"No."
Jesse shook her head and took a step backwards.
"It’s not possible," she thought.
Her brain seemed to have stopped working. Her body felt icy cold, as though she had plunged from a great height and into the sea. She gazed at James’s body sprawled out at an odd angle. His arms and legs appeared to be broken.
She stopped.
"NO!" she shouted, breaking down to the ground and sobbing, but the ground shattered beneath her like glass. She was falling down, into the deep fiery pits of Hell…
"Jesse? Jesse!"
James’s voice echoed through her mind. She shook her head, and opened her eyes.
James stood before her, an anxious expression on his face. Meowth was peering over from his bed.
"You were screaming. Are you okay?" he asked, his face white.
Jesse tried to sit up, but she was shaking.
"I-it’s okay. It was just a dream. Just a bad dream," she said firmly, though she hadn’t fully convinced herself.
James looked a little less anxious, but Jesse knew she hadn’t convinced him either.
"Come on, get back to sleep. Tomorrow we have those new agents coming, and we need to be up and ready to show them who the bosses are around here," said James gently.
"Goodnight," said Jesse.
"Goodnight," replied James, climbing onto the top bunk.
Meowth watched Jesse. He could just make out her face. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, but she made no sound.
Meowth went over to her bed and beckoned for her to come out of the room. Jesse reluctantly followed. She knew Meowth was all ready to interrogate her. She wiped her eyes fiercely, thinking Meowth hadn’t seen because of the dark.
Meowth led them down the corridor and into the lounge. Since it was about three in the morning, no one was there.
Jesse sat down on one of the stiff-backed chairs. Meowth sat opposite her, surveying her face, trying to work out why she was crying.
"Why are we out here?" asked Jesse, although she knew perfectly well why they were.
Meowth raised his eyebrows.
"No point kiddin’ me like that, Jess," he said semi-seriously.
Jesse sighed. Meowth had a way of getting the truth out of you before you knew what you were saying.
"Seriously, what’s wrong?" said Meowth. Jesse detected a little bit of concern in his voice, which surprised her.
Jesse gave in.
"A-a horrible dream. James was dead. The ground broke. I fell…" Jesse trailed off and shuddered.
A grin slowly spread over Meowth’s face. Jesse started to get angry.
"Wipe that smirk off your face! I just had a terrible nightmare, and you’re smiling?" she said angrily.
Meowth’s grin widened. This did not improve Jesse’s temper.
"Meowth, stop it! Why are you smiling?" she said, trying to keep calm.
"You’re dreaming of James! Aw, how sweet!" Meowth teased.
Jesse felt the colour flooding to her face.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" she asked hotly.
Meowth started chanting, "Jesse and James, sitting in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G.! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage!"
"Shh! What if the other Rockets hear?" said Jesse urgently.
Meowth roared with laughter, but lowered his voice when he continued to speak.
"So it’s true then? You do like him!" chortled Meowth. "I saw chemistry between you when I first saw you!"
"I do not love James!" shouted Jesse. "I never have, and never will!"
She didn’t shout loud enough for the other people to hear. Only one other person apart from Jesse and Meowth heard Jesse’s outburst. His heart felt snapped in two.
James.
Tears slid down his cheeks as he acknowledged that the only person who had ever understood him in life didn’t feel the same way he did. He turned over onto his back and stared at the ceiling. This was true heartache.
Jesse and Meowth crept back into the room. Jesse lay down on her bed, her heart thumping. Just as she was about to close her eyes, Meowth muttered something.
"You do so like him. And I’m going to prove it, just you wait,"
James froze. Had he heard what he though he had? He turned over again, and tried to get to sleep.

The next morning the bright autumn sunlight dawned over the Team Rocket Headquarters. Jesse was the first to be up, although she literally hadn’t had a wink of sleep.
She picked her Team Rocket uniform off the wardrobe and got changed. God, she thought, we may have a cool motto, but surely they could have hired a professional designer to make a more complex design?
She picked up a hairbrush off the windowsill and stood in front of the mirror opposite the bunk beds. Her hair never seemed to stay in place at night. The dark pink strands hung loosely down her back, nearly reaching her waist. She armed herself with a can of hairspray in one hand, and the hairbrush in the other.
"Don’t, it looks great like that," said a voice behind her.
Jesse whipped around. James was propped up on his left elbow, watching her.
"How long have you been doing that?" said Jesse.
"Don’t worry, I turned around when you were getting on your uniform," he grinned. He fingered the strand of his lavender hair that always hung over his eyes, and flicked it back. "Dear goodness, this hair is annoying,"
"No it isn’t, it’s beautiful. Just like you in a way. Subtle, smooth and soft," said Jesse.
"I’ll take that as a compliment," said James, smiling.
He picked up his own Team Rocket uniform and went into the bathroom to get changed. He came back a minuet later.
"Hey, what were those two new agents called again?" asked Jesse, putting on her boots.
"Um… They were flower names. Rose? Violet? Bluebell?" James suggested, doing likewise.
"I think you’ll find those names are way too common to be given to such high standard people," said a smooth voice from behind them.
Jesse and James turned around. Two tall, slim girls stood side by side at the door. The one on the left had red wavy hair nearly reaching her ankles, sky blue eyes and a necklace with a red jewel in the middle. The girl beside her had straight, waist-length black hair, intense green eyes and a necklace identical to the red-haired girls, except the jewel glowed a deep emerald. The red-haired girl had a red ribbon around her right wrist, and the black-hared girl had a green ribbon around her left. They were both holding flowers. The girl on the left held a tulip, while the girl on the right held a lily.

