By Anni Ruecroft
Anni@warriorprincess.demon.co.uk
Rocket Revenge part 1
A bright afternoon in a wooded area saw a flock of birds hurriedly take to the air as the natural peace was disturbed.
"You’ll never get away with this!", cried a young boy wearing a red and white baseball cap, "Bulbasaur, I choose you!".
Out of a shinning Pokéball came the form of Bulbasaur.
"Vine whip attack, now!", ordered Ash and Bulbasaur instantly obeyed his trainer.
"I don’t think so!", said his opponent stood opposite him, "Wheezing smoke screen!".
The smoke screen threw Bulbasaur into confusion as the Pokémon was unable to see it’s opponent. Behind the thick smoke screen a woman ran up to her purple haired accomplice and gestured for him to come with her
He hurried away, with his Pokémon hovering behind, as Jesse scooped up her small yellow prize and the two ran off with Meowth close behind.
.
Ash finally tumbled out of the smoke and landed on his knees with a look of horror on his face.
"No!" he shouted. He looked around but there was only him and Bulbasaur.
"Pikachu", he said sadly as he got to his feet and looked around, but Pikachu was gone.
Ash pummelled his fist hard into the ground. Nearby was a small dart. Team Rocket had shot the small dart into Pikachu and drugged the small Pokémon so that they could snatch it without fear of electric shock. Unfortunately for Ash, events had unfolded far to quickly for him to react...One minute Pikachu was bobbing along behind him, the next it cried out as the dart had hit it.
His Pikachu had been subdued by the dart so quickly that ,before he knew it, Team Rocket had arrived. Ash had been so concerned about Pikachu and, as a result, wasn’t fast enough in releasing Bulbasaur. Ash’s split concentration had resulted in James being able to outmanoeuvre Bulbasaur whilst Jesse grabbed Pikachu.
.
"The boss is really gonna love us now!", the feline Pokémon said waving his paws victoriously as Team Rocket ran through the woods towards the Jeep they had been given for this mission.
"And it’ll be ‘Bye Bye’ Butch and Cass’", Jesse smiled to herself as she held the sleeping Pikachu under her arm.
"Oh, I know!", James perked up, "We can celebrate with a feast...A big feast!".
The celebration plans were interrupted by the sound of a loud thump followed by James sprawling head first onto the ground. Jesse and Meowth skidded to a halt, turning to see Brock stood behind them with Geodude next to him.
"I believe that’s Ash’s Pikachu!", Brock said sternly.
"Actually I believe it’s ours now", Jesse stated. A large purple objet hit Jesse from behind, causing her to trip over James, drop Pikachu and join her Team Rocket partner on the ground.
"Starmee, return!", called Misty from behind as she walked up to the pile of Team Rocket members to pick up Pikachu, who was still sleeping.
As Misty bent down Meowth jumped in front of Pikachu with his sharp claws clearly showing.
"Go, Onyx!", Brock called.
As the huge rock Pokémon was released Meowth’s fur stood on edge, "Okay, point taken!", he yelled and scrambled off into the distance followed by Jesse and James.
.
Some time later Jesse, James and Meowth slowed to a walk as they reached the Jeep they were using for this assignment.
"Well, what a startling victory that was James", Jesse said sarcastically as she reached into the back of the Jeep and pulled out a make up bag.
"Hey, it’s not my fault", James protested as he also reached in and pulled out a lunch box with his name marked on it in permanent marker pen.
Jesse sat back against a tree and sighed as she looked in the small mirror and redid her lipstick.
"If you’d been watching where you were going...", she began.
"You know he hit me from behind, you can’t blame me!", James argued back as he unwrapped his sandwiches and took a bite.
"If you guys are arguin’, I’m sleepin’!", Meowth announced as he hopped into the back seat of the Jeep and snuggled up in a rug.
"Oh goody!", James announced as he took a packet of crisps out of his lunch box, "Salt and vinegar flavour!".
Jesse looked up at James with a very un-amused glare.
James was puzzled, "Want a crisp?" he offered, it was the best he could come up with.
