Jessie woke up on something soft. It was James. "Ow, my head..." she groaned, rolling off her partner.
The other Rockets woke up at about the same time, moaning softly and complaing.
James sighed as he remembered the perfect world he'd created. "Well, there goes happiness. I guess I shouldn't have expected it to last."
Meowth nodded sadly in agreement. "An' I was so close ta whippin dat Pikachu, too..."
The two were interrupted by the unfamiliar sound of wailing agony. James turned to see what was going on, and to his further surprise found that the cause of the noise was Jessie. The female Rocket had her head in her arms, crying into the leather with a passionate anguish not usually seen in her.
James and Meowth were, to say the least, shocked. Jessie was the sort of person to cry melodramatically, but not like this: not real, hard and truly sad tears. They shot each other looks.
"Uh, Jess?" Meowth broke through the sobs. "Is sometin' wrong? You gonna be okay?"
Jessie cursed under her breath, hitting the ground for emphasis. "She was SO real, how could she just be part of some stupid reality!? SO real, everything about her! This dumb world, I hate it, I hate everything about it!"
James blinked in surprise. "What's the matter? We know what it feels like to lose our realities like that, but..." he didn't know exactly how to express himself.
"Oh, shut up and leave me alone!" she snapped venomously. Jessie hated other people to see her break down like this, even James and Meowth. "How COULD you know what it feels like!? All you lost was realities; you didn't lose HER! She was SO real, how could it have just been a fake, an image in my head!? Oh, Mom..."
Meowth raised an eyebrow in confusion, but at these last words James finally understood what she was talking about. "Jess, she was in it?" She nodded sadly. "Geez. Losing your mother twice..." he tried to perk up a little. "I'm sorry about that, but..."
"It's not JUST that!" she yelped again, causing both to jump. "My world... my reality... It was PERFECT. Everything about it was just wonderful! I had a family, friends, a normal life, potential to BE someone other than a thief... Why couldn't I have just STAYED there!?"
"It can't be that bad," James did his best to get her to see the bright side- assuming there was one. "Just 'cause the world's different doesn't mean you don't have any less potential, right?" He chuckled half-heartedly. "Team Rocket's gonna rule the world, and we'll be at the front of the line, right?"
"Yeah, right," she grumbled. The tears had dried up, but Jessie was still in a miserable mood. "Sometimes I think I was destined to fail from the day I was born. What do I have HERE, huh? Just a couple hundred yen to my name and a pile of failures."
James sighed. Quietly, he said, "Well, for what it's worth, I think you've got a lot of potential." Her head finally came up. "I mean, geez Jess, it's just... you've got SO much talent, you know? I've seen you act, sing, give makeovers, design clothing... Maybe things are bad right now, but with the ability to do things like that you could make it just about anywhere."
She chuckled wryly. "Sweet, James but not very convincing. Thanks for trying to cheer me up, anyway."
Meowth shrugged as if to say 'Leave her to her depression, she'll snap out of it eventually,' but James hated to see her so down and was determined to do SOMETHING to make Jessie feel better. He reached around in his pocket for some inspiration... and came up with a rose.
'Fate or lucky chance?' he thought dryly, pulling it out and holding it in front of his partner. "Do you know why I like these so much, Jess? Because they're exactly like you. Beautiful, delicate," he poked one of the thorns, "but tough and dangerous at the same time. You can grow anywhere, no matter how hard the soil is, and you can flourish too if you really want to. You come in a million colors, depending upon what suits you. And trust me: just like a rose, there are plenty of people out there who'll care about you for who you are, and nothing more or less."
She blushed slightly. "Such as...?"
"Well, me, I guess." James flushed a fairly bright red.
Jessie took the rose, smiling a little. "James, I-"
"Awww, dat is SO KIII-YUTE!" Meowth gushed, popping up between the two. "Somebody, please hand me a tissue! I'm gettin' all ferklempt!"
The female Rocket glared at her feline companion. "What do you find so funny?"
Meowth covered a snicker with one paw and pretended to wipe away tears. "This has gotta be one of da sweetest tings I ever seen in all my nine lives! It's like watchin' one-a dem romance movies! I'm gettin' all choked up just tinkin' about dat magical seen I just saw!"
James gritted his teeth in anger. They had JUST been getting somewhere, too. "You'd better shut your Meowth or I'll-"
The cat, however, was not to be daunted. Prancing daintily with surprising agility, Meowth sang: "Jimmy-poo gave his little Jessiekins a ROSE and told her he looooved her!"
"It's not like that!" James snapped, feeling his face burn.
"Da angels are singin' in da heavens and da birdies is singin' in da trees!" he chanted, ignoring his angry partners. He snickered again. "C'mon Romeo, give Juliet a kiss an' tell her dat you'd raddah die den leave her side, or sometin' poetic like-" he never finished his sentence. Jessie and James had both hit out with their fists and sent him flying into the stratosphere. He disappeared from sight, followed by a satisfying ding.
"Looks like one loud-mouthed feline is blasting off again!" they said in unison, the red from each other's cheeks finally starting to disappear.
James turned back to Jessie, feeling a little sheepish and not nearly as romantic as he had a moment ago. "So, Jess... was there something you wanted to tell me?"
Jessie opened her mouth to say something, but the words never got there. She'd been ready, for a brief second, but the moment had passed and things were back to the way they had been. That perfect world she'd just cried over was slowly fading from memory, and now it seemed silly to waste time crying over an imaginary reality... or gushing over a little poetic rose analogy, for that matter. "Oh, I was just going to say that... that's it pretty late in the day and I'm sort of getting hungry."
James' sighed inwardly. "Oh. I see. That's all?"
"And..." she smiled a little. "Thanks, James. I... I care about you too, though you probably already knew that." Feeling incredibly awkward, Jessie quickly changed the subject. "So, what was your reality like?"
"Well, I was rich and owned this great estate, except Jessebelle wasn't my wife," he shivered at the thought.
"Who was it?"
"It was-" James blushed and looked away, giggling nervously and coughing once or twice. "Oh, er-hem, it was, ah-heh... you know what I forgot."

