"What's that supposed to mean? Like you have any more?"

"True... Well, what are they, anyway?"

Jessie gave James an exasperated roll of her eyes. "These are Monster Orbs," she replied mockingly. "They--"

I know! I know what they are! I meant what's in them!"

Jessie sighed. They had been about to break camp for another day of walking, when all of a sudden, James had wanted to know what Monsters she had caught. After two weeks of walking, to who knows where, and now he wanted to know about her Monsters.

"Umm... Jessie? Are you going to tell me now or--"

"Alright, alright!" she fumed, plopping down onto the ground in front of the six Monster Orbs she had spread in front of her. Little puffs of dust rose from the dry ground around her, then floated back down slowly. James knelt down across from her and waited expectantly.

"Okay... These three are my favorites: Ninetails, Raichu, and Blastoise. They're probably the most powerful of the ones I've managed to catch. And then in the rest are an Arbok, a Lickitung, and an Ivysaur." She paused to shake her head ruefully. "It's too bad that wild Monsters are becoming more scarce... I mean, we haven't seen any in these last two weeks beyond the Jigglypuff you keep finding for us to eat. Figures... there's an abundance of what you don't want."

James actually seemed to be interested, leaning forward and nodding in an almost intelligent way. "How do you tell which one is which so well?"

"Well, the Monster Orbs each have a different feel to them. It's hard to explain... But trust me, I can just tell when I pick one up."

"Hmm..." James picked up two of the red-and-white spheres and carefully balanced them on his palms. "I don't feel a difference."

"That's because you're not a Summoner," Jessie snapped, snatching the Orbs away from him and stuffing them along with the rest back into their pouch. Tying it back in place inside her cape, she stood up and demanded, "So, are we going now?"

James stood up as well, stretching both arms behind his head. "Yeah, yeah. Are you in a bad mood today or what?"

"What was that?"

"Ahaha... Is today just the most wonderful day or what?"

"Not really. Not unless we find a town today," Jessie muttered, stalking off through the forest again. Well, walking through nothing but trees and eating nothing but Jigglypuff for two weeks straight would make anyone cranky. To emphasize that thought to herself, she angrily kicked a rock. It sailed through the air to land several feet farther into the trees.

"My turn," James grinned when they reached it again. He swung his boot at it, missed, and landed on the ground. Sitting bolt upright, he loudly exclaimed, "All rocks are out to get me!"

"Yeah, it's a rock conspiracy," Jessie offered dryly as she pulled him up to continue walking. After that, he kept muttering about rocks and conspiracies for so long that Jessie was sure he would give a dramatic speech to the next rock they came across.

Not that the past two weeks had been totally awful. James was a good enough companion, and oddly enough, she sometimes found herself actually enjoying his presence. Not to mention the way he cooked. If only he wasn't so clutzy and didn't start rehearsing his silly "speeches" at any given moment and without any warning. But still, it was nice not to be alone, and--

That tugging on her cape was throwing her thoughts all out of order. "James, quit that! I'm trying to think here!"

Now, where had she left off... Oh yeah, it was nice not to be alone, and--

"And don't tap my shoulder guard! Do you know how much one of those things cost?"

"Yes, but... See, there's a town ahead, and..."

Jessie tuned his voice out and just stared straight ahead. Sure enough, a town spread out right before her and her eyes seemed to expand to take it all in. "A... a town! Actually, it's a city! Ohh, city life... Real places to eat, and inns with real beds, too! And I'll bet some real great entertainment! Ahhh... ooh..."

"Jessie? Are you okay? Do you need help walking or something?"

The red-haired Summoner got back up from her knees and shook her head violently. "I'm alright. Let's go!" She dashed off incredibly fast, cape billowng out behind her as she laughed joyously, leaving James somewhere behind.

"Hey! Jessie, wait!" she heard him call once before she skidded to a stop within the first few buildings. What had caught her attention was a large poster that was tacked to the side of a building - the colors bright but the artistry leaving something to be desired. After sneering at the crude rendering of what vaguely looked like a Charizard fighting a Venusaur, she scanned down to read the lettering. Just then, James came half-running up, stopping beside her to lean against the wall.

"Je... Jessie... why... run... so... fast?" he gasped out between ragged breaths.

