Author's Note: First of all, I'd like to give a great big THANK YOU to all my readers, favers, subscribers, and reviewers! (: You guys made my day -- really, you did. You know who you are!
And secondly, I'd like to thank the possible haters for not flaming. It's nice to see some decency here.

And well... now I've nothing else to say. Enjoy the chapter, and remember -- I see those hits!(;

James didn't know where to begin. The facts weren't all straight yet, but one thing was for certain: their Meowth had some very mixed feelings about the Pikachu they'd been after for as long as they'd known the name of Ash Ketchum. It was odd, yes. The oddest thing thinkable. Well…for James…and probably would be for Jessie too, once she found out. The man couldn't think of a reason why Meowth should feel anything but dislike for the electric rodent; Pikachu had never done anything but pester them, foil their plans, blast them off every chance it got. Not to mention that even if they weren't on separate teams, Pikachu was still a mouse and Meowth was still a cat. Cats didn't fall in love with mice. It just wasn't the way the world worked.

Obviously it could be nothing serious, James thought after a moment. It was ridiculous to think that Meowth could really have fallen for Pikachu. Meowth and Pikachu had never even gotten close enough to be friends, let alone more than that. The only explanation was a simple mistake; the cat was having some strange feelings, and interpreting them incorrectly. Stuff like that happened all the time…didn't it?

Breaking through James' thoughts, Meowth spoke. "So…what am I gonna do?"

At the words, James finally came back from his mental flight. He blinked, having to think a moment before the question completely processed.

"Do about what?" he asked.

Meowth's annoyed expression immediately reminded him.

"Oh! Yes!" the man paused with a nervous grin. "Well…you see, Meowth, I'm not sure I completely follow you. Are you sure this whole Pikachu thing isn't just…all in your head? Maybe you need a rest, or…"

Suddenly, the oh-so-familiar feeling of sharpened cat claws raked over his grinning face. James howled sharply, hands covering the marks a moment before he looked out angrily. He stopped shortly, however, as Meowth looked about five times more enraged.

"You think dis is come kinda joke?" the Pokemon hissed. "You think if I thought it was 'all in my head,' I'd be sittin' here pourin' my heart out to ya about it?"

After the words, Meowth turned around defensively, crossing his arms and obviously not wanting to hear another thing from the human's mouth. James was still a bit shocked from the outburst; if Meowth was taking it this seriously, maybe it really wasn't just a mistake. Averting his eyes, the man felt a sudden tinge of guilt. He should've known better than to jump to conclusions, especially since the whole situation was a first. Well…for him.

James spoke hesitantly, "Meowth…"

"Save your breath," the cat replied almost immediately. "I shoulda known you and Jessie wouldn't understand."

James bit down on his lower lip as he tried to conjure up something else to say; he'd pretty much blown it now, though. There was only one thing to do. Lowering his head, the human tried again.

"…I'm sorry, Meowth," he said quietly, and as honest as possible.

A moment passed before the cat responded.

"Yeah. I know."

It seemed like hours had passed between the time James had entered and exited the room Meowth was in. Jessie practically jumped to ask her partner all about the conversation they'd had. She wasn't at all ready for the answer she would receive, though; while James wasn't the best of words, Jessie's problem was pretty much anything that involved consideration.

"So what did he say!" the woman's eyes shone with curiosity. "Tell me, James!"

James averted his stare. "Ummm…well…you see, Jessie…"

And growling with impatience, Jessie rolled her eyes. "Oh, hurry up! Whatever it is, we can fix it!"

If only she knew. James gave a nervous grin at the words, praying the woman could take the news he was about to tell her. He was clinging to the hope that maybe, being a female and all, she would show some sympathy to Meowth's situation. She'd been in love before; in fact, James could recall more than one time she'd seemed infatuated with someone. Of course…she'd never fallen for one of them. Still, what else was there to hope for? It was his only chance.

The man took a breath to ready himself. "Jessie… Meowth is…well…"

"Yes, he's what?" she edged the words on, still as impatient as before.

"…He's…kind of…," James brought his hand to the back of his neck. "…got feelings for…someone."

Arms crossed, Jessie raised an eyebrow. "James, you're blushing, is it you?"

He froze before an annoyed response. "NO! It's not me, it's…"

"Then who is it!" the woman shrieked, teeth bared as she grabbed his arm.

James shut his eyes tight. "It's the twerp's Pikachu!"

