Ninetails barked in reply, "Nine!"

Giovanni withdrew the Tauros he had just sent out, and Ninetails had beaten, "Now try this." He said, throwing forth another Pokeball. This time it was a Fearow.

"Alright Ninetails, use your confusion powder!" Jessie commanded.

Ninetails expelled a cloud of glittering blue dust over Fearow.

"Fearow, blow it away with gust attack." Giovanni said.

Fearow flapped its wings hard, until a gust of wind formed, and swept the powder away.

"Now use your peck attack!" Giovanni commanded.

"Alright Ninetails," Jessie said, "fire spin."

As Fearow lunged at Ninetails, Ninetails shot a blast of blue flame from its mouth. The flames encircled Fearow, and the bird fell to the ground.

"Keep in mind that Ninetail’s confusion powder has no effect on flying types strong enough to blow it away." Giovanni said.

Jessie nodded. She had been training Ninetails for three weeks now. James hadn’t contacted her in that time, but why should he? She reflected. He was probably off with Meowth and that girl Jaycee somewhere, digging a pit trap. She almost smiled at that thought. She could just see the hopeless trio falling into the pit moments after digging it.

-----------

But there were no pit traps on James’s mind. He, Jaycee and Meowth were camping in some woods just north of Pallet Town, which was where Ash, Misty, Brock and Krystal were staying. Ash had once again gone running home to his mother, for his nice warm bed and regular meals. He also caught up with Professor Oak, and did a little Pokémon training. Okay, no training to speak of, but he did let Pikachu and his other Pokémon have some exercise in Professor Oak’s large back yard. Krystal kept herself firmly near Brock, who was taking a definite liking to her, even though she was a bit of a sadist, and sarcastic at times. James and Jaycee sat side by side, trying to cook pancakes. Jaycee poured some batter into the frying pan, and James watched it bubble, "Now?" he asked, spatula poised and ready.

Jaycee sweat dropped, "um, I don’t know." She smiled sheepishly, "Did I mention I can’t cook?"

James shrugged, "That makes two of us. Give me a stove, and I’m fine, but over a fire? That’s uncouth." He tried to flip the pancake, but succeeded only in folding it in half.

Meowth watched the two from a tree, amused. He thought of going down to help, but decided to sleep instead.

"Damn it!" James cursed, "Jaycee, do you want to try your luck?"

Jaycee took the spatula, "Sure, it can’t be too difficult, can it?"

The folded pancake was set on a plate, and James poured in more batter. They waited for it to bubble. It bubbled. And spat.

"Hey, it’s too hot!" James cried, "Ouch!"

Specks of batter hit him in the face. Jaycee giggled, then cursed as more batter hit her. She and James dove away from the frying pan, as more batter was flung in their direction.

"It’s possessed!" shrieked James, shielding himself behind Jaycee.

"Uh, we should have taken it off the heat." Jaycee said.

"Well, I’m not touching it." James said, shaking his head profusely, and crossing his arms over his chest.

Jaycee burst out laughing, "James, you’ve got batter on your face." She said, wiping his cheek, but succeeding only in smearing the smudge. *(can you smear a smudge?!)*

James wiped Jaycee’s cheek, "You’re not perfect yourself."

Jaycee playfully shoved him away, "Oh yeah?"

Her attention was brought back to the blackened pancake, which was beginning to billow smoke. She grabbed the frying pan off the fire, and set it on the ground. James popped up next to her,

"I think we make a good team." He said, as they eyed the charcoal colored pancake.

Jaycee turned to him to make a come back, but lost her words somehow. They both stared at each other.

"Hey, is this that thing?" Jaycee asked, not tearing her eyes away from James’s.

"what thing is that?" James asked.

"You know, where two people just look at each other, and then they…" Jaycee was cut off by James’s lips against hers.

James pulled away, "Guess it was." He said.

Jaycee felt hyperventilation coming on. James. he had kissed her. Wait a second, James had KISSED her. Wow. That was deep.

"Now what?" Jaycee asked, "Do you think the thing’s still going?" she was surprised at how calm she sounded.

James shrugged, "how long is it supposed to last?"

