Once they reported in via portable video-phone the following day and were complimented for a job well done ("For once" the executive sneered, and James had to nudge Jessie in the side after he saw she was about to flip out at him), they asked what their next mission would be.
The executive shuffled through some papers on his desk before adjusting his glasses and saying, "To be frank, we didn't really think you lot would get this far so...we don't have another assignment for you yet."
"So now what?!" asked Meowth.
"Just continue to scout out possible targets, get ahold of any resources...you know. We'll contact you soon when we have another job lined up," with a smirk he added, "Don't make too much of a mess of things in the meantime, okay? Later!"
He disconnected the call before they, specifically Jessie, could respond. A wise move, as she lunged for the device, shaking it and snarling for him to say that again to her face.
Dropping it, she stomped away before whirling, one fist in the air, "That's it! These little side quests have been fun, and yes we've done well, but it's time we got back to our main objective; nabbing that rotten rodent!"
Meowth unsheathed his claws, "Let's get 'em!"
Raising a finger, James piped up, "Are we sure? Like even he said, we've been doing a good job lately. Couldn't we just stick to this?"
Planting her hands on her hips, Jessie scoffed, "We'll never get the success and fortune we want this way! We need something big to put us on top!"
"And finally catchin' dat Pikachu is the ticket!" nodded Meowth.
James sighed, fighting the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, "Fine. But this time we really need to think hard, figure out what we've been doing wrong and try to overcome it!"
"And we will!" she nearly danced up to him, throwing her arms around his neck, "That's the spirit; out-smart and conquer! We'll get them yet!"
Looking into her bright eyes, full of fire and determination, he couldn't help but feel some of his old energy, the kind he used to feel every day, begin to return. That dismal feeling dissolved as he felt that maybe, just maybe, she was right. And even if they failed again, he knew they'd still have each other.
Straightening himself with a grin, he hugged her back and chuckled, "That's right!"
"Hey!" said Meowth, eyeing their embrace with further suspicion, "Quit stealin' my lines! Also dere's one lil' hitch wit dis plan..."
"What?" they asked, stepping apart as they noted the feline's expression.
Crossing his arms, Meowth asked, "Do we got any clue where dose brats are headin'?"
In truth, it only took a couple days to track down Ash and his friends. After all this time, they had become quite skilled in following his movements. The young man was fairly predictable in them, anyway. Relying on the element of surprise and the fact they hadn't attacked them for some time, they pounced just as the group was relaxing and eating lunch. Unfortunately, they hadn't counted on them having a new friend, whose newly-evolved and high-level Nidoking was more than happy to send them flying-which it did.
Hanging from tree limbs a ways off a few minutes later, Jessie struggled and screamed curses as James and Meowth sighed in resignation, the latter saying, "If it wadn't for dat Nidoking-"
Giving up on untangling her hair from some vines for the moment, Jessie snorted, "Yes, I know; we would have won! Now then...I say we follow and keep an eye on them. This new friend of theirs may be temporary-they have a lot of those-and if so we simply wait until he's gone. If not, we make a plan to disable that beast long enough to nab Pikachu. For the rest of today..." she disgustedly picked some leaves from her shirt and wearily suggested, "We take a break..."
"Here, here..." her companions groaned.
In the evening, after getting themselves settled, James and Meowth were getting dinner together when Jessie grabbed a towel and her toiletries from her bag, declaring she was going to get a bath in a nearby stream.
"Come get me when it's almost done!" she said over her shoulder as she walked away.
"Da least she could do is get s'more firewood or somethin'!" Meowth complained when he was certain she was out of ear-shot.
Making his way through the brush a little while later, James called to Jessie as he approached the stream she had gone to. He could hear the rush of water growing steadily louder but was still getting no response from her. Fighting back a stab of irrational panic, he drew a deep breath, cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled her name nearly as loud as he could. Now he heard a faint but distinct response a short ways ahead. Relaxing, he smiled and pushed through some tall, dense bushes near the stream's edge. Once on the other side, he looked up and froze in place. She was about half-way out in the water, kneeling so she was submerged almost to the shoulder. Her back was to him as she ran her fingers through a section of her hair, the rest of it floating about her. The setting sun made the water sparkle, shone off her wet skin and set her hair afire.
