New Enemies

"Hey watch it!" Tony yelled as another Thundershock attack misfired and struck the tree just beside him, eight and a half inches too close for his liking. Pawniard snarled a ton of what can be assumed to be obscenities in Pokémon language and leapt even further away than his human partner did, grasping the Iron Man suitcase defensively as though scared that it might become the next unfortunate target of Pikachu's wayward shots.

"No, no Pikachu!" Thor chided, shaking his head at his Pikachu's failed attacks. "You need to focus, and gather your power onto one area, like this-" The god raised his Mjolnir up majestically towards the sky and the low rumbling of thunder sounded overhead. Pikachu's eyes widened as a deafening crack echoed and a blinding streak of lightning cut across the air towards the ground, landing on and blasting a nearby boulder to bits.

"I thought rock types are resistant to electricity..." Clint muttered, his Yanma buzzing even more noisily on his head than usual after having witnessed the amazing display. Beside him, Natasha was similarly trying to calm her frantic Torchic down.

"Who the hell cares, Barton?!" She snapped irritably, doing her best to stop the squealing frightened chick from squirming against her calves.

Thor grinned with pride at his success, and gazed down at Pikachu, who seemed impressed and even more pumped up than ever.

"Your turn!" He laughed and Pikachu gave a curt nod before closing its eyes in concentration.

"Pika-CHUUU!"

The bright bolt of electricity zipped across the air and struck the tree nearest to Tony once more, this time powerful enough to snap a thick, heavy branch right off.

"Will you fucking stop aiming it here?!" Tony shouted angrily, sweeping some fallen leaves from his head and shoulders with a tad more force than necessary.

"Pawniard!" Pawniard agreed with an evil glare trained on Pikachu. However, Thor and Pikachu seemed too engrossed with their training to even notice their team mates' protests.

"Thor! Use your lightning on Pikachu!" Bruce called out suddenly, standing a considerably safer and wiser distance away from the thunder-happy duo, as compared to Tony. Beside him, Steve, who was still coddling the terrified Ralts in his arms, gave a puzzled frown.

"You want him to- what?" The Captain asked, wondering if he had heard his friend correctly. "Wouldn't that... hurt Pikachu?" He continued, giving Bruce an uncertain look.

Bruce simply chuckled, ignoring his Mankey which had now climbed up onto his head, gabbing in a fit of excitement at the spectacle. "You already know that Pokémon are special creatures with different unique abilities, right?" He asked and Steve nodded. "Well, one of Pikachu's abilities is to be able to absorb electricity and use it to charge up its attacks."

"Ah, I see." Steve muttered softly after hearing his friend's explanation and turned back to view the training session once more. This was a scene new to the Captain and deep down, as much as he disapproved of Pokémon battling, he must admit that the training process fascinated him. To think that Pokémon would possess such incredible and devastating powers, he thought quietly to himself. Slowly, his gaze turned from the zealous Thor and Pikachu, down to the warm, tiny creature shivering in his arms.

I wonder if Riley has abilities as powerful as that...

"That's right Point Break!" Tony exclaimed excitedly at the idea. Seeing Thor's bewildered expression, he sighed. "You remember our past fight in that forest, when you aimed a shock of electricity at me and I used it to charge up the suit for a counter blast?" He asked impatiently and Thor gave him a blank stare before a look of comprehension dawned on his face.

"Oh! You mean-?"

"That's right Bright Spark," Tony replied, sarcasm thick in his voice. "Your tiny mouse can do that as well."

Thor turned to his Pikachu, eyes shining brightly at the thought. "You ready for this?" He asked and Pikachu gave him a grin and thumbs up of confidence. With that, the Thunder god lifted his Mjolnir up high once more and summoned another streak of electricity, this time directing it towards his Pikachu.

"Pika!" A sharp cry escaped from the Pokémon's throat as the lightning struck it and powerful volts of electricity surged through its body. All, of the Avengers, including Thor, watched with a mix of amazement and apprehension as the electric mouse's body convulsed with the overwhelming energy before finally stiffening and breaking out of the current in a shower of bright white sparks.

