Disclaimer: I hate writing disclaimers. None of these characters belong to me. They never did, they never will. Do I care? No. Do you care? Unless you happen to own the characters in question, probably not. Anyway, on to what you came for....

Bishojo Senshi Sailor Comet

Act I

Episode 3

Waterlogged

Rocket Dan no kyuusoku! Yappari yomamogo!

The Rocket Gang's day off! Also a monster, too!

In a dark cavern, a wicked woman sat watching the light from her crystal ball reflect off the walls. She gazed at the shifting images in the ball intently. Suddenly, her voice rang out into the blackness. "Malachite!", she shouted, calling her most trusted general. Queen Beryl sat up as her white-haired minion appeared before her throne.

"Yes, m'queen?" Malachite asked, head bowed in respect.

"What have you uncovered regarding the Imperium Silver Crystal? Are we close to locating it?", the queen demanded as Malachite raised his head.

"The last time we faced Sailor Comet and Sailor Nereid, the black homing crystal reacted," Malachite said, holding up the item responsible for tracking down the Silver Crystal. "I believe one of those two new Sailor Scouts has the Silver Crystal," he said confidently.

"Is that so...?", Queen Beryl inquired.

"I've also noticed," Malachite began, "that both Scouts' attacks mirror those of pokemon. It's very possible that they're both pokemon trainers." His eyes glimmered in the dim light.

"Do you plan to use that information?", Queen Beryl asked sharply.

"Of course, my liege," Malachite responded. "As we speak, my minion Aquaria is taking over the Tokyo Pokemon Center to draw those Sailor Brats to us. If they do have the Silver Crystal, it won't be much of a challenge to take it from them."

"Very good, Malachite," Queen Beryl nodded. "Proceed with my blessings."

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

"Good morning, Misty!", Nurse Joy said, peering out from behind the desk at the Pokemon Center.

"Oh, good morning, Nurse Joy. I was just running to meet Ash and Brock for breakfast," Misty said. She was cradling Togepi in her arms and Artemis followed close behind her heels. "I'll see you later, okay?" Misty began to head toward the cafeteria doors again.

"Wait, Misty!", Nurse Joy called out, moving around the desk to meet Misty face to face. The pink-haired lady looked down at Misty and smiled. A black crystal dangled from a gold chain around her neck.

"Yeah, Joy?", Misty said, giving Joy a quizzical look.

"We're having an open house out by the Center's indoor pool this afternoon. It's for all the local pokemon trainers, and they're even encouraged to bring their pokemon to the pool with them! Since you like water so much, I thought you might be interested," Joy said, smiling and handing a flier to Misty.

"Oh, thanks. I'll be there," Misty replied, looking over the flier. She looked down to notice Artemis rubbing her leg and looking up at her. They made their way out of Joy's earshot. They turned a corner and stopped at the beginning of a long hall. "What is it, Artemis?", Misty whispered. The white tomcat looked up at her.

"Misty, I'm getting some weird vibes from Joy. She doesn't seem like she did yesterday," Artemis said quietly.

"Yeah, I think I know what you mean," Misty said, looking thoughtful. "She just doesn't seem like herself today."

"I've seen this type of thing before. The Negaverse may be involved," Artemis said firmly.

Misty looked worried. She hugged Togepi tighter. "What do we do?", she asked shakily.

"Let's call Luna and Jesse. We can get them over here and try to make absolutely sure if the Negaverse is at work here," Artemis said calmly.

"Do we have to?", Misty asked, reluctant to have a whole lot to do with her partner. "I mean, I can think of a way to tell if Joy is the real deal..."

"Can you?", Artemis asked, interested. Misty began to lead him back toward the front desk where Nurse Joy sat.

"When we first came here three days ago, Brock asked her if she was related to the Joy in Vermillion City, and she said she's her sister. Let's ask her now," Misty said, rounding a corner and catching sight of the front desk. Joy looked up from her desk at Misty.

"Back so soon? Is anything the matter?", Joy asked in a concerned voice.

"Oh, no, nothing like that," Misty said, slipping an arm behind her head and laughing nervously. "I just couldn't remember if the other day you said you were the Vermillion City Joy's cousin or not!" Artemis watched Joy intently. Joy got a puzzled look on her face.

"Yes, of course! She's my cousin," Joy replied smiling. "Why do you want to know?", Joy asked, a little suspicious.

