.
Close Call
Team Rocket rode towards Serpent Canyon, ears and eyes open for anything of interest. They were currently going through a pass the locals called Morning's Glow, edged on either side by a pair of cliffs known as the Twin Bluffs. Once they passed through that, the gorge—rather Serpent Canyon—wouldn't be far. "Hmm, I don't like this. It seems too quiet," Jessie remarked.
"Don't overthink it," Cassidy replied, but she too was guarded. They heard a rumble and reigned in the rapidash.
"Dat sounded like unstable rocks preparin' ta start slidin'," Meowth remarked.
"It did at that," Jessie agreed. "Oh boys," she sang. James and Butch, who up to that point had been behind the two girls, blinked obliviously, more curious than suspicious. "How would you like to ride on ahead?" Jessie sweetly asked. They heard the rumble again and caught on, sweat dropping and clenching their teeth. For all the good that did them. The next thing they knew, they were ahead of Jessie and Cassidy, both women giggling cruelly some distance behind them.
"Is it just me, or does this seem unfair to you?" Butch wryly remarked to James.
"There's a difference between unfair and chivalrous," James replied. "Unfortunately, when it comes to cases of chivalry it's stacked in their favor."
"What about the women and children first thing?" Butch grumbled.
"Imbecile, that only applies on a sinking ship. They get to board the lifeboats first," James bluntly replied. It had changed somewhat now, but still.
"Huh? Ugh, I hate chivalry," Butch complained, lighting a cigarette.
"Keep quiet and keep on ridin' boys," Cassidy said, putting on a faux accent. "Yee haw!"
All at once there was a loud crack. They all froze. "Hmm, that didn't sound good," Jessie remarked. Just then a roar sounded right above the two young men!
Butch and James gasped, looking up. Their eyes widened and they screamed in terror. Boulders were falling from above and heading right for them! "Giddyap!" Butch ordered, kicking his mount into action.
"Rapidash, you too!" James insisted. Immediately the two pokémon whinnied and bolted for the end of the canyon at top speed.
"We aren't gonna make it!" Butch shouted. James screamed as a boulder plummeted right towards their heads!
"James, Butch!" Jessie, Cassidy, and Meowth screamed. The next moment the two men were blocked from sight as the boulders filled up the pass.
PKMN
"James, James!" Jessie urgently called, riding her rapidash up the mound of rocks that had finally stopped falling. Cassidy was right behind her.
"Butch! Hey Butch, stop playing around!" Cassidy shouted in fear. "Come on, answer me!"
"Oh man, what if dey've been crushed?" Meowth said in worry.
Jessie and Cassidy paled at the possibility. "James!" Jessie called again, feeling a bit frantic now.
"Butch!" Cassidy shouted.
"Finally you get my name right again," a voice replied from above. The two looked quickly up with gasps. There, casually leaning against the cliff on a ledge high above, stood James and Butch grinning victoriously. Their rapidash neighed loudly and reared up in celebration.
"How did you guys get up dere?" Meowth asked.
"Turns out rapidash jump pretty good," Butch replied.
"They acted faster than we could command," James added, petting his rapidash gratefully.
Quickly Butch and James returned to the ground with their mounts. "Shall we continue?" Butch said, bowing.
"Shall?" Cassidy incredulously asked, raising an eyebrow. She wasn't used to this sort of speak from her partner.
"I'm bein' chivalrous," Butch proudly boasted with a grin, eyes glittering teasingly. It wasn't his thing, but what the heck? He prided himself on trying new stuff. Besides, Cassidy seemed to like it. She was grinning back at him in amusement, obviously pleased with the bow.
PKMN
The group was soon at the edge of the canyon, looking down into it. "So, this is where Mew's gone to hide," Jessie remarked.
"Just great. How are we gonna get down dere?" Meowth demanded.
"Like this," Cassidy said, throwing down one of her pokeballs. From out of it sprang a charizard with a roar. "Anyone up for a ride?" Cassidy asked, grinning at the others victoriously. Jessie growled angrily, eyes narrowing as she seethed. Oh, she remembered all too well when that charizard had been taken away from her and given to Cassidy. Granted it had originally been meant for Cassidy, but still! Humph, it wasn't fair! Nonetheless, she sulkily joined James, Butch, Cassidy, and Meowth on the charizard's back.