"Pika- Pika!" The loud cry soon after hardly served as an adequate warning when an enormous blast of electricity erupted from Pikachu's body, surrounding them in a flash of blinding light. Tony gave a panicked shout and stumbled backwards, blocking his eyes from the painful glare and only managing to hear similar yells and screeches of shock from his Pawniard as well as Clint, Natasha and their Pokémon partners. Bruce and Steve, he quickly assumed to be okay since the two chickens were hiding much further away than they were. Poor Thor though.

It took a long while for the smoke from the explosion to clear, but when it finally did, spiralling up into the air in wisps of grey, Tony managed to spot a humongous crater formed on the once grassy plain, its green flora now reduced to no more than scorches of burnt black ash. Pikachu was standing on all fours in the middle, ears and tail perked up high in alarm and staring around the damage it had done with a look of utmost surprise. It was apparent that it had never unleashed an attack of this intensity before.

"Is Thor alright?!" Steve cried out in concern as he ran up to Tony's side, looking about frantically for their team mate. Tony gave a curt nod.

"See for yourself." He pointed out to the Captain, whose gaze immediately followed the direction the man referred to. Soon enough, he managed to spot Thor, dazed and backed up against a tree, which he had obviously smashed into when he had been blasted away by the explosion, armour slightly smoking and wavy blonde hair singed at the ends.

"Well, this wasn't... what I had expected." Bruce mumbled sheepishly as he too, walked up to Tony's side, only daring to step closer to the scene once he was certain another explosion wasn't about to happen. On his shoulders, Mankey gave a tiny whimper and hid contemplatively behind his head, peeking out occasionally to assess the damage.

Thor gave a low groan as he snapped out of his stunned stupor and stumbled forwards, detaching himself from the trunk of the tree and struggling to maintain his balance. He turned to Pikachu with a look of shock, and the yellow mouse's ears drooped guiltily when it saw the damage it had done to his friend. There was an awkward silence for a few seconds before Thor finally opened his mouth to speak and Pikachu flinched a little at the impending yells of anger it was sure it would receive.

"That. Was. FANTASTIC!" Thor boomed suddenly, surprising everyone with his loud cheerful laughter and rushing forward in glee to give his Pokémon a breathtaking hug. Pikachu struggled frantically for a moment against the tight grip of its partner before finally giving in and accepting the affection given to it.

"Pika, pika!" It said cheerily, reaching out and giving the god a pat on the head.

Tony laughed with amusement and turned to the rest of his team mates, who appeared similarly stunned by this sudden change in atmosphere. "Pretty amazing stuff eh, everyone?" The genius chuckled and turned to Bruce, who was still gaping at the scene. "And as always, brilliant idea pal!" He grinned, slapping the scientist amiably on the back.

XXX

"Did you see what I just saw?" Meowth purred as he continued gazing through his binoculars at the strange looking group of people with their Pokémon standing in the middle of a huge smoking crater. Two of them were dancing about in glee, the wavy, blonde haired one and the one with the goatee, while the others were watching by the side, some grinning while some rolled their eyes.

"That was incredible!" James exclaimed, peering through his own set of binoculars.

"Incredible?" Jessie snorted, her own sights from her binoculars fixed on the peculiar group. "Oh please, that was unbelievable!"

Team Rocket continued watching the group for a moment. They observed as the big blonde one swung his Pikachu about triumphantly in the air and the goateed one chattered excitedly to the scruffy looking man with a Mankey clinging around his neck. Jessie chuckled to herself when she saw the red-haired woman smacking another man on his head for seemingly laughing too much, causing the Yanma perched on top to spiral away in shock. That's what she loved to do to James too; men needed constant reeling in. Finally, another tall, muscular, and god damned gorgeous (Jessie swooned) blonde man called them together and they gathered around for what seemed to be a serious discussion. Well, there's that. Team Rocket put down their binoculars and gathered for a discussion of their own as well.

