James gave full vent to his tears; they trickled down his sorrowful face and slowly collected in a pondlet beside his fallen partner.
Giovanni was acting very unconcerned for his former employees. Turning to his assistant, the playmate of Mew, he said, "There. The other 'half' of you is deceased. Now, where is the amulet?"
Mew's companion turned her icy stare upon him. "Master, you must not forget the last stanza of the rhyme:
"Take part, take part
Boy, don't depart
Sapphire's love's locked in your heart
Take part, Rocket, take part."
"But why?" questioned Giovanni. "Why won't the amulet appear?" The breath caught in his throat. "Unless 'Eye of Sapphire' isn't quite dead… Her love is living on in the heart of… the heart of…"
His malignant gaze fell upon James. "Bingo."
~
James wept brokenly. How could anyone do this? His mind sobbed. It's cruel, diabolical, evil. Only someone with a heart of stone would-
Wait a minute! He thought, Heart of Stone is the other part of Mew's friend! If 'Heart of Stone' is destroyed, the amulet will appear. I can travel back in time to save Jessie in the present!
A thought occurred to him and he puzzled over it. If Jessie is really gone, why hasn't the amulet come into being?
~
The evil one nodded to his coadjutress. "Kill him."
The comrade of Mew was taken aback by this cold demand. "Master, isn't there some other way we can-"
"Might as well just do it the easiest way." Giovanni grinned in a fiendish manner.
She aimed her hand and formed a fist, but left one finger pointing. A blue beam of icy psychic light slowly began forming.
"James, look out!" Meowth, who had been settled on Giovanni's lap, played the trump card and decided to help his friend rather than stay on his master's good side.
James looked up and stumbled to one side, avoiding the telekinetic blow. The impact caused the ground to shake greatly
A little clink was heard and James realized that some thing had fallen out of Jessie's skirt pocket. It was a small, plastic cosmetic kit, her compact.
"Don't just stand there!" Giovanni shouted to his assistant. "Try it again!"
Just as the frosty beam was about to come into contact with his head, James grabbed the compact and popped it open, reflecting the ray back towards Giovanni's startled face.
One scream was heard and then Giovanni lay as still and motionless as Jessie did. Not so distinctive at first, but increasing in volume, there came a whirring noise. Something seemingly appeared out of midair and clunked James on the head.
"Owwwch!"
It was a cunningly crafted golden medallion, with a curious drawing of what James imagined to be Mew on one side. The other surface housed a knob that seemed able to be twisted.
"Mew's amulet." A quiet voice whispered from behind him. James whirled around to find the companion of Mew. However, she looked quite different.
The ice had gone from her eyes; they were now the light blue of an azure summer sky. She wore an expression that plainly showed that she was happy about something. Her blonde hair did not fall over half of her face, and this small aspect caused James to discover her beauty.
But she was not as beautiful as Jessie.
"Thank you." She whispered. "You have rid my soul of the evil that had shadowed it. I thank you with all my heart."
James nodded wordlessly. Something caught his eye through the narrow window aperture, so he dashed to it and gazed out at the gray sky.
"Something wrong?" Mew's companion had followed him.
"No, just thought I saw something," replied James dubiously. "It was light pink, and...it was flying, but had no wings."
The girl smiled mysteriously. "Well, you are now the possessor of Mew's amulet."
James thought, I had to destroy my own master to obtain this amulet. He chanced a look at Giovanni's still form. 'Heart of Stone' certainly fit his personality.
"Are you going to use the amulet?" Mew's companion asked.
James glanced tenderly at Jessie and turned the amulet over in his hand nervously. "How does it work?"
Mew's playmate nodded towards Jessie. "You really care for her, don't you?"
James was astonished. "How did you..."
She smiled sweetly. "You forget that I am psychic. But there are other signs that would enable non-psychics to discern as well."
Dangling the amulet in the air, James repeated his question. "How does it work?"
"Twist the knob," the reply came. "It will set your date and time. If you change the past, you must come back in order to erase this timeline. Then you will be snapped back to wherever you were before."
"Good luck James." Meowth said. "Ya'll need it."
"Thanks, Meowth," James tried to smile even though there wasn't anything to smile about. "And thanks for …saving me."
He hastily turned the protuberance on the back of the ancient charm. A mist slowly started forming around the room.
Mew's companion called out one last fact before the rapidly forming vapor enveloped James. "Watch out. It's kind of running low on batteries."