"Oh, I just forgot!", Misty said, laughing more nervously and louder than before. "Well," she said, backing away, "I'd better get to breakfast. Ash and Brock might be worried. Bye!" Misty, holding Togepi tight and with Artemis in tow, ran down the corridors until the group was out of Joy's earshot again. "She's not Joy!", Misty exclaimed, out of breath. She and Artemis leaned against a wall to catch their breath.

"That cinches it!", Artemis said, in between short huffs of breath. "We need Sailor Scouts. If the Negaverse thinks we're here, we're in danger! I'm going to call Luna. You go to breakfast and act normal. I'll meet you in the cafeteria. Right?", he said, turning to Misty.

"Right!", Misty said, catching her breath. "Tell me what she says."

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

"Where are we going?", Jesse said, yawning.

"Just wait," James answered. "It's a surprise."

"Just don't lead me into a wall," Jesse said. Her lashes brushed the palms of James' hands. He had insisted upon covering her eyes in order to surprise her. What the surprise was, was anyone's guess. He steered her around a corner and stopped.

"Here we are," he whispered. Without missing a beat, he tapped something in front of him, probably a wall, with his foot. Jesse heard the sound of a door opening, and could sense the dim light, even without her eyes open. James led her forward. "This way," he said. The door swung shut behind them.

James giggled a little. He could smell the shampoo that Jesse used on her hair. It hinted ever-so-slightly of vanilla, and he loved anything that reminded him of food. He inched his nose closer to her hair until he was practically nuzzling into it. "Can I open my eyes yet, James?", Jesse asked with a small amount of crossness entering her voice.

His face shot away from the back of her head. "Oh, yeah," he said, removing his hands from Jesse's face. She blinked her eyes in an effort to adjust to the darkness. The only light in the room came from a large monitor screen on the wall opposite them. She looked around and saw the room decorated with two large flags, one to either side of her. The flags were both black with a red letter "R" embroidered on them.

"Oh, James! A control room! It's perfect!", Jesse said, flinging her arms around her partner for a friendly hug. He smiled dumbly and blushed a little.

"I thought you'd like it," he said, giggling.

"What took youse guys so long? Don'chu know it's rude t' keep da Boss waitin' like this?", a voice demanded from the monitor's control panel. Meowth sat in a chair in front of the screen, working the controls. The cat pokemon had an annoyed scowl on his face. And on the screen in front of him...

"The Boss!?!", both humans responded instinctively, splitting up their hug immediately. Sure enough, on the screen was the irritated visage of their boss, Giovanni. Even though they couldn't make out his eyes, no one in the room doubted that he was glaring. "We're so sorry! We didn't realize...", both said in unison, bowing in respect.

"Apparently not," Giovanni said, cutting them off in mid-sentence. "Take your seats. We're going to cover your plans to hijack the Pokemon Tournament in two weeks." Both Rockets sat in the chairs left for them, one to either side of Meowth.

"Do you want to do the talking, Jesse?", James asked, turning to his partner. She still looked rather sleepy, but she always liked to handle these sort of things. She looked over to him and blinked.

"Nah," she said quietly. "You go ahead. I'm too tired. Gramps Hino had me up half the night washing dishes. It nearly ruined my nails," she commented, pulling a nail file out of her temple robes and beginning to repair the damage.

James almost looked stunned. Jesse always liked to talk to the boss on behalf of the team. She had always said that she was afraid James would say something stupid. He shrugged his shoulders and looked back up at the screen. Giovanni didn't look any happier. "Now, if we're through playing around, let's get back to business," Giovanni said in a cold voice. "Tell me how you plan to rob the Tournament," he said, petting the ever-present Pursian on his lap.

James looked over to Jesse for reassurance. She yawned. "Well, we're going to sneak into the gym, knock everyone in the tournament out with sleeping gas, and while they're all out cold, stuff their pokemon into bags and leave before they wake up," James said, not really very sure of himself. Jesse continued to file her nails.

Giovanni looked thoughtful for a moment. "That's a simple, solid plan," he said. James sat stunned. Giovanni liked a plan that they had come up with? "What do you need to carry it out?", Giovanni asked.

James looked back to Jesse. Again, she sat silently filing her nails. "We figured we'll need three gas masks, about ten tanks of sleeping gas, harnesses to put some of the tanks on our backs, a remote control unit to activate some of the tanks, a getaway car, and about twenty sacks for all the pokeballs," he said, fidgeting. He looked up, expecting to see Giovanni scowling at him. Instead, Giovanni didn't look displeased at all.

