It's a White Tomorrow, Team Rocket!

If you were looking for the CD, see Sound Picture Box - It's a White Tomorrow! Team Rocket.

Cover of the CD release

(Japanese: 白い明日だロケット団 It's a White Tomorrow, Team Rocket!) is a radio drama written by Takeshi Shudō and released only in Japan. It is the first and only time that Mondo appears in the entire series of Pokémon.

The title is derived from the Japanese version of the Team Rocket motto. The entire radio drama was released on CD in 1998 with some additional bonus songs.

Synopsis

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

The day starts as usual for Team Rocket. An attempt to capture Ash's Pikachu results in being blasted off again. As they argue about whose fault it was, Mondo appears. Jessie and Meowth don't seem to know who he is but deduce that he is a messenger from the Boss. James seems to know who he is. It turns out that he is a "Rocket Gang Special Delivery Member Trainee" and he provides them with food and funding for their various activities. Mondo spends a great amount of time gushing about how cool the trio is.

James puts on a film and shows Mondo their first meeting with Pikachu in Viridian City and explains why they're after Pikachu. Mondo continues to be impressed with the trio's stories, and Jessie challenges him to a battle, in which her Arbok defeats his Ditto. Jessie and James ask if he'd like to trade his Ditto, and he agrees, so Jessie and James trade away Meowth, much to Meowth's shock and horror.

After the trade is complete, Jessie and James request that Mondo order a hot-air balloon. After a quick radio transmission, he just pulls one out of his bag. The trio is obviously surprised to Mondo explains that his "sending bag" uses the same technology that keeps Pokémon in their Poké Balls. The balloon is still shaped like Meowth, and Mondo promises that the next order of balloons that Team Rocket produces will be Ditto-themed.

The groups separate, and Mondo gives Meowth a massage. Mondo asks if he will become as "great" as Jessie and James and Meowth tells them that he will because of his help, saying that Jessie and James were idiots who brought his abilities down. Meanwhile, Jessie and James plot to have Ditto transform into Pikachu and then give it to the boss. As practice, they have him transform into Weezing. When the transformation is successful, they ask it to transform into Venusaur, but it turns into Bulbasaur instead. James yells at it, asking it to make it "perfect", so Ditto transforms into Zubat. Another misunderstanding has Ditto transforming into Hitodeman (Staryu) instead of Hitokage (Charmander), and Kabigon (Snorlax) when they asked Ditto if it had mold in its brain. As Ditto keeps transforming into random Pokémon, they start to hear the sounds of a Beedrill swarm. When Ditto only continues to transform, not battle, James gets Weezing to send up a smoke signal. Mondo and Meowth notice, but Meowth refuses to go help, saying that Jessie and James always screw up and that he doesn't want to bail them out any longer. Mondo gets in his SUV anyways and speeds off to rescue them, leaving Meowth behind. Meowth continues to lament that he will help no humans.

Jessie returns Ditto to its Poké Ball but it's too late—they are surrounded by Beedrill. They start to run, but they fall into a trap hole that they had dug earlier. Mondo uses a Tauros to ward away the Beedrill while he tries to find a rope to get Jessie and James out of the hole but ends up falling into the hole himself. The trio trapped in the hole, they lament all their regrets and wonder what the Beedrill plan to do with them.

Suddenly the cries of the Beedrill change and sound a lot more disorganized. Meowth attacks all the Beedrill and Arbok and Weezing are sent up to help. The Beedrill are sent away fleeing. As Jessie and James start to leave, Mondo realizes that he admires the trio because they are a trio, and insists on trading Meowth back for Ditto. The trio reunited, they venture off in a new Meowth balloon, waving farewells to Mondo as they continue on their separate journeys.

Major events

• Team Rocket trade away their Meowth for a Ditto, but end up trading back.

Debuts

• Mondo

Characters

Humans

• Jessie
• James
• Mondo

Pokémon

• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Arbok (Jessie's)
• Weezing (James's)
• Tauros (Mondo's)
• Ditto (Mondo's)
• Beedrill

External links

• It's a White Tomorrow, Team Rocket! English translation

This article is part of Project Mass Media, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on official Pokémon publishing, broadcasting, communications, and other media.