Notes: This is based on episode 6. I know the original episode seemed like 'filler', and that assessment may be fair enough, but here we'll get follow up and our 'character of the week' will appear again, though not excessively often. In a story which addresses [unknown in this verse so far] pokemon origins, it is, let's say interesting to have a character with what seems like off the wall ideas about this. Also, Pikachu and Meowth!

9: Clefairy vs. The Moon

"So, should we follow them?" Jessie asked as she and James took turns with binoculars from a clearing outside Pewter. They had just spotted the departing group of children, Pikachu near their feet.

"Listen, we gotta regroup first," Meowth shouted from behind them. "It's too soon to just jump into something else."

Jessie turned around. "Too soon? I'm not that happy about our third failure thanks to that little twerp either, but we've got to find something to make the boss happy," she said tersely.

"Yeah, I know, I know," Meowth whined. "I'll think of something... I'll find us the perfect plan to get piles of pokemon for the boss." Instead of letting them know what that might be, Meowth rolled on the grass, howling as it did.

"We should be able to take care of that little kid. He doesn't even know what to do with his pikachu. Let's just go after him!" Jessie proposed.

"But now he has that gym leader with him... And the girl, who knows how many pokemon she has," James said as he put the binoculars down.

"I saw two pokeballs," Meowth said.

"So, it's like seven against two," Jessie said, then made a noise of frustration. "We really need more pokemon!"

"Oh! I know! We can call Mondo," Meowth said. They made their way back to Pewter, heading to a phone booth they'd passed earlier. "Hey, give me a boost," Meowth request. As James did so, it used its claw to press a few buttons, then held it up.

"Hello?" the young rocket member's voice came across the line.

"Hey, Mondo! It's me, your favorite meowth!"

"Master Meowth!" Mondo's somewhat distorted voice was loud enough that Jessie and James could both hear it as well. "How are you doing? Are my senpai taking care of you out there?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Meowth said. "But hey... Jessie and James could use a few more pokemon. How's about you get us some?"

The line was silent for a moment. "Well, the boss hasn't given me any to take care of lately. They're all out to agents, no strays at the base," Mondo eventually explained. He sighed loudly, causing a crackling sound on the line. "There were some agents set to supply us with a large amount, but they ended up not following through." As Mondo continued, Meowth, Jessie, and James all glanced away from the phone. "Oh, wait, I'm sorry! I forgot that was you!"

"Yeah," Meowth timidly admitted, its ears lowering.

"No offence! Everyone has their bad days. I'm sure you'll make up for that soon. You're all very capable." Despite Mondo's encouraging words, Jessie clenched her fist as James looked away from the phone booth, both frowning as they did.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks, Mondo. Hey, then how about some pokeballs?" Meowth asked.

"None in supply. I'm so sorry!" Mondo replied.

"Fine," Meowth tried to hide its increased irritation. "Then just get us some nets, and maybe some transportation."

"Of course, Master Meowth! You're where? Pewter? It's not too far away, I'll be right there."

"Thanks, Mondo." Meowth tried to inject some enthusiasm into its voice for the sake of its helpful friend, but there wasn't much to be had. It gave Mondo directions to their specific location, then hung up, putting the phone away before again slumping on the ground.

"Cheer up, Meowth. I'm sure we'll think of something soon," James assured.

"Yeah, sure," Meowth muttered.

"Did you already?" Jessie asked. "What are you going to do with all of what you asked Mondo for, anyway?"

"We're moving on," Meowth said. "And that pikachu, the stupid kid never puts it in its pokeball, so I thought we should have a net or something to keep it in."

"Should we chase after it with one?" James asked.

"Like the dogcatcher," Jessie suggested.

"Or like we're catching butterflies," James said, swooping his arms forward as if holding a net.

"Doesn't that twerp have a butterfly-like pokemon?" Jessie smirked.

"We'd need an extra-large net for it. What size do you suppose it would be?" James asked.

"Maybe it would take both of us to carry," Jessie suggested before the humans laughed together.