The group recalled their rapidash, and the charizard took off into the air, flying them down into the canyon. The charizard landed safely and let its riders off. "Great flight, hon," Cassidy praised, recalling it and releasing her rapidash again. The others followed suite with their own.
The five looked around the canyon curiously. "Ooh, it's quite lush and fertile down here," James remarked as he mounted up along with Jessie.
"Great, so we don't have to sleep on rock, but what else can it offer?" Butch demanded, mounting as well with Cassidy.
"Who asked for your opinion?" James bit, eyes narrowed coldly at his rival. Butch snorted in derision and started following the stream, taking out another smoke. Cassidy followed and caught up to him, shaking her head disapprovingly at his bad habit. Jessie, James, and Meowth—who jumped up onto James' rapidash—trailed behind, grumbling and cursing their luck at being stuck with their enemies.
PKMN
"Where's dat mew?" Meowth impatiently wondered. They'd been scouring this canyon for hours now. Cassidy and Butch had even let Raticate out, starting to feel a bit antsy about being outnumbered by Jessie, James, and Meowth in a secluded area. So much for trust, they guessed.
"We've gotta catch up to it at some point," Butch slightly desperately replied to Meowth, looking around. "Ugh, I'm starving. When do we eat?"
"Here, here," James and Meowth agreed.
"Not until we find that pokémon," Jessie said. Butch scowled and lit another of his 'cancer sticks'. Maybe it would distract him from the hunger.
"Again? I can't believe you," Cassidy bit at Butch.
"Get off my case," Butch grumbled. He knew she didn't like it, but did she really expect him to kick this habit in a day? Well, she'd been pressing him to quit his chain smoking for years now, honestly, but in his defence, he'd cut back from three packs a day to around two just by smoking them right down to the filter. Hmm, somehow that didn't sound any better to him. Besides, it hadn't stopped her bi…complaining. He grimaced at the thought and took a drag before blowing the smoke out in a sharp stream right at James.
James began to cough and fell back, scowling. "Do you mind? Some of us would actually like to see forty," his rival bit sharply, annoyed.
"Bully for some of us," Butch replied.
"Let him waste away," Jessie said. "It's just one less competitor to worry about."
"Raticate, raticate!" Raticate urgently said, pointing desperately. They quickly followed his gesturing and gasped. There watching, almost fully concealed in the tree branches high above, was none other than Mew!
They gaped in shock and awe. "It's actually here," Cassidy said, stunned.
"All right, we have you now," Butch said, grinning wickedly as his eyes glittered maliciously along with the others.
"Jessica, we did it. We found it. Your mother would be proud," James remarked, smiling gently at her and squeezing her hand lightly.
Jessie was surprisingly silent as she watched Mew, sadness in her eyes as she remembered the fate that had been her mother's. Quickly, though, she snapped out of it and scowled. "Let's go!" she said.
"Right. Sableye, go!" Cassidy said.
"Mightyena, I choose you!" Butch said.
"Gourgeist, show them how it's done!" Jessie ordered.
"Inkay, prove to them who's superior!" James ordered.
"Sableye, use shadow ball!" Cassidy ordered.
"Mightyena, use hyper beam at the same time!" Butch ordered.
Immediately the two pokémon attacked in sync, sending Mew flying back with a cry of pain. Swiftly, though, Mew recovered and attacked with Levitate, trapping the two pokémon despite Sableye's resistance. "Gourgeist, quick, while he's distracted use leech seed!" Jessie ordered. Gourgeist did so, wrapping her vines tightly around Mew.
"Mew!" Mew exclaimed in dismay.
"Inkay, now, use night shade!" James ordered.
To their shock, however, Mew managed to break free of leech seed and dodge night shade. Swiftly Mew attacked powerfully, knocking both Gourgeist and Inkay down before throwing Sableye and Mightyena to the ground to join them. "Raticate, skull bash!" Cassidy ordered.
"Raticate!" Raticate exclaimed, darting forward. The poor thing didn't stand a chance against the psychic—not to mention legendary—mew, though, and was quickly thrown.
"Meowth, fury swipes now!" James ordered.
"Me?!" Meowth exclaimed.
"Yes you!" Jessie shot, kicking him forward. Meowth groaned but leapt into the air with a battle cry, slashing at Mew. He knocked it back, but the attack wasn't all that effective. The next thing he knew there was a flash, and suddenly he was on the ground dazed. He groaned and shook out of it, struggling to rise again and wincing in pain. Mew unleashed another attack, hitting the humans hard. Jessie, James, Butch, Cassidy, and Raticate flew far back with cries of pain. Meowth, however, had managed to duck. He gasped on seeing the shape his partners were in.
