Disclaimer: I do not own many of the things in this story. Jessie, James, Meowth, all of the towns, Together Forever, Peter the Wonder Bunny, the plot of the movie "Titanic," and the song "Albuquerque" to name a few. *sigh* Please, nobody sue me! I'm a poor high school student with no life!

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Chapter One ~ Café Brak

"That was a great ride James," sighed Jessie as she stepped out of the Meowth-shaped hot-air balloon. They had landed it in the field just north of Route 7. "Vermilion City looks beautiful at night, with all the lights reflecting off the water," she added as she remembered the sights they had seen on their trip to Celadon City, where they had now arrived. Jessie slipped her gloved hand into James's as they strolled down the city's streets. Her ankle-length, lavender evening gown swished from side to side as they walked and the red "R" necklace she wore around her neck bounced up and down with each step. Her extremely long, cherry-red hair shone in the bright moonlight. She had taken two thin strands out of their usual pulled back curl and twisted them so that a single, tightly curled strand hung on each side of her head, framing her face. Jessie smiled and glanced at James, who was tugging uncomfortably at his collar. He wasn't used to wearing a suit, but the restaurant they were going to had a strict dress code: dresses and suits only. While they were getting ready, James had jokingly asked Jessie if he could wear a dress instead, but she just whacked him with her mallet and handed him his suit.

As they walked, he found himself staring at Jessie. She looked gorgeous from her sparkling blue eyes to her long mane of red hair to her flowing satin dress. James longed to reach out and wrap her in his arms and kiss her and tell her how much he loved her, but he couldn't. He didn't have the nerve. Not yet. Not yet? What kind of excuse was that? He had known Jessie for almost nine years and had fallen instantly in love with her at first sight. He still loved her even after all those mallet whacks and smacks and being bossed around and screamed at. But still, after all these years and times they shared, he still didn't have the strength to confess his feelings to her.

James's train of thought was interrupted by Jessie's voice.

"This is the place, right?" she asked, stopping in front of a fancy restaurant. James brushed his lavender-blue hair out of his face and looked up. The lights outside were blue-tinted and the walls were covered in marble. Extravagant patterns were carved in the walls, as was the restaurant's name: "Café Brak."

"Yeah, this is it," replied James, holding open the door for Jessie. The maître d' greeted them as they entered. He had blond hair and was wearing a black shirt with a navy blue "X" across it. He also had on black pants and navy blue gloves and boots.

He asked, "Do you have a reservation buddy?"

"Yes," James replied, "The name is 'Morgan'"

"Oh yes," the man responded as he checked off the name on the reservation list, "This way, please, buddy"

The lighting was dim as they followed the man into the depths of the restaurant. He seated them at a small table in a secluded corner. There were hardly any other customers in this part of the restaurant – only two other guests sat a few tables away. Two very familiar-looking guests.

"Hey," whispered James, "Isn't that the twerp with the Pikachu?"

"Yeah, and he's with that red-haired brat. I wonder where that weird kid who never opens his eyes is. Pikachu isn't with them either!"

"Let's go ask them where Pikachu and Squinty are! Wait… Jessie! I forgot their names."

Jessie stared at him incredulously. "It's Ash and Misty, you idiot!" she said, smacking him with a fan she seemingly pulled out of thin air. James wondered where the fan came from as he rubbed his face. Jessie stood up and began to walk over to Ash and Misty's table. Misty was talking quietly to Ash, who nodded every once in a while. Underneath the table, Misty was fidgeting with the bottom of her short, baby blue dress. She tapped her fancy, low-heeled, blue shoe on the ground and bit her lip in between her sentences. She reached up and twirled a strand of her red-orange hair around her finger. Her hair had been taken out of its normally side-swept, messy ponytail and was held behind her head by a large, pale blue bow. Ash had taken off his red and white Pokémon League Expo hat and combed his black hair so it looked halfway decent. He was wearing a suit that looked a lot like James's, except smaller.

