3
Cassidy and Butch
Meowth noticed that the rocket grunts didn't leave its side, even as they were on the base. "Hey guys, I know where to go already," Meowth said.
The two grunts who had accompanied it didn't respond, just kept walking forward. When Meowth stopped, they did stop to look at it. "The boss wants you in his office, now!" one said.
"I figured that," Meowth said, noticing that the two other rocket employees just scowled more. Well, there was no reason for it to argue with them. Meowth knew where it was going and why. These two just didn't seem to get that it didn't need any supervision. That was irritating, but no big deal over all, Meowth supposed. It just kept walking toward where it knew it was going already.
"In here," the grunt said as they reached the door to the boss's office, pointing with a serious expression. Meowth waited until one of them opened the door, then walked in.
Giovanni was there, and turned to them with a smile. "Oh, Meowth. Hello," he said. Beside him, Persian howled its own greeting. "Good to see you're doing well," Giovanni added.
"Hey boss, sorry it took so long," Meowth said, feeling wary of all the attention it was getting. Giovanni usually didn't bother with pleasantries like this, at least not with minions, and a lone one at that.
"After hearing what happened, I'd been worried that I might have lost a valuable agent like you," Giovanni said.
"No way, boss. I'm fine. Nothing happened to me," Meowth said, feeling more comfortable. It really was valuable, so of course the boss might be in a good mood that Meowth had made it out okay. Meowth felt guilty as it realized that it might really have been in danger, and it had yelled at Jessie and James for saving it. "Um, boss, about those two partners of mine-"
"That's excellent news," Giovanni interrupted. "And those two, yes... You wanted to be reassigned apart from them, didn't you?"
Meowth was surprised. Had it really said something like that before when it had talked to the boss? Well, Meowth had thought about it several times during frustrating moments. Maybe it really had let the sentiment slip when talking to the boss at one time or another. If not directly than maybe Meowth had possibly accidentally implied it. "Hey boss, don't worry. I'll work with anybody, even if things aren't perfect, I can make the best of it," Meowth assured.
"But you deserve the best in the first place, don't you, Meowth?" Giovanni said. As Meowth didn't respond, he continued. "If there were some hiccups with those other two, then you'd be better off with a group that can properly work with you. Wouldn't you agree?"
"Yeah boss, that's true," Meowth said. It didn't really wish Jessie and James any ill, but Meowth decided that it liked what its boss was saying. Things had been overall disappointing since Meowth started out as a field agent. Maybe the boss finally understood exactly what Meowth's potential was and was going to try and tap into it.
"How do you think your team dynamics could improve?" Giovanni said.
"Well, I don't know, boss," Meowth said, putting its paw to its chin. "They weren't as obedient as I would have liked."
"Of course," Giovanni said, nodding. "I can relate to that. You'd like some reliable, faithful underlings, wouldn't you?"
"Well, yeah," Meowth said. It did deserve as much, right? That's right, Meowth affirmed, it did deserve to be around humans that would pay it mind and listen to it. They should also follow its orders dutifully, because how else would things get done? The boss was the boss, and if Meowth was to team up with some humans, the humans should listen to it as a stand-in for the boss. Meowth knew its place and wouldn't demand Giovanni give it something like that, but as long as the boss was offering...
"Well, that's fine," Giovanni said.
"Really?" Meowth muttered.
"Yes. I've been considering this, and decided to try reassigning you. I already know which field agents would do well for you," Giovanni explained. "I'll call them in right away."
Meowth was silent as Giovanni got on the phone. Before Meowth had a chance to think about it much deeper, there was a knock on the door, and then two agents walked in, then stood silently at the door. The same as Jessie and James, it was a man and a woman. But the contrast from Jessie, the woman had a pleasant smile on her face. The man was absolutely stoic, but looked at Meowth and nodded politely as they walked in.
Meowth recognized them. It was Cassidy, an agent who rivaled with Jessie, and her partner whose name Meowth didn't recall. The last time it had seen these two, they'd been really unpleasant. But that attitude hadn't really been directed at Meowth in particular, they just didn't like Jessie and James. Meowth was a little hesitant, but supposed things could work out. Maybe he could just talk to the boss if they didn't.
"Is this your meowth, boss?" Cassidy asked.
"Meowth is special. Unlike other pokemon, it can exist with its own autonomy," Giovanni said. Cassidy nodded, and her partner raised an eyebrow as he gave Meowth a second look. "But yes," Giovanni continued. "This is the meowth you're now assigned to work for."
"We're honored, sir," Cassidy said.
"Yeah," her partner added.
Meowth looked up, jumping in surprise as it realized that the two of them weren't speaking to the boss, but Meowth itself. It tried to think of a polite response.
"Good. I trust you two will provide Meowth with everything it needs. You know the importance of the job you've been entrusted with."
"Of course, sir," Cassidy said. "We're entrusted with the important job of being your - of being Meowth's faithful partners. We'll be completely diligent in this task."
"Good," Giovanni said. "I'll leave it to you, then."
With that, they were dismissed, and Meowth walked out with its new partners. The whole thing had been kind of abrupt, and Meowth still felt out of place. It almost wanted to ask about Jessie and James, and if these two had seen either of them. But its new partners and former ones didn't exactly get along, so maybe that wasn't the best topic to start with.