"Dat does it, now you've made me mad!" Meowth angrily shouted at Mew, standing. "Night slash!" With a battle cry, he attacked.
"Meowth, don't!" James cried out in terror, seeing Mew powering up psybeam. Before anything further could be done, Mew had unleashed his psybeam right into Meowth!
"It was super effective!" Butch exclaimed in alarm as Meowth flew back with a scream of anguish. Quickly Mew flew away.
"Man, the little guy packs a wallop," Meowth groaned as Jessie and James hurried to his side to ensure he was alright. Right after he said the words, he passed out. His partners gasped and quickly James gathered Meowth into his arms protectively. Jessie pulled out a blanket, wrapping it around the scratch cat. Butch and Cassidy watched after the retreating legendary in disbelief.
"This is going to be a pain in the butt," Cassidy dryly said.
"If we can't start working as a team, we ain't gonna beat this thing, Cass," Butch murmured to her quietly.
"Ugh, please. I'd sooner die than work with them," Cassidy grumbled.
"Maybe I would too, but that could be exactly what does happen to us if we don't get this thing," Butch said. "Better rethink your choice of words, babe." Cassidy winced. He made a solid point.
PKMN
They'd been travelling nonstop for hours on end. Cassidy had recalled Raticate into his pokeball. The poor thing had become exhausted. Unlike the rapidash, it wasn't built for long-distance travel. "It occurs to me, why haven't we checked our map yet?" James suddenly wondered. The others started and blinked blankly at him.
"You've gotta be fu…" Butch began.
"Butch!" Cassidy shot sharply.
"Flipping kidding me," Butch covered, nervously grinning as he sweat dropped, holding his hands up in a pacifying gesture.
"Great. Not only do we have to find Mew, but we're stuck doing it together, and our fights with one another aren't helping any of us," Jessie said as she pulled out a map to check where they were, unimpressed with this whole thing. The others murmured in agreement.
"I don't know about you guys, but I don't t'ink dere's much else we can do tonight," Meowth said as Jessie examined the map.
"Meowth's right. We should make camp here, get a good night's sleep, then continue in the morning," Jessie agreed, folding it up again and tucking it away. "There's no other decent spot to camp for miles to come after this."
"Right. Fitch, you and James go search for wood while Jessie and I set up camp and keep an eye out for Mew," Cassidy said.
"It's Butch, Butch, Butch, Butch!" Butch freaked, a vein pulsing in his head.
"Why do we have to do all the walking?" James whined.
"Because we told you to," Jessie snippily replied.
"What kinda reason is that?!" Butch demanded.
He bit his tongue on seeing the two women becoming increasingly livid. He and James swallowed. "Team Rocket's running off again!" the men exclaimed together, turning tail and fleeing from their partners. Jessie and Cassidy laughed cruelly.
"Oh brudda," Meowth said, rolling his eyes.
PKMN
"I can't believe those girls," Butch grumbled, fists clenched angrily. "What are we, their errand boys?"
"Would you rather go back and face their wrath?" James challenged.
Butch froze in place, eye twitching at the mental picture of him being skinned alive and beaten to a fine pulp. "No," he groaned, bending low down, fatigue in his eyes as he caught up to James. The duo gathered firewood stoically, hardly speaking to each other. "This sucks," Butch eventually remarked.
"What I wouldn't give for a warm bed in a five-star hotel," James lamented.
"Typical rich boy attitude," Butch grumbled.
"Humble yourself to me, pauper," James bit.
"You son of a…" Butch began. The next instant the two were tearing into each other using sticks, rocks, and whatever else they could find as a weapon on the ground.
PKMN
"Where are they? They've been gone way longer than I thought they would be," Cassidy said, scanning for them.
Jessie glanced up, initially unconcerned, but her brow furrowed thoughtfully as she remembered just how long they'd been waiting for wood. "Hmm, you may be onto something," she mused, standing and looking for their partners again. "Perhaps we should go after them."
"Don't bother, we're back," Butch grumbled as he and James dragged themselves into sight, limping
"About time," Cassidy bit. She raised an eyebrow at the state the two were in. "What happened? Run into an angry Onix?"
