@->->-
Now, I don't normally tell this to anyone, but I've always thought that my friends, Jessie and James, should get together. You know, become partners in love as well as in crime. I'll admit it...they make a really beautiful couple! Besides, a person would have to be blind not to notice how perfect they are for each other!
The two of them are always together, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and they never get sick of each other's company (quite an amazin' feat, if ya ask Meowth!). They like all the same things, and they have the same goals in life (a VERY important thing for couples!). And you've seen 'em -- they go into those "I'm-so-scared-hold-me!" full-body-contact-hugs at the slightest thing! (Look me in the eye and tell me dat ain't sexy, or dat dere's no kinda attraction goin' on! I dare ya!)
So, yes, I do believe they're in love.
The anecdotal evidence alone is enough to convince me of that! When we were at the bottom of the sea, aboard the shipwrecked St. Anne, I don't think either of 'em would've made it across that fiery pit without the other one. Besides, the way they looked at each other...the way they held each other...it was so obvious! And when we were in the town of Maiden's Peak a couple weeks later, the ghost of the Maiden put a spell on James, and he was convinced that he was in love with her. And I'll tell you, I'd never seen Jessie so upset...or so jealous! Sure, she said she couldn't stand girls who cried when their man left, but she was just talking trash, trying to look big and bad while she was confronting that monster. And when we thought James had left the team to marry that awful Jessiebelle -- poor Jess was completely heartbroken! She may act tough, but she was lonely without him. It was so touching when he came back for us, though -- Jessie's face absolutely lit up when she heard his voice calling to her and she saw him hovering above us in the Meowth balloon. Then, James pulled her into the basket with him, and they flew away into the sunset together! They were so happy to be reunited again...it was so romantic! And, of course, who could forget the Princess Festival?! Jessie was so sad that she couldn't win the set of princess dolls she'd always wanted, but James did the cutest thing for her. He dressed himself, me, Arbok, Weezing, and Lickitung up like princesses, and we became her dolls for the day! (Hey, if dat ain't the action of a man in love, den nothin' is!)
I just wish the two of 'em could get over themselves and tell each other how they really feel. I mean, let's face it! They're the Boris and Natasha of anime! (Come on, do ya REALLY believe dat a young man and woman as attractive as dose two can spend so much time together and share so much with each other and still be "just friends?" NOT VERY LIKELY!!!) Problem is, Jessie's too proud to make herself vulnerable and say, "I love you," and James is too timid (afraid of getting whacked with her mallet, I guess). And, thus, their love remains unspoken.
But just recently, the strangest thing happened that showed me my wish had been granted....
It was during the Pokemon League games a few weeks ago. The fourth round had just ended, and we still weren't anywhere close to getting in! We really wanted to compete (and we still do!), but by then, we had accepted that it just wasn't gonna happen this year. So, instead, we decided to hatch a good, old-fashioned pokemon-snatching scheme. (Hey! We had ta drown our sorrows somehow!)
"Why don't we disguise ourselves as Pokemon League officials and tell everybody that their pokemon need to be examined before the fifth round starts?" James suggested over breakfast that morning. "Then everybody would just hand their pokemon over to us!"
"Oh, James! What a brilliant idea!" Jessie exclaimed.
If you'll allow me to digress for a moment, I noticed that Jessie had become a lot nicer in recent weeks. Ever since that whole badge-stealing incident, she'd been kinda subdued. Not around those pesky kids, mind you -- to them, she was meaner and nastier than ever! But with us, it was a different story. She hadn't lost her temper with me or James once!
You see, the three of us learned something on the morning after that fateful day -- we learned just how important we are to each other....
Well, I'll admit Jessie looked sorry for ditching us, and she spent the rest of that day trying to apologize, but I didn't wanna hear it. I mean, I was really outraged! After all the three of us have been through together, how could she do something like that?! James, however, felt bad for ignoring her and snapping at her the way he did (he just ain't good at bein' mean...especially not ta Jess!), and he wanted to accept her apology and put the whole mess behind us. I wouldn't let him, though. Jessie had to learn that she couldn't treat her friends like garbage -- she had to be punished! So, despite his protests, I made James continue to ignore her.