Turning, she said, "Is the food ready?"
His mouth hung open a little, and it took her giving him a questioning look before his brain snapped back and he replied, "Y-yeah, it'll be ready shortly."
She felt her face break into an evil grin, unable to hide her inner thoughts. Looking at him with that flushed, admiring, 'I-want-you-but-I'm-attempting-to-be-a-gentleman-here' expression, she couldn't help but give him what he sought...and her as well.
As he started to awkwardly walk away, she called, "Hold on a second!"
He spun back around, "Hmm?"
She stood up in the shallow water, her long hair just barely covering her and smiled boldly, "If you're going to watch me, you might as well join me."
Momentarily stunned, his mouth hanging open at the sight of the gorgeous creature before him, he recovered enough to kick off his boots and start removing the rest of his clothes, "I guess I could use a bath myself...but Meowth will be suspicious why it's taking so long for us to get back!"
"Pfft, let him," she casually said, then as James passed her pile of stuff she added, "Wait-look in the outer pocket of my bag-no, the other pocket-yeah that one...you're gonna need that."
He held up the small foil packet and asked, trying to sound more confident than he felt being completely naked at the moment, "Oh really? ...Were you planning this?"
Jessie responded, "A lady is always prepared."
James slipped into the cool water, which after the hot day and their earlier mishap, felt amazingly soothing. The closer he waded to her, however, the faster his heart raced. Grinning, she suddenly splashed him and moved out a little farther to where the water was deeper. With a laugh he followed, slapping some water back at her and she shrieked with laughter as well. Reaching out, she grabbed his arm and pulled him against herself, leaning up to press her lips to his. Breaking away, he turned slightly to fumble with the packet and it's contents. Achieving this, he twisted back around and pulled her into his arms.
"What was that about being prepared?" he smirked.
Biting her lip she wondered, "Am I in trouble...?"
"More than double..."
She hopped up, winding her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, letting the water help hold her up as he grasped her hips.
"Good..." she whispered against his cheek.
And then he was inside her, and the rest of the world disappeared.
Back at camp, Meowth tapped his paw impatiently on the ground and hissed to himself, "If dose two don't show up soon, I'm eatin' all dis food myself!"
Stepping back into the clearing some time later, the pair were met with a very irritated feline.
Stomping his feet, Meowth spat, "What took ya so long?!"
Dropping her stuff by her sleeping bag, Jessie said, "We-we got lost, okay? These stupid trees all look the same!"
Catching onto the 'play-along' look she was giving him, James added with a forced sheepish smile, "It's kind of my fault..."
Pointing to their cooking pot, Meowth sneered, "Well, 'cause you was gone for so long, I had to eat the food! 'Cause I'm so nice, I left ya a little."
Jessie peered into it, frowning as she saw that there was indeed very little left, "Why you rotten-!"
"That's not fair!" James chimed in.
Licking his lips, Meowth said, "It was deeee-licous! It's too bad; if ya had gotten back sooner dere might be more..." it was then he noticed James' still very wet hair, "Heeey, I thought ya said ya was just goin' ta get her Jimmy?"
James tried not to panic, instead casually shrugging, "I stunk. I decided I needed a bath too."
"Thought ya said ya got lost?"
Crossing his arms, James replied, "We did. After I got a bath. Does that satisfy you, Mr. Nosy?"
Meowth sighed. He knew they were lying to him and not telling him everything. He had known them for far too long to not be able to pick up on the signs of their trying to bluff their way out of something. It hurt a little, but also made him angry, curious, and all the more resolved to figure out what exactly had been going on. He had a strong suspicion, but had yet to confirm it.
Deciding to trick them out of it later rather than push the issue, Meowth nodded, "Fine. But ya still plum outta luck for supper!"