"Done," he said in a firm voice. "I'm pretty surprised at you three. For once, you didn't come up with an overly complicated plan. And it doesn't involve crossdressing or spending large sums of money." Giovanni commented, scratching the Pursian under the chin. The evolved form of a Meowth sat and sneered at Jesse and James' companion, heckling him in their native tongue. Meowth didn't dare react in front of the boss. It would appear disrespectful.

Unbeknownst to the Rockets sitting around the monitor screen, a small black cat squeezed through the door of the room. Luna padded softly to where Jesse was and sat on her hindquarters. Immediately, Giovanni's Pursian noticed the little black cat with the yellow crescent moon on her forehead. He began purring loudly, trying to seduce Luna. "Why me?", Luna thought. Meowth, not having seen Luna enter, just gave the Pursian an odd look. He couldn't tell the Pursian wasn't actually talking to him. Until Luna began to hiss and spit. Everyone turned to look at the black cat whose fur was raised all over her body.

Jesse bent down out of her chair to pick Luna up. When she had the cat in her arms, she rose. "Excuse me, Boss. I have to go take care of this," she said, turning. She caught James' attention as she walked toward the door. She left the room.

James was still looking toward the door Jesse had left through when Giovanni spoke again. "Now that she's gone," he began, causing James to snap back around in his chair to face the screen, "I'd like to have a word with you..." James could tell he was about to be in trouble. "About fraternization."

James gulped. He knew very well what that word meant. "Y- yes, boss?", he said, sounding a little more nervous than he should have.

"If you'll remember back to your training - though based on your performance evaluations, I'd say that's doubtful - you'll recall that any relationship between teammates is strictly prohibited," Giovanni said, clearly glaring at James. "Now," Giovanni continued, "Since Tokyo is such a large city, and you're already there, I'm going to give your team the rest of the time until the Tournament off. I'd strongly advise you to use this time to familiarize yourself with the city and the gym...." James knew in the back of his head what Giovanni was about to say. He knew that the subject wasn't going to be dropped that easily. "...And not to fraternize with your partner," Giovanni continued, making it evident why he mentioned the vacation at all. "I saw the way you acted towards her when you came in the room," he stated with a little ice in his voice. "And I saw your eyes wander when she left. If I find out anything is going on between you two, you know what the penalty is..."

"Separation," James said hoarsely. Giovanni smirked at him.

"Precisely," Giovanni stated stonily. "I always hate to separate teams for this sort of thing. It's a pity, really. Otherwise bright agents - although, in your team's case, I use that term loosely - become blithering idiots in order to impress their partners. And that's when they start to become a liability - taking stupid risks, refusing to abandon a fallen partner, showing off. I trust you recall Butch and Cassidy?", he asked.

"They were...?", James asked in response. If they were in trouble, Jesse would get a kick out of hearing about it.

"Unfortunately, yes," Giovanni said. "A shame, too. They're two of my best agents. I expected better out of them. However, since they work so well together, I decided to give them another chance. Given your team's track record, you wouldn't be so lucky," he said, scowling down on his agent and his pokemon. "I'm just offering you a little friendly advice, James. Don't let your hormones get the better of you," he said. Then the image on the screen went blank, and was lit by plain blue light.

"Huh," Meowth said, shrugging. "Wonder why da Boss brought dat up? I mean, you couldn't possibly want anything to do with Je-" Meowth stopped in mid-sentence and looked at James. The human had his head hung. His purplish-blue hair covered his eyes. He sat silently in his seat. "Uh-oh," Meowth continued. "You mean, you... Does she know you like her like that?", Meowth asked quietly, hopping down from his seat and padding his way over to James.

"No," James sighed. "I kinda figured the Boss was going to give us this time off, anyway. I was going to use the time off to try and get her to go out with me," he continued, looking down at Meowth. "But I guess you'd tell on me if I tried," he said, narrowing his eyes at the cat pokemon.

"Actually, no," Meowth said evenly. James' eyes lit up. "I don't really care what you two do. And I know what unrequited love is like," he continued, remembering a female Meowth he had tried to impress named Madonna. She had spurned him in favor of a Pursian. James began to look a little confused because he obviously had no idea what the word "unrequited" meant. "And besides," Meowth said, getting a mischievous grin on his face, "It'll make great blackmail."

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

"What's wrong, Luna? Catch rabies?", Jesse said, setting the cat down. They were in the room Gramps had given Jesse, Raye's old room.

"That - that - THING was propositioning me!", Luna replied, disgusted. She jumped up onto the bed to sit beside Jesse.

"So what did you come in there for? Social call?", Jesse asked, yawning again.

"No. Artemis and Misty have reason to believe Nurse Joy at the Pokemon Center is an agent from the Negaverse," Luna stated firmly. Jesse looked uninterested.

