Bad Moon Rising

Chapter 7

While Jessie, Meowth, and the twerp trio headed to the inn, Mondo was playing checkers with James, and was losing miserably. James gave a small smile as he continued his winning streak, but it wasn't the same. It was as if part of him had died, like a candle with the flame gone.

Mondo glanced up at him quickly, then lowered his gaze back to the game he was in, jumping one of James' pieces, only to get cornered by his two kings.

"Blimey...," Mondo whispered, eyes wide. "I never thought you were this good at checkers!"

"Neither did I," James replied, half smugly and half bluntly. He struggled a grin as he had his king jump one of Mondo's pieces.

Now the ball was in Mondo's court.

The younger boy grinned and moved one of his kings towards James' pawns, trapping him. If James moved any of his checkers, he would be jumped, and if he didn't move, he would still be jumped.

For some reason, it seemed to remind him of his situation at hand, and the dream...

-the monster leapt forward, tearing into a defenseless Jessie and Meowth...

The flash of a knife...

Two choices. Two fates.

He froze suddenly, eyes wide. Mondo noticed the expression on his face, and nodded

"Let's call it a tie," he whispered with a smile, putting the checkerboard away.

James, having realized that he just scared Mondo, hung his head sadly. "Sorry, Mondo..."

"Don't worry about it," were the younger Rocket's words as he patted James on the back before carrying the checkers box to a desk nearby.

The sound of footsteps caught their attention.

Both of the boys stood up and headed for the door, only to see it open, revealing Jessie, Meowth, and-

"TWERPS!" James shouted, jumping back and getting ready to call out Weezing.

Meowth jumped off of his place on Jessie's shoulder and lumbered towards his friend, jumping on his head and grinning like the Chesire Cat.

"Heeeey JIMMY!!" the cat smirked, poking James' head lightly. "How ya feelin'?"

"Er...better...but...the twerps are here-"

"-It's okay, James," Jessie whispered. "They're gonna help us."

James blinked, his face blank. "Ah...okay...?"

He put the pokeball away and nodded. He gulped as Brock approached with an outstretched hand.

The oldest twerp smiled nervously. "Heh, I guess we'll be working with you instead of fighting you."

James took a deep breath and nodded, shaking his hand. "I...guess so..."

At that exact moment, pain shot through both of his ankles, and James winced, pulling away quickly and limping towards a chair, plopping down and blinking. Jessie rushed over to him with a look of worry clear on his face. Meowth, Mondo, and the twerps watched silently and nervously, and the talking cat, Pikachu, and Togepi could smell blood.

"What's wrong?!" Jessie whispered hysterically.

James was surprised at her worry, but he just shook his head while massaging his right boot-covered ankle.

"Nothing, just-"

He froze when he felt something beneath the leather of his boots, something that...protruded from the skin?

Blinking, he pulled the boot off of his right foot and pulled the sock down a little. His face paled visibly at what he saw.

A small, black claw emerged from the ankle bone, coated with blood, which also trickled from the area where the claw emerged.

His mouth twitched. "Er..."

Meowth rubbed his charm, shaking his head. "Crap..."

The twerps, in the meanwhile, had realized how bad the situation really was.

**********

The Rockets and Twerps had began talking shortly afterward, with James trying to get over the fact that there were claws growing from his ankle bones, and the twerps trying to adjust to the settings.

James had adopted the fact that the twerps were going to help him very quickly, and had been filling them in with every little detail of what happened since the attack, including the Ratatta incident, which had made many stomachs turn, including his.

Shortly after, the three trainers had decided that it was getting late, and took off towards New Bark Town, in hopes of finding the Monkshood plant in time...

**********

Somewhere in Ecruteak...

"Why'd the boss send us here?" asked a prissy voice as two shadows walked along the forest.

"To find out what the hell's going on with Jessie and James," whispered a rough, frog-like voice. He shook his head. "He hasn't heard from them in a couple of weeks..."

"And he sends in us!! Of all people...," the female hissed. "He knows we hate them!"

"Keep your voice down, Cass! You're gonna let everyone know that we're here!"

"Sorry, Butch..."

"Let's just find them and get this over with..."