"Grow up James!", Jesse snarled.
"What!?", James demanded, "Why have you been in such a mood the last few days? Is it something I’ve done?".
"Damn it!", Jesse cursed as she ruffled through her make up bag, "That’s the last lipstick!".
James stood up, walked over to Jesse and sat next to her, "Go on, answer my question, what’s up?".
"Just go away James, I’m not in the mood for your childish banter!".
James said nothing, he sat quietly eating his crisps in the hope that Jesse might confide in him. She usually told him when something was bothering her. James thought to himself...Jesse’s behaviour had certainly changed recently. She seemed desperate to win at any cost, plus she was harassing her fellow Team Rocket members more than usual.
Jesse’s ‘harassment’ of the others was usually in good humour. She could get mad from time to time just like everybody else but recently she was startling to be downright mean to James and Meowth. She didn’t even seem to have time for Arbok these days. Usually Jesse would release Arbok in their spare time and make a fuss of her snake Pokémon, but not anymore. The only person who had released Arbok that week had been James because he had felt sorry for it since Jesse’s odd behaviour had begun, but all James got for his trouble was a slap round the back of the head and a shouting at from Jesse.
"Shall we have another attempt to capture Pikachu?", James suggested,
"Ash and those twerps surely won’t expect us back again in the same day".
"No point", Jesse said without looking up, " Let’s hope some other fools try it and get fried for their efforts...They’d probably deserve it". Jesse got up, walked to the Jeep and put her makeup bag back.
"Who?", James asked but Jesse didn’t hear.
James looked down as he finished his crisps. He wished he could so something to make Jesse cheer up.
‘Why does she want someone else to try and grab Pikachu?’, James wondered as he got to his feet.
"Stop hovering James, it’s annoying me!", Jesse said as she noticed him approach.
"I only want to put my lunch box back!", he explained.
"You and your stupid lunch box!!", she said as he put it back in his bag.
As he did so he knocked over Jesse’s bag and noticed her pager fall out. It activated silently and displayed the most recent message. It was from the boss.
James looked behind and saw that Jesse had sat back down against the tree. He pressed the display button to reveal the rest of the message.
"Team Rocket Update: Butch and Cassidy successfully broke out of jail". After reading the message everything clicked into place.
That’s why Jesse was angry.
Butch and Cassidy had humiliated Jesse and James a fortnight ago at the breeding centre. Jesse and James were used to losing but they were not used to getting caught or thrown in jail.
Even James had been angered by Butch and Cassidy’s actions in that city but he, unlike Jesse, had gotten over it. He remembered that Jesse said that she had known Cassidy and had probably been friends with her at some stage in the past.
"No wonder she’s angry", James said quietly.
Jesse had been betrayed and framed by this former friend and been thrown in jail for a while because of her...and now this former friend, and Butch, was on the loose again.
James felt angry but Jesse was his top priority.
He took his wallet out of his pocket and counted his cash. He’d been trying to save some money up to buy himself some new boots but his mind was made up. He put the cash back in his wallet and prepared to go into the nearby town.
To avoid being recognised by anyone he tied his purple hair back, replaced his Team Rocket top with a loose red shirt, removed his black gloves and put on some dark sunglasses. He turned and saw Jesse still sat against the tree with her eyes closed.
"Jesse, I’m going into town for something", he announced.
"Uh uh", Jesse muttered.
.
As James entered the town he looked around. He had no idea where to begin. What could he possibly buy for Jesse? He saw a large shopping mall just down the road and decided to investigate. As he entered he saw a map that detailed where and what all the stores in the mall were. He decided to take the escalator to the next floor.
Once at the top he saw a shop with leather jackets displayed in the window. In front of the jackets were a selection of boots. James stared in awe at one particular pair of boots. They were just what he wanted to replace his current pair which were starting to rub his feet quite painfully.
He lightly slapped his own face to bring him out of his gaze. James reminded himself that he had come here to buy a present for Jesse instead of the new boots he so desperately wanted.
He slowly walked away from the window and continued walking until he saw a fashionable store with make up and perfumes in the window. He walked in slowly, gazing around the store, without the slightest clue what he was looking for.
