A Fall From Grace
by Kiki
Part

Yeah, yeah, ya all know who I am. I'm Meowth. Da brains behind Team Rocket an' da only Pokémon who can talk like de humans do.

It weren't always like dat. When I was born, I was jus' like any other Pokémon. Da only thing I could say was "Meowth." Jus' like my Ma. But it was okay, cause we could talk jus' fine. An' I t'ought dat all I'd ever need was Ma.

We were livin' in da city, I don' even remember da name. But we had no home; we wandered de streets lookin' for food. One day she wandered into a grocery store an' tried to steal a chicken. De owner of de store threw a can of beans at her. Knocked her on da head. She managed to get away wit' de chicken an' make it back to me. I saw she was bleedin' but she said it was okay. She insisted I ate. She said she weren't hungry; she jus' wanted ta sleep.

She never woke up.

I was still pretty much a kitten myself. Too young ta survive on my own. Once I figured out dat Ma was never gonna wake up again, I knew I was in trouble.

I wandered around de streets, gettin' hungrier and hungrier. Maybe it was cold, my thinkin' of food when my Ma was barely dead an' gone, but dere wasn't any point in starvin' myself ta death, was dere? What good would it do ta Ma if I was dead too?

I was too young ta find food. I got weaker an' weaker. Finally, I just collapsed. On the doorway ta cheap apartment building. I couldn't walk, I couldn't move.

De janitor saw me an' was about to kick me ta da curb, when dis lady come out. She saw me an' she grabbed me. She looked at de janitor an' told him to leave me alone, couldn't de idiot see I was sick?

She lived in da building. She took me inside, up ta her apartment. She heated up some milk an' fed me bit by bit wit' an eyedropper so I could gain my strength back. She bathed me, fixed my cuts and scrapes an' put me in a nice warm bed to sleep.

When her husband came home, he didn't seem too thrilled wit' me. But da lady kept arguing wit' him an' finally da guy caved in. It seemed de two of dem couldn't have kids an I think de guy jus' t'ought dat if she had me, she wouldn't be so miserable about it.

So, I lived wit' dem. An' at first it was okay. Dey fed me real good, da lady was real affectionate wit' me. I had warm places to sleep. Yep, life was pretty plush.

Den I t'ink de lady went a little wacky. She stop t'inkin' of me as a Pokémon an' started ta t'ink of me as a child.

Don' get me wrong, I t'ink children have dere uses, but I ain't no child. But don' try to tell dat lady dat. She jus' wouldn't accept it.

She wouldn't let me walk on all fours, she insisted I walk on two legs. She started scolding me whenever I said "Meowth." Den she give me a name. Matthew. Is dat a stupid name or what? I hated it. At first I jus' ignored her, but dens she said she wouldn't give me nothin' ta eat unless I asked for it. In human tongue.

For t'ree days I lived on nothin' but water. I tried to get her husband ta give me some scraps, but he wouldn't give in. I t'ink by dis point he was startin' ta believe I wasn't a Pokémon anymore, but some weird kid instead.

"Just learn to talk and she'll feed you," he would say to me.

On the fourth day, I caved in. I went to da lady an' I opened my mouth. At first nothin' came out but squeaky noises, but da lady was patient. She waited. Finally I spoke.

"Food?"

It was as clear as any human ever spoke. Da lady's face lit up. She scooped me into her arms an' hugged me an' told me how proud she was of me. She made me a big, juicy steak wit' all de trimmings.

I ain't stupid. I knew what was good for me. I learned ta talk jus' like humans do. Actually, I t'ink I talk better dan most humans do. An' every time I said somethin' new, da lady would give me food, or toys or somethin' real nice.

Life was good for awhile. It seemed ta make de lady an' her husband happy dat I could talk. Of course she insisted I call dem Mom an' Dad, but dat wasn't so bad.

But after awhile, it wasn't enough. Dey started insisting I wear clothes. Real stupid clothes like little sailor suits. Dey would take me to the park an' buy me stupid t'ings like balloons. T'ings I could have ripped apart wit' my claws, but I didn't. I became so screwed up; I would let dem tie a stupid balloon on my wrist. I even stopped playin' wit' my favorite toys, balls of yarn.

Den, when I t'ought t'ings couldn't get any worse, dey sent me ta school.

Yeah, dats right. Dis lady and dis guy were so convinced I was a kid, dey sent me off ta school.

