Read before you read: I started writing this story because I wanted to. I somehow managed to fall for Pokémon once more after ten years, but now I notice different things and fancy different things. I am writing this mostly for my own benefit and therefore I don't care which Pokémon do J & J currently have (I don't even remember their names, to be honest), simply a Jessie without Arbok is not Jessie. I also don't situate the story on a concrete place.
And finally, as you may have noticed by now, English is not my mother tongue and I am aware that I can only use a very limited vocabulary and so my expressions may sometimes sound awkward. If you can forgive me this, I'll be pleased if you read on! And if you do, then R.E.V.I.E.W. It will make me happy and maybe I'll be able to avoid doing the same mistakes again next time.
I/
A sharp scent sneaked through a narrow window belonging to an abandoned shack, with hardly any glass left in it. An Aipom that was stealthily peering inside of the building seemed to find it unbearable, it sneezed, muttered its name and hopped away swiftly.
In the meanwhile, a young woman with bright, crimson hair was doing her best to squeeze out the least bits of her hair lacquer from its container, in order to make her red locks obtain the form she intended for them. Man, how she loved the scent of it! Too bad she ran out of it the next minute.
Luckily, this wasn't enough to ruin the good mood a sweet dream provided her with. She dreamt about shopping, hanging out and dancing. She dreamt about being like one of her peers – carefree, happy and cool, just having fun all day long. Today's mission must work out perfectly, she told herself, so that I can be like that for at least one single day!
She leaned closer to the remainders of a tarnished mirror to carefully apply her mascara. Humming a beloved melody, everything was becoming more cheerful. Occasionally she'd use the mascara as a microphone, but remembered to keep it down, not to disturb the sleep of her companions.
She was wearing but the lower parts of her uniform which includes a white mini skirt and high black boots, and a bra. Unseen, she enjoyed to observe herself and run her fingers gently over her flawless figure - the rest of the clothes she was obliged to wear hid the best part. Vanity was the only paradise a girl working for an organization such as Team Rocket could sometimes escape to.
"I beliiieve I can flyyyyy…" She took a short break from singing, while she worked hard to match the color of her lips and hair. "I beliiieve I can tooouch the skyyyy…" Her lips must be perfect. Everything must be perfect! A perfect man can only fancy a perfect woman! She reached towards a pair of green earrings. "I think about it every niiight and daaay…"
"…Spread my wings and flyyy awaaay…"
She flinched and blushed, as she spotted her partner in the "mirror", resting against the door frame. She resembled a tomato, when she realized the way she was dressed. And she felt steam rising from her cheeks, when the young man remarked, staring at her cleavage rather than her face, "Wow, you look stunning, Jessie".
But no, it's not the way it seems. James was among the few men Jessie knew could value the outer beauty in a woman without being a queer. She simply had to come to terms with the fact that she was apparently not the only one who thought her body was beautiful. There's a forfeit for everything. But this forfeit was rather pleasant, because for a long time, she had been platonically in love with her partner, her perfect man.
When people around them begun to suspect this, she started to openly insult and attack James whenever she got the opportunity, desperately trying to hide the true character of her feelings. With her choleric nature, it was no problem for her. Yet in situations like this she tended to feel more like a shy teenager than the big boss in their team, which was the way she usually acted.
Such behavior was not typical for Jessie, as she was very well experienced in love-life by the time. She was only human and she had her needs. She knew that James had them too. They both had notably handsome features, which was the key to success when it came to select and seduce the object of their one night stand. She never failed to lay the man she wanted. So why did she feel so damn unconfident about James? She could bear herself to sometimes tease James in a flirtatious way, when her moodiness allowed her to. But still, why does loving someone make everything so much more difficult?
The moment he entered the bathroom with the intention of reproaching Jessie for forcing him to get out of his sleeping sack so early, his irritation suddenly changed into pure gratitude. He seldom saw her without her uniform. And now, after he almost forgot what a pleasing sight it was, there stood the femme fatale, with her concave belly, smooth skin and a mature bosom, which would have been a treat for any man to spot even for a second. So that he wouldn't have to depend on a mere reflection of so much joy to the eye, James finished Jessie's sentence, which was actually a song lyrics. She turned around – bingo! He hoped she wasn't in the mood of slamming him with something blunt and heavy for spying on her like that.