A few seconds of silence followed James' answer. He hesitantly opened his eyes, only to see his female partner looking quite surprised. She blinked once, still holding onto his arm. And barely another second later, the woman burst into howling, tear-touched laughter. James could only drop his head helplessly.

"Oh James!" the girl now had her hand on his shoulder as she tried to calm herself. "That was a great one! Now really…who is it?"

Lifting his head ever so slightly, the other Rocket member spoke, "I wasn't kidding, actually…"

Jessie suddenly burst into another fit of laughter, but slowly stopped as she realized what she'd just heard. Straightening herself, she cleared her throat and looked to the man again.

"Excuse me, I think I heard that wrong. Did you really just say you weren't kidding?"

Hesitantly, James nodded once. But just after the nod, Jessie once again began her laughing fit. This time, it was all too much for him; James stared at her before he finally yelled out in frustration.

"STOP IT!"

The woman froze immediately. A few seconds passed before James continued, frantic and sick and tired of not being taken seriously.

"I'm not joking and Meowth is listening to every bit of laughter you're coughing up! I told him we'd be there to help him, and all you can do is make it worse! At least have a little respect, even if you do find it hilarious to no ends!"

That time, Jessie stayed quiet. She was quite a bit surprised, partly from James' outburst, and also partly from the fact that she was finally taking the new information seriously. It was truly difficult to believe. How could Meowth's problem be Pikachu? Looking away in thought, the red-haired woman almost looked as though she were contemplating a riddle…a very challenging one.

She spoke, "But…James, he couldn't possibly love Pikachu, that's insane. Are you sure he wasn't talking about a different Pikachu?"

"You guys make it sound so romantic. Can we use a different terminology?"

The two humans turned to see Meowth sitting on the table behind them, looking a little ambivalent from the words he'd been overhearing. One brow slightly raised, he didn't seem too impressed; and almost as if it wasn't a surprise to see him there, Jessie and James exchanged glances, then continued the conversation, simply adding him in.

"What do you mean?" Jessie asked.

Meowth continued, looking away, "I dunno… It just feels weird hearin' ya say it like that."

She crossed her arms. "Don't you mean, makes you feel bashful enough to look away from everyone you talk to because you're worried you might be blushing?"

The words almost stung the cat. He kept his gaze downward, wishing it was that simple and hating the fact that he'd have to say something about it to make them understand. It wasn't their fault, though, he knew that. Meowth barely even had time to blush over Pikachu, especially when he knew it was completely pointless to hope in his feelings anyway.

"More like makes me feel stupid 'cuz I know that Pikachu could have any Pokemon she wanted," he sighed before going on. "And let's face it, I'm just not in her league."

Jessie and James both looked stumped at the reply they'd gotten this time. Was it normal for their Meowth to behave this way? They'd seen him in love before (kind of), but he was never this negative about it.

"What are you going on about?" Jessie finally spoke up. "You don't know that, Meowth."

Meowth looked up at her in slight confusion of his own. "Course I do, Jessie. Pikachu's not on our side. I'm outta this league about ten times more than I was with Meowsie's league. She was just rich."

"And Pikachu's not. So why should she care about your class?" the woman argued back, getting a little frustrated now. James nodded, backing her up.

"It's not that I'm talkin' about!" the cat replied.

Scoffing, Jessie continued, "What else is there to talk about? It doesn't matter if Pikachu's on a different side, she could still like you."

The Pokemon stayed quiet after the remark. He didn't really agree, but there was no sense arguing with Jessie – she always won, even if she didn't. Still, he hadn't a clue why she kept insisting her side on something like this. There was no way Pikachu would ever fall for someone who worked against Ash. Pikachu and Ash were closer than Pikachu had ever been with any other Pokemon; Meowth probably couldn't change that even if he wasn't a member of the infamous Team Rocket.

Finally, James spoke, "So do you love her or not?"

At the question, Meowth looked up with a slightly confused expression. Did they still have to ask something like that?

"You better decide," Jessie continued after her partner. "I don't plan on wasting my time trying to prove you wrong if you're not serious about this."

Meowth's expression became even more confused.

He hesitated, "…Are you sayin' you're gonna help me?"

The woman couldn't help a small smile at the question. She shrugged, crossing her arms before she replied.

"I don't really have a choice. Family first and all."

At the response, Meowth was silent. He wanted to speak, but wasn't able to. Of all things regarding the current issue, he'd never even expected his teammates to be fine with it, let alone attempt to help. It was almost too much.

And for the first time in a while…he smiled.