"That Pikachu's electric attack was breathtaking!" Jessie declared, her companions nodding fervently in agreement to her statement.

"Indeed!" James replied enthusiastically. "I've never seen such power! Well, perhaps only from the twerp's Pikachu." The man admitted sheepishly. Meowth gave him a condescending laugh.

"Ha! Who cares?" He scoffed at his indignant team mate. "What matters most is that this Pikachu displays outstanding potential! It is almost on par with the twerp's Pikachu, its electric attacks are astounding, and its display of power from earlier easily places it at the top percentage of Pikachu. Simply put, it will be the perfect prize, a fantastic find! Pokémon such as these are extremely rare and there are few out there who would be able to display such potential, such as me, Me-owth!" Meowth said proudly with a casual gaze at his own nails, only to look up and see Jessie and James yawning away. "Hey! Are you listening?!" The cat-like Pokémon jumped up, deeply offended, and his team mates cast him bored looks.

"Way to state the obvious, genius," Jessie deadpanned and James chuckled in the background.

"Mee-owth!" Meowth started in rage but Jessie cut him off rudely by slapping her palm into his face and knocking him backwards.

"Alright, enough with the crap," the woman snapped, ignoring the dagger-like glares her Pokémon companion shot her. "Let's get down to the nitty gritty. First of all, we've lost track of the twerps, and it might take ages before we can track them down again-"

"I wonder whose fault it was that caused this to happen." Meowth said snidely and received yet another punch on the head for doing so. "Meowth!"

"And here, we have a Pikachu whose powers are equal to that of the twerp's." Jessie continued, ignoring the snarls of anger directed towards her.

"Perhaps even more..." James added thoughtfully and Jessie's eyes beamed at the thought.

"Well then, I suggest we cease our efforts in pursuing the twerps' Pikachu for now," the woman said brightly, "and instead focus on capturing these fools' Pikachu instead!"

"But we've been after Pikachu for so long!" James protested. His argument, however, was dismissed uncaringly by Jessie.

"Well as they say, if you can't have Pikachu you want, want Pikachu you have!" Jessie replied in a sing-song manner and James frowned.

"That makes no sense!" He argued. "Ow! Hey!"

Meowth chuckled at the hurt look on James' face as he rubbed the painful spot on his forehead that Jessie had whacked. Oh the poor idiot was no match for Jessie alright!

"So now then, let's have a vote." Jessie exclaimed gleefully, ignoring her partner. "Who says to capture this Pikachu?"

"Aye!" Meowth cheered, raising his paw.

"Aye~" Jessie sang, raising her hand as well.

The two gazed at each other with a similar evil gleam in their eyes and grinned. "Operation Catch Pikachu, let's go!"

"Hey! I haven't voted yet!" James whined. No one cared.

XXX

"You're saying we should have another practice match?" Bruce stared at Tony in disbelief. After he was certain from the grin on the genius's face that he was not joking, the man glanced at the Mankey clinging around his neck and shook his head firmly. "No way, Tony, leave me and Mankey out of this one."

Tony gave a soft cynical snort. "Don't worry your pretty little head over it, Brucie. The one we want to train for now is Pikachu, not Mankey. No offense, but your Pokémon's typing would suck in a battle against Falkner."

Brruce couldn't help giving a sigh of relief at the answer. One crazy-Mankey experience in a day was more than enough for him, thank you very much.

Tony's gaze turned from Bruce to the rest of his team mates. "So, anyone volunteers to take one for the team?" He asked hopefully, but only getting stony looks in reply. "Oh come on!"

"Instead of pushing the task to us, why don't you take one for the team yourself, Stark?" Natasha retorted, eyes flashing dangerously. Tony shot her an unimpressed look.

"Does this thing seem about to listen to me in a battle anytime?" He asked sarcastically, pointing to his sulking Pawniard. Natasha gave an uncaring shrug.

"My heart bleeds for you." She smirked and Tony was offended enough by the jab to shoot back a retort. However, before he could do so, his Pawnaird gave a bloodcurdling growl and stepped towards Thor's Pikachu, who watched its advance warily.

