Inner Peace

By Mandy Owston

The first pale light of dawn was tinting the distant horizon when the van jerked to a stop. Exhausted, Meowth finally relaxed his grip on the van roof. His tired muscles ached from the long trip. As the front door of the van slammed open, Meowth flattened himself against the roof, making himself as inconspicuous as possible. Heavy footsteps approached the back of the van. Meowth closed his eyes and tried to relax his tense body.

The next thing Meowth knew, bright sunlight was beating down on his back. The small cat Pokemon yawned and stretched his paws forward. Blinking sleep from his eyes, Meowth realized with a start that the entire area was deserted. The cat poked his head over the edge of the van's roof and saw that the van doors were hanging open, and there was no sign of the driver or his two friends.

Trying hard not to panic, Meowth carefully leapt from the roof and began to examine his surroundings. The vans that he and James had seen in the valley were here, parked in an enormous parking lot which was surrounded by several layers of barbed-wire fences. In the distance, Meowth could make out two imposing guard towers.

The vans were parked in front of a huge white building, landscaped with green shrubs and brightly colored flowers. Near the main entrance stood a wooden sign, with the words "Welcome to the Society" painted in neat letters. The building certainly didn't look like it belonged with the prison-like fences and guard towers. Meowth wondered what was going on.

The cat Pokemon walked around the perimeter of the building, stopping at the first window he came to. Stretching on the tips of his paws, he peered in. Inside, he saw a group of people sitting in a circle. They were all wearing light brown robes and had wreaths of flowers around their necks. Their eyes were closed, as if in meditation, and all were smiling peacefully.

Meowth backed away from the window, a bit disquieted by what he had seen, and approached the next window. Inside the next five windows, he saw the exact same thing: circles of unmoving robe-clad people all in peaceful meditation. A strange floral smell was everywhere, and it was starting to give Meowth a headache.

Rounding the corner of the building, Meowth came upon a much smaller window, propped open by two large books. Grabbing the windowsill, Meowth pulled himself inside, barely squeezing through the narrow aperture.

After a few moments, Meowth's eyes adjusted from the bright sunlight outside to the dimness of the room. There was a small wooden table in the center of the room, covered with books and research journals. Barely giving them a glance, Meowth headed for the door on the opposite side of the small room. He had just opened the door when suddenly the sound of a bell was heard. Startled, the cat jumped behind the door. After a few seconds, however, his curiosity got the better of him and he peeked out the door.

A group of the robed figures he had seen earlier were now moving down the hallway. They were all chanting in what sounded like another language. The sound was unnerving. After they had passed, a figure in a darker brown robe hurried down the hallway, running in the opposite direction.

"Come!" Meowth heard his young male voice call out excitedly. "The Mother says the time has come for today's induction ceremony! Now the newest initiates are ready to become true members of our beloved Society!"

At the sound of many more people processing down the hallway, chanting in that strange language, the cat finally lost his nerve and slammed the door shut. Pacing around the room nervously, Meowth noticed one of the books on the table was much more colorful than the others, covered with bright flower stickers. Curious, he picked it up and examined the cover. The words "Professor Ivy's Research Diary - Vileplume Study" were written in shiny gold letters.

Meowth carefully opened the diary to the first page and began reading, having no idea what he might learn from the writing inside.


February 3: Those three young trainers arrived on Valencia Island today, according to plan. The GS Ball has been delivered and the annoying children will soon be sent on their way, with one exception. It seems the oldest one wishes to remain here with me! I'm sure this will have benefits down the road, as he enjoys doing all the domestic work around the lab while I tend to more. serious matters.


Meowth stopped, intrigued. "Annoying children"... was Professor Ivy talking about the twerps? It was true that Ash and company had gone to Valencia not too long ago, courtesy of a Team Rocket blimp. Wonder if Ivy's twerps are our twerps too? Meowth wondered absently before reading on.


February 4: A Raticate tried to interfere with the Vileplume study last night, and when I attempted to stop it, accidentally breathed in some Stun Spore myself. Luckily the experience helped me to develop an antidote, which will surely come in handy later on. Those annoying children left today, and as I predicted, the oldest one, Brock, stayed with me. Perhaps he will prove to be a worthy assistant to me... or at least a decent guinea pig in my experiment.