Of course de school wouldn't let me in. Dey suggested dat dey take me ta Pokémon training classes. Wanna know de weird t'ing? Even I was insulted. I was startin' ta think I was human.

So, dey hired a private teacher. Some guy named Mr. Giovanni. I don' t'ink he knew anythin' about teachin', but dere weren't too many qualified teachers out dere who wanted t' teach some Meowth with delusions of grandeur. It was a case of beggars can't be choosers an' we were definitely beggars.

I was frightened of him at first. He was big an' he didn't seem very friendly. But Mom an' Dad were so glad t'have a teacher fer me, dey jus' told me t'deal wit' it.

Mr. Giovanni did a good job of pretending t'be a teacher at first, especially when Mom an' Dad were around. He did teach me how ta read an' some simple math. When Mom an' Dad saw dat I was learnin', dey started leaving da two of us alone.

Once Mr. Giovanni realized we were bein' left alone. He started tellin' me 'bout Pokémon. At first I didn't want to listen. But he wouldn't stop. He kept talking about dem and talking about dem. Finally he told me dat I was a Pokémon, a Meowth.

I was scared when he said dat. I mean, I knew, deep down inside dat I wasn't human, but for too long I had pretended I was. I knew that to say I was a Meowth was bad, dat Mom an' Dad would stop feeding me. "I am not a Meowth!" I yelled at Giovanni. "I'm a boy an' my name is Matthew."

Giovanni jus' chuckled an' said, "Yes, play the game. You have to play it, as long as you live here. But if you would come with me, you could realize your full potential. You're not only a Meowth; you're the only Pokémon who can speak the human language. If you would just realize that, then you would understand, you are destined for greatness."

At first I dismissed his talk as dumb. But after awhile, it started ta get ta me. I knew dere was no place for me in da human world. Mom an' Dad could say I was human till dey were blue in da face, but it wouldn't get me allowed in human places like school. An' I knew dat I dere wasn't a place for me in da Pokémon world. Pokémon are very proud of de fact dat dey speak dere own language. Dey would consider a Pokémon who learned da human tongue ta be a cop-out, a traitor.

So, ran away from Mom an' Dad an' joined wit' Giovanni. At first it was great. I was his favorite Pokémon. He knew I was special an' he treated me special. He didn't treat me like a human; he didn't treat me like an ordinary Pokémon. I started ta feel good about myself.

I knew Giovanni wasn't up to much good. He wanted ta' capture all de Pokémon dere were an' take over de world. But I didn't care. He was good to me. All I wanted ta do was make him happy.

I knew he was havin' a real problem wit' one of his Team Rocket's. A couple of total losers named Jessie an' James. No matter how hard dey tried, dey couldn't steal a Pokémon if it were standin' on a street corner wit' a big sign 'round its neck dat said, "Take me!" I knew Giovanni was startin' ta get really ticked off about dem. He was convinced dey would ruin him.

I wanted ta make him happy. So I volunteered ta hang wit' dem, ta turn dem into the best Pokéthieves da world ever saw. Giovanni agreed.

At first Jessie an' James weren't too happy. Dey didn't want ta take orders from a Pokémon. So, I had ta scratch a few faces an' dey finally saw the light.

It was good for awhile. We stole a few Pokémon an' made Giovanni very happy. Although at times I had ta wonder why we were stealing dem. It seemed easier ta captures dem in de wild, like real trainers did. Or buy dem from other breeders. I swear, sometimes we spent more money tryin' t'steal a Pokémon dan we would have spent jus' buyin' it outright. But I suppose we had a reputation t'uphold.

Den we had ta meet up wit' dat stupid Ash baby an' his stupid Pikachu.

His stupid, strong, wonderful Pikachu.

I've never seen a Pikachu like him. Don't t'ink I ever will either. Dere is somethin' very special about dat electric rodent. I know dat if Giovanni could get dat Pikachu, he'd be very pleased wit' us.

So, we keep tryin' an' tryin'.

But we jus' can't seem to succeed.

It's become this vicious circle. In tryin' ta get dat stupid Pikachu, we've fallen so far from grace wit' Giovanni dat de only way we're going ta get back into favor is if we can give him dat Pikachu. It jus' keeps goin' 'round an 'round.

But someday we'll win. We'll get dat stupid Pikachu.

And I'll be top-cat again.

The End.


Notes: This was different for me. I've never thought about trying to write a story from the Pokémon POV. I hope you liked it. Feedback is welcomed, encouraged, loved, adored, and responded to!

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