( Note: This story is completely fiction. My two friends and I did not travel through animation and end up in the world of Pokemon. Nor did I become fast friends with a member of Team Rocket, and my friends and the other two members of Team Rocket did not see it instead as a relationship. Just a reminder. This is entirely fiction.)

Finally! The big night. The first official meeting of TRRC, or Team Rocket Representation Committee (Me and my friends, Tiffany and Amanda, started a club in which we each represent a member of Team Rocket. I represent James, Tiffany represents Jessie, and Amanda represents Meowth). It was being held in my house, since Tiffany and Amanda see it as a mansion. (One of the many reasons that I represent James). Anyway, when they finally showed up, we spent the whole evening reciting our motto, dancing the dance that I made up for Double Trouble, making fun of the Twerp Squad, and watching my Pokemon videos. At around ten ‘o clock, my mom came in the room and said that it was time for bed. We had all agreed on sleeping bags, since Team Rocket usually used them. Anyway, before we all went to sleep, I sat up and whispered, “Look’s like R2’s dozing off again.”

Tiffany, who, may I remind you, represents Jessie, turned over in her sleeping bag and snapped, “Shut up, ignoramus.”

So I sighed and closed my eyes, wondering what it would be like if we met the real Team Rocket, and what they would think of us. Before I knew it, I was fast asleep.

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

“Yawwnn.” The minute I woke up, I knew something was wrong. I mean, it was kind of obvious, because when I sat up and looked around, I noticed that I was sitting on grass.

“Where am I? How did I get here?” I paused. “And why do I have ‘Lucky Lucky’ stuck in my head?”

Whack! My head began to ache. I looked up and saw--wouldn’t you have guessed--Tiffany.

“Ow!” I cried, holding my head with both hands. “What’d you do that for?”

"Just a way of getting you to shut your oversize mouth.” She replied with a smirk.

“You’re the one to talk! I’m not the show-off that can fit her fist in her mouth!” I stood up. “And speaking of big Meowths, where’s Amanda?”

“I’m over here.” I turned to see where the voice came from. Sure enough, Amanda was a few feet away. “And I do not have a big mouth.”

I was about to send another remark her way, but…

“What’s wrong now, Lauren?”

“I…I thought I heard people talking.”

Amanda walked up to me. “Lauren, get a grip. There’s no one else here but us three. I mean, WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!”

After the last ‘nowhere’ finished echoing, I heard the voices again. They sounded familiar…

Rustle rustle.

“Wh…what was that?” whispered Tiffany.

“Go check it out, Lauren.”

“No! Do you think I’m some kind of idiot?”

“Yes.”

“Give me one good reason why I should be the one who sees what the sound is.”

“Let’s see…you heard it first?”

I sighed and made my way toward the bushes.

“If you’re not back in thirty minutes, we’ll throw a party, okay?” Amanda and Tiffany called behind me.

“Well, they’re a big support.” I mumbled. I pushed some branches aside and looked for the people I heard talking.

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

Team Rocket had decided to take a break from failure and rest up a bit, so they set up camp in the middle of nowhere. Jessie was having herself a cup of tea and some crackers, Meowth was reading the latest issue of Pokemon Weekly magazine, and James was a short distance away, over by some bushes, trying to catch up on his sleep.

“Hey James!” called Meowth. “There’s an article in here for you and your Victreebel. It’s advice for trainers with Pokemon ‘dat won’t listen to them.”

James sat up and looked wearily at Meowth. “Meowth, how many times do I have to tell you, Victreebel does not have a problem. It just happens to be very attached to me.”

Meowth turned the page of the magazine. A wide grin spread across his face. Once again, he turned toward James.

“Oh, look! An advertisement for plastic surgery! Would you like Victreebel to be permanently attached to you, James?”

“Good idea, Meowth.” said Jessie with a laugh. “Then, we won’t have to look at his face.”

Meowth joined in with the joke. “Yeah, then we could enter him in a freak show. I can see ‘da headlines now: ‘Man With Victreebel For A Head Makes Big Time’!”

James glared at his teammates. “Ha, ha, ha. Very funny. You guys really need to work on your sense of humor. I—huh?”

Meowth and Jessie stopped laughing.

“Something wrong, James?”

James scratched his head. “Jessie, are you sure there isn’t anyone around for miles?”

“Of course I am. Why do you ask?”

“I could have sworn I just heard someone yell, ‘We’re in the middle of nowhere’.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Anyway, we are in the middle of nowhere, and that’s why no one else is around.”