Meowth sat up, stepping better its partner. "Hey, if you've got a better idea to keep it contained for the boss without a pokeball, I wanna hear it," it groused.

"It's fine, Meowth," James assured.

"Right. I hope. This kid can't evade us forever," Jessie said.

"That's right. We're pros. After Mondo gets here with the supplies, let's take off," Meowth suggested, grinning happily.

At first, Misty ate the meal Brock had handed to her absent-mindedly, without thinking about things much. Then she looked down at it, noticing the seasonings mixed in with the stew, a varied amount of vegetables. "Wow! Brock, you can make something this good when camping? It's amazing, I love it!"

"Yeah," Ash agreed in-between scooping food into his own mouth. "It's good."

"Pika pika," Pikachu called between eating pokemon food supplied by their new traveling companion. "Pikachu!" it called happily, very pleased with the taste of the offering.

"Who knew you could cook," Misty said. She put down her spoon as she thought further about what she'd said. "Oh, I mean... I guess you did all the time," she said with a smile.

"Yeah, didn't you have some-" Brock paused as he started cleaning his cooking supplies. "Oh, wait, that's right. You had the meal of Yolanda's that I 'fixed' for her," he realized.

"She tried, so I appreciated it," Misty said.

"Same," Brock said with a laugh.

"So you guys were friends already?" Ash asked.

"I guess we're fast friends," Brock admitted. "We have more in common than you might think."

Ash didn't ask more, wrapped up in reading his map in between taking bites of Brock's offered food. "This is confusing," he said.

"Mount Moon's not that confusing once you've walked through it a few times," Misty pointed out.

"Oh, yeah." Ash briefly put down the map, looking toward their now darkened next destination before up at Brock. "Have you been around Mt. Moon before?"

Misty scowled. "Hey! Why not ask me?" she demanded.

"Oh, well, I've been up there, but not really through the whole path to Cerulean," Brock answered.

Misty sat down, closing her eyes as she calmed herself. "I've been through it plenty enough to get around. If you follow me, you'll be okay."

"Great," Ash said. He put a temporary marker over his map before folding it up and putting it away. "Let's train some in the morning, then we'll go right through it."

After a restful sleep, they did so. Ash battled Brock again, Butterfree quickly tiring against Geodude. Ash put his pokemon back in its pokeball as they cleaned up camp and went toward the mountain. "In here," Misty eventually said, motioning toward the entrance to a cave.

"You want us to go in there?" Ash asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah, that's part of Mount Moon, caves," Misty said with a frown.

"She's right. It should be on that map," Brock said.

Ash took off his backpack and out the map, carefully studying the marker he'd left the other day. "Oh," he said. "That's why it was so confusing."

"If you're done wasting time, why don't we go?" Misty tapped her foot from the entrance. Brock had already gone in.

"Yeah, I'm coming!" Ash called, putting on his backpack and running in, Pikachu not far behind.

Inside, the lighting was much dimmer, but their eyes quickly adjusted. Brock met up with Ash and Misty quickly, and took out a flashlight. As they went further in, they heard the crunching of something else's footsteps on the dirt and stopped. "Someone there?" Brock asked.

"Hello... Yes! Hello," a voice spoke. As the group got closer, they found the source, a man in a lab coat who rested on a rock. "You're all just passing through?" he asked.

"Yeah," Ash confirmed.

"Have you seen any clefairy?" the stranger asked.

"I haven't," Misty said. "I heard there's a bunch here, though! I just never saw any myself."

"If you haven't seen any, you can't help, but I'll make a note." The man took out a clipboard from his tote bag, writing something down before he looked back up. "Oh! Though if you want to see clefairy, tonight there should be many. I've been spotting them here today, and I'm sure they're coming, tonight, for a big gathering!" the man spoke excitedly, clenching his fists before he adjusted the glasses that were slipping down his face.

"You sure?" Brock asked. "Oh, I'm Brock by the way. And you are?"

"Sorry, I'm Seymour, a pokemon scientist! Pleased to meet you," he said, then Ash and Misty introduced themselves as well. "I take it you're all trainers?" he said.

