As the wind rushs past my face, I see a pavillion of bricks below me, and I know it
will be a hard landing. As usual.

After I smash into the rock and the smoke clears, I notice Meowth has something in
his paws that certaintly wasn't there before.

"Meowth, where'd that book you're holding come from?"

"I picked it up before we got blasted. It's a book on Pokémon fortune telling."

This was the find of a lifetime! "Oh, a book on Pokémon fortune telling? I've heard
all about these little books. I've been meaning to shoplift one."

I had always wanted to see what type I was compared to. Ever since I was little, I
always looked at horoscopes and things like that to see how Fate would treat me that day. The
shocking thing was that they were usually right on the nose, so I was a huge believer.

"What is Pokémon fortune telling?" I hear a voice beside me say.

Figures that he'd be out of the loop. Just another chance to show him how great I am.
"It compares people to Pokémon and tells your fortune. Let's see, it'll probably say I'm an
elegant Ninetales type." I flip to the page with my birthday on it. "Here we are... it
says I'm an... ah ha! It says I'm an Eevee type!" I giggle at the thought. "Yep, that's me!
A cuddly, adorable Eevee type!"

The guys mutter some comments next to me, but I'm still caught up in my finding.
Meowth's voice cuts through my dream world. "Hey, Jess, look up what Pokémon personality type
matches me!"

What a dunce. "You little furbrain, you *are* a Pokémon!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about dat..."

My mind drifts to my friend sitting next to me. It seems that a dense-type Pokémon
would be along his lines... maybe a Slowpoke. Or a weaking, like a Caterpie. I'm now itching
with curiousity. "Would you like me to look up your fortune for you, James?"

He shrugs. "Well, alright, but I don't believe in those silly things."

I thumb to his birthday. "Well, it should be right here..." Skimming the page, I can
feel the tension in the air. Ah! "Here it is... You're a..."

I can feel the breath suck into my lungs, and all I can do is stare at the faded picture
in the little box beside the words. "A Moltres?!?"

I read the description of a Moltres type out loud. Always prevail? Soars high above
others? That's impossible! The only soaring that James ever does is when we're blasting off!

He chuckles a bit. "Now, isn't that ridiculous?"

I agree. "He he he... absolutely!"

I find his fortune for today and read it aloud. It says something about good luck with
money, and finding something lost. James is never good with our finances, and he's so forgetful
about things that I'm surprised he can remember how to dress himself sometimes... I'm slowly
becoming a skeptic.

And of course, everything has to come true. As if finding an 1867 silver dollar and his
long lost bottle cap isn't enough, he has to have trouble with water, just as predicted, even
when the only water-related thing for thirty miles is a drinking fountain.

"Whaddaya say now?" Meowth demands as James wipes the drops off his face.

Silence is the only thing heard for a moment. I look over at him, and see a mysterious
twinkle in the corner of his eye. He seems to be thinking about something... realizing
something...

"It was right! That silly little fortune telling book was right! Let me see!"

He snatchs the book from my unsuspecting hands with a force I've never seen in him.

He reads the paragraph again in disbelief. I look at him, and, all of a sudden, his
head springs up from his readings. "I knew it all along! Through all the pain, through all the
humiliation, I've always felt like I was something... greater!"

He has an odd glow in his gaze, and it's sort of scaring me. "James, are you...?"

He hands me the book and scampers up the nearest lightpost like an Aipom in a tree.
"I, James, am the mighty Moltres!"

Now *this* is creeping me out. I've never seen James act so vivacious about anything.
For once, my status in this small team seems to be shrinking...

"Our Moltres is certainty full of himself..." I comment out loud.

"Yeah, full of hot air," the cat beside me notices.

I get a big surprise when, not a minute later, James lands right in front of me. His
voice echoes in my ear much louder than it usually does. "Here this! From this day forth you
will be my subjects and I will be the mighty Moltres-like monarch whom you will obey and revere!"

All I can let out is a small, "What?"

He keeps explaining his plan, but my brain has clouded over. It seems that he's taken
this a bit too seriously. Major boosts of confidence are OK, but it's quite a shocker when you
go from behind-the-scenes helper to all-out first in command.

Especially when you take someone else's place at the top.

My mouth hangs open at his daring plan, and he starts running away. "James, wait!"

My legs start following him, but my mind is jammed in place.

* R *

We stop in front of a Pokémon day care center along the route to Goldenrod City. Meowth
suggests our usual plan. "I guess we should sneak in the back way."

He shakes his head. I'm contradicting him mentally- no! what's wrong with you? of
course we'll go the back way!- but my lips don't seem to move.

When he suggests just barging through the front door, I don't object. We've done that
a few times before (it usually ends up badly) but... maybe if we obey him, he'll have had enough
and let it all go back to normal. We march up to the front door, the glass parts for us like a
crystal sea, and we strike our evil poses once inside the door. "So, the Moltres is here!"
James proclaims.

"Pardon me?" the old lady questions.

