Chapter 1
It has been nearly two months since Jessie and James had succeeded in capturing a few dozen pokmon for the boss. Victory had been sweet for them. Giovanni was very glad that they had finally done a good job. They were just so ecstatic that one of their plans finally came through for them. However, it had been nearly two months and the hype surrounding their victory had slowly dissipated.
It wasn’t a good day for them either. They attempted yet again to capture Ash’s pikachu and lost as usual: "Looks like Team Rocket’s blasting off agaiiiinnnn!" Free falling through the sky, smashing through trees, hitting branches, and grazing themselves terribly, they landed on the hard ground.
"that twurp!" yelled Jessie in sheer frustration.
"Meowth! Da’s smarts," the cat pokmon complained with a dizzy head.
"At least the trees broke our fall," squawked James, obviously effected by the thunder shock they had incurred to send them on their way.
"I hate loosing!" Jessie roared as she got up, pulled a twig from her hair and slammed it on the ground.
"Da boss isn’t gonna like dis," Meowth moaned.
"We can’t keep loosing Jessie," James whined, "what are we going to do? We messed up too many times already—he’s getting impatient with us."
"Don’t you think I know that!" Jessie said downright irritated. She was about to smack him when her exhaustion got the best of her as she collapsed on the ground.
James had flinched, attempting to guard his head from her blow. But when no pain came to him, he looked up slowly.
They had been working themselves exceedingly hard for the past three weeks, not wanting to come back to Team Rocket Headquarters without getting more pokmon. They weren’t even going to go after Ash’s pikachu, seeing how they always fail; but when encountering them on the road, they thought they might try their luck.
Jessie sat staring into space. What are we going to do? The boss is getting more than impatient with us. I want to feel the pride of success again. I want to win. I want the boss to treat us like his best again. Butch and Cassidy looked so jealous then. She smiled but only for a second.
"Jessie, are you alright?" James asked.
She looked up at him with his torn uniform, dirty face and messy hair. She frowned. Failure was written all over him. They were failures.
"Jessie?"
"Maybe she got a headache," Meowth said.
She got up and dusted herself off. "We’ve got to go back to Team Rocket Headquarters."
"But the boss!" James said fearfully.
"We’re a mess!" she yelled. "If I had a mirror right now, I’d be so angry!" She looked over at Meowth then back at James. They looked pitiful and she knew that she indeed looked as pathetic as her partners did. With a more dejected voice she said: "Let’s get going…we need to get cleaned up, think up some more plans, and get more equipment."
"And food!" exclaimed James. He wasn’t happy about having to see the boss but at least they would get a warm meal and that always made him happy. It seemed to put a smile on Meowth’s face. Jessie smiled at them. James giggled, glad that she wasn’t annoyed with his silly remark. Little did he know she was just too worried about what the boss would do to care about something so trifling.
They arrived at Team Rocket Headquarters at night. A few teams were reporting back at the same time, hurt and dirty from battles as well. Non had captured any pokémon and all were dejected and worried about the boss’s disappointment. Jessie, James, and Meowth were surprised by this change of events. Usually they were the only ones to report back with their stories of failure, now other teams that were used to doing well were beaten badly and looking pitiful.
"Eww! Maybe the boss won’t be so angry with us after all!" James cheered.
"Yeah," said Meowth, "maybe he’ll be too concerned with everybody else’s failure to care about us."
"You idiots!" Jessie stormed, "he’ll be ten times as angry knowing that even his most successful teams have failed him!"
They went to their apartment and got themselves cleaned up. It was dinnertime and they ate profoundly. Traveling around with canned foods can really make one really hunger for piping hot food.
The phone rang, while they were about to go to bed. They all looked up at the videophone in utter dread. They knew they were in hot water. James backed away next to Meowth who was behind his bed. Jessie sighed then answered it. Butch’s face appeared on the screen. He told them that the boss wants to see them.
"What for?" asked Jessie. She knew why but the smug sound in Butch’s voice piqued her.
