Monday, September 11th 2000

      James woke up a little before Jessie did, and he realised how great the contrast between the rock-hard ground they slept on and the bed they had slept in the night before last truly was. He yawned and rubbed his eyes to try to remove the idea of turning around and going back to sleep for another while, but since he felt too drowsy to trust himself lying down and not fall asleep, he decided to get up and repair his original uniform's trousers for want of something to do. He pulled his uniform on in case any dirt got into his lacerations and infected it, and stretched to crack the bones in his back that were stiff from lying on the ground all night before sorting out the right thread. He despised doing close working such as sewing with anything slightly wrong with his back as he had to hunch to work with the material anyway. He glanced at his sleeping girlfriend after finding a comfortable position to sit in whilst he tried to fix the extensive tears in them, and he found it hard to believe that somebody had recorded a drunken conversation just for him to be faced with the threat of unemployment. The whole idea of their stalkers was starting to annoy him more than ever now, and the thought of somebody giving Giovanni Jessie's 'signed' underwear was nothing less than infuriating. He knew that it must have been hitting her harder than she was revealing, but he wasn't going to dwell on the subject if he could help it; the mere thought of what the male member's of the team probably did upon sight of Jessie on the back of the doors was revolting, and it made him wish that they had found out about it sooner. He wasn't especially bothered with people seeing him in that situation, but then again that could have been due to an embarrassing job that he had worked at when he was fifteen, and that was where he'd met Violet. He shook himself out of his thoughts of a past relationship and continued with his work as he heard his surroundings slowly liven up.

      Jessie woke up and discovered that her boyfriend wasn't holding her like he usually did, causing her to sit up. After seeing him beside the basket, she ensured that the edge of her sleeping bag was firmly held in place before calling out 'Good morning' to him. He smiled in response to her greeting and after putting his sewing down carefully, he went over to her and brushed her lips lightly with his own, instead of saying anything back to her as such. She disliked having to keep her hands on her chest since it was interfering with her temptation, but there was no chance that she'd expose anything unnecessarily after what she had supposedly given Giovanni. She mightn't have feared him as much as other recruits did, but there was always something about him that made her feel uneasy. When James pulled back from her, there was no mistaking the yearning that both of them were feeling to be anywhere in the world, providing that they were the only ones there. He handed Jessie her uniform and even though the procedure itself was awkward, she put it on without getting out of her sleeping bag. She ignored the amused look that James was giving her and asked him what he wanted to eat for his breakfast, having decided that she felt like cooking for once. He said that he wanted to get his sewing finished before eating anything, and she gave him another kiss before getting out of her sleeping bag.

      He returned to his tedious work to try to have it finished as quickly as possible and watched his girlfriend tidy up her belongings whilst he repositioned himself. Once she was certain that he was absorbed in his basting, she went over to the envelope that Giovanni had given to her to see what exactly had been submitted in her name. It was affecting her far greater than she was showing, and she would readily murder anybody that she thought had something to do with any of it. Inside the envelope were the photographs that had been shown to James, her 'signed' underwear, the tape recording from June (she still felt shocked to see that James had lost 25% of his wages and she had received a bonus even though she had come up with some of the games that did the most damage), the photographs that had been taken of her getting changed and there was another small, unopened envelope that she didn't recall seeing or hearing about from James before. She checked that James wasn't looking at her before turning so that her body was hiding it from his vision before opening it.

      She felt more than a little surprised when she saw that inside the envelope were three tickets and a small handwritten note, and she was unsure whether it was relief or disgust she felt when she saw that it was from Giovanni. The tickets were for the seasonal balls that he often held to try and show his gratitude to the select few that were invited, usually the people that were the most successful. It had been well over a year since either of them had even seen a ticket, let alone receive one, and it was one part of being successful that they both had thoroughly enjoyed. She unfolded the note and silently read it to herself.

