Pigmaleon
by Stephen

~Author's Note~

This is a Pokemon fanfiction. Props to everyone responsible for the Pokemon series, and also to Shaw for writing the original “Pygmaleon”.

"Pussy Monthly?" Jessie leafed through the glossy magazine filled with pictures of Meowths in erotic poses and tossed it down onto the table in disgust. "This is one of yours, Meowth. How you can get turned on looking at pictures that look exactly like you, I'll never know."

"Well, I never understood how you could get toined on by dat Doctor Proctor goi, but I still hoid you calling out his name in your sleep last noight..." Meowth retorted, surreptitiously slipping the magazine under his kitty bed. Jessie's face flushed red enough to almost match her hair, and she hastily resumed flipping through the rest of the mail pile. "Nothing but junk for me as usual.... James, what's this?"

"Oh, that's from my parents." James said, glancing at envelope which bore his name and the address of the cabin when they're been staying for the past several months, stylishly and flourishingly written in gold ink. "Let me see it." Jessie was already ripping it open. "Oh, it's just a letter." she sighed disappointedly. "I was hoping they'd sent money. What's this say... 'Dearest James, How has my little poochy-pie been?'... Poochy-pie?"

"Give that here!" James snatched the letter away from her and scanned it rapidly. "Oh my..."

"Wat is it?" Meowth asked. "Sumptin interesting?"

"Yes, do tell us, `Poochy-pie`."

"Well, it's very bad news." James explained. "My parents are trying to get me to return to my affluent roots again. They're holding a ball for all the wealthy, eligible young ladies of breeding to attend, and I'm supposed to be there to pick one to marry." "Hmmph! Garbage!" Jessie said, scowling. "You won't go of course."

"I don't know." James said, reconsidering. "It might be fun to go to the ball, step out on the dance floor in a beautiful sequined dress and have everybody talking about what a beautiful lady I was..." He tried to get his shoulder-length blue hair to pile onto his head. "Perhaps I should wear my hair up..."

"Idiot! Did you forget that the whole reason your parents want you there is so they can get you married to some rich floozy?" Jessie snapped at him. "Besides, the floor needs to be scrubbed, so, you can't go to the ball."

"Oh, Jessie, you're like a wicked stepmother to me."

"StepSISTER!"

"Hey!" Meowth broke in. "I just got an oidea! What if Jessie goes to da ball, and James picks her? Den, after da wedding-" The two human members of Team Rocket let out audible squeaks almost in unison. "-Jessie could divorce you roight away and take half your money in the settlement! Den, we all run off, and we end up wid a good part of James' parents' money widdout da inconvenience of having to hang around James' actual parents!"

"That is an idea..." James said, then, almost with relief, he continued. "...but, no, that wouldn't work. My parents would never let me marry a trailer-trash girl like Jess, they'd make me marry someone classy like Jessiebelle."

"I'm way ahead of you dere." Meowth chuckled as Jessie beat James over his empty head with a table leg. "Jessie looks exactly like Jessiebelle, remember? All we gotta do it wait for Jessiebelle on the way to the ball, give her a little tap on da noggin and take her clothes, den we make da switch. We'll already be done wit the whole caper by da time the corpse floats to da surface."

"Do we have to kill her?"

"Well, we coid just keep her tied up here for a few days I guess."

"Yes, but do you really think that Jessie could pass for a genteel lady for even five minutes, let alone a whole evening?" James said uncertainly.

"Of course I can!"

"Just leave it to me!" Meowth said. "Wit my special brand of trainin', you'll have delicate femininity coming out da asshole!"

*********

"Hmm, this isn't too hard." Jessie said confidently, walking carefully back and forth with a book balanced on her head in a posture-improving execise.

"Dat's cause the top of your hair forms a flat plane." Meowth explained, tapping away furiously at his laptop. "I just talked to de boss about this, so de project is officially on--"

"What? You told the boss?" Jessie screeched in anger. "This isn't meant to be an official Team Rocket project, if it is he'll just end up taking all the money for himself!"

"Don't you tink he'd notice if we stopped woik for an entire month anyway? Besides, he said we could keep all de money, provoided we retire afterwards and never come near annudder Team Rocket mission again."

"He did?" Jessie was puzzled. "That's... really nice. I wonder why..?"

"Eh, who knows. Anyway, I'm doing a liddle online research on Jessiebelle, the more we know about her de easier it'll be for you to pass for her."

"What's there to know, she's a stuck-up bitch with a stick up her ass!"

"Roight, and you'll have no problem wit dat, but I'm talking about personal information. Like if somebody asks you about your family or sumptin. I've got her web page here and.. hey! Loik at dis!"

"What is it?" Jessie and James crowded around the computer.

"Look at this photo." Meowth pointed at a picture of Jessiebelle at the beach, lounging daintily under a sun umbrella clad in a designer swimsuit. Her resemblence to Jessie was startling- they had the same blinding red hair, the same sharp, glamorous features. The only difference, besides the expensive clothing, was that Jessiebelles' hair was tied into a pair of elaborately curled pigtails instead of being swept back as Jessie's was, and while Jessie's bared abdomen was flat as a board there was a definite roll around Jessiebell's waist, pushing against the fabric of a suit obviously bought in thinner days.

"Ah ha ha, look at that gut!" James exploded in laughter. "I can't believe it, Jessiebelle's actually letting herself go!"

"Ha, serves her right!" Jessie sneered gleefully. "She was such a priss, and now look at her, she's as big as a house!" This was something of an exaggeration- truthfully, Jessiebelle was barely descriptable as chubby, and it was only in comparison with Jessie’s hourglass physique that her weight gain was really evident- but that didn't stop the members of Team Rocket from rolling on the floor with laughter at the sight.

"Wait, here's a more up-ta-date pitcher." Meowth had scrolled down to shots of Jessiebelle on a recent trip to the Safari Zone.

"Ha ha! She's even fatter now!" James roared. The two human rockets laughed until they cried at the way Jessiebelle's plump body- significantly fatter than before- was squeezed into her hiking clothes. She looked rather uncomfortable- obviously she wasn't used to carrying so many pounds in the hot weather of the jungle, and her shirt was soaked with sweat and clinging to her rolls of newly-grown flab.

"Oh... this is delicious.." Jessie chuckled, wiping away a tear from her eye. Abruptly she stopped laughing. "Wait, no it isn't! How can I pass for Jessiebelle if she's fifty pounds heavier than I am? No one's going to believe I'm the same person as that hog!"

"That's right, well I guess we have to give up on the whole thing." James said, sounding entirely too relieved to be able to pass himself off as disappointed.

"But I already toild da boss, if we call it off now he'll thinking we're joiking him around--"

"I'll do it." Jessie said quietly.

"But Jess, no one will believe you're--"

"There's more than a month before the ball, right? I'm sure if I really worked at it, I could manage to gain enough weight to pass for Jessiebelle." She laid one black-gloved hand on her flat, bare abdomen. "This hourglass figures, which lust crazed-men have fought and died for-- I don't want to give it up, and yet-- I just want to be rich so much!!" She grabbed James' hand. "You don't understand what it's like to be poor and living in a van down by the river! If gaining fifty pounds is what it takes, than so be it. Besides," she said, straightening, "as long as I have my hair, I'll be fine." She ran a hand over her prized vermillion crest, reassuring herself.

"Oh Jessie! We could never let you do such a thing!" Meowth was already rummaging around in the refrigerator. "Hmmm, wat do we have dat's fattening?"

"You could at least TRY to match your words up with your actions!" Jessie said, but some of the bite was gone from her words. Like the other members of their little branch of Team Rocket, Jessie was more concerned with momentary pleasure than future consequences. To Jessie's young, impatient mind, a month seemed like forever, and the end result of all that fattening food was starting to fade in her consciousness, overshadowed by her excitement as she realized that she would no longer have to deny herself tasty foods for the sake of her waistline. She would be able to stuff herself without guilt, to eat as much as she could hold. It will be heaven, she thought, digging her spoon into the leftover casserole Meowth had placed in front of her. She didn't realize, as she wrapped her lips around the first heaping spoonful, just how much eating she would have to do.

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

"Jessie, Jessie, wake up."

"WhhhrrruggH?"

"Jessie, it's time for breakfast."

"Uuumph. But I ate all the food we had left yesterday." Jessie rolled over in her sleeping bag. Truth to tell, she was feeling just a little ill. Not that she had really overdone it last night- she'd made a pig of herself, true, but their food supply was so low that they'd run out of food before Jessie had run out of room to put it. It was just that the eclectic components of her makeshift dinner- shrimp casserole, half a carton of chow mein, most of a rhubarb pie and two tins of kiwi fruit- hadn't mixed well in her stomach while she slept. She wondered what they would do for food from now on. In the excitement of their gleeful plotting, the gang had forgotten they were nearly out of money. They barely had enough to survive on, let alone to grow fat on.

