by Gethsemane
Disclaimer: The Pokemon characters are not mine. The story belongs to Frank Stockton and the idea is totally AngryMew2's, who I hope won't be offended. AngryMew2 posted "The Lady or the Persian", which gave me the idea and I cannot get it out of my head. No offense is meant whatsoever.
There was once, in the land of Kanto, a gym leader. While he was very refined, he was also very barbaric. His hobby was Roman history and he quite enjoyed every aspect of the Roman Caesars, his personal favorite being Nero. He incorporated Roman ideas into his life as much as he could, for you see, he was a very ambitious man. Along with being the gym leader for Viridian City, he was also the leader of a crime syndicate. He ruled both Viridian City and the Rocket Gang with an iron fist. Even the Jennys were bent to his will. Because he was able to control the city, he was also able to control the justice system. It was his practice to use his Gym as a coliseum in which the accused were to test their innocence.
The gym leader, who was called Giovanni, prided himself in being refined and saw that throwing people to wild pokemon was barbaric, even though he enjoyed it. To keep up appearances, he set up a system that gave convicts a sporting chance. The poor accused was set in the middle of the arena, in front of two doors. In one door, a savage pokemon waited to attack and devour the person. In the other door there stood a beautiful woman, who would be given to the lucky man to wed. However, the man still had to marry the woman, even if he already had a wife and family.
The gym leader's favorite pokemon was a persian who kept him company. It was as gentle as a kitten to its master, but it was a fierce and deadly opponent in the arena. It had devoured over fifty men. People, in general, are barbaric. Everyone loves a car wreck, so the trials became popular. People came from miles around, especially when Persian was to be used.
It so happened that the gym leader had a Rocket member whose name was Jessie. He cared deeply for her and treated her like a daughter, for he had loved her mother. He had assigned her to be partners with a timid, meek boy that she had picked up in her travels after her mother had died and before he had found her again. He had given her his prized talking Meowth to work with as well. Unfortunately the team had failed him again and again. This angered him, for her mother had been his partner and an excellent agent. He soon came to the conclusion that the bumbling, cowardly boy was holding Jessie back. Giovanni sat back and waited until they failed again. This time there was concrete proof that it was the boy's fault, so he had the boy taken and imprisoned.
Jessie was very upset, for you see, she cared very deeply for her partner. She and James had been inseparable since they were ten years old. However, Jessie had a tendency to be selfish and brutal sometimes. As the day of the trial approached, she found out which door Persian would be behind. She also found out who the lady would be. It was to be her rival, Cassidy. Jessie had hated Cassidy since they were children, for Cassidy always got what Jessie wanted. Jessie antagonized over the decision she had to make. James would no doubt look to her for help. She knew that she should save his life, but the visions of James and Cassidy together plagued her day and night, along with the screams of James being slowly devoured by Persian.
The day of the trial came and Jessie was seated in the stands over the doors. She had made her decision, as hard as it had been. She had discovered during the time how much she loved him and she knew what must be done. The gates of the area opened and a screaming, crying James was drug out and placed before the doors. He cowered and hugged himself because there was no one else around. He looked into the crowd. To the left he saw a fellow Rocket, Butch, looking miserable. His eyes found Meowth, who looked terrified. He saw the Boss staring down on him. Finally, his gaze met Jessie. In an instant his strength returned to him. He stood up straight and looked deeply into her eyes. He knew exactly which gate the lady was behind, and which held Persian. Giovanni gave the signal and James walked up to a door, the whole time keeping his eyes upon his true love. He stopped in front of the door, gave Jessie a sad smile, and opened it.
Now, my friendly readers, I pose the question to you: Which door did James choose?