Inner Peace

By Mandy (Owston) Nader

Jessie and James were sprawled out on the bench outside the gas station, half-asleep. Meowth was busily checking the road map he had "borrowed" from the convenience store while the cashier was checking out another customer. The small cat scratched his head as he planned out Team Rocket's next movement.

"Why'd those twerps have to pick the long way to da next gym?" he wondered aloud. "Ok, youse guys, here's da plan..." Meowth stopped talking when he realized that his human companions weren't even listening to him. He angrily jumped onto the back of the bench and swatted their faces.

"What is dis, nap time?" the cat demanded, Fury Swiping his friends. "We gotta get movin!"

Jessie angrily awoke and began throttling Meowth. "How dare you!" she screamed, slamming Meowth into the ground. "Look what you've done to my perfect face!!!"

James was also annoyed. "Who gave you the right to scratch us like that?" he yelled, kicking Meowth across the road.

Meowth looked up, blearily. "Maybe I overdid it a little..." he groaned, half-apologetically, as he dragged himself back to his friends.

James picked up the map that Meowth had dropped and started to study it as Jessie opened up her compact mirror and worriedly began checking her reflection. Meowth jumped up onto James's head and began pointing at places on the map.

"See, here's what I think," began the cat Pokemon. "The twerps just passed by here," he said, pointing to one spot, "and they're goin here. If we go dis way, we can cut 'em off at the pass and grab ourselves a Pikachu."

"All right with me," replied James. "What do you think, Jess?"

There was no answer.

"Jess? Jessie!" he called, frantically looking around for his friend. She seemed to have vanished without a trace.

James began pacing the area, looking for the female Rocket, but suddenly stopped when something crunched under his boot. Looking down, he picked up the remains of Jessie's compact. His eyes grew wide and he began yelling, "Jessie! Jessie, can you hear me? Where are you???"

Meowth motioned for him to stop yelling, and the faint sound of a starting engine was heard. "That way," Meowth said, pointing to a group of trees behind the convenience store.

James and Meowth took off running through the forest. James noticed a number of broken branches and trampled undergrowth that clearly marked a hastily-made path through the woods. Clearly, someone had just passed through here in a hurry.

The engine noises were getting louder, and finally James and Meowth came to a clearing in the woods just in time to see a plain white van pull out onto a small dirt trail, leaving swirling clouds of dust in its wake.

"JESSIE!" screamed James, running madly after the disappearing van. Meowth suddenly sprang forward and knocked James to the ground.

"Jimmy, whaddya think you're doin?" asked the cat, sitting on his friend's head.

"She - she - she's gone..." James said in a panicky voice. "And I've got to save her! What are you wasting my time here for?"

"Get real!" replied Meowth. "There's no way we can catch up with a speedin' van! It's not like we're da twerps or anything, and can outrun movin' vehicles." Meowth scratched his head contemplatively. "How DO they do dat, anyway?"

"We've got to find Jessie!" yelled James in frustration. "Talking about the twerps isn't going to accomplish anything!"

"It ain't like the van disappeared without a trace," said Meowth, pointing out the clear trail of dust that marked the van's path. "Why don't we just follow it at a distance, then make a sneak attack when we catch up to it?"

"That's not a bad idea," said James thoughtfully. Then he jumped to his feet. "But why are we just standing around talking about it? Let's go!"

It was late afternoon before James and Meowth came to a fork in the dirt trail. The van was nowhere in sight, and three different paths stretched before them, each winding off in a different direction. James idly kicked at a rock as he looked down each path, wondering where to go next. Suddenly a small, bright red object on the left-hand path caught his attention. Running over, he picked up the delicate rose petal and rubbed it lightly between his fingers. Doing a classic Rocket pose, James pointed down the left-hand pathway.

"They must have gone that way. Let's go!" he shouted to Meowth.

The cat Pokemon just shook his head and followed. Humans, he thought. They just keep gettin' weirder...

Following the trail of sporadically dropped rose petals, James and Meowth finally came to the edge of a rocky outcropping. Standing at the edge, they looked down into the valley below, bathed in the fading light of sunset. In the orange glow, the pair could make out rows and rows of white vans, identical to the one they had been following. A large group of people in identical blue uniforms, presumably the vans' drivers, stood away from the rows of vans, talking and laughing loudly. A few drivers slowly patrolled the area with glaring flashlights.

As silently as possible, James and Meowth descended the cliff and slunk into the valley, hiding in the long shadows cast by the dying light. James crawled on his hands and knees, hoping desperately that the bored-looking guards wouldn't notice him.

He crawled to a row of vans temporarily devoid of guards, and began calling out, "Jessie? Are you here, Jess?"

Meowth quickly shoved a paw over his mouth. "You got a death wish?" the cat hissed. "Keep it down before those guards hear ya!"

"Jessie!" James called in a loud stage whisper, looking from left to right at the small window of each van, hoping for some kind of signal that he had found his friend. As he rounded the end of his row, James noticed a tiny rose petal at the edge of the next row. "Jessie?" he whispered loudly, looking up at the tiny window of the van closest to the end.

In response, a curl of red hair dangled out of the window. Jumping to his feet, James peered inside, not caring whether any guards spotted him or not. He sighed with relief when he saw Jessie looking out at him, a hopeful smile on her face.

"James!" she cried excitedly. "I hoped you'd be able to find me."

James returned her smile, blinking back tears of joy at finding Jessie at last. He then turned his attention to the lock on the van's back door, examining it closely for a few seconds. James then pulled his lock pick from his pocket and forced it into the keyhole. After a few sharp turns, there was a soft click and the door popped open.

Jessie rushed out of the van and gave James a huge hug.

"Heh!" laughed Meowth. "Leave it ta James to jimmy a door open!" Suddenly, Meowth's ears perked up and he jumped onto the roof of the van. "Hey, youse two, there's somebody comin!"

Still in each other's arms, Jessie and James spun around and gasped as a flashlight shone in their faces. One of the guards had rushed over as soon as he heard the door open. Several of his buddies had followed, and were now surrounding the two Rockets.

"Get inside," grunted the guard with the flashlight.

James giggled nervously. "Oh, I'm not supposed to be here... I'll just be leaving now." He timidly took a step away from the van.

One of the other guards leveled a gun at James's head. "Inside," he growled. "Both of youse." He cocked the trigger.

"Ok, ok... no need to get pushy," James said shakily as he and Jessie were shoved inside the van by the other guards. They were left in near-darkness as the van door was slammed shut and locked behind them.

Rushing to the small window, Jessie and James looked out at the guards who had caught them. One pulled out a small walkie-talkie and pushed a few buttons on the device.

"Yeah, we got 'em," they heard his gravelly voice tell whoever was on the other line. "Some guy tryin' to break the Rocket gal out... yeah, five-sixty-two... nah, no one else... huh? What's Ivy got ta be mad about? We just got anudder... she should be... yeah whatever... yeah, she's da boss... okay." He switched off the communicator and walked away.

A moment later the van's engine roared to life, and Jessie and James were flung to the floor of the van as it raced away into the descending night.

Meanwhile, Meowth clung onto the van's roof for dear life as it sped over bumps and potholes. This is just like da time I got ta Hollywood, he thought, clinging to the roof with his claws. The van flew over a speed bump and Meowth almost lost his grip. Maybe a bit more dangerous... He sighed. Da things I do for those humans of mine...

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