Chapter 7: Sharing the Scraps

Joey was starting to appreciate living in Meowth's condo. Sure, it was rather poorly thought out — the residency felt too large for one person, the pure glass wall allowed the building to flood with an irritating sunlight in the evenings, and Joey couldn't shake the fear that the whole place would slide down the cliff no matter how many times Meowth tried to assure him — but the view of Kalmwa'er from the comfort of their abode was quite beautiful...especially at the incredibly early hours that he was up this morning.

He had struggled to sleep the previous night, despite knowing how badly he'd need it for their next day of Wargle training. His head had been spinning with thoughts about his new home, his new sort-of partnership with Meowth, and the estranged bond he had with Mathew...to quell them, he felt it was time to lay back on the living room couch and pull out the old scrapbook again. He'd been keeping it safe since the reptile had given it to him, checking it periodically as if new images would appear each time. He didn't really feel like he was making any more progress with it, but—

"Good morning, Joey."

"Oh!" Joey exclaimed before reaching for his maw reflexively. "Hi Meowth," he greeted in a half-whisper.

Meowth had just slipped out of his room to the side. Immediately, he made his way for the kitchen. "You're up early," he remarked in a similar whispery tone as he rummaged his way through a cabinet.

"I reckon I could say the same for you. Did you have a bad sleep?"

"Not really. This is around the time I usually get up." He pried out a clearly store-bought loaf of bread. "You shouldn't be like me. At your age, you need lots of sleep."

"Oh." Joey appreciated the advice, but he didn't feel like heeding it, especially when Jermy was going to wake them up in a short while anyway. So he just stayed quiet as Meowth slid two slices into his toaster.

Meowth was the one to break the silence. "What are you reading?"

"It's…" Joey stopped to think about responding first. On one hand, this scrapbook was a sentimental gift from Mathew that was meant only for his eyes. On the other hand, even after going over it, he still didn't really know what all this meant for him specifically. Maybe a second pair of eyes could help him make some sense of it? "It's a scrapbook Mathew gave me. He said it'd help answer my questions about my past, but...to be real honest, I don't feel like it answers anything."

"Really?" Meowth looked to him, curiosity gleaming from those green eyes. "Maybe I should give it a look. If our goal is to help him, figuring out some details about what's bothering him seems like a place to start." He walked over to the couch. Joey welcomed him by making some room and starting from the beginning. As he sat down, his eyes locked on to the cover. "...What is that?"

"Hah?" Joey looked down at the first page and quickly understood what he was asking about. "Oh! This must be what Mathew and his folks looked like back on Earth! I dunno why this ain't the front cover. Here." He handed the book to Meowth.

It took a few seconds for the cat to process a response. "These are humans? I expected them to look...stronger."

Joey laughed. "If they're anything like what I seem to know, they ain't." He pointed to a bearded man in the photo. "I'm pretty sure that's Mathew."

"I see…" Meowth turned the page. He was met with images dated several years back of an elegant event with people in suits and dresses in front of a large pastel-colored cake. "What's going on here?"

The totodile gawked at him. "Do y'all not know about weddings?!"

"Not really." Meowth sprung off the couch — the toaster had finished.

"It's this big event where everyone has a hoedown for a marriage! Which...is when folks give each other expensive rings and say they're gonna live their whole lives together." If Meowth didn't know what a wedding is, Joey figured he might not know what marriage is, either.

He glanced towards him as he set the pair on a plate and slotted in two more slices. "Together like roommates?"

"...Together like a couple."

"Ooooh," Meowth said. "Sounds pretty garish. And a waste, if that relationship doesn't work out. Those medallions Politoed and Breloom wear are probably much cheaper." He shook his head as he returned to the couch. "But that's beside the point. This suggests that Mathew has a romantic partner."

"I'd reckon it's a little bit more than just a romantic partner…" Joey reached over and began turning the pages. There were countless photos of gatherings of various kinds — in a city, in a town, inside of unfamiliar homes. Mathew was a persistent face throughout them all, and at that, a rather happy one...especially when paired next to a young boy who he bore some resemblance to.

