Chapter 2

Chapter 2

They ended up in Jessie and James's room, where Jessie forced Ash into the chair in front of the nightstand. She continued to hold him down when James secured him by firmly tying him to the back of the chair, then restraining his hands and feet so no harm could come to either of them while they gave Ash his "lesson." In the past, they had ended up with bruised shins and stained shirts when they hadn't taken that precaution.

Ash, on the other hand, was screaming bloody murder, because he knew exactly what was coming next. Meowth cautiously stood to the side, for two reasons. One, he wanted to save his sensitive feline ears from as much grief as possible, and two, if he tried to interfere, Jessie and James wouldn't hesitate to give him a pounding…

"You can't do this!!" Ash screeched, "You can't!! I won't allow it!! When my dad hears about this he's gonna-he's gonna…He's gonna punish you all!! Don't think I won't tell him!!!"

James sighed at the fiercely struggling and vociferous boy, while Jessie prepared the "lesson." "It really isn't such a big deal," he told the kid, "and I know exactly how your father's going to react. He's going to tell you to quit acting like a baby."

"I'm not acting like a baby!!" Ash shrieked as loudly and irritatingly as he could. He then fixed a burning glare on Jessie. "Jessie's the one who's making a mountain out of a stupid ketchup stain!!"

"It's not a mountain. It's a lesson," Jessie corrected dullly and approached him with her tool of choice in hand.

"NO!!!!" Ash screamed, this time with an obvious hint of fear in his voice, "Don't touch me with that thing!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

Jessie frowned in annoyance as the child squirmed around in his bonds, making every effort to avoid her attempts to powder his face. She'd already ended up bopping him on the nose once, and he was now coughing and gagging because with all of his struggling, it was very difficult for her to make sure it was applied in the correct areas.

"You know, junior, if you didn't keep moving around like this every single time, then you might actually end up looking decent after these lessons instead of like some freak of nature. Makeup is supposed to make you look better, not worse." To herself, she added, "And you could use some improvement…"

"I'm not gonna wear make up!!!" Ash yelled, "It's for girls!!" He had his eyes shut because somehow, some of the newly applied blush had hit his eyes and he wasn't dumb enough to open them then.

"It is not just for girls!" James told him indignantly, "Look, if you're going to work with Team Rocket, you're going to have to get used to it!"

"I'm never gonna get used to--!!"

He was interrupted by Jessie grabbing his face so she could apply lipstick. After she was done drawing the scribble of an outline, thanks to Ash's vigorous fighting, she released him and he went back to screaming.

"Now be careful with that on," she reminded him, "You don't want it…to…smudge…" She trailed off, seeing that it was already too late.

"I won't stand for this!!! This is cruel and unusual punishment!!!"

"Of course you won't stand for this, you're strapped to a chair. Now hold still," Jessie groaned and got out his eyeshadow.

"Wa!! Help! She's gonna poke my eye out again!!!…OW!" After recovering from the brief pain, he yelled out, "I told you!!!"

Jessie sat back in relief that she had finished as much as was necessary. "James, tell me again why we do this? It's almost more of a punishment for us than it is for him…"

"It's not a punishment for him," James said, "It's a very important life lesson!"

Jessie smirked at that reminder. "Why, you're absolutely right James…" She glared at Ash, "It's the lesson that no one should ever dare to ruin the perfection that is my face! Is that clear?"

"Meeeowwwwthhh!!" Ash cried, "Help!!! She might do eyeliner next!!!"

Jessie's smile turned crooked, as if she had just concocted the ultimate evil plan. "Oh, don't think you're going to get away that easily!" she cackled, "We have to give you a complete makeover!!"

"Waaaahhh!!!!"

Both Meowth and his trainer had had enough. For one thing, Meowth could plainly see that Ash was not enjoying himself in the least. For another, he couldn't stand to listen to his screaming for even another five minutes.

"Hang in dere, Ashy!" he announced in reassurance, then pounced at the chair and slashed away at the ropes with his fury swipes.