"We got some more- Meowth is fixing it up now." At this news, Jessie sniffed the air experimentally. Something did smell good- delicious, in fact. Her mild indigestion was washed away in a crashing tidal wave of hunger. She slithered out of bed, and her nightgown, and dressed hastily. James didn't bat an eye- they'd changed clothes together enough times that they were no longer the least bit embarrassed at being naked in each other's presence. James led her towards the small kitchen and opened the door to reveal-- Valhalla.

It was an unusually delicious-looking breakfast. Fluffy, golden-brown pancakes, eggs on thickly-buttered toast, crispy strips of bacon, and many more tasty foods. But more than that, it was huge. The pancakes were stacked to dangerously unstable heights, the bacon and toast fully covered entire platters. Jessie's hunger pangs intensified- it felt as though her stomach was being wrung out like a towel.

"Meowth! Where did you steal all this stuff?" she enthused. She could barely get her mouth around the words, she was drooling so much, and she couldn't help but spray a bit of spittle onto the Pokemon bent over the oven cooking up still more food.

"I didn't steal it, da boss sent it." Meowth explained. "He said he'd sponsor da project. Now get eatin` before you bring da whole house down!" The gurgling of Jessie's empty belly was clearly audible, rumbling through the kitchen like the low growl of an Arcanine. She didn't need to be told twice.

It was James who darted his hands in to deftly slip the napkin onto her lap to catch the falling bits of food- once Jessie started eating there was no stopping her. The meal tasted even better than it smelled- she was in a paradise of gluttony. Jessie stuffed her face with hunk after hunk of golden chewy dough, soaked with butter and dripping with syrup for maximum fattening potential. Layer by layer, a two-foot stack of pancakes was reduced to a mere puddle of syrup and crumbs. A dish of mixed fruit was scraped clean. Serving after serving of toast and sausages disappeared between her syrup-smudged lips. Whenever one taste started to lose its luster, she would run across an element of variety which would renew her appetite- blueberry pancakes instead of plain, scrambled eggs instead of over easy.

But alas, no matter how delicious a meal is, no matter how much someone might wish to eat and eat forever, no one has infinite room in her belly. Jessie didn't want to admit it, didn't want to have to stop shoveling this heavenly substance in, but the stomach which earlier had been so obnoxious in its demands to be filled was now increasingly adamant in its demands that she stop filling it.

Jessie sat back in her chair, frustrated by her body's inability to eat enough to satisfy her psychologically. Her abdomen was hard and distended with dough and meat, actually visibly swollen- it was pressing down on the waistband of her skirt. She simply shimmied out of the skirt, grunting slightly at the motion on her painfully overstuffed stomach, and sat there in her panties, a bit cold but also somewhat more comfortable. She rubbed the mound of belly slightly. This is really having an effect, she thought, although she knew she was simply swollen with food, she hadn't really put on any weight beyond that of the mass stuffed into her digestive tract. Abruptly, Jessie let on a tremendous belch, expelling nearly a quart of air from her stomach. Shifting and prodding at her stomach, she was rewarded with a telltale gurgle which moments later erupted into another, smaller eructation. She felt considerably better now that the air she has swallowed in her feeding frenzy was out of her system- still full and heavy, but no longer so painfully bloated. She even felt like she could tackle some more food. Resolutely, but happily, she plowed back into breakfast. More pancakes, more sausage, more fruit. It was surprising how much more room that belch had freed up- she really had been full of air.

Inevitably, Jessie reached a point where she was fully satisfied, and didn't feel like she could eat another bite of food. Steeling herself, she managed to pack away the last three inches of pancake to scrape clean the plate she was working on, but that was all she could do. She took a large gulp of orange juice to wash down her meal, and slouched back in her chair, a picture of gluttonous debauchery with her legs sprawled and her abdomen dramatically convexed above her white panties.

"Jessie?" James asked. He waved a hand in from of her face, not sure if she was still fully conscious behind those glazed eyes and that dreamy, syrup-sticky smile.

"Well, I guess the rest of it's for us!" the young bishonen said brightly when he got no response beyond a tight hiccup. He reached eagerly for a pancake.

"Oh no you don't!" Meowth said, slapping James' hand with a wooden spoon. "Dat's all for Jessie! Eat your own breakfast!" He pointed to the bowl of Lil’ Oliver’s Bland-Brand Mornin’ Gruel in front of James.

"Naah, you have the rest." Jessie said, giggling in mild sugar-induced euphoria. "I'm soooo stuffed, I can't eat anymore." She stretched, her taut, rounded belly curving in front of her, and flopped her arms over the back of her chair.

Meowth chided her. "You have to finish all of dis, we don't have dat much time to get you fattened up. If you don't stick to a strict doiet, we'll nebber make it, den da boss would be furious!"

"The boss! The boss!" Jessie scoffed. "Who cares about him, he's always mad at us for something anyway. So what if we don't make it?" Jessie's lust for the pleasure of the moment was manifesting itself again- now, those far-off heaps of wealth were paling in comparison to the heaps of food she was being asked to eat.

"Let me put it dis way." Meowth explained. "Say you gained a lot of weight, but not enough to pass for Jessiebelle. Do you really want ta be poor AND fat?"

"G-good point." Jessie said, shivering. "Maybe I can try to eat a little more." Resolutely, she plowed back into the considerable leftover food. Every bite was harder than the last, as her stomach groaned in protest and her penetrating blue eyes began to water with the effort. "I-I can't do it!" she gasped, short of breath. "This'll kill me! I know when I've had all I can stand!"

"What are you saying!?" James said in shock. "Jess, look at me." He took her chin in his hand and turned her face, cheeks comically puffed out with food, towards him. "I never thought I'd hear you say that you know when to quit. We are Team Rocket!" he intoned, his voice filling with pride. "We NEVER know when to quit! That's why, in the end, we'll come out ahead... even though it may take awhile! When everyone else says that a situation is hopeless and that only an idiot would even make the attempt, that's when Team Rocket steps up to the challenge, carrying on with a complete disregard for personal safety!"

"Oh James!" Jessie sobbed, rivulets of sugar water pouring down her cheeks. "Th-that's the most beautiful thing I ever heard!"

"Fight, Jessie! Fight!"

"I'll do it!" Fired up, Jessie leaned forward on to the table and began shovelling food into her mouth furiously. "Gmmph!" she mumbled around her mouthful. There wasn't that much food left now, but it seemed like she'd never finish. It was hard for her even to keep upright. Jamed steadied her with one hand and helped her eat with the other, popping the last sausages into her mouth.

"I'm... I'm so full... I can't..." Jessie moaned feebly, syrup dribbling down her chin. James helped her cram down the last few fragments of pancake. "Come on, we've got to get you to bed." he said. It took his and Meowth's combined efforts- plus the small amount of self-support Jessie could give with all her attention focussed on her achingly overstuffed stomach- to haul her and the significant poundage of syrup-soaked food inside her over to her still-unmade futon and get her under the covers.

Jessie relaxed a bit. Now that she was lying down, it wasn't so bad. Someone was handing her a glass of warm milk, which she managed to get down- she was thirsty enough for that with the process of digestion already at work inside her. The soporific had its effect on her already sleepy consciousness, and she began to drift off into slumber, liked a squirrel dropping into hibernation after gorging on the nuts and fruits of autumn.

"Get some sleep." James said. "It's best that you rest on a full stomach, and let this turn into fat." He patted the bulge halfway down the futon, visible even through the blanket. "Take a little nap before lunch."

"Lunch?!..." Sleep overwhelmed her before she could get properly outraged.

******

When her eyes opened, Jessie's first realization was that she no longer felt about to pop. What she felt was full, but not painfully so. She moved a hand down to her belly, feeling it experimentally, hoping for some sign of change after all that effort. Maybe it was her imagination, but it did feel a little rounder. Then again, she thought, I might be just bloated- after all, I'm still carrying all that food. She prodded around her abdomen, trying to find some hint of flabbiness. In the warmth and comfort of her futon, her hand strayed down into the front of her panties, and her limber index finger began working away almost of its own accord.

"Lunch is soived!" Meowth said, bursting into the room two minutes later. Hurriedly, Jessie repositioned herself under the futon and hoped what she'd been doing wasn't too obvious.

"We decided just to give you lunch in bed," James explained, pushing a tray filled with covered dishes into the room. "That way, we don't have to carry you around." Lunch wasn't much different from breakfast. In spite of her fullness at the start of the meal, the food was so delicious that she managed to put away quite a lot before she had trouble. By the end of the meal, of course, she was once again stuffed to immobility, but somehow all of the food managed to make its way into her- Perhaps my stomach is stretching, she thought contemplatively, as she lay back staring at the ceiling. Had she been schooled in classical mythology, she might have likened her digestion to Sisyphus, only rather than rolling a boulder up a mountain, it was given the task of eliminating the entire mountain- only to have it be born anew. She'd never heard of Sisyphus before, though, so after brief cogitation decided that her digestion was like Wile E. Coyote never quite catching the Roadrunner.

