Sunday, September 10th 2000

      The young couple were rudely awoken at half past nine by Growly jumping up and licking each of their faces and after throwing the exuberant pokémon off their stomachs, they turned to each other and shared a kiss. Growly jumped up on the bed again, but this time the side of his paw hit against the side of James' sore leg, causing his owner to sit forward abruptly. He rubbed his hand over the skin to try and reduce the burning sensation whilst Jessie scratched Growly's ear to try and calm him down a bit, and he couldn't help but feel guilty as he realised that he'd be leaving him behind again. Once the irritating sting had finally disbanded, he lay back again and ran his hand over Jessie's stomach since he knew that she liked it when he did it to her. She stopped scratching Growly and gently pulled his head closer to hers for a quick kiss, but Growly seemed to have adapted the same attitude towards their relationship that Meowth had. He whined once he saw that they weren't paying any attention to him and he jumped on top of Jessie, causing them to involuntarily separate due to the force that he was playfully applying to her hips. It was her turn to become embarrassed as the sheets were pulled down to her waist by his paws, and she was laughing so hard that she couldn't use any real strength to try and push him off her properly. She calmed herself down a little when she heard James saying something to Growly, and she mock glared at him when she realised what it was he was saying.

      "Why exactly are you saying 'good job Growly?'"

      "A bit obvious isn't it? He's given me an image that I could look at all day"

      "I'll bet that you'll only think that when I'm young and attractive"

      "Too damn right I will! I'll make sure that the only skin you'll show is the area around your eyes when you're an old woman. Anyway, who said that you were attractive?"

      "I did. Besides, I sincerely doubt that you'd go out with me if I were ugly"

      "Yeah, it would ruin my image"

      "Thanks a lot!"

      "You've said it yourself, you're attractive. In fact, I think you're beautiful, and you know it"

      "Now that we've established the obvious, will you help me get Growly off? He's cutting off my air circulation"

      "No problem, but for a pretty woman, you are pretty weak"

      He called Growly over to his side of the bed whilst Jessie covered herself up a little in case something similar happened again. James commanded Growly to sit and stay for a moment so that the humans could have a couple of minutes to resume where they had left off. He began to whine again and they decided that they might as well get up for all the peace they'd have if they stayed there, which unfortunately set him back into a hyper mode upon seeing his owner getting up. Once they had both put their spare uniforms on (there was nothing in this world that could make James sew the tears in his trousers at that hour of the day), James told Jessie that they'd eat upstairs in case anybody came to feed Growly, and they set off to look for Meowth again. The search was less difficult this time, as Meowth had kindly decided to curl up and sleep on the bed in the room just opposite to where they had slept. James applied the cream to his leg and waited until he had eaten some of the breakfast that Jessie had cooked before taking his tablets.

      When it was approaching eleven o' clock, James knew that it was time for them to set off again before they were seen by any of the servants, and also because he knew that they'd need to leave around that time to ensure they were in Viridian City before nightfall to receive their salaries. He scratched Growly behind his ears as he explained that he was leaving him again, and he felt heartbroken when he heard the unhappy whine that was coming from his throat. His tail had drooped and he seemed utterly depressed that he hadn't even seen his owner for forty-eight hours since he had left him six years ago, and knowing this, James' conscience was being gnawed at by guilt again. He promised that he'd return at the next chance he got, but this only made his tail wag with the strength of a small gust of wind.

      As James shouldered his bag just before leaving the house, he suddenly remembered something and he asked his friends to go to the balloon and wait for him there. They did as he asked and he went up to the room he had spent the night in and retrieved three A5 books from a panel in the back of the wardrobe, which he put into his knapsack. He tossed a pair of socks in Growly's direction for him to have something small to remember his scent by, and smiled when he saw him catch them and playfully bite and chew them with his tail wagging happily at his small token.