Her perfume hit his nose and he felt a sudden urge to approach and smell it from closer, when he realized that it was no perfume, but the scent of her hair lacquer. This looked like one of the rare situations, when he was the dominant one. She was blushing and fixed her eyes on his feet. She even made an attempt at covering her bra by crossing her arms, but it actually only pushed them higher. James smiled, as he imagined how would Ash & co react upon seeing this side of the attractive villain. He happened to be among the select few who did know this Jessie. This was the Jessie he lived for ever since they met. This was the Jessie who caused him so much sinful pleasure at the mere thought of her. This was the Jessie he thought to be so perfect.
"Shouldn't we be going by now?"
"Yes."
"Can I borrow your hair lacquer, Jess? I want to fix my hair too…"
"Get out, jerk!"
Their mission was the same as always – capturing Ash's special Pikachu. Too bad this has been their mission for several years by now. Each time the yellow rodent sent them blasting off, their desire to finally catch it, get a reward and a new mission, increased.
"Oh, I wish we went out tonight!"
It was hot outside, but inside the Meowth-shaped balloon's basket it was hotter. It was Jessie who muttered the previous words while loosely leaning with her back against the green rattan. She just couldn't chase that pleasant dream from her head! She kept her eyes closed and her face was fixed on the sun to appreciate the only profit the rays could offer to her in the present conditions – a tan.
The words she said were the first ones spoken in quite a while, as the midday sun had extremely exhaustive effects on the two humans and the Meowth. Luckily, refreshing gusts of wind would caress them every now and then, providing them sufficient energy to peek out of the basket in search of three youngsters with the working title "the twerps".
They were flying above forests and meadows for some time and they long since got tired of admiring the landscape. Some action would come in handy! James was almost grateful when he observed that they were running awfully low on water. It was a good pretext to deaden the fire and to start descending as soon as they spotted a lake.
"Pika-piii!"
No way! A bush full of blueberries! That's almost too good to be true! And after such a short search, too!
"Chuuu…"
Without restraint, the electric mouse dug in. It was so tired! The sun! The heat! And constantly travelling on its master's shoulder – so wearing! But those blueberries, so much sweetness! And this forest tempts any traveler, Pokémon or human, to just lay down on the soft, chilly grass and imbibe the lovely scent of the flowers. Only a very enthusiastic "Piii-pikachuuu!" could express the Pokémon's satisfaction. It was determined to run and inform its human friends about the dainty – as soon as it would fill its own tummy, of course.
The next moment Pikachu's fine hearing registered something unexpected. It became completely stiff, it even stopped chewing for a while, only its ears twitched slightly in an attempt to identify the source of the sounds. There were voices. Human voices. But they didn't belong to Pikachu's co-travelers.
It knew it should immediately return to Ash and its Pokémon-pals. What now? Should it be an obedient Pikachu, as always? Or should it give in to the itchy curiosity? Maybe there's a compromise. Yes, that's it! It will only have a quick look at those people and then it will return immediately! What a deal!
Thus resolved, the electric mouse sniffed the air, produced a determined "Pika!" and with its mouth and front paws the color of blueberries, it set off bravely in the direction of the mysterious voices.
It settled behind a Pikachu-sized bush and cautiously peeped out to see who those people were, but suddenly it had to struggle to bottle up a loud manifestation of surprise. "Team Rocket!", Ash would scream furiously. Pikachu could but open its mouth in shock. Apparently, the villains were experiencing some kind of disharmony.
"…Honestly, only a moron like you can manage to destroy both our water-bottles! You're seriously tempting me to kill you in your sleep, idiot!"
"Thank God for my insomnia-"
"Don't trifle with me, James!" Jessie raised the broken plastic bottle in her hand and delivered a couple of vigorous hits on James' head. He immediately covered the injured area, massaging it, while attempting to explain himself:
"Sorry, Jess, I couldn't have known that lake was full of Goldeen…"
"Of course! Goldeen! This time it's Goldeen, last time a Diglett emerged from the ground, what's it gonna be next time?! A flock of Lugia, wanting to play around with your stupid hairdo?!"
"I'll get us new bottles, I promise, Jessie."
"That you will! Or else you'll have to talk to the hand!"
