Black

Chapter 7: Dere's Always a Choice

The two children were laughing as they raced each other to the bridge where they'd locked up their bikes and where they would be meeting the rest of their friends, their bike gang. Jessie outran James by a few inches, but both were in good spirits as they collapsed on the ground, panting hard, and smiling. They were the first to arrive for the day's activities so they sat back and relaxed a bit, looking down at the water.

"Hey Jess?" James asked after a moment.

"Yes?"

"We have a lot of fun together. I'm glad that I met you. I hope we can be friends forever," he said.

Jessie's smile grew bigger and she looked at him sincerely. "Me too!"

But the memory was starting to fade… an image of Jessie in her rocket uniform… a fleeting thought from James as he gazed at her over a campfire, 'I take it back… I hope we can be more'… the Boss glaring angrily at them before ordering the injection of some needles into their veins…

James had stumbled next to Butch as he carried one of the cages. The flashes of images that graced his mind only lasted a second, and the vile chemical regained control, throwing him back into the dark abyss of oblivion. He couldn't even hear his own mind screaming to recapture consciousness. The potion overpowered him.

The day continued for him as it had been going all along. Follow orders. Move the boxed Pokemon. Shift in stiff motion and unnatural posture. Back and forth as the clock ticked on to an endless time that didn't even exist in the realm that now became of James and the other lab rats used in this despicable experiment. Soon enough he and Butch were joined again by their partners, Jessie and Cassidy, who had been rested up and pricked with an even stronger dose than before, and who were fully willing and accepting of their duties.

Not only had the girls joined in, but a number of non-Rocket members also appeared to be helping out. Some were moving cages. Most were put on defense, and presumably this strategy would work to throw off opponents. Brock was somewhere amidst the kidnapped slaves, and there was no chance he could think for himself. He stood ready to obey any order he received.

Meowth woke up. His little cat nap did some good; he felt rested and he'd found a way to pass a couple of hours without boredom… the world of dreams could sometimes do that for you, though as the light filtered through his eyes, and as he slowly opened them to take in the now-familiar surroundings, his memories of them began to fade until they were out of grasp. But that didn't matter now. His stomach grumbled.

He heard an impatient huff from next to him on the counter. Black was back, and staring at Meowth with a superior glint in his eyes, well, just barely. And strangely enough, he looked liked he'd gained a little more muscle too, if that was possible in the short amount of time that he was gone. Meowth was going to ask him about it, but a question was asked to him instead.

"Ah, Meowth. Perfect timing. I was just going to wake you. So, have you thought about what I asked you before?"

It was the scientist named Bernard, as Meowth could see the tag on his white lab coat. The scientist grinned and moved his arms airily about the room, repositioning test tubes, gathering some metallic utensils and placing them on the counter, and scribbling notes on a clipboard as he checked various monitors and instruments. Once he finished with his tasks and preparations, he returned his full attention to the lighter of the two caged Pokemon.

"Ready to become everything you ever wanted to be? To gain the power we all know you deserve?"

Meowth hesitated. "Well, you see, da ting about dat is, I just love my personality too much to part wid it. You seem like a reasonable guy," I hope, thought Meowth. "Would you be easily as willing ta give up all you know, feel, like, and believe? I mean, is it really worth it to have someting, dat yes I'll admit, you'd always been wishing for, yet at dee same time, not be able to enjoy it? To enjoy it as yourself?"

"Now, now, Meowth, these doubts are not very becoming of you," answered Bernard in a patronizing sort of way, still talking lightly as if this were a discussion about which movie they should go to watch on a Saturday afternoon and not the serious matter that it actually was. "I was rather hoping you would come around to see it our way. You still have a little time to think it over, but once Mark gets here, I hope you'll make the right decision. It'll be easier for all of us. Hmm, speaking of which, I wonder where Mark is. He's been gone an awfully long time."

