AN – I had written these flashbacks separately from the story, and then tried to insert them into the structure, without much success. I feel they are important for shedding light on certain aspects of the plans, but I haven't found a way to include them directly into the story, and therefore decided another chapter was needed. This chapter is a flashback chapter that sets the plans into motion. Note: they are not in chronological order.

Black

Inserted Chapter: Flashbacks

'Yes,' thought Giovanni to himself. 'Jessie and James will make good test subjects.' He walked the edge of his bleak office and sat down in his great chair behind his desk. 'But what of their furry friend, Meowth? Yet another great idea comes to me with thought of his abilities… another two great ideas – for I can make use of him in more way than one. What if his talking and strategizing capabilities were transferred to another? There must be something biological about his way of speaking… and my scientists can clone things – why I never used that technology before, I'll never know… I'll create a super-pokemon, perhaps an army of them, and I'll start by cloning Meowth and his speaking capabilities – these pokemon will make excellent thieves themselves. But eventually we'll be doing more than petty robberies, we'll be taking control of each town and each region, till we have the whole world, till I have the entire world, bowing down at my feet. As for Meowth, I'm sure my scientists will find a way to make him more powerful, more obedient, and less clumsy. Once the 'potion' is ready for my obedient army of minions, for Jessie and James to try, I'll have my scientists start on cloning and improving Meowth, and creating the dark one. These are my plans for world domination. This time, no one will stop me."

"Why Butch and Cassidy too, sir? Weren't they the ones who came up with the idea?" Mark, assistant to the scientist Bernard, asked.

"Yes, it is ironic, isn't it?" said Giovanni mockingly. "I suppose I feel the experiment is going so well, I want as many hands as I can get to be my perfect little soldiers. They are a good team, but not the best, and now they will be flawless forever. Tell Sherman, Bernard and the others to make as much of this substance as they can. I want most of the lower to mid ranking Rocket members under its control by the end of this week. Oh, and a couple of the higher ranks who have been having set-backs recently might also be of more use under its influence. I'll give you a list of names in those cases. Now, get back to work on the third experiment."

"Ah, Bernard. You're just on time. Sit down we have a lot to discuss. As I was saying to Sherman here, there are a lot of plans under way at the moment. You two have both been coming along well in the mind control experiment. It's been a month since the idea was formed, but Sherman tells me its near completion and ready to be tested. I have organized this meeting because I was hoping to have you get started on preparations for the cloning process. When we get our talking Meowth I want you to work as fast as you can. My mind-controlled minions will only be the first step towards ruling the world, and in a way, they are only a diversion, an appetizer, to the cloned pokemon you will be creating. Since you two are the head scientists of the Team, I will be giving you both a greater deal of control in overlooking the experiments. Sherman, you will continue to oversee the mind-control drug. Bernard, you will be in charge of the cloning process and let Sherman deal with the mind-control drug mostly on his own from here on in. You may want to give your assistants larger assignments; I hear that Mark and Charlie are quite competent. That is all I have for you for now. Any questions?"

The corrupt scientists shook their heads.

"Good. You may go."

As they neared the door their Boss spoke up an afterthought.

"Oh, one more thing; don't mess up."

"Bernard, Sherman! Are you both able and willing to undertake another task on top of the load you already have? Good. We discovered these plans for a weapon on the test subjects, Jessie and James. I am as surprised as you are that they could think up such a thing, but I want you to make this a reality as well. Oh, and add a little oomph to it, will you?"

"I'll do the job, sir. The mind-drug experiment seems to be running smoothly enough, and I know Bernard has a lot to do if he is going to have that Meowth cloned by tomorrow. My assistant, Charlie, can make sure nothing goes wrong while I'm working on the plans for this."

"Oh, Bernard. I'm glad you could come. Is there anyway you could figure out what's wrong with this? We've been trying so many times over – it just isn't working."

"Sure… oh, I see… the explosives aren't quite aligned. That should do it… there."

"Gee, thanks. I must be losing some brain cells, working so hard lately and not getting much sleep. I'm glad you could help."

"Is there anything else you want me to do?"

"What are you doing now?"

"Actually, I'm taking a coffee break. There's not much to do except for monitoring until the thing's finished growing… which should be in about three hours. I'm all yours till then, if you need."

"Great! We're supposed to be adding a few components to the original design of this product. I have a feeling it will be a bit tricky…"