Quite a distance away from the scene of the crime, Team Rocket parked their balloon in an area obscured from the skies by a thicket of trees, so as to hide themselves from any flyers that might be looking for them.
"Cheers!" the two humans and four Pokémon yelled, gulping down the carbonated contents of the glasses that they were holding.
"To another successful mission!"
"To my future fame and stardom!"
"To my new girlfri- uh, I mean what Jimmy said!"
"Inkay!"
"Gourgeist!"
"WOOOOBBUFFET!"
Meowstic watched, amused. She had only been with them for about an hour, and already she had taken a liking to them. The blue-haired one - whom they referred to as James - interested her the most. His looks, voice, and mannerisms reminded her of some of the young noblemen that would visit her owner from time to time. It was... interesting, seeing someone like that be an impoverished, petty thief.
And from what she could gather, they were very impoverished, and very petty. She looked around at their "grand" celebration. On a cardboard box, which she assumed was supposed to be the food table, there was one bag of crispy, salty snack foods that she'd seen commoners in the streets eat, and a bottle of bubbling, carbonated liquid that her masters forbade her from drinking, due to it being "the drink of the poor" - soda, she had heard the Rockets calling it. As for pettiness... all six of them were fighting over the snack bag, grabbing whatever they could and stuffing it immediately into their faces. When they emptied the meager bag, they each took another shot of soda and sighed contentedly. Then, the red-head approached Meowstic's cage.
"Hello there, little Meowstic..." Jessie cooed. "You're gonna be my ticket to the big time... so let's get straight to work practicing for the next showcase!"
Meowstic didn't know what a 'showcase' was, but what she did know was that this woman would be as overbearing as her masters. She had just escaped from that lifestyle, so why would she want to do it again? Meowstic crossed her arms and looked away, using her body language to tell the red-head to "go stuff it". That did not go over well with Jessie. A vein burst on her forehead.
"Why you little..." she started, reaching into the cage. Meowstic easily used Psychic to push her back. Not one to give up so easily on getting revenge, Jessie continued her attack, reaching in and trying to throttle the caged Pokémon. It was amusing, for a while, using Psychic to play with her arms and dodge her advances, but Meowstic soon grew tired of their little game. So, using more force, Meowstic flung Jessie a fair distance away, sending her crashing onto their snack "table", which only had a half-full bottle of soda now that the snack bag was gone. The lone bottle got launched into the air...and descended, upside down, right on top of Jessie, emptying its contents all over her head.
"M-My hair!" Jessie shrieked as the sugary, sticky liquid drenched her most precious feature. "Grr, you mangy cat!" Jessie charged towards the cage again, but Meowstic easily kept her at bay with Psychic. "GAH!" the red-head said, giving up for the time being. "I'm gonna go wash my hair. When I get back, you're in BIG trouble, you hear?!" she said, running off towards the river to take a quick bath. Gourgeist floated after her, but not before shooting a menacing glare towards the one that would dare to harm her master's perfect image.
"Now that Jessie's outta da way..." Meowth whispered to himself, a plotting look on his face.
"Hmm? Did you say something, Meowth?" James asked.
"Huh? Oh, nothin'!" Meowth said, scratching his head. "Say, why don't ya clean up dat mess Jessie made?" he said, gesturing towards the ruined cardboard box that used to be their food table.
"Why do I have to clean it up? Jessie's the one who made it..." James whined.
"Oh quit yer bellyachin' and get ta work!" Meowth snapped. James sighed and resignedly started walking over to clean up the mess. "Ahem. Now dat we're alone, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret," Meowth said smoothly. "I'm actually a... a superhero, yeah dat's it. I'm just pretending to be a Rocket to help out da Pokémon dat dey steal. So, I'll unlock your cage, and den we can blow dis joint together!" Meowth said, unlocking her cage and opening the door.
