Author's Notes
This is NOT supposed to be a shipping fic. Not at all, really. This takes place in the same alternate universe/retelling as my last one-shot, "Flame". Though this story definitely stands on its own, as it has different main characters and themes, so no need to read it if you haven't already. For the interested, this story takes place before Flame, and the second chapter will take place after.


Roles

1

Pikachu

"PIKACHU!" Ash yelled.

"Pika!" Pikachu whined desperately as it rose up in the balloon.

Jessie, James, and Meowth laughed. "Sorry, twerp," Jessie mocked.

"We've got your Pikachu!" James said.

"Your Pikachu... Is our Pikachu now!" Meowth shouted down.

Ash desperately tried to reach for his other pokeballs, but he was tied up in a way he couldn't quite reach them. "Pikachu!" he shouted desperately again.

"Pikapi!"

"See any sign of those other twerps around?" Jessie asked.

"Nothing!" Meowth said, peering around with the binoculars. "Those two haven't come out of that building yet."

"Alright! We've really finally done it!" James said.

"That's right twerp, your pikachu is now a rocket pikachu!" Jessie declared. The three of them laughed together.

"No! Team Rocket, you can't have Pikachu! I'll get you for this!" Ash yelled.

"Bye bye!" the three rockets said as they waved happily, rising ever higher into the air.

"Pikachu! Thunderbolt!" Ash yelled, even though he already knew it was useless.

Pikachu knew so as well, but still followed its trainer's command. "Chu! CHUUUU!" it shouted as it released the electric attacks again and again.

"You can't get us like that," James said.

"That's right. This trap is electric proof," Meowth said.

"Now, just say good-bye," Jessie said, and leaned the cage to where Pikachu could see Ash clearly.

"PIKACHU!" Ash yelled as loudly as he could after his friend.

"Pikapi," Pikachu said unhappily.

The group listened to Ash continue to call for the pokemon until they were too far away to hear him anymore.

"No one's coming after us!" James pointed out the obvious.

"I think by now we're probably too far away from twerp or any of his friends to find us," Jessie said.

"Alright! It's really our win!" the three shouted together.

Pikachu cringed and looked down in pain. "Pikapi," it said.

"What is it?" James said, looking toward the miserable pikachu. "Don't worry Pikachu, you won't be treated badly or anything."

"That's right, that's right," Jessie said. "You're now part of the glorious world of Team Rocket!"

"You'll get all the recognition you deserve for being such a powerful Pikachu, too," Meowth said.

"Pikachu! Pika pika, pikapi!" Pikachu said harshly.

"That's a nice outlook, but it won't get you far," Meowth said.

"What did it say?" Jessie asked.

"That it doesn't want recognition from many people, that just the recognition of his beloved twerp is enough," Meowth said.

Both Jessie and James smirked at that. "It is kind of nice to think that way..." James began.

"But the twerp would have eventually tossed you aside, too!" Jessie said.

"When he got his fame and status, that is," James said.

"Yeah, do you really think he's looking for anything else? You're just a stepping stone for a trainer like him who can have access to many pokemon, right?" Jessie said.

"That's right, but we recognize you as exceptional," James said.

"And the twerp will have his eyes on more powerful pokemon as they appear! That's just how trainers are!" Jessie said.

"Pikachu! Pikapi, pikachu!" Pikachu said adamantly.

Pikachu was obviously disagreeing with them, but they waved their hands in dismissal without even understanding the message. "Maybe you'll switch trainers in Team Rocket, too, but they'd still appreciate you." James began.

"Yeah, and maybe you'll be the boss' top pokemon and stay by his side forever!" Meowth said.

"But the boss throws away his pokemon for more powerful ones all the time," James said.

"Yeah... I guess I know that firsthand," Meowth said sadly.

"Yeah, gotta be honest with the thing," Jessie said. "Maybe you'll be tossed around, maybe you won't, but you can be assured that Team Rocket is full of trainers who are desperate to have pokemon. No matter who you're with, they'll appreciate having you."

James nodded. "It'll be a good experience, you'll never have to feel unwanted."

"It's true. I can't imagine a more wonderful experience for a pokemon than Team Rocket. Isn't that right, Meowth?" Jessie asked.

"Yeah, that's right!" Meowth said.

"Pikachu," Pikachu said with some concern. It had already been appreciated. It didn't want to get pushed around to different trainers, some who probably abused their pokemon. Team Rocket wasn't a good group, after all. These two had never really mistreated their pokemon, as Pikachu knew from talking to said pokemon, but that didn't mean that all Team Rocket members were like that. If Ash couldn't find them, if Pikachu was really going to be trapped in the Team Rocket system forever, it would be in for a horrible time. And yet, these guys were acting like he was in for a picnic, some sort of never-ending fantasy life. "Pika pika! Pika PIKACHU!" Pikachu shouted.

"What's that?!" Meowth said angrily.

"What did it say this time?" Jessie asked.

"Just that we don't look like we're having a very happy or wonderful experience most of the time," Meowth said.

"How dare you!" Jessie shouted at Pikachu. "That's-"

"Not too far from the truth," James said. "It's better to chase around the twerp than to go back to base right now, isn't it?"

"Hey, you don't have to tell the thing that much!" Jessie said.

"Pikachu?" Pikachu said curiously. The two failed at their goals so much when around him and Ash, why would they have a better time with that?

"Things will be different now, anyway," Meowth said.

"That's right! We're bringing back such a prize!" Jessie said, hugging the cage that Pikachu was in.

"Th-that's right!" James also brought some kind of enthusiasm into his voice, and also hugged the cage from the other side.

The two of them lifted it up together. "We finally got Pikachu!" they said together.

Upon reaching the rocket base, they entered together, and slammed the cage with Pikachu on the counter. "We've returned!" Jessie said.

"We need to see the boss, right away!" James said.

"We've finally captured this rare super-powered pikachu!" Meowth said.

The girl at the counter with green hair, Wendy, just stared. Oh, so it was this group again. They were absolutely ridiculous and obnoxious, and were more or less not really rocket members anymore. The only reason they might still be is because their debts were so big they had to work for free. Such expendable agents may want to keep quiet and stick to the background, but not these two. They called attention to their clownish exploits every time they came around.

Not that it wasn't fun for Wendy to watch. She especially hated Jessie, who was just so arrogant, despite her overwhelming incompetence. There was nothing wrong with knocking this group, especially her, down a few pegs. Wendy looked at them and smiled.

"What is it? Hurry up, let us back to see the boss," Jessie said.

"He's not around at the moment," Wendy said.

"What?" the group said.

"Nope, he's out. What did you all want, anyway? Just to show him this thing?" Wendy said, motioning toward the Pikachu in the cage that they had so carelessly dumped on top of her desk over all her paperwork.

"That's right," James said.

"So when will the boss be back?" Jessie asked.

