Jessie, James, Meowth and Wobbuffet were used to traveling. They never knew from one day to the next where they would lay their heads at night. They didn't mind though, it was part of their job. Catching powerful Pokemon to send to their boss Giovanni. They'd do anything to make their boss proud, and they each had their own reasoning for doing so.
Tonight their bed was the hard earth, only made softer by the dying winter grass. Uncomfortable, maybe, but it was made a little better by the sky beautifully lit by stars and their full stomachs. They'd allowed themselves a nice dinner out after their recent loss in battle. Ash Ketchum was the team's biggest rival by far. They wanted his Pikachu for their boss, having seen it's unfathomable power on multiple occasions. Ash was, though clumsy and rash, a good trainer. He always managed to defeat the team and save the day. It was annoying, but the group had a bit of respect for him. If it weren't for their job, they might've been good friends with Ash and his fellow trainers.
"Man, that was great. Why don't we eat out more often?" Meowth asked as he stretched out on his back and stared up into the night. "Because of that bill they gave us afterwards." Jessie replied, rolling her eyes. "Need I remind you that you were responsible for half of it, Meowth?" She sat up on her sleeping bag to eye the cat Pokemon. "Relax, Jessie." James sighed, rolling to face them in his own bag. "It's not like we actually paid the bill. We high tailed it out of there when we saw all those numbers." "Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet shouted with his usual enthusiasm. "Whatever." Meowth rolled his eyes, "I have no regrets for how much I ate. I knew we wouldn't be able to go back there after we dined and dashed like that, so why not sample everything." He shrugged. "I don't know where you put it all. I swear your stomach is like a black hole." James mumbled. "Your brain is a black hole." Meowth retorted. "Will you all shut up? It's late and I need my beauty sleep!" Jessie snapped. The boys didn't protest, they knew how scary Jessie could be when she hadn't had enough sleep. James gave a yawn and turned his back to the group to get some rest as well. Meowth looked between the two trainers and Wobbuffet as they started drifting off. He half smiled a bit before curling up on the ground and tucking his curled tail close to his head.
The next morning Jessie and James got up seemingly at the same time as they did every morning. Though they weren't fond of waking as soon as the sun rose, their bodies were used to it so it came naturally. Wobbuffet joined them in helping roll up their sleeping bags and load them into a surprisingly small backpack James carried. Not wanting the wait of the bag to slow down their progress for the day, they tied it to a high tree branch and made a note of its location so they could find it again later.
"Meowth, get up lazy bones!" Jessie called as the three of them stood by the tree, waiting for the cat Pokemon to wake up and join them. Usually he'd have been right by their side, awakening with the sun as usual. They waited a moment before walking closer in case he couldn't hear them at their short distance. "Meowth, wake up…" James said, a bit softer than Jessie had. Meowth stirred a bit, folding back his ears before he curled up tighter into a ball of cream colored fur. "Come on buddy, we've got work to do." James sighed, nuding him with the end of his boot. Meowth's eyes opened half way, but he didn't stand. "What's the matter with you, dummy?" Jessie crossed her arms. She was growing impatient and couldn't stop thinking about how far Ash and his group of twirps could've traveled by now. "I think I ate too much…" Meowth groaned, forcing himself up on four paws and shivering a bit as he struggled to wake himself up. "I told you so." Jessie said, rolling her eyes. "Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet tilted his large body slightly. "Okay. I-I'm ready." Meowth said, sounding a bit unsure of himself. "Alright. Let's go." James sighed, watching Meowth for a moment before leading the way with Jessie by his side.
After about a half an hour of walking, James noticed how unusually quiet it had been, and he turned to look behind at their Pokemon partners. Jessie was confused when James stopped walking, until she followed his eyes behind them. Wobbuffet were several steps behind them where they were usually right on their heels if not beside them. Wobbuffet seemed fine, he was only walking slowly because he was trying to stay near Meowth. Meowth was walking on four paws. Something he hadn't done in years. Not since he'd taught himself to stand on two legs. His ears were droopy and his eyes looked dull and weak. "Are you alright, Meowth?" James asked when he and Wobbuffet finally caught up to them. "My stomach hurts…" Meowth complained quietly, sitting down and wrapping his tail around his legs. Jessie opened her mouth to remind him about his meal the night before, but she decided against it. Even if he'd eaten a lot, it wasn't like she hadn't seen him do so before. She got down on her knees and lifted Meowth's face so she could look into his eyes. His skin seemed paler than usual, and his skin was warm despite being out in the cold winter air.