"Wooooooobbuffet…"
"Shut up, mushy brain! Return!"
"Oh, looky, looky, look who's there!"
The latter sentence wasn't pronounced by either of the humans. It came from so close behind Pikachu that it gave it goose bumps. "Piiiiika…!"
"Eavesdropping, are we? Now, that's not very nice!"
"Pi-ka-chuuu!"
"'Ey, you two! Look who's come to visit us!"
Meowth saved James from earning more lumps on the head. "It's Pikachu!" the Rockets yelled in unison.
"Piiiika!" The yellow Pokémon didn't need to think twice. It darted off at maximum speed, doing its best to avoid not only the nets – electro-proof, no doubt – thrown by Jessie and James, but also the roots and stones, which turned out to be Pikachu's enemies as well.
"Come on, James, we can't lose it this time," Pikachu heard from behind.
The rest happened too quickly to perceive it. One of the roots did what suited its hostile nature and catapulted the electric mouse into the air. It hardly landed, when it found itself trapped. This happened so many times by now that Pikachu wouldn't even really be afraid, if it wasn't for the fact that this time Ash wasn't there. "PIIIIIKAAAAAA!"
"Protest as much as you please," James' smug tone informed it, while he picked up the net and admired it proudly. Pikachu stuck out its tongue, as it was all there could be done. Both Rockets laughed. "So now we're taking you straight to the boss!"
"You're not taking my Pikachu anywhere!"
"The twerps! They must've heard this 'ere yellow rat!"
"Piiiika!"
"Team Rocket! Give Ash back his Pikachu!"
One more laughter. "Of course…not!"
It was such a classical scene: Team Rocket recited their motto. Pikachu used thunderbolt only to obey its master, although it knew there was no use to it. The villains sent out all their Pokémon and so did Ash. For a few moments, it looked like Team Rocket could get away with Pikachu at last, but Ash's Bayleef managed to free its friend and the electric mouse, comfortably nestled in its master's arms by the time, could soon hear the epic "Team Rocket's blasting off agaaaain!"
It felt like they were flying for ages. The entire world resembled a blurry infantile painting. Green. Brown. Blue. Bright red hair in James' mouth. They must have flown across the seven seas by the time they finally landed in the centre of a miniature clearing.
Destiny wanted James to land right on top of Jessie. He couldn't complain, as she was the softest object near and far he could possibly land on. Jessie's eyes popped out, she produced a choked shriek and fell into a faint.
It took James a while to regain his senses. He shook his head to enable the flow of blood in his brain. His eyes found Meowth, who was slowly pulling itself together a few feet away. Where could they possibly be? Which way should they go? "Meowth? You all right?"
"Me head feels like broken to a million pieces. But it still seems nothing to what's happened to Jess!"
"W-where's Jessie? We've lost Jessie! Arbok, go find Jessie!"
"Chaaaar'…"
"She's right under you, you twit!"
"Jessie…"
"Now get off 'er, will ya?! You gonna kill 'er!"
James rolled aside, took Jessie's face in his hands and gently slapped her. "C'mon, Jess, wake up! I'm sorry, right? I didn't mean to…knock you out."
While holding her, James tried to look even more anxious than he was. It would all have been so much easier were Meowth not watching... The rest of the Pokémon couldn't talk, so Jessie would never find out how James appreciated that brief moment to observe the beauty of the woman he loved. No, now she couldn't beat him on the head, nor could she slap him around with her fan. There she rested, her lipstick smudged at one place and her hairdo falling apart, a few red bruises disturbing the alabaster of her skin. Still, she looked like the most perfect Sleeping beauty to him. His darling, his queen, their moment – perhaps the only one. Damn you, Meowth, James growled to himself, when he realized how does one wake up a Sleeping beauty.
"So did she wake up yet?"
"Did you hear her waking up?!"
"Stop raising your voice at me or you'll taste my claws!"
"Shut up, Meowth! We're going back to the balloon."
"Brave, are ya, when Jessie's unconscious!"
James ignored Meowth and after calling back Victreebel and Weezing, he swiftly frisked Jessie for her Poke Balls. Once it was only the three of them, he kneeled down beside the limp female body and lifted it into his arms. Immediately, he realized they wouldn't be going too long like this. "Let's hurry, soon it will be getting dark!"