"Prepare for trouble!"
"Make it double!"
"To fight for all the things evil on earth"
"To show the lowliest what we are worth"
"To engage battles upon those who are little and weak"
"To conquer the missions that we may seek"
"Holly!
"Lily!
"Team Rocket’s fighting forever more"
"So don’t beg for mercy- prepare for war!"
They both smiled, somewhat maliciously. Jesse and James stood staring at them. These couldn’t be the new agents, surely! They didn’t even have the traditional white or black uniform. Instead they wore a deep red shirt and skirt, the normal red "R" in the middle, and red gloves.
"So, um- you’re the new agents?" said James, finding his voice.
The black-haired girl nodded.
"I’m Lily," she said, tossing her hair out of her eyes.
"And I’m Holly," said the red-haired girl.
"I take it you’re Jesse and James?" Lily said.
Jesse and James nodded.
"Ha! You’re going to be our trainers, then! Fun time, Lily!" said Holly, giving her a hi-five.
"Believe me, this isn’t all fun and games," said Jesse. She didn’t like these girls at all.
"Well, you and your boyfriend are going to have to teach us more about it, won’t you?" said Lily.
"He’s not my boyfriend," said Jesse in a bored voice, but her heart started thumping loudly again.
"She’s not my girlfriend," said James automatically. He had already put up with a lifetime of taunts from the other Rockets, and these two girls didn’t make any difference.
"Alright," said Holly, giggling. "So, where to first?"
"You have to meet Meowth first, he’s also your trainer," said James.
"A Pokemon as a trainer?!" said Lily incredulously. "What sort of idiot would make a Pokemon train?"
"I think you may be referring to the man who hired Meowth, and who is also head of all Team Rocket. Would you care to share your business thoughts with Giovanni?" said James coldly.
That shut them up. They led them out into the corridor and down the stairs. Meowth was waiting in the lobby.
"Hey, what took you? I’ve been here for ages! Hi, girls," said Meowth.
Holly and Lily took a step backwards.
"A talking Pokemon…" they whispered in unison.
Meowth sighed.
"Hey, I know it’s unusual, but it’s helpful. Come on, time to get training!"
He led the way out of the lobby and onto the training field. There was a long red running track leading all the way around the pitch, with various obstacles set around the track. Holly smirked.
"Is that it? We’ll have that over in no time! Come on, Lily!" said Holly, sprinting over to the starting line. Lily followed.
Jesse raised her eyebrows.
"You’ve got to hand it to them, they are enthusiastic," she said.
Meowth started his stopwatch.
"Three, two, one... GO!" he shouted. Lily and Holly zoomed off, remarkably fast. They jumped over the wooden poles, leapt across the ditch and crawled under the electric barbed wire.
"Wow, they are good!" said a voice. Cassidy came running over from the HQ, eyes wide.
Jesse and Cassidy were mortal enemies, but recently they had made up over it, since all those terrible events that have been happening over the past year.
"I know!" said Butch, Cassidy’s TR partner, as he followed her.
"Don’t let Giovanni hear about how good these guys are! He might just chuck us out and let the flower girls take over!" said James.
Cassidy looked thoughtful.
"There could be a way to show the boss that these two goons aren’t exactly… up to our standards, as they so charmingly put it," said Cassidy, grinning. Jesse noticed the glint in her eye.
"You’ve met them?" asked James.
"Yeah, this morning. They are right little stuck up show-offs. They do contests together, and have a great deal of medals," said Butch glumly.
"Maybe they are lying?" said Jesse, watching them scale up the climbing wall and down the other side, not missing a beat.
"How could they be, when they showed us them?" said Cassidy angrily.

"Look, they’re coming back. We’ll work something out later on, okay?" said Meowth, pressing the stopwatch as they reached the finish line. Holly and Lily looked extremely smug.
"One minuet nine seconds, new record," said Meowth, attempting at what he hoped looked like a convincing smile. They seemed to fall for it.
"Why, thank you, Meowth," said Lily, pushing her fringe out of her eyes. She had a strand of hair similar to James’s that hung over her left eye.
"You can have a look around the Team Rocket Headquarters now, we’re having more training tomorrow" said Jesse.
Holly grinned.
"Come on, Lily, let’s go!"
She grabbed her friend’s hand and without another word, ran off.
"Those little-," said Cassidy through gritted teeth. "I really want to give them a piece of my mind,"
"Well, don’t! You can tell those two are just waiting for an excuse to get rid of us," said Butch, holding Cassidy’s shoulders so she wasn’t tempted to run off after them.
"What we need is a plan, to get back at them," said Jesse. James stood still, staring into the distance. Butch attempted to shake him, but Jesse pulled him off.
"Whenever he goes like that, he has a plan. Often it doesn’t work in our case, but since there are five of us, it may work," said Jesse.
James turned around.
"Right, here’s what we’re going to do," he said.