      'If you're wondering why you're seeing these tickets, it is because I am so annoyed at the lack of pokémon that I have received from the three of you. Perhaps if you remember what it is like to be victorious again, it might inspire you to try harder in your assignment. I'll expect to see all of you present and accounted for on the night itself, and all excuses regarding a guest's absence are intolerable'

      She refolded the note and examined the tickets carefully; it was as if she was trying to work out if it was Giovanni's idea of a cruel joke or something, and when she saw that they were authentic, she called out to James to come over to her. He felt annoyed at having to apply force on his leg for the second time within the same five minutes, but he obliged his girlfriend without voicing his displeasure. He wound his arms around her stomach and asked her what it was that she wanted, feeling the same disbelief that she had experienced upon seeing the tickets. He kissed her neck until she realised that he was becoming distracted by something, and upon turning her head slightly, she saw what he was looking at, causing her to sigh mockingly.

      "You know that I have no problem with you seeing me like that, but I'd still like to think that you don't need to look at a photograph when you have me"

      "Sorry, I couldn't help myself. The offer was too tempting"

      "Please don't look at them, they're disgusting"
      "I didn't know it was making you uncomfortable"

      "How could you not know? You should know that I hate anything remotely like that"

      "I know, it's just that…"

      "Just that what?"

      "It's just that I thought you'd react more than this. Normally you would have cried or lashed out or something. There's something familiar about them too, but I can't quite place it"

      "You mean you've seen them before? This is the first I've heard about it"

      "I'm not definitely saying that I have seen them before, I just get the feeling that I have"

      "And if you had, why didn't you tell me about it?"

      "I've already told you that I'm not sure if they are what I think they are anyway"
      "But you haven't bothered telling me where you've seen something like them. How am I supposed to trust someone who does that?"
      He bit his lip to keep back from saying what initially sprung to his mind when she mentioned trust and he took his arms away from her waist unexpectedly. He paused for a moment before hissing:

      "I don't know Jessie, but if you do think that I have something to do with this, you can rethink whatever feelings you say you have for me"

      He returned to his work and as guilty as he felt about snapping at Jessie, he knew that she needed to be certain that there was nothing that could connect him with the photographs. He knew that he could have phrased it less harshly, but he didn't like the way she was ready to accuse him when he wasn't even certain if they were the same as what he had seen before. If they were, he knew that he'd be in for it later…

      Once his work had been completed, he made them breakfast whilst she gave their pokémon some food in complete silence; it caused an atmosphere that Meowth could sense straight away when he woke up. Neither human would allow themselves to make direct eye contact with Meowth or the other person since this would probably lead to another argument, something that they all didn't want at that hour of the morning. They somehow managed to come to an arrangement about looking for the twerps, and they left to search for them in the balloon at eleven o' clock.

      Twenty-five feet below them…

      It took approximately six turns of the key in the ignition before the engine finally stormed into operation. She released a deep breath to show her exasperation with the troublesome engine and poked her partner sharply to make sure that he was fully awake before pressing her foot on the accelerator pedal. After receiving an indignant cry from him, she followed their targets on the smoothest route possible, feeling annoyed that they had to waste another day driving. Even more irritating, the black hair had returned. She had just been adapting to sleeping in a hotel and she was irritated to say the least about having to sleep on the rock-hard ground again. She smiled to herself at the thought of Jessie being pissed off with James; it was her way of forgetting the pain that she had felt when he had dumped her in case Jessie became single, and there was also the added bonus of most people believing the gay theory she had spread upon being asked why they had broken their relationship off. The brutality that had somehow fused itself into their job wasn't the only reason that she didn't want to continue with it; as much as she resented James for ditching her, it was hurting her being forced to look at his relationship with Jessie growing. She absentmindedly brushed away an annoying strand of hair that was catching the side of her eye as she concentrated on keeping track of their location and the direction that the hot air balloon was heading in concurrently. She was brought out of her thoughts unexpectedly when she felt her partner put his hand on her shoulder to get her attention, causing her to glance at him without properly taking her attention away from the trail they were driving along. He could tell that she wasn't paying attention and said her name before continuing.

      "What is it?"

