Author's notes: So here's my first ever Pokémon fanfiction! I've been meaning to write one of these for so long and I don't know why I haven't done it until now?! Anyway, I know exactly what I'm doing with this one and I have plenty more ideas so expect their to be a rather large infestation of Pokémon on my account (All of which will be about Jessie and James, AKA Rocketshipping)
Anyway, I really hope you enjoy this first chapter, it's only short, but I still hope it's good. Don't forget to leave me a review!
(And a huge thank you to my friend Katy for being my beta reader!)
Extra: This fanfiction is based during the original series of Pokémon, so I've tried to make Jessie and James funny and comical like they used to be. It is also set any time after the episode "Holy matrimony!" and probably after the episode "Go west young Meowth" too.
Prepare for trouble
Chapter one
Team Rocket felt the ground shake and buckle beneath them and soon found themselves experiencing that was uncomfortably familiar: Falling down a hole. Each member hit the ground with a violent force, everything exploded into a cloud of dust and they were left in a heap at the bottom of the hole. James sat up with a slight wobble and rubbed his sore head, "Well, it beats blasting of…" He groaned. Jessie's cheeks turned red. "Oh! And you think this is better?!"
"Well, no but….-"
"If the two of you weren't such idiots we wouldn't be falling down our traps!" Meowth snapped, "We might even have captured that Twerp's Pikachu by now!"
"Well, I don't see you with that mouse's Pokeball in your hand either, Meowth!" James retorted.
"Will the two of you be quiet! In case you haven't noticed we're still stuck in a hole!"
"Sorry, Jessie…" James and Meowth both said. Jessie sighed briefly.
"Right, we might as well try to find a way out of this…Meowth, James and I are going to lift you up out of the hole and then you need to go and find someone that can help us out of here."
"Hey! Why do I always have to be the one running around doing the dirty work."
"Don't start acting all sorry for yourself, James and I do as much as you do…Plus, James and I are the loveable faces of the team, we can't stop looking so amazing just so we can beg someone for help!"
"Excuse me! But who's top cat?"
"You haven't been top cat for months!"
"Well, ummm -" Meowth struggled to think of a good reply.
"If you can successfully complete this task then you'll be 'Top cat'"
"What if I don't wanna?" Meowth pouted. Jessie sighed again. She picked Meowth up by the scruff of his neck and threw him out of the hole with brute force. Meowth landed with a harsh thud.
"I'll get you back for that one, Jessie!" he cried.
"Yes, yes, now run along Meowth, you wouldn't want the Boss to hear about you not helping you fellow team members, would you?" Meowth looked down at Jessie as she spoke and she wore and evil smile. He obeyed her and walked down the dusty path with a grumble. Jessie gave herself a small smile, accompanied by a satisfactory chuckle before sitting next to James in the dirt. James was unusually quiet and staring at nothingness.
"James? James are you okay?" "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine." He lied.
"James, I've known you for a very long time and I know when something's wrong" Jessie said somewhat tenderly, but with genuine concern. James stayed silent.
"Tell me." She insisted gently.
"It's just…how come we always lose, Jessie?"
"It's those Twerps! They always ruin our plans!" She spat.
"But it can't be just the Twerps, I mean, we've failed so many times…" He paused for a short while. Jessie looked down at the dirt. "When we were first training together I told you that we'd be the greatest team there ever was, but now look at us…we're stuck in a whole!"
Jessie stayed silent, she'd almost forgotten what she and James had promised to one another all those years ago, she'd just gotten on with things; yes she hated losing, but soon she and James would have a new plan to take her thoughts away from the frustration of always being second best. And although she would never admit it, James was right, It couldn't just be the Twerps that were causing their constant failure…in reality, they shouldn't be failing at all, after all, Ash Ketchum is just a ten year old boy with a pesky Pikachu. Why did they lose so much? And had James always felt this way?
"Sometimes it just makes me think…is it all really worth it?" James added.
"What do you mean?"
"This, Jess, is what we do every single day really worth it? We spend countless hours planning ridiculously expensive schemes to try and impress the Boss, but we always end up with failure!"
"Please don't tell me that you're thinking of leaving the team?" Jessie exclaimed quietly. Now she was really worried.
"I'm not sure I can…I'm sure the Boss would have no problem getting rid of someone as incompetent as me…But I don't think I can bring myself to leave you…and Meowth." James admitted. Jessie looked at him with disbelief, James felt strongly about this, was she the reason he endured such humiliation every day? She rested her head on his shoulder and James put one arm around her body.
"James, you should do whatever you feels right…-" She swallowed a lump in her throat. "- And if that means leaving the team, then…then maybe you should…consider it?"
"Jess, I couldn't leave the team, not after all we've been though…-" He smiled slightly, "Listen, I think I'm just going through a bit of a doubtful stage."
"Are you sure?"
"Do you really think that after all this time I could really walk away from Team Rocket?" He questioned somewhat brightly. Jessie gave a small laugh.
"I guess not."
"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, it's just going to be you, me and Meowth…nothing will change that."
"Good, because I wasn't going to let you leave anyway!" She said half jokingly. James chuckled before standing up.
