AG099: Difference between revisions

Having finally arrived in [[Mossdeep City]], they go straight to the [[Mossdeep Gym]] so {{Ash}} can {{pkmn|battle}} for his {{Badge|Mind}}. As they are about to enter the Gym, a woman runs out in a hurry. She stops at Ash's request, and he asks her if the [[Gym Leader]] is around. She explains that the Gym Leader is at the [[Mossdeep Space Center]] to watch a rocket launch, and [[Max]] gets excited at the prospect of watching the lift-off himself. However, Ash orders him to forget it before glaring at Max and telling him that they'll be going to the Space Center only to find the Gym Leader. In response, Max pretends to apologize while thinking to himself that once they get there, Ash will want to see the launch as well.

Ash and {{ashfr}} soon enter the Space Center, wandering into a room filled with various astronaut training machines. Everyone is keen to just look at the contraptions, except for Ash who straps himself into a multi-axis trainer (MAT) device and presses the "on" button. The MAT begins to rotate and spin rapidly, taking Ash and {{AP|Pikachu}} by surprise. Finally, Pikachu braces himself against Ash and stretches his tail towards the blue button, just managing to stop the ride. Ash and Pikachu stagger towards the others, who are unimpressed by Ash's recklessness, and collapse on the ground from the dizziness. While trying to recover, Ash spots a series of lights and sounds coming from some low windows nearby. He crawls over and looks, and inside, he spies a battle between [[Tate and Liza]] taking place in zero gravity. [[Liza's Lunatone]] uses an {{m|Ice Beam}} to take down [[Tate's Solrock]] as it charged up a {{m|Solar Beam}}. Liza admits her younger twin still needs to work on his timing, much to his annoyance. Ash and friends suddenly enter the room. Tate and Liza gasp in surprise, and as the visitors are levitated into the air. The twins rush to their aid, releasing themselves from their ankle straps, before explaining that they entered into a weightless room. As the twins introduce themselves, Max and Tate quickly strike up a friendship over their annoyance with their older sisters. May, similarly, identifies with Liza. The twins reveal that they often battle in zero-gravity conditions after accidentally discovering that their {{p|Baltoy}} {{m|Confusion}} attack mimics space conditions. The pair reveal that their father is the Space Center’s Director and lead shuttle pilot, while their mother works in mission control. Tate and Liza offer to show the group around, though Ash admits that he was hoping to find the Gym Leader. Ash is taken aback when the twins reveal that they are in fact the Mossdeep Gym Leaders. As Tate demonstrates how to ride the MAT properly, Max can't resist teasing Ash about this. Liza informs Ash that in their Gym they do [[Double Battle]]s using their Lunatone and Solrock. Liza seems surprised when Ash still wants to challenge them.  

With the shuttle launch half an hour away, everyone and their Pokémon decides to play around on the space training equipment. Tate and Max leave everyone else to play on the space shuttle simulator. Meanwhile, [[Ash's Corphish]] exits into a hallway, and after noticing boxes of food being transported, it excitedly takes off after them. As Jin is preparing to board the space shuttle, {{an|Rachel}} notices something amiss on the surveillance system. The team investigates the storage room surveillance further, but nothing seems out of sorts. Rachel apologizes, thinking it must have been her imagination. It turns out, however, that it wasn't her imagination - Corphish is happily eating its way through the space food.  

Later, Liza stops her father, Jin, as is about to board the shuttle again for the last time before launch. Liza introduces her new friends, May, Ash, and Brock to him. She turns attention to her missing brother, though Jin hasn't seen him. Rachel contacts her husband on the radio to alert him to a security breach, none other than the Rocket trio clad in space suits. Watching the surveillance footage, Rachel demands the intruders identify themselves, so Team Rocket recites their {{motto}}. When Ash and the others confront the trio, James sends out {{TP|James|Cacnea}} to do a {{m|Pin Missile}}. Though Ash counters with Pikachu's {{m|Thunderbolt}}. Despite getting zapped, Jessie still manages to send out {{TP|Jessie|Seviper}} to perform a {{m|Haze}} attack, allowing the trio to make their escape and head for the shuttle's cockpit. As Team Rocket makes their way to the cockpit, Jessie grabs a handful of space food packets for their voyage. Inside the cockpit, they find Max and Tate, who had earlier sneaked aboard. Meowth promptly ties the boys up with rope before the trio takes their positions. To put them in the proper mood for take-off, James sends out his {{TP|James|Chimecho}} for a melodic {{m|Heal Bell}}. Meowth pushes the launch button, causing the boosters to start. Everyone else notices this with alarm and, upon turning on the cockpit's monitor, Rachel radios to Jin that Tate and Max are on the shuttle with Team Rocket. It's too late, however, as the shuttle is already taking off. The support rocket and boosters fall away as the rocket makes its way up into the atmosphere. Soon, Team Rocket’s space voyage comes to an abrupt stop thanks to the Baltoy and their Confusion attack. With the distraction, Tate suggests to Max that they make their escape. Trying to figure out how to accomplish this, Max notices Corphish hiding under a bank of controls. Corphish motions for Max to be quiet with its claw, and he nods. Now free thanks to Corphish, Tate has his Solrock use {{m|Psychic}} to levitate Team Rocket. Solrock throws the trio around the cabin for a bit until they all collide and fall to the floor, out cold.