Butch stretched as he pulled his pajama shirt off of his head. 'It's Saturday again,' he thought, hoping that this week would be less life-threatening than the last. "CASSIDY!" he screamed. "CALL THE OTHER TEAM!" He listened for her assent and smiled when he got it. This Saturday night would be awesome and zombie-free.
Rose hummed to herself as she drove to Butch and Cassidy's apartment. She grinned when she saw James's car parked in the parking area. "I wonder how everyone's doing," she wondered aloud and set off for Cassidy and Butch's apartment.
As she walked in, she saw everyone seated somewhere, discussing something. Butch smiled and welcomed her, pulling out a chair for her to use. She thanked him and continued to listen.
"Do you want to go to the movies?" Meowth asked, a gleam in his eye. "The new movie 'Night of the Living Dead' just came out and-"
"No." Butch cut him off. "I want to do something fun this Saturday. How about we, hm..."
"Go to the mall?" James suggested. Everyone looked at him strangely, thinking that his was a slightly girlish response. James noticed that and blushed. "I mean, to go to the arcade and get ice cream. But the girls can shop if they want," he added.
"That sounds pretty fun!" Marie said. "We could play games at the arcade, and get ice cream and just hang out! Cool!" she exclaimed. "And we'll get to spend a lot of time together, like one big happy Team Rocket!" She quickly whispered to the audience, "That line was from Pokemon. It is not ours." She then turned back.
Jessie hopped up, excitedly anxious. "If we're going to the mall, then I need to dress properly!" she shrieked, running into Cassidy's room where she kept a stash of clothes for these emergencies.
Rose laughed at Jessie's vanity and put her arm around James. "So, what are you gonna do when we get there?" she asked him, smiling. He took her hand and they walked into the hallway, where Cassidy had insisted beanbags were strewn around the area. They each sank into one and chatted.
That left Marie, Butch and Cassidy, who jumped up to make sure Jessie wasn't using her flat iron. So, that left Marie and Butch. They looked awkwardly at one another for a little while before slowly getting up. Marie smiled at Butch and hugged him quickly before fleeing to Cassidy's room. Butch sighed and smiled.
When Marie walked down the short hallway to Cassidy's room, she nearly tripped over Rose's outstretched leg. Marie looked over and smiled at the adorable sight. James had his arms around Rose and Rose was snuggled next to him with an arm wrapped around his. They were both sound asleep, James snoring softly and the both of them smiling.
Marie suddenly heard a shriek of anger from Cassidy's room. It was probably Cassidy herself, roaring in an infuriated rage about Jessie using her flat iron improperly. Rose stirred slightly in her sleep, but did not awaken. Marie swiftly walked through to stop Jessie from attacking Cassidy with the dangerous hair styling appliance.
Butch emerged from his room, dressed in a black t-shirt and a pair of dark jeans. As he was about to walk to the door, he too nearly stepped on Rose's leg. He gently shook James awake and told him that it would be seven soon. That's when they were going to the mall. James blushed immediately when he realized the position he was in. He shook Rose, trying to wake her up. She opened her eyes and looked at him. She, instead of being nervous about their position, smiled softly and gave James a small kiss before walking into the bathroom to change into the emergency clothing that she had been told to bring over to their apartment.
James stared with wide eyes. "What?..." Butch smiled at James's blatant ignorance.
"She likes you," he said, chuckling at James's bright red face. "Do you like her back?"
James shrugged nervously. "I don't know... The only person I've ever slightly liked was Cassidy for a little while," he admitted embarrassedly. "But I do really like Rose as a friend, so... Am I friend-zoning her?" Realization came crashing down. "But I do like her! I do!"
"Okay, man," Butch said, laughing. "Calm down! But listen," he said, beckoning James closer. "Will you tell her you like her at the mall tonight?" he whispered. James gulped nervously. "Do it for me and my slim chance with Marie." To that, James nodded.
