Amnesia
Chapter Three
Misty awoke the next morning, just as the sun was rising over the tree tops. Giving a little yawn, she brushed some gunk out of her eyes and looked at the boys around her. Brock and Ash were jumbled up in their own sleeping bags, snoring loudly. Stephen's face was buried straight down in his pillow, his hair sticking up all over. Pikachu and Togepi were strewn across Pikachu's bolt-decorated sleeping bag, snoring just as loudly as Brock and Ash.
"Boys...." Misty said, rolling her tired green eyes. She sat up in her bag and straightened out her hair. She stretched her arms and slipped out of her bag quietly. She quickly gathered up a few pieces of clothing and a towel, then headed off towards the river.
"To protect the world from devastation."
"To unite all people within our nation."
"To denounce the evils of truth and love."
"To extend our reach to the stars above."
"Jessie."
"James."
"Team Rocket, blast off at the spe..."
"Will ya' two keep it down! Meowth's tryin' ta' sleep!"
"Sorry Meowth." Jessie and James both deadpanned.
Up in a tree, Team Rocket sat perched, waiting. Meowth however, was snoozing on a higher branch....or trying to at least.
"Sheesh, do ya' two-watt-bulbs ever stop ta' t'ink 'dat nobody's around ta' hear 'da motto anyway?" Meowth asked, yawning loudly.
"We know that nobody is around to hear it, but we have to say it anyway. It doesn't feel right if we don't." James stated, pulling a rose out and twirling it around in his fingers.
"Will you both keep it down? We have to wait for those brats to pass by here so we can jump them and capture Pikachu!" Jessie said, whacking Meowth and James upside the head with her fan.
"Ow! Okay Jess." Meowth said, rubbing his head behind his charm.
"Hey! Here comes one of them!" James said, pointing down at the road.
Misty strolled down the dirt path towards the river, whistling a little. Just then, a small black ball fell to the ground in front of her.
"Huh? What's that?" Misty asked, looking down at the ball. Just then, the ball exploded, sending out a dense cloud of smoke. Misty backed away, coughing loudly when two figures appeared in the fog.
"Prepare for trouble!"
"Make it double!"
"To protect the world from devastation."
"To unite all peoples within our nation."
"To denounce the...."
"Can we just skip it!?" Meowth shrieked, jumping down from the tree and slashing Jessie and James across the faces.
"Yah! You'll pay for that you uppity cat!" James cried, grabbing Meowth from behind the neck.
"This is for touching my face!" Jessie cried, whipping out her mallet. James dropped Meowth and Jessie slammed him with her mallet before he hit the ground, sending him flying into a tree. The felonious feline richotched off the tree, into the air, and then landing with a sickening plop before Misty.
"Oh! You poor thing!" Misty cried, picking up the dazed Meowth. She cuddled him in her arms and he began to purr slightly.
"Ooo....warm....Hey! Wait a sec!" Meowth cried, snapping out of his natural-cat-state-of-mind. He leapt from Misty's arms and stood behind Jessie and James.
"Okay brat, tell us where Pikachu is!" Jessie demanded.
"What, you mean Archie's Pikachu? It's back at the camp, a few minuets away." Misty said, pointing back at the way she came.
"Archie?" Team Rocket asked simultaneously.
"Who's Archie? We're looking for a kid named Ash!" James said.
"That might be his name....Short kid, about eleven, spiky hair and a Pokémon League Hat." Misty said, counting off the descriptions on her fingers.
"That's him." James said, nodding.
"Wait a minute." Jessie said, walking over to Misty and looking at her curiously. "Something's wrong here....."
"I'm sorry. Where are my manners?" Misty asked, slapping herself on the forehead, then holding out her hand. "My name is Misty. What's yours?"
Team Rocket just looked blank.
"You mean, you don't recognize us?" Jessie asked.
"Should I? I'm sorry, but I was in the hospital, and everyone's been telling me I have amnesia or something." Misty said, shrugging.
"Huddle!" Jessie cried, dashing back over to Meowth and James.
"Amnesia huh?. That means she doesn't remember us!" James said, smiling.
"'Dat's why she was so nice 'ta Meowth!" Meowth said, rubbing his paws together.
