The blue haired man’s face was struck with terror, "I’m sorry Jessie, so sorry!" whimpered James, shielding his face from her wrath, and groveling in the wet sand, which stained his knees, the water soaking through his team rocket costume, and chilling his skin.

His partner Jessie’s face was becoming as red as her hair, and the heavily falling rain hung in tiny droplets on the redness. She stood over her partner, fuming, "You’re sorry?! How can that possibly compensate for what you have done?!"

James cringed as another blow struck him, "It was a mistake!" he pleaded, "I couldn’t help it!"

Jessie continued to fume, "How could it have been a mistake?! You kissed me you fool!"

James nervously snuck a glance at her, "Well, you didn’t seem to mind at the time…"

This comment earned him another slap across his face. Jessie continued to rant and rave, but James’s mind began to wander. He had learned long ago how to tune out from his partner’s fits of rage. He could remember clearly how all this had began. And the day had started out so well…

Woken as usual at dawn by a Dodrio’s call, James cursed himself for being such a light sleeper, and struggled out of his sleeping bag. It was a cold morning, as it was late fall now. Soon it would probably snow. He had slept in his trousers, as usual, and needed only to pull on his shirt to be considered, decent. As usual, Jessie still slept soundly on the other side of the fire. And as usual Meowth slept (unknown to Jessie) on the end of her sleeping bag, snuggled up against one of her legs. James found himself, as usual, wondering how on earth Jessie could sleep through the racket of a Dodrio’s call, and wondering what it would be like to be in Meowth’s position at the moment. Then, as usual, he almost choked in surprise at himself thinking that. he shook his head, and decided to go for a walk. This early in the morning, as the sun was only starting to rise, was one of James’s many favorite times of the day. Of course, he also liked breakfast, lunch and dinner, and of course all the snacks in between. And he loved the time of morning when Jessie would first emerge from preening herself for over an hour, smelling of the perfume she always wore, and looking genuinely happy. But then, the time would be over, and she would see James, and frown. That was probably the time he hated most. And he hated all the times she hit him and kicked him and…He decided it was best to leave this train of thought alone. He walked alone through the trees, and out of the forest, where they had camped. It was a forest not far from Vermilion City. It was near the beach where Ash had found his Krabby, so long ago. Speaking of which, that beach was where James ended up. he lost his footing, and rolled uncomfortably, well, okay, painfully, down a decline, and landed with a thump head first in the sand. He stood up, sand in his hair and on his clothes, not to mention the twigs and leaves he’d picked up on the way down. He turned and faced the ocean, waves crashing on the shore. Actually, it was really rough. But he had always loved the ocean. Not swimming in it, what with all the salt, and seaweed, and the chance of Tentacool, but he liked to watch the waves. He felt the soft sand beneath his feet, and curled his toes up to feel the sand in between them. He looked out at the water, the horizon highlighted by the sun, which was rising steadily, and found himself wishing Jessie was there to share the sight with.

"No, not Jessie." He whispered into the salty sea air, "Anyone."

He smiled involuntarily, "Except Meowth, he’d spoil it."

Black clouds were gathering on the horizon, sort of ruining the view, and James studied the huge waves, getting steadily larger. Seeing the water reminded James he needed a shower. He wanted to look his best, as usual. And, he realized, pulling a mirror from his pocket, and seeing his tussled hair, and filthy clothes, he didn’t look it right now. He cast another look at the sea, and then headed back to camp.

"James, you’re a mess! Have a shower for Jigglypuff’s sake!" Jessie said in disgust, "Or find yourself another partner!"

James had returned to camp to discover that Jessie was awake, and was a little disappointed.

"Okay, okay…" James said, backing off from her, "But Jess, you don’t look too hot first thing in the morning either, you know. And you weren’t the one who fell off a cliff." He couldn’t believe he’d said that out loud.

Jessie didn’t explode, but looked at him strangely, "What cliff?" she asked skeptically.