Meowth was clutching the scrapbook as if a whole new dimension had just opened up to him. He took initiative back from Joey and started flipping pages himself. "I never would've guessed that Mathew had a family like this...and one that knows how to take some great shots."

Not sure how to take that last comment, Joey just nodded in agreement. "Yeah. And that's got me wondering…"

"Well, it definitely has me wondering now." He handed the book back to Joey. "The family in there doesn't seem like one that you'd want to leave behind. If Mathew is here now and none of them followed, I suspect there might be a reason for it." His tone started to flood with curiosity. "Maybe there was a separation. Does that happen on Earth?"

"Yeah, it's called a divorce, but—"

"Okay, a divorce could have happened. Though I don't see how that would necessarily leave Mathew entirely alone. A death? Multiple deaths? Or it could be—"

Pop, went the toaster once more. Meowth continued to ramble off theories as he finished his second set of toast and started a third. Suddenly, Joey had been left to his own devices for a second. Idly, he found himself returning to the photo Mathew had shown him that first day — the one with him and the boy, together at some kind of birthday party.

"...your opinion on all this, Joey? Do you have an idea of what could've happened?"

The crocodile was snapped back into the conversation when Meowth plopped down for the third time. "Oh. Um… To be real honest, Meowth, whatever bad thing happened to Mathew ain't really what I'm trying to figure out." He turned the photo towards him. "I just wanna know how I fit into all this. What this photo means."

Meowth looked at him blankly. "Oh." He guiltily shrunk into the couch, placing one paw on the armrest and the other on his face. "I forgot we weren't looking at the same things. Sorry."

"It ain't your fault. This is nobody's problem but mine." He removed his cowboy hat and turned it over, holding it next to the book. "Mathew's kid — 'MW' — I think we used to be friends. And if we were writing our names together into my hat, we had to have been closer than a caterpillar and a cocoon. What did he want me to not forget? I can't think of any ideas, besides…"

Meowth must have caught his hesitance, as he was swift to pounce on it. "Besides what?"

"Whatever thing that happened to Mathew to make him so on-edge all the time… Do you think I could've been the one who did it?" Joey looked to Meowth genuinely — he really didn't want that to be true, but what other explanation was there?

Meowth seemed solemn, almost understanding. "Sometimes, the way others act doesn't always make sense. The fact that Mathew gets upset with you might mean you did something wrong — or it might not. The only way we can really know is to piece it together ourselves."

"I guess so…" Joey wondered if he was speaking from experience there.

"Waaaaaaaaaugh!" Suddenly, from the second floor, a chorus of discordant beeps and boops with no rhyme or reason were played on blast. Reflexively, Joey and Meowth looked upward. "Turn it off! Turn it oooooooooff!" the muffled voice of Mathew cried from above.

"What the heck is going on up there?" Meowth said, squinting.

"I reckon that's our cue to put this away…" Joey hastily slid the scrapbook beneath the couch. He was definitely right to do so; the reptile, the rodent, and the robot soon joined them. "Mornin', Mathew!"

"Ugh… Morning, Joey…" Mathew mumbled. His eyes were grimy and half-open — Joey hoped that was sufficient to keep him from seeing what was beneath the couch. "The hell are you doing up so early?"

"I, uh...couldn't get a wink of sleep. I had more things on my mind than sheep I could count." Joey figured that was a sufficiently vague answer. "What was all that ruckus about upstairs?"

"Jermy wanted to wake everyone up in one fell swoop," ORB explained, "so he ordered me to bring out the big guns."

Mathew turned to ORB in annoyance. "Blasting the Crazybus theme into people's ears should be legally considered torture..."

"Lack of attendance is legally considered grounds for firing."

He sighed. "Good point."

"Meanwhile, I managed to fix you three breakfast before you run off," Meowth butted in. He made for the kitchen like clockwork, but this time it seemed more like it was an excuse to put some distance between him and Mathew more than a simple fetching of toast. "Here." He gestured to the plates after he laid down his third.

