A cold, slimy sensation suddenly enveloped them from all sides, followed immediately by a dizzying, spinning feeling of being dragged.
"Wahhhh!"
"Help meow!"
"Gurgle... gurgle..."
Jessie, James, and Meowth tumbled together in the violently shaking net like three salted fish caught in a washing machine.
Before they could recover from the dizziness of the impacts, an upward pulling force yanked them.
Seawater splashed everywhere.
The trio, along with the tattered yet sturdy net, were unceremoniously dumped onto a cold metal deck.
The frigid air instantly rushed into their nostrils, making all three cough violently.
Before their eyes were blinding sunlight and several figures standing silhouetted against the light.
Jessie, still woozy, pushed herself up and was just about to start cursing when she heard a worker, speaking with a thick accent, point at them and call out in a simple-minded tone:
"Granny! We've caught something! This time we got a big one!"
Another worker nearby leaned in for a closer look, scratched his head, and looked utterly confused. "Huh? That's not right... why does this jellyfish have human legs? And it's wearing clothes? Has the jellyfish... become a spirit?"
Hearing this, Jessie's temper flared up instantly.
"Jellyfish? Jellyfish your head!"
She sprang up from the wet net in one swift motion. Though her legs were still a bit wobbly, she couldn't lose her imposing manner. "Open your eyes wide and look clearly! We're Team Rocket! Team Rocket! Got it!"
Just then, a short, skinny old woman with a wrinkled face, wearing a purple patterned kimono, came over, her cane tapping "tok, tok, tok" on the deck.
She squinted, scanning the three in the net as if examining trash. Her face turned as black as a pot's bottom, especially when she saw the submarine wreckage still caught on the net, which had scraped a large patch of fresh paint off her deck.
"Team Rocket? Hah." Old Woman Jin snorted through her nose and stomped her cane heavily on the deck. "I don't care what team you are! I spent a fortune hiring people, renting the boat, casting the net to catch those troublesome Tentacool! And what happened?"
Her voice suddenly turned sharp and shrill. "Didn't catch many jellyfish, but fished up three soggy 'Team Wretches'! And you damaged my net and railing! What do you have to say for yourselves!"
Hearing "Team Wretches," James also panicked. He scrambled to free himself from the net mesh, shouting, "Hey! Old hag! Watch your mouth! It's Team Rocket! 'Te-am-Ro-cket'! Not Team Wretches! We're a very famous evil organization!"
"Famous? Famous enough to be caught in my net like seaweed?" Old Woman Jin sneered, her gaze growing increasingly hostile. "I don't care if you're Team Fire-Wretches or Team Water-Wretches, pay up! For repairing the net, the railing, the losses from delaying my project... at least five hundred thousand!"
"F-five hundred thousand?" James's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
Jessie even gasped sharply.
The money in their pockets combined right now probably didn't even amount to five thousand!
As the two of them were sweating anxiously, Meowth, who had been silent until now, suddenly pricked up its ears and caught the key point.
"Wait meow!" Meowth used its paw to push aside the seaweed tangled on its head and looked at Old Woman Jin. "You just said... you spent a lot of money catching jellyfish?"
Old Woman Jin was impatient. "Of course! Those damn Tentacool keep loitering under my 'Paradise Resort' construction site all day, won't leave no matter how we try to drive them away, and even attack the construction crew! Who else should I catch?"
Jessie's eyes rolled, the anger on her face instantly vanishing, replaced by a smile she thought was very amiable but was actually somewhat twisted.
"Oh, Granny! It's all a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding!" She rubbed her hands together, her voice sickeningly sweet. "Look, what a coincidence! We... we know how to catch jellyfish! We're especially good at it! It's our specialty!"
James, standing beside her, was stunned and instinctively turned to whisper, "Huh? Jessie, do we... know how to catch jellyfish? Weren't we here to make money?"
"Shut up! You idiot!" Jessie's smile remained fixed, but she viciously stomped on James's foot under the table, making him grimace in pain.
She continued smiling at Old Woman Jin. "Granny, look, the seawater is quite cold. How about we get up first, get up and talk properly? We really have a way to help you solve your jellyfish problem! We guarantee to make them scram far away and never bother you again!"
Old Woman Jin skeptically sized up the three who looked utterly unreliable, then glanced at the tentacles faintly visible on the sea surface due to the construction noise.
Every day the project was delayed meant enormous losses.
Might as well try anything in desperation.
"...Hmph." Old Woman Jin pointed her cane to the side. "Dalak, Alek, get them up. Keep an eye on them. If they dare try any tricks..."
Two burly workers with simple, honest faces immediately stepped forward, lifting the soggy trio out of the torn net like little chicks and placing them on the deck.
Once ashore, Jessie immediately straightened her back and patted the Rocket uniform, which, though soaked, still maintained its "formation."
"Granny, don't you worry! Leave it to Team Rocket, absolutely no problem!" She thumped her chest in assurance. "It's just driving away jellyfish! A piece of cake! But..."
She changed her tone, rubbing her fingers together. "About the payment..."
A glint flashed in Old Woman Jin's shrewd little eyes. "Payment? Of course. As long as you can completely drive away those troublesome Tentacool from near my construction site and let my 'Paradise Resort' proceed smoothly..."
She held up one finger. "One million."
"O-one million?" Jessie's voice cracked.
Meowth's cat eyes instantly turned into "$" symbols.
One million! That was enough for so many luxurious meals! To buy so many of the latest bottle caps and cat food cans!
"But!" Old Woman Jin stomped her cane again, her tone sinister. "If you can't drive them away, or if you make things worse..."
She pointed at the building materials piled like a mountain nearby and the rumbling construction machinery in the distance. "You'll stay here as laborers! Hauling bricks, carrying lumber, diving to clear reefs! You can leave only when you've worked off enough to compensate for my losses from the delay!"
The trio instinctively looked at those thick, heavy steel beams and the workers' solid muscles, swallowing hard in unison.
But the temptation of that one million was just too great!
Jessie gritted her teeth and stomped her foot. "We'll do it! Granny, we'll take the job! Just you wait and see!"
James quickly chimed in. "Right! Leave it to us! We guarantee to make those jellyfish scram as far away as possible!"
Meowth: "That's right meow! For... for the peace of the ocean! Team Rocket is duty-bound!"
"Good." A trace of a scheming, triumphant smile appeared on Old Woman Jin's wrinkled face. "Dalak, take them to the work shed, find them some 'tools.' Tomorrow morning, I want to see results."
And so, through a twist of fate, Team Rocket still ended up getting involved with the jellyfish matter.