Jaycee threw herself at him, "Let’s just pretend it still happening anyway."

James nodded, "Uh huh, sounds good."

And they did.

-----------

Meanwhile, at much the same time, slightly different place, Krystal petted Vulpix happily. The small fox Pokémon sat in her lap placidly, enjoying all the extra attention she gave it, on top of the affection’s from its master. It liked Krystal. She was quite a nice person. To it, anyway. Vulpix had noticed that Krystal didn’t seem to like Ash or Misty, although she hid her feelings for Brock’s sake. Only Vulpix noticed all this of course. It was Pokémon’s intuition. Nevertheless, Brock and Krystal sat side by side by the lake in Professor Oak’s backyard, with Vulpix sitting on Krystal’s lap.

"Krystal, how can you not like donuts?!" Brock exclaimed

"Hey, I like lots of things, just not donuts." Krystal said, "Or pancakes."

"Yeah right." Brock said good in good nature, "You don’t even like apples! Name one thing you do like."

Krystal looked up at Brock coyly, "I like…you."

Brock was stunned, "You do?"

Krystal nodded, "Yeah." She grinned, "See, there’s something I like."

Brock rolled his eyes, "Anyway, I was talking about food. you know, stuff you can eat?"

"Oh, I wouldn’t want to eat you." Krystal said, "I’d like to kiss you though."

Vulpix made itself scarce, wanting to give Brock and Krystal some privacy and to share the gossip with Pikachu at least.

And Brock was never someone to deny a girl what she wanted. After he pulled away, Krystal smiled, "I liked that."

-----------

Jessie returned Ninetails to her Pokeball, and headed back to her room. She had decorated it with rich red velvet drapes and a red bed spread. The theme was red. She had always like that color. She sat down at her small table, in front of the hot dinner, as usual. Today was Friday, that meant lasagna. She took the lid off the plate. No lasagna, just a note. Jessie frowned, she was hungry, and in no mood for this. She unfolded the note. Jessie: you’ve been doing very well. It would be my pleasure to eat dinner with you tonight. please come to my room if you wish. Giovanni. Jessie shrugged, eating with Giovanni was better than eating alone, after all. Although she liked solitude. She decided to go eat with Giovanni. He was the one paying her after all. She was wearing a brand new shirt and skirt. But she decided to change. She opened her wardrobe. She had so many clothes now. Giovanni was always buying her new things and leaving them in her wardrobe for her. And on top of that, every week Jessie received a large paycheck, which she could spend at her leisure. She found a new dress in the wardrobe, as usual. It was deep red in color, and strapless. She grinned, and took off her clothes to slip into it. If not to wear it to dinner, just to look at it. She turned to face the full length mirror, and sighed happily. Utter perfection was highlighted by this dress. She decided she would wear it to dinner. She made her way down the hall to Giovanni’s room, and knocked lightly on the door.

"Jessie?" Came Giovanni’s voice, speaking as usual with the accent Jessie couldn’t quite place.

"Yes, sir, it’s me. I got your note." Jessie said matter-of-factly.

Giovanni opened the door, and Jessie stepped inside. His room was sure bigger than hers. he shut the door behind her.

Jaycee opened her eyes partially. She got a shock as usual, to find that she wasn’t in her bedroom, with her large hand drawn James poster looking down at her from the wall. She remembered what had happened and began to close her eyes. I’m in the Pokémon world. She thought happily, and today I’ll get to see James again. She stretched out a little in her sleeping bag. She opened her eyes a little again, That’s strange, she thought, this isn’t just my sleeping bag, this is two sleeping bags zipped together. She remembered something else, and wondered if that had been a dream. That was the strange thing about this place. She couldn’t be sure if things had really happened or not. She rolled over, and could hardly suppress a grin. James lay sleeping beside her. She quietly studied him, and sighed happily. One word came to her mind : perfect.

