Chapter 29

It was a bright day in Cerulean City. The sky was clear, the sun was shining almost like it was happy, people were crowded on the streets with laughter and conversations. The atmosphere effected Redwald, Greta and Eusine right away they arrived in the city.

“What a fresh air!” Greta said as she raised her hands and stretched. She watched the street lying ahead. The street was full of Horsea statues with water on the mouth. The water was filling the sewer line in the street, but it was pure clean. The streets were clean and full of plants. The city was taken good care of. “I would love to live in Cerulean City.” Greta said with pleasure on her face.

“We are lucky that despite of being the end of autumn, we will have a warm weather in the following days. Once January comes and autumn leaves, it will be really cold, though.”

Redwald looked at Eusine as if he wanted him to stop talking. He was ruining the magic of the moment. Redwald wanted to ask someone the location of the gym, but he knew they had other things to do first. However, Greta was more inspirational than anyone else, as it seemed. After she saw the alley full of grocers, she wanted to try every fresh fruit. “It’s been a long time since I tasted a fresh one.” She said. “Let’s spend some time there. Then, we can do whatever we need to do.”

Although Eusine did not want to agree with it, as he was willing to visit the house he intended to long time ago, he could not say no to such an excited young girl. He nodded his head. “A bit late wouldn’t kill anyone, I guess.” He said.

As Greta got lost in the harmony of colourful fruits and vegetables of the season, Redwald and Eusine took their times sitting on a café and checking on the city map. Eusine memorized the location where he had to follow up in order to meet the person he had been intending for a while. Redwald, as expected, knew exactly where to go to find the gym leader. “Me and my team are ready than ever to face them!” Redwald said.

Eusine pretended to be listening, but he was lost on the map. He, curiously and surprised, grabbed a book out of his backpack. The book cover was glowing with silver colour. The sunlight made it so bright that many random people on street turned around and looked at the source of the bright book. Eusine turned the page 57 and began to read something very carefully. Redwald got it from his behaviour that it was not a random reading hour for him, thus, he decided to keep it quiet.

Sometime later, a scream was heard in the whole market place. People turned their heads to that direction, including Eusine who got lost in his book. A group of Pokémon were running, carrying many fruits. A bunch of grocers were chasing behind. People on the street were scared and freeing the way for the Pokémon, despite of grocers’ weak but loud shouts of “Don’t let them go!”

Greta was holding a couple of bags with fruits that she just bought. While the four Pokémon passed through her, the last one stumbled and hit Greta on her feet. Greta stumbled right away as well and dropped all the bags on the ground. As the two stood their back against each other, sitting on the ground, Greta watched her fruits rolling all around the place with sadness on her face.

As she turned her back, she saw the little, white Pokémon with black ears looking at her with a sinister smile. “You…” Greta responded. She wanted to rage out or at least say anything, but the Pokémon distracted her for some odd reason.

“I got one of them!” A man shouted. It was a wakeup call for the Pokémon sitting there. He quickly stood up and kept running right behind the four. Greta could tell that the Pokémon she encountered was younger than the rest, as he was smaller and slower. But she had no idea what was going on in this place. One of the grocers stepped on Greta’s rolling fruit and fell down. The others either stumbled along or attempted to help them stand up. Thus, the other Pokémon got farther away.

Redwald and Eusine were watching the alley, as people got disturbed by all the action going on. Eusine closed his book and let the cover bright even more. Four Pokémon of the same species appeared all of a sudden. Redwald quickly grabbed his Pokédex and scanned them. It took only seconds before the Pokédex gave the information.

“What a troublesome species.” Eusine could not help but thought. “No wonder why all these people are after them. I bet they did something annoying.”

As the four Pokémon ran away, all the people in the alley looked at them from behind. The alley remained in silence for a couple of seconds, but then it went back to normal. Eusine could bet people were talking about the group of Pokémon. However, unexpectedly, another Meowth appeared from behind. He was running, but he was tired. Eusine realized that this one was smaller and slower.