"What's the matter with him Jessie?" James asked softly, knowing about Jessie's past training as a Pokemon nurse. "I'm not sure." Jessie said, standing back up, "It's probably just a bug, it'll go away soon, and we can get some potions and antidotes in the next town." Meowth nodded a bit, forcing himself back up onto four paws. "How much longer until the next town?" He asked. James looked back down the road in slight disappointment. They had another thirty or forty minutes before they reached civilization. "Wobba Wobba." Wobbuffet replied before anyone else could, and though they couldn't speak Pokemon, Jessie and James could tell by Meowth's expression that he wasn't prepared to walk that much more. Without asking, James bent down and scooped Meowth up off of the ground, holding him close as he quietly continued to walk. Meowth felt a bit awkward at first, but soon he was overcome with exhaustion and he allowed himself to sink down into James arms, leaning his head against his chest and eventually falling asleep to the soothing rhythm of his steps.
Pewter city wasn't very friendly towards Jessie or James. They'd stolen Pokemon from this town before, and their wanted posters still hung over nearly every corner. Usually causing chaos and watching the police officers pathetic attempts to arrest them were fun, but right now they were more concerned with Meowths health. Clearly their partner was in no condition to run from the police or fight against their growlithe. Instead, the group stopped just outside the town to come up with a simple plan. James sat down under a shady tree, holding a sleeping Meowth on his lap. Wobbuffet agreed to stay with James Meowth as protection in case they were spotted, even though he really wasn't a fighter. Jessie in the meantime, dawned a disguise and went into town to pick up some medicine and potions from the store.
"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet shouted proudly as he handed James some oran berries he'd found nearby. James left one for him to eat and took the other three, carefully placing them on the ground by his side. "Thank you Wobbuffet." He said graciously before stroking Meowth's fur gently to wake him up. "Meowth, Wobbuffet brought you some oran berries." He explained. "I'm not hungry." Meowth replied, ears flattening as he looked at the blueberries beside him. James made a sour face and continued petting the cat. He'd never known Meowth to not have an appetite. Even when Meowth was a little sick in the past he'd eat something.
"You sure?" James swallowed, "I think you might feel a bit better if you try to eat one." He moved one closer to Meowth's face to encourage him to take at least one bite, but the cat turned his head away, curling up on his lap tightly and wrapping his tail around himself. "Thanks anyway Wobbuffet." James sighed, "He'll eat them later I'm sure." Wobbuffet looked down sadly before eating his own Oran berry.
"I brought some antidote too just in case he got food poisoning at that restaurant last night." Jessie explained moments later as she sat down by James' side, taking some potions out of a grocery bag. They couldn't help but notice Meowth trembling a bit as he weakly lifted himself into a sitting position on James lap. The thought of eating anything made him want to puke, but he was willing to take anything Jessie gave him if it meant he could feel better. Jessie carefully gave Meowth doses of two different medicines, watching him for the signs of instant improvement that the potions usually gave. Meowth still looked a little weak and leaned against James chest after taking the medicine. "Did it work?" James asked, putting a hand on his friends back while Jessie and Wobbuffet moved closer curiously. "I feel a bit better I guess." Meowth replied weakly, "I think it's a bug like Jessie said earlier. Might take more time to go away on its own… Right?" He opened his eyes and looked up at Jessie for reassurance. She could read his fear like a book. "Right." She said with a half smile, "You'll be fine." She reached up and rubbed his ear for a moment before allowing him to rest against James again.
"Did you guys have some oran berries?" Jessie asked, picking up one of the blue fruits between her and James. "Wobbuffet found them, but Meowth said he wasn't hungry." James explained. "Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet added, holding his arm up in his signature salute. "Meowth, if you don't eat anything you'll just feel worse." Jessie said, holding the oran berry out towards him. Meowth stared at it quietly. "Please?" Jessie asked, noticing his hesitant behavior. "Just one bite." Meowth took the oran berry from Jessie and ate it, shivering a bit as it went down his throat. "How come you ate it for her and not me?" James asked, sounding a bit offended. "Because I'm more assertive and you know it." Jessie smirked, punching her partner in the shoulder.