"Paw!" The dark type Pokémon barked, giving Pikachu an aggressive poke in the chest with its sharp claw-like hand. "Pawniard!"

"Wait, it looks like... it wants to battle." Bruce said hesitantly as everyone stared at this strange display of hostility from Pawniard. Tony blinked in surprise.

"You want to battle?" He asked Pawniard, who gave another growl and a curt nod in reply. "With Thor's Pikachu?" Pawniard nodded again and Tony seemed stumped. "Well, okaaay then..."

Thor coughed nervously at this. "Are you sure this will be 'okay', my friend?" He asked, shooting the vicious little monster a cautious glance. After all, witnessing that creature in action against the Captain a few days ago had given the Thunder god sufficient reason to worry about pitting his precious Pikachu against it.

"Of course, Thor!" Tony laughed, quickly changing from his uncertain stance to a cheery one. "It'll be fun." He grinned. However, as soon as Thor nodded and left to the other side of the scorched plains to prepare for the battle, the genius immediately turned to his Pawniard and gave it a stern look.

"Look here," He said seriously, ignoring the defiant glare Pawniard shot him. "I don't know what's up in that tiny head of yours, but this is a friendly match kay? We need to help Pikachu gain experience."

Pawniard gave him a snort of contempt before heading out into the field with a swagger. Bruce beckoned Steve to join him at a far, safe distance away from the battle field, and the Captain was all too pleased to oblige. Having experienced the onslaught from Pawniard once before was enough for the man, and he certainly won't want to be at the receiving end of its attacks again, regardless of whether they are intended or accidental.

"Good luck, Stark." Natasha teased and Tony glared at the red-headed assassin and Clint, who was smirking annoyingly, as they walked over to join Steve and Bruce.

Looks like he's on his own now...

Who needs them anyway?

Tony cleared his throat confidently, and whipped out the Starkdex from his pocket. "J, you know what to do."

"Most certainly, Sir," Jarvis agreed and there was a beep before a list of Pawniard's attacks flashed on the screen. Tony's eyes swept through them once, and then he was ready to begin.

"Ready pal?" He called out to Thor, who grinned and nodded. Clint saw this as an opportunity to step up as referee.

"Alright, since you two assholes are ready," the archer hollered, much to the disapproval of Natasha. "Then let the battle begin!"

Tony grinned and cracked his knuckles. "Well, let's rumble."

"Pikachu, use Thundershock!" Thor bellowed from the other side of the field and Pikachu obeyed, unleashing a powerful jolt of electricity towards Pawniard. Pawniard hissed and dodged the attack swiftly, leaving Thor gaping at the agility of his opponent. Steve nodded at the sight. Yes, this was how fast he remembered Pawniard to be.

Tony took advantage of this slight pause in Thor to issue his order. "Pawniard, Fury cutter!"

Pawniard rushed towards Pikachu at an amazing speed, and swiped its claws ferociously at the yellow mouse. Pikachu dodged the blow hastily by leaping up into the air above the charging Pokémon, and Pawniard tumbled forward due to the force of its momentum. It rolled once and got back up onto its feet, turning around and watching Pikachu with an evil gleam in its eyes. Thor recovered from his daze immediately at the scene.

"Pikachu, Thunder Shock again!" The god commanded and Pikachu readied itself before firing another electric blast at its foe. Pawniard snarled and used the reflective surface of its blades to deflect the electric attack. Thor hissed in frustration at how their attack was thwarted again while Tony gave a low whistle.

"Smart," the genius muttered, impressed by the move. Well, there had to be a reason why Pawniard's his Pokémon after all, he deduced reasonably. "Alright, Tiny, use your Faint Attack!" Tony continued and Pawniard gave Pikachu a sneer before rushing towards the mouse Pokémon at an almost lightning speed. It disappeared for a second, as though vanishing into the shadows and materialised the very next, lashing out at its opponent with its claw and striking its target.