"Who knows," Wendy said, though she was pretty sure when he might physically check in. "Super-powered pikachu, huh?" she said, looking inside the cage. The miserable thing looked just like a regular pikachu to her. "Why don't you guys take it to the laboratory? The boss would probably send it over to those scientists, anyway."

"That makes sense," James said.

"Yeah. Let's go!" Jessie said.

Meowth jumped on the table and picked up the cage itself. "Hurry up you guys."

"I'll open the gate for you," Wendy said. The group wandered away without so much as a thank you, but she just smirked. "Idiots," she said to herself.

Jessie and James slammed open the door to the laboratory, making way for Meowth carrying Pikachu. Jessie and James smiled, ready to speak to whoever was around, but then took a look at who was there. The group had been in the laboratory before on a few occasions, when there was usually only a few scientists. But right now there were many scientists, standing before a group of many, many field agents, including Cassidy and Butch, former rivals to them who had now seemed to meet success for every one of their to their many failures.

Jessie looked around, saw Cassidy looking at her with a wry smile, and then turned up her nose. Jessie was determined not to let that person's presence and horrible attitude ruin this moment. She grabbed the cage from Meowth herself and placed it on the nearest table. "Here you are, sir! We're delivering this extremely powerful pokemon!" she said.

"What's this?" the head rocket professor, Nanba, asked them. He was confused, thinking perhaps that it was something important sent from his superiors.

"This is the extremely rare Pikachu!" Jessie said. "We've worked long and hard to find it, but now we've done so, and returned."

"Well, why did you bring it here?" Nanba asked, still confused.

"You want to experiment on it or something, right?" James said.

"Yeah, you know what to do with such a rare pokemon, right?" Meowth said.

"Pikachu isn't rare," a random field agent pointed out.

Jessie glared toward the crowd, she couldn't figure out which one of the many spectators had said so. "This pikachu is rare!" she declared.

"That's right! It's extremely powerful!" James said.

"You'll never find one quite like this!" Meowth said.

"I almost feel bad for watching this train wreak," Butch muttered to Cassidy, who just nodded back. They both just stood there watching, not interfering with the inevitable events.

"Is that right? You've interrupted something important, you realize, but I say let's give it a quick test. It should be useful for this upcoming mission if that's the case," Nanba said. He motioned toward his assistants, who brought out some equipment. "Have your pikachu use an electric attack over here," Nanba said, pointing toward some metal rods.

"Um..." James said. He had a good guess about what might happen if they let Pikachu out, and hesitated.

Jessie had the same misgivings, but what else could they do? They couldn't leave Pikachu in there indefinitely, and this was the only way they could prove its great powers. "Alright! Pikachu, go! Attack that thing!" Jessie said, unlocking the cage.

The cage door opened. Pikachu's ears perked up it stepped out. "Pika," it said, taking a deep breath now that he was out in the open.

"What are you waiting for? Hurry up, thundershock over there!" Jessie ordered.

Pikachu about faced, and looked at the trio with a grin. "Pikachu," it said, and its cheeks sparked. "CHUU!" Pikachu shouted as it let the electric attack go, hitting its three captors.

"Stop it, Pikachu," James begged. "Attack over there! Right there! Please?"

Pikachu looked like it was getting ready to attack again, but still stared at the same target. "Meowth, you know what you have to do," Jessie said in a low voice.

"Got it," Meowth said grudgingly. Meowth leapt over Pikachu, bopping it in the head, and then hopped over to the device.

"CHUUU!" Pikachu aimed the electric attack at Meowth, but the attack was still absorbed by the device so that they could get a reading.

"Hm," the assistant said, reading over the data. "It looks like it's slightly above average, for a Pikachu."

"CHU! CHU! CHUU!" Pikachu said, firing thunderbolts at random areas now.

As one nearly hit Butch, he frowned. "Okay, this shit's stopped being funny now," he said, brandishing a monster ball. "Primeape, go! Knock out that pikachu!"

Primeape punched Pikachu once, and then again, and he appeared to be knocked out as soon as he hit the ground.

"Ah!" Jessie and James said at once.

"Our valuable pikachu!" Jessie said.

"Be more careful, won't you?" James said, grabbing the unconscious pikachu from the ground.

"That's enough, you two," a superior said, stepping forward. "I think we've all had it up to here with this ridiculous show. Don't think this all won't go unreported. Now, go stand quietly over with your fellow field agents. All available field agents are to be on this mission, and you two look free enough."

"Yes, sir," Jessie, James, and Meowth said, and went and stood near the back edges of the crowd. Jessie saw Cassidy and her stupid partner snickering at them and couldn't stand it. The two of them had just been lucky with their exploits, that's all. They had no real reason to act so superior.

They stood and listened along with the rest of the field agents to the information. Apparently some important experimental pokemon had been released. Many talents of Team Rocket as a whole were teaming up to find it. It seemed like most agents would probably be serving as lookouts. As the meeting broke up, Jessie sighed in relief. That had been a splendid failure, and she hoped they could leave without notice now.

No such luck. Cassidy was walking toward them, an irritating smirk on her face. "Jessie, that was hilarious," she said when she caught up with them.

"Right, right," Jessie muttered, turning away as she did. The mass of people leaving kept her from leaving herself right away.

"Too bad I wasn't in a spot where I could just laugh and laugh. You'll have to do something like that again when I am. Except, wait, I don't think 'jester' was your official ranking, is it?" Cassidy put a finger to her head in mock thought.

"Right, get lost," Jessie muttered. Pikachu had probably just been tired from battling them and all of the fruitless attempts to get out of their electricity-proof trap, she thought, as it was more than slightly above average. But it was just their luck that Pikachu would fail at the crucial moment. And now they had to listen to Cassidy blab on and on about it.

"Not that you really have an official ranking, huh? You're lucky at all to still be around, and especially lucky that you were allowed on this important mission. I would have had you locked up, or worse," Cassidy said.

Jessie rolled her eyes. She'd had enough humiliation for one day. Just as Jessie was sure that she could make a break for it, she saw Cassidy latch onto James's arm. Oh, not this angle again, Jessie thought to herself.

"And how about you, James?" Cassidy said, her voice softening as it usually did when she spoke to him. "I could see you were really trying hard here. You must have done your best on this ridiculous mission that Jessie pulled out of her ass."

James blinked in surprise. This had been as much his idea as Jessie's, both she, Meowth, and himself had mutually agreed that Pikachu was very powerful and worth their extreme effort to capture. "Um... Well..." he began.

"Such effort would be better expended toward more fruitful, more sensible goals. How about you leave her behind? You should team up with me and Butch."

James looked away awkwardly. This wasn't the first time that she'd suggested this, and he hadn't really known what to say when she'd talked about it before. "Well..."

"I know you're in trouble thanks to this woman, but I can still make it happen. You won't have to worry anymore," Cassidy assured.

Jessie glared at them. Cassidy seemed to be pressing herself even closer to James, but he seemed oblivious, and just looked away from her. "I'm fine with where I am now, really..." he said.