He turned to face the door expectantly, as if at any moment now his assistant would be walking through it, ready to dive into the task at hand. But he stared in vain since the door stubbornly remained closed. He decided instead to busy himself once again with all the gadgets on the counter and the monitors on the wall. Meowth's stomach rumbled again, this time quite loudly that the walls in the opposite corner, if they had ears, would have heard it. Bernard looked at his test subject and gave him a half-smile, half-sympathetic look.

"Hungry? Well, then, perhaps we shouldn't wait any longer for my assistant to arrive. We can't operate on you with a full stomach, so you'll just have to make due for now. Drink some water if you wish."

"Look, uh, Bernard. I'm glad you care and all about my gettin' powerful, but da ting is, I've made my decision. It ain't gonna happen. Just leave me as I am, or better yet, release me from dis cage. I wouldn't mind seein' Jessie and James again."

Bernard's smile faded for a fraction of a second, but he recovered quickly and said, "Oh, Jessie and James have been reassigned. They're working on a new project now, and they seem to be getting along quite well without you. In fact, I think they're being the most productive that they've ever been in their entire lives up to now." He chuckled a little at his words. "And, you know, you never really had a choice to begin with. So, let's not make this complicated."

Meowth didn't notice that as Bernard spoke he was preparing a syringe that he now held in front of himself as he neared the cage, keys for the locksdangling from his other hand.

"You're wrong." Meowth answered quietly.

"Wrong? About what?"

"You don't get it, do you? Dere's always a choice," Meowth replied, part of him hoping it more than believing it. "And I've made mine."

"Always a choice?" Bernard repeated, confused. "So you're saying, and I really wish it doesn't come to this, that if we have to strap you down and force the operation upon you that you will still have a choice?"

"I'm glad you're following. Dat's exactly what I'm sayin'." Meowth started to ramble, winging it, but immediately realizing that all of what he said was true, and deep down, he knew it all along. They couldn't take this from him. "Even if you strapped me down, I still have a choice. I don't have to go down as a broken Pokemon giving up dere soul to da dark. I can still choose to feel what I wish to feel. Till my last breath, I have a choice."

"You–" began Bernard waving the needle threateningly, but a cool female voice interrupted him from the PA system.

"All personnel, please stand guard," she said crisply and left it at that.

After a momentary confusion, Bernard's entire composure changed. He took on a more defensive stance, putting down the needle and quickly clearing some items on the counter by tossing them into a drawer, along with his clipboard, and locking it with a key. He pulled back his white lab coat to reveal a set of pokeballs clipped to his belt. He glanced around the room rapidly, going over a mental checklist, his eyes lingering for a fraction of a second on Black but settling at last on the door.

In another part of the complex, there was a commotion going on. The team of Ash, Misty, Jenny, and a few other citizens from the town had broken through the defenses and were making their way down to the lower levels as quickly as they could. Officer Jenny may not have had her faithful Growlithe with her (he had been stolen with the rest from the Police Department's Pokemon Recovery Room), but she did have a couple of tricks up her sleeve. Her Haunter proved quite useful, especially since the band of them was being blocked more often than not by their own fellow citizens who were undeniably possessed by whatever chemical Team Rocket had forced on them. Haunter used its hypnosis to set them all to sleep before they could attack. They were headed towards the Boss's office, but due to more rigorous protection the closer they came, they ended up ducking away and trying to find a different route, taking a detour, and running away from their pursuers. With Ash in the lead, they found themselves projecting towards the lab rooms section of the base. And instead of getting them lost further, Ash led them to Lab 3-11, sure enough bursting into the room that held Meowth, Black, and Bernard.

Time stopped as they all stood facing each other, panting breaths caught in the throats of the intruders. Bernard reacted first and reached to the other side of his belt that was hidden from view of Meowth. Suddenly, the room was filled with smoke and everyone was coughing, their eyes streaming. There was the sound of small metallic objects hitting against one another, like a set of keys, or locks or chains against a cage, then hurried footsteps and the creak of a door on its hinges. Then a voice that did not belong to Bernard, echoing and moving fast away, "Do not follow us if you wish to live."