THE POWER THAT'S INSIDE

@->->-

"ARBOK!!! POISON STING ATTACK!!!!!" Jessie screamed, the fires of Hell burning in her eyes.

"Chaaaar-bok!" the cobra, who looked every bit as angry as her trainer hissed.

But then, something unexpected happened.

Just as Arbok lunged forward and fired her poisonous needles at the aging Scyther, one of the younger members of the swarm (the monster who'd deposed him...and robbed Jessie of her hair, no doubt) broke free from the glue and blocked the attack.

Now Jessie was really enraged.

"ARBOK!!! WEEZING!!! LICKITUNG!!! VICTREEBEL!!! ATTACK ALL AT ONCE!!!!!" she screeched.

All of the pokemon charged forward, and I didn't hesitate in joining them. Our friend's honor had been insulted (twice!), and we had to do everything in our power to defend her! Those Scythers would pay dearly for chopping off Jessie's hair. (And once dey did, I was gonna personally Fury Swipe the livin' daylights outta dat little bitch, Misty, for darin' ta make fun of her!)

But, alas, it wasn't to be.

The younger Scyther somehow managed to give the old one a power boost, and he started spinning around like a top. The five of us had built up so much momentum in our charge, however, that by the time we reached the mantis, it was too late to stop or change course, and we all got cut to ribbons by the razor-sharp blades on his arms.

In a last-ditch effort to stop the Scythers, Jessie grabbed her glue-cannon once again and took aim. "Grrr! I've still got one shot left!" she growled.

"Oh, no you don't!" Ash cried. "Pikachu! Thunderbolt!"

(Yeah, sure! Sick the little electric rat on us again, why don't ya? I swear, dat's the goddamn twerp's solution ta everything!)

Pikachu began to bristle and spark, but before we could duck for cover, we found ourselves enveloped by lightning. (It's strange, really. After all the times we been electrocuted, ya think we'd be used to it by now, but we ain't! No matter how much resistance we build up, dat rodent's attacks just keep gettin' stronger! And today was no exception -- I swear, no shock we'd ever gotten before could possibly compare ta dis!) As Pikachu zapped us, I could feel the force of the electricity surging through every fiber of my being...even piercing all the way into the marrow of my bones. And I knew Jessie and James were getting it just as bad as I was, if not, worse! They screamed in agony, and I actually saw their skeletons as the Thunderbolt ripped through them, frying flesh and bone alike!

And that was just the beginning!

Before we could recover from Pikachu's attack, we saw the old Scyther charging us. He hacked and slashed with his blades, and suddenly, I found myself surrounded by a flurry of red and purple silken threads.

I was almost afraid to look at my two friends, but I did anyway. And when I saw them, my fears were confirmed -- the red and purple raining down on me was their hair!

It was bad enough that the young Scyther had cut Jessie's long mane short this morning, but now this old one had to make things worse and shave her completely bald! And as if that weren't bad enough, he'd shaved poor James's head, too! All of their once glorious hair was gone, and the two of them were left with nothing but mohawks!

Unable to stand the pain and humiliation any longer, we turned tail and ran.

And as Team Rocket went dashing off again, I swear to God I heard those sadistic twerps laughing at us.

(Ha, ha. Very funny. Some people got a real sick sense a humor.)

@->->-

(Let Meowth start by sayin' dat dis had ta be, without a doubt, one of the suckiest days of our lives! I mean, sure, we're always gettin' messed up by dose stupid kids when we go against 'em, but today we hadn't even been doin' anythin' "wrong!"

We were just mindin' our own business, doin' a little sight-seein' on Murka Island, when suddenly, a wild Beedrill came outta nowhere and busted a couple a holes in our Meowth balloon! We crash landed in the forest, and before we could figure out what was goin' on, we found ourselves surrounded by a swarm of Scythers.

And dose Scythers meant business! Dey charged in and slashed with dose gigantic blades, but we managed ta duck outta the way and run ta safety before dey could decapitate us. Unfortunately, we hadn't escaped unharmed -- the Scythers had targetted Jessie, and one of them managed ta hack off all her hair!

I tell ya, when Jess found out dat her hair was gone, it's like she became a different woman. She ain't never hurt a pokemon in her life, but she was gonna kill dose Scythers for what dey'd done! Fortunately, James and I managed ta calm her down some and convince her dat it'd be better ta capture the Scythers instead.

And capture 'em, we did! Jess shot at 'em with a glue-cannon and caught 'em all in a big net. It didn't do nothin' for her temper, though. She was still awfully pissed about her hair, and she started pokin' the Scythers with a big stick, screamin' about how she was gonna make 'em sorry dey ever messed with her!

Hey! Things get messy when ya mess with Jessie!

James and I tried ta calm her down again, but ta no avail. She told us dat she couldn't forgive the Scythers cuz her hair was her only friend...and her one true love. Well, I know she was real upset about losin' her hair and all, but how could she make an insensitive remark like dat?! How could she say her hair was her only friend when she had James and Meowth and all our pokemon?! How could she say her hair was her one true love when she had a best friend, a lover, and a soul-mate in James?!

She fell to the ground and started cryin' but before we could make an attempt ta comfort her, the sobs quickly gave way to laughter...the laughter of a madwoman! And when she turned ta face us again, I swear it wasn't Jessie lookin' at us -- it was a demon! Her beautiful face was unrecognizeable, contorted into the most evil leer I'd ever seen! No, dis woman before us definitely wasn't Jessie. The real Jessie had disappeared along with her gorgeous mane of hair. All we were left with now was a short-haired lunatic!

Before she could regain her sanity, however, the twerps had ta get involved, and dey only made things worse! Jess was already unstable, and havin' dose brats laugh at her and dat rotten little Misty ask if her hair had been cut by a barber or a butcher was too much!

And, well, ya know the rest.

We got our asses kicked when the twerps and the wild pokemon ganged up on us, we lost our chance ta get revenge for Jessie's haircut, and she and James ended up with mohawks! It was more den just defeat today -- even though we did get hurt worse den usual in dat battle -- it was embarassing...it was an insult!

Like I said, one of the suckiest days of our lives.)

@->->-

We didn't stop running until we made it back to the place where our balloon crash landed that morning...where this whole nightmare began. Exhausted and injured beyond normal human (and pokemon) capacity, we all collapsed and began gasping for air.

Once he'd caught his breath, James got to his feet and winced as he ran a hand across his newly-shaven head. It was going to take him awhile to get used to the fact that his hair wasn't there anymore. "Shit!" he growled.

And as upsetting as it was for him, it was infinitely worse for poor Jessie. Lacking the energy, or the presence of mind...or both, to do anything else, she simply curled herself into a ball and began to mutter incoherently as she rocked herself back and forth.

Now that we were out of immediate danger and the adrenaline rush had worn off, I suddenly felt a searing pain on my face. I clutched it for a moment, and when I brought my paw away, I found it covered with blood. My blood! That son of a bitch had slashed me right across the face!

(Yep. Ta say dat we'd been totally screwed-over dis time would be an understatement.)

But we weren't the only ones -- our four poke-pals were just as messed up as we were! Like Jessie, James, and me, all of them had been slashed and electrocuted practically beyond recognition. (I dunno, but it seems real hypocritical dat dose little bastards, who claim ta be the heroes who love all pokemon, always get some kinda perverse pleasure outta hurtin' Arbok, Weezing, Lickitung, Victreebel...and Meowth. Jessie and James ain't never abused a pokemon in dere lives...and dey're supposed ta be the bad guys?! What's wrong with DIS picture?!)

James was pacing about and muttering a string of curses under his breath, his bald head clutched in his hands. From the look in his eyes, I could tell that something more than his recent haircut was on his mind -- he didn't just look angry...he looked downright terrified!

But the pokemons' whimpering quickly snapped him out of it.

"Oh," he said softly, kneeling next to the four of them. "What have those brats done to you this time?"

James began to cry as he pulled Weezing into an embrace. Arbok and Lickitung nuzzled against him, and even the normally aloof Victreebel drew closer.

Freeing one of his arms, James hugged all of the other pokemon as well. "I'm sorry," he said as he continued to cry. "It's our fault you're always getting hurt like this...we're so sorry...."

Victreebel screamed. (Damn right it's all your fault! I don't know why I even listen to you! Baka humans! Can't be trusted....)

"Weee-zing! (Don't blame yourself, James. I can't speak for the others, but I was out there because I wanted to be! Jessie is my friend, too, and I had to help defend her!)"

"Chaaar-bok! (Weezing is right! That bastard Scyther had to pay for what he did to my Jessie...and when those twerps dared to laugh at her misfortune, they had to pay, too!)"

"Tung! Licki-lick! (Yeah! Nobody hurts Jessie and gets away with it! We may feel bad right now, but I promise you, we'd feel even worse if we hadn't even tried to help her!)"

Hearing the noble sentiments of his three companions, Victreebel relented and dropped his callous facade. (I know, I know. Scyther had to be punished for chopping off Jessie's hair...and those brats had no right to interfere!)

"So, what're we gonna do now?" I asked, the metallic flavor of blood seeping into my mouth when I opened it to speak. (I couldn't see it, but dat musta' been one helluva gash I had on my face!)

"Well, first, we have to get you guys patched up," James replied.

(Dat's one of the things dat makes Jessie and James such great trainers -- no matter how badly dey get beaten, dere pokemon are always the first ones ta get healed if dey happen ta get blasted off with us. It's one of the reasons why all of 'em are so loyal and don't mind puttin' dere lives on the line when called upon. Dey know dere trainers love 'em...and the feelins are mutual!)

"After that...." he continued, casting a forlorn look at Jessie, who was still curled in a ball and talking to herself. "....Well...I don't know...."

"Poor Jess. She's really takin' dis hard," I remarked.

James frowned and turned away, unable to bear the sight of her anymore. Then, he brought a few potions and rolls of bandages from the balloon.

"Okay, line up, guys," he said in a broken voice.

One by one, James sprayed all of the pokemon with potions and gently tied bandages around the wounds that hadn't been instantly healed. "There. That should hold you over until we can get to an actual pokemon center."

Then, he turned to me. "Ouch! He really sliced you, Meowth," he remarked as he placed a hand under my chin and forced me to look up at him.

"How bad is it?" I asked, almost afraid to know the answer.

"It's big, but it's not deep," he replied. "You're lucky...."

"Lucky?!" I said in disbelief. "It feels like my whole damn face got ripped off!"

