2
Jessie and James
Meowth tossed up the orange. It put up its claws to cut it, then missing, watching as it rolled around. "Wait! That's mine!" Meowth called. It chased across the restaurant's floor after its food. When it finally though it could grab it, the orange had gotten wet and slipped out of Meowth's grasp. Watching the round object's movement, Meowth became amused, and just ran the other way, chasing it.
The orange hit Jessie's foot as she sat at the table. "Stop playing around," Jessie said, holding out the food.
"No goofing off here," Meowth said, and then grabbed the orange again, beginning to peal it and chomp it down. "Give me some of that," it said, grabbing the chips away from James. This was a pretty satisfying meal, made even more satisfying as they ate it knowing they'd finally been able to send some pokemon back to the boss. Meowth ate some more then turned to Jessie. "Just because we have a little time to celebrate doesn't mean we get lax. Time to plan our next heist."
"What do you have in mind, Meowth?" James asked.
"I know what I have in mind," Jessie said. They paused, all three of them thinking of the same thing. "There's no way that brat can keep getting lucky when he faces us forever."
Meowth nodded. "It's not just luck though," it said. They all sat in silence, considering the one failure they'd never been able to let go. This kid had tripped them up while robbing a pokemon center, causing some fireworks with just one small pikachu.
That pikachu was special. How else could it cause so much damage, not to mention escape their grasp so many times? Yeah, it was because the pokemon was far more powerful than the average member of its species. One of their goals was to capture it and present it to the boss. Pikachu would be impressive, Meowth was sure. It would definitely beat that persian which had taken Meowth's place at the boss's side. That would be fun to watch.
"So, do we bother going after that pikachu again? I mean, I'm sure that twerp's nearby," Jessie said.
"I say we do. You guys just need to be better prepared, got it? Don't let him catch us by surprise again," Meowth said.
"Right," Jessie and James agreed. Meowth nodded and smiled, happy to have humans that took its orders so readily.
"Wait a minute," Jessie said. She looked up at the TV, which had been playing the news at mute near the door then walked up to it. James followed, and Meowth hopped on his shoulder to see better. The caption read, "Mysterious Pokemon Appears!" They watched some kind of blur going past the camera. Then the camera focused on the pokemon, zooming in, completely in focus. Jessie and James's brows furrowed, and Meowth gave a shout.
"It's that pokemon!" Meowth said.
"Yeah, it does look kind of familiar," Jessie said.
"It really does. I'm not really sure where I've seen it before," James said.
"You dolts! You haven't seen this pokemon before," Meowth said.
"Why couldn't we, Meowth?" Jessie said.
"I guess I saw it flying around somewhere and forgot," James said, putting his hand on his chin as he tried to recall where.
"No way," Meowth insisted. "If you saw this thing, you wouldn't forget. This is..." Meowth paused and looked around. No one was watching. It hopped on the floor, then motioned for Jessie and James to get closer. They kneeled, looking at Meowth questioningly. "This is a genetically modified pokemon the boss special-ordered. If it woke up and escaped, you know the boss'll be looking for it!"
"Hm," James said, nodding in understanding. "Well then..."
"I guess we know what the boss wants us to do next," Jessie said.
"Yeah, we should definitely go after it. Problem is, where it's been spotted is no where near here," Meowth said, reading the caption on the TV.
"So we should go back to where it's been seen?" James suggested. Jessie nodded.
"Have you seen how quick that thing moves? It'd be gone long before we got there," Meowth said.
"Then what do you suggest, Meowth?" Jessie said.
"We just stay put," Meowth concluded. "I don't know much about that pokemon, but it's some kind of weird floating psychic type. If it appears here, we'll be here. That's probably what the boss wants us to do."
"So just hide away?" Jessie said.
"No way!" Meowth insisted. Didn't she get what it had just been saying? They were part of a team, and the boss would probably want all of his team looking out all throughout Kanto, not just crowding in one stop. "We've got other work to do. You can't be thinking about going to where every other agent probably is right now."
"Right," James said.
"Yeah, fine," Jessie hesitantly agreed.
"You probably do know what the boss wants, Meowth," James said.
"I guess we do have other things to do anyway," Jessie said.
