The fall was actually pretty bad. They had had some rough falls in their career, but this one was one of their worst. Not only did they land hard, but their balloon had popped as well, so James had nothing optimistic to say this time. The three just sat there on the cold ground, recovering from their wounds, metaphorically and physically. Jessie didn't see the net that had caught the vulpix in James' hands, so she suspected the worst.
"James, tell me you didn't drop the net again?" Jessie said in an exasperated voice.
"Wish I could," James replied in an equally tired voice.
"Is it really that hard to hold onto a simple net?" Jessie asked, her voice rising in volume. A flash of light came out from her belt and out popped her wobbuffet.
"Wobbuffet!"
"Well, how about you try and hold onto a net while you're flying at 80 miles per hour!" James retorted back, ignoring the blue pokémon.
"You know what?" Jessie said while standing up. "If you had distracted the police for longer, we could have gotten away with that bag of pokéballs!"
"What!" James yelled out in disgust as he too stood. "Well, I'm not the person who took their time stealing all the pokémon!"
"But you were the person who lead all the police to our evac point!"
"Wobbuffet!"
"But you were the person who let the bag get taken by a noctowl!"
"You know what?" Jessie continued. "You're right. It was all Meowth's fault."
"Hey! Why are you bringing me into this?"
"You didn't get the balloon there in time."
"I was going as fast as I could!" Meowth yelled in his defence.
Jessie was now fed up with her teammates' excuses. "WHY CAN'T YOU DO ANYTH-"
"Vulpix!"
Every looked over to where the sound came from, which happened to from be inside the balloon.
"Did you just hear that?" Jessie asked in a tone of voice that was a total contrast to what it was just a few seconds prior.
"I think I did," James responded, not to sure of what he heard either. The four went over to the balloon and looked inside the nest. Inside was the vulpix from earlier trapped by the net.
"James, I thought that you said you dropped the net." Jessie said, still recovering from what she was seeing.
"I did. I must have dropped it inside the balloon." James said scratching his head. Jessie clasped her hands together and looked much happier than before.
"This is great. Now we can get this vulpix to the boss after all!"
"Hate to break it to ya," Meowth said, "but we ain't going anywhere with our balloon like 'dis."
"Do we have any extra string to sow the balloon up?" James asked.
"Nope, I used the last of it the last time the twerps blew it up." Meowth said while crossing his arms. "Someone will need to go into town to get some more."
"Hmm, that's right." Jessie said while putting her hand up to her chin. "Alright, I nominate James to go into town and get the string."
"Wh-what, why me?"
"Because I need to stay here and watch the vulpix and Meowth needs to fix the engine." Jessie said. Meowth took this as his hint and went over to the engine and start to tamper with it.
"But why can't I say here and watch the vulpix?" James asked in udder desperation.
"Because it's obvious that I need to. A pokémon as cute as this one needs a person who has a similar beauty."
"Bu-but…" James stammered, but then stopped when he realized it was futile. He let out a large sigh.
"Fine, just give me the money." James said with his head to the ground.
"If you could, also go and buy some food since we are almost out." Jessie said while handing James the Team Rocket wallet. "This is the last of the money that we have, so don't go and buy anything stupid with it."
"Wobbuffet!"
"Alright…" James said, knowing that she still hadn't forgiven him for all the times he had been swindled by that one salesman. He grabbed the wallet and then started to head off in the direction of the town. "Wait a second," James stopped when he remembered something important. "Aren't we wanted in that city?"
"Yes, so you'll just have to be stealthy." Jessie said while going over to the vulpix, taking it off of the pole, and tying a knot in the net.
"Vulpix," it cried out. Jessie ignored it.
"I really don't think that's an option," James replied back, very tired of all the things that are happening.
"I think there's a small town to the west of 'ere" Meowth said as he took a screw out with his wrench. "You can try that one out."
"Guess I will," James said and then headed out in the direction of the small town.
Once he was out of earshot, James let out a growl.
"I always have to do the hard work," the purple-haired man grumbled as he continued walking. "They never treat me with the respect I deserve. Why I haven't left them, I don't know." Then, James thought of something. "You know, that's a good point! Why haven't I left them? Why don't I leave them? It's not like I need them. Yeah, I'll run away from them. I'll go and stay at my…" James hesitated. He thought about it. "...go stay at my…" James repeated to himself. "My...what? I don't have anywhere to go."
That was the truth. James couldn't go anywhere. His parents would never accept him, and even if they did, they would just want him to marry Jessibelle. He could never confront his Grandparents being a member of Team Rocket. They were so sweet to him when he was younger, it would just seem wrong to approach them as a pokémon thief. If he did leave, not only would James not have a place to go, but he wouldn't really have anything to do either. Sure, he had a few hobbies before he joined Team Rocket, like pokéringing and pokémon orienteering, but those were just things he did in his free time. In Team Rocket, he had a real job. And not only that, it was a job he liked doing. They say that if you find a job you love, then you'll never work a day in your life.
James could testify that he had never worked while in Team Rocket.
James looked back towards the area where he came from and sighed. Truth be told, Jessie and Meowth were his only friends. Even though they did get into fights and argue a lot, the three of them were really close, though Jessie would never admit it. A smile crept onto James' face. It was true that he had to do a lot of the work, but if that meant doing the work for his friends, then he should take pride in that. He now felt a bit ashamed that he had ever thought of leaving them, but that feeling left him when the thought of leaving did. Rebooted, refueled, and reenergized, James continued onwards with a spring in his step towards the town in order to buy the string and food.
" 'Dere. All finished." Meowth announced triumphantly as he put down his wrench. He was quite proud of his handiwork.
