Note: This chapter got some mild swearing because people are in an emotional state. The swearing has been kept to a minimum because these characters are usually in FAMILY FRIENDLY SHOWS but this isn't a family friendly fanfic...
k read on.
Kirby's voice trembled as he began to cry. Galacta Knight put a comforting hand on Kirby's head.
Mimikyu hissed and slid over to the cold corpse. Galacta Knight followed.
It stared at Meta Knight. It processed what just happened as it remembered the friend. Mimikyu remembered the mask it had kept, only to see a copy of that mask drenched in blood, the being who once wore it now dead.
Everyone stood in silence.
"I'm going to go to the Pokemon Centre." Jessie said suddenly and ran off, Mimikyu squeaking in surprise and chasing after her.
"We should all go to the Pokemon Centre." Lana and Mallow said in unison.
"Meow!" Kirby gasped. "Meow is hu't! We gotta go to Pokemon Centre! He sav'd me! Meow...f? He said I was pwonunc'n his n'me wong."
Kirby was about to race off, but he remembered that he didn't know the direction at all. He jumped frantically, tears welling in his eyes.
"I kind of do hope Meowth is okay. I mean, he did help us and he saved Kirby, right? I know he's Team Rocket and he's an annoying nuisance at best... but he was changed by M-meta Knight, he saved Kirby... b-but Meta Knight's... not here." Ash said, glancing at Meta Knight. In the shock of all things, the poor broken corpse lying on the school grounds, Ash tried to speak more but a gasp escaped his mouth instead and he began sobbing. His friends stayed by his side, making comforting remarks and a lot of them were also trying not to cry. Lillie wiped a few tears from her face.
"Thank you, Meta Knight. For everything you did to help." She whispered, eyes red.
"Come on," Professor Kukui said, biting his lip uncertainly. "Let's go to the Pokemon Centre. I'm sure Nurse Joy would understand.
So off they went to the Pokemon Centre, apart from Galacta Knight who decided to clean up the area so it didn't just look like someone murdered Meta Knight and left it like that.
Mallow had to practically restrain Kirby from bolting ahead when they saw the Centre. As Kirby burst through the door, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
As they neared the counter, Nurse Joy greeted them with the same cheerful greeting.
"Hi! Welcome to the Pokemon Centre! Would you like to heal your pokemon?" Nurse Joy smiled.
"Yeah..." Everyone said, handing over their pokeballs. Kirby and Pikachu went with Nurse Joy on top of a trolley handled by a Blissey.
While they were being wheeled to a special room where the regular healing happened, they went past rooms where Pokemon with worse injuries stayed. Just as they were about to turn a corner, Kirby heard voices from a door which had been left open. He heard the voices of doctors, other nurses who worked for the Pokemon Centre (Nurse Joy can't handle everything by herself, you know)
Kirby poyo'd in worry.
"Pika?" Pikachu pointed at the door. The voice of two doctors came from inside the room. There were two gasping sobs.
They were talking about the Pokemon inside that room.
"What's the time?"
"Erm, about one forty-six in the afternoon."
"Thank you. This is terrible to say but... Species: Kantonian Meowth. Time of Death: Friday, Fifth of June, One forty-six P.M. Year: 2020. He could not be revived."
Kirby gasped. That would've been him if it wasn't for the cat. Dead, broken, as destroyed as Meta Knight.
But why did Meowth do it? Of all people, the most evil person turned out to be the most good on the inside. Meta Knight changed his ways in the couple days they knew each other.
Was is fate that Meta Knight ended up with Team Rocket and saved his life? Or was he overthinking it...?
"Meoww!" Kirby wailed as Nurse Joy wheeled them down the corridor.
"Poor Meowth. I heard what he did for you guys." Nurse Joy sighed. "He was part of Team Rocket, but..." She faltered. Kirby and Pikachu were treated with potions and minimal bandages (one on Pikachu's tail where Tsurara bit it, and one wrapped around a cut on Kirby's body.
The Pokemon inside the Pokeballs were treated and they were wheeled back to their trainers.
"Here you go. You're pokemon are healed. I heard what happened at the Pokemon School..." Nurse Joy said sadly.
"I hope we do not have to experience it again." Kiawe muttered. "Ever."
