Names

"Where the hell are Cassidy and Hitmontop?" Butch asked confusedly, standing up.

James sat upright with a groan and looked around. They had blasted off and landed in the middle of a forest. The only ones he saw were Houndour, Victreebel and Butch.

"Jessie and the other Pokémon are missing too!" He complained. The whine seemed enough to infuriate Butch, because he turned towards James with his eyes shooting daggers.

"We were so close to getting Lugia and finishing our mission… Cassidy and I put so much time and planning into this. And then you two showed up and ruined everything!" He raised his voice dangerously as he approached James. Victreebel jumped in front of his master and shrieked angrily at Butch.

"It's alright, Victreebel, I'll handle this."

James returned him into his Pokéball and stood up, patting the dust off his grunt-uniform. The level-A Rocket still stood in front of him, waiting for a reply, but the blue-haired boy simply turned around and ignored Butch.

"Jessie! Meowth! Where are youuu?"

"What do you think you're doing? I'm talking to you!" The green-haired man roared.

James faced him again and said, with a hint of regret: "What do you want me to say, Botch? What's done is done."

Butch got an even darker look in his eyes as he took a step forward. "What did you call me?"

The younger boy weighed his options. He could either ignore him again or try to apologize. He didn't like either, so instead he made the stupid move to smile tauntingly and say "Botch."

Suddenly his rival let out a war cry and charged at him. James shrieked and started to run for his life. The higher ranked Rocket member was much faster than he had suspected and all too soon James felt himself being yanked backward by his shirt and into a tree.

The slightly taller man grabbed him by his shirt and hauled him up towards his face. James twitched and closed his eyes, expecting to get beaten up.

"What's my name?! Say it!"

"Butch! It's Butch." James stammered quickly.

Butch pushed him away a little, but didn't release his grip on the shirt. James carefully opened his eyes to see what was going on. The green-haired boy was looking at him with a more gentle expression now, but still seemed annoyed.

"Say it again." He ordered.

"Butch?" James breathed, staring deep into his brown eyes. His rival broke eyecontact to look at James' lips and the younger boy hoped Butch was thinking what he thought he was. He daringly put his hands around Butch' wrists, making it clear that he should continue. Butch didn't hesitate long and leaned in to kiss him.

James gasped quietly and closed his eyes. What were they doing?! The younger man's heart pounded in his chest as if he was still running.

The gentle kiss turned a little more brutal when the green-haired man forced James' lips apart and ravished him with his tongue. James yielded and clumsily kissed back, trying to keep up with his more experienced rival. Butch tasted like cigarettes and something spicy. Suddenly they heard their names being shouted by familiar voices.

Butch quickly pulled back and looked at James as if in shock, before letting go of him completely. The voices didn't sound very far away. He glanced at James one last time, no emotion showing on his face, before walking in the direction of their partners.

"Cassidy, we're here!"

James wiped at his mouth with his sleeve and took a wobbly step forward. What the hell just happened?