Pikachu gave a yelp of pain as the blow threw it backwards, causing it to land painfully onto the ground.

"Straight on!" Tony grinned at the successful hit. However, Pawniard seemed far from satisfied. The dark type Pokémon rushed forward once more, ignoring the lack of orders from Tony and lashed out at Pikachu again. The electric mouse recovered sufficiently by that time to jump up and avoid the attack, but Pawniard persisted in its onslaught of blows. "Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing!" Tony yelled but to no avail.

"Pikachu!" Thor cried out anxiously as Pikachu was slashed viciously once more by Pawniard, who seemed pleased with itself as it watched its foe tumble across the grass. "Tony Stark, this is not fun!" The god growled angrily and Tony flashed him a sheepish grin.

"Hey!" Tony hissed urgently to his Pawniard, who was now calm enough to stand there smirking down at Pikachu. "Friendly match! Remember, Rust Head?"

Pawniard stuck its tongue out at him.

Really?!

"Pikachu, use your Thundershock again!" Thor ordered furiously, taking advantage of the fact that Pawniard seemed distracted to try landing a hit. Pikachu got up shakily, a fiery look burning in its eyes and shot a shock of electricity towards Pawniard once more. This time the dark type Pokémon barely dodged the blow.

"Thor, use Pikachu's other attacks as well!" Bruce called out anxiously as he watched the ongoing battle.

"What?" Thor titled his head in confusion at the suggestion and Clint actually face palmed.

"Use Pikachu's Quick Attacks, Tackles and other attacks. Combine its moves with its electric shocks to land hits!" Bruce explained patiently, ignoring Clint's mutterings in the background about boring and repetitive battles. Thor nodded at the explanation and turned back to the battle once more.

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack!' The god exclaimed, and Pikachu's body stiffened before it hurtled headfirst towards Pawniard at a lightning speed. Pawniard hissed and jumped hastily out of the way, only managing to escape from the attack unscathed by a mere hair's width.

The battle continued on in a furious tirade of electric shocks and slashes, with both Pokémon moving at light speed and dodging their opponents' attacks agilely. Neither sides managed to score a hit for the next seven minutes and both Pokémon appeared to be wearing out soon. Clint, for his part, appeared to be getting bored again, and the annoying buzz from his Yanma wasn't soothing his nerves at all. It was then, that Thor suddenly spotted an opportunity to attack just as Pawniard dodged Pikachu's Quick Attack for the ninth time, leaping up into the air when Pikachu landed on the ground.

"Pikachu, Thunder Shock!"Thor roared and Pikachu obeyed immediately, firing a ferocious shock of electricity at Pawniard. This time, being unable to dodge the shock midair, Pawniard was hit by the electric blow squarely in the chest. Everyone stared as the dark-type Pokémon froze in the air, surrounded by a bright glare of light for two seconds before plummeting down onto the ground with a groan.

"What? Is it over?" Clint asked after Pawniard laid unmoving on the ground for the next ten seconds. When the Pokémon did not seem about to get up any time soon, the archer gave a shrug. "Guess so then. The winner is Thor and Pikachu!"

Thor punched the air triumphantly and rushed towards Pikachu, who leapt into his arms with glee. As the two did their cheer and dance of celebration, Tony smiled and headed towards his Pawniard, who was sitting up by now and rubbing the back of its head in confusion.

"You alright?" The billionaire asked, a hint of concern in his voice as he gazed down at his Pokémon. Pawniard stood up shakily and shot the man what he deduced to be a scowl. Having interacted with the spunky metal Pokémon for the past few days, Tony couldn't say that he was at all surprised by the reply. "You did great out there." He continued, the side of his lips quirking upwards in an attempt at a compliment. When Pawniard didn't seem appreciative of the effort, however, Tony found it hard to continue controlling his snark. "Although there can be a couple of improvements."

"Amazing match guys," Bruce smiled as he walked towards them, his Mankey nodding enthusiastically in agreement. Steve followed closely behind, although his lips was pursed tightly in an attempt to appear disapproving of the battle.