When they'd reached the end of the hall, Cassidy turned to Meowth and gave a slight bow. "So sorry for not introducing myself before, sir. I'm Cassidy, and this is my partner, Butch. We're so pleased with our new assignment."
"For sure," Butch said.
"Yeah, I hope we can get a lot done. We won't make a name for ourselves just sitting around, you know," Meowth said.
"You're right, of course," Cassidy said.
Butch nodded. "You said it."
"Well, we'd like to make sure you feel alright first," Cassidy said. "Is there anything we can do? Are you hungry, thirsty?"
"Well, kind of both," Meowth admitted. "I did spend all night in the woods. Jessie and James had the food, so I didn't get anything to eat since yesterday at lunch." With that, Meowth had naturally brought up the two of them. Maybe now it could just casually ask them a question.
"That sounds awful! Let's be sure you're rested and taken care of before we get started anywhere," Cassidy said, ignoring the mention of her rival and attending only to Meowth.
"Yeah, buddy, let's go," Butch added.
They walked down the hall, going to the mess hall, Meowth knew. When they got there a group of grunts was sitting near the front. Cassidy and Butch walked up to them. "Move," Cassidy said.
"Hey, there's other seats," Meowth pointed out.
"Someone as high ranking as you can sit wherever you want," Cassidy said.
Even if that was true, Meowth hadn't said it wanted to sit there. Still, it said nothing as the grunts followed Cassidy's command, and then Cassidy and Butch both cleaned up after them. "I'll go get you something, you stay right there," Cassidy said as they finished.
Meowth sat down as its new partners went off. Butch was back within a second, carrying a stack of random books. "Are you gonna need these? For sitting?" he said.
"No," Meowth said. It was kind of awkward sitting in these seats meant for fully grown humans, but it could still reach the table. Having to get that kind of special treatment all the time just made Meowth stand out even more. "Hey," Meowth said to Butch as he put the books behind where they'd be sitting. "I guess you two are excited about working with me. But you don't have to go to all this trouble. I might be your new boss, but you don't need to treat me that specially, you know."
"Why not?" Butch asked as he sat down. "You really are remarkable, right?"
"Kind of," Meowth said. "I don't feel that special. It is good I'm the boss now, though. Maybe now I can actually get something done." Meowth paused. Yeah, it did seem difficult completing goals with Jessie and James, but it was still worried about them. When it had left, there had been a dangerous pokemon wandering around, after all. "Hey, did you hear what happened to Jessie and James since yesterday?" Meowth said.
"Hmph." Butch smirked. "Well, what do you think would happen to the idiots who deserted a prized Team Rocket agent like yourself in the woods?"
Meowth's mouth opened in surprise. Deserted? That hadn't been what happened. No, not even close. Was that what the boss thought? Meowth hadn't even implied it over the phone. Or had it? Meowth was at a loss for words when Cassidy came and dropped a tray in front of it.
"Here you are," she said. "We've already eaten, so don't hesitate."
"Thanks," Meowth said. It had lost some of its appetite thinking of Jessie and James, but they were probably fine. Being rivals to Jessie and James, Meowth's new partners weren't going to speak of either of Meowth's former partners fondly at all. But it was just typical bantering, and didn't mean that anything had happened to Jessie or James at all. Besides, Meowth had new partners, and shouldn't dwell on the old ones.
Meowth scarfed down on the food provided to it. Being so hungry, Meowth felt it tasted even better than usual. It was soon relaxed, and then turned to its new partners to start the conversation. "So, the boss didn't mention, but I guess his lab-ordered pokemon hasn't been caught yet."
"No," Cassidy confirmed. "Everyone's still looking for it."
"What do you guys know about it, anyway?" Meowth asked.
Cassidy and Butch paused, glancing each other's way. Meowth looked at them, confused at their hesitation. Then Cassidy turned to him, smiling reassuringly. "It's called Mewtwo," she said. "It was cloned from that illusive pokemon Team Rocket was never able to get its hands on. Of course, the modifications made it more powerful than Mew would ever hope to be."
"Wow. Sounds impressive," Meowth said. So that was what the boss had been hoping for. Not only that, but he'd been successful. Then Mewtwo had just gone and escaped on him. Meowth wanted to do its best to get back the boss's prize. Giovanni would praise it, and promote it to an even higher status, it was sure.
"This is top secret, but I know the boss won't mind us telling you, since you outrank us and all," Cassidy said.
"Aren't we the same rank?" Meowth asked.
"Oh, no," Cassidy said.
"You're our boss, so what are we?" Butch said, shrugging.
"I see," Meowth said. Being in charge was what it had wanted. Maybe that was how it had been with Jessie and James the entire time, and Meowth just hadn't been confident enough to assert itself. Talking to its new partners, no, underlings, Meowth's confidence was starting to build.
"I hope it's not rude for asking, but we have been very curious as to what happened over there with Mewtwo. Could you tell us?" Cassidy asked.
