Author notes:
Well it looks like I lied about having the next chapter being longer, in hindsight I probably could have ended the last chapter where I ended it here but once I officially place a chapter on here I'm done with it. This was going to be a much longer chapter but it felt better to cut it in half. Chapter 12: Prepare for Flare is my longest chapter and was even hard for me to keep it together. I can't tell you how many times I went back and forth on how I wanted to go about it, the end result was putting both stories the twerp's and Meowth's together in one chapter. The "amazing" saga chapters would have been much longer and probably much more confusing with all that has been going on if I kept it at its original length.
Fair warning Ash and all his friends maybe out of character again in this chapter, you will probably see why once the situation comes up which I will explain my reasons at the end of this chapter. I've heard that the main cast is much more mature in their desicion making including Ash when it comes to battles and that he has become...dare I say it smarter? Well he did make it to the finals but I would be shocked if they actually let him win.
While Ash's end goal is to reach Snowbelle City in this story and the show itself has past that stage. This story can fit pretty much anywhere, I only started it like that because the series was still in the master class whatever thing when I first posted it online. In hindsight I probably should have made the story more open ended on when it actually takes place for future readers but I figured it was best to give some actual placement, in any case if the Snowbelle City thing bothers you because it already happened just imagine a different gym or city, at the end of the day Ash's end goal doesn't effect the story in anyway.
Chapter 18: The Amazing Mask of Secrets
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Meowth was certain he saw something; it looked like a razor leaf. He heard something fly as he saw something graze the rope that held the bridge together. He stopped running and looked back just in time to see what looked like another razor leaf slicing through one of the ropes.
"HOLD ON TIGHT!" They were confused as to why and almost didn't follow through in time as the bridge dropped sideways.
"AHHH!" They all screamed. Soon after that, Meowth heard another razor leaf slicing through the remaining rope.
"AHHH!" They screamed as the bridge swung across to the side they were aiming for. Meowth was slammed into the wall of the canyon so hard as the pain shot through its shoulder causing it to slowly blackout. Meowth acted fast and bit itself so it wouldn't. If it did blackout it would fall, it repeated that notion to itself over and over again. It was so tired, but it gathered all the strength it needed to push itself. It grabbed onto the wood plank above and climbed the broken bridge like it was a ladder. Its shoulder was in excruciating pain with each move. As it made it to the top; it wanted to pass out but knew this was not the time or place to do so.
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"Thanks for your help Noivern," Ash said as he called it back. Meowth moved towards the edge to look down. It was rubbing its aching shoulder as it tried to catch any sounds, any smells or any indication of who possibly did it. At the corner of its eye, it thought it saw a shadow move swiftly between the sharp rocks at the bottom of the gorge.
***Click, clack, click, clack***
Footsteps that came from behind filled its ears as it turned around. Meowth quickly equipped itself with its poker face, pretending everything was normal. The stupid twerp along with his friends walked up to it. The question that was on their minds was obvious.
"I heard someone use razor leaf, someone broke the bridge," Meowth answered before they could even ask. It stopped rubbing its shoulder so it wouldn't bring attention to itself.
"So that's why you were..." Ash thought.
"Who do you think could have done it?" Serena asked.
"Well the bigger the user the louder it is, maybe it's those men from before." Meowth contemplated out loud.
"Those men?" Dr. Pan inquired.
"We traveled through here before but it was in a different part of the mountains. Three men on Tropius attacked us." Clemont explained.
"Do you think they could be behind Team Rocket's disappearance?" He questioned as they all focused their attention onto the scratch cat Pokémon. Meowth avoided eye contact, flustered with the question. It has crossed his mind, the possibilities started to race through his mind as he became visibly melancholy as a tired expression decorated his features. A fingerless gloved hand appeared in the corner of his eye reaching out to pet him; Meowth quickly scratched the twerp as it batted him away.
"Ow!" Ash winched eyeing his newly acquired scratch.
"Quit Treating Me Like I'm Some Pet!" It snapped.