"It was terrible, what that wolf did. It brought Kirby, Galacta Knight, and Meta Knight just to hunt them." Mallow added. "That thing tried to confuse the puffballs by sending them to a completely different world! It was lucky we found them all before Tsurara got to them first."
Kirby whimpered, eyes threatening to burst into tears. Everyone gulped, the pureness of such an innocent creature wiped, the anguish on Kirby's face making them all start crying again.
"Medi Kni..." Kirby cried, his voice so tiny that they almost couldn't hear. "Also, Meow-f... gone." Everyone was silent. They could not see Jessie or James anywhere, but they soon figured out after a heartbreaking cry came from within the back room. It did not stop, but instead was joined by the sounds of two people sobbing. Suddenly they heard footsteps grow louder, and they saw James, tears streaming from puffy red eyes, sprint out of the Centre, the yelps from Nurse Joy begging him to stop. Nurse Joy stopped in front of the students.
"We're so sorry. They were too late..." Nurse Joy explained.
"That's... So sad." Ash murmured.
"Not even a member from Team Rocket deserves that fate," Lana added, "Especially since they were even willing to help us."
"Two deaths in one day. That's lot..." Rotom stated. "Its going to be a hard couple of days. Team Rocket were good friends with Meta Knight and certainly best friends with their Meowth."
Meanwhile,
Jessie watched her friend die. From running into the room uninvited to find James there, kneeling against the bed, a Meowth, their Meowth, getting tended to by Blisseys. She had rushed to their side, hearing James curse out loud and trying to get himself together. The sight of both of them shattered her heart into shards.
Bee-beep. Bee-beep. The monitor told them that he was still clinging to life.
"Maybe he'll live." She heard James whisper. She looked up at their friend and immediately broke down. Just the sight of their friend, half unconscious and a tube disappearing down his mouth, two doctors running around with assorted bandages and potions.
"Please. Don't go." James had whispered. The only response was one lazy eye flickering open for a split second, the recognition and fear in that one glance, the silent goodbye, before the emotion went blank and the heart monitor flat-lined.
At that moment, James practically lost it. He started sobbing, racking sobs that shook his whole body until he could barely breathe. Jessie tried to keep it together, but seeing her best friends like this made her heart twinge. James couldn't take it anymore, and he stormed out of the room. Jessie gave Meowth one last look, and stroked her friend's cold fur.
"You were my best friend." She whimpered, though she knew that Meowth couldn't hear for his spirit went to a better place. "But you've gone to a better place. M-may your soul r-rest at peace."
Nurse Joy put a hand on her shoulder and lead her to the main room. Jessie collapsed into a chair, burying her face in her hands.
She bit her lip and cried. She could feel the sympathetic stares she got, but she didn't want them.
Meowth was gone, and there was no denying it. She wouldn't ever see Meowth ever again. She couldn't steal his snacks anymore, as he wouldn't have any.
Meowth was dead.
Dead.
The word rang in her ears and mind like an alarm.
The Pokemon School students watched as Jessie cried.
Maybe they weren't so different after all. They both had great friendships with their Pokemon. They had emotions. Team Rocket had feelings, minds of their own.
Kirby broke down too. Jessie looked darkly at the puff, expression bitter. Maybe she blamed Kirby for Meowth's death. The students and their teacher couldn't blame her for that. It was Meowth's decision to save Kirby.
Everyone felt like a house of cards. One wrong move and they'd all fall down and they'd all break apart.
"I guess we should... Go." Professor Kukui murmured, closing his eyes. He wished he could say more, something to help everyone with the grief, but he couldn't find the correct words. He decided to talk at school the next day. "We'll sort everything out soon. I'm going to dismiss class early, we all deserve some time to ourselves. I'll let Galacta Knight stay at my house, Kirby can go to Lillie's or someone else's if she doesn't want to."
"I can take Kirby, Professor!". Lillie choked out. She had tears streaming down her face and cheeks. "It... It's okay."
They stepped outside and found James on his knees eyes wet with tears and filled with anguish.
**********....____
James's POV FOR NOW
As I ran out of the Pokemon Centre, I couldn't take it anymore. My legs buckled underneath me and I fell to my knees. My vision was blurred for the tears that were forming in my eyes.
I can't believe this.
Why Meowth?
Why my best friend?
Why... Why did I not take him to the Pokemon Centre earlier?
He didn't want to go... Did he know that it was where he would... die?
Just... Why...
