Chapter One
"Dis is ya new room" Meowth told me. He's a talking cat. Sometimes I can't believe how strange, and, frankly, stupid the world we live in is. I don't blame you if you say "What the!" at this point. I wouldn't even blame myself for saying that. If you could just wait till I've actually told my story before you start acting confused then that might help. Not being in an overheated room, sitting on a cold metal chair, with you looking down at me, might be helpful too. Anyway, let me explain a few things. Firstly he's not a cat. He's a Pokemon. These are unique animals that can only be found on a small group of islands near Japan. Even so, they can normally only say their names, or parts of their names. Like parrots taught to repeat one single phrase, except Pokemon understand what other Pokemon are saying. Its just humans that don't. Meowth is an exception. Well, I say Meowth. I mean this particular one. Meowth is the names of a species, like dog. Meowth, the one who was with me during the events I'm about to describe, doesn't want to make himself out as being superior to other Meowth's. So he has no first name or surname. Now where was I?
"This isn't a friendly chat between old age pensioners on a bus. Get on with it Kails. Plus, we may be from the US, but we have heard of Pokemon."
I prefer to be called Ben. Or, if you must use my last name, then Mr. Kails will do ok? Now the door was made of some kind of softwood. It had a room number on it, 665. The neighbour of the beast. I leaned down so Meowth, he was somewhere between 3 and 4 feet, could give me the key. I'm about six foot'. I don't know exactly. Anyway, the key was on a keying; a laminated card with the room's number on it. We went in. I could see immediately that it hardly fitted the expression "Home sweet home." It would defiantly need redecorating soon. The green carpet was faded and stained. The only decoration on the pale peach coloured walls was a poster explaining the symptoms of dangerous dieses, and how we can avoid these dieses. Isn't it great to see a reminder that you might have a deadly illness every time you walk into a room? I'd hate to be a doctor. At least I've taken it down now. There was an iron bed against one wall, which I promptly sat on in order to survey the rest of the room, and found it squeaks whenever it moves. There was a window on the opposite end to the door. It looked out onto a brick wall. Underneath it was an uncomfortable-looking plastic chair and a plastic desk. A small chest of draws, in fact a chest of one draw, was attached to it. Both were grey. There were empty wooden shelves that somehow looked lonely. Also a slightly battered wardrobe. There was nothing interesting on the ceiling. Just a light bulb under a plastic box and a smoke detector. The door of the bathroom was between the bed and the door leading to the corridor outside. In other words it was unfriendly. To put it mildly. Who decorates these places? Well I guess I'd know more about that than you. It wasn't the way it is now when I first went in. Now it's got posters, and air-fix models, and my DVD collection and everything. I guess I won't be there again soon. I'm sure I'll have years of living in rooms like this to look forward to. Why am I doomed to spend the rest of my life in real dumps like this?
"Well dis is it. Gravity works. Electricity works. Da water works…" Meowth said. Or something like that. I don't remember his exact words. I'm just paraphrasing.
"…The rest ya have to provide for ya self. I gotta go kid. I've got a meeting wid Giovanni" he continued.
"I'm seeing him after you I think. He wants to welcome me here" I said.
"He says he wants ta welcome ya here. Dare's a big difference. Never mind. Da point is I've seen him before. He ain't dat interest'en to look at" Meowth said in his thick Brooklyn accent. I could, can, whatever, barely understand what he's saying. It's ridiculous! Can I see him? I want to see him.
"Later. Get on with it."
Ok. There's no need to be like that. I still have rights don't I? Never mind. Don't answer that.
"I just thought it would make sense if I went with you. Waited outside his office till you'd finished" I told Meowth.
"It'll be boring for ya."
"I don't mind. I just want to keep on talking to you. I need to get to know you. We'll be spending a lot of time together from now on."
"Just because I'm ya supervisor doesn't mean I gotta like it."
"Tough."
He sat down on the bed, a little more heavily than I expected considering his size. His white eyes, larger than those of a human, stared seriously at mine. I'm not good at reading Pokemon expressions, but, if I had to guess, he appeared drained just then. Tired.
"I'm sorry kid but, my friends just got fired. Jessie and James. Didn't deserve it. I've know them for eight years. They made mistakes. Ha! Who hasn't? They didn't deserve it. Now I've gotta go to da boss's office. Dat doesn't happen unless ya in serious trouble. Am I feeling like this 'cause of them leaving, or 'cause I'm scared of being fired myself? I don't know. Am I being selfish or not?"
This was clearly why my tour had been so brief, and his attitude towards him so negative. Frankly, it was getting on my nerves up until that point. At least I understood it now. I guessed I had to come up with a quick way to comfort him. Though why it should be me I have no idea. I'm not his mother.
"I think you know you wouldn't be fired. I take it you were partners?"
"Yep" Meowth replied.
"So if you were all going to be fired he would have told you all when you were together. There's no need to worry. Now you're not stupid are you?"
"No. And if anyone, including ya, says that I am, then I'm gonna do something you'll regret. And I won't regret it."
"Ok. So the only reason your feeling bad is because you miss your friends and you feel that what happened to them is unjust."
"You think I should tell him that what he did wasn't right?" Meowth asked. I started to feel bad myself. That last sentence he uttered wasn't encouraging.
"We'll see. Wait till you actually know what he wants" I said.
"Fine."
"Don't tell him unless he's actually going to fire you."
"Right. I guess ya can come with me if ya want. Come on. We're running outta time."
"Sure."
I still couldn't get rid of the nasty feeling that I had planted a possibly hazardous idea in Meowth's head. Then again, perhaps I was just overreacting. After all I didn't know him that well. At least that's what I told myself. We know the truth now of course.