      "I was just wondering, when was the last time that we were paid? I thought I had more money than that when I was at the pub a couple of nights ago"
      "I don't think that we've been paid since I wrote the first note, and even then I think we were short-changed by a thousand or so in total"

      "That's what I thought. Shouldn't we have been paid after we delivered the Growlithe? I know it's hard for us to collect our salary, but if they found it easy enough to find us, well then I think they should help us out a little more than they do"

      "Inhaling would be helping us more than they are already. We've slaved at this mission ever since we've accepted it and they seem to take every short cut that they can. Frankly, I'm quite sick of it"

      "Make that double. I suspect that half of our overall wages will be spent on psychological therapy if they keep their disturbing standards as high as they have been over the last fortnight"

      "They certainly have an odd ability to show someone how they care anyway. Do you think that any of this will affect them mentally in the long run?"

      "Probably. Who knows what it will do to us, I still feel terrible for stabbing him"

      "So where do you suppose they're headed?"

      "My guess is to try to capture that rat, after all, there must have been quite a humiliating meeting yesterday. I wish I could have seen their faces"

      "I can't believe that the little tramp said that she sent the envelope to him, whatever morals I thought she might have had have now dispersed completely"

      "Who cares about morals? It was great seeing her like that, and then she reveals that she can handle the thought of her boss thinking that she did it. The best part was, we didn't even have to take the photographs"

      "I know. Finding out about their existence was sheer luck, and acquiring them from the owner wasn't any great hardship either"
      "You could say that they didn't even miss them"

      Back in the air…

      Tension was seriously beginning to mount and nothing Meowth could do would snap them out of it, including four Fury-Swipes directly to both of their faces. He was glared at by James more than Jessie as her vicious thoughts were directed elsewhere, and his attempt to get some verbal contact from either of his friends had failed completely. The mood needed lightening more than ever. He went over to James and quietly asked him what was wrong, and an angry glance at Jessie acted as a sufficient response, so he went over to her to see if she could elaborate on the matter. For some reason, she seemed easier to talk to out of the duo for a change, and whilst she fought back the urge to break her hard image by crying, she said:

      "He saw pictures of me naked somewhere before and never told me, and then I caught him looking at the photographs that somebody sent to Giovanni"

      "The ones of you in the cave? He's your boyfriend and he was in them too. As twisted as I think you both are to be able to get into that position, I was made look at them yesterday"

      "Oh great, now somebody else has seen me"
      "Newsflash Jessie, I'm a pokémon, therefore I have no interests in seeing you look like that anyway, but I'm also around in the mornings when you get dressed. It wasn't just you in those pictures either, yet you seem to be taking this a whole lot harder than James is. He might be just as angry as you are, but not saying anything in case he starts taking it out on you"

      "Perhaps, but it wasn't the pictures of us having sex anyway. Somebody had taken pictures of me getting changed in the morning. There's also the fact that he's seen something similar before and not told me anything about them. He may not be taking it out on me, but that still hurts like hell"

      "Maybe that's why he never mentioned anything to you. You know that he only hides things that he thinks might hurt somebody, hence the reason why he never mentioned the ex- from hell that looks nearly identical to you. If you carry on with this behaviour, even more similarities between both of you might appear"

      "Maybe you're right, but he'll have to apologise to me first"

      "For what? Seeing his own girlfriend in a picture less explicit than what he's seen in real life?"

      "I knew you wouldn't understand"
      "I understand the situation perfectly, it's just I don't see what's wrong with it. You've changed in front of him countless times, so what does it really matter if he sees you in a photograph?"

      "It matters a lot. If he's seen them somewhere before, he should have said something at the time"
      "So you could work yourself up for nothing? If it's in the past, it can't be changed, so deal with it. You never know, it might just be memories of watching you getting changed that he's confusing them with. Why don't you try and talk to him?"
      "I've told you before, there's nothing I can say before he apologises"

      "Why are you so thin-skinned about it? He's young, he's male, and if he's remotely straight, it's obvious that he'd want to look at them. You do know what curiosity is, don't you?"
      "Of course I know that he should have a sense of curiosity, but the way I see it, he should also have a sense of respect"

      "And you certainly wouldn't dream of looking at pictures like that if he was the main image…"

      "What exactly are you implying?"

