Everyone - including Team Rocket.
Jessie, James, and Meowth had managed to steal a bottle of wine and were holding a memorial service of their own for Pikachu.
"Here's to you, Pikachu," slurred Meowth, holding his glass of wine aloft. "Youse was da bestest Pokémon we ever tried to capture."
"I feel so guilty," James said sadly. "I wish we'd never used that electromagnet in the first place."
"Well, it's too late now," Jessie said morosely, staring down at her glass. "So we'd better come up with a plan fast."
"A plan? What are you talking about, Jessie?"
"Don't be an idiot, James. All we've done for the past few years is try to capture Pikachu for the Boss. Now that the little rodent is dead, we're going to be out of a job."
"Oh, I never thought of that."
"Ya know, I remember when Pikachu and I was handcuffed together on dat one island in da Orange Islands," Meowth continued drunkenly. "It was a magical night for da two of us – one I'll never forget."
Both Jessie's and James's eyebrows arched in surprise.
"Oh, nuttin' happened," Meowth hiccupped. "Not like youse is thinkin'. But Pikachu and I spent da night together talkin' and sleepin' side by side. It was like da two of us was…friends." Meowth began sobbing once more.
"You've had enough, Meowth," Jessie said, prying the nearly empty bottle of wine out of Meowth's paws.
"So what are we going to do now, Jessie?" asked James as Meowth flopped over on his leg and began snoring.
"Well, since our job is trying to catch the twerp's Pokémon, then I guess we'll have to find a new Pokémon for the twerp. I guess we do owe him one since it was kind of our fault that Pikachu got…that he…"
"You miss Pikachu too, don't you?" James said, laying a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.
"I…I never meant for anything to happen to Pikachu," Jessie said, her eyes welling up with tears. "All I ever wanted to do was capture it and make the Boss proud."
"I feel just awful too," admitted James. "But it was an accident. It wasn't as if we deliberately set out to kill the little yellow furball."
"I know. But since we killed the twerp's Pokémon, I guess we owe him a new one. We'll just have to give him one of ours."
"What?"
"You heard me, James. For once, we're going to do the right thing. We'll give the twerp a new Pokémon to replace his old one with. I'm sure there are a bunch of Pikachu out there." She gestured in the direction of the forest that surrounded them. "How hard can it be to capture the twerp a new one?"
"Um, Jessie…we've been trying for years to capture Pikachu and never done it."
Jessie frowned. "Good point, James. Well, maybe we don't have to capture the twerp a Pikachu. We can just give him another Pokémon. You can give him your Victreebel."
"My Victreebel?" gasped James, horrified that Jessie would even suggest such a thing.
"Well, why not? It never listens to you."
"Just because Victreebel is always trying to eat me doesn't mean that I don't love it, Jessie," James said, offended. "Why don't you give the twerp your Arbok?"
"I'd never give away Arbok!" Jessie shouted. "Give him your Weezing instead!"
"No way! Why don't you give him…"
"Wobbuffet!" The blue bloblike Pokémon appeared in a flash of light and saluted Jessie.
"Don't tempt me, Wobbuffet," sighed Jessie as she recalled her Pokémon. "But Wobbuffet's Counter attack has gotten us out of several tight spots before. Despite everything, it's still a useful Pokémon."
"So what are we going to do, Jessie?"
"We need to find a Pokémon. And it can't be just any old Pokémon, either. It has to…" Jessie's gaze fell upon Meowth, who was sprawled on the ground and snoring softly. "That's it! We'll give the twerp Meowth!"
"Meowth! Jessie, you can't do that!"
"Why not, James? Meowth is a Pokémon. And you heard what he said – he liked the twerp's Pikachu, so maybe he and the twerp will get along all right." Jessie picked up the snoozing Meowth. "It's settled, then. We'll give the twerp Meowth to replace his Pikachu with. After all, it was Meowth's idea to get the electromagnet in the first place, so it's really mostly his fault that this happened."
"Oh, you're right, Jess…" Meowth whimpered miserably. (Jessie had awakened him when she picked him up.) "It's all my fault dat Pikachu is dead." He started crying once more.
"Oh, snap out of it, Meowth!" Jessie gave her feline companion a firm shake. "Pull yourself together! We've got a lot of work to do to make you presentable to the twerp."
"Da twerp?" Meowth's eyes shot open. "Whaddya talkin' about, Jessie?"
"Didn't you hear a word I just said?" Jessie said angrily. "We're giving you to the twerp as a replacement for his Pikachu."
Meowth stared at his partner in disbelief. "You're…you're what?"
"Look, Meowth, it's our fault that the little yellow furball is dead, so we're going to do the right thing for once and replace it," explained Jessie.
"But…but why me?" Meowth said, his eyes welling up with tears once more. "Don't youse guys love me anymore?"
"We do, Meowth," said James. "And that's why Jessie's right. The twerp really loved his Pikachu, so we have to give up a Pokémon that we really love to replace it with. It's only fair."
"I…oh, okay, Jimmy. You're right," Meowth replied sadly.
"Come on. Let's get Meowth sober, and then we'll go see if we can find the twerp." Jessie went off in search of some coffee.
To be continued…