"Ask the twerps?!" exclaimed Jesse, later on in the bedroom. "James, have you had a lobotomy on your brain or something? They are our enemies, not our friends!"
"I know, but it’s the only option we’ve got now," said James slowly.
"And why would they help us exactly?" asked Jesse, hands on hips.
"Because they killed one of the girl’s Pokemon," said James.
There was a shocked silence.
"T-they killed one of Misty’s Pokemon?" said Jesse hoarsely. "God, I thought we were evil,"
"Yeah, Misty used to have a Chansey, but they killed it," said James. He tried to speak calmly, but he felt really shaken up. He had only just found out the information from the TR files, and he felt ready to murder Holly and Lily with his bare hands.
Jesse narrowed her eyes.
"Why don’t we just strangle the little murderers so they get a taste of their own medicine?" said Jesse, her fists clenched.
"Because, if we simply attack unguarded, we may be the ones who fail," said James.
"Have you swallowed the dictionary, James?" asked Meowth, dusting the shelves.
"No, it’s a saying, that is quite true. It’s like if you have a hundred soldiers and the opposition has only ten, you think you will win. But if the soldiers run in unguarded, then the other side may win, see?"
"But it’s going to take a lot of persuasion to get them lot on our side, even if they did kill the Chansey. Remember all the things we’ve done to them?" said Jesse.
Meowth and James nodded. They hadn’t exactly been the best of friends.
James had a sudden thought.
"Hey Jesse, remember the time you breathed in some of that Stun Spore? The girl left us some of that salveyo weed to help you get better- now we are repaying the favour," said James.
Meowth put down his duster.
"I still can’t get over how kind that girl was that day," he said.
"Don’t go all dewy-eyed on us at the moment, Meowth. Any indication to where the twerps are, James?" asked Jesse.
"They are in the forest right outside the Headquarters!" said James, smiling. Jesse stared.
"How?" she cried.
"Well, that other guy with them, Brock, or something, got hurt by a Mightyena, so they had to go to the Pokemon Centre, and the nearest one to them was here- what luck!" he said grinning.
"How do you…" began Jesse, but James put a finger to her lips.
"A great magician never reveals his secrets," he smiled.
Jesse yawned.
"Wow, today has went by so quickly. Let’s stay up a little longer…" her voice faltered as she sat down on her bed.
"Actually, let’s just…" she muttered. James lifted her head onto her pillow, grinning. She seemed so small, tucked up in bed like a little kid.
James gazed at her fondly for another few moments before Meowth’s voice spoke.
"Pretty, isn’t she?"
James turned around. He had forgotten Meowth had been there the whole time.
"Y-yes…" he mumbled, not quite looking Meowth in the eyes. "Very pretty,"
"She likes you, you know," said Meowth. "A lot,"
James didn’t say anything. His face turned pink.
"Well, I like her. A lot," he said.
Meowth pulled James into the other room connecting to the bedroom. This was their secret room where they kept all of their disguises, plans, notes, etc. Instead of all the other Rocket’s cluttered rooms, this place was pin-neat, paper stacked in piles on top of the filing cabinets, plans blue-tacked to the walls.
James took a deep breath.
"Before you even say anything, it isn’t what you think…" he said faintly.
"Oh, I think it’s very much what I think," said Meowth.
James stood still for a moment.
"What was that dream Jesse was having the other night?" James asked, desperate to change the conversation.
Meowth raised an eyebrow.
"Your diversionary tactics are useless, but I’ll tell you anyway. In fact, she was dreaming about you,"
James looked up.
"No kidding?" he asked eagerly.
"No kidding," said Meowth truthfully. "She dreamt she saw your body on the ground, dead, and she fell to the floor, sobbing, the floor broke and she fell down…"
James’s heart sank again. Hardly the most beautiful dream.
A thought suddenly occurred to him.
She was sobbing, he thought. Sobbing because I was dead.
"You okay, James?" said Meowth. He had noticed that he looked a bit crestfallen.
"Yeah, I’m okay," he said cheerfully. "Come on, let’s get some sleep,"

The next morning, rain hammered down hard on the window, rattling the window panes. The black clouds rolled across the sky, making the Team Rocket Headquarters looking more dismal than ever.
But in Jesse and James’s room, everyone was grinning.
"They can’t go off today, can they?" said Meowth.
"Plus, the twerps will have went off to the Pokemon Centre on the edge of town of the forest- perfect place!" smiled James.
"Well, what disguise are we going to have?" asked Jesse, rifling through her wardrobe.
Meowth thought for a moment. What could get them into the centre, corner the twerps and ask them something without having the police at their heels?
"I think it’s time to get back our Officer Jenny outfits," he smiled.
James and Jesse gaped at him.
"Not those again," groaned James.
"Last time we got discovered!" said Jesse.
"Look, it’s the only option we’ve got. All of our other disguises got found out too!"
Jesse and James considered. He did have a point.
"What about Cassidy and Butch?" asked James.
Meowth grinned.
"They’re going to have to use their Nidoqueen and Golem outfits, aren’t they?"