"Going to sleep?" Meowth asked.

"Uggh, I wish." Jessie groaned, too wide awake after her last nap to seek relief from her discomfort in unconsciousness. "I don't think I can sleep anymore."

"Good!" the cat Pokemon said, brandishing a book on etiquette at her threateningly. "Den we can get started on da udder part of your trainin'! Dere's more to imitatin' Jessiebelle than just gettin' fat you know!"

Jessie sighed and relented to Meowth's reading on the subject of how to hold a salad fork, and before five minutes of unbelievably boring etiquette instruction had elapsed, was once again as blissfully unconscious as if she'd been hit over the head with a crowbar.

*******

From then on, days fell into a sort of routine. It wasn't long before Jessie's body grew accustomed to constant stuffing and was able to take some of Meowth's instruction after all, learning the many social mores necessary to navigate in high society. And as her knowledge of the ways of the upper classes grew, so too grew her body. Her slender flame blossomed into plumpness remarkably fast under the influence of constant nourishment. The second day it was a bit of softness in her stomach; before the week was out that softness was bulging visibly over her waistband, and mere days later the gentle bulge was a small but healthy pot belly. It wasn't long after that that she shed her usual skirt, top, and boots, which were becoming uncomfortably tight now even when she wasn't stuffed (and that wasn't very often), and ordered a new uniform from Team Rocket’s plus-sized catalogue. Her legs plumped like two sausages in a microwaves, her breasts like two buns rising in an oven, and her starter pot belly began expanding its territory with all the fierceness of a medieval warlord, puffing out in front and creeping around the edges of her waist, until it became a full-fledged roll. From her starting weight of one-thirty (despite her slim waist she'd had plenty of flesh on her thighs and chest) she easily hit one-fifty, then one-sixty. By the eve of the ball, not only did she feel confident that she could easily swim the social waters, but she tipped the scales at one hundred and ninety-two pounds.

That afternoon, she on tried her new uniform- she had felt naked without it. Not only did she completely fill the garment, but she actually overflowed a bit. Meowth decided, out of concern for his own health, not to point out that this was because she'd rather overshot the target and was a good twelve pounds fatter than their estimated weight of the girl in the picture.

******

"Oh my, it's so hot todayh!" Jessiebelle gasped, fanning herself with one hand. Of all the days for her limo’s air conditioning to malfunction- the night of the ball, her biggest chance ever at landing James! And apparently the hottest day of the year, too- the interior of the black, heat-absorbing car was sweltering like an oven, causing her shimmering golden silk dress to stick to her body uncomfortably. She didn't dare roll down the window for fear the wind would ruin her elaborate hairstyle- then again, if she stayed in this heat, she’d be reeking of sweat by the time they reached the mansion. It was a real quandary, and she wasn’t sure what to do beyond fanning herself. Her Vileplume, equally miserable, was starting to wilt beside her.

A wooden structure appeared around the next bend. FREE ICE COLD LEMONADE, read the crudely painted, illuminated sign adjacent to the road. Strange... way out here on a country road? Jessiebelle thought. Still, it's a good day for it, it must be a public service. She informed her driver to pull over near the shack. Despite the shade, it felt even hotter here, and she was close to fainting with thirst by the time a Meowth skated up to her in the uniform of a 50`s roller waitress, carrying a gallon pitcher of lemonade. Vileplume stirred beside her. "Plume! Plume!" it squeaked urgently. Jessiebelle rolled the tinted window down, flicking the limo's interior lights off beforehand- she couldn't start to let such an obvious servant see her perspire. She lifted the chilled pitcher to her lips and drank deeply. The cool liquid soothed her parched throat deliciously, and she didn't cease drinking until her lungs were about to burst from lack of air. She lowered the pitcher, gasping for breath, and stifled a belch as the air she'd gulped down resurfaced. "Vileplume! Vile, Vileplume!" her Pokemon was squeaking beside her, desperately, gesturing to the Meowth outside the window as if they had met before. It looked like any other Meowth to Jessiebelle though- except for Vileplume, she couldn’t tell the members of a Pokemon species from one another. "Oh! Where ah my mannahs!" Jessiebelle said, chastened. "I should have offahed you some, Vileplume." She poured a liberal dose of the remaining lemonade onto Vileplume's feet-roots, ruining the upholstery in the process, but then what was the point of being wealthy if you couldn't wreck a limo now and then? With some of its thirst satiated, Vileplume settled down a bit, though it still seemed ill at ease around the Meowth.

Between Jessiebelle and Vileplume, the pitcher was drained surprisingly quickly. The Meowth regarded her silently, as if asking if she wanted another. DID she want another, Jessiebelle wondered. She was beginning to feel a bit like a water balloon. But it was still roastingly hot, and the lemonade had been so good. "One moah, please... foah the road." Jessiebelle asked politely. Obediently the Meowth skated back into the building for a refill.

"She fell for it! Drank da whole pitcher and asked for anudder!" Meowth said as soon as the door closed behind him. "We've got her now!"

"Ugggh, but this HEAT..." Jessie thumped one of the dozens of heaters running full blast pointing towards the road. "Wasn't it hot enough? My head is spinning...." Sweat poured down Jessie's plump form like droplets down a pane in a rainstorm. "Being this fat... it's like wearing a fur coat!"

"Just a few more minutes and we can turn the heaters off." Meowth said, refilling the pitcher. "You just get the scooter ready to follow her." He skated back out the door with the full pitcher of lemonade.

"Ah! Thank y'all so much!" Jessiebelle cooed as the second pitcherfull was handed to her. "Ah'll have this sent back latah- thanks again!" As the limo drove off, she was too busy raising the pitcher to her lips again to noticed Meowth's parting smile was more wicked that servile.

For some reason, it cooled down quickly after they passed the shack, reaching a much more bearable level, and Jessiebelle was able to wipe some of the sweat off of herself and otherwise get herself presentable for the ball. Periodically she took another swig of lemonade-- but she was really beginning to feel bloated now, and decided to lay off.

Hardly fifteen minutes had passed when she realized she had a problem. "My, I shouldn't have had so much." she chided herself, squirming uncomfortably. As the minutes passed, the pressure continued to build. She crossed her legs and whistled to herself. Just five more miles and I'll be at James' place- he's got such lovely bathrooms, she reassured herself. She bit her lower lip.

Three more miles- but it felt as though her bladder was about to burst, and every bump and jar in the road was torment. Finally she gave in. "Drivah! Drivah, pull ova heah foah a minute!" She was hopping out of the door and into the underbrush almost before the car had stopped and thrashing into the underbrush. How humiliating, she thought, cheeks burning. A well-bred young lady like me, reduced to peeing in the woods like a common Rattata! She lowered her drawers, hiked up her skirt and squatted in the underbrush, sighing with relief in spite of herself as she released.

She'd barely finished when she was hit by what felt like a hot, sticky mattress. Caught by surprise, and with her legs tangled up in her panties, she couldn't fight back and soon felt her hands roughly tied behind her, and her ankles bound. She started as a something furry landed on her chest, and began to shriek.

She felt the prick of sharp claws poking lightly into her forehead. "Scream, and you'll lose dat pretty face of yours." a strange voice said. Jessiebelle, who not given to panic or hysteria unless there was a handsome gentleman around to benefit from the performance, stifled her cry instantly. Instead she hissed, "How dare you interrupt a lady while she's... she's powdering her noahs?"

"Lady..." an oddly familiar female voice said coldly. "Don't make me laugh, you fat, sadistic slut."

"Fat? What ah you talking about, how dayah you call me-"

"Oh, come on!" Jessie flicked on a low lantern, providing just enough light for the three people in the small clearing to see each other. "You're as big as a house, you-" Jessie's jaw dropped. "Y-y--" She goggled at the woman lying in the underbrush before her. Jessiebelle was no larger than she had been the first time the two of them had met. She was, if anything, slimmer than Jessie had been before even she had begun gorging herself in her desperate weight-gain attempt.

"Wh- how--" Jessie bent down and ran her hands up and down Jessiebelle's torso, hoping that her eyes were deceiving her, searching for a nonexistant jellyroll or patch of cellulite.

"Jessie?!" Jessiebelle blurted as Jessie's worried face came into full lantern light. "James' trashy little bimbo? But--" She unsuccessfully tried to conceal a smirk. "--but youah the one who's gained weight... oh my, you've really gotten big haven't you? Dear me, that govahment cheese really packs a wallop on a girl’s figuah, doesn’t it, Jessie dear?"

