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Looks Like We're Blasting Off…
A Team Rocket fanfic written by Sphynx Dreamchaser
Part One: Blasting Off
The sun rose, filtering through the tree branches, casting a warm glow on the forest floor. It was the beginning of a perfect summer day; birds were singing, a brook was babbling quietly nearby and small, puffy clouds dotted the summer morning sky. The sun was just touching the horizon, the air tinted a brilliant pink and yellow.
Jesse woke up, stretching, and bonked James in the nose.
"Yeah, that one there, and could you put a little Hawaiian umbrella in it? Zzzzzzz…." mumbled James, still asleep. Jesse crawled out of her sleeping cocoon-like sleeping bag and jumped down to the ground and stumbled over to stream to wash out her mouth and take care of other necessities. When she returned a couple of minutes later, fully dressed in her traditional Team Rocket outfit with the matching gloves and boots and the stylish red 'R' on the front, she found Meowth and James were still sleeping peacefully.
"Wake up!" she yelled, and booted them both. Meowth went flying with a Brooklyn-accented yell to smack into a disgruntled Weepinbell as James, being heavier, merely skidded back a few feet to smack against the ground. As Meowth fought to get away from the Weepinbell, James leapt back up, yanked a bright red rose from a pocket and assumed a stud-like pose.
"Bonjour, mademoiselle," he said in a deep voice. Jesse rolled her eyes.
"We have to get a move on. The Boss wants us to get that Pikachu, and if we don't, we're history."
"But Jesse, what do you want to do about it?" asked James meekly in his normal voice. "I mean, we've tried again and again, but we haven't caught it yet!" Jesse paused.
"Well, we'll just have to keep trying. I know!" she jumped up and grinned quite evilly at James. "We can steal the Pokéballs while the Twerps are asleep. And then we can attack them with Arbok and Wheezing to get them out of our way forever. This is a snap!" Much cheerier, Jesse munched on a couple of potato chips that was the only thing she was planning to have for breakfast and rolled her sleeping pouch up to a convenient size. James did the same, occasionally throwing back his head to get his shoulder-length lilac hair from getting in his face. Jesse tossed her things to Meowth, who caught them in the chest and was thrown backwards from the momentum, and Jesse strolled casually out of the clearing.
"Jesse, wait up!" called James, chucking his things at Meowth who still struggled to get up and was knocked back down again as a new pile of cloth hit him. "Jesse, won't they be awake?"
"James, you worry too much. The Twerps will be asleep; it's barely dawn." She nodded towards the sun that was barely peeking over the horizon. "They'll be asleep for hours yet." She looked back to James.
"That's exactly what we should be doing," muttered James as he tripped over a tree root and fell. Jesse sniffed and walked over to some bushes beside Camp Twerp. She hissed at him to be quiet and motioned him over and went back to spying on the kids. She slunk out of hiding so she was within full view of the Twerps.
No response from enemy grounds.
Jesse crept up to Ash, Misty and Brock, gently, but swiftly, unhooked the Pokéballs from their belts. 'This is way too easy,' thought Jesse. 'I mean, we haven't been blasted off or anything…'
"PiiiiiikaaaaaCHUUUUUUU!!!!!" yelled an enraged Pikachu from directly behind Jesse. 'Uh, oh…' thought Jesse as Thunderbolt coursed through her body. Waves of pain flashed through her, then all was dark…
Just as Jesse collapsed, James, throwing caution to the wind, ran to her. "Jesse!" he shouted, hugging her charred body to his chest. "Oh, Jesse…"
"Piiiiiiiiikaaaaa…"
"NO!" yelled James to the Pikachu, who stopped in mid ka. "Haven't you already done enough damage?! You've already killed Jesse!" Pikachu looked incredibly alarmed, and waddled over to Jesse.
"Pikapi?" he asked in a small voice.
"Go AWAY!" yelled James, burying his face in Jesse's hair, wishing he could do something, anything to bring her back…
"Pikachu?" asked a raspy voice. "What's wrong?"
"Pikapi pika pi chu!" squeaked the mouse-Pokémon.