They decided to try and trace the trajectory of their previous involuntary flight, and therefore they headed toward the most promising direction. They didn't meet a soul and they didn't talk. The air was getting heavy with the mixture of floral scents, which were more and more intense, as the sun gained redness and approached the horizon.
James did his best to keep up a good spirit by enjoying the closeness of Jessie's body and the macho part of him couldn't help staring at her plump cleavage guilelessly from time to time. She presumably weighed less than him and yet, after a time, James' back was bending closer and closer to the ground, just like the sun. God, how she must've suffered under my weight. He had just begun to wonder, whether you could call a human into a Poke Ball in some way, when the narrow, dusty road led them onto a large meadow. James collapsed onto the grass, laying Jessie down gently. "Meowth, we must take a rest now," he panted, drops of sweat trickling down his neck and cheeks. A disobedient strand of lavender hair stuck to the side of his nose.
"Then we'd better stay 'ere for the night. 'Tis almost dark."
"Okay. You look after Jessie. I'll get us some firewood and water."
"Wonder how, when ya destroyed all the bottles!"
"Not you as well… I'll manage it. You prepare the fireplace." James removed his white jacket and tucked it under Jessie's head. He threw his friends one last look and disappeared in the forest.
Meowth yawned widely and pressed its paws against its belly, which was starting to protest against the emptiness it was exposed to during the whole day. Once again they would go to sleep hungry, penniless and without a roof above their heads. What a romantic summer night this is going to be, watching the stars with a hollow stomach, barely being able to think for hunger! Why the hell can't they capture that stupid yellow thing for once, so that the boss will enable them to lead a decent lifestyle? Are they so clumsy or is it something else? Maybe if Meowth simply left Team Rocket and lived like a wild Pokémon, it would get along better, but the truth was that whenever it considered this option, it could never imagine leaving Jessie and James, its best friends.
Meowth looked at Jessie. She didn't move, except her chest, which bulged and sunk as she breathed. The little Pokémon snuggled up against her. Sometimes those humans were a pain in the ass. But although they rarely said so, they loved Meowth and Meowth loved them back. They were a team, after all. They've been together through thick and thin. Well, maybe more through thin than thick…
Meowth made an attempt at waking his friend up, but there was no success. It was beginning to get worried. Jessie had been unconscious for several hours. What could that mean? Wasn't she in danger? Meowth pressed its furry head against Jessie's chest. A soft thud coming from inside calmed it down.
It was getting really dark. James should hurry up not to get lost in the forest. That was the last thing Meowth needed – being left totally alone in the middle of nowhere with an unconscious young woman!
The cat forced the negative thoughts away and occupied itself with preparing the fireplace. Lucky it didn't need to worry about not seeing anything in the dark at least. Swiftly, Meowth ran around, picking up all the rocks it could find. When it reached out for one more and grasped it, it got squashed in its paw. Meowth shook its head and sniffed it. "Me-owth! There be mushrooms 'ere, Jess! We're not gonna sleep hungry after all!" The Pokémon carried the stones close to Jessie and ran back to the spot where it found the mushroom. Luckily, it soon found a whole bunch of them. It only hoped they weren't poisonous.
After the mushrooms were stacked up beside the prepared fireplace, Meowth curled up by Jessie's side and quietly kept its sharp eyes on the watch. It was almost completely dark by then.
Collecting firewood took him more time that he thought it would and by the time he managed to find the way out of the forest, it fell completely dark. Luckily, the round moon fixed its transparent rays on the grass and it helped James to decipher Jessie's dark shape, laying in the exact same position he put her in.
When he approached, he threw the firewood on the ground and finally removed his shirt off his shoulder. It was soaking wet. And so was a part of James. That was the only way he could bring some water.
He kneeled down beside Jessie. A pang of worry pierced him in the heart. He supposed she'd be awake by the time he returns.
Meowth was asleep next to her.
James felt his heartbeat speed up, as he brushed his wet thumb against her lips. He hoped a bit of water might bring her to life. But did he really want that right then? The chances that she would be happy to see him so close were next to impossible.