James barely had time to think batteries? Before he was whisked off into the never-ending realm of darkness.
~*~
James awoke with a start. He recognized the warmth and comfort of his sleeping bag. Sitting up, he found himself to be in the Team Rocket tent, cramped and uncomfortable as it always had been. Meowth was snoring kitty snores on his left; Jessie slept soundly on his right.
Seeing Jessie alive made James almost cry tears of joy. It was only a dream; his subconscious tried to reassure his mind. Jessie didn't die. It was only a dream.
James's foot encountered something cold and solid. Pulling it out of his sleeping bag, he groaned when he recognized it.
"Mew's amulet. So it wasn't a dream." He whispered bitterly.
Meowth sat up. "Huh? What dream?"
With a shock James realized that Meowth was the key. If Meowth didn't make it to Giovanni, they would never be arrested. James, taking great care not to disturb Jessie, related his strange tale to Meowth.
When James had finished describing this event, Meowth stared at him with an expression that clearly read have you gone wacko?
The cat was about to speak when Jessie began tossing and turning. James mouthed the word "Later" and took Jessie by her shoulders. He called her name, trying to wake her up.
"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 alley cat!" she yelled into James's face.
"Jessie, you deafened me!" James whined, throwing his face on the pillow.
"Sorry," Jessie mumbled. She got 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."
Jessie stared off into space for a few minutes, thinking her thoughts. James wondered what she was dwelling on, and was about to ask her when Meowth cut in.
"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..."
"I know!" James waved his hand around as if he had comprehended the final question on jeopardy. "We can dress up like a giant Snorlax that wants food, and then offer Pikachu a ride while we speak Snorlax-ese!"
Agreeing wholeheartedly on this ludicrous conception, they went back into the tent to prepare their disguise.
~
"Atchoo!"
"James, why are you sneezing so much?"
"Atchoo! Atchoo!"
"Maybe he's alloigic ta sewin'."
"Atchoo!"
Jessie put down her sewing implements. "James, I think you better go outside before you sneeze down the tent."
James nodded. "I'm allergic to-to-to-Atchoo! To that new per-per-per-Atchoo! Perfume you're wearing. Go back to the one that smelled like straw-straw-straw-Atchoo! Strawberries." He moved towards the tent exit, and dragged Meowth along. "I need to talk to Meowth for a sec."
"So what's dis all about?" Meowth spluttered.
James took a deep breath. "Look, I know it all sounds corny, but you have to believe me."
Meowth looked suspiciously at James. "Why are ya tellin' me, an' not Jessie?"
"I can't tell Jessie, because she'll freak out when I tell her she dies in the future. Now what you have to do is not get mad when we blast off today. Just…don't be angry."
"An' why am I doin' dis?"
"To save Jessie."
A gleam appeared in Meowth's eye. "Do ya like her or somethin'?"
James's face grew hot. "That doesn't matter. The important thing is-"
"James an' Jessie, a- sittin' in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-"
James stopped Meowth in mid-taunt by crashing a foot down on the cat's head. "Shut up. Meowth, Jessie's just inside the tent, she'll hear you!"
"What were you saying, Meowth?"
Standing behind him was his team partner, Jessie. Dearly wishing the earth would open up and suck him to its core, James gave Meowth one last angry kick in the rear. "Um, I think he said 'James and Jessie, look what I can see!' Cats sure do have wild imaginations, heh heh..." James's voice trailed off miserably.
Jessie guessed from the way that James was giving steady kicks to Meowth that there was a conflict between the two. "You know, James, when I get annoyed with Meowth, I just kick him into the sky."
Meowth chortled from under James's foot. "Hey James, listen to your girfr-oof!"
Desperately trying to keep Meowth from saying anything to Jessie that might reveal his position, James quickly thought up a new excuse. "He just said 'Hey James, listen to that whirl by!' Meowth can certainly see and hear weird things, huh?"
Jessie was not convinced. "I get the feeling there's something you're not telling me, James."
In an urgent attempt to change the subject, James also got a brilliant idea. "Instead of being a Snorlax, let's go to the Pokemon Center. Nurse Joy is nice to everybody, so she'll give us donuts."
He grabbed Jessie's hand and dragged her along in the direction of Viridian City's Pokemon Center. Meowth pitifully hauled himself along after them. "Wait for Me-owth!"