"Look at this..." she replied, gesturing at the poster. "They're having Monster battles in a stadium here... I've got to see this, hopefully all the have battling isn't a bunch of Caterpie," she continued eagerly, grabbing James' arm to tug him down the street.

"But where is it?" he protested. "And why do we have to see it?"

"The poster said it's three buildings down from the north side of Center Square, and we have to see it because I want to. I like to see Monsters in action. Plus, because... well, just because," Jessie concluded hastily. The reason she had been reluctant to say was that it would provide her plenty of opportunities to practice a few of her pickpocket techniques. And betting was fun too, provided she won.

"So where's this square place?"

"Well, if it's in the center, we'll come to it eventually if we just keep heading in," Jessie shrugged. She let go of James, only having recently realized that she was still pulling him by the arm, and started observing the details of the city.

The houses were placed in neat, even rows, the sides painted white and the roofs painted red. In comparison, the shops tended to be clumped together haphazardly here and there amidst the houses; they all had red walls and white roofs. People crowded the streets thickly, making it necessary to dodge bodies, carts, and the occasional Ponyta-back rider. Jessie supposed that one could tell the citizens apart from visitors by the way that most of them wore red and white.

The pair eventually found their way to a broad expanse of space covered with grass and a few trees, bordered in a square by flat pieces of wood painted red and white. "This must be it!" Jessie exclaimed happily. "Now, which way is north..."

Knowing the exact direction proved unnecessary, since the stadium was tall enough to be seen over the buildings. As they drew closer, quite a crowd of people could be seen already inside the huge doors.

"Hope we aren't too late," Jessie sighed as they passed through the doors into what seemed to be an space that was entirely devoted to food vendors and betting tables.

"Aren't we going to make sure there's room for us to sit?" James asked when she hesitated momentarily.

"Well... I think I'm going to place a couple of bets," Jessie replied. "How 'bout it, Jim? You a betting man?"

He grinned at her. "Not really. But you go ahead." She nodded and headed for the nearest table, noting the way he shadowed her with an amused grin. One would think he was trying to be her bodyguard or something. Shaking her head, she read down the list of competitors for the day.

Only two really caught her eye. The first was the starting battle - a Charizard against a Venusaur. The other was something strangely titled: Ryhorn vs. the Mystery Freak. Very interesting.

"Okay pops, I'll bet 10 gold on the Charizard and 50 on the Freak. Double or nothing," she told the man behind the table, tossing him a small sack of coins she had taken from somewhere under her cape.

"Heh. On the Freak? You sure?"

"Yeah," was all Jessie said in reply as she walked off with James close besider her.

"Jessie, are you sure... That much money..."

"Hey, it sounds good to me. Whatever it is, it's gotta be a sure bet."

"If you say so..."

Finding seats took several minutes, as well as several swearing matches with people who didn't like being shoved. Jessie finally pulled a frazzled James into a seat next to her. "Jessie... Are you always like that around people?"

"Ehh... If they annoy me enough. Say... I wonder what's up with this city, anyway... It's so... red and white."

"Really? I didn't notice."

She scowled at him until she felt a light tap on her shoulder. They both turned to see a man with a huge mustache sitting behind them, the green vest he was wearing plainly marking him as being foreign to the city.

"Excuse me young lady, but I thought I could answer your question for you. You see, the people of this city are very proud of their stadium, as it is the main tourist attraction here. As a symbol of their pride, most everything - from the color of the buildings to their clothes - is in red and white, which, of course, are the colors of a Monster Orb."

"My... Thanks for the documentary," Jessie commented dryly.

"Yes, thank you," James added, a touch more politely. "How many times have you visited here?"

"Oh, I like to come as much as I can. They have good reason to be so proud of their stadium battles. In fact, I--"

"That's all great, but isn't it going to start soon?" Jessie interrupted in exasperation. As if on cue, a cheer went up from the crowd as a man wearing - what else - red and white stepped out into the middle of the arena with a megaphone.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to today's stadium battles! The first match is between Charizard and Venusaur!"

"Doesn't waste much time with words... I like it," Jessie commented as she rubbed her hands together eagerly. Then man ran back into the small door he had entered by; as soon as it closed, two much wider doors creaked slowly open and the crowd gasped audibly in anticipation.

"Ahh! They're huge! This'll be sooo great!" Jessie cheered, jumping up and down and waving her arms. "That 20 is as good as mine!"

