Friendship and Freedom

The businessman reentered the room after several minutes. He glanced down at the table noting the two sets of signatures upon the forms.

"I see you've agreed to the terms. Very well. You'll hear from me soon."

"What, aren't you going to get us out?" asked James.

"In good time. Be assured that I will keep up my end of the contract just as long as you keep up yours."
With that the business man left the room.

"Wait, how are you going to do it?" asked James.

The business man didn't respond. He just kept his back to them. The guards came back in and cuffed Jessie and James.

"Jessie!" James called out as the guards led him away.

Morning had come to the Pokémon shelter. Although one could not tell what time nor day it was back here, Meoweth knew that it was morning by the fact that the lights had just flickered on. The workers came in their monotonous daily routine. Each morning they would walk around to the cages replacing the water with fresh water and refilling the food dishes with the same bland mush. It was slightly ironic that the shelter claimed they were "helping" the pokémon. Most anything seemed better than the treatment they were receiving here.

As Meoweth lay around in his cage he wished for some sort of excitement, or action. He hadn't given up on his escape efforts, but they didn't help alleviate the sheer boredom that set in just a few minutes after he had arrived. It seemed that the most excitement this place had was when he had gotten the workers in an frenzy with his first escape attempt. That had been exciting, although he had been quickly caught. As Meoweth pondered over how he would try to escape today. It had been a good week since he had been able to make an actual escape attempt.

For some strange reason Meoweth was reminded of the businessman that had stopped in the other day. He had kept silent after hearing the mention of Giovanni's name. Rarely did the boss send anyone on such errands, with the exception of cover ups. Meoweth had entertained the notion that perhaps the "Big Man" had some scheme to get him out of this rat hole, but with how long it was taking that didn't seem too likely. It had been three days since the man in the business suit had come, and there hadn't been a word since. He wondered how Jessie and James were doing, and why they hadn't come for him yet.

"Well that just means I'm going to have to get myself out of here."

Meoweth gazed around the room trying to think of some new way of getting out. Trying to sweet talk the workers had failed miserably, and that annoying rehabilitation specialist was definitely not the answer. All of the tools he could use were far out of reach. It seemed that the workers had learned from their earlier mistakes.

"Hey rock head wake up!" shouted Meowth at the Onix.

The Onix opened one eye and just peered over at Meoweth.

"Yeah you get up. Come on you good for nothing rock heap."

The Onix stirred slightly in its cage at Meowth's taunting.

"I can see why no trainer would want you. All you're good for is a lawn ornament."
At this comment the Onix stirred. Obviously this Onix had some issues with its previous trainer. Most likely it had been abandoned.

"I bet you couldn't even beat a Metapod. "

The onix showed slight agitation at the comment until Meoweth added "Leaving you behind was probably the best decision your trainer ever made!"

Meoweth thought his taunting had failed when he saw the Onix coil up. With the blink of an eye the Onix lunged forward battering the bars of the cage. Meoweth jumped back in shock at the Onix's violent attack upon its cage. His heart beat frantically in his chest as he gasped for air. It seemed that his plan had worked.

With a loud roar the Onix took another strike at its steel prison. The walls of the large cage rattled and shook with terror at the brute force of this behemoth.

If all went well the caretakers would be in here any second, Meoweth thought to himself, and sure enough three of them came running through the door at the sound. There were panicked shouts as the men tried to come up with some plan to deal with the irate rock pokémon. The Onix continued its assault upon the cage, the bars giving a little with each ensuing blow.

Meoweth only hoped that his luck would continue. If one of the caretakers just took a few steps back he could surely reach the set of keys that hung from their belts.

The front most caretaker slowly approached the Onix's cage gently talking to it. The Onix seemed to pay little head to the caretakers or their words. The prideful creature had its target in sight. It would prove its worth by beating up the obnoxious cat pokémon.

The onix backed to the far corner of the cage, at the sight of this the caretakers seemed slightly relieved, till the creature dashed forward, mustering its strength to ram the door right off the cage. With a loud snap the metal frame shattered. The terrified guards backed away from the towering creature.

This was the chance Meoweth had been waiting for. He reached out and quickly swiped the set of keys that hung from the guard's belt. The guard, preoccupied and frightened by the large serpantile beast that was before him, took no notice of the weight being lifted off of his belt.

Meoweth frantically rummaged through the keys trying to find the ones that were used for the cages. He just hoped that the guards would keep the Onix busy, and likewise the Onix keep the guards busy as he tried each key.

His desperation rose with each key he put in the lock. He kept a watchful eye, making sure that the guard's attention remained on the Onix. As long as the Onix kept them busy he had a chance. Meoweth could feel the adrenaline rushing through his small body as he frantically worked the lock carefully fitting each key. Just as he was beginning to doubt that this would work the door to the cage clicked open. He couldn't believe it! Taking a quick look at the guards, who were now trying to find some way to restrict the Onix, Meoweth made a dash for the door.

He burst through the door into the front reception lobby paying no heed to what lay behind. His target was in sight. The receptionist jumped up from her chair calling shouting for the staff as she watched Meowth scurry on by. The caretakers, still very preoccupied with the Onix, paid no heed to the bewildered receptionist.

This was it, freedom lay just beyond the door. With one last burst of speed and effort Meoweth shoved the glass door open. The cool air felt good. He was out! He was free. Meoweth felt like he was on top of the world. Nothing could stop him now.