4
Ash and Pikachu
Meowth awoke on a soft bed, covered with a warm blanket. It was momentarily disoriented before it remembered what had happened. Looking around the room, which was lit only by the light of the moon, Meowth saw several beds, all empty, and various medical supplies in cabinets and on shelves. So, it was at a pokemon center. That's where the twerp had said he was taking it, so it made sense.
Meowth panicked as it felt some movement on the bed, but then looked down and saw it was just Ash. Ash was sitting on a chair. He had leaned over, resting his head on the foot of the bed before falling asleep, apparently. Though it was pretty sure the kid was fast asleep, Meowth was still careful as it stepped off the bed. Now on the floor, Meowth could also see Pikachu by Ash's feet. "Chaa..." Pikachu yawned, then sighed, also asleep.
Now Meowth should get out of there, leaving the kid and his pikachu behind. Even with this urge to go, Meowth hesitated, thinking of what happened. Those back stabbers had really done a number on it. That one guy had been rambling some upsetting things, too. It was all a lie, though. How infuriating, that they'd go so far with their treachery and lies.
Even as it thought that, Meowth still couldn't take the initiative to even walk out the door, let alone return to the rocket base. Though the initial anger and lingering effects of the fear in that kind of situation were starting to wear off in a place like this. Meowth stared out at the moon. It was round, and would soon wax into a perfect full form. These clear, moonlit nights were the best when it was out camping with Jessie and James. They'd be able to see any kinds of danger that were around right away. With an atmosphere like that, Meowth was able to sleep easier. Even if on the uncomfortable ground, it was surrounded by Jessie, James, and their pokemon for protection form any troublemakers that might wander through.
If it heard something, Meowth could just look around and see where the sound had come from. If it was something like a caterpie, no problem. If it was a more threatening pokemon, or maybe a human coming through, Meowth could wake up Jessie and James to deal with it or they'd all get out of the place together.
As the moon waned, approaching the new moon, or if it was cloudy or raining, well, those nights could be more stressful. They'd sometimes keep a fire, but if they didn't want to be tracked, that was out of the question, too. Despite the rumors about seeing in the dark, Meowth's feline eyes could only take advantage of limited light. If there was no light at all, then it couldn't see at all.
Even though the moon was almost full, Meowth felt similarly now to how it had then. Meowth's consciousness said that Butch and Cassidy were both terrible liars with an agenda that wasn't the boss's. That was what Meowth believed, but it was in the dark, with no proof of its own beliefs. No matter how many times Meowth's consciousness reaffirmed those beliefs, its subconscious wouldn't accept them, and continued to ring alarm bells. Rather than think about why it couldn't completely trust the only group that it ever had, Meowth just wanted to sit there and look at the almost-perfectly round moon for a while.
"Hey, you're up."
Meowth straightened up, then looked to the side. There was Ash, Pikachu at his feet. Both of them were wide awake now. It didn't really trust these two either, either. They had jumped in and saved Meowth because they wanted something, that much was obvious. "Hey twerp, I hope you don't think we're friends now or anything."
"Pika," Pikachu said crossly. It certainly didn't.
"Yeah... Are you feeling better now?" Ash asked.
"Sure," Meowth said. "But-"
"That's great," Ash said, sighing in relief. "I was really worried."
"Oh really? Why? You never worried about me before, always having your pokemon attack me and my partners," Meowth said.
"Hey! That's not fair!" Ash yelled.
"Pika pika! Pikapi, pikachu!" Pikachu chided.
Meowth frowned. Yeah, they both had a point. That situation was completely different from when Meowth had battled these two in the past. They'd been defending themselves against thieves, and never made threats like his so called teammates just had. "Yeah, sorry," it said. "You were real generous and all to help me out, but don't think I'm gonna repay the favor like you want me to."
"Yeah," Ash said, frowning. "I know, I'm sorry. I know it wasn't right for someone to try and get your help like that. Even if we're on the same side, I just had to stop him."
"Pikachu." Pikachu agreed that it had been taken way too far.
"Hey, wait, you two think he's on your 'side'? What side's that?" Meowth asked.
"You know, the side that wanted to stop Team Rocket. We want to let Mewtwo and its friends go wherever they want without being bothered. Bullying another pokemon to help us... Even one from Team Rocket... That's not the way to do that," Ash said.
Meowth remembered now that its treacherous partners had gone out without their uniforms on. And Ash and his pokemon had just helped Meowth, not really knowing what was going on, and even thinking he might be going against his own ally. "That guy was a Team Rocket member," Meowth decided to tell them.
"Oh? That makes sense. Team Rocket's pretty bad, huh," Ash commented.
"It's not like that! He was going against our boss's orders. My boss doesn't want anything to happen to me! Yeah, that guy and his partner were just traitors." Meowth finished, glaring at Ash. It was ready to argue with Ash about it. Then if Meowth won, it would feel like it was right somehow. Meowth waited for the counter-argument.
"Oh, okay," Ash said, nodding. "Yeah, a lot of bad people join Team Rocket, huh?"
Meowth was at a loss for words a moment, having convinced Ash so easily. Pikachu also just sat there, blinking calmly, having no problem with what Meowth had just said. Even though Meowth itself did.