Rustle, rustle.

Meowth jumped into Jessie’s arms.

“See? I told you!” said James. “Someone else is here!”

“Well then, go see if they’re a threat to us or not.” said Jessie, dropping Meowth.

“Why me?” James complained.

“You heard them first.” Said Jessie and Meowth at the same time.

James sighed and made his way over to the bushes. “Some friends you are.” he muttered. He lowered himself to the ground, pushed some of the bush’s branches aside, and prepared himself for the best, the worst…or a complete surprise.

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

I was looking into a very familiar pair of green eyes. Neither of us said a word; we just stared.

About thirty minutes passed.

We were still staring.

An hour.

Still staring.

After two hours passed, I blinked. “Do I know you?” I asked. I knew perfectly well what the answer was.

He blinked. “I…don’t…think so…”

I smiled, and he smiled back. “Well then, I guess I’d better introduce myself.”

I pulled my head out of the bush, paused to think, and then tried pushing the branches back again.

To my surprise, the whole darn bush moved aside. And not-so-much-to-my-surprise, two people—and one Pokemon—that I knew all too well stood before me.

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

“Who are you?” Jessie had walked up and was eyeing me suspiciously.

Suddenly, I got an idea.

“I’ll be right back.” I said to them. I turned around and hurried back to Amanda and Tiffany.

They were throwing a party. They had told me to be back in thirty minutes. Well, I had been gone for three hours. Most likely because of the “stare-a-thon” I had with James.

“Where on this sorry planet have you been?” asked Amanda.

“Well…” I started.

“Wait. Don’t tell me.” said Tiffany. “You met up with celebrities, and had a staring contest with one of them.”

“Actually…” I could feel my face turning red. My friends just stared at me.

“Lauren,” asked Amanda. “Are you…hiding something from us?”

I had been expecting this, and I was ready for it.

“Yes.” I said. “But the only way you’ll know what it is…”

“What?”

“Is if you do exactly as I tell you.”

They both groaned.

“I made some new friends.” I said with a smile. “And I’ve been planning on how we would introduce ourselves.”

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

“James, correct me if I’m wrong, but…” Jessie paused to flip another cracker into her mouth. “She did say she would be right back, didn’t she?”

Meowth turned to look at James. “Ya also gotta keep in mind ‘dat she could be working for ‘dose three kids wit’ ‘da Pikachu.”

Jessie sat up. “You mean the Twerp Squad?”

“Exactly. We can’t trust no one under ‘da age ‘o fifteen.”

“I don’t know, you two. To me she seemed pretty trustworthy. I don’t know exactly why, but somehow…” James’ voice trailed off.

Suddenly…

“Prepare for trouble!”

“Make it double!”

Jessie, James, and Meowth all looked up to see who had said those two famous lines.

What they saw was Tiffany and I, reciting the Team Rocket Representation Committee motto.

“To rid the world of hunger and thirst!”

“To prepare everyone for the best and the worst!”

“Of Team Rocket, we are very fond!”

“We’ll extend our reach to worlds beyond!”

One by one, we all proudly said our code names.

“R3!”

“R2!”

“R1!”

And the motto continued…

“Team Rocket Representation Committee, representing Team Rocket every day and night!”

“If you insult Team Rocket, then we’re gonna fight!”

“That’s right!” Amanda finished off the motto.

Silence. Team Rocket just stared at us. But then…

“Yay! Yay! I just loved ‘dat last part, didn’t you?” Meowth was clapping and cheering. James and Jessie turned their stares toward him.

Suddenly, James joined in.

“Bravo! Well said!”

Blushing, I took a bow. Amanda did the same. Tiffany waited for her represented character to start cheering for her so that she, too, could bow.

But Jessie didn’t cheer and clap, like her teammates.

Instead, she folded her arms and walked off with her nose in the air.

“What’s her problem?” asked Amanda.

“Jessie doesn’t really…well, enjoy it when people imitate the Team Rocket motto.” answered James.

“Well, we didn’t imitate it.” I said coolly. “It’s our motto. TRRC’s motto.”

Meowth decided to argue.

“Yeah? Well, it had the same—”

James decided to kick him.

“That’s funny.” He said. “I could’ve sworn you were clapping, and cheering, Meowth.”

I smiled.

“Hey,” I said to him. “My name’s Lauren, but you can call me by my code name, R2.”

“Code name?” James repeated, confused.

Amanda, Tiffany, and I explained TRRC and our code names to Meowth and James.