"So? I'm not going anywhere right now. I'm too sleepy," Jesse commented, flopping back on the bed. Luna hopped onto her stomach.

"You don't have to. The Center's having an open house for trainers this afternoon at one o'clock," Luna said, beginning to curl into a ball to take a catnap.

"Why should I go? I don't care," Jesse said, half way falling asleep.

"It's by an indoor pool...", Luna said, trying to tempt Jesse.

"There'll probably be cute lifeguards there," Jesse reasoned. "I guess I'll go. James'll probably like it, too," she said, nodding off.

"Jesse!" Jesse sat upright in the bed, knocking Luna off of her stomach. She looked around and saw James and Meowth standing in her doorway. She relaxed and lay back down.

"Oh, it's just you," she said, hoping they hadn't heard Luna talk. She wished they would go away and let her sleep. And she didn't like to be seen without makeup on. She had been rushed to talk to the Boss before she had a chance to put any on.

"Jesse!", James began again, "The Boss just gave us time off!"

Jesse sat upright again in the bed, knocking Luna off her stomach again. "What!?!", she said in disbelief. She hadn't thought the Boss liked them well enough to give them time off. "How much time do we have?", she asked, excited.

James walked to her bed and sat down on the edge. "Just about two weeks, until the Tournament takes place," he said, watching Jesse lean back against the headboard of the bed.

"I know what we can do to celebrate...", Jesse began, smiling. James' eyes widened. She couldn't mean...? "Let's go to the Pokemon Center!", she finished. James looked a little disappointed.

"Why?", he asked in a dry voice. "What's over there that we should want? We're on vacation, remember?" Meowth hopped up onto the bed and made his way over to where Luna lay. She looked up and hissed, warning Meowth to keep back.

"They're having an open house today. It's by their indoor pool. We could all go swimming," she said, yawning. James perked up a little.

"That sounds like fun," he said, grinning.

"Meowth hates water," Meowth commented. The two humans ignored him. It was obvious they were caught up in the thought of going swimming. Since it was the middle of November, they hadn't been swimming in about four months, and both of them loved to swim.

"But, Meowth," Jesse said, turning to the pokemon, finally paying him attention, "It's for pokemon trainers, and there's sure to be lots of water pokemon there."

"Seafood," Meowth said dreamily. He pictured himself eating a bowl of Squirtle soup and a plate of Krabby legs by the pool. He finished those and began to down a plate of Psyduck a l'orange. "Ahhh," he said, mouth watering.

Jesse, on the other hand, pictured herself floating on an inflatable raft in the pool. She was being fanned by about eight or ten handsome men in Speedos. Of course, all the other girls sat around the pool looking at her jealously, because they looked nowhere near as good in their bikinis.

James pictured himself relaxing in a chair by the pool with Jesse in his lap. She was holding one of those tropical-looking drinks with an umbrella and a straw in it. She held the straw up to his lips and he took a long drink.

Luna simply pictured the insanity that was about to ensue.

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

"Good afternoon, Misty! I'm glad you could make it," Nurse Joy said. She was attending the door to the pool room at the Tokyo Pokemon Center. Several trainers were already there, attending the open house.

"H-hello, Nurse Joy," Misty stammered, smiling nervously. She wore her bikini underneath her street clothes and had her backpack slung over her shoulder. She had her beach towel slung around her neck. She carried Togepi in her arms and Artemis tagged along at her heels. She was alone other than that; she hadn't told Ash or Brock about the open house. It was Sailor Business.

Misty looked around the large pool room. She saw a large buffet table with finger foods, chips, dips, drinks, and chicken wings all laid out for the trainers. There was an Olympic-sized swimming pool in the middle of the room and a smaller "baby" pool off to the side, just for the pokemon. There were already several pokemon sitting in the "baby" pool - she could see a Magikarp, a Vaporeon, a Polywhirl, a Wartortle, and a Golduck, just at a glance. She walked over to the "baby" pool and began to take her pokeballs out of her backpack.

"Here you go, guys," she said, releasing the pokemon from inside the balls. Starmi, Staryu, Horsea, and Psyduck all appeared and jumped into the pool with the other pokemon.

"Togep-briii?", the little egg pokemon asked, looking at Misty.

"Oh, sure, Togepi!", she said brightly. "Here, you go, too," Misty said, setting the baby egg down in the shallow water. "You guys watch him for me, okay? I might get a little busy later," she said, watching the pokemon nod at her. Artemis licked one of his front paws. The Vaporeon that was sitting in the water took notice and jumped out to land right in front of Artemis.