But Meowth wanted so badly to believe what it had just told these two. It wanted to just nod like Ash was or silently accept the spin on events as a fact like Pikachu, but it couldn't. It was much more involved than these two. Meowth had plenty of reason to believe that maybe Butch and Cassidy hadn't been traitors at all, and that it had become the unwanted one in Team Rocket.
There was one thing that would convince Meowth of its falsehood, though. Butch had heavily implied that Jessie and James were dead. Yeah, that seemed over the top, even for the boss. It might make sense that the boss would want to eliminate Meowth, but it had no reason to eliminate Jessie or James, at least that Meowth knew of. All Meowth needed to do was to see their goofy faces, and it would know that it wasn't really on Team Rocket's hit list.
"Hey, kid," Meowth began. "Have you seen Jessie or James around?"
"Yeah," Ash said. Meowth felt relieved. Then Ash continued. "I saw them when Team Rocket was attacking Mewtwo. Remember? You were there."
"I mean after that!" Meowth snapped.
"No," Ash said, shaking his head. "I wondered what happened to all of you. I only saw you when that other guy was fighting with you."
Meowth frowned. So Jessie and James's fate was still a mystery. Thinking about it, Meowth realized that there would have been any number of reasons the boss might have gotten rid of them. Maybe they had refused the boss's orders to kill Meowth, then gone off to try and find Meowth to warn it. That sounded like something those two might do. Running away from the large group that was Team Rocket, they might not have gotten far. Just thinking of this one of many possibilities for what had happened to them, Meowth felt cold.
"So you're not a part of Team Rocket anymore, Meowth?" Ash asked.
"Pikachu."
Meowth scowled at Ash's question and Pikachu's comment. "Of course I'm part of Team Rocket," it insisted. "Yeah, no traitor's gonna change my loyalty."
"Pika," Pikachu sighed.
"Oh," Ash said. "Yeah, okay." He looked down at the floor with disappointment.
"Pikapi, pikachu," Pikachu consoled, patting Ash on the shoulder.
Meowth rolled its eyes. "Yeah, you shouldn't have even assumed I'd be leaving Team Rocket in the first place."
"I know," Ash said. "Misty said the same thing. And Brock, too. They said a pokemon like you... Um, well, that you can't be counted on for anything."
Meowth's faced twitched in annoyance. "They really don't know anything. You can count on me when I want to be counted on."
"Oh! So you are going to help us?" Ash asked happily.
"No," Meowth insisted. The kid was only hearing what he wanted to hear. "What is it you'd want my help for, anyway? I keep hearing that, but you never ask what for."
"Well, um," Ash began. "Yeah. Mewtwo and its friends think if you start talking about how it should be left alone, more people will listen. I guess we wouldn't know what would happen after then, anyway."
"Pika, pikachu? Pika," Pikachu said, suggesting that other pokemon might be treated better after Meowth spoke out as well, or at least that's what others had said.
"I don't think the boss wants me to do that right now," Meowth said. Then again, what the boss might want is just for Meowth to disappear, Meowth thought with a pain in its chest.
"Pika pika," Pikachu said.
"Yeah, well it's too bad for them for assuming too much," Meowth said in response to Pikachu's comment that a lot of pokemon had gotten their hopes up.
Ash clenched his fist. Then he relaxed. "Yeah, alright Meowth. I'm just glad you're okay."
Meowth said nothing. It being okay was the only satisfaction that Ash was going to get out of his heroic exploits. They wanted a loyal Team Rocket member to go against the group, and that wasn't happening. But the idea that Ash and his pokemon had been so selfless left a bad taste in Meowth's mouth.
"Will you really be okay? I mean, when you go back?" Ash asked.
"Maybe not," Meowth said. It hadn't really meant to answer aloud. Ash and Pikachu both looked over at it with some concern. "I don't have to go back right away, anyway," it said. Meowth definitely wanted to return, and as soon as possible, but its lack of faith still had it hesitating. Meowth felt both sick both for the possibility that Cassidy and Butch had been telling the truth as well as the very idea that it was no longer valued by Team Rocket.
"Yeah! You can stay with us. Why don't you talk to everyone? Then you can decide what to do," Ash said.
"Kid, don't be like that," Meowth muttered. It had already decided what to do, pretty much. Though it was appreciative for Ash's help, it just wasn't that appreciative. Making Ash think that Meowth might change its mind, that would be crueler than just rejecting him outright. Meowth was doing him a favor by not giving in.
But if it wasn't going to just go running back to headquarters, what should it do? Meowth looked up at the sky, staring at the moon as it considered that question. The moon really was nice and clear on that cloudless night. Meowth enjoyed taking in the light.
"It's nice, huh?" Ash said.
"Pika," Pikachu agreed.
"It's a full moon, isn't it?" Ash said.
"What?" Meowth said. "Hey twerp, you should be able to clearly see it's not a full moon at all!"
"It's not?" Ash said.
"Yeah, look at that shape. It's no where near the beautifully perfect round shape. This is called a waxing gibbous moon. That means it's approaching a full moon, but not there quite yet. I'd say maybe another night, then we'll have our full moon."
"Oh," Ash said. "Yeah, I guess you're right. You're pretty smart, Meowth."