"Shut up!" Jessie snapped, slapping Jessiebelle viciously across the face. "You're supposedly to be fat too! I don’t... what... what's going on?" she wailed in confusion. She was used to plots going wrong, but never quite like this before. "I saw those pictures on your web page--" "Whaht?" Jessiebelle said, her face stinging painfully. "That old thing, why ah haven't updated it in ova a yeah! The truth is I did put on just a few pounds- I will admit ah have a sweet tooth- but ah went on a strict diet and managed to lose it all." She smiled cruelly. "Perhaps ah can recommended the same program for you?"

"I said shut UP!" Jessie yelled, forgetting entirely that they were supposed to be keeping quiet. "And YOU!" She turned on Meowth. "You might have done a little more research... because of you... I ruined my gorgeous figure for nothing!" Her temper boiled over, sending tears of rage down her cheeks. "You, you..." She released her anger at both of them at once by grabbing Meowth's head and slamming it into Jessiebelle's with a satisfying crack. "There, that's better." she said, feeling cleansed, as Meowth tottered around the clearing in a daze and Jessiebelle tried to get her eyes moving in the same direction again. "Well, I guess I'll just have to make do... Let's get this dress off her."

"Not my dress, whaht ah you doing?" Jessiebelle squealed as Meowth and Jessie stripped the expensive garment off her. "It won’t even fit you!"

"We'll see about that. Meowth, make some alterations." In almost no time, Meowth had expanded the dress so that it would fit Jessie's formidable form. She wriggled into it, finding it still a little tight despite the changes- she looked like a ten-pound sausage stuffed into an eight-pound casing. "I had to take material from the skirt." Meowth explained. "Any more and you’d get arrested." Jessie tugged down the dress, which was now so short that it barely covered her rear.

"There. I can still pass for her..."

"No offence, Jessie, but I tink people will notice you're a little heavier than her."

"I'll suck in my stomach!"

"All the sucking in the world couldn't hide dat gut!"

"Yoah going to impersonate me?" Jessibelle said in dismay, catching on. "But... if you show up in a dress that showrt, and fat as a cow, mah reputation will be ruined!!"

"Too bad for you, huh?" Jessie agreed. She ripped off Jessiebelle's bra and panties, leaving the helpless girl stark naked. "And when you wake up, have fun crawling back to civilization with no clothes on. I'm sure a fine lady like yourself could ever make that look good." She picked up a nearby branch and cracked Jessiebelle over the head.

"Owwwch!" Jessiebelle squawked. "Don't you know the propah way to knock a lady unconscious? Hit me on the side of the head... uRk! Yes, jest like thaht..." Jessiebelle collapsed into the leaf litter.

"Well, that's settled." Jessie said triumphantly. "I'll see you at the ball, Meowth."

"Go for it, Jess!" He gave her a toothy grin as she struggled up the hill in her skin-tight dress.

Jessie opened the limo door and sat down heavily, not even disturbing the Vileplume slumbering on the seat. Putting that plant sedative in the lemonade was a clever move, she thought.

"Er... Miss Jessiebelle?" the driver said. "Are you okay? You look a little..."

"I'm... Ah'm fine. Just had to take a pi-- p-powder, mah nose that is. Now let`s hurry, ah don`t want to be late for the ball!"

******

James' parents mansion was breathtakingly decorated for the ball. Thousands of balloons were tied in brightly-colored bunches to any and every object to which they could be attached, including several butlers. Hordes of frolicking minstrels gambolled gaily for the highborn attendees, who made great sport of running them down with their limos. And the entire massive bulk of the house was spectacularly illuminated.

"It's beautiful..." Jessie breathed as she stepped out of the limosine, for a moment forgetting the deception she was here to perpetrate, the prickly heat on her skin, and the tight dress squeezing her buttocks together like two sumo wrestler in an elevator. "It looks just like a palace."

"Eggplant Wizard to King Hippo! Come in King Hippo!" Meowth's crackling voice hissed from the disguised communicator in her purse. She pulled out the compact-shaped item, opened it and pretended to be checking her makeup.

"This is..." She winced at the code name. "...Not King Hippo. I said I didn't want that name! Pick something else, Meowth!"

"Okay, okay... How about I'll be 'Salacious Crumb' and you can be 'Jabba the Hutt'?"

"That's enough you little ba--" Jessie snapped into the compact, breaking off abruptly upon noticing one young woman staring at her. "Er... found a crow's foot." she explained lamely. The girl sniffed at Jessie and walked on towards the mansion, two metallic climate-control droids rolling after her.

"What's your position now?" Meowth asked through the compact.

"I just arrived." Jessie said, keeping her voice low. "From now on, don't call me unless there's a problem. Hopefully Operation Darva Conger should go just as we planned it."

"We're TEAM ROCKET, when have things EVER gone just as we planned?"

"This is different!" Jessie hissed. "All we're doing is trying to rip off James's parents! It's nothing like our other plans!" She ended the conversation by snapping the compact shut and dropping it back into her purse.

Somewhere behind her, a group of attendees were making their way up the road, unusual among the ball's other guests because they were arriving not by limo, oxcart, or private helicopter, but on foot.

"Well, who cares WHY we got an invitation, we must have been on James' parents mailing list." the group's only female was saying in argument with the boy on her right. "But I've never been to a ball like this before and I don't intend to pass up the opportunity!"

"But you might end up having to marry James." the taller of her two human companions pointed out.

"Nah, she's safe from that. Why would James pick someone scrawny like her when there are so many GOOD looking girls?" the other said, earning himself a bony-fisted punch in the shoulder.

"Piiii-ka-chu..." the accompanying Pokemon grumbled in exasperation.

********

"Jessiebelle! Jessiebelle!" Jessie turned to see who was calling to her. "It's... it's the donut guy!" she blurted, realizing who it was. Catching herself, she searched for the correct name of the middle-aged, white-bearded and suited man in front of her. "Er, ah.. Foahgive me, why if it isn’t Colonel Sandshrew of Colonel Sandshrew's Kentucky Frahd Donuts! Very playsed to meet you, sir!" She attempted to curtsy politely, realized that her skirt was entirely wrong for it, and just stood there, blushing awkwardly. Fortunately, the jovial Southern stereotype before her didn't seem to mind.

"Why, ya'll don't need to be so formal with your uncle! I haven't seen you in months! Sandy missed you too, didn't you boy!" The Sandshrew at his feet looked up at Jessie without interest, then curled up into a ball and went to sleep. "Aw, he's just shy." The Colonel chuckled. "Here, I brought you one of my famous donuts!" He pulled out a grease-soaked fried ring of dough. "Extra-fatty, your favorite flavah!"

"Do.. do you ahwlays carry donuts in your pockets?" Jessie asked, gingerly taking the dripping thing and biting into it carefully. Grease squirted out as soon as her teeth broke through the surface.

"Yes siree, had them specially lined just to keep the grease from leaking all over the place." The Colonel smiled. "I know how much you liked mah donuts... why you were as happy as a Shelder when I opened that branch across from your house especially for you! Fed you up nice and big, it did. Then you went on some damnfool diet, moved away and gave up mah donuts... Glad to see you're through with that nonsense!"

"Mmmph, ymmmph." Jessie agreed, chewing on the last bite of her donut. "Well, they ah delicious, and I do so love to eat." She gestured to the well-stocked buffet along one wall of the massive ballroom. "Ah’m certainly looking forward to putting a dent in thaht!" she said truthfully, grabbing up a handful of an oblivious girl's frothy pink skirts to wipe her greasy hands clean while the Colonel was turned away.

*******

By the time she managed to get over to the buffet, low-calorie food was in short supply, having been gobbled up by the largely dieting attendees. Not that this mattered to Jessie- she hadn't come looking for anything diet. She was hungry for food that was rich in every sense of the word- things she'd never been able to eat before, not in her poverty-stricken childhood, and not even in her recent gorging; despite how delicious those meals had been, Giovanni hadn't been about to spend the extra money to fatten her up on expensive food when cheap stuff was just as effective. Now, presented with mountains of succulent, decadent morsels, Jessie was in hog heaven... perhaps even higher, a sort of hog nirvana. She scarfed down canapes and pate and slivers of swordfish- all tiny, bite sized bits, but she was eating them by the dozens. She consumed close to a pound of caviar, which she didn't even like, just for the feeling of swallowing such exquisitely expensive food. Of course, she made sure to maintain her studiously-learned manners even in the face of the baccanalian feast, trying her best not to drop food, and once catching herself just in time to avoid cracking open the an escargot shell with her teeth.

“Ooooh! Ice cream!” a young female voice called from behind her.

“Figures Misty would go right for the ice cream.”

“Pi-ka-pi.”

Unlike the rapidly melting ice cream, Jessie was frozen, a spoonful of pate halfway to her lips. No… no the twerps! They can’t be here! Her heart sank as she anticipated the crashing end of the plan they’d put so much work into.

“Oh… Jessiebelle! Hi!” Misty said, taking a place next to Jessie at the table and scooping up piles of ice cream onto her plate. “Er… you look… nice!”