He frowned again and brought out the last bottle of potion.

"Meowth, I'm warning you right now -- this is going to hurt."

"Heh. Sorta like pourin' lemon juice on a paper cut?"

"Something like that."

With that, James tilted my face upwards again and spritzed some medicine onto the gash. And he wasn't joking about it hurting, either -- it felt like my whole head was being stung by a swarm of mad Beedrills! I resisted the urge to scratch James across the face, knowing that he was only helping me, and he did his best to alleviate the pain by fanning the wound with his hand. A few minutes later, the stinging subsided.

"There you go. All better," he told me.

I looked up at him. It was so strange to see him with nothing but a small mohawk where his once shoulder-length hair had been. And it was even more so for Jessie -- she'd lost an entire mane of hair! Seeing her bald was downright creepy! "Thanks, James. I just wish I could say the same for you and Jess," I replied sadly.

James hung his head and sighed. Healing me and the pokemon had taken his mind off of it for awhile, but now that he was thinking about it again, the frightened look returned to his green eyes.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean ta bring it up...."

James wrapped his arms around himself and shuddered.

"Gone...gone...everything's gone...." Jessie's despairing voice from where she was still huddled.

That's when I realized that this was about more than just physical appearance. Having all of their hair chopped off had triggered some painful memories in Jessie and James, and these memories were slowly driving them insane. (Well, driving James insane, anyway -- Jessie was already dere...been dere since her hair had been whacked short dat mornin'!) I had no idea what these memories could be, but they must've been really disturbing. All I did know was that we couldn't stay here. The longer we stayed, the worse it would get.

"C'mon, youse guys!" I said. "Let's get outta here!"

"W-what about the balloon?" James asked.

"Well, we gotta fix it, of course, but the sooner we do, the sooner we can leave!"

He nodded.

"C'mon, Jess!" I called. "Come help us patch up the balloon."

She gave no reply, just stayed where she was and continued to rock back and forth.

"Jessie!" I called again.

Silence.

"Jessie?" Now I was really worried.

Slowly, she turned to face us. But I didn't recognize the woman I saw. Her blue eyes were dead...devoid of light. The look on her face was that of a soul lost in the deepest pit of Hell.

"C-c'mon, snap out of it, Jess," I said nervously. "Stayin' here can't be good for ya. Just help us fix the balloon so we can get outta here. Please?"

"What's the use?" she asked softly. "The damage has been done."

"Yeah, but dose Scythers may come back," I argued. "Ya wanna get slashed up again?!"

"What does it matter? Let them come." Her voice was calm. Too calm.

Above me, I heard a sniffling sound. James was starting to cry.

"Jessie, you're scaring me," he whimpered. "Please, can't we just get out of here?"

She closed her eyes and turned away from us again.

Tentatively, James reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder as she began to cry. "It's okay, Jess," he said in a small voice. "It's okay. I know how you feel...."

Suddenly, Jessie's face contorted into an evil leer, and she smacked his hand away. "SHUT UP, JAMES!!!" she screamed. "YOU DON'T KNOW A GODDAMNED THING ABOUT HOW I FEEL!!!!!"

Well that did it.

There isn't a sweeter guy in existence than James. But as gentle and even-tempered as he is, even he's got his breaking-point.

And Jessie had just driven him to it.

"IS THAT SO?!" he screamed back. "WELL MAYBE YOU'RE THE ONE WHO DOESN'T KNOW A GODDAMNED THING ABOUT HOW I FEEL!!!"

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"You know damn well what that means!"

"Enlighten me anyway," she said through clenched teeth.

James frowned at her. "It means," he sneered, "that if you weren't so self-centered, you'd be able to see that...."

"SELF-CENTERED?!" she screamed, cutting him off.

"Yeah, you heard me!" he shot back. "All day long, you've been whining about how you've lost your one true love, and I'm sick of it!" His voice was pure venom -- Jessie really had hurt him with that remark!

Jessie's eyes widened for a moment, and she scowled again. "How DARE you?!"

The two of them were nose to nose. If I didn't do something quick, it looked like things were going to come to blows! I know for a fact that James would rather die than hurt Jessie, but right now, he actually looked like he wanted to smack her!

My stomach knotted as I watched him clench his fists, but instead of hitting her, he backed away and took a deep breath. "I'd tell you to go to hell, but it looks like you're already there," he said sarcastically.

Jessie slapped him. "Then why don't you join me?!"

"I don't know which is uglier, your behavior or your new haircut!" he growled as he turned away from her and stormed off into the woods.

Wow! Talk about the wrong thing to say! No matter how insensitive Jessie can get, it's never a good idea to insult her like that. And it's an especially bad idea when she's in such a foul mood. (Yeah, I know I do it all the time, but it's always in jest! James had been perfecly serious with what he'd just said.)

I was afraid Jessie would try to kill him for that insult (as psychotic as she'd been acting all day, I certainly wouldnt've put it past her), but she didn't. Instead, tears welled up in her eyes and she shouted, "Yeah, like you have any room to talk!" after him as he walked away.

What the hell had that fight been all about?! James was only trying to comfort Jessie by reminding her that she wasn't alone, and she'd gone ballistic on him! And then, James turned around and went ballistic on her, too! James's parting words had hit her harder than a punch in the face, and at the moment, she looked like she really wanted to break something (somethin' like Meowth, who was the only convenient target for her anger.)

What had become of the Jessie I knew? I didn't want to be left alone with this madwoman...this stranger. She frightened me. I wanted to follow James and see if he was going to be okay, but when I tried to go after him, I felt a vice-like grip on my tail.

"Where do you think you're going, cat?"

"Uhhh...."

"You said you wanted me to fix the goddamned balloon, so we're fixing it," she said in a voice barely restraining rage.

"Y-yeah! Yeah, I knew dat!" I said nervously.

Her sapphire eyes narrowed to slits as she glared at me. Like a wild animal, she could sense my fear, and I was afraid she'd take advantage of it.

So, I did my best to hide it.

"Don't worry, Jess," I told her. "I'm sure James didn't mean what he said. Besides, he don't stay mad for too long. He'll be back soon...."

"Who asked you?!" she snapped.

I could feel a sweatdrop rolling down my face. "Hey, hey! I was just tryin' ta help!" I said, holding up my paws.

Jessie closed her eyes and turned away from me. "Whatever," she sighed.

"Why don't ya get the patch-kit outta the balloon while I go find the holes dat Beedrill made?" I suggested, changing the subject.

"Yeah," she muttered.

While she was searching for the kit, I went around the side of the balloon and located one of the holes. It didn't look too serious -- nothing a five minute patch-job couldn't fix, but I knew that the Beedrill had made two holes when it busted our balloon, so I had to find the other one as well.

Going around to the other side of the balloon, I immediately found the second hole. But I found something else, too. Something that made me sick to my stomach.

It was Jessie's hair...or what was left of it, anyway. The magnificent mane that had crowned her head this morning was now shredded, hacked to pieces, scattered about, and trampled into the ground, so badly mangled that it was barely recognizeable. The crimson color faintly showing through the dirt was the only indication that this massive heap of refuse had once been my friend's beautiful hair.

Jessie's hair had been a great source of pride to her. She always kept it clean, immaculate, and perfectly coifed. Seeing it so defiled now was obscene! And if it was making me sick to behold, I could only imagine what it would do to poor Jess. She had already gone over the edge. This would be the final insult!

I knew that I couldn't let Jessie see her hair like this. I had to make sure she avoided it at all costs.

"Hey, Meowth, did you find the hole?" she asked, as if on cue.

Oh, crap! What am I gonna do?! I wondered.

I couldn't hide it -- I only had a few seconds, and there was way too much of it to drag away or bury. All I could do was stall for time.

Then, I got an idea -- maybe if I could get Jessie to patch the other hole first, I'd have enough time to get rid of the mangled remains of her hair before she saw it. But I had to distract her first....

"Uh...yeah! Yeah, I found it," I replied in a shaky voice.

Jessie started heading towards me.

"Wait!"

"What?"

"Dere's another hole. Why don't we fix dat one first?"

Jessie raised an eyebrow as she continued to advance on me. "What's the difference? A hole is a hole."

"Yeah...but...dis one's...real...nasty," I said lamely. The sweatdrop on my face had become a river.

Now she was getting annoyed again. "Oh, come on, Meowth! How bad can it...."

Suddenly, the patch kit fell from her hands and she blanched.

Uh, oh.

"W-wh-what is that?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"What's what?" I asked innocently.

Her hand was trembling violently as she pointed to the remains of her hair. I was doing my best to block her view, but it was futile. How could one little cat obscure such an immense pile of hair?

"That."

"Uhhh...ummm...errr...." (Hoo, boy! How was I gonna get outta dis one?)

But before I could think of another lame excuse, Jessie shoved me out of the way and fell to her knees. "M-my hair," she whimpered, lifting a few strands from the dirt. "What have they done to my hair?"

"Jessie," I said softly, placing a paw on her shoulder.

"What have they done to my hair?!" she cried.

Well, I knew that those Scythers had gone berserk when they saw her hair this morning. They get enraged by the color red, and Jessie's gigantic plume of crimson hair had probably sent them into a frenzy. A frenzy that couldn't be stopped until all of the red had been destroyed.

But I also knew that cold logic wouldn't do anything to comfort her. She knew as well as I what seeing red did to Scythers, and the last thing she needed was an image of those monsters defiling her hair.

So, I said nothing. Just offered my tacit understanding as I continued to pat her on the shoulder.

Jessie closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. Then, she slowly rose to her feet and went calmly back to the basket of the balloon.

I didn't know what to make of her behavior. Seeing her like this was scaring the living hell out of me -- I almost wished that she would lose her temper and start screaming and destroying everything in sight. God knows, she had those feelings inside of her (I know Jess well enough ta know how violent she gets when she's upset), and keeping them bottled up was only going to make them more explosive when they finally did come out. I could sense the rage building inside of her like steam in a pressure-cooker, and it was only a matter of time before she blew her top.

She dug around in the basket until she found her backpack. Taking another deep breath, she opened the backpack and pulled out a large bag. Then, still remaining perfectly calm, she headed into the woods, in the opposite direction that James had gone.

This presented me with a dilemma. I couldn't stay where I was -- both of my friends needed my help! But I could only help one of them. Which one was it going to be? Jessie or James?

