"So, you guys are going to switch Meowth with Pikachu?" Brock asked, now sure he had much reason to doubt their sanity.
"That's right." Misty said. "And then we're going to run off and leave those two to deal with each other."
"It's a great idea!" Jessie said with excitement. "That brat and Meowth deserve each other, don't you think?" she asked James.
"Y-Yes... Of course..." James said.
"There he is!" Jessie pointing to Meowth, who was fast asleep beside their fire, which had just burnt out. "Okay James, go get him."
"Me? Why? What if he wakes up?" James whined.
"That's why you're carrying him and not me." Jessie said.
James cautiously picked up Meowth, and then the group walked to where Brock and Misty had made camp. Ash was asleep, with Pikachu at his side.
"Pst... Pikachu." Misty whispered to Pikachu.
Pikachu lifted one ear up, then looked at Misty. "Pi?"
"Come with me. We're going to play a little joke on Ash, okay?"
"Chu?" Pikachu noticed Team Rocket. "CHU!"
"Shh..." Misty explained the plan to Pikachu.
"Pikapikapika, chu!" Pikachu laughed.
"Okay, come on." Pikachu jumped on Misty's shoulder. James put the sleeping Meowth where Pikachu had been.
They were about to walk off with the food Brock and Misty had been cooking, when Misty suddenly had a thought. Ash would just use his Pokemon on Meowth, and Meowth would be the only one that hated the situation. Well, she'd take care of that! "Wait a second guys..."
Misty walked up to Ash and grabbed his Pokeballs, replacing them with empty ones. She also decided to take his badges, for no other reason than the fact that she was feeling vengeful today. As she took them off his jacket, Ash opened his eyes slightly. "Hey Misty, what are you doing?" he asked, half-asleep.
"Shut up!" Misty hit Ash in the head with a very heavy hammer, knocking him out, then finished taking his badges. "Okay, let's go now!" Misty dashed off happily with the others, leaving only Ash and Meowth behind.
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Meowth yawned, stretched, and stood up. He had had a nice long sleep.. "Alright guys, let's-" He stopped mid-sentence. Something wasn't right. Something was definitely wrong. As he looked around, he realized that his surroundings were unfamiliar. Then he noticed Ash. "Ahhh! Brat!"
Ash opened his eyes and sat up. "Huh?" he looked at Meowth. "Ahh! Meowth!! Charmander, I choose you!" Ash opened the Pokeball. It was empty. "Huh?" He studied the Pokeball closely. Yes, it looked like a Pokeball. "Wait a second........ Who am I?... What am I doing here?..."
"Where's Jessie?! Where's James?! How did I end up around this kid?! Wait... if that kid's around, so's Pikachu! I'll get it!" Meowth started looking around for Pikachu.
Ash looked at the Pokeball. He looked at the camp. He looked at the inside of his coat. He looked at trees for some reason. He looked at Meowth, then nodded. "Yes, of course... How could I have forgotten? Meowth, it's great to have you as my first Pokemon!" Ash smiled.
"Huh?" Meowth looked at Ash strangely. "Whatever." He continued to look for Pikachu.
"Yes.. yes!" Ash said to himself. "I'm so excited, me and Meowth together make the perfect team! I'm going to be a Pokemon master!" Ash's eyes glittered. "Yesterday.."
Ash thought of a pretend yesterday where he had come late to Professor Oak's lab on the day he was to set out and become a Pokemon trainer. 'Sorry Ash, you're a little late. All of the Pokemon are gone.' he thought of Professor Oak saying.
'Noooo!! All gone?! How could this happen?! I need to become a Pokemon master!! How could all the Pokemon be gone???'
'Well, sorry Ash, but I guess you'll have to wait a few days..'
'This is the worst day of my life! I think I'll go kill myself!'
'Ash, wait! We have one Pokemon here...'
'I'll take anything!!' Ash thought of himself saying, while hyperly jumping closer to Professor Oak.
'Alright... fine Ash.' Ash thought of Professor Oak taking a Meowth out of a Pokeball. 'It's a little strange, unlike most Pokemon, this one can talk... We kind of wanted to keep it away from people, but...'
Ash thought of himself looking at the Meowth, while thinking it was very cute. 'Alright! With Meowth, I'm gonna be the greatest Pokemon master!!'
'Meowth?'
