Glancing down at his torn boots every few seconds, James continued clomping through the forest downheartedly. He had been walking for hours now and still hadn't reached the edge of the forest. Not only that, but he hadn't run into Jesse or Meowth during his whole forest trek. He had ran into plenty of brambles, however, and thorn bushes galore. His Team Rocket uniform was in tatters. The tatters that hung loosely from his uniform were covered in the sticky round brambles, the impossible-to-remove kind.
All morning James trod through the woods, until around four in the afternoon. As he continued scanning far ahead of where he was headed, he spotted something not green, not brown, and not the usual woodland colors. It was dark gray and flat! Cement! The beautiful road lay so precious and inviting on the ground, the tiny pebbles scattered on it sparkling in the afternoon sunshine. Running faster towards the road using the last strength he had, James reached it within a few seconds. Once he had reached it, he immediately threw himself onto the edge of the cement and kissed it happily. He had found a road! Now all he had to do was wait for a passerby to pick him up...
"Boss, the male Rocket has reached the road, Route 152," the helicopter pilot rung in.
"Is he remaining near the road?"
"Yes, sir. It appears that he wants a ride from whoever drives by."
"Thank you, pilot. Continue updating me if his position should change."
The Boss had thought up a brilliant scheme to rid himself of James. A few hours ago, following the pilot's calculations of when James would reach the road, Giovanni knew what he would do. Immediately he had made an announcement to the Rockets: Jesse lookalikes meet him in his office. After waiting ten minutes for anybody to show up, Giovanni grew impatient. He screamed into the P.A., "ANY FEMALE ROCKET IN THE BUILDING REPORT TO THE BOSS'S OFFICE!"
Soon a trio of female Rockets rushed in, obviously panicked. Slightly they bowed to their angered boss, furiously stroking the Persian behind the glass desk. They tousled their hair nervously as Giovanni inspected them from his seat. One woman had green eyes and curly blue hair; another had brown eyes and spiky yellow hair; and another had purple eyes and short black hair. None had the hair color, hairstyle, or the eye color of James's partner. He dismissed them and called in instead Butch and Cassidy, the Rocket members most in touch with Jesse and James, and his most trusted employees.
As soon as Butch and Cassidy arrived, which took a good ten minutes since they were out on a job, Giovanni glared them down.
"Alright, you two, do you know any Jesse lookalikes in Team Rocket or anywhere else?"
Butch looked confused and croaked, "Why, Boss?"
"BECAUSE I SAID SO!" Giovanni roared.
Cassidy began to stutter fearfully. "Well, uh, we can't think of any in Team Rocket..."
Butch was heavy in thought. "Wait, I think I know a woman who looks EXACTLY like Jesse..."
"WHO? WHO IS IT!" Giovanni demanded.
Butch cringed. "She's got red hair, and blue eyes, looks just like Jesse..."
"TELL ME WHO IT IS NOW."
"Uh, real rich girl, she is." Butch saw that the Boss had pulled a gun on him. He had to think fast. "Uh...James's fiancée!"
"JAMES HAS A FIANCEE! HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS?"
"Technically, you do know, Boss," Cassidy meekly stated. "It's in your TR records."
Giovanni was just about to shoot her when he realized what a help they had both been.
"Is she capable of evil?" he asked earnestly.
"I think so; I've heard terrible stories about her... And what she did to James..."
"Do you know where she lives?" The Boss continued to implore on the woman.
"I think she lives at James's estate." Butch was content. He had satisfied the Boss, something that neither Jesse nor James could ever do.
"Thank you. That will be all," Giovanni motioned. After the two Rockets had left, he walked over to his record shelves and pulled James's record out.
"Childhood, education, parents' names, location... James's estate... 108 Morgan Drive, Lake Of Rage, in Johto..."
Jesse wandered aimlessly through the forest, hoping to find James before it was too late. Weezing and Arbok scanned ahead slightly, in case there was any danger in store for her. Once in a while she'd sit on a fallen log and attempt to scratch the caked mud off her boots. Her feet were much heavier with the thick deposit of stinky swamp sewage on them. The smell of them was grossing out even Weezing, and he ventured far ahead of her so as not to have to get a whiff of them now and then. Meowth walked a little ahead of Jesse within speaking distance. Occasionally when she would stop to pity herself, he comforted her, assuring her that James would be okay.
"Hello. Is Jezebel there?"
A strong southern accent answered. "Yessir, this is she."
"Do you know James Morgan?"
"Yes, I'm his fiancée..."
Giovanni fingered through the papers, scanning for any information of their past together. Finally he found some. 'James Morgan ran away from his estate because of fiancée Jezebel.' He asked her a question regarding the relationship.
"Do you want him to be your husband?"
"Of course, but he don't like me much. He keeps runnin' away evr'time I'm around him."
"Well, I have a plan that will make him come running back to you, Ma'am."
"Really? Lemme hear it!"
Giovanni had accomplished his mission. By loading Jezebel full of false hopes and lying to her with every word he said, he had persuaded her to do his work. James was in for a surprise!
"Alright, Ma'am, meet me down at the Team Rocket headquarters in Celadon City. Be quick about it! The plan must be carried out today!" The two ended the conversation and the next part of the plan was about to unfold.
As Jezebel made her way down, Giovanni ordered Butch back to the headquarters.
"Now, Butch, I have a top-secret plan that you must help carry through," he stared sternly at the blue-haired Rocket before him. Butch fidgeted nervously but knew that this was his ultimate chance to impress the Boss.
"Can I trust you, Butch?" the Boss questioned.
"Yes, sir," Butch replied proudly. At the signal of the Boss's finger to come nearer, he cautiously ventured towards the Boss's desk to hear about the top-secret operation he was to take part in.