"What do you mean, Team Rocket…?" asked Ash. He swiveled around to where Pikachu was pointing. Ash yanked his hat backwards and scooped a Pokéball off the ground. "Charizard! I choose you!" he yelled, and threw the Pokéball a few feet away from James and Jesse. Charizard appeared in a flash of bright red light and gave a low growl. James only continued to cry, holding Jesse tightly to his body, completely ignoring the huge dragon that was threatening to toast him. Ash gave him a confused look, bewildered by his lack of reaction. "Hey, Team Rocket-person, ummm, what happened?"
"Ask your damned Pikachu, why don't you?!" shouted James, tears streaming down his cheeks, soaking Jesse's hair and Team Rocket shirt. "He killed Jesse!"
"Killed…?" Stunned, Ash stumbled forwards. He'd never really come face to face with death before. Even if she was an enemy, Pikachu had killed her for sure… Ash reached out to brush his fingers against hers. James scooped up Jesse, holding her by the shoulders and the back of her knees, glaring accusingly at Ash, backing up, pain and loathing shining in his eyes.
"No matter where you go, no matter what you do, always remember what you did," spat James. "You took a life; that of another person. May your conscience kill you for what you have done." And with that, he stalked off into the forest, leaving Ash to stare blankly after them.
James ran as fast as he could to the nearest town, Jesse's body so light and so devoid of tension he had to hold her tight to his chest to reassure himself she was still there. As he ran, he reflected on how he had met Jesse, the adventures they had shared. He had always taken for granted that she would always be there for him. "Oh, Jesse," he whispered into her unhearing ears. "Please don't die. Please. Please. I love you. I know you don't love me back, but I still love you. Please don't die…" He ran for more than an hour, nonstop, and finally reached a Pokémon training center. He didn't know what town he was in, he didn't care, all that mattered was making sure Jesse would be all right He ran into the Center, yelling, "Someone, please! We need emergency medical treatment here! Please!" Nurse Joy came running around the corner, her looped red hair bobbing around her shoulders.
"I'm a trained professional, let me help," ordered Nurse Joy. She tried to wrestle Jesse from James' hold, but he refused to let her go. Nurse Joy gave him an exasperated look. "Young man, if you want her healed, let me take her!"
James shook his head. "Show me where to put her. I'll take her there." Nurse Joy opened her mouth to argue some more. "Please, miss, let me. She means…everything…to me." Nurse Joy blinked a few times and waved him into a small room.
"Put her there, on that bed. And shoo!" Despite James' attempt to remain inside, he suddenly wound himself outside the locked door with Nurse Joy and Jesse on one side and him on the other. He pounded on the door, ordering that Nurse Joy open it. He gave up after a minute, and sank to the floor, yanking his fingers through his hair. He couldn't lose Jesse, he simply couldn't…
The next day found James still pacing, his Team Rocket outfit dirty and unkempt, his hair a tangled mess and dark circles under his eyes. He spent the entire day just pacing back and forth. The hallway was clean, bright and had comfortable-looking chairs and a table covered in magazines. Sunlight streamed through the windows, giving the hall an out-right cheerful aura. James noticed none of this. After the fiftieth time looking at his watch in the past ten minutes, the door slowly opened. James was there in a heartbeat.
"Is she okay? She has to be, right? She isn't…" James stopped. He couldn't force himself to say the word. Maybe if he didn't say it, it wouldn't be true. There was no way his Jesse could die, not like that. Nurse Joy gave him a small, tired smile.
"She'll be fine. You can go in there for a while, but only for five minutes. She needs rest and less excitement and…"
"Yes, yes, I understand," interrupted James as he not-so-politely pushed the protesting Nurse Joy out of the room. James locked the door and turned around to find Jesse hooked up to IVs, a heart monitor and bandages covering her head and arms. Her clothes, barely more than tattered, ashy scraps, lay neatly folded in one corner while Jesse was wrapped in a paper nightgown and a blanket, not to mention seemingly miles of bandages. Her bright magenta hair lay back against the pillow, the red and white a stark contrast of colors. James tiptoed over to the bed and softly sat on the bed by the sleeping Jesse. James sat there for a long time, simply staring at her. He had never realized she meant so much to him. But now that she had almost died… He had almost lost her. His eyes started to burn as he started crying again, but this time, there were tears of relief. Jesse would live, and James would have given anything for that before, and she wasn't going to die. Relief coursed through him. His soft sobs echoed through the small room, and Jesse opened her eyes.