Meowth was my best friend in the whole world. He always found a way to cheer me up. He was always there for me in a pinch.
So why wasn't I there for him?!
My heart felt like someone ripped it out and threw it in the gutter, not before cutting in clean in half and wringing it of everything. I ignored the pain in my knees from falling on a hard surface. I ignored all the pain from my bloody left hand, my whole body, really, but focused on the pain in my chest, throbbing and constricting me until the only sound I could make was a heartbreaking sob.
Meowth really is gone. Gone, just a memory drifting in the wind.
A memory of the talking cat is all we have left of him.
Suddenly I heard the automatic sliding doors open. People walked from the centre.
They were the Twerps and their teacher. What were their names? I don't remember, so I usually just call them the twerpettes or the twerps. They did know my name, because Jessie and... Meowth, used to scream it whenever I was in trouble.
The memories of him are just painful now. I felt the glances dig into me as they walked.
Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder. I recoiled from the person. Why would one of the twerps comfort me? To them I'm just the idiot who tries to steal their pokemon. The idiot who they, for some reason, saved from the Dark Matter.
That's what I was.
I was an idiot.
I failed him.
"Don't touch me." I muttered harshly. "I don't need your sympathy, you twerp." Maybe it was a little too harsh, seeing as they were only going to comfort me.
"We... know what you're going through," Their teacher (I think his name is Professor Kukui? I heard one of them shout it) said sympathetically. I'm pretty sure he was the one to put a hand on my shoulder. "We know you're Team Rocket, but nobody should have to go through this alone. Not even you guys."
I didn't respond apart from a small "Thanks." I'm not sure they even heard it.
"If only... If only I could have got him here faster." I murmured, slightly louder. "He wouldn't have had to spend the rest of his life in pain." I let out a wretched gasp of dispair.
Professor Kukui put his hand on my shoulder again. Truth be told, he was being nice after all the time I've spent acting like a bitch towards all of them. He kneeled down to speak to me.
Why were they being nice? Even after all me and Jessie and Meowth have done towards them?
"James, is that your name?" I nodded weakly.
This guy was even calling me by my name as if I was a regular member of society. I'm really starting to regret everything I've ever done.
Meta Knight has left his mark. He was making me soft. He has changed me to be for so good, yet so bad.
He's the one who has changed me to be more tolerable. Meowth had said so last night.
Oh, Meta Knight... I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry you had to go through all that. I'm sorry you felt intolerable pain for the rest of your broken life.
Meta Knight... why him too? He was the best thing to come down and strike Jessie down.
Meta Knight had been there for us until the very end. He had brought everyone together.
This is the worst. Day. Ever.
"James, you are not alone, okay? We've all been damaged today on all different levels. It may not look it, but we will one day all heal, even if it leaves a scar which would be painful to remember. Your friend would've wanted you to keep going on. You and the other person in your team."
"Her name's Jessie. Oh, Jessie. I've been such so selfish today. I haven't even spoken to her, and she's probably hurting as much as me." Tears started gushing. I just gave up from trying to stop. "And there are so many things I wished I could have said to him, too..."
I'm human, though. Humans have feelings. We have friendships and relationships and feelings. Of course the twerps would know I'm hurt. It's part of human nature. No wonder they didn't say anything about Team Rocket being terrible or anything. We've all been through a lot.
"She would understand how you're feeling. You two were close to... him." Professor Kukui sighed. "I'm so sorry it happened. There were things I... wanted to say to Meta."
His voice had cracked, and I could tell he was crying too.
"T-thank you for speaking, for saying nice things." I stuttered. I'm sure he smiled, but I wasn't looking at him. "I've been so terrible to you guys, why are you showing sympathy?"
Why was I even asking? I literally just answered that question two fricking seconds ago.
I guess I wanted confirmation.
"No problem. I was speaking to you because you seemed like you felt lost inside. Losing someone that close, it hurts. I ignored your job preference to speak human to human. It's never okay to go in this sort of stuff alone, I know. I'm showing sympathy because you had changed your ways to help your friends. You acted like we weren't just enemies, but allies. You had risked your own life to help fight Tsurara. When you show that kind of attitude, it helps in more ways than one. Your love for your friends and your Pokemon show that you are a kind and considerate person deeper down. Going through things like this just after you showed to be different, I just couldn't let you, a fellow human being with feelings and emotions, suffer because you changed yourself to help others. That's why we saved you from the Dark Matter, because it really seemed that Meta Knight... helped you see the greater g-good." Professor Kukui's voice cracked slightly when he mentioned Meta Knight. He was practically crying too now. I softly gasped as I saw a red raw scar on his chest. I definitely remember he didn't have that before, when Team Rocket terrorized his students. Was it from Dark Matter, or Tsurara?
