Strange Bedfellows
"We can't leave him like this," said James.
"What do you mean we can't leave him. We'll just get back in the balloon and …"
"It wouldn't be right," interrupted James.
"Since when have we done the right thing?" asked Jessie.
"This is just something that I have to do."
"Fine then you can take care of the twerp by yourself! Meowth and I are leaving, and we're taking the balloon with us. And if we find anything don't think we'll give you a share."
"Well if that's the way you're going to be at least leave my things behind."
Jessie walked over to the balloon and grabbed James belongings. She tossed them on the ground, and got into the balloon.
"Don't expect us to come back for you. Come on Meowth," said Jessie with stubborn anger in her voice.
Meowth was a bit reluctant to just leave James behind, but he followed. James stood beside Ash and watched as the balloon raised into the air and took off into the distance.
"I don't want to see you again either you stubborn jerk!" James yelled at the distant balloon.
"She can be so thick headed," he thought to himself as he gathered together his belongings.
James set his things in a neat pile on the ground. He then walked back to the unconscious Ash.
"Well I suppose we should get you out of those wet clothes before you get hypothermia or pneumonia" he said to himself, as he grabbed some of his clothes from the pile and began changing Ash into his clothes. As he was changing Ash's clothes he tore off pieces of one of his uniforms to bandage Ash's wounds as best as he could. Once he got the wounds bandaged he changed Ash into one of his uniforms. James' Team Rocket uniform was a bit big on Ash, but it was better than leaving him with his wet clothes. It was a bit strange seeing Ash clad in Team Rocket attire, especially after how much effort he put into fighting Team Rocket. James proceeded to wrap Ash in his sleeping bag.
"That should keep him warm. Now if only I could find some food," thought James to himself.
He searched through the items that Jessie had left him looking for any trace of something edible, but to his dismay found nothing.
"That pig Jessie took all the food with her. When I see her I am going to give her a piece of my mind!" James thought angrily.
James sat there stewing in his anger towards Jessie, then the realization hit him.
"What if she meant it when she said she wasn't coming back?"
This thought terrified James. He was reminded of his lonesome days of wandering as a boy. He never wanted to go back to that again. He fondly remembered the day that he had met Jessie. He had been a bit shy, but slowly the two of them became partners in crime. They had done so much together, and nothing had separated them.
True, they had their share of disputes and quarrels, but they were a team. James also had a flashback to when he and Jessie had met Meowth. It had been remarkable to meet up with a talking cat pokémon. It was odd having a pokémon that could talk, and acted remarkably like a human. They had treated him just like any other pokémon at first, but Meowth wouldn't take it. He was a free spirit, and wanted to be treated just like any other person. Meowth had become just like another partner to them. Quite often they even forgot that Meowth was really a pokémon. The three of them had been like a family, and now they were gone.
James began reminiscing about Jessie and Meowth with the unconscious Ash.
"Oh, the time that we gave Meowth a ball of yarn. Yeah that was quite a hoot. He played with it like a little kitten. Got himself all tangled up in it. It was quite a site. Oh, and there was the time that Meowth and I dressed up like dolls for Jessie. You should've seen the look on her face. She was so happy."
Ash just lay there in the sleeping bag not hearing a word that James had said. James looked over at the unresponsive boy. He felt a bit embarrassed talking to Ash, even though Ash couldn't hear a word he was saying, but yet just having the boy's company was a little bit of relief for the loneliness that he was feeling.
"Are you and the other twerps close like that?" James asked.
"I sure do miss Jessie and Meowth," James said to himself.
There was a bit of rustling in some distant bushes. James jumped up attentively and looked around. The figure in the bushes moved back out of sight. James walked over towards the bush where he had heard the rustling. As he got closer the figure behind the bushes began to back further away until it tripped and fell onto the ground. James slowly approached the bush, and looked behind it.
"Jessie?"
"Don't read into this too much. We just need a place to camp out for the night, and this place is close to the river."
"I told you the tree was a better hiding spot," came Meowth's voice from up above.
"How long have you been here?" James asked.
"That's none of your business" Jessie commented defensively.
"About an hour," Meowth interjected.
"Why you," Jessie grumbled as she began jumping up trying to get a hold of Meowth.
James just chuckled to himself at the all too familiar scene. He was overjoyed to see his partners, his family. They had said some bitter parting words, but they were a family, words couldn't break their bonds.
"Well let's set up the tent then," James said excitedly.
"After that I'll make us all some supper."
"How's the twerp? Not that I really care, but …"
"Oh, he's fine for now," James said casually.
James and Meowth set up the tent, while Jessie and Wobuffet gathered firewood. Once the tent was set up James put Ash inside to keep him out of the cold. As soon as Jessie and Wobuffet returned with the fire wood James and Meowth began making a fire. Jessie and Wobuffet went off to grab the supplies, utensils, and other things that they would be using for the night. When they returned James and Meowth had gotten a small fire going. James prepared a fine stew for the group, while they sat around the fire scheming of ways to pay off their massive debts, and get promotions from the boss. The gang seemed to have totally forgotten about their earlier bitter actions.
After supper Jessie and Meowth went to bed in the tent. James stayed up awhile to wash the dishes. Exhausted from the long day James entered the tent ready to hit the sack, when he remembered that he had given Ash his sleeping bag. James was extremely tired and desperately needed sleep, but he chose to look after Ash for the night. He sat next to Ash trying to stay awake, but his eyelids got heavier and heavier.