"James?" she called out painfully, as if each breath were tearing into her chest. "Are you…all…right?" She coughed, her eyes watering from pain.
"No, I'm fine. Please, lie back down. I wasn't the one hit by a Thunderbolt." Jesse gave an odd, raspy laugh which quickly turned into a cough. James slid farther up towards Jesse and pushed her gently back down. She tried to resist, but gave up and lay back into the soft, cushy pillows. She gave James a weak smile.
"You…look worse…than I probably do…" she rasped and grinned. James gave a low chuckle, happy that Jesse would be all right. If she could laugh, she would make it. He slid farther up and hugged Jesse gently at first, then not so gently, shuddering as sobs wracked through his body.
"Jesse, I thought I had lost you…" he choked out. Jesse winced at the pain that James created from holding her too tightly, but bore with it. She shushed him, and his cries slowly stopped. "Jesse…" Jesse looked deep into his eyes, and her breath caught James brushed her lips with his own, ever so lightly, almost like a butterfly kiss. James flushed slightly; it amazed him how it took him so long to realized that he really liked Jesse. He pressed a little deeper. Jesse sighed and tried to deepen it further, but James pulled away.
"I'm glad you're okay," he said shakily, a fiery red blush staining his cheeks. With that, he all but fled out of the room, knocking a disapproving Nurse Joy out of his way, leaving Jesse to her own confused thoughts.
In the meantime, Meowth finally managed to get out from under the pile of clothes and sleeping bags and he stalked off to find Jesse and James. "Jesse! James! Where are dos two when ya most need 'em…"
Ash was in shock. Had Pikachu really killed Jesse? He simply sat at the place where the grass was charred, leaving dirt and burned grass. Nothing would move him. Pikachu had run up to him, grabbing his hat, did cartwheels, even jolted Ash. He did anything he could think of, trying to get a reaction, but there was none. "Pikapi…" said Pikachu sadly to Misty.
Three days later, Jesse, in a new Team Rocket suit identical to the last one, walked out of the Pokémon Center almost as good as new. James told Nurse Joy to bill Giovanni, the head of Team Rocket, for Jesse's treatment, knowing he would really catch it if he didn't get any Pokémon good enough to pay Giovanni back. And so, Jesse and James walked back in the general direction of the Twerp Gang, bent on revenge and some good Pokémon. They traveled at a much slower clip than before, walking all day to where the camp was. Just as night fell, they nearly walked into Twerp Clearing. The kids' fire was out, and they were sleeping. Jesse, again, crept forwards, limping slightly off her right arm, but James motioned her back, shaking his head. Jesse, too tired to argue, uncharacteristically agreed and stayed by the bushes.
James slinked forwards, clutching an empty Pokéball he had recently bought. A soft pika-snore came from Ash's side; Pikachu was nestled up against him, sleeping Taking careful aim, James tossed the Pokéball at the sleeping Pikachu.
Without even waking up, Pikachu disappeared in a flash of red light, and dropped to the ground softly. James inched forwards, and picked up the Pokéball, putting it in a small backpack. Encouraged by this, he deftly began to strip the rest of the gang of their Pokéballs. He tossed another Pokéball at the snoozing Togepi, who disappeared as well. James collected the Pokéballs and kept them together in his backpack. Jesse struggled up to meet James and struck a smug pose.
"Prepare for trouble."
"And make it double."
"To protect the world from devastation."
"To unite all peoples within our nation."
"To denounce the evils of truth and love."
"To extend our reach to the stars above."
"Jesse."
"James."
"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light."
"Surrender now or prepare to fight."
"Meowth! Where'n hell have you two been? Why, I oughta…" Jesse gave the returning Meowth a quick boot, sending him flying into the by-now-very-pissed-off Weepinbell.
Ash, Misty and Brock leapt up, Ash and Brock in their boxers, Misty in a cotton nightgown. Ash wasted no time. He reached to his belt, yanked out a Pokéball and threw it, yelling for Charizard to come out. Charizard came out and toasted the Rocket Team, and the group could finally get a good night's sleep.
