Meowth shut the metal door behind him. He'd finally done it! Well, technically they had finally done it, but it was his master plan! It always was! Those numbskulls couldn't figure out how to light a fireplace with gasoline and a match! And finally, it was time to relish the moment. He turned to the four Pokemon locked away in separate cages, giving them all a wicked grin. "I hope you twerps don't mind waiting back here while we ship you off to your new home at Team Rocket headquarters." Shouts of anger came from two of the cages, whining from another, and the resident of the fourth cage just gave him an icy glare and profane mutterings. He mockingly cupped one paw over an ear. "What's that? I can't quite hear you over the sound of your final defeat, and Team Rocket's triumph!"

"You won't get away with this, Meowth!" one of the caged Pokemon, a Pikachu, shouted. His pudgy little fingers were wrapped tightly around the bars as sparks shot out of his red cheek pouches. "Ash is on his way right now to stop you! Just like he always does!"

"Yeah!" a Tepig added. He didn't seem quite as confident, but the smoke that rushed out of his nose as he huffed in anger was telling Meowth to keep his distance. "He'd never abandon us!"

The cat coolly reclined against one of the metal walls. This reaction was, of course, to be expected. But he had nothing to worry about; they were in the cages while he was free to do whatever. "Save it, there's no use wasting all that hot air, piggy. Our plan this time is fool-proof! Not even Jessie and James could mess it up!"

"And you?" Meowth shot a glare at the offender, a Snivy. She sat in the middle of her cage, very calm and collected. But those eyes… If looks could kill, Meowth would've lost one of his nine lives. And at this point in his Pikachu hunting career he had none to spare. This was why he never liked Snivies, they were so smug and acted as though they were above everyone else, be it Pokemon or human.

"I'm the brains of the operation, see? If it's anyone's fault, it's you twerps for always getting lucky!"

"I want Iris back!" the last resident, an Axew, let out a cry. Meowth knew the pipsqueak was practically a baby. Axew developed very slowly compared to a lot of other Pokemon. A Caterpie could evolve to its final stage before an Axew even learned a good attack.

"Aw, stuff a sock in it," Meowth sharply replied. "If I have to guard you annoying bunch, the last thing I want to do is hear crying, wailing, and shouting the whole ride!"

"Joy," The Snivy crossed her arms in contempt, "a whole ride with the least pleasant Pokemon on earth."

"Look who's talking!" Meowth shouted back. Why did he have to get guard duty? Wasn't it Jesse's turn? It probably was, but Jesse didn't give a Hoothoot if it was her turn or not. Even if it was, getting Jesse to do anything she didn't want to was hardly worth the headache in Meowth's opinion. So that was precisely why he was stuck in the back of a truck, the only company being the metal walls, some lights, a Pikachu, a Tepig, a Snivy, and an Axew. Meowth could already tell it was going to be one crazy party.

Pikachu let out a scream as electricity erupted from his body, causing the truck to light up for a moment. How predictable. "Nice try," Meowth smirked. "But each of your cages has been specially built to withstand any attacks that you know! So just try to fry that cage to a crisp or beat at the bars with an iron tail, you ain't going nowhere!"

The electric mouse grumbled. He was used to Team Rocket making everything out of rubber or some sort of insulation at this point. "Figures. I miss the days when you three didn't learn from your mistakes…"

Tepig raised an eyebrow at this. "Gees, how long have they been trying to catch you?"

"Let's see…" Pikachu put a paw to his chin thoughtfully, eyes shut as he thought back. "We started out on our adventure when Ash was... Ten, I think. I'm… Not sure how old he is now, but I'm pretty sure at least a year or two."

The snake gave a low whistle. "That's persistent." She looked at Meowth, an amused expression on her face. "You three seriously had nothing better to do than chase a kid and his Pikachu? For two years?"

"Hey!" Meowth snapped, "Pikachu is extremely powerful for its kind! If we capture it, the boss will promote us! Or maybe give us a raise! We'll be stinking rich!" At that moment Meowth could picture it in his head; the boss would finally kick that good-for-nothing Persian out if his office and he would be the top cat at the Rocket headquarters. It would be absolutely puurfect... Pun intended, of course.

"Please let us go!" Meowth rolled his eyes as the Axew persisted with his crying. "Why can't you be like the Meowth we traveled with on the way to that one city? Uh..."

"Nimbasa?" Now that was something he hadn't expected from the little dragon. Meowth knew exactly what he was talking about. For a few days he had to travel with the twerps so he could sneak past the security system under the guise of being one of the goody-two-shoes.

"Yeah!" Axew shouted excitedly. "You were so nice! And funny!"

"Puh-lease," Meowth dismissively waved a paw at her. "I appreciate the sentiment, kid, but that was all part of a Team Rocket ploy. I only hung out with you guys because I had to!"

"And you wonder why I never trust you." Pikachu glared at him.

"Oh yeah, that really keeps me up at night," The feline absentmindedly licked his paw. "I'm well aware how suspicious you are whenever I say we should cooperate. Luckily for me you'realways just gullible enough to fall for it in the end. You start off being all, 'hey, Meowth is a no good liar', but you always end up singing a different tune."

Snivy let out a yawn to Meowth's annoyance. What, wasn't the conversation riveting enough for her? "Not too smart to say that right in front of Pikachu if you want him to trust you."

Meowth shrugged. "The rat's just like his trainer; too trusting and naive."

Tepig let out a low growl, some more smoke coming out of his nostrils. "He's more of a Pokemon than you'll ever be."

Pikachu gave him a grateful nod. "Thanks. It's a waste of time trying to appeal to his better nature." He glared at the cat. "He's a criminal, through and through, just like the rest of those Rockets."

Meowth let out an indignant huff. "You always make sweeping generalizations like that?"