"Good," Meowth said with a nod. Even if they argued, its human partners eventually listened most of the time. They hadn't turned out to be the completely obedient and powerful underlings that Meowth had wanted when it first heard it was setting out as a field agent, but they were good enough. It was kind of fun to work with them most of the time, Meowth recalled. Now if only they'd cooperate for long enough for its plans to work when they tried to get hold of that rare pikachu.
"Since you understand, let's get looking for that twerp with the pikachu again," Meowth said.
"And then the boss's special pokemon?" James asked.
"Just keep your eyes peeled. We can get both things done at once, you know," Meowth said. Its human partners were both unsure about the idea, but Meowth just shrugged. They didn't need to know its reasoning. Meowth was actually very interested in getting the boss's prized project back. But to do so would all be a matter of luck. They'd need luck to find it, more luck to catch it, and then they'd just have to hope that the boss still wanted it. With all those factors, the best gamble would be in staying put. They'd have less to lose that way.
"You two heard me," Meowth said, putting its trash on the tray then pushing it over at James. "Let's get moving. We've got a lot of work to do."
"Right," Jessie and James both said seriously. They threw everything away, ending their brief celebration. The group then headed to door, going down the street to where they had hidden their hot air balloon, and took off into the air. There was no time to waste. They'd have more than enough time to celebrate as their next victory came to be.
.
Finding the kid turned out to be easier said than done. Of course, he had to be nearby, he'd just gotten himself lost nearby the mountain range. They thought they'd spotted him from a distance. Jessie took out their binoculars and confirmed it. "He's all alone," she said.
James took the binoculars and also looked around, nodding as he saw Ash and Pikachu alone. He looked around more and saw his two friends nearby. "The other two twerps are over there," James said, pointing off in another direction.
"But if we get to him in time, it'll be easier to finally take the thing with no resistance, won't it?" Jessie said.
"Now you're talking," Meowth said with a nod. "Let's get down there before we're spotted ourselves."
Meowth was satisfied as the other two followed its orders and brought them to the ground. James began to look around more as they did. "What's that?" he said, staring off in the distance.
Jessie looked to where he'd pointed and squinted. "I think I saw it too," she said.
"We should change course then?" James said.
"No, we don't want it to see us first either, do we?" Jessie said.
"What are you two blathering about?" Meowth asked.
"Just look Meowth!" James said with excitement. "That pokemon, the boss's, we saw it!"
Meowth frowned as it tried to put itself up to see better. "You sure you two weren't just hoping you saw it?"
"We definitely saw something," Jessie declared.
"So you're not sure what?" Meowth said dubiously.
"I am sure!" James insisted. "It was definitely the boss's pokemon."
Meowth nodded. There was no reason to get all excited, but Jessie was right. If it was where James had indicated, they were in the right area to possibly recapture it, and they didn't want to be in the air when a pokemon like that was around. "Let's keep moving," Meowth said.
.
"This isn't good," Brock said. He looked at the map, his hands trembling a bit as he tried to look around, both to determine their location as well as the location of his friend, Ash. Trying to do both, he was unable to do either, and just let out a sigh of frustration.
Misty frowned nearby him. "Nothing about this whole situation has been good," she said. "Ash!" she called loudly.
"Misty, maybe we shouldn't be making our location that obvious," Brock said.
"Get back over here now!" Misty shouted, ignoring him. She paused, hearing nothing in response. "Ash, you'd better not be ignoring me!" Misty ran forward.
"Wait, Misty!" Brock insisted. He started to run as well, not wanting to lose track of both his friends.
Misty wasn't that patient. She looked and listened. Both Ash and that pokemon had to be somewhere around. Brock was right, they shouldn't be too loud. Anyone looking for Mewtwo and its friends might notice them, then start demanding what they knew, or trying to eliminate the competition. Which is why Ash should have stuck with them rather than wandering off on his own.
Misty took a deep breath, and slowed down her pace of walking. Brock caught up to her, and they began to walk calmly beside each other again. "This way," Brock said, and then lead Misty to a worn down path.
Seeing it, Misty felt somewhat relieved, but then disappointed as she looked one way and then the other, but still didn't see Ash. She frowned, but then picked her head up as she heard some rustling, and heard a voice. "Ash!" she called, then stopped herself. She heard the voice again, and it definitely wasn't Ash's. Misty and Brock both began to walk down the path, both of them getting out their pokeballs as they did.