People were trying out testers and looking at prices.
"Can I help you sir?", a young woman with long black hair asked.
"Oh, uh, I’m looking for a present for a friend", James explained,
"She’s been feeling rather down lately".
"Girlfriend huh?", the woman asked.
"Well, uh...", he paused, "colleague".
"Okay, come with me sir", the woman lead James to a counter with several bottles on display.
"This is brand new", she picked up a bottle, "perfect for the woman of the now who knows what she likes".
The woman went through a list of perfumes and gave cryptic descriptions and sales pitches for each one until James saw one which took his interest.
"What’s that one?", he asked pointing to a bottle with a cut glass pattern all around it.
"That’s another new perfume. It’s called Red rose", the woman said as she picked it up and showed it to James.
James sprayed a tiny bit onto his wrist, blushed, and took a sniff.
"It’s perfect", he said, "I’ll take it".
Moments later James emerged from the shop with the bottle of perfume and some gift wrap in a bag.
He was convinced that Jesse would like this one and he had to admit to himself that he felt the perfumes name of "Red rose" was very appropriate for a gift coming from him.
All of a sudden James stopped. He had the strangest feeling that he was being watched. After looking around and seeing nothing odd he decided it was nothing and continued on his way.
As he walked he passed a florist.
He was on an idea roll now.
James went into the florist and bought a single red rose to put with the present. The gift had to have his trademark red rose or it simply wouldn’t be right.
He smiled, this was really going to cheer Jesse up.
James quickly bought himself a coffee from a café in the mall and sat down to wrap the perfume.
He took it from the bag and began to wrap the pink paper around the box that contained the bottle.
He took a sip of his coffee and then tied a purple ribbon around the gift wrapped box.
His finishing touch was to place the red rose under the ribbon to keep it in place. James smiled again.
He hadn’t given Jesse anything since her birthday, when he took her out for a meal, and that was quite some time ago. James finished his coffee and headed out of the mall, gazing at the boots in the leather shop as he made his way out.
"Maybe next time", he muttered to himself as the boots passed out of view.
.
Back in the woods Jesse slowly woke up.
She hadn’t meant to fall asleep but the sun was so warm that afternoon that she had just dozed off. She stood up, wondering where James was, but remembered that he had gone into town.
She also remembered how harsh she’d been on him.
She sighed and decided that she would try to apologise to him later, after all, it wasn’t his fault that Butch and Cassidy were out. Part of her hoped that they would run into Butch and Cassidy again someday so she could even the score but part of her hoped that they never saw either of them again.
Jesse was bored. Meowth was still snoozing in the Jeep and James had gone shopping.
‘I’ll bet he’ll come back showing off those new boots’, Jesse thought. James had been complaining about his boots for days, always saying how his feet were sore, how his boots were rubbing his little toe and how he’d been saving for new boots.
That was typical of him. Ofcourse, if he had gotten himself some new boots nobody in Team Rocket would hear the end of it. He’d be showing them off all night and he’d probably even sleep with them on. Jesse had to giggle.
Although James could annoy her at times he certainly was a character. Jesse decided to go to the edge of the woods to wait for him as even James couldn’t be gone for much longer...Unless he’d found a cheap pizza joint.
She decided not to tell Meowth she was going because he’d only whine about being woken up from his cat-nap.
.
James could see the woods in clear view across the road.
He’d left the town a few minutes ago should be back at the Jeep in about fifteen minutes.
He wandered slowly holding the bag containing the gift in one hand whilst he let his hair down with the other hand and put the sun glasses in his pocket.
He smiled to himself as he crossed the road. He couldn’t wait to see Jesse’s reaction.
With the rev of an engine a black sports car screeched out from behind the trees where it had been hidden.
James saw it but it was too late.
He felt the impact as the car drove headlong into him followed by the sensation of his head hitting the road as he fell.
He could see the blue sky and the car speeding off down road as he lay trembling on his side but it was all a blur.
.
Jesse heard the engine rev and the screech and rushed forwards to the end of the woods.
