Team Rocket

A day later after Ash caught Meowzie, the gang went to Prof. Oak's lab.

"Hey Professor." Ash said

"Hello there, my boy." Oak greeted "Are you here to train your Pokémon?"

"Yes sir." Ash said

"Good." Oak said as he noticed Meowzie on his other shoulder. "Ash, who's this?"

"This is Meowzie, she's a Meowth I caught yesterday." Ash said

"Oh splendid, it's about time you caught a new Pokémon." Oak smiled joyfully "It's nice to meet you, Meowzie."

"Meowth." Meowzie greeted back

When they went outside to the ranch & they were approached by Ash's Muk, Krabby, & first Tauros

"Muk." Muk said

"Rooor." Tauros said

"Kuki Kuki." Krabby said

"Hey guys, are you ready for some training?" Ash asked

"Kuki/Roor/Muk." They nodded

"Come on out!" Ash said as he sent out his Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, & Charizard

"Bulba." Bulbasaur said

"Squirtle." Squirtle said

"Pidgeo." Pidgeotto chirped

"Rargh." Charizard said

"Everyone, before we start training I want you all to meet a new member of our team. Meet Meowzie." Ash introduced

"Meow." Meowzie greeted

All the Pokémon greeted Meowzie except Charizard as he turned his back

"Ash, I think you need to have a strong word with Charizard." Oak suggested

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Ash said

Just then, an explosion appeared

"What's that?" Brock said

"Not them again." Misty said

"Prepare for trouble." Jessie said

"& make it double." James said

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all people within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love"

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie."

"James."

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light."

"Surrender now or prepare to fight."

"Meowth, that's right!" Meowth said

"Meow?!" Meowzie said as she went towards Meowth

"Huh, Meowzie?" Meowth said surprisingly

"Now what's she doing here?" Jessie said confusingly

"Yeah, I thought she was in Hollywood with that Persian." James said

"Meow Meow Meowth." Meowzie said

"She said she left him because they tried to attack an innocent baby Rattata." Meowth translated

"Oh, well that makes sense." James said

"Can't say I blame her." Jessie said

"Meow Meow?" Meowzie said

"Eh...What are we doing here?" Meowth said as chuckled nervously "Well, you see, we uh..."

"Well we're obviously here to steal the twerp's Pokémon." James said

"Meowth?!" Meowzie exclaimed shockingly

"James, did you have to say that?" Meowth scolded

"Well, it's the truth." James shrugged

"Meow Meow Meow!" Meowzie glared

"Well, why do you care anyway?!" Meowth snapped

"Meow Meow." Meowzie said

"YOU'RE WHAT?!" Meowth said shockingly

"What did she say?" Jessie asked

"Meowzie said that she's also the one of the twerp's Pokémon." Meowth said as Meowzie gained a tick mark when he called Ash 'twerp'

"Seriously, out of all the Trainers in the world, you just had to pick the twerp as your trainer" Jessie mocked as Meowzie got angrier "If I were a Pokémon he would be the last person I want as a Trainer."

"Meowth!" Meowzie said as she scratched Jessie's face

"Ow! My face!" Jessie yelled in pain

"Meowth Meow Meow!" Meowzie scowled

"What did she say?" James asked

"She said his name is Ash not Twerp." Meowth translated, feeling uneasy

"Meow Meow Meow Meowth!" Meowzie said

"& then she said if she had to choose between him & us, she would choose him over us because she wouldn't want to live a life as a criminal." Meowth translated

"Hm, she has a point." James said

"Meowth Meow Meowth." Meowzie said

"What do you mean it was bad enough when I became someone I'm not? You're the one that said that I wasn't human" Meowth argued

"Meow." Meowzie sighed "Meowth Meow."

"Oh, now you're sorry." Meowth said sarcastically

"Meowth Meow Meow Meow." Meowzie said

"You never expected me to change? But I only wanted to impress you & I only wanted you to like me." Meowth said

"Meow Meow Meowth." Meowzie said

"I didn't have to do all that to get you to like me?" Meowth asked

"Meowth." Meowzie said as she shook her head

"Hey Meowzie, are you familiar with Meowth?" Ash asked

"Meow." Meowzie nodded

"Hey Meowth, do you mind telling us the whole story?" Misty asked

"Well, it's a long one but okay." Meowth said

After Meowth finished telling everyone about Meowzie & his past.

"Now I'm beginning to understand." Brock said

"It sounded like Meowzie was very snobbish." Misty said "No offense."

"Y'know Meowzie's right, Meowth." Ash said "You didn't have to do all that to impress her, all you had to do was be yourself."