"Well, yeah," Ash said.

"It's always nice to meet those enthusiastic about the world of pokemon! It's a fairly new area of study, and pokemon aren't everywhere in the world you know, so one has to be here to study them in person! It's amazing to see even one! Don't you think?"

"Sure," Misty said, giggling at Seymour's overenthusiastic rant.

"Right. You all work with them, train them personally, while I support the science." Seymour nodded to himself.

"So you're working with Professor Oak and stuff?" Ash asked.

"Oak - No." Seymour sat back down on the rock. "I'm an independent researcher. Some of my ideas are controversial, at least for now. I think tonight, the clefairy will help me prove them!" He stood back up, looking back and forth in the cave as if he'd spot one.

"Are clefairy powerful?" Ash mused, glancing around himself as if to spot one.

"Pika?" Pikachu questioned, frowning.

"Are you jealous, Pikachu? Hee hee, that's so cute," Misty laughed. "Don't worry, I think even Ash knows better than to replace you."

"Come on, I just want to know if they're powerful. I need to catch more pokemon," Ash said.

"Well." Misty paused, giving the question some serious thought this time. "Now that I think about it, I never battled one, even though there's so many so close, supposedly. Oh, I saw a girl with one, once! And I think my sister battled a trainer who had one. But I don't remember her talking about if it did well or not."

"Well, I battled one," Brock said. "It was a little tougher than I expected, but I still knocked it out."

"So they're rare, kinda," Ash concluded. "But who knows how tough."

Seymour stood up, staring seriously Ash's way. "I'm certain clefairy have a secret power that no other pokemon does," he asserted.

"No other?" Ash repeated. He became transfixed by Seymour's intensity, entranced by the idea of what said secret power might be.

"Well, maybe some other. I'm still studying, you see. Maybe with first hand observations tonight I'll find out more. Do you want to observe with me?" Seymour offered.

"Yeah!" Ash exclaimed.

"It might be interesting to see a group of clefairy," Brock mused.

"Sure, let's go," Misty agreed.

"Then come with me." Seymour waved his hand, leading them in the opposite direction they'd been headed. They followed the man down various unfamiliar paths, eventually stopping to rest. Brock took out some pre-prepared food, offering some to everyone present. Ash showed more interest in the man they met up with than the food.

"Can you tell us more about the secret power?" he asked.

"Of course!" Seymour agreed. "You see, clefairy aren't like other pokemon. They still have the power to contact the mothership."

Misty inhaled suddenly and started coughing. "Excuse me?" she said after she stopped.

Brock also cleared his throat. "Did you say 'mothership'?" he asked.

Seymour nodded. "Yes indeed. All pokemon come from space, you know. We called them 'monsters', but they're actually aliens!" Misty and Brock exchanged glances as the self-declared scientist continued. "Others have lost the ability to contact their home, and that's why they've been here for a few generations by now."

"So they're from space?" Ash asked. "Wow. I didn't know that," he said casually.

"Come on, Ash," Misty chided, pushing up the brim of his hat in her frustration until she turned to the man they just met. "So scientist, where's your scientific proof of all that?" she demanded.

"Yeah, I don't remember reading about anything like that in any peer-reviewed articles," Brock said.

"Do you subscribe to scientific journals?" Seymour asked.

"I use the library," Brock admitted. "And mostly for articles related to pokemon care. But if I saw that, yeah, I'd read it and remember it."

"Well, the reason why is because my articles haven't been picked up by any publications." Seymour frowned, pushing up his glasses. "I've written a few! But it seems you need connections in the publishing world. Plus, I know they're trying to hide the truth. Certain people are very interested in keeping this hidden. But trust me, there's more and more proof these days, pokemon are from space."

Though Ash still looked with interest, Brock raised an eyebrow and Misty sighed. "Let's just go back. If we go fast, maybe we'll make it to Cerulean, or close tonight," she suggested.

"I want to see the clefairy," Ash said.

"Yeah," Brock agreed. "I mean, maybe they won't be around, but we already came all this way."