"More like an angry Batch," James replied.
"It's Butch and you know it! James started it!" Butch said, pointing accusngly.
"Real mature, Kutch," Cassidy said to her partner, frowning.
"The name is Butch! Get off my case," Butch replied, reaching into his bag and pulling out his cigarettes. Cassidy gave him a disgusted and appalled look. "What?" he demanded, put out at her expression.
"You know what," she replied. He harrumphed and lit one of the smokes up, inhaling a deep lungful and blowing it in her direction. She scoffed and turned her back on him, nose in the air. Jessie grimaced. This was going to be a long, long trip.
PKMN
Butch and Cassidy watched from beside the fire as Jessie and James teased Meowth by rolling a shiny ball back and forth between them, which Meowth desperately tried to ensnare in his claws, hissing at his failures to catch it and inwardly cursing Jessie and James for playing on this weakness of his. "Humph, you'd think they were a couple of proud parents playin' with their kid," Butch remarked, taking a drag of his cigarette and tapping the ash off the end.
"You need to break that habit before it kills you, Ponch," Cassidy bit, but she let it go at that. Goodness knew how many times she'd told him the same thing before. It hadn't stopped him yet. The man was obstinate when it came to breaking this addiction. If he really wanted to, she'd bet money he was stubborn enough to quit cold turkey. She wasn't ready to give up, yet, but she was fast losing her hope and faith in him.
"You're messing it up on purpose! For the last time, my name is Butch! Ugh, forget it. Did you even hear what I said?" he asked, glaring at her.
"Proud parents," Cassidy replied, watching their rivals. She shook her head at the scene. "Look at that sorry sight."
"Mmm hmm," he replied, watching in vague interest.
"You know what's sorrier?" she asked.
"What?" he asked, taking another drag and blowing out the smoke.
"I almost wish I was part of it," she replied. He started, looking over at her in shock. "Not with them, ugh no, but just, you know the whole team bond thing. I mean, ugh, I don't know. Forget I said anything."
He tilted his head to the side, reading her silently. Shrugging, he took another lungful of nicotine before snuffing it out and slowly blowing the smoke out of his mouth, ponderously watching their rivals. "I thought we had a pretty good relationship," he remarked.
"It's not that," Cassidy replied with a sigh. "Believe me, if I regretted having you as a partner you would know it."
He smirked and chuckled. "Was that a compliment?" he asked.
"Don't push your luck, tough-guy," she warned dangerously, glaring at him. He backed off, putting his hands up in a pacifying gesture.
"Goodnight Cass," he said, rolling over and closing his eyes. She watched him silently a moment before turning back to Jessie and James, who were returning to the fire.
"Right. Goodnight Butch," she replied before lying down as well to try and get some sleep.
"It's… oh wait, you got it right," he said. She smirked conspiratorially to herself.
PKMN
The next morning they rode through the canyon, James a fair distance behind. After being thrown off his rapidash—James was an incredibly talented rider given his background, but when Butch had snuck a burr onto the poor thing's back without his noticing, all the skill in the world couldn't have saved him. He was lucky he wasn't a pile of ash—he'd opted not to ride for this stretch. He'd told them to go ahead, as they were all still on their mounts. Jessie wasn't about to do any such thing. Who knew what dangers lurked in this canyon? They'd been lucky in not running into any serpentine pokémon, but she wasn't going to let her guard down because of that. Cassidy and Butch, while impatient to keep going, knew better than to separate from Jessie and James in uncharted territory. Not that they couldn't handle it alone, of course, it was just… they didn't plan to. Besides, Jessie was carrying all the food.
Butch, by now, was regretting his prank. It would be a wimp like James to refuse to ride after one bad fall. He should have known better. "We should be at the waterfall pretty soon here," he remarked to Cassidy.
"Finally," Cassidy replied, rolling her eyes. "I guess we'll have to see how narrow the trail is before deciding whether to ride or walk across."
"Yep," Butch replied simply.
Soon enough the five had reached the crossing. "So, I guess this means no riding," Jessie remarked, skeptically judging it while James shivered in terror, knees knocking. Even Butch looked uncertain about this.
"Humph, it's nothing we can't handle," Cassidy insisted, springing from her rapidash and calling it back. Jessie and Butch followed her lead.
"Single file it is, then," Jessie said.