“Boy, did you get fat!” Ash commented bluntly, earning himself a sharp elbow in the ribs from Misty.

“You uh… you didn’t bring your whip today did you?” he asked, rubbing his bruised ribcage. Jessie was unable to think of his question at the moment- just seeing Pikachu sitting calmly on his shoulder was driving her to distraction. It would be so easy to simply reach out and snatch it, but she resisted.

What would Jessiebelle say here?, Jessie wondered. “Ahh…Ah left it at home today… Mah, y’all look… non-twerpy!” she stuttered out at last. Handled that pretty well, if I do say so myself, she thought smugly. I always called the twerps “twerps”… so saying the exact opposite will completely throw them off the trail.

“You certainly look lovely this evening, Jessiebelle.” Brock said, bowing and kissing her hand in the ancient chivalrous style.

“I do?” Jessie was so stunned she dropped her accent. Brock had never paid attention to her before, though he certainly hit on everything else with two legs and two breasts.

“You’re gorgeous! You can put me to work on your plantation anytime!”

“All right, that’s enough, Romeo.” Misty growled, dragging him back by his ear. “I don’t have time to babysit you. Somebody has to eat all this ice cream before it melts, and I’m just the woman for the job!” She dug into the heaping mountain of ice cream merrily. “Oh, and say hi to James when you see him!” she said around a mouthful.

“JAMES? Wha- why- who- whatever makes you think Ah’m going to meet James tonayght? You must have may confyuahsed with that beautiful mastah criminal Jessie that I ahlwaiys hear aboaht!”

“Er… James is right up there on stage.” Misty, said, puzzled. “Aren’t you going to say hi?”

“Oh… er, yes, of coahse.”

“We don’t want to get too close, especially with Pikachu… you know how it is. But at least we can keep an eye on him up there. See you later!” Misty strolled off, happily stuffing herself with ice cream, followed by her two male companions. Brock gave Jessie as last wistful look before disappearing into the crowd.

Jessie sighed in relief to herself that they were gone, though she had been a little intrigued by Brock’s amorousness. It’s about time somebody paid attention to my lovely gorgeousness, she thought. But now was definitely the time to stay as far away from the twerps as possible. She picked up a barbequed chicken wing and chewed nervously. Well, she thought, at least that ought to be all the bad luck for one evening.

“Oooof!” The wind was almost knocked out of her as a pair of firm satin-covered buttocks backed into her own soft flank. “Watch where you’re going, fatso!” the owner of the buttocks snapped, whirling about and piercing Jessie with her vicious eyes. Jessie was about to protest that she’d been standing still, and it was the other’s rapid backing up that had caused the collision, when she realized who she was facing.

“Ca-Cassidy!” she blurted.

“How do you know my name?” Cassidy’s eyes narrowed into slits. “You look kind of familiar-“

“Mah name is Jessiebelle, pahhaps you may have heard of me? And of coahse I know you, yoah so faymous! It mast be thrilling to work for a big ohganization like Taim Rocket! Is Buhtch heah escohting you tonaight?”

“He’s having throat surgery tonight.” Cassidy said suspiciously. “But I really think I know you from somewhere - your face reminds me of this very stupid girl I used to know named Jessie-“

“Oh, Jessie! Whah, she’s mah hero! I wish Ah could be just like her… Ah guess Ah’d need to drop a few pounds thought.”

“Yeah, at least thirty.” Cassidy laughed, relaxing.

“Er, moah like fifty.”

“I don’t know about that, she’s a little chunky too, you know.”

“Ah.. ah see.”

“Well, I’ve got to go sweep bishonen-boy up there off his feet and get at that family fortune!” Cassidy said. “I really admire your courage for showing up. Or was it just all this free food?” She smirked patronizingly, patted Jessie’s belly, and sashayed off in the direction of the stage, munching on a carrot stick.

“Nice maiting you!” Jessie called after her cheerfully, hoping the violently pumping arteries in her forehead weren’t that noticeable . She grabbed a sandwich from the nearest available plate and stuffed it in her mouth to block of the stream of screeched obscenities that were bubbling up in her throat.

“Wow- you’re hungry, huh?” Misty said jovially as she returned for a second helping of ice cream.

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

"Hello everybody!" the M.C.'s voice boomed from the stage platform. It was a Mr. Mime, dressed in a gold tuxedo, and painstakingly trained to move its mouth in time with the recorded voice. James sat, looking bored, to one side, flanked by his mother and father who surreptitiously wielded stun rods. "It's so nice to see that so many of you have come here the evening for the chance to marry this fine young man. We'll be having the selection later this evening, but first... the banquet!"

A loud fanfare went up as several long tables slid through hidden doors in the wall. In moments, the ballroom was quinsected by hundreds of feet of oak, china and silverware.

Jessie gulped at the thought of a banquet. She was starting to wish she hadn't eaten so much food so fast- her belly was already pleasantly stuffed, and she would rather not dull her wits further at this crucial juncture by over-glutting herself. Still... it would be exceptionally rude not to eat, and for a woman her size, it would look suspicious as well. So, as she carefully lowered her plump frame into the nearest chair, she resigned herself, not entirely unhappily, to stuffing down a banquet one top of a large portion of the refreshment bar.

They may have been psychos, but James' parents certainly weren't stingy when it came to feteing their guests. The banquet turned out to be a veritable feast of rich, expensive food. Course one was abalone salad-that was followed by a slab of grilled swordfish, then a whimsical little igloo made out of pate, and on and on it went. By the time the last dish was cleared, many of the guests' eyelids were drooping with satiation, and Jessie was especially stuffed, having made an effort not to leave any food on the platters set before her. Her abdomen had changed shape noticeably since the start of the meal- from a soft gut that was restrained from resting on her lap only by the fabric of her dress, to a taut, tightly-packed protrusion that was stretching the seams of her golden gown almost to the bursting point. She stifled a belch with her napkin, hoping that there was no dancing on the program.

"Well, James," the older of the two blue-haired men on the platform said to his young scion.

"The time has come to make your choice."

"Oh!" said James, flicking off his Game Boy and sticking it back into his pocket. "Um, well, I pick J--"

"Not so fast, James dear!" his mother chided him. "We can't just have you picking someone out of the crowd- she has to prove herself worthy of you!"

"Er.. worthy?" James said worriedly. He hadn't heard about this, and had the sinking suspicion that this was the inevitable place where their plan would dissolve.

"Yes, but don't worry." the red-haired woman reassured him. "We're not leaving you out of the process entirely. Your bride must prove herself worthy in a contest, but you can choose the contest!"

"That's right- pick any kind of competition you want, and we'll set it up in half an hour. We've got just about everything on hand."

Any kind of competition? James wondered. Well.. what can I pick that Jessie would be sure to win? A bitchiness contest? A defying-gravity-with-your-hair contest? A bad luck contest? He scanned the crowds looking for Jessie in the hope that she could give him some kind of sign, but she didn't even wave- unbeknownst to him, one of her hands rested on her overstuffed belly while the other clasped a champagne glass from which she sipped slowly, lost in a dream of relaxation.

Then he had it- he knew what kind of contest Jessie was sure to win. Something she was really skilled at. Something she'd been practicing for, in a way, since they started this whole plan. There was no way she could lose this.

His parents agreed on his idea, and James smiled in satisfaction, knowing how proud Jessie would be of him for dealing with this unexpected twist so well, as his father took up the mike to announce it.

"Ladies!" James' father said to the assembled crowd. "I have an announcement to make-- the one who will marry our son James will be decided by an eating contest!"

Jessie almost choked on her champagne.

*******

Within less than a half hour, the competition had been set up and was ready to go, prepared in a flash by the highly paid and highly prepared caterers. Most of the contestants were nervously fingering the napkins tied around their necks and wondering how they'd gotten into such a situation. Misty, dwarfed by most of the other competitors despite their general slimness, was quite anxious to start the competition actually. "I'll show them I’m not a scrawny eater!"

"Scrawny eater, does that make sense?" Brock wondered aloud.

"Misty! If you win you'll have to marry James!!" Ash exploded. "Don't you realize that?"

"Oh, I'm sure I won't win, I--" she blushed slightly "--I really filled up on ice cream earlier, so I'll already kind of full, but I just want to make a good showing for myself." She adjusted the blue fabric of her dress to give her a bit more room around the waist.

There was a commotion from the southern entrance- Jessiebelle, who had disappeared shortly after the contest announced, had returned-- and what a re-entry it was. She'd stripped off the nearly-bursting dress and changed into an outfit just as spectacular, if not more, and more suited to the competition she was about to endure. A layer of shimmering golden sequins disguised the simple spandex of her sports-bra and stretch-pants combo hastily whipped up by Meowth in their crawlspace command center. At the sight of her nearly two hundred fleshy pounds packed into the dazzling ensemble, many of the other girls abandoned their last hope of winning. How could they compete against such a belly?

