James carried Hope Elizabeth and tried his best to make his feat continue on. He had been walking for an hour and still they hadn't reached the town. ' Well, at least we're out of the forest.' James thought to himself. Dark clouds had moved over the sky and James was afraid it would rain again. James quickened his pace hoping to beat it. Hope asleep in his arms squirmed uncomfortably and grabbed James' shirt.

" Hey, we're not there yet. But we will be soon." James told her. Which brought more comfort to him then it did to the sleeping baby in his arms.

James looked ahead of him and sighed exasperated from the already tough walk, now he'd have to walk up this steep hill. James put one foot in front of the other and slowly made it to the top. There in front of them, was the town. James could tell from where they stood that the town had suffered damage from the last storm.

James held Hope up and said. " Look, there's where we'll find you food." Hope just laughed as the cool breeze hit her cheek.

James smiled at the small baby and with high spirits continued his way to the town. It only took them eight minutes to make it to the town. The town had been hit very hard by the storm. Many of the buildings' roofs had caved in and the Welcome sign had been flung from its normal position at the entrance of the town to in front of a barber's shop which was twenty-four feet away.

Looking for a shop that was open after this disaster would be hard. James searched and searched, but all he found was closed stores or torn down ones. Just as he was about to give up he saw a line of people in front of the building. The building had a sign in front of it that read FOOD. 'Maybe I can find Hope something there' he thought as he went to the end of the line.

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MEANWHILE.........

Jessie steeped out of Team Rocket's hideout with a worried expression on her face. Meowth who also looked worried quickly followed her.

" Meowth do you think he's okay?" she asked the feline pokemon next to her.

" Uh, I'm sure he's fine. Probably made it to de next town and stayed at a hotel or somethn'." Meowth replied.

" Yeah, he did." Jessie said in return. " Well, let's go meet him there."

" Yeah, let's go." Meowth said faking a smile.

So Jessie and Meowth made there way to the town. Both hoping beyond hope that they were right.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

At that very moment back at the town.......

Ash, Misty, and Brock were standing in the line. Actually they had been standing in the line for about 15 minutes....

" Ugh, we've been standing here for hours and still we're no more closer then we were before." Ash wined.

" Stop wining, you sound like a baby Ash! Besides we've only been standing here about 15 minutes. You can't even tell time!" Misty screamed at him.

" Well-" Ash began but was soon interrupted by Brock who the whole time had been staring at someone behind them in the line.

" Speaking of babies..." Brock said still staring down the line.

" What, now your falling for hot single mothers too?" Misty asked annoyed.

" No! James is standing in the line down there...." Brock started.

" Aw man! James from Team Rocket? Here we go again." Ash said trying to look down the line.

" Yes, James from Team Rocket but he's not with Jessie or Meowth-" Brock tried again.

" Great, now he's working solo we'll have to deal with them separate two times a day instead of the regular one time a day." Misty pouted.

" Actually I don't think he's-" Brock said frustrated.

" Well, he won't have anything to steal our pokemon are at the pokemon center." Ash stated triumphantly.

" Ash sshhh! You don't want him to find out do you?!? He'll just go to the pokemon center and steal Pikachu from there!" Misty hissed.

" Ok, Ok, don't get your pants in a knot." Ash replied.

" That is so lame, my uncle used to use that." Misty told him.

" It's not lame, besides what does it matter if-" Ash began.

" Would you two shut up?!?" Brock shouted in anger and frustration.

" Geeze, it looks like someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." Misty said.

" Yeah." Ash agreed eyeing Brock cautiously. (Brock falls over)

" I'm just trying to tell you guys something about James." Brock told them, as he got back up.

" What?" Misty and Ash asked in unison.

" I don't think he wants to steal anyone's pokemon because he's got a baby with him." Brock said at long last.

" What?!?" Misty shouted in

" Wo, looks like him and Jessie have been getting down. I always wondered what they did in there spare time." Ash said thoughtfully. (Misty hit Ash upside the head).

" We don't know what the story is. We can't just make judgments if we don't know the facts." Misty growled angrily.

" Misty is right." Brock agreed thoughtfully.

All this time while they had been talking he line had been moving and they were finally about to enter the building.

A little while later......

James breathed a sigh of relief. They finally made it inside, but now if he could just find out what to get Hope. Before James had a chance to ponder about this a rather large but beautiful women came over to him.

" Oh, isn't that the cutest baby I've ever seen." She said in a grandmotherly tone.

"Uh-" James didn't know what to say.

" What's its name?" The lady asked.

(swallow) " Uh- Hope Elizabeth and I-" James began unsure of this person.

" Hope Elizabeth, my, what a beautiful name." She stated thoughtfully..

" Thank you." James replied feeling proud of himself for giving the baby that name.

" Anyway, I'm one of the volunteer helpers here. All the food is free, but you're only aloud to take a certain amount." The lady said. " I'm Ms. Henry."

" I was won-" James began.

" Hope looks to be about 5 months old I would say. We have a lovely selection of baby food. I was so surprised that we had so many, but I guess since baby food comes in those little jars that are so tight, they must be hard to break. I find that a lot of food now comes in unbreakable packages...." Ms Henry continued to talk as she brought them to a section full of baby jars.

"Here you are, pick three of them." She told him.

James wondered about this which ones should he choose. He looked across all of the choices and found himself confused. How would he know which ones Hope would like?

" Not sure what to get?" Ms. Henry asked. James nodded his head still looking very confused.