James didn’t reply, but walked quickly down to the public showers. *(Hey, it’s Pokémon Island, in the wilderness, where else is he gonna find a shower?)* Jessie sure could be mean. It wasn’t –exactly- his fault he’d fallen over and gotten messed up. technically, she had no right to speak to him like that. Just because he wasn’t perfect first thing in the morning didn’t mean she had to go off her head like that. He wished he had the guts to tell her that to her face. Then he reconsidered; guts had nothing to do with it, it was brains. Anyone with brains wouldn’t risk their lives, would they? As he went inside to the showers, he heard the steady sound of rain on the roof. He snickered; Jessie had never liked rain. That’d teach her. Now he wouldn’t have to stand up to her after all, the rain would teach her a lesson for him.

The gentle rain turned quite rapidly into a heavy storm, and half an hour later, Jessie, James and Meowth were all huddled together under the half upturned Meowth Balloon™ basket.

Jessie shielded her bare stomach from the cold wind, "Jeez, talk about suffering for style."

James couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. It was her fault for insisting on wearing a midriff summer and winter through, but on second thought, it wasn’t like she had much else, the midriff was part of her uniform.

"Jessie, do you want my jacket?" James asked quietly.

Jessie smirked, "do you think I’d be caught dead in your clothes?" she turned away from him, "I can take care of myself."

James nodded profusely, "I know that. And you take care of me too."

He somehow felt that hadn’t come out right, but it was sort of the truth. Sure, he did his fair share of cleaning, and sometimes even tried to cook. But Jessie was always the one who thought up the plans and worked out where they were going to sleep. James frowned, or rather, she always took the credit for those things, even if she didn’t do them. but in the long run, they did stuff pretty equally.

Meowth squirmed uncomfortably, "Does anyone else feel squashed?" he asked.

"I sure am." James said.

He was jammed up against one wall of the basket, and Meowth was beside him. Jessie stretched out in front of the two.

"Jessie, aren’t you taking up a little more room than us?" James asked.

Jessie flashed him a hot look, "Do you have any idea how hard it is to fit my long beautiful legs under here? I’m doing the best I can!"

James had certainly noticed how long her legs were, "Yes, but couldn’t you just cross them or something please?" he asked.

Jessie sighed, and crossed her legs. Meowth was able to breathe a little more freely now.

"About time." He said, stretching his feline body, "Jeez, Jessie."

Jessie shot daggers at him, and stretched her legs out once more, "Didn’t you know cockiness killed the cat?"

James groaned, that cat had more guts than brains. He always said what he thought. The basket was quickly becoming saturated, and water was beginning to drip from a wet patch onto James’s small nose. He brushed in away, annoyed. Suddenly a gust of wind which the whole party heard before they felt it blew the basket to one side. The force of the rain was a shock to James and Jessie, as it hit them with full force. Meowth clung feebly to the inside of the basket, as the large Balloon part of the hot air balloon, was carried along, and off the ground, dragging the basket behind it. The ground around Jessie and James quickly turned to mud, and they jumped to their feet and raced after the hot air balloon.

"This is all your fault!" yelled Jessie.

How can she blame me for the weather?! Wondered James, "Jessie, how in Pokémon can you blame me for the –oof!" James was cut off in mid sentence, as Jessie tripped over in front of him, and he in turn fell over her. Well, not over, but on.

Jessie’s breath was knocked from her, but for some reason James felt comforting to her. She had secretly been terrified of the storm until now. She suddenly came to her senses, and began to squirm away from James, who looked stunned.

"GUYS!!!!" screamed Meowth, as the wind changed direction, and the Meowth Balloon™ barreled into Jessie and James. once again, the two were painfully thrown together.

"James, get off of me!" yelled Jessie

"Well I would, naturally, but you’re the one on me!" cried James.

Jessie realized it was true, and struggled to get up.

"No, don’t!" cried James.

But it was too late, the Meowth Balloon™ hit Jessie in the back, and she was thrown back on top of James, who was almost halfway to his feet. It was then that James realized they were at the top of the decline. Yep, the same one James had rolled down onto the beach from earlier. It was a painful plunge, and at the bottom somehow James found Jessie’s lips on his. Neither knew how they had ended up like that, but more to the point, neither drew away. Finally Jessie let out a weird noise that sounded like "MMMmmmhhh!!!!" which was probably some sort of muffled curse.

She tore her lips from James’s, who just looked at her, stunned. The rain was still falling heavily, and the sand was sticking to both of them in clumps. It was then that Jessie had begun hitting James, and he found himself in his present position. Thinking back, James realized the day hadn’t actually started out very well after all.