I really was worried about James. I had never seen him so angry with Jess before. (Not even on the day she stole dose Pokemon League badges from us and tried ta leave us behind...and he was furious with her den!) It wasn't like him to lose his temper so, and he looked like he'd been terrified of something. I knew that he couldn't be left alone. He needed a shoulder to cry on, and I wanted nothing more than to comfort him in his moment of need.

But as worried as I was about him, I was even more worried about Jessie. After everything that had happened earlier and how out of character she was acting now, I knew that she couldn't be left alone either. It wouldn't surprise me if she tried something desperate in her unstable mental state, and I couldn't let that happen! So, at the risk of being beaten to a bloody pulp when she finally did lose her temper (and believe Meowth, she would...it was only a matter of time), I decided to follow Jessie.

@->->-

When I caught up to Jessie, I found her standing on the bank of a small pond nestled among a clearing of trees deeper in the woods. She was taking items out of the bag she was holding, and one by one, she was throwing them into the pond. Looking closer, I saw that all of her hair-care products were kept in that bag.

And she was throwing them all away.

Every hairbrush, every comb, every bottle of shampoo, every can of hairspray, every ribbon, every barrette, every ponytail holder, every hair-clip, every scrunchie, every bobby-pin, even the curling-iron she used to give her hair that pretty little coil at the end -- everything was being chucked into the pond.

Each time Jessie reached into the bag and pulled out something, she threw it as hard as she could and made a small screaming noise. And each time the tossed item landed in the water and sank, I saw a tear roll down her face.

Once the bag was empty and the surface of the pond stopped roiling and churning, Jessie looked down and studied her reflection in the still water. She hadn't looked at herself since that morning, when she first discovered that her hair had been cut short. So imagine how shocking it was to see herself with nothing but a mohawk now.

Her lip began to quiver, and her face contorted into a wince as she started to take more deep breaths. But it wasn't the deep breathing of relaxation. It was more like panic -- she was hyperventilating!

That's when I heard it.

As Jessie fell to her knees, she emitted a scream that made my blood run cold. It was a sound of extreme suffering and despair, like the wailing keen of a banshee. She only screamed like that when she was in real pain. She made that sound at Maiden's Peak when she thought she'd lost James to the ghost. She made that sound when we were stranded on an icy mountain and she thought she saw the spirit of her late mother. She made that sound a couple of weeks ago when James fell off of a cliff, and we thought he was dead.

And she was making it now.

For several minutes, Jessie knealt on the bank of that pond, screaming the scream of ultimate suffering over and over again. Then, she collapsed to the ground and began to sob uncontrollably. This was no madwoman before me...only a shattered soul.

Slowly, I came to her side and placed my paw on her shoulder once again.

But Jessie took no notice of me.

"Jess," I said softly.

She said nothing, just continued to cry.

"Jessie, it ain't dat bad," I told her. "Be thankful yer hair is all dat Scyther cut off. He coulda' chopped off yer head, for God's sake!"

"I wish he would have!" she cried.

"What?! Jess, ya don't mean dat!"

"YES I DO!" she screamed. "I WISH I WERE DEAD!!!"

"Yer talkin' crazy!" I told her.

She shook her head. "Don't you get it, Meowth?! I've lost everything! EVERYTHING!!!"

"Ya still got me and Ja...."

"No, I don't," she moaned, cutting me off. "I treated James like shit, and he hates me now. I have nothing...."

"That's not true."

We both looked and saw James standing behind us.

"J-James?" Jessie whimpered.

"Jess, how could I ever hate you?" he asked, coming to her side and putting his arms around her.

"How could you ever love me?" she sobbed. "I was so mean to you! And you think I'm ugly! You said it yourself...."

James began to cry again. "God, Jessie, I didn't mean that! I didn't mean it...."

"Y-you didn't?"

He shook his head. "No matter what your hair looks like, I still think you're the most beautiful woman in the world."

Jessie sniffled.

"If anybody's the ugly freak around here, it's me!" he continued, laughing bitterly.

"No you're not," she whispered in a broken voice as she returned his embrace. "James, you're such a beautiful man...."

Jessie buried her face in his shoulder and continued to cry. James said nothing, just held her in his arms and rocked her gently back and forth.

After several minutes of crying, Jessie finally succumbed to the physical, mental, and emotional strain of what had happened, and she fell into a fitful sleep in James's arms.

James kissed her on the forehead. Then, he got to his feet and picked her up. "Come on, Meowth," he said. "Let's get back to camp."

I nodded and followed him.

@->->-

Once James had carried Jessie back to the balloon, he got out his blue sleeping-bag and knealt down on it, still holding Jessie in his arms. Now that she was asleep and James didn't have to be strong for her anymore, the look of a frightened child had returned to his eyes.

I had done my part to help Jessie (even if it was only miniscule)...now it was time to help James. I had to talk to him and find out what was going on.

"Why don't we let her get some rest?" I suggested, gesturing for him to follow me so that we could speak in private.

"But I don't wanna let her go," he whimpered, hugging Jess more tightly.

I then remembered what Jessie had said about wishing that the Scyther had killed her and realized that hearing something like that must've scared the hell out of poor James. He was probably worried that if he turned his back on her again, he'd lose her forever. And considering how upset she'd been, it was a real possibility.

Again, he laughed bitterly. "I was so mad at her...for what she said about her hair being her only friend and her one true love. I kept wondering why she'd forgotten about me all of a sudden, and I never stopped to think about how much it was hurting her. It wasn't until I heard her screaming that I realized how much pain she was in. She...she actually thought I hated her because of what I said...what I did! God, I feel like such an idiot! I could've lost her...."

"Don't blame yerself," I told him. "I could tell ya had some stuff on yer mind...and ya still do."

"But that was no excuse for me to be so insensitive to her!" he cried.

The sound of his voice stirred Jessie from her sleep, and she started crying again.

"No," James whispered. "No, Jessie, please don't cry!"

"I'm so ugly!" she sobbed. "So ugly...on the inside and the outside! I wouldn't blame you for hating me now...."

James ran his fingers through what was left of her hair and kissed her tenderly on the lips. "No, Jessie. I love you," he whispered. "No matter what you look like, you'll always be my beautiful angel, and I'll always love you."

"I love you too, James," she whispered back.

James held her closer and kissed her again. "I'm sorry for blowing up at you earlier. I didn't mean to hurt you like that, and I didn't mean all of those terrible things I said."

"I'm sorry, too," she echoed. "I know you were only trying to help me...."

"I still want to help you," he told her. "I'll do anything for you, Jess. Anything to make you happy again. What do you need me to do right now?"

"Just hold me...just keep talking to me, James," she muttered. "Your touch...your voice...they're so beautiful...."

For several minutes he gently caressed her body and whispered sweet words into her ear until she was finally able to stop crying and relax. She closed her eyes again, secure in the knowledge that he still loved her.

James closed his eyes, too. He smiled at the thought that he was able to make Jessie feel better, even after all she had lost. And for the first time all day, a peaceful quiet fell over the three of us.

I thought that the two of them had fallen asleep, but Jessie suddenly broke the silence. "The last memory I have of my mother," she whispered, "is that she was brushing my hair."

"Jess?" James said softly. "You don't have to tell me if it hurts."

"No, I have to get this out," she replied. "I remember...it was the morning that she left on her mission to find Mew. When she told us about it the night before, I had the feeling that something bad was going to happen. I cried and cried and begged her not to go, but she had no choice.

"I was still crying in the morning, but momma sat me down at the table and started brushing my hair. She...she told me what a good little girl I was and what beautiful hair I had...and that no matter what happened, she'd always be with me. When she was done brushing my hair, she pulled it into a little coil at the end and tied it with a ribbon. And then...then she picked up her backpack and went out the door, and I never saw her again...."

No wonder Jessie had been so upset when she lost her hair! It was a way for her to remember her mother! I guess that as long as she had her mane of hair, she had some sort of connection to Miyamoto. Her memories were entwined in that hair, and when the Scyther chopped it off, it was like she'd lost her mother all over again! Who could blame her for going psycho?

"Jessie...I'm so sorry," James whispered. "I had no idea...."

"It's not your fault," she told him. "I've never told that to anyone before...so how were you to know?"

"I still should've been more understanding," he replied.

She smiled at him.

"You know," he said, "I'm actually kind of glad I lost my hair, too. I don't want you to go through this alone...even if it does bring back some painful memories for me...."

"It does?"

He nodded.

Yes, this experience was just as upsetting for him as it was for her -- just before their big fight broke out, James had told Jessie that he knew exactly how she felt. And even now, he still had the look of a frightened child in his eyes. What had happened to him?

"Tell me," she said. "Please?"

James closed his eyes and sighed. "It was about ten years ago now, I guess," he began. "It started out as a typical day -- my dad was yelling at me, telling me what a screw-up I was and how I never did anything right. Then, out of nowhere, he told me that if I didn't learn how to do things the proper way, he was going to send me to military school, where they'd make me learn."

Jessie shuddered.

"He never did send me," he continued. "But I'll be damned if he didn't act like he was going to make good on that threat. After his little lecture, dad took me to the barber shop. He told me that they don't let little long-haired brats like me into military school...and he got the barber to shave my head. Shave me bald.

"I kicked and screamed and struggled for all I was worth, but dad and that barber held me down. All I could do was sit helplessly as those electric clippers buzzed and watch as all of my hair fell to the floor." Tears were welling up in his emerald eyes, but he chuckled softly. "Heh. My mom didn't talk to dad for the rest of the day after she found out about that little stunt...but still, it was almost a year before my hair grew back...."

"Oh, James," Jessie whispered. "I'm so sorry! You really do know how I feel! I'm sorry I yelled at you...."

"It's okay," he said. "I never told that to anybody before, either."

The two of them embraced again.

"But look on the bright side," James told her. "My hair did grow back eventually. It'll grow back again, and so will yours."

"Easy for you to say," she muttered. "James, your hair was shorter than mine to begin with, and you always kept it that way! It won't take yours long to grow back to normal. But me? I never once had a haircut in my life! I lost seventeen...almost eighteen years of growth today -- it's going to take forever for all of it to grow back! It'll never be the same again...."

"Well, no matter what it looks like, I'll always think it's beautiful," James replied. "Even earlier today when your hair first got cut, I thought it looked pretty hot that way!"

"Y-you did?"

He nodded. "Don't get me wrong, I loved your long hair as much as you did, but it still looked good, even after it got cut short. And the bottom line is, no matter how much I loved the hair, I love the woman it was attatched to even more. You're all that I really care about, Jess, and I'll still be here for you...no matter what...."

