Hello once again and I apologize for the very long wait for this chapter. I live in central Florida and since mid-August until just about the end of September we had the joys of getting hit with three hurricanes in a row. I was without power for a few days each bout and it would seem that each time I'd get my life back in order another one would hit. Finally when it looked like the windy joys were giving Florida a much needed break I had to start getting my home and life situated because my parents were coming down for a vacation for about 11 days. Sooooo...when I FINALLY got all that taken care of I went to get working on this chapter and finish it up when I discovered that the computer I use at my workplace thought it was a good idea to eat what I accomplished and leave behind a mess of gibberish that was impossible to repair. I thought taking that break while my parents were down was a good idea and now that they're gone and I'm back in the real world I can finish things up. Sadly, I'm not too pleased with this chapter at all and fear it's my worst. I also feel like I just painted myself into a corner with it and am currently busting my brains on how to wrap things up. I hope to figure some stuff out quickly and plan on working on the chapter within the next day or two. In the mean time, enjoy this installment and I hope it does something positive out there since it was such a task to get it out. Enjoy and as always please leave comments and suggestions if you have any to give me as to where things should go.
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"Pika?"
Jessie sighed and looked down at the yellow electric mouse that was gazing up at her, beady black eyes full of concern. "And what do you want you little..." but she broke off her thought. The Pikachu, after all, rescued James and Jessie had to at least show her gratitude no matter how difficult it was for her to show care.
Meowth tugged on his friend's sleeve. "Hey, Jess, ya t'ink I ought to go and get some water or something for Jimmy when he wakes up? Or even some food? Ya know he's gonna be starving when he opens dose peepers of his."
She smirked at him. "Since when is he ever not hungry?" Reaching behind her, Jessie produced the three Pokeballs she was carrying with her and released Arbok, Lickitung and James' Viktreebell from them.
They looked around blinking and wondering where the battle was taking place since it would seem the only time they were ever called out of their balls was for a fight with the twerps. Seeing no battle scene, Arbok turned to Jessie and hissed a confused, "Charboka?"
The red-haired girl simply shrugged. "Go with Lickitung, get some food and bring it back here will you?" The snake stared at her not fully understanding what Jessie was wanting that kind of service for then noticed James cradled in her arms. Startled, Arbok glanced up at Weezing, wondering what could have happened to the gas Pokemon's master, but Arbok wasn't about to question Jessie. She was being nice for a change and Arbok didn't wish to ruin the moment.
Meowth motioned to the two Pokemon to get the quest underway, but he hesitated in following and let them walk ahead of him for a moment before he turned back around and put a paw on Jessie's arm. "Ya gonna be ok?"
She nodded at him. "Just go with them to get some food and steal it if you have to."
Meowth lowered his head and sighed a little before he started his walk towards Jessie's Pokemon, which were patiently waiting for him to join them. However, Jessie inhaled loudly as if she had something more to say and that caught the scratch cat's attention and he turned around and quirked a brow at her to see what she needed.
"On second thought, would you mind staying here instead? I might need some help in building a fire..." she trailed off then softly added. "Plus the company might be nice."
Meowth held back the urge to cry out a joyous "Meowth!" and bound over to her, giving her an embrace and a pat on the head for finally opening up a little to the fact that she did need companions even though she acted like she could manage just fine alone. Instead, he risked getting another boot in the behind by commenting, "Geez, Jess, looks to me like ya do care about da two of us more then ya let on."
Jessie gave him an icy stare, which Meowth just calmly took. He knew if he cowered in the least bit it would give her the edge and she'd no doubt get more angry and start whacking him with a mallet or anything else she could get her hands on. Standing his ground seemed like a good idea for soon the flames in Jessie's eyes diminished and she lowered her head with a sigh.
Meowth hated proving her wrong or hurting her at this time, but perhaps a humbling was exactly what she needed and with some luck it would break down that wall she built up around herself about James and how she really felt about him. It might also show her that friends are there to give each other help and support.
He stepped back to her, his arms folded behind his head, not saying a word. Still quiet, the scratch cat began to gather up some sticks and began to form them into a pile so he could get a small fire started to bring some warmth and light to the area just in case they were going to be here past sundown.
