Disclaimer: Pokémon doesn't belong to me.

A/N: My last part wasn't very good, a little drawn out but I'm hoping that this part will be better ^_^ Thanks to all my reviewers!

'Thoughts are like this'

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Love not War, Friend not Foe
Part #09
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Last time...

"Who are you?" Ash questioned with Pikachu in his arms.

"I am..." The man took a hold of the side of his cloak and pulled at it. He wanted to do a dramatic unveiling of his identity but he goofed up. He was standing on one end of it and he pulled his feet from under himself. He landed with a thump and groaned his face still covered.

Jessie smirked and crossed her arms. "Nice entrance" Ash chuckled with Pikachu as the man stood up. The cloak fell off and Jessie gasped. Ash looked over and his jaw dropped.

"J...James?!"

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Jessie was dumbstruck for a little while but then she snapped out of it. "James! I thought you were dead!"

"Dead? Who would you think that?" His expression dulled to a scowl and he took his gaze away from her. "Ohh never mind. I know why. A stupid dork like who you thought I was would have gone and attacked Team Rocket straight after coming out of hospital. Well this is news to you Jessie but I'm not that stupid!" He crossed his arms and glared at Jessie harshly.

Jessie shifted her weight from one foot to the other. The look he was giving her made her feel really uncomfortable.

"Could you get us out of here James?" Ash asked, breaking the silence. He had to do something to get them talking, or at least to get out of the cage.

James looked over to Ash and Pikachu and smiled. "Sure thing Ash. You'll be out in a matter of minutes. My assistant is already on the job" He nodded towards Giovanni's desk.

Ash looked over and caught the glimpse of a Meowth's tail. Pikachu jumped from Ash's arms and wandered over to the side of the cage. He twitched his ears. "Pikachu?"

"Hold yer Ponyta there kid" Meowth jumped up onto the top of the desk and looked over at them. He had a Meowth-sized black cloak on and gloves to match.

"Well you two sure look the part" Ash grinned in amusement. They always did like to look at their best and they always seemed to have some sort of outfit for every occasion.

"Just because there's a big war going on doesn't mean we should loose out fashion sense" James explained while Meowth turned back to working on the small control panel on the desk.

Jessie stood there in silence. She looked at James with sad eyes but he didn't even glance in her direction once. She watched Ash and James talking as if they were old friends and not adversaries. 'Is he ignoring me?' She crossed her arms and waited for a moment. "So James, Meowth, where have you two guys been the last few months?"

She waited for an answer but she didn't get one. With her temper rising she walked over to the side of the cage nearest James. "Didn't you hear me? I asked where have you been?"

"That lock almost opened yet Meowth?" James walked away from her and over to Meowth. He leaned on the desk with his back turned to Jessie.

She growled angrily. 'Nobody ignores me! Not even HIM!' She clenched her hands in tight fists by her sides and glared at the back of James' head. Ohh how lucky he was that there was a cage between them, for his sake.

Ash looked from James to Jessie and back again. He crouched down next to Pikachu and whispered to him, "You think we should interfere?"

Pikachu shook his head. "Pikachu pikapi. Pika pika pikachu chu chu pichu pika"

Ash nodded in agreement. "Yeah you're right. It's none of our business" He stood up straight again. "That lock done yet? We need to go and find the others" He was worried about them. Who knows what Giovanni is putting them through as they spoke? Almost as if it were timed, the electric field around the cage cut off and the cage began to rise back up into the ceiling. James turned to them.

"Let's waste no time. Giovanni could be anywhere in the building and so could your friends. Let's go" James fixed his cloak on his shoulders and pulled the hood over his head, covering his facial features in shadows once more. Meowth leapt off the desk and followed James out the door.

"Fine with me" Ash waited for Pikachu and then looked back at Jessie. She was still glaring at the spot where James had just previously occupied. He went back and waved a hand in front of her face. "Jessie?"

She snapped out of it and shook her head. "Huh?"

"Are you coming or what?" Ash turned and left the room after James.

Jessie followed close behind them. She glared at James and so wanted to run up and grab him by his collar. She looked down at the small feline Pokémon following James and scowled. "Big shots, that's what they are" Even if she kept giving out about them, deep down she was really relieved to see both of them.

"So you have any idea where they are keeping the others?" Ash questioned James and Meowth, hoping that one of them would have some clue.

"Probably in dat cage room we found a while ago, right Jimmie boy?" Meowth looked up to his friend.

"You're right Meowth. It was empty an hour ago but they could be in there now" He pulled out a remote and looked at the screen. There was a small flashing red light on it. "We had better find them fast"

"Why? What's going to happen?" Ash felt his stomach tighten. Pikachu perked his ears.

"We've set a bomb up and it's set to go off in around ten minutes" James shoved the remote back into his pocket and sped up the pace.

"What?! Well then hurry!" Ash looked straight ahead with a look of worry and fear. If they didn't find them and get out in time, the game's up.

Jessie pulled out the folder she had been carrying around and opened it. She pulled out a couple of bits of paper and looked them over. They were plans for a type of pokéball that would catch any and every Pokémon that it came in contact with. It was like an advanced version of the Master Ball she had heard about. There was a note at the end that said that every pokéball could become an Advanced Ball, as they called it. All that had to be done was to change one or two wires in the ball. She put the papers back into the folder, closed it and looked up. Ash, James and Meowth were already at the end of the hall. She ran after them.

It took another couple of minutes to find the room they were looking for. Once inside the room they were met with two Rockets guarding a cage with Cara, Misty and Brock inside it.

Ash smiled over at his friends and ran over to the cage. He grabbed the bars and looked through them. "You guys okay?"

Misty sighed when she saw Ash. "You're all right!"