"Ha!" Meowth said, jumping in front of them. Misty stopped, then turned around. Sure enough, Jessie and James were there, looking smug about having found them. "Prepare for trouble!" Jessie declared.
"And make it double," James continued.
Misty frowned. She wasn't all that intimidated anymore. Even though this group was part of Team Rocket, she was familiar with them. Misty held onto the pokeballs she'd picked out, with Staryu and Starmie, but made no move. "I should have figured we'd run into you," she said.
"What do you want with us?" Brock asked, raising his now empty hands to show he wasn't interested in fighting.
"Hey!" Jessie said.
"No interrupting," James said.
"But since you're asking, where's your pal and his pikachu?" Meowth asked.
Misty frowned, her eyes widening. "Is that seriously all you want to know?" she said.
"We're not gonna forget what happened," Meowth said.
"Your little friend's pikachu will join Team Rocket," Jessie said.
"Are you three even Team Rocket members?" Misty demanded loudly.
"Of course we are," Jessie said, frowning.
"Then how do you not know about what's going on?" Misty asked.
"Misty-" Brock began.
"What's going on?" James repeated.
Meowth frowned, thinking maybe they should have checked back in with the boss. Now these kids might know more than it did about the goings on of Team Rocket. But how much could they know, really? Meowth wasn't going to fall for the kid's bait. If she knew anything, it seemed like she might spill it herself soon.
"Quit stalling anyway, just tell us where your twerpy little friend is," Jessie said.
"That way," Brock said, indicating one direction on the path.
Jessie raised an eyebrow in surprise at just how easy that had been, but didn't make a move in that direction. Neither did Meowth or James. Meowth studied the kid's expression. It was mostly blank. The girl frowned, looking at the ground. There was no way they'd just tell them anything they wanted to know so easily.
"What got you two so excited anyway?" Meowth said, finally breaking the silence.
"Yeah. What's on your mind?" James said.
"It doesn't seem like we're your biggest worry, even though we're right here in front of you," Jessie said.
Brock and Misty were both blank-faced and tight-lipped as they stared at the rockets. Jessie and James started to get annoyed as the seconds ticked by in silence, but Meowth was thinking. It again broke the silence. "It's gotta have something to do with the boss's special pokemon. That's it, isn't it?" Meowth asked. Looking closely at Brock and Misty, it saw they both started to frown. "Yeah, just tell us what's going on," Meowth added.
"Shouldn't go know this already from your boss and not from us?" Brock pointed out. Misty smirked and Jessie and James both fell for his bait, becoming defensive right away.
"The boss tells us everything!" Jessie insisted.
"That's right, we're just not bothering him while he's busy," James said.
"Right, so cough up anything you know," Jessie said.
"Relax, you two," Meowth said. They were way too quick to just jump the gun. It turned to Brock and Misty again. Meowth could see Misty was already holding at least one pokeball, and Brock was tense, at the defensive as well. They were going to fight as soon as Jessie and James started to really push. So Meowth relaxed its pose and smiled. "These kids are right," it said.
"Meowth," Jessie began testily.
"We can find out everything the boss wants us to know from him," Meowth said. Then it narrowed its eyes at Brock and Misty. "But I bet you two know something you really want to share with us, huh?"
Brock shrugged. "Nothing comes to mind," he said.
Meowth turned away. "Yeah, I guess you two little twerps couldn't know anything that important."
"No, I guess not," Brock agreed.
"You're nothing but brainless little weaklings, wandering around the forest here with no goal," Meowth began, side-eyeing toward Misty. "Here me and Jessie and James hoped we'd come across your little friend. He might also be a little twerp, but at least he has a powerful pokemon. Bet he can tell us more than you simpletons, too."
"Yeah, I just bet that Ash would be blabbing to you all as soon as he could!" Misty shouted.
"Misty," Brock said with a sigh.
"What makes you think that?" Meowth asked.
"Actually, maybe we should think about saying something to them ourselves," Misty said. She looked at Brock, who shook his head.
"I know what you're thinking. I just don't think it would do any good," he said.
"Yeah Brock, you're right," Misty said.
"What are you talking about?" James asked.
"Just forget about it!" Misty snapped. "You should know everything already, if not from the your boss then from the news, right? So just leave us alone already!"
