A/N: Thank you for clicking on this story! This little sort-of humorous and not-quite-serious story was written for the amazing Ebaz, moderator of an awesome forum (Pokémon Fanfiction Challenges here on FFN, if you're interested) and a cool person in general, as a very-late birthday present. Happy birthday :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the picture used as cover.

The Usefulness Of An Escape Rope In The Anime And Why It Will Never Be Used

The forest was silent.

Too silent.

He knew this sort of silence. It meant it was going to happen soon. It always did.

The wind whispered slightly through the leaves. Soft breathing coming from his companions. The rhythmic thump-thump of his own heart. The-

A loud crack.

Something shifted beneath his feet. Reflexively, he gasped in air, his muscles tensing immediately. The familiar feeling of the ground disappearing under him. Falling, his hands trying to find something to hold onto but his mind knowing very well they would not find anything.

He didn't scream. He never screamed anymore.

A moment later, solid ground hit his feet, and he bent through his knees to absorb the impact. His arms waved around to reestablish his balance, blood thundering in his ears, heart beating against his ribs.

Another moment later, it was over. He was standing steady again, several meters lower than before, and he turned around to face his companions.

"Took them long enough," Ash muttered, dusting off his clothes. "They're losing their touch."

"They never had any touch to begin with." Misty grimaced, glancing upwards. "Three meters this time." She turned to glare at the ground, kicking at something. "Stupid stone almost made me lose my balance."

"Nothing almost about that." Ash grinned cheekily. "If I hadn't grabbed you, you would've been on the ground, no doubt."

"Pfft. You just grabbed my hand because you were scared you were gonna fall over yourself." Now it was Misty's turn to grin.

"Was not." Ash's grin had dissipated in a glare.

"Was too."

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Was-"

"Pika!" Cheeks threateningly sparking with electricity, the fourth member of the group intervened with the pointless arguing before it could escalate further.

"Pikachu is right," Brock quickly used the opening the Pokémon had created. "We shouldn't waste any time, they're already taking longer than usual. We need to get out." He paused. "Unless either of you want to hear the motto again…"

Everyone shuddered in unison.

"Ash-"

"On it," he said, starting to rummage through his backpack. When extracting his hand out of his bag, Ash revealed a plain-looking rope, but with how the four were looking at it, one would think it was some sort of magical object.

Perhaps it was. Brock smiled to himself at the thought. They had found the item not too long ago, and had found out its surprising powers per accident.

Ash swung the rope above their heads, and as it descended, Brock's vision faded to black, sounds and smells dying, and the feeling of weightlessness taking over. A moment later, his senses returned to him, and he was once again standing on solid ground, the hole right in front of them.

The wonderful thing that was an Escape Rope.

"Let's move!" Misty ordered, already setting the right example herself. Ash and Pikachu hurried after her, and Brock closed the line.

"You know," Ash spoke thoughtfully after a moment. "If this was a TV show, and Team Rocket the bad guys, it would really suck."

"Yup."

"Definitely."

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To denounce the evils- Hey! Jessie, the twerps are gone!"

"To- What?! They can't be gone!"

"It looks like dey're gone."

"Keep your smart comments to yourself, Meowth!"

"Ow!"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"What- what are we going to do now?"

"We're going to make a new trap. And this time, it's going to work."

"And how would we do dat? Ow! Stop hitting me, woman!"

"Stop doubting our team, Pokémon!"

"…"

"…"

"But… how are we going to make sure to catch the twerps this time, Jessie?"

"We're going to dig a new hole-"

"But- ow!"

"And this time… we're going to make it deeper."

There was moment of silence as all contemplated the sheer genius of Jessie's brilliant plan. Then, the Team Rocket trio cackled evilly, before going off to dig a new hole.

A/N: Thank you for reading! I hope… well, I hope it made it sense, and that it was somewhat fun to read. And especially that you liked it, Ebaz! :) This was just something poking fun at that Team Rocket never really learns from their mistakes, and well… how useful an actual Escape Rope would be. Especially if you could use it more than once haha.

Anyway, feel free to leave me a review!