Jessie watched him in silent amusement then turned her attentions to Viktreebell, "Well, don't just sit there you big lump! Go find some water and bring it back here pronto!"
The plant emitted its high-pitched scream and bounded away after its fellow Pokemon leaving Jessie with the Pikachu and Weezing to deal with. She only chose to keep Weezing here since he was James' friend and Pokemon and it might help James to see it near when he'd finally awaken. As for the Pikachu, Jessie knew it wouldn't leave James' side seeing it was rather fond of him.
"Might as well get us a bit more comfy, eh, James?" she quietly asked her partner since she was starting to get a cramp in her back and legs from the position she was sitting in. Carefully Jessie stood and grabbed James from under his arms and slowly began to pull him towards a nearby tree. She then sat down with her back propped against it and then heaved James close to her. She had his back against her and his body was basically held between her legs. She hated to be this close to him, but it was necessary for her to keep him close and elevated and most importantly comfy.
Jessie pushed her partner down a bit so his head was resting against her chest allowing her to cradle him in her arms and keep him warm and soothed. Jessie sighed knowing that this probably didn't look like the most innocent of positions, but she had no other choice. It didn't matter to her what others would think. All that mattered was keeping Jamese comfortable. She then glanced down to see the little Pikachu bounding over to the pair then stop to stare at James with concern.
"Don't worry," Jessie quietly said while scratching the Pikachu between her long yellow ears. "I will take care of James and get him well again. I promise." This seemed to perk up the electric mouse for she gave Jessie a soft squeak of appreciation before she lay near her leg to wait for James to awaken.
Jessie then sighed and reached up to brush the annoying strand of blue hair that forever seemed to be in James' eyes before she gently caressed his cheek with the back of her gloved hand. He looked so peaceful and innocent, but she still couldn't put the blame on herself for being the one responsible for sending him away and getting him hurt. She just continued to tell herself it was James' own fault for being so stubborn and clumsy. However, somewhere deep inside she knew that wasn't entirely true and this was more her fault than it was his.
As she bowed her head down to just watch him peacefully sleeping a rose petal fell from above and landed on his face. Jessie was taken aback by this and then realized the petal came from the rose he left behind, the rose that she had neatly tucked behind her left ear earlier that morning. She brushed the petal away and bit her lower lip. What was she thinking? This was not the time to be angry with the Pokemon and this was certainly no time to be upset with James. Regardless of whose fault this was, James needed care and Jessie was the only one that could provide it.
James, however, was deep in the dreaming world, but he wasn't aware of it. His deep slumber caused by the Sleep Powder only put him in a peaceful bliss and his dreams thus far were very calming. James' dream-self gazed at his surroundings and smiled as a gentle breeze sifted through his long blue hair causing him to sigh in content. He loved days like this that were so perfect and serene nothing could spoil it. With a small flick of his hand he produced a red rose out of nowhere and put it under his nose to take in the wonderful fragrance causing him to sigh once again.
However, his delight and serenity was suddenly replaced by a strange feeling that he wasn't alone here. He felt as if he were being spied upon. James cautiously turned around and spotted two glowing yellow eyes like burning embers in a bush and they were staring right at him. The blue-haired boy swallowed hard and took a careful step backwards away from the bush, as he was not in the mood to get pounced on by some wild Pokemon.
As he cleared a good distance between himself and the glowing eyes he was certain was safe enough he stopped and took time to ponder what those eyes belonged to as they were huge and menacing. James soon got his answer as Meowth poked his head out from the bushes, a sinister look on his face. "Now I got ya and you ain't gonna get away dis time!" he cried.
James wasn't sure if he was more taken aback by what Meowth growled to him or the fact that Meowth was huge and James would have to guess the scratch cat was a towering fifteen feet tall compared to him. "Meowth, what in the world do you think you are doing?" James cried then quickly clamped his gloved hand over his mouth after hearing what came out instead. He spoke not legible human speak, but instead he heard typical babble coming out that was very similar to Pokemon speak in the manner of "James! Jame, jame, james james!"
"I must be going crazy, this isn't right. How could I...how could this...Oh what is happening?" he babbled and pulled at his hair in confused frustration.