"Well it's true, isn't it?" Pikachu answered, arms crossed over his chest. "What else am I supposed to call you? You're a thief. You work for a criminal organization. You've spent the last years of your life abducting innocent Pokemon. I think my case makes itself."

"Yeah, abducting Pokemon, just like your master."

There was a pause as Pikachu absorbed this accusation. He frowned. "That's different and you know it."

Meowth laughed. "How? Pokemon trainers beat innocent Pokemon into submission before stuffing them inside those teeny tiny Pokeballs. You gotta know how cruel that's gotta be since you refuse to go into a Pokeball yourself. When Team Rocket takes Pokemon from trainers, we're just stealing stolen property."

"That doesn't justify anything you do!" Tepig shouted.

"But what justifies the trainers then?" Meowth shot back.

Snivy responded coolly, "The only time a Pokemon should be captured is in battle. A battle is meant to earn respect from the Pokemon. It's a way to ask a Pokemon to join their team, in a way, but with battle rather than words. If you catch a Pokemon in a net, that's disrespectful to a Pokemon's wishes. The same with stealing a Pokemon while it's in its Pokeball. In any case, a Pokemon captured through a proper battle can always just leave. After all, that's what I did before meeting Ash."

"Wait... Really?" That kind of backbone wasn't something Meowth had expected the twerp's Pokemon to show.

"My trainer was inexperienced and undeserving. Not someone I wanted to live my life with. So I left."

"But see, that ain't always the case. Some Pokemon can't escape as easily as you. What if a Pokemon don't want to fight? You're saying it's okay to just uproot their life and throw them into some researcher's backyard when you ain't using him?" Meowth crossed his arms indignantly. "It doesn't seem fair to me."

"And that goes right back to my original point," Tepig continued, "Your actions aren't justified at all. You accuse trainers of their wrongdoings as though it makes you superior! You go accusing Ash of ruining the lives of the Pokemon he captures when in reality it's you that's making everyone miserable, Pokemon and people alike!"

Pikachu nodded. "While there are cruel trainers out there, Ash isn't one of them. You, however, are selfish and think only of yourself. That's why we'll never see eye to eye..." He turned his nose up in disgust. "Except when you're trying to fool us."

Meowth rolled his eyes; figures the twerps would blindly stick together in an argument. "You... You're so naive, I'm practically suffocating! You think every Pokemon or person falls into a neat little category. There's the good guys over here..." He motioned to one side of him, and then motioned to the other side. "And bad guys over here. Black and white. No in between."

Pikachu chewed on these words for a minute, thinking on how to respond. "... I never said anything like that. There's plenty of grey in the world, sure, but there's a definite point where you can clearly tell when someone's in the wrong."

"And that, my Pokepal, is where we differ." Meowth took a claw and picked at his teeth casually. He'd tear that pipsqueaks ideas to shreds, or his name isn't Meowth! "We live in a world that's far from fair. Some Pokemon are born with all their shots lined up, others are… Well, abandoned, and have to fend for themselves in the cold, cruel world. In a world like this, right and wrong are only in the eye of the Pokemon that sees it. You see a greedy Team Rocket member; I see some poor sap who's trying to make ends meet for the family back home. What do you think Pikachu? Is he a bad guy?"

"Well..." Pikachu pondered for a moment. "I mean, I feel sorry for him and his family, but… Yes, he is still the bad guy. Who has the right to justify inflicting pain on others just to achieve their own goals? If my life depended on stealing from another person, that doesn't justify the stealing. Taking your own pain and transferring it to someone else is wrong, no matter how much you dress it up. There's always an alternative that doesn't require harming another unwitting individual."

"Stop doing that!" Meowth let out a hiss, causing the other four to take a step back. "Right and wrong, good and bad… They don't exist! It's just a fabrication by you goody-two-shoes to try to put order into a world of chaos! Don't you get it?! This is why I have an issue with you calling me and my pals criminals, because there's no such thing! There's just the Pokemon that do what they do to get buy, and the Pokemon who die off because they listen to a bunch of rules that are made up by righteous idiots like you!" He clenched an angry fist and shook it at Pikachu. "Why is it I have to worry about what happens to someone else?! What obligation do I have to help some twerp, or keep from stealing some priceless loot?!"

"So would you like it if someone stole from you?" Tepig questioned.

"No, but I wouldn't go crying to mommy that some 'criminal' was being a big meanie! That's the nature of how things are, and I wouldn't blame the other Pokemon for doing it! I wouldn't call him bad or evil; I'd just get my stuff back! Evil is a name Pokemon give you when you're breaking the rules they made up. Well news flash; you have no right to judge me based on your made up rules just because I'm not following them." Meowth crossed his arms and closed his eyes with a resigned look. "The only true right in this world is that every living being has a right to be happy, and achieve it no matter what the cost. If you wanna become a movie star, then aim for the moon! If you wanna steal candy from a baby, then be the best candy stealer there's ever been! If I want money, it's my natural right to steal it no matter what."

"Let me guess…" Pikachu gave him a sideways glance. "Anarchist? The world should be a lawless place in your eyes?"

"No, if a whole bunch of people want to make a government and laws and all that nonsense, then they have every right to do so. The problem is when they start imposing their phony moral laws on me. It ain't fair, but I'm not complaining. Well, maybe I'll sulk around a little bit…"

"So, uh, Meowth?" Axew piped up. "What is it that you're trying to do? You, know, to be happy...?"

That was an... interesting question. It was also, in Meowth's opinion, one of the toughest to answer. "Well, if this heist goes as planned, I'll be rolling in loot, see? I suppose Jesse, James and I will buy ourselves a private island or something. Then it's a life of luxury for us! And finally I'll be the boss' top cat!" He grinned at the thought. He would relish the day when he could give Persian the boot and watch its sad face as it wandered off into the sunset, never to enjoy the fine Ursaring rugs the boss kept in his private office.

