Mable: This is a short beta for a Pokémon fic that I may or may not continue. This does NOT mean I am planning to quit and of my 9 fics. In fact, this is just a thing in my spare time, so I'm not going back to Pokémon. This is not connected to Cat's Eye at all. I don't own Pokémon, Enjoy!

Some things never Change

Jessie and James were in a dead sleep, Meowth could hear their soft breathing in the tent, and so he didn't understand what the noise was brushing up against the edge of the tent. He slowly looked over in the direction of where the noise came from, ears perking to catch it again. Then it came in a slow movement, brushing across the texture of the tent, like the branch of a tree that caught it. Meowth would have disregarded it if not that the tent was in a clearing. He knew that nothing should have been brushing the tent like that.

Begrudgingly, the Cat Pokémon forced himself to his feet and struggled to get past James who was positioned before the tent flap. He unzipped it slowly, to make as less noise as possible, and stepped out into the cool night. There was a soft breeze that ruffled his cream fur gently and managed to send a small chill through him, even in the middle of summer. A soft exhale and he paused to listen to the surroundings. A wise move; he was able to hear soft footfalls on the other side of the tent.

Meowth suddenly pounced, circling the tent with claws out, and planned to jump whatever was hiding on the other side. There was nothing, though, nothing at all. Blue eyes scanned the tree line and could see movement in the bushes, to which Meowth began to follow yet again. Being a Cat, he was naturally curious and unafraid to follow this curiosity. Whether this was a positive or a negative wasn't visible at the present.

He followed through the bushes and managed to only make it a few steps before he saw what made the noise. He paused, staring, and slowly retracted his claws. There was a Pikachu standing nearby, looking solemnly at the ground. No, he wasn't even going to pretend that he didn't recognize that it was Pikachu, the Pikachu he had been hunting for years, and he didn't even have to get close enough to identify its scent to know it.

"Pikachu?" Obviously, yes, but Meowth asked in a tone that used it like a name instead of a title. Pikachu looked up in obvious recognition, then back down at the ground again. Large brown eyes were obviously in distress and Meowth prodded, "What are you doing out here, in the middle of the night, messing with our tent?" then he pulled back, "It's a set up. Isn't it?" Maybe the random questions were just to get Pikachu to voice what was wrong more than to guess.

"I needed someone." Pikachu said softly and sadly in his own language. "I needed someone who would notice." Meowth looked perplexed and sent a confused look, "Of course I noticed. You were scratching all over the thing!" Pikachu played with his hands pitifully, "Not that." The Cat huffed a little, "Look, if you got me up to play fifty questions-."

"Everything's changed." Pikachu suddenly voiced, finally looking at Meowth, "Every little detail has changed. Doesn't it bother you?" Meowth stared back, trying to understand what the other was saying. "What do you mean? What's changed?" The Mouse was now the one to huff, like he had said it hundreds of times beforehand, "Back then, everything was different than it is now. It's not changing clothes, it's changing people. No more adventures, no more battling; It's like I'm not usable anymore. I'm like the others, outdated."

Now Meowth understood what Pikachu meant to a degree. He meant the difference to when Ash and his journey began and now. "So you hit a quiet patch," Meowth pointed out, "It'll pick up. Isn't the twerp taking you back to Kanto soon?" Pikachu looked away again, "Yeah… But all we'll do is stop for a day and then go to another place where everything will become more and more… They are nice, they're good to me, but they'll be gone like all the others. All of them always leave."

"Look, Pikachu." Meowth crossed his arms to warm himself a bit, "He's not going to replace you. He'd never replace you. You've been through too much." It didn't help, and Pikachu murmured, "I miss what it was before. The world seemed so new… and now… Everything's changed…" He then looked back at Meowth, "Except for us." This took the Cat aback, "I've changed some." Pikachu seemed to disagree.

"After all this time; people leave, Pokémon leave, the humans change, the adventures stop, Jessie and James change, but you don't. You're still the one who tried to steal the Pokémon in the center when I was injured. Still the one I was tied to for a day-."

"Don't bring that up." Meowth mentioned with a wince at the seemingly painful memory. Pikachu continued, "Still the one who helped me watch Mime Jr. and Bonsly. Still Meowth, and I'm still Pikachu, but nothing else is still anything." Silence. For a second it seemed like neither knew how to continue this conversation. Then Meowth chimed in, "Yeah, and you're still the one who shocked me the one time I was willing to give a decent handshake."