He carefully removed her gloves, one after the other, feeling like a schoolboy on his first date. He took off her boots as well and rested by her side, leaning against his elbow. He ran his fingers through her long, long hair, now strewn all around her, untangling a few dry leaves and twigs as a pretext to touch her. Man, she was so beautiful! Maybe even more than him! She looked so fragile and vulnerable that James felt a sudden rush of tenderness and a need to protect her. He checked out Meowth to make sure it was still sleeping and he placed his hand on Jessie's smooth cheek, stroking it longingly. No, there was no pretext for this. He slowly bent down. His hand wandered from her face, across her neck and her breasts (where it actually stopped for a moment) to caress her belly. He could already feel her warm, slow breathing on his lips and he was sure Pikachu never produced so much electricity in its life. He searched for her hand and squeezed it. The entire world around them disappeared. For those futile moments, James didn't care about anything but the fire that was gaining strength inside him. Or at least he thought he didn't care…
"'Ey you! I'm not asleep, you see!"
"Meowth!" James almost got a heart attack. He couldn't say how grateful he was to the darkness for concealing his intense blush and the bulge under his abdomen. His stomach shrunk to the size of a peanut. "You…you're awake?"
"I saw everything. I see everything."
"Heee…" Of course, it's a cat! "All right, what do you want for keeping it to yourself?"
"You'll taste these 'ere mushrooms."
"We have dinner?! Meowth, you're a marvel!"
"Don't change the subject! Anyway, did ya bring us water?"
James handed Meowth his wet shirt.
"Eeek, that's disgusting!"
"If you have any better idea, I'll be happy to hear it."
"Am I supposed to wring it out into me mouth!?"
"You'd better do it quick, before it gets too dry."
"Aaa…let's start the fire…"
James stroke the stones until a spark appeared. Meowth added some sticks and a warm light soon lit their worn faces.
James picked up their Poke Balls and one after the other, he let out the Pokémon. When Arbok and Wobbuffet saw Jessie, they both spelled their name in an anxious tone. Meowth approached to calm them.
Upon seeing that they had no sleeping sacks, Victreebel offered James to stand in for one. He appreciated his Pokémon's proof of affection, but decidedly refused the proposal.
Once again, James rested his eyes on Jessie and repressed a sudden urge to cry, as he couldn't help her. It cost him a great deal to stay away from her. To occupy himself, he took his shirt once again and started to clean Arbok's bruises. Nevertheless, a wave of emotions was boiling inside him, threatening to break out in any moment. He continued rubbing the serpent's purple scales. He felt heat rising from his whole body. He rubbed on.
"Jimmy boy, y'all right?"
"Why, yes."
"You rubbin' the grass…"
"Oh." Meowth was right. James blushed and scratched his ear. Maybe this could be a relief: "Meowth, I…I'm in love with her."
"You don't say."
"What? You knew?!"
"I saw you, dummy!"
"Ah…"
They both fell silent for a while, not knowing what to say next. True, James did feel relieved. At least a bit. He was glad that someone shared his secret. His heart slowed down a bit and James wanted to calm it down even more, but was still searching for the right words.
Arbok slithered over to Jessie and formed a protective pen around her. James, too, felt soft pressure on one of his shoulders and turned around to pat Weezing's both heads. He offered it a mushroom. Even if it were poisonous, it would only do Weezing good. James smirked at Weezing's appetite. The Pokémon seemed perfectly content. If it only knew how its master longed to be as carefree and easy to please!
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"You gonna tell 'er when she wakes up, won'cha?"
"Very funny, Meowth, thank you very much." James went pale. "Don't you dare to tell her a word or I swear I'll skin you!"
They turned around to look at Jessie and Arbok sleeping innocently, unaware of the emotional war that was taking place inside James.
"Meowth? What should I do? I want her so badly."
"Staring at 'er tits is not a good way…"
"I didn't do that!"
"Not at all. C'mon, Jimmy boy, you sure know of something, with that noble blood circulatin' in your veins!"
"Actually, I am helpless. When I look at her, I forget even my name."
"As far as I know, gals are simple. Once saw it in a movie. All they wan' is romance and expensive gifts. Wit' that, you sure get 'er easily."
"For once I wish you were right, Meowth."
"Now rub my back…"
"Forget it."
"I'll tell Jessie…"
"Blackmailer…"