During the boat ride to Hoenn, Ash had time to reflect on all the changes that had happened so suddenly. A little over a week ago, he, Pikachu, Brock, and Misty were traveling around as they normally had done. But now Pikachu was dead, Misty was now the Gym Leader in Cerulean City, Brock was back in Pewter City, his mom and Professor Oak were dating…it was too much for him to deal with all at once.
Ash leaned against the ship's railing and took a deep breath of the salty air. He needed to clear his head. And then, without warning, his stomach contracted into a tight ball.
"Bulba?" the Pokémon asked with concern as Ash's hands began shaking.
For an instant Ash wondered if he were ill, but as he looked around he suddenly understood where he was.
"This is it," Ash said through clenched teeth as he gripped the ship's railing so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "This is where Team Rocket attacked us with that electromagnet."
And realizing that he was in the same spot where the end of Pikachu's life had begun filled Ash's heart with a hatred that he had never known before. For once in his life, he actually felt like killing someone.
"Don't worry, Pikachu," Ash said, reaching inside his pocket for the bag with the snippet of fur. "I'm gonna get those guys for what they did to you. I swear it. If it's the last thing I do, I'm gonna make Team Rocket pay for what they did."
-
"Okay, here comes the twerp." Jessie finished tying a large red bow around Meowth's neck.
"Gahh! Don't strangle me, Jessie!" Meowth loosened the bow slightly so he could breathe once more.
James grabbed a brush and quickly ran it through Meowth's fur.
"Yeoouch! Not so rough, James! Quit pullin' so hard!"
"Okay, Meowth. You look stunning," James said, picking the huge clump of matted fur out of the brush. "Now go do Team Rocket proud."
"I'm really gonna miss youse guys." Meowth's eyes began welling with tears. "We had some great times together."
"No time for that now!" hissed Jessie. "Here comes the twerp!" Jessie seized Meowth by his arm and shoved him through the bushes.
"Jessie, we even didn't get a chance to tell Meowth good-bye," James protested sadly as he and his partner started running in the opposite direction, hoping that Ash wouldn't see them.
"Quit whining, James," Jessie snapped. "It's…it's for the best this way."
But something about the quavering tone of Jessie's voice didn't convince James.
As Ash and Bulbasaur made their way through the forest, something standing in the path up ahead caught their eye. It appeared to be a Pokémon – a Pokémon with a large red bow tied around its neck. Ash drew closer for a better look and then realized who the Pokémon was.
"You've got some nerve showing your face after what you did to Pikachu," Ash said coldly, barely able to contain his fury.
"Now wait a second, twerp," Meowth explained hastily. "Before ya say anything else, I wanted to say that Jessie and James and me are real sorry about what happened to Pikachu. We never meant to hurt da little rodent."
"You did more than hurt Pikachu! You killed him, you…you…!" Ash was so furious that he couldn't even come up with an adjective to describe what he thought of Meowth.
"Now wait a minute," Meowth gulped, cowering. "De reason I'm here is because we wanna make it up to youse. Ya see, Jessie and James and me decided that since we're kinda responsible for what happened to Pikachu, den we…well, I'm gonna be your new Pokémon."
"You're what!" Ash said incredulously.
"Yep. Since you loved Pikachu a lot, den Jessie and James decided to give youse a Pokémon dey loved a lot to make up for what we did." Meowth straightened his bow. "So I'm all yours, kiddo."
"I can't believe this…you guys are incredible," Ash sputtered.
"Yeah, it is pretty incredible dat Jessie and James would do the right thing for once, ain't it?" Meowth smiled.
"No…I can't believe that you actually have the nerve to say what you just did! You killed Pikachu and now you're offering to take his place? You're the one who murdered my Pokémon, you…you bastard!"
"Hey, we was just tryin' to help!" Meowth replied angrily. "We was just tryin' to make up for what we done to Pikachu."
"I don't need your help!" Ash shouted. "And I'm gonna show you how you can make up for what you did to Pikachu. Matter of fact, I'm gonna make you pay for what you did – right here, right now! All I've been thinking about these last few days is what I was going to do to you when I found you! And now it's payback time."