He walked into Butch's room and proceeded to remove his Team Rocket uniform and put on his more 'normal' looking clothes. You can't go to the mall in a Team Rocket uniform, you know! He was wearing a green button-up shirt and jeans.
He stepped out of the room to a stylish sight. Cassidy stood before him, posing. She was in pink, pink, and more pink designer clothing. James could have named any popular clothing store and he would have found at least a stitch of it on Cassidy.
Jessie was also in designer clothing, but hers was completely blue. It was all, once again, name brand. James looked to both of the girls and smiled.
Marie was in an orange shirt and jeans. Naturally, nobody but Butch noticed her. He complimented her on her outfit, to which she replied with a light punch to the arm.
Cassidy whispered something to Jessie, who barely held in her hysterical laughter. She then whispered the same thing to Marie, who laughed quietly and whispered it to Butch, who gave her a funny glance but smiled all the same, who whispered it to Meowth, who laughed for a solid twenty seconds before whispering it to Rose, who gave Cassidy an annoyed glance and went up to James.
"James, apparently you were 'totally checking Cassidy out and stuff because you thought she looked so...hot,'" she said, angered.
James looked irritably at Cassidy and took a look at what Rose was wearing. She was in a dark blue-and-white striped shirt with a pair of denim shorts, with her hair up in a messy bun and her glasses on her face.
"Let's go," she said loudly, brushing past Cassidy and walking out the door with James. She pushed him into the passenger's seat of her car (With his assent, of course. She just wanted to look dramatic) and got in herself before driving to the mall.
The others followed her. Once they reached the mall, they met up with each other at the entrance and walked in.
"It's so crowded!" Cassidy yelled over the voices of others.
"What else do you expect from the front entrance of a mall on a Saturday night?!" Jessie snapped in reply. Before the whole thing could get out of hand and turn into a fistfight, James stepped in to the rescue!
"Why don't you go head to that new Pokemon boutique? I know how you love dressing up your Pokemon!" James suggested, beaming. Jessie and Cassidy nodded and raced off at once, hand in hand.
Butch shook his head and sighed. "Women..." Marie and Rose glared at him. He backed away, mostly from Marie. He didn't think (and was half right) that Rose had the ability to pick a fight with him, or anyone for that matter. Marie stalked up to him and slapped him in the face.
'It's been a long time since I've done that,' thought Marie, smirking. Butch stuttered for a while before just continuing on, with James, Rose and Marie in tow. They all walked into the arcade.
Jessie and Cassidy arrived back with several bags at the speed of light. They automatically spotted Butch and Marie, who were playing Ski-Ball and constantly comparing scores. Jessie and Cassidy laughed as Marie rendered herself triumphant over Butch, who had a score of five hundred.
Jessie and Cassidy were surprised to see a huge group of people surrounding the Dance Dance Revolution. "What do you think is going on?" Cassidy asked Jessie.
Jessie shrugged her shoulders. "Let's go find out," she said. They shoved their way through the large crowd until they could see who was playing DDR and attracting the crowd.
Rose and James were playing Dance Dance Revolution and totally winning. They were both doing the fastest song, on the hardest level. Every few seconds, they would glance to each other and smile.
In the end, James won that song. They shook hands with a "Good game" and Rose invited someone else to compete against her. She decided on a sixteen year old girl with strawberry-blond hair and a purple t-shirt. Rose, attempting to go easy on the girl, chose a slow song.
James meandered away, listening to the music from the DDR machine. He met up with Butch and Marie, who were now at the prize counter. Marie dumped her one thousand tickets out of a bag that she had Jessie's Lickitung... empty, as Butch pitifully set down five tickets. Marie decided to get a life-size cutout of Brock.
"Why?" Butch asked.
"... Because," Marie reluctantly answered, trying to hide the Sharpie marker in her pocket. Poor Brock cutout, it won't get a girlfriend with a mustache and a monocle, will it?
James dug into his pockets, trying to find the rest of his tokens. He had five left, so he decided to use four on DDR and play a round of Ski-Ball. He headed up to the Ski-Ball machine and received a reasonable score of ten thousand nine hundred.