"Well well well. Look who's here," smirked Jessie as she stood next to Ash and Misty's table.

"Oh no! Not you again!" exclaimed Ash, standing up.

"What do you two want this time?" asked Misty, looking angry that her dinner had been interrupted.

"Oh, nothing. We just wanted to see what you two young lovers were up to," replied Jessie. Misty and Ash simultaneously turned beet red. Jessie smiled and went on, "We also were wondering where your Pikachu and Squinty are."

Ash looked confused. "Squinty?" he muttered, "Oh! You mean Brock! Well, he stayed on Valencia Island to study Pokémon with Professor Ivy. Pikachu is back in Pallet Town with my mom. And Misty and I… We are just…"

"Ash asked me if I wanted to go out to dinner with him and I accepted 'cause I like him and we came here and that's what we're 'up to,'" burst out Misty.

James sighed, "Aww… How sweet! The twerps are in love!"

Ash was annoyed. "What do you guys want anyway? Pikachu isn't here, so you can just leave us alone!"

"We're not here for Pikachu for once," smiled Jessie, "Our Boss gave us two weeks off, so James and I decided to come to dinner here. We're staying in a hotel on Cinnabar Island. That's where Meowth is now, in case you were wondering."

"Mmhmm. Well gee, that was a great story Jessie. Misty and I have to leave now. Um… you wanted to… eh… go shopping, right Mist?"

"But Ash… you hate shop-"

"Come on, Misty!" Ash hissed through clenched teeth as he practically dragged Misty out of the restaurant.

"Bye Team Rocket!" she called as they turned the corner and disappeared from sight.

"Good. Now that they're gone, we can have this whole part of the restaurant to ourselves," huffed Jessie as she slid back into her chair and picked up her menu. She frowned as she read it over. "Don't they have anything besides French food?" she complained.

"I want chicken fingers," moaned James.

"James, this is a fancy and expensive French restaurant," Jessie explained as if she were talking to a three-year-old, "They don't serve chicken fingers here."

"Do they have grilled cheese?" James asked tentatively.

Sighing, Jessie turned to the sandwich page. "They have a grilled ham and cheese sandwich called a crow-cue-eey mon-see-your," she read.

"But I don't want ham on my grilled cheese sandwich," whined James.

Jessie sighed again. James was acing like a little kid. Come to think of it, he was always acting like a little kid. He always had an immature, childish attitude, but he was adorable. That was one of the reasons why she loved him.

"Ooh ooh ooh Jessie! I know what I want!" cried a very excited James, "French fries!"

Jessie stared at him like he was nuts.

"You know, French fries. I mean, this is a French restaurant and they are French fries, so they should have French fries here, right Jessie? Jessie?"

Jessie was holding her head in her hands and shaking it back and forth as if to say 'He's really lost it.'

James was concerned. "Is something wrong Jessie?" he asked worriedly, "Do you have a headache or something?"

"What?" She looked up, "Oh no…no…" she mumbled, "I just… you don't really want to be here, do you James?"

James shifted uncomfortably in his stiff chair. "Well, I never really liked anything that was too fancy. It's all just too uptight and you can't relax. I guess that's one of the main reasons why I ran away from home. Life on the high-end of society is not as much fun as most people think. Every single thing had to be done the proper and mannerly way, or else you were a disgrace. Everything has to be absolutely perfect and there's too much pressure. I wasn't really keen on coming to this restaurant, but I thought you would like it." James bit his lip.

A smile spread across Jessie's face. Poor James had chose a restaurant he didn't even want to go to just to please her. "Thank you James, really. This restaurant is beautiful and it looks like a really nice place, but it's just too classy for the infamous Team Rocket. I mean, whoever heard of escargot?" At this, James grinned. Jessie stood up from her chair and so did James. "Come on. Let's go," she said as she clasped James's hand and they walked out of Café Brak feeling even happier than they had when they came in.