"I don't need that many smarts for this," Meowth said, staring out at the moon again. Then it looked back at Ash. "Hey, I might go and talk to who you want... I mean, just because I don't have anything else to do."
"Really?" Ash said, his expression brightening as his voice filled with hope.
"Yeah. Don't think I'll do anything you want though," Meowth said.
"I know... Yeah, I know," Ash said, though he clenched his fist with determination, as if he really didn't know what Meowth was saying. "Everyone will be happy just to talk to you, I bet," Ash said. "It'll be great, right Pikachu?"
"Pika," Pikachu said, turning away. It couldn't really agree with Ash completely on that.
"Who's 'everyone' though?"
"All the pokemon!" Ash said. Meowth didn't say anything. That really wasn't a very descriptive response. "You know!" Ash said. "Well, I guess you don't. Mewtwo erased our memories."
"Pika pika. Pikachu, pika pi," Pikachu continued, explaining how there were a lot of cloned pokemon, not just Mewtwo.
"So the boss made a bunch of clones?" Meowth said. "I thought he only was interested in that one."
"No, Mewtwo cloned other pokemon. I guess so it wouldn't be as lonely," Ash explained. "Sometimes Team Rocket thinks the cloned pokemon are Mewtwo when they're looking for it."
Meowth nodded. There was definitely something skewy about Mewtwo's energy as compared to just any pokemon's energy on the tracking device that Cassidy and Butch had been using. Meowth had assumed that it was because Mewtwo was so powerful, but it might be because Mewtwo was a clone.
"So everyone's found a place to hide. Team Rocket's even having trouble finding them. I'll take you there," Ash said.
"Pikapi, pi pikachu," Pikachu pointed out.
Meowth felt a little awkward translating that, but what Pikachu said Meowth itself had wondered about. The question should be obvious even to Ash's mind. "Your buddy wants to know why you'd bother bringing me. I'm part of Team Rocket, you know."
"Pika." Pikachu nodded.
"It's okay, Pikachu. Meowth isn't going to go back to Team Rocket right away, just like it said," Ash said to Pikachu, then turned to Meowth. "So then you can come with us, right Meowth?"
Meowth was about to open its mouth to protest, but then realized it had actually said exactly this to Ash and Pikachu. No, Meowth didn't need to, and probably really shouldn't, go running back to base. Meowth felt a little guilty, thinking that maybe if it hung out with Ash and his powerful pikachu, it could be protected from any Team Rocket agents that might be after it. At least more than on its own. "Yeah, fine, I'll go to your hide away and meet your pokemon pals," Meowth agreed.
"Really?" Ash said. Meowth nodded, though it felt guilty at just how enthusiastic Ash seemed about that. "Alright!" Ash cheered upon seeing Meowth's affirmation. "Let's hurry up and go."
"Pikachu," Pikachu said with some amusement.
"Yeah, Pikachu's right. Maybe we should wait until morning at least," Meowth said.
"Oh," Ash said, peering toward the still night sky. "Right," he said. Ash laughed, sheepishly putting a hand to his head. Meowth noted his cheerful expression, not fading at all in the moonlight.
.
Meowth opened its eyes as it heard Ash talking loudly outside. It looked toward the open door, but didn't see him. As Meowth looked over to the side, it saw Nurse Joy staring down at it. "Well, you're feeling better today, aren't you?" she said.
Meowth nodded, unsure if it wanted to speak and draw attention to itself by speaking. Nurse Joy cheerfully picked it up. "No pokeball for you at the moment, is there? Well, the trainer that took care of you is really nice. He takes care of his pokemon. Maybe you'll join him."
Like hell, Meowth thought, but still said nothing. It was carried to the front where Ash and Pikachu were waiting. "Here you are. This Meowth recovered nicely," Nurse Joy said.
"Thanks, Nurse Joy," Ash said. "Come on, Meowth. Let's go to breakfast, okay?"
Breakfast, really, Meowth thought to itself. Though it was supposedly the most important meal of the day, Meowth often ended up skipping it when traveling with Jessie and James. After all, if they started eating their limited supplies right at the start of the day, they might have nothing left for any other meal. Meowth followed Ash into the pokemon center's cafeteria. Ash picked up a tray, then took out his pokeballs.
"Come on out, everybody," Ash said. As he threw out his pokeballs, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charizard, Pidgeotto, and Krabby appeared. "Alright, let's see. Here's the water-type food," Ash said, taking out a container.
Charizard roared and nudged Ash's arm, causing him to drop the container. "Charizard! Wait your turn. I've got to take care of everyone else too." Charizard again roared in protest, spitting out a bit of fire as it did. Ash put the container on the ground for Squirtle and Krabby, but Charizard's was the very next one. Ash quickly got the rest of the pokemon's food out before he went to sit down himself in front of his meal.
"You're feeding them all now?" Meowth said. It could see feeding Pikachu, but the other five just didn't make sense. "If you keep them in their pokeballs, doesn't that save their energy? Then you might not have to feed them at all today."
"Well, if they don't have to come out at all today, maybe they won't need to eat again. But I want them ready in case we want to battle. Right guys?"
"Bulba," Bulbasaur agreed. The rest of the pokemon eventually looked up from their meals to chorus their own approval of the idea.
