"I wouldn't be so sure, Sonic." Nurse Joy walked in. She was slightly out of breath and looked slightly stressed. "Your energy boost is supposed to be renewed in five minutes to keep up your strength. The only reason why you haven't fallen over yet is because you're leaning against a wall." she turned stiffly to Team Rocket. "All of the Pokemon here have been moved. You can't take any of them now." Nurse Joy glared at them "You might as well leave."
"All we want is this Pokemon right here, we're not all that bothered with the others." James replied lazily.
"Although I always do enjoy a good shop." Jessie teased with a grin. Meowth stepped up to Sonic and realised that they were almost equal height. At least, they saw eye to eye. He smiled mischieviously.
"If you don't like Pokeballs, why don't you just come with us willingly?" he asked and Sonic looked over to Professor Oak, who looked back at him thoughtfully, as though considering it.
"Go with them, Sonic." he said suddenly. "If you meet a boy called Ash, then I would like it if you joined him so that we could meet again. He'll take care of you if you do."
"Why would he want to see you again?" Jessie muttered under her breath. Meowth glanced up at her, warning her to shut it, before turning to the professor.
"If he comes back, we'll beat you again." Meowth warned, before he quickly clambered up the wall to the window and lowered down a rope ladder for Jessie and James to get onto. "Let's go, Sonic!" he called, but the hedgehog didn't move. James pulled out his Pokeball threateningly, but Meowth scolded him. "He's just weak! Pull him up with you!"
"Why should I?" he moaned childishly and Jessie hissed at him as she hurried up the ladder.
"The boss will make us rich if we give him a rare and newly discovered Pokemon!" she reminded and clambered out of sight. James suddenly seemed enthused and threw Sonic over his back as he too disappeared from sight, the ladder followed. In his weakened state, the hedgehog suddenly felt heavy and his vision started to dim, no matter how much he tried to fight it. As soon as someone lay him onto a basket-like floor, his mind left him and his eyes closed.
"I told you he was weak!" Sonic heard Meowth tell his friends smugly before he went into a deep sleep.
"But Meowth, we're losers!" James was protesting "We'll never capture all of those Pokemon! OW!" he cried out suddenly as Jessie hit him. Sonic watched through squinted eyes as he pretended to sleep.
"Don't call us losers, James!" she cried "We're Team Rocket!" The woman looked over to Meowth "But I don't get why we don't take him to the boss..."
"I explained already!" The cat Pokemon hissed "If this Pokemon is as good as that labcoat was saying, then he'll capture loads of Pokemon for us!" He looked at their almost blank expressions with exasperation. "It's like looking at a psyduck after it's been shown a card trick." Meowth muttered to himself, and the tone of his voice made Sonic grin involuntarily, even though he wasn't quite sure what a psyduck was. "We'll have a mountain of Pokeballs with this Pokemon at the top! It'll be the ultimate gift! He'll forgive us for all the times we've failed him and I'll be top cat again!" He rubbed his thumb and finger together in front of them "Just think of the reward!"
"Meowth! You're a genius!" James beamed as something clicked in his mind, he finally understood. "Let's look for Pokemon right now!" His stomach roared fiercely "I mean, after we stop for breakfast." Suddenly, Sonic's stomach made a similar noise and he sat up quickly, just as they all turned their heads.
"Hey, you hungry?" Meowth asked, in a friendly manor and offered his hand out to him, which Sonic took politely. Besides his hunger and a slight headache, he was feeling refreshed and was in a rather good mood, but still didn't quite trust his unstable body, or the people he was with. He gave a nod to Meowth and looked at his surroundings. Quickly, he realised they were in a hot air balloon miles above the ground. There was no way to escape if he needed to, but the view was nice, as green and lush as his own world. Sonic watched as they began to descend into a forest near a town that carried sweet smells of fresh bread and juicy fruits. Meowth stood next to him. "Your name's Sonic, right?"
