When Professor Oak regained consciousness, the first thing he noticed was that he was having difficulty breathing. It felt like there was a large weight sitting atop his chest.
Oh my God, I'm having a heart attack.
Panicked, he opened his eyes and discovered that the large weight on his chest was Meowth, who had decided that his captive made a comfortable seat.
"Morning, Sleepin' Beauty," Meowth said cheerfully, tossing a nugget of Poké Chow into his mouth. "Have a nice nap?"
"Wha…? Where did you get those? Where am I?" Professor Oak turned his head and saw that he was lying on the floor of the food storage shed.
"Geez, for a professor, you ain't too bright, are ya'?" Meowth reached inside the bag of Poké Chow sitting next to him and popped another piece into his mouth. "After you keeled over, Jessie and me dragged you in here and I helped myself to all the food in here." Meowth patted his full belly. "I haven't eaten this much in a long time."
Meowth's weight gain wasn't helping Professor Oak's situation. "Could you please get off of me?"
Meowth hopped off of Professor Oak, who immediately took a deep breath and rubbed his sore chest. "Thank you. Where's your friend?"
"Jessie? She went to get some food for herself. She doesn't like Poké Chow as much as I do." Meowth grabbed a huge handful of the brown nuggets out of the bag and stuffed them in his mouth.
Professor Oak sat up, leaned back against a pile of Poké Chow bags, and watched the hungry Pokémon eat. "You're acting as if you're starving."
"Mmph…yeah…don't get to eat much…" Meowth replied between bites. "Most of the time we…mmph…don't got no money for food."
"Well, eat all you want then," Professor Oak said, feeling sorry for the starving Meowth.
Meowth smiled. "Hey, thanks, Professor. Dat's awful nice of you, considering what we did to you earlier."
"I believe in helping all Pokémon. That's my job." Professor Oak reached over and handed Meowth another bag of Poké Chow.
"I thought you was a professor," said a surprised Meowth. "Are you a Pokémon doctor, too?"
"Well, I am a doctor, but not the kind you're thinking of. I have a Ph.D., not a M.D. But I do treat sick and injured Pokémon once in a while, since Pallet Town doesn't have a Nurse Joy or Pokémon Center."
"Really?" Meowth glanced down at his foot. "Hey, Professor…if it ain't too much trouble, could you take a look at my foot?"
Professor Oak knelt down next to Meowth. "What's the matter with your foot?"
"Jessie stepped on my toe the other day and it still hurts."
"Why did she do that?" Professor Oak said as he examined the Pokémon's injured digit.
"Because I scratched her face."
"And why did you do that?"
"Because she was trying to stuff me into a Dratini costume."
"And why was she trying to make you wear a Dratini costume?"
"So we could steal one of the twerp's…uh, on second thought, never mind." Meowth looked at Professor Oak worriedly. "So what do you think, Doc? Are you gonna have to amputate?"
"No. The only thing that's wrong is one of your claws is broken and the tip is pressing against your toe. But it's a pretty easy fix. Matter of fact, I think I may have some clippers on me." He reached into the pocket of his lab coat, located a pair of nail clippers, and trimmed away the broken claw. "There. That claw will grow back in a few weeks and you'll be good as new."
"Gee, thanks, Professor." Meowth wiggled his toe happily. "You're right. That feels a lot better."
"So how long have you been able to talk?" Professor Oak asked Meowth curiously as he put away his nail clippers.
"A while," the Pokémon replied.
"It's quite fascinating to be able to interact with a Pokémon that can speak English," Professor Oak said. "Do you understand the language of other Pokémon, too?"
"Sure. I act as a translator for those two dolts that I hang out with."
"That's amazing. You must be a highly intelligent Pokémon to be able to learn and comprehend many languages."
Meowth puffed up with pride. "Thanks for the compliment, Professor. You're one of the few people that truly appreciates my talents."
"You know, I would really like to study you and your abilities," Professor Oak said. "You would make a fascinating research subject."
"Really?" Interested, Meowth moved closer to Professor Oak. "What would I have to do?"
"It wouldn't be too much. A physical exam, with special emphasis on your vocal structures, then a behavioral study on how your ability to converse with humans has affected your relationships with other Pokémon. Naturally, if you stayed at my lab, you would get the best of care. Free food, a warm bed, many other Pokémon to keep you company, and extra-special care from my assistant, Tracey."
