"I don't like the way things are going," Giovanni frowned as he stared at the eyes in front of him.  The girl who they belonged to stared back, unafraid.  "We will deal with this exactly like we did last time.  Bring them to me.  I will make an example of them to the other members, to show them that Team Rocket does not believe in truth or love."

                A girl stepped out of the shadow surrounding Giovanni, but a black cloak seemingly appeared out of midair, covering her facial features, leaving only her unblinking eyes visible.

                Her grayish-blue, cold, heartless eyes.

~

                Jessie tossed and turned in her sleep.  She was having nightmares once more.  Pikachu was in her grasp, at last!  That annoying twerp and his friends would never stop Team Rocket now.  James and she laughed evilly and retreated into the forest.  Suddenly they were no longer in a forest, but running down dark corridors, pursued by an angry pair of frosty eyes.  Pikachu whirled down a pitch-black hallway, but still the pair of icy blue eyes chased Jessie and her companion.  Jessie found a door and wrenched it open, revealing a giant Meowth, who began to follow them, taking sides with the icy staring face.

                Flinging another door open wide, Jessie and James ran through a grassy meadow.  James halted on the edge of a sheer cliff, but Jessie was not so lucky.  She could not stop herself and hurtled off the edge, but grabbed a jutting rock in time.  Jessie felt James take her hand.  The giant Meowth and freezing eyes were coming closer...closer...

                "Don't leave me James," begged Jessie, "Don't let me fall."

                James was calling her name in a slightly monotonous way.  "Jessie...Jessie..." 

                "Jessie..."

                "Wake up from dreamland, goil."

                "I think she's having a nightmare."

                "Oh, she'll have woise den a nightmare when she wakes up an' sees your face, James."

                Jessie's eyes snapped open.  "Shut up, you mangy alleycat!" she yelled into James's face.

                "Jessie, you deafened me!" James whined, throwing his face on the pillow.

                "Sorry," Jessie mumbled.  She sat up and pushed her sleeping bag away.  James and Meowth stared at her.

                "What?!" demanded Jessie.

                Meowth gulped.  "N-nothin'. Just – you said – sorry?!"

                Jessie brandished her pillow.  "Would you prefer to be whacked?"

                "Jessie, what's the matter lately?" asked James.  "You've been having a lot of nightmares, and you haven't used your mallet a single time this week."

                Yeah, Jessie imagined herself saying, I've been having the same dream about us being chased by Meowth and a girl's eyes, and at the end when I'm hanging on the cliff, they get closer each time?  And besides all that, I'm in love with you?

                "Uh, Jessie?  James asked ya a question."

                Jessie snapped back to reality.  "There's nothing the matter with me.  I just haven't found a good use for my mallet.  That's all.  However, I will if someone doesn't get up and make breakfast soon," she waved her mallet menacingly under James's nose.  "See what I mean?"

                "Yep. I'm getting up right now," James practically flew out of the tent and began rummaging around the campsite.  "Today for breakfast we'll have..."

"Fish?" Meowth licked his lips hopefully.

                James turned around with a look of bewilderment on his face.  "Where's our food, Jessie?"

                "How should I know?" Jessie asked.

                "I guess we'll have ta steal some," Meowth looked quite disappointed at having no fish.  "We're kinda close ta where dat annoyin' kid is camped out..."

                "So while we're swiping the food, we have to swipe Pikachu too?" Jessie glared at Meowth reproachfully.

                "But I don't want to get sent blasting of today," James whimpered.  "It's too hot. I want to go for a swim in the lake."

                "Swimmin' on an empty stomach?" Meowth asked James skeptically.

                "And who says we're going to get sent blasting off?" Jessie grinned.  "We might actually accomplish something today."

                Meowth and Jessie dragged an unhappy James into the tent to prepare their disguise.

                 What really happened to Team Rocket's food?  A pair of snowy blue eyes watched the three team members from the shadow of the bushes surrounding their camp.  The girl munched silently on a stolen box of cereal, planning her next move.

~

                Ash, Misty, Brock and Pikachu were having a leisurely breakfast of donuts (Brock's special recipe) when a Snorlax ambled into their campsite.

                "Wow!" gasped Misty. "It's a Snorlax!  Maybe you should catch it, Ash."