~
Nurse Joy twirled around idly in her chair at Viridian City Pokemon Center's front desk. There were no sick or injured Pokemon to be treated; all in all, it was a moderately quiet day. Officer Jenny indolently paced back and forth. "I can't find anyone to arrest. Team Rocket isn't even on a crime spree."
The bells on the door rang as someone opened it. Immediately Nurse Joy sat up. "Finally. Someone in the need of assistance."
Officer Jenny spotted the Team Rocket trio first. "Hold it, you're under arrest!"
"But-but-" James stuttered.
Menacing them with an outstretched finger, Officer Jenny commanded, "Up! Up! Get those hands up above your heads!"
"James, what are you, crazy? You're going to get us all thrown in jail!" Jessie hissed.
"Why are we being arrested?!" James blubbered.
"Because you're from the notorious Team Rocket!" Officer Jenny rolled her eyes as if it didn't need any explanation.
"Hang on, Officer!" protested the kind-hearted Nurse Joy. "They may need medical service. When Team Rocket burglarizes a Pokemon Center they usually don't use the front door!"
"That's right!" James nodded anxiously. "I need to use your telephone!"
"Wait a minute, James. I thought you wanted donuts?" Jessie's face wore a quizzical expression.
"Um...well..." James stammered. "I have to make an important phone call." He turned to Nurse Joy. "Please. I really need to use your telephone. Then you can arrest me or whatever, but this call is extremely important."
Nurse Joy saw the instancy shining through James's emerald eyes. "The phone is over there." She pointed towards the telephone booth.
Jessie was about to ask James just whom he was going to call, but he was already at one phone station dialing the number.
This particular Pokemon Center had the luxury of telephone screens, a device that would allow you to exchange eye contact with whomever you were speaking.
When the profile view of a Persian came up on James's screen, Meowth assumed a pallid coloring. "You're callin' HIM?!"
The leather-padded chair swung around, revealing the shadowy figure that was both hated and feared by all Team Rocket members.
"What lousy excuse do you fools have for calling me this time?" Giovanni's voice boomed, sure to send a shiver up any spine.
"Well, actually, sir," Jessie and James assumed their motto stance. "We just wanted you to prepare for trouble and make it double!"
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all people within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
"Meowth! That's right!"
The shadowed face of Giovanni seemed annoyed. "I don't have time for your useless prattling. Get to the point."
The glint in James's eye was almost vindictive. "Sir, we're quitting Team Rocket."
"WHAT?!" shrieked Giovanni, Jessie, and Meowth. They were all surprised with James's statement.
"That's everything I have to say. Goodbye." Before Jessie or Meowth could stop him, James hung up the telephone, ending the unanticipated call.
"James, ya dimwit!" Meowth howled, "I can't believe you're relyin' on dat stupid dream o' yours!"
"Am I missing something here?" Jessie looked totally bewildered.
"Me-owth's had enough waitin' around for food." Meowth pranced off in the direction of Nurse Joy's desk. "I'm gonna get some donuts."
Jessie pulled up a chair to face the one James was sitting in. "We're going to have a nice long talk, and you don't get any donuts until you explain everything."
"Okay," James said. "I'll start at the beginning. Well, I kind of um...let's just say I..." his face was growing hot. *Spit it out!* He was practically screaming. "Jessie, I..."
James stopped short when he caught sight of Meowth peeking around the corner. The cat was fluttering his eyes and making kissy-faces.
Blushing even more, James stood up. "I have to leave..."
"No, wait." Jessie took hold of James's hand. She had not seen Meowth. "What were you going to say?"
Encouraged by the small fact that Jessie was holding his hand, James tried to ignore Meowth and continued. "I l-"
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
The uninterrupted beeping was coming right from James's pocket-the pocket the amulet was kept in.
"I'll be right back." James dashed away, leaving Jessie alone at the phone station. He screeched to a halt about two inches away from Meowth, who immediately pounded him with questions.
"Did ya tell her? Did she say she likes ya? Did ya kiss her?"
"No." James answered all three questions with one word.
He fumbled in his pocket for the amulet and pulled it out. He glared at the red letters that shone across the front: LOW POWER.
I have to get back in order to erase what happened, he thought. The past is now changed enough that hopefully Jessie and I will never be taken prisoner.
"James, what's with you? You've always been dashing off and I think there's something you're hiding from me."
Jessie had followed him, so James stuffed the amulet back in his pocket and turned to face her. "I have to leave for a while, but I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?"
