Meowth had thought that if it became more like a human, the "white moonlight" in its heart would accept it.
Instead, all it had done was make itself look strange to its own kind, only to be rejected.
Ash finished treating the last wound, packed up the spray, dusted his hands off, and stood.
From above, he looked down at Meowth.
The shadow of his cap hid most of his face.
Only the faint curve at his lips flickered in the moonlight, unreadable.
If you were going to act cool, you needed the right setting.
Atmosphere, lighting, the world itself doing the staging—that was when "acting cool" felt natural.
Not forced.
"I'm not interested in your past, Meowth," Ash said quietly.
"I only care about right now."
"Right now, you're my Pokémon."
"In terms of Poké Ball rules, anyway."
To Meowth, that line hit like a hammer.
For most wild Pokémon, that kind of legal talk meant nothing.
But Meowth wasn't like them.
Meowth had spent too long around humans.
It knew exactly what being caught in a Poké Ball meant in human society.
And it was something it couldn't accept.
"You're lying, nya! I'm not!" Meowth yelped back, but the protest came out thin.
It knew the rules too well.
"Whether you are or not—you know the answer," Ash said, completely unhurried. "So I'll keep this simple. You have two options."
He held up two fingers.
"One."
"I hand you over to Officer Jenny along with Jessie and James. If nobody alerts Team Rocket, who knows how long it'll take for the organization to drag them out."
His voice was light—
But Meowth shivered.
It had no idea what Jessie and James's family backgrounds really were. If it had, it wouldn't have worried half as much.
"Two."
Ash lowered one finger.
"I release you. You go back to Team Rocket and figure out how to spring Jessie and James."
"But we make a bet."
"From now on, no matter how many times you come after me, I'll let you go."
"But you have to be honest with yourself: if there ever comes a day when you genuinely want to be my Pokémon—"
"That's the day you stop running."
Ash thought of Zhuge Liang capturing Meng Huo seven times.
He had no idea how long it'd take to win Meowth over.
But this was a low-risk move either way. Whether it worked or not didn't really affect his big picture.
Meowth jerked its head up, staring.
"Go with you?! Go with some snot-nosed kid like you, nya?!"
It honestly could not understand where his confidence came from.
How could he be so sure Meowth would ever choose that?
"Pika!" Pikachu's cheeks sparked, annoyed by the tone.
Ash raised a hand to calm it and continued.
"I'm very confident in my future."
"There's a throne in the sky—that's where Kings sit."
"And one day, I'm going to be the one who stands above it all."
"I'll be the Champion of Champions."
"I'll be the greatest Pokémon Trainer, past and future. No one will surpass me."
He didn't phrase it as a possibility.
He said it like he was stating a fact that just hadn't caught up to the present yet.
Meowth instinctively turned its head away.
It didn't dare look him in the eye.
That kind of burning desire and iron will—
For a heartbeat, the boy in front of it overlapped with Giovanni.
"Darn it… Why does this feel like looking at the Boss, nya…" Meowth muttered under its breath.
Then it slapped its paws over its mouth.
Giovanni's identity was technically a secret—
But not that secret. Anyone of a certain rank knew.
Giovanni had never bothered to hide very hard.
His status came from his strength, not from secrecy.
Power was its own justification.
As long as no one could defeat Giovanni, knowing his "secrets" meant nothing.
Most of the time, victory decided who was right and wrong.
People lost first.
Then someone declared them "wrong."
"Anyway… that's the future," Ash said. "So I'm not asking you to come with me now."
"For the moment, I just need you to cooperate and 'talk some sense' into your two not-so-bright teammates… so they don't cause trouble while I'm hauling them to the station."
He flicked his eyes back toward camp.
Jessie and James were tough. Once they woke up, they'd definitely start yelling.
"In return," Ash crouched so he was eye-level with Meowth again.
"I'll take a look at how far down this 'side path' you've gone—and whether there's still some way to patch up the battle training you skipped."
"Because just talking, and being useless in a fight—"
"That's not going to help you complete Boss Giovanni's 'glorious' assignments, is it?"
Ash also wanted to test what kind of effect his system had on a Pokémon's growth.
On paper, Meowth was stuck. Its level wasn't going anywhere.
But now that it had been caught by him—
Could its strength start climbing again?
System.
Show me your limits.
"!!!" Meowth just stared, mouth slightly open.
How did this kid know about Boss Giovanni?
What exactly was he offering?
Make up the battle lessons it had missed?
Was that even possible?
The idea hit so hard it completely bulldozed over the fact that Meowth had just blurted Giovanni's name.
The sheer flood of information—and the temptation buried in it—
The possibility of becoming stronger—
"By the way, Giovanni's the Viridian City Gym Leader, right?" Ash said casually. "You let it slip just now."
He mimicked Meowth's earlier tone perfectly:
"'Darn it… Why does this feel like looking at the Boss, nya?'"
"AAAAHHH!!!" Meowth's eyes almost popped out of its head.
It was doomed. Absolutely doomed.
"Hahaha, relax. I'm not telling anyone," Ash said, ruffling the fur between its ears.
The texture really was nice.
Moonlight streamed through the gaps in the canopy and spilled over the boy, the mouse, and the cat.
Somewhere deep in the forest, a Pidgey called softly.
Meowth's claws scratched absently at the leaves beneath it, the struggle inside plain to see.
Ash didn't rush it.
He just watched quietly and waited.
Time stretched.
Finally, Meowth forced the words out, dry and hoarse.
"…You… were you serious, nya?"
"I told you already," Ash cut in.
The curve of his mouth deepened, tinged with a quiet, unnerving confidence that made Meowth's heart skip.
"No one understands Pokémon better than I do."
He rose and brushed the grass off his pants.
"Now choose, Meowth."
Meowth looked at Ash's outstretched hand.
Then at Pikachu, who was watching it like a hawk.
Then back into Ash's eyes—bright even in the dark.
It swallowed, throat making a small, audible gulp.
"…F-fine… nya… I pick option two," it whispered, voice very small, tail-tip hesitantly curling around one of Ash's fingers.
"But if you're lying to me… I will scratch your face, nya!"
"Pika chu~" Pikachu nodded in satisfaction, letting the sparks fade from its cheeks.
Ash smiled and drew his hand back.
"Good. Then welcome to the team—for now, Meowth."
He raised the Poké Ball again. Red light washed over Meowth's conflicted expression and pulled it inside.
The forest fell silent once more, as if that little conversation that had nudged fate onto a new path had never happened.
Only the moon remained, cold and steady, watching it all from above.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/StrawHatStudios