"Free medical care, all the food I can eat, a cozy bed, and the twerp waitin' on me hand and foot…" Meowth's eyes welled up with tears. "That's be a dream come true!"
"And of course, you'd be quite famous," continued Professor Oak.
"Famous? Me?" gasped Meowth in astonishment.
"Of course. As far as I know, there are no other Pokémon in the world that can speak English. Everyone in the world of Pokémon research would want to meet you."
"What would I have to do?" said Meowth eagerly.
"Well, why don't we head over to my lab and get started?" Professor Oak stood up.
"Lead on, Professor!" Meowth said, stepping aside to let Professor Oak through the door. Both immediately collided with Jessie.
"What are you doing? How'd he get loose?" Jessie demanded.
"Step aside, Jess," Meowth said importantly. "We're on our way to conduct some important Pokémon research."
"You fool! The only thing you need examined is your head!" Jessie seized the unfortunate Meowth by the throat and began throttling him.
"Don't damage his throat!" Professor Oak grabbed Meowth's legs to try to pull him loose from Jessie's grasp.
"Hey!" croaked Meowth. "This ain't a tug of war!"
"Let him go, you old geezer! I'm the only one allowed to abuse Meowth!" Jessie said, tugging even harder on her feline partner, who was now turning blue.
"Meowth is important to the world of Pokémon research!" Professor Oak said, pulling even harder on Meowth's legs. "He needs to come with me!"
"Hey, guys…I ain't made outta rubber!" screeched a nearly-strangled Meowth.
"Let go of him, you old…"
"Wobbuffet!"
Jessie whirled around in surprise. "Wobbuffet, I'm going to start strangling you if you don't stay inside your Poké ball!" Momentarily distracted by Wobbuffet's appearance, Jessie let go of Meowth, causing Professor Oak to lose his balance. As he tumbled to the ground, Meowth went sailing over his head and landed in a nearby bush. The force of landing headfirst on the ground then knocked Professor Oak out once more.
"I'm suin' for malpractice," said a scratched-up Meowth groggily as he crawled out of the thorn bushes.
"Never mind that, idiot!" snarled Jessie, seizing the unconscious Professor Oak's feet. "Let's get him back inside. And this time, we're going to tie him up."
Meowth looked at the limp form of Professor Oak worriedly. "Hey, is he okay, Jessie?"
"Why do you care?" replied Jessie, who was dragging Professor Oak facedown through the dirt.
"'Cause he was pretty nice to me while you was gone," Meowth answered. "He gave me something to eat and even fixed my sore toe."
"Meowth, you're even more of an idiot than I thought you were," Jessie said with disgust. "You let him get away because he sweet-talked you."
"I dunno, Jess. He seemed pretty nice." Meowth held open the door while Jessie dragged Professor Oak inside the shed once more. "Maybe we oughta check to see if he's okay."
Jessie made a face. "No way! You do it."
Meowth climbed atop Professor Oak and laid his ear against his chest. "Well, he took a licking, but he kept right on ticking. But maybe we oughta give him artificial respiration just to make sure."
Jessie was horrified. "There is no way I'm giving that old geezer mouth-to-mouth! If you like him so much, then you do it."
"All right then, I will," said Meowth. "After all, it's the least I can do after he fixed my busted toe. Don't worry, Professor, I'll save ya'!" Meowth took a deep breath and put his mouth atop Professor Oak's. As soon as Meowth exhaled into his victim's mouth, Professor Oak's eyes shot open.
"Mmmph!" Not expecting to see Meowth clamped onto his mouth, a startled Professor Oak jumped straight up into the air, sending the Pokémon flying across the room and colliding with Jessie.
"Meowth, get off of me!" Jessie seized her partner by the tail, whipped him around several times, then sent him sailing back across the room towards Professor Oak.
"Yahhh!!!!" The force of the Pokémon ramming into his midsection sent both Professor Oak and Meowth to the floor in pain.
"Hey, is this the thanks I get for savin' your life?" complained Meowth, once he quit seeing Starmies dancing in front of his eyes.
Professor Oak, unable to respond since the wind had been knocked out of him, groaned and clutched his abdomen.
"Hmph, that's gratitude for ya'! See if I ever give you artificial perspiration again!" huffed an indignant Meowth.
Jessie threw a coil of rope in her partner's direction. "Shut up and tie the old man up while he can't move."
To be continued…