Ash, Misty and Brock were back on the road to Johto after getting yelled at by Professor Oak and hugged by Mrs. Ketchum. Tracey had waved a quick good-bye, holding up a sketchbook full of either genius or insane artwork, and telling them he'd see them when he was rich.
Now, as the trio worked their way up one path after another, Misty's curiousity overcame her. "So Brock, what was your alternate world like?"
He jumped. "Me?" The breeder smiled devilishly. "I was a Pokémon doctor, well-known throughout town and loved by all. I had a Porsche and a ton of money." He decided not to mention his wife.
"Oh wow! Sounds great! Was I there?" Misty wanted to know.
"You?" Brock blushed and poked his index fingers together. "Actually, Misty, you were..."
"Uh-huh?"
"Um... wow that reality is fading fast from memory, I can't remember if you were there or not." Misty frowned at the awkward answer and wondered why Brock wouldn't meet her eyes. "So what about you?"
Misty hugged herself at the happy dreamworld. "My three older sisters were my three younger sisters, Jessie was a flat-chested little punk, and I had two guys fighting over me!"
"Really? So who were the guys?" Ash wanted to know.
"They were-" Misty stopped and looked up, so neither boy could give her eye contact. "No one you know, some kids from back home... funny, can't even remember their names."
Ash looked at his two older friends and wondered why they wouldn't look anyone else in the face. "Well, mine was ten times better than either of those!" He broke in. "I was just two steps away from being a Pokémon Master! All I had to do was beat Gary and Lance and then- wham!- I'da been a Champion!" He held up a victory sign. "And I know it's really gonna happen which is why we just gotta get to the next gym, and fast!"
Misty coughed nervously. "Ah-hem, Ash? Was there anything else? Like, you know, with me and Brock?"
"Nothing that I can think of..." he snapped his fingers. "Oh, yeah that's right. There was this little thing... you declared your love to me or something..." he laughed at the idea. "Like that'll ever happen!"
"LITTLE THING!?" Misty didn't have any trouble looking Ash in the eye now. "ME declaring my love is a little thing to you!?"
"Yeah, I was kinda hoping to get through the kiss part and move on to some more battling."
"Move THROUGH the kiss part!?" Brock, hormone-powerhouse that he was, couldn't even contemplate the thought. "There is NOTHING more important than the kissing part!"
Ash frowned. "Sure there is. I was about to be crowned Pokémon Master!"
"I DON'T UNDERSTAND YOU!" Misty and Brock both shouted angrily.
Ash cringed. Misty sighed in exhasperation. "You just don't get it, do you? Come on, Brock, tell me about this world of yours."
"With pleasure. By the way, Misty, have I mentioned that you look particularly good today?"
"Why, no you didn't. Thanks."
Brock swung his arm around Misty's shoulder, looking back at Ash and smiling devilishly. Something inside the Ketchum boy went off. A switch, a trigger if you will, had just been pulled. Puberty had officially struck, and suddenly the thought of Misty being his girlfriend didn't seem like such a bad one... the thought of her being BROCK'S, however...
"Yeah, well, I think you look good EVERYDAY, Misty!" Ash declared, running to catch up with the two.
Misty blushed and hid a smile with her hand. "Really?"
"Would I lie?"
The female member of the group looked down and giggled as she saw sparks fly between her two friends' eyes.
Let the battle begin.

>>>To be Continued...<<<

Author's Note: NOT REALLY! I just put that at the end 'cause that's what they do at the end of all the episodes! I'm not writing anything else, no siree- you'll just have to watch the show and see how the lovelines turn out for yourself! Dee ~_^