Clint gave Thor a hearty slap on the back. "Congrats, Thunder boy!" The archer grinned and Thor chuckled appreciatively back. "Nice job whooping Tony's ass."

"Technically, it wasn't my ass that got kicked." Tony replied with an indignant pout, pointing surreptitiously at Pawniard, who scowled at the jab. "And it was supposed to be a friendly match." He added before giving Clint a glare. "Besides, what sort of lousy refereeing was that, Barton? I heard better from one year olds, and they could only babble."

Before Clint could shoot back a retort or even look offended, a loud explosion occurred metres away from where the Avengers stood and shrouded them in a nasty smelling smokescreen.

"What- what the hell?!" Tony coughed in shock as he and the others spluttered and tried to breathe through the smog. Torchic's panicked chirps echoed in the background, and with his eyes watering with pain and discomfort, Tony could barely make out a distinct shape of two people standing at a distance where the smoke was starting to clear.

"Prepare for trouble."

"And make it double."

"Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me." Tony deadpanned as he continued staring at the two humanoid shapes.

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all people within our nation."

"Is that-?" Bruce sputtered in disbelief as he joined Tony in staring at the now visible duo standing a distance from them. Tony, however, was too busy appearing incredulous to reply him.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie."

"James."

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meooooowth! That's right!"

"That cat talks!" Thor gaped at Meowth, who had agilely somersaulted to the front of Team Rocket. Steve, too, was staring at them with a mix of confusion and disbelief.

"Are they hostile?" the Captain asked hesitantly, but never got an answer as Clint interrupted him with a howl of laughter and slow claps.

"Oh my god, now that was fucking classic!" Hawkeye guffawed as he doubled over with tears of mirth in his eyes. Natasha rolled her eyes at both her partner, and the absurdity of the entire situation. "Hey one question though," Clint choked as struggled to contain his amusement. "I've always wondered, is that your natural hair colour?" He pointed to James, who seemed genuinely befuddled by the question.

"Wha-?" The man stuttered out of surprise, but before he could answer, was given an impatient shove by Jessie.

"Enough of this," the woman snapped, shooting the Avengers a nasty glare. "We don't have time to waste! We are here for Pikachu!" She declared and Steve stiffened up at her words. He may not know who the hell these strange people are, but from the sounds of this, they sure aren't friendly.

Tony gave an impatient little cough at this. "Hate to say this, but I think you got the wrong Pikachu." The billionaire retorted and pointed to Thor, who appeared completely dumbstruck by the situation. "Does he look like a cap crazy ten year old from Pallet Town to you?"

"Shut up you imbecile!" Jessie scoffed. Tony bristled at the insult. Imbecile? Him? He had a good mind to start a debate on who the real imbeciles were. "We know what we're doing-" She continued haughtily.

"Apparently not." Tony muttered to Bruce, who was trying his best to keep a straight face.

"-And we want that Pikachu!" Jessie declared, pointing to the alarmed Pikachu on Thor's shoulders.

"What?" Poor Thor seemed thoroughly confused. "But- but this Pikachu is mine."

"They're Pokémon thieves, Thor." Bruce said, shooting wary glances at Team Rocket. "They steal Pokémon."

"Thaaaat's right!" Meowth sang, flashing Thor an evil grin. "Now hand over that Pikachu."

Comprehension dawned upon Thor and the look of confusion on his face immediately changed into one of rage. "You want me to hand over Pikachu?!" He roared and the Mjolnir lying beside him flew into his hand. The Thunder god seemed about to hurl the hammer at the trio when Tony stopped him hurriedly.

"Whoa whoa hold it big guy! No Meow-meow, remember? Ordinary trainers?" Tony reminded him hastily and Thor turned his glare onto Tony.

"But they wish to steal Pikachu!" He protested angrily and Tony flashed him another bright grin.