Misty stood up, almost stomping her foot in her irritation. "Fine then. If you two won't listen, I'll just head back myself. See you in Cerulean." Misty walked down the area a bit before walking back. "I forgot! I have no idea where we are, he took us to some weird off-path place! We're lost."

"No, no," Seymour assured. "I know the way back. We'll go tomorrow morning, after we've seen the clefairy."

"Sounds good to me," Ash said. Misty sat down in a huff, saying nothing else.

Where Misty had almost walked past, the rockets stood, sighing in relief. "That was close," James said in a whisper.

"Do you think there's really going to be a lot of clefairy?" Jessie asked.

"Who knows. Maybe," Meowth said.

"We could net them all up for the boss," Jessie said.

"Yeah. They're trainerless, but kinda rare, so maybe that'll work," Meowth mused, pacing back and forth.

"And Pikachu too?" James asked.

"Sure, why not. It'll be the cherry on top. We'll get them all in a nice little net, then add a bow and gift them to the boss." Meowth grinned as it thought of what Giovanni's reaction might be. It quickly put its paw over its mouth, peeking past the curve in the path at Pikachu down the way. "Maybe I can convince that pokemon to come on its own," it said.

"How?" Jessie asked.

"You two stand by. I'm gonna try," Meowth declared.

As Meowth walked carefully toward the dining group, Jessie and James stepped back, going behind the corner they'd turned. Meowth found a spot behind a pile of rocks, plenty dark. "Pika," it imitated. "Pika pika, pikachu."

"Pika?" Pikachu looked up. The humans continued their conversations, apparently not having heard the call. Was it another pikachu? Pikachu couldn't recall seeing any along the way, and this place didn't really seem like that great of an option for pikachu to live in general.

"Pika pika!" the voice repeated, calling out in a gravelly whisper.

"Chu?" Pikachu tilted its head in confusion. It certainly heard the 'pika pika', but it couldn't understand the other pokemon's message at all. It wandered away from the humans, curious about the strange pokemon call.

"Pika-" Meowth stopped itself as it saw the pokemon it had been trying to lure was there. "There you are!" it whispered.

"Pika?" Pikachu questioned the other pokemon's presence.

"We're here!" Meowth said with its best smile. "We've come to save you from that little brat boy!"

Pikachu glanced back at Ash, who was into retelling a pokemon battle he'd had with Butterfree. It wasn't sure if it really wanted to be around him, but had decided to stay without any fuss for the moment. In any case, the situation was hardly something that called for it to be 'saved' from. "Pikachu." Pikachu tried to give the message that it didn't need help. That this pokemon from an unscrupulous group was saying something like this to it was confusing.

"Hey, you're not pissed off?" Meowth challenged. "You're a super powered pokemon, stuck with a dumbass kid as a trainer!"

"Pika," Pikachu expressed dislike of the word Meowth had spoken. It started to feel a little queasy as it thought of how it had gotten yelled at when its previous trainer had been called a 'dumbass' and other words with similar sentiments.

"Yeah, yeah, you're getting it!" Meowth put an arm around Pikachu, winking at it. "You come to Team Rocket, and you'll get only the best. Powerful pokemon like you deserve it! Everyone'll praise you, and great trainers are gonna line up for the chance to train you. They'll give you all the adoration that a pokemon like you deserves. Piles of food, hugs for days, and praise every time they talk to you."

"Pikachu?" Pikachu thought of that situation. It really seemed like too much. Would they really do that kind of stuff all the time?

"Yeah, you can bet you'll belong with Team Rocket, Pikachu. All powerful pokemon do," Meowth declared.

Pikachu couldn't see anything too appealing about Meowth's offer all. It was currently getting excellent food from Brock, and Ash had praised it a lot recently. There was nothing Team Rocket seemed to be able to offer it that it didn't have already. Besides, all that attention would be weird. "Pi." Pikachu rejected the offer, shaking off Meowth and stepping away.

"Hey! How about I say we'll take you there if you wanna be there or not?" Meowth asked.

