"Would you rather go to prison?" Raquel questioned, struggling not to laugh.
"Yeah, James! Besides, it's not like you haven't done dis before!" Meowth giggled.
"I don't see what's so funny. Why do I have to be a girl!"
"Because I said so, that's why!" Raquel snapped. "Is that reason enough?"
"I suppose," I sighed.
"Good," she smiled cheerfully. â"Now let's go!"
"Well, at least with my new job, cross-dressing won't be a requirement!" I hissed to Jessie, smirking playfully. "But it may be a plus." She calmly bopped me on the head, while stifling a giggle.
The four of us exited out of the Lab, eachdressed in a different get up-Meowth with a white lab coat on and a matching baseball cap, shielding his face from the police; Jessie with the same uniform as Raquel, but with her hair in a bun; And me as an overweight middle-aged woman.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Officer Jenny screamed out at us.
"Just getting out of work, officer! The late shift can be so hard sometimes!" Raquel replied. "Don't you agree, ladies?"
"Yes! Just ever so tough!" I agreed, giggling in a feminine tone. Officer Jenny frowned as she commanded her men to lower their firearms.
"Thank you, Officer Jenny!" Jessie acknowledged gratefully.
"Come on, men! They still might be inside!" Jenny barked. As Jenny and the others retreated, she took a closer look at me.
"Do I know you form somewhere?" she interrogated distrustfully.
"No! Where did you get that silly idea from?" I giggled nervously.
"You look... familiar."
"Familiar? To whom? That amazingly handsome member from Team Rocket? Of course not! I get that a lot." Jenny looked me over in suspicion, but said nothing.
"Officer Jenny! Please hurry!" another policeman called. Jenny took one last glance at me then took off after her partner. Relief flooded through me as Jenny ran out of sight.
"It amazes me how incredibly stupid you are, James!"
Jessie grumbled. "If it wasn't for me, you would've been in jail for years by now!"
"Would not!"
"Would too!"
"Would not!"
"Would too!"
â"Would not!"
"Would too!"
"Would not!!!"
"Guys, will youse just shaddup! We still gotta get dis back to da Boss and I don't wanna get nobodies attention!â" Meowth yelled.
"I afraid that's no longer a concern of yours, Meowth!" a voice called.
"Who are you? Come out now!" Meowth demanded. Two figures slipped out from the shadows.
"Prepare for trouble!"
"Make it Double!" her partner added.
"Cassidy?" Jessie gasped.
"Butch?" my mouth hung open.
"That's right!" they acknowledged in unison.
"What are you two misfits doing here?" Jessie snapped.
"Well, unlike the three of you, the Boss trusts us. So he sent us after you to make sure you did your job," Cassidy explained.
"And we did! We don't need your help!" I retorted.
"You accomplished your part of the mission so now hand over the pokeball!" Butch yelled.
"So you can get the credit? No way!"
"I don't think you understand. The Boss never wanted you to return, James."
What What was Butch getting at? Why did the Boss not want me to come back?
"You were never supposed to succeed. You served as a distraction so that we could retrieve the pokeball. An expendable member."
"Expendable... that can't be true! What reason would he have to get rid of me?"
"Ask Meowth," Cassidy responded slyly.
"James," Meowth began. He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I should've told you earlier. I just didn't want to get you worried, James."
"I remember dere was dis one member da Boss paired me up wit before youse two came around. Nice kid... a real winner. But one day he up and decided he didn't want to be in Team Rocket and he went inside da office ta see da Boss. Me, I decided to hang around outside. Well,... uh..." Meowth scratched the back of his head nervously. "...he never came out."
"You mean the Boss...?"