"Yeah, sure," Meowth said. Didn't they know? Butch had been so sure that Jessie and James had returned and gotten some kind of reprimand. It was just him blowing hot air after all, since these two didn't even know what happened in the first place, Meowth concluded. "There's not much for me to tell," Meowth said. "I showed up with Jessie and James, and we saw everyone getting beaten up. I got to see Mewtwo up close, and it was starting to attack us, so we, well, we just left," Meowth said. Maybe 'ran away' would be a better description of what they'd done, but Meowth didn't feel much like saying so. Phrasing it that way would imply either that Meowth was a coward or couldn't handle its former underlings.
"That's it?" Cassidy said.
"Yeah, nothing else happened after that, to me at least," Meowth said. Then it grinned. "But you guys would have gone back with me if we were there and we'd have figured it out, right?"
"Of course," Cassidy said.
"So why don't we figure it out right now?" Meowth said. "What else do you guys know about Mewtwo?"
"Oh, plenty," Cassidy began. "I'm sure the boss wants us to pass it on to you, too."
"Great, then go ahead," Meowth said as it continued to eat.
"Well, Mewtwo was created in a lab."
"I know that much," Meowth said.
"It destroyed the entire lab that created it. The boss was able to reacquire it before it got away," Cassidy continued the story.
"Really? Then what happened?" Meowth asked.
Cassidy shrugged. "It was as powerful as the boss that hoped. Mewtwo could defeat any kind of pokemon, even several at once, the boss said. But then it just decided to run away."
"Why?" Meowth asked. "I bet the boss prized that pokemon above all others. A pokemon like that could have really helped with our overall goal of world conquest, huh?"
"I guess that wasn't something Mewtwo wanted to help with," Butch said.
"Well, too bad, huh?" Meowth said. Without the boss funding that project, Mewtwo wouldn't even exist, would it? Mewtwo should be grateful, not only for just existing, but also the honor of being part of Team Rocket. "We'll figure out a way to get it back just like the boss wants, won't we?" Meowth added, looking at its other partners.
"I don't know," Butch said. "What about its 'autonomy'? You know, like the boss said you have. Shouldn't all pokemon have it?"
The guy was saying something weird, Meowth thought. "Yeah, maybe," Meowth said casually. "But this is the boss's pokemon, so the boss can be the one to think about that. We just need to get it back for him. You know that, right? So why would you even ask that question?"
"Well, we understand things the way you do, of course," Cassidy immediately replied. "But that's something people have been talking about. So that's just another barrier to us. Butch knows it's just something else we need to think about. Right?"
"Yeah." Butch nodded. "Everyone's been going on and on about we should try to talk to Mewtwo about leaving humans alone and going off to live its own life. It's a favorite little sob story. But you don't agree with it, do you, Meowth?"
"I don't care, I just want to get this pokemon back for the boss," Meowth said. It stood up, pushed its now empty tray to the side, and put its paw on the table. "This doesn't seem like it'll be easy. You have any ideas how we can overpower this thing?"
"I don't know," Butch said with a shrug. "You'd probably have a better idea than me, right?"
"You mean the boss has nothing, and is just throwing grunts at this thing?" Meowth said.
"I guess so," Cassidy said. "I mean, maybe the boss has something up his sleeve, but who knows?"
"Well, what did he tell you?" Meowth asked. It hadn't had much time to talk to Giovanni itself since returning. "You said he told you all kinds of top secret stuff, right? I know the boss wouldn't just put everything to waste like this. What's going on?"
"Hm," Cassidy said. There was a silence again. "Well, I guess it was too top secret for us," she said. "But, yeah, the boss could have something he's keeping hush. Not that he told me about anything, but there could be something he's planning."
"Or he could just be throwing us like darts until one of us hits," Butch said.
"No, I don't think so," Meowth said. "I guess we could go ask the boss himself while we're here."
"He'll be busy the rest of the day," Cassidy said.
"Oh," Meowth said. It made sense that the boss would be tied up with something or the other, since nearly the entire team was busy trying to get Mewtwo back. Then how could they be of any help? "Do we know where Mewtwo is now?" Meowth asked.
"No," Cassidy said.
"It couldn't have gotten far though. Or could it?" Butch considered.
Meowth nodded. "Then why don't we go out and join the search?" it suggested. Cassidy and Butch looked at each other, not saying anything. Meowth realized its mistake. It had suggested things more than ordered with Jessie and James, and these two were looking for an order. "Alright," Meowth continued. "I've decided. We will get out there and search."
"Well, you're the boss," Butch said.
"That's right. If you wanted to go by air, we'll have to wait, there won't be a plane or anything available until then. What should we do, then?" Cassidy asked.
"Yeah, let's do that," Meowth said.
"Alright then. Don't worry, we'll get everything ready. We'll reserve transportation and get all the equipment we need," Cassidy assured. "I'll take care of it right now."
Meowth nodded and sat back. This job was going to be tough, but it was a lot easier with these two eager-to-please minions to help. Now, Meowth could just sit back and consider the situation. "Hey," it said to Butch, who had stayed while Cassidy had left to take care of the situation. "You think I could talk to some of those grunts that have battled against Mewtwo? Some of them are hanging around here, right?"
