"Ugh, my hair..." Jessie said, walking back to their camp, head still sticky from the sugary soda that soaked her. "When I get my hands on that Meowstic..." she made strangling motions with her hands. Soon, she emerged from the woods and into their makeshift encampment... only to find it deserted. "What..." She looked at the shattered remains of the cage that held her ticket to stardom. "WHAT?!" she yelled angrily, realizing Meowstic was gone. "Grr... MEOWTH! JAMES! You better have a good explanation for this!" she cried out into the forest.
"Ow... what? Did someone call me?" Meowth said, stumbling into the camp as well. "And where's Jimmy?" he said, noticing his blue-haired companion was missing. Then, he noticed the broken cage. "Whoa! And my girlfri- I mean... our catch!"
"I was just about to ask you that," Jessie said, tapping her foot.
Meowth quickly thought up an excuse, not wanting to say that he tried to woo Meowstic and run off with her again before getting blasted off by the Meowstic in question.
"Uh... dere was dis Pangoro, see. And he... attacked us outta nowhere!" he lied. "So I gave him a taste of my Fury Swipes, but two of his friends came outta nowhere and smacked me into da sky! Den I walked back here and saw you," he finished.
Jessie gave him a look of disbelief. She opened her mouth to chew him out, for both lying to her and letting their prisoner get away with his negligence, but she froze suddenly in fear, staring at three large figures standing behind Meowth.
"...I think I buy your story..." Jessie said fearfully.
"Really? You do?" Meowth said. Jessie nodded slowly in response. Slowly, it dawned on the cat why she believed it. "Dere're Pangoro behind me, aren't dere?" Jessie nodded again.
"RUN!" they both yelled, sprinting away. The three Pangoro charged after them.
"Meowstic!" Ash called out. "Meowstic, if you can hear me, say something!"
"Pikaaaa!" Pikachu joined his master in calling out the stolen Pokémon.
"Ash? Is...that...you?" Clemont panted, emerging from the bushes, panting. They had been searching for over an hour now, and all the walking, searching, and yelling was starting to take its toll on the unathletic mechanic. Bonnie emerged shortly after with Dedenne.
"Any luck finding them?" Ash asked. The siblings shook their heads sadly. "Well, let's keep looking. We can't let Team Rocket get away with this!" he said determinedly.
As if on cue, a familiar red-head and talking Pokémon charged towards them - Jessie and Meowth.
"Hold it!" Ash said, holding a hand out in the "stop" gesture.
"Oh great, now there're twerps?!" Jessie said, skidding to a halt in front of their nemeses.
"What did you do to Meowstic, you big meanies?" Bonnie asked angrily. Jessie and Meowth didn't bother answering, opting instead to hide behind the twerps, much to the latter group's confusion. Everything was cleared up when they saw the three rampaging Pangoro chasing them, however.
"Whoa! All right, what'd you do to anger them?" Ash said.
"Enough wit da accusations already!" Meowth yelled. "We didn't do nuttin! Dose guys just started attacking us!"
"Uh oh... I think I remember hearing about territorial Pangoro in this forest..." Clemont said worriedly. "I don't think they'll let us off with a warning..." The Pangoro trio were getting awfully close by now.
"Guess we don't have a choice..." Ash said. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"
"Luxray, back him up with Discharge!" Clemont said, releasing his own Pokémon.
"Gourgeist, you use Seed Bomb!" Jessie decided to help out, too. Their three Pokémon jumped in front of their trainers, launching their attacks. The three attacks combined, smashing into the charging Pangoro. Unfortunately, Pangoro were known for fighting through any damage inflicted upon them, and they charged through the attacks unfazed. The Pangoro trio smashed into the line of defending Pokémon, hitting Pikachu and Luxray with a Hammer Arm. Gourgeist was spared damage, due to being immune to Fighting-type moves, but the Pangoro targeting it quickly remedied this by swiping her with a Dragon Claw.
The defending Pokémon were knocked back to their trainers, but quickly recovered, albeit on the verge of fainting. The Pangoro likewise prepared another charge of Hammer Arms.
"W-What now?" Clemont asked.
Ash thought for a bit. Dodging would do no good, as the Pangoro would just continue on and pummel the three humans. And there was no time to coordinate a strategy of any sort with his two teammates. So, all he could do was order another attack...
"Uh... Pikachu, Thunderbolt! Again!"
"Okay, I guess... Luxray, Discharge again!"
"This is your brilliant plan?!" Jessie said. "Ugh, whatever. Gourgeist, Seed Bomb... again!"
Once again, the defenders' attacks combined, smashing into the line of charging Pangoro. They staggered a bit, but kept charging. Just one more attack would've been enough to down them, but there wasn't any time, and the group's Pokémon definitely wouldn't last another hit... Pikachu, Luxray, and Gourgeist braced themselves for the finishing blow, but then...
"Inkay, use Psybeam!"
"Braixen, Flamethrower, let's go!"
"And I'll use Charge Beam!"
Another volley of three attacks soared over their shoulders and struck the Pangoro, finally knocking the beasts out. Jessie, Ash, Meowth, Bonnie, and Clemont all looked towards the source.
"Serena!" Ash, Bonnie, and Clemont cried out.
"And James!" Jessie and Meowth likewise said.
The groups reunited, but then quickly went back to their quarreling. Ash and the siblings jumped to the right side of the path, while Jessie and Meowth jumped to the left. James and Serena stayed in the middle, trying to mediate the two groups.