"Por! Por!", the blue creature yelped.

"Huh!?!", Artemis said, looking up from his paw. The creature came closer to him. "Great," Artemis thought, "That thing looks like the two things cats hate worst in the world: dogs and water." Misty turned her back and began to look for a place to lay her beach towel. The Vaporeon came closer to Artemis and tried to lick him. "Gahhhh!!!", Artemis screeched, jumping back. He began to run, followed closely by the Vaporeon.

"Por, por, vapor!", it yelped happily.

Misty laid her towel down beside the pool and put her backpack beside it. She peeled off her street clothes to reveal her sea green bikini. Artemis ran by, quickly followed by Vaporeon. She watched them for a second, and then went back to what she was doing. She placed her street clothes in her backpack, and looked at the visitors already in the pool. They were, for the most part, her age or a little older. Some had their parents with them. Some didn't have water pokemon, but instead, had pokemon that sat playing with the other pokemon by the side of the pool. She saw a Jigglypuff and a Pidgey playing on the other side of the pool, and off to her right, an Oddish and a Venomoth were carrying on a conversation.

Misty walked over to the high dive and began to climb the ladder to the diving board. She reached the top and walked to the edge of the board. She could see the whole room from there. Vaporeon chased Artemis around the pool, and by the doors, Nurse Joy welcomed two more people into the open house. "Oh, no," Misty thought, right before diving into the water.

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

James watched silently as Jesse walked in front of him. She was wearing a very short skirt. When she walked, her hips swayed slightly and the skirt revealed just a little of her bikini bottom. When she stopped just inside the doors of the pool room, James was so preoccupied that he almost crashed into her back. He could hear Meowth snickering at his feet, and the small cat Jesse had taken in - what was her name? - Luna, almost seemed to - sigh? "No, that couldn't be," he thought. "Cats just don't sigh."

"Welcome to the Tokyo Pokemon Center Open House! I'm Nurse Joy. If you need anything, just let me know, alright?", Joy said sweetly. The black crystal around her neck began to shimmer just a bit. A strange light flashed across her eyes for a second, but neither Jesse nor James caught sight of it.

"Oh, thank you so much," Jesse replied even more sweetly. The group walked over to the side of the pool and Jesse sat down their duffel bag. She pulled out their beach towels and lay them beside the pool.

Meowth looked around excitedly. "Just look at all dese pokemon! We could pull a real heist here!", he said, rubbing his paws together excitedly.

"Well, you can do it alone," James stated firmly as he took off his shirt and threw it at the duffel bag. Meowth and Jesse both looked up, puzzled. "We're on vacation. I'm not doing anything illegal that requires any effort for two weeks, starting now," he said, taking his pants off and revealing his swimming trunks.

"That's odd," Jesse thought. "He just sounded like he was - taking charge? Since when did James have so much gumption?", she thought, taking her own shirt off. It revealed her usual blue bikini.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Meowth said, giving James a funny look. He was thinking much the same thing as Jesse. Jesse began to pull her skirt down, revealing her bikini bottoms. James watched with large eyes. Until he noticed...

"A buffet table?", James said, turning to look at the huge buffet table that he'd seen out of the corner of his eye. It had enough food on it to feed an army. Or at least James and Meowth.

"Huh?", Meowth huffed, looking toward the table that had caught James' attention. "All right!", he said after spotting the buffet, "Grub!" Both James and Meowth skittered away and began to stuff their faces.

"Hmmph," Jesse snorted, "Guys." She placed her skirt and her blouse in the duffel bag and picked Luna up. The cat jumped from her arms to her shoulder, where she could talk without much fear of being heard by anyone else. Jesse walked to the edge of the pool and sat down, dangling her feet in to test the water. She and Luna looked around and saw all of the pokemon Meowth was talking about. There was a Jigglypuff to their right that seemed to be beating up a Pidgey, and on the other side of the pool, there was a Vaporeon chasing a white cat.

"Artemis!?!", Luna squawked. Luna and Jesse watched the cat round the edge of the pool and begin to come their way. He reached them and skidded to a stop. When the Vaporeon reached the buffet table, it gave up the chase, and instead, began sniffing at James' heels.

"Por!", it yelped, trying to get some attention.

James turned and looked down, a chicken wing halfway sticking out of his mouth. He reached up and picked the wing out of his mouth. "Hello there, little fella," he said, smiling at the blue creature. James was fond of Vaporeons. When Team Rocket had captured an Eevee once, he had wanted so badly to make it evolve into a Vaporeon. This one here appeared to like him as well.