They seemed flattered that they had fans as great as us.

Heck, they seemed flattered just knowing that they actually had fans.

I turned and introduced Tiffany and Amanda.

“James, Meowth, I would like you to meet the other members of TRRC, Amanda/R1, and Tiffany/R3. Amanda represents Meowth, and Tiffany represents Jessie.”

Tiffany glared at me and pushed me aside.

“Since when do you do all the talking?” she snapped.

“Since your represented character left the scene.” I replied.

Tiffany sighed. “I’ll go talk to her.”

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

Tiffany found Jessie skipping stones across a pond. Tiffany could tell by the look on Jessie’s face that she had better not mess anything up. She took a deep breath and stepped forward.

“Mind if I join you?” she asked.

Jessie turned, startled.

“Actually, I do. But go ahead anyway.”

Tiffany sat down on a large rock.

“You know, Jessie, I think you would be taking this better if you heard what we were just talking about.” she said.

“Oh?” said Jessie. “What were you just talking about?”

Tiffany explained TRRC to Jessie. When she was done, the angry look on Jessie’s face had disappeared.

“So that’s why you were saying that motto…” Jessie said softly.

“Did you like it? R2 made it up.”

An irritated look covered Jessie’s face.

“James seems very fond of her…”

Tiffany sat up, shocked that Jessie would suggest such a thing.

“I know what you’re thinking, Jessie. And let me tell you something. It’s not very likely…” Tiffany’s voice trailed off as she suddenly remembered how much I had blushed when James was nearby.

“Hmmm…”

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

When Tiffany and Jessie returned, I was chatting with James, and Amanda was rolling a ball of yarn to Meowth (Where she got it, I will never know).

“Where have you two been?” asked Amanda. “It’s time for lunch.”

While they were gone, we had set up a picnic. Amanda and I had spread out the blanket, and James and Meowth had set up the food and placemats. Amanda and Meowth had had to keep James and I from eating the food before it was time.

“Well, now that they’re here,” I said with a grin. “Let’s eat!”

Long after Jessie, Tiffany, Meowth, and Amanda were finished, James and I were still eating. Tiffany and Amanda looked on in disgust.

“Gosh, Lauren.” said Amanda. “Are you gonna eat the picnic blanket too?”

Tiffany shook her head. “We should’ve expected this.”

Meowth looked over at us in shock.

“Whoa!” he exclaimed. “Hey Jessie, get a load ‘o ‘dis! She eats almost as much as James!”

“Wow.” Jessie replied, rolling her eyes. “I didn’t think anybody could eat as much as James.”

James sat up and smiled, taking Jessie’s remark as a compliment. I did the same.

“Oh no!” I said when I looked back down at the picnic. “There’s no more food!”

“What’ll we do?” asked James.

I had an idea. “Wait a minute!” I think there were some berry bushes around…” I paused, then pointed north. “That way!”

James and I took off for the bushes.

“They get along pretty well,” noted Meowth with some amusement.

“Yes…a little too well.” grumbled Jessie.

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

When we got to the bushes, James turned to me.

“Listen…I need to talk with you about something…” he looked around, as if to make sure that no one was listening in.

“What is it?” I asked.

He took a deep breath. “Do you…do you think you could help me out with something?” He paused and laughed nervously. “I mean, you do represent me, right? You must be pretty trustworthy.”

I thought about this for a moment. My represented character trusted me. Over the short time that Tiffany, Amanda and I had been here, James and I had become fast friends. I decided to help him. However, I needed one last piece of information.

“What exactly do you need my help with?” I asked.

He sighed. “I had the feeling you would ask me that.” He inched closer to me and whispered in my ear.

“I need some advice…on how to show Jessie my true feelings for her.”

That startled me. He actually trusted me enough to help him with something like that?

I looked at him and slowly smiled. “You can count on me, James.”

What he did next almost made me faint. He hugged me.

“Thank you so much.” He said gratefully. “I don’t know how I’ll ever make it up to you, but I will. I promise.”

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

It started out pretty complicated. I haven’t really given much advice to people throughout my life, so this was unfamiliar. I did the best I could, though.

“Well,” I started. “I do think you could get something going by using…roses! You always carry at least one, and girls love getting flowers!”

James jotted down some notes on his notepad.

“Uh huh. What else?” he looked back up at me.

I paused to think for a moment.

“You need to have good timing, also. Cheer her up if she’s sad, give her compliments when she’s in good spirits, and…” I couldn’t exactly finish the sentence.

“What?” James asked.