"Oh, wait," Ash said, suddenly realizing something. "I almost forgot about you, Meowth."
"Me?" Meowth said.
"Yeah. We aren't just going to eat everything in front of you. Well, I didn't mean to, but I don't have any food for normal types." Ash scratched his head as he thought of what to do. "I guess I could ask Nurse Joy."
"Why don't I just have what you're having," Meowth said, pointing to the tray that Ash had picked up with the full meal on it.
"Oh, that's a good idea," Ash said. He went over and picked up another one, then sat down at the table. "Let's eat!" Ash said, before he started to himself.
Meowth looked at the food hesitantly before it began to eat itself. It eventually ate even quicker than Ash or the other pokemon, finishing before they did. "That was good," Meowth said. It looked at the pokemon, then at Ash. "Do you really feed your pokemon like this every day?" Meowth asked him.
"Um, yeah," Ash said, looking at little confused as to why Meowth would have asked that question. "I'm gonna be one of the very best trainers. I'll always give my pokemon what they need."
Meowth shook its head. Everyone got what they needed, huh? It thought back on Jessie and James. Those two really did care about their pokemon, but those pokemon didn't always get this kind of care every day. They gave what they could when they could. Their pokemon stayed in their pokeballs the majority of the time, so they didn't suffer from hunger as much as their trainers along with Meowth did, anyway. But this kid was able to act like it was a given that all his pokemon got to eat every day.
"Do you want more?" Ash asked.
"More?" Meowth said.
"Yeah, I know pokemon need lots of food because they use up lots of energy," Ash said.
So the kid thought of it as a pokemon after all, Meowth realized. "I'm fine. Besides, I don't want to be any more in debt to you than I am already from yesterday."
"You're not, Meowth," Ash insisted. "I'd have done the same for any of my friends."
"Hey, I'm not your friend!" Meowth insisted. "You know what my goal is when it comes to you," Meowth said, looking at Pikachu.
"Yeah," Ash said. "I wouldn't let you take Pikachu just because we're friends now."
"Pika," Pikachu warned its own response if Meowth tried anything.
"But you can't do that right now, right?" Ash said. Meowth didn't respond, though it knew it couldn't match even Pikachu on its own, let alone Ash's other pokemon. "So we can be friends right now. We can be friends anytime you want, Meowth! Friends help each other out. So just eat up if you're hungry."
What a simplistic way of looking a things, Meowth thought. Then again, it was still a little hungry. "Yeah, I think I am still hungry," it said.
"Okay. I'll get you some more, then," Ash said. He got up and picked up another tray for Meowth before sitting down and continuing his own meal.
Meowth's mouth watered as it looked at the food. Then it looked over at Ash warily. Ash was eating his own food while peering over at Charizard, his most unruly pokemon, Meowth knew. So, the twerp considered Charizard's possible misbehavior a bigger threat than the enemy sitting right in front of him? Maybe he really did believe all that nonsense about them being friends he was spouting out.
Thinking that, Meowth lost its appetite. Meowth would really just be taking advantage of the kid by just playing along with that. Meowth really didn't want to do that, only hang out with them until it could be sure it was safe to go back to the boss. Why did this twerp have to assume things?
Ash and his pokemon soon finished off their meals. As they were cleaning up, Pikachu looked toward Meowth. "Pikachu?" it said, asking if Meowth hadn't been that hungry after all.
"Not really," Meowth said, starting to clean up itself.
"Pika pikachu," Pikachu suggested Meowth might be hungry by dinnertime.
"Is your little buddy really gonna feed me by then?" Meowth asked angrily.
"Of course, Meowth. If you need to. Everyone who needs to will," Ash said.
There he went again, insisting everyone would get what they needed. Meowth recalled Giovanni's promise that it would get the basic necessities. Meowth had, at first. But later there had been times Meowth just had to be hungry and go without as well as other times that Meowth had to sleep outside in the cold without any shelter at all. People and pokemon didn't always get what they needed.
That was because the boss had wanted something from Meowth. Giovanni wanted Meowth to be both a faithful and useful employee. When it didn't fit the bill, it didn't get paid, and it didn't get what it needed. That was life, Meowth knew. This kid insisting that everyone would just get what they needed, that was fantasy.
The kid wanted something too. Ash just wasn't being completely upfront about it. He wanted Meowth to help him and his pokemon buddies out. Even though Ash insisted that he was just happy Meowth was alright after that incident, Ash was keeping Meowth around with hope that Meowth would do what he wanted. That's right, Meowth recalled, Ash had even said that Meowth could 'decide' what to do afterward. Everything Ash was doing now was just manipulative, a way to try and bribe Meowth into changing its mind.
"So, are you ready, Meowth?" Ash said.
"Yeah, sure twerp, just let me clean this up," Meowth said. As it pretended it was going to pick up the tray, Meowth instead flung the rest of the breakfast toward Ash and Pikachu. The eggs went all over Ash, while the pasty sauce that had come with the meal hit Pikachu in the head. Meowth grinned widely as it looked at Ash and Pikachu's bewildered faces.
"Pika!" Pikachu shouted.
"Hey!" Ash said, his expression becoming angry, mirroring Pikachu's. "You did that on purpose."