... I looked at his kindly face and smiled for the first time since this morning.
"I never knew you guys were so nice. Meta Knight has changed my ways, and maybe I'll take a break from being the local Team who only works to make everyone else feel terrible." I said quietly, the crying slowing down.
"Okay, I think I really should go break the news to Galacta Knight. Get some rest. You can count on us to help you, James. Just because you've been terrible in the past doesn't mean you are a terrible person now. We will be there for you of you need it during these tough times. I respect you for your change of heart. Had you not have changed, a lot more people would be dead. You aided in the survival of many people. See you, I guess." The teacher said, getting up and walking away. I felt plain confused still.
That guy was being nice, ignoring how annoying and insufferable Team Rocket has been to him and his students. I wonder if he would've done the same with Jessie, even though she's quite rude sometimes-
Oh.
I forgot!
I still need to talk to Jessie!
I got up and ran inside, finding Jessie. She was just leaving. Her face was tear-stricken and her eyes were red.
I've been such a d*ck. I only thought of myself while there are others who are also visibly hurting.
"J-jessie!" I spluttered guiltily, walking with her. "I'm sorry for running off. I was being a bag of crap, only thinking of myself-"
"It's okay." Jessie replied quickly, her voice quavering. "It's not your fault. There were things I should've done too, things I should've said to him before... He left."
"I should have gotten him there earlier. I should have forced him to go there, if only... If only I was a weak hearted bitch who didn't have the will to get him there."
"James. It will be okay. Just stop swearing." Jessie huffed, her voice and tone more fragile than glass, the complete opposite of the past Jessie. "Swearing won't bring him back."
I winced, knowing it was true. He wasn't coming back. Never.
"I know... The twerp's teacher, I think the name was Professor Kukui, talked to me. He said that our f-friend would have wanted us to keep going strong."
Jessie didn't answer, and we didn't talk at all until we got back to our familiar home, our Pokemon safe in the pokeballs. I felt terrible for not talking to her earlier. We were both good friends with our beloved cat, despite the usual conflicts. Jessie probably loved Meowth as much as I did.
Suddenly Jessie gasped. I looked up and saw a familiar, female face lurked inside the base. Bob-cut, dark violet hair, rectangular glasses whiting out their eyes.
No.
Not now...
Why did she have to come?
Our team is so fricking fragile right now.
I'm not in the mood for this.
I would have to explain everything which means I have to talk about Meowth and Meta Knight...
And get berated for our incompetence by Matori.
Matori
Matori was in our base, and she did not look happy.
In fact,
She was furious.
*******Meanwhile, at the Pokemon School*********
Galacta Knight picked a few wildflowers of different colours. She put them over a little grave she dug for her best friend, the one she loved, Meta Knight.
She had buried him just outside of the school campus, on the edge of the forest. She had etched the details of his death on a large stone, and shoved it into the ground where the mound of dirt lay.
"Meta..." She whispered, tears streaming down her masked face. She wrenched her mask off, throwing it aside. She put the two halves of the mask that once was worn by Meta and placed it on the dirt. In between the two halves, the golden sword had been planted in the grave. Nobody could touch it without being shocked, so it could stay there.
Suddenly, she heard her name getting called out to her.
"Galacta Knight? Galacta Knight!" the voice called behind her. She turned around and saw the Pokemon Professor, with his lab coat and green sweatpants.
Professor Kukui saw that the school was cleaned up and the little mound of dirt with the tombstone, flowers and mask on it.
"Oh, Galacta Knight... I'm so sorry." He murmured, after a while, dropping to his knees beside the lady warrior.
"Kukui," Galacta Knight muttered, an unexplainable rage bubbling inside. "Sorry doesn't fix ANYTHING."
Before he could blink, Galacta Knight slashed him across the cheek with the pink lance. He immediately yelped and clapped a hand to the wound, feeling the warm blood caking running through his fingers. His glasses were knocked askew, and he picked them up with his other hand. He stared at Galacta Knight with a shocked face.