She didn’t expect it to be anything to do with James, she thought it was probably someone skidding to avoid an animal in the road, but she felt compelled to run.
"No!!", she cried when she saw the familiar purple hair of figure in the road.
She ran as fast as she could towards him and knelt by his side.
"James!, James!".
Jesse squeezed his hand for a response.
His eyes were slightly open but he didn’t appear to be fully conscious. A couple of seconds later Jesse felt James’s fingers lightly squeeze her own in a faint response.
"James, can you hear me? Can you move?", Jesse asked frantically as she brushed his hair out of his face.
James groaned in pain but managed to whisper Jesse’s name.
"James, where does it hurt?", Jesse demanded in a very concerned tone.
James clutched his ribs with one hand and his head with another as he groaned.
Jesse was worried. She didn’t want to move James but, being wanted by several police departments, she couldn’t summon help either.
She had no choice.
Jesse tenderly took hold of James under his arms and began to gently pull him to the edge of the road.
James cried out in pain and passed out as it became too much for him to take.
Jesse looked at him. A trickle of blood ran from his nose and there were small cuts and graises on his forehead from hitting the road. Jesse reassured herself that moving him was the right thing to do in case the authorities appeared.
.
"What did you do to him Jesse?", Meowth asked with an amused grin when he caught sight of Jesse tending to James at Team Rockets camp.
Meowth had been asleep since before James had even left and had no idea of what had happened.
"Shut up you fool and get some water, quickly!", Jesse ordered.
Meowth’s expression became more serious when he realised that this was no laughing matter. The feline Pokémon grabbed two bottles of water and rushed them to Jesse.
"What happened Jesse?", Meowth said sounding a little worried.
He’d never seen anything like this before in his life.
Jesse ripped open James’s shirt and placed her hand lightly on his chest, "Some fool in a car ran him down".
She could easily feel some broken ribs but she didn’t know how many or how bad it was. Jesse was talented at many things but first aid and medicine weren’t among her talents. With her head jammed with thoughts Jesse rushed to the Jeep and pulled out some blankets. She folded one up a little and placed it gently under James’s head and then covered him over with the other, all the time hoping she was doing things right.
Meowth looked on without a word as Jesse worked.
She tore a piece of cloth from James’s red shirt that he had been wearing and picked up one of the bottles of water. Holding the cloth in her hand she poured a little water on it and began to dab it gently on the cuts on James’s face.
James groaned lightly and fell silent again.
Jesse’s hands trembled as she worked. Everything was only just starting to sink into her mind and her body was only now reacting to the events. The afternoon was growing dark and evening was beginning to set in by the time Jesse had finished.
Jesse sat and rubbed her eyes. She simply looked at James, she had no energy to do anything else and she couldn’t think of anything more to do for him at the moment.
As she looked him over for any other obvious signs of injury she noticed his boots.
He still had the same pair he left with.
She was convinced that James had gone to town for the boots he had been talking non stop about.
‘Maybe he forgot his wallet’, Jesse wondered, it wouldn’t be the first time James had done that.
She gently reached into his pocket to check.
Sure enough the wallet was there but, with the exception of a couple of pennies, there was no cash.
James always kept his money in his wallet but he’d come back empty handed...or had he?
Jesse remembered seeing something near James after the accident but she hadn’t taken any notice at the time.
"Meowth", Jesse called.
The feline looked up from where he silently sat.
"I need to take a walk to clear my head", Jesse said, "Can you watch James for five minutes?".
"Sure thing", Meowth agreed without question, "You deserve a break, go ahead".
Jesse stood up and headed back to the road.
If something of James’s was still there she was going to bring it back to him.
.
Small streetlights lit the road as the dark night began to descend.
Jesse could see the lights of the town across the road.
She spotted the area where James had been knocked down. There were no police lines or tape marking the area off limits so Jesse guessed that nobody had seen or reported the accident.
An object caught her attention and Jesse moved to investigate. She bent down and picked it up. It was in an expensive looking bag. Jesse looked inside, it certainly wasn’t the boots James had been wanting.