"This could be useful." Jessie said, smiling evilly. "C'mon, I've got a plan."
Misty stood for a few seconds, waiting until the three uniformed strangers dispersed from their huddle. Meowth hurried over to her, then leaped up and Misty caught him easily in her arms. She began to stroke his fur for no apparent reason. Jessie walked up to her and put her arm around her shoulders.
"Okay Misty, the thing is, you do know us. My name is Jessie, he's James, and that's Meowth you're coddling there. We're friends of you and Ash." Jessie said, leading Misty over to James.
"Oh, okay. Sorry I didn't remember you." Misty said, blushing a little from embarrassment.
"No problem." James said, smiling warmly. "Now, since we're such good friends of Ash and you guys, we'd like to see him. Could you take us to him?"
"Sure. C'mon." Misty said, turning around on her heel. Jessie and James laughed to themselves and followed Misty as she led them back down the trail.
Chapter Four
When Misty and Team Rocket arrived back at the campsite, the boys were still all asleep, except for Togepi, who was just waking up. Misty let down Meowth, then picked up Togepi, receiving a happy trill as a response. Jessie and James grinned to each other, then dashed over to Pikachu's sleeping bag.
"Hiya Togepi! How'ya been?" Meowth asked, hopping onto Misty's shoulder and patting Togepi on the head. Togepi just smiled and giggled happily.
"Wow, I guess you guys must be really close friends if Togepi likes you that much." Misty said, smiling.
"Yeah, Togepi and I go way back." Meowth said, giving Misty a Cheshire-Cat grin.
Just then, Jessie and James popped up behind Misty, holding a rubber bag with a large, Pikachu-shaped bulge in it.
"Well, we're glad we could visit...." Jessie said, tying a knot in the top of the bag.
"But we must be going." James said, finishing Jessie's sentence for her.
"So long!" Meowth cried, hopping away from Misty and onto James' shoulder. Team Rocket grinned broadly, then dashed away into the forest.
"Hmm, I wonder why they had to leave so quickly." Misty mused, setting Togepi down on a log. Togepi hopped off the log and walked over to Ash's sleeping bag. He hopped up onto Ash's bag and began jumping up and down on it, laughing happily.
"Huh? Wha?" Ash asked groggily, rolling over and causing Togepi to have to jump away.
"'Morning Archie." Misty said, picking up Togepi again.
"It's Ash...." Ash said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
"Sure. Can you wake up Broke? I'm hungry."
"Toki!" Togepi chimed in agreement.
Ash just rolled his eyes, then got out of his bag and stretched. He started towards Brock's sleeping bag, then stopped at Pikachu's.
"Hey Pikachu, you awake yet?" Ash asked, nudging at the bulge on Pikachu's sleeping bag. "Pikachu?"
Ash moved the top flap away from Pikachu's sleeping bag, only to see a small pillow and some wads of paper.
"What the...." Ash asked, digging through the wads of paper.
"'Oh, by the way. A few of your friends came by earlier. Weird people really. They really seemed to like poetry...." Misty mused, coddling Togepi.
"Pikachu, this isn't the time to be playing games...." Ash said, popping around the campsite, looking for Pikachu.
"I can't remember their names....but they had a Meowth. Really cool one too. It spoke almost perfect English."
Ash stopped dead in his tracks. He whirled around on his heel and grabbed Misty by the shoulders.
"Do you mean to tell me that Jessie, James, and Meowth of Team Rocket were here, and you didn't try to stop them?" Ash asked, a hysterical look on his face.
"Was I supposed to stop them?" Misty asked, confused.
A split second later, Brock, Stephen, and about half the pokémon in the forest were jarred awake by an ear-peircing shriek.
"......AAAAAAA!!!!" Ash finished. He stood there for a second, sucked in a deep breath of air, then fell flat on his face.
"I think I've gone deaf...." Brock said, holding his ears.
"Brock, are my ears bleeding?" Stephen asked, rubbing at his ears.
"What?"
"Never mind...."
"What?"
Just then, Ash stampeded over Stephen and Brock and dashed off into the forest, down the trail.
"Great, now my ears and my internal organs are bleeding...."
"What?"
"Shaddup."