"Don't push it, twerp," Jessie said threatening, reaching for a pokeball. "You shouldn't talk back to your betters."
"Oh, betters? Want to find out if that's really true?" Misty said, holding up one of the pokeballs that she already had at the ready. "We'll see who's really the 'brainless weakling'!"
Just before Misty and Jessie were about to fight, Meowth spoke. "Forget it, guys. We can't worry about these kids right now. We've got other things to do, right?"
"Right," James said, and Jessie also nodded. "Let's go," James said, walking in the direction that Brock had indicated.
"Wait a minute there, Jimmy," Meowth said. As James stopped, it spoke again. "We've got something to take care of this way first, remember?"
James followed Jessie and Meowth with some hesitation. "What's this way?" he asked once they'd walked a little ways away.
"The brat's this way!" Meowth said.
"But that other twerp said-" James began.
"We saw him ourselves. Have you completely lost your sense of direction?" Jessie said.
"Oh, that's right," James realized. "I guess he doesn't know where his friend is at all."
"No, he was just lying," Meowth said.
"How sneaky," James commented. "That's our department, isn't it?"
Meowth sighed. Sometimes it thought these two could be useful, but a lot of the time they were just lucky to have it around to help them. James's gullibility in some situations was just one example of the glaring flaws they displayed which might give them trouble with their job. Well, there was no need for Meowth to point it out. "Just hurry up, and don't make too much noise so we don't give ourselves away too fast," it said.
.
He shouldn't have to answer to anyone, Giovanni thought with some annoyance. This incident was becoming annoyingly public. Knowing it was part of Mewtwo's strategy, Giovanni remained calm. But in order to prevent anyone else from seeking out Mewtwo, from coming to any conclusion that didn't involve this powerful pokemon ending up back with Team Rocket.
In order to ensure that, Giovanni did have to go public. He had already spoken to the police, and now would speak to the public at large. There was no need to have too many random trainers poking around where they didn't belong. In this case, transparency might be the best solution.
Various reporters were ready to hear the words of a Team Rocket agent that Giovanni had dressed up and put out to be his mouthpiece. The grunt straightened his tie, and looked somewhat more nervous than Giovanni would have liked. It was obvious that person was sweating as the spotlight came out.
Luckily, his voice didn't shake as he gave his well-rehearsed statement, explaining that he was a scientist who had worked in the lab, as well as a private funder of the project, then apologized for all of the damage that had been caused, assuring it would be paid for. Then the grunt finally got the point that Giovanni had been getting at, the whole point for why they'd bothered speaking out in the first place.
"This pokemon is dangerous," Giovanni's stand-in explained. "I know some rogue trainers might want to help, but absolutely do not do so. You'll be putting yourself and your pokemon in mortal danger if you approach this pokemon."
"So, there's a danger to everyone in the general public?" a reporter interrupted.
"Well, yes and no. This pokemon is a created creature, you understand. It's unfamiliar with everything outside the place it was created. It will likely attack anything with full force that comes near it, since it has no idea what is actually a threat against it or not. But we have no reason not to think that this pokemon will avoid you if you avoid it. So if you think you spot it, no need to put yourself in danger by investigating yourself. Just get yourself out of danger and call our hotline as soon as possible. Don't try to test your might as a trainer. There's no trainer alive that can match this pokemon."
"Sir! Sir, if that's true, then how do you plan to subdue it?" another reporter asked.
The rocket in disguise had been well-prepared for a question like this. "Since we created it, we understand it. We have the specialized equipment which allows us to overpower a pokemon of its specific type and tier."
"So you can't guarantee anyone's safety against this threat?" another reporter asked.
"Well, there's no need to worry, as long as a few precautions are taken. This dangerous pokemon may attack other pokemon, since they're beasts and can't help but provoke each other. But the public in general shouldn't be too concerned. With your help, we will find it. Then, we absolutely will eliminate it, so it won't be a problem to any person or pokemon anymore."
A few other questions were asked regarding safety, and similar answers were given. Giovanni was pleased. Things were going well, overall. Giovanni knew there were plenty that wouldn't buy into this explanation and plan of action. But as long as the contents of this conference stayed within these lines, the majority's perception would be what Giovanni desired.
"Have you tried speaking with it?"