"Okay, hand over Meowstic!" Ash demanded.
Jessie scoffed. "As if. Come on, James, let's make our escape!"
"Guys, calm down!" Serena said, gesturing with her hands. "Meowstic doesn't want to go back." She then, with the help of James, explained Meowstic's reasons for wanting to run away, how she was weary of all the rules that members of high society have to follow.
"It's true," the Meowstic in question said to back up what James and Serena said, to the surprise of those who haven't heard her speak yet. Before anyone could ask, she added "And yes, I can talk. Don't make me explain myself a third time today."
"We're planning on setting her free somewhere far away from here, where her owners won't be able to find her," James said.
"Er... actually," Meowstic started, sounding a little shy and unsure of herself. "I... wouldn't mind if..." Before she could finish, however, the three defeated Pangoro started sobbing, very loudly and obnoxiously.
"Pan...Pangoro pan!" the apparent leader of them wailed.
"Huh? Dey're beggin' us not to take over deir forest..." Meowth translated.
"Pan, pan Pangoro!" a second one added.
"They said some humans forced them out of their previous home, and that this was all they have left..." Meowstic translated this time. A look of realization appeared on her face. "My master's private woods! That was your previous home, wasn't it? And those explosions I heard on the day of the deal... You guys were defending your home..."
"Pangoro pan?!" the third one said angrily, realizing that the Meowstic was with the humans that kicked them out of their home. It weakly stood up, limped over to Meowstic with an arm raised... and promptly fell down harmlessly.
"No, don't worry, I'm not with them... not anymore, anyway," Meowstic said. "I'm so sorry about what my master did to you..."
"What a big meanie!" Bonnie said, pouting. "That can't be legal, can it big brother?"
Clemont thought for a bit. "Now that you mention it, there should be preservation laws preventing the private ownership of land that Pokémon reside in..." Clemont said, stroking his chin. "Lady Meowstic, how did your owner acquire that forest?"
"I...don't quite know," Meowstic shrugged. "He always dodged the question whenever one of our guests brought it up. All I remember is that on the morning of the deal, he had several of his servants come with him into the forest, all carrying pretty strong Pokémon..." she said. "Then the local gym leader came to inspect the area, found no Pokémon calling the forest their home, and signed the land over to my master."
"It sounds to me that your owner and his servants chased the Pangoro out to make it seem like the forest was uninhabited," Clemont said. "Which, if I'm not mistaken, is against the law. We should probably tell the police. And fortunately, they're already here to help look for Meowstic!"
"All right then, let's go get these Pangoro their homes back!" Ash said, tightening his gloves and hat in determination.
"Pangoro pan!" the three Pangoro said, tears streaming out of their eyes.
"Dey're sayin' tanks," Meowth translated. Even he started crying a bit, too. "Aww, what a touchin' story! Of course we'll help!"
"It'll be hilarious watching him get dragged away by the cops he called to arrest us!" Jessie added.
With that, everyone started walking back towards the mansion, ready to expose Lord William for the crook he is. James and Meowstic stayed behind for a bit.
"This whole case will probably keep your servants and owner quite busy," James told the cat. "Now might be a good time to make your escape. Besides, if you came with us, your owner might catch you and bring you to prison with him." James knew how these things worked. There were a few times where the police caught him and returned him to his family, despite him saying he didn't want to go home. He assumed it'd be the same, if not more restrictive for Pokémon.
"No, it's okay," Meowstic said. "I want to help out, too. And also..." She blushed again. "I... I want to go with y-"
"HEY! James, hurry up or we're leaving you behind!" Jessie called out, interrupting Meowstic.
"C-Coming!" James said, jogging up and signaling Meowstic to do the same. Meowstic just sighed at being interrupted yet again.
A fair distance away, several servants (and one Officer Jenny) were combing the forest, searching for any trace of Lady Meowstic's whereabouts.
"Don't worry sir," Officer Jenny said, patting her Growlithe. "We'll find your Meowstic. Growlithe here has an excellent sense of smell."
"Growl!" the fire-type in question said in response, sniffing the air.
"Yes, that's all well and good, but..." Lord William struggled to keep his amicable tone. "I could've sworn I ordered - er, requested that your entire police department to aid in the search!"
"Unfortunately, this forest is very far away from town. And we can't dedicate the entire police force to one task. We still need to respond to incidents in the city."
Inside, Lord William was furious. Outside, however...
"Ah. Oh well, I understand. Still, you have my gratitude for helping me find my dear Meowstic!" he said, without a trace of his anger slipping.
"Happy to serve, sir!" Officer Jenny said, continuing on with her search. Lord William watched her walk away, still boiling mad that after all the donations he made to the police department, they weren't bending over backwards for him.
"Milord, we've finished searching this area," a young-looking servant reported to the lord. "Shall we move deeper?"
Unfortunately, the servant caught his master in a bad mood.
"What do you think, you simpleton!" Lord William snapped back, causing the servant to recoil. "Spread out and search deeper into the forest!
"B-But milord, the Pangoro! They'll thrash us if we run into them!"
"Well, you'd better hope you find Meowstic before they find you, huh?"
The servant gulped "Yes, milord." He then walked away to let the other servants know their orders.
"When I get my hands on that Meowstic..." Lord William said menacingly. "She'll be lucky if she ever sees the sunlight in the next ten years!" He took a breath to compose himself. Then, fixing his suit and tie, he delved deeper into the forest to continue the search for his little prisoner.