"Same here, James. Same here," Jessie said, running her fingers through his mohawk. "I really miss your hair too, but it's okay...just as long as I still have you."

They smiled at each other, and their lips met in a passionate kiss. Then, James leaned into Jessie until she was on her back. He laid himself on top of her as they continued to kiss. When they broke free, Jessie gazed adoringly into his eyes. James gave her a longing look, telling her what he wanted, but was too much of a gentleman to take without permission.

Jessie nodded. "Make love to me, James," she whispered. "Please make love to me. I need you more than anything."

I turned away as the two of them began to undress each other, and instead, I gazed up at the small patches of night sky that peeked through the canopy of trees overhead.

Everything they had told each other reverberated in my mind, and I thought about what a traumatic experience this must have been for them today. But even after all that had happened, their love for each other was able to bring them back together and make everything okay.

And their love for each other made me start thinking about what good friends they were to me. Never had I known true friendship until I met Jessie and James. The day they came into my life was one of the happiest days I can remember. And every day since then, no matter how miserable, has had at least some measure of joy because of them.

They were the first...and the only humans I could ever trust, and they had done so much for me. They were always there to listen to me when I was feeling low or when I had a secret to share, they were there to comfort me on the day I lost Togepi to Misty, they were there to save me on the day I faced my old gang and tried to rescue Meowsie. Even a few days ago, when we were on the island with the ancient civilization of Meowth-worshippers, the two of them sacrificed so much just so that I could be happy. It still brought tears to my eyes to think that Jessie had spent all of her money and James had given up his prized bottle-cap collection in order to save my life, and that they were willing to let me go so that I could be worshipped as a god and spend the rest of my days in complete happiness. (But I couldn't leave 'em -- how could leave when I learned dat dey were the ones who really made me happy?)

So how could I sit idly by and allow them to be hurt like this now?

Inadvertently, I found my gaze drifting back to Jessie and James. I knew that they'd been lovers for several weeks, but I'd always found a way to dip out and give them their privacy whenever they became intimate. I'd never actually seen them in the act. Until now, that is.

They looked kind of strange with all of their hair shaved off, but I swear, I'd never seen them more beautiful than they were at that moment. The two of them were locked in an embrace that brought them as close as two humans could possibly be, and the sheer amount of trust...and love it took to be able to share their bodies with each other like that was amazing! Seeing them make love reminded me just how much they really care for each other. It was about more than just physical gratification -- they were joining their hearts and their souls, too!

Their love for each other transcended physical appearance...transcended adversity. Seeing them together like this made me realize that love is the most powerful force in the entire universe. That love really does conquer all!

And so, turning away and giving Jessie and James their privacy once again, I decided to prove my love to them.

This was about more than hair -- in a way, their bodies had been violated today, and it had almost torn their beautiful hearts and souls apart. The rape of their locks would not go unpunished! I had to go back and find those Scythers. I had to make them pay for stealing Jessie's inner-connection to her mother...make them pay for reducing James to a frightened child, pinned helplessly in a barber's chair as his beautiful blue-violet hair is mercilessly shaven off.

I was madder than hell, and vengeance would be mine.

@->->-

I quickly left the forest and headed back the way we had come that afternoon. But when I reached the clearing where our fateful battle had taken place, I stopped dead in my tracks.

The sight of Jessie and James's hair, scattered about on the ground was enough to make me sick again. Their hair had been so beautiful, and seeing it so mistreated filled me with rage once more.

A montage of images raced through my mind as I leaned down and gathered some strands of their hair from the dirt. I thought of Jessie and how she used to style her hair. Usually she just wore it in that stiff plume that defied every conceivable law of physics, but it always looked pretty, no matter how she wore it. Sometimes she'd pile it all on top of her head and look like a princess...for she was. A real princess among women. Or sometimes she'd braid it and look like a warrior...for she was. A woman as brave and strong as Jess can be nothing less than an Amazon! And sometimes she wouldn't do anything at all with it -- she'd just let it hang loose (it was so long that it went all the way past her knees when it was down) and look like an angel...for she was. No matter how tough and callous she may act, she's an angel on earth!

Then, I thought about James and how much I loved his hair, too. I remember always looking for an excuse to hitch a ride on his shoulder or his head because I enjoyed just burying my face in his hair. It was always so soft and silky, and it always smelled like roses! (Who could blame Meowth for lovin' it?!)

Tears rolled down my face as I picked up more of their hair. I couldn't just leave it there on the ground, after all -- it seemed disrespectful! I had to do something with it! And do something with it, I did -- as I gathered the hair, I suddenly found my paws entwining the strands, braiding them together.

It was beautiful. The contrast in the colors of their hair made me realize just how different the two of them really are...and why they go so perfectly together. The colors even suited them perfectly, like a mirror of their personalities. Crimson and blue-violet. Ruby and sapphire. Fire and ice. Yin and yang. Woman and man. Jessie and James....

I looked at the braid when I was finished. It was a masterpiece -- the colors of their hair blended so well together, just like the two of them...but it needed something more. On impulse, I pulled out two of my whiskers and tied off either end of the braid with them. There. Now it was complete. Now all three of us were in that braid together. It was the perfect symbol of our friendship and unity...and the perfect talisman for me to take to battle.

I held up the braid and inhaled the heavenly fragrance of their hair. Even now, after it had been destroyed it was still softer than silk, and it still smelled like roses...almost as if it were enchanted!

Dis one's for you...Jessie, James, I thought as I continued my hunt for the Scyther swarm. You've proven yer love for Meowth so many times! Now it's time for me ta prove how much I love youse guys, too!

@->->-

It didn't take long to find the Scythers, either. They were still lounging around by that pond where we'd tried to capture them earlier. (I guess it was dere hangout, but why dey just so happened ta be in the forest at the moment we crashed down was anybody's guess!)

I hid myself in the bushes and watched quietly for awhile. I had to wait until the right moment to reveal my presence, and what's more, I needed to figure out what I was going to say to them...and how I was going to take on so many opponents!

"Heh, heh, heh! Did you see the look on their faces when the old one attacked them?!" one of the Scythers laughed.

"Yeah," came another's reply -- a Scyther with a large scar on his face. "I thought what I did to the little redhead was good, but when he shaved her and that other human bald? It was priceless! I'm kind of sorry I was so hard on the old coot...."

That was him! The Scyther who had cut off Jessie's hair! And he thought it was a joke!

I tell you, watching those monsters sitting there, laughing about causing me and my friends so much pain upset me to no end. I wanted nothing more than to charge into their midst and Fury Swipe them all to oblivion! I wanted to hurt them as badly as they'd hurt us...and this time, there'd be no twerps to interfere!

But suddenly, I stopped myself. Wait a sec! I thought. Dere's no way in Hell I can take on so many of 'em at once! As soon as dey catch sight of me, I'll get torn ta ribbons!

My courage faltered, but only for a second. As soon as I hung my head and prepared to chicken out, I found myself looking at the braid. Seeing their hair and my whiskers twined together reminded me of what I was fighting for...and it gave me an idea!

I wasn't going to win this battle with strength. That much I knew. Even the weakest Scyther of the swarm was bigger and stronger than I was. Besides, Scyther is a pokemon with a warrior spirit and a warrior mentality. But Meowth? No, I'm no warrior. If I've got the spirit of anything, it's the spirit of a thief! But I could still use that to my advantage. After all, even a thief can win a battle, but a thief wins through cunning and speed rather than strength. I just had to pit my assets against theirs and see which would prevail -- brains or brawn.

The first thing I had to do was bring the odds more into my favor. Like I said, there was no way I'd be able to take on an entire swarm. But against one I had a chance at victory, even if it was kind of slim. And the one I had to fight was their leader -- he was the one who had caused all of this trouble in the first place...and if the leader falls, so falls the swarm. Such is the mind of the soldier. There is no free will...just the command of the leader. Without leadership, the swarm would be nothing!

Now I needed to figure out how to approach them. I couldn't just charge in, screaming bloody murder -- that'd only make them laugh! No, I had to appeal to their sense of honor. As warriors, they lived by a code, and I had to take advantage of that.

As I pondered this, I listened to them, continuing to gloat over their rout of Team Rocket. That's when it came to me....

"Yeah!" the lead Scyther boasted, making slashing motions with his blades. "She thought she was so tough, but we cut her down to size...."

I began to applaud as I slowly emerged from the bushes and approached the swarm. "Impressive!" I said sarcastically. "Ya chopped off a frightened little girl's hair and got shown up by some old codger. Real goddamned impressive!"

The Scythers tensed and turned to face me.

"You have no room to talk, cat!" the leader sneered. "If I recall correctly, you got shown up by that old codger yourself."

"True," I conceded. "But den, I never claimed ta be a warrior, now, did I? Not like you, anyway."

The Scyther frowned. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"I came ta challenge you to a rematch," I replied, unsheathing my claws and admiring the silver moonlight that glinted off of them. "After all, you insulted the honor of Team Rocket today, and I can't forgive dat."

When they heard this, all of the Scythers burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" I asked calmly.

"You?!" the leader said disdainfully. "YOU want to challenge ME?!"

"I do believe dat's what I said. Ya got a problem with dat?"

"Stupid little cat," he hissed. "You know you'll only be defeated again...and this time I won't be so merciful. If you lose, I will kill you for your insolence."

"So what?" I retorted. "I'd rather die on my feet den live on my knees. I can't just run away like a coward after what ya done ta my friends!"

This made him start laughing again. "Did you hear that?!" he jeered. "The little cat thinks he's a warrior now!"

"I never said I was a warrior," I told him. "But dere's honor among thieves too, and I got as much honor ta uphold as you do. So what's it gonna be? Do ya accept my challenge...or are ya afraid of gettin' beat by a little cat?"

Those were the magic words.

I had called the Scyther's honor into question...and suggested that refusing my challenge would make him a coward. I couldn't be denied now, and he knew it!

The lead Scyther's eyes flashed. "Very well," he sneered. "We'll have a one-on-one battle to the death. If you live, my swarm will let you leave Murka Island with your miserable life. But if I win...wait a minute, what am I saying?! WHEN I win, you will die. You understand this, don't you?"

I nodded. I wasn't going to let him scare me away. "Just one condition," I said.

"And what would that be?"

"No matter what the outcome of dis fight, you and yer swarm gotta leave the humans alone."

