Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon

AN: This little deviance takes place around chapter 19-20 of Stand by You. Works as a stand-alone too if you wanna try it on.

Summary: Jessie, James, and Meowth have been out of Team Rocket for months. After receiving new supplies from Professor Oak, the TRio decided to travel and compete in various competitions to raise money until they could figure out a sustainable future. Joining them is a handful of Ash's former traveling companions. One night they run into some friendly strangers with an appeal and have a little fun. Some RocketShipping, WishfulShipping, and ContestShipping.

Characters: Jessie, James, Meowth, Bonnie, Serena, Clemont, Max, Ash, Misty, May, Drew, Cilan, Iris, Dawn, some minor OCs, and their MVPokémon. Everyone is aged up.

Rating: T for swearing and the occasional innuendo. It's nothing you people never heard before. No violence or graphic descriptions of unpleasant shit.

Pokémon Karaoke, and Then Some

Chapter One

It was a pleasant day weather-wise on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Jessie, James, and Meowth rested on the floor of their balloon as they glided towards their next destination. Ten-year-old Bonnie and sixteen-year-old Serena accompanied them. The preteen, her surrogate-sister, and their MVPokémon stood looking over the side of the basket while 11+ of their closest friends legged below them.

"I know we agreed to play nice…" Jessie started, whispering into the ear of her partner. "…but it's wayyyy too cramped in here for my liking."

"I second dat," whispered Meowth.

James looked around. All his Pokémon were in their balls, yet there was hardly enough breathing space for the trio. Jessie was in his lap, and Meowth was squished between her and Wobbuffet. About a foot away, Dedenne sat comfortably on Sylveon's shoulders. Bonnie and Serena seemed to have no problem being jammed together as they enjoyed the view from the balloon.

"Look, we are about to stop anyway," said James, noticing a Pokémon trainer rest stop.

"Hey! We're stopping for a water break!" Iris called to them.

"Clemont and I are going to fix us some lunch!" Cilan added. "There's a kitchenette!"

"Sounds wonderful!" Serena called back. She turned to Bonnie and her Pokémon. "I'm famished."

"Ditto," Bonnie breathed, the Pokémon agreeing with her.

Meowth landed the balloon while Jessie and James disentangled themselves. When they got to the ground, the rest of their group greeted Serena, Bonnie, Sylveon, and Dedenne.

"How was the flight?" Ash inquired.

"Other than weird?" said Dawn.

"I loved it! I want a hot air balloon when I get old!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"Why you…you little…bit—" Jessie started, the rage building up inside of her.

James and Meowth quickly covered her mouth before she cursed out the little girl.

"When yer travelin wit dese lugs, yous never ever call dem o-l-d," Meowth explained. "Yous can't even tink it; de'll pick up on dat too. Den Jessie'll get her revenge on yous. It don't matter how cute and innocent yous are."

"Sorry," Bonnie replied.

"We'll try to remember to be more sensitive," Iris sarcastically responded.

There was a loud clap of thunder, and everyone looked to the sky.

"Dark clouds. A storm must be coming, " Ash observed.

"Pikaaaa," Pikachu said worriedly.

"Danks for statin de obvious," Meowth replied.

"It's good that we got here when we did," said Clemont. "Let's get inside."

"Over half a dozen smartphones among us and no one bothered to check the weather," Max mumbled. "Pathetic."

Inside the shanty, there were restrooms, a sitting area, and a kitchenette. Jessie lied on the single expansive sofa and slept. James draped their one blanket over her then rested with his back against the couch beside her, his goal to organize the dozens of emails and texts that had amassed on his device.

Dawn and Misty were the first to notice Jessie asleep on the couch.

"Is that normal for her to sleep so much?" Dawn asked.

"I don't remember her being this tired in the past," Misty remarked. "I recall you functioning on very little sleep most of the time."

"Um…uh…maybe all that lost sleep is finally catching up to her," James stumbled.

"If Jessie is sick, we should stop at a clinic. We wouldn't mind—there's one not far from here."

"Jessie doesn't need…what I mean is…we aren't the type to…uh…"

The girls wondered what was wrong with him but James provided no clues.

"You should suggest it to her when she gets up," said Dawn. "You know that if we say anything then she will rip our heads off but she has your trust and respect."

"I will…" James mumbled.

The girls returned to the others. Ash, Pikachu, Meowth, Drew, and May played cards at the small table. Iris and Bonnie groomed their Pokémon, Cilan, Serena, and Clemont cooked their next meal, and everyone else sat around, just chilling.