The way Meowth handled itself was amazing. It just took charge and climbed up itself without waiting for any assistance. Ash just couldn't understand why it felt that he was the one suffocating it. That's the last thing he would ever want any Pokémon to feel around him. Meowth is away from Team Rocket and its flourishing before their eyes because of it and yet it feels he is suffocating it? That's at least one thing he can agree on with that man and Team Flare. Meowth would only waste away if it stayed with Jessie and James. It's intelligent and has so much untapped potential, it's the ideal Pokémon to train!
"I just wanted to say thank you for warning us back there." He spoke softly as he rubbed his newly acquired scratch. Everyone nodded in agreement that if it wasn't for Meowth they wouldn't have made it.
"Hey, that wound on your arm." The four-eyed twerp pointed towards Meowth's self-inflicted bite mark. Its shoulder was the real issue but the bruising wasn't showing just yet thanks to its fur.
"It's nothing, really." Meowth brushed it off and started to walk away.
"Wait, let us bandage it up for you." The twerp unknowingly grabbed it by its bad shoulder; Meowth swallowed its yelp as it winced at the pain. It turned around to bat him away. Ash instinctively rubbed his hand but saw that it was unscratched.
"I don't want to stay here." It mumbled softly. It was brief but its moment of honesty was so timid as if it was just peeking over the wall it had built. Oh, how Ash would just love to take a sledgehammer and bash his way through. Taking into account of what just happened and who the culprits might be, its only natural that it doesn't want to stay here for too long.
Ash thought back to his Infernape when it was a Chimchar. It was so timid in the beginning because of the way Paul treated it but after showing it kindness and letting it show its true feelings it was able to grow into a strong and powerful Pokémon. The only difference is, is that Meowth gets mad every time he tries to show some form of affection. So hugging it as he did with Chimchar and letting it cry it out wasn't going to happen anytime soon since Meowth would just blow a fuse as it did before, probably even worse. He looked at his hand that had some old scratches. Some were deep and some were small, sometimes Meowth didn't scratch him at all...maybe there is still a chance to reach it.
The twerps have a knack of making Meowth regret doing good deeds. Their praises annoyed him. He only did what anyone else would have done. Just because they are enemies doesn't mean he is going to be heartless. Meowth took a deep breath to release its stresses over the fact; it had other things to worry about. Now he owed Team Oyama or to be technical he owed Mamoru. The guy didn't have to say it, Meowth was smart enough to understand that since the museum was under Mamoru's leadership, it wasn't Team Oyama that he made a fool of it was Mamoru himself. That's the thing with humans like him, their egos bruise easily, but unlike the twerps, agents don't hide it. It's one of the many reasons why Meowth prefers humans that work for teams. The twerps hide their selfish goals or try to glorify it because they did something good in order to gain what they got, but agents are not ashamed at all. They know what they want and will do whatever it takes to get it.
"Shu, Shu," Its ears twitched as it heard a whisper.
"Pika?" "De?" The electric rodents chimed in as they too heard it, gathering the humans' attention.
"Shu, Shu." They heard it again; Meowth was the first one to walk towards the sound. It was a Pokémon, it knew this much and it was coming from a path that was going through another narrow canyon. There wasn't much of a choice of where to go and Meowth wasn't sure where to go from there so hearing a Pokémon's voice leading them into another narrow canyon was better than nothing. Meowth made its way to the entrance of the new path and saw it was a Shuckle.
"Shu, Shu." It said. It was slightly larger than most Shuckle, with its yellow body being slightly fatter than most.
"Uh...yes," Meowth shyly answered.
"It's a Shuckle!" The mini twerp exclaimed causing the Shuckle to move backward ducking its head low. It then saw the rest of the humans with their Pokémon, which clearly made it nervous.
"Shu, Shu."
"What did it say?" Bonnie asked happily moving in to close for comfort for the Shuckle.
"Bonnie you're making the Shuckle feel uncomfortable," Clemont told her. "It's wild, it's probably not familiar with humans."
"Oh, but I'm no threat, I want to be its friend, right Dedenne." "De, De." It concurred.
"Meowth, tell it that I want to be its friend."
"Not all Pokémon wish to be friends with humans," Meowth stated nonchalantly as it stepped in between Bonnie and Shuckle.
"But if you explained,"
"No!" Meowth cuts her off.