Ash was completely convinced of this false memory. He nodded again. "Alright Meowth, time for us to get on our way!"
"Huh?"
"Come back in the Pokeball." Ash held out one of his Pokeballs to Meowth.
Meowth looked at Ash, then realized he was serious. "What?! There's no way I'm gettin' in one of your stinky Pokeballs!" He scratched Ash's face.
"Eee.... That's right, you don't like Pokeballs. Sorry, I forgot." Ash laughed a little, putting his Pokeball away. "There's something strange about the air here, it's making me forget stuff, and giving me weird dreams..." Ash rubbed the large bump on his head, while recalling the 'dream' he had last night where he was traveling around with two Pokemon masters and a Pikachu, while dodging the evil yet futile efforts of two crazed teenagers with weird colored hair. Oh well, that was strange. "Come on, let's go now Meowth! On to more catch Pokemon...... And earn badges!"
Meowth looked at Ash, walking off happily. Yes, he was serious. And something must be seriously wrong with him.
Ash looked back at Meowth, who was just standing, staring. "Hey Meowth, come on!"
"Uh..."
"Don't worry about what Professor Oak said about you being strange. I know us two together will make the best team! We'll win! I'll become a Pokemon master!"
"Sure kid! See ya!" Meowth quickly ran away from Ash, as fast as he could, without looking back.
Ash was dismayed. "Meowth!!" He ran after Meowth. "What are you doing?!"
Meowth reached a section of the woods where he had been in the real yesterday. Nothing was there. The fire seemed to have been out for a while. Nothing was there! "Ah! Jessie! James!! Where did you go?!" Meowth started to cry. "How could you abandon Me-owth!!"
Ash caught up to Meowth. "There you are! Why did you run away?"
"Listen kid, I'm not your Pokemon!!"
"Of course you are, Professor Oak gave you to me yesterday."
"Come to think of it, where are your Pokemon? Where are Jessie and James? Why are you acting crazy?"
While Meowth was contemplating, Ash had tied a rope around his neck. "There! We're going!"
"Meowth?" Meowth looked at the rope. Ash tugged him forward. "Ah! Where are we going?"
"To catch Pokemon!"
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Meowth had decided to stick with Ash a while, at least until he found Jessie and James. He knew that they would probably show up somehow. Also, if Ash thought that he was his Pokemon, that meant he would also feed him. And Meowth was getting very hungry..
Ash looked here, there, everywhere! No Pokemon! "Hey Meowth, let me know if you see any Pokemon... Wait, there's one!!" Ash ran forward, pulling Meowth.
"Meowth! Watch it, you're chokin' me!"
"Right, sorry. Get ready for battle."
Meowth sighed. He had been hoping that Ash wouldn't want him to battle. Oh well... He thought of ways to avoid it.
"So what kind of Pokemon is that?" Ash took out his Pokedex.
"No available data."
"Alright! It's a Mew!"
"Mew? Where?" Meowth looked, but could see nothing resembling a Mew.
"Meowth, scratch attack!" Ash pointed ahead of him.
"Huh?" Meowth looked around, still seeing no Mew. "Attack?"
"Yes, scratch attack! At that Mew!"
"Where?"
"This Mew, right here." Ash pointed to a small pile of sticks. Meowth still looked confused. Ash pointed at the small pile of sticks again. "See it now?"
"Oh... Oh, I see!" Meowth scratched the sticks. "Ha! Take that Mew! I win!"
"Yay!!" Ash jumped up and down, very excited. "I'll capture you now!!" Ash threw a Pokeball at the pile of sticks. He then frowned. "Now Mew, you're going in the Pokeball. I caught you fair and square." Ash opened the Pokeball and shoved the sticks in, then held out the Pokeball triumphantly. "Yay!! I did it! I captured my first Pokemon! And it's really rare too!"
"Right...."
"You did great Meowth!"
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Ash's eyes glittered he looked over his Pokeballs. It was only mid day, and he had caught so many Pokemon... "This is great! I've caught 25 Pokemon! Mew, Jigglypuff, Kabuto, Zapados, Lapras, Porygon...."
Meowth sighed as Ash went on. The 'Pokemon' he had caught were actually clumps of dirt, grass, garbage, and other such objects. What was wrong with this kid? And when was he going to get them a little food?
"........Pikablu, and Caterpie! Why did I bother with that one anyway? Oh well, a Pokemon is a Pokemon! And I'm on my way, I'm going to be a Pokemon master!"