I soon learned what a mistake that was.
When I awoke the next morning, James was gone. All I could see was a tray of French toast by the campfire and a red rose lying on the ground.
Why would James leave uneaten food? I wondered. And why's his rose just lyin' here in the dirt? Dis ain't like him at all!
I looked around for a minute, but I didn't see any sign of him. Then, I went out into the woods, where we had left Jessie, and I saw that she was gone, too.
That's when it all came together.
James really felt guilty for punishing Jessie the way he had...so he must've made the French toast for her as a peace offering. But when he went to wake her up, he found that she had disappeared and went searching for her.
It wouldn't surprise me if she did run away again -- the way we treated her after she came back to us...it actually made her cry! She was probably convinced that we hated her, and she decided that we'd be happier without her.
Now I was the one who felt guilty. Sure, what she did to us was wrong, but that didn't give me the right to hurt her the way I did. I mean, she's one of my best friends in the world, and pushing her away...making her feel unwanted when abandonment is the thing she fears most was a really rotten thing to do. I didn't deserve to call myself her friend.
But just as I was about to set out and help James with his search, I saw him come back outta the woods. He was holding Jessie in his arms and carrying her back to camp. She looked like she had twisted her ankle, because it was purple and a little swollen, and her eyes were red from crying. She HAD run away...and she had gotten hurt!
And what's more, she looked like she was afraid of me, because when she saw me standing there, she buried her face in James's shoulder and whispered something to him. James whispered something back to her and gently set her down on his blue sleeping-bag. He handed her the French toast and the rose, and they smiled at each other. Then, he turned to me.
"Meowth, what happened yesterday is OVER!" he said sternly. "Jessie and I had a little talk, and she's sorry for what she's done. It's never going to happen again, so if you give her any more trouble about it, YOU'RE the one that's going to get left behind! You got that?!"
I tell you, it felt so strange to hear James taking that tone of voice with me, but I could understand why he was so angry. I had overreacted yesterday, and Jessie had gotten herself hurt because of it. Now I was the one who owed her an apology.
I nodded. "I'll go talk ta her."
James frowned, as if he didn't trust me, but there was no need for him to worry. I was going to be sincere.
When I approached Jessie, she looked down at me with wide, blue eyes. "Meowth...." she said tentatively. "I'm...I'm really sorry...."
I put my arms around her and cuddled into her lap. "Meowth is sorry, too," I told her. "I'm sorry for scratchin' ya, and I didn't mean all dose nasty things I said...I was just upset, dat's all."
Jessie pulled me into an embrace and started to cry again. "Thank you," she whispered in a broken voice.
I looked up at her and brushed her tears away. "It's okay," I replied. "We'd never get rid of ya, Jess! Yer an indispensable member of the team...not ta mention a really good friend. Meowth'd be lost without you and James!"
Jessie hugged me closer and kissed the golden charm on my forehead. "Same here, Meowth! Same here! I may not have acted like it yesterday, but I'd be lost without you and James, too! I know I was after I left you...and when I thought you'd left me...."
Then, James hugged both of us. "Well, since we're going to get all sappy about this, I'd be lost without the two of you, too!"
The three of us smiled at each other and sat together in a big group-hug for several minutes.
"Let's face it," James continued. "The three of us need each other! We're the best of friends, and we're going to be a team forever, right?"
"Right!" Jessie and I said in unison.
And he was -- the three of us haven't had any major disagreements since! We're more a team than ever! And now...back to the story!
"Yeah. Good thinkin', James," I replied.
"I'll go and rent a van," James continued. "Meanwhile, why don't you make us some official-looking Pokemon League costumes, Jess?"
