This chapter was updated/revised on May 4, 2020.
Part Two
I stayed with my new trainer, a man named Daniel, for two years. He forced me into battles that I always lost. At first, he used his own Pokémon to battle me, then when his own team (out of sympathy and respect for me) refused, he got other trainers to use their Pokémon against me. Often time the other side's Pokémon could tell I didn't want to battle and refused to attack me. Daniel eventually gave up on me and gave me to his nephew, a ten-year-old Pokémon trainer who had never had a Pokémon before.
After spending over a year together, the boy, a kid named Kyle, freaked out on me.
"You stupid Meowth!" he screamed. "I hate you. You are so useless. You only know Fury Swipes and Hidden Power, and both those attacks suck! I'm never going to win with you!"
This made me cry. I suppose I should not care what others thought of me, but I couldn't help it. The other Pokémon tried to comfort me.
"Kyle is just a stupid kid," said his Pidgeotto. "I'm only here because I feel sorry for him and I like free food. Don't worry about him."
"I can't help it," I wept. "He's my master. I'm stuck with him."
"Hon, you can always run away," said his Beedril.
"We won't even try to stop you," his Kakuna emphasized. "Go for it."
"I haven't been out on my own much," I replied. "I'm a poor hunter and I don't have any friends around here."
"As long as you continue to be as sweet and as true as you are, any Pokémon will be your friend and be willing to help you out," said Beedril.
"Kanto isn't as large as it may seem," said Pidgeotto.
"It takes a while to get around on foot, but if you can hop on a train, you can be in any city you want in a matter of hours," said Kakuna.
"I lived near a place called Azurin," I replied.
"That's a town not far from Cerulean City," said Pidgeotto. "Yikes. That's almost the opposite direction of where we're heading now."
"Ohh," I murmured.
"As I said, get a train," said Kakuna. "When I was Weedle, I did that all the time for fun. The next time we get to a big city, run to the nearest train station and look at the train schedules. Then just act natural. Stand near someone who doesn't look like a trainer if you can. People will probably assume you have a trainer nearby."
"Do it at night though, so he doesn't come looking for you," said Pidgeotto.
"I can't come out of my ball on my own," I replied. "It's locked."
"Oh, yeah…I forgot he does that…" Kakuna mumbled.
"We should be near a city soon. The next time he releases, if you feel ready, run. We will distract him for you," said Beedril.
"You'd do that for me?" I asked.
"Of course," said Pidgeotto. "If his other Pokémon are out of their balls, we'll let them know our plan."
"That is so kind but…I don't feel good leaving you behind."
"This happens all the time."
"What do you mean?"
"Trainers and Pokémon don't match, so they trade, get released, or run. I think you should go while you have the chance."
"If a human decides to send you to a lab or nursery for safekeeping, it'll be much harder to escape," said Kakuna.
"I can't take anymore battling," I said. "So I should go."
We finished up our food and were returned to our Pokéballs. The next few times I was let out, I was either alone or only out with one other Pokémon, and I didn't feel safe without the others there to assist me. It wasn't until weeks later that I found an opportunity to escape.
"This is it, Maya," Kakuna whispered. "We're all out, you're fed, you're near a city, and the other Pokémon here all know your plan: run."
I had no idea which city, but it certainly looked large enough to have a train station. Kyle was busy talking to a girl he liked, and her Bulbasaur and two Butterfree were in on our plan. I was about to run when Kyle saw me and demanded me to battle. As expected, everyone in both teams refused.
"Hey!" Kyle called to some random guy with a Ryhorn. "Can you and your Ryhorn do a practice battle with me?"
"Sure," the teen responded. "I could use some practice winning."
"I am trying to escape because I don't want to battle," I told the Ryhorn as he got into position.
"Maya wants to run away. Our trainer is treating her bad so we're trying to help her," said Pidgeotto.
"I need practice and I do as my trainer asks," Ryhorn responded.
The next thing I knew he was coming at me with Tackle. I dodged it and turned to do Fury Swipes. I missed.
"Is that all you got?" he asked me. "You sure are clumsy."
He reminded me of Tom.
"I'm not clumsy, I just don't want to fight!" I exclaimed.
My friends were encouraging me to run. I saw my empty Pokeball lying in the grass. This was my chance.
"Goodbye!" I yelled before running to the Pokeball.
"Your weak little Meowth is running back to its Pokéball," my opponent's human sneered.
"Wait…" I heard Kyle say as I picked up the Pokéball in my mouth.
I started sprinting from the camp at my fullest speed.
"She's ditching!" is the last thing I ever heard Kyle say.
"Go, Maya! Chase your dream, whatever that may be!" one of the Butterfree cried out to me.
"You will make it out there! We know you can do it!" Beedril shouted.
There were more cheers: a collage of voices all supporting me. I wanted to scream back to them, to tell them how grateful I was for their help, but I couldn't with the Pokéball in my mouth, and if I wanted to make it, I needed to focus on my speed and direction alone. I trusted my friends were impeding the humans, but still, I ran until I was almost out of energy. I stopped in front of a dumpster. I jumped onto it, then to the fire-escape—I had no idea what any of these things were at the time—but I knew a human couldn't catch me on the roof.