“They left one behind.” Redwald said. The Pokémon was still running. Eusine was busy analysing a younger species. The Pokémon and Eusine had a moment of direct eye contact. Eusine felt uncomfortable. The Pokémon, in the other hand, expressed no emotion for this particular case. However, he ran towards Eusine, which Eusine did not see it coming. He jumped on the table and grabbed Eusine’s sparkling covered book.

“No…” Eusine responded. The entry on the Pokédex was paying off. “…Not this one.” He said, knowing it would not help any. At that moment which felt like it was happening in slow motion, Eusine attempted to grab his book back. Meowth, however, was fast enough to dodge it. As Eusine fell off the chair, Meowth landed on the ground and kept running.

“You can’t take it!” Eusine responded. He sounded extremely angry. He pulled himself together in seconds and followed the Pokémon right behind. Meowth jumped in the bushes and ran in the forest side. Eusine was following him right behind. He got in the bushes and got cuts on his face. “Don’t play with me that way!” He was heard saying. Redwald followed him behind, but he did not want to get in the bushes.

When Meowth got off the bushes and found himself in the other side of the city, he took a moment to breathe calmly. All the rush and running made him run out of breath. However, Eusine suddenly came off the bushes. He was never seen so angry before. He reached his hand to Meowth’s tail and grabbed him. “Give my book back!” Eusine shouted. “You can’t even read! What do you have with it to do anyway!”

Meowth attempted to get away from Eusine, but Eusine was holding him so tight that Meowth had no chance to leave, except for one thing. He put his claws out of his paws and used Scratch on Eusine’s hand. Eusine cried out in pain and anger, as he let go of the Pokémon. His hand began to bleed very quickly. Meowth, holding on to his book, disappeared in the forest.

The rest of the day was rather challenging for Eusine. As he returned and reunited with Redwald and Greta, he let Greta dress his wound. It burned a little, but Eusine’s busy mind was too far from realizing that. He was desperately worried about taking his book back. Finding Meowth was not a big challenge. He would stay near the groceries and the group would eventually come again to get food. But Eusine could not be sure that his book would be kept safe until he finds it back. For several times during the night, Eusine wanted to explore in the forest and chase the group. But Redwald and Greta stopped him every time with the claim that it would not be safe.

For Eusine, who barely slept at night, arrival of the morning felt like eternity. With the first lights of the sun, he packed his things and prepared a breakfast for Redwald and Greta right away. When the two woke up, the breakfast for them and their Pokémon was already ready. The two knew that Eusine had to keep himself busy.

After the breakfast, the group visited the market place once again. Greta tasted different fruits and bought many. Nidoran escorted her the whole time. Nidoran was into sugary fruit as well. Normally, Eusine would not miss to observe something like that and take a note. But this time, he focused on his book a hundred percent. Redwald was not sure if he should had asked it, but he took his chance.

“Why is this book too important for you? Can’t you buy a new one instead?” He asked. Eusine took his time to think and shook his hand. “I can’t.” He said. “This book is critically important about why I’m here.”

“Why are you here?” Redwald asked. He realized that despite they travelled for so long, it never occurred Redwald to ask this question. Eusine’s help and guiding aside, they barely knew anything about him. He remembered that he had suspicions that he is even from Kanto. Redwald looked at Eusine in the eye. He was staring at some random point instead of Redwald.

“Maybe, we should talk some other time about it.” He said. “I want to be ready if Meowth gang ever appears.”

Redwald knew Eusine used this as an excuse, but he could not prove otherwise. He just nodded his head annoyedly and waited with Eusine guards on. Greta and Nidoran were only ones that were enjoying the day. Eusine and Redwald did not talk or did any training. They instead stood back and waited for some action to get started.

Just in a random moment, a scream was heard in the market place again. A little girl was frightened. Eusine grabbed his Ultra Ball and threw it. “Help me out, Haunter!” He said. Haunter appeared floating in the air. Eusine nodded his head. “We are after the youngest member of the group. If you see a relatively smaller Meowth, just chase him behind.”