" Here," she said grabbing three containers of baby food and putting them in a plastique bag. "take these. I find that they're the most popular choice among babies."

" Oh." James muttered as he took the bag from her. " Well, I guess I have to go now...."

" Wait!" Ms. Henry grabbed his shoulder. " If you'll come with me I'll give you a stroller to carry that baby in."

James nearly jumped with joy. A stroller just what Hope and his own arms needed. Sure it's nice to hold a baby for a little while, but if you have to walk around holding one for the entire day it does get tiring. There was just one problem....

" I... I can't. I don't have nearly enough money." James replied sadly. Hope whimpered in his arms as if she knew she was missing out on something.

" Don't be silly! I'm giving it to you!" Ms. Henry said with a sparkling white smile. " All of my kids are grown up so I don't need it anymore."

" Thanks!" James smiled too and Hope clapped her hands together and giggled.

" Your Welcome, now come with me."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jessie walked in quick long strides down the path. Never before had she been this worried about anything. Meowth followed quickly behind but found it was becoming very hard to keep up. To make matters worse his paws ached; they'd been walking all morning.

" Jess' can ya slow down?!? My paws feel like dey're gonna fall off!" The cat-like pokemon whined up to Jessie. Jessie ignored Meowth and kept walking. Meowth stopped and stared at her with a confused look on his face.

Soon Meowth ran after Jessie and tried again. " Jessie!" he shouted. " Slow down!" It worked this time....

Jessie whirled around and said frustrated. " We're almost there! So stop complaining!"

" I know you're worried and so 'em I but I'm sure he's fine. I know if you'd slow down ya'd realize dat yer tired too." Meowth tried to explain.

Jessie sighed. " All right, I guess we could take a break." She said finally giving in.

'Thank Goodness' Meowth thought as they headed to the side of the path and sat down.

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Ash, Misty, and Brock came out of the building each holding a small bag of food and all of them looking pretty happy, except for Ash who looked more anxious than anything to sit down and actually eat the food he was carrying. All of them forgot all about seeing James earlier.

Just as the three came down the street James was coming out of Ms. Henry's house with the handle's to a used blue and white stroller in his hands and Hope sleeping snuggle inside. At first Ash, Misty and Brock didn't recognize who he was. But when it came clear to them who he was. All three of their mouths dropped open. James pretended not to see them and walked by turning the corner that led out of the town.

Before Misty had a chance to tell the others what she was doing she ran after him. Not sure of why she was doing it or what she would do or say when she caught up with them. When she actually did catch up with him she walked casually next to him hoping that the words would come. But, actually, it was James the spoke first.

" I know what you're thinking." James said softly.

" I'm not thinking anything. I'm not going to judge you if I don't know the facts." Misty replied slowly.

Silence fell over the two again. They walked slowly for a few more feet when James broke the silence again with,

" I named her Hope Elizabeth."

" That's a pretty name." Misty said thoughtfully.

" Would you like to hold her?" James asked coming to a sudden thought.

" Uh, I-um..." Misty mumbled nervously.

James ignored it and came around to the front of the stroller. Slowly he unbuckled the small blue buckle around Hopes' waist and lifted her out whispering things to her that Misty couldn't hear. Then he carefully handed Hope over to Misty. Misty smiled at the baby in her arms who apparently was sleeping.

" James!" "Misty!" Two yells came from opposite directions.

'Uh oh' James thought. He knew exactly who was calling him and Jessie was very good at jumping to conclusions. No doubt she would now.

" Where have you been?!?" Jessie screamed. " We've been looking for you all day and I-"she had just noticed Hope.

Misty gave a sort of nervous smile to Jessie and handed Hope over to James, ' Oh thanks, that helped me out..a lot' he thought sarcastically.

" Wha-" Jessie began speechless, Meowth at her heals also looking....uh...surprised?.?

" Misty!" It was Ash and Brock walking up to them with their bags of food on their arms.

' This is getting very confusing' Misty thought as she motioned for Ash and Brock to come over.

" I guess I'd better tell you all the story of how I got Hope."

" Who?" Jessie and Ash asked together.

" The baby." Misty informed them

" Oh." Ash said bluntly.

" Anyway," James began. " It all started yesterday when...." And so James told the story that you've hopefully already read before this one. If not than you should probably go back and read that one.

By the time he was finished everyone looked like they had something or other to say. That is everyone but James who had just sat Hope back in the stroller and stood looking proud next to it.

" And what are you planning on doing with this baby?" Jessie asked not sounding very happy about this at all.

" I'm gonna keep her." James stated dignified.

" James she's not just something you can have and then throw away when you get bored with it." Jessie said.

" I know that!" James replied very offended. " I'm ready to dedicate my whole life to Hope!"

" How sweet." Misty said softly.

Jessie ignored Misty and continued with James. " Listen, this is not about what you want. This.. This even about what that baby wants....... It's about what's best for her."

" What do you mean?" James asked hesitantly.

" The baby needs food, clothing, and a warm place to sleep and play. All of that takes money." Brock stated speaking for the first time.

" I just can't let her go... she means so much to me." James said feeling tears in his eyes.

" She can't mean to much you just got her yesterday." Ash told him.

At that point James had had enough. Even a little kid thought the right thing was to give Hope away. They just didn't understand. So, James took the stroller and ran.

To be continued......

All right this is up to you the readers to tell me what you think should happen... Should James keep Hope? Or give her away? Also tell me what you thought of this part of the story. Did you like it? What did I do wrong. Oh and sorry about how long it took me I've been gone on vacation and just got back today.