"Well, hey! Who doesn't love a timely...4:30 AM...breakfast?" Jermy exclaimed in a strained voice.

Mathew approached the toast, keeping his eyes fixated on them the whole way. He avoided eye-contact with Meowth, for obvious reasons. "You fixed toast...and nothing else?"

"Yes. Did you want the leftovers from Silvalla's?" Meowth asked. "I can heat them up."

For some reason, Mathew seemed offended by that. "Toast is just such a bland meal," he said firmly. "You don't even have like, butter or cinnamon or powder or anything?"

Meowth shrugged. "Sorry. I don't have ingredients like that because I don't always fix toast in the mornings. Usually...I just want bread." He grabbed a single slice of bread and bit down on it.

"Hey, Mathew," Joey said, trying to distance him from this petty conversation. "If you don't like toast, I reckon you could still fix a sandwich. I saw some peanut butter in one of the cabinets."

"Thanks, but no thanks," Mathew said, carrying the plate back to the couch. He sat where Meowth had been previously — right around where Joey had laid the scrapbook down. "The double-sided peanut butter sandwich is too powerful to eat before dawn."

"Uh…" How am I even supposed to respond to that? "Okay then."

"Anyways!" Jermy said. "It's neat to see you up and at 'em. That'll be good on the records!" Jermy took his plate of toast off the table and promptly crammed an entire slice of bread into his mouth.

"Woah!" Joey exclaimed. "That was fast, Jermy!"

"Huh?" It took Jermy a moment to realize what had impressed him so much. "Oh, uh, thanks! When you work for SEAS, speed-eating's a thing you might have to learn. It can save a lot of time!"

"Or waste a lot of it if you choke," ORB quipped.

"Oh, come on, it was one time! All you have to do is practice and it won't happen again."

It was then when Joey realized this might be a good opportunity to get Mathew away from the book. "That's a great idea!" He sprung up, plate in hand. "Hey Mathew, why don't we get an up-close look when he downs the second one? That way we can—!"

Apparently, ORB was having none of that. "Firstly, that's odd. Secondly, that's pointless."

"Yeah! You two have wider mouths. Downing should be easy for you," Jermy said. "I'd barely have anything to teach."

Defeated, Joey sunk back into the couch. "I reckon you're right…" He grabbed one of his slices, tossed it in the air, and opened wide. He didn't even have to try to catch it.

Tap, tap, tap…

It was perhaps the most quiet knock known to pokémon-kind that came upon Meowth's front door, but at such an unusual time like this and in a room with it in-view, Joey could hear it loud and clear. Meowth wasted no time, carrying his half-eaten bread with him as he came to it. "Oh. Demurke."

"H-hi, Meowth! I hope you're...doing okay." Immediately upon hearing her voice, Jermy's ears pointed up as his face contorted into a confused, but annoyed scowl. Joey could see Demurke trying to peer past Meowth. "Is everyone a-awake in there?"

Before Meowth could respond, Jermy made for the door. Expectantly, the cat slid to the side, giving him the stage. "Yeah, we're awake, like we're supposed to be. What are you doing here? I thought you were helping David."

"I was…" she said. "David w-wanted me to let you know that i-it's taking longer than he thought it would. He's moving th-the start time...back an hour."

"Back an…" Jermy groaned. "Of course. When any one of us is late, it's a whole mess, but when he's late—" The rodent suddenly cut himself off. Joey swore he saw ORB lightly prod him with his claw. "Well, I guess that just means we don't have to rush."

"Yeah, e-exactly! That's a g-good way to put it!"

Joey looked upon the two with mild concern. Jermy had seemed so peppy and energetic when he first met him, but he was starting to see him get stressed and angry like this at times. Next to him, Mathew was just yawning and distantly staring at them. Was Joey the only one who noticed?

"It sounds like you have an hour to burn now," Meowth said to Demurke from behind Jermy. "Where do you plan on going?"