"Pikachu!" Pikachu said. It knocked the container off its head, then tossed it back at Meowth. The sauce splattered, running down Meowth's face.
Meowth wiped at its face irritably. Well, the twerp was soon going to reprimand Pikachu, it realized. Pikachu couldn't hide its dislike for Meowth, but Ash still wanted to manipulate Meowth, so he would force his pokemon to pretend to like Meowth.
Ash also grinned widely. "I guess it's a challenge, Pikachu," he said.
"Pika." Pikachu nodded.
"Nobody can beat me and Pikachu at a food fight," Ash said. He picked up some of the breakfast that had fallen on the floor, and threw it back at Meowth.
"Hey!" Meowth said, jumping up onto the table. "No fair! I've got nothing over here."
"Pika, pikachu," Pikachu critiqued Meowth's strategy right before it and Ash threw more food over Meowth's way.
"Cut it out!" Meowth shouted as Ash and Pikachu started to 'reload' with other food that was on the floor.
"Hey, you started it," Ash said mischievously.
"Pika," Pikachu agreed. "Pika pikachu."
"That's right!" Meowth said to Pikachu. "Your pal that cooks for you wouldn't be happy with what you're doing right now."
"Yeah, Brock would be really mad if he was here," Ash said. "So we should have fun while he's not here, right?"
"Pikachu!" Pikachu said happily.
Meowth was pelted again, the mornings egg now running down its head. Couldn't the twerp tell how annoyed Meowth was getting? Meowth tried to hide. Then it looked up. There were several trays out, probably waiting for any other trainers that might come in. Meowth leapt on the counter, looking at the fresh, warm food. It looked over at Ash and Pikachu.
"Hey, Meowth, don't use those. It's not fair to bring anything new in, okay?"
"All's fair in love and war, right?" Meowth said. It stood behind one tray, chucking everything it could toward Ash and Pikachu, laughing as it did. Before either of them could counter, Meowth grabbed the tray and hid behind a table.
"Meowth?" Ash said, unable to find him right away.
"Ha ha!" Meowth said, then peeked its head over the table, again throwing the food Ash's way.
"Hey! It's your turn, now!" Ash said. As he was about to throw the food, Nurse Joy walked in. Ash put his hand down guiltily. "Um, Nurse Joy-"
"What exactly are you doing in here, Ash!" Nurse Joy exploded. "You know how much work it takes to get this place clean and prepared for hungry trainers and pokemon?"
"Um, well-" Ash began guiltily.
"When you brought in that wild pokemon, I thought you knew about your responsibilities as a trainer. It's clear you need more lessons on that," Nurse Joy continued.
"I'm sorry, I just didn't think," Ash said.
"Yes, that's also very clear to me!" Nurse Joy said. "Now, be sure you properly clean my cafeteria so it's ready for any other trainers. I'll trust you to do so thoroughly."
"Yeah..." Ash said hesitantly, looking around. "I really am sorry, Nurse Joy," he said.
"Don't tell me. Show me," Nurse Joy said. She walked to the closet and opened it, revealing all of the cleaning supplies.
"Okay," Ash said, walking over and looking through them. He looked over at Nurse Joy who glared at him. Ash looked down shamefully.
"I'll leave it to you, then," Nurse Joy said before walking out.
Ash looked around the room. He dragged out a trash can, and Pikachu began hopping around, picking things up and tossing them in. Ash looked around. His eyes fell on Meowth, who just leaned back in one of the seats and observed him. "Hey! Meowth! Why aren't you helping?" he asked.
"Why should I?" Meowth said, shrugging. Ash needed it around, so Ash should be the one to do annoying jobs like this.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu said angrily.
"You were making the mess too, so you clean it up!" Ash insisted.
"Pika, pikachu!" Pikachu agreed Meowth just shouldn't leave them alone to do it.
Meowth's eyes widened. These two really weren't like Cassidy and Butch, sucking up to Meowth because they wanted something. No, Ash and his pikachu were pretty straightforward. Even if very superficially, they had reminded Meowth of Jessie and James. His two former partners were also straightforward, and always demanded that Meowth do a fair share of any work.
Meowth felt ashamed that it had often refused, or done so only grudgingly, acting like it didn't have to. What kind of teammate was it, to refuse to do anything it could to help out? If only it could see Jessie and James again, then it would help them with any sort of menial work with no complaints. Well, at least not very many.
"Oh, Meowth?" Ash said with surprise as they both threw something away at the same time. Then he grinned and clenched his fist. "Alright! Since you're helping, we can get this done fast."
"Yeah, sure kid," Meowth said, and began to wipe off all the affected tables. Ash and Pikachu joined it in the task.
"Okay! Now there's just the floor," Ash said. He took out one of the buckets and mops.
"Pika!" Pikachu lifted up the cleaner.
"Thanks, Pikachu," Ash said. He began to pour the bottle into the bucket. "This isn't enough. Pikachu, go get some more!"
"Pika," Pikachu agreed, scurrying back to the closet.
"Hey! Stop!" Meowth said. It ran over and grabbed the bottle away from Ash. "You don't have to use that much," it said.
"Hey, I still didn't fill up the bucket," Ash said.