"I'm not here to help you spread your twerpy views onto other Pokémon. Seriously, it's not even five minutes and you're already making me regret helping you back there." Meowth had a talent to hit where it hurts the most. Bonnie's reaction was a tearful one as expected from a little girl, while the others looked on with disapproval.
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They quietly followed the slow Pokémon. Luckily for them, Meowth was walking at Shuckle's pace and not high tailing it away in anger this time. Meowth observed Shuckle keeping its distance away from the humans, more so than Bidoof. This Shuckle was wearier of the humans as it always glanced over its shoulder, keeping a steady eye on their movements as they walked behind the Pokémon. He felt his aggravation rising as the anticipation of hurdles that he will have to jump over were coming his way.
"Shu, Shu." It stopped as it turned to face an opening to a cave. The ground started to vibrate as heavy footsteps were heard. A Golett emerged from the cave giving an indication that they can enter. The humans followed the Pokémon but were stopped as Golett used rockslide by slamming its fist into the wall causing rocks to fall onto them.
"AHH!" They screamed as they backed off avoiding the attack as much as they could.
"Please tell it we mean no harm." Dr. Pan spoke franticly as he hid behind Serena. "I really want to see what's inside the cave."
"Ugh...he's worse than James." Meowth thought annoyingly as it observed the archeologist's cowardly behavior that was way too similar to James.
"Golett, Golett, Go, Go, Golett, Lett!" It growled.
"Pika!" "De, De!" They threatened as sparks of electricity started coming out of their cheeks.
"You two are no help," Meowth mumbled uncaringly. "It won't allow humans to enter."
"But I mean no harm. I really would like to see if there are any new discoveries inside. Can't you work something out like you did with the Bouffalant?"
"That was different, it was just you and you're an idiot. Now there are more idiots and they're Pokémon trainers."
"Hey, there's no need to be mean, I'm not an idiot!" He whined defensively.
"Says The Idiot Who Travels Through Mountains Without Pokémon!" Meowth shot back.
"Now you just sound like my boss!" Dr. Pan blubbered idiotically as he cried wiping away his tears with his white handkerchief.
"You know what," Bonnie whispered slyly to her brother and friends "Meowth does have a point, he is an idiot."
"Now that you mention it, doesn't Dr. Pan remind you of anyone?" Clemont asked as they all pondered over the question.
"Come on Meowth, we promise we won't do anything." Serena pleaded on behalf of everyone. Meowth sighed as it turned to the growling Golett.
"How about a compromise? If you let them all in they will leave every item and Pokémon that they have out here or you could allow up to two of the humans to go in while the others stay out here." Golett looked at the humans and back at Meowth as it pondered over the suggestion.
"Golett, Golett?"
"Uh...yes, I am." Meowth answered as he avoided eye contact. "I work for Team Rocket. I've helped your team before."
"Golett, Golett, Go, Go, Let, Golett, Gol, Golett."
"It says it will allow one of you to come in but you still have to leave all of your items and Pokémon out here."
"Why do we need to leave all of our stuff behind? Just who is this team and since when did you help them?" Ash questioned as he felt the hot rage and feelings of resentment threatening to resurface.
"Look, I don't make the rules around here. This is how it's going to be. You can refuse. You can go and resume your quest to get gym badges." Meowth calmly suggested as Ash tightly clenched his fists while Dr. Pan happily dropped all of his belongings.
Meowth sighed, "I'm not trying to trick you. Every day you twerps make me regret trying to work together since the beginning of this ordeal. I should have just stolen a Pokémon or anything, really anything. That's really all I had to do and you know it!" Meowth's calm voice rose in volume as it snapped at them. Meowth then covered its eyes as it pressed its paws against them briefly as it shook its head. It took a deep breath then exhaled as it looked back at them.
"Golett is a Pokéteer and a majority of Pokéteers don't trust humans." It said as it returned to its calm voice. "The only humans they trust are the agents that they were assigned to. Pokéteers are just different from your average wild Pokémon. One human with no Pokémon of his own in an open space is one thing but when you have five and three of them are trainers in a tight space like a cave creates unwanted anxiety. Seriously, for a couple of Pokémon trainers, you're really dense." Meowth explained the situation calmly and simplified it as best as he could, but couldn't hold back on his insult. They looked to Golett as it was swaying its body left to right agitatedly as it kept a watchful eye on them. Shuckle was the closest to the entrance of the cave observing the situation, it too seems nervous as it kept its head lowered. The only one that wasn't fearful of them was Meowth. If Meowth didn't know them would it have been fearful as well? What do these organizations do to these Pokémon to make them feel this way?