"Ahem!" James coughed, grabbing their attention.

"What's up?" asked Iris.

"Everything alright?" Serena asked.

"Umm…Jessie is trying to sleep so please don't wake her up or she will be cranky later," he announced shyly. "Uh, that's all."

"No problem," Ash whispered, giving him a thumbs-up, which James returned, along with an awkward half-smile.

Max motioned for everyone to huddle around him.

"I checked the weather," he said. "It's going to rain the rest of tonight, clear in the morning, then it will pick up again late tomorrow afternoon. We should stay here for the rest of the night, do some traveling in the morning, then make another stop before the rain starts tomorrow evening."

"Is there a place we can get to by tomorrow night?" Cilan asked.

"There's a village about five miles from here. Not much is there. A few homes, a dentist, dry cleaners, laundromat, pizzeria, police station, and a karaoke bar. On the outskirts, there's a camping ground."

"A karaoke bar..." Dawn hummed. "Interesting."

"Not everyone here is old enough to drink," Iris pointed out.

"Hey, it says that the karaoke bar is specifically for Pokémon trainers," May read. "Ages ten and up."

"I never heard of such a thing!" Cilan gasped daringly. "It sounds interesting."

"I've been to one before," Drew mumbled. "It was a while ago...forget I mentioned it..."

"What's it like?" asked Bonnie. "Was it fun?"

"It was okay. I didn't sing or anything like that…."

"I would love to do that! This storm is the perfect excuse to take a break from training!"

"I'd like to watch," said Ash. "I couldn't sing to save my life, but I bet some of you are really good."

"Let's make it a date," said Serena. "Maybe we can perform as a group, or with our Pokémon."

"I totally wanna do it," Bonnie emphasized.

"Okay. But for now, let's eat," Cilan announced. "Who wants fresh udon?"

XO

Two hours after dinner, James gently woke his sleeping partner.

"Hey," he said softly, looking into her blue eyes for the first time in hours.

"How long was I out?" Jessie asked with a yawn.

Her stomach growled. James helped her get off the couch.

"Almost three hours. I have leftovers. I can heat them on the stove if you wish," said James.

"I feel a bit too nauseous to eat," she murmured.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"No."

James told her about the twerps' travel plans and the karaoke bar.

"As if any of those twerpy teens could sing," she remarked. "How lame."

'You never know,' James thought as she shuffled to the restroom.

Meowth was already asleep on the sofa. James lied beside him, making sure to leave plenty of room for Jessie in case she returned.

"You three never get off the couch," Dawn said as James closed his eyes. "Give us a turn."

"We were here first," he asserted.

"We did a lot more work than you did," May pointed out.

"There isn't enough room for all of us on the couch anyway," Misty intervened. "Just let them have it. The floor isn't so bad. There are foam sleeping mats in the closet that we can stick under our sleeping bags."

"Zuuuu," her partner chanted, opening the closet door.

"Whatever," Dawn mumbled.

XO

Apart from two, the tired trainers fell asleep soon after hitting their make-do beds.

'You'd think a trainers' stop would have more than four bathrooms and some blankets,' James thought as he lied awake. 'Maybe I should call Nanny and Pop-pop—they have extra everything...'

"Pikachu…I'm gonna get you…" Meowth muttered in his sleep, brandishing his claws subconsciously.

James carefully moved him towards their feet. He wrapped himself around Jessie, who shifted slightly, reciprocating his actions. She whispered something, but it was too quiet for him to understand. His smile got even wider and he placed his head next to hers, closing his eyes and savoring the moment. Before he drifted off to sleep, someone poked him. He opened his eyes to see Misty standing over him.

He almost yelled "Eek!" in surprise, but Misty hushed him.

"Just a friendly reminder that we are all still here," she whispered, smirking at his reaction.

"I know…" he said defensively.

"Just don't get too affectionate…It'll gross us out."

"What kind of person do you think I am?"

Misty ignored his question, and flicked him in the middle of the head. "We are friends, dummy. This is just how I am, so get used to it."

XO

The next morning everyone got up early and started to travel towards the next small town, where they hoped to relax for a while before moving on.

"Can Piplup and I have a turn in the balloon?" Dawn asked the trio.

"Knock yourself out," Jessie replied groggily.

"Any otha twerps comin?" Meowth asked.

"Ash never got a turn," said Bonnie.