He headed over to the DDR machine after tucking the tickets away in his pocket. Rose stood, downtrodden, next to the girl, who was smiling brightly.
"She whupped my butt!" Rose wailed quietly. "Leslie was pretty good," she complimented her partner. Leslie smiled.
She suddenly dashed away, heading for joyous Marie and her brand new Brock cutout. She smashed her fist right into its face. "Why did you do that?!" Marie screamed. "There's a hole in his face!"
In fear of being 'politely ushered' out by the worker, Leslie slipped away, never to be seen for the rest of the night.
The seven made their way to the Friendly's on the third floor of the mall. They all piled into an elevator, Jessie being the one closest to the buttons. She pressed a classified button, grinned sinisterly and whispered her idea to Cassidy. Apparently, they had bonded on their trip to the Pokemon boutique.
Cassidy giggled. The plan sure was fun. It was basically to see how their friends, um... liked elevators. The elevator slowly started to rise and Rose glued herself to the glass wall, staring at the moving floors. James clung to her arm and refused to look out the window/wall.
Butch was standing awkwardly next to Marie, who was clinging to his arm. Butch put an arm around her. "Wait..." Butch muttered. "Weren't we supposed to stop at the third floor?" From what everyone could tell, they had passed two floors.
James buried himself in the crook of Rose's neck, while she laughed with glee at the speed and height of the elevator. Marie had Butch's arm in a death grip, and Butch still just stood there. Jessie and Cassidy still stood in the front of the elevator, grinning to each other.
The elevator came to an abrupt stop, shuddering a bit. "AWESOME! Let's do it again!" Rose cheered, grinning. Marie looked like she was about to vomit. Butch had an arm around Marie and was furious. James was huddled up against Rose, who had her arms around James. He was blushing slightly, but fearful all the same.
"Jessie, you pressed the button, didn't you?!" Butch said, his voice rising with every word.
"Yes, but that was SO funny to watch!" Jessie replied, laughing with Cassidy. Rose, fun time aside, put an arm protectively around James and stomped up to the buttons. She pressed floor three and glared stubbornly at Cassidy and Jessie for the second time that night.
"You scared him and Marie half to death!" she yelled as the elevator slowly descended. "Sure, I was having the time of my life, but they weren't!" She threw her arms around James. He hugged back, shocked, but not in the least upset.
Butch and Marie walked out of the elevator, Marie with her arm around his shoulders. "Thank you," she whispered. Then, once they stepped out of the elevator, she angrily said, "This is for making me look like a wimp!" She promptly slapped him in the face and chatted with Cassidy.
Rose and James lagged behind, talking about things like what they were going to get at Friendly's. Butch slowly walked behind the others, counting on his fingers how many times he had been rejected by Marie. Let's just say that he ran out of fingers.
Finally, the group of teenagers (and Meowth) headed to Friendly's to order their creamy frozen delicacy.
"May I have your name, sir?" the waitress asked kindly. Butch nodded.
"It's Butch," he replied, smiling. Marie glared at the young Friendly's worker. Cassidy and Jessie giggled as they witnessed the scene unfold.
The group ordered. The waitress grinned at Butch as they took their seats.
The waitress called out when the ice cream was ready, "Biff's ice cream is ready!" Butch ignored it, assuming it was another man. The waitress faltered for a moment. "Or, was it Bill? Yes, Bill!" she announced. Butch tensed slightly.
"Buffy? Ben? Butcher? Ponch? Clutch? Hooch? Futch? Buzz?" After going through nearly every name that resembled his, the waitress yelled triumphantly, "I've got it! It's-" Butch stood up gratefully to get their ice cream "-Bob!"
Butch leapt up onto the tabletop and began to scream. "IT'S BUTCH! NOT ANY OF THOSE PATHETIC NAMES THAT YOU JUST UTTERED WITH YOUR SAD EXCUSE OF A MOUTH!"
