Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon.
Return to Love
The pokemon looked sadly at the infant sleeping in the crib. Almost a year old, her birthday was in a week. The pokemon crawled back onto his pillow and tried to sleep, but images of that horrible night haunted him.
Twins, they'd had twins! The young couple and their pokemon had celebrated not only the birth of the children, but their freedom. No, they weren't fools anymore, they knew the dangers of leaving the team, but they refused to raise their children as members of the team. They had even created an escape plan in case they were found. The father would take one child, the mother would take the other, and the pokemon would go with the mother. Just one day after bringing the children home, they were found. The father had taken the son and made it out, but the mother hadn't been so lucky. Before they could take the daughter, however, the pokemon had grabbed her and ran, almost thankful of the debris of the destroyed house, because it slowed the team members down. He had gotten away and discovered an abandoned shack in the woods, and had stayed there since. The baby started crying and the pokemon ran up to it.
"Hush, Jessica, go back to sleep."
The pokemon, Meowth, began rocking the small crib that he had built for her, along with the help of some of the wild pokemon around here. It was amazing how friendly they were, especially that group of wild Pikachu. Meowth had almost laughed, realizing the irony of it. Jessica stopped crying and looked up at him. Meowth sighed. She had her mother's blue eyes, but her father's purple hair. Eventually, she fell asleep again and Meowth returned to his pillow, falling sleep eventually.
In a small apartment in Saffron, miles away from the Viridian forest, a man couldn't sleep due to similar nightmares. There was one difference though, he believed that not only the mother, but the daughter and the pokemon, had all been killed. He rolled over and looked at his son. Jaye had his green eyes, but his mother's red hair. The man sighed, thinking of the child's mother.
"Jessie...."
The man eventually fell asleep, tears glittering in his eyes.
The next morning, Meowth was wandering through the forest (a wild bulbasaur was watching Jessica) when he heard voices. He ran to find out who they were, very few humans came into the forest anymore.
"Wow, I remember this place, isn't this where I caught that caterpie?"
"Yeah, then tried using it to catch a pidgey."
The boy laughed along with the girl.
"Yeah, then we got chased by those beedrils!"
"Oh, don't make me remember that Ash! I still have nightmares about that sometimes!"
The boy laughed again.
"Aw, don't worry Misty. It looks like all of the beedril have left."
Meowth's eyes widened. Ash and Misty!? They could help him, if they remembered him. He slowly stepped into the clearing.
"Umm, excuse me, but-"
"Meowth!?"
Ash ran over and kneeled, to get a better look at the pokemon that they'd fought against so long ago.
"Yeah, it's me."
Misty joined Ash.
"What are you doing here Meowth? Where are Jessie and James?"
Meowth hung his head.
"I don't know where James went and Jessie...Jessie's...she's dead."
Ash sat down in disbelief and Misty hugged Meowth.
"Oh, I'm sorry Meowth. Why don't you know where James is?"
"We....We quit the team, Team Rocket, and then they found us and James took off, and Jessie got killed."
Ash looked angry.
"He took off?! He didn't try to help!?"
"Ash, no, you've got it all wrong. They found a place in Viridian city and had kids, a set if twins. James and Jessie had planned that, in case they were found, each of them would take one of the kids and get out of there, I was supposed to go with Jessie.
Ash calmed down and Misty looked sadly at Meowth.
"So one of the twins is dead too?"
"No, I saved her. James has the boy, but I don't know where he went."
Misty smiled.
"Well, if you stick with us, you'll find him eventually."
"What do you mean?"
"We're going around, visiting every major landmark and all the cities, remembering what we did there and how much stuff ended up being blown up."
Meowth laughed.
"Well, come on, I'll show you where I've been staying."
As they walked, a couple of the pikachu came over to him, asking about the humans. Meowth told them that they were old friends, and the pikachu left. Ash and Misty were surprised by Meowth getting along with a pikachu but didn't say anything about it. Eventually they reached the shack, and Meowth assured the bulbasaur that the humans were friends. When the bulbasaur left, Ash looked at Meowth.
"They sure are protective of that kid."
"Yeah, they've been really helpful."
When Meowth picked up the infant, Ash and Misty gasped. It had Jessie's eyes, but James's hair.
"Wow, she's so beautiful."
Meowth smiled at Misty's compliment.
"Yeah. Her name's Jessica. The boy's name is Jaye. He has green eyes and red hair."
Misty smiled and nodded. Ash realized something.
"Hey, misty, how are we going to carry her?"