Meowth shook out his fur and crawled off of James' lap, standing on four paws again since his back legs felt weak and wobbly. "We should get going." He said, "We're not going to make any progress today if we just sit around." Jessie and James watched him for a moment before getting to their feet as well. "You sure you're up for it?" James asked. "I'm up for anything." Meowth said, trying to sound confident. It didn't have the same effect with his voice sounding so strained. "Let's just hunt some Pokemon along this route." Jessie suggested. "Give him some time to regain his strength before we go after the twerp again." "Good idea." James nodded. "Wobba!" Wobbuffet said in agreement.
Together the team searched the tall grass and wooded areas of route three. They were slower than usual, but their tricks and talents helped them gather up a few wild Pokemon to send back to headquarters. They knew the boss wouldn't be very happy with the Spearows and Pidgey's they'd captured, but maybe they could catch some stronger Pokemon in the morning to soften the blow. Jessie was preparing to throw a Pokeball at a sleeping jigglypuff when she heard an awful noise behind her. The alarming sound threw off her aim and the ball smacked against a tree trunk a few feet away from the sleeping Pokemon and broke. Jessie turned around to find the source of the noise and was shocked to find that it was Meowth. He'd vomited up the oran berry she'd made him eat earlier, and some of his food from the night before. "Sorry." He said quickly, as if he realized he'd ruined her chances of catching the jigglypuff. "It's okay." Jessie swallowed, trying not to show her worry. "I think now's a good time to take a break anyway." She carefully scooped Meowth off of the ground and set off to find James and Wobbuffet.
Meowth didn't eat lunch with the rest of his team. His stomach felt like it was tied in knots, and he didn't want to throw up again. Jessie, James, and Wobbuffet each ate their small lunch quietly, each of them silently worrying about Meowth. "I don't think there'd be any harm in taking the rest of the day off." James said finally after swallowing the last bite of his meal. "You guys don't have to do that for me." Meowth said, ears folding down a bit, "I can wait here until you guys are done catching for the day." "No, it's fine." Jessie assured him. "I'm feeling kinda drowsy anyway." "Me too." James added. "Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet said happily. Meowth smiled a bit before curling up next to Jessie to try and take a quick catnap, hoping that when he woke up he'd immediately feel better.
Despite not having another thing to eat the entire day, Meowth vomited three more times that afternoon. He probably would've done so more, but there was nothing left in his stomach to come up. James had gone back to their camping spot from the night before and retrieved his backpack so they could sleep on route three. As the sun fell behind the skyline, the four of them were set up around a warm campfire. James was staring into the flames while sitting up on his sleeping bag with his legs pulled close to his chest. Meowth was laying down beside him, his back to the fire. He'd already fallen asleep, marking his fourth nap of the day. He interrupted his own thoughts and looked across the camp at Jessie who had found a small rope on the ground and was dangling it in the air for Wobbuffet to play with.
"Is he gonna be okay?" James asked, clearing his throat. Jessie let go of the string and watched Wobbuffet tackle it for a moment before she let out a long sigh. "I hope so." She replied, "I'd feel much better if we could take him to a Pokemon Center." "We can't." James reminded her. "Even if we dropped him off anonymously they'd find out who he was and they'd lock him up somewhere." "They don't put Pokemon in jail." Jessie said, rolling her eyes. "They wouldn't let him go though." James argued, "They'd catch him in a Pokeball and not let him back out or something." "I know…" Jessie sighed, "I just don't know what's wrong with him, and I don't think potions and antidotes are cutting it." James ran a gloved hand over his face as he tried to calm his mind, telling himself Meowth was going to be fine. "We could take him back to headquarters." He suggested with a shrug. "There's nurses and doctors there that could help him." Jessie just shook her head, still watching Wobbuffet play with the string on the ground. "You know that's too far. It'd take us forever to get him there in his condition." "What other choice do we have?" James asked sadly. Jessie didn't reply, she knew he was right. "Fine." She sighed, "We'll start heading in that direction in the morning."
