By Jessi*
Man, it's been too long. I posted this story a few months ago at The Estrogen Brigade message board, but I never got around to finishing it. So, I re-wrote most of it (It's a lot clearer now) and added some more, and now I'm posting it here! ^_^ Enjoy! Oh, and contrary to popular belief, I DO own Pokemon. Really! You see, you already knew I didn't. J
"Hey, James, over here!" Jessie yelled. "Hurry up!" She waived impatiently as James stumbled down the rock-strewn hillside. "What took you so long?!" James stammered something about getting lost as he lost his footing, falling into a nearby ditch. "I don't see what we're doing that's so special around here." James complained as he tried to climb out. "Why did we have to come here? We're supposed to be catching the twerp's pikachu!" Trying to get out, he stepped on a loose rock and slid back to the bottom.
"Well, at least you managed to maintain your dignity." Jessie snickered slightly as she reached out to give him a hand. Somehow, she managed to pull him out without falling in herself. "Now come on. We've got work to do." She commanded, motioning to a small pathway. "There's a village on the other side of those rocks."
"Work?!" James protested, following after her. "Did you say, 'work'? I thought you said we were doing something fun! I..." His voice trailed off. "A festival! Wow!" He ran to the edge of the hill overlooking the small carnival. "Is that where we're going?" Jessie nodded, and he smiled brightly. "I love festivals! Can we ride on the Ferris wheel? I want to... Oh, wait..." His voice trailed off as his face fell. "That's a..."
"A Princess Festival." Jessie beamed. "And without the twerps to mess everything up, his year those dolls will be mine!" Her eyes gained a sad tinge. "After all this time... After all these years..." For a second, it looked like she was going to cry, but she managed to catch herself. "Come on then, let's go." She motioned, starting down the hill.
"B-but, I..." He began to protest, but Jessie cut him off with a warning glance. She never caught on, did she? They were destined to be losers. If they couldn't even steal one pathetic kid's pikachu, what chance did she have with this? He shook his head slightly. He hated to see her loose something this important… it would really hurt her. "Here we go again." He muttered, following her down the hillside.
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"Hello, sir." Jessie smiled warmly at the first employee she could find. "Could you please tell me where the princess contest is going to be held this year?"
The man eyed her, obviously unimpressed. "Aren't you a bit old to be playing dress up?" He grumbled.
Jessie frowned, but managed to keep herself from knocking him senseless. "I'm afraid I don't understand... What's wrong with...?"
"It's a princess contest." He interrupted her gruffly. "I don't know what you think you're dressed as now, but you should be dressed as a..." He paused grandly to give her a chance to finish for him.
"A princess?" She guessed, and he nodded sarcastically. "Thank you, sir." She said quickly, and walked off before she could do something he'd regret.
"Well that's too bad, eh Jess?" James comforted as she stalked back towards camp. "Better luck next year, right?" She didn't answer, and he tried again. "Umm... How about some cotton candy? My treat." He offered nicely. To his surprise, she turned to him abruptly, grabbing his collar.
"I'm gonna win this tournament, or die trying!" She hissed. "And no one, least of all you, is gonna stop me!" She glared at him for a second, then released him harshly and kept storming towards their site.
"You mean, you're still going to enter it?!" He protested, running behind her. "You don't even have a dress! What will you wear?" She paused to think about it, and he tried again. "How about the Ferris wheel? I know how much you hate roller coasters."
Suddenly, she smiled. "I may not have a dress." She returned. "But I know someone who has lots of them." He looked around, then pointed meekly at himself.
"Me?" Jessie nodded, pulling back one of the folds to their tent.. "You want to wear my clothes?!"
"One of your gowns." She nodded. "Where are they?" He blushed slightly, but went to his side of the tent and started rooting through his stuff, looking. "Do you even know where it is?" She asked sarcastically.
"Yeah, I know where it is." He grumbled, reaching under a pile of clothes and pulling out a large dry-cleaner's box. "Here they are." He opened the box to reveal several floor length gowns. "Which one do you want?"
"Oh, I don't' care." She muttered, half-glancing at the box. "As long as it..." She stopped. "This one." She pulled a long pink one out. "I want this one." She pulled it out, holding it against her chest. "It's beautiful, James. I don't even remember even seeing this one before..." She looked in the mirror, twirling.
"Umm, Yeah... It's kinda new." He said quietly, slipping one hand behind his head. "I haven't gotten a chance to wear it yet. But this is one of my favorites." He gingerly handed it to her. "Be careful.... It stains easily." He warned her.
"I'll try to be careful." She replied dreamily, motioning towards the doorway. James nodded and stepped outside for a moment. As he waited, he paced nervously. "It won't fit her." he told himself. "I'm bigger then her" But they really weren't that different. It might.... And that could be bad.
"You can come in now." She announced. "But I'll kill you if you laugh." He lifted the flap and gawked.
It did fit... really well. "It's okay." He said quietly. "So much for that outfit" He'd never be able to wear it now. Just the idea of wearing something that Jessie looked so good in was... Well, it was just... It made him feel odd.
"It's baggy." She complained, looking in the mirror. "Thank goodness it has a sash, or it wouldn't fit at all." She added some eye shadow, then reached for a hair bow. "Still, it feels like it's gonna fall off at any second. Can you tie it for me?" She turned to him.