The Scyther chuckled. "Oh! Protecting the cowardly humans who sent you to die! How noble!"

"Dey didn't send me ta do nothin'!" I growled. "I'm here cuz I choose ta be!"

His cold insect eyes narrowed to slits. "Foolish cat. Why do you risk your life for such weak, pathetic creatures?"

"Cuz dey're my friends."

"It figures," he snorted.

"And what's dat supposed ta mean?"

"You're a sell-out. Just like all the others," he told me. "There is no life form so weak as a human. They're so utterly defenseless that they have to build weapons of destruction and enslave pokemon in order to protect themselves. You and every other pokemon who serves them is a sell-out!"

"Dat ain't true!" I shot back. "Sure, dere's some bad people in dis world, but my friends ain't among 'em! Dey may not always show it, but dey got hearts of gold! Dere pokemon ain't slaves, and neither is Meowth! We help Jess and Jim cuz dey love us!"

He rolled his eyes. "Ugh! I don't know which is more pathetic -- the humans or the pokemon that serve as their happy slaves! Are you truly so stupid that you're not even aware of your servitude...that you bow down to your masters at the cost of your dignity?"

"Hey! Meowth don't take orders from no human!" I snapped. "I'm my own master, and I follow 'em cuz dey're the only livin' things in dis world -- human or pokemon -- dat ever cared about me...dat could accept me the way I am...."

"That doesn't say much for them," the Scyther remarked. "You're worse than a slave pokemon. You've sold more than your freedom -- you've sold your soul."

"Whadda you sayin'?!" I demanded.

"Look at you. You walk on two legs. You use human speech. But it cost you your pokemon abilities," he told me. "Now you're nothing but a freak. You said yourself that you were rejected by the world of humans...the pathetic creatures you were trying so hard to become like. And at the same time, you sacrificed all of your real power. So what good are you as a pokemon? The answer is, you're not. You're completely worthless."

"Alright, enough talk!" I snapped, unable to take his insults anymore. "Let's just get dis over with!"

Scyther grinned as he took a step towards me. "Very well. But before I destroy you, I have a question."

"What?"

"When your friend found out that I'd cut off her hair," he began, "how loud did she scream?" His grin became a wicked leer...a leer that made Jessie's demonic face look downright friendly!

My eyes widened at the audacity of his question. How DARE he ask something like that?!

Seeing my reaction only made the swarm start laughing again.

"I SAID ENOUGH!" I shouted. "Ya can insult Meowth all ya want, but I told ya ta leave my friends outta dis!"

"Oh, did I make the little kitty mad?" he jeered.

"Quit talkin' and fight," I growled, unsheathing my claws.

The lead Scyther brought up his blades and assumed a fighting stance. "I'll try to conceal my terror!" he said mockingly. "Prepare to die!"

And then, he lunged at me.

Quickly, I ducked and rolled away as one of his blades came slashing down, missing me by mere inches. When I came out of the roll, I jumped back to my feet and faced him again. I couldn't turn my back on him...not even for a second.

"You're fast," he remarked.

"Heh. I kinda hafta be, don't I?"

He smirked.

I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as I sized him up. I had to strike at him, but I had to find a weak spot first. Charging in blindly would only be a waste of energy...and I'd probably get hacked to pieces, too. Where was he vulnerable? My scratch and bite attacks wouldn't do anything against his armor-like exoskeleton, and there was no way for me to go for his eyes without getting through his blades.

That's when I knew I was just going to have to wear him down. I'd let him waste all of his energy attacking me, and once he was tired, he'd slow down...start making mistakes. Then I could make my move. But outlasting him was going to take all of my concentration. I had to anticipate his every action and react before he did. I had to make every move count and conserve as much of my energy as possible.

As I concentrated on my enemy, I saw his body tense. Knowing that he was preparing for another attack, I faked to the left. The second he lunged, however, I reversed direction and went back to the right, and he sent himself sprawling into the dirt.

The Scyther chuckled as he stood up again. "You're definitely making this interesting, little one. I have to give you credit for that," he told me. "Still, it's not nearly as amusing as what we did with your friend's hair."

Behind me, I heard the other members of the swarm chuckling, too.

"All that beautiful red hair," he continued. "I tell you, there was nothing more satisfying than slashing it all apart and stomping it into the ground."

An image of Jessie's hair -- her crowning glory -- being destroyed by these monsters came to my mind once again and filled me with anger. "You son of a bitch!" I growled.

He laughed and charged me once more. Only this time, I wasn't prepared for his attack, and I dodged a split second too late. When I tried to jump away, he smashed into me and sent me rolling.

And when I tried to get to my feet again, a searing pain on my arm made me collapse. Looking down, I saw blood dripping from a gash the Scyther had made.

The sight of my blood and the intensity of the pain made the world around me go fuzzy. In the distance, I could hear the swarm laughing again, and I felt, rather than saw their leader standing triumphantly over me.

"Well, that was definitely entertaining," he said. "But now, it's time for you to die."

That's when I realized my mistake.

Scyther had made that remark about Jessie's hair on purpose! He wanted to make me lose my cool...break my concentration. My awareness had been my one true advantage in this battle, but I had played right into his hands and allowed him to take it from me.

And that had just cost me my life.

There was no way I'd ever be able to outlast him now -- his stamina was as great as ever while I was growing weaker by the second. And he'd had the size and strength advantage to begin with! As agreed, this battle wouldn't be over until one of us was dead, and I knew now that it was going to be me.

But even so, I wasn't going to let it end like this.

They say that an animal is most dangerous when it knows it's dying. During its last moments of life, it lashes out at its opponent in an attempt to do as much damage as possible. There's no more fear of getting hurt -- what does one more injury matter when defeat is imminent? So, there's nothing left to hold back the rage and fury of an all-out assault.

And at that moment, that was exactly how I felt. If I was going to die anyway, then by God, I was going to die fighting! Even if that Scyther did emerge triumphant, I'd do my damndest to make sure he NEVER forgot his battle with the insolent talking Meowth!

As the Scyther raised his blades and prepared to strike me down for good, my eyes scanned his armor until I found what I was looking for.

Now that his arms were raised above his head, there was a small gap in the plates of his exoskeleton.

This was my chance.

Before he could bring his blades down, I lunged at him and brought out my claws, sinking them into the soft flesh exposed by the gap in his armor. The Scyther screamed and reeled backwards, throwing me to the ground once again.

My claws were coated with his blood, and the scent of it brought out some ancient, primal instinct that had been dormant inside of me. I was no longer a rational being. Only the wild animal -- the hunter -- existed now.

While he was still facing away from me, I launched myself into the air and landed on his back. Again, I had taken him by surprise, and he began to flail wildly about in an attempt to throw me off. But I held fast, and after a few minutes, the Scyther flapped his mighty wings and took to the sky.

Well, I wasn't about to let him regain the advantage in an aerial fight, so I brought out my claws again and Fury Swiped for all I was worth. In a matter of minutes, his wings were shredded and he fell back to the ground, landing with a jarring crash. It would be a long time before he ever flew again.

The force of his impact with the ground threw me from his back, and I went sprawling, several feet away.

Before I could get back to my feet and charge in for another attack, however, Scyther was looming over me again. His eyes were burning with rage.

"This is no longer amusing," he snarled. "I'm through playing games with you!"

With that, the Scyther split into two and initiated his Double Team attack.

Undaunted, I charged at the two monsters, claws out and ready to slash.

And that proved to be my undoing.

When I charged in, the Scyther I picked to attack turned out to be the illusion. And when I went to tackle it and ended up hitting nothing but air, I was thrown off balance.

Which left me vulnerable.

Taking advantage of my momentary confusion, the real Scyther hit me from behind and began to slash relentlessly. Then, he slammed me to the ground. I felt bones cracking as I buckled under the force of his crushing blow.

I tried to get up again, but there was a burning pain in my chest, making it almost impossible to move -- it felt like flaming daggers were being jabbed into my ribs!

The Scyther body slammed me a couple more times for good measure, but there really wasn't any need. I had been defeated.

He chuckled as he stood over me once more. "NOW, little cat, it's time for you to die!" he said.

I looked up at him and saw the pale silver light of the crescent moon reflecting off of his blades as he raised them overhead again.

Not wanting to watch as he relieved me of my head, I closed my eyes and thought about Jessie and James instead. I wanted the last thing I saw in my mind's eye to be something friendly.

It was so hard to believe that only a few short days ago on an island not far from here, I had been worshipped as a god! And how happy Jessie, James, and I had been together. But now...now my two best friends had been hurt, and I was dying.

Suddenly, I found my mind drifting to something Jessie had said to me on that day. When I told the Meowth-worshippers that I couldn't stay with them because I wanted to be with my friends, she and James came from their hiding place and recited a special version of the motto just for me. I remember, Jessie's first line was:

You protect us both from desperation.

No, I don't, I thought as I reflected on that line. I couldn't even stick up for ya when ya needed help! You and James have done so much for me...but I couldn't do nothin' for youse guys. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...."

"What did you say?"

Opening my eyes, I saw the Scyther still standing over me. He hadn't brought his blades down yet, and there was a look of confusion on his face.

"What did you say?!" he asked again.

I had said my final thought aloud!

"I...I said I'm sorry...." I muttered.

He scowled. "Stupid cat! I'm about to kill you, and YOU'RE apologizing to ME?!"

Well, he didn't know that I was really apologizing to Jessie and James, but seeing the confused look on his face gave me another idea.

Now I knew that I'd lost this battle because we'd been fighting it on his terms. Of course I didn't stand a chance in a physical match, but in a battle of wits and words, I could destroy him easily. It was time to start fighting on my terms now. I knew I was still going to die, but I wasn't going to let him emerge victorious!

"I...ain't apologizin' to ya," I said. "I just feel sorry for ya."

"Why do YOU feel sorry for ME?!" he demanded.

"I'm sorry dat yer filled with so much hate," I told him. "Ya hate all humans, but dat's only because ya never had a friend. Yer existence must be pretty empty, and I pity ya."

"And where has friendship gotten you?" he shot back. "Look at you, cat. Your love for those humans has cost you your life. If you didn't care about them...."

"....Id've died long ago," I said, cutting him off. "Dey've saved Meowth's life on more den one occasion. And my friendship with dem...it's given my life so much meanin' and happiness. I may be dyin' now, but I ain't got no regrets. Dey gave me a life worth livin', and at least I'll die knowin' dat I tried my best for 'em."