"Vap, vap! Por!", the creature happily yapped, wagging its tail fin. It sat up on its hind legs and appeared to be begging. "Por!"

"Oh, here you go," James said, picking a finger sandwich off of the table and handing it to the little Vaporeon. The Vaporeon quickly gobbled it up. James bent down and began to pet the creature. "It's so friendly!", he squealed. Meowth ignored him and continued stuffing his face.

"Por!", it yelped, jumping into James' arms. It began to lick his face.

James stood back up, giggling. "Look, Meowth, it likes me! It must be able to tell I'm a water person," he said, patting the Vaporeon on the head.

Meowth nodded and continued to eat. "Are you enjoying the buffet table?", a voice said from behind them. James whirled around to see...

"Nurse Joy?", he asked, puzzled. "Could she recognize us?", he thought, "I'm sure we have dozens of wanted posters by now." Nurse Joy smiled sweetly. "Ummm... Yeah, the food's great," he said nervously.

"All right, you enjoy yourselves!", she said happily. She began making her way over to where Jesse sat.

"What could she want with us?", James thought, watching the nurse walk over to Jesse.

Jesse peered around the pool. "Hmmm.... No male lifeguards," she mumbled. Luna sighed. Again.

"Why don't you just stick to James and his pudding?", Luna whispered into Jesse's ear. The human's face turned bright red. She picked Luna up off her shoulder and dangled her over the pool. Luna was laughing hysterically.

"Shut up, Luna," Jesse sneered, ready to drop her in. Instead, she got a face full of water. She and Luna fell over backwards onto the floor. "What was that!?!", Jesse screeched, sitting back up.

Misty popped her head and arms over the side of the pool. "Gotcha! Gotcha!", she laughed, continuing to splash Jesse and Luna.

"Aaaahhhh! Stop it, you little snot!", Jesse yelled, shielding her eyes. She couldn't see to hit Misty with all the water in her face.

James looked up from the buffet and saw Misty splashing Jesse. "It's that girl that's always hanging out with that Pikachu!", he said, laying down a sour cream and onion potato chip. Meowth looked up from his food for a second, shrugged, and went back to eating. James' eyes narrowed as he ran to the side of the pool. He reached his destination and scowled down on Misty. "Stop it you little pest!", he hollered, causing Misty to look up at him.

"Por!", the Vaporeon chipped in, scolding Misty. Jesse began to sputter and wipe the water from her eyes. She was not happy. James knelt down beside her.

"Are you okay, Jess?", he asked his soaked companion. She glared at Misty.

Misty, on the other hand, was laughing her head off. "Is he your boyfriend, now?", she managed to choke out between fits of laughter. Neither Jesse nor James found that comment funny. They both glared at Misty.

"Why you little -", they said in unison, beginning to lunge for the splashing girl. They both felt a hand on their shoulders.

"We all need to play nice, now," Nurse Joy said, pulling them away from Misty. Jesse and James looked up at her. The black crystal necklace she wore was shimmering brightly now. "I came over to see if you can help me, young lady," Joy said, smiling down at Jesse.

"Well, sure, I guess," Jesse said, looking puzzled.

"Follow me, then," Nurse Joy said, watching as Jesse rose with Luna on her shoulder. James began to rise as well, but Joy stopped him. "I just need her," she said, smiling, but with an odd look in her eyes.

James sat back down again, looking disappointed. "Okay," he said, watching them walk out the doors of the room. He turned his attention back to Misty. However, when he looked back to where she had been, she was gone. "Drat," he said, rising and making his way back to the buffet table.

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

"What did you need my help with, Nurse Joy?", Jesse asked, looking around the water pokemon battle practice room that Joy had led her into. Joy closed and locked the door behind them. She stepped in front of Jesse and began walking toward the pool used for pokemon battle training.

"I just needed your help finding something," she said without turning around. Jesse was beginning to get nervous. Didn't Luna say that Misty and Artemis thought Joy was from the Negaverse? And she had that same black crystal necklace as Kabuki had day before yesterday.

"Umm, what did you want me to help you find?", Jesse asked nervously. She had a feeling she knew what it was. Joy didn't turn around. Instead, she kept walking toward the pool. She stopped a few feet away from the edge.