Meowth grinned toothily at the blue-haired boy seeing how frightened and confused he was then suddenly flinched as if he was jabbed hard in the ribs. "Ow! Would ya quit it? I'm sick of tellin' ya I ain't in the mood ta be playing now! I finally got dat blue-haired twerp in my sights and I ain't gonna lose him because of ya!" he snarled in annoyance and swatted at something near his side, but hidden from view in the bushes.
James nervously clamped his hands together and began to wring them while straining to see what or whom Meowth was speaking to and hoped it wasn't going to be Jessie, but at the same time he hoped it would be since she'd probably help explain to him what was going on. However, what emerged from the bushes wasn't Jessie or another human for that matter. Instead, it was a huge Pikachu just like the one James thought he captured earlier, but it couldn't possibly be. Could it?
James cautiously stepped forward to get a closer look, but fear got the best of him and he quickly stumbled backwards with a shriek before he fell on his behind making the Pikachu roll her eyes and shake her head with disgust. "Oh brother! Are you sure this is the thing you want to capture? It's awfully stupid."
"Yeah, I'm sure. He's one of dose Legendary Humans plus he's da male to da female we captured a few months ago. If we can get 'em together and make 'em breed I'm sure da boss'll be very happy. We could have our own army of Legendary Humans ta take over da woild!"
The Pikachu just rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Fine, you know the boss better than I do I suppose. If you guys think this dopey human is the key to ruling the world, knock yourself out."
James shuddered at the thought of this. How could Meowth and the boss be conspiring together to take over the world and anyway why were these two Pokemon so huge to begin with? He opened his mouth to question this and hopefully get an answer when Meowth waved his paw and a round object that looked like a Pokeball appeared, however it was black and gold in colour instead of the standard red and white. "Jessica, I choose you!" he cried and threw the ball.
It hit the ground with a loud thunk and popped open, a white charge of energy emerged from it and it soon took form of Jessie. James gaped at this. What in the world is going on? This undoubtedly was completely insane and he wanted answers and started yelling out to the huge Pokemon.
"What do you think you are doing, Meowth? You and that Pikachu have gone crazy! What have you done to Jessie and what have you done to me?" but of course nothing but that Pokemon-like babble from before came out of his mouth and Jessie gave him a sorrowful look.
"I'm so sorry, James," she said softly to him, her blue eyes downcast, almost seeming as if they were starting to fill with tears. "I can just imagine how frustrating and difficult this must be for you." James understood her words even though she said nothing more than variations of her name something along the lines of, "Jessie, jess, Jessie, jess."
"What's going on?" he asked her slightly relieved that she at least understood his nonsensical talk and that he could understand hers.
"I was captured by Team Meowth a while back and they stated I'm some sort of Legendary Human. They knew there was another, a male, and that male is you. Now I'm supposed to battle you so they can capture you too. For some reason they need us in some diabolical plot to rule the world or something."
The blue-haired boy frowned and covered his eyes with his gloved hands once again almost as if he was hoping this would all just disappear. "This can't be happening. I don't want to get captured!" he whined and began to slowly back up away from her. "None of this makes any sense. Please, Jessie, tell me this isn't happening!"
She shrugged and slowly got into a defensive position, still fighting the tears that were welling in her eyes. "I'm sorry, James, but I have to. At least we'll be together so that's the bright side of this I suppose. Please, just let me beat you quickly so it'll save you the humiliation and pain."
James growled at this, disliking that she thought he was a wimp who couldn't put up a good fight. Regardless, he wasn't in the mood to battle her as he did have strong feelings for her after all. He realized the best way to just get this over with was to just let things happen as they may no matter how insane it all seemed. Nodding with defeat he stood his ground proudly and quietly and tried not to flinch too strong or cry when he heard Meowth call out, "Ok, Jessie, give him Fury Swipe!"
"Forgive me, James," Jessie whispered right before she spread out her fingers and hooked them at the knuckles. She then ran swiftly towards him and the last thing James remembered was the sound of his own scream.
