Throughout James' life, he had considered picking an alternate line of work several times. Usually this happened when he and Jessie were foraging for berries or going to sleep hungry after the Boss had refused to rebuild their funds yet again. As a matter of fact, in certain times, James found himself acting out the role of a hero and not that of a villain.

James had heard that people saw their lives flash before their eyes before they died and he never put too much stock into it, but not he swore he saw all of this flash before his eyes as the pirate in front of him raised his sword and tilted it at his neck.

James had been in trouble before- more times that he could count- but he usually assumed that the worst of it would be over. James found himself gripped by fear but it all dissipated as the reality of the situation managed to penetrate his thick skull. He was going to die if he didn't do something soon.

And so, James grabbed a bunch of sand and chucked it at the pirate's eyes. The pirate's accuracy fe- no wait that only happens in the games.

James took the split moment that followed to grab Jessie and Meowth and the three of them cowered behind Wobbuffet, using it as a shield. Wobbuffet, at the very least, was good at defending.

The only obvious thing was that it would be childishly easy for the pirates to go and flank them- or for that matter to go around them and strike at them from the rear. Jessie's Wobbuffet couldn't save them from all sides.

James desperately thought of something that would prevent this from happening- and couldn't- so he relied on the old time-tested method of spouting nonsense.

"Back off!" James said. "I'll have you know that I know kung-fu!"

The pirates glanced at each other. "Are you high or something?" one of them asked.

It was as James realized that he had no further plan that Jessie decided to step in and grabbed Wobbuffet, making it a mobile shield as the three of them retreated deep into the woods. The pirates followed them of course, but ended up getting separated from each other as the woods grew thicker.

James figured that they would eventually stop since they'd have to go back to their treasure- they weren't going to leave it on the beach for anyone to steal after all. Or so he thought.

Instead, the pirates didn't let up, and regrouped once they reached a small clearing, only to lose the Team Rocket Trio once again as they slipped into the woods.

James was sweating heavily- they were just barely managing to get away- and for some reason these pirates weren't letting up.

"I hear something," Meowth said, breaking the eerie silence that surrounded them.

James could hear it later on to, it was the sound of footsteps and people talking. It wasn't coming from the pirates- but from somewhere behind them.

Team Rocket carried their Wobbuffet into what looked like a huge carnival. There were colored tents scattered everywhere along the ground and James saw someone wearing a helmet that looked like a Sharpedo, who was fast asleep.

The pirates, strangely enough, marched on forward unperturbed by this.

"Pirates! Pirates!" Jessie shouted out, hoping that whoever these people were, they'd lend a helping hand.

The sound spread quickly through the camp, and within a few minutes an incomplete circle of people wearing similar uniforms surrounded them, with the pirates completing the ring.

"What is this?" someone asked.

A woman with auburn hair who looked like she had just been woken up walked near them, with the soldiers parting before her like water around a rock. "What is this?"

One of the pirates said, "Lady Elizabeth! We were ferrying your gold back towards you when we found these stowaways on our ship- they were trying to take our gol-"

The pirate got no further as one of the soldiers stepped forward to punch him across the face.

Lady Elizabeth looked livid. "Why are you shouting, you idiot! If she-" She paused as she turned around to face a shorter woman with curly brown hair. "Ah- Lady Vanessa, I see that you've woken up."

"There was a huge racket," Vanessa said. She then took a look at Team Rocket. "What are they wearing? And what is this deal with pirates?"

"N-nothing, Your Majesty," Elizabeth said. "It's a simple matter that I can handle myself- no need for you to feel bothered by this."

"I think I want to be bothered about this," Vanessa said, glaring at Elizabeth. "Do these pirates work for you, Elizabeth."

"Why, well, yes," Elizabeth said. "But they are hired privateers, and I can explain why we have them."

"I think I can ask them myself," Vanessa said and marched up to the pirate who was still sprawled out across the ground. She took something out of her nightgown- something that sparkled brightly even though there was nothing that possible so bright as to cause a glimmer like that. "Do tell me the truth now. Why are you here?"

The pirate began blabbing so fast that some of his words seemed to fuse together. "Lady Elizabeth ordered us to bring back the Altruscan Gold back from where she ordered it hidden in Wade's domain and to bring it to her camp then we-"

"Silence!" Vanessa snapped. She turned to Elizabeth, who was as white as a sheet. "You told me that the Altruscan Gold had been stolen by vandals, and that you needed extra gold to replace it and to double the guards around your camp." She stepped forward. "All of it was lies, wasn't it?"

