"I can't believe what I'm seeing here!" Kiawe commented.

"That's Mimikyu's ability, Disguise." Sai informed, getting everyone's attention, though Shane turned back to the battle quickly enough. "The rags allow it to shrug off the first attack that hits it, even if it's a Z-Move, but the catch is that it only works once per battle."

"So it's vulnerable now. Okay, Leaf Blade again!" Shane commanded.

"Vine!" The Servine confirmed, but before he could follow through, Mimikyu rushed up and caught the grass snake in a cloud of dust with Play Rough. The raggedy Pokémon pounded the Grass-type with its tail, then knocked him away. Blade rolled, recovering easily, but Mimikyu followed up with Shadow Claw, uppercutting the Servine and knocking him into the air, only to land hard on his back.

"I didn't expect it to be so strong." Shane admitted. "Blade, are you okay?"

"Ser!" The Servine replied as he slowly stood up, noticeably sweating as his tail drooped.

"Melee range is too dangerous right now. Use Giga Drain!" The teen ordered.

"Vine!" Blade confirmed, jumping into the air as he launched a green energy beam from his mouth. At the same time, Mimikyu also jumped into the air, firing a Shadow Ball. The attacks clashed, evenly matched for a moment, but then the Shadow Ball flew on, cancelling Giga Drain. It missed the Servine by centimeters as he flipped backward, the attack flying over the students' heads.

"Leech Seed!" Shane commanded.

Wordlessly, Blade spat a seed right under Mimikyu as the combatants landed, ensnaring the Disguise Pokémon.

"Excellent!" Shane praised, pumping a fist. "Now, use Coil!"

"Servine!" Blade confirmed, coiling up in place as best as he could. A purple beam of light swirled around him, then vanished as an orange aura channeled up the serpent's body. It was just in time, too, as Mimikyu dashed in to use Play Rough again in spite of the energy-draining vines in was wrapped it, hitting Blade just as he finished his move. The grass snake was knocked away, but recovered before he hit the ground, catching himself with his vines.

"Now, one more Leaf Blade!" Shane commanded.

"Ser!" The Servine confirmed. Mimikyu met the Leaf Blade mid-air with its own tail, surrounded in a purple, fiery aura. After a brief aerial struggle with their tails locked together, the two Pokémon pushed each other away, sliding on their feet as they landed.

"Way strong..." Sophocles commented.

"Affirmative." RotomDex agreed.

"Did you just see that?" Jessie asked her teammates in the bush. "What's it called? I think they called it Mimikyu."

"It appears quite the even match for the quiet twerp's Servine." James observed.

"That little snake beat Pikachu once back in Unova!" Meowth added. "If the big softie's been trainin' like his friends..."

"Well, we can't let the twerps catch that strong of a Pokémon!" Jessie said, grinning with razor-like teeth as she cackled quietly, her eyes gleaming.

Meowth glanced at Jessie, highly concerned and somewhat fearful.

Back with the heroes, Shane readied an empty Poké Ball, but before he could throw it, another one flew at Mimikyu from the side. The Ghost/Fairy-type easily swatted it away.

"Who-" Shane began to ask.

"Just a minute!" Jessie interrupted as she, Meowth, James, and Wobbuffet stepped into view one a time in front of Mimikyu.

"Alright, who are you?" Kiawe demanded.

Team Rocket suddenly posed with a partially-hollow R, silhouetted by a nearly blinding light behind them.

"Did someone ask something? We're here to find out!" Jessie said.

"Noble answers are what we're all about!" James added, throwing a blue rose at the heroes that somehow obscured the team.

"The beauty so radiant, the flowers and moon hide in shame!" Jessie spoke as she walked in half-silhouette, then spun around as she posed with a hand on her hip. "A single flower of evil in this fleeting world, Jessie!"

"The nobly heroic man of our times!" James said, also walking in half-shadow before flipping his hair, spinning, and posing with his arms folded. "The master of darkness fighting back against a tragic world! It's James."

"It's all for one and one for all!" Meowth said, marching in complete shadow until his charm gleamed, then backflipping thrice and posing in a three-point landing. "A glittering dark star that always shines bright! Dig it, while Meowth takes flight!"

"Team Rocket, let's fight!" Jessie and James declared in unison, backflipping in sync before posing back-to-back as an R symbol flashed behind them.

"That's right!" Meowth added, appearing on their left with his forepaws on his hips.

"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet added, saluting as it popped up on the duo's right.

"Team Rocket?" RotomDex asked. "Can they really take flight?"

"We blast off you dope!" Jessie snapped. "I mean...we don't fly."