He's a step ahead of me. Aren't I usually in that position? I try to seem nefarious,
but I'm partially laughing at the irony, partially trying to figure this whole thing out, and...
partially holding back tears.

James looks at the elderly couple standing there. "I said the Moltres is here. I am he
and I have come to claim your Pokémon!"

The grandma there has a peculiar hint to her voice... almost like I've heard it before.
James starts walking in the direction of the back rooms when, in an instant, the lady picks him
up and starts swinging him! It takes me a few seconds to realize what's happening, and I rush
over to him, but... I don't accomplish much when the man takes me by the shoulders of my
uniform. James now lays against the wall where he was thrown. I can feel the pressure against
my collarbone and then the impact of the wall along my back. What just happened here?

James seems unfazed by the incedent, obvously still in Moltres-mode. "How dare you treat
James the Moltres this way! Where did you get the audacity, and where did you get the muscles?"

I, however, am frozen. I know that I look a bit distraught. I'm even more confused
when the elderly couple pulls their faces off and end up being Butch and Cassidy. Figures that
they'd show up at a time like this.

I don't bother interrupting them until they're done with their (cheap rip-off) motto.
I scowl at them. "Cassidy!"

"And Botch, too."

Ahh... he'll always be thick. "The name is Butch! Can't you get anything right!?" the
teal haired one shouts.

Cassidy smirks at us. "Now we'll have to make sure you don't get in our way."

"And how are you going to do that?" I spit out. It sounds a bit more placid that usual.

"Oh, I don't know," Butch snidly remarks in his frog-like voice. "Last time we met, we
tried mental domination, so this time I think we're gonna use brute strength."

Cassidy runs around to James' back side, and grabs his arms so he can't move them. I see
Butch rush past me, and soon my arms are paralyzed by his grip. I look at my partner being held
hostage by the golden-haired enemy I hate, and soon I go into a fit. "Let me go!"

I yank my arms around behind me, but Butch's grip is stronger. I aim my heel for the top
of his foot, but as soon as I jam it down, he steps aside and I end up with a pain in the bottom
of my boot. Whimpering, I finally do as I've never done before... give up the fight.

James, still with a gleam in his eye, doesn't seem to be trying to get away. His trait
of being a gentleman still shows through; he'd never even try to hurt a girl. It's obvious that
Butch hasn't been raised by the same standards.

They drag us to a shed out in back and tie us together with a thick rope. We've been in
this predicament many times before, but... I've never seemed so pessimistic about it. And James
has never been so fearless.

Our wrists are pressed against each other's in the loop. I can feel the blood pumping
through his veins. He must be on a real adrenaline high today...

Isn't it odd, though? I'm the one supposed to be determined. It's like we've switched
places.

I want to be the leader again.

Even in the little space that is between us, I still manage to wrap my finger around the
edge of his hand. We do that sometimes, when we're caught in this situation. One of us manages
to find the other's hand, and we hold on to each other. We sometimes squeeze our fingers
together, and we know that we're each a bit scared. James usually starts this.

I apply just a bit of pressure to his palm for a minute, and then release my grip. I
wait for a few seconds, but... he doesn't respond. I try again, but it's the same outcome as
before, nothing. "James...?"

"I am always here for my subservients! What can James the Moltres do to assist you?"

I choke on my words. Subservient? It now feels like an arrow has been shot through my
heart. He's never thought of me as someone less than him. It stings my soul to hear his
demanding voice now. I breath and I start my sentence. "Did you feel that? Why didn't you
respond?"

I know that he'll have an answer that I don't want to hear, but I keep my ears open and
force myself to listen. "James the Moltres doesn't have time for childish games. The Moltres
must use his brillance to concoct a plan to get out of here."

I hang my head and demand myself to not tear up. He never said it was childish before
today... My sadness soon turns to anger at my lack of determination and the fact that two of
my most loathed enemies happened to defeat me again. I let out a small groan. "I can't
stand that Cassidy."

The scratch-cat beside me wiggles around a bit. "I bet dey got some supa-smart scheme
goin', though."

I brace myself to here him speak. It's a voice I don't want to hear again. "Fear not!
Don't forget that no matter what difficulties arises, the Moltres type will always prevail and
triumph!"

This superhero speech is one I shrug off. Suddenly I feel the twine around me tensing,
and then... The rope is snapped into a million shreds, and disinegrates around me. I gasp;
we've never escaped from being tied up before. The events quickly click in my head, and I
turn around to realize that James was the one that release us. He quickly walks over to the
door and hurls himself against it. Where did he get all of this power? He's never shown it
before he learned of his mighty counterpart. I see him throw himself at it a second time, and
the door flies off of his hinges and goes clattering to the ground.

Now standing, I just stare in disbelief at his feats of strength. He looks at us with
a powerful glare, a demanding gaze that I try not to wince at. "Moltres has broken your bonds.
Come, we must fly!"

Four words come out of my mouth that may never come out again. "Whatever you say,
James."

I hear Meowth speak up beside me, it's the same way. "You're da leader."

What have I put myself up to?