Meanwhile, on the other side of the island…

"Jessie, my feet hurt! Can't we take a break?" James whined as he and Meowth followed Jessie who was leading the way.

The group was slowly trudging up a hillside with Foxglove locked in a cage that was strapped to Meowth's back.

"Oh be quiet! The simpleton writing this is dragging us all over this island and that's what we're doing!" she growled with her hand in a fist.

"Sheesh, at this point throw me to the sharks…" Foxglove groaned as she sat in her cage, her wings covering her face in embarrassment. "Hey, leave the smart-alecky comments to me." Meowth replied with a quick sneer.

"Besides, there's no way I'm letting anyone else get to my treasure first!" Jessie said as she grabbed a large root and used it to pull herself forward, finally reaching the top of the hill.

"Well hopefully we're not too far off." James said as he and Meowth joined her. Before them was a flat area of ground, no trees were there, nothing at all.

"Sheesh, I've heard of deforestation but this is ridiculous." Meowth said, looking out over the land. "Let's keep moving, we've got a lot of ground to cover." Jessie said, taking the lead again.

"I don't think this is a good idea…" Foxglove said, looking down at the moist looking soil. "Something doesn't seem quite right.

"Nobody asked you, runt!" Jessie barked at the bat. Once she stepped forward, Jessie felt her foot sink into the dirt with a loud slurping sound.

"Huh?" She looked down and felt her leg and foot start to become warm. Jessie gasped in joy and covered her cheeks! "I think we just stumbled across a hot spring!" She squeaked as she pulled her foot out.

"I could use a good soak! Let's do it!" James said as he raised his foot, ready to break the soil. "Wait! Don't do that!" Foxglove said, grabbing the bars of her cage!

But it was too late; James' foot slammed through the dirt and a gush of steam shot out of the ground and sent Meowth flying!

"YAAAAAAHHHH!" he shrieked as he was sent flying through the sky like a cork out of a champagne bottle. "I told you!" Foxglove said as the two went back down towards the Earth, landing in James' arms.

Meowth's fur was all poofy and sticking up, he looked like a shirt that got washed the wrong way. The Rocket Pirates suddenly heard the ground rumble all around them.

They looked and saw huge fountains of steam beginning to erupt from the ground! Jessie gasped as she felt another geyser shoot up and slightly burn her rear end. "Time to go!" she chirped!

The pirates took off into a sprint as they did their best to avoid getting cooked alive! James shrieked as he felt himself being launched into the air!

James blabbered in fear as he kept bouncing from geyser to geyser, almost as if he was being juggled! Jessie looked up at him and growled.

"James, quit fooling around and move it!" She said as he kept leaping all over the place. "Speak for yourself!" he called down to her.

Jessie suddenly shrieked as she herself was catapulted up with James and the two pirates soared through the air like a pair of drunken birds.

Meowth was finally able to stop and catch his breath, making it to a grassy patch of land on the other side. "Phew, a little too hot for my tastes…" He panted, only to notice his two cohorts were nowhere to be seen.

"Hey where'd they- GAH!" Meowth was cut off when Jessie and James dropped right out of the sky and landed on top of him! Their eyes filled with dizzy spirals, Jessie quickly realized her slicked back hair was all frizzed up and spiky.

"…Grrrrr…" She snarled as she clutched some patches of grass and yanked them out, strangling the life out of them. She shot up and sent James tumbling onto the grass!

"Let's just find the treasure and get off this island! If I run into those twerps, they're paying for my hair straightening!" She shouted before grabbing her two goons and dragging them behind her.

"Remind me, why did we join her again?" James groggily asked. "The glory and riches she promised us don't sound worth it anymore…" Meowth groaned.

Foxglove put her tiny paws together and looked out over the island.

"Doremi, where are you…?"

(Please R&R)