What they didn't realize was that the gilded Amazoness before them was still crammed with food, despite the half hour of digestion. A few of the more perceptive attendees noted with glee that the pale orb bulging over her waistline was taut, not jiggly like the rest of her, and hence already contained ample sustenance.

Jessie sat down in her assigned place, seat number 44, her belly feeling tight and heavy on her waist like an overloaded hip pack cinched a size too small. Digest, damn you, digest!, she mentally willed her stomach. She was startled by a hand on her shoulder.

"Good luck, Jessiebelle." the young carrot-topped girl told her. Jessie almost let out an audible eep at realizing Misty was in the seat next to her. More bad luck- now she'd have to be extra careful not to let anything slip. She fondled her belly nervously, fidgeting.

"Overdid it, huh?" Misty laughed. "I did too." She pulled the fabric of her dress back to emphasize the slight curving in her usually flat abdomen. "Let's do our best anyway."

"Wha-- wha thank you, Mistay." Jessie say, hoping her accent was holding together.

"Wow, Jessiebelle seems really nice this evening- maybe we misjudged her last time we met." Brock said aside to Ash.

"Yeah, it's so strange to see someone so polite who looks just like that bad-tempered bitch Jessie!" Ash agreed.

Jessie stood up and whirled on them. "HOW DARE YOU-- I mean how daaya you-- I--" She composed herself. "That is, you shouldn't say such things abat Jessie, she's really quite a nice gahl, just misundahstood. Besaides... the two of us don`t look all that simalah anymoah."

"No, you're much more beautiful that Jessie is." Brock agreed, clasping her hands in his.

"You're a Reubenesque goddess!"

Jessie's face turned the same color as her hair, still unaccustomed to having Brock actually paying her compliments. She made a mental note to wear something nice the next time they were locked in mortal combat with each other.

"--Ah'd better sit down." she said at last, regaining her accent. "The contest is abaat to begin."

Indeed, the lights were dimming and the Mr. Mime MC was taking the stage. Due to the ridiculously short preparation time, the lip syncing as the contest details were broadcast was incredibly bad.

"This eating contest will consist of five courses!" the speakers boomed. "The first competitor to finish all five will be declared the winner! However, all competitors MUST finish at least the first course!" This announcement brought groans from the assembled girls, most of whom had overstuffed themselves at the banquet earlier. The groans only got louder when they saw the size of the first dish- a meal in itself, a thick steak with a large potato that was just as stuffed as Jessie was, but with sour cream and cheese.

I can do this, Jessie thought to herself. I've eaten way more than this. I just have to take this one dish at a time.

The starting gun fired, bringing down a couple of ceiling tiles onto Jessie's head in the process. Briefly knocked silly, she recovered and dug into her meal. One bite, two bites, three bites, neatly and systematically she shoveled in the steak, Misty keeping pace beside her. The two of them finished almost at once- few of the other girls were so fast. In fact, as soon as they finished course one, nearly 90% of the attendees dropped out immediately, and waddled off to a corner to nurse their overstuffed stomachs and moan about their ruined diets.

The circular table automatically contracted, a nifty technological trick, so that the remaining few dozen competitors were now seated around a much smaller table. Jessie sized them up critically. These were the ones she really had to worry about- the big eaters. Many of them were on the chubby side (Jessie was still the largest), other simply had a raging metabolism. Most looked ready for more. Jessie was still full of fighting spirit herself- fighting spirit and food, of course.

Dish two- a full pan of lasagna. Dripping with grease and melted cheese, it was an Italian calorie bomb scientifically designed to hit the thighs hard. Two girls quit immedietly after merely glimpsing it. Jessie started on the momentous task of putting it away, but couldn't keep up with Misty, who gorged with relish, hoping the immensely fattening slab would put a few curves on her.

"Ooooooh..." Jessie moaned, scraping the last bit of sauce from the pan. "Ah don't know about you, but ah'm ready to pop!" She rubbed her painfully overfilled stomach.

"Me too..." Misty gurgled. "I've never been so stuffed in my life!" The formerly slight curve of her stomach was now quite pronounced, the cumulative effects of three full dinners. Of course, with Jessie's overindulgence at the refreshment table, her grand total was closer to four- but she was over twice Misty's weight and had been practicing for weeks. She grudgingly had to admit, the little twerp had a lot of spirit.

There were less than twenty of them now, as course three raised up onto the table. A two-foot hero sandwich, suitable for a small party, but now destined to be eaten by one. Cassidy, astonishly still in the contest despite her slim frame, picked it up immedietly and began drawing it in. Not to be outdone, Jessie and Misty each picked up theirs and well and started it.

It was slow going, but inch by inch, step by step, Jessie consumed the entire sandwich, feeling for all the world like an Ekans that had just swallowed a whole Stantler. By the time the sandwich was blocking her pyloric valve instead of her view, Jessie noted only three competitors. Herself, Misty, and Cassidy. All the other girls had been stuffed into defeat. Now, the trio was all that remained.

"Mah dear --urp-- Cassidy." Jessie said. "Ah've never met you before tonayght, you know, but ah just can't help wondering whah you want to marry James."

Cassidy fought down an attack of the hiccups before answering. "Why the money, of course. Why else would anyone marry that pathetic pansy?" Green threaded seams creaked ominously in her dresses' unnessessary-until-today tummy control panels.

Jessie felt her face growing hot. "Whay, he's not -beeelch-- that bayd. He's quate a nayce fellow -burp- actually."

"Oh, come on! urp!" Cassidy said. "Nobody really likes him. I don't think even that slut Jessie gives him any, and she'd open her legs for anything that moves."

"Wh-why...Ah- She may have made mistake when she was youngah, but Ah'm not a slut, and -belch- furthamore James is a wondaful boy!" Jessie hissed, leaning forward as well as she could. "Now Ah'll make you sorry you ever entered this contest!"

"Well, as for me..." Misty groaned. "I'll explode if I eat another bite. Oooh, I guess pride goes before a bellyache-" She rubbed her distended abdomen. "I give u--"

"Fourth course: Ice cream!" the MC announced as a gallon-sized mountain of fudgy, full fat ice cream loaded with chocolate sauce, sprinkles, fruit, and whipped cream rose into view.

"I...Ice cream?" Misty drooled. "No matter how full I am... I couldn't live with myself if I passed up ice cream!" Defying the laws of physics, which dictated that she never should have held together this long, she began consuming still more food, cramming her craw with cream.

The two older woman, still shooting piercing glances at one another, began working their way through the mountain like a pair of angry railroad workers. Their eating was getting slower and slower now, their breathing shallower and labored. Neither wanted the other to know it, but they were both gorged almost to their limits. Deep into the third fudge strata, there was a sound, a sound no one heard, as it was so soft as to be almost inaudible. Pp, pp, pp. Cassidy was the only one who could have heard it, and her mind was on other things. Pp, pp, pp, pp. The sound of stitches popping on the side of her dress one by one, two pieces of green satin separating, allowing a sliver of pink flank-flesh into view. She inhaled, her torso filling with air- pp-pp-pp-pp-pp-pp, several stitches at once failed in their stated duty. Her tummy control panels as yet were holding, but like starship shields until a barrage of photon torpedoes, they couldn't do it for long- they didn't have the power.

Jessie had the advantage of costume- her belly-baring outfit was not only psychological warfare, it was physically far less restrictive. The taut pink hill of her gut protruded unrestrained in front of her, while Cassidy was still squeezed into her figure-tormenting ensemble. But this imbalance couldn't last for long- with a loud groaning sigh- or perhaps the sigh came from Cassidy herself- the panels burst like rickety dams under the pressure of a torrent of ice cream into the already food-sodden lake of Cassidy's belly. There was no missing the quiet audible rip of her seams this time as her depressurized midsection swelled all around. Though she now looked more the picture of engorgement, she was actually giddy with relief and able to magically find room for more foodstuffs. She smirked wickedly at Jessie as she started shovelling ice cream into herself with renewed vigor.

Misty's spoon clattered into her empty bowl. "Ooooooh..." she groaned in extreme discomfort. "That was soooo good, but my poor stomach is going to burst...." She winced in pain as her stomach let out a long, tortured gurgle. Two Chansey nurses ran up bearing a stretcher and loaded the engorged redhead onto it.

"Will she be okay?" Ash asked worriedly from the crowd.

"I'm sure she'll be fine." Brock reassured him. "As long as nobody offers her more ice cream-- it would probably be the end of her. She just needs some time to walk it off… er, or maybe sit it off…."

Jessie could have used some time to sleep it off herself. At least a week, she thought, fighting to keep her balance. She didn't know how she could possibly force down any more. Her only consolation was that Cassidy, though she tried valiantly to hide it, was in much the same condition. Her Team Rocket rival smiled wickedly as she licked the last bits of ice cream off her lips, but her stomach was just as swollen as Jessie’s.