"Uhhh…I'd rather walk…" he replied. "Bonnie, Max, you can take my turn if you want."

"Okay!" the preteens responded in unison as they turned to the balloon.

Jessie scowled as Bonnie and Max clumsily climbed into the gandola, once again invading her personal space.

"At least it's not as crowded as it was last time," said James.

"Humph," Jessie sighed, crossing her arms and turning away.

They arrived in a small neighborhood a few hours later.

"According to the Poke-nav, this is the village I mentioned earlier," Max announced.

"Splendid," Jessie said sarcastically.

"I want pizza!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"De ne ne!" cheered Dedenne.

"Mmmm," said Meowth and James, drooling a little.

"Twerps, we're comin down!" Meowth called. "Make room fer de balloon!"

The rest of the group cleared a spot so that the balloon could land in front of them. Bonnie and Max joined their siblings and Pokémon.

"First stop, the pizzeria!" Ash announced.

"Piiii Ka!" cheered Pikachu.

"Why does he get ta call de shots?" Meowth complained.

"Well, where do you want to go?" Cilan asked.

"De pizzeria…"

"After that, let's go to that trainer karaoke bar. I'd love to check it out."

"What else we can do around here?" Ash inquired.

"There will be arcade games there too," Dawn replied. "And it will be fun to watch everyone mess up their karaoke songs."

Clemont, Ash, and Max sweatdropped, wondering if they would be expected to perform, making the girls giggle.

"Let's eat first and worry about that later," Misty said as they entered the restaurant.

"Are you Pokémon trainers?" the host asked.

"Yes," Cilan replied.

"Perfecto!"

The host was a short, loud, man with a long mustache and strong Italian accent. He had dark hair and dark, wrinkled skin. He shook each of their hands heartily and bellowed a gregarious 'welcome'.

"Will your Pokémon be joining you?" he asked.

"Can they?" Ash asked.

"Pika?" asked Pikachu.

"Of course!" the man exclaimed.

"Oh, um, well, my brother and I can't afford to buy food for our Pokémon too…" May mumbled.

"That would be true for most of us," said Clemont.

"We can't even afford to buy food for ourselves," James remarked.

"No worries! All Pokémon get one meal free as long as their trainer buys something!" the man gushed.

"Wow!" said Ash. "Really?"

"You sure you can do that?" Cilan inquired.

"Absolutely!" he continued. "I love Pokémon and Pokémon trainers!"

"This is fantastic!" Misty said as she let her team out of their Pokéballs.

"Awesome," and "Sweet," said Bonnie and Max as they released theirs.

"There's just…one condition," said the host, his voice almost a whisper.

"What's that?" Clemont asked nervously.

Seeing his expression made the man feel guilty.

"Never mind," he told everyone. "Take a seat and I'll send a waiter your way."

XO

Before they sat down, Jessie, James, and Meowth gathered into a huddle.

"Here's the plan," Jessie began. "We stick to the free bread they give us on the table and no one complains about it."

"But I want pizza," Meowth whined.

"We can't afford pizza, numskull."

"But Pokémon eat free," James whispered.

"If we buy something. What the hell can we buy? The cheapest thing we can buy is a glass of soda water, and that's three bucks!"

"Weeze can get a keychain," Meowth said, pointing to a machine in the corner.

They quickly ran over to it.

"Insert a quarter and spin to win a keychain," Jessie read. "Perfect."

"But then only the monz get food," James pointed out.

"We will make them order the biggest meals here. Then we will spit it three ways, hog all the free table-bread, and wrap up the leftovers."

"Right," James and Meowth said together.

"Wobba," Wobbuffet added. "Wo, wob Wobbbba!"

"He's sayin he wants de mozzarella sticks," Meowth translated. "And look, it's a Meowth keychain. "Purrfect!"

"We'll get you mozzarella sticks," Jessie told Wobbuffet. "An extra big order for sharing purposes."

"Buffffffet!" he cheered.

"Let's show dat host lug de keychain and orda our food," said Meowth. "It's a pathetic plan, but it'll work."

"My thoughts exactly," James replied.

"We've done much, much, more pathetic things in the past," Jessie pointed out. "Our only other options are to A: go hungry, B: excuse ourselves and go eat out of the dumpster, C: come back later when it is storming out, steal food and somehow managed to hide it from the twerps, or D: beg the twerps to buy us food."

"I say we save de beggin fer when weeze don't gotta plan," Meowth responded.