Several hours later, Jesse, James, Meowth, Butch and Cassidy waited outside the Pokemon Centre. The rain had stopped, but the menacing black clouds above threatened more rain was to come.
They were all dressed rather oddly. Jesse and James both wore a policewoman outfit; blue skirt, black belt, blue denim shirt, policewoman cap and high heeled shoes.
Cassidy and Butch could not be recognised, since they were disguised as Pokemon. Cassidy was a Nidoqueen, and Butch was a Golem.
"You look great in your Pokemon outfits, guys," said James to Cassidy and Butch, trying to not laugh.
"You can talk, James, you’re the one wearing the dress, not us," said Cassidy.
"Alright, we’ll go over the plan one more time," said Meowth. "You two try and corner the twerps, and we…" Meowth glanced at Cassidy and Butch. "Um… why are we here again?"
"In case something goes wrong," said Jesse.
"Hey look, that’s them now!" said Butch, pointing.
Through the trees, they could see three people coming out of the Pokemon Centre, but the red cap and the Pikachu on his shoulder was unmistakable.
Jesse and James strode briskly out of the forest and up beside them.
"Hello, young trainer. We have come to make an inquiry…" began Jesse.
Misty raised an eyebrow.
"You’ve used the disguise already!" said Misty.
James exchanged glances with Jesse.
"Prepare for trouble, it’s us again!"
"Make it double, this time we have a different plan!"
"Instead of trying to steal your Pikachu,"
"We have some information for you!"
"You may think you will never help us, well,"
"We have a different story to tell!"
"Jesse!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket surrenders at the speed of light,"
"So believe us this time or you’re in for a fight!"
Jesse looked at James and said glumly "Not our best motto ever, but what else?"
Ash stared from Jesse to James.
"Have you guys gone nuts? Well, nuttier than usual?"
"Ha!" said James. He turned to Misty. "I take it you have heard of the names "Holly and Lily"?"
Misty froze. Her eyes filled with tears. Ash clenched his fists. Brock stood stock-still, not moving a muscle.
"The ones who killed Misty’s Chansey?" said Brock quietly. Jesse and James nodded.
"What about them?" said Ash fiercely. "You’ve made Misty cry now!"
"If you’d listen to us, then we’ll tell you the full story," said Jesse.
So Jesse and James about Holly and Lily’s arrival to Team Rocket Headquarters, their snide remarks, their evil treachery, and their idiotic personality.
"They think they are the best!" said Jesse furiously.
"Well, they do sound quite professional, if stuck-up," said Brock.
"So let me get this straight," said Ash. "These two murderers turned up at Team Rocket, asked for a job, insulted you and Cassidy and Hutch, and you’re asking us for help?"
"It’s Butch!" shouted Butch, running out of the forest. Cassidy and Meowth followed.
"A talking Golem?" gasped Misty.
"Nah, that’s Butch, in a costume, and Cassidy’s the Nidoqueen," said Jesse.
"You lot become weirder every time we see you," said Brock.
"Will you help us, though?" asked James pleadingly.
Ash surveyed all of them, and his eyes rested on Misty.
"Okay, for Misty’s sake," he said, grinning.
Misty wiped her eyes and looked at Team Rocket.
"I never thought I’d be saying this, but thanks!" she said. She turned to Ash and Brock. "And thanks to you guys, too,"
"So, what are we going to do?" asked Cassidy.
"I reckon we should follow them around for a while, see what they’re up to. We can’t just dive in. If we attack unguarded, we may be the ones who fail," said Brock. James grinned and nodded at Jesse triumphantly.
"I told you that saying was real!"
Jesse smiled weakly and pulled out a notebook.
"Since we are Officer Jenny, then there will be no real suspicion to why we’re there, will there?"
"Let’s split up," said James. "Cassidy and Butch, Ash and Misty, Brock and Meowth, and me and Jesse. We’ll search around looking for clues. We’ll go find them and keep a close eye on them, and we need to try and find out as much as we can about them. Who knows what they could do next,"
"Right,"
Ash thought for a moment.
"What if they spot us? They’re not exactly going to be delighted if they meet up with the kids who owned a Pokemon they murdered, are they?"
"Good point, Ash," said Brock.
"Only one obvious thing they can be now, isn’t there?" said Butch. "They’re gonna have to be Team Rocket members,"
Misty, Brock and Ash groaned simultaneously. Jesse looked insulted.
"Hey, Team Rocket’s not that bad!"
"Yeah, but you guys are professional at disguises. We don’t have a clue," said Ash.
"That’s the first compliment we’ve received in our life!" said Cassidy. "Right, Ash, you’ll be James, Misty, you’ll be Jesse, and Brock, you’ll be Butch. We’ll help you with your disguises,"
"And you need to know how to act," said James.
Jesse smiled.
"I think I can take care of that,"
"One problem. Those girls are quite intelligent, by the looks of things, so you need to be as convincing as you can get, okay?" said Cassidy. Ash, Brock and Misty nodded.