"The Imperium Silver Crystal, what else?", "Joy" said. She slowly turned her face back to look at Jesse. Her eyes flashed an odd green color. Before Jesse could react, "Joy" pointed her right hand at her. A flash of water shot out of it and pinned Jesse and Luna against a wall. When Jesse looked back in that direction, "Joy" was gone and in her place was a sort of green mermaid creature with long pink hair and a frill of fins surrounding her noseless face. Her tail fin came up to cover her chest and frilled out at the bottom. "I'm Aquaria, agent of the Negaverse," she said, keeping Jesse and Luna pinned to the wall. "Hand over the crystal, little girl, and no one has to get hurt," she continued, letting a red grin snake across her scaly face.

"I don't have it, tarter sauce for brains!", Jesse squawked. Aquaria tightened the water around them and they began to smother. Jesse and Luna kicked and writhed, trying to get loose, but to no avail.

"Jesse, transform!", Luna screeched, "Sailor Comet could get us out of this!"

"I can't reach my pin!", Jesse replied, out of breath. Her arms were pinned to her sides.

"Oh, a Sailor Scout, too!", Aquaria said gleefully, "Queen Beryl's sure to give me a commendation for getting rid of you!"

"Nereid Staryu Tackle!" The doorknob flew off the door and hit Aquaria squarely between the eyes. She flew back into the pool and the door swung open to reveal Sailor Nereid and Artemis. Jesse and Luna fell to the floor, gasping for air. "Looks like I got here just in time," Nereid said as Jesse produced her transformation pin from her bikini top.

"Comet Power!", Jesse sputtered, trying to get some of the water off her. In an instant, Sailor Comet stood where Jesse had been. "All right, catch of the day! It's payback time!", Sailor Comet shouted, ready to fight. "Prepare for trouble!", she shouted.

"And make it double!", Nereid continued. The water in the pool began to bubble.

"To protect our world from the Negaverse!"

"To place their evil under our curse!"

"To defend the values of all us girls!" The water began to boil.

"To protect the people in our world!" The water began to splash wildly out onto the sides of the pool

"Sailor Comet!" Comet drew her hand up and pointed at the bubbling pool.

"Sailor Nereid!" Nereid drew a fist to her face.

"Get ready for defeat," Sailor Comet began.

"And a lot of pain, too!", Sailor Nereid continued.

"In the name of our world, we will punish you!", both finished in unison. The bubbling water finally erupted, revealing Aquaria, without a mark of any kind from the doorknob. She looked unhappy.

"Two of you, huh? Even better!", Aquaria sneered, "I can get rid of both of you now!" She drew the water out of the pool and threw it at the two Scouts. Nereid jumped out of the way and the water pulverized a chair that happened to be sitting in its path.

"That water's dangerous!", she shrieked. She raised her arms over her head. "Nereid..." The clasp on her ponytail began to glow. "Staryu..." She brought her hands down to her chest, keeping the light from the clasp between them. "Tackle!" She released the light and sent it flying into Aquaria.

"Umph!", the monster grunted, a gash appearing across her forehead. She dove back into the water. In a second, she was on the surface again, only this time, without a gash.

"She's using the water to heal herself!", Artemis shouted. "Try to keep her out of the water!" Comet and Nereid nodded. However, before they could put a plan into action, Aquaria struck again.

"That'll never happen, Sailor Failures!", she screeched, sending another stream of water at Sailor Comet. Once again, she was pinned against the wall, having the air crushed out of her. Nereid ran to the edge of the pool to try and attack, but Aquaria sent her flying into a wall, pinning her as well. "Just give me the crystal, and this'll all be over," she said smugly.

"Star Fire Blast!", a voice called from out of nowhere. Suddenly a flash of light burned across Aquaria's face.

"Aarrrrggghhh!", she shrieked, "Who did that!?!" She looked up onto one of the many battle platforms surrounding the pool. There stood a man with a silver cape and black glasses.

"Shooting Star!", Sailor Comet happily yelled, "You came again!" Comet and Nereid fell onto the floor as the monster released her grip on them. Shooting Star jumped down from the platform and landed firmly between Sailor Comet and Sailor Nereid.

Aquaria was raging mad. She didn't even bother to get back into the water to heal herself. Blue blood trickled down her green cheeks. "That's it, Sailor Cows! No more games!", she said, hurling more water at Sailor Comet.

"Get down, Comet!", Shooting Star yelled, pushing her out of harm's way. He landed on top of her and shielded her with his cape. Comet jumped up before she even had time to blush. She was ready to fight.

"Comet..." She lifted her right arm into the air. "Ekans..." A glowing snake wrapped around her arm. "Bind!" The glowing snake shot out from around her arm and wrapped around Aquaria. "Now you can see how it feels, Sea Cow!", she screamed, tightening her apparition's grip. She was squeezing the air out of the monster. Aquaria screamed in pain.