      "Double-standards. You hate the thought of him seeing a photograph of you getting changed, yet you found it wonderful when he saw you naked in real life. You don't know how recent those pictures are, and whether or not he had anything to do with them. Do you seriously think that he'd set you up like that? Or if he even had the time to leave that stuff with Giovanni when at least one of us had been around him for the entire time?"

      "I know he didn't leave the envelope, but what's worrying me is that he's shown us that he can convincingly hide information from us. For instance, if he wouldn't tell us about our targets at first, how can I trust him in later circumstances?"

      "Actually, he told me about the note minutes after he had found it, but he swore me to secrecy in case you found out and panicked needlessly"

      "I don't believe this. He told you before he told me"

      "I was at the balloon with him when he saw it. You also forget that he didn't screw me. You're his lover now, not his best friend. He's got to think about his relationship before he can even consider telling you anything now. It sounds harsh, but if he had told you about the note at that early stage of your relationship, chances are that you would have wanted to finish with him to increase safety, no matter how hard it may have felt at the time. He'd rather risk his life than end it with you, and I think it's about time you realised that"

      His last words stung Jessie with its impact, leaving her completely unaware as to why she suddenly felt so guilty. She wanted to break down and cry even more at this point, yet the desire to be alone if she was going to persuaded her not to do so just yet. James knew that they were talking about him from just one glance at them, but he kept his opinions to himself just in case he said something that he'd later regret. The more he dwelled on the subject of the pictures of his girlfriend, the more convinced he became that they were the ones that he hoped they weren't. At least he could hope that she wouldn't look at them too carefully, otherwise she'd know where he knew them from, and that would not be good for him. He swore to himself that he wouldn't tell her, but instead decided to tell the truth in the event that she did ask. He could hear her raising her voice at Meowth every other second and James found himself hating the whole situation. He wanted nothing more than to go over to Jessie and hold her until she forgot her anger, but he knew from past experiences that it would be an unwise move to make. Running his fingers through his hair, he found himself reflecting on the events that had taken place over the last few days, and he discovered exactly how tired he was as he continued to navigate the balloon. Even though he was putting as little force as physically possible on his leg, it still drained his energy whenever he had to stand for longer than necessary, pretty much like now. He saw Jessie rake her hair back with her gloved fingers for the third time since Meowth had started speaking to her, and after another prompt from the feline, he heard her snap at him to shut up and he felt knots tighten in his stomach as he saw he shoulders start trembling, indicating that she was crying. It made the image he had seen shortly before he had asked her out materialise in his mind and he instinctively went over to her to try and comfort her.

      She hated herself for crying in front of Meowth, and she hated herself even more for crying because she knew that he was right. She initially flinched when she felt James wrap his arms around her stomach and whisper in her ear if there was anything he could do to make her feel better. He felt her tighten under his touch, but he knew that she'd say something if she wanted him to move away, and she allowed her body to relax in his arms. He expressed regret to her for the way that he had acted towards her earlier, and although she had stated it clearly to Meowth that she wouldn't talk to him until he apologised to her, she hadn't actually believed that he would since it was all her fault for their temporary rift. He continued to whisper comforting words until he was confident that she had calmed down sufficiently before asking her if he could do anything to help her. She rested her hands over his and blinked away whatever tears remained in her eyes before saying:

      "It's my fault, not yours. I shouldn't have gone off the handle like that this morning, and I know that you didn't mean anything by it. You know I'd trust you with my life, don't you?"

      "Of course I do, although I'd like to hope that things won't become that serious"

      "Wouldn't we all? I don't know what's wrong with me lately, I keep wanting to blame someone for this crap and you seem to be the only one that I end up hurting"

      "I'd noticed that myself actually. You know I'm here for you, but I'm really beginning to dislike being blamed or shouted at whenever you feel like it. I know you don't mean to do it, but it's discomforting all the same"

      "I'm sorry, but I don't know how I can convince you that I don't mean to hurt you. The tension is building up in me, and it gets worse each time something else happens to us. It feels like this entire problem is causing our relationship to buckle"

      "It will only buckle if you let it. I know that I'm certainly trying my hardest for us, and I'm not willing to let these jerks ruin what I've wanted for so long. The choice is yours—either let these creeps separate us, or let me show you exactly how much I care for you"

      "Are you testing how much I value what we've got?"