"The boss'... Top cat?" Axew muttered in confusion.

Pikachu let out a sigh. "I don't know how you can live in happiness knowing you got it by stepping on the heads of everyone on the way up. There's no honor in that."

"You say that as though everyone isn't doing the same."

"But they aren't," Tepig countered, clearly irked by all Meowth was proposing. This didn't surprise Meowth as what he proposed was another world of thinking compared to these Pokemon. "You think cities were built by people and Pokemon who couldn't work together? We need to set common rules or nothing would ever get done!"

"Yeah!" Pikachu's eyes lit up with enthusiasm. "That's the reason why trainers and Pokemon work together in the first place! We all have goals, but only by working together do we achieve them and make ourselves better in the process!"

"And what about Team Rocket?" Meowth asked, "Where do they fit into your world of sunshine and roses? We're a team too. We've got goals."

Snivy answered this; "You go out of your way to undermine the goals of others. You strive for self happiness at the ignorance of others. While self-centeredness is not innately a bad thing-"

"Hold on!" Pikachu interjected, much to Meowth's surprise. Perhaps this argument wouldn't be as one-sided as he thought. "Of course it's a bad thing! Happiness at the expense of others is never okay!"

"That's not what I said," Snivy gave Pikachu an annoyed glance, a silent warning about interrupting her. "To a certain extent, I agree with Meowth. Each individual has a right to do what they want to be happy."

"Ha," Meowth grinned smugly. "See? Even the twerp agrees with me!"

"I said 'to a certain extent'," Snivy rolled her eyes. "Sometimes hearts need to be broken along the way and there's no way around it. I can assure you, my previous trainer must've been none too thrilled when I left."

Axew nodded. "He must be lonely."

Snivy shrugged in response, unperturbed by the thought. "It's my life. The point I was trying to make is that seeking your own happiness isn't in itself immoral, nor is hurting some Pokemon along the way. If I'm in a race, I'm not going to lose just so I don't hurt another Pokemon's feelings. But just because you act self-centered doesn't mean you are automatically inclined to commit atrocious acts."

"But nothing is stopping you from doing those atrocious acts in the first place," replied Tepig. "With a moral guideline of 'do what makes you happy', there's nothing stopping you from stealing candy from a baby."

Snivy paused for a moment, considered his words, and then answered, "If something is truly immoral, then in the end it won't bring you happiness. I believe that you should do what you want because it makes you happy, but acts like stealing will, in the long run, create enough guilt that the action will actually have a negative impact on you."

"Yeah," huffed Pikachu, "Unless you're Meowth and don't feel guilty no matter what you do."

"Watch it, twerp," Meowth hissed.

Snivy shook her head. "If I am correct, then, in the distant future, Meowth will someday look back and regret all he's done. Whether it be from the guilt of hurting the innocent or the shame of wasting so much time on these fruitless endeavors, I'm willing to bet there are things even Meowth isn't willing to do despite his statement that there's no such thing as right or wrong."

"I guess that's true," Snivy had struck a good point for Meowth. He was a stickler for loyalty to Team Rocket, and he wouldn't dream of killing another Pokemon. That wasn't his style. "But I suppose every Pokemon's got a right to stick to some set of values, even if it don't make sense. If a Pokemon needs to stick to a set of rules that they assign themselves, and it makes them happier, I think that's okay too. It's a mistake though thinking every Pokemon needs to stick to your values."

"Well, if that's what you believe," Tepig asked Snivy, "Then why do you give Emolga such a hard time? I mean, she's kind of like you-"

Snivy's eyes blazed with anger, and she lashed a vine out towards Tepig, only for it to be stopped by the bars of her cage. Even though he was a safe distance away, Meowth could feel a need to leap behind cover. "Don't you DARE compare me to that little... That little... That hussy! I am NOTHING like her!"

Tepig instinctively leaped back in fear. "Whoa, take it easy! I didn't mean-"

"Didn't mean?! Sounded pretty deliberate to me!" She narrowed her eyes. "What exactly are you trying to say about me?"

"Please don't fight!" Axew shouted.

"Snivy, what's gotten into you?" Pikachu yelled, some reflexive sparks shooting from his red cheeks.

The feline couldn't help but laugh a bit. He never thought I'd see the day that the twerp's Pokemon would beat themselves up! That would make life a good deal easier for him.

Pikachu shot him a glare before turning back to Snivy. "Look, we know you aren't particularly fond of Emolga, but you need to admit, there are some similarities..."

"What just because we both use the move attract?" The snake gave him a hiss.

Tepig scratched the back of his head awkwardly with a hoof. "It's not just that. Both of you kind of hold a similar philosophy. You know, the whole 'do what you want because you want it'?"

"That's not true!" Snivy snapped. "If that's the only similarity, then the comparisons stop there! I use attract as a perfectly legitimate battle technique! She uses attract to steal food and trick Iris! She uses volt switch so she doesn't have to do any real work! Did you hear me?! She outright STEALS food, even when she already has plenty for herself! It's one thing to steal when you're starving, but she's just a greedy little bit-" Snivy looked over at Axew whose eyes were watering from the intense outburst. "Err, greedy little jerk. I don't steal. I don't force others into the line of fire. I don't use my charm to string guys along, only to turn them down for the millionth time. Emolga and I are worlds apart, and don't you forget it." Those last words she hissed were practically dripping with venom. Meowth could've sworn she was a poison type at that moment. Her father wasn't an Arbok, was he? "I think a Pokemon should look out for themselves, but doing so by taking from others? By stringing them a long with a flirtatious wink? To be happy at the expense of others... That's the worst kind of Pokemon in my book." She gave Meowth a sideways glance. "No offense."

