Chapter III: Gatomon vs Meowth
Gatomon was having a lousy day. Wandering aimlessly through the forest, she had come to a number of conclusions.
Conclusion 1: She was not in the Digital World, but not in the Real World -as the humans called it- either. Both humans and creatures she assumed was some sort of Digimon inhabited this world.
Conclusion 2: When she arrived she had immediately been attacked by what she assumed to be two human slave-hunters of some sort.
Conclusion 3: The local Digimon where of no help. Most of them either ran away, ignored her or attacked her. Even those she managed to talk to could not help her in her uncomfortable situation, since they only seemed to be able to pronounce the syllables of their own names in different combinations. After unsuccessfully trying to speak to a big, purple rat she gave up trying to communicate.
Conclusion 4: While fighting off those who attacked her (she assumed they were virus, though not all of them were bad) she noticed that they mostly lacked the raw power of the Digimon of her world, but in exchange they were more flexible and with more different attacks, plus the fact that they could take a heck of a beating.
Conclusion 5: She had no idea on how to get home, and missed the others terribly, especially Kari. It made her feel very aggressive, and her claws were itching to make someone pay for her suffering.
She began feeling thirsty after the battles and the walk, so as soon as she heard the sound of running water she changed her course. She didn't know if the slavers were still looking for her, but she knew that she could not hide forever. She only hoped she would find a way out of this mad world soon.
Meowth made his way through the forest as fast as he could, but made sure to be aware of his surroundings. Although most humans could be kind of smart from times to times, they were still just humans. There were some things that humans weren't as good at as Pokémon, and hunting was one of them. Moving silently was another. Meowth was intentionally moving away from the human trainers since he knew that all the noise they made would alert the Pokémon they were looking for. Even though Meowth had been living with humans for a long time, he was still a predator deep within, and while moving through the forest without Jessie and James slowing him down and their chatter to distract him, something had awoken within him. Instincts old as time surfaced. Meowth found himself catching scents carried through the wind, and searching for tracks on the ground.
After searching for a while he found a track that he didn't recognise. He smiled and thought that he might get used to this wildlife-thing. Following the trace the best he could, he noticed the sound of a creek. The tracks seemed to lead towards it, and Meowth knew that where there was water you would always find Pokémon.
When he got closer he carefully sneaked up from behind a tree and took a look at his surroundings. He was lucky, the Pokémon he was looking for was crouching near the creek, drinking. It stopped momentarily and raised its head. Meowth gasped. She was definitely female, and the picture on the Pokécentre wall had not made her justice. She looked allot less ferocious and also a bit lost. Her blue eyes suddenly swept across the surrounding area, as if she was looking for something. Meowth quickly pulled his head back to behind the tree, hoping she hadn't seen him. He did not want to risk a confrontation, and decided to find a more appropriate hiding place.
Gatomon returned her head to her paws, drinking some more water. Her senses and instincts had been right. She was not alone. She could not see this other one, but she knew that her spectator was out there, watching her.
Let's see if I can't persuade you to show yourself, she thought and got up.
Meowth had climbed a suitable tree and had a nice view of the entire area. The unidentified Pokémon moved, quickly retreating into the forest. Meowth frowned and tried to see where she went, but soon lost track of her. Waiting a while to be on the safe side, he climbed down the tree and tried to find out which way she had went. There was something wrong with the entire situation, but he couldn't really put his claw on what. His instincts were screaming at him, but he couldn't hear what they were saying. He heard a sound from the bushed behind him.
"Oh oh," he said,
"Haaaaa!" Something white pummelled into him from behind. Meowth tried to role with the fall, and got up in time to avoid Gatomon's claws, coming right at him. Without thinking he lashed out at her with his own claws, but missed. This was enough for Gatomon to classify him a hostile, however, and before he could say anything to prove otherwise she was all over him.
Gatomon was one of the most formidable opponents Meowth had ever met, and she bested him both in speed and strength. But he was of a very high level for a Meowth and even though he wasn't much for getting into fights he was an agile and aggressive Pokémon who knew how to get around in a fight. Life as a stray cat and then as a Team Rocket member hadn't left him totally defenceless. He was also larger then Gatomon, even though her speed took the most out of that advantage.