"You're really loyal, aren't you?" Cassidy said. "I like that, really. I just worry about you. Your loyalty could be better rewarded elsewhere."

"Maybe, I suppose..." James said.

"Think about it, won't you?" Cassidy said. She went closer to him and started to speak softer in his ear. "Maybe we can talk about it tonight... It's going to be cold outside, isn't it? With all these agents here, I know your group won't be first choice to get into a room... But you could be nice and warm in my room, huh? I have a single, but the bed can fit two."

"Um, I'm sure I'll be fine..." James said.

Jessie couldn't believe this woman. "Come on, James, Meowth, let's go," she said loudly.

James looked at Cassidy, who still held onto his arm. "I have to leave," he said.

"Well, if you change your mind, here's my room number," Cassidy said, handing him a piece of paper. "I don't even mind how late it is, come by anytime."

"Let's go, James!" Jessie shouted now.

"What a brazen woman. See you later, James," Cassidy said.

"That was just awful," Jessie said. "Hey, Pikachu, why didn't you show the amazing powers that you've used on us, huh?" Jessie said, holding up the unconscious pokemon.

"Pi..." Pikachu blinked its eyes, coming back to reality. "Pika!" it said, looking around.

"Calm down, mouse," Jessie said.

"Yeah, if you make a fuss, one of the rockets here is just going to attack you again," Meowth said.

Pikachu frowned, supposing that Meowth was right. It didn't make it feel any better, supposing that even out of the cage, it was a definite prisoner. Maybe it could run away, but Pikachu didn't want people that were worse than these three to capture or go after it. "Pika..." Pikachu frowned, but just hopped on Jessie's shoulder. It would figure a way out of this and back to Ash soon, maybe when it had some of its strength back.

"Hey," Jessie said to Wendy.

"Oh, the super powered pikachu outside of its cage? Want to give a demonstration?" Wendy teased.

"No, that might not be a good idea," James said.

"Oh, right. Because it's just so powerful, right?" Wendy said.

"Right," Jessie said. "Can you give us the key to one of those dorms? We're staying here tonight."

"Hm? Nope, I can't do that. So many field agents are here for this mission that all of the extra dorms are completely full. You'll have to sleep outside. I hear it's going to get pretty cold tonight," Wendy said.

"Oh. Okay," James said. Their luck had just gotten worse.

"We left our camping equipment back nearby where the twerp was," Meowth pointed out as they turned away from the main desk.

"Pikachu?" Pikachu suggested.

"Even if we wanted to, you think we could get back there before nightfall?" Meowth said.

"Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you, rat?" Jessie said, looking at the pokemon on her shoulder.

"Pikachu..." Pikachu frowned as it looked outside. The sun was about to set.

"We'll just get more camping equipment from supplies, right?" James said.

"Yeah, it's not that hard," Jessie said.

They all went to where the supplies were, and Mondo bowed to them apologetically after they made their request. "So sorry, guys! Everything's already set to go for tomorrow's mission, I don't really have anything to give you right now," he said.

"Huh? Why not? We'd just be using it tomorrow, right?" Jessie said.

"Sorry! It's kind of complicated. I'll see if I can find something, though." Mondo ran off, then came back with a worn-out looking backpack. "Here you go! I found a tent in the way, way back! It's kind of old, so I think we probably should have thrown it out before... So you don't even have to sign it out! Isn't that great?"

"Wonderful," Jessie said dryly.

"Thanks, Mondo," James said.

Outside, the group found a spot and started to put up the tent together. "This is the worst day!" Jessie said.

"That's right! We finally got Pikachu, shouldn't it be a good day?" James whined.

"Well, we still have Pikachu," Meowth pointed out.

"Pika," Pikachu said, turning its head from them. It didn't plan to stay nearby them forever, even if it had no place to run at the moment, especially as the landscape grew dark. It hated to think about the coming night, though. The temperature was already a little cold, and all they had was this shoddy tent. Pikachu frowned, remembering how it had always spent the night curled up in Ash's sleeping bag, warm and toasty until morning came. This was a horrible alternative. "Pikapi..." Pikachu said mournfully.

"Damn that Cassidy, always acting so superior, thinking she can ridicule me just because she's had a little more luck," Jessie said.

"I know! What's with her?" James said. "She's always making fun of me in some backward way."

"Oh, yeah," Jessie said flatly. There was that, too. "It's completely sickening to watch her throw herself at you all the time."

"Throw herself?" James repeated. He thought he may have heard this expression before, though not often. 'Throw herself' could be something like what Jessie did, sometimes hitting James and Meowth when she got too annoyed. Moving forward with her full body weight to make the blow hurt more. Kind of 'throwing herself'. "Um... No, she doesn't do anything like that. She's kind of overly nice, actually."

"Oh? And why might that be?" Jessie said.

"I don't know," James said as he nailed down the peg to the tent.

Jessie rolled her eyes. "It's because she wants to sleep with you, you idiot."

James had heard this expression before too, but not really paid that much attention to it. He'd gotten the idea that it might have a sexual connotation, but that probably wasn't what Jessie meant here, he thought as he recalled the previous conversation. "Yeah, she did invite me to her room and all," he said nonchalantly. "What's the big deal about sleeping in the same bed with someone, though? Why did she have to make a big deal about inviting me? Just to make fun of us needing the help, I guess."

"Jessie, this is all going way above his head," Meowth said. "You just going to let it fly?"

Feeling extremely irritated by the day's events, her own exhaustion, and James's denseness in general, Jessie grabbed James's collar and shook him. "She wants to have sex with you, you idiot!" she yelled.

"What?!" James said, backing away from Jessie. "You don't know that! Why would you even say that?"

"Oh, gee, I don't know, why else would a grown woman invite a grown man to share a bed with her? Why do you think? HUH? What would the one reason be?" Jessie snapped back.

"Come on, Jessie. You're seeing something that's not even there. You and I have shared a bed before, and it didn't mean something like that," James said. "It was just because we only had that much room. Don't read so much into things."

"Ah. That's right," Jessie said. James hadn't ever tried anything with her, not even when they'd shared a bed. Jessie had always assumed that it was either because he didn't want to try with Meowth there to comment, or because he knew that he'd certainly receive an extreme punishment for having done so, because it couldn't be because he didn't want her. What man wouldn't want her, or at least be tempted, after all? It was good that he contained his urges, because she wasn't interested in him like that. Cassidy on the other hand... He should at least be able to see her obvious attraction. "Cassidy doesn't have as much of a space problem as we do," Jessie said. "So, you see now, she only asked you because she, well, you get it now, right?"

"Jessie, please. It's cold, and Cassidy knew the dorms were full... So she invited me to her private room, where there was plenty of room. That's all. It was nothing more than that," James said.

"Hm..." Jessie said. "And what do you think she'd want to do with you in that private room, huh? Just sleep?"

"Probably," James said. "You're reading too much into it, Jessie," he added.