"None taken."

"But," Tepig looked bewildered. "She seems so sweet..."

Snivy groaned. "Males... Always thinking with their-" She glanced at Axew again. "You know, can we talk about something else?"

"Of course," Pikachu gave her a smile before grumbling, "I still think you give too much credit to the Pokemon keeping us locked in a truck... Meowth would scratch his own mother in the back if he had the chance..."

The feline winced. "You seem awfully set on putting me down. What makes you so high and mighty?"

"Me?" Pikachu tilted his head in thought. "It's simple. Unlike you, I do good things for others. I treat others with respect and friendliness. I've even helped Pokemon become friends with one another. You, on the other hand... All your actions bring pain and misery. What more do I need to say?"

"Why that makes you better than me, that's what."

Pikachu took another moment to think it over. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that a Pokemon is good or bad based on their actions, and your actions are decidedly bad."

"That argument by itself doesn't prove anything," Snivy responded, "Decidedly bad? While I don't necessarily disagree in regards to Meowth, how do you figure out if an action is good or bad? Good and bad, as we've learned in the past half hour, are highly subjective."

"Umm..." The electric mouse scratched the back of his neck, and then gave a sheepish laugh. "I just know?"

Tepig sighed, "Not your best argument, Pikachu..."

"Hold on, I'm thinking!" Pikachu placed a paw against his chin and tapped it a few times with a short, stubby finger. "I guess... It depends on how much good or bad the action causes?"

Snivy slapped a hand to her forehead. "That doesn't address my point at all! That still doesn't tell us what makes something good or something bad!"

"No, wait!" Pikachu exclaimed. "If an action does more good for more Pokemon, than it's a good action! If it does more bad for more Pokemon, then it's a bad action! Like, say you give all your food to some starving Pidgeys! You're creating a lot of good for a bunch of Pokemon, so it's a good action!"

"Okay, I'll humor you," Meowth smirked. "If I steal some food from a bunch of Pidgeys, I'm creating good for myself because I'm getting food to live another day, therefore it's a good action."

"No," Pikachu countered, "You would be creating good for yourself, but you'd also be creating bad for all those Pidgeys. The amount of bad you're creating is greater than the good you're creating, so that would be an evil action. Ash and the rest of us, on average, do stuff that provides an overall positive benefit, so that's why I believe we're good, while you," He pointed accusingly at Meowth, "do only actions that create overall negative outcomes, even if they're positive for yourself."

"Well, they would be creating good for themselves, but they just keep blasting off again," Axew giggled.

Meowth shot the little dragon a glare before turning his attention back to Pikachu. "The problem you're making right off that back is assuming that, just because I don't go along with your ways of thinking, I'm evil. But I'll play along. Let's say there's a whole nest of poor, innocent Pidgeys on a railroad track, and a train is coming right for them till BAM! It turns them into baby Pidgey pancakes!"

"That's sick," muttered Tepig.

"But," Meowth continued, "There's one way to save the poor Pidgeys; there's a bridge right above the tracks, and there's a Snorlax leaning over the railing. You can easily push him off the bridge onto the tracks, and he's heavy enough to stop the train. So the Snorlax would die from the impact, but the Pidgeys would be safe." Meowth gave him a malicious grin. How would the mouse explain his way out of this one? "So, what do you do?"

"I..." Pikachu hesitated, mind racing. "I don't like this question very much..."

"You can't push the Snorlax off the bridge!" Axew cried. "You'd kill him!"

"But if you don't," Snivy replied, "Then the lives of a bunch of Pidgeys would be cut short. And, according to Pikachu's theory, enough good would be created from saving the Pidgeys to outweigh the bad created from killing the Snorlax, therefore pushing the Snorlax would be the right thing to do. Several lives outweigh one life if Pikachu is correct."

"Hmm..." Pikachu practically had smoke pouring out of his ears. Meowth could've sworn he could hear the hamster wheel inside the Pokemon's noggin spinning at lightning speed. "I think..."

"Yeah?" Meowth cackled gleefully.

"I'm wrong."

Meowth stopped cackling and groaned. "You're going to dodge the question, aren't you?"

"Well," Pikachu continued, "I'm wrong in part. You can't just judge an action based on whether it creates good or bad alone. When you come across situations like, say..." He thought for a moment. "Let's say a Pokemon steals from another Pokemon, but there's enough good created for the thief that it outweighs the bad created for the victim. You could say that the robbery is a good action, but my gut tells me otherwise. So, in addition to looking at the positive and negative outcomes, there should be a few rules in place, like... An action is still bad if harm is inflicted upon an innocent bystander. That way you can say that even if killing someone would create an overall positive outcome, that it still is an evil act. Therefore," Pikachu smiled at Meowth. "It would be evil to push that Snorlax, who is an innocent bystander. Looks like I'll just need to find another way to stop the train."

Meowth was about to raise an objection when, to his surprise, the last Pokemon he thought would ever dissent decided to answer.

"I... I'm sorry," Tepig shuffled his feet awkwardly. "But, I just don't agree with you, Pikachu."

The mouse blinked in surprise. "Aren't you supposed to be on my side?"

"Not if you're wrong," Tepig replied with a sheepish grin. "But it's not just you; all three of you are going about this the wrong way. You all are looking at the consequences of an action and whether it's good or bad."

"... And?" Snivy asked.

"AND it doesn't matter if what you do is good or bad, or if it's self-centered or benevolent," Tepig continued, "Morality is about you. It's about why you do something; it's about your motives! I can save the world from an alien invasion, but if my motive is to take over the world myself after they're out of the way, then I'm not a good, moral Pokemon. I'm just as bad as the aliens I defeated! And Pikachu..." Tepig glared at the mouse. "You keep going on about, 'oh, a Pokemon that steals is pure evil'. Well, guess what? When I was abandoned and told I was worthless, I had to steal to survive! Am I immoral because I just wanted a scrap of something to eat?!"