Tears of joy flashed in Ash's eyes, and he scooped Meowth up in both his arms before sprinting for the bathroom. "Meowth, you're the best!!" he told his Pokémon happily before skidding to a stop on the tile floor and loudly slamming and locking the door behind him. Meowth grinned in embarrassment as Ash began to drench and scrub his face vehemently.

Jessie and James exchanged knowing smiles, and Jessie began knocking forcefully on the bathroom door, knowing fully well that it was no use.

"Ash! Come on!" she said, sounding disappointed, "We're not done yet!"

"No way!!" was his ardent reply.

The two older Rockets had to stifle their laughter. Their young twerp was so predictable sometimes…

Jessie sighed and shrugged, still sounding disappointed. "Oh well, I guess there's no way we can force you into it now…but I was hoping that you would try on that cute little dress that James picked out for you…"

"EWWWW!!!!!!!!"

This time, the two of them couldn't hide their laughter and they let it roll out blissfully. Ash glared at them through the door. "That's not funny…" he said coldly. When their laughter still didn't die down, he groaned in disgust and checked the mirror again to make sure he had gotten every little bit of the offensive gunk off of his face.

While it was common knowledge that every Rocket, both male and female, had to be a master of disguise, and that includes crossdressing, Ash thought the whole idea was ridiculous that he, the son of Giovanni Rocket, would ever have to go undercover…in a dress! He had never seen his father degrade himself in a such a way, and he wasn't about to do anything his father wouldn't do…No matter what Jessie and James thought.

When he was sure his face was completely clean, he sighed and sat down with his back to the sink and let Meowth hop into his lap.

"I hate these lessons…" he grumbled.

"Yeah," Meowth said off-handedly, "I'm glad makeup don't go good on fuyw."

"Lucky."

"Yup!" Meowth said proudly, then he gave Ash a sly look, "But ya know, fer once I tink it would be kinda funny ta see what yu'd look like in a dress." He snickered, then yelped when Ash lightly bopped him on the head.

"Not even in your dreams, furball," he grinned.

"I'd be scared if dat was in my dreams!" Meowth grinned back.

"Yeah, me too."

They laughed for a bit, then Ash sighed and stared up at the ceiling. "You think Jessie put away that…stuff yet?" he asked.

"Hmmm…Prob'ly…"

Ash grinned again and stood up quickly, letting Meowth climb up his shoulder and onto his head. "Whaddaya say we make a break for the training center?" he asked.

"I say anyting's better dan hangin' out here!"

"Let's go!"

Ash grabbed the doorknob, unlocked it, then carefully opened it just a crack to make sure Jessie wasn't ready to pounce on him and drag him back to that chair…Thankfully, they were just chatting, with Jessie reclining on the lower bunk, and James leaning against the wall.

"Now's our chance…" Ash whispered, and Meowth nodded his approval, "Alright…One…two…three! Come on!!"

Ash busted the door open, dashed to the one that led to the hallway, flung that one open too, then began sprinting down the hall in the direction of the training center.

Jessie and James blinked and at the door that was swinging back to place from the impact of hitting the wall when it had been thrown open.

"Um…Should we follow him?" James wondered aloud.

Jessie continued to watch the door close, then shrugged. "Nah, he's had enough of a lesson for today. If he's not back in the cafeteria by dinnertime, then we can go look for him."

"Ah, good point," James nodded, then smiled connivingly at Jessie, "That means it's just the two of us until then…"

Jessie raised an eyebrow and smiled back. "What do you suggest we do until then?"

"We could have a little fun…"

With an impish grin plastered on his face, James strode over to their dresser and pulled opened the top drawer, where they kept their most prized possessions. He lovingly drew his finger over the plastic case that held his cherished bottlecap collection before taking out what he had been looking for. He gleefully spun around and presented them to Jessie.

"We can play pogs!" he proclaimed.

Jessie sighed and smiled as she got out of bed to join James on the floor so they could play. Sadly enough, she often wondered how healthy it was for her already childish partner to be spending so much time with an actual child…aka their little twerp.