Jessie's face twitched in her irritation. "Meowth... Tell this blockhead that I'm not making this up."

"Yeah... It's kind of obvious, James," Meowth said.

"You're both being ridiculous," James said.

Jessie sighed. She supposed that James was just too embarrassed to talk about this subject, so denied it until the end. Or, Jessie figured, maybe he just didn't want to admit to her, who very much hated Cassidy, just how interested he was in the propositioning. He just didn't want to annoy her one way, so he did in another, by acting like some clueless idiot.

"Done," James said, and then stared at the tent. "Looks like it's going to fall over any second, though."

"Will that really fit all of us?" Meowth said.

"Maybe... Maybe not," James said.

"But if you go to your girlfriend, Meowth and I will definitely have enough room," Jessie said. "So why don't you just go?"

"Huh?" James said.

"Come on, it's not like you aren't going to wake up in the middle of the night with the thought and wander off to her. So you might as well just go now," Jessie said. She bit her lip. No man was worth the grief, she'd decided that a long time ago. And it included him. But unfortunately, the idea of James running off to Cassidy did piss her off. She hated that woman. Why did she have to pick her partner to dote over, anyway? Probably just to annoy her. Once James went and got very warm and comfortable with her, he'd probably accept the idea of joining her team, and Jessie would be left behind. The idea did give her grief. Even if she wasn't attracted to him, he was important to her. And now Jessie wanted to take that grief and shove it down his throat for daring to be the person to inspire her to have these feelings.

"Give it a rest, Jessie, I'm not even-"

"Go ahead, James! I don't care! I bet it's pretty warm inside the building."

"Pika, pikachu," Pikachu said.

"Pikachu said it wants to go in with you, James," Meowth said.

"Oh? Really?" Jessie said. "Yeah, go ahead, please the rodent and yourself. You might as well get what you can from her, no else is offering."

"No matter who it would be, I'm not interested," James said. Hopefully that would be clear enough for Jessie to stop this ridiculous conversation.

"Hmph. Don't even lie," Jessie said.

"It's not a lie," James said.

"You're a man, right? Then it's an undeniable fact that it's always on your mind. I know you've probably been thinking about it all afternoon. So just don't lie," Jessie said. That's right, there was pretty much only one thing that men wanted, right? There's no way James would be the world's only exception.

James sighed. It wasn't like it was the first time he'd heard something like this, but he wasn't interested, and that was the truth, and he'd already said so to both accounts, so what else could he do?

"Pikachu," Pikachu said impatiently.

"Pikachu, are you sure you want to go there, anyway? I mean, you'd be in the same room as humans mating," Meowth said.

"Pika, pikachu. Pika pika," Pikachu said.

"Pikachu says it'll just sit by the vent and let you do what you needed to do, won't bother you at all," Meowth said.

"Go ahead, James. Go take Pikachu and 'do what you need to'. Don't let me stop you or anything," Jessie said.

James's face turned red. The idea of sex alone was mortifying enough, but doing it with a curious pokemon staring from a corner the entire time? "Stop!" James yelled. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Are you sure you don't want to?" Jessie said.

"Just stop it! You're probably mistaken as to Cassidy's intentions, but I don't care, I'm not going to see her either way," James said.

"Your choice," Jessie said, looking away from him.

"Pikachu," Pikachu realized from the conversation that it wouldn't be by a warm heat vent anytime soon, and frowned. Again Pikachu thought of Ash's warm hug and sleeping bag and glared at the people who had taken it away. "Pika CHUUU!" it shouted, shocking them.

The three screamed and Pikachu hopped in the tent. Jessie stood up and went for the flap. "You damn little-" she began, reaching for the tent flap.

"Pika! Pikachu!"

"Jessie, wait," Meowth began. "Pikachu says it'll just keep shocking us if we try to go in the tent."

"Our only shelter!" Jessie said. She glared at James. "I guess now you really want to-"

"Just stop talking about that, please!" James said.

The three of them now sat outside of the tent back to back, shivering as the night went on. "I'll die," Jessie eventually said as the cold wind grew around them. "Held hostage by a damn pikachu. This really is a new low for us, isn't it?"

"We've lived through worse," Meowth said. "Just keep going, we'll make it."

James reached for the tent flap. "Hey, Pikachu," he said.

"Pika?" Pikachu looked up sleepily, in a relaxed and half-asleep state, so it didn't feel too irritated yet.

"Can you let us in now?" James said.

"Please," Jessie begged, shivering.

"We won't bother you, we promise," Meowth said.

"Pika," Pikachu said as it stared at the miserable, shivering group. "Pikachu," it said, nodding.

"Thank goodness!" Jessie said.

The group all climbed in the tent together, and were soon asleep. Pikachu sighed as it also drifted back to unconsciousness. They really were a pitiable lot, it realized. But Pikachu was warmer now surrounded by them, so maybe it wasn't so bad. For now.

The next morning however, the group woke up extra early, and Pikachu felt groggy, and also hungry. It noticed they hadn't eaten either, not even last night. Pikachu imagined meal time with Ash. Brock would give him the perfect amount of delicious food, especially made for his pokemon type.

"Pika pika," Pikachu muttered, its cheeks sparking with irritation. However, it didn't want to expend the energy to attack the people responsible for its predicament at the moment.

"Alright, today's our chance," Jessie said with a determined stance.

"That's right," James agreed, nodding fervently.

"If we can capture this missing pokemon ourselves, we can win back all of the pride we lost yesterday!" Meowth said.

"That's right," Jessie nodded. "Hey," she began, looking at Meowth. "Are you saying we have no pride?"

"That might have been how it seemed. We really made fools of ourselves, didn't we?" James said.

"That's only because this pokemon failed to perform," Jessie said, glaring at Pikachu.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu glared right back. "Pika..." it added.

"I'm kind of hungry too," Meowth said.

"Alright then, breakfast!" James said, dumping out the contents of a box of crackers. "Five crackers. So-"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu leapt up and grabbed the box. It took out two, and then threw the box up, hitting the crackers back to them with its tail.

"You're the smallest of all of us! Why should you get the biggest portion?" Jessie said.

"Pika," Pikachu said, its cheeks sparking in the tiniest of warnings. The three turned away, each taking one cracker with a smile. Pikachu ate its crackers. They were tasteless, stale, and kind of gross. These three were really miserable indeed, Pikachu thought. But after they finished their 'meal', they seemed energized as they headed toward the rocket base, discussing their plan for capturing this apparently powerful experimental pokemon.

They'd never do it, at least not on their own, Pikachu thought to itself. It was amazing how they were still able to keep up their spirits despite their many failures. Ash had failed before, but major failures always had some kind of effect on him. Not that effects couldn't be seen in these three, but they bounced up so fast, it hardly seemed to matter at all. They just needed the next hope to grab onto, and hope could be found anywhere. It was admirable... In a way.

"Hey, what are we going to do with the twerp's pikachu, anyway?" Jessie said.

