Chapter Text
Don’t get him wrong, Meowth loved Jessie and James. Truly, he did. They were his chaotic best friends, and all of their Pokémon were his siblings. They had seen each other through poverty, natural disasters, death traps, and blasting off again more times than he could count, and he trusted them with his life and livelihood.
That didn’t change the fact that sometimes he wished they would just shut the fuck up.
“James, I’m sooooo bored,” Jessie whined, sprawling across the large bed in their room. It was quite a nice room, Meowth noted—the bedsheets had quite the fiber count, the soaps in the en-suite bathroom were certainly nothing to sneeze at, and something in his feline brain just really wanted to tear his claws into the heavy, linen curtains.
In the entryway was a small kitchenette, including a fridge stocked with food for both people and Pokémon. Jessie had began rummaging as soon as they had been—rather rudely, Meowth might add—shoved into their room, the lock clicking behind them. Past the door to the bathroom was the bed, situated across from a large TV screen and dresser, and on a slightly lowered level was a small living room, featuring a few couches and a desk. All-in-all, it was one of the fanciest rooms Meowth had ever been in—or to be more specific, the fanciest cell.
Because that was what it was: a cell. And he knew it. They all did.
James, who was posed on the couch and reading the newspaper that had been left on the coffee table, didn’t even look up. “Jess, we have a TV, a warm shower, and a borderline unlimited supply of the kind of Kantonian junk food I haven’t been able to have for months,” he said, groping blindly for the bag of candy next to him. “I don’t even care that we’re stuck in here.”
Jessie groaned loudly into the pillow, beating her arms on the mattress.
“Oh, hey, they reported on the twerp in this,” James said, still not looking up from the newspaper. “‘Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town wins Alolan Manalo League.’ That kinda downplays it, in my opinion.”
“Read the rest of it, nya,” Meowth requested, hopping up onto the desk and curling up. “Kantonian media’s never liked him.”
Jessie snorted. “Remember the headline that ran after Kalos?”
“Oh boy, do I ever. We were so worried it’d blow our cover to the boss but then it had, like, one sentence on the Crisis.” Meowth licked his paw and rubbed it over his ear.
They had gone from being worried about their jobs and their doctored footage of the Crisis to being actually kind of offended on the twerp’s behalf, after the appalling article, ‘Pallet Local Loses in Kalos Pokémon League,’ which had focused mostly on the supposed weakness of the twerp’s Pokémon and how losing in such a such a weak region reflected badly on all of Kanto.
“Let’s see,” James muttered, glancing across the article. “Ah, here’s the good stuff.” He cleared his throat, and began to read.
“‘Satoshi ‘Ash’ Ketchum (17) of Pallet Town was crowned the first champion of the Alola Region just under two weeks ago at the newly built Manalo Stadium. Due to the rookie status of the Alolan Pokémon League, we at the Celadon Press remain unsure of the officiality of Mr. Ketchum’s Champion status at this time. The Manalo League has released an official statement claiming Mr. Ketchum as their Champion, but the International Pokémon League has yet to do the same—however, many international figures, including the Champions Cynthia Karashina of Sinnoh and Steven Stone of Hoenn have given Mr. Ketchum their congratulations over social media.
“Mr. Ketchum and his ace and starter, Pikachu, hail from Pallet Town, home of Samuel Oak, the Pokémon Professor. He began his journey at age 10, traveling through six regions prior to settling in Alola and challenging each of their Pokémon Leagues. At age 10, he lost in Kanto’s Indigo Plateau Conference, ranking within the top 16, and six years later, he placed runner-up in Kalos’s Lumiose Conference. Our sources report he was attending the Pokémon School in Alola before challenging the newly formed Manalo League.
“Mr. Ketchum has a long roster of notable famous friends, including Gary Oak, grandson of Samuel Oak, and Gym Leaders Misty Williams and Brock Harrison. International friends and former companions include: the ‘Princess of Hoenn,’ May Birch, and Kalosian performer and coordinator, Serena Gabena; popular Sinnohan coordinator Dawn Berlitz; Iris, Champion of Unova; and Kalosian Gym Leader Clemont. He also attended the Alolan Pokémon School with Lillie Aether, daughter of the Aether Foundation president Lusamine Aether. Ms. Berlitz has also made reference in interviews to time she spent at the vacation home of the aforementioned Champion Cynthia Karashina in Unova with Mr. Ketchum, Champion Iris, and Unovan Pokémon Connoisseur and Gym Leader Cilan.
“Mr Ketchum’s other notable achievements include being the technical champion of the Orange Islands since age 11 and having beat the Kantonian Battle Frontier at age 14, though he turned down a position as a Frontier Brain. Due to the Orange Islands’ status as a territory of Kanto, it is not considered an official league, but rather a sub-league of the Indigo Plateau, which has allowed him to continue competing in international Pokémon conferences. He has also participated in Pokémon contests in both Hoenn and Sinnoh.’”
The room was silent for a moment after James finished, before Jessie looked up, confused.
“Was that… it?” She asked.
James turned the page, then skimmed quickly through the rest of the newspaper. “Pretty much. They only mention the twerp’s battle with the professor briefly, and not a word on that legendary he fought at the end…” he paused, flipping over the paper. “Not to mention, that Z-Move he did… there’s nothing on that, either.”
Meowth snorted. “Do Kantonians even know what a Z-Move is, nya?” They had barely even heard of Alola before being sent there by Giovanni, and the Pokémon would bet good money that most of Kanto was the same way.
“Doubtful,” Jessie nodded thoughtfully. “I mean, just at how long it took for mega evolution to be acceptable in battles here. The original twerps only recently got Mega Stones, right?” She flipped over onto her back, stretching out on the mattress like a Starmie.
Meowth made a noise of agreement, resting his head on his paws. James set the newspaper down, pouring a generous amount of candy into his hand and then a few into his mouth. He held one up to Meowth, a question in his eyes.
Meowth just opened his mouth, and James threw the candy in from across the room.
“Hey, guys…?” Jessie asked, suddenly quiet. “What… what do you think is going to happen to us now?” She sounded almost nervous.
That scared Meowth. Jessie didn’t do nervous.
James shrugged, and Meowth’s head swiveled to look at the blue-haired boy. “There’s no telling, not really,” he answered softly. “Giovanni wants us dead, I’m sure. In fact, the chances of us making it out of this alive are probably slim to none, but…” he sighed. “I trust him. The twerp—Ash—Satoshi—he’s on our side, I can tell. He believes that… that we’re good people.”
Jessie sat up on the bed, hands forming fists in her lap. “We’re going to survive,” she declared. “We’re going to survive, and when we make it out of this, we’ll be free.”
Goodness. Survival. Family.
A Pokémon could dream.