"Um, I think I'll stay here. You know, sort of a checkpoint," James replied, innocently grinning and rubbing the back of his neck. The others growled at him, intimidatingly glaring. He sweat dropped. "Or not," he said. They backed off and he sighed helplessly. Crossing this waterfall was the last thing he wanted to try. All he had to do was peek over the edge and he could see the cascade right there, for crying out loud.
"Dat's some drop," Meowth uneasily said.
"Well, let's go… So, who wants to cross first?" Cassidy said. They couldn't stay here forever, after all.
For a while no one volunteered. Finally, Jessie exasperatedly said, "Humph, I suppose I'll have to go first, then. Whiners."
"I'll go next," James said, not about to let Jessie out there on that godforsaken ledge without some reliable backup. It was unlikely Cassidy or Butch would go out of their way to help her should she slip and fall. He swallowed fearfully and lined up behind his partner.
"I'll follow Jim," Meowth said.
"I'll cross fourth. Fooch, take up the rear," Cassidy said.
"The name is Butch!" Butch barked angrily.
"Oh right, Bilch. Well, look at the bright side. At least you're not the only one with the name issues. Look at poor Professor Bumba," Cassidy said. Her phone rang and she frowned curiously, picking it up. "Hello?" she asked.
"It's Namba!" a furious voice yelled. She grimaced and hung up. What, did he have them bugged or something? It was uncanny, and a little creepy, how that man just seemed to know.
"Who cares?" Butch sulkily grumbled, kicking a rock with a pout.
PKMN
"Be careful. It's slippery around here," Jessie warned, taking the slick rocks around the middle into careful consideration and navigation as they moved across the ledge. James cried out in terror, almost falling before catching himself, heart pounding. "Ooh, James! How dare you almost give me a heart attack?" she yelled furiously at him.
"You? What about me?" he demanded, shaking like a leaf. She rolled her eyes and continued. Carefully Butch and Cassidy made their way passed the slick part. Meowth's claws were dug as deep into the stone as possible, and he was near panic.
"Hey, we're almost th…" Cassidy began. All of a sudden, a large portion of the ledge crumbled beneath her and Meowth! With a scream she tumbled towards the waterfall below.
"Meowth!" James exclaimed, moving fast and catching the pokémon. Meowth clung to him tightly, freaking out.
"Cassidy!" Butch cried out, leaping to try and catch his partner's hand. It was too late, and the other four watched in horror as she plummeted into the raging river! "Cass, no!" Butch cried out.
"Butch!" she screamed in terror as she was swept over the waterfall. Butch cursed loudly, and before either James or Jessie could react, he'd swan dived over the edge.
"Have you lost your mind, man?!" James called after him in horror and alarm.
"Butch!" Jessie cried out. "James, Meowth, hurry it up!" Swiftly she and her teammates crossed to the other side and raced down the path towards the valley below.
PKMN
Butch broke the water at the base of the falls neatly and began swimming downwards, desperate to find her. Fervently his eyes scanned the water, but he could hardly see given the way the cascade churned the water at the bottom. Add that to the current that was trying to pull him away, and it equalled a mess he wasn't sure he could escape. He kept moving towards the bottom, where the current wouldn't be so strong. Squinting through the silt he started, nearly catching his breath before remembering he was underwater. It was Cassidy, and she was trapped beneath the heavy rocks that had fallen out from under her!
He dove quickly, furiously swimming until he reached the bottom. She was writhing and struggling, almost panicking in fact. Her features were contorted in terror and he realized quickly that she wouldn't last long in this state. Her panic would cut back drastically on the time she had left, and there was little enough of that as it was. Firmly he seized her hand, snapping her back to herself. She looked sharply up at him and her eyes became relieved. She clung to his hand almost painfully. He brushed her hair out of her face then let go, trying to shove the largest rock that had pinned her off. If he could move it, the rest would come easy. She was in tears, he saw. The fear written on her face… His heart sank to the pit of his stomach as he met her eyes. Why wasn't this damn thing moving?! He pushed even harder, closing his eyes and straining to push it. Easier said than done, given the river's current and the fact that he was fast running out of air.
All at once he felt her take his arm firmly. He looked at her. She was shaking her head negatively, conveying to him without words that it was too late and that she was done for. She pointed towards the surface and, eyes quivering with the threat of tears, bravely smiled at him. He felt as if his chest had twisted into a tiny ball of needles. He shook his head vehemently, scowling determinedly at her. He tried again to move the rock using another stone as leverage. She seized his arm again and shook her head at him a second time. No, he wasn't leaving her, he wasn't!