That's what he meant to do, anyway. What actually happened was he reached to his belt and couldn't find a single Pokéball. Misty, seeing Ash was in trouble, got out Starmie and squirted the annoying Team Rocket to kingdom come.
Well, that was her intention. But, when she reached to her belt, all her Pokéballs were gone!
"Arbok! I choose you!" croaked Jesse, throwing Arbok's Pokéball. The purple snake-Pokémon appeared, hissing.
"Charbok!" it hissed, curling up into an offensive position.
"Arbok! Poison bite!" Arbok circled the terrified group, gathering them together, and drew back to get Ash in the chest.
"Arbok, forget the poison bite, use tail whip!" Arbok whipped around and smacked Brock, Ash and Misty with a painful smack across the chests. As Ash flew over the horizon, Brock and Misty close behind him, his eyes wide with amazement, he murmured, "Looks like we're blasting off…"
Part Two: The Reign of Meowth
Dedicated to Haunter.
~Haunter, sorry there's isn't as much Meowth here as I wanted. I tried.~
Jesse and James smiled and hugged, happy that they had finally gotten rid of the Twerps. "Let's celebrate!" crowed James. "My treat." Jesse looked at him incredulously.
"You're going to treat us?"
"Yeah! The Boss is going to promote us!" And he went off into a little dance, leaving Jesse to limp off in the direction of the town. "Hey, Jesse, wait up!" Jesse stopped at a tree and collapsed against it.
"James, can we wait here for now? I'm really, really tired…" Worried, James dropped down to her side.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to push you…" He trailed off. "Here, let me get the stuff." He walked back to the clearing where they had stayed a couple of days before and picked up the sleeping bags. He carried them back to Jesse, who was already half-asleep, lying down at the foot of the tree she had been at before. "Here…" He spread out her sleeping bag on the ground and gently eased her onto it. She murmured in protest, and curled up into a protective ball, trying almost unconsciously to get closer to the heat of James' body. He sighed and spread out his own sleeping bag, and lay down. He curled up next to Jesse and spent the night watching the stars, the sleeping Jesse in his arms.
The next morning, James got up earlier than usual, leaving Jesse to the warm cocoon of the blankets. He cooked some breakfast and put it on a plate for Jesse to find and went hunting for Meowth, who he hadn't seen since Jesse booted him.
"Meowth! Where are you?"
"Mrrrow! Mmmph humph mmrowph!!!" James ran over to the Weepinbell where Meowth has spent the night trying to get away from. He pried Meowth out and set him down, leaving the Weepinbell to glare angrily at him and growl. Just as James turned around, he tripped and wound up on his stomach, Meowth pounding on his head.
"Where'n hell did you two go?! I was wit dat damned Weepinbell all damned night!" Meowth continued to pound James' head and back. "First ya go off wit yer girlfriend and leave me here in dis godforsaken forest fer tree days and when I come back t'see ya, ya boot me into a damned Weepinbell!" He gave one last good scratch to James' face and stalked off to the camp.
"Owwwwwww…" whimpered James. He picked himself up and trudged over to the camp where he found Meowth yelling at Jesse, yelling similar things to her that he did to James. Meowth wound up to give Jesse a good scratch in the face, and James catapulted forward.
"No!!!" he yelled, tackling Meowth and knocking him out of the way.
"Yeow! What in hell do ya think yer doin'?!"
"Jesse was almost killed less than a week ago! We had to-"
"WAT?! Killed?! By who? Why, I oughta…" He pounded one paw into the other and started pacing macho-ishly.
"Meowth, it's taken care of. It was the Twerps, but they were blasted off."
"Well, DAS good. Hey Jesse, are ya okay? Sorry I was gonna scratch you." Jesse smiled weakly.
"It's okay," she said softly and collapsed back into the sleeping bag. Meowth was confused.
"I don' get it. She's been electrocuted b'fore, smashed troo numerous sidewalks, nearly drowned and been blasted off more times dan I can count. Why's she so sick? It's just one stupid little rat-Pokémon." James shrugged.
