Rating: PG-13, I guess cuz it's super sad.

Other: Warning folks! This one's a tear-jerker. I'm not the kind of person who gets emotional a lot (more like, never) but when I reread this one I had tears in my eyes! It's that sad! Don't worry, it doesn't end all crappy. I'm proud of this one... it's my first real stab at tragedy. Hope you enjoy, but even if you don't you can write me at Jayhawkfan35@aol.com

Jessie and I jumped out of the bushes, making a flashy entrance.

"Not you two again!" the brat, Ash Ketchum, complained.

Jessie smiled haughtily. Each day she convinced herself that we'd catch Pikachu. I wish I had that kind of confidence.

"Prepare for trouble!"

I pulled out my trademark, a perfect red rose. "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."

We went into a classic pose.

"Jessie!"

"James!"

I threw my rose into the air.

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

I snatched it back in my hand. "Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

Meowth fell from a tree, landing between us. "Meeeowth, that's right!"

Ash, Misty and Brock clapped dryly.

"Nice performance Team Rocket," Misty commented. "Show's over. You can go home now."

"Ah, but the show isn't over!" Jessie announced.

"Not hardly!" I added.

Jessie pulled out a control panel. She pressed a bright red button, giving her usual devil-may-care smile. "Pikachu-"

"You're ours!" I finished.

The ground underneath the three kids and their Pokémon collapsed, and they dropped into a hole. We'd tried this plan before- it had never worked out well for us. But this time we took all the necessary precautions. A rubber net covered the top of the pit, all except for a small Pikachu- sized hole. I reached a bag down, scooping Pikachu into it and out of Ash's reach. Jessie grabbed the electric-proof sack, zipping it shut.

The three of us looked at each other for a minute.

"Did we just do what I tink we did?" Meowth wondered.

I squealed happily. "We finally caught Pikachu!"

"After months of-" Jessie began.

"Electrocutions-"

"Explosions-"

"Failed plans-"

"And the boss yelling at us-"

"We did it!"

We were so busy celebrating that we didn't see Ash use his Charizard on the net to melt it. By the time I bothered to look over to the pit the three twerps were already out and ready for battle.

"Uh, Jessie-"

"What James?"

I poked her shoulder. She looked up. I pointed to where Ash and the others were standing. Jessie glared at me.

She pulled out a paper fan and smacked me with it. "This is all your fault! You should have been watching them!"

"Me?! That's Meowth's job!" I protested.

Jessie started stomping on Meowth while still hitting me. "You're both idiots! I can't believe you let them escape!"

"Bulbasaur! Cut the bag open with razor leaf!"

Jessie looked up. Bulbasaur ripped the bag apart, and out rolled a very ticked off Pikachu.

"Pikachu, thunderbolt!" Ash directed.

Jessie and I hugged tightly. The bolt of electricity flew straight at us. We were hit full force.

"I tink Team Rocket oughta blast off again," a crisp Meowth decided.

I nodded. "Let's go Jessie."

I looked around. Jessie was on the ground, unconscious.

"Jessie?" Meowth asked, startled. "Dis is no time t'be lyin' around."

Nothing.

I kneeled down next to her. Putting my head on her chest, I listened for a heart beat. It was slow, like her breathing.

"Jessie!" I shouted, glaring at Ash. "If anything happens to her I swear I'll kill that Pikachu!"

Ash stood, dumbfounded. "I-I..."

Brock rushed over and helped me lift Jessie up.

"Don't just stand there!" Misty snapped at Ash. "She needs to get to a hospital!"

Ash woke up from his trance. "Oh, uh, right. What can I do?"

Brock threw out a Pokéball containing Onix. We gently placed Jessie on top of the rock Pokémon. Misty grabbed Ash's hand, pulling him towards the road. "Come with me! We'll call the hospital and tell them to send a car out to the main road!"

The two ran off. Meowth hesitated, then followed.

Brock gestured for me to get on top of Onix with him. "We need to hurry."

I took a seat next to him, and Onix began moving through the forest.

"God, I hope she's okay," I whispered.

Brock avoided my eyes. "She will be. She's Jessie."

He had a good point. Jessie was indestructible. She'd be fine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I paced the hospital room. She'd be fine, she'd be fine. That was all I'd allow myself to think.

Dr. Parks explained that the electrocution had set off a ticking time bomb. After so many hits to the head in her life, it had only been a matter of time before they caught up with her. Now it was hard to tell what would happen.

Dr. Parks appeared, frowning sadly. That couldn't be good.

I ran up to him. "Is Jessie...?"

"She wants to see you," he said quickly.

She was awake. That had to be good, didn't it?

He led me down a hallway and into the critical care unit. "She's in here. I'll leave you two alone."

He walked out.

I took a seat next to Jessie. She was hooked up to a thousand machines, and didn't even turn to look at me when I came in.