      James descended the stairs and quietly locked the door that they had opened the previous evening, and once he was finished, he checked that there weren't any servants in the area who might spot him and then sped (well, ran as fast as one could when one's leg had been in a gin trap less than a week ago) over to where his friends were in the balloon, awaiting his arrival. Jessie could tell that he was upset at leaving his friend behind, and once they had begun to fly in the direction of Viridian City, she slid her arms around his waist and whispered:

      "We'll see him again, I promise"

      He smiled and kissed her lightly to try and show that he wasn't feeling too bad about the whole situation, but his subdued nature was still obvious to anyone who looked at him. The time appeared to melt away when they followed the route to Team Rocket Headquarters, and they arrived at their destination before two o' clock. They took their time climbing the long metal flight of stairs to the Team Rocket section of the building since they knew that they were early by about twenty minutes. They knew from previous proceedings that if you had caught something, it didn't really matter what time you arrived at. On the other hand, if the only thing you had with you when you got there were empty pokéballs, much like what they had now, punctuality was essential. Meowth watched on in disgust as his friends had their arms around each other's waist, knowing that they wanted to do something a little higher on the romance scale. He didn't mind the fact that his friends were in love, but it did bother him that they were all over each other at every opportunity since they were virtually his only friends. Truth be told, he felt more out of place now than when he had first started to steal; at least back then he hadn't trusted anybody and he depended solely on himself. He tore his look away from his friends and mumbled that he'd be back before they went in for their wages. James turned his head so that he could look at Jessie properly, and a sense of longing became obvious in both pairs of eyes, but the moment was disturbed by a familiar voice talking to them. It was Cassidy's.

      "I have been the one appointed to thank both of you for your, um, 'contribution' to the team. I've only just heard about it myself, but I honestly didn't think that either of you could get away with anything like it. Well done"

      "Excuse me, but what exactly have we done to deserve thanking by anybody?"

      "Don't be so modest, James. In fact, your participation has made you quite the hero with most of the team, both male and female"

      "What are you talking about? I didn't participate in anything"

      "Is this another one of your tricks to try and disparage us? If so, it's not going to work"

      "Calm down Jessie, otherwise we mightn't find out what we're supposed to have done"

      "You honestly don't know anything about this, do you?"
      "Know anything about what? We've only been here for ten minutes and we haven't spoken to anybody except the secretary"

      "Oh my god, I had no idea that you didn't know about it. I just presumed that it had been you two that had arranged it, due to both parts of it. I had no idea"

      "Will you please tell us what it is that you had no idea about? I don't like the sound of this at all"

      "Would agents 49573A9F, 49573A9M and 49573A9P report to Giovanni's office at once please? Thank you"

      "We have to go now, but will you please hang around and tell us what it is when we've finished?"

      "I'm sorry, but I can't, I have to go to a meeting with Butch in five minutes. I hope you find out who did this, even if you do hate me Jessie"

      "Would those agents kindly report to Giovanni's office IMMEDIATELY!!!"

      They said goodbye to Cassidy and ran down the corridor to get to the office, luckily colliding with Meowth along the way, both of their thoughts clouded with bewilderment at what they had been told. They caught their breath momentarily before entering the office, trying to compose their excuses as to why they returned empty-handed yet again. Jessie entered the room first like she usually did, and was relieved to see that it wasn't as dark as it usually was; whenever she felt nervous in there, she always turned to James as if she was looking for some moral support. Meowth was given his meagre salary without a word, and the tension in the air was causing all three employees to feel uneasy. He wasn't saying anything, merely glancing at each member for a few seconds before moving onto the next one as if he was trying to work something that only he could comprehend. Finally, he told them that this time he'd be talking to each of them individually, and told the human members of the trio to leave the room to let him talk to Meowth. Once they had honoured his request, they left and stood roughly five feet away from the door, so that no matter what they were accused of, it wouldn't be eavesdropping.

      Meowth's eyes widened as he saw what Giovanni had wanted to talk to him about, and he found it pretty hard to deny any of the compelling evidence that was pointing in his partners' direction, even if he did know that they would never dream of doing anything like it. He knew that they were sick of their jobs and that they'd wanted to quit for quite some time now, but he would never have expected anything like this…

      "So what do you think he wants to talk to us about?"