"Yeah, but not for long" One of the Rockets chuckled and grabbed Ash by the arm. Ash pulled away but the grip was too tight. The Rocket grinned but suddenly was struck on the side of his head and was sent tumbling to the ground. He lay there in a groaning heap.

Ash looked over and saw James land after his flying kick. "Thanks"

"No time for thanks. Get them out" James turned to the other Rocket and started on his attack.

Cara looked through the bars at the man with the cloak. "Ohh, who is that?" She asked herself and grinned.

Ash looked back. "Jessie, give me a hand here" He pulled out two pokéballs and let out his Quilava and Feraligatr. He used the old technique of heating up the bars with flamethrower and cooling them fast with water gun.

Jessie let Arbok out and it tackled the weakened bars, breaking through them. She turned around just as the second Rocket feel to the ground with a thump.

James turned to the group. "Let's get out quick"

"But shouldn't we find Giovanni first? That's the whole reason we came in here in the first place!" Misty and Brock nodded in agreement with Cara.

"You can't stay. There's a bomb here and it's going to go off in..." James looked at the remote again. "Four minutes" He wasn't going to hang around so he and Meowth quickly took off down the halls towards the front door.

The group followed without a word as they all ran. They reached the front doors and looked at it. They were two sturdy steel doors that looked almost indestructible. Ash had his Pokémon try the flamethrower/water gun combo but it didn't work.

"Ohh great. Now how are we going to get out of here?" He returned his Pokémon to their pokéballs.

"Ehh, how about dis?" Meowth pushed a button by the door and it began to open. "Honestly, you twerps can be so blind" He shook his head and headed out the door. Outside the air still rang with sounds of the battle.

"We have to get them away from here" Jessie told Cara who agreed.

"Dragonite go!" Cara tossed a pokéball and her Pokemon came out. "You guys get to cover, I'll get our people to get away" She leapt up onto Dragonite's back and took off. She flew over the battlefield warning the rebels to get away.

While they were running James looked at the remote. "Five, four, three, two and..." There was a huge explosion behind them. The force of the blow knocked everyone to the ground. They covered their heads in an attempt to protect themselves.

Jessie felt someone covering her during the explosion. When the worst of it was over they sat up. She felt the person getting off her and she looked up to see James.

He blushed a little, which could still be seen even with the hood covering his face. "Ehh, sorry" He got up and started to walk away.

Jessie stood up and faced him. "That's right, just walk away like you did before. Like a coward"

James stopped and stood still for a moment. He spun around and faced her. "I'm a coward? I should think not"

Cara looked to Ash and asked, "Who's that guy she's fighting with?"

"That's James"

Misty and Brock looked at Ash. "Are you sure? Jessie said he was dead"

"Well he isn't. That's James all right and there's Meowth" He pointed to the Pokémon clambering out from the bushes. They turned their attention back to Jessie and James.

"Yes you are a coward! You ran off after one little fight!"

"You know why! If you ever cared for me in the least you wouldn't have said what you did and not come back to apologise!" James pulled the hood from his face and stared at Jessie in the eye.

Cara's mouth dropped. "That's James!? Wow!" She grinned at the blue haired hunk that she was watching. Brock looked at her and frowned.

"The only reason I said those things was because I was trying to cover up the fact that I did like you and I didn't come back straight away because I was afraid that you would hate me!" Jessie wiped her eyes and lowered her gaze to the ground.

"What?" James' expression softened and he stood looking at her. "Is that true?"

"Yeah" She looked back up to him. "I've never been good at expressing my emotions you know that. Meowth just got me angry. The reason I said what I did was because I was scared that you wouldn't wake up. But then you did and.."

James walked over to her and took her hands in his. "Just answer me this Jessie. Did you really mean all those bad things you said about me?"

"No" She choked out.

"And do you like me?"

"No I don't like you James"

He closed his eyes and dropped her hands. "I knew it" He turned to leave but Jessie caught his arm. He turned around and looked into her deep sapphire eyes. "Why's she smiling?"

"I don't like you, I love you" She smiled and turned him to face her.

He smiled and pulled her into a hug. "I love you too Jessica. I always have and I always will"

"Same here James" They pulled apart and kissed.

Misty clasped her hands together. "Ohh that's so sweet!" She looked at Ash and smiled. "Ohh Ash"

He was smiling at Jessie and James when Misty called him. He looked over and was about to ask he what she wanted when Misty grabbed him and pulled him to her. She smiled at him, closed her eyes and kissed him. Ash looked around the best he could, totally confused and blushing madly. Then he closed his eyes and returned her kiss. They pulled apart and smiled at each other. "Hey, that wasn't too bad"

Misty shook her head and smiled at him.

Brock tossed his arms in the air. "Ohh I give up" He grabbed Cara and kissed her while leaning her back. He pulled her back up and let her go.

"Brock! What was that for?" Cara looked at him a little shocked.

"I donno. Seemed like it suited the moment" He smiled at her and she couldn't help but smile back at him.

Jessie, James, Ash and Misty laughed at them. Pikachu and Meowth nodded to each other and joined in.

After the laughter died down Jessie stood facing them and clapped her hands. "All right then everyone. This scene is getting way to mushy. Let's round everyone up and have a party! Giovanni is dead!"

"Don't be too sure about that"

They all looked over and saw Giovanni standing there with Cassidy and Butch, along with a couple more Rockets. They were covered in dirt.

"We're not done yet"

They two groups scowled at each other and prepared to fight, again.

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To be continued...
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Yeah! They all like each other! Well, not counting the Rockets ^_^ Please review! Three or more to continue. The next part will probably be the last one. Thanks!

~Ashla~

Finished: 11:35 p.m, Tuesday, 31st December 2002