Chapter IV: A Seed of Friendship
"So, you say dat in your woid, there's no humans?" Meowth asked after listening to Gatomon's tale.
"Well, if you don't count the Digidestined, of course, but they aren't from our world anyway," Gatomon said.
"And dey are some sorta Digimon trainers?" Meowth said, who still hadn't quite grasped the entire Digimon/Digidestined thing.
"Not exactly," Gatomon said. "They help us Digivolve into stronger Digimon to fight evil. In fact, that was how I ended up here in the first place."
Meowth was fascinated. Even though Gatomon looked like a Pokémon and had proven to be a nice person who Meowth enjoyed to be with, he had come to realise that she was more alien to him then any creature he had ever met. For every similarity they found between Digimon and Pokémon they found a difference to counter it. He tried to imagine a world without humans, but failed. He had spent way too much time with humans to even begin to understand how such a world would work. Pokémon and humans had been living in symbiosis with each other since the dawn of time, and many scientists were convinced that one could never survive without the other. He was even more shocked to learn of another world co-existing with the Digital World that was populated by humans only, which was a world even more difficult for him to imagine.
Meowth's mind was racing. He had gone out on the look for a rare, unidentified Pokémon, and he had found a being that claimed to come from a whole other world. He wondered if Giovanni would still be interested in the Digimon. Knowing his boss, he realised that Giovanni would be interested in anything that meant more power and wealth for himself, and as the collector of rarities Giovanni was, a different name wouldn't matter much. He was still planning to turn her in to Team Rocket, but it made him feel a little sad since she had proven to be such a likeable person. Perhaps he could convince the boss to let her join the team?
Gatomon continued to tell Meowth about her captivity in the service of the evil Myotismon, something Meowth could relate to. She jumped some section now and then, and Meowth could see that it was a subject that was painful for her to talk about.
What am I doing? Gatomon thought. Why am I pouring my soul into this complete stranger? I don't even know if I can trust him? But it felt right, and Gatomon decided to go with her instinct even though the little, quiet but rather annoying voice in the back of her head told her that she would regret it later on.
Meanwhile, Meowth had listened to her description of Myotismon and tried to imagine Giovanni dressed in a long vampire cape and a mask. The results almost made him burst out laughing.
"Something funny?" Gatomon asked.
"No, noting," Meowth said and hoped he hadn't upset her. It was crucial that she trusted him if he was ever going to get her back with him.
"Oh," she said. "Do you think shook the trainers off?"
"Yeah, dey won't be looking for us at night," Meowth said and notice that the sun was beginning to retreat towards the horizon.
"Shouldn't we be looking for a place to spend the night?" Gatomon asked.
Meowth though for a moment. There were some caves in the nearby hills, but going there would take the further away from Viridian City. Meowth decided that it too late to be thinking of returning, and that they had to spend the night somewhere.
"Dere are some caves nearby," he said. "Dis way."
"Good thing I bumped into you," Gatomon said and smiled. "I wouldn't want to spend the night out here."
"Oh, it's noting really," Meowth said and blushed slightly. To get the mood up and make the time go faster, he started humming on a song he learned a long time ago.
"Meowth, Meowth, Meowth. Meowth, Meowth. Meowth," he hummed.
"What's that?" Gatomon asked.
"Oh, just an old song I learned in da gang I belonged to long ago," he said and sighed. The last time he had heard it, it had been… her singing it. "It's easy, really. Listen."
He cleared his throat and sang, a bit louder this time:
Gatomon listened. To her, it sounded just like repeating "Meowth" all over again, but something in his voice made her able to distinguish something, feelings perhaps. As if she could glimpse the deeper meaning of the words.
"See? Easy," Meowth smiled. "You try."
"Me?" Gatomon said. "I can't, I don't understand your language."
"Just say 'Meowth', it's easy when ya get da hang of it," Meowth coaxed.
"Okay," Gatomon said. "Meowth, Meowth, Meowth. Meowth, Meowth. Meowth."
"Good, but dat was da third verse," Meowth said dryly.
"Hey, it's my first try!" Gatomon snapped.