"I must reach the water! I must -", she gasped, struggling against Comet's power.

"Here, I'll help, Comet," Nereid yelled, running to the side of the pool to get a better shot. She brought her arms up over her head. "Nereid..." The clasp on her ponytail began to glow. "Staryu..." She brought her hands down to her chest. "Tackle!" She sent the star-shaped flash of light flying into Aquaria. The blast hit her hard on the forehead.

Aquaria screeched in pain. "Come on, you stupid monster!", Sailor Comet hissed, "Just die already!" She tightened her grip on the monster yet again. She snaked part of her apparition up to wrap around Aquaria's neck, choking the creature even more. The monster struggled for a second, and then stopped. She vanished into thin air, leaving only the black crystal behind. It flew to the other side of the pool.

"Hmmph," an arrogant voice snorted from across the battle pool. "You Sailors did better than I expected." The water cleared, and on the other side stood a familiar figure holding the crystal.

"Malachite," Sailor Comet hissed with venom in her voice. The general smiled wickedly.

"You may have won this round, Sailor girls," he said viciously, "But do not doubt, the Negaverse will prevail." He vanished, laughing ominously.

"I hate that guy!", Nereid spat out.

"Where'd Shooting Star go?", Comet asked, looking around frantically. He had apparently disappeared. Again. "Shoot. I wanted him to see me in my bikini," she said disappointedly.

"I'm telling you, Comet, he looks like James," Nereid said teasingly.

"You're such a little pest, Nereid! Why do I put up with you!?!", Sailor Comet said, turning and walking out of the battle room with Luna.

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

James sat by the pool petting the little Vaporeon that had apparently adopted him. He and Meowth had stuffed themselves at the buffet and were resting now. James watched as Jesse and her little black cat walked in the pool room doors with Nurse Joy.

"The last thing I remember was this weird fish-woman tying me up," Joy said quietly. "How'd I get loose?", she asked, giving Jesse a puzzled look.

Jesse smiled. "The Sailor Scouts beat her and found you," she said, without a bit of humility. "She organized this open house. If I were you, I wouldn't let on like anything happened," Jesse said, hoping Joy didn't say anything that would cause a stir.

"The Sailor Scouts? I thought Sailor Moon was missing?", Joy said thoughtfully. "It's been all over the news," she said.

"I think they were two new Sailor Scouts," Jesse said, petting Luna. She left Joy at the doors and walked over to where James and Meowth sat. She sat down on the beach towel beside James. Luna jumped from her shoulders. "I'm back," Jesse said, watching James pet the Vaporeon.

"What did Joy need you for?", he said, looking up at her. She was still dripping wet from when Misty had splashed her. It occurred to him that Jesse looked lovely when she was wet.

"Oh, she just needed me to help her look for something," she said, hoping that vague excuse would go over with James. She needn't have worried.

"Oh," he said, "Look at the Vaporeon that came up to me!" He held up the Vaporeon proudly. "It really likes me!", he said, beaming, "If no one comes to get it from me, I'm keeping it!" The Vaporeon licked his face.

"Hey!", a little boy yelled from the far end of the pool. The Vaporeon looked up and jumped from James' arms. The boy took the Vaporeon in his arms and walked over to where Jesse and James were sitting. "Thanks for watching my Vaporeon for me, Mister," the little boy said. James looked disappointed as the boy walked off.

"Oh, that's okay," he said, downcast. Jesse felt sorry for him. He looked up and smiled when she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Just wait, James," she whispered into his ear, "When we hit that Tournament in two weeks, we're sure to get one of those." He perked up immediately, both at the thought of getting a Vaporeon, and at having Jesse whisper in his ear.

Luna rolled her eyes. She saw Artemis enter the room with Misty. Artemis started to trot over to Luna. Before he could get there however, Luna looked over to see Meowth plopped down beside her. "So, toots," he began, slipping an arm around her back and trying to sound smooth, "What say you an' me leave dese simps here an' find ourselves a nice seafood bar?" Once more, Luna rolled her eyes. Before she could hiss this time, however, Meowth was tipped by some unseen force into the pool.

After Meowth fell in, Luna could clearly see that Artemis had pushed him. They both began to snicker. Meowth splashed wildly, having trouble getting a grip on the side of the pool. "I hate water! Aaaakkkk!!!! Jesse!!! James!!! Get me outta here!", he sputtered, waiting on his human companions to pull him out. They finally came to the rescue and hauled Meowth's soaking wet form onto the side of the pool.

End Episode 3