Hello :P It is Wednesday and it's the first Wednesday of the month so I am back with my first chapter of my PokeShipping Week/Month stories. It happens every year on Tumblr and it's technically PokeShipping Week but because I upload weekly, I do a month of Ash and Misty themed fics. This weeks theme is 'If Misty had stayed with Rudy'. Despite being about Rudy and Ash, both of them are only mentioned. But it's something I've wanted to write about for a long time. It's an AU and there's lots of heavy PokeShipping despite the fact Ash and Misty don't interact. I hope you enjoy :3

Ages:

Misty: 12

James: 19

Disclaimer: I own only the story :3

I watched the lavender haired male's every move as when his two team mates stood up to get ready for dinner, he edged subtly closer to me. He took the first glove off as Jessie took her own ones off before announcing she was washing her hands for supper in the stream they could hear from their little camp in the woods. I studied James. He took the second glove off as Meowth announced he only needed to lick his paws clean and headed for a private area to do just that. I watched James.

He seemed quiet and relaxed. His usual submissive self. I began to relax myself. Big mistake. As both of the two other Rocketeers headed out of sight, he grabbed my paw. I opened my mouth to screech and didn't hesitate to almost send off a massive thunderbolt attack. He stopped me.

"Don't!" he hissed but with not much gusto, it was more of a whisper as his bare fingers cupped over my nose. He was stopping me but he wasn't nuzzling me. He swallowed and repeated softly. "Don't."

I hesitated. I thought about it. But I did what he said. He didn't seem to relax but he let out a quiet breath. I couldn't help myself and looked at him. He had been quiet since the Team Rocket Trio had captured me. I knew he was the quietest but I knew he was being unusually so. I had heard the other members picking up on it and commenting. I just shrugged.

Things had been different for us too. And of course it was because Misty had stayed behind with Rudy and his little sister, Mahri, on Trovita Island and at the gym. Ash had lost that battle. He didn't have to but he decided to do all the gyms all over again to make sure when he returned to beat Rudy, he would beat him good. He shrugged himself often too, but in a very different way. More cocky. More certain of himself. I missed Misty. More than anything. We had a special bond. And I couldn't stop myself thinking about her now we were so close to Trovita Island again. And for some reason, I found myself thinking about her even more since I had been captured by Team Rocket.

In the middle of thought, I glanced up and met James' eyes. He seemed to nod. He removed his fingers away from my nose and gave me almost a pat. He mumbled to me.

"I know I haven't given you any reason to trust me in the past couple of years but there's a first time for everything. I need you to trust me now." He spoke these words with a furrowed brow before his eyes softened in a way I hadn't look into before. He asked me almost politely. "Please."

My stomach knotted unsurely. But looking into his eyes, I found myself nodding my head and soon after he scooped me into his arms and darted away from the camp site with me. I looked at his face and my breathing quickened lightly as my paws clutched onto him.

For the first time and perhaps for the first time for a criminal, James from Team Rocket had trusting eyes. I couldn't explain with words what it was. But in that moment, I trusted him. And he carried me far away from the camp site and towards the cape of the civilisation on looking Trovita Island.

It didn't surprise me that I thought of Ash. They had had me captured for days. Not minutes like it usually was. Not hours like the longest they'd had me captured for. It was days. And as each moment passed, it was harder to ignore the sick feeling in my stomach of being away from my best friend.

As we reached nearer to the edge of the ocean of the cape, that sick feeling suddenly disappeared as quickly as I thought about it when I saw a flash of orange. I gasped. My brain didn't need time to register. I gasped a second time. I didn't hesitate to leap out of the criminal's arms and sprint with all my might along the sea sprayed grass.

The person looked up. She gasped herself. She got up from sitting cross legged and ran towards me. I lunged forward into her arms and clutched onto her tightly. I didn't want to let her go now that I had gotten her back.

Pikachu Pi!

I cried her name in my language and nuzzled against her chest in between her suspenders as we both breathed together. There were tears in my eyes and hers as we pulled away from the embrace to look at each other.

It was one of those moments. I only realised how much I ached for her now that I was back in her arms. She was almost as much my other half as Ash was. I adored her more than anything. I was in absolute dreamland now that I was back with her. I didn't see anything but her face. But Misty did. She saw other things aside from my face. She saw James.

The orange haired gym leader narrowed her eyes and held me protectively. Her body moved into a stance like she was preparing for a battle.

"Not you again!" she cried out with lightly gritted teeth and I hesitantly moved from her arms and onto her shoulder. I held onto her ear for support.

At that moment James was – dare I say it? Happy for us and our little reunion. His mouth wasn't smiling but his eyes were. His shoulders were relaxed. But as soon as Misty said those words, his stance changed too. His posture copied hers and went to that of ready for a battle. He soon stood again to be taller than her and folded his arms.