"You don't really know much at all. You a little of this stuff in, then fill up the rest of your bucket with water." Meowth grabbed the cap, then pointed Ash to the faucet.
"Oh," Ash said. "Will that really be enough?" he said, looking at what he'd already poured in.
"More than enough! Haven't you ever even mopped a floor before?" Meowth asked.
"No, my mom does all that at home," Ash said.
Meowth sighed. What would happen to this kid without it around? Well, usually Ash had those other two humans around. Just like Jessie and James had Meowth, Meowth recalled. Would they get themselves in trouble doing something stupid without Meowth around to help?
No, Meowth thought as it watched Ash spray himself with water as he turned on the faucet. Even if those two did make some stupid mistake at times, Jessie and James were adults that could take care of themselves, not like this kid at all. Nothing would happen to them. Nothing had happened to them at all, especially not when returning to Team Rocket, they were valued members.
Meowth tried its best to put the questions out of his mind and simply believe the answer it had arrived at. Looking over at Ash's work was one way to distract itself. "Over here," Meowth said, pointing at spots that Ash had missed. Before long, the floor as well as the rest of the place was sparkling clean and Nurse Joy had returned to inspect their work. "Well, it looks a lot better now," she said.
"Yeah. I'm really sorry about before," Ash said.
"Pikachu," Pikachu said. "Pika! Pikachu!" it said, looking toward Meowth.
Meowth looked over at Pikachu in surprise as it goaded Meowth to apologize as well. Meowth hadn't even thought of itself as part of Ash and Pikachu's little group in the first place. Before it could even consider apologizing with them, Nurse Joy had nodded. "Well, since you've fixed everything, I'll have to forgive you this time."
"Thanks, Nurse Joy," Ash said sheepishly. "For all your help, I mean. We'll see you later maybe. Pikachu, Meowth, let's go!"
With that, Ash ran forward. Meowth was again surprised, this time that Ash trusted it enough to even turn his back. Ash really was too stupid to try and manipulate the situation the way Cassidy and Butch had. In addition to their brown-nosing, those agents had never let Meowth out of their sight for even a second, Meowth recalled. Though Ash was trying to be nice, he still yelled when he was angry and made it hard for Meowth to keep up, more than easy for Meowth to actually get away. Maybe it really could trust this kid.
For all the good it did, Meowth realized. Other than the momentary protection, the twerp and his pikachu couldn't do anything to help it. They only hoped that Meowth itself could help them, and that wasn't happening. They'd throw Meowth away as soon as they realized that. Even if Ash was trying his best not to realize it at all.
.
Meowth, Ash, and Pikachu walked along the path before they started going off road, into the forest. "You sure you know where we're going?" Meowth asked.
"Yeah, I remember where they were hiding out," Ash replied.
"Pika," Pikachu added.
"Maybe?" Meowth said. "Come on! I don't want to get lost out here!"
"Pika, pikachu," Pikachu pointed out that the last time they'd gotten lost, it had turned out in Meowth's favor.
"Really, so you weren't looking for me?" Meowth asked.
"Um, before?" Ash said. "No. We just saw you and had to help."
Why did the kid have to be so damn innocent and cheery. It was kind of annoying. "There!" Ash said, pointing ahead. "I knew we were heading the right away."
"Pikachu?" Pikachu said, hopping on Ash's shoulder. "Pikachu!" it said. From Ash's shoulder it could see the landform that showed they were heading in the right direction.
"Let me see," Meowth said. It hopped on Ash's other shoulder.
"Hey," Ash said. The two pokemon together were a little heavy.
Meowth looked carefully at the spiky shape of the hill head of them. Yeah, that place might be hard to miss. "We're going over there?" it asked.
"Uh... Yeah," Ash said. "Can you guys get off?" he yelled. Pikachu and Meowth both jumped down. Ash took a deep breath, then grinned. "Everyone's gonna be real happy to see you, Meowth. I can't wait!"
"Yeah..." Meowth said. It believed Ash, but didn't really want to think about all the pokemon Ash spoke off being happy to see a pokemon they didn't even know. "We'll see what they have to say," Meowth said, nodding to itself.
"Yeah!" Ash said. "You're really thinking you might help them out, right Meowth? I think you will, once you meet them and hear their story."
The kid would convince himself of a lie even if Meowth tried to convince him of the truth, so Meowth said nothing. He just continued to walk along silently. Eventually they reached a small clearing in front of a mountain. A group of pokemon ran out of a cave to greet them. There were maybe a dozen in the group, including mirrors of Ash's own pokemon, even pikachu. Meowth noticed that most of them had a lot of abnormal markings.
"Hey guys!" Ash said. "Look who it is!"
As Ash presented Meowth, there was a chorus of speak, and Meowth couldn't really tell if they were happy or angry to see it there. Finally, the venusaur let out a roar, warning the pokemon they should all stay in the cave. They got back in, but stood near the edge, staring at Meowth. They didn't speak at all now, just looked at Meowth, Ash, and Pikachu on the outside as they were technically inside.
"I guess there hasn't been any trouble," Ash said. "There's no way to know. Only Mewtwo can tell me. And Mewtwo's not around, huh?"
"Char," the strangely colored charizard shook its head.