"You twerps are really getting on my last nerve. I didn't explain it to you so you can somehow fix a problem that isn't there. If you're not going to comply then leave." It said distastefully as it witnessed the twerps' emotions rise to the surface.
"You're unbelievable, how can you not see that this is a problem!?" Ash demanded.
"SHUT UP!" Meowth shouted frustratingly. "I'm in no mood to argue the differences in our values and I'm most definitely not in the mood to be preached to by some condescending twerp either! This is how things are and this is how things are going to stay. If you're not going to comply with the compromise then leave."
"Go!" "Shu!" They chimed in unison.
Ash's hard glare was fixated on the blue-eyed feline. Ash was furious to its claims and its stubbornness made things even worse. But it wasn't the only one since the other two Pokémon weren't going to budge either. He couldn't tell if this was just one of Meowth's latest attempts to get under his skin...it was working but was it on purpose this time? Either way, he wasn't going to let it have its way. He took off his backpack, took off his belt that contained his Pokémon and set Pikachu on the ground. Petting it on the head with a smirk, letting it know everything was all right. He turned to face Meowth who was clearly still aggravated.
"I'm not going anywhere! I'll go inside the cave with you." He declared, not realizing he took away Dr. Pan's glory of exploring the cave. The Pokémon led the way as Ash followed them in, leaving Pikachu and his friends behind.
***Sob, Sob***
"But I wanted to go in!" Dr. Pan cried into his white handkerchief.
"You guys see it right?" Clemont whispered to the girls as they nodded.
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The ordinary cave had crystals and quartz the deeper they went in. It was a lot like the bunker that Meowth was in with Bidoof and Dwebble. There were many little holes on the sides and on the ground caused by the Diglett and Dugtrio that they saw passing them by every so often. Thankfully this cave had old lights that were spread out by humans for humans to see where they were going. They reached the main shaft of the cave, which contained crates, food supplies and hiking gear for humans. Shuckle disappeared into its red shell to take out gems and other rare stones that it was carrying inside its shell.
"Golett!" It shouted and the ground started to shake as Diglett popped out of the ground taking the gems and rare stones with them. Ash was puzzled to what he was seeing unfold as Meowth watched glamorously as he knew it was the most glorious scheme ever.
"Shu, Shu."
"Golett." They said to each other as they both formed the Pokéteer pledge to one another. They then turned to Meowth ready to explain but Meowth stopped them as he raised a paw.
"You don't have to explain anything, Bidoof and Dwebble told me all about it and I must say you guys rock!" Giving them the thumbs up.
"What's going on? Since when did you meet a Dwebble?" Ash asked since he was clearly out of the loop.
"It's so Amazing!" It clearly didn't hear him.
"The SS&S is truly one of my favorites, nothing beats an old classic scheme," Meowth exclaimed admiring their work.
"SCHEME!?" Ash exclaimed.
"What Scheme? Explain Yourself! What is the SS&S?" Ash demanded. Meowth was taken out of its blissful state too soon as it turned to the twerp unhappily.
"Relax twerp, it's on a need to know basis. You're only here out of the kindness of Golett so keep your high and mighty opinions to yourself!" It snapped at him quickly so it could return to its delighted state, absorbing all the badness of a perfectly executed scheme as stars of complete admiration filled its eyes. It was so full in its own daze not realizing the danger it was in as Ash's anger levels were rising.
"So let me guess, is that code for all of this stuff was stolen?"
"Oh, will you just SHUT UP Already!"
Golett disappeared only to reappear with a thin limestone mask that was very old looking.
"Golett, Go, Let, Golett." It explained as it handed the mask to Meowth.
"Shu, Shu."
"What's it saying?" Ash asked while trying to calm himself down.
"It's what Mamoru wanted in return for the Team Rocket doppelganger."
"We're not helping you commit a crime!" Ash stated heatedly. "So his name is Mamoru."
