Pearl watched James nearly jump a mile and drop the tennis shoe he'd been attempting to re-lace. "Don't do that!" he scolded at her, only half-sounding like he meant it.

"Do what?" she replied innocently, sitting on the couch next to him with an amused smile.

"Sneak up behind people and scare them half to death," James scowled back. He stabbed the shoelace through another hole as though trying to kill the shoe. Pearl studied him through half-closed eyes. The scowl hadn't faded from his face yet; very unusual - most of the time he didn't stay mad for long.

"I've been thinking, James... if you ever get that straightened out" - she pointed at the tangled mess the shoelace had become - "do you want to go out somewhere... so we can talk? I've been meaning to talk with you."

His eyebrows furrowed in thought and he fiddled with a knot almost nervously. She hoped he hadn't taken that question the wrong way. It was just a guess that what he was mad about was all the teasing he had went through the night before - not to mention that morning as well. But she knew how to make him forget all that and make him talk to her.

"Out where?" he finally asked, looking at her again.

"Mmm... ice cream was what I was thinking... unless you--"

"Oh, that's fine!" he interrupted, forgetting to scowl. Pearl smiled at him. Food was the one thing that had always cheered him up without fail. "But, Jessie..." he began before trailing off into silence.

"Jessie... what?"

"She might not like it," he concluded with a sigh.

"What... do you have to have her permission to go somewhere?"

"No!" he stated emphatically, the scowl returning momentarily.

"Good!" Pearl said as she stood up. "Let's go tell her we're going then."

"Umm... you can tell her," James offered. "I don't want to be the one she beats up for suggesting it. Not that she'll beat you up," he added a second later.

"That's comforting," she replied with a wry smile, then went to the kitchen door and stuck her head in. "Me and James are going out for a bit," she tossed in without any introduction. Then she let the door fall shut. Jessie's head popped out half a second later.

"You are?" she queried, directing a frown at James, whose attention was suddenly riveted to the knots in his shoelace.

"Yeah, that's alright, isn't it," Pearl responded, purposely making it sound like a statement rather than a question.

"Of course. Have fun," Jessie replied rather curtly, ducking back into the kitchen. Pearl raised an eyebrow but didn't have time to reflect before Meowth shot out the door, a blur of yellow fur streaking straight at her.

"Take me too, Poil, take me, I'm beggin' ya!" he wailed, paws tightly clamped around her neck.

"The feline missile strikes again," James groaned sarcastically from the couch.

"Who asked you?" Meowth snapped over Pearl's shoulder at James before returning his gaze to her with large sparkling eyes. "Pleeeaase..."

"I'm sorry Meowth, but I really want to talk to James alone for awhile. Maybe next time," she added with a smile, setting him gently on the floor.

"Awww... well, Jessie ain't gonna like dat," he snickered at James before scampering away.

What's that all about?" Pearl asked James, who was scowling yet again.

"I'll tell you later," was all he said.

"And your shoes..."

"Oh, I've got another pair... I really don't think I'm going to get those straightened out anytime soon."

Leaving was unhindered until Jessie suddenly yelled from the kitchen, "And don't let him drive!" Pearl turned to James questioningly, but he just shook his head and groaned again. "Don't ask."

"So, what's all this worrying about what Jessie thinks?"

Pearl didn't really expect an answer right away, with the way he was shoveling ice cream into his mouth like there was no tomorrow. Instead, she absently stirred her half-melted double fudge sundae with her cheap plastic spoon while glancing over the other occupants of the shop as though looking for someone. In a way, she was looking for someone, but it could hardly be possible that anyone could have noticed she was "missing" by now. And even less possible that they would be looking in a place like this. Besides, James and herself wouldn't attract too much attention, dressed in normal clothes like they were.

With that reasoned out, she turned back to James to find him contemplating her, spoon sticking out of his mouth. He blinked and wasted no time in taking it out and putting it back in his empty bowl.

"Can you talk now?" Pearl asked him with a grin, trying with some difficulty not to laugh.

"The reason... well, you saw her explode because of what happened with Sonya," he said slowly, wincing at the memory.

"She's jealous?"

From the way his face suddenly flushed bright red, she guessed she'd had the right idea. He lowered his head in an attempt to hide his blush; she leaned in closer.

It's alright, James... I always knew you'd find a nice girl you liked someday," she whispered, not entirely serious. He looked up, face even redder, if that was possible.

"But she... she doesn't..."

"She doesn't like you? I think she does, she just can't quite show it a lot yet. But don't worry, she'll come around." That part had been totally serious, but his embarrassed expression made her stop from saying what she had been about to.

"Do we have to talk about this..." he pleaded quietly.

"Oh... alright. So, have you ever told Jessie or Meowth how we met?"

"No... no, why would I do that? You've seen how they tease me now as it is."

"But I'm kind of proud of it myself... I mean, how many girls can say they babysat for a rich little boy who happened to be three years older than them? None, I'll bet. Don't do that, you'll hurt yourself."

James picked his head up from where he'd slammed it on the table and stared at her mournfully. "Please... please don't mention that to them..."