“I’m not sure if giving her a rose when she’s angry will make her feel better, or just make her even angrier.” I said.

James gave that some thought.

“I know! Maybe I could support her. Maybe share her anger.” He looked to me for my opinion.

“Great! See, you know Jessie better than I do, so you would know her personality.” I approved.

He jotted some more notes down, then looked up and blushed.

“Actually, I do know Jessie pretty well. When someone first meets her, they get the impression that she is always violent and conceited. But the truth is, that’s only on the outside. Inside, she can be very caring and sweet, like a little girl… We’ve known each other for so long…”

Listening to him talk about Jessie like that…I began to understand his true feelings toward her. I wasn’t jealous, just understanding. It was at that moment that I felt, and knew, that I was doing the right thing.

************************ “They’ve been gone for an awfully long time,” said Jessie suspiciously.

“Jessie,” said Tiffany. “I’ll look into this, since you’re so…concerned. I can’t promise you anything, though. R2 always acts pretty weird.”

Amanda had been listening, and went over to Tiffany to join in the conversation.

“What’s this all about?” she asked. “Are we telling secrets behind R2’s back again?”

“Yes.” Tiffany answered.

“Goody!” Amanda jumped up excitedly. “What’s our topic this time?”

“Well,” started Tiffany, making sure that Meowth wasn’t listening (He was playing with the yarn ball that Amanda had gotten him earlier). “There’s a…rumor…that R2’s got a crush.”

“Who? Who? Tell me!” said Amanda.

Tiffany looked over at Jessie. Amanda followed her gaze.

Jessie was crying.

Suddenly, Tiffany stood up.

“Now look what she’s done. R2’s broken Jessie’s heart. Not only R2, but her represented character as well.” she said angrily.

Amanda gasped. “You mean…?!”

“Yes,” Tiffany answered softly. “But we won’t let this happen. Do you have any idea where this will leave poor Jessie? In—”

Jessie interrupted. “I’m not poor.”

“In the dirt,” Tiffany continued. “On the street.”

She looked at Meowth. It appeared that he had fallen asleep.

“Like I said,” Tiffany was looking at Jessie again. “We won’t let this happen.”

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

Meowth went to James later in the day and told him that he had overheard a conversation. James and I tried our hardest to get info out of him, but he had been so caught up in playing with his yarn ball that he hadn’t heard a thing.

“Nothing, except ‘We won’t let this happen’.” said Meowth.

“Probably nothing to worry about.” said James.

“Yeah,” I said. “They were probably talking about how I’m getting all the attention around here.”

Meowth sighed. “Now can I go take my catnap?”

“Fine with me.” said James. After Meowth was gone, he turned to me. “Um…R2?”

I couldn’t help but notice he was blushing.

“Yeah?” I replied. “I…I wanted to thank you…for helping me out. Our personalities are so much alike; you’re easy for me to trust.”

“Thanks.”

His face was getting redder and redder by the second.

“Um…I wanted to give you something…to show my gratitude.” He led me over to the Meowth hot air balloon.

He looked around to make sure no one was watching. Then, he slowly reached in to the basket of the balloon and pulled out a black suitcase. Turning to me, he opened it.

I had never seen so many roses in all of my life. Inside that suitcase was about…uh…hmmm. Let’s just say that there were a lot. Practically each was a different color. There were many shades of red, blue, yellow…there even was a gold rose!

He reached into the suitcase, then held a yellow rose out to me.

“Here,” he said. “You can have it.”

As I reached out to take the rose, I remembered something I had read about roses in the Japanese heritage. A rose’s color affects the feeling that it portrays…that was it. Red meant love, blue meant sadness or sympathy, and…yellow meant friendship.

I smiled with tears in my eyes. “Thank you.” I said.

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

“Here’s the deal,” said Tiffany. “We’re gonna spy on them.”

Tiffany, Amanda, and Jessie were walking along, talking in whispers. Jessie didn’t say much; her head was full of thoughts. This isn’t fair, she thought. James is practically the only person in the whole world who cares about me and understands me. And just when everything is getting along just fine, this has to happen. Why me?

“I feel like a secret agent.” Amanda said with a giggle.

“Shhhhh,” whispered Tiffany. “I can hear them talking.”

“Over there.” said Jessie, pointing to the left.

The three spies hid behind some bushes, overhearing the conversation between James and I.

“I want you to have this.” They heard James say.