"You see, Team Rocket...is a super-powerful evil organization!" James added, posing with a blue rose.

"What kind of dumb PokéDex doesn't know a thing like that?" Meowth asked, shaking his head with a shrug.

RotomDex beeped as it tried to figure out Meowth. "I... don't have any data! A Meowth that can speak like a human!" It said, floating up to Meowth and rapidly taking pictures. "This could be the discovery of a new type of Pokémon!"

Meowth was quick to get fed up. "WILL YOU SHUT YOUR ELECTRIC YAP?!" He shouted, flailing wildly at Rotom until it flew back to the students and Sai.

"Okay, so, hold on." Shane remarked casually. "Jessie, you're going on about evil and beauty, which makes sense, but James, you're going on about heroism in tragedy and darkness, which I like, but it doesn't really apply to you, and Meowth, you're speaking in contradictions. 'A glittering dark star that always shines bright' is a ridiculous oxymoron. Also, neither of you guys really brought up the sun in counterpart to Jessie, which kinda makes the whole thing feel a little incomplete."

"FINALLY! Someone besides me picks apart their motto!" Sai cheered with a smirk.

A beat of silence went by, before the trio's heads enlarged, tick marks appearing on their foreheads as...

"EXCUSE YOU?!" They demanded in unison, before returning to normal proportions.

"Since when did YOU get snide, softie?!" Jessie demanded, shaking a fist with a tick mark on it, too.

"Dishin' ain't a good look for you, cuddlebug!" Meowth added.

"I thought you of all twerps appreciated how hard we work on our mottos!" James reprimanded.

"Sai's rubbed off on me." Shane replied simply. "It helps that I've had a very stressful morning and we're in the middle of trying to catch a wild Pokémon. You know, the right way?"

"You know these guys, Shane?" Mallow asked as the rest of the Alolans stared in confusion.

"They're bad guys who like to steal other people's Pokémon!" Ash informed, turning to face her with an intense expression as Pikachu jumped off his shoulder. The mouse landed next to Blade, cheeks sparking as he glared.

"They steal?!" Mallow asked, clutching Bounsweet protectively.

"If they steal Pokémon, then they're thieves!" Sophocles accused, pointing at Team Rocket.

"You've come to the Alola region to do bad things here too, haven't you?!" Ash accused.

"Same old genius. I don't know why you three are here, but I'm sick of seeing your twerp-y faces!" Jessie replied, remarkably confident.

"We'll simply take your Servine, Pikachu, and all of your friends' Pokémon for our sassy selves!" James declared, pumping a fist.

"And...that Mimikyu!" Jessie added, glancing back at the Disguise Pokémon, who had just cut the vines from Blade's Leech Seed. "Remember WE found that one first!" She then turned back to the group with a hand on her hip. "Okay Meowth, go."

"Awww..." Meowth groaned, then shook it off, stepping towards Pikachu. "Word up, Pikachu! I know how strong you are! But today, I come out on top, no ifs, ands, or buts!" The feline declared, then leaped into the air, extending his glowing claws. "Fury Swipes!"

"Pikachu, Electric Ball!" Ash commanded. Pikachu promptly somersaulted into the air, charging an electric orb at his tail before flinging it at Meowth.

"Huh?! Couldn't you wait?!" Meowth yelled, flailing his claws as his panicked. The unfortunate feline was saved as a Shadow Ball flew up under him, deflecting the Electro Ball mere inches from Meowth. The cat and electric mouse then landed, with Mimikyu standing in front of Meowth, who looked rather touched by the gesture. "Mimikyu! You came through like champ. Thanks a lot, pal-y!"

"Call me crazy, but I get the strange feeling Mimikyu is trying to help us out!" Jessie said.

"Kyukhkhkh." Mimikyu replied, turning to look at Team Rocket.

"Huh?" Meowth vocalized. Mimikyu turned back to Pikachu, radiating a ghostly aura of purple flame as it continued speaking... and terrifying Meowth. "Whoa! Mimikyu wants to give us a hand instead of the chumps..."

"So I'm saying?!"

"We're truly grateful for all your help. Please explain!" James requested.

"Trench-twerp was right. Mimikyu HATES Pikachu!" Meowth clarified as Mimikyu trembled in rage and continued to speak. Eventually, Meowth couldn't bear to hear what the Alolan native was saying. "Do me a favor and don't say any more scary stuff, will ya PLEASE?!"

"Sounds like some complicated feelings at play." James said.

"So then, let's not look a gift Mimikyu in the mouth!" Jessie replied, smirking. "It's all good, Mimikyu, so just attack!"