                Ash looked up, his face covered in donut powder.  "Haha! I guess it is a Snorlax, but why's it got a Meowth's tail?"

                Jessie and James readjusted themselves so that Meowth could fit inside their big fake Snorlax costume without his tail protruding from its backside.

                "What do you mean, Ash?" Misty looked puzzled.  "I don't see a Meowth's tail."

                Ash blinked.  "Huh.  I guess I was seeing things."

                The "Snorlax" began doing a funny dance, and then patted its belly.  "Snorlax Snor."

                "All right!" Meowth crowed from inside the disguise.  "Dis Snoilax costume you guys rigged up woiks just poifect!  Even da speech imatata!"

                Brock scratched his head in confusion.  "I think this Snorlax wants something to eat."

                "Here, have some donuts." Ash tossed over a few.

                "Snor, Snorlax, Snor Snor lax." Meowth communicated in Snorlax language.

                Pikachu started a conversation.  "Pi, pi, pikachu."

                "Hmmm.  I wonder what they're saying." Ash dug out his Pokédex and flipped it open.

                "Translation activated," it beeped.  "Snorlax says: I would like to give you a ride since your trainers were so kind to offer me food.  Pikachu says: I would love to go for a ride on your head."

                "Cool." Ash commented.  "Be careful, Pikachu, and don't get into any trouble."

                Snorlax appeared to wobble.  Inside the costume, Jessie and James stared at each other.

                "Did he say..."

                " ...trouble?"

                The two shed their disguise and leapt into the air.

                "Prepare for trouble!"

                "Make it double!"

                "I knew there was something fishy about this!" Brock exclaimed.  "Snorlaxes don't usually live in this part of the forest!"

                "Shh!" Jessie hissed at Brock.  "Don't interrupt the Team Rocket motto!"

                 Ash faked a yawn.  "Oh no, please don't say your motto. I don't want to fall asleep!"

                "Who's going to stop us?" snapped Jessie.

                Pikachu grinned.  "Piii…kaaa…CHUUU!!!"  A large bolt of lightning lit up the sky as Pikachu used its thundershock attack.

                Jessie, James, and Meowth flew through the air.  "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!"

                "That was easy," Ash commented.

                Misty rolled her eyes.  "Isn't it always?"

~

                "Ahhh!" Team Rocket blasted off through the sky, until finally gravity took over, and they fell to their campsite below.

                "Bah!  Dat was all your fault!" since Meowth was afraid to blame their failure on Jessie, he pointed an accusing claw at James.

                Jessie gave Meowth a not-too-gentle tap with her mallet.  "Stop picking on James!"

                Meowth rubbed his aching head.  "Lemme ask ya dis, Jessie.  How come you're protectin' James lately?  Like dis mornin', I joked about 'is face an' you told me ta shuddup? An' jus' now?  What's with ya?"

                Jessie turned bright red, either from anger or embarrassment, neither James nor Meowth could tell.  "That's none of your business!" she yelled at Meowth, then turned to James.  "Where are the donuts?"

                James blinked.  "I dunno."

                "You two can't even steal a bite o' food!" Meowth was practically hysterical.  "Ya aren't any use at all!  I'm leavin' dis stupid team!"

                Meowth marched out of the camp, past the shrubs and small trees, and into the forest.  "Meowth can take care o' hisself, I don't need dose two."

                Suddenly, Meowth was not moving anymore.  He found himself dangling from the scruff of his neck, staring into a pair of eyes that resembled flakes of snow floating in a frosty sea.

                The girl held Meowth firmly in her vice-like grip.  She spoke.  Her voice was like the icy northern winds whistling around snow encrusted mountain peaks.

                "Your friends are wanted at the Viridian City Gym.  However, my master will be happy to torment you."

                Meowth gulped as the girl stuffed him into a sack.  He dared not fight back; a look from those cold eyes had been enough.

~

                "So, I see you brought me my old Meowth.  Perhaps we can wheedle information out of him," Giovanni's booming voice jerked Meowth into wakefulness.

                Information?  Meowth wondered.  What information?

                "Master, he appears to be waking up."

                "Now then," Giovanni said, turning his attention to Meowth.  "What can you tell me about your companions?"