      "I don't know Jess, but I'm fairly worried about whatever we're 'heroes' for. I certainly hope that the two aren't linked"

      "I wish I knew what Cassidy had been talking about, because it seems like the whole organisation knows about it except us"

      "Did you see the way he was looking at us in there? It felt as though he was trying to read our thoughts or something. This is making me feel more perturbed, even for Giovanni's standard"

      "It felt like he was looking through me rather than at me, but it was the way he didn't say anything as he was doing it that felt unsettling"

      Meowth suddenly left the office and he told James to enter the room on his own before he took off down the corridor, not lingering to answer any questions as he had been instructed to do so. Jessie met James' lips with hers briefly to act as a talisman as he braced himself for whatever the near future held in store for him, and his anxiousness multiplied as he approached the door. He crossed the threshold into the office and shut the door behind him, receiving only one word as he did it.

      "Sit"

      The word itself was said in a clipped tone that etched a hole through whatever courage he had left at this point, and humiliation swept over him as he felt like a Growlithe as he followed the instructions from his superior. He coolly asked what it was all about, but it rapidly faded and he felt panic shoot to his throat when Giovanni pulled an A3 envelope out of one of the desk's drawers and tossed it on the working top to ensure that it was in clear view of his worker. James didn't know what to expect to come out of it, but before he could ask his employer what was going on, he turned the envelope back around so that the open end was facing himself. Giovanni smirked at his worried expression and thought to himself It should be interesting to see him try and squirm his way out of this one. Even his friend couldn't defend him that well

      James knew better than to speak without permission and he felt knots form throughout his system the longer Giovanni looked at him with that particularly penetrating stare, suddenly finding that he wished that the darkness would return to the office once more. Regardless of how he truly felt inside, he refused to lose eye contact with him, knowing that that would make him appear guilty for whatever he was supposed to have done. He didn't know whether it was relief or panic that consumed the entirety of his body as Giovanni opened the envelope with his left hand. The only thing that James was certain about was that he had not been expecting anything like what left both the envelope and Giovanni's mouth. A collection of photographs was extracted, except he could tell that there were a couple of other items remaining in the package from the shape that the paper was in.

      "You have wished to leave this job since you began failing your assignment, haven't you?"

      James was unsure whether or not this was a trick question since most of Giovanni's face stayed unseen when he sat back in the chair due to the shadows that the large chair cast upon him from the French window behind him, but he nodded uncertainly and said:

      "At times, yes I have, but one of my traits is that I stay at a task until it is completed, no matter how difficult or degrading it may be"
     "Is that so? Is that partnered with your trait of failure, or perhaps your trait of failing deliberately?"

      "I'm sorry sir, but I'm not exactly certain what it is that is being implied"

      "Let me put it this way, you're able to capture any pokémon bar this one, but when you do capture it, you either return it or lose it straightaway"

      A photograph taken from a couple of months prior to that was tossed in James' direction, and it showed that they had Pikachu at their campsite. He could barely recall the occurrence but before he had been given a sufficient time to dwell on the incidence, he heard:

      "That was taken last April, apparently. One of my more competent employees took this since they were in the area at the time, but it was someone else who left the rest of these items in my possession. Whereas I have seen this photograph before, I don't ever remember seeing that pikachu. What do you have to say about that?"

      "It is true that it has happened to us in the past, but I can assure you that it was done so unintentionally. Each time we lose the pokémon to those brats, we go through more pain than what we feel is necessary, but we haven't asked to be relocated to another assignment to save the honour of Team Rocket"

      "Are you sure that's why? Or is it because if you're left out in the wilderness that nobody can see how well you're doing your job, or is it fear of being put on a proper job that makes you feel compelled to fail?"

      "Our 'failure' is completely inadvertent, and we take this as seriously as we do with any other mission we've been assigned"

      "Did you do this on any other mission?"
      James fell silent as another photograph was tossed before him, except that this one had a greater impact on him than the previous one had—it was a shot of his first kiss with Jessie. Three further pictures were thrown before him, all of him kissing Jessie on the day that they had impulsively decided to take off work. Colour drained from his face as he heard:

      "Didn't think so. How recent are these?"

      "Th-they were taken in the last fortnight sir"

      "That's strange. I don't recall giving you a day off"

      An uncomfortable silence ensued.