"Shu!" It hit Ash in the face with a rock.
"Ah...Why you...Pikachu use...oh, that's right."
"Well what do you know, Golett's reason of caution was proven to be correct," Meowth said in a criticizing tone as Ash glared at it while not willing to let go of the new development at hand.
"It wasn't stolen," Meowth spoke casually.
"Golett, Go, Go, Golett." "Shu, Shu."
"They're saying that this needs to be returned to one of their clients, who lives in a village that's going to be hard to get to." Meowth translated.
"Huh...I haven't done a mission like this in a long time." It spoke softly to itself.
"But you shouldn't have to repay someone just because they helped you."
"Tch...I told you twerps before, nothing in life is free. They are risking a lot by helping me. I know you don't care about the well being of the teams in general but the world of Team Rocket works differently than your world. The fact that they are interfering with Team Flare on my behalf is a far greater deal than you realize. It is only fair that I do something for them in return." Meowth explained.
"You shouldn't have to repay people by stealing. If people are helping you just to get something in return than they're not really helping you in the first place." Ash spoke calmly trying to explain the errors of the ways of the organizations, hoping that his voice of reason will somehow break through its stubbornness.
"That kind of thinking is illogical, in fact, it's hypocritical. No one helps anyone just for the heck of it. They do it with the hopes of something to gain. It doesn't have to be tangible, it can be as simple as getting recognition. It's only natural that one wants a reward for what they do. You say you wish to help me but you twerps have a price of your own when it comes down to it. You're not doing it out of the kindness of your own heart, you were even under the false impression when we made our deal that I would act like one of your loyal pets. You even forced me into doing plays and sporting events that I wanted nothing to do with."
"I didn't make you do those things because I felt that you owed me. What the organizations do is wrong, why can't you understand that? Lying, Cheating, Stealing and giving others the means to pull off a crime is wrong. Hurting Pokémon to the point where they are terrified of humans is also wrong! And what's even worse they force you to do all of these crimes, can't you see your nothing but tools to them. They don't care about your well being at all, they just want you to do the work for them and you do it to gain their protection."
"How is that any different from what you do!? You capture Pokémon and then they battle for you. They save you from falling off a cliff, they transport you from island to island, they'll do anything for you and what do you do for them in return? You feed them, care for them, and you protect them from danger. So what if we lie, cheat or steal, we do it because we want to. We are not pets...we belong to no one! And there is no way we are ever going to change that for the likes of you!" Meowth shouted viciously as the other Pokémon nodded in agreement.
They gained an audience over time as a few Diglett, Dugtrio, and Aron heard their fight echo through the halls of the Team Oyama owned cave. They watched intensely along with Shuckle and Golett. Some of the spectators studied the familiar Rocketeer before them. Listening to it talk like a human to a human who was an outsider. It was a rare sighting to see such an anomaly to occur. The spectators felt the anger that was laced within their words as they absorbed the toxic energy. Some started to growl towards the strange human that smelled of multiple Pokémon. He was a trainer and he was in their home preaching to them. Some of the Pokémon started to stomp their feet, ready to charge. This trainer needs to leave their home. No human should be here.
Ash looked around and finally took notice of all the eavesdroppers and their agitated expressions. They were unhappy with him as some of them began to growl. Meowth took notice as well and decided to stop its banter. It was way past its limit, the twerp infuriated it so much it was almost unbearable.
"I can't wait to be back with Jessie and James!" It thought, "Anymore of this and I think I might explode."
"I want to help you," Ash whispered before looking straight into fierce blue eyes with brown eyes stirred with mixed emotions of his own.
"If Team Flare or anyone else tries to come and take you away, you know I will protect you. We'll find Team Rocket, we'll find them together but I can't ignore all the bad things they do. Even so, it won't change the fact that I do want to help you." He spoke with sincerity. He stared at it for a moment then looked away as he stared at his shoes. He clenched his shaking fists a few times as his despair ate away his optimism. He squeezed his eyes shut as he pushed the dark feelings away then looked back up at the scratch cat Pokémon.
"You're stuck with me from here on out and nothing you can do will change that." He spoke confidently as Meowth felt a burning itch to scratch his face as it squeezed the mask between its paws.