"Jessie!" Jessie's eyes opened and immediately the air felt wrong. "Jessie!" Meowth's voice was calling out to her in the darkness. She threw open her sleeping bag, and looked around frantically. She could hear him crying, something was definitely wrong, but she couldn't see to find him. His cries must've woken up James and Wobbuffet too because just as Jessie was beginning to panic, a light cut through the dark and she could see again. James pointed his flashlight around until Jessie could see Meowth lying on his side a few feet away. "I'm here Meowth!" She said, quickly crawling across the dead grass to his side.
"It hurts!" Meowth whined as Jessie carefully picked him up and held him close. He was breathing rapidly and she could feel his increased heart rate as she held him. He was shivering but his body was burning up. Meowth nuzzled closer to Jessie with his eyes squeezed closed, hoping that she could do something. Anything to take away the pain in his stomach. Jessie stared off into space for a moment, trying to consider what she could do. Finally she grabbed a Pokeball from beside her sleeping bag. "Wobbuffet, return!" She commanded, watching him retreat into the device before she stood up and put the ball in James' backpack.
"What do we do?" James asked, jumping to his feet in preparation to follow her. "We're taking him to a Pokemon center." Jessie explained. James nodded in understanding, knowing she wasn't asking. He took off his white overshirt and carefully took Meowth from Jessie and wrapped him in it to keep him warm. "Come on." Jessie said, grabbing the backpack from the ground and throwing it across her shoulder before heading quickly into Pewter city, leaving their sleeping bags behind.
The Pokemon Center was opened twenty four hours a day, but it was usually very quiet at night. Not many trainers were battling this late, so nurse Joy and Chansey got some time to rest. Suddenly the doors opened and before Joy could register what was going on a gloved hand slammed down on the counter. "You have to help, Meowth!" Jessie shouted, causing nurse Joy and Chansey to jump at her loud and demanding tone. "Y-you're team rocket!" Nurse Joy said, standing from her chair and taking several steps back. "Yes, and you're a nurse! Now help him!" Jessie yelled, pointing towards James behind her. Nurse Joy followed Jessie's pointing finger to the shivering Meowth curled up in James' arms.
"Yeah right!" Nurse Joy said angrily crossing her arms, "This is just another one of your dirty tricks! I know how you work!" "It is not a trick!" Jessie screamed, leaning over the counter, "He is in pain! You've got to do something!" "Help him Nurse Joy!" A voice said from behind them. Jessie and James turned around to face the open doors. "They're with me." Said Ash as he walked into the Pokemon Center, his famous Pikachu riding on his shoulders. "Twerp?" Jessie breathed, watching in shock as Ash walked up to them and carefully took Meowth from James' arms. He carried the cat Pokemon over to the front desk while Pikachu sniffed at his fur. "He needs your help." Ash said, handing Meowth over. Nurse Joy looked skeptical at first, but her expression softened as she stroked the fur on Meowth's head. "I'll go run some blood tests to find out what's wrong." She nodded before taking Meowth down the hall and leaving Ash and Chansey with team rocket.
"Chansey, could you heal up my Pokemon, please?" Ash asked politely, taking a few pokeballs off of his belt. Chansey nodded with a smile before holding out a tray and allowing him to fill it with five pokeballs before carrying them over to a machine behind the front desk, leaving Pikachu on Ash's shoulder. He was clearly fine. "Why did you do that for us?" Jessie asked as she and James stared at the boy in shock. "Enemy or not, you're still people." Ash shrugged, turning to face them. "Meowth's your family. I know I'd want you to do the same if it were Pikachu." He explained, taking the yellow Pokemon off of his shoulder and holding him in his arms. "Pika Pika!" Pikachu smiled. "Thank you…" James nodded.