Encouraged, Mimikyu began charging a Shadow Ball with every ounce of hatred it could muster.

"Here it comes, Pikachu!" Ash quietly warned.

"Now, be careful!" RotomDex added.

"Blade, use Coil again!" Shane commanded softly.

Pikachu tensed as Blade coiled up again.

"Way to go! You can do it! Rah-rah-rah!" Jessie and James cheered, to which Meowth sweatdropped.

The purple glow enveloped the Servine again, triggering the orange aura to rise upward around him. Mimikyu trembled as it focused its rage, while Jessie began to laugh evilly as James looked on with a smirk... only for a certain physical deity to sneak up on the human thieves and grab them underarm, cutting off their celebration and causing them to shout in surprise.

"What's going on?!" James demanded as Bewear turned around, carrying him and Jessie off. "Hey!"

"Hey, big guy, where are you schlepping my two buddies?! Jessie! James!" Meowth called after the bizarre Pokémon.

"...Beware the Bewear." Shane absent-mindedly quipped, blinking slowly.

"Mimikyu! Save Jessie and James! Move!" Meowth commanded the Disguise Pokémon. Mimikyu turned back to him, mumbling something, apparently a refusal. "But you told us you'd help us out if we were ever in a jam! Forget Pikachu. Right now, you've got to save the ones who are on YOUR side, dig it?!"

After a moment, Mimikyu canceled its Shadow Ball, letting Meowth pick it up and follow Bewear.

"Off... with a... new... blast...?!" Jessie and James cried, still struggling to get out of Bewear's grip as they vanished into the forest.

After a moment of staring after them, the heroes regained their senses.

"Of all the ways I expected this to go down... That wasn't one of them." Sai stated.

"Who WERE those guys?" Mallow asked, looking between the three foreign Trainers as Pikachu and Blade climbed up their respective partners' shoulders.

"We weren't able to catch it." Kiawe pointed out.

"Wish I could've." Shane said. "Besides really needing a Fairy-type, I'd have loved to help it get over that envy..."

"But that's okay!" Lillie replied cheerfully. "There are many, many other Pokémon in the Alola region!"

"There are lots more chances!" Lana added.

"That's right!" Ash said. "Okay, Pikachu, RotomDex! Let's go find some more Pokémon!"

"Pika!" Pikachu added as Ash took off into the forest.

"The probability of finding a Pokémon in this forest has increased to ninety-six point five percent!" Rotom stated, following after them.

As the rest of the students took off after them, Shane and Sai lagged behind for a moment as the younger Unovan fed his Servine a Pokébean.

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about Bewear for a while." Shane stated optimistically.

"Exactly. Catching a Pokémon should be easy now." Sai told the younger Unovan. "And there's one now." He said, pointing to a Pikipek that was feeding on a berry on the forest floor.

"Well, that was quick." Shane said. He then grinned, pulling out a particular kind of Ball. "Speaking of quick...Go, Quick Ball!"

"Solid choice... if a bit anti-climactic." Sai noted.

The Pikipek didn't have time to react as the blue and yellow ball bounced off of it's head. The Alolan bird was encapsulated easily by a red beam of light, and the Quick Ball fell to the ground with the button blinking red as it shook.

First shake, the Trainers tensed.

Second shake, Shane leaned in. Startled Pokemon had a harder time breaking out...

Third shake... and Quick Balls had been pretty reliable, but would his first Alolan catch really-

Click!

-be so abrupt?

"Wow, that was fast." Sai stated, impressed.

While Shane blinked, his Servine zipped over to the Quick Ball and retrieved it with his vines, then offered it up to his Trainer. Shane took the Ball, then smiled. It was sudden and rather easy, but it was a new friend and a victory nonetheless.

"Alright!" Shane cheered, spinning the ball on a finger. He then tossed it up, then caught it as he spun around once and held it out in a victory pose. "Our first Alolan Pokémon...is Pikipek!"

"Ser-Servine!" Blade added, jumping up beside his Trainer.

"Congrats, buddy." Sai congratulated, giving a thumbs up.

With RotomDex joining our heroes, and Team Rocket arriving in Alola, the gang's all here. Nobody knows what else lies in store, but one thing's for sure. The journey in Alola has only just begun!

To be continued...

This came out pretty fast by my standards. One chapter down, one more to go to fulfill my resolution, and I've three in-progress that may fulfill it. Starting Monday, I'm gonna get really busy, especially since I recently got Pokemon Sword, but giving up is not my style. Hope you all enjoyed, and once again, special thanks to Sai Kunai Blade for helping plan and write this chapter.