      "Who took these, sir?"

      "I don't think that's any of your concern, but if you must know, the pictures and something else were left on top of the envelope outside of my door anonymously. You know that I don't mind if you screw around with your partner, provided it doesn't interfere with your job. You should know that rule like you know who you work for"

      "If you don't mind me saying sir, there has been quite a lot on our minds over the last few days that can contribute to the flaws in our recent work"

      "Like this?"

      A green-tinted photograph of Jessie and him having sex was produced showing that it was taken with a night-vision enabled camera, which caused nausea and disgust to overwhelm any other sentiment that he was feeling. It was solid proof that people had seen them that night like the first note had said, but it also meant that Giovanni had seen both of them in that situation, even if it was in two dimensional form. He exhaled slowly for a moment and said:

      "Actually, that inadvertently is part of the problem. The same people who took that photograph have followed us ever since I slept with her. In fact, they hospitalised me a few days ago"

      "Stimulating, to say the least. Do you know who these 'stalkers' are?"

      "No sir, and that's why I asked you if you knew who had left this stuff in your possession"

      "What did they do to you to admit you into hospital?"

      James explained everything that had happened to him ever since his attacker's presences had become known, and that included the fiasco involved with the lipstick. Once he'd finished, he was handed a form that he was asked to fill out, regarding the attempt to take the life of a rocket. Just when James thought that he was able to leave without a wage-reduction, he was brought back to reality harshly when Giovanni put the remaining photographs face-down and took something else out of the envelope; a miniature tape-recorder. James was unaware of what could possibly be on it, but he knew that whatever it was couldn't be good due to the sadistic grin on Giovanni's face. He clicked the play button and to James' horror, it began to play a conversation he'd had in June with Jessie in the midst of his eighteenth birthday's celebrations when they had both been very, very drunk. He shrank further into his chair as he relived the games that they had played whose titles included:

a) Reasons why Team Rocket was the worst organisation that anybody could work for

b) Ways to kill and/or castrate Giovanni

c) How many ways are there really when it comes to skinning your employer's Persian

d) Things to do to Giovanni once they had taken over

e) Things to do to Butch and Cassidy once they had taken over

      Thankfully, Giovanni pressed the stop button and said with a smirk:

      "That tape was an hour and a half long, all of which I have listened to. For the record, it's highly improbable that either of you would be able to seduce any of the Elite Squad until they gave you their key to my office. I believe that one was under 'You know you can vandalise anywhere once you sleep with the right lackey', or something similar. So much for your statement about protecting the honour of Team Rocket"

      "But sir, I was drunk!"

      "Is that supposed to make things better? 'I dragged the name of the organisation I work for through the mud, but that's okay because I can't take alcohol well'"
      "But wasn't intentional sir!"

      "Maybe not, but this is. Here's your wages, I think you'll find that it has been reduced by 25% this time instead of 5%. Take it and send your tramp in"

      "She is not a tramp"

      "Telling me I'm wrong, huh? If I were you, I'd get out of my sight whilst you still have 75% of last month's wages"

      He left the office and told Jessie to go into the room as he walked past her, feeling absolutely mortified at what he had just sat through, and ignored everything that she said to him. He was waiting for his girlfriend in the waiting section when his leg suddenly began to hurt from being used so much whilst it was still recovering. He took the cream out of his pocket and went into the lavatory to apply it, not wishing to make his injury known to any of his co-workers. He went into one of the cubicles for added privacy, but it was only when he was fixing his trousers again that he bitterly realised what it was that had made him a hero with the other affiliates of the team. Stuck onto the back of the door was an enlarged photograph of Jessie from when she had woken up in the cave, but it had been taken with such precision that it was an extreme close-up of her that made it look like it had been taken from two feet away, but not only that, it had been taken without him anywhere in the picture. He angrily tore it down and checked the back of all of the other doors to find similar shots of her in all of them, with the exception of two doors whose picture had already been removed. As he folded them in half to carry them, he hastily realised something from what Cassidy had said to him earlier:

      'Don't be so modest, James. In fact, your participation has made you quite the hero with most of the team, both male and female'

      He groaned as he realised that the female members had received the same treatment, only with him in the pictures instead of Jessie. After leaving the bathroom, he checked that nobody was looking before darting into the women's 'facilities'. He was halfway through collecting his pictures when he heard the end cubicle open, and much to his horror, he saw that it was Cassidy that emerged from it. She grinned at his panic-stricken face and said:

      "Are you here to see if anybody wanted to see the real thing, pun unintended"

      James' face turned at least three different shades of red once he had realised what the pun was that she had said, and through gritted teeth he said:

      "I thought you were in a meeting"

      "Oh, I was. You've been in his office for nearly two hours, you do realise that don't you?"