"Sure," Butch said, standing up. "Yeah, we can find someone."
.
Meowth spent the rest of the afternoon talking to all Team Rocket members who had gone against Mewtwo in the search. It wasn't able to find out anything very useful. Their stories were all very similar. They said when they'd tried to attack it, none of their pokemon could stand a chance. Many were simply tossed away before they could even land an attack.
As Meowth listened, it realized that was what had been happening to it. Mewtwo had been about to throw Meowth around, and Jessie and James, realizing they were outmatched, had been the quick thinkers. Meowth had new partners, but it still wanted to apologize to its former ones. Cassidy and Butch were helpful, but kind of distant and overdoing their efforts to impress. Meowth was happy for the reassignment, but still missed Jessie and James. Just being able to talk to them for a few minutes would be nice, even if they were still angry.
But it didn't have a chance. Though many of the grunts Meowth spoke to were right at the site where Meowth had seen Mewtwo with Jessie and James, its former partners themselves weren't around from what Meowth could see. Well, maybe they were avoiding it, Meowth considered. Or they could have just chosen not to come back to the base at all. That was like them, choosing not to return until they'd been absolutely successful, so it was probably what they'd done.
Meowth was kept busy enough talking to the other unhelpful agents, anyway. "Yeah... It was really scary..." one particularly spacey grunt said as he stared at the form he was filling out.
"Were you even able to get your pokemon to land a hit?" Meowth asked, goading him to the next part of what was becoming the usual conversation.
"Um, well, could I? Was I supposed to?" the grunt asked.
"How else you gonna capture it?" Meowth asked.
"With those things, right? We have those things, don't we?" the grunt said.
"What things?" Meowth asked.
"Pokeballs?" Butch suggested. "Come on, Meowth. I know this guy. He's not gonna be able to help you."
"No, wait! We did bring those things, right?"
Butch waved a hand in dismissal at the confused grunt, then began to usher Meowth away. "I think we're done. I mean, if you're satisfied, of course," Butch said.
"Yeah, I guess so. I get the idea. None of our resources are working. We can't get Mewtwo with force."
"Yeah, you could be right," Butch said.
"So, if we can't get it by beating it in a battle, we'll have to use some kinda trick, won't we?" Meowth said.
"What kind of trick can we use on something that beats the crap out of anything that comes near it?" Butch said, smirking. Then his face became serious. "I mean, that's just something to consider. No offence to your insight, there."
"None taken," Meowth said. It was a good point, anyway. Meowth thought back on the scene. Yeah, Mewtwo had been battling anything that came near it. Anything that wore a Team Rocket uniform, and any pokemon that followed that person's orders. But that little brat with the powerful pikachu had been untouched. In fact, neither Ash nor Pikachu had been concerned for their own safety at all. It was like they knew they were safe already. "It's only Team Rocket members Mewtwo is going after, right?"
"Well, since we're the only idiots trying to capture it, yeah, maybe," Butch said.
Meowth nodded. It continued to think back on the situation. Mewtwo's reaction to Meowth itself been kind of weird. "Maybe we just shouldn't approach it as Team Rocket members, then," Meowth said.
"Then as what?" Butch said. Meowth had no immediate response. "If we take off the uniforms and put on a disguise, is it really going to make a difference when we try and drag Mewtwo back to the boss?"
"Mewtwo wanted to see me," Meowth said. Butch was suddenly silent, looking at it for what it was going to say next. Meowth kept considering what had happened. The twerp had been there, annoying as usual. But at that point in time Ash hadn't only not been wary of Mewtwo, also hadn't been wary of them, either. In fact, he'd spoken to Meowth specifically, begging for some kind of help. Then Mewtwo had picked it up, though Meowth was neither threatening nor a threat to the powerful pokemon. Maybe there was another reason Mewtwo had paid attention to Meowth in particular. "Yeah, I don't know why, but Mewtwo was interested in talking to me, I think," Meowth explained.
"Do you really not know why?" Butch said. Meowth looked up at Butch with interest. Of course it didn't, but did this guy know? "Come on Meowth, anyone who watches the news for a minute would know why Mewtwo would want to talk to you," Butch said.
"Why's that?" Meowth said.
"You still can't think of why?" Butch said.
"Running around on missions I don't exactly have time to sit around and keep up with current events," Meowth said.
"Yeah, well right now we are current events," Butch said. He motioned to Meowth, and they walked down the hall to the lobby where a TV was. Meowth sat down and watched. Mewtwo was the hot topic of conversation. They had all the facts wrong. They didn't even know Team Rocket was involved, or at least didn't talk about it. They just mentioned the name for the group the boss had funded, and how there were a lot of trained employees out there to eliminate the problem.
The trained employees were Team Rocket members. Eliminating the problem would involve returning to the boss what he'd lost. It was surprising that the boss had manipulated the media to this extent, but Meowth still had no idea what Butch had been talking about.
Until someone came on talking about Mewtwo's choice should be considered. This pokemon professor argued that pokemon were more than just mindless beasts, and their own choices should be considered, rather than the ones forced on them by humans. Other powerful pokemon were just left alone, the person argued. So even if this one had been created artificially, the choices it had made itself should be respected.