Giovanni frowned as the questioned was raised. His stand-in, having gotten comfortable in the spotlight was starting to sweat again, looking away as he spoke. "Well, as I've said this pokemon is dangerous. It's not the type to be reasoned with." Giovanni nodded, approving of the cautious approach. Then his stand-in spoke again. "Besides, pokemon can't be reasoned with using words."
Giovanni shook his head, but it was too late. "This pokemon doesn't speak, but it can communicate telepathically with human language, correct?" the same reporter continued.
"It's a psychic type. It can manipulate your mind, maybe into thinking it's really communicating," the grunt said. Giovanni motioned for him to stop. This was turning into a failure. They were supposed to incite the public's fear, not their curiosity. "Well, that's all for today."
"But there are pokemon that can speak, aren't there? I've heard Team Rocket has one. Doesn't Team Rocket have a meowth that can speak without even telepathy? Aren't you working with Team Rocket on this project?"
The questions were mostly swallowed up in the ruckus as Giovanni's stand-in left, but Giovanni still heard them. This reporter wasn't the only one to be asking them, either. Even though Mewtwo was a pokemon that had been created exclusively for use by Team Rocket, there were people who questioned if it should have any autonomy.
Giovanni's answer was absolutely not. However, he knew not everyone would agree with him. His acquired meowth was starting to be brought up more and more, though many considered its existence to be rumor rather than fact. Giovanni knew Meowth would cause controversy, possibly amusingly so, and that was why he'd gone through the trouble of preserving the talking pokemon in the first place. However, this controversy was leaning against Team Rocket, and Giovanni wasn't amused in the slightest.
.
As Jessie, James, and Meowth walked forward, they started to give less mind to stealth, though they began to observe the area around them more than ever. There was no sign of Ash, though other noises swallowing up any sound that they themselves would have made. The group stopped as they heard the sound of a helicopter, then several pokemon cries in the distance. "What's all this about?" Jessie asked, trying to hide her unease.
"Should we head back?" James said.
"I say we keep going forward," Meowth said. "This has something to do with the boss's prize pokemon for sure. You two get ready for a fight."
Jessie and James nodded, then brought their pokeballs into hand. The group ran forward. They saw the "R" labeled helicopter in the clearing, and gaped at the scene around them. Their fellow Team Rocket members, were knocked out everywhere, as were their pokemon. They all looked around for the source, then jumped as they saw the fast-moving pokemon knock out yet another of their comrades.
Jessie and James flinched. Meowth stared at the pokemon and nodded. "That's the boss's, alright," it said. "Let's hide so we can find it!"
"Hey!" a voice called.
Before they could hide, Meowth looked and saw the person waving to them and approaching. The voice was familiar, but his hat and the pikachu beside him confirmed who it was. "What's that twerp doing?" Meowth asked. It looked at Jessie and James, who were in a similar state of disbelief. "Come on, hurry up, let's hide!" Meowth ordered. The kid was like a train wreak, but it was better for them to run away, rather than watch his train wreak become their train wreak soon enough.
"Hey! Wait!" Ash called.
"Pika!" Pikachu mirrored the sentiment.
Realizing they couldn't really hide with their loud pursuers, Jessie, James, and Meowth turned around. "What is it?" Jessie asked.
"You shouldn't be bothering us," Meowth said.
"Can't you see what's going on here?" James said.
"It's okay," Ash assured.
"Pika pikachu," Pikachu added, speaking to Meowth.
"What do you mean you want my help?" Meowth asked.
"How could Meowth help you?" James asked.
"It's just some unevolved normal type. It can't go up against the boss's supermon," Jessie added.
"Yeah. That's true enough," Meowth admitted, though it was annoying to hear the assessment spoken aloud.
"Meowth, all these pokemon need your help," Ash said.
"And what makes you think I'd give it?" Meowth said, doubly confused as to why the kid thought it could or would help.
"Pika," Pikachu began.
"Listen for a minute!" Ash insisted.
As they were talking, the attacking pokemon approached them, then landing nearby. Meowth did a double take. The experimental pokemon was bigger than Meowth remembered. Then again, Meowth had only ever seen it from afar, inside that tank. In any case, this muscular pokemon was approaching them threateningly. Ash turned to it with a smile. "Mewtwo! This is it! This is that meowth!" he said.