The Scyther said nothing. He was at a loss for words.

"Goin' through life with nothin' dat moves ya so...well, dat ain't no kinda life as far as I'm concerned," I continued. "Better ta die knowin' dat ya loved and were loved in return den ta go through life not carin' about nothin'.

"So go ahead and kill me. Like I said, I fought for my friends, and I'll die for my friends. Kill me now, and I die with honor...."

Still unable to think of a comeback, he frowned at me. He raised his blades once more, but this time, I didn't close my eyes. I would meet my death with a defiant stare. No, he definitely wouldn't forget this battle anytime soon. Even after his wounds had healed, my final words and my dead eyes would still pierce into his soul. I guess, in a way, it would be my own personal victory.

The moonlight flashed again on Scyther's blades as he brought them down. I braced myself, but he stopped just before they touched my throat.

Now it was my turn to be confused.

"Hmmph!" he snorted. "I wouldn't dirty my blades on the likes of you!"

"Whatsa matter? Afraid ta finish the job?"

"A battle to the death with something as pathetic as you is a no-win situation for me," he explained. "If you win, it means that I wasn't even strong enough to beat a little cat. And if I win? Well, what does that prove? That I can destroy a weakling? No, there's no honor in that...and I won't give you the satisfaction of an honorable death."

Well, this was unexpected.

"So go on. Get out of here," he sneered. "Go live your pathetic life with the knowledge that you didn't defeat me...that you didn't avenge your friends. You failed them tonight...and don't you ever forget that."

With that, he hauled me to my feet and shoved me away. He wasn't going to fight me anymore, and if I attacked him now, I'd only look like a fool. (Well, more of a fool.)

Not that it mattered. I was in so much pain that I couldn't attack him if I wanted! There was nothing more for me to do.

And so I left. As I turned and walked (or should I say, crawled) away from my enemies, their laughter and jeering followed me into the night.

@->->-

I don't know how far it was to the pokemon center from there -- all the world was a haze, and only the pain existed. Breathing was a labor, and moving was even more so. That Scyther's body slams had probably cracked several of my ribs, and my fur was matted with blood from the gashes that now covered my body.

If I didn't get treatment soon, it felt like I really was going to die.

When I did make it to the pokemon center, however, I had second thoughts. As I staggered through the doors, the first thing I saw was the Twerp Trio, sitting in the lounge area. Misty was still laughing and carrying on about Jessie and James's new haircuts, and Ash was trying to show the new twerp, Tracey, how to do that dorky pose he always does when he catches a new pokemon.

The very sight of them was enough to bring up the bile from the back of my throat and make me even sicker than I already was.

I couldn't stay there.

I may have been in desperate need of healing, but I wasn't about to let those little brats see me in such bad shape. They hated me, and they could never seem to understand that I was a living thing, too. That I had thoughts and feelings...and that I could get hurt. (Come ta think of it, dey have dat problem with all three of us! Whenever we show our true natures around 'em, dey've always gotta make a crack about us bein' "almost human," or dey're always completely shocked ta see dat we ain't really heartless!)

No, if they saw me now, they'd never understand how much pain I was in. If they were cruel enough to laugh at Jessie after what had happened to her, then why wouldn't they laugh at me, too?

So, I quickly turned and left before any of them noticed me. I knew I should probably have stayed and gotten treatment, but the thought of them laughing at me...judging me...condemning me...just like they always do, was more than I could stand. Even if it meant being in agony for a few days while waiting for treatment at another pokemon center, being with my friends was infinitely preferable to staying here with people who cared nothing for me.

@->->-

Somehow, through a sheer act of will (driven by the desire to see Jessie and James again, no doubt), I was able to make my way back to camp. When I arrived, the two of them had already fallen asleep. They were resting peacefully in each other's arms, zipped together in James's sleeping-bag.

Even though they looked like a couple of leftovers from a 1980s punk-rock concert with their new mohawks, I still thought they were beautiful. They loved each other so much. No physical imperfection could ever hide that.

But as peaceful as they seemed, I could still see the pain etched on their faces. No matter how much they loved each other, it couldn't change what had happened today, and it still hurt them. Deeply.

As I looked down at them, I found myself reflecting on the Scyther's parting words to me:

You didn't defeat me...you didn't avenge your friends. You failed them tonight...and don't you ever forget that.

I sighed. In my heart, I couldn't help but feel that he was right. Sure, I had given him a couple of scratches, but his wounds would eventually heal and leave him with scars -- a warrior's badge of honor. What had my fight with him truly accomplished? Nothing. In the end, all I had really achieved was getting my sorry butt kicked and giving the Scyther swarm a good laugh in the process.

But as badly as the Scyther had crushed my body, the fact that I hadn't been able to defend Jessie and James in their hour of need crushed my soul. And that hurt worse than any physical injury possibly could.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I thought about this. I'm so sorry, my mind cried. (Speaking aloud was too painful.) I tried ta make things right, but I failed. Ya done so much for Meowth...sacrificed so much, and for no other reason den because ya care about me. But what have I ever done for youse guys? Nothin'...except scratch ya, make fun of ya....And the one time I try ta show how much I care about youse guys, too, I make a total mess of it. Dat Scyther was right -- I'm completely worthless....

When I looked down at Jessie and James again, I noticed that the tears I'd been shedding as these thoughts passed through my mind had all fallen onto them. Their heads were completely soaked!

"Heh. Will ya look at dat," I said weakly, reaching down and brushing some of my tears off of them. "I can't even cry for ya without makin' a mess."

The two of them remained in peaceful repose, totally unaware of all that had happened.

And I decided to keep it that way. The last thing they needed was to be bothered by my troubles, so I decided to go to bed. Maybe sleep would diminish the pain. Maybe it wold hurt less in the morning....

But as I went to get my sleeping-bag, I suddenly saw a woman standing over me.

Her eyes were the most brilliant shade of sapphire blue -- just like Jessie's -- and her long, purple hair cascaded down her back and swept outwards, ending in two large coils. Even though she was now wearing a flowing, white gown instead of the black and red-striped uniform of the Team Rocket Elite, and I had never met the woman in person, I had seen Jessie's photographs enough to know who she was.

"M-Miyamoto?" I stammered.

She nodded and smiled at me. "Hello, Meowth."

"W-whaddaya' doin' here?" I asked. "I thought you was dead."

"I am," she replied.

I felt a sweatdrop roll down my face when she said this.

Miyamoto chuckled. "Don't worry, Meowth. I'm not here to take you to the other side," she said, as if she could read my mind. "That Scyther may have hurt you, but it's not your time to die yet. That won't be for many, many years."

"Den why...."

She smiled tenderly and held out her hand. "The two of us have many things to discuss," she told me. "Come, Meowth. Walk with me for awhile."

I didn't know what Miyamoto's spirit was doing here, or what she could possibly have to say to me, but I knew that her presence was a friendly one...I knew that I could trust her. So, without hesitation, I reached up and let her take my paw in her ethereal hand.

@->->-

"You did well tonight, Meowth," Miyamoto told me as we walked through the forest together. "I'm proud of you."

"Y-ya are?" I said in disbelief. "Why?"

"What you did for Jessie and James was very brave," she said.

I sighed and hung my head. "Yeah. Real brave. My battle with dose Scythers was a joke! I nearly got killed, and in the end, I still wasn't able ta make things right for my friends."

"That's where you're wrong."

I looked and saw that Miyamoto had led me to the pond where Jessie had her breakdown earlier. She seated herself by the water, and I joined her.

"Meowth, you have done so much for the two of them," she said.

With that, she reached down and touched her hand to the surface of the water. Suddenly, in the water appeared an image of Jessie, kneeling by a campfire and shivering. I was curled in her lap, purring and keeping her warm.

Then, the image shifted to one of me and James on a snowy mountain. James was holding me in his arms, and the two of us were embracing.

And then, it changed again. Now, Jessie, James, and Mondo were tied up and hanging from the branches of a tree, surrounded by a swarm of angry Beedrills...and I was fighting the Beedrills!

"You've saved their lives on more than one occasion," said Miyamoto. "There were a few times when your friendship made all the difference to them."

"It...it did?"

She nodded. "Yes. Just knowing that you were there for them...that they weren't alone gave them the strength to go on."

Once again, the image in the water changed. This time, it was me standing in an arena, facing off with a Primeape. All right, banana-boy! Let's go! I said defiantly.

Miyamoto laughed. "And what about all of the sweet things you've done for them when it wasn't a life-or-death situation?"

I watched the battle with the Primeape, which ended with me being blasted off. "But I wasn't much help ta Jessie at dat Princess Festival," I sighed. "I didn't win no battles for her, and she ended up losin' dose princess dolls...."

"But the important thing is that you tried," she told me.

The image changed to one of me and James cheering for her...then, to one of me and James holding tommy-guns and making jokes about eliminating Misty...and finally, to one of all of us sitting together on a display stand, dressed as princess dolls.

Oh! You're all a bunch of living dolls! Jessie cried happily.

"Dat was more James's doin' den mine," I said. "He was the one who came up with all dose ideas."

"But you helped him...you went along with him," she argued. "Meowth, you did your best for Jessie on that day, and you made her happy. That could have been one of the worst days of her life, but you played an important part in seeing that it turned out to be one of the best!"

Miyamoto touched the surface of the water again, and the image changed to one of me and James, sitting by a campfire and having a heart-to-heart talk.

"And what about the day you found out that James and my daughter had finally admitted their feelings for each other?" she asked. "They were so afraid to tell you about their love, but when they saw how happy you were for them, they knew that they could trust you. That meant a lot to them, and it still does. You're their confidante, Meowth!"

A montage of images now flashed on the surface of the water -- Jessie and James hugging me one day when their unpleasant memories of Pokemon Tech had depressed them; me and James in a hospital, watching over Jessie while she recovered from a case of pneumonia that she'd come down with while we were stranded on a snowy mountain; me and Jessie throwing a welcome-back party for James on the day after he escaped from Jessiebelle for the second time; Jessie and James comforting me on the day I lost Togepi to Misty; the three of us embracing and crying after having a fight while locked in the basement of the Viridian Gym; Jessie and James coming to my rescue when I had to face my old gang; Jessie hugging me and promising never to leave again on the day after she stole the badges from me and James and tried to abandon us; Jessie and James fighting Butch and Cassidy in order to rescue me and the other pokemon from their Drowzee's hypnotic spell; me hugging Jessie and consoling her on the day James almost got killed when he was hit by a falling boulder and fell off of a cliff; and finally, Jessie throwing her coins to make it look like I'd used Pay Day, and James throwing his prized bottle cap to save me from being squeezed to death by an Onix just a few days ago....