"Pi pikachu," Pikachu called with a laugh at it ran toward its trainer, daring Meowth to try.

"You can bet we will!" Meowth threatened, then putting a paw on its mouth. It ran the opposite way from Pikachu, back to its allies. "It won't come," it informed upon seeing Jessie and James.

"As if it'd be that easy," Jessie said, peering around the bend.

"At least you tried, but now we'll have to go a bit further than that, won't we?" James said, crouching down as he took his own look at the group they been tailing. Ash and the others all stood up, starting to walk further away.

"Yeah," Meowth agreed, watching their targets carefully. "You two be ready."

After a while of walking, Seymour led the group to a part of the cave that opened on top. "Right there," he said, pointing to the entrance. "I've been mapping and tracking all sightings of clefairy reported by trainers in the area over the last six months. The data show the greatest concentration is on and around here, with sightings reaching a peek during the night hours."

"Hey, that actually sounds pretty scientific," Brock complimented.

"Plus, there's a large opening here, perfect for a spaceship that fits pokemon clefairy's size," Seymour added. Misty started coughing, but otherwise didn't comment. "There's another influencing factor I've noticed - more sightings during or around the full moon. As you know, that was a few days ago, and the weather's been cloudy since. Tonight, it'll be clear. I hypothesize it's the perfect time to spot clefairy."

"Maybe," Misty said. "I see you've been working a lot on this, Seymour. It sounds interesting. I hope we do get to see some!"

"I'm nearly certain," Seymour said. He put a hand to his chin. "I know you're skeptical of my claims, Misty, but you'll see soon enough, the proof of my own coming scientific breakthroughs!"

"Pikachu, did you come from space?" Ash asked.

"Pikachu," Pikachu replied, a confused look on its face.

"I don't think it did," Ash said, raising an eyebrow as he met eyes with his pokemon.

"Your pokemon's young, of course it would be part of the generation that doesn't remember being on their home planet," Seymour explained.

"If there's a home planet for pokemon, I'd like to go and see what it's like," Ash said.

"Pikachu." Pikachu supposed the planet they were on was good enough.

"Over here, over here," Seymour directed, leading the group to a section behind a boulder. "If they show up, we don't want to get in the way."

"Yeah, I don't want to bother them too much," Misty agreed.

"If their spaceship shows up, I might want to go, but I wouldn't expect you kids to come along," the scientist added.

Misty and Brock again exchanged glances, then stared dubiously back at Seymour. They passed the next few hours chatting about various things. Then Seymour heard a sound, and shushed them, motioning them to crouch down.

"What is it?" Ash whispered from his squatting position.

"Shh, shh, the clefairy," Seymour said.

The kids waited, crouching down and looking as the little remaining twilight eventually faded. Ash eventually sat down, arms crossed and fidgeting. Misty tried to stand up, but Seymour tapped her arm and pointed down. "The clefairy have got to be coming soon," he promised in a whisper.

"Hey, are you sure it wasn't just a zubat you heard?" Misty asked, trying and failing to keep her voice low.

"Just wait," Seymour said.

"Oh," Brock exclaimed, then putting a finger to his lips to show he'd stay quiet before pointing forward.

In the now very dim lighting, they saw a single clefairy place a stone in the middle of the area under the opening. The group watched quietly as it carefully placed it around a group of other stones before bouncing off. "Clefairy!" the pokemon called.

"What did it-" Ash began, then became silent as he noticed another clefairy - no, two, stones in hand, carefully placing them in a pattern. More of the clefairy arrived, each with their own stone, putting the objects in the pile each in turn. As moon came into view from the top, it was clear the rocks were in a zig-zag pattern. They sparkled faintly in the moonlight.

"It's so pretty," Misty said, glancing at Seymour. "But why are they doing that?"

"I thought the placement of those rocks was the work of clefairy," Seymour said, clenching his fist as he watched the pile ever-increasing. The pokemon all started to bouncing around it as they called aloud, so he spoke at a normal tone now. "I don't know why. I'm trying to figure it out. It doesn't seem big enough to call anyone visually from above. I didn't notice any radio waves coming out of it either. I sense a different kind of energy from it though. Don't you?"