Pikachu perked and looked over, "You remember." Meowth nodded and leaned against the nearest tree, "I remember everything you put me through, and I'd hold you to it except I enjoyed it too much to hate you for it." He confessed more, "I know what you mean about the difference than it was then, but there's not much we can do about it now. Just sit down and wait for, I don't know, the next trip back to Kanto? That would be nice, seeing Kanto again, right? Maybe you could get the twerp to take you around."

Instead, the Mouse slowly looked up at Meowth, "Or maybe I could get you to take me around." The Cat paused, looked confused, and answered with, "I don't follow." Pikachu was suddenly perked a bit, no longer looking sad and keeping a hopeful outlook, "We haven't changed, so maybe we can go and find what's missing. You and me, it'll be great, come with me."

Meowth looked back in the direction of the tent for a second before whispering, "Are you insane? We can't do that! I'm willing to have strange meetings at night, but we can't run off on our own."

"Why not?" Pikachu retorted, determined, "You know how to live without any shelter or barely any food. I can learn again how to live without Ash. It could be for a few days, or a few weeks, or more. Then whenever and however it stops, it stops. But at least we won't be waiting to get old and unwanted." The Mouse pulled back and looked away again, "I feel old." Meowth rolled his eyes, "You're not old, Pikachu; you're younger than I am."

"I 'feel' old." Pikachu reminded, correcting him, and coaxed, "This could be our last chance. What if the next Pokémon thieves take us out? What if the next legendary turns on us? What if we run out of time? Then at least we'll have some memories." Meowth didn't respond and the two stood there in silence again. Eventually, though, the Cat forced out a question, "So how would we do this? I'm not saying I'm going to do it, but how would we do this?"

Apparently Pikachu already had the plans. "The boat to Kanto won't be coming for a while, so we'll go on the boat to Olivine in Johto instead. Then, we'll travel to Goldenrod City and take the monorail to Saffron City. We'll head to Pallet town and spend the day with Ms. Ketchum resting. Then we'll decide where to go next." The other stared at the smiling Mouse who now looked hopeful again, "It could be fun."

"You need to go back to Ash." Meowth uses the human's real name cryptically, "I'll go back to the tent." Pikachu didn't understand, his ears lowered, and Meowth suddenly asked, "You can write in human, right?" It was like he suddenly asked Pikachu if his fur was naturally yellow. The Mouse answered slowly, "Yeah. A little." Meowth exhaled, "I can't believe I'm going to do this." He paused, then spoke, "Write a note to the twerps, tell them you're leaving, something that might buy you time, we'll meet here in thirty minutes. Will that work?"

Maybe it was the noise Pikachu made, a weird cry of joy, or the words that ran together, but Meowth was knocked aback by the reaction, and Pikachu himself as he briefly embraced him, before dashing off to finish the plan. Meowth rubbed his charm with a groan, "I'm going to regret this." He couldn't understand exactly why he was doing it, though, other than the fact that everything Pikachu said was true. Something was missing from both of their lives. "Definitely going to regret this."

Later they met once again. Both ready and slightly grim in expression, they began to set off through the trees. "Did you go for the truth?" Meowth asked somewhat curiously, stretching in prep for the walk ahead. Pikachu looked away, "I said: To my best friend, I'm off to find the adventure that we can't find together. I will be back someday. Take care." The Cat hid a snicker, "Dramatic approach, eh?" A sudden jolt of electricity flashed by and the Cat barely dodged it, "Hey! Watch it!"

Pikachu rolled his eyes, "What did yours say?" Meowth thought back, "I remember… 'Going somewhere with Pikachu, be back at whenever.'" Pikachu shook his head, "Why I am not surprised?"

"Cause I haven't changed a bit?"

Pikachu smiled again, "Maybe." With that the two, who were once enemies and now somewhat allies, set off together.

For how long? Only time would tell. All they knew was it would be an adventure they wouldn't forget.

Fin for now

Mable: Now it is ONLY a demo, a prologue, a test, so it has problems, lapses, and incredible shortness. Keeping that in mind, I hope everyone enjoyed!