Meowth stood, perched upon the stool, scribbled notes in paw, a pokéball spinning slowly before him. Gears, tools, spare parts littered the counter, frozen in the laboratory's cold steel. Lights flickered and a cheerful chime stuttered over the broken speaker as the door slid open. Jesse and James stormed in, footsteps sending up a haze of dust. Dropping the notes, Meowth seized the pokéball, and Jesse's voice rang out, shrill and whining :
"This bastard never did shit! Know what I found? A death ray that kills inanimate objects!"
"Don't forget that shrink ray that shrinks itself!"
"Shut up James. Not like he matters anymore I guess. We cancelled his partnership with Team Rocket."
"Yes, but his blood stained my uniform something terrible!"
James had busied himself with the large blotch of red soaking into the white of his shirt. The professor lay in a crumpled heap just outside the door, blood spattered against his face, pooling beneath him. But Meowth had not noticed, a toothy grin splitting across his face as he eyed the device in his paws.
"You're wrong Jesse. This guy was genius, he was just too stupid to know what he had! I guess that's the way it is with all you humans."
"Oh, and I suppose you and your pokémon pals are just so much more intelligent! What did you find?"
"This guy was tinkering with the latest model of pokéball. See, when this ball is held red side up, it catches pokémon!"
"Wow, and it only took you an hour to figure that out. Bravo Meowth. Come on James, we're leaving."
Meowth could feel the veins straining in his skull. That sarcasm, the mockery, her condescending tone, she had gone to far. So many years Jesse had whittled away at his nerves, and today, she had plucked the last one. In one spastic moment, Meowth whipped the pokéball at Jesse's head. Cracking against her skull, spurting blood, the ball glowed and popped open. A hum stifled Jesse's cry of pain while a bolt of white energy enveloped her form. Snared, the ball pulled her in, closing and dropping to the ground, the glow dying fast. James shrieked.
"What the fuck did you just do Meowth?!"
"Shut up James."
The pokéball lay still, speckled with blood from Jesse's unfortunate head wound. Scurrying over, Meowth licked the thing clean, cradling it upside down between his paws. His grinned returned, but twitchier than before, his eyes bordering on mania.
"It works! Fuck pokéballs! What we got here is a bonafide manball!"
"What the hell kind of a name is that?! And what did you do to Jesse you little bastard!"
"You're pathetic James. All of you are, you humans. You say you're better than I am, than we are. You got your little pokéballs to lock us up, and you think that gives you the power. Up until right now, you were right. But our little professor just cleared the board."
"What are you talking about?"
James had fallen back, cowering against the wall, his hands clenched in front of his mouth. Something was not right. Meowth was not right. He walked steadily toward him, stopping not five steps from him, and met James' eyes.
"If Jesse let me finish, she'd have seen I'm not the stupid one. Red side up catches pokémon, yes. But white side up, that catches humans. From what I can see, you people don't have the strength to break free. What's more, the good professor says that humans are a lot easier to control, especially against their will. What say we try it out James? Go, Jesse!"
Hurling the ball against the tiles, a crackle of energy spit forth. Jesse took shape, bracing her bleeding head, standing stock still. But that's not what scared James. What scared him was seeing Jesse straining to move, to open her mouth, and failing. James could see the panic in Jesse's eyes as she became more aware of her paralysis, her petrifaction.
"Jesse, this is your new master. I want you to listen very closely. Pin James down and give me one of his spare pokéballs. Use whatever force is necessary. Go!"
James whimpered in the corner, while Jesse broke from her locked pose, seizing him by his shaking wrists. In one swift motion, Jesse wrenched James' arms from his sockets, planting her foot against his chest. Then, crossing his arms, she brought them down across her knee, breaking them at the elbow. James' scream muffled the sound of crunching bone and tearing tissue. Letting him slump to the floor, Jesse grabbed one of his pokéballs, tossing it over her shoulder to Meowth. Tears streamed from her eyes as they rolled in her sockets, but her body had petrified once again, and she could do nothing but watch James as he struggled to release Wheezing. He failed, miserably.
"Wonderful."
Meowth spoke with some sadistic glee, now looking down into James' face.
"The tides have turned you two. Life is about to change. Team Rocket will be no more, you two are just the first step! I'm going all the way to the top. But first things first. It's about time we got rid of a certain trio that have been a pain in our sides too long! But this time, we're going to do things my way, and it's going to work! Team Rocket today, Team Meowth tommorow! Jesse, return!"
Another flash of light, and Jesse disappeared. Slowly, Meowth turned James' pokéball over in his paws, white side up, red side down. Then he reached down and pressed the button against James' forehead. The ball glowed, and James' vision went white. He could feel the energy dissolving him, shrinking him down and pulling him in. He heard the ball snap shut, could feel himself take shape within the ball, strained against it, but it was all futile. The last thing that he could hear was Meowth's sick cackle and muffled voice outside.
"James, I choose you."