"Ash, what’s Pikachu doing?" came a whining, high pitched voice which for some reason always reminded James of Jessie.

"It won’t leave Togepi alone!" came a deeper voice which for some reason made Jessie think of James.

"Aw, they’re just playing. And they’re, OH MY GOD! Pikachu, stop shocking Togepi!" Came the boyish voice Jessie and James both knew and hated.

"That’s them." whispered James.

Jaycee nodded, and winked at James, "Let’s go."

"Prepare for trouble!" came a voice.

"Make that double!" came another.

The three kids looked around suspiciously. Pikachu and Togepi also looked around. Togepi used the time, to rush away from Pikachu on its stubby legs, which had been giving it repeated thunder bolts.

Jaycee appeared first, ascending from the tree, "to protect the world from devastation."

James landed beside her moments later, "To unite all peoples within our nation."

d7ugty (my cat just jumped on the keyboard :)

Jaycee smiled, he looks so cute when he says that, "To denounce the evils of truth and love."

James produced his rose, having forgotten it previously, "To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jaycee!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light…" began Jaycee.

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight." Finished James, striking a pose with his rose.

Meowth suddenly ascended from the tree, "Meowth! Dat’s right!"

Ash, Misty and Brock all looked puzzled and confused.

"What’s going on?" asked Ash.

"Where’s Jessie?" Brock asked.

"Who cares?!" yelled Misty, clobbering both the boys over their heads, "They’re still Team Rocket!"

"You have a point." Agreed Brock

"How do you know that?" Ash asked, "James is, but Jaycee’s not."

Misty rolled her eyes, "Ash, she’s wearing a team rocket costume."

"I thought she was just wearing James’s clothes again." Ash said, clueless as usual.

While the kids began to argue amongst themselves, well, actually, Brock and Misty were just yelling at Ash, James gave a loud whistle. Jessie appeared from nowhere, (okay, from another tree actually) and snatched Pikachu, who she had already shot with a tranquilizer dart. She ran off with the limp yellow rodent, cackling.

"So, she is with them?" Ash asked.

"YES!" yelled his friends.

Ash smiled smugly, "Just like I said last night."

Misty and Brock decided in unspoken terms to let Ash think what he wanted to.

"Ash!" cried Misty, realizing Pikachu was gone, "I just realized Pikachu is gone!" *(see?)*

Jaycee, James and Meowth raced after Jessie, who made her way to the Meowth Balloon™. They all climbed in, and Jessie cut the rope which had been holding the balloon to the ground. Instantly the balloon rose into the air. Jessie put Pikachu into a large glass jar with a light bulb on top. *(surely you know the one I’m talking about.)*

"We finally did it!" Jessie cried, throwing her arms around James, who wasn’t sure how to respond. Jessie didn’t seem to notice.

Jaycee peered over the edge of the balloon. She really hated heights. Below she could see the three kids yelling angrily up at the balloon. Ash looked like he was about to throw a Pokeball, "I think that kid Ash is gonna send out one of his Pokémon." Jaycee said.

James and Jessie looked over the edge too. Ash sent out his Pidgeot.

"Aw, he’s gonna bust our balloon!" wailed James.

Jessie snarled and picked up a blaster ball. She pressed a button on it, and the fuse lit *(ever wondered how they do it so fast?)*. She tossed the ball down. It hit the ground in front of Ash. He was knocked backwards by the blast. She lobbed another towards the approaching Pidgeot, and miraculously the bird was slammed into the ground by the force of the explosion. Ash crawled over to his Pokémon, and managed to get it safely back into it’s Pokeball. By the time he managed to think of another way to pop the team’s balloon, they were out of sight.

Team Rocket sat and gloated over Pikachu, who had just woken up, and was drowsily looking about itself in the glass jar. They had brought Pikachu back to their camp, and set it, in the shock proof, large glass jar down on the ground.

"I can’t believe we’ve actually stolen Pikachu!" cried James.

Jessie grinned, "It was my ingenious plan that did it."

Jaycee studied the Pikachu, "So, you think the boss’ll give you a big bonus for this Pokémon, huh?"

Jessie looked at Jaycee slyly, "That’s right, little girl. Us, not you."

Jaycee held her hands up, "Hey, I don’t want any of your money. It’s all yours."

Jessie continued to eye Jaycee suspiciously, "Just don’t try anything."

Pikachu was now fully conscious, and was starting to attack the sides of the jar in a frenzy.

"Wow, dat’s one mad little Pikachu." Meowth commented.

Jessie and James nodded. Pikachu was screaming at the top of it’s tiny lungs, and shocking the jar repeatedly now.

"Hey, that’s Team Rocket property." James said, "What does it think it’s doing?"

"Pikachu’s even more powerful than it was previously." Jessie said thoughtfully.

"And I think it’s about to…" began Jaycee, cut off by the sound of smashing glass. Pikachu leapt free of his prison, and lunged for the nearest of its enemies. Jessie screamed as the yellow Pokémon bit her arm, while at the same time electrocuting her. James grabbed hold of Pikachu’s tail, and he was shocked too. He managed to wrench Pikachu’s hold off Jessie, and Pikachu turned on him, biting his thigh and administrating powerful shocks at the same time. Jaycee and Jessie both tried to get the rodent off James, and were both thrown backwards by the force of the thunder shocks it was emitting. Meowth yowled angrily, and began using his fury swipes attack against the Pikachu. Pikachu suddenly stopped attacking James, and turned to Meowth, a strange look in its eyes. Meowth backed away, and Pikachu bounded after him.

"Why’s Pikachu chasing Meowth?" Jessie asked.

Jaycee helped James to his feet, and he shrugged in response to Jessie’s question. They watched Meowth desperately lope away from the frenzied Pikachu, who really had no wish to hurt Meowth, but wanted, well, much the same thing Jessie had wanted from James earlier.

"Jessie, Pikachu’s acting, just like you were!" James said in amusement.

Jessie hit James neatly over the head, "Could we drop that subject? Okay, I…did some stuff I would never do if I were, shall we say, sober, but we can not let it rule our lives!"

Jaycee pursed her lips together thoughtfully, a habit of hers, and then said, "Maybe Pikachu’s been poisoned too."

Jessie and James agreed, "You may be right about that." Jessie said.

Meowth bounded desperately up a tree. Pikachu stood angrily below, yelling loud proclamations of, "Pikachu! Pika!"

Jessie growled, "Let’s show that fuzzy jaundice sufferer who’s boss!" she lunged for Pikachu, outweighing the Pokémon by far. The two began an all out brawl on the ground. Jessie tried to get a hold of Pikachu, but it kept shocking her. James and Jaycee were hardly game enough to break up the fight, fearing the wrath of both competitors.

"Please, just take it away!" yelled Jessie, thrusting the struggling Pikachu into Ash’s arms.

Pikachu began to suck up to Ash with its big black eyes, and Ash hugged it happily, "Pikachu buddy, you’re alright!"

Jessie spluttered, "That rat almost killed me!"

Ash and his friends looked at her strangely, "Yeah, right." Ash said.

"We think it might have been poisoned, like Jessie was." James added, from where he stood to the left of Jessie, "She was acting all…well, we won’t discuss it." He said quickly, seeing the death stares he received from Jessie.

Brock nudged Misty, "That would explain why Pikachu was chasing Togepi around this morning."

Misty nodded, "I guess so."

Jessie turned and stormed off, away from where the three kids were having lunch, and towards camp. James, Jaycee and Meowth followed her.