I looked up. Jessie and I had returned to the shack, and after a while, Meowth had joined us. Now, I was sitting outside, awaiting the arrival of the mailman. And here he was, right on time.

"Daily newspaper as always, James." He tipped his hat to me.

I smiled and took the paper from him. We weren't too close, but showed genuine kindness towards each other. Jessie, for some reason, didn't like it. She thought it was inhumane to talk to a stranger like we had been long-time friends. "He's not a stranger," I had replied. "He's an acquaintance."

Jessie had rolled her eyes, but hadn't said anything back.

That was three weeks ago. Things were so boring in this place that it wasn't even hard to remember every single conversation I had with either Jessie or Meowth, or even when I had the conversations.

I set the newspaper on the table, prepared to read it, then decided not to. "I'll wait to read it with Jessie," I murmured, walking over to our shared bedroom.

Inside there were two fairly small beds, one on one side of the room and the second on the other side. Inbetween the beds, there was a desk with a large mirror on it, and a chair that Jessie was currently sitting in.

I flopped down onto my bed with a sigh. "Hey, Jess."

"Hey, James."

We didn't say anything for a while, until a thought crossed my mind. "Have you ever wondered what it would be like if..." I trailed off, not wanting to finish the question. Have you ever wondered what it would be like if we were together?

Jessie turned her head to face me. "If what?"

"Nevermind," I murmured. "It's stupid."

"Tell me when your questions stop getting stupid," she joked. But I wasn't in the mood to laugh. I only sighed, turning away from her. Maybe I'll stop wondering some day. But how can I ever get over her?

I frowned. James never rejected a joke. Especially a good one like that.

Yet there he was, just sighing and turning away. "James, is something bothering you?"

He didn't reply.

"James, come on. It's not like you to reject a joke."

Still nothing.

"James, if you don't answer me, I'm going to-"

"I said it's nothing!" I blinked, startled as he rushed past me and out of the room.

I didn't try to stop him. James never did something like that. He never yelled when I pushed him to say something. I usually got him to say what he was going to say, yet this time was different. But why?

I felt bad after leaving Jessie like that. But she couldn't find out. She just couldn't.

I don't even know what she'd say. I don't even know what I'd say. How could I ever muster up enough courage to tell her how I really felt? And how would she react?

We're teammates. She would reject me, no doubts about it.

I buried my face in my hand, feeling the tears come. I heard a creak as the door opened, but did not bother looking to see who it was.

"James, you okay?"

Recognizing the one-of-a-kind voice of Meowth, I turned my head.

I darted up and grabbed his shoulders. "No, I'm not okay!" I wailed. "I'm not okay and I never will be!"

I shrunk down, sobbing. Meowth patted my shoulder. "Why don't you tell me what's wrong and I can fix it?"

Staring up at him, I felt tiny. "Promise not to tell?"

Meowth's eyes sparkled. "You mean, like a secret?"

"Just between us."

"I promise!" Meowth looked dazzled.

"Well, you see, the problem is... Well... I sort of, kind of, uh..." I couldn't find the right words.

Meowth patted me again. "Come on. You'll feel better once you get it off your chest."

"I'm in love with Jessie!" It all came rushing out at once. Meowth was wrong. I felt worse after "getting it off my chest".

The young Pokemon stared at me like I'd grown an extra head. "And all she ever does is reject me!" I continued. "My hopes of being with her are ruined because she doesn't love me like I love her!"

Meowth blinked. "Well, I can't fix that. But I might be able to do something to make her like you back."

I sniffled. "Really?"

"Of course! After all you two have done for me? It's the least I can do, James."

I hugged him. "Oh, thank you so much, Meowth!"

"Anything for my best pal."

I grinned. Now, I might actually have a shot at winning Jessie over!