Jesse and James were sitting in the forest watching Meowth sleep under a tree. They were wondering whether it was worth trying to catch Pikachu again, when they heard the noise of a jeep.
"Ooh, look, Jesse, it's Mondo! I'll bet he has food!"
"Oh, lovely to see you Mondo," shouted Jesse.
"My seniors, I brought you lunch." Mondo took three boxes marked with an R out of the jeep.
Meowth woke up when he smelled food. "Hey Mondo! What's that Ditto of yours doing out of it's pokeball?" he yelled.
"I have been receiving advice from an expert Ditto trainer. I hope to learn to communicate better with Ditto," replied Mondo.
"That thing gives me the creeps," muttered Meowth.
"But I've never heard of a Ditto trainer, except for that little girl we had the run-in with." said Jesse.
"Yes," replied Mondo, "that is her. Of course, she does not know I am a member of Team Rocket. And... she is not so little anymore." Mondo began to blush. "Ditto, ditto" said Ditto, which looked as if it were laughing.
Jesse's eyes widened, "Oh, well! Is she prettier than me?"
"I could never say anyone is prettier than my senior," stammered Mondo.
"James, look how he is blushing, isn't that cute? I think I'm going to lose my admirer." She shook her finger at Mondo.
"Jesse," said James, "Are you going to finish that rice?"
Jesse lifted a fan towards James's head, then put in down with a sigh and pushed her leftover rice toward him. "You're not very romantic."
"Perhaps my senior will be more romantic when his stomach is full," said Mondo.
Jesse laughed, "You are very daring now that you have a girlfriend."
"Don't say that! She is only giving me good advice about my Ditto. Goodbye, my seniors."
"Ah, well," sighed Jesse. "You still think I am beautiful, don't you, James?"
"Umm... I'll take a look when I'm done with the rice." he answered. Then he ducked the fan.
The next day Mondo's jeep unexpectedly appeared again.
"Mondo!" said Jesse, "Why are you hanging your head like that, we're happy to see you!"
The figure looked up. "You're not Mondo!" said Jesse.
"No, I'm not. I'm Duplica. Mondo's in trouble. You've got to help!"
"What!!!" James and Jesse yelled simultaneously.
"Yesterday he came over with his Ditto, and just after he left two people hit him in the head and dragged him into a car. I followed them as best I could, disguised as a mailman. They've got Mondo locked up in a house. I tried to spy on them but I can't risk getting caught. All I could find out was that they are two Team Rocket members named Butch and Cassidy"
James and Jesse gasped, as Meowth groaned, "Not those two again!"
"And that they wanted to get two people named James and Jesse in trouble. I know that's you, so I put on a uniform and went looking for you."
"But why do you want to help Mondo now that you know he works for us?" asked Jesse.
"I've known he worked for Team Rocket from the beginning. He's not exactly a master of disguise; he thought he could fool me by wearing a jacket with no R on it. I've got half a dozen of your uniforms in my closet, I know one when I see one."
"That didn't bother you?" asked Jesse.
"At first I thought it was some kind of trap, and I played along just so I could catch him at it. Then I realized he was a sweet guy who needed help with him Ditto, even if he does have a weird job."
"A weird job?" laughed Meowth. "He's a bad guy like us, you dip! Remember us, the ones who stole your Ditto?"
"You want to try it again?" asked Duplica, lifting a Pokeball. "He's got a better fury swipe attack than you do now."
"Surely you're not proposing to join us?" James said with scorn.
"I hope not!" screeched Meowth, "I couldn't stand having another Ditto around."
"I don't think I could do that. But I've got to help Mondo. Whatever's going on with you guys, I can tell there's something twice as bad going on with Butch and Cassidy. Come with me to the House of Imite and I'll tell you my plan."
A few hours later everything was ready. Meowth was sent to watch the house Butch and Cassidy were staying at, while they waited a short distance away. Finally, Meowth radioed them to say that Cassidy had gone out in the car. James and Duplica set out to follow her.
Half an hour later, Butch heard a knock on the door. When he looked out, he saw Cassidy holding something. He opened the door.
"Look, Butch," she said when she got inside, "I actually caught that Pikachu our rivals are always looking for. Now we can really humiliate them."
Butch said, "I thought you were going out for groceries..." and came closer to look. By the time he noticed that "Cassidy" was looking a bit different, the thundershock hit him and knocked him out. Jesse laughed and took off the blonde wig. Duplica's ditto turned from a Pikachu to a Bulbasaur and wrapped Butch up in its vines while Jesse went to look for Mondo.
Mondo was tied up in the basement. "My beautiful senior!" he said with shock. "Butch and Cassidy kidnapped me, they said without me you would fail completely. I don't even know what they were going to do with me."
Jesse laughed, "Duplica told us where you were, and I just incapacitated Butch. She and James are out looking for Cassidy. Come on, let's tie Butch up with your ropes and put him down here." She looked down at her clothes. "I guess I'll leave this black outfit on for now, it's hideous but I'm going to get dirty."
They went upstairs and tied Butch up with rope. Meanwhile, Mondo spied his pokeball on Butch's belt. "Are you sure that's not Raticate?" asked Jesse. "See," replied Butch, "it has an ink stain from when I traded with you for Meowth."
When the real Cassidy exited the grocery store she saw Butch and Mondo waiting for her in a jeep. She ran toward them and jumped into the passenger seat, hissing "What are you doing? You were supposed to wait there with him..." Butch hit the gas and went into for an empty alley. Cassidy was just about to ask "Butch" where he got the green contact lenses but Victreebell jumped on her head. James and Duplica removed their wigs and laughed.
When James and Duplica got back to the house Duplica ran first to Mondo and hugged him. James and Jesse politely looked away.
Then they debated what to do with the barely conscious Butch and Cassidy. James convinced Jesse not to chop off Cassidy's hair, and Jesse convinced James not to write anything nasty on Butch's face. Mondo was too happy to be safe and with Duplica to think too much about revenge. Finally Jesse and Duplica, dressed as Officer Jennys, tied them up firmly and dumped them in an alley in back of the police station.
They all went back to the House of Imite with Chinese take-out. No one wanted to be the first to bring up the future, but finally Jesse said, "Well, Mondo, I suppose this is it for you and Team Rocket. I doubt Duplica will want you to continue."
"I can't abandon my seniors to whatever Butch and Cassidy might think up next," said Mondo. "They won't be in jail forever."
"Of course you can't," said Duplica. She looked sad.
"But I think I will take a short vacation. The boss won't miss a low-level member like me enough to object, and he'll be dealing with Butch and Cassidy's problem anyway. Maybe I'll go over to the Orange Islands and try to capture some Pokemon. No one there knows who I am, and I could make some decisions about everything. Would you like to come with me, Duplica?"
Duplica blushed, but said, "I'd love to."
Jesse got up, lingering by the table and looking at Duplica and Mondo. "Well, I guess that means we'll be eating instant rice for a while."
"I'm not that bad of a cook, Jesse," protested James.
"Well, you're not as good at compliments as Mondo is..."
"I'll practice," said James firmly, and pulled her out the door.
Author's Note: No offense is intended to Butch and Cassidy fan. One B & C fan told me this fic was a bit mean to them, and I guess that's true. I like them, but that's how this fic worked out. Believe me, they never spend long in jail!