"You mean thank you for reuniting you with your little rodent pal here." He muttered with an eye roll and his fingers moved to flick his strand back into its correct place.

Misty scoffed but she found herself standing up straighter. She had been on Trovita Island and at the gym for months. She hadn't seen Ash, Brock and I in many moons but she hadn't seen Jessie, James or Meowth either. She looked – dare I say again? Almost pleased to see him?

She folded her arms and came sauntering over to square up to James. She wasn't afraid of anything.

"Oh, I owe you a thanks do I?" she scoffed again, raising an eyebrow as her aquamarine orbs peered up at the lavender haired male. One hand went to her hip and the other held onto me. "You'll get a thanks when you stop being a low life criminal."

Her nose went in the air after saying these words and James' did too but a lot less than hers. He shrugged and massaged his bare fingers.

"Touche." He mumbled simply before smirking down at her, flipping his hair out of his eyes again. "You're jealous that this criminal has a brain and his brain knew you would show up here at this time just like you have every night for the past few days."

Misty's pale cheeks flushed red at the idea of her being spied on by the older male and perhaps other adults but she regained her cool. She shrugged, remaining silent for a few moments as she carried me back over to sit on the grass with her. One of her hands subtly went to her waist where her Pokeballs were in case James made a sudden attack. He didn't.

After a few moments of no words, she slowly glanced back over at James. He was still standing. She could have made a snappy retort. She didn't. She could have insulted him again. She didn't. She pushed all of her stubbornness out the way. She was a different person now than when she was travelling with Ash and it's up to you to decide whether it was for the best.

She bit her lip and looked at James.

"How is he?" she asked and looked away in a way that showed she still had some pride yet at the same time proved she really wanted to know. She must have missed him. Any fool could have figured out.

James' folded arms went behind his head and he let out a quiet sigh, he didn't try to kidnap me again as he sat down casually on the grass next to her.

"That's actually why I'm here." He told Misty and with such truth that, like the time I looked into his green orbs, I believed him. After the orange haired female gave him a questioning and puzzled look, he continued. "I knew you'd be here. It was obvious Jessie and Meowth would hatch a plan to capture Pikachu and I knew he'd be a way to be able to talk to you." He said honestly before smiling slightly when Misty and I both glared at him. "Sorry."

The Cerulean Gym leader picked at the grass between her legs and didn't say anything, looking over at the sun setting into the sea from sitting at the cape. It was plausible that James could gently double cross Jessie and Meowth if he double crossed anyone else. But it didn't sit well with her. After all, why would he want to talk to her?

James sensed her inward question and moved slightly closer to her. He must have deeply wanted to talk to her because he leaned forward to pat my head as he did so. Weird.

"You really need to get your ass out of the Trovita Gym and make it go travelling back with Ash and the other one." He said with a breath afterwards that made it sound like he was nervous about being truthful with her.

Misty couldn't help but smirk and raise an eyebrow at how the mild cuss word sounded in his accent before she frowned. Her aquamarine orbs went wide and innocent as she stroked my fur as I moved to her lap.

"Why does it bother you what I'm doing with my life?" she questioned, her eyebrow still raised after she looked away from him and gave me a real good massage with her fingers.

I should have enjoyed the moment and focused on her touch but I didn't. I looked up at her and my mind looked back.

I truly believed that Ash should have won his battle against Rudy. The other male's personality made him infuriated so I thought he'd use that energy to win. Sadly not. Even more sadly, I thought that Misty would have chosen Ash even if he lost. But she didn't.

I thought I understood her. Even though she was misunderstood, I thought I had figured her out somewhat. I was wrong. She stayed behind with Rudy and Mahri and they apparently were making the gym the best they could together. That's the last we'd heard on our travels. Well, Tracey and I had heard that. Ash said he didn't care and just wanted to focus on all his winnings. I didn't believe him. Now that I was sitting on the grass in the sunset with Misty and James, I believed she needed to come back to our group too. I didn't just want her to. I didn't just need her too. I believed it was what she needed to do.

Even though I was deep in thought, James was quick to respond.

"Because." He replied quickly but that wasn't really a proper reply. He picked up a chunk of grass himself and thought to himself while Misty raised an eyebrow and waited for him to respond. No wonder it took a while. "I know what it's like to be stuck with the wrong person. You think that it's right because it's the version of love you've always thought it to be but it's just wrong. It's not like that. Love's not like that. Love hits you in the face and completely erases every definition of love you thought. It's messy. It's reckless. It's hot headed. It's genuine. It's innocent. It's-"

"Bullshit." Misty interjected and her pale cheeks were flushing once again as he eyes focused on her knees. James blinked at a child swearing but she didn't apologise. She wasn't stupid and I wasn't either. She knew he was hinting that she was in love with Ash. Or at least loved Ash. That was ridiculous to her. And I didn't really blame her. She was only twelve years old and she was far too young to realise such a profound emotion for my best friend at that stage. I stayed neutral and nuzzling her. She swallowed. Her voice shook.