-----------

You know the drill, much the same time, slightly different place. Krystal woke up, and yawned drowsily, keeping her eyes firmly shut, knowing that opening them would result in waking up. and that, that would be bad. very bad. she felt pleasantly warm under the single sheet, in the slightly small bed. A cool breeze blew in through the window. I’m in that little pest Ash’s house. she reminded herself. What on earth did Brock see in that kid? She shifted slightly, and brushed against something warm. Her eyes snapped open, and she rolled over. Brock slept soundly beside her. How perfect was that? she smiled in satisfaction.

-------------

Yep, it’s pretty much the same time, slightly different place. Jessie woke up, her head throbbing. A hangover. Perfect. She opened one eye, and felt the air go out of her. She was not in her room. This was not her room! This was not her bed! She sat up, terrified at what she might find. Tears sprung to her eyes, and she held her head in her hands. Giovanni lay next to her. The realization hit her like a Rhyhorn. Jessie felt sick. On top of her hangover. She got out of the bed hurriedly, stumbling some of the way. she looked around desperately for the dress she had worn – anything, really. She found it, flung to the side near the bed. It was torn a lot, and she cried at the memories which were brought to her from it. she struggled into it, whimpering in pain as the fabric grazed the bruises on her body. She was shaking as she left the room silently, and ran to her room. She would leave. This was too much for anyone. She realized now, possibly the reason Giovanni had wanted a female partner. She was crying as she packed up her clothes and possessions into a deep red bag, and scouted around for anything she might have left. She picked up the wooden doll she had had since her childhood, and hugged it. But there was no comfort in the doll. She shoved it into her bag, and then put her two Pokeballs in too. She paused briefly, then grabbed Ninetails’ Pokeball too. She wasn’t about to leave it here for Giovanni to use to take over the world. She ran down the hall, through the lobby, and out the front door.

----------

Rachel watched Jessie leave. She had tried to call out, but the poor girl seemed distressed by something. Her dress was so torn, and that bruise on her face…Rachel bit her lip, what could she do? She was just the receptionist. Wait a minute, what about James? she sat down in front of her computer, and typed in his name: James Kojiro. His file contained all the information he’d been willing to give Team Rocket. She found his contact number, and picked up her phone. She hoped he had the damn mobile switched on.

-------------

Jaycee was debating whether to shift slightly closer to James or not, when a quiet ringing distracted her. Jaycee shut her eyes, so James wouldn’t know she had been staring at him for the last twenty minutes or so. She opened one eye to watch as James woke up to the sound, and, still half asleep, felt around beside the sleeping bag for his back pack. He found it, and dragged it over to himself. He sat up, and pulled out a blue mobile phone from the front pocket. Eyes still half closed, he pressed a button, and spoke drowsily into the reciver, "Hello?" he asked.

A bright, feminine voice answered him, "James? is that you honey?"

James hadn’t been listening, he had just noticed Jaycee lying next to him. she smiled weakly, and waved. James couldn’t help but smile, then went back to his conversation on the phone, "Huh? Who’s this?" he asked.

"It’s Rachel." Rachel replied, "You know, the…"

"Receptionist." James said nodding, "should have know." He muttered. He yawned cavernously, "why are you calling so early? Is something wrong?"

"James, it’s your partner Jessie. Well, you know, that one who was your partner, but now she’s…"

"Yes, I know who you mean." James said, worry beginning to show on his face, "What’s wrong with her?"

"it’s…I’m…not exactly sure." Rachel said carefully, "She came running through the lobby and out the front door. She’s not coming back, I know that much. She had all her stuff with her."

James was alert now, "Well, thanks, I’ll have to go find her."

On the other end, Rachel smiled ruefully, "You do that. and remember, call me whenever you want, okay James darling?"

"Umm, sure." James said, "Bye."

"See ya!" came Rachel’s sing song voice.

James rubbed his temples, and looked over at Jaycee, "Jay, we have to go find Jessie. Something’s happened to her."

Jaycee sat up, "Oh, okay." Not even a ‘good morning.’ She thought angrily, all he cares about is that red haired b-

"And…good morning." James added, not sure why he had said it, but needing to all the same.

Jaycee smiled shyly, "Good morning."

They looked at each other for a moment, neither uncomfortable, but simply an understanding silence. James snapped back to the problem at hand. "We, uh, better get going. I don’t know where Meowth’s gotten to."