Back in the waking world this awful dream had an obvious effect on James. He grunted a few times and then began to twitch and jump in his sleep. Jessie frowned as she looked down at her partner squirming in her arms. "Meowth, what's wrong with him?"
The scratch cat stepped over and watched his fellow Rocket with wide eyes and shrugged. "I don't know, Jess, maybe he's having an adverse effect from dat Sleep Powder."
Jessie bit her lower lip suddenly feeling slight panic beginning to set in. From how James was acting it was almost as if he were having a seizure. If only she paid more attention to his actions she would have seen he simply was having a nightmare and all he'd need was a gentle shaking to get him out of it.
Sensing something wasn't quite right the small Pikachu perked up and sat up to see what was the trouble. When she saw James squirming and making faces as if in pain, the little electric mouse cried out an upset, "Kachu!" and began to yank at Jessie's arm as if trying to beg her to quickly help James.
"I don't know what to do with him you little rodent!" Jessie frowned, seriously frustrated and frightened at all of this. "If you have any bright ideas I'm open for options here!"
"Chu kachu pi pikachu!" she cried out at Jessie while small sparks of electricity crackled off of her red cheeks in her anger.
Meowth blinked at her and then a smile seemed to creep over his lips. He knew exactly what the Pikachu said since he was capable of speaking both Pokemon and human speak. "Ya don't say?"
Jessie glared at Meowth and cuffed him upside the head with her hand for being so slow in the translation. "What did she say? Does she know what I can do for James?"
Meowth nodded and folded his arms in front of his chest in an arrogant way. "Well, she said dat she feels you don't care about what happens ta James here. She can't understand why ya's takin' so long in helping him out since it's obvious ya care about him more den yer lettin' on."
Jessie was taken aback by this and sat there in silence, but that proved to be the calm before the storm. "Oh! How dare you! I'm at a loss here and that's the best you can offer?" she cried and grabbed Meowth by the arm and yanked him to her. "You and this stupid yellow rat are really pushing my buttons this time and I want you both out of here!"
Letting go of James with her other hand she reached down and grabbed the Pikachu by the back of her neck and before she could get shocked, Jessie tossed both scratch cat and electric mouse off to the side before she quickly got to her feet and stood trembling over James, fists clenched in anger.
"I don't need your help or anyone else's with this! I'll figure out my own way to help James with or without you two pests! Remember, this is all his own fault anyway for being so stupid and leaving in the first place!"
The Pikachu whimpered softly and stared up at Meowth who patted her head with a reassuring smile. All though she couldn't understand exactly what was going on, she had to have faith that Meowth knew what he was doing and had to have a good reason to be making Jessie furious. If Meowth was so calm over this she knew that perhaps she had to be as well.
Meowth's plan was simply to get Jessie so upset that she would concentrate on things she'd feel from her own thoughts and heart instead of relying on others to tell her what to do. He knew she needed support, but at the same time she needed to learn things on her own. If he told her straight forward what she should do he knew he'd be booted off into orbit by Jessie's foot. However, if she figured it out for herself, then the idea would be brilliant and if it messed up, Jessie would only have herself to blame if that were possible.
As usual, Meowth was right in his actions no matter how strange or far fetched they may seem. Just as he assumed, Jessie was so angry and bent out of shape over what the Pikachu had said she completely forgot about James. All it took was one grunt from her fallen partner to snap her back into the present and to what the truly important task at hand is.
Forgetting her ire at the two Pokemon and seeing they weren't what she was honestly upset over, Jessie immediately dropped to her knees and began to smooth back James' hair and caress over his cheek with the back of her hand. "James, come on, don't do this to me. Please wake up all ready."
James made some soft noises as if he were in pain then suddenly clenched his teeth and tensed up causing Jessie become all the more desperate to find a way to help him. Normally she would have slapped him a few times across the face, but since she did that earlier and it didn't work she figured it wouldn't help now either. That and the fact that she had a protective Pikachu around to think about as well and the last thing Jessie needed on top of all this was to get zapped.
It was then that Jessie heard James mumbling something in his nightmare induced fit. She furrowed her brow and leaned closer to him trying to listen to what it was he was trying to say. Perhaps he was trying to tell her what was wrong and give her an idea on what she could do to help him. "Prepared for trouble?" she questioned hoping that perhaps if he heard their motto it would entice him to awaken and tell her what was the matter.