"He’s talking to all the teams that failed and you’re next," Butch said, "so don’t dawdle! The boss hates to wait!" He hung up the phone abruptly.
"Well duh," she said dryly.
After changing back into their uniforms, they went to Giovanni’s office. Inside, James treaded a little way behind Jessie as they walked in, while Meowth strode completely behind him.
Why must I be in front? Why can’t I hide? Jessie hated being the one to get the brunt of Giovanni’s anger. She wished for once that James would have a backbone and protect her from the boss’s fury.
Giovanni was petting his persian, who was rubbing up against his leg. "So you two have not captured any pokémon…and have been gone so long," he began in a severe tone. "I wonder why that is. One would think that after being gone for such a long time that you’d at least bring me back something. But…then again you have been known for such failure time and time again."
"We’ve been working very hard," Jessie tried to explain. "Ash and his pikachu are too strong for us." She knew it was a pathetic excuse but she needed to defend them or at least get some sympathy.
"I don’t see how a little boy and his yellow rat can be so difficult to deal with!" Giovanni yelled as he glared at her irately.
She shrank back with fear. James and Meowth cringed. Oh, Jess, you shouldn’t have said anything—let him yell at us but don’t make him more angry with you. "P-p-perhaps if we get better equipment m-m-maybe we could succeed," James dared to say in attempts to take the attention off of Jessie. She looked at him, surprised by her partner’s nerve.
Giovanni stared at James with a concentrated seriousness. He stayed that way for more than what was conformably acceptable. James tried to turn away but the severity of Giovanni’s glare froze him.
Giovanni finally altered his gaze. He rubbed his chin with consideration, then said: "you have seen the other teams…they have all come back in failure. And my most worthy teams have been infiltrated and unable to succeed in their missions. Someone is giving away our secrets and stopping our attempts to capture rare pokemon …among other things." He glared at them for a moment.
They were shocked. But it would explain the consummate failure of the teams. Jessie was relieved to know the boss was merely angry with this matter and not necessarily they’re disappointment. But I wonder who the rat is.
I wonder who’s the rat. James couldn’t believe someone would try to betray Team Rocket. He could not even think of crossing the boss. Such a horrible fate they would incur. James shuttered at the thought.
Why is James’s shaking? Meowth felt James’s tremble as he clung to his leg. He can’t possibly be affaid the boss would accuse us of this…or could he?
Giovanni looked at them as their expressions changed from thought to thought. He said, "I do not need to tell you the fate of those who betray Team Rocket…or the fate of those who help them."
"We don’t know anything of this," said Jessie with hesitation. "We have been away so long, working hard to get you rare pokmon—we had no idea about this… (now speaking with courage) …this horrible thing till now and we are determined to help in anyway to stop these traitors."
"That’s right," said James, who now stood by his partner’s side.
"Good," said Giovanni. "I knew I could count on you three." He stared at them for a moment and then said, "you will need more equipment—you know where to go for that." He thought for a little while. "Dismissed!"
Jessie, James, and Meowth gladly scurried from the room with great relief.
Giovanni sat back in his chair and pet his persian. From the shadows, two of his underlings came forth.
"Follow them…"
The next day, after devising a plan to set up an operation in a nearby town, Jessie, James, and Meowth were on their way through the forest. They had thought all night of how they could capture rare pokémon. It was the first time ever that they actually thought hard on what to do. And they were so excited when their plan was complete. Early in the morning after getting clearance from the boss, they had a truck load of supplies sent out and a few hours later they were on their way as well.
"It would have been nice if the boss allowed us to drive the truck," said James. His feet were sore from walking so long. They had been walking since eight that morning and now it was almost noon. "My feet are killing me!" he squealed, just as he did the hour before, and the hour before that.
"Knock it off!" Jessie yelled as she began to slap him. She was growing wary of his complaining. "He doesn’t trust us to drive because every time we do we end up getting into an accident!"
"But my feet are killing me," he squabbled as the pain intensified with every blow, "Aaaahh-hhhha-aahhhh!"