Meowth sighed again. He wished that Ash would shut up about the whole 'Pokemon master' thing. It was getting *very* tiring...
"Look, it's Gary!" Ash said with resentment. "I'll show him. I've probably caught more Pokemon than he has!"
Meowth looked forward, wondering what thing he thought was Gary. To his surprise, he actually did see Gary, walking along the path.
"Gary!" Ash shouted.
"Oh, look it's Ash.... So how many badges do you have now?"
"None yet, but it doesn't matter since I've already caught twenty-five Pokemon just this morning!"
"Huh? Last time I asked you had-"
"I'll become the greatest Pokemon master ever... Me and my Meowth!" Ash smiled at Meowth. "Meowth, you're my best friend!"
"Ash, are you feeling okay?" Gary asked.
"Of course! And I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!"
"Okay...." Gary hesitantly agreed, unsure of what Ash was up to.
"Meowth, I choose you!"
Meowth did not want to have a real battle. "Hey kid, I've been battling all morning. Why don't you try one of your new Pokemon?"
"Of course, sorry Meowth. I know my super-Meowth will always win, but I think my other invincible Pokemon would like a chance to battle too. Hm... I know! Scyther, I choose you!" Ash threw a Pokeball. It sort of fell apart and a clump of grass came out. "Okay Gary, I'm ready for you!"
Gary looked at Ash, who stared steadfast in Gary's direction. He looked at the Meowth, who looked bored sitting at Ash's feet. What was going on? Was he going crazy? Gary blinked, then observed again. No, Ash really was here. So why was he here? And why was he acting like this?
"Come on Gary! I can't wait all day, I've got Pokemon to catch!"
"Alright... I choose Arcanine." Gary released his Arcanine from the Pokeball.
"Okay! Scyther, slash attack!" Ash pointed forward. "Alright Scyther! That's great! We win by a landslide! Yay!" Ash jumped around happily. "And you said I'd never be a great Pokemon trainer -- ha! I beat Gary, ha ha ha!"
Both Gary and his Arcanine Pokemon had the most confused expressions on their faces. Meowth yawned and looked up at Ash. "Hey, don't you ever get hungry? When are we gonna eat?"
A talking Meowth? It must be from Team Rocket! Gary realized. What was Ash doing with a member of Team Rocket?
"Hey Gary, how about another battle? My Scyther could use the practice!"
What was he up to? Gary wondered. Maybe he was under the control of Team Rocket, and they were using this stupid plot to get a specific Pokemon of his. (Team Rocket was famous for stupid plots.) Or maybe Ash just joined Team Rocket because he knew he wouldn't be able to succeed anywhere else. Either way, Gary wasn't about to let Team Rocket get one of his Pokemon. "Okay Ash," Gary began, returning his Arcanine. "I'll have another battle."
"Okay! You're pretty brave, battling me after I just almost killed your Arcanine. I'll use my Scyther! What about you?"
"Okay, for my Pokemon, I choose me!"
"Huh?" both Ash and Meowth said.
"That's right. I don't have much battle experience, I think I could use the practice!" Gary looked to see Ash's reaction.
Ash simply nodded. "Okay Gary, I'm ready for you. Scyther, quick attack!" Ash paused, looking over at Gary standing near his clump of grass. Then Ash cringed. "No, Scyther, stop!! Ahhhh, Gary! I'm so sorry! I didn't know it'd do that!" Ash ran up to Gary and hugged him.
"Hey Ash, I'm fine." Gary pushed Ash away and stepped back cautiously.
"Don't worry Gary, I'll take you to the Pokemon center where Nurse Joy can heal you!"
"Ash, would you cut it out?!" Gary yelled.
Ash was paying no attention. He stomped on the clump of grass. "Bad Scyther! I know Gary's the biggest jerk in the world, but he's still a living being- I mean my friend!" Ash kicked the grass and it flew up in the air.
"Uh..............." Gary was speechless.
"Well Gary, I'm sorry, but I have to go catch more Pokemon and get badges. Sure hope you don't die or anything. Bye!" Ash ran off.
"Come on Meowth!" he dragged Meowth along.

TO BE CONTINUED...
(c) December 1999 by Lunya Z
"Pokemon" (c) Nintendo
This story is for the profit of fun, nothing more.

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