"Lighting Claw!" Gatomon shouted and Meowth was unable to fully dodge the blow. Her claws scratched him over the chest. The pain was horrible.
"Oh, so dat's how ya wanna do it?" he growled. "Ya asked for it, lady! Slash! Fury Swipes!"
Before Gatomon even had time to react, three thin red lines appeared in her face. For a moment she just stood there, dumbfounded, but then her nerve-signals reached her brain. "Aaaargh! The pain!"
Meowth quickly took advantage over the situation and tackled her. Though it didn't serve to hurt her, she lost her balance momentarily. Meowth took the coin from his forehead. "Pay Day!"
The oval object flew like a shiruken and hit Gatomon in the head. She staggered backwards as it returned to Meowth's paw. He then quickly returned it to his forehead. They both took a defensive position and started circling each other, trying to find an opening. Meowth was impressed, and also rather worried. He had expected to have the time to set up some sort of trap or make preparations, not go in hand-to-hand. They were both pretty scratched up, but he was breathing hard and she did not show any signs of getting tired any time soon. The only thing he could see in her eyes was an unbendable fighting spirit, and he knew that this was a fight that he could impossibly win.
Gatomon lashed out towards him. He hurried to put his paws up. "Wait!" he cried.
She hesitated and lowered her paw somewhat, still not sure what to do. She wasn't much for striking down on enemies that had given up, but this could be a trick. "What?" she asked.
"Well, Meowth sorry if dere has been some misunderstanding," he said. "Meowth tinks we should stop fightin' now, before someone gets hurt."
"You mean before you get hurt?" Gatomon and couldn't help but to grin.
"Eh, yeah," Meowth said. "Sometin' like dat."
"Well, okay then," Gatomon said and offered him his paw. "I'd rather be your friend then your enemy anyway. The name's Gatomon. Sorry for ambushing you, but I've been under allot of stress lately."
"I'm Meowth," Meowth said and shook her paw. He felt really relived. Now he only needed to trick this Gatomon to come with him and then he would turn her over to Team Rocket. He was sure that both Jessie and James as well as Giovanni would be proud of him.
"So, Meowth, if you don't mind telling me were I am?" Gatomon said. "I think I've somehow been sent to another world, but I'm not sure which one. It looks like the Real World, but there seem to be both Digimon and humans over here."
"First of all," Meowth said. "We're not Digimon, we're Pokémon. Second, what da heck are yous talkin' bout? Ya mean dat you're not even from dis woid?"
"Something like that," Gatomon said and giggled. She was amused by Meowth peculiar accent.
"What's so funny?" Meowth demanded to know.
"Nothing, I've just never heard an accent like yours before."
"Oh, I'd have yous know dat Meowth is one of da few Pokémon who can talk human," Meowth said, feeling a bit wounded from her remark. No one had ever complained on his accent before.
"Yeah, I noticed," Gatomon said. "Where I come from we all speak perfect human, so you have to excuse me if I'm a bit confused."
"No problem," Meowth said. "Hey, dose trainers will get here soon, we should get goin' if ya don't wanna get caught."
"Are they after you too?" Gatomon asked.
"No, Meowth already have trainers," Meowth said. "Well, actually dey are more of partners dan trainers."
"The ones I ran into weren't that friendly," Gatomon said, frowning at the memory if her earlier battle.
"Some trainers are like dat," Meowth said and they made their way through the forest. "But most treat dere Pokémon wit respect and care."
"I don't get it," Gatomon confessed. "You mean you have nothing against them capturing you and holding you prisoner? What do you do for them anyway?"
"We mostly fight other Pokémon. Two trainers meet, sends dere Pokémon out and den dey fight. The loser's rarely seriously hurt, it's all just a game really."
"And you approve of this?" Gatomon asked. She could not for a moment imagine how someone could agree on fighting people they didn't even know just because their "master" told them to. She had had enough of that herself when serving under Myotismon.
"I'm not really into Pokémon battles myself," Meowth said. "But most Pokémon are. Some more or less live for it."
"This is an odd world," Gatomon sighed.
And so it continued. The two feline creatures kept talking about their worlds while travelling side by side deeper into the forest.