An hour later, everyone stood outside the Team Rocket Headquarters, dressed in their disguises. Ash, Misty and Brock had swapped the TR uniforms with Jesse, James and Butch. The only give away would be their hair colour, but Jesse assured them that they don’t take notice.
"You never take notice when we dress up as people, do you?" she asked.
Ash shook his head.
"Right, time to test out your speech again. Try and copy my voice. Say, "What are you up to?"
"What are you up to?" repeated Ash obediently. His voice sounded remarkably like James’s.
"You should team back up with Duplica!" said Misty. "I mean, you should team back up with Duplica!" she said again, but in Jesse’s voice. The resemblance was uncanny.
"Just shut it and let’s get moving!" said Brock, in Butch’s voice. He was by far the best; he sounded as though Butch was actually speaking instead of him.
"Can you remember the motto?" asked Cassidy anxiously.
"Well, I won’t need to, since you’re not going to be there," said Brock.
"Let’s see…"
"Prepare for trouble!"
"Make it double!"
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all peoples within out nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jesse!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
"That’s right!"
Ash grinned.
"We did it!" he said, punching the air.
"And, you didn’t do it as if you were insulting us, either!" said Butch.
"Believe me, they’ve done that enough," said James.
"Right, they are back in the training field," said Brock, looking through his binoculars.
"Do you reckon we can fool them?" Ash asked Jesse.
"I know you can, if you’ve been taught by me," said Jesse solemnly.
Misty grinned at Ash. Strange as it may seem, Jesse was a brilliant actress. If she hadn’t joined Team Rocket, she might have made it big if she had the right breaks.
Cassidy coughed.
"No offence to you, Jess, but like we said, they do seem quite intelligent and hard to fool,"
"No offence taken, Cassidy. But don’t worry, these three are quite convincing. But remember, if they taunt you, make some witty or crass remark back to them, and they’ll shut up," said Jesse, smiling.
"We’ve learned that from you enough already," said Ash.
"Why, thank you," said Jesse.
"Right, we’ll go first. We’ll interrogate them about a murder that happened last night," said James.
"Did a murder happen last night?" asked Misty.
"Nope, but they’ll believe anything," replied James.
Brock thought for a moment.
"Perhaps we should go first, because if they see the police and then us, they’ll get suspicious,"
"Good point," said Cassidy. "You three go first then. Good luck!"
Ash, Misty Brock and Meowth stepped out of the bushes, extremely cautious. Holly and Lily noticed them, and beckoned for them to come nearer.
They followed the girl’s gesture.
"Why if it isn’t "Jesse James" and… um, who are you?" asked Lily.
"I’m Butch," said Brock gruffly.
"Okay, Bill," said Holly.
"It’s Butch!" said Brock agitatedly. The real Butch grinned from behind the cover of the bushes, he was doing really well.
"Whatever," said Lily carelessly.
"Just wanted to say, why have you been creeping around the forest? We noticed you with Buffy’s girlfriend- Casey?"
"It’s Butch," Brock growled. "And that’s Cassidy. She’s not my girlfriend, she’s my Team Rocket partner,"
"Okay, okay," said Lily.
A thought flew to Ash’s mind.
"Hey, do you want to have a bit of fun?" asked Ash, copying James’s voice.

"What kind of fun?" asked Holly.
"A prank," said Ash. He smiled exactly the way James usually did.
Holly grinned.
"Come on, we’re the chief’s at this game!"
Misty knew she should talk more to convince them she was Jesse.
"So, what kind of prank are we going pull, James?" asked Misty.
"One someone’s never attempted before, for one thing," said Ash.
"And who are we going to pull it on?" said Lily.
Misty smiled.
"Giovanni,"