I looked down and was immediately dazzled.
'Those lights! So bright! These humans are everywhere!' I thought. 'But they aren't even looking at me…they don't know I'm here…am I officially free?'
I had never been in a city before. I looked around in awe. It was so loud and smelled like food and dust. I left the roof to start looking for a safe place to rest and possibly some information about where I was.
When I reached the sidewalk, I was so distracted by all the lights and noise and an old man almost tripped over me.
"Watch where you're going!" he scolded.
"Stupid strays," his companion muttered.
'I should focus on getting out of here,' I thought. 'I must find the train station.'
I wandered the streets for hours. My tail got stepped on four times, and I kept getting yelled at. Twice someone tried to capture me, but seeing the Pokéball in my mouth, probably assumed I already had a home. I was getting hungry and tired of looking over my shoulder every few seconds to see if my ex-trainer or any of his friends were following me. Half a day later, I finally came across a friendly Pokémon.
"Hey kid!" a Rattata greeted me. "You okay?"
He was sitting on the curb, munching on a half-rotten apple. I walked up to him and sat down. I spat the Pokéball into my paws so that I could speak.
"I'm looking for the train station," I said. "…How did you know I was a kid?"
"Intuition," he responded. "I know where the train station is."
"Really? Can you show me?"
"I can show you, but unless you plan on meeting your trainer there, you aren't going to get far."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because Pokémon aren't allowed to ride the train unless they are in their Pokéballs."
"I don't understand, I had a Kakuna friend who told me that Weedle can ride on the train whenever they feel like it."
"Weedle are small and they can hide easily."
"Darn…I really need to ride the train."
"Why?"
I recounted my story, emphasizing the part about how I was hoping to reunite with my parents and some of my old friends in the woods where I grew up.
"That is a great story and all, touching, but I don't know about that last part," he said.
"You don't think I will make it?" I said.
"It's not personal, it's that Pokémon usually don't reunite with their families. Many want to, but what makes you think they're still there?"
"I know it's been a while, but…it could be that they are waiting for me to come home."
"I don't want to kill your optimism, but it's more likely that they moved on, got captured, or were ousted from their territory than it is that they are sitting around waiting for you."
"But they were strong, they liked where they lived, and they didn't want to be captured."
"Thousands of trainers pass by there every year."
"But…"
"I didn't mean to make you cry, but…look, what's the big deal anyway? I haven't seen my parents since I was a two-month-old. Now I'm fifty years old. Most Pokémon don't stick around their kids for very long. I never heard of anyone being with their parents for as long as you had. Almost three years. Good for you. Why are you so desperate for more?"
"I don't know. I just feel so incomplete."
"Get some friends then. Or a mate. Or a new trainer that doesn't treat you like crap. You can get all those things. There is no reason why you can't. Unlike Ratatta, Meowth tend to be desirable."
"I keep making friends and then having them leave me. I don't want a mate, and I don't trust humans."
I was surprised at how true it all was; I had never spoken all these words aloud before.
"You just want Mommy and Daddy,: he concluded.
"Is that a bad thing?" I asked.
He was starting to irritate me and I didn't get irritated easily.
"It can be," he said. "Mommy and Daddy are probably gone forever."
"Don't say that!" I replied, louder and messier than I wanted to.
"Them being gone doesn't make you incomplete. Just keep truckin, kid."
"I will try to get on that train to Azurin. I will try until I can't try anymore!"
I took my Pokéball in my mouth and walked away.
"Good luck!" he called after me.
And I ignored him.
XO
Weeks passed and I still couldn't get on the train. Every time I tried, some human would stop me. I tried twice a day, as Azurin was a small city and didn't have many people coming in and out, so the train only ran in that direction once in the morning and once at night. I wished that I could talk to a human so that I can ask one to carry my Pokéball for me. I almost got captured a few more times.
After about two and a half months of failed attempts, I decided that I should just walk to Azurin.
"You are going to walk to a city that is hundreds of miles away from here?" Rattata asked when I went to have my daily meal with him.
"I don't see any other way," I replied.
"Get a human to adopt you."
"I am never going to let a human abuse me again."
"Battling isn't so bad. At least you are capable of learning some powerful moves. Word on the street is that there are Meowth that can use Flamethrower, Gunk Shot, Shadowball, even Thunderbolt. Heck, a Weedle buddy of mine told me he once encountered a Meowth t who could speak like a human! We Ratatta aren't capable of much."
"Well then maybe you should be the one to go find a human to train you. Then you can learn new moves. And don't make up lies about Meowth speaking like a human. I can never learn to communicate with humans. They will never understand me."
"I ain't makin this up, but you believe whatever you want to believe. Are you serious about walking?"
"Yes. Do you want to come?"
"I mean, you were great company, kid, but I really don't want to walk that far…Unless I can ride on your back."
"You can do that."
"Hmm…I suppose I have nothing to lose…"
"Great!"
I took a map of the Kanto region from one of the kiosks on the street and we started heading in the direction of Azurin. We opted to travel through the woods, as there were fewer humans that way. We also met new friends who agreed to travel with us.
It seemed I was finally in control of something.
AN: As always, reviews are appreciated:)
