::Evolution::

Disclaimer: Yeah, you know the stuff. Pokémon and its characters do not belong to me, yadda yadda yadda...

Here is the ninth chapter of my new Pokémon high school fic! Enjoy, and don't forget to review when finished!

- BansheeGirl.

Ages:

Jessie – 17

James – 17

Ash – 13

Misty – 13

Cassidy – 17

Brock – 15

Gary – 13

::Evolution – Chapter9::

"Thanks Jessie!" Mr. Tilbury cried from the front door of his antique shop. Jessie waved back at him as he pulled the door shut and began to fiddle with the security locks on the inside of the door. Jessie turned away and continued to walk along the footpath towards the bus stop at the end of the street.

Jessie neared the bus stop and sat down on the bench inside the little shelter. Like usual, there weren't any other people waiting to catch the bus from this stop. Gardenia Avenue was situated in a quiet little pocket of Spire City – the roads were still made of old cobblestone and all of the buildings in the street had an unmistakable rustic look to them. Most of them were small shops such as Mr. Tilbury's antique shop, but there were also a couple of little café's further back along the street. Jessie liked this place because she felt as if she'd almost stepped back in time.

However, the essence of another era could not cheer Jessie up today. She had tried to put on a happy front for the customers at work, but even Mr. Tilbury had sensed that something was wrong. She had managed to get over the terrible distraught and sadness that she had been stricken with the night before, but now simply seemed to be stuck in a very gloomy mood.

Jessie had been surprised to find that her beloved antique jewellery box was still sitting on the counter at the antique shop – she had expected the beautiful wooden box to have sold during the week. Of course she had endeavoured to let the magnificence of the object enrapture her like it normally did, yet not even the jewellery box could take her mind away from the ever-pressing subject of James.

The dance was tonight. Jessie had struggled to resist herself from yelling at Ash the night before – all he could talk about was how excited he was and how much fun it would be and how glad he was to have the girl of his dreams going to the dance with him. How did it turn out that Ash – Jessie's thirteen year-old younger cousin – managed to have everything worked out perfectly, while Jessie's love life was nothing short of a wreck? It wasn't fair, she thought.

Jessie thought about the dance. She had not been to Spire City High's most anticipated event for the past two years. It was strange that she had actually been excited – no, thrilled, about the prospect of going this year. It was a shame that James had not asked her to go with him also for the reason that this would be Jessie's last ever chance to attend the Spire City High Annual Dance, with this year being her final at high school.

"Why couldn't he just have asked me?" Jessie said to no one, a sudden gust of wind making the words barely audible even to herself. She closed her eyes and imagined twirling around on the dance floor with James, his strong arms fastened around her waist. Tears stung Jessie's eyes at the intense longing that she felt just to be in that moment.

Jessie contemplated for a second the idea of actually going to the dance. She looked down at the month's pay packet that she was holding in her hand. There was enough money in there to buy a new dress. She knew of a little garment shop back past Tilbury's Antiques that sold beautiful vintage dresses. And Jessie knew a certain person who was unlikely to have a date for the dance, yet would be more than willing to go with her...

Suddenly Jessie found her spirits rising. She could still go to the dance. She would go there and look ten times as beautiful as Cassidy, and make James regret ever asking that hag to go with him. Maybe she'd even get to dance with James. After all, there was no rule or anything that you could only dance with your date for the night. And it wasn't as if James and Cassidy were going out or anything. It would give Jessie a chance to be distant with James, in order to let him know what she thought about him asking Cassidy to the dance, but at the same time subtly happy to share a dance or two with him.

Jessie stood up, filled with a surge of new hope and a rekindled sense of purpose. She turned to look back in the direction of Tilbury's Antiques and the vintage dress shop. Swiftly, she began walking in that direction before the bus came and she would undoubtedly change her mind.