"Kind of," Misty said. She pulled her knees closer, resting her head on her arm. The clefairy's calls in general gave off a sort of peaceful energy. She closed her eyes as she heard them.

"That's amazing," Brock commented. "But I don't really want to bother them to try and catch one."

"Me neither," Ash said. "We should just leave them alone."

"Pika?" Pikachu looked up at Ash, then studied the other humans' apparent enjoyment of the show before looking back at the pokemon which moved around in a sort of dance. Was there really a use for them just like this?

"Ah," Seymour gasped as he saw what happened next. The kids next to him straightened up as a clefairy touched one of the rocks and started to glow. "Oh! I really wasn't expecting this."

"They're evolving," Misty observed as various clefairy became clefable. "Yeah, we should really leave them to this. There's no need to catch any of them."

"Hey, hey," Meowth said as it entered, unable to keep the grin off its face. "If you guys don't want these pokemon, then Team Rocket'll happily take them off your hands."

"Clefairy! Clefairy!" The pokemons' calls grew frantic, and they bounced off in a hurry, unable to leave through the small opening, as Jessie stood in the way, net in hand.

"What are you doing?!" Misty demanded, standing up as her lull was broken.

"Just leave them alone. It's obviously some kind of clefairy ritual," Brock said.

"Yeah, who cares." Meowth waved a paw. "All that's useless to Team Rocket. Once we've brought them back to base, the boss can decide what to do with them."

"You're terrible," Misty spat as the clefairy called out in distress, unable to even leave the enclosed area.

"What's that, twerp girl?" Jessie asked. "A wild pokemon's a wild pokemon, it's there for anyone to catch. What difference does it make to you?" Misty pursed her lips, unable to think of an answer to that question, since she'd thought she might like to catch one as well. "Oh, I know," Jessie continued. "Would you like to volunteer yours?"

"Yeah!" Meowth exclaimed. "Get a bunch of those clefairy, and Pikachu, and any other pokemon you see around here."

"Misty, Ash," Brock said. "I don't want to get Onix or Geodude out. I think your pokemon can handle this better."

"Right," Ash and Misty agreed at once.

"Go, my steady!" Misty threw her pokeball out. "Staryu!

"Pikachu, it's your turn!" Ash ordered.

Staryu spun around as it was released. Pikachu, less than happy about its conversation with Meowth earlier, also took its place to battle. They both faced Meowth. "Uh, Jessie." The rocket pokemon turned to its human partner.

"Ekans," Jessie said as she released her pokemon. "Let's fight! Dig!"

"Staryu, water gun!"

"Pikachu, thundershock!" Ash and Misty followed with orders to their own pokemon.

"Pika CHUU!" Pikachu tried to shock Ekans, but it had already gone underground.

Staryu's attack followed it. "Is it hurt?" Misty wondered aloud as he stared at the hole. Both her and Ash jumped as the rocket's pokemon burst out of the ground nearby.

"Ekans!" the pokemon called as it hit Pikachu.

"Pika!" Pikachu cried in pain, falling back before hitting the back of its head.

"Just stay still," Jessie said as she approached it with the net.

Pikachu turned over. "Pika!" it called harshly to Jessie before turning its attention to her pokemon.

"Yeah, Pikachu, go! Try thunderbolt!" Ash encouraged.

"You attack too, Staryu, repeat!" Misty said.

Of course, Pikachu had been about to do that already. "Pika CHUU!" it cried as it released the powerful attack yet again. Staryu also called as it and shot a stream of water toward Ekans.

"Ekans," Jessie exclaimed as the pokemon took the dual hit, the water and electric combination seeming to cause extra damage, the same as it had to the soaked onix in the gym the other day. Jessie quickly pressed the button on her pokeball, tossing the net over her shoulder. "Return!" she shouted, then turned to Meowth. "We have to leave," she asserted.