* * *

Said twerp was just one more stretch of hallway away from his destination, the training center. His Meowth was riding on his shoulder, and he could easily tell how the non-stop sprinting was wearing out his trainer.

"Hey, Ashy," he meowed quietly, "Dey're not followin' us, y'know."

"Huh?" Ash gradually slowed to a walk and kept an eye behind him. Just as Meowth had said, Jessie and James were nowhere in sight. He breathed a sigh of relief and deemed to walk the rest of the way to the training center, not that there was much distance left to go.

Once there, he threw open the door and confidently stepped inside. It was much more crowded than the last time he had been there with everyone back from their lunch break. Humans and Pokémon alike were busy training with the extensive array of training tools, all with one purpose, to make the Rockets who used them better, stronger, and more dangerous fighters.

Ash scanned the room for any sign of Garth, his favorite, and usually only, training partner, but neither he nor his Ursaring were anywhere to be found. With a sigh, Ash moved on to check the different sections of the training center. He didn't have to go very far before finding both of them in the sparring ground. Garth had his Ursaring pitted against Terr and his Hitmonlee. Ash ran up next to Garth to watch the battle. It looked like Ursaring was on the losing side.

"Ursaring, quick! Use your Slash attack before he can get close to you!" Garth shouted.

"Hitmonlee, use Foresight and Jump Kick," Terr ordered in his level tone of voice.

Ursaring roared in fury and swiped downwards at the kicking Pokémon. Hitmonlee saw it coming and jumped out of the way, then spun his hips around and delivered a devastating roundhouse kick to Ursaring's thickly covered hide, his spiked toes piercing through fur and skin. Ursaring roared again, this time in pain, and staggered backwards. He had already been on the receiving end of an endless barrage of bruising kicks and even punches, while his own slashing attacks had only rarely made contact.

Still, from the sidelines, Ash could see that both Pokémon were tired from what must have been a long, drawn-out battle indeed, and all Hitmonlee needed to go over was a little push and shove. He quickly began tapping Garth on the arm with rapidity that only comes from being a very hyper young kid.

"Quick! Tag me! Tag me!!" he babbled in excitement.

Garth tried to ignore his small friend and concentrate on the battle.

"Finish it. Mega Kick," Terr commanded.

"Ursaring, counter with Fury Swipes!" Garth called out in desperation.

"TAG ME!" Ash exclaimed.

Hitmonlee rushed at the large bear Pokémon and extended his foot at the last moment while Ursaring haplessly tried to block it by swiping the air with its claws. Hitmonlee's kick hit home, right on the "target" that almost seemed to be drawn on Ursaring's belly just for that purpose. The bear groaned and began a slow descent backwards, finally crashing onto his back.

"Ursaring!" Garth cried.

"Tag me now!!" Ash demanded, practically jumping up and down from excitement.

Terr looked on in disdain as Garth helped his Ursaring out of the ring then gave Ash a slight grin before slapping his hand. Terr's Hitmonlee stood panting in the middle of the ring, his exhaustion evident through his sweat and slightly weaker stance than normal.

Ash grinned at his opponents, then pointed directly at Hitmonlee. "Alright, Meowth, go!!"

Meowth obliged by leaping off his shoulder and squaring off against Hitmonlee, claws extended and ready for battle. He smirked at his opponent. "Ready ta lose, Hitmoncheese?"

"…Hitmon…" Hitmonlee narrowed his eyes at the feline.

Terr clenched his fist in aggravation. He had won the battle. He didn't need to be wasting his time with this pipsqueak and his pet.

"That's not fair," he stated, "You can't tag out in a one-on-one battle."

Ash simply smirked and replied in a loud and clear voice, as if he was quoting something he'd heard many times before, "All's fair in love, war, and Pokémon battles."

Terr only growled at the obnoxious brat who was daring to interfere with him.

"Hitmonlee, destroy that runt with your Rolling Kick!" he spat in distaste.

Ash grinned. "Like we didn't see that coming," he laughed, "Meowth, roll to the side and trip Hitmonlee with Faint Attack!"