Jessie nodded and got out her sewing-kit. (She makes most of our costumes herself, ya know. She's talented dat way!)
"And PLEASE make mine a man's outfit for once," James laughed. "People are starting to talk...."
"We could always give them something ELSE to talk about," Jessie replied, winking at him.
I did a double-take when I heard her! Did that mean what I THINK it meant?! Nah! Impossible, right?
James winked back and took his leave.
I then got the privilege of being Jessie's dress-maker's dummy while she sewed their costumes. They didn't turn out to be much, really. Just a couple of red coats with little counterfeit Pokemon League emblems embroidered on them.
"I guess dey'll hafta' do," I remarked as Jessie tried hers on.
"Well, it is rather short notice," she told me. "If you want big, elaborate costumes, I need a couple of days...."
@->->-
But, as it turned out, the costumes didn't need to be elaborate to do the job. I mean, sure, Jessie put on a pair of fake glasses, and James put on a fake mustache to add a little more to the disguises, but that's about it. I was afraid that their voices or their hair would give it away. (Dey DO have pretty outrageous hairstyles, after all!) But you know what? Those stupid trainers fell for it anyway!
In fact, that Ash kid and his new friend were right in front of us, and they didn't even know who we were! I swear, that kid can be SO dense! I can't help but wonder if he's really from Metropolis because he's got a bad case of Lois Lane Syndrome. (Note to the people who live in dat city: Clark Kent is Superman wearin' glasses! How stupid are ya?!)
Anyway, Jessie and James were telling everyone that they were conducting an emergency inspection and that all of the pokemon needed to be examined before the fifth round could begin. And like a bunch of idiots, the trainers were just handing over their poke balls, not in the least bit worried that something strange was going on. (Morons, all of 'em!)
It wasn't until Jessie picked up Ash's much sought-after Pikachu, and James said, "Oooh! We finally got Pikachu, Jessie!" that they became suspicious.
"Hey! Did he just say, Jessie?!" Ash snapped.
"Yeah! Now that you mention it, they look an awful lot like those guys from Team Rocket!" his new friend remarked.
(Give the little kids a big cigar, folks! Dey finally figured it out! How much more obvious did we need ta be?!)
But the utterance of the words, "Team Rocket" was what ultimately blew our cover. Now that the truth was out, Jessie and James were compelled to do the motto:
"I have to say it...." Jessie cried, unable to hold herself back any longer. "Prepare for trouble!"
"Oh, yes, Jess! And make it double!" James added.
But today, their performance came with the most adorable bonus! When Jessie said, "To protect the world from devastation!," she fell backwards into James's arms and kicked one leg up into the air.
And it's like James knew exactly what she was doing because he caught her right on cue and said his own line, "To unite all peoples within our nation!"
That little ad-lib couldn't have been more perfect if they'd choreographed it! And they held the sweet pose as they continued:
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
Well, by now, the masquerade was over, so they threw off the costumes and were back in their everyday Rocket gear.
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"
Then, I poked my head outta the van and said my own line, "Meowth! Dat's right!"
Our motto was met with the usual chorus of indignant "Awwwww! It's Team Rocket!" "Give back our pokemon!" "You'll never get away with this!" "Somebody stop them!" whines.
But James shut them up real quick. "Smog 'em, Weezing!" he shouted as he threw his poke ball. Weezing made a cloud of black smoke, and while everybody was temporarily blinded, we jumped into the van.
"Suckers!" Jessie and James laughed in unison as we made our getaway.
@->->-
Once we had reached the minimum safe distance from the angry mob, we were feeling pretty damned good. For once, one of our plans actually worked! (We really do have clever ideas, ya know! It's not OUR fault we're the bad guys, and the script always calls for us ta lose!)
"Ah! Success at last!" James sighed contentedly.
"If at first you don't succeed, lie, lie again!" Jess giggled.
"I bet we've got at least a hundred pokemon!" I said triumphantly as I looked at the enormous bag of poke balls that Jessie was holding on her lap.
