029 - Discovery! The Rocket's Secret Base!

'''!!!!! HEY TRAINERS, THERE BE MAJOR SPOILERS HERE!!! AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO MAKE SPOILER HEADERS YET!!! THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING! !!!!!'''"'You don't just walk away from family.'"

Episode Summary
The heat is on. Rose and Cobalt have to infiltrate the Rocket's secret base to rescue Moltres before the other legendary birds cause major havoc in Vermilion City. But their plan is quickly derailed and they need to think on the fly. Can they rescue moltres? Will they make it out of the Rocket's base? Join Jake, Josh, and Alan to find out in this episode of Pokemon World Tour United!

Episode Synopsis
The morning after encountering two Legendaries, Rose and Cobalt make their plans for infiltrating the Rocket base. Their plans are as follows: With a plan outlined, they make their preparations, getting into costume and organizing their teams. Rose brings along Bango (with his fur painted in inverted colors), TBD, Mr. Chewybiteums, Brooklyn, and Juliet. Cobalt brings along Trill, Prelude, Nocturne, and Minuet. Bango is outfitted with Cobalt's old backpack, which carries Treble and Scramble. When they drop off their Pokémon with Victor, he is still mostly lucid, but they avoid telling him the extent of their plans, simply leaving Sakura, Baritone, and Bass with him and Nightlight.
 * Sakura, Baritone, and Bass will stay at the Pokemon Center and guard Victor.
 * Rose and Cobalt will wear the Rocket disguises and sneak into the base, calling themselves Trish and Garrett.
 * Rose and Cobalt switch out their main teams for Pokémon that they have not fought the Rockets with before (to avoid being recognized).

From there, Rose and Cobalt depart to the Rocket Top Secret Base. It is a beautiful old building, with nightmarish gargoyles decorating the roof, a tall gate, and an unguarded front door. The gate opens when they reveal the R on their uniforms, and they enter the building.

The lobby of the Top Secret Base turns out to be incredibly cluttered. The center of the room is occupied by a long table, on which are several laptops, pieces of electronic equipment and technology, sheaves of notes, and books. The room is empty of people, although there is an elevator in the back of the room. Rose and Cobalt investigate the notes (Cobalt crits, and Rose gets a 16) to find information about several Rocket operations. They take particular note of the papers talking about Project Implant (much of which is redacted), Operation Snatch (which is in progress), and Operation Tri-Attack Bird Boom (or TABB). The sheet for Operation TABB reveals that they have a trap set for "Thunderer," while "Freezer" has proven more elusive, and "Furnace" is handled in the Ultra Secret Base. Rose and Cobalt also notice how everything seems to be much more organized than they expect, which unsettles the two Trainers.

Cobalt hears two people approaching from down a hallway, and they turn to face two Rocket Grunts. Rose and Cobalt are able to bluff the Grunts into believing that "Trish" and "Garrett" are from Internal Affairs, and after some snarking, into revealing that Cira is still supposed to check in with Team Rocket, and hasn't in at least 24 hours. The female Grunt, Cory, sends the male Grunt, Carter, to retrieve Admin Lilith. When Cory goes to call the regional admins, Cobalt quickly has Minuet put her to sleep with Sleep Powder before she can touch the phone. Thinking quickly, Cobalt unplugs the telephone cord and returns Minuet, while Rose hauls Cory under the long table and has TBD transform into a tablecloth, which covers the entire table, plus the unfortunate Rocket.

At that point, Rocket Grunt Carter returns with Rocket Admin Lilith. When "Trish" and "Garrett" imply that they're there for a surprise investigation, Lilith gets defensive at the implication that the Secret Base operations did something wrong. She tries to reassure "Trish" and "Garrett" that a missing female Rocket, implied to be Bonnie, will return to Team Rocket once "the programming" kicks in. "Trish" deflects and instead asks about the status of TABB, for the sake of being thorough with her "report." Lilith mentions that the main aspects of TABB are now located in their Ultra Secret Base, but that they still have "Furnace" onsite. "Garrett" charms Lilith into taking them to see "Furnace," and "Trish" scares Carter away.

Lilith enters the elevator after inputting a security code and having her retina scanned. She, Rose, and Cobalt make small talk about their work at the Top Secret Base and "Internal Affairs," how much paperwork there is, and how things were simpler when Giovanni was in charge.

The elevator opens into a dark room. There is a single man in the room, seated at a computer and desk, far away from the elevator, and chained to the desk by his ankles. An intuition check from Rose and Cobalt lets Cobalt recognize that the man looks strikingly like Victor, but aged twenty years. When "Garrett" comments that he should be fed, because he'd probably work better if he was, Lilith snarks that he'll be fed eventually, referring to him as Zane. Rose successfully Guiles Lilith into leaving the two of them to talk to Zane (avoiding the protocol of nobody being alone with Zane, since she and Cobalt will be there). Lilith retreats to the elevator landing.

Once alone, Cobalt points out to Rose that Zane looks incredibly similar to Victor. Zane starts to become angry at Rose and Cobalt, and, noticing his accent, Rose comments that he's super duper Victor's dad. At the mention of Victor's name, Zane is shocked that they know who he is. Rose and Cobalt reveal their true identities and connection to Victor. In relief, Zane tells Rose and Cobalt his story: he researches myths and legends, and had previously worked with Professor Skye before being kidnapped. Team Rocket, for some reason, wants the Legendary Birds to fight, and is forcing him to track their locations based on weather patterns. When Rose and Cobalt admit that they're actually there to find and release Moltres, Zane tells them where to find him: a small island in the southwest of Vermilion City, accessible via a hatch under a parked truck. He promises to find his own way out of the Rocket base, and Rose and Cobalt agree to give his love (and a Pokéball-shaped locket) to Victor.

Rose and Cobalt re-assume their Rocket personas, and angrily rage at Zane before returning to the elevator. When Lilith asks them about the interrogation, they claim that he was abrasive and unhelpful. They commiserate about the behavior of non-Rockets. Lilith mentions that they've been trying to force Zane to cooperate by threatening his son, and that Operation Snatch–their plot to kidnap Victor–should be going into effect very soon. Rose promises to file a favorable report on the Top Secret Base's operations, which relieves Lilith. Rose very casually asks Lilith about the Team Rocket Bosses; in response, she mentions that the Bosses worked their way up from the bottom ranks of Team Rocket, but that "she" will probably be mad that Rose took her hairstyle.

Cast
Alan Sells as GM/Victor/Everyone Else/Everything Else

Jake Mason as Rose Jenny

Josh Nichols as Cobalt

Trivia

 * This episode's image is by James Gibson.
 * In the episode's stinger, they joke about possibly playing an RPG themed around Lazytown on Cool Kids' Table.
 * Jake threatens Roll20 with death if he gets a poor roll. (He gets a 25.)
 * The events of the series, up to this point, have taken place over less than a month. (Approximately one and a half weeks.)