                "Oh, ya mean Jessie and James," Meowth replied.

                Giovanni continued with his manipulation.  "Do they have a thing going...would you say...a relationship?  Surely a top cat like yourself would be able to figure that out?"

                Meowth was nonplussed.  "What exac'ly do ya mean...sir?"

                Giovanni leaned forward onto his desk.  "Do they...you know...like each other?"

                Realization hit Meowth.  "Ohhh!  I know whatcha mean!  Well, it's kinda hard ta tell, really.  Meowth's not quite sure."

                Nodding to his guards, Giovanni indicated Meowth.  "Do not allow him to leave.  Word of this shall not reach his teammates."

                As Giovanni gave this order, a Team Rocket guard crept up and dealt a blow to the back of Meowth's head.  Stars burst in front of Meowth's eyes and he became unconscious.

~

                "I'm sooo hungry."

                "Shut it, James," Jessie winced as soon as she said it.  Meowth was gone; there was no need to keep up the act of being mean to James.

                James tried nibbling on a blade of grass, but eventually he gave up.  "I'm hungry.  I want something to eat."

                Jessie sighed.  "Sorry, there's no food so we might as well take our minds off it and think about something else."

                Flopping onto his sleeping bag, James found another subject to complain about.  "It's hot.  I want to go swimming."

                "James, where are your brains?  Our swimsuits were in our suitcase.  We lost that when we got sent blasting off yesterday," Jessie pointed out.

                "Waaah!  We're getting so much bad luck it's impossible for us to get any more!" James wailed.  "I'm thirsty too.  Do you have any water?"

                Jessie threw up her hands in despair.  "No, I don't.  Why don't you go get some from the lake?"

                "I can't!" James faked a yawn.  "I'm too exhausted from blasting off."

                "This means I'll have to get it, right?" Jessie rolled her eyes.

                "Right," came the expected reply.

                With an amused look on her face, Jessie stood up and brushed off her skirt.  James watched her, expecting the mallet to come crashing down on his head at any moment.

                Jessie stifled a childish giggle.  He is so cute!  She told herself.  Restraining herself from kissing him, she tossed a pillow at his head instead.  "I'll go get some water and be back soon," she said, grabbing their empty canteens.

                Not waiting for James to answer, she plunged into the forest; the canteens thumping against her back urged her on.  After a few minutes of trees and shrubs, she broke out of the shaded woodland and knelt at the lake's edge.  Jessie drank deeply, then filled both their canteens and gazed at her reflection in the mirror-like surface.

                What was that behind her? Swiftly turning around, Jessie shouted out, "Who's there?"

                Her voice echoed out into the nothingness.  Suppressing a shudder, Jessie headed towards camp.  She was sure there had been someone behind her.  Weren't those a pair of strangely colored eyes that had been there?

                Phew!  James was right; it really was hot.  Oh well,  Jessie thought, at least the evening won't be too cold.  As she started through the woods, Jessie watched the sun slowly sinking in the sky.  Quite contrary to her predictions, the atmosphere was becoming chilly, yet the humidity lingered, making the air damp.

                Emerging into the clearing that served as their campsite, Jessie dropped both water canteens on the ground.  James had gotten the campfire going and was toasting something on a stick.

                "What's that?" Jessie asked him.

                "It's our supper."

                "No, I meant what kind of food."

                James pulled it in from the fire and offered her half.  "It's a marshmallow I found in my pocket.  Want some?"

                Jessie sat down next to him but refused the sticky mess.  "No thanks.  I don't want it after it's been in your pocket all day.  What else have you got in there anyway?"

                James dug through his pocket.  "Two marbles, a dead grasshopper, some pieces of cardboard, a roll of tape, old gum wrappers, a dollar bill.  Wow!  I didn't know I had that!  And...uh...well..." he lingered on the last object.  It appeared to be a photograph.

                "What's that?" curiosity had gotten the better of Jessie.  "Let me see!"

                Desperately trying to hide the picture, James started to blush.  "It's nothing.  Just something that might have gotten stuck in my pocket, that's all."

                However, Jessie did not believe him and persisted.  "I bet it's a picture of your girlfriend."

                A squabble began.  Jessie tried to grab the picture several times, succeeding on the last attempt.  James put an end to the tug of war by ripping up the photograph and flinging it on the ground.