"Well, I...David p-probably needs my help setting—" Suddenly, the crow shook her head. "Actually, I-I'm sure he'll be fine. We had a b-bit of a crowd!"

"You could stay here with us, then."

Jermy looked to Meowth with a baffled expression, surprised that he would make such an offer. Joey tried not to do the same. "Um, yeah, she can for sure…" the rodent said, making way for her to enter.

"I guess that's my cue…" Next to the crocodile, Mathew stood up, stretched, and approached the TV. Joey thought of taking the opportunity to scoot overtop of the book to keep it out of Mathew's sight, but he didn't want to draw attention to it. "Who wants to watch some Solcean shows?"

The crow snickered. "A-as opposed to...non-Solcean shows?"

"Well, I have a couple from home on my..." Mathew stopped himself when Jermy gave him a glare.

"Don't waste the effort, Jermy," ORB suggested. "One hundred percent of the people currently in this room know, for better or for worse."

The rodent sighed. "You know what? I'm barely even in the mood to disagree."

"Ehhhh Solcean stuff sounds good." Mathew began fiddling with the thing as the others started to congregate on the couch. "Still weird to see a CRT anywhere that's not a dump or nerd collection."

"And it's still weird to see you think CRTs are rare," Meowth retorted.

"Just give it a decade…" he mumbled at the screen flicked to life.

"—Alliance paid the Great Church of Scolton a visit to announce an initiative for Legendary War XXII to henceforth be known as the Great Legendary War. This announcement comes a mere six days after the tenth—"

Before Joey could read any of the text displayed or even get a good look at the face of the reporter, Demurke had already grabbed the remote beside the TV and changed the channel. "The news...isn't v-very fun." She channel-surfed until a show caught her eye — an animated show, in the midst of a scene with a rather dark atmosphere. "Oh! Is this…Every Star a Catcher?"

"Yeah," Meowth answered. "What about it?"

"I a-always wanted to give it a try, b-but…I've never gotten the chance."

Meowth shrugged. "It's a good show."

She looked to him in surprise. "Y-you've watched it before?!"

"I liked to have it on in the background while I worked on assignments." Meowth sat down on the floor. The only open space was beside of Mathew.

"W-well, you should've told me that before!" Demurke joined him, leaving the last spot on the couch for Jermy. "I-I hope you three don't m-mind this one."

While Joey was digesting that conversation, much of his attention was on making sense of what he was watching. Prowling through the forest past the screen was a strange-looking dog with purple fur and a striking red mane. He wasn't sure why, but the look weirded him out.

In tandem, Mathew seemed to agree. "What kind of pokémon is that?" he asked.

The cat looked at Mathew weirdly. "Catcher isn't a pokémon…?"

Mathew didn't seem to take that well. "Well, sorry. As you know, I'm kind of new to all this."

He shook his head. "I thought it would be obvious. He doesn't fit into any of the Groups, his anatomy doesn't match a Gen…"

"This seems like a pretty silly argument to get into, don't you think?" Joey commented. The last thing Mathew needed was to get angry over Solcean jargon, and the last thing Meowth needed was to provoke him.

Meowth quietly conceded and changed his tune. "Anyways, Catcher goes around rescuing pieces of light," he described. "The Sun and the Moon are in the middle of a dispute, and every time they argue, the Moon chips off some of the light from the sun. Each episode, Catcher has to get to where the piece fell and put it back in the sky, and then it becomes a star. That's basically it."

Joey looked to Mathew. This was, in Meowth's eyes, a good animated show? "Weird," the two said together.

"Hey, don't be so judgmental!" Jermy exclaimed. "I'm sure if we give it a good watch, we might really enjoy it!"

"Well...that kind of sucked."

About half an hour later, the credits rolled as Every Star a Catcher came to an end. Joey couldn't help but agree with Mathew's comment. Jermy had fallen asleep while watching the show ("Don't wake him up," ORB had asked. "I want to hit him with the big guns as comeuppance.") so it was just the four of them who made it to the end.