"You know what, Jessie, I think we might be able to get out of this by ourselves."
"Huh?"
"Yeah, I can lift you over and once you're out you can pull me out."
"Worth a shot." She said optimistically. Awkwardly, James gave Jessie a leg up, but had to try and hold her steady whilst she clambered out of the hole.
"You're heavier than you look!" James said with a struggle.
"Quit your complaining and act like a man for once!….Now come on, lift me up higher!"
"I'm trying!" James squawked.
"Come on, just a little more." With one final push James finally lifted Jessie out of the hole. "Phew, -" She said, "- Well, at least we can do something right!" When she looked back into the hole James was on the ground with an exhausted look on his face. "Get up you Slowpoke!"
"Couldn't you at least let me take a break?"
"If you quit whining I'll be able to pull you out of there." James struggled to his feet. She leant over the side of the hole, but as James grabbed her hand the extra weight pulled her straight over the edge and she landed heavily on top of him. "Well…that went well…" Jessie groaned, "If you weren't so heavy, James we wouldn't have this problem" She said cockily. James scrambled out from underneath her.
"Me heavy?!" He exclaimed, breathlessly.
"Yes! All the weight pulled me straight back down!"
"You're the one who's heavy! You're the one with the weight! I could barely lift you up there!"
"What are you trying to say, James?" She questioned with a provocative tone. James panicked as Jessie looked at him threateningly; one piece of self advice rushed feverishly around James' mind: Never insult Jessie's appearance, never insult Jessie's appearance, never insult Jessie's appearance. After making that mistake in the past, he always reminded himself not to do it again…although, he thought that maybe Jessie could kick him hard enough to fire him out of the hole.
"Uh, no…no, no, not at all." He whimpered. Jessie huffed triumphantly. For a long while there was a moment of silence, and Jessie thought, about what just happened…she knew that James wasn't afraid of her, he's said it himself that he's no gentleman, yet he often goes as far as to make sure he never hurts her feelings. It made Jessie wonder…about certain feelings.
"James…-"
"Yeah, Jess?"
"Do you ever think about what life would be like if we were never part of Team Rocket?" She asked with quiet honesty, and for a moment James stared at her with disbelief. Then he spoke softly,
"Sometimes."
"What do you think about?"
"I don't know…I just try to imagine the difference in my life…If I'd never joined at all I'd either be in some bicycle gang or I'd be back home and married to Jessibelle -" He took a few sharp breaths after the mention of her name, "And if I left now, I don't know where I'd be or what I'd be doing… -" He huffed out a small laugh. "- Sometimes I imagine you, me…and Meowth still staying together, even though we don't work for the Boss anymore."
"Why on Earth would you want to hang around with me?"
"Jessie, you're…you're my best friend." He blushed as he spoke.
"Huh?"
"I mean it, I've been working with you for years now…I've never really been close to anyone, or at least, anyone who wasn't a Pokémon. No matter what happens I always feel close to you, I know I can count on you…and I must sound incredibly soppy and sickeningly romantic, but I can't imagine life without you, Jessie."
"Oh, James…." The hugged each other briefly, it certainly wasn't the first time they had held each other, whether it was out of fear, friendship or comfort. But recently they both had to admit that they'd felt a difference in their chemistry; they felt closer to each other, they hadn't been doing anything different, it just felt different. Everything between them felt stronger. They stepped apart.
"Hey! Love birds! Quit your hug fest and be polite, I've found someone who's gonna help you out!" Meowth called down. Behind him Jessie and James could she a tall figure wearing a dress and a scarf around her face - giving her a ominous look. Regardless, the pair were just glad that they found a way to get out. The woman stepped forward and peered down into the hole through the face scarf, the sun framing her body sweetly.
"Okay, I want y'all to grab this rope and I'll pull you out…How 'bout we get the gentleman out first?" She suggested, her voice verging on psychopathic. She lowered down a thin and slick black rope that felt rubbery to the touch. James gripped it tightly and was pulled up violently by the mysterious woman.
James jumped to his feet quickly once he was out of the hole, "Uh…thank you." He said with a shaky voice…although he could see them, he swore that her eyes were constantly staring at him. "Hey! What about me?!" Jessie called up to them. The creepy woman spun around a whipped the rubbery rope down to Jessie, who was pulled up in a careless manor. Jessie stood by James and dusted herself off, the woman watching her every move.
"Well, thank you for your help….we'd better be moving." She grabbed James and Meowth and forced them to walk away with her.
"Wait!" The woman called out, "Don't I get a little reward for helping y'all out?" Jessie turned around and was frozen on the spot. "Well, ummm, You see…. -" She stuttered, "Like what?"
"Him." She replied, pointing at James. The Team gasped. "Him? You want James?"
"Yes." She said deviously. James just stood there, fear painted strongly across his features.
"Who are you?!" Jessie demanded.
"Well….. -" "I'm waiting!" Jessie snapped.
"Prepare for trouble! -" She exclaimed. "Oh no…" Groaned Jessie. She cracked the rope onto the ground, revealing it to be a whip and she removed her face scarf with a flourish and revealed a face James never wanted to see again. It was Jessibelle.