The last course- Jessie hoped that it would be something small and easy. So, of course, with her usual luck, she found a ten-pound chocolate-chip cheesecake resting in front of her.

It was the final stretch, and table manners were a luxury Cassidy abandoned. Eating pig-style, she scooped up fistfuls of gooey cake and crammed them into her mouth. Her star-bedecked head sank lower towards the rapidly emptying pan. "I-urp- I win -belch- you trollop! James -glurp- James's money is mine!" she said triumphantly, spraying crumbs across the table. Jessie continued eating with a knife and fork. Slow and steady, she told herself. Just keep going. Her agonized stomach begged her to stop forcing food into it, but she kept on at the same pace. Cassidy soon outpaced her with her wild-animal-like eating, and while Jessie had a full quarter left to finish, Cassidy had merely a mess of crumbs and cheese-goo.

"Just-hic-this-hic-and-- URPP! -- and I win! You've lo- burp!- lost, you fat pig!" Cassidy chuckled weakly. Then, she hiccuped one final time, and the light in her eyes went out. Her bodies' energy supplies had been severely drained with the sheer magnitude of the task of containing her massively overloaded stomach and digesting its huge payload. Later, of course, once digestion started up in earnest, Jessie's rival would be deluged with energy, saturated with it, soaked with more calories than she could possibly burn off, and her body, hardly knowing what to do with such a windfall, would begin storing it as padding on her belly, on her rear, wherever space could be found to cram a few extra fat cells. But that bounty was in the near future... for now, Cassidy's metabolism was running at top capacity. Gradually, her non-essential systems had been shutting down, and finally, in order to summon to necessary power for the metabolism of such a mass, her brain was forced to switch to low-power, silent running- a condition which did not allow for consciousness. Cassidy fainted, comatose, face first into the messy pan, her body all but hibernating while her stomach alone ground on on its momentous task.

For ten minutes, the only sounds were Cassidy's labored snoring and the clink of Jessie's utensils as she stuffed down the last two pieces and claimed her victory.

”Hooray! Way to go Jessie… belle!” James cheered from the stage. Jessie gave him a weak thumbs up sign as the rest of the girls booed and threw wadded up napkins.

“Well, what an exciting contest that was!” boomed the PA system. “And we have our winner!” The trained Mr. Mime descended from the stage. “Let’s have a few words from the lucky girl herself!” the announcer said jovially as Mr. Mime pushed a microphone into Jessie’s face. “Jessiebelle, you’ve just won a lifetime of wedded bliss to that dreamboat up there-- how does that make you feel?”

Jessie belched into the microphone. The amplified reverberations brought flakes of plaster down from the ceiling.

”Well there you have it! It’s a fairytale fantasy come true!” the announcer said without missing a beat.

”Well, Jessiebelle, you certainly are an impressive young lady.” James’s father said, approaching the table.

”Yes, and we’re sure you’ll make a wonderful wife to James.” his mother continued. “Come with us and we’ll take care of the paperwork right away.”

”Um… can… can ah take a break and get some fresh air?” Jessie groaned. “Ah’m too stuffed to thank straight raht nah.”

”Of course, dear. James! Take your new fiancee for a walk in the garden.!”

With the help of three people and a Mr. Mime, Jessie was able to get herself to her feet. Despite their disappointment at being beaten, the other hopefuls couldn’t help but ooh in awe as the full astonishing swell of her stomach was revealed. It was a testament to her incredible stamina that she was even able to get to her feet at all.

”Now, you kids have a nice walk in the garden and talk about your future together!” James’ mother cooed. “And, Jessiebelle?” She leaned in close, pushing aside masses of red curls to whisper into the woman’s ear. “Er.. just so you know, don’t expect to much from our little angel pie in the bedroom- we’re pretty sure he’s gay.”

**********

”Ooooh.” Jessie moaned, rubbing one hand over her bloated stomach. She was sprawled on a park bench somewhere in the middle of the estate’s vast, beautifully maintained garden, a beautiful Pewter City stone path leading through lush trees and bushes framed by a wall of hedges. Oddish rustled in the bushes, spreading their seeds on their nightly walks. The little nook in which the co-conspirators sat had been designed with the needs of couples in mind- if they pulled their feet in, anyone sitting on the bench would have been almost invisible from the main path. However, Jessie’s feet were in quite the opposite position… she was sprawled over two-thirds of the bench, legs jutting out from the bower and the arm that wasn’t massaging her stomach flopped over the back of the bench.

“Oooh.” she repeated. “Oh, ooooh, oooooh! My -hic- stomach is killing me!” The way she was slumped in her seat made her belly appear even more impressive than it was, and it was easy to believe that it was painful. “I’m going to have indigestion for days now!”

”But you did it, Jess!” James enthused. “You won!”

”Dat’s right, and my plan woiked despite dat one little setback!” Meowth said smugly, the three members of the team reunited at last. “All we gotta do is go sign dat paperwork and we’ll be on easy street for loif! Just tink of all the catnip and yarn we’ll have!”

”And no more wandering around aimlessly while starving! From now on we’ll drive around aimlessly, while eat the finest caviar and aged cheese -- “

”James!” Jessie snapped, her face going a little pale. “I forbid you to even mention food to me for the next three days! Hic! No, make that a week! And what’s so funny?”

”You have a little ketchup on your face.” James said, smiling at her. “Hee hee.” Jessie’s mood changed, and she returned his smile. “I guess you’re right, it will be nice won’t it? It still hasn’t really sunk in yet, but I’ll above to live the way I’ve always dreamed.”

“Ah, true romance!” Meowth said dramatically. “Seeing da two young lovebirds soid by soid, why it remoinds me of my favorite Roahld Dahl book…”

“Eh? What do you mean? What book?”

James And The Giant Bee-atch…” Meowth let out a laugh as Jessie rocked her swollen body back and forth, trying to worm her way within punching distance.

Voices came into their range of hearing from down the path.

”Are you feeling okay?”

”Yes, I’m a lot better now- I just needed to walk it off. I guess when it comes to ice cream I just don’t know my own limit.” The owners of the voices came into view- none other than the twerps, with Ash and Brock supporting a still queasy-looking Misty between them. Meowth hurriedly slipped into the bushes before they could notice him.

”Hey! Hi you guys!” Ash said. “How are you doing?”

”Ah’ve- hic- Ah’ve felt better.” Jessie said weakly.

”Congratulations, you two.” Misty said cheerfully. “I guess this means you’re quitting Team Rocket, James?”

”I… er…”

”Well, frankly, that’s great news.” Brock said. “Now we won’t have to blow you up all the time.”

”Yes… and we’ll only have Meowth and that nasty old bat Jessie to worry about.” Misty laughed.

”Gurk.” Jessie gulped. “O-old bat?” The color began to return to her face.

”Well, she must be at least thirty, maybe older…” Misty mused.

”I don’t know, how could somebody that dumb could make it to age thirty?” Ash asked.

”Anyway, I don’t think we’ll have to worry about them much.” Brock butted in. “Knowing those two freeloaders, they’ll just hang around mooching off of James’s new family.”

”If you plan on having any kids, you’ll better keep then away from Meowth.” Misty joked.

“They might pick up parasites. Come to think of it, Jessie’s probably pretty infested too, with that Rattata’s-nest hairstyle.”

The color had completely returned to Jessie’s face, with interest, and the interest was compounding into a bright crimson flush. James grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight, as if to reassure her, We’re almost there! Don’t lose your cool and screw it up now!

Pikachu sniffed the air experimentally. “Pika!” it said happily, hopping down from Ash’s shoulder and scurrying over to Jessie. Before she knew what was happening, it had hopped up onto her stomach, little paws gripping the taut skin, and then it sat up and leaned forward to lick her face.

”J-James….” Jessie said, her voice unusually high-pitched. “Pikachu is kissing me. Hic!”

”It must have smelled the ketchup on your face.”

”That’s right!” Ash agreed. “Pikachu’s favorite food is ketchup!”

”James, you don’t -hic- understand. Pikachu is… right…. there. Pikachu is touching me.” Her eyes began to water. “I… I can’t hold it much longer, James! Pr- prepare--” She bit off the rest of the words, her hiccups intensisfying.

”Jessie! Er, -belle, you have to endure it! I feel it too!” Tears were streaming down his cheeks. “For our future, we have to hold it!”

”Er, you guys do know there’s a bathroom right around the corner?” Ash said, clueless.

”It’s… it’s too much… I hic have to say hic it! I can’t hold it in!” Jessie sobbed. “Pikachu is right hic there on my stomach hic hic!” She broke down and started bawling.

”Are… are you going to be okay, Jessiebelle?” Misty asked in concern.