"I understand you're going through a lot right now, what happened to you was awful and the fact that those men may be behind it is a scary thought that I'm sure is going through your mind. I understand that you're frustrated right now, I've always felt that way when you stole Pikachu from me so I understand..."
"You will never understand what I'm going through!" Meowth screamed as it cuts him off.
"You will never understand the dynamics of the organizations that exist throughout our world. The battles, the challenges it's all different. But why would a self-righteous twerp like you want to understand the ways of the big bad organizations like Team Rocket? You want me to tell you how I'm feeling? How dare you! You act as if you're doing me a big favor by being here. I know you have this weird tendency of wanting to be a hero all the time but are you really that desperate in wanting to be everyone's hero?" It inquired viciously.
"It's not that I want to be a hero, it's about doing the right thing and helping those who are in need."
"Then Go Where Your Help Is Needed!" Meowth snapped.
"I Already Am!" Ash snapped back.
"How Dare You!" Meowth was beyond furious.
"Since when did you ever care about my wellbeing? You never took an interest in me before, how Dare You act like you Care!" It shouted, stomping its foot hard at the word 'care'. The ground shook a little, probably due to the movement from the other Diglett and Dugtrio. "You would have never searched for me if it weren't for Hawlucha and Pancham disappearing on you that day."
"That's not true! I wanted to search for you." Ash countered.
"Liar!" Meowth exclaimed accusingly. "Says the twerp who believed some kid was a messenger for Team Rocket!"
Ash couldn't respond as he was trying to find the right words, it seemed like he was running out of options. His body was trembling with anguish as his own set of rage battled it out within him. It's true he believed that but he also believed what it said before their fight that night.
"I want to understand..." its voice echoed through his head.
"I believed that too...that was the real you." He looked down as the lid of his hat covered his eyes.
"I wanted to search for you." He whispered to himself. Meowth squeezed the mask between its paws, it was so angry that it wanted to scream. It couldn't take it anymore, it was all too overwhelming to bear. It looked up to see the concern expressions of the other Pokémon as Shuckle came up to it.
"Shu, Shu." It said.
There was so much to be done, it can't stop now and whine about its problems. It looked at the twerp who had his head down with the lid of his hat covering his eyes. The twerp wasn't crying but he was visibly shaking, probably because Mr. Goodie Tushu's hates anything and everything dealing with Team Rocket. It is safe now but once they leave the cave the twerp will call on his Pokémon to provide Meowth with even more obstacles. Meowth took a deep breath then exhaled slowly. It has to calm down and let go of the heavy burden of stress over the matter. In order to succeed in this new mission, it needs to make peace with the annoying twerp. Meowth tightened its grip onto the mask at the idea. The twerp means well but to be with him this long is infuriating. It observed the limestone mask in its paws. It had the north star carved on its forehead, not wanting to overthink it Meowth took another deep breath to calm itself down. Meowth bit its lip at the idea of what must be done as it swallowed the lump in its throat.
"The mask wasn't stolen twerp, they really do just need it to be returned to its owner." It started to explain softly.
"Mamoru is a jerk, I'm not doing this for him." Meowth paused for a moment. "Well I guess technically I am but I'm doing it for them too." He looked to Golett and Shuckle.
"I want to help them. We work for different teams but our struggles and desires are the same...I think...I'm starting to understand." It spoke with a whole lot of sincerity.
Ash looked up and saw the warmth that existed in its heart as well as the other Pokémon. The heated battle within himself melted away as he felt calmer. While he didn't approve of their actions, the kind nature that exists within each and every Pokémon here was clear to see. That good nature within these Pokémon was being abused by the likes of Team Rocket. That didn't sit well with him, but it seemed that there was more going on here than meets the eye. He wants to know, but getting any kind of information has been difficult with an uncooperative Meowth.
"I think I'm beginning to understand." Meowth thought happily as it looked at the mask that had small holes for the eyes. Curious to see the world through the tiny slits for human eyes, it then lifted the mask up to place it on its face playfully. As if his body had a mind of its own, Ash ran up to it and smacked the mask away as he placed his arms around it. He shocked everyone including himself as he felt Meowth's body tense up so quickly that it was stiff to his touch.