It took Hitmonlee only a second to respond to Terr's command and strike out at the cat with a furious onslaught of fast and powerful kicks. Meowth leapt out of the way on all fours, then dove at the foot that Hitmonlee was standing on, easily causing him to fall foot and facefirst to the ground.

"Great job, Meowth!" Ash cheered, "Now hit 'im with your Payday attack!"

Meowth's smile curled viciously and he leapt into the air above Hitmonlee. It had taken the two of them a long time before Meowth had finally been able to master the tricky attack, and they were both very proud of it. The long-legged Pokémon could only look up in horror as Meowth shot golden coins out of nowhere, pelting and bruising his opponent with the glittering missiles. At the end of his attack, Meowth landed behind Hitmonlee, still sneering at the Pokémon. The round objects were lying all over the ring.

"Betcha never tawt money could be so painful, huh?" he grinned.

Terr watched in disbelief. There was no way, no way he was going to lose to this runt!

"Hitmonlee! You have to fight back! Get that pest with Double Kick!"

Hitmonlee struggled to push himself to his feet, then spun around to attack with such suddeness that he only ended up slipping on some of the coins and crashed back to the ground. Meowth and Ash got a good laugh out of that.

"Hey, look Terr," Ash mocked, "Your Hitmonlee can't even stand up! Doesn't that mean that we're the winners?" he sneered, gesturing to himself, Garth, and Meowth.

Terr only gave him a cold gaze. "…Hitmonlee, use Double Kick," he said lowly.

Once again, Hitmonlee jumped into action, but this time he was a lot more careful about it. Once he was safely on his feet, he prepared to launch his attack.

"This is it, Meowth!" Ash called, "Slash attack!!"

The two Pokémon met halfway. Meowth found himself bruised by two consecutive blows to his stomach, but carried through with his own attack and clawed downwards from the upper right of Hitmonlee's head to the lower left of his hip. Three thick red lines appeared where his claws had been. They both passed each other after their exchange, Meowth trying ignore what he knew was probably going to bruise, and Hitmonlee trying to fight off the pain of his cuts and the full extent of his fatigue. He didn't last long, and finally, the kicking fiend thumped to the ground in defeat.

That last sound of victory was all Ash and Meowth needed to hear. They both jumped and cheered. Ash ran out and scooped Meowth and held him up for all to see clearly who was the victor.

Terr scowled at them, hatred written all over his face. He recalled Hitmonlee and approached Ash in the ring.

"You'll pay for this," he told him simply.

Ash paused in his celebration for only a second, then placed Meowth on his head and bent over to pick up one of the coins on the ground. "Hey, you can have it," he said, offering it to Terr, "I've got plenty more where that came from."

Terr growled and slapped the coin out of Ash's hand. "That's not what I meant…" he said darkly, "I mean you'll pay…with something other than money…"

At this point, Garth, who had left briefly during the match to heal his Ursaring, stepped in between the two. "Come on now," he said heartily, "What's all this about, Terr? You know you can't lay a finger on junior here without royally pissing off the boss."

Terr didn't seem to hear Garth and only kept his stony gaze on Ash for a while longer before turning on his heel and leaving the area. After watching him leave, Ash and Garth turned to each other and shrugged. Garth grinned and held his fist out. Ash grinned back and locked his fist with Garth's.

"Now that that's outta the way, whaddaya say you and me do some serious training?" Garth suggested cheerily.

"You're on!" Ash replied.

"Hey, how 'bout before dat, you let Meowth get healed up?" Meowth asked.

Ash sweatdropped. "Uh, sure, Meowth," he said in embarassment.

Garth laughed. "I'll be waiting right here when you get back."

"Alright!" Ash nodded, then ran to one of the many treatment machines along the wall. Meowth hopped into it and Ash jumped up to hit the button. A soothing white light shone down on his Pokémon, then faded, revealing a healed and happy Meowth. He jumped back onto Ash's shoulder and the two raced back to the ring. "We're ready when you are!" Ash announced.