                Jessie gave him a playful shove.  "What was it a picture of?  Come on, tell me!"

                James refused to answer and decided to change the subject.  "When's Meowth coming back?"

                Forget it, James.  The cat's not coming back," Jessie yawned.  "I'm getting really tired.  I guess I'm going to bed."

                "I'll stay up and wait for Meowth," James gazed into the dancing campfire flames.

                Jessie headed in the direction of her sleeping bag.  Poor guy, she thought, he's going to miss Meowth.

                She paused where James had dropped the torn-up picture on top of his small mountain of pocket junk.  Collecting up the frayed remnants of the photograph and a roll of tape, Jessie proceeded to her sleeping bag and began patching it together.

                Let's see what James' prized possession is, Jessie's mind whispered.

                It was certainly a picture of someone.  As she taped the last piece in place, Jessie gasped with shock.

                She was staring at a mirror image of herself!  Jessie's mind was racing.  Why would he have a picture of me in his pocket?  She wondered.  Does he really…like me?

                Jessie walked over to where James was sitting and touched his shoulder gently  "James..."

                He spun around so that his face was about two inches away from hers.  "Yes, Jessie?"

                Try as she might, Jessie could not bring herself to say those three easy words.  Come on, just say it,  her mind murmured.  Say "I love you." It often seemed to Jessie that her brain did not control her mouth.  Now was one of those times.

                "Um, nothing.  I just wanted to say...goodnight."

                James looked at her strangely.  "Goodnight, Jessie."

                Jessie turned and, fuming inwardly at herself, headed back towards her sleeping bag.  Hot tears poured down her cheeks.  "Why can't I ever do it?" she whispered.  "Why can't I ever tell him?"

                She sat down on her pillow and found herself staring into a face.  The face belonged to James!

                Jessie immediately hid her eyes shamefully and turned away, hoping he hadn't seen her crying.

                James only placed his hands on Jessie's shoulders and spoke comfortingly.  "Jessie, please don't cry.  I have no idea what's wrong, but you can tell me, okay?"

                Leaning back into his arms, Jessie whispered, "You shouldn't worry about me.  You don't have to care."

                James wiped away her tears with the hem of his jacket.  "But I do care.  A lot."  He gazed into her pretty face.  "Jessie, you have the most beautiful eyes...they're like sapphires..."

                Jessie could feel his breath on her cheek.  She waited expectantly.

                Hugging her tightly, James murmured, "Jessie, I-"

                SHHHFT!

                The two were engulfed in a freezing atmosphere.  An icy voice echoed around them.

                "So, my predictions were correct.  My master will be unhappy to realize that you are destroying Team Rocket's image."

                Jessie writhed in agony.  There was no oxygen to breathe! The eyes in her dream – they were there! They glared into her own, and the fragmented ice that appeared to be in them seemed to cut right to Jessie's soul.  She cried out in pain, but too late – she was falling down a dark well, full of memories and glimpses of the past.  *Where is James?* Jessie wondered. *He should be here...*

                Jessie let herself drop.  She shut all her thoughts and drifted asleep, in an eternally dark netherworld.

~

                James knew he was alive because of the awful pain that seemed to come right from his heart.  Slowly and carefully, the teenager opened his eyes and took stock of his surroundings.  His hands and feet were bound harshly.  The pain subsided gradually, but left him feeling hollowed out and beaten.  An immense wave of exhaustion almost overtook him, so James changed to a more comfortable position on the solid concrete floor.  He was now gazing up at the ceiling, which had no lights.  His eyes began to adjust to the gloom, and he became aware of voices conversing.  However, they were muffled, as if the people they belonged to were on the other side of a wall.

                "I think they're coming around."

                "We better go report back to Boss."

                This was followed by successional footsteps down a long, echoing hallway.  James rolled slightly to his left and bumped into something.  The "something" groaned and sat upright.  A beam of light shone from a high window slit, and showed that it was a someone and not a something.

                It was Jessie!  She was looking quite bedraggled, due to the fact that her makeup was partially smudged off and she had a bloody scrape on one cheek, James guessed from the rough concrete.  His friend was bound similar fashion; hands and feet tied tautly with lengths of knotted rope.