"Just let me put my uniform on ok? I guess I can unpack later" I said, looking down at the several cardboard boxes I'd brought with me. They were lying on the ground, waiting for me to open them.
"You'll have plenty a time ta unpack later. Hurry up with da uniform. Change in the bathroom. The uniform's in the wardrobe. I'll wait" Meowth said.
Can I have a drink please? The smell of that coffee is driving me crazy. Plus it's not easy just continuously talking for this long.
"Trust me, if you'd ever tried our coffee you wouldn't drink it again voluntarily. I could get you something else instead. White wine? Champaign? Perhaps we could continue this conversation in a fancy French restaurant. You don't seem to be taking this matter seriously."
I'm in a police interrogation room, facing serious jail time. Of course I'm taking this situation seriously. Look, can I just get a glass of water please? At least give me that.
"Ok. I'll get it in a few minutes. I want us to at least get to your first encounter with Giovanni before we take a break. Will that do?"
Yes. Thank you. So I looked in the wardrobe for the first time. There were plenty of hangers in there, but only one set of clothes. I had to provide the rest my self. Typical. Although I rarely got to dress as a civilian after I joined. Anyway, the uniform was the only thing in the wardrobe just then. It consisted of black, knee-high boots, white trousers, and a white tunic with a red "R" printed on it. There were black gloves, and a black belt too. I went into the bathroom. The walls were white. The tiles that made up the walls of the shower cubical, that stood in one corner, were white. The basin was white. The sink was white. Only the grey floor broke the monotony, and not by much. There were no toiletries. Again I was instructed to bring them from home. There was a mirror above the basin, which stood just next to the cubical in the tiny room. The mirror showed my head and most of my torso. Another brilliant piece of interior decoration. I put on the uniform and studied myself. I had poise in that uniform, in a way that Meowth's unclothed body didn't. I looked authoritative and smart and more mature than most 23 year olds. Even handsome, despite the paleness of my face. My neatly combed brown hair probably helped. For a few seconds I admired my goatee, my large blue eyes, and my pleasant smile, which I'm told is my best feature. The uniform was very tight fitting, but it was worth it. Normally I'm not very pleased by my appearance. I left the bathroom. I put my jeans, a Sonic the Hedgehog T-shirt, and a leather jacket, on the bed.
"I'm ready Meowth."
We walked down a seemingly endless series of corridors, with doors in them that had room numbers or room names printed on them. I was in a new world, and it was vast. Everything seemed to be moving too quickly. I couldn't take in all the many strange details of this new place at once. We passed various people in Team Rocket uniforms, but they ignored us. They were just chatting and laughing. Going about their daily routines. I guess I can't blame them, much as I enjoy all attention being focused on me. I wondered as I passed them if I would get to know any of them in time. Which would be my friends and which would be my enemies? What strategies would they reveal to me when we practiced Pokemon battling in the stadium. The great competition where one Trainer's Pokemon fights another for bragging rights. Gladiators who don't lift a finger against each other. Just skilfully command our Pokemon. I'm told my enthusiasm gets annoying occasionally. Sorry. The stadium is at the bottom of the HQ building by the way. Will that be helpful? Eventually Meowth, who I noticed was carrying two laminated I.D. cards, stopped at an elevator. It was guarded by two burley men who wore the same style uniforms as me, but had Pokeballs on their belts. I suspected I would be given my Pokemon later. I couldn't wait to get a few of those red and white Pokemon containers on my belt. Get my own Pokemon team and start training them.
"Boy, this is getting monotonous."
I'm getting round to everything else ok?
"I.D." one of the guards said. See? On with the story.
"Surely ya know me by now Joe" Meowth responded.
"Sorry but I have my orders. Every card needs to be checked."
Meowth rolled his eyes up to the ceiling, to show his exasperation, then handed him the two cards. One had a picture of Meowth on it, along with information about him. His age, place of birth, rank, which was Grunt Level Two, and so on. Mine had my face on it and the same details. My rank was Grunt Level One. I couldn't wait to start calling my self that. The name's Ben Kails, Team Rocket Grunt Level One. The guard checked the I.D.'s over, briefly, then pressed the elevator button. We steeped into the undecorated steel box that was the elevator. The doors shut with a slightly ominous clang. Meowth pressed the button that would bring us all the way to the top floor. I must admit the elevator and the guards intimidated me a little. In fact the whole place intimidated me. It reminded me of my first day of school. Soon we stepped out into a much better decorated corridor. There was a security guard behind a plastic desk with loads of switches and TV monitors on it, which showed what was happening in various places in the building. There were large windows looking out across the giant skyscrapers of Saffron City, Kanto. There were plush chairs just outside the only door I could see apart from the elevator door. It was just like the door of my room except it had "Giovanni, Manager" written on it. Clearly the upper ranks have greater privileges than us lowly grunts. Meowth approached the guard, showed him the I.D.'s, then came to stand next to me. For the last minute or so I'd just been standing outside Giovanni's door, mentally preparing myself for what lay within.
"The guard says that the boss changed his mind. We gotta both go in together" Meowth said.
"Good job I decided to come with you. Do you always call him 'The boss'?" I asked.
Meowth looked a little annoyed.
"Yes it is and yes I do."
There was silence for a few seconds.
"Well kid, dis is it" Meowth eventually said, and we went in.
Can I take a rest now, and get that drink?
"Sure. We've got a recording of what happened in the office anyway, so we shouldn't need you for a while. I've got to talk to Meowth now anyway."
You got a recording? How?
"None of your business."