"I know," Mewtwo said. "The same as with you, I've met this group before." Before the conversation could continue, Mewtwo raised its hand.
There was a strange glowing field around Meowth. Meowth felt itself lifted off of the ground. "Hey, what gives? What's this?"
Its partners reacted quickly. Jessie grabbed Meowth. James threw out his pokeball. "Go, Weezing! Smoke screen!" As the attack obscured the area, Jessie, James, and Meowth were all able to escape together, running away. They caught their breath once they were far enough away. Jessie threw Meowth to the side.
Meowth got back on its feet. "What are you two even doing?" it demanded.
"Saving your butt," Jessie said.
"And ours!" James added.
"You shoulda asked me first!" Meowth said.
Jessie rolled her eyes. "Come on, Meowth. You even agreed that you weren't a match for that weird pokemon," she said.
"We didn't have too much time to talk about it either," James said.
"Did you even have time to think about it?" Meowth said. Jessie and James looked at it blankly, so it continued. "That was the boss's pokemon! We didn't even know we'd come across it! Now you two just up and run away from our prize without a fight," Meowth said.
"Well, those who know when to run away," James began.
"Live to catch pokemon another day," Jessie completed.
"What made you two think anything at all would happen to us if we stayed?" Meowth asked.
"Our teammates getting knocked down one after the other," James said.
Meowth scowled. James was right, but it still thought that they'd given up too fast. Well, that pokemon would probably still be in the area. "Next time, you two need to listen to me. Now-"
"You're being unreasonable, Meowth," Jessie said. "Hurry up, let's keep moving. We can listen to you blab when it's convenient."
Meowth clenched its jaw, scowling further. Besides being angry, it felt embarrassed at how Jessie referred to what it had to say. "Hey! I'm not just saying stuff for my own benefit here, you know. You two can be so stupid, I doubt you'd last a day without me."
"Oh really?" Jessie said, now frowning herself.
"I beg to differ on that," James said.
"Same here, James," Jessie said.
"Are you saying you clowns don't think you need me?" Meowth said.
"I'm saying you should stop thinking of us as clowns!" Jessie said.
"That's right! You aren't the only one who's thinking about the situation, you know!" James said.
"It's true. We were just thinking when you weren't, and got you out of that mess. You might show a little gratitude," Jessie said.
Meowth felt further embarrassment as its two partners continued to scold it. But these two were supposed to be its minions, weren't they? "Fine, thanks," Meowth said curtly. "So now leave the thinking to me. Let's get back over there and see what we can do about this pokemon."
"I don't think that's a good idea," James said.
"I'm thinking the same thing," Jessie added. "Maybe we should just tell the boss what we saw."
"I'll tell the boss what I saw. I'll also tell the boss how you two let his prized pokemon escape," Meowth said.
"You wouldn't," Jessie said, and James just frowned.
Meowth nodded. "Yeah, I'll be sure to tell the boss exactly how you two have been completely useless to me. You'll be lucky if he doesn't trash you after everything I tell him." Meowth began walking off with a self-satisfied smile, away from Jessie and James.
"Why you-" Jessie began.
"Jessie, wait," James said.
"Didn't you hear it, James? Meowth says it's going to trash us, right to the boss himself!"
"I know. I don't think Meowth would really do that, though."
Meowth heard James say this as it walked farther and farther away. No, it probably wouldn't be able to tell the boss too much about what had been going on. That would shine Meowth itself in a bad light as well. But these two were in for a surprise if they thought that Meowth would come running back after just a minute or so. Meowth really was going to call the boss. But it would focus on the positive, such as how it had spotted the pokemon the boss was definitely looking for. But that might not be exactly positive either, since other rockets had already been on the scene going after it, and hadn't succeeded.
Oh well, Meowth thought. It had a while of walking to think of how to spin this positively. Meowth kept walking, and began feeling angry at Jessie and James and how they'd dismissed it so readily. Well, Meowth considered, maybe this was a sign that it shouldn't be working with them anymore. Meowth was there to work with fellow team rocket agents who would value it and use it properly, or rather, allow themselves to be used properly.
As the sun started to set, Meowth's annoyance also faded, and it became concerned for what would happen next. It was pretty far from Jessie and James by now, wasn't it? "Jessie? James?" Meowth called. It became silent upon hearing no response. No, they weren't around. If they had been, Meowth would have noticed they'd been following long before.