A chill ran up Meowth's spine at the murderous gleam in Ash's eye.
"Bulbasaur!" Ash ordered sharply. "I want you to attack Meowth with your Vine Whip! And don't stop until I tell you to."
"Bulbasaur!" The grass Pokémon leapt forward and began buffeting Meowth with a frenzied Vine Whip attack.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" cried Meowth as he tried vainly to shield himself from the many powerful blows Bulbasaur inflicted on it. Even though Meowth could have defended himself, he chose not to because deep down in his heart, he felt that he did deserve the punishment being meted out to him for what he did to Pikachu.
In a matter of minutes, a whimpering Meowth lay bruised and bleeding before Ash's feet. Bulbasaur, feeling that his opponent had had enough, retracted its vines.
"What are you doing, Bulbasaur?" Ash shouted angrily. "I told you to keep hitting Meowth with your Vine Whip until I told you to stop! I haven't told you to stop yet!"
Bulbasaur gave his trainer a confused look. "Bulba?" ("Hasn't Meowth had enough?")
"Don't talk back! Just get in there and finish him off!" Ash ordered fiercely.
Bulbasaur stared dumbly at Ash, not believing what his trainer had just ordered him to do.
"Damn it, Bulbasaur!" Ash yelled, taking off his cap and flinging it violently to the ground. "I'm your trainer, and you have to obey me! Now you get back over there and take care of Meowth once and for all!"
Bulbasaur, torn between obeying his trainer and not wanting to hurt Meowth further, slowly made its way over to where the injured Pokémon lay bleeding. A pair of vines appeared from the bulb on Bulbasaur's back and flew towards Meowth, who cringed and tried desperately to shield itself from the next onslaught of blows with its paws. But as the vines flew towards Meowth, they suddenly slowed and ended up delivering only a light tap.
"Saur," ("No more.") said Bulbasaur firmly, shaking his head. He retracted his vines.
"What the hell are you doing, Bulbasaur?" Ash screamed furiously. "I told you to finish him off!"
"Bulbasaur!" ("This is wrong!") the Pokémon replied defiantly.
"Fine. If you won't finish him, then I will!" Ash went over to where Meowth lay whimpering and delivered a violent kick to the Pokémon's midsection, causing the Pokémon to double over and shriek with pain.
"Bulba!" ("What are you doing!")
"I'm gonna do to you what you did to Pikachu, you bastard!" Ash snarled as he prepared to deliver another kick to the sobbing Meowth.
Horrified, Bulbasaur's vines shot out and wrapped around Ash's leg, pulling the boy to the ground.
"Bulbasaur, what are you doing?" Ash shouted, tugging on the vines that held his leg fast. "Let go of me!"
Bulbasaur shook his head. "Bulbasaur! Bulba-bulba-saur!" ("This is wrong! Meowth may have done some bad things, but he doesn't deserve this!")
"Let go of me right now, Bulbasaur, or else I'm gonna…!" Ash raised his fist threateningly.
Still keeping a firm hold on Ash's leg, Bulbasaur lowered his head and braced himself for the blow. He would rather allow himself to be abused instead of Meowth.
"Oh my God, what am I doing?" Ash gasped in horror. "I nearly hit you. Oh my God, I almost hit my own Pokémon!" Ash unclenched his fist. "Oh, Bulbasaur…I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Tears of shame started burning Ash's eyes. "Oh, no…what have I done?"
Bulbasaur freed Ash's leg. The boy buried his face in his hands and began sobbing.
"Saur," ("It's okay.") Bulbasaur said comfortingly, nuzzling his trainer.
"No. It's not okay," Ash said, wiping away his tears and standing up. "But I'm gonna make it right." He bend over Meowth, who lay in a whimpering heap next to his feet.
"No…please don't…" the injured Pokémon begged in a faint voice, raising a trembling paw to fend off another blow.
"Oh, Meowth…oh, Meowth, I'm so sorry," Ash whispered softly. He gently lifted the Pokémon, who was covered in blood and bruises, and cradled him in his arms. "Come on, Bulbasaur – we've got to get Meowth to a Pokémon Center right away!"
The boy took off at top speed down the path with Bulbasaur at his heels.
To be continued…