"Chansey!" Ash turned around and carefully took his Pokemon back, putting them in his backpack. "Thanks Chansey." He smiled before putting the bag over her shoulder. "Come on Jessie." James said, putting a hand on her shoulder and nodding towards the waiting chairs. She stared at Ash a while longer before following James and sitting in the chair beside him. "Mind if I wait with you?" Ash asked, slowly sitting down in a chair across from theirs, allowing Pikachu to hop off of his shoulder and sniff around on the floor. "Why?" Jessie asked, narrowing her eyes at him. "Your Pokemon are healed, you can go on." "I want to make sure Meowth's okay." Ash explained. "Alright." James said cautiously. Jessie shot him a confused glare and he simply shrugged in response. Suddenly, Jessie felt something against her leg. She turned and looked down, shocked to find Pikachu rubbing against her boot happily. "He's trying to comfort you." Ash said, half smiling as he made himself comfortable in the waiting room chair. Jessie watched Pikachu for a moment before bending down and scooping him up into her arms. The electric mouse braced himself on his back paws and gave Jessie a gentle lick on the nose, making her giggle a bit before he settled down on her lap, allowing her to stroke his staticy fur.
Jessie leaned her head on James shoulder after a moment, watching PIkachu's steady breathing on her lap while she petted him. She felt James put a hand on her arm comfortingly and she allowed a few tears to fall down her face. She was worried about Meowth.
Half an hour had passed, and they hadn't heard any news about Meowth. Jessie had slid off of her chair and crossed her legs on the floor moments after Pikachu had gotten up to find something else to do. She took a compact mirror out of their backpack and used it to check to make sure the few tears she had allowed herself hadn't made her makeup run. The mirror had reflected the lamp behind her and soon, she was using it's reflection to give Pikachu something to chase around on the tile floor. Ash and James were watching Pikachu dash around chasing the reflection, laughing a bit as Jessie kept the light just out of his reach.
Watching Pikachu foolishly chase a light around the floor made Jessie feel a little better, and she was finding herself smiling before too long, even giggling a bit when the little rodent would bump into furniture trying to turn sharp enough to keep up with the reflection. Wobbuffet soon popped out of his pokeball only to join Pikachu in chasing the light across the ground. Jessie and James were only drawn from the amusing sight when Nurse Joy appeared next to them, clearing her throat nervously to get their attention. "Yes?" Jessie asked worriedly. Pikachu took this chance to jump past the pink haired girl's arm and snatch the compact out of her hand. Jessie shot the rodent an annoyed glare before returning her attention to the nurse and standing up along with James.
"Well, Meowth has developed a form of regenerative anemia that can occur in feline and canine Pokemon." Nurse Joy explained. Ash picked Pikachu off of the floor and walked over to stand with Jessie and James, taking in the tired look on Nurse Joys face. "His immune system is destroying the red blood cells almost as fast as his body creates them." The nurse continued, "Did he eat anything that might have been toxic to felines?" "We ate out at a fancy restaurant just last night." James said, trying to think of all the different types of foods Meowth had eaten. "Did he have anything like chocolate, onions, garlic, or something like that?" Joy asked. "A lot of the dishes had garlic powder seasoning them I think." Jessie swallowed, unconsciously grabbing James by the hand and squeezing tightly in worry. "Okay." Nurse Joy nodded. "He needs a blood transfusion, and unfortunately we haven't had any blood donors who match his blood type recently." "What can we do?" Jessie asked urgently. "If any of your Pokemon could donate blood, we can just hope we find a match soon." Joy said.
"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet spoke up quickly. "Wobbuffet will donate." James explained, knowing what Jessie's pokemon was trying to say. "Pika Pika!" Pikachu nodded from Ash's shoulder. "Pikachu says he'll donate too." Ash said, scratching under the yellow Pokemon's chin, "And I'm sure the rest of my team won't mind doing the same." Chansey walked over towards the group, holding out a tray to take any and all of their pokeballs. "We won't be but a minute." Nurse Joy assured them, leading Chansey, Wobbuffet, and Pikachu down the halls.
Not long after the pokemon started donating their blood to try and find a match for Meowth, Jessie and James were standing silently in a hallway, looking through a window and into a small room. Meowth was lying on the hospital bed, wires stretched from seemingly everywhere. He had a cat sized oxygen mask over his face, and IV fluids running from a tube into one arm. On the other arm, Nurse Joy was working to insert another tube to begin the blood transfusion. The name written over a strip of tape on the blood bag was still shocking to the team. Pikachu, it read in capital letters. Meowth had never looked so small to Jessie or James before. He always seemed so big and tough and street smart. It felt like nothing could take him down, they'd seen him lose to pokemon several times in the past and he'd always get back up. Now he was lying here asleep, connected to all these machines, and the simple act of breathing seemed like a struggle.
