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Crickets chirped soft songs in the tall blades of grass that were dripping with the crystal clear drops of morning dew as the sun in the easward skyline steadily rose signaling the start of a new day in the forest and the rest of the countryside.
A few rays of sunshine fell upon Ash's face as he turned onto his side away from it and accidentally onto something that felt soft beneath him yet firm at the same time.
Still half asleep he ignored it until he was jump started awake by a sudden blinding flash of light from beneath his body and his hair was now sticking up more than usual and it looked as if he had been the main course of a human barbecue as some sparks and steam emanated from him.
"Pika!", was the only thing the small yellow pokemon could say as he looked a bit angrily at Ash for nearly squishing him.
"PIKACHU!!! What did you do that for??", screamed Ash in a loud tone of voice causing a small flock of pidgey nearby to take to the calm and peacefulness of the sky as he sat there putting his hat on to keep his hair down.
Brock and Misty rubbed their eyes with equally annoyed expressions as they sat up half way in their sleeping bags abruptly awaken by Ash's screaming.
"Ugh...Ash..what's with all the..", yawned Brock mid sentence, "screaming ? Did Pikachu shock you again?",laughed Brock sarcastically as he had not actually opened his eyesyet to look at Ash.
"Tokegpiiii",said the young pokemon as it yawned softly and fell onto it's back and into Misty's lap with a gentle thud losing it's balance.
"Ash...what is all the commotion about?", whsipered Misty in a slightly irritated voice as she caught Togepi in her lap with a soft smile grasping her most beloved pokémon close to her body to keep it warm in the early morning dampness and cool.
Throwing the top part of his sleeping bag aside Brock stood to his feet and straightened out his olive green padded vest and tucked the orange shirt he wore underneath tightly back into his chocolate brown cargo pants as he finally turned to glance at Ash and tried no to laugh as he bit his lower lip but then burst out laughing.
"Ash!", laughed Brock, "You've been with Pikcahu for over a year now..you would think that by NOW you would learn not to roll onto him each morning."
"Yeah Ash..how clumsy can you actually be?", giggled Misty looking at the still half cooked Ash. Smirking to his two friends he quickly jumped to his feet and brushed the traces of soot and dust that were now lingering to his clothes form the electric shock of Pikachu's just moments before.
As Ash stretched his arms high above his head and gripped his hands with one another in an attempt to wake up completely arching his back a little bit to get all of the night's kinks and knots out of constantly sleeping on the rough terrain that he frequented, Misty and Brock kneeled down to their respective sleeping areas and rolled up their sleeping bags tucking them away in their backpacks.
The dense forest around them shielded most of the morning sunlight from the trio but a few rays still fought their way through the denseness of the branches and leaves causing the clearing they were in to seem a little mystical in manner as a sudden breeze carried a stray dandelion past Ash's face tickling his nose.
"Achooooo!" sneezed Ash as the others just chuckled in amusement.
"Gee Ash..this just isn't your morning..I wonder what else can go wrong for you today?", replied Brock in a adventurous tone. Ash shook his head holding onto his hat tightly as he did so.
"I don't even want to think about it Brock..the way things are going..Team Rocket might actually capture Pikachu", spoke Ash in a laughing manner to himself as he kneeled down and picked up the sleeping bag into his hands and walked a few feet away and slammed it against a nearby oak tree as the soot and dust from Pikachu's electric shock went flying him into the sky and soon the air was as clear as it had been just moments before.
Slinging his bacpack over his shoulder Ash smiled to his friends. "C'mon you guys, we've only got 2 months till the time comes for me to battle in the Pokémon league..we're wasting time just standing around here! Let's go to..uh....Brock..where is the nearest gym?",asked Ash as he turned his head to meet Brock's dumbfounded expression.
"Actually..to tell the truth, I don't know..We've been to all the most famous gyms already..maybe we should head..", Brock paused for a moment as he pulled out the map from his pocket. "Here..Junaria City..it's pretty far from here..actually on this map Junaria seems pretty small and almost deserted..it's like this city was just discovered or soemthing..but it has a gym and if that's where you wanna go..", asked Brock as he was looking down to the map and happeend to glance up seeing Ash run off ahead.
"ASH!!!!! Wait for us!!!", yelled out Brock as he stuffed the map hurriedly into his pocket and grabbed his backpack trying feverishly to catch up with Ash.
"Hey Brock..Ash..wait for us too!!!", screamed Misty from a few feet back as she held Tokegpi securely in her arms and ran after them follwed closely by Pikachu.
"Pika Pika!!!"
The small droplets falling from his pink tounge and onto the soft dirt beneath his paws to form a small puddle. Shaking his head gently he opened his eyes and smiled wide noticing a prominent building in front of him with three sections visible from the front.
The front of the building was polished steel almost blinding from the refelction of the sun with two pillar like towers on each side extending a few feet above the circular main section of the structure. A prominent crimson red "R" that was bolted to each one of the pillar shaped towers signified the one and only Team Rocket Headquarters.
Meowth rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times as he looked on to the sight before him as if he was a child on Christmas morning looking upon the most happiest sight of his life.
"I can't belive it..of all places to come across ..this has ta be my lucky day!", smiled Meowth as he laughed to himself. "I just hope tha boss ain't here..or it might mean the end of Meowth..not ta mention Jessie and James..hey..I wonder what ever happend to them anyways..", spoke Meowth aloud to himself as he walked closer to the building he hadn't seen in almost a year since Giovanni had assigned him with Jessie and James to capture Pikachu.
As he hopped up the 10 steps that led to the mechanically controlled doors of the building Meowth just stood there contemplating whether this was such a good idea to return empty handed and without Jessie and James.
"Hmmm..", thought Meowth as he brough his paw to his face thinking."If I go in there..and the boss finds out I aint got anythin for him I don't know what he might do...he's been awfully upset lately and I don't think I wanna upset him anymore!", concluded Meowth to himself as he turned to run before anyone spotted him.
Just as he put his left foot on the stairs leading down and away from the headquarters, a shadow peered over him and wihout any time to react a strong hand grabbed him around his mouth stifling the cries for help that went unheard as he struggled to no avail and was pulled inside to the unsure fate that would fall upon him.
The doors slammed shut with a quick clanking of the metal against each other as quickly as they had opened leaving no trace that anything had ever been there.