Galacta just attacked him! He then remembered Tsurara's words.
"You're the one acting like a monster. Don't want to kill another ally, do we?"
Suddenly Galacta Knight dropped the lance and started crying.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Professor! I don't know what came over me, I didn't want to harm you after everything that has happened but-"
"It's understandable, how you're feeling right now. Team Rocket, and my students are going through the same thing." Kukui replied, taking his hand away from his face to reveal a large gash, bleeding profusely. Galacta Knight winced away from him, eyes redder than usual and face wet from tears. "Though I am a little bit surprised that you attacked me like that, but at the same time I know that you're feeling a lot of emotions from... His death. I guess I'll tell you later."
"Huh? What do you mean tell me later?" Galacta Knight asked, wings drooping and feathers falling out. "What do you want to tell me? Pleaaaase tell me now, I don't want to feel bad again after trying to get better."
Kukui's eyebrow arched at her request.
"Well, if you say so. Remember during that battle, someone saved Kirby from Tsurara?"
"That cat? Ohh! I haven't thanked him yet. Is he at the Pokemon Centre?" Galacta Knight asked, quite oblivious of the trouble. Her wretched gaps came less frequently. She, after all, was a Star Warrior, and that meant she had been through tough times, she knew how to deal with it better than Team Rocket. "I need to thank him for saving Kirby, and to think he was part of an evil team t-"
"Galacta Knight, he... Died at the Pokemon Centre." Kukui grabbed Galacta Knight's gloves Galacta Knight looked up into his face and saw that he was tearing up at the thought of the deaths.
"W-what?" Galacta Knight spluttered. "No! He... Died? Before I could even thank him?" Kukui nodded sadly, closing his eyes.
"Come on, Galacta Knight. Come to my house. We can talk it over there."
Galacta Knight was too stunned by the news that she didn't compute what he said.
"W-where's Kirby?" Galacta Knight asked, putting her mask on after an eternity of silence. The mask hid her pain too well. That may be why they wore masks...
"He's staying at Lillie's house. He's okay and safe. Come with me." Kukui beckoned for Galacta Knight to follow him. After looking at the grave, then at the kind man before her, she gave in and followed him, her lance and shield disappearing in a flash of light.
Just before the sad little grave fell out of sight, Galacta Knight looked at it one more time.
She could have sworn Meta Knight's spirit was there, still holding her hand, guiding her through this. She looked at her own blood-soaked and dirty gloves, but there was no hand holding hers.
Not even a ghost.
She was alone.
__________________________________________________________________
-Jessie's POV-
Who does Matori think she is? What gives her permission to barge into our base without anyone home?
Today has been really hard. I do not want to deal with four-eyes here.
And that annoying Alolan Meowth.
Meowth...
I don't want to be reminded.
It was lucky that this annoying cat didn't resemble our friend much.
"So." Matori droned, the dark gray Meowth slinking around at her ankles. "You finally decided to come crawling back to your base. We had a deal. Where's the beast? Or, where's that Meta Knight?"
I knew where it was. It was with the Twerp's teacher, safely locked in a Pokeball which would never be opened again.
"Not here." I replied bluntly, my voice still threatening to crack. Matori looked even sterner, if that was even possible. Her eyebrow arched in a quizzical way.
"Well, then. If you didn't catch the powerful beast, then hand over Meta Knight. We had a deal." She extended her hand in a threatening way.
"He's not here." James said a little too quickly. Matori's eyebrows arched.
"Meow, meow meow??" The stupid Alolan Meowth asked.
"What did he say?" Jessie asked. Matori shrugged smugly.
"Well, you're the one with the translator Meowth. Where is he?" Matori inquired harshly. She then noticed that James's Rocket uniform was splattered with a dark red liquid, and instead of a glove, his left hand was wrapped in a bandage, splotches of red a similar colour to the liquid on his uniform. A paw print was stained on his shirt, right in the middle of the large red R. Matori realised it was blood. However, she still had a job to do. Make them either cough up Meta Knight, or cough up Tsurara.
"What happened to your Meowth?" Matori asked, a little less harsh. "Where is Meta Knight? I can believe you sent that annoying, insufferable cat to hide the warrior from me. Well, you can say that your job is at stake. Where is the damn Knight? That stupid, incompetent Meowth probably deserted you like the coward he is-"
Suddenly James pushed Matori up against the cave wall. The Alolan Meowth hissed and launched at James, but Mareanie punched the Meowth away. From here I could see James's eyes were filled with tears.