Meowth wasn't sure of what to make of that. Tepig reminded him of a certain cat he knew quite well...

"Tepig…" Pikachu looked at the pig sadly. It was obvious to the feline that Pikachu was wrestling with his prior statements and the compassion he had for his friend. "I understand you were in a bind, but that doesn't excuse stealing. When you help yourself at the expense of others, it doesn't matter what your reasoning is. The other Pokemon is still getting hurt." The mouse gave Tepig a reassuring smile. "But in my mind, you've redeemed yourself a hundred times over. Unlike, you know…" He motioned towards Meowth.

"We aren't accusing you of anything, Tepig," Snivy added.

"I... I know, I just..." Tepig let out a long sigh. "I just feel like a lot of Pokemon out there are just like me. They never had, and never will have, the same chance like I did to become something better. I may have had the chance to redeem myself, but there are so many others who are good at heart but are labeled a criminal because of what life forces them to do. I mean, there's probably far more deserving Pokemon than me out there... One's who can actually put up a good fight in a gym battle, you know?"

Snivy shook her head. "Don't be like that..."

"It's true," Tepig looked down and scraped at the floor of the cage with his hoof. "Ash hasn't used me at all for the last couple of gym battles, and that one gym battle... The one against bugs of all things... I lost..." He let out a defeated sigh. "Why did you even capture me anyway, Meowth? I'm not a Pokemon Team Rocket would be interested in..."

There was a pause. Meowth could feel the truck hit a small bump as it trundled along the dirt road. He finally let out a sigh and said, "Kid, don't be like that."

Tepig looked at him, eyes filled with a despair that Meowth recognized. "What?"

"There are going to be times in life where it seems like nothing ever goes right. The people you trust chew you up and spit you out on the curve and leave you. And anytime you try and make a name for yourself, when you try to rise above it all, it seems like the world tries and pushes you back down."

Tepig let out a grunt. "You're telling me..."

Meowth continued, "But that's no reason to stop. If you don't push through it all, no other Pokemon is going to push through it for you. You may be lucky enough to have friends that'll help, family that'll care, but in the end it's up to you. You say you're terrible at battling; then get better. You think you don't deserve to be this kid's Pokemon? Prove yourself wrong!" He passionately took a step forward with one foot, one paw clenched with determination, then shouted, "Aim for the moon, kid! Cause when you're a lonely kitten who's starving on the mean streets, the only way to go is up, and the only one to get you up there is you!"

"Um, thanks, Meowth," Tepig gave him a small smile. "That... That helps."

Meowth couldn't tell if the little piggy was being sincere or not, but he hoped that helped a little bit. Inspiring speeches are something he usually saved up for an occasion when he wasn't feeling too rotten, which was usually once a season.

"Meowth..." He turned to see Pikachu giving him sad, yet confused, look. "Why did you join Team Rocket? Why do you STAY in Team Rocket? You seem like... I think you could be a good Pokemon. The ability to speak human is absolutely amazing, but... Your outlook on the world is so... Negative. What happened to you? Why are you so cynical?"

The feline looked away. His past wasn't something he was particularly proud of. It was still like a fresh wound that he never quite cleaned up. Was this something he even wanted to share? "I... I don't remember my mother. Or my father." Well that answered that. Looks like he was going all in. "What I do remember is always being hungry. You ever been starving, Pikachu?"

"I've been hungry," he replied, "but starving would be an exaggeration."

"I have. Hunger will make you do crazy stuff, believe me. Anyways, I remember that I saw some movie while I was strung up in a tree, some advertisement I think, showing a happy Meowth over in Hollywood, had all the food and sweets he could ever want. I could just imagine it; if I go there all my worries would be over! So, being the naive kitten I was, I went there."

Axew asked hopefully, "Was it nice?"

Meowth laughed at the little guy's optimism. It was kinda cute, and he hoped the kid never had to go through what he was about to talk about. "Not quite. I was just as homeless and hungry there as I was anywhere. I had to steal food so I could live each day. Eventually I even joined up with a gang of other Meowths, all of us fighting for our lives. But then..." He let out a dreamy sigh. "I met her. Meowzie. The cat of my dreams, absolutely gorgeous! So, as any ladies man like myself would do, I asked her out." He shrugged. "Turns out life wasn't inclined to give me what I wanted. Y'see, Meowzie was owned by some rich broad. She told me she wouldn't even dream of dating a dirt poor Meowth like me, and that she preferred humans anyway." He grinned slyly. "That didn't stop ol' Meowth. I may not be able to be rich, but I could try to be more like a human. Day and night I practiced walking like a human, talking like a human, even eating like a human. It was lots of work, and since I was running around on two legs I was often caught and beaten when I tried to get grub."

"I... I know what that's like," Tepig commented.

"Finally, when I'd mastered all that I could, I went back to Meowzie. I told her what I'd worked so hard to do, just for her." He paused.

"And?" Snivy asked, "Did something happen? Was she already seeing some other Pokemon?"

"... She said I was a freak."

Meowth could here the tires of the truck trundle along the dirt road as they kept going forward. It was a mystery to him why every region seemed to consist purely of dirt roads when cities were asphalt and concrete jungles. He hoped they would get to the base soon. He never figured guard duty today would be so... Exhausting.

"I... I'm so sorry," Pikachu was the first to speak up, and those words were some of the last he expected to here. Today just seemed to be full of surprises for the cat. "You worked so hard. And for all of it to amount to nothing... That must've been devastating."

"How horrible..." Axew murmured.