Jessie got tired of his whining so she stopped punishing him for a time. Then with a smug grin she said, "maybe they wouldn’t hurt so much if Meowth wasn’t on your back."
"What!" James cried. He pulled the fur ball off his back and strangled him. "You evil demon! How dare you try to get a free ride!"
"Ahh! Meowth can’t breath!"
Jessie laughed at them, then grew wary of the noise. She clobbered them both with many punches. "You two are so annoying! You should be happy that the boss wasn’t angry with us! Now that we have a good plan we can prove again that we are his best team."
James and Meowth looked up with consideration.
"Jessie’s right," Meowth said. "You shouldn’t be complainin’ about your feet—once our plan comes trew the boss will reward us wit a heap-pa dough and we could buy all the cars we want."
"Eeeeeooww!" James exclaimed joyfully. He leaped up on one foot, clutching his fists, and dreamed about their rewards. "Ahhhh-yes-hehehhee-aaaahhh-hehehehehe!"
Jessie and Meowth stared at their elated partner. He looked very weird. "Sometimes I wonder if he’s even human," Jessie told Meowth.
Meowth jumped up and clawed James out of his fantasy.
James cried out in pain. Then with anger, he grabbed the cat pokémon off the ground and pulled at its face in all directions.
"Stop it you two!" Jessie yelled. "We’ve got a mission to complete."
They went on their way. It was a hot day. They were sweating from the heat, which made them tired. The forest was very dense around them, but at this road, the noon sun beamed directly down on them. James’s feet were still hurting, Meowth’s face was sore and Jessie was growing more wearer by the minute. They decided to stop at the side of the road for a while. Jessie and James sat on a stump under some shade while Meowth lay against it.
They sat for a while in quietude. A flash of light caught Jessie’s eye. She looked up into the trees. She could see nothing. Bushes rustled. The sound alerted James and Meowth. They looked around them. Nothing: They could see nothing. Then they heard voices—cheery happy voices. They got up.
"There goes those twurps again!" said Jessie in disgust.
"Let’s get their pikachu!" Meowth said forgetting their immediate mission. It seems attempting to steal Ash’s pikachu had become second nature to them.
As the friends walked along, Ash and Misty started to disagree about some stupid matter. Brock laughed at their silliness, unable to be diplomatic, seeing as they are always making fools of themselves. The three were making such a ruckus that they didn’t notice their surroundings. Then Team Rocket appeared out of nowhere to thwart their path.
"Prepare for trouble."
"Hey nerd!" Jessie said with irritation then with pride she added, "no one interrupts our motto."
"I guess he just did," Misty said.
"The insolence!" Jessie yelled back.
"We beat you guys the day before yesterday," Ash said, "why keep coming back for more. At first it wasn’t so bad; Pikachu would get a good workout and training from it. Now it’s just no challenge…right Pikachu." Pikachu nodded with disappointment.
James was heated by the comment and grinned his teeth as he clutched his fist.
"Honestly, you should try another line of work," Brock said, "this obviously isn’t working for you."
"What do you know, pointy hair, closed eyed geek!" James roared. "We can beat you!"
"Tisk, tisk," said a voice.
Everyone looked around. They couldn’t see anyone.
"Every time the boss sends you on a mission," said a very horsy voice, "you three decide to play around with your conspirators."
The familiar voice alerted the three Rockets to who were addressing them. However, Jessie couldn’t make since of what they were talking about.
Butch and Cassidy jumped out of the trees along with a few other Team Rocket members.
"What’s this?" Jessie asked.
"What’s going on?" James said in a panicky voice.
"The boss has made it our job to collect you," Cassidy said.
"You thought you could get away with it, didn’t you?" Butch said angrily.
"Get away with what?" asked Meowth.
"What are you talking about?" Jessie asked annoyed.
"Don’t play dumb," said Butch, "we already know you’re the rats—we know you have been plotting against the boss and giving away Team Rocket’s secrets."
"The boss doesn’t look too kindly on those who betray him," Cassidy said.
"You must be out of your minds!" Jessie yelled, attempting to punch Cassidy. But Butch grabbed her as he took out a knife; he put her in a headlock and the knife at here throat.