"What?!" Demurke was quick to exclaim. "I-I thought it was nice!"

"It was cute, but I just ain't really sure what it was trying to say…" Joey remarked.

"Yeah, exactly!" Mathew said. "I mean, nothing wrong with a show not being serial, but if you're gonna be episodic, you should at least do it right."

"What was so wrong about it?" Meowth asked. He seemed rather irritated by their comments.

Mathew began to count off using his non-existent fingers. "It didn't have interesting characters, it wasn't funny, the visuals were inconsistent—"

"Inconsistent?" Demurke said. "Catcher g-goes to a lot of different places, and they're all v-very different. That's...the p-point, isn't it?"

"It is," Meowth said. "Maybe humans just have a different idea of good entertainment."

Joey nodded along, conceding. "Yeah, maybe—"

"Hey, don't use my humanity as a cop out!" Mathew said. "I just like shows that make me think. I'm sure you can find that here, too."

Meowth rolled his eyes. "I really hope not every human has to scratch their beard and say 'hmm, this episode really stimulated my understanding of philosophical concepts' for entertainment. That sounds very draining."

"And I really hope that not every pokémon has to — wait a minute," Mathew said. "...How did you know I have a beard?"

For a moment, the room went dead silent, save for the noise of the TV. Meowth looked to Joey, having realized his impulsive mistake. In turn, Mathew eyed Joey. He could feel the reptile's body tense up as his leg leaned back...and made contact with the scrapbook.

Busted.

Demurke was left to awkwardly gather a situation she had little understanding of. "Um… What's g-going on?"

"Nothing," Mathew remarked firmly. "Joey and I just need a moment to…" he swiftly reached down and grabbed the scrapbook. "...discuss something."

Joey grimaced. This ain't gonna end well, is it?

After Mathew led Joey into his room upstairs, he spared no time, prying open the thing. "God damn it...he got little gray furs on the pages and everything." He closed it and shot daggers into Joey. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he exclaimed. "I gave you my scrapbook for your sake — nobody else's. And especially not Meowth!"

"W-well, I…" Joey fumbled for a response. "I'm sorry. I just needed a second pair of eyes, was all. It ain't exactly like the answers I was looking for were front and center…"

"And you didn't think to come to Jermy? Demurke? Minichino? Anybody we know besides the guy who made me leak important job information?!"

"Well, he was the one who wanted to help me!" Joey snapped back. "The others got their own business to attend to."

Mathew slammed his palm into his mask. "Because he wants more information, Joey! You realize that's why he's being so buddy-buddy with you now, right? He just wants another shot and knows you're gonna fall for it!"

Frustration boiled over in Joey's throat. It wasn't impossible that Meowth was lying about his feelings just to get close to him, but Mathew was insinuating an alternative he couldn't accept. "Well, maybe if you would just come out and tell me more about who I was on Earth, I wouldn't have to get help to figure out your dang book!"

The reptile heaved. "Joey, I'm trying my best here. I have a damn good reason to not want to talk about that."

"That's what you've been saying since we got here!" he continued. "It ain't looking like you're trying at all!"

Right after Joey said that, Mathew seemed to undergo a rapid series of emotions. First, he looked towards him with an intense rage. Then, that rage was followed with a strained expression, as if he was contemplating something. There was a split-second where the life fled from his eyes, and when they returned, they showed...despair.

"Nope." His tone was so simple, but it hit Joey like a truck. "We're not dealing with this right now."

Joey recoiled. "Hah? What do you—"

"We have work in half an hour. I don't have time to…" Just as quickly as Mathew started, he retreated from the argument, stepping out of his room towards the stairs. "Just forget about it. Leave the scrapbook in your room or whatever."

"Wait, you ain't saying we're just done after all that bickering, aren't you? We're ending this as sour as a—"

"I said just forget it!" Mathew ordered. When he turned to him by the banister, his eyes were laced with tears.

Joey was left behind, dumbfounded. What just happened…?