      "There you go again, taking what I say and twisting them into something completely different. I'm not testing anything, I want to know if you want to stay with me and watch us become stronger, or if you want to leave me and eliminate any source of threat in your life. Whoever this is, they hate the thought of me loving you, so if we split up you'll be safe"

      "I can't believe that you just asked me that. You know I love you"
      "I didn't ask you if you loved me, I asked you what you wanted to do about the situation"

      "When you love somebody, you'd go through anything with them, and that's what I'm going to stay with you right through this"

      "I was hoping you'd say that. So do you want to kiss and make up?"
      "Since we've already done the second part of it, I've no problems with kissing you"

      She turned around in his arms to face him and allowed his lips to meet hers. All three of them felt like a great weight had been lifted from the atmosphere, even if Meowth wished that they'd save the mush for when he wasn't around. He didn't feel as ignored as he had when they'd first started their relationship, but it was becoming annoying when he witnessed them in a fight and then feeling each other up once all thoughts of the dispute had been forgotten. Since their attention was no longer concentrated on looking for the twerps, Meowth decided that he'd better get back to work in case they flew past them without knowing. He jumped up on top of the edge of the basket and he tried as hard as he could to ignore the sounds coming from the opposite side of the balloon. He sighed as he heard them, but suddenly his sharp ears picked up something other than the disturbing sounds being emitted by the young lovers. He used his keen eyesight to look down from whence the sound came, and he was able to see dust flying out due to the high velocity that a vehicle was speeding at. He squinted against the strong rays of the sun and tried to focus in on the moving vehicle and saw that it was a roofless jeep with two people in it; he was too far away to get a good look at either of them, but he did see a sharp glare bounce off something the passenger was holding in his or her arms, causing Meowth's suspicions to rise. He asked James to hand him a pair of binoculars, but his request remained unheard so he repeated himself louder this time. James felt slightly indignant as he was forced to pull away from Jessie, but he guessed that it was for the best to put a stop to their 'making up'. He handed Meowth the binoculars as Jessie rearranged her uniform back to what it should look like, and he asked him if he'd seen any rare or unusual pokémon. Meowth returned to his position and tried to focus in on the jeep without falling off the edge of the basket.

      She glanced up at the balloon and looked back up again immediately as she had seen Meowth looking directly at them. He disappeared momentarily after squinting down at them for a minute, causing her to angrily shout at her partner:

      "Shit, they've seen us! Why the hell didn't you tell me?"
      "I was busy taking pictures like I'm supposed to, how come you didn't see them?"

      "I did see them, but by sheer fluke and nothing else. For fuck's sake, you're watching the balloon, it's not as if it's that big"

      "I was keeping the camera focused, which is quite difficult with your driving"

      "Well excuse me for not having a proper road to drive on. It's incredibly hard to keep this in a straight line with all of the junk on the forest floor"

     "Yeah right"

      "You weren't even meant to be taking any pictures, you were just taking them for your own perverted purposes"
      "So what? You know what I think of her, and if there's any extras to come with this job, it's the ability to immortalise her in a picture that I can keep"

      Meowth returned a few seconds later with something in his paws as he repositioned himself on the edge of the basket, and she vehemently swerved into the thicker section of forest again, something that would probably cause the tyres to puncture at a later stage due to the sharp rocks that dappled the leafy ground. Meowth saw this and told his co-workers that he had seen people speed into the forest after he had seen them, and that they'd probably been following them all morning. Jessie automatically pulled at her uniform until it covered as much of her body as possible, and they set off to follow their interlopers. It shouldn't be too difficult to do as they had an aerial view of the region and the noise of the engine was becoming more obvious as the balloon was lowered. Fear, anxiety and adrenaline was felt in each of their bodies as the chase became more intense, none of them wishing to fail at what it was that they were doing, regardless of which side of the chase they were on.