Meowth held its breath as its muscles tightened. It was confused by what just happened. Strong human arms were wrapped around its abdomen as the twerp leaned his head against its own. It felt so small as its back was against the twerp's chest, feeling the texture of his hair and skin rubbing against its soft fur. He held it tightly without petting it but this sensation that humans give when touching it was unpleasant. To be held by something large was odd, it felt like Meowth was going to be engulfed by a heavyweight. A human's way of showing their affection is to pet a Pokémon, Meowth can do without the demeaning practice...at least from most humans. Meowth felt the immediate urge to bite the twerp's arm for doing such a daring act but refrained itself. It didn't like this but to waste energy on something trivial was not a luxury Meowth has at the moment.
"Get off of me." It whispered a half-baked warning. The twerp remained on the ground sitting on his knees as he followed through. Meowth released the air that was held within its lungs as its muscles relaxed. It turned around and slapped him in the face, leaving a small scratch behind. Ash winced at the pain but it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. He placed a hand over his scratched cheek as he watched Meowth who in return glared at him before going to pick up the mask that was discarded onto the ground. It seemed that Meowth was willing to go easy on him but not so much since it was in front of Pokémon that probably had the same disapprovals of human contact like Baltoy had.
The scratch stung a little but it didn't stop a small smile that began to take form. He thought it would have exploded into a screaming frenzy but it didn't. A small light of hope glimmered at the idea that they can somehow come together as friends. That one day the idea of catching it under good terms wasn't so farfetched after all. Meowth isn't like the others, maybe it's due to its ability to talk. It seemed to be more open-minded about humans in general compared to Baltoy and the other Pokémon they have met. Or maybe it was just because of their past together that Meowth wasn't as nervous like the other Pokémon. That was a saddening thought. What if Meowth didn't know him? Ash pushed the idea aside as he watched the other Pokeémon disappear. To be so uncomfortable around humans bothered him as Ash wondered about the possible atrocities that organizations like Team Rocket do to make Pokémon act this way. Baltoy thought Meowth's speed and abilities were awful. How so? It was incredible! It said that Meowth would have failed if it were being tested. Tested for what? What kind of tests do they take? Whenever Ash felt like he was finally starting to understand, it felt like there were more secrets being added on to make it even more confusing. He hated the organizations and all the evil things they have done but he had to admit there might be more to Team Rocket than meets the eye.
"It's cracked." Meowth mumbled sadly as he picked it up. Golett and Shuckle looked over his shoulder to see the damage.
"Shuuu, Shu, Shu."
"Golett."
"Oh good, I'm glad it's not a big deal," Meowth answered.
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Ash was greeted by Pikachu who jumped into his arms the minute he came out of the cave.
"Pika Pi!" It cried, it then noticed the tiny scratch on his cheek and knew immediately who the culprit was. "PIKA!" It growled.
"Don't worry Pikachu its not as bad as it looks," Ash said to calm his friend down.
"Pikachu." It said sadly as it started to lick his wound.
"Ha, Ha Pikachu!" Ash giggled at the warm affection he received from his friend as he stroked its back gently in a warm hug.
"Yuck! I think I'm going to be sick." Meowth watched in disgust.
"How can Pokémon degrade themselves like that?" Meowth turned to the Oyateers and the scene disturbed them too. They told him that the town was only reachable through a cave, but there were tricks to it. They told him that it will be challenging to get through but as a Pokéteer he should be able to get through it just fine.
"Golett, Golett, Go, Go, Let, Gol, Golett, Go." "Shu, Shu." Meowth gasped slightly to himself as they repeated what so many have said before them.
"What did they say?" The twerp asked.
"Timing is everything." Meowth translated unintentionally. "What is today will become yesterday tomorrow."
"Isn't that what Anthony said before we parted ways?" The twerpette questioned.
"What does that even mean?" Clemont inquired.
"It sounds like it could be a riddle." Dr. Idiot answered. Meowth's mind started to fill itself with doubts once again, not sure if he was up to the task to perform at the level that is expected of Pokéteers. He is not strong enough. He was confident before because he always saw the path in his dreams, a strange phenomenon in itself. There was a cave in the dreams too but how he ended up at the cave was always a blur. He can't do this on his own. Who will guide him now?