Snivy let out a huff. "While she has every right to turn you down, she didn't have to be so rude about it."

"Ironically enough," Meowth added in a bemused voice. "Her owner had to dump her a couple years later for money troubles. She ended up being just as poor as me. What goes around comes around, I guess. But it made me realize the world ain't a fair place. Right and wrong don't mean nothing. There's no reward for being the good guy. The only reason these rules on morality exist is to push the less fortunate around."

"But what does all this have to do with you joining Team Rocket?" Tepig asked.

"Well," Meowth continued, "The first human word I learned was 'rocket'. It's silly, but I guess it was just something that felt right."

"You know, Meowth," Pikachu said slowly, "Just because you lived an early life of crime doesn't mean you can't turn your life around. You don't have to stay with Team Rocket. You could..." He stumbled, as though the next words were difficult to say. "You could join us. I know you had a rough past, and that the world has done you any favors, but maybe Ash could give you a chance to start over. Maybe even help give you a new outlook on the world and the people on it. You wouldn't even have to be captured… Maybe you could just tag along?" The others voiced their agreement.

"No can do," Meowth replied with a slow shake of his head. "Not for nothing, I appreciate the sentiment, even if it is coming from the twerp's Pokemon, but Jesse and James are my best buds. Back in Hollywood I was just an outcast. Those two were the first to really accept me, along with the rest of Team Rocket. They may be a couple of numbskulls, but abandoning them would be like abandoning a couple of brain-dead children in the middle of nowhere."

"Um..." Snivy murmured, "How, uh, sweet?"

Meowth laughed. Okay, so that was pretty harsh. "I may sound like I'm not too fond of them with all the bad mouthing, but leaving Jesse and James would be like you ditching Ash. I have this feeling of loyalty, you know? A feeling, I should add, that doesn't need a Pokeball to reinforce."

"I guess..." Pikachu shrugged his shoulders in disappointment. "I mean, the offer's open. I still don't trust you. And no matter how many sad stories you tell I still don't think your actions are justified. Maybe some day, way far off, we can be on the same side, though."

Meowth smiled. There was something nice about that. There was a one in a million chance that he would leave those two idiots, but the idea that he had somewhere else to go was... Nice. Yeah, that was the way to put it. Nice.

Tepig looked at the others before finally saying, "So, since no one has argued against me..."

"Oh no, I don't think you're right at all," Pikachu replied with a good-natured laugh, "You keep saying the consequences don't matter, it's the motivation of the Pokemon. But then what if someone with a purely good motivation punched a completely innocent individual in the face? You're saying that it doesn't matter that he punched someone in the face; all that's important was his motivation. No way is that Pokemon in the right."

"It's true," Meowth nodded in agreement, "James is one of the nicest Pokemon trainers I've ever known, and he means well, sometimes, but that doesn't mean he's considered one of the good guys."

"I thought you didn't believe in good and bad?" Snivy gave him a smirk.

The cat shrugged. "That's a different matter altogether. I'm just pointing out why Tepig's logic don't make sense."

"Wait..." Pikachu scratched his head in confusion. "James? Nice? Really?"

"Oh yeah," Meowth waved his hand dismissively, as though the others should already be aware of this point. "It was a real problem for a while. Every time his Pokemon came out they used to always give him a huge hug, thorny hug. Can't even remember the last time he caught one of his Pokemon with violence. You want to know how he caught his Yamask?"

"How?"

"He offered the little guy some food! The Yamask practically leaped into the Pokeball!"

Snivy scoffed. "Why do I not believe you?"

"I'm telling the truth! Honest!" The snake eyed him speculatively. Obviously she wasn't going to believe him, so there was only way to prove it. "Wait here one sec!" The four caged Pokemon glared at him, prompting a nervous laugh from the cat. "I, uh, guess you don't got nowhere to go, anyway." He turned around and opened the metal door behind him which led to the cabin of the truck where Jesse and James were busy driving.

"You five seem to be quite the chatterboxes today," Jesse said over her shoulder. As usual James was at the wheel. He always said that Jesse's lack of road etiquette made him nervous, and Meowth couldn't blame him. "Are the four of them pleading for mercy? Offering to join Team Rocket?"

Meowth chuckled a bit at this. There's no chance she'd ever have the foggiest idea what they were talking about. "Not quite," He turned to the other Rocket and asked, "Hey James, can I borrow your Yamask for a bit?"

"My Yamask? Whatever for?" His confusion turned to a playful smirk. "Don't tell me you can't handle four Pokemon locked in cages by yourself?"

"Nah, just trying to win an argument."

"Fine, just return him in one piece, alright?"

"He's a ghost; I don't think anything's going to happen to him."

"Still, knowing you Meowth, anything can happen... And will happen." He unclipped one of the Pokeballs hanging from his waist and handed it to Meowth.

"Thanks!" The feline came back through the door and closed it behind him. Pressing the button on the Pokeball, he tossed it lightly into the air and called out, "Go Yamask!"

A small, black figure emerged holding a brilliant, golden mask. As it floated in the air, it looked around as though a bit disoriented as he found four of the enemy staring at him. "Oh, um, hello. Meowth, didn't we already capture these guys?"

"Yeah," Meowth nodded, "I'm just making a point is all. Now, when James caught you, did he battle you to do it?"

The floating spirit shook his head. "No. He gave me some food and was really nice to me. So when he offered me a chance to join him, I was fine with it. He seemed like a good trainer and a good person."

"How about that..." Tepig quietly mused.

"How's he been since then?" asked Pikachu warily. Meowth could tell he wasn't completely sold yet.

"Amazing!" Yamask smiled at him. "He always feeds me, sometimes even going without food himself. I couldn't ask for a better trainer!"