"Sorry," Meowth said. "Ya have a beautiful singing wois, why don't ya try again?"
"Thanks," Gatomon said. "Here goes. Meowth, Meowth, Meowth. Meowth, Meowth. Meowth."
"No, dat's da refrain!"
After reaching the hills they soon found a suitable little cave. It wasn't deep, but provided protection from the wind and weather, which suited them well. They collected some dry wood and started a fire outside the entrance. Gatomon seemed to know allot about surviving in the outdoors, and knew exactly how to place the fire to provide warmth without blocking the entrance or suck all the oxygen out of the cave. While Meowth went collecting berries and other foods, Gatomon managed to create a primitive bed out of long grass and dry leaves. With the help of the lighter Meowth had brought with him they had soon lit the fire, and ate their supper together as the last golden rays of the sun faded away. They stayed up a while longer, just sitting by the campfire talking and looking at the stars. Meowth felt happier then he had in a long, long time and yesterday's fight with Jessie and James was gone from his memory. He had begun to consider the Digimon as a real friend, not just a prize to deliver to the clutches of Team Rocket in exchange for glory and fortune. This worried him, and doubt had planted a seed in his heart, which started to grow for each laughter and each kind word.
Finally they decided to get some sleep. They curled up in respectful distance from each other on the large bed. It smelled of dry leaves and hay, which was essentially what it was.
Meowth couldn't sleep. He lay awake, staring into the darkness. He didn't know for how long, but finally he felt something warm against his body. He realised that Gatomon had moved in her sleep and curled up against him. He listened to her breathing, feeling his mind come to rest and finally he fell asleep himself.
The next morning he woke up alone. Gatomon was already up and had left the cave without waking him up. He sat up and peered in the early sunlight. He drew a deep sigh and got up, frowning when the wounds and escapades of yesterday made themselves reminded. The fire was out, but Gatomon had cleared the fireplace and put new sticks and other pieces of wood there. He wondered where she had gone.
The thought of last night returned to him with increased strength. Battling his feelings was fruitless, and ignoring them just wouldn't work.
"What's so special bout her?" he asked himself. "You've never let yous conscience interfere with yous work before."
But da oters knew where ya stood. Yous knew where ya stood, came the answer. Yous were da bad guy and dey were da victims. Ya didn't convince dem dat yous were deir friend an den stab dem in da back.
He realised that his conscience was right. Turning Gatomon in to Team Rocket now would be nothing short of treachery. He didn't have many friends, and he cherished the few he did have the more for that. He did not want to loose Gatomon's friendship, but he couldn't let Jessie and James down.
"Good morning, sunshine!" came a familiar voice. He turned his head and saw a dripping wet Gatomon who triumphantly held a couple of fishes in her paw. The sunlight gently played in the drops of water in her whiskers, making for a dazzling sight.
"What da heck happened to yous?" Meowth asked with a wry smile
"Fell into the river," Gatomon explained and sat down beside him. "Haven't been fishing for a while and I need more practise. Haven't you started the fire yet?"
While Meowth started the fire Gatomon used her claws to clean the fishes. After trusting them on a pointed stick and grilling them over the fire they enjoyed a tasty breakfast.
"So, what should we do now?" Gatomon asked. "I can't hide out here in the woods all the time. I have to find a way to get back to my own world."
"We should go back to da town," Meowth said.
"Go back? But what about the trainers?" Gatomon said. "Won't they try to catch me?"
"My friends are dere, so don't worry," Meowth said. "Dey won't let them trainers catch ya." At least that was true. If he knew Jessie and James they would do absolutely everything in their power to keep Gatomon to themselves, at least until they could hand her over to Giovanni.
"Do you think your friends can help me get back home?" Gatomon asked hopefully.
"Maybe," Meowth said and shrugged his shoulders. An maybe Onix is a water Pokémon, but don't bet on it. "Dey know people, an da boss has huge resources. Everyting will be okay, you'll see."
"Then let's get going," Gatomon said. "The sooner we do the sooner we get there."
"Yeah, sure," Meowth mumbled. Reluctantly he headed to walk to the south, taking her back to Viridian City. Back to Team Rocket.