      She was finally able to conceal the speeding vehicle as the forest surrounding them became more dense, but there was nothing that she could do to make the noise of the engine less perceptible to the trio that was breathing heavily on the back of their necks. It was extremely difficult to keep the jeep from speeding into the impending trees, and she could feel every nerve in her body constantly twitch from fear as consequences that could result from her partner's foolish actions sprang into her already panic-stricken mind. Just as they began to think that they were in with a chance of escaping without being sighted, the worst thing imaginable happened to them; both of their right side tyres were punctured as she swerved away from a steep, rocky edge of a waterway. She swore antagonistically as she felt the air steadily being released from their only means of transport, and Meowth's ears pricked forward as she shouted the obscenity out. He silently motioned for his cohorts to bring the balloon closer to where the sound had been emitted, and James followed Meowth's instructions as he manoeuvred the balloon as stealthily as possible in an attempt to make their presence unknown. He barely acknowledged the fact that his heartbeat was twice what the normal rate was, but he did feel Jessie squeeze his hand sharply for some moral support or something. He scanned the area swiftly with his eyes and noticed two people struggling with a jeep roughly thirty feet north of their present location, so he automatically steered in that direction.

      She heard a branch crack behind her and it alerted her of how small the gap between the hunters and the hunted really was. She grabbed her bag from the driver's seat and sprinted as far away from the balloon as she could, not realising that something fell out of it as she picked the bag up roughly. Her partner followed suit and once he had overtaken her slightly, he turned around and fired a flare into the meowth shaped skin of the balloon, causing it to hurtle to the ground gracelessly. Once they'd recovered from the slight jarring that had spread throughout their bodies from the crash, Jessie stood up with Meowth and began to run after their attackers at full speed, completely ignoring the possibility that they could be running into a trap. James found it next to impossible to get up from the awkward position that he had been propelled into from the force of the crash, and felt annoyed that his so-called partners had run after their assailants without a second thought for their safety. He stood up properly and struggled to follow his friends' unnatural speed to try and catch up to them before they were too far in the distance. Luckily for him, he had always been the faster of the two humans and finally caught up to them, even if he did think that it would result in eternal agony as he felt shooting pains course through the veins in his right leg as he repeatedly applied force to it.

      Low hanging branches repeatedly slapped against their faces as they enlarged the distance between both parties to a more comfortable size for them. Regardless of the facts that her eyes were stinging, her breath was short and the heels on her boots were giving the impression that they wanted to break off, she managed to allow herself a grin as she saw a sight before her that she had never been more relieved to see. She was just about to see what her partner's reaction would be when she realised that he was aiming another flare at the party behind them. Once it had filled the entire area that lay before their targets with an incandescent orange, he turned and followed his female friend once more.

      Jessie rested her hand against the side of a tree as she began coughing coarsely as the coloured smoke filled her lungs, unable to see clearly as her eyes rapidly began to water. James had wisely held his breath and covered his mouth before backing away from the irritating flare, but she had continued running, hoping that the smoke would only be released after she had run through the area. Meowth hadn't been greatly affected by it as his body was too low on the ground to receive too much smoke, causing Jessie to feel twice as stupid as she had initially thought. Once she had calmed her coughing down a bit, she hazily heard James saying:

      "What the hell did you think you were doing?"
      "What do you mean?"

      "You disobeyed every rule regarding a person's safety and ran after people who are probably capable of murder when you think about what they've done to us in the past without a regard to them shooting us down moments beforehand"

      "It may have been foolhardy, but we've put them under pressure now and once this smoke clears, we can follow their prints. It might have been tricky to run in mud, but it at least appears to have served a purpose for us, don't you think?"

      "Jessie, the mud from the bank might have helped us in the long run, but you didn't know that at the time. You say you hated those pictures? What do you think they would do to you if they captured you?"