Jessie's sapphire eyes searched his face for any clues that would give him away. "Where are you going?"
"Nowhere, but, um...somewhere, I guess." James took Jessie into his arms and whispered a final farewell. "Goodbye."
Almost tearful, James broke away from her warm embrace and ran. He ran out the doors of the Pokemon Center and off the path. Only then did he allow the tears to come.
He wasn't quite sure if they were tears of sorrow, frustration, or of a broken heart. Perhaps his teardrops were all three.
Grasping the amulet, James turned the knob forward. The familiar haze began forming, and James bowed his head, allowing himself to be swept off into the mists of time.
~*~
There was an unexpected lurch, which quite astounded James, for the previous trip through time had been smooth and uninterrupted. He opened his eyes and found himself to be back at Viridian City Gym, the boss's office.
At once he groped for the amulet in his pocket; it wasn't there. James felt a sinking sensation. Something had gone terribly wrong.
"James, look out!"
James was quite startled by Meowth's cry. Acting quickly, he stumbled to the left and an icy beam of light narrowly missed him. Something clicked within him as to what was happening. The amulet, he thought, it ran out of batteries in the middle of time traveling. I didn't quite make it to the snap-back point. Oh well, I can obtain the amulet and try again.
Prepared for the second telepathic blow, James snatched up Jessie's compact and popped it open, exactly as he had done before.
Well, maybe not exactly. James's angle was a bit wrong, and instead of reflecting towards Giovanni, the glacial beam was sent back to the one who dealt it.
Quivering with rage, Giovanni turned to the cause of his loss.
"I always knew from the start that you and your friend were useless. Always failures, never to accomplish anything. Now you have caused me to make a vow, one I will not forget. I will remain to take your life; the amulet will be mine. Always guard your back; I will be waiting for the perfect moment to put an end to your existence."
The evil one grabbed his assistant and vanished by throwing down a few Team Rocket patented smoke bombs.
James stared at the spot where Giovanni had dissipated, then knelt beside Jessie, his fallen partner.
First one tear trickled down his face, then another, until it was hopeless to count them. So this was what it was like to have a broken heart. All hope was banished from his mind; there was nothing left, it was all gone. Gone.
~
James knew not how long he wept there, but slowly he became aware of a furry paw tapping his shoulder. Meowth had been left behind when Giovanni made his getaway.
"Hey, James, I'm sorry for alla dis," the cat apologized. "An' I'm sorry about...Jessie."
James did not answer; he only fixed his stare on the stained concrete floor.
Often the cat could espy more than one would think. Of course it helped that Meowth had known James for over five years, but now the cat could see clearly the feelings James had for Jessie. There was no doubt in the kindly kitten's mind what he was about to do and why.
Almost plaintively, Meowth removed his charm and pressed it firmly to Jessie's forehead.
The next event would be one to be remembered for generations. The magical occurrence was unanticipated and would bring much joy and sorrow to those who witnessed it.
The charmless cat backed away, leaving James to scrutinize the captivating scene. As James watched with awe, the color returned to Jessie's face. She began breathing, raggedly at first, but stronger with each inhalation.
Slowly and carefully, her beautiful sapphire eyes opened and blinked once. Then she sat up, and as she did, Meowth's charm clattered from her brow to the floor.
Wordlessly James swept her into a tight embrace. Jessie hugged him back, but it was she who noticed something about Meowth.
"What's wrong with Meowth? Why is he... Where's his charm?"
Meowth lay peacefully with a tranquil look lingering about his furry features, although his eyes had closed for the last time. His charm lay nearby, where Jessie had dropped it, its normally sheeny surface dulled and colorless.
Jessie blinked back a tear. "He always said he never wanted to be a Meowth, anyway. He wanted to be a... Pikachu."
James tried to keep Jessie's spirits up. "Maybe in the afterlife...."
Both companions bowed their heads in remembrance of their feline friend.
~
It seemed that ever since the dejected duo had turned up at Viridian City's Pokemon Center, business there had been busy; there was always the bustle of customers attending to their sick or injured Pokemon.
Cassidy and Butch were among the injured, because Pokemon Centers also care for people. They had both suffered the effects of telekinetic beams, becoming comatose on the spot. Now they were recovering under Nurse Joy's watchful eye.
The other Team Rocket two had decided to wait for their friends' recuperation; both Jessie and James were camping out at the Pokemon Center.