"The three of you have been through so much together," said Miyamoto once the images in the water faded. "And you'll get through this, too...together."

"But after what happened today...it's gonna take a long time for things ta go back ta normal," I sighed. "Dey lost more den just dere hair -- dey lost dere security. The Scythers deserved ta be punished for dat, and I just wish I coulda been strong enough ta do it...."

"You underestimate yourself, Meowth," Miyamoto said, cutting me off. "Look!" With that, she touched the surface of the water again and showed me an image of the lead Scyther. He was standing some distance away from the rest of his swarm, and his head was hung in shame. He looked as if he were deep in thought.

"I...I don't understand," I said.

"He may have bested you in the physical battle, but you were the true winner, Meowth," she explained. "Your body may be weak, but your heart and soul are strong...and your real power lies therein."

"But he said I sold my soul!" I protested. "He said dat I gave up all my real power...dat I'm useless as a pokemon!"

Miyamoto shook her head. "True, you gave up some physical powers in order to become more like a human, but it did wonders for you on the inside. Meowth, the Scythers may have raw physical strength, but that's all they have. Yours is a power that comes from a higher plane of being -- yours is a power that comes from the heart. And in the end, the power of the heart will always prevail over brute strength."

"Y-ya mean dat?"

"Yes." She gestured again to the image in the water. "Scyther's hatred for humanity was what gave him his power...and tonight, you took that from him. Your love for Jessie and James destroyed his hatred. You've proven that love really is the greatest power in the entire universe...that love can win a war!"

Tears welled up in my eyes again, but this time they were tears of joy. "I...I guess yer right!"

Miyamoto smiled and pulled me into her lap. "And if you have a little patience, you'll see what else the power of your love is capable of doing."

"Whaddaya mean?" I asked.

She began to stroke my fur and scratch behind my ears. "Let me tell you a little story," she said softly. "If my memory serves me right, there's an ancient legend that all pokemon have magical powers."

"We do?"

"Yes," she replied. "According to the legend, when a pokemon acts out of love for another living thing, for no other reason than love, it gains a very special ability."

Well, this sure got my attention. "What kind of ability?"

"Its tears become the waters of life themselves. When it truly loves another living being and sheds tears of love, those tears can work wonders!"

Again, Miyamoto touched the surface of the water, but the scene I saw this time was unfamiliar to me. There was a large battlefield filled with pokemon who had been fighting each other to the death. In the middle of the field was a stone statue of Ash. All of the pokemon were crying, and when their tears touched the statue, it came to life.

"I don't understand," I said as I watched the scene unfold.

"Believe it or not, the kid actually did something amazing on that day -- he sacrificed his life to save all of those pokemon from the hatred that consumed them," she explained. "When the pokemon saw what he had done, it reminded them all of the power of love that they had inside of themselves. When they were able to bring an end to the violence, it unleashed the power that's inside...the power to bring back that which was thought to be lost forever."

"Whoa! The twerp did dat?!" I said in disbelief. "I guess the kid's good for somethin' after all...."

"Each pokemon has this power," she continued. "And over time, even humans have learned it to some extent. In a way, the pokemon have taught us...just as we teach them."

"Whaddaya' mean, Miyamoto?" I asked.

"Well, take me, for example," she said. "When I died, the powers that be gave me a choice -- I could have either gone to Paradise, or I could stay here in this world...in spirit form. I chose to stay."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because of love," came her reply. "When I died, I realized that it meant I could always be with my daughter...so that's what I decided to do. In this form, I can give her the protection and love that I never could when I was alive."

"Protection...does dat mean yer Jessie's guardian angel?" I said in disbelief.

Miyamoto nodded. "Among others."

"Others?"

"It's a guardian angel's duty to watch over one soul," she explained. "I can't protect Jessie without protecting James as well...."

"I knew it!" I exclaimed. "Dey're soul-mates, aren't dey?!"

"Yes. Two halves of the same soul. Together, they form the one soul that I'm sworn to protect."

I smiled. "I always knew dose two were purr-fect together!"

"But they're not the only soul I watch over," she continued. "When I saw their soul-friend, I knew I had to watch over that one as well."

"Soul-friend? Y-ya mean Meowth?"

Again, Miyamoto nodded. Then, she took the braid that I had made from their hair and held it up to me.

"Think of yourselves as the strands of hair in this braid," she told me. Pointing to the red and blue-violet, she said, "Like this hair, Jessie and James may be completely different, but their differences only serve to make their union more beautiful. And like this hair, they may be separate -- individual -- but there's no denying that they're forever interconnected." Then, she pointed to my cream-colored whiskers entwined with the hair. "And you? You're what makes the braid complete. You make their union stronger -- you keep them from unravelling."

My eyes widened. "Wow! Dat's kinda what I was thinkin' of when I made dat braid!"

Miyamoto smiled. "Such is the nature of the soul-friend," she continued. "The soul-friend guides and protects the soul-mates. The soul-friend's destiny is forever entwined with that of the soul-mates, and together, the three form a perfect union."

I returned her smile as she handed me the braid once again.

"And that's why I choose to watch over the soul-friend as well," she explained. "Without their soul-friend, the soul-mates would be incomplete!"

"I really mean dat much to 'em?" I said, still in awe of all Miyamoto had told me.

"Yes," came her reply. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't so -- your union is what makes it possible for me to keep you safe."

"Heh! Ain't no wonder Team Rocket can always take a beatin' and keep comin' back for more! We've got our very own guardian angel!" I mused. "I'll bet the three of us really keep ya on yer toes!"

Miyamoto laughed again. "You do have a knack for getting yourselves into tight spots, don't you?"

"Dat's puttin' it mildly."

"But let me tell you something," she said. "As good as you are at getting into trouble, you're even better at getting yourselves out of it. More often than not, you don't need me when you're in danger because your friendship -- your unity -- is what saves you. Being able to stick together like that makes all the difference...and that's what allows me to give you a little help on the occasions when you really are in over your heads."

"So, ya help us cuz we help each other!" I concluded.

"Precisely!"

I looked back and thought about some of the times when we were in mortal danger but still managed to survive somehow. Now it all made sense!

"Like the St. Anne!" I exclaimed. "I bet you were dere when James fell off the vines and Jess had ta pull him back up!"

"I was," she told me. "Because Jessie was thinking only of keeping James safe, I was able to give her the strength to not let go of him. I was able to hold her steady and keep her from falling off herself."

"And when we were stuck on dat mountain...." I began.

"....James loved Jessie so much that I was able to give him the speed and strength he needed to dig her out of the snow before she froze to death," she finished for me.

"And I'm guessin' ya been dere with us a few other times, too."

"I have," she replied. "Even tonight. Yes, I was with you during that battle, Meowth. You would have died for Jessie and James...and that gave me the power to make sure you didn't. I stayed Scyther's blades...made him realize the importance of your words before he destroyed you."

"Whew!" I sighed.

"You're welcome," she chuckled, knowing that I had really meant to thank her.

"So, ya been dere for us all along," I said.

She nodded. "I always have been...and I always will be."

"Dat's good ta know," I told her. "Considerin' all we go through, I'm glad we've got someone like you on our side."

Miyamoto smiled again and lifted me into her arms. "The three of you don't have anything to fear," she whispered. "You love each other...you help each other, and because of that, I'll be watching over you, and I'll always protect you."

Her words soothed me, and I closed my eyes. In my heart, I knew she was speaking the truth...that no real harm would ever come to us.

"Never forget the power that's inside, Meowth," she continued. "The power of the heart...."

Miyamoto pressed her lips to the golden charm on my forehead, and I found myself being consumed by a warm, white light. A light that took away all of my physical pain and replaced it with a sense of inner-peace.

Then, as suddenly as she had appeared, Miyamoto vanished, and I knew no more....

@->->-

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I was jolted from my sleep by the sound of Jessie screaming.

"Oh, what the...." I grumbled, dragging myself from my sleeping-bag and rubbing my eyes. I'd been in the middle of the most wonderful dream. A dream about...well, I don't remember exactly what it was about, but it had been so beautiful and so peaceful. Needless to say, I wasn't too thrilled about being forced to wake up from it only to face the rotten day ahead.

"OH!!!!! MY!!!!! GOD!!!!!"

Panic siezed me when I heard Jessie scream again. I looked frantically around the campsite, but she wasn't anywhere to be seen.

The screams sounded like they were coming from the woods, but what would she be doing out there? Had the Scythers come back for us while we were asleep?! Had they dragged Jessie away to torture her some more...or kill her?!

Apparently, James was thinking the exact same thing. When he pushed his mop of blue-violet hair out of the way, I could see that all of the color had drained from his face. His terror-filled emerald eyes were the size of dinner plates as he looked up at me. "Jessie! No, not again!" he screamed silently, his voice on the brink of panic.

"JAMES!!!!! MEOWTH!!!!! COME HERE!!!!! QUICK!!!!!"

Well that did it.

Faster than you could say, "Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!" James had jumped from his sleeping-bag, pulled on his boxer shorts, and sprinted off into the woods.

"JESSIE!!!!! JESS!!!!! WHERE ARE YOU?!" he shouted.

Not wanting him to charge headlong into danger by himself, I quickly followed.

But when I caught up to him, I realized something....

He had hair!

I'd been so worried when I heard Jessie scream that I hadn't even noticed James's hair was shoulder-length once again...and I don't think he noticed, either!

Now I was confused. How had all of his hair grown back overnight?

I had the feeling that when we found Jessie, we'd find the answer, so the two of us ran faster than ever in the direction that her screams had come from.

@->->-

When we finally did find her, Jessie was standing on the bank of the pond once again. The short, blue robe she was wearing fluttered gently in the morning breeze...and so did her mane of wild, crimson hair, which reached almost all the way to the ground!

James stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her. "Jessie!" he gasped.

Slowly, she turned to face him. Her eyes were as wide as his had been, and they were brimming with tears...tears of joy!

James grinned and swept her into his arms. "Jessie! Oh, Jessie! Thank God you're okay! I heard you screaming, and thought the Scythers got you again! And...and...your hair! How did...."

Jessie embraced him and returned the smile. "I'm fine, James. I'm sorry I scared you. And I don't know how my hair grew back," she replied. "I...I just got up to get some water, and...and when I leaned down and saw my reflection....Oh, James, it's a miracle!"