"I don't know. Maybe all the strain is catching up to her. Watch her while I go get the Meowth-balloon." Meowth nodded, and James strode off into the forest to get the balloon, which was how they got there before this entire thing happened. Meowth picked up the plate of food and brought it over to Jesse.
"Hey, d'ya wanna eat? Der's eggs, bacon and sausage! I know ya like dis stuff. James cooked it special for ya." Jesse smiled weakly at him.
"Thanks, Meowth. But I'm too tired."
"Ummm, I guess. If ya say so…" said Meowth, worried.
'Ho, boy,' thought Meowth. 'She's really losin' it. She's polite! I mean, she's never dis nice…' Jesse went back to sleeping as an apprehensive Meowth ate her refused breakfast.
A little less than an hour later, a hot air balloon in the shape of a giant Meowth sailed majestically down from the sky. As it neared the earth, James called out, "Meowth, could you help me? Get the gear while I get Jesse into the balloon." Meowth nodded as James weighted down the balloon and went over to Jesse.
He knelt by her side, shaking her very gently by the shoulder. "Jesse? Jesse, you have to get up. We need to go now." Jesse moaned slightly, the burns still not healed, and leaned into James' shoulder as he pulled her up. She staggered and fell to her knees. James looked down at Jesse and pulled her up again, and picked her up so she was cradled in his arms. She sighed and looped her arms around his neck, laying her head against his chest.
"You're getting stronger," she teased quietly, obviously trying to make him feel less bad and not doing a great job at it.
"Mayhap," he said equally quietly, and set her gently on her feet inside the balloon. "I'll be right back; I just need to help Meowth get the stuff." Jesse nodded slightly, and slid down to lie down at the bottom of the basket of the hot air balloon.
James trotted over to Meowth who was valiantly trying to carry all the stuff back to the balloon. James picked up the sleeping bags, leaving Meowth to the clothes, which, of course, was still a considerable feat, and rolled the sleeping bags into even tighter balls to save space. He put them in compartments in the balloon, picked up the clothes from a staggering Meowth and put them in their own places as well. Meowth leapt up into the balloon and James jumped in and threw over the weights. He pulled the chain and they were off to Giovanni to get a much-deserved promotion and bonus.
"Well," said Giovanni, idly scratching Persian's head. "Explain yourselves. You haven't called in for almost a week, I get billed from some medical treatment from some Pokémon training center and now you're here and are asking for a promotion. I find this to be almost amusing. If you get a good enough excuse, maybe I'll consider not kicking you three out of Team Rocket."
Jesse, James and Meowth cowered from their formidable boss, his face cloaked in shadow. There was only one chair for be split between the three of them: Jesse sat in it, still recuperating from the burns with Meowth in her lap. It was a good-sized office with an expensive desk, high-backed office chair and impressive technology littering the desk. Large tinted windows covered stretched over two walls; while it showed the outside, surprisingly little light filtered through the dark tint. Potted palms occasionally dotting the floor were its only decoration. James stood behind the chair, his hands on Jesse's shoulders for confidence. He was shaking in his boots, but he couldn't leave it to Jesse. He had to do it himself. Meowth slid out of Jesse's lap and walked over to James.
"Boss, der's a perfectly good reason we was gone fer so long," Meowth informed Giovanni. "James here has lots of good Pokémon that you just might want to look at. We cleaned out all of Team Twerp's Pokéballs."
"Really?" asked Giovanni in a bored tone, obviously not knowing, much less caring, who Team Twerp was. "Very well then, James, show me these wondrous Pokéballs of yours." James gulped and dumped out all the Pokéballs from his backpack. Giovanni, interested, leaned forward to look them over. "Hmmm. Well, the number is impressive, but are the Pokémon? Show me," he commanded.
James picked a random Pokéball and tossed it. A flash of red light blazed in the office. "Togepi?" squeaked a high-pitched voice. James looked down to see Misty's Togepi looking balefully up at him. It looked around for Misty, and, not finding her, started to wail. "Piiiiii!" it bawled in a high-pitched, defenseless voice. It ran around in aimless circles and then sat down, blubbering its little eyes out. A large puddle formed around it. "Piiiiiiiiii!!" James looked uncertainly at Giovanni, whose face was shrouded in deep shadows as usual, showing no emotion.