Garth smiled warmly. "We're ready right now! Ursaring, I choose you!"

"Go, Meowth!"

"Ursaring, start off with a Scratch attack!"

"You too, Meowth!"

The two largely disproportionate Pokémon dashed at each other and swiped simultaneously, each leaving a thin streak mark on the other. Both trainers smirked.

"Ursaring, time for a Lick attack!"

"Bite, Meowth!"

Ursaring hulked over for the bizarre Lick attack, but Meowth jumped out of the way and bit him on the shoulder. Ursaring growled and threw him off, then they both got back into ready stance.

"Ha! We're one for two now, Meowth," Ash grinned.

"Yeah, but this isn't over yet!" Garth reminded him, "Ursaring! Fury Swipes!"

"Fury Swipe back!"

In a rush of fur and claws, the two collided on the battlefield and slashed like mad. Claws flashed and fur flew. Finally, the two jumped back, both panting slightly. Meowth now had several cuts on his head and body, but Ursaring's heavy protection of fur was baring slightly, exposing soft underbelly and cat scratches.

"Hey Ashy," Meowth snickered, "Dat's at least twenty pieces. Where's my tuna!?"

Ash laughed. "Win this session and you'll get your tuna, I promise!"

"Awright!"

"Done talking?" Garth asked in amusement.

"Sure!" Ash responded, "Meowth, hit 'im with Faint Attack!"

Before Garth could order an attack, Meowth dove underneath Ursaring and came up behind, finishing the move with something similar to a body slam, making Ursaring fall facefirst.

"Faint Attack back!"

Ursaring growled at the chuckling cat behind him, then twisted around and lashed out with the blunt of his paw and knocked Meowth off his feet.

"Meowth!" he yelped in surprise, then snarled back at the bear, "Awright tough stuff, time ta get nyasty!"

"Slash attack!" Garth and Ash shouted at the same time.

Both Pokémon responded simultaneously with vicious slashes aimed for the other's weak spot. Both came out worse for wear.

"This is it Meowth," Ash whispered, then raised his voice, "Pay Day!!"

"Ursaring! Thrash attack!!"

"Meeowth!!!" Meowth jumped up and shot out trademark gold coins at his sparring opponent.

Ursaring barely felt the sting of Meowth's attack as his pupils narrowed to slits and he roared ferociously, then charged blindly at Meowth.

"Dodge it!" Ash cried.

Meowth yelped and leapt to the side just as Ursaring barreled past him. The lumbering bear skidded to a stop then locked on target again and reasserted his charge.

"Wa! Look out!"

Meowth tried to dodge again, but failed. Ursaring hit him head on and after ramming straight into the cat tossed him to the side like a ragdoll. Meowth wasn't about to give up though. Wincing, he jumped back to his feet, still ready to fight.

"Great!" Ash called in relief, "Now use Pay Day again!"

"Right! Meeeeowwth!!"

Garth only watched…Ursaring was out of his control for the moment…

More shining coins shot through the air, this time scoring direct head shots. Ursaring roared in pain and confusion, his attack temporarily paused.

"Now's our chance! Fury Swipes!"

"Meowth!!" Meowth yelled his battle cry, then latched himself onto Ursaring's face and began scratching wildly.

"…Yes…" Ash hissed, tasting victory already.

Garth could see it coming too and walked into the ring. "Alright, that's enough," he said casually, "You win, Ash. You and Meowth have been training hard and it's been paying off, I can see…Ursaring, return!"

"Me…owth?" Meowth blinked as Ursaring turned into red light and reentered his Pokéball. Losing his perch, Meowth dropped unceremoniously to the floor. "Ow…" he muttered, rubbing his behind.

"That's it…?" Ash asked, disappointed.

Garth examined his Pokéball with a small smile. "Well…I guess I could heal Ursaring up and we can go at it again…"

"Yeah!!"

Garth chuckled. "Alright, we'll do things your way! Don't expect the next session to have the same outcome!"

"We'll see about that!"