Meowth scowled, but still followed as Jessie retreated. Misty sighed with relief, falling to the ground as she returned her own pokemon. Ash crouched down by his pokemon, laughing briefly. "That thunderbolt really lit the place up, Pikachu," Ash complimented. "You looked cool."

"Pikachu, pikapi." Pikachu smiled. Meowth had promised it an overflow of praise, but really, this was enough.

"Are they all scared away?" Brock asked.

"No. Shh! They're still in here. Maybe we should move," Seymour said. "Maybe we should hide again."

Before the group could do, the wild pokemon started to peak out curiously. "Clefairy?" several called tentatively. As the humans remained still, more came out, and they started to put the rocks back in the center, adjusted the ones that had been displaced during the incident.

"It's so surprising to see this. I didn't know pokemon did things like this," Brock commented.

"It's really nice," Misty agreed. She turned to Seymour. "I don't know if pokemon are from space, but you sure found something special about them. I'm glad I got to see them."

Seymour nodded. "It's not the spectacle I thought I'd see, but it's a beautiful sight, isn't it? There's still a lot more to discover!"

Brock tapped the man on the back. "I'll be keeping an eye out for your first published article," he said. "I've always wondered where pokemon came from."

The issue wasn't discussed more as the group watched the Clefairy continue their dance-like ritual in the moonlight, several touching the moonstone and evolving as they did.

Meowth caught its breath as Jessie and James sat on the ground next to their provided mode of transportation - a meowth-themed hot air balloon. "I can't believe we lost our chance again," it lamented, clawing at the basket, too tired to make it in at the moment.

"I think we did rather well," James said.

"Oh yeah," Meowth looked up, shaking its head as it saw its other partner. "James! Where the heck were you? Jessie had to battle on her own!"

Jessie released Ekans, crouching down as she got out a potion. "Sorry, Ekans," she said as she sprayed it, smoothing her hand down the pokemon's body.

"Ekans," the pokemon replied. It closed its eyes, relaxing and becoming refreshing as Jessie cleaned and otherwise cared for it.

"You did well though," James said. "I'll thank you."

"Yes, that's true. Thanks, Ekans," Jessie said.

"Whatever, but now we've got nothing to give to the boss," Meowth said.

"So you think." James hoisted the net he'd been carrying to the ground. "As you two distracted them, I followed up with the opportunity to get something really good."

"Rocks?" Meowth said.

"Moon stones," Jessie informed.

"Yes, we recognized them easily. They're exceptionally rare you know," James said.

"Oh... Alright!" Meowth exclaimed. Its happy expression dropped, and it eventually looked back up at the humans. "You think the boss will really be happy with them?"

"Happy enough," Jessie said.

"Yes. I remember him saying he'd like some to evolve his own pokemon," James said.

"Yeah. And even if he doesn't need it anymore, a pile of rare moon stones sure couldn't hurt to give him," Jessie said.

Meowth nodded with exaggeration before it hopped on the bag, bouncing to first James, and then Jessie with a hug for each. "You two are the best," it said.

Jessie shrugged, unable not to smile as the pokemon shared its affection. "But of course, he did want pokemon, not pokemon accessories," she pointed out.

Meowth furrowed its brow, taking a determined stance. "Right. Yeah, I know that. Are you two ready to get him some pokemon after we deliver these?"

"Yes," James said.

"Of course," Jessie agreed.

"Ekans," Ekans called.

Meowth turned its attention to the other pokemon present. It used its paw to pat the snake-like pokemon's head. "Poor, poor, Ekans. It must have hurt extra bad - getting hit by that powerful pikachu's attack at the same time as the other twerp's pokemon's attack."

"Ekans," Ekans agreed.

"Well, don't worry. Soon enough, Pikachu will be a rocket pokemon too. Then it'll be helping us instead." It smiled up at Jessie and James, who nodded back at it before they all piled in the balloon to get back to base.

End notes: Maybe Seymour is right and we can start calling them pokealie or something? Hahaha but no.

Next chapter: Misty vs. Ash
(At last!)