"Yeah, and we'll fight back, as trainers." The billionaire smirked. "Time to test your battle skills, don't you think? You can use your hammer when things get nasty." He added, casting a glance at the Mjolnir and Thor's firm grip on his weapon loosened at his words. He gave Tony a long reluctant stare before nodding and dropping the Mjolnir back onto the ground with a loud thud. The Thunder god then turned back to face Team Rocket with a frown, glaring at the ones who would dare to steal his precious Pokémon.

"That's right!" Jessie sneered. "Put down your toy hammer and let's handle this like adults!" The woman plucked a Pokéball from her waist belt and hurled it towards the centre of the field between them. "Arbok, get that Pikachu!"

"Weezing, go!" James followed suit.

Arbok and Weezing burst out from their Pokéballs and snarled at the Avengers and their Pokémon aggressively.

"Cha-Bak-Kap!"

"Wee-ezing!"

"Arbok and Weezing again huh?" Tony's brows furrowed at the sight of the two Pokémon. But weren't those two released a long time ago?

Thor, not knowing these tiny details, paid no heed to them at all.

"Pikachu, time for battle!" He bellowed and Pikachu leapt off his shoulder smartly into the battlefield, eliciting sparks of electricity from its cheeks as it did so.

"Is it alright to let him battle alone?" Steve asked anxiously but Tony shushed him.

"Just watch the battle Cap, we'll help when needed. You just keep an eye on your Riley."

Steve scowled at the man's casual remarks, but otherwise made no other argument. Instead, he simply brought his Ralts closer towards him defensively. He wouldn't want to risk her safety in the presence of these thieves!

"Arbok, wrap around Pikachu and grab it!" Jessie hollered.

"Weezing, use your Sludge attack!" James drawled.

Arbok hurtled towards Pikachu in an attempt to coil around it, but failed as Pikachu leapt swiftly out of the way. Weezing spat out globs of black sludge, which Pikachu managed to dodge swiftly and agilely. It blocked the last by countering it with a jolt of electricity.

Thor took this in grimly. "Pikachu, use Quick Attack on the snake!" He ordered and Pikachu turned around just in time to see Arbok pouncing at it once more. The yellow mouse recoiled a little and pushed off from the ground, using the force to propel itself straight into Arbok's neck, causing a pained hiss to escape from the snake Pokémon as it crashed back onto the grass.

"Weezing, use your Smokescreen!" James yelled hastily, seeing his comrade in trouble and Weezing opened its mouth, spewing out volumes of thick, horrendous smelling gas.

"Pikachu!" Thor and the other Avengers coughed as they tried to wave away the smog to get a view of the battlefield, but it seemed near impossible to do so for the next few seconds.

"Arbok! Wrap attack!"

"Pika!" The cry from his Pokémon jolted Thor out of his confusion. With a furious roar, the god grabbed the Mjolnir and swirled it in the air, causing a powerful gust of wind to blow away the smoke. Soon, the smog cleared enough for the Avengers to spot Pikachu being coiled around tightly by Arbok, its eyes closed in pain.

"What's this wind?!" Team Rocket spluttered as they struggled to keep themselves firmly footed on the ground.

"Meeoowth! I don't like this!" Meowth cried as he flew up and smacked into James' face.

"Eyy! Getoff!" The man's words were smothered as he tried to pry the Pokémon off.

Bruce, seeing the trouble his team mate's Pokémon was in, decided that it was about time to step in. "Alright, Mankey, help Pikachu out with your Karate Chop." The man ordered, his eyes glinting in a dangerous green. Mankey nodded with a loud screech and leapt towards Arbok, landing a vicious strike straight at its head. Arbok cried out in pain and its grip on Pikachu loosened, allowing the electric mouse to squirm out and escape in a hurry.

"Pikachu use your Thundershock!" Thor bellowed and Pikachu fired a blast of electricity, hitting Weezing just as it was about to tackle Mankey from behind. Tony watched the battle in awe, and turned to his Pawniard who was scowling by the side.