Meowstic rolled her eyes. It was obvious he was lying through his teeth. And she could deduce from a few of his earlier flirty, love-struck looks and comments that he was trying to woo her. While she was surprised to see another talking Pokémon, she found his voice and accent unbearable. So instead of running off with Meowth, she just remained in the cage.
"Huh?" Meowth scratched his head. "Oh, I get it... you'd rather stay here wit me in Team Rocket!" he said, getting uncomfortably close to her. "We'll be a famous criminal duo, like Bonnie and Clyde! And we can buy a huge mansion, and do all dat couples stuff! Yeah, dis'll be great, just you and me, doll!" Meowth put his arm around her shoulder.
That was the last straw. Uncovering her ears, Meowstic used Psychic to lift Meowth up, and fling him far into the sky.
"BUT WHAT ABOUT OUR LOVE?!" Meowth yelled, flying into the air and disappearing with a twinkle, causing James to look up from his cleaning.
Meowstic sighed, glad to be rid of that idiot, and then locked her cage door again. She hoped the thieves would turn her over to their "boss" or whoever they mentioned earlier soon. While she found the trio's antics amusing, the red-head was pushy, obnoxious, and overbearing, while the talking Meowth was loud, annoying, and a really bad liar. She wondered what the blue-haired man was like.
James saw their prisoner lock herself up again. He scratched his head, greatly confused.
"Did Meowth just try to release you?" he asked. All he received was a blank stare in response. "...And you flung him away and caged yourself again?" Still no response aside from a blank stare. "O...kay then..." James said, deciding to drop the subject, lest he face the same fate as his feline friend. "Anyway, now that we're alone, Inkay..." James pulled out a second bag of the salty snack food that he was apparently hiding, waiting to share it with his Pokémon. "Eat up!"
"Inkay!" his Pokémon chirped happily, digging in. James took a piece or two every once in a while, but for the most part, he let his Pokémon eat as much as it wanted.
Meowstic stared at the bag curiously. They were closer than the cardboard buffet table they were using earlier, so she was able to get a better look at the snack they were eating. The food they were eating looked really plain and basic, completely unlike the exquisite meals her servants always prepared her, but despite how bland it looked, they seemed to be greatly enjoying it. And most of all, they were eating sloppily, barehanded, spilling crumbs everywhere. She felt...envious.
Soon, James noticed their prisoner eyeing them curiously. "Er... would you like one?" James asked, taking a decently sized piece out of the bag and displaying it to her.
"Inkay Ink! (You should totally try one, they taste great!)" his Pokémon said, to Meowstic's surprise. For petty thieves that were greedily fighting over a scraps of food just a few minutes prior, they were being awfully generous to their prisoner...
Nevertheless, Meowstic's curiosity was piqued. She nodded in affirmation, and James handed the snack over to her. At first, Meowstic just stared at his hand, waiting for someone to bring her the proper eating utensil so she could eat it. But then, she remembered - she was free from all that etiquette stuff now. So, a little giddily, she picked the snack up with her bare hands. She curiously examined it, feeling around it with her paws. It was greasy, crumbly, salty... It looked and felt like something her owners would never, in a million years, give her permission to even touch, let alone eat. After thoroughly examining the commoner snack, Meowstic took an exploratory nibble. Her eyes lit up at the delicious taste, and she quickly devoured the rest, licking her lips and paw when she was done.
James looked amused by her antics. "Was that your first time eating a potato chip?" he asked. "What, is your owner not feeding you properly? Or maybe..." James closed his eyes and smiled, remembering how rich and gaudy her owner looked. "Your owner doesn't allow you to eat 'commoner' food, huh?"
Meowstic nodded, surprised that the man pegged her situation to a T. James noticed her curious stare, and decided to explain himself.
"My parents were the same... It may surprise you, but I come from a very wealthy family," James explained. "Mummy and Daddy would never let me partake in activities they deemed 'unfit for a nobleman'. No playing around in mud, no junk food like chips, and no soda. Speaking of soda..." James took out another bottle of the bubbly drink. "I'm guessing your owners never let you try this drink either, hm?" He popped the cap off and pocketed it, then handed the open bottle to Meowstic.