"Why did you say Giovanni?" asked Ash later on, pacing up and down.
"I’m sorry!" said Misty tearfully. "It was the first name that came to my mind!"
"Hey, don’t be mean to her!" said James. "She made quite a good decision, because that is what we would have said!"
"You lot really did well. Particularly you, Brock," said Butch.
"People keep on getting your name wrong even when it’s not you," said Brock.
"I know, but I’ve got used to it,"
"Well, we did learn one thing from that discussion," said Ash. A smile spread over his face.
"What?" asked Jesse.
"That Lily seems quite smitten with James," said Brock.
Jesse felt her face grow hot. James looked anxiously at Jesse. He didn’t like that Lily at all, but Jesse didn’t seem to be taking it that way.
"But don’t worry, I sorted her out for you," said Ash.
James groaned.
"What did you say?"
"That you-I mean, I, was already in a relationship," he said.
"With who?" asked James bewilderedly.
Misty inclined her head towards Jesse. James’s voice caught in his throat.
"I-I’m not in a r-relationship with Jesse!" said James. But I wish I was he said inside his head.
Misty, Brock and Ash all looked shocked.
"You’re not?" they said simultaneously.
"Of course we’re not!" said Jesse. Cassidy, Meowth and Butch managed not to laugh.
"What gave you that idea?" asked James. He felt his face go hot too. Had they been acting like a couple?
"Well for a start, you guys hug, hold hands, do everything together and practically never let each other go," said Ash, counting on his fingers.
Jesse and James sat, stunned. Did they really? They replayed all of their failures over the past. He did have a point.
"That doesn’t mean anything!" said Jesse.
James looked at Ash.
"You do realise you’ve just made us fall into an ever-lasting pit of taunts, don’t you?"
"I didn’t know you weren’t! Well, you should go out with each other, anyway," said Ash.
Jesse stood up. Her face was now as red as the rose in James’s hand. She walked away into the forest.
"Jesse! Look, I’ll go after her. Jesse!" shouted Cassidy, running after Jesse. Jesse broke into a sprint and ran deeper into the forest.
Misty looked at James.
"Told you," she said quietly.
James didn’t say anything. He stood up and went over to the river at the edge of the forest. He stared at the rippling waves, imagining what it would be like to be the river, calm and cool, and simply floating along in a gentle, rhythmic way.
Ash was going to go over to him, but Misty stopped him.
"He wants to think things over," she said.
Butch and Brock nodded.

Deep in the heart of the forest, Jesse leaned against a tree trunk, panting. Cassidy hadn’t caught her up yet, but she knew she would soon.
She sat down on a tree stump. She could hear Cassidy’s feet pounding after her. She sighed and called to her.
"Cass? I’m over here,"
Cassidy came crashing through the trees, trying to catch her breath. She straightened up.
"Why did you run off?" she asked.
Jesse didn’t say anything. She sat, not moving a muscle, staring at the ground.
Cassidy moved towards her, and sat down on the tree stump opposite Jesse’s.
"It’s James, isn’t it?" she said softly. Her voice was unusually sympathetic.
Jesse considered for a moment, and then nodded. There was no point hiding anything anymore.

"Yes," she said, sighing. "It’s James,"
"Before you start accusing him of that stuck-up Lily and her pal Holly, he hates them," said Cassidy. "He…," she trailed off, shaking her head.

Meanwhile, Misty was trying her best to get James to talk.
"Come on, you’re going to have to say something soon," she said.
James shook his head. Misty noticed a tear in his eye, so she backed off.
"He hasn’t been this upset since he let go his Cacnea," she said worriedly.
"Well, I know one thing, he isn’t going to talk for a very long time," said Brock. "Unless someone tricks him into talking,"
"I’ll do that," said Ash. "Back me up,"
He took a step forward and pulled a walkie-talkie out of his pocket. He started speaking frantically into it.
"What? Jesse’s been hurt? By a Charizard? Oh no!" said Ash, pacing up and down. "What are we going to do- she’s still alive, but barely?"
James turned around and bolted over to Ash.
"What’s happening? Jesse’s hurt?" he said shakily.
Ash pocketed the walkie-talkie and grinned.
"Got you talking!" he said.
James raised an eyebrow.
"Ha-ha, very amusing," he said sarcastically.
Misty gave Ash a grateful smile. James was talking at last.
"And you’re almost back to your usual self!" said Brock.
James smiled.
"Sorry about before," he said. "It’s just I can’t stand people teasing. Particularly Jesse and me"
"They get it all the time," said Butch and Meowth. James cast them an menacing glance. They didn’t say anything more.
"James, we weren’t teasing, we were being serious!" said Misty.
"If you were being serious, then you won’t mind if I start saying some ‘serious’ stuff to you. What about you and Ash?" said James.
He’d touched a nerve there. Misty’s skin reddened, and Ash clenched his fists.
"What about us?" he said, daring him to say more.
"Hey, don’t look like that," said James. "I’m simply stating that perhaps you two…,"
He gestured vaguely.
Ash narrowed his eyes.
"Are you just getting us back from saying about you and Jesse, or are you serious?"
"Both," said James simply.
Misty shook her head and said quietly "I’m going to see if I can find Jesse and Cassidy. Do you want me to give her a message?"
James took a deep breath.
"Yes," he said, and he whispered something in her ear.
Misty smiled and ran off into the woods.
"What did you say?" asked Meowth curiously.
James tapped his nose.
"Nosy," he said.
Brock winked at James. They both knew what he has said. Everyone in his presence did, even though they hadn’t heard.
"Anyway, what are we going to do about tomorrow? They said that we have to have made up a prank by tomorrow," said Ash.
"If it’s against Giovanni, Jesse, James and Meowth might lose their jobs," said Brock.
Meowth shuddered.
"What if you get found out, though?" asked James. "Don’t take Pikachu in. And don’t leave him with us, either. We may not be able to resist temptation of stealing him,"
"Good point," said Ash.
"Where is Pikachu, anyway?" asked Butch.
Ash suddenly looked alarmed.
"Oh no, I put him in his Pokeball!" he said, scrambling in his pocket. He threw a Pokeball and Pikachu appeared, looking very bad-tempered.
"Don’t say anything too loud," whispered Ash.
"Why-," began James.
Pikachu turned around.
"Piiiika… chu!" Pikachu built up its energy, and sparks literally flew out of its body, electrocuting James.
"Now I see why," said James faintly. He fell backwards and crashed to the ground. Ash shook his head at Pikachu.
"For once, they are on our side," said Ash.
"Pika-pika!" said Pikachu.