      James felt shocked at the thought of how long he had felt uncomfortable in the office, but by sheer chance, Jessie was finished at the same time he left the facilities. He joined her and noticed that her facial features was either close to laughing or screaming, preferably the first, and he also saw that the envelope that she held was the same one that he had been tormented with, but they didn't say anything until they joined Meowth at the balloon. They flew the balloon in no direction in particular as they knew they'd have to catch something soon, but for the moment they weren't too bothered. Neither of the humans mentioned what it was that they were each holding and they made a silent vow to talk about it after Meowth had either gone to sleep or gone hunting that night, and they began to talk about more trivial matters to give a light-hearted atmosphere.

      Much later that evening, in some non-descript forest…

      Meowth left their company at some point after twelve, and even though both Jessie and James wanted nothing more than to go asleep, they decided to talk about what he had said to each of them and what they had brought out of the building earlier. James described what had happened whilst he was in the office earlier, and he saw that Jessie looked a little uncomfortable when the envelope was mentioned and he fully understood why after Jessie explained what Giovanni had wanted with her earlier.

      "Apparently, the original contents of the envelope had been pictures of me getting changed in the morning, and you can imagine what I looked like, but that wasn't all. Somebody had put some of my underwear in it and signed my name on one of the cups"

      "What did he say when you said that you didn't do it?"

      "I didn't tell him that I didn't do any of it, because he's the way he is, he gave me a 10% raise instead of a reduction, and I got a small bonus for it too"

      "You shouldn't have done that, it's dirty money, particularly when I made it clear that we were being followed"

      "We need the money, and at least I got the stuff back that I supposedly gave him. Did you get a bonus too?"

      "Nope, instead of him helping me out with a bit of extra money, he helped himself out with a bit of money taken out of my salary"
      "You're joking!"

      "I wish I was. I'm down 25% instead of five. Someone gave him a recording of a conversation we'd had when we were drunk on my birthday, and he wasn't too pleased to find out that we had so many ways to kill and/or castrate him"

      "But that was months ago! Wait a second, does that mean that these losers have been trailing us since the fifteenth of June?"

      "I'd say earlier than that, but then again, the recording might be what secured them the job, a portfolio of sorts"

      "Disturbing"
      "Very. To top it off, I found out why we were legends this morning"
      "Why?"

      "Somebody had left enlarged photographs of us on the back of all of the washroom's stalls"

      "What's so special about pictures of us?"
      "Think about it, what would be special about a picture of you, taken the night that we made love, on the back of a cubicle in the men's washroom?"
      "Oh no, the last thing I need is more public nudity. That's so disgusting—did you get them all?"

      "Two of them were missing, and Cassidy saw me when I was collecting 'my' version of it"

      Jessie shuddered at the thought of it and James held her loosely against him as she inhaled his scent, sliding her arms around his waist. He inhaled sharply when she squeezed him slightly and said:

      "Go easy on the ribs, they're still a tad tender"

      "I'm sorry, is that better?"

      "Much. When was the last time I kissed you?"
      "Way too long ago. Refresh my memory"

      He held her in his arms as he kissed her for nearly twenty minutes, and their eyes seemed to protest at being closed throughout that time without letting them go asleep, so they lay together by the campfire, simply too exhausted to stay awake after the weekend's actions, which were completely the opposite of the previous weekend's events. Unfortunately for them, whereas they hadn't taken much consideration in what direction they were heading in, their followers had taken great care in following them to their new location, and had set up their own campsite in the bushes mere feet away, awaiting the next day's instructions.