"I am not in love with Ash." She mustered up all the energy in the world to say calmly before picking up pieces of the grass and shredding them. She suddenly glanced at James with a raised eyebrow and tried to put the focus on him. "I strongly think your little speech there proves what everyone believes to be true and that you're in love with Jessie."

I couldn't help but smirk as, James was a lot older than Misty, and he could indeed be old enough to realise his true feelings for his own best friend. He surprised us by not blushing too much and not stubbornly dismissing it either. He just waved his hand. Clearly he had more important things at that moment. He persisted.

"Fine, forget the massive L word. You can't travel with a boy for years and not at least care for him." James uttered and I looked at Misty. When she only grunted but didn't say anything, he continued. This time, he breathed out like it was really important what he was saying. And I was glad. "If you and Ash aren't meant to be travelling together then how come Ash has drastically changed since you left? Jessie, Meowth and I's only goal is meant to be nabbing his Pokémon but we've seen a change in him."

The orange haired female furrowed her brow and she looked at me for reassurance. I didn't hesitate to nod my head sincerely and looked at her with truthful eyes. Her mouth hung open slightly that James and I were on the same page.

Ash had changed. And it had indeed begun when Misty left. Not for the first few days or maybe week. But then it was obvious. Every battle he won, he was cocky. Every loss he faced was a disaster. Like me only realising how much I missed her when I was back in Misty's arms, I was only just realising the deep truth of my thoughts now I was thinking about them. Tracey was a great guy. Very supportive of Ash yet realistic too. But the truth was, he just wasn't enough. And I went back to hearing James and Misty's discussion and heard the lavender haired male confirm my words.

"They just don't cut it like you do. Maybe it's because Brock and Tracey are guys that when Ash gets told to snap out of it or check his behaviour, he gets defensive. It's the alpha male thing." He said matter of factly and it was weird that he was using their real names. Misty listened, her eyes wide as she was actually having a decent conversation with the criminal. James continued.

"But it's different with you. He listens to you. He actually takes on board what you say and he does it. You celebrate with him when he's up and make him keep going when he's down. You make sure he never gives up. And without you, a lot of who he is has gone up in flames."

Misty shook her head upon hearing these words and her eyes shook almost vulnerably. Could that possibly be true? Was she really that good for Ash? She in all honesty viewed herself as not a very nice person so she just couldn't believe she was brilliant for Ash. And it wasn't just because they were coming out of James' mouth. She could tell we were sensing her vulnerability and she shook it away. She looked at James with a different look and he caught it. He smirked slightly.

"We see more than you think when we're spying on you and trying to steal your Pokémon." He said with a shrug, dropping the blades of grass in his hand to push his hair from his eyes. He found himself moving closer to her and continuing to smirk knowingly as his words didn't seem to be sticking to her just yet. "We're very similar you know. You and I. I and you. Us."

Misty raised an eyebrow upon hearing this and her nostrils flared slightly in a disagreeing away, her hands going up to tighten her side pony. Her nose went gently up in the air again.

"What? Apart from morals and decency, you mean." She responded before adding with her own smirk causing him to comically sniff under his arm. "And personal hygiene." She added before laughing and I did too. James was near enough for us to smell and he smelled surprisingly not too bad for someone who was virtually homeless.

He rolled his eyes and persisted yet at the same time didn't want any of his words being flipped and made to sound like they applied to him. Maybe he was right and they were slightly the same after all.

"You're unhappy there. But you don't know it. And you won't know it until you get away from there and realise so I'm trying to make that happen a lot sooner for you."

Misty found herself almost softening as it almost seemed like James was being nice to her. And out of all the words in the world, that's what made her guard go down. That's what made her open up. His kindness and his honesty.

She sighed quietly as she took her hair out of her side ponytail and combed it loose with her fingers before redoing it all over again.

"Maybe it's not like I thought it'd be." She hesitantly muttered in a quiet tone, not looking at either of us as she occupied her fingers by sorting her hair. "I don't know. It is fun. It's a whole new gym where I actually have my say and am valued for what I do. And I really care about little Mahri. It's fun to look out for someone rather than having people look down on me. I don't know. It is great. And I am lucky. But it lacks something. It lacks something that I had while travelling. It lacks-"

Misty's mouth was lacking words so James finished for her and as he said that simple word, his eyes met hers understandingly.