"He's dead. Meowth died while you were too busy with your stupid work to notice. In case you haven't noticed, I'm covered in his blood! HIS BLOOD!" James raised his voice louder than I thought he could do. Matori stayed in a shocked silence. James continued, however; his breathing was shaky and shallow.
"And also, that beast we were trying capture fricking murdered Sir Meta Knight before our eyes! He was killed! Ask anyone at the Pokemon School, they'll say the same thing! WHY WOULD I LIE ABOUT STUFF LIKE THIS?? META KNIGHT DIED TRYING TO PROTECT EVERYONE. MEOWTH DIED PROTECTING KIRBY. NOTHING GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO CRITICIZE ANY OF US!" James howled through gritted teeth, tears falling. "Meowth and Meta Knight, they're not here because THEY'RE GONE."
Matori gulped. "W-what??" She stuttered. James released her and ran off to the forest.
"Is this true?" Matori asked in a completely different demeanor, glimpsing at her notebook. I looked away, blinking away tears of my own.
"Would James get that worked up if it wasn't?" I asked. "We loved Meowth like a brother. He ws a member of our team that we had been in for so long. We also loved having Meta Knight on our team, helping us and fixing our every move. I haven't seen James like this since... Never. He's never been like this. In case you haven't noticed, this is a tough time for both of us. The reason why we didn't get the beast was because it is being handled by much more qualified people. That thing would have torn you apart as soon as you let it out of the Pokeball it was safely trapped in. Meta Knight, the best fighter we've seen, died. Then a few moments later, Meowth was impaled by it's icicle. Through his chest. i would have liked to see the look on your face if your pesky Alolan Meowth was just stabbed right in front of you when there's nothing you could do. James got him to the Pokemon Centre, and..." I couldn't take it either.
I broke down in front of Matori.
MATORI.
That goon would never see me cry. Until right now... At this point I didn't really care. Matori froze, also knowing that I wouldn't dare cry near her.
"This... doesn't seem like acting..." Matori murmured. "I'll report this back to Giovanni. If this is all just acting, you're going to lose your jobs. Do you hear me?"
"Just... go." I hissed through my teeth.
Matori scribbled in her notebook. I think it said "Meowth: Presumably Deceased. Meta Knight: Presumably Deceased." I hated it, but it was true.
Matori went into our base to report to our boss while I went to look for James. I felt the same way as him, but geez, to take all of his anger out on Matori of all people, he's got some nerve.
"James! Where are you?" I yelled out to the forest. "Come back here!"
I got no response. He must have ran off further than I thought. Then, I found James, sitting on a tree stump. It might have been one of the tree stumps that Meta had cut down during his short time here in Alola.
Wow, it was only three to four days...
Until he died protecting all of us...
We're destined to be unloved.
Alone.
We're destined to be alone.
Every attempt we have at being whole, being happy...
...Just gets quashed by a jerk.
"There you are." I said. He didn't respond, it was like someone turned him completely off. It hurt to see him this way. We were both best friends with Meowth, but to James he was like a brother. I kneeled down and put a hand on his shoulder. He didn't even respond. His face was darkened.
"James." I started. I didn't know what to say. I wanted to comfort him because of our friend, applaud how he chewed out Matori like he did, and scold him for yelling at the person who could easily get us fired. James looked up at me, eyes like pools of infinite regret.
"I'm sorry..." He whispered. "I just... Don't know how to feel. I probably got us fired from our jobs, too."
"It's okay. We all don't know how or what to feel like." I replied.
I was going to say more when a voice cut through the forest like a knife.
"Jessie!! James!! Giovanni requests your presence, so you better get here quickly! You better not hide either!"
Just great. She's already back to her snappy, bossy self. I dragged James to his feet, and walked back to the base, with him following reluctantly.
We appeared in front of the large video screen, the shadowed face of our boss looking back. The Persian sat on his lap with a vicious smile on its smug face. I gulped, remembering Meowth detested that Persian.
"Greetings, boss..." James and I muttered.
Did he know what happened? Did Matori rat us out and lie to Giovanni? Was our boss going to fire us, just to add salt to the wound that cut both of us so deep?