                James remembered his pocketknife, and struggled awkwardly to get his hand inside his pocket.  He eventually succeeded, and severed the bonds from his hands and feet.  Then he proceeded to liberate his partner.

                Neither of them spoke a word.  Both knew they were in big trouble, but what for they had no idea.  As the last strand of rope parted from Jessie's hands, she yanked off her long gloves and boots.  She began to massage her wrists and ankles, trying to restore circulation.  James followed her actions, trying not to imagine what sort of horrible fate would befall them.

                Having properly gotten the pulse back in her hands and feet, Jessie promptly pulled out her makeup case and popped it open.  "I must look awful."  She then began applying lipstick and mascara at a startling rate.  It was then that Jessie noticed a difference in her self.

                "AHHH!  MY HAIR!!!!!"

                Jessie's hairspray was running out, which left her hair hanging limp, but still clumped together.  She produced a brush from her skirt pocket (she seems to keep everything in her skirt pockets, I mean, mallets, makeup, and hairbrushes?) and began combing furiously.

                In a few minutes, she had brushed the remaining hairspray away.  Her long, luxurious pink hair hung about to her knees.  Jessie paced around the small room, her bare feet clapping on the cold concrete.  She laid a hand on the stone wall.  "This looks like one of the Team Rocket dungeons."

                James nodded wistfully.  She was so beautiful.  Most people could not tell Jessie apart from Jessiebelle, but he could.  Aside from their different personalities, Jessie was ever so much prettier.  James sighed again as Jessie began inspecting the large wooden door.  She whirled around and stamped her foot angrily.

                "Stop sighing!  It's very depressing.  I'm trying to find a way out of here; I could use some help..."

                As she leaned back against the door, Jessie was thrown unexpectedly to the ground.  Someone had opened the door from the other side.  James immediately ran to her and helped her up.  Two Team Rocket guards entered the tiny room.

                "The Boss will see you now."

                Jessie and James hurriedly pulled on their boots, for the passageway outside was rough gravel.  They allowed themselves to be escorted through the dank corridor.  Jessie was nervous; she gnawed at a fingernail.  James took her hand and smiled what he hoped was reassuringly.

                The Team Rocket guards halted them at a door marked office.  One guard tapped hesitantly.

                "Sir, the prisoners are here."

                A voice issued from the other side of the door.  "Excellent.  Bring them in, please."

                Jessie and James were shoved into a room roughly the size of a small Pokémon Gym.  A large desk furnished the center, and behind the desk, in a leather-padded chair, sat a man.

                His face was slightly hidden in the shadow, but Jessie and James both knew him as Team Rocket's boss.  They both bowed their heads and sank to their knees when their leader's identity became clear.  However, this leader did not have an air of happiness about him.  He radiated evil.

                Next to Giovanni's desk stood a girl with a downcast expression.  She was gazing shamefully at the ground, causing a lock of hair to cascade over one of her icy eyes.  As Jessie entered the office, the girl looked up and gave a short gasp.

                Jessie gripped James's hand tightly.  Without her long black gloves, her fingers were becoming cold in the frosty air-conditioned room.  The eyes of a Persian looked down condescendingly at the humble human duo.  Giovanni stroked a Meowth, which purred contentedly.

                James exchanged glances with Jessie.  It was their friend Meowth, the third member of their unsuccessful team!

                Giovanni began to speak.  His voice was low-pitched and threatening.  "You are accused of violating rule one hundred and twenty-nine, section C, paragraph B."

                From her awkward kneeling position, Jessie mumbled, "And what rule might that be...sir?"

                The reply came harshly.  "No relationships with your partner in crime.  Do either of you disagree with my accusation?"

                Jessie's blushing became so obvious that she lowered her face almost to the floor.

                Aware of Jessie's embarrassment, James climbed to his feet and glared where he assumed Giovanni's eyes to be.  "So what if we are good friends –"

                "Extremely good friends," amended Giovanni.

                "Fine," admitted James. "Extremely good friends, how will you break our friendship?  How will you dissolve our trust?  It can't be done!"

                Giovanni signaled to his guards.  "Bring up the last victims."  He turned to James.  "I don't know about breaking friendship or dissolving trust, but punishment – yes, punishment can be done!"