It was going to be dark soon. It took a lot longer to travel by foot, especially for Meowth alone. It was sure it was going in the right direction, but it might have to rest before continuing. Meowth decided that was the best course of action, and settled itself in a tree, perking its ears up for possible threats.
It didn't hear much of anything. Meowth started to feel lonely. If Jessie and James were around, it would certainly hear something from them. They'd be arguing about something or another, maybe in a bad mood about what had happened that day. Meowth would probably have joined in, since it felt pretty moody itself. Then when they went to sleep, even if it was all quiet like this, Meowth liked the reassuring feeling of having someone else nearby. Jessie and James were sure to make sure Meowth was fed along with their own pokemon too, Meowth recalled as its stomach growled. Meowth frowned, curling up tighter to try and get warmer as the night got even colder.
Meowth faded in and out of sleep. As it saw the very beginnings of daylight, though it was still quite dark, Meowth picked itself up. It kept walking down the path. Finally, it got to the edge of the town. The lights on the town were still on as the sun finally peeked over the horizon. The first phone booth was right along the road. Meowth got right in.
Here was another case in which Jessie and James would have been useful tools. Meowth could only knock the receiver down, which did it no good as it couldn't reach the buttons. There was no seat in this booth for Meowth to get on and try to reach, so it pushed a rock inside. Even standing on the rock, Meowth was no where close to being able to reach. Measuring the height partly based on its own height, Meowth went back outside to find a rock that might be able to help it better. Finally finding one, Meowth tried to push it. It wouldn't budge. There was no way Meowth would be able to move it at all.
Feeling frustrated, Meowth ran back toward the booth. It leaped at the actual phone, and then grabbed onto it. It pulled itself to the top of the phone itself, then looked down and dialed to the boss's private number. The boss might not be too pleased to be called collect, Meowth realized uneasily as the phone began to ring.
But it was too late to hang up now. "Hello? Who is this?" Meowth heard Giovanni's voice at the other end, after his silent collect call had been accepted. "You'd better have a good reason for calling me. I want good news. Speak up!"
"Hi boss," Meowth said, trying to shake off its nerves. "Sorry to interrupt you, I know you're busy. Just thought you'd like to know-"
"Meowth? Is that you?" the boss interrupted.
"Oh, yeah, sorry for not saying so right away," Meowth said.
"Never mind that."
"Well, you see, I happened to be around when your grunts were trying to get hold of that pokemon I'm guessing is very important to you."
"Yes, I know," Giovanni said.
Meowth blinked in surprise. Well, there had been an awful lot of Team Rocket members there when the incident had occurred. "I guess you heard from Jessie and James already?" it said.
"Of course. Where are you now? Are you alone?"
"Yeah, I'm all alone, boss," Meowth said. Jessie and James had been ordered to take care of it, Meowth recalled. "I walked away from those two on my own," Meowth explained guiltily. It was angry at Jessie and James, but really didn't want them to be in hot water for its sake. "They just-"
"That's fine, Meowth. Just let me know where you are and I'll have someone pick you up right away."
"Sure, boss," Meowth said. It still had an uneasy feeling, even as the boss not only didn't scold it, but offered to help it right away. Meowth couldn't shake that feeling, and scratched its head. "I didn't really find out that much about anything that could help you, even when I saw it, though," Meowth admitted.
"Just tell me where you are," Giovanni said.
Meowth did so, still feeling the same. The boss would have scolded it right away if it had done something wrong, so everything was alright, wasn't it? Despite thinking that, Meowth still could shake off its bad feeling. It stood by the phone booth until it heard some footsteps. It perked its ears up. Since Giovanni had said to wait for a field agent, maybe it was Jessie, James, or both?
They were Team Rocket members, but neither Jessie nor James was among them, Meowth realized with some disappointment. It was just some grunts he didn't know that well, recognizing their faces though he'd never learned their names. "There it is," one said.
"Let's go," the other said.
Meowth said nothing. It still got up and walked along with them, following their orders. Their abruptness was annoying, but it was still a relief to be back with its comrades, in a way. Meowth followed them to their helicopter, then taking to the air. It hoped that the boss's seemingly good, possibly just distracted mood would last until Meowth got to the base for whatever its next orders would be.