Jessie kept her serious face on while staring through the window, not showing any emotions. James could see right through her act and she knew it, but she felt the need to stay calm in front of the twerp. Suddenly, she felt the familiar weight against her leg. She looked down at Pikachu as he circled her boots, rubbing his electric yellow fur against her in the same comforting manner he had earlier. His right arm was bandaged from where Nurse Joy had taken some of his blood, the same blood that was currently saving Meowth's life. Quietly, Jessie picked Pikachu up off of the floor and held him out in front of her face, looking deeply into his black eyes. There wasn't a speck of hate in them. Team Rocket had chased him, trapped him, tricked him, and tried to kidnap him on multiple occasions but all she could see in the little rat's face was love. Unable to wear her mask any longer, Jessie hugged Pikachu tightly and started crying. The electric mouse put his paws around her the best he could and rested his fluffy head against her shoulder, giving a soft "Pika Pi." James moved closer and put his arm around Jessie, allowing himself to shed a few tears as well. "He's gonna be alright Jess." He whispered. Jessie still couldn't stop herself from sobbing, not just because of Meowth's predicament but also in knowing that he'd have died if it weren't for the help of the same pokemon they'd tried to capture multiple times in the past.
"Wobbuffet?" Wobbuffet turned to look at Ash, who just patted him on the head. "It's alright, Wobbuffet." He half smiled, "Meowth's gonna be just fine." "Thanks to you he will." James said, looking over to the Pokemon trainer. "You and Pikachu." Pikachu was still hugging Jessie whose sobs were turning into sniffles. "I'm sure Meowth would've done the same for Pikachu if it came down to it." Ash shrugged as if their act of generosity wasn't a big deal. He could be annoying like that. Acting like such a good person made it hard for Jessie and James to hate him.
Jessie struggled to dry her bloodshot eyes when nurse Joy walked into the hall, carefully closing the door to Meowth's room behind her. Pikachu crawled up Jessie's arm and perched himself on her shoulder, licking a few salty tears off of her cheeks in hopes of cheering her up. "The blood transfusion will be complete in four hours." Joy explained. "There are some rooms upstairs for people waiting on their Pokemon to heal, you can stay in them for the night." "You aren't going to turn us in?" James asked skeptically. Joy turned to the window and looked in at Meowth for a moment, her heart going out to him. She knew the evil things he'd helped do, but she felt empathy for any pokemon in pain. She couldn't imagine how devastated he'd be to wake up in the morning and find out Jessie and James were in jail. "I'll keep the trainer names on the records anonymous." She sighed, "Just don't give me a reason to turn you in, and you're fine until Meowth recovers." "Thank you…" Jessie breathed, still unable to believe the nurse's kindness. "It's him you should be thanking." Joy smiled, nodding towards Ash. "I was prepared to turn you away until he came in. And if you'd waited any longer, I'm afraid you'd have been planning a trip to Lavender Town."
Meowth drew an X on one of the spaces in the grid, and waited for Ash to follow up with an O. Waking up and hearing who'd helped save his life had come at quite a shock to Meowth at first, but it only got weirder when Ash and Pikachu stopped by to visit him later that afternoon. Jessie, James and Wobbuffet were eating lunch on a couch in the corner of the recovery room, but Ash and Pikachu had eaten before they arrived, and were keeping Meowth company with a game of tic-tac-toe. Meowth tugged at the cord of the oxygen mask for a moment before marking one more X on the paper. "I win." He smirked up at Ash. "No way, neither of us got three in a row, that game goes to the cat." The trainer replied. "Yeah, and I am the cat. So I win." Meowth smirked, scratching his arm.