Misty continued running. She was sure she could hear voices.
"Cassidy! Jesse!" she shouted.
The voices stopped.
"Hello? It’s Misty!"
"Over here!" called Cassidy. Misty pushed her way through the bushes and saw Jesse and Cassidy sitting on two tree stumps. Tears were slowly seeping down Jesse’s cheeks. She wiped them fiercely.
"She’s a bit… emotional," whispered Cassidy, just loud enough for misty to hear.
Misty said loudly and clearly "I have a message for Jesse, from James,"
Jesse looked up eagerly.
"He said to deliver it to you only, but he can trust me, and Cassidy," said Misty.
"Come on, please tell me it!" said Jesse.
"Are you sure?" teased Misty.
"Of course I’m sure!" said Jesse.
Misty bent down.
"These are James’s very words,"
"Yes?" asked Jesse.
Misty paused, then grinned.
"I love you,"

Jesse gasped and fell of her tree stump.
Cassidy smiled at Misty.
Jesse’s heart was thumping so loudly she thought the other two would have been able to hear it. But it didn’t matter now. It had been said.
"Come on," she said, standing up. "We still have a prank to pull off,"
They walked off through the forest. Jesse felt happier than she had in a long, long time. She strode ahead, her feet barely touching the ground. She felt as though she had sprouted wings and was flying up from Hell.
That dream wouldn’t be bothering her anymore.

Back at the other side of the forest, Ash, Brock, Butch and Meowth were trying to revive James. Meowth reassured them he would come round soon.
"How do you know?" asked Ash.
"We’ve had so many Thunderbolts we gave up count after the first hundred," said Meowth.
"Well, you do get annoying," said Ash.
"Pika," agreed Pikachu.
"Hey, he’s waking up!"
James started stirring. He sat up and looked around.
"Did I miss anything?" he asked.
"Nah, you’ve only been out cold for fifteen minuets or something," said Butch.
"Look, someone’s coming!" said Brock.
There was a crash behind the trees. Jesse ran out of the trees, followed closely by Misty and Cassidy.

Jesse locked her gaze on James. He stared back at her; his deep green eyes boring into her icy blue ones.
Jesse could stand it no longer. She ran towards him, catching him in a tight hug. She kissed him on the cheek and whispered "I love you too,"
Ash grinned and said "That’s the scene we’ve been waiting for!"
James smiled at Jesse.
"I’ve been wanting to say that since I first saw you at the Team Rocket Academy," he said.
"Same here," said Jesse. She turned to the others.
"Come on, we need to make a plan for tomorrow," she said.
"Oh, don’t mind us," said Cassidy.
"Yeah, this is better than a soap opera," said Meowth.
"Come on, Meowth, they both know you’ve wanted them to get together for a really long time," said Ash.
James stared at Meowth.
"Y-you’re kidding," he said.
Meowth shook his head.
"Right, seriously, we do need to sort out what’s going to happen tomorrow," said James.
"What prank are they gonna pull?" asked Butch.
Jesse thought for a moment.
"Right," she said, smiling, "Here’s what they’ll do,"

The next morning Ash, Misty and Brock waited anxiously in the Team Rocket lobby. No one had recognised them as their true identities. Jesse and James had been right, they never took notice. They didn’t even realise that they were quite shorter than Jesse, James and Butch.
"This is proving to be really easy," said Brock. He’d managed to perfect Butch’s voice, and he automatically spoke it without thinking.