"Maybe let it rest up and give it the test again," Meowth said.

"Yeah! I agree, I thought it was weird that it was only 'slightly' above average. We should try again," Jessie said.

"Pikachu," Pikachu said, annoyed.

"Maybe we should just give it back to the twerp," James said.

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed happily.

"James?! What are you saying?" Jessie exclaimed.

"Yeah, we worked way too hard to catch Pikachu!" Meowth said.

"It's just, maybe Pikachu's not really going to be all that useful to us or Team Rocket after all," James said with a melancholy tone.

"You say that because you're soft! Way too soft! It's our efforts that captured Pikachu, so we should take whatever benefit we can get from the thing, large or small, so those efforts don't go to waste," Jessie said.

"Yeah... I guess you're right," James said.

"Pika..." Pikachu sighed, exasperated.

"Of course. Now, let's concentrate on our work," Jessie said.

"They'll feed us for lunch," Meowth said.

"Oh! That's right, they will!" James said.

"Don't lose sight of what's really important here," Jessie snapped.

"I won't," James said. He wanted recognition and success with Team Rocket. He'd definitely concentrate on tracking this escaped pokemon.

...But apparently, so would everyone else. There were scores of Rocket agents around, and all Jessie, James, and Meowth could do was run around and attempt to follow directions. They got separated in the mess, and all James could do was stick with Pikachu, who hung around on his shoulder, looking most displeased about the situation.

"How did this pokemon end up escaping?" James asked another agent.

"Blew up the lab it was being held in. Kind of a mess."

"Oh... I see," James said. Yeah, it seemed like the kind of pokemon he and his two companions might not be able to capture on their own, he was starting to realize.

"Pika," Pikachu said from James's shoulder. It seemed like Team Rocket had gotten just what it deserved. And it also seemed like this was the kind of pokemon that Team Rocket shouldn't get hold of again.

"Hey, can you put that thing back in its pokeball?" an agent requested of James.

"It doesn't really have one," James said. He supposed it must be true, he'd never even seen the twerp using one. A little weird.

"Well, hopefully you can control it better than yesterday?"

"I understand that already!" James said.

"Oh, crap," another person said.

"Billy?" James said.

"That would be Butch. I can't believe you two even bothered to show your faces. Your partner's here, isn't she?" Butch asked.

"Yes," James said.

"Well, you two shouldn't have even bothered. Should have just stayed away. It's not like anyone will miss you or even notice that you're gone. Even if someone did, we'd just be damn relieved that you weren't around to fuck things up for us," Butch said.

James said nothing. Butch was just always this hateful to him, he always had been, even before the failures had stacked up this high.

"Yeah, you and that chick should just sail on out of here," Butch said. "That's really the best you can hope for from Team Rocket, right? An escape from it?"

"No," James said confidently. "We'll become successful, we'll reach a speedy success eventually. We'll be the world's best villains, Jessie, Meowth, and I. And we'll always be a part of Team Rocket."

"Fucking delusional, and stupid, campy delusions, at that. You just keep the hell out of my sight," Butch said, wandering off.

James grabbed his binoculars, and began looking around as he was supposed to. It was kind of boring, though. Things didn't liven up until someone shouted and pointed into the forest. "Over there!"

Other rocket members got ready with their equipment. A superior got ready with a bull horn. "It's been chased out into the open by another team! Get all your equipment ready! Trainers, get ready to attack if needed."

The battle began as the pokemon went toward them in an attack. Various rocket members attacked it.

"Pika!" Pikachu said, standing up straight on James's shoulder.

James hesitated to reach for his own pokeball. "You want to help, too?" he asked.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu shouted. That wasn't right. It wasn't going to help them. It was going to help this escaped pokemon. "CHUU! CHUU!" Pikachu said, bouncing around, attacking various rocket member's pokemon.

"Hey, Pikachu!" James said, chasing after it. "Get back here! Stop that!" James finally caught up with Pikachu. He scooped it up easily as Pikachu was out of breath, expending so much energy so quickly as it had tried to knock out all rocket pokemon. "Don't do that, you'll us get in trouble," James said as he held Pikachu.

"There's trouble all right."

James realized whose feet he was looking at. "...Barry," he said.

"That's Butch. Not that I expect someone like you to remember something like a detail from fifteen fucking minutes ago. You can't even remember whose side you're on, after all," Butch said.

"Um... I really didn't..." James began.

Butch just grinned. He'd take any excuse to attack this joker, and treason was a pretty strong one. "Let's get this guy," he said to the agents next to him.

"W-Wait," James said. "I wasn't doing anything."

"Come on, James. We all know this is your super rare pikachu, right? Who else would have a pokemon this rare?" Butch mocked.

"Oh, well, maybe, but Pikachu's under control now! It's practically KO'd. See?" James held out the exhausted pokemon.

Butch's satisfied grin didn't disappear as he and other agents ordered their pokemon to attack James and Pikachu. He flew away violently. "This is bad!" he shouted.

"Hey, was that James?" Meowth said to Jessie from the other side of the crowd.

"Who knows," Jessie said, feeling sulky now that she'd also realized that this escaped pokemon was too powerful for them to capture on their own.

Nearby in a more secluded area, Cassidy spoke on the radio with Butch. "So, you didn't get it, huh?" she said.

"Yeah, we aren't giving up for today though, so still keep your eye out for it. It's not looking good, though," Butch said.

"That's too bad," Cassidy said. "You know, I bet we could capture this thing on our own, with no other agents to get in the way," she said.

"Could be right. There's been some of that 'getting in the way' around here," Butch said.

"You'll have to tell me about it later," Cassidy said.

"Yeah, I'll tell you all about the ridiculous crap that went on."

"Oh really? I'll look forward to that."

"See you later then, Cassidy," Butch said as they ended their conversation.

Cassidy sighed, taking her position as the lookout yet again. She peered around with precision, and saw nothing. From the conversation she had just had with Butch, she really couldn't expect to see anything, either, the thing had gone in the opposite direction. But she wasn't one to shirk her duties. And, seeing what came into her view next, she was glad she hadn't.

James, appearing a little worse for wear, walking around with a pikachu. Cassidy put down her binoculars and wandered over to him. "Hey, James!" she called, waving her hands.

"Hm?" James said as he noticed her. What was Cassidy doing here? Well, he hadn't seen her up at the main site, but then again, he had been having trouble finding Jessie after they'd been separated. "Oh, Cassidy. Hello," he said.

"Pikachu?" Pikachu said. This was the person James and Jessie had been arguing about before, it realized.

"Didn't think I'd see you around here. How did that happen?" Cassidy asked.

"Well... Pikachu got a little... Well... Um, then I got blown away from the area with it," James poorly explained the situation.

Cassidy didn't mind his lack of specifics, since she got the general idea. So apparently the pikachu was responsible? She could thank the pokemon for that. Finally, she'd have some time with him without Jessie glowering over their shoulders. She wasn't around, was she? Cassidy peered around. No, she wouldn't be, Cassidy was sure that James was the only one she'd seen.