We were so happy about our victory that the three of us broke out in song. It wasn't much, really, we just took that "100 Bottles of Beer" tune and made up our own lyrics:
100 pokemon in the bag!
100 pokemon....
But as we rounded a curve, Ash and his friend suddenly ran out into the road...right into the path of our van!
James panicked and swerved to avoid hitting them. (He may be a thief, but he ain't a murderer! No matter how much he hates dat kid, he'd never do anything ta hurt him. Too nice for his own good...dat's just the way James is!) Unfortunately, we were driving on a narrow mountain road at the time, and when he swerved, the only place for us to go was off the cliff!
"WE'RE GONNA DIE!!!!!" we screamed as the van careened down the precipice.
My entire life flashed before my eyes at that moment -- my miserable kittenhood, my days in the Meowth gang, learning how to talk, the day I joined Team Rocket...everything! And the day I first met Jessie and James....
Jessie and James. I swear, I'd never seen the two of 'em as pale and frightened as they were at that moment. Their lives were probably flashing before their eyes, too!
Oh, please don't let dis be how it ends! I silently prayed. Jess and Jim are good kids! Really! Dey've gotta live...get married...have children...and I've gotta be dere with 'em when it happens! Please don't let it end like dis....
But then, James swerved again and sent the van fishtailing into a creek, taking us off of our downward course and putting us onto a relatively stable one once again.
Jessie sweatdropped and breathed a sigh of relief. "Whew! Good driving, James!" she said.
"Yeah," I agreed.
But James gave no response.
It was then that we looked and saw him slumped over the steering wheel. The van lurched, and he was thrown backwards so that we could see his face. There was a huge lump on his forehead, and a stream of blood was flowing from his mouth!
"HE'S OUT COLD!!!" I screamed. Not sure of what would happen to us now that we had lost our driver, I began to panic. Clear thought became impossible!
Jessie, however, managed to keep relatively cool. She quickly reacted by jumping into the driver's seat, steering us out of the river and into the woods.
@->->-
My whole body felt like Jell-O when the van came to a screeching halt among a small clearing of trees a few minutes later.
"Dat was close," I gasped, letting myself collapse onto the firm, solid earth.
"Too close," Jessie agreed as she laid the still unconscious James down and fell to her knees beside me.
"Hey! Is he gonna be okay?" I asked, nodding to James.
Jessie looked down at him and laid a hand on his chest. "I don't know...I don't know...." she whispered.
I leaned in for a closer look. His breathing was slow and shallow, and the lump on his forehead had become a big, purple bruise. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that the blood was coming from a small cut on his mouth and not from a more severe internal injury.
"It don't look too serious," I told her. "But, still...he did hit his head pretty bad, and dat could mean trouble."
Jessie smoothed back his hair. "Are you saying he may never wake up?" she asked. Her voice was so small and frightened -- like a young child's -- I could scarcely believe it was her!
I thought about lying...saying something to make her feel better, but I couldn't do that. No, Jessie is the kind of person who always wants to hear it like it is, no matter how painful that may be. "It's a possibility," I replied. "But not very likely," I quickly added.
"But what if he doesn't?" she asked again. "Or what if he wakes up, but it turns out that he has amnesia? Or brain damage? Or...."
"His brain's already damaged! Dis little accident ain't gonna hurt it anymore!" I snapped, desperately trying to derail her pessimistic train of thought.
Jessie scowled and smacked me with her paper fan. "SHUT UP!" she shouted. "Just shut the hell up...." But before she could yell at me anymore, her voice trailed off, and she quickly turned away so I couldn't see the tears that were welling up in her eyes.
"Look, it's probably nothin'," I said in a voice more soft and soothing than I thought possible. "He'll wake up in a couple hours with a bad headache...or maybe a concussion. You'll see...."
"I hope you're right...." she whispered.
