I do this every so often, mainly just to think out loud, but also to take stock of what we can prbly guess about this whole TR vs. TP ordeal, and what it means for the overall plotline.
Alright, so here's a revised version of what probably happened in these episodes based off of little snippets we've gotten.
- Juniper, Ash, Iris, and Cilan arrive in the Desert Resort in that helicopter.
*I'm gonna rightfully assume that the Desert Resort is MASSIVE in anime scale, so Ash and co. don't exactly land in the right place.*
- Juniper looks around, while Ash and co. have a comedic encounter with the Sunglasses Krokorok.
- All the Team Rocket characters arrive at the Relic Castle. As they go about their business, Team Plasma Smirking Cape Dude is watching them.
- Inside the castle, they set up a perimeter, do a few scans (The James and Zager hologram pics) and set things in motion. Jessie blasts the floor with the Meteonite Gun, energizing everything and revealing the huge Meteonite piece (or as I'll call it the Big Badass Rock). Success for Team Rocket, Giovanni triumphantly stands in its light.
-Unleashing the Big Badass Rock's power was a no-no, so we have the earthquake with the energy fissures (i have this gut feeling that Sunglasses Krokorok gets blasted-off because of one of these.) Anyway, Ash and co. obviously notice this, as does Looker, who meets up with them and reveals that he's here to deal with Team Rocket. They head to the Relic Castle, but get there just as Team Rocket is heading back to the city.
- I think Ash prbly stows away on the TR ship in one of his idiot hero moments. He gets captured, and Pikachu starts getting sick from the Big Badass Rock. (This is COMPLETELY a guess based off a little scene we got of him looking all concerned with Pikachu)
Maybe this is where Episode 2 begins?
- Team Rocket throws a not-so-subtle party. Giovanni gives his speech. Juniper and the other heroes are here in disguise.
Here everything gets fuzzy, but I'll try...I like writing
- All this time, the Big Badass Rock itself is stored in the chopper/airship where Ash is still stuck.
-Team Plasma party crashes, leaves TR in shambles, and steals the second chopper containing the Big Badass Rock. Team Plasma take Ash as thier own prisoner (in thier chopper) and escape. (maybe Ash yells at them and we get some Team Plasma ideals through thier exhange).
-Jessie and James give chase with the jetpacks.
- Ok, here's my biggest guess. Looker stays behind at the Team Rocket party and arrests the incapacitated Giovanni, maybe Pierce, and many other background grunts.
- The chase moves to the city outskirts. James shoots the stolen chopper down the Meteonite Gun. The Big Badass Rock's energy (no longer being underground) goes crazy again and that huge explosion does damage to the city.
- Jessie and James vs. Team Plasma grunts. Liepard and Woobat battle. Pikachu, supercharged by the Big Badass Rock, enters the fray and uses a an Ultra Electro Ball to destroy it (it was prbly extremely unstable to begin with). Jessie and James get away, so do Team Plasma, but Team Rocket is all but in ruins at this point.
-Giovanni is in jail.
Then, Zager takes over and we get all these missions that involve stealing Pokemon. Clearly, Zager wants to strengthen Team Rocket's ranks in order to rebuild and maybe take on Team Plasma in the future. Giovanni is most likely in prison still, with Looker being tied to that aspect of the plot. These episodes get skipped, Giovanni is just "at meetings".....The Team Rocket trio are essentially all that's left, and hence they can do whatever they want....white uniforms.....
