"Meowth! What are you doing?!"
Every time Team Rocket appeared, they repeated that speech. Some details might change, but the overall structure stayed the same.
Meowth's "That's right!" signaled the finale, never missing a beat, come rain or shine.
Today, however, he had dropped the ball.
James stopped holding the rose between his teeth and looked down to check on Meowth.
Meowth was already in position, but his legs looked weak and his eyes were filled with hearts. He looked utterly infatuated.
"Meow... I think I'm in love again... She's even prettier than Madonna..."
"You still haven't forgotten that Meowth? There aren't any other Meowth here, though?"
Madonna was also a Meowth, and she had been Team Rocket's Meowth's first love.
Very few Meowth actually walked upright. Team Rocket's Meowth had learned to walk like a human and speak human language because of Madonna.
Madonna liked wealthy humans who walked on two legs, so Meowth had wanted to become like them.
Unfortunately, Meowth had never won her love. Even when he met Madonna again and defeated his own evolved form, Persian, she still wouldn't spare him a proper glance.
At first, she had thought the stray Meowth was weak and pathetic. Even after he became more humanlike, Madonna only found him disgusting.
Yet during their endless days of trying to capture Pikachu, Meowth had encountered another "cat Pokémon" that walked upright-and had even longer legs.
"Snap out of it. Have you forgotten what we're here to do..."
Swish!
The rose was snatched from James's hand. Team Rocket's Meowth had spent so much effort learning human speech that he couldn't use most Meowth moves.
But now, as though he had learned Teleport, Meowth appeared right in front of Meownei.
"I'm Meowth. Beautiful lady, may I get to know you?"
"Meow? (You can speak human language? How did you do that?)"
Meownei was very interested in Meowth's ability to speak human language. Although she could communicate normally with Xin Mu, she always felt that something was missing.
She therefore temporarily set aside her hostility toward the approaching Meowth. Of course, the bigger reason was that he was a male cat.
Had he been female, Meowth might already have been sent flying into the sky for approaching her so suddenly.
That simple question pierced his heart like an arrow-one fired by Cupid, to be precise.
She was a fellow "cat," yet this unfamiliar, long-legged mature beauty hadn't called him disgusting. She was actually curious.
"All it takes is a little talent and a bit of sweat. Back in Hollywood, I learned this skill by following along with their language classes..."
Whoosh!
A mechanical claw suddenly closed around Meowth's waist, then yanked him back.
"Meow? Let me go, meow!"
"Enough, Meowth! We're here to capture the twerp's Pikachu, not help you find a girlfriend! Have you forgotten how things ended with Madonna?!"
A robot made of some unknown material emerged from the smoke and dust. Inside the cockpit, Jessie impatiently deposited Meowth in a pilot's seat.
"She's different! Let me out!"
"Catch the twerp's Pikachu first!"
The robot suddenly began dancing on the spot. Apparently, an argument had broken out inside the cockpit, and it only settled down after a while.
Inside the cockpit, Jessie had gained several claw marks on her face, while Meowth had gained two lumps on his head.
Judging by the robot's movements now, Jessie had apparently subdued Meowth by force.
"Team Rocket... Why won't these guys leave us alone? We changed our destination at the last minute, and they still followed us here?"
"Who knows? Mr. Xin Mu, be careful. These people are crooks who steal other people's Pokémon..."
Misty warned Xin Mu to watch out for them, only to discover that he was calmly making a phone call.
"That's right, at the Pokémon Center. They're members of Team Rocket, an overseas organization. They've already demolished a wall.
"Evidence? They said themselves that they're Team Rocket! Yes, that's right, on the south side. Please hurry."
"Uh... Mr. Xin Mu, what are you doing?"
"Calling the police. Don't you have Officer Jenny where you're from, too?"
Although Ash and his companions had worked with Officer Jenny quite a few times, they rarely took the initiative to ask her to deal with Team Rocket.
After all, they usually encountered them out in the wilderness. There was no time to wait for Officer Jenny to arrive.
Over time, handling things themselves had become a reflex.
Xin Mu wasn't particularly pleased after hanging up, though. From the dispatcher's response, he wasn't the only person who had called.
Team Rocket had made far too much noise with their entrance. With all that thick smoke, someone had already reported them. Xin Mu's call had merely provided more detail.
This made Xin Mu suspect that he might not receive the maximum bounty.
"Ahem, don't be afraid. We're the boss's favorites! You'll be much better off with us than you are now!
"Once we hand over Pikachu, the boss will value us even more!"
Jessie's mother had been a veteran member of Team Rocket, James was the heir to a major financial conglomerate, and Meowth was a rare Pokémon capable of speaking human language.
In a sense, they did count as favorites, but Meowth's claims were still mostly bluster.
Hearing them say that, Xin Mu suddenly remembered something and dialed again to provide more information.
"This is about the same incident at the Pokémon Center. I have some additional information: these people are trusted aides of that organization's boss.
"How do I know? Again, they said so themselves!"
During that brief interval, Meownei's expression had shifted from mild interest to utter disgust.
Someone wanted to separate her from her Trainer?
The last one who had said that had been turned into materials and made into equipment!
The more she tried to endure it, the angrier she became; the more she considered backing down, the more she felt she would lose out. Looking at the approaching robot and Xin Mu, who was still on the phone, Meownei had already made her decision.
Brock and Misty had just sent out their Pokémon and hadn't had time to give any commands when a blue glow lit up their faces.
The light came from Meownei's hands, but the thing emitting it... left them stunned.
"What is that?"
"It should be... an Aura Sphere?"
"An Aura Sphere... can they get that big?"
They were no longer wondering why Meownei could use a Fighting-type move. But an ordinary Aura Sphere was only about the size of a volleyball, whereas the one in her hands was the size of a hot-air balloon.
With both hands raised above her head as she formed the Aura Sphere, she looked more like she was making a Spirit Bomb.
Most importantly, she really could launch it.
"Meow... ha!"
The enormous Spirit Bomb-no, the gigantic Aura Sphere-left her hands, traced a graceful arc through the sky, and struck its target dead center.
Boom!
The newly completed robot exploded under the power of the Aura Sphere. Only Team Rocket's battle-hardened bodies could withstand something like that.
Two cries rang out in succession from the damaged Pokémon Center.
"We're blasting off again!"
"My five hundred thousand!"
Before you continue