Part Three~ Love Lost

Jessie slowly but surely regained her composure, and looked up.

"James....Meowth...." she said, expecting to see both of her partners in crime, but only met eyes with one.

"Huh? Where's James?" she asked, looking around.

"Gone." Meowth simply said. Jessie made a worried face.

"Where?" she asked.

"Why d'you care? All you care about is havin dose badges and getting inta da Pokemon League. James knew dat, so he left. But I just wanted to stay a little longer ta let ya know dat he cares about you more den you'll ever know, but he tinks ya couldn't care less about him, and dat's low. *Really* low. You can go back ta him, or you can take da path to da Pokemon league....alone. See ya." And with that, Meowth scampered off on all fours in the same direction James had gone, not taking one look back. Jessie slowly picked up the box of Otoshi's badges, staring down at it, and tears began flowing freely from her eyes again.

"Oh James.....how could I......you came all this way just....for me.....and I........" Jessie broke down in a loud sob, burying her face in her hands. She was worried for a moment that someone might hear her and think she was losing her mind, but looked up and down and all directions and realized she was alone. All alone. And that was one thing she couldn't be. Ever. James was her soul mate. He had been from the very first moment they made eye contact, all those years ago at Pokemon Tech. Jessie closed her eyes as she remembered......

The red-headed little girl walked quietly down the hall, looking at every door left to right and trying to find where she was supposed to be. Suddenly, just as she was about to turn her head to look forward, she collided with a small blue-haired boy, causing both of them to fall backwards with an "Oww!!" The blue-haired boy rose immediately and helped her up. "I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there." he said. The girl smiled as he pulled her up. "It's ok." she said. "I should've been looking where I was going."

"I'm James. What's your name?" said the boy.

"I'm Jessie." they shook hands, both of them smiling, but James' smile was brief.

"What's wrong?" Jessie asked him.

"I....can't find my classroom. I had a map, but I lost it and now I'm scared the teacher will be mad at me if I ever get there!"

"The exact same thing happened to me! This place is so big it's like a maze and you can't find anything!! Well, c'mon James." she said, taking his hand. "If we stick together, we'll be ok and find our classrooms in no time!!" she declared happily with a big grin, and then began to march down the hall cheerfully with James at her side. Even though James had just met this girl, there was something about her he admired. Somehow he knew that he could trust her, and that destiny had brought them together. Best of all, he knew she felt exactly the same way.

"Jessie?" he asked.

"Uh huh?" Jessie said, looking sideways at him.

"Can we be best friends?" James asked her with a smile.

"Of Course, James. Friends till the end." Jessie said, smiling brightly. From that moment on, they were joined at the hip. They spent every minute of every day together, passing notes in class, sharing ice cream on the playground, breaking all the rules in the library......falling in love. Although they were too little at the time to understand how much they really loved each other, they knew, deep in their hearts, that they belonged together. After they flunked out of Pokemon Tech, they went on to join the Bicycle gang....then Team Rocket. All this time, and they were still together. But today, suddenly, things had taken a turn for the worse......

"How could I be so stupid......how could I forget?! I promised him forever.....and now I've gone and ruined everything.....our friendship......and what little chance I had of his precious love. Even if he never forgave her, Jessie just had to tell James how she really felt about him. She stood up and brushed herself off, then clenched her fists. "James....I'm coming back!!!!!!!!!!!" she yelled, dropping the bag of badges at her feet, then turning on her heel and running faster than she'd ever run before.

**************

James threw himself to the ground, sobbing hard into the grassy earth.

"Jessie!!!!!!!! All I ever wanted was you!" he wailed. Gripping clumps of grass and breathing heavily in between sobs. Meowth didn't know what to do. He knew there was no way of comforting James, so he had no choice but to sit there miserably and listen to James scream.

"This is worse den blastin off every day...." Meowth said to himself with a sad expression. " I never thought anyting would come between Jessie and James. I guess dis is da end of Team Rocket...." Suddenly, James grabbed Meowth and held him at arms length, shaking him violently and pleading for answers.

"Meowth!!! How could she do this to me?!?! HOW?!?!?!"

"James!!! James Calm DOWN!!!!!!!!!!" Meowth yelled.

"How can I calm down when the love of my life is never coming back?!?!?!?" James wailed.

"James!! Stop it!! You're givin me a headache!!!" Meowth shouted, and James put him down. Then, very deliberately, James got up and slowly walked away.

"Jimmy....where are ya goin?" Meowth asked. But James was silent. Fists clenched at his sides and unstoppable tears falling from his eyes, he kept walking until he reached a small cliff a short distance away.

"Oh, Jimmy you're not tinkin of.....!!"

"My life isn't worth living without Jessie." James said simply. "Every day....she's the only one I ever wanted to be with me, the only one I knew and trusted....the only one I loved. And if I can't have her, I have no reason to live. Jessie's gone, so James will be gone too." Then, James spread his arms wide, took a deep breath, and very slowly, began to lean forward....