Jessie opened the front door of her house, clutching the handles of a shopping bag. Carefully folded inside it was the dress she had picked out for the dance. It had cost Jessie nearly all of her pay packet, but it was a truly beautiful dress. She would have been crazy to leave it behind.

Closing the door, Jessie slowly walked into the open living room of the Ketchum house. Three pairs of eyes turned to look at her from the couch in the corner of the room.

"Hey Jess," said Ash. Brock and Misty, who were sitting on either side of him also greeted the crimson-haired girl.

"Hey guys," Jessie replied, walking over to sit at an armchair situated on an angle by the couch. A smile lit her face at the convenience of a certain person being there. "Brock?"

The elder of the two boys looked up. "Yeah?"

"You don't have a date for the dance, do you?"

Brock's face seemed to turn a little red. "Uh, well... you see, I did have a date, but she... uh, had to go and..." his voice trailed off, knowing very well that Jessie was no stranger to his fruitless efforts in the area of girls. "No," he said, finally.

Jessie smiled. "Well, would you like to be my date?"

"...Are you serious?" Brock's eyes widened. A puzzled look appeared on Ash's face.

"Sure. I only decided to go to the dance today, and I don't know anyone else who would be available at such short notice. No offence, or anything," Jessie added.

Brock raised his palms to face Jessie. "None taken! I'd love to be your date. Thanks, Jess!"

"Wait a sec, last night you were acting as though you'd rather spend the rest of your life locked in a small cage with an angry Beedrill than go to the dance. Why do you want to go now?" Ash asked, genuinely puzzled.

Jessie leant back in the armchair and flipped her legs up to rest on the coffee table that stood before the chair and couch. "I don't know. Just a change in heart, I guess. Plus, I found this really gorgeous dress in a shop near Tilbury's," she said in an offhand manner, indicating the shopping bag resting beside her armchair. She was feeling more and more confident about her decision to go to the dance now.

Jessie looked to the brightly lit television screen in front of the coffee table and couch. "What are we watching?" She asked.

"We don't quite know," said Ash, "Misty was going to her friend's house just over on Gipani Street to get ready for the dance, but her friend is sick so Misty decided to stop in here for a while before going back home to get ready. We kind of just turned the TV on and started watching this movie, but it's kinda confusing."

Jessie nodded. She had wondered why there was a backpack near Misty's feet. She must have been carrying all her clothes and makeup and things in it. "Bummer," Jessie said to Misty.

"I know. But hey, at least I'm not the sick one and still get to go to the dance," Misty replied, and slightly blushed at the realisation that she had just voiced her eagerness to go to the event that just so happened to be accompanied by the fact that Ash was taking her to it.

As Ash turned to the orange-haired girl and smiled, Jessie too could not help herself from smiling at the way that Misty and Ash acted around each other. It was a prime example of young, innocent love. "Why don't you just stay here and get ready, Misty? Now that I'm going, we can get ready together," Jessie said. What the hell. Misty seemed a nice enough girl, and it'd be much more fun getting ready with someone else than alone.

Misty's eyes lit up. "Really? That'd be really great, thankyou!" Ash too, looked delighted at the notion that Misty would be staying at his house until the very moment they left for the dance. And then of course he had her for the rest of the night.

The four teenagers settled back into their seats and again tried to comprehend what was happening on the television screen before them. Brock was still beaming at the idea that he was actually going to have a date for the school dance – and not just any date, but a beautiful, older woman. Ash and Misty too, were smiling, now and again glancing at each other and breaking out in a blush every time they happened to catch each other's eye.

Jessie watched the younger children with silent envy. Sure, Jessie was confident with her decision to go to the dance. But whether she was confident that the dance would actually turn out well for her was a different story...

Jessie waited on the steps of the Spire City Community Function Room that the high school had hired for the night, shivering in the night cold. The line for entry was quickly moving inside, but not fast enough that Jessie wasn't totally freezing her butt off. Brock, who had his arm linked in Jessie's, looked to her and laughed. He looked nice and warm in his suit.