"Oh, I have an idea. But I'll need to put my stuff in your pack."
Ash nodded and once Misty's bag was empty she cut two small holes in the bottom of it, and cut some of the top to make straps to hold her in. Meowth handed Jessica to her and it fit perfectly. Misty put it on her back and they left.
Meowth had been expecting a long walk around Kanto, but apparently Ash had reclaimed his Pidgeot, and it flew them to each place they wanted to visit. First they visited Pewter and had an interesting time of convincing Brock that Jessica wasn't theirs. Eventually they told him the whole story, and he wanted to go with but Ash said that there wasn't enough room on his pidgeot. Brock finally relented, but told them to contact him when they found James. They agreed and took off for Cerulean, deciding not to go through Mt.Moon. They knew that James wouldn't have stopped here, since this is where Misty was from, and she'd recognize him. They said hello to Misty's sisters and once again had to convince them that Jessica wasn't theirs, but didn't tell them the whole story. They decided to skip Lavender town, nobody with a brain and an infant would move there. Next they stopped in saffron, and Misty wanted to ask Sabrina if she could help them. Ash agreed with the idea and they went to the gym. Sabrina was still the gym leader and very well respected. Ash and his little group were admitted in, Sabrina still remembered them. Once they were finally able to talk to them, she already knew what they wanted.
"You would like to help an old enemy of yours."
Ash nodded.
"You want to know where he is, and return his daughter to him."
Again Ash nodded.
"I will see what I can do, but if he is not in this city, I won't be able to locate him."
Ash nodded, as long as she tried, he'd be grateful. Sabrina closed her eyes and concentrated, eventually finding a man, who was worrying about a child and sick at heart at the loss of another and the mother, along with a good friend, a pokemon.
"I've found him. He's in apartment 36, building 4."
Ash and Misty smiled.
"thank you so much Sabrina!"
She smiled also and teleported them to the building they wanted. Ash and Misty blinked a couple of times, but realized what she had done. Misty made sure that Meowth was still with them, and then began looking for apartment 36. When they found it, Misty took Jessica out of her pack-turned-baby carrier and held her in her arms. Ash picked up meowth and then knocked. James looked out of the peephole and saw a boy and a girl that looked familiar.
Ash and Misty? How'd they find this place?
He opened the door and almost had a heart attack when he saw what they were holding.
"Meowth! Jessica!"
Misty carefully handed Jessica to him and Meowth jumped out of Ash's arms.
"It's good to see you again James. How's Jaye doing?"
"He's doing fine, Meowth. I....I thought you were dead..."
"Well, we aren't. I was able to save Jessica and we've been living in a shack for the last year. Although, I can't say you've been living much better."
James sighed.
"This place is great if you want anonymity, but not if you want a job."
Ash smiled.
"Hey, how about you guys come back home with us? I think you'd like Pallet town."
James smiled.
"That would be nice. How are we going to get there, though?"
"My pidgeot. Pack up your things, and we can take them home some at a time."
"I don't really want most of this stuff. I'll just take a couple things and we can go."
Ash nodded and watched James pack. Misty leaned over and whispered to Ash.
"He sure has changed."
"Yeah, but for the better."
Ash and Misty smiled. Soon James had everything he wanted packed, and it all fit into a single suitcase. They headed down to the lobby and James simply left his key on the desk and they went outside. Ash called his Pidgeot and they all climbed on. Ash sat up by Pidgeot's wing joints, with Meowth sitting just in front of him, James sat behind him, holding Jessica, and Misty sat at the end, holding Jaye. They reached Pallet town within an hour, and landed in front of their house. James arched an eyebrow.
"You two live together?"
"Yeah."
"What, is there something wrong with that?"
James shook his head. They unlocked the door. Misty looked at James.
"We have a spare room that you can stay in for now, if you want.
"Thank you, that would be nice."
After James had put his suitcase in the spare bedroom, Ash led the way to his mother's house, telling him that she'd be able to find a crib for the twins. After that, they went back to their house, set up the crib, and left Misty to watch the twins while Ash helped James find a job. Eventually they found him one at a grocery store.
"A grocery store?"
"I know, it isn't much, but it's all that's available at the moment. We'll find something better later."
James nodded and they headed back home. He went upstairs to his room and looked at the twins. They had fallen asleep, Jessica using her brother's stomach as a pillow. James smiled and walked back out of the room to help cook dinner.
Well, how was that? It got kinda weak towards the end, and I'm sorry about that. Well, please review and if you flame, I won't care, since I just bought a big bag of Marshmallows.