As she leaned closer to him, straining her ears to listen to what he was mumbling, she heard a snicker behind her coming from Meowth followed by the soft squeaks from the Pikachu. Jessie furrowed her brow and did her best to ignore them as she could only imagine what kind of sarcastic things Meowth was amusing himself with.
If only she listened harder she would have heard Meowth mutter to the Pikachu, "Geez, dat position right der is what started dis entire mess ya know."
"Pi?"
"Uh-huh. James over der wanted so badly ta kiss Jessie last night whilst she was sleepin', but t'ings got a little messed up and he left and dat's why he's here in dis sitchy-ation. For all it matters just one smooch from Jessie'll be all he needs ta wake up."
The Pikachu cocked her head to the side giving Meowth a quizzical look then turned her attentions back to Jessie. If the pair wanted so badly to kiss one another why wouldn't they just do it? To the Pikachu none of this seemed logical. The humans had feelings for each other, but hesitated about showing it causing each to suffer in some way? That didn't make much sense to her, but from what she learned in the past there wasn't much about humans that did make sense.
Since Meowth wasn't offering much other than sarcastic comments that got the red-haired girl upset, the Pikachu felt it was up to her to try and save the day. Feeling she had nothing else to lose, and if it was the only way to save James from his Sleep Powder induced sleep, the Pikachu took off at a fast run towards Jessie who was still leaning close to James straining to listen to what he was trying to say.
By the time Meowth realized what was going on it was too late, but still he tried to call the Pikachu back. "Hey, wait! Whaddya t'ink yer doing? Come back!"
The Pikachu ignored him and she only hoped that Jessie wouldn't react to the shouting Pokemon and mess up her timing and aim. Gathering her legs up under her, the Pikachu leaped high into the air and landed lightly on Jessie's back.
"What the?" Jessie questioned, very startled, but that was all she was able to get out. Getting a good foothold on the smooth white fabric of the Team Rocket uniform, the Pikachu lunged forward and shoved the back of Jessie's head with her paws forcing her downwards thus bringing Jessie's lips against James'.
Quickly, as not to get whacked from the red-haired girl, the Pikachu instantly jumped off Jessie's back and bounded back towards Meowth to watch if her plan worked and if James was now going to be revived from his trama.
Still startled from the quick sequence of events that took place, Jessie stayed in the same hunched over pose from before, her lips pressed against James. She blinked in stunned silence then felt her body slowly beginning to relax as she began to become obvious over what was taking place.
With a soft sigh Jessie relaxed all the more and closed her eyes actually enjoying the fact that she was so close to James like this. After all these years of working side by side with him and holding back on her true emotions it just took the random act of a rambunctious Pikachu to bring them together. Still, this was not how she would have hoped or dreamed it to happen for James was still stuck in his nightmare.
However, this was exactly what the doctor ordered. The simple fact of James getting contact from the outside was exactly what he needed to awaken. Gentle touch from the waking world was almost always a guaranteed wake-up call, for the average living being stuck in dream land and James was no different in this matter.
His awful nightmare slowly dissolved and melted away and he could feel the bindings of the Sleep Powder beginning to release him from their hold as well. Still, what was this pleasure he was waking up to? His mind seemed to sense it was a kiss, but from whom? Slowly, James opened his emerald green eyes, allowing them a moment to focus on the fuzzy surroundings. When his vision cleared and he saw it was Jessie hunched over him, her lips planted firmly upon his, he suddenly jerked backwards and gasped loudly in surprise just about knocking Jessie over in the process.
James tried to sit up, but his body still ached terribly from what it went through earlier from the attack of the Bulbasaurs and Oddish. He flinched as a left over jolt of electricity coursed through his body almost as if it was refusing to let go of his system. This in turn prevented him from getting to his feet. So instead, he chose to prop himself up on his elbows and he gaped wide-eyed and opened mouthed at a severely blushing Jessie who quickly diverted her gaze to the ground as her mind worked frantically on how she was going to explain that wake-up call smooch to her partner.
To be continued...