"Oh, I won't unless you tell me to. You know that," she said, giving him a mock-stern look. "Of course, if I told, then I could share all those fascinating stories I know about you as a little kid... like the time you decided to dye your hair green, of course, you had to go all the way and dye your Growlithe to match... I remember it like it was yesterday, that dye didn't fade for three weeks!" she laughed, unable to keep a straight face.

"Are all girls out to get me?" he muttered into his empty bowl. "Or am I just really unlucky?"

"I'm sorry... I really won't tell." She sighed. "And after all that... to think you ended up in Team Rocket..." She could feel his eyes on her now without looking up.

"You know why," was all he said, and left it at that. Pearl looked up then into his deep green eyes; eyes she had promised herself she wouldn't get lost in.

"I'm sorry about your parents, Pearl. I know how much they meant to you. I'm just glad I can be helping you now, after what you've done for me," he said in a low tone that almost felt like a caress. No, she had promised herself not to think that way.

Resisting the urge to stare into his eyes, she studied her hands instead. "Thank you. I had so much trust placed in the Team, and now..." She left the statement unfinished, and he didn't press for more. They sat in silence, communing in a way that only friends can.

"...and then, he fell off the Lapras!"

Pearl giggled as James held the apartment door open for her. "That's so funny! I can't believe that he..." She stopped on seeing Jessie standing directly in front of her. Jessie calmly stepped around Pearl and grabbed James' arm, heading him out the door again.

"Wha--" he began, but Jessie didn't let him finish.

"I just want to talk to you."

They ended up at the same shop, and the same booth for that matter, James nervously watching Jessie slowly eat what she had ordered. She hadn't let him order anything despite his protest of being hungry. He tried not to stare at her food but couldn't help it.

"Now," she finally began, pointing her spoon at him like a weapon, "you are going to tell me what the two of you talked about."

So this is what she wanted... "Oh, just about old times... nothing much."

"That's all, huh? How do you know her anyway?"

"Well... my parents were friends of hers. At least that was part of the truth.

Jessie sat back to consider what he had said. It seemed credible enough... besides, he didn't seem to be interested in Pearl at all in a way that would be threatening to Jessie's interests. Now she just needed to talk to her. She looked back at James and blinked.

"Stop eating my ice cream!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't think you wanted it!" he wailed while clutching his head where the napkin holder had hit him. Jessie might not be the most understanding person in the world, but she did have astonishingly good aim.

People were beginning to stare, so she nearly literally dragged him out to the car. The drive back was silent, except for James' constant muttering. Once back inside the apartment, Jessie motioned to Pearl, who was sitting on the couch scratching a completely contented Meowth behind the ears. "We need to talk."

"What is this, a merry-go-round? Am I next?" Meowth commented sarcastically.

Jessie shot him a glare while Pearl stood up. "Okay..." She followed her out the door, stepping around James, who merely stood there with his mouth agape and staring with eyes twice as big as normal.

"Am I crazy? Or is it all girls that are crazy?" he asked the door that closed behind the two women.

"Don't worry," Meowth grinned. "I think it's the girls."

"How do you know him?" was Jessie's blunt question once they were sitting in the exact same spot again, this time sans ice cream.

Pearl sighed and shook her head. This day was getting to be a bit tiring. "Our parents were friends when we were kids, but we haven't seen each other since my parents had to move - you know, job duties. But we were good friends in the time we knew each other."

"Kids, huh... I'm just trying to make sure you--"

"That I don't have any designs on your man? Don't worry, he's all yours."

Jessie's reaction to this was quite similar to James', except that the scarlet shade of her face compared much better to her hair. "I... I don't know what you're..."

"Well, I know. And I think you do too." Pearl smiled in an attempt to relieve the situation somewhat, and it appeared to work.

"Did you know that Meowth has a crush on you?"

Pearl pretended to be shocked, then grinned widely. "Oh, that completely missed me!" she giggled, holding up a blonde strand of hair. "Must be the coloring."

They soon dissolved into laughter over everything from the way Meowth pronounced Pearl's name to the way he constantly followed her around. And that was how they returned home: still laughing as though they had been friends for years. Meowth gave them a completely confused look; James was apparently too engrossed in a video game to pay them any mind. Jessie stepped around him and yanked the cord out of the wall. He blinked at her in shock, then stammered, "Y... y... y-y-y... you! Why did you do that? All of my characters were up to level 99 and I haven't saved it since they were at 80!"

"Oh, quit being so melodramatic," she snapped, grabbing his arm and hauling him to his feet. She continued in a quieter tone, "We need to plan for our next little... 'heist'."

"Now?" he muttered back grumpily.

"Yes... the sooner the better." She made a great show out of tugging at his clothes as if they needed straightening, taking special care in smoothing his shirt down over his chest. He tilted his head toward her and blushed faintly, a look of uncertainty on his face. But she sat down soon enough, leaving James to stare at her for a moment before sitting down next to her, muttering something mostly incoherent but quite plainly containing the words "understand" and "girls".

Marble walls thrummed with the sound of a massive engine; a panel flickered fitfully before the picture solidified into a radar grid superimposed over a city map. A tiny, sparkling dot blinked in and out on the grid, like the winking of a miniscule eye.

"So that's where she is. How... interesting."

Chapter Five
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