"Come on. Let's let him get some rest and go count dose poke balls," I suggested in an attempt to cheer her up.
"You can go, if you want," came her reply. "But I'm staying here with James until he wakes up."
I nodded and went into the van. Something in her voice told me that she wanted to be alone with him. Still, curiosity got the better of me. So, instead of counting our poke balls like I said I was going to, I positioned myself just inside the door and watched her.
And I swear, I will never forget what I saw!
@->->-
Once she thought I was gone, Jessie began to caress James's face and stroke his purple hair. The tears that she had been trying to hide from me were now flowing freely. "Please wake up, James," she whispered.
But James was still unresponsive.
When Jessie saw this, she began to cry even harder. She cradled his limp body in her arms and rested her head on top of his.
"Come on, James! Don't you know how important you are to me? You've given my life so much meaning...and joy. You are the best thing that's ever happened to me...the first person I could ever truly call a friend...the first person who ever trusted me, and who I could trust in return...and the only person I can't live without!"
I hadn't seen her get this emotional over James since Maiden's Peak, or our encounter with Jessiebelle! Normally she's really good at hiding her feelings, and seeing her like this worried me!
I know I come off as mean and insensitive, but I really did feel bad for Jessie. I mean, she's had such a difficult life -- she never had much to begin with (her mom had ta feed her snow so she wouldn't starve ta death, for God's sake!), and everything she's ever cared about has always been either taken from her or denied her. When the entire world is against you, and every day is a struggle to survive, it's kinda hard not to grow up bitter. (Dis is somethin' I know all too well!)
I think James is probably the only thing that's kept Jess and me from losing it completely -- his innocence...his gentleness...it seems to bring out the best in us. What would happen to us if we lost him? I know I'd be miserable, but it'd definitely be too much for poor Jessie to bear. After all, James is her soul-mate! Without him, she'd be incomplete. Every time I look at their faces, I see it -- two halves of the same soul. If one half of that soul were gone, all the light would go out of the other half, and true happiness would be lost to them forever.
This thought was too much for me, and as I dwelled on it, I began to cry, too.
"James, do you remember the morning I promised never to leave you again?" she continued. "Well, don't you go and do it to me! Please! Don't leave me...don't leave me...."
I didn't know what she was talking about, but hearing it made me cry even harder. Now I was more convinced than ever that they couldn't live without each other -- they both get like this every time they think they're going to be separated!
Come on, James! I said to myself. Ya can't leave Jessie alone like dis! Don't leave her the way her mom did. Ya gotta wake up and tell her how much ya love her! Ya just gotta....
After a few more minutes of crying, I wiped away the tears that blurred my vision and watched Jessie finally lay him back down on the ground.
"Please, James...come back to me...." she pleaded.
And then, it happened.
"I love you," she whispered, pressing her lips against his. When she finally stopped kissing him, she rested her head on his chest and continued to cry.
And then, like magic, James slowly opened his eyes. It was like something straight out of a fairy tale -- the brave hero had awakened her sleeping prince with a kiss!
"I love you, too, Jessica," he said, smiling at her. "I love you so much...."
Jessie looked up at him, and when she saw that he was awake, she smiled so widely I thought her face was going to split in half! "Oh, James!" she cried, throwing her arms around him.
"Jessie," he whispered as he returned the embrace.
"Are you okay, James?" she asked, reaching up and caressing his face again. "How are you feeling?"
James began to run his hands through her mane of red hair. "I'm okay, Jess...I'm okay," he told her. "I've never been better...."
The two of them tightened their grip on each other...almost as if they were afraid to let go. Then, they kissed. And not just a quick, friendly peck either. No, this was a real, honest-to-God, true love kiss! I couldn't believe my eyes!
I stayed in my hiding place and waited, not wanting to ruin their tender moment -- the moment I'd been waiting for them to share since the day I met them! But that moment quickly turned into several minutes, and I began to lose patience.