"Yeah, I know," said Ash. He’d not got James’s voice as a great as Brock had got Butch’s, but it was still almost exactly the same.
"Look, that’s them!" said Misty, pointing.
Lily and Holly came running through the lobby over to them.
"Ready?" asked Lily in a low voice.
They all nodded.
"Come on!"
Holly and Lily pulled them out of the lobby and onto the training field.
"So, what have you got planned? ‘Cause whatever you have, we can add a couple of suggestions," said Holly, her blue eyes glinting.
"First, we need to find a way to sabotage Giovanni’s office," said Misty. She was very careful to make Jesse’s voice bold and confident, when she really felt neither of these things.
"Easy," said Lily, and she held up a black key. It had a peculiar shape, and you don’t get black keys very often.
"Where did you-," began Brock.
"Let’s just say, I know a few tricks and feel I need to put them into practice," Lily grinned.
"Right, any idea where Giovanni is at this precise moment?" asked Ash.
"Away at a meeting in Johto," said Holly immediately.
Ash’s eyes grew wide.
"How is everything just falling into place?" he said.
"James, we didn’t come here without learning a few things," said Holly.
"He’s going to be angry when he comes back," said Brock. "But what the heck, as long as we do manage to pull this off,"
"We will pull this off, with out agent expertise, and your … um… unique ideas," said Holly.
Ash, Misty and Brock gritted their teeth. They understood how Jesse, James, Butch, Cassidy and Meowth felt now. These girls were intimidating.
"Come on," said Misty. She pulled out some plunger-like objects with straps on the front.
"What the-," said Lily.
"They are so no one thinks it suspicious. We can’t use the key. They’ll think we’re practising for a new mission if we use the plungers," said Misty.
She handed all of them around, so each person had four. They attached them to their hands and feet, and stood outside the great glass building.
"Here we go!" said Misty, and she started climbing. Misty had never had a fear of heights, and was an experienced rock-climber in the days before she met Ash and Brock.
Ash, Brock, Holly and Lily followed her. They crawled up and up the huge building, like spiders crawling up a window.
"Giovanni’s room is right at the top," said Lily.
"Typical," said Brock.
They continued on upwards. Five minuets later, they reached the very top of the building.
Holly pulled a knife out of her pocket, and stuck one of the plungers onto the glass. She drew a circle around it with the knife, then twisted the glass and pulled it out.
"Basic, but helpful," she said, and she climbed through the window and put the piece of glass on a desk.
Giovanni’s room was just like any other manager’s office would be. The ceiling was light blue, and the walls a deep crimson. Filing cabinets were in every corner of the room, overflowing with paper and documents.
In the middle of the room was a long, rectangular table, and at the end was a large swivel chair. Spread out all over the table was files. Files, files and more files, in piles, spread out like packs of cards, and some had been torn into shreds and thrown carelessly into the bin, which was now overflowing.
"Right," said Ash. "Here’s the spray can, and the bottle of electrical volts- oh no, where’d I put the tarantulas?"
He looked in his pocket.
"Come on, we’ll go look for them,"
"We’ll start doing up the room," said Holly.
"Yeah," said Lily.
"Don’t be long!" called Holly as they climbed back out of the gap in the window.
They climbed down the building as quickly as they could and jumped off when they were a few meters from the ground.
"Right, where are the tarantulas?" asked Brock.
"There isn’t any! Come on, I had to make a diversion to get us out there," said Ash.
"Quick!" said Misty. "We need to expose them,"
They ran into the Headquarters lobby, and grabbed one of the receptionists.

"Hurry…follow…us…" panted Misty, pulling the confused receptionist up the stairs.
"What’s going on?" she said.
"Shh!"
They stopped outside Giovanni’s room, and pulled open the door.
Holly and Lily stood, freeze-framed.
"Sorry girls, but the road is over," said Misty.
The receptionist’s eyes grew wide.
"You do realise these girls are violating the Book of Team Rocket Rules, page 345, section 62, subsection 9, paragraph C," said the receptionist, looking down her nose at Holly and Lily.
"B-but… t-they…" stuttered Lily. She looked at James, her eyes narrowed. "I now see your true colours,"
"You should have," said Ash. He pulled off his Team Rocket shirt, revealing his usual outfit and his blue jacket. "I’m not James, that’s not Jesse, and that’s not Butch,"
They all grinned.
"Prepare for trouble, you’ve fallen for our disguise!"
"Make it double, but now we have really opened your eyes!"
"Now you can see you have been beat!,"
"This truly is a magnificent defeat!"
"You have fallen from a great height,"
"We’ve been working for this, day and night,"
"Ash!"
"Misty!"
"And Brock!"
"Team Rocket has failed at the speed of light,"
"We’re sorry to say, you’ve lost the fight!"
"That’s right!"
The receptionist looked immensely impressed.
"You may be non-Rockets, but you do have the potential," she said.
She turned and glared at Holly and Lily, her eyes magnified by her spectacles.
"You’re not going to get away with this," she said sternly.
"Want a bet?" asked Holly, and she leapt onto the window ledge.
Lily smirked, and held out her lily. Holly did the same with her tulip.
"No…" whispered the receptionist.
"Yes," said Lily, jumping onto the window ledge.
"Three, two, one…" the girls counting down. When they reached zero, they threw their flowers to the ground.
Bang.
Ash, Misty and Brock ran out of the room, dragging the receptionist with her.
Coughing and spluttering, they made their way back downstairs amidst all of the black smoke filling their lungs.
They burst into the lobby and fell to the floor.
"What happened?" squealed another receptionist.
"Holly… Lily… got… away…" choked Ash.
Suddenly Jesse, James, Meowth, Butch and Cassidy burst into the room.
"Quick!" shouted James.
"Where are we going?" said Misty, coughing.

James had a determined look on his face.
"We’re going after them,"