Meowth had been put to rest under an oak tree in a quiet copse. Although he was gone, he would always be remembered in the hearts of all that knew him.
James sat sullenly on the couch, think of what Meowth had done so that Jessie could be alive.
It shook him out of his thoughts when Jessie marched up and pointed a finger at his face.
"You took my makeup, didn't you, James. I know you have it, so you can give it back now."
Looking up, James completely contradicted her command. "I didn't take your makeup. Why would I want it?"
As she walked away, James turned to a more comfortable position on the couch and felt something hard in his pocket bump against his side. Pulling it out quickly, he saw that it was Jessie's compact. He had unwittingly put it in his pocket after using to reflect the enemy ice beam. Wait-what was that sticking out of its corner?
James opened Jessie's cosmetic box, wondering why she needed it anyway. She was pretty enough with out all that eye shadow and lipstick.
The top slid smoothly upward, revealing the tiny mirror and a bunch of other cosmetic junk. What caught James's eye, however, was a small snapshot of someone taped in the upper left corner. He had not noticed it when "borrowing" Jessie's compact.
Now he gasped with shock as he recognized whom the picture portrayed. James unfastened it to make sure, but it was certainly what he thought what he thought it to be.
It was a picture of himself!
James snapped the cosmetic case closed and hid the picture as Jessie walked by. He tried to seem inconspicuous and offered the container to Jessie.
"Here, I found your makeup."
Jessie took it. "Thanks." She started to walk away, but then turned around. "Hey James, I've been wanting to ask you . . . what was this doing in your pocket?" She tossed a taped picture on the couch.
James's worst fears were confirmed. It was the photograph he had had of Jessie, and when she had discovered it he had ripped it up so she wouldn't see. How it had fallen into her hands was a mystery.
Instead of explaining, James made the situation a standoff by tossing the picture of himself on top of Jessie's. "I'd put that very same question to you."
The dreaded mallet was drawn out of Jessie's skirt pocket as she narrowed her eyes. "You did steal my makeup! Well, you'll be the first to find that when someone pilfers my makeup, it's not a joke."
James begged for mercy. "I really didn't take it! I just forgot to give it back to you after I used the little mirror in it! Please don't whack me!" As if to defend himself, James plucked a rose from midair and presented it to Jessie.
It was a beautiful thing; its colossal ruby-red petals towered high above the slender green stem. The blossom's splendor greatly appealed to Jessie, so she accepted this token of admiration. Yet, in all its luminance, was there a purpose that lurked behind the beauty? Was there a motive that came from deep within James's heart?
The atmosphere was broken as Nurse Joy staggered by with a cardboard box. She set it down on a nearby table and wiped a hand across her sweating brow. Nodding to Jessie and James, she said, "Would either of you like to have a baby Pikachu? I found some abandoned ones by the roadside."
Immediately remembering how Meowth had wanted to be a Pikachu, Jessie took a look inside the box. "Awww. They're so cute!"
One grabbed at a stray wisp of her hair. "Pika! Piii-chu!"
Jessie lifted it out of the box. As soon as she set it on the floor, it began following her around.
"It must really like you, Jessie." Nurse Joy implied.
James got up off the couch and asked the knowledgeable nurse a question. "When Meowth took off his charm, how did he bring Jessie back to life?"
"Well," Nurse Joy pondered for a while; "it is said that a Meowth essentially keeps its life in its charm. If the charm is taken away from the Meowth, its life is gone. Your Meowth's charm had life in it, so Meowth actually gave his life to Jessie."
James and Nurse Joy turned to watch the antics of Jessie and her newfound Pokepal. The nurse laughed and left to make flyers so the other Pikachus would get good homes.
Jessie gazed down at the yellow ball of fuzz imitating her every move. "We'll call you Pikie," she said. "That's a cute name."
James grabbed Jessie's hand as she walked by. "Jessie, I've been wanting to tell you this for a long time." He felt almost glad that Meowth wasn't around to laugh at him. Wait-was that little Pikie trying to hide a smirk?
James ignored it and went on. He gazed directly into Jessie's sapphire eyes and said what had been in his heart for many years. "I love you, Jessie."
To his surprise, Jessie laughed and gave him a hug. "That's good," she whispered, "because I love you back."
There was only one witness to this romantic scene. A teeny fluff of yellow fuzz watched knowingly, but uttered only one phrase.
"Pika! That's right!"