"Yeah, but you're forgetting that I am," Meowth said. "So just ask them anything and I'll tell you what they say."
"Um, alright," Ash said hesitantly. Though the other pokemon looked at Meowth warily, Ash kept talking anything. "Is there any sign of Team Rocket? How about your friends?"
"Pika!" the stray pikachu replied angrily. "Pika, pi pikachu!"
"It says that they're gone, and Team Rocket took them, probably forever," Meowth said.
"No way guys, you'll get your friends back. No one likes Team Rocket, so everyone's gonna help stop them! Even-" Ash stopped himself. He looked at Meowth. Meowth realized that Ash had been about to add it to the list of conspirators against Team Rocket. But the twerp hadn't allowed himself to sink that deep into delusion, and caught himself just in time, it seemed. "Hey, even Meowth agreed to come and talk to you guys."
"Pikaa?" the foreign pikachu said, scowling. "Pi pikachu." Other pokemon started to get in fighting stances next to it.
"Pi-" Ash's pikachu interrupted to try and cut tension.
"Yeah, that's right," Meowth said. "I am that meowth, the one that works for Team Rocket. Yeah, it's me alright."
"Pikachu!"
"Blastoise!"
Charizard let out a roar to chorus the series of hate against a pokemon that would betray its own. Meowth just smirked. Ash stepped between Meowth and the other pokemon. "Hey, it's not like that! I mean, it is, but... Yeah, Meowth said it would meet you and listen to you. That's why it's here right now," Ash explained.
"Pikachu." His pikachu nodded. Then it looked back at Meowth, looking wary itself.
This was some last-ditch effort of hope, Meowth realized. "Yeah, fine. You all can tell me what's the problem."
"These are the other cloned pokemon," Ash said.
"So are you guys engineered to be more powerful than the original? Just like Mewtwo?" Meowth asked them.
"Pikachu!" Ash's pikachu said that was something they didn't need to discuss.
"Pika," the other pikachu agreed with a frown.
"So what do you want to talk about?" Meowth asked. As soon as Meowth finished, it was bombarded by stories from every one of the pokemon. They were cloned by Mewtwo. When Meowth asked why, they couldn't give it a reason. Maybe Ash's idea that it was so Mewtwo would be less lonely held some merit. Mewtwo would be a little less of a freak if it could just conjure up some pokemon that it might consider companions. But the idea had backfired on Mewtwo. Any one of the cloned pokemon all appeared almost exactly the same as Mewtwo on the tracking device that Team Rocket had developed.
Mewtwo actually did care about its created 'friends'. So Team Rocket now had leverage against it, just with capturing one of the other powerless clones. Team Rocket had several, and Mewtwo was just trying to save them before it went into hiding. So, that's what Butch had meant when he'd said they had something Mewtwo wanted. That much of what he'd said was true, at least. It made sense now that Mewtwo was causing a big stink. Meowth wondered how they'd been hiding. The question was answered quickly.
Underground, the pokemon could be hidden from Team Rocket's tracking device. After being attacked a couple times when Mewtwo had used their own tracker against them, Team Rocket had either figured that out, or eliminated the clones they'd caught, they didn't know. Meowth felt a little sympathy upon hearing that. It still felt sick whenever thoughts of Jessie and James came into its head, though they were alright, Meowth assured itself, thinking of their situation instead.
Now Meowth knew the reason this conflict continued. Even if Mewtwo could just find a nice secluded valley far away and hide itself away forever, it wanted to get its clone 'friends' back. And even if Mewtwo was way too powerful for Giovanni to overpower, the boss had the advantage of having the friends that Mewtwo wanted back. The boss definitely had a plan related to that, Meowth realized.
"What did they say?" Ash asked.
"They told me the story of how the boss uses their friends to get Mewtwo out into the open," Meowth said.
"Blastoise?" another clone asked.
"Nope, I couldn't tell you if your friends are alright or not. I didn't know anything about this until you all told me. If I could tell you anything about your pals, I would," Meowth said, frowning. Maybe Team Rocket really was that vicious and unforgiving. These clone pokemon made things difficult, they were just eliminated. Human bodies of agents like Jessie and James who didn't play along were piled right next to them. Meowth itself would have been added to the pile if this little brat hadn't showed up by pure coincidence, and then saved it by mere luck. Meowth knew Team Rocket wasn't exactly good and righteous by everyone's standards, but that kind of thing was too much even by Meowth's own skewed standards.
"It's okay," Ash said. "We'll get them all back, right?"
Meowth wanted to tell Ash that they just needed to give up and cooperate with the boss, who probably didn't care about these clones so much as Mewtwo. But it couldn't even be sure that those captured cloned pokemon were even still alive.
"Pika," Ash's pikachu said, giving a brief tap on Meowth's shoulder. "Pikachu!" it said, smiling.
Meowth realized that its own upset was starting to show on its face. Meowth forced a pleasant expression. "Yeah, I'm sure there's still some way you can get your pals back," it said.
"Pikachu!" Ash's pikachu cheered.
"That's right! there's still a lot more you can do, so don't give up! We'll beat Team Rocket, and you guys'll find a great place to live, and it'll be great," Ash said.