But the guy was just brushed off, Meowth noticed, as others pointed out the damage that Mewtwo had done, and what a threat that was. It gave every indication that it was a mindless beast, the general consensus seemed to be, as all pokemon without proper trainers would act as such. But the professor continued to argue. Meowth was surprised to hear itself mentioned in a way. As the professor continued to argue his point, he pointed out that meowth who could intelligently converse in human language had been spotted in various areas throughout Kanto.
The professor's claim was mocked. Meowth doubted there was any other meowth that could talk other than itself. It had just been spotted in a lot of different places all over Kanto, that was all. Learning to speak human language hadn't been easy at all. If it was, more pokemon would do so. It had taken a lot of effort. Meowth sighed as the debate ended, seemingly on the side of Team Rocket. Meowth tuned out as the advertisements began. It wasn't for sure, but maybe Mewtwo thought that Meowth could help it just by talking.
That was more than enough sitting around, Meowth considered. Looking to the side, it saw Butch was no longer sitting down watching the program with it. Meowth peered around, finding him by the door with Cassidy. Standing there together, the two of them were a lot more easygoing as they smiled and laughed with each other. They seemed a lot more natural than they had been acting today. Meowth was glad they'd relaxed. Getting assigned to work with a pokemon the boss considered important combined with all the stress every rocket member was under now because of the situation, that had likely been the reason they'd been acting so weird. But maybe they'd act more naturally as time went on, as they were now.
Meowth approached Cassidy and Butch now. "Hey, guys," it said. The both of them straightened up right away, their casual expressions turning blank and cold. Meowth frowned. No, they really weren't comfortable around it yet.
Cassidy soon smiled at it anyway. "I've got everything ready, sir," she said. "We'll be prepared to go tomorrow."
"You wanted us to go in stealth, right?" Butch said.
"Yeah," Meowth said hesitantly. It really wasn't sure what it wanted to do yet. But the two of them in Team Rocket uniforms in the unlikely event they actually did find Mewtwo tomorrow would basically paint a big target on the group. "Yeah, you two dress all casual, it couldn't hurt."
"Right. I understand. I'll also make additional preparations for our transportation to be more stealthy as well," Cassidy said. "I'll be right back, sir."
Meowth nodded, and looked at Butch as Cassidy left. His expression had softened, and he stared after her almost dreamily. "Hey," Meowth said. "You like her, don't you?" it teased.
"That's none of your business," Butch said. His expression had changed completely, and he glared at Meowth angrily. Meowth was startled. Its new partners reaction wasn't that big a deal, but these two had both been falling over themselves with pleasantries the entire day, and now Butch's demeanor had completely changed. He seemed to realize it himself, and put on a smile, though it looked very forced to Meowth. "Sorry, boss. I just didn't want to talk about that. You understand," Butch said.
"Oh, yeah, sure," Meowth said. "Love's kind of gotten to be an unpleasant topic for me, too."
"Hm?" Butch raised an eyebrow. "For you? You're a pokemon, though."
"Yeah, pokemon have romances too, you know. I've had my own share of heartbreak."
"Really?" Butch said, smirking.
"Yeah," Meowth confirmed.
"So tell me about it," Butch said.
"There was a lady meowth I fell head over heals for. The first time I saw her, it was magical."
"How could you even be sure it was a her?" Butch asked.
"You know, she had those feminine charms. I fell for her right away."
"That fast, huh? And then what?"
"Well, she rejected me, no matter how much I tried to impress her. I learned to talk for her, you know. Then she still treated me the same, no, worse," Meowth said, frowning. It looked up at Butch. "What about you? What's your story?"
"No story to tell," Butch said curtly. "Too bad for you though, huh?"
Meowth nodded. There was an awkward silence now. Meowth felt the seconds tick by slowly until Cassidy returned. "Well sir, we're all set to go for tomorrow. Would you like to rest now?" she said.
"Sure," Meowth said. It wanted to look some things up in the database first, though. "I'll be on the computer. You two can tuck in if you want. I'm gonna stay up and look some things up."
"Oh, don't worry, we'll be right here to help you," Cassidy said, nodding quickly.
"Yeah, no way we'd quit before our boss did," Butch added.
"Okay," Meowth said. It stood on the chair in front of the computer to work, but couldn't get started as Cassidy and then Butch came over, offering it various things, and checking to see if it was comfortable. These new partners were getting to be kind of annoying in addition to over the top with their brown-nosing.
Not being able to get anything done, Meowth eventually turned in. It ended up sharing the tiny dorm that Butch was assigned to. There was just one small bed. If it were with Jessie or James, it definitely would have shared, but now it looked at Butch, not knowing what to say.
"Please, you take the bed, I'll just sleep on the floor," Butch said.
Before Meowth could reply, Butch had taken a blanket, and had already made himself 'comfortable' right on the floor next to the bed. Meowth felt kind of bad, but was too tired to argue. It curled up on the bed, which had plenty of room, and went to sleep.
.
Meowth awoke feeling refreshed. It noticed Butch was already up and dressed in casual clothing, standing right against the door, appearing bored. Meowth yawned and jumped off the bed. "You ready to go already?" it said.