"NINETY-EIGHT...NINETY-NINE...ONE HUNDRED! YEP! WE'VE GOT A HUNDRED POKE BALLS, ALL RIGHT!" I shouted, in order to give them some warning that I was coming.
"Damn cat," I heard Jessie mumble as they pulled free from their embrace.
"Hey, James! Yer awake!" I said happily as I stepped out of the van. "Good ta have ya back, buddy!"
James smiled at me. "Good to be back," he replied.
@->->-
After our reunion, James brought out some food, and I started a fire so that he could cook dinner. (He had such a good feelin' about our plan dat when he had rented the van earlier, he also stopped at the grocery store and got enough food for us ta have a victory-feast! Yummy!!) While he was roasting the chicken, rotisserie-style, over the open fire, Jessie went into the van to get our tent and sleeping-bags so that she could set up camp. Now was my chance!
"So, when's the wedding?" I asked as I approached him.
James put down the vegetables that he was peeling and gave me a quizzical look. "Whatever are you talking about, Meowth?" he asked innocently. He was trying to be nonchalant, but there was a HUGE sweatdrop on the side of his face -- I had him right where I wanted him!
I could've tortured him about it a little longer, you know. After all, a cat never goes straight for the kill -- he likes to play with his victim and make it suffer first. But I figured that the poor guy had a hard enough day already, so I just decided to get right to the point.
"Oh, don't gimmie dat!" I said. "I saw you and Jessie playin' kissy-face earlier!"
The sweatdrop on his face had now doubled in size. "W-well...you...y-you see...we...we were...we were just sharing a friendly moment...." he stammered.
"Cut the crap! I heard everything! And what's more, I SAW everything!" I told him. "Do ya have any idea how upset Jess got when she was afraid you was in a coma?! And after ya woke up, the two of ya distinctly said ya loved each other! And dat kiss?! Don't you DARE tell me dat was just a friendly moment! Youse guys had some SERIOUS tongue-action goin' on dere! I was afraid you was gonna choke each other!"
Well, when I said this, James turned as red as one of his roses and buried his face in his hands. "Alright! Alright! You caught us!" he mumbled. Then he looked at me again. "Jessie and I are in love. There. I said it. Are you HAPPY now?!"
"Yes. As a matter of fact, I am," I replied.
James raised an eyebrow.
"Do ya know how long I've been waitin' for the two of ya ta get together?!" I asked him. "Do ya know how aggravatin' it was ta watch the two of ya all dese years, hidin' yer true feelins from each other just because you was plagued by a buncha' groundless fears?! So, yes! I AM happy dat the two of ya finally admit ya love each other!"
James folded his arms across his chest and chuckled. "Then you obviously haven't been paying attention recently," he said.
Now it was my turn to be confused.
"Yes, we are in love, but it didn't start today," he continued. "It actually happened a little while ago...."
"Define a little while," I said.
"Oh, about two or three weeks," came his reply.
I fell over when I heard this. Jessie and James had been officially in love with each other for almost a month now, and I'd been completely oblivious?! How did THAT happen?!
"It was the morning after Jessie stole those badges from us," he explained. "She felt so terrible about the whole thing that she couldn't believe I had forgiven her. When she saw that I was trying to be nice to her again, she just broke down completely and ran away."
My mind flashed back to that morning. So, I was right! Jessie had run away because of what we had done to her.
"I followed as quickly as I could, and when I finally caught up to her, she was lying on the ground and sobbing," James continued. "I tell you, I didn't think she was ever going to stop crying, so I just took her in my arms and held her, telling her it was okay.
"Once Jess had calmed down some, we got to talking. And as we sat there, holding each other and talking, I realized something -- I almost lost her! And the thought of Jessie never knowing how I really felt about her -- how I've ALWAYS felt about her -- was more than I could stand! And apparently, she was thinking the exact same thing. I'd never been so angry with her as I was the day before, and I'd never been so mean to her! She thought that she'd lost me, too.