She stood under a street light and took out the object inside.
It was gift wrapped in pink paper of a shade that was almost a perfect match to her hair colour and secured around it was a purple ribbon of the same shade as James’s hair.
Jesse looked at the red rose held in place by the ribbon and smiled. Attached was a small tag with a message written on it James’s hand writing which read...
"Jesse,
Prepare for trouble and make it double. Please accept this small token of our friendship in the hope that it will make you smile again.
James
PS) Please don’t hit me with it!"
Jesse’s eyes began to glaze over as she read the message.
James had gone to town that afternoon just to buy her a present to try and cheer her up. She looked at the gift and slowly undid the ribbon and unfolded the delicate paper.
She rubbed a tear from her eye when she saw the gift.
This must have cost James a small fortune.
Miraculously the bottle was still intact and she applied some of the perfume to herself. The scent was adorable. Jesse wanted so much to be able to thank James.
"I owe you for this James", she said sadly as she looked at the road where he had been hit.
Tearfully Jesse turned and began to walk back into the woods towards Jeep.
.
When Jesse returned to the camp she saw Meowth still faithfully watching over James.
"No change", he said looking down as Jesse arrived.
She nodded and sat next to James.
Meowth saw the gift and, without a word, gestured to Jesse that he was going to the Jeep so they could be alone. Jesse put her hand on James forehead. James made a slight moan sound but nothing more.
"James, I had no idea", Jesse said to him quietly. She paused and smelled the rose that James had given with the present, "If I hadn’t been so harsh earlier you wouldn’t have gone to town and this wouldn’t have happened".
Jesse looked again at the rose and the perfume.
This perfume had surely cost James the money he had saved for the new boots. Jesse felt incredibly moved by James’s actions.
James made another slight moan in his unconsciousness, "How can I ever make it up to you?", Jesse questioned then lightly kissed her injured partner on the lips in gratitude, "and how can I ever thank you?".
That was a good question.
They couldn’t stay here much longer.
James needed urgent help but there was nowhere safe for them to go.
Jesse suddenly sat upright with an idea, "safe place to go", she said quietly.
There was one place Jesse could take James where he would be safe. There was only one person there who could cause trouble but, as far as Jesse knew, that person had left for good.
Jesse’s mind was made up. First thing in the morning, she and Meowth would take James where he would be safe and could get treatment for his injuries.
She wanted to go now but her better judgement said that all of them needed rest before taking a long journey.
.
The black sports car skidded to a halt outside a small disused house outside the next town.
The engine was switched off and the driver got out of the car, slamming the door behind her.
A male passenger got out of the passenger side of the car and the two proceeded into the old house, shutting the door behind them.
"You realise we’re in trouble if the boss hears about this?", said the man as he ran his fingers through his blue hair.
"No need to worry Butch", the woman reassured him as she opened a bottle of cola, "James didn’t know what hit him let alone who".
"Well, one things’ for sure", Butch grinned, "I’ll never criticise your driving again!".
Cassidy smiled in response, "Nobody will think it was anything more than a simple road accident...Besides, you actually think that James would have the intelligence to look before crossing a road?".
"Okay, point taken", Butch nodded, "I’m going to bed".
.
The moonlight shone over the black Jeep as Jesse and Meowth prepared for their journey.
Meowth had gathered all their belongings into the very back of the Jeep as Jesse had struggled to get James comfortable on the back seat. Jesse looked at her watch. It was just past five in the morning. She had been unable to sleep for long periods during the night as she kept waking up and watching over James.
The small light in the Jeep, which activated whenever the doors were opened, revealed the heavy bruises on James’s face which had developed through the night.
Jesse was becoming concerned. Overnight James’s temperature had risen and he was looking pale.
She placed a damp cloth on his forehead and dabbed it around his face. As she did so she gently and silently touched his face with her fingers in a moment of contemplation.
What would she do without James?
Should she have treated him better over the years she’d known him?
Without James there’d be no point remaining in Team Rocket.
Jesse’s mind paused as she was hit by a startling revelation...James was her only real friend. Meowth and Arbok were company for her but James was her only true human friend.