"Sure, any time you are," Butch said.
"Let's go then," Meowth said. They walked down the hall, eventually meeting up with Cassidy. Meowth did a double take as it looked at her. She was all dressed up, in a cute little outfit with a short skirt, showing cleavage. Looking at Butch, Meowth was amused to see he was getting a little flustered. Despite what he said, he really did like her.
"Hm," Cassidy said, smiling at Butch. "Looking at your outfit, I think I might be a little overdressed. What do you think?"
"Yeah, we're going on a nature hike, not to some kind of party," Butch said.
"Yeah, I wasn't really thinking about it. I'll go change," Cassidy said.
As she left, Meowth grinned at Butch. "Too bad, huh? You thought that was some nice eye candy, didn't you?"
Butch scowled. "She's not my eye candy. She's my partner, and a damn good one."
"Sure. Don't worry, I won't tell," Meowth said. Despite that it was just joking around, Butch's unpleasant expression didn't disappear until Cassidy came back, now dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, ready to get going.
They got on an unmarked helicopter, and took off at the same time as several others, which were marked with Team Rocket's red "R" symbol. Their direction formed away slightly from the others, though Meowth could still see them nearby. "Where are they headed?" Meowth asked.
"Oh, well, the thing's been spotted," Cassidy said. "You can track it there, if you want," she said, pointing to a screen. Meowth looked at it. The map measured some kind of energy that pokemon gave off. There were dots all over the place, but a particularly large concentration of energy that was probably Mewtwo. They were getting closer, almost right on top of it, then landed.
As they got out of the plane, Meowth still wasn't really sure what they were doing. "Aren't we pretty close?" it asked.
"Yeah," Cassidy said casually.
"I knew we'd be looking for it, but what should we do now that we're here?" Meowth asked.
"Shouldn't you be telling us that?" Butch said.
"That's right. From what Butch told me, you wanted to talk to it," Cassidy said.
No. The message had gotten mixed, traveling from Meowth's mind, to him and now to her. Meowth shook its head. "That's not it," Meowth said. "Mewtwo's the one that wants to talk to me."
"And why would that be?" Cassidy asked.
"I don't know," Meowth said. Though it had speculation to the reasons, it was telling the truth. Meowth's partners raised their eyebrows, in suspense for what else it might say. Meowth continued. "Yeah, it's weird. Mewtwo said it had met me before when I saw it. Not just me, but Jessie and James too, I think."
"You did, right?" Butch said.
Meowth shook its head. "No, I don't remember anything like that."
Cassidy and Butch exchanged glances and their eyes widened, becoming more alert. "Are you sure?" Cassidy asked.
"Yeah. I saw Mewtwo twice, once with the boss when it was just some thing sleeping in a tube, and another time the day before yesterday."
"And what did you talk about?" Cassidy asked.
"Nothing. Didn't I tell you that already?" Meowth said. It was becoming irritated. Why was she suddenly asking these kinds of questions?
Cassidy smiled. "Yeah," she said. Butch walked away, back to the plane.
"Where are you going?" Meowth asked him. "Hey, and don't you two think it's weird that Mewtwo's so close to the base? Wouldn't it be trying to avoid us?"
"Not when we have something it wants," Butch said, stepping out from the plane.
He was holding a bag. Meowth looked at it, sure that whatever Mewtwo wanted would be inside. "What's that?" Meowth said.
Butch just smirked, glancing toward Cassidy. "Sorry, sir. We just want to be sure we have the full picture. You understand. We've just been a little confused. So clarify it for us. You've never met Mewtwo? Never had any personal conversations with it? You wouldn't happen to know where its been hiding out then, would you?"
"No!" Meowth said, increasingly irritated with Cassidy's questioning. "Don't you think I would have told the boss, and he would have done something already?"
Cassidy looked at Butch, who shrugged. "I believe it," he said.
What was this, Meowth thought angrily. Why wouldn't they believe it, and why were they talking about Meowth like it wasn't even there. "Hey," Meowth began.
"I guess I do too," Cassidy said, ignoring that Meowth had even spoken.
"Yeah, then that's that then," Butch said. He unzipped the bag he was holding.
"Raticate, go!" Cassidy said, throwing out her pokeball.
Butch put down the bag he was carrying and threw out his own pokeball. "Primeape, get ready!"
"Hey, I don't think you need your pokemon right now. Put them away," Meowth said.
"You know Meowth, sometimes you seem smart, but right now you're being pretty dense," Butch said.
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't drag this out, Butch. Let's just get it done and leave," Cassidy said.
"Right," Butch said, taking something out of the bag. Meowth noticed as they did, both of their pokemon moved closer to Meowth, almost surrounding it. As Meowth took a step closer to Butch to see what he was getting out, the raticate hissed for Meowth to stay still. It didn't know its place, Meowth realized. But Meowth had already told the two of them to put their annoying pokemon away, and they'd ignored it.
Butch continued to ignore it now, still messing around with his bag. "It really is a shame though. Aren't we wasting something, throwing out a discovery like this?"
"Just like Meowth said, that's for the boss to decide, isn't it?" Cassidy said.