"I- I admit, Lady Vanessa, and I apologize for doing so," Elizabeth said. "I merely wished to line my pockets a little and I thought that by-"

Elizabeth didn't get any further as Vanessa motioned towards one of the guards, who stepped forward, dragged Elizabeth and then in a single stroke beheaded her.

Vanessa glared at the decapitated body. "And here I was so trusting of you, Beth. There was so much that I could have done to ensure your compliance, but no, of course, I wanted to be the nice girl for a change." She kept pacing around and ranting, mostly to herself when she noticed Team Rocket again.

Jessie got a clear look at Vanessa's eyes, and noticed that they had dark bags under them and that they were bloodshot. "Just who are you people then?" she asked.

Team Rocket, understandably, was initially very confused as to what was happening around them, and then very scared as they watched a murder- or execution as Jessie guessed considering that this Vanessa person was apparently a queen.

"We's Team Rocket," Meowth managed to get out.

Vanessa's eyes widened. She put whatever that shiny thing was that she had in her hand away and said, "Was it just me, or did that Pokemon just talk?" She then frowned. "Or are the two of you ventriloquists? Guards, make sure that their mouths stay shut."

Two guards came and wrapped pieces of cloth around Jessie and James' mouths who didn't protest because they had seen what had happened to Elizabeth.

Vanessa then picked Meowth up. "Talk again, little creature."

"Well, I's Meowth here," Meowth said.

"Interesting," Vanessa said. "So you are talking. And it doesn't sound like there's a microphone or anything."

Meowth then had his privacy violated at Vanessa put her hand in his mouth before removing it and saying, "No, no microphone. What an interesting little creature. Perhaps I could use it in my Pokemon Contest."

"Pokemon Contest? Yeah, I've been in a few," Meowth said and pointed to Jessie. "She's mainly the one who enters me in though."

"You've been in contests?" Vaness asked. "But I know all the popular contest spots here and I would've certainly heard of a talking Pokemon."

"Well, I mean it wasn't here, wherever this is," Meowth said. "It was usually back in Hoenn or Sinnoh."

"Hoenn? Sinnoh?" Vanessa asked. "I've never heard of… but you can't possibly mean the regions beyond Galea!"

"Galea?" Meowth asked. "What's that supposed to be again?"

Vanessa took one look at Jessie and James and then told her guards, "Bring me some coffee. This is going to be a long night."


By the time the sun was already high up, Vanessa was reviewing the story that the Team Rocket Trio had told her. It was extremely long and convoluted- which was why she was sure that they weren't lying- not that she didn't check using her Badge for that matter, so that meant that they were either lying or just insane.

"And how did you get into Galea again?" she asked.

They were all seated within her private pavilion, with Jessie and James now gorging on the food that had been brought for them. Meowth had already had his fill and was the one doing most of the talking. Vanessa was actually a bit amused- after all the proper etiquette and delicateness that was present in her court, it was odd to see people eating like Jessie and James did- especially since even Jessie didn't seem to be eating with any more restraint than James was.

"There was a huge explosion and we were carried over," Meowth said, repeating their story for the twelfth time.

"Hmm," Vanessa said. "You there! Are you any good at Pokemon Contests?"

"Well, yes," Jessie said in-between bites, not bothering to mention that she had been repeatedly defeated by a ten-year-old child several times. "Though I don't have any Pokemon right now."

"That's all right, they can be replaced," Vanessa said with a wave of her hand. "Now, I think I believe that I've told you quite enough about Galea, and coming to the point, with Elizabeth dead, I need someone else to participate in a Pokemon Contest against this Ash." She rubbed her eyes. "Perhaps I could have been a more lenient person towards her- but I just get so cranky when I don't get enough sleep. Anyway, what's happened has happened. Will you agree to help me and take Elizabeth's place? I see that the two of you are no friends of Ash Ketchum."

Jessie paused for a second. The thing was that she didn't exactly want to say yes or no. This Vanessa person reminded her of that one character from Alice in Wonderland- the Red Queen. And given that her last favorite had just been killed she wasn't so sure what would happen to her in case Vanessa got angry. Not to mention she was describing Ash in a way that Jessie knew that the twerp was not- not that she had

Then again, on the other hand, they were sure to die if Jessie refused. "Sure, I'll do it."

Vanessa smiled. "Well, I'll be catching forty winks until evening, but do feel free to start practicing until then. I guess you can have Elizabeth's Pokemon."