The optimism of these two dolts was started to spread to the worn-out clone pokemon, Meowth noted. The pidgeot cheered and several others sat up straight. "Vulpix," another clone said. "Vul, vulpix."
"Pika! Pi pikachu, pika!" the clone pikachu eventually spat in anger as they finished talking.
"Pikachu," Ash's pikachu consoled.
"What is it?" Ash said.
"Vulpix and that other pikachu have a point," Meowth said. "Even if a lot of people out there help others, there's not enough of you that would be willing to go against Team Rocket just for some trainerless clones." As it finished, Meowth noticed that the cloned pokemon's brief energy was fading.
The twerp was pretty stupid to think he could just defeat Team Rocket in the first place, Meowth thought to itself. It also thought of its own experiences as a stray with humans that just didn't care. "They'll all just turn their heads if anything happens," Meowth began. "Unless a pokemon is valued by a human, it's worthless. Nobody thinks anything of abuse of stray pokemon. There's no one that cares about any of the pokemon in this cave."
"That's not true!" Ash insisted.
Meowth looked over at Ash blankly. It supposed he was going to start up with his optimistic views, such as how it didn't matter how little people cared. That these pokemon could somehow overpower not only Team Rocket, but an entire world of apathy.
"I care about you guys," Ash said. "Not just me, but a lot of other humans too! Even if it's not everyone, it'll be enough. So don't worry. You'll never be alone."
Hearing Ash's little speech, which did perk up some the face of some of the pokemon there, it only made Meowth angry. It wasn't even sure why it was angry. Then it realized why. This little twerp was just feeding these pokemon lies. Maybe he did care, and maybe he really didn't know he was lying. But didn't those kind of lies lead to the greatest deception? There was no way there were enough people that cared. There was no way those people who did care would continue to onto infinity. These pokemon knew they couldn't count on anyone else to protect their friends, and here was Ash, giving them false hope.
"Pika, pikachu!" Ash's pikachu even agreed with him.
Meowth shook its head.
"And how about Meowth? When Meowth speaks out, even more people will get on your side," Ash said.
"Just stop right there," Meowth said. "Just stop with what you're saying, twerp. It's embarrassing even to listen to you."
"Pikachu?" Ash's pikachu asked why.
"Well, first off, I never said I'd help you guys at all," Meowth pointed out.
"Yeah. I guess you didn't," Ash said, then shrugged sheepishly and put on a forced smile.
"And that's not all. You think if I spoke out, people would somehow be sympathetic? You're a piece of work, twerp. I'm not shy about speaking. I say things all the time."
"Pikachu," Ash's pikachu agreed with some amusement.
"You think people listen to me now that I can speak up and be understood?" Meowth shook its head. "I get the same treatment I got from before I even learned to talk, maybe even worse. The first person to listen to me was my boss. That's how I decided to join Team Rocket. I had a human I respected respecting me back, and that's not just something that happens all the time. I was going to do whatever I could for him, because I knew he liked me and would return the favor."
"Yeah," Ash said hesitantly. "I guess we've all done bad things. Things we regret, you know?"
"I don't regret anything," Meowth said. It looked over at the other pokemon. Ash's pikachu didn't looked surprised, but the other stared back at it with contempt. Meowth still smirked at them. "Yeah, there's not one thing I've done since joining Team Rocket that I regret at all!" it affirmed.
"But Meowth-" Ash began.
"It really is too bad for you guys," Meowth continued, nodding to the clone pokemon. "I know that. Maybe the boss could do something for all of you if Mewtwo just gives itself up. That's who you should be having a conversation with if you want a peaceful ending, not me. Because I'm not here to be some regretful sap!" Meowth finished.
Then it turned and ran. Ash and Pikachu called after it, but Meowth could tell they were no where close. There was no obvious path anyone could take, and Meowth doubted the twerp could track it that well. Meowth could run away without worry.
But maybe it did have some regrets, Meowth admitted as it ran through the woods. It had wanted to be treated well by Jessie and James, hating how humans had treated it before. So Meowth had tried to lower them to its servants. Meowth knew now that it didn't want servants. It wanted friends, true companions. Jessie and James had already been that. They'd treated Meowth with the regard it had wanted from the start without expecting anything in return, unlike Butch and Cassidy, or even Ash and Pikachu.
Thinking of Ash and Pikachu, Meowth climbed a tree. It spotted them easily from up high. Yeah, those two were lost already, and the clone pokemon couldn't leave to help. They were hiding from enemies that were far worse than Meowth.
Meowth hopped down and continued on its way at a leisurely pace. It could have escaped from these two any time it wanted. So now it was going to, and before all those clones starting attacking it for being on the 'wrong' side. Meowth would go back to Team Rocket, where it would tell the boss everything it knew about the traitors and Mewtwo's clone friends. Then it would meet up with Jessie and James, and after joking with them about all the scary things that had happened, would request that it could rejoin them as partners.
Meowth really did feel some sympathy for the clone pokemon. But those pokemon were mistaken if they thought that Meowth could be used for their gain, even if by some miracle people actually did decide to listen to it. After all, Meowth existed with autonomy, bestowed on it by the boss. It would support itself and its allies. Upon accomplishing that, Meowth would truly have no regrets.