Meowstic stared nervously and curiously inside the bottle she was holding. The bubbly liquid looked a little scary... Still, if commoners drank it all the time, it couldn't be that dangerous, right? So she took a sip just to try it out... and she instantly fell in love with both the taste and the tickly feeling it gave off passing through her tongue and throat. She started gulping the whole bottle down.
"W-Whoa! Slow down there. If you drink it too quickly then-" James started. He was interrupted by a large burp escaping Meowstic's mouth. "-then that might happen..." James finished.
Meowstic's cheeks flushed red in embarrassment. But then, she cracked up, laughing at how strange the burp both felt and sounded coming out of her. James and Inkay started laughing with her, too.
"So, do you like commoner food?" James asked the cat, expecting to get a response in Pokespeak. Instead...
"Yes, very much so," Meowstic responded in perfect English, unlike Meowth, who had that annoying accent and speech impediment.
"Well, I'm glad to hear-" James started, but then realized the Meowstic just spoke. "Wait, what? You can speak?!"
Meowstic rolled her eyes. It was always like this when people heard her speak. It was why she didn't utter a word when with those kids, and why she generally just kept her mouth shut to strangers.
"Yes, my masters forced speaking lessons unto me. It was one of the many subjects I was unwillingly tutored in," Meowstic explained, sounding a little melancholy.
"I can relate," James sighed. "Before I ran away from home, it was back-to-back lessons every day in topics I hated. Violin, piano, ballroom dancing... Even while eating, I was being lectured on what utensils to use and when and how. And the entire time, I'm thinking, 'why do we need so many utensils when-'"
"When we really only need two?" she said, raising both of her 'utensils' (hands) and smiling.
"Exactly!" James said. "I don't need fifty different kinds of forks; let me just pick up the food with my bare hands!"
They both shared a laugh at that.
"You know, you're pretty...tolerable. For a thief, I mean," Meowstic said.
"Thanks... I think."
Meowstic paused for a moment, deep in thought. After a few seconds, she seemingly made up her mind about something. "Say... I wouldn't mind if-"
Before Meowstic could finish, she was interrupted by a loud roar.
"J-Jessie?" James said fearfully, knowing that it obviously wasn't her, and that it was something a lot scarier. Sure enough, out of the bushes came a fierce looking Pangoro. It did not look happy to see trespassers in its territory.
"Oh no... I remember hearing about a territorial Pangoro in the area..." Meowstic said, gulping. She looked to see the human frozen in fear. "W-What are you waiting for? Let me out of here and let's run!" she yelled, snapping him back to Earth.
"Ehehe... well, you see... Jessie and Meowth don't trust me with keys..." he said nervously. Meowstic slapped her forehead.
Seeing that the intruders weren't planning on leaving his territory anytime soon (as James was too nice to leave Meowstic for dead), the Pangoro let out a threatening roar and charged at the human, preparing a Hammer Arm. James and Inkay simply screamed and stared in horror at the incoming attack.
Seriously?! Meowstic thought, watching the two idiots just freeze up in fear instead of attacking or dodging, just like before when they kidnapped her. She quickly sprang into action to help her new friend. First, she completely blew the cage apart with a blast of psychic energy, then she jumped in front of James and Inkay, charging up another attack... but the Pangoro was too fast. Before Meowstic could fire off her attack, the Pangoro slammed into her with Hammer Arm. The force of the attack sent her flying backwards, right into James's arms, unconscious. Now that Meowstic was with him, James didn't hesitate to run away, cradling the injured Pokémon in his arms. The Pangoro roared again, giving chase to make sure they completely leave his territory.
A/N: MAAAAAAN where're all da Team Rocket fics at? Like two months ago, a bunch of old ones got revived, so I was super excited to see what was to come :(. Oh wells, at least there're still a few getting decently frequent updates.
Anyways, as always, any reviews/thoughts/criticisms/corrections would be much appreciated!