Pokémon: Dreams Come True Starting in Sinnoh

"Meow~ I've spotted a little rascal! Pikachu's here too, and there's also... Aipom, meow?"

On the hot air balloon, a talking cat was perched on the railing, using binoculars to observe Ash's situation after he had landed.

"Although having one extra guy is a bit of a hassle, according to convention, the kid shouldn't have any of his main members from the Hoenn region on him right now, right? If we want to catch Pikachu, now is the best opportunity!"

Musashi tossed her signature, rather oddly long hair and said this in a determined tone.

"Um...but..."

On the other side, Kojiro seemed a little hesitant, as if he wasn't sure whether he should say those words.

But after only a moment's hesitation, he did indeed voice his thoughts.

“We say that every time, but we keep failing and making mistakes, don’t we? I think we really need to plan our capture operation properly this time! We can’t let so many unexpected things happen every time!”

"So~Nans~~!"

Kojiro, the weaker member of the classic trio, received strong affirmation from WoWono for his opinion this time.

However, neither Kojiro's statement nor Wobbuffet's echoing of it gained Musashi's attention.

"What are you doing meddling in here!"

"Sonam..."

Sure enough, before Weng could finish speaking, Musashi reached out and pressed him down.

"I'm not saying this to be mean, Kojiro, what are you afraid of right now? That brat doesn't even have his main team members anymore! As long as we can catch Pikachu first, do you think we're afraid of not being able to beat that weak Aipom?"

Musashi still acted as if he was fearless.

"But......"

Kojiro still seemed hesitant.

"It's not like we haven't been defeated by that long-tailed monster before."

Musashi: "..."

Inside the hot air balloon, the group fell silent for a moment, then...

"Meow meow, get him!"

"Watch me scratch wildly, meow!"

Kojiro: "Huh?! What are you doing?! Ah—"

......

A minute later, Kojiro collapsed on the hot air balloon with his face covered in scratches.

As for Wobbuffet, he just stood trembling next to Kojiro, as if he was afraid that if he said another word, he would be the next target.

"Boost the morale of others while diminishing our own!"

Musashi shook his hand and said this with a disdainful look.

"That's right, Meow! If we don't even dare to act decisively in this situation, we'll have even less of a chance in the future! We're Team Rocket, Meow! As Team Rocket, we have to have Team Rocket's dignity!"

"But...but..."

"There's no 'but'!" *2

"Yes!"

Kojiro was so intimidated by Musashi and Meowth's imposing presence that he quickly stood up, saluted, and replied in response.

"Now that the trouble has been eliminated, let's quickly make a plan."

Seeing that Kojiro had no objections to his suggestion, Musashi leaned against the railing behind him, casually waved his hand, and became a hands-off manager.

After hearing Musashi's words, Meowth just smiled mysteriously and said, "Hmph! Of course I'm ready, Meowth. This plan is foolproof!"

"What is it?" Kojiro's eyes still held a hint of doubt.

Sure enough, just as Kojiro had guessed, Meowth pulled out a rocket launcher from somewhere.

"This contains an anti-electricity capture net! If we use this to catch Pikachu, we can then escape directly in a hot air balloon."

"That brat has no chance of catching us!"

Upon hearing this "flawless" plan, Musashi quickly stood up and clapped, as if victory was already in their hands.

Seeing the two confident individuals before them, Kojiro and Wobbuffet slipped to the other side and whispered to each other without being noticed:

"Can things really go that smoothly?"

As expected, Weng said, "So-Nans..."

Wobbuffet's tone sounded somewhat somber, indicating that in Wobbuffet's eyes, Meowth's plan was indeed a bit too rudimentary.

"Right, right! We couldn't succeed before even with more advanced machines and more comprehensive plans, but now they want to catch Pikachu with just a net? That's just wishful thinking!"

As expected, Weng said, "Sonams!"

As expected, the old man bowed respectfully, completely affirming Kojiro's statement.

"Sigh, I think we'll most likely end up like this again. I really hate this feeling. I wonder where we'll end up on our first trip to the Sinnoh region."

As expected, Weng: "Sonams"

Sure enough, Weng's tone became low again.

On the hot air balloon, Musashi and Meowth are drinking juice, celebrating their impending success, while Kojiro is squatting in a corner with Wobbuffet, lamenting the unchanging future.

Musashi/Nyan: "This feels amazing!"

Kojiro/Wobbuffet: "This feeling is awful... (Sonam~)" (whispering)

.......

Team Rocket's trio are eyeing Pikachu.

Meanwhile, Ash, along with Pikachu and Aipom, was making a phone call to Professor Oak from a phone booth near the airport.

"Yes, that's right... Aipom is with me right now, I don't know exactly when it caught up with me."

Ash was reporting the situation of Aipom to Professor Oak, and both Professor Oak on the other end of the phone and Brock, who was listening in, breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the news.

"Phew, thank goodness. I was wondering why Aipom disappeared in the blink of an eye. Turns out it went to Sinnoh with you... So, Ash, are you going to send Aipom back?"

"OKIII!"

After hearing Professor Oak's words, Aipom, who had been holding his ear to the phone, started tearfully grabbing Ash's collar and shaking him wildly, as if to say, "If you send me back, I'll stay here and never leave."

"Ah! I know! I know! Stop shaking me! I know what you mean! I won't go back! I won't send you back! Let go now!!"

"OKI!"

After receiving Ash's promise, the tear stains on Aipom's face disappeared completely.

Seeing Aipom's rapid change of expression, Ash helplessly straightened his disheveled collar.

If this guy ever gets involved with a Pokémon movie, he'll probably be interested in becoming an actor...

Ash couldn't help but think this as he watched Aipom happily jumping around.

.......