"You two," Giovanni began as he twirled a pen in his fingers. He didn't even use our names. "Have some explaining to do of this day's events. Right now. Begin from the very beginning of the day. "
I stopped out in front, feeling like James wouldn't have the will to explain on his own. I looked back to see James looking nervously at his feet.
"Well, you see..." I began, taking a deep breath.
"The day began normally. Just me, James and M-meowth in the base. Our new friend Meta Knight came from the forest. We said hi to him because we hadn't seen him since last night. But then suddenly, this stuff called Dark Matter-"
"What is Dark Matter?" Giovanni questioned. I opened my mouth to explain when James spoke up
"A Dark Matter is a monster from Meta Knight's world. It is capable of possessing it's victims and consuming their soul." He stuttered, looking up at our boss. "I know, since I was taken over by that thing yesterday."
Giovanni arched an eyebrow.
"Well, then. Keep explaining."
"The Dark Matter appeared and Meta Knight got possessed by it." I began. "So we ran. James stayed behind, thinking he could help him but it was no use. He got fully possessed and chased James to the Pokemon School. We and the twerps that go there fought off Meta Knight and the Dark Matter came out of him. Then the beast came and attacked all of us. It got the Dark Matter to possess another puff ball, who was like Meta Knight but magenta, and then everyone split up. The puffballs from the other world went to fight their friend, while the Pokemon and Humans went to fight the beast."
I paused for a long sigh.
"Then suddenly we hear Meta Knight scream, and we all run over to find that he had been gravely injured. The Dark Matter gets kicked out of the other puffball, and then the beast gets voluntarily possessed. The Dark Matter infused with the Beast then attacked what was left of the puffballs. Just as the next spherical creature was about to die, Meowth jumped in front of the pink ball who was just a child, and then took a hit for the puff."
Giovanni closed his eyes and nodded.
"The beast was so angry it threw our friend into the forest. While James went to go get him, the twerps and I brought down the beast. One of the twerps caught it in a Pokeball. But before that happened, James was forced to get Meowth to the Pokemon Centre because he had collapsed. We all went to the Pokemon Centre, and..."
I didn't realise even more tears were streaming down my face. "I found out there that it was too late, and that he had died. And a few minutes later, here we are, talking to you, you're probably going to fire us because we're incompetent idiots-"
"Well..." Giovanni started. I heard James audibly gulp. "In any other circumstance, you would most certainly be fired for your incompetence, but..."
He paused for like, the longest time ever.
"You'll be let off with a warning. Death of a member of Team Rocket would not be taken lightly. Further inquiring will let us know if you are lying, but for now... I guess you can be let off."
Me and James sighed in relief.
"However," He began again. I held my breath. "If you are lying, you would most certainly lose your job. Bravery against a dangerous foreign entity will not go unnoticed."
"Yes sir." James yelped.
Our flat screen turned off, signalling that his call was over.
"We weren't fired!" I said. James mustered a small smile.
"Yeah... I guess." He replied.
"I will be reporting this information back to the base." Matori said, scribbling furiously in her notebook. The gray Alolan Meowth stared up at us, a small fanged smile on its mouth. I bet it was happy that the original Meowth was gone. He would never come back. All that's left of him are countless memories.
Even the bad ones, where we all get into arguments or when I used to steal his ice-cream and he'd get really annoyed. It was that ice-cream, that fight, that spiraled into a turn of events that brought back another annoying Alolan Meowth.
But that won't happen any more. There is no more ice-cream to pilfer. No more moments we'd steal away to ourselves, enjoying ourselves. I regret every argument. I never knew it would end like this.
I feel so empty.
There's a hole in my heart where Meowth lived.
And I'm afraid it would stay there until I died.
We were left alone in the base, silence etching into our minds. Mimikyu just stared at the mask left behind, a souvenir, a scar that would never let us forget this adventure.
What do we do now?
"Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory."
-Doctor Seuss
The end of Chapter Eighteen: The Aftermath and The Opinions
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YES MEOWTH DIED TOO I'M SORRYYYY
~Any mistakes will be edited out~
Stay tuned... for the final chapter- the Epilogue, Galacta Knight POV, and maybe an insight into the next book...
I can't believe I'm almost done with my first fanfiction here on Wattpad!
Thank you all for reading! SEE YA!
From NovaKirby~