Meowth frowned. Had he read that last line correctly? The Professor was going to use the squinty kid in some kind of experiment? The cat shrugged. He had always idly wondered what happened to the older kid. He hadn't been on the return trip of the blimp (which provided the opportunity for some great insults at the expense of the younger twerps), but the squinty kid did return, much later, with no explanation of what happened. Hmm.

Meowth flipped ahead a few pages and began reading again.


February 8: Busy day today. First of all, I deployed that simpleminded nephew of mine, the Sketchit kid, with orders to find those children and make certain they are detained for quite awhile in the Orange Archipelago. He has reported that the boy and girl were last seen leaving on a blimp, headed for Tangelo Island. He has been given strict orders (and a dash of Stun Spore) to make certain the boy enters the Orange League. I just hope the simpleton doesn't fail me.


Meowth smiled at Ivy's last comment. He had always hated Tracey Sketchit, from the very first moment he met the Pokemon Watcher on Tangelo Island. Even in the limited time Meowth had to deal with the kid, Tracey had grated on his last nerve. It was nice to hear someone else express the same sentiments he felt toward the annoying artist. Meowth flipped through some diagrams and technical notes before he found the next non-scientific article.


March 14: Wonderful news. I just heard from Oak that the young trainers won't be delivering the GS Ball to him for awhile yet, as they are now involved with the Orange League. At least that idiot Sketchit did something right for a change.


Meowth giggled aloud. "Idiot" seemed like a pretty appropriate description. The cat flipped ahead in the journal, and stopped when something fascinating caught his eye. Stuck in between the pages of the diary was a photograph from the newspaper. The photo depicted Officer Jenny presenting Ashy-boy with a certificate; standing beside him were scrawny little Misty and moronic Tracey, both grinning like idiots. The photo's caption read: "Team Rocket Carted Off Again on Mandarin Island - Young Trainers Rewarded".

Meowth remembered that whole thing only faintly. He remembered arriving on Mandarin Island with his friends, then the next thing he knew, he was in this big room with a whole bunch of other Pokemon. Jessie, James, and the twerps were there... and so were those two "other" Rockets, Butch and Cassidy. The cat wondered why Ivy would cut something like that out of the paper. Intrigued, he started to read the next entry.


March 25: Well, it turns out that my suspicions were correct after all. I just saw, on the Orange Islands News Channel, that those two annoying children (still accompanied by Sketchit - at least that asinine artist is good for something) have just thwarted another Team Rocket scheme on Mandarin Island, this time disrupting the activities of a pair of Class A agents. I'm certainly glad I planned ahead and got rid of those two irritating children before they could cause me any problems. However, their older friend Brock has turned out to be an invaluable help around the lab... and also makes my research look as helpful to the world as I know it to be. If only that fool knew... what a great service he's doing mankind.


So dat's it, thought Meowth. Ivy didn't want da twerps messin up her plans like they always mess up ours... but how'd she know about dat? Thoroughly confused, Meowth jumped ahead a few months in the journal, growing bored with all this reading.


June 4: I fear that my "trusted assistant" Brock is starting to cause trouble in the lab. He believes that, since he's been here for several months, he can now pursue his own experiments and activities. Ordinarily I wouldn't mind, but he seems to have taken a fancy to my Vileplume research... perhaps he should begin to take a more "active" role in the study...


"Active role in the study"... maybe dat's what Ivy meant about the squinty kid bein a guinea pig, Meowth thought before flipping ahead again.


July 2: Amazing developments in the Vileplume study today. For the first time, the subject was unbelievably receptive to all issued commands, even ones that went against his natural character; very loyal and responsive, especially to my orders. Definitely want to keep a closer eye on this one... not only is he very susceptible to the Stun Spore, but of course he's a skilled cook and housecleaner... it's always nice to have a mindless moron to attend to domestic duties.


Hmm... sounds like some kinda mind control, thought Meowth. Can Stun Spore REALLY do dat much damage? He skipped over a detailed description of Stun Spore's chemical formula and structure, locating the next interesting article.


July 21: The subject continues to sink even further under the Vileplume's Stun Spore powers, just as expected. Often forgets his own identity and background in the Pewter City Gym. Perhaps it would be time to increase the potency of the Stun Spore, so as to expedite the process...