Cassidy, hold on…
His eyes pled with her not to give up. She sobbed and he saw the air leaving her lungs. He almost panicked, diving at his partner and covering both her nose and her mouth tightly, desperately shaking his head as he silently begged her not to give up. She was shivering, he felt. She was terrified… But her eyes begged him to save himself… Well that was a first.
He bent suddenly, covering her mouth with his and sharing part of what little air he had left with her. Immediately he turned back to the rock, this time trying at a different angle. If he went with the current instead of perpendicular to it, perhaps he'd have better luck. Sure enough it began to move. He looked down at her, though, and saw her exhale her last bit of air. He panicked, shoving with a strength he hadn't even begun to think he possessed. The rock rolled off her and he seized her tightly, pulling her free of the rest of the stone and rubble holding her down. He was on the verge of passing out, but he had to get her to the surface, he had to!
Butch pushed off from the bottom and swiftly broke the water, gasping for breath. She wasn't breathing, he realized. She wasn't breathing! "Cassidy, don't do this, don't leave me!" he begged desperately, swimming her towards land. "Jessie, James, help!" He saw them hurrying down the path, but they were still some distance away. He dragged her onto the bank and laid her down, quickly checking for a pulse. It was still beating, but it was faint. He cursed loudly and quickly began pushing on her chest, utilizing CPR. He'd never actually thought he'd have to use it, but right now he was thanking the gods that be that he hadn't lost it. "Come on, Cass, come on," he pled. He bent, plugging her nose and sealing her mouth as he breathed air into her lungs a few times before returning to pushing on her chest. "Wake up!" he shouted desperately. He sealed her lips again, breathing more fervently. He sobbed, drawing back and brushing a strand of hair from her face. "Please, please wake up," he begged through the tears burning in his eyes. So much for the tough-guy image, he wryly thought.
He continued carrying out artificial respiration until he could hardly breathe anymore. He cursed himself a million times for not quitting smoking long ago, especially if it had something to do with how out of breath he was now. He gasped for air as he pushed on her chest, trying to get her to breathe again as well as himself. Damn, damn, damn! If he wasn't able to keep this up, she would die! Jessie, James, and Meowth looked on in shock as they raced to reach the other two. "Not good," Meowth worriedly said, speeding up.
"Cassidy, Cassidy come on, I know you can hear me. I know you can pull through. Come back and I swear to you I'll never smoke another cigarette as long as I live," he begged. "Just-just come back." He tried again to breathe air into her lungs, but found he had little to give anymore. He could hardly breathe for himself let alone her too.
James grit his teeth, putting on a burst of speed, and quickly covered the distance between them, sliding to a stop next to Cassidy and immediately taking over for Butch and breathing air into her. There was no possible way that Butch could keep up the mouth-to-mouth any longer. It was nothing short of a miracle he'd lasted this long. "Keep doing the compressions. I'll do the breathing," James said. Butch nodded frantically and continued. Jessie and Meowth reached them and stood to the side worriedly, watching on.
All at once Cassidy began coughing, water expelling from her lungs as she turned her head to spit it out. She gasped for breath, looking dizzily back up at Butch. "Cassidy!" he exclaimed in delight, grinning widely and hopefully.
She blinked up at him confusedly. His eyes were amazing, she determined. She'd always marvelled at the way they would change color from brown to dark purple depending on the light or what he was feeling. Sometimes they would combine, bringing about the most beautiful shade of dark puce or mahogany… It was so easy to become lost in them. Perhaps that was why she always avoided gazing into those eyes at all costs. She'd never held them for more than a few seconds for fear she'd end up doing something she'd regret. All at once she shook out of her stupor, remembering what had happened. "I-I told you to leave me," she breathed, cursing her own thoughts about the eyes.
"That wasn't gonna happen and you know it," Butch replied with a snort of derision.
She smiled weakly and teased, her voice hoarse, "I probably would have been better off. You just cut off about three years of my life with your lungs."
He frowned. He'd walked right into that one. "Don't get cute," he bit. Just because he deserved the dig didn't mean he couldn't take offense. She chuckled weakly at him, her eyes tired. After a moment she reached up suddenly, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down to her, burying herself in his body. She had been badly shaken, and right now her partner was her comfort. She felt protected in his arms, tears burning her eyes as she realized how close she'd come to death. He held her all the nearer, closing his eyes tightly as his hand found a way to get entangled in her dripping hair.