In front of Brock and Jessie, Ash, Misty and Vanessa were also waiting in line. Jessie had rung Vanessa that afternoon to see if she wanted to get ready with her and Misty, and Jessie's black-haired friend had happily agreed. Like Jessie, Misty and Vanessa were shivering in their dresses.

Hey – they might be freezing now, but inside they'll be warm and looking hot. Jessie just hoped that they'd get inside soon otherwise it'd be taking her all night just to thaw out.

She looked around at the girls that were visible from her position in the line, examining their dresses before looking down at her own. Jessie had to admit, hers was the nicest she had seen so far. Even Misty and Vanessa had gasped in awe when Jessie had first put it on, saying that it was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen.

The dress was pale pink in colour – which surprisingly suited Jessie very well. It had only one shoulder strap that was made out of a tightly woven shiny cotton that formed the image of roses slowly cascading down from her shoulder, across the breast and subtly petering out on the opposite side. The roses were flat as part of the dress – not like some of the other gigantic flowers that Jessie had spied on some other dresses, which cringingly protruded like some sort of ugly growth. The rest of Jessie's dress was a slightly paler pink than the cotton, and was made of a very light, sheer material that clung to her waist and hips in order to show off her figure, but then gracefully fell in different sections to just below her knees.

Needless to say, Jessie felt like a princess. She didn't need anyone to tell her she looked like one. She also had a nice pair of simple, finely strapped pink heels, and wore her hair out. It flowed in wisps a little way below her shoulder blades, with a few loose curls in the ends.

Finally, Brock and Jessie had gotten to the door of the function room, and they paid for their tickets before entering with Ash, Misty and Vanessa. The last time Jessie had been to the Spire City Community Function Room was the last time she had been to the school dance, so Jessie had almost forgotten just how magnificent it was. The room was circular, with the floor made of pure marble. Several giant marble pillars were situated at different points along the outside of the room, which stretched right up to the high ceiling. The ceiling itself was a giant glass dome, displaying a direct view of the starry night sky. The walls were spotted every now and again with big glass doors, out of which were marble balconies.

Many people were already at the dance, swaying away to a slow song that was currently playing. Of course, some people were merely standing at the edge, either talking or just waiting for that special someone to ask them for a dance...

A song with a faster beat suddenly began, and Brock turned to Jessie. "Ready for some groovin'?"

Jessie laughed, wondering how he didn't understand why he never had wonderful luck with the female kind. "Sure," she said, pulling Vanessa along with her onto the dance floor as well. Vanessa's date was supposed to be meeting her there, but had not shown up yet.

As the three began dancing, Jessie subtly glanced around the room, trying to spot James. Her heart sank when she couldn't find him – what was the point of coming if he didn't even see her? It was quite a large room, and there were a lot of people in there. It never occurred to Jessie the possibility that she might not even see James that night. Of course she could always try and find him, but that seemed a little too desperate for Jessie.

Half an hour passed. Vanessa's quite handsome date had arrived, and whisked her off to dance with him. Jessie was still dancing with Brock. Fortunately no slow songs had been played in the time that they had been dancing – Jessie was fine dancing next to him, but slow-dancing with her younger cousin's best friend? She'd already planned a convenient toilet-break if that situation should arise.

Jessie noticed Brock fleetingly glance over Jessie's shoulder several times, a sheepish grin plastered across his face. She looked behind her to see a young girl with peach-coloured hair tied in two loops on either side of her head grinning equally as sheepishly back at Brock. Jessie looked back at the tanned boy, smiled and looked down in defeat.

"Go, Brock," she said, surprising the younger boy.

He looked puzzled. "Are... are you sure? Who will you dance with?" He said, trying to be considerate but not able to hide an eager smile at this opportunity.

Jessie pushed him in the direction of the peach-haired girl, laughing. "Just go!"