"Meowth, don't scratch that." Jessie said, pausing momentarily to swallow the last of her sandwich. Meowth mumbled under his breath, removing his paw from the IV. "Here, scratch me whenever it itches." Ash offered, holding out his arm as he scooted closer. Meowth stared for a moment before taking him up on his offer. Ash bit his tongue in regret when he remembered Meowth knew the pokemon move, Fury Swipes, making his claws super sharp. "That didn't help much, but it was entertaining." Meowth shrugged. "Pika!" Pikachu laughed.
A few hours passed and soon, everyone was silently watching a Championship match that played on the TV mounted to the wall. "Pikachu!" Pikachu said enthusiastically. "We'll get there one day buddy." Ash assured him. "If we don't catch up first." James said jokingly, ruffling the fur on the Pikachu's head. Jessie took a moment to assess the room. James was sitting in a small hospital chair, with one leg crossed over the other, Pikachu comfortably watching the match on his lap. Ash was sitting next to Meowth on his bed, leaning back against the headrest. Meowth had been awake at the beginning of the match, but had drifted off to sleep a few minutes in, and was now out cold using Ash's arm as his pillow. Wobbuffet was playing with Ash's Rotom phone like a six year old, heavily invested in whatever game he'd found. Upon closer investigation, Jessie found that the game was actually just a calculator app that Wobbuffet was typing random numbers into. Jessie herself was stretched across the couch in the corner, flipping through a fashion catalog that she'd found in the hospital waiting room and asked Nurse Joy to borrow.
Suddenly, Jessie's smile disappeared as a realization struck her. Meowth would be discharged from the Pokemon Center soon. And once he was better, they'd be back to fighting Ash and Pikachu everyday. They'd be enemies again and she'd never find a way to repay them for what they'd done for Meowth. She looked back at Meowth peacefully resting against the trainers arm like they'd been best friends their whole life. James must've been thinking the same thing, because not long after Jessie managed to return her attention to her magazine, he'd spoken up. "You've got a lot of trust in us, don't you?" He turned to Ash. "What do you mean?" Ash asked. "I'm sitting here, holding your Pikachu." James explained, running his hand through Pikachu's silky fur. "Aren't you afraid I'll jump up and run off with him?" "Well I'm sitting here with Meowth." Ash shrugged. "Aren't you afraid I'll try to catch him in a Pokeball while he's weakened?" "It's just. Our whole job revolves around taking your Pokemon." James continued, "And yet, the moment you see Meowth in danger, you stepped up to help him. And not just that, but you stayed with us to make sure he was alright, you allowed your Pikachu to donate blood to help him, and now you've been visiting with him all day. It's like you don't even remember all those things we've done in the past. Why are you doing this?"
Ash looked beside him at Meowth and started petting the cats cream colored fur as he thought about James' question. "I don't know, I just didn't want to see you guys lose Meowth." He replied. "We'll never be able to repay you for this." Jessie said, putting her magazine down. "As soon as we're out of here, we'll be back at work and trying to capture Pikachu for our boss again." "I figured as much." Ash half smiled. "So why are you still helping us?" James shook his head, baffled at the trainers insistence to stay. "I told you, I didn't want you to lose Meowth." Ash laughed a bit. "I don't expect you guys to just quit your jobs because I helped you. Besides, it's not like you'll ever be able to catch my Pikachu anyway, isn't that right buddy?" He looked at Pikachu who stood up on James' lap and gave a proud "Pika!" Jessie laughed a bit at their overconfident nature, unable to help but admire that about them. "You know Ash, in the future… When we retire and all…" Jessie struggled to find the words to stay. "My place." Ash interrupted her. "I expect to see you all there every time a championship match comes on TV. We'll make a tradition of it." "I'll bring the chips." James smiled. "Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet cheered excitedly.
Meowth was discharged that evening. Nurse Joy gave him a strict talk about how to be more careful about what human foods he decided to eat, and advice on things he could eat instead. She set up a few follow up appointments so she could assess his red blood cell regeneration, and she gave Jessie and James her number so they could call with any concerns they might have. Meowth was still lethargic and weak for a few days, but soon he made a strong recovery and they were back to their old tricks.
Ash and Pikachu found themselves taking it a bit easier on Team Rocket in battles, and Team Rocket found themselves unusually happy when Pikachu would foil their plots to kidnap him.
The End