”Y-yes, I’ll be hic okay.” Jessie sniffed, recovering a bit of her composure, even as Pikachu kept licking at the ketchup. “I just about lost it there and… well, never mind. I think I’m okay now. Oh, I’m a mess.” She began wiping her sodden cheeks.

”Here, have my handkerchief.” Brock offered gallantly. Jessie smiled at him through her tears. “Thank you, you’re so helpful.” she said.

”No biggy. I always come prepared for trouble.” Brock responded.

”DAMN hic IT!” Jessie screeched, losing control. “I-I can’t hold it after all! Pre hic for trouble, a full plate!” She seized Pikachu with one arm, staggered to her feet and struck as impressive a pose as she could in her lethargic, bloated condition, sweeping the other arm over her head as she somehow quick-changed into her field costume.

”Make it doubled, like Jessie’s weight!” James joined in, rising up to stand beside her.

”To protect the world from devastation!”

”To unite all peoples within our nation!”

”To denounce the evils of truth and love!”

”To extend our reach to the stars above!”

”Jessie!”

”James!”

”Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!”

”Surrender now, or prepare to fight!”

”Meowth, that’s right!” Meowth said, popping out of the bushes. “Now we’ve got dat Pikachu!”

”Unbelievable!” Ash cried. “It was Jessie and James all along!”

”Er…. we knew it was James.” Misty reminded him.

”Oh right. Well, give me back Pikachu!”

”Just try and get him back, twerp!” Jessie reached for her Pokeballs and grabbed… nothing. Or rather, she grabbed a handfull of love handle, but no ball. “Er… James… hic…did you bring Weezing and Victreebel?”

”Well, not today.”

”And I left Arbok and Wobbuffet at home hic too- Meowth, you don’t happen to have a twenty-foot war machine on you, by any chance?”

“Er, nope.” Meowth said, showing her his empty paws.

”Ohhhh.”

”Pikachu, thundershock.” Ash said, almost causally. The garden clearing was illuminated by a light bright as day, and by the time it died down, Pikachu had already hopped up onto Ash’s shoulder and was licking ketchup residue off its lips happily.

”Maybe we should go in and tell James’s parents that the happy couple seems to have eloped.” Brock commented as the three trainers watched the glowing specks disappear into the sky.

**********

”Owwwww, my head.” James moaned, climbing out of the crater. “The last time you landed on me was sixty pounds ago.”

”Well, don’t blame me!” Jessie said, hauling herself up after him. “You’re the one who -“ She stopped short, unable to think of a thing. James and Meowth were looking at her curiously while setting their various bone fractures. “You’re the one who… who joined in when I started saying the motto.. oh, what am I saying? You guys didn’t do anything wrong. I ruined everything. It went perfectly until I messed it up, and now it’s all my fault that we’re not going to get rich.” She pounded one pudgy fist into the soft turf. “Dammit! I’m so mad at myself right now! All that time we spent, and I ruined my beautiful figure for nothing!” Her voice cracked.

”Jessie…” James said. “You know, you’re still beautiful.”

”Well, of course I’m still beautiful, stupid! But now I’m probably only the third or fourth most beautiful woman in the world, instead of number wa-ha-haaaaan!” Jessie bawled.

”I think it’s a good look for you.” James said. “It makes you look kind of…. fierce and imposing, like an Amazon warrior.

”Well, you’re probably still mad at me for ruining everything, so why don’t you just leave me alone for a while. Okay?” She turned her back to him and stared intensely into the blackness of the nocturnal woods.

”Look, Jessie.” James said, moving closer beside her. “I was never really that attached to the plan anyway. If I really cared that much about being rich, I never would have left home in the first place. I’m happier out here, seeing the world with you and Meowth, free as a Pidgey. And when we do make our fortune, it shouldn’t be because we stole it from my parents! It should be because we stole it from strangers!”

”Well.. why did you go along with this plan, then? If you really didn’t care so much.” Jessie challenged him.

”First of all, because if I hadn’t gone along with it you would have beaten me into it. And secondly, because it was your dream, wasn’t it?” James answered her. “You always talk about wanting to be rich and have all the things that life denied you. I just thought maybe this way you would be happy.”

”You.. you did it for me?” Jessie said in surprise, her eyes widening.

”Hello, Meowth is still here, and Oi’m pretty mad at Jessie even if James isn’t. Wat da hell was da big idea back dere-urk!“

Jessie grabbed Meowth around the neck and flung him into the nearby river without taking her eyes away from James’. “Don’t you know Meowths hate waaaaaaddeeer?” he wailed as he disappeared downstream.

”You really just wanted me to be happy?” Jessie repeated.

”Well, you are my closest, oldes - er, the friend I’ve know for the longest time. At least among humans.”

”James - I-“ Jessie’s eyes water as James turned his face to hers. She felt a swelling within her, a powerful sensation rising to the surface.

”Urrrrp!” Jessie belched directly into James’ face. She flushed a bright red. “Er.. the fall must have broken up some air bubbles.”

”It’s okay. I guess you must feel better after that, huh?”

”You know what, I do feel better.” Jessie said. “Both down here-“ she patted her distended pot belly “and in here.” She patted her chest.

”I didn’t know there was anything wrong with your breasts to start with.”

”I meant my heart, moron! I’m happy because I guess things didn’t work out to badly. We’re no worse off than usual, I got a free dinner- actually, about eight or nine free dinners all together, and all our enemies are worse off than we are.”

”How’s that?”

”Well, Cassidy is comatose after embarrassing herself by eating like a hog in front of hundreds of people. If what you’ve told me about the giant nocturnal Ariados in your parents’ garden is true, the twerps are going to have an exciting evening, especially that scrawny little bug-phobic. And as for Jessiebelle… I had a talk with her uncle tonight, and made a few propositions. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot ‘more’ of Jessiebelle, if the Colonel is a man of his word.” Jessie chuckled.

”You know what James?” she asked suddenly, after a silence of several minutes in the starlit forest clearing. “I don’t think Meowth is coming back tonight. I think it’ll be morning by the time he gets to a riverbank and manages to climb out and walk back.”

”So?”

”So we have a few hours to ourselves. James, do you want to know one thing I was really looking forward to in our short marriage?” She looked at him slyly.

”Picking out coordinating drapes and wallpaper?”

”The honeymoon.” She leaned forward and kissed him, wrapping her plump arms around his slender torso. At first he was too shocked to do anything, but then he began to kiss her back. Then her soft, zaftig body was on top of his, and her could feel her paunch, still full and heavy with food, pressing against his own flat abdomen.

”Your mother was wrong about you, James!” Jessie said mischievously, breaking off the kiss for a moment. “I can feel it in my bones… or somewhere like that.”

”Wrong about whmmmm?” James started as Jessie kissed him fiercely again, and for a long time the only word spoken under the panorama of starlight was the brief shriek of a lone passing Zubat.

Epilogue:

The Colonel surveyed his operation proudly from behind the counter. He often liked to pay a visit to one of his hundreds of locations, just to make sure things were running smoothly. "Beautiful, isn't it?" he commented to the Sandshrew at his feet, which responded by rolling into a ball and going to sleep.

Colonel Sandshrew was in an especially good mood today, because this was the shop he'd opened on his niece's recommendation, and he was looking forward to paying her a visit this afternoon-- her house was right in the neighborhood. And it looked like he wouldn't even have to travel that small distance, for who should walk in the door that moment but Jessiebelle herself. He hadn't seen her in months, and was delighted to see her looking as healthy as ever. She hurried up to the counter, not meeting the eye of anyone else in the shop. "The... the usual." she said, eyes downcast. With the big boss standing just a few feet away, service was remarkably efficient today, and in seconds thirty fried donuts in various flavors had been loaded in a heavy paper bag. Being the company president's niece, Jessiebelle wasn't charged for the donuts, which she started eating almost the moment the bag was in her hand.

"Well, hello there, Jessiebelle!" the Colonel said jovially. "Why, y'all are looking as cute as a Clefairy in a Jigglypuff costume! How have you been!"

"It's... you!" Jessiebelle said in surprise. She'd assumed the Colonel had been a statue. Her lips turned downwards in a frown. "Well! You certainly have some nerve shawin up here to taunt me! Why won't you just laive me alawne?!"

"Er.. huh? Jessiebelle, what-"

"You knew I couldn't resist your daymed deep-frayed donuts! And then you went ahaid and opened a shop right across from my house! Thanks to you, Ah've gained so much weight, it's humiliayting!" Turning out her heel, she marched out of the donut shop, fuming and furiously stuffing down donuts.

The Colonel was mystified. What had that been all about? Jessiebelle had asked him herself, that night at the ball, to open up a franchise as close to her house as possible. She'd even requested that he make the donuts there extra-fattening.

And what did she mean, she'd gained weight? She actually appeared to be slimmer than she had been when he'd seen her last, all those months ago.

By at least four or five pounds.

The End

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