"I'll just head back to base to meet Jessie... Not much left I can do here," James said.

"I'll be picked up tomorrow, so don't waste your energy," Cassidy said.

"Oh? You're-"

"I'm just one of many posted look-outs. You could still help with that," Cassidy said.

"Oh. Yeah, I guess I should do that," James said.

"Pika," Pikachu said, frowning. It would shock them both the moment they found something.

"Adorable pokemon," Cassidy said.

"This thing's way too much trouble, even if it's 'cute'," James said with a sigh.

"Oh? Too super powered?" Cassidy said.

James didn't respond to that question. He supposed she was mocking him again, the way she and Butch mocked their group all the time.

"So, what are you going to do with it, since it's so much trouble?" Cassidy said.

"Who knows," James said. "Give him back to the kid we took it from, I guess. He seemed to like his pokemon enough, he's probably the only one that can really handle Pikachu, I guess." James looked away from Cassidy. He expected to be mocked again. Even Jessie, his own partner, had mocked him for being too soft when he suggested something like this. James supposed she was smirking smugly at what he'd just said, the same as she and her partner did every time he and his team failed.

But as he looked over toward her he saw that she now just smiled softly. "Wow, James. You're a really kind person," Cassidy commented.

"Hm?" James said. He might be imaging it, but it almost seemed like a compliment.

"I like that," Cassidy said, grabbing his hand. "I really like you, you know."

"Oh..." James said. He was a little confused. But this was the same game she always played, wasn't it? Be overly harsh on Jessie for her failures, be overly nice to him while reminding him of his failures through her pity while indirectly mocking Jessie. But Jessie wasn't there at the moment... But she still seemed to be being a little too nice to him. And what was with the hand holding? It wasn't as if he didn't know to follow her. She looked at him with a happy smile, and he looked away, feeling a little awkward, but still walked forward with her, hand in hand.

"I'm really glad I was able to see you... We hardly get to say two words to each other without Jessie interrupting, huh?" Cassidy said.

"Well, I guess not," James said. Jessie was pretty annoyed whenever Cassidy was around, including when Cassidy's attention completely focused on him, ignoring Jessie's presence. He'd figured that was just part of their game to annoy each other.

"Hmm..." Cassidy said. "I was wondering, are you and Jessie... Involved?"

"Involved? What do you mean by that?" James asked. There were a lot of things they were involved in, her question seemed too vague.

"You know, like a couple, doing couple-ish things while you're on the job..."

"No!" James said immediately. "Absolutely not. I don't even think about her like that at all," he said. Would Cassidy shout at him and call him a liar, the same as Jessie had when it came to her?

No, Cassidy just smiled happily in relief. Of course, James wouldn't be interested in an offensive woman like her in that context, even if he were loyal to her as a work partner, she thought. "I guess you're tired of hearing things like that?" she asked. People insisting that he was interested in someone like Jessie when he wasn't was probably endlessly frustrating.

"Yeah," James confirmed. Exactly. Why did people have to insist he had those kind of interests when he didn't?

"I know the feeling," Cassidy said. "I mean, Butch and I get along okay, and people seem to think that because of that and that we're the opposite sex that we'll automatically be a couple."

James raised an eyebrow. Did people really think like that?

"It's not that I haven't thought about it," Cassidy said. "But I'm not interested in him like that. I'm interested in someone else." Cassidy squeezed James's hand, giving him a major hint as to who 'someone else' could be.

"Well, I'm not really interested in anyone like that," James said. "Romance, and especially sex, I'm not interested."

Cassidy giggled a second and grinned at him. "James, don't tell me you're a virgin?" she said.

"Yeah," James said. He avoided eye contact. He wasn't really ashamed of it, he was actually kind of happy about that fact, but he knew there was a stigma that came with that label.

Cassidy grinned. "I could tell. But it's okay. I think it's kind of sweet. Don't worry, you'll probably be interested once you get together with a nice girl that you like. A patient one that will help you enjoy it."

"I'm not worried," James said. His lack of interest wasn't worrying to him, he just wasn't interested, and that was that.

"Oh, good," Cassidy said. He shouldn't be worried, because she was that girl and had already approached him, wasn't that right? "Yeah, you really don't need to worry," she said as she approached the campsite. "You know, I don't mind you staying tonight, but there's only one tent. We'll have to share. I hope you don't mind."

"No, I don't mind at all. Thanks," James said.

"Oh, good," Cassidy said. "I really, really don't mind, you know."

"That's good. Thanks again. It's a lot of help," James said.

"Pikachu," Pikachu sighed. This woman was coming on really strong to James, but he didn't appear to get it at all. Now Pikachu knew what the argument the previous night had been about.

"What's with you?" James said to the pokemon on his shoulder.

"Pika," Pikachu turned away.

"Okay James, let's get started... Wait, are you hungry, first of all? I'll feed you and your pokemon," Cassidy said.

"Pika!" Pikachu shouted gratefully.

James supposed that Pikachu had given away just how hungry they were, and it might be rude to refuse. Otherwise, he may want to refuse simply based on the 'rival' status between his team and Cassidy's team. But Jessie and Meowth were probably scarfing down with the other agents, he was the only one who was unlucky enough to be stuck with this pikachu. He should just accept this offer. "That would be nice, thanks," he said.

After eating, Pikachu found a comfy spot to nap, and James and Cassidy turned their attention to the skies, as well as down below with the binoculars, keeping their eyes open for this escaped pokemon, who could fly with some kind of psychic powers, as well as anything else. It was kind of boring, James noted, not as exciting as it had been in the large group. It also lacked the exciting anticipation of tracking the twerp, since they had kept track of his movements specifically and knew he would eventually show up. Cassidy was just one of many lookouts so that the large group as a whole wouldn't miss when or where this pokemon actually showed up. So, they had the experience of being a probe that probably wouldn't see anything at all.

Cassidy started conversation with him several times, though. Including one notable one. "So, James, things really must be pretty tough for you, huh?" Cassidy said.

"Um... In a way, I suppose," James said.

"Well, things could be better... You given any thought to my offer? Butch and I have some pretty big plans in store. We could use an extra hand once we get started."

James felt a little awkward with this offer, the same as he had before, only more, because this time he thought there was a possibility that she was serious. If she was or wasn't, the answer wouldn't change. It was true that Cassidy and Butch were already pretty successful, but they just weren't his team, they weren't his companions. He'd just keep trying his best with Jessie and Meowth. He had full confidence that while they'd failed together, they'd soon reach a speedy success together. Either way, he was comfortable with them, and knew he wouldn't be with Cassidy and Butch. He just wasn't sure how to refuse.

"I don't..." James began. He didn't want to, then the answer would be why? "I mean, I'm not..." Not interested? She'd just try and interest him. "I'm just... Going to stick with the group I'm in now." If he didn't offer an explanation, maybe she wouldn't go any deeper than that.