I gripped her hand. "Jess? How are you?"

She fought for breath. "James. I, I don't think I've got... much time."

The way she spoke, between each rasping breath, made me want to cry. "Time? What are you talking about?"

"I'm on... life support," she explained. "And... the doctor said... I will be... all my life. Plus... I'm paralyzed from the neck... down. James... I told him to cut off... the life support."

"You did what?" I questioned. "No, Jessie, you can't do that!"

"I'm not... living in a hospital bed... for the rest of... my life," she said coldly. "And I don't... want you having no life... because I know... you'd stay with me. Tell Meowth... that I died in my sleep. He won't... want to know the truth. And James?"

"Yes?" I said through tears.

"Don't spend your life...mourning," she almost ordered. "I'm not... worth that."

I nodded. "I love you Jess."

Jessie turned her head, and one last time I got to see those sparkling sapphire eyes. "Love you too James."

Those were the last words Jessie ever spoke.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The funeral was a small one. Giovanni, Butch and Cassidy were respectfully there, their faces expressionless. Ash, Misty and Brock were also present. Meowth and I stood as far back on the lawn as possible.

"Would James come up to say a few words?" the priest asked.

I figured this would happen. I walked slowly to where the priest was standing. Meowth smiled encouragingly.

"Jessie was," I began. I laughed slightly. "A thousand things. She was a Pokémon Tech dropout, a biker, a member of Team Rocket. An actress, a singer, a fashion designer, and a dreamer. But most importantly, she was a friend and partner to her two teammates, Meowth and myself. Oftentimes, when we thought there was no point in trying, Jessie would give us a few words of comfort," I touched my head reflectively. "Or a few beatings.

"I've known her since she was seven- lost in the world, not quite fitting in. I guess that's why we hit it off. Over the years we've gone through a lot. So much, in fact, that I thought we were invincible. But I guess that's not true." I pulled out a rose, dropping it on her coffin. "May you and your mother be very happy together in heaven. I'll never forget you. Good-bye, my redheaded angel."

I stepped down, standing next to Meowth. He nodded approvingly. The tears that I'd held back fell silently, coursing down my cheek and falling on the summer grass.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the funeral, I was able to sneak away from Meowth and get some solitude by the lake. I flung a rock into the water angrily.

"Jessie, why'd you do this to me? Why did you leave me?"

Life may have been far from perfect. At times it had been downright unbearable. But we'd always had each other. And now I had nothing.

"I don't even have a reason for living anymore!" I shouted angrily, looking out at the water.

I could end it right now. Jessie and I would be back together. Sighing, I sat down. I could never do something like that. Putting my head between my knees, I cried hot tears.

"Crying is the best thing to do," a voice encouraged. "It helps get out some of the anger."

I looked up. Brock had come quietly and taken a seat next to me.

"What would you know about this?" I snapped.

Brock looked off into the sunset. "I know what it's like to be with someone in their last moment of life. To watch them die, while you feel completely helpless."

I stared at him curiously.

"At first you blame yourself. You think there must have been something you could have said, or done, to help them. Anger sets in, then grief, and depression. You toy with suicide... anything to stop the hurt. The you start blaming others. Your family, your friends... even the one you lost. But the truth is fate works strangely. Sometimes people are just taken away from you, and there's nothing anyone could have done about it," he explained.

Brock looked away, but I saw the tears in the fading sunlight.

"Mom," he whispered. "Give Jessie a good welcome party, will you?"

The thought struck me hard. I knew his mother was dead, but Brock seemed so emotionally secure about it. I didn't think it'd been that damaging.

"You know what Jessie would say if she were here right now?" Brock asked suddenly. "She'd be ticked. She'd tell you to stop acting like it was the end of the world and to quit crying over her," he thought for a moment. "Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing but live life to the fullest."

"You know a lot for a-" I was about to say twerp, but stopped short. "Kid."

He shrugged, "Yeah, well, I've been around."

We sat there in silence for a moment, each thinking our own thoughts.

As the sun set, Brock stood up. "I'd better get back to camp. Ash and Misty don't know where I am." he started to go, then stopped. Turning around, he smiled. "You're a good man James. Jessie couldn't have chosen a better friend."

I returned the smile. "I could say the same thing about Ash and Misty."

He walked off, leaving me once again alone.

Watching the last rays of sun disappear on the horizon, I hummed a song softly.

"Oh where oh where can my baby be?
The Lord took her away from me.
She's gone to heaven so I got to be good,
so I can see my baby when I leave... this world."

Brock was right. Sometimes people are just taken away, and there's nothing you can do about it. Except remember. Not a day would go by that I didn't think about Jessie, and our life together. Life would go on, but Jessie would always be with me.

Meowth bounded up. "Dare you are! You okay?"

I nodded, standing. "I am now. Let's go set camp, like we always do. It's what Jessie would have wanted."