He calmly climbed off of the table and took the ice cream from the countertop. "Thank you," he said to the waitress's cowering figure as he set them on the group's table.
James guided Rose to another table where they could sit and talk privately. "So, James... Why are we here? Butch was just telling me about the time he and Professor Namba both had their names mispronounced at the same time!" Rose questioned.
James cleared his throat nervously. "You, um, like me, right?"
"Well, of course!" Rose answered. "We're best friends, right?"
James looked her in the eyes. Once again, blue reflected into James's big emerald eyes. "I mean as more than best friends?"
Rose stared, shocked. But then she answered. "Yeah. I think so. Yes." The others stared intently as James and Rose looked to each other. Rose found herself getting lost in emerald eyes, which were curiously full of tears.
"Because I don't know if I can say I feel the same." He dashed off into the kids' shoe store next to the Friendly's.
Meowth's ice cream fell out of the cone and on to the floor with a 'splat.' His eyes were open wide. Marie stared in shock at the scene. Cassidy bustled off to clean up Meowth's ice cream, because she never really cared about Rose anyways.
Rose's eyes welled up with tears behind her glasses. She suddenly ran into Butch's arms, sobbing into his shirt. He awkwardly put his arm around her and whispered comforting words to her.
Marie looked sadly at Rose. The immediate thing that registered was that Rose had her arms around her Butch. 'Selfish,' Marie thought crossly. 'Rose was just turned down by James!'
Rose walked into the store silently. She saw James sitting on a bench in the far corner. He looked like he was thinking.
Rose went over and sat beside him.
"When I said I didn't know," James started hesitantly, "I didn't mean it. I do know now."
"And?" Rose asked, resting her head on his shoulder and taking his hand.
"I just want to," James sighed, "wait."
Rose looked unsure. "So, we're not in a relationship, right?"
"Right."
"I'm okay with that for now." Rose smiled and got up. James followed.
The whole matter was resolved, and Meowth ordered a new ice cream only to trip and have it land all over his face. Cassidy was really unhappy about that.
Jessie and Cassidy automatically started to argue the second they stepped out of the mall. "Where'd you park the car?!" Cassidy demanded.
"I DIDN'T PARK! Butch did!" Jessie yelled. Both looked to Butch.
Sensing an argument, Rose grabbed James, Jessie and Meowth. "We'll be going!" she called as they hurried to the car. It drove away, the black car blending in with the night.
The others ventured out into the parking lot, armed only with the flashlight apps on their phones. They searched far and wide.
Finally, Cassidy located the car. It was silver with a red R on the right side.
As they were about to unlock it, a man ran up to them. "Get away from my car!"
Cassidy, Butch and Marie bolted, seeing that the person had a red R on his shirt. It must have been his.
Finally, Cassidy located the RIGHT car and they drove back to Cassidy and Butch's apartment.
Butch was up late on the toilet. He had his laptop and was looking intently at something that looked like an engine on PokeBay.
"BUTCH!" Cassidy screamed from outside. "You know that using the Internet too long makes the toilet break down!"
"What?" he asked incredulously.
Cassidy blushed from outside the door. "I mean when you always sit on the toilet too long because you have your laptop, it clogs up."
"OH!" Butch sighed in realization. "Kay, I'm going now."
"Night, Butch," Cassidy called.
"Night, Cassidy." Butch gave her a hug before leaving for his room, still with the laptop and the strange PokeBay product.
A/N: Woohoo! This was so fun to write! I really liked writing the elevator scene. That actually happened in real life! My dad pressed the top button without telling Marie and I and we went all the way up! I also liked writing the thing about the toilet. XD
What Butch is looking at on PokeBay is a hint to the next chapter ;)
My friend on the bus, who owns Leslie, helped me write a LOT of this chapter! It was so fun, and we had a lot of laughs while working on this. Thanks! :)
Stay tuned for the next chapter, and PLEASE review! We work so hard on each of these chapters, and it's some of the longest stuff we've written. It would mean the world (and some PokeBalls *where?!* XD) to us!
Rose :D