All three of them were shocked to see James hand me a rose.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Tiffany said with a nervous laugh. Hmmm…now what was it that R2 told me about Japanese heritage and roses? Let’s see…red means love, and he definitely did not give her a red rose…blue is sadness, and he didn’t give her a blue rose…what is yellow? Uh-oh. What if yellow means…passion, or…true love? This is bad.

“This is bad.” She said.

“No, duh.” Said Jessie.

“Hey,” said Amanda. “You said not to jump to conclusions.”

“I lied,” Said Tiffany. “And we’re gonna have to take action soon, before the conclusion gets any worse.”

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

It was getting dark. Our first day in the world of Pokemon was nearing its end. But we couldn’t go home yet. I had promised to help James, and I would not leave without fulfilling that promise.

I was walking to the cabins where we were spending the night. The guys and the girls had separate cabins; James and Meowth stayed in one, Jessie, Amanda, Tiffany, and I shared another.

I carried the yellow rose as if it were the most fragile thing in the world. It felt great knowing that someone actually trusted me.

I heard footsteps, and turned around. Tiffany and Amanda had been following me. They didn’t look too thrilled to see me.

“Oh, hi you guys.” I said to them. “Listen, I am so sorry I didn’t tell you where James and I were going. We—”

“Cut the excuses.” Tiffany interrupted.

“We know what you and James have been up to.” Said Amanda.

My blood ran cold. “You—you do?”

Tiffany rolled her eyes. “Well, it was actually kind of easy to notice…”

A few seconds of silence passed.

“Well,” I started. “I’m not telling you anything. The rest of it is a complete secret.”

“What else is there to know?” Asked Amanda, confused. “It’s simple. You and James really like each other. And I mean like.”

It was at that point that I realized they had the wrong idea. They were onto us, but with the wrong idea.

I smiled. “So? Maybe that’s true. I’m still not telling you anything.”

They glanced at each other. I held a firm grip on the yellow rose, hidden behind my back.

We walked to the cabin in silence. When we walked in, Jessie was nowhere to be seen.

Without another word said among the three of us, we got into our sleeping bags (I have no idea how they got there). My sleeping bag had been placed by a small window on the side of the cabin. As I happened to glance out the window, I saw Jessie, sitting on a rock, staring up at the moon.

She was crying.

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

The next morning, James and I stuffed our faces with pancakes as our friends watched in disgust. When we finally finished, we smiled up at our “audience” with pride.

Meowth shook his head in amazement. “Sometime we should have an eating contest between you two.”

James grinned and winked at me. I saw Tiffany glance at Jessie. I guess she was looking for signs of jealousy.

After we helped clean up from breakfast, I told James that I had something I needed to discuss with him.

We excused ourselves from the group. As we headed behind a cabin, I knew that Tiffany, Amanda, and Jessie were watching me carefully.

As I passed Meowth, I whispered, “Make sure they stay here. We can’t take the chance of their finding out about the secret. Remember, we’re paying you quality yarn balls for this.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Meowth replied. “Now, go ahead. Everything’s in good hands—er, paws.”

I led James around to the back of the girls’ cabin.

“Well,” he said. “What did you want to tell me? Is something wrong?”

After I made sure that no one had followed us, I turned to him.

“Oh yeah,” I answered. “There’s a big problem.”

The smile on his face disappeared. “What? What’s wrong?”

“Other than the fact that I only get five dollars a week allowance, the only thing really wrong is that Tiffany and Amanda are suspicious of us.”

“How? What happened?”

“They saw us together, and they’re onto us.”

James began to panic. “What are we going to do?”

“Actually,” I started. “It’s not as bad as it seems.”

“What do you mean?” v “Well, they’re siding with Jessie, and they’re onto us, but they’ve got the wrong idea.”

“Huh?”

I explained to him what Tiffany and Amanda thought was going on.

When I finished, he sat back and stared at me.

“You mean,” he started. “They think…they think that you…and me…are…”

I nodded.

After a few seconds of silence, we both burst out laughing.

“That’ll be the day!” James said while laughing.

“Yeah!” I said. “Could you imagine?”

Suddenly, we stopped laughing.

“We’d better hurry up.” I said.

James nodded in agreement. “When should I make the first move?”

I thought for a few moments. “I’ve got it! How about tonight?”

“Tonight?” James echoed.

“Yeah!” I said. “Last night, I saw Jessie outside of our cabin, looking up at the stars. She’ll probably be there again tonight!”

“But,” said James. “But I’m not ready. I don’t feel like I can do this. Tonight is too early for me.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be there to back you up.” I said reassuringly.