"Jessie... Could you sit down? People are really starting to stare, and..." James suggested timidly. She frowned at him a moment before sitting.

"Fine, fine," she muttered, leaning forward in her seat just the same. At this point, the two Monsters were circling one another warily, raising great clouds of dust whenever they stomped their feet, the sound of which was nearly drowned out by the roaring crowd.

Abruptly, the Charizard loosed a blast of flame at the Venusaur, leaving it barely enough time to step out of the way. Then the Venusaur extended it's long, slender vines, whipping them around the fire Monster and attempting to get a firm grasp on it's legs or tail. But the Charizard shot up into the air, soaring around the ring and occasionally low over the crowd, which seemed to make people cheer louder, if anything. It began to circle the Venusaur, scorching it with fire from time to time as it desperately tried to look in all directions in order to see where it would be attacked next.

Finally, the desperate plant Monster began to use it's powerful Solar Beam in an effort to slow it's opponent down, but the Charizard was just too quick. With a final spurt of flame, the Venusaur toppled to the ground to lay perfectly still.

"And Charizard is our winner!" the man with the microphone announced from somewhere, setting the crowd off again. Jessie wasn't an exception.

"Yeah! I won, I won! That was great!" she cheered enthusiastically.

"You know... It seemed a little unfair to me," James commented slowly as he continued watching the Charizard, now settling down to the ground. Jessie turned to look at him and raised an amused eyebrow.

"Don't think so hard, you might hurt yourself," she told him, reaching over to pat him on the head. He just blinked at her. But she knew he was right. That Charizard was obviously levels above the Venusaur. "Anyway, the next battle won't be until the last, so I thought I'd... well, go see if I can find someone I know."

"I can go with you," James offered, already halfway standing.

"No! Well... I'd rather go alone. I mean... Maybe you'd have more fun watching the battles," she suggested cautiously.

"I guess so..." he finally replied, seating himself again. "If you promise to be careful..."

She promised quite profusely to be just that, and quickly took her leave. She hadn't exactly told him yet that she was a thief, and she wasn't even sure what he would do once he found out. Maybe give her a speech on the evils of theft. In any case, it wouldn't do to let him know what she was really going to do now. If only she could figure out why he was acting so protective... It couldn't really be because he thought he was her bodyguard...

She put that thought out of her mind as she spent the next hour or so "collecting", as she liked to put it. Bumping into people and snatching their money pouches was the easiest way. Tripping people worked, too. However she did it, by the time the last battle rolled around, the inside of her cape was quite full, leaving her rather satisfied.

She strolled self-confidently back to her seat, almost feeling a twinge of guilt when she remembered that she had just left James there by himself. He was just standing up as she arrived, a worried expression seemingly permanently painted on his face. "I was just coming to--"

"It's alright! I'm here! Didn't find anyone though..." she added as an afterthought, pushing him back into his seat. "Just relax." But he didn't relax until she patted his arm gently in way of apology. Then he had the nerve to blush. She elbowed him hard in the ribs and felt infinitely better.

"And now... what you've all been waiting for. Today our mysterious Monster will be battling a Ryhorn! Will it win...?" For some reason, the crowd dissolved into laughter. Jessie wondered why. One of the huge doors opened to reveal the Ryhorn, pawing at the ground and bellowing. The other door opened much more slowly. Jessie strained her eyes, as if making them bigger could help her see better.

Out of the darkness, a small figure walked, holding up a hand... err... paw... to shield it's eyes from the sunlight. Then Jessie could see that it was a Meowth, but she wondered what kind of disease it had. It appeared to be covered with dark patches of something, yet from this distance, she couldn't quite make out what they were.

"Yeah, the Freak!"

"Let's see how bad it gets beat this time!"

"Maybe it's going for a record!"

Jessie blinked a few times as she listened to the crowd's jeering. "Wha... so..."

"Oh yes... the Freak," mustache man said from behind her. "It's a crowd favorite... even though it never wins."

"Never... wins..."

"Jessie? Are you... okay?"

"It... never..."

"Don't do anything rash, now... Jessie?"

But Jessie wasn't listening to James. "Oh, I am so screwed!" she yelled, shooting to her feet. "I bet 50 gold on that damn thing!" she then screeched, pointing her finger straight at the Meowth. "And I am not going to lose!"