"The engine's ready?" Jessie asked from where she was sitting next to the vulpix. She had since returned wobbuffet since it was getting annoying.
"Yeah, I just had to replace a few parts," he said, jumping off of the balloon.
"All right, now all we have to do is wait until James comes back and then we can get going." Jessie said as she layed down on the grass, looking up to the clouds.
"Are you sure 'dat little girl ain't going to come looking for us?" Meowth questioned, remembering how many times the twerps had caught them just waiting around.
"Of course not," Jessie said with confidence in her voice. "And even if she does, it's not like she'll be able to do anything."
"I guess you're right." Meowth said with assurance. He went over to Jessie and layed down next to her. The two were silent for a bit before Jessie broke the silence.
"You know," she said while staring up at the clouds. "It feels a bit weird actually having a pokémon that we can give to the boss."
"What do ya mean?" Meowth asked while looking over at her. This was a side of Jessie that didn't usually show.
"Well, it just feel weird that, after all this time of failing, we are actually going to get a pokémon to the boss that he'll accept. It just feels a bit surreal."
"I know what you mean," Meowth said as he looked back up at the sky."But let's not count out eggs till 'dey hatch."
"I guess you're right."
Just then, they two of them heard rustling coming from some bushes near them.
"Hear 'dat?" Meowth asked as he got up from the spot he was lying on.
"I did," Jessie confirmed.
The two waited for the thing that was in the bush to come out. And out it did come. What came out was a small bear-cub looking pokémon. It had a crescent moon on it's head.
"It's a teddiursa!" Jessie practically squealed with delight. The bear tilted its head on its name being called out.
"Teddi?" It said.
Jessie looked like a little girl on Christmas Day. "It's so cute!" she shouted. "I got a plan. Let's capture that one too."
"That one too?" Meowth repeated.
"Think of it. If we can contain both cute critters than we will climb to the climax of the corporate ladder."
"You're right!" Meowth agreed.
"Do you have another net?"
"Do I like yarn?" the cat asked rhetorically. Meowth went and got another net from the balloon. "Now come to Meowth!" he shouted as he swung the net. The net ensnared the teddiursa as it fought to get out. "Another purr-fect capture," Meowth said proudly with a little pun added in for effect.
"Nicely done," Jessie commented. She then went over the the net and looked at the teddiursa. "Well aren't you the cutest thing ever."
"Tedi-"
"-URSA"
Jessie covered her ears to this very loud sound.
"Well, aren't you loud," she commented.
"I don't 'dink that was this one!" Meowth exclaimed when he saw what else was coming out of the bush. Standing there was a much larger bear like pokémon.
"Ursaring!" It shouted out. Jessie and Meowth just realized what a terrible mistake they had made.
"Oh, is this your teddiursa?" Jessie said in a very scared tone of voice. "Here, you can have it back; I never wanted it," she said as she snatched the net out of Meowth's hand and released the small cub. The ursaring was still not happy.
"URSARING!" it shouted out. A yellow light started to form inside of its mouth. It was then shot of it's mouth in a yellow beam. Jessie and Meowth barely dodged it. The two screamed and started to run into the forest away from the angry ursaring.
"I'm back guys!" James practically sang out. In his hands was a grocery bag that had lots of food in it as well as some string to sow up the balloon with. James was in such a good mood that he walked into the clearing with his eyes closed. "And guess what," he continued. "I was able to get the last apple pie they had! I also got some dulux pokémon food for you too, Meowth." Meowth usually hated regular pokémon food and liked human food a lot better. The only type he would eat was the dulux type.
James opened his eyes and expected to see Jessie and Meowth overjoyed that he was able to get them their favorite foods, but that was contrary to what he did see. Or what he didn't see. Their balloon was still there, the vulpix was still there, but James' partners in crime were nowhere to be seen. James didn't think much of this. It was common for the other two to go off somewhere while waiting for him to come back. James put down the bag and took out the string. He got the needle that they always used from the nest of the balloon and then started to sow the balloon part up. He noticed that the engine was fixed, so Meowth had indeed fixed it before they went off somewhere.
It didn't take that long for James to sow up the balloon. After all the times that the twerps had blown it up, James had become an expert sower. Or at least in sowing balloons. James looked up into the sky and saw that it was about five in the afternoon. If they hurried, they could get the vulpix to the boss before nightfall.
James waited for a while longer until he started to get a bit worried. It was not like the other two to be out this long. What if something had happened to them?
"Vulpix!" The shout from the pokémon snapped James out of his thoughts. He looked over to where the vulpix was sitting inside the net.
"What is it, vulpix?" James asked the pokémon, mostly for acknowledgement since he wouldn't be able to understand what it said back. The fox pokémon pointed at something in the ground with its snout.
"What is it?" James repeated, now coming over to see what had caught the vulpix's attention. He looked on the ground where the vulpix had pointed, and saw large, pointed foot prints.
"These don't belong to any of us," James observed. The footprints looked a little like Meowth's, but were much larger.
"Hang on," James said as he came to a realization. "I know these footprints!" His eyes winded. "These are ursaring footprints!" James jumped up in a panic and started to follow the footprints. "The other two must have somehow angered one." The footprints followed out of the clearing and back into the forest. "I have to go find them!" James said and started to run out of the clearing. He stopped when he remembered something.
"What am I going to with you?" James wondered out loud as he walked back over to the vulpix. "I'll just hide you," he decided and took the net. He put the net inside of a bush.
"That should hide you," James said and then ran off in the direction that his friends had gone.
Little did James know, that the bush he hid the vulpix in was a thorn bush. What's more is that one of the thorns had cut a hole in the net, allowing the vulpix to escape.
And escape it did.