"Freedom." He interjected her with a sympathetic smile and a nod of his head. He knew he was right and he had hit the nail on the head before she confirmed it.

Misty wanted to be stubborn and act like James was wrong but she just couldn't do that. She shared the same almost sympathetic yet grateful smile back.

"Yes, freedom." She uttered with a gentle sigh and a shrug as she held me closer to her chest for comfort. "It lacks freedom and that's exactly what I had when I travelled. That's why I left."

After this important thing was established, we all sat in silence and watching the sunset for quite some time. As James' eyes watched the changing colour of the sky, Misty found herself watching him instead. And when he turned back and noticed her gaze, he blinked.

"What?" he mumbled, his eyes still soft and big as he looked back at her, puzzled.

The orange haired female shrugged and looked away, trying to dismiss it but found herself looking back at him again. She shrugged another time but she answered him.

"I don't know." She mumbled with a blink and a frown before smiling wanly at him. She stretched her legs out on the grass. "I guess you just reminded me of someone there for a minute. Someone I used to know."

The shy male's cheeks blushed gentle pink at the younger female studying him but he shrugged, copying her melancholic smile and making movements like he was tugging up his gloves. Even though they weren't there.

"I'm probably reminding you of me. I am that somebody you used to know."

Misty didn't hesitate to give him a gentle dig, causing him to roll his eyes. But he took it.

"And thank god I don't see you anymore." She said airily before laughing at her own joke with me. But he didn't laugh. He looked back at her seriously again. He went back to the previous subject at hand.

"So what are you going to do?" he asked softly but curiously, his hands rubbing his arms through his white uniform as it began to go chilly now that dark was quickly approaching.

Misty let out a quiet sigh and found herself going back to easily talking to him after giving him some sly digs. Maybe they really truly were alike.

"I don't know." She mumbled with another sigh but bit her lip like she really did know. She found herself moving closer to him this time as she spoke. "I guess I feel weird about going back to Ash and Tracey. I know it's what I want to do and Rudy and Mahri lived without me before so I'm sure they will again. But I don't know how exactly I'm going to slip back into their lives like nothing happened."

James nodded his head and pondered her words silently. This gave her time to speak again. And she admitted something rather huge.

"It's not like I can bring out the old excuse of Ash frying my bike, is it?" she mumbled and James just shrugged while I saw the majority of her words. She was almost admitting that it wasn't really the bike that she followed Ash for. I had suspected that many years ago but she was confirming it. With words. To James from Team Rocket. I wasn't expecting that.

It was almost lucky that James was neutral. He leaned forward and gave me a pat on the head before looking at Misty as he stood up off the grass again.

"You have your way back into travels with Ash right in your arms." He told her with a soft smile, causing her to blink innocently for once. He chuckled and pointed down. "Pikachu. I bought you Pikachu, didn't I? So you can return him to him and everything will be back as it should be."

I couldn't help but squeak and nuzzle against Misty at the true depth and genius of his plan and how much he knew our own group just from observations. Misty found herself looking away and almost swallowing a lump in her throat at this. She just shakily nodded and stood up.

She was grateful. I knew she was. But she didn't know how to express this. She especially didn't know how to express this to James of Team Rocket. She instead gave him a shy smirk after pausing.

"Isn't that going to put you in the bad books with Jessie and Meowth? Having to deal with yet another failure?"

James nodded his head but soon just shrugged, his folded arms covering completely over the R on his chest. In moments like that, it was out of our minds anyway.

"Don't you worry about that, I'm a big boy." He smiled shyly back before sharing a smirk with her, almost bending slightly down to her level. "Besides," he began, giving her a gentle flick on the nose. "I shall tell Jessie that I gave Pikachu to you in order to get back alongside her man and she loves a good romance story. We all do. Even she won't be able to resist."

Misty of course scowled and denied this and pushed his hand away, saying it was ludicrous that her and Ash's story was a romance one. But I found myself laughing and nodding my head. If James and Misty didn't have similarities to each other, then I did with Team Rocket.

In fact, we all did. Like most of us, even they can't resist a sweet and romance tale. And we all especially can't resist the romance tales of Ash and Misty.

The End.

There you go! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed :3 I've always wanted to do a fic while 'the twerps' are still rather long and Misty has a chat with James. Like him, I think they're similar in some aspects as well. Even though Ash and Misty don't interact, it shows a lot about how they feel about each other and the effect they have on each others lives. Even though this is an AU, I believe no matter what universe, Ash and Misty wouldn't be the same without each other. Thanks again for reading and I will be back next Wednesday for another PokeShipping themed fic. Next weeks prompt is "Pikachu's Role in Their Relationship". See you then!

AmyBieberKetchum signing out :3