Jessie watched as Brock and the girl conversed, both with severe blushes on their face, before Brock led her to the dance floor. Brock quickly looked back at Jessie, mouthed a 'thankyou', and the pair disappeared into the dancing crowd. Sighing, Jessie slowly pushed her way to the edge of the room. How could it be... even Brock's love life was going better than hers!

Jessie stood by one of the marble pillars, trying to act as though she wasn't just another lost soul waiting for that dreamy look, that extended hand, that one desired question... May I have this dance?

Because in essence, Jessie was just another one of those people.

She felt stupid. Here she was, standing alone, rejected by a fifteen-year-old, and hopelessly waiting for a dance with someone that probably doesn't even acknowledge her existence anymore. Jessie listened as a song ended, quickly to be replaced with a much slower one. She watched as the couples on the dance floor moved together to embrace, before beginning the gentle sway of a slow-dance.

Jessie smiled aimlessly as if she were having fun just standing back and watching everyone else dance together. That way she hoped she didn't look totally pathetic. Maybe in part, but not totally. Vanessa and her partner swayed past, and Jessie grinned and waved to her obviously elated best friend. Jessie had never met Vanessa's date, but apparently he worked at the same supermarket that Vanessa did. Brock and his new lady friend also danced past Jessie, and she again did her best attempt to act as though she were happy to stand back and watch her friends have a good time. Jessie realised that she hadn't seen Ash or Misty since arriving at the dance, and wondered what the pair were up to. Suddenly, and with a sense of shock, Jessie thought that perhaps she'd be better off not trying to work out what they were doing.

Minutes passed, and still Jessie was standing against the pillar by herself. She looked around, trying to decide whether she should go over to the refreshments table and get herself a drink to make it look as though she were doing something. Deciding for it, Jessie pushed off against the pillar to head towards the refreshment table. All of a sudden a bright blue dress caught Jessie's eye, and she turned to look back at the dance floor. The dress itself was not so stunning, but the colour of it was so amazingly vivid that one could not help but stare at it. And of course, as Jessie's eyes travelled up the curves of the dress, it did not belong to anyone else but Cassidy Fleckman.

As Cassidy turned in the motion of the slow-dance, her partner came into view. James had one of his arms around Cassidy's waist, while his other hand held one of hers out beside them in a traditional dance-position. Jessie could not help but marvel at how breathtakingly handsome he looked in a tuxedo.

Jessie and James' eyes met at the exact same time, and Jessie watched as James' face morphed into an expression of astonishment at the registering of her presence at the dance. Jessie did not know whether to smile, frown or look away altogether. A neutral look remained on her face, while her eyes stayed connected with James'.

Cassidy looked up to see James staring at something over her shoulder. She turned her head to see Jessie, and a scorn appeared on the blonde girl's face. Jessie watched as Cassidy directed the dancing pair swiftly out of view.

He had seen her. Jessie felt her body relax a little. At least he had seen her. He knew that she was there. She could leave things up to him now. It would have to be James' decision as to whether he talked to her, or if he asked her for a dance. For Jessie, it was now just a matter of waiting.

Jessie looked awkwardly around herself, and remembered her plan to make her way over to the refreshment table.

Okay... I had originally planned to write all the events of the school dance in one chapter, but I really think it's just going to be waaaaaaaaay too long if I continue to write it all as one. So... yeah. That's why I'm stopping here. Hopefully this is still enough to keep your hunger at bay for a little while until I can get the tenth (wow!) chapter finished! Just keep in mind that the next chapter will go straight on from this one – there will be no period of time between the first sentence of the next chapter and the last one of this.

Anyway... I haven't really got much else to say except a giant THANKYOU to everyone who has been reviewing this story. I'm really starting to get a few now – this has been my most popular story yet!

So please, don't stop here – review now! It means so much to me!

It shouldn't be too long before I finish the next chapter. Until then, I'll keep you guessing as to how the rest of the Spire City High Annual Dance will unfold!!!

Ciao!

BansheeGirl.