"I'll say!" he agreed as he ran his fingers through her sea of pristine red hair. "It's like nothing even happened yesterday! Your hair is just as beautiful as ever!"

Jessie reached up and tousled his blue-violet hair. "So is yours, James! So is yours!"

James raised an eyebrow as he freed one of his hands from her mane and placed it atop his own head. His smile grew wider than ever when he realized that his hair was back to normal, too.

"Well, I'll be damned!" he exclaimed.

The two of them embraced once again and rested their foreheads together.

"Oh, Jessie! This is wonderful!" James whispered. "I love you so much, and seeing how upset you were yesterday...well, it broke my heart!"

"I love you, too, James," Jessie replied. "And I'm sorry I was so mean to you. No matter what I say or what I do, you'll always be my one true love. I hope you know that...."

James kissed her gently on the forehead. "I do, Jess," he told her. "Like you once said to me -- even when you're at your worst, I still think you're the best!"

Jessie's smile grew even wider as the soft morning sunlight sparkled in her sapphire eyes. "Thank you, James," she whispered.

"You know what? I think that no matter what happens to us, as long as we have each other, we'll be just fine," James said as he returned the smile and ran his fingers through her hair once again. "I've noticed that things always have a way of working out for us in the end...I know that doesn't explain how our hair grew back, but...."

She shrugged. "I can't explain it, either, James....Who knows? Maybe it was a test. Something to remind us never to lose sight of what's really important. I know that's what I've learned!"

He nodded. "Yeah...yeah! Me, too!"

The two of them leaned closer together, and their lips locked in a passionate kiss. Then, a cool breeze began to blow, whipping their hair about and entwining it.

I smiled as I watched Jessie and James. I was happy for them, but how this wonderful turn of events had come to pass was still a mystery to me. Was it, indeed, some kind of test?

As I thought about everything that had happened yesterday, I found my eyes drifting to something that I was holding in my paw. It was the braid that I had made from their hair and my whiskers! I smiled as I looked at it and remembered my battle with the Scythers. Then, I remembered something else, too....

....The beautiful dream I'd been having before Jessie woke me up! Now I remembered what it was about -- Miyamoto had come to me. She told me that the three of us would never have anything to fear because she was always with us...always watching over us.

So that was how their hair had grown back! And how my wounds had been healed! The three of us had proven once again just how much we care about each other, and once again, it allowed Miyamoto to provide a little "divine intervention!"

I looked at Jessie and James again, still wrapped up in their kiss. The wind played gently with their hair, but when I looked closer, I swear I saw Miyamoto's ethereal form standing over them. She was running her fingers through their hair, entwining it, just like the strands of my braid.

Thank you, Miyamoto.... I said silently. For everything....

When this thought passed through my mind, she looked over at me and winked, knowing that I had remembered what she told me.

Jessie and James remained in their embrace after the kiss ended and smiled tenderly as they looked into each other's eyes. The light of the rising sun enveloped them in an aura of radience, making them look more beautiful and angelic than I ever thought possible!

James always seems to have that aura about him -- not even the Team Rocket uniform he wears can hide the light that shines in his soul! And Jessie's inner-light is every bit as dazzling as his -- she just does a better job of masking it, that's all. But at that moment, as she gazed at her lover, the light in her soul was shining so brightly that she really did look like an angel. An angel...just like the one who stood above them now.

Well, ya know what dey say -- like mother, like daughter! I mused.

@->->-

Not wanting another run-in with the Scyther swarm (lesson learned, or not), the first thing we did when we finally returned to camp was fix the balloon and get off of Murka Island as fast as we could. Then, we stopped at a neighboring island (which was, thankfully, free of bug pokemon) and got Arbok, Weezing, Lickitung, and Victreebel healed at the pokemon center (which was, thankfully, twerp-free). And after that, we spent the entire afternoon shopping so that Jessie could replace all of the hair-care products she'd thrown away the night before.

And now, all of us were relaxing on the shore of a secluded island, watching as the setting sun painted the clouds and sky in glorious shades of pink and purple. The fading light of day glinted off of the ocean, making the waters on the western horizon look like liquid gold. It was the perfect time...and the perfect place for a vacation!

Arbok had curled herself around Weezing, and the two of them were nuzzling together on a soft patch of grass beneath a palm tree while Lickitung splashed about in the crystal-blue waves that lapped gently on the white sand of the beach. Victreebel was perched on an outcropping of rocks further down the shore, soaking up the last rays of sunlight.

Jessie and James were lying together beneath a massive Australian pine tree, cuddling and enjoying each other's company. Even though Jessie now had a new arsenal of hairbrushes and hairspray, she had chosen to leave her hair down for the day. Her head was resting on James's chest as she sat in his lap, and her hair engulfed the two of them like a silky crimson cloak. James had an arm around Jessie's waist, and with his free hand, he was playing with her hair, which he had twined one of his roses into.

And me? I was seated among the branches of that tree, looking down at all of my friends and relishing the feel of the balmy sea-breeze ruffling my fur.

"James, I had the strangest dream last night," Jessie said, breaking the silence.

"What was it about, Jess?" James asked softly, pushing a loose strand of her hair aside and kissing her on the neck.

"Well," she replied, "it was after the two of us had fallen asleep. Meowth was standing over us...and he was...."

"....Crying?" he said, finishing the sentence for her.

"Y-yes, he was! How did you know, James?"

"I had the same dream!"

Jessie looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Meowth looked like he was in pain...like he'd been in a fight, but that's not why he was so upset," James told her. "He looked disappointed, like he'd let us down...."

"....And he was crying because he felt bad for us!" Jessie continued. "He thought he'd failed us somehow, and all of his tears were falling onto us!"

James nodded. "Yeah! That's exactly what happened in my dream, too!"

Jessie's eyes widened. "Then maybe it wasn't a dream!" she gasped.

"What do you mean?"

"My momma once told me a story," she said. "A story about how when a pokemon really loves somebody or something, its tears have some kind of magical power...."

Suddenly, I remembered something else Miyamoto had told me -- she said that a pokemon's tears could become the waters of life themselves...and that they had the power to bring back that which was thought to be lost forever! And I had been crying on Jessie and James before Miyamoto came to me! Had it really been my tears that made their hair grow back?!

It must have! Why else would Miyamoto have told me that if I had a little patience, I'd see what else the power of my love is capable of doing? And why else would she have told me that story about the pokemons' enchanted tears? Besides, she hadn't done anything to Jessie and James -- she had come only to me last night! What other explanation could there possibly be?!

"Oh, my God!"

The sound of Jessie and James speaking these words in unison broke my train of thought. I looked down at them again and saw that they were staring up at me, their eyes wide with shock.

So they had reached the same conclusion.

"M-Meowth?" James said tentatively. "Did...did you...."

"I...I think so...." I was every bit as shocked as they were!

The two of them smiled tenderly at me, tears of joy beginning to stream down their faces.

Well, I wanted to make some kind of joke, make light of it, but that was impossible -- I was crying, too!

Jessie held her arms out to me, and I climbed down the trunk of the tree, allowing her to sweep me into an embrace. "Thank you, Meowth," she whispered. "Thank you so much...."

"Ah, don't mention it," I sniffled as I hugged back.

Not wanting to be left out, James put his arms around both of us. "Meowth, you have no idea how much this means to us."

"Well, I know how much it hurts ta lose somethin' ya love. And I know how much it hurts when ya see dat someone ya love is sufferin'," I replied.

"So you really do love us," James chuckled.

"Yeah, I do...but don't ya DARE tell anyone I said dat!" I joked.

Jessie winked at me. "Don't worry, Meowth. Your 'secret's' safe with us," she joked back. "But that was a really amazing thing you did...that you loved us enough to...."

"Well, after all the stuff youse guys have done for Meowth, it was the least I could do!" I told them. "Yer my best friends, and ya make me happy. How could I not try ta help ya out?"

Jessie smiled again. "Team Rocket, best friends both day and night!"

Now James was smiling, too. "For our friendship, we all will fight!"

My smile became a grin. "Jessie, James, and Meowth! Dat's right!"

All three of us burst into laughter when I said this, and that's how we stayed for the rest of the evening -- laughing and smiling in each other's arms. I tell you, it was the best feeling in the world. I had made my friends as happy as they make me! And it wasn't so much about their hair as it was about the way in which it had grown back. Now it had even more significance to them -- it would be a constant reminder of how much I cared!

Miyamoto was right -- love IS the greatest power in the entire universe!

@->->-

Later that night, after Jessie, James, and the rest of the pokemon had fallen asleep, I was still awake. For some strange reason, sleep just wouldn't come.

I wanted to clear my mind and contemplate all the events of the past two days, so I seated myself on one of the rocks by the shoreline and gazed up at the stars. (I love the night sky down here in the Orange Islands. Dere's not as much light pollution from cities, so the stars are a lot brighter. I swear, in the past couple of months, I've seen stars and constellations dat I never even knew existed! When I look at dis night sky, it feels like we really can extend our reach to the stars above!)

As I looked at the stars, one of them seemed to twinkle more brightly than all of the others. I don't know why, but seeing that shining star gave me a peaceful feeling on the inside. Maybe because it reminded me that we had our very own guardian angel...that Miyamoto would always be there with us and that we'd be safe forever.

I can't describe how happy I was at that moment. Everything was so serene and so right -- the beauty of our surroundings, the quiet of night...and the knowledge that my friends and I would be together forever...that even in our darkest hour, there was a ray of light that would always shine on us and keep us safe from harm.

With clear mind and sense of purpose renewed, I finally realized just how tired I was. Sleep came easily to me as I curled myself between Jessie and James, but before I dozed off, I felt Miyamoto's presence once more.

When her spirit materialized, she knealt down and embraced the three of us, as if to guard us in our slumber and keep the nightmares away. Somehow, I knew that she had also done this when she was alive -- I could picture her cradling little Jessie in her arms and protecting her. And somehow, I knew that she had never stopped. I had the feeling that she watched over Jessie like this every night...and that she did the same for me and James, too.

As if she could sense my thoughts, Miyamoto looked down at me and smiled. "Never forget the power that's inside, Meowth -- the power of the heart...of love...." she whispered, echoing the words she had spoken to me the night before.

I returned the smile and nodded. "Thank you, Miyamoto," I whispered back before drifting off into pleasant dreams. "Thank you...my friend...."