"Yeah," Meowth said. But wasn't Giovanni going to try and preserve Mewtwo for himself, despite what the news said about possibly eliminating it? Meowth continued to observe Butch, who was setting up some kind of device. It didn't look that impressive. "Hey, what's that?" Meowth asked him.
Butch briefly glanced its way. "You know Meowth, there's some debate going on about pokemon. If they're autonomous, if they're intelligent, stuff like that," he said. Meowth wasn't sure why he was rambling, so didn't respond. "It's always been kind of obvious to me that pokemon weren't completely mindless. I knew they had some kind of understanding. I just didn't know how much. That's how most people feel, I bet. But just talking to you a short time, 'most people' would realize that you're pretty much equal to humans. But you aren't really that much more intelligent than the average pokemon, are you?"
"Sure I am," Meowth said.
"A little, but it's not like you gained some kind of ability to understand that they never had, is it?" Butch said.
"Of course not," Meowth said. It got what Butch was saying. Maybe Meowth was just a little smarter than the average pokemon, but its abilities were developed was because of extreme unrivaled diligence and effort, not because it had some epiphany of sentience. Its reasoning and awareness of its own existence were more or less the same as any other pokemon.
"Lots of people would find that interesting, wouldn't they?" Butch said.
"Well, maybe a little more than 'interesting'," Cassidy said.
"Yup. People could still make up excuses for why pokemon were inferior, but this meowth would get them talking, wouldn't it?" Butch said.
"Who cares!" Meowth exclaimed. "We've got to figure out what we're doing here."
"Who cares, it says," Butch said, looking at Cassidy with a shrug as he finished putting together the device. "Isn't it funny? This thing might change the world, but it doesn't give a shit, the same as the boss."
Cassidy rolled her eyes, but said nothing. So they were judging it like that, Meowth realized. Their over-the-top esteem for Meowth had now turned into scorn because Meowth wasn't doing more and more out there in the world, had it? Meowth didn't need to hear that. "You two shut your traps," Meowth said. "If you don't like me, fine! But we've got a job to do."
"True," Cassidy said.
"Let's get to it then," Butch said. "This might be tough."
"Yeah, it's really not all that easy to kill a pokemon," Cassidy said.
"So that's the goal now?" Meowth said, furrowing its brow in confusion.
"It's ours," Cassidy said.
"But what about the boss's orders?" Meowth asked.
"Don't worry, we aren't deviating from those," Cassidy said.
"You wouldn't either, right Meowth?" Butch said.
"No," Meowth said uneasily. Though it was confident in what it said, it couldn't shake this weird feeling. The disconcerting blank expressions of the humans along with their pokemon's offensive stances around it weren't helping things much, either. "Would you two put your pokemon away already?" it asked.
The pokemon didn't back off, and the humans didn't make any move to go along with Meowth's request. Butch held up the object that he'd been messing with. It was a spear-shaped object, some buttons on the side. Butch began to press them. "I'd almost been feeling bad about this," Butch said to Cassidy.
"Can you two even hear me?" Meowth began. "I said-"
"Yeah, we hear you," Butch interrupted. Sparks began to appear around the blade. "You're a Team Rocket agent, through and through, right? You're a hundred percent loyal, and you won't waver even a little bit, will you?"
"Of course, but what does that have to do with anything?" Meowth asked.
"Well, it just means that any pokemon that's been thinking that you might be some kind of savior, some kind of bridge between worlds to help them, they'd be wrong, huh? Since you're just he same kind of sick freak as any other rocket."
"Yeah, fine. I guess that's right," Meowth said. "Now can we get to work?"
"Yeah," Butch said with a sigh. "Hearing that, I can do this."
"Even if it was the opposite, you'd do it anyway, wouldn't you?" Cassidy said.
"Guess so," Butch said. "It's just now I don't even have to feel guilty. I'd be doing all pokemon counting on this one a favor. Better their hero die than their hope, right?"
"Sure. Raticate, bite attack!" Cassidy ordered.
Meowth was shocked as Cassidy's pokemon bit into its arm. "Hey!" Meowth said. It got into a defensive stance, then used its fury swipes attack.
"Primeape, you help," Butch said. "Thrash attack, now!"
Before Meowth even turned around completely, it was kicked multiple times by the thrash attack. The shock of the situation had worn off, and Meowth knew it was in trouble. It got up and jumped over Raticate, running into the woods to try and lose them.
What was this? Meowth was so angry to think that these two would dare attack it. What was wrong with them? That question was overshadowed by its need to get away. Meowth eventually stopped running so they couldn't find it just by the noise it was making. It pressed itself against a tree, hopefully out of their line of sight.
"Meowth?" Meowth heard Butch calling for it. There was some kind of loud sound, and Meowth could smell something burning. Whatever weapon he was holding was pretty dangerous, Meowth realized.
"Primeape!" Butch's pokemon dared Meowth to come out.
"It better not have escaped." When Cassidy spoke, Meowth could tell she was even closer than him. It considered whether or not it should make a break for it.
"It couldn't be that far away," Butch said.
"Raticate," Cassidy's pokemon hissed, also calling for Meowth to face it.