"No pressure... But the offer's always open," Cassidy said, putting her hand on James's shoulder.

Well, it was good that there was no pressure, James thought, because he'd always refuse. It was good that they could just shelve the idea for now.

As the daylight faded to the point where they could no longer observe anything, James helped Cassidy start the campfire and make dinner, then they and the pokemon ate.

"Pikachu..." Pikachu sighed happily, feeling full. This wasn't Brock's food, but a lot better than it had been this morning, or yesterday, with nothing at all. Soon it would be back with Ash, Pikachu assured itself. Pikachu was pretty sure the person next to it was going to just give it back. The other rockets didn't seem to want it around that much. Pikachu thought of how worried Ash might be at the moment, and frowned, but then relaxed. It would soon be back with Ash again, and hopefully before the Indigo league battles that he'd so been looking forward to.

James stared to the sky, wondering if Jessie and Meowth were worried about him at this point. They'd probably heard about what happened. But they'd also probably had their own assigned work to do. All he could do now was to just sit here until morning. He glanced toward Cassidy, and was a little startled to see that she was looking at him.

"Kind of chilly tonight, isn't it?" Cassidy said, placing one of her hands over his.

"Yeah," James agreed. Not near as bad as last night, though, when the wind had made that chill seem all the worse.

"It's okay... I know a way to stay warm..." Cassidy said.

"Yeah," James said absent-mindedly. They'd be warm inside the tent. It had been alright last night when Pikachu had finally allowed them in.

"James, you probably already know this, but, I really like you," Cassidy said.

James looked at her, paying close attention now. She seemed rather earnest in this proclamation. She had acted like she liked him at times, but he was hesitant to believe that she really did, since their two groups had always been such strong rivals.

"I really want you to know that. It's not just... Well, I really care about you. I have since we first met. Do you remember that?" Cassidy said.

James paused a moment in thought, trying to recall. He and Cassidy had first met during rocket training, a little more than a year ago. It had been a little after he'd first met Jessie, but his partner hadn't been around right then. He'd walked Cassidy from the mess hall back to the dorms, where they'd met up with Jessie. She and Cassidy had fought the same as they always had, apparently it hadn't been the first time the two of them had met. But even before she'd found out who he'd been working with, Cassidy had been kind of pleasant to him, James recalled.

"You really helped me out... I'd been just about to give up, but your kindness changed my mind," Cassidy said. Such a kindness didn't really belong on this team. Just like herself, James was someone who didn't really belong here at all, but was stuck here through various circumstances, likely because it had been his last resort to find any kind of success in life, Cassidy thought. She wanted to help him with that, the same as he'd helped her... But if he didn't accept her help, that was that... Still, it didn't mean they couldn't be together.

"Cassidy, what are you- Are you feeling okay?" James asked.

Cassidy realized she'd been leaning a little too close to him. She moved back, but only slightly so they could both be comfortable. "James... I want to be with you. I have for a long time."

"We're here together now, right?" James said.

"Right," Cassidy said happily. She put her arm around him, started to play with his hair.

James looked at her dubiously. He was starting to think that Jessie's assessment of her intentions with him might not be totally off. Not that it was definitely true, just that it was in the realm of possibilities. He may as well ask and find out. "Cassidy... What exactly do you want me to do here?"

"Well... You could start by kissing me," Cassidy said.

"Ah?" James said, his eyes widening in surprise. "I-I-I don't think I'd really want to do something like that."

"Why not?" Cassidy said.

"Well... I'm just not really into anything like that," James said.

"Hm?" Cassidy said, looking at him with a smile. "Don't tell me you've never even kissed anyone, James," she said.

"Well... Not really..." James said in a small voice.

"Don't worry. I don't mind. You don't have to worry about doing anything wrong with me, because I won't make fun of you or anything. So you can just enjoy kissing me, okay?" Cassidy said.

"Well... I'm not sure I'd really enjoy it," James said.

"I'm sure you will," Cassidy said, patting his hand gently. "Pretty much everyone does. So just go ahead. You don't have to worry when you're with me."

James's first inclination was to refuse, but took another look at Cassidy. She seemed so hopeful, so patient. She just wanted him to have a chance to possibly enjoying kissing her, did she? Kissing itself wasn't really sexual, James thought, though it was often associated with couples. Maybe he would like it, since 'everyone' did. Just kissing her this time, since she seemed to really want him to... It wouldn't hurt to try it just once, would it?

James put his hands on Cassidy's shoulders. He noticed she closed her eyes and faced him. His hands were trembling a little. He was pretty nervous, he might as well just get it over with. James leaned down and kissed her quickly on the lips, then moved back, facing away from her now. He blushed. It really didn't feel natural at all, doing this kind of thing.

"There... Did you like that?" Cassidy asked.

"Well... Kind of..." James said awkwardly. He hadn't really disliked it, even if it had seemed a little weird.

"Good," Cassidy said. She ran her hand down his back, then stood up. "I think I'll head to bed... It's getting a little late. Will you join me?" she asked.

"Sure, in a moment," James said.

As Cassidy walked away, he grabbed the bucket of water to put the fire out. As James leaned down, he saw Pikachu looking at him with a wry smile. "Chu? Pikachu?" it said, pointing toward Cassidy.

James didn't need Meowth's translation to get the gist of what Pikachu was asking. "Not you, too," he said. "Jessie and Meowth... They were being ridiculous. Nothing like that is going on. I wish everyone would just forget about it."

James put out the fire, then climbed in the tent next to Cassidy. He was a little close to her, but it was nothing like the cramped situation from the previous night. He was felt fairly comfortable in the more spacious environment, and soon fell asleep.

Pikachu listened curiously outside of the tent. Being in the same room as mating humans was one thing, sharing a small tent with them might be a little more problematic. But it didn't really hear anything. Pikachu wasn't sure what it could expect to hear, though, it didn't know exactly how things went for humans. It would just take a quick peek. "Pi?" Pikachu said as it stuck its head into the tent. Nothing was happening. They appeared to both be asleep, pretty much. Pikachu sighed, then curled up inside the tent and went to sleep itself.

Cassidy was a little surprised. She hadn't expected things to go all the way, since James was being so adorably shy about everything, but she'd thought that he might try something more when alone with her like this. But he didn't do anything at all.

He really was sweet, wasn't he, Cassidy thought happily. Yeah, he was a real gentleman. She couldn't find his hesitations to jump right into something as anything other than endearing. Cassidy knew she hadn't made a mistake when she'd decided to pursue him as a different kind of 'partner'. He was absolutely worthy, she thought as she drifted off to sleep.


"James! What happened with you?" Jessie demanded as she greeted him at the base. She glared at Cassidy, who was holding onto his arm as they walked into the lobby. Again with this, she was completely sickening, Jessie thought.

"Oh, well..." James said, not wanting to get caught up in the middle of an argument between the two. "It was Pikachu, he got me in trouble."