"Ditto," said James.

"Wobbuffettttt," Wobbuffet agreed.

"Hey, we're going to order!" Ash called to them.

"Pika Pikachu!" Pikachu added, holding up a menu.

"K, weeze got de keychain," Meowth murmured. "Now let's look ta see what de biggest meals on de menu are…"

XO

After their meal, the host swung by to check-in.

"The food was awesome," said Ash. "I haven't eaten that much pizza in a while."

"Me neither," said May, stifling a burp.

Bonnie rubbed her stomach. "I love Italian food."

"Thank you!" everyone but Jessie, James, and Meowth added.

"Good, good," the host replied. "Now, about that condition that I mentioned…everyone who indulged in that free meal for their Pokémon must participate in the karaoke contest at the Jigglypuff-Igglybuff Bar around the corner."

"What?!" Clemont, Ash, and Max exclaimed.

"Sir, you didn't mention that before," said Cilan.

The host scratched his neck and coughed an awkward laugh.

"I didn't want to drive you away…" he mumbled.

Half the table groaned, but not Misty.

"We accept this," she responded. "Seems we have no choice, right?"

"Right," the host responded.

"But it was rude of you to not say anything ahead of time."

"It's in the fine print."

"What fine print?" Dawn asked.

Their host pointed to the very bottom of the menu. It stated the condition and the consequence: a visit from Officer Jenny.

"This is like a bad dream," Max said as they paid the bill.

Bonnie poked his side. "I think it will be fun. Can you sing?"

"No."

"Have you ever tried?"

"It's definitely not my thing."

They begrudgingly said their goodbyes then headed outside.

"This rain is awful," Dawn moaned after opening the restaurant's main door.

Everyone returned their Pokémon. Meowth clung to James.

"Please tell me dat one of yous remembered de umbrella," said Meowth.

"Sorry, Bud, I forgot," said James, shrugging his shoulders.

"But yous know I hate wata! How could yous forget?!"

"You never reminded us," said Jessie.

"Here, go under my jacket," James suggested as he pulled a raincoat out of his bag.

The fifteen or so odd members of their groups scrambled under four umbrellas and ran as fast as they could, with Max leading the way to the karaoke bar. Once inside, they were greeted by a handful of trainers, all teenagers.

"Hey, you dudes here for the contest?" a dumb-looking kid replied. He looked to be about 16 years old. He had blond hair, freckles, and wore a Hawaiian shirt.

"Contest?" said Dawn. "We were just going to hang out…the host of the Da Vinci Pizzeria said there was an event we needed to join…"

"We didn't know that it was a contest," Iris added.

"Or that he was being serious," said Drew.

"Or that my 'friends' were actually going to guilt me into this," said Max.

"Lucky for you all, tonight is our Riveting Rivals Contest!" said the young representative.

The wet and confused trainers stared at him blankly. Jessie ignored them, opting to comb out her long hair before it dried in some abhorrent fashion.

"'Riveting Rivals'?" Serena inquired.

"Gather 'round," said the worker. "I'm Baku, the Bāwākā of this gilt-edged establishment."

Everyone clustered around Baku, even James and Meowth, while Jessie scoffed and headed to the restroom.

"So, this contest is like, a Pokémon performance sorta, but with singing," Baku explained. "People like, go up in pairs, and sing a song and sometimes dance with their Pokémon. Then the judges, like they like judge. And the audience gets tokens, which they use to vote for which pair they like the best."

"Ohhhh," said May, conveying her interest.

"Why is it called 'Riveting Rivals'?" asked Dawn.

"Because traditionally people like, go up against their rivals, and it's like, riveting," Baku replied.

"I see," Iris grumbled, annoyed by his manner of speaking.

"Thanks," Misty half-heartedly sighed.

"See ya soon," Baku said before walking away. "Alola for now."

"That guy must think he is in Alola or something," Max remarked.

"How annoying," said Drew.

"Yeah he sure is something," said Ash.

"Piiii," Pikachu sighed, looking nervously to the stage.

"This singing situation is suspicious," Drew commented.

"Suspicious, but astute," said Cilan.

"If you say so," said Iris.

"Why the long faces?" said Misty. "This could be fun—imagine Ash up there: prime entertainment."

"Uhhhh…ummm…yeah, it's uhhh, I can try," Ash stumbled. "If everyone else goes up."

"Pi," Pikachu asserted, supporting Ash as usual.