"I heard your promise," she said to him. He stiffened, eyes widening. Did she really expect him to carry it through? If she did he'd try of course, but… "I doubt you'd have the guts, strength, or will-power to keep it, though," she added, interrupting his thought process. He winced at her words, muscles tensing ever so slightly. Ouch with a capital O-U-C-H. Cassidy looked over and frowned curiously. "You helped too, James?" she asked, a bit surprised.
"Of course I did, Cassidy," James answered. "It was that or watch you…" He trailed off. They all knew what he had been about to say. Cassidy shuddered. She let out a soft moan, closing her eyes and going limp.
"Cass? Cassidy?" Butch fearfully said, looking down at her. She opened her eyes tiredly.
"Let her be. She must be exhausted," Jessie said. "Perhaps we should make camp and rest a while."
"I'm fine!" Cassidy adamantly insisted. "We need to continue and cover some ground or we're only going to fail."
"Forget it Cass, we ain't leavin' this spot until at least tomorrow morning," Butch said.
"Yes we are, even if you have to carry me!" Cassidy shot.
"Cassidy…!" Butch tried to protest.
"You carry me or I walk, simple as that," she cut off.
"We have the rapidash still," James pointed out. The others started, flushing. Wow, they really weren't used to having reliable transportation that wasn't, you know, their own two feet. They kept forgetting about those darn things.
"Rapidash it is then," Cassidy said, trying to rise and only falling back down with a whimper.
"You can't ride on your own. You can sit in front of me. I'll make sure you don't fall and break your neck," Butch said with a sigh, relenting. It was apparent he wasn't winning the argument to stay here. Cassidy nodded in agreement.
PKMN
They didn't ride for very long before Butch all but forced a stop. Cassidy was quaking in his arms, body vibrating with the cold. No doubt a chill. He fought back the urge to tell her he told her so. Jessie and James began setting up a fire. Butch wrapped her up tight in blankets. "You should get out of the wet clothes. They're what's makin' you cold," he said.
"In front of Jessie and James? No thanks," Cassidy replied through chattering teeth.
"Jess might have a spare outfit for you. Cass, you have to get dry!" Butch insisted. Cassidy was quiet. "Look, Jessie and James aren't gonna care one way or another. Just strip under the blankets and no one'll be the wiser."
"Okay! Fine," Cassidy relented. She sighed and got under them. Butch held them closed around her as she got out of the wet clothing and threw it off to the side.
"Jess, tell me you have some spare clothes or something," Butch pled, looking at Jessie.
"Hmm? Oh," Jessie said. She rose, going to her bag, and dug around in it a bit before pulling out the black uniform she'd worn in Unova for a while. "Here you go," she said, walking over and handing it to the miserable looking Cassidy. Butch was drying her off as best he could. She took the clothes, nodding a thanks to her rival, and began to change into them. Butch pulled her into his arms and brought her close to the fire to warm up.
"W-we're l-losing too-too much time," Cassidy said. "We-we have to-to find Mew. We should-should split up. Jessie, James, and Meowth can-can go ahead and keep scouting it out. When we're ready we-we can head off on our own to t-try and find it another way."
"We'd end up in competition with one another and you know it," James said, frowning.
"Giovanni won't-won't give a d-damn if we can-can bring that thing back," Cassidy replied.
"You'll just steal all the credit!" Jessie protested.
"Like you wouldn't do the same!" Cassidy snapped. "Look, we have a mission to complete and right now we're-we're really sucking at-at it."
Jessie and James exchanged looks, then looked at Meowth who was frowning in concern. The pokémon shrugged. "She has a point. Plus, if we beat dem to Mew we get de credit and de boss throws dem under de bus."
"Ah ha," Jessie and James both said, lighting up.
"Let's go," Jessie said.
"Right," James agreed.
Jessie and James summoned their rapidash and leapt on, Meowth sharing with James. "Team Rocket's racing off again!" the three said together, galloping away.
"Ugh, what a buncha creeps," Butch said, scowling.
"I wouldn't be too concerned. When have Jessie and James ever done anything right? We have this in the bag," Cassidy said. Butch sighed in frustration but nodded nonetheless.