"Hey, I know you don't like them," he said, nodding towards Pikachu and Mankey, who have simultaneously just dodged a flurry of poison stings. "Hell, you don't like anyone! But how about helping out this time?" He suggested coaxingly. Pawniard gave him a glare before huffing and turning away. "Come on," Tony grinned at the feigned reluctance of his Pokémon. The Tin Can was obviously itching for a battle. "I'll let you sleep on the suit today if you do." He added the incentive with a wicked gleam in his eyes. Well that seemed to have caught Pawniard's attention. The dark type Pokémon froze for a moment before turning back to Tony with a stunned look. Then its face broke out into a grin.

"Pawniard!" With a nod, Pawniard leapt out into the battle field and charged at Weezing, who was now firing bullets of sludge at the dodging Mankey. With a ferocious strike of its claw, it sent Weezing hurtling backwards with a pained cry straight at Arbok, who had was engaged in a furious battle with Pikachu. Weezing slammed into Arbok with a loud crash, and the two Pokémon were sent flying backwards from the force of the collision into Team Rocket, who squealed and flailed about uselessly for a second before being knocked over by their Pokémon.

Tony slapped Thor's shoulder good-naturedly. "You're welcome pal," He grinned. "And now's a good time to use Pikachu's Thundershock."

Thor nodded with an equally wide smirk. "Pikachu, use Thundershock!"

"Pikaaaaa-" Pikachu clenched its paws in concentration for the attack. "-CHUUU!" A massive surge of electricity fired from the electric mouse's body and struck Team Rocket, causing them to twitch and scream in pain before a loud explosion occurred.

"No fair!" Jessie cried as she, James, Meowth and their Pokémon flew up into the air. "Why do we always lose?!"

"Who knows?" James deadpanned. "But it looks as though-"

"Team Rocket is blasting off AGAIN!"

Tony shielded his eyes from the bright glare of the sun as he watched Team Rocket vanish to no more than a bright speck in the sky. "Well that was fun." He smirked. "And I guess this brings us near to the end of this episode eh? Where's the narrator's inspirational concluding lines?"

Bruce chuckled at the joke while Thor frowned in confusion at what his friend had said. "My friend, I do not understand." The god gave Tony a questioning look, but the billionaire merely dismissed it with a casual wave of his hand.

"Doesn't matter Goldilocks," Tony laughed, and swung his arms across Thor and Bruce's shoulders. "Amazing team work guys! Great battle! With no thanks to you three." He pointed out flatly to Clint, Natasha and Steve, who were still standing idly by the side. Clint scoffed at them while Natasha seemed as though she couldn't care less. Steve however, wore an expression both of awe at the battle he had witnessed, and guilt at having let his team mates fight by themselves. Tony was quick to notice this.

"Pokémon battling doesn't seem quite as barbaric now, eh, Cappie? Not when it's for self-defence? " He teased and Steve blushed. He was quick to rearrange his expression back into a stern look though.

"That still doesn't mean that I approve of it." The Captain replied stubbornly, but Tony took no offence at the answer. He merely smirked and wagged his finger annoyingly at the man.

"Your time will come, Cappie, there's no escaping it," Tony grinned at the affronted look on Steve's face. "We'll turn you to the dark side, you can be sure of that alright!" Beside him, Pawniard gave a bark of sinister laughter.

Yes! I'm back, after so long! :D I must say I enjoyed this chapter, it was great fun to write, and I sure hope the battle scenes were done well enough. Team Rocket is a joy, to be sure, and the Avengers will soon find them a pain in the ass for the whole journey! :D

Thor is getting the hang of battling, so is Tony and Bruce. Natasha and Clint will get their chances soon enough, and Steve will warm up to the idea. Heh, as Tony said, they will turn him to the dark side! ;P

No Loki this chapter though, I'm sure he's having lots of fun with Zorua! Haha!

Thanks for all reviews, alerts and favs so far! You guys are really the main motivation for me to continue this, and I do hope you enjoy this as much as I do! :D

Next Chapter:

Thor's rematch at the Violet City gym!

Stay tuned! ;)