      "Look, that didn't happen so don't go there. If we catch these bastards then we might be able to sleep peacefully at night without having to look around us every other second. I for one want my life back"

      "I do too, but not at the cost of your life to get it"

      "Okay, so I acted irrationally trying to give a little payback for the hell that those two imbeciles have inflicted on us. I was trying to do you a favour and you throw it back in my face"

      "I'm not throwing it back in your face, but think about how it looked to me. You took off with Meowth without me for the second time in two weeks, heading towards the general area of where two creeps have not only photographed you in very compromising situations, but maybe it escaped your mind that they sent me two different notes involving your death. Nothing would be worth losing you, do you realise that? If I never saw those two perverts again for the rest of my life, I couldn't register that as a relief unless you were there too. Just supposing I wasn't able to keep up with you, and I later found both you and Meowth with your throats cut out, what do you think it would do to me?"

      "Alright you've made your point, but nothing happened, and I fully acknowledge that there was a great deal of risk involved with my actions. I'm sorry"
      "I don't fucking believe it"

      "What? I apologised didn't I?"

      "It's not that, look where we are"

      "Shit!"

      The sight that had brought relief to one team brought misery and despair to the other; five yards in the distance was the all-too familiar sight of Viridian City. Any hopes of finding out who their assailants were had been dashed as mud was quickly replaced by concrete and tall buildings. James could tell that tears were forming in Jessie's eyes as well as watering from the smoke, and so he forgot his anger and held her in his arms to try and comfort her. Meowth straightened up since most of the smoke had vanished at this point and asked his friends what their prime objective was at that moment. James offered to pay for a hotel room for them that night since the danger of camping in the open had returned, but they'd have to return for their belongings first. The shock of it all caught up to James and he fell back against the tree he was standing in front of, thus bringing Jessie down on top of him. She stood back up again immediately and a fresh sense of irresponsibility swept over her as she realised the pain he went through to ensure her safety. The cruel sting eventually lowered itself to a dull throb and they slowly walked the distance that they had just run at high speeds.

      Quite some time later…

      The flare had shot from one side of the skin to the other, consequently eliminating all risks of their pitiful amount of belongings being burned. As Jessie gathered their possessions together and vanquished whatever smouldering rubber she could see, Meowth and James decided to investigate the contents of the jeep in hope of finding out some hint to their attacker's identities. Vindictively, James sat in the driver's seat and snapped the key in the ignition to prevent it being used easily again. He unpicked the lock to the glove compartment and thumbed through what was there, feeling disgusted as he saw items that went in various stages of perversity. He tossed the items back into the glove compartment and began to search through the other items that remained, when something came back to haunt him from his past. He saw all of the letters that he had sent to his aunt Alexandria after he had run away from home, and most of them included some information that not even Jessie knew about him for perfectly good reasons, realising that it must have been the next bout of ammunition that they were going to launch against him. He checked that Jessie wasn't looking before shoving the entirety of them into his pockets, motioning to Meowth not to say anything about them. Meowth rolled his eyes in response to the request and decided to check the vicinity of the jeep for anything else whilst James continued to search the contents of the car. Searching through the mud, he managed to spot what the girl had dropped in her hurry: the cell phone that their employers used to give them their daily instructions. As James continued his search throughout the jeep, he found his camera, which confirmed his sneaking suspicion about the last batch of photographs; they had been taken, by him, when they were still seriously drunk on his birthday. Speaking of which, he didn't have a clue what to get her for her upcoming birthday in case she didn't like what he had been planning. It was only as he was finishing up that he realised something a little more dangerous that he hadn't thought about before: theoretically speaking, if he sent those letters to his aunt, it should mean that they were either taken from there, or that she had something to do with it. He seriously hoped that it wasn't the latter of the options, she had always been the favourite of his relations, even surpassing his dearly loved grandfather, but then again there was always the way that he knew something about her that nobody else did and vice versa. She had 'earned' herself a special place in his heart due to something that had happened to them over time, but he had kept his oath of silence and never mentioned what it was to anybody, no matter how hard that had proven at times. He was jolted out of his thoughts by the hood of the car being opened and saw Jessie using her vindictive streak by pouring sugar in the engine. They wouldn't have used that particular bag again in case it had something to do with James' poisoning, so in reality they could be returning something that they had given them.