"I'd better get going," Cassidy said to James, ignoring Jessie's presence. "See you later," she said, and leaned up and gave James a kiss on the cheek.

"Cassidy, there you are," Butch said. He looked over at James. "Hey, guess I'll get the paperwork to report yesterday's treason incident. Your interference could have been a major part of why we didn't get the damn pokemon. Don't think it won't go unpunished."

"Butch, give it a rest," Cassidy said, waving her hand dismissively. "He just couldn't control the pikachu, it's not worth pursuing like real treason would be."

Butch looked from Cassidy to James, then looked away again. "Fine," he muttered, then walked away along with his partner.

James sighed in relief. He wasn't sure his reputation here could go any lower, but not having that report filed on him could only be a good thing.

"So," Jessie began humorlessly. "You spent the night with her, huh?"

And now James could sigh for a different reason. He was getting tired of this. Why were they even making a big deal about it, anyway? Even if he had wanted to 'sleep' with her, why would that be an issue, why would it be interesting to anyone? But James didn't, and no one believed him.

"James, did you and her-" Meowth began.

"Nothing like that happened! Cut it out, you two!" James shouted.

"Pika, pikachu. Pi pika," Pikachu said, waving a finger.

"Really? She tried, but James wasn't getting it at all? Sounds funny," Meowth said.

"Stop it, Pikachu, don't give them any more ideas, she wasn't trying anything," James said.

"Chuu, pikachu," Pikachu said.

"What? He kissed her, though?" Meowth said.

"Um... Well..." James's face turned hot with embarrassment. How he wished Pikachu hadn't been there. They were really going to get ideas now. "It's not-"

Jessie let out a long, labored sigh. "Just stop, James," she said.

"Huh?" James said, turning toward his friend.

"Stop denying things and hiding them. It's obvious that you want her," Jessie said.

"Why would you say that?" James asked.

"That's why you let her hang all over in public like that, isn't it? You really enjoy it, right? It's because you like her, isn't that it?"

"Oh, well..." James began, fidgeting awkwardly. He hadn't really been uncomfortable with what Jessie mentioned. He didn't really hate Cassidy. He felt a little more comfortable around her now that he knew she liked him as a person and wasn't just being nice to him for the sake of making fun of Jessie and their current situation.

"It's true, isn't it? I hate her, but that doesn't have anything to do with you. I'm not jealous or anything, so stop acting like I am. Just go ahead and do whatever you want with her," Jessie said.

"But I don't want-" James began.

"I said to stop!" Jessie said. "It's not any of my business. I don't want to hear anything else about it."

"Good," James said. He didn't want to hear anything else about it, either.

Jessie raised an eyebrow at his reaction, but she was mainly glad to drop the subject, and that she didn't have to look at Cassidy at the moment. "Now, we have to go back to our campsite from before. Mondo says he can't check out any more camping equipment to us," Jessie said.

"No way! I guess we need to take care of what we have, then," James said.

"That's it exactly," Meowth said. "Let's get moving. The balloon's already ready to go."

The group ran to the roof of the rocket complex, and James felt happy as the balloon rose into the air. He really felt more comfortable with this than other rocket missions. Even though this wasn't really a mission, just a 'find needed supplies' sort of thing. He felt free there, watching the world pass by underneath them, and was happy to be back to their regular routine. What would they do, now that they had Pikachu? He didn't really want to break his good mood to think about it.

Jessie looked uneasily over at Pikachu. "Don't even think about it," she said to him. "You'll fly away too if you try to blow us away from up here."

"Pika," Pikachu said adamantly. It understood what Jessie was saying. Still, going up on this ridiculous balloon willingly had it feeling as ridiculous as the rest of this group. But they were going back toward where Ash was, and that was a good thing.

They traveled through the woods, and saw a pidgetto flying by. It seemed to be in quite a hurry as it flew down. The group looked. "Oh, it's the twerp," Jessie said with little interest.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu exclaimed.

"We're up too high for him to get us," Meowth said.

"But we've still been spotted, and that's a pain," Jessie said.

"Pika," Pikachu said, standing near the edge.

"Hey, you ain't thinking of jumping, are you?" Meowth said. "At this height-"

"Don't do something like that," James said, pulling Pikachu backward.

"Pi?" Pikachu said.

James pulled the string to lessen the amount of hot air, and the balloon gradually lowered.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Jessie said.

"Come on, Jessie, this pikachu is-" James began.

"You're going to mess things up!" Jessie said, grabbing his hand to stop him from manning the balloon's controls.

"Just wait a minute, listen-" James said.

"Too late," Meowth sighed. They'd lowered to the point where they could see the group of brats and their pokemon clearly.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu said.

"Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed. Now at a safe distance, Pikachu leapt from the balloon into Ash's arms.

"There, you see," Jessie said, pushing James backwards.

"You guys," Ash said hatefully as he stared at the group. They reached the ground, James now close enough to see that Ash's eyes were red, either from crying or lack of sleep. "I don't believe you! Pikachu's my friend, you can't steal it! How dare you take Pikachu and run away like that!"

"It's what they're always trying to do, isn't it?" Misty said.

"But we-" James began.

"Get out of here!" Ash yelled. "We'll help you with that!"

"Come on twerp, you have the damn pokemon back already," Jessie said.

"Yeah, what do we want with a pikachu that's just 'slightly' above average?" Meowth said.

"Enough! You guys need to be taught a lesson!" Ash said.

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.

"Pikachu! Thunderbolt!" Ash yelled.

"Pika CHUUUUU!" Pikachu yelled as it unleashed its powerful electric attack. The rockets went flying and screaming.

"Only slightly above average? No way!" Jessie said.

"That's right, that pikachu is way more powerful than that!" James said.

"Oh nice, agree with us now, huh? A little too late, isn't it?! You're the one that let our catch go!" Jessie accused.

"It was a mistake!" James said.

"We'll get Pikachu again!" Meowth said.

"We're blasting off!" they all yelled at once as they flew away.

"Pikachu," Ash said in relief, hugging his pokemon and sniffling. "Are you okay?"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu confirmed happily.

"Thank goodness.. I'm glad... I haven't stopped looking for you since you left... I'm so happy to see you again, Pikachu!" Ash said, hugging his pokemon and crying.

"It's a good thing, huh Ash?" Misty said. "Now you can still enter the league challenge."

"As long as I have Pikachu, I'm okay!" Ash said.

"Hey, come on-" Brock began, but Pikachu was way ahead of him.

"Pika!" Pikachu!" Pikachu said fervently, frowning at Ash.

"I think I get what Pikachu is saying," Brock said.

"What's that?" Ash asked.

"That it's not just about you! That you and your pokemon have worked way too long and way too hard to just give up! Now get over there and register!" Misty ordered, smacking Ash in the head.

"Right... Fine... I get it," Ash said. He looked at Pikachu with a determined expressed. "I'll try my best not to let all of you down," he said.