"I'll just go get the tracker," Cassidy said. Meowth tensed up. Well, she'd have to leave a moment to get it, and Meowth could escape from these psychos then, hopefully, it thought. It heard Cassidy walking away.
"Come on Meowth," Butch called, now standing where Cassidy had been. "You want to go along with the boss's will, right? Well, the boss wants you dead."
Hearing that, Meowth was filled with a rush of anger. "You're lying!" it accused aloud.
Butch realized where Meowth was just as soon as Meowth realized its mistake. The chase began. Meowth ran farther and farther, before it found a little hole in the ground and hid, thinking it might be safe there. Butch and Primeape had run past it, but now doubled back. "Come on Meowth, you haven't figured it out even now? You're pretty gullible. We've only been baby-sitting you. The boss wanted to know everything you knew about Mewtwo, and once we figured that out, he wanted you dead!" Butch shouted.
He was lying, Meowth knew. There was just no way that was true. Hunching down in the hole, Meowth could see Butch as he looked around, still not noticing Meowth. Primeape jumped into the trees to look itself. Butch frowned, swinging his weapon which seared a line down the nearby tree before it toppled over. Meowth felt a deep fear at seeing it. That kind of device might not be effective on all pokemon, certainly not powerful ones like Mewtwo, but it would hurt Meowth for sure. Cassidy had been right that it wasn't really that easy to kill pokemon, but this kind of thing might do the job.
"Just like your loser partners, you're gonna get tossed out," Butch taunted.
Besides being afraid, Meowth was sick upon hearing that. That wasn't true either, there was no way it was. So Meowth hadn't seen Jessie and James since they'd parted ways, it didn't mean anything! They were definitely still alive, both of them. Butch was just trying to get Meowth to let down its guard again.
Meowth would love to see them then. This was like a nightmare, and Meowth wanted to wake up to its previous reality. So Jessie and James didn't give it all the regard it would have liked, and they weren't always successful. Still, the two of them were still great partners, and could be caring friends. There was no way anything had happened to them, on the boss's orders or otherwise.
Even repeating this to itself, Meowth felt fear seep in for the two of them. As if maybe something had actually happened to them. Maybe they were really killed by the boss, and Meowth was next. How could anything like that be true? It couldn't, yet evidence was starting to pile up that it was. Tears began to fill Meowth's eyes.
As Butch stepped nearby it, Meowth let out a cry, giving itself away. It stood up, ready to attack. But it was done for, wasn't it? Butch swung his weapon toward Meowth mercilessly. It was only Butch's own pokemon leaping to attack Meowth that caused him to stop. "Watch it!" Butch yelled.
Meowth jumped, and tried to run away. As Primeape pursued, it soon got closer to Meowth. "Primeape, dynamic punch!" Butch yelled.
"Primeape!" Primeape acknowledged the order. As it got closer to Meowth, it began to swing its fist, which started glowing red. Meowth shouted and tried to speed up, but Primeape easily landed the attack. Just from the force, Meowth was pushed forward. As it fell to the ground it struggled to regain consciousness, completely dazed from the attack.
"Out of the way," Butch ordered as he approached. Primeape jumped away, and Butch went to swing at Meowth again for the final blow. Just as he did, he found his weapon was caught on something. Butch irritably pulled. "What's this?" he said, looking at the vines now attached to the weapon.
"Stop!" a familiar voice yelled.
Butch looked up. Meowth blinked, knowing who had spoken even in his dazed state.
Ash adjusted his hat, still holding out his hand heroically. "This isn't right! Stop attacking Meowth!" he said.
"Get the hell out of here, kid. You don't know what you're getting into," Butch warned.
"Squirtle, now!" Ash said.
Squirtle jumped in front of Ash, spraying Butch in the face with its water gun attack. Momentarily surprised, Butch's grip loosened. Bulbasaur, already having a firm grip on the weapon, lifted it up and tossed it a long distance away. "Bulbasaur!" it said, satisfied with what it had done.
"Pikachu, thundershock!" Ash ordered, pointing at Butch's primeape.
"Pika CHU!" Pikachu shouted, releasing its electric attack before Primeape could attack Squirtle.
Butch wiped his eyes and glared at Ash. "You really think this is the way to go, kid?" he asked.
"Well, yeah," Ash said. "This is important. Team Rocket's not going to play fair, so I won't either. I'm using all my pokemon at once. You're not being fair now either, you know."
Butch shook his head. That wasn't what he'd meant. He could beat this little brat who only had a group of unevolved pokemon easily. As Ash began to walk toward Meowth, Butch also approached him. "Primeape-" he began.
A roar interrupted Butch, and Charizard flew down from the sky, hitting Butch to the ground as it went toward his pokemon. The flying pokemon then spit fire toward Primeape. "Thanks, Charizard," Ash said. He leaned down to pick up Meowth.
"Hey, twerp?" Meowth said, still dazed.
"It's okay, Meowth," Ash assured. "We'll get you to a pokemon center. Nurse Joy can help you."
Meowth could neither comment nor protest. It barely had the energy to keep its eyes open as Ash carried it. Eventually, walking away from the scene, Meowth passed into unconsciousness.