"What do you think you’re doing!" James yelled in a squeaky voice in utter disbelief, as he ran towards Butch.
Cassidy commanded the other Rockets to seize James: "Get him and take his pokballs!"
Ash, Misty, and Brock were shock by all of this. They debated amongst themselves with weird facial expressions on whether or not to help Jessie and James. They knew it would be the right thing to do; so they attempted to, but they were easily restrained.
"Pikachu, thunder shock!" Ash yelled. Pikachu jumped off his shoulder as his electric sacks powered up. "Pik—Aaaaah?" Unfortunately he was confined in an anti-conducive cage.
"Pikachu!" Ash cried.
"Hey! Dat’s our stuff!" Meowth said as he struggled with his captor. They had gotten the cage from the Team Rocket’s storage room and were going to use it in their plan. It seems as though Butch and Cassidy had stolen it from their truck.
"What’s the meaning of this!" James demanded.
"Cool your jets," Butch said, "it’s over for you three!"
"But we haven’t done anything," he said, trying to get free.
"Exactly," Cassidy said. "You’ve done nothing to aid the cause of Team Rocket—you’ve done nothing but cost the boss thousands of dollars! And now betraying him…how can you live with yourself." Her tone was in disgust.
"You don’t know what you’re talking about, bitch!" Jessie said, infuriated by the way she talked to James.
"Hold your tongue," Butch said as he held Jessie tighter and put the knife closer to her throat.
"Butch! No!" James yelled, "we’re not traitors!" He struggled harder to get out of the tight hold. Then he did something everyone thought he had no power to do. He pushed his captor up on his back then flung him over his shoulder. He fell hard on a rock. James wasted no time in attempts to get to Jessie.
"Hold it right there!" Butch yelled as the knife slightly pierced Jessie’s throat. A speck of blood could be seen. James stopped in his tracks as his heart sank. Jessie closed her eyes tight in absolute fear.
Another Rocket underling grabbed James and kneeing him in the side of his back. "Aaah!" James cried out as he dropped to the ground. The Rocket took out a thin metallic string and threw it over James head. Once he saw it, James put his hand in front of it as it came up to his neck. The Rocket drew him in tightly, pulling James up. He would have choked had he not put his hand there. But the tight rope put too much pressure on his palm and grazed part of his neck. James cried out in pain again. "Aaahh! We’re n-not trai—Aagh!"
Meowth looked away in horror, wanting to do something but powerless to act.
Ash, Misty, and Brock were in utter shock; they couldn’t believe an organization such as Team Rocket could be so dangerous. All they could think of was how to help them…how to help themselves.
"Aahh! We’re not traitors!"
"Please stop! Don’t hurt him!" Jessie pleaded. She wanted to cry, but swallowed the urge. When speaking, she hoped to sound strong but the attempt was futile.
Butch laughed at her. "Silly girl! No one crosses the boss!"
"And make it double."
"To protect the world from devastation."
"To unite all peoples within our nation."
"To denounce the evils of truth and l—"
"Not you guys again," Ash moaned. "Can’t you find something better to do with your time."
Brock stared in consummate shock. He never liked Jessie, James, or Meowth but he never hated them. This was certainly unbelievable and a fate he would never wish upon them—neither himself nor his friends. He couldn’t get his arms free from his captor but he was successful in getting his pokéballs to fall to the ground.
"Onyx! Geodude! Go!" he yelled. The pokéballs released them. Onyx helped get him, Ash and Misty free from the Rockets. Geodude took out James’s capture and freed Meowth.
Butch and Cassidy were astonished at how quickly Brock’s pokémon acted. They backed away.
Ash’s pikachu became free. Most of the Rockets were electrocuted. Misty assisted them in getting rid of most their enemies. Meowth battled too. Thunder shock, furry swipes, tackle attack, water, and fire.
Cassidy took out a radio and call reinforcement.
James tried to get to Jessie but a Rocket thwarted him.
Ash, Misty, and Brock’s pokmon fought valiantly. However, Meowth was not much of a match.