                Through all of this, the girl faithfully stood, silent and unmoving as a statue, by Giovanni's desk.  Jessie peered closely at the face partially hidden by the long blonde hair.  Why is she here? wondered Jessie.

                The Team Rocket guards returned, half-carrying, half-dragging two limp figures.  Recognition of them petrified Jessie.

                "Oh my gosh!  It's Cassidy and Butch!"

                Momentarily forgetting the past quarrels and disputes with her rival, Jessie stumbled to Cassidy's side.  Cassidy was breathing, but her respiration was light and ragged sounding.  Her golden-blonde hair lacked its normal luster, and a dark shadow seemed to obscure the grimacing face of Jessie's friend.  Butch was in similar condition, although his breathing was a bit raspier, Jessie guessed because of his natural voice.

                She whirled upon Giovanni, enraged.  "What have you done to them?"

                Giovanni clucked disapprovingly.  "I have done nothing to them.  My assistant, however..."

                At this point, the girl collapsed and began shaking uncontrollably.

                "What is wrong?!" shouted Giovanni.

                The girl continued writhing for a moment, and then laid still.  She seemed to be in a coma until she spoke.

                "I served the ancient Pokémon Mew, and was its eternal playmate.  That is how I gained the knowledge of Mew's psychic powers.  Mew told me the story of my birth; it said it created me from two people from the future, one wickedly evil, one good and innocent.

                "Some of you may know of Mew's amulet.  It was the charm created by Mew for a multitude of purposes, but its main function was the travel of time.  It must be worth a good amount of money."

                Here Giovanni's eyes gleamed greedily.

"Mew hid this irreplaceable object, though where it is I cannot say.

                "I have a message to relate to you from Mew.  It supposedly uncovers where the amulet is hidden, or who is the bearer of it.  I wish fair fortune to the ones that will try to decipher it.  Good luck.

"Beware, beware

A day so rare

When heart of stone meets girl so fair

The eye of sapphire

Beware, Rocket, beware.

"Pay heed, pay heed

You man of greed

Exterminate that girl, indeed

The amulet is near

Pay heed, Rocket, pay heed.

"Take part, take part

Boy, don't depart

Sapphire's love's locked in your heart

The charm will not appear

Take part, Rocket, take part."

                The girl blinked once, then shook her head as if to clear out the thoughts of the last few minutes.

                "It appears we have ourselves a puzzle," Giovanni sniggered.  "Here is my hypothesis.  My assistant here," he gestured with a shadowed hand towards the girl, "was created from two people that exist now, the 'Eye of Sapphire' and 'Heart of Stone'.  When one of them is destroyed, the amulet will appear somehow.  Why don't we try to figure out who 'Eye of Sapphire' is first?"

                James noted how Giovanni avoided discussing who 'Heart of Stone' was.

                "Do either of you have the faintest idea who it is?" Giovanni was staring at Jessie and James in a very direct way.

                "No, sir," Jessie answered boldly.

                James bit his lip.  He would not tell.  Not ever.

                "Do you have a guess?" Giovanni barked at James.

                James remained silent.

                Giovanni signaled to his assistant.  She pointed a finger at James.  A bright blue beam of light encased him, and he cried out in pain and clutched his head.

                "James!" Jessie tried to reach out to him, but as soon as her hand encountered the blue light, it curved away.  James dropped to his knees and gazed mournfully at Jessie with his large emerald eyes.

                The same eyes, Jessie remembered, that had gazed at her when James had said "You have the most beautiful eyes...they're like sapphires..."

                "Stop!" shouted Jessie.  "I am eye of sapphire!"

                Almost immediately the girl released James, pointed a finger at Jessie, and looked away.  Jessie's life flashed before her eyes in a few moments, then she collapsed on her side.

                "JESSIE!"  James dragged himself painfully to Jessie's side.  Her lengthy pink hair curtained her face; she looked in the same condition as Cassidy.

                Except there was one difference.  Jessie wasn't breathing.  James gently took hold of her wrist.  She didn't have a pulse, either.

                Tears welled up in James's eyes and spilled down his face.

"Jessie…"

                Giovanni allowed himself an evil smirk.  The young wretch would now pay the ultimate price: the price of love.