Blah, blah, blah... thought Meowth as he skimmed the articles. Suddenly, the first words of an entry caught his attention and he began reading in detail.


August 28: What a disaster. Due to a miscalculation in the Stun Spore concentration, my test subject inhaled too much of the powder and passed out. Of course, I called Nurse Joy immediately to get the boy some medical attention. I'm not heartless, after all. Besides, what good would it do me if he were to die? This entire stage of the experiment would be useless. When the boy awakened, I attempted to carry on where I had left off, by issuing him a simple order. All I asked him to do was destroy the main power source of the Pokemon Center to create a distraction, during which time we could escape. He stared at me blankly for a moment until that goody-goody nurse entered the room. Suddenly, his expression changed, and I thought he was back under my control, when that idiot suddenly began skipping around the room, chirping about how beautiful the nurse was. It was enough to make a sane person ill. As soon as Joy left the room, I calmly repeated the order and that ungrateful wretch backed away from me as if I had lost my mind. I asked him what was wrong, and if he remembered who I was. With a look of terror on his face, the moron ran out of the room, babbling incoherently. That was the last I ever saw of him.


Meowth blinked in shock, rereading the entry for August 28th. It explained so much: the disappearance of the older twerp, the reason he left Ivy's lab, and why any mention of Professor Ivy made him flip out. No wonder, Meowth thought as he turned to the next entry. If somebody did dat ta me, I'd have issues too...

Shuddering involuntarily, Meowth read on, half-afraid of what he'd learn next, but too fascinated to stop reading.


August 30: After recovering from the shock at losing my original test subject, I am now convinced of one thing: the plan works. Not only does it work, but it is also very effective, provided I closely monitor the concentration of Stun Spore the subject receives. The wreaths of Vileplume petals appear to be most effective to provide maximum mind-controlling power. The triplets agree that I am now ready to begin "recruiting" members for my own world-domination Society, finding trainers whom no one will really miss for awhile, and subject them to my experimental methods. Once I build a strong support base, we can begin recruiting other, more complicated cases...


Meowth was beginning to grow sleepy. After all, he had been awake the whole night before, and he was exhausted from hanging onto the speeding van. As his eyelids drooped, Meowth skimmed the next few entries, pausing only when something caught his attention.


November 13: The base of my power has begun to increase exponentially... dozens of new recruits are brought in every day... van drivers are morons but at least they are reliable, and they have never asked too many questions...


Meowth yawned and flipped through the next month of entries, stopping with a jolt when he saw the Boss's name in Ivy's diary. Intrigued, he read the entry.


December 30: ...not even Giovanni could pull off a scheme like this. He operates by instilling fear into his agents, but I provide my followers with an increasing sense of calm... my Society will make Team Rocket look like a mere speck of space dust floating aimlessly through the galaxy...


Meowth fumed. Who did this nut job think she was, bad-mouthing Team Rocket like that? Space dust? REAL funny, there. Although she's right about da Boss, he thought ruefully. He flipped through the diary until he found another mention of Team Rocket.


February 15: ...a brilliant idea, to further enhance my powers by taking members away from Giovanni's Team Rocket... already fully trained to follow orders, especially directed to world conquest... I'm certain that their kind of skills would surely help my Society more forward. My main objective is to locate a team of Team Rocket incompetents, agents that Giovanni would never miss should they mysteriously disappear. Preferably, I will locate a group that is on a perpetual failing streak, one that hardly dares to report to their revered Boss for fear of his wrath; a group so doomed to disaster that their presence in my Society could only improve them far beyond their current value...


Meowth slammed the book shut, unable to read on. The cat felt half-sick, like someone had kicked him in the stomach with steel-toed boots. He still didn't fully know what Ivy was up to, but he had read enough to know that his two best friends - his two only friends - were in the middle of more trouble than anyone could have guessed.

Eyes brimming with tears of indignation, Meowth raced out of the room and followed the sound of chanting voices that echoed through the corridors. All thoughts of sleep had vanished from his mind as the cat raced down the hallways of the Society Headquarters. His mind, usually awhirl with brilliant schemes and scams, couldn't even form the beginnings of a plan. All Meowth knew was that he had better act and act fast... or his two best friends were doomed.

BACK to Chapter Selection