Butch and Cassidy retracted with Jessie.
"If we can’t get James," said Cassidy, "we should at least come back with Jessie."
"If anything," said Butch with a sinister grin, "he’ll come looking for her."
James tried to get away from the Rocket but was provoked into a fight. He wasn’t much of a fighter and it showed in his technique but he was enraged at how Team Rocket was treating them, how they treated Jessie. He punched but his fist was caught; he attempted again but his other fist had befallen the same fate. His foe was stronger and pushed him down to the ground. James tried to push back but he was too weak. He knew that he was. But Jessie needed him. With his back being against the ground, he looked away to see an upside down view of Cassidy holding a gun to Jessie as they took her into their truck. Meowth was knocked out and his head was hanging out of a bag; Butch threw him in as well.
"Bastards!" James cried. He struggled to push back. He kneed his foe in the gut. Being distracted by the pain he loosened his grip on James. James was able to push back with much force. His foe was now on his knees with one of James’s fist in his hand. James got up and punched the guy. Blood flew. James punched again. His foe lied down.
James was turning around to get to Jessie, but someone kneed him in the back. "Aaaahh!" He dropped down. He was punched and kicked. The Rocket he had knocked down had gotten up and was now abusing James as well. They beat him badly.
Ash called pikachu to help James. The Rockets were electrocuted and deterred.
James tried to get up but he was too sore and bruised to move much. He turned in the direction of Butch and Cassidy. "Let her go!" he yelled weakly. But the truck had already started off.
"Sorry James," said Butch as he poked his head out the window, "traitors never win! Hahahahahaha!"
Onyx was commanded to stop them, but the truck had already gotten a good amount of distance behind it.
"Noooo!" James yelled with his last might as dust from the distant truck cloud around them.
In a few seconds the truck was gone from sight. Jessie was gone. James felt alone. He felt like a failure, utterly wretched and horrible. Jessie has always been there for him and when she needed his help, he was too weak. He wondered if he would ever see her again. He held his head down, with his hair covering his face. It became wet with silent sobbing. It never bothered him to cry in public before but now he felt absolute humiliation.
Ash, Misty, and Brock rushed over to his side.
"Are you alright?" Misty asked.
He did not answer. How could the boss suspect us of betrayal? We have always been loyal, loyal to the core.
"Are you okay, James?" Ash asked.
He looked up at them. Jessies’s gone…and what’s this? I’m left with these three irritating children. But he couldn’t be angry with them. He owed them. They helped him. If they weren’t here, he probably would have died.
"James are you okay?" Brock asked.
"No…" James wanted to snap at them for asking such stupid questions but he didn’t have the strength.
"Come on," said Brock as he gave James’s his hand. James looked up slowly then took it as Brock pulled him up, but he winced at the pain he felt in his side, back, and torso. The pain was evident by the expression on his face. "We’ve got to get you to the hospital."
"I’m fine," James said gruffly but he couldn’t get up.
"No, you’re not," said Misty.
Ash came to James’s side and let him lean on his shoulder as Brock helped pull him up.
"You’re going to the hospital," said Ash.
"Yeah," added Brock, "and then we’ll have to contact the authorities."
"No! Are you insane!" James exclaimed as he recoiled at more pain.
"Hey! We just want to help you," Misty said irritably.
"No thanks!" James retorted angrily. "Do you know what they would do to me if they know that I’m apart of Team Rocket?"
"It’s not as bad as what Team Rocket would do to you," she snapped.
James stared at her in shock then muttered dejectedly: "Or what they’re going to do Jessie and Meowth."
"We’ve got to get you help," said Brock, "and get Jessie and Meowth help."
"No," said James. "I don’t want any help—I’m going to go to Team Rocket Headquarters and get her and Meowth myself."
"But you can barely walk as it is," Brock said.
James was so weak at the moment; he just wanted to lie down.
"And you don’t have you’re pokmon," said Ash.
"We’ll have to help you," said Brock. "If you don’t want the police involved the least we could do is help you out."