“Well,” he decided. “I guess it’s okay if you’re there to help.”

“You can count on me.” I gave a Team Rocket salute.

He returned the salute.

It was agreed. That night, James would confess his true feelings to Jessie.

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

Just as the sun was setting, James and I each went back to our cabins. We had spent the entire afternoon planning for our…mission.

James had decided on plan “R”—he would use his charm (and roses) to win Jessie over. He wasn’t doing this by himself; I would actually be a short distance away from the action, giving advice and instructions. We would use walkie-talkies to communicate.

Yawning, I pushed open the cabin door. Jessie and Tiffany were doing their hair, and Amanda was sitting on her sleeping bag, reading.

“Hey, guys.” I said.

Tiffany and Amanda looked up. Jessie didn’t even glance in my direction.

“Where were you?” Tiffany asked casually.

“As if we didn’t know already.” Said Amanda.

Tiffany giggled.

“Out.” I easily answered.

Tiffany frowned, seeing that her little “joke” hadn’t worked.

I lay down on my sleeping bag, planning for the night’s upcoming event. The plan was to wait until James and I were each positive that the other occupants of our cabins were fast asleep. Then, we would meet by the big oak tree that we had come upon the other day. I would wait up in that tree, using a walkie-talkie to give James instructions and advice. James would approach Jessie, give her a red rose, and tell her his true feelings. Not only that, he would propose!

It wasn’t long before Jessie stood up and walked to the door.

“I’m going out.” She said firmly. She still wouldn’t look my way.

After she left, we each got ready for bed. None of us spoke to another as we climbed into our sleeping bags. We had all gotten comfortable, but Tiffany didn’t turn the light off.

Minutes went by, and Tiffany still didn’t turn off the light. Now and then she or Amanda would glance at me, as if they expected me to do something.

Then, I realized what they were waiting for. They knew I was up to something, and they were expecting me to leave. I had to draw the suspicion away from myself.

“Looks like R2’s dozing off—once again!” I said, smiling at them. I turned over in my sleeping bag and closed my eyes, hoping that would satisfy them.

I heard Tiffany sigh with frustration and turn out the light.

About twenty minutes later, I was pretty sure that they were both asleep, so I quietly got up and left.

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

James lay in his sleeping bag, staring up at a spider on the cabin’s ceiling. He wasn’t the least bit tired; he was much too nervous.

He wondered if he would really be able to convince Jessie that he loved her. She might not believe him, mostly because of what she thought was going on between James and myself. Then again, there would be the rose that he was going to give her. It was his best red rose; he had picked it out himself. And I had seemed pretty confident about the whole thing. Maybe everything will really work out, he thought to himself. He smiled at that thought.

James’ thoughts were interrupted by Meowth’s loud snoring. It was time for action.

As James was leaving, rose, binoculars, and walkie-talkies in hand, he noticed that the spider on the ceiling had moved over to Meowth’s side of the cabin. He wondered if…no, Meowth was a heavy sleeper. Besides, he had known Meowth for a long time, and he hadn’t known Meowth to be afraid of spiders. But still, he had a feeling…

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

“Do you have everything you need?” I asked James.

“Yes.” He answered.

We had met at the big oak tree, and James had given me a boost to help get me up on the tree’s lowest branch.

“Are you sure you’re ready to do this, James?” I whispered.

“It’s now or never.” He responded. “If I don’t do this now, when I have the courage to, I may never be able to confess my feelings.”

I nodded in agreement. Using out the binoculars James had given me, I looked for Jessie. After about seven seconds, I spotted her. She was at the same spot she was the other night.

I put the binoculars down and looked over to James.

“Well?” He asked.

I smiled and gave him the thumbs up.

“It’s show time.”

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

“Amanda. Hey Amanda, wake up!”

Amanda yawned. “What is it, Tiffany? I’m trying to sleep. You should do the same.”

Irritated, Tiffany picked up Amanda’s sleeping bag at one end and dragged it across the room. Amanda slid out, at the same time hitting her head against the side of the cabin.

“Ow!” Yelled Amanda. “I’m up! I’m up!”

“Be quiet!” snapped Tiffany. She pointed to my empty sleeping bag. “Lauren finally left. We have to follow her and see what she’s up to.”

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

Meowth yawned and opened his eyes.

There was a very large spider on his face.

“YAAAHHH! Get it off! Get it off!” he ran around the cabin, screeching at the top of his lungs.

Outside, Tiffany and Amanda heard his yelling, and came to investigate.