He was blushing furiously. "Th-that would be horrible." He gulped. She turned to him, smirking.
"Oh, would it, now?" He nodded, stepping back slightly, but she didn't seem to care. "Help me with my hair, will you?" She muttered, clenching a bobby pin in her teeth. "It's at least a two-handed job, you know." He nodded. "So, you're good at this sort of thing. Make me look like a princess!"
"O-okay." He gulped again. "Wow... a compliment." He gingerly pulled the stiff hair back, pinning it in place with a half-dozen more bobby pins. "You want princess? I'll give you princess."
"Just hurry." She said nervously. "The contest starts in an hour." He nodded, pulling back another handful of the flaming red hair.
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"Hurry! Hurry!" Jessie hissed, running towards the central stage as quickly as she could. "It's already starting!"
"Well, I'm sorry you have so much hair!" James yelled, trying to catch up. "I always use a wig!"
"Just get in the audience! I expect to hear you rooting for me!" She leapt up the short set of stairs in one jump, almost stumbling as she scrambled to get at the end of the line before the curtains rose. Panting slightly, she breathed a sigh of relief. "Wooo... Made it." She smiled slightly.
"Well, well, well.... Hello, Jessie." A disturbingly familiar voice welcomed her. "I didn't expect to see you here."
Jessie looked up, still trying to catch her breath. "Cassidy?!" The slightly taller blonde looked back at her. Cassidy's scarlet velvet dress draped over her thin body loosely, showing off her figure to its best advantage. Next to her, Jessie's frilly pink dress seemed a little... well, big. And childish. Jessie froze, unsure whether to ignore the other girl, or attempt to knock her senseless. Both of them sounded so tempting...
Cassidy smirked. "So, what brings you to these parts?" She smiled wickedly. "Is the widdle girl still sad about her poor widdle dollies?"
Jessie turned away. "You're here too, you know." She shot back, doing her best to smile as the curtain opened. There was James, right up in front. She couldn't see Butch anywhere, though. "So, what are you two doing back out on the street?" She muttered through teeth clenched in a plastic smile. "After that last arrest, I figured you two would be locked up for a long time."
Cassidy grinned. "The boss bailed us out."
"Again?!" Jessie hissed, barely managing to keep her smile in place. "Why an earth would he do that?!" The girl next to her shot her a dirty look for being so noisy. "I can't believe he would..." She murmured, keeping her voice quieter.
"What can I say?" Cassidy replied. "The man knows talent when he sees it. I just wish he could see failure the same way." The announcer began listing off the rules. "By the way, I haven't forgotten about that. Turning on a fellow Team member is lower than low. Even I expected more out of you." She shot her a tight grin. "And, I'm sure the Boss would like to have a word with you about it."
"And I'm sure you would never turn a fellow Rocket in." Jessie shot back. "You got us arrested first, remember?"
"Would the contestants please refrain from talking at this time." The announcer said, loudly enough to get their attention. "This year, the grand prize will be a set of brand new, one-of-a-kind..."
Jessie's smile brightened, despite herself. She would have to win the dolls this time...
"Glass slippers!" The man yelled, and both girls nearly fell over.
"Glass slippers?!" Cassidy yelled up at the announcer booth. "What the he... What's going on here?!"
"Now, calm down there." He gulped. "These are very special, hand made shoes, truly a one of a kind item. We've given away dolls for so many years, we thought we'd do it a little differently this time." He smiled apologetically. If you don't like it, you're welcome to leave." Cassidy pouted, stepping back into place. "Now, are you girls ready to fight?"
"Yeah!" The rest of the girls shouted enthusiastically, and Jessie sighed.
"Well then, glass slippers it is." She said quietly. "I'm still gonna win."
"Well..." Cassidy grinned. "Just beating you is more than enough to make it worthwhile for me." She turned to Jessie. "So, you still want to go through with this?"
Jessie smiled back grimly. "I won't loose to you." She grudgingly stuck out a hand. "Let's settle this once and for all. Winner is the best girl on Team Rocket."
"Agreed." Cassidy shot back. "I look forward to running you into the dust." She gruffly shook Jessie's hand, then turned to the scoring chart. They were listed on separate sides, and Cassidy snickered. "If you can even make it to me, I'll be waiting." With that, she walked off cackling.
Jessie gulped nervously and turned to the crowd. James had disappeared... She sighed. Where on earth had he gone? Maybe he had as bad a feeling about this whole thing as she did. And she felt horrible about it. "I will win." She told herself out loud. "I have to." But if anyone believed it, it certainly wasn't her.
To Be Continued...
Well, what do you think? It's certainly not my best, it's not bad, considering I'm a little rusty. Plus, I changed it a little. And, although it doesn't sound very shippy as of yet, it'll get more so as we get further into the plot. Any-who, I'll put the next part up when I finish it, but it shouldn't be too long. (Not like my others) Go visit my site. All of you. It's got illustrations for most of my stories, an' other stuff too. I just remolded it and such, and I'm getting better at my art. I'd really like it if people would go check it out. If you're too lazy to got to my author's page, it's
http://embark.to/divastation ^.^~Jessi!
Review it! :D