"Well, that was the moment it happened. I wasn't afraid of getting hit with her mallet, and she was already crying and showing her vulnerable side, so we finally just came out and said it to each other. We finally said, I love you...."
No wonder Jessie had been so nice to us lately! I knew something had happened between them on that morning, but I had no idea it was something so major...the thing that I'd been wishing for ever since the day I met them! And that's what Jessie meant when she referred to the morning she promised never to leave him again! I could've kicked myself for being so blind -- I was no better than that Ketchum kid!
James laughed again. "Finally figured it out, did you? We were doing our damndest to keep it a secret, but I guess the cat's out of the bag now!"
I couldn't help but smile at his choice of words.
"Meowth, I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell Jessie that you know about this," he continued. "We didn't want to tell you until the time was right...."
"And when would DAT be?!" I interjected. "When the first baby shows up?!"
He frowned. "Look, just don't let on that you know! Please?"
"Alright. It'll be our little secret," I said, shaking his hand.
"Keeping secrets from me, are you?!" I turned around and saw Jessie standing behind us.
"It's nothin'...just guy talk," I replied.
I was really trying to keep my promise to James, but in the end, he's the one who cracked. "Oh, Jessie, he knows! Meowth knows about us!" he confessed, throwing himself at her feet. Pathetic!
Jessie scowled at me. "Have you been spying on us?!" she demanded.
"Jess, there's nothing we can do about it now," James said, placing his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to keep her from pummeling me.
"We can make him promise not to tell anyone!" she said through clenched teeth as she held a fist up to my face. "The LAST thing we need is those little twerps running around singing, James and Jessie sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G....!"
"First comes love! Den comes marriage! Den comes a baby in a baby carriage!" I laughed, finishing the song for her.
Well that did it.
This remark finally made Jessie lose her temper. She grabbed her trusty mallet and slammed me into the nearest tree. (I knew her nice spell was too good ta last!)
"I'm sorry," I said to her. "Ya have my word...and dat word is mum!"
She nodded approvingly.
"Besides, I don't think the world is quite ready for youse guys as a couple just yet, anyway," I continued. "It's a rare person who can appreciate a good bad guy romance!"
Well, Jessie and James started laughing when I said this, and seeing them so happy made me happy, too, so I just joined in. Finally! They realized that they belonged together! And what's more, I don't think anything could possibly tear them apart now. They always get along when times are good, and, if anything, adversity makes them get along even better! Every time their relationship has been in crisis, they've always managed to work through it and come back more devoted to each other than ever!
You know, they say that two's company and three's a crowd, but at that moment, it didn't seem that way. Jessie and James may have been a couple now, but I didn't feel left out. If anything, they were happy to share their joy with me. (I guess dey didn't wanna tell me earlier because dey was afraid I'd laugh at 'em, or somethin'.) And as we sat there, laughing and group-hugging, I knew that everything was gonna be all right. We were gonna be a team forever, and nothing would ever change that!
@->->-
"A toast...to the trio with the brio!" Jessie said, holding aloft a glass of wine as we sat down to our victory-feast later that evening.
"Here, here!" James replied, clinking his glass against hers.
"Yeah...whatever dat means!" I agreed.
"Well, my fellow Rocketeers, we've procured plenty of pokemon!" James said triumphantly.
"And...we finally got that sniveling twerp's precious Pikachu!" Jessie added.
"Let's poke-party!" I cheered as I dug into my food, savoring each delicious bite of James's cooking.
Finally, we couldn't contain our happiness any longer, so we got up and began to dance.
As I watched Jessie and James singing, dancing, and laughing in each other's arms, I reflected on our day. I mean, sure we almost died in a horrible car crash, but we had also stolen all of the pokemon from those stupid trainers at the Pokemon League, we captured Pikachu, my two best friends were in love with each other, and we were eating real food for a change!
Yes. It had definitely been a good day -- the day Team Rocket finally came out on top!