After a long day and a particularly humiliating defeat, Ash and Pikachu look for a place to spend the night. He wasn't even sure exactly where he was at this point. Traveling all the time could get kind of tiring, and today just wasn't his day.

Luckily, Pikachu spotted a decent Hostel not too far from the pokecenter. It looked neat and safe enough, so they went in.

They were greeted by a beautiful young clerk with exceptionally long legs. "Hi there! Are you looking for a place to stay? It sure is getting late!"

Ash looked at his watch. It was almost 11. "Yeah, I guess so. We just need a bed for tonight."

"Sure thing!" The perky clerk rang them up and pointed in the direction of the staircase. "There are some nice big beds in room C. Nobody else has bought a bed in there, so you will most likely have the room to yourself tonight."

The usually friendly Ash was happy to hear that. He wasn't in any mood to be woken up by loud strangers.

The kid and his pokemon entered a large empty room with two long rows of comfortable looking beds. It reminded him of what military barracks always looked like in movies. Only this place was taken care of. Almost like a hotel. The pillows looked so fluffy and inviting. Ash flopped down on the nearest bed to the door. He was exhausted. He didn't even feel like walking to the other end of the room for a bed closer to the window. Tonight was not a night to lie in bed and daydream. He needed some sleep.

Not an hour had passed when two people entered the room. "Oh boy could I use a good night's sleep." A wave of surprise shot through Ash when he heard the voice. He recognized it. It belonged to a certain snarky Meowth.

Ash pulled the covers over a sleeping Pikachu and up to his eyes. He didn't want them to recognize him. Luckily, the three walked right past him and to the beds farthest from the door. Ash was relieved. "I really don't have time to deal with those thugs, I'll just sneak past them in the morning..." Thought Ash as he tried to get some sleep.

James sighed. "A real bed. A real honest to goodness bed with pillows and everything!"

"Wow I can't remember the last time I had by own bed to sleep in..."Jessie sounded relieved.

Ash heard team Rocket undressing, and he caught a glimpse of Jessie unzipping her long black boots. He blushed and turned over.

Around 3 AM Ash was awoken to a sudden noise.

Jessie shot straight up in bed and was trying to catch her breath. Tears streamed down her face and she covered her mouth as if she wanted to scream. Not two seconds passed before James was sitting next to her on her bed with a hand on her back.

"You're okay" He whispered. "I'm right here. It was just a dream. You're okay."

"Oh James" Jessie was clearly still sobbing "It was like she was still alive, I could see her. She was right there. I couldn't stop them. They just kept coming and coming. Why didn't I

turn back? Why did I-" She began sobbing harder and James pulled her closer.

"Shhh... It was just a dream. There's nothing left to do now just try to forget..."

What had happened? From the sound of it, Jessie had been through some kind of traumatic incident. James was clearly privy to it. What was so horrible? The idea of team Rocket having had hard lives came as no surprise to Ash. Most bad guys had rough childhoods...

When Ash turned to look he could see James was in bed with her. She was cradled in his arms still crying softly. James didn't look to happy either. But he did his best to console her. It looked like she was going to squeeze his hand right off his wrist. He kissed her softly on the head. "Try to get some sleep..."

The next morning Ash dressed quickly and quietly so as not to waken the sleeping villains. Pikachu plopped down on the floor with a loud thud. Ash cringed and looked over at Team Rocket.

Still clinging to each other, the two looked so peaceful. They each had a faint smile and a calm expression. They seemed almost human.