"Golett, Golett." It said as it placed a finger onto his koban, snapping Meowth out of his daze.
"Huh?" He said as a spark of light flickered at its touch.
"Whoa!" The bystanders exclaimed. Dr. Pan quickly took out his notepad to write down the experience as he continued to watch in awe as if artifacts he studied before were coming to life before his very eyes. Golett removed itself from Meowth's koban and began to tap the yellow swirl on its body, which flickered a light as well.
"Golett, Go, Golett, Golett, Let." It said reassuringly as it pointed to the sky.
"Golett, Golett, Go, Golett." It said as it placed its finger on the koban once more to let it spark its light once again.
"Golett!" It declared, pounding its fist against its chest.
"Pika?" "De, De?" They questioned as Meowth listened intently as Golett explained the sun's light is within everyone and that the sun, the stars, and the moon all work together to guide them. True Pokéteers are capable of overcoming anything because they are as steady as the mountains that the sun shines its light on. Meowth was touched by Golett's words of encouragement. Like magic he felt like the light that sparked from his koban cleared his doubts away.
"I can do this...I can do this." He chanted to himself, it was quiet but Meowth could have sworn he heard a voice say:
(Yes you can!)
"What's it saying?" Someone asked but Meowth didn't pay attention to who it was as Golett and Shuckle both preformed the Pokéteer pledge. Meowth followed through and gave his pledge to them as well as a paw, a rock fist, and a yellow limb came together forming a little pact.
"Interesting, I saw it preform that gesture with the Bouffalant." Dr. Pan whispered to himself as he excitedly wrote down everything.
"The Bouffalant?" Ash overheard him, he decided to let it go but kept it in mind seeing that there was so much more to these mountains than he realized.
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"Go, Go!" "Shuuu!"
"And that's it?" Meowth asked as both Pokémon nodded happily. "Well okay then, that sounds simple enough."
"Golett, Go?"
"Oh, okay."
"Shuu." "Golett, Let." Meowth nodded to their back and forth conversation as Ash and his friends watched confusingly since they only understood what Meowth was saying who was not doing a very good job interpreting for them.
"GOLETT!" "SHU!" They cheered.
"I think I got it," Meowth said nervously as he was overloaded with too much information. He wasn't sure if he can remember it all but he reminded himself that he used to do missions like this all the time before he became partners with Jessie and James. He almost felt nostalgic.
"What's this feeling?" He asked himself, it felt warm like an ember that was once burnt out but was now regrowing inside him.
"This feeling..." It felt so familiar as he remembered the nights when he was once "Top Cat" roaming the city.
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Author notes:
Ash and his friends were probably out of character for a lot of you here since we all know when it comes to stealing, the organizations etc. Ash is no pushover and most likely would not have given the benefit of the doubt in that kind of situation. He would have been the hot-headed tempered twerp that he is and not give it a second thought. But hopefully I written it well enough to show why he is letting some of it slide. He doesn't know who Mamoru works for, he didn't even know the guy's name because it was said before they got there. All the secrecy is happing right in front of them and its overwhelming to them in their own right. So in a way they have their own curiosities about what is really going on. In a lot of ways this could be considered out of character for the main cast and I get that but hopefully they don't come off too occ.
Meowth hiding its wounds maybe considered to be out of character, from what I remember I don't think I ever saw it wanting to be taken care of when it was vulnerable. I know it was wounded in the beginning of Unova and when the first encounter of Malmar happened but nothing said anything about it willing to be cared for. Again I haven't watched the recent seasons but my reasonings behind it is in fact because it doesn't what to seem vulnerable. Its a wild pokemon and its a cat, cats are naturally both prey and predator so showing weaknesses like limping etc. is not wise. Now add the pokemon factor into the mix, being injured or tired would just give a trainer the incentive to capture it and it knows this. So again I haven't seen the recent episodes and am only going by from what I remember and the only time I remember it being injured was during a episode when a Miltank took care of pokemon and even in front of pokemon it wasn't willing to accept help right away. The other time was when its koban was stuck in its head, but it wasn't injured if memory serves it was just upset that its "charm" was gone. Its been awhile since I've seen an episode so I could be remembering it wrong.