Haunter nodded his head. Redwald grabbed his Poké Ball as well and called Pidgey out. A Pidgey flapped his wings in the air. Redwald said almost the same thing to him. Pidgey replaced himself next to Haunter. The two followed all the screams that were coming closer. In the end, four Meowth appeared again with many bags on their backs. They stole many delicious fruits once again. The groceries were angry behind them as usual, but Meowth were too good to be caught. Eusine did not interrupt them and let the group pass through. The groceries followed behind. Once the smaller Meowth with no fruit appeared, Eusine could not help the blood in his vain go through in a rush. He ran to the Pokémon to grab him. As soon as Meowth realized the young man, he stopped and waited him to come. Once Eusine was near enough, Meowth jumped on his arm and climbed up until his shoulder. Eusine was shocked, he did not have a chance to grab Meowth, but Meowth had his chance to jump back and flee.

Meowth was running as fast as he could. “Pidgey, your turn!” Redwald said. Pidgey nodded and chased the Pokémon. Haunter followed him behind. Redwald was about to follow them behind until Eusine put his hand on Redwald’s shoulder to stop him. “Let the Pokémon do the job.” He said. “If we chase Meowth, he will try to mislead us to another place. Clearly, he doesn’t live with a clan that would like to be busted by people whose things they steal, like us.”

Redwald nodded his head. Eusine was fairly right. They waited for a while for one of the Pokémon to appear. In the meantime, Eusine was in deep thoughts of what he would end up doing for him. Redwald, in the other hand, realized that it was the first time he saw Eusine raging and losing his control like that.

They waited for a little longer while. Pidgey and Haunter eventually found the two. Eusine called his Pokémon back to let him rest. Redwald and Eusine chased Pidgey. After almost 20 minutes of nonstop running, Pidgey led everyone to the nest. A giant tree which looked like at least a century old had a big hole on the bottom. The hole was so big that five Meowth could live in there together as a pack. Eusine and Redwald were looking at the nest behind the bushes. The Meowth were sleeping. Redwald silently thanked Pidgey and called him back. Eusine was holding tight his Poké Ball. Meowth could steal it as well.

“What is the plan?” Redwald asked. Eusine took a second to think. He said nothing and walked towards bushes, came forward. “Wake up!” He shouted. All the Pokémon slowly opened their eyes where somnolence was the only thing. In the first seconds, they did not realize the situation. Later on, all the Pokémon startled by existence of a human. Eusine was looking in the eye of the young one.

“Give me my book back.” He said. The Pokémon stepped back and hid in the darker area of the nest. Eusine stepped forward. Other Meowth were so scared that they chose not to interfere. As Eusine came closer to the nest, all the other Pokémon came out of it and walked a bit farther. Redwald was worried that Eusine could hurt the young Pokémon.

“Are you not coming out?” Eusine said. He pushed the small button on the Poké Ball. The Poké Ball’s scale was enlarged. He was challenging the Pokémon to a Pokémon Battle. As each species has the instinct of pride for the meaning of a Pokémon Battle, Meowth walked out of the nest and accepted Eusine’s challenge. Redwald was not sure if what Eusine was doing was fair in the Pokémon world, or he was becoming a dangerous person indeed.

“Haunter, I choose you!” Eusine shouted, as he threw the Poké Ball. The gas Pokémon appeared floating in the air. Meowth was keeping an eye on him carefully. Eusine nodded his head. “You are an untrained Pokémon. Go first.” He said.

Meowth did not waste any second. He jumped and used Scratch on Haunter. But he went through the Pokémon and fell on the ground. Eusine nodded again. “It must be your first time battling a ghost type.” He said. “Normal type attacks won’t have any affection on my Pokémon.”

Meowth stepped back and opened his mouth. His teeth were glowing. He ran on four and jumped high with the attempt of biting Haunter. The result was the same. As Meowth fell on the ground, he hit his chin on the surface.

“Bite won’t work either!” Eusine shouted. Redwald could tell that the anger was in his voice. Eusine raised his hand. “Haunter, use Shadow Ball!”

