Bad Moon Rising

Chapter 5

The realization had sunk deeply into Team Rocket that day, and it scarred them for life. James was no longer human...or, he wouldn't stay human for long. Sure, Meowth's attempted to cheer Jessie and James up and Mondo was trying to point them towards the brighter things in life, but the fact still remained the same in Jessie's mind.

I'm losing him...

The only person she had ever really cared about after her mother passed away and besides Meowth and Mondo. Her friend for ten years of her life, her shadow, her follower, her crush, her everything.

And now she was losing him.

That night, Jessie had never left James' side, trying to find some way to lighten him up, to help him. But James was silent. He never said another word that night, and continued to cry himself silently to sleep, only to wake up a few minutes later. Meowth was curled up beside his friend's head, talking softly to him, while Mondo began to search for ways to find a cure for him. Yet, the blue-haired male never spoke to them again that day, not able to find the words, either out of misery or self-pity.

The two had shared a room together, but there were two seperate beds for each of them. The red-head looked up at the cieling momentarily, then at her partner, and slowly crawled out of the bed and towards him. When she finally got to him, she could see his eyes were red and puffy from crying so much, and that the look in those green pools was full of misery and confusion. The tears began to build up in her eyes, and she blinked them away, allowing them to roll down her cheeks as she placed a hand on his arm.

James looked at her slowly, eyes half-open as he was about to droop off to sleep again. He didn't say anything, but stared blankly at her.

"James...," Jessie began, twidling her fingers and trying to find the right words to say.

But she couldn't say what she wanted to say, she couldn't tell him how she felt about him. She hesitated, then began to speak again. "Look...we're gonna find a cure for you...I-I swear..."

The boy struggled a smile before he closed his eyes and fell into his own world of dreams. He was out cold, even a freight train couldn't wake him up, now. He was too tired.

Slowly, Jessie squeezed his hand and choked back a sob. "...I swear..."

**********

The night passed on like a snail, and Jessie found it hard to sleep. Every time she drooped off, she would see James, twisted and demented, writhing in pain, confusion, and so many other emotions as his body transformed. She would wake up from time to time to hear her partner whimper in his sleep, proving that his imagination wasn't as peaceful at the moment, either.

When the night finally ended and the sun began to rise, Jessie forced herself up, and slowly tip-toed towards James bed, as not to wake him up. She gingerly picked Meowth up, who yawned quietly and looked at her softly.

"Where are we goin'?" he asked sluggishly and lightly as Jessie cradles him in her arms.

Jessie looked at the cat sadly, then gave a weak smile. "To the library."

The cat simply nodded, throwing a look of pity back at his friend before Jessie carried the pokémon out of the room, stepping over a snoring Mondo, who had fallen asleep on the floor. The red-haired girl stopped in the kitchen to scribble a note telling Mondo and James where she was going, and the human and cat were off.

**********

Ash walked through the library with a yawn. He didn't know why Misty and Brock had gotten him to get up so early just so they could go to a lousy library, but he was too tired to argue. Pikachu was walking beside him, looking up at him from time to time to make sure his trainer didn't fall asleep on him. Ash was very tired, and was trying to walk the grogginess off, although it didn't really work. Groaning and giving up, he plopped down in a chair at one of the tables in the library, dropping his head on the desk and sighing.

It was only until he heard two familiar voices whispering to each other did he open a closed eye tiredly, looking at the library door to watch Jessie and Meowth stroll cautiously into the building. Pikachu hissed lightly, up in defence in case James showed up, but the blue-haired male never entered.

That's odd, those two are usually never apart...

Pikachu's loosened up as Ash stood up, slowly following Jessie and Meowth into another section of the library labeled 'Folklore/Legends'.

He remembered the way Pikachu reacted towards James, and the scars on the boy's cheek. A chill was sent up and down his spine as he watched the red-head scope the bookcase, finally picking up a single book with the title 'Werewolves of Legend' engraved in the cover.

He quietly walked up to Jessie, who had her back turned to him and didn't notice Misty or Brock in the other aisle, looking up information about the Lake of Rage. He gulped, and lightly tapped her on the shoulder.

Jessie nearly jumped out of her skin as she swung around, teeth gritted in anger in frustration. She looked even more ticked off when she saw who it was that tapped her. Meowth leapt off of her shoulder and growled at the boy, raising a paw and pointing a claw at him.

"What do youse want, twoip!?" Meowth hissed. "Bug off!"

"I was just-"

"Go away, twerp," Jessie said slowly, trying to make her voice sound cold and heartless. Yet, it was cracking slightly. "Just...just go away."

Ash nearly recoiled, but stood his ground. He gulped again, closing his eyes before staring at Jessie and not blinking.

"He was attacked...wasn't he?" he said cooly.

Meowth growled softly before lowering his paw, glancing between Ash and Jessie. The red-haired Rocket seemed deeply shaken at the mention of James' attack, but she was trying so hard to hide it.

"Attacked?" she snapped. "What do you mean?"

"Ash!"

The child turned slightly to see Misty, still clutching her egg pokémon in her arms, and Brock walk up to Ash from behind. They glanced at Jessie, then at their friend.

"C'mon," Misty said quietly. "Let's leave her be."

"Where's James?" Brock asked in confusion, looking throughout the library to see if he was around.

Ash ignored them both, turning back to Jessie and never blinking. "As I was saying, he was attacked by the Ilex Beast, wasn't he?"

Jessie froze, staring at Ash for a minute, before slowly whispering, "Ilex Beast?"

Realization dawned on Misty and Brock's faces, and they slowly looked to Jessie's hand, who was clenched tightly on a book about werewolves. The two froze, turning to face the Team Rocket member. Meowth tugged lightly on Jessie's jeans, whispering that it was time to leave, but he was ignored.

"The Ilex Beast...," Ash began, "...some sort of monster that lived by Azalea Town...by the Ilex Forest... It used to attack pokémon and people in the area...and I think a lot of people who used to go into the forest didn't make it out..."

"But it didn't appear for the past few weeks...as if someone killed it..."

Jessie blinked, then tore her eyes away and turned around, beginning to walk down the aisle again. Meowth followed her, glancing back at thhe twerps.

"It's none of your business, twoip," he said slowly before turning away.

Brock began to cut in. "They used to say that the Ilex Beast was a werewolf, though nobody believed it. Rumor has it that anybody who is attacked by it and lives slowly changes into what the beast was, fully changing on the next Full Moon."

The woman stopped, but continued to walk away, ignoring the twerps. Meowth paused, looking at the three children with a look of desperation clear in his cat-eyes. Misty saw the look, and jumped after Jessie. She lightly held onto the other girl's arm, stopping her.

"Please, Jessie...," she pleaded. "We want to help..."

The Rocket froze again, not saying a word.

"...Please..."

Meowth nodded, turning to Jessie and struggling to smile. "Yea, Jess, c'mon. Day are gonna help us!"

The three children saw the older woman look at the talking cat pokémon, and sighed. SLowly, she turned to look at them, smiling ever so slightly as she wiped her eyes.

"Fine...but don't think t-that this is a permanent truce, twerps. I'm...doing it for J-James."