By now, pretty much everyone was staring, even the Meowth and Ryhorn. "Jessie... come on, it's just 50... you... you..."

Ignoring James completely again, she reached into her cape and pulled out a Monster Orb. "Come forth, Ninetails! Torch that Ryhorn!" Of course, Ninetails obeyed. Which caused the Ryhorn to burst into flame. Which, quite naturally, caused it to run into the side of the arena. Which happened to be made entirely of wood.

Fearful shouts and screams filled the air as the fire spread; everyone had begun running, pushing and crowding toward the exit. Jessie grabbed her companion's arm again and pulled him with her over to the edge of the ring.

"But Jessie! We have to get out of here!" he cried, looking rather panicky.

"Come on with me," Jessie told him calmly, jumping down into the ring. "I think there may be a better way out. And I'm not leaving empty-handed." Not waiting to see if he followed, she ran over to the Meowth, which was still standing in the same spot, staring at the turmoil. She scooped it up on her way past to the door it had come in by, running as fast as she could while still holding the squirming Monster. She could see now that those dark patches were rock, but didn't waste time on pondering how that was possible.

Once she reached the door, she stopped for a moment to catch her breath, seeing that James was indeed close behind her. "Good... We made it. Now we just slip out and--"

"You can put me down now."

Jessie dropped the Meowth in shock. "You... you just..."

"No time for that now. Let's just get the hell out of here."

Jessie and James shared a confused look, then stared at the talking Monster. "Guess it's right about that," Jessie said. They took off running after it, stopping only once when it paused to grab a small cloth bundle on the way before continuing on out into the city beyond.

"So, you're what... again?"

"I've told you twice! I was a Meowth, but a spell was cast on me, and as a result, I am now part Golem."

"And you can talk."

"That's right."

"And what did you do to make someone that angry?"

"None of your business."

Jessie sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day. Not expecting a friendly reception from the citizens after the little "accident", Jessie, James, and their newfound Monster friend had wasted no time in hightailing it out of there. Now they were sitting in a small glade in the forest again while the Meowth explained everything. Jessie was listening intently, but she wasn't sure if James was paying any attention - he seemed preoccupied with polishing his sword.

"Okay..." Jessie continued slowly. "So what's your name? Now that you know ours."

"Meowth."

"Meowth... that's terribly original."

"I know," Meowth replied, irritably hitching it's cape further up on it's shoulders. What the bundle had turned out to be was that hooded cape - which Jessie thought looked utterly ridiculous on it - and a sack of Monster Orbs. The thing was actually a Summoner. Jessie shook her head.

"Mind telling me what that whole stadium thing was about?"

Meowth cleared it's throat, then began speaking in an imperious tone. "I was captured by men working for the stadium, and they decided I would make a great "act" for their stupid show. As everyone knows, those battles are rigged so that they are completely unfair. Since they took my Monster Orbs from me, I was unable to defend myself against the bigger, stronger Monsters they pitted me against. Forced every day to battle and fail, my name the object of derision, when all I really wish for is to find a way to change myself back to normal... Damn..."

"Oh, cut the melodramatic crap. It may be worse than James' speeches."

James blinked at Jessie. "What?"

"In any case... What are you going to do now?"

"I know!" James volunteered brightly. "It can stay with us!"

"What? Are you out of your mind? We can't just pick up every stray that comes along and--"

"But it's alone... Maybe it would like to stay with us. Being alone isn't much fun..."

"Maybe so, but I still say--"

"Will you both shut up!" Meowth yelled sharply. Then it's eyes widened and it made a visible attempt to calm down, returning to that low and mysterious-sounding voice again. "I believe that I will accept your offer. But only until I find a way to change myself back to a normal Meowth again," it added with a haughty sniff.

"Ahh! Great. Wonderful. Another mouth to feed. This is all your fault, James!" Jessie glared.

"Umm... Who wants Jigglypuff?"

Jessie flopped onto her back and stared up at the sky. No fancy food, no bed, losing money (no matter how much she had gained anyway)... Either this was just going to get better, or it was going to get worse. Most likely worse. Still, she repeated her earlier thought to herself: It was nice not to be alone.

Comments are appreciated, as always. Whatever that means. :p

Episode 3
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