"Y'see?" Meowth smiled proudly. He wanted to see the twerps refute this point. "This whole morality garbage is nothing but nonsense! There's too much grey in the mix to actually say something's right or wrong! If James can be a legitimately nice guy, but does some terrible things sometimes, what does that say about your evil and good argument? I'll tell ya; it's all moot! There ain't nothing to argue about!"

"Just because he treats his Pokemon well," Pikachu replied, "Doesn't mean he can treat every other living being poorly."

"Yeah," Tepig added, "There's a difference between-"

"Hold on a second," The five Pokemon turned towards Yamask. "You guys are having a philosophical argument back here on morality?"

The five Pokemon looked at each other. Pikachu was the first to speak; "I, uh, guess we are."

"Seriously? I mean, there's nothing wrong with that, I'm just surprised is all."

Pikachu laughed, as though realizing how ridiculous the whole thing was to someone who just walked in on the conversation. Or, in this case, floated. "I don't suppose you have anything to add?"

He nodded, "I do, but first let me first ask, what do you all think morality is?"

"We haven't exactly come to a consensus," Snivy shrugged. "I think a moral Pokemon is one that pursues their own self-happiness without going out of their way to sabotage the happiness of others."

"She's kinda right," Meowth said, "Except none of that nonsense about that sabotaging the happiness of others. Right or wrong is something made up by people who want the world to make sense. You should do what you want when you want to, and if there are any limits to what you should do then you're the one that makes them."

"Which is why there's a major split between Meowth and me," Pikachu continued. "I think it's important to be mindful of others. I think there is a right and wrong, and the way to decide what's what is to look at the consequences of a person's actions. If they create negative experiences overall, then the action is evil. If the overall experience for all involved is positive on the other hand..."

Yamask nodded. "I see."

"But I don't think that's right," Tepig countered, stomping a hoof indignantly, "because what you do isn't as important as why you do it. To judge whether an action is good or evil you have to look at why the person performed the action. If they have evil motives, than the results of the action aren't important. Good motives, good Pokemon. Bad motives, bad Pokemon."

Yamask floated over to Axew. "And, you little guy?"

Axew, who Meowth suddenly realized had contributed very little to the argument as a whole, responded, "I... I don't know. It's an awful lot to think about, and, I kind of still just want to get back to Iris." That certainly put a damper on his Meowth's spirit. He felt a little bad for the little guy. The kid was still a baby, and they were expecting him to coming up with a moral base on which the world could stand? That was more than what should be expected of him.

"So, Yamask," Tepig asked curiously, "Who do you think is right?"

"Hmm..." He floated in place, thinking carefully. "I can safely say..."

Every Pokemon leaned forward in anticipation.

"After careful deliberation..."

"Yes!?" Pikachu asked eagerly.

Yamask gave them all a big grin. "You're all wrong."

They all practically fell over in frustration. Meowth shouted, "Don't go setting us up like that!"

The spirit gave a hearty laugh. "Sorry, I just couldn't resist! You're all so serious right now, relax!" He wiped a tear from his eye as he settled down. "But you're all still wrong. Morality isn't about why someone does something or the result of what they do. And no, Meowth, I'm pretty sure morality does exist, and no, Snivy, morality isn't about being ego-centric, just not TOO egocentric. Morality is about a Pokemon's character, their virtues. If a person steals something you don't say 'he's bad because he's a thief' or 'he's good because he has a good motive for stealing'. What you should be asking is 'what does stealing in this specific situation say about his character'?"

Snivy tapped her foot a few times, deep in thought. "Elaborate."

"Well..." The spirit scratched his head a few times, thinking how to continue. "Let's say Meowth has a chance to steal a bag of money from a man."

"Why do I gotta be the example!?"

"You shouldn't be concerned about whether the action itself was good or bad. You should be asking what this action says about Meowth's character. If he decides 'I'm not going to steal the money', then that says he's conscious of others feeling, which is a positive virtue. If he does steal the money, then you can say 'he's greedy and selfish because he went through with stealing the money', and those two things are negative virtues. By looking at how Meowth would perform in a variety of situations you can make an overall assessment on whether he's good or bad."

"But that doesn't work!" Pikachu exclaimed. "A Pokemon could have positive virtues but still do horrible things!"

Yamask shrugged. "You wanted my opinion, I gave it. Besides, the consequences of the action don't always relate to the perpetrator's intent or morality. A Pokemon could try and stop a thief, fail, and still be considered good for having attempted it. You would look at the action, how no good was created, and judge the action bad."

"But the way you were talking before," Pikachu argued, "morality is only concerned with the individual. If you say that an action doesn't care about what happens to others then you're missing a lot of important contextual information that would help you make a fair judgment."

"Perhaps," Yamask rubbed the chin of his mask in contemplation. Meowth wasn't sure that's how chin rubbing was supposed to work. "But my theory never stated that you ignored the impact on other Pokemon. That's what Tepig said. My theory just says that morality isn't purely based on the outcome itself."

"Which I still disagree with."

Yamask ignored that comment and continued. "What my theory can do that yours can't is be adaptive. It looks at both the motivation AND the consequences. See? It's important to realize that you have to judge each action on a case by case basis. All of your theories…" He motioned to the others, "are way too generalized. Morality is a precise thing. A couple of basic rules can't address its complexity."

"Of course," Snivy shot back, "I believe the problem arises when you realize your entire theory rests on these virtues you keep talking about. Who's to say which virtues are positive and which are negative? The whole idea seems awfully subjective to me."

Yamask gave a dismissive wave of a hand. "Isn't it obvious?"

"No!" the others shouted back.

"Oh, uh..." Yamask scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I guess that's kind of a problem, huh?"