      In 'The Silver Bullet', a well-established public house in Viridian City at 17:00 hours…

      Still highly frustrated from his partner's incompetence in losing their only source of contact with their employers, he entered the fairly busy tavern and asked one of the bar attendants, Carlos, if the owner was around. He went into the back room and brought his boss out as he had been requested before returning to his work. She smiled upon seeing who it was and asked him what he wanted. He met her smile and handed her something before saying:

      "Hey Elora, I was just wondering if you could tell me if either of these people have been in today?"

      "Nope, but damn that guy's cute. Do you know if he's single?"
      "Hate to disappoint you but he's presently screwing that girl. And how come you never called me cute?"
      "Because I didn't, okay? Wait a minute, isn't this the girl you kept comparing me to?"
      "Yes, but it's the highest form of flattery, I can assure you. Will you do me a favour if either of them do happen to come into here over the next while?"

      "Depends on what's in it for me"

      "The pleasure of my company for when you're finished work"
      "I get the impression that I'd have been offered that even if I said 'no', right?"

      "Maybe, but you don't want to see me beg in public now do you?"
      "What else is in it for me?"
      "I'll take you shopping tomorrow and buy you whatever you want"

      "I think I'll pass. Besides, I have plans for tonight with someone else that don't involve you. What do I have to do?"

      "Put two of these in every drink they order, and after the third lot of drinks, show them this 'competition'. Can I have the security tape, should they decide to participate?"

      "I don't know, what if the pub gets burgled?"

      "Trust me, the only thing that will be stolen is their dignity after the 'contest'. You'll enjoy it if he joins in. If somebody does burgle this place, I guess you can have the tape, but since I'm arranging this whole thing…"

      "Oh all right, you can have the tape, but I'm not sure about the drugs. What are they?"
      "Harmless. It won't kill them and it won't do their bloodstream any damage. Oh, I almost forgot, give these to the 'winners'"

      "No probs. So, will you be in later too?"
      "I'm a little busy tonight actually, but I might come in later to see if they did"

      "What makes these two so special? Or do you do this to all of your friends?"

      "Trust me, he's no friend of mine. Do you remember the project I mentioned the other night?"
      "You mean the last time you stayed over?"

      "Yes"

      "No, I have no idea in the slightest. You should know by now never to tell me anything before I go asleep, I get too tired to concentrate on whatever someone's saying at that time"

      "Can we go in the back? I don't fancy telling you here in case the wrong people get wind of it"

      "Sure, come on through"

      James was lying back on the bed in the cheap room he had agreed to pay for, barely paying any attention to what Jessie and Meowth were saying to him, as Alexandria's safety was his main concern. Of course, he couldn't mention that to either of them as it would involve revealing a large part of his past that he had fought to stay hidden, and that was the way that he'd like to keep it, at all costs. Jessie cooked their food in the evening and he decided to try and convince Meowth not to say anything to her about what he'd put in his pocket (he later hid it in one of the books that he'd taken from his room in Growly's house). He didn't know which was worse, the chance that his aunt was injured if not worse, or the chance that she had something to do with the whole mess that he was in.

      Roughly 21:00hrs, in the cheap hotel…

      James was teasingly kissing Jessie along the nape of her neck in the bedroom, thankful to have some time alone together. She knew that he had been acting strangely lately, but as much as she wanted to ask him if she could make him feel any better, she was finding it extremely difficult to say anything from the way that he was making her feel as he ran his fingers over her skin. Yet again they didn't do anything serious, but he kissed her somewhat differently than the way he usually did, even though she couldn't actually put her finger on what it was that was unusual about it. Unfortunately for her, he eventually pulled back and asked her if she felt like going out anywhere since they were in a large city. She smiled at him and asked him if he wanted to go for a drink or two, since they hadn't actually been out anywhere since officially going out with each other. He agreed, and, after they changed out of what was left of their uniforms, they decided to go somewhere a little low-key in case Giovanni was also in the area. He called to Meowth that they weren't sure what time they were intending to be back and they headed to The Silver Bullet since they'd been there before, and James paid for the first round. One of the barmen said he'd drop the drinks over to them and they sat in a corner booth, excited at the whole concept of being out together. Elora sighed to herself before explaining to each of her staff what to do with each of the drinks they ordered, wondering if it was really worth doing. Still, it should be interesting if the 'competition' took place…