That night, their fire had burned down to glowing embers, and James still lay awake, staring at the starry sky. The quiet night leant itself well to inner reflection, and he used it often. He folded his arms behind his head and sighed, mulling over how and when to broach the subject he had tried to discuss with her days earlier. He knew she wouldn't take it well, but still felt it was something that should be talked about. Eyes flicking over to Jessie, he smiled slightly at one stray piece of hair that rose and fell with her breath. Though he wanted to reach over and move it away, he feared waking her. Unable to stand it, he moved one hand out to gingerly push it back.
Her eyes snapped open, "I was going to get that-eventually."
Startled, a tiny yelp escaped his throat, "S-Sorry! Did I wake you?"
Rolling onto her side, she said, "No, I wasn't asleep yet."
Propping himself up on one elbow to face her, he asked, "So what's our plan for tomorrow?"
"I'm still working on it," she yawned, "You got anything?"
He shook his head, "No, not yet. Let's just hope we don't have an encore of today..."
She propped herself up as well, "Speaking of encores, I may need one of earlier here..."
Eyebrow raised, he smiled, "I'll take that to mean my performance was satisfactory?"
"Very much," she replied, wiggling closer so that her body was just barely touching his, "But I might need another act to be sure..."
He leaned in and kissed her, in the back of his mind still getting used to his own boldness. Grinning, she kicked off her own sleeping bag and slipped into his, settling herself on top of him and pinning him to the ground by the wrists. Biting his lip he looked over at Meowth. Jessie smiled and shook her head, wordlessly answering his question, 'He's sound asleep'. Pressing herself against the already growing bulge in his pants, she leaned down and brushed her lips against his neck and ear as he arched his back and hissed in a breath, biting back moaning aloud as-
"AH-HA! I KNEW IT!"
Meowth was standing up, pointing an accusatory finger at them, "I knew dere was somethin' goin' on wit you two and I was right!"
They shrieked and disentangled themselves, flailing and falling over each other.
Jessie leapt to her feet, pouncing upon the cat Pokemon and holding him fast by the neck with a snarl, "FINE! Very good, you figured it out!" she yanked him close to her face, seething with rage and fear, "So help me, if you breathe a single word of this to the boss-!"
Clawing at her hands to no avail, Meowth coughed, "I pwomise! Not a word!"
She dropped him and turned away, hugging herself as Meowth gasped for air and James got to his feet himself.
He held up his hands, "Okay everyone, let's just calm down here for a second..." he looked toward Meowth, "Meowth? Yes, we-we're in a romantic relationship now. And if the boss finds out he'll definitely separate us, if not worse, so it's imperative none of us say anything. Please...?"
Rubbing his neck, the feline said, "I had a feelin' dis is what was goin' on! Sheesh, ya coulda told me..." he held out his paws, "Da boss is well, da boss, but you two are my pals! If ya didn't want me ta say somethin' you coulda just asked!"
Jessie turned around, "You mean...you don't care?"
Shrugging, Meowth said, "Ta be honest, not really. I'm kinda surprised it took ya dis long."
"What's that mean?" asked James.
"Aah, youse two have been all over eachudda forever! And besides, I've seen da way ya look at eachudda too. I may be a Pokemon but I've been around you humans long enough to tink dat if you was just friends you wouldn't look at eachudda like dat."
Said humans glanced at one another before Jessie poked at a rock with her toe, "Have we been that obvious?"
"Nyah, pretty much. So yeah, I don't care. I do have a couple requests though," he counted on his toes, "One, I don't wanna see nothin', if ya catch my drift. Two, don't let it get in the way of our job. Three, we don't need anudder mouth ta feed around here so take it easy okay?"
Flushing bright red, Jessie and James gasped before Jessie angrily sputtered, "We know that! Which is why we've taken p-precautions oh shut up!"
"Alright den," said Meowth, going back to his sleeping bag, "Now dat we got dat settled, I'm goin' back ta bed...oh and one more thing; I don't wanna hear nothin' either!"