"Really?" Meowth asked

"Yeah, that's how you get people to like you." Misty said

"That's right." Brock agreed

"Jessie, James, Meowth, is that the kind of life you guys want?" Ash asked

"Huh?" Team Rocket said as they looked at Ash

"Why do you ask that?" James asked

"Because you deserve better than working with Team Rocket." Ash said

"How would you know?" Jessie questioned

"Well, are you three doing a good job as members of Team Rocket?" Misty questioned back

"I...uh...well." Jessie stammered

"To be honest, we haven't been doing very well." James admitted

"Yeah, we've been too focused on trying to steal your Pokémon." Meowth said

"Not to mention, you always stop us when we try to catch other Pokémon for the boss & our plans always backfire on us." Jessie said

"If you guys are so bad at doing your job, then why are you still working for Team Rocket?" Brock asked

"...We don't know." Jessie said

"You know that Team Rocket only thinks of Pokémon as tools, is that what you think of your Pokémon?" Ash asked

"What? Of course not, our Pokémon mean the world to us!" James said in outrage

"Come on, haven't you had dreams of your own? Dreams that you gave up or put aside?" Ash asked

The three looked down in silence. Jessie thought of her dream of becoming a Pokémon nurse then she remembered her school crush Astin when he offered her to come with him on his journey to become a Pokémon Coordinator & the Chansey she befriended back in Pokémon Nurse School. James thought of his dream of living the life he wanted. Meowth thought of his dream of finding happiness.

"I have an idea, how about you start your own journeys as Pokémon Trainers?" Oak said

"Pokémon Trainers?" Jessie & James repeated

"Yes, & believe me once you start traveling as Pokémon Trainers, you'll soon understand that it will be much better than working for Team Rocket." Oak said

"That's a great idea, you'll be able to catch more Pokémon for yourselves & compete in gym battles & league tournaments." Ash said

Jessie & James thought about it for a moment before making their decision

"Alright." Jessie said

"We can give it a try." James said

"Wonderful." Oak smiled before he pulled out three Poké Balls & sent out a Bulbasaur, Charmander, & Squirtle. "Now, before you start your Pokémon journey, I'll give two the privilege of choosing one of these Pokémon."

"Hm...I think I'll take Squirtle." Jessie said

"Since Grass Types are my favorite, I'll choose Bulbasaur." James said

"Excellent choices." Oak said

After giving Jessie & James the Squirtle & Bulbasaur along with giving them their own Pokédex's

"Well, we're off." James said

"Good luck, on your journeys, you two." Brock said

"Thank you." Jessie said as she turned to Ash "Twer- I mean Ash, I want you to have this."

Jessie gave Ash a Poké Ball, it opened & sent out her Lickitung

"Licki." Lickitung said

"You're giving me you're Lickitung?" Ash said

"It's just that it keeps messing up my makeup every time it licks me." Jessie said "So just take care of it, okay?"

"Alright." Ash said as he turned to Lickitung "Well,I guess that means you're stuck with us, huh Lickitung?"

"Licki." Lickitung shrugged

"Meow Meow?" Meowzie asked Meowth

"I'm gonna stick with Jessie & James since we've been through a lot together." Meowth said "By the way, why'd you decide to become Ash's Pokémon?"

"Meow Meowth Meow Meow." Meowzie explained

"So he protected you & the baby Rattata from the Persian with Pikachu? & after the Persian & other Meowth left, you had nowhere else to go?" Meowth said

"Meow." Meowzie nodded

"Hm, I get it." Meowth understood "Can we still be friends?"

"Meow Meow." Meowzie smiled & nodded

"You mean it?" Meowth asked

"Meowth." Meowzie nodded again

"Alright." Meowth said as he looked at Ash "Take care of her, okay?"

"Don't worry, Meowth." Ash said "She's in good hands."

After Jessie, James, & Meowth left.

"Hey James, is traveling as Pokémon Trainers worth leaving Team Rocket?" Jessie said

"I don't know, but we'll never know unless we try." James said

"Relax, you guys, I think it's gonna work out for the three of us." Meowth said

Back with the gang

"Well, that takes care of them." Ash said

"Yeah, hopefully they won't go back to working for Team Rocket." Misty said

Charizard who saw the whole thing stared at Ash. He was beginning to think about the way he was acting towards him. He remembered when he saved him from the rain & how much he cared about him better than his former Trainer Damian. Charizard remembered how much he loved & cared about Ash, but that was until he evolved into Charmeleon & then into Charizard. He also remembered the time at Grampa Canyon, when Ash was in danger. Then he realized that if he didn't save Ash from that Aerodactyl, he could've died. The thought of it petrified Charizard, Ash could've died from that Aerodactyl & all Charizard cared about when he was a Charmeleon was a simple scratch he received from it.

"Rargh." Charizard said as he walked up to Ash

"Hm? What is it, Charizard?" Ash asked curiously

Charizard then hugged Ash tightly

"Whoa, what's gotten into you?" Ash said surprisingly

"I think that talk with Jessie, James, & Meowth gave Charizard a change of heart." Brock said

"Really?" Ash said as Charizard broke the hug "Does that mean you'll start listening to me again?"

"Rargh!" Charizard smiled & nodded

"Thanks buddy." Ash smiled back

Charizard then looked at Meowzie

"Rargh." Charizard said as he held out his hand to her

"Meowth." Meowzie smiled as she shook it

"I'm happy that Meowzie joined us, she's a real blessing from heaven." Ash said

"You said it, my boy." Oak agreed

"Now, let's get training!" Ash said as the Pokémon cheered