James nervously said, "Togepi, return." Togepi disappeared in a flash. "Next for your viewing pleasure…" He tossed another. Psyduck appeared.
"Psy? Psyduck? Psy-yi-yi…" it moaned, holding its aching head. Giovanni looked at James, bored.
"If all your Pokémon are like those pathetic two, you can forget about the promotion," he warned. "Oh, and not just that, you'll be out of a job." James nodded, panicking, and returned Psyduck.
Giovanni sighed. "This is getting boring. Very well, I'll give you one last chance. Show me a truly rare Pokémon, and you will have your promotion," he offered generously. James looked nervously to Jesse. The Pokémon the Twerps had were effective, but not really rare. Even Pikachu, while it had nearly killed Jesse, was a common Pokémon, and, no matter what James said, Giovanni would only believe it to be a simple, run-of-the-mill Pikachu one could pick up just about anywhere. He chose random Pokéballs, looking for something worth the Boss's while. He went through relatively unimpressive and weak Pokémon like Vulpix, Bulbasaur, Starmie and Zubat before coming to Onix. It growled, apparently unhappy about finding itself in such a tiny area, being incredibly cramped in Giovanni's relatively small office. Two of the walls were straining; bits of plaster rained down from the ceiling. It rumbled to itself, making noises that sounded like boulders bouncing down a cliff or like a fast-approaching thunderstorm. James quickly returned it before it struggled, knocking down the ceiling and killed them all, or worse, made Giovanni mad.
"How's this? An Onix, very well trained, I might add." Giovanni considered.
"Well, Onixes are powerful Pokémon, but they're not very rare creatures. Plus, it destroyed my office," he decided. "Worth a bonus, perhaps, but not a promotion." James swallowed. What more did they have? His shoulders slumped. He had been so sure they would get a promotion. He sighed and absently tossed the last Pokéball over his shoulder in defeat.
"Come on, Jesse, let's go," he said quietly, and went for the door.
A deep growl filled the room. James slowly turned around to see a Charizard glaring at him, small puffs of smoke slowly rising from its nostrils. It roared, nearly knocking James over and throwing Meowth against the back wall. James' eyes went wide in absolute terror. Even more plaster rained down, partially melted from Charizard's intense heat. Giovanni, his face expressionless, watched from his seat. The Charizard stood out like a flame in comparison to the rest of the office. The better portion of the office was in dark colors, blacks and deep browns and blues. Charizard spread open his bat-like wings as wide as the cramped space would let him, and sucked in his fiery breath to toast James. James froze in place for a moment, before Jesse kicked his calf from behind him, not wanting to be toasted any more than he did, and woke him out of his stupor.
"Charizard, return!" yelled James, holding up the Pokéball. Charizard gave a disappointed growl and disappeared.
"Well," Giovanni said. "You have fulfilled your promise. You shall be given a promotion. That is all." He swiveled around in his chair to face the opposite direction again.
"Did you hear that, James? We're off the loser list and on the winner's list!" shouted Jesse, leaping up to hug him. He looked deep into her eyes and kissed her on the mouth. She twined her arms around his neck as they kissed, lucky to have truly found one another. James, after a few minutes of ecstatic hugging, pulled back slightly and cupped Jesse's face with his hands.
"Jesse, I love you. And you don't have to love me back. I don't care if you do or don't. But please, don't ever leave me." He hugged her close. "I love you…" he breathed into her hair. Jesse's eyes filled with tears, and pulled him close and they kissed, sealing their unspoken vow of love.
The E-
"Hey! Whatta 'bout me?!"
"What about you, Meowth?"
"Ya had Jesse and James in some sorta stupid romance thing. No one cares about dem. What happens to me?"
"Fine, fine. Here's Meowth again."
Meowth sauntered over to Giovanni and booted the spitting Persian off his lap. "Ain't'cha glad I'm home?" chirped Meowth. Giovanni sighed.
"Yes, of course. Ecstatic." Meowth lay down in Giovanni's lap, his legs kicked up on one arm of the chair and his head on the other, ignoring the insulted Persian who stalked off, muttering to itself. Meowsie came bounding in and snuggled up to Meowth, cooing to him.
"Meowth! Dat's right. Top cat!"