Meowth nodded, arms folded across his chest. "If agree with you that it's the virtues of the perpetrator that decide if he's good or bad, then we've got a completely different argument on our hands! There's no way we'd ever all come to a consensus on which virtues are the right ones and which are the wrong ones!"

"I like where you were going with that though," Tepig replied. "It was kind of similar to what I was saying-"

"Um, excuse me?" a nervous voice interjected.

Each Pokemon turned to the source of the dissent.

Axew gulped anxiously. "If you don't mind, I'd like to play too."

"Play?" The feline blinked in surprise. Who would've thought the kid would have something to say on all of this. He shrugged. "Ain't no one stopping you."

"Oh, okay, well, uh..." He paused for a moment and thought over his words. "... I think you can tell what's good or bad by how you feel." The others exchanged glances. "You know that feeling you get in your stomach? That really awful feeling you get in your stomach and you know that, whatever it was you did, it was BAD. Like really bad! Like if your friend has a fruit you want, and you take it without them knowing, you get this super bad feeling deep down inside. That's what something bad is."

Meowth looked around at the others to gauge their opinion on this, but each seemed as unsure what to think of that statement as he was. Finally, he said; "I guess if there's ever going to be a sense of morality, I guess that's it."

Tepig gave a shrug. "Simple, but effective I guess."

"I dunno," said Snivy, "I guess that's alright for some general things, but not everyone is going to get that same, err, 'bad' feeling that everyone else does."

Axew shook his head. "No, if you did something bad, and you know you did something bad, you're going to get that feeling, no matter how hard you try not to! You can try to tell yourself what you were doing was for a good reason, or that it was good for everyone, but if what you do is truly, truly wrong, then you're going to know it is. That's why I think bad guys are act so rotten… All the bad stuff they do builds up till they feel all rotten on the inside! Maybe…" Axew hesitated. Meowth figured he must be having trouble forming all the thoughts whirling around in his head into words they'd understand. "Maybe the reason that we all think some things are bad is because everyone shares that same icky feeling on the inside. Like, uh, killing. Everyone gets that icky feeling when they kill someone, so that's why we all agree that killing is a bad thing."

"Except there's never something that everybody agrees on," Yamask responded. "There'll always be that one Pokemon that doesn't get that icky feeling from killing. As long as there's even one dissenter, you can't say something is good or bad because everyone feels that way."

"Hmm…" The little dragon crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his foot, eyes closed. "Maybe… Maybe it doesn't matter what others think… Maybe whether you think you're a good Pokemon or a bad Pokemon is something only you can decide? It's just something you feel, and that's something other Pokemon will never ever know. Others may say you're good or bad, but should you listen to them? Are they right?" He opened his eyes at looked at the others. "After all, who can say what a Pokemon truly is... Except that Pokemon?"

All five gave a surprised jump as the metal door to the truck's cabin was pulled open and Jesse shouted in, "Meowth, the Rocket Radar is showing that the twerps are getting closer! Make sure none of their bratty Pokemon escape!" She shut the door again.

"See?! I told you!" Pikachu cried out happily, leaping into the air with joy.

Meowth watched as the four Pokemon cheered. What was the expression? Easy come, easy go? "Yeah, yeah," He waved a hand dismissively, "as if we didn't already see that coming." He did, at least. After all, he'd been at this whole 'catch Pikachu' plan for a good two years, at least. What made this day any different? But he swore, one day, one of these plans would work. Throw enough plans at something and one of them was bound to turn out okay, right?

"So… What now?" Tepig asked.

"If it goes anything like it normally does," Meowth responded nonchalantly. As this was a daily occurrence, he didn't have any reason to feel surprised or astounded. "The twerp catches up, figures out how to save all of you, probably by leaping onto a moving vehicle like a moron, and then Team Rocket is electrocuted, vine-whipped, and burned before blasting off."

"Again," added Yamask.

"Yeah," Meowth couldn't forget that. "Again."

"It seems a little weird that after this conversation we're just going to go exactly right back to the way we were before," Snivy noted.

"Yeah, it does," Pikachu agreed with a curt nod. He looked sadly at Meowth. "You know, what I said before…"

Meowth shook his head. "Thanks, but no thanks."

"Because, you know, even though my views on what's right or wrong may be kind of rigid, and for all I know they may not even be right, there' is one thing I do know..." He gave Meowth a cheerful smile. "Each Pokemon is good at heart, including you. All you need to do is act on it."

The feline shook his head, bemused. "I still think you're wrong. No Pokemon is good or bad, you are what you make of yourself, no matter what others think, but… Even so, I appreciate it."

He looked around at the other Pokemon in the truck, offering him a range of emotions. Surely these weren't the same annoying twerps that he was being forced to guard just a half an hour ago? These twerps were different… He felt like he understood them a little better, saw where they were coming from, and could even appreciate the paths they'd decided to take with life, even if he didn't necessarily agree with it. He knew that he was going to bed tonight a bit wiser than when he'd woken up.

Meowth chuckled lightly. Who knew such an curious outcome could arise out of such an unusual situation?

Perhaps… Perhaps he should lock Pokemon in trucks more often?

Author's Notes: What originally started as a character study on Meowth ended up evolving into me wanting to see what would happen if you took five (eventually six) different Pokemon, throw them in a box, started an argument on ethics (well, normative ethics in this case, but Meowth delved more into meta-ethics), and just see what would happen. This is the result!

I hope you enjoyed reading it just as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please review and let me know; did you enjoy the story? What improvements could be made? Is this something you'd like to see more of? And, out of curiosity, was there any Pokemon you agreed with (or perhaps you didn't agree with any of them, and there's another position you'd have suggested instead)? Strongly disagreed with? Do you think any of the Pokemon would argue for a different set of values than what I depicted here? I'd love to hear all your feedback, and thanks again for reading!