"It's that or Officer Jenny. You're a nominated Frontier Brain; do you wanna ruin your rep now?" said Iris, sarcastic, though Ash assumed she was serious.

"No…uhh…let's take this one step at a time…' he stumbled.

May and Drew convened privately. When they were done with their chat, they returned to the others, who were still trying to figure out their next move.

"The truth is…" May started. "When Drew and I were traveling alone, we went to these all the time. They're everywhere in Johto."

"Why didn't you tell us before?" Cilan asked.

"It was a secret we wanted to keep."

"You should brag about that instead," Bonnie replied. "Cuz that's awessssome!"

"Yeah, totally," said Ash. "I had no idea you could do that."

Drew shrugged. "We're amazing, not much more to say about it."

"I need to try it," Bonnie asserted. "Who wants to pair up with me? It'll be fun, even if we don't win. Will you do it, Max?"

"No way," he replied.

"Pleeeeease?"

"Bonnie, please don't be rude," said Clemont. "I know how you feel, Max. It isn't my thing either."

"Or mine," said Ash.

"But this our thing," James whispered to Meowth.

"Define 'our'," Meowth requested.

"Mine and Jessie's."

"Wobbba!" said Wobbuffet.

"And Wobbuffet's. Especially Jessie's; this is a chance for her to show off her singing skills in front of an audience."

"I suppose yous gonna pair up wit her," Meowth guessed.

"Duh."

"I'll admit dat yous two are probably gonna put on an interestin show, but what about de fact dat dis contest is fer twerps?"

"There are people are age here."

James looked around until he spotted a group of about ten people who looked to be in their mid to late twenties. Most of them had drinks in their hands and one woman was holding an infant.

"See," James told Meowth as he pointed to them.

Meowth snorted. "For all weeze know dey could be twerps' parents."

"Shove it."

"Meowth, what are you doing to him?" Jessie asked as she emerged from behind them.

"What took yous so long?" Meowth countered.

"None of your business."

James explained the contest and pointed out the group of twenty-somethings near the bar.

"I like the way you think," she said.

Jessie headed towards the bar, dragging James behind her. Meowth and Wobbuffet followed along. She approached the person running the contest and flirted with him until he gave her free entries.

"Easy as pie," Jessie bragged, waving the tickets so that Serena, Bonnie, and May could see them from across the room.

"Jessie, is that you?" a stranger inquired.

"Tiffany Mirai? " Jessie asked, staring at the woman.

"It is you!"

The brunette embraced Jessie, who laughed and hugged her back.

"Whaaat?" James and Meowth gaped together.

"Jessie and I used to be coworkers, and then some," Tiffany explained.

"Oh, and when was this?" James queried, stepping between them.

"Tiffany was a Pokémon Ranger and I was her humble assistant," Jessie replied, raising her eyebrows at James.

"You worked for a Pokémon Ranger?"

"Yous were humble?" said Meowth.

Jessie quickly stomped on his toes without Tiffany noticing, although she did look surprised when Meowth suddenly screamed and grabbed his foot.

"You all right?" Tiffany asked the Pokémon.

"Yeah," he sighed pathetically.

"Where did you catch a talking Pokémon? Or did you teach it to talk yourself?"

"Why…yous…so rude!"

"Buffet Wobba!" Wobbuffet complained, backing up Meowth.

"How about we take a seat so that we can all catch up," James suggested.

"Good idea," said Tiffany brightly.

James led them to a table.

"What's up with James?" Jessie whispered, mostly to herself.

Only Meowth heard her. "Whatcha mean?" he asked.

"He seems all hot and bothered."

"A bet it's nuthin."

"I didn't even ask you what your name was," said Tiffany, looking to James.

"Me?" James asked.

"Yes, you!"

"I'm James."

"Sooo nice to meet you."

"Oh, ditto!"

Several of the twerps watched them.

"Looks like Jessie and James found an old friend," May observed.

"It's weird to think that they have friends," said Dawn. "I mean, they spend like all of their time following us. And when they are free, they are usually hanging out wherever we are, and we travel all over the place."

"Everyone in Team Rocket seems to hate them too," said Serena. "Domino, Cassidy, Blitch, Matori, Wendy, their boss…"

"They did grow up and work all throughout Kanto," said Misty.

"Even annoying and conceited people have friends," said May.

"May, don't be so hard on yourself," Drew teased.

"I was talking about…never mind. Eat your damned pizza."

XO

Continued in Chapter Two! Thanx for reading and please review!