This chapter is dedicated to Bianca! Happy 16th birthday, best friend!

To my reviewers:

Bianca: Thankee, my biggest fan. I wondered as well; that's why I wrote about it. Haha.

Koichi: Yeah, I've always thought the two fit together well. And yes, I've seen every "4kids hates riceballs" video on Youtube. That was a big inspiration for that joke. And indeed, Ash and Meowth might be in trouble.

Fang: Indeed we do. Irony is a beautiful thing.

Jazzykid: Thanks! I know; I love the rose. Haha.

Chapter 11: Captain Obvious

"Maybe we should head back into the city." Ash suggested. "They're probably there."

Ash, Meowth, Jessie, and Misty were all seated on the grass in a small clearing, trying to figure out their next course of action. Ash was pacing nervously, apparently the most agitated at the situation. Meowth was sitting with his back against a tree, trying to convince Misty to scratch his ears. Jessie was busy trying to stuff Pikachu into her shirt. She wasn't having much success.

"Or," Ash began excitedly, his pacing increasing in momentum, "Maybe we could split up and search!"

"I have a better idea." Meowth chimed in calmly. "Let's stop worrying and just… relax…" He sighed contentedly, as Misty had finally conceded and begun stroking his fur.

"Maybe you guys should wait here," Jessie began, speaking with difficulty as she tried to subdue the yellow mouse she was hiding, "and I'll go look for them."

"That's a stupid idea." Misty said hotly, almost stepping on Jessie's words.

"Pikaaaaa… Pikachu!"

"Hey!" Ash stopped pacing and listened. "Did you hear something?"

Jessie jumped in with a quick response. "Nope. No, not a thing. Nothing at all." Pikachu loosed a small spark from within Jessie's clothes and she jumped a little bit and squealed.

"Jessie, is something wrong?" The others looked at her.

"Uh… just had a small wardrobe malfunction. But it's fine. It's all fine now. Everything's fine. How are you?" She turned her body away from them, but on the last part twisted her head back to look at them and put on a large grin.

The others looked like they were going to say something, but discovered they didn't need to, as Pikachu did that for them.

"Pika… CHUUUUUUUU!" Finally fed up with the Rocket's behavior, Pikachu discharged a weak Thunderbolt and stunned Jessie. He then proceeded to climb out of her top and run to the center of the clearing.

Misty rolled her eyes and Meowth stifled a laugh, but Ash looked flabbergasted.

"Jessie! Did you have Pikachu in your shirt that whole time?" His eyes grew wide.

Everyone, including the charred Jessie, looked at him and sweatdropped.

"Are you really dat dense, twerp?" Meowth inquired, now totally unable to control his laughter. He rolled onto the ground in hysterics.

Ash's expression was blank. "I don't get it."

"Ash! How stupid are you? Take a hint!" Misty shouted at him, scolding the trainer from across the clearing.

"Um… sorry, guys." Ash looked embarrassed.

Misty began speaking again. "How about we all just go into the city and look for places where Brock and James might be. They must be there somewhere, and sitting here doing nothing isn't going to find them any faster. I propose we just walk around until we find 'em. It's not a big city. It won't take long!" By the end of this little speech Misty was standing up, slamming the bottom of her fist into her hand repeatedly as if she were some kind of debate team leader.

The others seemed inspired by this speech. The only exception was Meowth, who was mourning the loss of his masseuse.

Ash, eager to forget his previous experience, was instantly taken by the idea. "All right! Let's go!" He turned on his heel and started marching out of the woods, followed by a pleased Misty, a fried Jessie, and a sad Meowth.

Meanwhile…

"Are you serious? Nothing at all?" Brock was surprised.

He and James had been talking for quite some time now, and the conversation had drifted to Jessie. Brock was quizzing James on his feelings about her.

"Nope." James responded. He shook his head.

"There's no way!" Brock was still in shock. "You've gotta feel something!"

"No! Look, we've been friends since we were kids! It's more of a… sibling… thing." James tried to explain.

"I don't care what you say." Brock stated. "You've got to think she's hot. Somewhere deep down."

"No! Not at all!" James crossed his arms. "It's just not like that."

"Come on. Either she's hot, or you're gay."

"What?" James was not particularly pleased with this new theory of Brock's.

Brock studied him. "Oh my God, you're gay."

"I am not! You're crazy."

"Don't worry." Brock grinned and patted James on the back. "Your secret's safe with me."

"What secret?" James cried, incredulous. "There is no secret here! Just you and your crackpot theories!"

Brock was ignoring him. "Of course! It all makes sense now! I mean, I suppose I had my suspicions, especially after the 'flaming Moltres' incident from one of the early seasons. But I always thought it couldn't be because of Jessie… but if there's no Jessie…" Brock was contemplative, carefully weighing the situation in his mind.

James was completely belligerent. "What the hell are you talking about? I… you… this is ridiculous!" James stammered. He was at a loss for words in how to accurately portray his growing rage.

But Brock wasn't listening to him. He was still theorizing on how he might be able to make things work with Jessie after all.