Haunter created a dark ball in seconds and threw it on Meowth. Meowth pulled his arms higher and covered his face. Redwald prepared himself for the worst. The last time he saw Haunter using that move was when they first met. Redwald and the others found themselves in a big trouble as they were chased by a pack of Beedrill. Haunter used his Shadow Ball move and destroyed the whole pack. But unlike what was expected, the ball had no effect on the Pokémon. Meowth was still there, standing in the same position even after the ball disappeared.

“What?” Redwald responded. Eusine slapped his forehead. “What is wrong with me?!” He said. “How could I use a ghost type attack on a normal type?!”

Redwald could tell that Eusine was getting out of control. He walked towards Meowth and caught him from his neck. “Give my book back!” He said. Meowth tried to get rid of Eusine, but Eusine had no control on himself. Redwald came off the bushes and stood between the two. “Stop it!” He said. “You are not acting normal!”

“It belongs to me!” Eusine responded. “It is important for me, and without my book, I can’t go any further!”

Redwald put his hand on Eusine’s arm. He looked at him in the eye. Eusine nodded and put the Pokémon down. Meowth was shocked. He took a moment to breath and pull himself together. Redwald brought water out of his backpack and handed it over the little one. Meowth rejected the water. Once Redwald was sure that Meowth was alright again, he put his hand gently on the Pokémon’s shoulder. “You see, it doesn’t belong to you and it is important for my friend.” He said. “Can you give it back? We really need it.”

Meowth walked away slowly. All the other Meowth kept watching what was going on. They were as surprised as the little one. Shortly after, the little one returned with the book. He put it on the ground and stepped back on four. He lifted his tail higher, tilted his head closer to the ground and watched Eusine’s reaction. Eusine silently came closer to the book, held it on the ground and checked the pages. It seemed to be almost unharmed. Eusine put the book in his backpack. “Thank you, Meowth.” He said. “I appreciate your collaboration. I am sorry if I hurt you.”

He turned his back and walked towards the forest. Redwald followed him behind.

For the rest of the day, Eusine was rather silent. He was happy to have his book back, but something was off with him. Redwald thought of asking about either the book or himself, but he chose to be silent in the end. At the same time, he thought of his respect for Eusine. He had always been the adult one in the group, who kept it calm no matter what and came up with rational thoughts. This time, however, Eusine showed his the most immature side. For whatever reason, the book was too important for him, but could not there be better ways to solve it other than attacking an almost baby Pokémon with fists? Redwald felt like his respect for Eusine was questionable at the time. The man he saw was not the same he saw when they trained together.

In the evening, Redwald and Eusine met Greta at the Pokécenter. Greta spent her whole day chilling, shopping and spending quality time with her Pokémon. Redwald was getting ready to train after Eusine meets the person he intended to. After all, the second gym battle was around the corner.

It was as silent as rest of the day. Greta was exhausted and had no energy to talk. After Redwald shortly explained the fact that they got Eusine’s book back, there was barely any talking. They ate their food in the lobby of Pokécenter. Redwald assumed that Eusine’s silence was probably because he was questioning his own behaviour. The book might had been too important to him but losing his control like that was barely an excuse. At least, that was what Redwald hoped he was thinking.

“I am going to bed.” Greta said, as she left the table and disappeared. Neither Redwald, nor Eusine said anything for of after her. Eusine finished his meal and put them left the lobby as well. Redwald decided to stay in the lobby and watch outside. The moonlight was so strong that the street and the bushes could be seen clearly. He checked the o’clock on the wall. It was getting late. He enjoyed the silence and the peace for a moment. The nurse’s good night wish to Redwald, the only person in the lobby, occurred to him as a wakeup call. He had to get in the bed and be ready for tomorrow, probably for a final journey with Eusine.

… The next morning was not too different. Eusine was as silent as the day before. Redwald did not leave the area of his deep thoughts. Only Greta was more lively compared to the day before. It did not take too long to realize something was wrong with the group. But she decided to keep her thoughts for herself. If there was something, it would eventually come out, she thought.

After their breakfast, they checked their Pokémon one last time to be sure and left the Pokécenter. Eusine was holding the map again. “Where are we going now?” Redwald asked. Eusine showed the street behind them. “This leads to the twenty-fourth route.” Eusine said. “Where the man I am looking for lives.”