She picked up a fresh blanket and covered James over once again as he lay on the back seat.
Meowth hopped into the Jeep and sat next to James’s head on the seat,
"Shall I sit here and keep watch over him whilst you drive?".
Jesse nodded and got into the drivers seat. The engine revved and the Jeep began to move away through a dirt track leading out of the woods.
They all sat in silence as they journeyed.
Jesse hoped that the movement of the vehicle wasn’t causing James any pain but she was doing her best to avoid bumps in the old track. Meowth felt strange. His normal characteristics of poking fun at Jesse and James and being sarcastic had ceased. He’d never seen anyone injured before.
He’d seen minor cuts and bruises before as that seemed to come with the job of working with Jesse and James but never anything like this.
.
Jesse returned to the Jeep and took off the jacket she had worn to cover her Team Rocket top. They had stopped briefly for much needed gas after driving for several hours.
"He’s still burning up Jesse", Meowth updated her.
Jesse wound the window down, started the engine and began to pull away from the gas station, "He’ll get help soon", sure reassured both Meowth and herself.
Most of their journey had been in silence with the exception of Jesse asking how James was doing and Meowth updating her.
Jesse looked in the rear view mirror, "Did that car behind just flash it’s lights at us?", Jesse asked.
"Don’t ask me, I can’t see it", Meowth replied from the back seat.
"It did it again", Jesse remarked.
Meowth jumped up to the top of the back seat and dug his claws into the material to prevent himself from slipping down onto James, "You’re right", he said.
"What do you think they want?", Jesse asked.
"Dunno", Meowth said as he watched the sports car, "Directions maybe?".
"Whatever it is, we can’t concern ourselves with them now", said Jesse as she accelerated a little.
The Jeep rounded a bend, continued down the road and jolted as the car behind slightly rammed the back of the Jeep.
"What the...?", Jesse commented.
"They rammed us!", Meowth announced. Jesse accelerated some more and the distance between the Jeep and the car grew until the car also accelerated.
"Meowth", Jesse called, "Watch James, keep him still!".
The Jeep rounded another bend and swerved round a corner into another road at high speed.
Meowth held onto James with all his strength, struggling to keep him still.
"Damned idiots!", Meowth shouted as the sports car rammed the back of the Jeep again.
One more hit and the souped up sports car pulled out to the side, sped alongside the Jeep and began to ram from the side. Jesse fought for control of the Jeep and tried to accelerate faster along this straight road.
Each time the Jeep accelerated the sports car matched its speed. They were so close to their destination and Jesse couldn’t let anything go wrong at this stage.
Jesse was furious. If this were normal circumstances she would have run these joy riding kids off the road by now.
"How’s James?", A female voice called over the roar of the two engines. Jesse quickly glanced out of the window in sheer disbelief at the voice she had heard.
"Cassidy!", she cursed upon seeing one of the cars occupants.
"What?!", Meowth demanded and looked out of the passenger window.
To the horror of Jesse and Meowth the sports car was being driven by Butch and Cassidy.
"Hold onto him", Jesse ordered.
"What?", Meowth questioned.
"Just do it!", Jesse ordered a with rage in her voice.
Meowth held onto James for all his worth in anticipation of what Jesse was about to do.
As he did, Jesse rammed the sports car and continued to carve it up along the road until Butch saw a car coming in the opposite direction and frantically hit the brakes skidding the sports car to halt.
In her rear view mirror Jesse saw Butch and Cassidy get out of the car and start arguing. She couldn’t help but grin but she also felt enraged knowing that it was them who had almost killed James.
All this time Jesse had believed that it was a simple accident and the driver had driven off for fear of prosecution for careless driving. She hadn’t thought for a minute that it had been deliberate.
"We lost ‘em Jesse", Meowth assured her. Jesse nodded and continued driving without slowing down. She wanted to be sure that Butch and Cassidy wouldn’t catch up and find where they had gone.
End of part 1...
--
Anni :)
By Anni
Anni@warriorprincess.demon.co.uk
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