When they opened the door to the cabin, they saw Meowth running around the cabin with a very large spider on his face.

Seeing Amanda and Tiffany, Meowth stopped in his tracks.

“R1? R3? Is ‘dat you?”

Tiffany and Amanda stood there, staring at this spider-faced monstrosity before them.

“Uh…yeah, Meowth.” Said Amanda. “It’s us.”

“Good.” Said Meowth. “Really, I can’t see youse two past this….AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! SPIDER!”

Tiffany decided to use the mallet that she had borrowed from Jessie. She hit Meowth on the side of the head, and the spider came off his face. Then, she crushed the spider with her shoe.

“Thanks.” Said Meowth, staring at the dead spider. He then turned his gaze to Amanda and Tiffany. “But what were youse two doin’ out there anyway?”

Amanda and Tiffany looked at each other.

“Well…” started Tiffany.

“R2’s been acting weird lately…” said Amanda.

“What are you talking about?” demanded Tiffany. “She always acts weird.”

They both laughed for a brief second, then Amanda continued.

“She and James have been spending a lot of time together, and, well, we think that…”

They burst out laughing again.

“Well,” said Tiffany through her laughter. “We just think something’s up, that’s all. And we’re following R2 tonight to figure it out and stop her.”

Uh oh, thought Meowth. I was supposed ta keep ‘em from figurin’ ‘dat out. If R1 and R3 accuse R2 now, everything will be ruined! James and R2 are gonna be so mad! I better warn ‘em!

“Uh…mind if I come wit’ youse two?” asked Meowth. “I’ve noticed James actin’ strange too.”

“Sure,” replied Amanda. “We’re gonna need all the help we can get!”

“Let’s go already!” said Tiffany impatiently. “It’s getting late!”

Meowth gave a sigh of relief. Great. Let ‘em think I’m on their side. Then, when we get ‘ta where ‘da action is, I sneak away and warn R2.

As he exited the cabin, Meowth had another thought: If we make it in time.

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

“Okay,” I whispered into the walkie-talkie. “You are about fifteen feet away from her. You have the rose, right?”

“Yes.” Replied James into his walkie-talkie. “Everything’s in order over here.”

“Great.”

This would either be easy, or hard. It depended on Amanda and Tiffany staying asleep and INSIDE their cabin.

I took a deep breath and hoped for the best.

“Here we go…plan will be put into action in five, four, three, two…”

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

“Where do you think she went?”

“I don’t know; I thought YOU had this all figured out!”

“Well apparently I didn’t, okay?”

Tiffany, Amanda, and Meowth were looking for me. They hadn’t the slightest clue where I had gone, so they had to make a guess.

“I would guess she went over there.” Said Amanda, pointing in the direction of my lookout spot.

“Okay.” Agreed Tiffany. “But someone also needs to find James…”

“We’ll split up.” Suggested Meowth. “I’ll look for James.”

“Good idea, Meowth. And we’ll look for R2.” Said Amanda.

Coincidently, Amanda and Tiffany headed in my direction, while Meowth headed in James’ direction.

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

“Okay, James. Here’s the plan. Um…you come up with what you’re going to say. I’ll let you know when to do what. But first, you’ve got to say something to break the silence. That’s pretty much it. Go for it.”

James took a deep breath. “This is it.” He said silently to himself. All of a sudden he thought of all the good times he had spent with Jessie. All the times they had come so close to capturing Pikachu, all the times they had lost. All the times they had cried together, rejoiced together, the times they thought they were going to die…He and Jessie had always been there for each other. They had been through it all together. And now…it was time to ask her the question. THE question.

“I can do this.” James said to himself. “I can.” He smiled at the thought.

He began to walk toward where Jessie was sitting, planning on what he was going to say. He looked at the ground as he walked.

“You’re almost there, James. Get ready.” Said my voice through James’ walkie-talkie.

James stopped walking and looked up. Jessie was a few feet away, unaware of his presence. It was time. James took a deep breath.

“Nice night, isn’t it?”

Startled, Jessie spun around. Seeing it was only James, her expression softened a bit.

“What are you doing out here?” she asked, a bit annoyed.

“Well…” said James. “Looking for you, I guess.”

Jessie looked confused.

“Why?” she asked.

“I wanted to talk to you.” He answered.

Jessie sat back down. “Good. You have explaining to do.”

James was puzzled. “Explaining?”

“That’s right.” Replied Jessie. “Explain all the time you’ve spent with that girl R2.”

I smacked myself.