“But we have one more thing to do.” He said. Redwald and Greta were surprised. Eusine put the map in his backpack. He followed the path to the forest. Redwald and Greta followed him behind. No one asked him where they were going, but the path was familiar for Redwald. Eusine was going to Meowth’s nest. But for which reason could it be?

Eusine pushed the bushes, walked through the paths and eventually found himself at the giant tree. Greta was amazed by the size and old of the tree, just like Redwald and Eusine were. Eusine put his backpack on the ground and took out some food. He walked towards the nest with them and gently approached the sleeping Pokémon.

“I have some present for you all.” Eusine said gently. All the Meowth woke up. At first, they attempted to stay back, but once they saw Eusine’s gentle smile and generous gifts, they were rather surprised. They took their moment to approach a little and smell the present. They came to conclusion that Eusine’s present was safe. They grabbed it and carried in the corner to eat the delicious food. The little one, however, was rather still staring at Eusine. Eusine was feeling sad that he caused a Pokémon to be afraid of him. He reached his hand. Meowth stepped back slowly. “May I talk to you?” He asked. Meowth kept staring, but eventually came out of the nest.

He stood on four. His tail was standing high. Eusine knew Meowth was alarmed. “There is something you have to understand, Meowth.” Eusine said. “I came a long way to this place after many researches and collection of information. The book you stole… took from me contains them all. If I didn’t take back, all my hard work and sacrifices I have done in years would have been gone in vain. That made me worry and I lost my control.”

Meowth was staring.

“I hope you understand why I had to act like that.” He said. “It is more important than you can ever imagine.”

Meowth nodded his head. He stared at the ground then to show his regret. Eusine put his hand on his head. “I sincerely apologize for my behaviour. It is no excuse for resorting to violence.”

Meowth was staring with empty looks. If Eusine was not familiar with Pokémon this much, he would not be sure if Meowth was even understanding what he was saying.

“I have an offer to make.” Eusine said. “It is about to change your life.”

Meowth’s looks were more curious then. Eusine put his backpack on the ground, put his hand in it and brought a Poké Ball. “I want you to come along with me.” He said. Meowth was shocked, so were Redwald and Greta.

“You are trying to steal food from shops and hardly provide your needs.” Eusine said. “If you come along with me, I will ease my conscience, and you will get to eat my food any time you want.”

Although the offer was convincing for Meowth, he could not be sure to leave his pack. He was the youngest one, that’s why, the group always watched his back. They did not even ask him to steal food, but Meowth was going along with them only to learn the stuff. Now, he had an unrepudiated offer which would save his life, but would he feel good for leaving the group behind?

Meowth shook his head and walked closer to his group. His final decision was to stick with them. The group was hungrily eating the generous present by Eusine, unaware of what was even going on.

“I understand.” Eusine said. “If this is how you feel about my offer, then stay here. But I hope you will truly forgive me some day.”

The rest of the group began to pay their attention on Eusine and young Meowth as well. Presumably the oldest one put his hand on young Meowth’s shoulder and said something. Sure, no one understood what those sounds stood for, but it was obvious what the elderly one requested. As he pushed the young one towards Eusine, he wanted Meowth to go along with Eusine.

“Are you going along with me?” Eusine asked. The young Meowth nodded his head. He was ready to be caught. “I promise you, Meowth.” Eusine said. “You will not regret it and will have time to forgive me.”

He rolled the Poké Ball on the ground. Meowth stared it emotionlessly. Once the Poké Ball came close enough, it triggered itself and absorbed the Pokémon inside. The ball has shaken once… and twice… Since Meowth did not struggle, he was caught right away.

Eusine, with peace and hope in his heart, grabbed the Ball and promised himself that he would take good care of this Pokémon until the end.

Humans

 * Redwald Walker
 * Greta Parker
 * Eusine Hunter
 * The Grocers

Pokémon

 * Wild Meowth (×5)
 * Horsea (mentioned)
 * Wild Meowth (×5)
 * Horsea (mentioned)
 * Horsea (mentioned)