“Can I explain that later?” James asked nervously.

Jessie frowned. “Whatever. As long as you explain.”

She turned and looked back up at the moon.

Like I said, this would either be easy or hard.

James sighed. He tried again.

“Jessie, I…” he paused as Jessie looked up at him.

“What is it, James?”

This could be it.

“R2!”

I almost fell out of the tree, I was so surprised. I looked down to see who had called me.

I was looking down at R1 and R3.

“R2, you have some explaining to do!” called Tiffany.

What was all this nonsense about explaining? First James, then me.

“Shhh! Quiet down, loudmouth.” I whispered harshly.

“Well, excuse me!” she replied, this time a little quieter.

“What are you doing up there, anyway?” asked Amanda.

“I…uh….” I searched my brain frantically for an explanation.

“Wait a second! Hold that thought, Lauren.” Tiffany was looking in the direction of Jessie and James. After a few moments of silence, she looked up at me again. “R2,” she asked calmly. “Why are you spying on them?”

“I’m not spying! You have the wrong idea!” I exclaimed.

“Well then,” said Amanda. “If you’re not spying, then what—” she cut herself off when she saw the binoculars and walkie-talkie. “Oh…”

“So that’s why you were spending all that time with James.” Said Tiffany.

I nodded.

I was about to say something, but I stopped short when I heard the conversation between Jessie and James start again. Amanda and Tiffany listened in, too.

“Jessie…we’ve known each other for quite a few years now, right?”

“Right...”

“And…and we’ve been best friends for the same amount of time, right?”

“Yes, but what’s your point?”

James took a deep breath.

“Well…I’ve never been able to get up the courage to say this to you until now, with the help of R2.”

Jessie looked agitated at the mentioning of my name.

“And…the truth is…” James flushed red. “I like you, Jessie. I like you…a lot.”

I almost started clapping.

Jessie did nothing but stare at him for at least ten seconds. Then, she too turned red.

“Same here…I…I’ve liked you ever since we met.”

As the night wore on, they continued to talk about how much they admired one another. Tiffany, Amanda, and I listened to it all.

Just as the sun was coming up, James signaled to me. It was time for THE question.

“Jessie?” he asked.

“What is it, James?”

“I…I’ve pretty much spent my life with you for these past few years, haven’t I?”

“Yes…”

“Well…” He looked over at me briefly. I saluted him, Team Rocket style. He then turned to Jessie and took out his chosen red rose, holding it out to her. “Jessie…I…I would like to spend the rest of my life with you…if…if that’s okay with you.”

Jessie was speechless. She stared at the rose for a few seconds, then she looked into James’ eyes, as her own eyes filled with joyful tears.

“Yes…” she whispered, just loud enough for Amanda, Tiffany, and I to hear.

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

As the five of us headed back to the cabins, Jessie was thanking me in every way possible. She asked me to be the Maid Of Honor at the wedding! Of course I accepted, and Tiffany was so jealous of me.

Suddenly, we heard some familiar yelling. Meowth!

Amanda followed the sound of his voice until she came to a thorn bush. Meowth was tangled in the thorns!

“What did I miss?” he asked.

James explained the entire story.

“Youse two are WHAT?!” he exclaimed, then fainted.

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

Well, the wedding was a success. Tiffany, Amanda, Jessie, and myself looked FANTASTIC in our dresses! James looked GREAT in his tuxedo, and Meowth too! Yes, he wore a tux.

Nobody attended. Of course not, it was a private wedding!

And as the three proud members of TRRC watched the newlyweds and Meowth take off in their decorated Meowth balloon, I held the yellow rose tightly in my hand and thought…love is happiness.

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

I yawned and opened my eyes. Amanda and Tiffany were staring down at me.

“YAAAAAH!” I yelled and bolted across the room.

“Calm down, Lauren.” Said Tiffany.

“Don’t you guys remember? The jealousy and…and the rose!” I said.

“Huh?”

“Team Rocket! We met Team Rocket! Don’t you remember?”

Amanda smiled. “You had that dream too?”

“It wasn’t a dream!” I protested.

“I dreamt it.” Said Tiffany.

“Lauren,” said Amanda. “It WAS a dream.”

I smirked. “It was NOT.”

“You have any proof to go with that?” asked Tiffany.

I smiled secretively. “Well…” Out of the corner of my eye, in one of my mom’s vases, I had seen a beautiful yellow rose…

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Questions? Comments? E-mail MoonWarrior100@aol.com. I’d love to hear what you think!